#college. and um. well. that would mean not being able to return for my senior year of college.

[yrbutchgf]

um so . so no actually my adhd might be fucking my whole life again

[father-time-and-baby-new-year]

alphabet boy

SYNOPSIS: You should feel extremely lucky that the handsome and intelligent Armin Arlert is your tutor...even when he's a little mean to you. Because that's your fault, isn't it? He wouldn't have to be mean if you weren't so damn stupid.

PAIRING: Armin x FEM!Reader

DEDICATED TO: armin fuckers. non armin fuckers, i hope i can convert you.

TW: dubcon touching, manipulative behavior, gaslighting, academia shaming,

WC: 1.8k

“Maybe you’re not cut out for this class.”

He said it so casually, a comment spoken between the flip of textbook pages. You couldn’t shake off the undeniable hurt.

“I-Uhm, uh, yeah I have to study a lot...but I like this class. It was a pain to get off the waitlist.” You keep your voice optimistic and light, hoping to mask the offense taken.

You don’t know why Armin would say that, but maybe he was just being logical...he’s seen you struggle, of course, he’d think the class was too hard for you.

The blond sighs, closing his novel that he brought with him while he waited for you to finish your practice problems.

“You can barely keep up with the weekly homework assignments. You didn’t even hand in your assignment last week, right? Better drop out now before the add and drop deadline.” His voice is soft and cold at the same time. It’s unnerving.

You tuck your hair behind your ears, eyes set low, too ashamed to meet your tutor’s. Armin had been your tutor for the past few weeks now, and you thought it was going pretty well. He was so so smart that you couldn’t help but be a little starstruck. He was handsome too, short-cropped blond hair, wide blue eyes, with a wardrobe that was composed of slacks and sweaters.

Usually, he was always overly polite and charming. You could make countless mistakes and his patience was endless. He had some off-days where he was a little withdrawn and quiet. You never held it against him though, knowing he had no obligation to make idle chatter. But sometimes, you could feel his chilly gaze watching you even though he had a book propped open.

“I emailed the professor, he was really chill about it. Last week was really rough for me, you know? I wasn’t feeling well and...”

“You know excuses don’t fly in the real world right? You’re in college now. Professor Ackerman was just being courteous. He probably thinks you’re lazy.” Even though you try not to look at him, you can feel Armin’s azure blues burn holes into you. There was this quiet intensity about him that made you worry about when the restraints would come off.

Armin can’t help but let condescension drip over his words. Any self-respecting person would defend themselves, but not you. Not when you’re already broken by your own insecurities that make it that much easier for him to trample on.

He can already see pearly-sheened tears leaking from the corner of your hopeless eyes. How cute. You part your pretty little mouth to say something, but no words come out. You close your mouth soon enough, looking every bit like a dumb little airhead.

So he continues: “You know your classmates learned all the first few chapters from high school right? You’re the only one starting fresh.” He moves closer, elbows inching closer to infiltrate your little personal-space bubble, knees knocking into yours under the desk.

More tears form under your lower lashes, and Armin mentally counts the crystal droplets. You’re recoiling into yourself like a shrinking violet which only encourages Armin to go just a little farther.

“You don’t even have your major picked out yet. This is a core class for your classmates, you know. You’re wasting your-no, everyone’s time.”

Not wanting to cry in front of your tutor, you rub your eyes with the sleeve of your jacket, fully aware of how utterly pathetic you look right now.

In a small voice, you manage to utter, “I have a right...to be in this class. Even though I’m slow now, I think with some decent amount of studying...I’ll catch up. Even if I’m not-” you take a deep breath, “as quick as my classmates, I still really enjoy what I learn. And..and...I think at the end of the day, that’s what really matters!”

Armin scoffs, “Do you really like the class or are you staying for Ackerman? God knows how many fangirls he’s had to put up with.”

Even as he spoke those words, Armin knew it wasn’t entirely true. You admired the man zealously and had read all of his published papers. Honestly, your admiration had always annoyed him.

You wince at the insinuation but you could feel the anger simmering in your gut, “You have no right to imply that! Wh-why-” Your voice breaks, “are you being so mean?”

Armin thinks you’re so cute, the way you jut out your bottom lip. So cute and pathetic. The corners of his lips quirk upwards. It’s almost endearing how you say “mean” like it’s the worst thing a person can be.

“Am I being mean or am I being realistic?” The blond coos, “I’m your tutor, right? I know the best for you.”

He takes your silence as an invitation to goad you harder: “You’re only upset because I’m telling you what you don’t want to hear.”

You don’t notice the proximity until Armin lays his hand over yours, squeezing the soft flesh of your palms. His voice is gentle as he reassures you: “Hey, hey, don’t cry. It’s okay.”

He made you cry, but you don’t have it in you to pull away from the only semblance of comfort given to you. His chair scrapes the floor as he sets it right beside yours, wrapping an arm around you, encouraging you to lean your head against his shoulder.

It’s a little sad but this is probably the most physical contact you’ve gotten in a while. You’re an utter mess, and on top of all that, touch-starved.

You’re still sniffling like a crybaby, trying to sort your own emotions out. You take a few deep breaths and force yourself to face the facts:

You’re behind.

The class is too much work for you.

Armin’s right, you’re upset because he’s telling you what you don’t want to hear.

“D-do you really think I should drop the class?” Your voice is so defeated, a pinch louder than a whisper.

His long fingers play with the ends of your hair, “I know this class is really important to you and we both want you to do well...so why don’t we increase our tutoring sessions? Maybe we should meet three times a week.”

He smiles at you, and it looks so genuine. You’re immensely grateful, you are, but confusion washes over you, “Wow, Uh, that’ll be great actually but um, uni tutoring services is once a week...so-”

Armin dismisses your concerns with a gentle wave of his hands, “Don’t worry, It’ll be off the books. Think of this as private tutoring. Of course, we’ll have to start meeting in my room from now on.”

While he doesn’t elaborate on why you have to meet in his dorm, you assume Armin has a good reason and it probably involves university-sanctioned student-tutor guidelines.

You’re stammering out thank-you’s, still trying to rub the tears out of your eyes until you feel a soft handkerchief wiping them away.

“It’s okay, don’t worry.” He reassures, “Don’t use your sleeve. It’s too rough for your pretty face.”

You blush under his words, wide eyes locked into his oceanic blues, “I d-don’t know if I’ll be able to compensate you f-for the private tutoring.”

His eyebrows crease as he gives you a smile full of pearly teeth, “You don’t have to worry about that for now.” His hands graze over your knuckles, “We’ll figure something out.”

“Thank you Armin.” You say it so sincerely, trying to muster the biggest smile you can after the blond essentially trampled over your self-esteem to only nurse it back with sweet promises.

“Well, we better finish today’s work then.” He responds calmly, not bothering to detangle himself from you. You can feel his body heat radiating onto you, and how his hand moved to casually rest on your thigh. But that’s normal right? If you think about it, Armin was not exactly adverse to touch. During your past tutoring sessions, his hand would always be on the small of your back or shoulders.

“Hey, you’re not getting distracted again, are you?” His voice is playful like he isn’t sliding his hand up and down the span of skin between your skirt and tights. When you don't respond, he pinches your inner thigh, eliciting a startled gasp from you.

"Focus." It's a demand so it must be followed.

Embarrassed, you nod your head and return your focus to the problem sets even though your hands are shaky as you grip the ballpoint pen.

You don’t notice how the blond’s eyes gleam under the fluorescent lighting at your easy compliance. He’s always liked obedient girls.

Your thighs are growing warmer, and it doesn’t help to have Armin peering over you. Still, you try your best to lull yourself to focus until a ringtone breaks your concentration.

Armin breaks away from you to find his phone and you find your body subconsciously missing the warmth. He lightly curses under his breath once he sees the contact name, but answers nonetheless.

“Yeah...sorry babe. I forgot. I’ll be right over.” He sounds apologetic but he looks downright bored.

And like that, the call is over. He looks over at you with an apology falling from his lips, “Sorry about that. I forgot I had something to do today. We’ll end early.”

Your throat is dry as you ask, “Was that your girlfriend?” You regretted your words the moment they escaped. That was none of your business. It doesn’t matter if he was holding you earlier. He was doing so because you were bawling like a baby. But why did he touch your thighs?

That doesn’t have to mean anything, you rationalize. Besides, Armin would never make a move on you. He was a handsome senior with a perfect GPA and a powerful position in the student government. Stupid freshman girls like you are not worth the time he so generously gives out.

The blond smirks, seeming to notice your internal struggle, “Something like that. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure she won’t distract me from our future sessions.”

That was a puzzling comment. His girlfriend supposedly distracting from your study time wasn’t even a concern you held.

“No, no, that’s ok.” You quickly assure, “You’ve already helped me out so much.”

The blond pats the top of your head like you were a puppy, “I’d do anything for my cute little student.”

The way your face heats up with a dark blush should be criminal. All he did was pat your head, and you’re looking at him starry-eyed like he didn’t grope your thighs under the table. Honestly, all your cute little blubbering had gone straight to his cock. Annie would have to handle his big problem.

These private sessions are going to be fun.

part I ---- complete

[smallrainclouds]

It's not easy having yourself a good time

we're on a double-date with other people... why are we kissing? you're not my date

Credit for prompt to

Hypnos x reader (modern!College!au)

Word count: 2.7

Warning: some dating violence on OC's side. Wrist grabbing, slurs and controlling behavior.

Summary: this was the worst date of your life. Thankfully it's also Hypnos' worst date ever.

A/N: here have this fic. I had yandere! Hypnos I was working on but it's giving me issues (it was supposed be under 1k but it keeps growing).

Also, I am open to requests but will rejected any I don't feel comfortable doing.

No beta.

Thank and I hope you enjoy.

💤☁️💤

You regret everything.

You stared at the plate of food you didn't order, some sad little salad that somehow smelled greasy.

Why did you let yourself get talked into a group date? You know why, you thought your friend was going to try to set up with your lab partner, Hypnos.

You looked at the bubbles in your sparkling water, another thing you didn't order and wondered if the person you were with would ever stop talking.

You glanced up at the group at the table. Across from you with his own date next to him, was Hypnos who was frowning at your date.

At least you had one sane classmate with you. Hypnos had been your lab partner since the first day in senior year and honestly you had thought at first your friend was setting you up with Hypnos. If you had known it was with someone else, you would have bail.

Charlie was a nice person you told yourself and your friends thought they would be great for you. Charlie was just… maybe they didn't know you don't order people's food for them.

"Look what I'm saying, Hypnos, is that maybe that YouTuber guy shouldn't be called out as much. Not his fault people can't take jokes anymore." Your date, Charlie, said loudly across the table to Hypnos who just raised a brow.

You rolled your eyes, You weren't going to let your friends pick a date for you ever again.

"Alright buddy. Whatever you say." Hypnos shrugged.

Hypnos' date and fellow classmate leaned across Hypnos, her breasts pressed against his arm. You looked away, poking at your food. You certainly were not jealous, you told yourself.

"Come on, guys. Let's talk about something else." she whined. The other two couples that came along echoed their agreement.

Hypnos grimaced and sat up taller, making the girl sit up as well. You felt kinda bad for both you and Hypnos. Clearly neither one of you guys were getting on with your dates.

You looked toward your friend, hoping she would notice how poorly everything was going. You rolled your eyes when she was clearly lost in her own world, feeding her partner french fries.

Too bad your date wasn't with Hypnos. You thought he was actually cute back when You first saw him, if not a little odd looking with white curls and heavy lidded eyes. Now, you couldn't imagine a more handsome person.

You found your eyes kept going back to him throughout dinner. Especially when he pushed his hoodie sleeves up, showing off his forearms.

The table moved on to some marvel movie or something but you were drifting in and out. You kept checking your watch in hopes that you could end the night soon without being rude.

You could feel someone was watching you and you looked up to Hypnos' golden eyes looking at you. He glanced at the group, back at you and rolled his eyes. You smiled in agreement but quickly covered it up with your hand.

Hypnos pointed toward your plate with the uneaten food, eyebrows rised in a questioning way.

You tilted your head toward your date who was loudly having another argument over some tv show with one of the guys there.

Hypnos looked at your date for a second before he sneaked you his untouched plate of pancakes.

You mouthed, 'Are you sure?' and he nodded, pointing at a plate of mostly eaten omelet.

You mouthed a quick thank you and dug in. You were half though the plate of pancakes when your date noticed.

"Wait, where did you get the pancakes?" Charlie asked, "You know how fattening all that carbs and sugar are? I like my dates to be healthy."

"What?" You asked flatly. Did you really hear what you just did? Hypnos and his date were both staring at Charlie. Hypnos looked furious and You saw the girl send you a pitying look.

"Oh. come on, you know I don't mean it like that."

You suddenly lost any appetite you had and pushed the plate of food away. You looked toward your friend who remained blissfully unaware of your pain.

Your date swung an arm on your shoulders, you sighed annoyed at the causal possiveness. You only knew them for like two hours but they were already acting like you were going steady.

"Ready to hit the club, Y/N?" Your date asked.

You almost groaned, you had forgotten about the stupid club.

"Uh, sure. Yeah." You tried to wiggle your date's arm off but no dice. You thought you saw Hypnos send a disapproving look at your date but you weren't sure. No point getting your hopes up.

As you exited the diner, Hypnos tripped; knocking into your date and their arms off your shoulders.

Grateful for the excuse, you took a few steps out of their reach.

"Oops, my bad." Hypnos smiled widely, and gave a shoulder pat to your date who glared at him. "Just watch it alright?" Your date snapped as they made it to the carpool.

In the car, you peeked at Hypnos who just winked at you. You didn't hide your smile this time.

The club did nothing to improve your date or your mood. The loud bassy music was almost too loud to hear anyone and your date kept trying to get you to stay on the dance floor.

You were able to duck out of their hold and pointed to the table. They tried to tell you something but You didn't stick around.

You almost fell into the booth, your feet were throbbing and you just wanted to go home. You could just see your homework growing by the hour.

"Need water?" Hypnos asked. You looked up, "Oh I didn't know you were at the table. Yes please."

He handed you an icy cold bottle and you moaned at how good it tasted. He laughed and you blushed, feeling foolish.

"Sorry, thank you." You took a slip, without moaning this time thankfully.

Hypnos went back to his phone, fingers moving quickly. "No problem."

"Where is… um what was her name?" You asked, trying not to look at Hypnos too much. How dare he look this good in the club' dim lighting.

"Oh I forgot her name. But she is doing fine. Told me she was going home with her ex." He pointed to the dance floor where the girl was dancing against another guy, their mouths glued together.

You looked back at him, but he already was back to texting on his phone. He didn't seem upset at all.

"I'm sorry, Hypnos." You said awkwardly, not sure of what to make of this whole night.

"Don't be. I'm not." He shrugged. You couldn't help but notice how nicely the red hoodie fit him.

"I will admit though I don't think I will be trusting our friend's matchmaking skills after tonight." Hypnos looked at you, his amused smile made you smile in return.

"You and I both." You murmured your agreement.

You finished off your drink, eyeing him.

After a few more minutes, your willpower broke.

"Okay I gotta know. It has been months since I met you and it is bugging the crap out of me." You leaned forward to him.

He looked up from his phone, a white eyebrow raised.

"Is Hypnos your real name?" You asked him, not quite able to look away from him. You were being a silly school girl and you knew it.

He laughed, "Yeah, it is." He moved closer, his eyes bright. "Wanna know why?"

At your nod, he spoke. "When my mom was pregnant with me and my brother. She got kinda crunchy, got into healing crystals and tarot cards, stuff like that."

Hypnos waved a hand. "So when she couldn't pick names for us, she went to a psychic, who told her that she was a reincarnation of the goddess Nyx. And apparently she was pregnant again with the reincarnated gods of sleep and death."

You couldn't help the small laugh and Hypnos chuckled as he took a sip of his beer.

"Mom believed the guy." He pointed to himself, " So ta-da I got named Hypnos. And my brother is Thanatos."

"Your mom sounds like a fun lady." You played with your hair, enjoying the warmth in your stomach. You couldn't remember the last time someone made you feel such things.

"Oh definitely. I never know what I'm going to get when I see her." Hypnos said fondly.

When You shifted your seat, your leg brushed against his. You almost pulled away but Hypnos pressed his leg against yours. You could feel the heat of his body and it just made you want more.

His golden eyes searched yours, silently asking if he could do this. You returned the gentle pressure and flushed at his soft smile.

"How does your brother handle the whole Thanos name thing?" You asked, desperately trying to calm your racing heart.

A devious glint lit Hypnos' eyes, "Oh he hates it so much. He already hated the whole super hero thing. Last year for his birthday, I got him a cardboard cutout of the big guy. I thought he was going to shove it down my throat. I got his boyfriend Zagreus and their girlfriend Meg in on it this year, we going to -"

"Hey Y/N. Are you coming back to the floor?" Charlie's eyes narrowed, "Hypnos, I think your actual date is looking for you."

You pulled away, you had forgotten about Charlie and you couldn't help but feel some guilt, even if you didn't like them that much or at all.

Hypnos stayed in place, amusement on his face. You saw Charlie's fists clenched and knew they were about to start a fight and stood up.

You were definitely going to block Charlie's number after tonight was over.

"Come on, let's get some drinks for everyone. They should be coming back soon." You motioned for Charlie to follow you. They glared at Hypnos before following you.

You couldn't resist a quick glance back to Hypnos, who raised his beer at you in a 'cheers' motion.

💤☁️💤

Charlie was sullen and quiet as you ordered more drinks for the group. You couldn't blame them really, anyone would be put out when their dates are clearly having a better time with someone else.

Well, not Hypnos but Hypnos wasn't exactly normal, you thought fondly.

You tapped the bar, guilt gnawed at your guts as your thoughts went back to Hypnos.

"So what were you guys talking about?" Charlie slurred, his tone icy.

You took a breath, just a few more hours you reminded yourself. "Nothing much. Just about his brothers and stuff."

Charlie crowded into your space. You can smell the booze and sweat on them.

"You guys seemed like you were sitting pretty close considering you were talking about 'brothers'." They did a finger quote.

You rolled your eyes, unable to stand being near them any longer. You stepped away to head back to let your friends you were bailing for the night.

"Tell me what he said to you." Charlie demanded as they grabbed your wrist harshly.

"Ow, let go of me! You are hurting me, Charlie." You hissed, trying not to draw any attention.

"Tell me." They hisses back.

"I did. Buy your own drink, I'm going home." You tried to yank your hand away but they didn't let go.

"Look I've been nothing but nice to you and you're cuddling up to another guy on our date like some slut." They changed their tone, trying to sound more upset than controlling but it just made your stomach twisted in disgust.

You opened your mouth to defend yourself but after a moment you shut it, "You're right. Clearly this isn't going to work out so let me go."

"No, you own me something, Y/N." Charlie leaned toward you. "And I'm not leaving empty handed."

"Fuck off." You snapped, fear rising in your chest.

"Hey, man." Hypnos grabbed Charlie's wrist and squeezed tightly enough that they were forced to let go of your wrist. His normal light-hearted tone was hard. "I think Y/N had enough of your company tonight."

You took some steps back, shaking a little. Without looking at you, Hypnos asked. "Y/N, do you need to go get anything?"

"N-no. I have everything. I want to leave." You hated how weak you sounded and you wished that you never came out at all.

Hypnos held on to Charlie's wrist and yanked them toward him. You heard Hypnos murmur something to them.

Fear flashed over Charlie's face and they stumbled backward. "Fine. Whatever asshole."

Hypnos turned to you, his eyes darkened by his anger. "Come on, I can get you a ride home."

You just nodded, feeling very exhausted and close to tears.

💤☁️💤

The cold wind felt like heaven after the heat of the overflowing club. At least for the first two minutes.

You just walked, not quite sure where to go. Hypnos walked next to you, easily keeping up with your pace.

Neither one of you said anything as you tried to process the horrible night.

After walking for ten more minutes, Hypnos spoke up. "There is a park nearby, we should be able to find a park bench."

You just nodded, Hypnos offered an arm and after a moment you took it. You pressed your cheek against his shoulder, soaking in his body heat.

The park was empty, lit by warm path lights.

"Thank you." You said. "You didn't have to do anything for me."

"It's all good. How about the wrist?" Hypnos asked softly.

"It doesn't hurt. Thank you since you stepped in." You patted his forearm.

Hypnos sighed, "No. Not thanks to me actually. Its kinda my fault, I've been pushing their buttons for most of the night."

You looked up at Hypnos, your brow furrowed. "What? No, they have been pretty rude since the start of the date. I mean, you heard the salad thing. They ordered it for me!"

Hypnos shook his head. His breath coming out in white puffs. "Yeah and because I was jealous, I made a bad date into a nightmare. I knew I was making them feel all threatened, it wasn't hard honestly. I didn't think they would grab you like that. I just thought they would be a bad date you could laugh about later."

It took you a moment to process his words. You stopped on the park path, staring off at the lake.

"You were jealous?" You asked, not quite believing what you were hearing.

"Very." Hypnos chuckled bitterly.

"Hypnos, you are an idiot." You said blankly.

He opened his mouth to say something but you pulled him down by his collar to kiss him.

At first, Hypnos doesn't return your kiss and you pull away, an apology already on your lips.

But he cupped your face and met you again in a sweet, slow kiss. He kept pulling away to press chaste kisses against your lips and cheeks.

"Damnit, I was planning on asking out you after our last class assignment. I had a plan for everything. I was going to take you to your favorite coffee shop and buy you that dumb drink you like. Take you the park by our dorms and ask you by the duck pond." Hypnos said between kisses and pressing one last long kiss against your lips.

You hummed, unable to think straight. "Our friend ruined that, huh." You laughed when you could feel him growled against your lips. "You have no idea, I had a speech and everything."

After another long and soft kiss, both of you pulled away only to met again in a forehead press. Your white puffs of breath mingled together and your heart felt so full.

"You could still do the coffee and the speech. And the ducks." You whispered.

"Yeah?" Hypnos asked softly, his thumb caressed your cheek.

"I have to do a lab with a very cute classmate tomorrow but I'm free after that." You flushed, pleased at the fond smile Hypnos had.

"That's funny, so am I." Hypnos replied.

Unable to hold off any longer, you pulled him into another kiss, one of the many yet to come.

[twistedtranslations]

Rook Hunt - The real culprit is... you!

You can unlock this story by getting Rook’s SSR Dorm uniform

Translation under the cut

Rook calls Epel “himeringo”, the Japanese word for plumleaf crabapple. I shortened it.

As we know already, Epel sometimes slips in his country accent, hence the weird wording.

Chapter 1

Courtyard

Vil: …8…9…10! Next up is the camel pose. Push your chest out and lean your upper body backward. Hold your ankles with your hands and keep that pose.

Everyone: Yes!

Epel: Ugh… Rook…

Rook: What is it, monsieur Crabapple?

Epel: I came to help with the shooting of the next work of the cinema studies club, but… Argh! Why are we doing yoga… Ugh?

Rook: Epel, you know, it's because we wanted you to take part in relaxing activities. If people relaxed, they will become more flexible mentally, and more active in discussions and communication. Yoga is the best exercise to improve your blood flow, metabolism and it soothes your mind. Moreso, your posture and physique will become much more beautiful! That's why Vil does yoga before his cinema studies activities.

Epel: I, I see… Is there…. An easier method?

Rook: By the way, Epel. You should bend your back more if you want to call it a camel pose. Okay, I will help you out and pull your arms back!

Epel: Eh, no, I'm fine- OUCH!!!!

Rook: Hahaha, monsieur Crabapple, you're body is quite stiff.

Savanaclaw Student A: Hey, look, it's the guys from the cinema studies. What a weird-looking pose is that! Man, I'd be way too embarrassed to wriggle like that in front of everyone.

Cinema studies Student A: Why are you guys butting in suddenly? This is just yoga…

Cinema studies Student B: Leave it be. Those muscle brains from Savanaclaw wouldn't understand our graceful bodybuilding.

Savanaclaw Student B: Huh? Are you picking a fight!

Rook: Oh please, there's no need to get angry! Why don't you join us? We can polish our beauty and deepen our friendship with yoga!

Savanaclaw Student A: Who'd do that! Beauty won't fill your belly. C'mon, let's go.

Epel: … friggin' irritatin'. Rook, I don't know how or why you could invite those guys…

Rook: I thought they might understand the benefits of yoga if they did it. How regrettable. Oh, me of all people! While I was talking, I forgot to help you out. My bad, let's continue.

Epel; Um, no, I don't need it… OUCH!!!!

Vil: Epel?

Epel: Ah… Vil.

Vil: I thought I heard a crushed frog's ugly cry, but that was my imagination, wasn't it?

Epel: Ugh… I'm sorry, I'll pay attention to it.

Vil: Rook, I think there will be no problems if you are by his side but… If anything happens, I hope you will "properly" discipline him. Not only does he lack in manners and aesthetics, but many other facets as well.

Epel: Is… that so?

Vil: Didn't you get frustrated when the Savanaclaw students reprimanded you? Do not involve Pomefiore in trivial arguments. Understood?

Epel: Understood…

Vil: Rook. If Epel quarrels with other dorm students during the shooting period… I will expel you two from the cinema studies- no, the dorm.

Epel: … I'm only here because you asked me to help.

Vil: Did you say anything?

Epel: Nuthin’- I mean, I said nothing.

Vil: In any case. Please refrain from idiotic behavior that could tarnish Pomefiore's name.

Rook: Oui, Roi du Poison. Leave it to me!

Cinema studies Student A: Those three seem to get along well as usual…

Cinema studies Student C: Epel and Rook are amazing. Leaving out the fact that they're from the same dorm, they can talk to Vil so casually. Perhaps I'm still too nervous because I saw him on the TV and in magazines before I entered the college?

Cinema studies Student A: Right. They're amazing for being able to to talk with him without constraints.

Interior Hallway

The next day

Epel: Ah, Rook.

Rook: Hello, Epel. You're here early.

Epel: Yes. My class finished early…

Students: Congratulations!

Rook: You guys too… We are the most enthusiastic people in the club today.

Classroom

Rook: Vil isn't here today because of work, therefore I will instruct you on the activities…

Cinema Studies B: … Is something wrong?

Rook: La vache (Oh the cow)… how terrible. Look at that.

Epel: Argh! Vil's clothes are torn into pieces!?

Cinema studies Student A: And it's not only his clothes but also the photo sets on the wall…

Everyone: !!

Epel: The heck, what are those weird words written in red…

Rook: "A defective beauty"… It must be a message from the one who tore up the clothes. Fufu, this is quite a case… And a direct declaration of war on us!!

Chapter 2

Classroom

Rook: Fufu, this is quite a case… And a direct declaration of war on us!!

Epel: Is there anyone in the cinema studies club who’d tear up his clothes with ill intent…? Who would do that…

Cinema studies Student A: Hey, those marks on those ripped clothes… Don't they look like they've been made by sharp claws?

Cinema studies Student B: Claws… Then this could be the work of the Savanaclaw students. But why would they…

Cinema studies Student A: … Could it be those guys from yesterday?

Epel: Do you mean the ones who made fun of us..?

Cinema studies Student A: Yeah. The guys from Savanaclaw said it then, right? "Beauty" won't fill your belly.

Cinema studies Student B: So a Savanaclaw student with a grudge from yesterday wrote a message on the wall and tore up Vil's clothes?

Epel: If they didn't like it, they can face us up front. This is cowardly.

Cinema studies Student A: Epel, you are a good person. Even though you aren't part of the cinema club, you still get angry for us.

Epel: I ain't forgivin' them for goin' behind our backs… I mean, we cannot allow them to do this.

Cinema studies Student C: Yeah. We won't stay quiet about these precious clothes being destroyed!

Epel: Yeah! Let's search for those guys from yesterday and have'm complain to our face!

Everyone: Yeah!

Cinema studies Student A: Hey, wait everyone- ... And they went.

Rook: Oho, everyone seems very passionate.

Cinema studies Student A: Rook, are you not following them?

Rook: The sadness of losing such a beautiful thing stunned me for a moment.

Cinema studies Student A: … I see. I'll stop Epel and the others.

Rook: Oh my, to be in such a situation on the day Vil isn't here. Or to be more precise, "because he isn't here". Moreso… "A defective beauty". I should solve this case before Vil returns. 

Rook: I should investigate to see if I can find evidence that links to the culprit. Let's start at the place where the fabric was torn. …As I expected. It's not a scratch even though it resembles one. They used 25 cm long scissors with 9 cm long blades to cut it. From the angle of the tears, I can guess that the culprit is right-handed. They held it with their left hand by the torso and used their right hand to cut from the shoulder to the waist with the scissors… 

Rook: The culprit is probably around 168-172 cm. That narrows it down a bit! Fufufu…  Even though I've experienced the hunt for an animal's traces many times, it still elates me. Oho, I can't let myself get carried away. I have to concentrate on the investigation… … Aha. I see… Fufu, I have deduced the animal. Now it's hunting time!

Courtyard

Savanaclaw Student A: Shut up! We didn't do it. Who gives a shit about your clothes!

Epel: If there's anythin' you wanted to say, tell 's up front instead of harassin'… you're so unmanly, senior.

Savanclaw Student A: What!?

Cinema studies Student B: If we cannot agree and don't progress then… We will have a duel!!!!

Savanaclaw Student B: Hah, come at me. I don't think you culture boys will be much of an opponent though.

Everyone: HAAAAH!!

/Fighting sounds

???: Stop it!

Savanaclaw Student A: Huh…

Cinema studies Student A: All our magic was swept away!?

Epel: Rook!?

Rook: Turn your magical pen in, everyone. It's forbidden to use magic for your personal struggles. Besides, you’re in the wrong by blaming them. They have nothing to do with what happened.

Epel: Huh…

Savanaclaw Student B: Pf! You got us involved in some weird stuff. We did nothin' so we're off.

Cinema studies Student B: … How foolish! If they didn't do it, then please tell us who did such a horrible thing!

Rook: The cause of this tragedy is deep love. The real culprit is… You!

Chapter 3

Rook: The cause of this tragedy is deep love. The real culprit is… You!

Courtyard

Cinema studies Student B/Epel: Huh…

Cinema studies Student C/D: No way…

Cinema studies Student A: …

Cinema studies Student B: He can't be the culprit, Rook! He's the costumer of the cinema studies club!?

Cinema studies Student A: That's right. You saw it, right? That "A Defective beauty", what a disgusting and criminal declaration!!

Rook: Yes, I saw it. That felt out of place. As the Savanclaw students said, they don't only not care , but even negate the very existence of "beauty". Despite that, do you think they would use an eloquent expression like "Defective"? While I was thinking about that, I inspected the garment that seemed to be torn apart by claws carefully.. And followed the clues to you.

Cinema studies Student A: Why… Me?

Rook: The scratches on the garments. They were cut by scissors in the shape of a beast's talons. And by examining the traces of your cut, I could deduce their height and their dominant arm, which happens to concur with yours. And there's more evidence. What I hold in my hand right now is a piece cut from the garments… Look at the lining?

Epel: The lining? What's wrong with it?

Rook: It's loosely sewn. This garment hasn't been used once for a photoshoot, and it's not the only part that doesn't harmonize well on the camera… Vil is the kind of person who strives for perfect quality from the fabric to the sewing and the accessories. He wouldn't have let this shoddy tailoring pass.

Epel: Um, so someone tore up the garments of the cinema studies club. But it was a fake, and not the real one…? I, I'm confused.

Rook: He hesitated at the moment of the crime when he was about to tear Vil's clothes, so he replaced it with a fake. The essential part is that the fake was made intending to fit Vil perfectly. There are only two people besides Vil that know his measurements exactly. The first one is me. And the other one is…

Epel: The costumer… who is in charge of taking his measurements?

Cinema studies Student A: Ugh…

Rook: I suggest you don't make more excuses now. Won't you tell us your reason?

Cinema studies Student A: I-, I did it because… I was jealous! You and Epel get along great with the esteemed Vil!

Epel: Huh! You think we're getting along great? The only thing he does is scold me though…

Cinema studies Student A: That's plenty! I admire Vil, studied what he likes, and devoted myself with all my might to the cinema studies club! Even so, I never got any closer to him since I enrolled! So I tried to make you two fight the other dorms…  and have you expelled from the cinema studies club.

Epel: Well ain't you a peach…

Cinema studies Student A: … I'm sorry for causing an inconvenience to everyone in the club. I'll take responsibility and quit the club.

Rook: Quit the club? Non!! That would be outrageous, my dear costumer!

Everyone: Huh!?

Cinema studies Student A: W-Why…

Rook: This case. His love for Vil created and destroyed it. Thus… Love only won't make you able to finish a piece that can be mistaken for the real thing. The way your fingers assembled this with thread and needle, it's actually beautiful. If the cinema studies club were to lose a talent like yours, Vil wouldn't be pleased. Your atonement will be your contributions to the club.

Cinema studies Student B: It's just as Rook says. You are the best out of us at dressmaking, if you weren't here it would stump us. Come on, let's go back to the clubroom. Let's repair this garment before Vil comes back from his work!

Cinema studies Student A: ! Y-Yes!!

Rook: Okay! That settles one case.

Epel: Rook! That was splendid. You are so observant, to tell it's a counterfeit just by the seams.

Rook: Ah. That was a lie! No one hand-sews anything these times. They all use a sewing machine. You can't see that with the naked eye, right? It was a trick.

Epel: Huh… Huuuh!? Then how did you know it was a fake?

Rook: Fufufu, the truth is much simpler. Smell. The counterfeit clothes didn't have a single atom of the characteristic and unique mellow fragrance that Vil has, so I knew immediately.

Epel: What!? That investigation method is kinda… gross, you know?

Rook: Listen, Epel. I regard the information you can get by smelling highly, as it's useful for hunting. You can know the places one visited or in this case, the person's characteristics, by the traces of their smell. For example… sniff sniff. What you had for lunch today-

Epel: Argh!? S-Stop this!

Rook: Hahaha! Just kidding. My nose isn't that good either.

Epel: I thought you were amazing like a detective, but… maybe you're really just a weirdo.

[xofanfics]

Without Warning - Part IV

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V

Genre: angst, slight fluff

Pairing: Reader x Mark ft. Doyoung

Word Count: 3k

Summary: You and Doyoung had the best summer you could. Now that he’s hundreds of miles away in college, you have to go through senior year alone. You meet Mark at a time when Doyoung is making you feel like you’re single.

Mark was completely taken aback by the events of the night. You’d kissed him and you held his hand and you brought him into your room. Mark could hardly contain his excitement about having kissed you, touched you, and having been close enough to pick up on your scent. For him it wasn’t sexual. It didn’t have to be and, to be honest, he didn’t want it to be. At least, not right now. For now, he was just enjoying this innocence with you.

You went in your drawers and pulled out pajamas, sending Mark into anxiety. Please don’t change in front of me, please don’t change in front of me, he thought. The last thing he needed was to get hard right now and to potentially scare you away. He definitely wasn’t ready for something like that. Thankfully, you excused yourself into the bathroom and returned a couple minutes later with a freshly washed face and pajamas on. 

You looked beautiful as ever, even with no makeup on. He’d seen you a few times without makeup but on most days, he noticed, you’d at least be wearing eyeliner. But here you were, no eyeliner, no mascara, and none of your usual lipgloss with the slight pink tint to it. 

Mark was lying across your bed, heart racing. He was nervous because he’d never seen you in this state and, of course, because he liked you a lot. “You feeling okay?”

You nodded. “Just a little tired. Do you wanna watch my show with me?”

“Yeah. What show?”

“I started rewatching Sailor Moon.”

“I’m down for whatever.” 

You crawled into the bed with him and snuggled up to him, lying on his chest. He wasn’t sure if you could hear his heart racing but it was definitely racing. His heart pounded so hard he could hear it in his ears. He didn’t know if it was because he’d been drinking or what; he just knew that he was very aware of himself right now. Was he breathing too hard? Was he breathing at all? Did he still smell like alcohol? Did you actually like him, the same way he did? He had so many questions and most of them, he couldn’t answer at the moment.

One minute you were watching tv in silence and the next minute, you were asleep. Mark looked down at you and smiled at how cute you looked with your mouth slightly open. He wished he had this view all the time. With a sigh, he thought about all the things you could do if you were his. But for now, he caressed your hand as you slept. He stayed like that with you for the rest of the episode before he figured he shouldn’t overstay his welcome. He scooted from underneath you but before he could get out of the bed you reached out for him, grabbing onto his arm.

“Don’t go,” you mumbled.

“What?”

You opened your eyes and pouted. “Cuddle with me…”

Mark’s heart started racing again but he did what you asked. Plus, how could he resist when you made a face like that. He got under the blanket with you and pulled you closer. You snuggled up to him and said, “Goodnight.” Mark smiled and wrapped his arms around you. And with you in his arms, he fell asleep more quickly than he normally would. 

*

“Y/N?”

Mark shot up, realizing that he probably should’ve asked you when and if your mom was coming back home. He looked down at you, still fast asleep. Should he hide under the bed? In the closet? He heard footsteps coming toward the closed door. Mark bolted into the closet, hoping that the door wasn’t the kind that would squeak as you opened it. Thankfully, it didn’t and he closed the door just enough. He took in a deep breath, praying that your mom had no reason to look in the closet.

“Y/N?” your mom said. She opened the door and Mark heard your mattress shift from outside the closet. 

“Hey,” you said. He heard you yawn loudly. He couldn’t see you but he imagined it in his mind. 

His heart raced while your mother spoke. Was he breathing too loud? Could your mom somehow sense his presence? Thankfully, he’d come over in his socks so there weren’t any shoes by the door to be evidence. He’d met your mom a couple times at this point but he was pretty sure your mom wouldn’t have been very happy to come home and find the two of you asleep in each other’s arms. 

“Did you have fun with Mark and your friends?” She chuckled as Mark’s heart continued racing. “That’s good to hear. Anyway, it’s been a very long double shift so I think I’m going to take a bath with those bath salts you got me for my birthday. Get a little more sleep.”

“Okay,” you said, “See you later.”

Mark heard the door close and relief swept over him. A moment later, when he was sure your mom was gone, he whispered, “Y/N…”

“Mark?” You opened the closet door, surprised that Mark was there. You found him in between your jeans and your t-shirts. “Oh my God, I thought you left! I’m sorry, I forgot to set my alarm. I should’ve told you my mom was coming home in the morning. Unfortunately, she’s not on vacation in Mexico...”

“It’s all good,” he said, chuckling as he stepped out of the closet. “As long as she didn’t see us in the bed together, I think we’ll both survive.”

You laughed, too. “That was way too close.”

“Yeah, for sure. I should get out of here before your mom comes back...”

You nodded, moving out of his way. “Let me make sure she’s in the bathroom.” You left him in the room for a moment. Mark grabbed his phone from under your pillow. You came back and said, “The coast is clear.” 

You waved him over and he followed you to the front door. 

Mark turned to you. He needed to know before leaving here. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah,” you said, stretching.

“Do you remember anything from last night?”

You nodded. “I remember everything. I meant everything.”

That brought a wide smile to Mark’s face. He felt his cheeks get hot and he wasn’t sure if he was visibly blushing or not. Then again, he didn’t care. Hell, if you meant all the things you’d said, nothing else mattered. You wanted to kiss him, genuinely. He wasn’t sure if you liked him like that but you clearly felt something. And, for now, that was good enough for him.

You had something you wanted to say but you hesitated. Things had taken a turn since last night. “Um…”

Mark noticed your hesitation. He supposed things did get a little awkward. “What’s up?”

“Since we’re sober now, will you kiss me?” you asked, taking Mark by surprise. You’d been so forward for the last ten hours and he had no idea what to make of any of this. You didn’t know what had come over you the past few hours.

“Yeah.” 

Mark leaned in slowly, pressing his lips to yours. Your lips felt the same, more or less. They weren’t as moist without lipgloss and they no longer tasted like cotton candy. But he enjoyed the kiss with you nevertheless. He pulled away a few seconds later with a smile. You looked into each other’s eyes for a moment and he kissed you again. “Is that what you wanted?”

“Yep.” You took his hand in yours and squeezed it. “Now get out of here before my mom catches you here.”

With a chuckle and a kiss on your cheek, Mark was gone with the wind. 

*

Doyoung was annoyed and frustrated. He’d been trying to contact you for weeks on end to no avail. You’d dodged every obstacle. He’d hit you up on LINKEDIN, for God’s sake. He was putting in all that effort and you ignored him every time. He’d tried contacting you through your friends, on social media, and so on. But there was never any response. 

And then the one opportunity he had to talk to you, you were drunk off your ass. Was it that bad that you couldn’t contact him sober? Was it that bad that you had to be drunk to speak to him?

He was frustrated because he fucked up. He fucked up and he didn’t mean to. New stressors in his life weren’t any excuse to treat you the way he did. He got caught up in this new life and he took you for granted. He assumed you’d stick around because you loved each other, even though he hadn’t been acting like it. College life became more important to him that managing the relationship. But he snapped that one time and that was all it took to destroy the relationship. He was so stupid not to realize what was going on, not to realize how distant he’d become. It didn’t look good on his part, as your boyfriend.

How could he have been so stupid? He missed you. Some days, you were all he thought about. Were you sleeping well at night? Were you having fun? Did you...miss him? 

He was frustrated because he made a mistake, one that cost him even his friendship with you. He lost his girlfriend and his best friend, all at once. And he hated it. He missed being able to vent to you when he’d had a shitty day and he wished that he could call and tell you about it. But you took that option away from him and Amber and Phil weren’t much help either. He didn’t want to put them in the middle; it was an issue that he had with you and it wasn’t right to try to go through them.

Doyoung’s phone rang on his desk, disrupting him from his thoughts. It was his mother. She was the last person he wanted to speak to right now. He let it ring, hoping that she’d just leave it at that. The phone stopped ringing and he let out a sigh of relief. The relief only lasted for a few seconds and she started calling again. Doyoung rolled his eyes and sighed instead of hurling the phone across the room like he’d imagined in his head. He picked up the phone from off the desk and answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hey mom.”

“Just calling to check on you. How is everything?”

“It’s going okay. I’m working on a paper right now. I’m almost done. I got an B on my biology exam. I think I’m getting the hang of how I need to study for that class.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m sure you’ll do better for the next exam. Start preparing now so you can get a head start.” She cleared her throat. “Did you book your flight yet?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’ve been so busy. I meant to tell you about it yesterday.”

“Good. The prices were getting more expensive.” She let out a deep sigh. “I can’t believe your brother is getting married in three weeks.”

“I can’t believe I’m going to have to come right back to school after.”

“Me either. But you know how event venues are. They got a good deal considering it’s a weekend.”

“It’s going to be a long weekend.”

It would be. But all he could think about was the possibility of seeing you while he was back home. He had so many things he wanted to say, so many things to make up for. He just wanted confirmation if things between you two were truly over. What would he find if he looked you in your eyes? Love, hate, or indifference?

*

Amber hit you in the arm with the copy of Romeo and Juliet that had been sitting on your desk. “You and Mark what?” 

You shrugged and said, “We kissed...a few times. And he might’ve slept over last night...”

“Slept over? Did you guys do it?”

“No!” you said, probably a little more loudly than necessary. “It wasn’t like that. We just...cuddled and slept. But I forgot to set an alarm for when my mom came back so Mark must’ve heard her calling me and he hid in the closet.” You grabbed an oreo from the box sitting in the middle of the bed as Amber sat cross legged at the foot of the bed, waiting for the rest of the story. “At first I was sad because I thought he left in the middle of the night but he ended up in the closet because my mom came in to say hi.”

“Well this was definitely unexpected,” she said, “but Mark’s a pretty decent guy, being from the male species and all.”

“Yeah…”

“Why didn’t you tell me you liked Mark?”

“I didn’t know. I mean, I never thought about it.”

“So you’re not sure?”

“I think I do like him…I mean, I liked the kiss and the cuddling. And it’s not like he’s not attractive.”

“You’re not using him to get over Doyoung, right?”

You shook your head. Of course, getting over a two year relationship wouldn’t be easy but you had to move on eventually. And, with the way he treated you, it would be easier once you met someone who truly had your best interests in mind. Mark was a sweet guy and he was a good friend. Even though things had been platonic up until this point, Mark had become one of your closest friends. You could trust him with your life and you knew that, perhaps, you could trust him with your heart, too.

You weren’t sure what came over you that night but all you could think of at the time was “What if we kissed?” The alcohol gave you the nudge but you found yourself thinking of Mark constantly. And every time you did, you smiled. You remembered how you felt when things had gotten more romantic with Doyoung. You’d get butterflies when you heard his name and you were excited to see him everyday at school.

It was pretty early on but you knew that you were starting to like Mark, as more than just a friend.

*

Lucas jogged over toward Mark, sweaty and exhausted. He plopped down on the bench next to his friend and took a long swig from his water bottle. They’d been playing basketball for about an hour. “Ready to go?”

Mark nodded, standing up. “Yeah, let’s head back. I’m starving.”

Lucas stood too and they headed to the parking lot, in search of the car. Mark took out the keys to his parents’ car and got in. As Lucas got in the passenger, he said, “So what happened after we left last night? Did you tell her you like her?”

“Well we, uh, kissed...and I did tell her I like her.”

Lucas smirked. “So she likes you after all, huh?”

“I mean, I think so.”

“What do you mean, you think so? Did you ask her?”

“I mean I didn’t ask her directly.”

“So what the hell did you talk about then?”

“Well we actually didn’t do too much talking.” 

As soon as the words left Mark’s mouth, he regretted them. He knew that it sounded a lot dirtier than he meant. And he knew that Lucas would take it the wrong way.

Lucas’ eyes widened as he took it the wrong way. “You fucked her?”

Mark turned in his seat. “No, no! We didn’t have sex or anything like that. I know it sounds kinda weird but she brought me over next door to hangout because she didn’t wanna be alone and then she kissed me and then she wanted me to stay over and cuddle with her. So we cuddled and we both fell asleep.”

“Cuddle, huh? We all know what cuddling leads to…”

“Hey, just because that’s what you and Marina do doesn’t mean it’s the same for me and Y/N! When are you going to start dating her anyway?”

“Hey! Don’t change the subject! We’re not talking about me and Rina. When are you going to take Y/N on a date?”

“Soon. I’m just not sure what we should do. Got any date ideas?”

“Y/N is a pretty simple girl. What about a picnic at the park? You could go around dinner and watch the sun set.”

*

Mark was feeling extra excited today. He got to the bus stop a few minutes early, so he could rehearse what he was going to say to you. He’d rehearsed it a million times last night into this morning. Initially, he thought about texting it to you but he decided against it; he figured that asking you in person would be better.

He’d been texting you all weekend but he hadn’t hung out with you. Part of him was hoping that the two of you could hang out at least once but you’d been out with your mom all day yesterday. And he understood because your mom hadn’t had a Sunday off in a while. He was satisfied with the kiss you promised him over text messages. 

You snuck up on Mark without meaning to. He’d been so deep in his thoughts that he didn’t even see you coming in his peripheral vision. He jumped when you appeared in front of him, almost dropping his phone. “Shit!”

“Sorry,” you said, giggling, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay.” He sighed. “Ready for school?”

“I’m never ready for school.”

Mark chuckled. “Are you busy this weekend?”

You shook your head. “Nope.”

“Would you wanna go on a date on Saturday?”

Your face lit up at his words. That made Mark happy. “I’d love that.” You hugged him, wrapping your arms around him tightly. And when you pulled away, you gave him that promised kiss. 

That, of course, made Mark even happier.

***

TAG LIST: @wanlore​

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[maadorii]

you’re gonna wanna be my best friend— y. itadori x gn! reader

max.note’s: this is my child, my baby and i love it. probably my favorite fic i’ve ever wrote uwu i think the ending is bit rushed but that’s i was writing this at 4am (i’m also trying out a new layout-ish so yea) 

synopsis—where you and Itadori came up with the greatest, yet stupidest idea in your lives: getting married to lower your tuition cost. what could go wrong? well, there’s getting caught by the government, and then there’s potentially falling in love with your best friend. 

warning/tags: best friends to lovers, mutual pining, characters aged up (18+), high school/college au, modern au, fluff & crack, megumi is the only one with a working brain cell 

w. count— 3.1k

“yuuji, what’re we gonna do!?” you exclaimed, pacing around the open space of said boy’s bedroom. itadori groaned loudly from his spot on his bed, tugging at the skin underneath his eyes with him. 

looking down at the bright, bold red letters of the opened email on your phone screen, you internally cried to yourself, because… fuck. this is what all the hard work all four-years of high school led up to?

25, 580 dollars worth tuition left to pay, out of pocket. 

“i don’t fucking know. ...wait, do you think megumi would have an answer?” he perked up at his own, and quite frankly, idiotic idea like an excited puppy. if you squint you can see a tail wagging behind him. turning around to look at the pink headed boy, you practically leaped across the room to slap him repeatedly upside his head. 

“ow– hey... ouch! what the fuck?!” itadori whined, lifting his arms up to shield himself way from your merciless assault. “yuuji, are you dumb? we cannot, for the love of god, ask megumi. he’ll probably tell us to apply for a loan or something.” you snapped. 

“we’ll do that then, it can’t be that hard.” 

“have you seen your credit? there’s no way we're getting approved for a loan.” you exasperated as you folded your arms across your chest, plopping yourself down next to itadori. and the both of you were left to sit in condemning silence that laid itself like a thick, winter blanket over you. itadori could’ve sworn he heard the gears turning in your head because of the stark silence. 

you suddenly gasped, jumping to your feet. it was almost like a lightbulb went off on the top of your head. itadori gaped at you as your eyes lit up like stars, turning to him, it was your ‘aha’ moment. the biggest smile he’s ever seen on your face. he couldn’t help the tinge of nervousness settle in the pit of his tummy, probably for good reason.  

“here me out– what if we got married?” 

-

you and itadori meet in the lunchroom on the first day of school your freshman year of high school.

to say you meet by pure coincidence is actually a perfect explanation to describe what really went down. you remember how you sat alone at the lunch table, scrolling through your phone on social media when all of a sudden a rather energetic boy with pink hair crashed into your table. face planted in your bowl of greek yogurt. and it was the fancy kind too. 

the cafeteria around you erupted in laughter at the... spontaneous display happening before you. and although you wanted to laugh (in all honesty, it was funny), the boy below hasn’t moved an inch. truthfully, you were worried. 

“hey, um, are you okay?” you asked, nudging the top of his head. itadori didn’t show any sign of getting up. you nudged him a little harder, shaking his shoulder. with a gurgled grunt, itadori lifted his head from the bowl and the first thing that caught your eye was the crimson colored blood smeared along the stark white of the yogurt. there was a delirious look in his eye as if he wasn’t completely there in the real world. the laughter has long since died down, only a few strangers coming up to the table to record the aftermath. 

when itadori came to, he peered up at you through his yogurt clumped eyelashes and he felt his heart tighten considerably in his chest. 

“you okay? you’re... bleeding, a lot.” you asked again, gesturing to the entirety of his face. he didn’t say anything as he wiped around his nose, seeing the blood covered dairy. he looked mortified, now catching onto the stares and cameras by nosy teenagers being shoved in his face. reacting quickly, you reached out to one his unoccupied hand, gently guiding him in the direction of the nurses office. your footsteps echoed as you walked down the empty hallway, itadori following close behind you. neither of you said anything during the trip, nor when you entered the nurse’s office. it wasn’t until you had a warm wash rag against itadori’s cheek, wiping away the food and blood mixture, that he finally said something. 

“i’m... sorry, for ruining your lunch...” you stopped in your tracks, left to ponder in your thoughts. he’s sitting here with a busted lip and a shattered dignity... and he’s apologizing for face planting in your yogurt?

“hey, you have bigger things to worry about. so, what’s your name?” you continued to wipe at his face, waiting for him to reply.

“yuuji itadori.” and you saw the slightest glimpse of a smile tugging at the corner of his rosy lips. you returned the smile, teeth showing. 

from then on, you two were joined at the hip. there wasn’t anything you didn’t do together. 

there was something about itadori that brought out the inner child in you. he was sweet, loyal and compassionate. he was a lamp to a moth– hard to resist. hard to ignore. he was your first taste of an easy going life, being able to enjoy being a kid. 

on the other hand, you were the foundation he needed. you were open minded, authentic and grounded. you were the first thing in itadori’s life that felt stable. obtainable. your ambition turned into his drive; he wanted to be by your side for as long as possible. 

you both were something– somebody, each other needed the most. it’s like what they say: the best people in your life come when you need them the most. 

-

“are you two dumb or something? now, i expect this kinda thing from yuuji, but not you.”megumi quipped, left eyebrow arched in concern as he gestured towards your direction with his pencil. nobara in a similar state next to him, working on the worksheet the teacher handed out earlier. it was currently mid-way through the school day, you, itadori, megumi and nobara sat at your assigned table in statistics. it’s been about a week since your discussion with itadori about your... rather brilliant idea. 

“well, that’s harsh.” itadori grumbled, flipping him off. megumi snorted as he returned the gesture. “okay, now listen! they’re explaining the thingy.” 

you cleared your throat, sitting up straight to try to make yourself look dignified. “when applying for financial aid, if you’re married, we’ll be considered an independent on the document. meaning? more money!” 

“okay, well that’s great and all but, you do know you’ll be responsible for each other legally? as in, medical and money expenses. what would you do if either one of you dies? ” megumi questioned. you chuckled, wrapping your arm around itadori’s neck. “i’ve been legally responsible for him since freshman year, what’ll be the difference?” 

megumi rolled his eyes, burying his head in his hands. “god, you’re both so helpless.” 

“you know what megumi? i hope both sides of your pillow are warm when you go to sleep tonight.” itadori gasped in shock, hand reaching up to grip the cotton fabric of the shirt he was wearing. nobara snickered behind her hand to which megumi prompted to shift in her direction, whispering something along the lines of “don’t encourage them!”

“(y/n)! you did not just say that!?”

“i sure as hell did. and i’ll say it again!” you snapped your fingers, jutting out your hip. “and they’ll say it again!” itadori said, copying your actions.

megumi and nobara only watched in pity as the two of you continued to embarrass yourself in the middle of the classroom, other classmates turning to catch a peak of the commotion.

“wait, i got one, i got one! ahem, i hope you pour yourself a nice, big bowl of cereal of— what do you eat? apple jacks? only for there to be no milk!” 

you sputtered out a laugh, pounding your fist on the table. itadori was loud with laughter as well, body slung over the back of the chair.

megumi sighed, picking up his pencil to erase a mistake he spotted on his paper. he watched as the eraser smudged the lead on the paper instead of actually erasing it. watching the scene unfold before you, wheezing out another laugh, and clutching on to your stomach for relief. 

“shut the fuck up, the both of you.”

-

graduation was only a month away. 

teachers were cramming review lessons left and right. completing any last minute work to turn in. senior activities, trips, prom, and getting ready for what was to be the biggest day of your life. where all your hard work and putting up with the shitty ass public school system for 13 years will finally pay off. 

at least that’s how they make it seem. 

itadori was currently sitting in megumi’s living room, sprawled out on the floor like a starfish. his political science textbook laid open next to him. he’s been unusually quiet this afternoon, megumi noted when he would glance up from his own textbook in his lap.

“hey, yuuji? something the matter?”

itadori didn’t respond right away, instead, he shifted himself closer to megumi to lay his head on the other boy's lap. caught surprised by his actions, megumi tried to shove his head off but itadori being the stubborn man he was wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“god, you’re so annoying—“

“then why are you still friends with me?” his words were quick and sharp like a kitchen knife. and megumi had to take a second to pause. “is this what this is about?” itadori still hasn’t said anything, his body curling in on itself. eventually, he shook his head no. 

“alright... then what’s wrong?” 

megumi watched as itadori twiddled with fingers, reluctant to share his feelings with the other male. you see, the thing is that although megumi and itadori have been friends since middle school, they found it hard to share each other's feelings. especially megumi. they’ve always been the “i don’t know how to talk about my feelings so let me enjoy your company for a while?” type of friends. except for that one time. 

“it’s just... i’m not so sure if i want to marry (y/n) anymore...” megumi could barely hear what itadori said, but he caught it. and color him surprised. “have you finally come to senses that it’s a stupid idea?” 

“no, it’s not that–” megumi sighed internally, “–it’s just, what if our relationship changes after it’s finalized? we planned to do it after graduation a-and– it’s just a really scary thing to think about.” itadori’s voice began to warble, and megumi could feel his body tremble as the boy beneath tried to hold in his tears. 

in all the years they’ve known each other, itadori has only cried once in front of him. and that was the night of his 16th birthday. because itadori didn’t come from the best home, and at the time, only megumi knew of such disclosed information. 

“they said it themselves, you guys have always taken care of each other. so why do you think it’ll change things?” he gently tried to coax itadori into calming down, his hand stroking the soft tufts of his hair. thumb caressing his buzzcut. itadori sniffed, and megumi can hear the disgusting sound of snot being sucked back in his nostrils, but he refrained himself from reacting. 

“b-because, i just don’t want my feelings to get in the way, ya’ know? this is simply supposed to be platonic, but it isn’t anymore. at least for me.” 

and right then and there, megumi’s suspicions were confirmed. itadori did have feelings for you. more than what a best friend should have. “your feelings? and what might these feelings be, yuuji?” 

“that i want to spend a very long time with them, by their side. but not as their best friend. something more than that.” he let out a shuddered  exhale, and the room was engulfed with silence. megumi took this time to process what itadori said, the last four words resonating in his mind. 

something more than that.

megumi shifted itadori’s body off his, moving to sit up on his own. and that’s when he saw his face for the first time; his red-brimmed eyes and how the tears clumped his willowy eyelashes together. the tremble in his lips because, damn, he’s trying so hard to hold it in. 

he didn’t have anything to say– there wasn’t much to say to begin with, but megumi wrapped his arms around itadori in a hug. he felt him relax against his body, taking in the cool scent of his sweater. 

“it’s okay to be scared, yuuji, but i believe... you’re smart enough to make the right decision.” 

 - 

standing underneath the blazing summer heat, you stood in front of the court house waiting for itadori to show up. today was supposed to be the day, where you and itadori were to be married. it’s been thirty minutes and no itadori in sight. which is unlike him considering that he is, surprisingly, very punctual. he hasn’t even responded to any of your texts or calls, which also isn’t very much like him.

but those thirty minutes turned into an hour, that soon turned into two hours. 

and to say you were angry, was a complete understatement. you were livid. and that’s how you found yourself banging on itadori’s front door, ignoring the stares of the noisy next door neighbor peeping through their window. 

“yuuji! open the fucking door! i know your ass is in there, i can see your minecraft lamp turned on from your window.” you shouted, breathing heavily through your nose. there wasn’t an immediate response, only dead silence, which prompted you to raise your fist to go another round of beating up the door until the faint sound of footsteps reached the door. opening with a creak. 

there stood the man of the hour, yuuji ita- fucking- dori.

“there you are! dude, what the hell happened? why didn’t you show up at the courthouse today? did you forget or...” you were quick to jump the gun, bombarding him with questions left and right. 

“no... i didn’t forget.” was his reply, eye downcast to look at his sock clad feet. anywhere but your face right now. 

“then what yuuji? what could’ve been so important that you decided to just forget?” you flayed your arms around like a mad man, the anger rolling off your body in waves. you knew that you weren’t necessarily being fair to him right now, you can tell by his stand-offish attitude since opening the door. but you couldn’t bring yourself to care at the moment. 

itadori was reluctant to answer, his legs wobbly with the anxiety running rampant in his system. he was tempted to say sorry and be done with this, but then he remembered megumi’s words.    

...you’re smart enough to make the right decision. 

“because... because this isn’t a good idea anymore.” now you’re more confused than angry. 

“what do you mean this isn’t a good idea anymore,” you asked, placing your hand on your hip. “that's not what you said 4 months ago.” 

itadori sighed, starting to feel the twinge of annoyance in the tips of his fingers. he was starting to regret his choice of words. “i know what i said 4 months ago. but now 4 months later, i’ve changed my mind.” 

you wanted to laugh, but you couldn’t muster a bubble of it in your system. was he for real right now? 

“oh really? and why do you say that?” 

“it’ll change everything.” the reply was short. straight to the point. 

“what? no, it won’t! don’t be silly, we’ll still be best friends!” you try to muse, but itadori wasn’t budging. his face was disdained, detached from the world. the answer was sitting on the tip of his tongue, but he wasn’t ready to say it. especially in front of you. 

taking in his physique, your mind started to slow. you didn’t want to go there but you couldn’t help it. it was only natural, right? 

he’s been off putting since the graduation ceremony two weeks ago. he was so bright and happy that day, shoving his diploma in megumi’s face a numerous number of times. you remember the scream he let out when your name was called to walk across the stage of the arena. how embarrassed you felt as you did so, but a twinge of giddy happiness filled your chest. because he was calling out your name. your heart always did leap with joy when his attention was on you, and only you. the way he had you wrapped around his finger, without him even knowing. it takes you back to when you two first met, how you were so captivated by his amber eyes. the sudden urge to be there. to always be there and to be more. 

so... “do you not like me anymore? is this what this is about now?” it came out a whispered, and itadori was shocked nonetheless. now what were you talking about? 

“what, no! of course i still like you!” you almost laughed at how quickly he responded.

“then why? why did you–”

“i just didn’t want to make things awkward between us! i didn’t want to ruin our friendship with my... stupid feelings.” glancing up, you can see the slightest tint of pink on the roundness of his cheeks. awkward? ruin? 

you took a step forward, your hand reaching to hold his. kindly, thumbing his knuckles with your thumb. the way he always liked it. 

“yuuji, your feelings are never stupid. i’m your best friend–” with a frustrated huff, itadori ripped his hand away from yours. 

“but that’s the thing though! best friend this and best friend that– what if i don’t want to be your best friend anymore, hm? what if–” make the right decision, “what if i want to be more than that?”

more than that?

“you want to be more than friends? is what you’re saying.” itadori can almost feel himself shit his pants. 

that giddy feeling that always erupted whenever you were around him expanded ten fold. you’ll be damned: your best friend of four and a half years, was in love with you. the smile that you struggled to fight bloomed with mirth on your face. and itadori followed suit, reaching out to hold your hand once more.

not much needed to be said, the smile on your face was enough for him to put it all together. for once, he was actually smart enough to make a decision. a good one at that. 

copyright © 2021 maadorii. all rights reserved. 

[twisted-imagines]

Heyo! May I request headcanons for how Leona and Azul would react to their respective SO being unassumingly strong? Like they look like they possess average strength but they are able to carry a lot of heavy things (easily the dorm leaders) or hold their own in a physical fight. I hope this makes sense 😅😅😅

Unbelievable, I'm back! With a request, nonetheless💖 I wonder if you missed me, hehe? Man, did I miss you all and my precious boys~ It's shorter than usually and I got hit with a writer's block, but it'll try to pick up my pace from now on >:3

But for now, please, enjoy💗

Unassumingly strong S/O

Leona Kingscholar 🦁

Rays of sunset gently caressing his face woke Leona up from his post-lunch nap. Still groggy from his sleep he rose up just to look at the clock. Almost evening, the last classes in college ended at least two hours ago. But that wasn't important to Leona. What really bothered him, was the absence of one customary part of his sleeping routine: your warm form beside his. To have you curled up into his side or just sitting near him telling about your day always made his dreams more pleasant and now that he got used to it, not having you beside him rubbed him the wrong way. You should have already been there, so where were you? The lion didn't want to think about the worst, but only the most alarming conclusions came to his mind. The bed shifted beneath him when he got up, but before he could even take a step a loud stomping resonating in the hallway drew his attention. Ruggie was at his doorstep, disheveled, and clearly agitated.

"Leona-san! You need to see this, come. Quick!"

Leona could finally let out the breath he took when Ruggie rushed him out of his room and to the common room. Several students were running to-and-fro around the other three beat-up Savanaclaw residents. The dorm leader stopped at the door, relieved to not had seen you there. And why would you be there, though? Nonsense. But it was really the only thing he was worried about since the sight before him was all too common for Leona at that point. He was about to turn to Ruggie and ask what all that fuss was about until a conversation between couch occupant and the students treating him reached his ears.

"Ouch! That hurts, man! Ugh, if not that piece of-!"

"Don't even think about ending that sentence. You're lucky that it wasn't the dorm leader who got his hands on you."

"Yes, dumbass, can you even imagine what would have happened to you three if he found out you fought his mate- Wha? Huh?! Leona-san? Since when did you-"

Leona crossed the room in a few powerful strides only to pick the unfortunate student by his collar. An unbridled fury grimaced his face.

"What's about [Y/n]? Tell me, your puny life depends on it!“

"Nishishishi, what can he even tell? That he and his thick-headed friends got completely obliterated by a single, small human?"

"Listen, I'm very sorry about it, but it was just self-defense!"

Leona dropped the scared, shaking from fear student to the floor in favor of rushing to your self, who too entered the room. He swiftly checked you for any injury and let out a relieved sigh. From what he could see you were completely fine, while those who harassed you were very much not, trembling and holding each other, bruised and humiliated. Kingscholar could only look bewildered at them, and then at you, at them, at you.

"Leona, I'm really sorry, I didn't want to hurt them so bad."

Your ramble became faster the more your boyfriend looked at you with a blank look, not even saying a word to you.

"...so if there's some disciplinary punishment or otherwise or will take it, I-"

A snicker interrupted your speech. You looked at the man before you stunned. Before you could utter even another word he erupted in a fit of roaring laughter, it resonating in a completely silent dorm.

• Ah, Leona can't genuinely remember when was the last time he laughed that hard. The whole situation is so amusing to him, there isn't't a boring day with you, is there?

• Of course, you'll face no punishment, vice versa, you'll be celebrated. His darling, his kitten, was actually a mighty carnivore all along. He's going to mark the day, when he finally found out about that.

• Never would he think, not a snowballs chance in hell, that you had any physical strength in you, but you managed to prove him wrong. Yes, he was very close to destroying poor souls who tried to harass you, but if not for them taunting you and being beat up in the process, he wouldn't have such a discovery to laugh at. They're getting away with it, a living example of why exactly one ought to not touch dorm leader's lover. They're not dining with everybody that evening though, no matter how much tasty food there is.

• He doesn't think a lot about this discovery at first, that's just another gimmick of yours and he loves it, he loves you, but does it turn his world upside down, both figuratively and literally, when you, fed up with him lazing around the greenhouse and trying to make you lie down with him, swing him over your shoulder and carry him out. His pupils are just two saucers. He hangs speechless from your shoulder and until he feels ground under his legs he doesn't register what happened.

• Congratulations, now you have Leona Kingscholar living in your arms. He'll just use you as a personal carriage and how can you deny him, when he's so cutely snuggling up to you. Oh, he knows what he does to you and isn't ashamed to take advantage of it.

• He's quite pleased to know that you can hold your own in a physical fight, even in a magical world they're still too common. He even starts to watch himself, especially when he thinks he went too far with his teasing since you do have a strength to turn it on him. Well, he doesn't really protest. A bit of roughhousing and a tickle fight never harmed anybody, it amuses Leona when you start them.

• He admires you more than anybody else at this point. You're badass and you know it, and he couldn't be more proud. He sleeps soundly, knowing that you can stand up for yourself if the situation calls for it. He still much prefers to have you safe in his arms, or vice versa, so don't leave him for longer, than you should.

• One time he just casually asked you, if you could wield any weapon with a very unsettling glint in his eyes. He told you that a lot of people in Afterglow Savannah were proficient in some war art, it was a very respected tradition, and some of the masters could teach you, if you visited his homeland with him. He left the question open, but sometimes you still wonder what did he actually mean?

Azul Ashengrotto 🐙

Night Raven College was in a state of emergency. All students were to follow their seniors to a safe location, while teachers and student council were dealing with the threat. The reason for such a panic was a single creature. Highly dangerous at its full potential and untamable, college's Chimera was much less imposing than it's wild nature sisters, but still a difficult opponent for students at their Magic Defense classes. Apparently this time it decided to give a special lesson to everybody.

"The beast ran in that direction, don't let it get away once again, surround and subdue it!"

Azul's order rang in the hallway, spurring every present student to action. At the state of total disarray, the youth was the only one who reacted fast enough to rally his fellow students and direct them properly. But to say the hunt was going awfully is to say nothing. The students, so much for them being skilled at magic, had no idea of command work. Ashengrotto had already regretted sending Leech twins away with Octavinelle juniors, it would have ended so much faster if they were present. But alas, after running around the campus for more than half an hour, Azul could finally hope they would catch the damned beast at last.

"It's running away, catch it! Why are you standing still?"

"Can you not complain for five seconds, pretty boy? Want me to fix your make up with my fists for you?"

"The Chimera is resisting magical attacks, somebody please sacrifice yourself for the greater good. We need to neutralize it!"

No, they were hopeless. Azul could only observe the people he saw daily at college lose all respect he had for them in less than an hour. Azul was genuinely contemplating to just give up and let the teachers, who got lost halfway too somehow, handle it. At that point he wasn't even chasing it, disappointedly watching how it was running away into the sunset.

Until it suddenly didn't. Chimera crashed with a loud thud, falling to the floor completely motionless. And the one who was standing above it with a bright red crowbar was none other than you. Shocked, he slowly approached you and the unconscious animal.

"Um... [Name]?"

"Sup' Azul! You were late for our date so I returned to check up on you. This Chimera is so big! It's the first time I've seen it. Where should we carry it?"

"Yes, yes...You'll still meet it at your Magic Defense classes later the semester. To the classroom on the third floor, let me-"

Before Azul could lift it with magic you had already hoisted it on your shoulder and awaited for his lead.

Well, it was certainly a dream so he didn't have to freak out, right? His dear significant other couldn't possibly knock out a huge beast in one punch?

• Wrong. You did. You also had enough strength to carry it to its cage. You could do even more than that. The more Azul was coming to the understanding of it, the more he was freaking out. Until he completely stopped responding to you. The date had to be canceled, unfortunately. You led him to his dorm, while he was having an identity crisis.

• When he finally snaps out of his state you're so going to be bombarded with questions. They won't stop, and you're not even sure he addresses them to you. How did you hide it and why? Or was he just oblivious? But you look so demure, look at Jack for example and look at you! How?

"Well, I'm pretty soft, but here touch - there muscles underneath!"

He's now more lost than before, after making contact with your bare skin.

• It's going to take him time to come to terms with your actual strength. Lack of magic not equating to being powerless didn't register in his brain, and he thought it was actually very ignorant of him. He respected you before, but now he's in awe. His significant other is very strong and Azul thinks it's beautiful.

• When he has too much work and is stubborn about cramming it all into one day, even though he's already drooling on his notes and slips down his chair, you just lift him from his seat and parade through Monstro Lounge to his room with Azul blushing madly in your arms. Leech twins think it's the most hilarious thing they've ever seen. Azul is very embarrassed, but it also feels so good to be carried around by you, he feels the most special man in the world. He politely asks you to not handle him like that ever again, while he clings to you like a baby koala. It's obvious where he wants to be.

• He has a love-hate attitude to manhandling. It certainly feels exciting when you tug him on your lap if he's passing by, or envelop him in a hug if you're happy, but he's also quite shy about it, especially if there're people around you. Sometimes he wants just to find a pot big enough to hide.

• He likes your way of solving problems. You don't have to choose the best spells that would give you an advantage against a certain opponent, neither do you have to worry about things like mana and blot. You can only rely on yourself in a fight. He wheezed when you suggested, that Floyd wouldn't be a dangerous opponent to you since his unique magic wouldn't deflect a punch to the face. Floyd wasn't impressed with that logic, but he kept quiet.

• Azul is quite pacifistic, if he can mitigate the conflict and reach a consensus that would benefit every party, mostly him, he will try to avoid a fight. But when even he can't do this, you enter the picture. You know that those jerks are too arrogant and they should be prescribed a nice, educating blow to a face. Azul is mortified, when you escalate things, for he usually doesn't see such scenes, Floyd or even sometimes Jade leave them offstage. He quickly comes to his senses though and helps you out. Best believe you're going to get away with it, and even will be treated as a victim. Who in their right mind will think that you, of all people, can deal any serious damage to anybody?

• He feels a bit weird when you're the one carrying his shopping bags, or screwing the jars open, but he learns to roll with it, even starts to enjoy it. And his face when he sees you carrying a huge table all on your own, because he just so mentioned, that he didn't like how it stood in the Lounge? Priceless.

• No matter how much time passes he'll still react surprised when he sees you displaying your power, but it's also one of the qualities he loves about you. Azul treats your unusual strength as your special appeal and couldn't be more proud to be your lover.

• He's ecstatic that he can just casually mention to anybody picking on him, that "his significant other can and will snap you in half". Maybe you can, maybe you can not, but you just let him have his fun. The truth is that you will do your best at any given time to protect your boyfriend.

[searchingwardrobes]

Not the Type: 5/7

The muse has awakened! I feel awful for keeping ya'll waiting so long (5 months? seriously?!) for an update on this fic. I actually decided to split this chapter up once it reached 2k because I didn't want you waiting any longer for another chapter. So, this will now be 7 chapters plus an epilogue. Much thanks to my beta @hookedonapirate​ for untangling my awkward wording and making me sound so much better! You have a way of getting what I'm trying to say and making it flow. What would I do without you? Thanks to the @captainswanmoviemarathon​ mods for being so patient and understanding when I had to put this on the back burner. And finally, thank you to my dear friend @snowbellewells​ for helping me get the muse kickstarted again on this fic. You rock!

Oh, and fun fact: The part in this chapter about Ruby’s cheer injury really happened - to me when I was a cheerleader long, long ago . . .

Summary: Emma Swan first notices him in the stands at the Friday night football game. She can tell right away Killian Jones is not the football type. Then again, she’s not the cheerleader type either, but here she is with pom poms. Life hasn’t ever gone the way Emma planned. Lately, that’s actually been a good thing. Maybe Killian Jones is a good thing, too.

My loose Captain Swan AU of the movie Bring it On

Rating: T

Also on Ao3

Tagging: @snowbellewells @whimsicallyenchantedrose @kmomof4 @xhookswenchx @let-it-raines @bethacaciakay @tiganasummertree @shireness-says @stahlop @scientificapricot @spartanguard @welllpthisishappening @resident-of-storybrooke @thislassishooked @ilovemesomekillianjones @kday426 @ekr032-blog-blog @lfh1226-linda @ultraluckycatnd @nikkiemms @optomisticgirl @profdanglaisstuff @ohmakemeahercules @carpedzem @branlovestowrite @superchocovian @sherlockwhovian​ @hollyethecurious @vvbooklady1256 @winterbaby89 @delirious-latenight-laughs @jennjenn615 @snidgetsafan @itsfabianadocarmo @lassluna

Chapter Five

“You’ve got to let go of me for one second,” Emma giggled, her tone and the fact that she was simultaneously wrapping her free arm tighter around Killian’s waist completely contradicting her words.

“Do as I say, not as I do, hm?”

“I’m trying to get the mail!”

“So?”

“So you’re kissing my neck.”

“Hm, so I am.”

He flashed her a dazzling smile, his blue eyes slightly dazed, like he was drunk on love or something. Love? Emma wriggled free of his embrace as the word penetrated her lust filled, teenage brain. They couldn’t be in love or anything like that. This wasn’t a 90's rom com or something.

Killian was unfazed by her sudden distance, his hands still finding purchase on her elbow and hip; her hair still tickling his nose and mouth. She reached into the mailbox, pulled out an unusually thick stack and started flipping through it as Killian snaked his arms around her waist from behind and propped his chin on her shoulder. Emma wasn’t surprised to see college brochures; they had begun coming with increasing regularity now that she and her brother were juniors. One white envelope with blue writing gave her pause, however. It was addressed to her, and this was no brochure. It was a very official looking letter. Emma’s hands trembled as she tore it open.

“What is it?” Killian mumbled the question, far more interested in her neck at the moment.

Emma scanned the contents of the letter, and the more the words sank in, the more she trembled. So much so that the rest of the mail went fluttering to the sidewalk. Killian was finally pulled away from his obsession with her neck and spoke his next question with deep concern.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah . . . I, um,” she swallowed hard as conflicting emotions swirled in her brain. “The University of Kentucky is interested in recruiting me for their cheerleading squad.”

“That’s amazing, Swan!”

“You have no idea,” Emma said softly as she sank down onto the front step of her apartment building.

Killian gathered up the rest of the mail, then came and sat next to her. “Then continue in my cheerleading education, love.”

Emma chuckled, though she was also touched by the obvious interest he held in her pursuits, even if they weren’t necessarily in line with his.

“UK has the best cheer program in the country,” Emma explained. “They’ve won an insane number of national titles, probably more than any other college. You don’t just make the squad, you get a full ride. They’re that good.”

Killian lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “See? I knew you were bloody brilliant.”

Emma returned his bright smile with a shaky one of her own. “You’re so sweet.”

“You’re not excited about this?”

Emma bit her lip, staring at the letter in her hands until the words started to blur together. “I am. It’s just . . . this means they’ll be sending recruiters to our competitions. That’s a lot of pressure.”

“I’m sure you’ll rise to the occasion.”

Emma’s lips lifted in a half-hearted smile. Her head collapsed onto his shoulder, and he brushed his lips against her forehead.

“A full ride . . . “

She let the thought fade into the air. How could she screw up an offer like this? It would help Ruth out so much, and her brother, too.

Yeah, no pressure.

*******************************************************

“Hey, Em!”

One of Ruby’s dirty socks bounced off Emma’s head and landed in her lap. With a disgusted grumble, she batted it to the floor.

“Rubes, that’s gross!”

“Well, you’re sitting there, staring into space. Don’t tell me you’re suddenly embarrassed to put that thing on in front of everybody.”

Emma looked down at the sports bra still clutched in her right hand. They all learned early on that there was no modest way to squeeze your boobs into a sports bra, so the squad basically had to get real comfortable around each other real fast. And contrary to every teen movie ever made, there was nothing sexy about it. It was just athletes being a team in the locker room.

You know, like male athletes.

“Oh God, she’s contemplating sexism in sports again,” Ariel groaned.

“She is!” crowed Ruby. “Look how she’s staring at that sports bra!”

“You mean this torture device?” Emma quipped, waving the garment in the air like a feminist about to burn something.

“She isn’t wrong,” Mary Margaret put in.

“Well, I for one am thankful for the torture device,” Jasmine piped up.

“Here we go again,” groaned Tiana.

“It’s true!” Jasmine cried out. “I don’t want the girls flopping around. It hurts!”

“While this discussion is incredibly enlightening,” a voice said dryly from the doorway, “I’d prefer we start running our competition routine, if you ladies don’t mind.”

They all mumbled apologies to Coach Ava, along with promises to get out of the locker room as quickly as possible. Emma shed her blouse and regular bra, then struggled her way into her sports bra before slipping a cheer camp t-shirt over her head. She paused before one of the cracked mirrors that hung above a row of ancient porcelain sinks that dated back to the 1950s. Being a girls’ team that didn’t really bring in any ticket sales, the cheerleading squad was relegated to practicing in the old gym. It could've been worse, however. The seniors remembered their freshman year, before the new gym was built, when the cheerleaders were forced to practice in the atrium at the front of the school. The atrium was great for painting bust-throughs, but Emma couldn’t imagine having to practice there.

As Emma tugged her hair into a messy ponytail, she thought of the letter she had shoved in the front pocket of her backpack. She'd planned on showing it to Ruby and Mary Margaret, but for some reason, she'd lost her nerve. She sighed as she made her way out of the locker room. Letter or no letter, she had to get her head on straight.

As usual, the girls started off running a mile around the gym, and just like every other practice, Emma started off keeping pace with Ruby and Mary Margaret. Her mind was still a million miles away, however.

In Kentucky, she supposed. The bluegrass state. Was the grass really blue? I mean, it couldn’t be. How can grass be blue?

“Hey,” Ruby panted, leaning over her knees when the run was over, “what’s with you?”

“What’s what?”

Emma’s brow furrowed as she did a calf stretch. She was always getting charley horses in the middle of the night during competition season. Ruth kept bugging her to eat a banana every day, but she despised bananas. They were so mushy . . .

“Earth to Emma,” Mary Margaret laughed.

Ruby snapped her fingers in Emma’s face.

“What happened to the Emma we know and love?” she asked. “You know, the one who leaves us in the dust every practice, laughing her ass off the whole way?”

“It’s not my fault you two do a leisurely jog instead of a run.”

“Running is what you do when you’re being chased,” Mary Margaret countered. It was her usual argument.

Ruby narrowed her eyes at Emma. “You’re avoiding my question.”

“Lunges, girls, across the gym floor!” shouted Coach Ava, saving Emma from responding. She lined up with the rest of the squad along one side of the gym, then stepped forward with her right leg, her hands on her hips.

“Is it Killian?” Ruby hissed at her left.

“No!”

“Just drop it,” Mary Margaret snapped.

“Yeah,” Emma grunted as she lowered herself into another lunge, “it’s kinda hard to talk and do these at the same time.”

“Tiana, I wanna see a right angle on those lunges!” their coach called out. “Ruby, you might be able to keep your balance if you stop exercising your mouth!”

Emma laughed loudly as Ruby wobbled and almost went down. “Yeah, Rubes, I’d concentrate if I were you.”

And just to rub her friend’s face in it, Emma sped up her lunges, reaching the other side of the gym first.

“Excellent job,” Coach Ava praised her. “Smooth, with speed, and you didn’t lose your form.”

Ruby practically growled when Emma threw a smirk her way.

They did a few more drills, warmed up their tumbling with a few simple passes, then gathered on the mats to go through their routine. Coach Ava was still making a few simple changes, but for the most part, it was now all about committing it to muscle memory. They needed to be able to practically do the routine in their sleep by the time December rolled around. And that was only five weeks away.

The girls got into position, and the music started. They were opening with a tumbling peel off. The girls in the front did a standing back handspring, the girls in the middle a standing back tuck, and then . . .

Emma got to shine as she kept going. Out of a standing back tuck, into two back handsprings, and then finally into a full twisting double back as the music crescendoed. Usually, Emma’s adrenaline had her ending the pass with a huge smile on her face, but today she under-rotated and almost landed flat on her face. She tried to shake it off, but in the team’s first pyramid, she started to lose her balance, almost taking the rest of the team down with her. Emma chastised herself to get it together as her stunt group moved into position for their next stunt - a twist up

Their “theme” this year was hair. They whipped their ponytails a lot in the dance portion, and every song had to do with hair. In the next stunt, Emma had to pull up on her ponytail while she twisted up into an arabesque, as if she was pulling herself up by her hair.

It was a little like patting her head and rubbing her stomach at the same time, which was incredibly frustrating to Emma. The stupid hair pull was supposed to be a cool bit of choreography, not rocket science. Yet, once again, Emma seemed to get her arms, her long hair, and her legs tangled into a mass as she twisted upward. What happened next, Emma was never entirely sure. Ruby yelled, Emma felt herself tilting sideways and she panicked, making a rookie mistake - she attempted to jump down from the stunt. Her fist was still gripped in her hair, which she almost yanked out in the fall, and she kicked her spotter away - another rookie mistake. Thankfully, Coach Ava was able to dart forward in time to catch Emma. Behind her, she heard what she swore were skulls crashing together.

It was a pretty accurate description.

Ruby was swearing loudly as she clutched her chin. A little blood seeped between her fingers. Ashley covered her mouth with both hands, and Emma was alarmed to see a lot of blood rolling down the blonde’s chin and staining her shirt. Ava abandoned Emma to check on the two bases, barking at Mary Margaret to run and get the first aid kid.

Emma felt like the worst human being in the world. She clutched at her middle and kept whispering “I’m so sorry” over and over again, but no one paid her any attention.

Ava cleaned up the blood pouring from Ashley’s mouth enough to ascertain that all of her teeth were still intact. She just had a busted lip, something many of them had endured in the past. It was crazy how badly a mouth injury bled. As for Ruby, she didn't even need a band-aid once the blood was cleaned away with an antiseptic wipe.

“Watch it carefully for infection,” Coach Ava advised.

“Why?” Ruby asked with a furrowed brow.

Ava winced slightly before reluctantly explaining. “They're bite marks. Ashley’s teeth collided with your chin.”

“WHAT??” Ruby screeched.

The rest of the squad crowded around to see as Coach Ava tilted Ruby’s chin up for a better look. Sure enough, there were two teeth-shaped puncture marks, like she’d been attacked by a wild animal. Practically growling in irritation, Ruby shoved her teammates aside and rushed to the locker room for a better look.

Ruby’s scream moments later had all of the girls collapsing with laughter.

“Well,” Ava sighed, “I suppose we’re taking a little break before we run the routine again.”

*************************************************

“So Ruby has bite marks on her chin?”

Emma snort-laughed through her nose at the look on Killian’s face. “Yep. And the rumors about how she got them get more and more unbelievable as the day goes by.”

Killian rolled his eyes before taking a bite of his sandwich. “Bloody gits”

It was too cold now to sit under the trees in the school courtyard, so she and Killian were tucked into a hidden corner in the school atrium. They had to whisper, though, because sounds reverberated against the domed ceiling. Emma couldn’t imagine cheering in this space. How did the seniors not go deaf?

“It’s not really a sexy place for bite marks though,” Emma said as she licked Cheeto powder off her fingers.

“Yeah, I can think of far kinkier places.”

She smacked him in the chest as he waggled his eyebrows at her. She wanted to be indignant at his innuendo, but instead her cheeks burned as her mind plunged straight into the gutter. She already knew a little bit of what Killian could do with his teeth . . .

“Sorry,” he apologized, shifting gears faster than she would have thought possible, “I don’t mean to be an idiot like all the rest.”

Killian blushed and scratched behind his ear. She practically melted at the way he could so swiftly go from irrepressible flirt to sweet boyfriend. She leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

Emma crumpled up the Cheeto bag and stuffed it into her lunch bag. She handed the wad of trash to her boyfriend sweetly, batting her lashes exaggeratedly. Killian took her trash, chuckling as he stood up.

“You don’t have to use doe eyes to get me to do things for you,” he told her before walking to the trash can beside the front doors.

“I don’t?”

“Never,” he answered as he returned to her side. He sat back down on the floor, his back against the wall, and pulled her snug against his chest.

“So you’ll just wait on me hand and foot?”

“Like the princess you are.”

“Wow, I should really take more advantage of how whipped you are,” she joked.

Killian retaliated by tickling her in the ribs. She wriggled and laughed, but made no attempt to pull away from him. She glanced around, saw no adults, and then pressed her lips to his.

He kissed her back, sliding a hand into her hair. They kept it brief, not wanting to get caught. Storybrooke High gave demerits for PDA. Emma was tempted to just take the demerits so she could kiss her boyfriend thoroughly, but Coach Ava would pull her from the competition line up if she got one more demerit. So Emma just sighed and snuggled against Killian’s chest. He began to idly play with her hair.

“How many demerits do you get for PDA?”

Emma craned her neck to look at him. “How did you know I was thinking that?”

He grinned down at her rakishly. “I didn’t. But how many?”

Emma frowned. “It’s not bad, but it’s still too many for me. I’ve already gotten five demerits and six will get me cut from competition.”

“Scandalous. How did you get five demerits, love?”

Emma grumbled as she shoved a stray hair out of her eyes. “The first two I got because I argued with Mr. Gold about a paper he unfairly gave me a C- on. Then he wrote me up just for questioning him about it!”

“The bastard. And the other three?”

“That was me being stupid. I used the vending machine after noon.”

Killian’s laughter shook his chest, making Emma smile.

“That’s a stupid rule anyway.”

“I know, right? I forgot my lunch!” Emma tightened her arms around Killian. “Principal Mills did let me keep the chips, though.”

They were silent for a moment. Killian was still playing with her hair. She felt him take a deep breath and release it.

“Have you told the squad yet? About UK?”

Emma sighed. She figured he would ask her this eventually. “I will.”

“Emma -”

“I will.” She knew she needed to. Her friends could tell something was off, and she couldn’t afford to be distracted at any more practices.

Or any competitions.

Of course, if she screwed up this badly at a competition, The University of Kentucky might change their minds.

[everybodyscupoftea]

going nowhere

college isaac x reader

a snowstorm and a chill day

(warnings: cursing, google docs edited this)

You woke up before Isaac by a few minutes, shifting closer in his arms. The room was cold, and he was warm, hogging most of the blankets pinned between his arm and the bed. His eyebrows furrowed in his sleep, and you reached up to smooth them out gently before tapping his nose.

Scrunching it, Isaac’s eyelids started to flutter, and you waited patiently for his eyes to open and him to wake up. He blinked sleepily at you, “Morning,” he spoke, voice about two octaves deeper.

“Morning, hon,” you brushed a kiss across his cheekbone and he smiled sleepily.

Moving even closer, he shifted a little bit to give you room to get closer. He sighed in contentment, “What did you want to do today?”

“Hmm,” you mused, tapping a finger on his exposed collarbone, “we could go to the mall. Haven’t bought my roommate a Christmas present yet.”

“I need to get something else for Scott,” he broke off to yawn, “so that sounds good to me.”

You hummed, “Okay. We should get up before the mall gets too crowded.”

He groaned dramatically, but let you up, pouting as he did so. Smiling widely, you crossed your arms, staring him down until he got up and walked to the closet to get dressed.

“You’re driving right?” you asked ten minutes later after the two of you were bundled up enough to go outside.

He sighed, “You’re the one used to driving in the snow, but I suppose I can for your sake.” 

You laughed, throwing the apartment door open and immediately froze, staring out the third floor window at the feet of snow that built up overnight. He ran into you from behind, not realizing you’d stopped, and snorted at the view.

“Guess we’re not going to the mall,” you murmured.

“Looks like we’re snowed in.”

A gust of air blew through the building and you shivered, turning to nudge him back inside, “Go go go, I’m freezing.” 

The two of you took your coats off, and you nudged the heat up while Isaac made a pot of coffee. He handed you a warm mug a few minutes later and pulled you toward the couch. Before you joined him sitting, you pouted. 

Isaac sighed, faux annoyed, “Can I help you?”

“I’m cold.”

“Get a blanket,” he suggested, reaching over to pull one out of the basket you kept next to the couch.

“It wouldn’t be enough,” you insisted, definitely bullshitting.

He raised his eyebrows, “What would you like?” 

Grinning, you answered eagerly, “A sweater.”

His smile softened, and he stood up, “Now that I can do.” 

Disappearing into his room, you waited for him to come back, and when he did, he had one of your favorite of his cardigans in his hand. You pulled it on, snuggling into its warmth, and settled down on the couch next to him.

“So, what should we do?”

He hummed, “Would you mind if I caught up on my book?”

“Not at all,” you answered, “I might try one of the ones you suggested if you have any.”

Raising his eyebrows, Isaac huffed, “Sweetheart, do you think I just know off the top of my head which books I’ve recommended?”

Rolling your eyes, you told him, “You don’t have to, I have them all in my notes in my phone.”

Isaac looked genuinely taken aback, and you smiled as he finally gathered his thoughts, “Um, okay. Show me.”

And he did have some of the books so he pulled them out and let you judge by their covers which one you wanted to read first. When you picked, he grabbed his book off the nightstand and followed you back to the couch.

You let him lay down first, following suit when he finally stilled, resting between his legs, leaned back against his chest. It was comfortable, you moving with his breaths, and Isaac reached down with one of his hands to hold yours, fingers linked together. It was harder to flip the pages, but you didn’t want to let go.

The book was good, Isaac was right in his assumption you’d like it. Immediately drawn in, you held it in your right hand, as did he, your left hands linked together, resting on your stomach. He stayed very still, neither of you moving much besides taking a sip of coffee. 

The only exception being when he sat up, bringing you with him, to pull the blanket up over both of your legs. Both of you were facing a window with the blinds open, and every so often you’d look up to see it still snowing outside.

After what felt like minutes but was probably hours, Isaac’s stomach growled, breaking the two of you out of the peaceful silence. He smiled sheepishly, “We haven’t eaten yet.” 

“Do you have leftovers?” you asked, closing your book.

“Yeah.”

“Lunch break.”

You both made plates, taking turns heating them up in the microwave, and he sat down at the table first, waiting for you to join him to eat. It was quiet until he broke it again, “Hey.”

Eyebrows raised, you echoed, “Hey.”

He cleared his throat nervously, “So I’ve been wondering what jobs you’ve been looking into?”

You hummed, “I really liked the hydro class I took. Kind of knew already that I wanted to work in either transportation or water systems, but my transportation class sucked so I’m definitely leaning more toward water systems.”

Isaac nodded, “What would that entail?”

“Designing dams and stuff like that.”

“So you want to live on a coast?” 

With a laugh, you shrugged, “I’ll live wherever they give me a job.”

“Fair.”

“What about you?” you asked, leaning on your elbow, chin resting in your hand.

“I like the idea of being an English professor. I’d need to see if I need a master’s or not.” 

“Are you interested in getting a master?”

He shrugged, cheeks turning a bit red, “I like the idea. My dad always used to tell me I’ll never amount to anything. I know he’s wrong, I mean a bachelor’s degree is huge because he didn’t have one. But the idea of rubbing a master’s in his face is nice.” 

You nodded, taking it in, “I totally understand. I think if I can’t find a job relatively soon after graduating, I’m going to get a master’s myself. It’ll help me not only with a job, but I’ll be able to move up to a senior position one day if the opportunity arises.”

“And I’m sure you will, you’re very good at pretty much everything you try to do,” he praised.

You rolled your eyes, “Yeah, everything but English and anything writing related that’s not scientific.”

He shrugged, “And I’m great at those things, so we make a great team. A team that should never split.”

Jaw dropping a little, you stared at him, “Are you proposing to me right now?” 

Stuttering for a few seconds, he eventually managed, “No, but yes.”

“That’s clear,” you responded sarcastically.

“I’m proposing we stay together after undergrad.We go somewhere together, I’m willing to move with you anywhere. We don’t have to get married immediately, but maybe one day, we could.”

You beamed, “I would absolutely love that.”

Isaac perked up, “Yeah?”

“Yeah. And for the record,” you added, “if you get into grad school before I find a job, I’d move with you too and find a job there.” 

He was shaking his head before you even finished, “No, your career is more important than any degree.”

You raised your eyebrows, “I want this to be fair.”

“It will be. It absolutely will be. I don’t want you to compromise that for me.”

Touched, you managed, “That’s very sweet of you.”

“Yeah well, I want you to stick around. If that’s what it takes, I have no issue. There are schools everywhere, but there might only be a few places with your dream job. I want to support that.”

Smiling tearfully, you had to stand up and walk over to him, tiling his chin up to meet you in a kiss. He returned it eagerly, and you felt something fall into place. An uncertainty you didn’t even realize you’d been dealing with finally being resolved.

Pulling away, you kept your hand on his chin to look him in the eye and quietly spoke, “I can’t wait.”

“Me neither,” he answered back, just as quiet.

~

day 17 of @obxmermaid​‘s holiday challenge: snowed in

[star-six7]

And You’re Someone Who Knows Someone (Who Was Someone I Once Knew)

Mikey Way x Reader (Gender Neutral)

Word Count: 1909

Request: Could I request anything with Mikey? Thanks :)

A/N: I am so sorry about the delay on this one! I’ve been drowning in school and work at the moment, but I’m still thinking of you guys, I promise! Also, catch that title reference ;)

Disclaimer: This is entirely a work of fiction. No part of this story is meant to be libel, slander, or in any way derogatory towards any character’s real life counterpart. I’m not delusional; I know that these characters are simply based off of a public persona and may not actually resemble the people behind those personas. Any additional characters that you do not recognize are entirely fictional, unless otherwise stated. And finally, if you got here by Googling yourself, whatever happens next is 100% on you.

You rocked back and forth on the balls of your feet anxiously as you stood in front of the chain-link fence. Finally, a large guy with a security shirt came into your view, calling out your name.

“Hey,” he grinned when you nodded. “It’s good to finally meet you in person; Gerard’s been chattering nonstop about you for the past few days. I’m Worm, I’m in charge of most of the security for the band; I’ll take you back now.”

“Okay,” you nodded, putting away the backstage pass that Gerard had mailed to you. You were slightly taken aback by the professional quality of the whole set-up; the last time you had been to a My Chem show, it had been in a much less… respectable venue, and there wasn’t even the faintest idea of guards and backstage passes. Something told you that the security probably wasn’t the only thing that had changed over the last few years...

While you were lost in your thoughts, Worm had led you through a back parking lot filled with big box trucks and busy stage crews right to the band’s bus. He punched in a key-code, and grandly guided you up the steps. 

“Gerard, your esteemed guest has arrived!” He winked good-naturedly at you, and then turned to leave. “Soundcheck at four, please attempt to think about being there in some semblance of a timely manner.” He rolled his eyes as he exited the bus.

Gerard, of course, didn’t hear him because he was too busy leaping off the couch so he could tackle you. “You’re here!”

“Yes,” you grinned, attempting to pat his back and keep your balance at the same time. “It’s been so long, Gerard, how are you?”

He let go and returned your smile. “I’ve been great, really great. A lot better than I was the last time we met. Um,” he ran a hand through his close-cropped white hair, and glanced sideways at Mikey. “You remember Ray and Mikey, right?”

“Of course,” you grinned at them. “How could I not? I did go to all of your shows for a year.”

“Well, uh, Otter ended up leaving after we finished recording Three Cheers, so that’s Bob- say hi, Bob- oh! And you remember Pencey, right? Well, Frankie’s with us now, and I think that about covers it.”

You waved at them. You remembered Frank’s wild nature, not surprised that he fit in so well with My Chem, and Bob seemed nice enough. All of the guys seemed genuinely excited about your presence, though you couldn’t shake the feeling that there were some conspiratorial glances and nudges being thrown around by everyone except Mikey. In fact, the bassist in question was doing his best to look artfully bored from his place on the couch and ignore Frank’s not-so-subtle shoving. Still, you felt a certain tug towards him, even after all these years.

“C’mon!” Gerard said brightly, snapping you out of your observations. “Let me give you the grand tour.”

The rest of the afternoon passed by in a whirlwind of wandering the bus park and venue with Gerard, watching the guys soundcheck from the nosebleeds, and dining on pizza in the green room. You were so glad you had been able to make it to a show; Gerard was one of your closest friends, and it had been a couple of years since you had last met. 

Your friendship had started during your senior year of college- you had both had an internship in the same building, albeit for different companies and lines of work. Since then, you had bonded over several of your shared interests and kept in touch, leading you to go to several of the first My Chem shows, and by extension, meet Ray, Frank, and Mikey. Though your busy work life and their crazy tour schedule had caused you to drift apart, it felt like no time had passed at all as you watched Ray swat Frank for stealing his pizza while Gerard and Mikey laughed uncontrollably at Ray’s exasperated expression.

Soon enough, it was time for them to go onstage, which became evident when the venue’s stage manager knocked on the door to lead them to the curtain. Worm reappeared and guided you to the seat marked on your ticket from Gerard- a center stage view from the very first row of actual seats behind the pit. Clearly, Gerard had wanted to make sure you didn’t miss a single part of the show.

The lights dimmed, and you watched two crewmembers dressed as doctors and nurses wheel out a covered gurney while the sound of a heartbeat monitor played over the sound system. You were unsurprised when Gerard leapt out of the gurney moments later, kicking off the show. 

You already knew the guys were awe-inspiring onstage- you had known it from the way you felt the first time you saw them live- but it was clear to see that over the past few years, they had taken it to a whole new level. They had each grown into their stage personas and their identity as a band, but your eyes kept drifting to one member in particular...

You had noticed it earlier today, but Mikey had definitely evolved since the last time you had met. He seemed much more sure of himself onstage; instead of retreating to the space almost directly behind Gerard, he often came up to the edge of the stage or interacted with his bandmates. He also seemed more relaxed off stage, easily interacting with fans outside of the venue and joking before the show with the rest of the band and crew. You couldn’t deny that he was a far cry from Gerard’s shy, slightly awkward, little brother you had met all those years ago.

Before you knew it, the show was over, and Frank was insisting on heading to a nearby diner for several plates of french fries and milkshakes. You glanced at your watch and balked. “Shit… I’m sorry guys, it’s almost 1am and I didn’t get a hotel. I think I’m going to start the drive home.”

Frank and Gerard glanced at each other, and then they rushed to stop you. “Don’t be ridiculous, come with us and you can just stay on the bus!”

“I don’t want to take up anyone’s space…” You hemmed.

“It’s fine!” Ray insisted. “Don’t even worry about it, you can sleep in the back lounge, it’s honestly very nice.”

Though you were suspicious of their enthusiasm, you accepted their offer with a shrug and followed the rest of the group in their search for a 24 hour diner.

…

You sighed as you took off your shoes and settled into the bed in the back lounge. You were exhausted; the long day of walking, dancing, and socializing was starting to catch up to you. However, just as soon as you had stretched out across the soft surface and closed you, you were startled upright by the sound of yelling coming from the bunk area just behind the lounge door. Confused, you opened it to see Mikey, looking irate, and Frank looking guilty yet slightly pleased with himself.

“What the actual fuck, Frank?” Mikey glared accusingly at him.

“I’m really sorry Mikey, it was-”

“An accident? Frank, we all know you’re clumsy as fuck, but there’s absolutely no way someone pours an entire liter of soda directly on my bunk on accident!”

“Oh shit,” you said, stepping out of the doorway to assess the damage.

Mikey glanced at you. “Sorry if I woke you up, Frank’s just being ridiculous.”

“Mikey, I don’t think you’re gonna be able to sleep here tonight,” Ray said, gently prodding Mikey’s mattress. “It’s pretty soaked.”

“Oh, well, of course,” Mikey sighed irritably. “Well, couch it is, then.”

“Actually,” Gerard piped up, oh-so-helpfully, “there’s plenty of space in the back lounge.” He turned to you. “If you’re okay with sharing, that is.”

You stared at him, trying to figure out his plan here. You were pretty sure that if he could bat his eyelashes right now, he would. Ignoring your suddenly accelerating heart rate, you turned back to Mikey.

“I don’t mind sharing, it is your bus after all,” you shrugged, glancing at Mikey. “Gerard’s right, there’s plenty of room.”

The other three looked extremely pleased with themselves.

“Thank you,” he told you, before turning to glare at Frank and head into the bathroom to change.

A few minutes later, you were in the back lounge again, somewhat awkwardly laying on one half of the double bed as you waited for Mikey to turn off the lights and get settled.

He looked abashed as he stretched out on the opposite side of the bed. “I’m sorry for snapping back there,” he said. “It’s just… the guys have been making fun of me for the past few days and it gets old fast.”

“I understand, it's okay,” you nodded, as you watched his silhouette shift closer to you in the dark.

He gave you a considering look. “It’s just… I told them something personal and they couldn’t just leave it alone. Honestly, this whole weekend has been sort of a set up.”

You rolled over to look at him properly as everything began to fall into place. Frank and Gerard’s insistence that you should stay the night, Frank’s “clumsiness,” Gerard’s helpful suggestions, the general feeling that something was going on behind the scenes…

“Oh,” you said, hoping he would confirm your suspicions, “what do you mean?”

“Well, it’s just that,” for a moment, it seemed like the endearing shyness of the Mikey you had met in Gerard’s basement was back. “Okay, like.” He took a steadying breath. “I’m working on building my confidence, so I’m gonna tell you this and hope for this best. I’ve… had a thing for you for a while, if it wasn’t already obvious. I mean, at first, it was just a crush… but as the years went on, and I- we grew up, I’ve realized it’s more than that. I know I’m still working on being stable, but I want to take that chance with you. I mean, if you feel the same way of course.” He paused. “Wow, that was a weight off my chest.”

You stared at him, opening your mouth to speak and then closing it as you parsed your thoughts. You had always felt a certain fondness for Mikey, and the past day had shown you that, over the course of a few years, it had grown into something more than friendship. You couldn’t deny that you also had feelings towards Mikey, and that seeing his new-found confidence and sense of self had only solidified them.

“Um, you’re not like, pissed, are you?”

His timid question snapped you out of your reverie.

“No, of course not!” you rushed to assure him. “I… I feel the same way, Mikey. I think I always have.”

“Oh!” He couldn’t keep the small grin off of his face. “So then I guess you don’t mind if I do this then, right?” He moved in closer to you and wrapped his free arm around your waist, effectively pulling you into his chest.

You smiled, warm with the feeling that things had finally fallen into place. “Good guess,” you sighed, already beginning to fall asleep.

“One more thing,” Mikey paused.

“Hm?”

“Under no circumstances can the others know that their evil plan worked.” “Deal.”

[hayleyarts]

Broken Without You (Jasper Hale x OC) | chapter 1

Author’s note: Hello! i don’t normally post that many stories or much on here but I’ve been working on a Jasper Hale fan-fiction to try and redeem him and show my favourite cowboy vamp some love. Anyways, this story contains swears and will have some graphic scenes referring to mental health and past trauma. I’ll give more specific warnings where they apply. Also, each chapter is inspired by some music; so if you want to listen to that particular song while you read, you can but you don’t necessarily have to :)

Summary: Eleanor Rae lives in a town where there are seemingly no secrets, but what happens when a certain vampire takes an interest in her. She’ll soon find out she’s not the only one with secrets. Will he be able to put her broken pieces back together? Can she fix him in return?

Word count: 2334

Read Part 2 Here 

Track 01 - Eleanor Rigby by Alice Cooper

Forks, Washington; the rainiest town in the United States. The benefits of living in a rainy town is the fact that the forests nearby are some of the greenest you’ll ever see. The cons of living in a rainy town as small as this one is how there are no secrets; everyone knows everyone for the most part. Therefore, when people see me: Eleanor Rae, they immediately know my back story. Of course, you’re not from Forks, so how would you know who the hell I am, or what my story is. 

The Rae family, also known as my mother Cecilia and myself, lives in a small cottage on the edge of town. Our small, 2-bedroom place is just close enough to town to be considered still in Forks, but with the town being so small, you’re simply ten minutes from all needed amenities. One such amenity is the hospital that my mother works at and the high school I’ve been attending for 2 years. At school I’m known as the strange girl with headphones glued to their head. Everyone has stopped trying to talk with me and try to become my friend, because I’m just ‘too weird’. Outcasts in small towns are rare; no secrets are allowed. Thus, why I envied the Cullen family. 

The Cullen’s were a family that became the talk of the town since freshman year of high school mostly because they broke the unwritten rule of small towns; they had secrets. No one knew what these secrets were, but everyone knew there was something they were hiding. The patriarch was the best doctor Forks has ever seen; Dr. Carlisle Cullen. He and his wife manage to take care of six adopted teenage kids; who in their right mind would do that to themselves? Their kids are a completely different anomaly. Even though they are all adoptive siblings, they happen to look extremely similar; blemish free complexion, model-like beauty, and this sense of grace that normal teenagers definitely don’t have. The thing that bothers me the most is that after a year or so, everyone stopped paying close attention to the strange family, but I didn’t. I mean, it’s hard not to when they’re all so beautiful, especially the brother with the wavy golden hair that frames his face perfectly. He was the one I was the most drawn to, and I don’t really know why. There was something about his presence that calmed me; God I wanted to talk to him. But how does one speak to someone as gorgeous as Jasper Cullen? 

I climb out of my Jeep, my feet planting on the cement of the parking lot. I look up at the building, sighing softly to myself; Junior Year of high school. A lot of people tend to stress about senior year, but to me, junior year is the one that matters. You need to figure yourself out because next year you’re applying for colleges. If you don’t have yourself figured out before senior year, then you’re royally fucked. I take my time to cross the lot before entering the school; the white tiled floor already scuffed from the various footwear. The lockers remained the same, even some of the posters on the walls were the same. The only thing that really seems to change is the people; some with different haircuts or new clothing. Different people smiling and laughing with new friend groups, some people missing because they moved during the summer. Growth spurts from the now sophomores, and then the completely new group of people that no one from the older grades recognized; the new freshmen. The one thing that stayed the same among the students, is no matter how much they laughed and joked with their friends; at the end of the day, we’re all lonely people. 

I follow the flow of people as I make my way to my first class of the day: history. I always dreaded history class because of the teachers that usually instruct the class. Why is it that every boring and/or almost ready to retire man teaches history class? If someone exciting taught the class, I might actually like it more. I arrive to the room, flags of various countries littered over the open door and students were already finding their seats. Luckily the seat in the far back corner by the window was vacant; that’s where I always try to sit. I like that seat because its far enough back that if you doze off in class no one really notices, and if you want to zone out rather than listen to the teacher, then you have the window to stare out of. 

Once I sit down, I take the time to pull my supplies out of my bag. All I tend to use is a notebook and pens while everyone else pulls out tablets and laptops; call me old-fashioned. I flip to a fresh page in the notebook when a voice pulls me away from my task. The accent clearly southern and extremely polite.

“Excuse me ma’am, is anyone sitting here?” I look up and I’m immediately met with the eyes that resemble the most expensive topaz gems; glittering underneath the fluorescent lights. He raises a brow as he gestures to the desk adjacent to me, “Ma’am?”

“Yeah… sorry,” I blush, snapping out of my daze, “There’s no one sitting there, go ahead.” He smiles at my answer as he makes himself comfortable, or well, as comfortable you can on a plastic chair. He pulls out his own notebook and pens, preparing for the class that’s about to begin. I couldn’t help myself from admiring his movements. His pale hands move with more grace than I could ever; placing the pens gently down on the wood of the desk, making sure they were ready when needed to take notes. My eyes didn’t stop there; they wandered from his hands to his choice of clothing. It’s not every day you get to sit this close to a member of the Cullen family, I plan on taking advantage of this rare moment. His clothing was simple but coordinated; his grey sweater with brown buttons matching the brown colouring of his dress pants. The one thing that stood out was his choice of footwear: cowboy boots. They were legitimate brown and black leather cowboy boots, and damn did they look worn in. 

I snap my eyes away from him before he could notice my staring, paying my attention back to the rain falling outside. Its then when Mr. Henderson stomps in the room and slams his folder down on his desk. He seemed about as thrilled about the first day of school as everyone else in this room. He began his lecture the same as every other first day lecture; the expectations of the class, the policies and rules and what he expects from us as students in his class. This isn’t what I dislike about the first day of school, what I hate are the icebreaker activities that the teachers force you to partake in.

“Okay class, for the rest of the period I’m going to have you and someone next to you discuss the answers to these various questions.” His monotone voice explains while handing out a worksheet covered in various questions. Students quickly pair off, some actually participating in the exercise while others begin discussing what they did during the summer. 

“Would you like to be my partner?”

I raise a brow at the southern voice breaking my observations, “What?”

“For the exercise?” He mimics my expression.

“Right… sure.” I blush, chuckling awkwardly.

“I’m Jasper, by the way. Jasper Hale.” He smiles politely.

“Hale?”

He chuckles, “Yeah, my sister Rosalie and I kept our last names.” 

I nod, taking in the new information. I had no idea that he had a different last name. I always assumed that because they were adopted by Dr. Cullen, they all had the same last name. 

“I’m Eleanor… Eleanor Rae.” I smile, turning to face him, “But my mom calls me Ellie.”

“What do your friends call you?” He raises a brow.

“Um… I guess Ellie?” I shrug, “I don’t really have any friends.” I look down at the worksheet, reading through the questions. Most of them were related to history class, some were about life goals, and school related questions. 

“You don’t have friends?” I glance up at him as he asks his question, his brows furrowed. 

“Not really. I like to be in my own little world I guess.” I shrug, “Kind-of similar to your family in that way.”

“How is that similar to my family?” 

“Well, you and your family keep to themselves, so do I.” 

He chuckles, shrugging, “I suppose,” He looks down at the questions, reading the first one off, “What are your goals for after school?”

“Um…” I furrow my brows thinking about the question. What are my plans? I haven’t really started thinking about where exactly I’ll be in roughly two years; after graduation and when I’m supposed to have my life figured out. I hope one of my goals for after I graduate would to attend college and take classes in psychology or philosophy; wanting to learn more about myself in the process. Another goal I eventually want to accomplish is leaving this small town; starting a new life in a new town where no one knows who I am, maybe take some time off and travel the world. Of course, I don’t say any of this to him, instead I respond with, “Probably go to college or something. Get good grades, you know?”

He nods, “That’s what the teachers want us to say.” His face slowly forms a smirk, “I feel like there’s more you want to say.”

I roll my eyes, my own face phasing into a smirk, “Maybe,” I lean closer to him, “But I’d like to hear your answer first.”

He chuckles, “Well, one of my goals is to settle down eventually. Find someone who understands me.”

I blink, “How romantic.” I reply sarcastically with a chuckle. 

“Don’t judge darlin’.” He chuckles along with me. His pet-name catches me off guard, the southern drawl dripping from the word, “Now, give me your real answer.”

“Well I’d love to travel, and maybe start a new life somewhere.” I shrug, “Some place where no one knows everyone else.” I lean back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. 

“And you judged my answer.” He raises a brow playfully as I blush. 

“Well, both of our answers were cheesy,” I glance back down to the paper with a sigh, “These questions are also lame and cheesy.”

“Then let’s make our own questions.” He retorts, “What…” he pauses to think then continues his question, “What is your favourite movie?”

“Really?”

Jasper laughs, “It’s a valid question. Mine is Pride and Prejudice. Either that or The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.”

I chuckle, thinking about his answers. They’re both older movies, and one an even older novel. To be honest, those movies seem to match him perfectly. He seems like a gentleman kind of guy, and extremely old fashioned in his mannerisms and in the way he speaks. Not only that, but the western matches his god-awful cowboy boots. 

“Well, probably Jaws or The Breakfast Club.” I shrug, “I’ve seen both of them too many times to count so they’re probably my favourites.”

He nods at my response, “Both excellent movies. Very different though.”

I blink, “Well, your mood changes therefore the things you enjoy watching or listening to at any given moment doesn’t necessarily stay the same.” 

He narrows his eyes at my words. It was like he was surprised by my answer, and that he knew something I didn’t know. He didn’t say anything to my answer, but I could tell he wanted to. He fell silent as the class continues to have their various discussions; his golden eyes shifting from group to group. 

“What’s your favourite colour?” His eyes snap back to me at my question.

“It changes all the time.” He smirks, his answer mimicking mine from previously.

“Well what is it today?” I smirk back, raising a brow. I watch as his eyes look around the room, as if to find the answer throughout the room.

After what feels like hours, his eyes finally land on my own, “Probably green.” I blush, looking away from him, letting my dark hair fall in front of my green hued eyes. I didn’t know why he was trying to flirt with me, I mean… I’m me. Why on earth would Jasper Cull–Hale want anything to do with me? “What’s your favourite?” He tries to get me to look back at him. 

“Red or burgundy.” I mumble, glancing up at the clock; only five more minutes of class left, and, in this moment, I wasn’t sure if I wanted these last five minutes to last forever, or be finished in seconds. Jasper makes me feel differently and I’m not sure if I can pin-point why. 

“Why those?” He raises a brow. I’ve never pondered why I liked the warm colour before. Maybe it was because it symbolized various emotions like passion, love or anger. Maybe I liked the colour red because when I wear red garments of clothing, it complements my pale complexion well. Or maybe it’s because it reminds me of the red flowers in my mother’s garden outside our cottage home; roses, dahlias, and peonies planted in various patterns.  

When the bell rang, signalling the end of class, I only then realized that I didn’t answer the question; thinking of an answer quickly as I gather my supplies so I could move to my next class in my schedule, “Probably because it’s familiar.” I mumble as I leave the class. I only take a moment to glance back at him momentarily; seeing his confused expression before I join the sea of other students in the hallway.

[ddaengyoonmin]

BTS Friends To Lovers Series (Jungkook)

Pairing: Swimmer!Jungkook x Swimmer! Reader

Genre: Smut, Fluff, Angst

Warnings: Cheating, Fingering, Nipple play, Praise kink, unprotected sex, outdoor sex

a/n: I included another member in this and we are just going to assume that they are the same age as Jungkook and the reader for this fic. 

Song Inspo: Swim- Chase Atlantic;  Youth Water- Manila grey

Word Count: 8k (Wow yikes so much for these being drabbles lmao)

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Weightlessness, the cold water holding your body up.  Nothing else matters but this, your mind completely focused on pushing your muscles to their limit, to victory.  Your arms moving with purpose, propelling you towards the touch pad, you are staring up at the bright lights on the ceiling through the water droplets splashing onto your goggles.  Red flags that hang over the pool now come into your view and you know what that means, you are only a few arm lengths away from the finish.  You use every last bit of your strength and glide with an outstretched arm, reaching your destination.  

As soon as your hand hits you instantly tear off your goggles and whip your head around to the screen high on the wall to your right.  Adrenaline flooding through your body. 

1: Y/L/N 00:57.96

Your face lit up instantly and you pumped a fist into the air, you grabbed on to the bars under the starting block and pulled yourself out of the pool, speed walking over to your team who were cheering and hugging you. 

“I broke a minute!” you squealed “Oh my god I can’t believe it” 

You’d been aiming for breaking a minute in your 100 yard backstroke your entire high school experience.  Now finally at 18 and a senior only a few weeks away from graduating, you’d finally done it and by way more than you thought you could.  You were so proud of your hard work paying off

Your spring team coach shot you a thumbs up and a wide grin from the other side of the pool. 

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After the meet was over your coach pulled you aside with an excited look on her face, putting a letter into your hand. 

“There was a scout here from Bangtan University, and they think you have potential.  They are inviting you to a summer swim training camp for incoming freshmen and if you can get to 55.0 by the end of summer you’d get a full ride scholarship.�� Even if you don’t make the time, they want you on the team and are offering a pretty nice scholarship” she clapped her hands together. 

You clapped a hand over your mouth

 “Seriously?” 

You hadn’t thought that you were anything that amazing, you weren’t the best swimmer on the team overall but you couldn’t argue, that backstroke time you’d just swam was quite impressive.  If this team saw potential in you, you weren’t going to pass up the opportunity to prove yourself. 

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You had pulled into the parking lot of the university’s athletic center, many others were pulling in and walking over to the pool doors.  You felt so much excitement and nervousness at meeting your new teammates. 

You noticed that there were also men that were in the crowd of swimmers making their way to the pool doors, you hadn’t realized this was going to be a co-ed training.  You’d only swam with your girls from high school and it was the same team since you were in elementary school.  One of your best friends had also been offered a place on a college team, but to a different school.  You were going to miss her a lot, but you’d still get to see each other occasionally, and you were excited for this new adventure.   

You grabbed your bag that held your towel and gear and followed the crowd to the pool. 

After getting changed and admiring the incredible size of the facility you walked out to the pool where you could see the rest of the team gathered around a white board waiting for the coach to give further instruction. 

You found an open space to sit down on the floor next to a blonde tall man with broad shoulders, the perfect figure for a swimmer, you wondered if he did butterfly.  His shape and muscles seem to be very fitting for that stroke.  He was shirtless and you had to try to not make things awkward by staring at him or any of the other shirtless men scattered among the swimmers here. 

The man turned to you and extended a hand for you to shake.  

“I’m Jin” he smiled at you. 

You shook his hand and returned his friendly smile “y/n” 

The coach now started a speech introducing himself to the group and talking about the types of things that would take place here at the training camp, you’d get to compete against other colleges in practice meets and you’d be doing many time trials throughout the summer to see how you were improving. 

As the coach was starting to explain the workout for the day, the sound of a door slamming loudly from the direction of the locker rooms. 

A tall man with gorgeous jet black hair walked out from the men's locker room.  He was wearing the same tight fitting speedo that most all the other men were wearing and was wearing a white warm-up jacket that had a blue stripe down the side.  You let your eyes linger on how it was completely unzipped and exposing his extremely sculpted and muscular chest.  

“Ah Mr. Jeon.” the coach glared. “Thanks for gracing us with your presence today.” 

You half expected the coach to yell at the man and tell him to get out.  Showing up to your first day of practice was quite rude and didn’t really show good commitment to the team in your opinion.  

The man just silently stood back behind the rest of the team with his arms crossed, nodding for the coach to continue.  He was quite cocky you thought.  He must be really good to be able to get away with an attitude like that.  And as rude as it was, you also found it slightly amusing. 

The rest of practice went well, you work your hardest and tried to prove yourself, you ended up becoming the lane leader for your lane and were quite proud of that.  

There were eight lanes and it was split up by your times,  the fastest swimmers all in lane eight and the slowest in lane one.  You had surprisingly landed yourself in lane three which had surprised you, you weren’t the worst, and that was something!  

That cocky man Mr. Jeon had ended up in lane eight, and you noticed he was lane leader at that.  You were right, he had the speed to back up his cocky attitude.  The tall blonde named Jin was also in lane eight right behind him, so he must be the second best swimmer on your team. 

After practice was over you decided to step out of your comfort zone and approach him. 

He was pulling himself out of the pool to sit on the edge, pushing his wet strands of hair out of his face and breathing heavily from the workout. 

“Hey” you said with an awkward wave. 

He glanced up at you, raising an eyebrow wondering what you might want from him. 

“I-I just... wanted to say, I s-saw you swim and, y-you did a really good job, I mean, you swim well.  Your stroke is p-pretty, I mean pretty good.” Fuck why were you being so fucking awkward.  You weren’t very good at making new friends, but something in you just really wanted to get to know this man, and hoped that maybe he could help you improve on your times so that you could get that scholarship. 

He chuckled at your bumbling around. 

“Ah, Thank you” he stood and started to walk away. 

“What's your stroke!” you yelled after him.  

He turned and smiled “Freestyle.” he said simply, starting to walk away again.  He probably thinks you’re a complete weirdo but swimmers were always hungry, so...here goes nothing…

“Wanna grab some dinner?” 

He spun around again.  “Uh,” he thought for a moment “Yeah sure, why not.  Meet me outside the doors after we get changed, did you have something in mind?” 

Shit, you had nothing in mind.  “I was thinking pasta?” 

He put a hand to his chin in thought, “Okay, I know a good place.” 

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You followed in your car behind Jungkook’s car to the place he had suggested for the two of you to eat and then got a booth seat at the restaurant, sitting across from each other. 

Jungkook ordered a big glass of milk and you chuckled a bit at that.  

“Good for the muscles” He shrugged cutely with a smirk. 

“So how long have you been swimming?” you asked, trying to make some small talk and swimming was basically your only conversation point even with your non swimmer friends. 

“My whole life pretty much”

“Yeah me too! I took one year off where I tried track but, I discovered I’m more of a water creature” you laughed.

Jungkook stared at you, narrowing his eyes.  You thought you must’ve been being awkward or offended him somehow without realizing it. 

“I feel like I’ve seen you before…” Jungkook says. 

Oh. 

“Um, not sure…” you didn’t quite know what to say. 

“4th grade! Summer swim team!” he exclaims.  “y/n y/l/n right?” 

Oh my god, you had actually done a co-ed swim team once when you were younger at a pool your family had a membership to.  You had totally forgotten about that. 

“Jeon...Jungkook!?” it suddenly clicked.  “Holy shit, yes, I remember you” 

He grinned and took a large drink of his milk leaving an adorable milk mustache on his upper lip. 

The two of you talked for the rest of the meal reminiscing on your memories of the team you were on together.  He had changed so much from the skinny dorky boy you’d known.  He was a man now and had grown up well. 

Suddenly he stopped mid conversation as his phone rang, he put up a finger and mouthed a sorry.  

“Hey hon” he answered. “Yeah-” he nodded “Okay I’ll be there soon, Just finishing up a meal with an old friend I reconnected with today…” he paused as the voice on the other end of the line said something “Yep, see you soon babe, love ya” he clicked the button to hangup. 

“Girlfriend?” you asked, slightly jealous for reasons you couldn’t quite understand, it’s not like you had any place to feel that way. You’d only just re-met him today, and he was an attractive man, of course he had a girlfriend. 

“Yep, I gotta hurry up and get going, she’s had a rough day at work” 

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The next couple weeks you went to practice every day besides Sunday and each day you and Jungkook would end up hanging out for a bit after. Sometimes going out to eat, and sometimes you’d stay late for him to help give you some tips on your swimming form.  You were happy to have made a friend like him.  You feel like you’d already improved so much. 

Today was the first practice meet you were going to have with another school and It was a home meet.  You were nervous but also couldn’t wait to see how much you’d improved.  

Right before you were about to enter the locker room to get changed Jungkook yelled out your name and motioned for you to come over to where he stood.   He was next to a skinny, curly haired blonde woman with glasses, she was dressed all in pink, tiny hot pink shorts, a tiny baby pink crop top that exposed her tanned stomach, and a pink headband holding back her perfect hair. 

“Y/n this is my girlfriend Missy” Jungkook motioned towards the girl.

You tried to give your friendliest smile and extended your hand out to the girl.  She didn’t return your gesture and instead rolled her big blue eyes slightly and looked you up and down while blowing a big bubble from the gum she was chewing loudly.  When it popped she turned to Jungkook

 “Kookieee, I don’t wanna wait in the stands for you, it’s way too hot up there.  Can’t I just be with you in the pool area” She spoke in a ditzy voice while she pouted, crossing her arms and pushing her perfect perky breasts up as she did, almost as if she was trying to use them to convince Jungkook to cave into her. 

“Missy I told you, you aren’t allowed in the pool area during a meet, I promise it won’t be too bad up in the stands.  Do you need some money to go to concessions and buy a cold drink or something” he whispered, but it was loud enough for you to hear.  

You shifted uncomfortably, debating on whether you should just leave to go get ready for the meet now.  Jungkook’s girlfriend obviously didn’t care for meeting you, and you didn’t quite care for her at all. 

Missy groaned childishly and just put a flat palm out towards Jungkook, which had him scrambling through his pockets and pulling out his wallet to put probably five times more money than she needed in her hand for the drink.  Yet she still held her hand out until Jungkook put even more money into her hand.  Then she instantly spun around on her heels and left. 

“Nice meeting you!” you yelled after her, well aware that you were lying. 

You turned to Jungkook with wide eyes. 

“Wow.  Whipped.” you chuckled. 

He sheepishly ran a hand through his hair, “She’s actually awesome once you get to know her.” 

You shrugged, “I’ll take your word for it” though you can’t imagine anything about that girl that would end up being a redeeming quality. 

“It really does get hot up in the stands…” he tried to stand up for his girlfriend. 

You chuckled “Well you gave her enough for like twenty cold drinks so I think she’ll be fine” 

Jungkook and You went to your separate locker rooms to get ready and then out to the pool.

The meet was going extremely well, you had placed in second in the last heat of the backstroke and improved a lot on your time just in the few weeks you’d been training.  You couldn’t be happier. 

It came time for Jungkook to swim the 200 Free, you made sure to stand on the edge of the pool  with the rest of the teammates where he could see when he went to take a breath, while you cheered enthusiastically for him. 

“Go Go Goooo Jungkook!” you yelled, jumping up and down in your spot.  He was amazing, his muscular arms pulled him forward through the water so gracefully, he was at least a full body length ahead of the other swimmers in his heat.  It was incredible watching him. 

You happened to glance up into the crowd to see Missy sitting on her phone, sipping on a lemonade and texting, not even looking up from it once to see how Jungkook was doing. 

It irritated you quite a bit.  Why was she even here?  

Jungkook finished in first, no surprise.  He seemed happy with his time, a wide grin on his face while he was hopping out of the pool.

You ran over to him, both hands out for a double high five that he returned instantly.  

The rest of the meet went well.  Your college ended up winning overall which put everyone in high spirits. 

After getting dressed and exiting the locker room out to the lobby of the aquatic center you decided you wanted to at least try to extend an olive branch to Jungkook’s less than pleasant girlfriend.  You didn’t want to lose Jungkook as a friend over something as silly as not getting along with Missy. 

You found Jungkook standing in the lobby looking around. 

“Hey you!” you smiled as you approached him “Do you and Missy wanna go out for a celebratory dinner on me?” 

“That sounds awesome! I just gotta find Missy.  Did you see her come down from the stands?” he looked confused as he scanned the crowd for her. 

“I didn’t, I’ll help you look around for her” 

He nodded and the two of you walked through the crowd to try and find her.  She was nowhere to be seen and the crowd was slowly getting thinner and thinner so it should’ve made it easier to see her.  Odd. 

After about ten minutes of searching the whole crowd was gone and it was only you and Jungkook standing in the lobby. 

“Okay, y/n, I’m kind of nervous.  Where could she be?”  Jungkook's eyes were full of worry. 

“Maybe she wasn’t feeling well and went home early?” you suggested. 

“She would’ve texted me…” his brow furrowed as he checked his phone to see if maybe he had missed a message or call. 

The two of you started to walk some of the hallways of the building looking around.  

Then an odd noise hit your ears, there was some giggling coming from a storage room. 

“That sounds like...What would she be doing in here?” Jungkook gripped the door handle and swung it open. 

His eyes almost flying out of their sockets at the sight of Missy completely naked her legs wrapped around your teammate Jin. 

“What the fuck!” Jungkook screamed angrily. Causing Missy and Jin to realize for the first time that they had been walked in on. 

Missy instantly jumped off of Jin, and Jin scrambled to cover himself up. 

“Jungkook wait!” Missy squealed as Jungkook slammed the door shut on the two of them, shaking slightly while he stomped down the hall away from them.  

You followed right behind him silently, not really knowing what to say. 

“Babe wait!” suddenly Missy was sprinting down the hall after the two of you, grabbing Jungkook by the shoulder trying to turn him around to face her.  He shook her off and kept walking, trying to just make it out the doors of the building and to his car, wanting to get as far away from her as possible. 

“Jungkook, please I can explain!” Missy was sobbing. 

“Missy.  Maybe now’s not the time.” You softly spoke at her in a serious tone. 

“Sorry bitch but no one was talking to you.” Missy snapped at you. 

At that Jungkook finally spun around to face her. 

“Don’t you dare Missy.  You’re the bitch right now okay? And I never want to fucking see your face again.  So please, leave me alone, go home.” he growled. 

Missy froze on the spot, Jungkook had never spoken to her so harshly before.  You felt that she deserved even worse than just some mean words after what she’d done, but that's none of your business. 

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You drove Jungkook home, telling him it was probably not a good idea for him to drive himself due to the state of mind he was in, and he reluctantly agreed. 

You pulled up to his house and the two of you sat in silence for a moment before Jungkook spoke. 

“I was with her since eighth grade…” he choked out, covering his face with his hands as he was starting to tear up. 

You put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.  Wishing that you had the right words. 

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Jungkook missed practice for the next two days.  You texted him asking where he was both days and each time he answered with a simple ‘don’t feel well sry’ 

When he finally returned to practice he seemed to be pushing himself even harder than he was before.  You wondered if it was hard for him to swim in the same lane as Jin.

And your curiosity was answered when you were taking a breather after a set and heard some commotion going on from lane eight. 

“What the fuck did you just say?” You heard Jungkook screaming. 

“I said, it’s not my fault your girl is a SLUT” Jins voice boomed

You looked over to see Jungkook starting to pull his fist back, he wasn’t able to land his punch before a few of the other teammates from the lane were holding him back. 

The coach ran over and tried to defuse the situation. 

“That's it. Everyone out of the water!” The coach yelled to the whole team.  You all hopped out and went to sit on the benches or the floor to wait for further instruction. 

“You two.  Up on the blocks” the coach motioned for Jin and Jungkook to comply with his orders. 

“100 Freestyle.” the coach informed them. 

The two men glared at each other and hopped on the block. 

You thought this was probably a good way to settle things without violence.  Jungkook was the fastest on the team, and freestyle wasn’t even Jin’s stroke, so it would feel good for him to beat Jin after all that went down. 

“Ready. Set…” The coach blew the whistle to signal the start. 

Jungkook dove off the block, his arms outstretched and strong as he hit the water.  

You stood up and yelled “Gooooo Jungkook!” then motioned for the rest of the team to stand and cheer.  Most of them did, all cheering for Jungkook. 

But...the cheers started to die down on the last lap.  Because...Jungkook was losing? No.  Not good. 

Jin touched the wall about a few seconds before Jungkook, a big smirk on his face as he turned to him. 

“Better luck next time buddy.” he chuckled. 

Jungkook was in shock. He...lost, he never lost…

He hopped out of the pool fuming, stomping off to the locker room, kicking a stack of kickboards and knocking them all across the pool floor on his way in. 

You covered your mouth with your hand.  Poor Jungkook.  Your heart was breaking for your friend and you had no idea what to do. 

After practice was over you were walking out to your car and noticed that Jungkook’s car was still there.  You’d thought he left but he must still be somewhere back in the building. 

You decided to go and find him, returning back to the pool area and searching around.  Everyone else including the coach had already left, so you decided you would take a chance and check the men’s locker room. 

When you entered you heard a shower running and walked towards the sound.

You found Jungkook sitting on the grey tile floor with his back against the wall, eyes closed, letting the water fall onto his face. 

“J-Jungkook, are you okay…” You said quietly. 

He jumped, and snapped his eyes open, wiping the water out of them quickly to see you better. 

“Shit y/n you scared me.” he whispered. 

“Sorry, I just saw you were still here and wanted to check on you” you explained. 

He nodded, bending his head down and letting the water fall on the back of his neck. 

“Well, I’m fine” he spoke quietly. 

You were still wearing your suit under your clothes, so you decided to take off your sweats and jacket and sit next to him in the shower. 

“This is probably not very sanitary” you laughed as you sat down. 

“The water washes the germs away” he mumbled, his head still down on his knees. 

“I’m not sure I buy that one, but I’ll let you have it” you chuckled, leaning your head towards him and resting it on his shoulder. 

“I’m really sorry Jungkook” you got more serious. 

He lifted his head a bit, turning to look at you.  “I just don’t understand what I did wrong.  I treated her like a queen, I gave her everything.” he sighed “I haven’t seen her since the meet, but I have to swim with Jin right next to me every day now.  And hes so fucking smug about it, and now on top of everything hes somehow faster than me” Jungkook spoke with his hands emphasizing his anger. 

“He’s definitely not faster than you, I think you’re off your game a bit cuz of everything that happened.” 

“Still…” Jungkook sighed “That was embarrassing and just the icing on the cake of the worst week of my life” 

He leaned his head so it was resting against yours. 

“Hmm, I might have an idea on how to cheer you up!” you grinned, lifting your head and meeting his eyes. 

He looked confused and then suddenly he seemed to form an idea of what you might have meant. 

He brought his face close to yours, and before you could tell him that wasn’t what you meant his lips had landed on your own.  He tasted like chlorine, and his lips were so soft.  As much as you enjoyed it, you pulled back quickly. 

“I-I didn’t mean.  I wasn’t trying to say that…” you stuttered out in shock that you let that happen.  He was vulnerable right now after having his heart broken, you shouldn’t take advantage of that. 

Jungkook looked mortified, “You didn’t want me...fuck.  Y/n I’m so sorry.  I’m not thinking right” he shook his head embarrassed. 

“It’s fine Jungkook” you chuckled “It was...nice actually.  I just don’t think we should, we’re friends, and you are going through something.” 

He still looked ashamed of acting on what he assumed you had wanted “So...what did you mean?” 

“I was thinking a midnight star swim?” 

Jungkooks face lit up, “Oh my god I haven’t done that in years” 

There was an outdoor pool in your town that most of the swimmers knew how to sneak into at night.  There weren’t any cameras or security, and the fence was easy to jump.  It was up on a hill and if you went on a clear night, it had the most beautiful view of the stars.  So everyone called it a star swim. 

“I’m so down for that” Jungkook nodded excitedly.  “Oh, and thanks for not being weird about…” he trailed off looking down. 

You chuckled, “Weird about what?”  you smirked knowingly. 

-------------------------------------------------------

It was about 11:30 when you pulled up to Jungkook’s house.  You hadn’t stopped thinking about the kiss since it happened.  At first you really had planned on brushing it off like nothing happened, but the memory of the feeling and taste of him wouldn’t stop pushing itself into the front of your mind. It was so persistent that you almost cancelled your plans with him, faking being sick or something like that.  But, he had thanked you for not making it weird, and that’s exactly what you’d be doing if you cancelled plans.  Just pretend it never happened. You told yourself.  Yet that seemed so impossible. 

Jungkook was skipping out to the car not long after you arrived.  He seemed to be in better spirits, which is exactly what this was for, you were quite relieved to see a smile on his face as he hopped into the passenger seat. 

“Sup Y/n” 

“Sup Jungkook” you chuckled

-----------

As was usual for star swims you parked down the road from the pool and not in the parking lot so as not to be suspicious.  The two of you walked in the dark towards your destination. 

You didn’t want to use your phone’s flashlight as you walked just in case someone saw.  As common as it was, it was not in any way legal for the two of you to be going into the pool at this hour, and you were slightly nervous about getting caught. 

But, because of the lack of light you happened to trip on a dip in the road you hadn’t noticed.  You fell forward and let out a small gasp, but before you got close to hitting the ground, two strong arms wrapped around you and caught you just in time.  Jungkook pulled you up and steadied you. 

“Woah there” Jungkook whispered. 

You awkwardly stood up straight, quite embarrassed of your clumsiness. 

“Shit, thanks…” 

“Here,” Jungkook grabbed your hand “I have good night vision, I’ll guide you” 

For some reason, the small and seemingly platonic gesture of his fingers intertwined with yours made your heart skip a beat.  The kiss popped into your mind again.  

No, he's just confused because of everything that happened with his ex, you aren’t going to let yourself just be a rebound, he’s just your friend! Your mind tried to reason with your heart.  Your heart didn’t seem to want to listen, it continued to flutter as you walked hand in hand with Jungkook the rest of the way. 

When you got to the silver chain link fence Jungkook motioned for you to go first, offering to help give you a boost up.  You declined and pulled yourself up easily,

 “You forget I’m pretty strong too Kook” You winked at him as you landed on the other side. 

There was something behind the smile and soft, admiring look he gave you through the holes in the metal fence where he now stood opposite you.  Maybe your stupid heart was making something out of nothing, but something flickered over his expression, that seemed like...nah, it couldn’t be.  

He hopped over effortlessly and landed next to you.  He almost instantly pulled his white t-shirt up and over his head. 

You’d seen him shirtless so many times at practice, but being here at night, and alone with him had you feeling slightly shy.  Trying not to look his way you decided to get undressed into your suit that was under your clothes as well. 

You cursed yourself for deciding it was a good idea to wear a skimpy bright red two piece.  You thought it would be more comfortable, but, you should’ve just worn your completely unattractive practice one piece suit.  Then you wouldn’t have to notice the way Jungkook’s eyes were bugging out of his skull upon seeing your figure.  

You noticed him bite at his lower lip and gulp, not being able to tear his eyes away from you.  

“Ready to swim?” You asked, hoping to snap him out of his trance. 

He nodded, his eyes still glued to the skin right above the fabric of your bikini top. 

You decided to take his view away, jumping into the pool quickly.  

Jungkook wasn’t far behind, taking off his shorts so he was wearing only his tight workout speedo, then doing a dive into the pool. 

You swam over to the edge of the pool, resting your arms on the side and laying out on your back to stare up at the sky.�� It was peaceful and calm, the dark black sky was lit up with sparkling lights, and they reflected almost like a mirror in the water of the pool.

It was one of the most beautiful sights in the world to you.  

Jungkook slowly swam over to you, not wanting to disturb the stillness of the water and break the calm glass like reflection of the stars.  It did slightly, but it almost made it more beautiful, the ripple in reflection now looked like the stars were dancing. 

You felt Jungkook’s arm rest against your own. 

“I’m not sorry that I kissed you” he whispered, almost like it wasn’t meant for you to hear.  Yet when you snapped your gaze over to him, he was looking right at you.  Staring at your lips, his eyes full of want. 

“Jungkook...You just got out of a super long relationship that ended badly.  I don’t think you’re thinking clearly” 

Jungkook sighed. “Honestly, she was so controlling and I always just did whatever she said.  I never realized how much of my life was just me following her orders until I left her.  It’s like I didn’t fully understand everything I was missing out on in life because of her.  I’m upset, mostly because I realize how much time I’ve wasted not being with someone good and kind who actually cared about me the way I care about them…” 

Your heart was beating wildly and you had to take some deep and quiet breaths, trying to not make it noticeable to Jungkook how much he was affecting you. 

“So I think I’m actually thinking more clearly than I have in quite a long time.” He smiled at you. 

“I hope you find someone who treats you right Jungkook, you deserve it” you muttered, continuing your efforts to ignore that he was now staring over your whole body hungrily.  

“Yeah…” he murmured, “They say sometimes there’s moments in life where you realize everything you’ve been searching for has been right in front of you the whole time.  I feel like maybe I…”

You suddenly jumped out of the pool, trying to stop him before he got any further with that thought. 

You ran over to the diving board and sat on the very edge, your legs dangling off the edge. 

“Um, this way...we don’t mess up the view with our movements.” You explained your awkward and sudden escape. 

Jungkook sighed and got out of the water as well.

“Why are you avoiding me y/n.  I thought you weren’t going to make things weird after the kiss” he spoke as he started to walk over to the diving board. 

“Shit. I-I’m not trying to make things weird, it's just, I don’t want you to think…It just sounds like you think that...” 

“That you’d want to kiss me again?” his hands rested on the metal bars on either side of the board.  He was now standing right at the opposite end from where you sat. You turned around to face him, your back now to the pool with your legs still dangling off the edge.

“Exactly.” 

“And you really don’t want to?” he cocked his head to the side. 

You bit your lower lip nervously, of course you wanted to again.  Look at this gorgeous man, shirtless, muscular, and he’s almost begging for it.  But, this is your friend, you couldn’t just be his rebound.  So you regrettably settled on that as your next words.

“I’m not interested in being your rebound Jungkook” you almost snapped, realizing how harsh that came out, you added in a softer, “Sorry” 

Jungkook seemed to not have lost his determination though.  He slowly walked towards where you sat.  He teased for a second like he was going to bounce the board and make you fly off.

“Don’t you dare!” you giggled. 

Jungkook smirked, when he reached only a few steps in front of you he sat down facing you and hanging his legs off of either side of the board. 

“If we hooked up, I wouldn’t think of you as a rebound…” Jungkook said quietly.

You sighed “Ugh, Jungkook, I still think it’d be a bad idea” 

“Is it because you actually like me?” he said raising one eyebrow, “And you’re thinking ‘oh if I give into him now he’ll never be serious with me,’” he said trying to mimic your voice.  

You reached out and smacked him on his arm, “My god, you are full of yourself aren’t you” 

Jungkook let out a loud laugh and scooted forward on the bench a bit closer to you, your knees were touching now. 

“But, what if I told you that I liked you.  Like... actually liked you.  At first I thought we were just good friends...but I think I’ve felt this way since that first day of practice.  So maybe I deserved getting cheated on like that.  In a way, I was cheating in my heart by liking you the way I do.” 

You really didn’t know what to say.  

“I...don’t know if it’s quite the same thing.  I’m not really any kind of relationship expert.  But, you definitely didn’t deserve what happened to you.  That’s all I know” You said then suddenly the entirety of what he said hit you.  You wanted to just toss yourself off the edge of this board, he really just said he liked you?

“You like me?” You said with your voice wavering. 

“Ah you got that part now huh?” He chuckled. 

“Jungkook are you sure…” your eyes widened as you trailed your gaze over his sinful half naked figure sitting in front of you. 

“Quit trying to fight it y/n.  Let's just live in the moment, huh?” 

Fuck.  You really were getting mentally exhausted by trying so hard to hold back your feelings.  You liked him, a lot, maybe not right away but now? Definitely. You leaned in close to him, hoping you weren’t about to ruin everything by caving in. 

Jungkook’s mouth pulled into a smile as you inched closer to him.  

“That’s my girl” he whispered, reaching a hand to the back of your neck to pull you in closer.  His lips touched yours gentle and smooth,  the kisses he pressed into you were so innocent compared to the way his eyes had been roaming you hungrily.  

You started to speed the kisses up, running a hand through his soft locks of pitch black hair.  He groaned softly into your mouth as you touched him. 

You felt an ache in your core just from these small kisses and touches, you couldn’t tell if you were wet from swimming or from your own arousal, you were deeper into your feelings for him than you’d even realized.  

Jungkook’s hands gracefully trailed down from your head to your sides, the feeling of his fingers tracing your bare skin sent a shiver throughout your body.  You whimpered slightly when his hands reached the fabric of your bikini bottoms, he reached under your ass and pulled you up from where you sat and onto his lap. 

The board bounced up and down at the movement, causing you to bounce on Jungkook’s lap.  He grunted softly at the feeling. 

You could feel the hardness of his erection through his swim shorts, and you started to roll your hips against him, enjoying the friction and pressure that you could feel on your clit through the fabric of your suit. 

If you had any doubts about whether or not you should be doing this, the feeling of his hands starting to untie the string of your suit that was resting on your neck, had washed them all away. 

Your top fell down, exposing you to him.  He inhaled sharply and shook his head.  

“I imagined this so many times.  And you just had to go and be better than any fantasy I could’ve come up with” He said breathily. 

“You’re being cheesy” you giggled. 

“I mean it though” he smiled, giving your breasts a small squeeze. Then taking each of your nipples between the tip of his thumb and index finger, pinching them lightly.

You moaned out lewdly and tossed your head back at the pleasurable feeling. 

“Fuck” you hissed. 

“You like that baby?” Jungkook smirked, already knowing the answer to that question but wanting to hear you say it.  Needing to know how it would sound to hear unending praises fall from your lips. 

“I love it Jungkook” you gasp as he pinches you again, then brought his lips to one of your breasts, trading places with his fingers and nipping at you lightly.

“How much?” he asked, his breath warm against your tits as he spoke. 

“So much, I love it so much Jungkook, you’re amazing. I want you so badly” you admitted.  

Jungkook moaned against your skin at your words. 

“Don’t feel shy to let me know you’re enjoying yourself babe.  I wanna know how good I make you feel” he whispered, pulling himself from your chest and planting sloppy kisses on your neck. 

Jungkook started to move you off of his chest and lay you back on the diving board.  It shook up and down at the two of you moving around.  You laughed as you almost fell off at one point, Jungkook having to steady you with his hands on your hips. 

He hovered over where you laid, his hands gripping the edge of the board in a plank position, and gave you a quick peck on your lips. He then pushed himself up, standing between your legs that hung off the side of the board.  He pulled his swim shorts down quickly and stood confidently with his hands on his hips showing himself off to you with a smirk. 

You giggled wildly at his cockiness, which he mistook for you giggling at his...cock. 

“Hey now.” He growled crossing his arms against his toned bare chest. “Don’t make me bounce you off this thing” 

“Oh my god, no It’s just that you’re so cute.  Displaying yourself with that confidence” You assured him. 

“Well, I have reason to be confident no?” he moved his eyebrows up and down, and motioning his hands down around his hips, gesturing to his erection.  He wasn’t wrong...He had plenty of reason to feel proud of the cock that was hanging between his legs, long and large.  You’d never been with someone as big as him and you started to feel slight nervousness as you anticipated and hoped for the feeling of the stretch. 

Jungkook got down and balanced himself on his knees between your legs, pulling the string on one of the sides of your bikini bottoms.  

You felt the fabric being lifted away after he’d untied it, and you were completely bare and exposed to him now. 

He growled lowly.  

“Fuck you have a perfect pussy” 

“And you have a perfect cock” you returned. 

He smiled widely, you had a feeling that a strong feeling of pride grew in him at your words.  And you were right, any bit of praise that you gave him made him even more excited to dive into your pussy and feel you around him, he wanted to hear how good he made you feel. 

He gripped himself in one hand, trying his best to stay balanced as his other hand started to lightly touch your entrance. 

You gasped at his touch, and tossed your head back,  you were right on the edge of the board and the feeling that one wrong move could throw both of you off into the water was scary and exciting. 

You were seeing stars, literally as you stared up into the sky while two Jungkook’s fingers entered you, moving around and stretching you out, preparing you to take him. 

“That feels so good Jungkook” you moaned.  His ego swelled at that and it only made him want to work harder to please you, increasing the speed of his fingers. 

“Fuck” you whimpered out, gripping the sides of the board and trying not to squirm too much. 

Suddenly, he pulled his fingers out, you pouted at the feeling of emptiness and loss of his touch. 

But he was now pulling you on top of him and flipping the two of you around so he was laying in the spot where you were just seconds ago. 

The sight was nothing less than magical. 

You were sitting on top of him with your hands on his chest, the moonlight shining on his skin making him almost glow.  And framing his perfect face on every side from below was the dark water reflecting the stars from above, it looked like something straight out of an artsy indie movie.  

You lifted your hips slightly and he brought a hand to position his cock at your entrance. 

You lowered yourself down onto him excruciatingly slow, but you wanted to give yourself the chance to adjust to his thickness. 

His hands squeezed your ass tightly as you sank down onto him, and he threw his head back in pleasure, biting down hard on his lower lip. 

“Fuckkkk” he hissed once you had him completely sheathed inside your pussy. 

You started to rock your hips slowly, not wanting to move too much and bounce the two of you off and down into the water.   

But Jungkook seemed to be a bit overtaken by the feeling and started to grab your hips and lift you up, slamming you down onto him.  He set a steady pace of bringing your hips up and down onto him, and it was the most incredible feeling ever.  Every time you took him fully at that speed, the board would bounce and cause a second in and out, causing him to thrust up into you effortlessly. 

“Jungkook, oh my god” you screamed out.  Jungkook grinned widely, loving how good he was making you feel.  It felt like a dream having you here riding him. 

His hands continued to guide you up and down on his cock, the board bouncing made it hard to keep a steady pace now.  

“You gonna cum for me baby? Use my cock however you need y/n” Jungkook moaned, releasing his grip on you and putting his hands behind his head.  You swore he was flexing his biceps right now.  So cocky, you thought.  Though, you couldn’t deny, he was so fucking hot like his.  He always seemed to have the goods to back up that cocky attitude of his. 

You started to bounce and roll your hips around in small circles, it took a lot of effort to continue without having any support for your knees, you really had to thank yourself for all those ab exercises you’d been working on.  

His cock was hitting you in all the right places now and you felt yourself approaching your high.  

“J-Jungkook, I’m gonna cum” you whimpered. 

“Yeah baby? My cock is gonna make you cum?” he smirked.  

You nodded biting your lip while you stared down at the god like man below you. 

“Say it.” he growled.  

You figured it didn’t hurt to indulge him, he really was rocking your world right now. 

“Jungkook, your fucking amazing, giant, sexy, cock is gonna make my pussy cum” you moaned.

“Fuck, hurry up if you’re gonna keep talking like that” he chuckled. “I’m so fucking close too y/n” 

After a few more bounces your orgasm was on you, it ran like a tidal wave over your whole body, nothing you’d ever felt before could compare to the incredible feeling rushing over you.  

Your walls tightened and spasmed around Jungkook’s cock, you had stilled your movements and fell down onto his chest, but he kept moving himself into you quickly, approaching his own orgasm.  His hips rolling up into you were greatly assisted by the bouncing of the board.  

He gripped your ass hard and sped up even faster, his face contorting into an expression of intense pleasure. 

“F-Fuck, Y/n baby” he groaned loudly, his nails biting into your ass cheeks and his head burried into to crook of your neck as he came. 

At that moment he completely lost control of his balance, and you, who were also overcome with post orgasm bliss were in no place to steady the two of you. 

And before you knew it both of you, clutched tightly onto one another, and him still twitching and emptying hot cum inside of you, were rolling off the board and crashing into the water. 

The two of you were now completely submerged, bodies still intertwined and holding each other tightly, Jungkook brought you into a passionate kiss as you rose back up to the surface. 

Once you reached air again he slowly pulled out of you and you both laughed wildly. 

“Holy shit” you threw your head back and floated on your back savoring this blissful moment. 

You turned to Jungkook who did an excited forward somersault in the water, which caused you to laugh even more. 

“Well that's how fun that was for me” he chuckled as he paddled over to where you floated and kissed you on the cheek. 

“You’re a dork” you shook your head. 

“And amazing...giant...and sexy” he listed your previous words while he wiggled his eyebrows up and down. 

“Yes that too” 

“And completely falling for you…” he whispered. 

You stared up to the stars, you swore you saw a shooting star right then. 

You don’t know what you could possibly wish for in this moment.  Everything already felt so perfect. 

You were completely falling for him too. 

[targsdaenerys]

19

sorry this took awhile, anon! but thank you for sending something in, these prompts are a nice warmup for writing:)

19: “The paint is supposed to go where?”

painting the stars for us (quite literally)

“What uh… What are you doing?”  

Dany snapped her head to the doorway where Jon was. For a few moments now, he had watched her transfer a paint brush from a small pot to the skin of her forearm.

“Oh, hey.”  Her makeup was enhancing her features, especially in the sun light. More than usual at least - but it made sense since Prom called for things to be…enhanced. “I’m painting.”

“Right now? With your senior prom in a few hours?”

“Exactly.” She added a small touch. “Where is Sansa?” 

“She just texted me, saying her hair appointment’s running late. Wanted me to see if you needed help or anything.”

Dany’s gaze lingered on him for a moment. Sansa and Arya’s older brother… Always around, but distant. Yet he and Dany have become friends as well. They never hung out alone, at least not a lot, but when they were with the group, they always seemed attached at the hip. It was something of a group joke. But from what Dany could read, it was…sort of an instinct. Ever since her messy brother situation with Viserys being in and out of rehab, Robb and Jon always stepped up to be her own older brotherly figures. She and John were just more alike.

Their bond had grown as they had gotten older. Even as he went off to college, when they should have drifted. She would be lying to herself if she said she hadn’t thought of them being something more. Jon would be, too. Dany wasn’t deaf to all the girls saying what boyfriend-material he was when he was a senior and they were sophomores. Nor did Jon pretend he couldn’t hear them. He just chose to ignore them. 

“Um,” she returned to painting. “Just wait a minute.”

He took that as a cue to enter the room, so he stood behind her, scanning over the gold and silver pots of paint covering the vanity along with star gems and bobby-pins. He followed her next brushstroke across her pale skin. It joined a sparkly line to several others along with a cluster of dots. 

Dany sat back, admiring the work she had done, and then glanced up at him. 

“You’re staring. It’s making me anxious about messing up.”

“I’m curious as to what you would be messing up in the first place.”

She gave a dramatic eye roll with a sigh as she went to stand. “Men.”

Jon was going to protest, but her hard stare cut him off as he took the full look in.

“Sansa and I have a theme. She’s Sun and Day, I’m Moon and Night.” 

The paint on her arms were constellations. Her eyes were outlined with gold and speckled with stars, a crescent acting as a faux beauty mark.

“- Oh. Well, that’s cool.” she gave him a sheepish smile. “You look pretty.”

Once again, she rolled her eyes, this time diverting eye contact. “I don’t even have my dress on yet.”

He looked over her shoulder at the dress hanging from Sansa’s closet. It was a dusty bluish-grey, gold leaf embellishments covering it spaciously. The neckline was a mix of a modest V. Jon suddenly wished to see her in it. “Doesn’t mean I’m lying.”

“I suppose so.” She stood in minimal wear - a bralette and athletic shorts - perhaps to avoid smudging.

“Is Sansa painting, too?”

The pair had done the same theme idea last year. They always went all out. 

“Yea, but more of a wash. A lot of highlight.”

He barely knew what that meant but nodded anyway. Dany appeared to start to think for a moment, that familiar scrunch forming between her eyebrows. “Shit.”

“What? What’s wrong?” Thankfully she didn’t seem stressed. But the disappointment was clear.

“I was going to ask Sansa to put some on my back. I can’t do it myself.” dany wrung her finger against the back of the chair and sighed. She looked over the supplies and met his gaze in the mirror. “Would - would you be able to do it?”

“Me?” he scoffed. “I’m…I’m no painter.”

“Its lines and dots.”

“Still -”

She grabbed the pot and brushes and pushed them into his hands. “C’mon. Only a few.”

Dany turned around again. Jon’s eye shifted between the supplies and her bare back. The straps of her bralette were strapped around her neck, so the only thing interjecting was the hook band. Jon brushed a fuzz off her shoulder. Despite the heat of early June, Dany shivered. 

“Do…Do you have a reference, or -”

“Oh - yeah. Here.” she passed a paper over his shoulder. Jon led her to the side of the chair so he could place the paper on the table. 

“Does it matter -”

“- No, no,” she said breathly. “It’s fine. Whatever one you want.”

“Okay.”

He picked the Warrior, since it reminded him most of her, and the idea of it mirroring her back would be cool. It only spanned the top half of her back, though. He brushed a hand on her shoulder. 

“That’s one,” Jon murmured. Dany nodded hurriedly. Her throat contracted, and they met eyes once again in the mirror before he kneeled. The next was Sagittarius. Although, jon underestimated it, and almost ran into the bra strap. He tried be polite about it and lift it a bit, but that idea was stupid, since it would get paint on it anyway. Even if he moved it up. He didn’t have the sense of leverage with his hand at the dip of her waist, either.

Dany caught his dilemma. “Here.” She reached behind herself and unhooked the bra, holding the front fabric to her chest in an effort to still be covered. He barely had time to widen his eye, react at all, even, before she broke out in a shaky joke; “Oh Jon, it’s no big deal. You’ve re-tied my bikini at the pool more than once.”

Well, yes, that’s true. But she had never untied the bikini on purpose. For him. Especially in front of a mirror.

He focused solely on the constellation. Her neck twisted slightly to watch him.

“Oh, I’m sorry but -” she cleared her throat. “Can you just - can you go a little lower, please? The paint’s - the paint’s…”

As she trailed off, Jon pulled back slightly to look at the full expanse of her back. He was starting the constellation nearly at the line of her shorts. The shorts that were already low on her hips.

Jon swallowed, mustering up the sense, the will…

“The paint is supposed to go where?” he murmured, softly pushing her on. 

“Um - my dress. The back is low cut. I was thinking, well…nevermind.”

“Dany, tell me. I’ll do it.“ At this point he knew what she wanted. He just wanted to hear her say it.

“For the designs to disappear under the fabric. It’s alright, though. Really. It’s probably too weird. I don’t even think im wearing underwear, i just through these shorts on -”

Her rambling broke into a small gasp as he pressed his lips to the base of her spine. Right above the hem of her shorts.

Jon stood up when she didn’t pull away, taking the pressure from his knees, setting the brushes aside and traveling up her torso with care to the paint. He glanced briefly in the mirror, just enough to catch her widened, curious eyes, before dropping another kiss on her shoulder. His lips stayed there as her head leaned into his.

She dropped her arms as she turned to face him. He kept his eyes leveled with her face despite being well aware of the loosened constricts of the bralette. Dany brought an experimental hand to his neck, to his face, and leaned in.

“Wait,” he stopped, slightly scrunching his eyes shut to not see her disappointment. Don’t you…I’d hate to mess up your makeup.”

She giggled. Jon opened his eyes at the sound, so different despite its familiarity, meeting his brightened ones. “That’s what you’re worried about?

“Well, yes.” Jon rested a hand on her neck and should in effort to not smear anything. “It seems like you’ve spent a lot of time. Lipstick i know is a tricky thi -”

She cut him off by fastening her lips over his. He closed in, sliding against her soft pucker, trying to avoid smudging - 

“I haven’t put lipstick on yet, idiot,” she murmured, rising on her toes. “Kiss me like you mean it.”

And so Jon did, following Dany’s needy instruction after another, wrapping bother hands around her neck and thumbing her jaw. It was fluid, it was complete, it was something he always needed but never knew before until that second.

Eventually they disconnected, breathing the same air, staring into each other’s minds.

“The paint’s supposed to go on my ass. If you can handle it.”

He barely did, but managed.

[1kook]

milestone

Jeon Jungkook x (F) Reader

summary→ Part of you is touched that Jungkook really has been there for every milestone in your life. The other part wishes he hadn’t shown up looking so ridiculously sexy. tags→ American highschool/college universe, brother’s best friend au, grinding, first time, oral (f receiving), unprotected sex (pls use condoms tho), dirty talk, confessions, um graduation sex??? idk lol wc→ 8.2k

did i proofread? hell no lmao. this is my first time writing for bts tho!! enjoy!!

To say Jungkook had changed was an understatement.  

You could safely say this because you knew Jungkook, despite the times you wished you didn’t. You knew him, because he’d been attached to your older brother’s hip for as long as you could remember, present at nearly every milestone event of your childhood. He and Taehyung had become inseparable since the moment you’d first moved next door to Jungkook, their days spent playing video games after school, running around the backyard, and begging your parents to let them build a conjoined ‘Boys Only’ tree house. 

Yours, on the other hand, were spent inside, too shy to go outside and talk to your brother’s friend, even if he was only two years older than you. You were, in every aspect, the shy baby sister who played inside and hid behind her mom’s leg whenever the boys’ tummies called them back inside for snacks. 

It wasn’t that Jungkook was mean or anything. No, he was at least two times better than your own brother. On days your mother had urged you to go out and play, he’d let you play with his scooter around the driveway, because he knew you hated playing football with him and Tae, the both of them too rough. He was a sweet kid, from what you could remember, and you’d never once came to dislike him during those warm, honeyed days of your childhood. 

The bulk of what you knew of Jungkook came mostly from your teenage years, when you’d finally grown out of your shyness. Though he’d had an awkward growth spurt that led him to be the tallest freshman in his class for a short while, he was still the polite boy who everyone’s mother loved. His after school visits were not as often, both him and Tae consumed by their love for football. Their practices were grueling, and sometimes, they wouldn’t return home until well into the evening, their clothes soiled and smelly from all the hours they put in on the field. 

Jungkook was a junior by the time you started your freshman year, his prepubescent body finally working in his favor. He’d suddenly become more firm and defined, and you remembered the way his mother had scolded him when he’d pierced his right ear without permission. He’d become undeniably cute, but you always had kept that thought to yourself, lest you want the wrath of Taehyung’s overprotectiveness brought down on you. 

But he was still as supportive as he’d always been, wishing you good luck when both he and Taehyung had dropped you off for freshman orientation, a sweet smile adorning his face. It was Jungkook who had initially encouraged you to join the dance team, to which Taehyung had then insisted upon. (You’re pretty sure he just wanted you to join so he wouldn’t have to drive you home before the start of his practice everyday.)

You remembered so vividly how he’d driven you and your brother to and from school every day of the first semester, his hands veiny as they’d gripped the wheel of his dad’s car; you’ve never been able to look at a steering wheel the same way again. While your brother had preferred to scroll through his phone, Jungkook had liked conversing with you, head occasionally turning so you could catch glances of his side profile. During winter break, Taehyung finally got a license of his own, and those quiet mornings with Jungkook came to a stop. 

You saw him less after the first semester as you became consumed in your own school life, because, though the football season had ended, the dance team performed all throughout the winter basketball season as well. You came home late, often hitching rides from your older friends back home. They’d always been eager to drop you off, always desperate to catch sight of Jungkook or your brother coming out to receive you. The one day Jungkook did let you into the house, your cheeks had been tainted red from the cold. It masked your own adoration as he’d pulled open the door, his hair fluffy and soft, his usually broad body snuggly enveloped by a soft sweater. 

By the beginning of Taehyung’s senior year, both he and Jungkook had become transfixed with teaching you how to drive. At night, you’d run a few circles in the grocery’s empty parking lot, their instructions overwhelming as they shouted to be heard over each other. It was ultimately Jungkook who’d taken up the sole duty of instructing you, his voice soft and calm against your ear as he leaned in from the backseat, arm occasionally coming into your line of vision.

His and Taehyung’s senior night had been ridiculously teary, both of them grasping onto each other as the final whistle of their last high school football game rang through the crisp October air. Your parents had been preoccupied with taking pictures of Tae to upload onto Facebook, and you’d almost wandered back to the car in boredom, had Jungkook not swept you into a hug and gushed profusely, the adrenaline from the game and his happiness making him stumble over his words. He’d been smelly and sticky, his shoulder pads pressing into you in a mildly uncomfortable way, but you’d be an idiot to pull out of his embrace. 

It was during their graduation that you finally came to terms with your crush on Jungkook, your brother’s best friend in the entire universe. 

As they’d filed out of the auditorium, your eyes had been locked on Jungkook’s broad shoulders, nicely fitted by the gown they all wore, a sharp pang striking your chest. He was eighteen then, so bright and excited for college, and you knew you could never tell him how much he meant to you. You couldn’t tell him, not because it’d make things weird, but because Jungkook was so caring and generous that he would spend all his time worrying about little sixteen year-old you. 

He was such a genuine person, that you knew bestowing such news on him would only hinder his success as he moved onto the next stage of his life; so worried he’d be about you that he might even reconsider going to dorm out of state. You never wanted anything more than for Jungkook to be happy, and if it meant suppressing the feelings you’d felt for more than ten years, so be it. 

They would go away, you were sure, but Jungkook’s troubles for you would not. So you’d brushed them aside in favor of watching him blossom into the professional gentleman you knew he was destined to become. 

Which is what leaves you undoubtedly confused by his appearance at your graduation. 

“I- thanks?” You say, taking the sopping wet bouquet out of his grasp, holding it  as far as possible from your crisp graduation gown. The tassel you’d just turned brushes against your cheek as you level Jungkook with a confused once-over. He’s out of breath, for some reason, the strands of hair he’d brushed backwards slowly curling forwards to brush the tip of his eyebrows. 

He draws to his full height, leveling you with an unusual smirk. “Don’t mention it, kid,” he brushes off, playfully punching your arm. You guess he isn’t aware of his own brutish strength, hiding beneath that tight button-down, because you end up flinching after the hit, not that he notices. You push the flowers off onto your mom, who seems pretty preoccupied making sure the pictures she’d taken of you came out okay. Your dad is nowhere to be found, probably back in the cafeteria scarfing down the snacks that had been set out for people wishing to mingle after the ceremony. 

You’re thrown for another loop when Taehyung’s arm is thrown around your shoulders, knocking your cap off your head. He very narrowly catches it, twirling it in his palm as he beams in your face. “I can’t believe it,” he cries, “my baby sister, finally being released from prison!” He wipes an imaginary tear off his face, and you would have been more invested in his dramatics had you not been so enthralled by the sight of Jungkook. 

Admittedly, it’s been a while since you last saw him. He and Taehyung rarely visited, only on the mandatory holidays, before driving the five hours back to their college to never be seen or heard from until the next holiday. The last time you’d even seen Taehyung was during winter break, because he and Jungkook had decided to travel out of the country for spring break instead of coming home. 

The extended absence is probably why you’re so confused as you stare at Jungkook now, his appearance nothing like the young man that had worn this exact same cap and gown two years ago. You’re not sure if his life has genuinely transformed into a mess, or if he’d just been rushed to come to your graduation. Either way, his appearance is getting quite the attention from those around you. He’d forgone an under shirt, despite the translucence of his formal button-down, and when you squint hard enough, there’s definitely a tattoo on his clavicle, and another one nestled beneath the swell of his pecto–you quickly look away. 

“When did you guys get here?” You ask, scanning over the sea of gowns in an attempt to distract yourself from Jungkook’s godly appearance. Part of you is touched that Jungkook really has been there for every milestone in your life. The other part wishes he hadn’t shown up looking so ridiculously sexy. 

“Tae wanted to get here earlier so we could take pictures, but we had to stop by and get some flowers, and the only ones you liked were in the middle of getting water,” Jungkook supplies, unaware of your attempts to push him to the back of your mind. “And then we got stuck in traffic, and ended up getting dressed in the car,” he sighs, hands shoved into the depths of his wrinkled slacks. 

“Must’ve been quite the show,” you offhandedly reply, and have to will your face to remain as stoic as possible when he raises an eyebrow at you, a teasing smirk adorning his features. “Look, we’re gonna go eat at the nice Italian place downtown,” you say instead, turning your gaze back to Taehyung. “You guys are welcome to come, but I don’t know if we reserved enough seats.”

Taehyung snorts, and you’d pull away had he not currently held a vice grip on your shoulders. “Fuck that plan,” he scoffs, and your mom whacks his arm. “So here’s what we’re really going to do,” he says, pulling Jungkook in so the three of you are awkwardly huddled in the midst of the all graduates and their families. At the sudden movement, Jungkook’s arm brushes up your own, your heads nearly knocking into each other. “Dad said I can take you out to celebrate you finally being an adult, and since it’s officially the beginning of summer, there’s a huge party on the south side of town.” He says, and the fact he knows what’s going on in his hometown, despite only being home for all of two hours, lets you know this was premeditated. 

“I’m sorry, we’re doing what?” You finally gather the balls to look Jungkook in the eye again, and by the shrug he gives you (still with that stupid grin on his face), you at least know this was a Taehyung original scheme. You’re grateful he hadn’t roped Jungkook in yet, because if he’d proposed this idea, you’d agree in a second. 

You forget Jungkook and Taehyung work through a telepathically connected system, and one shared glance between the two has Jungkook immediately taking your brother’s side. “C’mon, that’d be fun wouldn’t it?” His voice is deep and raspy in all the right places, and you purse your lips together as you grapple for some excuse. You can’t say your parents are against it, because, according to Tae, your dad had approved of this plan–sort of. 

“Think of it this way,” Jungkook pulls you out of your thoughts, “it’d be better to go to your first real party with your brother!” You groan, and Taehyung beams at Jungkook’s terrible point. 

“This is a horrible idea,” you whine, snapping out of your childish antics when one of your friends brushes by you, throwing a soft goodbye over your shoulder. Briefly, Taehyung lets a low whistle leave his lips, to which you shove an elbow into his ribs. “Look, I appreciate the offer, but I really just want to eat some food and go to sleep,” you calmly state. 

Taehyung groans so hard and loud, it nearly sounds like a scream. Your huddle breaks at that, and you readjust your gown. You wonder if you’d imagined the way Jungkook’s eyes flickered towards your exposed neck, the off the shoulder dress you’re wearing making it seem as if the graduation gown was the only thing you had on. “You’re so boring, ___!” Taehyung complains. You refrain from rubbing your temples, because the makeup you’d worn tonight had taken quite some time. 

The only thing that calms you down is the way Jungkook slowly wraps his fingers around your wrist, pulling your diploma from your hand. “Oh, right,” he says, eyes glinting, “forgot you were a goody-two-shoes.” 

You can’t really say no then. Not only was your pride at stake now, but the way Jungkook’s eyes had traced around the dainty necklace resting between your collarbones had been too inviting. 

“Have you seen my brother?” You screech into Jungkook’s ear, your voice drowned out by the loud thump of the bass. Jungkook squints, as if that somehow helps him hear better, and motions for you to repeat it. You groan, and try again. You’re not sure if Jungkook shrugs because he hasn’t seen Taehyung, or because he didn’t hear for the second time. 

You’re a real idiot for letting some pretty brown eyes rope you into the craziest night of your life. Through the course of the evening, you’ve managed to see your brother–your own brother, the one who’d cried when Simba’s dad died–jump off the balcony of someone’s house and into a trampoline on the yard below, someone snort a line of crack off a guy’s dick, someone else completely wipe out while dancing on the bar, and Jungkook successfully swindle four hundred dollars out of some drunk billiards players. Suffice to say, you were ready to go home and knock out in the comfort of your bed. 

It didn’t help that Taehyung had been adamant that you drink as much alcohol as you could, occasionally brushing by to thrust another mysterious liquid into your palms. You shouldn’t be as cautious of the drinks considering your brother made them, but then again, your brother made them. 

The fact you’d had to watch Jungkook grind with multiple women on the dance floor for a solid fifteen minutes while Taehyung made you play beer pong with him, was another matter for another day. 

You sighed, glancing around to see if you could catch sight of Taehyung’s ridiculously bright head of hair. Probably the biggest mistake you’d made that night was putting Tae in charge of the car keys. 

You’re pulled out of your worries when Jungkook taps your arm. You raise your brows at him, and he motions for you to lean closer, which you hesitate to.

Truthfully, he looks absolutely godly sitting on that bar stool, legs deliciously spread out for you to slot yourself in between. Somewhere along the line, he’d began unbuttoning his shirt to relieve some of his body’s heat; he was three buttons down now, and the flat part of his chest, right between where his pecs met, glistened with sweat. 

As if sensing your hesitation, he hits you with another one of those sweet smiles he’d been dropping all night, though with the more alcohol he consumes, the more they start to look like those devious little smirks now. You acquiesce, leaning forward so that his lips hover dangerously close to your ear. 

What you’re not expecting is the palm that spreads itself on the small of your back, pulling you closer between his legs. Your breath catches in your throat, your arms automatically shooting out to rest on his shoulders. “You okay?” He huffs, hot breath fanning over your ear and neck. He pulls away, brown eyes wide as he inspects your appearance. You nod, distantly aware of the trembling of your hands. Jungkook smiles. 

“Don’t be so scared,” he laughs, and all you can do is nod again. His hand shifts, gliding around until it rests on your waist. “Don’t be so uptight,” he teases, fingers gently pressing into your skin in an effort to loosen you up. If anything, it makes you even more tense. 

He leans away, ducking down to catch your gaze as you struggle to contain the warmth on your face. When you finally meet his eyes, he seems almost devilish as his eyes trace over your face, briefly flickering somewhere behind you. “Don’t be such a fucking prude,” he cackles, and points over your shoulder. 

You turn your body, only to catch sight of girls falling over each other on the dance floor as they shake every body part possible. Truthfully, you wish you had the balls to move like that, be as open as them. In another life, you’re as fun and as wild as them, but in this one you’re still a reserved little girl, a trait you’re certain Jungkook has picked up on by now. 

“I don’t know how to dance like that,” you awkwardly admit, looking away from him the second the words leave your mouth. You don’t let this vulnerable moment last long, quickly screwing your lips up to spit out another excuse that will somehow redeem your image. “And, Taehyung gets too overprotective if I dance with guys anyway!”

It’s only a half lie. Though Taehyung is in every sense the protective older brother, he knows you’re smart enough to make your own decisions. 

Jungkook knows this as well as you do.

“Bullshit,” he smirks, and sets his cup somewhere behind him. You bite your lip, brain racking for any other lie you can throw at him to protect your ego. 

Jungkook doesn’t let you dwell on it for long, abruptly standing up. You don’t move away fast enough, and end up pressed against the hard plains of his body. “C’mon,” he says, gesturing towards the dance floor with a nod of his head. “I’ll teach you.”

You don’t get your protest in on time before Jungkook’s tugging you towards where the majority of the party is concentrated. You stumble between dancing friends and couples, and for a moment you think you’ve spotted Taehyung to save you, but it’s just another person with annoyingly bright red hair. Your options are cut short when you bump into Jungkook’s shoulder, and he turns to face you. 

He looks disgustingly handsome here, the obnoxious strobe lights casting colorful shapes across his features. “Follow my lead,” he mouths (or you presume he does), moving to knot your arms around his neck. 

His hips move, and for a moment, your feet become ice blocks, struggling to move with him. You’re too entranced by the roll of his hips, the way his narrow waist moves back and forth. His hands find their home on your hips, gently encouraging you to move with the beat. 

After you’ve regained your wits, you begin following Jungkook’s lead, letting your hips swing from side to side until they’ve synced with his. You chance a glance up at his face, before snapping it back to his body. It’s a thousand times easier to watch the rolls of his body than meet the heated gaze he’s leveling you with. 

A few songs pass, your bodies moving in the same beat, until suddenly, the DJ hits you with the annoying air horns, transitioning into an even raunchier, slow song, if that’s possible. Immediately, everyone around you changes their pace, and you struggle to do the same, body awkwardly knocking into the people around you. 

Somehow, Jungkook both saves and endangers you. 

The easiest way to get you to sync up with him while also pulling you out of harm’s way is, apparently, whirling you around to press your back against his chest. A gasp catches in your throat at the sudden physical contact, the hair at the nape of your neck sticking to your skin. 

“Relax,” he laughs against your ear, hips slowly rocking back and forth, encouraging you to pick up the same pace. You do, your face finally taking on all the emotions you couldn’t when you were facing him. His hands rest on your hips still, though this time they pull you closer with each beat of the music. 

His hand slowly curls around your body, resting over your belly button, his pinky dangerously brushing lower to where an unusual ball of heat has begun to form inside of you. You jolt, pushing back onto him. A soft puff of air brushes against your ear at the movement, Jungkook’s hands twitching on your body. 

You’re suddenly aware of a particular nudge against the curve of your ass. 

“Oh,” you breathe, your voice too loud for the soft RnB tune drifting through the speakers. 

“Oh?” Jungkook repeats, voice husky, and you can imagine the smirk that tugs at his lips. He pulls you closer, and you feel it again: the soft brush of his dick, slowly hardening because of you. He nudges your head aside, pressing his mouth to your ear. “You like that?”

You’re paralyzed, hips unconsciously swaying with the music as the intense heat begins curling between your legs. You must’ve nodded, because Jungkook chuckles as he continues the motions, slowly grinding into you the same way you’d watched him do to other girls that same night. 

After a particularly nice move, your hand grapples for his hair, tugging him closer as your head lolls backwards to rest against his shoulder. He presses a kiss to your neck, and you nearly ascend into another plane, the sensation so heavenly. 

“Look at you,” Jungkook purrs, rocking you back and forth between all the other grinding bodies. “Miss Goody-Two-Shoes does know how to dance,” he teases, pressing kisses along your jawline, a gasp escaping your throat. Your legs wobble, and you would have fallen if Jungkook’s arms hadn’t been wrapped around you. 

“K-Kookie,” you whine, quivering with every press of his lips against your hot skin. 

He quietly scoffs at the name, shushing you with more kisses. “Fuck,” he groans when you rock back into him again. “Tae always said you were off limits but,” he pauses, his hands briefly sliding over your pelvis, relishing in the moan that slips past your lips. “He didn’t tell me you’d gotten so pretty.”

Your cheeks burn even hotter at the compliment, head hanging in a sudden stroke of embarrassment. Jungkook presses a smile against the side of your neck. “Don’t get shy on me now, angel,” he croons as he stops swaying the two of you back and forth. 

His hands glide off your body to enclose your palms with his, raising them up to catch your attention. You’re met with that playboy smirk of his as he leans down to kiss your cheek. He raises an eyebrow, gesturing towards the stairs you’d seen countless couples go up throughout the night. 

You’ve barely stumbled off the dancing area when you’re suddenly attacked by a fiery drunkard, who immediately nestles his way between the two of you. “I was looking all over for you guys!” Taehyung slurs, hanging off your side. 

“That’s nice, Tae,” Jungkook grunts, trying to peel him away from the two of you in the subtlest way possible. Despite his obvious tipsy state, his hawk-like instincts kick in anyway, eyeing the way Jungkook tries to move towards you. 

There’s a heavy pause then, the both of them staring each other down. They’re probably having another one of those telepathic conversations right now, and you’re static between the two of them. Eventually, Taehyung backs down, though his jaw twitches as he spares you one last glance, before sauntering off to enjoy himself once more. 

You can more or less guess what it’s about. 

Jungkook doesn’t waste any time, tugging you up the stairs and into a dark hallway with doors on both sides. You vaguely recognize the door Taehyung had stumbled through earlier in the night before he’d performed his balcony stunt, but you don't dwell on in too much before Jungkook’s pushing you through another open door. 

It’s someone’s bedroom, obviously, and you feel some sort of guilt for all the people that have probably run through this person’s belongings during the course of the night. Apparently, Jungkook’s hidden talent is distracting you in a moment’s notice, his mouth suddenly sealed to yours, not even bothering to flick the lights on. The stranger’s bedroom slips to the back of your mind.

In all the fantasies you’ve had of Jungkook, none of them went quite like this. They were always more romantic, filled with tearful confessions and lingering gazes, the Jungkook in your head so soft and shy, too hesitant to touch you, let alone kiss you. 

You’re not sure where the younger you got these ideas from, because the real Jungkook is nothing alike. His mouth is hot when he slots it against yours, harshly biting down on your lip until you’re crying out. He doesn’t feel (or at least show) an ounce of sympathy before he’s shoving his tongue down your throat. 

You choke, momentarily flinching away in surprise. You catch sight of the hungry glare of his gaze, before he’s diving in again. You’re more prepared the second time around, fingers hesitantly wrapping around his neck as he licks into your mouth. He’s cornered you against the desk in the room, your ass pressing against the edge, and he uses it to his advantage, lifting you to rest on top. 

He glances at your swollen lips, beaming at the sight. “Gonna fuck you so good, angel,” he says, nudging your legs open to squeeze between them. You tremble at his words. 

He’s kissing down your neck, tongue laving over the skin only to bite you, when things take a turn. “You clean?” He murmurs, a little preoccupied with his work on your neck. 

You pause. “I- Yes?”

Jungkook stills immediately, pressing one final chaste kiss to your skin before leveling you with a confused furrow of his brows. “You sure?” You flounder, totally unsure. Jungkook’s lips twist into a frown. His hands are still wrapped around the sides of your thighs, but you don’t miss the way he subtly shifts away from you. You nod, but you suspect Jungkook doesn’t believe you. 

He sighs. “Look, I didn't bring a condom, and if you’re not clean, then I don’t really want to...” he trails off, awkwardly glancing out the window to his left, people crowding the backyard. You’re not entirely sure why, but the mood feels wrong all of a sudden. 

“I-” you start, and cut off when he levels you with that intense stare of his. “I’m not sure... what you mean,” you admit, so incredibly nervous as you watch him work his lower lip between his teeth. 

“What?” He says in disbelief, and your eyes widen at the disappointment in his voice. “You clean or not?” Your mouth opens and closes for a few minutes, before you ultimately settle on a one-shouldered shrug. 

Jungkook’s eyes roll into the back of his head, his jaw twitching. “How do you not know?” He interrogates, and your cheeks flush in shame. “Have you fucked someone that might’ve been,” he waves a hand around, gesturing about something, “y’know?”

You shake your head. “I... I’ve never had sex,” you admit.

The air seems to be sucked out of the room at your confession, Jungkook’s annoyed expression slowly melting away. Stuck in a vacuum, you can hear the hard thumps your heart gives from its position lodged inside your throat.

You hear the party downstairs and outside continue in full swing, and, when you focus your ears enough, can hear the muffled moans coming from the room next door. Your ears burn, and you hastily begin apologizing to Jungkook, ready to brush him away, when he surges forward to connect your mouths for the third time that night. 

He bites your lower lip hard, your cry swallowed by his lips as he begins kissing you with a passion you’ve never felt from any other kisses before. When he pulls away with a lewd smack of your lips, you’re panting for breath, chest rising and falling with every movement. His eyes momentarily flicker to the swell of your breasts. 

He ducks down, one hand gliding up the center of your body to urge you to lean back, your arms barely catching the edge of the desk in time. “Holy fuck,” he breathes against your chest, pressing one brief kiss to the top of your breast. “You really are a little angel, aren’t you?”

You gasp when a hand tugs your legs open as much as your dress allows, slipping between your spread thighs to run a finger up your throbbing core. Your thighs tremble at the sudden touch, a moan ripping itself out of your throat. “So pretty,” Jungkook praises, slowly sinking to the floor between your legs. 

The sight of his black tuft of hair between your legs makes your toes curl. 

“What’s a good girl like you wearing these panties for?” Jungkook murmurs, his hands pushing the hem of your dress as far up as it’ll go to expose the little number you’d pulled out of your closet that day. It was the only seamless underwear you could wear with this dress, and had picked it carelessly because you’d been planning on going home right after your graduation anyway. But, y’know. 

“I needed it for the dress,” you answer, your voice uncharacteristically dainty as you stare him down. 

Jungkook loops his fingers around the sides, eyes meeting yours as he slowly pulls it down your legs, fingers trailing over your calf muscles. Once he’s tugged your feet out of it, he doesn’t hesitate to bring it up to where you can both see it, inspecting the crotch area. You’re mortified to see the way it glistens. 

You hadn’t been aware how wet you’d become until then, Jungkook’s head tilting to the side as he stared down the offending article. Your humiliation only increases when he brings it to his nose, and takes one long whiff of it. 

His eyes flutter shut, and he moans on the exhale. “You smell delicious,” he sighs, and takes one more glance at your panties before carelessly tossing the pair over his shoulder. Your mouth is agape, unsure of how to feel at such an action. Jungkook doesn’t seem to notice, turning his attention back to your exposed pussy. “I bet you taste even better.”

You don’t get to properly process his statement before he’s burying his mouth between your thighs, sucking your clit between his lips. You cry out in pleasure right away, back arching as he swirls your bud around his tongue, eyes watching your every expression. Your hands wildly search for something to hold onto, before settling on the edge of the desk and his hair. 

“J-Jungkook,” you moan, biting your bottom lip as you try to suppress any more embarrassing sounds. He hums, the sound sending vibrations through your clit and up your spine. 

While you’re distracted by the ministrations of his tongue, he trails his fingers down your slit, grinning when you finally register the touch with a sharp gasp. He pulls off your bud with a pop, leaning back to stare at your virgin hole as he swirls his fingers around it. 

“You touch yourself, angel?” He questions, pressing a soft kiss to your thigh, finger gently probing against your opening. When you don’t answer, he bites the soft inside of your thigh, the way you tremble a sight for his eyes. “Answer me.”

Your eyes feel heavy, lips quivering as you watch him become entranced with your cunt. “Sometimes,” you admit, shame building in your chest at the wicked grin he sends your way. 

Jungkook pushes the tip of his finger in, pausing as your body spasms to adjust. “You’ve touched this pretty little pussy?” He asks, accepting the hurried nod you give him as an answer. “What do you think about, angel?”

He pushes his finger in halfway, and you moan, your body clenching around the unusual feeling. While you might’ve had your own fingers stuffed inside of you before, they were nothing like Jungkook’s thick and long digit, testing out how much he could curl it so far. “Y-You,” you confess, raising your fist to your mouth to bite down on it. 

“Oh?” Jungkook murmurs, eyebrows raising at the confession. He leans down, pressing a tender kiss to your clit again. If he’s surprised, he doesn’t let it show. “Do you think of me fucking you? Bending you over your bed while our parents are talking in the driveway outside?” He proposes, tongue slipping out to tease at your clit as he slowly pushes his finger the rest of the way in. “Or do you think of sitting on my cock during one of my and Tae’s sleepovers, angel? You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Getting yourself off while everyone else is asleep,” he croons, and you yelp when he shoves the second finger in, not even bothering to go slowly. “Sounds nice, doesn’t it, angel?”

You whimper, mind clouded by all the possibilities he’d stuffed into your head. Until then, they’d all been fantasies, little snippets that would drift into your consciousness every now and then, ones you’d push away in a haste, never letting them rile you up for too long. 

It seemed impossible to apply that same mentality now, with Jungkook’s tongue flicking over your clit lazily, mocha irises drifting up to meet yours. You nibble your bottom lip, nails digging into the grainy underside of the desk as you watch that disgustingly arrogant smirk cross his features again. 

His fingers twist and bend inside of you. Immediately, your mouth drops open, whole body tingling as his shoves his two fingers deeper inside, until his knuckles are brushing the delicate lips of your pussy. Instinctively, your legs try to clamp around him, to which he halts you by pressing his hand down on your hip. 

You cry out after a particularly brutal scissor of his fingers, which Jungkook apparently deems as a sign of you being fully prepared, slipping his fingers out of you. He presses one final kiss to your hip bone and rises to his feet again. His ares are fixed on your exposed pussy for a second, before he glances back at you. 

“So you really are a virgin, huh?” He murmurs, rubbing one palm soothingly over your hip. He brings the hand that had been buried inside of you up to his mouth, sucking your juices off his fingers with a pleasured groan. “Fuck, you taste good,” he sighs, cheeks hollowed around his fingers. 

You seem to be caught in a trance as you watch him, plush pink lips wrapped around the long expanse of his fingers. They’re glistening, both from your own wetness and his saliva. He pulls his fingers out, the sound lewd in every sense of the word, and brings them up to your mouth instead. “Taste,” he urges, leaning in close, “you’re so sweet, angel,” he purrs, pushing his digits into your mouth until your tongue is forced to lick around them. 

It’s an odd feeling to taste yourself, but you can’t really complain, not when Jungkook seems hypnotized by the sight of you. So you make the best out of it, twirling your tongue around his fingers until he’s deemed it enough, and yanks them out of your mouth with a ragged breath. 

“Gonna fuck you now,” he tells you, unbuckling his belt. You’ve been vaguely aware of the erection straining inside his pants since you first walked into the room, but it’d honestly slipped to the back of your mind, overshadowed by other matters. 

Now, you’ve seen your fair share of dicks, the majority, if not all, in the form of unsolicited snapchats from fuckboys at your school. But Jungkook was older than them, and thus probably had more experience and expertise with how to present his dick in a way that didn’t make girls go ewww. 

He doesn’t make it much of a show, doesn’t even bother taking his pants or briefs off. Instead, he tugs his hard cock out of its confines, and a moan catches in your throat despite the simplicity of the big reveal. His dick is thick, and long, longer than your entire hand at least. After giving it a few harsh pulls, he gets impossibly bigger. 

He must’ve sensed your fascination with it, because he doesn’t hesitate to bring your significantly smaller palm closer to him. “C’mon,” he teases, closing your fingers with his own, “don’t be scared.”

You play with him a little bit, shaky fingers tracing over the vein that decorates the side of his cock. You run the tip of your index finger down the slit at the head of his cock, and watch as a little white pearl of pre-cum slowly dribbles out onto your fingers, Jungkook groaning softly into your ear. He watches you spread his own self-made lube around his member, and groans, “I’m gonna fucking ruin you, my little angel.”

After you’re done examining your first ever dick, Jungkook wraps one arm around your waist, pulling you impossibly closer. Your legs dangle off the side of the desk still, the blood flow barely reaching your toes now. Jungkook grasps the base of his cock in one hand, tracing the rosy head around the tight ring of muscle leading into your soaking cunt. 

You cry out, wrapping one hand around him. The positioning feels all wrong; you feel too far away, the desk stiff underneath you. You whine, trying to tug him closer but your entire body still feels weak from the way his tongue had caressed you earlier, and you end up a huffy, pouty mess in his arms. 

Jungkook chuckles, pressing a kiss to the corner of your lips. He slides his hands beneath your thighs, before fully sheathing himself inside of you. You scream, your back arching in pain that slowly melts away into the beginnings of pleasure. “J-Jungk-”

“Shh,” he says, pressing kisses all along your jawline. In an ultimate display of strength, he hauls you off the desk, cock still fully inside of you, as he walks you over to the window, satisfying the part of you that was desperate to be closer to him. You feel the cold press of the glass against your shoulders before you can protest, and for a moment, the idea of everyone below you watching Jungkook defile you sparks a growing sense of shame in your chest, even though the room is dark and there’s no way they could possibly see you–right?

Jungkook doesn’t let you dwell in these dark thoughts for long, before he’s slowly moving his hips, pulling his cock out and slamming back into you. “All these people,” he huffs, setting the pace for the fucking you’re about to get right then and there. His hips slowly gain speed, transitioning from slow and shallow thrusts to rapid ones that almost hurt, had his dick not been rubbing against your swollen clit with each movement. “They’re all gonna watch you, angel,” he purrs, laving his tongue over the side of your neck, before biting down. 

“P-Please,” you whimper, fingers digging into his shoulders as your body becomes used to the feeling of Jungkook inside of you. You’re still embarrassed, but the more Jungkook talks, the more excited you get about someone actually seeing you. It’s a kink you never thought you’d have, getting off on others watching you, yet here you are. “Faster, Kookie,” you beg, his childhood nickname absentmindedly rolling off your lips. 

Jungkook jolts at the name, his hips stilling mid thrust. For a moment, you’re scared he came to his senses, realizing how absolutely wrong it was for him to be fucking you, his best friend’s little sister, against a window where everyone could see. But the thought seems to be only in your mind, as Jungkook suddenly resumes his actions. 

“Fuck, angel,” he grunts, snapping his hips with even more fervor. “You’re gonna be the death of me,” he laughs, though it’s choked and raspy, unlike the laughter that you’d been hearing all night. His hands, which had both been firmly clamped onto your hips to hold you against the window sill, leave. One slams down on the glass beside your head, while the other moves to grab the back of your thigh, hitching your leg up higher. 

The adjustment has him hitting an entirely new angle within you, and you nearly sob when the tip of his dick brushes your cervix. “K-Kookie!” you cry, every nerve in your body tingling. 

Jungkook presses a bruising kiss to your lips, swallowing every little noise you make. “You’re still gonna–fuck,” he curses, after a particularly harsh thrust that leaves him slowly grinding his hips against you for a second. “Still gonna call me that– stupid fucking name?” He chokes out, rutting into you with an inhumane pace, teeth clenching as he watches his own cock plunge into the depths of your achingly warm hole. 

You moan, fingers digging into his shoulders as he continues his thrusts, never stopping to let you watch your breath. The heat building inside your core is brimming, so close to exploding already that you become desperate for more. “More,” you beg, “pl-please.”

“Say it,” he spits, letting go of the window to grasp your hip again, his grip so tight it’ll probably leave bruises tomorrow morning. “Say it again,” he taunts, finally bottoming out inside of you, holding your hips as he slowly grinds his hips into you. 

“I-I don’t underst–”

“Bullshit,” he growls, pressing his forehead against yours. Your chest heaves, desperate for air as he continues slamming into you with a ridiculous strength. “Just do it, ___,” he demands. “Call me that childish name while my cock’s stuffed so deep inside you, you can barely breathe,” he huffs, and the strings of your arousal slowly begin pulling undone, your body so close to it’s breaking point as he continues thrusting. “Does that get you going? Thinking about all the times we could’ve done this before.”

You whine, your body beginning to feel like gelatin, as you shake your head. “Did you think about me fucking you when I was your math tutor? Or how I could’ve bent you over the backseat of my dad’s old car? Or maybe you fantasized about how it’d feel after one of my games?” You wail, and a cocky smirk crosses his features. “Ohhh, so you got off on that one, huh? Did you imagine riding me inside the locker rooms while poor Taehyung waited for us in the parking lot? I always knew you weren’t really a good little girl, ___. Maybe you aren’t an angel after all, hm?” You shake your head no, tears and moans escaping your lips, your body finally giving out on you, your thighs quivering around him as your body spasms, overcome with your orgasm. 

You feel your own cum slowly drip down the back of your thighs, body slumping back against the window as Jungkook continues fucking into you like an animal in heat. Dazedly, you trace a hand over the side of his face, murmuring a soft, “Kookie.”

Jungkook moans as your sensitive pussy throbs around him, unintentionally clenching around him. The drag must feel nice, because his thrusts become wild and off tempo, until he’s ramming into you sporadically, desperate for his own release. 

It comes a few moments later, with a few soft caresses to his face, and sweet pecks to lips. He busts inside of you, his hips meeting yours one last time, before his mouth goes slack against yours, and you feel his semen paint your walls. You whine at the feeling, body jolting. 

Jungkook doesn’t hesitate to haul you off the window sill, carefully dropping you down the perfectly untouched mattress, before falling down after you. All is calm for a few moments, the only sounds registering in your brain the harsh breathing of both you and Jungkook, and the slowing beat of your heart. 

After a while, everything else begins filtering in; the loud thumping of the bass downstairs, the hoots and hollers of the partygoers (Taehyung’s are probably mixed in), and the general ruckus that comes from having so many youths gathered in one place. 

It hits you then, and you’re quick to tug your dress back down over your ass, despite the cum dripping out of your pussy. Jungkook startles at your sudden movement, moving at the pace of a literal sloth as he tries to calm your nerves and persuade you to lay back down. His dick is limp and shiny with cum now, which not only makes it less sexy, but also is a stark reminder of what you just did with your older brother’s best friend. 

“Hey, hey, it’s alright,” he soothes, tucking his penis back into his pants as if sensing your growing anxiety. He seems nothing like the Jungkook who’d just fucked your brains out, but more like the Jungkook from your childhood. You’re not sure which one is worse. 

“Taehyung’s gonna hate us,” you cry, hopelessly trying to reign in the tears that threaten to spill over your waterline. Jungkook pulls you into his chest, your hands immediately flying to ball his shirt beneath your palms. 

Jungkook presses a kiss to the crown of your head, and you’re not sure if your heart skips because of that or because you’re crying. “Calm down, angel,” he murmurs, running his fingers down your spine. Before you can get in a protest about how you can’t possibly be calm in this situation, Jungkook beats you to it. “Tae already knew I was gonna make a move on you tonight, there’s nothing to worry about,” he hums, and your body stills. 

You pull out of his embrace to fix him with a confused, wide-eyed stare. “What do you mean Taehyung already knew?!” He’d been trying to ease your nerves, but if anything, made them worse. 

Jungkook sighs, “for a smart girl, you’re pretty stupid sometimes.”

Your watery eyes narrow dangerously at him, and Jungkook is quick to come to his own defense. “I’m sorry! It’s just,” he worries his bottom lip between his teeth, and even though the room is still shrouded in darkness, you get the feeling he’s blushing. When he finally glances back, his eyes are big and innocent, and you have a hard time connecting this Jungkook to the one from ten minutes ago who folded you like a chair against the window. 

“You were right about what you said downstairs, Taehyung has always been overprotective about you being with guys,” he mumbles. “He was mad when I told him I liked you during my senior year, but he knew I would never go after you, because I was becoming an adult or whatever, and then I guess he thought I was gonna get over it when we went to college. But then, like, I never did, so that’s why he was mad when he saw me bringing you upstairs, but you just looked so good tonight when you were dancing, and I’ve been sort of in love with you since we were kids, that I couldn’t help myself, and I just– Are you crying?!” His rambling is cut short.

“No!” You shout, except you definitely are. You sniffle, wiping away the makeup that has long since been ruined as you try to hide your face from Jungkook. Said boy is staring at you like a deer caught in headlights, unsure if he should console you or let you cry it out. He settles on the former, ducking his head down until you’re forced to meet his imploring gaze. 

You whine, pushing his head away as you scramble to gather your thoughts. “You’re so annoying,” you huff, getting the last of the tears wiped away as you level him with an irritated glare. “Instead of telling me you liked me, you basically stole my virginity, which you apparently asked my brother for–my brother! Of all people,” you scold, tweaking his nipple between your fingers, before trying to ignore the heated gaze he gives you from such an action. 

You let one irritated groan tear its way out of your throat before you’re burying your way back into Jungkook’s arms. “You’re not mad, right?” He murmurs, soft and caring, and you’re totally mad, because it feels like you’ve somehow been conned out of your own virginity. 

Except you tell him, “no, I’m not, because I’m kind of in love with you too,” and get to hear the giddy whoop that leaves Jungkook’s lips. 

[saiilorstars]

It Had To Be You

Ch.17: Big Little Lies // Story Masterlist

Fandom: The Flash

Pairings: Barry Allen x Original Female Character

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Bell-en. The last syllable has an emphasis so it’s not pronounced like ‘Helen’ would be.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: Barry tries his best to move on from his failed attempt of getting a date with Belén but it turns out to be nearly impossible. Belén feels terrible about the whole thing but she insists that she's doing the right and best thing for him. Who could ever want to date someone like her when she had...those genes?

Usually fighting evil metahumans and saving people made Barry feel good about himself - it reminded him that anyone, at one point, could use some help. He was no stranger to needing help himself, but usually it was always over the case of his parents. Very few times it was about anything else, much less about someone else. This time he felt like there was nobody that could help, or perhaps there wasn't even any help that could be of use to him in the dilemma he cursed himself for getting into.

He barely registered an irritated Caitlin striding into the cortex talking in an upset tone to both him and Cisco. "I have been trying to reach Bells all day and she either sends me directly to voicemail or gives me some an excuse that she's really busy at the moment."

"Why do you need her?" Barry quietly asked, thinking that perhaps at the moment it would be best not to see her. He couldn't figure out how to act around her just yet.

"Because Dr. Wells needs her in," Caitlin gently let her phone land on the desk with a light thud. "Cisco finished Nina's suit and he wanted all three of you to practice out in the field to help her."

"And make that snappy," Cisco came in holding a bright red lollipop in hand. "I'm itching to see how well it's going to work." He acquired a dream-like face as he said, "All three of my suits working together...how marvelous."

Caitlin shot him a look. "Did you just say marvelous?"

Cisco ignored her and went to take a seat. "I even came up with a name for Nina now! Don't worry, it'll be good," he reassured as if Caitlin and Barry were on the edge of their seats waiting to hear the name. Caitlin shook her head at Cisco and moved around the desk to get some of their work cleared up. It was then that Cisco noticed the unusual somber face of Barry. "What's with you?"

Caitlin looked up from the pile of papers in her arms and realized what Cisco was referring to. "Barry, are you fine?"

Barry knew he could easily brush it off and just lie but seeing as they had been in on his plan, it would only be a matter time until they figured it out. Better to get it over with, he thought. "I did what I said I'd do about Belén last night. I asked her out, but...she said no."

Caitlin's and Cisco's faces were stunned. They had been absolutely sure Belén was going to say yes to Barry, they had encouraged him on to ask and now...they hear she said no?

"That...can't be right," Caitlin was the first to speak. She had been more than sure that, with Barry's push, Belén would accept her feelings. She still stood by her stance that Barry and Belén each other's counterparts so Belén would need a confession from Barry that their feelings were not unrequited. Something was way off.

"I understand the word 'No' and trust me, she said no," Barry said, feeling ridiculous for how much this was affecting him. It wasn't like this was the first time a girl had turned him down. Then again, the last time that happened was when he still in college and even that was around freshman year...

Caitlin just couldn't buy it. She shook her head, telling him to repeat exactly what happened in his lab. Barry told them how Belén had come into his lab incredibly happy that her co-workers were giving her another chance. He told them then how he asked her twice, the first time being misinterpreted, but the second time more than clear. Belén had gone silent for a couple of seconds before she uttered a 'no'. With a long sigh, Barry finished with Belén's apology while she backtracked out of his lab.

"Cold," Cisco whispered before popping his lollipop back into his mouth. Barry rolled his eyes.

Caitlin cleared her throat, much more careful with her response. "That...just sounds odd to me, honestly." With the look Barry gave her she quickly explained. "It just sounds, to me, that there's something missing in all this."

"I doubt it," Barry mumbled. "She said no, and it looked like she meant it. I was stupid for even trying this-"

"No!" Caitlin exclaimed. "Something is off, I'm telling you. When Cisco asked-"

Cisco loudly cleared his throat and stopped her from talking. Caitlin realized her mistake and said no more.

Barry straightened up and looked from one to another, waiting to hear an explanation. "What?" he asked.

Cisco pulled his lollipop out of his mouth, "She was talking about the time I asked this, um, girl and she turned me down. But, I asked and asked - very politely and respectfully- until she said yes. Point here is, sometimes a girl is just scared." He hoped that was enough to drive Barry away from further questioning. He did not think Barry learning that he and Belén once went out on a date would help the case.

"That's nice and all, but sometimes a 'no really just means 'no'," Barry shrugged. He was too delved in his own turmoil to see it pick up on anything else.

~ 0 ~

Iris was carrying another pile of papers some to some rude, senior reporters had given to her to take God knew where. She hated them, to be honest. But she was sticking it out because that is what needed to be done. She was going to pass Belén's desk when she noticed how distant her friend looked. Belén held a newspaper in hand and was intently staring at its cover.

"You still mad about me taking that picture?" Iris momentarily set down her pile of papers on Belén's desk, leaning forwards to see the Flash on the cover page. She'd been able to sneak a picture on her phone when he had appeared to Belén, her and Linda.

Belén gently lowered the newspaper and looked up, her eyes tired for some reason. "No," she truthfully said.

Iris tilted her head, now getting a real look at Belén. "Hey...what's wrong?"

"You don't know?" Belén asked, a bit surprised the news had yet to hit Iris considering how close she was with...well…

The answer was easily seen on Iris' face. "Know what?" she raised an eyebrow, suddenly forgetting the task she was supposed to be doing at the moment.

Belén sighed and faced Iris with all the little courage she had. "I'm gonna tell you because I know, either way, you'll end up hearing about it."

"Hear about what?" Iris taped her fingers along the desk, growing impatient with this thing she apparently had yet to hear about.

"Barry sort of asked me out...well, not sort of, he did."

Iris gasped excitedly. "Yes!"

"But I said no."

And then Iris' face fell. "Nooooo!" she gestured in a very upset tone. "Why?" she began her questions, repeating her "why" as she moved around the desk. "Why would you say that?"

Belén got up and began pulling the papers Iris no longer cared about. "Look, I don't have to explain, I just...wanted you to know before the story got distorted - not that I think Barry would do that." She stopped moving her hands after mentioning his name, and felt the overwhelming crush of guilt all over again. "If you see him...and he's a little upset-"

"Of course he's gonna be upset!" Iris exclaimed, in a mixture of confusion and irritation. "You turned him down! What, is he not good enough?"

"I never said that," Belén quickly clarified.

Iris took in a deep breath, pushing away those nasty thoughts. Belén was not that kind of woman and she knew it. "He's like my brother-"

"I know," Belén said with the utmost understanding. "And it's okay if you want to defend him."

"I don't get it. I'm sorry. I was sure - I still am - that there was a little something-" Iris dragged her finger in front of Belén, "-between you two. I just...why did you say no? He's a really great guy-"

"I know…"

"I mean, he's really, really sweet-"

Belén smiled. "I know. Overly, if I should add."

Iris nodded. "And he's funny, I mean some of his jokes are nerdy jokes but they're kinda funny-"

A light chuckle escaped Belén's mouth as she agreed. "They are."

"And he's a dork, but he's one of those sweet dorks-"

"Also true," Belén agreed, returning to gathering the papers in a neater pile. "There is nothing wrong with Barry. Actually, between you and me, sometimes I've wondered why he doesn't already have a girlfriend. I mean," she stopped abruptly as she thought out loud. Each of those thoughts widened her smile. "It's quite a sight to see when he gets really passionate about something, something so remote that no one in their right mind would ever think about, like-" she laughed, "-something like disproportionate zombies." She shook her head and tried suppressing her laughter.

Iris mouthed 'Disproportionate zombies?' to the side, dead confused about that one but she didn't really want to ask. It was just one more dorky thing between them she supposed.

Belén didn't even notice Iris. She was too busy thinking about the speedster she knew very well she'd love to go on a date with. "He suddenly has all these facts that my little brain would never, ever think about, and he's not even trying to show off he's just...explaining it like...like you just have to know about it. I guess in his mind he's just trying to help. It's amazing…he's...amazing," she swallowed hard as she made the realization. Her heart actually ached. That was a new feeling...

Iris intently stared at Belén, the ombre-blonde once again losing herself to her thoughts. Iris became more certain this situation should not be the end of something that hadn't even started yet. "The right person just hasn't shown up. Right now she's refusing to go on a simple date with him when it's so obvious she wants to. Bells, help me out here, what's going on?"

Belén turned to face her, politely smiling as she clutched the papers to her chest. "It's not him, alright? This time it's actually me that's the problem. And, I'm sorry, but that's all you're getting from me."

She left Iris with those words and made her way as far as possible before Iris could make any other response. She, least of all people, would be able to understand. For a moment, Belén wished there could be someone just like her.

~ 0 ~

Upon receiving a rather odd call from Joe asking to meet him in a street he certainly didn't know, Cisco left his friends with a lie for an excuse. By the time he got to the location, Joe was already waiting for him.

"Thanks for meeting me," Joe said as soon as Cisco got out of the STAR Labs van. He carried with him a box of tools Joe instructed him to bring along.

"Sure," Cisco looked around as he shut the door. "What exactly are we doing here?"

Joe turned to face a dark blue house across the street. "That's Barry's old house," he told Cisco.

"Where his mother was murdered?"

"I have a theory about who might have been involved in Barry's mother's death," Joe began a very brief explanation as they crossed the road. "I thought you and I could reexamine the crime scene, you could apply your technical expertise and help me prove who really did it."

Cisco nodded. "For sure, we should get Dr. Wells and Caitlin in on this."

"No," Joe quickly said before he got any ideas, "We should keep this between us for the time being. If too many people know, Barry will find out, and I don't want to involve him until we know something definitive." Cisco could see that in a logical way and so agreed. Joe knocked on the front door and waited until a petite, blonde woman in a morning gown answered the door. "Hello, ma'am. I'm Detective West. This is Cisco Ramon."

The woman immediately smiled. "Oh, please, it's Sherry, like the drink," she laughed at her own joke. "What can I do for you, Detective?"

"I don't know if you were aware, but there was a homicide in this residence approximately 15 years ago-"

"Oh, I know."

"We've reopened the investigation. Do you mind if we come in and take another look around?"

Sherry shook her head and stepped aside to let both in. "Oh, not at all."

Joe motioned Cisco to go ahead. "Thank you." He took observation of the familiar interior. "Do you live alone?"

"Yes, I'm divorced," Sherry answered with a widened smile as she closed the door and promptly followed the two inside.

~ 0 ~

"Caitlin, I just saw the news…" Belén had hurried into the cortex, mildly breathless but overall concerned. "It's Ronnie isn't it? He's back…"

She abruptly stopped when she saw Barry near Caitlin and Dr. Wells, and briefly met gazes. He didn't look the least bit angry, and it just made her feel worse because if he wasn't angry then he was upset...and she didn't want him to be upset. Caitlin looked up from a computer with a grim face, confirming Belén's supposition. They had also heard the news of an old professor being attacked by a 'Burning Man'.

Dr. Wells, who sat behind her, had pulled up far too many tabs about the Burning Man to be able to focus on just one. "Yes, and we were just discussing what to do. It appears letting Ronnie roam free is no longer an option."

Belén discreetly went around the other side of the desk, near Wells, and placed down her bag. "But, I mean, this...this isn't actually Ronnie anymore, right? It's more like a…" she tilted her head, "...Professor Stein walking around in Ronnie's body like a vampire." She straightened up then, figuring that comparison was awful. "Scratch that. Please."

"Is there a reason that Stein's brain is in control of Ronnie's body, not the other way around?" Barry asked, directly placing his gaze on Dr. Wells until he was answered.

"Simple Darwinism, I suspect. A brand-new organism will select the strongest parts of itself in order to survive…"

Belén seemed like she was thinking about it until she excitedly cut in, "Survival of the fittest?"

"Exactly," Wells nodded, amused with her.

"In this case, Ronnie's body, Stein's mind. In any event, he badly hurt an innocent man, and we have hunted meta-humans for less. Caitlin, we need to know that you're on board with what needs to be done here."

Caitlin looked at the computer determinedly. "How do we find him?"

"Quentin Quale, the scientist that Ronnie attacked, is a former colleague of Martin Stein. If Martin is indeed in control of Ronnie's body, he may be trying to figure out exactly what's happening to him."

"What do we know about him? I don't even know what Stein looks like," Barry confessed, getting the same looks from Caitlin and Belén.

Wells typed on the computer a moment and pulled up a profile of Martin Stein on the wall computer.

Barry's eyes widened at the sight of the elder man with white hair and glasses."That's Stein? I've seen him before."

Caitlin looked up, curious. "When?"

"On the train, the day the accelerator exploded. I was coming back from Starling and he was on the train. We talked, actually," he smiled, if that really had been Stein then Barry was sure this was not an evil man controlling Ronnie's body.

"How do we even begin to look for Ronnie and Stein?" Belén wondered. "In every case, they've found us."

"We start with the basics," Wells declared, and Belén silently admitted she still did not understand.

It wasn't until he said they should go meet with Martin Stein's wife, Clarissa, who had been searching for her missing husband, did Belén fully understand. The group, save Cisco which for some reason was oddly tricky to contact, headed over to Stein's old home. There they met with Clarissa, who indeed said she was still searching for Stein. They began making small talk with her, while discreetly observing the impeccable neat house.

"Of course I've heard of STAR Labs," she said to Barry, almost chuckling. "Martin was always vocal about the competition."

"STAR Labs is actually helping the CCPD looking into your husband's disappearance, Mrs. Stein," Barry explained.

"Oh, please. Call me Clarissa."

Wells was looking at a table consisting of various glass awards all belonging to Professor Stein. "The Conway Prize for Scientific Advancement," he said, making Clarissa look over.

"Martin was very proud of that one," she smiled.

"I'd always hoped to win one of these myself," Wells shared and looked at them with a sarcastic smile. "Oh, and look at that. He won it three times."

"Takes a special kind of person to make Dr. Wells jealous," Barry told Clarissa, both equally smiling of amusement.

"Well, Martin had a talent for making people jealous. Even me. I sometimes think Martin loved his theorems and experiments more than he did me."

"That's not true, I'm sure," Belén said, she and Caitlin coming from the living room. "My dad and brother were full science guys and…" she chuckled, "...at the end of the day they both needed me. Couldn't get on without me, they used to say. I'm sure that's what Professor Stein thought of you."

Clarissa smiled at the kind words. "Thank you…"

"And you haven't heard from your husband since he disappeared…?" Caitlin wondered, and tried to act like this wasn't important as it truly was.

"No."

Barry reached inside his jacket's pocket, explaining to Clarissa, "Mrs. Stein, could I show you a photograph?" As Clarissa nodded, he pulled out a picture of Ronnie and showed it to her. "Have you seen this person before?"

Clarissa automatically shifted, her eyes widening. "Yes, I have. Who is he?"

Barry hadn't expected the question and faltered. "Um…"

Wells stepped in before he said something wrong. "He's just a person of interest in your husband's case."

Caitlin sighed as she asked. "When did you see him?"

"I started getting the feeling that someone was watching me, and sometimes I still do. And about a month after Martin disappeared, that young man showed up here. He was...saying nonsense, and so I called the cops on him but he bolted. Why?"

There was an awkward silence that could be cut through with a knife. Eventually, she was given a lie for an answer and they left her with that.

"So it appears Martin Stein and Ronnie Raymond have something in common besides sharing a body. They both feel the need to protect the women they love," Wells said as they walked away from the house, towards the STAR Labs van. "Clarissa said she feels like she's being watched. Well, then, this has all the makings of a stakeout."

"What? Tonight?" Belén moved slightly ahead to turn and face them. "I can't...I'm sorry. Mark - my old aerial dance team - told me to come in tonight to practice."

"Oh, that's okay," Caitlin tried to be supportive. She knew how much this re-introduction to aerial dance meant to Belén. It was Belén's last way of connecting with her father. Caitlin glanced at Barry beside her, hopeful. "We got things with Barry…?"

Barry nodded. "Of course," he coughed. "You...you go. We'll be fine."

Now she wasn't so sure, and Belén sighed. "No, I'm being selfish. I'll- I'll stay. This...this is important, it's Ronnie-" she gestured to Caitlin, but the brunette shook her head.

"Everything will be fine," Caitlin said, looking down at Dr. Wells for some more support.

"Go on," he motioned.

Belén still looked a little unsure and as she made to leave. Caitlin and Dr. Wells moved towards the van, and for a minute Barry seemed indecisive. Caitlin noticed midway and called to him, gesturing what he was doing.

Rubbing the side of his neck, he glanced in the direction where Belén was walking in.

"Barry?" Caitlin called again, still not understanding.

"Just...you guys go on," he decided, dropping his arm to his side. "I'll see you guys in a bit."

"O-okay," Caitlin nodded and finally made her way away.

Taking a deep breath, Barry started after Belén who was nearing her own car. Originally, she intended on coming with them separately and then leave for the community theater where Mark was waiting to begin their training session.

"Bells?" Wow, even saying her nickname felt odd when they weren't exactly on good speaking terms.

Belén stopped and turned around, clearly surprised she was being spoken to. "Y-yeah?"

Barry had to take another breath before he spoke again. "Uh, see…" he rubbed his neck again, looking as awkward as ever. "About the, um, the uh...incident…"

A light chuckle escaped Belén's mouth. "That's what we're calling it now?" The face on Barry made her laugh a little more. "I would rather we didn't address it that way, because if we did it would make you feel bad and...I don't want you to feel bad-"

"Oh I don't-" Barry had tried cutting in but she waved him to stop and quickly continued.

"Because, because this really has nothing to do with you. If it had been anyone else, I would have said the same answer. This is a personal problem, and I don't want you to think that there was something wrong with what you did." Belén swallowed hard, getting more shaky as she went on. "I just...don't see myself dating anymore."

"Because of your past relationship…?" Barry began to assume, and wrongly. But Belén took a chance.

"Yeah...something like that," she nodded. "And...I-I don't really feel that way...about you..." She hated herself, she really did. It was a lie, such a horrible lie but it was probably the only thing that would get him to forget about her. She could tell she'd hurt him and yet he was just nodding, keeping whatever he had to say bottled inside. "I'm so sorry, but...my answer stays the same."

"Okay," Barry cleared his throat. Despite his feelings, he didn't want to push - he didn't want to risk their friendship altogether. He'd taken the gamble and he'd lost; time to accept it. With a brave face, he looked at her. "But about you and I, as...friends, partners…"

Belén's smile widened, and softened. "I don't think I could ever find another singing scientist like you. If you're not mad-"

"No," Barry began to smile, somewhat relaxed she was still open to remaining friends. He just wished he could look and feel as sure as she did right now. She looked as uninterested as ever, which...did, admittedly, kinda hurt. But if this was what it took, then he had to take it. Who knew, perhaps with time this would all blow over and these feelings would just go away.

~ 0 ~

"You made it," Mark gave a mock clap as Belén walked into the training room. She laughed, pushing some silks out of her way as she came forwards. "I was beginning to think once you returned to all this you would back off."

"I'm not doing this for myself anymore, Mark. It's for my Dad now," Belén clarified, letting her duffel bag drop to the floor beside her. "And stop clapping!"

Mark set loose a final laugh before his hands dropped to his sides. "Well first, I wanna congratulate you."

"For what?" Belén asked, momentarily stumped. "Not falling on my ass yet?"

"No, no," Mark hid a smile as he turned to the nearest pair of silks dropping from the ceiling. "I meant for that article you helped write - the one of Clay Parker's escape from Iron Heights."

"...oh," Belén bent down by her duffel bag and unzipped it to reach for a water bottle inside.

"It was really good. I can see why you would leave the team to pursue journalism."

"We both know that's not what happened," Belén looked up at him, now unamused. "My mom made me leave and I was too much of a coward to stand up for myself."

Mark nodded. "But, I mean, all in all, it wasn't as horrible as you thought it would be right?"

"No, I discovered I had a knack for it." Belén rose up as she capped her water bottle again. "Finally a place where my big mouth has a use."

Mark chuckled. "Right-"

"You're not supposed to agree!" Belén quickly said, but only made him laugh again. Shaking her head, she put down her water bottle and walked towards the silks he was preparing for her. "Let's just get to work, okay?"

~ 0 ~

The stakeout had been successful in that after a couple hours, Stein/Ronnie had been sighted landing close to the Stein residence. Barry wasted no time and got into his suit to go confront the man - men?

"Professor Stein," he called, cautiously stepping towards Stein/Ronnie. "Hey, I'm not here to hurt you, and I know you don't want to hurt anyone else, so if you could just not…" his words were interrupted by Stein/Ronnie bursting into flames, "...flame on."

Barry quickly dodged thrusts of flames coming his way, and sped up to Stein/Ronnie. He slammed the metahuman against a wall, but Stein/Ronnie grabbed him by the arms and suddenly flew up into the sky. As they crossed through the sky, going higher by the second, Caitlin drove after them. When he felt it was an appropriate time, Stein/Ronnie promptly let go of Barry who fell down without anyway to survive. A couple feet before the ground, Stein/Ronnie came flying down only to grab Barry again and drop him over the van Caitlin had been driving after them. Caitlin screamed when Barry crashed the front window and was forced to stop in a swerve. Barry rolled into the ground and barely rose his head to see Stein/Ronnie coming his way ready to cover him in flames for real.

Caitlin came running out of the car, really not having a clue how she was supposed to be helping, but nonetheless she felt she needed to be out there. "No!" Her single word of help made Stein/Ronnie stop in his tracks. Seconds later, he burst into flames and flew away.

Barry groaned as Caitlin helped him sit up right. "Well, that was terrifying."

~ 0 ~

Belén left the pair of silks for a moment to go get another drink of water. Seeing she was nearly out of water, she made to go for the water fountain in the hallway. Mark had gone out already, and promising him that she wouldn't go beyond what he taught her earlier he left her alone to continue training. She filled up her water bottle up to the top and started back for the room.

"I didn't know you danced," a familiar voice stopped her.

She flared and glanced over her shoulder. "And here I thought I would at least get rid of you in all this," she spat.

"Ouch," Azul feigned offense with a hand over his chest. Belén rolled his eyes and continued walking away. "Hey, wait," Azul called for her, but she didn't stop, "Don't you want to know what I want?"

"Not in the least."

"Wow, so I guess you're really on a mission to push away your family."

Belén stopped, now offended herself. She didn't want to look at him, to start a full argument when she was already more miserable than possible. "You don't know anything about me except for what my brother has told you. And he still thinks that I'm the same as I used to before he left - the stupid one."

"He didn't leave, he was kidnapped-"

"Yes but in the end, when I'm sure he did something awful, he had the chance to come home and he didn't. Whatever you have to say, keep it to yourself. I'm not interested."

Azul was frowning, frustrated his words were making no impact on her. "This is your brother-" Belén slowly came to a stop, biting her tongue to not say anything. Of course that didn't stop Azul from saying what he wanted. "You've chosen some strangers over him! Your family! And you turned your back on him-"

That was the last straw. Belén whirled around, revealing teary eyes. "No, he turned his back on me first!" The sudden shout made Azul stop for a moment, allowing her a perfect opportunity to continue. "Where was he when my sister lost her husband? Where was he when I had to leave town to get a better control of my powers? Where was he when our father was murdered? When I could barely hold myself together, where was he? I needed him and he. Wasn't. There."

For the first time, Azul could understand her pain. How it felt being practically alone, losing parents and other family. "I don't...I don't think he realized how much you've needed-"

"Of course he hasn't," snapped Belén, determined to get it all out once and for all, "Because he's been hiding. Lately, my friends have acted more like a family to me than my supposed brother and my sister. And you know, I can let my sister slide because she has her own problems with her kid, but Rayan? That's not my brother anymore."

"How can you say that? I know you feel like things have-"

"I don't 'feel' I saw it," Belén corrected. "The brother that I knew would have never given me such an awful, selfish ultimatum."

"He made a mistake-"

"I get the feeling he was very serious in that he would rather let someone die as long as it didn't directly affect him. And now he's a coward who can't even face me. He has to send his messengers to talk to me. That man is not my brother from before." Belén paused to take in a deep breath and recollect herself for her final words. "I can see that my brother will never be the same, and that the chances of him meeting me face to face are very slim, so I'm going to use you to send back another message. Tell him that I am done looking for him. I'm throwing everything out and moving on. But if I find out that he is up to something bad...then…" It became a struggle to finish her words but she needed to say them, to give Rayan a warning and hopefully ward him off the wrong path, "...I will do everything in my power...to lock him up like the other metahumans the Flash and I have imprisoned."

Now this severely shocked Azul. Through his mask Belén could see wide eyes blinking at her, slowly turning into accusing anger. "You would lock up your own brother?"

"If he became a threat to innocent people, yes."

Azul straightened up, his anger far more clear than earlier. "Then...I guess there is nothing left to say."

"Except the warning extends to you, Plasticine and Pixel as well," Belén stopped him from turning away. She had regained herself, added on a layer of boldness; her teary eyes were no more. "I truly hope that I am wrong but if I'm not, then you better hope I don't find out."

Azul scoffed coldly; the lines of division were really appearing now. "You? Aren't you always getting kidnapped and needing saving?"

Belén's anger flourished in that side of her powers, and before she knew it her right hand thrust forwards and slammed Azul on the ground like he was nothing. "I am much more than what you give me credit for." Her hand was growing green blotches over her skin and so she quickly lowered it down. She took a breath to calm down, hoping that side would leave her alone. It felt a creepy darkness that warned an indefinite stay if she didn't learn how to control it. "And you shouldn't talk so high, after all you are the messenger boy." Vines crept over Azul's body, threatening to crush down on him and probably end his oxygen supply. Azul balled his fists to form icicles that he then threatened to shoot her with. "Go ahead," she taunted, raising her head, "Hurt me. Or...is that against my brother's rules?"

Her suspicions were confirmed as Azul slowly lowered his hands, the icicles melting into nothing. "What's on your face?" he pushed himself up, though kept a careful watch on the vines still over him.

Belén gasped and slapped a hand to her face. "Go," she ordered through gritted teeth, but Azul would never know if it had been for him or for those patches of green on her face. Either way, he ran.

Belén thanked to God there were no cameras in the hallway, because once Azul was gone she made her own escape before anyone could see her.

~ 0 ~

With the help of everyone in the team, and Clarissa Stein, Ronnie and Stein - merged as one - had been taken to STAR Labs. Dr. Wells had given the men medication that would, hopefully, allow for a better civilized conversation with Professor Stein who was in control at the moment.

"I don't suppose any of you have thought what to do after you got Professor Stein to come back?" Belén looked from Caitlin to Barry while Dr. Wells worked on one of the computers. Stein had been given a change of clothes in the meantime.

"More or less," Barry did a weak gesture with a hand, proving her point.

"Well, Stein clearly thinks he can separate himself from Ronnie's body using nuclear fission," shared Dr. Wells, raising his eyes from the screen before him.

Caitlin gave him a sharp look. "What do you think?"

"What do I think? Is it possible? Theoretically. But splitting an atom and splitting a man are two very different things."

"Oh!" they heard Belén gasp and looked over to see her gazing at Ronnie who was coming out of a side room. He had cut his hair and, overall, looked far more put together.

However, there was something off about the young man looking about, so rigid and proper, even his voice had an older tinge in it, clearly from Stein. "I don't suppose it's necessary to point out you're all staring?"

While everyone shamefully looked away, Belén slowly raised her hand. "I think I made it overly obvious...and for that I'm sorry." She lowered her hand and began to smile. "My name's Belén Palayta, I don't suppose you know me yet, but don't worry cos I don't know you either-" she covered her mouth once she realized how rude that could've sounded. "I mean…" she looked for better words while flapping a hand to gesture, "...what I meant is, I've heard so much about you - the both of you! You know, the older one and the younger one-"

"Young lady you speak remarkably quick, has anyone told you that?" Clearly Professor Stein, he asked.

Belén shyly smiled, and nodded her head. "I'm a journalist…"

"Well you keep that job." Stein gave a nod before taking a quick examination of the room. "It is remarkable. I feel clearer than I have since the accident. What did you give me?" he asked Wells.

"A cocktail of anti-psychotics, depressants, and mood stabilizers."

Stein raised eyebrows. "The same formula used to treat dissociative identity disorders." He glanced at Caitlin. "I assume this was your idea? Very clever, Cait."

Caitlin, shaken, shook her head. "Don't call me that. Please."

"I apologize."

Caitlin took a small steps towards him. "We'd like to run some tests on you, if you don't mind."

"Of course, Dr. Snow." Stein gestured Caitlin to lead the way, and while she was mortified to be near him and technically not be near her fiancee, she walked ahead.

Belén watched poor Caitlin walk away with the saddest of expressions. "Poor Cait." She glanced at Wells curiously. "Is there an actual way to separate Professor Stein and Ronnie?"

"We have to let Caitlin run the tests we need," Dr. Wells said. "That could take a couple of hours."

"Oh, well, I guess I have time for a quick run back home," Belén released a breath and made way for the desk where she left her purse. "By the way, someone might want to check up on Cisco."

"Why?" Barry questioned.

"He's up to something," Belén slung her purse strap over her shoulder. "And very secretly. He kicked me out of his workroom. He never does that."

"Can I walk you out?" Barry then thought to ask. He could see her genuinely having to think about it. It...did pain him a little. In the end, she gave a little smile of encouragement.

"I was very serious about Cisco, you know," she said once they were out in the hallway.

"Yeah…" Barry said, half dragging it out because he was very uninterested.

Belén stopped by the elevator and faces him, sensing his lack of attention. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Of course I have to say that, he thought. "Do you want a lift home?"

Although she answered quicker than the last time, Barry still witnessed her thinking about it. Time was she used to say a quick 'Yes' and they would be on their way.

"I think I'll just take the car," she answered very politely and pressed the button of the elevator. "It's not easy explaining to Maritza why I take the car and come back without it."

"She hasn't found work yet?" Barry opted for a chance of subject seeing things were failing again.

"Um, she said she was going to the local elementary school a couple streets from us but I've yet to hear how it went."

"And she teaches…?"

"Kindergarten - she's a kindergarten teacher. But she's been having a difficult time trying to find a job. Hopefully this one works out fine." The elevator dinged open and with a sheepish smile to Barry, she stepped inside. "I'll see you later, then?"

With nothing to say, Barry nodded and watched the doors slide closed. Almost immediately, he heard his phone ringing from his pocket. The moment he answered Iris West said very loud and clearly: "We need to talk now."

Deciding it was better to see her now than later to avoid bigger problems, Barry agreed to meet her at Jitters where she would be working on a couple articles anyways. She sat alone on a table with her laptop opened and a journal beside it. She was drinking from a mug when she saw Barry coming in.

"Barry! Over here!" she waved a hand to grab his attention. She looked pretty calm and content, giving Barry a false illusion this would just be another casual talk with her.

"What's up, Iris?" he took a seat across the table. Iris smiled widely for a second more before abruptly leaning over to smack him on the arm. "OW!"

Iris was no longer smiling at him. "Please tell me you've fixed this mess with Bells."

Barry rolled his eyes, this time blaming himself for not seeing this coming sooner. "You know, I had actual things to do-"

"Don't change the topic with me, Barry Allen. What are you doing?"

"Nothing...what am I-"

"You're damn right you're doing nothing," snapped Iris, who, with all her irritation coming out, remained at first glance calm and collected. "Why are you doing nothing?"

Barry sighed. "Look, Iris, I already had this talk with Caitlin and Cisco but-"

"You're not gonna have the same conversation with me, I promise." Iris closed her laptop down and placed her hands over it. "I just...don't understand you, honestly."

"Understand what?" Barry asked.

"You, I don't understand you," Iris clarified. "You never give up. I mean, isn't that why you became a CSI? Because no one else believed your story about the man in the yellow suit?"

"This...this is a different thing…" Barry said, shifting on his chair. "It's not about believing or not. Belén said no and I don't intend on hassling her."

"But that's just it! You're not doing anything -" Iris abruptly stopped and thought of a different manner to get him to understand. "Okay," she began anew, "Do you remember that girl you used to have a crush on in high school? Senior year? What was her name?" she looked to the side and tried recalling the name. Kara? No. Kiara? No that wasn't it either…"

Glum with the reminder of the girl, Barry said in, "Clara."

Iris snapped her fingers. "Clara! There you go! Clara Connors, head cheerleader and President of the debate club." She pretended to shiver. "What a bitch."

"Hey," frowned Barry.

"What? She was! I hated her!" Iris shook her head. "Anyways, my point here is, you pined after her for the entire school year but you never did anything to ask her out."

"She was way out of my league!" Barry argued.

"There is no such thing as 'leagues' Barry, we just create them," Iris said with a light smile.

"Deep."

"I've been reading."

"That's nice…"

"What I'm trying to say is that you didn't try to go after Clara and now you're doing it again with Belén. You're brave and you're a fighter, what's going on now?"

"Iris," Barry thought himself a broken record as he said, "She said no. She said she wasn't interested, alright? Now it's hard enough to hear it the first time...please don't make me hear it a second time."

Iris stared at him, appearing to be thinking. That girl so lied to him, she thought. Well, Iris thought she would just have to set the record straight. "You know, Barry," she started innocently, "Sometimes I wonder why you don't already have a girlfriend. I mean, it's quite a sight to see when you gets really passionate about something so remote that no one in their right mind would ever think about like disproportionate zombies-" Barry was beginning to look at her oddly. "You know all these facts that no one would ever think about and you don't trying to show off. You just try to explain things because we have to know about it. You're just trying to help. You're amazing."

Barry stared at her in alarm, his eyes widened. "Iris…"

Iris innocently smiled, swaying her head. "Sounds like I'm into you huh?" Barry nodded, still looking afraid. "Well, rest assure I am not. Those weren't my words. They were Belén's."

His heart did a sort of jolt. His whole body leaned forwards on the table. "Really…?"

Iris nodded, watching as her plan finally begin to work. "Mhm. She told me every word I just said. Kinda ironic considering she was trying to tell me how she wasn't interested in you. But you could tell in her eyes it was such a lie."

"Then why would she...I don't..." Barry rubbed his temples, "Why are women so difficult?" Iris playfully hit him on the arm again. "It was a legitimate question!"

Iris shook her head at him then pointed directly at him. "Don't give up because I know she likes you, I knew it from the start-"

"No, you really didn't-"

"Yes, I did, now go and get that date!"

Barry couldn't help but smiling at her. "If I get turned down again-"

"You won't," she said with the utmost certainty, hands together over the table like she was giving the news of the day. "And when you come back home, you can tell me all about how I was right."

"Thanks Iris," Barry said genuinely before rushing off to go find Belén.

~ 0 ~

"Yes, Maritza, I'll stay home, I promise," Belén grumbled as she agreed to her sister's terms. She was this close to hanging up but she knew better than that. Maritza would have her head! As Belén made way for her front porch, Axel stayed behind in the front yard, waving his Toy Story Woody doll in the air. He had more series of Toy Story toys all around him.

Maritza had roped in Belén for a last minute babysitting gig. It appeared she was on a sudden trial for the elementary school and had no one to look after Axel because his babysitter had other commitments.

"Axel, don't throw your Woody!" Belén called as she sat down on the porch steps. As soon as she did, a strong wind hit her in the face. "Barry, what are you doing here? Is something wrong with Professor Stein and Ronnie?"

"No - well, yes, but we already know that. No, um…" Barry failed to come up with a straight sentence on the first try. He took a breath and began again. "I need to have a word with you."

"I can't, I have Axel," Belén pointed back to the young boy now sat on the grass. "Maritza is on a trial at school and I have to look after him."

"On the porch is fine, anywhere."

"O-okay," Belén nodded, sensing this was going to be important. "What's going on?"

"That's what I want to know, honestly," Barry said, receiving a confused look from her. "You said things like you weren't interested in me but now I'm hearing the opposite from Iris-"

"Excuse me? You're not taking my word here," Belén frowned, although it was hard to be upset when she was being called out on her own lies. "That's frankly disrespectful, Barry."

"You lied, Bells, and that's not fair." Barry thought that was a rather childish move but he was not going to desist.

"You can't take Iris' word, you know how she is!" Belén exclaimed, believing her face to be reddening.

"Iris does not lie, especially about something so important to me," Barry nearly snapped and Belén paused at the explanation. "Because this is important to me, Bells, can't you see? You are important."

Belén felt awful as she saw the truth in his desperation. "Barry, I'm so sorry," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I thought...I thought we were done with this-"

"I can't," Barry shook his head. "Not after what Iris told me."

"And what exactly did she say?"

"The things you said about me, the things you liked about me," Barry moved closer to her till they were nearly face-to-face. "Did you really mean those things?"

Belén's mouth opened and closed several times, wanting to continue to lie in hopes of driving him away like the first time. It was better - it was the best for him. But, maybe she was selfish because...she really wanted to tell him the truth, tell him how he made her feel...

"Did you mean those things, Belén?" Barry asked again, louder. "Please?"

"Yes," she whispered. "You are amazing, Barry, and that is why I can't do this to you."

"Can't do what? What are you talking about!?"

"It's my problem, not yours. Just...just go and find someone else, okay? It shouldn't be that hard considering who you are. You and I are better as friends."

"I politely disagree," Barry said firmly. He stepped back, looking as if he were accepting some sort of challenge. "And I'm not leaving until I have a date with you. If I have to get every neighbor on this block to help me persuade you, I'll do it.

Arching one eyebrow up, Belén crossed her arms. "What do you mean?"

"You've lived here for years, someone's got to be able to help me." Barry put his hands behind his back as he began rocking back and forth on his shoes. "I guess I'll just have to knock."

"You wouldn't," Belén playfully rolled her eyes.

"Are you doubting my boldness right now? I'll start shouting."

"No you won't. Because this is ridiculous and you've got better things to do."

"I'm giving you my full attention, and I'm not giving up when I know you are just as interested in me as I am with you."

"Barry, you're not gonna do anything except go back to S.T.A.R Labs and-"

"SCUSE ME!" Barry had turned around and sped into the sidewalk where he promptly began to shout at passersby. "Someone's gotta help me around here, I beg you!'

"Barry, get back here!" she ran up to the sidewalk but couldn't go any further because she had Axel. She was bright red in the face as Barry continued to speak high and loud. He is actually doing this, she didn't know whether or not to be embarrassed or...feel just a tad special...

No one had ever gone this far just to get her to go on a date.

Right across the street a blonde haired elderly woman stepped out of her home to see he commotion. It was Mrs. Andrews, Belén's closest neighbor. She spotted the omber-blonde across the street. "Belén? What's happening? Is everything fine?" she called.

"Everything's fine Mrs. Andrews-" Belén had begun to say when Barry cut in.

"No it's not!" he shook his head. "I'm in a bit of a struggle, you see, Mrs. Andrews?" the woman nodded her head. "See, I'm desperately trying to get a date with Belén here but she keeps turning me down even when she knows she wants to say 'Yes'. And I have witnesses too so don't think I'm trying to force her."

"Barry, cut this out!" Belén practically pleased but he was having nothing of it.

"I don't understand and frankly I'm going a little crazy-"

"Barry, come back here!"

He was crossing the street towards Mrs. Andrews who was keenly listening. "Because I really, really like her. I didn't quite know it but thankfully I came to my senses. She's sweet and she's passionate about what she likes. She doesn't understand much science-" Barry smiled to himself, lightly chuckling, "-but she's incredibly cute when she tries to make sense out of it. And, really, if she just paid more attention she would get it because she's incredibly smart. Did I mention I like her fast talking?"

"That was the first thing you ever complimented me on..." Belén said quietly from her spot. Her face had softened, yet was still flushed, but she couldn't find it in her to continue being so 'upset'.

Barry turned around and nodded at her, recalling the first thought he ever had after meeting her the night the Particle Accelerator was to go off. He thanked God Iris had put him up to the task of helping with some article Belén had to write despite not knowing her. And even if he hadn't actually helped her in the end, it led to their friendship.

Belén took in a breath and motioned Barry to come back which he thankfully did. "Barry Allen, why do you have to make it so hard for me to say 'no'?" Standing in front of him, Barry could only respond with a shrug of genuine confusion.

"Wait a minute," Mrs. Andrews suddenly called out to them, making them both glance her way. She was coming out to her front porch, eyes keen on Barry. "What was your name, young man?"

Belén whispered to Barry as they moved to face Mrs. Andrews, "But just because I kinda like you too does not mean I won't kill you for this."

At which point, Barry felt completely calm because all he had heard was that she liked him too. "It's Barry, ma'am," he finally answered the waiting elder woman. "And I'm sorry for causing commotion. I was desperate."

It didn't appear Mrs. Andrews listened to his additional response. She was smiling, for some reason. "David spoke about you. He mentioned your Christmas present idea. I thought it was lovely."

"Thank you," Barry cleared his throat. "I, uh...that was my goal."

"Thank you, Mrs. Andrews. We won't be making more noise I promise," Belén grabbed Barry's arm and forced him to turn back for her house.

"You're going to kill me, aren't you?" Barry's voice was quiet but he still stood by what he'd done and what he said.

Belén let go of his arm once they were near her front porch. Her eyes briefly flickered to Axel who had played in the yard this whole time like nothing had happened. She re-directed her eyes back to Barry, and when they met gazes she just couldn't do it anymore. "I have thought about you as more than a friend. Of course I have."

"So then why did you lie?"

"Because...because I'm not the girl you want to date, trust me," she sighed. "Everything I told Iris was true. You're incredible, and I...I don't think I could take it if I said 'yes' to that date only for you to cancel it later."

"I wouldn't do that," Barry's reassurance didn't exactly make a difference for her. "Bells, why would you think that?"

Belén had realized there was nothing but to show him what was the problem was. "Come tonight to my room, like you do sometimes, and then I can show you what the problem is. Because maybe after that, you won't want that date anymore."

"I don't...understand…"

"Just come, okay?"

Barry gave in with a nod, figuring he had nothing left to lose. "Okay."

"Thank you. Now I can't really leave Axel and I promised Maritza I wouldn't take him out," Belén sighed but added in a quieter tone, "Plus I don't feel comfortable putting him near a man who radically bursts into flames."

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it." Barry said quick, debating how to leave after everything. He was just now realizing how stupid he'd been shouting about just to get his 'yes'. Yup, she was definitely doing something to him because he never imagined he would've done something like this in a million years.

Belén rocked back and forth on her feet, biting her lower lip as she too waited for someone to speak and cut through the awkwardness. Thankfully, someone's phone went off.

"Mine," Barry waved it as he got it out of his pocket. "It's Caitlin…"

"You should go then," Belén said. "I'll...be here…" she awkwardly pointed back to her house, "...waiting…"

"I'm not changing my mind," Barry warned before he left.

"I think you should save your words until after."

"I won't," Barry smiled, cheerful as ever before speeding away.

Belén couldn't feel that assured as she turned to walk back to her house. The pit in her stomach had her worrying for the rest of the afternoon until Barry would return. After all, only Felicity Smoak knew her secret and that alone was terrifying to reveal to a stranger. How would she do it with Barry? Someone she came to be so close to, someone she kind of, may have, learned to really like?

Even when Maritza finally returned, and announced she had made such a good impression that she was offered a job at the elementary school, she noticed straight off something was bothering Belén. After putting Axel to sleep, Maritza came down the staircase, to where Belén was busy writing on her laptop.

"If you keep up the speed you'll break that poor computer," she decided to open with a joke. Apparently, it was not funny.

Belén shook her head and shut her lap top. "I'm going to bed early," she declared, rising from the couch with her laptop tucked under her arm.

"I was only joking, Belén, calm down," Maritza walked around the couch and plopped down. "Sit down and we can talk if you need to."

"No offense but I just don't think you could actually help," Belén sighed, looking absolutely stressed.

"Ouch," Maritza laughed. "I guess I need to be more like your scientist friends huh?"

"It's not that…" Belén bit her lip and reconsidered on a way to talk to her sister without actually revealing anything.

"C'mon Belén, I know we don't have the strongest sister relationship but I actually want to change that," Maritza smiled kindly, changing her sitting position to face her. "What's bothering you?"

Belén could only think of one way to put it that wouldn't make it seem out of the ordinary. "It's this guy, and, um...he asked me out-"

"Ooh," Maritza made a face, "Tell me more!"

"At first I said 'No'-"

"Because you didn't like him?"

"No, because...because I didn't think he would want to date someone like me."

Maritza made a face. "Why wouldn't anyone want to date you? You're fantastic! You're-" she stopped when she remembered that Belén was a metahuman and that perhaps this guy didn't yet know it and this was the reason for Belén's answer.

"I was sure that he would move on, but he didn't," Belén sighed. "And, it sucks, because I actually do like him but I'm scared of what he's gonna think of me when...when he gets to know me."

Maritza assumed Belén would be revealing she was a metahuman. A little alarmed, she discreetly said, "Maybe you should wait a little until you let him see the real you."

"How so?" Belén tilted her head.

"Well, you say you like this guy but you've never dated him? Like, nothing at all"

"Right..."

"Who's to say that after a date you won't like him anymore? Maybe you'll realize that...there's nothing there."

Belén shrugged, genuinely considering Maritza's words as she started for the stairs. Could it be that after one date she would realize she didn't really like Barry?

"Where are you going?" called Maritza.

Stopping by the stairs, Belén glanced back. "Sleep…" she said quietly, "Good night," she added then hurried up the stairs.

Maritza watched after Belén with mild concern. It was much more difficult than she thought it would be to get Belén to be open and talk to her. At the very least Maritza thought Belén would have the audacity to share with her the fact she was a metahuman. But, it appeared, Belén preferred to keep that secret among her friends. Once again, she chose strangers over her family.

~ 0 ~

The light tap on the balcony door made Belén flinch on her bed. She rushed to go lock her bedroom door - right after peering outside the hallway to see if her sister had gone to sleep as well - and then ran to go open the the blinds. She unlocked the glass door and slide it open.

"Hi, Barry," she said sheepishly and allowed him inside. "How'd it go with Cait and…?"

"Professor Stein and Ronnie are both going to be fine," Barry turned around, wearing a light smile on his face. "We were able to separate them using a quantum splicer-"

"You lost me," Belén shrugged innocently, shaking her head.

Barry chuckled and made her blush. "So, you want to tell me why I'm here?"

Belén drew the blinds across the glass doors of her balcony then turned to face him. "This has a point, Barry, I promise. But please, no matter what happens, you have to promise me you won't tell anyone about this."

"What is it?" Barry asked, beginning to feel a little concerned. She seemed so serious about this, like it was life threatening...

Belén shut her eyes, gathering every ounce of courage inside her to speak. "Do you remember before when, um...when you woke up from your coma and...everything was so new? Like, like you couldn't control your powers basically?"

"Yes, but then I got help from STAR Labs - something you could've done too if you would've told us," Barry reminded gently, not wanting to dig up that past argument.

"I couldn't at that time because I didn't know you guys completely. But there was one person I did get help from, remember?"

"Oliver," Barry said, not too pleased.

"And Felicity Smoak - she was the first person to know," Belén sucked in a breath. "I had to prove to her that I needed help, and at that time I only knew how to do one thing."

"Which was…?"

Belén sighed and walked past him, double checking to see if her bedroom door was actually locked.

"Bells? What is it?" Barry turned after her, seeing her become more and more scared.

"You can't tell anyone!" pointed Belén, suddenly frantic. "You can't!"

"I won't, I promise!" Barry raised both his hands to solemnly swear.

Belén shook her head. She took in a breath and raised her head. At first, Barry couldn't tell what exactly he was supposed to be looking at...until he saw something green spreading from down her hands...wrists...arms…

It was incredible sight to see someone change skin colors, and even more-so when the skin changed into a beautiful shade of emerald green. There appeared to be a light scaly pattern, but it was an astounding sight.

"I turn into this-" Belén raised her arms, "-and it's awful. It's ugly."

"This isn't...this isn't bad," Barry breathed in, really unable to configure words to express his shock. "This is...extraordinary! You're truly one-of-a-kind. Do you realize this means you could have other powers you're not fully aware of!?"

"Don't sell me that crap, Barry. This is ugly, and it's why I never use it. I push it away," Belén lowered her arms but remained in her greenish state. "I only showed it once to Felicity and then once to Oliver to prove my story. I don't like, it's ugly and no one should ever have to see it." She didn't feel completely ready to disclose how the power even came involuntarily to her. She figured Barry wouldn't even question it after making him re-think that whole 'date' thing.

"Belén this is crazy. You can't actually think this would bother me enough to call off our date," Barry chuckled, but Belén didn't find it funny.

"You laugh now but you have to think about it like I am. Right now, yeah it's just a date and it might not mean anything but what happens if this actually works out between us, hmm?" Belén arched an eyebrow. "What if everything goes so fine but then in the future...you would want kids...do you really want that mother to pass on to them these horrible genes?"

"Bells-"

"Think about it please," she begged. "Because I would rather call things off right now before anymore feelings develop. You are wonderful, Barry, and you deserve someone just as wonderful. Don't blow it."

Barry nodded, acknowledging her words. He saw this was important to her, and for that he wouldn't dismiss it so easily like before. But, he knew what he wanted even after hearing everything, so he supposed he would just have to show it little by little. "So, Miss Bells - I like that actually," he said to himself but saw Belén smiling from the corner of his eyes, "Are you free this Saturday night?"

Belén's eyebrows rose, and slowly her skin lost the scales and emerald green tinge. A little smile again graced her lips. "...I don't like Chinese food."

[wanderleave]

My contribution for @jancyweek2019, which is, fair warning: absolute nonsense. Entirely inspired by this post made by @metropoliskid, which is based on this tweet.

Once again, I know my blog text is tiny, so go find this guy on AO3 if you wish.

Nancy Wheeler was twelve years old when she started dating Jonathan Byers.

She thinks.

She isn’t sure. (Not about Jonathan Byers, she’s sure about him; she’d always found him endlessly intriguing, even in elementary school, when he sat at the picnic tables with Barb while Nancy played horses at recess, surrounded by girls who had names like hers—Stacy, Ally. Long e sounds. Names that rhymed.)

What she isn’t sure about is if they ever really started dating.

And if they did, they certainly never stopped.

If it did happen, it is, technically, the longest relationship she’s ever been in. If she’s counting.

She doesn’t know what that says about her.

She was twelve years old, sitting on a bench inside Hawkins Middle, reading A Tree Grows In Brooklyn for English, waiting for her mother to pick her up and bring her to ballet. (Nancy never considered it, in her youth, how much of her mother’s life revolved around ferrying her and her siblings across Hawkins, from one activity to another. She must have been so grateful when Mike declared his independence from the automobile and insisted on riding his bike everywhere.)

She’d glanced up to see the Wheeler family station wagon coasting to a stop just outside the front doors, just as Jonathan Byers coasted to a stop in front of her.

“Nancy,” he’d said, breathless.

And that’s when it got complicated.

In the rush of juggling her school bag, her dance bag, and the blare of her mother’s horn, she didn’t quite catch the words that followed her name.

Her eyes had flicked to the car outside, then back to him. She’d thought about asking him to repeat himself, but his face had been open, expectant, nervous. Hopeful.

She couldn’t deny that face.

“Oh, um. Yes,” she’d said, in response to what she’d been pretty sure was a question.

He’d grinned at her. Held up his hand.

She’d high fived him, and rushed out to her waiting mother.

It was only as the car door slammed shut that she processed the question he’d asked her.

“Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

It’s only later—years later—that Nancy realizes that she’d have said yes even if she had heard him clearly.

As it was, she only got to enjoy their relationship—if it was a relationship (if seventh grade high fives could even be called a relationship)—for one day. Less than a day, even.

She’d glanced over at him shyly all through class, counting the minutes until lunch, when she would confirm if she’d heard him right. He’d returned her glances with equally shy smiles, putting her anxious mind slightly at ease.

And then the loudspeaker buzzed, Jonathan Byers was called to the office—and he was gone.

His whole family was.

Mike had pouted for weeks, his best friend vanished in an instant. “It’s not fair,” he’d moaned at dinner. “Why do they have to move just because of his stupid dad.”

The moaning continued over the phone, short long-distance calls that Nancy only ever worked up the nerve to intrude on once, picking up the receiver to mutter a quick “Tell-Jonathan-I-said-hi,” before hanging up with a clatter.

But the frequency of the phone calls trickled away as the school year went on, and by the time summer arrived, Mike had stopped insisting on being allowed to visit Will, and Nancy lost her only chance to confirm her relationship status.

She knows she could have called him herself. But that was, for her twelve year old self, too much to bear.

And plus, he’d never called her.

She misheard him, she told herself.

(She didn’t.)

He’d asked her another question, not girlfriend-related at all.

(He hadn’t.)

She’d told all her rhyming friends, giggles down the phone line later that night, and they’d waited alongside her with heavy anticipation for one of them to finally have a boyfriend, only to have their hopes dashed when it ended up being over before it really began. In the end she just felt foolish, for making such a thing over a boy.

“You know, you two never actually broke up,” Barb pointed out one day, once Nancy was able to think about it without wanting to bury her face in her hands, a matter of years later. As time goes on, it became almost a joke to her friends, a Schrödinger’s relationship that Nancy is both in and not in at the same time.

“Oh you can’t,” they said to James C, who asked her to prom as Nancy sat, blushing furiously, at her lunch table freshman year. “She’s dating Jonathan Byers.” (He’d been a senior, convinced she couldn’t turn him down, staggering away at Nancy’s faux-regretful confirmation of her relationship status.)

“So what’s this about you and some long distance guy?” Steve had asked, the first night she’d allowed herself to be inveigled into his back seat.

“Oh,” Nancy had said, already pulling her shirt over her head. “That’s . . . nothing. Middle school stuff.”

“Good,” Steve said, and Nancy forgot all about Jonathan Byers for the moment.

But she never truly forgets, not really.

Nancy moves to the city in one fell swoop.

She loads the U-Haul herself, only takes three wrong turns, and crams her entire life into the tiny studio that somehow costs more than the two-bedroom apartment she’d left Steve standing in, bereft.

She locates the nearest bodega, maps out her work commute on the subway, and prepares to begin her life anew.

It doesn’t quite work out like she plans.

She does manage to navigate the subway with relative ease, and she stops by the bodega almost every day, grabbing yet another item she’s realized she doesn’t own and cannot seem to live without.

The life anew part, however, eludes her.

She has a life, of course—drinks with college friends, lunches out with work colleagues. She tries new things, meets new people, goes on an endless parade of first dates. She even makes it to second and third dates for a few. But in the end, her days start to end up feeling enough like the inevitability she’d tried to escape that she wonders if it might make sense to head back to Indiana, see if Steve is still standing right where she left him.

It’s then that her thoughts turn to Jonathan.

Not in any kind of concrete sort of way—when she thinks of him it always feels hazy, somehow—but more idealistic; she imagines him living the life she wishes she could lead. He’d escaped Hawkins, in a way she somehow cannot, like the town is clinging to her, holding onto her fast even across state lines.

As a coping mechanism, it’s pretty fucked up, as Steve used to say, having the ghosts of her past haunt her present, but she’s working on it. She took the first step, at least.

She left.

“I wish you’d just come back,” her mother pleads, on the nights Nancy finds herself longing for the comforts of home, fingers grasped tight around the phone. What her mother doesn’t know is that she doesn’t call to be convinced to return.

She calls because it’s the one thing that strengthens her resolve to stay.

She only knows one person at the party.

Alice waves to her from across the apartment as Nancy navigates through the crowd, holding a six-pack in front of her like a peace offering, losing four along the way as she edges through and around clumps of people.

Nancy offers up the spare, taking the last beer for herself, and proceeds to endure the interminable agony that is entering a story halfway through and not knowing the teller well enough for them to recount the beginning. She likes Alice, she does, finding her Midwest sensibilities comfortingly refreshing after her months in the city, but theirs is a friendship of convenience, nothing deeper. Nancy wonders what Barb would say, if she were here.

Stop thinking about your dead friend and make some new ones, probably.

Nancy laughs to herself at the thought, and then starts at the unfortunate realization that someone is saying her name, and has been, for some time now.

“Sorry.” Her eyebrows raise, her eyes open wide, trying to make it seem like she was mostly listening this whole time. “I didn’t catch that.”

Alice gives her a look, but she’s smiling. “Sam was asking if you know the host.”

Sam ends up being a girl with black hair and even blacker eyeliner, who seems to be nursing Nancy’s other beer.

She shakes her head, shrugging a little. “Just Alice—”

“The only person that matters,” Alice interjects.

Nancy rolls her eyes a little. “I just moved here from Indiana,” she continues. “Alice is taking pity on me because I know no one in the city.”

Sam makes an ah yes face of benign interest, but then her eyebrows crinkle together. “Actually, my boyfriend grew up in Indiana, I think.” She turns her head, calls into the kitchen, but the actual name gets lost in the buzz of the crowd.

Sean, maybe.

Sam goes off in search of Sean (or was it John?) and Nancy takes a swig of beer as the conversation turns to the subway, as it is wont to do among people with only tenuous connections to each other but all with a singular hatred for their shared means of transportation.

Nancy’s just happy she has her own story—getting caught underground for half an hour, the windows steaming up as people shed clothes around her—and manages to coast on that contribution for the next twenty minutes, sipping the dregs of her bottle as the group grows and shrinks, and the stories go on and on.

She’s about to go in search of another drink (or if she’s being honest, maybe an Irish goodbye) when Alice begins recounting the story of her last date, a story Nancy knows from lunch last week, and realizes that she has one more story to contribute.

“—and when I told him I had to be up early the next morning, he rolls over, gives me a high five, says nothing else and strolls out the door. Haven’t seen him since.”

“I’ve got that beat,” says Nancy, and knocks back the rest of her beer. She takes a deep breath. “So I’m in seventh grade, and I’m waiting for my mom to pick me up after school. When—”

And then she sees him.

Coasting up to her just like he had eleven years ago.

“Oh my god,” she breathes.

She sees his hand reaching toward her, and for one absurd, heart-stopping moment, Nancy thinks he’s going to give her a high five. But the hand keeps going up, pulling her into a hug, and she actually cannot believe this is happening.

“Nancy Wheeler,” Jonathan Byers says, and she can feel her name vibrating through her, he’s holding her so tight. She wonders if that’s why she can’t catch her breath, but even after he releases her, she’s still got that feeling—like she’s missed a step, like the universe has been thrown out of alignment.

“Oh my god,” she says again, because that’s all she can do.

“I’m guessing you two know each other,” Alice remarks dryly.

He’s grinning, and his hair is shorter than it used to be (of course it would be, he’s not in seventh grade anymore), but he’s unmistakably Jonathan Byers, eleven years older. He spins to the side, wrapping his arm around Nancy, and she wonders if she’s dreaming, because this cannot actually be happening.

“Um, yeah,” she begins, but Jonathan cuts her off.

“Oh, we go way back,” he declares, and smiles fondly down at her. “Nancy’s my girlfriend.”

Nancy chokes on nothing, and changes her mind. She isn’t dreaming.

She has actually died.

It’s the only explanation. One last gasp of reality, chiding her for spending so much time thinking about a boy that she was never supposed to see again.

Death is cruel, though, because instead of the sweet bliss of nothingness, instead she has Jonathan Byers grinning at her, Alice looking at her, dumbstruck, and from behind her, a vaguely familiar voice saying, “I thought I was your girlfriend.”

Nancy turns to find Sam staring at her, a look of amused concern on her face.

“Um,” Nancy says.