#first and last steps not shown cause i forgot

[evadingreallife]

The bookbinding project is done!

The process:

[dickmastersfruit]

Can I Kiss You?

Pairing: Sirius x Shy!Remus

Summary: Remus blurts out words he thought he'd regret but it turns out to be the best thing that could have happened to him.

Warnings: wolfstar being cuties, some language, and remu being a nervous wreck

Wordcount: 686

Everyone was surprised when Saturday morning they woke up to a snow storm. Remus surprisingly loved the snow but not necessarily being in it so he stayed inside watching the flurry's. He sat in the window with his book as he cuddled up in a blanket.

Eventually he was dragged out into the snow. He hadn't planned on enjoying the snow as much as he did. However when Sirius was smiling and laughing he always found himself enjoying even the mundane things.

Later that night though the two boys were in the Gryffindor common room sitting on a couch as the fire raged in front of them. They sat closer than what Remus thought was normal for two friends but he didn't mind.

"Look at this Remu" Sirius exclaimed as he showed Remus the muggle magazine that he had been flipping through.

Remus laughed shaking his head. Sirius had been showing him everything in the magazine for the last five minutes. Remus obviously knew what everything was but he never got over how excited Sirius would get to show him small things like clothes.

"Holy shit this looks like something you would wear" Sirius said before shoving the magazine into Remus's face again.

Remus grabbed the magazine so he could actually see what he was being shown. Sirius was right it looked like an outfit he wore last week. The man was wearing a black knitted sweater and jeans with converse.

"Can I kiss you?" Remus blurted out as his eyes widened. "Wow that does look like something I'd wear" He laughs. "What?" he asks innocently as Sirius stares at him with his eyes widened.

"Can I kiss you?" Sirius asks.

Remus's shoulders slumped as he stared down at his lap. He screwed up so badly and he felt stupid. Now Sirius was making fun of him which was what he had expected, he didn't want to be right though. His breathing picked up as he couldn't bring himself to look back up at Sirius.

"Remus, I'm asking if I can kiss you" he murmurs getting closer to Remus who was still looking down anxiously.

"Wait what" Remus says finally making eye contact with the long haired boy.

"Can I kiss you?" he asks for the second time.

Remus barely uttered a yes before Sirius's lips were on his. Remus hadn't ever kissed someone so he wasn't sure how to react at first. Remus finally kissed Sirius back as he placed his hands around his neck.

Remus felt like he had been lit on fire. Every part of his body was tingling. For once he didn't mind the feeling because it came from a feeling he wanted to experience. An experience he only wanted with Sirius.

As they got more comfortable Sirius moved his hands to Remus's waist. His hands leaving a fire burning on his skin at every step. Remus was hoping that Sirius was feeling the same things he was.

They completely forgot about there surroundings as they only focused on each other. Only focusing on the taste and the feeling of kissing each other. They only pulled away every once in a while for a breath but quickly went back to kissing.

"Holy shit I knew it" A voice yells.

The two boys quickly pushed away from each other causing Remus to almost fall off the couch. Sirius put his arm out to steady Remus. They both wiped at there lips as they stared at James who was standing at the top of the steps.

James ran down the stairs and was now standing in front of the couch where they were sitting. "I always knew you guys liked each other" James exclaimed.

"Wait really" Remus asked confused.

"Yeah.. you guys are always so 'oh my gosh i love your hair Sirius'" James said mocking Remus. Sirius laughed causing James to look at him sternly. "You cant laugh what about your 'anything for you moony'" he mocked in a swoony tone.

Sirius went quiet as he bit his lip looking at Remus who was now laughing.

"So love birds, you guys dating or what?" James asks.

Masterlist Marauders Masterlist

[neonfuturelove]

Cruel Summer: LN4

part two

Pairing: Lando Norris x singer!OC Isabella Rose Word count: 2.6k + social media elements a/n: ty for the likes on part one, i'm just enjoying writing at the mo for the first time in a while so it means a lot!! lemme know if you want to be tagged for future updates and feel free to hop in my ask box with any thoughts ilu Part One :: Masterlist

Silverstone // July

The Saturday night of Silverstone was in full swing, Lando could feel a thumping of music vibrating in his chest and a constant sound of chatter amongst a crowd. His qualifying had been about what he had expected and though he needed to rest for race day he had promised to watch his friend’s set DJ set before he head home for the night.

 “I’m on right before Isabella Rose, I’ll be her warm-up, shall I?” Martin Garrix nudged Lando’s arm with a laugh causing Lando to stumble slightly as he lost his footing. His mind had shut off at the mention of Isabella’s name. Isabella was here, at Silverstone; Lando’s home race and he was certain that his heart was beating just as fast as it had been during his Qualifying session a few hours earlier. Lando never really paid attention to who played the shows over race weekend but he had never thought of Isabella playing. “Forgot you had posters of her on your wall,” his other friend Max had continued to tease, feeling a sense of accomplishment when he heard Lando’s adamant protests.

“Come off it, mate,” Lando had a smile on his face at his friends joke even if it was at his expense. Subconsciously, Lando’s feet had sped up pace slightly in order to reach the staging area in hopes of bumping into Isabella. “I never did message her,” Lando admitted quietly, a hint of regret in his voice. Lando had told both Max and Martin all about his meeting with Isabella, he’d relayed the night to them still with a hint of disbelief in his voice. Martin’s roar of laughter when Lando had told him ‘I gave her my flower’ was a noise that rang in Lando’s ears for weeks, the pair of friends could hardly catch a breathe between laughter and trying to mockingly play out the ‘romcom scene’ they now referred to it as.

“I knew you wouldn’t have the balls to message her,” still trying to push Lando’s buttons, Max shrugged casually.

Martin jumped on the train of childish teasing adding, “I’m tempted to see if she wants to be on that song I shown you last month, reckon she’d sound sweet singing those vocals…” Lando nodded encouragingly, a prickle of jealousy he didn’t understand flowed through his veins at the idea of Martin getting to spend a lot of time in a studio alone with Isabella.

Martin directed Lando and Max through a backstage area, stepping over wires and mingling through various crew members, Lando was eagerly looking around in hopes of seeing Isabella, his frantic search interrupted by Martin, “she won’t be down here ‘til near the end of my set, mate.”

Lando shook his head nonchalantly trying to act as though he hadn’t just been acting like a meerkat, “yeah, I know, I know…” Lando took a peek out from side stage to glance a view of a festival-like crowd that had formed in front of the stage. The sight of the mass of bodies made Lando withdraw his head with wide eyes, glad it wasn’t his job to entertain them. Wishing his friend luck, he gave him a pat on the back as Martin strode off confidently onto the stage taking place behind his DJ booth to the sound of a roar that was almost deafening.

***

Izzy sat staring at her reflection in the mirror, makeup artist trying their best to do intricate makeup work in between her involuntary movements as the hairstylist tugged her head into a sleek high ponytail atop her head. Getting a fifteen-minute warning from a runner poking their head into the small and chaotic room, she ran through her setlist in her head over and over in preparation mapping out some moves in her head. Both artists finally stopped working allowing her time to dress, opting for a race-appropriate look giving the setting. Trousers baggy enough to perform in had hints of black and white checker against the Ferrari red colour with a simple black crop to match. Izzy hoped that even those in the crowd who were not a fan of her music would at least give her some points for trying to appeal to the masses.

Side-stage was unsurprisingly bustling, being ushered into a position just off-stage Izzy could see the DJ currently performing, his electric energy matching his upbeat song choice. Silhouettes stood in front of her watching on, one must’ve sensed a presence stood behind as they turned over their shoulder and she was met with a familiar face and a familiar flutter erupting.

Lando’s luck had held out, stepping toward Isabella with a hello he couldn’t help but rake his eyes up and down her as she stood in front him looking completely different from the Isabella he had met in Monaco. Isabella then was a lot more relaxed looking an almost natural golden glow illuminated from her but now, she looked fierce and intimidating as she stood in stage costume. Lando’s gaze hadn’t gone unnoticed by Izzy as she cocked her head knowingly at him as his eyes made her way back up to her face, forcing a nervous giggle to escape his lips.

“Sorry, I just… first Mercedes and now Ferrari?” Lando hinted to the bright colour of her trousers, a click from his teeth suggesting his disapproval trying to save himself from the lingering gaze.

“I’ve been told I look good in red,” Izzy shot back at him confidently. The last time she had seen Lando he had left her in a puddle, admittedly he had crossed her mind now and then in the last few weeks but she had not come up with a viable reason to message him since. Clinging onto a glimmer of hope that she would receive an invite from McLaren in the run up to Silverstone but nothing came and Mercedes were always happy to host her. “I am back in the Mercedes garage tomorrow though, so it’s only for one night,” Lando’s face faltered at the news, feeling like the world’s greatest loser, which he knew a lot about considered he had lost plenty of races in his lifetime. Noticing his face drop similar to that of a sad puppy Izzy gave a dismissive shake of her head letting him know it was no issue.

“Maybe next time you can have one of my personal passes,” Lando suggested, perking up with a smile.

“Maybe I’m just not cool enough for McLaren,” Izzy mocked.

Earnestly, Lando replied, “you’re cool enough for me.” Instantly wishing he could swallow the words back into his mouth, that was the least cool thing he had ever said.

The pair locked eyes momentarily finding a sincerity in one another’s presence.

“Isabella, you’re on in two,” a runner thrust a sparkling microphone in hand.

“You get helmets, I get mics,” holding up her customised microphone proudly adorned with a rose. “You gonna’ stay and watch?” Lando noticed Isabella nervously sucking in her bottom lip between her teeth as she asked. A hand appeared from beside her to immediately touch up her lipstick, Lando now realising that their entire conversation has probably been overheard by everyone around – including Max - though he had been focused on only her.

“Yeah, I’m here, I’ll watch,” Lando grinned without hesitation, only afterward thinking of the repercussions of another hour less of rest before raceday. Isabella stepped forward from him stretching her neck and rolling her shoulders, she gave him one last kind smile over her shoulder before she tucked in her earpiece and flipped her hair over her shoulder. Side-stage she was Izzy yet on stage, she transformed; she was Isabella Rose.

***

Lando stood spellbound side-stage as she ended the set with a song the entire crowd sang along with her, Martin and Max had stayed and watched Isabella’s impressive performance with him, the three were included in the echoing of the song from side stage. Even if you weren't an Isabella Rose fan, some of her songs were inescapable and rightfully so. Izzy came bounding off stage toward them, Lando’s toothy grin had taken up most of his face, taking half a step forward before she was swarmed by various people. One was patting her down with a towel, another placing a straw in her mouth to top up her hydration after an exuberant performance, another was placing her microphone back in a case. Lando stood bewildered by the organised chaos and atmosphere that followed her performance, noticing similarities between their respective careers.

“What did ya think?” Isabella’s chest rose and fell rhythmically as she managed her breathing, Lando noticed her flushed cheeks and the droplets of sweat down the sides of her face. Isabella dismissed the entourage of people surrounding her, her commanding nature stirring something within Lando he swallowed with a gulp.

“That was pretty amazing,” Lando’s grin wide, mesmerised from watching her do what she was known for. He had never appreciated how she had earned her success and fame, and the performance was an undeniable reason as to why. Isabella’s white smile broadened across her cheeks at his compliment.

“I’ve got a song I think you’d be perfect on - got Lando to listen to it last month - if you’re free sometime you could listen to it, see what you think?” Lando childishly felt as though his toes were being stepped on as Martin thrust his way into the conversation.

“I’m pretty much holed up in the studio writing all summer: we can arrange something,” Isabella replied enthusiastically to Martin; she was somewhat grateful to him for riling up her encouraging crowd with his set. Lando was curious as to whether that was a professional reply she had repeated times over that would result to nothing or if she was genuinely interested.

“If you let Lando know where you’re writing he can pass the message on,” Martin slapped Lando on the back a bit too enthusiastically. Isabella noticed Lando’s eyes swell, almost bulging out of his head. She bit her lip to try and disguise a shy smile as she debated whether it was from the slap or from embarrassment from his friend setting him up. “Great set, by the way - I’ll catch you later, mate.” Max gave himself and Martin an out in order to leave the two alone backstage, Lando was yet to regain eye contact with Isabella after Martin chucking him in the deep end with his comment.

“It is late: you have a race tomorrow,” Isabella tried to save Lando from evidently spiralling in the moment; finding it quite endearing how nervous he seemed compared to what she had seen of him in media around the paddock. Her algorithm of late seemed to favour him as she endlessly scrolled with interview snippets. Lando finally looked back at Isabella, a glistening still stuck to her skin but her breath had steadied. “What if I told you I’ll be secretly rooting for you from the Mercedes garage?” Isabella teased him playfully, quite enjoying watching him squirm in her presence.

Something flashed across Lando’s eyes, mischievous hint to a smile stretched on his lips, “you can do better than that,” he challenged, his posture changing as he stood taller now. It was Isabella’s turn to be nervous; the way he stood had only emphasised the broadness of his shoulders and the width of his neck as their silhouettes stood in the hazy darkness backstage. The contrast to his boyish look of his face that she undoubtedly found quite easy on the eye and invited her in with every smile. “Say they catch you on the grid walk…” Lando paused, Isabella’s eyebrows knit together – she had been polite on grid walks before, always making time to stop and share her support of her host team. “I think you should publicly declare your support for me there,” Lando couldn’t contain the childish giggle that escaped him when he smiled watching Isabella’s mouth slowly hang open in disbelief.

“Are you trying to get me banned from the paddock!” Isabella exclaimed rhetorically, a hint of a smile trying to break through.

“Told you: can have one of my passes,” Lando reiterated his sentiment from earlier. “I dare you,” Lando encouraged, he could almost hear the cogs turning in Isabella’s head as she stared him down defiantly. He couldn’t help but notice her bottom lip once again rake between her teeth; a habit of hers he had noticed every time. A habit of hers that made him lose his senses every time. Her lipstick was mostly worn away, only smatterings of colour left across her lips his thoughts momentarily wandering to her lip being caught between his teeth.

Isabella had noticed his gaze lowered upon her face, her heart rate quickening similar to when she was performing in front of a few thousand people yet here it was solely Lando having the same effect on her. Gently, Isabella broke the palpable silence and inflating tension that had burdened the two of them, “you need to rest for tomorrow.”

Lando gave a curt nod, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, “I expect to see some headlines after the race.”

***

WATCH: Isabella Rose calls herself a TRAITOR on Martin Brundle’s Grid Walk!

Lando’s race had been steady, nothing exceptional, but collecting points for the team was something to be glad of after a slow start to the season. He couldn’t help lingering around the paddock a little later than he usually would, disappointed he hadn’t even spotted Isabella throughout his day. He even doubted whether she had been there to begin with. Max eventually dragged him away from the paddock and managed to coax him back home for the night. Surrounded by friends relaxing, laughter and games Lando relaxed into the evening after another busy weekend, grateful that summer break was looming closer.

A sudden outburst from Max took the attention of the room, “mate, have you seen this?” Holding his phone out toward Lando allowing Lando to take it from him. His face flashed between disbelief, confusion to glee as he hit play on the minute long video on YouTube. Ria shuffled closer across the floor to Lando to peer over at the phone in his hands.

Isabella, lovely to see you again. Martin Brundle caught Isabella’s attention, her face smiling at the camera and back at him. Lando noticed how much more casual she appeared in comparison to the previous night’s outfit; she was like a chameleon adapting to her surroundings at all times. What have you made of the season so far?

It’s been great being able to see three great world champions battle each other so closely! I’m still hoping Lewis can pip Max to the post soon though… maybe today! Martin nodded along with Isabella’s notion.

You mention Lewis there… I take it you’re supporting Mercedes today? Martin probed. Lando’s eyebrows rose when he heard the question awaiting her answer.

Yes, I’m here with Mercedes today backing them, but I must admit I do think Lando Norris is a great driver – I sound like a traitor saying that! – but he’s great, he deserves a great car. Lando’s eyebrows couldn’t get much higher, he was convinced she had glanced at the camera as she said it, talking to him through the screen making a point of completing his challenge.

Great driver, great kid is Lando. Lovely boy, lovely boy. I must move on I’m getting yelled at in my ear… The video ended as Isabella gave a small wave to the camera and Martin walking away. Ria still on her knees on the floor, mouth open at what she was hearing; Max was sat looking over at Lando analysing his reaction. A nervous squeak escaped Lando's tight-lipped bashful smile waiting to erupt on his face. She had accepted his dare, he hadn’t expected her to, perhaps he underestimated her. Lando was already anticipating a comment from Max.

“Mate, you’re in deep with her,” as if on cue, Max poked at him. Lando shrugged it off not ready to admit it just yet.

“I’ve only met her twice!” Lando countered. His thoughts for the rest of the evening were distracted, trying to think of anything other than the glisten of sweat dripping down the sides of Isabella’s neck from the previous night. A pit developed in his stomach; perhaps his friends’ assumption was right. Opening his Instagram he searched her name: she had accepted his challenge and the ball was now in his court.

isabellarose never wanted love just a fancy car

Liked by landonorris, bellasroses and others

bellasroses: killed it as always!! So proud of you          isabellarose: ❤️🌹

landonorris: 🔥🏁           bellasroses: we see you           rosesforever: WHAT omg

rosesforever: this outfit is a SLAY

[seollenda]

past tense and an arms length (taeyeon/reader)

get your taeyeon angst here…with a side of annoyed wingman fany. because taetae is always on the mind and has only become more and more now i’m back into binging gg content ;w;

word count: ~2,000

CW: n/a

“we don’t talk anymore.”

maybe taeyeon hadn’t meant it to come across that bluntly, but the media didn’t miss out on the sound bite. a few korean outlets wheedled their way into your inbox, digging up your contact info and demanding comments that you couldn’t even arrange into coherence anyway. you tried to ignore them the best you could.

even when tiffany came knocking one day, with the deepest frown and a pout that betrayed some irritation as well.

“taetae wants to talk.” she set her cargo down on a recently wiped down countertop—grimey produce that you know she foraged from her nearest farmers market. the next bag was a black plastic one, filled to the brim with your favourite korean snacks. her version of a love language.

“i thought we don’t talk anymore.”

maybe you hadn’t meant it to come across that sensitive either.

(or maybe you both had.)

in any case, tiffany wasn’t having it.

she set a bottle of riesling next to the potatoes, which you snatched up and immediately stuck in your fridge.

“you know she didn’t mean it that way. she has to watch what she says nowadays…”

“right, and she sure did a good job at keeping the buzz down,” you replied, digging through the groceries to put them away. fany just watched you bustle around, nonplussed. you continued, a pang of what you tried to identify as resentment twisting your stomach. “maybe she forgot to consider that i have a life to live here…my inbox was quiet enough until this bullshit.”

“y/n.” tiffany snapped. “stop bullshitting me. i’ve never seen you sulk this bad, even since you moved.” you finally relented and looked her in the eyes. “frankly i’m tired of being the in between for your annoying ass drama. so for my sake, figure it the fuck out.”

guilty. your heart sank.

“fany…” you started, setting the onions down and brushing the dust off your hands on your shirt. you came around the kitchen island, reaching for a hug. “i’m sorry…i’m so selfish sometimes…”

“it’s okay,” she accepted your arms. she smelled of the same peony perfume she’d shown off excitedly the last time you’d met—when things seemed so settled in and moved on, finally. you’d secured your biggest theater role yet, moved into the apartment you’d searched for, adopted a kitten. you’d felt that glowing pride and admiration from your closest friend, someone who had always seemed to have it all figured out from the beginning. in her shadow in america, then los angeles, you had grown content, even when she pushed you to carry on. and you finally felt like you’d shed the stage name, finally yourself, an artist in her own right here in a city where they were much more seldom recognized. where they could refuse and avoid prying korean press, and they grew uninterested enough not to bother. a new email domain had felt like a silly small step in that realization.

until fucking kim taeyeon decided to mention you on live prime time radio.

a month out since that happy brunch, now tiffany regarded you with weary disappointment.

“i know she hurt you, and what she did wasn’t fair,” she prodded, honest yet affectionate. she tucked your hair behind an ear, sensing the rising tide of emotion in you. “but you really hurt her too. taengu…” fany trailed off, and you were reminded of the fact that yes, the two of them were soulmates in a way, too. closest of friends, and you’d been the cause of her best friend’s three years of pain.

you gritted your teeth against tears.

“she’s coming to los angeles this week,” tiffany said suddenly. “international interviews before comeback, now that things are opened up again.” she leveled a stare at you. “she wants to see you. she’s doing a big thing, stepping forward first.” her grip squeezed firmly on your shoulders. “so meet her halfway.”

“okay.” you said, if only to release her vice grip on you. you returned to your tidying, feeling churning butterflies already.

“you don’t even have to make up,” tiffany said, her tone finally loosening into something resembling her usual self. “honestly, it’s probably best if you two don’t hook up. at least for now.”

she grinned at the dirtiest glare you could manage and shrugged unapologetically.

“sorry, neither of you are over it,” she wandered over to your fridge, apparently too impatient to wait for the wine to chill. “you have a type, clearly. so does she. honestly it’s kinda creepy how accurate it is…”

“she…” you couldn’t resist. “she’s been in a relationship?”

“only flings,” fany rolled her eyes, handing you a glass. you sipped at it. tart and way too sweet. just the way tiffany young liked it. “she’s been off men since you, to be honest. one guy, and he deadass kinda reminded me of you, too.“

“celeb?”

“tattoo artist.”

“i’d never have been a tattoo artist,” you couldn’t help but snort. tiffany laughed too.

“maybe that’s why that one was over so fast.” she rolled her eyes. “anyway. i’d have said you have higher ground on this one but i know you’re still way too hung up on her.”

you exhaled, leaning on the countertop with a hanging head.

“can you blame me?”

kim taeyeon. no woman had gripped you like she had. maybe whatever…this was was mutual after all.

if she’d seemed so touchy about the topic on some random radio show.

—

“hey.”

“hi.”

it was unusual for either of you to call rather than text, but somehow messages seemed more intimate than a phone call. at least both parties could pretend to have forgotten what was said when words were released into receivers, dissolved into air immediately.

“did we want to meet tomorrow? brunch? fany said she reserved a quiet spot for us with good food.”

hearing her voice call your mutual friend by that nickname betrayed another rush of nostalgia. you gripped the phone tighter, pressing your lips together. you weren’t sure what was threatening to spill out of you, but you didn’t trust yourself.

“yeah, sure.” you swallowed, your voice even.

“eleven AM, the blue barrow,” she said shortly. her tone was indecipherable, especially over a crackly connection.

“got it.”

a silence began to stretch uncomfortably. fany’s words repeated reproachfully in your head. so you made an effort.

“you landed today?”

“yeah, this morning.” she exhaled. you could hear her voice opening up to you already. the hint of weariness was familiar, one which had always pricked your attention. “rest, tae,” you would have repeated until she listened (sometimes it took more than a few patient repetitions).

rest. moments the two of you had shared turned to what the other girls surreptitiously dubbed “quality time”. the two of you lay in the same cramped dorm bed, fingers intertwined and talking about anything and nothing, dreams and realities. comparing hands, tracing veins, remarking about anything in a way that you felt like you learned something everytime. something about taeng, but something about yourself.

rest, taeng-ah.

—

dressed down, wrapped up in a semblance of incognito fashion, she was still stunning when she lowered her shades and lifted her cap.

“hey, y/n.”

she said your name this time.

“hi taeyeonie.”

the conversation was stilted, the food delicious. her gaze was furtively attentive when she thought you didn’t notice, otherwise guarded in a way that hurt.

so much for her making the first step. tiffany had always been an optimist.

and maybe a bit of a liar. this taeyeon didn’t want anything to do with you, even as she sat before you and you breathed her air and thought you were looking into her eyes.

“that was delicious,” you mustered some cheer, collecting your card. (the meal your treat, you’d insisted. she didn’t resist as hard as she normally would. maybe she didn’t see it as worth it anymore. it didn’t seem like a running tab would occur between the two of you at this rate.)

she watched you get to your feet, taking a deep breath before bolting hastily to her own. her words came clumsily and overeagerly. you knew she’d held onto them longer than she should’ve.

“can i see your apartment?”

you raised an eyebrow, attempting sone lighthearted ribbing.

“inviting yourself over?”

“i just—“ she stammered, her nervous hands landing among dishes to lean on the tabletop. “fany told me so much about your new place and your cat and you know, i—“

“i’m just kidding,” you cut in, saving her from giving an answer that you knew neither would want to admit. you saw her shoulders slacken slightly. “yeah, you can come over.”

—

what had possessed you to let kim taeyeon take another step into your life?

she was on your threshold, fumbling off her flats and stepping into your apartment. not at the scale one might have imagined for an ex-girls generation member. but cozy and well kept and just what you’d dreamed of all along.

“it’s lovely,” she said finally. clutching the couch back, facing away from you. “it’s very you. what i’d always imagined your home might look.”

“guess i haven’t changed there.”

she turned around, her eyes bright with tears.

“i shouldn’t have come, i’m sorry.” but she only stepped closer. her gaze searched your face, desperate. “but i had to see you.”

“i know.” you swallowed hard. she reached out, tentative but encouraged. her hands were small, warm in yours. “i don’t know what i expected.”

“i had things to say to you.” she broke into a watery chuckle, embarrassed. “i wrote it all down…” she reached toward her jeans pocket but thought better of it, returning her hands to yours. “but i thought maybe you should get a chance to talk this time.”

you exhaled a breath held. her warm gaze gave you strength. even after all these years.

“i think i finally understood why you had to.” your eyes were dry, somehow. “but you could’ve told me, taeyeon. none of it made sense to me.”

“yeah,” she looked down. “i thought it was easier if you didn’t know. it barely made sense to me.” tae released a hand to clutch lightly at her scalp in bemusement. “i was double-stupid for expecting you to stay.”

“i would’ve hoped for it too,” you replied. the memories came back in a messy, warm, sentimental flurry. “we were so young…”

“wasn’t it fun?”

she gazed into you. nobody could dig into you like her, lay you bare in a way that frightened you at first. that had been the initial, passionate draw. to be seen so nakedly, it was inevitable to want find more. not just of the other girl. but the pieces of yourself you could find in her eyes.

it was stupid and dangerous, but it tugged at you again. even a hundred life events since you’d last met her this way.

“it was.” past tense. it had to be, or else you’d be driven insane again. the girl on your television, the girl who couldn’t stop herself from uttering your name, the girl whose lyrics echoed the exact words she’d spoken to you one of those warmest nights. ones that you’d thought she’d forgotten, but you could never release.

“i loved you.”

she was quiet.

past tense. past tense.

“i loved you too.”

and she stepped first, finally. her lips were just the same as you remembered, her hands finding the same points on your waist and then up to cup your face. she was just the same, it was all just the same.

you were stupid and young and lovesick again, and kim taeyeon was yours again.

“i still want to.”

the two of you had always known what you’d wanted. her words hadn’t changed either. you’d been a fool after all, forgetting willfully or otherwise.

with tae, it was always the present.

[faeriekougraz]

Hello I am interested in your Mapleshade Maplestar AU please elaborate, particularly the history and deviations from canon that lead up to this AU and, but I want to know everything

EEEE okay so im hoping to make it a like. Big AU of all the things i wanna change in canon (however because ive never read the books past like a few o audio books of the one offs (MV, GC, PC etc) and the mangas i…… am a bit slower on knowing diff things)

For the maple part of the AU she manages to stay in thunderclan and falls in love with frecklewish. She still gets almost exiled but frecklewish steps in at the last minute defending her. Because Oakstar can’t bare the thought of hurting his daughter he leaves the issue alone and dismisses the clan. This means patchkid, petalkit and larchkit live! Ravenwing kinda hates mapleshade for the first bit of this au after finding out the truth since he’s made she doesn’t get punished, however on an outing that she, freckle and the kits take freckle gets bit by a snake and maple and raven manage to save her. After that raven respects her a bit more. At a gathering riverclan is confronted about their warrior appledusk having had a cross clan relationship which causes a bit of a stir. Because of this he loses a lot of respect from his clanmates and he grows pretty bitter about it. His apprentice doesn’t seem to respect him as much and his mate, reedshine, doesn’t trust him. He develops the idea that he’ll attack maple during a battle to try and get revenge on her however as time grows and as he see her living (in his eyes) with 0 consequences he decides to take the idea further and wanted to kill her all together. He eventually tries to however perchpaw ends up being the one to save her after he also tries to attack one of her kits (larchpaw). Appledusk is exiled for his reckless behaviour and because he “hasn’t shown sighs of improving his behaviour” and so he goes after maple once more however he’s ultimately killed (still havent figured out how yet).

After this, later on, larchpaw starts talking to perchpaw at gatherings and they end up developing a friendship (and later a relationship). Meanwhile, patchpaw develops a relationship with nettlepaw! And finally petalpaw, far into the future, possibly becomes a kittypet (i havent decided if she stays one). I might have her replace crystal actually and instead be the mother of jake, and his siblings. Alternatively i could make her the mother of firestar but im not sure the ages between jake and her at that point… i gotta do some digging.

Oakstar also offers mapleshade the position of deputy rather than doefeather. She basically replaces doestar as leader and appledusk replaces her in the villain roll in later stories maybe. Still figuring it out.

Other than that, things i also wanna change are:

- Hawkfrost X leafpool…. Maybe… perhaps

- snowkit survives

-cinderpelt is handled differently

-fading is stupid and doesnt happen (i have a diff idea for starclan and stuff)

-im not sure if i’ll merge my maplestar and featherstar aus but if i do then featherstar happens and leopardstar dies lol

-uhhh…. I forgot all my other ideas lol

[mejomonster]

Don't think I forgot. Fei Du wants to get rid of "those people" without anyone knowing. Does he mean murder? I hope. I hope his investigation was to murder and get revenge, cause it's a great contrast (and conflict) to him with Luo wenzhou for years and the changes he made in personality by working with him. It's complex and at odds and I'm desperately excited to see how it's resolved. I love these kinds of conflicts.

Also fei dus absolutely horrific childhood, and it really is a monumental moment for him to realize his dad isn't omnipotent and fei du can disobey. And how terrifying it is he saw fei du as his best "work." And again I'm reminded of the su luozhan parallels and how we've still barely scratched the surface of what fei du went through. Tao ran has NO idea this abusive shit was still happening while fei du was a teen, Luo wenzhou still has barely any idea (and will feel retroactively guilty he didn't try even HARDER to tear fei du the fuck away from it and protect him, once he learns). Oh man. It's all so sad.

At least the moment fei du realized he could lie to his dad gave him a first step.

He thought of what he was pursuing, thought of what his next step should be, thought of what he’d revealed to Luo Wenzhou, and what he was still concealing…and so on.

 

The suddenly appearing bomb on Zheng Kaifeng’s truck had not only made Fei Du take a turn at the border between life and death, it had also upset his plans quite a bit.

 

For example, because of his hospital stay, the Picture Album Project had had to temporarily change to a different contact person. The new contact person had evidently only accepted the assignment for course credit, not going to the City Bureau at all aside from going over to go through the procedures to get materials; also, because of the Zhou family case, the City Bureau was frantically busy during this period, so all the work of setting up the ‘Picture Album’ was basically at a standstill.

 

For another example, with the Zhou Clan’s case coming out, those people had without warning shown their fox’s tail in public view. Though in the end they’d used a very crude method to murder and silence, managing to cover things up and make the City Bureau pin together some evidence to wind up the case, those who were paying attention would all have their own suspicions and guesses.

 

Of course, from Fei Du’s point of view, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

 

But now that the public authorities had been alerted, it meant that the degree of difficulty of his original plan to dispose of those people without anyone being the wiser had become much, much higher.

 

And then…

 

And then there was Luo Wenzhou.

Xxx

Unfortunately, when he was just about to vanquish insomnia, Luo Wenzhou made him fail at the last minute—this bit of goods, perhaps afraid he wasn’t sleeping well, got out of bed, thinking he was being quiet, and opened Fei Du’s handcuff. The metal clicked, uncommonly ear-splitting in the silence, stabbing like a needle through the sleepiness Fei Du had with difficulty gathered up.

 

Fei Du: “…”

 

He really was too grateful for Luo-shixiong’s “thoughtfulness.”

 

Luo Wenzhou also seemed to be upset by his own somewhat loud movements. He held his breath in the dark, cautiously watching Fei Du’s movements.

 

Fei Du, keeping his eyes closed, pretended to be asleep. But the more he pretended to sleep, the more his nerves acted up; they were ready to jump up and do the tango.

 

After a while, Luo Wenzhou finally finished watching and gingerly got back in bed. The mattress shook slightly. At last he’d calmed down; Fei Du breathed a sigh of relief. He relaxed his tense limbs, ramblingly thinking that sleeping in the same bed had its bad points. It was all right when you could close your eyes and sleep after some “exercise,” but if you were having a touch of insomnia, the person next to you breathing and turning over was disturbing, especially someone like Luo Wenzhou, with his presence…

 

Luo Wenzhou of the powerful presence rustled once again, annoyingly turning over and showing signs of getting up.

 

At a loss, Fei Du truly had a slight collapse, wishing to take a hammer and knock out Luo Wenzhou and then himself.

 

Luo Wenzhou had absolutely no idea that he was disturbing his pure dreams. He propped both hands on the mattress, half rose, and looked over to study Fei Du’s “sleeping countenance” by the faint light of night. He looked for a while, then he really couldn’t help himself; he leaned close and kissed Fei Du lightly, then gently pulled him into his arms—he could only do these things by stealth while Fei Du was sleeping, or else the joker would probably climb all over him.

 

Fei Du: “…”

 

Like a corpse, he let Luo Wenzhou move him around; the breathing he’d thought was bothersome was now right at the base of his ear, and the rising and falling chest was pressed closely to his back. One of the quilts had been set aside unused. It was a particularly crowded position.

 

Fei Du helplessly thought, “Forget it.”

 

The words “forget it” seemed to be a magic spell; the results were instant. As soon as he thought them, all the bothersome details around him settled, and Fei Du actually slept through the night.

 

Xxx

Halfway between sleeping and waking, Fei Du felt a ball of fur rub against his hand and subconsciously reached out to touch it, touching a soft and warm little living creature.

 

First he froze. Then he moved entirely from sleepiness to stress. Fei Du sat up at once, his pupils instantly contracting, all the blood in his body pushed out to his limbs by his sharply rising blood pressure. His hands and feet went numb, and his neck seemed to be squeezed by an imaginary metal ring, making his breath stop involuntarily.

 

Luo Yiguo had been seriously identifying the strange smell; it was startled into a jump by Fei Du’s sudden corpse-like rise, all the fur on its body bristling, back leg missing a step on the edge of the bed, sending it tumbling down.

 

Still badly shaken, the human and the cat stared at each other helplessly for a moment, finally disturbing the master of the house. Luo Wenzhou blearily took Fei Du into his arms, gently slapping his waist. “Don’t mess around… It’s still dark out.”

 

Fei Du only then pulled himself together, slowly letting out the breath caught in his throat, fully waking up.

 

Xxx

Fei Chengyu asked, “What pet have you been keeping?”

 

“A cat.” With an absent-minded look, Fei Du, who wasn’t yet fifteen at the time, seemingly casually said, “That busy-body policeman gave it to me.”

 

Fei Chengyu turned to look at him in great interest. “The little cop knows how to amuse children. Where is the cat? Let me see it.”

 

Fei Du looked at him, gave a strange and cold laugh, then spread his hands towards him. There were a few bloody cat hairs on his palms. “Here it is.”

 

After he’d seen this, Fei Chengyu didn’t say anything about it, only calmly lectured him, ordering him to buy another cat that was about the same and give it back; if he could get a little closer to the police officer at a suitable time, there would be benefits for the future. Without looking up, Fei Du listened indolently, perhaps hearing some of it. At the same time, in front of Fei Chengyu’s face, he cleverly wove together some of the cat hairs from his palms, soundlessly blowing them towards the man’s back when he turned to leave—

 

Having finished inspecting his “favorite work,” Fei Chengyu had left in satisfaction.

 

That had been Fei Du’s first rebellion, his first deception, his first time knowing that no one on earth was omnipotent, and even a demon could be easily tricked by his own excessive self-confidence.

[just-samy]

... sexy... or stupid...

Ither way... in wanting to be his everything..it is cause for comparing myself.. Wishing I was just like all them other girls... then completely tearing myself to pieces ...wondering why you chose me...what is it at all that I have, that has any sort of hold at all....

I'm afraid to share a shelf, with nothing at all in common(so I tell myself in mocking). when in my head I wager also due purely to hormones and high strung emotions i really am not so different...

..when it comes down to it, with my comparing thinking of ways in how i should change, and desperately clinging to that new love feel...forget adding me to the burnt out and said best to the collection of empty i love yous... when at one time it was deeply ment, as was the time that was poured into making it mean so much more...please.. in wanting to be your everything... all I ask in return, is do not look me in the eye and say different to me otherwise.. instead I hope to be left alone on the floor.... my fear... is wanting to be just this... wanting to be your center, while I to desire a center .. to hold your attention like I unknowingly did, a time not so long before, how I quivered with every glace spared my way captured and held so intently by your stare. I could damn near taste the want... guided by your hand, I was shown a whole new world...I tried to hold myself back... your touch still has me shiver...

I lost..... I lost when your wanting me, gave me a greedy courage. An okay... i was okay to feel this longing I felt pulling me along in stride. We were matched in step, side by side... Who am I to kid myself though... already smitten the moment my eyes found yours... drunken... I wish I could blame how easy it was to find my breath on the booze.... but I'd seen to in the second time in asking for my number...you wanted to be enough for once....

My want, to be your everything... its true... as with my attempt with every day I get with you to prove..when I tell you I love you, I will do what it takes just to show you...small things to your most wildest wide raging muse...you are more than enough...

Would you show me too..

Will you be so willing to share this...how you see all the world. And it the millions people in it...

From there spurts in being in, and around all about, something. Wanting it for so long. Caving. Going out of way, breaking bank. But you got it anyway.. To afraid at first to take this thing, you had to have... so you keep it tucked away still mint in its box. Recipes already gone. This thing you looked into...in an instant not only did you just want this... but you looked into it, studied it, before you knew it, you loved it. Had to have it. It was only top the the line, the newest compared to last year's model. Only thing really different the lights turned different colors, it was thinner more compact(giving you space for something else to forget about in the two weeks to binge on it,, till it came time for the next mind blowing thing)... things... and we all know right, no one but I can touch it, it means that much....and when it's broke, finger to point blame lands on every one but... why try to fix it at all... trash it, what's another couple hundred to spend when it's only a few weeks till this whole other thing comes out...

Friday, just got paid. Next day, call in sick. pitch a tent, wait in line. Dead set. eyes glued. Just one thought, and none more in question. New phase, new trend, 2 years same brand. Hurry hurry think of something, change the look. slight adjustment in , ' so last year's' flip of the wrist, snap of a finger, omg yesss, that fad we all forgot some years ago!!!!lets tweak with that only half ass, call it a side show bit. A hint of a twist and a smidge to glimps. the comeback, make believe, not the idea that failed to begin with, but the same idea to pass believable..it is we behind the shit idea, vs the no thought

I'll be your everything

[zachsgamejournal]

COMPLETED: Omno

I'm glad I played this, but I likely won't play it again. It's got good vibes and ideas, but feels incomplete.

I forgot to mention the most frustrating thing in my last post...

Boss Puzzles

At the end of every level is a "tricky" puzzle. It's usually based on concepts you learned earlier in the level. It's interesting, because each level only requires you to collect 3 light-orbs to continue, even though it usually has 5+. This imitates 3D platforms and I think is a good call. But getting many of the orbs can be a little lack-luster. I found one just resting inside the ribs of an animal skeleton. That's not terrible, except the game saves it's most intricate puzzles for last. And I would have preferred these be mixed in with the level itself.

Once you've explore the level (and if you're me, you found every orb before proceeding) you're kind of done. The reward of your hard work should be a pretty animation as you move onto the next level. Instead, you're presented with a "tricky" puzzle. They aren't always that tricky, but usually require 30 seconds of thinking, a little trial and error, or a few challenging jumps. But still, when you're done you're done and these always brought me down.

But there was one in particularly that pissed me off to the point of wanting to quit!

The Worst Boss Puzzle

There's these platform switches that light up when you jump on them. The first iteration of the puzzle was that you performed Simon Says and jump on the indicated platform. If you missed or stepped on the wrong one, the sequence starts over. This is made extra annoying because the game controls can be "awkward". Your directional movement isn't always based on the camera's angle. So pushing forward while jumping and then switching the view 90 degrees now makes forward move left. It's the same thing in Devil May Cry 1--when the camera randomly changes angles, your character still moves in their committed direction regardless of the analog stick's direction.

Some times you need this, but Omno--it's annoying.

Then there's the mid-air dash move that's necessary to reach platform switches that are further away. While it's a neat feature in the game, many of the platform jumping sequences are narrow and unforgiving. So it's not uncommon for this move to overshoot the targeted platform, sending you to your death, or in this case, resetting the puzzle.

Now we get to the bad boss puzzle: It's a square grid of 9 switch buttons. In front of you is a stone slab with 9 circles. Obviously these represent the switches. At the top is a glyph. When you first arrive, one of the platforms is lit up. And glyph "A" is at the top, and below on the slab diagram is one of the circles filled in--representing the lit-up platform.

When you step on the designated platform, the glyph changes and the filled-in circle changes. I kept trying to jump to the platform indicated by the diagram in its relation to my current position. The game kept telling me I was wrong. Once you make a wrong choice 3 times, the game goes to cinematic highlighting the stone slab, the pillar rock matching the glyph, and the lit-up platform. It takes about 5-10 seconds to show this--but between not understanding the puzzle and the wonky controls and dash move, I had to watch that scene about 50 times!!!

I've been a gamer for a long time. And I understand design and puzzles pretty well. The designers WANT you to solve their puzzles cause that's how you see the rest of the game they've worked so hard on. So I can usually walk into a space and immediately know what I'm supposed to do before the game tells me. I don't know the solution immediately, but I know the mechanics of how to get there.

This puzzle stumped the fuck out of me

I looked it up. There are four pillar rocks each with a glyph. Whichever glyph is shown on the rock slab with the diagram is indicating which pillar should be considered "the top". So you need to jump on the indicated circle relative to the matching pillar rock.

So, if the North Pillar rock 's glyph is highlighted, and the upper-right circle is highlighted, you need to jump on the north east switch. But if the south pillar rock's glyph is highlighted and the upper-right circle is highlighted, you need to jump on the southwest switch.

I didn't get this at all. And likely never would have. The problem, for me, was that they kept showing the same starting position and glyph. It was annoying, YES I KNOW WHERE TO START. If each time it changed which glyph and circle I had to jump on--I think I would have figured it out. But this was especially annoying because this was an unavoidable puzzle. I was ready to go to the next level and the game was like, "Not till we piss you off!"

The Worst Platforming Sequences

I'm pretty sure the previous boss-puzzle didn't get a lot of playtesting. Some masochist was stumped on it for hours and then was so proud of themselves for solving it that they likely insisted it not be "fixed". Fine...Whatever. But good platforming is good platforming.

I'm pretty good at platforming! I I got platinum trophies in all three Crash Bandicoot remake games. I beat Celeste. In short, I have above average platforming skills--not the best, but I'm good. So when a game is unforgivably hard, it's likely a design problem and not a "get good" problem. And Omno has one of those problems.

Near the end of the game, there's some floating islands. My explorer instincts led me to the top of a cliff with a check point that over looked the lower floating islands. Clearly I'm meant to jump from here and climb up those islands that act as steps you can jump between.

I glided down to the first platform, jump-dashed to the second, jump dashed to third, tried to jump dash to the fourth--miss. Rinse and repeat about 50 times.

The problem is that the platform is too high by about 6 inches. MOST of the platforms in the game can be landed upon feet first. Rarely, some require you to grab the edge Tomb Raider style and pull yourself up. Unfortunately, Omno isn't great about detecting when it should grab the ledge. And even worse, when your character grabs a ledge and starts to pull himself up--there's still a chance he could slip and fall off.

Unforgivable ;p

SO after failing to even grab a ledge in this platforming sequence, I decided I had been mistaken. That the obvious path wasn't the real path. I watched a video and nope--it is the right path. I watched the player jump and dash to grab the platform. HOW I said very loudly in my own head. I decided to target the exact position i saw in the video. The platform is only about two feet wide. I hit my target, my character grabbed the edge, I started to celebrate, and he slipped off and died.

...

It took me another 10 tries to finally get him to grab the goddamn platform. And then I still made five or so mistakes after, requiring me to repeat the experiment. I call it experiment because results were not guaranteed. Anyway--it was bullshit and poor level design. Really ruined the experience for me.

What the hell is the story anyways

I'm not sure I get the story. And I'm not sure I want to you. The world broke (floating islands) and light bearers guided survivors to a door of light (I think). As they journeyed, the person leaving behind black-box-diaries started to appreciate the world and animals they were seeing along the way. They lost faith that they should go into the light. For some reason, he doubted the light was the right choice. But there's no explanation of the what the light is or what it represents, who built it, or why. Maybe it just kills people as a form of population control? Maybe it's an indictment on religion, that we focus on the afterlife and forget to live our current life?

Anyway you get to the temple and as you're about to go in, this flying squirrel gets real sad that you're leaving. Your character gets sad to leave the squirrel, so he forsakes the light and joins the squirrel to live happily ever after on the island. I guess.

It was a cheap move, I think, to create this pixar short at the end. Maybe not cheap, so much as confusing. The game never truly indicated that this was a story about a man and his flying squirrel. Just that you're trying to get to the light. All the diaries are about the light. And you and the squirrel never really need to depend on each other.

All I know is that at some point the squirrel appears but is scared of you. Then later he likes you. And then finally he doesn't want you to leave. But how that interconnects with the themes of the diaries--I don't get it.

I'm sure it makes sense in some way, but I don't feel it was well communicated. It's not like Bowser's Fury where you develop and uneasy alliance with Bowser Jr. and then there's the awkward goodbye and good riddance ending. Or in Shadow of the Colossus where you have this horse that's a part of your whole experience and it suddenly falls off a cliff before the final boss and you're like, "NO--my horse!"

If something randomly ate the flying squirrel, I would be like--oh. Ok. What was that squirrel about. I just didn't have a connection to it.

MAYBE

You start the game in a cave, lost and lonely. The squirrel finds you and leads you out. Next, the squirrels shows you some friends that are trapped. So you're early puzzles are about releasing trapped animals and you're rewarded with light orbs. Now the squirrel dances.

The pilgrim moves away and starts to look around the vast world before it, clearly lost. The squirrel watches for a moment as the pilgrim cannot decide on which direction to go. The squirrel flies over, taps him on the shoulder. The pilgrim points at the options and shrugs.

The squirrel leads the pilgrim to a stone slab with a faded map of the "world". The pilgrim points at the temple of light. The squirrel indicates where they are now with a landmark that can be seen from their position. The squirrel then flies around the pilgrim and begins to lead the way--a partnership is formed. But ultimately, when reaching the temple--the pilgrim decides to stay with his friend.

Or, you know, the squirrel can be annoyed by the player. He's a nuisance that has interrupted the balance. Guiding the player is about getting the player out of here. And whenever the player fails, the squirrel can laugh and mock. But then later the squirrel starts to like the player and becomes more helpful.

Anyway--I just don't think there's much going on here. Maybe I'm wrong. But while I could beat this in an afternoon (if I don't 100% like I did this time), I'm not sure it's an experience I want to repeat. But I would be interested to see what else this developer cooks up. They've got some good instincts, just need to refine some of the design.

[deja-vux]

ATEEZ: Can I Have This Dance?

A/N:Not gonna lie this is pure self indulgent fluff but I hope it makes ya’ll feel giddy too. Also the songs for each scene are linked before the scenario I hope ya’ll enjoy.

Kim Hongjoong

La Bilirrubina-Juan Luis Guerra

        You woke up to find Hongjoong’s side of the bed empty. You were about to panic until you could hear laughter and music coming from the living room. You sighed in relief before heading out to see what the commotion was all about. You came to find Hongjoong dancing with your niece to a song from one of your old compilation CDs that your mom put together when you were a kid. As you suddenly remembered your promise to babysit you couldn’t help but watch in silent awe as they moved to the upbeat tempo. Eventually, you were caught as they moved in a circle. “Sorry we didn’t mean to wake you,” he apologized rubbing the back of his neck.

“It’s okay I woke up on my own,” you responded.

“Tita come join us,” your niece beamed energetically.

“Sure why not,” you shrugged, smiling warmly.

      Before you knew it your niece was pulling you towards Hongjoong to dance with him. “You know you’re gonna have to take the lead right?” he apologized all of a sudden becoming shy.

“As long as you stay my partner, I don’t mind,” you smiled up at him before following your niece’s cue.

Park Seonghwa

Sabor A Mi-Luis Miguel

      You were both cleaning at home listening to your playlist when Sabor A Mi by Luis Miguel came on shuffle. Having heard it quite a few times when you had cleaned, Seonghwa was now accustomed to the song. Not only that but it had grown on him which caused him to research the translation of the lyrics in order to understand them better. Let’s just say that the song has become one of his favorites since then. As the picking of the guitar-lead intro played, Seonghwa glided into the kitchen pulling you away from the sink of dirty dishes spinning you slowly before pulling you close. You gasped softly at the sudden action, watching him observantly as he led your arms around his neck before his hands to your waist. You followed as he led you out of the kitchen and into the living room never once letting go or stopping. As your confusion turned into pure adoration he couldn’t help but feel his heart flutter. You both slowly danced as you followed his steps. As the song carried onto the pre-chorus he began to sing along as he spun you pulling your back against his chest as you both swayed back and forth going into the chorus. He spun her back to face him as he got into the chorus before pulling slightly away to sing the last line, “Pero allá, tal como aquí. En la boca llevarás, sabor a mí,” before cupping your face and pulling you in for a kiss.

Jeong Yunho

Anhelo-Adolescent’s Orquesta

      You had come home from a long day at work as you slipped off your heels, undid your bun, and dropped your purse on its hook. The last thing you expected to find was your boyfriend Yunho dancing and singing to a salsa CD your mom had left behind. You couldn’t help but giggle as he attempted to keep up with the lyrics. At the sound of your laughter, he turned to see you despite the current smile on your face he could tell you had a rough day. Not letting the moment go to waste he forgot about his slight embarrassment of being caught and made his way over to you offering his hand. Although your previous exhaustion was threatening to get in the way you couldn’t help but accept the friendly giant’s invitation, especially with the puppy eyes he was giving you right now. You gasped as he was quick to pull you close and begin dancing to the music taking the lead for the first time after you had shown him the moves many times before. You couldn’t help the smile that grew on your face and the butterflies that filled your stomach as he sang the lyrics to you. As the song ended you stood on your toes before pressing a short kiss to his lips as a thank you. “Glad I could be of service,” he blushed.

Kang Yeosang

Eso y Mas-Joan Sebastian

      You and Yeosang were attending a friend’s wedding and although you were both enjoying the night’s festivities you remained glued to your seat. Multiple people had come over to try and get you to join them on the dance floor yet every time they did you politely declined. This left Yeosang in shock because unlike him who didn’t really dance outside of his work activities you loved to so what was holding you back? As the night began to reach closer to its end he could no longer let you just sit in denial. He pulled your friend aside and asked if they could play a slower song to which she gladly agreed. As the first chords were played Yeosang stood from his seat offering you his hand. You stared up at him in confusion. “Do you trust me,” he said with a warm smile. You nodded, taking his hand and letting him lead you to the dance floor among all the other couples. As the first verse played he laid his other hand gently on the back of your waist pulling you closer. You smiled softly as you wrapped your free hand around his neck, your fingertips playing with the ends of his hair. As you slowly began to sway to the melody he leaned his forehead against yours, speaking loud enough for only the two of you to hear. “Thought the least I owed you was a dance considering you haven’t been able to yet,” he explained

“I appreciate it a lot Yeo,” you looked at him enamored, “But there was a reason why I was rejecting everyone.”

“Why is that?” he asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“Because the only person I ever want to dance with is holding me in his arms right now,” she admitted, causing him to blush.

Choi San

Deseándote-Frankie Ruiz

      It hadn’t been the first time spending the holidays with your family in fact San looked forward to it. His favorite part was the constant dancing. No matter how big or small the gathering was, your family found a reason to dance whether it was for a new years party, your nephew’s birthday party, or a wedding there was always vibrant music playing to call people over and bring them together. One of his favorite songs to dance to came on, he couldn’t help but get up and pull you to dance with the other attendees despite the both of you being in the middle of your meals. You couldn’t help but giggle at his enthusiasm as felt out the rhythm before getting into his groove. You followed his lead as he began to sing the lyrics, “Deseándote. Cada día, cada noche deseándote. Para hundirme en tus abismos inventándote. Cuando tiemblo y me derramo sobre ella.” To say you were in awe was an understatement. You smiled as he seemed to be lost in the moment a little more than you. With every spin, he’d land a peck on your cheek, lips, or forehead not caring about the jealous onlooker cousins who couldn’t help but wish to have the same amazing boyfriend you had.

Song Mingi

Mi Bendición-Juan Luis Guerra

      You were playing music as you were unpacking things with Mingi at your new shared apartment when a certain song he recalled by tune as the one you played often, emitted from the speakers. He walked over to you as he saw you slowly moving to the beat as you pulled the contents out of the box in front of you. He wrapped his arms around you from behind you as he reached you and you instinctively put your hands over his, both of your fingers intertwining. You smiled as he rested his head on your shoulder, “What’s up my love?” you asked curious about his sudden clinginess.

“Can you teach me how to dance to this?’ he asked shyly as he nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck.

You couldn’t help but giggle at his mannerism before turning to happily oblige. You placed his hand on your hip and the other in your hand before beginning to move, speaking out the steps as you did in order to avoid any confusion. As soon as the chorus picked up you watched as he quickly picked up the moves and patterns with little to no effort which caused you to stop your mantra as you two enjoyed the moment occasionally adding extra movements for some extra flare making it the perfect break to an otherwise busy and possibly boring day.

Jung Wooyoung

Héroe Favorito-Romeo Santos

      You were with him in the dance studio as he practiced for their upcoming comeback. As he took a water break he noticed you in the corner of the studio focused on your textbooks as you studied. He sighed as he saw your brows furrowed together as you attempted to figure out the equation written out in front of you. By your tense shoulders and lack of awareness of him being in front of you, he could tell you had been struggling too focused to notice the music had stopped. He swiped through the list of songs on his phone before randomly picking one and letting it play. He tossed his phone to the side before walking over to you, taking both your textbooks and notebook and setting it to the side against your protest. As you slightly pouted he swiftly picked you up with little to no effort before pulling you close and moving both of you to the music. The first steps were awkward as you were caught off guard but as the song continued you loosened up and got his message. You were genuinely surprised by his skill seeing as you had only seen him dance to more energetic music and to genres completely different from this one. As the song ended you couldn’t help but ask, “I’d hate to ruin the moment but where did you learn to dance bachata?”

“I may have picked up a thing or two from you and the internet,” he admitted, “I’m a pretty quick learner.”

“Think you can help me out with my homework then?” you teased.

“I don’t think I’m that good but I can try,” he chuckled.

Choi Jongho

Tu Amor Me Hace Bien-Marc Anthony

       You two were at a club and they had yet to play a song that caught your attention. Just as you were about to give up and tell Jongho you wanted to go home you heard a familiar tune play through the speakers. All your questions were answered the moment you saw Jongho walking back from the DJ booth. He held his hand out to you before pulling you towards the dance floor. You smiled brightly as the two of you began to dance and for a moment it felt as if the world had disappeared and it was only the two of you. Although many people knew him as one of the 4th gen’s best vocalists in moments like this you were able to appreciate his dancing skills a little more. As the song ended you couldn’t help but ask why and how as you wondered why your boyfriend would go to such lengths when you were fine with heading home. “I know how much you wanted to go out dancing tonight so I may have looked through your playlists for a song,” he explained, “We might as well get one dance in tonight,” he smiled before spinning you as the next song began to play.

Taglist: @a-soft-hornytiny​​ @little-precious-baby​​ @seojonneh​​ @hyunsuksmygod​​

@perfectlysane24​​​ @serialee​​​​

[dilemmaontwolegs]

Can you do grief prompt “A and B were very close but B was never open or affectionate to A. After they died, A goes through B’s stuff and finds a box of trinkets. The box is full of pictures of A and B, momentoes that A gave B, and other things from their relationship.” with Loki please!

I remember I asked for this but now I'm just wallowing in self pity for this heartbreak. Ahhhhhh! Thank you for the prompt darling <3

Warnings: grief, crying WC: 1.1k

|| Main Masterlist || Loki Masterlist ||

You felt like a part of you was missing, specifically your shadow. Loki may have been more secretive than anyone else you knew but there was an aura to him that kept you completely enamoured. You were the only one he didn’t push away and, in a way, that was his own declaration of love. Unfortunately you never had enough time to explore the what ifs and could have beens of the budding relationship.

Your hand hovered over the palm scanner, close but not quite touching, as you questioned whether you had the strength to open the door. He hadn’t left a lot of instructions in his will but one request was that it was you, only you, who touched his belongings. With a slow exhale and a heavy heart, you placed your palm over the glass and the door slid quietly open.

His scent hit you first, the allure of pheromones that were unlike any you had encountered before, and you were already stepping over the threshold so that the heady scent didn’t dilute any further. If you forgot the last two weeks you could almost feel him still in the room with you. Everything was still in their rightful place like his carved bone hair brushes lined perfectly across his drawers with long black strands of hair forever tangled in the teeth.

There was something calling you to his bedside drawer, a beacon that you couldn't resist and you felt his magic in the air. The warmth of his sorcery teased your skin and you remembered the times he would do it on purpose, enjoying the way it wrapped around you like a child with its favourite blanky. Now, you felt that same comfort and reached for the drawer. The feeling was even stronger when your eyes fell upon a box with a dark green leather bound book on top, his initials and yours inscribed in the hard cover.

You checked the room was empty, a force of habit, before carefully taking the book from the drawer and sitting at the edge of his perfectly made bed. The memories of the very rare nights spent in his bed and his long body curled behind yours brought tears to your eyes. You had thought you had none left to cry but much like Loki, they kept surprising you with their enduring pain. Your fingers traced over the cursive lettering, wondering why he had never shown you this as you turned the cover over, letting a loose sheet of page slip free.

You brought me comfort in a world that had only caused me pain, I’m sorry for not having the strength to love you how you deserved - L

You placed the page on the drawer so it wouldn’t get damaged and you saw it wasn’t just a book, it was an album. The photos were unlike anything you had seen and you knew there was no way you could have missed a camera when some of them were taken. You had to surmise it was his magic, glimpses of the moments in his mind, all moments spent with you.

Your fingers traced his sharp cheekbones as he stood atop the Empire States building, something you had suggested when you wanted to show him why New York, and Earth in general, was worth saving. He had seemed unimpressed as he stood at the precipice and watched the city sprawl in every direction. Being a prince of Asgard probably meant he had seen far greater wonders of the universe than the view of New York could give, but you still wanted to try.

Touching the image, your fingers disappeared. What the hell? You touched it again and felt the same pull as before but now you were falling into the album.

“I fell in love with you at this moment.” Loki’s soft voice whispered as you found yourself back in time, his image frozen as he looked away. “You showed me something no one else had, perspective.”

As quick as you had fallen, you found yourself back on the bed in shock. Flipping the page you touched the next image, a walk around the avengers compound, and found yourself back in that moment too, Loki’s disconnected voice giving you access to the thoughts he never vocalised.

“Kindness, compassion, I thought it was what made man weak.” You closed your eyes and felt his breath on your skin, as if he were right behind you. “But you made me strong.”

On and on, you flipped through the pages and heard everything you had wished he would’ve confessed when he was alive. You came to the last page and stopped, fearing what his final words would be and whether your fragile heart could handle it. It was from only hours before his death, when the sun shined fiercely and it felt like nothing bad could ever happen.

You were helping him with his tie, his sharp tone complaining about the midgardian fashion and the absurdity of wearing a noose around his neck as you did. You knew he could’ve just waved his hand and he would have a double windsor hanging dead centre but he wanted you close to him. He wanted to smell your sweet perfume, feel your fingers brush his neck as they worked the knot into place, see the concentration on your face as you picked at the lint on his shoulders and tiptoed to reach them.

“I lived more in the short time I knew you than the thousand years I saw before.” Your eyes burned at the sorrow in his voice and you wished you could feel his arms wrapped around you one last time. “I don’t deserve your tears, I didn’t deserve your love, but I am truly thankful for every minute of your precious and fleeting time you spent on me.”

The magic dispersed in a fine green mist and you looked down at the pages, the images no longer holding the promise of his voice. Closing the book with a small smile, you cradled it against your chest and let the pain fade beneath the comfort he had brought you. He had loved you as much as you loved him, the proof collected in the box beside his bed. He had kept everything from the ticket stubs when you took him to the Red Sox play to the small remote control snake you had given him in secret santa last year. He loved you.

[schaarfyx]

That´s bad, like really really bad

-strictly platonic

-The reader is around Tommy’s age (18)

-Pronouns: they/them (if one does slip through please let me know I will change this immediately)

-siblings age; George:13, Charlott:11, Louise:7

-TW: murder, talk about murder, death, sadness, anxiety, pressure, arguing, major character death, death of the queen, death of royals, pressure on young adult, double murder, quadruple death, cursing,

-Disclaimer: What I have written here is not true, it is purely fictional I don´t know what actually happened in the castle walls, I wrote that down to make a plot point, not as anything else. I also don´t own any people in this story just the plotline at least a little bit. Please do not take this seriously this is just fanfiction. I also don´t hope for anything like this to happen soon!

-I also haven’t been watching Tommy´s streams in a bit so my knowledge of his streaming are a little old. Sorry ´bout that!

-I also haven’t got a clue on how court cases work, but because a case can take up way to long I had to make it a little bit shorter

Part 1 – Part 2 – You are here – In the making :) –

“Good morning! Welcome back to RoyalNewsNetwork(RNN) with the most shocking news of the week. The video of an argument between two people has caused anger, fear, and confusion between the people all over Great Britain and outside of the borders. Who could we be speaking of other than Prince Charles and his grandchild (Y/N)? In the video, we can see that the argument started with Charles screaming at another person outside the frame when (Y/N) stepped in to tell their grandfather that he shouldn’t scream at someone who was taking care of his grandchildren, Charlott, George, and Louise. The most shocking scene that was shown in the video was that (Y/N) has screamed at Prince Charles that it was indeed his fault for Lady Diana’s death. They also accused him of the earlier airplane incident that had killed their parents. The other royals and the Queen herself have not given any statement about the accusations yet, but we will report it to you as soon as something new comes up about the royal drama. ... ... ... oh, the user under the name of theGnome who was the publisher of the first video has just uploaded another one let´s look at it together.”  The news reporter that was on the screen was replaced by a dark lit room with a lot of paper rolls and rows upon rows of even older books.

Tommy was intensely staring at the screen of his TV that was hanging on the wall. The things that (Y/N) explained the night before were now just like a movie playing in front of him before swiftly cutting off at the end.

“Hold on a minute, I hope I misheard that, did he say poison the Queen? Like his own mother? If he were to do that then he would definitely be taking the throne.” Take his mother’s life? For the throne, that wouldn´t make the public like him more. They would just like him even less.

Tommy was just staring at the screen in front of him thinking about all the information that was given to him by you and the news reporter.

*calling noise*

Tommy looked at his phone that was laying on the table besides him, it was just Wilbur. So he picked up.

“Wil? What´s up? Why are you calling me you never call unless something is really bad.” Tommy said as he answered the phone.

“Yeah, I know but I have gotten better with calling places, what I actually wanted to know did you just see the new video that thegnome posted?” Wilbur asked with a hint of hurry in his voice.

“Ehm yes, I have the news on and they just showed the second video too. They were talking about everything and then they showed it. Why?” Tommy explained to Wilbur who was huffing around like he was running somewhere.

“Also are you okay? You sound as if you are running somewhere?”

“I´m fine. Just ran back from the train station it´s raining and I forgot my umbrella. Have you heard anything from (Y/N) personally the last few days? I tried to text them over discord but they aren’t replaying.” He exclaimed as he ran through the people who all had their umbrellas with them.

“Kind of? I´m not allowed to talk about it but I have been in contact with them and they are okay. That´s at least what they are saying to me. I´m sure they are sad and angry about the death of their parents but everyone would be if they stood so close with them. They did say that they are now going to stay with the Queen until their siblings have settled in enough.”

“That´s.. good?” Wilbur wasn’t sure what it was exactly but he could understand how the siblings must feel about the whole death situation.

“Well, the train is coming already so we´ll have to do this quick. Tell them that I´m worried for them okay? We all are but that’s not the important part right now. Another thing, tell them to look on their phone I´m sure it´s already blowing up from Kristin and Phil they are really hoping to get a text back but don’t tell them I told you okay?!” Will was talking way too fast for Tommy to keep up with everything.

“Okay, bye make sure you don´t get a cold or something alright? And I won’t forget to tell them you can count on me!” they both said their goodbyes with the promise to talk later again.

*wrm-wrm-wrm*

(Y/N): I´m sorry, as soon as I can text you again I will.

          Here are the numbers of the others just tell them that I gave you their number.

          They are both in the palace with me. And tell the others that I am fine.

Tommy´s confusion grew when he got the texts from (Y/N) why couldn’t they text with him anymore? Are those Anna and James numbers? Do they even know that he is on their side?

“Breaking news! There will be an active investigation against Prince Charles, this was chosen in a videoconference held by her majesty the Queen. `The investigation will take the next few days and in that time every contact with a royal that is linked to it will be prohibited, this includes texts, calls, or even talking in person. The staff is also prohibited from talking to them and the tours around the palace will also be stopped for that time. They will be continued at a later time when the investigation is over.´ that broadcast came live from the queen herself, so make sure to call the reception if you indeed already got your tick-“

Tommy turned the TV off. That was enough bad news for one morning he decided.

He turned back to his phone that was still in his hand. `I should probably get to texting the numbers before even more restrictions start to appear.´

He dialed the first number and send them a quick text.

Tommy: Hello?

?: Hello? Who is this?

Tommy: I´m Tommy, (Y/N) gave me this number? I was supposed to text it.

?: Alright! I´m Anna, I´m taking care of the siblings.

Tommy: so you are the Nanny that they told me about? Perhaps you know this number as well?

He quickly sends over the second number after copying and pasting it into the chat.

Anna: ehm.. no sorry. But it could be James, a friend of the Family.

Tommy: I´m gonna make a group with all three of us. So it will be easier to be sending around information alright?

Anna: Yeah of course!

He quickly made the new group with all three of them.

Anna: Hello, this is Anna.

?: This is James, who is the other number?

Tommy: I´m Tommy, (Y/N) gave me both your numbers so we can stay in touch whilst they are under investigation.

James: Alright, if they trust you to give you both our numbers then that means that they are also going to be phone dead.

Anna: Yeah, they are just allowed to talk to their siblings because the other three are too young to handle them leaving as well. I don´t like how isolated they are without any type of connection to the outside world.

James: Yes, their mental health will be damaged a bit. I just hope they can recover fast enough.

Tommy: So, the siblings are they allowed to go around on their own, or are they also under constant watch?

Anna: we are all under constant watch, just because they are the siblings.

James: That should be forbidden, they should be allowed to be outside on their own!

Anna: Yes, I am currently hiding on the toilet so the two are under watch by the guards.

Someone just knocked on the door, they asked what was taking me so long. So I´ll be going now. I hope to see and hear you both soon!

Tommy: Bye Anna!

James: Stay safe!

With that their conversation came to a close, Tommy didn´t fully realize what he had gotten himself into now. He just wanted to watch out for his friend that is now under investigation and also on house arrest so they can clear their name and also get their grandfather out of the line of the throne.

He was imagining it if he was in that position, what would he have done, would he ever have the guts to speak to his grandfather like that? Would his parents tragically die in a plane crash and him having to take care of his little siblings whilst also getting dangerously close to getting the throne.

Maybe there was something that he could do to help (Y/N) after all, something they talked about not only in their letter but also in the conversation that he just had with Anna and James. If all three of the siblings aren’t allowed to contact any outside force then he just had to go around the rules and find a loophole.

So what solution he came up with after thinking about it for a few hours that he spent texting Phil and Kristin but also Wilbur, he decided that he was going to stream.

*Piep-Piep-Piep*

(Y/N) looked over at their pc as the guard was watching their phone with them.

“Did you get a message from an outside number?” one of the guards asked them, they introduced each other at the beginning of the day but they were too tired to remember and too anxious to ask again.

“Not really, that was the sound for when one of my friends is streaming, I turned it on to get notified when they do normally I would join them but you already told me three thousand times that I am not allowed to communicate with them, which means I can still watch them play games!” I walked over to my pc clicking on the notification and saw that it was Tommy that was streaming.

What a clever boy.

“You are not allowed to text in the chat you are aware of that, yes?” the one at the door said. I liked him even less than the one that was always at my side, he at least, understood that I didn´t want to be talking about not communicating with my friends.

It always felt like he was mocking me like he was showing off that he got to go home and I only got to spend time with people I didn’t know and didn’t want to be near.

“I am aware yes, but other than you I have friends with a bit of brain that is smart enough to make me happy even without talking to each other.” That might have come over a bit too rude, I could see him gripping his hands as if he was making them so he can punch me.

The other one just sat beside me again, his face was twisted into a light anxious look as I could see that he was looking between both of us.

“Well, who is that anyway? I never saw that guy before in my entire life, and I should know because I know everyone popular amongst the public!” It was then that I understood, either he was the good cop and the other one the bad cop or he was just stupid enough to not be the cold heartless person he was made into.

“471, we are not here to humor this royal we are only here to watch over it.” The door guy said with a small smile on his face, the only problem with his little game? Two can play it, so whilst the one besides me was looking over to the big guy I came up with a little comeback for him.

“Yeah, listen to the little princess that is standing by the door trying to look intimidating but would probably be better if she was wearing pink.” I didn’t turn around to look at the mad guy in front of the only normal exit to my room.

“What did you just call me?” he said in a low and controlled tone.

“What are your ears already bad as well? Do I need to repeat myself? Or do you maybe want me to talk slower so you can understand me better?” I retorted back to him making the atmosphere even thicker than it already was.

Both of them looked at me and didn’t say anything else, I knew that they had gone under serious training and that they weren’t even allowed to show any type of emotion towards me or anyone else. Yet I still felt isolated and frustrated at everything.

I know that it wasn’t their fault and that they were just doing their job. I just didn’t have any type of privacy or time for just myself-I wasn’t even allowed to be alone when I was sleeping they were just always there, not even my siblings were allowed to be alone which just made me more furious.

They are just children, I can understand why I was treated like a prisoner but they weren’t in the video, they didn’t even have enough brain cells to understand why they weren’t allowed to go outside anymore.

“I´m sorry. I know that you are just doing your job but you also need to understand where I am coming from.” I said as I was starting up Twitch getting on the stream that Tommy was holding right now.

“We understand your side to this too but what you said hit very deep. You are also prohibited from using headphones you know that right? It´s because he could give you information that we couldn’t hear so if you are listening to him it has to be without headphones.” The guy at the door said again.

I was becoming more and more agitated, now I couldn’t even listen to my friends without having someone watch me the whole time, well the only difference to my normal day is that the person is standing in my room.

“I´m aware yes. I did everything that I had to and that I could do.”

The chat was just waiting for Tommy to actually start the stream but was stopped by the starting soon screen that he had.

“How long do you think it will take?” the guy beside me asked as he was staring at the screen in front of us.

“Normally about a few minutes and then he does his little intro, he has a little cola can and the fairy fountain song remix from The Legend of Zelda. It´s funny how he opens it just to the beat of it.” I answered whilst also taking out my switch to start playing a little whilst we wait for him to start.

“I meant the investigation, not the stream.” He looked at me in dismay, I looked over to him and saw his face a little too close for my liking so I backed away a little and made an o shape with my mouth.

“Oh, I dunno depends on how fast they can work and how fast they can find the things they need. Why, are you new? Don´t have enough training yet and they still gave you me to watch over?” my face went from the little o shape to a small smile that stayed there.

“No! I was just wondering because I never worked in a situation like this! This is quite the big case after all, so I couldn’t even think of something like this happening especially not with the royal family as the main target.” He was slowly breaking his tough-guy persona even though it was trained into him so he wasn’t able to tell too much information to the wrong people.

“You need to stop speaking, we aren’t allowed to give out information to others outside our unit.” The tough guy from the door chimed in again after the first one spoke up.

“Oh let him be, I´d love some information about what’s going on outside right now. I wonder how the public reacted to those videos? Did you see them already?” I said sarcastically, looking over at him.

“Do you guys have hobbies? I could imagine you not having one” I was still looking at him then over at the other guy who had noticed that I had backed off from him sitting besides me “but you kind of seem like someone who would go outside with his dog and be an extrovert with his friends. I couldn’t imagine that you would do this as your job if I were to have met you outside of the palace.” I finished my sentence by looking over at him.

His face contorted into one of guilt as if he had something or someone before that he had lost. Something that he wasn’t thinking about whilst he worked but once the work was done he couldn’t stop.

“I see, I´m sorry if I hit a sore spot there. Look I know how it is to lose someone very important to one and I am sure that it is not easy to process or talk about but do you know how I work over something like that?” he looked at me like I was just the next Jesus, speaking the words of God and knowing everything, despite me sitting in my PJ and waiting for my friend to start a stream that I am only allowed to watch but don’t get any talk in.

“I do something else, like homework, take care of my siblings with Anna, play video games, and also watch my friends as they have fun without me physically being there. It sounds weird but it helps until I remember why I was doing it.” I now looked down at my console that was laying in my hands then back up at the screen Tommy was going to be on there any minute now.

I was betting on it the smaller one besides me looked at me then back to the screen.

“I don’t want to talk about it either, it’s a hard thing to do. So let’s just concentrate on your friend that is supposed to be very entertaining. Even though he probably isn’t that interesting.”

I looked over at him whilst slowly squinting my eyes at him. The only reason for me to not start another argument was that Tommy appears on his stream and started to talk to Chat.

“Hello chat! How is everyone today? I am doing really well! But Chat have you seen the news about the royals?” he exclaimed with so much energy that I couldn’t even muster if I drank 3 energy drinks.

After he saw that some of chat didn’t know what was going on he explained the whole situation, or at least what was on the news. He couldn’t let it out that I  was sending him everything before the investigation started.

Not only did he explain the story but he also showed the videos on his stream to show he wasn’t lying. Which seemed to bring in the interest of both my guards, as it seems that they haven’t seen any of the videos that Charlott and George uploaded.

“Well, those are definitely big accusations against the Prince.” The one at the door said after coming over when the first video started to play.

“Yeah, but that also caused me to be in this situation so I should have just kept my mouth shut.” I answered as I kept on playing my video game. Not looking up.

“Still, sometimes you have to be courageous to get the result that is right.” The younger one said.

“Because of this, they aren’t allowed to communicate with anyone outside of the palace, not even with the staff that works there. So I have decided that if they aren’t allowed to speak I  could at least stream for them and you are there too but it’s mainly for them and their siblings so they can just forget about the stress that is going on right now. Let me just see if they are actually watching right now.. THEY ARE HELLO!!!!!!! HI!!!!!!! HOW ARE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HOPE YOU ARE DOING GOOD! I don’t know how long you have been watching and I am sure that you aren’t even allowed to say something in chat but I will take this time to play games so you and chat can watch and relax! Well as much as relaxing can work in my streams! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA”

Tommy was fully back into his element at that point, his Internet persona going at full speed just like everyone knew of him.

“He talks a lot, does he even breathe or?” the older one said he was now standing behind me just staring at the stream.

“Well he does breathe but the first time you meet him you aren’t going to like him that’s just how it works. He is a really nice person though and he doesn’t mean any harm.” I answered as I turned down the volume a bit.

He streamed for a while, playing Minecraft but also playing Geogesser with Wilbur who beat him every time. At some point I had gotten ready for bed, seeing as it was already late.

“Well I´m off to bed, do you want to keep watching or do you want me to turn off my pc?” I looked at where the other two sat, I had mustered up the courage to ask for names again after the older one sat down when Tommy started to play Geogesser with Wilbur which was around two and a half hours into the stream.

“You should turn it off so he knows that he can stop doing this. The old guy said funny coincidence his name was Thomas. He didn’t look like one but maybe he did when his mother looked at him when he was born.

“Alright. But that doesn’t mean that he will stop just because I won’t be there. There are others that are also watching.” I said after I closed the site and also turned off my pc.

I got over to my bed as the other two went to the door, they weren’t allowed to sleep in the same room as me but had to sleep right in front of it.

The next few days flew by like it was nothing, if you get used to something it will just happen faster than anticipated. Tommy didn’t stream every day but I still had Phil stream every second day so it was easier to cope, I told Thomas, who we aren’t allowed to call Tommy, and Micke, who actually called Micheal, who my other friends are, and what they do for a living.

It was a Sunday afternoon around the time I would go and get an afternoon snack. When a woman walked in who was looking worse than Thomas. With that I mean she didn’t even have a wrinkle on her jacket.

She just knocked once, the other two sprung up like they were sitting on needles and pushed away from the chairs they were just sitting on.

“Yeah?” I said so that the person could come in thinking that it might be funny, but when I saw her my smile quickly went away again. I understood why the others were so stressed when they heard the knock.

“Hello?” I asked perplexed, I stood up and walked over to her as she was just standing behind my door after she closed it.  

“I heard from the lead investigator that they found everything that they need for the judge, the case will be in session tomorrow at 9am in the central courtroom, you will of course be escorted there by these too.” She looked over at Thomas and Micke.

“As for your siblings, they are there too but will be in a separate room with their nanny, Anna. The court session will also be live broadcasted on TV so the public can see everything and nothing is behind closed doors as per the request of the Queen herself and the Law of the crown court.” She stated matter of factly.

“If the investigators have everything they need am I allowed to walk around and speak freely with everyone again or is that still prohibited ms..” I didn’t know her name how unprofessional.

“Ms.Obrut, and no. You are still prohibited from outside contact until the court case is over. I will take my leave so I wish you a nice night and hopefully a good ending to this case. Farewell.” she turned around to walk back outside.

“To you too..” I squeezed in before the door closed fully. Letting out a breath that they have been holding Thomas and Micke´s image decreased from the one they just held for the duration of her visit.

“Thank god that she knocks, imagine if we were sitting down when she came in.” Micke was shaking with fear from the thought and yet even Thomas was not looking better when he imagined the things that would have happened to them.

“I guess we have a court case tomorrow then. Still, I have no permission to talk to my friends or other family members. Not that they even tried to contact me. I know that they are allowed to walk around outside and have their normal lives undisturbed.” I was getting disappointed by the lack of contact from my other family members, even fans still tried to send in messages even with the knowledge that I wouldn’t be able to answer.

“At last this will be over and we all can get back to normal working and living structure!” Micke tried to cheer everyone up from Ms.Obrut´s visit a few moments earlier.

“Yeah, as long as it goes in the right direction that wouldn’t be a problem. Yet when they rule in the favour of Charles I don’t know what will happen to me or my siblings, things would just get worse and worse.” I started to think about the future that wouldn’t be so kind for me with this big of a deal.

“What if they rule in your favor though, what would happen then? Imagine the things you want not the things that you don’t.” Thomas sometimes could have very inspirational quotes in his head and let them out at the right time.

“Thank you, Thomas.” With that the conversation came to a close, we went to bed early seeing as we all had to get up earlier than usual with the court case waiting for us.

The following morning I knew that I should have taken melatonin, I felt like I had barely gotten any sleep. Thomas and Micke both looked like they normally do, well dressed and ready to watch over me again.

The whole time that we were in the car I could see that the public knew what was going to happen and they made it clear with who they stood. There were posters of Princess Diana in windows, others had Charles as their decoration.

Still, every flag that I saw was flying at half-mast, showing they are also mourning with us which made me feel a little better knowing that I and the others weren’t alone in this.

“You ready for this or are you too anxious for it to start?” Micke asked as we were going into the garage of the crown court, a special court that was not very nice to its accused, or at least that’s what people told about it.

They only judge over prison cases and special events, I guess this is a special event that has happened. Even though I wouldn’t be mad if he went into jail for a few months.

“Both, I mean on one side I still like my grandfather he did a lot for us when I was younger and he is a nice guy but on the other side, he still killed my grandmother and maybe even my parents. I could never forgive him for that even when the other three do. In the end, I just want to be able to go outside like before again, but I don’t know if I will ever be able to again.”

“Mmh.”  Came the response of Thomas. I kept on looking outside whilst we made our way over to the old Bailey. A very beautiful building, with a statue that is supposed to symbolize justice on top of it.

As we pulled up into the driveway and into the garage I could for the first time not hear any cameras and people screaming for me. It was a new experience but I knew that this would soon change, once I get out of here again with the others.

Once inside the people who worked there were not even talking to me only to Thomas. I was also only led by both of them with the occasional stop to look at the incredible architecture of the walls, grounds and even the ceiling was staggering.

At the time we were in the room where I was to wait for my time to show up in the big hall, Micke started to talk again.

“They just announced that they will be live broadcasting this, even on the televeision!” he seemed to be way too excited for something like this, I guess if you never had this kind of attention before you were going to be when it did happen.

“Of course they are Micke. Didn’t you hear the news when this whole thing started? Mrs.Obrut said that because the Queen was demanding it to be like this, even though it is a law since 2020.” Thomas replied in an almost matching tone as him.

So it was just the nerf´s getting to them, soon after the door opened again and another staff member came in with a clipboard in hand. She walked over to me as I was sitting at the table on the side of the room.

(Sorry to do this but I really don’t want to go into in-depth about how this whole court thing is going to go but here have a picture to make it easier for you and me. It´s probably not going to be accurate but I have absolutely no ideas how courts work and am basing this on what I was in movies and what I read, I also really want to get to another point so this will hopefully not be so long. This picture is from Google so I have absolutely no idea who Damilolas´s parents are.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/uk/damilola_trial/newsid_1809000/1809364.stm

“Hello, I am just going to tell you where you have to go when you walk in. So that everything goes as smoothly as possible and we aren’t here forever alright?” she sat down before me. I nodded to her question not knowing if I should speak or if I should not.

“You can talk normally with me, I am allowed to talk with you and answer your questions as I see fit.” She turned the board around so that I could see it more clearly.

Both Micke and Thomas were now standing behind me looking at what she was showing off.

“Where are the others going to sit?” I questioned her as she was the one that told me to talk.

“Your family is not going to be in the same room, except maybe her majesty and Prince Charles. Your siblings and their Nanny will be staying in the next room to this. So they will not even be in there, sorry.” She explained to me.

“Ehm.. thank you? I meant these too.” I pointed at the men that were standing behind me and straightened up when I mentioned them.

“Oh, yes of course! They are going to bring you in from the left side so between the Jury and the press. Then you will go over to the other side of the room into the witness entry. Prince Charles will sit in the middle of the prosecution lawyer and the boy a. There where no number is. Your guards will be waiting at the entry of the witness where you will also be escorted back outside after you have finished your side of the story. You will then be bought back into this room back from the other side of the curtain. So you do not have to walk by the press again. That’s basically it and remember that this will be a live podcast.” She revealed to us.

“Wait- I-I forgot what we have to do and what she does! That was way too much information that I have to go through in that small amount of time!” Mickey blurted out as he was trying his best to make the dots of what the woman in front of us had just explained connect.

“Micheal. We just walk at the side of them and then we go and stand at the curtain. Wait for them to explain everything and then we go to the other side of the curtain to walk out that door with them back to this room where we will be waiting for the Judge to make the decision and then we will see what will be happening then.” Thomas said in a very calm and collected voice.

At least one of them is calm and collected right now. I guess my worries from earlier were unjustified.

“Alright then. How long do we still have until this whole thing happens?” I inquired after listening to the men behind me talk a little to make sure that  Micke was also calming down.

“In around 3 to five minutes. I will be here with you all in that time to make sure that you will all find the way there.” she was really good at her job. It´s not often that you have people in this environment that are calm when I talk to them, I guess she is just hiding it or it might not even bother her anymore.

Sometimes we had paparazzi and interviewers who were just really nervous to speak to anybody especially one of us.

The minutes were more like seconds, exactly the opposite of what I was expecting. Just like the woman had explained we walked right in front of the door. I could hear the murmurs of people right besides the door. Talking about whatever the person before me had already stated.

“On your right side will be the paparazzi’s so it would be best if you were to not look at them so you can concentrate on your way there. I will be at the other door, behind the curtain so remember to go out that way and not on this door alright?” she said again.

She went to leave and Thomas went to stand on the right side, Micke on the left. I guess it was to shield me from the flashes and talking that was definitely going to happen in a few seconds.

I could hear the next witness being called. That was my cue to walk in with the two. I kept staring straight, even when the door opened and the cameras started to flash. I held my head high like I was already walking out knowing what I did was the right thing.

Walking, only walking, that was the only thing that was important right now. To the curtain, open the curtain, send a small nod to Thomas and Micke, and walk again, up to the witness stand behind it. Look at a point where there were no cameras, the spot where the Queen was is not a good thing to look at. The wall behind her is or even better Thomas and Micke that were standing in front of it.

“You are (Y/N) of Cambridge second in Line for the Throne of great Brittain, your relation to the accused, Prince Charles of Wales second in Line of the Throne of Great Brittain. Everything has to be the truth or you will be punished and everything you say can and will be used against you if necessary in this case. To make sure that the witnesses and the accused are not lying it is necessary for this court to be connected to a lie detector. Do you understand and agree to these terms?” the judge said after I had arrived at the stand.

“Yes.” I exclaimed into the microphone, the word halling around the room because of the speakers. I could imagine saying that was a hard thing to do especially with all the eyes and cameras on you. The clerk came over and put everything in to start the lie detector

“I will now tell you what happened and then you will tell us your side of the story and everything  that you know.” They rambled off. I tried not to look around the room but the walls were full of paintings, Books and exquisite wood carvings that seem to be very old. The two people that have to record and do the writing for this case really had me astonished that they would have to write down every single word. Even if it was on a computer.

“Do you have any questions about this or are you able to now explain your side of the story for us?” they probed.

I started to tell everything from what my parents found and told me to the time when I woke up and was told that they had both died. Even the part where I filmed the video of Charles and the other guy in the basement searching for the roll. The only thing I left out was to who I sent the videos.

To my surprise, the roll that I was talking about was lying on the table and was given to me by the clerk who was sitting beside me.

“This is the scroll that he was searching for and the one that my father showed me when my parents told me what happened.” The Judge looked down at the clerk who was overlooking that the lie detector was working correctly. It seems like they only had the clerk to show if it was true or not.  

“Very well, is that all that you know, or do you have any other information that is important to this case?”

“No.”

“Alright then you may leave and we will call in the next witness.”

I nodded, the clerk came back up to me and got to take off the device.

Now back behind the curtain and walk. Walk. Walk. Right until the door then get the other two and open the door and get out.

“You did well.” A woman’s voice said.

It was the woman from before she was here just like she said. Micke and Thomas were still standing behind me. We all went back into a new room where I saw a few other people sitting, some staff members that I saw once or twice around the palace.

There were a few toys lying around. Paper and crayons, were on the table together with two mugs and three glasses. They were all used or still filled. At the end of the Table, there were cups and glasses turned upside down showing that they weren’t used yet.

“Aren’t we supposed to go back to the other room? The one we were in beforehand?” Thomas clarified. I looked over at the woman that was now just standing by the door after letting us in.

“Yes, but your siblings asked the Judge if you all could be in a room once you are finished. They argued a little with them but the idea that you already were on TV and that they would be watching what you said was good enough to let the idea pass.” She stated after the questions.

We walked further in and saw that all three with both Anna and James were sitting in front of the TV watching what was just live broadcasted from inside the Room. I could still see myself on the podium talking about the accusation.

“Do I really sound and look like that when I am on TV?” I stated. With my sentence, five heads turned to me and then to the people behind me.

“(Y/N)!” six feet quickly got out of the hold of Anna and James who were looking at Thomas and Micke.

They started to ramble on and on about how I was looking cool and that there was only one person left before the verdict and the final word came from the Judge.

James and Anna both started a light conversation with Thomas and Micke before we all went to sit down around the room to wait for the final word.

The woman had left without even one of us noticing, I guess she had other budy things to do other than being with us.

“Shhhhh!!!!!! The final verdict is here they just had their little talk, Anna!” Charlote exclaimed in an anticipated voice, just like that, the happy feeling that surrounded us had left. Everyone was looking at the screen, not just us, maybe even the whole of England.

I was sure that Tommy and the others were watching this so there was definitely someone in America that was interested in this whole ordeal.

“The Jury and I, the Judge of Old Bailey and thus the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales.” I hate how Judges always have to make such a long break, it´s like they just want to do it to give us heart problems because we can´t wait for the answer.

“Have decided that Prince Charles will face imprisonment in the state prison for life without the possibility of parole,” there was a big breath taken in by someone behind us as we four didn’t yet realize what the judge had said. It sounded like it came from Anna or maybe even Micke they have a similar body frame.

“Seeing as his actions have willfully killed three people and hurt thousands of others. The lie detector has also shown that 80% of the things he had said in the trial were indeed a lie.” Arms wrapped themselves around me as the information started to make sense in my head.

So I was right with my hunch that he was the murderer behind both my parents. More and More arms wrapped themself around me as water started to form in my eyes.

“This also means that his title of next in line will be taken and given to the next in line of the throne. Wich is (Y/N) of Cambridge now first in line for the throne of Great Brittain. With this verdict, the public is now allowed back inside the palace for tours and everyone that was under investigation is now allowed to resume the normal daily activity again.”

He kept talking for a while but I just sat there in this big group hug. I felt vulnerable, so very vulnerable my siblings were crying with me and I didn’t know if it was because they were happy that they could now go back to their lives or because we wouldn’t have to live together with the murderer of our parents.

We sat there for a few more minutes until the broadcast was over and we all had our emotions in check.

With that verdict, a lot happened. I had to say goodbye to Micke and Thomas, even though I didn’t really like them I felt a little guilty about how our weeks together had started.

“I´m sorry that I had treated you like that in the beginning, that was not very nice of me and I understand that. Yet I hope to see both of you again someday! You are very nice people to be around with.” I said as we parted was right outside the door that we walked in together.

“Yeah, just make sure that you don´t get seen when you leave alright? So don’t go out from the front, just go outside from the garage like we came in from.” Micke tried to keep in the feelings that he now had to suppress again.

“We will don’t worry. We also won’t be in a car crash on our way home, I´ll drive this time.” I looked at Thomas who wanted to say the same thing.

We parted ways and went into the back entrance so we could avoid the cameras and fans that were standing at the front entrance.

Our way home was filled with happy talking and a slight argument beforehand between me and James, he just didn’t want me to drive which makes no sense at all, I am a great driver yet I understand that in all the ecstatic feelings I could get distracted.

So I let the actual driver of the car drive us back home. This time all of us were in the same car.

I didn’t even see what happened to Charles or Camilla, but I bet she divorced him even though what he did was purely for her and him to be together.

Once we arrived back at Buckingham Palace, our home, we spend the time eating and just telling what happened to all of us whilst we weren’t allowed to see each other.

“Hey (Y/N), we put a smiley face on the account so that it shows to the public that we are happy now. Thank you for not telling the Jury about our account. We already got a lot of likes on it again.” George said in the middle of dinner.

“No worries. I wouldn’t tell a soul, still, I don’t know how that lie got through the detector..” I retorted to him.

After we all spend our time eating and being happy that everything was back to a little bit more normal I went over to my pc and thought about what I could do now.

I should probably read all the missed messages that my friends left me and reply to them, maybe even join a discord call if one of them is online.

As I waited for my pc to load up discord, I patiently looked at my phone. I opened the messenger on there and started to reply to the concerned texts that I had gotten over it.

I put my phone down after hearing the call sound coming from my headphones. I looked at the caller and was not surprised that the first thing I see is Tommy calling me.

“It´s been a little bit hasn’t it Tommy?” I answered the call.

“It sure has! I am streaming btw! I watched on TV what had happened in court. How are you feeling? Is everything better or worse than relief? I´m here now so you don’t have to worry anymore are you going to come on the SMP so we can all have a little bit of time to play Minecraft together again? The others are in VC2 so you could just come over if you want to you don’t have to but they are also happy that you are okay now!” just like I remembered him. It felt good to have a little bit of normality back in your life after all this.

“Sure, I´ll come to VC2. I can tell you there how it was for me this whole time.” I said after coming over how fast and loud he talks even when I already had his volume turned down.

“Okay! See you in a second!” he left to go and get into the other VC as I also started up my Minecraft to play on the SMP with the others.

Aa I joined the call there was a lot of noise going on it felt like everybody was talking at once. Wilbur and Tommy were arguing whilst Phil and Techno had their own conversation at the side.

“Hey guys. What are we talking about?” I said nonchalantly as if nothing ever happened in the first place. They turned around to face me as everything got quiet. I made my Minecraft character look at them as Tommy immediately came over to me to punch me in a friendly way.

“Wilbur said that I couldn’t build straight down because I would die and, even though I know that it´s not a good idea I told him that I definitely would be quick enough to react if lava or anything else had been attacking me!” Tommy explained immediately as the other three came over to both of us.

“(Y/N)!!” came a chorus of different voices. They all came over, running and punching the air in front of them with Wilbur jumping. It felt very good to be able to talk to all of them again.

“Hahahaha- I surely missed all of you as well! It was really hard not to go into Chat and write with you but there were people watching me the whole time. So I didn’t really have a choice.” I told them as I started jumping with them as well.

“It did make me feel ecstatic when I saw the notification for when one of you went life! It made me feel better in here!”

“I think I speak for every one of us when I say that we all saw the court case on Tv or at least some clips of it already.” Wilbur looked over at Techno.

“Hey, don’t look at me I was forced to watch it together with my parents. Who are also very happy that you and your siblings are okay now by the way.” he spoke in his normal monotone voice.

“Oh, yeah Kristin was also really interested in the court case so we watched it together. She wanted to talk to you more than me which says a lot so I think she might be on her way upstairs right now, she is modding my stream so she was definitely watching.” I heard Phil say as we all turned around to build something that they already started again. The last house from a few months back got blown up by a few creepers that spawned right beside it.

“Hi (Y/N)! Are you okay with all that stress that was today? I´m happy that they only put your siblings through the questions in a separate room without having the paparazzi with them. But how are you now? Are you okay?” she asked with concern laced in her words. I could hear laughing in the background as she must have taken over the stream and taken over the whole table.

I opened twitch and looked over at phils stream, just as I suspected she was now sitting in his chair with the headphones on and Phil in the background on the bean back that was usually for Kristin.

“I am alright now that both my siblings and I are cleared and Charles is unable to do anything now I am sure that we are going to start having a new normal around here. You can trust me that if they didn’t do that I would go and talk with my grandmother even if I wasn’t allowed to be talking to her!” I answered now fully relaxing again.

I saw her smiling as she stood back up from the chair.

“Alright! I just wanted to make sure, but if you need someone to talk to I am right here alright?”

“Yeah, I´ll make sure to contact you if I have anything to talk about alright?” we said our goodbyes, and Phil came back to the mike to make sure he hadn’t died in Minecraft world.

As we all played we encountered a few other people, like Ranboo, Tubbo and also Charlie Slimesicle. They all where happy to see the whole group together again after the stressed out time that we werent even alloud to talk together.

I also went into detail about everything had happend to me and a few things that I didnt tell in court.

Around 2 in the morning Tommy and Phil stopped streaming and started to send their chats over to friends that where still online.

“Well, I´ll be going to bed now, it´s already 2am and I still need to sleep after everything today.” I said as I logged out of minecraft and started to get out of the VC.

“Yeah, I´ll also be heading to bed now. Lets talk again tomorrow so we can continue playing and building!” Tommy stated. I was alright with that Idea.

We all locked back out of discord and I headed to bed. I had a good nights sleep and woke up later than I usually do, why shouldnt I when I went to bed late.

The next few days we had to get back to school, I got alot of sympathy from friends there and even teachers, who still gave me alot of homework. When i got home I was quick to finish my lunch with my siblings and Anna.

I was already suspecting James to be with them as well but I hadnt seen him the whole time that I remembered that he still existed.

Everytime I asked Anna where he was she just said that he left on Tuesday morning and hasnt been in contact with her scince.

It was Thursday morning, right after breakfast. I was on my way to ask my grandmother with something I had been struggling with the papers of Charles, he surely had a weird way of doing paperwork.

Now that Charles and my father had passed I had todo more work than before. I knocked on her door when I was met with silence. Normally she had a good hearing, but she already didnt go to breakfast this morning.

A staff member was coming down with the food that she would normally eat when she wasnt feeling to well.

“Excuse me, are you waiting for someoe in there right now?” he asked kindly as I turned around.

“No, not really. I knocked twice but she isnt responding and I am not sure if I should just barge in or not.” I explained to him in a worried tone.

“Well I´m supposed to bringe her her breakfast so we could just walk in together if you want.” he said agfain.

I nodded and opened the door for him seeing as he was holding the tray that her food was on.

AS we walkd in I started to look around, she wasnt sitting at the table or looking out the window, so I looked over at her bed. Where she was still in, if she was sleeping it was defenetly a deep sleep because she didnt even move.

“Hey, umm, gran-grand?” I walked over to her trying to wake her up with my voice before having to shake her awake.

She didnt even move a muscle as if she wasnt breathing, I touched her arm and then her pulse. Her arm and her hand both where cold and she didnt even have a pulse anymore.

“G-Go get a doctor asap?” i backed away from her body as it was just laying there without any sign of life.

“What? Why do we need a doctor right now?” he turned around to look at me backing away from the body without anymore questions he ran outside to get the doctor that was always in the palace for exactly this reason.

I just stood there with my papers now on the floor not looking away from her as if she would start moving again if I did. As if she was to run away and everyone would call me crazy if I told them about it.

After what felt like hours the staff member and the doctor came back and started to check her over.

“The Queen has died last night, the reason why she died is probably because of stress but nothing else.” she turned around to me “Long live the monarch.” she qurtesyed infront of me as the staff member also bowed to me.

“What are we going to do now? I wasn´t told what to do now.” I said, I really cant do this right now. Everything was supposed to be alright now. Not whatever this is.

“Well, what will roughly happen now is that the private secretary will be informed who will tell the Prime Minister before the other 15 countries and 36 commonwealthnations are informered. The puplic will know once when there is a note is placed at the gates, the staff here will have to wear a black armband. Then a statement is going to be released to the press Association and other outlets. Thats when the news station will pause the programm just like the radios and will report the tragic news. As for you, now that Charles is not going to take the throne will become the next monarch and will be able to chose your own name. There will be a meeting held with the Accession Council at St James`Palace where formalities will take place. Tomorrow you will have to be crowned. You also will have to visit Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales but your first offical word will be at St James´Palace.”

I looked at her with a perplexed face, how is all that supposed to happen until tomorrow? I cant teleport.

“I understand but everything is already planned out. Everyone knows what todo now. It will take up to 10 days until we will move her body to Westminstor Hall. Once there the puplic will be able to pay her respect and her body will be moved to Westminstor Abbey for the funeral. But I will explain that when the time comes. For now, you should eather go to your own room or go be with your siblings and tell them of what happend. It will get very hecktig and stressed in here in the next 10 minuts. If you need anything else let us know okay your majesty?” she tried to stay calm as her eyes also started to water.

“I-I think I´ll go back to my room for now. Dont tell them yet, a little bit later but not now.” I said as I turned around to speed walk back to my room.

Once there I called Phil over discord.

“Hey mate. Whats up? It´s still really early?” he sounded very sleepy. They must still be in bed.

“H-hey Phil. Is Kristin with you right now? I really need to speak with her.” I tried to sound as strong as I could but everything was catching up with me.

“Yeah? She is lying besides me why? Whats wrong, you sound really distessed. I put you on speaker so we both hear you right now.”

“You are alone right? No body else is there listening to this?” I made sure, if I´m already going to talk I at least have to make sure that nobody else has to know.

“Yeah, just us. We´re still in bed you are making us worried. What happend?!” Kristin stated now waking up a little more.

So I turned onmy camera and let them see my tear stained face.

“Whoa whateer is up is really bad if you look like that. Here now you can ytually see both of us too so it´s fair. Now spill the beans, kid.” Phil turned on their camera showing that they where indeed still in bed. And both of them where looking at me throught the camera.

“The Queen has died last night. Now I am the Monarch tomorrow.”

---------------------

If you are here and have read the other 2 you have read 32.186 words! Or around 1.7 hours for a normal speed reader! 

Check if you have drank something and also have you eaten? If not do both!

Is this a good format or should I make these smaller and do people actually want another part or am I just interpreting this wrong? PLEASE let me know, I get very insecure about these things because it takes a while to write them. 

[honestlyfragile]

JUMPSTREET - Mark Lee x Johnny Suh

Pairing: Mark Lee x Fem!Reader, Johnny is Mark’s bestfriend, Mentions of Jaehyun and Yuta

Genre: university!au, police!au, a dash of fluff, smut,crack, fraternity!au

warnings: mild violence, mentions of guns, drugs, sexual themes, language

Summary: Mark and Johnny were partners in crime, but when feelings get in the way, will Mark stick to the law or go against it?

Wc: 15.4k

also posted in Ao3

a/n: I hope you enjoy this story heavily inspired by the 21 & 22 Jumpstreet movie franchise, and hopefully I was able to deliver it with my own ideas. Enjoy!

Mark and Johnny start their first official day as policemen after being together in most of their high school years and studying criminology in college. They could not be more excited to see people make trouble until today.

"Let's see who's going to be able to make his first arrest." Johnny bets, scanning around the area with a cup of coffee in his hand, the other on his waist.

"Dude it's a park, what the fuck could possibly happen here?" Mark retorts, unamused.

"Oh you know, it's a crazy world we live in these days." Johnny defends, his gaze fixed on his surroundings.

"Sure it is." Mark continues to read his newspaper as he stands side by side with Johnny.

The two try to at least roam around and patrol over the area, looking for at least an ounce of any violation, it didn't matter if it was serious or not.

Mark spots a kid of about 9 years old near the pond, about to drop a piece of bread into the water.

"Excuse me kid," Mark bluffs, as if it were his first catch of the day. Technically this is his first catch of his career, hopefully.

"What?" the child frowns and looks at him obnoxiously.

"Read the sign," Mark points to it and the kid's eyes follow, but disobeys him anyway. 

"It says don't feed the ducks!" Mark argues, but the kid is unbothered.

"Let it go Mark, it's not like bread will kill them. Plus, you can't arrest a child." Johnny scoffs and tries to drag Mark to another area.

Mark lets out a sigh as the kid sticks his tongue out and he does the same before turning his back.

The two had nothing better to do, they were rookies who just got newly assigned to an area that didn't even have any trouble. Almost like they were just there for the sake of. Of course the department treated them as rookies.

Johnny takes out his pistol out of boredom and tosses it for fun. "Woah you know those are loaded right?" Mark warns him while involuntarily taking a step back.

"Yeah and?" Johnny continues to toss and play with it.

"Unload it first!" Mark panics like the goody two shoes that he was.

"Then that would be no fun." Johnny shrugs.

Mark spots a group of middle aged men from afar, but not quite. He squints and tries to take a closer look with his binoculars.

"Yo check it out, aren't those the Outlaws?" He nudges Johnny's shoulder as he takes a look himself.

The Outlaws are a known motorcycle gang in the county, they aren't always bothersome but the both of them are determined to find a loophole.

The two approach the group of men and tell them off because they have parked their motorcycles illegally. But that's not the only thing they notice, these men were stoned. One lights up a joint of Marijuana shamelessly, and Johnny loses his temper. "Excuse me Sir, you do know that the use of Marijuana is illegal right?"

"Oh look," the hideous man spits on the ground. "They must be new. He has the guts to talk to us like that. Nice to see some fresh kids here. You sure you aren't dressing up for... halloween?" The man specifically has his eyes on Mark when he said the last sentence.

Feeling offended, Mark straightens up his stance and acts more like a grown man. "That's a nice joke sir, now hand it over." He says in a stern voice.

"What a scary fella, keep up the good work! Sorry I don't have candy with me." They tease and the two have had enough.

"I'm going to have to search your motorcycle now sir." Johnny insists and doesn't wait for a response, and opens the seat and finds packets of a fine white substance. "These are.." he halts.

"DRUGS!" Mark shouts and immediately gets pushed by one of the gang members.

Johnny immediately gets a sample and keeps it in his pocket and takes his gun out. Mark gets up and does the same. The men try to run away and escape, Johnny runs after them and Mark takes his bike. The two finally get to corner them and Johnny pits one of them on the ground.

"You have the right to," Johnny tries to utter the Miranda Rights as he puts handcuffs on the man that is trying to eagerly resist him. "To shut the fuck up!" Johnny was being too focused on trying to handcuff the suspect and forgets to recite the rest,

Reciting those did not even cross Mark's mind as he just also focused on trying to handcuff the man.

"You are coming with us!" He yells and drags them to the police station, which was only a few meters away from them now.

--------

As the case was investigated, their chief commends them but then discovers that they forgot to recite the Miranda Rights, which can possibly make the charges be dropped, but thankfully the violation to the law was enough for the men to remain in jail.

"Technically you still did this wrong," the chief puts a hand on his chin and taps the polished wooden table. "But since you're just starting out, i'll give you another offer."

The two young men eye each other, anticipating the chief's suggestion. "An offer?" Johnny asks, straightening up in his seat.

"Jump street." The chief says.

"Wha- what's that?" Mark furrows his eyebrows in curiosity.

"Since the both of you look younger than the rest of the people here, our undercover police unit is in need of officers." The chief informs.

"Please, continue." Johnny lets him explain further.

"You pretend to be college students. It's practically the same, but it would be more suitable for the both of you because it's your crowd. You see crime and injustice, you report. But, you will be disguised as college students to ease the procedures of trying to find what those students have been up to. We have your back." The chief explains.

"Cool." Mark simply says because he is astonished by the idea.

"So where do we report? Do we have a new head quarters?" Johnny asks. 

"You will be transferred. Down in 21 Jump St." The deputy Chief declares.

____

They head to the headquarters that was disguised as an old chapel. "You sure this is the one?" Mark questions as he gets out of the car.

"It does say 21 Jump St. so, let's have a look." Johnny turns off the engine and both of them enter.

The setting was a typical chapel, but it was dark and full of stock equipment. Mark takes a look at the altar that was dimly lit, and bows before the image of Christ to show respect . Johnny on the other hand was not a person of religion but follows Mark's simple gesture anyways.

"The both of you!" A man shouts from afar, and it echoes, "come over here." 

The two are startled but proceed to the hidden room. When they enter they see two women who are already disguised as cheerleaders. Meanwhile the two are still in their police uniforms. The ladies take a look and have a good laugh at them. "You do know that you're supposed to go undercover right?" She says, eyeing them from head to toe. 

"W-we didn't get the memo that it was gonna be today.." Mark trails off and fidgets with his hands.

"Go and dress like teenagers! Now!" The chief commands and the two quickly change right away. 

When they get back they are briefed by the set of rules they have to follow and about the goals of this undercover project.

"Rule number 1. DO NOT get expelled. No one in the system knows that you are undercover. So be disciplined and don't cause major trouble. Getting expelled would mean that you'll get your asses kicked out of jump street." The chief sternly explains, making the assigned officers hold their breath from fear.

"Rule number 2," the officer walks past the rest and stands in front of Johnny. "DO NOT have any sexual or intimate relationships with the students and professors. You hear that pretty boy?" And specifically locks his eyes on Johnny, making the boy gulp and purse his lips. After the general meeting, the two were called for a detailed one, personally with the chief.

It was said to them that they had to find a synthetic drug that has been spreading around the campus called NCT. A sample of its packaging was shown, it was definitely something you wouldn't think of as a drug. It was about a size of a large coin, and looks like a small biscuit. It was sealed using assorted hand drawn stickers of different objects. They were also advised to never give out their real names, because new identities have been assigned to them. Johnny's being Rolan Kim and Mark's being Kalen Park.

"When the youngsters take this drug, it apparently makes them laser-focused on studying for about an hour. And for the succeeding hours, they party like it's fucking 1999 until they pass out. Infiltrate the dealer, find the supplier." The chief gives his final orders and sends off the both of them for their mission.

-----

"Dang, we're really going back to college?" Mark says as he finished up packing his things for the dorm that the agency assigned to them. They had to be as realistic as possible.

The two head to the university, reminiscing their own college days. The two might perhaps over-do this whole "blending in" thing, which might give out the disguise.

"Woah their campus is HUGE." Mark says, mesmerized and wears both straps of his backpack.

"Bro, that's not very college of you." Johnny fumbles with the strap of Mark's backpack.

"What?"

"You're two strapping dude. You have to just sling one of them on your shoulder, so it's cool and grown up. You're in college, not middle school." Johnny fixes Mark's bag for him.

"Right. College." He utters to himself. He seems to be enjoying it too much, and starts saying hi to everyone he sees.

"Knock it off, Mark. You're giving us away." Johnny nudges his arm and tries to cooly stride along the campus, keeping his composure.

Mark acknowledges him and goes with the flow. The two arrive in their dorm that they gladly share only among themselves. Mark is new to this, because when he went to college he stayed with his parents. Thankfully he could trust Johnny to always have his back.

The two set their things down and pick their beds, it didn't really matter much since the room had two singles and separate desks for the both of them. It also had a small book shelf that could come in handy, if they ever plan to take lectures seriously.

"Let's just fix these later. We have to go to the Dean's office to confirm our enrollment. Act natural okay?" Johnny lazily brushes his hair back and straightens up his shirt in front of the small mirror that the vanity had.

"Oh- uh okay." Mark leaves the pile of his clothes undone on top of his bed and grabs his phone and keys.

It was the afternoon of fall, the campus has been covered with different hues of orange leaves and subtle sunlight. The breeze was cool but not strong as it blew against their hair. The university seemed peaceful, but they had no idea what went on once the sun sets and the lights are off.

After a couple minutes of walking, the two arrive at the Dean's office for their interview. 

"Good afternoon gentlemen, please take a seat." The middle aged man smiles at the both of them. 

The two are slightly nervous, but eventually get over it. "Nice to meet you, Mr..." Johnny reads the name plate on the desk "Mr. Bennet." and gives the man his signature smile. Mark does the same and they start their interview. 

"Okay, so which one is Rolan and which one is Kalen?" Mr. Bennet asks and there was a short period of silence. Two had seemed to forget which identities were theirs. 

Johnny raises his hand, "I'm Rolan sir. Rolan Kim." and he nudges Mark's shoulder. 

"Ah yes and I'm Kalen... Park" he barely manages to blurt it out. 

The dean furrows his eyebrows but lets it go and proceeds. "So the two of you are?" He asks. They were not prepared for that question. 

"Brothers."

"Family friends." the two say at the same time. They give each other a funny look, and Mark gladly saves them from the mishap. "Well we do really treat each other as brothers sir, we grew up together pretty much." and clears his throat. A close call. 

"That's good to hear. So Rolan is going to be trying out for the football team and Kalen will try out for the Music club. Those two are very different from each other, but don't worry the opportunities in this school are endless. You can always transfer if you feel that you aren't happy with what you chose." The dean explains and the two acknowledge. 

Mr. Bennet goes a little further with the interview and gives them their schedules for the semester then eventually dismisses the two, wishing them well.

"Dude how can you forget the identity that was assigned to you!" Johnny quietly scolds Mark for his slip away. 

"I'm sorry okay it's a little confusing!" Mark scratches the back of his head and looks at the floor. 

"Ayt, I'll see you later. I have Chemistry in 15 minutes. I can still catch up. What about you?" Johnny asks, putting his hand on his pockets and the other on Mark's shoulder.

"Well, I don't really have any classes for the day anymore. I guess i'll head back to the dorm so I can start unpacking already. I'll see you then. Let me know if you find any leads." Mark gives him a small salute and heads back to the dorms.

-----

Johnny arrives in the lecture hall and receives strange looks. He tenses up a little but nonetheless shrugs it off and takes a seat next to a boy who looks like a whole generation younger than him. 

"Yo, you look really old. Were you held back?" The boy asks in a nosy manner, unintentionally pushing Johnny's buttons.

Johnny clenches his jaw and keeps his composure. "No I don't... You look young. Super young. Were you held forward?" he tries to redeem himself. 

"No? Whatever. I'm Haechan by the way." The boy introduces himself. 

"Im Joh- Rolan." Johnny almost slips but the latter doesn't notice. 

The professor immediately hands a quiz, which Johnny has no idea of because he arrived at an odd time of the semester. He guessed all the questions with all his might. But to be quite honest he also wasn't the best in chemistry when he still went to school. 

He turns his paper in and walks towards the exit but gets stopped by Haechan. "Uh do you need help with the topic? You seem to be clueless about it." Which came off as a little rude, but that wasn't his intention at all. 

"No." Johnny insists because it hurts his pride. "I know everything." He stiffens up.

"Yeah? Do you know what a covalent bond is then?" The boy cheekily asks. 

Johnny bluffs, because he doesn't. Or to put it in a better light, he forgot. "Fuck man, I don't have to tell you what it is."

"Woah, I wasn't trying to be rude. But anyway if you need help you can just ask me. See ya." Then Haechan was off and got lost in the sea of people. 

Apparently, it was Johnny's last class for the day because it was already almost evening. He texts Mark to inform him that he's heading back to the dorm as well. He doesn't let his guard down and continues to observe the students if they're up to anything suspicious.

As he walked to the dorm, he saw a bunch of boys that were about as tall as he was but more athletic gather around the corner of the football field. He acts nonchalant but keeps an eye on what they are up to. He tries to move closer to the scene without getting caught and acts like he's only passing by. 

"Yo hook me up with some more of those, I can't fail my classes or else i'll get kicked out of the team." One says to the other. 

Johnny immediately pulls his phone out to text Mark about what he just heard and hurries back. 

-------

"Dude, as expected the football team has it. I'm trying out tomorrow and I'll surely get with them." Johnny discusses with Mark.

"Yeah? Can I come watch your tryouts? So I can see what they look like." Mark requests. 

"Sure. 2pm at the field." Johnny informs him.

The two were mostly busy arranging their stuff in the room until they heard a knock on the door. Mark offers to get it. 

"Hey new neighbors!" two men appear with big smiles. 

"Oh hey, uh... thanks?" Mark blankly answers as he was usually awkward meeting with new people.

Johnny comes and checks to see who it was, and to his surprise, it was Haechan and his roommate. 

"Oh hey Haechan, and hey..." Johnny looks at the unfamiliar guy. 

"Renjun." He smiles.

"Right Renjun." Johnny nods. "Oh by the way Kalen, I go to the same biology class as Haechan." Johnny calls Mark by his fake name.

"Oh cool, what about you Renjun, what's your major?" Mark asks. 

"Classical music!" Renjun enthusiastically says. 

"Oh I'm in Music Prod! I'll probably see you around during org meetings." Mark smiles.

Their neighbors introduce tips for them that could be useful during their stay and seem to be genuinely nice people. But Mark and Johnny cannot trust anyone, so they keep their guards up and try their best to not give anything away. 

Although it may have seemed like an easy task for them, it wasn't. The drug was all over the school, it was going to be difficult to find the root of it if they ignored even the smallest details that could lead them to find out the supplier. 

---

The following day, the two wake up early ready to officially start the day. Mark and Johnny head to their own classes, hoping that they find out something about the case today. 

Mark enters the lecture hall for his Philosophy class. It was almost 80 percent full as it was a basic class for almost everyone. He awkwardly looks around, hoping to find a seat that wasn't as far because of his bad eyesight. 

"Psst." You try to catch his attention. When he looks over, you tap the vacant seat next to you, "you can sit here." You offer. 

"T-thanks." He says and gives you a smile. 

"You seem like a new face. I'm Y/N" You say to him because you have observed the people in this class every day. 

"I'm Kalen. Kalen Park." he scratches the back of his head. "I uh, just got enrolled yesterday. You know, when your family moves into another town... yeah" he trails off with his made-up excuse. 

"Yeah, it's fine. Don't worry about it." You genuinely assure him, "It's college. You can take your time." You chuckle because he was so awkward, but seemed very kind. 

"Definitely." He bites his lip, unsure if he should keep talking or not. But the professor arrives just on time. 

He observes his surroundings and keeps an eye on suspicious students that might have a link to what they were looking for. He whispers to the guy in front of him who was just playing games on his laptop and wasn't listening in class. "Hey, do you know where I can get myself some NCT?" 

The guy raises his brows in doubt, "are you a narc?" and might have said it way too loudly. 

Mark tries to brush it off with a stiff laugh "What are you talking about man? I'm not I swear." and refuses to make eye contact. 

The airhead lets it go and slips mark a cellphone number that could possibly be a step closer to what they were looking for. "Just text them "looking for a hookup" and they'll know what you're talking about." 

"Thanks, man." He gives him a small pat on the back just to show that he wasn't up to anything, which actually just makes him more suspicious. Thankfully, the guy didn't really care. 

Mark was delighted to have found a lead easily, and immediately texts Johnny about it. After that, he actually paid attention to the class, just because it genuinely fascinated him. 

When it ended he immediately gathered his stuff and put on his backpack, ready to meet Johnny. 

"Psst, two strapper!" You call out and try to barely tap his shoulder. 

He looks back and immediately drops one strap of his backpack off his shoulders, he definitely forgot about what Johnny has advised him. He scratches the back of his head with his hands on his pocket, "yeah?" 

"You free this evening?" You casually ask. 

He nervously gulps because he really has to be somewhere right now, but he didn't want to be rude. "Uhm, I guess? I don't know yet. Why?" 

"We're having a poetry slam at the art hall, you might be interested. I saw some good stuff you wrote in your notebook" you smile, hoping that it doesn't freak him out that you saw one of his works. 

His eyes widened, "oh, okay cool I guess I can try. But I have somewhere to be right now, I'll see you..around." And he awkwardly walks off. 

You furrow your brows because of his strange mannerisms, but he seemed like no trouble at all. In fact, it was kind of cute, how awkward he was. 

------ 

It was time for Johnny's football tryouts. Given that he was already good at it during the time that he was actually in college.

Johnny was naturally a sociable person, he blended well with crowds and easily made friends. That's why this was the perfect place for him to be in. He sits himself at the bench while he wears the spare uniforms from the team and is greeted by a dude that was a little shorter than he was, "Goodluck" the boy with ash purple hair says. 

"Thanks!" he enthusiastically replies. 

"Captain! We need you for a sec." the coach calls, then the boy who has wished him luck gets up and reports to the coach. Well, he did give off an impression of one. He was highly presentable, his smile was hospitable, his form was great and his attitude was pleasant. Everything else—was just the ideal makings of a captain. 

The tryouts start and Johnny looks around for Mark, who had just arrived and casually sat himself on the bleachers, waving at Johnny from afar. As the tryouts went on and finished, the coach praised everyone who attended for a job well done and announced the new members who had qualified. All of which included Johnny of course. 

"Hey man, great job out there." The captain is back on Johnny's side to praise him. 

"Yeah, thanks. I'm Rolan by the way." He introduces himself.

"Of course I know, I was the one who picked you from the list." He laughs, "Jaehyun. Jeong Jaehyun." 

-----

"Hey!" Mark hears a familiar voice faintly calling his name. He searches for it but takes him awhile because of how wide the campus is. "Over here two stapper," you chuckle and he finally sees. 

"Oh hey," he muttered quite embarrassed at how awkward he was. 

He takes a seat next to you at the bench near the hall of the poetry slam event, he wanted to go together. "Chilly night huh? I should've brought my sweater.." You trail off, rubbing your arms for warmth. 

You didn't mean for it to come off that way, but Mark willingly takes off his jacket and offers it to you. "Oh it's alright really-" you insist.

"No it's fine, I'm from Canada, this is nothing." He laughs. 

You nod your head with his remark, and proceed to wear his jacket. It was quite big on you, but it was definitely cozy. "Shall we go?" You ask, standing up.

He nods and lets you lead him to the hall. The campus was only lit by lamp posts at this hour, but there were many sculptures in the school of arts that he had wished to see better. Well, there was always next time. 

The both of you enter the hall which was quite filled with students already. It had been set up like a cafe, with a small platform in front that was lit with a spotlight. 

"Give it up for Naya Kim everybody!" the emcee announces, encouraging everyone to give the person a round of applause after presenting a spoken word. "Do we have another volunteer?' 

The crowd falls silent as everyone looks around, mindlessly making eye contact with each other, waiting on who was going next. 

"Anyone?" The emcee taps the mic. 

"I have one!" You yell, and Mark looks at you with wide eyes. 

"Dude no-" he resists, trying to shrink himself into his chair. 

"C'mon it'll be fun!" You nudge his shoulder, "We have Kalen over here!" You grab his wrist and raise his arm for him, even if he was resisting it, he had no choice. 

The emcee squints and eyes the both of you and acknowledges you volunteering your new friend. "Alright we have Kalen next! Stage is yours." The emcee steps off. 

He had all eyes on him now, eyes hungry of anticipation and to witness raw talent amongst themselves. 

"G-good evening everyone." he greets, holding onto the mic tightly and takes a deep breath. His expression changes into a serious one. 

Will it ever come? 

The nights know me well. 

I was a frequent by-passer but now I am no stranger. 

A boy who grew up with sharks does not need to be taught how to swim.

Good night,

These words feel like the vast sky

Darkness, but not hollow.

Black but not bitter. 

After he recites his poem he becomes flustered again from the faint applause he had received from the audience that was present, he puts the mic back to its stand and does a small bow. 

"Not bad, tiger" You pat him on the back. There was more to him than what meets the eye, you just knew. 

"You think so?" He says with hopeful eyes. 

"Yeah!" You assure him. 

The rest of the evening passes by with the both of you having a splendid time watching others unleash their passion and talent for reciting spoken word and poetry. Some were tear jerking and some were downright hilarious. So this is college. Mark thinks to himself.

In the past he had always been a loner who didn't go to many parties because of his strict and conservative parents. 

 He was way beyond his borders now. But he couldn't get carried away. No, this isn't a time for him to redeem himself from his early years, this was time for him to perform his duties. So he snaps out of his little daydream. 

As the both of you were seated at the bench in front of the hall where he found you, he had asked you about your major. 

"Fine arts." you laugh bitterly.

"What's wrong? You don't seem like you're happy with it…" He trails off, swinging his feet that was hanging off the bench. 

You shake your head no, "I am. It's just that my parents don't really know I took this course. I told them I got a scholarship and they were just relieved that they didn't have to pay anymore. Otherwise they'd force me into some business course or something "more practical"" you emphasize with air quotes. 

"I see. Okay so fine arts huh?" He tries to lighten the mood. "What can you say about that one over there?" Mark points to the sculpture to your left, about 20 metres away. 

"They're like two beings, leaning on each other" you pause, dramatically for impact, "They support each other so one doesn't fall." you interpret. 

He seems impressed, then asks "Support huh? How about you? Do you have anyone—who supports you?" 

"Hm, not really, no. I like to be alone and just spend time with myself." Your eyes wander but all you could think about is how he's looking at you with such attentiveness and interest.

He chuckles, "I feel you. You know I'm an expert at being alone. Don't you just love it when you're in a room full of people but no one gives a shit about your presence?" He claps his hands together just once then purses his lips into a bitter lopsided smile. "Yep. Had a lot of those." He masks his personal statement with humor.

"Well," You say, kicking the shortly-trimmed grass on the building's lawn. "If you don't wanna be alone, you walk me to my dorm" you offer.

He looks around and takes no time to think about it, feeling that it was unsafe for you to go alone. "Sure." He smiles.

The walk to your dorm was silent but comfortable. You weren't sure if he was quite a talker or just shy. But one thing you couldn't get out of your head was how unconventionally attractive he was. You've never gotten a vibe like his before and you've been in this university for 2 years already. You wanted to get something out of him even if it takes you to be the bold one here. 

"We're here," You whisper, looking at him seductively. Like you were a puppy begging to not be left alone. "Do you wanna come in? My roommate left for the weekend" you smirk. 

Mark gulps. He had been resisting this kind of tension he had with you ever since he met you. But you made it so hard. "Come on," you say, putting your hand at the back of his neck while tracing mindless patterns on it with your finger. 

"My brother he might be-" 

"Oh you have a brother? Is he hot?" You joke. 

His eyes are wide with stitched eyebrows. But eventually catches on. "Nah." and he pulls you closer to him by the waist. His eyes now staring at you deeply, so hungrily like he was that tiger you called him as earlier. Come and get it.

Without any words said, he had finally crashed his lips onto yours. And you kissed him hard. Like you wanted to have him to all yourself at that very moment. Your tongue grazes his lower lip, begging for entrance which he had granted. Your tongues meshed together at a quick pace, with the heat of your core starting to throb. 

You push yourself closer to him and you start to feel his prominence and unconsciously grind on his jeans, making him grunt. You break the kiss for a quick moment, his eyes are glazed and his mouth agape, out of breath. You turn around and enter the code to your dorm and pull him inside. 

For a brief moment that your bodies were detached, Mark couldn't stop wanting more. Not even thinking the slightest of the consequences of this act that will dawn upon him if it ever gets out. 

You were back to slamming your body with his as you took off his jacket, making it fall to the floor. His hands snake underneath your shirt and started roaming around your body while he peppered kisses on your neck. With a swift flick of his fingers he had unclasped your bra and his hands groped your breasts, you threw your head back as he buried his face in your clothed cleavage. Like he was begging for this bothersome piece of clothing to be gone. 

You grant his invisible wish and quickly lift your shirt off, while your bra falls off your arms naturally, his mouth watering at the sight. You trace his abs underneath his shirt, your core getting wetter with how toned they were based on your touch.

And you didn’t doubt the results one bit. When you lift his shirt, his torso was delicately lean, toned in all the right places that your mouth could water at the sight of it. You bite your lip and roll your eyes at the sensation of him sucking your tits, his grip on you intense but gentle. 

“I don’t have condoms right now, so this is going to be all about you.” He whispers seductively, feeling your wetness through your soaked panties. You softly moan at the sensation and hungrily kiss him again, not having any moment to waste. 

When he slides two fingers to massage your folds, you whimper. "Fuck," you breathe. 

"God, that's hot." He says with a hitched breath. You couldn't possibly get any more turned on right now. 

When he slips his digits in your cunt—you go fucking insane. You haven't felt this good in quite a while, it made you ecstatic to remember how fucking good this feeling was, you hoped that this wouldn't be the last. Mark was different.

He picks up his pace, and you try to keep your composure, but the forced arch of your back says otherwise. You grab a pillow to cover your face, scared that you would be too loud and get caught, or else this would be the last time for the both of you. 

“My fucking God.” You whimper, pulling Mark’s head on your chest, holding onto him for dear life because you just entirely lost control of it all. He finishes you off like his life depended on it, licking your wetness from his fingers, savouring it, then wipes his fingers on his jeans.

“You were so good to me, yeah?” He chuckles when you are left speechless.

“What about you?” You ask, looking at his crotch that was painfully hard. 

“It’s- It’s alright. You don’t have to” He says, and it makes your heart thaw like ice. You didn’t deserve him. 

“But I want to.” You plead, you couldn’t possibly resist him. “Come here,” You say, rubbing your palm against his jeans.

You didn’t waste anymore time and unzipped his pants, lowering it with his boxers just enough t make his cock lightly hit his stomach. His size is definitely more than what you expected.  You take his wet, glistening cock in your hands and pump it gently, smirking in satisfaction when you hear him hiss and moan softly. 

“Can you keep it down for me, tiger? We might not be able to do this again,” You coo, and he obediently nods, grazing your lower lip with his tongue, asking for entrance which you gladly grant but not for long. 

You smile as you lowered your head down to his throbbing member, licking the precum that had escaped the tip. Mark bites his lip, trying to keep as quiet as possible. You slowly put his dick in your mouth, testing a few times how far you could go. He bucks his hips by accident, making you gag very slightly. “I’m so sorry,” He strokes your hair away from your face. You keep going until you reach the brim, a throaty moan escapes his lips when he couldn’t take it anymore. 

You bob your head up and down in a consistent pace while he holds your hair, “You’re such a good girl” He says, throwing his head back. You keep going until you feel tears slowly coming out of your eyes and tried to hollow your cheeks as much as possible, he was so close. 

“You don’t have to swallow,” he says, pulling back from you. Nonsense. You were more than willing to. 

“I want to.” You say, putting his cock back in your mouth. 

With a few last pumps, his member twitches in your mouth and you feel his warm release and take it all in. You wipe the sides of your mouth as you finish, giving him a sweet smile. 

After the both of you pass out on your bed, Mark has lost track of time and receives a text from Johnny. 

"Dude where the fuck are you? Do you know what time it is?" 

Mark jolts up and checks the time, 2:45am. Shit, he was screwed. He quickly gathers his clothes that had been thrown around your room and dresses himself in panic. 

"I'm sorry, uh Joh- Rolan, my brother has been waiting for me at our dorm, I lost track of time and i think he'll beat my dick off," He nervously chuckles, almost forgetting to use his fake identity again. He has got to get used to it.

"Not if i did it first" You both burst out laughing. "Alright, I'll see you in class." You say, snuggling yourself in your blanket and shutting your eyes. 

He leaves your dorm quietly and runs a hand through his hair before giving Johnny a call. 

"Dude listen-"

"Are you fucking around Mark?" Johnny answers, clearly enraged. 

Mark was scared as shit but never misses the chance to fuck around Johnny. "I might've." 

"Get your ass back here, Lee" 

"Ayt." 

He slips his phone back to his pocket and starts walking briskly to their dorm. Damn this campus was mad creepy that it actually brought chills to his body. He wondered why he felt so cold then realized he left his jacket at your place. It was too late for him to get it back so he settled by running to warm his body up. 

Finally, he was back at the dorm. He hesitates to turn the doorknob because he knows he will be dead meat or nagged to death by Johnny. Or not. 

"Where you been huh?" Johnny examines him, standing up from his bed. He sniffs Mark and the latter flinches. "You smell like sex!" He slaps his shoulder. 

"You crazy? Some expert or something" Mark brushes him off. Wincing at the sting Johnny's palm gave to the skin of his shoulder.

"I should know, Mark." His mood was lighter now. "But who did you fu- i mean have sex with? we just got here wildcat"

"A girl I met in class like uh… awhile ago" The younger bites his lip trying to keep a smile from escaping his lips. He shouldn't be feeling this giddy over a rule that he broke for you. 

Johnny could not believe what he was hearing right now, "Dang. Cheeky boy." He laughs, actually feeling happy for Mark. He can have a little fun, Johnny had his back when it came to these things.

The elder changes the topic and lets this slide. Johnny talks about the leads he gathered from hanging out with the football team. Which were still very much confusing since this substance is all over the campus. Meanwhile, Mark didn't have much besides that number he gave Johnny. Considering he was with the "decent" crowd of people today.

---

The two head to their quarters to report to their chief the next day, trying to ask for help on how they could improve this investigation. 

The chief dumps a folder on the table and says, "This is what the deputy gave us recently. Take a look." He opens the folder into a specific case file to discuss with the two. 

"Who's this?" Mark points at the picture of a girl, who seemed like they were around the same age as the people at University. 

"Lee Minjung." the chief rubs his hands together. "Took some NCT and got locked out of her dorm, so she ended up falling off the roof and dying." The two are shocked by this revelation, it was more serious than they thought. 

The chief flips a page, "Here's a picture of her buying the drug." The photograph had two people in it, one that had a visible face which was Minjung, and one guy who's back was facing the camera. He wore a hat so they couldn't really tell who it was. But one thing they could point out is the reflection on the window of the car beside them.

"Dude, look at this," Mark points out his observation to Johnny. "He has a tattoo, we could start with this." 

"Bingo. There's your lead." The chief closes the folder and puts it back in his file. "The next time you get back here your asses better be presenting me some actual progress. Understand?" 

"Yes sir." 

----

Johnny and Mark head to the resident tattoo artist that was near the university, apparently they do most of the tattoos of the students there. 

"Excuse me," They knocked on the table of the artist who was currently at the back of the shop.

The tattoo artist arrives out front and asks how they could help the two. 

"We're looking for this tattoo, is it familiar to you?" Johnny asks while showing the artists the photograph.

The artist tries to think hard, but gives a hasty answer. "I'm not sure, there's too many of them who got that." 

Mark pushes the subject, "Them? Do you think it's some kind of group tattoo?" 

"I guess so. They were boys, all of them. Very masculine, had the body of an athlete if I were to put it at that." The artist states. 

Mark and Johnny look at each other as if there were light bulbs above their heads. "Thank you!" Mark says and they run off the shop. 

The possibility of this being in the football team was huge. They were athletes, and under a lot of pressure. They had reasons to use this drug but it wasn't an excuse for them not to eliminate this. They had to get to the bottom of this before it ends up like Minjung's case again. 

---

Johnny was at football practice while Mark stood by the bleachers, watching the team and trying to look out as usual until Johnny calls him over to come down for a bit. 

"Jaehyun, this is Kalen, my brother." He introduces him. With his assigned name. 

Jaehyun chortles in disbelief when he sees Mark. "You have a brother?" He asks and Johnny nods. 

"Sup," Mark tries to give him a bro hug, but Jaehyun shakes his hand instead. 

Jaehyun pays no mind to Mark's presence and diverts his attention back to Johnny and proceeds to talk about their game plan.

When practice ends he tells Johnny that the football team plans to host a party tonight. It would be the perfect opportunity for them to keep an eye on everyone. 

"Can I come?" Mark asks.

Jaehyun eyes him from the side, "Yeah uh sure" and only bids goodbye to Johnny. "See ya bro." 

Mark could already feel that he didn't belong in this crowd, but he and Johnny had to stick together and investigate. 

The night of the party came and the two brothers were stoked. "Our first frat party." Mark thought. 

"Your first frat party." Johnny spat playfully, trying to meticulously style and wax his hair. 

Mark scoffs, still trying to figure out what shirt to wear but at the end, he settles with a navy blue Ralph Lauren shirt. He was too lazy to fix his hair and wears a cap instead. 

Johnny tosses Mark something that he thinks the younger might need later on. 

"Are you for real? A condom?" A baffled Mark says in disbelief, but sliding it in his pocket anyway.

"You'll never know wildcat. You'll never know." He gives him a mischievous wink.

This wasn't just any party to them, this was an operation. Though they chose to leave for the party unarmed, they were thankfully trained well for hand to hand combat, just in case things went extremely wrong. But that was besides the point, they couldn't destroy their chances of blending in.

When the tandem arrives at the party, the elder was the only one to be greeted enthusiastically, Mark shakes it off simply because being friends with these jocks were the last thing on his list. It was Johnny's call if it didn't work for him, they had their roles. 

"Go around for a bit, I'll take care of him." Johnny whispers to Mark with a drink already in his hand.  

Mark shrugs his shoulders and explores the frat house, lit with red and blue, music blaring through speakers and the muffled conversations from the people that filled it. 

Nothing seemed too off the bat here, it was everything you would expect a frat party to be. There hasn't been a trace of NCT anywhere, or maybe it was because they were being taken too discreetly. 

"Want some?" a random guy nudges him, discreetly handing a packet of the substance. He takes it and plays it cool. 

"Yo, sick. Thanks man." He pats him on the back. 

“Yo it’s not free.” The guy laughs then it disappears. “20 bucks.”

Mark's smile fades, embarrassed. Thank god he brought his wallet. “Here. Thanks.”

"Don't sweat it." and he gives him a small salute.

Mark quickly slides it in his pocket, to keep as evidence later. 

"Bad boy." You snake your hands around his shoulders. "Want some?" You offer your red punch with vodka. 

His eyes widen, but eases under your touch. Finally, someone who's familiar. Overly familiar. "Hey, y/n" he shakes his head no. "I don't feel like drinking tonight" he makes up an excuse. 

"So are you…" 

"Am i?" 

"Are you going to take that?" You say, pointing at the pocket where he hid it.

Uncertain, he shakes his head no. "But should I? Have you ever had one of these?" 

"Oh god no." You say in disgust. "I have seen people's reactions to it though. It's borderline batshit crazy, those things." You explain. Hoping that he wouldn't ever try taking those. You knew about the whole Minjung incident. "One of the girls who lived next door died because of it." 

Your remark sparks an interest in him. "Minjung?" He questions. This could be a big help to their operation. But it wasn't a good time to interrogate you.

You raise your brows, "How'd you know her name?" 

He fakes a cough and tries to quickly think of a reason. "Mr- Mr. Benett told us. He said that recently a student passed away but never said it was because of the drug…" 

You crease up, "That old man is fucking clueless." You cross your arms. "But I'm just looking out for you okay? There's safer ways to have fun." 

"Right " He pursues a smile.

Too much fun wasn't part of the plan tonight but you made it difficult for him to do his job. Effortlessly. 

You fake a pout. "C'mon tiger, live a little! It's not going to be that bad." You try to convince him, wrapping your arms around his neck, trying to keep your drink from spilling, his arms naturally overlapping and resting just right above your ass.

To hell with this. He's been dreaming of this his entire life. After being in such a conservative family and all, he deserved to try new things out. He was old enough. He thinks to himself, while catching a glimpse of Johnny chugging down a keg. "You're right." he smirks, and you offer your drink for him to taste. 

Mark's face scrunches a little from the alcohol, but it felt nice. Good enough for him to grab you by the arm and head to get one himself. 

He scans the counter full of different drinks with a variety of colored juices. He chooses the blue lemonade with vodka which you gladly made, handing him the red plastic cup after. "Cheers" you say, delighted with the smile he gave you. 

It wasn't long enough until the both of you were back to dancing again, not giving a care like everyone else. He could kiss you right now. And he did, he couldn't miss the opportunity to make your tongues turn purple. 

----

Johnny has done everything with all his might to get along with these jocks, kids these days do party harder huh? He doesn't remember having this kind of intolerance to alcohol before, he had to get it out of his system before he forgets what he's really here for.  

"Nah this dude's a goner!" Yuta enthusiastically points at Johnny, who now had both of his hands on his knees. 

"Hold on, I gotta have some air outside" he raises his arms in defeat, words slurring out of his mouth and vision so blurred he could barely tell where he's going. Finally after much stumbling and ending up in filthy corners, he managed to find a bathroom. Not a usable one though.

"Oh god- sorry" He says as he sees two people fucking each other's guts out on on the sink. "Nevermind" he immediately shuts the door and leaves them alone. It didn't take long for him to just head outside and vomit on the lawn of the frat house. Oh yes, great fertilizer. 

Johnny regains a very small amount of composure and he felt someone tap and rub his back. "You okay?" Jaehyun chuckles, with a drunk Yuta tagging along.

Johnny takes a deep breath and tries to stand straight with all his might, trying to act like everything was under control. "Shits wild here" He chaffs, but his brows furrow when he sees a familiar pattern on Yuta's skin. "What's that you got there?" Johnny tries to reach for the latter's arm carefully. 

Yuta excitedly raises his sleeve, revealing a tattoo. "Oh this? It's a tattoo man. Gotta get inked at some point!" Yuta says, proudly. "Do you want one? I know a place!"

Jaehyun sighs. He was hyperactive again. "Yuta-"

"What? C'mon look I got this as soon as I got out of my parent's house. Those folks made me feel like I was in jail!" The drunk boy overshares. Johnny pays attention because there was a possibility that these thoughts were sober. 

Johnny was quickly disappointed, but not surprised. "Yeah? That's cool. I'll pass. Kinda scared of needles..." He trails off. 

"Pfft. Pussy." Yuta spat, Johnny was ready to give him a piece of his knuckles. 

Jaehyun blocks Johnny with his arm, "Cut him some slack man, I've known this guy since high school. Let him have his fun. He won't even remember this." 

The three head back inside to enjoy the rest of the party when the duo completely forget what they were initially here for. Johnny had spent the rest of the night enjoying himself, so did Mark.

You and Mark decided to play along with the drinking games these people planned, with the faces that you will surely forget by tomorrow. 

You've already had a couple to drink, so it became harder for you to aim in beer pong. Luckily, Mark was right behind you, with a steady grip on your hips and one arm helping you aim for the ball. 

You close one eye trying to focus as he helped you aim for the cup. "She shoots, she scores!" he shouts playfully and there goes another drink for you. 

"You still alright? We can stop if you want," He whispers, lips tingling on your collarbone, sending chills to your spine. 

You turn to face him, a gentle hand on his lean chest. "I want you.".  You whisper, dragging a painfully slow finger to his lips. You were so knit together that you could feel the growing tent in his pants on your throbbing core. He was irresistible. 

He gulps. Here comes nothing. Johnny sure knows his shit huh?

Mark quickly leads you upstairs, looking for a vacant room to settle in. He turned the knobs one by one but they were all locked, your last resort was a surprisingly available restroom. 

"Will this do for you?" Mark hesitates, because he didn't want you to feel uncomfortable.

Your tipsy self playfully pinches his cheek, "You do it for me, tiger." And it was enough to drive him to the edge. 

As soon as the both of you enter the bathroom, your lips connect once again, sloppily kissing each other like you were out of your minds. Like you wanted to swallow and consume this man whole. 

"I want you to see for yourself how crazy you make me." You say through the slapdash kisses.

He puts a hand under your dress, feeling your drenched cunt. "You're so fucking wet. Is this all for me?" He says out of breath, mouth almost watering with the thought of your pussy in his mouth.

"All yours baby." You bite his lower lip and stick out your tongue for him to suck. 

He raises your dress just below your ribcage and slides down your black lace lingerie as it fell to your ankles, "Just so you know, I'm keeping this." Mark smirks as he quickly puts it in his pocket. 

"It's meant to be yours," You purr, setting your back flat on the cold tiled wall, throwing your head back at the sensation of Mark leaving wet kisses on your thighs. 

He kneels and places your legs over his shoulders, lifting your feet off the ground. He was sturdy as a rock as his two arms held your thighs for support while you removed his cap for you to wear over your head and your fingers to be locked in his hair. 

"Fuck." You hiss as his tongue lapped on your folds, slurping on your wetness like he worshiped you. He sucked repeatedly on your clit making your legs tremble, so good that you might fall over but his reflexes were out of his world and he knew where exactly to support you. 

Your eyes painfully roll to the back of your head from the sensation he was giving you, "God, Kalen don't fucking stop-" you moan and you swear this man had some spell casted on his mouth by how magical it worked. 

You grind your hips involuntarily as his mouth followed it, like this could not get any better than it already was. But you could only take so much. "Kalen I'm gonna cum, fuck" 

"It's not over until it's over baby," he sets you down and removes his mouth from your pussy, you could barely stand with your legs feeling like absolute gelatin. 

Mark gets a condom out of his pocket and quickly unbuckles his belt, making his jeans fall to the ground and expose his throbbing cock, boxers wet with precum. 

"You think you can last longer for me baby girl?" 

You could only nod your head eagerly because you were growing extremely impatient. 

He wraps your legs around his waist in a swift move. "Good girl" He whispers, and you were more than ready to take him. Again and again. 

He inserts himself inside you, stretching your walls and you whimper, wrapping your arms around his head to keep his face close to the valley of your breasts. 

"That's right, open up for me, pretty girl." He pleads as he continues to thrust in a steady pace. Breath hitched as he brought his face up to you, slurping your tongue once more like it was a popsicle that he couldn't get enough of. "Taking me so well like always huh?" he chuckles and picks up his pace, throaty moans escaping his mouth. 

Thank fuck the music in this house was loud enough to blow off people's eardrums, making your moans almost inaudible outside, but loud enough for Marks pleasure. For his ears only. 

“Fuck I’m almost-” Mark huffs, “there.” he breathes. When his pace becomes sloppy and finally comes, you hold onto him, your legs numb that you could barely stand on your own. Conscious with the fact that Mark will get to see how fucked out you look, but he absolutely loved it. 

-----

"What'd I tell ya? That condom didn't go to waste." Johnny snickers while laying in bed, tossing his football. 

Head in the clouds with the thought of you, Mark could only smile to himself but quickly changes the subject before they both lose all purpose. 

"Find anything out yet?" Mark asks mindlessly, because all he could think about was you. 

"Nope." Johnny says, popping the p. He lied.

And something clicks with Mark. That packet of NCT he managed to keep in his pocket. He rushes over to his hamper and flips the pockets of his pants. 

"Someone handed it to me yesterday, I kept it for evidence to bring at the headquarters." He hands the packet to Johnny.

The elder observes it, trying to push the thought of Yuta possibly being a dealer to the very back of his head right now. Give it time. Mark was just starting to enjoy being with you, Johnny has been enjoying being one of the new aces in the football team, it wouldn't hurt to hold it out for a little while. 

"Also," Mark adds, "Y/n knows about Minjung. Said she lived across the hall."

"And?" Johnny anticipates. 

"That's all I know for now. It's still a big step though." Mark concludes.

----

Johnny spends his free time hanging with Jaehyun and the rest of the boys. If not in practice, they hit the gym to always be in tip-top shape. 

Yuta swings a heavy arm over Johnny's shoulders, "Well isn't it our quitter!" 

Johnny shoots Jaehyun a look, "You told me he wouldn't remember." 

Jaehyun could only chuckle, "Well he did." 

Yuta was loud as a goose, he seemed to have so much more energy than the other members of the team that Johnny became suspicious of where it came from. 

He recalls the time when the chief described the effects of the NCT substance, and one of them was being focused and hyperactive.

Yuta, besides being silly, was on top of his own game. After joking around he was a hundred percent focused on the gym, his reps were consistent, his routines were clean. Jaehyun tells Johnny that Yuta was also one of the greatest instruments of the football team. Though not gifted with the brightest mind, he worked hard to stay in this university to prove his parents wrong—and to avoid business school.

He was a potential heir to a known electronics company in Japan, but he insisted that he pursue being part of the varsity team to keep his scholarship in sports science. Which until now was an endless debate between him and his parents. 

Jaehyun had invited Johnny to stay over at the frat house to hang out, and he did. 

It was different to see it in daylight, with no people partying, no vomit and crushed chips on the floor, it looked well taken care of. 

"You guys clean this up yourselves after every party?" Johnny asks, impressed. 

"Yep," Jaehyun proudly says. 

"You gotta look out for the shit they leave behind here. It's amusing." Yuta retorts. 

Johnny raises a brow, "Oh yeah? Like what?" 

Without wit, Yuta replies, "Drugs"

Johnny, absolutely being taken back by his bold remark was immediately clutched by Jaehyun, "He doesn't mean it." 

His suspicion grew so much that he couldn't help but finally bring up the subject. "Like what? Like NCT?" he enunciates. 

Jaehyun, quite astounded by Johnny's knowledge with the substance replies, "Hm maybe. You know about that?" 

And he was in the trance. "Heard of it yeah, can you hook me up with some?

"Oh sure it’s right-" Yuta reaches for his pocket, "here." and sticks his middle finger out playfully. Johnny swats it away.

"Woah there-" Jaehyun almost bust a gut while laughing. "You're definitely new to this. We don't have any." He tells Johnny. "Don't be such a narc." 

Way too defensively, Johnny retorts, "I'm not!"

"That's what they all say." Yuta shrugs with a chuckle.

 He spends the rest of the afternoon with them and surprisingly hasn't dealt with unusual rituals and behavior. They acted their age, playing games on a PS5, drinking soda until their bladders exploded, filling themselves with junk food and spray cheese. He could be wrong about them after all.

----

Days passed and not a single thing has led them closer to their target person, it was harder than they thought even when everything felt like it was right in front of them. 

"Student-Parent day is coming soon, are you going?" You ask Mark as you take a sip of your coffee. 

You took him to your favorite coffee shop for the first time, it's a nice and quiet place for you to study and relax. 

"They have those?" Mark hesitates because then he'd have to tell his parents that he's undercover and they'd forget and blow it for him. "I guess so." 

"Good. Because I'd like you to meet my parents." You smile. Though you didn't know where you stood with Mark, the past few weeks with him had been a breath of fresh air. He was kind, funny and supportive. He was simple yet his ways of showing his thoughts were sophisticated, never had you once thought that you would get along so well with a person in such a short time. You weren't the one to ask for labels though. You simply liked to enjoy whatever you had at the moment. In your experience, putting labels on things just always gave a reason for it to vanish. 

"What why?" He says, a little too surprised.

"Look Kalen, don't break a sweat with this. I'm just going to introduce you. They won't mind." You assure him. 

He simply leaves the topic behind and ponders on how he could make this work. He was scared because you had no idea that this was all temporary, and he's terrified by the fact that he wishes it wasn't. He was finding all the possible reasons and excuses to retract himself from this relationship he has with you, but all you ever gave him was a reason to stay. It broke his heart knowing that one day, he'll have to disappoint you with the truth. 

"Something wrong?" 

He snaps out of it. "Nothing." and forces a smile. 

-----

"We aren't making any progress man," Mark runs a hand through his hair and sighs. His back falls heavily on his bed.

Johnny anxiously bites his lap, eyes fixated on the floor. "Yuta has a tattoo…" 

"What?" the younger jolts up. 

Johnny backs up defensively, "But it wasn't the one we saw! You know how the tattoo artist said he's done a couple of those."

"Are you shitting me right now? We've been trying to find it for weeks! Why didn't you tell me?" His voice raises, and a vein on his forehead couldn't help but emerge. 

"I don't think it's him man, I told you it’s not the same tattoo" Johnny defends. 

Mark lets out a pungent laugh, poking his tongue on the inside of his cheek, his jaw stiffens. "Right. I knew it. " He says in disbelief. "Everything's right in front of you already! Too scared to bust your new besties now?" 

"They aren't my new besties stop making up bullshit." The elder stubbornly defends. 

"No you stop because I'm actually trying here!" 

"Oh you are? Explain why you're getting so serious with that girl of yours. Wait until she finds out that she's just part of the plan." He jumps on Mark's throat and walks out of the room. 

The thing is, you weren't even part of the plan. Not at all. 

-----

"You better have good shit for me today." The chief clearly was not being in his best mood today. 

Mark scoffs, he and Johnny had not settled their differences since the fight from two days ago, they were doing their own investigations without communicating. Which was a big no.

"Ask the big guy here, I'm sure he has something." Tongue in his cheek, Mark glares. 

The chief slams a big hand on the table and shouts, "Stop acting like fucking children!" 

Johnny stiffened up on his seat, and gulped before he spoke. "I think we need to initiate a drug test on one of the students, chief. I have my eye on this one person. We could pretend to say that the thing is randomized and mandatory. If the intel can look up information about his parents, we could send a pretend automated message about their child being randomly selected for a drug test." 

The chief seems to be taking Johnny's point well, "And who is this you suspect?" 

"Nakamoto Yuta." 

Mark looks at Johnny with wide eyes, he thought Johnny wouldn't be turning him in. 

"I see. I'll get the department to execute this idea of yours and we'll let you know right away. Dismissed." 

Mark catches up to Johnny who had been walking ahead of him and tries to reach for the elder's shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me?" 

"Let go of me," Johnny knocks Mark's hand off his shoulder. "Are you happy now?" 

Dumbfounded, Mark couldn't seem to understand where Johnny's irritation was coming from. "Look man, I'm sorry you had to turn one of your friends in but you know it's our job." 

"I know okay? I don't need you telling me what to do because so far, I know pretty damn well that I'm not meddling in your fucking business." 

Mark pushes a hard hand on Johnny, making him stumble a little. "My relationship has nothing to do with this. Are you jealous? Because if you are, I know pretty damn well you can score a lot of chicks here. I don't see the problem." 

Johnny tries to speak but was unable to because Mark had already stormed off elsewhere. 

----

 "Shit. My parents are coming to fetch me today." Yuta runs a veiny hand through his ginger hair; another reason for his parents to pull him out of university. But here's the first: 

Jaehyun, disinterested even if he knew it was serious whenever Yuta's parents butt in and ask why.

"They wanna do a drug test on me." 

Jaehyun chortles, "What? You? What made them think that? Besides you acting like a crackhead?" 

"They got this stupid email from the dean that I was amongst the randomly chosen individuals to get tested." He pops a sour kid patch in his mouth, "They're never letting this go." He pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head. "I have never even tried NCT." he rolls his eyes. 

Yuta, though by the looks of him, gave an impression of a boy who would try everything in front of him, but he's a wuss with a good conscience. Too good.

"Well, you are innocent after all, right?" Jaehyun shrugs. "There's nothing to worry about. Um, besides your dyed hair, your tattoo, that lip piercing." He eyes him up and down. "No biggie, just probably uh—two weeks worth of grounding. And no allowance." 

"Fuck you man." the ginger-haired boy glared.

------

Johnny walks around the campus, alone. It sucked to not be on good terms with Mark, what ever happened to bros before hoes? It just wasn't the same doing things without him. Johnny had given Mark his personal space for the both of you, but at times like this—it was the hardest to stay out of it. 

As he passes by the back of the Fine Arts building, he sees two familiar faces on the exposed staircase. 

He squints his eyes and tries to focus on who those people might be, the mop of ash purple hair too familiar. But one thing that utterly shocked him was the sight of someone he expected the least.

It was you and Jaehyun, standing way too close to each other for anyone's liking.

Johnny takes a deep breath and sucks in his cheeks. He didn't know what this meant, and he wished he wouldn't have to be the one to give it any interpretation that would disappoint him and especially Mark. 

He walks away from the scene before you get a chance to see him.

"Jaehyun, you don't have to stand this close to me," You backed up, hips hitting the ledge lightly. 

He looks to the side, then back at you. "Sorry," he cockily says, backing up with both of his hands raised. "Can't help it. My best friend's too fine. And someone was looking." he mumbles.

"What?" 

"Nothing, he's gone"

"You know I'm with Kalen right now Jaehyun." You say with worry, it could've been anyone. "Quit. Don't ruin this for me." 

He manages to let a disgruntled chuckle, "And yet you still can't put a label on it." 

And with that, he was off. 

The entire time Johnny was battling with himself if she should tell Mark about what he saw or not. Them being in a misunderstanding right now doesn't change the fact that he was still his best friend. 

After the excruciatingly slow walk to the dorm, he had hoped that Mark wouldn't be around, so he wouldn't have to face him with the information he had right away. He couldn't even form the words for it. The. again, when did anything ever go his way, right? 

Johnny enters the room and there was Mark, munching on some chips while viewing something on his laptop. Something probably for one of his classes. Mark didn't have to take this so seriously (by this he meant his classes) but he did, because the Mark we all know just loved to learn. Good for him. 

He ignores Johnny's presence; though he was very much aware of it. The elder plops down his bed and grabs his football to toss around. It was so awkward; not greeting each other with their usual weirdness and excitement. It felt like there was this gaping hole between them that both of them were afraid to cross, and no one had the initiative to take a risk—for now. 

"Find anything?" Johnny asks Mark, eyes on the ceiling. 

"Nope." 

"Why not?" 

"Do you have anything?"

Well, he did. But not about their task. Instead, he says "Nope." but he couldn’t help but ask. “How are you and y/n?”

“Good.” Mark plainly answers.

“Good.”

And left it at that. 

-----

You were going to let your parents meet Mark today, and his would meet yours. You were new to this, there was not a single man you had introduced to your parents, aside from Jaehyun. But that was a different story, because Jaehyun was a childhood friend. 

So Mark was the first… whatever this was called. You couldn’t get yourself to call him that, you didn’t deserve to. For you labels were earned, not just given. But this will do for now. 

You see him from a distance with his parents, he resembled his father’s face structure and his mother’s eyes. His smile was uniquely his own. You wave a hand in the air and he catches the sight of it, smiling even wider. 

“You’re in college again honey?” Mark’s mom asks, clueless.

“Mom, I'm undercover please don’t bring that up anywhere. Please keep quiet for me.” He whispers sternly. 

His mom zips her mouth figuratively, his dad got the idea of the whole thing, so they acted according to the assignment. 

As he got closer to where you were, his legs grew weak. But he couldn’t falter, he had to put on a strong face. But at that moment, Mark wanted to be buried alive. He wanted to turn his back and run away.

“Mom, dad, this is Kalen.” You present him to them with a grin. 

“H-hello.” Mark lets out, his chest clenching. 

“Kalen. You sure I haven’t seen you before?” Your father says, gripping Mark’s hand firm, he could almost squeeze the guts out of it. Your father was his deputy chief. 

Mark, crushed under the man’s grip, “N-no sir.” he manages to blurt out. 

You sense the tension and tell your dad, “Dad, that’s enough.” 

Your dad let go, with a smug and bitter look on his face. Your mom, who- with absolutely no idea what Mark has to do with your father, greets him politely. 

You greet Mark's parents with glee, and proceed to walk with him, keeping a fair distance from both your parents. "Sorry about my dad, he's just stressed about his job. He's a deputy chief, rustling with knuckleheads all the time." You explain. 

Sure he's been through a lot. Mark thought. "Yea yea, I totally get it. It's fine." he nods. Knuckleheads. He laughs to himself. 

The rest of the parents’ day event was a total drag, every time Mark got into eye contact with their chief, it had seemed like the man wanted to rip his head away from his body, or maybe skin him alive. Mark had no idea, because if he did he wouldn’t have risked going this far with you. What is left to do now? How can he ever face his boss knowing that he broke the first rule given to them right in his face? And with his own daughter? He should start digging his own grave at this point. 

But the chief didn't lay a finger on him, not now when his daughter was at stake. 

----

Mark has been itching to tell Johnny about what had happened. He was willing to set aside their differences because he needed his best friend, now. 

"Johnny-" Mark breathes, not making eye contact with the elder who was on his phone, this room had been dead silent for days. 

Johnny's head perks up, it was nice hearing him call his name again. "Yeah?" 

"I kinda messed up… big time." Mark scratches the back of his head, shameful. 

Johnny sits up, and listens to the younger more attentively. "What do you mean?" 

"Y/n.." he trails off, "Y/n is the chief's daughter." And catches his face on his hands. 

"Fuck…" Johnny didn't know what to say. "How'd you know?" 

"The student-parent weekend thing. God, I swear dude he was going to skin me alive if he could. But shit, I didn't know!" Mark exclaims, hands all over the place. "If I did then I wouldn't have gone through with this. She has never told me about her parents until that day. I don't know what to do." 

He seemed so helpless, he didn't want to break to you like this, it was too messy. But damn if he didn't want to keep being with you. It couldn't end like this, not yet. 

"I- I don't know what to say man… God I'm sorry this sucks ass. You know I always let you do what makes you happy right? But what if," Johnny stops, debating if he should go on with what he planned to say. 

"What if?" Mark anticipates. 

"What if she isn't who you thought she was?" 

"Great. I'm so fucking stupid for thinking you would be with me on this one." Mark slams his hands on his lap and stands, slamming the door on the way out. 

"Mark-" Johnny reaches for the door but misses a beat, it was too late. He let his best friend slip away from him again. 

And as soon as Mark left their room, he was on his way to meet up with you, hoping you would be free. He hadn't had much time with you after the following days of the event because you had always excused yourself with how busy you are with your submissions and requirements, or that's what you would like to tell him. 

Your phone rings in your pocket as you excuse yourself from the people you were with at the moment, when you check to see who it was, you find the quietest place possible. 

"Kalen," You spoke, "What's up?" 

"Are you free? I was hoping I'd finally catch you." 

You sigh, you missed spending time with him. "I am," you say in advance before you bail out of this place you were in. "See you at the cafe in 10?" 

You hear him chuckle over the line, and you just knew he was smiling when he said "Great, I'll see you." 

"See you, Kal." You smile and tuck your phone back in your pocket. 

"Who was that?" Jaehyun asks when he bumps into you in the hallway of the frat house. "Oh you've got that sickening smile right now. It must've been Kalen" He rolls his eyes. 

"Whatever Jae," You brush past him. "I'm heading out." 

"But we're not done!" 

You didn't respond and left, shutting the door behind you. 

The cafe was a short walk from your university, but you just happened to bump into Mark on the way, now you don't have to walk alone. 

He smoothly slips his hand in yours, holding it gently and reading your expression. You look to the side with a wide grin on your face, unable to help the fact that you were blushing like crazy. 

"Nice hoodie," he comments. The garment looked a little too familiar to him, he just couldn't quite put his finger on it. “You never gave back my jacket..”

You mentally facepalm, forgetting the fact that you were wearing Jaehyun's hoodie. You pray that Mark wouldn't see this on him anytime soon, you wouldn't want him to get a bad idea. 

"Oh right that, I’ll get it dry cleaned and I’ll give it back" you utter. "Something bothering you?" You ask, trying to read his sulky expression. 

He shakes his head, "No no, I want you to keep it. And I just missed you." He forms a small smile, making your heart melt. You were so easily captivated by his presence that it scared you. He always left you feeling unhinged—in a good way. 

"I missed you too, tiger." You grip his hand a little tighter.  

When he licks his lips, only by then you realize how much you missed kissing him. Right then and there, you just wanted another taste. This was exactly why you were trying to keep yourself busy and away from him for a bit; you had to convince yourself that you couldn’t be attached to him because you could never take care of the things you keep. 

He opens the door for you like always and the chimes in the cafe ring in a sweet melody, a sound that always reminds you of your moments with him. The both of you always shared comfortable memories in this cafe, from small coffee dates to working on papers until it closed. You couldn’t imagine sharing it with anyone else. 

When you settle down he automatically takes your usual orders right away. You could not take your eyes off him, he was such a dream.

He sets the tray down with your drinks, and a pastry that you shared a love-hate relationship with. Cheesecake.

You chuckle at the thought of recalling all the times that you convinced Mark that cheesecake slices weren’t supposed to be as huge as they are and that there are definitely better one’s in other places, but Mark’s favorite was Starbucks’. Maybe that’s why you have learned to love it somehow, because you get to enjoy it with him. 

"I thought you didn't like this? You almost finished the whole thing… I literally bought this for myself." He says sarcastically, very much amused at how you barely even noticed that you were close to finishing the entire thing. 

"Oh shit.. sorry" You show him a pout and feed the last piece to him. "Here." You smile cutely. 

He rolls his eyes and bites it off your fork, you both bid goodbye to the cheesecake. 

Mark’s phone rings in his pocket and when he checks to see, it was Johnny. He lets out a sigh and puts his phone back in his pocket. 

“Are you going to take that?” You ask. 

“Nah”

But Johnny was persistent, he did see this coming. He knew that Mark would ignore him at first so he decided to send him a message. This was about their job. 

“Mark, I know you hate me right now but we have to go to the office. Yuta’s tests came back.” Johnny sends. 

Mark takes a peek at his message, immediately standing up. 

“Where are you going?” You say, surprised. 

“I’m sorry I gotta go- meet my brother. He needs me for something.” He hesitantly leans forward, wanting to kiss you on the lips but kisses your forehead instead. “Text me when you get home okay?.” And with that, he was off. 

Mark rings Johnny and the elder quickly answers the call, Mark informs him that he would be heading to the office by himself since he was already closer to the location. 

But he suddenly remembers about his conflict with the chief. So he waited for Johnny to arrive outside. 

Lowering his pride he says, “I’m scared.” 

Johnny looks at him with empathy and says, “We can’t change what happened Mark. Just take it all in for now and we’ll figure out what to do about it later.” He pats the younger’s back and gives his shoulders an assuring squeeze before heading inside. 

Mark could not look at his boss, the feeling of wanting to be eaten alive was back again, why did he have to be your father? 

When Mark finally gets the courage to face him, the chief yells, “The fuck are you looking at?” making Mark flinch and shrink into his seat. 

Johnny felt the need to protect his friend and at the same time, to get what they were really here for. “Um, Sir can you save the ass beating for next time? We really need to look into Yuta’s results now.” He scratches the back of his neck. 

The chief grunts angrily, getting the file from his drawer. “Negative.” He says. 

Mark and Johnny give each other a look and take the folder that had the results, trying to analyze how it could possibly be negative. 

“Dammit.” Johnny whispers to himself, they had to move quickly before everything slips away from them. He takes note of Yuta’s contact number in the file to use for later. He closes the folder and places it back on the desk. “We’ll take care of this chief.” 

“You better. And you,” He presses a hard finger on Mark’s chest, “Stop fucking around with my daughter. I’ll cut your dick off.” 

Mark purses his lips before speaking, “She’s-” he gulps, “She’s really great sir. I’m not playing around with her. I’d never do anything to hurt her.” 

“You already are.” 

-----

The following day, Yuta receives a text from an unknown number, asking him to meet in an unusual location on campus. He was very skeptical at first but  believed that it was probably harmless. 

“Yah, Rolan! Sup.” He offers his fist to bump. “I was just waiting for someone here too. Some random number texted me and I was like "you know, fuck it"” he shrugs.

Johnny couldn’t help but chuckle. Was innocence even the word to describe this? "And you believed them?" Johnny shakes his head.

“Yeah! Look here’s the number” he flashes his phone screen to Johnny, “I wonder where they are. Let me give them a call.” he mindlessly puts the phone next to his ear. Yuta hears a muffled cellphone ringtone and looks around for it. “Yo, your phone’s ringing you should get that.” Yuta says to Johnny, still having absolutely no idea.

“It was us who texted you, dummy.” Mark retorts, appearing from the shadows, now both of them are cornering Yuta. 

“Yo,-” Yuta laughs, still not getting the point of this all. “What’s your name again?” 

Mark rolls his eyes, “Kalen.” 

“Right! Kalen wassup? You’re his brother right?” Yuta points to Johnny with his thumb up.

Johnny pops a tongue in his cheeks, and cocks his brow. “Alright, fun’s over.” It was a shame he had to do this too early, but it had to stop. He locks Yuta’s throat with his arm, pushing him onto the solid brick wall. 

Yuta tries to toughen up and tries to push Johnny’s arm off, but due to their size difference, Johnny definitely kept him still. 

“What do you know about him” Johnny asks sternly. 

“A-about who?” Yuta coughs.

“Jaehyun. What does he do?” Mark follows. 

“Besides being the most handsome man I know, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Mark shakes his head, “Well,” and gets a gun out of the pocket of his hoodie. “Will this make you talk?”

Yuta looks at him with wide eyes, he was now scared shitless. “Why- how- who are you guys!” He exclaims. 

“The police mother fucker.” Johnny says. 

But despite everything, Yuta’s tactless mouth was definitely not his best asset. “I knew it. you looked too old to be a freshman.” He looks over at Johnny. “And you, I didn’t expect you to be a cop but you did give Narc vibes in that philosophy class.” 

Mark and Johnny give each other a look, they could not be sidetracked. 

“Are you done?” Johnny tells Yuta, and he simply nods. “So are you going to talk?”

“I’m telling you I don’t know! He never trusts me with his business, he says I have a big mouth.” 

Mark snickers, “I can tell.”

Yuta scoffs, and follows, “He’s been out often recently, but he never tells me where he’s going. So I don’t know what I can do for you.” 

“Listen here buddy,” Johnny warns. “If this gets to your parents that you’re involved with someone who supplies and distributes drugs, you’re going to get your entire family deported. Do you want that?” 

Yuta gulps, “No.” then helplessly says, “I don’t know how to earn his trust with these kinds of things. He’s known me since forever but-” 

“No buts.” Mark interrupts. “Use that head of yours or your ass is going back to Japan.” 

-------

Yuta had been on edge ever since that encounter with Mark and Johnny, now this entire thing would be up to him if he cooperated or not. Yuta’s heart had been lost a couple times, but it was definitely looking to be in the right place. So he’s trying his best to help out, even if it meant that he would have to turn in his best friend. 

When he gets the time to be alone with his thoughts he looks back at all the times that Jaehyun had made him feel like he wasn’t enough to be his friend. Not giving him a good position in football, walking out on him whenever he wanted to, keeping secrets from him. Maybe he was too busy trying so hard to be validated by Jaehyun that he never really got to realize that he lost himself in the process. Letting himself be trampled all over by everyone; this was his time to do something not just for himself, but for everyone else.

On the night when Jaehyun could not escape from Yuta’s presence any longer, he thought that it would be harmless to let his friend tag along for once. It’s not like he had other friends to be with, right? Right. Jaehyun could believe that if he wanted to. 

“I’m a bit sore today, you think you can drive me?” Jaehyun asks Yuta as they were walking in the parking lot after practice. 

To be fair, Yuta was sore too. But of course they wouldn’t care. “Alright, where to?” He still manages to say. 

“I’ll tell you along the way.” 

Yuta simply shrugs and Jaehyun tosses him his car keys, placing their gym bags at the trunk of his car. Jaehyun had given him directions while driving and it was somewhere he had never been and seen before. “Are you sure it’s here?” He says, trying to drive into a dark abandoned building with only the car’s headlights being the source of light. 

“Yeah yeah, wait for me here.” Jaehyun opens the door of the car and slips away from it. “Don’t worry, this place is safe.” He tells Yuta and shuts the door close. 

Yuta immediately whips out his phone, thinking that this might be his biggest clue and texts Johnny. 

I don’t know where I am, but I’m gonna send you my pinned location based on what my gps says alright? I think this was where Jaehyun had been going. 

Johnny immediately tells Mark about this and they immediately take their car to go to where Yuta had told them. 

 Rolan: Yuta, it’s not safe for you to stay there. Can you drive away and head back here? It would be better if we keep you alive. 

I guess I could, Jaehyun’s pretty far out now. I saw him go in somewhere, I’m sure you’ll find this entrance when you get here.

With that Yuta drives off and tries to find his way back to the campus, hoping that this would be successful for Mark and Johnny. He had such a strong feeling about this, everything could go right, or just extremely wrong. But he had to expect both to keep his feet on the ground. He did the right thing. He kept telling himself that. 

“Dude this place is sketchy as hell.” Mark says, looking around. “Do you think Yuta told us the truth? I mean he’s Jaehyun’s bestfriend right?”

“It wouldn’t hurt to try Mark, he seemed pretty genuine about it. Besides, all Jaehyun does is use him. I’m sure he’s tired of it.” Johnny says as they searched the place with their flashlights, their guns ready to fire if they ever go under attack. 

Finally, they find the entrance Yuta has been talking about, the chain attached to the door unlocked and loosened. When they get closer they arm themselves and keep their guard, Johnny kicks the door open and Mark could not believe what he had just seen. 

This couldn’t be. He kept repeating to himself, he didn’t want to believe that this was his reality. 

The reality that you were the one who was behind all of this.

“Hands up! We’re the police.” Johnny shouts, echoing throughout the entire warehouse. 

Mark gulps, he could not bring himself to move his feet and go closer. When you see him, you feel like you have been the biggest disappointment in someone’s life. “Kalen,” You plead with your hands up, terrified with the fact that Johnny had called off a warning shot, making you and Jaehyun back up. 

“Y/n.” Mark says, still struggling to get closer to you and lift his arm to aim his gun towards you. “Why- how could you?”

And you couldn’t answer him. The last thing you ever wanted to do was disappoint him, and yet you turned out to be every single disappointment that this world could think of. 

“Great.” Jaehyun says in anger, remorseful with the fact that both of you just got caught by the two people who had been the closest to you these past months. 

“Mark, come on. This is just as hard as it is for me than it is for you. We have to do this. It’s all we’ve been working for.” Johnny faces him, also extremely disheartened by this revelation.

Mark? His real name was Mark? “Who’s Mark?” You ask before he continues to approach you.

“Right. Now you know.” He takes a deep breath. He gets his handcuffs out of his pocket and races towards you before you could even get away. It was bizarre; how you even thought of escaping this. 

“You have the right to remain silent,” His hands shake while putting them against your back, “Anything that you say can and will be held against you in the court of law.” He swallows, and you sob. 

 “I’m so sorry I-” he cuts you off.

“You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.” He concludes the Miranda rights and adds, “It’s one thing to disappoint me, but another to disappoint your father.”

-----end------

[imagine-a-life-like-this]

You Are In Love (M.YG)

Warnings : mentions of cheating

Word Count : 2149

Synopsis : while laying in bed, she realizes she’s in love with min yoongi

When my eyes opened, I was met with my boyfriend’s sleeping face, and a smile spread across mine. His arm was lazily draped across my body, unlike the tight hold he had on me when we had fallen asleep the previous night. Watching him sleep peacefully like this, I couldn’t help but think about how lucky I am to call him mine. “What are you looking at?” He grumbled in his morning voice, his eyes slowly opening to meet mine.

           “The most handsome man in the world.” I whispered, leaning up to kiss his nose. He scrunched his face before pouting, saying I missed the obvious target and pulling me in for a sweet kiss. When we pulled away and I met his eyes again, his hand moving to brush some hair out of my face, I was hit with the sudden realization that I was in love with him. I knew I was falling; I’d been falling for him since we started dating. But being with him like this feels so domestic, and I want to wake up to his face every day for the rest of my life.

           “Coffee for the pretty lady.” Yoongi smiled as he sat across from me, placing both our drinks on the table between us. I thanked him and reiterated that he didn’t have to pay for me. “Let me be a gentleman.” He pouted and I giggled, completely giving into him.

           I was so nervous, playing with my hands in my lap as we talked and got to know each other better. But as the date went on, I found myself laughing more and becoming more comfortable with him. After we finished our coffees, we decided to take a walk around and enjoy the nice weather. At one point, he had slipped his hand into mine, smiling down at me when I looked over to him. “I like holding hands.” He said simply, his gummy smile on full display.

           “Me too.” I tightened my grip on his hand, and we continued walking around like that, telling each other stories of our lives, and just enjoying each other’s company.

           I met Yoongi through a mutual friend, Jung Hoseok, and there was a connection almost immediately. He was a bit distant at first, and I later found out through Hoseok, and then Yoongi, that it was because he found me pretty and got nervous around me. It took him almost three months to ask me on our first date, and then another month to make us official.

           “For you.” He said with a nervous smile as he handed me the plush he had won at the game at the fair. A blush rose to my cheeks and I accepted it, thanking him. “Those games are rigged, but I really wanted to win you something.” He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck as we slowly walked by all the concessions.

           “You’re cute.” I told him, causing him to stop walking. I stopped a couple steps ahead of him, and turned to face him, a look of confusion on my face. He just stared at me in silence, a small smile dancing across his lips that slowly grew into his wide, gummy smile that I adored.

           “You think so?” He chuckled, taking the two steps towards me, and slipping his hand into mine as we continued walking.

           “I know so.” I countered as I started swinging our arms back and forth, looking around at all the lights that seemed to brighten the darkening day. We made our way to the ferris wheel, completing our fair date night with a cliché. I looked out at all the lights, and watched as couples wandered around hand in hand, much like Yoongi and I.

           “Can I kiss you?” His question caught me off guard, and I looked at him with widened eyes, before giggling at his question.

           “You’ve kissed me before; you don’t need to ask.” I told him, and he wasted no time; cupping my face and crashing his lips to mine as if he would die otherwise.

           “Just let me be a gentleman.” He said softly after he pulled away, his hands still cupping my face as he rested his forehead against mine. The ride quickly came to an end, and we decided to call it a night.

           We held hands as he drove me home, his thumb running over my knuckles subconsciously. The ride was silent save for the soft music playing from the radio, but the silence was comfortable. When we made it to my apartment, he walked me to the door like he always does, but he seemed really nervous this time. I thanked him for a fun night and gave him a quick kiss goodnight. “Y/N.” He called before I could open the door, and I turned to face him. “Be my girlfriend.” He spit out quickly and my eyes widened. “I mean, uh, would you want to be my girlfriend?” He started kicking his feet and rubbing the back of his neck, and I couldn’t help but smile.

           “I’d love to, Yoongs.” I walked towards him, lazily wrapping my arms around his neck, and bringing him in for a sweet kiss.

           “I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch with Hoseok?” He asked and I nodded, asking him if he could pick me up. “It would be my pleasure.” He kissed me one more time before heading home.

           Hoseok wasn’t surprised when we told him we were dating, having to deal with our pining for months. He would act as if he hated being the third wheel but was actually really happy we both were happy. He’s taken so many photos of us it’s almost like he’s our own personal photographer.

           “God you two are disgustingly cute.” Hoseok rolled his eyes as he walked into Yoongi’s kitchen, Yoongi behind me with his arms wrapped around me as we cooked together. Neither one of us moved from our position, and Hoseok snapped a couple pictures. He definitely wasn’t complaining when he dug into the food and ate most of it, going on about how delicious it was.

           “It was made with love.” Yoongi smiled, pressing a quick kiss to my lips.

           “Wow I cannot wait until you two are out of the honeymoon phase.” He quipped, but I could see the small smile on his face as he watched his two best friends fall in love.

           Before meeting Yoongi, I believed I wasn’t meant to find love. Everyone I liked and dated seemed to treat me like shit; toss me aside for something better. I was scared Yoongi would do it as well, but he’s proven over and over again that he’s in this for the long run. And as I lay here in bed, staring into his eyes, realizing that he’s the love of my life, I can picture him at the end of the aisle, smiling as I walk towards him.

           “Y/N! What a small world.” Mark exclaimed, pulling me in for an awkward hug. “This is Jennie, my fiancée.” I looked down at her ring finger, seeing a beautiful diamond ring adorning it. “This is Y/N, my ex. She’s chill people though.” He said to Jennie. I smiled at her, extending my hand for her to shake. She did so with little hesitation. Yoongi slid his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him as he looked at the couple in front of us.

           “This is Yoongi, my boyfriend.” I told Mark, smiling up at Yoongi who was already looking at me with a smile. “This is Mark.” The two of them shook hands, and the four of us stood around for a couple of minutes before I excused us so we could go greet the man of the hour. “I forgot he and Jackson were friends.” I told Yoongi, trying to calm my pounding heart.

           “Are you okay? You don’t look so good.” Yoongi immediately led me to the closest chair, sitting me down and kneeling in front of me. He placed his hand on my forehead, checking my temperature while looking at me with concern in his eyes. I grabbed his hand from my forehead, holding it in my hand as I told him I was okay.

           “Mark’s the guy I told you about. The one who doesn’t do marriage. The one who was cheating on me; with Jennie.” He cupped my face with his hands, wiping away the tears I didn’t know fell.

           “Well honestly, that’s his loss. You are the most beautiful, kind-hearted person I’ve ever met. And because he was an idiot, I get to show you what true love looks like.” He ended his small speech with a small kiss. “Now, what do you say we go wish Jackson a happy birthday and then sneak away and go see that movie you wanted to see?” I smiled and nodded, taking his hand as we both stood up and made our way to Jackson.

           Yoongi was right. We just celebrated our 6 months last night, and I’ve felt more loved during these last 6 months than I did the 2 years I was with Mark. Yoongi always reminds me how much he cares about me, how beautiful he finds me. Not a day goes by without him reminding me. I was so sure I was going to marry Mark, but in this moment, I know that was just a silly dream, a wish. But marrying Yoongi, I can picture it. I want to spend the rest of my life showing Yoongi all the love he’s shown me, and then some.

           Come outside. His text read, and I didn’t even think twice about throwing on some clothes and meeting him outside. The sun had long set, and the stars littered the sky. There was only a small breeze ruining an otherwise perfect night.

           Yoongi was standing beside his car when I got outside, a wide smile spreading across his face when he saw me. I practically jumped into his arms, giving him a quick kiss. “You make it seem like you haven’t seen me in ages.” He joked; his arms still wrapped around me.

           “I haven’t seen you in 2 days. That is forever!” I jokingly exclaimed, throwing my head back to further make my point. A chuckle escaped his lips, and I absolutely loved the sound. I have since the first time I heard it. I could listen to it on repeat all day and not get bored.

           “You know what, you’re absolutely right. 2 days is far too long without you, angel.” He leaned in for another kiss, one I happily returned. “Shall we go?” He asked, pointing to his car, and I nodded, even though I had no idea what he had planned. I trusted him.

           He had driven us to an open field and laid a blanket down. “I wanted to star gaze with you.” He blushed, rubbing the back of his neck.

           “You really are too cute, Min Yoongi.” We laid beside each other, and I listened as he pointed out different constellations to me. He would tell me the stories about them, and I would hang onto every word.

           “And that one right there, that’s Y/N Y/L/N.” My eyes widened as I looked at him, sitting up quickly. He sat up too, pulling a folded paper out of his pocket, unfolding it, and showing it to me. “As of today, there is a star named after you. Because you are my star.”

           “You really just went and named a star after me.” I said, tears welling up in my eyes. “Just take my whole heart, Min Yoongi. I don’t even want it back.” He chuckled, wiping away the tears that fell.

           “If I could buy you the entire world, I would.” He told me. And I know he would.

           “You are my world, Yoongs.” I admitted to him. And that’s when he pulled me in for the most passionate kiss I’ve ever felt. And it didn’t end there. It ended later that night, in my bed, soft moans in the air as we slept together for the first time.

           As I laid beside him, recounting all my memories with him, I realized I’d been in love with him the entire time. For me, there wasn’t going to be anyone else. Min Yoongi was it for me. “What are you thinking so hard about, love?” He said softly, a small smile on his face.

           “How absolutely, irrevocably in love I am with you, Min Yoongi.” I admitted and watched as his small smile grew. “I’ve always been in love with you.” I continued.

           “I am so in love with you, Y/N Y/L/N.” He chuckled. “And I’m going to show you that every day for as long as you’ll have me.”

           “I was thinking forever.”

           “Forever sounds good.” Forever sounds perfect.

[pankowfruitsnackswriting]

sunday (r.c)

My work is NOT to be transferred, translated, reposted or copied to any other sites without my permission. That is plagiarism. But you can re-blog the heck out of it on here :)

paring(s): rafe x single!mom

summary: Rafe begin to spend every Saturday with Willow and her mom. Unfortunately plans had to be canceled. Instead of forgoing seeing one another, they make plans for Sunday. (Part two in the WILLOW SERIES)

warning: single parent, slight mention of shitty family

(master list) (tag list)

It had been a month full of Saturdays since Rafe first joined Willow and Y/n. Now it was rare for them to make any other plans on that day. Rafe slowly learned how amazing time off was. Although he conducted minimal work still on Sundays, by the time Monday rolled around, he was energized for the new work week. More importantly he looked forward to Saturday. A day he spent with his two favorite girls.

Y/n constantly filled his mind. When he woke up, all he wanted to was text her and asked how she slept. And when night came, he thought about if she had enough to eat. But he couldn’t. She never once showed interest beyond a friendship, they never hung outside of work except Saturdays. He never wanted her to feel uncomfortable with his advances. For now he would have to be satisfied with stolen glances at the office and simple touches here and there.

As for Willow, she began a light in his life. An image of pure, uninterrupted joy. Her giggles alone made him smile, not to mention they way she hugged onto his leg. The last time the three we’re together, Willow gave him a childish kiss on the cheek, told him that she loved him. It was a sweet moment, but warmed his heart immensely. Rafe always would look at the two and wonder how anyone could ever leave them. None of it was their fault, but he saw how y/n places that burden on her own two shoulders.

It had been a hectic week at the office for both Rafe and y/n. With the holidays approaching quickly, everyone’s focus had been elsewhere, looking forward to the Christmas week off. The man almost forgot his own Christmas plans with the extended family that weekend.  The reminder cause a frown to emerge. He would have to abandon the girls on which ever adventure they pick.

“Y/n?” Rafe quickly caught her before she could leave. It was a little past four, the bus coming soon and pick up time for Willow was nearing.

“Yes, Mr. Cameron.” The girl had insisted that during work she would keep it professional. She didn’t need anyone else believing she was taking handouts or seeking favoritism. Rafe tried to explain that it was okay, that not a lot of people worked in the wing. Nothing could change her mind.

“I have family coming in town for the holidays. It has completely escaped my mind.” Her smile faltered only for a second.

“I totally get it. As long as you aren’t working then my job is done.” Y/n’s face shown with content. Rafe almost thought she was glad he wouldn’t be around. Like he was some poor soul just needed a bit of help. It wounded his pride in more ways than one.

“Well, I’ll let you go. You have a good weekend.” She nodded and stepped out.

As the bus took off, all the girl could think about was Rafe. More so where her daughter was concerned. The child attached herself to him and looked forward to seeing him throughout the week. It’s all she heard about since they hung out with him the first time. Part of her questioned if it was best to bring him around as a constant. All y/n wanted for her daughter was the best and now she was unsure of her path.

When she thought of Rafe, she felt the warmness flood her body. He was kind and loving, and despite his front, the man was funny. He saw life differently than the rest of the world. In his eyes, y/n could see both the good he’s endured and the pain that he struggles with daily. Similar to her, the only difference is he uses it as his source of drive and power, whereas she separated herself from it in hopes to move on and not think about all she’s given up.

It would be a lonely Saturday, but one she would make the most of. Spending every second with her daughter.

----

Rafe stood at the counter, glancing at the clock every so often. Willow would be dragging her feet just about now, begging to “fill her tummy.” He smiled at the thought.

Out of curiosity, he caved into texting y/n. A Saturday with her was worth more than a family get together. He barely knew them and they weren’t invested in his or his family’s lives. They only came around when they could get something out of it, such as Christmas. No hate, he got along with them, just not his favorite thing.

Rafe: ‘checking in to see how you and Willow are doing. What adventure did she pick?’

He quickly clicked off his phone and helped Rose carry the main dish to the dining table. Rafe took a seat next to his father and Sarah, but Sarah was in conversation with John B and Wheezie about one of her college stories. Ever since she turned twenty-one, she thinks it’s socially acceptable to be a party girl. At one point in his life, that was him, and he would almost be proud of her. But he grew up. He saw things in a different light. Especially since meeting y/n. She too was twenty-one, but priorities were different. That woman had to grow up faster than most people her age and he could never imagine.

While everyone made their plates, Rafe took the time to check his phone.

Y/n: 'Willow had a fun time exploring the ER’

Rafe: 'Is she okay?’

His genuine concern surprised him once more. He couldn’t even imagine what he would do if it was serious. But the light tone of y/n’s text soothed his nerves.

Y/n: she’s coloring in her tent content as can be. Willow had every nurse and doctor wrapped around her fingers. Even bought her apple juice pouch on command.

Rafe: 'What happened?“

Y/n: I got distracted while cooking. Burnt my hand.

Rafe cringed inwardly at the thought. He learned early on that mothers have no off days, especially single moms. She surely wouldn’t take a break for a burn. And there would be no help from anyone else.

Rafe: That wouldn’t have happened if I was there.

He took the chance to be bold before slipping the phone back in his pocket. Rafe eagerly wanted to hear her voice to the point calling her consumed his thoughts.

"Rafe?” His father waved his hand in front of his face. “You with us?”

“Sorry.” Rafe shook his head. “Work related message.” He half lied. His assistant was work and the injury could impact her job.

“Is everything alright?” Ward began showing concern, thinking it was about another deal or problem.

“Y/n burnt her hand.”

“Send her my condolences and best wishes.” Ward easily saw the way his son began attaching himself to y/n. He’s done that type of thing since he was little. But this almost seemed more than that. As if his son had actual feelings. He didn’t know much about y/n, only that she had a hold on Rafe and could potentially be someone special in his life.

“I will.” Rafe smiled. “Now what we’re you saying?”

----

Y/n stared at the message she previously sent. He still hasn’t seen it, or at least made it known if he’s viewed it. That terrified her.

Y/n: 'Maybe if you showed up, it would feel better.’

It was blatantly flirtatious, but she didn’t know what else to do. It nearly drove her crazy not to see him. Her became part of her schedule and any disruption scared her. Part of her thought there was a deeper connection over time between the two. There had to be some explanation for the way Rafe treated her and Willow. Maybe it was made up in her own mind. But none of that mattered now because she made her move and will have to lay in the bed she made.

Rafe: 'By the time things wrap up here, it would be past Willow’s bedtime. Would tomorrow work?’

Her heart sighed. Things were for sure changing and she hoped it was for the best.

Rafe: 'Also my dad sends his best wishes, hoping for quick healing.’

Y/n: 'Don’t worry, I can still get the paperwork to him by the deadline.’

She chuckled at the small joke. She knew his father cares about his employees but sometimes he wanted to make sure the job gets done.

Rafe: 'Good thing you have to week off to ease up.’

Y/n: 'Don’t you have the week off as well?’

Rafe: 'There’s always things to do, y/n’

Y/n: 'Guess I’m going to have to keep you hostage for the Christmas holiday.’

Rafe: 'Wouldn’t be that bad.’

Y/n: 'I’ll see you tomorrow.’

----

Y/n sat in her bed, back pressed in the corner of the wall. Willow curled up in her lap while watching Sesame Street of the laptop, trying to her best keep up with the numbers. Her attention was solely focused on that, completely unaware of when her mom slipped her off to answer the doorbell.

She looked through the door only to get a glance of rafe. He wore a matching grey sweat suit and a tan plaid jacket. As she opened it, he lightly pushed a small bouquet of flowers with a sheepish grin on his face.

“Rafe.”

“Peonies. For healing.” The light flush that rose to his cheeks became evident, so he pretended to turn around and check if his car was locked.

“Come on in. I’m going to grab a vase and then we can surprise Willow.” Rafe noticed how y/n floated throughout the house despite her hand being wrapped up. “I didn’t tell her you were coming.”

Rafe thought about the joy soon to appear on Willow’s face and that made him grin ear to ear. “How’s the hand?”

“Second degree burns. It’s the size of my palm and part of my fore arm.” A shiver over took his body as he squirmed thinking about it.

“Ow, god damn. How does that even happen?”

“Willow ran up crying and I had a pot of bowling water. To not drop it on her, I placed my hand underneath to hold it.” She only wanted to protect her daughter. “It happens sometimes. I’m just glad she’s okay.”

Rafe noticed the selfless quality in her from day one, but this was so new to him. A mother who would do anything for her child. It’s different than the mother who left him and his two sisters behind. “Speaking of Willow, let’s go see her. I missed her.”

Rafe followed y/n into a small room. The walls were painted an off white, with vines hanging all about. It gave off that college dorm room vibe. Two twin sized mattresses were stacked beneath the window sill dressed in white bedding. A few wooden shelves were scattered. It was minimalist, lacking the childhood wonder Willow exhibited. Therefore he concluded it must have been y/n’s room. It was cute but really showed her youth.

Willow turned her attention away from screen to the man. “Rafe!” She squealed, shooting up. As he bent down to give her a hug, she summoned him to sit on the bed with her. Rafe sent a questioning glance to y/n, asking for permission. With her approval, he plopped down while Willow crawled onto his lap.

“What are you watching, lolo?” Y/n’s heart melted as she sat next to him. Rafe began calling her 'lolo’ after the second time they hung out. She didn’t know where it came from, but it was sweet. Seeing her daughter smile that big made y/n nearly propose to him on the spot. Just so Willow would be happy.

“Sesame Street. It’s my favorite.” The girl reached for her moms hand, dragging her closer. “With my favorite people.” Everyone joyfully giggled.

Rafe subtly pulled y/n closer, wrapping an arm around her. In return, she rested her head on his shoulders. “When is her nap time?” He asked, knowing an overall idea of the schedule already.

“An hour or so. I got to get her lunch ready.”

Rafe raised his eyebrows. “You shouldn’t be cooking with a burn. Take it easy.”

“I just have to just be careful.” She light nudged him, pushing him to lay down so they could both be comfy “She’s gonna have a lot more energy now that you’re here.”

“So it’s my fault that her mom invited me over?”

“No, but you seem like the type of person who burns a grilled cheese. Could you, I don’t know, keep her occupied.” Rafe grinned as she lightly wrapped her arms around him. It was an odd situation to be in. It seems that he became the little spoon. The feeling amazed him, almost as much as her gentle touch.

“We can run around in the backyard while you’re cooking.” He went to go move, but y/n held him down.

“Not yet, I like this.” Her chin nuzzled in between his shoulder and neck. His scent was intoxicating. Whirls of a warm mahogany teakwood and a sweet apple cinnamon filled her nostrils.

Rafe turned his head to get a glance at her. “Not as much as I do.” Her eyes we vulnerable, surely they would have to discuss it when Willow went to sleep. If they didn’t, things would surely get awkward.

After some time, y/n peeled off and made her way to the kitchen. Rafe sat up as well. “Do you want to go outside?”

She nodded. Allowing him to pick her up. “Mommy said to grab you puffy coat. Where is that?” Willow was familiar with dressing herself, typically her mom laid out what she wanted just so everything would match.

The girl leaned into him. “My room.” Rafe had never stepped foot beyond the front door so he wasn’t sure which one belonged to the girl.

“Is it this one?” He tapped a door and she began giggling.

“No! It’s over there.” Willow squealed again, leaning towards the other side of the hall. Rafe rushed that way making airplane noises as they went along.

The walls were a light gray with her name gracefully painted in cursive. Willow’s bed was a size bigger than her mom’s, pink bedding matching the area rug in the middle of the floor. She had a play tent set up in the corner. “Sit!” She pointed to it, before climbing off Rafe to grab her cold gear.

It was obvious y/n splurged on her daughter, taking the left overs for herself. Rafe desperately wanted to take care of her physically and financially, but he couldn’t force it. He didn’t want to ruin anything. If he made her feel the slightest bit uncomfortable, she would most likely pack her bags and leave town.

“Are you ready, baby girl?” Rafe questioned as she slipped on some fur boots.

“All done!” She threw her hands by her face with a her face pinched in a grin. Willow ran quickly throughout the house, all the way to the back door. She struggled immensely with the concept of sliding door. At least she knew it was glass and not opened. He would have lost it.

The pair began running outside, creating a world of make believe. Rafe ended up playing the dragon and prince all for the entertainment of Willow. It was exhausting, but he loved every second of it. Too many thoughts ran through his mind as he 'died’ on the patio pavement.

Y/n watched from the door way, a few tears escaped her eyes. Everything he did, caused her heart to grow even more for him. In fact it began beating for him. The way it picked up when he shared a smile at the office or when Rafe leaned over her, showing her something with paperwork. Lately, all he said went over her head,  only feeling his breath on her neck. It was too much.

Not to mention, the moment Rafe and y/n shared earlier. She never felt anything so pure, just holding him while he held her daughter. One of his hands stayed intertwined y/n’s, his thumb rubbing small circles.

“Willow! Lunch is ready.” She called out.

Rafe sat up. “Come on, lo. Mommy made some lunch.” Willow lifted her arms up, saying she was tired and needed to be carried to the table. “Anything for you, princess.” The young girl placed a kiss on his cheek, the rested her head on his shoulder.

Once inside, Rafe helped her wash her hands then set her down in the chair beside him. She instantly began telling her mom about Rafe saving her. The way her arms animatedly moved was adorable. He didn’t dare interrupt, just sat and listen while her mom tried to get a bite of her food in every few sentences.

Y/n looked at Rafe every so often, silently thanking him. The way he made her daughter feel special made herself feel special and extremely grateful for him.

“I can clean up.” Rafe offered. “You can put her down for her N-A-P.”

Y/n chuckled. Willow would flip at the word nap. Being told what to do would not fly with her toddler tantrums. “Thank you.”

With that, she picked up the girl, making promises of a princess book. “I’m tired.” Willow rubbed her eyes when she was placed down on the mattresses.

“Well it’s okay to close your eyes for a bit.”

“Will Mr. Rafe be here after?” Her daughter’s sweet voice filled her heart. The same question invaded her own thoughts. After the conversation that was bound to happen, who knows if he would still be around.

“I don’t know baby.” She brushed strands her her baby curls back. “I hope so.”

A kiss on the forehead and a quick story, Willow was out like a light.

----

Rafe sat on the couch, listening to the voices that carried. Of course he wanted to still be here when Willow woke up. He never wanted to leave his two favorite people. There is absolutely nothing y/n could say or do that would change his mind.

“Sorry. She just wanted to make sure she could say bye to you before you left.” Rafe shot her a soft grin.

“If you want me to stay, I will.” Y/n took a seat next to him, once again, allowing him to pull her closer.

She snuggled closer, pulling her legs closer to her chest. “Forever?” She hummed.

“I think we can work on that.” He smiled. “Because over that past few weeks I have had the privilege to get to know you and your daughter. I had the chance to follow you two around. If I am being honest, I’ve come to really like you. Even love. And I know that’s crazy, but I can’t stop thinking about you.”

She buried her head in his chest, hiding the warmth that flooded her cheeks. “Rafe.”

“I’m sorry. I know I’m your technically your boss, but I guarantee we never planned on this. It just happened.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I can’t be the only one feeling something. Not when your here, curled into my side, asking about forever.”

“You’re not wrong, but I’m just not sure about a lot of things.” Rafe felt rejected and for the first time in a long time he didn’t have immediately resort to anger. Back then he would of shoved her off and stormed out, but he’s changed. And she wasn’t like any other girl he knew before. It wouldn’t be fair to treat her like one. Instead, he just held her tighter.

“We can figure it out together. I want to be there any way you need. I want to just be there with you.” She was torn between pulling away and giving into his comfort.

“There’s a lot of things about me that you don’t know. The things I’ve done or even thought.” What would he think of her? Fear bubbled in her throat at all of her rebellion and troubles. “Willow is just the beginning.”

Rafe couldn’t understand. “I hope one day you’ll tell me all about it.”

“Rafe, you’re respectable, hardworking, and wonderful. Anyone would be privileged to know a sliver of who you are. Someone like you would taint you’re reputation. They’d call you a fool for throwing your life away for someone like me.” Rafe heard the torment in her tone. He could also sense the pain it caused her to even say those words.

Before, she never had to open up to anyone. Most people found out about Willow and ran. That’s before she even opened up about her family or Paris for that matter. It was a surprise Rafe lasted this long.

“Y/n, I don’t want to argue or fight. And I don’t want to cause you to feel pressured. But I love you and I love your daughter. For who you are right now and who you guys will become. Whatever happened in the past happened. I can’t change that. Whatever it is could only make me love you more because you are…” He looked around, thinking of how to convoy his emotions. “You. You are you.”

Y/n sat there, stunned. Pieces of her wanted to cry, but she couldn’t seam weak in his presence, she wouldn’t allow it. “You are very kind Rafe. I don’t want you to sign up for anything you don’t want to. It’s a lot.”

“I’m not perfect either. Someday soon we’ll talk about it. I promise to be here for as long you’ll allow.”

“You mean it?”

“Of course.” He placed a kiss to her temple.

“No. Kiss me.” She shifted with a grin.

“On the lips?” The gleam in his eye was evident to everyone.

“I think that could work.” Fear corset through her as she leaned in. She hasn’t kissed anyone since before Willow was born, let alone get close to anyone.

“Don’t be scared. I’m right here.” Rafe closed the gap, feeling every spark fly around the room. It’s crazy how he could already read her so well.

It couldn’t have been more the a few moments when they hear the voice of the young girl. “Mommy! Rafe! Breathe.”

Rafe pulls away, chuckling. “We’ll figure this out.” He glanced between the two of them and Willow.

“Maybe we could go to that Mexican place for lunch.” She pressed one more kiss. “While Willow has school you know.”

“Is she off this week?” Rafe scooted over, allowing Willow to crawl between.

“Only Christmas Eve til the weekend.” Nothing could interrupt their smiles and moments.

“Well, you see I’m off this week. And I only enjoy time off with my two favorite girls. I don’t want to be shunned for working on time off.”

“Are you guilting me to kidnap my daughter so you have something to do?”

“Yea. I am.” He grinned. Willow on the other hand heard the words kid and nap and knew exactly where that was going. “I not tired. I do no need nap. Please.” The girl drug out every syllable of the last word as she began to cling to Rafe for dear life.

“I think she needs you.” Y/n smiled.

“It’s okay, Lo. I’ll protect you from mommy. No naps for a while.”

Every giggled, finally settling down and making plans on some delivery dinner. Y/n and Rafe both shared knowing glances, excited to see where this goes.

tag: @deepestfancloud @obxluv @mrs-starkey1 @rafeswh0ree @halsmultibitch @agent007knight @hopebaker @fangirlfree @ameliaalvarez06 @fashphotolife @samcaniglia @apogueprincess @gryffindorpouge11

[amjustagirl]

CHAPTER 1 - TAKING FLIGHT

Fic Summary:

The sky Oikawa Tooru’s heart seeks is a world away from the earth yours is buried in. You are a fool to trust him with your heart anyway.

Where Oikawa Tooru does not make it to Argentina straightaway.

Chapter 1 // Chapter 2 // Chapter 3

Icarus, Icarus, I must be blind not to see you long to touch the sun.

Updates every Monday

Pairing: Oikawa Tooru x you, Oikawa Tooru x fem! reader

Genre / Wordcount : Angst (5.6k words)

Warnings: One non-explicit bedroom scene

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“Home sweet home ”, Tooru declares grandly, throwing his hands out with the air of a conqueror bursting with pride at the sight of his domain. 

Never mind the fact that the apartment looks like it’s been hit by a tsunami of cardboard boxes and scattered bits of furniture. Or the fact that you’re covered in sweat and grime from lifting boxes and shifting furniture and you’d very much like to lie down and not get up for the next week or two, but you can’t because of the never ending list of things to be done - unpacking your belongings, filling in your enrolment paperwork, attending medical school orientation to attend. 

But his words wash away the tide of anxiety lapping at the edges of your mind. 

Tooru wept and gnashed his teeth when his parents refused to let him chase his dreams to Argentina, and not a single professional team in Japan even looked his way. Don’t be ridiculous, his parents told him with wagging fingers, especially when Chuo University sent a full scholarship his way. 

“It is the top school for volleyball” you pointed out, as he spent yet another hour lying flat on his back, eyes swollen from spent tears. “You could go there and grab everyone’s attention by being their starting setter for the next four years.”

He does not respond. You wonder if he’s waiting for the paint on the ceiling to crack. 

“Plus” you add slyly. “I’ll be at Chuo with you.” 

This catches his attention. “What d’you mean”, he mumbles, throat still sandy with salt. 

“I got into medical school there”, you tell him  ,  the smile on your face growing when he finally hurls himself bodily at you, both of you toppling off the bed and onto the floor. 

“You’ll be there with me?” he whispers in disbelief. 

You laugh wetly into the crook of his neck. “Every step of the way”, you declare, slipping your hand into his. 

You’ve both transplanted yourselves from your childhood home in Sendai to a tiny apartment in Tokyo, a veritable hole in paper thin walls. Your hearth is a pair of rusty iron hobs, and your bed is a cheap mattress on the floor, but sunshine spills in from the windows like liquid gold and Oikawa Tooru’s hand is warm in yours. 

You wonder what you’ve done in your past life for the gods to smile down on you, to bless you with a boy you love in a place you can both call  home .

You’re not usually this sentimental, but just this once, you tug him down towards you, stealing a kiss from him. “I like the sound of that”, you murmur against his lips. “Our home, Tooru”. 

He chuckles, wrapping his arms around you. “Do you love me?” he asks, with a smile that cages your beating heart in his calloused hands. 

You are young. You are eighteen. You know nothing of the world. You know nothing of life. 

So you reply - “More than life itself”. 

He kisses you with languid ease, stealing the very breath from your chest. You tell yourself you have four years to work up the courage to ask if he loves you as much in return. 

“Medical supplies are expensive, so stop coming here to ask for cold presses that you don’t need”, you tell Oikawa Tooru, Captain of the Volleyball Club and currently a veritable pain in your ass for constantly hounding you during your shifts at the school’s sickbay. 

You resist the urge to sigh when he throws himself onto the cot, groaning dramatically - “How mean! You and Iwa-chan are the same - brutes, all of you! What’s a guy gotta do to get some tender love and care, especially when he’s injured?”

You cast a doubtful eye at the bandage over his right knee. “Iwaizumi said you recovered, but I guess if you’re really still injured…”

Oikawa grins, sensing victory in sight. “So you’ll give me a cold press and let me rest here during class?” 

You drop said cold press onto his knee none too gently. “Sure - though..” your voice trails off, you tap your chin thoughtfully. “That would mean you’re not cleared for practice. I’ll send a note to your coach.”

Gotcha. 

It’s your turn to grin when alarm dawns on Oikawa’s face, his eyebrows pinching together as he waves his hands at you, pleading you not to mention a word to his coach - pretty please with a cherry on top, he forgot to do his homework cos he was staying up late to watch volleyball videos last night and needs a place to hide, and you’re the kindest, bestest, person on earth if you let it slide this time, his knee is fine, just fine - 

You glare at him, unimpressed. 

He pouts, with the largest puppy dog eyes he can muster. Even you are not immune to his charms. 

“Fine”, you say flatly. “Just once.” 

He thanks you, promising never to darken the doors of the sickbay again without cause. 

Of course, he breaks his promise the very next day when he sidles in just before practice, dropping a milk carton and a bun on your table.

“An offering to the maiden of this shrine” he answers teasingly in response to the question in your furrowed brow, trying his best to exude arrogance and saunter off, though his efforts are defeated by the pink tint to the apples of his cheek. 

Oikawa Tooru, huh. You wonder. 

You and Tooru are drawn into the ebb and flow of university life. You wake up with him by your side each morning, kiss him on the cheek before you both head your separate ways. In a fit of fancy, you imagine that your front door is the portal to different worlds - a little like the enchanted door in Howl’s Moving Castle, a movie Tooru used to make you watch with him on repeat. When you step through it, you find yourself in the humdrum world of medical school - anatomy classes, stuffy professors, scalpels and knives. Whereas when Tooru steps through it - like the titular wizard, he bursts like a fiery comet into a wholly separate, magical world of whistles and drills and volleyball practices. 

Your worlds never collide in the day, even though from time to time, you sneak into the gym to watch him practice, unbeknownst to him. Typically, you only see him at night. Dinners are prepared together, shoulders jostling over the kitchen counter to cook rice and produce sourced from the supermarket’s discount bin, before you both huddle over homework. More often than not though, Tooru prefers to spend all his time crouched over his laptop, earbuds on, watching endless streams of volleyball matches. 

“Aren’t you ever tired of volleyball?” you ask when you see him analyse yet another video - Argentina versus Japan this time. 

You already know the answer before your question leaves your tongue but you ask it anyway, amused when he squawks in indignation and knocks over your cup of tea in his hurry to exclaim -  Sick of volleyball? Him, Oikawa Tooru? Never! 

Of course, you knew that. Chuo University is the top collegiate team for volleyball, so the coaches demand nothing but the best from their players. You watch by the sidelines as Tooru grinds his body into dust at volleyball practice, coming home every night with sore tendons and aching bones. Balancing a full business course load on top of that would stretch anyone to their breaking point. 

Anyone normal that is, because Tooru revels in his hectic schedule. 

You attend his first match and you’re blown away by how much he’s grown from being transplanted from barren soil into rich earth. The unerring confidence he’s already shown in his high school days blossoms into an elegant ease. His athleticism grows by leaps and bounds, his game sense sharpens, his sets learn true grace.  

He claws his way to a starting position with bloodied fingernails, in blatant disregard of anything that might stand in his way. He builds his own wings, starts to take flight, the light in his eyes shining brighter and brighter the closer he flies towards the sun. 

He is no longer the simple school boy you fell in love with from Sendai. 

“Will you go out with me if I win our next match?” he asks suddenly, lifting his gaze from the video he’s watching from his usual corner in the sickbay. 

“Do I look like a prize for some school boy’s grudge match?” You snipe back, head bent over your homework. 

“It was worth a try”, he hrumphs. 

You hide a smile. 

“I would go out with you even if you lose”, you tell him, though you do not lift your eyes from paper and pen. 

A laugh bubbles from his chest - surprised, delighted, triumphant. 

“I better make sure I win then. So you don’t change your mind.” 

He did not win that game, losing spectacularly in the finals in his second year against his fated rival - Ushijima from Shiratorizawa, a specter that still looms unti over every match he plays in up to today. 

True to your word, you sat on his doorstep, waiting for him to return home red eyed, throat raw. You let him drop his aching head into your lap, and like a maiden comforting a weary warrior, you pressed a kiss to his forehead as a balm to his wounds. Then you dragged him by the hand to your favourite ramen stall, ordering two bowls of tonkatsu ramen, with char siu, bamboo shoots, spring onions and gyoza on the side. An inauspicious first date, but you consider yourself lucky nonetheless for having him beside you. 

Things are different now. You are blind not to see him long to touch the sun. 

No one is surprised when Chuo University wins nationals. The only surprise to the media (but certainly not to you or anyone from Miyagi for that matter), is that Chuo University brings home the trophy with Oikawa Tooru as it’s starting setter. 

The boy king finally reaches the national stage. 

Even then, he is always, always grasping for  more .

“You were amazing!” you gush, as he finally breaks through the triumphant huddle of his teammates to swing you into his arms and greet you with his customary kiss. “I’m so proud of you!” 

His eyes glitter as he laughs, giddy with delight, face flushed with pride. “It’s just college, princess. Wait til I go pro”. 

Like Ushijima, you think, though that name remains unsaid. 

Wax feathers had already started to sprout from the knobs of his spine back in high school, budding beneath your fingertips like a cancerous tumour. Back then it was easy to be wilfully blind to them, but now it's become too obvious to be ignored. Oikawa Tooru’s ambition lies spread eagled, naked beneath the blinding lights of the sports hall. He has only just tasted his first real victory, crossed the first hurdle separating him from his dreams of greatness. 

“I’m waiting for that day then”, you respond teasingly.

You only realise later that you lied. He's left the confines of your arms in his quest for the skies.

You laughed when Tooru first broached the idea of sneaking out at night to gaze at stars in the sky. ‘What nonsense’, you’d said. What are the chances of seeing stars amidst the light pollution from a city, even a relatively minor one like Sendai? 

“You’re being a meanie, just like Iwa-chan”, he pouted. He kept whining until you gave in. 

Tooru picks you up from your home past midnight, chuckling when you label his rusty bicycle ‘a contraption from hell’ and ask him archly whether he truly expects you to entrust your wellbeing to the tiny rack meant to function as the pillion’s seat. 

“Stop being a princess, it isn’t as if I can magick a seatbelt from thin air” he teases. 

“Howl could”, you point out. 

“Well, I could strap you on with my bicycle chain if you prefer”, he answers blithely. “Get on, stop complaining”. 

He pedals all the way uphill to the deserted park near school, whining all the way about the strain the extra weight (you) puts on his knees (lies, all of them). You’re torn between pointing out that he chose to drag you out in the middle of the night and kicking him off the bike and commandeering yourself home instead. You choose instead to slap the back of his head. 

“Ow!” he squeals. “Brute!” 

“Hmph”. You fold your arms in satisfaction. 

When he finally finds a spot perfect enough to commence his stargazing adventure, he stops the back, spreads a picnic mat and hands you a flask of hot tea. 

“I don’t see any stars”, you say, after fifteen minutes of sitting, stiff and cold in the dark. 

“Don’t be impatient! The clouds will clear up soon”, he says, squinting hopefully. 

The sky remains overcast. 

You sigh, the breath expelled from your nose forming your own personal cloud. You are accustomed to Tooru’s quirks, his all consuming passion for volleyball, his love for all things outer space. You decide to indulge him a little, just once. 

“Why don’t you pretend we can see the stars and tell me your favourite thing about each one?” 

He brightens up visibly. 

“You won’t be bored if I did that?”

You prod his nose, but your eyes are fond. “Have you ever bored me?”

His chest swells. “I suppose not”, he crows, and proceeds to trace the constellations with elegant fingers, spinning stories and conjuring random facts about celestial beings you cannot see. You find yourself enthralled, not by his words, but by the lilt in his voice and depth in his eyes. 

“Why d’you love the stars so much?” you ask.

“Did you not just hear anything I’ve just said?” his voice teeters dangerously close to a whine. 

You click your tongue against your teeth. “I mean – trivia and myths aside. Why are you so fascinated by what are essentially flaming balls of gas and light.”

“The shallow answer is cos they’re pretty.” He says, laughing airily, before turning his gaze to you, the stark intensity in his eyes causing goosebumps to prickle the back of your neck. “But if my lady here is searching for a deeper answer, well. Aren’t stars the ultimate embodiment of the dreams of all humankind? Even as we strive and fail towards our petty goals, the stars are always there to remind us to look up and reach for the sky”

You flick his forehead. “Pretty words, for a pretty boy”. 

“Hey!” He scowls indignantly before he perks up. “Wait - did you see that? There’s a star!” 

The sky clears just enough for a pale light to peer through a gauzy cloud. You do see it, and it is indeed beautiful, but your attention has already been captured by the boy beside you. And Tooru being Tooru, naturally notices. 

“Why’re you staring at me instead of the sky?” 

Perhaps you’re drunk on the magic of midnight skies, perhaps you want to uncover the mystery of his smile yourself. Perhaps that explains why your eyes soften and why your words fall short of a whisper. 

“Because you are my sun, my moon and all my stars”, you say. “I like you better than anything in the sky.”

His mouth slackens and for a moment, his eyes are tender before his laugh breaks your flight of whimsy, and you bury your face in your hands, hot with embarrassment. 

“Forget I ever said that”, you plead. 

“Never!” he cries. “I’m going to remind you how cheesy you can be for the rest of your life!”

You end up having to kiss him to shut him up. 

In his second year, Sakusa Kiyoomi joins his team. Tooru finally meets someone who meets his impossibly high standards to fill Iwaizumi’s place as his ace. 

He’s literally bouncing on balls of his feet when he comes home after the first practice. 

“He’s so prickly and unfriendly but his receiving his top notch, and his game sense is fantastic, and best of all the spin he gives to each spike makes me drool - especially when I see the look on the other side’s faces when they try receiving his ball for the first time - ha ha! ”, he talks at you at breakneck speed as you both prepare dinner, side by side at the cramped kitchen counter. 

“Mmhm”, you reply, head thinking of the multiple lectures you attended today, the homework and readings you must do tonight to stay abreast. 

“-it’s his wrists, they’re so flexible it nearly made me puke when I first saw him stretch them”, he continues for the rest of the night, heedless of your wavering attention. 

You meet Sakusa at one of the few team parties you actually attend. You nearly stumble over him when you try to hide in your usual corner with a plate of food in your hand, watching as Tooru flutters around like the social butterfly he is. His nose and mouth are hidden behind a face mask, but even you can tell he’s uncomfortable to be around so many people, so you tug at his jacket sleeve gently to lead him away from the crowd to a seat at the top of the stairs. 

You don’t expect him to speak much to you, if at all, but to your surprise, he initiates the conversation. 

“He doesn’t take good care of himself”, Sakusa mutters. You nearly miss his words over the pulsing beat of the music. 

“Who doesn’t?” you ask - though you already know who he’s referring to. 

“It’s unhealthy, the way you push yourself”, you tell Tooru, hands on hips, standing at the door to Aoba Johsai’s sports hall. You hardly intrude here onto Tooru’s sacred space, choosing instead to stay in the library to study until he’s done with practice and you can both walk home together. But practice has long ended, and your patience has run short - not to mention Iwaizumi popped his head into the library to shoot you a worried expression, dark eyebrows pinched into a pained frown. 

You are aware of Tooru’s predilection for working himself to the bone. Or to the shredded remnants of the tendon of his knee, to be more accurate. So you tap your feet, looking pointedly at said injury. 

“I’m fine”, he tries to dismiss you without even looking your way. 

You refuse to let him. 

“You’re not fine”, you tell him coolly, taking another step towards the inner sanctum, the volleyball courts. White lines, painted into brown wood. A single ball, six per side, each jostling for their pride and god.   

“Tooru -” 

“I need to practice so I can win”, he snarls, handsome face mangled by an angry scowl. “Don’t be like one of those whiny girlfriends, you know I can’t stand that.” 

You are not so easily hurt by the barbs in his words. “You can’t win if you’re injured”, you attempt to appeal to his reason. “You know and I know and your coach knows that that knee of yours is going to cause you problems if you don’t rest it properly. So you better listen to me, because so help me - I can tell you that you’re not going to be able to come for practice if you keep pushing yourself tonight”. 

His anger simmers into a sulk. “You’re not a doctor”, he replies, a petulant whine at the tail end of his words. 

“Not yet”, you respond, and at that, he laughs, surprised that your arrogance matches his own. 

Your attention snaps back to the present when Sakusa calls your name. “Sorry”, you breathe. “Couldn’t quite hear you - who were you referring to again?”  

“Oikawa”, Sakusa says, confirming your suspicions. “Practises even though I know his knee hurts sometimes”. 

You thank him for telling you before carefully diverting the conversation to something a little more innocuous, buying yourself time to turn this new information over in your mind. 

You hear him hiss as you open the front door- “Iwa-chan, don’t be stupid, I can’t tell her yet!” 

It’s not an uncommon sight to come home at night to find Tooru cradling his phone to his ear whilst juggling a book in his other hand. It is the only time slot that he and Iwaizumi have to catch up. 

Still, it is uncommon for him to bolt into the toilet the minute he catches sight of you. 

“Is everything alright?” you ask him over dinner. 

“Peachy”, he replies between spoonfuls of rice. “Never been better”. 

He promptly changes the topic after that. 

“Not staying home for dinner?” you ask, arms wrapped around yourself as he lets the chilly air into your apartment, sitting by the open door lacing his training shoes up. 

“Wanna work in some more practice tonight”, he murmurs, gaze still locked on his shoes. “Serves and all that. Don’t wait for me, yeah?” 

“Right. Just...promise me you’ll take care of yourself, Tooru”, you answer, unable to keep the disappointment from leaking into your voice. 

He stands up, turns to face you with a cheery smile. “Of course I will. Anyway, don’t pout, princess”, he sing songs gaily. “We’ll spend some time together after the season is over, I promise.”

“Alright”, you say, unconvinced, reluctantly tipping your chin up to let him kiss your cheek goodbye. 

“Tooru?” 

You feel the mattress dip. “Go back to sleep, princess”, he whispers, pulling the sheets back up to your chin. 

“Where are you going?” You mumble, squinting your eyes at the clock by the side of the bed. “It’s four in the morning. The earliest you wake up for practice is five.”

“I just wanted to practice my serves a little more.” You hear him rustle in the bathroom. Sakusa’s words echo in your ears, and you sit up, bleary eyed. 

“Tooru?” 

“Mm?”

“Are you taking care of your knee? And getting enough sleep?”

He stiffens. “Of course”, he replies with the tight, plastic smile he only ever gives you when he’s trying to lie. “Why’re you asking me this? Who put ideas in your pretty little head?”

For the first time in your relationship with Tooru, you take care not to accidentally tread on the faultlines of his heart.

“I worry about you”, you say, gripping your sheets as he frowns. “I don’t think you’re sleeping enough - judging from the bags under your eyes, and you shouldn’t be over practising because your knee could very act up - “

“Look - I don’t have time to deal with this” he interjects with a snap. “Just leave me alone and go back to sleep.” 

“I’m only saying this because I love you, Tooru.” You automatically tack on - “More than life itself.” 

He pinches the bridge of his nose, breathing out a sigh. “I love you too ok? Stop worrying your pretty head about my health and my knee - we agreed you only get to nag me when you’re a full fledged doctor, remember?”, he adds, with a cheeky smile that does not reach his hooded eyes. 

You let him walk out of the house without another word, cotton sheets crumpling in your clenched fists. 

You don’t get to talk about it that night because he chatters at you about Sakusa’s tantrum during practice because someone hid his towel, and you can barely get a word in before he slips off to shower and sleep. 

He starts to disappear for days at a time, even after the season ends with him not only taking home his second trophy at Nationals, but crowned the best setter in the collegiate volleyball league. 

He tells you that there are overnight practice matches and camps. That he’s staying over at his teammates’ flats. You believe him at first. There is, after all, no reason for him to lie. 

Still, it is a little funny he refuses to allow you to do his laundry from those trips. You brush away your friends’ concerns that he’s cheating on you -  Tooru wouldn’t do that, you assure them with a wide smile that hurts your cheeks. 

Tooru would never lie to you. 

Then you bump into Sakusa Kiyoomi on campus when Tooru is away again. 

It’s night time. Shadows bleed into concrete roads. You’re on your way back home from hiding up in the library all day, reluctant to return to a home without Tooru when you bump into the reticent spiker. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be away at practice camp?” you ask innocently, worried that an injury might keep him from playing, though from a quick scan he seems to be fine. 

“Practice camp?” He echoes blankly, his face an open book of confusion. 

“Tooru mentioned that he’d be away from some practice camp for a few days...” 

Your words trail off. Your heart flutters, refuses to accept the truth staring you in the face. 

Sakusa frowns. His answer is brutal, direct. “There’s no training camp - hasn’t been in a while”. 

“Oh”, you murmur. 

Realization needles its way into the space beside your beating heart, drills its way into the marrows of your bones. 

“Are you ok?” You faintly hear Sakusa say. It’s your turn to lie. 

Tooru comes home the next day, a quarter past two. You’re sitting on the threadbare couch cross legged, a textbook balanced on your lap. 

“Where have you been?” 

“Practice camp. Didn’t I tell you that?” 

You scoff. The page held between your fingers starts to crumple. Your composure frays. 

“Really?” Your voice starts to veer into hysterics, straight across the highway into your emotional stratosphere. “Sakusa Kiyoomi told me that there’s no such practice camp, Oikawa. How about you try again with the truth this time.”

He reels back. You can see him trying to formulate yet another lie. 

“Princess”, he begins pleadingly, but your temper runs hot and you short circuit at the sound of your nickname from his lips.  

You stalk towards him, grabbing the bag in his hand. Like a woman possessed, you wrench the zip open, holding the bag open above your head, emptying its contents out. Dirty clothes, a deflated volleyball, toiletries spill onto the floor. You comb through each and every item in search of a telltale sign - a lipstick mark, a woman’s floral scent, something, anything for you to confirm his infidelity. 

What you find, however, is not what you expect. 

A red jersey, lying limp in your hands. A contrast to the university’s colours of navy and white.  

You flip it around. 

The words EJP Raijin are emblazoned across the jersey in stark white. 

You look up at him. He stares back. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?’ 

He has the decency to look away. 

“Tooru”, you repeat, voice trembling. “Why didn’t you tell me?!” 

“I was afraid of what it meant. For us”, he answers, dropping to his knees in front of you. “You know I’ve always wanted to go pro - and when the Div 1 teams started holding try-outs, I had to go. I tried out for them all except the Adlers, and EJP decided to give me a shot, which was like a dream come true… But I didn’t know if you would be happy if I did take it up.”

“Take what up?” you echo. Your mind is not keeping up with this turn of events. 

“Move to Hiroshima to join the team.” He answers warily, ready to flee at the first sign of danger. “You know I’d have to, right?” 

You look at him with fresh eyes, this boy you profess to love more than life itself. Wings spread from his shoulder blades, moulded by madness and greed from fire and wax. The reflection of the sun gleams in his eyes. He has left you permanently for the skies. 

“What about me?” Your breath stuck in your throat even as you refuse to relinquish the last hold you have on him.  

“If you love me”, he begins, reaching out to cup your cheeks and it’s your turn to reel back because you know he’s about to throw back your own words in your face. 

If you love me more than life itself - won’t you do this for me?  

But you are no longer eighteen. You are twenty one, on the cusp of adulthood. You know a little more about life than you did at eighteen.  

You know that your life is here - in Tokyo, among dusty books and lectures and tutorials on anatomy and diseases and germs, and you cannot upend your life and uproot yourself to Hiroshima just to follow someone else’s dreams. You love Tooru, but you do not share his dreams of glory and gold medals, of fleeting victory, of Olympian greatness. 

“I can’t”, you say, with a firmness that surprises even yourself. 

Again, he does not meet your eyes. 

“Then what shall we do?” He asks, lips pressed into a straight line. 

For a brief and terrible moment, you are tempted to throw your dignity to the wind, to fall on your knees and ask him to stay in Tokyo with you. But you can no longer turn a blind eye to what’s been staring you in the face for the entire length of your relationship, so you bite the insides of your cheek and grit your teeth. 

“We will do what we must”, you tell him, your head held high. 

You do not know what hurts more. The lack of pause in his acceptance to your suggestion that you break up, or the painfully obvious relief in his eyes. 

He goes to sleep in your shared bed, oblivious to your pain. You do not join him, choosing instead to spend hours seeking privacy in your toilet, knees aching from the cold floor. 

You are clinical, even in your anguish.  

Wring the liquid grief from your lungs, lay it on the floor to dry. Filter the water from your windpipe, the salt from your eyes. Your organs are scattered on the floor, battered, broken, torn. Save for your heart - you will need to retrieve it, whatever’s left of it at least. You last recall seeing it beneath Tooru’s feet, dashed to pieces as he spreads his wings and takes flight. 

You will put yourself back together with steady hands tomorrow, fill the cavity in your chest with the remnants of your organs, secure them in place with stitches and staples. Given time, you think your prognosis is good. 

You are young. You will heal. 

But now, you are allowed an hour or two to grieve at the very least. To mourn the loss of a relationship you still hold dear, a relationship that you only realise has an expiry date in the short span of a night. 

You are a fool for not realising it sooner. 

Perhaps he cares for you, but you must now confront the fact that you’ve been wilfully blind to. He could never give you his heart when he’s already given his heart up to someone else - to volleyball, a far more demanding mistress. 

You cannot compete with her. You should not have tried. 

Tooru files the paperwork to drop out of university. You find another flat, this time for one. 

In the weeks before he leaves, you watch him flit about the flat, buzzing with excitement like an overgrown child. His wings nearly suffocate you with its ever increasing breadth and length, but you do not begrudge his happiness. You still love him desperately. You still want what’s best for him.  

You write him meal plans, scribble reminders on the proper care for his knee. You help him label his boxes, arrange for them to be sent to Hiroshima via post. You do not tell him how tempted you are to slip yourself whole into one of them. But you start to build a cage for the remnants of your heart, turning a deaf ear even as it pounds against the bars of your ribs. 

The time finally comes for him to get on a train bound for Hiroshima. The time finally comes for you to leave the flat. 

“Princess”, he says softly, catching your elbow as you stand on the threshold, pulling you flush against his broad chest. You do not trust yourself to speak as he gently tilts your face up to his.

“Thank you”, he breathes against your lips. There is a lingering taste of regret in his kiss.

“For what?” you manage to ask. 

 His eyes pool with affection, swirl with sadness. 

“For everything.” He takes your hands in his, presses a final kiss to your forehead. Your traitorous heart screeches at you to beg him to say. You smother it beneath reinforced walls of steel and bone. 

Icarus, Icarus. This is goodbye. 

You make him leave before you, watching as he turns his back on you. Then you steal a minute to potter through each room in the little flat that was your home. The bedroom, barely large enough for two. The bathroom, with a propensity for leaking, the shower where Tooru insists on serenading the neighbours, much to their discontent. The kitchen, full of memories of shared dinners, and quiet conversations. 

You bid farewell to two full years of happiness, press your forehead against the front door to whisper goodbye to your home. 

The lock clicks. You close the door. 

[wonder-kid-pugh]

This isn't Funny - (Rose Lavelle x reader)

Not really up to my usual standard but I thought I would post it anyways? Hope you like it.

April 1st also known as the worst day of the year for Rose Lavelle.

The day was just an absolute pain for the midfielder. It didn't help that being apart of the Uswnt also meant putting up with the multitude of pranks that you risk the chance of stumbling apun. Being teammates with people like Sonnet, Kelley and Pinoe didn't help either.

But they were nothing compared to Y/n

Y/n L/n, Rose's beautiful, lovely girlfriend was the worst prankster on the team. No one was safe from her pranks not even Rose herself. Rose was able to reel her in once they started dating minimizing the amount of pranks she pulled. She was able to keep her in line with the threat of no cuddles or kisses. It did help that Y/n's love language was touch and she would absolutely die if she didn't get her daily cuddles from her girlfriend.

But April Fool's was an entirely different story

April fool's day was the only day she had complete uncontrollable reign over her pranks. Within reason. Rose wasn't that dumb to not to set some ground rules. So when this camp happened to roll around on April 1st it was safe to say that everyone was on high alert for one of Y/n's pranks.

Rose gently cracked open the door to the meal room. She pushed open the door fully before quickly stepping out of the door frame. But she scrunches her face when nothing happens. "It's all clear!" She hears someone inside the room.

Rose pokes her head in to see the majority of the team are down eating breakfast. Rose walks in septical of the lack of pranks, "Nothing?" Becky shrugs, "We already checked the entire room as far as we know it's prank free". Rose frowns before shaking her head, "That's not possible. Y/n loves classic pranks there's no way she didn't at least put a bucket above the door or something!"

"Maybe she slept in too late to set it up" Alyssa suggests sipping her coffee. With a quick scan of the room Rose shakes her head again, "She was already gone when I woke up I thought she would be down here". Carli hums, "Now that you mention it. It does seem too quiet down here". Christen sends the midfielder a reassuring smile, "I'm sure she's fine Rose. I'd say she's just setting up some elaborate prank to pull on the team". Rose hesitantly nods, "Yeah probably".

Waving goodbye to the older players of the team she quickly grabs some food before heading over to her usual table. "Hey Rosie" Mal hums as she sits down across from her. "Hi" she says back while digging into her scrambled eggs. "Where's the devil you call a girlfriend?" Kelley asks.

Kelley, Sonnet, Pinoe and Ash were common targets of Y/n's pranks. Purely because when she first joined the team they saw her as the perfect target for their pranks. So Y/n saw this as payback and as it as justice for all the times they pranked the rest of the team. Rose secretly knew it was because she was staking her claim as best prankster on the team but she wouldn't tell them that and start a prank war because that wouldn't end well for anyone.

Rose bites the inside of her cheek, "I don't know..." Lindsey groans, "She's probably out setting up all her pranks for today". Mal pouts, "I hate April Fool's Day. I somehow always stumble into one of her pranks".

She did. She always somehow finds a way of walking into one of Y/n's pranks meant for someone else by accident. Like the time she borrowed Lindsey's hairdryer only to get a face full of flour.

They started strategizing straight away. It was common knowledge that Y/n loved classic pranks, all the old school ones. She always made sure to pull at least one every year. But then she always upped the antee with a more elaborate prank which would leave the team in stitches on whichever poor soul happened to stumble into it.

But as they started discussing ways of avoiding Y/n's pranks, Rose couldn't help but feel nervous. By the sounds of it no one had seen the forward yet today and that didn't sit well with Rose. Hoping to ease her nerves, she texted her hoping to at least know she was okay wherever she was. But as it was getting closer to the end of breakfast and there was still no sign of her and still no text telling her whereabouts, that's when Rose started to freak out slightly.

"You okay Rose? You seem really fidgety today?" Alex asked as she passed the midfielder who kept glancing at the door. Rose bites her lip, "I'm fine it's just I haven't seen Y/n all day". Alex gives her a small smile, "I'm sure she's fine she's probably setting up some pranks somewhere". Alex balances Charlie on her hip, "I just hope she doesn't have anything planned for me". Rose waves her off, "She doesn't. She said she didn't want to risk Charlie getting caught in the crossfire and thought you earned a break with your pregnancy and all". Alex grins and at the mention of Y/n, Charlie started to gurgle happily while clapping her hands.

Kelley whines, "What? That's no fair!" "Just because Charlie has Y/n wrapped around her finger..." Sonnet grumbles. Rose rolls her eyes at the two but Alex purses her lips. "Now that you mention it, it is weird...Y/n promised to take Charlie today while I organized some business stuff" Alex say to Rose. Now this causes Rose to frown.

One thing that everyone knew was that Y/n adored Charlie. She absolutely loves the child. She was always the first to volunteer to babysit her to give Alex some time off. And Charlie was always happy to see Y/n. It was extremely cute to see the two interact and it was clear that Y/n would do anything for the littlest Morgan.

And Rose wasn't going to lie, seeing Y/n with Charlie gave her major baby fever and found it extremely attractive.

Now this causes Rose to frown, "What? That doesn't make sense. Y/n never misses a chance to play with Charlie..."  Alex shrugs, "All I know is Y/n said she would take Charlie after breakfast". This didn't ease any of Rose's nerves.

Mal sends her friend a reassuring smile, "I'm sure she's fine Rose. Maybe she just forgot. You know how she gets on April Fool's". Rose sighs, "Yes but she would never forget about hanging out with Charlie. And she still hasn't answered any of my texts".

"Okay how about this. We give it an hour and if Y/n still hasn't shown up, we have a look around for her" Sam proposes. Rose bites her lip but nods, "Fine".

But one hour turns into two and Y/n still hadn't showed up. And even after searching the entire hotel, none of the team had found their missing teammate. "Nothing?" Rose asks as Christen, Tobin, Becky and Alyssa, the last group walk in. But they all shake their heads. "Sorry Rose still no sight of her" Tobin sighs.

"There isn't even a sign of a prank anywhere" Pinoe frowns. "That's unheard of for Y/n" Crystal comments. "She still won't answer her phone" Tierna sighs after trying to call the forward again. Everyone was quiet wondering where their lost teammate could be.

"Okay hear me out" Sonnet starts causing everyone to look at her, "could this be some complex prank Y/n planned? To get us all worried about her 'missing'" But Rose was quick to answer.

"No she wouldn't do that. She loves pranks but she wouldn't take it this far" Rose says adamantly. "Has anyone tried her apartment?" Christen asked. They all look between each other.

Christen sighs, "Okay let's go". Rose bolts up and is already out the door before anyone could stop her. Thankfully camp was in Utah this month. And due to Y/n playing for the Royals she had an apartment here for during the season.

Rose had a spare key just in case of emergencies which she decided this was one of them. But even as they walked in, Rose already knew she wasn't there. Y/n had a thing with silence. She grew up in a house with 4 brothers. She never got a bit of peace and quiet. She hated silence. It's a reason Y/n always carried earphones with her. When things get too quiet she starts playing music to fill the void. So when Rose walked into a quiet apartment she knew Y/n wasn't here.

Rose takes this time to try and call her again. But she sighs when the call rings out and goes to voicemail. When the voicemail beeps Rose sighs and rubs her temple, "C'mon Y/n this isn't funny anymore. I'm really worried about you. Please call me back". She ends the call and looks around the apartment for any clues where her girlfriend could be.

Christen and the others just send her sad looks though when they search the entire apartment but find no trace of the girl. Rose felt like tearing her hair out.

But then her phone rang

She didn't even check it before she was fumbling to answer it, "Y/n?!" But instead of the cheerful voice of her girlfriend, she heard a woman speak down the phone, "Is this Rose Lavelle?" Rose squeezes the phone tighter, "Yes this is she". "I'm calling as you are the emergency contact for Y/n L/n. She was brought in earlier today for a head injury".

Rose clasped her hand over her mouth trying to stop the gasp from leaving her mouth. "Is she okay?" "She's okay. A little roughed up but she'll be fine". Rose lets out a small sigh of relief, "What hospital?" After finding out what hospital she was at and telling the team they were quickly off again. Rose was already jumping from the car before Tobin had even come to a complete stop.

Rose rushes up to the reception, "Uh hi I'm the emergency contact for Y/n L/n. I got a call she was here?" The nurse nods and checks the computer before smiling at the midfielder, "If you would follow me".

Rose followed closely behind her. When she walks into the room she sees Y/n smiling dopely at her, "Hi!" Rose stares at her stunned for a second before she takes three quick strides to her girlfriend.

"Ow!"

Y/n pouts as she rubs her arm that Rose just hit, "Why would you hit me? I'm literally in a hospital!" Rose sniffles as she slaps her arm again, "Do you know how worried I was? Why haven't you been answering your phone?" She  frowns as she takes Rose's hand in her, mostly to make sure she didn't hit her again, "My phone is shattered I couldn't answer it the screen was too destroyed".

Rose's eyes drifted up to Y/n's forehead to see stitches above her right eye and a bruise blooming on her jaw. Her hand lifted up to touch her forehead but Y/n flinched away. Rose frowns, "What happened?" Y/n pursued her lips, "I was jumped when I went out this morning to get supplies for April Fool's".

Rose frowns as her hand grazed over her bruising jaw but this time she doesn't flinch away and instead nuzzles into her touch. "I'm sorry for worrying you" Y/n whispers kissing the pad of Rose's thumb affectionately. Rose shakes her head, "I'm just glad your okay".

Y/n grins at her girlfriend, "I know it looks bad but I totally kicked their asses". Rose couldn't help but laugh, "I'm sure you did babe". Y/n raises an eyebrow, "Seriously I totally had them. They got lucky that there was two of them and they caught me off guard. Otherwise it would be them here and not me". Rose giggles and kisses her forehead gently, "Whatever you say tough guy".

"You know we would have enjoyed our prank free day if we weren't so worried about you" Sonnett teases. Everyone laughs while Y/n pouts, "I can't believe I missed April Fool's Day! I had so many good pranks planned!" The older players shook their heads at her while the younger players silently cheered at they wouldn't fall victim to her pranks.

"I know you missed April Fool's Day but I might know something that would cheer you up" Alex says stepping forward. Y/n's smile immediately brightens as she sees who sees the small child in Alex's arms, "Charlie!" The littlest member of the Carrasco Morgan Family gurgled and babbled happily and made grabby hands at the forward.

The team watch as Y/n blows a raspberry against the child's cheek causing her to sequel. They watched happily as their now found teammate plays with the small child. Rose couldn't stop the smile spreads across her face as she watches her girlfriend play with  Charlie. She couldn't help but think how great Y/n was with kids. Even though she scared the shit out of her today.

The one thing Rose did know was Y/n would be a great mother.