#hung out w my friend sunday

[ilguna]

honestly, the one thing i’ve probably wanted the most this weekend is to sleep in past 10am but it’s not going to happen.

[sodafrog13]

i'm fucking exhausted gjdjgjd

[myownwholewildworld]

THE RIGHT KIND OF WRONG ― dbf!mechanic!joel oneshot

series masterlist | main masterlist | read on ao3 pairing: dbf!mechanic!joel x f!reader. summary: your car breaks down and you make a deal with your dad's best friend, joel, who happens to be the best mechanic in town. you'll work for him over the summer holidays to pay your debt back, but maybe you can find a pleasant shortcut to it? a/n: well, well, well... what can i say? this whole uniformed!joel shit is giving me proper brain rot. i don't know what came over me while writing this but i just rolled with it. i do appreciate any notes you may wanna leave to keep me motivated hehe. enjoy! x edit: forgot to mention this oneshot was prompted by this ask! warnings: 18+, mdni. no outbreak AU. juicy age gap (reader is 21, joel is 48). rough, ABSOLUTE filth & i'm not even sorry. some edging. semi-public groping? masturbation (f and m receiving). oral (f and m receiving). pussy pronouns (she/her). unprotected piv. mouth fucking. very mild brat taming kink. transactional sex. alternating pov. reader is female but that's about it. w/c: ~8.9k of pure filth. divider by @cafekitsune

“Ugh, not again, c’mon!”

Your cranky little car did not have it in it anymore. It was almost fifteen years old now, having passed down from your older brother to you when you turned sixteen five years ago. Out of pure frustration, you hit the steering wheel with the palm of your hand and let out a raspy grunt.

The check engine light had lit up on the dash, which was what caused your fit. And then, as if orchestrated by the universe, the engine made a loud, clicking noise. You flattened your forehead against the wheel, your fingers curling around the rubbery texture with a tight grip.

“You stupid car!”, you screamed at it as if it was a sentient being. “I’m broke, you cannot die on me like this!”

You were on the parking lot of a café. Early that afternoon you had met with some friends to celebrate the beginning of summer and the end of the academic year. One more and you would be done with your degree ― it looked so damn far away, but you still had this summer to look forward to.

Rummaging through your purse, you finally located your cellphone and quickly dialled your dad.

“Yeah?”

“Hey, dad. I’m at Betty’s. The fucking light has come on again?!”

“Watch your mouth!”, he reprimanded you from the other side of the line. You could hear him huff and puff with disapproval. “I think your car is on its last legs, gonna have to think about buying one.”

“You know I can’t afford that, all my savings are going into my degree. I’ll just have to get it fixed for now.”

“Take it to Joel’s then. See what he thinks.”

“But it’s a Sunday, you think he’ll be open?”

“That man is a workaholic, you bet his business is open today.”

“Alright, you reckon he’ll do it for free?”

“For free?” He laughed; you could imagine him shaking his head. “I doubt it, but maybe he’ll give you a discount. Gotta go, little bug. I’ll see you at dinner. If you can make it, obviously.” He mocked you.

“Ha, ha… So funny. Talk to you later.” And you hung up.

The drive to Joel’s garage was a fucking torture. Every time the engine made a squealing noise, your heart would jolt to your throat. You tried to encourage it, whispering sweet nothings in the hopes it would get appeased and make it to Joel’s repair shop.

You also got distracted by your filthy mind. Joel had been in your DILF radar since you were nineteen. Three years ago, your dad celebrated his 45th birthday with a barbecue in the middle of summer. Joel had turned up in a white tee shirt, khaki shorts and flipflops, with untamed silvery curls and a crate of beer under his arm.

When the Texan heat became unbearable, he had stripped himself of his clothes, fashioning a pair of short swim trunks that had left you breathless and wet. When you watched him get out of the water later that afternoon, you could have sworn that the tip of his dick had shown briefly before he discreetly tucked it away. That image had been burnt into your retinas and haunted you since then.

Unconsciously you licked your bottom lip, your core molten with slick, as the car came to a halt. You had arrived at your destination.

There was an old Ford at the front of the garage, someone working under the hood. When the driver’s door of your car slammed against the frame, Joel peeked up from the engine he was working on.

His eyes flickered with recognition. He grabbed an old rag to clean his big, veiny hands of grease and oil. You wondered what else would be big and veiny. Stop it, you dirty fucker, you told yourself.

“Hey, Joel!” You waved at him with a smile.

“What’s up, kiddo?”

You rolled your eyes at him, the grin staying on your plump lips.

“I’m not a kid anymore, Joel. Have not been for a long time now, y’know.” You punctuated, unsure of what you were trying to achieve with that comment. Well, you knew, but did not want to admit it to yourself.

“Oh, I know”, he husked, his voice suddenly gruff.

Tilting your head to one side, you looked at him with question marks in your pupils. Why had he accentuated that “know”? And why all the sudden was your cunt gushing? How could he make you wet with three simple words? You were going to need to request a booty call that night from your friend with benefits.

“Uh, uhmm”, you laughed nervously. “The engine light on my car has come on for the third time this week and the motor is making weird noises, could you check it out for me, please?”

“Sure thing, lemme see.” He took the keys from your hand, electricity cracking between you.

You pursed your lips, a gesture he did not pick up on. Joel walked to the driver’s side, activated something and then the hood popped open. He walked around to the front of the car and propped the hood up with the metal rod that was inside.

As Joel was inspecting the motor with his broad hands, you put one foot in front of the other in a vain attempt to rub your knees together and cause some friction in your needy cunt. You squeezed your thighs some more as you watched him work with his hands, and you imagined what it would feel like if he was working you instead.

Oof! Take it down a notch, girl, you thought to yourself when your clit twitched in desperation.

Then Joel turned around to look at you.

“When was the last time you changed the timing belt?”

“The... what now?” Your mind was hazy with lust, but even if you had been at your full mental capacity, you wouldn’t have known what he was talking about.

“The timing belt. In the engine. What ensures that the camshaft and crankshaft rotate in sync?” He looked at you with a cocked brow, cleaning his hands again on that old rag.

Oh, I would pay big bucks to be that rag.

“Are you even speaking English?”, you replied back, partially because you really had no idea what he was talking about, partially because your brain was all mushy with desire.

“I’ll take that as a ‘never’ then. You should really get it replaced, seems like that’s your problem. Have you had trouble starting the car?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, this very morning.”

“Yeah, sounds like it. You need to change it asap, if it breaks while you’re driving it would be bad, very bad. You could have an accident. Also trying to fix it after it’s broken will cost you even more.”

“So… will I need to break the bank?” You asked, already flinching at the idea.

Joel seemed to take a second to consider your options, leaning against the passenger’s door and scratching his scruffy beard.

“It’ll be $800.”

Your heart almost stopped, your mouth agape.

“Eight fucking hundred?” He nodded. “Well, can I― Can you not give me a bit of a discount here? You are best friends with my dad. Pretty please?” You laced your fingers together in a prayer and batted your eyelashes at him.

With a low grunt, he straightened his back and folded arms at his chest.

“I’m already giving you one. I would usually charge $1100. You’re already getting a bargain.”

“Well, what about $300?” You counteroffered.

Joel’s brows knitted together and then loudly scoffed.

“What? You think I’m a fucking charity? No, kiddo. $800 and that’s it. If I go any lower, I’d be losing money. Got a business to run here.”

You really did not have $800 bucks to spare. In fact, you barely had five hundred bucks to your name. Asking your family for money was not an option either ― not because you were proud (you were), but because money was tight. Your parents already had enough struggles as it was, you did not want to add to the pile.

You visibly pouted and stumped one foot against the gravel, vexed. A loud sigh slipped through your lips as you pressed the heel of your hands against your eye sockets. You needed the car.

Dropping your hands to your sides, you looked at Joel with puppy eyes, covering the distance that was between you. Pleading, you palmed his strong forearm, your fingers wrapping around the girth of his muscles.

For a brief second, you wondered if you would be able to fully grip his erection. Would your fingertips be able to touch your thumb? Or would he be so thick you would need both hands to handle him?

“Joel, pl―please?”, you stammered, your arousal playing games with your vocal cords.

Unwillingly, he scanned your body up and down ― slowly, taking his time, pondering his options.

Joel had wanted to fuck you for three years now, since your lustful eyes widened at the sight of only his tip on that dreadful summer day. He could vividly remember the way you had chewed your bottom lip as you watched him slide his cock back in his swim trunks, shamelessly, without blinking. You only stopped devouring him when someone talked to you, snapping out of your trance.

That night, when he got home, he had jerked himself off with you in his mind. He had imagined your plump lips sealed around his glans, the tip of your tongue playfully caressing the slit ― your sparkly eyes looking up at him, dreamy and teary, imploring. He had taken his sweet time, rejoicing in his fantasy, until he had spilled in the palm of his hand, as if he was a hormonal teenager. And every time he would fuck someone to find relief, he would visualize your cunt sheathing him, clamping down on his dick like a beartrap.

Ever since then, every time his eyes landed on you, his blood would boil and his cock would harden. Just like now, dick pounding against his boxers, begging to be paid due attention. With the eyes of his imagination, he saw himself letting go and throwing you into the back of your car, drilling your pussy relentlessly until you came wailing, asking for more.

Joel sucked in his breath ― he needed to calm down, distract himself with something else. You were his best friend’s daughter. He shouldn’t be daydreaming about fucking you stupid. He had seen you grow since you were a babe.

Never thought of you any other way until that fateful barbeque, when he realised you were a full grown ass woman. Suddenly he had seen you for what you were: a fuckable brat who could get his cock rock-hard with the simple lick a of a lip.

An idea formed as you begged him. You looked desperate ― desperate enough to him at least.

Joel cracked his tongue, his expression unwavering. But if you could see, you would know his cock was throbbing already.

“Well. I do have an idea.” His words dragged, his erection making him feel uncomfortable.

“You do? I’m all ears!” You exclaimed with a lopsided grin, your delicate fingers tighter around his forearm.

His head snapped to his right, pointing to a sign that read “Hand Car Wash”.

“If you help out all summer handwashing cars, I’ll consider part of your debt paid”, he explained, looking down at your hand touching him.

“In full?” You eyed him as if he was your goddamn saviour and that unsettled him.

“I said part of it, kiddo. I’ll leave it at $300.”

You batted your eyelashes at him. Did you know that your suggestiveness was wreaking havoc?

“Anything I can do so the $300 reduces to zero?”

“I’ll think about it”, he reluctantly conceded. Joel had a few ideas in mind, but none of them were precisely appropriate. Not for a twenty-one year old to do with a forty-eight year old at least, that was for sure. “Be here tomorrow at 9 AM, sharp. The team works from nine to twelve, Mondays to Fridays.”

You frantically nodded, almost squealing in excitement. The noise you made forced his cock to twitch. He could make you squeal too, only if you would let him.

“I’ll be here! Thanks, Joel.”

Before he could think, you let go of his forearm and hugged him close to your chest. To your round breasts. Those two meaty globes he wanted to palm so badly. He could swear your nipples were stabbing at him. You embraced him so close to your body, his bulge pressed gently against your lower belly, and he wondered if you could feel him.

And then you stepped back. Quickly, too quickly for his liking.

“You’ll need to leave your car here, don’t want you driving back in that junk. I’ll have a look at it tomorrow. I’ll give you a lift back”, he offered. “Lemme close first and I’ll be right back in five minutes.”

“No probs, take your time.” You smiled at him as you went back to your car to grab your things.

Soon you were on the passenger’s seat of Joel’s pickup truck. It was dusking on the horizon, the light scattering through the windshield. Joel put down the visor so he wouldn’t get blinded by the sun.

“So how’s college going?” His attempt at small talk made you smile.

“It’s good, hard but good. The first year was really bad though. I didn’t know anyone there, so had to make friends and everything.” You mentioned, shrugging, while mindlessly playing with your seatbelt.

“I’m sure you had no problems making friends”, Joel said distractedly, checking all the mirrors before turning at the streetlight.

You placed your elbow on the window frame, the back of your head resting on your palm, and you turned to look at him.

“How are you so sure?” You asked, curious to see what his take on you was. The man was like a brick wall.

“You’re so vivacious and talkative. You’re not the shy kind either, always were part of the popular group in high school, weren’t you?” You nodded, but he didn’t see you, all focused on the road ahead. “Bet’cha you have all the boys running after you.”

Well, that was unexpected. For both you and him, because you saw how his jaw clenched. It was almost imperceptible, but you were so aware of his every move, your body so in tune with his, you couldn’t have missed it.

Had he noticed you? Like, actually? Was it possible that Joel fucking Miller, your freaking dad’s best friend, could look at you with other than paternal eyes? Why would he make hat comment otherwise?

Your cunt, still wet from your previous innocent interaction, fluttered. You had no butterflies in your stomach ― they were actually clapping their fragile wings in between your legs. This man was a fucking menace to your senses, and he seemed oblivious to the effect he had on you. Or did he? Time to find out.

You giggled at his question and patted his upper thigh a couple of times, as if he had cracked the best joke you had ever heard. The pad of your fingers almost caressed his groin, that sweet dip where his thigh met his pelvis. The denim under your touch suddenly stretched as Joel flexed his leg, trying to release the tension that had rapidly built up.

You bit your bottom lip as he peered at you askance, your hand still too close to his crotch.

“I actually do, but none of them seem good enough, y’know? I want a man, not a boy”, you ventured, your top teeth sinking further in the soft pillow of your bottom lip.

You saw Joel sucking in his breath ― and the grin in your face grew. He was definitely not immune to you, at least not as much as you had originally thought. He looked so unattainable, always so distant, you had wondered if, in his eyes, you had never grown up.

“Do you now, kiddo?” He asked between gritted teeth, tone throaty.

His brown eyes drifted down for one second, watching the tips of your fingers rubbing the denim of his jeans slightly, and then he locked them back on the road. You heard a low grunt vibrating in his throat, although he tried his best to suppress it.

“Yeah. I’m sick and tired of stupid childish boys. They are just boring now, they lack― well, you know.” You let him brew with your unfinished sentence and removed your hand from his lap.

You could tell Joel finally was able to breathe again as his chest expanded slowly. His reaction to you left a prickling sensation in your pussy ― wet, throbbing, needy. You pressed your knees together, but what you really wanted was for him to reach for you and dunk his thick fingers in your slit.

“Your dad’s there.” He stated, succinct, after clearing his throat.

You looked over your shoulder and through the window to realise that, in fact, you had arrived home. Your father was already waiting for you on the porch, probably because he recognised the noise of Joel’s truck’s exhaust pipe. And then he started walking towards you.

You suppressed a pouting grimace ― you wanted just a few more minutes alone with Joel. A few more moves and, who knew? Maybe you would have him fingering the shit out of you. But thanks to your father, you would never find out.

Your father knocked on the passenger’s window and you rolled it down, smiling. Although what you really wanted to do was smack him for interrupting.

“Hey, dad.”

“Hey, sweetie. How’s the car?”

“Well…” You looked at Joel ― you had already forgotten what was it that needed replacing.

“The timing belt is going. Bit expensive but your daughter and I have reached an agreement. Will reduce the price for her but she’s gotta come work on the hand-wash business”, he explained, matter-of-factly.

“Sounds ‘bout right. Get your first taste of what the real world is like.” Your dad laughed at his own occurrence, while your mind drifted far, very far.

“I’d love to get a taste.” You answered feigning innocence, turning your face to Joel with a very wide smile painted on your mouth.

His eyes darkened, transfixed on yours. Oh, he knew exactly what you meant. He subtly stirred on his seat and you wanted to giggle so bad, but refrained.

“Hey, Joel. There’s a game on tomorrow night. You wanna come over? Can have something to eat, few beers, will be fun. I need the company, God knows this lady over here just complains while scrolling through her social media”, he pointed towards you with his thumb and you simply rolled your eyes at him.

Watching football with your old man was as boring as it got. However, if Joel Miller was there, he would have your undivided attention. Well, not him, the screen, obviously. Duh.

Your eyes shot to his, expectant. Your cunt was even more anticipative of his answer.

“Yeah, why not?”

Famous last words. That was Joel’s only thought as soon as he entered his best friend’s home. You greeted him at the door, all smiley and welcoming, ignoring the fact that you had been trying to get him hard the. whole. fucking. day.

You had come to work with some very short jeans ― every time you bent down to rub the sponge on the car’s bodywork, the bottom part of your perfectly round ass cheeks would show beneath the denim. Did you even wear any underwear? He thought not.

And then that white crop top was the fucking end of him. You had gotten it all wet when a loaded sponge dripped all over your front while you were talking to him about some trivial thing he could no longer remember. You had tittered and apologised while you scrunched it to get as much water out as possible. And the only thing he had been able to focus on were your pointy nipples, staring right at him, screaming for his caress.

After that, he had been at full mast the whole damn shift.

“Hi, Joel, come in!” You greeted him excitedly, swinging the door open.

He had taken a cold shower before coming over, but maybe what he needed was a fucking ice bath. Because the moment you batted your eyelashes at him, his cock twitched again. Joel had fisted his dick while showering, in the hopes that emptying his nuts before seeing you again would placate his lust for you.

Nope, hadn’t worked. Not one bit. This was probably a bad idea.

“Hey, kiddo.” He greeted you, emphasizing the last word.

He could literally be your fucking father, but that did not seem to deter you. If anything, it spurred you on. Had you no shame? Had he no shame? Because he should have stopped you the moment you started to be suggestive. Instead, he had let you go on, enjoying every single second of it.

Joel walked in and made his way to the kitchen, with you on his heels, where your father was lathering up some ribs with his secret sauce recipe.

“Hey, Joel. Let me get that from you”, he said before cleaning his hands on a kitchen towel and grabbing the beer crate from him.

Feeling they were still cold, his best friend cracked two open and handed him one. Joel lifted the can to his lips and saw you looking at him from the corner of his eye.

“Want one?” he asked, since you were of legal drinking age.

You shook your head no, wrinkling your nose in disgust.

“Eww, nah. I hate beer”, you sniggered and his dick spasmed some more.

“‘Course you do”, said your father before he could reply. “You only drink― What’s that crap again?”

“Gin and tonic, dad. It’s literally gin and tonic mixed. It’s not that fancy.” You huffed and puffed, shaking your head.

“This youth mixing everything because they can’t have proper alcohol. What’s next? Mixing beer with lemonade or something like that?”

“Well, that’s actually a thing. It’s called a shandy. Don’t be so old.”

Joel let you two have a go at each other. Observing the exchange, he sat down on one of the stools in front of the island, knees slightly bent.

“What?! You listening to this, Joel?” You father exclaimed with a joking tone. “Is Sarah like this too?”

“Yeah, exactly like this. Thinks beer is disgusting and everything. Thought I raised her better than that, but apparently not.” He jested, sipping from the tin can.

“How’s she doing?” His friend asked.

“She’s fine. She’s turning twenty-four in a couple of weeks. She moved out two months ago, gone to Houston for her new job.” He couldn’t help but be proud of his Sarah. She had accomplished so much. “She’s supposed to be here for her birthday, but we’ll see. She’s always so busy, don’t really know with what.”

“Aren’t they all? I barely see this one over here and she still lives under my roof.”

You folded arms, rolling your eyes again, while you sat down beside Joel on another stool.

“Sorry for having a social life? Like, what do you want me to do? Stay here with you watching football? Got better things to do, dad.”

“So you ain’t staying tonight then?” Your dad asked.

Joel turned to study you, interested in your answer. Could he have some reprieve tonight?

“Of course I’m stayin’. Would be rude not to when we have guests over, right, Joel?” And as the last words abandoned your mouth, you placed your left hand on his right thigh under the counter.

God have mercy.

Joel’s muscles stiffened, one in particular more than the others. His thighs were tense as he gripped the beer can with more strength than what was necessary. He kept his eyes to the front, taming his breathing.

He should have done something, slapping your hand away from his lap for instance. But he didn’t. And you took that as an invitation, because soon enough you were kneading his bulge under the kitchen island. Your palm rubbed harshly against the denim, and he saw you chewing your bottom lip.

Your father busied himself with seasoning the ribs and the French fries, oblivious to what was happening just a few meters away from him. This feels fucking wrong, but so fucking good, Joel thought to himself, your hand frisking his groin brazenly.

His cock was thudding with desire under his clothing, begging to be freed from its prison. You sensed his desperation, because you quickly tried to clasp your hand around it. Feeling your frustration at the inability of fisting him properly, Joel parted his legs to give you better access. If that was not an open invitation, nothing was.

I’m already going to hell. Joel had to stop himself of sucking his breath in when you started to unzip his jeans. His eyes slightly widened, but that was his only tell.

“So who do you reckon is going to win tonight?” Your father asked as your fingers dipped underneath his boxers.

Your warm skin against his beating cock dulled his senses. Then you took his dick out of his boxers and attempted to circle his girth while working him. Joel had to drink from his beer to shut himself up.

“Not sure, but I’d like for the Longhorns to win”, he spat the words out as best he could given the circumstances.

“Yeah, would be nice seeing our hometown win something this season”, your father continued with the small talk.

Joel’s thighs flexed when you started pumping him decisively. Fuck. He briefly looked down at his erection. It felt too damn good, your tiny fingers gripping him hard as you slowly moved your hand up and down on his lap. The tip of his cock was glistening with precum and you expertly rubbed it on his foreskin with your thumb.

As your father turned around to put everything in the oven, Joel took the chance to look at you. With your gaze averted, you pretended there was something interesting in the wall in front of you, while your right hand was buried underneath your slutty denim shorts. Joel could swear he could hear the squelching sounds your pussy was making while you played with yourself.

“Right, I think this is it. Gotta wait for an hour until everything’s properly cooked. Wanna move to the family room in the meantime?” He happily chattered as he walked around the kitchen island.

You reacted quickly and let go of his shaft. With his lap right under the kitchen counter, Joel hoped to hell his friend would not see anything out of the ordinary.

“Yeah”, he said with a coarse voice. “Need to go to the bathroom first.”

Your father just nodded as he sauntered towards the living room and Joel almost let go a sigh of relief. You simply chortled as you put your left thumb in your mouth, making it obvious that you were tasting his precum.

Joel’s cock jerked on his lap as he whispered a blasphemy. Quickly he tucked away his painful dick back in his boxers and zipped his jeans as he stood up. Then he retreated to the bathroom, needing a fucking moment to find his composure again.

Until he heard you.

“Gonna go get my phone charger, be back in a jiffy!”

Before Joel could close the door behind him, you slipped your hand in the door gap to stop him from shutting it. You caught him off guard, because he stepped back, brows knitting when he saw you under the door frame.

“What’cha doing?”, he questioned you.

You could feel the rigidity radiating from him. You entered the small bathroom and silently closed the door behind you, both of your hands holding onto the doorknob on your back.

“I came to finish what I started.”

You didn’t give him time to think ― if you did, you knew he would put an end to this. You were too turned on, your cunt beating every time your heart did. Your pussy lips were all wet and puffy ― you could feel your slick trapped between your folds, almost seeping into your panties. You had unleashed the beast and wanted it all for yourself.

So you threw yourself into Joel’s chest, your teeth softly scratching his Adam’s apple as one of your hands found its way back to his cock. He tilted his chin up and groaned at your touch. His pounding dick felt warm and velvety against your palm, so hard from working him under the kitchen counter a minute before.

Once he opened his eyes again, he looked down at you as you gripped his erection with both hands. Slowly you jerked him off, feeling powerful with him on the palm of your hands. Every time you pumped him, your clit would twitch in response. He had not touched you yet and your pussy was already palpitating for him. You could not wait to feel him inside you, stuffing you full.

 “We shouldn’t, your father is right there―”

You could not care less. And to make it evident, you sunk to your knees in front of him, still holding his cock, now at eye level.

Your tongue darted out and you leaned his dick forward until the tip rested flat against your tongue, your hands still working his veiny shaft.

“You were saying?” You asked before briefly pecking his glans.

“Fuck”, was the only thing he managed to mumble.

That was your cue to give free rein to your lust. You nudged his column with the tip of your nose as your mouth drifted down to kiss his balls. Then your tongue slid out in its full extension, and you flattened it against the underside of his cock, slowly lapping at it until you reached the top and sealed your lips around his mushroom head.

Glancing up at him, you saw pleasure softening his features as you took him in further and further down, until his cock reached the natural resistance at the end of your throat. When his tip bottomed out in your mouth, Joel’s eyes found yours. His jaw visibly clenched at the sight of you kneeling in front of him, cock burrowed in between your lips, tears gathering on your bottom eyelids because of how his dick was outstretching you.

You moaned as Joel pulled his hips back, his shaft leaving your wet cavity, now full of precum and saliva. You swallowed to make room as you avidly tipped your head towards him, your lips hunting down his dick again. Slurping so you wouldn’t drown in fluids, you ate his cock like if it was the last edible thing on earth.

At that moment, something shifted in the air. As if Joel, finally, let go of his prejudices and accepted what you were giving him: your mouth to use as he pleased. His fingers hovered over your temples and then they clamped down on your skull as he held you in place.

“Stay still”, he commanded, and you nodded, his cock sitting snugly in your mouth.

His hips moved back and then forward, rocking his dick in and out of your lips. First slow, then picking up a pace. You stayed put throughout while he fucked your mouth mercilessly, palms against your knees like the good girl you were. Then his glans breached your uvula and you inevitably gagged at the intrusion.

He forced you to remain still as he tried to go further down, but there was nowhere for him to go. Your eyes welled up while you fought back the need to cough, almost unable to breathe.

Joel snapped his hips back and your mouth became free. You started panting while trying to catch a breath. Joel cupped your chin up so you would look at him. His sly grin told you he was enjoying himself a bit too much.

“Can tell you’ve not eaten many cocks, have you? Despite pretending to be this slutty brat in front of everyone, hm?” He asked, his voice rumbling in his chest.

“Well, I―” He didn’t let you finish the sentence because as soon as you opened your mouth, he slotted his dick back in between your plump lips.

“I actually don’t wanna hear it.”

Inevitably your cunt gushed at his roughness. He was right though ― you had only given head to two guys before and their cocks did not measure up to his. Your jaw had actually started to hurt now due to the effort you were making to house his dick in your mouth.

Joel quickly resumed his pounding, fucking your mouth relentlessly ― his hips swaying back and forth in front of you.

“Sweetie! Can you bring my charger too please?” Your father’s question forced both of you to snap out of the sexual haziness you both were feeling.

You two froze in place, Joel’s cock still in your mouth.

“Or I can come get it.” Then you heard his booted steps coming up the corridor.

In a panic, Joel stumbled back and you sprang to your feet, eyes widened with fear.

“No! Don’t worry! I’m coming!” You shouted back, hoping that your voice sounded far away enough to him.

The steps stopped and you both listened to him walking back to the living room. “Thank you, sweetie!”

You turned to look at Joel, who had grabbed a bunch of toilet roll to clean off the mess on his still throbbing cock.

“Joel, I’m sorry, b―”

“Just go before he changes his mind and comes looking for you”, his voice was strained with effort. His erection had to be painful by now without any relief.

But he was right. You couldn’t risk it. Neither of you could. So with apologetic eyes, you slithered out the bathroom door and ran to your room to snatch a couple of phone chargers.

Fucking torture that was.

Joel had never been in a worse position than that. Sat on the couch with you, your father on the recliner just a couple of meters away ― and his dick still pulsating, his balls full of unspent cum. His cock would writhe in his boxers, asking for a relief that never came. He was in excruciating pain and was not able to concentrate at all. All the small talk your father did went over his head, didn’t pay attention to the TV’s commentary either.

From time to time, you would graze his thigh lightly ― and on one occasion you slid your naughty hand towards his groin. Luckily the living room was dark, the TV being the only source of light, so your father didn’t pay much attention to your provocations. You quietly kneaded his bulge, curling your fingers around his erection underneath, and it got to a point where Joel had to force your hand away, because he was too close to coming.

So, when he waved you both goodbye and got into his truck, he could literally not wait to get home. Under the dim light of the lampposts that filtered through the windows into the truck’s cabin, Joel freed his aching dick and fisted it from the base. With his head tilted back against the headrest, he furiously jerked off ― fast and with no measure, to the point it was almost hurting. Tension built up from his nuts upwards and when Joel finally got relief, he groaned audibly as his cum spurted out in white, thick streaks.

With a heavy sigh and some laboured breathing, he opened his eyes, looking for some tissues to clean the mess on his lap. As he was putting his cock back in his boxers, something caught his attention.

The darkness camouflaged you well, but he spotted you on the window of your room, watching him eagerly with half-lidded eyes and chewing your bottom lip. Then your head leaned forward, your chin almost touching your chest, and Joel suddenly understood what was happening. You had been touching yourself while observing him do the same thing, until you orgasmed too.

Your eyes locked on each other’s through the blackness, something dark and perverted floating in the atmosphere. The whole thing felt wrong. The right kind of wrong.

The next week had been a continuous dance between the two of you. You too suggestive, him too evasive. After you had seen him wanking in his car, you had thought you had him under your spell. He had looked like a damn teenager chasing his release, unable to contain it much longer.

But you couldn’t blame him ― you had had him on edge for almost five hours. First touching him under the counter, then sucking his dick in the bathroom, and finally kneading him on the couch with your dad only two meters away.

It all had affected you too, because as soon as you had scurried away to your room and had looked out the window, you fingered yourself with your eyes locked on him. You came so hard, that you had to steady yourself on the windowsill, trembling knees and all. And once the orgasm softened its grip on you, you had realised he had been watching you as you rode the last wave of your climax.

So yes, for a week you tried to seduce him again, because you needed to know how it all ended. Having him burrowed down to your guts was a necessity now. However, it got to a point where you almost gave up ― it was draining having to follow him around like a bitch in heat. You still had one ace up your sleeve though. One that you hoped to play this afternoon. Because if you didn’t fuck him today, you were going to lose your shit.

You focused on your task, which was rubbing the soaked sponge on the bodywork of the car. Two other people were doing the same thing on the back, while you were slightly bent over the hood trying to reach the middle. Your breasts brushed against the metalwork, your white tank top completely wet with soapy water, almost transparent now. The coldness was refreshing in the asphyxiating Texan heat and your nipples especially welcomed it, wrinkling tightly and showing through the fabric.

When you straightened, you caught a glimpse of Joel eyeing you intently. But you pretended you didn’t ― maybe you needed to play difficult, show him no interest. Reverse psychology. So for the rest of your shift you just ignored him, fully conscious of how his sight followed you at all times. Let him brew.

Joel didn’t say a word though, didn’t come close to you either. But you heard him wicker while you were openly teasing one of your teammates. Were you trying to make him jealous? Absolutely. So, you giggled and played with your hair at the tasteless joke your colleague told you. It wasn’t funny, but you wanted Joel to listen to your flirting.

Midday came around and the other two people working on the hand wash business said their goodbyes. Joel employed a father and son in the shop too, who left the garage to go home for lunch. And then it was only you and Joel left. Just as you had planned.

“Joel? Can you help me with this, please?” You politely asked him after lifting a bucket full of water up to your chest.

You took a couple of steps forward and the water spilt all over, soaking your shirt completely.

“Shit”, you heard him say under his breath, jogging towards you.

He slipped his arms underneath the bucket to release you from its weight and then placed it back down between both of you.

“What are you doing? You’re gonna hurt your back with such terrible manual handling.” He reprimanded you, tutting.

“Something hurts and it’s not my back, Joel.” You muttered, your fingers wrapping around his wrist to haul him closer to you.

You were done with subtlety. You guided his hand to your pussy and pressed it gently.

“Hurts right here.” The low, needy mumble poured from your lips like honey.

Joel’s eyes squinted just a tad, and his nostrils flared. You saw the inner battle in his chocolate eyes, and you fucking hoped he lost.

Soon you had the answer you had been looking for. The palm of his hand flattened against your crotch, holding you possessively, and pulled you against his broad chest. You couldn’t help but moan when your breasts pressed against him, your taut nipples aching with sensitivity.

“You’re so fucking nasty, kiddo. Been watching you all week, trying to get me hard all over again, haven’t you?” You shyly nodded, biting down your bottom lip as you glanced up at him, his palm rubbing your cunt with determination. “Of course you have, you’re so cock drunk. You loved sucking me, didn’t you?”

You shook your head yes, holding onto the waistband of his jeans. You whimpered when his thumb burrowed in your pants, trying to find your slit over all that clothing unsuccessfully.

“Joel, please.” You begged for mercy, for relief, for something ― anything he could give you, you would take.

“You want me to fuck you, kiddo?” His free hand cupped your chin, tilting your head up, while his thumb kept nudging your damp slit. His mouth hovered over yours as you simply nodded again. “Hm? You want me to destroy your pussy?”

“Yes, yes, YES.” You were already gushing at his dirty talk.

With no more prodding, Joel bowed down and sunk his tongue in your mouth, darting in with the ferocity only a man on the edge could feel. He swept your entire cavity in an open-mouth kiss that left your knees shaking and your pussy throbbing. You moaned into his breath and your tongue lapped at his, the span on his fingers gently covering your neck and squeezing lightly.

Joel’s hand between your legs moved to your ass, pressing you into him. His swollen lump poked at your lower belly intimately and you couldn’t resist the urge to dip your hand in his boxers. He audibly groaned as you attempted to circle his whole girth and failed. Just like a week before, you would need both of your hands around his shaft to properly grip him. You pumped him once, very slow, your hand gliding down till it found his balls.

Joel grunted in the middle of the sloppy kiss and pushed you to go backwards until your body met the back of his pickup truck, which was parked at the end of the driveway. Out of prying eyes, you hoped. Not that you cared that much at this precise moment, anyway.

His beard scratched the skin on your cheek as his lips drifted down to your neck. You looked up to the clear sky before you closed your eyes, giving his pulsing cock a light squeeze that snatched a moan out of him.

Without warning, Joel broke the messy kiss and knelt before you, his hands tugging at the waistband of your shorts with no difficulty. Soon your pants were around your ankles, your panties quickly following, leaving you naked from the waist down. Joel helped you take them off but left your tennis on.

Still on his knees, he peeked up with a devilish smile, then leaned forward and lapped at your mound. A heavy sigh slipped from your lips as your fingers raked his salt and pepper curls. The tip of his tongue brushed the point where your slit started and then licked upwards, his tongue skidding through your skin until it reached your belly button.

You pursed your lips, wanting him to go down, not up. In fact, you pushed him down ever so slightly and the cold of his breath against your wet skin when he laughed made you look down, frustrated.

He kissed the beginning of your slit again and when you thought he was going in, he stopped. You whimpered, thwarted, as he got back up to his feet and towered above you.

“You want me to touch you where it hurts, hm?” He questioned with his lips ghosting yours. “Your pussy? That’s where?”

Not waiting for your reply, his index dunked in your pearly furrow and traced it in its entirety, from your quivering hole to your thumping clit. And then he did it again, for good measure.

“You’re soaking, kiddo. I’ve barely touched you and you’re already dripping.” To emphasize his words, Joel suddenly dived his finger in your opening, a squelching sound making it obvious that you were, in fact, dripping. “You hear that?” He forced his finger out and then back in, the wet, sucking noise even louder this time.

You frantically nodded as he fingered you, his thumb caressing your begging clit as he did. You mewled into his chest, eyes shut, trying to calm the fluttering of your inner walls around his lonely finger. Lonely not for long, because Joel then introduced a second. You held onto his sides, his tee shirt scrunching in your fists, the orgasm building up.

“C’mon, squeeze your cunt for me. Show me how tight you are”, he whispered in your ear as his relentless fingering picked up a faster pace between your legs.

You happily obliged and squashed your walls together around his fingers as he dextrously stroked your g-spot. All of a sudden, a firing sensation built in your clit without warning and the haziness of pleasure took over your senses abruptly. You came hard, very hard, wailing his name as he kept on fingering you until the last wave of your climax washed over you.

What the actual fuck? You thought to yourself, amazed. You rested your forehead against his chest, catching a breath and feeling your arousal wetting your inner thighs.

Still recovering from your unexpected orgasm, Joel picked you up and settled you down on the edge of his truck’s cargo bed. Your feet dangled in front of you, and you parted your legs to make room for him while you wrapped his neck with your arms and licked into his mouth.

“Now I’m gonna eat you raw, kiddo. Give you some of your own medicine.” His hoarse tone gave you goosebumps. Palming both of your breasts over your wet tank top, he pushed you down until your back met the floor of the cargo bed, your legs hanging freely from your knees down. “Is that what you want? This old man feasting on your pussy, on her? ‘S she gonna like it?”

“Joel, please, just― Yes, eat my pussy. Eat her, eat me, please.” You begged with a small voice while you pinched your nipples over your shirt, eyes closed.

And finally, he did. With his hands on your knees to keep them apart, Joel lapped at your cunt in one sweet sweep. Your body trembled with elation, shivers firing down your spine. His tongue caressed all the crevices in your shiny slit, lips puffy and reddened. His thumb found your clit as the tip of his tongue played with your leaking hole, going in and out a few times ― fucking you with his tongue.

You were not able to take it for much longer ― with Joel’s tongue lodged in your creamy fold and your fingers playing with your nipples, you were done for. Soon you came undone, tension growing in your lower belly and molten lava finding its way out. You howled his name, your knees pressing against his head, holding him in place as you came in his mouth. Joel sipped from your fountain, leaving not even one drop behind, your pussy licked clean of your own discharge.

His turn to find relief.

Even though Joel had been fisting himself while eating you raw, the roughness of his palm could not compare to your warmth. He just knew your pussy would hug his cock just right. And he was dying to find out.

Pushing his work jeans and boxers down to his ankles, he kicked his feet until they came off. Soon his security shoes and socks were kicked to the side too. With renewed energy, Joel jumped on to the cargo bed. You propped your torso up with the help of your elbows to study his erection, wetting your lips unknowingly.

Your eyes lingered on his cock for too damn long and it twitched on his hand.

“Spread your legs, kiddo.”

And so you did without complaints. You stretched your legs, Joel having a perfect view of your glistening pussy. You were so horny, he could literally see your cunt palpitating from this angle. Knelt between your legs, he leaned forward until the tip of his dick brushed against your slit, so damp again it just slid off. Jerking himself off, he nudged your soaked entrance with his mushroom head and your mouth opened, shaping a perfect O.

“So needy, isn’t she? Aren’t you? Playing difficult to catch today, trying to make me jealous with that stupid boy, but in reality, you’re just a desperate brat wanting to get her pussy drilled by her dad’s best friend.” His dirty talk did not stop while he pushed in, your flesh parting to house him until he bottomed out.

Joel moaned, sweat gathering on his brow, his hands on either side of your head. He stood still for a long minute while your cunt fluttered around him, sheathing his whole length. He could feel your inner muscles adjusting to him.

You were so cockstruck you didn’t even reply.

“I’m gonna fuck you now, so take it well, kiddo.” He warned before tilting his hips back and abruptly back in.

You wailed loudly at the first thrust, and Joel had to muffle your screams by covering your mouth with his hand. You licked his palm, but he didn’t let go. He did not want you to alert the neighbours around the garage. His hips bucked against yours and then, after a few teasing shoves, Joel started jackhammering you fast and viciously hard.

You draped your legs around his waist, the heels of your white tennis pushing on his ass cheeks, encouraging to go deeper and quicker. And so he did, uncovering your mouth to replace it with his.

Joel fucked you mercilessly, filthily. He drove his dick in and out of you in quick succession, drilling your tacky pussy. And he knew you were loving every single second of it. Your soft sobs only spurred him on and when your moist pussy clutched around his drumming cock announcing your orgasm, he couldn’t restraint himself for much longer.

He stoically let you come while riding your own climax. His balls tightened and his belly muscles strained, signalling his own relief.

“Where?”, was the only word that he managed to whisper.

Your eyes were still closed, a languid smile lingering on your lips, all blissful and satisfied while he was still fucking suffering.

“In my mouth.” Your reply was almost his undoing.

Joel snapped his hips back, his hard, throbbing cock slipping out. He dragged his body across yours until his thick, hairy thighs were on each side of your head and his nuts were resting on your chin, his ass hanging over your breasts.

“Open”, he husked, raspy and throaty.

Still with your eyes closed, you parted your lips, and Joel shoved his beating cock down your throat unceremoniously. He leaned forward over you ― his hands holding his weight off you, flat against the cargo bed’s floor. And then Joel started fucking your mouth mindlessly, as if it was your cunt ― his testicles slapping against your chin and your eyes welling up.

He could feel your head almost rocking up and down below him with the strength of his thrusts. You only stopped swaying underneath him when your hands grabbed his buttocks, your fingers sinking in his flesh.

With a guttural growl, Joel came undone and his thick cum filled your mouth. You stayed still while the last white ropes spurted out the slit on his tip, finally reaching the bliss he had been chasing for a week.

Joel lifted his hips off your face and his dick came out of your mouth with a pop.

“Eat it, kiddo.” He requested of you, towering above you.

From this angle, flat on your back and with Joel almost sat on your face, you saw first his balls and then his soft cock hovering over your eyes. What had just happened was filthy, and you loved it, even though you were sure that your throat would hurt tomorrow.

“It’s $300 if I swallow”, you kidded out of nowhere, almost gargling with his cum as your mouth was full of it.

Joel chuckled as he came off you, sitting down on your left.

“Deal”, he agreed.

And so you gulped his cum down, letting it slip down your throat until it landed in your belly. You smiled at him before opening your mouth to show him it was empty.

Joel’s chest rumbled with satisfaction.

“Good girl.”

[syuga-s]

my love mine all mine

w.c 7.8 k pairing. Johnny x afab!reader genre. fluff, angst, slight smut a/n. MDNI!!!!! people are a mess in the first part, a.k.a. cheaters, Jaehyun and Mark cameo!, there's a part with smut [don't hesitate to skip it, it's very fluffy overall tho] tiny alcohol consumption nothing crazy 🤝

t/w. the smut obviously and an uncomfortable moment with a friend[Jaehyun]

It all started when Sarah's boyfriend found out she was cheating. He was a mess, not knowing what to do or who to turn to, he came to you to try and find some sense of the situation.

Tuesday morning. He was waiting for you to get out of your class. Your friend, Lisa, was with you, both trying to discuss an upcoming test. But Jaehyun didn't care about that, nor the fact that they would be hearing about his problem. He knew that it was only a matter of time until every single soul on campus would know about his relationship and the fact that his girlfriend was a cheater.

He made sure to tell you everything he knew and how he found out. Jaehyun wanted you to help him find who was she cheating with. Matter of fact he already had someone in mind, actually.

Sarah's been one of your best friends since 13 years ago. If someone were to know her best, it was you or Danielle. But Jaehyun came to you, so now you had to get into their little mess. Which maybe you shouldn't have but, here we are.

Jaehyun planned this. He saw the opportunity now that Sarah had gone to an engineering seminar this week and wouldn't be coming back until Sunday night. It would give him plenty of time to figure some things out.

Jaehyun thought Sarah was cheating on him with Johnny.

They were at the same seminar out of town, so it was checking out for him.

But it couldn't be Johnny?

Johnny was with you.

Your thing was a secret though, it's been months since you started seeing each other.

It was your decision for you to be a secret, Johnny accepted it without thinking twice, all he wanted was for you to be with him, people knowing or not didn't matter to him.

Johnny was 2 years older. You’d met him at a café. You knew you wanted to be with him when you realized you were a shy mess the following times you were around him. To him, you had this cute baby energy that was much more than what you let everyone else see. He was sure he wanted to be with you based on how he felt when your eyes decided to look at him.

He didn't want to put much thought into why you decided to keep everything a secret. Secretly he was a romantic who had traditional dating views, styles, approaches. Whatever you want to call it. But he liked the change you represented in his life. He then also decided that he wanted to be with you and that having a secret relationship didn't necessarily mean you couldn't go out on dates or do what every couple does. Except act like one when you're around friends.

You didn't exactly kept his existence a secret. You just started introducing him to your friends without much explanation. He was your Johnny. You all hung out together as if he was just a new addition to the group. You didn't know if your friends were oblivious to the vibe you and Johnny had or just acted like it for your sake. Nevertheless, everyone was happy to have him around, he was like everyone's best friend, especially Sarah and Danielle’s. Which made you happy, too.

As much as they were your best friends, you didn't want to tell them about your relationship with him. Nothing personal but, it was just something you wanted to keep between yourself and him.

It was Thursday and you sent Johnny a text when you woke up. "Are you coming home with me as soon as you arrive on Sunday?" You knew he was going to, he had told you so way before he left.

It's just that you've been feeling weird all week. Everyone had messed up with your head and your relationship. Everyone had logical arguments about how Johnny and Sarah had something going on. Regardless of you knowing that Johnny wouldn't do that to you. It had you second-thinking about what you had decided earlier in the relationship. "If everyone had known we were together, this wouldn't be happening". It had you feeling insecure and sure you made a mistake in hiding what you had with your boyfriend.

But also, what's so special about Sarah and Johnny's relationship that had people thinking they were seeing each other? More importantly, something so special that was making your best friend cheat on her boyfriend.

Sarah and Johnny were both engineer majors and ever since you introduced them you knew they were going to get along well. So it didn't come as a shock to you that they texted every now and then. Him being far ahead of her made sense to you for them to talk outside your gatherings. Still, there were two times when she made you feel weird about it all. Which you couldn't help but think about while all of this was unfolding.

Johnny told you she had reached out to him through Facebook a while ago, and you thought nothing about it. But that time when she sent a screenshot to the group chat about them talking about some football match that was coming up, had you kinda confused. But nothing that you couldn't talk yourself out of. They were being friends and that was some normal friend talk.

But that second time. My god, that second time.

You and all your friends were planning to go out one night. Danielle, Sarah, and you were the ones deciding where to go. Simple as that. But a text made you feel as if someone slapped your face out of nowhere. "I already invited Johnny!!!!" What the fuck.

Next thing you knew, you were shouting to yourself in your room. "Doesn't she have a boyfriend? WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING INVITING MINE?!!" It was loud enough, trust me.

But as soon as those words came out of your mouth, Johnny texted you.

? Attached 1 picture.

As simple as his action was, it comforted you in all the ways you needed. Knowing that his course of action was to ask you what was going on felt huge. Your negative feelings didn't even have room to grow because he made sure to let you know that his mind was with you. Later in the day, when he got to your apartment, you both talked about how weird that was. You told Johnny you felt a pang of jealousy as soon as you saw her text. "I have no intentions of sharing you, I hope you know that".

The seminar came to an end, and Sarah would return from her trip that night. Jaehyun needed to talk to someone at this very moment. His anxiety consumed him, still not knowing how to talk to your best friend, his girlfriend.

It also meant that Johnny would be coming home to you tonight. You guessed that going out and getting back before him would be alright. So you let him know that you were out with Jaehyun and some other friends.

While you were in a smoke break outside of the bar where everyone was, you were casually talking with Jaehyun.

He began sharing his thoughts about all of that was unfolding with Sarah.

You were the only best friend Jaehyun had, the only person who knew how to really listen to him, so he figured he could sort out his feelings and his thoughts and you’d help.

He asked if you thought an individual could talk or even kiss someone else without meaning anything while still being in a relationship.

You said you didn't know. You said you were still a romantic at heart, so if you were already with someone you wouldn't dare break the trust they had in you. “I can’t even imagine doing that.”

He started telling you that in all his previous relationships, all the friends of the particular girlfriend, flirted and crossed the line with him. He explicitly said that he thought that those things didn't matter, that if he played along with them was because they meant nothing to him, it was plain fun for him.

You told him you understood what he was saying. “It all comes down to how you feel about your partner.”

“Hell as long as you get to that kind of arrangement with them I think it’d be alright .”

He asked if you had cheated before.

”Well, basically yes, but it didn't count because the guy wasn't even my boyfriend.” — “I did hook up with two of his friends at the time.” You let out a bitter laugh at the thought.

He kept explaining to you how he felt or what he usually feels in order to have an ‘affair’. You were expecting it. You didn't want the words to get out of his mouth, but you did expect them, dreading them.

"What if we did that?" — "I get along pretty well with you, you're literally so cool, you listen to me, there's plenty of reasons for me to want to kiss you and I know it won't be a bad thing.”

A mix of emotions flooded through you—confusion, shock. You had built a strong bond with Jaehyun, but this proposition was dangerous territory, threatening the very foundation of your friendship.

You turned your eyes to look at the door of the bar you had in front and took a drag of your cigarette. Then you patted Jaehyun’s back. In that moment, you had a choice to make—one that would have lasting consequences. And as you looked into Jaehyun’s eyes, you gathered the strength to respond, your voice laced with a mix of resolution and vulnerability.

“Let’s not risk losing this friendship Jae.” You continued. “You’re just going through something difficult.”

Later that night, Jaehyun offered to give you a ride home. Little did you know that this ride would become a turning point, a catalyst for even more confusion. As you sat in the passenger seat, a heavy tension filled the air, palpable and suffocating.

Jaehyun’s actions spoke volumes, even as words remained unspoken. His fingers found their way to your hand, and with each stroke, you could feel the weight of his struggle. It was a dangerous dance, a forbidden connection that should never have existed, considering he was still in a relationship with Sarah.

His fingers began to stroke yours, tracing delicate patterns that mirrored the delicate intricacies of the connection he was feeling. Each movement was laden with tenderness, as if he was wanting to caress not just your hand, but your very soul. The weight of his actions was palpable, his touch carrying the knowledge that he shouldn't be doing this, that it crossed boundaries he had vowed to respect.

Yet, at that moment, all rational thought faded into insignificance, overshadowed by the rawness of your friendship. It was as if time stood still, allowing this stolen moment to unfold, heedless of the consequences it may bring.

Jaehyun’s touch spoke volumes, whispering secrets and desires that words could never fully convey.

Confusion engulfed your mind as you wrestled with conflicting emotions. The lines blurred, and the boundaries you thought were steadfast began to crumble. What did his touch mean? Was it a desperate plea for solace, a cry for understanding, or simply a selfish act of betrayal? You longed for the ride to end, hoping that escaping the confined space of the car would offer clarity or, at the very least, a respite from the swirling chaos.

With each stroke, Jaehyun seemed to etch this moment into his memory. The lines of your palm, the delicate curve of your fingers—everything became a canvas for his affectionate exploration.

As the weight of the moment hung in the air, you turned to the simple act of resting your head on the window of Jaehyun’s car. It was an instinctual response, a way to create a sense of shielding yourself from the intensity of his gaze.

Your decision to avert your eyes from his was partly out of avoidance.

Instead, your gaze traveled to the entwined hands—his and yours—held together in a delicate embrace.

Every passing moment dragged on, the silence between you both growing more deafening with each mile. The weight of unspoken words hung heavy, suffocating any chance for coherent thought. You were trapped in a labyrinth of tangled emotions, desperately seeking an escape route.

As you finally arrived at your place, a mix of relief and apprehension washed over you. Stepping out of the car, you felt an invisible tether snap, freeing you from the suffocating atmosphere that had clouded your judgment. It was a brief respite, a momentary release from the confusion that threatened to consume you.

He stepped out of the car and walked around to your side, an unspoken understanding passing between you. The weight of the situation hung in the air, as both of you knew that this moment was crucial.

Jaehyun walked beside you, his presence a comforting yet conflicting force. With every step, the space between you seemed to hold a thousand unspoken words that danced on the edge of forbidden territory.

In that fleeting moment, Jaehyun enveloped you in a hug, his embrace both weird yet familiar. His lips brushed against your cheek in a gentle, lingering kiss, leaving a trace of longing and uncertainty in its wake.

Your heart raced, conflicted emotions swirling within you like a tempest. It was a bittersweet gesture, filled with affection and desire, but also tinged with the knowledge of the boundaries that had been crossed. At that moment, the weight of your choices and their consequences hung heavily upon your shoulders.

As you pulled away from the embrace, a mixture of gratitude and unease flooded your being. The complexity of the situation became even more apparent. It was a crossroad, a moment where you had to decide which relationships to prioritize and the impact of your actions on those you cared about.

With a heavy heart, you watched Jaehyun get back to his car, his presence lingering in your thoughts. The echoes of the night resonated within you.

Closing the door behind you, you stood alone in the quiet of your home. The boundaries of your friendships had been tested.

How could Jaehyun and Sarah betray each other in such a way? And why did you have to get dragged into the picture? Guilt gnawed at your conscience.

The glow from your phone screen caught your attention. It was a message from Johnny, a simple yet deeply caring question: "Did you get home safe, baby? I’m on my way to you already" The term of endearment made your heart flutter.

The contrasting emotions of the evening surged within you, creating a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. Jaehyun’s touch still lingered, the weight of his actions pressing against your conscience. And yet, Johnny's message served as a grounding force, a reminder of the love you had with him.

Your mind raced as you contemplated how to respond. Part of you yearned to pour out the complexities of the evening, to share the turmoil that had taken hold of your heart. But another part of you hesitated, fearful of making Johnny think that you had betrayed the trust and connection you had built with him.

In the end, you chose to respond with a simple yet reassuring message: "Yes, I'm home safe baby. thanks for asking, are you close??" It was a way to acknowledge his concern and to convey that you were physically safe, without delving into the emotional turmoil that had unfolded.

As you hit send, a sense of guilt washed over you. You knew that secrets were corrosive to relationships, and the weight of the unspoken weighed heavily on your conscience.

Taking a deep breath, you resolved to confront the complexity of your emotions head-on.

As the weight of the evening's events continued to bear down on you, a profound longing for the comfort and solace of Johnny's presence overwhelmed your senses. The internal turmoil left you yearning for his loving embrace, the reassurance that only he could provide.

Unable to ignore the depth of your emotions any longer, you found yourself typing out another message to Johnny. The words flowed from your fingertips, carrying the raw vulnerability that consumed your being. "My love, I need to tell you something and it can’t wait, pls tell me you’re literally at the door :("

In that moment, it wasn't just the physical act of being in Johnny's arms that you craved—it was the emotional refuge that he offered. His hugs had always been a balm for your soul, a source of comfort that could ease the most burdensome of thoughts. It was in his embrace that you found solace and a sense of belonging.

As you hit send, a mix of anticipation and anxiety coursed through you. You hoped that Johnny would understand the urgency and depth of your plea, recognizing the vulnerability that compelled you to reach out immediately a second time.

With each passing second, you anxiously awaited his response, your heart beating in rhythm with the ticking clock. The silence seemed interminable, the weight of your own emotions threatening to drown out the world around you.

And then, just as doubt began to creep in, a familiar chime cut through the air, signaling the arrival of a message from Johnny. The screen illuminated with his words of reassurance and love, providing a lifeline for your aching heart. "your man is here baby".

As you welcomed your boyfriend, you jumped to embrace him in a warm, comforting hug, one that you needed the most. The weight of the evening's events began to lift, replaced by a sense of security and love. His laughter filled the room, serving as a gentle reminder that you were not alone in navigating the complexities of life and relationships.

Together, you made your way to bed, seeking the solace of shared intimacy. As you nestled into the comfort of the covers, you knew that Johnny was the only person you could confide in about the events that had unfolded. With him, there was an unspoken trust.

You began narrating the events of the past week, from the moment Jaehyun entered your life with his troubled relationship to the intense car ride and the conflicting emotions that had left you feeling wounded by it all.

The anguish in your voice was evident as you lamented the pain of being treated like a mere object and the disappointment that came from those you had trusted betraying your friendship. The thought of Jaehyun, the boyfriend of your best friend, crossing boundaries with you weighed heavily on your conscience, and you asked Johnny for forgiveness for allowing it to happen.

“I don't know, Johnny. It's just...everything with Jaehyun and Sarah. It's all been so overwhelming.” You sighed.

“It's just been a lot to process. Like, I never expected Jaehyun to come to me for help with his relationship problems. And then there's the whole thing with people saying Sarah is cheating on him with you...it's just a mess.”

His furrowed brows and slightly parted lips revealed his dumbfounded state.

"Wait, what?" Johnny's voice held a note of genuine bewilderment. He couldn't help but feel a rush of confusion as he tried to reconcile the events you were describing with the relationship he knew he had with you.

As you continued, mentioning the rumors about Sarah cheating on her boyfriend with him, Johnny's eyes widened in disbelief. His mind raced, attempting to make sense of how such unfounded rumors could have circulated. It was clear that he was taken aback, not just by the situation itself, but also by the fact that people could even suggest such a thing.

His eyes locked onto yours, searching for a thread of understanding. "Sarah and me? Cheating?" His voice held a mix of disbelief and genuine innocence. "I mean, she’s your best friend, I think she’s nice, but I've never had any kind of romantic ~thing~ with her. I don't know where that shit’s coming from."

“I know, Johnny. That's why I love what we have. There's no one else I have ever trusted more than you.” — “and it pains me because all this week I’ve been beating myself up for not telling everyone that you’re mine, if I had done that simple action, none of this would have happened.”

But as you continued, recounting the intensity of the car ride and the pain you felt from being betrayed by someone you considered a friend, Johnny's brows furrowed. The pain in your voice resonated with him, the depth of your emotions hitting close to home.

Your words hung in the air, a tangible weight that both of you felt deeply. And then, when you asked for his forgiveness, for letting that happen.

A mixture of surprise and sadness washed over Johnny's features. He gently reached out, his fingers lifting your chin so that your eyes met his.

"Hey," he said softly, his voice a gentle reassurance. "You don't need to ask for my forgiveness. You've done nothing wrong. You're not responsible for other people's actions, and you definitely don't have to say sorry for our relationship, remember I agreed to this too."

“We’re not at fault for all the mistakes your friends are making.”

He hated that you felt like that and even realized that he loved you more than he thought when he reminisced about the part when you told Jaehyun that you would never imagine breaking your partner's trust.

“Johnny. I don't know what I'd do without you.”

He wrapped his arms around you and said “You don't have to worry about that. I'm not going anywhere baby.” — “No one has ever placed such unwavering trust in me before. Thank you for not believing what everyone was saying about Sarah and me.”

As the moonlight gently spilled into the room, the ambiance was serene, creating an atmosphere charged with anticipation. Your heart pounded, echoing in your ears, you were sat on the edge of the bed.

Your eyes locked with Johnny's. In that moment, it felt as if time ceased to exist, and all that mattered was the connection between you.

Your conversation had been filled with intense emotions, revealing the depths of your love for each other. It had been a delicate dance of vulnerability. The tension between you grew with every word shared, until it reached its peak, and the both of you knew without a doubt that this was the moment you had been waiting for all week.

Johnny, with eyes that glimmered with affection, moved closer to you, his hand instinctively brushing against yours. You could feel the heat radiate from his touch, enveloping you in a comforting embrace. Your fingers delicately intertwined, the electricity between them intensified, creating an invisible force that drew you closer together.

When Jaehyun's hand enveloped yours, there was an air of tension, an undercurrent of fickleness that seemed to color the interaction. The touch left you feeling unsettled, a sense of discomfort gnawing at your thoughts. The weight of his actions created an atmosphere of unease, one that was difficult to shake off.

In contrast, when Johnny held your hand, the sensation was entirely different. His touch was gentle yet firm, a silent promise of support and unwavering love for you. The warmth that radiated from his grasp was a balm for your soul, a reminder that you were not alone in facing whatever was thrown at you. It was a touch that spoke volumes, conveying his devotion and understanding without the need for words.

With Johnny, everything felt like —a tangible expression of the love and trust you shared. His touch exuded a sense of safety, an assurance that you were cherished and protected. The way his fingers intertwined with yours felt like an unspoken vow, a reminder that he was there to stand by your side through thick and thin.

Jaehyun's touch left you questioning his intentions, while Johnny's touch reaffirmed your bond. The contrast between the two experiences illustrated the power of genuine connection versus superficial gestures.

In that instance, your gazes became magnets, irresistibly pulling them toward each other. Your lips inches apart, you nervously shared breaths, your anticipation building with every passing second. You could feel the rise and fall of Johnny's chest, mirroring your own erratic heartbeat.

With bated breath, you closed your eyes, surrendering yourselves completely to the moment.

Your lips met, igniting a spark that could set the world aflame. It started slowly, a gentle exploration of passion, expressing more than mere words ever could. Your mouths moved together with a tenderness, a delicate dance that conveyed their longing, desire, and most of all, a profound love that had been waiting to be unleashed.

As your kiss deepened, your connection became more intense, an intertwining of souls. Every touch, every lingering caress, manifested your commitment to each other. Time stood still, and the rest of the world faded into the background, completely irrelevant in the face of your love.

You broke apart only when the need for breath became too strong, your foreheads resting against each other. You were breathless, your eyes searching each other for confirmation, for the knowledge that this night had sealed your fate together.

Johnny knew that this kiss was not merely a physical connection.

As you continued to hold each other, your hands instinctively explored, fingers gently tracing the contours of each other's backs. A soft sigh escaped your lips.

Your bodies molded together seamlessly, every curve and contour fitting as if you were two halves of a whole. In the warmth of the moment, an unspoken longing hung in the air. Your eyes met a connection sparking like a flame. Time seemed to slow, stretching the moment into eternity. And in that perfect stillness, both knew what was about to unfold.

Your lips brushed together in a tentative, feather-light touch, a whisper of a promise. The sensation sent shivers down his spine.

With a newfound urgency, your lips met properly once again.

This time with an intensity that mirrored the depth of your emotions. His kisses deepened, a symphony of desire and longing intertwining your souls. You lost yourselves in the exquisite dance of your mouths, tongues caressing and exploring, a sensual rhythm that spoke volumes of your shared passion.

The world around you ceased to exist as your bodies molded together. Hands roamed with fervor, fingers tangling in hair, tracing the contours of backs, and gripping onto each other as if you were afraid to let go.

You leaned back against the pillows behind you with a contented smile. Johnny couldn't resist reaching out to trace the curve of your neckline with his finger, causing you to shiver pleasantly. His hand lingered there for a moment longer than necessary, taking in the softness of your skin and the rapid rise and fall of your chest.

You closed your eyes, savoring the warmth spreading throughout your body as Johnny's touch ignited a fiery sensation within you. You bit your lip gently, trying to suppress the moan that threatened to escape from your throat.

Across the room, Johnny watched in awe as your expression transformed from calm serenity to burning desire right before his very eyes. His heart raced with anticipation, eager to explore the depths of emotion that lay hidden behind those captivating brown eyes.

"Baby," he whispered hoarsely, reaching out to cup your face in his hands. "Do you want me right now?"

You nodded without hesitation, your lips parting slightly to reveal the soft pink flesh inside. Johnny couldn't resist the urge to dip his head forward and capture those lips with his own, kissing you deeply and passionately until you both lost track of time.

He could feel your breath coming faster and shallower, your chest rising and falling against his own.

Your eyes remained closed, lost in the ecstasy of his kisses as he trailed them down your jawline to your neck. He suckled gently at the tender skin there, eliciting a soft moan of pleasure from your lips.

In response, Johnny grew bolder, exploring the contours of your body with his hands. He slid them underneath your shirt, tracing the curves of your waist and hips before moving higher up to stroke the sensitive flesh above your breasts.

You let out a sharp intake of breath, arching your back as waves of pleasure coursed through your body.

Johnny paused for a moment, savoring the sight of your bared torso quivering with excitement. Then, with a determined smile, he unfastened the clasp of your bra and pushed it aside, revealing two perfect mounds that trembled enticingly before him.

His lips parted hungrily as he captured one nipple between his teeth, suckling hard until it stood erect under his tongue.

You writhed restlessly against him, whimpering softly as you arched your back even further. Johnny moved on to your other breast, lavishing equal attention upon it, eliciting cries of delight and helpless arousal from your lips. Your breath came faster still, the soft rise and fall of your chest intensifying your need for him.

The sounds of your mutual desire filled the otherwise silent room, creating an erotic scenery that only heightened the intensity of this very moment.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Johnny took your hands in his own, lifting them to guide you toward the edge of the bed. With gentle precision, he helped you lie down beside him, your delicate frame curving gracefully into the indentations left behind by his body. Your hearts thundered wildly in sync, a rhythm that spoke volumes about the passion burning within you both.

A shudder ran through you as you stretched your legs wide apart, inviting Johnny to come closer.

Your gaze locked once again, conveying a mixture of desire and tenderness. Johnny lowered himself carefully between your thighs, his muscular form seeming larger and more powerful now in comparison to your figure.

Slowly, he began to move his hands along your thighs, causing your breath to catch in your throat. Every touch sent shivers of anticipation through your nerves, awakening feelings of raw, unbridled passion you hadn't experienced before.

Gently, Johnny positioned himself between your spread legs, the heat from his body seeping into yours. He studied you, noticing your breath become shorter and shallower as he drew nearer. Reaching out slowly, he cupped your heat, finding it wet and swollen with desire. You gave a small gasp of surprise, breaking your eye contact briefly. Johnny smiled to himself, knowing he was about to give you a night you would never forget.

His fingers found your entrance, and he teased you with a soft, circular motion around your core.

He watched your reaction closely; the playful dance of emotions on your face, the way your brow furrowed in concentration, your cheeks flushing red with arousal. With each movement, he brought you closer to the precipice of ecstasy without quite letting you fall over the edge.

Your breath came in short, shallow gasps as your body quivered with anticipation. Your eyes met his, silently begging him to bring you to completion. Johnny nodded subtly, acknowledging your desires.

Slipping his fingers effortlessly into your folds, he gently massaged your clit, applying just the right amount of pressure to send waves of pleasure coursing through your body. You arched your back, gripping tightly onto the sheets as you let out a low moan of pure euphoria. You could hardly believe the intensity of the sensations building inside you; the warmth of Johnny's touch combined with the exquisite tingling in your core was beyond anything you could have ever imagined.

With every thrust of his fingers, your breath hitched deeper, your body aching for release. Giving in to your instincts, you shifted your hips, encouraging Johnny to increase the pace and pressure of his touch. His eyes narrowed with satisfaction, knowing that he was bringing you closer to the peak of ecstasy.

Moans escaped your lips with increasing frequency as you neared the brink. The power dynamics shifted ever so slightly, now giving you control over him.

With newfound confidence, you guided Johnny's hands and mouth expertly, ensuring that every touch was precisely where you desired.

Johnny could see the fire blazing in your eyes, mirroring the inferno raging within him. The connection you shared seemed almost supernatural—a bond fueled by your undeniable chemistry and deep respect for one another.

Johnny gazed into your eyes, his expression a mix of adoration and reverence. He pulled you into a tender embrace, your bodies still entwined as if reluctant to let go of the intimacy you had just shared.

In the silence that followed, the weight of the week's chaos seemed to dissipate, replaced by the tranquility of the present moment. The contours of your bodies fit together perfectly, like two pieces of a puzzle finding their rightful place.

The following week you had invited your friends for a casual evening of dinner and drinks at your place. Sarah and Jaehyun were the first to arrive, finding Johnny already there, making himself comfortable by the kitchen island. The four of you chatted, sharing snippets of your week. Most importantly Sarah and Jaehyun mentioned they were still together, still working through things, and Johnny playfully teased them about ‘couple goals’. All you wanted was to land a smack to the back of your boyfriend's beautiful head.

Danielle and her boyfriend joined the gathering next, their laughter blending seamlessly with the lively atmosphere. Mark, being fashionably late, arrived with an armful of drinks, causing cheers and applause from the group. The evening unfolded with everyone having a great time, enjoying the drinks, praising your cooking as you gave the finishing touches to dinner. The cozy ambiance, the clinking of glasses, and the laughter filled your home with warmth.

Seizing the perfect moment when the joy was at its peak, you decided it was time. You took a deep breath, looking around at the faces of your closest friends, each one dear to you in their unique way.

“Guys, I actually been wanting to tell you something" you began, a playful smile dancing on your lips. Johnny, sitting beside you, squeezed your hand under the table in silent support.

Before you could go on, Mark chimed in and said "Oh my god, you're pregnant."

Getting everyone to laugh, Johnny being the one laughing the loudest, but as everyone kept giggling their eyes were starting to show concern.

"Jesus Mark, I wouldn't be drinking if I was," you replied, joining in the laughter. Johnny playfully nudged Mark, adding, "Man, you just killed the surprise."

Jaehyun, couldn't resist chiming in, "Well, I would’ve loved one of those gender reveal’s you see on TikTok. Like color bombs or confetti falling from the ceiling. But I guess a quiet dinner is nice too."

The momentary diversion diffused your tension, and now, with everyone still chuckling, the atmosphere held a perfect balance between humor and anticipation. It was the ideal setting for letting your friends know you’ve been keeping a secret from them for months.

"Johnny and I have been seeing each other for a while now."

A ripple of surprise and realization spread across your friends' faces. Sarah, Danielle, Jaehyun and Mark exchanged glances, the puzzle pieces falling into place. Johnny grinned, his affectionate gaze fixed on you.

"On a serious note, though," you began, glancing around at each of your friends, "I need to say something before anything else. I know we've been keeping this a secret for a while, and I understand if that felt a bit... I don't know, like we were excluding you. But believe me, it was never about that. Johnny and I just wanted to make sure what we had was real before bringing it out into the open."

Johnny nodded in agreement, his eyes reflecting the same sincerity. "Yeah, we wanted it to be solid between us. Not that we doubted, but, you know, it's different when it's just the two of us."

You could sense a shift in the atmosphere, a comprehension in your friends' eyes. Sarah and Danielle exchanged a look, a silent conversation passing between them. Jaehyun, though still wearing a playful smile, showed a glimmer of understanding.

"I get it," Mark said, raising his glass, "We've all been there in different ways. Here's to keeping things real and, apparently, a surprise that's not a baby."

As the initial shock wore off, your friends began bombarding Johnny with questions and teasing remarks. He fielded them with a good-natured laugh, a perfect balance of humor and sincerity. Amid the banter, he leaned over to whisper in your ear, "Totally worth it, don't you think?" You nodded, feeling the shared joy of revealing your relationship to the world, or at least your cherished friend group.

"I can’t believe you guys have kept this ‘secret’ for so long" Danielle grinned, her excitement contagious. "Spill!, how did it happen? And why the secrecy? I need the tea!”

Johnny chimed in, his tone playful, "What do you mean 'secret'?" He made air quotes with his fingers, a mock-innocent expression on his face. "Were we that obvious?”

"Well, 'secret' might be a bit of an exaggeration," you replied, emphasizing the air quotes. "But, yeah, we did keep it on the down-low for a while. As for how it happened..." You exchanged a conspiratorial glance with Johnny, a playful smile tugging at the corners of your lips.

Johnny leaned back, feigning surprise. "Wait, are you telling me we're a secret couple? I thought we were just being cool and mysterious."

A few days ago, you and Johnny sat in your favorite spot at the park, a hidden alcove shaded by vibrant greenery. The sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting a warm glow on both of you.

You took a deep breath, your hands tingling with anticipation. "Johnny, I think it's time we tell our friends about us," you suggested, eyes meeting his.

Johnny, always the joker, raised an eyebrow. "Tell them what? That we share the same taste in sandwiches? They already know that."

You chuckled, nudging him playfully. "No, I mean about us being together."

He feigned surprise, widening his eyes dramatically. "Together? When did that happen?" he teased.

You rolled your eyes, but there was a playful glint in them. "You knew the moment you laid eyes on me," you said, recalling that day when sparks seemed to fly between you two.

Johnny grinned, his expression softening. "Yeah, I did." He took your hand. "But seriously, why now? Why not keep it our little secret?"

You sighed, looking at the intertwined fingers. "Because, Johnny, our love is something to be shared. And, to be honest, I'm tired of not being able to jump at you when we’re around our friends. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep my hands to myself?"

Johnny's eyes widened, and then a mischievous grin spread across his face. "Oh, so you've been dying to jump at me, huh?"

"Maybe. And I think it's time everyone knows about it."

Johnny laughed, squeezing your hand. “Alright, alright. But how do we make it interesting? We can’t just drop it like that.”

You pondered for a moment, “What if we pretend like we were keeping it a secret to make sure it was real? You know, build up the suspense.”

Johnny laughed, nodding in approval. “I like it. Adds a bit of drama. Frees us from the guilt. Let’s do it. But just so you know, I knew it was real the moment I laid eyes on you.”

"So, how long have you been keeping this from us?" Jaehyun asked, with a forced grin.

Johnny threw an arm around your shoulders, grinning. "Well, you see, we're ancient. Been together forever now."

Jaehyun chuckled, "Come on, give me a real answer."

You shared a conspiratorial look with Johnny before revealing, "Alright, fine. It's been a few months."

Jaehyun raised an eyebrow, "Months? Impressive."

Johnny said, “Yeah, that’s long enough to know secrets aren't always worth sharing." The atmosphere crackled with unresolved history, a quiet battlefield where the scars of unspoken words fought for acknowledgment.

"Clearly," Jaehyun replied, "I'm happy for you two.”

The memory of Jaehyun's words and actions lingered in the air, unspoken yet palpable. Johnny's demeanor remained tinged with passive-aggressiveness, a silent reproach echoing the discomfort from that night.

Feeling Johnny's tension rising, you discreetly pinched his leg under the table, a silent plea for him to keep his cool around Jaehyun. Surprisingly, instead of reacting, he responded with a subtle kiss on your temple, a quiet reassurance that he had everything under control.

Mark raised an eyebrow and asked, "So, are you two going to share the story of how you met? I remember Johnny just spawned in our lives, and we all had to act like it was the most normal thing in the world.”

Sarah leaned forward with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Don't leave out any juicy details.”

"So, there I was, being all mysterious in this café, attempting to look like I was doing something important on my laptop—typical Johnny stuff, you know?"

He glanced at you with a smirk, "And then, in she walked, like sunshine in human form. Now, you'd think fate would be on my side, but no, she didn't even notice me. Can you believe it? The great Johnny, overlooked. But here's the thing, I loved the challenge. It wasn't about being the center of attention; it was about grabbing her attention."

Taking a sip of his drink, Johnny continued, "So, I'm there, crafting my plan to make a grand entrance into her life, and she's completely unaware. Classic love story, right? Except, in my version, I'm the hero with a laptop."

Cue a teasing grin, "I finally get the guts to talk to her, and we start chatting about everything—our favorite movies, embarrassing childhood stories, you name it. But here's the secret sauce: I intentionally spilled coffee on myself just to make her laugh. And folks, it worked like a charm. Nothing like a stained shirt to break the ice."

He winked at you, "Now, fast forward through the laughter and coffee-stained confessions, and there it was—the moment. I realized I was in trouble, deep trouble. I was in love. But did I confess right then and there? Nah, I played it cool. Who falls in love at a café, right?"

He leaned in conspiratorially. "When she excused herself to go to the restroom, I texted our group chat, 'Guys, I think I'm in trouble.'”

"But let me tell you, that ordinary Tuesday was the day my life got an upgrade. And here's the thing, she still doesn't know about the intentional coffee spill. So, shh, it's our little secret. That’s how Johnny fell for the girl who could make him spill coffee on himself and still think he's the coolest guy around."

"And the secrecy," Johnny added, "that was mostly her idea. She wanted to make sure I wasn't just blinded by her dazzling personality."

You shot him a playful glare. "Oh, please. You were the one making jokes about wanting to make sure it was real before telling people. Mr. 'I knew it was real the moment I laid my eyes on you.'"

Amidst the laughter and teasing, Johnny leaned back, crossing his arms with a dramatic sigh. "Well, I had to play it cool, you know? Didn't want you to think I was head over heels from day one."

"Too late for that," you interjected, earning a mock offended look from Johnny.

Sarah recalled. "Remember the time we all went hiking, and you two disappeared for like an hour?"

Johnny grinned, mischief dancing in his eyes. "Oh, that? Just appreciating nature, you know."

Danielle, ever the curious one, raised an eyebrow, "What about that time you both disappeared during the beach on the 4th? We thought you got lost.”

Leaning back with a smirk, she added, "I also remember that rooftop dinner you invited us to. You guys just disappeared to 'check on dessert’.

Johnny shrugged, a playful smirk on his face. "Can you blame me? She looked way too good to resist.”

"I can't count the number of times we'd be at a party, and you two would vanish into thin air. Once, I even caught you sharing a jacket. Classic move, by the way.”

Jaehyun, feigning innocence, added his piece, "And the cafe, the one where you both supposedly 'met by chance'? Yeah, right. I remember walking in on you two in the middle of what seemed like a deep conversation."

You laughed, "We were just in the middle of choosing the right coffee blend, right babe?” Leaning into your boyfriend’s chest.

Mark's innocent demeanor cracked into a confused expression. "Man, you got me good. I thought you two were just really good friends, like the 'know-each-other's-favorite-snack' level of friendship."

Johnny chuckled, "Well, we are that too. Just with a few extra layers, you know? Keeps things interesting."

Sarah playfully nudged Mark, "Oh, come on, Mark. You didn't see the signs? The stolen glances, the synchronized laughter, the subtle touches? It was practically a rom-com in the making."

Mark scratched his head, looking at you both with newfound realization. "Wait, so all those times you guys were conveniently sitting next to each other, sharing food, and finishing each other's sentences... that was more than just friendship?"

Johnny laughed, giving you a teasing look. "Mark, my man, you're catching on. Took you a while, but you got there."

You playfully nudged Johnny and stood up. You went to hug Mark and say, "Don't blame our baby, he's not a hopeless romantic like us, that's all."

Mark chuckled and returned the hug. "Well, I guess I'm witnessing the birth of a romance expert here."

Your boyfriend joined the joke, "Don't worry, Mark, we'll give you some lessons. Relationship 101 with Johnny."

[chansbabygirlsstuff]

Just a bet Chapter 13

10:30 am 

Y/n POV 

It's break time and I make my way to the cafeteria and buy myself some strawberry milk; I pay for my drink and leave for the campus's backyards to walk around the shades of the trees and make my way luckily to the empty hammock/ chair, some students hung in the trees to vibe in.

You take the straw separate it from the box and open its wrapper with your teeth as you put the straw through the opening of the box and take small sips savouring its flavor.

"hey" Lia sits next to you in the hammock  making you both dip into the middle of it and Tyuzy joins sitting on the bench in front of the hammock as they are all talking about something 

"But yeah Keeho was all over you girl," Mina tells Yuna remembering yesterday's encounter between them, they all giggle and then greet you getting comfortable to sit and talk with you

"how about we have a sleepover this week?" Lia offers the place that she shares with Chaeryong 

"oh yes that will be fun" they all agree

"How about you y/n?" Mina ask you

"well depends because I work night shifts" They all nod remembering that you work

"what day don't you work?" Yuna asks

"Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays, but I think I'm going to start to work Mondays as well"

"so Sunday it is," Tzuyu says, and everyone agrees as the bell rings and we all get up to our next class together 

 We got to our seats in stats class seeing I.N., Chan, and Hyunjin already sitting in the class, as the only seats available were behind them we took our seats.

Hyunjin turns over to me leaning in with his chair and hitting my desk "What?" you say as he stares at you Lia laughs as she knows the friendship you both have but doesn't say anything and sits next to you 

"We need to talk" he mumbles as his head rests against his arm which is against the back of his seat 

"no" you answer taking your pens out of your bag and clicking it

"why" he pouts and you shrug 

"you guys are mean, none of you want to talk to me" he pouts even more as he crosses his arms faking being mad

"Yo, leave her alone dude," Chan says to him as Hyunjin leans against his desk hiding his face between his arms and fake sobs, Chan looks at you and rolls his eyes at Hyunjins drama

and you laugh through your smile oblivious to his behavior 

Time skip 

4:00 pm 

You say bye to the girls as you go to the parking lot waiting for Chan as he had sent you a message telling you to wait there for him.

you make your way to his car and grab your phone while you wait for him, as you scroll on insta posts, you feel someone grabbing your shoulders making you jump 

"Boo!" Chan scares you

"JESUS!" you exclaim not seeing him coming as he laughs moving to his side of the care 

You roll your eyes at his annoyance as you get in the car and put your seatbelt on

"you ready?" he looks at you for confirmation but laughs at your annoyed face (fake)  

and you chuckle at his silliness 

as he started to drive you decided to make conversation and tell him about your plans and important things you didn't get to talk about last night 

"Chris" you call him as he hums

"So I have work tomorrow from 5-9 pm so I will be back late," you say making sure he knows your absence tomorrow night

"ok that's fine, what are your work days?" he asks you to know what days you will be out 

"I work Tuesday to Friday, same time every day " You nod affirming your schedule 

"ok then thanks for letting me know" he smiles at you and continues  

"and about you know... the temporary stay I promise as soon as I find and can afford an apartment I will leave; and please tell me how much I owe you per month please... so I can help with what I can... please" You get embarrassed 

"Y/n don't stress about it please take your time, trust me is fun to have a roommate anyways" he smiles assuring you

"and about the money please don't worry about it I'll take care of it"

"No, I can't let you pay for everything" you begged him as it would make you feel uncomfortable to live under a friend's house without helping with anything 

"ok... you can help with groceries" he shrugs offering you something

"yeah I can do that" You smile satisfied to know that you can do something to help

you both get home get inside the house and take your shoes off as he tells you he's going to change you do as well 

you change your top into a bigger shirt to feel comfortable in the house and make your way to the couch waiting for Chan so you can organize yourself in what you have to buy (food) for the house.

But it takes him some time to come back so you grab your phone and scroll through Instagram seeing all your friends posing and pretty pictures with their partners and friends, family pictures, smiles in each of them.

huh... lucky them

Chan gets out of his room  wearing some shorts and a shirt 

"so what do you want to do?" he asks you, as you get off your phone to put your attention to him, and he sits next to you on the couch pretty close as he turns towards you sitting sideways to pay attention to you 

haha... fucking butterflies 

"I was thinking a-" You get cut by someone opening the door and a bunch of footsteps running towards the living room 

"Chan did you already do it?" you see Felix scream to CHan while running towards us making us surprised and jump

"oh..." Felix says looking at you and then at Chan and you see everyone behind him freeze as they look at you and Chan 

"Y/n you here..." you hear Hyunjins voice get higher, in a sarcastic tone, acting surprised 

"We are so sorry for interrupting we ca-" Han tries to get everyone out before Chan cuts him out before they get the wrong idea

"No, guys please come in" he laughs nervously he gets up not to get the wrong idea

Hyunjin turns back to walk toward the living room keeping eye contact with you 

he sits down next to you  and crosses his legs pretending to be one of your girl's best friends act

"What a surprise seeing you here" again with a sarcastic tone 

"uhh..." you look at Hyunjin and then at Chan as all the boys get comfortable in his house

Chan nods, telling them why you are there " I left home" you mumble to Hyunjin, he understands right away 

"She's living with me for now," Chan says loudly for everyone to hear so they don't make questions

but Chanbin still asked, "Why did you leave home?" you stayed quiet not knowing how to answer

"I helped her leave her house" Chan only says that statement making the rest of the boys nod and shut up as they guessed something  was wrong at home

"Well, I brought beer and cards so we can play" Lee Know chimes in to change the conversation

Everyone gathers around the table to start drinking as Chanbin turns on the TV and plays a soccer game you sit awkwardly in the sofa thinking of leaving and being in your room while his friends drink and watch the game 

as you stand up and start walking towards the hallway to your room, 

"where are you going?" Hyujin asks you and you look back at him but all the boys stare at you 

"you want a beer?" Seugmin asks you 

"no thanks I don't like beer" You smile nicely at him denying his offer

"come here" Chan pats down next to him sitting on the floor next to the coffee table, and you go to him 

"you don't have to be shy" he whispers near you and smiles at you, as you nod

"but are you sure you don't want beer" he shows you the drink that he's holding in his hand 

"I'm sure, I just really don't like its taste" he nods understanding 

"would you like some cranberry vodka?"

"Sure" You accept his offer as he gets up to his kitchen you see him taking out the different drinks and mixing them.

He comes back to sit next to me and hands me the drinks, I thank him as I take a sip of the drink, and they all get comfortable around the table and sofa watching the game, as you lie down against the wall watching the game

15 mins later 

Chan sees how you ended your cocktail, but also notices the boredom on your face 

"Do you want more?" he offers you more 

"Yeah sure," you say

not knowing why you agree when you are not good with alcohol and let's say he makes them pretty strong

He comes back and while walking he says "What type of cards did you bring?" he says to everyone 

Lee now looks back at him and says "I brought  drink or dare" Chan rolls his eyes tired of the game 

"Do you wanna play?" Lee Know leans in putting his elbows on his knees

"Yeah that will be fun" You sit back up accommodating yourself to start the game, and you down your drink clearing your throat at how strong it was.

"m'kay let me shuffle this bitches and get started,"  he said shuffling the cards before putting in a deck on the coffee table and getting off the sofa to sit on the floor next to the table 

"the rules are simple, grab a card do the dare, or drink the number of shots shown" You nod as Seugmin explains as he lays down on the couch to relax 

Chanbin, Chan, Minho, I.N, Felix Han, and Hyunjin sat down to play as Seugmin was lying down trying to watch the game 

"I'll go first" Hyunjin takes a card 

"Let the person next to you post anything they want on your snap" Hyunjin rolled his eyes as Minho smirked already having an evil plan as he stretched his hand towards Hyunjin "This is so childish," Hyun-jin said stressed to know what he will write.

He grabs the phone types something smiles and puts it back down as Hyunjin runs  to grab his phone and check what was posted

He sees a picture of their 58-year-old teacher with the caption "Why see kinda...." and a smirk emoji at the end 

"AYE YO" he screams as he sees his phone and everyone laughs as Chanbin shows everyone

"Next," I.N says laughing before Hyunjin throws a tantrum 

Chanbin grabs a card and reads it "Tell your biggest secret to everyone"

he shakes his head and drinks the 3 shots of whiskey it said on the card

"sorry can't tell" Everyone gets disappointed as you serve some more vodka cranberry as Chan sets it  on the table so you can serve more for yourself

I.N grabs a card and reads it "Take a piece of cloth off" and everyone coos 

"Don't traumatize the poor child!" Hyun-jin exclaims referring to you as you were drinking 

I.N puts his foot up as everyone stares at him to see what he is gonna do

he proceeds to take his sock off slowly as some express their emotions by saying 'ew' and others laughing as you join their laughter 

"there" he states as he finishes his dare everyone chuckles knowing that that was not what the card meant

it was your turn and you picked out a card "Share an embarrassing moment in high school"

"mhm, I don't know" you try to think but don't want to say it at the same time

"I have some if you don't remember" Hyunjin starts as your eyes grow big in panic

"Like the time you fell in the fountain trying to impress your crush," he laughs as you get embarrassed

"Really? I don't remember..." you act cool acting as if you don't remember  

"Or when your voice cracked horribly on your presentation day" he laughs so hard he starts crying 

you freeze knowing that 'that' embarrassing moment haunts you till now, being scared that it will happen again if you ever try to sing in public again 

"you sing?" Han asks cackling up at Hyunjins laugh

"no," you say but hyunjin says the opposite "She does and she sings beautifully that's why she got chosen for our theater presentation but I guess nerves just got in the  moment" she finishes commenting as you feel embarrassed

"that's enough" Chan stops Hyunjin before he says something else, you look embarrassed

"my turn," Chan says as he grabs a card "Mhm," he says as we all look at him curiously 

"damn, 8 shots or kiss with the person right to you" he looks at the card and then at you as the challenge is up to you 

"OH"  everyone cheers and starts teasing each other 

"I'll help you with the shots," you say shyly not even looking at him looking for the bottle as Chanbin takes it out of your hands

"No, you can't say no, I'll give you 100 bucks for that kiss" Your eyes widen as you hear the money 

"it's up to you, at the end it's just a bet so don't think much about it" he tries to calm you down as your eyes show the nervous guilt in your body 

shit, should you?  it's a big bill, and also a big opportunity to get a taste of his lips finally, and yeah he is right... it's just a bet

you nod to him shifting your body toward him

"Are you sure? don't feel pressured yeah?" Chan resures you 

"yeah it's fine" you mumble feeling nervous 

"I want that shit to last, it's not just a peck, I'm paying for that shit," Chanbin says exited 

Chan faces you as he gives you a small smile as he leans forward but you freeze, and you feel your stomach drop down, what if he thinks I'm a bad kisser, I just kissed 1 person in my life and it was just a quick peck 

He puts his hand on your cheek pulling you closer 

and your lips finally connected, it is soft, reassuring, and sweet as his lips slowly move just a bit to start a make out but you tense so he doesn't move his lips but lets them sit still smashing them against yours before letting go slowly 

You both still closed as your eyes meet, he smiles softly to you but it is a sweet smirk, and he tugs your hair behind your ear and pulls back to continue the game and your back up and lean against the couch behind you grabbing your drink and chugging it down while everyone kept the game going, your ears and cheeks getting red,  but you did see Hyunjin looking at you smirking and wiggling his eyebrows, but you flip him off while holding your glass with both hands as Han was know chugging 3 shots as they all cheered for him

Danm, that was hot

Taglist: @oddracha @Darthmaddie25 @Stayceebs97 @strayywayy

[mrsmiagreer]

“I haven’t had a crush in a long time”

Lasko whining to the DAMN crew about how hopelessly in love he is with Coworker

Warnings: Fluff, a little cussing

It was 8:48 in the morning on a Sunday. Lasko was up, showered and dressed, and sitting on his couch, butterflies lingering in his stomach from the night before. He had a wonderful night, even if it started like a shit show. And he was very grateful that they still wanted to be with him even if he was a mess, because lord knows if he was in their shoes, he probably wouldn’t.

He sat on the couch of his apartment and called Freelancer as soon as possible, letting it ring a few times before he heard them answer

“Hello??”

“Freelancer H-hi! I-I-im sorry to-to call you this early i-i-in the m-morning I know you were p-p-probably s-sleeping but I just want to- to tell you about m-my date! Uhh are you busy?”

“Yeah no i’m just uhh—”

They looked over at the mess in the kitchen, powdered sugar all over the counters and A certain special incubus and a cute curly-horned daemon trying to make donutholes

“—just gimme a minute and maybe you can come over and we can talk about it here?”

“Yeah! Yeah O-of Course. What time d-do you think I should head over?”

Gavin came over, politely interrupting for them, Freelancer immediately leaving him with the phone and going over to help Caelum with the donuts so it can be over quicker. They loved him but they also wanted alone time with Gavin before spending the day with Lasko.

“Hey Lasko, really happy to hear that you want to talk about your date, it must’ve went well, and we’re glad to hear all about it around…11? How’s that sound?”

“Oh! H-hey Gavin. Yeah, yeah 11 sounds g-good to me. Okay i’ll see you soon. Well not- not soon soon, 11 is-is in three hours. W-w-w-well i guess th-that wouldn’t make it a-soon at-at all because three hours is k-kinda a long t-time…Y-you know w-w-what I m-mean. Bye—”

And he hung up, not wanting to over speak like he usually does. He also texted Damien and Huxley to meet him at Freelancers house so they could talk about it collectively. So there he sat, maybe putting a show on or doing some chores around the house, waiting for 11 to roll by so he could tell his friends allll about how much he liked his date.

————————————————————————-

Freelancer sat on their couch with their legs on Gavin’s lap, his hands caressing their thighs and rubbing their feet from time to time. Damien and Huxley sat next to eachother on the other couch, next to Lasko who was uncontrollably smiling

“Alright Lasko. Spit it out, How’d it go?”

Damien spoke, tired of looking at eachother in silence

“W-well at first…at first it was a f-f-fucking d-disaster! I-I made a fool of myself and- and spilled their drink i-in their lap, A-AND s-s-stood up i-into the waiters’ p-platter of f-food and i-it got all o-o-ver the table! God I wanted to j-just CEASE to e-exist!”

“Oh my…Lasko I thought you said it went well” Freelancer said, a little concerned with how he was describing the night

“Well this is just the beginning…i-i-it got better I-I promise!”

Lasko went on to explain how his date still wanted to go on a walk with him, even though he was super clumsy and constantly inconveniencing them. They had a really nice conversation, the nicest Lasko’s had in a while. He emphasized how calm they made him feel and how they were considerate of his anxiety and let him take his time. After a while of him describing the night and the date themselves, Freelancer quietly noticed that Lasko wasn’t stuttering anymore, it become a slower, more admirable way of speaking. And they were really happy for him.

“They’re so beautiful and sweet and funny and their lips are so soft and- and they’re really fucking intelligent…I-I mean I really don’t know what they see in me…b-but I’m happy that they seem to like me. I really really like them. Gosh I haven’t had a crush in a long time” He put his hands up to his face, cooling his warm cheeks with a light gentle breeze.

“Aweeee” Huxley replied, also really happy for him. “That’s great buddy!”

“Yeah Lasko that’s amazing. When’s the next date?” Damien followed up

“And when do I meet them?” Gavin spoke, Freelancer cutting him off with a small hit to the chest “What? I have to approve first. I know Lasko and what’s good for him…really well actually—”

“U-uhm! I-I-I’m not s-sure but I’ll see. I r-really cant wait for y-you you all to meet them. Y-you’re gonna love them” He smiled, all his friends smiling back.

“Alright! Now group hugs?” Huxley spoke, standing up

“Yeah!!” Freelancer spoke also standing up, taking Gavin with them. He was smiling contentedly, knowing this was coming.

Damien rolled his eyes, never admitting to actually really liking the hugs. They all stood and pulled Lasko to their chests, Huxley squeezing a few people together a little too close.

“I love you guys”

“We love you too Lasko”

————————————————————————-

A/N: Hey guys! This took me a little while because of Lasko but I love him too much to give up, so here we are! @guyspizzapie I believe this one is for you, thank you for giving me the rec… I really enjoyed making this, and you actually have like 3 or 4 more coming so please stick around😊

[virtualplushy]

small joys saturday - i hung out w my friend luna at the cat cafe today and we made plans to go to breakfast tomorrow before i leave for tennessee :3 also small joys sunday - i’m moving to tennessee tomorrow and my new job starts monday and i’m very excited :3

aw YAY i’m so excited for u!! i hope the move goes smoothly and your new job goes well !!!

[k1spiegel]

rundown of the past four days around bub's wedding (today included):

thursday:

got picked up by my aunt (and her friend. and a diff aunt's granddaughter) around like 8

spend the night at her house bc its close to the airport i was leaving out of

friday:

aunt and uncle drive me to the airport

my first flight is delayed enough to the point where i'd be getting into california at 9 pm if i got on it. they find a diff flight to replace it whichll get me in around 6

that flight also gets delayed by a storm

extremely scary first time flying

four hour layover with my second flight being delayed by a different storm

picked up by mom and driven to the rv her and dad took to california to sleep there for two nights

SAW BUB YAAAAY

saturday:

wake up at 7 to start getting ready for the wedding (11:30 am)

hang out w riz eric and bub for a bit beforehand

cried at the wedding multiple times

cried at the reception multiple times

that happened

didnt drink but did dance and hung out w riz and eric a lot

have kind of a shitty night after the reception bc mom got drunk enough to struggle walking (as an older disabled woman in heels. me and dad helped her .)

fall asleep at like 10 pm

sunday (today):

wake up at 4 with dad because my flights at 6

first flight goes perfectly fine. great. three hours no issue

40 minute layover in dallas (nightmare airport.) turns into about an hour because of. idk. misc delay

i got really scared in dallas bc of the escalators so i took an elevator

rough as fuck flight back because of storms because were flying to fucking florida

when we land the bridge to connect to our plane breaks so we had to be rescued via emergency staircase.

get picked up by a family friend and taken home to where i am: now

[bratdykebarbie]

Sunday night 🐝 went to hang out w a friend so 🍊 and I hung out and watched some YouTube stuff and fucked nasty 🥰

we were laying in bed with her spooning me and she was hard and grinding up on me and groping me and kissing my neck and when I rolled over to face her she grabbed me and kissed me until I was fucking dizzy 🥺🥵😭

she was touching me everywhere and when she spread me open with her fingers I almost lost it completely, just whining and whimpering as she played with my clit and fucked me with her fingers, just pounding in and out of my absolutely dripping desperate hole 🥺🥵😭

she had me give her head and she tasted and smelled so fucking good and I was able to take her all the way, at one point she was holding my hair to bob my head up and down and then holding my head down so she could fuck my throat 🥺🥵😭

and the whole time she was whining so so loud, moaning and cursing and praising me,

“fuck, you’re such a good girl, you’re doing so good for me, that’s right, fuck you take Mommy’s cock so so well”

and between my mouth and her hands, I made her cum and fuck she’s so loud and so gorgeous and she kept telling me how good I did for her, gasping and twitching as I kept teasing her real slow with my tongue 🥺🥵😭

ugh it was just so fucking good 🥺 pretty sure I saw god with my face buried between her legs 🥺🥵😭

[karikarasuno]

sonder ch. ii

Pairing: Erwin Smith x Fem!Reader x Levi Ackerman

Rating: Mature

Warnings/Tags: Angst, Flashbacks/Memories, Lots of Cooking/Baking, Dinners w/ Eruri, More Worldbuiling (bear with me), Alcohol Consumption (wine tasting time)

Word Count: 9.6k

song(s) for the chapter: love me more by mitsuki, party tricks by ayanna

a/n: as i write this, I’m slowly learning that it’s just an ode to my love of accessible public transportation and walkable cities, pls enjoy:)

chapter i | chapter ii | chapter iii

It was Sunday. The weather dipped into something comfortable and beautiful. It was hard to appreciate though when you woke up alone on the right side of the bed. You were curled around a pillow and the one beneath your head was damp. For a moment, you thought it was drool and you wiped at the corner of your mouth with the back of your hand. Until the heel of your palm reached the darkened skin beneath your eye where you found a dried crust where you had been…crying. You were disoriented by the realization. Confused because you didn’t remember falling asleep with tears streaming down your face. Yet, they were there – dried and dampening your pillowcase. 

You were up and dressed within an hour. Your hair was air drying in the early afternoon sun as you stepped outside. There was a pier not too far from where you lived. Just a twenty minute train ride away. You slid earbuds in as you walked down the sidewalk. The same route you and Erwin took every morning for work. It was second nature by this point, sidestepping the hole in the asphalt and then accounting for the dip in the unleveled pavement as the train stop came into view. When you opened Spotify the song waiting for you there startled you. It was one of Onyankopon’s songs. One that he wrote and produced the second year the two of you were together. He sold it to a record company for some up and coming musician neither of you had heard of. That was until this song managed to chart in the top tens, skyrocketing him into the limelight. Which in turn got Onyankopon the career he’d been dreaming of since he was a child. 

The song began to play as you set foot on the train. Surprisingly, it was not as crowded as you would’ve expected on a weekend. But you supposed everyone was out at brunch. It was the season of mimosas after all. 

The song was two minutes and forty three seconds long. Not very long at all. It lacked some of the depth his writing has matured into since then, but the perfect song of the summer. A love song. Sweet in its melody and tender in its lyrics. He told you it was written for you. Just a few weeks after the two of you had met. 

Your stop was next, so you stood and hung on to the pole beside your seat. It seemed much busier on this side of the city. Couples, families, and groups of friends littered the streets. Traffic was much tamer but the amount of people had you knocking shoulders with the person next to you as soon as you stepped off. 

The big ferris wheel was directly in your line of vision, clear from the obstruction of skyscrapers with the sparkle of the lake right behind it. Accenting its glory with a twinkle and a shimmer. It was at least a mile away and the music in your ears was beginning to fade into white noise. You focused on taking one step at a time, placing one foot in front of the other. It was getting harder to push thoughts of him to the background. Harder to lock the feelings you so desperately wanted to forget away and move on. 

A block away from the wheel you ran into this tiny record shop. A record player displayed at the window caught your attention and those feelings you were trying to avoid slammed into your chest with a fresh memory of your first date. He’d taken you to a record shop much like the one before you. He asked you out the moment you met. It was your junior year of college and you stumbled your way into the music building late at night with a few friends. You’d been drinking, celebrating the end of finals week just before the winter break began. But you had wandered off, finding yourself in a studio in some far corner of the building– the giggles of your friends echoing off of the empty hallways. He was playing around with a chord progression on a keyboard. Going over it again and again while he muttered things you couldn’t understand under his breath. 

“It’s pretty,” you said, your voice breathy and cheeks warm from the few shots you had taken. His shoulders lifted in surprise and he whipped around to look at you. He was handsome, more than enough to have the next words you were about to say die on your tongue. You swallowed around the sweet taste of lychee soju, remembering how it tasted like juice but getting you drunker quicker than anything before. 

“You’re not supposed to be in here,” he smiled, eyes tracking from your eyes all the way down to your feet. It was a slow journey and if your mind and body weren’t so loosened by the alcohol, you would’ve squirmed under his attention.

“I know,” you responded, leaning against the doorframe. “But finals are over and we were just having a little fun. What’re you doing here so late?”

“Working.” He crossed his arms over his chest and you followed the movement. If he asked you to go home with him at that moment, you’d say yes. Without the slightest of regrets. 

“On?” You asked, sauntering towards him, feigning coyness but you were afraid he could read your intentions all over your body. 

“On something that you’ll hopefully hear on the radio one day. If it’s any good.”

“Why don’t you play it for me?” You smiled, toying with the pendant on your necklace between your thumb and forefinger. Your friends’ laughter was getting closer, their footsteps leading them down the hall towards you and this stranger. 

“I’ll tell you what.” He leaned forward, an elbow on each knee as he looked up at you. “One date and I’ll think about it.”

You swapped numbers that night, your moment interrupted by your name bouncing around the building walls as your friends searched for you. The first date was right as the spring term started. You texted all throughout the break and the flutterings of a crush were strong in your bones by the time you saw him again. And when he picked you up on that cold January evening the last place you expected to be with him was a little, old record shop. You searched through the discount bin for albums that caught your eye, each picking one and listening to them at his place while draining a bottle of cheap wine and snacking on whatever frozen appetizers he had in his freezer. 

You should’ve kept walking past the store. Should’ve lived through that memory in that instance and kept walking. Instead, the jingle of the bell overheard rang shiny through your eardrums. The smell of old paper and wood flooded your senses and the memory vibrated even fiercer through your mind. 

“How much for the record player?” You pointed to the display as you asked the employee behind the cash register. He was organizing a stack of used vinyls, their slips weathered and faded through years of neglect. 

“$250,” he called over his shoulder, not sparing you much of a glance. It didn’t really matter to you anyway because you knew as soon as you walked through that door that you would buy it. Along with an album or two from one of those bargain bins near the back shelves of the store. 

You didn’t really see much of the pier after all. The ferris wheel shrunk in the distance behind you, your arms full from the wide shape of the box and a bag swinging from two fingers. Once you got home the hours ticked by slower than you wanted, you decided you needed something else. To keep your mind off things. There was noise coming from the other side of your living room wall, muffled and far away. Levi and Erwin. You still needed to thank them for yesterday. For all the help you needed, but felt like you didn’t deserve. 

Cookies. Espresso chocolate chip. That’s how you would thank them. You dug through your pantry and fridge, pulling out ingredients and utensils. Bowls and a baking tray. The cooling rack you bought a few weeks ago too. One of the records was already playing from where you set it up on the end table beside your sofa. It was an old smooth jazz album from an artist you had never heard of. But it was nice, doing the perfect job of filling space as you added brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter into a metal bowl. You decided against using the handheld mixer tucked away in one of your cupboards. There was energy pulsing in your veins that you needed to get out, so you grabbed a whisk instead, whipping the mixture until it became light and fluffy. A sweat coated your skin by the time you added the egg and vanilla, beating it all together and setting it aside to start on the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. 

By the time the cookies popped into the oven, the sun was lower in the sky. It washed the living room in a natural golden glow, the image surreal as you stared off into your home. The one you’ve provided for yourself, by yourself. The boxes your furniture had come in were still strewn by your door. Trash day was tomorrow, the boxes to be left there for another day.

When the cookies were ready, you allowed them to cool for a few minutes. Antsy as your foot tapped the floor and the glass storage container sat on your countertop. They weren’t fully cooled when you put them in the container. Which wasn’t your smartest move, but you couldn’t wait anymore. Not when the album finished and your home was thrust into silence again. You were out the door and at their doorstep less than a minute later. A little winded from taking the steps two at a time and ringing their doorbell. You still had the apron on, flour dusting the front of it and wearing lavender crocs. 

Erwin opened the door in the most casual outfit you’ve ever seen him in. A white t-shirt and grey sweatpants, a mug of what smelled like herbal tea in his hand. 

“Nice outfit,” he smiled, lifting the mug in your direction in greeting. 

“Back at ya,” you smiled with a steady breath. You extended the container his way and he just stared without taking it from you. “It’s a thank you gift. For yesterday.”

“Cookies?”

“Espresso chocolate chip,” you answered, shaking them in his direction to urge him to grab it from you. But he didn’t. He turned around, lifting a finger your way and saying, “hold on.”

He disappeared in his house, the door left open and you were nosy enough to let your eyes wander. To look at their living room with the worn brown leather couch and a round wooden coffee table. There was a coat rack propped against the wall right in front of you and a shoe rack right beside it. Their home looked lived in and warm, yet impeccably clean. You envied them and their cute house together with herbs growing in the kitchen windowsill and mismatched rags hanging from the oven door. It took Erwin longer than you expected for him to return and you were starting to wonder if he expected you to follow him inside. Until Levi came from around a corner. His hair was wet and dripped on the towel hooked around his shoulders and you felt bad for interrupting. Clearly because Erwin had no grievances disturbing Levi when he obviously just hopped out the shower. 

“Hey,” he said in greeting, but it came out more like a question, confusion laced in his tone and morphing his expression. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to come at a bad time,” you found yourself saying, immediately trying to backtrack on whatever weird friendship thing Erwin was trying to do. “I just wanted to thank you for all your help yesterday, so I baked some cookies. They’re espresso chocolate chip. I hope you like them. You won’t be wired or anything if you eat them too late, I didn’t put enough instant espresso in it for that. And I probably should’ve made sure you even liked sweets. They’re not too sweet though, I used semi-sweet chips.”

You rambled. Your cheeks were warming up under his critical stare and word vomit spewed from your mouth and you were…nervous. A strange feeling to experience because you were only trying to give your neighbors cookies. But the loneliness that crept in after they left your home yesterday was starting to drive you mad. And you were overcompensating. Fighting a battle to keep the loneliness from winning but you began to fear like you were the one fucking this up instead.

Levi took the container from your grip, popping open the lid and smelling them. Your palms broke out in a nervous sweat. And you were starting to grow irritated with yourself and your inability to keep it together. 

“They smell good,” he said, taking one out and biting into it. Since you were too impatient to allow them to fully cool, a string of melted chocolate fell over his lip. You watched his tongue lick it away and he chewed with purpose which only proved to spike your stress levels when you couldn’t decipher whether the look on his face was good or bad. 

Unlike Erwin, who you could read like a book – not because you knew him so well but because he practically wore his heart on his sleeve– Levi was this impenetrable wall. He didn’t hum in approval. His eyes didn’t light up in satisfaction. Nor did he grimace in distaste. His features remained neutral. And with only a nod he finished the cookie, closed the container lid and strolled back into his house. You were left there bewildered. No questions or words or even the upturn of his lips in one of those faux smiles he gave you yesterday. You were stumped. 

“Thanks for the cookies,” Erwin said when he joined you at the door again, looking rather pleased with himself. You were starting to think he found immeasurable amusement in watching his boyfriend interact with you. In some sick, twisted way. Like watching paper burn after you’ve thrown it in a fire pit. 

“You think this is funny, don’t you?” You narrowed your eyes and crossed your arms, but you weren’t delusional enough to think you looked intimidating. Not in your current state of dress. 

“What?” He said, smile innocent but eyes shining with something that proved otherwise. You flicked him off instead of replying because he wasn’t deserving of one. You stomped down the steps then, hearing his chuckle as you marched out of his gate and through yours. He watched your entire tantrum, and when you peeked over at him before you entered your home, he grinned.

“Good night,” he called out, only receiving a grumbled mimic of the words back at him from you. 

You brought the remaining cookies to work the next day. Moblit inhaled five of them before lunch claiming that his blood sugar was low, so you had to sneak one over to Marco and Jean before he could get his hands on anymore. 

“If you don’t like them, pretend you do,” you teased, handing one to each of them while leaning against the mobile wall of their cubicle. When Marco bit into his cookie, you watched as his eyes widened and he nodded, seeming like he enjoyed it. You smiled at him, always so fond of his earnest reactions to most things. Glad that he was your intern and not anyone else’s. 

“Never pegged you for an actor, Marco.” He rolled his eyes dramatically, finishing the cookie off in his next bite.

“Never thought you were much of a baker, but these are surprisingly good.” You shrugged, feigning modesty. The playful dig didn’t go over your head either. Your eyes slid over to Jean, who often didn’t make eye contact with you. A gesture you found both endearing and slightly confusing because you’ve seen him work with Moblit. He was passionate and had a surplus of ideas that he rambled off to Moblit in one sitting. But he was shy around almost everyone else. 

“Just keep up the good work and maybe I’ll bring you more treats.” You pushed off of the wall and walked back towards your office, passing Moblit’s on the way. He called out to you when you strolled past his open door, finding his grinning face behind two monitors mounted on the side of his desk. 

“Yes?” You stuck your head in the door, knowing that whatever he was going to say next was only going to be trouble.

“Did you give a cookie to Nile?” His grin turned into something shit-eating and you felt the breath leave your lungs in a heavy, traitorous sigh.

“No… should I have?” You pouted, primarily because Nile wasn’t your favorite person to interact with. He was always so grumbly and strung out. The editor was never in the most enjoyable mood whenever you spoke to him about work, so offering him a cookie was not very high on your to do list for the day.

“He’s harmless,” Moblit responded after seeing the look of disdain written plainly across your features. 

“He’s still a major grouch and every time I speak to him I’m sure it is going to result in his psychotic break. Does that man ever go on vacation? Or know what the word relax even means?”

Moblit chuckled, propping his chin in his hand. “He’s having a hard time with his wife. She’s been giving him some shit about not valuing family time enough.”

“How do you even know that?” Nile never talked to anyone about anything outside of their professional duties, so Moblit having this much information came as a shock to you. And he only offered a shrug in response, smiling because he enjoyed fucking with you and you were sure he was still hazing you as the newbie. 

“Big city with small town gossip,” he said, turning back to his monitor and opening an email. You scoffed and left back towards your office a few doors down. He knew you would ask him again later, probably thinking of a way to leverage the gossip so that you would do a favor for him. It was your own fault, honestly. For being so goddamn nosy. 

When you arrived home, an hour later than you usually do, Erwin was standing outside your gate with a glass dish in his hand. He was scrolling on his phone as you came up beside him, peeking around his bicep and startling him. 

“Don’t sneak up on me,” he said as you stepped around him and unlatched your gate.

“I wouldn’t have snuck up on you if you had been paying attention,” you nudged him lightly out of your way, leaving the gate open behind you since he always followed you inside. 

“Be nice or I won’t give you this chicken parm Levi made.”

You scrunched your eyebrows together when you unlocked your door. Just one surprise after another today. You set your purse on your couch as you walked further into your home, facing him with your hands on your hips as he strolled inside and placed the food on your island. 

“Is this because of the cookies?” You were curious, especially since you didn’t think Levi was the cook of the relationship. But you saw how hopeless Erwin was with even a coffeemaker after he tried to use your espresso machine one morning. Now you knew, if it wasn’t for Levi then Erwin would be surviving off of takeout and frozen dinners. 

“He doesn’t like owing people,” Erwin said, sitting at one of the stools you purchased a few weeks ago. 

“Those were supposed to be a thanks, not something that he needed to owe,” you said confused, kicking off your shoes and tossing them towards the shoe rack. “But I didn’t have any plans for dinner so tell him I appreciate it.”

You lifted the lid from the container, Italian herb seasoning hitting your nostrils first. You weren’t in much of a mood to cook for yourself recently, mainly surviving off of leftovers from lunch or Chinese food. So, this smelled heavenly, your stomach grumbled in response and you would be embarrassed by Erwin’s snicker if you weren’t starving all of a sudden. Instead of plating it, you just grabbed a fork from the drawer, forgetting a knife but using your fingers to tear off a chunk of the crispy meat. You forgot your table manners and shoved it in your mouth, tomato sauce staining your fingertips in the process. 

“You eat like such a lady,” Erwin said, making a scene of sitting up straight and linking his fingers on the countertop. You had the decency to finish chewing first before offering a response. “Fuck off, Smith.” He smirked, but you were too busy twirling the spaghetti on the fork to give him any more attention. 

“And I don’t trust you to actually tell Levi I said thank you, so give me his number,” you said after you swallowed. “I’ll just text him.”

It was a decent enough cover up for your true intentions. While you wanted to thank him for the food, you also quite liked Levi and felt like you had something to prove. The irritating people pleaser in you not doing well with the idea that Levi might not like you that much. Even though you had nothing to prove that irrational notion. Either way, you held out your phone to Erwin, already unlocked to the screen for him to put Levi’s number in. 

“I don’t know if I like that idea,” he said, slowly inputting the digits. “You’ll team up against me.”

“Oh, don’t be like that,” you said around another forkful of food, nearly salivating at the sauce and wondering if Levi made it from scratch. It tasted nothing like anything you’ve ever had from a jar. 

“I’ll be however I wanna be,” he poked his tongue out at you, saving Levi’s number and sliding your phone back in your direction. He didn’t stay for much longer after that, his seat on your stool vacant and you were starting to despise being alone with yourself. Even with the dinner still warm in its container and Levi’s contact staring up at you from your phone screen, you still noticed all of the missing weight. Moreso, now than ever. You hated eating alone. Dread circled around in your stomach which soured the food, so you closed it up and put it away. There was still time to eat it anyway, and you would end up shoveling it down before bed half-starved because you could never go to bed hungry. 

You texted Levi before bed. Erasing around five messages before you finally decided on something.

The dinner was really good. But now I owe you a meal. 

Funnily enough, the next day you spent half of your shift scrolling through recipes on your desktop, flitting between steak or chicken or fish. And then you started over and looked through vegetable dishes. You were overthinking it. But you also didn’t want to make them something they wouldn’t like. Something Levi wouldn’t like. 

The grocery store was packed. Way too many people for a random Tuesday evening. Sure there must’ve been a dinner rush, but the lines were atrocious and you only had a handful of ingredients. You decided on a stir fry. Chicken again because it was safe. Something you knew they would like given what he prepared for dinner last night. When you finally got home half an hour later, you cooked in a flurry. You threw on your apron, your work clothes still beneath it as you chopped up peppers and broccoli florets. 

The recipe was simple. And you finished it so quickly, you were disappointed at the loss of the distraction. Content with what you made, and you were swiftly finding catharsis in the ritual of cooking. The same vinyl as before drifted through your home while you plated their meal. It was delicious. A simmer of cockiness heated your cheeks because you were proud of yourself. And if neither of them liked it, fuck them. 

But you actually really hoped they fucking liked it. If not, you would probably hide away from them forever. Out of mostly shame. 

It was too late to doubt yourself now, though. With your apron still on, you walked through your door with two containers, one with the stir fry and the other with jasmine rice. Your hands were a little shaky and you were slightly annoyed by it. There should be no expectations here. It’s just friendly meals shared between neighbors. You spend almost every morning with Erwin. How could this be any different?

You were at their doorstep in seconds, shuffling your feet before you raised your hand to knock on their door. But as your knuckles were about to touch it, there was a voice behind you that caused you to flinch so violently you almost dropped the food. 

Levi was standing behind you, fingers taking out the bud in his ear as his hair stuck to his forehead and sweat dripped down his neck. He must have just gotten back from a run. His breath rose his chest heavily and there was a ghost of a smile on his face, presumably at your reaction to his presence. He didn’t say anything after saying your name, just waited for you to respond. Which never failed to twist your nerves in a weird way. 

“I said I owed you a meal,” you started, holding up the containers to emphasize your point. He looked between you, the food, and his door, staring up at you from the last step. You knew he was thinking about his words. He seemed like the type to choose his words carefully, especially since he had so few of them. 

“Are you going to eat with us?” He asked, the question thoroughly throwing you off. The very last thing you expected for him to say. 

“Uh, I didn’t pack enough for three,” you carefully responded, not even sure if you wanted to say yes or no. The idea of sitting down with the both of them, eating and chatting and not being alone. It was an overwhelming thought. It was one that you weren’t sure if you found comfort in. It felt intimate in a way that you couldn’t quite describe. 

“I’m sure we can make do,” Levi said, climbing the rest of the steps until he was directly beside you, hand on his door hand with his keys jingling in his other hand. “I still have to shower before we eat anyway.”

“I’ll go grab the rest of the food then,” you handed over the food as he stepped inside, “and I’ll be right over?” 

“Yes.” He answered your question even though you hadn’t meant to ask it. Always fumbling in some way in front of him. And you blamed it on his intimidating aura. The fact that he carried this air of weeding out the bullshit from anyone. And unfortunately, you didn’t want your baggage to come off as bullshit. Even if it felt that way sometimes. 

When you retrieved the rest of the food, you decided to change into something comfortable and maybe dressing down wouldn’t place too much weight on you to impress them. You debated outside of their house whether you should ring the doorbell or just let yourself in. But when you heard shuffling from the other side of the door you just decided to open it. They knew you were coming back. It was unlocked for a reason. But you still announced you were inside loudly and clearly. As to not walk in on something unexpected. 

“Well look who it is,” you heard Erwin say from the direction of the kitchen. He was pulling out dishes from the cabinets and laying them out on their dining table. There were cute little placemats and coasters organized on it, all black in color. “Happy to see you’ll be joining us this evening.”

“Thanks for having me,” you said with fake politeness, sending him a dumb smile as you placed additional food on the stovetop with the other containers. You found the serving utensils in a holder beside the oven, grabbing a large metal spoon and one with a forked end and walking it over to where Erwin was placing the silverware on some napkins. 

“What would you like to drink? We have water, wine, and three bottles of Corona,” he listed off, opening the fridge when he was done to make sure he detailed all of the options accurately. “Actually, we have four bottles of Corona and a lime.” 

He smiled as he announced it, proud of himself for whatever weird reason. “What an interesting assortment,” you laughed and sat at the plate setting that had you facing the hallway to the bedrooms and the kitchen. “What kind of wine do you have in there?”

He lifted the bottle and read over the label, using his thumb to wipe away some of the condensation that started to build there. “Pinot grigio.”

“I’ll have a glass of that, please.” 

“You got it,” he said, finding the wine opener and pulling out the cork with a muffled pop. He fished out two wine glasses from the cabinet and set them down by your plate setting and another before going back to the fridge to get a Corona and the lime he was so pleased to find a few minutes earlier. While he cut out a little slice, Levi came walking down the hall, hair slightly damp from his fresh shower, but smelling like something spiced and warm. 

You brought your knees to your chest, curling your arms around your shins as you observed them walking around each other. He grabbed the wine bottle from beside Erwin’s arm and walked it over to the dining table. He gestured for your glass, tilting it towards him as he poured out the white wine until it was a quarter of the way filled. 

“That’s good, thank you.” You grabbed the stem from his fingers, and tried some. It was good, light and crispy – not too dry. When Levi came back, he brought over the food that was on the stove, opening the lids and you were surprised by how hot everything still was. By the time Erwin was seated across from you, Levi had already served his own plate and waited for everyone to get started on theirs. 

“You’re not gonna serve me?” Erwin asked, hands splaying open in the air in mock shock. 

“What do I look like?” Levi scoffed, rolling his eyes and picking up his fork to stab some broccoli onto it. You chuckled, reaching for the spoon to serve yourself some rice and Erwin did the same with the stir fry. 

Much of the dinner followed in a similar fashion. Erwin instigating Levi, while you giggled around your glass as it seemed to fill back up every time it was drained. Hours blended together as your dinner was long cleaned off of all of your plates. Levi’s face flushed into a beautiful shade of red as he finished the last drops of his third glass. Between the two of you, the bottle had been polished. Erwin was nursing the last beer in the fridge with the lime between his teeth as he stifled a laugh when you said, “Levi, you look so much friendlier when you’re blushing like this.”

“I’m not blushing,” he said with his signature scowl, but without his usual bite since the three of you were well and lovely loose from the alcohol. And when you devolved into a fit of laughter when he blushed deeper, the lime that was just in Erwin’s mouth was abruptly thrown at your head. It bounced off of your eyebrow and thudded to the floor as you gasped and swatted at it a moment too late.

“Ew,” you said, breathlessly, the laughter in your voice still apparent as you glared at him. And you were surprised to find that instead of a ghost of a smile, there was a real one. It was small, but there either way. And it felt personal. Like you were finally finding your footing in this new place. Surrounded by people you could start to call your friends. Suddenly, you wanted to cry. But you shook your head to avoid it and bent over to grab the pulpy lime slice from the ground. “That was very gross of you,” you added, and rolled it in a rumpled napkin. 

Levi shrugged, “I don’t blush.”

It was almost eleven by the time you stumbled into your home. You were warm from the alcohol and sleepy from all the food. You decided you would just shower in the morning, trudging into your bedroom and falling into bed without any thought or preparation for tomorrow. Sleep found you quickly, and the alarm the next morning startled you from the deepest slumber you’ve had in weeks. 

Despite the small headache throbbing at your temple, you had uncharacteristic energy. Your mood was elevated and you felt like today would be your best day in a while. It was also the first time that you woke up and the first thing on your mind wasn’t Onyankopon. You often looked for him in your sleep, searching his side of the bed for his warm, solid body. And when you could never find it, the ache in your heart deepened and you always awoke thinking of him. 

But today was different. You met Erwin outside of your gate like every other morning, with him leaning against it like he had been there waiting for you for ages. 

“The Brewhouse for breakfast?” He asked, but he already knew your answer. It was like tradition at this point. A morning ritual the two of you shared that you had no intention of giving up. You tended to be a creature of habit, and this was one you felt like you’d never stop indulging in. 

“Why is there more pep in your step today?” Moblit said as you walked past his office to get to yours. He was standing by his little sofa searching through his briefcase for something, his sleeves already rolled up his forearms. 

“Firstly, who the hell says that anymore? Secondly, why are you here so early? And thirdly, there’s no more pep in my step today than there was yesterday.” 

“Firstly,” he started, ticking down the questions with his fingers, “I do. Secondly, I have that big meeting today with The Boss and I need to finish prepping for it. Jean is sitting in with me and I had to allocate time to talk him down any nervous ledges he finds himself on. And thirdly, there is definitely more pep in your step, and I will figure out why.”

“That’s way less important than you meeting with freaking Zachary. How am I just finding out about this?” 

“You’ve been busy trying to recruit that author. The girl writing the mystery novel?”

“Annie,” you supplied, nodding for him to continue. 

“Yeah so, we haven’t had a whole lot of catch up time. And it was a last minute thing, anyway. Zachary just figured out what Booktok was and is trying to incorporate that into our marketing. Jean has some really great ideas, but he’s been a wreck since I said he could be the one to present them,” he sighed with a laugh. 

You felt for Moblit. Zachary had a tendency to be old fashioned— laidback but slow on the uptake of new and emerging trends. There was one staff meeting where you had to walk him and Pixis through e-readers and how those took a special publishing license for 45 minutes. And you hadn’t even touched the topic of Kindle Unlimited, for your own sake and everyone sitting through that zoom call. 

“Well, explaining TikTok to him is going to be so fun. But as far as Jean goes, I wouldn’t worry about it. He psychs himself out and then it’s like this weird switch in his brain goes off when he’s talking about something important to him. I swear it’s like a different person.” 

“You noticed that too?” Moblit smiled, arms crossing over his chest. 

“Yes, it’s like one minute he won’t make eye contact with me and then the next he’s talking to me about why the Percy Jackson movie adaptations failed so miserably,” you said, remembering the moment he overheard you make some off handed comment to Marco about the spinoff series and you spent an hour at their cubicle discussing books versus movies. 

“Anyway, good luck today and let me know how it goes,” you pointed at him sternly, so he understood you were being serious about it. “We can do a late lunch together to talk about it.”

“Fine, but only because you still gotta tell me what’s got you looking like you sprinkled coke in your coffee.”

“Literally what the fuck is wrong with you, Moblit?” You whisper yelled at him, which only made him laugh in response. He shrugged noncommittally, waving you off as he continued searching through his work bag for whatever he was looking for. 

The meeting went well. Jean left the office happier than you had ever seen him and when he made eye contact with you as he entered his cubicle where you were discussing with Marco what you should do about Annie, he actually smiled at you. Bright and charming. His ears were a touch pink but he appeared as though he just had the best day of his life. 

“I’m gathering he liked your ideas,” Marco said with genuine enthusiasm in his voice. His smile began to mirror Jean’s as he sat up straighter in his chair when Jean approached. 

“He loved them,” he said with a wistful exhale. “I mean after we explained how the app worked and then I had him scroll through my fyp, which was honestly not the best idea given how niche the algorithm can be. But after that small hiccup, he gave me and Moblit the green light to move forward and honestly I can’t believe I got through it without throwing up.”

Marco reached out then and grabbed Jean’s forearm, it seemed subconscious. The gesture sweetened when he said, “so glad you didn’t throw up because that would’ve been embarrassing. But I’m happy for you. I told you you had nothing to worry about. You’re amazing.”

Jean blushed. His demeanor quickly became bashful and definitely not in the way it usually does whenever you attempt small talk with him. “Really?” He asked, smiling so hard his cheeks probably began to hurt.

“Yes,” Marco responded with finality. And you started to feel like you were intruding on something with how their eyes remained locked onto each other’s. 

“I’m happy for you, Jean,” you interrupted their moment, feeling only a little bad when Jean flinched at the sound of your voice. He had totally forgotten you were there. Which only added questions to your list to ask Marco later. 

“Th-thanks,” he rubbed the back of his neck and grinned. 

“Of course.” You excused yourself from the boys, leaving behind hushed voices that spoke over each other. The brief thought of telling Moblit what you witnessed over lunch flitted through your mind until you decided you wanted to keep this to yourself. After all, Moblit could be such a gossip.

Pesto. Made from scratch.

Enchiladas.

Chicken Adobo.

Parmesan crusted salmon stuffed with crab.

And an ill attempt at carbonara (Erwin scrambled the egg). To his defense, he was not a cook and it was two o’clock in the morning. 

With them time seemed to have no meaning. Hours were pointless. Minutes were nonexistent. And time never felt more like a construct than it did whenever you were spending an evening in their home. Or them in yours. 

As it progressed, dinners started to come with a set of rules. Rule one, always eat together. This was unspoken, but a general truth that was accepted after that first dinner in their house. Rule two, dinner must always contain one carb. Or else, Erwin would complain that he wasn’t full enough. And rule three, Levi always does the dishes. He didn’t trust anyone else to do them properly and it wasn’t like you’d complain. You usually threw them in the dishwasher, but Levi insisted they needed to be scrubbed down first. 

“So,” you started, kneading some dough on your floured countertop. Today you were attempting to make bread from scratch. Focaccia was every other video you saw recently and so you woke up with the final decision that today was finally the day. “What made you decide to go into physical therapy?”

“We haven’t talked about this already?”

“Nope.” You rolled out your wrists when your joints began to ache. They popped from the motion and you cringed a bit at the sound. “I was thinking about it this morning after Erwin and I talked about how he's teaching Urban history in the fall. Which he’s really psyched about, but then it turned into this lengthy discussion. You know how it gets,” you waved off the rest of your sentence when you noticed you were getting off topic. 

“Anyway, it made me think of you and how…” You considered your next words carefully, not wanting to accidentally offend him or come off judgmental. He wasn’t one to usually take things the wrong way, but you still didn’t want to come across rude. 

“And how what?” He was sitting across from you on the barstool at the island. He was working out something on his laptop, a legal pad beside him as he scribbled down numbers in a neat line. He was focused on the screen in front of him, and it often amazed you how effortless he made multi-tasking look. And now that you really thought about it, it was rare to see him do less than two things at once. 

“Well, if I were to guess what career you had I probably wouldn’t have chosen something so people-y?” 

“People-y?”

“Yeah. I would’ve assumed you’d do something with less human interaction. Especially not something that included so much touching,” you explained, going back to wrestling with the dough on the counter and adding a touch more flour so it stopped sticking to your palms.

“I originally got my Bachelor’s in accounting,” he said, like it would make so much more sense for him. It kind of did. If you were to type cast him, that would be it. “It paid well and I’ve always been good with numbers. So after I graduated, I got a steady job at this company and on the side I helped my mom start up her yoga studio and was persuaded into co-owning the bar with Hange.”

“I didn’t know your mom owned a yoga studio,” you said, partially surprised. Levi didn’t talk about his family much. You knew from Erwin that Levi was an only child and grew up with just his mom. With the occasional visit from his uncle sporadically through his childhood. But you didn’t have many details regarding it, so you always felt a little special when Levi brought it up. Like he was comfortable enough to open up to you. 

“Yeah, it’s up by the boardwalk where the big ferris wheel is off the lake. She’s had it for about seven years now, actually.” You could tell he was calculating the years in his head, the number seeming to surprise him. “Regardless, I worked at the company for like two years and then Erwin got into his motorcycle accident.” 

The memory made him cringe. 

“What?” You stopped kneading and wiped your hands on your apron before resting them on the counter. Your attention was undivided now. 

“I’m not surprised he didn’t tell you. He hates talking about it.” Levi put his pen down and leaned forward to place his elbows on the counter. The two of you leaning towards each other as the conversation took a serious undertone. 

“He used to have this motorcycle that he rode everywhere. Infatuated, really. But one night he was speeding home, took a sharp turn and he didn’t see the SUV coming until it was too late.”

“Oh my god,” you frowned, not able to imagine the scene without nausea rolling in your stomach. 

“He ended up breaking his arm and dislocating his shoulder. It fucked him up for months because he couldn’t wrap his head around what happened,” Levi continued, grabbing the pen again to click and unclick it. “Anyway, I fell into this hole trying to figure out ways to help him regain his mobility after it healed. I found all these stretches and exercises and I decided to go back to school for it. He calls himself my test dummy because every time I came back from class I’d try out something new. But they were working.”

“Shit, Levi,” you breathed, your chest tight with emotion. “What a way to stumble into a fucking career.”

“Right,” he released an amused chuckle through his nose. “The injury still fucks with him because he doesn’t stretch it every day like he’s supposed to.”

“And I’m sure you don’t let him forget it.”

“Why would I?” He teased, the tension breaking and you chuckled before going back to fighting with the dough. “As far as peopling goes, I like it because I can choose my own schedule for the most part. And I mostly work with old people. The occasional teenager now and again.”

“I love that,” you smiled at him. 

“What?” He went back to whatever number crunching he was doing before.

“That you love what you do. That it makes you happy.” He responded with a look of disgust at your sentimentality, which you could now translate as his way of saying thank you. 

Your phone pinged with a notification at the same time as his computer did. When you looked over you saw that it was a text from Erwin to the group chat. The one you usually used to swap recipes or share a random picture of something you thought was funny or interesting. 

My dad is hosting a work event at this winery upstate next weekend. You in?

Suffice to say, the answer was yes when you found yourself in the backseat of their Nissan Rogue fiddling with the bluetooth to connect it to your phone. 

“Do you usually drive around in silence?” You scrolled through your playlists trying to find the one that best fit the mood. Or at least something neither of them would complain about.

“Yes,” was said at the same time as Erwin said “no.”

“I usually have a podcast playing or the radio,” Erwin said with a shrug. 

“Not to be that person, but we’re going to change that.” You decided on something, hitting play and reclining into the middle seat. “I’ll make you both a playlist some time this week because you need more variety than your usual podcast and today’s top hits.”

The winery was nothing less than elegant and grand. It appeared to be a repurposed mansion that had to have been at least a century old. The greenery surrounding the building was lush and thriving, just acres of neat rows of small trees and well maintained shrubs. You were glad to have chosen the chiffon dress that stopped mid-thigh because it was light enough to not feel like the fabric was sticking to your skin in the heat. You were also happy to have gone with the wedges instead of the heels because the soil beneath the grass still seemed to be damp from a recent storm, so you weren’t sinking uncomfortably into the ground. 

The sounds of your footsteps echoed around the large foyer. A wide staircase wound upwards to a second floor, but before any of you could question where you were going you were directed towards the back by one of the employees. Stepping out into the sun again had your eyes adjusting briefly to the brightness, but once they focused the expanse of the property was breathtaking. The front, in all its beauty, had absolutely nothing on the rest of it. You had the urge to sneak into the vines and wander there for hours. Lost in the maze until the sun set and you were forced to find your way back. 

“Erwin!” You followed the voice with your head to find a man that resembled Erwin so closely there was no mistaking their relation. Erwin was a few inches taller though, and where his father’s hair was unmistakably greying, Erwin’s was still startlingly blonde. You reached out to hold on to Levi’s elbow as you made your way down the stone steps. Erwin had already bound down them eagerly, using his wide strides to make his way across the landscape like the distance was nothing but a few feet. They hugged tightly, and the scene made you smile fondly, especially when his father left a few heavy pats on Erwin’s shoulder. 

Levi wasn’t much of a hugger, so when the pair parted he just held out a hand. When Erwin’s father grinned and enclosed Levi’s smaller hand between the two of his. 

“I want you to meet someone,” Erwin interjected their greeting, coming around to press his hand between your shoulder blades and pushing you forward. He said your name enthusiastically, his dad smiling down at you and it shone in his eyes. His crow’s feet wrinkled at the corner of them and you registered how handsome he was. The image of an aging Erwin flashed through your mind and you knew that time would treat him kindly.

“Hi, Mr. Smith,” you held out your hand in greeting, mimicking Levi from earlier. “It’s a pleasure.”

But instead of extending his hand towards you, he opened his arms. And before you could think of refusing, you stepped into them and he gave you a brief squeeze before releasing you again.

“Erwin’s told me a lot about you. But I want to hear it all from the source. Why don’t we start the tour?”

He placed a small flute in between your fingertips, handing one off to Levi and Erwin as well as you huddled around the tour guide who began describing the components of the wine as you sipped them. 

Erwin’s father was just as inquisitive as Erwin, asking all the right questions without seeming intrusive or prying. And as the glasses kept changing from white to red to white again, your lips loosened and you spoke as if you were old friends instead of recently introduced acquaintances. 

“Do you have a special someone in your life?” For some reason the question caught you off guard and you choked a bit around the sip you just took. Your cheeks were incredibly warm and you were glad to have been in the coldest part of the building– the basement– where they kept the frozen grapes for their sweetest wine. 

“Uh no,” you said after you swallowed, your thumb immediately rubbing at your ring finger and swallowing again when you found it to be bare. Like you knew it would be. “Recently single, actually.”

“Oh,” he said, sounding genuinely displeased. “What happened?”

“It’s complicated.” You finished the last of your drink, the sweetness was welcome after all the dry wines, but if you weren’t already feeling it, the flavor would’ve been too much. Enough to make your lips pucker. Luckily, you were saved from further explanation when someone called him in another direction and you released a breath of relief when you found yourself alone for a moment to bury down memories you did not want to sour your mood.

“He’s always enjoyed a good interrogation,” Levi said as he slipped into the empty space beside you. You were surprised to also find him alone until you saw Erwin across the room talking to an older couple who looked rather wealthy. 

“He seems well-intentioned, though.” You put your glass down on the counter as the two of you lingered behind the crowd that was being led out of the basement and into the main area. 

“He is,” Levi sighed, “he’s just so…”

“Chatty,” you finished for him, smiling when he nodded slowly in agreement. “And you’re not the biggest fan of chatty.”

“You could say that,” he chuckled, pausing in the open area as the crowd came to a halt inside of what looked like a gift shop. “Sometimes things like this are a lot, especially when Erwin is pulled into a hundred different directions.”

“Do you ever just leave for a little? To recharge or something? It doesn’t seem like he would notice if you just snuck off.” You picked up a bottle on display, reading the label and trying to remember which one in the long line of wines you tried this one was. When you couldn’t remember, all of them seemed to taste the same after glass four or five, you put it back.

“He’ll notice,” he muttered, following your movements as you kept lifting up bottles and reading them before inevitably placing them back in their spots. “One time, before we started dating officially, we were at this stupid frat party that Hange dragged me to and at some point it just got too loud and rowdy and the worst fucking place in the world. And I was with Erwin for a while until he got pulled into a game of beer pong, which he sucks at.”

“I find that hard to believe.” Erwin was an athletic guy, so you couldn’t imagine him being bad at something that only required hand eye coordination and some aim. 

“He throws the balls too hard, and misses almost every time.”

“Okay, that I can see,” you conceded, stopping by the store’s exit and waiting for Erwin to finish charming his way around the room.

“So, I ended up sneaking off to the back porch where the lights were out so no one ever went back there after watching him lose for the second time.” You laughed, allowing him to continue. “I didn’t realize I was gone for as long as I was and when Erwin eventually found me he was shitfaced and pissed. I’d never seen him that mad before and I thought it was because he was just drunk off his ass until he admitted how worried he was. That’s when he confessed his feelings and yeah.”

“And then you fell in love,” you teased in a sing-songy voice, nudging him playfully with your shoulder and winking at him. 

“Yeah and then we fell in love,” he rolled his eyes, ears still pink from all the wine. It was endearing. 

You were handed another glass by Erwin’s dad before you left. Not able to say no when he handed it to you so insistently to try. It was good, but you were unsteady on your feet and your tastebuds were not up for the task of discussing the nutty notes in it after having had so many already. The sleepiness was beginning to hit you and you were ready to be curled up in the backseat. The ninety minute car ride was the perfect amount of time to sleep some of the alcohol off. 

Blessedly, Erwin was doing his rounds of goodbye and Levi managed to wrangle the keys from him so you two could sit in the car and wait for him. It was also nice to be off your feet after walking in heels for so long and you were happy to find a cardigan to cuddle into as you stretched your legs out on the seat and propped yourself up on the door.

“That was fun,” Erwin said as he slid into the driver’s seat, absolutely beaming. “But now I’m ready for bed.”

“Get us home first, big guy,” you replied. 

“Yeah yeah, can’t have me falling asleep at the wheel,” he joked, but it only resulted in Levi slapping his arm and going “that’s not funny.”

You giggled at them, happy to have found people like them to spend so much time with. Glad that for once something seemed to be working in your favor. Erwin pulled up to your residences quicker than you expected since you dozed off at some point. Erwin poked your cheek to wake you and you had to swat him off as you untangled yourself from the cardigan to undo your seatbelt. You waved them both good night at your door across their little garden. The sun was barely peeking above the horizon when you stumbled inside and you braced yourself against the wall as you took a few deep breaths to prepare yourself to change. When you leaned down to fuss with the strap, your fingers struggled with the little buckle and as you huffed in frustration there was a knock at your door. 

“What did I leave now–” You were expecting to see Erwin or Levi. Or even both of them, which was the least likely of the options. But if that was unlikely, this was purely impossible. Nonsensical. He was the very last person you would have ever expected to see at your door. You blinked harshly twice. As if he would disappear if you did. 

“Hi,” Onyankopon said. 

[thyion]

hung out w my friends on sunday it was so fun

[dogstarblues]

been a while, huh?

accomplishments, 5/8/24, no particular order

baked sub rolls

made breakfast (mackeral salad w matzah)

made lunch (soft scrambled egg on sub roll)

drank boba tea

cleared out the dishwasher so maintenance can have an easy time replacing it

did two loads of dishes by hand

cleared out under the sink for replacing the dishwasher

maintained my systems

began planning next week

walked my dog

cleaned up the shoes at the door

swept the floor

gathered trash

put away winter jackets and got out jackets for spring or cool summer nights

made progress on an audiobook

hung out with friends online

wore an Outfit

wore perfume

wore jewelry to keep from picking my face

made my dog's food

did skincare morning and night (i took off a step in the evening - the pore reducer stuff - decided my pores are fine - being glass-like and shiny/glowy is enough i think)

showered

brushed and flossed

did some crochet for progress on the lap blanket

contacted an irl friend to hang out next week and deepen our friendship

contacted another irl friend to see about hanging out this weekend now that im no longer in a book club 🙃

contacted an online friend abt a hangout

solidified plans for a read-along series of religious/philosophical texts from around the world with a friend

relaxed watching a streamer

realizing my worst days on this new medicine outpace my best days when i was only on supplements/vitamins. the past four days ive been exhausted but this is about the amount ive done each day except for sunday. i laid in bed sleepily all morning and still managed to do all this. and my legs dont hurt! my knees dont hurt! my back is tired but thats remedied by lying down for a bit.

i dont know how tired i'll be tomorrow and my plans for tomorrow havent been solidified but

but.

idk im doin alright lately. i thought i didnt accomplish much today but i did. i did a lot. im looking forward to tomorrow.

[wigglesforsquiggles]

HI WIGGLES HOW WAS YOUR WEEK

HI RAIN!! my week has been v good !! the f1 race last sunday was genuinely one of the best races i’ve ever watched, genuinely insane like WOW

and the rest of the r week has been p chill and fun. i’ve been doing some shopping and stuff but luckily i have been forced into tidying my room so u know. not that bad [hurridly shuts door so you can’t see inside]

my friend gave me a book she filled w drawings and references from the past 6 years of our friendship which made me cry like a BABY. i can’t read it w/o tearing up. i was at hers when she gave it to me so i had to walk back home pretending like i didn’t look like i had been crying lmaoo

but yeah! week has been fun, i’ve hung out w my friends and family SO much. and spent ages on my phone. so can u guess which aspect of life i’m lacking in from that (it’s sleep. i have had like 0 sleep this week. truly my own fault)

i hope u have a nice weekend rain !! mine will be very busy :D

[useramor]

I thought we all understood the couch metaphor because to me it literally could not be any more obvious, but apparently not 😭 A while ago I introduced my bestie to the show and I rewatched it all with her, at first she was a bit skeptical but then she started loving it, and she even started rooting for buck and eddie w/out me saying anything. This sunday we were finally able to start watching s6 together and she did NOT get it. She was just like "Why is buck so hung up on couches 😂😂". And she also thought madney would never get back together, another thing which I thought was really obvious? Anyway, I can't tell if these things are more subtle than us tumblrinas think and we're just particularly good at picking everything apart, or if people like my bestie just aren't paying as much attention 🤔

LMAO no offense to ur friend but i think she might just be a little oblivious because my sister is the most no bullshit person i know (like. calls me out when i’m being even SLIGHTLY delusional) and i told her “buck fell asleep on the couch” and she went “THE COUCH????” and she’s not even close to being a fangirl or anything but even she was like “omg hello?????” also i have non-stan friends i have forced to watch and they also lost it over buck falling asleep on the couch i think the general public does in fact Get It especially bc they’ve been putting so much emphasis on it!!!!!!

[bittenrabbit]

JOURNALLLLL

Thursday and Friday I played some reaaally poor mtg but had some wonderful chats to compensate :3 Gave her a gift a bit early, I don't believe in waiting to give when I could just as easily give my friends presents in the present lmao

Saturday was *so* fun. Started out with a nice breakfast, hung out with Aster for awhile and then played board games and mariokart with her and dylan and kyle and jordan :) Ended up going till past 4, somehow I still woke up at 8 lmaoo

dominion and mars were really interesting! I ended up trying to establish a lock on the second dominion game bc I'm a deeply flawed individual but all the pretty people in my phone loooove my flaws so I can't complain :D

In Terraforming Mars, I got the (apparantly busted) Helion Corporation, and aimed to monopolize the victory points acquired by heating mars! The game was uuunbelievably close but Aster ended up taking it, goofy ass game

We also played a dungeon building game that got unbelievably close, dylan cheated but it's alright, it was sooo hype (especially with alcohol in my system)

Sunday I ended up playing more mtg? I was kind of aiming to just socialize in the bowness area but I can't complain! Dylan's a really interesting guy, had like a 10 min chat w him and Moira and learned a hell of a lot about them lol. Afterwards, we went down to the river! The trees, talking with my girlfriend on a nice walk, seeing her bundled up in the silly ass blanket she got me for Christmas

it was nice

looking forward to this week! I'm learning at an ever faster rate (even with my newfound hesitancy to chat about it) , I'm working on my linkedin! Done with this awful fucking english course now, I'm SO close to getting to real school

ALSO LOOK AT THESE FURSONAS AZZY DREW

[croissantbae]

June 4, 2023

1.  Today was a wonderful Sunday (as usual).  We went to costco and Johnny asked if folks wanted to get lunch.  We all vacillated trying to choose options and ultimately ended up inviting people to our place.  Gave the kids miyukgook and ordered Bodega Park.  Then we all just hung out for hours talking while the kids played (and eventually fought /bickered lol.  That’s when you begin to know kids need naps / some space).  Jason planned a little gardening activity for the kids so that they could plant a seed.  It was really sweet/cute. 

2.  It’s happened.  After everyone left, Naya was just talking as Jason and I were cleaning, cooking.  And she says something about how someone killed someone on accident.  And I was like, wait naya say that again?  And she said that at school someone told her that someone had a gun and killed someone on accident.  I was like who told you that?  And she said her friend Sella (Sella is a little older than Naya and I noticed Sella has an older sister so I am guessing they are just actually conscious of that stuff).  I honestly wasn’t sure how to react.  And I said well, we don’t have any guns in this house so you don’t have to worry.  And Naya was like, yeah we don’t have guns in this world.  And I just repeated, we don’t have guns in this head (but thinking ugh. we have lots and lots of guns in this world).  Jason and I were kind of like uhhhhhh.  I think we really need to think about how we talk to our kids about this topic and other difficult topics like climate change, just death in general, violence, etc.  3 going on 4 and talking about gun violence. 

3.  I went to a mamamoo concert w/ my friend and coworker joan. And it honestly made me really glad that I went to a mamamoo concert specifically (over any other korean band).  Because I truly feel like they’re a little bit different and special.  I noticed there was a gay person sitting next to us and during the performance we saw that the rapper was getting a looooottt of love from the audience.  so as we were leaving my friend researched if moonbyul is gay and it seems like she is.  She seems to be pretty out (or I guess as out as you can be in Korea) and has a song out where it features two women lovers.  Anyway I just feel like their personalities are more unique.  Even like the light sticks that they passed out to everyone was a moo (radish), which was just funny to see everyone holding up a moo.  

My uber rides to and from were so weird.  On the car ride to meet Joan, the driver was talking about how he lives in Los Feliz and there are so many gay people in the area so he always warns his sons to be careful.  He was talking about it so much I started to feel like I was being punked.  And after watching Jury Duty I started to queston whether I was seriously being filmed and I was supposed to react.  He was talking about how they’d see two men walkign on the street with one walking the other with a collar around his neck, wearing hot pants.  I was like ....?? and then at a red light he showed me a pic of his 3 sons andI was like oh they’re beautiful.  and he was like yeah that’s why I have to tell them not to talk to strange men.  I was just like oh my god.... what is going on. 

Then on the uber ride home, the guy was kind of weird but I was like whatever.  Then he asked me how the concert was (I told him about it) and I said it was nice, I have two kids so its rare to be able to go to a concert but it was good.  and menitoned my husband is watching the kids.  and he was like oh yeah of course they’ll listen to him.  kids will listen to /obey men because they’re closer to god.  I was like uhhhh I’m not going to agree with that.  and he laughed.  and I was like because god is a female. and he was like haha why? I was like uhhh b/c life comes from women?  We give birth to life.  and he was like yeah but what’s the spark that creates that life? and i said just this teeny tiny thing.  and he was like oh come on.  and then he was saying kids will be loud and rambunctious and then when he comes into a room they’ll be quiet.  and its because men are close to god (like closer to the form of god I’m guessing).  and in my mind I was just like what you’re describing is fear and there’s a difference.  But didn’t say it because I was like my god just get me out of here.