#i asked if she was home because theres no way to tell immediately

[kawaiianimeredhead]

Really conflicted about hearing my housemates dog making noise in her room...

[cheriladycl01]

Best Secret Santa - The Grid x Driver Reader Part 2

Plot: in which everyone wants to have Y/N as their secret Santa because she is the best gift giver and never fails to make peoples day going above and beyond for it!

A/N: A Part 2 was heavily requested! I know it's very far from Christmas but still vibes :)

2024

You smile happily at the camera messing with Max and his cap changing the angle that it was sat on his head.

"So we've got you and Max opening your gifts together this time because of scheduling struggles etc. What an amazing year it has been for Red Bull again. P1 for Y/N the first woman in motorsport to be a World Champion and P3 for you Max. Amazing year, amazing team mates and we look forward to having you together for the next few years!" she smiles and you both nod, Max indicates for you to talk first and you nod.

"Yeah, I'm in shock. It was a difficult year. So many people were strong this year, Lando coming in 2nd. Mclaren had an amazing car this year and the battle was continuous for the whole year and you know I think it was way more enjoyable for fans this year" you smile knowing that some people last year didn't appreciate Red Bull's and Max's domination.

"Yeah you know I agree, I think it was a more difficult year this year as we can tell. I think we'll come back stronger in 2026 with Ford as our partner. But the disparity in race wins this year i can imagine was more enjoyable" Max admits with a nod and a smile at you, pulling you into a side hug, he'd become like your older brother in the time you'd raced with him.

"Yeah of course, and it was a crazy year. Even before the season started we had silly season begin with Lewis confirmed move to Ferrari, then the confirm of the Fredrick Vesti move to Mercedes in 2025. We then had Andretti finally be confirmed in the summer break after being rejected in Feb as a 11th team and Liam Lawson and Theo Pourchaire would join the grid, so for a year that we thought would be solid it really wasn't!" the F1 presenter exclaims looking between the two of you.

"Yeah i think everyone was shocked with everything that went on in February, and how the 2025 line up is looking but you know its a fast paced sport both on and off track" you smile and she pushes yours and Max's presents forward.

"Okay here we go, Secret Santa for Y/N and Max!" Max opens his gift first from Oscar, thanking him.

"Okay my turn! I'm kind of scared!" you say looking at the bag in front of you.

"Well theres another present to come as well but because of what it is, we have to wait to give it to you" the presenter asks and Max side eyes you, looking at your reaction as you reach into the bag.

You reach in pulling out a bag of cat treats and a little fluffy mouse toy. After a second of looking at the camera and presenter confused you turn to your team mate.

"I feel like this is from you..." you laugh, observing the treats and mouse toy. However, next second another F1 team member comes up next to you with a ball of fur in their hands making you flinch in shock.

"Oh my gosh, is that?" you ask looking at the little kitten now being placed in your lap. You look over at Max with tears in your eyes before you fully start to cry.

"Oh Y/N!" Max exclaims pulling you into a hug, not realizing you'd have this kind of reaction.

"I've been saying to Max for so long that I'm really lonely these days when i go home from races!" you smile holding the little grey British short hair cat up to observe him.

You hold him against your chest which he happily nuzzles into falling back to sleep.

"What are you going to call him!" the presenter ask and Max looks over in curiosity.

"My immediate thought was Red Bull, but I think that sounds a little silly. Hmmmm I'll call him Perceval" you smile, kissing the small cheek of the sleepy kitten.

"Is that a shout to Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc?" she smirks and your face reddens a little realizing you have in fact used Charles' middle name for your new cat.

"No, No! He's a British Short Hair, and I feel like Lord Perceval suits him as he's grey and knights wore silver armor!" you explain yourself giggling a little at the end as Max nudges you.

"Thank you so much Max, I don't think I'll be able to part from him so he'll have to come to all of my races with me!" you grin, pulling him into a hug, careful not to squish Perceval who is now rested in your lap.

*Flip*

"And here we have Mclaren driver Oscar Piastri who along with his team mate Lando Norris has had a fantastic year in 2024 and has managed to come P5 this year!" the presenter exclaims looking at Oscar.

“Yeah it's been a great season for Mclaren, you know and I'm really proud of Y/N for everything she's done this year you know not just as a driver but as a woman, she made absolute history today winning and taking the championship. I cant wait for 2025, i think with the new rules its going to be interesting to see how the grid changes up" Oscar smiles.

"Okay, so this is your second secret Santa. Here are the said presents!" the presenter says as a large Christmas themed bag is pushed forward.

He reaches into the bag trying not to spoil it by looking in there taking out the first nicely wrapped gift. He carefully unwraps it seeing a Papaya shampoo and conditioner set.

"Love that we are keeping on brand, it's actually very funny because my girlfriend has this exact shampoo set i think" he says observing it, looking to see if it was in fact Lily's choice for hair wash products.

"That wouldn't shock me, its a good brand and her hair always looks so smooth and shiny!" the presenter offers making Oscar blush a little and grin.

"Mmmm next gift feels a little heavier! Oh wow, a whole cricket set! This is between three people now, this is either Yuki, Lando or Y/N because they are the only people I've told about me getting into this again recently! My trainer and I when we go back to Australia normally will play as part of training!" he says observing the painted bat that was fully personalized to Oscar and what he liked.

"Wait, did Y/N paint this?" he asks looking at little things across the bat, everyone knew Y/N loved art in her free time and would always draw or paint for the drivers and the mechanics.

"You secret Santa did yes!"

"Then is has to be Y/N, i don't think anyone has the level of skill Y/N does!" he exclaims before placing the bat down lightly and moving onto the next gift.

"No way" he laughs pulling out a shirt that has that one smiley beluga cat meme on it that everyone compares Oscar to and a picture of Oscar smiling next to the cat.

"This is 100 percent Y/N, she is always saying i look like this damn cat!" he laughs.

"Okay final present is a bit of a odd one because we actually have to show you an announcement video... to show you the present. You've really got into Valorant recently correct?" the presenter asks and he nods with a confused look in his eyes, having no idea what's going on.

"Yeah, I've played COD for as long as i can remember with Logan, and I started playing with Lando. But Lando suggested Valorant with his friend Max who started to play it more. It's my fav game now!" he explains.

"Okay well here is the official announcement Riot will be posting in 3 weeks, first teaser to come tomorrow!" she exclaims before turning the laptop round to him.

On the screen it shows the head of riot talking about partnerships of 2025.

"As Red Bull very kindly sponsor us and our championship competitions, we are giving back by collaborating with Formula One Red Bull driver Y/N Y/L/N. She has created an agent with help of our graphic design team" he says and Y/N smiles.

"This is the second Australian Agent to come to the Agent Line-up and I'm very excited to be able to dedicate new Controller agent Ozzy to my close friend and fellow driver Oscar Piastri, he has been playing Valorant for quite a while so the character design is based off him" you explain after a cut in the video.

"Now please enjoy some gameplay footage of the new Australian Agent!" you say before it cuts to the reveal of the agent. And to Oscar's shock, the character does look a lot like him, its actually uncanny.

"This is such an amazing gift, I honestly don't know where she pulls all these ideas from... its insane how much she cares and listens to people. She's actually the sweetest person ever and I'm so happy to be able to drive with someone like her" Oscar smiles before the video moves to the next person.

2025

"Now unfortunately this wasn't a great season for you, or for team mate Max was it!" the presenter smiles sadly. You'd come P6 in the constructors while Max had come two above you in P4.

"Yeah I mean Ferrari really flew this season with two great drivers like Lewis and Charles, coming P1 and P2, obviously the Mclaren was just as quick if not quicker than last year so Lando is P3, Obviously Max in P4, the Mercedes was very quick this year hence George in P5. It was a risk with the new rules and using Ford as the supplier and the things we've got wrong we know what they are and we've fixed them for 2026 and I think we'll have better year" you sigh. Max was more consistent than you this year, but you were the only Red Bull driver to take a win this year, it was a rough year considering your 3 years of victories prior, but like Christian had said to the both of you, you live and you learn.

"That's amazing to hear! How do you feel Lewis getting his 8th?"

"I think his time in Mercedes had come to and end and I don't find it shocking that he's changed Ferrari for the better and will pave the way for Charles to become a World Champion!" you explain and she nods before pushing a bag lightly towards you.

"Onto more fun things, its that time of year that we all cannot wait for, its Secret Santa 2025!"

The bag was large but as she pulled the presents out she could see that they were wrapped awfully. She tried not to laugh as she separated out the gifts on the table observing each one.

"Okay, I'm liking the choice of paper, it's very festive. I'm going to have to give the person who wrapped these a wrapping lesson at some point though!" you giggle a little before tearing into number one.

"Omg! tickets to go see Captain America: Brave New World!" you exclaim.

"This either has to be my good friend Esteban Ocon, as a fellow MCU enjoyer or its my little brother on track, ie Mr America himself Logan Sargeant!" you ask looking up to the presenter who just giggled.

"Okay, next present is holy shit, tickets to Disney World!" you look up in shock.

"Look on the back who you are going with" she smiles.

"Tickets for me, you, Oscar and Lando! Logan oh my gosh you are so sweet you are literally the best person ever! Merry Christmas and I'll see you behind me on track in 2026!" you exclaim before the cameras cut out.

*Flip*

"George it's been a fantastic year for you coming in P5, and beating last years world champ! How does it feel?" she asks.

"Yeah, i think Y/N is a brilliant driver and its unfortunate Red Bull had as many faults as they did but that just goes to show how with her and Max it's not just the car its the driver as well. I think i would have quit half way through the season if i had as many issues as they did. But that just goes to show their resilience!" George says politely.

"Okay well, It's gift giving season and your secret Santa has most defiantly treated you!"

"Holy shit" he says turning to his left seeing the massive wrapped box and then a smaller bag next to it.

"I'm going to open the big one first!" he exclaims looking at it greedily.

"Of course you are" the interviewer laughs shaking their head.

"This is like, really expensive. No way!" he scans, after having torn the cardboard away from the state of the art bike sat in front of him, everyone knew George liked cycling, so this was a very nice gift.

"Oh and LOOK! It has mine and Alex numbers added together on it" he observed running his hand over the cyan colours, making out as though its a piece of art!

"Okay next one, is these two in this little bag, we have... ooo this is pretty heavy! It's oh okay its a book, The Art of George Russell: Every Shirtless Photo of George Russell!" he introduces before flicking through it showing the book to the camera, there was little personalized annotations on each photo inside.

"I love this so much, I know its Y/N whose got this for me because she has such a unique and interesting sense of humor, hmmmmm there's got to be another joke" he says before reaching further into the bag to pulling out a smaller and lighter gift.

"A Williams hat, and a .... Brazilian Flag Key Chain. Even though these are Y/N's joke presents they are always still so thoughtful. My time in Williams taught me so much that I carried through into Mercedes with me and Brazil was my first Win in Formula One, and it was really just special to me!" he exclaims smiling, placing the hat on his head before adding the key chain to his set of keys that he fished from his back pocket.

"Okay, last present George!" the presenter exclaims shoving a bigger bag towards him that had a bow tying it together.

He pulls open the bag spotting a few different unwrapped items.

"OH! This is a glamping set! Carmen has been begging and begging me for ages to take her camping in the Lake District as I used to do it all the time when we were kids, I tried to explain to her she wouldn't like camping as it gets kind of dirty. So this whole set is perfect!" he admits, looking through the tent, the air mattress and all the other little bits and bobs alongside it.

"Thank you so much for all of this Y/N i really really appreciate it all. I cant thank you enough!" he grins.

2026

"What a phenomenal year its been, we've had Lewis gain his 9th WDC, Y/N 2nd, Charles 3rd, Lando 4th and Max 5th!" the presenter smiles over to you.

"Yeah, I think we majorly fixed the issues we have last year, but I think we've still got some way to go and you know progress doesn't happen in one season so the on look for 27 is gonna be great!" you grin.

"Okay now it's all our favorite time of the year! It's secret Santa!" she comments and hands you the bag.

"Hmmmm, okay first gift these are..." you says as you pull out a wooden box with a carving on the top. You open it pulling on the metallic latch in the edge and spot inside custom chopsticks that had a red dragon going up the length.

"Oh woah, these are so beautiful, this has to be Mr Zhou Guanyu!" you grin holding them up to the camera holding your hand behind them as if you were one of the beauty influences showing of a blush or lipstick.

"Influencer era" you say making sure they could see every angle of them!

"Wait, can you guys get me anything I can test try them with?" you ask and you wait a little before some brings you out some dishes you could use your new chopsticks with.

"Mmm this is delicious!" you exclaim, and quickly finished up the food they'd provided you with.

"Omg these are crystals! Zhou and I were talking about these and the differences in meanings of the minerals"

You would always wear a good luck necklace in your races that got approved by the FIA when you first started racing. Everyone on the grid knew that you were into crystals and zodiacs, you'd have long conversations with Lando about the western Zodiac signs, and how him being a Scorpio worked well with your Y/S/S.

"These are really beautiful gifts, thank you Zhou! I absolutely love them and I will be sure to use the crystals at every race!" you grin smiling into the camera.

*Flip*

"Liam... Liam this will be your second secret Santa, you've had an amazing year in Racing Bulls and we cant wait to see what you do next year!" the presenter smiles looking towards the younger male.

"It's been a great second season in F1, I think after my years as a reserve driver i was starting to doubt myself but I'm glad that I'm here and racing!" he smiles back at her.

"Okay, so with your secret Santa, it's a little complicated. We're going to have to take you somewhere else to show you one of your presents. But here are the first few!" she smiles handing him a medium sized bag.

He reaches in taking out the first present which is a Lightening McQeen plushie.

"Ahhh, i think a lot of the drivers know my love for the man and legend himself, the reason i got into racing so this could be anyone” He reaches back into the bag to pull out a Red Bull team member top and water bottle.

"Oh!" He looks up in shock before laughing.

"This is definitely Y/N! She's helped me a lot through out the season and is helping me to progress each day! Thank you so much Y/N"

“Okay now if you’d kindly follow us, with this blind fold on we will lead you to the next present!” The presenter says offering him a blind fold. Off camera they walk him to the hotel elevator and out to the car park.

In front of him stands a red Chevrolet, with the number plate LM95 RBR which could either stand for Liam or the initials of his idol Lightening McQueen, with the cars number after it and then RBR for Red Bull Racing. Little did people know that you’d pulled a Lewis Hamilton 24.

Lewis was retiring after 28 season. He’d told you earlier, as it still wasn’t public knowledge. And Ferrari had come to you about the replacement, at first you were thinking you didn’t want to leave Red Bull, but a chance at Ferrari was everyone’s dream in this sport.

So you would be driving for Ferrari from 2029 onwards with Charles Leclerc as your partner, who also wasn’t aware about the move.

Obviously you had to tell the red bull team you were leaving and had pushed them to sign on Liam Lawson as their second driver, push him to be the new Max Verstappen and eventually take that number 1 seat when Max retires.

This is why you’d done the tease of the red bull merch towards Liam, and that’s why he looked shocked in the camera because you both were some of the only people aware.

“Okay you can take the blindfold off” the presenter says and he does, and tears build up in his eyes as he sees the custom painted red car in front of him. It was an older model, one that he could modify and make better which made it such a good gift as Y/N new he liked fixing cars as a hobby.

“This is probably the best gift and most thoughtful thing I’ve ever received! Oh my gosh I wish she was here right now” he says a little overwhelmed as he looks at the car.

“But I am, get in loser we’re going shopping” you shout sticking your head out the passenger side window of the car before you open the door getting out.

Liam runs over to you, pulling you into a huge hug thanking you for the gift. Cameras cut as the two of you inspect the car, pointing little details out that he may have missed.

2027

“What a season it’s been phenomenal we’ve had Charles Leclerc get his first WDC, we had Lando come 2nd with an insanely quick McLaren and he gave us a further contract extension till 2030 in his Papaya team! And you Y/N in 4th just a point behind Lewis Hamilton and a point ahead of George Russell. Great season! How do you feel!”

“Yeah I’m feeling great, there are so many names on the grid right now that it’s really spiced up the races and is having some great battles for podiums out there causing all kinds of wins! I’m proud of what we’ve done in Red Bull and can’t wait for another year!” You grin.

“Okay as usual onto presents, now this is an interesting one and I think you will enjoy who your Santa is!” She grins leaning in her hand as she watches you open it.

“Lots of Ferrari Merch, so it’s either Lewis or Charles, I want to lean towards Charles as the WDC this year! But you never know, is Lewis even in it this year? Oh my gosh did he rejoin?” You ask in shock!

“Okay what else have we got here, oh my gosh it’s a fucking Birkin bag!” You scream looking at the camera in shock. Obviously you were friends with everyone on the grid, it was just in your nature. So obviously you got talking to people about what you did and didn’t like. And when you were taking to Lewis, Carlos, Lando and Charles before a post race interview panel, you all got talking about fashion trends you liked. Hence the very expensive Birkin in front of you.

“This has to be from Lewis, but Charles was at the conversation where we talked about this bag, oh my this is difficult” you exclaims before you finalise its Lewis and you make a gesture of excitement for getting it right.

“Thank you everyone and a goodnight, I’m going to sexily walk away with my Ferrari merch tucked inside the Birkin” you whisper up close to the microphone before they capture you walking off in style.

*Flip*

“Carlos Sainz, you’ve been phenomenal in Audi this year how is the car staring to feel?” The presenter asks.

“Yea, I think you know in one season you cannot expect to get it right, but now that it’s our second year it’s coming along really nicely and I can see us being difficult for the 2028 season ahead” he explains well PR trained and ready for anything.

“Okay Secret Santa time! Let’s go” they say after continuing the small Audi on the ride debate.

“Yes I’m excited I see lots of presents for me, which can only mean uno persona, mi Amiga Y/N!” He exclaims and the presenter just rolls her eyes knowing people at this point know if they’ve been lucky and got you or if they have anyone else because of the vast presents around them!

“Okay well let’s see what Y/Ns got for you”

He proceeds to open a medium sized gift which is a jar of chilis that makes him laugh, as he observes the jar carefully.

“I shall give these to mi madre for cooking, she makes the best food with these chilis you’ll have to come try some time Y/N” Carlos says sending a wink towards the camera that fans would later go wild over.

“Oh this is heavier oh, oh it’s golf clubs and shoes, these are mmmm how does Lando say it, ‘lush’? Is that the word im looking for?” He asks coolly as he inspects the present.

He looks behind him, to see what looks to be just cardboard wrapped around something, he deems it in his head to be a canvas.

As he tears of the cardboard and bubble wrap, he’s met with a paining by you that he looked at and assumed must have taken you hours, of him stood by his race car for each year he had in F1. It was a huge canvas, one that looked like it belonged on a wall in a museum, the art on it did too.

“This is, wonderful. I don’t think I’ve seen something so good since Picasso himself” he admits continuing to look over the painting.

“Thank you for all of these gifts, I truly love them!” He admits.

2028

“So this year felt like 2024 all over again, we had the retirement of Lewis, and you are taking his seat in 2028 alongside Charles Leclerc in Ferrari, how does that feel Y/N!” The presenter asks and you smile.

“I think if you ask any driver what team they’d love to drive for before they leave it will always be Ferrari so the fact that I have the opportunity to drive for them in the next few years and try to win a championship again with them, I’d be honoured” you admit smiling.

“And now we know what last years secret Santa really meant for you when you gave Liam Lawson Red bull gear knowing he’d be driving for them in 2029 and last year, no wonder Lewis gave you his Ferrari merch, it’s because you are taking over his seat!” she asks and you just laugh and nod.

“We’ve had a fantastic year we’ve seen Lando take his first WDC, with Y/N coming in 2nd really trying to show her new team she is ready for them! While her team mate Max Verstappen didn’t have an amazing season coming in 7th” they answer and you clap and praise Lando saying how far he had come and how proud you were on him and how it was such an honor to drive on track with him.

“Okay anyway onto secret Santa Y/N!” She exclaims pushing a small bag towards you.

You grin opening it up, to be met with …. A bottle of WKD…

Very random.

“Okay so WKD is like a teen/young adult alcohol in the UK, so my thoughts would be on Lando, or like George maybe??” You ask before the interviewer has an evil and mysterious giggle on.

“So your secret Santa when you found out it was you, got a little nervous. So he prepared this recording for you, and one final present” the interviewer says before turning the laptop to you and shocking you see …

“Charlie?!! He’s my secret Santa?” You ask in shock.

“Hello Y/N, I will admit I panicked when I was given your name in secret Santa, I’ve had a crush on you since way back in the karting days when I first met you. So, as your secret Santa, my other gift to you, is a date with me! I also hope you like the final present I made for you! I cannot wait to be your team mate, and maybe more if I’m lucky in the future”

The camera pans back to you and your face in bright red, an unflattering blush in your already sun kissed face.

“Here’s the other present” the presenter says tentatively pushing forward a neatly wrapped presents, the work for sure of Pascale Leclerc.

You open up the contents finding the original CD case you’d give him, for his secret Santa back in the day. You open it up seeing a cd and a slip of paper fall out. On the paper we’re all the song titles which had something to do with you, or your career.

He’d quiet literally placed your life inside songs …. And that was quiet the gesture.

“What a whirlwind of a year 2029 will be huh!” You joke before the cameras cut off!

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @stupidandunnecessary @clayra-g @daemyratwst @honey-belden @moonypixel @lauralarsen @vader-is-hot @ironcowboycopnickel @itsjustkhaos @the-untamed-soul @beebo86 @happylittlereader @ziejustme @lou-larcher5 @thewulf @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @chillyleclerc @chanthereader @annoyingmoonballoon @summissss @evieepepi08 @havaneseoger08 @celesteblack08 @gulphulp @fandom1ruined2me @celebstories @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhh @georgeparisole @dakotatankbig @youcannotcancelquidditch @zzonsbeek @tallbrownhairsarcastic @mellowarcadefun @ourteenagetragedy @otako5811 @countingstacksandpanicattacks @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @hopexcroc @mirrorball-6 @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @lilypadlover @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @the-fem1n1ne-urge @21stcenturytaegi @dark-night-sky-99 @spideybv28 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life @r0nnsblog @ilove-tswizzle @kapsylia @laneyspaulding19 @lazybot @malynn @cassielikereading @viennakarma @teamnovalak @landosgirlxoxo @marie0v @jlb20416 @yourbane

[ilwonuu]

𖥔 ͙ࣳ hate the club. k. mingyu

this fic is inspired by this song so pls listen to it <333

“tired of going out, scared ill run into you”

“damn you know i hate the club, but i came cuz i know you’d show up”

summary 𖡼 your friend group goes out every friday. you never feeling up to joining them. you always find an excuse not to come. but now you’re sitting at home with nothing to do. so why not drink a little and hangout with your friends at the club?? what could go wrong? seeing your ex could definitely happen..

warnings- ex to lovers!!, alcohol consumption, smut with semi plot. switch!mingyu, switch!reader, oral sex f.receiving, fingering, riding, pet names- baby,princess,unprotected sex(don’t do it), creampie, multiple orgasms, lmk if i missed anything pls<3

authors note- i read over this like once so if theres any spelling or grammar errors pls let me know!!! i hope u guys love this i loved writing it!!!!

you feel bored with no company tonight. not loving the presence of nothing of your apartment and stuff animals as you usually do. sending seungkwan a quick text telling him you’ll be joining him, seokmin, and chan tonight. getting a sassy text back as usual

kwannie😓- what the fuck. girl don’t play????

kwannie😓- u better not be lying because seokmin and chan are actually gonna be the death of me.

kwannie😓- be ready at 9 ok.

you- im not kidding hoe and yes i am already ready ish???

kwannie😓- ok ill be there at 9 😘😘😘

you smile to yourself continuing to get ready. checking to see if you have a good amount of time to finish your hair. happy to see you have enough time with it only being 8:15.

finishing everything you need to do finally making your way outside after getting a text from seungkwan saying that they have arrived. walking to his car somewhat nervous about what the night has in store for you. you never know you could meet someone? or see someone you absolutely hate.

getting into the car immediately being greeted by your best friends. “y/n!!!! i feel like im seeing a ghost you never fucking leave your house” chan says laughing causing you to send him a glare. “shush be happy im here for once okay”

“no seriously i thought my eyes were deceiving me when i read your text” seungkwan says quickly starting to head to the club they always go to. “ok guys thats enough let her live she doesn’t have to come out with us every time.” seokmin says giving you a slight smile.

“thank you seokmin. the only one who appreciates me” “okay but yes of course she doesn’t have to come out everytime. but she doesn’t come out anytimes!!! this is her first time in like 10 years” chan says laughing with seungkwan as he also finds chans joke hilarious. causing them both to receive a glare.

“very funny chan!!! i will get out of the car and walk back home.” you say looking at him threatening him playfully. “you’re dramatic” kwan says finally pulling into the parking lot of the club.

“im also very nervous to be here.” “if we see anyone we don’t like it’ll be fine y/n we don’t have to interact or anything” chan says knowing exactly who you were thinking of getting out of the car having the rest of you follow his lead into the club.

“yea you’re right..” you say slowly walking behind them into the loud crowd of people dancing. “ok first things first drinks!!!!” seungkwan yells dragging you all to the bar. chan seokmin order vodka shots happily, quickly running to dance in the crowd of people. “can we just get two shots of tequila each?” seungkwan asks for the both of you. smiling at the bartender when his drinks are set in front of you two. “okay lets drink these then lets dance!!!” seungkwan smiles at you quickly taking his shots now waiting for you to do the same.

you nervously take the shots making a grossed out face after downing it with a sip of water. seungkwan pulling you towards the crowd as soon as you were ready shortly finding seokmin and chan. “how do you guys get drunk so fast?” you laugh at seokmin and chan completely lost in the song dancing dramatically. “they are fucking lightweights” seungkwan says causing you both to laugh at them.

“i fucking wish. i only feel a little tipsy” you say scanning around the club with your eyes. “do you want to get more drinks or wait a bit then??” seungkwan asks while pulling you close to dance with him. “nah we can wait” you say over the loud music.

you are really trying to have a good time but this isnt really your thing. you were hoping that the drinks would losen your nerves up a little bit but you were so wrong. now you are dancing completely soberly with seungkwan. trying not to ruin your best friends night. “im gonna go to the bathroom real fast kwannie” you whisper to him before disappearing to find the bathroom. you quickly use the bathroom heading back over to the bar to get a couple more shots. “fuck why did i do this to myself” you say under your breath quickly downing the shots without water this time. feeling a little better making your way back into the crowd searching for any of the three boys you arrived with.

pushing through the crowd trying to find them. you accidentally push someone a little to hard quickly going to apologize. “i am s-so sorry.” you say realizing exactly who you bumped into having them turn and look down at you. “jesus you push fucking h-“ mingyu immediately freezes after seeing you. “fuck y/n? what are you doing here?”

“well this is a public place and a club so i would assume we’re here for the same reason.” you say sarcastically while trying to push past him. “well what are you doing by yourself?” he asks concerned stopping your movements. “where is seungkwan?” he looks around the club quickly scanning seeing if he sees anyone who looks like the boy. “well actually im not sure so if you’ll excuse me i will be continuing to look for my friends.” you say finally trying to push past him again.

“wait just let me help you look for them. it’s kinda depressing being here alone.” he says once again finally letting you push past him to continue looking. he follows behind you slowly. “so uh how have you been?” you scoff stopping to look at him. “are you serious right now? i really would rather not pretend to like you right now okay? just help me find seungkwan and then you can go back to whatever you were doing.”

you say sighing going back to looking for you friends. mingyu doesn’t say another word and just follows you quietly. “why don’t you call him?” he suggests. “i left my phone in seungkwans car like the bright fucking person i am.” you say getting more annoyed as the situation goes on.

“shit you wanna use my phone then? i still have his number from you know..” he says nervously handing you his phone after clicking on seungkwans contact. “y-yea thanks” you take his phone letting the memories wash over you. you patiently wait as the phone starts to ring and shortly someone picks up. “seungkwan??? where did you fucking go??” you are now getting more uncomfortable with the fact that you lost all of them in the span of 10 mins. “um what the fuck mingyu you sound like y/n also why the hell are you calling me?” seungkwan slurs over the phone questioning you. “seungkwan ur drunk. also this is fucking y/n im using mingyus phone dumbass!!” your voice sounding annoyed more now. “girl what? why are you using his phone? are you guys…? um back together?” he asks loud enough for both you and mingyu to hear.

you sigh looking at mingyus eyes go wide at what he just heard. “s-seungkwan can you just fucking tell me where you went? you know what fuck it im just gonna get an uber home okay im tired.” you say slightly tearing up at the stressful situation. “we just went to the bar upstairs y/n. are you sure you wanna leave already we’ve only been here for like an hour.”

seungkwan asks through the phone sensing that something is wrong. “do you want me to send seokmin with you? he said he will come with you.” he offers. “kwannie its fine ill just order it off mingyu’s phone. will you just drop off my phone tmr? i left it in your car.” you say finally after ending the call after hearing his okay.

“mingyu do you mind if i use your phone to order a uber?” you turn to mingyu hoping he will say yes. “yes of course y/n. but you don’t need to do that. cheol said he was here to pick up me and shua but im guessing shua is with some girl so cheol can just drop you off.” he says smiling at you. “okay um let me make sure i have my keys and fuck i don’t they are also in seungkwans car.” you say realizing as you feel your pockets. “wanna just stay at my place tonight?” he blurts out quickly. “mingyu- i- what?” now your confused, tired, and annoyed. “just come sleep at my place. its not that weird y/n. what’s the chance seungkwan is gonna come unlock his car rn? come on i’ll drop you off in the morning i swear.” “its not weird to you? we haven’t spoke in like a year.”

this was not a great idea. you and mingyu ended on somewhat bad terms. he wasn’t willing to commit to you. he ended up treated you like shit because of it. you know this has nothing to do with what he asked but it’s obviously on your mind. you are now confused, tired, annoyed, and overwhelmed.

“y/n i kinda need a answer now. cheol is outside.” he says snapping you out of your thoughts and back into reality. “u-uh okay yea lets go” you say immediately regretting it. mingyu smiles grabbing your hand making the way out of the club to cheols car. quickly getting into the back seat.

“whats up mingyu. hey y/n. y/n????? oh shit hi” he says now realizing that is is actually you. “hello cheol nice to see you” you say softly laughing. “yea you too. um are you guys back together?” he asks out of the blue. “nope!!” you quickly say hoping he doesn’t ask anymore questions. “just drive cheol.” mingyu says and mentally thank him because cheol didn’t ask anymore questions driving silently. you two make it to mingyu’s house after a 10 minute car drive. “ah fucking finally these heels are literally the worst” you say walking into his house kicking them off as you go. “you can borrow some clothes. i think i even have your old pjs in my room.” he says taking off his shoes as well. “im surprised you even still have those.” you say making your way to his room. the memories coming back as you seen his room looks the same way it did when you guys were together. you grab the pajamas making your way to his bathroom quickly changing heading back into his living room. “you want to take my bed? i can sleep out on the couch.” he says throwing a pillow and blanket onto the couch. “no mingyu its fine i can take the couch. you can have your bed.” you say laughing at him slightly going to sit on the couch. “or you can sleep in my bed with me.” mingyu says looking at you cautiously. now leaving you pressured at what he is offering right now. “mingyu. what are you doing? you know that isn’t a good idea. we aren’t together anymore.” you say laying down getting comfortable. “i know we aren’t. but fuck y/n have you not been thinking about us at all? or anything that we had. i miss it. i miss you.”

you look at him with a blank expression. what the fuck do you say? of course you think about him and your relationship. more than you should. “mingyu i do okay. i never stopped really but im not in the mood to get hurt again okay.” “i fucking promise you i will never treat you the same way i did okay?” he moves to sit next to you on the couch moving to grab your hands. “let me make it up to you? let me show you i can be there for you. i want to be the boyfriend you deserve. will you just give me a chance?” you think for a couple seconds.

he seems genuine. you did miss him a lot. a chance doesn’t hurt right? “okay mingyu. i will sleep with you in your bed okay. but i swear if you do anything like how you did before the break-“ he kisses you softly shutting you up. “i promise.” he says holding his pinky up

you wrap your pinky around his smiling as he lifts you and carries you to his room. softly throwing you onto his bed and climbing next to you. “you don’t know how much i missed you. i thought i was never gonna see you again.”

“yep that was the plan until i saw you at the club.” you state not wanting to lie to him. “well im so glad i saw you.” you smile at him. “can i make it up to you? ill make you feel so good y/n if you let me please.” hes already begging and you guys haven’t even done anything but a kiss.

he was always like this. he would immediately get needy after one small touch. mingyu was definitely a fucking switch. most of the time he loved being in control and seeing you beg for him. but everyone knew mingyu always leaned towards the subby side. he will listen to your requests always. if you’re happy he’s happy.

you nod softly at him watching him quickly shift between your legs pull down your shorts and underwear in one swift movement. kissing up your thighs slowly making your breath hitch under his touch. “fuck you’re so wet and i haven’t even touched you baby.” slowly moving his fingers up your slit inserting a finger in. his fingers immediately hit your g-spot causing you to already squirm until his firm touch.

“fuck you’re so tight. i can barely move my finger babe.” watching you closely as he inserts a second and third finger quickly watching as you get wetter from his touch. “g-gyu please more i need more.” you beg him hoping to add something extra to get you closer to your high.

“shh baby let me take my time i promise you’ll get everything you need okay?” he says sweetly pulling his fingers out of you with the noise of your squelch filling the room. “you hear yourself baby? you’re making a mess on my bed already hm?” he coos at you shifting so that his head is in between your legs. gently grabbing your thighs to spread your legs. “i bet you taste as sweet as i remember hm? could eat you for fucking days.” he immediately dives into eating your pussy. licking your slit as he slides one of his fingers back inside you.

“g-gyu oh my god.” eyes rolled back having your back arched as he absolutely devours you roughly sucking your clit fucking his finger into you quicker. looking up at you through his eyelashes not stopping his movements. not even to praise you. he is too pussy drunk and doesn’t want to stop anytime soon. grabbing a hold of his hair pulling on it when his finger hits that spot again making you go crazy. “m-mingyu i’m gonna cum please don’t stop.” and he doesn’t he sucks on your clit harder keeping up his pace with his finger. you come all over his tongue and his fingers. fucked out completely as you watch mingyu lick up your cum and hum.

“you taste so sweet princess. fucking delicious baby.” he smiles at you again moving up to kiss your lips. tasting yourself on his lips.

“what do you want baby? i will give you anything you want.” pulling his shirt over his head looking at you waiting for your answer. “can i ride you? g-gyu please i need you so bad.” he nods quickly. “m’course you can” he moves so he’s sitting up against the headboard of the bed. watching as you move onto his lap.

you have never seen mingyu take his pants off quicker. immediately pulling his dick out pulling your face closer to peck your lips. smiling into the kiss lining up his dick with your entrance slowly sinking down onto him.

mingyu is always more subby with this position immediately begging and pleading for your touch. “f-fuck y/n please move i need it so bad please baby.” he begs you trying not to fuck his hips into you.

you slowly rock your hips into his moaning at the feeling holding onto his shoulders for support. “you’re so tight im gonna cum so quick. i-i’m fuck i’m sorry” grabbing ahold of your hips to move you quicker on him. “i’m so close baby fuck.” he says feeling you bouncing on his dick now trying to chase your own high. “m-me too.” he groans lowly feeling his dick twitch inside of you. “f-fuck can i cum inside or where do you want it?” “inside p-please.” he doesn’t have to be told twice immediately cumming inside of you throwing his head back lost in the intense pleasure

you don’t stop bouncing on him. “babe i’m so sensitive fuck.” he says to you still fucked out holding onto you.

you nod. “i know baby but please you can last a little longer right? for me right? my good boy.” you try to turn him on with your words knowing it will go straight to his dick. he moans at your words pulling you into a quick kiss. “y-yes i’m so good for you.”

you smile at him quickening your movements now really needing his shoulder for support as you feel yourself coming. “f-fuckkk look at you c-creaming on my cock oh shit im gonna cum again.” you feel his cum shoot immediately into you. moaning at the feeling riding out both of your highs.

slowly climbing off of his lap laying next to him. “i missed you so fucking much.” he says pulling you under the covers with him kissing your forehead. “i missed you too but i don’t miss how you think i just want to lay here feeling your cum leak out of me.” you say playfully shifting to show him the puddle that is now under your crotch.

“its fine baby we can shower in the morning. plus what if we fuck again. you’ll just be full of my cum again.” he says with a straight face. you roll your eyes burying your face into his neck.

“i guess we’ll have to explain to seungkwan and cheol why we told them we weren’t back together…” you think out loud before falling asleep in your boyfriends arms.

[rafeandonlyrafe]

how you get the girl

words: 900

warnings: mutual pining, brief mentions of sex

“hey, rafe.” you say, plopping down on the couch next to him, lucky to find him alone at the party.

“what’s up?” rafe asks, slinging an arm around your shoulder.

“just wanted to ask you something.” you say, biting your lip.

“want to ask me to fuck you in the bathroom?” rafe smirks.

“no, uh-” you have an agreement with rafe. he likes you, or more like he likes to fuck you, so you’ve agreed to a friends with benefit type situation. “theres a new restaurant in town, i was wondering if you wanted to go with me tomorrow?”

you don’t expect rafe to say yes. it goes outside of your agreement that should be simple, but the feelings have over complicated it.

“oh.” rafe is taken aback back the question. “sure.” it’s not the answer you’re hoping for, but it’s a yes, “is it fancy? should i wear a suit?”

“no,” you shake your head and let out a little laugh, “i think just jeans and a nice shirt would be good. i’m just wearing a sundress.”

“a sundress?” that perks rafe up. 

you laugh, knowing how much he likes you in that style of dress.

“mhm.” you nod. “pick me up at 7 then?”

“oh, i have to drive?” rafe jokes, knowing while you have a drivers license, you almost never drive. you don’t have your own car, and whenever you and rafe hook up, he always picks you up and drives you back to your house.

you giggle, kissing rafe on the cheek. “i’m gonna head home, see you tomorrow though.”

you’re surprised that rafe doesn’t say anything about you not hooking up that night. he gives a playful slap on the ass as you walk away, sharing your sentiments about seeing you tomorrow. usually every time you’re at a party together you’ll hook up. you’re happy and satisfied immediately, of course, but after you are just left feeling empty inside, wishing you could be something more.

--

you spend hours getting ready, way more than you usually do for a night with rafe, hoping this time it really is different. your hair is curled perfectly, makeup applied without a flaw (at least there better not be, you washed it all off and reapplied twice because your foundation wasn’t sitting right), and your dress was picked out especially to appeal to rafe.

theres a knock on your apartment door and you hurry to answer it, taking a deep breath before swinging the door open.

“hey!” you try to act casual but you know the excitement on your face is evident.

“hi- wow.” rafes eyes widen. “you look gorgeous.”

“why thank you.”

“these… are for you.” he says it like it’s almost a question, holding up a bouquet of flowers. 

“you got me flowers?” you don’t mean to sound so rude, but you’re in shock.

“i… i asked sarah for dating advice.” rafe shrugs, “she said to get you flowers, and um, i guessed that you’d like peonies.”

“they’re my favorite.” you say honestly, taking the bouquet from him and giving them a sniff. “come in while i put them in a vase.”

you lead rafe in, heading towards your kitchen. “did you really ask sarah for advice?” you ask, going to get a vase down for a cabinet, but rafe stops you, getting it for you so you don’t have to reach so high and get on your tiptoes for it.

“i um… i’ve never really been on a serious date before.” rafe admits. “and i really like you.”

“you do?” you turn to face him, setting the vase down.

“i don’t just hook up with a girl i don’t like for a year.” rafe scratches the back of his neck, leaning against the countertop.

“i guess, but i kinda figured… nevermind.” you shake your head, picking up the vase and filling it under the sink.

“no, tell me.” rafe says, helping you unwrap the bouquet and place the individual peonies in the water.

“i just thought that’s all you were interested in me for, you know, hooking up.” 

“maybe at first, before i got to know you. to be honest, i was feeling… unsatisfied. oh- not, not with the sex.” rafe assures you. “ just with the whole arrangement.” rafe chuckles. “i guess i fell for you at some point.”

you turn towards him now that all the flowers are in the vase. “i can’t believe your saying this.” “why?” “you’re just so… you. you’re being all soft right now.”

rafe laughs, placing his hands on your waist and pulls you in close. “don’t tell anyone about that, by the way. can’t ruin my tough guy reputation.”

“i wouldn’t dream of it.” you laugh, giving rafe a peck on the lips. 

“ready to go to the restaurant?” rafe questions. “i don’t want my girl going hungry.”

it’s the first time that rafe has referred to you as his girl, and you know he doesn’t miss the blush on your face as he leads you out to his truck, helping you in the passenger seat.

“check your makeup.” rafe says as he gets into the drivers side.

“what?” you ask, wondering if something was wrong, like if your lipstick was smudged, or mascara was running. you fold down the visor to reveal not just the mirror, but your name in diamond letters along the bottom.

“rafe!” you scream, looking over at him, noting the smug look on his face.

“it’s not like anyone uses it but you.” he shrugs.

“i- i fucking love it, i don’t know what to say.” you lean over and give him a big kiss.

“you’re officially my passenger princess now.”

[ohbo-ohno]

🪀 werewolf soap who only shows up at readers door in his wolf form so she thinks hes just a wild animal but hes SO FUCKING SWEET that she just. can't help herself (im nonbinary but by god do I perpetuate the "white woman" stereotype when it comes to dangerous animals. wdym thats a wolf thats just a big puppy and i call him soap 💖) and just. reader just keeps feeding him. keeps petting him, never lets him in but one day he just bullies himself right past her into her home and lays in the middle of the floor and refuses to leave. Spends an obscene amount of time leaving his scent on anything and everything she owns before he returns to his den. slowly starts hiding his things in her home while shes sleeping. Keeps weaseling his way inside at any given opportunity, until one night theres a wild storm (snow or thunder doesnt matter) and reader just. keeps pacing by the front door because her poor wolf friend could be out there in this. And sure, hes an animal thats built for it, but she feels bad. He's SO HAPPY the moment she slams open her door amd ushers him inside out of the cold that he transforms, naked and taller than her, and wrangles reader into his arms, ignoring her shrieks of surprise as he claims her mouth with his. and probably goes further bc this is soap we're talkjng abt hes kinda like that.

anyway the point is mmmm werewolf soap

alright i have three - count em three! - asks in my inbox about werewolf soap x reader stuff and im soooo sorry for the delay my beloveds but! im answering them now! they're really good and fun and i've been hoarding them for myself

this ask is like actually perfect. this is a full fic idea. i'd read 10k of this and im so serious

i loove the potential domesticity here. you try to teach him a trick and are blown away by how smart he is when he gets it immediately! (johnny's insulted the first time you tell him to sit, but you get very excited and hug him so he's more than willing to amuse you for a bit)

you come out of your house one morning and see him sleeping in your flowerbeds. you nearly screech at him, storming over in your robe and glaring. he's very shocked to wake up to that sight, and scrambles away from your flowers as quickly as possible. brings you a bunch of wildflowers later as an apology <3

you let him sleep in your house one night and wake up the next morning with his muzzle under your sleepshirt, resting on your stomach. he huffs all amused when you yelp and jerk away, cause you're just so cute when you're sleepy <3

he likes surprising you. you're always so trusting around him (once you're convinced he won't hurt you). you never hold back your personality at all, no fear of judgement from an animal. and he loves seeing you be so genuine, and you're never as genuine as you are when he sneaks up on you. he loves the way you gasp, then make a little high pitched noise (anywhere from a squeal to a screech) and then a laugh when you recognize him. he loves loves loves it, takes every opportunity to surprise you he can

im soooo into the image of soap being too excited to keep his ruse up any longer. he's so so so happy to see you!!!! can't settle for licking you anymore, needs to kiss you!!!! and so he shifts and scoops you up in his arms, holds you close and laughs all loud and from the belly when you start screaming <3 he loves how surprised you sound, pulls you up enough that he can rub his cheek along yours, rumbling a low sound in his chest

yeah mmm werewolf soap <3

[cator99]

theres this cool Work Friend of mine who is 1 position above me in the job hierarchy and thus has more responsibilities but half the goons working here either don't realize that or don't like it because she's a 25 year old woman who isn't overly-accommodating or energetic in that way people expect young women to be like trying to appease people's egos etc but she's just very straightforward and monotone and behaves in the way most males in these positions do so people are always bitching about her correcting their work and giving directions (it's....her job.....)(contrast this with my housemate-coworker who cleans up after others and fixes their mistakes without pointing them out because shes afraid to offend them– shes being paid to point out mistakes so they dont happen again so this is just ridiculous– is always pitching up her voice and trying to awkwardly sweet-talk/grovel/plead with people instead of just saying "okay here's the plan" etc and guess what people still don't like her! Because her behavior is neurotic and grating)... anyways for a long time she's been telling me gluten free snacks to try, like this was the majority of our non-work-related interactions at first and it was multiple times every shift (seems like not a lot but she really keeps to herself) and then legit like 6 months into us being coworkers I thanked her for always recommending me new gluten free things since I tend to eat like the same 3 things every day, and she's like Yeah I had the same issues for a long time it's hard to branch out when most food will kill you I didnt know what to do when I was first diagnosed... and I'm like...??? You have celiac disease too? Yeah she forgot to mention that at all. Just started walking up to me with food like "eat this" and forgot to mention this factor. Anyways I've always had a lot of respect for her and I think she's very cool and I like that despite us not being close because she's really closed off, she's always been very comfortable being critical of me because while other people take offense in response to her approach to socializing being stating facts (often seems rude) + naturally blunted affect, I like to play along... I also think it actually indicates a deeper kindness and consideration... it's very flattering... also feels more Real... I brought up my secret plan for next month and she immediately brought up the logistical issues with it (stating Facts) which led to a discussion around my immediate plans for dealing with these issues, and so on and so forth...... I like it and make me want to be her friend... I've spent too much of my life as an unrestrained Yes Man type and over time realized that I actually much prefer to be surrounded by "No" types. It brings balance to both our worlds. I'm much more of a Maybe Man now (with a strong leaning towards "No". I'd say I "make exceptions" for all of about 2 friend but its more accurate to say that my input is somewhat redundant. The secret to successful Yes Man-ing is to find a productive place for it and keep it there). Anyways ok I also don't want her to feel overwhelmed by my eagerness so even though she was the one who tapped me on the shoulder when she saw me at the train station after work and we walked through the station chatting, when I saw her holding her earbuds on the platform as the train pulled up I said Alright hope you enjoy your ride home :) and then went and sat on the far end of the train (and closed my eyes)... is that weird? I let women take the lead always. one time I told her I was going on break and she followed me outside literally dead silent and then told me to go to the dollar store with her to buy chapstick and then sat next to me while I ate and was mostly just quiet even when I asked things and talked. She seemed a little down so I talked about good and nice things. Okay the thing is I think her autistic traits would be more obvious to others if she wasn't so beautiful... many such cases......... do you think she want be my friend yes or no

[official-darkforest]

in your anthro au, does bramble actually make it to canada? is the plotline of the lake territory scrapped for something else?

rambled quite a bit here!

no, they dont make it to canada. they abandoned that idea after feather was killed. instead her funeral and burial is held in california by her dying wish and her family drives/flies over. graystripe and mosspelt took feather's car, but mosspelt flies back home via plane. graystripe is staying wirh storm indefinitely and eventually meets millie.

with storm's blessing, bramble,tawny, crow, and squirrel take the van back home. tawny is dropped off on the way, but crow insists on tagging along to thunder because he's not ready to be alone yet. his family is pretty small and he's not sure his parents will be able to help much, as much as they may try.

dodging the draft can get you into trouble, but there are many that got off scot free and bramble was one pf those lucky fellows (especially with firestar's involvement. he made sure bramble wouldn't have it held against him in return for keeping squirrel safe and bringing her home). firestar was furious at both bramble and squirrel but he's not cruel and unsympathetic, especially considering they just lost a very close friend (and that gray isnt coming back for a while).

this is where crow and leaf meet, crow is kinda bunking with bramble at his place and even had plans to move in for good. his parents were pretty combative but couldnt do much since he was a few states away!!! they dont know where the fuck thunder-whatever is. but eventually he gets a call about his father's rapidly declining health and immediately abandons his plans to stay. he asks leaf to come with him but leaf still isn't finished with med school (she doesn't know she's pregnant yet) and they part ways. crow makes it home to help ashfoot care for deadfoot in his final few months and fills in after his father dies. it's something he didnt plan to continue but its notnlike he HATES doing the work. eventually meets+marries nightcloud a 1-4 yrs later

leaf meanwhile continues med school. being unmarried with kids is still a social taboo, especially at such a young age (im imagining she and squirrel are around 18-19 by now, 17 during the road trip). squirrel and bramble, however, had been in a relationship with one another for a while after coming back home. sure, it got a bit messy when ashfur came back from vietnam and got a bit too close to squirrel for comfort, but they sorta resolved it and eventually bramble/squirrel got engaged. leaf confided in squirrel for her help with the pregnancy and squirrel immediately offered to take the children in as her own if leaf needed. it was a huge jump but leaf took the offer. bramble was let in on the plan the closer leaf got to her due date. he thought it was a very impulsive decision and they fought a bit about making the decision without him but he was enthusiastic about being a father regardless.

the others in town had their suspicions but dont ask dont tell.

theres some other parts i havent fully ironed out yet like where hawkfrost and mothwint come in.

as for the actual lake territories, they coexist with the forest territories by just being in different states LOL windclan and thunderclan's territory was pretty consistent in terms of The Basics so theyre mostly in the same general area (tc is east coast forests, wc is southwest-midwest prairies. theres a lot of cowboys, farmers, and ranchers in "windclan" as a result). shadowclan i can see being in the southern swamps, especially florida or louisiana, and riverclan is kinda interspersed alont the mississippi and ohio rivers. maybe a few along the east coast, too, as the lake territory equivalent. skyclan is probably in the rockies or the redwood forests out west. maybeeee old skyclan is in the appalachias???? idk LOL since the cats are so far apaer now the conflicts are a little less wide scale and more personal if rhat makes any sense at all. of course this whole au is a huge work in progress so some of what i say here may change!

the clans are rural/small/poor towns in my head. tight knit communities that have to rely on each other. kittypets are urban/suburbanites as a contrast and keep the 'kittypets r fucjing spoiled' theme going . you inow the city slicker junk LOL

bloodclan is probably a gang in new york. at least scourge's bloodclan. the other iterations are probably in other huge metropolitan cities. idk what warriorclan is, and the tribe is a whole can of worms im trying to be very careful with so im not gonna talk about them as a whole quite yet other than imply they exist

[mxqdii]

omg i loved the chris imagine so much holy shit

if youve heard the song, could you perhaps do an imagine (chris sturniolo x reader) based on the song Ant Pile by dominic fike?

it doesnt have to be a song fic necessarily, but like just kinda based on it yk? completely up to you!!

fave song fr 🙏🙏

ant pile - c.s

pairings: chris sturniolo x reader

summary: based on the song 'ant pile' by dominic fike

warning(s): mentions of drugs

a/n: i'm not too familiar with this song so i'm sorry if anything is wrong!! i tried my best :)

not proofread

"remember the day we met?" he asks and i groan

"i wish i didn't" i say laughing

"wait what happened?" matt asks and i look at chris, letting him explain the story

"first grade, someone tied her to a fucking ant pile" chris explains

"how do you tie someone to an ant pile??" nick shouts

i remember back then, i always knew chris liked me.

then we went to highschool and we started dating..

9TH GRADE:

i push chris against my locker

"hey! ow!" he says and i shush him

"sorry! i just missed you" i say hugging him

"lets go home before my mom gets there" i say, sadness evident in my voice as i grab chris's hand and lead him outside

chris has always been there for me, espically in highschool when the whole thing with my mom went down..

the triplets and marylou let me stay with them for a while because of that whole incident

ever since my dad passed away, she'd bring home a different lover everyday

she even threw her wedding ring away, i had to ding through the trash to find it.

the worst part was, i still loved her, a lot.

chris knew that and even though i didn't understand my feelings, he was good at helping me understand them

espically when all my mom did was drugs.

8TH GRADE:

it's the first day of 8th grade and i'm terrified.. i haven't seen chris since last summer

i look so different..

i walk into school, on my way to my locker, but i stop in my tracks seeing chris

we catch eye contact and he immediately walks towards me

he kisses me unexpectedly and i smile, hugging him.

9TH GRADE:

chris has decided to take me on a date..

i'm really nervous, espically because i didn't have anyone to help me get ready

but i think i look fine, i hope i look fine atleast..

chris picks me up and go to watch a movie.. which was awful

so we then went to dinner, what could go wrong at dinner?

turns out everything because i ended up being allergic to the pasta they gave me.

as chris is driving me home, silence filling the car, he pulls over looking towards me

"let me get a redo. anywhere you wanna go, you can pick it and i'll meet you there"

whats the worst that could happen next evening?

today was the worst it can get.

10TH GRADE:

"i love you" chris says and i look at him, wide eyed

"i've seen you fall to pieces, i've loved you since that day in first grade when you got tied to that ant pile, i love you y/n" he says

theres no more ways this boy can suprise me.

i look at him, seeing his expresssion one unfamiliar, one filled with love.

i run up to him, hugging him.

putting my hands on his face, i kiss him.

"i love you too chris" i say

"how the fuck did we go from you telling us about y/n being tied to an ant pile.. to now telling us your whole relationship story??" nick asks

"sorry! i got carried away" chris says and i laugh

"chris you're a little too enthusiastic at our weird cringe love story" i say and he rolls his eyes

"yeah yeah sure i am" he responds and nick and matt look at eachother in disgust

"can we talk about something else now?" matt says

a/n: i'm not even gonna re-read this because i think i hate it, so i'm so sorry to whoever requested this and i hope i did okay!!

TAGLIST:

@strniolo @stargirlv0id @annaisabookworm

[quitealotofsodapop]

I love all the ideas and your response has given me some more to chew on for this au ty. (I might have already sent this but I'm not sure it sent but if it did i am sorry for the double ask)

[Wukong spending the Journey getting hit by all the symptoms of pregnancy during those 9-14 years.] the morning sickness is def the worst for him.

[Many foes back off just by the tired firey glare in the King's eyes.] his presence alone is usually able to get most of them to back off, but for those who were still going to risk trying a tired "I am running on 2 hours of sleep, crippling isolation and lonliness, and I haven't been able to keep any food down for three days, I am not in the mood" glare is enough to sen them running for the hills.

[Wukong never managed to tell Macaque about the Egg in that lifetime.] this fact breaks Wukong's heart, and it breaks Macaque to when he later learns that was with child the whole time because having a peacful life and a family was all he really ever wanted.

[He's convinced that the Egg's presence at the Samadhi Fire was what caused the Rings to Split and hit Ao Lie.] I was thinking that during the Samadhi fire ritual the egg suddenly started "kicking" and despite his attempts to not let it affect his performance the pain is what causes him to slip, allowing the ring to split. he absolutely blames himself for this.

[By isolating himself, he accidentally causes his body to *turn down the heat* and extend the process even longer.] he's gonna be so mad when he finds out thats one of the reasons it took so long. but maybe it was for the better, with no support group it would have been difficult to raise the egg on his own. the egg was "no troop, these are not prime baby raising conditions, i stay here longer", like giving Wukong time to find a safe and loving situation to give birth in.

[he geniunely believed that keeping MK whilst the Stone Egg was still draining life force could kill the cub. So SWK is forced to give the little toddler up to save his life.] again, as unfortunate as it is, perhaps for the better. even if not being adressed for the right reasons at the time Wukong knew he wasn't in the position to be caring for someone so young at that point, and the fact he took measures to ensure that MK still got a stable and loving home to grow up in says a lot about how even if he couldn't provide for MK he already loved him. the lack of being in the right headspace to care for an infant is also probably another reason for the egg to "turn down the heat", not able to be mentally there for child, child says in womb till he can.

[When him and MK finally reunite, its a little awkward but MK immediately understands the reason for the Monkey King's retirement.] does MK remember Monkey King, or is it a "I just met an actual god/my fav hero of legend and their pregnant" kind of awkward?

[MK, thinking its a bad breakup situation: "oh ok. I guess you're owed some long-overdue paternity leave, huh?"] this is funny if you remember the fact that this likely wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Wukong and Macaque actually having a bad break up, causing Macaque to leave and Wukong to lose the one thing keeping his body from triggering the egg making process. in a way, it is a bad break-up situation, just not exactly in the way MK thinks.

[MK only asks about the schematics on the Egg after Wukong makes a comment about being "like this longer than even Lao Tzu's mother".] Wukong def brags that he's had the longest pregnancy out of any immortal now.

[He returns to Pigsy's that evening silent with a horrifed look on his face.] the rest of the gang notice, they ask, MK explains what Wukong told him, and now everyone is silently horrified for the rest of the night.

[The Spider Queen can sense that theres a new life within the King, but she decides its an issue for after the takeover.] Wukong is kinda surprised when she doesn't instantly try and use it against him, she just responds that she still has some honor. this does not stop her from draining his power though. Wukong's far more concerned about a certain other demoness present learning about his egg...

[DBK frees himself, not only from the fear of losing his wife and his son, but also out of fury that Wukong had been hiding his condition for so long!!] he is not happy to learn that Wukong put his egg at risk with Samadhi fire situation and by fighting him, or that Wukong had hidden it at all from him as his sworn brother. and also with the webs draining Wukong's power it was putting the little one at risk, can't let that happen either, not if he has something to say about. DBK def learns about it because he overhears the deeply concerning conversation between SWK and LBD while their tied up, him being tied up close to Wukong and all.

[PIF demands a proper baby shower when she hears about it from her excited husband later.] PIF sitting at the dinner table, reading a book and eating while she waits for her husband and son to come home: why do I hear loud footsteps getting rapidly closer? DBK busting open the dining room door with Red Son tucked under his arm: DARLING WE'RE GONNA BE GODPARENTS!!!! PIF & Red Son: WHAT? cue a very excited bull king explaining everything to them

[but becomes concerned when his Sun refuses to fight in any way that leaves his stomach exposed.] protecting a specific part of the body usually means there's a vulnerability there, but Wukong didn't fight like he was injured, Macaque knows what that looks like and that wasn't it so now he's confused. the only other kind of vulnrability he could think of invovling one's stomach that would make them seem bloated as well as make them want to get away from the fight as fast as possible is if he was pregnant, but that can't be the case here can it?

["The Shadow Play" becomes more a plan to trap the Monkie Kid gang for answers. MK spills the beans. Macaque stares blankly for a minute before yelling in frustration. It's too much emotional baggage to process right now!] he lays awake for nights on end trying to figure out if its really what he thinks it is with the little evidence he has, and then he just can't take it anymore and sets up the play. trapping the gang in his lantern and threatening MK until he spills, MK does and even though an answer is what he wanted it takes a moment to process that he had been right, then he lashes out when more questions came to mind. how? when? for how long? who's the other parent? MK frees his friends while Macaque is lashing out and they make a break for it, they escape before Macaque can threaten more answers out of them.

[now with the additional threat that she will harm the Stone Egg if Macaque fails her again...] Macaque might not have answers about the egg, but it's still Wukong's egg at the end of the day. sure just the other day he'd been totally fine with the idea of killing the guy but now... was there still hope he could have the life he wanted with his Sun? even if he couldn't he could never bring himself to knowingly harm his former lover's unborn infant. Wukong ofc doesn't know this at first, and gets really worried about Mac getting involved. he doesn't want to have to choose between him and his egg ever again, but he will if he has to. the problem is avoided entirely when (much to SWK's surprise/confusion) Macaque straight up acts like doesn't exist while hunting the gang in s3. for this subtle blessing SWK is relieved and grateful.

[Macaque breaks the King from his possession by casually placing a curious hand on his swollen stomach, smiling in a way Wukong hadn't seen in centuries. "I know," is all that is said as the two monkeys allow their foreheads to touch.] it's such a simple thing, but it's a certain type of soft kindness he hasn't felt in years, that he missed very deeply, the domesticity of it, makes him feel like his moon really is his again. he bursts out crying and almost sends them both to the ground when he collapses into Macaque for a hug.

[LBD is unexpectedly destroyed by the Stone Egg itself. She did not count upon the Egg recognising her as a yummy source of spirtual energy as she was possessing it's parent.] egg was hungry, and SWK was feeling drained after being possessed, LBD was right their and strong and had hurt the egg's parent. so LBD gets nommed on. naturally.

[MK is a little disturbed, but glad that the demoness is gone-gone.] the can't see it happen, but they all feel an absurdly powerful force emanating from SWK suddenly tearing apart and absorbing LBD's soul. everyone's a little shook up by that one. Macaque: did- did the egg just- SWK frozen on spot, with a nervous and tight expression: *exasperated inhale* yeah... everyone else: oh gods there was also a little concern that eating LBD whole soul would have consequences.

[Until the newly unpossessed Monkey King doubles over in pain and cries for the Bodhisattva to help him. Guanyin is on the scene in seconds, glaring at her little brother angrily. Half the gang stare jaws dropped at what is happening while the rest are panicking.] everyone was chilling, settling down and gtting some food after everything, SWK was feeling the most content and happy he had in ages as he refused to anywhere other then glued to Macaque's side, and the egg was like, "I just got a massive meal, and the whole troop is here now, guess it's time to come out now". Wukong surprisingly casually sits up and tells Ne Zha to go get Guanyin, NOW, being the patron god of infants, he quickly realizes whats going on and bolts for the south sea, the others clue in and start freaking out at this point too. Gaunyin is not happy at SWK for putting himself and the egg at risk with both the Samadhi fire (again, they also tried to warn him off it the first time) and with fighting LBD alone, but thats a conversation for after the egg is born, hatched, and healthy. Tang's fanboying over meeting the Guanyin is stifled only by the painc of egg on the way.

[After many hours of painful labor with Macaque clutching his hand for support, Wukong *finally* greets his baby for the first time.] Wukong is def squeezing so hard at one point that Macaque thinks his hand is either gonna break or pop off, it doesn't do either, but it is numb by the end of it. Macaque gladly would do it again if it meant getting to be there when the egg was born and hatched. Wukong def jokingly tells his newborn that she "sure kept them all waiting".

[Her dark fur is hard to ignore. As well as the ice-blue eyes that stare between the two monkeys with wonder. And the little excited chirps she makes that sing the tune of Wukong's favorite songs.] the ice blue eyes are from the last minute bone demon meal ofc, but what if the dark fur actually comes from Wukong's longing to be with macaque as a family again, and those feelings during early pregnancy were so strong it changed the infant's appearence in order to fit not just Wukong but his desires/emotional needs (that being having the family Macaque always wanted with him). Macaque def cries when she has dark fur like him, makes him feel more like he's possibly a bio parent. Wukong is def in love with everything about his little one, down to every little sound she makes. I like to think he would talk to the egg whenever he was alone while pregnant, and was also always humming to them, maybe the infant somehow knows some of those tunes he was humming and tries to mimic them fresh out of the egg.

[Yuebei Xing is celebrated across the many Realms as the first Stone Monkey to be born from a Stone Egg in milennia. Gold Star comes down from Heaven in person to bless her arrival.] they jokingly thank Gold Star for being too busy to oversee Wukong's punishment, because if he had Wukong likely wouldn't be holding the most precious ball of fur in his arms right now.

[singeing Azure Lion's fur as he goes to take the Jade Emperor's throne. All present, including members of the Brotherhood, laugh at the coincidence.] it's hard not to laugh, given the coincidence. the only one not laughing is Azure, who just saw his life flash before his eyes.

[Yuebei's whole family are willing to *destroy* the divine animals if even dare touch a single hair on her little head.] knowing Azure, he's either fantasizing about Yuebei being Wukong and his infant, or plotting how to use her for blackmail. or both. either way Wukong's none too happy to learn who's got their hands on his little one.

[The retrieve Yuebei after they enter the palace and see the three usurpers beaten to a pulp. The infant monkey rolling around on her butt as she giggles. Azure begs the crew to "please take her back".] Azure was perhaps a little too lost in his triumph and day-dreaming to notice the ultra powerful infant he was holding beginning to grow restless and playful, one of his many mistakes. especially seeing as she had little to no strength control at such a young age.

All in reference to the core "slow boiled stone egg au" post.

You did send a less detailed version of this ask a few days ago, I just hadn't gone through my inbox enough XD

I love the detailed responses though! It's nice to see so much interest in my silly aus!

[the morning sickness is def the worst for him.]

Based on my previous ironic pregnancy headcanons, Wukong occasionally gains a food adversion to his fave fruit ever; Peaches. Some days his brain/body just decides "Eww no. bleh. Spit it out right now" and the nausea hits him hard. Wukong is dismayed whenever it happens.

["I am running on 2 hours of sleep, crippling isolation and lonliness, and I haven't been able to keep any food down for three days, I am not in the mood" glare is enough to sen them running for the hills.]

[-this fact breaks Wukong's heart, and it breaks Macaque to when he later learns that was with child the whole time because having a peacful life and a family was all he really ever wanted.]

[the egg was "no troop, these are not prime baby raising conditions, i stay here longer"] + [the lack of being in the right headspace to care for an infant is also probably another reason for the egg to "turn down the heat", not able to be mentally there for child, child says in womb till he can.]

Pretty much yeah!

Stone Monkeys only have this backup for the absolute last resort when things are at their worst enviroment-wise. No mate, no troop, no support system, no mental health = Egg ain't moving. Think of it like the formation of a geode - it can do it either over a natural couple of centuries, or in a few months with intervention.

"Asleep" Stone Monkeys who are still buried know that they're unlikely to ever be recovered, but their egg can still be found by other troops and hatch in response to socialization even thousands of years on.

However, "Awake" Stone Monkeys with an Egg cooking need to have an active support system in place for the baby's development to progress faster/less riskily. By shuting out the outside world, all Wukong did was accidentally set the Egg to "sleep mode".

Sadly, even if Wukong was wrong and his body identified baby!MK harmlessly as a troop member - SWK simply wasn't in the mental headroom to raise a whole baby without someone to help him.

[does MK remember Monkey King, or is it a "I just met an actual god/my fav hero of legend and their pregnant" kind of awkward?]

The second one mostly. MK honestly can't remember his earliest memories beyond the sight of SWK's egg fragment + possibly Nuwa, and thats with supernatural help.

In a slightly sad note, it's possible MK *remembers* being held by someone soft with a round belly + gold eyes. He assumes throughout his life that this person was his birth mother before he was given up/orphaned.

[this likely wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Wukong and Macaque actually having a bad break up]

MK is right in his own way XD

[Wukong def brags that he's had the longest pregnancy out of any immortal now.]

Wukong's been carrying the egg since the Journey days, about the Tang Dynasty (690-907 AD)/irl Xuanzang's departure in 629. So that Stone Egg been slow boiling from anywhere between 1394 to 1116 years. 0_o

Either way SWK has beaten Lao Tzu/Zi's mom (pregnant for 62-80 years), and def brags about that fact to whatever immortal will hear.

[DBK def learns about it because he overhears the deeply concerning conversation between SWK and LBD while their tied up, him being tied up close to Wukong and all.]

DBK overhears LBD making threatening references to Wukong's conditon and immediately interrupts her villainy bs to yell at his sworn brother.

(inside the giant Spider Mech) LBD: "All will fall into place soon. Even with the unexpected additon of your... future heir." *guestures hand around SWK's stomach* DBK, furious ans still wrapped in web: "WHAT!?!? HEIR?! SUN WUKONG!! Are you so reckless that you'd fight even when your unborn child could have been harmed!?" Wukong, wrapped in less-tight web: "Not the best time DBK. I can handle it." LBD: "Quite. Then again it is all in char-" DBKm interrupting: "REALLY BROTHER?! YOU DIDN'T TRUST ME TO KNOW!? If I was aware of your condition - I would have never dared to invoke your anger! Even my beautifully ruthless wife would agree with me!" LBD: *glares at DBK in annoyance* "Ahem." Wukong, ignoring her: "I couldn't let you guys know! Look, I've been fine on own for centuries now!" LBD: "Exc-" DBK, super-concerned: "CENTURIES!?! WERE YOU WITH CHILD DURING THE RITUAL!?!" *DBK busts out of his bindings and gently grabs SWK* DBK: "LADY GUANYIN WILL TAN BOTH OUR HIDES WHEN SHE HEARS ABOUT THIS!" LBD: *gives up and leaves*

[DBK busting open the dining room door with Red Son tucked under his arm: DARLING WE'RE GONNA BE GODPARENTS!!!!]

After the initial shock wears off, PIF immediately summons a catalog to look for baby shower supplies. This is a monumentous occassion! She ofc assumes it's Macaque's fault (she's not wrong XD) and that this might be her future sworn niece/nephew! She simply must organise everything for her idiot sworn brother and his mate!

Red blinks in confusion before confronting the Monkie Kid gang about it later. Mei demands PIF's contact details right that second so that they can swap party ideas.

[even though an answer is what he wanted it takes a moment to process that he had been right, then he lashes out when more questions came to mind. how? when? for how long? who's the other parent?]

Even with knowing how Stone Eggs works, Macaque has such a mental 404 error at the news that he's reduced to yelling garbbled questions at the gang until they leave awkwardly.

[...was there still hope he could have the life he wanted with his Sun?]

Macaque spends most of S3 trying to bat away any thoughts/predictive sounds of a happy domestic life him and Wukong cna have together.

[it's such a simple thing, but it's a certain type of soft kindness he hasn't felt in years, that he missed very deeply, the domesticity of it, makes him feel like his moon really is his again. he bursts out crying and almost sends them both to the ground when he collapses into Macaque for a hug.]

I just love this image. The possession being broken by Macaque expressing softness, his vunerability, to Wukong. And the possessed King snapping out of it since he's so conflcitingly overwhelmed by the joy of having his Moon back again + the weakness he feels.

[egg was hungry, and SWK was feeling drained after being possessed, LBD was right their and strong and had hurt the egg's parent. so LBD gets nommed on. naturally.] + [the can't see it happen, but they all feel an absurdly powerful force emanating from SWK suddenly tearing apart and absorbing LBD's soul. everyone's a little shook up by that one.]

Yuebei's first immortal kill is in fact LBD, preformed before she was even born. Once the switch "flipped" on the possesed SWK, the Egg recognised LBD as both a threat to her parent and a tasty source of Dao, hence; nom-nom-nom.

All thats left behind of the ancient bone demon is a picked-clean skull. The Ten Kings and Yama feel this hungry act from beyond the Realms and wonder *what* creature could have created such a great power vacuum.

[the egg was like, "I just got a massive meal, and the whole troop is here now, guess it's time to come out now".]

Ah, a fellow party crasher, just like her baba. Wukong and Macaque can barely enjoy the bowl of noodles they've stolen (in good humor) from MK when Wukong's face just drops from a shift in his body.

[Tang's fanboying over meeting the Guanyin is stifled only by the painc of egg on the way.]

Tang: "Oh gracious Buddha! The bodhisattva Guanyi herse-- oh gosh this is a lot grosser than I was expecting..." *gets woozy and hides face in Pigsy's chest*

[but what if the dark fur actually comes from Wukong's longing to be with macaque as a family again] + [Macaque def cries when she has dark fur like him, makes him feel more like he's possibly a bio parent]

Oooo! Wukong's emotional need to be reunited with his mate was so great that it impressed upon the Stone Egg itself.

Imagine how much crying would be involved if little Yuebei just so happened to be born six-eared as well? Macaque and Wukong would never stop sobbing over how cute their baby is!!

Macaque is still very much assumed by the demonic/celestial/mortal public not in the know of Stone Eggs, to be Yuebei's other bio parent. Hard to refute their claims when the little Monkey Princess has such lovely midnight-dark fur and glowing ears.

[I like to think he would talk to the egg whenever he was alone while pregnant, and was also always humming to them, maybe the infant somehow knows some of those tunes he was humming and tries to mimic them fresh out of the egg.]

Thats so super adorable I love it! <3

Wukong loved talking to the Egg when he was on his own on the island. He'd talk to it about what his old Pilgrim brothers were like, what happened in Heaven, his early days on the mountain, and how much he wishes to be there to see all the little havoc's she'll cause in the future. He def recorded a tape + wrote letters to Yuebei before she was born ala "For Steven" in Steven Universe... just in case his immortality didn't work in the end.

Babies can hear things going on on the outside irl as early as 14 weeks along - it's how they become acclimated to the voices of their family. Little Yuebei spent so much time in the "final run" hearing show tunes, action movies, and the voices of Wukong's new found family/troop that she thinks theses are all "good noises"!

As Yuebei looks around at her "troop" she tries matching a "good sound" to them. Everyone is just aww-ing at her tiny chirping mimicry, and burst out laughing when she gets to Pigsy and makes a deep sound they swear sounds like "freeloader!".

Her pre-natal eavessdropping does however, lead her to fall asleep to the heavy metal soundtrack of the Monkey Cop series. XD

[Azure was perhaps a little too lost in his triumph and day-dreaming to notice the ultra powerful infant he was holding beginning to grow restless and playful, one of his many mistakes. especially seeing as she had little to no strength control at such a young age.]

Yuebei decided that "Kitty" wasn't playing with her, wasn't holding her right, and wasn't even singing to her! And she wanted to make her frustrations known.

I love these mass responses, even if it takes some time for me to reply. Ty so much for your interest!

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Hello! I was wondering if you could do a mage (this is a type of powerful wizard) reader with the strawhat crew!

She is believed to be the last of her kind which often makes her a target of the marine and many of the warlords and emperors

Some want her as a weapon others want her as a wife for either themselves or as a wife for a member of their crew.

But the last thing the strawhats do is to give up on a friend theres no way in hell that they're gonna let anything happen to you.

Please and thank you if thats alright!

-You yawned as you stretched your back slightly, shifting in your bed before you cuddled Chopper who was slowly waking up himself.

-Greetings were passed as you patted his head, smiling softly, “Thanks for being my nightmare buddy, Chopper.” He just beamed, as you had been being plagued with nightmares of the memories of your country’s destruction so many years ago.

-Your home island had been destroyed in a single night, marines and pirates attacking on both sides, after finding the location, wanting mages to use for their own selfish needs.

-It ended with a Buster Call, due to the mages killing several Celestial Dragons, wiping out everyone on the island, except for you, as your mother managed to trap you in a magic bubble and sent you to the Mermaid Kingdom, where you lived until you were grown enough to leave, after harnessing your abilities.

-As soon as word got out, you immediately became the most desired person in the world, marines and nobles wanting to use you for their own selfish needs, pirates wanting you to join their crew to be a weapon, but a lot of it changed once your bounty poster had been released when you were an adult.

-You were stunning!! Your poster was so highly sought after because of how gorgeous you were! Now everyone wanted you not only for your power and abilities, but for your stunning good looks as well.

-You were in luck however, because you found safety in one of the strongest crews out there, the Straw Hat Pirates. You had met Luffy and the others shortly after Alabasta, joining right after Robin, and without knowing your true power, Luffy invited you to join his crew because he thought it was cool to have a mage in his crew.

-You had all become like family, working together, protecting one another, forming close bonds, and you were willing to risk your life for any one of them.

-Chopper was one you were closest with, mainly because he was helping you with your emotional trauma by being there for you when you have nightmares, becoming your nighttime cuddle buddy.

-This is something Sanji hates however, as he wants to be your cuddle buddy, and everyone in the crew has vetoed everyone except for the girls, Chopper, and Luffy, as you trust him and you know he only has feelings for you like a brother would and you adore him dearly for it and your trust in Luffy will never waver, unless if you leave a piece of cake out for you and tell him not to eat it. You will always return with a second slice of cake for yourself as you knew he would eat the slice you left in front of him.

-Zoro was your grumpy, reluctant big brother whom you loved to tease, but he would tease you back, calling you short and stealing your hat, but you evened the odds with your broom, flying above him so you were taller!

-Nami and Robin were both quite protective of you as well as territorial, not liking when they had to share with the boys of the crew. Nami would always steal you away to go shopping and has learned not to ask for treasure hunting spells, mainly because you don’t know any but she doesn’t want to use you like others would. Robin is definitely like your big sister, guiding, kind, funny, wouldn’t hesitate to tease you but also would never turn down a chance to cuddle with you. Any given day you could be found sleeping on top of Robin in her hammock while she reads and she won’t hesitate to punish others who would wake you up.

-Usopp was initially scared of you, thinking you were like an evil witch from fairy tales, which, to be fair, you did tease him with, before you became very close friends, bonding over plants, you making medicines and potions and him making weapons and he never fails to make you laugh.

-Sanji, just like Robin and Nami, was head over heels for you and treated you differently compared to the men, making sure the three of you had the prettiest of desserts and wouldn’t hesitate to turn himself into a living shield to protect any one of you. You’re the only one of the girls who trusts Sanji enough to give him a lap pillow, for a short while at least.

-Franky was the best big brother you could have asked for, he’s funny, loves your vibe and style, and loves to come up with inventions based on your magic, to make you even more powerful. Franky is one of the few that you can relax completely around, because you know he will keep you safe.

-You adored Brook to pieces, when you first met him your eyes were so sparkly, seeing a walking, talking skeleton, that you almost missed his first words to you, “Beautiful young lady, may I see your panties?” After that one hiccup, you and Brook were almost always together, as he was the only one, besides Chopper, who was light enough to carry on your broom with you, which made you a deadly death-from-above pair.

-You met Jinbei when you were a child, as he had been the one to find you and brought you to the king and queen, so you would be safe, so you were very close to him, even calling him Boss from time to time which always made him grin. Having grown up with Jinbei always close by, he became a fatherly figure to you, and he wouldn’t hesitate to fight anyone to keep you safe.

-You’ve met plenty of other crews, Law’s was your favorite only because you loved Bepo to pieces, finding the fluffy polar bear so cute.

-Those you called allies were glad you were on their side, after showing your immense power, taking out a whole marine fleet by yourself, but even as allies, that didn’t stop several of them, Shanks being one of the worst, from flirting with you and trying to convince you to join their crews, but you knew at least Shanks was mostly joking.

-Your bounty was on par with the strongest in Luffy’s crew, wanted alive only because the World Government wanted you for themselves, to use your power for their own gains.

-However, that just made you all fight harder, you weren’t leaving your crew- your family, and they weren’t going to let anyone take you.

[wooahaes]

cause you’re my flower

pairing: non-idol!seungkwan x gn!reader, ft roommate!dk

word count: 9.3k~

warnings: angst, no happy ending. usage of the hanahaki disease trope + mentions of surgery (& hospitals). heartbreak, depictions of illness (via hanahaki), reader struggles with breathing some. vernon says ‘dude’ but its unclear whether its aimed at reader or toward chan (it can be easily read either way). minimal proofreading, my bad.

daisy’s notes: ok google play flower + fallin’ flower by svt. in my heart theres a sequel of reader n joshua + jeonghan (or just reader and seokmin tbh, both could work) slowly falling in love lol but i doubt anyone wants that fic

It all started with a tickle in the back of your throat in early winter.

In your defense, you’d just thought you were coming down with something. From the corner of a cozy cafe, you waited for Seungkwan with a burning hot cup of tea in a to-go cup between your hands. Maybe you’d make another cup when you went home--black tea, maybe, with honey for your health. Seokmin would probably give you a soup recipe if you asked and help you make it, too (the perks of having a lovely roommate). But that could wait, as you saw Seungkwan walk into the cafe. He spotted you, smiling and waving before he went to order his Americano. He’d asked you to meet him here, and yet you’d arrived before he did. You’d tease him about it later: you always seemed to be the one who showed up to places before he did (out of habit for getting places early, to be fair).

Soon enough, Seungkwan had sat across from you, making small talk while he opened the plastic. You’d been talking about work when you noticed the way he fumbled the straw, the plastic hitting the table.

Was he nervous...?

“Everything okay?” You tilted your head, as if it’d give you a better look at him. His eyes flickered up to meet your own, and you smiled. “You can tell me anything, you know.”

Seungkwan let out a sigh a moment later, annoyed that his nerves had triumphed over his attempt to act casual. “I went out on a date.”

For a second, your smile faltered. “Oh?”

“And it went well,” he said, pushing his straw into his drink. The ice clinked as he picked it up, taking a long sip before setting it back down. “She wants to go out again, but...”

“But?”

He met your gaze again. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

In another life, you’d probably laugh at him. Tease him over being clueless before asking what they’d agreed on. But that damn tickle in the back of your throat made you cough, smile falling as you reached for your drink. Seungkwan, kind as he always was, had immediately moved to push it into your hands. He waited, watching you take a long sip of your tea until your throat felt soothed.

“Are you sick?” He frowned, brows drawing tightly together. “I should have asked before asking you to meet me--”

You waved him off. “I’m fine, Kwannie,” you forced your voice to stay lighter, as if nothing was wrong. “Don’t worry about me.”

Yet he pouted, “Have you been taking your vitamins? It’s cold out. If you don’t take care of yourself, you’ll get sick...”  

Again, you dismissed the thought. “I’m fine,” you pushed further. “So... Do you like her?”

His face flushed at the question as he averted his gaze, taking another long sip through his straw instead of answering your question. “She’s... really kind,” he settled on a moment later. “I think she really likes me.”

Who wouldn’t like you? You cast that thought aside. “That’s good,” you kept your tone even. “So... You’re telling me all of this because...?”

“I want to buy her flowers,” he said. “And I want someone to go with me, and Vernon can’t--not that I’d ask him. You know flowers. So...”

Despite that same damn feeling in your throat picking back up, you swallowed hard and nodded. “Of course I’ll go with you,” you said. “You didn’t have to ask me out to coffee to ask that.”

Seungkwan’s face flushed once more. “I...” He knew you had a point. “I just wanted to see you. Is that so wrong?” When you began to cough again, Seungkwan frowned, “I’ll get you some napkins. You should go home and rest,” he stood up. “Seriously...” He huffed, “We’re friends. You should have told me you weren’t feeling well.”

Truthfully, you didn’t know you were coming down with something. You’d been fine up until he asked you to come meet him, and even then it had only been that tiny tickle in the back of your throat. With napkins pushed into your hands, you bid Seungkwan farewell before leaving--but not without him saying he’d text Seokmin and demand that he take care of you. He was your close friend, that’s what friends were for (and Seungkwan could probably recount the times he’d helped Vernon and Chan when they were feeling awful, albeit from a distance with a mask on and a bag of medicine held as far from himself as possible to minimize the risk of getting sick himself). You’d promised him that you’d let him know when you were home safe and sound, because Seungkwan was a worrier when the people he cared about were struggling, and that had been enough for him to finally let you go.

When you came home, Seokmin had been looking through the fridge. “Seungkwan said you’re sick,” he called out without looking up. “I think I have a recipe--”

“Oh my god, it’s not that serious,” you said, slipping into your house slippers. “I might be getting a cold. I’ll make some tea and rest--it won’t be a big deal.”

Seokmin looked up. “Are you sure? I’ll make us soup tonight,” he turned his attention back to the fridge. “I might run to the store--”

You immediately began to sputter and cough again, something in your throat moving upward with each hack. Seokmin immediately rushed over to you, wide-eyed as he hit you between the shoulder blades as you leaned over the sink. Gasping for air, you continued to choke until something finally fell from your mouth: a wet glob of petals, bright yellow standing out against the stainless steel. You stood there, heaving as Seokmin wordlessly rubbed circles into your back as you caught your breath.

Fuck.

Hanahaki Disease. Of all the things your family was saddled with, this was the absolute fucking worst. While not purely related to genetics, there were the rare families that were more prone to the stupid disease. You’d never win the lottery, but you’d win this shit. Your mother had it once when she was a teenager, and so did her father, and her father’s grandmother because not every bitch in your family has been saddled with this shit. You’d hoped that you’d lucked out.

Considering you were sitting on an examination table and the plastic bag of those stupid yellow carnation petals you’d coughed up, clearly you had not. Seokmin had brought you to the doctor, insisting that you have someone out in the waiting room. And since you knew exactly who these feelings were linked to, you refused to bring Seungkwan or Vernon or Chan into this: two of them would spill shit because this was too big to keep secret.

“Surgery is an option,” the doctor said to you. In your pissed state, you almost wanted to snap back that you knew that because of your family history. But she hadn’t done anything to you, and you bit back any bitter comments as she continued to talk about how the procedure was entirely safe.

Your parents, luckily, had already agreed to pay for the procedure before you even brought it up. You’d called them after spitting up the flower, and your mother had said they’d pay for it to save your life. What you hadn’t told them was that you weren’t entirely sure about the procedure at the moment. You’d heard the horror stories both from family and people outside of it. Your mother had woken up and gone back to school a few days later, and she felt... nothing when she saw her former crush. He used to be her friend, and the surgery had been what led to their friendship ending. Your grandpa told you that he hadn’t regret itted in the slightest: the young man he’d been smitten for had moved on, he never saw him again, and he recovered well. 

But you? Seungkwan was your friend. One of your close friends. How were you supposed to face him after surgery and feel nothing? At the worst, you might not even remember him since the recovery period differed for plenty of people. Your grandpa had told you that: his grandpa had told him when he was a boy that he forgot her face entirely, and that it was for the best. Better to live without remembering them than die gasping for another breath and choking up flowers. How were you supposed to tell Seungkwan that you couldn’t get close to him again? That this would be it between the two of you because if you stayed around him too much, you held the risk of it coming back?

You couldn’t. The idea of hurting Seungkwan was... hard to swallow. Or maybe that was also the petals you started coughing up again, your doctor quickly pushing a paper towel into your hands.

“Luckily we have medication that’ll help slow the process,” she told you, already jotting something down. “A surgeon will get in touch with you to help you figure out what comes next, alright? I’ll give you a call in a day once we get those x-rays back.”

You mumbled some sort of thanks before gathering your things. Seokmin rose once you re-entered the waiting room post-payment for your visit, and made his way over to you.

“I’m fine,” you said, continuing past him. “Gotta stop by the pharmacy.”

Seokmin’s gaze softened. “Well? What did she say?”

You waited until the two of you were outside. “I guess I’m getting surgery.”

“You guess?! You have to get it,” Seokmin said, “you’ll die if you don’t! You aren’t considering not--”

“I don’t know!” You hugged yourself tight. “I just--I don’t know. How am I supposed to tell Seungkwan I can’t see him anymore?”

Seokmin slowed to a stop, staring at you. “It’s Seungkwan?”

... Fuck, you weren’t supposed to say that. No one was supposed to know. But if you had to pick a person, Seokmin was trustworthy. He wouldn’t tell. Not until later, at least. And if you went through the procedure, you’d at least have someone who could keep him away, if not break the news for you...

Seokmin said your name, pity in his eyes. “You should tell him.”

“I can’t.”

Seokmin reached for your hands, gently curling his fingers around them. “You should,” he pushed further. “I’ll be there with you if you want me to be. But you should tell him. What are you going to do if you don’t? Just stop seeing him?”

Honestly, it didn’t seem like such a bad plan. A dick move, definitely, but cutting him out entirely and letting the news get to him secondhand? He’d never want to see you again after that heartbreak. It’d do the job.

“Don’t,” Seokmin said, knowing the look on your face. “We need to go to the pharmacy, right?”

You nodded, pulling your hands free from his. You started forward, only to feel the telltale feeling in your throat of flower petals again. With a tissue pushed into your hand from Seokmin, you coughed up a few petals before curling your fingers around them tight, hands shaking. Seokmin came back to your side, leaning forward to see that tears were brimming around your eyes.

Your name fell from his lips, and before you knew it, Seokmin had enveloped you in his warm embrace. “It’s okay,” he promised. “I’ll help you. You’re not in this alone.”

At least you had Seokmin. In the end, he’d be all you’d have, and you knew it. But you could manage with just Seokmin for right now.

“Seokmin said you went to the doctor.”

Seungkwan stood a little further from you, happily looking over the different flowers on display. True to your word, you’d come with him after promising that you were fine. The medication was working at temporarily slowing down the disease’s progression (thank you, modern medicine--you only choked up flowers every once in a while now), and you hadn’t felt anything. Maybe a little numbness in your chest, but nothing major. That was a normal side effect, apparently, to help with the whole flowers-growing-in-your-lungs thing. You side-eyed the stupid bouquet of yellow carnations, though.

Seungkwan called your name, and your attention snapped back to him. He’d come over, looking down at the flowers. “These are pretty.”

“You don’t want them,” you pushed past him. “If you’re going to pick carnations, you should pick the red ones. Or the pink ones, if you want.”

He’d stayed right where he was. “I don’t know,” he said. “These are pretty.”

“There’s better yellow flowers,” you said. “If she knows anything about flower language, you’d be telling her a big ole “nope, not interested.””

Seungkwan immediately turned away. “This is why I have you here,” he made his way back to you, already latching himself back onto your arm. “You’re the expert... What do you think? I want to give her something bright and pretty.”

You were far from an expert. You just... looked up flower meanings sometimes. Maybe it came from a morbid curiosity when your mother told you, after your badgering, what flowers she had (purple hyacinth--sorrow, a beg for forgiveness). You had looked up your own: of course loving Seungkwan would give you something pretty and bright like him. At least they were better than the red spider lilies (death) that your grandfather had coughed up.

“Are roses off the table?”

“Aren’t they too serious?” Seungkwan frowned at you. “This is our second date... I don’t want it to look like I’m moving too fast.”

“Then go for tulips,” you said, guiding him over to where a bouquet stood of pink tulips. “The pink ones would work.”

“Are you sure?”

If you didn’t know that Seungkwan was anxious, you would have rolled your eyes. He... really seemed to like this girl. There were legends that said if you could convince him to love you back, the flowers would go away on their own. But if doing that tore him away from someone else he already liked...

“Of course I’m sure,” you smiled at him. “She’ll love them.”

Seungkwan had smiled at you, squeezing your arm. “This is why you’re my best friend,” he said. “Besides Vernon.”

The disclaimer there made you smile. If he didn’t specify, you would have texted Vernon immediately. You turned your attention away from him for a moment, gaze caught on a bouquet of white lilies kept in a case. Seungkwan followed your gaze, his grasp on you easing up. He quietly excused himself to go speak to the florist, and you made up something about needing fresh air.

Standing outside the shop, you watched people trudge past. The paint on the bench was beginning to flake off, pieces of dark green and pale white petals coming off onto your fingers. You dragged your hand along the leg of your jeans, and pulled out your phone. You’d need to take your medicine in another few hours, before you went to bed. Once in the morning, once at night: the nightly dose kept you from waking up with petals in your throat (as well as knocked you out pretty well). It worked. It wouldn’t work forever, not when the disease became worse, but at least you had a little more time before you needed surgery. It gave you time to think about what really mattered now.

“Is something wrong?” Seungkwan had exited the store, bell still jingling as the door shut behind him. He held the bouquet in his arms securely, yet gentle enough to keep from crushing a single flower.

Tell him. You could practically hear Seokmin urging you to do so. “Seungkwan...” You felt your hope dwindle in your chest. Guilt. Don’t ruin this. Leave him with good memories of you. “What would you do if something happened to us?” 

He frowned, settling into the spot next to you. “Did the doctor say something?”

“No! No, just...” You frowned. “Theoretically... if we couldn’t be friends anymore... Would you move on?”

Seungkwan watched you with careful eyes, mouth slightly agape as he struggled to answer the question. How would you answer that kind of thing? “You’re scaring me,” he said a moment later. “If something’s wrong--”

“Nothing’s wrong,” you insisted. “It’s just--I dunno, I watched a stupid movie the other day,” you lied, hoping he would buy it. “And I just kept wondering about what would happen if we couldn’t be friends anymore. It’s stupid.”

He let out a sigh of relief, back falling against the bench before he immediately smacked your arm. “You scared me! I thought you were dying!” He huffed, “You shouldn’t talk so seriously about a movie. Seriously...”

“You didn’t answer the question,” you pouted at him. “Would you move on?”

“No,” he said, “because you’re stuck with me forever.”

You rolled your eyes, fighting back a smile. “Uh-huh.”

“You love me,” he laughed, one of his arms slipping through your own. His cheek pressed against your shoulder. “Right?”

... Right.

Seokmin sat behind the wheel, fingers drumming against it as he slightly bobbed his head to the music. He still hadn’t told you where the two of you were going--only that you had to go with him because this was important. Important enough that he was driving to a different part of the city, listening carefully to each instruction from his phone’s map service. He told you that he’d explain when you got there (which was what he told you after he told you he’d explain in the car). Despite your slight demand that he take you out to dinner at a casual place in the area that Mingyu had been raving about, you trusted Seokmin enough to blindly follow him like this.

He pulled the car into a spot, quickly shooting a text to someone before he turned his attention to scrounging up the change to pay for parking. “Okay,” he said. “You said the surgeon called for an exam before setting the date.”

“Uh-huh?”

“And you told me that you were still on the fence about it.”

Stupidly, you had. Although, when you thought about it, it was good that you told someone. Your parents were completely set on it without giving you space to decide: Seokmin at least listened to you.

“I’m going to help you make up your mind,” he said. He pointed up to a higher apartment on the building. “My friends live there. I’ll introduce you when we get there.”

Once he’d paid the meter, Seokmin took your arm and guided you into the building. Soon enough, the two of you were standing in an elevator. You ignored the worried look Seokmin gave you when you coughed up petals into another tissue (this time your own--you’d stolen one of those pocket packs from Seokmin so he wouldn’t have to dote on you so heavily). The elevator whisked the two of you higher and higher before chiming, and Seokmin gestured for you to follow as he looked back at his phone. Wordlessly, you followed him down the hallway until he finally arrived at a door.

Before he could even knock, the door opened. A pretty man stood in the doorway, hair pulled back into the tiniest of ponytails as he warmly greeted Seokmin. Then his gaze met your own, and that warm smile fell a little.

“Is this them?”

Seokmin nodded. He said your name, before turning back to his friend, “this is Jeonghan. We were in a choir together in college.”

Jeonghan stepped out of the way. “I’ll let him know you’re here,” he said. “Just a warning that he doesn’t really remember too much, so... Please don’t stress him out too much.”

The two of you stood in the entryway as Jeonghan left, calling out for someone named Joshua. With a curious glance to Seokmin, you began to pull off your coat to leave behind as Jeonghan returned with another man--equally handsome in looks, with the gentlest eyes you thought you’d ever seen on a person.

“Hi,” he said, voice warm already, “so, uh... You’re the one with Hanahaki?” When you mustered up a nod, he extended a hand to you. “I’m Joshua.”

You introduced yourself in turn, giving Seokmin another weird look. “And... I’m here because...?”

“Hanahaki nearly killed me,” Joshua told you outright. “And Seokmin said you’re considering not getting the surgery. I’m supposed to tell you why it’s a really bad idea before you make up your mind.”

You immediately glared at Seokmin. “I thought you said you wouldn’t force me to change my mind--”

“And he’s not,” Joshua said, gently guiding you forward. “I wasn’t going to get them removed either. But things were... really, really bad. So I just want to tell you what you’re signing yourself up for.”

Jeonghan made a comment about making the two of you some tea, and you followed Joshua out onto the balcony for some privacy. He brushed a hand through his hair, settling into a cozy chair. There was an easel set up in the corner, empty of a canvas but stained with paint. Joshua followed your gaze to it.

“Do you paint?” He asked, and when you shook your head, he smiled. “I don’t, either. It’s Jeonghan’s.”

“And you two are...?”

“Friends,” he clarified easily. “Really close friends. Look... Seokmin told me a little about you. You’re in love with your friend, right?”

It felt weird for a stranger to say it out loud. But you settled into your chair, nodding. “Yeah. His name is Seungkwan,” you said quietly, “and I didn’t mean to fall for him, but I did, and now...”

The conversation died as Jeonghan stepped out, setting two mugs between the two of you. You thanked him, and waited until the balcony door slid shut again before reaching for your own mug.

“And now you’re coughing up petals,” Joshua said, taking his own mug. “I get it. I didn’t think it’d happen to me, either.”

“What happened?”

Joshua opened his mouth to speak, only to wince for a moment. “Shit--” He lifted a hand to his temple, rubbing at it before setting down the mug. You watched the way he went quiet, eyes squeezing shut. “I--I don’t know,” he said. “Jeonghan told me that there was a girl. I fell in love with her, she rejected me, and then I started coughing up flowers.”

You raised a brow. “He told you?”

The pain began to subside, and Joshua opened his eyes again after a moment before nodding. “He told you, right? I don’t remember all of it. Her name, her face... her favorite color.” He stared off for a moment. “Nothing. I’m apparently a rare case, but the doctors said it’s because I let it progress too far.”

“You didn’t see anyone?”

He shook his head. “I told Jeonghan I wasn’t going to. He’ll say I was being dramatic, and maybe I was, but... I didn’t want to lose her. I loved her,” his gaze didn’t meet yours again. “It wasn’t her fault she didn’t love me. Not all cases are fatal, I mean. Jeonghan says I had this stupid hope she’d change her mind because the guy she liked was a dick. My mom kept telling me that I needed to see someone. I think...”

He took a deep breath. And then he slowly exhaled, curling back up in his chair. The thick sweater he wore fell down over his hands, and those pretty pale brown curls were rustled by the cold breeze. But neither of you moved to go back inside.

“I think I was punishing myself. I don’t remember why, or how I came to that conclusion, but it makes sense. I was the one who fell in love with her when it wasn’t going to happen. I was the one who deserved to suffer for it.”

Something about the somber way he spoke shook you. Like he had resigned himself to death there, the heartbreak of a love so powerful not being returned had broken him. Maybe that was why you still weren’t sure about the surgery. It’d be admitting you were stupid enough to fall for someone who never liked you. 

“So it got worse,” Joshua continued after a moment, lidded eyes staring down into his tea. “And worse. And then Jeonghan came home one day, and found me collapsed and gasping for air. He called the paramedics, they managed to clear my airway of the blood and flowers, and I was taken in for an emergency procedure to remove the flowers. If he hadn’t come home, I would have died...”

He didn’t need to say more. You understood the feeling well. If Seokmin hadn’t pushed you to see someone, you’d probably be in the same boat. A morbid part of you had to wonder if you’d be the same way: lying on the kitchen floor, cold tiles under your fingers as you gasped for one last breath of air.

“I’m a rare case,” he said, eyes meeting your own again. “Most people who get the procedure done before it progresses too much still retain all their memories. And I know there’s research still being done on whether Hanahaki always returns if you stay around the person, since a lot of people are reluctant to break ties when they’ve fallen in love with their friend. But if I could go back in time... I don’t think I would hesitate.”

“Have you met other people?” The question pushed out of you before you could process it.

He smiled at you warmly. “I’ve met you.” But then he laughed softly, “A few. No one I’ve liked yet, but I have hope. I started seeing a therapist once I was released from the hospital, and she’s helped me with everything. They say it’s really rare for Hanahaki to take hold twice in the same person--something about the antibodies created, I’m not sure.” He set his mug down. “But... I think Seokmin’s worried you’re trying to punish yourself, too. Just because you fell in love with your friend.”

You said nothing, arms curling back around yourself to hug yourself tight.

“It’s not a crime to fall in love with someone,” Joshua said slowly and clearly. “Just like how it’s not a crime he doesn’t love you back. I know you don’t want to cut him out of your life, but you need to do what’s best for you. You’ll love someone else one day. But if you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t live to experience it.”

Not all cases are fatal, you wanted to point out to him again. It goes away in rare cases.

Rare. Just like the disease itself.

He began to reach into his pockets, pulling out his wallet. “The therapist I see is a grief counselor, but she apparently did some major studies in helping people like us recover after the surgery. If you tell me your room number, I’ll send you a bear.” He slid the card across the table to you. “I figured you’d be tired of flowers.”

The thought made you smile. Without a word, you accept the card, pushing it into your own wallet to consider later. “I didn’t say I’d go through with it.”

“I know. Send me your room number. I’ll give you my number when we’re back inside,” he pushed back his chair. “It’s freezing out here.”

You scooted your own chair back, about to stand when Joshua turned back to you.

“When you tell him,” Joshua said, “make sure you tell him that you still treasure him. Okay?”

You stared at him a moment, brows drawing together.

“Jeonghan didn’t get to do the same before his own procedure,” he said quieter. “She was his friend, too."

(It wasn’t until then that you noticed the top few buttons of Jeonghan’s shirt were open, and you could see the faint incision scar up the center of his chest.)

Seungkwan had invited you over to a movie night--just the two of you. With your medicine kicking in, you’d agreed. Saturday night movie nights were a longstanding tradition, sometimes including Vernon if he wasn’t busy (and occasionally Chan, ever since you unbanned him from them (he had bad taste in college)). But tonight would just be the two of you, and you’d had a long day at work, so something about curling up with Seungkwan and watching something stupid seemed more appealing. At least the petals weren’t a huge deal. You could hide them if need be, but they hadn’t been acting up too badly yet. Maybe you coughed them up a bit more, which wasn’t great when you had to answer phone calls at work, but people were usually understanding when you made a quick apology and went straight back into that mask of professionalism. You’d fully be off while you recovered from surgery, taking off a few personal days leading up to it as well, and hopefully be fine to return soon enough. But you kept tissues on your desk and had grown better at coughing up the petals and immediately tossing them away before anyone could see or be bothered by it. Even Seokmin rarely noticed when it was acting up again. 

And yet the universe seemed to have the absolute worst fucking timing.

“You didn’t have to say yes,” Seungkwan said from the other end of the couch as he watched you shift uncomfortably, coughing into your elbow while searching for your pack of tissues. “If you aren’t feeling well, you should be resting. I don’t know why you’re even at work right now. Your doctor should have given you the written excuse to get your boss off your back.”

“She did, I just didn’t use it. I’ll take off next week.”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the drama on the screen--something he’d been meaning to watch. “I have extra vitamins you can take with you. Remind me and I’ll give them to you before you leave.”

The female lead had begun coughing up flowers dramatically on the screen, and you felt a sense of bitterness at the sight of it. You had seen this one already. She’d die in the end, right before the male lead could confess that he fell for her instead. It was the dramatic tragedy of someone suffering for their love. Talking to Joshua had been enough to push that thought out of your mind: you’d get the procedure done to remove your own flowers. The harder part, and maybe the part people didn’t talk about often, was the way to cut someone out. You’d read articles both for people like you and for people trying to get out of toxic situations in general.

They said that you didn’t owe anyone an explanation. To do it publicly to keep yourself safe. That this was a process you had to go through, too, and that it was okay to dwell... except for the timer you had on your own situation, but you still had a little more time. Some lists even said to block them entirely once everything was over, just to keep them away for good. Other people said to have a real talk with someone, to explain the situation to them in order to ensure your health in the future. Everyone said it was the hardest thing to do to tell someone that you loved them and that them not reciprocating meant you were struggling worse all because of stupid flowers in your lungs, but to make it clear that it wasn’t their fault (although you’d seen people bitter and angry on both sides, some claiming it was guilt-tripping, others claiming that it technically was their fault). There was a mature way to say “I love you, I know you don’t love me back, so we need to end this so that I can live” according to plenty of people. Some people said the distance helped once the conversation was over.

But every time you looked at Seungkwan, you felt an ache in your heart and a deeper one in your lungs.

“Does this ever bother you?” He said, not looking up. He picked up another piece of popcorn. “Seeing it treated like this?”

“It’s dramatic,” you shrugged. “People use illness all the time for stuff.”

“Still...” He sighed. “I can’t imagine what it feels like to be physically hurting like this. Heartbreak is hard enough. But coughing up flowers? Isn’t that worse?”

“It is,” you hummed. “That’s what my family said, at least.”

He sighed. “If this ever happens to you, I’m taking care of you until you recover. I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Kwannie.”

He looked at you, offended. “I would be a great nurse! You know that,” he huffed.

You wanted to respond and say he couldn’t keep that kind of promise to you. But instead you turned over, watching the secondary male lead in a scene with his own love interest and the actual male lead eavesdropping. “What would your girlfriend think, hm?” You settled on teasing him, if nothing else but to shove your own feelings aside. “Taking care of someone else...”

“She knows I love my friends,” he said. And then you felt him smack your leg. “She’s not my girlfriend yet!”

“Yet.”

He looked sheepish at his slip of the tongue. “It feels a little too soon,” he said, turning back away from you. “I’ve known her for a while, but...”

“If you love her, you shouldn’t hesitate.” You curled up into yourself a little. “Life is short. What if something happens? You shouldn’t wait forever to tell someone how much they mean to you.”

“I know that,” he said, casual as could be. “That’s why I tell you all how much I love you.”

You cracked a small smile, almost telling him that he only did that because he was a big softie who loved all his friends (and liked being told in return that he was loved, too). Seungkwan was always the most physically touchy of your friend circle: that was why he was either hanging off of you or Vernon most of the time, more than content to be snuggled up to your arm or hugging you from behind during casual moments. It’s something that’s made both of you be mistaken for Seungkwan’s partner, sure, but you were always able to laugh it off both before and after you developed feelings for him.

(There was one instance of the two of you playing up the dramatics when someone tried to tell you that your boyfriend was cheating on you with the other person. Vernon had mouthed for you to slap him, and you’d stormed off only to meet back up in the car with a incredibly flustered Seungkwan who swore he couldn’t take the two of you anywhere anymore.)

“Yeah,” you said, half-heartedly as realization hit you again that these moments were fleeting. Soon you wouldn’t be able to see him anymore, not for prolonged moments. You couldn’t risk the flowers coming back once they were gone. “Love you, too, Seungkwan.”

Maybe one day you’d tell him just how much before you lost the feeling entirely.

You’d set the date. You’d gone in for the visit your surgeon had requested, which was primarily for them to take a new x-ray to check the progress. In another world, you’d be looking at the flowers on that results sheet and thinking that it was a pretty art project. But the reality of the situation was that the disease had progressed, and you’d be going in on Friday to have them surgically removed. Your parents had already come into the city with a hotel room booked for the week (the downside of your apartment with Seokmin being so small: you sure as hell weren’t going to boot him from his own room despite his offer, and your parents would rather stay somewhere closer to the hospital). You’d had dinner with them yesterday night after your appointment, talking through everything with them. Although your father would never know the feelings your mother described to you, he had been supportive as he could be while she talked you through the procedure for the third time since that first phone call.

Which was why you were now, on Wednesday, waiting for Seungkwan... and Vernon and Chan. Seokmin was sitting next to you, happy to play moral support as you broke the news. You’d figured everything out: you’d tell them about the procedure, and then ask for a day with Seungkwan tomorrow in order to experience something nice before you were stuck in the hospital for your recovery period. Except for the past where you broke the news that you could never see him again, that you loved him, and that you treasured your friendship and would never hold it against him that he didn’t reciprocate. Maybe Vernon and Chan would never speak to you again, too, but that was a fallout for later you.

Except you could see Vernon and Chan walking up to the restaurant without Seungkwan, and you knew for a fact that they would have come together.

“Seungkwan couldn’t make it,” Chan had said as he took his seat. “Didn’t he text you?”

(He did: his sister was in the city for the day and he rarely got to see her, so he apologized and said he’d talk to you tomorrow. You just hadn’t heard your phone go off, or you would have left with Seokmin far earlier and figured out something else.) 

Seokmin could see the panic on your face. He said your name, hand grazing your arm as you pushed it away.

“I’m fine,” he said.

He lowered his voice, albeit it was useless considering how close the other two were, “You’re supposed to be taking it easy now. Panicking only makes it worse--”

“Makes what worse?” Chan asked, looking between the two of you. “Wait. Are you dying?”

“No--” You said, and at the worst fucking possible moment, you began to cough. “Shit.”

Seokmin reached for the napkins as you shielded yourself as best as you could, flower petals falling in a thick clump into the white napkin. The petals, while on your medication, were rare. Not gone entirely, and of course they’d pick this moment to act up.

Vernon stared at you, hand groping through the air until it hit Chan’s arm. “Dude.”

You could practically see two bulbs light up above each guy’s head. “Don’t tell Seungkwan.”

“What the fuck do you mean ‘don’t tell Seungkwan’?!” To your surprise, Vernon had raised his voice a little. He immediately lowered it after nodding in apology to the other patrons, “you have Hanahaki! You could die if--”

“My surgery’s on Friday,” you said, “so technically I won’t die.”

“That’s beside the point!” Chan stared at you. “You’re--Why didn’t you tell us sooner?! How long have you known?!”

You said nothing. Seokmin only looked at you.

“A few weeks,” you finally confessed. “But I’m fine and I’m getting them removed, so I’ll be fine. Just... I wanted to tell Seungkwan myself.” I needed to tell him I love him before I don’t remember feeling it anymore.

Vernon knew you, though. Chan might be a little oblivious at times, but Vernon had observed you and Seungkwan enough to know. He tore his eyes away from your own, and you could hear him mumble something about how this was awful timing. The thought made your chest ache.

This was awful timing? For who? For Seungkwan? Sure, you were pretty much dying right now and having to make sure you didn’t choke to death on flowers in your sleep--But, fuck, this was inconvenient timing for Seungkwan apparently. If you had it your way, you wouldn’t have ever developed feelings for him. But Seungkwan was sweet. He was your close friend. He was the one who came over and nursed you back to health a year ago when you had the flu, even if he scolded you for not taking better care of your health.

He’d probably scold you now, too. Seungkwan would have told you off for not telling him sooner, and then he would probably have let you cry in his arms because of how terrified you were underneath everything. The procedure itself was safe: the aftermath could be anything. Meeting Joshua had confirmed that for you. What if you were like him one day? Still living with your roommate, unable to remember the reason behind the scars on your sides (or down the center of your chest--you shivered to imagine what that would mean for you, and you refused to bring that topic up to Jeonghan who clearly would rather not talk about it) without pain? You’d looked it up before: the pain was a psychological thing... or, at least, that was the leading theory. Joshua was rare, people were still researching it in full, but they said it was in the same vein as people who lived through trauma only to not remember a thing because they blocked it all out. A safety measure out of your own control.

(Sometimes you wonder whether Joshua even wanted to remember.)

Hanahaki tore people apart. The fact that you were more prone to it only made you angrier at the world, at the stupid flowers stuck in your lungs. At yourself for being so foolish to fall for Boo Seungkwan when he was only ever going to be your friend.

Vernon’s gaze softened as he watched you, so quiet and acting so much smaller. Like a child, almost: uncertain of what would come next, but with only so much guidance that you could fully understand. The swelling, the stiffness, the different feelings around your incisions. But what about what really came next? The empty feeling when you saw Seungkwan again unless you pulled yourself together to tell him that he couldn’t see you again. Not for long, not without risking yourself. He’d heard the stories and was lucky enough that his own instances of unrequited love were met with plenty of chocolate and nights with his friends, watching movies and giving him a space to feel and breathe and think.

“So what do you want us to do?”

You lifted your gaze from where you’d begun staring down into your lap, meeting Vernon’s eyes. “I...”

“We’re not gonna tell him,” he promised, despite the look Chan gave him. “I mean, that’s your thing, right? It’s your thing to tell, unless you want us to tell.”

You shook your head. “I’ll meet up with him tomorrow,” you said. “And I’ll tell him everything.”

Chan looked between the two of you, realization slowly swallowing him whole. “We’ll come visit,” he said quietly. “Is that okay?”

“It’s not a huge deal,” you shrugged. “I mean. It’s surgery, but they’ll probably keep me in for a few days of observation before I can go home. Just... Don’t send me flowers.”

It’s a weak joke, but it earned a smile from Chan. With that, you decided to shove the conversation aside for a meal with your friends instead. It felt comforting to pretend that everything was okay, as much as you wished Seungkwan was there with you. It’d be nice to hold his hand under the table for a minute, just to know that he cared about you still. That, even after you walk out of his life for good, he’d still care for you in the future.

It wasn’t until you were back in the passenger side of Seokmin’s car that you called Joshua and asked if he was busy. That night, the two of you were sitting in the Hong-Yoon apartment so you could have a cozy night. As much as you wanted to go out for dinner with your parents, you needed to stay away from surgery talk (and, unfortunately for you, that was how your mother calmed herself down: going over the procedure out loud to try and reassure both of you that everything was going to be fine). Joshua had an arm draped around your shoulders, blanketing you in his warmth as the four of you were watching some drama they’d found on Netflix.

Seokmin left to use the bathroom, and Jeonghan shifted over so that he’d be resting against Joshua’s other side. A moment later, he lifted his head, eyes meeting your own. “It’s going to be okay,” he reached out, hand finding your own for a reassuring squeeze. “I recovered well. You’ll be okay.”

Wordlessly, you snuggled further into Joshua’s chest now that you didn’t have Seokmin anchoring you from the other side, still holding Jeonghan’s hand for a moment longer. You shut your eyes for a moment, just listening to the sound of Joshua’s heartbeat. “Which one of you was first?”

Quiet. The sound of the movie felt so distant, a mere mumble of background noise as Jeonghan let out a long sigh.

“He was,” Jeonghan said. “I thought I’d be okay. Then we had to call our friend, Seungcheol, to help us.”

Joshua wrapped an arm around you. “Do you want me to be honest?”

You nodded.

“They still hurt sometimes,” he said. “The incisions. I can barely see them, but they’re still there.”

Suddenly, your stomach turned at the thought. You squeezed your eyes shut a little more. “I’m sorry--I know I brought it up, but can we drop this?”

Neither said anything. You merely curled up closer to the two people who’d been strangers until days ago, yet already felt so safe to be around. They felt like an escape from what you knew would come tomorrow. Even when Seokmin returned, curling up close to this bundle of limbs and shared trauma, you only felt safer.

Seungkwan had asked her to be his girlfriend. You only found out because he’d blasted it on every social media platform he was on, only tagged with the caption ‘day one ❤️‘ alongside a picture of the two of them silhouetted with the sunset in the background. Any other life and it’d be sweet. In this one, you merely felt bitter as you finally sent the text you’d been sitting on all day.

it’s really important. can we meet at the usual spot?

The moment he gave you his confirmation, you left your apartment. The park wasn’t too far from where you lived, although you’d always prefer to take the bus to it instead. With your coat pulled over your hoodie, you made the trek by foot instead. This used to be your picnic spot with Seungkwan, although you could easily see him going on dates there instead. As much as you wanted to be happy for him, the stupid ache in your lungs and the tickle of petals that eternally seemed to be plaguing you (at least it would be until you took your last dose of medicine before surgery--a smaller one than what you usually took to avoid complications, but enough that you’d be able to sleep easily) served as a cruel reminder of what would never be. That this would be the end.

Yet you saw him sitting on that stupid bench the two of you always met at, the glow of a streetlamp bathing him in light and making him look stupidly radiant. Or maybe that was what love could do to a person. The moment he saw you, he stood up, coming to hug you tight.

“Vernon said you’re having surgery tomorrow,” he said once he stepped back, hands holding your own. “Is it true?”

... At this point, you couldn’t be surprised Vernon would at least let that slip. Maybe he’d been debating coming to see you, and Vernon told him outright how important it was.

His fingers tangled with your own as he brought you to the bench, sitting down next to you. “Is it serious?” He paused, and then vaguely gestured toward his mouth and throat, “is it... you know?”

Seungkwan knew of your family history. You’d lamented it to him forever ago, saying that you hoped you’d be lucky enough to be spared by it. When you nodded, his gaze softened tremendously.

“Do they know?”

You don’t, you almost wanted to say. It’s you. I’m sorry. “I don’t know if I want to tell him.”

“Do I know them?”

You shook your head, unable to verbally lie to him.

He stared ahead, visibly upset. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t notice it sooner. I’ve just...”

He’d been falling for someone else more and more with each day. Deep down, you couldn’t blame him for that. If you didn’t know someone was going through it, you’d probably be blissfully doing the same.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been here for you,” he said a moment later. “Are you scared?”

“Terrified.” You tucked your hands into your hoodie pockets, leg bouncing. “I don’t know how I’m going to react.”

Seungkwan was good at faking smiles when things were rough, just to try and instill some confidence into someone who needed it. “You’ll pull through,” he squeezed your knee gently, and he left his hand there. “You’re strong. And... and when you get out, we’ll go out. Just the two of us. I’ll pay for our meal, and you can pick, and... and it’ll be thanks for helping me while you were struggling.”

Something about how genuine he sounded squeezed your heart tight, almost as if it’d pop with just a little more pressure. You looked up, “Seungkwan, I...”

I love you. I know you don’t love me back, and it’s okay. I’m sorry our friendship has to end like this.

And then he smiled at you, a little more genuine than before, just to reassure you. “It’ll be okay,” he said again, clueless to the storm inside of you.

Your words died in your throat. Instead, you just bit back your tears as you dove forward, hugging him tight. “I love you,” you said, a confession you couldn’t make directly to his face. “Thank you for being a good friend.”

His arms wound around you after a moment, squeezing you tight. “You’re not going to die, you know,” he said, laughing just a little. “It’s a safe procedure. I’ll see you when you wake up. Okay?”

Drifting back from him, you lied again, “Yeah. I’ll... I’ll see you then.”

With one truth spilling from your lips about going home and getting proper rest, the two of you parted ways. Despite the fact it only served to make your lungs ache worse, you jogged the way home. The sooner you were inside, the better. With the door shut and secured behind you, you let out a long sigh and then a groan of frustration at backing out yet again. You’d been pulling your jacket off when you heard Seokmin call out your name.

“Did you tell him?”

You sniffled hard, already feeling those tears welling back up. He opened his arms to you, and you almost tripped over yourself rushing to him as you broke down crying.

“I-I couldn’t,” you said between sobs.

And Seokmin could do nothing else but hold you tight, head resting against your own as he sheltered you through your storm.

Everything felt fuzzy.

The anesthesia hadn’t fully worn off by the time you were a little more awake. You’d answered their questions as best as you could while your head still felt full of clouds, but the procedure had been a success. The flowers were gone to good, likely going to get tossed out with the other waste and burned. Your mother recognized how completely out of it you still were, but you could see the relief on her face that you were okay. It took the sound of your dad gently coaxing her for her to agree to come back when you were far more lucid and well-rested.

At some point, Seokmin came in to see you. You barely remembered the encounter, but you stared at the teddy bear that sat nearby with a card being held between its plush paws (thanks to Seokmin’s efforts). It wasn’t from him, you’d later discover, but from Joshua and Jeonghan wishing you well (and making promises to see you again once you were discharged, maybe while you were recovering if they could make it during visiting hours).

Three days into your stay, you were fully aware and alert... and also recognizing the annoying tinge of pain that came from your incisions every single time you moved or even breathed. You could breathe clearer now, sure, but the ache was annoying nonetheless. Your doctor had been kind to you, understanding how tiring it could be to recover from the procedure. Your nurse, a tall kind man named Wonwoo, had taken your vitals. So when you heard a knock on your door, you were sure it was either whatever breakfast you were getting (you barely remembered your own order now), or your parents.

And after you called out for whoever it was to come in, you were met with Vernon’s face. He stopped where he stood, staring at you for a moment before apologizing and saying he wasn’t sure what to do. Chan was with him, too, hugging a big teddy bear that was clutching a ‘get well soon’ heart.

“You said not to send you flowers,” Chan said as he made his way over to you, and you accepted the stuffed animal with a thanks. “It was my idea.”

“Our idea,” Vernon rolled his eyes. Then he stopped, looking at the open door. “You wanted to see them. They’re awake.”

The guy that Vernon had been talking to walked into the room, pushing the door shut with an apology for hesitating. He started rambling about how he didn’t know whether you’d want so many people crowding you at once, sitting down at the edge of your bed as he started asking how you were doing. Were the flowers gone? Was the staff taking care of you? If you needed someone to speak on your behalf while your parents were gone, he would happily do it for you.

Vernon noticed the confused look on your face as this guy--friendly as he might be--kept talking to you. You’d answered his questions, sure, but you could see the way this stranger’s heart was visibly breaking in his eyes. His smile fell, and Vernon nudged him out of the way so that he could sit and talk to you for a few minutes. 

“Is there anything we can do for you? I mean, we were gonna pool together for one of those edible arrangements, but I wasn’t sure if your doctor was gonna restrict any of it...”

Chan had apologized, saying he needed a cup of coffee--it was too early for him--and he left with the other guy.

Vernon pushed himself back into your field of vision, and you felt yourself flounder a little for words. “No restrictions,” you said, brain still catching up as you had questions. “Sorry, Vernon, do I know him--”

He shook his head. “Nope. Just, uh... Rest up,” he patted your thigh. “I’ll see you when you get out, yeah?”

When he stepped back into the hallway, it was to the sound of Seungkwan sobbing. Chan had already gone to him, holding him and waving off any concerned staff that had probably seen this kind of thing before.

One of his best friends didn’t recognize him at all. He knew that that meant when it came to Hanahaki.

Chan had patted his back gently. “It’s not your fault you moved on,” he said quietly. “You didn’t know. None of us knew they liked you back--”

Vernon could feel his heart sink in his chest as he made his way over. His own future with you (as well as Chan’s) was in the air--both knowing the weight of keeping you in their lives could lead to future pain for both you and Seungkwan. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I told you--”

But Seungkwan shook his head, the weight of his own decisions beginning to suffocate him. “You were right,” he started to walk away, his heart breaking all over again. “I shouldn’t have come.”

taglist: @twancingyunhao​ @synthetickitsune​ @wonuziex​

[elliebarker]

thinking about lifeguard!ellie and competitive swimmer!reader...

is this self-indulgent? maybe. is this procrastination of synk ch2? also maybe

pairing: modern!college(university)!lifeguard!ellie x competitive swimmer!reader

lifeguard!ellie, who needs an easy and quick way to make money. who takes the nightshift at the rec-center

you, who’s team just happend to take the last time slot and have late-night practices.

lifeguard!ellie, who tries to stay professional but can’t help but check you out

you, who catches her looking and volunteers to stay late to help take the lane-lines out to see if she’ll ask you out.

lifeguard!ellie, who jokes around with you, gets your name, but completely forgets to ask you for your number.

you, who says hi to her before every practice. who, when helping ellie close up the pool, remembered you carpooled here while your car was in the shop and are now completely deserted

lifeguard!ellie, who offers to drive you home and end up immediately clicking and laughing and looks almost sad when she drops you off at your house

you, who, decides you don’t want the night to end, invites her in

ellie, who greets you everytime you get to practice. who starts driving you to and from swim practice. who gets junk food with you after practice and sometimes stays over after practice.

ellie, whos told all her friends about you, who dreams out you (in your suit) all the time. whos being a complete simp. who’s too scared of telling you her feelings because she knows if she does she’ll have to quit her job and never face you again, and this had to be the best job(friendship) she’s ever had, she doesn’t want to lose it

you, who does it for her because god knows she would’ve just been pining in silence

gf!ellie, who brings big-ass and super embarrassing signs to all your meets

gf!ellie, who when she actually gets in the water gets so cold her body turns purple and her knuckles go white

gf!ellie, who doesn’t understand the difference between short and long course season.

“just finished my 200 free, babe”

“i thought that was a 100?”

theres times when she’d be boasting about you

“yeah, her time is (numbers), shes so fast”

“no, babe, thats my yard time.”

“huh?”

[hanaasbananas]

on arranged marriages

it's funny. mums been in the whatsapp rishta groups for years looking for someone i might marry. she'll send me a profile once in a while and ask what i think, if she should contact his parents or not and most of the time i say yeah, alright. nothing ever comes of it though, so when my dad calls me after work and says mum spoke to him about a rishta she's thinking of moving forward with i'm intrigued, but not particularly invested.

mum's really picky, i tell him. this probably won't go anywhere but we may as well see it through, right? dad is hesitant, but agrees when i say that i do want an arranged marriage.

but then things do move forward and the next thing i know, he is going to visit us with his parents. on the day, my uncle picks me up from work so i don't have to walk. you don't have to make a decision today, he tells me. this is just a first visit. my cousin helps me get ready and i am reminded of the similar scene in the movie vivah. nothing has to happen today, she tells me you guys are just meeting today. the thought does nothing to settle the nerves roiling in my stomach and i try to go back to my room three times instead of going downstairs until my cousin practically shoves me down them.

i enjoy meeting his mum, even though she immediately clocks my nervous clasping and unclasping of my bracelet. she hugs me as if i'm her own daughter and is so happy to see me that my heart lightens. eventually, we go to the other sitting room where the men are sitting-where he is. my nerves flare up again but he doesn't look up from his hands clasped in his lap when we walk in.

too nervous to speak, i only answer say anything when a question is directed at me and try to sneak quick glances at him across the room instead. his mum catches me more than once and smiles knowingly at me. we meet each others eyes only once for a split second and it makes my heart pound rapidly in my chest. when he speaks, i force myself to look at anyone other than him. he has a nice voice, my brain whispers and i bite my tongue, hard.

they leave, and we say they'll know our decision after a couple months. i know what my answer will be though. later, when they get back home and his mum calls my mum, i stand outside the door to eavesdrop, my heart in my throat but i can't stop my grin when i hear his mum say he's happy to go ahead with this, because there was a part of me that still worried he'd see me in person and go NOPE. she suggests that we get to know each other over the next few months and i silently beg my mum to agree. i know that where she is from, in her tradition, the bride and groom speak once or twice before the wedding if they're lucky, and that things are still done that way back home, but just as im gearing up to argue against that, she agrees. it's a miracle!

of course, chronically shy person that i am, the thought of our first conversation taking place on our mums phones is terrifying so instead i ask to get his number so we can text first. she sends his number but theres no way i'm texting first so i send them my number and thankfully he gets the hint and texts me first. i hope you don't mind me texting, i'm just shy still. i say. that's fine, he reassures me. we have time.

time, as it turns out. flies. it doesn't take long to move from texts to voice notes, to phone calls. he really does have a nice voice, i find out, and its not as awkward as i thought it would be. i didn't actually think that we'd talk that much, maybe once a week at most and yet...

i almost cried last night because we were talking about going to Pakistan together next summer and I remembered how when I was a teenager I used to daydream about going to Pakistan with my spouse and visiting all my family with him.

then over the years I sort of gave up on that idea because I'm not the type to go out and meet someone and in the desi arranged marriage market whose gonna choose me?

and now I'm 26, and we talk multiple times a day and when I catch myself thinking oh he isn't really interested, he's just talking to me because he has to to get to know me, why would anyone actually like me?? I find myself countering with well actually if that was the case why would he start calling you every day? how come you went from one call a day ending with 'i'll talk to you tomorrow' to him calling you on his way home from work and 'i'll call you after dinner' when he gets home to a THIRD call after maghrib right before bed? those are not the actions of a man who is uninterested!!

hanaas insecurities- 0, hanaas logic- 1

anyway idk where this is going except i never thought i'd be this excited and happy when it came time for me to get married but here i am and it is SO SCARY to realise that i am maybe possibly (definitely) falling for him but wow, and like? (literally the other day i was telling him a story from when i was a kid and the story had such a silly ending but it was unexpected and he laughed really hard in surprise and it made my heart almost explode i swear its so fun to make him laugh)

but like there's SO MANY logistics i'm restarting my driving lessons so i can pass before i move and i literally just got my new job in april but i'm gonna have to give my notice lmao and i've already started looking for new jobs but GAH so much stuff is happening and yet at the same time i feel so calm about it all it's wild i'm just vibing trying to enjoy my summer holidays and having the highlights of my day being when he calls lmaooo

[dumbass-tumbler-cryptid]

What if Spider reported to Norm that Fike and Quaritch were in contact and a meeting took place?

Part 1 and part 2

I don’t think Spider would rat on Fike just because he doesn’t want his kids to end up like him. If he told Norm he’d tell him that his dad approached him at school and tried to have a conversation with him. Norm would move him immediately. I can see this going two ways.

The first way: Quaritch has already started the process of regaining custody and decides that that’s still the best course of action. Spider telling on him is definitely a bump in the road but Quaritch’s lawyer spins it saying (honestly actually) that Quaritch had no idea his son was there and went over with the intent of having dinner with his friend and nothing more. Fike would claim that he had no idea Spider was Quaritch’s son due to Spider’s last name not matching his father’s. The counter argument would of course be that Socorro was Paz’s maiden name and Fike knew her before she was married so how did you not put two and two together. Fike would just shrug and claim that he just hadn’t. Maybe they’d even pay off the judge

But the other option more in line with cabin: Fike can tell that Spider wants to get away. The kid has asked to borrow a phone and because he couldn’t say why Fike didn’t let him figuring he wanted to call his social worker. So Fike hides the phones away but first he calls Quaritch to formulate a plan. Quaritch is upset to hear it but he can’t let this opportunity go. He wanted the cabin to be more along- the structure is built and he’s gotten the garden started but he still needs to get a lot of furniture built, get the basement stocked with everything they might need and then get anything else he can’t carry airlifted in by one of his teammates - but the timing is to good to pass up on. So Fike tells Spider that he wants to take him shopping. Spider doesn’t think a thing of it. It’s not uncommon for a new foster family to want to buy him a new toy or a few new pieces of clothing. Fike drives for twenty minutes which does seem strange but Fike said he’s taking him to the good mall in the richer county. But when they get to the mall it looks abandoned. Theres only one car in the whole parking lot. They park right next to it. Spider starts panicking when he sees his father in the driver seat. “What’s going on,” he asks as Fike and Quaritch get out of their cars. He doesn’t get a response.

Fike opens the door to the passenger seat looking at least a little sad over the situation, “come on kid.” But Spider doesn’t. Instead he scrambles to get out the driver side door.

His father grabs him around the middle, “easy tiger. It’s alright….”

“Help!” Spider screams despite seeing what a ghost town the area is. “Somebody help me!”

(I know in my last post i gave an age range of 10-12 for Spider in this au so now I’m just going to pick the middle) Quaritch has no trouble prying his 11 year old out of the car. Spider might be tall for his age but he’s still really little and scrawny. For Quaritch the kid is like nothing. He wrestles his son into the backseat of his car as he kicks and screams. Quaritch gives him a little something to keep him calm but not knock him out, thanks Fike for everything then speeds off. Fike goes to the mall closer to home and makes a show of looking for his “missing” child. Manks volunteered to be a mall cop for a day and is in the office where he “accidentally” destroys the security footage for the day. After hours Fike calls the police claiming that his foster son has run away. He planted “evidence” in Spider’s room that would corroborate that story. A kidnapping is barely considered.

Meanwhile Spider is on the road trip from hell. He’s all loopy, the scenery going by in a blur. His dad is talking to him but the words are gibberish. Maybe he’s talking too? Or drooling? He can’t really tell until the drugs start to wear off. “Where are we going,” he asks when he can finally speak without slurring his words. His limbs still feel heavy and he’s super tired.

“Home,” Quaritch says simply. “Now you listen up. I’m your father and i love you very much. All i want is what’s best for y’a. I believe you’ll see that being with me is better than being kicked around the foster system. You’re just used to that right now. I’ll show y’a how good life will be with your family….”

“I’ll scream. I’ll run away as soon as i can…”

His dad laughs, “oh I’m sure you’ll try. But i will tan your hide if you step out of line, understood.” Spider hisses at him. Quaritch shakes his head, “you’ll learn.”

Spider is sat in the middle of the backseat with some kind of bright red child lock on the buckle of his seatbelt. He can’t reach the windows to bang on the glass in the hopes that someone will see him. No doubt the doors are child locked too. “Let me out!” Spider shouts, “let me out, let me out, let me out!” His dad just turns up the music. Spider screams himself horse trying to break the man but it doesn’t work. When his throat starts to ack painfully he finally quiets.

Quaritch turns down the music then holds out a bottle of water to him, “thirsty?” Spider glares as he swipes the bottle from his hand. His dad chuckles as he watches him drink. After about twenty minutes of silence Quaritch asks, “can we talk?”Spider’s throat feels swollen so he’s pretty sure he can’t talk so he simply glares. “Come on kid, you can’t tell me this isn’t for the best. I’ve been checkin’ in on you for years so I know you haven’t always had good foster placements. They never cared for y’a. But I love y’a! You’re my boy and I’d do anything for y’a. I know you’ve been told I’m dangerous and that this all probably doesn’t change that. But hear me out. I went to prison for taking revenge on your mama’s killer. I beat him within an inch of his life. But I didn’t kill him! He woke up from his coma and now he’s a middle manager at his daddy’s company. He’s doin’ just fine but I lost everything! I lost my wife, my freedom and most important I lost you. And then I did everything the courts told me to do to get y’a back. But the courts were corrupt! They let your mama’s killer get off with community service. They kept you away from me! In what world do you keep a loving father away from his child! That’s why I couldn’t trust it again. But I had to get y’a back. All I want is what’s best for y’a. I’ll break every law in the book for that.”

The account gives Spider a lot to think about. He can see his father’s point of view. He’s happy his mom was avenged but it’s also terrifying thinking of his father nearly killing a man with his bare hands. The fact that his mom’s killer didn’t get life in prison boils his blood and definitely makes him believe the courts are corrupt. Maybe they were wrong to take him away from his dad. Maybe his dad is just trying to save him from a life in the system.

They pass state lines. He’s not really sure how far away Missouri is from D.C but he’s sure it’s far. “We’re coming up on a rest stop. Y’a need to use the bathroom?” Spider just nods too stunned by the distance they’ve traveled to respond.

They pull off at a gas station. Quaritch refuels the car leaving Spider locked inside. Once he’s done he slides into the backseat next to Spider. “What’cha thinking tiger. Y’a want to stay with papa?”

Spider bites his lip to stop it from trembling and shakes his head no, “you’re scary.”

Quaritch sadly pats his shoulder, “I don’t have to be. Now we’re going to go inside. If you’re good I won’t have to be scary. But if you’re bad and try to tell any of the nice people inside what’s going on, well then, I might have to show y’a what I did to your mama’s killer.” Spider turned white as a ghost. “So y’a gonna be good?” He weakly nods. His dad smiles and undoes the child lock on his seatbelt. When Spider steps out of the car Quaritch smiles and holds out his hand for him to take. Spider looks around at all the people, the mom with her kids refueling their van. The many different adults getting gas on their way home from work. Could his dad hurt all of them? Spider couldn’t let him hurt any of them. So he takes his dad’s hand.

First they use the restroom Spider in a stall, Quaritch the urinal so he can block any escape attempt. As soon as their hands are washed and dried Quaritch grabs Spider’s hand again. Spider hangs his head as he’s led around the connivence store. He’s gotten lucky with his last few foster placement who had respected it when he’d said he was growing his hair out. Now it was just long enough to hide his face and he was so thankful for it. He didn’t want anyone to see him and possibly give his father a reason to hurt them. “Do you want any snacks?” Spider stays quiet. His dad picks out a few bags of chips and some beef jerky. “How about some candy?” Quaritch gently tucks some of Spider’s hair behind his ear, taking away his hiding place. He picks out some sour skittles just to keep him happy. “And how about a hotdog? Or do y’a want a corn dog instead?”

“Corn dog,” Spider mumbled

“What was that?”

“A corn dog please.”

His father smiles, stroking his hair. “You got it kiddo.”

They get to the register where Quaritch pays for everything plus the gas in cash. The young cashier gives Spider a sympathetic smile. “Aw what’s the matter sweetie,” she asks.

Spider looks at her like a deer in the headlights. He can’t think of a lie and so instead he shyly hides behind his dad. Quaritch gives him a sad smile dropping his hand only to pull him into a side hug and rub his shoulder. “He’s having a bad day,” Quaritch says, “he lost his soccer game this morning and he’s still really upset.”

“Aw, it’s okay! You’ll get’em next time.” Spider refuses to look at her but she doesn’t give up. “What’s your name?”

Spider startles looking up to his dad for an answer. “Go on. Tell this nice young lady your name.”

That instantly makes him know exactly what answer his dad is wanting. “Miles,” he says reluctantly.

“Well Miles,” she reaches into a freezer off to the side of the counter pulling out an ice cream cone dipped in chocolate, “here’s a treat. Everything will get better soon.”

“What do you say son.”

“Thank you,” it’s taking everything in him not to cry.

But once they’re back on the highway Spider finally breaks down. He never allows himself to cry but now he just can’t help it. He’s sobbing, hyperventilating, tears and snot pouring down his face. He doesn’t realize when Quaritch pulls over. Suddenly he’s wrapped up in his dad’s arm, being rocked and shushed as circles are rubbed into his back. “You’re okay. Ssshhh, you’re okay. You did such a good job. Good boy. You’re my good boy.” Spider cries until there’s nothing left in him. He lays his limp head down, feeling absolutely dead inside. He’s a monster. A total psycho. How the hell am I going to get away from him. 

I’ll end it there but I totally have more ideas if you’re interested. Thanks again for reaching out! I always love hearing from people 💞

[hangmansgbaby]

Meet the Family | 1

Summary: y/n Seresin manages to convince her fellow fighter pilot boyfriend of 5 years, Bradley Bradshaw, to attend thanksgiving at the Seresin Family Ranch with her family for the first time but neither are prepared for what's about to unfold.

Pairings: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x reader, Jake "Hangman" Seresin x TwinSister!Reader

Warnings: Toxic parent, emotional breakdown, thats it??(Let me know if I should add any)

Note: this takes place in a universe where Goose got nothing more than a serious concussion from the accident.

Word count: 6.1k

Jake and y/n swing dance: https://youtu.be/hQzmhBEcFvw

Masterlist

"Does Jake have to come?"

"Well we are spending the week with my family and he is my brother." Y/n laughs as she pulls the hat box from the top of her closet. Bradley sits on the edge of her bed next to her open suitcase that's barely packed. "Besides I know you and him can't get into any arguments because Jake turns into a good ol southern momma's boy the minute we enter city limits." She sets the hat box down behind Bradley on the nightstand before moving back to her closet to pull out a few shirts and her ranch jeans that she keeps hidden in the back of her closet.

"Oh now that I gotta see." Bradley chuckles.

"Well you won't get see much except for most likely thanksgiving dinner and church Sunday morning." Y/n ruffles her boyfriend's hair. "He usually disappears either onto the ranch or visiting Lottie."

"Whose Lottie?" Bradley questions, y/n's eyes widen knowing she's already said too much.

"Nope! I'm not giving you fuel to use against him." She drops her tennis shoes and a pair of heeled boots into her suitcase along with her toiletries bag on top of her clothes and zips the suitcase shit.

"Hey Y/n! Y'all ready?" Jake asks poking his Stetson covered head into her room.

"All set! B can you grab my hat?"

"You didn't pull one out." B tells her, pulling her suitcase off the bed, walking it over to Jake who laughs at Bradley's response.

"No man. She's talking about her Stetson that's in the box by the bed." Jake points as y/n opens the box to reveal her Santa Fe Outdoors Hat she's own since high school.

"I didn't even know you owned one of those." Bradley stares in awe as she places the hat on her head and pulls her boots on.

"Hey when that sun is blaring down on you while you're chasing cattle, you're almost guaranteed to have one by the next day." Y/n laughs, using her index finger to lift Bradley's jaw closed, "Let's go Bradshaw!"

19 hours in the car was too long for y/n to deal with Bradley and Jake's bickering that she forced Jake's silence by making him drive most of the way, and pushing Bradley's 6ft frame to sit in the back of Jake's truck.

Despite the complaints from Bradley, the trip was finally peaceful as they pulled through the front gates, parking just in front of the house.

"Oh! Theres my babies!" Adeline Seresin calls walking down the steps to where Jake parked the truck.

"Hi mom." Jake is the first to greet her as Y/n has to practically drag Bradley from the backseat.

"Oh my sweet boy!" Adeline plants a kiss on each of his cheeks leaving bright red prints behind. Bradley chuckles at the sight of Jake.

"Oh and you must be Bradley! I'm so glad you could join us!" Now its Jake's turn to laugh as his mother plants a kiss on each of Bradley's cheeks.

"Hi mama."

"Oh hello y/n." Adeline gives a quick hug to her only daughter and immediately turns back to Jake. "Alright tell me everything!"

Y/n sighs, moving to the back of the truck and pulling the bags out, Bradley walking over to help.

"What was that?" Bradley questions, picking up most of the bags.

"Don't worry about it. I'm used to it." Y/n replies bluntly, walking up to the front door of her childhood home.

"So how's California? Any pretty girls I should expect to see on your arm when you come down for Christmas?" Adeline asks Jake.

"Thanks for the help Hangman! We'll gladly get YOUR bags for you." Y/n groans, watching her mother gush over Jake.

"Y/n please! Jake works very hard at work. You can put in some effort for once and help out."

"For the millionth time mom! Jake and I do the same thing!" Jake groans, he knew there was going to be an argument between his mom and sister, what he didn't expect for it to happen. "You've seen the videos!" Y/n shouts, setting the bags down by the hallway.

"And you seriously expect me to believe those were actually you?" Adeline scoffs. "Bradley I don't know what you see in this girl. You know the only reason she went into the Navy was because my Jakey was going? Highly doubt she even managed to graduate all those years ago. Pretty sure she's been faking it the whole time."

"Mom!" Jake protests. Bradley steps up to interject but his stopped by y/n's hand on his chest, she turns to face him.

"Don't. It'll only make it worse." She mutters. "I'm gonna go for a ride." She softly announces to the room, walking straight towards the back door.

"Way to go Mom." Jake mutters as he walks over to Bradley. Bradley tries to stop y/n but Jake catches him. "Hey, give her a minute. When she says she's going for a ride, she needs like 30-45 minutes to cool off."

"She used to do that often?"

"Yea, first time I followed right behind her. About 3 hours later they found me hog tied in the creek. You think I'm different out here. She shuts out who she really is here." Jake starts picking up the bags. "Come on, I'll show ya to the rooms."

"Why does your mom treat her like that?" Bradley asks as they step into Jake and Y/n's childhood loft. Y/n's bedroom door to the left and Jake's to the right.

"Mom's always tried to get y/n to be more of a girl. But y/n wanted to do everything but that. When we both left, mom didn't talk to her for 6 years and then sudden just started pretending that y/n wasn't even her daughter. They fought a lot before we left then it just kind of turned into passive aggressive comments over the dinner table. And then whatever this is." Jake explains. "Y/n's room is through that door. I'll be over here if you need something. Welcome to the shit show." Jake laughs, slapping a hand on Bradley's shoulder before walking away.

Bradley walked into Y/n's childhood bedroom. Not much had changed since she was in high school. Her queen size bed was neatly made, clearly not been slept in since probably last Christmas at the latest. Trophies littered the shelves, many for barrel racing and others for random school things. An entire shelf dedicated to her FFA heifers, two of which won first place. Bradley's attention though is drawn to the wall covered in trophies, medals, tiaras, sashes, and participant number sheets. The photo collage in the center made it clear that these were dance awards. Ranging from jazz to ballet to even line dancing, those photos prominently featuring someone who Bradley can only assume to be Jake dancing alongside her, judging by how similar the two looked.

Bradley chuckles at the though of Jake being a dancer but then again it was just line dancing. Bradley sees the glitter of something in the corner of his eye and spots a tiara place safely in a clear box, Miss Teen Texas written boldly on the side followed by Y/n's name written in a loopy cursive. Clearly that was part of Adeline's plot to get y/n to be more girly, along with dance. He glances at the photos noticing that wasn't the first title she won. Miss Hays County Teen, Miss Austin Teen, Miss Texas Teen, there were even photos from when she competed for Miss USA Teen.

Bradley looks back onto the girl he fell in love with. He never knew she competed in pageants, rodeos, and dance. Of all the things he'd found, the rodeos and line dancing were the only things that fit with the girl he knew. Y/n wasn't super girly, sure she loved dresses and frilly shirts on occasion, but loved a good pair of jeans or sweatpants mostly.

He fell in love with the badass Naval Aviator that could knock Jake "Hangman" Seresin's ego down a few pegs with a simple glare, who stood up to commanding officers when they went to far on a fellow aviator, who looked his mother in the face and said she was so in love with him that she'd doesn't know if she'd make it loosing him and clearly the girl staring back at him in most of those photos was not her.

Bradley's thoughts are interrupted by Jake knocking on the bedroom door. "Hey you know how to ride a horse right? Or do I gotta make you ride bitch with me?" Bradley mutters a sarcastic chuckles before replying.

"Yes I know how to ride a horse." Bradley sasses, following Jake out to the barn.

"Alright, well saddle up cowboy. We got a girl to check on." Jake tosses an old straw cowboy hat at Bradley the minute they reach the barn. Bradley struggles to keep up with Jake, having not ridden a horse since high school when he and his parents were back in Virginia. Jake goes racing across the land, Bradley seconds behind him, only slowing when they reach the trail head at the edge of the woods. They swiftly but carefully make their way through until the come to a clearing where they see another horse tied to a wooden post. Jake jumps down, tying his horse up before grabbing the reigns for Bradley's hops down. "She should be just through those trees." Jake points, Bradley immediately walking through.

"Baby?" He calls, not getting a response. "Y/n?" He hears the sniffles and looks closer to the edge of the look out, spotting y/n sitting on the edge. Sitting down beside her, y/n immediately rests her head on his shoulder. "You're not gonna hogtie me and leave in a creek right?" Bradley checks making y/n laugh.

"It was one time Jake!" She laughs just as Jake sits beside her.

"Hey, I almost let him chase you earlier just to see you do it to him." Jake laughs.

"I'm sorry for ruining the trip."

"Baby its not your fault. Why didn't you tell me this is how your mom treats you? I would've suggested we go to my parents instead."

"You just seemed so excited to see everything out here that I was really hoping my mom would behave with a guest. Should've known you cant really stop how she really feels."

"But she still went too far." Jake interjects. "I don't think she's gone as far as to accuse you of lying about being in the navy."

"No! And its getting ridiculous!" Y/n stands. "I've done everything to please her! Everything! And the one thing I chose for me is the one thing she chose to pretend I never did!"

"I know..." Bradley tries to console her but she keeps going.

"I'm a fucking Naval Aviator! And a damn good one!" Y/n shouts. "I was valedictorian at the Academy! Top of the class at Top Gun! I've never had had a failed mission! But does she care? Noooooo." Y/n's voice is laced with sarcasm. "I fucking hate you!" She turns her frustrations to Jake.

"Me?"

"I am so fucking tired of mom favoring you! Ever since dad left! Oh Jake did this! And Jake did that!" Y/n groans. "I was a fucking state title holder for EVERYTHING! EVERY YEAR!

"Hey we can't control how mom talks about us." Jake defends.

"Oh don't start that shit with me again. We both know mom chose her favorite based off of when dad left. Thats when all these fucking comments started!" Y/n shouts. "Dad left her for MY fucking dance teacher and all the sudden I was a problem child."

"Y/n..."

"Why don't you just disappear already and go see Lottie? I'm sure you're just dying escape mom's love and attention to get your dick wet." Y/n groans, walking away from the two boys.

"Low blow y/c/s." Jake mutters as he walks back over to the horses. Y/n freezes in the middle of her pacing. She knew he was just trying to help and clearly she went far enough for Jake to call her by her call sign. Which he only ever did in the air or when she royally fucked up.

"Y/n..." Bradley mutters, standing from the edge. "Hey..." Suddenly, y/n picks up a rock and launches it off the cliff side, watching it drop into the lake below, screaming at the top of her lungs as she does. "Baby, come here." Bradley pulls her into a tight hug, his chest to her back as she breaks down. Her cries almost like screams as her knees give out, the only reason she's still standing is because of Bradley, just as much as their relationship had been.

Bradley met the twins his junior year at the academy, their first year, 16 years ago. Having been stationed with them multiple times, Bradley and Y/n grew quite close. In fact, 10 years ago when y/n was contemplating quitting the Navy, Bradley was the first person she called. And again 6 years ago. And when her lousy ex of 4 years left her 6 months after that, she called Bradley who swooped in and made her feel better, 6 months after that, they were official. 5 long years of Bradley keeping her grounded and Y/n keeping him out of his shell.

His hold was a comfort to her. Her head fell back to his shoulder as she cried.

"Shhh. I know baby. I'm right here." Bradley looses track of time, not sure how long they sat there, how long she cried, but its sunset by the time y/n has calmed down enough to even suggest heading back to the house.

"I didn't know you knew how to ride." Y/n comments, spotting the second horse beside her own.

"Ya know I think I look sexy up here." Bradley chuckles, mounting the horse.

"Oh very." Y/n laughs, climbing up onto her own. "Now I just wish I took you riding sooner." She pulls her horse around close enough to plant a kiss on Bradley's lips. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Being there for me. Always being so supportive of me."

"Hey, you are one of the most badass people I know. It is very hard to not be supportive of you." Y/n chuckles, leading the way through the trees and back onto the pasture. Once they're both clear of the trees, Bradley lines up with y/n as they ride side by side, enjoying the beautiful view of the sunset over the ranch.

Y/n and Bradley enter the house after putting the horses in their stalls. Y/n's mother is in the kitchen, most likely cleaning up the dinner no one ate that night. Y/n walks ahead of Bradley and is the first into the loft, spotting Jake on the couch. She looks to Bradley giving him a nod. He fully understands and walks to her room, planting a goodnight kiss on her temple.

No words are exchanged between the twins but their actions say everything. Y/n lays on the couch, facing the TV the plays their favorite childhood movie, the one they always watched after Jake would pull her from the lookout as kids. Jake places one comforting hand on her shoulder, the other in her hair the sprawled across his lap. She chokes back her sobs. Jake motions tell her that he forgave her, that despite everything she said, she was still his sister and he wasn't going anywhere.

Bradley wakes the next morning to find Jake and Y/n on the couch together. He chuckles at the sight before making his way to the kitchen to get something to drink.

"Oh good morning!" Bradley turns to find Adeline cooking.

"Morning ma'am." Bradley replies cordially, not wanting to start anything with her at the moment.

"Hope your hungry! I'm making pancakes."

"Actually y/n and I have plans at a diner in town that she's been telling me about."

"Oh! Well then, I will just save this for another day then." Adeline says as she begins cleaning up.

"If you don't mind me asking, ma'am, why are you so hard on y/n?" Bradley questions, causing Adeline to pause in her actions.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Adeline answers before returning to the task at hand.

"With all due respect, I don't think you're seeing how fantastic your daughter really is." Bradley retorts, causing Adeline to turn around. "She is one of the best pilots I think the Navy has ever seen. Even my dad who is an Admiral could tell you he hasn't seen anyone as good as her since he was at Top Gun." Bradley tells her. "My uncles are 2 of the best pilots in naval aviation history and yet they'd tell you she's one of the best. She is so dedicated and loyal that she could be stressing over a mission and will still take the time to make sure her friends are okay." Bradley sighs. "I love your daughter ma'am, and I plan to marry her which I'm not gonna sit by while you treat her like shit." Bradley says firmly.

"Young man I don't know what she's told you..."

"You don't need to defend yourself. Everything I have said is based off of your actions in the last 24 hours."

"Morning." Y/n mutters walking through the kitchen to the coffee pot, turning it on.

"How'd you sleep?" Bradley asks, his eyes never leaving Adeline's in the stare off they are currently in.

"Just fine." She turns and notices both of their glares. "Everything alright?" She asks, the coffee maker long forgotten.

"Just fine." Adeline responds.

"All good here." Bradley responds, turning his attention to his girlfriend. "You ready to go to breakfast?"

"Yea, let me go get Jake's keys real quick. I'll meet you outside." She reaches up onto her toes to give Bradley a kiss as he leans down to meet her halfway.

"Holy shit! Y/n?"

"Cass?!" Y/n jumps out of the booth to hug her high school best friend tightly. "Oh my god its been too long!"

"How are you? How's that sexy aviator of a boyfriend you got?" Cass asks, holding y/n at arms length.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Bradley chuckles from behind y/n. "Bradley Bradshaw." He introduces, holding his hand out for her to shake. "Most people just call me Rooster."

"Cassandra Lane, but everyone just calls me Cass." Cass shakes his hand looking out at y/n while mouthing ‘he's really hot’.

Y/n chuckles, "I know." Y/n finally clears her throat, dragging everyone's attention back to her. "What are you doing here? Last I heard you moved to Corpus!" Y/n drags Cass back to their booth, making her sit next to them.

"I did but my boyfriend got reassigned so were road tripping our way out to California, decided to stop by home for the holidays."

"No way, what does he do?" Bradley asks.

"Forget that! What part of California?" Y/n questions.

"He's a mechanic for the Navy and I think North Island."

"No way!" Y/n shouts. "Cass! I'm currently stationed there! Working on getting a permanent assignment right now!"

"Oh my god! Seriously?"

"Hey Cass! We gotta go!" He boyfriend calls out.

"Shit! Hey our old group is meeting at our old stomping grounds. You guys should tag along! Even bring Jake with you if he's here! You two could show everyone a thing or two about line dancing, especially this one." Cass mutters the last part just barley loud enough that Bradley almost misses it.

"Hey I know a thing or two about line dancing." Bradley defends.

"Oh I didn't mean..."

"You know a thing or two or do you know Fake ID cause of Footloose?" Y/n questions raising a brow at him.

"I... I know Fake ID." He answers causing the two girls to laugh.

"Thats not the kind I'm talking about." Cass answers. "You know y/n and Jake were Country Swing champions 4 years in a row right?" Bradley nods while y/n shakes her head, eyes growing wide when she sees Bradley's answer. "They started getting requests so often that they're a staple at our old hangout, anytime they're both in town old Jimmy expects a show." Cass chuckles. "Oh please y/n! Please perform tonight! They got these new couples from the high school coming and they suck!"

"I'll talk to Jake but no promises." Cass nods before running off to join her boyfriend at the car.

"Country swing?" Bradley chuckles, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"My dance teacher suggested it when I started losing interest in every other form of dance. I danced for so long that by the time I reached high school I was ready to quit. I was already doing pageants, rodeos, and was starting the FFA, I didn't think I was gonna have time but she convinced me and I convinced Jake to be my partner." She laughs. "Of course I later found out that she wanted me to stay so her and my dad could keep hooking up in the back office." She sighed.

"Your dad isn't around? Like at all?" Bradley questions. Jake and y/n hardly brought up their dad. Y/n, cause of how her mom started treating her and Jake because the man he looked up to all his life abandoned them.

"No, he moved to New York our junior year. Missed everything since. So we stopped trying to include him and eventually he just disappeared from our lives." Y/n sighs as they finish eating. "We should probably head back." She stands up pulling her wallet from her purse.

"Oh no you don't!" Bradley jumps, trying to beat y/n to the register but she's smaller, therefore dodging the tables faster, dropping her credit card on the register.

"I win!" She sticks her tongue out at Bradley as he finally makes it to the register.

"You guys are so cute together." The waitress chuckles taking y/n's card. "How long have you been together?"

"5 years." Bradley chuckles. "6 in March."

"No ring yet?" She asks, looking down and y/n's bare ring finger.

"We get stationed separately so often we haven't really had a chance to think about it." Y/n sighs.

"Oh you're both in the military?"

"Navy." Bradley answers. "Naval aviators to be specific."

"Oh! Are you two the local kids that went to the Naval Academy?"

"No that was me and my brother." Y/n chuckles. "Forgot how big of a deal that was." She says as she fills out the receipt and putting her card back into her wallet.

"Well you two have a great rest of your day."

"Thanks, you too." Y/n smiles, walking out the door Bradley opens for her.

"I can't believe you agreed to this." Jake groans for the bar table.

"Technically I said I'd only do it if you agreed." Y/n defends, combing a finger through her loosely curled hair. "But you could never say no to old Jimmy." Y/n laughs, as Cass, Lottie, Cass's boyfriend and Jake's high school best friend Tyler walk up to them.

"Hey man! Where have you been hiding?" Jake greets. "Heard you’re a Naval plane mechanic now.”

"Oh you know, here and there." Tyler answers.

"So where you stationed at? May have to pull some strings to get you on my pit crew." Jake laughs, slapping a hand onto Tyler's shoulder.

Jake and Tyler disappear into their own conversation, pulling Bradley in too as the girls crowd into their own group.

"Look at all of us and our men!" Cass gushes. "Assuming this year is the year Jake's actually gonna make things official?" Cass wiggles her brows at Lottie making the other girls laugh.

"We've talked about it, but unfortunately until were married I couldn't go anywhere with him."

"If you guys have managed to still be in love with each other after 16 years and only seeing each other 2-3 times a year, I think you guys can handle long distance until you get married." Y/n laughs. "I've been doing it for 5 years. This year is the first time we've been stationed together for longer that a month."

"I don't know." Lottie sighs. "I want to make it official, but Jake is the one who shuts me down every time."

"Oh can y'all imagine? If Tyler get pulled on Jake's pit crew and with Y/n and Bradley being aviators too. We'd all be stationed together! Especially with y/n getting a permanent station request." Cass squeals in excitement.

"You forget that we still have deployments and missions. Its so hard to get us all together." Y/n sighs. "But it would be great to have my best friends around more." Y/n smiles at the girls in front of her.

"Alright folks you're in for a real surprise tonight." The bar's DJ announces as the music dies down. "If you've been a patron here since this place was teen only hangout you'll remember this dynamic duo! Back for one night only all the way from a Naval Air Station in California to show how to really do a country swing, welcome to the floor, everyone's favorite twins, Jake and Y/n!"

(Note: Their dance is linked up above. I tried to put it to words but I know very little about dance terminology)

Jake groans following y/n onto the clearing dance floor as Country Girl (shake it for me) by Luke Bryan starts making y/n laugh as she takes Jake's outstretch hand, the steps flowing through her. Bradley leans against the railing on the outside of the dance floor, following y/n's every move, lowering the straw hat from the previous day to try and mask how dark his eyes got watching her.

Y/n laughs as Jake twirls her to put his arms around her, lifting to rest her hip on his, dipping her to where her head almost touches the ground as she kicks her legs up into the air behind him to build the momentum to spin in his grip. Jake's right hand lands behind her back, his left wrapping around her legs to dip her ago before swinging her into a third dip, her feet still never touching the ground which impresses Bradley. Jake pulls her up, feet landing on the ground and immediately spinning her.

Bradley chuckles, the amount of times that he's picked her up spinning or spin her while they danced in the middle of the Hard Deck and she complained about being dizzy was clearly not a major issue with how much Jake was spinning her now.

Jake and y/n step their way around the floor, a continuous step ball change their choice of movement as Jake still spins his sister around every few steps. Jake twirls her a couple time when they reach the center of the floor again before his hands land on her waist. She jumps, Jake guiding her hips to the left, resting on his own as her legs kick to the side, repeating on the right before swinging her back. She straddles his waist on the next swing. The momentum allows Jake to lift her, her forearms resting on his shoulders to hold her up while Jake guides her body through the lift.

The crowd cheers as Y/n holds the position of a few seconds before dropping back down, straddling his waist again before Jake pushes her back, both feet landing on the ground, his hands catching hers as they immediately jump back into their steps, recovering from the trick. But its not long before it appears, to any untrained dance, that Jake flings his sister, causing her to slide to the ground, being spun in a circle while she sits on the ground, dropping her feet when she faces her brother. Bradley rests his left hand in hers, their right hands connecting. He pulls her up as she jumps from her feet. Jake turns, positioning himself with his right side to her, his left side no longer facing her, shifting in time for her legs to wrap around his waist has he keeps spinning. She leans back on his grip on her hands, as he spina a couple times pulling her back up and dropping he to the ground. Jack starts the shift from their usual moves, free styling a bit which causing y/n to laugh. As he lifts her, hooking her boot over his leg to where she almost straddles his thigh to dip her.

Pulling back up to stand, y/n takes the initiative the freestyle a little, even adding a split which was not included before. The crowds reactions to their tricks on urges them on further. Y/n briefly catches a glimpse of her 6 foot boyfriend who looks as if he might faint from her motions. Bradley's eyes never leave her body, wishing he had known about this side of her sooner. She chuckles at his dumbfounded smile before turning back to her brother who immediately lifts her up bridal style, right arm under her back, left under her knees. He throws her up slightly, allowing her to toss her right leg over his head to his left shoulder. He lifts her again as she twists in his arms. He catches her bridal style again, he legs on his left side now before he sets her down again in a spin.

They move through the rest of the routine with ease as the song comes to an end. They quickly make their way off the floor and are greeted by their friends, y/n smiles before moving over to Bradley, placing a hand on his shoulder causing him to jump. "Hey, you doing alright there?"she laughs.

"That, was so-o-o hot." Bradley stutters, making y/n laugh harder. "How come I never knew you could move like that? You've been holding out on me baby!" Bradley groans following her as she walks back to her table.

"Theres never a good time to pull out arial tricks in the middle of the Hard Deck."

"Well then maybe you can show me a few moves in private then? Give me a few private lessons?" Bradley purrs in her ear.

"One more dance and then we'll go. Fortunately for you, we always end the night with the only line dance you know." Y/n boops his nose, pulling away to the dance floor as Cass and Lottie run out to meet her from the DJ booth.

Fake ID starts playing and the girls move through the steps as if they've been doing it for years, which they have so it doesn't shock Bradley how swiftly she moves. Jake and Tyler join the girls for the chorus before everyone branches off dancing to the beat. Y/n struts over to Bradley and pulls him to the dance floor.

"Looks like Jake is gonna be busy tonight." Y/n smiles spotting Jake dancing closely with Lottie turning, his stetson placed delicately on her head. Y/n turns back around to face her boyfriend.

"What makes you say that?" Bradley questions, his hands resting on her waist as they dance.

"You heard of the cowboy hat rule?" Y/n laughs, her arms wrapping around his neck.

"No...?" Bradley questions.

Y/n smirks, plucking the old straw hat off of Bradley's head. "Were the hat, ride the cowboy." She laughs as Bradley's eyes darken with lust.

"Screw the dance. We're leaving right now." Bradley pulls y/n into a searing kiss before dragging her out of the bar.

"Alright everyone! Gather round! Get close!" Adeline shouts as the entire family squeezes together in front of the fireplace, Adeline's camera set up on a tripod, ready to take the millionth shot of their annual thanksgiving friends and family photo. Y/n is tucked under Bradley's side, holding close to him as everyone slides even closer. Jake and Lottie sit next to each other right in front of them, being pushed impossibly closer together too. "Alright everyone smiles! 3, 2, 1!" The flash momentarily blinds everyone before they disperse, moving to converse with different people.

"Twins!" Jake and Y/n both turn away from their conversation with Bradley and Lottie. Being the only set of twins in the family, they got so used to only being referred to as such. "Look at you two all grown up!"

"Hi nana." Y/n smiles as her grandmother pulls her into a hug.

"Oh my darling girl! Look how beautiful you are!" Nana gushes over the girl before turning to Jake. "Jacob! Oh my handsome grandson! You're so tall!" She plants a kiss on both of their cheeks.

"I missed you too, Nana." The twins had gotten so busy in high school at family functions just weren't plausible for them, and when they left for the Navy, it had been years since they had seen their grandmother.

"So? How long until my favorite grandchildren are gonna give me great grandkids?"

Y/n blushes as Bradley come up behind her, Lottie not far behind. "Nana, come on. You know we don't have time for kids."

"Well then who is this handsome young man?" Nana pushes y/n to the side, placing both hands on Bradley's cheeks, pulling him down to her short 4'11" height. "He's cute, sweetie. You two would make adorable babies."

"Nana!" Y/n slaps a hand over her face.

"Bradley, ma'am. You're grandkids talk a lot about you." He wasn't wrong. Y/n couldn't stop gushing over how amazing her grandma was and Jake never denied a chance to agree, as long as it was just between the three in the comfort of Jake and y/n's home.

"Oh well then you need to tell me everything about you! I’m assuming you’re my little angel's boyfriend?"

"Yea ma'am. Shall we?" He offers his arm to her, Nana swiftly linking her arm with his. Y/n goes to follow but her grandma stops her.

"Oh sweetheart why don't you go mingle with your cousins. I want a few minutes alone with your beau." Y/n stands shocked a Bradley shrugs leading her outside to the patio seating.

"You're in love with her?" Nana asks as they sit down.

"I'm sorry?"

Nana just smiles and removes her wedding ring, the band still remains on her hand. She reaches out for Bradley's hand and places the ring in his. "You'll still have to have to ask Jacob for her hand seeing as their father isn't around."

"Ma'am, I couldn't possibly..."

"I see the way she looks at you. She's never looked at anyone like that in her life. Bradley, I know when two people are in love. And you two? You two are more in love than anybody in that house." Nana tells him, closing his hand around the ring. "She's always told me if she was going to get any ring it would be mine. I trust you." She stands and walks back into the house leaving Bradley alone, staring down at the ring.

Minutes later Bradley is pulled from his thoughts by someone coming outside.

"Hey, Nana said you wanted to talk to me." Bradley nearly drops the ring at the sound of Jake's voice. "Is that...?"

"Your Nana is playing matchmaker." Bradley chuckles. "Just handed her ring to me."

"So you wanna...?" Jake stalls, waiting for Bradley to finish his sentence.

"I want your blessing to marry y/n." Bradley states bluntly. "I've been thinking about it for awhile but I could never find the right ring in all of the jewelry shops I went to. So I figured that if we were meant to get married the right ring would show up. And here it is. Her dream ring, in my hand. Just appeared out of nowhere."

"I don't think you should ask me-"

"Why not? Your father is a piece of shit who isn't around. Your mom treats her like the devil's spawn. Your grandma literally just told me to marry her." Bradley rambles, standing to meet Jake's eyes. "I know you don't like me all the much Jake. But I love your sister. I'm in love with her. And it wouldn't feel right marrying her with out the most important person in her life saying it was okay."

"She doesn't need my permission." Jake responds.

"But she'd want your blessing." Bradley responds calmly.

"You gotta promise me one thing, Rooster."

"Anything." Jake smirks at his response.

"You gotta name your first born after me."

"Oh fuck off, Hangman." Bradley shoves his shoulder as the boys laugh. "So is that a yes?"

"Yea man. You can marry my sister."

[pinkapet-rates-anime]

I'm talking about One Piece again, not sorry. I'm never sorry for gushing about the best pirate show EVER!

How Luffy recruited his crew- abridged edition

The simplest but also the funniest way I can describe the way the crew got together.

Koby- The notorious sword fighter Roronoa Zoro is on this island! He hunted pirates, you should leave immediately!

Luffy- Hell nah, I want that guy on my crew! He sounds cool!

Zoro- Go away, I can handle this on my own!

Helmeppo- *Plans to break the deal he made with Zoro.*

Luffy- Hell no! *Saves Zoro.*

Zoro- If I had died I would never be able to be the world greatest swordsman, thanks I guess. I suppose your my captain now.

Luffy- This clown guy is annoying. *Beats up Buggy and helps Nami.*

Luffy- You should join my crew!

Nami- Ok! *Already planning to rob them blind.*

Luffy- *Meets a weird dude with a long nose, a slingshot, and a compulsive lying issue.*

Luffy- I like this dude.

Usopp- My island is being attacked by pirates!

Luffy- *Helps with the pirate problem.*

Merry & Kaya- *Gives them the Going Merry as a thank you gift.*

Luffy- Come on Usopp, I know you wanna join!

Usopp- Fine! I'll become a warrior of the sea, like my deadbeat dad!

The Crew- *Hops on a restaurant boat for food, and meets a weird chef with swirl eyebrows.*

Luffy- Hey, join us!

Sanji- Dude, no. I'm not leaving this restaurant.

Don Krieg- *Attacks the restaurant.*

Luffy- *Deals with it, as per usual*

Zoro- Fight me! *Says Zoro, to the greatest swordsman he could never hope to beat, because he has the crazy goal of being the greatest swordsman.*

Mihawk- *Severely wounds Zoro.*

Sanji- You guys all have dreams just as crazy as mine, might as well join you.

Nami- *Steals everything from the Strawhats to make money.*

Luffy- Nah, not gunna bug her.

Arlong- *Has somebody steal the funds to by her home island from Nami, to force her to basically continue being his slave.*

Nami- Luffy... help.

Luffy- *Zero questions asked takes off to go beat that dude Arlong just because she asked for his help.*

Luffy- *Almost dies doing this, but nevertheless the mad lad does it.*

Nami- I'll actually join this time, no more robbing you guys.

Nami- *Gets really sick and almost dies.*

Luffy- A musician can wait for now, let's get her help. *Almost dies getting her help*

Chopper- *Accidentally gets spotted by Luffy, who immediately sees a reindeer and thinks "Dinner!"*

Chopper- *Transforms to get away.*

Luffy- Holy shit, a monster! Join my crew!

Chopper- *Offended by being called a monster, runs away.*

Sanji- Luffy is a monster too. Dude is literally made outta rubber.

Chopper- *Sense of camaraderie, but not enough yet.*

Luffy- *Helps him see his adoptive fathers dream through.*

Kureha- Go on kiddo, join em.

Chopper- Fine! Also I'm a doctor!

Luffy- Sweet, we needed one of those!

Robin- Theres no point in living, my research is going nowhere. Let me die.

Luffy- Absolutely not! *Saves her by force.*

Robin- You forced me to stay alive, guess I'm your problem now.

Franky- *Steals all the money from the Strawhats so they can't afford to fix the Going Merry, or buy a new ship.*

Luffy- Dude wtf. *Wrecks his base, but the money is already spent and gone.*

Usopp- I see your willingness to move on from the Merry as a personal attack, but I won't tell you that. Byeeee.

Robin- *Lets herself get arrested and sentenced to death to protect the crew.*

The Crew- Oh helllll nah! Get back here!

Franky- *Kidnaps Usopp as retribution, not knowing the situation of him leaving.*

Franky- Dude your ship is about to fall apart, let her rest.

Usopp- I know that! But the Merry is important, and also I saw a ghost fix her once.

Franky- Dude that ghost WAS the Merry. She talked to you because she loves you guys.

Government- *Kidnaps Franky and Usopp too.*

Franky- You have good friends Robin, maybe you should just let them save you.

Robin- No, I'm doing this for them.

The Crew- We literally don't want you to do that.

The Crew- *Literally wages war on the government to get their friend back.*

The Going Merry- *Saves the crew before having a tragic funeral as sea.*

Franky- You guys need a boat. It just so happens I used the money I stole from you to buy this epic wood to make a boat out of. You guys practically payed, so you can have it.

Luffy- Awesome! Now join us!

Franky- No.

Literally like a fifth of the population of Waters 7- *Steals his speedo in an elaborate game of keep away to get him to go to the Strawhats.

Luffy- Join or you can't have these back.

Robin- *Twists his balls to force him to join.*

Franky- Christ, fine.

Luffy- Holy crap guys it's a talking skeleton! Let's go talk to him!

Half the Crew- Absolutely not.

Luffy- We are doing this y'all.

Brook- Hello! Miss may I see your panties? *Asks the 90 year old skeleton dude*

Nami- Wtf? Absolutely not.

Luffy- Join us!

Brook- Yes!

Half the Crew- Luffy no...

Brook- I can sing and play instruments!

Luffy- Fuck yes a musician, finally!

Brook- My shadow was stolen so I'd die in the sun. Can't join, gotta get it back, don't follow me, BYEEEE! *Runs on the water and leaves.*

The Crew- *Accidentally ends up in the same place Brook went.*

The Crew- Oh shit zombies!

Luffy- Awesome! I wish all these monsters would join the crew!

The Crew- Dude... why.

Half the Crew- *Gets their shadows stolen by the same dude who stole Brooks.*

Brook- Use salt, it works.

Luffy- *Beats up a giant zombie with his shadow in it, and then beats up the warlord who steals the shadows.*

Luffy- Brook, join us.

Brook- No, sadly I cannot. As the last living member of my crew, I have a duty to our friend the whale, Laboon.

Luffy- Oh that whale? We know him! I drew our Jolly Roger on his face, he's a buddy of mine.

Brook- Guess I'm joining!

Jinbe- Luffy, buddy, come to the fish man island and say hi!

The Crew- *Immediately causes chaos.*

Jinbe- Dude please stop.

Luffy- Haha, no. So who do I needa punch to get you to join us?

Jinbe- I can't dude. Love you man, but I have prior arrangements.

Luffy- *Fixes the problem on the island*

Luffy- Ok now join us.

Jinbe- Busy.

Luffy- *More chaos.*

Jinbe- Fiiiiine. *Severs Ties with the Big Mom crew and joins them.*