#i bought a funny birthday gift for that man. it is what i have been encouraged to send to him

[rashomonss]

The brothers and the Human Realm

a/n: so ik ‘jealous much’ won the poll but it’s still not done yet so have this instead!

context: a part of me still finds lessons 40-43 funny because the brothers have never really been to the human world that much, and they don’t really know how certain things work. Take the slow cooker and ice cream truck for example. So these are little headcanons I have for when all of y’all are together in the beginning of their stay in the human realm.

enjoy <3 , also these are in no specific order

you all are hopeless…

Solomon and MC would so fuck with the brothers while being in the human realm.

For example they’d take Lucifer to the shadiest mexican restaurant possible then after they finished eating they would tell the waiters it was Lucifer’s birthday and watch the Avatar of Pride sit there with a big ass sombrero on his head as they sang happy birthday to him.

MC later took a picture and sent it to Diavolo who then made it his lock screen.

Satan and Belphie tried to electrocute Lucifer by throwing a toaster in the bathroom while he was in the middle of a shower. This happened after the fact you told them not to put water on the toaster because it could electrocute someone. 

Beel ate an entire bottle of ibuprofen liquid gels because he thought they were hard gummies.

Beel also ate the food and cake shaped wax candle melts you had bought for Asmo as a gift

Beel lastly ate your whole brand new container of melatonin and it knocked him out for 15 hours straight. Needless to say Lucifer was very concerned for his wellbeing, and Belphie soon questioned if you had anymore.

Belphie and his brothers were never taught stranger danger, because who in their right mind would be a danger to them in the Devildom?

So after you had explained to him what an ice cream truck was he vowed to go to one with you.

However when a creepy old man in a white van offers him candy he believes it to be the same as the ice cream truck so he gets in the van.

When the brothers relay this information to you, you begin to lose your shit explaining how that was not in fact an ice cream truck he got into but instead a kidnapper van.

The brothers don’t know how to eat certain human world foods.

Such as a banana, watermelon, mango, pineapple, kiwi, avocado, cherry, dragon fruit, papaya, onion, etc.

So when you first buy one from the grocery store and leave it out before cutting it they automatically think it’s some weird shaped human food and bite into it eating the skin or seeds and all.

After they tell you about the weird but delicious taste of it you ask if they cut it or spit out the seeds before eating it, and when they reply with a puzzled look and a no your heart drops.

Thank god they’re demons. You then proceed to buy the same thing again this time cutting it up in front of them so they know what parts to eat of certain things.

Expanding on the cherry part, did y’all’s parents ever tell you not to swallow watermelon or cherry seeds because if you did a cherry tree or whole watermelon would then grow in your stomach??

I know mine and some of my friends parents would tell us that when I was younger to make sure we didn’t swallow any seeds.

If they didn’t then oh well, anyway…

Continuing with Solomon being an ass, he would so tell something like that to the brothers. If he happened to see Beel swallow a cherry whole he would then proceeded to tell Lucifer not to let him do that.

And when the oldest asks why Solomon would then go onto explain that if he swallows cherry pit then a cherry tree will then grow inside his stomach.

Of course this freaked out Lucifer so for the next hour he tried getting Beel to spit out all the cherries he ate.

You would have to organize their fridge and pantry in the new house because they don’t know which human world foods need to be refrigerated or not.

After you arrive at the house you spent a good three hours explaining to them not everything can go in the pantry because some of it will spoil after you open it.

Then you proceed to gag when you pulled out an expired chunky milk container from the pantry.

They find the concept of drive thru or fast food places astonishing. The fact that you can just order wait in a line for a few minutes in your car then get your food is crazy. They do however all panic though when you get to the front and they don’t know what to order off the menu.

Car washes are also something they found themselves favoring. You would turn up the music as you slowly pulled in and joked by telling the brothers you were going on a ride of sorts.

Which in turn shocked you when they did believed you as the car wash stared. Each of them were staring out the windows with starry eyes as different colors of soap were thrown on your car.

You laughed to yourself as they all admired the way the soap blended together, Asmo and Mammon found themselves taking pictures of the whole thing. While Belphie was telling Beel how this looked like a starry sky.

And Levi went on to tell Satan how this reminded him of an anime scene. Lucifer also found himself sitting quietly in the passenger seat enjoying it too. (Lucifer is a certified passenger princess, fight me on that)

Each brother questioned you on how this was possible and you replied with smile. After the car wash was over and you drove through the dryers they all asked if you could do that again, to which you replied smiling “maybe some other time”.

Lucifer watered the fake succulents and plants you put around the house for two weeks straight until you said something.

They love watching true crime documentary’s to the point you’d have to physically pull them away from the tv.

It happened one afternoon while a few of them were relaxing in the living room and you were looking for a channel to watch.

Deciding there was nothing interesting on you put on an old true crime documentary and began watching it. As the brothers heard the story of the crime from the tv they each became immersed in it.

Telling you things such as “how could humans do that to each other?” or “wow humans are more brutal than we thought” or even adding in their own comments on how they could have made the crime worse.

It became a guessing game between all of them to figure out who killed who during each episode you watched.

Much to everyone dismayed Satan was the one who won every time.

Meanwhile while they were all immersed in the tv you noticed Lucifer standing behind you, arms crossed also watching tv. You told him to sit down and watch with all of you but he denied, claiming he wasn’t really interested in stuff like this anyway.

Yet he never moved from that same spot each episode.

Each of the brothers have made something explode in the microwave.

Lucifer stained it red when he went to reheat pasta, but he put it in for to long and it exploded. Mammon overfilled his ramen thus causing it to leak then explode.

Satan and Levi also happened to be reheating takeout at the same time, but both of the containers were styrofoam and exploded. Levi got annoyed and Satan threw the microwave at Lucifer.

Asmo put some skincare product in there because he found something online about a certain hack, and it exploded causing the microwave to smell like burnt strawberries.

Beel put too much food in the microwave causing it to all melt together then explode.

Belphie put a coffee in there to reheat and it exploded, but he was too lazy to clean it up so he just left it. Lucifer was then next to use the microwave and got coffee all over him.

You made all seven of them watch the entire twilight series as a joke but ironically they all actually enjoyed it.

Satan even went out and bought the books, and finished all of them in about 2 hours

Bonus

Solomon distracted Diavolo for 3 hours straight by making him watch 5 minute craft videos.

Diavolo then proceeded to break things to try these said crafts which caused Barbatos to have a meltdown.

Barbatos destroyed an entire sidewalk because he saw two rats run across it into the sewer.

[ham-st4r]

𝑼𝒏𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 - 𝑳. 𝑯𝒆𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒖𝒏𝒈

❦PAIRING: heeseung + female reader!❦

❦WARNINGS: mentions of intimacy, angst, taboo relationship, small age gap, child abuse, cheating, (not reader) mentions of illegal racing & weed smoking, kissing, alcohol, selling drugs, divorce, violence, blood, injuries, cursing, crying (not as intense as it sounds but I did want to make sure I added all the warnings)

❦GENRE: step-mom reader, stepson heeseung, dysfunctional family, slow burn.

❦SUMMARY: in which you move in with your husband after your wedding, everything is perfect except for one thing, no matter what, you can't seem to get close to his son. Even after a year of knowing each other, you hadn't even spoken ten words until his 21st birthday rolled around, and funny enough he was the surprising you.

❦NUMBER OF WORDS: 14,364k

Find your way around!

Hello, this is my longest fic so far, so I hope it's okay. Please leave feedback and reblog! thanks so much, happy reading.

It had already been two months since you moved in with your husband, and things couldn't have been better. He gave you a key to the house and even bought a car for you as a welcoming gift which you thought was over the top, but he assured you that it was more than okay and that you deserved it, which made you fall for him even more if that was possible.

In the beginning, your parents weren't too fond of you marrying an older man when you were still in your late 20's it took a while to convince them, but he really made you happy, and when you introduced him to your parents over dinner, and they saw how radiant you were when you were with him they gave you their blessing, and you couldn't have been happier.

There was just one tiny little problem.

More like a big problem.

No matter what you did, his son heeseung wouldn't even spare you a glance, not when you first met, not at the wedding, and not since the day you moved in, absolutely nothing.

You knew it was probably hard for him to go through all this, especially as a twenty-year-old getting used to having a mom or (stepmom) all over again, but you've been in his life for about a year now, and he still hasn't warmed up to you yet.

"I don't think he likes me," you sighed as you cuddled up next to your husband on the couch in the living room.

He wrapped his arms around you to comfort you. "Don't worry, honey. I'm sure he'll come around soon. He's just adjusting to the new house and everything," he reassures you.

"I hope so." You said with a sad smile.

That conversation happened last month, and he still hasn't made any effort to communicate with you.

You've tried various things to get his attention, like taking him shopping or making his favorite foods. Nothing worked, but his twenty-first birthday was right around the corner, and you were going to try to use the special day as a way to get closer and bond with him.

You noted that he enjoyed listening to music like a lot, so you had bought him the airpod max hoping he enjoyed them.

You could only hope he didn't think you were trying to buy his affection cause you really weren't. You just wanted to get to know your son.

And speaking of your son, he didn't tell you where he was off to when he left earlier this morning, and when you asked him, he just slammed the door in your face without saying goodbye, which wasn’t surprising to you anymore.

You initially called your husband, but he didn't pick up the phone, which also wasn’t surprising anymore. You figured he was just working overtime like he often does.

But luckily for you, he had given you heeseung's phone number in case of emergencies, and to you, this was an emergency he left in the morning, and it was now midnight with no word from him, so naturally, you were worried about him.

Thankfully your worried heart was put to ease when he answered on the first ring, and you breathed a sigh of relief. "What?" His tone was cold and harsh, just like it had always been, but right now, you didn't care. You were just happy he answered.

"Are you okay? Where are you? What time are you coming home?" You said in a worrisome tone.

You could hear him sigh on the other end. "I'll be back soon" you could barely hear him from all the loud noise in the background.

"Okay, I'll heat up dinner for you when you arrive. Drive saf-" your shoulders slumped down in defeat when he abruptly ended the call.

Another hour had passed, and you began to worry again, but the keys jingling outside the door made you jump to your feet excitedly. At least one of your boys was finally home.

"Hey!" You greeted. "I'll go get you something to eat. I'm sure you're starving" Heeseung didn't even pay you any attention. Instead, he took his shoes off at the door and made his way upstairs to his room.

You could only watch him with a frown on your face once he was out of sight. You could have sworn you smelled the scent of weed coming off him, and you furrowed your brows. You didn't know he smoked, which made you wonder if your husband knew you made a mental note to ask him when he came home from work later on.

Which was apparently not going to be tonight, it was already two in the morning, and you fought to keep your eyes open so you could greet him when he came back, but as the clock struck 2:02 am, you found yourself shuffling off to your shared bedroom drifting off to sleep just minutes later.

The next morning you woke up to an empty bed, and you assumed you had overslept and hubby was already at work. However, when you turned to face the clock, it was ten in the morning. You rubbed the sleep from your eyes, double-checking the time, and your eyes were correct. Maybe he worked all night or had to take the early shift. You'd just have to call him and figure it out later.

You got up and stretched for a while before going to the bathroom to wash up a bit.

Once you finished and went downstairs, you were pleasantly surprised to see heeseung dining at the table. "Morning," you greeted him with your croaky morning voice and a gentle smile as you made yourself a cup of coffee.

He didn't say anything, but that was to be expected. He never talked to you during breakfast. Since you moved in, you never had dinner as a family. It has always just been you and your husband occasionally while heeseung stayed in his room doing god knows what or you and heeseung sitting in absolute silence.

Once your coffee was ready, you joined him and quietly sipped your hot beverage. "I was really worried about you last night," you confess. You didn't want him to get up and leave when you tried to talk to him, but you wanted to express that you cared, and if that made him upset, you were willing to take that chance.

He looked at you briefly and took a spoonful of his cereal.

You took that as a sign to continue. "You don't have to tell me anything, but please just be home sooner than midnight," you spoke softly, just barely above a whisper, so you wouldn't scare him away.

He only gave you a small nod, but that was enough for a smile to spread across your face since he had finally acknowledged your presence.

You and him continued to have breakfast in comfortable silence until the front door opened and startled you slightly. "I'm home~" your husband sang as he stepped inside and took off his shoes.

You got up from your chair and ran over to him excitedly, wrapping your arms around his back and giving him a peck on the lips. "I missed you," you pouted, and he poked your cheek with a smile on his face.

"I missed you more" you grabbed his warm hand and led him to the kitchen table.

"We were just having breakfast. Would you like me to cook you something?" Before he could respond, heeseung had stood up and washed his unfinished cereal down the drain, and took off to his room.

You looked at your husband with sad eyes and sat on one of the kitchen chairs. "Why the sad face honey?" he stroked your cheek with his thumb lightly, and you leaned into his warm touch. "Hey, look at me" he tilted your head up slightly, staring at your beautiful eyes. "You had breakfast together again. That's a win, right?"

You’ve been having breakfast with heeseung since you moved in, and nothing has changed. It didn’t help you get closer with him, but you tried to stay positive, and you supposed your husband was right.

"Right" you got up from your seat and kissed his cheek. "I'll make some pancakes. How does that sound?"

"That sounds lovely." He agreed and gave you that beautiful smile of his.

"I don't want to kill the mood," you mumbled as you cut into your fresh plate of pancakes. "But last night when heeseung came home, he reeked of weed" you bit your bottom lip nervously as you awaited his reaction.

He just chuckled in response. "Honey, he's been like that for years. Don't worry about it." He dismissed.

"Has he been coming home past midnight for years too?" You hadn't noticed this behavior until last night. Usually, you were in bed by ten, but since you stayed up late waiting for your husband to come home, you were up late enough to encounter this apparent habit of heeseungs.

He dropped his fork and grabbed your hand. "Yes, ever since the divorce," he sighed. "He's just been very troubled. I've tried to talk to him about it, but he shuts me out all the time."

You wonder how bad the divorce must’ve been for heeseung to act this way. Your husband always said it was the past and that he didn’t want to talk about it, and you respected those boundaries, but you were still curious.

"Maybe I should talk to him," you suggested. After all, maybe it was the lack of a mother in his life that made him act this way. Maybe you could be there for him in a way his father couldn't.

He let go of your hand and clenched his jaw. "I told you I've already tried."

"But maybe I could try a different approach" you were adamant about the idea cause if heeseung was struggling. Naturally, you wanted to help him.

"Fine," he threw up his hands. "You'll just be wasting your time" your brows creased in confusion at his response. He had never acted this way before when you and him talked about heeseung's behavior, but before you thought too deeply about it, you assumed he was just tired and let the conversation go for now.

He abruptly stood up from the table and went to the bedroom, leaving you alone with three plates of unfinished food.

Heeseung had just come downstairs, and he looked like he was going out. Judging by the clothes he had on, he glanced at you, and you tried to hide your hurt expression by giving him a weak smile.

He eyed the table noticing there was a plate in front of his chair where he usually sat, and it was untouched.

He checked the time, and he supposed he could spare a minute or two. He rejoined you at the table, devouring your pancakes like it was his last meal on earth.

You smiled slightly as you watched him eat in silence. "Aren't you going to eat?" He mumbles after taking a sip of water.

You nearly jumped in surprise when he spoke to you, but you quickly composed yourself. "Yes," you whispered and resumed eating your pancakes, and even though they were cold, you ate every last bite with a smile, cherishing this rare moment with him.

Once he finished, he took his dishes to the sink and washed them along with the bowl he had left from earlier.

“Bye, heeseung” you gave him a tiny wave from the kitchen that he didn’t bother to return.

He put his shoes on at the door, and without another word, he was gone.

But at least there was progress, or so you thought.

You're sure that someone would have probably thought you were crazy with just how many decorations you had bought for your son's birthday, but hey, it was your first time celebrating the special day with him, and well, you wanted it to be special.

Unfortunately, earlier in the morning, when you were getting ready to go shopping, your husband informed you he wouldn't be home which totally ruined your whole entire mood. It seemed like everything went against you when it came to getting together as an actual family. If heeseung wasn't abruptly walking out of the room every time his dad entered, then his dad would be leaving for work nothing seemed to be working out for you.

"Can't you just call in? just this one time?" You all but begged him to stay home for Heeseung's birthday.

"No, I can't," he said flatly as he put on his dress coat. "He'll be fine. I always miss his birthday, whether it’s a business trip or for work, and besides, he's got you now" he turned around and flashed you a quick smile.

"Yeah," you mutter sadly while he kisses your cheek and waves goodbye to you.

You sighed at the earlier memory, but you weren't going to let it get your spirits down, especially when heeseung’s room was now decorated from head to toe. You smiled to yourself at the finished product taking a picture and sending it to your husband since he couldn't be there.

Now all that was left to do was wait for the birthday boy.

Heeseung trudged up the stone path to his house, sighing loudly when he saw the empty parking lot, which was a sign that his dad wasn't home.

"Seven years in a row," he mumbled sadly as tears welled in his eyes. He's not sure why he even still cared if his dad celebrated his birthday with him or not.

You'd think after seven years of hating his dad, he'd be over it by now, but he wasn't.

He remembers all those years ago when his mother did her best to make him feel loved going as far as inviting all his friends over to celebrate his birthday, but no matter how many people showed up, nothing could replace the absence of his father, not even the outrageous amount of gifts he received could replace that relationship he so desperately wanted with his dad.

Heeseung doesn't even know when it all started. All he knew was one day, he was a small child enjoying picnics at the park every Sunday after church, and the next moment he was a young teen, and his mom had turned into an alcoholic once she found out her husband was cheating on her, and just like that, everything fell to pieces and the perfect family was ruined all because of his piece of shit father.

Unfortunately, since heeseung was so young back then, he didn't have a choice in who he wanted to take custody of him after the divorce, and sadly there was no chance of him living with his mom. She didn't have enough money and a stable home for him to even stay in, so naturally, he was stuck with his father for the time being.

But now that he's a full-grown adult, he could make his own decisions about where he wanted to live, but stupidly enough, he was waiting and hoping that his father would change and that he would somehow care about him the way he used to but after two years of hoping heeseung had given up and decided to take his life into his own hands.

Which was probably not the best choice, but he needed money to move sooner than later, and a nine-to-five just wasn't going to cut it, especially cause he was secretly helping his mom get by cause, of course, his mother’s well being was no concern of his fathers, So naturally heeseung had resorted to the quickest way to make loads of money by selling drugs, betting, and racing illegally. It wasn't safe, but it was a safe bet to get him where he needed to be, and that was out from under the roof of his heartless father.

Especially right now, he's never wanted to leave so bad the fact that his dad had the fucking audacity to remarry was baffling to heeseung. He had the perfect wife, and he fucked it up for some random woman that he'd never see again, and that angered heeseung to the point that he couldn't even fathom he couldn't believe that his precious mother was brought down and reduced to absolutely nothing at the hands of his own father the thought made him feel sick.

And now that his father was doing the same thing with you made him feel even more sick. He never saw you as his mother. That’s for sure no one could ever replace her, not in a million years, but he could tell you were a good girl, and you were trying, which he appreciated. Even though he didn't show it, and even so, you still did your best and put up with his attitude to bring the family together, and you just had this glow that could change the whole atmosphere from dull and uninteresting to happy and cheerful, something his father didn't deserve he doesn't deserve your kindness because even after he fucked up with his first wife he didn't learn from his mistakes cause he was still going out behind your back every single night.

Heeseung wanted to tell you so badly about his dad’s unholy doings, but he didn't know if that was his secret to tell, so he stayed quiet. But right now, he didn't really care about respecting his father's privacy anymore cause not only was he cheating on his own son's birthday, but he was also out cheating behind your back, just like the old days.

You didn't deserve such treatment in heeseung's eyes. You deserved a real man, someone who could appreciate you for all your efforts and hard work, someone who could be there for you instead of leaving you home alone for ten hours a day, someone who could love you the right way.

God.

Heeseung feels so terrible for even thinking about you like that, but fuck, it was impossible for him not to. You were the perfect wife. Quite literally, everything about you was ideal for him.

He could see himself in his father's position so easily coming home from work to be greeted by you with warm hugs and kisses and a hot meal waiting for him on the table.

Except with him, it would be so different. He would answer all your calls, he would never come home late without telling you first, he'd give you massages when you were tired, and he would appreciate you for every little thing that you do.

Cause that's what you deserved, not a pathetic excuse for a man like his father.

As he got closer and closer to the door typing in the security code, he hadn't realized it yet, but his tears had subsided, and maybe that's all it took was for his dad to miss his birthday one last time cause as he took his shoes off at the front door he didn't have that heavy feeling in his gut anymore if anything it felt like a weight had been lifted and he could finally let go.

This felt like the last time his dad had to prove himself, and when heeseung came home to an empty parking lot, he accepted the fact that his father would never care about him the same way again, and as much as that hurt him in the beginning, it also felt like a relief cause now he didn't have to hang onto any false hope how could he when his own father gave him absolutely nothing to hang onto.

He was finally free, and he accepted his fucked up reality for what it was, something he wished he would have done years ago.

But, at least he can say he tried cause he really fucking did, no matter how painful it had been.

The house was oddly quiet normally. You would have been running down the stairs to greet him, but you were nowhere in sight, which made him frown.

He'd never ever ever ever admit to you that he liked it when you greeted him, that he liked it when you cooked his favorite dishes and liked how you worried about him and his safety when he was out late.

Cause god knows he loves all those things about you. Sometimes he'd leave the house just to hear you say bye, and he knows that sounds pathetic, but it's true.

He hated that he couldn't reciprocate your cheerful attitude. He wanted to so bad, and he almost slipped up so many times, but he was afraid that once that happened, there would be no going back. He was already basically in love with you at this point, and if he had to engage with you every day in a friendly manner, he'd be a goner, so instead, he gave you the cold shoulder and acted harshly towards you and it hurt him to know that he was hurting you, but if he ever acted on his desires for you he knows he'd ruin the family just like his father did, and he never wanted to be like his father ever.

He quietly made his way to the kitchen keeping his noise to a minimum, assuming you must have been tired and had gone to sleep early.

He decided to eat one of the apples you had bought from the market the other day. You had been talking about how good they were, and he remembered the sad look on your face when his stupid ugly, nasty father rejected them, saying. "I OnLy eaT oRgaNic fRuiT."

Oh, how heeseung wished he could have stuffed all those apples down his dad's throat at that very moment.

As heeseung bit into the apple, a smile unknowingly spread across his face. You were right. They were delicious, or maybe it was just cause you bought them, who really knows, but he enjoyed every last bite of it before throwing the core into the trash barrel and jogging upstairs to wash up for bed, not knowing that he was about to nearly have a heart attack after he opened his door.

"Surprise!" You popped out from hiding behind his door and held a cake with two big candles reading twenty-one on it. "Happy birthday, heeseung!" You smiled brightly.

His eyes went as wide as saucers as they scanned all the decorations. There were white, green, and purple balloons decorating his ceiling, and on the cake was his favorite cartoon character, buzz light year.

He couldn't do it.

He couldn't treat you harshly anymore, not after something like this. How could he?

This was far more than anything he could ever ask for, and he couldn't help but tear up. How did you know he loved Toy Story? His dad didn't even know that, not that that's saying much, but still, he couldn't believe that someone actually paid enough attention to him to even notice.

His silence was making you nervous, but before you could start overthinking, he quickly blew out the candles and set the cake on his nightstand, pulling you into one of the tightest hugs you've ever felt.

"Thank you, y/n, thank you so much," he cried on your shoulder, and you were shocked. You were not expecting this type of reaction from him, but you thoroughly enjoyed it and quickly hugged him back.

"You're welcome, birthday boy" you ruffled his hair, and it was difficult for you not to cry as well. Your son was finally hugging you for the first time since you met.

You rubbed his back gently as his cries started to die down a bit, and he pulled away from the hug, looking at you with teary eyes. It took everything in him not to kiss you right now, and he's thankful that you broke eye contact with him first. Otherwise, he probably would have done something really stupid. "Come on, let's open your presents" you wiped the tears off his cheeks, and he smiled before closing his door and joining you on his bed. "Okay, first one," you handed him the box excitedly. It was a Ferrari Lego set wrapped in Toy Story themed paper.

He didn't want to ruin your beautiful wrapping, but he couldn't contain his excitement as he ripped the paper off, gasping when he saw what was in his hands. "You didn't have to. How did you know?" You giggled at his reaction and nudged his shoulder playfully.

"Mothers know these kinds of things" he froze when you said that, being reminded of what this actually was a mother and son celebrating a birthday. He realized he was painting a different picture of what was actually happening inside his head, a more romantic one, so he calmed down his excitement while silently reminding himself that you only thought of him as your stepson, nothing more, nothing less. "Besides, your whole room is full of legos" you pointed to his shelf with all his little figurines, and he smiled at that, happy that at least someone paid attention to him.

"Thank you!" you felt saddened that he still hadn't called you mom yet, but your husband was right. It's the small wins that count. Heeseung would come around soon enough, you thought, especially after tonight.

"Okay, next!" You handed him another big box, and you couldn't wait for his reaction to this one.

"What did you get me?" He asked with a teasing smile. Honestly, being like this in front of you was easy for him. He felt light whenever you were around. Everything was just so carefree and comfortable. That's one of the many things he loved about you. Even if you two never spoke properly before, this felt natural, and he knew it did for you, too. He knows all the effort you put in to get closer to him, so he knew this meant a lot to you too, and he was grateful cause that let him know you cared and you didn't just give up on him like his parents did no matter how many times he treated you rough you were always patient with him which made him wonder how his worthless dad was lucky enough to get a girl as perfect as you.

"Open it and see" your cheeks hurt from smiling so much, but you were just so happy that he was finally opening up to you and letting you in. It made you feel so much joy that he trusted you to show you his real emotions. This moment meant the world to you, and you'd definitely never forget it.

"No way!" He stared at you in shock. "You're freaking crazy," he said, getting choked up as he examined the headphones.

You're not sure if he was crying cause of the present or the fact that he was finally celebrating this day with someone after so long, but it didn't matter to you as long as he was happy. "Do you like it?" You side-hug him and lean on his shoulder.

"Of course, y/n," he sniffles. "I love it" you leaned up, watching the smile that never left his face until he turned to look you dead in the eyes. "I love you" he used the opportunity to slip those words in just to let you know he knew you'd think of it in a mother-son way, but he didn't care as long as he got to tell you before he left.

Those words nearly brought tears to your eyes. That was even better than him calling you mom. You smiled brightly. You were so happy, and you couldn’t wait to tell your husband the news.

"I love you too" you quickly pecked his cheek as you stood up from his bed to grab the cake. "How about some cake?" He looked at you and nodded. "Come on," you said in a whisper and gestured downstairs.

"Can we eat it here?" He asks sheepishly, and if you didn't know any better, you'd think he was turning five and not twenty-one from his childish request, but who were you to say no to eating cake in bed?

He sat back on his bed and tucked his feet under him while the bed dipped down next to him from your weight. He swiped his finger along the cake, gathering some frosting and licking it off his finger. "Good?" You ask, laughing at the way he decided to eat it without a fork.

"Yeah," he mutters shyly as you do the same, tasting the sweet frosting and humming at its delicious taste nodding in agreement with him.

You both ate the chocolate cake until there was barely anything left, and he sat it back down on his nightstand before he joined you on the bed again.

"You don't know how much this means to me," he whispered and trailed off while playing with his fingers nervously.

He looked like he wanted to say more, so you waited patiently for him to continue like you always had.

"This was the best birthday ever," he breathed out and looked at you with an unreadable expression.

"I'm so happy to hear that" you smiled genuinely at him and gently patted his shoulder.

Before you could even register what was happening, he was leaning in and kissing you.

It was if time had stopped.

You were paralyzed when you felt his lips on yours. You couldn't react from your state of shock as your eyes widened. He continued kissing you, tilting his head slightly and brushing his lips over yours.

When he placed his hand on your knee, you finally were able to react to the situation, and you pushed him back roughly by his shoulders. "What the hell are you doing?" You wiped his saliva off your mouth and stood up, distancing yourself away from him as you caught your breath.

He immediately hung his head low, knowing that he had messed up big time. You could hear him sniffling lightly. "I'm sorry," he whispered as his voice cracked. "Y/n, I didn't mean to." He looked at you with tears now trickling down his face. "I-I don't know what came over me, I'm sorry" he got off his bed and reached for you, but you backed away from him further, and his heart ached when he saw the pure look of utter disgust on your face.

Your heart felt like it was about to leap out of your chest from how fast it was beating. You had no idea what to even think. Your mind was blank as you rushed out of his bedroom and into yours, locking the door behind you just in case he tried to follow you.

You curled up in bed and let the silence take over, trying to make sense of what the hell just happened.

As you were lost in thought, you heard a few soft knocks on the door, and you jumped slightly. "Y/n, please don't be mad at me," he pleaded softly, and you could hear the hurt in his tone. "Please…” he whispered shakily, and you heard a soft thud on the door when he rested his forehead against it.

For the next three minutes or so, you could hear him quietly sobbing outside your door, and you were torn on what to do. Your stepson had just kissed you out of the clear blue.

You didn't know if you should talk to him about it or not. Maybe he had been smoking and just made a mistake, but you can’t remember smelling any smoke.

You ruffled your hair in frustration and did the first thing that came to your mind.

You tried phoning your husband. Maybe he could give you some answers.

You just sighed when you heard the dial tone.

Of course, he didn't answer like usual it annoyed you that he could never answer his phone because of work. You knew he was more than likely in a meeting, and he couldn't be disturbed, but every time you needed him, he was never there. You knew that’s what you were getting into when you married such a busy man, but that didn’t make it any less upsetting.

You tossed your phone to the side and sighed loudly. You could still hear heeseung’s faint sniffles from behind the door.

"I know there’s no excuse for what I did, but for what it's worth, you made this birthday the best one yet" he dragged his index finger down the length of the door. "G-goodnight, y/n" he walked back to his room and lied on his bed, feeling absolutely terrible about himself. Not only did he kiss you without permission, but he also kissed a married woman. "What was I thinking?" He mumbled quietly into his pillow.

He knew exactly what he was thinking, and he let his emotions get the best of him, but it was so hard to control it when you looked at him so fondly. How could he not get emotional when you had set up all those things just for his birthday? How could he not get emotional when you remembered the things that he liked?

It's been almost a decade since he felt those types of emotions, and he wasn't ready to feel those things again, especially not with you, especially when he couldn't control his feelings for you.

All those thoughts, feelings, and emotions came over him so fast that he didn’t have time to second guess his actions, but as soon as his lips were no longer on yours, he realized that he had made an irreversible mistake.

The last thing he saw before he cried himself to sleep was his leftover cake on the nightstand.

You woke up in the morning, and unfortunately, the first thought that came to mind was last night. You frustratedly massage at your temples, trying to rub out the headache while looking at the alarm clock that read 8:27am.

You turned to your husband and wrapped your arms around him, hoping to seek some comfort from him after what happened last night, but he rolled on his side after mumbling something about it being too hot as he scooted away from you.

That was another thing that has been troubling you lately. Maybe you were blowing things out of proportion from all the stress you had been carrying with you recently, but he seemed so standoffish lately he'd barely kiss you unless it was before he left to work, and god forbid you mentioned your worries about heeseung to him, he'd just blow you off, and tell you that heeseung was an adult that could do what he wanted.

But the worse part was you couldn't remember the last time he took you on a date or the last time he made love to you, and getting married only seemed to create distance between you both, and you hated it. You felt so alone being cooped up in the house all day. Sure, you'd go shopping sometimes, but that only took your mind off of things for a little while.

And heeseung never talked to you, so that made you feel even more alone, and after last night everything kind of just hit you like a ton of bricks. You felt more isolated than you ever have, and you had no one to talk to. You moved far from your parents, and the time zones were completely different. You hadn't contacted your friends in years, and now it was just you all alone by yourself to figure out what you should do after your stepson thought it would be okay to kiss you, and your husband was practically ignoring your needs as his wife.

This whole time you've been so worried about getting the mother approval stamp from heeseung that you barely even had time to focus on your life with your husband, and now that you realized that, it felt awful. 

"What do I do?" You whisper as tears well in your eyes, sobbing quietly so you wouldn’t wake your sleeping husband.

For the whole day, heeseung didn't even think about leaving his room. He just couldn't face you after what he did last night.

Remembering the look on your face was enough to have him curled up in bed until midnight.

Once he saw all the lights were shut off, that's when he decided to leave. He made his way to the door, and he almost shirked when he saw you lying on the sofa all by yourself.

He tiptoed to the door, praying you wouldn't wake up, and to his luck, you didn't. He hastily put his shoes on and haphazardly wore his jacket and went to his secret racing spot.

You stirred in your sleep. Once you heard the door shut, you must have passed out while watching tv again. "Babe?" You called out, but you got no answer. You turned the tv off and went to your bedroom to see your husband fast asleep. "He didn't wake me up?" You mumbled you were once again waiting for him to come home from work, but you fell asleep, and he didn't even think to wake you up before going to bed.

Which reminds you, if he wasn't the one leaving, then that must have meant it was heeseung, and it was past midnight since your talk with him over breakfast. He seemed to understand your concern for him being out so late and made it a point to come home no later than ten.

So why was he leaving past midnight again?

You wanted to call him and tell him to bring his butt home, but after last night you're not sure where he stood with you or where you stood with him, to be honest.

Heeseung didn't want to leave past midnight and make you worry, but after what happened the night of his birthday, he figured you didn't care about him coming or going cause he made you mad, and he hated knowing that he ruined the little relationship you had both formed just as quickly as it happened.

But if he looked on the bright side, at least now, you probably hated him and wouldn't try to get close to him anymore, so that was a good thing. Maybe that would help him suppress his feelings for you, and besides, he'd be leaving soon anyway, so how you felt about him didn't really matter.

He was going to use the money he made from his nightly races and drug deals to move out. He now had more than enough to afford his own place and live alone comfortably.

Of course, his dad wanted him out a lot sooner and would be more than happy to buy heeseung his own house to get him out of his hair, but heeseung didn't want anything to do with his father once he was gone. 

Everything that happened in this house he wanted to be a thing of the past, even if that included you.

Sure, it was a cop-out move to just avoid what happened that night, but in his mind, there wasn't a need to address that situation again. He fucked up, and that was the end of it.

That wasn't the only reason he wanted to move though his dad played the bigger role in that, and now after that incident with you, it was fuel for him to leave even sooner than he had originally planned.

He closed his eyes as a few tears rolled down his cheek, and the crowd roared his name as he revved his engine.

And as soon as the two black and white checkered flags were raised, he pressed his foot on the gas, going full speed ahead, pushing all his worries down just like his gas peddle, even though he knew they would all surface again and haunt him once he reached the finish line.

Of course, you couldn't get any sleep cause heeseung was still out, and it was now three in the morning, not to say you would have been able to get any sleep with your husband snoring loudly next to you anyways.

You quietly got out of bed and put your robe on. You walked downstairs and poured yourself a glass of wine, sitting on the sofa, waiting for heeseung to come home.

It wasn't long before the door was creaking open, and you heard the familiar jingle of heeseung’s keys.

He turned around and twisted the knob so he could shut the door silently.

You cleared your throat, and he nearly jumped out of his shoes as he slowly turned around with a grimace on his face. "Mind telling me what you've been up to?" You traced the rim of your now empty glass as you crossed your leg over the other.

"S-s-sorry, I won't do it a-again," he mumbled as he hung his head low and kicked his shoes off at the door.

"What exactly is it that you won’t be doing again?" You asked and slowly held the cup to your lips, taking a small sip of the alcoholic drink.

He gulped nervously from your stern tone. "Just hanging out late with some friends," he lied. He didn't have any friends, not since his parents divorced.

You hum and nod your head. "Do these friends happen to smoke?" You questioned.

How the hell did you know that? "Yes," there was no point in lying. He wouldn't want to make you more upset.

You pinched the bridge of your nose and sighed. "What did I tell you about being out past midnight?"

"I know, and I'm sorry," he mumbles. "I didn't think you'd care" he bit his lip nervously.

"Why wouldn't I care? You're my son," his expression hardened at your words.

"Please stop saying that," he whispered shakily.

"What's wrong? I know I'm not your biological mother, but I'm trying here" you pushed down the lump in your throat and ignored the ache in your heart as he said those words to you.

"You just don't get it, do you? That's just the thing, you're not my mom, and I'll never see you as my mom" he clenched his jaw in annoyance.

Now you couldn't even pretend that didn't hurt like hell that's all you ever wanted was for him to call you mom but the way those words fell from his mouth so carelessly broke your heart. "W-what did you say?" Your voice now matched him with a shakiness that made him instantly regret what he said.

He came closer to you, wrapping your frail body in his arms. The smell of smoke invaded your senses as you inhaled sharply. "No, no, no, that's not what I meant," he whispered as your shoulders shook in his hold. "You know what, screw it" he pulled back and stared into your eyes intensely. "I'll never see you as my mom because," he took a deep breath before continuing. "Because I like you" his bottom lip quivered, and you could feel his body shaking slightly. "I know it's wrong, and I swear I tried not to, b-but I just couldn't help it, and on my birthday, I just couldn't control how I felt. It's the first time someone has shown me any type of affection in years, and I-"

You cut him off. This was nonsense. He was speaking. There's no way that's how he truly felt. "You never even talked to me before then" you pulled away from the hug and waited for him to explain.

"I know," he whined out. "But that's why I didn't want to get close to you 'cause this whole time I've had…" he trailed off, but you got the point. "And on my birthday, you just" he looked down at his feet, embarrassed and ashamed to even be telling you this. "You made me feel special, and I haven't felt that in a long time." He whispered.

You looked at him with a million questions swirling around in your mind, but you asked the burning one. "What about your father? He's great to you. Surely he makes you feel special" you tried to make sense of what heeseung was saying, but you couldn't wrap your head around it, and getting angry wouldn’t help, so you spoke calmly while hoping to get some answers.

He just scoffed at your words and shoved his hands into his pockets. "He didn't even wish me a happy birthday." He poked his inner cheek with his tongue.

A look of shock overtook your features. Of course, you knew your husband wasn't going to be there on his son's special day, but not buying him a gift and not sending him a text was outrageous. "Maybe he was just too busy," you reasoned. There's no way he would not have sent his own son a happy birthday text unless he was busy.

"For the last seven years? I don't think anyone is that busy" he rolled his eyes. "It's obvious what's important to him, and I'm not."

"Don't talk about your father that way. He's a great man and a great husband, and you're just being ungrateful right now. He's working himself to death to take care of us both," heeseung just gave you a sad smile.

If you had any idea.

"If you say so," he wasn't going to argue with you about this. He was afraid he would slip up and spill his dad's secrets, and that would make everything so much worse than it already was.

"Just go to your room, and you're not going out tomorrow." You concluded that was all that needed to be discussed right now.

Without another word, he quietly went to his room and left you stressed out on the couch with so many unanswered questions.

"Honey will you call that deadbeat son of ours from his room," your husband joked as he sat at the table.

You just chuckled at his statement, knowing he meant no harm, and went to get heeseung from his room.

You knocked a few times and waited for him to answer. He cracked the door open just a sliver, and you saw his eyes widen slightly. "Yes?" He whispered.

You hated how he almost seemed scared of you after everything, but right now, there was nothing that you could think of to fix this situation between you and him, so you’d just have to be awkward around each other for the time being.

"Dinners ready, and your father wants you to sit with us," you informed him in a soft tone hoping that would help unnerve him, but it didn't seem to work.

"Ok," he said quietly and opened the door, fully exiting his room and coming downstairs with you.

"There he is! Finally decided to crawl out of that den of yours," heeseung sighed while sitting at the table. He knew this was going to be absolute torture. He was only doing it cause he knew you wanted to. "So your mother told me you've been smoking, is that true?"

You gasped in shock. This was not how you wanted him to bring this up. Tonight was just supposed to be a simple, peaceful dinner, nothing more, nothing less.

You shook your head and signaled for your husband to stop, and heeseung looked at you with a tinge of hurt on his face. Not believing the fact that you had told his secret.

Apparently, your husband didn't get the memo. "So are you going to answer, or do I have to beat it out of ya" his father joked, but neither you nor heeseung was laughing.

You smiled awkwardly and took a sip of your lemonade, staying quiet.

"What does it matter?" Heeseung responded harshly.

"To be honest, I don't care what you do, but your mother here is worried about you," he said while cutting into his steak.

"Babe," you scolded him for his choice of words. You knew he was just frustrated and didn't mean them, but you still acknowledged how inappropriate that was to say. "Sorry he's been drinking," you murmured to heeseung, but he knew even if his dad wasn't drinking, he would still say those hurtful words to him without thinking twice about it.

"There's nothing to worry about" heeseung dismissed the topic from going any further.

"See honey? I told you it's fine" you just sat there uncomfortably for the rest of the dinner. Maybe it was just you, but he didn't seem to care about his own son's reckless behavior, and it left an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. "What I am worried about, though, is when you're going to get a girlfriend. I mean, you're a grown man, and you haven't dated anyone." He chuckled.

Heeseung glanced at you feeling embarrassment course throughout his veins.

You were surprised to hear that. Heeseung was a good guy. From what you know, he was intelligent and interested In making music, plus he had handsome features, so you were bewildered at the new information.

"Isn't that something, dear? He's twenty-one and doesn't have a girlfriend."

"Well, that's his choice, babe. Maybe he just hasn't found the right one," you try to ease the tension of the conversation, hoping heeseung would loosen up a bit, but he didn't.

The conversation started out in the wrong direction, to begin with, but now it was completely lost.

"I suppose, but he hasn't even had sex yet" this was the first time you had ever heard your husband talk in such a manner, and it was revolting, to say the least, especially at the dinner table.

Has he always been like this? You wondered.

"Dad, we can have this conversation another time," heeseung gritted through his teeth. He knew his dad was trying to get under his skin, not to say he cared, but heeseung just didn't want you thinking differently of him for being a virgin. He didn't want to think he was any less of a man.

Of course, his dad wasn't going to listen to that, not when there was a perfectly good opportunity to humiliate his son. "Hell, he hasn't even had his first kiss yet," he chuckled, and heeseung's mouth parted as he stared at his dad in shock, unable to comprehend why he'd want to put him to shame like that in front of you.

Heeseung looked at you scanning your face for your reaction, and you could have sworn you saw tears in his eyes before he got up from the table and ran off to his room.

"Why would you say that?" You asked, knowing that you weren't the only one that could obviously see that heeseung was upset when he left.

"Say what? It's harmless fun. He'll get over it" he took a drink of his beer before shrugging his shoulders.

"That didn't look harmless to me, and it wasn't funny," you said sternly while throwing your napkin on the table.

You may not have been on good terms with heeseung, but he didn't deserve to have his love life aired out for your husband's drunken amusement.

You could only imagine how embarrassed heeseung felt.

You stood up from the table and headed to your room as well. You couldn’t believe he had to ruin the evening. "Honey, wait, I'm sorry," you heard him drunkenly apologizing, but you continued on to your room, too stressed and tired to put up with him or anything else right now.

After you finished washing up, you went to check on heeseung. As hard as it was going to be to speak to him, you just wanted to make sure he was okay after what happened.

You knocked on his door, hoping he hadn't already gone to sleep. You waited a few seconds after knocking, and you didn't get an answer.

Maybe he was listening to music, you thought and cracked the door slightly. He was lying in his bed listening to music, just like you had originally thought, and he was wearing the headphones you bought him for his birthday. You smiled at the heartwarming sight before opening the door further and revealing yourself.

His head shot up to the door when he noticed the light from the hallway shining into his dimly lit room. When he saw it was you, he quickly took off his headphones and straightened out his blankets, running his fingers through his hair, trying to tidy up a bit.

"Can I come in?" He just looked at you and nodded his head. You shut the door behind you and sat on his bed, pushing away the thoughts of the last time you were in his room on his bed. "Sorry about him," you apologized on your husband's behalf.

"It's not your fault" he scooted away from you and hugged his knees to his chest. "It wouldn't be the first time he's done that" the words accidentally slipped from his mouth, and he panicked.

"What do you mean?" You ask him, puzzled.

Heeseung was quick to come up with an excuse. You didn't know much about his relationship with his father. From the outside looking in, they seemed like they got along pretty well, and heeseung knew what he said just now would make you ask questions, and those questions he didn't want to answer cause ultimately they would reveal what his dad was doing to you this whole entire time.

"Uhh, you know, just the teasing and all" he smiled uncomfortably and hoped you'd buy that lame excuse, and it seemed like you did when you nodded your head in understanding.

"Just so you know, it's nothing to be ashamed of" you were going to reach your hand out and comfort him, but you decided it'd be best if you didn't.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said lowly, and you sighed in defeat as you sat up and walked out of his room. If he didn't want to talk about it, you weren't going to force him to. You assumed he needed space, and you were more than willing to give it to him.

You went back to your shared bedroom to find your husband already lying in bed waiting for you. "Honey, I'm sorry," he apologized again while you got into bed next to him. "I'll talk to him tomorrow. He's probably upset with me," he mumbled in the crook of your neck as he wrapped his arms around you.

You cuddle up closer to him, and he presses soft kisses all over your neck, tickling you. "Babe!" You shouted when he started tickling your sides playfully.

"What?" He answers back as if he's unaware of what he was doing to you.

You giggled and squirmed, trying to get out of his hold.

"I gotcha now," he teased and continued tickling you while laughing at the noises you were making.

Heeseung could hear you both talking and laughing. He hated how his room was right next to your guy’s, and he could hear literally everything.

He turned up his music to full blast, drowning out everything. The last thing he wanted was to hear you being intimate with his father.

His father didn't deserve to see your body, heeseung thought. You should have been in his bed making love to him. He was confident his father couldn't please you the way he could. Hell, it wouldn't even be a comparison.

If heeseung had a chance with you, he'd give you anything you wanted. He'd take his precious time with your delicate body, trace his fingers over every dip and curve of your beautiful figure whisper praises in your ear about how good you make him feel. He'd stare directly into your eyes and tell you how much he loves you and how precious you are to him as he slowly strokes inside you while you moan his name and clasp your hands tighter with his.

You should be in his room right now with him.

Little did heeseung know you were unfortunately not getting intimate with his father cause after the little tickling session, he passed out from all the alcohol he drank earlier in the evening, leaving you to fall asleep unsatisfied for the countless night in a row.

A few weeks had passed now, and things were starting to get better with your husband. He was taking you out more and spending more time with you, which was great, and it kept your mind clear.

Unfortunately, things were the same with heeseung, and even still, you had no clue what to do. You wanted to tell your husband, but you had no idea what kind of mess that would have caused, so you ignored it entirely, and heeseung went back to his old ways of giving you the cold shoulder, which you were happy about cause that made you feel better about not addressing the situation somehow you twisted it that if he wasn't talking to you you weren't going to talk to him and you convinced yourself this was his fault for shutting you out.

Besides, he hasn't made a move on you since, so there wasn't anything to talk about, right?

Right.

Finally, you got your much-needed break from everything that has happened this past month, and you couldn't have asked for anything better than to be where you are right now, hugged up to your husband on the couch, watching movies as he stroked your hair.

Your guy’s movie marathon was interrupted by heeseung making a surprise visit to the living room. He scoffed and made his way to the couch, handing his father his key to the house before retreating back to his room.

You eyed the little transaction, and you furrowed your brows, looking at the house key that sat on the entertainment stand in the living room. 

"Babe, what was that about?" You wondered why heeseung was giving up his house key.

"Oh, he didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" You say, growing more confused by the second.

"He's moving out next week," he told you as if it was just something as small as a story from one of his co-workers or something.

You sat up abruptly. "What?! No, he didn't tell me" you knew things weren’t going great with you and heeseung right now, but you didn't expect him to keep something this important from you. "Why didn't you tell me?" Now that was the strange part he didn't know about yours and heeseung's falling out, so why would he assume heeseung would tell you when he didn't even speak to you?

"Cause it's not a big deal" he shrugged and tried to hug you, but you backed away.

"It is a big deal. You know how hard I've been trying to get close to him, and you didn't even think to tell me he would be moving?" You raised your voice slightly.

"What does it matter?"

You couldn't sit still any longer. You got up from the sofa and went to heeseung's room. Maybe he could give you a better explanation than the bullshit your husband just gave you. "Why didn't you tell me you’re leaving?" Your tone was still harsh, but it wasn't aimed toward heeseung.

"Didn't think you'd care" he disregarded the way you just stormed into his room without knocking.

"Why would you think that?" Your expression softened, as well as your tone.

"We haven't talked in weeks, so what's the point? For all practical purposes, I'm not even here," he angrily shoved his belongings into his suitcase.

You knew it was your fault why he felt like that, and it made you feel terrible. You could no longer deny the fact that your and Heeseung's relationship diminished because you were not handling what happened like an adult. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault."

Fuck fuck fuck.

He wanted to punch and kick himself for thinking you looked cute apologizing right now. That's not what this is about, heeseung focus. He took a deep breath and put on his hard exterior once again. "I forgive you," he said with no emotion at all.

He couldn’t understand why you’d take all the blame, though, cause he definitely had a part to play.

You watched him packing, and you still felt guilty for everything, even if he had forgiven you. "So that's just it then?" You asked sadly, you knew at this point having a mother-and-son relationship was out of the picture, but you’d still miss him when he was gone.

He sighed and zipped up his bag, opening a smaller one for his toiletries. "What do you want from me, hmm? I already told you this," he pointed back and forth between the two of you. "Is never going to happen. I can't give you what you want, and you can't give me what I want."

"Heeseung, I don't know what to say. I want to tell you I'm sorry, but I'm not. I'm a happily married woman, and you have to understand that," you tried to explain to him in a way he'd understand without hurting his feelings.

"Exactly, and I can accept that, so why can't you accept the fact that this picture-perfect family idea of yours is never going to work? I'm moving out, and now you can live the rest of your life happily with that-" he had to bite his tongue to stop himself from talking and saying something he shouldn't.

"Honey?" You heard your husband calling you from downstairs, and heeseung sighed. You wanted to finish listening to what he was saying, but you opted to leave his room and go to your husband.

"Fuck” heeseung said under his breath when you walked out.

He wanted to let you know what was happening, but he was scared. He didn't want to hurt your feelings, or worse, what if you didn't believe him?

He shook his head and finished packing. It wasn't his mess to sort out. He tried to convince himself.

Everyone glossed over what happened over the next week, and so did you heeseung was leaving today, and there wasn't anything you could do or say to stop him.

It was in the evening, and you were supposed to be going out to dinner with your husband, but he wasn't answering your calls. He said he'd be ready by six, yet it was eight, and he didn't even bother to call you to inform you what was taking him so long, and you started to get worried. 

Tears unknowingly pricked your eyes and cascaded down your face. Everything had gotten to you, and you couldn't contain your emotions anymore and finally let out all your frustrations.

You sobbed into the palms of your hands while sitting at the kitchen table. Everything seemed to be going wrong the past month, and you had no idea how to fix it heeseung was basically done with you, and your husband didn't even seem to notice how stressed you were lately. You were hoping to talk to him over dinner, and now that fell through, so here you sat sobbing like an overgrown baby waiting for your beloved husband to come home.

To make matters even worse, when you looked up, you met eyes with heeseung, and he was just staring at you.

You must have missed him coming down the stairs while you were crying hysterically.

You quickly grabbed a napkin and dried your tears. Obviously, it was too late to hide them, but you still tried.

Heeseung dropped his moving boxes at the door and made his way over to the kitchen. He didn't hesitate for a moment to lean down and wrap his arms securely around your shaking shoulders. "Shhh, it’s okay" he kissed the crown of your head and rested his cheek there while fluttering his eyes shut.

You didn’t have it in you to tell him off for his overly affectionate gesture, so you let him comfort you instead.

You grabbed his hand and held it tightly. You didn't have to tell him why you were crying. He saw his mother in the same position you were in right now, all beautiful and dressed up, ready for the big date that never came.

"I'm going to tell you something that I know I shouldn't, but you deserve to know," he whispered and squeezed your shoulder reassuringly. "My father is cheating on you" heeseung's heart rate increased as he finally spilled his father's filthy secret to you.

"What?!" You pushed his arms off you, and he stumbled back slightly while you stood up from your seat. "Why would you say that? He would never" you defend your husband. Little did you know he would, and he was at this very moment.

Heeseung hung his head low. "That's the same thing I thought when my mother told me," his voice cracked. "I know it's hard to accept it. I've been there before, but it's true."

"No," You felt more fresh tears welling in your eyes. "Take that back right now. How could you ever speak about him that way" this was absolutely preposterous, you thought.

"Because it's true, I wanted to tell you for so long, but I didn't want to hurt your feelings, okay?" He stepped closer to you, and you let him engulf you in a hug, but you didn't hug him back.

"How do you know?" You asked, nibbling on your lip. You wanted to fight back, but something about the look on heeseung's face made you feel like he was telling you the truth, and it made you feel sick.

"Call him and ask him where he is," he responds quietly. You broke away from the hug.

"No, I get it now. You're just trying to break us up 'cause you can't stand the fact that I don't want to be with you" that had to be it cause the man you married would never cheat on you, and you knew he loved you, too much to do that to you.

"What?!" Heeseung said, shocked that you would not only accuse him of lying but the fact that you would think that lowly of him. "I would never lie to you, y/n that's not the type of guy I am, and what would I gain from lying to you? I know you'd take his word over mine any day, and besides, I'm leaving today, so even if I was trying to turn you against my father, that'd be pretty stupid given the fact that once I walk out of that door in the next fifteen minutes, you'll probably never see me again."

That was true, but maybe heeseung didn't want you for himself. Maybe he just wanted to ruin your life cause you didn't accept his advances.

He could see the apprehension on your face, and he took the opportunity to further prove his point. "He said he would be home today at six, right?" You just nodded your head. "And he also said he was going to go to work, right?" You nodded once more, feeling a heavy weight settle in your gut. "So if I call his work right now, he should be there, right?" You knew where this was going, and you didn’t like it one bit. You were going to leave and go to your bedroom, but he quickly grabbed your wrist and stopped you from moving.

He let go of you and pulled out his phone, and dialed his dad's work number, putting it on speaker as the phone rang three times before someone picked up. "Hi, could you give me Mr lee's extension? I'm his son, and he's not answering his phone right, and I'm worried" you listen, as whoever was taking the phone call informed heeseung that Mr lee had not been at work today and that he was always off on Sunday. "Oh, okay, thank you. Bye," you stared at heeseung with tears in your eyes.

But you were still in denial. "He's probably just off doing some work elsewhere," you smiled and convinced yourself.

Heeseung couldn't believe how much you were defending his father, but he understood he was the same way when he found out from his mother, but he was going to prove to you that it was true one way or the other. "Y/n, I need you to listen closely to me. I'm doing this for you, okay? I love you, and I don't ever want to see you hurt. I don't want to sit back and watch the next most important woman in my life get reduced to nothing at the hands of my father, not again" it was hard for him to contain his emotions. Talking about this topic was something he thought he had gotten over, but it felt like the wound had never healed, even though he thought it did years ago.

You stood in silence, wrapping your arms around yourself, preparing for what he was about to say. If you were being honest, you had your doubts about your husband a few times, like when he smelled like women's perfume, and he told you he worked around females, so that's why he smelled that way at the time that sounded true, so you went along with it the other time you saw a red stain on his shirt that looked a lot like lipstick, but you thought you were reaching and didn't bring it up to him but now as heeseung was giving you all this information you weren't so sure so instead of telling heeseung off for saying such foul things about his own father you stayed and listened cause deep down you were afraid you had been right all along.

"Remember all the times I always left the table when he came home? It's cause we don't get along. He made it seem that way, so you wouldn't think any less of him, but he knows deep down I hate his guts, and he hates mine. You remember all the times he came home from work late? He was out at the club. Remember all the times he didn't answer his phone or come till the next day? He was off with somebody else while you were waiting at home for him like a good wife" before you could shut him down, he pulled up a picture of your husbands' car in the parking lot of a club, and that's when it felt like your world had come crashing down you had a feeling but you being you just thought you were overthinking all the time, and you stupidly gave your husband the benefit of the doubt when evidently he didn't deserve it.

You were sad, hurt, and upset. "Why would you do that?" You said to heeseung while crying. He just looked at you, mirroring your hurt expression cause this was just as hard for him to relive all over again as it was for you finding out. "You're lying!" You screamed at the top of your lungs. "You're lying!" You pushed his him. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!" you hit his chest, punctuating your hurtful words each time your hand came in contact with his body. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he let you weakly pound his chest. Eventually, he grabbed your wrist and stopped you pulling you into a hug instead. "You're lying," you choked out through sobs as you let him engulf you in a hug. This time, you hugged him back in your weak and vulnerable state.

You couldn't believe everything was a lie right from the beginning. You don't blame heeseung for not telling you sooner. You blame yourself for being so stupid and naive to believe such ridiculous lies. You hated yourself for having blind faith in your husband, and you hated your heart for loving him so foolishly that even when things seemed different, you just brushed it off.

Heeseung rubbed your back soothingly to comfort you. "Remember all the times I came down for dinner when he was gone? I did it so you wouldn't feel alone. Remember all those times I came back early? I did it so you wouldn't have to worry about me anymore. Remember all those times when I was here for you, and he wasn't?" You could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest while he poured his feelings out to you. "If I was in his place, I'd never come home late. If I was in his place, I'd never look at another girl, and if I was in his place, I'd treat you right" he held onto you tighter, giving his words more significance.

He leaned back to look you in the eyes, trailing his hands over your hip bones. "If I was in his place, I'd never make you cry" he scanned your face, and his heart broke for you. You looked lifeless and completely broken as he wiped away your stray tears. It was like he was looking in a mirror at his fourteen-year-old self when his mother told him the same news, except when he found out he had no one to confide in cause his mom practically abandoned him for alcohol and left him in the hands of his abusive father, but he wasn’t going to let you go through the same thing that he did he was going to be that person that was there for you when no one else was he was going to be that person his mother couldn't be for him.

Heeseung thought it was now or never and closed the gap between you two before he could think twice. Besides, no matter the outcome of his actions, he'd be gone tomorrow, but he was here today, he was in this moment, and he was going to make every second of it count.

You responded to the kiss, and in your weakened state, all you wanted was his comfort. It was something you needed more than anything in the world, especially right now.

It felt so right.

No matter how hard you tried to be his mother, you never quite made the cut, and deep down, you knew it was because you never really saw him as your son. You were just too wrapped up in trying to be the perfect wife for your husband that you lost sight of everything, and right now, after everything heeseung had told you, kissing him didn't feel wrong cause you didn't feel like you were kissing your stepson no, you felt like you were kissing a man that loved you and a man that actually cared for you and your well being.

He hummed into the kiss pulling you closer by your waist as he kissed you passionately, slowly, lovingly this was the first time you had ever felt this way from a kiss. You never felt the butterflies in your stomach that you were feeling right now when you kissed anyone else. With heeseung, you could actually feel the love he had for you.

He leaned back and fluttered his eyes open, slowly placing one last loving peck on your lips.

He's been waiting for the moment for far too long. It was definitely worth the wait. He'd live his hellish life all over again just for it to lead to this very moment with just you and him and no other distractions in between.

Your lips were just as soft as he imagined, your kiss was just as electrifying as he daydreamed, and your embrace was everything he ever prayed for. "Come with me," he says out of nowhere. "Get a divorce and leave him live with me. I promise I can take care of you, trust me" he rested his forehead against yours. Everything was happening so fast, and you could barely breathe, but one thing you knew for sure was right now, heeseung had told you the truth you had been searching for, and his embrace made you feel safe. He proved you could trust him, but you don't know if you were ready to move on so quickly you didn't want your emotions getting in the way of making such a big decision, and heeseung seemed to have read your mind.

"We can take this as slow as you want" he gripped your shoulders, leaning down a bit to hold eye contact with you. "Look at me, okay? All I'm asking is for you to come with me, if, a month down the road, you decide you don't want to try with me. I’ll completely understand, but right now, I just can't stand to see you hurt. I can't let that happen to someone I love not again," he meant every word wholeheartedly. He couldn't be there for his mother, but he could be there for you.

You nibbled on your lip in thought you had no money outside of your husband's income, and you couldn't afford to move right now. "Heeseung, I can't." You whisper.

"Why?" He breathed out and placed his hands on your cheeks. “Hmm?”

"I can't afford to move, and I can't go back to my parent's house," you told him your concerns for the first time in months. You felt comfortable speaking your mind out in the open.

"You know how I always go out at night?" You nodded your head as he stroked your cheek softly with his thumb. "I hate for you to find out like this, but I was doing illegal things to make money, and let's just say I could buy you a house twice this size. We could fly to your parent's house and be there in the morning. Whatever you want, I can give to you." He looked at you intensely to prove to you that he was dead serious.

You could feel a headache coming on. This was all too much for you to handle alone, but Heeseung wasn't going to let you handle this alone, not this time. "I couldn't ask that of you."

"I want to give you a life that you deserve, let me" the look in his eyes was indescribable, but if you had to put it in words, it was love mixed with hate, sadness mixed with anger, but behind everything, it was hopeful and sincere. "Let me be the man in your life that my father couldn't be" you didn't need to hear anything more you gave him a quick kiss sealing off his promise and wrapping your arms around him tightly.

"Thank you," you mumbled into the crook of his neck wetting his shirt with your warm tears, but he didn't mind one bit as he reciprocated the hug.

"Anything for you. I got you" he disconnected from the hug and smiled, wiping your tears. "Let's get you all packed, yeah?" He wasn't trying to pressure you, but the sooner you both could leave, the better.

"Wait" you put your hand on his chest, stopping him from going anywhere.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly and rubbed the back of your palm with his thumb.

"I'm scared," you muttered.

"It's okay. I’m here now, and I won’t ever let him hurt you again" he led you upstairs, and you grabbed only your necessities. You didn't want anything that reminded you of your soon to be ex-husband.

Heeseung gave you a reassuring smile to ease your worries as you dropped your bags off at the door.

You both sat in the living room, waiting for him to come home. "It's okay," heeseung whispered and grabbed your hand. "I'll be here every step of the way. You have nothing to worry about" he kissed your hand but quickly distanced himself from you when he heard the front door crack open.

"Hey, isn't this a surprise you guys are actually getting along for once," he said, and it was now clear as day how condescending his tone was, and it only occurred to you now that that's how he always talked to you when it came to you trying to get close with heeseung you can't believe you didn't notice it sooner.

You can't believe he didn't even mention the date you two were supposed to go on. Then again, if heeseung never showed you what your husband was up to, you probably would have summed it up to him just being tired from “work” like you always foolishly had.

"Can we talk?" You ignored his slight jab and walked over to the kitchen heeseung parted his mouth to say something, but you smiled at him, letting him know you were okay.

"Sure" he took off his shoes and followed you to the kitchen smirking at heeseung while doing so.

"Look, I don't want your explanation. All I want is a divorce" you slid the diamond band off your finger and set it on the counter.

"What?" Your ex-husband chuckled incredulously.

"I know exactly what you've been doing behind my back, and I don't want to be with a person like you. I can't live the rest of my life with a liar," your whole body shook with nerves and fear.

"What are you talking about? I haven't been doing anythi-"

"Don't! Just stop!" you yelled at him for the first time ever. "Save it for someone else" you tried to walk past him, but he grabbed you by your wrist heeseung was watching the whole time from the living room, and as soon as his father laid a finger on you, he was quick to stand up and make his way over to you.

"Don't you dare touch her again" you looked up and saw that heeseung had gotten in between you and was shielding you from his dad.

"Oh, so he speaks," his dad chuckled. "Stay out of this boy. It has nothing to do with you" he pointed his finger in heeseung's face.

"It has everything to do with me," heeseung gritted through his teeth. "You heard her what she said. Now leave her alone."

"Watch your tone with me, boy" he balled his fists and got ready to throw a punch at heeseung, and you screamed in fear, but luckily heeseung was quick enough to dodge out of the way.

"Stay back," heeseung said to you before turning back to his father. "Do not make me do this" he stood up to his father, looking down on him from the height difference heeseung had definitely outgrown his father. He was no longer the helpless teen boy that couldn’t defend himself all those years ago. He had grown into a man that was able to stand up for himself and protect the people he loves.

His father didn't listen, and this time, it was heeseung who was raising his fist and landing a powerful punch to his dad's jaw, knocking him straight to the ground.

Heeseung immediately jumped on top of him, pinning him to the ground while beating his face to a pulp with every punch. He could hear his mother's cries, and with every punch, he saw your sad face, and he went into a fit of complete rage, landing every blow, each hit more powerful, Than the last, as he screamed. "No more!" Over and over again. “I’m not letting you hurt me or the people I love anymore!”

You stood there in shock, whimpering with your hands covering your mouth as tears ran down your face. "Heeseung, that's enough" you went closer to him, and he pushed you back slightly and continued to punch his father's face in, pretty soon. It would be unrecognizable. "Heeseung, please stop" when he heard your broken voice, he immediately snapped out of it and turned around to see you crying. He quickly let go of his father's collar and stood up, wrapping you in his arms protectively.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. You could feel him shaking with pure rage, and it scared you, but you knew he'd never do anything to hurt you. "I'm sorry, love.” He spoke gently and stroked your head. “I just don't want him to hurt anyone anymore." He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"It's all okay now," you comforted him and rubbed his back gently.

He sighed and rested his chin on the crown of your head. "It's okay," he reiterated, swaying your body back and forth in his hold" "ready to go home?"

"But your hand" you held his bloody hands, examining the broken skin on his knuckles, and he winced slightly.

"I'm okay for now. Let's just get out of here" he kissed your forehead softly.

You looked at the floor where the man you once called your husband was laid out unconscious, and as you looked at his bloody tattered face, you felt no remorse, not after he tried to not only hurt you but heeseung as well after you found out everything about him you couldn’t feel one ounce of sadness for him.

Heeseung followed your line of vision, and he felt nothing but resentment toward the man he once called his father. "He can take care of himself" heeseung spat on his unmoving body and hooked his arm around your shoulder, and headed to the door. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?" Heeseung said with worry.

"No," you whispered and shook your head softly while clutching onto his arm.

“Good” he whispered and kissed your cheek, a faint smile graced heeseung's features, and his eyes lit up as a warm feeling spread throughout his chest. He couldn't put into words how happy he was that you felt comfortable and safe with him.

You grabbed your suitcases and walked out the door hand in hand with heeseung. Once the car was fully loaded with your belongings, he opened the door and helped you inside, buckling your seatbelt and placing one last loving kiss on your temple as you smiled softly at him.

After he got in the driver seat and buckled himself in, he held your hand in his, rubbing soothing circles on your palm, and you're not sure what the future held for you and heeseung, but for right now, you were going to go wherever he takes you.

Cause, after all, it was heeseung that helped you break your unholy ties.

FIN.

Thank you so much for reading. I appreciate each and every one of you who made it to the end.

[byizoyas]

genshin impact ; drabbles

2023/byizoyas. — pls do not plagiarize or repost and claim as yours ! thank you very much :)

✘ nsfw. (rlly suggestive) wearing pretty lingerie for your boyfriend’s birthday ✘ childe x afab!reader

‘i’m home’ the familiar voice of your boyfriend echoed in the whole house and it did surprise you a bit. indeed he was supposed to be home later than it was.

you’ve been meaning to surprise him on his birthday; thinking for the past week of what gift could possibly make your man the happiest when the idea popped into your brain.

childe loved lingerie on you; he said it multiple times, even bought you some he found attractive but you never found time to wear them.

he never complained though. and at this point; he might’ve thought you just weren’t into it. truth was that you quite liked it. not so for the feeling of the lingerie on your skin; but for the way his eyes expressed his arousal more than usual. for the way he bit his lip as if holding back many dirty thoughts.

so you made your choice and opted for a black laced underwear set.

you were standing in your shared bedroom, staring at yourself in the mirror when he stepped in. you just had the time to put on your robe to hide the surprise. you just thought it would be no fun to simply stand there or lay on the bed waiting for him.

instead, you turned around, facing him, whose face betrayed his ignorance.

‘took a shower already ?’ he asked innocently and to that you simply shrugged, approaching him to steal him the greeting kiss you guys exchanged everyday.

‘do we go out tonight ?’ childe asked right after you took a slight distance from him. he brought his right hand to your cheek, caressing it gently. ‘surely you do remember it’s my birthday, right ?’

the way he asked almost sounded like he had something in his mind; and perhaps he did but you didn’t let him the time to pursue, instead taking his hands in yours.

‘mhm.’ you nodded, intertwining your fingers and stealing another kiss. and two, and three before you guys started making out in the middle of the room. he caressed your hair and mixed his tongue with yours in a languid kiss.

‘i have.. mh.. i have a gift for you’ you managed to say between his kisses, and it made him stop.

‘what is it ?’ he simply asked. his lips curled up into a soft smile and it warmed your heart to see him that way. genuinely happy. honest with his feelings. that was the way you loved him the most.

and his genuine smile was always the most attractive sight to you.

you opened your robe and slowly let it fall down on the floor. but as confident as you were, you couldn’t help but feel your cheeks burn a bit at childe’s intense staring.

his blue eyes were reflecting lots of things. hunger, desire, lust, love. he felt the need to give you his body and heart. he loved the sight of you; and he loved it so much he did not say a word, instead letting his body speak for itself.

his right hand grabbed your panties, pulling you closer; meanwhile his other hand was busy squeezing your butt gently.

‘happy birthday ajax.’ you said, looking away a bit flustered by his touch. it was definitely not the first time you guys were intimate yet there was still a thing in his aura that made you feel so weird.

you felt aroused yet intimidated and for that childe took the lead, drowning his face into your neck, dropping kisses and sucking on your skin. his warm breathing tickled, sending shivers through your whole body.

you were his now. you were always and he loved that. he felt powerful whenever you offered him your body because he thought you were the most beautiful person in the world and he never stopped telling you this.

his lips were now playing with your skin, as if testing how long it would take you to stop resisting your desires and beg for him to take you. and he found it incredibly funny. funny and arousing at the same time; making that moment a particularly enjoyable one.

‘you’re driving me so crazy…’ he whispered so low you actually didn’t get his words but his actions were saying it all anyway.

his hands couldn’t stop touching your body. he felt the need to own it. he wished to own you; in any way that a person can.

his long fingers were wearing rings that felt cold against your warm body; yet the temperature change made you so much more excited about what would be coming then.

‘you are mine tonight y/n. and every wish i make, you will make it come true, right ?’

the smile and gaze were revealing all the obscene thoughts he had. he probably painted a whole scenario of the two of you and the way you would make love then fuck and then make love again. your night had only just started yet you knew it would feel like it would never end. but you wouldn’t complain.. after all, only your boyfriend knew all the right spots to make you cum over and over again in a row.

just when you started to get wet, imagining and reminiscing about a few times where he surprised you in bed; he spoke again, ordering you around already.

‘get on the bed y/n. i’ll be gentle to thank you for your little surprise.’

the smile on his face said the opposite thing but you loved rough sex with childe. in any case, he’d put you first and would do everything to satisfy your needs.

a/n. ig this is my come back fic to wish my beloved a happy birthday AHAHAHA

[bloodybreakupscene]

I had sent a request like yesterday- and AAA IM SO HAPPY TO SEE IT DONE ALREADY!! IT WAS SO CUTE >^<

I had another idea, cause my brain has been absolutely filled with different thoughts! Once again, earth 1610! Miles morales- but this time with a very well off partner who tends to spoil him alot. Like gift after gift, as soon as Miles is saying he likes or wants something- they're getting it for him!!

It's just something they really enjoy doing and they love seeing the smiles they get from Miles when he sees the gifts!!

-> 𝐇𝐔𝐒𝐇.

miles morales x reader

-> u like to buy ur cutie patootie bf miles expensive gifts and he's like aw :(

-> btw guys i do other characters LOL i kinda wanna try writing for hobie!! i've been trying to research british slang but i can't stop laughing (it's the AMERICAN 🤓🇺🇲🔥🔫 in me i swear)

you and your boyfriend miles were walking along the streets of brooklyn, occasionally stopping for snacks or to observe the stores placed amongst each other. you held his hand and he held yours. this was just another after school thing you two would do.

". . . and when i walked in he was wearing my shoes! like what the hell man." miles ranted, slightly shifting the story because if he told you what actually happened he'd reveal his identity as spiderman, and that wasn't a path he wanted to go down just yet.

"pfft, that's funny. you know, if it bothers you so much i could just buy you another pair of shoes." you reply, nonchalantly.

"huh? no way! that's your money, besides, you already bought me enough stuff."

"i gifted you stuff," you corrected, before joking once more, "you deserve it anyway! i mean, c'mon miles be grateful."

"i am grateful! i just feel bad, you know, they're all so expensive." he defends.

"name ONE gift that was expensive."

"the ohuhu marker set!"

it was miles' birthday and you were at his dorm for a small celebration, just the two of you [ ganke left because he didn't wanna third-wheel. ] so, you two were just sitting on the floor as he opened the carefully wrapped gift.

"so, how's being fifteen so far?" you make small talk, while a pit of happiness boils inside of you as you can't wait for his reaction to the gift you got him.

"totally fun. can't wait to do adult stuff." he laughs, and just as he finishes his sentence he sees a black bag with markers in them, specifically 216 markers. it was a set that cost roughly $170.00.

"oh my god!" he stands up, that's the reaction hoped for, "these are so cool." he rushes to pull you up, kissing you on your lips, holding a side of your face with his hand.

"how much were they?"

"don't worry! it's your birthday you deserve it." you pull him into your arms, embracing him.

"i looked it up when you left and they were almost $200!"

"you're worth more than $200 miles."

"aw," he leans his head on your shoulder as you both continue to walk down the street. "wait! what about that other time, when you got me a camera.”

it was summer time, you and miles walked into a random electronics store. as you both observed the different assortments of cameras, miles picked one of them up, a small, old digicam.

"my uncle used to have one of these." he says, as he moves the camera around in his hand to look at the many details on the camcorder. over the few months you've been dating, you noticed the admiration he had for his uncle, he even mentioned going down under the subway tracks to graffiti on the walls.

"do you wanna get it?"

"nah, it's $40. let's go get lunch, i'm starving."

"wait! but you like it right? i could get it for you, if you want."

"what! no way, i should be the one spoiling you." he wraps his arm around your waist.

you both eventually walked out the store, but later, for christmas that year, you gave it him as an early gift. miles felt like crying, not a sad cry, more like, 'i've never felt more appreciated in my life i love you so much' kind of cry. he couldn't stop hugging and kissing you that day.

"the camera was a gift for both of us." you rolled your eyes, "i just gave it to you to hold, indefinitely!"

miles gives you a look, "whatever, you know i'd love anything you give me, regardless of price."

[ellana-ravenwood]

Why don’t you visit my dreams anymore ? - Jason Todd x fem!reader

Synopsis : A story about grief, and how to (try to) overcome the pain of losing a loved one. 

Please, do not repost my stories anywhere else, under any other form. Do not translate and then repost them either. Thank you.

My masterlists : @ella-ravenwood-archives​

__________________________________________________

Jason had been your first love. And you were sure he would be your last. It was impossible to replace someone like Jason Todd. 

Never before did you love someone like you loved him. 

And oh, oh he loved you back so beautifully. 

Some would say it was a young and silly love, that you were both still too young to be sure you had found “the one”. After all, it was rare for people to stay forever with their high school sweetheart. 

But you both felt it. You were both adamant that this was it. You’d never find someone else, who could love you as deeply as he did, and vice versa. 

True love, it was. 

And whomever saw you two together, couldn’t doubt that. 

And so what if you were just fifteen ? (Almost sixteen !) It was just so obvious to you two, that you were destined to be together. Your relationship was still young, but you had always been best friends, since as long as you can remember. And things were still very much at the “teenage cutesy love” stage, but it was such a profound love. 

Your love was the kind of love that happens once every century, the kind that is so strong and deep, it inspires great stories that will never be forgotten. 

That’s how it felt to you. 

Forever. 

Only, Jason’s forever was cut short. One night, you received a call from Alfred...

“Master Jason is gone.” From the way the butler’s voice cracked, there was no doubt in your mind what this meant. Never before, did you feel such a visceral pain. 

DENIAL

“No. You’re wrong. It’s not possible ! Why are you lying to me, Alfred ?”

“Lady (Y/N) I-” 

There’s a short pause, and a tiny sliver of hope grows in your heart. Yes. This must be a joke. A sick joke, yes, but maybe this was just that “British humor” so many people spoke of ? 

“Lady (Y/N), I’m sorry. I do not know what to say...” 

Alfred ? Speechless ? No. 

“This is not possible. He can’t be gone. We’re supposed to celebrate his birthday next week. I bought him a gift. How can I give it to him, if he’s gone ? He can’t be. You’re lying.” 

Complete refusal. This wasn’t possible. Your Jason would never leave you. He would never. HE WAS JUST FIFTEEN !! 

“I’m sorry...” You hear again, before slamming your phone against the wall. You didn’t want to hear any of it. Those were blatant lies. You didn’t have time to waste with that. 

Decidedly, you put a coat on, and went to Wayne Manor. 

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

You never even rung the door. 

When you arrived, you felt a certain vibe. Like something was not right. Like something was missing. 

Someone, was missing. 

There was light in the library room. A place you knew for a fact, only Jason used. And once again, you felt hope. Those dark feelings were just your imagination ! You were going to run up to the window, and scare the hell out of him by tapping on it ! Now that, would be an actual funny joke. 

Not like the one Alfred made. 

A smile on your face, you go on your tip-toes, and you peek into the room and-

It’s not Jason. 

It’s his dad. 

He’s sitting in that same armchair Jason always sits in. He holds the blanket Jason always wrapped around himself while reading, and he-

He holds it against his face. And you don’t have to see it to know that the man is crying. 

Bruce Wayne is crying. 

This isn’t a joke. 

Jason is really gone. 

But in dreams 

You cry yourself to sleep, of course. But then-

Then a miracle happens. Because he’s there, right in front of you. And he reaches a hand towards your tears...He touches your face. Wipes the tear away.

“You’re really here.” 

You tell him, and he smiles at you. But it’s a sad smile, one full of guilt and regrets. One that you’re not used to see on his face. 

“I’m sorry (Y/N), but I’m not really here. This is a dream.” 

“Don’t say that.” 

“It’s the truth...I don’t really know how I came here. I just really wanted to see you one last time.”

“Don’t say that, Jason. Please.” 

“You know, if I had become a grown up, I would have married you. I mean it. I don’t think the day would happen, that I would stop loving you.” 

“Why are you telling me this ? You can be such a jerk...”

You turn away, tears once again welling up in your eyes. Your heart is bleeding, and in that dream, you’re not sure whether it’s literally, figuratively, or metaphorically. It’s confusing. But he’s here. He’s here. 

“It’s just- I don’t know if I’ll be able to come back. I have so much I want to tell you. I have so much-”

“Stop it !” 

You throw your arms around him, and squeeze him against yourself. Not about to let go. You don’t want to ever go. He doesn’t finish his sentence, sighs, and squeeze you back. 

“Guess I’ll just have to come back...” 

He says, and then you don’t remember what happens. You just wake up in your bed, and the overwhelming feeling of sadness almost gets the better of you...

ANGER

Why you ? This wasn’t fair. THIS WASN’T FAIR ! Everywhere, you see him. He’s all over the news, and everyone talks about this “tragedy”. 

None of them knew him. None of them. Journalists want to talk to you, as it was known you were his girlfriend...But then, they suddenly disappear, and you’re sure it’s thanks to Bruce. 

Bruce. 

You used to spend a lot of time at the Manor. When you lost Jason, you also ended up losing his dad and Alfred, who had become akin to a family for you too, who never really had one.

That’s how it clicked so fast between you and Jason.

Two children who had to grow up too fast. But you were both lucky. He was adopted by Bruce, and you by the most wonderful parents you could hope for. After all the hardship you went through together, you deserved a happy ending !

So this wasn’t fair. THIS WASN’T FAIR !! 

You were pretty sure you had always loved Jason, even if, when you were children, you never realized it. The feelings weren’t the same, of course, being kids. It’s only recently you admitted to loving each others...Only recently...

Too soon. It was too soon ! You barely had anytime together ! 

You were so damn angry. At everything and everyone. You started to isolate yourself, not talking to your parents, or to any of your friends. 

You lost your appetite, you lost sleep (which was a nightmare, as only during your sleep could you see him again), you lost all will to do anything. 

And you were so angry, all the time. Angry about everything. 

But most of all, you were angry at Bruce Wayne. He didn’t even call you, or come see you !! You thought he cared about you, you thought he-He was Jason’s dad. You were close because of that. And he didn’t even tell you himself. He didn’t even come see you !! 

You could talk about Jason together, or reminisce good times. He could tell you exactly what happened, as the explanation you got were somewhat shady. He could- Why didn’t he want to talk to you ?? 

So angry. So angry it hurts. It hurts...

You couldn’t wait to be asleep, so Jason would visit you again. You knew he would come. He came to you every night. And then, then you could pretend like none of this was real. Like he was alive and well. You talked, kissed sometimes, and just enjoyed each other’s presence...It was such bliss. 

So much better than this waking nightmare, in which you felt so alone. 

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

Bruce couldn’t face you. 

He felt so guilty, and angry at himself. He was the reason Jason died. He was the reason Jason died !! The boy was just fifteen !! HE WAS JUST FIFTEEN !! 

He had such a long life ahead of him. With you at his side. Bruce’s boy always talked to him so much about you...

Ever since he first came in his life. You used to be “his best friend (Y/N)”, the “most wonderful person on earth !”. And then one day, you became his girlfriend, and Bruce saw his kid smile so much. He almost believed-

He almost believed he succeeded. That Jason wouldn’t be like him, that he would have a better life, that he would be allowed to be happy. 

And then he got killed. Because of him, because he let him be “Robin”.

Fifteen. 

His boy was just fifteen...

BARGAINING 

You could see him in dreams. 

Surely, it meant he wasn’t truly gone, right ? 

“My life for his !” You’d ask-Anyone. Anything. 

God. Gods. Entities. Any higher powers who could help you. 

They could take you, if they brought him back. They could-

But then, he would be in your place. He would be the one suffering. And you couldn’t bear that very thought. You couldn’t- 

“Please. Please just, make my dreams last longer. Or make it so I never wake up again, and I can stay with him forever. Please. I beg of you...” 

DEPRESSION

It lasted a long time. A year or two. 

You just, went by. 

Feeling numb, tired, hopeless, helpless. 

You lost all perspective of a future. Everything was a struggle, and living in a world without Jason felt like torture. 

It was as if you just floated through life. High school graduation came, and you had no memory of it. You weren’t planning on going to college. And those past two years, were spend mostly alone...You hated how people looked at you with pity. You hated it. 

One year. Two years. It had already been two years, since you lost Jason. Time was suppose to heal all wounds, no ? Absolute bullshit. It felt as difficult and hurtful as when you first received that phone call. 

Jason was gone. How could you ever feel happy again ? 

It was only at night, that things felt right again. You’d spend a lot of your time sleeping, because Jason would visit you every single time. He would come in your dreams. 

He said he shouldn’t, that you had to move on. He said he should stay away...But he couldn’t. He didn’t have the heart to never see you again. He couldn’t leave you alone, he said. 

Yet whenever you would wake up, and come back to reality...He wouldn’t be there. 

He would never be there again. 

And then one day, Bruce Wayne knocked on your door. You would learn later, that your parents called him for help, hoping he could bring you some comfort as you both went through the same kind of pain...

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

“Jason would’ve-He would’ve liked for you to have this.”

It were journals. About ten of them.  

Jason’s diaries...You knew he wrote, a lot. You knew. But you never imagined you’d be able to read those. 

Bruce knew, that by giving you those journals, he would reveal his secret identity. But he felt he owed you that much. That you needed the closure. 

You needed to know it was his fault. Bruce, in a way, was trying to punish himself. If you hated him enough, then maybe it would makes things right. Maybe you’d be able to move on. 

He stayed with you, as you read pages and pages of Jason’s neat handwriting. Most pages had a least one paragraph about you. From age 8, and his approximative writing, to age 15, dated on the day of his death...he talked at least once about you, every single day. 

It made you heart so warm. 

Ah. It’s as if you almost forgot, so obnubilated by your dreams. But your Jason was so full of life, and love, and kindness. He was so-

Jason. He was the most incredible man you ever met (although he would never become quite a man). He was-

Tears. But this time, it wasn’t as much tears of sadness, as it was relief. Happiness. Born from countless good memories, and the knowledge that you would never forget him. 

You would love Jason Todd forever. You knew that. He couldn’t fully leave your heart. 

“Thank you.” 

You say, and Bruce is confused. He was so sure you would hate him ! After all, it’s because he was Batman, that his son died ! 

“Thank you for giving him the love every child should have from a parent. And for giving him a home. For taking care of him.” 

He feels his throat squeeze painfully. No. No this wasn’t- How could you look at him with such a gentle smile ? 

Holding Jason’s last journal against your heart, you dried some of your tears before saying : 

“It really sounded like, he was so happy with you. So, thank you. Thank you so much for being there for him. Thank you, Bruce.” 

What is this ? Why are you being so kind to him ? He’s-He’s the reason his boy died ! He doesn’t deserve your thanks. He doesn’t-

He feels the tears welling up in his own eyes, as he stares at you in disbelief.

And you understand. You know how he feels, how he thinks it’s his fault. You know. But you cannot hate him. Because he did, love and care for Jason. And he did, give many great years in a warm home to him. And-

You were certain he couldn’t stop Jason. Your boyfriend was born to help others, you always knew it. He couldn't stop him from becoming Robin. On the contrary, letting him take that mantel fulfilled Jason’s true purpose, you were sure of it.

The fact the man came all this way here, fighting his own grief, just in the hope to make you feel better. To actually save you, and help you move on...It was enough for you. Even now, Bruce still looked out for Jason. 

Because of course, Jason would hate for you to be so sad. He told you himself, in your dreams. He couldn’t bear to see you sad, defeated, heartbroken...He said he would do something for you and-

Ah. Did he send his dad for you ? Did he visit him in a dream, and ask for him to give you his journals ? That was entirely possible. After all, it’s been two years since every single night, your dead boyfriend would invite himself in your dreams. 

And you were sure it was him, and not just a figment of your imagination. Call it a gut feeling. The world had seen weirder things...

Yes. 

Hating Bruce wasn’t the way, you knew it. 

And ah, little did you know that this knowledge lodged in your heart would one day save a certain man wearing a Red Hood... (but that’s, for another story ;))

ACCEPTANCE

“Why don’t you visit my dreams, anymore ? 

Please. Come back. I love you. I miss you.” 

It’s been weeks, and weeks, and weeks. He hasn't come back to your dreams, and it felt like this time- 

He was truly gone. 

“Why don’t you visit my dreams, anymore ?” 

A question you’d ask yourself many times. Was it because you finally started to find some peace ? Because you finally started to heal, in a way ? 

You could never truly heal. You would never forget him. But you felt like...You still had a lot to live for. That he would’ve wanted you to keep goin. After all, he told you himself, in your dreams. 

But he wasn’t coming anymore. Was he trying to finally let you move on ? Was he sacrificing his own wish to see you, so you could move forward with your life ? 

Could be. Or maybe it really were all dreams, and you finally accepting his death unlocked something in your subconscious, that made it think you didn’t need to see him anymore ? 

But you missed him. So much. 

“Why don’t you visit my dreams, anymore ?” 

A question that would remained unanswered...For now. 

A love that transcend death. 

Finals week. 

After Bruce’s visit, you finally slowly came out of your depression. Finally slowly came out to the world again. 

And you applied for Gotham’s college, hoping to get a degree in forensics (maybe feeling a little inspired by a certain “Batman”). You wanted to keep Jason’s legacy on, you would carry the torch for him. 

Jason never got to grow old, never got to do so many things...You felt like i was your duty, to also live for him. 

And so, that’s why you were coming home very late that night, after you spend hours and hours at the library, studying. You had to nail those finals ! 

Maybe that’s why you didn’t notice those less than amenable men walking towards you ? Engrossed in your revision, you only saw them too late. 

But of course. A mugging in Gotham City. How original. 

However, before they could even utter a word to you, a big red mass fall on them. 

You didn’t have any other words to describe what just happened. It really felt like a giant in red just stomped their face. 

Said giant turns to you, and you know you should feel fear, yet-

You recognize that stance. The way those hands lay on his sides. And though you cannot see his face, as he’s wearing a mask, you know the shape of his eyes, as he looks at you. 

You know who this is. It seems impossible, and yet...The world has seen weirder things, right ? 

Explanations would come later. Or never, really. They were not important, right now. 

“Ah...That’s why you disappeared from my dreams.” 

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

In the night, two silhouettes runs towards each other. 

Their hands find each other, their lips too. 

A tight embrace between two beings who had always been destined to be together, so much so that even death couldn’t keep them away from each other forever. 

Because their love, was forever. 

In the night. 

Two silhouettes embracing each other, never letting go again. 

And this time, it wasn’t just a dream. 

__________________________________________________

Here we are. Wrote fast (didn’t re-read myself or I wouldn’t post it..), not very well in a way, but I hope you still liked it. Yes. A short story I felt like writing, as I had a dream about someone I lost long ago, and it felt so nice, to see them in my dream, that...here we are :).

I hope you liked it. Comments and reblogs are always welcomed, as per usual. 

[slasher-male-wife]

What slashers do on their s/o's birthday

So today is my birthday. I'm officially 17 and I wanted to celebrate with a fic for myself and any other April babies. I hope y'all enjoy this.

Includes: Carrie White, Michael Myers, Leslie Vernon, Candyman, Norman Bates and Jesse Cromeans

Warnings: Implied stalking in Leslie's part

Carrie White

She's going to bake you whatever cake you want her to make. She's going to go all out for you on your birthday. Like she's putting effort into making this for you.

A gift from her is going to be a special birthday outfit that she made. She had you pick out the pattern and the fabric beforehand and gives it to you to wear on your birthday.

Also probably makes you a card. That or she writes a very heart felt note in a card she bought in her cursive hand writing.

She's also cooking you your favorite dinner. Whatever it is you want she'll make it for you. She's never had a special birthday that she got to celebrate so she wants to make it special for you.

I also feel like she'd be more open to physical affection on your birthday. She's a more reserved person so her holding you hand or giving you a kiss on the cheek is a big deal to her, but she's doing it because you mean so much to her.

Michael Myers

Might not remember that it's your birthday. He's a kind of busy guy who's already doing a lot by not killing you and being your boyfriend so he doesn't think it's a big deal if he forgets.

He in general doesn't understand why people celebrate birthdays. He thinks it's a little dumb but he's not going to say that, or really anything, to you.

When you remind him, he goes out and steals a gift for you. Something he's heard you mention before. Most likely from someones house. But if he's feeling like it he might steal it from a store.

If you're really close to him he'll put a tag with his name on it. It's going to be horrible hand writing that you could barely read but him writing "from Michael" is something really special.

If you have a cake on your birthday he'll happily eat some with you. Depending on how close you are, he might lift up his mask and eat it in the same room as you but it really depends on how long he's known you.

Leslie Vernon

He's been planning this since he first laid his eyes on you. At first you were going to be a victim but he ended up catching feelings for you and now you're dating. But that hasn't stopped him from learning everything about you.

He's going to be a bit of an asshole and act like he doesn't know that it's your birthday. He's going to act like it's a normal day and ask you to go out and get something so he can set up a surprise for you.

That surprise being something that you've wanted for a very long time. Whatever it is he finds a way to get it for you and sets it up while you're out of the house.

Also buys you a cake. He tried to make one himself but he was so bad at it that he had to throw it away and clean up half the kitchen.

He also does try to scare you a little bit. He just likes scaring people and you're one of them. He's sorry about it afterwards if you didn't like it but he thought it would be funny.

Candy man

He doesn't know his birthday, even if he did when he was alive he'd probably forget it by now. But he always remembers your birthday, for as long as you're with him he'll remember it.

I feel like he didn't know how to write when he was alive but in the afterlife he learned how to, meaning he's going to write you a lengthy love poem. He's going to be detailing everything he loves about you in this poem and more.

He's also getting you flowers, partly because of his bees, partly because he's a classic romantic. He's not getting you just any flowers either. He's stealing you your favorite flowers.

He's also taking you out on a date. A non-traditional one because, well he's an undead man who has supernatural powers. But it's still nice. Probably a walk around at night somewhere romantic.

I feel like he doesn't eat food because he doesn't need to but if you have cake for your birthday he's happy to sit with you and enjoy it together.

Norman Bates

He has your birthday marked on his calendar the moment he realizes that he loves you. He double checks before writing it down on his calendar and having a countdown.

He's going to make you breakfast in bed. Whatever your favorite breakfast foods are he's going to make them for you and serve you in bed, but he's going to stress not to get crumbs on the bed.

Like Leslie he's getting you a special gift that you've been talking a lot about. Anything that you really want he's going to get for you one way or another.

He's probably going to buy you a cake. He might make one and if he does it turns out pretty good because it was his mothers recipe. But he might get too anxious to actually do that so he's going to most likely buy a cake for you.

Like Carrie he's going to be more physically affectionate too. He'll be pretty nervous the first time he holds your hand for an extended period of time but he ends up craving more physical affection.

Jesse Cromeans

He's going to spoil you the entire day, no matter if you want him to or not. This man has money to burn he's not going to let you act like you don't deserve to be treated.

He either buys you gifts you've wanted or just gives you a ton of money to go shopping with him. He'll probably find some subtle way to ask you before your birthday and plan according to that.

He also takes you out to whatever fancy restaurant you want to go to. He's a rich and powerful man so he can get his assistant to get you two a table at whatever restaurant you want to go to.

If you want a cake for your birthday he gets the best bakery nearby to make you one according to your exact desires. He writes down exactly what you want and has his assistant help with getting it done.

You know how people put cash in cards for your birthday? Jesse stuffs way too much cash in your card. As if all of what he's doing today isn't enough, you're getting at least 3,000 dollars in your birthday card.

[chrisbitchtree]

It may be my birthday, but I have a little gift for you all instead! Enjoy!

***

Billy knows that Steve’s love for him is unconditional, just like his love for Steve is. He also knows that Steve doesn’t need big shiny tokens of Billy’s affection to feel that love.

He likes simple things. Home cooked dinners, massages, Billy’s hand knitted scarves for Christmas every year, all carefully tucked away in their own special drawer when not in use.

That never stops Billy from trying to do the most possible every year for Steve’s birthday. Take, for example, Steve’s 21st, the last birthday before they moved out of Hawkins, heading west, when Billy planned a massive scavenger hunt that took Steve to all their special places, or his 25th, when Billy had convinced him he’d tone down the birthday plans for once, only to have Robin and Dustin fly in from New York, where they were both going to school at the time, for the occasion. They’d went to a Dodgers game, then to dinner and a karaoke bar, and had the time of their lives.

This year, Billy was planning to bigger than ever, literally, with a chocolate cake comprised of ten small tiers. Three months ago, Billy had bought a ring, planning to ask Steve a question on his 30th birthday that he should have asked him long ago. They’ve talked about taking the next step together plenty of times, but it’s just never happened, so Billy’s taking his chance now.

The plan is to construct such a ridiculous cake that Steve’ll think that’s the big surprise, and he’ll never see the proposal coming. The idea to put the ring in the cake comes later, when Billy thinks of his childhood birthdays, his mom baking coins into the cake for him to find.

What’s stopping him from wrapping the ring in tinfoil and baking it into the top tier? It turns out nothing is, so he does it, proud of his genius when all the layers come out perfectly. You’d never be able to tell that there was an engagement ring in one of them.

That becomes a problem when Billy loses track of which layer has the ring in it. He’s sure it’s the one cooling next to the sink, but it could also be the one cooling on the table, or one of the ones on the coffee table.

He finally decides it has to be the one next to the stove. It has to be. He’s sure of it after lifting them all, trying to detect the little bit of added weight.

He frosts the cake, pleased with how perfectly straight it is, then he showers and gets dressed. Steve unfortunately works on his birthday this year, so Billy picks him up and they head to the restaurant from there.

He tries to act normal through dinner, but his palms are sweating and his heart is beating fast from a combination of nerves about proposing and fear that the ring isn’t in the top layer.

Thankfully Steve doesn’t seem to notice, focusing instead on the delicious mashed potatoes and the couple at the next table who may or may not be breaking up right in front of them. It’s a welcome distraction.

They get home, refrigerating the leftovers, and Billy pulls out the cake. Steve oohs and ahhs at the height of it before blowing out the candles and giving Billy a kiss of thanks.

Billy serves Steve the topmost layer and himself the one below and waits. And waits some more. Waits until Steve finishes the whole small layer.

Either Steve’s playing it really cool right now or Billy’s royally fucked things up. He looks at Steve’s empty plate, then at the remaining eight layers.

Before he can think of what to do, Steve speaks, taking Billy’s hand in his own. “Thank you so much, babe. I know every year I tell you not to do anything big and every year you don’t listen, and I should know that by now, but you somehow still manage to surprise me. You’re the best partner that a man could ever ask for.”

Oh god, Steve’s now slipping down onto the floor on one knee, still holding onto Billy’s hand.

“You’re kind, funny, compassionate, and incredibly thoughtful. We’ve been to hell and back and I’m so glad we’ve been through each other’s sides by all of it. I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else.”

Now he’s reaching into his pocket. Oh no, this couldn’t be going any worse. But it also couldn’t be going any better. Steve wants to marry him! He wants to spend his life with Billy!

“Billy, will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?”

Billy nods, tears springing to his eyes as Steve slips the beautiful black band onto Billy’s finger. Then, the laughter starts as Steve stands up and kisses him. He giggles helplessly against Steve’s lips.

Steve pulls back and looks at Billy questioningly, a smile on his face. “What’s so funny, babe?”

Billy just laughs harder, having to take a couple minutes to compose himself before he can respond. Finally, he can speak. “Soooo, I really fucked things up today. There’s a ring for you somewhere in that cake, wrapped in tinfoil. I thought it would be such a great surprise to have you find it in your piece of cake. But then I lost track of what layer it’s in. I was going to have our friends over tomorrow to celebrate our engagement and eat the rest of the cake, but now the plan’s all ruined because I’m an idiot.”

Steve laughs, pulling Billy into a hug and kissing his cheek. “You’re not an idiot, babe. That was incredibly sweet of you, and I can definitely say I’m still surprised! Can you grab me one of the shish-kabob skewers from the kitchen.”

Billy’s confused, but does what he says, returning quickly with it.

Steve takes it from him and starts sliding it down through the layers, and fuck, why didn’t Billy think of that? It doesn’t take him long at all to find it, and they carefully lift the layers on top of the one it’s hiding in before cutting it out.

And now they each have a ring, a symbol of their love for each other, and a funny story to tell to boot. In retrospect, this night couldn’t have gone any better if Billy had tried.

[running-with-the-feels]

Johnny Cage starts giving people birthday presents (possibly making up birthdays when they don't know or won't tell him.) What does he get everyone, and what does everyone bring to the surprise party they have when it's his birthday? (Of course they let him think they forgot/ don't know/ don't care)

ooooooo, I like how you think

Kuai Liang: A snow cone machine (Johnny is prepared to run for his life only to be terrified when Kuai Liang starts laughing and genuinely thanks him for it) Kuai Liang also doesn't remember his birthday (yet) so Johnny makes one up for him.

Hanzo: Johnny managed to track down a sword that had famously belonged to the Shirai Ryu and bought it off a collector, returning it to Hanzo privately rather than putting on a show like he normally does. Had to get Hanzo's bday from Takeda

Sonya: when they're married, all the kisses she wants along with her favorite type of coffee grounds, in a year's supply. After the divorce, just the coffee.

Jax: Fancy metal polish for his arms, Johnny thinks he's funny (Jax actually really likes it tho bc it does actually work and helps keep the scratches on his prosthetics from showing, and the fact that Johnny doesn't get all squeamish about the prosthetics like most people do is an added bonus)

Liu Kang: A new headband embroidered with flames at the ends. Liu Kang actually really likes it as his old one was getting worn out and it's easier to accept a practical gift than a frivolous one.

Kung Lao: Also metal polish for his hat, as well as a copy of the screenplay he wrote about Kung Lao's family legacy. Kung Lao expects it to be terrible, so he ends up shocked to find that it is a heart wrenching and emotional tale about the weight of such a family legacy and how hard every last one of his ancestors fought to defend their realm, ending with him (bc he didn't die NRS fu, or at least, he and all the other revenants get brought back with Jax Scorpion and Sub-Zero also bc fu nrs) and the acknowledgement of his skill and the pressure he's always been under nearly brings him to tears. When he gives Johnny the greenlight to make the movie, Kung Lao gets the leading role.

Kitana: A collection of Earthrealm snacks and beverages from around the world so that she can get a chance to experience it.

Jade: A jaguar carved from jade that she treasures, as it reminds her of Kotal

Kotal: Another jaguar carved from jade so that he and his girlfriend can match

Bi-Han: a nightlight, bc again, he thinks he's funny, along with all the kisses Bi-Han wants (which is a lot of them the man is Tactile)

Sareena: A bunch of Earthrealm movies bc she wants to explore the world and all the kisses she wants

Raiden: A trip to the spa in the hopes it will get the god to relax

Fujin: Also a trip to the spa, as thanks for dealing with his brother

Nightwolf: Tracks down a couple of stolen Matoka artifacts and "convinces" the collectors to return them to their rightful owners (he does this year round tho, so he also gives Nightwolf a new whetstone for his axes, just to make it a proper b-day gift)

Smoke: Smoke also doesn't remember his birthday, only that his name is Czech and he was found in Prague. Johnny gives him a book on the Czech language and offers to fly him to prague whenever he wants.

Kung Jin: A collection of Outworld delicacies bc he knows the archer misses them

Cassie: Anything she wants, she's his little princess and she Will be pampered.

Takeda: A copy of Carrie signed by steven king as it's Takeda's fav book (sudden telepathy and telekinesis + parental issues, sign him up)

Jacqui: A display case for all the medals she's earned in kombat, so that she can show them off and be proud of her accomplishments, even if Jax can't face them.

Frost: a set of throwing knives that she can terrorize people with, all in bright colours that have Kuai Liang groaning bc they're not stealthy but she is going to refuse to use anything else. Frost is Delighted by this

Lemme know if I missed anyone and I'll add them in.

[halfpricedpages]

I need to speak about things and i'm not sure where to start or how to do it but I need to get the words out.

trigger warning. the following contains discussion of SA

i've been thinking so much about the allegations that have been made against male content creators in the past month and it makes me want to vomit. It makes me infuriated that someone would think that they had the right to do something so horrible. i'm going to tell you a story. it is not a happy one.

when people say "not all men" I think back to the night of November 9th 2020. my sibling came into my dads room where I was sitting. I think I was doing math homework.

"we need to leave" they told me. pack some clothes, get your shoes on, etc.

"Why? what's wrong?"

"ill tell you later"

I don't remember the exact thing they said to me in that room after that but it was something about how the man down stairs sitting in the living room watching TV on the couch had done something unforgivable.

ten minutes later I was walking down the street to my godmothers with my sibling and our friends, carrying a Tupperware container filled with hot Mac n cheese. it burned my arms.

on November 9th 2020, I learned that a man who I had been living with since I was five or six, had molested me. a man who I considered family because we were so close. a man who took me to seven eleven and bought me birthday gifts. a man who took my soul.

when people don't believe victims because they think people speak up because of clout I find it so ridiculous because why would you lie about that.

why would you lie about the nightmares. the guilt. the shame. why would you lie about the feeling that your body isn't yours. why would you lie about feeling so fucking dirty all the time and not being able to wash it away. why would you lie.

you wouldn't.

some people do lie and that is truly horrible but having people call bullshit on caitibugzz and shubble and every other person coming out with their stories is bullshit.

it is not for clout it is for awareness. it is so people feel less alone and gain the courage to speak up and share the stories that they have every right to share.

sexual assault Is not funny. it is not a joke. it should not be taken lightly.

if you've never experienced it then I am so happy for you but you will never understand how it feels and if you really think you're allowed to call bullshit on someone else's story then you're a piece of shit.

to anyone who has been taken advantage of I want to say I see you, I hear you, I believe you, and I am you. we did not deserve to have something so valuable taken from us. we did not deserve someone else's hands wrongly on our bodies. we did not deserve to be stripped of our souls.

a very insincere fuck you to gage and any other man that thought it was okay to hurt someone.

(sorry if there's any like punctuation mistakes or spelling or grammar but I couldn't care less to edit this )

[richmonds-disaster-bi]

Feel better after your MRI. I had this idea for your Charlie Tartt fic: Roy starts to secretly take videos and pictures of Jaime being his most tender and dad-like to his little brother, like pictures of Jaime holding him and smiling down at Charlie with the deepest love, or funny videos of Jaime and Charlie having 'arguments' with the baby babbling and Jaime prattling on in reply, or Charlie learning how to crawl and being able to lift his little head for a bit before plopping back down, Jaime mimicking him and being so encouraging. What Roy doesn't know is that Jaime's doing the same thing, capturing moments of Roy being a full on being Charlie's other dad, like wearing one of the shirts Jaime bought that has a built in baby pouch, teaching him how to growl, giving Charlie's tummy raspberries and smiling that rare smile that puts the sun to shame. They take plenty of videos and picture of Charlie with the Richmond fam as well. For Charlie's 6 month birthday, they surprise each other with a massive full compilation of loving moments. It's as they are watching that everyone knows that it's gonna be Roy and Jaime forever, for Charlie and each other.

Thank you anon! Sorry for the delay, it's been a busy two weeks between the MRI and moving this week. I had previously fracture a bone in my wrist and was still experiencing pain when it should have healed. Luckily the MRI showed less damage than we were expecting and it was all good! Just a bit of still strained ligament that's healing very well!

ANON THIS IDEA HAS ME JUST AKDJDJ

Roy and Jamie both trying to be sneaky with taking pictures and videos of the other. They're both hopeless dorks, figuring out their feelings and how to do this qnd they don't know fully how to express it with words so they express it with pictures and memories of each other with their favourite little man

Roy wants Jamie to have these memories for the days that Jamie thinks he is doing the wrong thing, for the days Jamie is exhausted and overwhelmed and looks at Roy with teary eyes and asks if Charlie would be better off with someone else. He wants to be able to show Jamie the way Charlie has always lit up when he heard Jamies voice as a baby and how he is always reaching for him. Show him all the moments of Jamie baby talking with a smiley Charlie and just being the best parent he could ever be to Charlie

Similarly, Jamie wants to show Roy that there is no one better to be Charlies other parent than Roy. He wants Roy to see that he is more than Roy Kent the grumpy ex-footballer, qnd thatits okay to be soft. He loves watching Roy melt with Charlie, the smile he gets, the way he's so soft and careful with Charlie. His gift is filled with pics of Roy making coffee with a sleepy Charlie cuddled into him or Roy with Charlie strapped to his chest holding up a sing with a whistle on it cause Roy didn't want to yell and wake Charlie

And it's so obvious to everyone around them that Roy and Jamie are end game. That there is no body better for the boys than each other, and that Charlie is going to grow up so loved and wanted and happy with them to make sure he gets everything and more he deserves in lofe

[cellard0ors]

(A Full Deck Series one-shot that's been rolling around in my head for some time)

The year is 1994.

Travis is almost thirty years old. Chris is early into his twenties. It would almost be a funny thing...the fact Chris has fallen in love so deeply around the exact same age Travis did when he first fell in love.

Now, granted, once Chris turned seventeen he fell in love all the time. He has had a plethora of girlfriends. Travis has only had one...the one. Laura. The girl that got away. Or disappeared. Or...

Travis doesn't like to think of the last one. To be honest, at this point, he doesn't like to think of her at all. It still hurts too much. How can it still hurts so much?

But it does.

Regardless, he does his best not to think about it, not to talk about it. Yes, Travis does still tap into some off-the-clock detective work in her regard, but that's only to solve the mystery.

That's all.

...he doesn't...

He doesn't love her anymore.

That would be pathetic.

Especially if she just up and left him.

So, yeah - funny. Funny that the perpetually in love Christopher is now in his twenties and head-over-heels for a girl so much that he walks up to Travis's newly bought home and knocks on the front door hard and with grim set determination.

Funny as he looks Travis dead in the eyes and roughly asks, "Where is it?"

Travis, having just gotten off a twelve hour shift, is bone tired and in no mood to deal with Chris as he grumbles, "Where's what?"

"You know what!" Chris cries and shoulders past Travis into his home. The stark little house doesn't have much in it, yet Chris tears through drawers and cabinets like a madman while Travis just glares at him, "No, I don't know. Also, it might've been nice if you said 'hello' or 'nice to see you' or 'I missed you' before barging in and going through my stuff.'

"I'm going through your stuff because I know you have it and you know I want it!" Chris snaps and sometimes Travis tries to remember when his younger sibling looked at him with admiration. With love.

It feels like a lifetime ago, albeit it only really started once Chris's hormones began to really kick in and he began taking notice of girls. Notice enough that he now whirls on Travis and sighs in annoyance, flapping his arms, "C'mon man, Amelia deserves it!"

"...Amelia-?" Travis is confused because, yes, of course he knows the (current) love of Chris's life, but he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Chris enlightens him, "The ring, Travis! The family ring! Great-great grandma Moria's wedding ring! The one passed down through the family? Ma wore it for a time, but then Dad passed it to you when you turned eighteen..."

He trails off, but he doesn't need to. Travis knows the ring. He remembers that birthday well. It was the only time he'd ever received a truly meaningful gift from his father.

The ring went to the eldest son when he turned eighteen. Whether his parents liked it or not, he is the eldest son. And, being true Hackett's, they couldn't turn their back on family tradition.

Even if they wanted to.

And Travis is sure they wanted to.

Chris, it seems, is more than fine with bucking the tradition as he rubs at his face, growling and then, sucking in a deep inhale as if to calm himself, looks at Travis with sincere brown eyes, "Look, I know who you wanted it for."

Travis feels as if his younger sibling has struck him.

Just that sentence alone.

But one hit isn't enough, as Chris continues, "But, T...you gotta know by now...she ain't coming back."

Travis is tired. That's why he stumbles. That's why he falls back against his kitchen counter, using it to stand up, to prop himself. He just worked twelve hours straight. It has nothing to do with what Chris is saying.

Nothing at all.

It's not why his legs feel weak, lungs dry of air, mouth full of dust, eyes burning...and what Chris is saying...none of it is because of that...

"Look, I know you loved her and I know she meant a lot to you, but...facts are facts, brother. She's gone."

She's gone.

"She's gone and Amelia is here. And...I love her, man. I love Amelia. I'm going to make her my wife. I'm going to ask her and I want to ask her with that ring. Our family's ring."

Travis licks his lips, eyes shifting from side to side, "You don't know...maybe I'll...I'll find somebody. Someday."

I'll find her, he doesn't say, doesn't think, I'll find her.

Chris lets out a huff, "I wish you would, T. I do. But...I dunno...think you're a lil too...ah, stuck for now..."

Travis's eyes close.

He stands, but he feels like he's been knocked down. Knocked down and dragged out to sea, swept up in an undertow and it's the lack of sleep from the job, nothing else.

"So... how's about it, huh? Where's the ring?"

Travis doesn't answer.

"Look...if-if someday you actually DO find someone, I-I can give you the ring back! But for now, for my sake, for Amelia's, can you just-?'

"I don't have it." Travis states baldly. Firmly. His voice carries no emotion. It's bare. Bloodless. Empty.

He opens his eyes and looks at Chris, expression plain and devoid of anything. As if he's a robot. As if he's on autopilot, "I don't have it, Christopher. So...why don't you just go, huh? It's late."

Now Chris looks as if he's the one who's been struck. As if he never anticipated not getting exactly what he wants. Travis isn't surprised. Chris has always gotten what he's wanted before.

Especially from him.

But this is different and somehow Chris seems to know it, even as he lets out a bitter snicker, even as his eyes broadcast anger and hatred while he growls, "Yeah. Fine. You don't have it. Whatever."

He charges out, muttering obscenities beneath his breath the whole time before he slams Travis's front door behind himself.

Travis waits until he hears his brother's car engine rev up, waits until he hears him peel out, tires squealing as he zips off at an inappropriate speed before he unclenches his fists

He unclenches them and feels the sting on his palms where his nails bit in, where they drew blood. Travis pushes himself away from the kitchen counter and, on heavy wooden legs, he goes to the full length mirror in the living room.

Travis goes and taps on the frame and the mirror pulls away from a secret door, one he opens and he goes inside the tiny room behind it, goes and practically collapses into the chair at the desk there.

He pops open the top drawer and then, with a sure flick of his fingers, he pushes aside the false bottom to reveal a small black jewelry box.

Travis looks at it and his hands tremble some as he picks it up. Picks it up and carefully cracks it open. Inside is a slim, well crafted band in silver. In its center is a circular white diamond, one that twinkles with promise...

...or better to say, lost promise...

Travis carefully picks it up, rolls the delicate piece of jewelry between his thick fingers...

...it would have looked beautiful on her...

Travis licks his lips, bites the bottom one hard. The last time he saw this...

...Laura...

He sucks in a shaky breath and, sniffing, he quickly tucks the ring back into the box, putting it back into it's rightful place under the false bottom of the desk drawer.

He shuts it up, then he shuts the room up. Travis puts it all away. He trudges to his bedroom and collapses on his bed and he wishes, oh how he wishes, he could shut up his mind, his heart, as easily as he did those other things.

Travis wishes it could all be tucked away and forgotten about. The ring, the girl...all of it. But, for now, all he can do is find some respite in the insensate numbness that sleep brings.

It takes a long time to come.

[goodboylupin]

So happy to finally share my fill for the Challenges & Chill: Chills and Thrills prompt, Old Doll. You may have caught this fic when it was first published on AO3 a couple weeks ago, but now I get to claim it, to crosspost it, to have it attached to my name 🙌🏽 Have some funny, family fluff that's sweet as birthday cake.

1.5k | Rated G | Humour | Sirius Black/Remus Lupin; Regulus Black | Fluff, Canon Divergent AU, No Voldemort AU, Reconciliation, Babies, Married Wolfstar, Uncle Regulus, Regulus Lives, Dads Wolfstar

Summary: Regulus always gave the best gifts to his niece. Sure they were too expensive and arrived far too frequently, but he certainly never failed to impress! Until…

Blacks showed their affection by buying things for the people they loved.

Remus knew this. Remus befriended a Black at eleven, then married said Black at twenty-two.

Remus thought he knew this. But see, Sirius Black had always been the black sheep of his family — a trauma that was the source of many puns — and been all but adopted by the Potters when he was still quite young. Sirius had picked up other ways of expressing love from living with the most tactile family of all time. Sirius, while he did like purchasing trinkets and doodads, still preferred the more immediate of an arm around a shoulder or a hand ruffling hair (or in Remus’s case, kissing his boyfriend/fiancé/husband silly).

Then there was Regulus.

Regulus, to fill the gap Sirius left behind when he walked out of Grimmauld Place, had become the perfect Black, even more than he already had been. He always kept the stiffest of upper lips, the evilest of smirks, the shiniest of hair, the bespoke-est of robes, and a general air of superiority and indifference. A perfect Black, surrounded by perfect Selwyns and Rosiers and Crouches in Slytherin House, who spoke only in Received Pronunciation and Galleons.

For all that Sirius was reticent to discuss his home life, and especially the happy aspects of it, for all that Sirius spoke of Regulus as a hapless fool doomed to darkness like all the children who put blood supremacists on a pedestal, it was clear to anyone who really knew how to listen to Sirius that his baby brother had once been an incredibly sweet and loving little boy. Regulus had once adored his big brother, clinging to his hand like a limpet every hour of the day.

When Orion and Walburga Black had finally croaked, Regulus, as the patriarch of the oldest and richest family in wizarding Britain, was free to contact his estranged and disowned brother once more without fear of retribution. It soon became apparent that he still adored his big brother, but the little boy who could hold a hand or say a mispronounced I love you was gone.

So Regulus liked to buy Sirius a lot of stuff.

And then Sirius and Remus became parents to a baby girl. And if Regulus adored his brother, he absolutely doted on his niece, in the only way he knew how.

There was a frankly obscene amount of stuff an unimaginably wealthy man could — and did — buy his beloved niece.

(Remus had joked once that they were running out of space in their house, a bit of a gentle hint that Regulus ought to ease back on the gift-giving. To which Regulus offered to move them into one of the larger Black family properties.)

So on the day of Mimosa’s first birthday party, Remus did wonder what Regulus would get the toddler who had everything, because Regulus had bought said toddler everything.

(That wasn’t fair, Remus chastised himself. James also spoiled the baby rotten, asserting it was his right as godfather and that Sirius had been even worse with Harry. But Remus felt no compunctions rebuking James for it, so…)

Regulus arrived exactly 20 minutes after the start time on the invitations, fashionably late as was his wont. He greeted Remus with a firm handshake, then held out two fingers for Mimosa to do the same.

Mimosa instead stuck her uncle’s fingers in her mouth to start chewing.

“That’s not very polite, Mimsy,” Regulus said with a furrowed brow, though he made no move to pull his hand away.

Remus instead shifted her weight over so Regulus had no choice but to cradle her in his arms. “Her molars are starting to come in, I’m afraid. She’s been trying to chew on her tiara all day.”

“Well, don’t do that,” he told the baby very seriously. “Those are real diamonds, you know.”

“She knows,” Remus agreed. “It’s all right, she prefers the fingers of the people she most loves anyway.”

For a moment, just one shining fraction of a second, Regulus grinned wide and beaming, before he schooled his expression back to pleasant neutrality. 

Remus withheld a sigh. Would it really be so terrible for him to show his emotions to a baby?

He glanced around to see what Regulus brought for a birthday present, fully expecting another miniature flying car, or perhaps a unicorn.

Regulus popped his fingers out just long enough to hand Remus a gift bag that had been hanging in the crook of his elbow, the gesture somehow imperious despite the baby slobber.

“Ah, thank you, Regulus, I’ll put it on the gift table. Sirius is in the bouncy castle outside if you’d like to go over to say hello.”

“What in Merlin’s name is a bouncy castle?”

“Guess you’ll find out!” Remus tipped his head at the patio doors with a smile.

Curiosity catching the better of him, Remus checked to make sure nobody caught him peeking before carefully parting the crinkly, sparkly layers of tissue and seeing what hid beneath.

Remus yelped and dropped the bag.

Steeling himself, he picked the bag back up and took another look inside.

Yep, still the ugliest doll in the world nestled inside.

It was truly hideous: one single, beady void of a solid black eye; dingy, greyish strings of what may have once been blond hair; a stained, frayed dress that looked like it had been clawed by an animal; and most unnerving of all was the painted-on smile.

Remus placed the bag gingerly on the table, in case the demon doll was cursed. (He wasn’t being dramatic. Sirius told him half the items in his childhood home were at least lightly cursed, so the children could build natural immunity and caution. Clearly the caution-building was not successful for Sirius. For most Blacks, it allegedly developed into full-blown paranoia.) He backed away slowly, then turned and speed-walked away. 

That thing wasn’t his problem until present time.

—

“Present time!” Lily called out, lilting and melodic.

Remus huffed a sigh as all the children were corralled to sit in the living room. He took a seat beside Sirius, hoping he could very subtly hide himself behind his husband’s larger frame when the time came to present that wretched little thing in the gleaming silver bag.

It just didn’t make sense, he thought as he smiled and clapped while Sirius helped their baby girl absolutely destroy sparkly wrapping paper, oohing and aahing and keeping track in his notebook for thank you cards. Regulus had impeccable taste. Mimsy’s playroom was appointed with all manner of beautiful, elegant, usually age-appropriate and sturdy toys and figurines. Had he hit his head while shopping and turned into Knockturn Alley? Had he been attacked by a pack of feral Kneazles that chewed up the contents of his gift bag while leaving him unscathed, then been too embarrassed to tell anyone of his harrowing journey? Had the Black family abruptly fallen into bankruptcy from buying one baby frock too many, and Regulus, penniless and proud, taken a job as a fishmonger in secret, then pulled the bedraggled doll from the mouth of a sturgeon?

No, Remus shook his head. That was ridiculous. Regulus would land a job at a snooty Muggle fashion boutique before he went for something as smelly as fish mongering. Or he’d become a kept man.

“And finally!” Sirius boomed. “Last but certainly not least, from my dearest little brother and Mimsy’s favourite uncle, Regulus!”

“Her only uncle,” Regulus drawled.

“And all the more loved for it,” Sirius quipped back, then kissed the top of Mimosa’s head and refocused his attention. She pulled the tissue paper out herself and took great delight in flinging it at the ground, then let out a happy string of babbles as she pulled out the doll.

Sirius let out a little gasp, but to Remus’s shock, it wasn’t a gasp of horror or disgust or fear. No, he knew his husband, that was a gasp of great sentiment and good feeing.

“Reggie,” Sirius murmured, glassy eyed and lips quivering. “Is this Lady Friendly?”

“It is,” Regulus answered. “I found her hidden away in the attic. Cleaned her up as much as any charm could.”

“She was my absolute favourite doll,” Sirius explained, leaning his shoulder against Remus’s. “I brought her everywhere. My mother hated her because… I don’t even remember why. The day she lost her eye, mother told me she would have her sent away for repairs. I never saw her again.”

“Until today,” Remus said.

“Until today,” Sirius echoed. “And now it’s yours, Mim. Do you like it?”

Mimosa stuck the arm of the doll in her mouth.

A collective aww sounded through the room.

“Thank you so much, Regulus,” Sirius said, staring at his brother solemnly. “We love it.”

Remus agreed, even if Lady Friendly followed him with a dead-eyed gaze. He could just hide it in the cupboard when Mimosa wasn’t playing with it.

“I’m glad,” Regulus replied. He gulped hard, Adam’s apple bobbing. “I love you.”

Sirius, baby still in hand, leapt over the arm of the couch to envelop Regulus in a hug.

Remus smiled and turned the doll to face the couch.

A little commentary I wanted to share about Sirius and Remus's name choice: Mimosa is both a large genus of flower (a nod to Lupin being a genus of flower) and a star in the Crux constellation (keeping with the Black family theme naming). The wizarding world doesn't really seem to favour cocktails, so they don't find out about the drink until she's like seven.

Many thanks to my beta and to you, dear reader, for giving my fic a go! Likes but especially reblog are always appreciated 💞

[tetsunabouquet]

Basic Instinct Chapter 27

A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERYONE! Today, the first chapter of Basic Instinct turnt 1 year old. I mentioned before how xenophobic native English speakers dragged me for my mistakes as a non-English speaker to the point I stopped publishing fanworks and I'll admit the lack of support also wasn't motivating. Basic Instinct is the first fanfic I've completed since my very first fanfic that I actually kept to myself that I wrote when I was 11 years old. Yes, I am saying completed as I had planned this to be the final chapter. There's something poetic about releasing the ending on Basic Instinct's birthday and it just feels right to end the story at this point. Don't worry guys, you guys will still be getting an epilogue and a blooper reel where I will be releasing some short funny scenes like the off screen dance Kotaro and the reader did at the Maji Burger in chapter 5. I thank every single one of you for being here on the journey! masterpost

Today, was Akashi's birthday. Rima had planned out everything and you, Momoi, Reo, Midorima and Kuroko had filled her in with the occasional comment about what they thought might be nice too. Last week, before winter break, Reo had slipped the invitations to Nebuya and Kotaro, and Momoi did the same for Kise and Aomine as Kuroko took care of Kagami and Murasakibara. Kagami had been a bit surprised to be invited too, but after careful thought everyone agreed Kagami also should be getting an invitation. You were glowing with excitement and wore a beautiful, expensive dress that Rima had given you as an advance Christmas gift as you did feel a bit insecure as Masaomi would drop by on the party. You didn't wanted to look cheap, knowing how he felt about you. Rima had her scary side, but she had embraced you like a granddaughter and you knew she truly had your back if Masaomi were to act coldly towards you. So if anyone should be scared, it should be him. At least, that's what you kept telling yourself. You had been as thoughtful as possiblr. For one, you had written his birthday note with the markers he had bought for you on your first date. It had been hard to think of a birthday gift, because what could you give a boy who had almost everything already? You had been grateful for your friend Mari-Chan. As the two of you had chatted about the topic and how you thought of perhaps a self-made gift, she had the most brilliant idea. With the help of everyone, you had managed to collect a decent number of photos of Akashi and his friends, the few ones of the two of you and Rima had doubles made of childhood photographs with his mother. Spending your money on a few magazines of National Geographic, you had created the most beautiful collage of nature pictures to create a pretty backdrop, and then you carefully started making a collage of Akashi and his loved ones on top of your first collage. Mari had given you the money for the frame as those magazines had blown your budget, telling you how you always had her back when she needed you and this time she wanted to help you. She also said she thought you and Akashi were a cute couple in general and how much happier you looked now that the two of you had one another. Mari nearly chocked in the tight embrace you'd given her. Now, as you entered the Kaneshiro mansion with your gift, you couldn't help but think of how the dress and the pretty mansion remembered you of a fairy tale, with you being the princess. Fujioka came to place your present with the others, and the old man smiled at you. "Thank you for giving him his joy back. This birthday will be the best my young master will have ever gotten, and its all thanks to your love that he's getting what he deserves. I'd be honored of serving you as the lady of the house one day." Your face got a little red and you could feel a few tears pricking your eyes. The compliment touched you, and you gave Fujioka your warmest smile. "And I thank you, for getting him to the warm home he deserves." "Oi, y/n-chan!" Kotaro yelled, arriving with Nebuya and you let out a soft chuckle. Another servant took the gifts of their hands and they led the three of you to the dining hall. The usual table was shoved into a corner where the small pile of gifts rested atop A new, larger table was seated in the center of the room, sporting the largest birthday cake you had ever seen in real life, and plates with various different foods. Midorima and Tamamura-san seemed to try their hardest to distract Murasakibara from eating before the party started. Kuroko, Kagami and Momoi were reacting to something stupid Aomine had said, Momoi was rolling her eyes and Kuroko was saying something you couldn't hear with Midorima's scolding drowning out his voice. Reo was chatting up with Umemiya-san and you guessed it was probably recipe related. You could recognize Yuuki, chatting up with some other maids as they eyed the commotion as you did. Only Kise hadn't arrived yet.

After another half hour, all of you gathered around as Fujioka went to get Rima and Akashi. Kise still wasn't there yet! You hoped it wouldn't hurt Akashi's feelings. As the anticipation arose in the room, and you could feel the excitement jittering in your skin, the doors opened. "Surprise!" They all yelled, only to see Kise in the doorway, carrying his gift. He chuckled as he walked into the room, "Hi!" "Kise, why are you so god damn late!" Aomine grumbled annoyed and Kise pouted. "Aominecchi, I am supposed to be fashionably late." At that you and several others chuckled, and just then did the doors open again, this time with the actual birthday boy, butler and grandma. As everyone gathered some air, they once more shouted, "Surprise!" Akashi looked on with big surprised eyes and then looked at his grandmother. "I thought you deserved an actual birthday." He couldn't help but feel his eyes water, and he hugged his grandmother. You broke out into a wide smile, looking onto his happiness. Akashi walked to your group and said, "I'm happy you made it to my birthday." "He's here now. Can we finally eat?" Murasakibara asked hungrily. Akashi chuckled and said, "Of course, let us feast on this occasion!" And so all of you took your own seat. The cake only had one candle, so Akashi did not have to worry about the cake's large size. He closed his eyes and made his wish, 'I wish my bonds with these people will never change.' All of you clapped as he blew out the candle, and almost with lightning speed did Murasakibara took a slice. Everyone looked flabbergasted at his audacity not to let Akashi go first, but he shrugged it off with a happy smile, because all of you were there and that was the gift he had always wanted. Each of you then took your then filled your own plate, and just as you took your first bite of food, did another butler bring in Masaomi, awkwardly holding a gift. "Take a seat father." Akashi said, and Masaomi handed his gift to the butler. You immediately felt anxious, but then Rima smiled at you and you couldn't help but smile back. 'thank you', you mouthed, for all her support. And the party did go over smoothly. Masaomi talked mostly with Rima and the servants that evening, observing you, Akashi and his friends from the sidelines. Which came much as a relief. Before you left to go back home, Akashi embraced you as you bid your goodbye to him in the garden. "You really look stunning in that dress. It suits you perfectly." He complimented and your face flushed red. "Thank you, your grandmother has great taste." He chuckled, his eyes bright and his smile so wide that it hurt but he couldn't help how happy he was. You wrapped your arms around his neck. "Happy birthday Sei." Akashi leaned in and kissed you with such delight, the two of you felt as if you were set afire. There was no moment more perfect then this.

[fridayisbestday]

My somewhat Lenny moment today

@bekindreblog my friend I did it, I grew a pair and did it…(I’m not even making this shit up, this literally happened today and as I’m writing this it looks more and more like Lenny’s pov in a fanfic)

So…there’s this girl who I ‘kinda dig’ you know.

A bit of context, I’m not a very touchy person (she is) but for some reason she doesn’t make me uncomfortable, it’s quite the opposite really, it calms me and I kinda crave for it.

Anyways.

Today was her birthday, I bought her an umbrella.

Again with context, I kinda made her watch Tmmm and she’s now an addict.

But more importantly, she loves the rain and the smell of rain (similar to Lorelai with snow) but after catching Covid she hasn’t been able to smell properly.

Like I said, it’s her birthday and I gifted her an umbrella.

Yes. I knew what I was doing.

I was confessing to her in my own awkward way.

I gave her a card where I wrote some sappy stuff that may have included, ‘I hope you rely on me as much as I rely on you. Always with an umbrella, (name)’

Now, with the umbrella. It’s a clear umbrella with some pink floral patterns on it.

I hid the umbrella behind my back, so when I revealed it to her. This is what what happened:

“Oh my god, Mrs Maisel!” She exclaimed with excitement. “It’s beautiful…”

“Yes.” I could tell she was happy but slightly confused.

“So the umbrella.” I took a breath, “Ok.” I breathed.

“Before you judge or say anything,” I took another breath, “I know you still don’t have a sense of smell since catching covid and you miss the smell of rain. But.”

“I hope that seeing the droplets of rain and hearing the sound of it hitting the umbrella will compensate for that.”

I was terrified man, just god, I couldn’t look at her properly.

She took a breath in and was about to say something but I held my hand up, “And, I just want you to know that I’ll always be there with an umbrella if you need me, and that even if I’m not there, there’s an umbrella to remind you that I’ll always support you.”

At this point her face just contorted in a way I’ve never seen before, like she relaxed then looked at me funny.

“That’s so…thoughtful…” She voiced.

Then, like when Midge finished her set at the Gaslight after Lenny opened for her, I got jumped. I caught her thankfully, and she just squeezed and crushed me.

I just stopped breathing and didn’t know what to do, so I wrapped my arms gently around her shoulders (well not exactly, I kinda hugged her shoulder blades, kinda like how Lenny reciprocated Midge’s hug at the Gaslight) as she buried her head into my shoulder.

Then, I think the world kinda stopped for a second when she whispered, “I love you.”

After a few moments I just whispered, “love you too.”

That’s so cruel, I almost cried, because I knew she didn’t mean it how I wanted it to mean. At least that’s what I think anyways.

Man I’ve fallen too deep. Please lord help me.

[itfitsitshipsart]

Raven, my man, my guy... nice to finally get the chance to talk with you!!! Since you've been around a long time, I'm gonna ask you to answer as many of the heart asks as you want!! I'd love to know how well you and Ev get along! ☺️

( @verykissablepixels )

Raven: "Oho, I have a fan it seems?~ Let's get ta answering then!"

🤍 when did you first realize you were in love with s/i?

"I admit, I was attracted to her basically the moment I saw her. She was beautiful, and every moment that followed made her even more lovely. But i also tried to push those thoughts away. I think... the first time I really realized how far I was falling was the first time I had to actively protect her. It wasn't just a job or my duty. I... was terrified for her safety and felt ready to do anything."

"Course... I... I didn't act on those feelings, and she kinda waited for a year and confessed to me. I feel stupid for making her wait so long, but... well, next question!"

🤎 what was the first thing you remember gifting to s/i?

"The first thing I gave her... well, I bought her a drink and a meal the night she met me as Raven! But I'm guessing that's not what you meant. Let's see, there was this pretty little hair stick at the harbor she found when we were traveling to Dahngrest, and she's always putting her hair up in those things. It was made out of wood and had a little bit of a carved detail on it. She told me not to get it for her, and she was just looking... but I couldn't help it. I bought it for her. I think she still has it up in our room."

🖤 how do the two of you celebrate holidays or birthdays together?

"Normally with holidays, part of the day is with everybody else, the whole crew, and we have a nice get-together, then the evening is just our little family. Now, with birthdays, we just keep it small, a bit more celebrating if it's the kids, but it's just us for her or my birthday. ...it's funny, I had almost forgotten my birthday until Ev wanted to know. It had been ten years at that point since I ever celebrated."

❤️ is there anything you would like to do with s/i in the near future?

"Oh, there are a few things I'd like to do~ heheh... alright, I'll stop before someone hears and hurts me."

🧡 who worries more about the other?

"I think I accidentally make her worry the most. With my traveling and shenanigans, and her just naturally being one to worry a lot, I give her a lota grief. She says it makes me coming home alright all the better though, so... that's a silver lining?"

[safetycar-restart]

i feel like sometime ppl forget that f1 drivers are some of the highest paid athletes in the world… but sub charles would definitely not let you forget. i genuinely think that man would buy you a private island if that meant you prasied him. he would just buy anything he thought you might like, leading to him coming come after a race with a bag full of souvenirs and you going through it while he kneels next to you with big puppy dog eyes.

OH MY GOD YOU’RE SO RIGHT ANON. I’VE NEVER EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT THIS HOLY FUCK

To Charles, there’s no point in earning so much money if he can’t spend it on you?? Like, what’s he doing it for if not to be able to be the best boy for his Dom?

And not in a cash cow kind of way (which Pierre would so be into by the way), but more just.... he wants to be a good boy and make you happy and there’s absolutely nothing that he can buy for himself that would make him happier than when he gets to buy you things.

The funny thing is, he doesn’t often buy you jewellery or perfume or anything like that. He’ll buy things like that for your birthday (which he treats as a national holiday by the way) or for your anniversary or Christmas. But for just random gifts, they tend to be very different.

Like, he’s bought you so much random shit just because it made him think of you. For instance, you have about 20 copies of every book your favourite author has ever read, because Charles keeps on buying them. And he’s always bringing you little trinkets and things like that, because he wants you to know that he’s thinking of you when you aren’t there.

And don’t even think about paying for dinner. Don’t even offer. He will start crying in the middle of the restaurant if you don’t let him pay. Same with ordering dinner, don’t even think about using your own Uber eats app.

He’ll also get so happy about paying for dinner? It makes him feel all warm inside knowing that he’s providing for you and helping you. There’s been more than one very confused waiter due to Charles’s delight at being handed a bill.

His favourite thing to gift you though? His trophies.