#i hope whoever partners him next year he can continue to show everyone how amazing he truly is

[racewinnerlandonorris]

hi just stopping by to tell you all that i love esteban. he is an extremely talented driver and is the only good thing happening with alpine at the minute. he is literally one of the most overlooked drivers on the grid consistently putting in a good performance and he deserves so much more recognition of his talent.

[0littlestwolf0]

All that matters

Yandere! Percy Jackson

Ship: Yan!Percy Jackson x innocent/fragile reader

Warnings: Violence, over use of powers.

Requested by: @xxscreamingcolorxx

It started off innocently enough. Way too innocent for that matter, maybe that’s what ignited him.

You were just the new kid in the big apple, someone who just moved there because of your parent’s job, and like any teen would have, your mind started wandering off, imaginating all the possibilities, all the movies that could come true before your eyes!

As for him, it was just another year in yet the same school (something he was really grateful for), only the first day and he was already counting the days until he could return to camp, to his friends.

Annabeth.

The name stung him like a bee, scratch it, it felt more like an angry wasp, but he ignored it, she was the closest person he had, who could actually understand him, and hey, he did love her, maybe not in the way she did him but for all he knew that was it for everyone, maybe that’s why people say that friends end up falling in love, more like a ‘next step’ thing than actual love.

Was that even real though? He surely didn’t know, but he was comfortable with what he had, and that was good enough, so he tried to shrug the thoughts away and finished getting ready for his day.

Soon enough he was already in his seat, headphones blasting a playlist he had spent the night downloading from questionable websites, and his head between his hands, doing everything in his willpower not to start a mess.

Naturally he didn’t notice someone new entering the classroom, he tried to stay away from most others, and people didn’t really like him either, much of a troublemaker, they’d say.

His lack of social skills made sure you got a seat on your first day. But he didn’t look up as you seated, his senses did however, perk up at your perfume, some wildflower and another thing he couldn’t quite pinpoint, but it reminded him of camp, so he couldn’t help inhaling even deeper, he made the silent decision to start sitting near you.

And it could have been that way, you being your a scent he liked, just another person, but the fates had other plans, as did the first teacher, who didn’t waste a second on explaining the week project to be done in pairs.

His music was gone at this point, and he sighed, he didn’t like working on teams for school. Better yet, he didn’t like ending up with whoever else didn’t have a partner. Just then he felt a finger poking his arm, with a raised brow he turned to see you.

And your breath got stuck in your throat, he was probably one of the cutest boys you had ever seen, yet, his resting face (or so you hoped it was his resting face) looked just a combination between angry and dangerous. But you didn’t listen to your gut and talked “Would- uh... Sorry! I’m new and I was wondering if you’d like to partner up?”

Your voice had to be the sweetest thing, he was already starting to take a liking to you. You see, he isn’t the type of yandere to just get obsessed, it was your scent that drew him to you, yet, your willingness to spend time with him did make him feel better.

“Are you- Yeah, sure” he had to stop himself from pointing you to another person without a partner, not yet believing you’d want to partner up with him. But your enthusiasm changed his mind.

—

Before any of you knew, the day was over and you were waiting for him on your designated spot just outside the school, it didn’t take him long to reach you.

You saw his expression change as he crossed the glass doors, first a schooled glance to the floor, not allowing himself to even look at anybody else, you didn’t understand that, he didn’t look that strong but when you touched his arm you did feel hard muscle, then, why would he avoid trouble so much?

He didn’t seem to see you at first, but he did, trust me on that, he was just afraid of you changing your mind and would very much rather if you just left than the direct confrontation, but he couldn’t understand why, why the idea of you turning your back of him turned him inside out.

But of course you didn’t, you approached him with the sweetest smile on your face and stood right in front of him “Hey!” He couldn’t hold a smile at your voice, you just sounded so eager “Should we go to the library?” Were you always this eager? No, that seemed impossible, maybe you were just happy to be with him, that certainly made his smile bigger

“Uh- I mean- Sure” he was nervous, which made him want to laugh his ass off, sure he could fight gods and monsters but send a pretty girl his way and he’d stutter “I mean, I was actually thinking we could do it on the park” he finally added, the park was a bit far, but if there were any monsters he’d be able to deflect them easily on an open place rather than a dead-quiet-library.

“Yeah! Sounds good to me!” You agreed with a sweet smile and allowed him to lead the way “Just help me with the whole getting back thing, I still don’t really know the city” he nodded eagerly, almost as much as you had before, it was an excuse to spend more time with you.

Now this didn’t concern him as cheating or misleading Annabeth, for he didn’t think you’d like him, you see, he doesn’t seem to find himself as someone most girls, especially girls like you, would feel attracted t him, so even if he felt the this growing killer bees on his stomach every time he saw you, nothing would ever happen.

You walked with him through numerous streets, he took advantage of your lack of knowledge and took you through the long path, he didn’t even notice that he’d done that at first, but you were just so engrossed on your retelling of that X-Men movie, that he wanted to hear you talk like that for hours, suddenly, you stopped, your head held down “I’m sorry, I just get a bit excited sometimes” that sobered him “No, no, it’s okay, please continue, I really want to know what happened to this Logan dude after that”

You blushed but tried to hide it with a laugh, still looking down “It’s okay, I know I can talk a lot, and it might be stressing” you added, it was your attempt to stop yourself from boring the first friend you made on that school, but it made his blood boil, people just didn’t understand you fucked up the world was, fighting every day against monsters, losing friends on the way, and how amazing it was to hear stories from someone like you, someone without the blood that he had in his hands.

“Well, I like it, and I really need more context, so the future isn’t the future then? He just changed it and that’s that?” He understood the story, but sometimes making an easy question was the easiest way to make others talk.

And you went on, you arrived to the park and sat on a desk with him, taking your supplies and started working on the project, you were open, and gave ideas, still never shut any of his, you asked for his opinion every step of the way and used almost every idea he had.

That made him feel warm, you were most likely the first person to trust his ideas and hear him without a scowl or a frown, he couldn’t understand how would anyone shut you down when you talked? Every time you looked down and scratched your arm he noticed you were stopping yourself from over sharing.

Why would anyone hurt you like that? He just wanted names, they didn’t deserve someone like you in their lives, not one bit, they deserved to suffer for making you ashamed of your words. It surprised him, really, that rage boiling inside him, and how soon it’d be gone as soon as you smiled back at him.

And then it happened, a manticore loose in the park, running around and tearing people apart, he saw the moment your instinct kicked in, you could see through the mist.

He took Riptide from his pocket and stood up, but you grabbed his arm and pulled him down, holding a finger to your lips “Don’t” was everything you said, and he gulped, maybe you did care about him a little, his mind started wandering, maybe you felt as connected to him as he did you, he wanted to nod and stay with you under the table, to keep you from danger, but the only way he knew was by killing it.

“Please” you pleased “it’s going to hurt you” he laughed humorlessly, “Not my first rodeo” was all he said as a smirk took over his mouth and winked your way, maybe he also wanted to show off a little.

It was weird, he had never wanted to show off before.

But oh well, the manticore was closing in as soon as it’s nostrils flared up with the demigod scent on him, he needed to stop thinking and start moving, natural talent and years of training in camp made it easy for him, more like a dance than a battle, not that he’d ever been good at dancing, but you get the idea.

A move to the left, an angry manticore to the right, sarcastic comment out about how bad the sun had treated the manticore’s skin and a “you should really get some moisturizer for that crack in your skin” and proceeded to stab it directly on the belly as the manticore jumped.

And he laughed, allowing the rest of adrenaline to leave him, after getting so worked up with thoughts of people hurting your feelings, killing something felt really good. Maybe too good.

He turned to look at you, and his stomach dropped, your throat was being held tightly, lifting you ever so slightly from the floor by an empusai, were monsters working together now?

Of course it would happen to him, out of all demigods in New York.

Now he realized, his blood hadn’t been boiling before, but it was now, burning his very skin from the inside, the empusai giggled and he gave a step closer, then you were struggling again “Now, now, one more move and your pet dies”

Pet? Oh now it was personal, he didn’t understand his blind rage, maybe by an outside point of view, you had reminded him of what light was, even with the ability to see monsters you saw the good in people, that much he realized from your speech about Magneto being just misunderstood.

Maybe you weren’t as innocent as he once thought but you still tried hard enough to make conversation with him, you even tried in your way to keep him safe, and now, everything he’d seen was good and worth saving was being threatened.

It didn’t took him a word, just a small move from his left hand to the side, and now it was the empusai’s blood that boiled, literally, she started crying, he didn’t stop, all the fluids in her body boiled now, and started moving inside her, desfigurating her, she screamed and let you go, he didn’t stop.

You ran to him and he threw Riptide to the ground, instantly feeling the (now lesser) weight of a pen settling on his pocket, with his now free arm he grabbed you by the showlders and held you to him.

“Don’t look” he warned, grabbing now your head and pulling it to his shoulder, one last move of his left hand to the right and the empusai’s blood chocked her to death, streaming down her ears, nostrils and eyes, her mouth forever set on a silent scream as she fell to her knees and finally turned into ichor.

Just then did he allow himself to fully hold you, his arms wrapped tightly around your as your heavy breath tickled the side of his neck, your arms wrapped just as tightly around his waist.

He realized with guilt that you were shaking, you were probably scared of him now “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry” he repeated in a whisper against your hair, unable to let you go.

“No” you shut him and separated your body from his by merely centimeters, his stomach dropped “I’m okay, you’re okay, that’s all that matters” you said grabbing his face, forcing his wandering eyes to stay still on yours “Survival of the fittest, right?” You joked and he allowed a worried breath to leave his body, you weren’t treating him like a freak.

He nodded and you hugged him again, just as tightly, he still felt you shiver every once in a while.

I’m okay, you’re okay, that’s all that matters,

I’m okay, you’re okay, that’s all that matters,

I’m okay, you’re okay, that’s all that matters.

He repeated in his head over and over like a mantra.

You were too good for this world, and if that evening showed him anything was that monsters were probably going to come for you at some point, and he wouldn’t let them get even a step close.

He promised himself then and there that no one would ever harm you, monster or otherwise. After all, the gods owed him, he could get his way this once.

[denkamis]

bnha characters as cheesy valentine’s day tropes.

masterlist. | valentine’s day event masterlist.

warnings: none! some swearing, but a lot of fluff for the best boys

characters: shouto todoroki, denki kaminari, eijirou kirishima, tamaki amajiki

notes: dedicated to @nekomanagers / @meilbox ,, for being the most supportive human being in my life and undoubtedly the reason i have been posting so much of my work here on this blog. thank you for dealing with all of my shenanigans on and offline, and for picking me up when i felt like i couldn’t. <33 i love you.

shouto todoroki

flowers & chocolate as gifts

he’s one for the classics

he buys you the most gorgeous flowers, ones that are most definitely your favourites mixed in with an arrangement of others that all have particular meanings to them

he also got you expensive truffle chocolates, and also some cheaper ones that you really like to snack on

he’s so thoughtful, it makes your heart melt

literally so sincere as he gives it to you too, has a whole ass speech prepared

shouto came home after work a bit later than you had expected him to. perhaps he got caught up with some hero work, a report that needed to absolutely be filed today or a villain that just wouldn’t let up. either way, when you heard the front door to your shared apartment open, you came running over to greet him. as you turned the corner to see the front door, there stood shouto with the most breathtaking bouquet of flowers you had ever seen in your life. it was a myriad of colours and petals of all kinds standing out against the white of his suit. since when did he have time to change after work to surprise you like this? his usual aloof expression was replaced by a soft smile, one that was reserved for you and only you, “happy valentine’s day, my love.”

he strolled over to you, initiating a kiss that was slow and passionate. it made your heart melt right on the spot, your face erupting in nothing but pure warmth. “shouto, these are beautiful,” you told him as you took a moment to admire the different flowers that went into assembling the collection in his hands. “these ones mean gratitude, and this one here means love. truth is the white coloured one,” he pointed out, guiding you through the meaning of each individual one that made up your special gift.

he snuck a glance at you, your face radiant with how much you were smiling at his thoughtful present. “i also bought you a few of your favourites,” shouto gestured to the vanity you two kept by the door. you turned to see a very expensive box of truffles and a few hershey's kisses paired with more of your favourite corner store chocolates.

“it wasn’t too much, was it?” shouto asked quietly, watching as your jaw dropped at the sight of the truffles. didn’t you hear a rumour once about how those ones literally had gold integrated into their wrappers?  “no no, it’s wonderful. this is.. you’re so sweet,” you giggled, tapping his chest as a signal for him to lean down so you could kiss him again. no matter how many times shouto gifted you flowers and chocolate on valentine’s day, you got the same butterflies as you did when he first gave you these heartfelt gifts back in high school.

denki kaminari

fancy dinner date at an expensive restaurant

the entire bakusquad was EGGING HIM ON for something good on valentine’s day okay

he’s been talking big game about some kind of secret plan he had in store for the both of you

he bought you an outfit that not only suited your style, but was elegant and absolutely stunning as it complimented your figure

he pulled out all the stops for you

he wanted to be classy, so he reserved a table for two at one of those rooftop restaurants so you two could dine and enjoy each other’s company

“like grown ups” as denki says

you were sat at a candlelit dinner for two near the edge of one of the most highly rated restaurants in your area. denki had really gone all out, wanting to treat you like the resilient and beautiful partner you were to him with a night that would be unforgettable.

and unforgettable it was.

you two were arguably the loudest ones at the restaurant, laughing and overall just having a good time amongst such high class individuals. denki was making faces at you across the table, making you choke back on the red wine you were having. “and then bakugou slapped that dude! it was crazy, y/n, super fucking wild,” he laughed as you nodded your head in agreement. denki sure knew how to talk, filling in conversations with anecdotes and playful conversation topics sprinkled in with compliments for you. he loved you so damn much, he felt like his electricity quirk was on all the time with you from how much you turned his brain to mush.

he couldn’t get over how gorgeous you looked tonight, with your hair done and your outfit styled to perfection. like, that was all his? and a personality to match? damn! he felt like for once, he was doing something right in his life for you. he wasn’t the dumbass everyone constantly made him out to be. he was trying to be the best for you, and if he could make you happy for the rest of his life, then nothing else mattered to him.

your waiters came back with two platters in hand, with outrageously small portion sizes that could feed maybe a small cat at best. the two of you stared at each other with blank expressions. oh no, this would not be enough to appease your appetites. each of your plates were worth twelve thousand yen, so you really couldn’t get more. on top of that, denki had prepaid everything for tonight anyways. what was worse was that the food tasted like a rat’s ass, yet the two of you dined like kings regardless. well, you pretended to at least. as you were suppressing your disgusted expressions out of kindness to both the waiters and the other guests, denki couldn’t help but stare at you. you were his person, and although the dinner wasn’t exactly all it was cracked up to be, he knew that you dealt with so much more of him than anyone else was willing to. that meant more to him than words could even express.

that, and he immediately bought you apology mcnuggets after you two left. then you two really ate like kings.

eijirou kirishima

long captions to their s/o on instagram

this mfing SAP

he has everything planned, he made like 3 drafts beforehand and even had bakugou proofread it for him

he had all the different pictures he wanted to post too

this is a little unrelated but mans definitely showed up to your house with red roses and a suit

LIKE A GENTLEMAN

your phone buzzed, indicating that  you had received a new notification from instagram. after taking your phone off the table and entering in your passcode, you tapped into the instagram app and saw what had caused the tiny ping.

eijikirishima has tagged you in a post!

the first photo was an oldie, but a goodie. it was of you and eijirou at prom together back when you both graduated from ua. he looked absolutely stunning in the darkened suit he had bought, right beside you in a matching colour scheme. though the picture was in fact a meme in itself, as he posed like that one will smith picture gesturing to you with the goofiest smile. you remembered telling him that he was absolutely banned from wearing crocs that night to the dance. it was a good thing you had saved him from that utter atrocity.

the next picture was a photo of you with the puppy you had adopted together. you had named him bean, to which eijirou had expressed was the manliest name he had ever heard for a tiny pomeranian puppy. you were pressing a kiss to bean’s nose, the angle of the photo showing off your loving nature that he had fallen for.

the last was a picture of you sleeping against him during a long train ride for a mission. it wasn’t the most flattering picture eijirou had of you, but it was certainly one of his favourites. you looked so at peace, cuddling against his side with a tiny line of drool running down your chin. he was smiling in the picture, his eyes solely trained on you with the most wholesome look on his face. he was so utterly in love with you, and this picture couldn’t have showcased that look any more clearly.

the caption read as follows:

Hey bros! It’s Valentine’s Day, which means that it is my duty to post about the most amazing person I’ve ever had the pleasure of dating for about five years now! Y/N, we’ve been through so much together over the years, we’ve had ups and downs and everything else in between but I’ve been fortunate enough to remain standing here as the person you can confide in, much like you are that person to me. You’re my rock. I continue to find so much more to love about you every single day. I hope I get to spend the rest of my days with you, my best friend, my partner throughout everything. I love you so so much, pebble. I hope we get to stay just like this forever, and grow as we go along.

needless to say, many happy tears were shed that day.

tamaki amajiki

love letters in their shoe locker

for all the days leading up to valentine’s, tamaki put a different letter in your locker

mirio hyped him up asf to even get him to write what he was feeling towards you

and he was still nervous as hell and had mirio stand guard so that you didn’t accidentally walk in on him shoving weird notes in your locker

but unfortunately for tamaki, mirio isn’t a very good watchman

and so you caught him in the act, right on valentine’s day ironically

it was the end of a long, rather eventful day at school. you had gotten a few confessions from some other students, to which you turned down due to someone else being on your mind. for the past few days, you had begun collecting small letters in your shoe locker. the notes were short, handwritten with small doodles and even a recipe or two for you to try. it seemed like this person was reaching out to you to express their true feelings, their intimate and romantic feelings, towards you. and you couldn’t help but feel the same towards them, whoever they were. this admirer unveiled small details about themselves to you, yet hadn’t revealed enough for you to piece together a name. so here you were, sprinting down the hallway as soon as the bell went to try and catch a glimpse of this mystery individual who had been leaving you such sweet writings for you to cherish.

you rounded the final corner and there you saw him. before that happened however, you first you ran into your classmate and good friend mirio, who let out a tiny “oof” at the sudden contact. you apologized to him in a rush, explaining in a rushed tone that you needed to go meet someone. he nodded and waved to you before realizing that he had one job and tamaki was definitely going to kill him later.

only slightly out of breath, you saw a mess of indigo hair and shaky hands sliding your latest note into your shoe locker. as he turned to leave, his face drained of colour at the sight of you. he slouched further, retreating into himself. he looked around nervously for an excuse as to what the hell he was doing shoving letters into your locker. though, you beat him to speaking first.

“it’s you.”

tamaki’s throat felt scratchy and swollen, his entire form shaking as you slowly, calmly made your way towards him. “i- i can explain, y/n,” tamaki barely murmured, his nerves beginning to get the best of him yet again. “your words, they were so intimate. you were so well spoken on paper, i just had to meet you in person,” you confessed to him with a patient smile on your face. you stood a relatively safe distance away, not wanting to overwhelm him by your presence. you had just caught him in such a compromising act, after all.

“i read all your letters,” you went on, “every night before bed, i read them, tamaki. i even tried out the udon recipe you gave me and it was the best udon i had ever had. everything you said in your letters, the confessions and the other, more personal stuff… is that all true?”

tamaki, though he felt frozen beneath your warm gaze, had the courage to nod his head. “i didn’t know how else to tell you,” he admitted, hands now covering his face in shame. suddenly, gentle fingers grasped at his shaky ones as you uncovered his face to the light that was you. “i like you too,” you said finally. it felt like a chord had snapped inside of tamaki’s mind and all his feelings came crashing down in a deep crescendo of emotions all for you. it was all that he had ever wanted from you: a response.

all works © denkamis 2021.

tags:

@meilbox

want to be on the taglist? see this post!

[writing-realityawayfromreality]

*I’m thinking about having this part in the story that I am currently working on but it is a bit different so PLEASE let me know what you think. I’ve had this idea in my head for awhile now and spending time with my niece has made me really think about kids of my own one day. Also please note that this story is supposed to take place when Harry is 30. I’m hoping the one direction reunion comes WAYYYYY before that but to just make the story flow a bit better I had to make him older.  Anyways, as always, all the love,

K*

“Where daddy?” your youngest daughter asked as you and your children take your seats in the front of the crowd. “He’s back stage.” your oldest daughter  said. “Why?” Your two year old daughter asked once again. “Because that man right there” she points to James  “is going to ask him some questions for tv.” your oldest daughter tried to explain as best as a five year old could. You just chuckled to yourself listening to your daughters talking when you felt your phone go off.

 Harry-

Did you guys get to your seats alright? 

You quickly answered knowing that he was about to come on stage at any moment. 

Just sat down, the girls are excited to see you preform.  

Harry-

See you soon my loves. 

You were going to respond when you heard James ask the crowd to put their hands together for Harry styles. Your two daughters jumped out of their seats and started cheering for their dad. Harry had walked out from the back stopping briefly to wave at his daughters before giving you a wink. You could feel yourself blushing, there wasn’t a day that went by that you didn’t love Harry as much as you loved him when you first started dating. Your two daughters called out to their dad as he sat down next to James which only caused him to laugh a bit before blowing them kisses. 

“Harry...” James said making Harry chuckle “James.” Harry said getting serious and looking him in the eyes.  “It’s been awhile since we had you on the show.” James started out. “How’ve you been?” “I’ve been amazing. I just put out another album, spending a lot of time at home with my beautiful family, just kind of basking in this time together before going on the road again.” He said looking at you. “Well I think you just answered all the questions that i had prepared for the show tonight so... ladies and gentlemen, Harry styles.” James said laughing as everyone started clapping.  Harry gave a joking shrug and stood up pretending to head backstage. “No no no I’m just kidding. Sit down.” James continued laughing. “You took some time off from touring and in that time you made this album, you want to talk about the new album a bit? I mean during your one direction time if felt as though you guys were always on the road and then the hiatus happened and you all had your solo careers and you put out your self titled album, toured. Took some time to put out fine line, toured then the pandemic happened so it pushed tour off a bit and then you finished tour, took a year to  write your third album, toured that one and now you’re putting out your fourth album? James asked looking at Harry. 

“Yeah...” *coughs* “So, the first five years of one direction we put out an album each year and we toured almost all of them besides the last album which we still yet have to do... ” Harry smirks as the crowd cheers. “I love touring and whether you were here from the one direction days or just discovered my music yesterday I really appreciate all your support and I know all the rest of the boys appreciate it as well. I had just met my then girlfriend before hiatus happened. On tour actual, it’s a funny story. But anyways I took some time off after the hiatus hit and really I tried to find who I was. I was in two movie “Dunkirk” and also “Don’t worry darling”.  As far as music I had then put out my self titled album and toured that. Took some time off to write Fine Line, started touring that a bit but like you said the pandemic shut everything down so i had to wait a year to tour that album. And then I took about a year to write the third album, wrote most of that while touring Fine line.  I toured that one of course , and then I took year and a half... not really off, but instead trying to write a album that meant a lot to not only me but my family as well. Can any of you guess what I am going to do next?” Harry asked gesturing towards the crowd. “Tour!” they all yelled back as harry smiled. “So tell us about your album that is coming out.” James said.

“Well, so like I had said, i took sometime to figure out who i was as a solo artist and you know when you’re performing a certain type of music for so long you yourself kinda get lost. But I had my now wife y/n by my side and she kinda helped me to reconnect with myself and be comfortable with making the music on my first album, she has supported me day in a day out and I can’t thank her enough. I then went onto write Fine Line and that album was written while y/n and I had broken up and we were seeing other people and there was just something about y/n that I couldn’t let go...” Harry stopped when he heard people the crowd awe. “Don’t worry, we ended up back together... clearly.” harry laughed. “But by the time the third album came out I was already married and now i took some time off to spend with my wife and daughters and that’s how the fourth album was born, it was based on all the emotions that I was feeling. I was surrounded by friends and family, so this album is upbeat and happy, it’s about love, loving yourself, being in love, loving life, and loving one another. 

“Not to switch topics but you mentioned your wife...” James said. “I did... can we get a round of applause for my beautiful wife.” Harry asked as both him and Jame as well as the crowd started to cheer and clap. “You both are hardly ever on social media...” James started as Harry just nodded in agreement. “But when you guys are the fans get the best content, whether that be either you doing something or her doing something, sometimes it’s something your kids have done or something about your pets, and the fans just love it. A lot of the comments that i see is them asking for you two to be their parents. How does that make you two feel?” James chuckled. “Uh, well, my wife and I both agreed that we wanted to raise our kids out of the spot light so we try not to post too much but we would welcome whoever into our family with open arms... we just want everyone to feel loved and treated with kindness.” Harry said looking to the crowd as they clapped. “Speaking of welcoming people into your family, your latest post that the both of you posted was that you two are expecting your third child together!” James announced. “Wait a minute, three children?” Harry asked as though he was in shock by the news. Harry started to count on his fingers “Darcy... Angelique... and um... baby styles...” He held up three fingers “One, two, three, yep three... ” Harry pursed his lips and blew out air while still looking like he  was in shock causing everyone to laugh  “ladies and gentlemen give a round of applause for the expecting couple” James exclaimed. “I remember when you were on here when you two were first engaged and the next thing I knew you two were having your first child together and then your second, and now third!” Jame stated. “Well, that’s how it works James, you can’t have your second child first...” Harry Joked.

“Your wife is here today, is she not?” James asked. “She is, and my two beautiful daughters are here today as well.” Harry stated. “Almost three children now, what is that like?.” James said looking to Harry. “Honestly I don’t think I could had picked a better partner to raise children with. I don’t know how y/n does it all. Together y/n and I have two beautiful daughters with another child on the way. Darcy, our oldest had just turned five last month and Angelique our newly middle child will turn three in two months. They are both keep us on our toes, and are both super sassy, we think they get that from their uncle Louis...” Harry laughs. “But they are truly a blessing to the both of us. They love traveling with us, and are generally well behaved, um they do fight like normal siblings but at the end of the day you can find them cuddled up together on the sofa watching a disney movie, that comes from their uncle Liam” Harry stated looking at you and your children. 

“You really give a lot of credit to your wife, you guys have been married for four   years now? Where did you find the time to make music and get married and have children?” James questioned. “You’re really going to have me gushing over my family on live tv?” Harry asked smiling at James. “The fans want to know, you guys are pretty private.” James said laughing. “ We did get married in 2020, before covid hit, we found time in between touring, so we’ve been married for 4 years now. “How long had you guys been dating prior to getting married.” James asked.  “ 5 years actually believe it or not. I met her back in the start of 2015, I was 21 and she was 18 and the moment I saw her I was head over heels for her. She wasn’t too keen on me however and really made me work to even take her out on our first date.” Harry said looking over as you recalled your first date. “Why didn’t you just walk over to her and say “hello love,  I’m Harry Styles, member of one direction one of the worlds biggest boyband...” I mean come on you are super famous. I’m sure that would had won her over.” James laughed. “It might have but I don’t really like to bring fame into my relationships.” Harry said. “So, how did you win over such a gorgeous lady?”  James questioned. “I just happened to go on a trolley ride that she was working on that day, it was an amusement park trolley. It was a private ride for the guys and I. Her and her coworker put on this little show, taught us about the history of the park we were at, they got dressed up as different people and sang songs. It was just amazing. Later that day I had asked if she could give me a tour of the park itself and we went on rides, I asked her to come to the concert that night but she declined. I think it was close to 2 months after meeting I asked her on a date to which she turned me down. It was maybe six months into knowing each other that she finally agreed to go on a date with me,” Harry laughed. “SIX MONTHS? Y/N! WHAT WERE YOU DOING TO THIS POOR BOY?” James questioned you. “She was in college and working full time and helping out her family and playing sports... but yes ladies and gentlemen it took me, Harry styles six months to get a first date with y/n. Which was a beautiful picnic and then I...” Harry stopped laughing a bit. “I set up this homemade movie theater type thing  later on that night” Harry stated which made the crowd awe once again.  

“Did she know who you were?” James asked. “She knew of us because of her sisters being fans but it wasn’t something that made her think “Oh man I need to date this man because he’s in a boyband.” Harry laughed. “Did she meet the other lads speaking of boyband?” James questioned. “She did, she had met them here and there a few times before dating but once we were dating she invited all of them over for a dinner... “ Harry laughed  “I remember she made this HUGE dinner because she wanted to make sure everyone had something that they liked to eat and she made a bunch of desserts. She was so nervous that it actually made me nervous just watching her it was like a chicken running around with their head cut off.  By the time the boys got there she was covered head to toe in all different types of spices and flour.” Harry finished laughing. You could feel yourself chuckle recalling the event. “The boys went home with a lot of leftovers that night.” Harry said while James and the crowd laughed.  

“Anyways...So we were officially dating in June of 2015 and a year passed.  We had you know, moved in together basically spent every day together, so November of  2016 that I had asked her to marry me. You know I was feeling really good, I was casted in a movie and my album was nearly finished. I knew that I was going to be going on tour and I wanted her to come with me.” Harry said “I take it that she said yes?” James joked. “No, she waited another six months to give me an answer...” Harry joked back. “No, no she said yes right away. *coughs* so then 2017 my self titled album came out and dunkirk and that was going great y/n had come with me on tour for a bit, but y/n and I had decided to break up only a year after being engaged and it was pretty rough. We thought we were moving too fast, she was still trying to get a degree, I wasn’t really home and our schedules weren’t lining up. So I finished up the tour in 2018 for my self titled album, um  y/n and I had reconnected in september of that year after both of us had dated other people.  I spent that year writing Fine Line, so that’s what that album is about. But we both agreed that we still had feeling for one another and we wanted to pick up where we left things so we were re-engaged in 2018. Beginning of 2019 Fine line was released and we had also found out that we were expecting our first daughter. We both talked about getting married as soon  as we found out about our baby but after a many many long conversations we agreed that we didn’t need to be married before having Darcy but in 2020 we finally tied the knot, we actually waited until Darcy was able to walk so she could be our flower girl. Freddie and Bear both carried the rings down the aisle for us, it was great to have the guys at the wedding. Not long after we were married we found out that we were expecting Angelique.” Harry finished looking at you and smiled. “Wow, so you guys have been together for roughly 9 years, married, 4 albums out and now expecting your third child together. Would you had ever thought that you would be a father?” James asked. 

“Oh for sure, I’ve always loved children. While in One direction we had Lux around. All the boys and us are now fathers and it really is something, i wouldn’t change it for the world.” Harry answered. “Any more children after this one?” James asked as Harry looked to you and smirked. “ I think that is up to the misses. I mean, I’m 30 now, she’s 27 with a five and almost three year old and a new baby soon. we still have time if we would want any more children.” Harry finished off the statement. 

[oh-anime]

He Said Hes Fine

A/N: I FUCKIN DID IT !! I wrote a haikyuu fic! i have loved this manga and anime for eight years and i finally wrote for it. ALBEIT its the shittiest piece of fic ever written but i genuinely hope you enjoy, maybe rb and comment??

summary: he always says it, whats different now?

words: 1399

warnings: Angst, no happy ending, collapsing, ambulance

Ao3 Link

“Im fine! Toss me another one!” Hinata, sweating with his chest rising with every breath, calls out to Kageyama. So the raven haired setter does with pinpoint accuracy the ball reaches Hinata's red hands but the fire in his eyes only burns brighter. The ball reaches the other end of the court before anyone can even see it.  Cheers roar from Karasuno's exhausted team as they take the final and winning set. Hinata and Kageyama celebrate together with hands connecting with so much force. “Yeah!” Hinata shouts

“We get it, you're good at the game” Tsukishima comments standing next to Yamaguchi. He takes the water Yachie offers him before engaging back into conversation with Tadashi.

“Jealous Tsukki?” Kuroo asks as he approaches from the other side of the next, Kenma follows, trying to steady his breathing. Hinata snickers before giving a grin to his opponents. “That was pretty impressive Hinata” The nekoma player compliments before ushering for Kenma to follow him as they join their team

“See you later Shoyo” The opposing setter waves goodbye.

“Wipe that stupid grin off your face” Kageyama spits hoping to break down the sunshine that blinds him. But nothing could, they did it, they beat Nekoma. And it counted, it counted for something. Hinata was on cloud nine. Not even Kageyama could effect him. “You did good Hinata”

Or maybe he could

“Whaaaaa?” He drags it out “An actual compliment? From-”

“You tell anyone and I never toss you another set” Kageyama shoves his hand over his teammates mouth.

“Tsk tsk, haven't you learned?” Tsuki approaches them “You're not the only person who can toss to Hinata..” The blonde looked to the defeated yet determined Inarizaki team watching from the sidelines “Not anymore...your majesty”

~~~

“Im fine! Let's go again!” Hinata claps, even their captain, Daichi was exhausted. But not the freak duo. Kageyama sighs but for some reason he couldn't say no, so with sweat practically constricting his view he tosses Hinata another ball watching with the same hidden amazement as it passes Nishinoya and scores them a point.

“Ok” Daichi manages as Kageyama and Hinata share in their cheer. “Good practice match everyone” He nods, feeling the silent gratitude from the other members of the team. “Kageyama, Hinata, since you two seem adamant on practicing you can clean up”. So with groans from the pair and laughter from Tsuki the rest of the team make their way home leaving the pair to close up.

“Do you ever get tired?” Kageyama wonders as they fold up the net. Hinata doesn't respond, in fact he stops in his tracks, his grip faltering a bit. “Oi, Hinata” Kageyama remind the small one of his presence

“Hm? Oh no! Never! Why get tired when this is everything I love!” And suddenly the odd aura was gone and the orange haired ball of energy was back. Kageyama shook off the odd feeling and finished cleaning up.

~~

“M fine” Hinata gives a lazy thumbs up from his desk. They were in the study hall for the last period of the day. Kageyama and Hinata had decided to meet Yamaguchi and Tsukki in their class for extra help.  

They had been doing their homework for at least thirty minutes before Kageyama noticed a slight falter and delay in Hinata's normal determined speed to finish his work. So naturally the boy questioned how he was doing. His response was soft, tired clearly but he still managed a smile.

It made Kageyama's face tingle, he knew his feelings had been surfacing but he buried them. They were for him, plus nothing would come of it. But still, that gentle smile, careful flutter of his eyelids...it was sweet and tugged at Kageyamas heart.

“Great, then finish your work” Tsukki dragged them back to reality. Hinata stuck out his tongue but ultimately set back to work. Once they had finished Tsukki and Yamaguchi wasted no time leaving the two to their own devices.

“Hungry” Was all that left Hinata's mouth, he stood with Kageyama following him making their way to the vending machine by the gym. “Whoever invented chips deserves a raise”

“Im sure they are rolling in money” Kageyama retorts poking the straw into his milk. “Wanna do some sets? Or are you too tired” he teases

“Im…” A yawn that could compete with a babys giggle in the cuteness scale “Fine”

So Kageyama spent the afternoon setting to an increasingly tired Hinata..but he just wouldnt let up.

~~~

“Im…” Bokuto waited for the response after his clear victory over his star pupil. Kageyama did too with his eyes still in shock after watching his perfect set...fail. “Fine” Hinata finished through a wavered voice.

“So we all agree? Hinata is clearly not fine?” Akaashi says receiving a nod from Bokuto, a small ‘yep’ from Kuroo and a thumbs up from a sideline Kenma too intently focused on his games.

“I am fine!” The orange haired fighter claims. “I missed a spike! big deal!” He throws his hands into the air in frustration. The training camp had been going well, a tough but educational experience.

Kageyama had his doubts when Bokuto and Kuroo invited the pair to a bit of after dark practice, concerned for Hinata's physical and mental being but of course his partner in-game was revving to go.

“Shoyo you should sleep” Kenma muttered, Kuroo pointed to show his agreement.

Don't call him that, Kageyama thought but he ultimately agreed.

“No fun! Any of you!” Hinata pouts, he sits on the cold gym wall, shivering at the chilled touch. Clearly he refused to go to sleep so this was their best bet at him getting any rest. Kageyama felt out of place in this group with Hinata out of commission but continued playing. He honed his other skills and had an interesting time serving to Bokuto and Kuroo but he found his mind focused on the stupid tangerine who refused to give it up.

~~~

“Im f-” He never finished it this time.

That's a first, Kageyama thought before turning around, his face morphing in horror. He watches as both Nishinoya and Daichi race to catch a collapsing Hinata, grabbing him before his head hit the ground.

“H-hinata” Kageyama could barely think. Everyone rushed to the fallen decoy, even Tsukki looked concerned but Kageyama was frozen. Or he was until Suga met his eyes, they told him one thing.

It was odd watching an ambulance pull up at their school. It was even more odd to watch Hinata be taken away. But the worst of the weirdness was having to tell Ukai and Takeda what was happening. Because he didn't know, and he hated that.

And he hated it even more because Hinata never faltered, he could read Kageyama like a book.

“You looked upset during the first period and it was your angry face number 3, so during lunch I went to the store and grabbed some milk!” Kageyama hadn't even registered Hinatas words before the boy skipped away leaving him with the beverage.

Everytime, no matter what, Hinata was there.

“Take a break, grab some ice from yachi and sit out. Observe what Kenma does ok? And make sure you get some water” Hinata said with the most even breath. Kageyama couldnt conjure words, his hands were numb and he couldn't even feel his head. But any outsider couldn't see that, the karasuno setter looked perfectly composed.

So how the hell did this tiny bouncing annoyance know?

Because he was there, and he cared.

“I knew and I saw for months..and I just ignored it” Kageyama balled his fists, he stormed away from the conversation ignoring the calls from his coaches.

~~~

“I dont just like you Tobio, I love you”

“I dont feel the same”

“Oh”

He regretted the words instantly

“Hinata-”

“Im fine” Hinata said, if you could even call the stoic boy that stood in front of him Shoyo Hinata anymore.

“Wait Hinata-”

“I said Im fine” He put a hand up before leaving the gym.

The gym typically felt full of life whether filled with his teammates or just littered with balls. No matter how many people were in it, it never felt empty, it breathed life and energy.

But in this moment

As Hinata left the gym with his quickly falling tears hitting the ground.

The gym had never felt more empty.

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

Never Close Enough to See

@sanderssidesgiftxchange 

Hello, and happy holidays! This is my gift for @peppermintsticks ! I loved writing this for you, it was a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy it, Peppermint!

Pairings: Romantic Logince, background romantic Moxiety, eventual/pre LAMP

Word count: 2831

Warnings: None, actually

and credit to @thetomorrowshow , who is amazing and beta read this :)

-

Roman didn't like mirrors. Everyone knew that your reflection was what your soulmate looked like, but he simply refused to look into them. The last time he had seen his soulmate was when he was four years old. And whoever it was, he hated them.

All his life he'd been constantly compared to other people, as if he were a failing reflection. Roman looked, and all he saw was everything he wasn't. So he never looked into mirrors. He avoided going outside after it had rained, though in puddles images were less clear. He  even stopped short of completely cleaning anything metal so it wouldn't reflect.

But he could always be at ease around Logan. Logan was his best friend, and he always kept mirrors away from Roman. Helped him spot anything that might show a reflection, especially after a mere glance at a window showed a distorted face that wasn't Roman's own triggered a downward spiral. He was Roman's only friend (other than his casual friend Janus, but they were in different grades, so never saw much of each other) – everyone else thought he was too much maintenance.

So one day, when the two 16-year-olds were doing homework, Roman was casually complaining about mirrors. As you do. Logan usually just hummed in response to what he said, or offered comfort.

“They expect me to care about finding my soulmate so much, and I just. . . don't,” Roman was saying. “I'm so sick of it. I hate my soulmate! And they don't understand that,” he finished bitterly. Logan had paused in his biology work, staring at the pencil in his hand. Roman hesitated.

“Logan?” he asked. The other boy jerked his head up to look at him, and nodded slightly.

“It does seem bothersome,” said his friend. Roman quirked an eyebrow and smiled.

“I was asking if you were good,” Roman clarified. “You were staring off into space for a minute there, Specs.” Logan stared at him for a moment, then responded only with a neutral “Oh” and turned back to his biology work. Slightly uncomfortable now, Roman looked down at his math assignment. He sighed quietly, then tried to put his friend's odd behavior out of his mind so he could focus on the equations. But no matter how hard he tried, he was still unsettled when Logan announced that he needed to get home, quickly packed up, and left.

–

Logan stared silently into the mirror. For once, the soulmate looking back at him was not Roman. It was rare that he would see one of the other faces, but whenever he did he almost never left. He needed to know who they were, but he had never once seen either of them in real life. Roman's was the only face that he ever recognized. The person he saw now was pale, with dark hair that was most likely black. He'd only seen them three times before – usually it was the kind-eyed blonde.

He shifted his weight, trying to relieve some of the pressure of 20 minutes hunched over the bathroom sink, staring at a boy who definitely wasn't Logan himself. Apparently, once all matching soulmates were aware they were soulmates and reciprocated the feelings (romantic or platonic) it was optional to see another face in any undisturbed reflective surface. But most people had sketches done each year, so they had an idea of what they looked like before meeting their soulmate.

The rest had taken Logan quite a bit of research. Why was he seeing multiple faces? Well, after hours of digging, he finally found his answer: polyamory. Whenever there were multiple partners in a soulmate relationship, platonic or romantic, each person was shown the soulmate physically closest to them.

Which meant that for some reason, very occasionally, one of Logan's other two soulmates was closer to him than Roman. Which was odd, since Roman only lived three streets away. Ever since they first started appearing, he had been contemplating what might cause this. Perhaps they rarely took walks in this direction? Or maybe it was a commute to a job or school. But that didn't explain the fact that Logan had been standing here, staring at the mirror, for nearly half an hour now.

Logan was startled out of his thoughts by movement. Or, what appeared to be movement. The face was morphing and blurring. His arms dropped from the sink, but he was transfixed by the sight. Then, suddenly, it was over, and Roman's face was staring back at him. Logan gaped at it. That was the first time he'd ever been looking when it changed back to familiar, auburn-haired Roman.

Logan had to tell him.

–

“Specs? Are you nervous about something?”

Logan answered immediately, which was strange for him – usually he took time to think through what he was going to say.

“Roman, I have something to tell you.” He took a deep breath, and Roman just watched him, curious. Then the wind was knocked out of his chest by Logan's next words.

“We're soulmates.”

Roman watched as Logan slowly shrunk more and more in his seat, but he couldn't respond. He couldn't think. How was he supposed to address this? For so long, he had– I said I hated my soulmate, thought Roman hysterically. Finally, he found his voice.

“How could you tell me?” he whispered. Logan looked away. “I-I said I hated you.”

“You said you hate your soulmate. You didn't know,” Logan answered evenly. Immediately, Roman shook his head.

“I hated the concept, Logan,” he said earnestly. “That's all, I promise.” I could never hate you.

Logan glanced at him, but he looked back to his homework, clearly staring right through it as he pretended to write something down. After a few moments, he sighed and set his pencil down. Without looking at Roman, he asked, “So what happens now?”

Roman hesitated. To be perfectly honest, he wasn't sure. But he had an idea.

“Want to go out with me?”

–

“Well, this should work,” Roman said nervously. Logan looked at him. His best friend- soulmate? His soulmate's eyes were flicking back and forth around the cozy cafe they had chosen on a whim for their date. It was called [pun name here], and it looked fairly nice. Nonetheless, this was still the most stressful situation Logan had ever been in.

“So,” Roman continued as they weaved around a few tables. “What do you want?” Logan started.

“I can order my own coffee, Roman, it's fine,” he answered. Roman immediately looked away.

“Yeah, I know that. I just thought it was a thing people do. On dates,” Roman added.

“Oh.”

Roman hurriedly filled the silence Logan's short answer had left, waving his hands slightly.

“No, no, you can order for yourself if you wish,” he said. Logan could feel a smile twitching at his lips at Roman's response.

“I will have anything that is iced with almond milk, and a blueberry scone. Thank you, Roman.”

Roman nodded awkwardly and began to back away from Logan slightly, towards the counter.

“I–” Roman bumped into a table, glanced behind him, and quickly side stepped. “I will go get that then. Find us a table, Specs?”

It almost seemed like reflex when Roman's most common nickname for Logan came back. Again, Logan found himself starting to smile. Roman must have been relaxing – Logan was still taut as a bowstring.

Nodding, Logan went to do as he was asked, lost in thought, and with a slight blush tinting his cheeks. But no one in this little cafe, on a cold, rainy day, was going to point it out.

–

It took a few minutes, but they were talking now. Once they relaxed more, it was easy to slip back into the effortless conversation that was a staple of their friendship. And now, perhaps, romance. They were debating plays and drinking coffee (Logan hadn't touched his scone, but it was half gone, and he was convinced Roman was picking off of it whenever Logan wasn't looking), and if anything, it felt like their personalities slotted together even better than before.

“But Les Mis has a compelling, tragic story line!” Logan exclaimed. Roman scoffed and took a sip of his coffee before responding.

“It gets boring, Logan,” he said. “I don't watch musicals to sit through a, albeit well sung, three hour show that feels like four! I have things to do.”

Now it was Logan's turn to scoff.

“You don't have anything to do, I'm your only friend.”

As soon as it was out of his mouth, Logan was immediately uncomfortable. And from the way Roman choked on the bite of Logan's scone he was stealing – he knew it! –, so was he. They'd joked about Roman's lack of friends before, but that was before Roman was aware they were soulmates. Now, it only serves to remind us of Roman's previous hatred of his soulmate, Logan's brain put in helpfully.

“Keyword previous, Specs,” said Roman quietly. Logan stared at him for a moment, then with the feeling of embarrassment creeping up his face, realized he had stated the thought out loud. He cleared his throat.

“Of course, Roman. I am aware.”

Silently, Roman reached across the table to squeeze Logan's hand. Before he could pull away, Logan took a deep breath and squeezed back. And when when Roman smiled at him, he couldn't help but smile as well.

–

Logan sighed, clearly frustrated, but there was a note of fondness in his voice when he spoke.

“Please, Roman, is going back to the cafe we went on our first date at really necessary?” Roman turned to his boyfriend, and placed a hand on his chest in mock offense.

“For our six month anniversary? Of course!” he answered. Logan shot him a flat look, which was impressive, seeing as Roman as currently dragging him down the sidewalk towards the aforementioned cafe. Roman returned the look with a bright smile, and he could see Logan tensing to stop his mouth from mirroring it.

“Six month anniversary, Specs,” Roman repeated. “Surely you can deal with a shady cafe for a little while?”

“Well, I don't particularly like to reside anywhere 'shady', as you put it,” replied his boyfriend. Logan had extracted himself from Roman's grip to make air quotations around the word 'shady', but he held out his arm again, allowing Roman to drag him along.

“Nonetheless!” Roman declared. “That is where we're headed – besides, we've only been three times, and every time it was raining. I think we deserve to see how it holds up in the sunlight, don't you?” Logan sighed, this time sounding defeated, and let go of any resistance he was still holding Grinning, Roman continued to pull his arm in full force.

“Roman, dear,” Logan said conversationally as they walked. Roman hummed so Logan would know he was listening. “Do you remember that couple that everyone always complained about?”

Roman frowned thoughtfully.

“The ones in the grade above us?” He clarified, glancing at Logan. His boyfriend nodded, and Roman mirrored the action.

“Well,” Logan continued. “I get the impression that if we were more public about our relationship, we would be that couple.”

Roman laughed and turned to look at Logan, walking almost completely backwards. Logan was smiling, obviously trying (and failing) to keep a straight face. Logan cocked an eyebrow, seemingly asking Roman to challenge his assumption, but Roman just shook his head, still laughing.

“No, Specs, I don't believe you're wrong about that,” he responded. He turned back around before he ran into someone or tripped over the curb, letting go of Logan's arm as he did so, and they continued walking in silence for a few moments.

“I wonder what their names were,” Roman mused. Logan was next to him now, instead of behind him, and shot him a questioning look. Roman hurried to explain.

“That couple, I mean. The one everyone always complained about for being so sappy and in love and all that jazz.”

Understanding swept over Logan's face, before clearing into a frown of concentration. “Virgil and Patton, if I remember correctly,” he said after a few seconds. Roman nodded, recognizing the names a little. He was sure he'd heard them at some point, but he would probably forget in another few days anyways.

“That sounds about right. What do you suppose they're doing now?” he added. Logan shrugged, and Roman only pondered it for several seconds. By then, they had come to the cafe door, and all thoughts that didn't concern Logan or the meal cheerfully vanished from his mind.

–

Logan carefully arranged their order on the table. One blueberry scone, which he wouldn't end up eating more than half of if Roman's stealing habits hadn't changed in the last five minutes, and two coffees. It wasn't much – they always ordered the same thing when they got coffee –, and after just a few seconds finished. He glanced up, looking for Roman, who was grabbing napkins, as he hadn't managed to drink coffee once without spilling it. Instead, his eyes met with one of two teens, probably slightly older than himself.

The one who's gaze he caught was blonde haired, with kind eyes and a soft smile on his face. He gave Logan a little wave, then turned to his companion and started talking. But Logan was still staring. Suddenly, it seemed, Roman was walking up, napkins in hand, and giving Logan a bemused look.

“Seen a ghost?” his boyfriend asked. Logan barely registered what he said, just tugged on his sleeve till he started looking where Logan was. Finally, he managed to speak.

“It's them, Roman,” Logan said breathlessly. “Our. . . other two soulmates.”

Immediately Roman was walking over to them. He had only seen one of them, the dark haired one, in the short time that he had been looking in mirrors, but if anything he wanted to know their identities even more than Logan.

Roman was offering a handshake to the two boys, and Logan belatedly followed him, offering his own hand once he came to them. Roman had been in the middle of introducing Logan as he arrived, so Logan saw no need to say anything yet.

“Well, my name is Patton, and this is Virgil!” the boy – Patton – chirped cheerfully. Virgil, as he was now designated, gave an awkward pair of finger guns (though one was slightly less precise, seeing as that arm was currently linked with Patton's).

“A pleasure to meet you,” Logan managed to say, trying not to sound as if he were choking (they were that couple as well?!). Patton gave him an only slightly confused smile, so Logan assumed he did rather well.

There was silence for a moment, and the couples glanced at each other. Then, they all spoke at once.

“We think you two are our soulmates.”

All four of them stared at each other for a few seconds, then Virgil burst out laughing. Logan, Roman, and Patton joined him after a moment, which hopefully lowered his obvious mortification at having lost it laughing in a public setting.

When they had all calmed themselves, Logan looked at Patton and Virgil, then at his and Roman's table. Barely stopping to consider as an idea popped into his mind, he spoke.

“Would you like to have coffee with us?”

Immediately, he regretted speaking, but Patton brightened even further, if that were possible, and Virgil smiled.

“We'd actually love that,” said Virgil.

Roman stepped aside, gesturing to their table, and the other three gladly followed him.

–

They ended up staying for hours, (Logan wasn't sure how long, but certainly long enough that he was convinced the employees nearly asked them to leave, but in Roman's words, “Couldn't bear to break up such obvious love”) and before the pairs went their separate ways, exchanged phone numbers.

Logan hadn't even realized how much he had been missing. When he mentioned it to Roman, his boyfriend instantly agreed. They had felt whole by themselves, somehow even more whole as friends, and nearly perfect as partners. But now that they had met Patton and Virgil, they were complete. It felt more final this time, so hopefully they wouldn't discover a fifth soulmate in Spain or Russia or some where ridiculously far away. Logan didn't think they would, though. It felt perfect now, completely and utterly whole. They had never been close enough to see each other for who they truly were before, but now they could. And it felt like the sun coming out from behind a cloud.

Logan and Roman had their first date on a rainy day, at 5:13 in the evening, at a shady cafe. Logan, Roman, Virgil, and Patton had their first date on a sunshine-filled day, at 1:37 in the afternoon, at a shady cafe.

There was really nothing to complain about.

Both were perfect.

[moccahobi]

Amor Erratur [Yoongi x OC]

Warnings: Angst, there was an illegal act but also it is a dystopian world? 

Summery: Yoongi’s life was fairly put together. He would go to work organizing the raffles, talk with the one good person at his office, (Y/n), and marry whoever he was paired with. If only pesky feelings didn’t get in the way of it all. 

Word Count: 5.2k

A/N: So... this is the first project that @btswriterscorner​ is doing! It is an amazing network with amazing people and I am excited to continue working with them! Be sure to check them out and the other works that are happening in the same universe as this one!

The monotone tap, tap, tap of office computers filled the air, and an overbearing stench of burnt coffee pushing everyone to keep working. Offices had the potential of being lively with everyone smiling and talking, but not Yoongi’s office. No, Yoongi’s office was a beige government facility that wanted everyone and everything to be utterly silent when possible. Of course it wasn’t always quiet but the cubicles were made of fabric that purposely absorbed sound and there were walls that separated the main social area from the main work area. Yoongi had been working at the raffle facility since he graduated high school and after almost five years of working in it, he had risen somewhat high up on the ladder. 

Now he had the final say in the results. His job was to make sure that everything was in place and that there was nothing out of place. It was interesting to see, but Yoongi didn’t always do his job to the fullest of his abilities. One point he even saw a hoobae of his change his partner to be someone else. Not all of the results had much of a rhyme or reason and the original results of Yoongi’s hoobae was one of those results. As Yoongi was the final check, he let it pass. Later that month, his hoobae was transferred but Yoongi was glad the man got to marry someone he wanted. He wasn’t always that lenient, at one point he even had to report a hoobae for trying to alter a major result, but Yoongi tried to be lenient when he could.

With a sigh, Yoongi grabbed his mug and stood up. He had been working for almost four hours without a break and desperately needed more coffee. Of course Yoongi always needed coffee and if it wasn’t for Y/n coming by and refilling Yoongi’s mug with the burnt coffee the office always served, Yoongi would have had to get up much sooner that day. The idea of visiting Y/n while on his break made Yoongi get excited. She was a cool person to talk to. With that in mind, Yoongi took a detour on his way to the break room, heart speeding up slightly as he did so. He found himself counting cubicles before making it to Y/n’s, his heartbeat speeding up more and more (most likely from all the caffeine he drank so far setting in) until he made it to Y/n’s desk. She was laughing and talking to Mina, a coworker who started about a year ago. 

“Hey Y/n-sshi, I didn’t say it earlier but thank you for the refill.” Yoongi said, interrupting whatever conversation the two were having. Mina was glaring at him, but he didn’t care. Yoongi never cared when he interrupted people’s conversations at work.

“No problem, Yoongi-sshi! I know how you run on it and I wanted to brew a new pot.” Y/n said with a smile that made Yoongi’s heartbeat pick up once again. 

He tried to ignore his feelings though. He learned long ago that emotions, romantic emotions specifically, were not something one should have. They granted harsh punishments ranging from a decade in prison to death depending on where one lived. The tiny crush Yoongi had on Y/n would pass… even if he’s had it for almost a year now. It would go away because it should go away. 

“Would you like a refill now? I am going to get myself more coffee too.” Yoongi asked, hoping no one could read his inner turmoil. 

“She drinks tea in the afternoons, Yoongi-sshi. I’d love coffee though.” Mina said with a sneer like smile, her hand moving to rest possessively on Y/n’s shoulder.

“She’s right, Yoongi-ssh, I am trying to cut back in my coffee intake, but if there is any hot water, I would love some more of that.”

“Ok. I can do hot water.” Yoongi said with a smile before walking past and into the break room. 

As soon as he entered the room and saw no one was there, he closed the door and let his smile drop. Mina was a fake and annoying bitch and most days he could barely tolerate her, given he could barely tolerate most people here. The job was cutthroat. Time and time again he saw coworkers get fired for one unknown reason or another. He even had a new supervisor after the last one was cut randomly before the new year. Yoongi had no idea how he had managed to last in the job for so long, his emotions occasionally taking him over. Which was something that was heavily frowned upon when one works in the government. He even missed a week or so after his mom died because he simply couldn't cope with his emotions the way his job required. He never understood why he was chosen for this job, many of his colleagues are emotionless on good days and Yoongi was simply... reserved. At times he had to be in order to survive in such an office. Yoongi had a fairly high up position and he didn’t doubt that if he showed emotion, his coworkers would be trying to get him in trouble for stuff. Except Y/n. Y/n was too kind and caring to do that… she would never do something like that. Soon enough he had a pot of coffee brewing and a pot of water boiling. 

With that done, he looked out the window to see everyone working away in their cubicles. The office was dull and grey and everyone seemed to wear dull and grey clothes that made them blend in. It was like office camouflage. Soon enough, Yoongi found himself staring at Y/n, as he often did when he had a reprieve from work, who was typing away on whatever assignment she was now working on. She was one of the few people Yoongi got to interact with that didn’t seem borderline psychopathic. She was always friendly and helpful, and Yoongi loved that. Soon enough, Yoongi found his eyes slowly raking down Y/n's body, even if he didn’t mean to. She was very beautiful… which didn’t help his crush. There was even a possibility that a small spark of anxiety and hope ran through him when a new list of results came in at the prospect of him and her being paired. It most likely wouldn’t happen though. At least, that is what Yoongi told himself to keep his hope low.

He just... used the word love… for a person. Belatedly realizing this, Yoongi spun around and faced the stove, fear squeezing his heart. He had never felt such a strong emotion before. He barely felt love towards his parents. He never saw or experienced love outside of what he read in old books and movies he got to see in the depths of his grandfather's basement. It was whispered about in his seventh grade history class before the teacher talked about why such an emotion was suppressed and banished for the better of mankind. Never had he seen anyone express love though. Not even his hoobae who got to marry the person he wanted to be with. His government teacher explained that it was frowned upon and punished if one felt love. The teacher never explained how the government found out but spies were everywhere. For all Yoongi knew, the second he thought he loved Y/n his fate was sealed. He could be arrested tomorrow and never see his dad or his brother again. He wouldn’t die even if he was arrested though. South Korea didn’t put people to death because of emotions, they simply jailed them. Of course Yoongi most likely wouldn’t be jailed for thinking such a feeling. At least he hoped.

The scream of the pot brought Yoongi back to the present, quickly turning the stove off before walking out of the break room with it. He needed to keep himself calm and collected. 

"Piping hot water for you, Y/n-sshi." Yoongi said with a smile, carefully pouring more water into Y/n's "This Coffee Makes Me Awesome" mug.

"Thank you, Yoongi-sshi. You didn't have to brew me a pot." She said quietly before turning back to work. At that, Yoongi made his way back to the break room, excited to have some coffee and relieved to be away from Y/n. She was amazing but Yoongi didn’t want people to realize his thoughts. As he waited for the coffee to brew, he found himself thinking about what it would be like to be married to Y/n. She would be an amazing partner. He could practically see her doting on him and laughing at all his jokes. Oh how he would love to be married to her. 

Yoongi just so happened to get an email about needing to start on the raffle results for people born his year... which included Y/n. If they were both meant to marry someone... Yoongi could easily switch the names and get Y/n to be his partner. He was the last check so no one would have to know. Once the coffee was brewed, Yoongi had it all planned out.  He was going to simply change the names if both him and Y/n were on the list. There was no way anyone would know. He quickly made his way back to his desk and went back to checking through the final list of raffle winners that was sent to him. Sure enough, both him and Y/n were on the list and he quickly moved his name down to be with Y/n and her original spouse up to Yoongi's original spouse. 

With a sigh of relief, Yoongi leaned back in his desk and took a long sip of his coffee. Maybe he should quit drinking coffee too.

What a joke. He was almost 75% coffee by now.

The second Yoongi swiped in the next day, he felt like something was off. He just knew that some of his coworkers were looking at him more than normal and the air in the office felt stale today. His heart felt like it was having a cramp from how hard it was beating. Was this what a heart attack felt like? Maybe he couldn’t go into work today. He wasn’t having a heart attack though, Yoongi knew that. He was simply feeling paranoid. At least, that is what he told himself. He was feeling unwanted and illegal emotions and now he needed to stump them quickly or he could be jailed. He couldn’t be jailed though. There was no way for anyone to know that he was having these thoughts or that he did anything wrong. No one could know. He was safe. 

Yoongi quickly got into his seat and logged onto his computer, hoping that none of his coworkers would notice him acting differently. There was nothing different about today. Nothing at all. Only, when Yoongi logged onto his computer, he knew that there was in fact something different about today. There was an email from his supervisor… that had been marked with a red flag of importance. It mocked him. Yoongi fucked up yesterday by changing those names and his supervisor knew. His dumb infatuation with Y/n was going to get him jailed. He would never see his dad again. Missed calls will be all that his dad will remember him by. Yoongi was doomed. 

As Yoongi continued to read the letter, he got even more worried. His meeting was at 9 in the morning. Nothing good came from a meeting so early in the day. Plus, he only had ten minutes to prepare for his inevitable arrest. Was there some way that he could prevent it? Plead that it was an accident? Plead for his life? His heart was beating quickly in fear and if it weren’t for the fact that he was at work, Yoongi might have broken down into tears. This was the end of him and he didn’t want his asshole coworkers to catch on to Yoongi’s demise. Too many of them were working here after working in the jailing unit. They were quick to catch on to anything and everything that might be suspicious. No doubt they were suspicious of the growing sweat stains that were no doubt showing on his shirt. Any of them could have reported him yesterday and any of them could arrest him today.

Y/n gently setting a mug of coffee down at his desk brought Yoongi out of his reprieve, her smile momentarily releasing him from those anxious thoughts. She was smiling at him as she set it down. Yoongi quickly took a sip of his coffee and nodded at her, not able to focus on anything but his meeting that was happening soon. He needed to prepare for that as best as he possibly could. Y/n hung back as if she wanted to say something to Yoongi but Yoongi had no time for any social interaction even if it was from Y/n. Especially if it was from Y/n. 

He pulled up a random document on his computer to act as if he was actually getting work done so that Y/n would leave him alone. For all he knew, the document was about a project he did last year, but Yoongi didn’t need to actually read it. Y/n left shortly after Yoongi opened the document and for those few minutes Yoongi had before meeting with his supervisor, Yoongi tried to come up with a valid excuse for altering the results. None of them seemed to work and before he knew it, his time was up. 

Shakily, Yoongi got up and slowly made his way towards his supervisor’s office. Each step made his feet feel heavier and heavier as if telling him that he still had time to run and go on the lamb. His life didn’t have to end here. Yet Yoongi didn’t turn around, and soon enough the golden plaque of his supervisor’s name was staring him in the face.

Namjoon.

His supervisor’s name was Namjoon. Namjoon was the name of the man who was about to seal Yoongi’s fate forever. Yoongi took a deep breath in, the office air feeling heavy in his lungs. He needed to relax. Stealing all his strength, Yoongi knocked on Namjoon’s door firmly. If this was the end of his freedom, he wanted it to end with him acting brave. 

After a faint “come in”, Yoongi entered. The inside of the office was shrouded in shadows and there was some faint, high pitched noise that seemed to emanate the whole office. In the middle of the office was a large desk that commanded the whole room with nothing on it apart from a lone lit candle. It wasn’t until Namjoon cleared his throat that Yoongi finally looked up to see his supervisor. In the dark, Namjoon looked much younger than Yoongi expected. He might have been Yoongi’s age or a little older. This was the man who would punish him for doing wrong. This man would lead to Yoongi’s demise. 

“How are you doing today, Yoongi-sshi?” Namjoon asked, his voice gruff as he looked Yoongi over before looking down at a file.

“I… I… I have had better days.” Yoongi finally settled on, feeling his nervousness grow higher by the minute. Why in the world was Namjoon asking such a simple question.

“Makes sense. You have been in this department for how long?” 

Yoongi coughed, “I have been working here for almost six years now. Although you have my file. You should know th-”

“Why did you accept this job Yoongi?” 

“I didn’t have a choice. This was the only job that came up when I did the job test in high school.” Yoongi shrugged, worry building as Namjoon kept speaking. Why was he asking so many questions? He did something illegal and he was going to jail for it, right?

“And did you go to college before working here?” 

“No.”

Namjoon nodded before getting up and walking over to a file cabinet in the corner of the office. He hunched over the cabinet, quickly thumbing through many files before pulling one out. In two steps, Namjoon made his way back to the desk and set the file down. 

It was Yoongi’s. 

“From what I have read of you, you seem to be very smart. So tell me, Yoongi-sshi, why in the world did you think it safe, let alone smart, to alter the results from the raffel?”

Yoongi’s gut dropped, this was exactly what he was worried the meeting would be about. His worst nightmare was confirmed now. He was going to jail and it would be the end of him.

“I… I… I don’t know.” Yoongi finally got out. Despite all the attempts of thinking up excuses, he had nothing. Nothing he could say could get him out of this situation.

“You don’t know, or you won’t say because it could be more incriminating?” Namjoon asked, leaning forwards and looking Yoongi dead in the eyes. His stare was piercing. It made Yoongi want to shrivel up in his seat and hide but at the same time, there was something about it that seemed to be curious. 

“I… I don’t know.” Yoongi finally got out, his words a mere whisper in the room. He looked down at this point, too scared of looking Namjoon in the eyes and him understanding what he meant. 

“You see.” Namjoon started, his voice as quiet as Yoongi’s, “I think you do know why you did it but are just scared of incriminating yourself. I understand that. Thing is, I am on your side Yoongi. I… am not one for the current regime. I won’t turn you in… but I want you to do something.” 

“Are you blackmailing me, hyungnim?” Yoongi asked, not believing his ears. 

How could his supervisor say that! Yoongi didn’t agree with the regime either but they had ways of keeping people silent. Yoongi barely even dared to think of anything that was too radical because he has heard stories of people thinking illegal things and them being taken away. 

Namjoon laughed, “I am not, Yoongi-sshi. It is ok to talk here. I have set it up so their bugs can’t listen in. Before we talk more… I need to know, why did you alter the raffle results?”

Should he believe Namjoon? 

Could this all be a lie? 

Would it even matter? Yoongi most likely had a life sentence already. There wasn’t much more punishment that could happen if Yoongi talked about his feelings or government distaste. South Korea didn’t have the death penalty.

“I… I did it because I love Y/n. I want to be with her.” Yoongi finally said. 

It was a strange feeling to finally voice such an emotion. His whole life, it had been frowned upon to feel this way, let alone speak about those feelings and here he was voicing his love for a coworker to his supervisor. It felt good though. 

Namjoon nodded and leaned back in his chair at that, “That is what I was hoping to hear. Sadly, I got a letter from my higher ups that we needed to remove five random couples from the list and you and Y/n just so happened to be one of the couples on the list. I hope you don’t mind. They would have checked it themselves anyways. 

“Now, what I need from you,” Namjoon licked his lips and leaned closer once again, “I have ties to the revolution… I want you to do some work on the side to help the revolution. What do you say?”

“What?” Yoongi asked, not fully registering what Namjoon was asking of him.

Namjoon sighed and shook his head, “I want… no need you to do some work with the revolution. If you want to be with Y/n in a romantic way, you will help. If you want anyone else to even have the chance to feel what you are feeling, you will help. It would be small stuff. Volunteering with kids and planting ideas of love in their heads. Tiny stuff.” 

Yoongi nodded, barely able to keep track of all that was happening inside his mind. One minute he was scared that his life was over and now he was being asked to join a revolution? How had his day changed so drastically? This was absolutely not what he expected to have happen today.

“I… uh… how does that help with a revolution?” Yoongi asked, his mind still stuck with the idea of him not going to jail. He was going to call his parents the minute he got home from work. It was too long since they talked.

 "It makes people want what we preach to them. Never underestimate the magic that stories and care can have, Yoongi-sshi. Now, get out of my office and continue working. I will be sending an email to you some time today about the next meeting you have to do." Namjoon said, dismissing Yoongi with a wave of his hand.

"Wait-- I have to meet another person before I can start working?" Yoongi asked once he stood up, "Why can't I just get to work?"

"The revolution doesn't let just anyone's help. We will not risk the safety of our fellows without doing checks first. Now get to work Yoongi-sshi." Namjoon said, getting up himself to grab something from the filing cabinet. Yoongi didn't stay around to see what Namjoon was going to work on next, instead opting to get to work. He had cold coffee and a large number of requests to sort through himself.

Yoongi sat anxiously in one of the booths at a dark and grimy bar. His hands were limply resting by his sides, not wanting to touch the table and whatever had made it sticky. Namjoon had emailed him that fateful work day and that was how Yoongi found himself in the bar booth, waiting for someone named Jeon Jungkook to meet him. Anxiety made Yoongi come half an hour before Jungkook was said to meet him. Some hoppy beer sat in front of Yoongi but he could barely stomach more than three sips. The bar was in a low income area of Seoul where many manual laborers lived but almost everyone in the bar seemed to be celebrating one thing or another. All yelling happily and ordering more drinks than Yoongi might have ever drunk. The noise was shocking and a wave of pain ran through Yoongi every time some new person entered as the drunk people shouted a cheer. Yoongi watched as someone sauntered across the bar and made his way towards his booth.

Was this man Jungkook?

He was in a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt but both of them seemed almost too small for him as his muscles were very visible through them. If this was Jungkook, Yoongi had no idea what many other people in the revolution looked like. Were they all strong and scary looking? Before Yoongi had much time to think more about those in the revolution, the man sat across from Yoongi. It was Jungkook. Jungkook's black hair shielded his eyes from Yoongi, but he had no doubt that Jungkook was giving him a once over. A shudder ran down Yoongi's spine and he felt himself shrivel into himself.

"Yoongi." Jungkook said, his voice softer than Yoongi would have expected.

"Jungkook?" Yoongi asked, forcing himself to sit back up and look Jungkook in the eye as best as he could. It was hard, especially when Jungkook opted to keep staring at Yoongi instead of speaking.

They must have sat there staring at each other for a minute before Jungkook cleared his throat and started talking, "Thank you for meeting. Sorry it took me so long to get in. They didn't believe my ID."

"Why wouldn't they?" Yoongi asked, raising an eyebrow at Jungkook.

"I look young. That is besides the point. Namjoon thinks you will be a good addition to the Seoul section of the revolution. Do you think you would be a good addition?" Jungkook asked, reaching across the table and stealing a sip of Yoongi's beer.

Yoongi let him, too nervous to even drink it.

"You have shit taste in beer by the way." Jungkook added, pulling a face from the bitterness of the beer.

Yoongi let a tense laugh loose at Jungkook's comment before starting, "I don't know why Namjoon thinks I am good for the Seoul section... I think I would like to help though... love is a great feeling... I have only felt it a little, I mean I think I have only felt it a little, but I want people to feel free to feel love. Love is a good emotion..."

Jungkook nodded and ran his fingers through his hair. Yoongi saw his eyes for the first time and was once again struck by the gaze Jungkook was pinning Yoongi with. If looks could kill, Yoongi might have been dead.

"And how do I know that you aren't going to snitch and try to get money from ratting out the Seoul chapter?" Jungkook asked, taking another sip of Yoongi's beer.

"I... Why would I?" Yoongi started, "Namjoon found me doing something illegal too. If I even tried ratting myself out I would get jail time as well."

"That means nothing to me. Blackmail or not. " Jungkook scoffed.

"You'll just have to grow to trust me then." Yoongi said with a sigh.

What was he supposed to say to a stranger? Never in Yoongi's life has he had to keep such a secret and now Jungkook was asking for proof that he could keep it? Yoongi had no idea what he could possibly say.

"I think I am willing to trust you, but if I even hear that you are attempting to rat us out, I will find you and hurt you myself... or better yet, I will hurt your precious Y/n." Jungkook said, taking one final swig of Yoongi's beer before getting up, "You'll be emailed a date, time, and location for the first part of your work."

Before Yoongi could ask any more, Jungkook had disappeared into the crowd and Yoongi was once again left alone in the dark and gritty bar.

Was this the right place? Yoongi had no idea but the longer he stood outside of the orphanage, the more stares he got from random people who were passing by and Yoongi hates getting stared at. The building was a monotone and sad looking grey and it made Yoongi wonder if the inside looked as depressing as the outside. He hoped not. The idea of children being stuck in such a depressing place made Yoongi’s heart ache. 

“Are you the new person Jungkook sent to read to the children?” Someone asked walking up to Yoongi with a small smile on her face. 

She wore a simple pair of blue jeans and a large manilla sweater. Her black hair was pulled into a low ponytail, frizz sticking out all over her head. Yoongi felt over dressed in comparison to her even though he was simply wearing khakis and a polo. He didn’t have time to change after work. He didn’t doubt that by the end of this program he would feel gross, but after seeing the look of the outside of the building, Yoongi didn’t mind. If reading stories to the orphans would bring them happiness, he would do it willingly. They need happiness.

“I am. Yeah. Name is Yoongi.” He finally said, slowly walking into the orphanage with the woman in tow.

“My name is Gi . I have been working here for a year now. I can show you around before the children get back from school.”  She said, sliding behind the front desk and grabbing a key, “I am glad that you decided to come a little early. It gives me time to not only show you around but also how to set up for the reading.”

“Wait-- I am here early?” Yoongi asked, not even bothering to ask why the children were arriving back from school so late in the day.

“About half an hour early.” Gi said, walking over to a side door and unlocking it, “Let me guess, though. Jungkook said that this was when you had to arrive?”

Yoongi nodded, following Gi as she led the way into the living quarters of the orphanage. They were as dull and grey as the outside of the building save for the occasional motivational poster.

“That is so like him.” She laughed quietly, “Please continue to come early. It does help with setting up. Anyways, this is where we will mostly be.” Gi started to explain what they would be doing and how to set up.

There was a closet full of pillows and books that Gi and Yoongi would be using. His job was to get the children to relax after a long school day and then help them with their homework if they needed it before cleaning up. It would most likely be a simple job and for the first time since Yoongi was in high school, he felt excitement towards doing something. This excitement didn’t fade after one day of work, nor after volunteering for a whole week. That weekend, he and Gi met up to plan the next week and he felt even more excited. The pattern of working there in the afternoon and evenings on weekdays and planning with Gi on the weekend continued for two months and before Yoongi knew it, he found himself anxiously waiting day in and day out for the time he spent with not only the children but also Gi. His days were bright and colorful even though he worked and volunteered in such grey places. 

It wasn’t until he came back from a bathroom break and saw himself admiring Gi help a middle schooler with their math homework that he realized he no longer felt any love towards Y/n. Maybe all Yoongi felt was a strong infatuation but he had never experienced such a strong emotion before that. Yoongi leaned against a wall and smiled at the scene in front of him. Children were playing and working together on homework. In the center of it all was Gi: a wonderful and caring woman who also happened to be part of the revolution. In the time Yoongi has spent with her, he got to know so much. She was in a loveless marriage to a man thrice her age who eventually became a close friend of hers. Her husband and her had a kid who was now two before he passed due to a heart attack. She worked as an editor in some large and boring newspaper. There she met another friend of hers who eventually got her to work with the revolution. 

She was an amazing person with a large heart. 

Yoongi cast a glance her way before slowly walking over. Maybe he liked her romantically. Maybe she was a reason Yoongi wanted to believe in the revolution. Maybe he would walk to the ends of the earth to be with her. Yoongi chose not to think about that right now, instead getting onto his knees and helping another kid near Gi. 

He could get used to this work.

[this-do-be-therapeutic]

Fall

Sebastian Stan x Reader

A bunch of fluff that will hopefully make you smile.

Warning: Seb is so good???????????????????

A/N: Just like my last one, this both felt super long and super rushed at the same time???? IDEK anymore, man. I hope you enjoy.

If you have any writing tips (like not writing all of your fan fictions at 1 in the morning), I’m open to any and all of them!!!

People love Fall for many reasons. The pretty leaves changing colors, the weather getting cooler letting everyone get ready for hot chocolate and cuddling, Thanksgiving, even the leaves when they fall and get to the satisfying crunchy state. However, that was also the worst part of fall, the leaves falling. I always spent over an hour raking up the leaves that fell from my huge maple tree in my huge yard and the two other trees in my yard, it was so much work, every single year.

And that’s exactly where I am right now, raking up the leaves for my parents because they’re both old and always working. My mom recently got kidney stones take out, so it’s understandable that she wouldn’t want to be dealing with these. My dad was always busy working in his store that he owned with a partner and my brother. Why my parents couldn’t ask one of the other boys to do it, I’m not sure, but whatever.

I’m raking up the leaves, with my rake, like every normal person does, when I hear a loud whirring noise. Like someone running a motor, and the sound of leaves rustling after it.

Okay, so someone is cleaning off their sidewalk with a leaf blower, fantastic. I’m glad people care about others walking on the sidewalk.

I turn to glance at the good samaritan and am shocked at what I see. Not only is that man absolutely stunning in his leather jacket, short brown hair that looks way too soft to be real falling in his eyes, his perfect muscular build that is oh so tasty, but he’s not using the leaf blower to clean the sidewalk. Oh no, he’s using it in his freaking yard?! Who on earth does that? That is not morally okay. I take back everything I said about his stunning body.

Okay, fine, it’s not the worst idea. In fact it’s kind of genius, sort of. But you’d think with a body like his, he’d be fine doing a little work, and I definitely would not mind him doing it. But it’s also kind of dumb. First of all, you can’t really aim with a leaf blower, it’s just air, so it goes everywhere, often times making an even bigger mess than you started with. And it doesn’t make satisfying piles that everyone loves to jump in even when it’s not the leaf pile they made in their own yard and it makes a huge mess for the owner of whoever’s house it is has to clean up and it’s so rude and frustrating and freaking trespassing and GET OUT OF MY YARD, YOU CHILDREN.

Anywayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

I continue to stare at him doing that for a few more minutes, torn between swooning and going over to chop off his head (and maybe keeping it in the freezer with some sunglasses, kinda like Medusa, ya know? Because I’m sure his gaze is just so darn captivating I would freeze up the moment he looks at me, wink wink) when he glances up at me. He turns off his darn leaf blower and sends me a shining smile while walking over to my parents’ yard. And let me say this right now, he gets more and more attractive the closer he gets, HOT DANG.

“Hi neighbor. Couldn’t help but notice you checking my girl out. She’s pretty, right?” Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my gosh his voice is breathtaking. But who is he talking about? Is this his way of telling me to stop looking at him because he’s off the market without actually having a female around??????

“She? What are you talking about?”

He smiles even wider, as if excited to show me this girl. He lift his leaf blower, using his head to gesture at it a little. “Her name is Ethel. She works real hard and well. Had her for about 5 years now.” First off, that’s a gross name (A/N, I am so sorry if your name is Ethel, I asked my friend for a name and he came up with that and the reader had to think it was gross, love you!), and second, what?

“You... You named your leaf blower?”

“Of course, who doesn’t?”

“Any person with any sort of common sense????”

“I don’t see a problem with it. People name their cars. Anyway, my name is Sebastian Stan.” At least his name isn’t terrible. I kinda like it, actually.

“Huh, well good for you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do.” I gesture to the yard and my rake before I begin again, the sound of the leaves getting crushed and moved loud and hopefully ending the conversation.

“Wait, what’s your name?” And he didn’t leave.

“Doesn’t matter, you won’t be seeing me again anytime soon. I don’t live here, and I only come when my parents ask me to.” And that’s when it starts to rain. “Freaking hormonal weather...” I curse the rain because it means I can’t finish my work today.

“Shoot, I should get home, get Ethel in a warm dry place, she gets a little finicky when she’s wet.” He smiles again before walking away.

I sigh and sit on my parents’ porch. I took a cab here, neither of my parents are home so the door’s locked, I don’t have a key, and I can’t call a cab because of course my phone decided to die a little after I started raking. So I just sit there, watching the rain pour down on the pile of leaves I had managed to make.

A few minutes of sitting there by myself and Sebastian comes jogging into my yard with an umbrella. “Locked out?” he asks, as if it’s not obvious.

I roll my eyes and respond, “No, I just love sitting in the freezing cold rain without a jacket watching my hard work get ruined.”

He chuckles a little before walking up to me, offering his hand. “Come to my place. It’s warm and unlocked right now. I also make a mean cup of hot chocolate.”

“Tempting, but how do I know you’re not just luring me into your house so you can murder me?” I glance at his hand. It looks rough and calloused. Probably from lifting weights. Those metal bars aren’t exactly easy on the skin.

“Come on, would I do that? With a face like this?” His smile is literally blinding me.

“Yes.”

He sighs, his smile falling a little, making me sad. “Come on, at least if I’m a murderer you’ll die comfortably and not out in this ice cold rain.”

I nod a little. “I guess you’re right.” I reach up and take his hand, his smile back to its original brightness as he pulls me up.

“So, do I get to know your name yet?” He wraps his incredibly warm arm over my shoulder so I fit under the umbrella with him.

“Not until I’m certain you won’t kill me.” He laughs again and squeezes my shoulders gently in amusement as he leads us back to his house. My hand flies to his chest in that action and I can feel his well defined pectorals, taunting me because I can’t see them.

“I guess I’ll just have to come up with a name on my own. How about... Jessica?”

“Oh gosh, can we end this nonsense right now? I don’t want you calling me any actual names.”

“But you look like a Jessica to me.” I shoot him a glare right as he looks at me. “Fine fine, how about Princess?”

“You’re killing me, Sebastian.”

“I think it fits you.” He squeezes me again as we get to his door.

“And how do you figure that?” He pulls his arms from around me, causing me o shiver from the cold reaching where I was used to his warmth.

“So far you have been nothing but a royal pain.” He opens the door before closing his umbrella and shaking the water.

“Wow, thank you so much. That means a lot to me.” Sebastian looks back at me and we both just stand there, looking at each other, his face no longer having his beautiful smile. Instead, he looks thoughtful and serious.

“That’s exactly why I said it. I couldn’t possibly risk upsetting the princess.” He continues with a straight face for just a few more moments before bursting out laughing and telling me to go inside with his arm. “Please, come inside. Ladies first.”

I scoff, just thinking ‘That’s what she said’ as I walk in. When I first walk in I see the living room. A love seat against one wall across the TV on top of a little dresser thing, most likely full of movies, consoles, games, all the works a stereotypical man would have. Between the TV and couch is a coffee table, a vase of yellow roses in the middle of it. In the corners of the room are lamps and other plants.

“Please, have a seat. I’ll bring you something to drink.” He shuts the door and heads into what I can only assume is the kitchen. I take a seat on the couch, enjoying the softness on my bum.

Sebastian comes back around 5-10 minutes later with 2 cups of a steamy beverage. He takes a seat next to me and hands me one. Hot chocolate, I soon realize. “Thank you, Sebastian.” He nods silently, watching my reaction as I blow on it before taking a small sip. At first, all I can feel is it burning across my tongue and down my throat, but the after taste is magical. It straight up tastes like caramel Lindor chocolate truffles. “Holy heck, that is amazing!”

He sets his own cup down with a smile. “I’m glad you like it. My mom taught me the recipe. She is a magical woman. She would have liked you.”

“Oh? How come she isn’t around to like me?”

“She lives in Romania.”

“Romania? Is that where you’re from?” He nods, his hair that had been tucked away falling back into his face. My hand shoots up to tuck it away so I can see his beautiful eyes better. “Do you miss being there?”

“Of course. My family is there, and many of my old friends.”

“How come you moved here, if you liked it so much?”

“I don’t know, I guess I just felt a pull to move across the globe. Maybe it was your soul telling mine it missed me.” He smiles sheepishly and looks down.

“Do you really believe that stuff?” He nods again. “That is so disgustingly cute.” I smile when he looks up again.

“You have a beautiful smile, you know that?”

‘No, not many people tell me that. I guess I don’t do it that often.” I lean my head against the back of his couch. “Not many people try so hard to get me to smile.”

“Well then it is their loss. Your smile is breathtaking. Thank you for blessing me with your smile, Princess.”

“Y/N.”

“What?”

“Y/N, that’s my name.” He hums softly.

“I think Princess fits you better.”

[jesslockwood]

Too Good

Word Count: 1.3k

Character(s): Peter Parker, Ned Leeds, Betty Brant, Michelle James

Pairing(s): Peter Parker x Reader

Warnings: my first attempt at angst lol

Summary: Peter Parker comes back from Europe, and Y/n Finally gets the guts to ask him out, at least until Y/n realizes he’s not so single anymore.

A/n: This is for @lovestrucktom​ ‘s and @peeterparkr​ ‘s Rom-Com Writing Challenge! This took me a while to conjure up since I've been so busy but I'm so excited I'm finally done!

Almost everyone you knew had said you were too good for everyone else at your school. Your effortless way of beauty, and the way your smile could light up a room. Of course, you thought it was ridiculous, as you were just like any other person there, just trying to get through school like everyone else, and accomplish your goals. People had even gone as far as saying you were the replacement Liz Allen, but better. 

It especially annoyed you that your friends would judge all of the students, rating them from their cuteness or hotness on the outside rather than what truly mattered in the end. That's why you didn't tell them who you liked because they would say you had a silly crush on a guy that people would say isn’t in your league or even close. 

Your crush, well he was sweet, yet challenged your own smarts, and even had the cutest smile that lit up your own.

He was on a trip currently in Europe. You were super nervous to see that there were elemental monsters causing trouble, but at least spiderman was somehow there. That reassured you for their safety.

Before they came back, you were partnered with Ned Leeds and Peter Parker. It was mostly nerve-wracking because it was the peter who happened to be your crush. You were all working on a science fair project. They were coming back to help you at the start of the next year. You started the project without them. You all were creating a laser that would revolutionize cauterizing wounds on the fly, which would help military personnel, and it worked well so far because it was similar to the power source Tony Stark used. 

The only way you figured it out was because of Peter, and you admired him for it, not only because you had major feelings towards the boy, but because he was extremely smart, it blew your own mind. You had always competed against almost everyone until Peter showed you great minds could combine and create amazing things.

You worked on it day and night, right up until Peter was coming back. You were giddy with excitement, hoping the message you were going to laser onto the sample would begin something between the two of you. 

You were waiting by Peter’s locker for him, sparking a lot of whispering around you, most likely gossip of why you were standing at his locker, waiting.

It didn’t bother you, at least not anymore as you realized laying in your bed thinking before the morning last night, that you liked the boy, and that was okay, and if someone had a problem with it, that was their issue, not yours.

Once you saw Betty and Ned appear around the corner, you waved to your friends. They waved back, walking towards you, and Betty opening her arms, embracing you.

“Hey Y/n!” 

“Hey, Betty! Hi Ned! How was the trip?”

“It was insane! There were these elemental monsters and Mysterio and spider-man-“

“Woah, Betty! Slow down! Are you guys all okay? I saw some things on the news, but I didn’t think you guys were in the middle of it!”

“Were good, thanks to Spider-Man, I still have no idea how he made it all the way to Europe! Maybe-“

“Maybe we should catch up at lunch?” Ned cuts in, as Betty agrees, nodding.

“Yeah, then I can show you all the photos we took! You should really come on next year's trip!”

“I’ll consider it.”

As they walk off, you spot Peter and MJ talking down the hall. Peter spots you and waves, you wave back, before your whole world comes crumbling. As Peter kisses MJ you can't help but freeze up, making it hard for you to breathe.

Your whole fantasy just tumbled down into the sea of reality. You just lost your chance with Peter Parker. Your eyes started to become blurry from the tears forming, which you tried your best to hold back and wipe away.

Peter was ecstatic. He just got a girlfriend, saved the world again and was on an adrenaline high, excited to see his friends, especially Y/n.

He had a crush on you, but now he guessed it didn't matter, as you were way out of his league and would never go for a guy like him, not only that but he now had a girlfriend.

As he went to approach you saying goodbye to MJ, you weren't there at his locker anymore. Like a ghost, you were gone, just like the way his dreams of having Y/n faded.

During most of the day, you avoided him, managing to ask your teachers to let you work on your science project and that you would do the work later that night at home. You worked away for most of the morning until It was your advanced English class, the one you had right before lunch with none other than Peter Parker. Most of your classes were with him anyways, but this was the only class with the Mr.Lee. He was an Old hardass English teacher that was only there because he said: “retirement didn’t suit him”. It was that, and a combination of the regular teacher going on maternity leave.

You knew you couldn’t get out of this one or else he’d set you up with his less than legal to use lie detector machine, to tell him the real reason you wanted out of that class. His whole family were cops, most still working in the force somehow, and he was the only one who chose education. His reasoning was that “to get catch them in their early days was the best way”. You knew you had to face him, and more importantly, Peter.

Peter thought you might have gone home early with the flu or at least something along the lines of that. He hadn’t seen you all day, except with his encounter this morning. All he could do was hope whatever it was, you were okay.

Walking into class felt like a burden, one that was set upon you from your own inflictions. You could feel his heavy gaze on you, but you didn’t dare look, because that would give your whole facade away.

You decided to sit beside your friends that ran the newspaper with you, instead of him.

They didn’t even blink or question why you were sitting with them, they just continued to gossip.

You almost feel the burning stare of him through the back of your head but you didn't dare look back. 

He could have sworn he could feel something was wrong, especially from knowing you for so long.

During the class was torture, when all your mind was on was the one thing you couldn’t have, but as soon as the bell rang you sprinted like you were in a marathon out of there. You could hear your name being called by Peter from down the hall, but you didn’t stop for him. You continued out to the cafeteria quickly grabbing something before finding Betty outside. You realized why, as you promised her to go for lunch at a local sandwich shop with Ned and Peter. Before she could even ask why your exterior of being strong started to crumble.

Tears streaked down your face as you sat down on the bench next to her.

“Y/n, what's wrong?” she asked as she hugged you.

“He- he’s with her. It’s too late. I was too late.”

“Who? Y/n Whoever it is you’re too good for them!”

“If I’m too good for him, then how come I’m not with him?” You say looking down at your shoes as you spot Peter Parker and MJ coming out of the school’s building.

“Oh, Y/n I’m so sorry,” she says as she hugs you tighter “I know this is hard, but nothing worth fighting for is easy. Look at Spider-man! He fought because it was worth it not because it was easy, for everyone in Europe!”

“Maybe I didn’t fight enough when it wasn’t too late,” you say, before getting up to go trash the programmed message.

[donteattheappleshook]

Of Cars and Bars Chapter 10/14

As always, thank you Krystal @kmomof4​ for all of your amazing beta work and for just being a lovely person. Twice now you’ve talked me out of giving up on this one! This story exists because of and is dedicated to you!

Please enjoy and extra long, extra smutty chapter during your quarantine.

Summary:

Rated E

When Emma Swan is offered the chance to go on tour as an opener for one of the most popular up and coming bands of the decade, the last thing she expects is to find that the lead guitarist is the stranger she had a one night stand with five years ago.

This started out as a smutty two shot about Emma Ruby and Mary Margaret going on a road trip and has evolved into a slow-burn mutual pining angst-fest.

Read it from the beginning on Ao3 and Ffn because tumblr eats all my italics.

Chapter 10 - Circles

It's been years / Since we whispered soft / With the torch light on / And the big light off / We were tired boys / With the soap on our skin / And we'd fall asleep to the wind

     "It's so nice to have girls around," Belle sighed as she picked at the last piece of French toast on her plate. Emma, Ruby, and Mary Margaret laughed and she turned bright red. “I mean -”

“We get it,” Ruby assured her. “The guys are great but sometimes you just need to get away from the testosterone and enjoy being around other women.” 

“Exactly,” Belle agreed. Emma smiled. Belle had grown up surrounded by boys and continued to spend most of her time with them. She could only imagine how nice it must be to finally have some long-term female company. 

“Should we get another round of mimosa’s,” Mary Margaret suggested. 

“You shouldn’t,” Emma laughed. “It’s eleven in the morning. You’ll be out cold by noon if you have another.” 

They were enjoying another one of those lovely, rare days off - their first since Austin nearly two weeks ago. They’d had a show last night and Emma had come so close to playing her new songs - yes, it was songs now. After that day with Killian, after the silly game that had reminded her of how fun and easy and cathartic it was to write music, she hadn’t been able to stop. It was like the floodgates had been opened and she had finally, finally found her way back to music. 

She could do it on her own now. She’d written one or two songs sitting quietly in the back of the bus while the others slept or played cards or browsed the internet on their phones. But she still wrote with Killian when she could - not because she needed his help or support, but because she enjoyed it. Writing with him was fun, it was easy, and it was quickly becoming one of her favorite things to do. 

Who was she kidding? Spending time doing anything with Killian was becoming one of her favorite things to do. She tried to convince herself that it was just the fact that they were so productive - she’d have a whole album soon at this rate - and the fact that the celebratory sex afterwards was just mindblowing. But honestly… she didn’t know. She just liked spending time with him. She liked listening to his stories and discovering new little quirks about him, things that were the inevitable result of being around each other so much. 

She just… she liked him. Fuck. She liked him. She tried to calm her breathing whenever that little thought made itself known. It’s okay to like your friends, she would remind herself. You like Ruby and Mary Margaret and Belle. You can like your friends. It was just a lot more complicated when that friend set her skin on fire and made her also want to jump his bones whenever he smiled at her. That was where it got blurry. 

“Excuse me,” a small, nervous voice said and Emma looked up to see three young, teenage girls standing next to their table. They were clutching their phones to their chests and practically bouncing on their toes. “Are you Emma Swan?” 

She looked at them a little skeptically. “Yes?” 

Smiles lit up their whole faces. “We’re huge fans! We were at the show last night and oh my god, you were just so amazing! We love your songs! Can we take a picture with you?” 

Their words came out in a frenzied jumble and it took Emma a moment to catch up to what exactly was going on. Then it hit her. Holy shit. These were fans. She had fans. She’d been recognized, in a public place, by people who liked her music. She felt starstruck. She realized the irony of that. 

“Of course you can,” Ruby answered for her when Emma sat there dumbly with her mouth hanging open. The girls squealed and rushed up beside her and she did her best to smile and not look like a terrified idiot as they continued to tell her how much they loved her and took dozens of pictures. 

“Can we take one with all of you?” one of them asked. “You’re her band right?” Mary Margaret and Ruby stood with much more tact than she had and let Belle take a photo of the six of them, smiling and making faces. 

“Thank you so much!” the second said as she looked through the pictures on her phone. 

The third one piped up then. “Can I ask you, what’s it like playing with Abandon Ship!? I mean, how do you even function? They’re all so hot and so talented, you must just love it.” Emma fumbled for something to say, trying not to laugh as her friends did as well. 

“Liam is just so hot,” the first one spoke again. “Is he single?” she whispered, hoping Emma would let her in on some secret. Emma bit her lip to hide her smile, she didn’t want to smile while she crushed this poor girl. 

“Actually,” she said, nodding to Belle. “This is his wife.” 

The girl looked like she’d been completely deflated. “Oh.” 

“What about Killian?” the third girl asked. She was about fourteen. 

Emma hesitated. She hated that she hesitated. She didn’t have any claim on him. They had an understanding. And this was a teenage girl, not someone Killian would even be interested in. But still, the words got stuck in her throat before she let them out. They felt wrong coming out of her mouth. She didn’t like that either.

“As far as I know, Killian’s single.” 

The girls squealed and thanked them and headed off. Ruby was looking at her. Emma tried to avoid her gaze but then finally met her eyes and glared a little bit. “What?” she demanded. Ruby just gave her a pointed look and a shrug that said ‘you know what’. 

Shit. Shit. When had she started caring whether or not Killian was single? When had she started thinking that he wasn’t? When had Ruby noticed? Emma didn’t do jealousy. They weren’t together, they were friends and they were sleeping together. She had no right to get possessive of her fuck buddy. He could do what he wanted. With whoever he wanted. It was none of her business. She didn’t care. 

“How can she be his wife if she’s not even with him on his birthday,” they heard one of the girls mutter under their breath when they thought they were out of earshot. It took Emma longer to put it together than it took Ruby. 

“What? It’s Liam’s birthday today,” she nearly screeched. Belle shut her eyes for a second, then gave a little sigh. 

“Yes. But you can’t tell him you know.”

“Why not?” Mary Margaret asked. 

“He hates his birthday,” Belle told them. “He has some weird complex about getting older. He’s refused to celebrate any birthday since his twenty-ninth. It’s stupid but he won’t let me even mention it. He’s having some kind of crisis.”

“That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Emma said. It was.

Belle shrugged. “I know but… well, he never really had birthday parties when he was younger either, we didn’t have the money or parents to throw them for us. By the time he was able to, he felt too old for them. Now he just feels too old in general.”

“How old is he?” Ruby asked. 

“Thirty-two.” 

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Oh my god, he’s practically a child.” A sly grin came over her face then. “We should throw him a party.”

“He’ll never go for it,” Belle said, but she didn’t sound against the idea. 

“A surprise party then,” Mary Margaret suggested, getting excited. 

“I’ve wanted to throw him a party for years but he’s really got some hangup about his age. I don’t know if it’s because he was always a few years older than us or what but he really doesn’t want to acknowledge that he’s not in his twenties anymore.” She rolled her eyes in that way only someone in love could, like their partner was the biggest idiot they’d ever met and they absolutely adored that about them. 

“Okay then, let’s not throw him a thirty-second birthday party. Let’s throw him a sweet sixteen!” Ruby exclaimed. 

“Did he get a sweet sixteen?” Mary Margaret asked. Belle shook her head. “Then he’s overdue!” 

“Yeah, and come on, everyone knows a party is more for the people throwing it than the birthday boy. It’s our last night before three straight weeks of shows. We could use some fun, unwind," Ruby pushed.

"I’d love to be sixteen again without all the hormones and homework,” Mary Margaret sighed.

Belle smiled, clearly getting on board with the idea. “Okay, I’m in. But it’s going to have to be a surprise - a real one - or he’ll never let us get away with it.” 

“Awesome!” Ruby was in full combat mode now. “Belle, do you think you can keep Liam occupied all day?”

Belle hung her head. “Yeah. He’s been trying to convince me to go to this tall-ship exhibit in town. I swear he set up the tour dates just so he’d be here for it,” she groaned, clearly hating the idea of spending her day below deck on a bunch of old boats. Emma was starting to understand where all the nautical puns might have come from. Liam was a secret, giant nerd - just like his brother. “I’ll go with him,” she continued, and Emma could tell that this was really her taking one for the team. “If I let him give me a tour and teach me what he already knows about the ships, we should be there for a few hours at least.” 

“Your sacrifice is noted,” Emma said with a teasing smile. Belle laughed. 

“Okay, you go ahead and get him out and we’ll round up the others.” 

Emma knew there was no sense fighting it. She knew her friends well enough to understand that at this point her best option was to just do as she was told and join in. Besides, a party would be fun. Ruby’s parties were always fun. Mary Margaret’s themed parties were always even more fun. And who knows, maybe she’d get to play a little seven minutes in heaven with Killian. She smirked.

Once Belle and Liam had left, they rounded up the boys and filled them in on their plans. They were met with excitement and a little bit of mischief on the part of all three. 

“About time someone makes him get his head out of his own arse,” Killian said. “If he’s going to continue to insist on calling me little brother he’s going to have to eventually admit that he’s older than me.” He smiled. “What do we have to do?”

“We only have a few hours,” Ruby informed them. “Graham and Killian, you guys are on the room and the booze.” Emma wanted to protest, realising her friend didn’t know about Killian’s history but Killian gave her a small smile and shook his head, stopping her. 

“What about the room?” he asked. “Are we not just going to have it in Belle and Liam’s?” 

“No. This is a party. Their room is a little bigger than ours but barely -” she held up a finger when he tried to speak. “Shut up about your weird brother, size issue. That room is barely big enough for two people let alone eight.” Killian looked a little disgruntled but kept his mouth shut. “When you get the booze, make sure it’s only the kind of stuff you would have drank at sixteen. Shitty beer, wine coolers, vodka, whatever.”

“How are we supposed to get a new room?” Graham asked. Ruby looked at him with amusement.

“Honey, you’re famous now. Go let the staff know that they have rock stars staying with them and I’m sure they’ll gift you the penthouse.” She gave him and Killian a smirk. “And if that doesn’t work go bat your pretty little eyes at them and see what happens.” 

Killian looked way too excited about that option. Of course he would be. Emma wanted to roll her eyes. Ruby continued to assign their tasks.

“Mary Margaret, you and David are on food since you’re the two biggest foodies I know.”

“Really?” Emma said, surprised. “David?” She didn’t mean to be rude but she’d watched that man wolf down copious amounts of the nastiest, greasiest diner food she’d ever seen - without complaint. 

“Oh yeah,” Killian said. “Don’t get him started on his pancakes.”

David smiled. “It’s all in the cinnamon.” 

“Go figure out what the hell sixteen year old English boys eat and do your best to recreate it. Emma, you and I are on decorations.”

Emma sighed, resigned. She really really would have prefered to go help out with the booze or the food but she knew there was no point in arguing. She just didn’t relish the idea of tackling the dollar store with Ruby. She’d made that mistake once before.

The group was splitting up and Emma made a point to check in with Killian. “You sure you’re okay with this? I don’t mind switching jobs.” He was her friend. She was allowed to care if her friend was being put in a position that threatened his sobriety. She hadn’t realised she’d taken his hand until she felt him squeeze hers. 

“I’m fine, Swan, Really. We play in bars and I’m used to people drinking around me.” He gave her a soft smile then. “Thank you for checking.”

She cleared her throat, uncomfortable. “Whatever, I’m just trying to get out of shopping with Ruby.” 

He smirked, she knew he didn’t buy it. She didn’t blame him. She didn’t buy it either. “Of course, Love.” 

“Emma! Let’s go!” Ruby demanded and she sighed. 

Killian squeezed her hand again, laughing. “See you soon,” he said before heading off after Graham to try and seduce the poor girl at the front desk. She rolled her eyes again. He was such an idiot. It was one of her favorite things about him. 

The dollar store had been gruelling. Ruby had taken a serious ‘divide and conquer’ approach that was followed by her going over Emma’s portion all over again when she inevitably did it wrong. They were making their way back to the hotel now with every single sweet sixteen party decoration they had found in the four closest dollar stores as well as a few other decorations that Ruby had insisted she could make work. 

They’d stayed in touch throughout, Killian keeping her informed that they had, in fact, successfully used their ‘dashing good looks’ - his words, not hers - to convince the girl at the desk, and her manager to let them have the penthouse suite for the night. She rolled her eyes at him again. She didn’t know if he was more proud of this rock star status or his seduction skills. 

They reached the lobby and met the others there. Graham and Killian gave them their elevator keys and they all packed into the elevator with their bags. Emma tried very hard to ignore the memories that being in an elevator with Killian always brought on. It didn’t help that he was looking at her like he knew exactly what she was thinking and was intending to make good on the promises in his eyes. She wondered if everyone else found it hot in here. 

They got to work quickly. Ruby ordered them about like a drill sergeant as soon as they got into the room. Emma barely had time to take in the massive suite. There were three bedrooms and a pullout couch in the living room. Each room had its own bathroom and there was even a kitchen. This room was nicer than any apartment Emma had ever been in, let alone rented. Killian walked up to her as she stared in awe, threw a friendly arm around her shoulder.

“It’s nice to be famous, isn’t it?” he joked. Emma shoved him and he laughed. 

“Hey! You!” Ruby called, indicating at Killian. “Get over here and help Graham move the furniture.” They were trying to get stuff out of the way to have as much floor space as possible in the large living area. Ruby insisted it was necessary for the games they would be playing. However, the luxury of this place meant that all of the furniture was equally as luxurious and therefore apparently made out of the heaviest damn material in the world.

“Why doesn’t David have to help?” Killian protested.

“Because David is trying to figure out how and why the hell you would put macaroni into a pie,” David called back from the kitchen where he and Mary Margaret were scratching their heads while putting french fries into sandwiches and figuring out how to deep fry things that should never be deep fried, without a deep fryer. 

“Exactly. You’re just standing there flirting,” Ruby added. 

Killian sighed but walked over and took his end of the large sofa. Emma couldn’t help herself as she watched them - watched Killian - move the heavy furniture about the room. Her head tilted a bit, her tongue coming out to wet her bottom lip as she watched the muscles flex under his long sleeve shirt. She could see sweat starting to pool on his neck, his face straining a bit with the effort but still, of course, teasing Graham competitively about who was stronger. 

Ruby’s arms came around her from behind then, resting her chin on Emma’s shoulder. “They’re not so hard on the eyes are they?” she said with a grin. Emma wanted to scoff but she only laughed. “Come on, you can admit it. You’d have to be blind not to notice.” Emma only smiled. She knew what Ruby was doing. She wasn’t going to give it to her. “Let’s go. You can stare later,” her friend said, poking her in the ribs. “We have decorations to hang.” 

By the time they were done, the room looked like a John Hughes movie had thrown up on it. It was pretty perfect. Ruby had done an excellent job making the decorations just cheesy enough to be fun and quirky. The food smelled amazing and the booze was just the right reminder of her sixteen year old self to turn her stomach a little. That would be interesting. Ruby had spent the better part of the last hour getting everything ready for games - apparently there would be a lot of them. 

Mary Margaret and Killian had just finished pouring over the playlist of songs that were popular when Liam was sixteen. Was he more of a Geenday fan or Usher? She heard her friend ask. Killian smiled. Britney.

The clerks at the front desk had been instructed to give Belle an elevator key and she’d texted that they would be getting to the hotel in five minutes. They went about frantically, shoving the bags out of the way, tidying up the kitchen and shutting all the lights before finding a place to hide. 

Emma tried not to read into the fact that she and Killian had both found themselves behind the same couch. She tried even harder to ignore the way her pulse jumped when he pulled her against him, insisting she wasn’t hidden well enough. She didn’t know what his thumb gliding back and forth against her stomach had to do with hiding. She didn’t stop him though. 

The lights came on and they all jumped up, shouting surprise to a very flustered and then slightly annoyed Liam. He looked to Belle who shrugged at him and said something they couldn’t hear. He gave her a little smile.

“Happy Birthday, Liam!” Mary Margaret came up and kissed him on the cheek. “You only turn sixteen twice!” He laughed and let her and Belle drag him into the room. He thanked David as he was handed a packet of onion flavored chips and a Guinness.

“You’re nearly forgiven,” he said to his friend. He looked up as Killian put ‘Toxic’ on full blast. He glared at his brother’s shit eating grin. “You, I’ll never forgive.” 

They spent some time eating the surprisingly good, although strange, food. Why is everything in a pie? Emma wondered aloud to the laughter and defensive cries of all the Brits in the room. They even had a little bit of a karaoke party, singing along to all their old favorites. Emma was surprised at how many lyrics she still knew by heart. She was even more surprised at how many Kiley Minogue songs Killian and Graham knew off by heart. 

She had way too much fun singing Franz Ferdinand with Killian. She tried really, really hard to not connect the way he was singing the lyrics to her now to the way he’d sung to her five years ago. But there was something about being sung to by this man… no wonder half the world was in love with him. Her heart caught in her throat at the thought. Shit. She needed to stop drinking wine coolers. They were going right to her head, making her think about things she shouldn’t be thinking about. Like how much she wanted to drag him into a closet right now, but also how much she really wanted to be able to reach out and just hold his hand without caring about everyone seeing. 

The games were a relief as they were all forced to sit in a circle and Emma chose a spot far enough away from Killian that she wouldn’t be tempted to reach out and touch him in a way that was not at all friendly or sexual. At least until she could get her brain and her errant thoughts back under control, stop thinking about that middle ground between friends and sex that had been drawing her to him more and more. 

The first game they played was Truth or Dare. Graham went first and set the tone for the rest of the game - and the night really. He looked Ruby dead in the eye and asked her, truth or dare. She chose dare without hesitating. Maybe it was the couple of tequila shots Emma had forced him to do with her or maybe he was just tired of hiding it but he dared Ruby to kiss him. The hoots and the catcalls that filled the room were deafening and Emma could feel her face splitting with her grin. It was nice to see Ruby so happy. It was nice to see her with someone who wanted everyone to know they were together too. She looked over at Killian, who was beaming. He winked at her. 

Ruby went next, asking Killian who also chose dare. Ruby smirked before daring him to kiss the best looking person in the room. Emma saw his eyes flicker to hers and her heart skipped a little, wondering what he would do, if he would kiss her in front of everyone, what that would mean. He must have seen the panic on her face because he gave her a little smile before turning to David. 

“C'mere you handsome son of a bitch,” he said before placing a loud, smacking kiss on his friend’s mouth. David made a show of swooning and fanning himself. She wanted to thank him, thank him for understanding that she wasn’t ready for everyone to know, for not pushing her. But she didn’t have to. He knew. He always did. 

The next game they played was Spin the Bottle. That one got a bit weird, especially when Killian was forced to kiss his sister-in-law to their mutual disgust, and when Emma had to kiss Graham. She was pretty sure that David had some kind of special bottle spinning technique because he seemed to continuously land on Mary Margaret whenever it was his turn. 

Emma tried not to get annoyed at the fact that she’d now kissed nearly everyone in the room but the bottle had never landed on Killian. She’d wanted to kiss him since this morning when he’d waggled his eyebrows at her while he ran off to seduce his way into a nicer room. Who was she kidding, she always wanted to kiss him. She wanted to do other stuff too… but those were less appropriate to a sweet sixteen party with all of their friends around. 

They actually did play seven minutes in heaven. Emma hadn't thought Ruby would make them play this one but here they were, waiting for Belle and Liam to come back out of the closet as they all congregated around the snacks. Both emerged a little less than put together and the group applauded them loudly, throwing in a few crude remarks. Mary Margaret reached over to grab the next name out of the hat. 

“Emma!” she shouted and Emma hung her head at the cheers. “And…” Mary Margaret's hand went back into the hat and she opened the little piece of paper she withdrew. She crumpled up in her hand, keeping it down at her side. “Killian,” she said with a challenge in her grin. Emma glared at her. She didn’t believe for a second that Killian’s name was on that piece of paper. Mary Margaret held her gaze for a moment, matching it, and then she winked.

“Lemme see it,” she said, holding her hand out. 

“No.”

“Let me see it,” she repeated, reaching for Ruby. 

Mary Margaret practically jumped across the room. “No! That’s cheating! Cheater!” she cried as Emma tried to get the paper from her. “She’s cheating! Ref! Cheat!” She turned to Liam who looked confused and surprised. 

“Who me?”

“It’s your birthday.”

He made a show of considering it for a long time. “The judge rules in Mary Margaret's favor. Seeing the paper is cheating. And,” he added, pausing for dramatic effect. “As a penalty, your time has been upped to ten minutes in heaven.”  

Emma sighed. Shit. First Ruby knew, now Mary Margaret apparently did too. Of course they knew. They always knew. Liam probably did too by the sounds of it. They hadn’t been careful enough. She wanted to care more… but the fear and the anxiety she’d come to associate with anyone knowing about her private life didn’t come. Maybe that was just because she was going to be locked in a small room with Killian, alone finally. Maybe it was just because it was Killian, period. 

“Please, Swan,” Killian said, as he opened the closet door for her. “Do try your best to resist me.” She rolled her eyes at him. 

The door shut. It was quiet, the music and voices outside muffled. It was dark too, the light having been left off ‘as per the rules’. She could feel him standing in front of her, there was barely enough room for the two of them to fit inside, let alone without touching. His breath was on her face and she could feel the warmth of him. Her heart started to race. She didn’t know at what. He seemed to sense something because he spoke then.

“Really Emma, we don’t have to do anything. We can stand here for ten and then come out looking completely put together and Ruby and Mary Margaret will be none the wiser.” He reached out and found her hand in the dark, did that thing where he ran his thumb over her palm and then her wrist. It slowed her heart a little.

How did he always know exactly what to say, exactly what she needed when she herself wasn’t even sure? He was so kind, so considerate of her feelings and her fears and it made her heart warm to him again in that way that scared her a little. But not as much as it used to. She smiled though he couldn’t see it. Her friends knew. No matter how they came out of here they knew, and Emma suspected they weren’t the only ones. The cat was out of the bag, so why couldn’t she have a little fun?

Emma wrapped her fingers around the hand that was still toying with hers, brought it to rest on her stomach just above the waist of her jeans. She smirked when she felt his breath hitch, his whole demeanor changing at once, his muscles tensed as he leaned in closer. 

“And here I thought you’d be all bravado and false promises about how you could get me off in ten minutes.” It was her breath that hitched this time as his hand flattened against her stomach, reached down to the button of her jeans and flicked it open. 

He breathed into her ear. “I never make false promises.” 

His lips were at her neck then, trailing fire from her ear to the hollow of her throat as he pressed her back against the shelves, sealing their bodies together from chest to hips. She wanted to cry out but she made herself stay silent, not wanting to give the others outside any more fuel. His hips ground against hers, his hand still trapped between them and Emma fisted her hand in the back of his shirt as his fingers curled against her through the denim. 

He pulled back, pushing her shirt up out of the way so he could take her breast in his mouth, working her nipple first through the cotton of her bra and then grunting as he shoved it out of the way. The feel of his tongue on her skin made her whine and he shushed her all while pressing harder and more intently against her core with his fingers in a move that was not helping at all. 

Everything about his movements was quick and hard and dirty and Emma was already on edge, desperate for him to get rid of the damn barrier between her and his fingers so that he could touch her properly. She hitched a leg up over his hip, tried to pull him in closer, urge him to get on with it. They didn’t have time for teasing. He bit down on her nipple and she had to bite her tongue to stop the moan that tried to come out. 

They were running out of time. He needed to be reminded, needed a challenge. She reached for his hair and dragged him away from her breasts, forcing him to pay attention to her voice. “The game is called Seven Minutes in Heaven, Killian,” she said harshly, her breath coming out in pants. He growled, almost sounding disappointed but she also knew that he couldn’t resist a challenge. 

He pulled down the zipper of her fly and finally slid his hand inside. A choked moan escaped her as she felt his fingers against her heated flesh and he brought his mouth down over hers, keeping her quiet. He played her skillfully, like she was one of his goddamn instruments, knowing exactly where to tease and where to push to make her cry out. He didn’t waste any more time, sliding two fingers into her and finding her clit with his thumb.

“Gods, Love, how are you so wet?” he groaned against her neck, “I’ve barely touched you.” His voice was low and desperate and it shot heat down through her to where his hand was, causing her to roll her hips against his fingers. “That’s it,” he said into her ear, biting at the lobe as his fingers increased their speed, matching the desperate rocking of her hips. His thumb circled around the sensitive nub, faster and harder with each stroke as her hand buried itself in his hair, pulling it as she tried to ground herself to something. She was probably pulling too hard, it was probably painful, but he didn’t protest. 

“Fuck, Emma,” he breathed and she could tell he was watching her ride his fingers, whatever he could make out in the dark. “Fuck, I need you to come.” He increased the speed of his thumb on her clit, pressed down in a way that made her breath stop, made her cling to him like he was the only thing keeping her on this earth right now. “Come on,” he whispered, his tongue and teeth playing at the spot beneath her ear, his other hand finding her nipple through her shirt and working it with the same roughness he was showing the rest of her body, flicking and pinching. 

“Yes, yes,” Emma begged in his ear, her voice so low she didn’t even know if he could hear it. She could barely hear it. All she could do was feel as the coil in her stomach tightened more and more in time with the circling of his thumb and the thrust of his fingers and the bite of his teeth on her neck. 

He curled his fingers inside of her and she shattered, grabbing on to whatever she could find and all she could find was him. Her hand clutched desperately at the skin of his back under his shirt, at the hair at the nape of his neck as she continued to rock her hips, riding her way through it. She was trying to muffle her cry against his neck, her mouth open and desperate against his heated skin. 

She kept waiting for him to pull back, to slide his fingers out of her, to slow his onslaught on her breast and on her clit, but he didn’t. She could feel herself already climbing towards another peak, this one not even finished. 

She tried to question him but the words couldn’t come out, her breath ragged and choked as he pressed deeper into her, dragging his fingers against her walls. She threw her head back, she couldn’t handle the intensity of the feelings he was pulling from her, but she needed him to keep going, she was so close to coming again. 

“We have ten minutes,” he told her, the words pressed against the hollow of her throat, his tongue dragging hot and wet against the skin there before moving to nip at her jaw, at her chin. His fingers kept pushing and pulling and curling, adding a third and flicking at her clit in a way that made her cry out so loud that his other hand flew from her breast and covered her mouth. 

She didn’t care though, couldn’t bring herself to care or be quiet as he brought her higher and higher with teeth and tongue and fingers, her hips rocking against him, teeth biting down on the fingers pressed to her mouth until she came again, this one stronger and more earth shattering than the last. She felt tears stinging at the corner of her eyes as her body shook, convulsing as he brought her back down slowly, his lips soft now, gentle against her temple and her cheek and her lips. 

“Gods you’re beautiful,” he whispered, his hand coming to trace the line of her cheek. She didn’t think he’d meant for her to hear it, didn’t think he’d meant for the kiss he placed to her lips to be quite so soft and sweet and longing as it was but she didn’t care. She let him kiss her, kissed him back just as gently and carefully, savoring the feel and the taste of him. Maybe it was just the aftershock of her orgasms that was making her feel this soft and open. Maybe it wasn’t. 

They only just managed to right themselves, closing the fly and button of her jeans, Killian pulling his fingers into his mouth in a way that made her desire stir all over again, and then helping her smooth her hair and straighten her shirt before the door opened. Emma did her best to keep her breathing normal as they walked out with as much composure and dignity as they could muster. 

She really thought they had their friends fooled for a minute there as they were greeted with a somewhat disappointed silence. Then, Graham saw Killian and erupted in a cheer, David and then the others following soon after. Emma looked at him, trying to figure out what had set off the uproar when she saw it. Killian had a hickey on his neck. She didn’t even remember giving it to him. She saw Killian shoot her a panicked look as his hand snapped up to cover the spot. 

She let her face fall into her hand as their friends teased and ribbed them. But it wasn’t as bad as she expected. It was actually the exact kind of teasing she’d have expected if they’d really been sixteen and come out of the closet with a guy sporting a hickey. It was friendly and silly and over with quickly. She gave Killian a small, hopeless smile and a shrug. Maybe it wasn’t such a big deal if they knew, she thought. Maybe she had been blowing it all up in her head, letting her own fears and insecurities convince her that she had to keep it hidden. A hesitant smile pulled at the corner of his lips before his cheeks reddened as his friends bugged him. He looked a little bit smug and it made her feel smug too. 

The night continued on, there was more karaoke and some silly trivia games about Liam’s past, hosted by a smirking Belle. Emma didn’t get a single question right but laughed the whole way through. They gave him gifts, random, fun things they’d managed to find on their one day out. Emma had found a set of t-shirts at one of the dollar stores that read ‘captain’ and ‘first mate’. The excitement on Liam’s face and the dread on Belle’s was priceless. 

Killian played him a song. It was a little cheesy as a gesture but Liam seemed to appreciate it. The song was about growing up together, about brothers. It was sweet and nostalgic and it brought a tear to Liam’s eye as he hugged his brother. Killian came up to her later while people were distracted playing flip cup. She’d stopped drinking a little while ago, one more wine cooler and she was gonna be sick from the memories alone. She also realised she didn’t mind being sober, especially when Killian was too. It let her feel like she could be a little more open, like the others wouldn’t notice or would forget in the morning. 

“That was a great song,” she told him. He smiled. “You guys should add it to your set list.”

“Thank you,” he said. “That means a lot coming from you.” She rolled her eyes at him and he mimicked her, exaggerating the gesture and making her laugh. “You inspired it, you know.” She looked at him in surprise. “Really. Your song a few weeks ago, when we were playing the game, it was brave of you to be able to look back on a hard time and be open about it.” He shrugged a little. “It made me want to be brave too.” 

She was reminded again by that little passing comment of how similar their lives had been, how much it had shaped them as people - how differently it had shaped them. Her life had led her to be scared, closed off and untrusting of anyone and everyone who tried to get past her walls. But for Killian it had had the opposite effect. He was so open and considerate and welcoming of everyone, so open to love and happiness and friendship that she envied him. She liked that he told her that she'd inspired him, that she’d made him brave. It was nice to know that it wasn’t just her who often found herself challenged because of him. 

The party died down around midnight, all of them finding their way into different rooms and comfy spots and drifting off or passing out. Emma woke up suddenly in one of these spots, burning hot. She was damp with sweat and her skin felt like it was on fire. She realised she’d fallen asleep sandwiched between Ruby and Mary Margaret on the pullout couch under an extravagantly fuzzy blanket. 

She peeled herself off the mattress, nearly stepping on David who was curled up on a pile of pillows on the ground beside them. She needed to get some fresh air, cool down before finding somewhere less crowded to sleep. She remembered that there was a balcony off of the kitchen and headed towards it. She was surprised to find Liam there when she opened the large french doors. He whirled around, looking like he’d been caught, hiding something behind his back. 

“Oh,” he said, relaxing. “I thought you were Belle for a moment.” He pulled his hand back out and Emma saw a cigarette held between his fingers. He turned back to face the skyline, leaning on the railing and took a drag. Emma joined him. “Don’t tell my wife, would you? It’s my birthday and only an occasional indulgence.” 

“Tell her what?” Emma said, giving him a knowing smile. He returned it, nodding. 

They stood in silence for a while, watching the city below them, still alive in the middle of the night. Emma hadn’t spent much time alone with Liam, still didn’t know if he even liked her very much, but she noticed that he was similar to his brother in some way… he had that same kind of calm aura about him. It was harder, more serious and pensive where Killian was relaxed and carefree, but she found herself unwinding, enjoying the calm and the cool air.  

“Has Killian told you much about me?” Liam asked, his voice quiet in the still night. She looked up at him a bit confused by the question. He was still looking out ahead, drawing the cigarette to his lips again. 

“Not really. I know you were both in the navy together and that you taught him to play guitar. That’s about it.” Liam nodded, a strange, contemplative look crossing his face that Emma couldn’t read.

“Aye,” he said, still not looking at her. “We were. We both left after… after something very bad happened.” Emma wondered if he was going to continue. His brow pulled down and he flicked some of the ash into the darkness below them. “The official term is ‘friendly fire’. Neither of us were alright after that. Killian nearly lost his hand. It was years of physiotherapy before he could play like he used to again. And me… well, I almost didn't… I almost…" he paused and Emma put the pieces together. "Killian found me, saved me.” 

He took another drag and his hand was shaking this time. Emma’s heart was racing, with sympathy for Liam, for Killian. She didn’t understand why he was telling her this. “That’s the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life, almost leaving him alone. Killian doesn’t do well alone. That was around when he found Milah.” The catch in her breath must have given her away. “Ah, so you’ve heard about her. Milah helped him. Helped him heal and helped him deal with all the shit I put him through. He loved her more completely than I've ever seen anyone love before.” 

Emma felt tears wetting her eyes because she knew. She knew what had happened to Milah. “When she died… Killian, he…” Liam shook his head and Emma tried to put together the timeline in her head, wondering if that was when he’d started drinking. “Well, let’s just say that dashing good looks and musical talent aren’t the only thing the Jones brothers have in common.” 

Emma’s tears were slowly making their way down her cheek now as Liam turned to look at her. She knew what it was like to lose someone you loved, someone you loved so intensely that it consumed your every waking moment. Neal hadn’t died but she’d never really recovered from losing him, from what happened. It was another reminder of how closely entwined her and Killian’s lives had been. How maybe that was why she felt so drawn to him, felt he understood her like no one really had before. 

“I’m not telling you this to worry you or to make you upset, Emma,” Liam said, finally done with his cigarette and putting it out against the railing. “I just want you to understand that Killian loves with his entire being. It’s all consuming and unselfish. And when he loses that love… it breaks him.” She knew his next words before he said them. Knew this was a warning, a supplication. “So… be careful with him. Don’t let him continue to care for you if you can’t return it, if you plan on leaving.” 

Emma wanted to deny that anything was going on, but she couldn’t. Not to him, and not to herself anymore either. She’d tried. She’d really tried to keep things simple, to keep him at arm's length. She thought that she could handle it, that it could just be friendship and sex and nothing more. But she should have known that wasn’t possible - not with Killian. He was too kind and too caring and he knew her in a way that excited her and scared her too. He challenged her and she him. He’d wormed his way into her heart somehow, had found a crack in her walls or had scaled the mile high barbed wire she kept around her heart. He’d brought fun and light to her life and shown her how to be vulnerable again without being hurt. She cared about him. She couldn’t pretend she didn’t anymore. It wasn’t fair to him and it wasn’t fair to her. 

She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling small and frightened by the revelation and the things Liam had told her. But she also felt hopeful. She nodded at him and he gave her a small, understanding smile. He moved to head back into the room.

“Wait,” Emma said, reaching into her pocket where she knew she still had a pack of gum. She held it out to him. “So Belle doesn’t know.” She raised one shoulder in a shrug and he gave her a small smile, accepting the packet. He took a piece and handed it back to her. He was almost back inside before he paused again, he didn’t turn around as he spoke. 

“He’s in the second bedroom. The one on the left.” He walked away, leaving her alone on the balcony. Emma wasn’t positive, but she was pretty sure Liam had just given her his blessing. 

She didn’t think about it as she headed back into the suite, made her way over to the room where she knew Killian was likely sleeping. She opened the door quietly and paused for a moment. He was asleep, spread out over the covers on his stomach, his face smushed against the pillow and his hair a mess. She smiled a little at the sight of him, for the first time not trying to ignore the little butterflies in her stomach that seeing him always brought. He’d left the blinds open so there was just enough moonlight and light from the skyscrapers for her to make out the shape of his arms and torso, bare and uncovered by the blanket. 

She shut the door quietly behind her, kicked off her jeans and socks and left them on the floor. She found a little space on the bed next to him, laughing a little at the fact that he’d splayed himself diagonally across it. She curled up next to him, took a moment to just look at him, appreciate the way the lines of his face were softened in sleep, the way his hair fell over his eyes. She reached out to brush it out of the way, traced his cheek and his jaw with the tips of her fingers. 

She couldn’t help herself. She leaned in, pressed her lips to his. He stirred after a moment, seeming to wake slowly and notice her there. At first he was surprised, a small shocked sound leaving him as his hands came up and froze, hovering. But then she felt him relax and he returned her kiss, his arms reaching out to wrap around her, pull her to him. 

She hoped, really hoped, that he could understand everything she was feeling, that the way she kissed him, slow and exploratory, and longing, the way he’d kissed her in the closet, was enough to convey the things she couldn’t say, what she couldn't put into words. Because she still didn’t know what they were - still didn’t know exactly what it was that she was feeling. All she knew was that she wanted more and she wanted it with him. She wanted to try. 

Killian kissed her carefully, like it was the first time they’d done this, and maybe it was on some level. His lips were slow but purposeful as he pressed them against her own, puling away before dipping back in to kiss her again, his breath hot and heavy and mixing with hers. His hands were still, holding her to him with one on her back and on cupping her face as they lay on their sides, pressed to one another, their legs tangling under the sheet. It was sweet and restrained and meaningful in ways she couldn’t even understand. She'd never been kissed like this before.

She was the one who broke first, overwhelmed by the forgotten emotions that were slowly overcoming her, wanting to explore them, wanting to feel more of them but absolutely terrified of what that would feel like. She rose slowly and pressed him onto his back, moving with him. He didn’t break their kiss, didn’t let it change to the hot, desperate, needy kind she was accustomed to, but she heard the small hitch in his breath as she lay astride him. 

They stayed like that for a while, Emma enjoying the feel of him pressed against every inch of her, enjoying the way his hands kept sliding slowly up her back and into her hair. It was almost soothing. She felt safe and comfortable with him here in the dark, surrounded by moonlight and silence apart from the sounds of their breaths. 

She rose slowly and pulled her shirt up over her head, Killian’s hands found their way to her hips as she reached behind herself to remove her bra. When she looked back at him, he was staring at her like he’d never seen her before. They’d been naked together before, his hands and lips and tongue had touched nearly every part of her. But they were always rushed, always scrambling to reach their high, never taking the time to look. But he was taking his time now. 

His eyes raked over her slowly, his lips slightly parted, an expression she couldn’t read on his face, long enough that she felt her cheeks start to flush. He sat up then, pulled her against him and covered her mouth with his again. She was grateful for the distraction. She kept her lips on his, mouths and hands not wandering the way they usually did. There was just the slow stroking of his fingers over her back, tangling in her hair whenever he wanted to tilt her head so that he could kiss her deeper, explore her mouth with his tongue. 

She felt the desire building slowly inside of her, felt it simmering, growing and spreading through her rather than raging like it usually did, like it had earlier. She could feel his own desire pressed against her stomach, felt the way his hand tightened in her hair when she rolled her hips against it. 

They moved carefully to shed the rest of their clothes and Emma felt Killian’s lips pressing to her shoulder, to the line of her collarbone, and her throat as she settled back into his lap, each one sending warm shivers down her spine. He held her face in his hand, pressed his forehead to hers as she lowered herself down onto him, letting him slide into her, gasping at the stretch and the fullness. 

His hand found its way to her hip, guiding her as she rocked slowly against him. Emma had never done this slowly before, had never experienced the way that the heat and the pressure could build gradually and steadily, pleasure increasing and coursing through her constantly rather than just being an end result. 

Small, breathy sounds left her whenever he shifted, adjusting the angle or tugging their hips closer together with an arm across her lower back so that he could grind against her most sensitive spot with every drag of him inside her. Her hands found their way to his hair, his face pressed into her neck as he breathed heavily and more and more desperately against her skin. She could feel it, she was nearly there. 

She almost didn’t want it to end, wanted to keep feeling this constant, overwhelming burning inside of her as long as she could. She could feel him starting to shake a little beneath her, could feel the tensing in his muscles and she knew he was close too, knew he was holding himself back. 

“It’s okay,” she told him. She didn’t want him to hold back. She wanted to know that this was as intense for him as it was for her - wanted to know that this wasn’t normal, that this was different. He pulled his face from her neck, watching her as she rode him. She rolled her hips against him twice more before his nails dug into her skin and his face twisted in bliss and agony and relief. It didn’t take long for her after that, the sight of him sending heat shooting into every inch of her. One more grind, one more pull and push of him inside her and she was falling, calling out and shuddering in his arms as her back bowed. He held her tightly, both of them allowing each other time to come back down to earth. 

His hand found her hair again and he pulled her mouth back to his, this kiss a little more desperate, a little hungrier than the ones before, both of them panting against each other and still shaking from the aftershocks.

When their skin had cooled and their breath had returned to normal, Killian loosened his hold enough for her to be able to climb off of him. She settled on the mattress beside him. He didn’t ask and neither did she. Instead, he just lifted the blanket a little, an invitation, and she slid in against him, curling herself around him and letting herself just be held. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been held afterwards. Normally she ran before there was even time to consider it. She didn’t realise until now, until she found herself laying against his chest with his fingers tracing the length of her spine, how much she’d missed it. 

Something had changed - with them, yes, but also with her. She didn’t know when or why exactly it had happened, but she didn’t feel scared anymore. It was like with her music. Once she had let herself feel one thing, let herself be okay with being vulnerable, the rest had just fallen into place. She knew it was because of him, knew she’d been ignoring that for far too long now. She didn’t want to fight it anymore. 

Killian wasn’t like Neal. She’d never met someone more different from him. It was time she let herself feel something again. Trusted someone, trusted herself to feel something again. He’d proven to her already over and over that he understood her and respected her and cared about her. She was done with doubting him. She curled herself tighter around him, felt him press his smile to her forehead. She closed her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep. 

[stereksecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, @otpsfloat!

Hello dear @otpsfloat! I really hope you’re going to like this story, and I also hope I didn’t add too much fluff ;)

Summary: Derek is forced to go to a mini gold speed dating, but when he meets Stiles there, he isn’t really sure if he should rather thank his sisters for this amazing idea.

Read on AO3

*****

The Official Beacon Hills Rainbow Mini Golf Date Night.

Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, Derek Hale hated living with his sisters. He had been sulking for a while, unhappy with college, with life, with everything.

Of course, Laura and Cora, the banes of his very existence - together with their mother Talia, of all people! - had attributed it to him not getting laid enough. (Or, in the case of his parents: of him not having someone to love, to cherish and to bond closely with!)

Thus Laura pulled some strings, added a lot of pressuring, and a near-blackmail in the form of “if you do this, you’re off the hook for an entire year!”, and here he was: At the Official Beacon Hills Rainbow Mini golf Date Night.

He already hated the colourful design of the rooms, the glaringly offensive brightness of everything assaulting his eyes. There were several courses of eighteen holes each, and a group of male and female visitors, all milling about and having a drink.

Derek cringed internally as he headed towards the cash register. He’d looked it up, before; Everyone would take a coloured golf ball out of a huge tub with their eyes closed, and would complete an entire course with whoever had the equivalent of their colour. The only thing they could choose in advance was the gender of their ‘dating partner’.

Derek hadn’t hesitated in signing himself up for men only.

There were a lot of people standing around. Some seemed shy, others were already trying to pair up. There were others, similar to him, who looked like they wanted to be anywhere else but here.

Derek was the last to grab for the ball, and the organisers were already beginning to pair the people up, smiling like this was the best thing of the entire world. And for some it seemingly was, judging from their happy expressions, but for him it was only something he had agreed to to get his family off his back for a year. He really didn’t get their complaints anyway, what was so bad with being single?

Derek toyed with the plastic ball, looking around idly. He wondered about getting a drink to loosen up, but knowing that it wouldn’t work (and assuming that they didn’t have anything stronger for werewolf customers) he decided not to. An attendee headed towards him, and he displayed the abysmal pink ball in his hands. She smiled, leading him on.

And then he saw his partner for the speed dating. He held his own pink ball, wearing a shirt with a cute fox on it, grinning sarcastically, Jeans, pretty worn converse and a checked shirt wrapped around his waist. He had moles everywhere, brown eyes and hair that stood up and didn’t look like it had been combed in a while.

“Great! Now that everyone is paired up, let me explain the rules again! We have three courses here, and you complete one with your current partner. If you want to get to know them better, you can take some extra 15 minutes at the Bar. If you want to continue, you wait here until all are done, and pick another ball. But let’s hope your current partner got the balls to sweep you off your feet, right?”, she announced with a loud laugh.

Derek blinked, slowly, and then made his way over to his partner for the night. He had to admit it - the boy was pretty cute. A somewhat upturned nose, awake, honey-coloured eyes, and a grin that matched the relaxed posture he had. But for some reason he looked awfully familiar to the werewolf - and not quite legal. “Hey,” he said, approaching the young man directly. “How’s it going?”

“Hey!”, he let out in an almost squeak, as his eyes ranked over Derek’s body. He smelled excited, hopeful and somewhat happy. “I am Stiles! You probably remember me from the one running in to you and throwing all his books down the staircase in college!”

Derek’s eyes widened at that. Christ, he remembered. “Damn, that was you,” he blurted out. “You nearly broke my neck. And your own, too, when you almost flung yourself down the stairs to save the books,” he added with a somewhat devious grin. “Out to meet new people?”

“Oh yeah!” He chuckled at that, wiggling his eyebrows. “Kinda. Actually… to be really honest…” he whispered and leaned in. “I lost a bet.”

Derek’s brows shot up. “Be glad you don’t have obnoxious sisters you think you need to get laid,” he replied, voice nothing but a quiet growl in Stiles’ ears. He didn’t miss the shiver that ran through the boy.

“Hah… so we both aren’t here on our own volition?” he asked, tilting his head. “But hey! It’s mini golf! Let’s make the best of it and have the game of our lifes!”

“You’d love mini golf,” Derek replied with a grumble. They both took their (ridiculously small!) clubs, heading to one of the courses. Being intimidating by nature meant people let Derek go first, and he smirked at that, walking past the people with Stiles at his side.

Stiles, who didn’t mind this at all. He smelled so ridiculously happy that it was almost overpowering everything else in the room. “Soooo… what should I call you?“

Oh, right. He’d never introduced himself.

"I’m Derek. Derek Hale,” he added, knowing that most people were at least remotely aware of his… unconventional family at the edge of town. And his werewolf blood, too.

“Derek…” Stiles repeated, almost purring. “Then show me how you treat these balls!”

“Oh, you’re an expert for balls, then?” Derek drawled. He dropped his own ball to the ground, putting it in position with his foot and eyeing the hole. Jesus, he sucked at mini golf. No werewolf senses would fix that. He flicked the golf club, shooting the ball towards its aim.

Stiles let out a laugh. Derek’s ball was way off. “Good shot, Der!” he said, placing his own ball down. He licked his lips, glanced towards the hole, and then hit it.

“Come on,” Derek growled, watching Stiles hit a hole in one. “You’re actually good at mini golf? What kind of nerd are you?”

“Wohooooo!” He let out a cheer and jumped up, grinning at the werewolf. “I am kinda good? Not greatly good, but… yeah! But I promise I didn’t use any magic…” he added as he wiggled his fingers. “And I am a nerd by association! And… yeah. But really, you’re giving up that easily?”

“Oh, I haven’t even started,” Derek said with a low rumble, and his the hole with the next shot as well. He didn’t comment on the magic statement, after all he wasn’t the only supernatural creature here. The one in the corner looked like he could be a Kanima, and he was sure that one of the organisers was a werewolf as well. And magic per se wasn’t that rare, it all depended on what kind of magic… and that was something he could find out later, once he decided that he was interested in getting to know this one further. If he would do it. “Keep going. You start this time, Mister Nerd by association.”

“Uuuuh! Call me Stiles, Sourwolf!” he shot back, a wide grin on his face. He hopped further, placed his ball in front of him again, and this time wiggled with his back. Was he trying to wiggle every single part of his body this evening?

Sourwolf? Derek chuckled against his better judgement, reaching out with the club and patting Stiles’ backside with it. “Wiggling for the audience?”

“Maybe I’m wiggling for you?”, he offered with a wink and then played the ball. But this time it went into the hole, jumped out of it and rolled down. “Maaaan!”

"Not quite as lucky all the time?” Derek whispered into his ear, walking past him. This time he was more effective than Stiles - he just needed two hits, the other three.

“So! As this is a date or something… we should talk, right?” he began, heading to the next area. “Okay. We know our names. Then… what else does one talk about during dates?”

“I’d ask what you’re doing, but I know that already,” Derek said smugly. “College, Criminal Science. Right?”

“Yes. And you?” He looked at him. “I only saw your abs to be honest… oh, and Cora, but she’s rude and kinda scary.”

“She is. Don’t tell her I said that, she’d eat my eyeballs.” He shrugged. “Architecture and art,” Derek said, putting another ball. “One because it was sensible, one because I wanted to.”

“Nice!” He nodded, watching him playing. “And you’re a werewolf. My best friend is one, bitten.”

“And you’re not scared?” This was a surprise; most people were. Derek motioned for him to shoot. “That’s rare.”

“Well… when he tried to kill me, yeah… back then I was. Scared shitless actually…” he murmured, a frown on his face. “…but I did my best. I tried to teach him as much as I could, without an Alpha for him around. He was bitten by a rogue Alpha, which I think… your family took out a bit later, if I remember correctly? You maybe know him? Scott McCall? He works at Deaton’s. He’s also helping me with my magic a bit, not as much as I’d like to, but that’s Deaton…”

“Yeah, actually. Heard his name before. Deaton’s my mother’s Emissary.” Derek said with a nod. “And well, in Scott’s defense, you look like a snack,” he added deadpan.

Stiles looked at him, as if to ask if he was serious, but then his lips spread into a grin. “If I’m a snack, then you’re the full meal.”

“Smooth,” the werewolf said with a quiet laugh. He nodded, motioning for him to go ahead. They kept talking, an easy back and forth between them.

It was really nice and also felt natural. Stiles’ happiness didn’t let up even one second, and he was a good challenge when it came to mini golf. He laughed when they just finished half the course with both of them needing three shots for it. “So, how do you like this date so far?”

“It’s pretty good,” Derek said with a low rumble in his voice. It was true; he enjoyed himself. “Much better than any of the others I went on, for sure…”

“That’s great!” Stiles blurted out, the tips of his ears turning red as he brightly smiled at him. “I am… actually quite excited. I mean… yeah, I just lost a bet, but… you are amazing….”

Amazing? Derek ducked his head a little at the surprising praise, then smiled over at Stiles. “So you don’t mind being set up like this, for once?”

“Wow… your smile is breatha-”, he began, then cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair. “I totally don’t mind. I didn’t expect much apart from a nice mini gold match, but… I get to know you and that’s wow.”

“Hmm. I agree,” Derek said, pitching the next ball. At this point neither of them was really focused on the game, and Derek felt comfortably… warm. Maybe this was a decent idea. The boy seemed to be fun… and he really didn’t mind hanging out with him.

Stiles walked to the next area, placing the ball down before he stretched and glanced at the werewolf. “So. May I ask why someone like you is single?”

“I’m a horrible people person, in case you hadn’t noticed,” Derek said drily, watching Stiles hit another hole. “Besides, I had some… bad experiences in the past.”

“I think you’re very compatible with me, though!” he shot back with a big grin. “And hey. No time like the present, right?”

Derek was suddenly directly behind Stiles as he got ready to hit his next ball. He whispered. “Hmm. Do you want to say you see us both as highly compatible in a … mating sense?” The werewolf watched with great pleasure as the ball went awry.

He could scent Stiles’ nervousness and at the same time there was something else, making it clear that he liked this very much. “Well… if this big ass werewolf likes a scrawny human…?” he whispered back. Stiles definitely tried to hide how nervous he was, but he couldn’t mask his scent, at least not to Derek’s nose. He picked up all the subtle changes, how he was interested, how much he liked it. But he also realised that he really liked Stiles’ overall scent. It was nice, calming, grounding in a way…

“Oh, I wouldn’t call you scrawny. Maybe wiry. Definitely… flexible,” Derek added with a smirk. Then he stepped away, dropping his own golf ball, and continued playing.

“Oh that’s mean! You totally did this on purpose to be better than I am! Oooooh, you just wait!” He grinned and then put the next ball into the hole in one. “Uuuuh yeah! You just watch me!”

“I am watching,” Derek said - and it was true. He was watching Stiles, and the boy was pretty damn good looking. Which didn’t mean he’d let him win.

“Well, I gotta say, Derek Hale… I am interested in getting to know you more…” he murmured as he waited for the werewolf to play.

“Is that the only thing you’re interested in?” Derek asked, feigning innocence. But he kept playing expertly.

“You? Heck no!” he answered with a chuckle, watching him miss the hole. “I play Lacrosse. I help my Dad with solving crimes. I help Scott with everything werewolf related. I read a lot. I play video games. I also learn how to manipulate mountain ash, and some spells and how to feel the land around you. And… well, I live with my Dad, who’s the Sheriff, to give you some more information about me.”

“Hmm,” Derek said with a nod. That wasn’t what he had wanted to imply, but it was just as well. Information for information. “I’m a werewolf in college. I live with my family and am a beta to my mother’s leadership. I don’t plan on starting my own pack in the next few years. I have obnoxious sisters, I probably read even more than you, I suck at operating a computer. Sometimes I volunteer in the city centre. And I drive a Camaro.”

“A Camaro?” At that Stiles looked up, almost whistling. “Nice one. I got a Jeep and its name is Roscoe. Eh… Scott’s my best friend. Lydia, the woman I had a crush on for a long time is a Banshee and is together with Jackson, a Kanima. I also know Isaac who really wants to be a werewolf. I never had a relationship ever before, never dated…. so… I’m a virgin in every sense!”

“I see,” Derek nodded. “I’m… not. I tried dating women, but truth be told, it sucked. So I ended up here, and met you, and… I don’t think that’s so bad,” he added with a small smirk.

“Oh man, I’m sorry…” he said with a frown as he walked to the next area. “Soooo… do you want to spend a bit more time after this ball kicking?”

“Absolutely,” Derek agreed quietly. He smiled, and Stiles felt his knees wobble a little at that. “Maybe have a drink after I beat you, huh??”

“Beat me?” He laughed as he had a look at the score chard. “Actually, dear Mister Hale… this is the last area and I am in the lead right now.”

“…” Derek looked up. Shit, when had that happened? There was no way he could win. Derek growled, pitching the last ball in. “Alright. Drink on me then, I guess.”

“Yeah!” Stiles thrust up an arm, noted down Derek’s points and then followed him over to where the organisers were waiting. “We hope you had fun? Have you decided?” the woman from before asked with a smile.

“Decided?” Derek said. He found himself reaching out, curling his arm around Stiles shoulders. Drawing him close against his chest. “We’d like that drink now.”

This totally made Stiles blush, but he agreed with a very firm nod. “Very well. Then please proceed and pick a seat. You get 15 more minutes.”

“Thank you,” Derek said, politely, and led Stiles away with him. Only then did he turn his head. “Is this okay?”

“Totally okay!” he answered, chuckling. “I mean I heard werewolves are kinda territorial, but you’re starting it really early.”

“Tell me if it bothers you,” Derek hummed, leading him to a table. Then they sat down together. “Drinks on me, then. In exchange for your number, if you are game…”

“And you are straight forward!” Stiles added with a laugh. But he nodded and showed Derek his number, then saved the other’s number under 'Sourwolf’. “And… don’t worry. I am really honest and will not hold back just to be nice.”

“That’s good,” Derek said, and left it at that. He wanted to say so much more; how he hated it if people lied to him or kept their opinions. But maybe that was too much for a first date, so he remained quiet. They both looked at the menu, and Derek raised a brow. “Those cocktail names are borderline pornographic.”

“Yeah, right?” He chuckled and then lowered the menu. “Come on, we just got 15 minutes. Let’s focus on each other!” he murmured and leaned forward.

“So….. Han Solo or Luke Skywalker?”

“Han Solo. Rebels or Empire?” Derek shot back, leaning back a little. This was promising.

Stiles’ eyes lit up and his mouth fell open. “Oh my god! You are perfect! Star Wars! You watched Star Wars?!”

“Of course I did. But I prefer the old trilogy,” Derek added with a smirk. “Answer my question.”

“Ah, ah yeah! Rebels of course! I mean, they got the X-Wing and they’re fighting for the freedom of the universe!”

“Very good choice,” Derek purred. Yeah, he liked this boy. “Favourite Horror movie?”

“Oh, that’s… difficult…!” He leaned back, and began to nibble on his lower lip. “So… I guess… I haven’t watched a lot of full horror movies. But IT is good… and Freeze.”

“Oh, Freeze. Nice choice. Okay, your turn.” They both ordered a drink, barely paying attention to the waitress.

“Okay… now, let’s be more creative now. Favourite song when you’re angry?”

“How angry are we talking?” Derek replied with a raised brow. “Casual level of 'I hate my sisters’? Probably Destroya, by My Chemical Romance. Really angry? Something like Sentenced, if you ever heard of them.” He shrugged. “Favourite band when you were a kid?”

“Hmmm….” His eyes were on Derek and the smile from his lips never disappeared. “I guess Linkin Park and … Blink 182? Soooo, Der. What’s your guilty pleasure?”

“Chocolate chip cookie dough. No, don’t look at me like that. I love that stuff.” He made a face. “Doesn’t really match my habit of doing a shitload of workouts, though, so it remains a very guilty pleasure.” Derek considered for a moment. Then he leaned forward. “How about… the dirtiest fantasy you had today.”

“To…day?” He huffed, then rubbed his nose carefully. “….well…. actually quite tame. Just about kissing.”

Derek smiled. He didn’t hear a lie, so he nodded gently, motioning for Stiles to go on.

“Honestly! That was all! But now that you mentioned it… what about you and your fantasies?”

“Well, I probably thought about a certain person’s backside when they were bending down to retrieve a golf ball,” Derek said, looking at Stiles pointedly. He saw no reason in lying.

He laughed at that, and then winked at him. “Okay… You can thank your sisters for forcing you to get here! Because I want to meet you again for sure!”

“Oh yeah, I second that notion.” Derek nodded with a smile, and they finished their drinks. The fifteen minutes were almost over already.

“Good. Then we can text and… agree on another time and place for some more Stiles-Derek time? And I meant that in a totally innocent way, like getting to know each other more…”, he asked, standing up with a smile just as the woman approached them.

Derek nodded. They took a step aside, and then, before they parted ways near the door… Derek wrapped him up in a tight, long hug. And damn, did that feel good. His inner wolf was pleased.

“Hey, cuddlewolf…” he smiled and hugged back. “You smell really nice.”

They stood like this for a long moment, and it felt wonderful. Derek rubbed his head at the side of Stiles’ cheek, grumbling softly. Marking him.

And he didn’t mind it at all. “Scott will ask all the questions later, dude.”

“I don’t care,” Derek muttered. They finally let go of one another, and headed for the door. “I’m glad I went here tonight.”

“I’m damn happy I lost this bet!” Stiles let out with a laugh, walking alongside Derek, slowly heading back to the carpark. “I’ll text you once I’m back?”

“Definitely,” Derek said. His voice sounded almost breathy. They got into their respective cars after another brief, but warming embrace. They didn’t kiss; after all it was just a first date. But Derek felt…. good.

+++++

The drive home was uneventful for him. Derek parked the Camaro, took his phone, and then entered the house as silent as possible… knowing full well that his family would be waiting for him inside. They’d never go to sleep without needling him first.

And this time it was even worse. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he spotted Laura’s face, looking at her with expectant eyes. “Sooooooo?”

“God, you don’t even let me get inside?” Derek groaned. He could see Cora perching on a table, grinning widely. “At least get me a drink and say hi,” the werewolf demanded with a playful growl.

“Sure, sure. Get a drink. We’re in the living room. Waiting.” She winked at him and then disappeared into the room next door.

Derek bit back a groan, knowing that they’d all hear it. He padded into the kitchen, got himself a coke, and then strode into the living room, to the waiting faces of his sisters. “It went well,” he finally said, looking at both of them. “I met a nice guy. Got his number. Might see him again. And no, I am not giving you his name.”

“OH my god?! YES?” Laura’s face exploded in a smile and she leaned forward. “Tell us more!”

“There’s…. not much more. He’s nice, so far. Doesn’t mind me being a werewolf. I’ve seen him before.” Derek shrugged. His fingers were toying with his phone. “I like him.”

“You do?” Her smile grew as his mobile vibrated. And indeed it was a message from Stiles, stating 'Hey, Sourwolf. Just wanted to tell you that I reached home safe and sound’

“Tell us about him, come on!”

“Just a moment,” Derek said, sounding - to his own surprise - a little defensive. He typed a quick answer. “Am home too. My sisters are already planning a wedding I guess. Sorry bout that.” Then he turned back to them. “He’s… cute. A little younger than me. Goes to college, too.”

'Haha, I’m not wearing a dress!’ Stiles answered back in record time and with lots of smileys.

Laura’s smile grew even wider. “So… this was a good idea.”

“Better than your other ideas,” Derek replied smugly. Cora chuckled. “So, when are you going to bring him home, huh?”

“Not…. yet. But I guess I wanna see him again.”

“You guess?” Laura leaned back, looking at Cora with a grin. “You exchanged numbers obviously. And you seem to like him.”

“Urgh, fine. I do want to see him again. Preferably soon. And now I am going to bed. Good night you two!” He took the drink and his phone along, ignoring the protests of his sisters and their announcement to call their parents to tell them all about this. Derek headed towards his bedroom, already typing a reply. ‘Might look good on you tho. ;) I got off the hook, going to bed now. And you?’

'I’m already in bed. Going to sleep real soon and dream of how I beat you’ Derek could almost hear Stiles’ voice through the text. It was casual, and actually really easy…

'Aw, relish in your victory, until I get my revenge. How about something more physical? Basketball?’ He took off his shirt, tossing it aside on the bed together with his pants, before climbing inside.

'I told you I’m playing Lacrosse, right?’ Stiles answered with a grinning smiley. 'But we could also try something else. As you seem to like small balls. Pool?’

I probably like your balls, Derek thought idly to himself. He read the message again. 'Sounds good to me. Know a nice place?’

'Hmmm…. not really, but I know friends who do. Or we could go bowling if you like it bigger?’

Bowling? That usually included more people. 'What if I prefer to have you to myself?’ he sent back, reclining on his bed.

'Then I would suggest driving out into the preserve in my Jeep and choose a spot where we can see the city and have a picnic there?’

Now that? That sounded nice. Derek wasn’t really one for big crowds, although he could understand the security of them - especially for humans. 'You don’t think the big bad wolf is going to eat you up?’

'Then I will just have to wear my red hoodie…. ’, Stiles texted back with a wink. 'But hey, if you are okay with Lacrosse - we have a game next week.’

'You playing?’ He hadn’t watched Lacrosse games before, always considered them somewhat boring. But with Stiles playing that could certainly change. “When?’

'Friday evening.’ Stiles then texted the time back.

'I’ll be there. You have some celebration with the team after? Or do you want to grab a drink?’

'That very much depends on if we win. But if we do, I should probably celebrate with them! ’

'Definitely,’ Derek agreed. He got under the covers, realizing how nice it was to lie here and just… text. He’d never done it before, not like this. 'What’s your position?”

'Come and see, curious wolf…’ Stiles texted back. 'But at least I’m a regular now. In High School I was on the bench so often.’

'Alright, alright, enough questions for one night. Looking forward to seeing you play on the field’, Derek wrote. And he meant it. He wanted to see Stiles out there.

'Then come! But first we should have another… date?’

'Absolutely. And I love the idea with the woods. But maybe safe that for a later date where you feel more comfortable being alone with me. Awoo,’ he added, with a winking smiley. 'Back to ball games, I’d say. You and me.’

'Oooooh yeah! Let’s talk more tomorrow, I should really sleep.’

'Me too.’ Derek looked at his phone. No, actually smiled. He felt warm. 'I had a really good day. Sleep well, Stiles.’

‘Nighty Night! This was the best day ever and I’m so looking forward to seeing you again.’

‘Trust me. I for once could kiss my family for this idea.’

‘Better keep your kisses for me, big guy!’

‘Should I kiss you next time we meet?’

‘If you won’t, then I will!’

Derek laughed softly. ‘I will. I will kiss you. I want to kiss you.’

‘Tomorrow? Dinner?’

‘Sounds good.’ In fact, it sounded amazing.

‘I’ll text ya where and when tomorrow! Gotta sleep now, Dad’s complaining! NIGHT!’

‘Good Night, Stiles’

[bapydemonprincess]

Saving Mey Rin

Hello everyone!  ❤️ Got another AMAZING collab story to share with you guys!! Another Sebagrellerin story with my lovely partner in crime @grelleswife!! There’s LOTS of hurt/comfort in this one to please the eyes, and I’m pretty sure this takes place in basically the same universe as the others! ;) I hope you all enjoy our little masterpiece!! 😘

Sebastian continued to smirk as he raced downstairs, tossing out another batch of knives at the next group of foolish humans to come parading in. It was fascinating that some had managed to get in at all, what with Finny out there tossing as many heavy objects (usually tree trunks) as he could and Mey-rin already on the roof taking out men with her perfect crack shots.

But oh well, this would clearly be the end of their sorry attempts now.

What also amused the demon was that they always seemed startled when they were met by the head butler. Were they expecting the Earl himself to be coming out and attacking as well?

While the young master did know by now how to shoot someone with a gun, he definitely was not ready for this level of combat.

Some, of course, had the artillery available to rattle the demon’s human form with bullets, but by now it was an easy fix; just expelling the bullets and tossing them back to the poor horror-struck mortals.

It was all just a typical day, really. Once all the forces were cleared he could get right on to serving lunch.

Hm, what to make today…

But before Sebastian could come up with any likely options for his master’s meal, the unmistakable sound of a window shattering in another room met his fine-tuned hearing, and Sebastian whirled around just in time to see Grelle Sutcliff’s grand entrance from the drawing room.

“Miss Sutcliff? I wasn’t aware you’d be joining us, at least not today…” Sebastian responded, quirking an eyebrow almost casually. Then there was another man barging in, uncaring of if he were interrupting two lovers greeting each other. Sebastian kept his eyes locked right on Grelle, awaiting her response as he grabbed the man by the back of his jacket and simply sliced his neck clean open.

“I saw that quite a few humans on the daily to-die list were scheduled to meet their end here, and I just knew there would be excitement in store! Can’t a woman have a little bloody fun with her lovers?” Grelle laughed. Another attacker entered, lunging toward her. Grelle whirled around with the fluid grace of a tigress and plunged her scythe into his midsection with gusto. Crimson blood sprayed from the wound. When Grelle turned back to grin at Sebastian, he saw that a fair amount had spattered her face. She reached up and deliberately smeared it down her cheek. “My favorite makeup…the blood of my enemies!” she trilled, striking a pose.

“It’s a good look on you,” Sebastian smiled, his eyes turning scarlet. Grelle Sutcliff’s vicious beauty in combat always filled him with dark exultation. A worthy mate! “But I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble for killing these mortals prematurely, rufina.”

Grelle waved aside his concerns. “Nonsense, darling! They’re going to die anyway, so no one will care if I off them a little ahead of schedule. Now, onto more important matters, where is our Mey Mey?”

Sebastian’s eyes crinkled fondly. “Most likely still on the rooftop, picking off these vermin one by one.”

“Let’s keep her company, then!” the reaper exclaimed. “A threesome with my loves!”

The demon chuckled. “Always happy to oblige a lady.”

Grelle grabbed ahold of his arm above the elbow, and in a trice they had “leapt” to the roof. Some distance from where they were standing, Sebastian saw their Mey Rin. Her glasses were pushed to the top of her head, allowing those owl-like eyes to scan the ground below for intruders. Sebastian only sensed a few souls racing desperately about the premises—she had done her work well, it appeared.

“Deadly gorgeous,” Grelle sighed dreamily, and Sebastian couldn’t help but concur. Russet hair blown back, gaze steely with determination, that delectable figure shown to perfection as she stood silhouetted against the sky…exquisite. They watched proudly as she took aim and fired. Sebastian sensed a pathetic life snuffed out of existence a few moments later.

Suddenly, Grelle swore. Sebastian’s head whipped around, and he saw what she had spotted. Crouched in the shadows on the rooftop not too far behind Mey Rin, a figure stealthily pulled out a pistol. Sebastian froze in horror.

“Fuck,” Grelle snarled, racing forward in a desperate attempt to halt the attack. “Watch out, Mey!” Sebastian shouted as he took off after her. His heart lurched painfully in his chest as he saw that cursed finger pull the trigger.

For once the bullet seemed to outclass the demon’s supernatural speed, as Mey-rin’s body lurched within seconds of hearing her loves as well as the sound of the gun going off.

Pain exploded in her shoulder region before her legs could even move, and a scream of agony escaped her as she went down on the rooftop.

All the maid could do now was lie there and listen to the roar of Grelle’s death scythe tearing at flesh, along with a barely garbled howl from the man while it happened.

Next thing Mey-rin could make out was Sebastian’s voice, frantically speaking to her, and touching her arm and shoulder carefully as he did. He must be trying to free her arm from the confines of her dress sleeve, to inspect the wound thoroughly. But Mey-rin was only aware of so much, as it was suddenly like there were plugs in her ears, and shoved in tight, keeping her from making out any exact words at all. The part of her mind that WAS aware of all this, tried to make sense of it, and all she could come up with was it was just her body being in shock, nothing to do with the noises of the gunfire or the bullet, but just the whole situation itself.

“THERE!” Grelle roared, finally pulling away her scythe from the gruesome remains now splattering a corner of the manor roof. “That’ll show you not to mess with a lady’s true love, you bloody bastard.” She growled, and whirled around to get back to the love in question.

Her heart lurched at the sight as she ran closer, though, and she slowed down and dropped to her knees next to her demon.

“Bassy, please tell me she’ll be alright!!”

“She likely will be,” Sebastian confirmed, a hint of a bitter growl in his tone, though. “However we must bring her inside to get the bullet out safely and to assure her recovery comes sooner than later.”

“Oh my Mey-Mey! Her eyes look so haunted, is she in shock??” Grelle got up in sync with the demon as he cradled their precious human so close to his chest.

“Yes, and it’s no surprise that she is, as this has not happened before…” The demon’s eyes glowed with a raging hellfire the likes only those few who truly were damned had ever seen. “When I get my hands on whoever sent that man, I will make sure this never happens again.” He promised, voice dipping even more.

Sebastian pressed his hand firmly to Mey Rin’s wound to quell the flow of blood. His glove was instantly stained crimson, a sight that caused his stomach to tie itself up in anxious knots. The demon’s heart pounded as furiously as any mortal’s. If that bullet had struck an artery…but they didn’t have time to spare. He carefully picked Mey Rin up, cradling her awkwardly with one arm while his other hand continued to apply pressure. Grelle hurried to his side to help him support Mey Rin, whose face had gone chalk-white. Those beautiful brown eyes were glazed over in uncomprehending pain.

“We need to bandage her up now,” Grelle said, voice strained with tension, though Sebastian could tell she was trying to put on a brave front for their injured maid.

“Can you take us to the kitchen? We have gauze and disinfectant there.”

Grelle nodded. “It’ll be all right, my sweet girl,” she whispered to Mey Rin. After planting a quick kiss on her forehead, Grelle grabbed Sebastian’s shoulder (physical contact was required for a reaper to take a companion when they leapt), and, after a blurry few seconds, they stood in the kitchen.

Sebastian closed his eyes, forcing the whirlwind of frantic thoughts to settle into some semblance of calm. He directed Grelle to the appropriate cabinet, and she frantically rifled through its contents before dashing back—deadly efficient.

Sebastian gently lowered himself and Mey Rin to the floor so that the maid lay across his lap. The fear and pain emanating from her soul were excruciating, as were the tears that sprang to her eyes.

“I’m…it ‘urts, Sebastian, it ‘urts so bad…” she whispered. Her lips trembled, and the tears began streaming down her face.

“I know, dearest, but Miss Sutcliff and I are here. There’s nothing to fear, I promise,” the demon said, as much to convince himself as Mey Rin. His free hand moved to caress her cheek, and Grelle knelt beside them.

“Deep, calm breaths, my sweet. Being shot is terrifying as hell, but it’ll be harder to stop the bleeding if your heart’s going a mile a minute,” the reaper said soothingly. She met Mey Rin’s panic-stricken gaze. “Inhale, hold, exhale. Can you do that for me, darling?” she coaxed, holding the maid’s hand. A wobbly smile appeared on Mey Rin’s face, and her ragged breathing began to settle down.

Now that that was taken care of, Sebastian needed to assess the damage. What if the bullet had ricocheted, fragmented…? He concentrated on the presence of the damned thing that had harmed his beloved. The demon let out a shaky sigh of relief when he detected the lead object lodged in Mey Rin’s shoulder. Though uncomfortably close to a few of them, it hadn’t ruptured any of the major arteries and seemed to be intact. Thank the nine circles! His mind raced to decide on the best course of action. Although they could leave the bullet at it was, Sebastian didn’t like that prospect; the lead might leach out and poison Mey Rin a few years later. Having far keener senses than a human, Sebastian was confident that he could extract the bullet without causing further injury, but would kitchen knives be sterile and precise enough? He didn’t want to take any chances with his precious Mey. Of course, when you had a form you could change at will, there were…alternatives.

Sebastian spoke to the maid as tenderly as he knew how. “I’m going to see if I can remove this wretched bullet, dear. It may hurt, but I’ll be done in a trice, I swear it.”

“O-okay,” Mey Rin squeaked, though she couldn’t stop herself from trembling. Grelle squeezed her hand and smiled encouragingly. “Relax and focus on me, Mey Mey. Don’t you worry about a thing. If Bassy couldn’t handle a little bullet, what kind of butler would he be?” The last sentence was uttered in a perfect imitation of Sebastian’s voice, and Mey Rin giggled in spite of the grave circumstances. Grelle beamed, even as shadows of worry lingered behind her eyes. Meanwhile, Sebastian swiftly removed his hand from the wound, and a dark, shifting tentacle rose to plug the gap, reaching deeper for the offending object.

Mey Rin indeed continued to look into her reaper’s beautiful gaze, having gotten used to the strange sharp teeth long ago, by now all the maid saw above her was a beautiful, sweet and emotional woman who was clearly trying her best to comfort her. And this was much appreciated, especially now as she started to feel the strange sensation of something else entering the wound where the bullet was.

Her teeth gritted and her eyes began squinting, as she tried all her might to hold back shouting, to hold back from jolting up and away from the uncomfortable situation.

Grelle was lowering her head further, nearly draping and enveloping her poor girl’s face with nothing but her own and her long, right red locks.

“Shhh, it’ll be alright, it’ll all be fine..” The reaper was cooing, moving her hand to stroke that sweaty jaw and brow.

“Almost… almost..” Sebastian hissed out, for all three of their sakes as this tiny bit of his essence encircled the bullet and very, VERY carefully pulled it out.

Sebastian had never had to do this. Not like this. With his own body, it was a simple reflex to push bullets and other such things right out and get them out with no issue.

But this was a human.

HIS human.

At this point the demon admitted he knew if he were to ever harm Mey Rin, even just by accident, he would be filled to the brim with regret.

Thankfully, centuries of learning to be careful when it was truly required finally paid off as his black essence slipped out, quickly reforming to a hand holding the dreaded bullet, and looked instantly to Grelle to help get the wound disinfected and covered up in bandages.

By now, Mey Rin had lulled her head up, eyes still open but looking quite glazed again.

“Sweetie?” Grelle asked as she noticed this. “Mey Mey??” She asked again when suddenly Mey Rin’s body drooped entirely in their demon’s lap.

“It’s alright, rufina. It’s alright.” Sebastian quickly called her while adjusting their poor human’s weight a little. “She’s simply passed out. I think that it’s fine in this case, though, now that the true danger is out of the way. Let’s let her rest and recuperate.”

“Oh thank goodness.” Grelle sighed out. “I swear, this poor thing is going to be the DEATH of me…”

“Hush now, you know as well as I by now how fragile humans are.” Sebastian smirked despite his sass, confidence that everything was alright now starting to return as they both stood from the floor.

However, that was very short-lived as the head chef took that moment to rush in.

“Oy, Sebastian! Where the hell were you?? I thought we were keepin’ the plan for you to take the main floor covered, why’d you–”

Bardroy’s voice left him instantly at the sight of the butler standing there with an unconscious Mey Rin in his arms, her arm out of it’s sleeve and covered in a bloody bandage wrap. Not even the vibrant red-headed oddity that was Grelle Sutcliff surprised him more.

“Holy shit,” Was all he could utter next, and scratched his scruffy head frantically. “What the hell happened?!”

“Mey Rin’s been shot,” Sebastian replied. After the ordeal they’d all been through, he frankly didn’t have the energy for a lengthy explanation.

Bard’s cigarette fell from his lips. He viewed Mey Rin as a sister, not just a comrade-in-arms, and distress smothered his spirit like the smoke that permeated a burning building. Bard had lost his share of friends on the battlefield; did this spectacle bring back those tragic memories? “Is she—” he croaked out.

“Yes, she’s alive, and should recover, but it will some time, I fear,” Sebastian said. The demon gathered Mey Rin in his arms and gingerly got to his feet, as did Grelle. “Has the enemy been eliminated?”

Bard ran a hand through his hair and cast another worried glance at Mey Rin. “Got all the bastards…well, Finny an’ I kept one o’ ‘em alive in case ye wanted t’ interrergate ‘im.”

Sebastian felt his lips curl in what, if Bard’s disconcerted expression was anything to go by, must have been a devilish smile.

“It would be a delight,” the demon hissed. They’d pay for hurting Mey Rin. Oh, how they’d pay.

“I trust you’ll let me join you?” Grelle purred in his ear. “After we’ve tended to Mey Mey, of course.”

“By all means. But onto our first order of business—we need to put her to bed. Bard, you come with us; we’ll need someone to keep watch over her while Miss Sutcliff and I question our uninvited guest.”

The three quickly made their way to Mey Rin’s room. Sebastian laid her down with the greatest of care, and he and Grelle tucked her in. Her face retained the pallor it had acquired, but she seemed peaceful. Grelle bent down to press a quick kiss to her cheek. Sebastian petted her hair compulsively—he needed confirmation of Mey Rin’s presence, proof upon proof that she had survived. It was with great reluctance that they withdrew, leaving Bard to pull up a chair and take one of the maid’s hands in his.

Still, as demon and reaper strode towards the room where the sole remaining miscreant had been bound and gagged, Sebastian felt a twinge of dark satisfaction. After the fright they’d all suffered, he intended to return the favor with interest. Grelle’s eyes glittered like those of a predator that had just spotted its next meal.

“How I love to play the butcher! We’ll paint his final moments pretty, pretty red, shan’t we?”

Sebastian sensed his teeth sharpening to fangs in vicious anticipation.

“Most definitely.”

---

After cleaning up the mess they’d made (they’d gotten a bit carried away, but Sebastian wasn’t sorry in the slightest), the two made haste back to Mey Rin’s room. Bardroy still sat alert, a faithful sentinel.

“How is she?” Grelle and Sebastian both asked at once.

“Sleepin’ like an angel. No fever or nuthin’, neither,” Bard reported with a smile of relief.

“Well done. You may go now—you and Finnian should try to get some rest for tomorrow.”

“But Mey Rin—”

Sebastian held up a hand to ward off his protests.

“Miss Sutcliff and I will tend to her for the rest of the evening. I can assure you that we’ll give her the best of care.”

Bard wavered, but finally relented. With a quick “G’night, Mey Rin,” and a brotherly squeeze to her hand, he departed. Grelle and Sebastian sat on the mattress on either side of her and gazed down at their human. Her breathing was slow and even. She looked surprisingly peaceful, considering how close her brush with death had been. The reaper gently reached out and lightly placed her hand on Mey Rin’s chest, over her heart. Sebastian instinctively put his hand atop Grelle’s. I’m still here, Mey seemed to tell them with each rise and fall of her chest. Sebastian heard a sniffle, and looked up to see that Grelle had tears in her eyes.

She trembled. “Oh gods, what a night. Bassy, what if we’d lost her?”

Sebastian touched his forehead to Grelle’s, noticing to his chagrin that his own eyes had grown watery. How peculiar.

“I know, I know.” His free hand moved to stroke Grelle’s hair. “But we saved her, Miss Sutcliff, and I swear on my aesthetic that we will heal her.”

The reaper huffed a quiet laugh at that particular phrasing.

“Just on your aesthetic, little Sebas?” She simply asked while wiping her eyes.

Sebastian openly looked confused at this question, and out of nowhere as well.. the reaper had known by now how important such things meant to the demon.

“Of course, what else would I swear on?”

Even as he asked, truly curious where she was coming from, there was a nagging feeling coming on that he should’ve understood already.

Grelle seemed to take that in a moment longer before smiling to herself and closing her eyes. She shook her head briefly and replied with a quiet “Oh, nevermind.”

She definitely didn’t feel like going into that just yet. They’d cross that bridge eventually, but for now their focus should remain on their human.

After another brief peaceful gap of time where they sat in the same spot on the bed and kept their eyes glued on Mey Rin, Sebastian broke the silence with a sigh, taking out his pocket watch.

Grelle knew what that meant.

“Time to face the bratty music, eh?” She quipped sadly

“Unfortunately,” Sebastian muttered, and then promptly leaned in to kiss his saddened lady. “But you know I will return once he’s in bed.”

While Grelle accepted the kiss, she still frowned with concern.

“If he will go to sleep once he knows there was a bloody sneak attack that took out Mey Mey and caught you, his demon butler, off guard.”

“Now Grelle– ”

“Don’t “Now Grelle” me, Sebastian, you know damn well I’m right!“

Sebastian grimaced with the prospect that she was right in this vein, his mind once again racing to think up a fix for this…

“Well, we are certainly not going to force Mey to continue working while she heals. I’m sure even my young master, despite all his cruelty, is not that unfair. He will understand she may be inhumanly efficient with sniping, but is very much human in other respects. Even if, as I said earlier, this has… Never happened before.”

The demon’s eyes drifted back to the sleeping human in question, once again that strange feeling of constant concern rising in his gut. It made him almost want to grab it, check his own vitals to see if everything was still intact.

“Oh! Oh!” Grelle gasped out of nowhere, breaking the demon’s train of thought just in time before he felt too enveloped in these emotions to even risk leaving the bed.

“Yes? What is it, rufina?”

“I know this is a long shot, darling, I know, but.. what if I offered to take her place for the time being!”

Sebastian’s glowing eyes bulged in the darkness of the room.

“You- you want to take Mey’s place, and help guard the manor and the young master?!”

Grelle instantly struck a brave pose while still sitting, of flexing her arm out, bending at the elbow, and putting her hand over her upper arm as if there were an impressive but of muscle there standing out.

“Why not?! I may get into a little trouble back at work, but it’ll be worth it to stand in for my precious Mey Mey!”

As much as Sebastian inwardly wanted to embrace and cheer his beloved on for this sudden display of kindness, his mind reminded him instantly of why this couldn’t possibly work.

“As much as I’d love to be wholly on board with this Miss Sutcliff, aren’t you forgetting you severed any chances of my master trusting you when you killed his aunt?”

Hence why they always had to sneak around like this in the first place…

“Oh come on, what other option will he have? Just go with one guard short? Give that little snake guy from that circus a gun??”

Sebastian instantly snorted at that, the mental image of Snake with a gun quickly taking over, but he shoved it back just as fast and cleared his throat.

“Of course not, but I still doubt this’ll be an easy sell all the same, rufina.”

“Maybe so, but.. it’ll be worth a try, won’t it?” Grelle decided to attempt puppy eyes, as well as pulling Mey Rin’s limp hand up, gently rubbing her own cheek over it while she looked up into the demon’s cat-like eyes. “For her?”

A loud, long suffering sigh answered her, but the demon smiled all the same.

“Very well, I will try my damnedest to sway him.” He gave the delighted reaper a kiss, and then also moved to kiss the soft, cool hand she was still holding as well. “Stay here and watch over our human, my dear.”

“Gladly, my sweet, soft Sebby.” She couldn’t help but purr out.

This, of course, got the result she had been hoping for. The demon’s face flaring up with heat. He gave her a look at that, then stood from the bed and hurried off to do what he intended.

-

Ciel may have gotten a little suspicious and impatient after another hour of waiting for someone to come get him and confirm that everything was clear.

It certainly sounded like everything was settled, no shouts were heard echoing from outside or downstairs, no gunshots either.

But that did not explain why his usually perfect demon butler was not arriving straight after to make sure he was alright and to take him to bed.

The boy was seconds away from finally commanding the demon come when he did come, just as he was, nothing missing or out of place that he could see.

Stopping in front of him, Sebastian bowed deeply at the waist.

“My sincerest apologies for the late arrival, my lord. Unfortunately a matter came up that I had to see to at once in the midst of battle.”

“And what “matter” would that be?” Ciel responded flatly, the obvious translation being ‘What was so much more important than coming to your master?’

“Mey Rin had been attacked from her position on the roof, my lord.” Sebastian opened his eyes and stared at the boy, making sure he knew how serious this “matter” was indeed. “A surprise attacker somehow got up there and managed to wound her in the shoulder blade with a pistol before he was.. taken care of.”

“They what?!” The boy instantly roared, straightening up from his slouched position and planting his hands on the arm rests.

“Do not fear, Mey Rin was seen to. Hence why I took much longer than usual. I managed to get the offending bullet out myself, and her wound was quickly sanitized and dressed.”

“Will she be alright to carry on, then?” The boy had to ask straight away, propping up his elbows this time and putting the tips of his hands together in a steeple pose in front of his mouth.

“That is the current issue, I believe she needs bed rest for the wound to heal properly, or else it’ll be aggravated if she has to still work with it.”

“And how long will that take, Sebastian?”

“In her case it will likely take up to ten days for the wound to properly heal.”

Ciel’s eyebrows scrunched up, his eyes going off to look away into space as he thought on this. But his next words were not exactly what the demon had expected..

“Where were you when Mey Rin got attacked like this, Sebastian?”

Sebastian’s mouth opened and, as per the order to “never lie”, he was about to say exactly where he had been at that moment, but after five years of playing this game with this brat, he knew that the boy already had the upper hand.

“I was clearly unable to stop the bullet from hitting it’s target, if that is what you’d like to know, my lord.” He decided on.

“You claim you know it was a surprise attack, Sebastian. How would you know as such when the likelihood that Mey Rin herself would able to tell anyone after being shot is very low. You must’ve had to have been there on the roof yourself to have known it was a surprise attack, if it was.”

Sebastian felt irritation shooting straight to outrage, but he quelled it, and kept that perfect poker face of his.

“You are a very good detective, my lord, as you have proven time and time again, but I frankly do not see why you must resort to such now when I am merely telling you what has happened to your loyal servant, and the current situation.” He smiled a little, tilting his head. “Do you still doubt me after all these years?”

“Oh shut up, Sebastian, this is a matter of uncovering what your roll was in all this.”

“I told you, sir. I took care of her wound.” He even raised his hand, revealing the still blood-stained glove he hadn’t had a chance to throw out yet. “Do you believe me now?”

The sight of the blood made the boy freeze up entirely. He had seen blood about a million times by now, and so the fact that this hit him so hard was confusing even to him.

“What happened after you took care of the wound?”

“Bardroy met me in the kitchen, and informed me that all was clear. He also told me that he and Finny had kept one particular unfortunate soul alive for interrogation.”

Ciel decided to skip any in between details at this point.

“What did the bastard say, Sebastian?”

This made the demon smile, “Oh not much. He was quite stubborn up until his last breath, I’m sorry to say. But from what I observed from him, he was new to the area, and the likelihood that so were the rest is very high.”

“A new group trying to rise up in the ranks, perhaps?”

“Perhaps, and they certainly have advantages.. Seeing how I must confess no other crime families have ever snuck up on one of our own like that before.”

Ciel lifted an eyebrow, immediately hearing a mild bitterness rising in the demon’s tone. He had a feeling it was not related to anything involving himself, but concerning what had happened to their maid.

“So, this means we have to be on high alert for more sneak attacks..” Ciel frowned thoughtfully. “And with our sniper out that’ll be harder to manage for sure.”

And so Sebastian saw his opening for Grelle’s idea.

“I have a suggestion, if I may be so bold, my lord.” He carefully spoke up before the young Earl could come up with anything himself.

“… Out with it.”

“You and I are both aware of how dea- Ah, efficient grim reapers are, yes?”

“… Considering one almost killed you, yes.”

Sebastian instinctively wanted to argue that he most certainly hadn’t, but no, no no.. He needed to stay on topic!

“Well, young master, what if we were to try allowing a reaper to help us during these ten days that Mey Rin is down?”

The boy’s eyebrow twitched noticeably.

“You, a demon, actually suggesting the help of a grim reaper?”

“Yes, I know it seems odd, but it seems far easier than hunting down another unique human like the ones we have gathered so far. Especially considering reapers tend to usually come to us.”

“You mean Sutcliff, don’t you, Sebastian.”

“Well, that’s-”

“Sebastian,” Suddenly the boy was out of his chair, blue eye blazing with indignation. “Why do I get the strangest feeling that that reaper is already HERE?!”

“Now my lord, there’s no need to get so riled up, especially so late at night.”

“Sebastian-”

“Even if the reaper was here, she is currently not in this room with us, yes?”

“SEBASTIAN!”

“Please lower your voice, the other servants have likely retired by now. You wouldn’t want them to-”

“I ORDER YOU TO TAKE ME TO WHERE EVER THAT BLOODY REAPER IS NOW, SEBASTIAN!”

---

Grelle heard the young earl several seconds before she saw him. Judging from his tone and volume, he was in a state of high dudgeon.

“I don’t know what the hell you were thinking, letting that person muck about in the middle of an attack on the manor!”

“My lord—”

“I don’t want excuses, you bloody demon!”

This wouldn’t do at all. Really, the little brat was going to wake dear Mey Mey if he kept this up. Sighing wearily, Grelle rose and flung open the door. An actress should always make a grand entrance. The earl skidded to a halt. A sorely chastened Sebastian stood at his side, looking like he’d been through a war. Grelle shot him a sympathetic look before turning her attention back to the wrathful bluenette.

“Good evening,” she said in as cheerful a tone as she could muster. Might as well try to keep things cordial.

The Watchdog shot her a withering look that would have felled a more timorous soul. “Spare me the pleasantries, Sutcliff,” he spat out contemptuously. “You have no business here.”

“My business, as you may recall, is death, and there’s certainly been plenty of that at the Phantomhive manor tonight. I just so happened to be assigned to reap the souls of those buggers who came to call.”

“And flirt with my butler, no doubt,” the earl interjected, wrinkling his nose as if a foul odor had just assailed his nostrils. “Come to think of it, that’s probably why he let Mey Rin get shot—because you were running around making a bloody nuisance of yourself.”

Both demon and reaper went stiff with rage, and Grelle thought she saw Sebastian’s eyes darken with remorse. He was supposed to be the perfect butler…of course he blamed himself for Mey Rin’s injury, and here the damned brat was rubbing the salt in the wound.

“YOU—” Grelle started to shout, before Sebastian shook his head firmly and pressed a finger to his lips. The reaper exhaled slowly through her nose and crossed her arms. Only with difficulty did she rein her temper in. Do it for Mey Rin, she reminded herself.

“Demons have their flaws, but Bassy didn’t let anything happen to Mey Me—to Mey Rin. He helped save her. But she’ll be out of commission for a while, so why not let death lend you a hand in the meantime?”

The child sneered. “If your performance as a butler is anything to go by, I’d rather do without. Besides, do you expect me to trust the person who killed my aunt?”

The words hit Grelle like a punch to the gut. She’d been expecting this, of course, but that did nothing to dull the pain of lost love. Despite her resolve, she flinched.

“Those were vastly different circumstances, young master, and Grelle bears us no ill will. She’s also far more competent than she initially led us to believe” Sebastian jumped in. Grelle felt a warm surge of gratitude. Her Bassy always had the right words for any occasion.

“But why would Sutcliff care about Mey Rin in the first place? What were you doing in her room, anyway?” the earl asked crossly, clearly unconvinced. A sharp little blighter.

“We ladies are sentimental creatures, and helping a dear acquaintance is the least I could do,” Grelle purred. Far too complicated to explain that she and Bassy were both Mey Mey’s lovers; the pipsqueak probably wouldn’t know what to make of that!

His icy blue eye glowered silently at Grelle before he spoke. “Take me to her. I want to see her condition for myself.”

As they entered the room and the Phantomhive caught sight of Mey Rin, his mouth set itself in a thin, worried line. The boy hurried to her bedside. For a while, he just stood there, gazing at the slumbering maid with a deeply troubled expression. He was a fragile little thing, and Grelle imagined that seeing one of his private soldiers in this battered condition must be a harsh blow.

“You’re certain about the ten days?” he asked finally, that blue eye downcast.

“At the very least, my lord. Considering the forces this new enemy has at their disposal, it’s inadvisable to be one staff member short. Grelle’s expertise would be a benison to us.”

The earl pinched the bridge of his nose with a weary air. Fatigue was probably getting to him at this point.

“Sebastian, if I did let Sutcliff…assist us…can you keep the reaper in check?”

“Most definitely.” The demon winked at Grelle behind his master’s back, and she had to suppress a giggle.

The boy straightened. Fixing his butler in an imperious gaze, he declared, “Very well. I shall allow this miscreant to substitute for Mey Rin, but you must ensure that Sutcliff does not cause any trouble. If the reaper poses a threat to us at any point during Mey Rin’s recovery, I expect that threat to be eliminated immediately. This is an order.” Sebastian’s jaw tightened. One of the dangers of their unconventional courtship was the possibility of him being commanded to oppose Grelle. But with Mey Mey’s well-being on the line, Grelle was willing to take the risk.

“Now that that’s settled, you really should be getting to bed, young master,” Sebastian added. “Grelle, can you stay with Mey Rin in the meantime?”

“Anything for you, my dearest darling Bassy.” She grinned at the earl’s nauseated expression. Oh, she’d toe the line, but the next few days were going to be interesting.

---

Even later on into the night, Mey Rin finally stirred, as one does when passing out much earlier in the day than to be expected.

She felt absolutely horrible too.

What time was it? What day was it? What had happened while she was out?

The girl grumbled and rubbed at her eyes, though she knew it would do nothing for her eyesight in such complete darkness.

But suddenly, a flicker of candlelight came on in the corner of her vision, and she turned a little to see a form lying beside her, mostly in all white, with black blotches here and there..

“Sebastian..?” She mumbled out, her own voice so weary and tired and dry that it surprised her.

“Yes it’s me, don’t worry dear.” The demon responded in such a gentle whisper Mey Rin physically felt it, and lowered her head back down on the pillow.

Sebastian’s hand came out to gently run through her messy locks, and the girl sighed, feeling herself calm even further.

“How is your shoulder, may I have a look at it?”

The girl took a moment to answer, as her mind needed to recall why Sebastian was asking her such a question.

“Oh,” She finally got out, and then tried to instantly sit up, so she could look at the shoulder in question.

“Easy, easy, now.” Sebastian was going on, shifting so he was in even closer and grasping her arm with tenderness to hold it steady.

His now bare hands took hold of the bandages, unfurling them slowly and just enough to get a peek.

And then his fingers of one hand very carefully pushed on the area surrounding it.

And that was all it took for Mey Rin to suddenly jerk away, a noiseless yelp coming from her mouth.

“Mm, wha?? Mey??” Grelle uttered as she was woken up, feeling the girl inadvertently push herself into the reaper’s body on her other side.

“Oh dear, my deepest apologies,” Sebastian immediately said, trying to make up for it with moving closer to the poor human again and hushing her once more, dipping his head to kiss her face, especially where he felt it heat up and her tears slip down. “Shhh, it’s alright. I won’t do it again, I promise. I was merely trying to check how tender it was now. Shhh, please, I-I’m sorry, Mey. Please let me just redress it and I’ll let it be.”

“Oh my poor little Mey Mey,” Grelle cooed as she came to grips with the situation and also encircled the girl in her arms. “It’s still very painful, isn’t it?”

“Y-Yes…” The girl whimpered, nodding and trying not to spaz out any more as she let her demon get some new wrapping to redress the wound. It a lot harder to deal with that she thought it’d be.

But now that they were all awake, Mey Rin had to take the chance to ask her bedmates some questions.

“How.. l-long was I asleep?” She started with.

“Roughly twelve hours I believe, give or take.” Sebastian immediately answered, but even saying it himself made the demon actually realize how bad that sounded for a human to be unconscious for so long. Especially when said human was very important to him..

“Can I get you anything dearest? Food? Water?” He had to ask her now.

Mey Rin ran her hand up through her hair and groaned. “W-Water please,” She managed.

Instantly the butler was gone, and only a second later he had returned with a glass filled with water.

Mey Rin gratefully drank it while Grelle couldn’t help chuckling. “Show off. I thought you weren’t allowed to do little things like that.”

“For the young master, yes, I have to resort to doing things as humanly as possible. However, he never said anything about anyone else.”

Especially anyone else important to me, He added in his mind as he slipped back into bed and curled up close again to the girl, starting to purr almost instantly as she cuddled back after she’d drank her fill of water down and handed the glass back.

“So.. does the young master… know about what ‘appened?” She continued on, though this question clearly made fear and anxiety rise up in her. Not everything was coming together yet, but the implications of what had happened and how the next few days would likely be were beginning to come to the forefront of her thoughts.

Reaper and Demon glanced across the way at each other, both pairs of glowing eyes riddled with concern over this topic. They knew their human so well by now. Knew the girl did her very best each and every day as the head maid, as well as the group’s sniper. She had so much more pride than one would imagine at first glance. After everything she’d been through to get to this point in her life, she never wanted to take it for granted, or lose it. The demon especially always felt the roiling, beautiful passion, pride and happiness Mey Rin had gained, embodying her soul as he had come to be closer acquainted with her.

Unlike other times with such similar souls, he never wanted his Mey Rin’s soul to ever be manipulated or damaged.

“Yes,” He finally managed to sigh out. “I’m afraid so. I had to relay everything, and well.. I’m sure you know by now how sharp he can be.” Sebastian sensed tension building in the girl, and had to reach around to hold her, trying to soothe as much as possible despite still having to tell her all this. “He eventually figured out that Miss Sutcliff was here and insisted he be allowed to see her as well as what became of you.”

Mey Rin stared out into the darkness of her room. “Was… he angry at me? A-At Grelle??” She whimpered, fearing what would happen next despite half her mind knowing logically it must’ve not been too bad if Grelle was still there beside her, also moving in to cuddle her close.

“He was definitely sore with me, my dear, but I assure you that that brat was not angry at you.” Grelle told her firmly, and kissed her head for good measure. “AND.. guess what, Mey Mey?” She sung out softly, trying to get to the actual good part.

“Um, w-what issit, Miss Sutcliff?” She simply squeaked out.

“I’m not going anywhere any time soon, my sweet. I’m staying right here with you both, and I’m going to be deadly efficient in making sure you heal up right as rain!”

Mey Rin’s beautiful big eyes went even bigger at that.

“Wh-What?? Really?? H-How is that??” She asked, feeling elation briefly dominate her focus.

“Bassy and I managed to convince that little brat that his very important maid and sniper needed some time off while she healed, so of course, I get to stand in for you!” The reaper gave the girl a wink, hoping to delight her further.

Mey Rin’s mouth opened and shut continuously like a fish, looking from Grelle to Sebastian on her other side… and the more she looked the more her chest heaved and her eyes grew misty.

The two immortal beings found themselves baffled as their beloved human started to weep, but they both moved in even closer to hold her, both also covering her emotional visage in kisses and nuzzles and trying to comfort her in every way they knew.

“I… I… I am so happy.. to have you both, yes.” She gasped out, an emotion brewing so close to the surface she wanted to scream, but…she didn’t know if she could say the other thing that was right there, painfully obvious, in her mouth, just yet. It almost made her cry more at just being unable to say everything else she wanted to say.

---

The next few days were a mixed bag. The gunshot wound was awfully painful. Agony burst in her shoulder if was touched in just the wrong way. And being bedridden when she should have been up and about working for the young master was so bloody frustrating! Mey Rin couldn’t stand feeling like a burden and having people wait on her as if she was a fine lady. Still, it wasn’t all bad. Bard and Finny came to visit throughout the day. Bard would share the wildest tales from his army days, which made Mey Rin laugh so hard that she nearly forgot her pain. Dear Finny was sweet as an angel, far too scared to touch her for fear of causing harm, but showering her in love all the same. Like the little brother she’d never had.

Grelle and Sebastian had been just wonderful. Although his duties kept him busy, Sebastian checked on her every chance he could, even if he could only snatch a few minutes here and there. He inspected and dressed Mey Rin’s wound, which he said was healing just as it should. The demon would ask how she was and keep her abreast of what was happening in the manor, all the while holding her to his chest and stroking her hair. Sometimes they’d just sit like that, the companionable silence only broken by Sebastian’s purrs. Mey Rin merely had to say the word, and he’d be at her side in a flash with tea, biscuits, or whatever else might whet her appetite. He also insisted on bathing her. “You mustn’t overexert yourself, Mey,” he’d insist before scooping her up bridal-style and carrying her to the tub. His touch was gentle, gracious. Sebastian’s tenderness filled her heart with the same overwhelming emotion that had made her weep on the night of her injury.

Grelle’s vivacious presence never failed to take Mey Rin’s mind off her troubles. The reaper regaled her with stories of how she was getting on in the manor—she’d even helped the young master with his dancing lesson, would you believe! Grelle smothered her in cuddles and kisses, though Mey Rin certainly wasn’t complaining. She’d braid or comb Grelle’s hair, which the reaper inevitably adored, and Grelle painted the maid’s nails with the most intricate designs to help her pass the time. Of course, the very best hours were at night, when both Grelle and Sebastian could be there. Mey Rin’s contentment at being nestled between them was the best feeling in the whole wide world. Yes it was!

On one such night, though, Mey Rin couldn’t contain her restlessness. She shifted uneasily on the mattress. Oh, she hated being out of commission like this! How much longer would it go on?

Grelle lightly touched her good shoulder. “Something’s wrong, darling.” It was more a statement than a question.

The maid swallowed nervously. She didn’t want to seem petulant and ungrateful after what they’d been doing for her, but she had to get this off her chest. “I just feel so useless!” She burst out. “’ere I am, makin’ things ‘arder for everybody, and takin’ you away from your work at that dispatch place, an’…an’ I can’t stand it, sometimes!”

“It’s no trouble to me, darling. To tell the truth, I rather like having a little holiday from that boring old office, especially when I get to be with my loves!” Grelle assured her at once, wrapping her arms around Mey Rin’s waist.

Sebastian was quick to join in. He held them both and kissed Mey Rin’s cheek sweetly. “Dearest, we’re just happy you’re here. I’d wait on you hand and foot for the rest of my days if it meant you were alive and well. We were both scared as hell that night…I don’t know what I would have done if we’d lost you.”

Mey Rin’s eyes widened. Sebastian sounded more vulnerable than she had ever heard him.

“You do realize how much you mean to us, don’t you?” he continued, eyes glowing red in the darkness. “We’ll do anything to protect the woman we love—”

He broke off, seeming to realize just what he’d said. Mey Rin was speechless. They…they loved…her?

“Exactly right! We adore you, Mey Mey, surely you know that,” Grelle added. Her hug tightened, and Mey Rin’s emotions once again spilled over and turned to tears.

“I love you, too! So, SO much! I can’t imagine my life without you, now…an’…an’ I’m so grateful you’re here, I am! I’m the luckiest girl who ever lived!” she sobbed, clutching at the demon and reaper who meant the world to her.

Sebastian blinked dazedly. I actually said that. Ironic that, swept away by thoughtless sentiment, he’d finally recognized the feelings he’d been harboring for who knew how long. Though supposedly anathema to his kind, “love” had to be the only word that could describe them. He cared about the woman in a way he’d never cared for other mortals, and her near brush with death had forced him to come to terms with how precious Mey Rin truly was. And dear Grelle…perhaps Miss Sutcliff was right about the “red string of fate” that she claimed bound the three of them together. The trio nestled close in the darkness, exchanging three little words among themselves like a marvelous treasure that they had unearthed after much struggle and travail.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

[j-j-ehlby-writes]

Păpuşă (s.s.)

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Reader

Word Count: ~6.3k

Summary: You and Sebastian just finished a movie together. This is your first promo interview. What happens when an unknown truth is revealed?

Italicized = flashback

My Masterlist

“My first guest tonight is starring in her very first movie, a hilarious romantic comedy with Sebastian Stan that’s coming out in theaters this Friday. It’s her first time on the show- her first interview even. Please welcome to the show, Y/F/N Y/L/N.”

I come from behind the curtain and am greeted by Jimmy Fallon. He shakes my hand before giving me a light hug as I step up onto the stage in the 5 inch heels I immediately regret choosing for this interview. I wave at the crowd before taking a seat.

“Welcome to the show, Y/N.” He greets.

“Thank you! I’m excited to be here.” I cross my legs at the knee to get more comfortable in the outfit my stylist picked for me. This was my first promo interview for my very first movie. It’s expected to do fantastic at the box office. I know it’s going to be a great film.

“So this is your first movie. How cool is that?”

“Oh it’s beyond cool. I can’t even explain how excited I am for it to finally come out.” I smile, thinking about the last year of my life and how much it has changed.

“And your co-star and love interest is the amazing Sebastian Stan. Tell me how that was and how that came to be.”

“That’s a funny story actually. I insulted him during the first round of auditions.”

“Can you believe you’re headed to your first audition?” My friend shrieks in my ear through my headphones. I walk down the sidewalk from the bus station, trying to re-read the script we were all sent to make sure I memorized my lines.

 “No, I can’t. Don’t get your hopes up. You know how rare it is for someone to book their first ever audition? Practically unheard of.” I finally find the building after hanging up and go inside. I follow the signs until I reach a large room with dozens of people waiting their turn. People left and right all reading from the same script I have. I feel like the complete amateur I am in this crowd. Everyone looks so professional and not at all nervous, like I am. I find a quiet corner where there aren’t very many people.

 “Hey.” I hear someone one say over my soft music. I pull out my earphone to see a gorgeous girl standing in front of me. “Do you need help running lines?” She asks offering a kind smile.

 “Sure.” I unplug and put away my phone.

 We go over some small talk before turning to the script. I feel foolish doing this in front of her, but at least it’s some practice that I definitely need. I feel like I know this script front-wards and backwards by now, but I still feel like I will mess it up somehow.

 After we rehearse the necessary scenes, we continue to chat. She tells me that this is her tenth audition this week and I instantly want to drop out. There’s no way I will get picked over her. She looks like she belongs in this world. I don’t. The best that I could probably get would be someone in the back with no lines. I know it’d be something. Getting even a small part in a movie is something. But I want to go big. I wanted to go for the female lead. Go big or go home, right?

 We’re standing around, waiting for the process to start.

 And then he walks in.

 “Who,” I drag out, “is that?” I try not to stare too much, but it’s hard not to. He is one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen. His shorter dark brown hair is covered with a dark blue baseball cap and his steel blue eyes are shaded by a pair of tortoise sunglasses, but he’s not fooling anyone. His beard is perfectly trimmed, trying to hide the sharp jawline but failing miserably. No one seems to have noticed his entrance, or if they did no one wanted to react.

 She turns around to see who I’m gawking at. “You seriously don’t know who that is?”

 “Oh no, I know exactly who that is. I just wanted to have that ‘movie moment’.” She laughed at my silly behavior, before looking behind me again.

 “Well get ready to have another because here he comes.”

 By the time I turned around, he was a few feet away from us. He greets the girl next to me. “Who’s your friend?” He asks, looking at me.

 “Y/N.” I introduce myself. I see out of my peripheral vision him hold his hand out to me. I shake it, trying my hardest to keep my fangirling at bay.

 “Nice to meet you, Y/N. I’m Sebastian.”

 I chuckled at how humble he is. He’s an A-list actor. He needs no introductions anymore. “I know. You played one of my least favorite characters on Gossip Girl.”

 “One of?” He asks, feigning offense. He crosses his arms over his broad chest, trying to act like a tough guy. “Who’s worse than me?”

 “Georgina,” I don’t hesitate to say, “and then Louis and Marcus tie for a close second. Blair didn’t have the best dating history.” I just finished re-watching all six seasons of the show for like the fifth time, so everything is fresh. I never thought my knowledge of a teen soap-drama would actually come in handy one day. “A history that briefly included Carter, even if it was to just piss off Chuck.”

 “In your eyes, what made Carter so bad?”

 “What he did to Beth was inexcusable. He deserved to work off his debt to the Buckley’s. And then lying to Serena about how long he’s known about where her dad is? That was sketchy and unnecessary. He didn’t deserve Serena. I was happy she left him on the side of the road.”

 He smirks at me, “You seem to have a strong opinion.”

 “Well I did just finish watching it again so you could say I’m pretty well-versed on what happened with Manhattan’s Upper East Side elite.”

 “I’d love to hear what other opinions you have.” His smirk turned into a smile that lit up the room.

 The first name was called into the audition room, bringing us back to the reason we are all here.

 “What part are you auditioning for?” He asks after the conversations continued around the room.

 “Noelle.” I name the main female character and ask the same question in return.

“Forrest.” He answers with the name of the main male character a.k.a. Noelle’s love interest. “Do you want to run lines together real quick before we get called in there? It’d be nice to go through it with someone who actually knows the dialogue.”

“We ran lines together and found out we just fit. When we made it to the chemistry read round, they told us to pair up. You can imagine everyone wanted to be his partner.”

“Everyone wanted to be Bucky’s partner.” Jimmy filled in.

“Everyone!” I emphasized. “I mean, how could they not? He’s a phenomenal actor and an even better human being.” I had to stop myself from gushing about him. I didn’t want to give everyone the wrong idea about us… “And much to everyone else’s dismay, he chose me because of how well we had gotten along the last time and we remained a pair for the rest of the process.”

“That’s awesome. And since this is your first movie, it must have been helpful to be surrounded by so many veterans.”

“Oh gosh, was it ever! I had no idea what I was doing the entire time. I felt like a fish out of water. Thank God I had someone like Sebastian to help whenever I needed something, which was a lot.”

I slam the door of my trailer and immediately fall apart. Today was bad. No, worse than bad. It was a trainwreck. I wouldn’t be surprised if they fired me after that awful performance.

I don’t know what was wrong with me today. I kept forgetting my lines, constantly messing up the take and having to do it over and over again. I know the director and everyone else involved must be frustrated with me with wasting everyone’s money and time. I also kept missing my marks. Somehow my feet and my eyes couldn’t register where I was supposed to stand and stop in the camera shot.

But worst of all, I couldn’t get into character. Getting into another head space right now didn’t seem possible no matter how many times I read the scene, I just couldn’t do it. It was frustrating as an actress because that’s what I’m being paid to do and I can’t do my job.

Knocks on my door nearly scares the crap out of me. I don’t get up from my spot on the floor. I don’t want to talk to anyone or have anyone seeing me like this.

Unfortunately I forgot to lock the door, so whoever knocked opens it and comes in. “Hey.” Sebastian’s voice fills my trailer with no trace of frustration. I run my fingers through my hair and wipe the tears away. He sits next to me, not saying anything else.

“I’m so sorry.” A new wave of tears threatens to fall, but I push them back. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Nothing is wrong with you.” He wraps his arm around my shoulders. “You’re just having an off day. Everyone has them. That doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.” He coos. “Frankly, I think we’d all be surprised if you didn’t have one. Then we may think you’re a Russian spy coming to infiltrate.”

A very unattractive snort came from my nose as I tried not to burst out laughing. I finally look at him to see him smiling. Even if my dark trailer, his grin lights up the entire room like it always does. “You should know! You’re the Romanian vampire who never ages.”

“‘Romanian vampire’ is kind of redundant.” He pursed his lips, nodding. “All vampires are from Romania.”

“Oh shut up!” I use all of my strength to push him over but because his arm is secured around me, he barely moved more than a few inches and brought me with him. He keeps going though, lying on the floor, pulling me to his chest. We lie in the new calm silence.

Over the last few weeks, Sebastian has become more than just my co-star. He’s someone I would call a good friend. I can go to him if I need help knowing he would never judge me. I can bounce ideas off of him for our upcoming scenes. I can talk to him so easily about anything that’s on my mind and he will engage in the most meaningless conversations with me. I truly enjoy his company more than I ever thought I would… which definitely didn’t help with the slight crush on him before I even met him.

I tried to bury it as soon as we were both cast in this film. I didn’t want to ruin this job because of it by making things awkward on set when I couldn’t get a grip on reality. I managed pretty well until we had to do our kissing scene… When I found out there was going to be one, I instantly dreaded it. My only hope was it was done right away. I wanted to get it out of the way so I could then get over it and look at him as just a friend and co-star for the rest of the movie.

Luck was not on my side though. It took two months before we got to that scene. Two whole months of hanging out with him on and off set, running lines behind the scenes, him bringing me Starbucks every morning, and me slowly falling for him before finally getting to that scene. And to say it made things worse would have been an understatement. Every scene we’ve had to do together after that, I messed up at least twice getting lost in the things he said and the way he looked at me. I’d try and explain it away by blaming the lack of sleep for clouding my mind, but that can only go so far and can be used so many times before people start getting concerned about my health and work ethic.

“Are you going to be okay, păpuşă?” He asks breaking the silence with his Romanian that sounds like the most natural thing in the world. I wish he would tell me what that word means. I asked him the first time he used it, but he said, “Now păpuşă, if I told you that, then I’d have to kill you.” So now I just deal with it and hope for the day he finally tells me.

“Did you two get close during filming? I ask because when he was here earlier in the week, he said he told the casting people when they offered him the part that he wouldn’t do the movie if you weren’t cast as Noelle. And there are plenty of rumors about the two of you being an item.”

My heart dropped. “Did he really say that?” I hadn’t had a chance to watch his interview from last week. I had been so busy with preparing all of mine in the coming weeks that I haven’t had much down time. And he didn’t say a word about it to me. Jimmy played the clip where he indeed said that. “Wow. Um...” I manage to squeak out before snapping out of it. “Yeah, we did get pretty close. I’m lucky enough to be able to consider him my best guy friend now. He’s someone I trust wholeheartedly.”

“So those rumors about you two dating are…?”

“Untrue. I am single and he is, too.” At one point during filming, I wasn’t sure that was true…

“Cut!” The director yells. “Alright, that’s a wrap today! Good job everyone. Be back here at 9 am tomorrow.”

I turn to one of my co-stars. “Thank God this day is over! I’m so tired. All I want to do this weekend is go back to my hotel room and stay there until Monday.”

“So you and Sebastian don’t have plans this weekend?” She asks as we walk back to our trailers.

“No? Why would we?” We do hang out a lot after we’re done filming for the day and sometimes spend the weekend hanging out in one of our hotel rooms, but we’re not always together like she is making it seem.

“So he’s free this Friday?” She tried to hide the smile on her face by biting her lip.

I shrugged, “As far as I know, yes? Why don’t you go ask him yourself? I’m not his keeper.”

That Friday, as we finish filming for the day, I see him leaving with her and I don’t hear from him again until I see him Monday morning. She was grinning ear-to-ear the entire day and he acted odd around me for the week following. He didn’t look at me unless we were filming, he disappeared during our lunch break, he would give short answers to my questions but then run away as soon as he saw an opening, and he’d be gone before I finished changing in my trailer. By the next weekend, I had had enough of it.

I bang on his hotel door and wait. It took a few minutes before I heard the lock on click and the door open to reveal a shirtless Sebastian and a pair of low-hanging sweatpants around his waist. His hair was also a mess, hanging in front of his eye. “Y/N, this isn’t a good time. I-”

“Why have you been avoiding me? Did I do something? I thought we were-”

“Is that the room service, Sebby?” I hear someone call from inside the room.

And suddenly, I realize what an idiot I was. He wasn’t avoiding me. He was just occupied with someone else now.

He turns back to me with the guiltiest look on his beautiful face. I swallow the lump in my throat. “I’m sorry, I, uh, I’ll see you Monday.”

“Y/N!”

That weekend was probably the worst I had had in a very long time. I locked myself in my hotel room and ignored everyone except for the delivery guys when they brought me food. Sebastian came to my door a few times, knocking and begging for me to open up for twenty minutes the first time but then got shorter every time he came back.

By Monday, I plastered a smile on my face and planned on giving the performance of a lifetime, but fell incredibly short. I could barely look at him without feeling betrayed. But why did I feel like that? We weren’t together. He can hang out with whomever he wants. He’s a gorgeous single man who could have his choice of any girl and he’s choosing someone that isn’t me.

“Cut! That’s lunch.” Everyone scatters after the announcement. I make a bee-line for my trailer to eat in peace. I picked up something before coming in this morning for this very reason.

“Y/N, wait!” I hear Sebastian shout. As much as I want to ignore him right now, I have to get along with him for the sake of filming. But if he wants to talk about anything other than the movie, I’m out. He appears in front of me, halting my steps. “Now who’s avoiding who?”

“I’m not avoiding you. I just want to get to my lunch. I’ve been looking forward to it all day and I’m starving.” I step around him to continue my journey.

“Subway again?” He guesses correctly walking along with me. I don’t answer. I just kept going finally seeing my trailer in sight. “Can I please explain myself?”

“You don’t need to. You don’t owe me anything.” I yank open the door and step inside. He follows.

“I know I don’t need to, but it’s obvious you’re upset-”

“Upset? What gave you that impression?” My sarcasm bit. “Was it ignoring your constant knocking on my door? Or was it the fact that I didn’t return any of your phone calls and texts? Oh no, it must have been my blatant disregard for your repeated efforts to talk about it. I’m just giving back what you gave me all of last week.”

“I’m sorry.” He apologizes, “I know I should have talked to you.”

“Why? Like I said, you don’t owe me anything.”

He steps closer. “But I do. We’re friends, Y/N. I should have told you what was going on.”

Friends. The worst F word a person can hear from someone they like.

So he explains. She had asked him out on a date last week. He said yes. They had a good time, but ultimately decided they were better off as friends. He was weird around me last week because he didn’t know if he could talk to me about it. He didn’t know if we were at that level of friendship yet, but I assured him that he could talk to me about anything, even girls no matter how much that would hurt. Of course I didn’t say that last part.

“Are we okay now?” He asks from his seat across the table. “Can I have my best friend back?”

“I’m your best friend? I thought that was reserved for Evans or Mackie.” I cross my arms on the table, smirking outwardly at his statement. My heart hurt a little to hear it. I don’t want to be his best friend… I want to be more.

“I think they’ll understand.” He smiles at me only confirming my stupid feelings.

“Well in that case, we have to be okay. If I’m going to face their wrath, I’m going to need some Winter Soldier protection.” My smirk turned into a smile as I imagine what their reactions are going to be.

“I gotchu, păpuşă.”

“Well if you’re both single then why not make it true? I saw the movie. Your chemistry is fire.”

I tried to hide my being uncomfortable with laughter. “I mean,” I shrugged, “I’m never going to say ‘never,’ because you really don’t know what can happen in the future, especially in Hollywood. But as for right at this moment, I am single.”

“And are you ready to mingle?”

“I am so ready to mingle!” I exclaim. “You have the connections, set a girl up!”

The rest of the interview went smoothly after that. I was escorted back to the dressing room, where I met up with my agent. She confirmed I had two phone interviews later, but I wasn’t listening very much. All I wanted to do was talk to Sebastian.

When I called him, I got his voicemail. “Bună iubito,” I use the greeting he taught me that meant “hey dude,” or something along the lines of that, “can you give me a call back as soon as you’re not busy? I need to talk to you about something.” I leave my hotel information before hanging up.

I just hang up with room service later that evening when there’s a knock on my door.

“I come bearing food!” He greets as he steps into my room.

“I just ordered room service.” I whine before taking a look at what he brought. Subway. Of course. I shake my head at how well he knows me before joining him at the table.

“Thank God because I’m starving. I only got this for you because you said you wanted to talk. I figured I needed to apologize for something, so I brought your favorite to soften the blow.”

“You know I had my Fallon interview today, right?” I ask getting straight to the point.

“Oh yeah, how’d that go?” He started unpacking my food, not looking at me.

“Good…” when he didn’t say anything, I add, “He told me what you said.”

His head dropped and his shoulders slumped. A sharp breath of air came out like a weight just lifted. “I was waiting for this.” He mumbles as he turns around to face me. “Look, if it sounded like an insult, I didn’t mean like that. I just meant that I believed in you so much and we got along so well during the audition process that if they didn’t choose you to play my opposite, then I didn’t want to be a part of the movie.”

“Why would you do that though? I’m sure there were more well-established actresses that auditioned that you would have gotten along with just as well. You took a huge risk betting on me.” I can’t imagine what this would do to his career if this fails because of me. “Not to mention, you could have lost the movie completely because of your foolishness.”

“I know, I know. There was just…” He paused, gaining a half smile at the image in his head, “there was just something about you that I wanted to know. I couldn’t let the opportunity go; I couldn’t let the possibility of being around you more slip through my fingers.”

Even in the poorly lit room, I could see the emotions in his eyes. The emotions I’ve seen multiple times while filming this movie with him… The way I imagine I look at him when he’s not looking. My heart races at the possibility of what he could be saying. I’ve had a crush on this man for years before I met him. Even the mention of his name made me smile and seeing videos of him interacting with fans always ended with me giggling because he was just so adorable. Then I actually met him and he has exceeded all of my expectations since then. He is the sweetest, most down to earth, hard-working, kind-hearted, passionate human being I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. And by some miracle, he might feel the same way about me that I do him.

“Sebastian…”

“Y/N…”

I had to sit down. If we were going to have this conversation, I wanted to be sitting. I curled up on the couch. He followed, sitting facing me resting his arm on the back of the couch. “When?” was the only question I could ask. My mind was spinning. Was this really happening right now?

His big, mesmerizing blue eyes locked on mine. They were filled with nostalgia as he remembered the moment. “It was the first time we hung out off set.”

After a long first week of filming, it was finally the weekend. One of the other actors suggested we all go out to celebrate surviving. I immediately turned to Y/N, waiting for her answer. All week I have been wanting to hang out with her off set. She is hilarious while just the two of us are between takes but shy when around everyone else, I wanted to know what she would be like in a more casual environment and not surrounded by dozens of people.

During lunch we all agreed to meet at this “cool” club downtown. Even as she said yes, I could tell she didn’t really want to. She’s an introvert. She doesn’t like crowds of people she doesn’t know. When we got back on set, I promised her I wouldn’t leave her side. She seemed reassured by it and that made me happy.

She makes me happy. Being around her has made me feel truly happy for the first time in a very long time. From the first moment I met her, she wasn’t afraid to tell me how she felt about my portrayal of an Upper East Side elite dick. Her conviction about a simple show showed me a side that interested me. What else made her blood boil? What other kinds of things is she passionate about? I had to know.

So when I was offered the part of Forrest, I asked who they were going to cast as Noelle. I panicked when they were leaning more towards someone else. I wanted to spend more time with her. Filming nearly every day with her for three to four months and then promoting the movie afterwards will give me that time. I knew I was risking everything by saying I wouldn’t do it unless she was Noelle. My agent definitely wasn’t happy with me about it when she found out. Thankfully it all worked in both of our favors.

She wasn’t like anyone I’d met in this industry and I wanted to see what else there was to her. I vowed not to waste any opportunity to do so.

I told her I would pick her up at her hotel and then we could go to the club together. But when she opened the door, she looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Do you just want to order pizza instead?”

No matter how badly I wanted to say yes and completely forget the plans we had made, I knew the two leads had to participate in a cast get-together even if it was only for a short bit. I did manage to convince her to go at least for a little while and then we could get pizza. I even added ice cream to the deal to persuade her.

When we got to the club, she instantly clammed up. I did all I could to make her feel comfortable for the time being by upholding my earlier promise. I never left her side. We ordered one drink, toasted with the cast, chatted for about ten minutes, and then we left.

The second she stepped out of the club, she was back to being her confident self. She complained about how stuffy it was in there, how loud and obnoxious the music was and how all she wanted to do was go back to her hotel and eat pizza and ice cream. Her wish was my command…

After we finally got our food, we went back to my hotel room. I was right about her having a whole different side to her outside of work. She is laid back, incredibly funny, and outgoing once she gets comfortable with you. I learned she has many different laughs for different situations, all of them equally as adorable as the last. She snorts when she laughs so hard that she can’t breathe. She squeaks when she likes something, her nose crinkles and her upper lip kinks up when she doesn’t. Each and every time she laughs, her smile lights up the room. She does have very strong opinions on more things than TV shows she knows well. I got to know her more than I ever expected.

“You know I didn’t initially want to be an actress?” She says lying on the couch with her feet on my lap. “It was more like a last resort thing. I never thought I could do it.”

“Why didn’t you think you could do it?” I ask flabbergasted by her inability to see how talented she is. Throughout the audition process, if I didn’t already know she was a newbie, I would never have guessed it. She acted like a pro. She nailed just about everything that was asked of her.

“Well,” She finishes her last piece of pizza, impressing the hell out of me. This girl isn’t afraid to eat. She consumed the entirety of her own pizza. I love it. “It’s not that I thought I couldn’t act. It’s that I knew it would a long shot that anything would ever come of it. All you ever hear about are people struggling to make it in LA. I’m one of those people that doesn’t like failing. If I didn’t get this movie, I probably would have given up on acting completely and tried something else.

Plus, it was drilled into my mind during my formative years that being an actor or a singer ‘weren’t real jobs’ so I just kind of swept it under the rug, never to be thought about again… until a few months ago that is.”

“Just goes to show, păpuşă, that you shouldn’t listen to the doubters.”

“Pap-what?” Her brows furrowed and her mouth hung open in confusion.

“Păpuşă.” I repeated fully knowing she has no clue what I’m saying. I’d been calling her that in my head ever since I met her, guess it just kind of slipped out.

She sat up and scooted closer to me. “I know you fluently speak Romanian, no need to show off to the rest of us that are inept and uneducated at languages. What does it mean?”

I tucked some of her hair behind her ear, taking in her natural beauty. When I met her, she wasn’t wearing much make-up, and she looked stunning. She’s complained to me many times this week that she has to wear more than she’s used to for filming. She thoroughly enjoys when she can take it off at the end of the day. She goes into her trailer as a beautiful woman, but she comes out the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen when she is without any. Not only is she naturally beautiful, her hair smells heavenly I literally want to bury my face in it constantly, she’s smarter than she thinks she is, she’s kind to everyone on set, she’s caring towards all she meets, she’s creative on and off set, she’s extremely passionate about many different things, she’s… everything I had thought she would be and so much more.

I like her. A lot more than I ever thought I would. I see that now.

“Now păpuşă, if I told you that, then I’d have to kill you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I ask after going down memory lane of that night. We went to McDonalds later because we were both still hungry and were craving their fries. We walked a few blocks to do so, singing Disney songs to each other down the empty streets to pass the time. It was an adventure that I never expected but am extremely grateful for. It showed me a side of him I had always wanted to see… and it only worsened my feelings for him.

“I didn’t want to make things awkward on set if you didn’t feel the same way.”

“And that date you went on with-?” It was only a month after our first hang out that he went out with our co-star. If he liked me then, it doesn’t make sense why he would go through with it.

“I did agree to go on a date with her, but only because I couldn’t go out with the person I really wanted to take out. And as soon as we got to the restaurant, she told me she only asked me out because she knew you wouldn’t. She was hoping that her even mentioning asking me out would spark something in you. That gave me hope.” Even the small smile that appeared beamed causing my insides to feel all melty.

“If you had hope then why did you ignore me after that?” All of the pieces are coming together now; it’s all starting to make sense.

“I only ignored you because every time I looked at you, all I wanted to do was tell you how I felt. But I didn’t want to tell you unless I knew for certain that you liked me back. I didn’t know how to handle it correctly. The night you came to my hotel room, she was only there to try and convince me to tell you. I had just gotten out of the shower when she arrived, so she had ordered room service while I was getting dressed. That’s when you knocked on the door. Nothing was going on between us.” He reached over, taking my hand in his. “It shattered me to see how hurt you were.”

I shook my head at the memory of that night. “Did you even suspect why I was so hurt?” I know at times I wasn’t subtle about my feelings for him. I always had a stupidly big smile on my face when I was around him, finding every opportunity to bring him up in a conversation… but that night, I was sure he would find out. When he didn’t ask me about it specifically, I thought he didn’t notice or care.

“Believe me, I had hoped that the reason you were so upset was because you cared about me the way I did you. But when I explained everything and you didn’t say anything, I assumed…”

“When you called me your best friend, it kind of slammed the door on that talk. One of the reasons why one day I literally could not do anything right was because of how I felt about you.” I admit, “I think I just got so overwhelmed with everything going on with the movie and how quickly life had flipped upside-down, trying to make sense of my feelings for you and maintaining a façade that my mind just could not do what everyone asked of it.”

He titters, “The day we laid on the floor in your trailer for so long that we fell asleep.” I nod. As we both reminisce about that day, his thumb rubs circles on the back of my hand. We fell asleep for quite some time too. It was the best nap I had had in a very long time. No one had any idea where we were and why we weren’t back on set when called. It was slightly embarrassing to be found in that position but since we were both clothed, no one suspected anything happened.

“I tried to bury my feelings for you when we were cast, but every day we’ve spent together has just-”

“made them stronger?” He finishes, locking eyes with me.

“How freaking cliché is that? Falling for your co-star?” Everything is telling me that this wouldn’t work. The track record of celebrities starting relationships on set and staying together is staggeringly low. I don’t want to become another statistic, but with the way Sebastian is looking at me right now, it makes me feel hopeful that we’d be one of the success stories.

“I mean, I liked you before we were even cast. Doing the movie together just helped those feelings grow exponentially.” He smiles at me again, caressing my cheek.

“You made sure of that,” I chuckled.

“And I think I made the right choice in trusting my heart.” He grabs both of my hands and pulls me up off of the couch. “If we’re going to do this, I want to do it right.” He takes a deep breath, letting his smile take over his handsome features. “Will you, Y/F/N Y/L/N, go out on a date with me?”

“It would be my humblest honor, Sebastian Stan.”

“Great, how does now sound?” He asks eagerly.

“Now? But Subway and room service…” I whine, eyeing the long white plastic bag on the table.

“You know as well as I do that you can have it later or tomorrow.” He gave me a pointed look, daring me to argue with him. He knows that’s what I’ve done multiple times; he knows I can’t argue with him. Bastard.

“Ugh, fine!” I whine some more. “Let me just take off my make-up and then we can go.” I still hadn’t taken off the stage make-up from my interview earlier. I felt disgusting and in need of a good face wash.

“Păpuşă, you look perfect.” He pulls me to him after I exit the bathroom, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Are you ever going to tell me what that means?” I giggle as he buries his bearded face in my neck.

He laughs, pulling back. “Doll.”

“What?”

“Păpuşă means ‘doll’.”

Permanent taglist: @elusive-beauty @drakesfiance @im-a-slut-for-an-accent @fantasy-is-my-reality @naniky

[angelfire115]

The one who fell part 2

They walked into the hotel, Alice looked around, the decorations were incredible, it was the most amazing hotel she had ever seen. She hasn't been to many of course but still, it's the best one. She stared at the portrats on the wall, all kinds of paintings, most having Charlie in them. She spotted one that had her dressed formally, a beautiful tall woman that she guessed was her mother since the hair was the same. The other must be her father as they had the same pink cheeks. He did, however, give her a bad gut feeling as his smile looked eerily similar to the tall red man in that alleyway.

Charlie: "Huh, I wonder where Alastor is". Alice looked to Charlie, who looked around looking for this Alastor. Angel dust: "Oh yeah, I remember him saying he had to go deal with some "unpleasant" people". Charlie looked at Angel with surprise, then a dissapointed and angry scowl came across her face, guess whatever hes doing wasn't good. Alice: "Um, sorry to interrupt but, who is Alastor?". Charlie and Vaggie looked to Alastor. Charlie: "Oh well, Alastor is my business partner, he's helping me on making this hotel a success". Vaggie rolled her eyes and silently scoffed at that.

Alice looked to her new friends in a bit of confusion, he doesn't seem that bad if he's helping demons be redeemed. Charlie: "Hehe, well, he has his doubt's but still, I'm still glad he's here, we need as much support as possible". She looked to Vaggie as she said that which Vaggie looked away from her. As she walked towards the couch that was behind Alice, she stopped right next to her, leaning to her ear. Vaggie: "Word of advice, its best to stay away from that guy". Alice: "Why? Is he bad?". Vaggie: "He's worse then any demons you've met, he's named the radio demon, he kills and tortures whoever even touches him and one of the top demons that reside in hell, there are others which you should avoid but right now, Alastor is the number 1 demon to avoid". She faced her with a fury of justice burning in her eyes. Vaggie: "Don't, trust, anyone".

Alice understood what she was saying, she had to not forget that this place, was hell. She may have never had to feel this way or not as much but she had to train herself. Just like how she was trainned to face the real world by her parents, she had to make sure she lived through this. Vaggie had sat down after she had a talk while Charlie turned to Alice, excitement shining in her eyes.

Charlie: "Alright, Alice, should we get started with the proper signatures and such". Alice was a bit blanked out from her thoughts but snapped back into reality when she heard her name. Alice: "Oh, yeah, sure". She followed Charlie to the front desk. She signed some forms and some other hotel things then was given a key and was showed to her room. It was exciting and she absolutely loved her room. The place was so well made, however, she hadn't seen another guest yet. Maybe they were asleep?

Charlie left her to her room to get settled, she flopped onto the bed, staring at the sealing. Alice: "What a day? I wonder... Will anyone realize... If I'm gone?". She drifted to sleep, it had been a long and grueling day. At every turn while being here was one shock after the next. She was drained so she deserved some sleep, even if she was dirty and covered in blood, she didn't care. As her eyes closed and everything went dark, as she drifted into a sea of sleep.

Alice short up for a start, her head was spinning and her body feeling a bit numb. She rubbed her head, a little bit of a headache grew as time went. She looked around, she was in her room, sitting at her desk. The sun shined through the blinds, the air felt thin and warm. It was so familiar, she could hear the song birds singing their tunes. She got up slowly, a bit clumsy as she walked.

So, why in such a hurry toots?

The headaches got worse, making her fall to the ground, she seemed so tired, even though she just woke up. She grunted and grumbled, she really needed to get some painkillers. She remembered they were in her cupboard. She tried to get up but she fell again. She was shaking badly, tears ran down her face but she didnt notice.

Its ok, whatever happened is over now, you'll be ok

But she didn't want to give up, she was determined to stand. Her tears stopped and faded away. The headache was still there but it didn't hurt as much. Still though, she needed those painkillers. She walked to her door, it opened on its own but she didn't notice. She continued to walk down the halls, she turned to her left as she heard dripping, a dark eery room oozed a dark aura. Was there a tap still running? She thought to herself to go and turn it off

Don't, trust, anyone

She decided to not and just do it later, she continued to her kitchen. Finding the painkillers in her cupboard where she thought it was, grabbing it, she also grabbed a cup of water from the fridge. The dark ooze rounded the corner, sneaking its way towards her slowly and surely. She stared at the cup for a few seconds, ignoring the eyes that popped up in the reflection that wasn't hers. A burst of wind blew the doors open which she casually stared at. Before she was able to place the painkillers in her mouth....

How did you end up here?

She froze, an ice cold chill went up her spine as the ooze of darkness loomed over her. Bright red eyes shot open. She slowly turned, her shaking growing worse, as she shook, the house seemed to shake with her. She dropped the cup and painkillers that smashed and splashed into glass and thick red blood. She started to cry, the tears never stopped not that she tried to stop them. When she finally turned and looked to the shadow behind her. Large yellow teeth splayed across the darkness, the red eyes with no pupils seemed to stare into her soul. Disintegrating it with its terrifying look. Sharp claws reached out to her grabbing her head, she screamed but it faded away.

She shot up from the bed, she panted and cried. She looked around at her red room, the hotel room she was allowed to stay in for free. She backed up to the beds board behind her. Holding her knees up against her chest and letting her head lay in them as she cried from that nightmare. It was then she knew she couldn't stay in hell, she couldnt stay and help herself. She needed a guide, she needed freinds. She was too weak for this world. She wished she could go back immediately but, she knew she couldn't which made her lonely crying even worse.

After a few minutes of crying, she decided to stop, knowing that crying wouldn't get her anywhere. She looked around her room, then spotted a clock on the side of her bed. The clock showed 8:00 in the morning. Alice: "Wow, i didn't realize it was day". She shifted to the window where she opened the blinds. To her surprise, the sky was still dark but at least more brighter then yesterday but not as much. Of course, in a world of hell, it would still be dark even in the day. Alice: "Jesus, how can they tell time here?".

She remembered her shenanigans throughout hell and remebered her new friends. So after cleaning herself up, heading out the door and down the stairs. She made her way to the main lobby. Hopefully talking to people would get her mind off the nightmare and off the sorrowful feeling of not being able to go home. As she made it down stairs she noticed how busy some people were while others were new.

She saw Vaggie and Charlie, sitting on the couches with a large paper filled with writing, like it was some kind of small business meeting. She spotted the two new people, one looking like a large black and white cat with a small top hat and incredible red wings that folded perfectly on his back. He looked grumpy and he took big swigs of his drink he had. He looked a lot like her Uncle Jones who she'd spot at family reunions, all alone in the corner avoiding everyone. Made sense, her Aunt Grace didn't exactly enjoy his company. The other person though, disappeared.

??: "Who are you?". Alice was startled by a small and unfamiliar voice at her feet. She looked down to see the child looking creature staring up at her with one eye and a razor sharp smile. Alice: "Oh! You scared me, um I'm Alice, I'm a new guest, what's your name?". She crouched down a little, placing her hands on her knees. The young demon came closer to her and sniffed around her bubble which confused her greatly. ??: "Hmm, you don't smell like a demon". This shocked her a little.

She knows she's not a demon, she landed in this world without dying or anything else so she isn't. She came to the realisation that she had told no one since she got here about her being a human from the living world who's still alive. She wondered if she could, since, she didn't know what they could do to her if she found out. Alice: "W-well, uh, I'm gonna go over here". She was able to dodge the conversation by heading towards Vaggie and Charlie who wear still deep in thought.

Alice: "Um, morning guys". Vaggie and Charlie lifted their heads to see Alice and both smiled. Charlie: "Morning Alice, how was your sleep? Hope it went well". Alice: "Yeah it was great". Alice didn't want to bother them two with her nightmare she just had so she didn't say anything on it. She looked to the large paper they had, when she looked closer, it looked like a decorative drawing. It had rainbows and stars and happy things all over it, it even said the Happy Hotel. Alice smiled at how cute it was though the drawings looked like a five year old made them.

Alice: "So what are you guys doing?". Charlie looked back at her friend and new guest with a bigger smile growing on her face. Charlie: "We're making the new poster for the happy hotel". She picked up the poster, showing off all the drawings and more all over it. Alice: "Oh I see, it looks really good". Charlie sneered a little, she looked to her drawing in every angle. Charlie: "I know but I feel like it looks the same as the last one, I wish i could do something more different". Alice stood there for a second, thinking about any possibilities in her mind. One idea popped in her head and she grabbed a paper, a pencil and started her drawing.

Charlie and Vaggie was surprised by her intrusive act but was more interested to see her work. It took Alice a few minutes but she was done. Alice: "It's just a quick sketch so it isn't perfect but maybe this will give you an idea". She lifted her drawing which was neat and beautiful. It had a giant rainbow going into clouds on both sides just behind the letters that said "Hazbin Hotel" in bold and neat letters. It showed at the bottom a amazing drawing of heaven and at the top showed a detailed drawing of Charlie with her arms out and her smile huge.

Both Vaggie and Charlie stared in amazement at the incredible well made drawing. Vaggie: "Wow, that's pretty amazing". Alice slightly blushed at the compliment. Alice: "Oh its nothing, I've just done these things before, I've taken a lot of art classes". Charlie excitedly grabbed the poster and looked at every inch of it. Charlie: "This is AMAZING, I love it". She was so happy and her demeanour was bright but it quickly faded as she noticed something. Charlie: "Although, why does it say Hazbin Hotel? This is the Happy Hotel". She pointed to the letters on the page.

Alice: "Oh sorry, I thought that's what the Hotel was called since the sign says it at the top". Charlie looked more confused, the sign? Charlie: "But that should say the Happy Hotel as we-". She stopped at the middle of her speaking to realize in an angry scowl which ended in a disappointed sigh. Charlie: "He must of changed it". She sort of mumbled that to herself but Alice and Vaggie could still hear it. Did she mean Alastor? The one Vaggie warned Alice about? It might be.

Charlie got up from her seat to head to the door. Alice: "Are you ok Charlie?". Charlie kept heading to the door. Charlie: "Yeah, I'm fine, I just want to see it for myself". Alice stood in a bit of disaray, she was nervous but she had to be brave. Alice: "Uh, Charlie wait". She called out to Charlie which made her stop just at the door, she looked back to Alice who slowly approached her. Charlie: "Yeah? Is there something you need?". Alice stiffened, she was told by Vaggie yesterday not to trust anyone and she's followed it through but Charlie was nice and kind, she didn't seem like a demon at all. She knew or thought she could trust her with her secret as a living mortal in hell.

Just as Alice was about to speak, the doors at the front of the hotel burst open. A strong wind sent everyones hairs go crazy from it. A strong light gleamed through but Charlie turned to it. She folded her arms and glared at the person there. Charlie: "There you are, I've been worried". Alice couldn't see who was at the door since the light was too bright and Charlie was in the way. ??: "Sorry to worry you my dear, I was a bit busy today". The second Alice heard that voice her heart stopped, it was the same voice as before. The same voice she heard cackling in that alleyway. That same voice who's mouth drooled with blood and chomped on the flesh of people. She started to shake and her breathing was heavy, she wanted to run but she couldn't move.

Charlie: "Did your busy time involve hunting people?". The person laughed in an ungodly and terrifying way that sent shivers down Alices' spine. ??: "Maybe, but no, I was looking for someone". Charlie gave up on her questioning and moved aside to let him in. The person who entered was tall and red, it was definitely the same person who was in that alley, who killed that old beetle demon in cold blood and all the others

She looked up at this fiend while he stared down at her. His smile sharpened as he saw her, he definitely recognized her. Charlie: "Alice, this Alastor, Alastor this is Alice, she's our new and first guest". Charlie had walked in to introduce the two. Alastor looked to Charlie in more curiosity. Alastor: "Is she now".

He looked back at her, his smile still wide in amusement. Alice still couldn't move, she stared at him in incredible amounts of fear, her shaking never stopped. Alastor: "Well it is very nice to meet you Alice, my, what a lovely name, I am the radio demon Alastor, very happy to make your acquaintance". Alastor held out his hand for a hand shake which Alice stared at for a while. She still couldn't move, if she could, she would be out of there. Charlie looked at her with concern and worry, stepping to her side, she held her shoulder. Charlie: "Alice, are you ok?". Within seconds everything went black for Alice, she could hear her name being called a few times, muffled but it faded away. She didn't know what happened, all she saw was darkness, was she dead? Asleep? She still couldn't move but, she didn't want too, so she laid in darkness, waiting for the end.

[kpopjourneyy]

L o n g  T i m e  | O n e

Teaser  | One  | Two

Pairing | Reader x (Jongin) Kai  | Reader x female  

Series | Not sure yet. Hopefully just a few chapters

Warning | Please read the warnings before you start reading. Thanks.

Includes violence, murder, sex, ansty moments, fluff moments, drugs and cursing. Please don’t read if you are sensitive to any types of degrading words and or mentions of same sex hook ups. - I think this may be one of the most intense stories I ever written so bare with me.

Description: It’s been two years since you watched your boyfriend Jongin get murdered in front of you but what you find out after running into a mutual friend, gets you in some deep shit.

“So tell me why your interested in buying me out?” Kai asked, furrowing his eyebrows intensely as he stared at an old business friend.

“For starters, you make quite some noise. I like that.” Minho chuckled, “come on Jongin, don’t play, you know we can sell millions together.”

“Hmm .” Kai hummed, leaning back into his chair kicking his feet up and crossing them as he eyed his competition.

“Jongin.” Minho laughed, “don’t be like that. I can get you more money and females. I have the power to make your stocks go up 3x more than it is now.”

Kai stood up fixing his suit as he sighed. “It’s not about the money Minho. I like results and loyalty. I don’t trust you. Your a greedy man just like your father and I don’t need that here at Kim Enterprise. There is no deal to seal.”

Minho scoffed, letting out an amused smile, “You know what I like about you, friend? Your just like your brother, Taemin.. and one day you’ll see business with me was worth it. I have power.” He grabbed his folder off the glass table and stood up, standing across from Kai as he smiled, “I'll see you soon.. Jongin.”

Kai didn’t reply, instead he looked down at the contract that Minho wanted him to sign then ripped it, tossing it on the floor as Minho exited the room.

You sat up upon hearing the door open and seeing Minho walk out, fixing your posture you eyed him curiously. Kai and Minho had known each other due to Taemin being his brother and everyone expected all three of them to go into business together but Minho never had the same page of success that Kai and Taemin shared.

Minho was all about money and getting things done the way he wanted to that he would often put them in danger and sometimes almost get them killed by his selfish decisions. Minho had always admired Kai’s bold and intense demeanor when it came to managing business and always wanted to go into business with him but Kai never could bring himself to do that.

“He’ll never partner with you. Just give it up.” You smirked, knowing the look on Minho’s face he was rejected once again.

“One day sweetheart.. One day he will.” Minho chuckled before getting into the elevator.

You entered the room seeing your lovely fiance sitting on the couch, a glass of Jameson in his hand and a freshly poured glass on the table next to him.

“Figured you were here. Let’s toast.” He smiled sitting up.

His beautiful neck exposed almost made you want to mark him right here right now but you knew he had a meeting with someone important in an hour and it would be bad for business.

“How about we do something else to kill time.” you smiled, walking towards him after closing the door.

Jongin bit his lip watching you sashay towards him in that tight velvet satin dress that showed all the amazing curves you had. You climbed on top of his lap, eyeing him seductively before biting his lip in a swift movement. Leaving on your heels knowing he loved that as you starting unbuttoning his shirt exposing his perfect chest.

You pepper kissed your way up and down his body as he relaxed himself watching you touch him. You and Kai were perfect for each other, matching each others dreams and desires. You both satisfied each other mentally and spiritually and to top it off you were his business partner.

You knew the risks of getting involved with Kai but it didn’t stop you, you loved danger and you loved Kai. You never had to fear anything being with him, especially knowing he was one of the most powerful men in this city.

“Mr. Min Yoongi. It's a pleasure to meet you in person.” Kai smiled shaking his hand before sitting down.

Yoongi shook his hand nodding, “Pleasure is mine. Meet my new COO of Min Technology, Jeon Jungkook. He is here to make sure our deal is sealed and be my over watch.”

Jungkook smiled politely shaking both of your hands. He looked fairly younger than you so he had to be new to this but knowing Yoongi, he would receive the proper training.

“Let's get down to business shall we. I have a appointment in two hours.” Min Yoongi nodded, “Kookie, give him the papers.”

Kookie? In your mind you assumed Yoongi knew him before letting him join his company. They already had nicknames unless he was giving that nickname because he was dirty too..

Your mind went haywire trying to imagine this sweet faced boy getting his hands dirty. You couldn’t imagine anyone taking him seriously but then again that’s what made it sweet. No one expects it.

Kai noticed you spacing off when you didn’t engage in conversation and he placed his hand on your thigh to help you focus. Jungkook however was noticing your gaze focusing on his every feature, you caught him giving you a sneaky smirk and unexpectedly you blushed quickly shaking it off to focus.

“I’ve heard great things about your company plus your night club. I have a product I want you to sale. Or i’m not accepting your deal. ” Yoongi rambled on clicking his pen.

“What type of product and how much are you trying to make from it?” you questioned reading over the contract, “And why do you need our business to promote it.”

Yoongi laughed, “I like her. But like I said I see potential in your company. Your stocks are going down by 1 percent. If it increases then your company is seen as a maybe. That means you may get richer or broke. I’m sure you have people trying to buy you out.”

Kai’s posture changed as he removed his hand from your thigh to place on the table, “How did you-.”

“We do our research. That’s why Yoongi- hyung is very picky and is known for his third ear. We want to invest in you. To make it crystal clear, when you invest in a business and the stock falls you need to borrow money. We’re giving it to free. So we profit off of what you make by 23 percent.” Jungkook stated interrupting Kai.

You were impressed, he did his research.

“Okay. We’ll sign it.” You spoke grabbing the pen from in the middle of the table.

Yoongi smiled watching you sign it. Kai picked up the pen the stopped before signing it making Yoongi side eye him in confusion.

“We haven’t discussed what our future goals or plans are for this project yet. Do you trust me that much?” Kai questioned looking at Yoongi.

“I trust that you will give me the results i’m looking for. As you probably have done your research on me before meeting, you should know i’m very serious about my company. I enjoy money but partnership is important too and so are results and and projects. I trust that you won’t let me down because if you do...” Yoongi paused as he chuckled, “I'll take everything you love away from you especially this pretty young thing.”

Jungkook and Yoongi stood up collecting the signed papers and fixing their suits. Yoongi stepped forward to shake Kai’s hand, smiling, slipping a small bag in his hand.

Kai straightened up as he noticed another part of the real reason Yoongi wanted to do business with him. He smiled back and nodded.

“Were hosting an annual gala, my secretary will email you with details and your tickets. I'll see you there. Hopefully I get to learn more about you, Kai.” Yoongi smirked as him and Jungkook begun to walk out the room.

Kai opened his hand so you could see what Yoongi gave him as he looked at you, “He’s interested in getting his hands dirty.”

“I’ll handle that baby.”

Minho sat on the sofa smoking a joint, his head leaned back as he relaxed. He enjoyed nights like these where he could get head and get high all together. The woman continuously bobbed her head up roughly, sucking so loud slurping sounds could be heard throughout the silent house.

Minho heard a slight sound that was coming from somewhere in the room, he tapped the woman to make her stop as he fixed himself getting up.

“Baby what's wrong?” The woman asked Minho.

“Someone is here.” Minho paused, his gaze staring through the window seeing something that made his eyes widen.

Minho’s body was in shock before he slowly reached down to hold his stomach as blood gushed out staining his white silk carpet. Minho fell backwards into the woman, his body going into shock from the sudden bullet.

“Minho!” The woman screamed as tears fell down her cheek.

The woman held Minho in her arms hoping he wouldn’t die while waiting for the ambulance to arrive, she knew Minho was a dangerous man and she knew Minho would have enemies but she never expected it to go down like this.

She was going to get revenge on whoever did this.

[yesnosandmaybes]

29072020|1257

Here we are, on this blog, yet again. Why? Because we don’t know how to communicate anymore.

Distance- it’s not physical because we’re right next to each other (and I can’t tell anymore if that’s the worst part of all this.)

As much as I hate what has become of us these days, this is my last resort. Whenever we talk, we get tired, and we’ll leave it in the air because we just don’t know what to say or do, then we’ll have to forcibly be “okay” (or civil) for the sake of everyone else to not question if we’re fighting again.

I’m already tired of speaking my mind knowing it’s going to result in another fight. But if I say that, he’ll say that it’s not my thoughts that causes us to fight but rather the tone I use when I say what I’m feeling. But there are times that even if my tone is calm, he’ll just get frustrated because I’m frustrated and in my head sitting in my anxieties.

The other day, we argued about the farm and how he perceived me wanting to financially help the farm made him feel as if I didn’t appreciate it. This, I believe, is absolute bull. The fact that I even offered goes to show how important it is to me in the first place. But he didn’t understand that.

The other day, I also said that “sometimes I think he would be better off with someone who would be at the same pace in life as him,” you know, someone who already has a job and etc. This is one of the many factors that upset him, but most probably the main. However, how can I stray away from such thoughts at times like that? He says he understands, but I swear to God, I am certain that he doesn’t even if he swears to me he does. Because it’s not that simple. And he can tell me he knows how it feels to feel like you can’t contribute a damn thing, but this is in a different context- this isn’t the same as how you’d feel wanting to repay your parents for everything they’ve done for you. This is abolsutely different.

I, of all people, am someone who refuses to stay put and feel like I’m not doing anything. It’s not something I can mentally and emotionally bear. Most especially when I see hardships along the way that he’s experiencing, and I can’t seem to help in any way. And although he continuously tries to convince me that I do, someway somehow. I don’t see it.

The thought that maybe, just maybe, if he was with someone who was at the same pace as him, working and making a living out of something. Maybe, just maybe, if he was, then he would feel like he is more understood than misunderstood. Maybe, just maybe, he could really look into the future like marriage, his dream house, and a family because he’s not aging backwards. Maybe she, whoever she could be, would be much better at handling him when it comes to “grown-up” things like so because maybe, just maybe, she could relate to him.

Because, here I am, unemployed, and I’ll remain unemployed for the next 6-7 years. And the duration is completely out of my control. If I was working already, I could be of more help. But for now, I am nothing but emotional, physical (and possibly mental) support because that’s all I can muster as someone who is not at the same pace in life as he is. And he can say that it’s okay, and that things like that are more than enough, but as someone who will still have to endure 7 more years of hardship and will need to devote most, if not all, my time and effort into, I cannot easily accept that it is more than enough (because I know that I can do more if I were already who I am supposed to be 7 years from now).

But you know what? God only knows where I’ll be in 7 years. Here I am thinking that I’ll be able to do all these things for me, my future partner, and my future family. Because God only knows if I’ll be an amazing lawyer. Because 7 years from now, although seems so close yet so far away at the same time, is still unpredictable. Who knows? Maybe I’ll just be one of those lawyers with a small firm on the side of the street. I don’t really know now and I won’t know until then. And because I don’t have a damn clue about those things (which I know are both in my control and not in my control) I can’t help but feel frustrated.

I do not like feelings of uncertainty with things and people I hope to be part of my future.

And maybe that is only partly the reason I feel the way I do.

But I’ve always been weary of my future because there’s no guarantee until I get there. Unfortunately, the only aspect of my life I was so certain of is no longer a certainty to me.

Distance.

It’s there. I know it.

And he feels it too.

But maybe I’ve worn myself out of living in my anxities and in my head that it’s taken a part of me away. When those anxieties repeat themselves in your head, like the last song you’ve listened to, it makes you feel as if it’s the only song you’ve ever known. But you know that’s not true. You know it. But you can’t help it when you’re so clouded by all your thoughts, you forget all the playlists you’ve ever made, with all your favourite songs. You simply forget that there are songs that make you feel the way the sky does when it’s all sorts of colours.

Sometimes you’ll forget. But when you do, really all you need is someone to remind you that those exist too.

But that’s simply not the case and realistically speaking, it’s not that easy either. Because it’s never going to be easy to pull someone who lives and breathes in their thoughts out of it. Especially when those thoughts are about you. It takes much more effort, and much more time. And yes, it can (it will) get frustrating. But at times like such, it’s all a matter of who has the most patience and whose will run out.

I don’t think we have the patience anymore.

Even if I so badly wish we had as much patience as there are stars in this universe and the next.

So, here we are-

distant.

And it’s not because we are physically apart, but it is because it is as if we are starting to care less and less for each other.

I’m tired of getting hurt. And I’ve grown to know that people get hurt because they care a lot. So I’ll always wonder where the logic is in the fact that those with the biggest hearts have experience the most pain.

To say that this is only one-sided would be unfair to him (and he would agree). But I wish it stopped being about who’s hurting more and who deserves the comfort but rather who gets the comfort now and who gets it later. Does that make sense?

I still love him. I still care about him.

But the less I intrude in his life, the more I push back these anxities to the back of my head, the less inquisitive I will be. And it baffles me that if I don’t act the way I used to (which I, and he very often perceived to be, overbearing), he feels as if I am “doing that thing that girls do,” where we already slowly start to detach ourselves before we end the relationship.

To be honest with you, I don’t know. I don’t know where all this will go.

To know that anxieties exist and to forcibly push them back yourself is not an easy feat so I can say that it is taking a lot out of me. He may feel that I couldn’t care less anymore, but to put it simply, I just don’t want to feel hurt anymore. These anxities are the centre of our arguments and his frustrations. I’m tired of that cycle.

But as I do this myself this time, I cannot be at ease next to him because I don’t want to risk spilling my thoughts all over.

I am just tired in general.