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dreamerstreamer · 4 years

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Greater Than Gold

Pairing: Dream / Clay x f!baker!reader

Summary: [Robin Hood-inspired!AU] Dream steals from the rich and gives to the poor, but it seems he’s stolen your heart, too.

Warnings: minimal cursing + one scene with slight violence

Word Count: 11.7k

A/N: this idea came to me in a fever dream at two in the morning a few days back, and i just knew i had to write it. can you tell i like fantasy au’s? posted in commemoration of reaching 200 followers so quickly (love you all!) and for dream’s recently uploaded 4v1 finale :) i hope you enjoy!

You woke to the sound of chirping birds and the sun’s warm rays splashing onto your face.

With a soft groan, you rolled over, a hand reaching up to muss at your hair and rub the sleep from your eyes. Slowly, you brought yourself forward into a sitting position, blinking as you cast your gaze out the window. The sun was just beginning to rise over the rolling hills in the distance, washing the kingdom’s capital in a golden sheen. You swung your feet off your bed with a smile, breathing in deeply.

Another sunrise, another morning.

Your morning routine was almost always the same. You would stretch as you stood up, straightening out your back and letting out a sigh of relief as you did so. Then, you would fling open your bedroom door and slip own the stairs, skipping the last two and landing on the floor with a small thud. You quickly rushed over to the kitchen to grab the dough you had made the night before, slipping it into the stone oven with your trusty paddle.

Rushing back upstairs, you took a mental note of the time before walking over to your closet to get dressed for the day. You slipped on a simple dress that you wouldn’t mind getting a little messy and pulled on a pair of boots. Next, it was onto your hair. You spun over to your vanity, picking up a hairbrush and running it through your hair a few times.

Just then, a knock sounded at your balcony window. You froze, your fingers twitching around your hairbrush as you listened carefully.

Four short knocks. One long knock. Two short ones.

A giddy smile spread across your face. How could you ever forget your favourite part of your morning routine?

You set your hairbrush back on the vanity and crossed your bedroom to your balcony, opening the lock and flinging the door open. There on the railing sat a man wearing a viridian hooded cloak, his back facing you. The moment he heard you step outside, he turned, revealing the white, smiling mask covering his face.

“Clay,” you breathed, “you’re here.”

He quickly raised a finger and held it to his lips, hushing you. “Shh!”

You slapped a hand over your mouth. “Oops. I forgot. Sorry, Cl—I mean, Dream.” You couldn’t see his face, but you just knew that if you could, he would be frowning.

“Alright,” you huffed, grabbing him by the arm and tugging him onto his feet. “Let’s get you inside, already.”

Clay stumbled forward, looming over you as he followed you inside. You were quick to lock the balcony door behind you, double checking to make sure it was closed all the way. When you turned around again, Clay had his arms crossed over his chest, his foot tapping incessantly against your floorboards.

Oh boy.

“[Y/N],” he sighed, “you know you can’t call me that when I’m outside! Someone might hear and who knows what could happen after that.”

You winced at his tone. “I know. I’m really sorry, Clay. It’s just force of habit.”

He let out yet another sigh, but this one wasn’t full of frustration. Uncrossing his arms, he reached over and ruffled your hair. “I know you didn’t mean anything bad by it. Please just remember for next time, okay?”

You swatted his hand away from your hair, giggling. “Alright, alright, I promise.” You looked up at him, frowning at the sight of his mask, his hood half covering the top. “And let me take that off, would you? I miss your face.”

He nodded and straightened up, extending his full height. “Okay. I’m waiting.”

For a few moments, the two of you stared at each other. When he still hadn’t moved after another a bit, you groaned. “Come here,” you muttered under your breath.

You could almost hear him grin when he spoke. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

“I said,” you repeated, a little louder this time, “come here.”

“Sorry, could you say that agai—”

You were running out of patience. “Come. Here.”

“Just one more ti—”

“Oh, just get down here already!” you shouted, stomping your foot.

He cackled as you whined at him, clutching at his stomach. “Haha! You’re so shooort,” he mocked. “You’re tiny.”

You glared at him. “It’s not my fault you’re built like a beanpole, my god.”

He held a hand up to his ear. “You called?”

Your eyes narrowed. “Clay.”

“Okay, okay,” he chuckled, relenting and bending over. You rolled your eyes but smiled, reaching up. You first pulled back his hood, revealing his dirty blond hair. You ran a hand teasingly through his golden locks before letting it drop to the back of his mask, unbuckling the clasp holding the straps together. With a gentle, careful touch, you pulled the white mask away from his face, revealing his emerald green eyes and the splatter of freckles across his cheeks.

“Hey,” he said softly, his voice slightly rasping.

“Hi,” you whispered back, entranced by his gaze.

He reached down and pulled the mask from your hand, letting it drop to the floor with a clatter before he wrapped his arms around you. He pulled you into an warm embrace, squeezing you tight and securely to his chest. You snuggled into his green cloak, inhaling the scent of fresh pine. A comfortable silence fell over the two of you as you simply took in each other’s presences. It was rare for the two of you to share a quiet moment, and you were going to relish in every second of it.

“I missed you,” you sighed into his chest, your voice coming out muffled.

“I missed you, too,” he murmured back, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. There was a slight pause. Then, he pulled back a bit, placing his hands on your shoulders as he spoke again. “Why do you always act so surprised when you see me in the mornings? You know I always come by to say hello.”

You stiffened, averting your gaze from his. “It’s—it’s nothing, really.”

Clay frowned, pressing a hand to your cheek. “Hey,” he said gently, “look at me.”

You shook your head, subconsciously leaning into the warmth of his palm. He let out a quiet sigh. “Please, love? Will you please look at me?”

Your breath hitched at the pet name, and you finally relented, turning your head slightly so that your eyes met his. You pretended not to see the small smirk on his face at the sight of your fidgety gaze. He always knew how to make you flustered.

“I...” You took a breath, feeling something sting behind your eyes. “I get scared. That one day you won’t come by.” Your eyes began to water. “That one day something will happen to you and I’ll be all alone.”

As quick as it had come, Clay’s smile vanished. The look in his eyes softened and he leaned down to be eye-level with you. “I didn’t know you felt that way.” He brushed his thumb over your cheek, just where a tiny, single tear had escaped. “I’m sorry that I make you feel this way.”

You placed your hand on top of where his lay still pressed against your cheek, your gaze falling to the wooden floorboards. “No, it’s—it’s not your fault. I’m just scared that I’d be a wreck without you.”

Clay leaned forward, resting his forehead against yours. “Hey,” he said once more, so quietly you almost missed it. “Look at me, love.”

You raised your watery gaze to his emerald one once more, just in time for him to surge forward and press his lips to yours. Almost instantaneously, you melted like chocolate, your eyelids fluttering shut as you sank into his touch. Kissing Clay sent shivers running down your spine, yet it also felt like home. You didn’t think you could ever get tired of kissing him.

A moment later he pulled back, a soft smile gracing his lips. “I’m not going anywhere,” he murmured, his words reserved just for you to hear. “Not without you. Never without you, love.”

You nodded your head, wiping away any stray tears you may have had. “Thanks, Clay.” Suddenly, you were reminded of your bread in the oven downstairs. You took a quick glance at the clock, and nearly collapsed in relief. You were just in time.

“C’mon,” you said, tugging at his arm insistently, “the bread’s almost ready, and I have to open up shop soon. People will want their morning loaves.”

Clay hummed, his hand falling away from your face as he let you pull him downstairs and into your kitchen. “Open up shop, you say? Do you think you could spare me any scraps for my breakfast?”

“Oh, so that’s why you’re really here,” you said, feigning annoyance as you grabbed your baking paddle once more, this time using it to slide the now freshly baked bread from the oven.

“Of course!” he chimed, hoisting himself up to sit on the counter. “A man’s gotta eat to be able to stay on the run from the palace guards, y’know.”

You sighed as you slid the loaf of bread onto a platter. “I know, I know.” Setting down your paddle, you opened up one of your cabinets and pulled out a few slices of bread on a plate. “That’s why I have this for you.”

Clay’s eyes lit up as he graciously snatched the bread from you, immediately stuffing one of the slices into his mouth. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he said in between bites. “I love you so much.”

You jumped a little at his words, nearly dropping the loaf platter in your hands. Even after all this time, you still got embarrassed when he said it out of nowhere like that. “I love you too, Clay.”

You spent the next few minutes placing some bread in your shop’s display case and sliding some more dough into the oven while chatting with Clay. You lived for these quiet, domestic moments with him—these moments where you could pretend that you were just a humble baker in love with a normal, ordinary man.

But of course, Clay could never just be ordinary. Oh no, he had dreams far greater than that.

And you loved him for that, too.

“It’s time,” he said abruptly, startling you slightly. “I have to go.”

You nodded resolutely, slipping your hand into his. “I’ll see you off.”

In the past, he would have insisted that you stay downstairs, but he’s learned over time that you were far too stubborn for that. The two of you strode up the stairs to your bedroom once more, walking toward your bed with a slight sadness in your gait.

“You’ll come by in the morning again, won’t I?” you asked, looking up at him as he picked up his white mask from where it lay on the floor.

“For sure,” he said, sending you a reassuring smile. “And I’ll be here the morning after that, and the one after that, and the one after that, an—”

You snorted, swatting at his arm. “I get it, you doofus.” Your grin softened. “Thanks for saying that.”

He turned to lean down, pressing his lips to yours in a quick peck. “Anything for you, love,” he said, sliding his mask onto his face.

You smiled at him, walking him over to your balcony window. He slipped open the lock, pulling the door open to reveal the newly blue sky. People were beginning to head outside now, making way for the new day. He took a step outside, glancing over his shoulder at you. “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

It was never goodbye with Clay—he refused to say goodbye, because goodbye always meant there was a chance you wouldn’t see him again, and he refused to believe in a future without you.

You waved. “See you tomorrow, Dream.”

He let out a small wheeze as he leapt from your balcony, laughing as he landed on a nearby roof and sprinting to the next. Down below on the bustling streets, you heard someone yell.

“Oh my god, it’s Dream!”

“Someone call the guards!”

“He’s here, again!”

You grinned to yourself as you snapped your window shut.

Yup, it was just a another morning.

“Have a nice day, Mr. Richardson!” you called out, waving goodbye to the man crossing the street. “Please tell your husband I hope he gets better soon!”

Mr. Richardson turned, a wide grin on his face as he clutched the brown bag in hands a little closer to his chest. “I will!” he shouted back. “I’ll be sure to bring him with me when he feels up to it!”

You watched as he turned the corner down the street, disappearing from view. You lowered your arm, smiling to yourself. I can’t wait.

You glanced up at the sky, shielding your gaze from the searing midday sun. It was about noon now. You supposed you could take your lunch break. Turning on your heel, you strode back inside your beloved bakery. You took a look around your bakery, eyeing the loaves in the display case. There were a few pies sitting up front, but those were strictly for customers.

“Do I really want to eat bread again, today?” you muttered to yourself. You quirked your lips. It wouldn’t hurt to go out and grab something to eat for once, right?

Before you could change your mind, you hastily rushed up the stairs to grab your woven basket from the shelf and a few gold coins from the locked chest in your bedroom. You stepped outside, sticking a note on the ‘open’ sign that said “Out for lunch—back in 30!” before locking the door shut.

It was a beautiful day, you realized as you made your way down the busy street. The merchants must have arrived the other day, since you could see numerous people rushing this way and that, scrolls of inventory lists clutched between their fingers and negotiations echoing all around you. You ducked your head under someone’s arm, dodging a rolling stray cart as you strode toward the city square.

What should I have for lunch? Your eyes darted this way and that. There’s soup, sausages, and... Your eyes lit up, and you began to weave your way between the crowds, humming softly to yourself as you made your way over to your favourite market stall.

“Hello, Rose!” you greeted, waving at the woman standing at the stall front, her back turned to you.

At the sound of your voice, she turned, her face lighting up with a wide grin. “[Y/N]!” she cried warmly. “It feels like it’s been ages since I last saw you!”

You chucked, flustered by her enthusiasm. “It hasn’t been that long. Only three weeks.”

“‘Only three weeks’?” she parroted. “Are you hearing yourself? Three weeks is practically forever!” She leaned over the stall counter. “Let me tell you, dearie, if I went three weeks without seeing my fiancé, I’d damn near lose my mind.”

You laughed at her and her theatrics. “I’m sure you’d survive just fine.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s not the point, [Y/N]. Surviving and living are two very different things. You would understand if you were in love.” She squinted at you. “Speaking of which, when will you find yourself a man? You’re a lovely, beautiful girl with more than enough charm and spunk.”

Your cheeks burned. “I-I, um. That’s—” You coughed. “Um.”

She cocked her brow. “Yes? Spit it out!”

You buried your face in your hands. You didn’t want to lie to Rose of all people, but what in the world were you supposed to tell her? You couldn’t just...

“I, uh,” you blurted without thinking, “I’m seeing someone.”

Oh no.

Rose’s eyes grew wide and she nearly sent you flying to the ground with how hard she shook you. “You’re seeing someone?!” she yelled. “And you didn’t think to tell me?” She released your shoulders with one last shake, leaving you stumbling to regain your balance. “Tell me all about him.”

You twiddled with your fingers. “He’s... he’s kind,” you began, “and funny. Really funny. We’ve been friends for a long time before, too. He’s got a bit of an arrogant streak, but he’s actually really humble. He always makes me smile, and he loves to tease me.” You giggled. “Sometimes it’s just not fair how smooth he is.”

She looked at you smugly. “Sounds like you know him quite well.” She leaned across the counter. “What’s he look like? And his name? What’s his name?”

Panic shot through you. You didn’t want to reveal too much about Clay—what if you put him in danger? “We, uh, we’re not that serious yet,” you fibbed, “so I don’t want you to get your hopes up or anything. Seriously.”

Rose frowned, sinking down in disappointment. “Aw, phooey. That’s a shame. Well, if you don’t wanna talk about him, then we won’t.” Before you could open your mouth to respond, she waved her hand. “Moving past that, what are you here for, today?”

You held up your small pouch of coins. “I was hoping to have some of your famous rabbit stew for lunch today.”

Rose laughed, turning to grab you a wooden bowl from her stall shelf. “I’d hardly call it famous, but I appreciate your love, dearie.”

You gaped at her, shaking your head in disbelief. “Your rabbit stew is the best thing in the whole marketplace, I swear! It’s legendary. Even the king must know about its existence by now.”

She pointed to herself. “Me? Legendary? You flatter me far too much, [Y/N].” Scooping some stew into your bowl, she sent you an inquisitive smile. “But you know who is legendary?”

You raised an eyebrow at her, pulling out a coin from your pouch and slipping it across the stall table. “Who?”

Rose handed you the bowl of rabbit stew with a spoon, tilting her head towards a poster on the wall next to her and speaking lowly. “Dream.”

You stiffened, your eyes darting to the poster. Sure as day, there was a picture of Dream’s smiling mask lying smack dab in the center of the page. Printed across the top in bold, black letters was the word “WANTED”. And just underneath his portrait...

“Dead or alive. $20,000 reward.”

You resisted the urge to shiver. “Y-Yeah,” you said slowly, sticking your spoon into the stew. “He sure is legendary, huh?”

Rose nodded. “Seriously. Since when else have you ever heard of a vigilante thief who steals from the rich and gives to the poor? It’s like... like...”

“Like?” you offered.

She gestured vaguely. “Like... morally questionable charity!”

You snorted. “That’s one way to put it, I guess.”

She leaned toward you, her voice dropping to a whisper. “But between you and me, I think he’s doing something pretty good for those struggling folks out there. Someone’s gotta help them, and it certainly isn’t going to be the king.”

You smiled at her words, nodding subtly in agreement. Despite having been branded a criminal by the kingdom’s nobility and royalty, a good majority of the general population loved Dream. His methods were most definitely questionable, but he had never hurt anyone for real, despite more than looking and acting the part. He held the torch of hope that no one else seemed to be willing to take on themselves, and they adored him for that. You did, too.

“Anyway,” Rose continued, speaking normally now, “did you hear him this morning? He caused quite the ruckus.”

Your lips twitched, but you quickly forced your face back into an expression of indifference, hiding your amusement with another spoonful of rabbit stew. “Did he now?”

“Oh, you should have seen the chaos!” She spun around dramatically, her arms flying out. “He must have taken at least two chests’ worth of gold with him! He was gone before anyone knew what was happening. It was insane. George couldn’t even get close to him.”

You furrowed your brows. You didn’t recognize that name. “George?”

Rose blinked at you. “You haven’t heard? The king got four new guards recently—special ones, apparently.” She snorted. “They don’t seem like much so far though, not with this morning’s performance.”

You felt a tinge of anxiety fill you. It wasn’t that you didn’t trust that Dream could handle it, but you were still worried. Hell, you had every right to be worried. “Tell me about them. It feels like I’ve missed everything.”

“So,” she began, “there’s—”

All of a sudden, the endless wave of chatter surrounding you seemed to die down. Rose stopped, and you turned to face the rest of the square. Everyone seemed to have grown quiet, keeping to the sides of the market square and warily eyeing the main entrance. You followed their gaze, your eyes widening.

At the front entrance was a large carriage, manned by four chestnut horses. There was a large wagon cart carrying large cloth sacks attached to the carriage’s behind. Flanking the cart stood four men, each wearing a different colour. They looked to be armed to the teeth, bows and arrow quivers strapped to their backs with swords sheathed at their sides.

Something clicked in your head, and you turned back to Rose. “Let me guess—those are the new guards.”

Rose nodded. “Yep,” she confirmed, popping the last letter. She pointed to the man in blue, a brunet with a pair of white goggles resting on his forehead. “That one there is George,” she explained, “the cautious. He’s always careful when hunting Dream down, trying to minimize property damage and all that.” You hummed, following along.

“Unfortunately, all that caution is for nothing because of Sapnap—” She pointed to the one wearing white, a bandana tied around his forehead to keep his dark hair from hanging in his eyes. “—the wild. He’s kind of just this chaotic mess. He crashes into things a lot, and some stall owners aren’t all too pleased with that. He almost knocked into my stall this morning, and I nearly gave him a good telling off!” You laughed at the thought, imagining Rose yelling at the poor guard.

“He’s not dumb though, don’t get me wrong. But he’s not as smart as Bad, the strategic.” She gestured to the brunet in red. “He’s kind of the leader of the group, and he’s probably gotten the closest to actually touching Dream before.” Your froze at that, your fingers freezing where they were wrapped around the spoon handle. Dream had almost been touched before. The thought didn’t sit well with you.

“Last up,” she said, pointing to the one wearing a cream sweater, “there’s Antfrost, the well-rounded. He’s cautious, but isn’t afraid to get his hands a little dirty, and he’s intelligent in his own right, but not as much as Bad. A lot of the time, he sort of acts like support, shooting from the distance with his bow.” You didn’t like the idea of Dream getting shot at, but you stifled your noise of concern with another mouthful of stew.

“Huh,” you said between chewing. “Why are they following that carriage? Is there someone important inside?”

Rose frowned. “Yeah, it’s the Duke of Sherwood. He’s a merchant who’s notorious for scamming the people he trades with for enormous amounts of wealth. That’s how he got so rich.” She narrowed her eyes. “I think he just got back from another one of his deals. Bet he’s got some crazy valuable stuff in that cart of his. I heard that he’s pretty close with the king, so he probably hired the new guards to protect it.”

Something in you filled with disgust. Scammers were just the worst. They gained their wealth unjustly, and they were easily one of the top reasons why Dream did what he did. You opened your mouth to retort when someone let out a scream.

“Is that Dream?”

Your eyes widened.

You nearly spoke too soon.

Before the guards could properly process what was going on around them, a green-clad figure came flying down from one of the roofs above. Murmurs from the crowd rose up, whispers of his name filling the air. Dream picked up a rock from the ground, tossing it in his hands once before chucking it at Bad. With a satisfying thunk, the stone knocked against Bad’s forehead, and the man let out a yelp.

“Ow!” he cried, rubbing at his forehead. He whirled, glaring at his teammates. “What are you muffins doing? Get him!”

The three other guards suddenly snapped to attention, marked by Sapnap rushing forward with his sword unsheathed. “Dream!” he yelled, his teeth bared menacingly.

Dream didn’t flinch as he dodged Sapnap’s charge, simply stepping to the side with grace before spinning around and raising his foot. Without even an ounce of hesitation, he kicked Sapnap squarely in the back, sending him flying into the alleyway behind him. Sapnap tumbled forward, landing squarely facedown inside a barrel, his sword lying on the ground a few feet behind him. Dream leaned forward and knocked the sword into the air, watching it flip around once before catching it by the handle.

The sound of a bow firing suddenly filled the air, and Dream quickly ducked. An arrow whizzed just above his head, embedding itself in the wall where he was standing just milliseconds prior. He turned, the eyes of his mask making contact with those of Antfrost, who had climbed to the top of the carriage with his bow in hand.

“You can’t run now, Dream!”

Dream’s gaze darted to his sides. To his left stood George, and to his right was Bad. Behind him, he could hear Sapnap stringing his bow, and Antfrost was still perched on top of the carriage, bow drawn. They had him cornered.

You felt like you were about to faint.

Biting your lip nervously, you could practically see the gears in Dream’s head whirring as he stood there, surrounded on every side. Without warning, he abruptly darted forward, sword in his hands. You watched in a panic as Bad and George darted after him, Antfrost letting another arrow fly.

All of a sudden, Dream changed directions, flying toward George. The panic in George’s eyes was practically tangible as Dream knocked the sword out of his hands and stepped behind him. With one hand, he easily grabbed the shorter man’s arms and pinned them to his back. With the other, he tossed Sapnap’s sword behind him. In the blink of an eye, he was pulling out a dagger from his boot and holding it up to George’s throat.

It all happened in less than a handful of seconds, and everyone held their breath, thinking the exact same thing.

Holy shit.

“No one move,” Dream said, loud and clear. “If you do, then you know what happens.”

Deep down, you knew that Dream wouldn’t do it. But you also knew very well that he was more than capable of it, and then some.

You watched with bated breath as Antfrost and Bad lowered their weapons, but Sapnap still had his bow aimed at Dream. George opened his mouth and closed it like a fish out of water, clearly struggling for words.

“Dream,” he managed after a few seconds, “you don’t have to do this.”

“Oh, I don’t?” he hummed, holding the dagger a little closer to George’s throat. “It’s totally not like you guys are trying to kill me. Not at all.”

“Dream,” Sapnap shouted from the alleyway, “let him go.” He closed one eye, aiming steadily. “I’ll shoot, I swear.”

Dream chuckled, clearly amused. “You sure you wanna do that, Snapmap? Think carefully, now.”

Fury filled Sapnap’s gaze, and he snarled. “Call me that one more time and we’re gonna have issues.”

“What, Snapmap?”

The arrow went flying. You held back a scream.

Dream expertly stepped to the left, edging slightly closer to the carriage wagon. Holding George in front of him, a hush fell over the crowd as the arrow just barely grazed George’s arm. Sapnap drew another arrow.

“Shoot at me one more time,” Dream said lowly, the amusement vanishing from his voice, “and next time I won’t dodge. Why would I?” He nudged George. “After all, I have my own personal human shield right here.”

Sapnap lowered his bow. Relief welled up in your chest.

Slowly and carefully, Dream made his way over to the carriage, making direct eye contact with each member of the guard every few steps to confirm that their weapons were still lowered. Rather than entering the carriage, where you were almost certain the Duke of Sherwood was cowered in terror, he strode over to the wagon, hopping onto the ledge with his dagger still held against George’s neck.

There was a beat of silence as Dream stood over his grand treasure, five sacks of what was most definitely shining gold coins and gems.

Then Antfrost drew his bow, aiming it directly at Dream’s head.

No—!

But before he could even fire it, Dream hoisted George in his arms and chucked him over at the archer. George and Antfrost let out simultaneous screams as the former smacked into the latter, knocking them both off the carriage and onto the cobblestone ground.

Without pause and still protected by the looming form of the carriage, Dream quickly hauled two of the sacks of wealth into his arms, slinging them over his back. Working quickly, he climbed on top of the carriage, eyes scanning the perimeter for the nearest exit path. While Antfrost and George still lay on the ground, struggling to regain their composure, Bad was already scrambling towards the carriage from the other side of the market square and Sapnap was preparing to fire another arrow.

“Oh my god, get him!” Bad screeched, stumbling over the bodies of his two friends. “Get off the ground, will you?”

“I’m trying!” George cried, knocking Antfrost’s bow from off his head. “You do realize that I was just held hostage, right? Cut me some slack!”

“Doesn’t matter, just get him!” Sapnap screamed, finally shooting.

Dream dodged the arrow with ease, and like a bolt of lightning, he was propelling himself through the air. He landed on a nearby stall roof, pausing for a split second before leaping forward onto the closest roof. Now far out of reach from Bad, he dodged another one of Sapnap’s arrows before sprinting away, the bounty in his hands buckling as he ran, quickly disappearing from view.

You could hardly believe your eyes. This was hardly the first time you had ever seen Dream fight, but this was definitely the most nerve-wracking encounter you had ever had the chance of seeing.

“Bad,” Antfrost heaved, tossing George’s sword over to him, “he went that way!” He pointed east, his face contorted in irritation. “We gotta go! Now!” In a flurry of movement, the four guards began their mad after Dream. It was only a few moments before they too were out of sight.

A heartbeat passed.

Then the silence that had befallen the market square was shattered as everyone began to chatter about the events that had just conspired.

“That was insane! How much do you think he stole?”

“Dream’s never taken an active hostage before, has he?”

“He had to! What else was he going to do? Fight four to one?”

“He probably could.”

“I can’t believe he actually got away!”

You turned to look at Rose, whose jaw was dropped wide open. “Oh. My god,” she breathed in complete and utter disbelief. “That—he’s so cool.”

You laughed. Oh, he was. He really was.

It was then that the carriage door finally moved, opening to reveal the Duke of Sherwood. He was an old, cranky-looking man, his salt and pepper hair marred with a bald patch in front and thin wiry glasses perched on his crooked nose.

“I—” he sputtered, his knees buckling in horror as he gasped at his nearly half-ransacked wagon. “The absolute nerve of that thief! He stole from me, of all people! How dare he? He scammed me!”

Not like you do the same for a living, you thought to yourself in disgust. You have no right to say such a thing.

Shaking your head, you turned away from the duke and let out a sigh of relief. You were just glad that Dream made it out alive and with his treasure in tow. You smiled to yourself. Knowing him, he was going to give it to that orphanage on the south side of town. You had recently heard they were running out of funds to pay for bedding for the children.

Rose’s voice pulled you from your thoughts. “I wonder what Dream looks like,” she mused, still gazing at the whining duke. “He’s just so mysterious.”

You looked down at your hands, thinking about how just morning, they had been holding his—big, warm, and perfectly wrapped around yours.

Green eyes. A dazzling smile. A galaxy of freckles.

“He must be handsome,” you said, your lips curling. “I’m sure.”

You yawned, slipping your nightgown over your figure in a sleepy daze. It had most certainly been a long day. You had sold more bread than you had expected and ate some delicious rabbit stew.

Oh, and you also witnessed Dream fight against four people at once.

Yeah. Definitely a long day.

You sat in front of your vanity, picking up your hairbrush from its holder. Running it through your hair, you began to brush out the knots as you thought about the day’s events, staring at the single candle you had sitting next to the mirror. You had been terrified out of your mind when you saw Dream get cornered by the guards. Your heart had leapt into your throat and it almost felt like you couldn’t breathe.

To everyone else, he was either Dream the thief or Dream the vigilante hero, but to you, he was just Clay—

A knock came from your balcony window.

—the love of your life.

You stiffened, your hand freezing halfway through brushing your hair. Clay never came by at night. Holding your breath, you listened.

Four short knocks. One long knock. Two short ones.

Your hairbrush clattered to the ground as you scrambled to your feet.

It looked like your day wasn’t over quite yet.

You were quick to flip open the lock, only fumbling once before you managed to successfully swing the door open. There he sat on your balcony railing, just like he always did. Except this time, instead of the sun framing his head, it was the moon.

“C—” You caught yourself. “Dream?”

He tilted his head at you. “Hi.”

You didn’t hesitate to grab him by the arm and pull him inside, pushing the widow door shut with your leg. “Wh-What are you doing here?” you stammered, your mind was still reeling from the fact that he was standing in front of you at all.

“What?” he said nonchalantly while leaning over you, like this was normal. “I can’t come see my favourite girl?”

You smiled at that, something light and airy bubbling in your chest, but shook your head. “No, it’s not that,” you said, reaching up to unmask him, “it’s just that you only come by in the morning. Before everyone is awake.” You unclasped his mask, pulling it away from his face and tossing it onto your vanity. His green eyes were fond when they met yours, and you felt yourself melt a little.

“Well,” he drawled, grinning slyly, “I got a little present for you, and it just couldn’t wait until morning, so I waited until everyone went to sleep.” His eyes flashed. “Everyone but you.”

You blinked at him, confusion gracing your features. A gift?

He straightened, spinning his finger. “Turn around and close your eyes, okay?” When you just stared at him, he added pleadingly, “It’s a surprise.”

Your lips quirked as you did as he asked, turning around and letting your eyes fall shut. I wonder what it is. It wasn’t often that Clay brought you gifts. Not that he didn’t want to—oh, no. If he could, you had a feeling that Dream wouldn’t hesitate to shower you in literal piles of presents. He just thought that it wouldn’t be right for him to spend the money he stole on himself and his own desires when there were people out here who had far, far less.

You felt him brush your hair away from your neck, something cold falling onto your collarbone. The cogs in your head turned, and then it suddenly clicked.

Is that...?

“Okay,” he said. You could hear the smile in his voice. “You can open your eyes, now.”

You blinked, your vision readjusting to the brightness of the room before you looked down. You were right. Around your neck delicately lay a necklace. The chain was a stunning sterling silver, and in the center hung a small emerald pendant—the same shade as Clay’s eyes.

“So, do you like it?”

You turned, the widest grin plastered across your face.

“I love you.”

Now, it was his turn to be dumbfounded, blinking at you in a stunned silence, his lips parted in surprise. With a giggle, you threw yourself in his arms, pressing your face to his chest.

“W-What?” he murmured, wrapping his arms around you.

You tilted your head up to look at his face. His freckles really did look like stars. “Didn’t you hear me? I said I love you, Clay.”

He blinked again. “No, I—” He stopped, then smiled. “I love you too, [Y/N].”

Holding onto his arms for support, you leaned up on your toes, pecking him sweetly. He followed after your lips when you pulled away, still smiling when you stood flat on the ground once more.

“So, what spurred this on?” you asked, your eyes shining in the darkness. “Did you decide to finally do something for yourself, for once?”

He chuckled. “Let’s just say that the orphanage governess saw me eyeing this one emerald and told me to keep it.” You felt him shake his head above you. “Wouldn’t take no for an answer. She reminded me of you.”

You laughed. “I’m glad to hear that you still think of me even when talking to other women.”

He smirked. “That’s ‘cause I’m always thinking about you.”

Somehow, he could still see the way your cheeks burned in the dimness of your room, your lips curling into a dizzy grin. He let out a wheeze at your expression, hugging you close again. “I’m not lying, you know.”

You smiled despite your embarrassment. “Yeah, I do.”

It seemed that every quiet moment the two of you got, you spent hugging. Not that you were complaining, really. It felt good to feel him in your arms and to feel his arms around you. You felt safe. Warm. Protected. Loved. This was everything you could have ever wanted.

A few more moments passed in silence before he said, “I should go.”

Your fingers tightened around his cloak. Of course he had to. He always had to, you knew this.

So why did it still hurt so much?

He pulled away from you, brushing a hand over your cheek. “I promise I’ll still come by tomorrow, so don’t miss me too much.”

Pecking your forehead affectionately once more, he took a step back, reaching for his mask. You frowned. “I miss you already,” you said, “and you haven’t even left yet.”

He stiffened at that, his hand stopping before it could reach his mask as he turned to look at you. You were gazing at him sadly, something yearning eating away at the inside of your chest.

“Hey,” you said softly. “Why don’t you stay the night? My bed has enough room for the both of us, if you don’t mind squeezing a little, since you’re so tall.”

Clay returned your sad gaze. “I shouldn’t.”

“You know,” you murmured, “you’re allowed to be a little selfish, Clay.” You looked down and fiddled with the necklace around your neck. “This is proof of that.” You glanced back up at him. “I’m proof of that.”

He didn’t move.

“Please, love?” you whispered.

He swallowed.

You were beautiful while standing in the moonlight and the waning candlelight. You were beautiful while wearing your nightgown. You were beautiful inside out, and he loved you.

And he gave in.

“Okay,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “But only because you look so pretty in that necklace, just like I knew you would.”

Yeah, you were beautiful while blushing with a wide smile, too.

That night, you fell asleep with your head on Clay’s chest and his arms encasing you.

Safe. Warm. Protected. Loved.

Now, this was everything you could have ever wanted.

You don’t think you had ever slept as well as you did last night in your entire life. Waking up with Clay’s face next to yours was a blessing you could only hope you would get to experience at least once more in your life. You spent your morning in a love-filled daze, full of giggles and soft kisses pressed to lips, cheeks, and hands.

Oh, what you wouldn’t give to spend everyday like this.

Your “see you tomorrow” this morning was more somber than most, but you still managed to smile through it. After all, you had been graced with the most wonderful of mornings—that was more than enough to make up for the pain of separation.

Not wanting to ruin the good mood you had been put in, you went out for lunch once more. You stopped by the florist’s on your way out, purchasing a few lilies as a little treat for yourself before continuing on your way. It wasn’t long before you were walking up to Rose’s stall with an extra spring in your step, your flower-filled basket swinging by your side.

“Hello, Rose!” you said in a sing-song voice, setting your basket on the stall counter with a grin.

Rose turned with a grin. “Why, is that you, [Y/N]? Two days in a row? Today must be my lucky day.” She looked at you quizzically. “You seem rather chipper today.”

You hummed. “Do I?”

Her glittering eyes bore into yours, flickering with recognition. “Oh, I see, now. It must be that boy of yours that’s got you so bright.”

Your hand instinctively went to the necklace around your neck, playing with the emerald pendant. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you said.

She pointed at your necklace, her eyes practically bulging out of her head. “Well, would you look at that! He must have given that to you! That’s the only reasonable explanation.” She crossed her arms over her chest, nodding triumphantly. “Yes, that must be it, I’m sure of it.”

You didn’t even bother trying to deny it. She was right, and you were in too good of a mood to stop her. “You’re sure?”

“Oh, absolutely,” she confirmed. “I know what a lovestruck girl looks like when I see one, and you’re the very definition of one right now.”

You sputtered at her words. “Wha—that’s—”

She cackled at you. “Exactly, my dear. Exactly.” She turned and grabbed a wooden bowl for you, already reaching for her pot. “Tell me more about him, will you? I’m so curious to hear what you have to say.”

You smiled, slapping another coin onto the table. A little chit chat wouldn’t hurt. And so, you spoke while you ate, sharing every small insignificantly significant detail you knew about Clay with Rose.

He has a laugh like a tea kettle. He loves cats. He’s a good singer, but sings horribly on purpose to make me laugh. His heart is too big for his own good. He’s smarter than anyone I know, and cleverer than most. He’s amazing. I love him.

By the time you finished your rabbit stew, you were quite certain you were even more in love with Clay, if that was even possible.

“He’s a keeper,” Rose said resolutely, her gaze fond as she listened to you ramble. “I’m telling you, he is. If he doesn’t marry you, he’ll be making a big mistake.”

Your face heat up at the idea, but you didn’t say anything. Perhaps that wouldn’t be such a bad idea, getting marrie—

The whinny of a horse interrupted your thoughts, and you turned to look behind you.

Four horses had just trotted into the market square, each one manned by a man wearing a specific colour. Your stomach knotted with nervousness.

The four new palace guards—what were they doing here?

You and Rose watched in confusion as the four men leapt off their horses, sharing a brief look with one another before parting ways. Each man walked off in a different direction to a different part of the square, immediately starting up a conversation with the nearest available people.

And to your surprise, it seemed that George was walking straight toward the two of you.

The knot in your stomach tightened. This wasn’t good.

“Good afternoon, ladies,” he greeted when he arrived, smiling at the two of you kindly. “My name is George. You may recognize me as one the four new palace guards.”

Rose bowed, lowering her gaze politely. “Welcome to my simple stall, Sir George. I am Rose Dubois, at your service.”

George bowed back. “As am I, miss. And please, call me George.”

When he rose, he turned to come t his gaze directly with yours, and your palms began to sweat where they gripped onto your basket. However, you did your best to behave benevolently. You wouldn’t give him any reason to suspect you. Giving him a curtsy, you introduced yourself. “It’s an honour to meet you, Sir George. My name is [Y/N].”

He smiled warmly at you. “I assure you, the formalities are not necessary, miss. You may simply call me by my name.”

You smiled back, clenching your first behind your back. “I insist.”

“Where do you work, miss [Y/N]?” he inquired. “You don’t seem to own a stall in the marketplace.”

You shook your head, plastering the smile to your face the best you can. “Oh, I own the bakery a few blocks away. I simply venture out to treat myself for lunch every once in a while.”

Rose laughed. “‘Every once in a while’ is an overstatement, believe me, sir. She hardly ever comes out, let alone for lunch!”

George’s lips twitched upward. “I’m sure it must be busy running a bakery by yourself.”

You chuckled, trying not to sound awkward. “It is, but the customers are more than kind enough to me, and I love my work. It’s nothing that I can’t handle.”

He bobbed his head. “That’s good.” The smile suddenly fell from his face, and you felt the anxiety rise in you. “I hate to change the tone of this conversation so abruptly, but I actually wanted to ask the two of you a question.”

You gulped. Keep your cool, [Y/N], you reminded yourself. Just keep it together and you’ll be okay. It’ll be easy!

“Do you two happen to know anything about Dream? Anything at all. My men and I are doing some investigating.”

Okay, maybe not so easy.

“I know some things,” Rose explained, “but not a whole lot.” She told him what she knew of Dream’s actions, but couldn’t elaborate beyond his a mere handful of examples before she ran dry. In the meantime, you were doing your best to calm your breathing, fiddling with the lilies in your basket.

“Thank you, miss Rose,” George said when she finished. He then turned to you. “As for you, miss [Y/N]? Do you happen to have any information you could share with me?”

Rose answered him before you could. “Oh, I swear,” she laughed, “the girl’s about as clueless as a toddler. It’s because she never goes out, the young thing. She didn’t know of your existence until I told her about you. You won’t get anything out of her, I can assure you that, sir.”

George frowned. “I see.” His gaze fell down to your collarbone. “That’s quite the necklace you’ve got there.”

Your blood ran cold.

“Might I ask where you got it from?”

Once again, you didn’t get the chance to respond.

“It’s a gift from her lover!” Rose supplied cheerfully. “Isn’t it just beautiful? He really is a wonderful man.”

You pretended to be embarrassed and that you didn’t want to hide and scream in a hole. “Rose!” you hissed, feigning a flustered expression. “I’m sure Sir George here doesn’t want to hear all about my love life!”

The guard laughed, the tiniest wave of relief washing over you. “Oh, it’s alright. Everyone loves love.” His mouth closed into a smile, but it was slightly off. “Say hello to your lover, then. From me to him.” His eyes glinted with something you couldn’t quite name. “Tell him he’s got good taste.”

You were almost positive that your blood had turned into ice in your veins by now, but you simply nodded and smiled. “I will! I’m sure he’ll be honoured to have been thought of by you, sir.”

He chuckled. “Oh, it’s nothing, I assure you.” He glanced down at the watch on his wrist. “Well, I’m afraid my time is up here, ladies, and I must go.” He bowed down once more. “It was a pleasure speaking to you both.”

The two of you sank into curtsies in farewell, waving him goodbye and watching as he rejoined the rest of his teammates, chatting amicably with one another. Rose let out a sigh where she stood behind her stall, completely unaware of the terror that was gripping your heart.

“He was so polite! And quite handsome, as well. If I wasn’t so very much in love with my fiancé, perhaps I would have liked him, too.” She spared a glance at you, blinking at you inquisitively. “You aren’t getting any second thoughts about your boy, are you?”

You laughed, shaking your head. “Of course not! I was just thinking that I should head back. My lunch break is over, anyway.”

Rose smiled at you wistfully. “Do come back soon, will you?”

You sent her a bright smile. “Sure thing.”

Gripping your basket tightly, you waved her goodbye as you strode out of the marketplace back towards the bakery. Your heartbeat rang wildly in your ears, sounding like a siren you couldn’t shut off.

You had to get home. You wanted nothing more than to see Clay. There was no way this was happening—no way. This had to be some sick dream. Yeah, you were actually just at home, still lying warm and safe in bed with Clay. Totally. For sure.

Oh, who were you kidding? This was real life, and you were absolutely terrified.

You went home that day with a lump in your throat and an uneasy, sinking feeling in your gut.

I’m sorry, Rose, you thought.

You weren’t going to go back to the marketplace for a while.

The next morning couldn’t have come by any slower. You had tossed and turned all night, anxiety clawing at the back of your mind like some wicked beast that would just not leave you alone. When you finally awoke to sunrise, you practically leapt out of bed, your hand immediately flying up to the necklace around your neck. You had yet to take it off, and you highly doubted that you ever would at this point.

You practically flew through your morning routine, rushing through every step before slowly picking up your hairbrush. Clay always interrupted you while you brushed your hair. You felt your lips curl in anticipation. You couldn’t wait to see him, again.

So you waited.

And waited

And waited.

You didn’t know how long had passed. The sun had long risen by now, and Clay still hadn’t knocked.

You sat on your bed, your hairbrush lying abandoned in your lap. You felt the back of your eyes sting with unshed tears. You knew you had to open up shop. Hell, the bread was probably burnt in the oven by now. You still had some dough leftover though, so you weren’t all that concerned.

About the bread, that was.

He wasn’t gone, you just knew it. He was just... busy, this morning. Yes, that was it! He was just busy. He had to be.

You wiped your dry eyes with the back of your hand, taking a deep breath before standing up. A new sense of resolve filled you, and you were not about to abandon hope so easily.

Perhaps he would appear at your balcony when night came.

You could wait until nightfall.

You had to.

The day had dragged like a wheel stuck in mud. Everything passed in a haze, like nothing mattered at all without Clay. You still managed to do everything successfully, smiling at customers and asking regulars about their day without slipping up even once. You even had a whole, functional conversation with Mr. Richardson and his husband! And yet you felt as though something was terribly off, like there was this gaping hole in your being.

You were right—you were a wreck without him. A complete and total wreck.

That night, you trudged upstairs with a heavy heart, slipping off you clothes in favour of your nightgown. You had just lit a candle and picked up your hairbrush when you stopped. Your ears perked up, listening for any sounds, any at all.

You were met with silence. No knocks. No tea kettle laughter. Nothing.

You wanted to cry.

Setting down your hairbrush, you took in a shaky breath, walking over to your balcony window. A part of you desperately hopes to catch even just a glimpse of his green cloak, the one you had lovingly stitched by hand for him. But deep down, you knew the reality of things.

You flipped open the lock and watched as the door swung open, gazing out at your empty balcony and the quiet night sky. Just as you expected, he wasn’t here. Why wasn’t he here?

You missed him so, so much.

Just as you were about to go back inside, something caught your attention from the corner of your eye. You stopped, turning.

There, tied to your balcony railing with a green ribbon, was a folded piece of parchment.

You heartbeat sped up.

Could it be...?

You scrambled forward, making quick work of the ribbon and grabbing the paper, rushing back inside before the biting, night wind could nip at your skin. You locked the window behind you before you settled down onto your bed. Your fingers shakily unfolded the page you held, the handwritten words unveiling themselves to you.

[Y/N],

Hi, love. I hope I haven’t worried you too much. I saw George talking to you in the marketplace yesterday, and I was terrified he would do something to you if he knew that you were involved with me, let alone my lover. I won’t be dropping by in the mornings anymore. I’m sorry, love. I can only hope that you’ll understand. I’ll do my best to leave you a note every night, though. Rest assured that I’m safe and sound. Please wait for me.

I love you, [Y/N]. More than you know.

Yours truly,

Dream

You traced the crease lines with your finger, your eyes reading over every word he wrote once, twice, thrice, absolutely committing them to memory. You leaned back on your bed, the tiniest of smiles coming to your face. Of course he wouldn’t write his real name—hell, at this point, you were starting to believe you were the only one who even knew his real name. But that didn’t matter. There were more important matters at hand, now.

He hadn’t left you. You weren’t alone.

Without a doubt, you would wait for him.

You would gladly wait for an eternity and then some if you had to.

Three weeks passed without any sight of Clay.

Knowing you couldn’t keep hiding forever, it took you a while to muster the courage to return to marketplace once more. Rose nearly threw a fit when you did, crying about how you had broken your promise to return more often.

“I never promised, though,” you reminded her.

She sniffled dramatically. “That doesn’t mean you didn’t break my heart.”

It was difficult going through all the motions of your everyday life without seeing Clay, but you trudged onward with each new day. However, there came nights that you spent simply staring blankly at your ceiling. How much longer could you go on without your favourite part of your day?

Rose wasn’t kidding when she said that three weeks could feel like forever.

While it was impossible for you to even catch a glimpse of Clay, you don’t think you had ever seen Dream as much as you did now.

From whispers of his name in your bakery to wanted posters of him on the wall, Dream appeared all around you. You even saw him dart through the square, sacks of gold coins bouncing against his side and chests filled to the brim treasure hoisted in his arms as he ran from the guards. it was almost as if he was suddenly everywhere around you, and yet nowhere at all. Each time you caught sight of your green-clad lover, something squeezed deep in your chest. You wanted Clay, not Dream, but you could wait. You promised you would wait, and you had no intention of breaking that promise.

With due time, your favourite part of your day slowly transformed into your favourite part of the night. As closing hours ticked closer and closer by, your body would grow giddy with excitement. Your feet would tap and you would hum to yourself more often. Even some of the customers began to notice.

“You always look so excited at the end of the day,” Mr. Richardson had once joked. “Are you really that happy to leave me?”

You had simply smiled at him, your expression earnest and wistful. “No, I’m just excited to see someone important to me.”

Every night after closing up shop and wiping down all the counters, you would scramble to your bedroom, slipping in your nightgown before rushing to your balcony window. And every night without fail, a smile would light up your face when you saw the folded parchment tied to your railing. Reading Clay’s letters next to the fading candlelight of your bedroom left you feeling a little less lonely than the hours just before. You kept his letters in a small box hidden deep within your floorboard and would slip them in before you went to bed, but some morning you would find that you fell asleep re-reading his words over and over again.

You couldn’t wait until the moment you could see him again.

What you didn’t know was that that moment was coming much sooner than you expected.

You woke to the sound of a creaking railing and knocking on wood.

With a deep groan, you rolled over, blinking the sleep away from your eyes from where you lay. Oh so slowly, you sat up, letting out a quiet yawn as you glanced out the window.

It was pitch black outside.

Confusion muddled your foggy brain, your head still half-asleep in the bed on which you sat. You cast your gaze toward the clock beside your bed, squinting at the time through the dark.

It was half past two in the morning.

There was another creak, then came more knocking. Your head turned towards the sound, your mind slowly whirring to life as it tried to decipher the sounds it was hearing.

Just what was that noise?

For a brief moment, there was silence. Then you heard it, again.

Four short knocks. One long one. Two short ones.

You fell out of your bed, dragging the covers down with you.

No way.

You waited again, listening carefully.

Once again: four short knocks. One long one. Two short ones.

Tears sprung to your eyes.

It was him.

You practically sprinted across your bedroom, nearly tripping over your own blankets as you scrambled to reach the balcony window. You flipped open the lock in record time, practically slamming the door open.

There he sat on the railing, his green cloak wrapped around him and his white smiling mask hiding his face from view. Behind him, the stars twinkled in the murky night sky, blinking like tiny beacons of hope.

“Clay,” you said breathlessly, not bothering to correct yourself. “You’re here.”

He pulled his mask away from his face, his emerald eyes flashing like gems in the starlight as he stood. “I’m here.”

You stumbled forward, your hands desperately reaching for him in the darkness. Without missing a beat, he met you halfway, his hands wrapping around yours. For a second, the two of you simply stared at one another, soaking in the other’s presence.

Then your lips were mashed against his, his hands in your hair and his tongue prodding at yours and god, you loved him, you loved him, you loved him.

You love him.

The two of you separated with a gasp, your eyes gazing into one another’s. For a second, all was still. The rest of the world fell away, and all you could focus on was the sound of his breaths and his face so close to yours.

“Hey,” he said softly, mirth dancing in his eyes.

“Hi,” you whispered back, a lovestruck smile creeping onto your face.

He opened up his arms and pulled you in,, squeezing you in a tight embrace. You took a deep breath, your eyelids fluttering closed as you savoured his scent of fresh pine. “Sorry, did I wake you up?” he quietly asked, his voice raspy and low next to your ear.

You nodded into his chest. “Yeah, but I don’t mind.” I never mind when it’s you.

Reaching a hand up to stroke your hair, he softly admitted, “I missed you. I missed you so much.”

You smiled, hidden from his view. “I promise you I missed you more.” He chuckled at your words, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. A comfortable silence fell over the two of you. Then, you spoke.

“I thought that I would never see you, again,” you whispered, your voice shaking like an autumn leaf. “I was so scared.”

He wiped away your tears, holding your face delicately between his hands, like you were made of glass. “I told you, didn’t I? I’m not going anywhere. Not without you. Never without you, love.”

You nodded, laughing through your tears, “You did tell me, you did.” You leaned into his touch, nuzzling your face into his hand. “I don’t know why I ever doubted you.”

His lips quirked at that, but expression suddenly grew serious. “[Y/N], there’s something that I have to tell you, and it’s serious.”

You looked back at him, blinking away your tears to focus on his expression. He sighed before beginning to explain. “I’m—I’m not just here because I wanted to see you. You know the guards?”

Your throat tightened, but you nodded, still listening patiently. “I’m pretty sure George finally connected the dots between us. I think he asked Duke Sherwood about your necklace and, well—” He grimaced. “You probably know how the rest goes.”

Panic crashed over you like a wave as your brain began processing a million thoughts all at once. What was going to happen to you? Were you going to be thrown in jail? Or killed? Would you never see Clay, again? Clay—oh god, Clay. What would they do to him?

“I don’t know how much longer you can continue living safely here,” he murmured, his expression sad. “I also came by to ask if...” He sucked in a breath. “...if you wanted to run away with me.”

Your eyes widened. Run away?

“I’ve secured a route out of the capital set for dawn. We’d be gone before anyone even knew it.” He ran a hand through his murky golden locks, frowning. “I know that it’s a lot to ask of you, to leave the life you know just to be with me.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “Especially when I’ve been so neglectful of you.”

Your whirled at that, your lips moving before you could stop yourself. “Don’t say that about yourself.” He stared at you in surprise, and you continued before he could interrupt. “You’re wonderful, Clay, really. You’re easily the most wonderful thing to have ever happened to me.”

You picked up his hand, pressing it to your chest. “Can you feel that?” you whispered. “Do you feel how fast you make my heart beat?”

His eyes widened, and he nodded.

Your leaned forward to place your forehead on his. “I don’t know how many times I’ve said it, but I’ll say it for the rest of my life if I have to.” You sent him a warm smile. “I choose you, Clay. I’d choose you every time, in every life. It’s always been you.”

You only saw his watery smile for a split second before he was crushing you in a hug to his chest. You didn’t hesitate to hug him back, squeezing him as tight as you possibly could.

Your heart was set on him. You loved your life at the bakery and your lunches with Rose, but these past few weeks taught you that a life without Clay was not a life spent living.

“Surviving and living are two very different things,” Rose had told you.

She was right.

“I’ll get properly dressed,” you said, pulling yourself away from his warm hold, “and then we can go.” Your spun on your heel, looking back at him over your shoulder. “Okay?”

His lips were parted while staring at you, almost looking like he had been struck with some great revelation. You turned, about to go back inside when a hand around your wrist stopped you. You looked back over your shoulder to see Clay looking down at his feet, something like anxiety etched into his features.

“Clay? What’s wrong?”

He let out a quiet chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. “There’s actually... one more thing I need to ask you before you go.”

You raised an eyebrow at him. Another thing? What could he possibly talking about?

Letting go of your wrist and shoving his hand into his pocket, he sent you a crooked smile. “I spent so long preparing for this, but I’m still so nervous.”

He sucked in a deep breath, then sank to one knee.

Your breath hitched in your throat.

“[Y/N],” he began, his emerald gaze boring into yours, “I have stolen countless treasure chest troves’ worth of gold and jewels. I can’t even begin to name how much I’ve taken from and given to others. But do you remember—” He swallowed. “When I told you all those years ago that I wanted to bring change to this world by any means necessary, do you remember what you told me?”

You shook your head, still far too star-struck to speak.

His lips twitched into a grin. “You told me that you’d be waiting for me. And also that I had to promise I wouldn’t die and leave you all alone.” You stifled a laugh as he sucked in a deep breath, reaching a hand into his pocket. “I like to believe that I’ve done a pretty good job keeping that promise, but I think it’s time to make sure I never break it.”

From his pocket he pulled a small velvet box—a ring box. You were shaking now, a gasp escaping your lips as he flipped the top open.

It was a beautiful ring, consisting of a single silver band encrusted with diamonds and a glittering cut emerald lying in its center. It matched the necklace you wore perfectly, and you already knew what he was going to ask.

“[Y/N], love,” he breathed, holding one hand out toward you and the ring box in the other, “will you marry me?”

You didn’t even have to think twice.

“Yes,” you breathed, slipping your hand in his. “Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes. I never want to be without you, again.”

You don’t think you had ever seen Clay smile so wide before as he swept you into his arms, swinging you around with a gleeful laugh. You giggled along with him, so overwhelmed with love and joy that you couldn’t help but join him. After a few seconds, he slowed to a stop, dipping his head to kiss you once more.

“You are my greatest treasure,” he whispered when he pulled away.

His emerald eyes shone like a tiny galaxy of his own. You stroked his cheek with your hand. “And you are mine.”

You knew that the future was anything but clear. You were leaving behind the life you had built in the city you had always lived in, running off with nothing more than the clothes on your back and a ring on your finger.

But you knew that with Clay by your side, that didn’t matter.

It was a dream come true.

At dawn, Rose Dubois awoke to find a rolled up piece of parchment tied with green ribbon on her stall counter.

Hello, Rose!

I’m sorry I didn’t visit you as often as you’d have liked. I’m afraid I won’t get the chance to now, but I do have wonderful news for you. We are getting married, just like you hoped! If I ever return, I will be sure to tell you every detail. Save me a bowl of rabbit stew, will you?

All my love,

[Y/N] & Dream

She looked out at the rising sun in the distance, watching two birds soar across the gold-tinted sky, flapping in harmony with one another. A part of her always felt like she knew, and now she was left to wonder. She wondered where they went, where they were going.

She ran her thumb along the edge of the page, a content smile gracing her lips as she murmured three words.

“I’ll be waiting.”

2K notes · View notes

ppersonna · 4 years

Text

tempestuous - kth | m

tem·pes·tu·ous - adjective - characterized by strong and turbulent or conflicting emotion

↳ summary- There’s no one who riles you up more than Kim Taehyung, your best friend’s brother. He knows exactly how to make you fly off the handle.

↳ rating- explicit / 18+

↳ word count- 6.8k

↳ pairing- taehyung x reader

↳ genre- smut, minor angst i guess in the form of fighting, this is one big pile of smut, there’s some fluff too

↳ warnings- yikes where to begin. angry sex, penetrative sex, unprotected sex (don’t be like dis), slapping, spanking, pain kink, dom/sub elements, facefucking, really rough sex, finger sucking, derogatory names, uhhh name calling, hate sex, tae is fuckin nasty yall im thriving

↳ a/n- I HAD TO REUPLOAD bc tumblr sucks lol well folks. here we are. i was given a prompt by @ladyartemesia so i blame her. as for tae, he really came for me this week and completely wrecked me, love that for me. i really popped off here and it’s only edited by me so i’m SORRY if there’s a lot of mistakes. fun fact i actually wrote almost 10k of another version of this but it frustrated me so badly i scrapped it lmao 🤡 HERE WE GO! Enjoy! feel free to send in your requests and i promise to try and get it done for you!

Kim Taehyung could only be described in a few words.

Infuriating, bothersome, vexing.

Gorgeous, breathtaking, suave.

Absolutely, inherently maddening.

And you hate how much you absolutely melt underneath his gaze, the way your heart leaps into your throat with a single word. Your body, the ultimate betrayer, opens up to him as your brain screams to abort, reverse, go back to start and do not pass go.

Kim Taehyung is not just the bane of your existence, no. He’s the little brother of your best friend, Kim Namjoon. Joonie had been in your life since you were in first grade and he in second. Taehyung was your age, but you hit it off with the older boy and haven’t separated since. Your mothers joked that you would get married one day and continue on the Kim line. Until they found out that Namjoon was 1) bisexual and 2) hopelessly in love with, ironically, a man named Kim Seokjin. He reasoned to his parents that they would at least carry on the Kim name.

Where Namjoon was sweet, caring, and deeply compassionate towards you, Taehyung was his alter. Taehyung was brash, cocky and relished in watching you squirm, whether it be out of fury or the god forsaken sexual tension. All growing up, he was the one to pull your pigtails, trip you into puddles of mud, and tease you in front of your friends. Namjoon, ever the faithful companion, was always there to pick up the pieces of what Taehyung broke.

It’s been that way with Taehyung ever since. A constant tug of war with each other, both unwilling to give a single inch to the opponent.

Your relationship with Namjoon remained steadfast as ever. Namjoon eventually moved in with his now-husband, Seokjin, who easily settled into your life as an additional partner in crime. You spent most of your days and nights settled into the couch, snuggled somehow in between or next to one of the two men you cherished most. You had the two best friends you could ask for and a happy life, blissfully Taehyung-free.

Until it wasn’t.

A loud knock wakes you from an unexpected nap on Namjoon’s couch. Your eyes crack open against the glare of the sunlight streaming through the windows. It takes a moment to gather your surroundings. You recognize that you’re in Namjoon and Seokjin’s apartment, and judging by the silence, you’re definitely alone there. As you reach for your phone, the screen lights up the time. 5:34 pm. Well, shit. You remember eating brunch and drinking mimosas at noon with your best friends and then lying on the couch to watch Netflix. How had you fallen asleep for five hours? How did you not wake? What the fuck did Jin put in his mimosas?

The knock is insistent again, louder this time.

“Joon! Jin! it’s me! Open up!”

The voice sounds familiar in your sleep-addled mind, but not quite enough to pinpoint it. You push your limp body off the couch and wince at the feeling of sore muscles. Couch sleeping isn’t all it’s cracked up to be once you’re past the age of 25.

“Sorry, Namjoon isn’t here-,” You open the door to explain to the guest and you’re cut off.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

You rub at your sleepy eyes and allow your vision to focus, only to feel your blood stand still in your veins.

Kim Taehyung. Of fucking course.

“What do you mean, why am I here? I’m always here,” you tut as you fold your arms to your chest. “What are you doing here?”

He rolls his eyes and holds up his hands, two suitcases clutched in each. Who the fuck carries 4 suitcases up three flights of stairs? Kim annoying ass Taehyung does, apparently.

“I’m moving in.” He pushes past you and into the living room.

Your mouth gapes open. Namjoon certainly didn’t tell you this. Taehyung looks back at chuckles at your reaction.

“I’m guessing your best friend didn’t tell you the happy news?”

You shut your mouth, quickly jumping back into composure. “No, he failed to mention that,” you sniff. “I thought you lived with your girlfriend in Gangnam? What was her name? Rose or whatever?”

Tae stiffens, just slightly for a moment, before he plasters back on the bravado. “Obviously not anymore. We broke up, she kept the apartment. Got tired of moping at my mom’s house and I told Namjoon I wanted to come back to the city.”

You feel a slight tug at your stomach, guilt, perhaps? You clear your throat. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

He laughs as he sits on the couch, instantly throwing his feet onto the coffee table, like a heathen. “No, you’re not.”

“What do you mean, no I’m not? God, sorry for being polite!”

This, you reason, is why you can’t sustain longer than 5 minutes of civilized conversation with your best friend’s younger brother. He’s impossible.

He just smirks, and you know he loves the rise he gets out of you.

“Because I know you, and I know you don’t give a fuck about my love life.”

Au contraire. If only he knew just how much you gave a fuck.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t be nice to you!” you nearly stamp your foot in frustration but hold yourself back. That would be too good of ammo for him to use against you.

“Okay, fine,” he acquiesces. “Whatever helps you feel you’re a good person.”

You’re seeing red and you know you want to continue screaming at him but you will not stoop to his level.

“Christ, I haven’t seen you in months and you’re still an asshole,” you say as you grab your keys and shoes. “And also, Jin will kill you if he sees your feet on his coffee table.”

You whip yourself around and open the door to leave and hear him call over your shoulder.

“Good to see you too, doll! Love the hairstyle, by the way.”

You close the door with a growl leaving your throat. The absolute audacity of that man.

You stomp towards the elevator to take yourself to the ground level, when you catch your reflection in the shiny metal. Your hair is in what you can only lovingly call a complete hornet’s nest. It’s ratted and sticking out in places and you feel your cheeks burn. Your first reintroduction with Taehyung is with a fight AND with you looking like a fool.

This would not do. No, sir.

“Kim Namjoon!” you shriek into your cell phone. You’re awkwardly pressing it against your ear with your shoulder as you walk out of the convenience store under your apartment building with 3 bottles of soju and a six-pack of beer. You needed to drown your shame and sorrow, and fast.

“Hello, love of my life and moon of my stars,” your best friend replies and you can hear Seokjin chuckle in the background.

“No!” You chide, already cracking a beer open as you storm into your apartment building. “Don’t you Khal Drogo me, mister! Why the fuck didn’t you tell me your fucking asshole brother was moving in with you?!”

Namjoon is silent and you can tell he’s wincing on the other end of the phone. “Oops?” He offers.

“Yeah, big oops! A heads up would have been nice! Like, ‘hey best friend, your worst enemy of all time is moving in today. Maybe you shouldn’t fall asleep on my couch and wake up looking like Frankenstein’s ugly wife. Oh, and also my handsome boyfriend and I will just happen to not be there when he arrives’.”

By this time, you can tell Namjoon has put you on speakerphone because you can hear their rich laughter loud and clear. Rude bitches.

You stab your key code into your door and lock yourself in, chugging as much of the beer as you could handle.

“At least, even in her rants she thinks I’m handsome,” Jin gloats.

“I’m sorry babe,” Namjoon sighs as he finally calms down. “I didn’t know he would be there today. I just found out about it last night.”

You nibbled at your bottom lip, the annoying pit in your stomach feeling simultaneously guilty that he went through a breakup, unbridled joy that something brought him down a peg, and just a dash of excitement that he’s single now.

You let out a breath. “It’s okay, Joon. It just surprised me to see him.”

Jin butts in, “And because you have a big, fat, unresolved crush on him.”

“Jin!” You admonish. The couple laughs again and you roll your eyes, asking yourself why you put up with the two. “I do not!”

They both hum a non-committal answer, implying they don’t believe you in the slightest.

“Whatever. What are you guys doing, anyway?”

“We just got home from shopping. God, Jin looked so good in these jeans he tried on. I was actually just about to suck his coc-,”

“Kim Namjoon, do not finish that sentence! I do not wish to hear it!” You try to remain firm, but dissolve into giggles with the pair.

You could never stay mad at Namjoon long, even if his brother was the devil incarnate.

“Darling,” Jin calls through the phone. “I still expect to see you at our place tonight for our sleepover.”

Christ, you had forgotten all about your scheduled sleepover night. It was tradition and one of your favorite parts of your friendship with the couple. Jin, a literal chef, prepared a five star meal along with dessert for you while you binge watched Netflix and talked incessantly.

But you also usually slept in their spare bedroom. The exact one that Taehyung would be occupying.

“Fuck, while he’s there?”

“Oh suck it up,” Jin chides, like he’s your mother. “He’s probably not even going to leave his room. You’re not getting out of this. I’m making strawberry cheesecake.”

Your mouth waters at the idea of Jin’s famous cheesecake.

“Fine, but I get to lick the bowl and not Namjoon. Those are my terms.”

Namjoon squawked in defiance as Jin laughed. “I agree to your terms. Be at our place by 8.”

As you hung up the phone, you checked the time. 6:40. God, he hadn’t left you with much time to get ready, did he?

And you definitely needed to get ready. There was no way you were entering a room where Kim Taehyung exists looking like booboo the fool, not again.

Your fingers press the 6 digit passcode to Namjoon and Seokjin’s apartment, arms heavy laden with your bag of toiletries and pajamas, and a bag full of wine.

“Honey, I’m home!” You announce as you toe off your shoes and slide into the combined kitchen and living room.

You receive no reply, but greeted with the amused face of none other than the object of your filthiest dreams, Taehyung.

“Pet names already? We’re moving pretty fast, wouldn’t you say?” He asks you as he lounges at the kitchen table. He watches you open the fridge to set the wine, as comfortable in their home as you are in yours.

“Fuck off,” you grumble. “Where’s your brother?”

Tae seemed absolutely tickled by your disgruntlement. “I think they mentioned something about taking a shower. That was 20 minutes ago, though.”

“Great,” you sigh. “Those fucking horn dogs act as if they’re still newlyweds. We’ll be waiting awhile.”

You tug off your sweater, leaving you to remain in a fitted tank top and yoga pants. You tried to maintain a comfortable look as you dressed for the evening, while keeping in mind which leggings hugged your ass and showed off your toned thighs, and a tank top that dipped low to your cleavage. Okay, so maybe you had ulterior motives. You wanted to make up for your dreadful appearance earlier and make him squirm, payback for the years of him doing it to you.

You watch him as he lets his eyes roam your body, eying you like he wants to ravage you completely. You feel victorious… and also turned on. Fuck, you played yourself.

You flop onto the couch in a huff and Tae snorts before joining you.

“What’s so funny?” You eye him suspiciously.

“Nothing,” his smile feigns innocence. “I’m not allowed to laugh?”

You sniff in annoyance, not eager to fall for his tricks. “You’re allowed to do whatever you want, your highness.” Sarcasm drips from your voice and Tae finds it even more humorous.

“I see you’re still a sassy bitch.”

You gasp, audibly startled by his language and rise from the couch, fists clenched.

“I see you’re still a conceited dick!”

He rises to meet you where you stand, eyes boring into your own with his stupid sexy grin on his face. “I see you’re still not one to back down from a fight.”

You step closer, close enough to feel his breath on your face. Idly, you note it smells like peppermint and you move closer on reflex.

“Yeah? I see you’re still not one to avoid starting a fight in the first place!” you huff.

“Oh, I started it?”

“Yeah, you started it! You called me a bitch!”

You can’t believe this is happening. You feel as if you’re 6 again and fighting with him over a toy.

“A sassy bitch, actually,” he corrects, taking another step forward, bodies touching.

“Fuck you!”

“Only if you say please,” he quips before he closes the distance and presses his lips to yours in a scorching hot kiss.

There’s not even a moment of hesitation on your end, immediately pulling him even closer and wrapping your arms around his neck and allowing his tongue entrance to your mouth. Your body reacts to his instantly, as if it’s wired to respond to him and him only. Your mind was blank of anything except Tae, only Tae please, and you acted purely on instinct alone. And instinct was pulling him closer and begging, more, anything he could give.

The sound of laughter coming from the hallway pulls you apart, neither of you wanting to get caught by Namjoon or Jin. You stare at him, his lips are cherry red and slightly swollen and the image burns into your retinas. He has such pretty lips after you’ve kissed him.

“Oh hey! What’s going on here?” Namjoon asks as he notices the intense eye-battle you’re engaged in with his younger brother.

It shakes you out of the spell, eye contact broken and hypnosis halted.

“Just, errrr,” you falter to find the right words to explain the situation.

“Just getting reacquainted.” Tae sounds completely unaffected, as if the passionate kiss you shared with him seconds ago was but a distant memory. Asshole.

“I’m surprised you two haven’t thrown anything at each other yet,” Jin laughs. “Or thrown yourselves at each other.”

Both you and Taehyung whip to look directly at Jin.

“Her!?” Tae is incredulous. “Gross.”

You’ll never admit out loud that his words wound you.

“You’re an asshole, Taehyung,” you punctuate your words by turning away from him and towards Namjoon, who appears amused as ever.

“Ah, I love when my best friend and my little brother are screaming at each other. Feels like old times. Can one of you cry now to complete the moment?”

Taehyung grumbles under his breath, something you can’t catch, and stalks off to his room. The slam of his door reverberates in the apartment and Jin jumps and turns to yell down the hall at his brother-in-law.

“Yah! Don’t break my apartment! I still owe money on this!”

Despite Taehyung’s appearance every so often in the kitchen or living room, the rest of the night goes on with no annoying disturbances.

Jin spoils you and his husband with expensive food, and the best cheesecake you’ve ever eaten in your life. Plus, you’re given the bowl to lick clean despite a desperately adorable pout from Namjoon you were sure would persuade Jin.

You’re settled on the couch, snuggling in the middle of the couple as an action movie flickers across the big screen tv. Truthfully, you haven’t paid attention to a single thing happening, your thoughts entirely too absorbed in Taehyung and that deliciously infuriating kiss.

Why did he do it? You couldn’t comprehend his reasoning. Perhaps he was doing it to piss you off. He’s never angered you with that level of intimacy before, but you didn’t put it past him.

You’re surprised when the credits of the movie start rolling and Jin and Namjoon fake loud yawns.

“Oh man, I’m beat,” Namjoon lies.

Jin is quick to join. “Me too, I think I’ll pass out the moment I hit the pillow.”

You roll your eyes at the men. “Will you two please go fuck already, I know that’s what you’re going to do.”

Namjoon blanches, but Jin laughs and kisses your cheek. “Ah, my smart, beautiful and chaotic child,” he coos. He leans in to your ear, voice low to keep his husband from listening. “I don’t think I’m the only one in this house who’s going to get pounded into a mattress.”

He pulls back and winks at you, deftly ignores Namjoon’s confusion and sadness of being left out, and drags him to their bedroom with a loud ‘goodnight’.

You’re left to stew in your own emotions, which is never a good thing. Was the tension that obvious? You always assumed it had been one-sided, but the kiss befuddled you more than you’d like to admit.

It finally snapped in your mind, all the dots connecting. That’s why he did it.

He kissed you so you’d stew and simmer and eventually erupt, like you’re doing now. Taehyung knows you too well for your comfort.

You grab your bag of clothes and storm towards the bathroom to change, promising yourself to forget about the kiss and not give Taehyung what he wants.

Except you’re not very good at promises, especially to yourself.

You can’t say you’re excited to sleep on the couch again. While it’s a nice couch, it’s definitely not a bed and your back will pay the price tomorrow. You supposed it was better than the floor, but not by much.

After dressing in your pajamas, a purposefully picked out combination of tiny shorts and a sports bra in case Taehyung happens upon you, you return to your bed for the night in the living room.

Namjoon graciously left blankets and a pillow out for you, and you’re complaining internally about Taehyung the whole time you make yourself a spot to sleep. If it wasn’t for stupid Taehyung and his stupid existence, you’d be sleeping like a baby on the guest bed that you loved. But no, they relegated you to the couch like an animal.

Sleep was not in the cards tonight, it seems. You toss and turn and try to press at the cushions to move a lump around and get comfortable, but it’s all for naught. You’re wide awake and very, very uncomfortable. You didn’t understand how you fell asleep on this very couch earlier in the day. Maybe the mimosas you had at brunch with the couple had been helpful.

A thought crosses your mind. Alcohol. Maybe a nice glass of wine would help tuck you into a peaceful, dreamless sleep. A nightcap. Of course. You were angry at yourself for not thinking of it hours ago.

You slipped out of your disagreeable bed and into the kitchen, trying not to make a sound. Jin’s beloved kitchen was also an echo chamber of noise, even the slightest sound bouncing off its walls and amplifying it through the whole house. You still remember the way you jumped five feet in the air when Jin accidentally broke a plate. It sounded like a bomb explosion.

You bite your lip as you carefully pry the cabinet of wine glasses open, careful to not even allow a squeak of a hinge. You silently beg to stay silent and not wake anyone in the house. You didn’t want to be caught drinking wine at 2 am in the dark, that’s difficult to explain without looking like an alcoholic.

With glass in hand, you tiptoe the fridge to pull out the bottle of merlot, thinking the heavy red wine would be the best to get you sleepy and quick.

You tug the cork from the bottle and pour a healthy amount into the stemware with a smile. Liquid sleep. And you had done it without making a single sound. Perfection. The smell of the alcohol permeates through your nose as you lift the glass, placing it to your lips to take a sip.

“Wine at this hour?” the unexpected voice of Taehyung echos through the kitchen, making you yelp and jolting you hard enough that you drop the hard-earned glass of wine to the tile floor, red wine splashing as the sound of glass shattering is reverberating off the walls.

“Fuck!” You screech at the intruder. Taehyung doubles over, laughing as if he’s seen nothing funnier than what just transpired. “You asshole!”

You listen past Taehyung’s incessant laughter to ensure the owners of the apartment hadn’t awoken during the ruckus. You definitely did not want to face a tired and agitated Jin to tell him you shattered one of his Tiffany crystal goblets.

Beyond Tae, the house is silent and you’re thanking whatever god is listening for keeping your best friends asleep.

The wine is everywhere, spilling into the cracks of the tile and splattered on the walls. The crystal stemware is too; it shattered with such force that you see flecks of the shrapnel in all four corners of the room.

Tae wipes a tear from his face and you square a tempestuous look at him.

“Fucking help me! You made me drop it!”

Through snorts, he replies. “I didn’t make you do anything. You did that on your own.” Although he is arguing with you, he’s gingerly stepping into the kitchen and kneeling to pick up shards of glass.

“I wouldn’t have dropped it if you had come into the room like a fucking normal person,” you grit.

He collects the glass, the delighted grin on his face now permanent. He’s relishing in your annoyance, you know he is, and it burns you from the inside out.

“It’s not my fault you didn’t hear me.”

“You could have turned on the light! Why were you in the dark like a freak?” You’re grasping at straws, anything to pin this all on him. It would quell the fire in your belly to push it all onto him, make you feel as if you’ve won.

Taehyung levels a look at you. “And you weren’t also in the dark? Pouring a gallon of wine for yourself?”

Your cheeks flare red. Fuck, he definitely caught you there. You’re playing verbal poker with him and the hand you’re dealt falls flat compared to his royal flush. He grins, knowing he has you.

“Fuck you,” you snark, you go to insult when you’re backed into a corner.

“Ah, doll,” he winks. “We talked about that. Be careful what you wish for.”

The fire inside you is roaring to an inferno now, flames licking to your core. It’s a complicated mixture of anger and sexual energy. It’s infuriating that he’s able to make you feel every single emotion to the extreme. You hate that arguing with him turns you on, like it’s some perverse foreplay.

You moisten your lips with your tongue as you process his words, and Tae’s eyes hungrily track the appendage as it glides over your lips.

“Fuck. You.” You emphasize perfunctorily.

All thoughts of wiping up the mess are forgotten as Tae drags both you and himself off the floor and steers you to the living room, lips feverish against your own. He pushes you into the couch and tugs his shirt off, before replacing his lips to yours.

“Fuck, you’re so fucking hot when you’re a bitch,” he groans as he snaps the strap of your sports bra. “Seeing you get all worked up makes me so hard.”

He’s not wrong. You can see through his mesh basketball shorts that he’s sporting an impressive package, rock hard in its clothed prison.

“Yeah?” You bite at his lip.

“Hell yeah.” His hands work to the elastic band under your bust and tugs the offending material off, tits springing free as he throws it to the floor.

“Holy shit,” Taehyung breathes as he gets a good look at your chest.

You shake them gently, grinning as he watches them jiggle. “You like what you see?”

He smirks and pinches a nipple, wiping the coy smile off your face and turning it into a moan. “I like when you’re mouthy, but don’t push it.”

He lowers his head to the nipple he’s still pinching in his fingers, licking at it and replacing his fingers with his mouth. He’s moaning around the nipple, and you’re gasping for more. His hot mouth sucks at you, teeth nibbling and pulling it until you’re whimpering in delicious pain.

“Fuck!” He cries as he pops away from your nipple. “You’re so fucking hot.”

Your body warms at his words, arousal pooling between your legs. You’re sure that your thighs are drenched in your essence.

He slurps your neglected breast into his mouth, ensuring your nipples are equally abused. His tongue is skilled but his mouth is messy, saliva dripping all around your tit and it’s the hottest fucking sight you’ve ever seen.

He’s pulling away again and pinching both nipples with his hands simultaneously. “And you’re so fucking annoying.”

You’re pleading for more or to stop, you’re not sure. He continues.

“Mm, I’m gonna fuck you until you’re a good little bitch for me. Listening to every fucking thing I say.”

He releases your nipples, and you finally find the ability to focus again, staring directly at him.

“Oh, you think you’re that good?” you sass as you attempt to catch your breath. “Put your money where your mouth is.”

Tae grips your chin roughly, face inches away from yours with a sadistic grin. “You’re going to regret those words, baby.”

Instantly, he’s standing up and tugging his shorts down to let his cock spring free. Your brain misfires as you visually measure his cock and your mouth goes dry. He’s thick and long. The bulbous head is dripping pre-cum, begging you to slurp it up.

“How about I put my money where your mouth is,” he suggests as he grabs a fistful of your hair.

He teasingly rubs his cock on your lips and cheeks, makes you whimper with need. Your tongue is sticking out, desperate for him to lay it on you.

“Already so fucking greedy,” he grunts and in one motion, directs his dick into your open mouth. “I’ll fuck your throat, yeah? Greedy bitches love getting face fucked.” He is still for a beat more, eyes searching yours for consent and you nod with his cock still in your mouth. He winks, then begins a rapid pace, his cock fucking into your mouth and throat.

You’re sure you look like a goddamn mess with saliva dripping from your mouth as Taehyung punishes your throat with his thrusts. You gag and moan around him, and he tightens his grip in your hair as you see stars.

It’s indescribable. Never have you felt such pleasure from sucking cock, but Tae commands your entire body, willing you to drip with anticipation.

“My little fuck toy, god you feel so fucking good,” he hisses. “You’re gonna swallow my cum, baby.”

His hips are stuttering, he’s close, and you’re sucking him harder, cheeks pulling in harder to vacuum him in. The pressure makes him groan out loud.

“So good, so fucking good. Get ready for your prize, baby,” his voice cuts off in a gasp, as his cock twitches violently. His legs shake and he doesn’t hold back the moans of his orgasm, gasping as he feels rope after rope spill down your hot throat.

Your big doll eyes are twinkling up at him, lips still wrapped around his cock. Taehyung is sure it’s the hottest thing he’ll ever see in his lifetime. You on your knees, subservient to him and thriving for it.

“Mmm, I like it when your mouth is full like this,” he slowly pulls out of your mouth, albeit reluctantly. “Can’t talk back to me when you’re sucking my cock like a whore.”

You smile and stick out your tongue, pleased to show him you happily accepted his cum.

“Good fucking girl,” he coos as he grips your chin again. “Did you like my cum?”

You nod, brain fried from the heat of the room.

“Use your words,” he grits and grips your jaw harder. It’s enough to shock you into compliance.

“Y-yes! Fuck, I love your cum, Tae.” Your words are breathy and raspy, throat raw from his barrage.

“I knew you would, filthy slut. Sit on the couch.” He orders and you’re quick to scurry and sit on the makeshift bed you made.

His hands are tugging down your shorts quickly. No teasing or seduction here, not now. You lift your hips, and he throws them aside. Your legs close on reflex, making him growl.

“Do not hide yourself from me.” His tone is dark and you can’t help but shiver as you open yourself up to him. You want to talk back, want to fight and bite at him, but you’re quickly losing the ability to even speak, and you’re aching for him.

“Where’s my mouthy little bitch? You’re awfully quiet. Did I finally break you?” He teases, pressing your legs upward, knees to your ears. It’s pornographic how on display you are for him, soaking wet cunt front and center.

“The great Taehyung thinks he can break me with his cock,” you mewl, mustering all the false confidence you can. You’re lying through your fucking teeth and you both know it, but you continue. “You’ll have to do more than that.”

Your pussy is quaking with need now, desperate for a single touch. His hands maintain purchase on the backs of your thighs, holding them up.

“There she is,” he bites at the flesh of your leg closest to him which makes you jerk in his hold. “Gonna fuck the brat right out of you.”

He removes a hand from your thigh and you’re quick to pick up the slack, holding the thigh in place to maintain his open show of your pussy.

“Try me,” you murmur, and you’re instantly regretting your words as a harsh slap descends and lands square on your cunt.

You nearly scream, pain flooding your wanton pussy, before turning into delicious pleasure that stings and tingles right at your clit. It sizzles, and warmth blooms where his hand was.

“That’s for not believing me.” His eyes are feral and you want to bottle this memory forever.

Another slap has your legs trembling, eyes rolling back as the burn turns to a low heat. You’re dripping your wetness down onto the couch and Jin will kill you, but you don’t care.

“That was for calling me a dick,” he smirks.

Smack.

Tears spring in your eyes as the slap brings more pleasure than pain, desperately close to your edge.

“Look at you, you could cum just from this, couldn’t you?”

“F-fuck! Yes, please, I need more, please!” Your cunt is clenching around nothing, desperate for friction and leaking out of you like a faucet. Taehyung marvels at you, legs spread so far, with a cunt weeping with arousal for more. He can’t wait to dive in there, but he’s not finished with you yet.

“More? I don’t know if you deserve more, baby, you’ve been awfully mean to me,” he tsks, breathing hot air on your clit, making you whine.

“P-please! I’m sorry!” You’re sure you will black out with how desperately you need him. You need him more than you need oxygen.

“Beg.”

You’re quick to submit. Thoughts of fighting back are long gone, you’re his wanton little slut now.

“Please, please! Pleaseeeee, make me cum! I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?” He asks with an arch of his eyebrow.

You’re nodding wildly, gazing at him with desperate, watery eyes.

“Anything, I need you so f-fucking bad it hurts!”

By the time the words leave your lips, he’s thrusting two fingers into your cunt viciously, fingering you ferociously. He arches them, rubbing against your spongy g-spot and making you scream. He knows you’re close, knows you only need one little push off the edge. He plays your body like a skilled practitioner.

“Cum on my fingers, baby. Let me see my greedy little bitch milk my fingers.”

Your body and mind react accordingly, deep down you know your body is owned completely by him, all his. Your orgasm explodes and you think you actually scream, your vision is black and your hearing goes silent for a moment as you cum harder than you have in your life. You’re squeezing his fingers with your pussy so tight and Taehyung is gently licking all the juices from his hand with his fingers still inside you.

It takes time to descend from the separate plane of existence Taehyung sent you too, but you come back and watch as he laps at the liquid of your cunt and on his hand like it’s a vital necessity. His fingers remain in your walls, and he refuses to break eye contact with you. You’re positive you could cum again from the sight.

“My little cockslut tastes so good, just how I like,” he tells you tenderly. “Like cherries, so sweet. My little cherry.”

Your cunt is aching and warming back to life as he pulls his fingers out of you. The loss is immense and you’re whimpering for more.

“Ah, ah,” he hushes you. “No whining. You’ll take what I give you. Suck my fingers clean. Taste yourself.”

He presses his fingers into your mouth, earning him a sigh, the taste of you filling your mouth. You swirl your tongue around his fingers and suckle each one to ensure your tongue laves the entire surface.

“Fuck,” he whispers and it’s his first crack in his steel reserve. “Needy.”

He pulls his fingers from your mouth and presses against you to kiss. It’s gentle, sweet, and nothing compared to the man assailing your pussy with slaps moments ago. It thrills you just the same and you return in kind, threading your hands in his wavy hair.

He pulls away and presses his forehead against yours, a moment of gentleness you actively welcome.

“This little cunt ready for me?” He whispers and you’re whimpering your reply.

“Please, fuck me. I need you to fuck me until I can’t walk.”

He grins and presses a kiss to your lips again, sweet and chaste, before he pulls away and slides down to attach those same sinful lips to your pussy.

It’s so unexpected you flinch and manage a cry as his tongue slurps up more of your delicious essence and his mouth moves to suckle on your clit. You’re not sure where the fuck he learned these tricks, but you know now you will never let him go.

“Taehyung!” You cry at the sensation. “Fuck!”

After receiving the reaction he was desperate for, he slips his tongue into your walls deep and gathers as much of you as he can, before he’s pulling back and swallowing you down.

“I couldn’t resist. Your cunt was made for me to devour.”

He doesn’t allow for a response as he throws your legs over his shoulders and lines himself up at your core.

“Condom?” He asks you, and you level a quick look at him.

“I don’t live here! I don’t have any!” You’re savage, terrified he’ll pull his cock away when all you want and can think about is the way he’ll feel pounding into you.

“Don’t be rude, baby,” he reminds you with a swat to your ass. “I’m clean, promise. You?”

You nod quickly, reveling in the spank’s tingle. “Same. I have an IUD too,” you sigh. Thank god for medical birth control implants.

“Good. You’re the only pussy I’m gonna fuck from now on,” he promises. You know you must talk about this later, when you’re thinking rationally and not with your aching pussy.

Your heart stutters and leaps into your throat but all is forgotten as he plunges into your tight heat.

“Ohhhhh shit, ahhh,” he gasps. “Baby, you’re so fucking tight and wet.” He’s on the verge of whining, becoming just as needy and greedy as you. He wastes no time in setting a pace.

His cock fills you completely, his angle allowing him to go as deep as he can, pressing the beginning of your cervix. This is surely what heaven feels like. It feels like the completeness you feel with Taehyung fully sheathed inside you.

It comes alive with flames and explosions as he fucks you, hips pistoning to plunge in and out of you with tenacity. He fucks you like he laces every single thrust with more, more than just sex. He fucks you with purpose.

You’re moaning like a pornstar now, high pitch wails and gasps and breathy moans are all you can manage. “Taehyung, yes! Feel so g-g-good!”

“That’s right baby, scream my fucking name. Make sure all the neighbors know who fucking ruined you,” he nearly spits, cock thrusting into your core at an impossible speed. “I want you to tell all of Korea who owns you. Who owns this tiny little cunt?”

The wind leaves you, and you’re gasping for air, gaping mouth open as you try to reply. It takes him fucking into you harder a few times before you feel it rush back into you.

“You, Taehyung! You! Fuck, I love your cock!”

His thumb rubs at your engorged clit, allowing it the friction it seeks. He bends forward and wraps his other hand around your throat, squeezing.

Losing air combined with the friction on your clit has you keening, so close to the edge. You try to babble his name but nothing comes out.

“Look at my pretty little slut taking my cock so well,” he praises. “You have the greediest pussy, don’t you? You need my cock daily, baby. Need to put my mouthy bitch in her place, remind her who’s in charge.”

He slows his pace but his thrusts are punishing, fucking into you as hard as he can. Your orgasm is climbing so impossibly high.

“F-fuck!” You gasp as he releases his grip on your neck. “Gonna cum! Please let me cum!”

“Yeah baby, cum for me. Cream your greedy pussy all over my cock.”

The world stops spinning as you hit the height of your climax and plunge down. Your vision goes black and your body is quivering and convulsing nearly as hard as your cunt is. Taehyung hisses at your walls sucking him in, as if you’re begging for his cum, begging for more.

“Fuck, good girl, baby, holy shit,” he’s breathless and so close.

You’re overstimulated, boneless, but he wrought two of the best orgasms you’ve ever felt in your life and you’ll be damned if you leave him high and dry. You bite your lip as you move with him, hips pounding against each other. His face is scrunched up and you know he’s close when he’s stuttering on his words. You take over for him.

“Please cum in me baby, please. Fill me up. I’m yours, baby, mark my little cunt as yours.” You don’t know where it’s coming from, but you keep it going. It feels as natural as fucking him does. “Please, Taehyung!”

At the sound of his name leaving you in a whine, he spirals down his own completion. He feels his cock pulse as he empties his load into you, your walls still reverently beckoning for him. He’s calling out your name, grasping at your tits as he finishes and you’re smiling from ear to ear. Your pussy is warm with his seed and you’re positive it’s the way you want to feel every single night.

“Holy fuck,” Taehyung rasps as he pulls his cock out of you. He thrills as he watches his cum follow, slipping out your folds and down your thigh. “I definitely marked you.”

You hum in reply, finally allowing yourself to soak in the haze of orgasmic bliss. Tae presses his head to yours again, kissing you sweetly.

“Come sleep in my bed?” He asks. He means more behind it. He wants to ask you to sleep in his bed every night, stay with him every day, be the one he grows old with. He knows there’s still more to talk about, wounds of the past to heal, but now you’re with him, and he knows he’ll work through anything.

You nod, and kiss him again, understanding his hidden meaning laced in his words.

A sly smile spreads across his face. “Last one to bed has to take the blame for the wineglass,” he teases. Your head spins as if you’ve got whiplash. He can switch from dominating to sensitive to the little shit he is so quick.

“Hey! No fucking fair! You fucked my ability to run out of me!”

“Shouldn’t have been such a sassy bitch,” he winks before he tears away towards his room.

“Taehyung, you’re an asshole!” You call as you limp your way behind him.

From behind Joon and Jin’s door, a critical voice bellows, “YAH! I’ll kill you if you got your jizz on my couch! And what is this I heard about my glass!!? HEY! Those are TIFFANY. CRYSTAL. THE DISRESPECT!”

You slip into Taehyung’s bed and wrap yourself around him, the two of you gasping with mischievous giggles.

Kim Taehyung will always be the one who knows how to drive you wild. He’ll always aggravate and infuriate you, send you reeling.

But now you didn’t think you minded it at all.

#bangtanarmynet #maknaesmutsociety #btswritersnet #btswriterscollective #kwritersworldnet #bts taehyung #bts kim taehyung #bts v #bts fic #bts smut #bts fanfic #kim taehyung #v

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thatweeboverthereisthirsty · 4 years

Note

Hello! Can I request hcs for your top 5 favorite characters when they find out their fem s/o vapes/smokes? Have a nice day~💕

I loved writing these ngl. Also I did six because I have no idea how to choose between these guys.

Characters: Leona, Ruggie, Floyd, Kalim, Idia, Malleus

Warnings: smoking&vaping, overdramatic teenage boys (leona isn’t a teenager, does malleus count?)

Leona:

He didn’t peg you to be that kind of person, but there was no doubt that you were vaping

He had smelled the weed on you a few times but didn’t comment. It was common for there to be clouds of vape in the bathrooms at school so he figured you had just walked through one

At first he wouldn’t comment, but he would watch you do it and keep track of how many times you took a hit and how frequently you pulled your pen out during the day

If he felt like there was nothing serious to worry about then he might let it fly a few times only commenting on how he hated the smell to try and persuade you to do it less often

If he was concerned about the amount of vaping you did, he would probably just steal all your stuff at first to see if you would stop

If that didn’t work then he would confront you about it asking why you started and how long you’ve been doing it

It’s unlikely that he’ll be super upset about it but he will ask you to stop and provide you with other solutions if needed

He prefers the you that isn’t higher than the clouds

After learning more about vaping and the fact that by inhaling toxic metals you could potentially die then he would put up more of a fight

If it got to the point where he was really concerned he might take you to a rehab center just so they could get you to stop (even if you weren’t addicted)

Ruggie:

Wait what?! You smoke!!!

He stares in shock as you pull the cigarette away from your mouth and blow out a large puff of smoke

No no no no no no no no!!!!!!!!!

Already running up to you and snatching the cigarette out of your hands

“Ruggie!”

Absolutely not. He’s seen enough people in the slums turn to smoking or that might even be the reason they were in the slums to begin with.

He knows the cost. He has seen people die, or get violently sick, or run out of money because they smoke

It is not something he’s gonna watch you go through

Probably gonna yell at you about how awful this is for you before finding all your cigarettes and soaking them before chopping them into little pieces and throwing them away

He’s got a great sense of smell so if he smells nicotine on you again he would get really upset

Ruggie cares about you a lot but would still most definitely threaten you to get you to stop

If he threatens to end your relationship to that means he’s certainly worried about your health

He doesn’t care how you started in the first place he justs wants you to stop

Would totally beg Leona to pay for rehab

Would also totally drag you there

Floyd:

Eh? What’s little shrimpy doing?

Has zero clue what a vape is or how it works, but it looks fun let him try it too

You’re probably hesitant cause he doesn’t know what it is and if Azul and Jade found out they might get mad

He’s gonna try it anyways

Literally has no idea how to use it and probably ends up inhaling his own spit instead

He wants to know how you make clouds with your breath though, and oh! You can make it into shapes!

Definitely gonna ask Azul and his big brother about it

They casually explain what vaping is and what it does. They also tell him that it’s bad for you and he shouldn’t try it

“Huh? But little shrimpy does it all the time?”

Que a further explanation and advice on how to help you stop

He’s gonna pest you about it all the time now

“You didn’t swallow any clouds again today did you?”

“No Floyd I didn’t swallow any clouds”

It’s very easy for him to get you to stop since he’ll just squeeze you everytime he catches you doing it

And when he finds your pen he will pick it up and throw it away

Has he seen your vape? Of course not. Why would Floyd know where your cloud machine went?

Every time you get sick he accuses you of vaping too much

“You wouldn’t be stuck in bed all day if you hadn’t swallowed so many clouds, shrimpy.”

Kalim:

Immediate panic

“JAMIL!!!!!”

Literally Jamil does not have time for this

Tells him to calm down and just ask you about it

Ok yeah. Kalim can do that. He’s calm

He’s not calm

Forgets to ask you about it and instead asks if you wanna go for a ride

Legit takes you to a rehab center and cries at the front desk about you for like 40 min

The people ask you a few questions and determine that no you’re not addicted and tell Kalim that everything is gonna be fine

You are literally so confused right now

When you guys get home he can’t stop asking questions and telling you that it’s bad to smoke

Will bribe you to get you to stop

“I’ll buy you whatever you want just don’t do that”

Literally 100x more panicked than any other normal person

“BUT WHAT IF YOU DIE!!!!!!”

Doesn’t want to leave your side in case you do it again when he’s not looking

Jamil is 200% done with the dramatics

“Listen if you don’t stop I’ll actually poison your food. I have a hard enough time dealing with Kalim when he isn’t freaking out.”

Between the two of them it would just be easier to stop

Kalim will throw you a party for stopping

He’s so proud of you

“Baby you make me so proud!”

“Kalim she’s not your daughter *sigh*” - Jamil

“WHAT IF OUR DAUGHTER SMOKES!!!”

Hold up since when did he decide that-

Never mind

Kalim is just a big drama baby and you love him for it

Idia:

Probably doesn’t really know what to think about it

On one hand you’re old enough to make your own decisions

On the other hand your decision making skills are obviously not great

Literally spend the next month trying to decide what to do about it

Makes a pros and cons visual board for confronting you about it

Also writes up a list of reactions to his confrontation

Probably also writes up like 17 different scripts all in a choose your own ending type format to include how to deal with every reaction

Ngl he panics a lot cause he knows that vaping is bad but after finding out you do it he can’t stop watching these really concerning youtube videos about how people’s lives turned into a total complete disaster because of vaping

He becomes a nervous wreck every time you smell like weed

Always has you count to ten when he sees you

Likely has visions of you in the hospital or homeless on the street wheezing about how you wished someone had stopped you

Either you’re gonna catch on and ask him about it, initiating the conversation or he’s gonna have Ortho do it

He’s worried you will leave him for not being supportive

Literally asks you if you’re gonna leave him for this

Obviously you won’t so when you confirm that you’re staying he melts into a puddle and just cries

Highkey he looks more like one of those crazy people from the videos than you

“But Idia you’re addicted to video games and sugar. People say that’s as bad as cocaine”

Figures out that sugar releases the same chemical in your brain as cocaine

“What if you just ate a bunch of candy with me instead? We can be sugar addicts together.” (Idia I’d love to but no amount of candy is worth a break out)

Fine fine fine you’ll stop (but only cause he literally looks like he’s having withdrawals just from worrying about you) it’s ironic

Malleus:

Most dramatic by far

WHY WOULD A FRAGILE HUMAN PURPOSELY PUT THEIR HEALTH AT RISK

Ngl has zero clue what’s going on until Lilia points it out

“Huh doesn’t smoking kill humans?”

*blink* *blink*

Smoking does what to a human

“DARLING!!!!”

Seriously thinks that your going to die any minute now

Que the mental breakdown

Calls all the best healers and puts you on bed rest

“Darling I know we’re gonna get through this. Just keep fighting”

Ummm… you have no idea what’s happening

He just kidnapped you from class and put you in a Diasomnia room and started weeping like you were dying

Lowkey he already started looking at ways to preserve your body as long as possible

Also looks at coffins and tombstones

Highkey plans to buy you a large plot of land that looks over the pretty stuff in the valley of thorns

Why? you ask.

Because obviously you deserve a whole cemetery to yourself

“Malleus I’m not gonna-”

“Shhh don’t speak. You’ll only make it harder to heal”

Lilia walks in and finds this

Probably thinks this is super sweet and totally wants to leave you guys like this

But doesn’t want Malleus to suffer and you to be held on house arrest for no reason

“She’s not dying Malleus”

What? Ooooooohhhh… oops

He gets embarrassed af

Has to call back all the people he hired to prepare for your death

“Um hi there. Turns out I don’t need that jewel encrusted coffin. No no the pyramid should still be built, humans have short life spans.”

“MALLEUS!!!!”

He is so grateful you’re not dying

But would totally get pissed if you decided to smoke again

Guess that’s the end of that

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pixelated-pogues · 4 years

Text

Protective (j.m)

Requested: Yes Pairing: JJ x reader Summary: JJ goes missing for several days and you go to his house looking for him. Warnings: Slight angst, allusion to domestic violence -----------------------------------

Three days.

That’s how long it has been since you’ve heard anything from JJ and to say that you’re worried about him feels like an understatement. By no means are you a helicopter girlfriend that has to know her boyfriends whereabouts twenty-four-seven but radio silence from JJ for an extended period of time is most definitely something to worry about.

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

Stalking up to the Chateau, you’re hoping to see your boyfriend run outside to greet you, but you’re left without any sort of greeting as you invite yourself into the house.

“Hello,” you call out, placing a few grocery bags down on the counter.

“Hey, Y/n,” John B responds , groggily walking into the room with a lazy smile etched onto his face. He pulls you in for a loose side hug before focusing his attention on rifling through the bags of food you brought with you. “I told you that you don’t have to keep bringing groceries over. I’m managing just fine.” You nearly snort at his statement, taking notice of how his stomach growled as he dug through the bags.

“Sure you are,” you chuckle, rolling your eyes at him. “JJ offering me a moldy-bread sandwich every time I come over has me completely convinced that you keep up on your own groceries when I don’t bring any around.” He grunts in response, taking a bite out of the apple he pulled out of the bag, shoving you away jokingly before he moved to put the new gallon of milk in the fridge. Your eyes subconsciously trail to the spare bedroom where JJ typically sleeps.

“Hey, are you alright? You look a little out of it,” John B’s voice cuts through the silence, pulling your attention back to him. He looks at you with genuine concern, frowning at the fake smile you sent his way.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine, I just-,” you sigh, glancing at the vacant room again before continuing. “Have you heard from him at all? He’s never this quiet. It makes me nervous.”

“No, I haven’t,” he admits, shooting you a sympathetic look. “But don’t worry too much, okay? He’s done this before. Sometimes he just needs to disappear for awhile. It’s really nothing to worry about, JJ can take care of himself.”

“Yeah, okay,” you nod, shaking unconvinced thoughts from your mind. “You’ll call me if he shows up though, right?”

“Of course,” he agree, shooting you one last reassuring smile. “I’ll let you know if I hear from him.”

“Thank you,” you breathe, giving him a friendly hug, which he gladly returns.

“Are you hanging out with us today? Kie’s uncle said that the waves are supposed to be the best ones we’ve seen all season, so we’re planning on spending the day surfing, if you want to come,” You can’t help but smile at his offer, wishing that you could go, but you promised a coworker that you’d cover for them.

“I would love to, but I’ve got a shift at the Wreck in an hour. Your groceries aren’t free you know,” you joke, giggling as he shoves your shoulder.

“Oh get out of here,” he rolls his eyes, chuckling at your retreating figure as you head towards the door.

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

You figured that work would help get your mind off of the blond boy clouding your thoughts, but it only seemed to make the situation worse when JJ’s typical booth was vacant all night. He always makes a point to visit you when you’re at work, knowing that your nights spent waiting tables could get exceptionally long due to rowdy Tourons.

The boy had yet to leave your mind, your lips droop into a frown due to the lack of notifications on your phone when you clock out. You sling your purse over your shoulder, waving goodbye to your coworkers before clicking on JJ’s contact.

The dial tone rings in your ears as you impatiently wait for the line to cut off, subconsciously holding your breath.

“Hey, it’s JJ, sorry I can’t come to the phone right now I’m busy creating chaos elsewhere. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you if I feel like it,” his voice rings through the phone making a frustrated groan fall from your lips as the phone beeps for you to leave a message. You hang up, shoving your phone into your bag before hopping onto your bike, speeding towards the only place you haven’t checked.

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

Your bike skids to a halt in JJ’s driveway, right next to Luke’s truck. A shudder rips through your body at the sight of it. You’ve only had one interaction with Luke, you ran into him at the grocery store with JJ a few weeks prior, his carefree demeanor immediately dropped at the sight of his dad.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Luke smirked, a six pack of beer clutched in his hand as his eyes fell on the two of you. “And with a girl, no less. I’m Luke, JJ’s father.” His voice was sickly sweet making JJ tense up beside you.

“Y/n,” you responded, politely shaking the mans outstretched hand. You shot JJ a questioning glance before continuing. “I’m JJ’s girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend,” Luke exclaimed, his eyebrows raising in surprise as his hand gently clapped against JJ’s chest. “Well good for you, son! You should bring her over for dinner, let me get to know her a little.”

“We’ve got plans with John B, but I’ll think about it,” JJ spat through gritted teeth, his hands tightening around the blue basket full of groceries.

“Another time then,” Luke dismissed, clearly ignoring his sons attitude, shooting another smile your way.

“Yeah, another time,” you agreed, a light blush forming on your cheeks at JJ’s behavior.

You’re brought back to reality by the sound of the front door slamming shut, watching as Luke comes stumbling out of the house with his keys clutched tightly in his hand. The man remains completely unfazed by your presence until his body nearly collides with yours as he rounded the car.

“Shit,” he gasps, the keys falling to the ground as he stares at you in surprise. “Who the hell are-Y/n right?” Realization washes over his face as your name rolls off of his tongue.

“Yeah,” you confirm, reaching down to grab the keys for him. He smiles when you drop them into his hand, but looks at you quizzically.

“What are you doing-,”

“I’m looking for JJ,” you tell him, your words meshing with his as you guys speak at the same time. “Is he here?”

“He’s holed up in his room, as usual,” he scoffs, gesturing towards the house. “I’m not sure he wants any visitors, but if you want to deal with his attitude, be my guest.”

“I think I’ll manage, thank you.” He simply nods, waving as you step out of the way so that he could get into the truck. You watch him pull away, shooting him an uneasy smile before letting yourself into the house. You subconsciously grimace at the sight of beer bottles scattered around the living room aimlessly, the kitchen doesn’t look much better as you walk the short distance to JJ’s room. Your knuckles knock against the door gently, your body jolting backwards as the door swings open immediately.

“I told you to leave me alone-,” JJ’s voice cuts off, his face contorting into confusion at the sight of you standing in his house. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“You’ve been missing for three days and I was worried about you,” you explain, choosing to ignore the bitterness in his tone. “Your dad said you were in here so-.”

“You saw my dad,” he cuts you off again, the angry expression on his face immediately shifting into one of concern. “Did he hurt you?” He doesn’t let you respond before he grabs your arms, his eyes worriedly scanning over every visible part of your body.

“No, JJ, I’m fine what-,”

“I don’t want you to come here looking for me again,” he states with a serious look on his face. “I’ll bring you here when I want to but I don’t want you to come here without me, do you understand?”

You stare at him in shock, guilt flooding your system at the desperation in his expression. That’s when the bruises littering his face register in your brain, your heart dropping at the sight as you slowly piece together why he’s always so tense when Luke is around or gets brought up in conversation. “JJ, what happ-.”

“Promise me, Y/n,” he demands, cupping your face in his battered hands. “Promise me that you won’t come here anymore.”

Your eyes search his, the blue orbs pooling with an unreadable emotion as they stare back at you. “Okay,” you nod, your hands moving to rest on his chest. “I promise.”

“Thank you,” he breathes, relief flooding his system as you pull him against your chest protectively. His head dips down to hide in your neck, a heavy sigh falling from his lips as he nuzzles into you.

“God, JJ,” you murmur, cradling him in your arms. “I’m so sorry.” He wordlessly pulls you closer, his body slumping against yours in defeat, due to the understanding that your apology went deeper than just showing up to his house unannounced. Tears wet the fabric of your shirt as he fell apart in your comforting embrace.

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

A/n: This turned out a little differently than I planned (but are we surprised? that’s literally the story of my life at this point), but here it is! It’s also unedited, so I apologize if you read this and catch any mistakes.

I’m sorry if it strayed from the request a little. I hope that you enjoy it nonetheless! Thank you so much for requesting!

taglist: @outcrbanx @thelocalpogue @kitluvs1 @maaybanks @thatsme-johnbookerroutledge @drewstarkey @maybankdreams @ssjiara @bluebirdsbluebells @spilledtee @lavenderpope

(tagging people makes me feel really shy..oops) If you want to be added to my taglist, let me know!

#jj maybank #jj maybank fics #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank imagines #jj maybank blurbs #jj imagines #jj fics #jj blurbs #outer banks #outer banks imagines #outer banks fics #outer banks blurbs #obx #jj obx #obx imagines #obx fics #obx blurbs

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maria-scribbles · 4 years

Text

glitter + crimson (let’s start a riot)//part two

summary: the pogues get up to a few shenanigans, burn the shit out of some marshmallows, and have a group hug of epic proportions. the dynamic duo of kiara and sailor brings out girl power in full force before getting real about a certain golden group rule.

word count: 4.2k+

ship: jj maybank x oc (sailor flynn)

warnings: mentions of abuse/neglect/parental abandonment/anxiety, underage drinking, weed usage, more fluff, flirting, reference to absolute legend kobe bryant

a/n: hello again! thank you all for the great response to part one, i’m seriously blown away and so grateful for your support! <3 i’m happy y’all enjoyed reading about sailor’s adventures with the pogues! here’s part two, which had previously been combined with part one but i decided to split it because it was getting wayyyy too long (over 8k words, oops). also i’ve never even seen weed with my own two eyes before so my bad if that part’s not realistic, i did my best lol. unbetaed, so i apologize for any mistakes. enjoy!

gif credit goes to @toesure

~Masterlist~

part one | part three | part four | playlist

part two: treading water

The pogues spend the next few hours among the waves, surfing their hearts out until they’re waterlogged, exhausted, and hungry. As the sun starts to sink over the island they pile into John B’s beat up Volkswagen, all their boards tied together on the roof, and head to The Wreck, where Kiara’s dad begrudgingly feeds his daughter and her ‘delinquent’ friends.

That word seems pretty harsh at first but as the evening goes on and the group gets a little louder, it’s kind of well-deserved. Pope can’t seem to stop dropping his fork, sending the rest of them into hysterical laughter each time, and everyone knows when Taylor Swift comes on the radio, Sailor has an obligation to get up and dance. The fact that she knocks a chair over in her haste to show off her moves only makes them laugh harder. When they finally leave and head back to the Chateau for the night, she makes sure to put forty bucks on their table for the food and the twelve pack of beer Kiara swipes from behind the bar when Mr. Carrera isn’t looking.

While it may not look like much, John B’s house if home for more than just him. It’s a safe port for all the pogues when they get lost in the storm, a place where they can all be themselves, be real, without judgement, and it’s Sailor’s second favorite place on the island. She’s lost count of how many nights she’s spent here, sleeping in the spare room, on the pull-out couch, and the hammock in the yard (sleepovers have become even more common in the eight months since Big John’s disappearance at sea, no one willing to leave his son all alone in an empty house.).

The hammock is where she finds herself now on this warm June night, sitting beside JJ with his arm around her shoulders, clad in his sweatshirt that she unashamedly stole last year, passing a joint back and forth while the others lounge around the small bonfire, roasting the old marshmallows John B found in the very back of one of his kitchen’s cupboards and drinking beer. One of her long legs dangles over the edge, toes pushing against the cool grass as they lazily swing back and forth, watching Kiara burn her third marshmallow in a row.

“Kie, what did those poor things ever do to you?” Sailor asks, exhaling smoke through her nose before passing the joint to JJ, and the brush of his fingers against hers sends warmth through her whole body. Kiara just shoots her the bird in response as she stabs her fourth marshmallow and holds it over the fire. The redhead laughs and rests her head against JJ’s shoulder, her limbs light as air. In the distance, lightning arcs between the clouds and creates a dazzling show over the water as thunder rumbles but none of them care enough to notice.

Although she never outright asks to smoke, she also never refuses the chance to get high with her best friend and let their problems drift away with every hit, if only for a little while. Lines get a little blurry between them, too, as both become oh so affectionate with each other when their inhibitions disappear like the sun over the horizon. She sighs contentedly at the blissful feeling of his fingers running through her hair and burrows further into his side, turning so she can throw an arm over his waist and curl her own fingers into the soft material of his shirt.

“Damn it!” John B yells as his marshmallow, in the span of a few seconds, catches fire and unceremoniously falls into the flames with a hiss.

“Ha, I’m not the only one on the struggle bus!” Kiara laughs gleefully, delicately turning her fourth attempt to keep it from burning like the other three. “We can’t all be Pope, I guess.”

The other boy looks up at the mention of his name and grins, holding out a perfectly toasted marshmallow on the end of the stick in his hand. “It takes talent, Kie.” He jokes, chuckling as she sticks her tongue out at him.

Sailor can’t help laughing, too when the two of them dive headfirst into a heated discussion about the finer points of roasting things over a campfire, their voices becoming louder and louder as they try to talk over one another while John B, unfazed from his spot between them, just holds another marshmallow over the fire and ignores them completely as he takes a sip of his beer.

“Aaaand JB’s totally checked out of that particular conversation,” She says to JJ under her breath and she feels more than hears him laugh in response.

“Poor bastard,” He whispers back before taking one last hit of the joint, now burnt down to a nub in his hand, and flicking it into the fire with a shout of “Kobe!”

“Nice one, hotshot.” She shifts her head up on his shoulder as her eyes unabashedly trace his profile in the warm orange glow of the fire, from the golden hair falling haphazardly onto his forehead and down the straight slope of his nose to the curve of his lips before she’s caught -not that she was being subtle in any possible way-, his ocean blue gaze holding hers with an electrified energy that would’ve normally set her whole face aflame. She’s not Normal Sailor now though, she’s High Sailor and High Sailor has positively zero shame so she just looks up at him with a saccharine smile on her face and blesses the fact that weed makes her bold as hell.

The flickering flames throw JJ’s features into sharp relief and highlight the dimples that she loves as he returns her smile, the hand in her hair now twirling a single curl around his finger. His free hand settles on the strip of bare skin at her waist where her sweatshirt has ridden up and her heart beats a little faster when he starts drawing agonizingly slow circles with his thumb. Her hand releases its grip on his shirt and before she even realizes it, she’s reaching up and brushing a finger along her jaw, just like he’d done to her that afternoon on the beach, and she feels the fingers at her waist press against her skin.

It’s moments like these that make her wish she could freeze time and live in them forever. Just the two of them, looking at each other like they’re more than just friends, touching each other like they’re falling into something beautiful and all they need to do is stick the landing. The possibility of taking that final leap teases her. He’s so close, it wouldn’t take much to just reach up and make that minuscule distance between them disappear and from the way his eyes flick down to her mouth and back, she’s sure he’s thinking the same. They won’t though and for now that’s okay, but deep down she wonders just how long they can balance on the cliff’s edge before they both fall.

As much as she’d like to stare at his stupidly handsome face all night, the weather has other plans as lightning flashes white across the sky, immediately followed by a big crack of thunder that makes Sailor jump and accidentally headbutt JJ right in the forehead. The stick in Pope’s hand goes flying somewhere into the bushes when he startles, too, and there’s a pause as everyone looks at each other before bursting into wild laughter.

“Jesus, Sail,” JJ says, reaching up to rub at the spot she hit, “you have a hard head.”

Her reply of “speak for yourself!” is drowned out by another clap of thunder and seconds later it starts pouring rain, sending the group scrambling to head back inside the Chateau before they get too drenched. The duo, in their haste, get tangled together in the hammock and nearly fall to the ground in a heap but manage to hold each other up with their hands clasped tight, both laughing so hard she’s sure the water on their faces is more than just rain.

“The beer! Don’t forget the beer!” Someone yells and John B, halfway to the porch in front of them, does a smooth 180 on the wet grass and runs back for the booze sitting beside the dying fire, sending them a lazy salute when he passes by.

“We honor your sacrifice, Captain!” JJ calls over his shoulder before they clamber onto the porch alongside a giggling Kiara.

“Oh my God, you two almost bit it so hard.” She says while wringing out her shirt, adding to the steadily growing puddle of water at their feet.

“But we didn’t, all thanks to me and my impeccable balance.” He says proudly, grinning down at the girl still snug against his side before she lets go of his hand to slug him in the shoulder.

“Ow, what was that for?”

“Oh please, J, I was the one who kept you from falling on your face. Now, hold still.” Sailor orders and places her hand on his arm, using him for balance as she brushes the grass from her feet.

“Yes, ma’am.” His reply is low in her ear, his hand settles even lower on her back, and she pretends the shiver her body makes is just from the cool rain.

“You like being bossed around, Maybank?”

Her hand grips his strong shoulder a little bit tighter, and she feels his fingers tighten on her sweatshirt as he replies, “Depends on who’s doing the bossing, Flynn.”

Kiara coughs pointedly, staring at them with her eyebrows raised and Sailor feels her face begin to flush bright red because, to be honest, she’d kind of forgotten she was even there as they both let go of each other. The other girl snickers and drawls, “If you two are quite done-”

Thankfully, a thoroughly soaked John B joins them and interrupts whatever Kiara was going to say, his hair plastered to his face and dripping onto the soggy carton of beer protectively cradled in his arms.

“Mission accomplished.” He says with a satisfied smile, setting the drinks down on a chair before shaking his head like a dog and splattering rainwater on everyone, including Pope as he emerges from the house carrying a pile of towels. A few drops land on his cheek and he wrinkles his nose in disgust, wiping them away with his own towel hanging around his neck.

“I was just kidding about the beer.” He says, throwing one and smacking John B right in the face, then kindly passing out the rest. Sailor barely grabs the last one before Pope’s suddenly put in a headlock by the brunet boy, yelling something about mutiny and a captain “not standing for this” as they start to grapple back and forth. JJ pauses in the middle of drying his hair and instantly jumps into the fray after tossing his towel to the floor, the scuffle quickly turning into a three way wrestling match.

She and Kiara both glance at each other and roll their eyes before scooting by the melee and heading into the house, leaving the boys to do their thing. They quickly dry off and change into pajamas, hang their wet clothes up to dry in the bathroom, and then tiredly flop onto the bed in the spare room together.

“How long do you think it’ll take until Wrestlemania out there’s done?” Sailor asks, rolling onto her stomach and reaching to pull her phone and glasses out of her bag on the floor; under her newly acquired hat, the lightning whelk peeks through its towel and the sight of it makes her smile softly. Kiara snorts and sits up, crossing her legs and running her fingers through her damp hair. “Knowing those fools, too long.”

The redhead laughs and mirrors the other girl’s position before slipping her glasses on and glancing down at her phone in trepidation, where no new texts block the lock screen picture of her and the rest of the pogues, and she does her best to ignore the hurt coiling in her chest, the smile fading from her face. She places the phone screen down on the bedside table and when she raises her head, she’s not surprised to find Kiara, ever so perceptive, staring at her with sympathy in her soft brown eyes.

“You okay?” She asks and Sailor takes off her glasses, then pulls her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around them.

“Could be better.”

Lightning illuminates the room, followed by an impressive crack of thunder a few seconds later as rain continues to pound against the window and down the hall, they hear the door slam closed as the boys finally storm inside after their scuffle, still yelling like banshees. The other girl reaches over and quickly squeezes her wrist before shooting her a bright smile.

“If you ever need to vent, I’m all ears.”

She knows she means it. Aside from JJ, Kiara’s her closest friend and from the moment they met, the two had quickly bonded over being the only girls in the group and their love of the environment: she’s lost count of how many times they’ve volunteered, both themselves and the rest of the pogues, to help raise money for animals. Despite Kiara’s kook year, Sailor considers her a sister and knows that Kie feels the same about her. Having each other’s backs no matter what is just what they do.

The redhead looks away from watching the storm outside and matches Kiara’s smile, then scoots closer to wrap her arms around her in a grateful hug.

“Thanks, Kie.”

The dark haired girl eagerly returns the embrace. “Any-”

“Comin’ through, gotta get me some of this group hug action!” JJ yells, storming into the room like a hurricane and throwing his arms around them, all but tackling them onto the bed before they even realize what’s happening.

“No, no, you’re still wet!” Sailor cries as his head rests against the back of her neck, his damp hair slowly beginning to soak into her shirt while Kiara growls, “Oh my God, get off!”

“And miss out on this? No way.” He says cheekily and pulls them both closer, ignoring the dark haired girl’s venomous glare and attempts to pry his hand away from her arm. Sailor, resigned to her fate, just laughs and calls over his arm to John B and Pope as they curiously poke their heads in from the hall, “Get your asses in here!”

She doesn’t have to tell them twice. They throw themselves into the hug faster than she can blink and with such contagious enthusiasm that Kiara can’t fight the affectionate grin making its way onto her face, even as she threatens, “I’m gonna kill all of you.”

Sailor rests her cheek on JJ’s outstretched arm and smiles to herself. This, right here and now, is where she belongs, surrounded by the best friends she could ask for, living each moment to its fullest. No matter what comes their way, she knows this is true: as long as they all stand together, the pogues will be just fine.

Some time later, the hug comes to an end as JJ jokingly complains about Sailor’s big head making his arm numb, which earns him a swift elbow to the stomach from the redhead.

“Weak.” She replies, smirking at the little oof he makes before grabbing his arm and pulling them both up from the bed. “Now get out.”

“Please.” Kiara agrees and pushes John B out the door, followed by Pope. “This room is girls only.”

“Since when?” The latter asks, sidestepping to avoid JJ as he’s playfully shoved into the hall by Sailor, who replies, “Right now.”

“Why?”

“’Cause we said so!” Both girls say in unison before they slam the door shut and then lean their backs against it, giggling. On the other side, they hear Pope ask in a very amused voice, “I thought this was your house?”

John B sighs the deepest sigh they’ve ever heard before replying, “Yeah, I did, too.”

“Ten bucks they’re gonna talk shit about us.” JJ says and there’s a not so subtle bump against the door that gives away the fact that he’s got his ear pressed to it, trying to listen in on them; a fact that gets proven when Sailor smacks her hand on it and makes him stumble back with a yelp of surprise.

“Dream on!”

“You wish!”

She and Kiara call at the same time, then glance at each other and burst into another fit of giggles.

“Tough break, dude. You’ll feel better in the morning.” That was John B’s tactless way of saying he’s tired without actually saying it and seconds later they hear his footsteps disappear down the hall to his room as he makes his escape, followed faintly by the sound of his door swinging shut.

“You don’t talk about us at all, Sail? Seriously?” JJ asks and Sailor can almost feel the sheer force of Pope’s inevitable eye roll when he mumbles under his breath, “Oh my God.”

Kiara’s on the same wavelength as him because she rolls her eyes, too and all but yells, “If we say yes will you fucking leave?”

There’s a pause and then: a slightly miffed “...yes.” along with Pope trying and failing to disguise his laugh as a cough.

“Then yes, we do talk about you. Now go.”

“Okay, okay! Jeez.”

“Goodnight, boys!” Sailor calls in a singsong voice before hearing them retreat to the living room, arguing about who gets the sleeper sofa and who gets stuck with the regular couch. When she’s sure they’re gone she shakes her head fondly (she doesn’t see why they can’t just get over themselves and share the damn thing) and turns back to Kiara, who’s already in the middle of pulling the damp comforter from the bed, her face the picture of disgust.

“Ugh,” She shudders, tossing it to the floor and then wiping her hands on a discarded towel from earlier. “Don’t touch that.”

“No shit.”

The dark haired girl jokingly flips Sailor the bird and then joins her in lounging on the bed, watching the fan spin in circles above their heads while the storm outside continues to rage on. The silence is comforting, soothing, and goes on for so long that the redhead’s nearly sent off to dreamland by the sound of the rain before Kiara finally speaks, “Hey, Sail?”

She hums in response, slowly turning her head to face her and blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You just did.” She replies with an impish grin, but it slips from her face when the other girl shoots her a flat, unamused glance.

“Ha ha. I’m being serious, okay?”

Well that wasn’t worrying at all. “Is something wrong?” Sailor asks, rolling onto her side to face her friend completely and propping her head on her arm, all traces of lethargy thrown out the window. Kiara does the same with an unreadable look in her eyes as she answers, “No, I’m just a little...okay, a lot curious about something, and I want you to be honest with me.”

“I mean, I kind of have to. You know I suck at lying.”

She frowns when Kiara doesn’t even react to her comment and instead starts to worry her bottom lip between her teeth. “It’s kind of a personal question, though.”

Oh, Jesus. She’s gonna ask about her dad, Sailor knows it, and that’s something she’s just not ready to talk about -she hasn’t even told JJ the whole story yet and she tells him (almost) everything- but before she can think of a semi-decent excuse, or run to the bathroom, or pretend to just pass the fuck out, Kiara blurts, “What’s the deal between you and JJ?”

Okay, that’s decidedly not what she expected to hear and it completely throws her for a loop, her brain blowing a fuse in epic fashion. A long stream of gibberish comes from her mouth as she tries and fails to articulate a response because holy hell she’s so not prepared for this; she’s a listener, not a talker! She’s the confidante not the confider, the asker not the answerer, and she can feel herself getting a little sweaty at just the thought of talking about her feelings, even with someone as close to her as Kiara. She almost wishes the other girl had asked about her dad.

To be honest she should’ve seen this coming, considering the looks Kiara’s been sending her recently and especially today, the ones that clearly meant that the dark haired girl’s seen what’s been happening and wants. that. tea. What Sailor doesn’t get though, is why she’s being so serious about it: she expects at least an overexaggerated wink or a teasing comment or two from her friend but she’s just waiting patiently, the slightest hint of mirth in her eyes.

Finally, the redhead manages to collect her panicked thoughts enough to squeak oh so eloquently, “Me-him-nothing!”

Kiara arches one eyebrow. “Sail, you really do suck at lying.”

Sailor flops back onto the bed and slides her hands down her furiously blushing face with a groan. “I’m not lying.” She mutters insistently but even she can admit it sounds weak as hell.

“It’s obvious there’s something-”

Something in her snaps and before she can stop them, words just start coming out with the force of a wave crashing against the shore, rough and callous. “It’s obvious there’s nothing going on, okay? Nothing. And even if there was -not that I’m saying there is- it can’t happen. That’s the golden rule, Kie.”

Kiara looks momentarily taken aback at the redhead’s outburst and then rolls onto her back, staring at the ceiling for a moment before she whispers quietly, like a secret she’s reluctant to share, “Maybe I think that rule is stupid.”

“Stupid?” Sailor glances over incredulously, the brief flash of anger aimed at her friend slowly morphing into confusion. “You’re the one who came up with it in the first place!”

“I know...” The dark haired girl sighs, tiredly running her hands through her hair, “I wanted to keep things from getting weird! It’s worked pretty well so far but I’m kind of, sort of, maybe starting to think it might not have been the best idea.”

“Why?” She asks, brow furrowing.

Kiara appears deep in thought as she keeps staring at the ceiling, working her jaw until she seems to come to a decision and turns her head to look Sailor in the eye. “Because I don’t think something as simple as a rule should be able to dictate who you can or can’t...love.”

Oh, God. Anxiety starts to take hold in her chest and she tries to keep her brain from going into five-alarm fire mode, her fingers tapping nervously against her leg. Why oh why did she have to say the L-word? Who said anything about that? Hell, it’s been a few months and she’s still getting used to her world-changing, panic-inducing, everything-clicking-into-place epiphany that made her realize that she does, in fact, like JJ as more than a friend (how and when her feelings changed, she hasn’t quite figured that out yet.). She’s not even close to thinking about love. Noticing her friend’s distress, Kiara reaches over to place her darker hand on the paler girl’s and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

“I’m not saying you love him, okay? But there’s obviously something good going on between you guys and I’m not cool with some dumb rule we made when we were twelve getting in the way of your happiness,” Her mouth curls into a lighthearted smirk, “even if it happens to be with someone as, uh, distinct as JJ.”

Despite herself, Sailor snorts a laugh and the tight feeling in her chest slowly starts to become a little more bearable as its replaced by a swell of gratitude that she has a person as wonderful as Kiara for a friend. She really did luck out in that department, she thinks, and the corner of her mouth lifts in a small smile.

“Distinct?”

“Hey, I was gonna say idiotic but I’m trying to be nice here.” The dark haired girl says, laughing as Sailor affectionately rolls her eyes before continuing, “But you do know that if he messes this up I’ll kick his ass, right?”

“Trust me, I do.”

“Good.” She punctuates that with a massive yawn, then rolls away from her and pulls the sheets higher over her chest, mumbling, “Now I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for bed. All this deep talk made me tired.”

“Big mood,” Sailor replies, reaching over and flicking off the bedside lamp, the only light now coming from the occasional flash of lightning through the windows as she rolls comfortably onto her side, tucking her arm under the pillow. Silence settles over them, dark and calm and stretching for who knows how long before she says quietly, “Thanks, Kie.”

There’s no answer. Realizing she must’ve already nodded off, the redhead’s just about to crash herself when her friend’s reply softly cuts through the silence like a knife.

“You’re not the only one I did it for.”

Kiara doesn’t say anything after that and Sailor falls asleep wondering what, or rather who, exactly the other girl meant.

let me know what you think!

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hello-im-not-a-possum · 4 years

Text

One man’s curse is another man’s blessing (Prompt: Nightmare)

The raven monster looked around frantically for an escape, he was in the woods again, his woods, his home. But he was being hunted. He could sense the villain pursuing him, like so many of its kind, it came with fire, traps, and a crude understanding of what he was. But unlike the other hunters who had all fallen before him, this one knew the ways of magic and knew how to use them against the feathered king of the forest.

“Mr. Lawrence?”

For the first time in the beast’s life, he genuinely feared what would happen to him, he was terrified of this one-legged hunter who would otherwise be nothing but an appetizer to him. His eyes widened as he caught sight of the hunter, the man was looking directly at him and taking careful aim with his gun...

“Mr. Lawrence?”

Not wanting to get shot with whatever magical concoction the hunter undoubtedly put in the bullets, the raven spread his wings and flew away.

*BANG*

*CRRAAACK*

As the tree fell on his back and he fruitlessly struggled to get out of his self-made prison, he cursed himself for being so stupid! The hunter wasn’t aiming at him, he was aiming at the old tree!

“Mr. Lawrence?”

The Raven king’s blood turned into ice as he heard the uneven yet steady footsteps approaching him, his life flashed before his eyes as he part of him wondered what the hunter’s goal was. Did it come to strip the beast of his lovely iridescent-black feathers? Did it come to take him down for sport? Or did it come to avenge the others that he had killed? He howled and flapped his free wing as hard as he could as his hunter came closer and closer to him...

“’EY SAMMY! SOMEONE’S TRYIN’ TA SPEAK TA YA!”

Sammy snapped back to the present; he was human, in the studio’s break room, there were other people here, some of them looked at him like he was either hurt, crazy, or both.

“Huh?! What?! Oh. ...What was the question again?”

“I just asked how you and Joey met each other...”

“Right, that...” Sammy pinched the bridge of his nose, took a deep breath and recited the detail-scrubbed truth he had told many times before. “He was on a hunting trip and he trespassed on my property. It was dark, and he was firing his gun near me. So at the time, I thought he was out to kill me.”

“Oh.”

“He’s still embarrassed about it and I don’t like remembering it.” Sammy took a long sip from his coffee. “And for future reference, my name’s not “Mr. Lawrence”, Just call me Sammy.”

“Okay then...”

“If that’s all you wanted from me,” He stood up from his seat, taking the coffee mug with him “then I’m going back to work.”

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

His talons were dulled and cut, his sharp beak was given the same treatment, his beautiful, glossy feathers that practically sparkled under sunlight and had been the envy of the world of monsters and world of mankind alike had all been plucked out. He stood naked and helpless in a form he had called his prey as long as he could remember, and was told that it was his true form.

Sammy Lawrence woke up from his nightmare in a cold sweat to discover that he had fallen asleep with his charm on, keeping him in what he called his “work skin”. Reaching for the charm Joey gave him and ripping it off, he sighed in relief as he saw his human body getting covered in feathers. But paused in confusion as he saw no further changes take place.

“Don’t panic...” he told himself as he fumbled around in the dark for the phone. “Don’t panic...” he repeated as he punched in Joey’s number. “Don’t panic...” he repeated again as the phone rang.

“Hello?” Joey’s groggy voice answered “Sammy, what time is it-”

“JOEY SYLVESTER DREW, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOUR CURSED NECKLACE DO TO ME?!”

“Sammy, what happened?!” The bird monster heard shuffling on the other line, most likely Joey getting his shoes and coat on. “Can you describe the problem?”

“When I took it off, it wouldn’t let me change back all the way!”

“That’s... unusual...”

“Does sleeping in it effect the charm’s power?”

“Physically, no, it shouldn’t do that.” Joey grabbed some of his spell books off the shelves “Unless you were wearing it for literal years without taking it off, but I highly doubt that’s what’s going on.”

The bird monster heard the sounds of tires screeching.

“Joey?”

“Yes, Sammy?”

“...Are you driving while talking on the phone again?”

“That’s not the issue at hand, are there any other details about your condition that you need to tell me?”

“Joey you idiot, you’re going to get yourself killed if you keep pulling shit like this! Either hang up the phone or I will!”

“Good news, I’m pulling into your driveway as we speak!”

Sammy slapped his forehead in frustration as he hung up the phone. Sure enough, as he looked outside his window he saw the familiar beat-up Rolls Royce that had somehow managed to survive being Joey’s car for at least fifteen years. The same car Joey threw him into all those years ago.

He exited his house and saw Joey hobble out of the driver’s seat trying to balance the almost comedically large stack of books he had brought with him with his cane.

“Need help?”

“It would be appreciated.”

Sammy wordlessly took the large stack out of Joey’s hands and led him into his ‘home’.

As soon as the pair were in, Joey immediately went to work on trying to figure out what went wrong, flipping through his large stack of books and poking and prodding at Sammy’s feather-covered form.

“Did you recently eat or drink anything that felt ‘off’ to you?”

“No.”

“Have you recently been in or near areas that belong to the fae and or any other supernatural being?”

“Do I look like an insane dumbass?”

“First off: Hey! Second off: What about people, did you recently meet someone who you felt was out to get you and or had strong magical abilities?”

“Not any that know about my “Condition” as you call it.”

“Oh dear...”

“What is it?!”

‘Oh dear’, ‘oh no’, ‘oops’, and ‘oh well’ were the four worst phrases Sammy could ever hear Joey say.

“Sammy, how much are you aware about the nature of your condition?”

“I’ve been a raven monster for as long as I could remember, sometimes I would change my size for convenience's sake and could somewhat alter my form to have an extra pair of talons in my wings if I wanted, and then after you stole me from my forest, I could look like a somewhat-normal human being with your charm.”

“I meant, what do you know about the background of your condition, do you know why you have it?”

“Well, there was what Allison said, but I still think she was just spouting hogwash to convince me I’m one of you people...”

“What was it?”

“According that fortune teller friend of yours, my ‘curse’ was put on me by my mom’s relatives. They couldn’t stand the fact that she eloped with a black man so they “cursed me to take the form of a monster he’d grow the boy into anyway” and that it would only be broken when I found my “Real family”. But I’m pretty sure that if I had a human family that wanted me, they’d look for me.”

“That makes explaining this slightly easier;” Joey sighed. “Sammy, did you know that magic takes more than just blood relations into account of who your family is? In fact, spiritual family connections that are mutual between two parties tend to be stronger than blood family connections.”

“I think you’ve said something like that before...”

“I’m telling you this because I think that you’ve loosened your curse.”

The bird man blinked in disbelief.

“Are you telling me..?”

Joey twiddled his thumbs sheepishly as he spoke, the man was clearly uncomfortable to break the news to him.

“You are genuinely a human being, and your curse is slowly but surely being lifted.”

Sammy stared at Joey wide-eyed with his visible skin was white as a sheet. He left the room and Joey heard muffled screaming coming from that area.

“Now Sammy, I’m sure you have a lot of mixed feelings about this, but I know we’re bound to find a solution somehow!”

The muffled screaming continued as Sammy was still taking in the fact that his worst personal nightmare was real and happening right now. The songbird musician felt sick to his stomach... He used to eat humans for fuck’s sake! They were one of his favorite meats before meeting Joey, and now he was being told that he was one?!

“Sammy?”

And the pack... Without him, what would happen to the werewolf pack in the studio?! He needed his wings to properly watch after them! Even if they knew his scent too well to attack him while they were wolfed out, a human being is much slower and weaker than a pack of werewolves, they could get themselves hurt, or worse, killed if he couldn’t keep up with them! And what if one of them accidentally turned him?! None of them would ever be able to live with the emotional turmoil of that!

“Sammy..?”

He was useless now! Nothing more than a pathetic wreck of a human being who had thrown away all his value because he let his guard down, got too soft in the humans’ world, too comfortable talking with them... And now he doomed himself to be one of them, and the wolf pack to a terrible fate.

“Sammy.”

The musician felt a reassuring hand on his back, and looked up to see Joey Drew’s concerned face.

“Take a few days off if you need them, I can understand if you need space to sort all of this out.”

He stayed silent as he thought over his situation.

As it turned out, taking some space was exactly what he needed. All it took was a few days back in the woods, far away from the studio, and the people there and he was back to his former glory, only turning human again when he put on Joey’s cursed trinket.

He knew he’d have to return eventually, but when he did, he’d know better than to let his guard down again.

#hauntober #nightmare #bendy and the ink machine #batim monster au #sammy lawrence #joey drew #fanfic

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lousimusician · 5 years

Text

I Want You Back (Part 8)

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: Peter was too blind to realize that you were slipping through his fingers

Word Count: 6,002

Warning: Angst, mentions of death and trauma

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Every street you walk on I leave tearstains on the ground~ Following the girl I didn’t even want around~

~~~~~~~~~~~

It was one of the longest and most painful weeks of Peter's life.

Peter had grown up experiencing a lot of heart ache but this, this hurt in an entirely new way and he had no idea what to do with himself. He's lost a lot of loved one's throughout his life, but he's never lost anyone that he's had to see again every. single. day.

He couldn't bring himself to do anything anymore. Eating, showering, he couldn't sleep, let alone patrolling. It had even popped up in the Daily Bugle about Spider-Man's absence this last week, but he just didn't care anymore.

If it wasn't for May, Ned, and MJ, he would've just been rotting away in his bedroom in that maroon hoodie of yours.

Peter regretted asking if you wanted to get back together, why in the world did he think it would've been that easy. He grew up with you and if there was one thing about you it was that you were stubborn when you put your mind to something.

He had ended up stalking both you and Brad on Instagram. He felt himself die a little every time you posted about the other, but what felt even worse was the realization that you had deleted every post Peter was in, that night he spent two hours straight just crying.

But what felt so backwards to him was that now that it was Saturday night and it was the first time all week that he didn't get to see you in person, instead of that making him feel better at all, all he wanted to do was go and see you, even if it did hurt.

He just really missed you.

And when he saw his suit hanging in the closet... he couldn't resist.

He fought every thing in his head that screamed how bad of an idea this was and in the first time in a week, he put on his suit. But instead of going out to fight crime, he went to go see you instead.

Peter glanced at his reflection in the mirror in his bedroom after having just slipped on the suit, mask in hand. He looked like a wreck but he couldn't care less, and with a sigh he tugged on his mask, the eyes suddenly adjusting for him.

"Hello Peter." Karen's voice greeted. "It's been a while, is everything okay?"

"Not really." He responded, heading over to his window and beginning to climb out. "I'll tell you later." He mumbled, making his way on top of the fire escape.

"Okay. There's a robbery currently two blocks away."

"Oh.. Are the police on their way?"

"They are half a block away from the crime."

"Then they can handle it themselves tonight." He said, shooting a web at the building across from him. "We're gonna visit (Y/N)." And with that he swung on the web. Karen fell silent on the swing there, which wasn't too long, you only lived a few buildings away.

Once Peter had reached the building next to yours, he climbed up to the roof. Before the two of you dated and you found out he was Spider-Man in Sophomore year, he would sometimes swing by to check in on you after he went patrolling, something about fighting crime then going to see you safe nd sound always comforted him, and he found that the roof of the building next to yours, as creepy as it sounds, had the perfect view into your window. And viewing you from the roof was much more inconspicuous than hanging out on your fire escape.

"Why are we visiting (Y/N)?" Karen asked, once Peter reached the roof. "I thought you said she broke up with you?"

"She did." He answered sadly. Peter walked to the edge of the roof, your bedroom window coming into view. "I just wanted to see her." He crouched down on the ledge so he was sitting on his haunches.

"Peter?"

"Hm." He hummed.

"Do you miss (Y/N)?"

"..Yeah I do... a lot actually." He mumbled.

The curtains of your bedroom window were pulled open, he couldn't see you but the light was on and he could see the familiar bedroom that he's been in a countless amount of times.

"Have you tried asking her out again?"

Peter let out a short sarcastic laugh. "Yeah but it's not that easy, she's with someone else now... and she hates me."

Just then your bedroom door swung open, making Peter immediately tense as he watched as you walked in, running a hand through your hair and shutting the door behind you. Peter held his breath as he watched you move about your room.

Was this an invasion of your privacy? Yes. Did Peter understand that? Of course. But right now all he wanted to do was see you. He wanted to remember what you looked like when all of your attention wasn't on Brad, he wanted to remember what it was like, not to see you with a scowl every time he was near you.

Right now all he wanted was to bask in the peacefulness as you went about your night.

He watched as you walked over to the bookshelf in your bedroom that only held your comic books and he watched as you picked one out.

You grabbed the comic book and made your way over to your desk, which happened to be right in front of the window.

And it was the first time that week that Peter finally felt relaxed as he just observed the quiet scene. He watched as you flipped the page every few seconds, the way you bit your lip, when you pushed back a strand of hair away from your face. It was all so simple and mundane but it was you. And Peter would kill to be laying on your bed right now and watching you read from there, like he usually did, instead of now having to watch you from the rooftop of a building, but this was all he had of you now.

All he had were the few things you left at his place, the pictures and the videos, one shared class, and this moment. And he had come to face the fact that he had actually lost you now, and so he was prepared to draw this moment out as long as possible.

But unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and once he saw you flip the comic shut and stand up to close your curtains, he knew it was time to go.

So with a heavy heart, he swung back to his place, having to face the fact, yet again, that he broke your heart and now you didn't want anything to do with him.

Nightly visits became a regular.

Every night at 8, Peter would swing by your place and just watch. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help himself as it became a guilty pleasure his. Some nights he'd end up crying the whole time, others he wouldn't say a word. And he knew he should try to move on but he still didn't want to, he was terrified of forgetting you.

He was also able to slowly get back into patrolling, but only for a short while. His spider sense hadn't been working properly and he ended up getting hurt often, even showing up to school with a black eye one day.

Eventually two weeks had passed and Peter hadn't felt any better, the only things that did improve was that he had started to eat again and he wasn't crying as much as he was before. But he still couldn't sleep very well and he was still constantly depressed about the whole break up which had been starting to affect his grades in school.

Currently Peter was in lunch, sitting with Ned. MJ had decided to sit with you and Brad, and right now he couldn't take his eyes off the two of you as he glared daggers into Brad as he watched him play with your hair while you talked to MJ.

"-ter..Peter." Ned said, pulling Peter out of his thoughts.

"W-what?" He asked in surprise.

Ned sighed. "I've been trying to get your attention for like two minutes."

"Oh sorry, what were you saying?" He asked, glancing over at the two of you again.

Ned shook his head. "Doesn't matter... Do you want to switch seats or at least sit on this side, so you don't have to see them?" He asked, referring to you and Brad.

"No, I'm fine..." He trailed off, his eyebrows furrowing when he saw Brad moving closer to you, and press a kiss to your temple, making Peter snap the fork in his hand in two. Ned looked at it in surprise as Peter looked down at the now broken utensil. "Oh...oops." He said, dropping the piece that was still in his hand.

"Are you sure you don't wanna switch?" Ned tried again.

"No, seriously, I'm fine." He said shaking his head, looking back down at the lunch tray in front of him.

Ned sighed again. "Y'know I don't mean to sound pushy but- when are you going to get over her? It's been over a month since you two broke up and you're a mess- you never even showed up to see Star Wars with me."

"Right..I'm sorry Ned, it's still in theaters, we can go this weekend...." Which was a promise he did keep, because if he didn't at least make an effort with his friends, he'd just be as bad as before. "I just, I don't think I can move on."

"She's moving on though and you're just gonna hurt yourself more if you don't start to try. She already told you she didn't want to get back together." He said referring to the conversation that you and Peter had in the prop room, Peter had told him and MJ about it the next day at lunch.

Peter pushed his lunch tray away and put his arms on the table, resting his chin on top of them as he looked up at Ned now. He shrugged. "But what if she changes her mind." He mumbled.

"But what if she doesn't?"

Peter fell silent, and instead asked another question. "Do you know when she stopped calling me pretty boy?" That had been one of the questions that were gnawing at the back of his mind, but most of all he wanted to know why he didn't notice.

Ned frowned, "I don't know... just that it was a long time ago." Peter fell silent again, making Ned decide to change the subject. "C'mon let's go to the computer room and play some games." He said. Peter nodded, and the two of them left the cafeteria, with Peter throwing another glance at you.

Peter got through the rest of the day, feeling out of it as usual. He was thankful when the last bell of the day rang and he was finally able to go home. He was at Ned's locker, he rarely stopped by his own anymore due to awkward encounters with you, when his plans for the night suddenly changed.

He saw you and Brad walking down the hallway, hand in hand, as you both headed towards the exit. Usually the two of you never left together, since you took different ways home, and now out of sheer curiosity about what the two of you were up to, he wanted to follow.

"I'll see you tomorrow Ned." He quickly rushed out as he made his way down the hallway, hearing Ned mutter something back in response.

Peter kept a lot of distance between you guys as he followed you outside, and once the three of you made it farther away from the school and it was clear that the two of you were headed towards your apartment, he quickly ran into an alleyway and changed into his suit, leaving his backpack webbed beind a dumpster. And with that, he was quickly swinging towards your apartment.

Again, he knew how wrong this was but all the common sense in the world right couldn't stop him from wanting to know how Brad treated you when it was just the two of you.

Peter only had to wait about 15 minutes before he saw your bedroom door being pushed open, through your window, from where he layed on the edge of the roof. "Wait- Karen, they're here!" Peter whisper-yelled, interrupting the conversation he was having with his A.I. Peter quickly sat up and leaned forward, the eyes on his mask narrowing.

You walked in, Brad following close behind and closing the door once you were both inside. He dropped his backpack off by the door, while you out it by your desk where you usually left your bag. Brad walked over to your bed and fell on top of it in a starfish pose, while you sat down at your desk. The space between the two of you put his pounding heart at ease and helped him swallow back some of his jealousy. It was clear the two of you were speaking to one another but he couldn't make out the words the two of you were saying.

"Karen can you activate reconnaissance- whatever?"

"Activating enhanced reconnaissance mode." She said, and suddenly he could hear both your and Brad's voices loud and clear, and your giggles suddenly floated through his ears.

"I think you have a couple fans." You giggled, looking at Brad from your spot at your desk.

Brad raised an eyebrow at you. "Care to explain what you mean?"

"A couple of freshmen girl's came up to me today and started asking questions about you."

Brad started laughing along with you. "Really? Like what?"

"They asked if you were nice, and I told them yes. Then they asked how smart you were, and I told them very." You smirked at him. "Then they decided to get a little personal and asked if you were a good kisser."

Brad smirked back at your flirty tone. "And what did you tell them?"

"I told the-"

"Karen deactivate reconnaissance mode!" Peter shrieked.

"Deactivating enhanced reconnaissance mode." And suddenly your voices cut out, and Peter let out a sigh of relief, falling back onto the rooftop.

Peter groaned. "That was awful."

"Is that Brad?" Karen asked.

"Wha- oh yeah... That's Brad." He grumbled, sitting back up and daring to look back over the ledge, to see what you were doing. He breathed another sigh of relief when he saw the two of you getting up to grab your backpacks, probably about to start on homework

"She seems very happy with him."

Peter rolled his eyes. "I bet she was happier when she was with me."

"I thought she broke up with you because she wasn't happy."

"Well before the blip." He sighed for the umpteenth time. "God the blip ruined everything... But anyway, I don't trust Brad."

"Why's that?"

"Because- Because it's Brad!" He yelped. "What kind of guy asks out a girl who just got out of a three year relationship. And he also just seems very controlling, he's always dragging her by the hand places and just the way he talks to her sounds like he's trying to manipulate her or something, I don't know. And also he hadn't seen her for five years with the blip, you'd think he'd move on during that. I don't trust him." He sighed. "...I just wish I knew why I pushed her away, if that didn't happen, we'd still be together."

Everything fell quiet as Peter went back to observing the two of you, but it turned out to be pretty boring, which actually ended up being something he was grateful for. He didn't know what he would do if the two of you were all touchy behind closed doors.

About two hours passed before Karen spoke up again. Peter was laying back down on the ledge, just gazing at your face through your window.

"You know Peter, I could psychoanalyze you if you want." She suddenly piped up.

Peter furrowed his eyebrows. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Well, you've stated multiple times that you don't quite understand why you pushed (Y/N) away, except for that it had something to do with the blip. So if you want I can psychoanalyze you to see what the cause was."

Peter hummed. "That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. Okay you can do it." He gave permission.

Karen was silent for a moment, processing whatever it was she needed to process before starting again. "It seems to me that after the blip and having to come to the realization that the world was in shambles and dealing with the stress from everyone expecting you to be the next Iron Man, you overworked yourself as Spider-Man to live up to these expectations and tried to at least attempt to fix the world. And also after the blip, you had to face the fact that the Avengers are practically non-existent now, along with the fact that Tony Stark is dead and instead of dealing with your grief properly you pushed it to the back of your mind and started to unconsciously push (Y/N) away, because you felt that Mr. Stark along with the other Avengers had sacrificed a lot to save the world so you sacrificed one of the only things that made you truly happy as a way to justify not being able to sacrifice as much as the Avengers had."

Peter fell silent, the gravity of what she said, feeling like both a weight had been placed and lifted off his chest at the same time. "Karen?"

"Yes Peter?"

"What's wrong with me?"

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understan-"

He quickly, sat up. "Seriously what's wrong with me, I hurt this amazing girl all because I didn't know how to grieve! How the hell do I not know how to grieve, I feel like that's all I've been doing my entire life!" He shouted. "I will be the first one to admit that I fucked up, and I fucked up bad. And if I could re-do the whole thing, I would've just talked to her or aunt May about how I felt, even if I didn't understand it! And I feel like with everything you just said it's still no excuse for what I did to her, she didn't deserve anything I put her through. And god! What the fuck am I doing right now, I've been spying on my ex girlfriend when she deserves to finally move on and be happy for once, even if it is with Brad." He was panting now. "And also what the fuck was I thinking when I asked her if she'd go out with me again, am I insane, of course she wasn't going to agree to that, not even to mention how selfish and insensitive that was of me to even think about asking her that!... Why am I so fucking stupid." He sighed, shaking his head in defeat. In that moment he turned his head to look at the two of you.... and how Brad was now getting awfully close to you... spinning you around in your chair.....and leaning down to kiss you....

"Whoah! Whoah! Whoah!" Peter yelped, "Karen they're kissing!"

"Isn't that what couples do?"

"Yeah, but that's my girlfriend!"

"You just said she's your ex- girlfriend." She corrected, making Peter groan.

"That's what I meant- I need to stop them! Look they're going to her bed now!" He shrieked as the two of you stumbled backwards to your bed, Brad sitting down as you placed yourself on his lap. "Shit! Karen what do I do!?" He couldn't shoot a web- if you saw one of his webs you'd know that he was there.

He looked down at the roof noticing a piece of rubble that broke off of the ledge and in sheer panic he picked it up and threw it at your window. But unfortunately he miscalculated how hard he threw it and suddenly the sound of shattering glass filled his ears, as well as your and Brad's ears as the two of you snapped your heads towards the window. Peter's eyes widened and he dropped flat on the roof, the risen ledge blocking him from view.

"What the-?" Your voice now rang through the air due to the broken window.

Peter slightly peeked his head out from behind the ledge, seeing how the two of you stared at the broken window in surprise and confusion. "I think we should get your parents." Brad said, looking at the mess, the broken glass scattered all over your desk.

"Yeah- c'mon." You said, the two of you shuffling out of the bedroom to find your parents.

Peter sighed in relief and sat up, looking back over the ledge and your now shattered window. "Oops..." He muttered, and the realization of what he just did sunk. ".... I think I need help, I can't keep doing this." He sighed.

"If you're sorry and still in love with her, why don't you try winning her back?" Karen suddenly asked.

"What?" Peter asked incredulously. "Because that's crazy, and I already told you it's not that easy."

"No one said it was going to be easy."

"Yeah but... she hates me. I screwed everything up." He said sadly.

"Everyone deserves a second chance Peter."

Peter let out a short self-deprecating laugh. "I've already tried apologizing, she doesn't want to hear it.''

"Try again."

"I ca-"

"Then again." She cut him off.

"Kar-"

"And again." She cut him off again. "Until you get it right."

Peter fell silent, soaking in what Karen just told him. "But... what if I annoy her? What if it just makes her hate me more?"

"You'd be fighting for her Peter."

He fell silent again in thought, the hopeless romantic in him feeling a bit of hope at the thought of fighting for the girl he loved. It would be hard, and it wasn't something that would work overnight but if it won you back... then it'd be worth it. It was true he fucked up, and no one knew that better than him right now, but he also knew if he had a second chance he'd do everything right this time. Losing you had been one of the worst experiences he's gone through. He was still deeply in love with you, and if it didn't work...he would respect your decision, and finally move on. But if it did, then everything could go back to the way it was before the blip.

"Alright." Peter jumped to his feet. "I'm gonna fight for her. Do you mind if I bounce some ideas off you?" He asked.

"Not at all."

"Thanks... I need to clear my mind though, so we're gonna go for a swing around the city.... and who knows maybe stop some crimes." He said, now in a slightly better mood, even feeling a little bit of excitement as he started to come up with ideas and plans on how to win you back.

And with that, he shot a web and began swinging, planning on staying out for a few more hours.

You ran a hand through your hair, watching as your mom was cleaning up the glass from your desk. You were sat beside Brad on top of your bed.

"So how did it break again?" Your dad asked as he stood behind your mom, trying to get a look of the window frame.

You shrugged. "There's a piece of concrete on the fire escape, I think someone threw it at the window."

Your dad frowned. "That's weird."

"At least neither of us got hurt." Brad said, making your dad purse his lips, not responding.

You placed a hand on his knee and gave him an apologetic smile.

Neither of your parents were fans of Brad. They clearly preferred and trusted Peter more and having this sudden change of you bringing home a different boy. But then again they didn't really know what the last few months with Peter had been like.

Your dad sighed, "I guess I'll call someone and have them replace the window while your in school."

You hummed. "Alright."

You hadn't noticed Brad staring at something in your room, until he tapped you and asked. "What's that?" You looked in the direction he was pointing in and spotted the box labeled 'Peter' in the corner of your room.

"Oh, that's just all of Peter's things." You shrugged. "Took me a while to find everything he's left, I need to give it back sometime." You huffed, it's been over a month since the two of you broke up, but it still weighed heavy on your heart.

"Oh Peter." Your mom suddenly said. "I miss him." She said sadly, and you could see Brad was beginning to feel awakward again.

"Yeah." Your dad agreed. "Good kid."

You rolled your eyes. "Whatever." You groaned.

Brad's phone suddenly vibrated and he quickly picked up, finding it as something to distract him from the situation. He let out a quiet groan, "I gotta get home. My mom just texted me."

You pouted, "All right, I'll see you tomorrow." You said, leaning up to kiss his cheek before he got up.

"Bye." He hummed back. "Um have a good night Mrs and Mr (Y/L/N)." He said, earning a grunt from your dad and an absentminded 'bye' from your mom.

Once Brad had left you flopped back on your bed. "Do you guys have to be so curt with him." You groaned.

"We just don't know him very well yet." You mom said. "And we miss Peter, he's such a sweetheart."

You groaned again. "Yeah but now he's my ex so can we please stop talking about him already."

"Fine." Your dad agreed. "We'll try to be nicer to Brad and forget about Peter, then. But I still don't trust him, something just seems off with him, and I know you don't like Peter anymore but he was a good kid. Besides you're the one who can't let go of his things."

You shot up in youd bed, "What!?" You yelled afronted.

He gestured to the box you had been talking about just minutes before. "You found all of his things weeks ago and yet they're still here." He said in amusement, clearly finding your frustration entertaining. There was no malicious intent behind his words, your dad just liked to tease you.

"Fine." You said. "I'll take them back to him now." You said in a challenging voice.

"Alright then, go. Be back for dinner." He grinned.

"Fine, I will." You stood up from your bed and headed over to the box, picking it up. "I'll see you guys in like 45 minutes then." You said before leaving your bedroom and heading for your front door.

"Try and make up while your there!" Your dad shouted out.

"Shut up!" You called back over your shoulder, hearing him laugh shortly after.

You rolled your eyes and slammed the door shut behind you as you started walking down the hallway.

But gradually began to slow down until you came to a full stop as you realized what you were going out to do.

You looked down at the box in your hands and bit your lip.

Giving Peter back his things and going to his place to take back yours really made the break up feel final. Sure, you haven't spoken to him in what felt like forever, but... you still had his things and as long as you had his things, he'd still be somewhat apart of your life.

You were a better actress than what people gave you credit for. Yes, you looked and felt much happier after the break up, but it was a lie if people thought you were moving on smoothly. And the fact that Peter tried to apologize and that he kept staring at you in class and at lunch. It pissed you off how he started to care again, and that was probably why you felt like you had taken two steps back. But when it came right down to it, Peter hurt you but Brad made you happy. You liked Brad, you really did... which is why this was good.

You'd go to Peter's give his stuff back and get your own things and then you'll continue to move on.

And with that thought you were walking down the hallway again, beginning the 15 minute walk to his apartment.

By the time Peter had reached his apartment, after deciding to call it a night, he was in a much better mood.

His talk with Karen helped lifted his spirits tremendously and now Peter felt more determined than ever, because now he was forming a plan. And that determination was a much better feeling than the hopelessness he had been feeling after you lashed out at him in the prop room.

Peter was on the side of his building as he climbed up the wall to his window. "I think it could work." Peter said to Karen. "It'll be a lot of trial and error, but-" He pushed his window open and began to climb in. "I think it could..work...." He trailed off, his eyes widening immediately in shock, because the moment he climbed through the window was the moment May had walked into the bedroom with you close behind, box in hand. "(Y-Y/N)?"

May inwardly groaned, she had been expecting Peter to be out longer and to be honest, she was a little nervous to see the two of you interact after the state Peter's been in all week. Especially after Peter's failed attempt to fix things, which he had told her all about.

You were tense, seeing May was.... awkward, but now you went completely rigid as you saw Peter climb in through his window as Spider-Man. "Hi.." You greeted lamely.

In a few seconds Peter finished climbing in through the window and now stood fully in his bedroom. He tugged his mask off, "W-what're you doing here?" And just like that, the better mood he had been in was extinguished.

You held the box in your hands a little higher, "I have a bunch of your things you left at my place, and I wanted to pick up my things too."

Peter felt like he was caving in on himself with your words. "Oh..." He muttered.

May cleared her throat awkwardly, "Okay, I guess you two will sort everything out yourselves..and I need to go and finish dinner." She said before shuffling out of the room, leaving you two by yourselves.

"Um.." You start, "I only have the one box... and I kinda need it to bring my stuff home, so..." You trailed off, ignoring that desperate gaze in his eyes, which seemed to be the only way he could look at you now.

"Oh, s-sure." He stuttered, coming over to pull the box out of your hands, quickly placing it on his bed, before rifling through it, using it as a distraction.

You looked around the room for the first time since the break up. It was much smaller than his room in his old apartment, since he had to move after the blip. You quickly noticed the chair in the corner of his room, stacked with a bunch of your belongings.

"Oh are those my things?" You asked as you wandered over to the chair.

Peter looked back at you, "Oh y-yeah..." He felt a tug on his heart, realizing that you were really taking your stuff back, and it hurt him more than he thought it would've.

"Where's my blanket?" You asked, looking through your stuff.

Peter's eyes suddenly widened as a blush over took his cheeks. He looked down at his bed, seeing the familiar pink fabric tangled with his own blankets. "Um..." He started, noticing you had spotted the blanket on his bed, with obvious signs that he had slept with it. "Uh... It got cold last night...." He said in an attempt to cover up his embarrassment. "Sorry.." He grabbed the blanket and reluctantly handed it to you.

"It's fine." You said, fighting off your own embarrassment. "And uh... my hoodie?" You ask, placing the blanket with the rest of your things.

Peter stiffens, 'Shit' he thinks to himself, because currently, said hoodie was in his backpack (he started taking it with him to school) and said backpack was still webbed behind a trashcan in some random alleyway.

"Oh I- I don't have it." He blushes furiously.

You furrow your eyebrows. "What? What do you mean you don't have it?"

"I... I don't know where it is...Got lost." He says, clumsily making up an excuse.

"Okayyy?" You drag out the word, suspicion laced on your tongue. "Guess I'll have to get a new one then."

Peter sighs in relief for two reasons, 1) you didn't press on the matter of him "losing" it and 2)....He'd get to keep the hoodie.

"If that's everything, I guess I'll head out now." You walked over to Peter and pulled the now empty box in front of him, with you and over to the chair.

Peter bounced back and forth on the balls of his feet, watching as you put your things away. It was awkward, of course it was. But somehow that same question that had reared it's head in lunch was back on the tip of his tongue.

"Okay, I'm gonna go now, so uh bye." You said, box now filled with all your things as you started heading for his bedroom door.

"When did you stop calling me pretty boy?" He suddenly blurted.

You stopped, letting the question sink in before looking back at him. "... When you stopped calling me princess." You answered simply.

Peter frowned and stared at the ground. ".... For what it's worth... I really am sorry."

You sighed. "I know you are.... I just wish you figured things out sooner." You said before continuing to walk out and all Peter could do was watch, his world feeling shaken as he might be watching you leave his bedroom for the last time, and he really couldn't handle that thought.

He sat down on his bed, already missing your blanket and he knew he'd have to go get your hoodie before bed, the only way he could sleep now was if he was enveloped in your scent.

He couldn't stand not doing anything anymore, his plan suddenly coming to mind again.

That determination from earlier slowly started making it's way back in.

He blinked away the tears. He was tired of crying. He needed to stop feeling sorry for himself and listen to Karen.

Peter was going to fight for you, and he was going to do it right. And hopefully by the end of it you would be his girlfriend again but if it came down to it he would settle with just being friends...

Because Peter didn't want to live a life that you were no longer apart of.

But right now, he needed to talk. Peter didn't want to start anything new with you just to screw up again, and the only way he was going to be able to work through his grief and emotions after the blip was to talk about it.

So later that night, he asked May if he could talk to her, and of course she said yes.

He was determined to get better for you, and prove that he wasn't the Peter that pushed you away anymore.

So....

Peter talked...

And May listened.

~~~~~~~~~~

A/N [IMPORTANT]: I will be on vacation these next two weeks so I will be missing the next three updates!!! (Sucky timing, I know, we only had two more parts to go)

Part 9 will be up on Saturday the 17th at 12AM EST!!!

The taglist is closed!!!

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artificialqueens · 4 years

Text

Stupid For You, Chapter 2 (Crygi, Jankie, Jaida x Nicky) - Metaluna

Summary: It’s everyone’s final day of training, and then the big opening. Everything is going to go smoothly, or so Gigi hopes….

The rest of training was a blur. Brita and Jaida forgot on the first day, but on the second day, they gave their trainees tags that stuck on the bottom of the nametag that said TRAINEE in big block letters, and explained the tradition of dramatically ripping them off upon completing training. Gigi and Jan learned how to stock the shops. Jan decided pretty quickly that it wasn’t for her, mainly because she found out she’d be talking to guests a lot less. Gigi loved that aspect, since she was afraid talking to the guests. She also loved that the stockers got to bounce from store to store throughout the day. There was a lot of freedom, which is something Gigi liked. They were also shown by Brita how to pull products from the case at the candy shop and how to slice the caramel apples. Gigi wasn’t a fan of this, because her apple slices were always uneven, and it was embarrassingly hard for her to pull the sticks out. Of course, Jan excelled at this, just as she did with everything else.

Their last day of training was the day before opening. Every year, the day before opening was a preview for season passholders. This was the day that Jaida and Brita had to assess their trainees and either pass or fail them, depending on how they performed. The day before, they had their stocking assessment. Both Jan and Gigi easily passed. The sales assessment was straightforward. They just had to act like they were already trained, greeting guests, doing transactions, answering questions, all normal things. Except, Jaida and Brita were standing in the background with a clipboard watching them like hawks.

At first, Gigi hid behind the register. She knew that was exactly what she wasn’t supposed to do, but she couldn’t help it. Jan, on the other hand, was actively talking to guests and just being Jan. As soon as she was about to go to the floor, a guest walked up. It was a girl that couldn’t have been more than nine. Brita stood behind Gigi.

“Hi,” Gigi said warmly with a smile. “How are you?”

“Good. How about you?”

“I’m great, thank you so much for asking! What’s your favorite thing you did today?”

The girl smiled. “I did The Genie for the first time today!”

“Oh my goodness, did you get scared?” Gigi’s tone was overenthusiastic, but that was the Paradise Isle way.

“Only a little bit!”

“You know what that means right?”

“No, what?”

“You have to go on The Jinn!”

“I’m going to with my big sister later!”

“Well you’re going to have to come back and tell me how it was! That will be 20 dollars before the discount, can I please see your season pass? Since you definitely aren’t old enough to drive, I just need to see the pass.” The girl held up her pass. “Amazing. After your discount, it’s going to be 16 dollars.”

The girl handed over a twenty, which Gigi appreciated because it was easy math.

She handed the girl her change and said, “Have fun!”

Gigi was shocked at how well she interacted with the little girl. She looked back at Brita who gave her a thumbs up. This gave her the confidence to wander the floor. A guest asked for directions. Thankfully, it was to the bathroom right outside of the store.

After about a half an hour more, Jaida gathered her trainees in the stockroom.

“Ladies,” Jaida began, her tone serious. “I have to say that I’m disappointed.”

Gigi and Jan’s excited facial expressions dropped. Tears began to brim on Jan’s eyes.

“I’m just kidding! Y’all did great. You pass.”

“You rotted bitch,” Brita teased.

“Oh, you know it’s tradition to make the trainees squirm. I expect you to do the same when you get trainees of your own. Jan, Gigi, rip those things off your badges. You’re officially sales hostesses at Paradise Isle.

Gigi smiled as she tore the TRAINEE tag off of her badge.

“Time for lunch!” Brita exclaimed.

….

Jackie hated doing assessments. Because she was a trainer at The Genie, she ended up failing about half of her trainees. Since it was such a safety critical ride, the assessment had to be nearly perfect. While failing trainees didn’t mean they were fired, it meant that they had to do an extra day of training. This made Jackie feel like she was a bad trainer. Thankfully, Nicky caught on fast. Jackie stood behind Nicky as Nicky stood at the console in the tower.

“And how do you ride stop?”

Nicky pointed to a red large button on the console.

“The emergency stop?”

Nicky pointed to a raised red button with a yellow square around it.

“Why would you rather ride stop than emergency stop?”

“Because emergency stopping cuts the power, and we have to call maintenance.”

“Perfect. How old do kids have to be to ride by themselves?”

“They have to be eight years old, and if they’re under they have to be accompanied by someone who is at least fourteen.”

“Look at you! Alright, so we’re getting our first guests for the day. I always offer, do you want to do the easy stuff first or the hard stuff?”

“Let’s get the hard stuff out of the way.”

Jackie was impressed with her trainee’s confidence. Nicky was an absolute rockstar. She remembered everything Jackie taught her. Nicky did the load one, load two, and tower positions flawlessly. The only position she struggled was greeter, the position that most people excelled at. The guests struggled to understand what Nicky’s accent at times, but considering that it wasn’t her fault, and half the time that position wasn’t used anyway, Jackie passed her on greeter.

“Well?” Nicky questioned. “Did I pass?”

“Nicky…” Jackie said with a serious tone. “I’m sorry to tell you… that you were one of the best trainees that I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”

“Seriously?” Nicky was stunned. She thought she was going to fail like half percent of the other people, considering Jackie, who was a great rides hostess, needed an extra day when she started. She explained to Nicky that she accidentally took her eyes off of the train at load one when she sent it.

“Yes, now rip that tag off your badge so we can go to lunch.”

—

Crystal was nervous as she waited for a guest to come up and play her game. The past few days, Crystal learned about all six of the games on The Boardwalk. Even though it took her longer than Widow to catch on, Crystal eventually caught on and became much more confident. Although, when it was time for her assessment, Crystal was a nervous wreck, and begged her partner to go first. They had done mock assessments at five of the games the day before. Because she was so nervous, Crystal cried twice. But, because she technically did everything correctly, and there weren’t actual guests, Heidi didn’t fail her.

Now that it was time for the actual assessment. Crystal and Widow had to run a game by themselves. Crystal begged Widow go first again. Heidi put Widow at the ring toss game. Two preteens came up and handed Widow the money. Widow explained the rules as she set the bucket of rings down.

“You have to completely get the ring around a bottle. It can’t be on their halfway. I’m watching, so don’t cheat.” Her tone was kind, yet stern.

Crystal watched the girls go through every single last ring with no luck.

“Better luck next time, ladies,” Widow said sympathetically.

The three went into the basketball booth. Heidi chose it for Crystal because it was the game she was least likely to get yelled at. Heidi knew that if Crystal cried during her live assessment, she would have to fail her. Heidi never had to fail a trainee, and she wasn’t about to do it now.

“Hello!” Crystal greeted a boy who was about her age and what looked to be his girlfriend. “Would you like to play?”

The boy nodded and handed over his five dollars. Crystal put the bill in the bank that vacuumed the bill into the bank while her hands shook from nerves. In exchange, Crystal handed over three small basketballs. She watched as the boy failed to make any of the baskets. The girl next to him looked disappointed, yawning while she was on her phone.

He handed over another five. Again, no baskets.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” the girl announced.

Once she was out of earshot, the boy said, “How much to just buy a prize?”

“Sorry, but you can’t do that,” Crystal explained. “None of them are for sale.”

The boy pulled out a twenty. “How about now?”

“No, I can’t. I’m sorry.”

The boy huffed and walked away. “Fucking bitch.”

Heidi looked at Crystal in suspense, hoping to God that she wouldn’t cry. Crystal took a deep breath to compose herself, but managed to hold it together.

“Oh my God, Crystal you didn’t cry!” Widow hugged Crystal.

“I didn’t cry!”

Heidi looked at her trainees sternly. “Unfortunately though, girls, I just gotta say that you could both improve vastly on… absolutely nothing, you both pass. Let’s go to lunch.”

Crystal confidently ripped the TRAINEE tag off of her name badge.

–

When Gigi, Jan, Jaida, and Brita made it into the break room, Heidi’s training group, as well as Jackie’s were sat at the large table in the middle.

“Normally you aren’t on break at the same time as all of your friends. But, all the trainers may have ‘accidentally’ scheduled break for the same time. Oops,” Brita explained as she sat next to Jackie.

“Hey, gorgeous!” Crystal exclaimed as Gigi sat across from her. “How did it go?”

“I passed! I talked to a guest and didn’t freeze! You?”

“I got called a bitch by a guest and didn’t cry! I passed, too!”

“Oh my god!” Jan exclaimed. “That’s terrible! Proud of you for handling it so well!”

“Thanks!”

“Jan passed too, of course,” Gigi said. “Did you pass, Nicky?”

Gigi didn’t really know anyone outside of her training group, outside of Crystal, so she was doing her best to make friends. Even though Gigi was a cheerleader and class president in school, she never had a close group of friends, which is something she longed for.

Jackie answered for her. “Nicky was one of the best trainees that I’ve ever had. Not only did she do every position perfectly, but she answered every question that I had.”

“Wow,” Jan said looking at Jackie. “You must be a pretty good trainer.”

Jackie’s face flushed. “Oh, you know. I do my best.”

“Ladies, there’s a tradition that has been upheld since before I started working at this hellhole. After every opening day, there is a huge party in which we all get completely shitfaced to bless the new season. This year, it’s going to be at my place. We close at nine, party starts at 10:30. I know it’s late, but thankfully, the schedulers have mercy on our souls, and if you work the first day of the season, you don’t work the next day,” Heidi explained.

Jan’s face lit up. “I love parties!”

“Me, too!” Jackie spoke a little bit too quickly.

Heidi created a groupchat and sent her address to everyone. Because Heidi was attending the local community college, her apartment was close to the park. Plus, Heidi didn’t have roommates, so they were free to do as they pleased.

“Hey, Gigi could you—”

“I’ll pick you up at 10, Crys.”

The rest of the day, Jaida and Brita’s training group hid in an office talking. There was really no one around to catch them. They had finish the assessments early, so there was nothing else for them to do but sit and talk.

“We have some cute new girls this year. That Nicky, she’s gorgeous. Plus that accent…” Jaida trailed off.

“Are you going to go for her? Do we know if she likes girls?” Brita questioned.

“No, but we will find out tomorrow, won’t we?”

“Are you guys straight?” Gigi was surprised at how blunt Brita was.

“Honestly, I never really thought of it! I’ve dated some boys, and kissed a girl this one time. I think girls are beautiful, like Jackie? She’s gorgeous. So I guess I’m not? I’m not sure. I don’t know what to call myself, ya know? Like I could be bi, I could be pansexual. What’s the difference anyway? Anyway. That’s what’s college is for, right?” Jan laughed at her own joke. “What about you Brita?”

“I–” Brita began.

“She’s straight,” Jaida interrupted. “We all have our flaws. Just like Jackie. Sorry Jan, but that girl is the straightest girl I’ve ever met. Gigi?”

Gigi was hoping that she wouldn’t be asked this question. She’d never had a boyfriend or a girlfriend either. But, one time back in eighth grade, Gigi kissed her best friend at the time, who was a girl. She hadn’t ever felt anything for a boy before, despite being asked out multiple times by football players.

“Oh, uh. I don’t date.”

“By choice? Or no one’s wanted to hit that?”

Brita clapped. “Jan! The shade!”

Gigi forced a laugh. “I don’t know. The right one hasn’t come along, I guess. Anyway, about this party…”

—

When the day was over, Jan and Gigi made their way to their cars. Jaida, Brita and the other trainers had their own tradition of getting dinner together. If anyone had trainees that failed, they would have to buy everyone’s dinner. But, since everyone passed, it was just dinner.

Once in Gigi’s car Crystal admitted, “I’m kind of nervous for this party!”

“Nervous? Why?”

“Well, I don’t drink.”

“You don’t have to drink,” Gigi reassured. “Lots of people don’t. I’m not one of them, but I know plenty who don’t.”

“It’s not just that it’s just…”

“What?”

“I’ve never really had a lot of friends, just a few super close ones, and we were never cool to get invited to any parties so…”

“Crystal, I’ve been to a bunch of parties, and they’re fun. If you don’t end up having fun, we can dip. I think it’ll be a great time. You can get ready at my house, if you want.”

Her face lit up. “I’d love that!”

“So how are you feeling about opening day tomorrow?”

“Nervous. Excited. Kind of like I wanna throw up when I think about it? You?”

“Same. My assessment was okay. Nothing bad happened, but still…” Gigi trailed off.

“I feel like things went a little too well today, you know?”

Crystal, someone literally called you a bitch.”

“Well yeah, but it could always be worse right?”

Crystal’s positivity was contagious. “Yeah I guess so!”

–

Just like the night before her first day, Gigi didn’t sleep well. She kept thinking about all the horror stories Jaida and Brita told her. Jaida talked about the time a woman stripped naked in the store to try on a swimsuit. Brita dramatically told the story of when a guest threatened to call the cops because she wouldn’t give her the season pass discount on an expired pass. Gigi really hoped nothing like that would happen, especially not on her first day.

She dragged herself out of bed. Her eyes didn’t look as tired as her first day, so she went with light makeup. As she tightened her belt, she looked into the mirror. She looked ridiculous in her uniform, as did everyone else. Everyone but Crystal. Somehow she looked amazing in the uniform.

Once she pulled into her driveway, she texted Crystal

Hey, I’m outside.

omw!!!!

Crystal got into the car and handed Gigi a cup of coffee.

“Hello, my love! Cream and sugar, just how you like it.“

Gigi took a sip as she turned up the radio. Crystal gasped. “Oh my god, are you listening to One Direction?”

“You may or may not have gotten me hooked.”

Their drove consisted of singing off key and sipping coffee. Gigi kept stealing glances at Crystal. The amount of joy on her face filled Gigi’s heart. After parking, the two girls sat in Gigi’s jeep trying to compose themselves. They both had to walk in different directions, so they weren’t able to calm each other’s nerves.

When they could no longer delay the inevitable, Crystal gave Gigi a hug. “Good luck, beautiful!”

She smelled so good, and her hair was so soft. As she walked the opposite direction to the games base, Gigi couldn’t help but watch her walk away.

Gigi made her way to the stockroom at the main store on The Landing, Isle Mercantile. Jaida, Jan, Brita, and a bunch of people didn’t know were waiting. One of them was an older woman in a plain blue polo and khaki shorts. Jaida explained in training that someone dressed like that was a supervisor.

“Hello!” the woman said. “My name is Nina.”

“Hi!” Gigi said shyly.

“Well everyone, we have first two newbies this year. This is Gigi, and this is Jan. We’ll have more people as the season goes on, but right now, make sure these girls feel welcome. Jan, Gigi, this is Dahlia, Rock, and Aiden. Of course, you already know Brita and Jaida. Jaida, you’re going to be the lead today, okay?”

“Lead?” Gigi whispered.

“I’m in charge of choosing your assignments, making sure you go on breaks, and more importantly, making sure y’all make it back from your breaks.”

“I think that today’s going to be a great day that’s going to lead into a great season. Jan, Gigi, I’m so happy to have you with us. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to give me a call!”

Jaida sent Gigi to Candy Kitchen, which is exactly what she was dreading, but she wasn’t about to tell Jaida that. Her hair was going to get ruined by the hairnet that she had to wear, and she sucked at cutting apples. She only hoped that the girl, Rock, would be nice.

Once they made it to the store, Rock asked, “What kind of a name is Gigi?”

“What kind of a name is Rock?” Gigi retorted.

He looked taken aback before saying, “Fair.”

The morning went smoothly. Gigi rang up some transactions. She started out slow, but her speed increased as the day went on. She weighed the bulk candy as people purchased it. At times, she forgot where menu buttons were on the POS, but Rock was always there to help. Rock offered for Gigi to work at the caseline to grab apples, but that made Gigi nervous. Rock agreed to pull apples, but made Gigi promise she would do it after lunch. Gigi made good on her promise, putting on gloves and the apron that was hung up.

A stressed out looking came up to Gigi. “Hi, can I get a chocolate peanut apple, an apple pie apple, and one candied apple?”

“Of course! Do you want me to cut the caramel ones?”

“Are you dumb? Of course I do.”

Gigi was taken aback. “Yes, ma’am.”

Gigi set the apples on the counter, and struggled to remove the sticks. She grabbed the blade, and just like in training, struggled to make slices. Cutting through layers of caramel and chocolate was hard. After a while, she managed to make slices. They didn’t look as nice as Rock’s, but they were mostly intact. She put the two cut apples into containers.

“Umm…” the woman trailed off.

“Yes?”

“You didn’t cut the candied one.”

“Oh, we can’t cut those. The candy will just shatter right off.”

“So I’m supposed to break my teeth on this thing? I don’t care if some falls off, I just want it cut into slices.”

“The apple won’t be as good…”

“Well can you do it anyway?”

Gigi looked at Rock, who shrugged.

Gigi unwrapped the candied apple. This time, she really struggled to remove the stick. She was pulling with all of her strength. She felt the candy coating crack. Shit. Well, it’s what the woman wanted. After finally wrangling the stick out, she cut slices. Almost all of the candy fell off. Gigi put the candy on the bottom of the container and the ugly apple slices on top.

“Here you go, ma’am!”

“Are you serious? It looks like shit!”

"I did tell you that if I cut the apple into slices all the coating would fall off, but you told me that it was fine.”

“Well, maybe, if you didn’t have those skinny chicken arms you could have actually done your job! Also! What’s with your attitude? I know that you don’t give a shit about your job, and you’re probably just some lazy teenager who would rather be making out with her boyfriend all summer, but you’re running my vacation! I spent a lot of money to bring my family here! And I can’t even get a damn apple cut right? What’s your name? Georgiana? I want to speak to your manager.” The woman was nearly screaming. Thankfully, there was no one behind her in line.

“I–”

“Yes ma’am, right away, ma’am.” Rock picked up the phone. “Hi, yes, Nina it’s Rock. I’m in Candy Kitchen and I have a guest requesting a manager. Okay. Thank you.”

“Our supervisor will be here shortly.”

The woman got out of the queue and shot Gigi dagger eyes the entire time. She felt like she was about to have a panic attack. Was she going to get written up? It was her first day and she already had her first guest complaint. After what felt like an eternity, Nina arrived.

“Hello!” her tone was pleasant. “What can I do for you today?”

“This girl ruined my apple.”

“That’s not good. Can you explain to me what happened?”

“She went to cut my candied apple and everything fell off. It’s just an apple and some candy on the bottom now.”

“Ma’am, did Gigi tell you that those apples weren’t meant to be cut?”

The woman mumbled she had.

“And you insisted that she do it anyway?”

“She just must have not done it right! Just look at her, she looks so weak! I’m sure if the oriental one did it, she’d do it fine!”

“Ma’am, please don’t refer to my hostess with that offensive term, and don’t insult my other hostess. Those apples aren’t meant to be cut. You were told that, and still insisted on Gigi cutting it, anyway. It sounds like you were the one in the wrong. Not Gigi. I won’t make you pay for that apple, but I am making you apologize to my hostesses here.”

“I’m sorry,” the woman mumbled. She silently paid for her other two apples with Rock and stormed out, muttering something about leaving a bad review as she left.

“Are you okay?” Nina asked sincerely.

Gigi could only manage to shake her head. Her chest was tight and tears were running down her face. Thankfully, it wasn’t a bad panic attack, but it was a panic attack nonetheless.

“I’ll go with you in the small stockroom. Go back there, have a seat. I just need to call and have Dahlia cover. She’s stocking and should be around soon, anyway. Can you handle the shop by yourself Rock?”

“On it.”

The small stockroom was right behind Candy Kitchen. The entire room smelled like sugar, which made Gigi’s stomach turn. She tried to level her breathing as she sat on the ground.

Nina sat with her and handed her a water bottle. “Hey, listen to me. It’s okay. You weren’t wrong at all. That woman was completely unreasonable.”

“Am I in trouble?” Gigi managed taking a drink of water.

“Why would you be in trouble, when nothing you did was your fault? You are fine. Take as much time as you need.”

Gigi nodded. “Thank you.”

“I mean it. If you ever need anything, call.”

—

Across the park, Crystal was also having a panic attack as she sat in the money room in the games department. A middle aged man kept losing at one of the games. He offered to pay her for a prize, and when she refused, the man lost it. He screamed every bad word and insult that he could muster, right in front of his young daughter. He also threatened to “punch her pretty little face in.” It was to the point that other guests told him to stop, and security was called. The lead, a boy named Ben, covered for her.

Brooke, a pretty blonde supervisor made her way into the money room. She didn’t say anything, but hugged Crystal, which made her break down. Brooke kindly rubbed Crystal’s red hair.

“That man has been banned from ever coming back.”

“Are there a lot of people like him?”

“Not that bad, sweetie. That was one of the worst ones I’ve seen in my six years here. I’m so sorry that it happened to you, especially on your first day. I promise that it’s usually better. You get to make people’s days. You get to make first dates memorable. You get to make little kids happy. Don’t let a couple of bad people ruin this for you.”

Crystal smiled. “Thank you.”

Brooke sat with Crystal until she calmed down.

“Here, let me fix you.” Brooke wiped all of the eyeliner and mascara that had ran down Crystal’s face with a Kleenex.

Thankfully, there was only about half an hour left of her shift, so Brooke let her hang out in the back.

Brooke’s radio went off. Before taking the call, she asked, “Are you going to be okay, sweetie?”

“Yeah, I will. Thank you.”

Brooke winked. “Anytime.”

–

Gigi met up with Crystal at the lockers and groaned.

“Bad day?” Crystal asked grabbing her bag.

Gigi nodded. On the way to her car, Gigi told Crystal the tale of the candied apple. Crystal looked mortified.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you!”

“I hope your day was better,” Gigi said adjusting her rearview mirror.

“Not… exactly. A grown man threatened to punch me in the face while calling me bad words, some of them I’ve never even heard before.”

“Oh shit Crys,” Gigi said looking at her friend. “I’m so sorry. That makes my story sound like nothing!”

“Gigi, no it’s okay! We both had crappy days, it doesn’t matter which was worse. They were both bad to us, and they’re both over now.”

This made Gigi smile. “Crystal, how are you always so positive?”

“Honestly? I used to not be. But one day I realized that being negative was tiring, so I decided to try to be as positive as possible. Oh, and Gigi?”

“Yes?”

“You know how I said I don’t drink?”

“Yeah.”

“I think after the day I had, I think tonight’s a great night to start.”

“Agreed.”

TAGS: Gigi goode, Crystal methyd, jan sport, jackie cox, jaida essence hall, nicky doll, brita filter, crygi, jankie, jaida x nicky, lesbian au, stupid for you, metaluna

#rpdr fanfiction #gigi goode #crystal methyd #jan sport #jackie cox #jaida essence hall #nicky doll #brita filter #crygi #jankie #jaida x nicky #lesbian au #stupid for you #metaluna #s12

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