#i want to live in a house w my bf and move from my parents and start transitioning but other than that im shitscared of becoming “older”

[gentlethorns]

gotta get back into like spirituality. i lost touch w it bc like life happens and i got busy and distracted but one of my friends who's very gifted gave me a tarot reading yesterday and it made me remember that like. i have that power too. i just have to build it back up like a muscle

[class42warship]

is anybody else like frankly terrified of marriage. like its hard to explain but i think im terrified of growing up and im so confused about it but theres people in my year talking about literally having fiances and it terrifies me

[tieronecrush]

hot & heavy

chapter ten: a hidden gem, my own goldmine

neighbor!joel x f!reader

series masterlist

series rating: E (18+ MDNI)

series summary:

over the course of three summers, joel miller becomes woven into your life. the first summer is spent falling for him; nannying his daughter and sneaking around with him in a burning love affair. you know how you feel about joel, he isn’t so sure about how it all is gonna work. the second summer is brief. a month spent at home after graduation and before you move to boston for your dream job. one look at you, one time hearing your voice, and joel is hooked again. he pines over you for that month, but you think — how is long distance of over a thousand miles going to work for a single dad? the third summer, you return home burnt out and pride bruised from your post-grad life. you need time to feel at home again, like your complete self, so you’ve come back home with no return ticket booked. it’s only a matter of time before joel seeks you out, slowly spending more time with you. without an inevitable end to the summer looming over you both, what chances are you willing to take?

word count: 10k

warnings: NO OUTBREAK (don’t need to worry about the mushies), no use of y/n, inexperienced reader, age gap (joel is 30/31, reader is 22), canon-divergent (sarah is 7 y/o), nanny au, pet names (sweetheart, darling, sweet girl, mariposa, etc.), polite southern manners, feeling familial and self-pressure, ESTABLISHED relationship FINALLY, spanish cause joel is latino, fingering, unprotected p in v, dirty talkkk king joel miller, soft (and soft dom) joel, possessive joel, mentions of depression diagnosis and symptoms, struggling with self, discussion of co-parenting, angst, MAJOR doubt! and a slumber party! yay!

a/n: thank you as always to the bestie/cousin/sister wife/sweet, sweet gf @northernbluess for beta-reading this chapter, seriously i can't write without you so you're stuck with me. also this chapter is a little heavier in spanish then before, so if there are any corrections needed, please comment or message me! i went through multiple translations to try to find the best/most common, but things are bound to slip through the cracks.

Joel’s been catching up with some chores around the house this evening after Sarah’s gone to bed: dishes are washed and put away, counters wiped down and floors mopped. He reset the living room after he put the laundry in the dryer, settling onto the couch with a long sigh. Hands rub at his tired eyes, muscles aching for his bed but he is determined to stay up until you text him that you’re back at your friend’s house safe.

A few of your friends from college ended up with jobs in Austin, and tonight you’d all arranged to go out downtown. You had, sweetly, invited Joel to tag along but when you mentioned that the only other guys there would be boyfriends of your friends that were your age, he politely declined. Well, he used his daughter as an excuse because he didn’t want to admit that he was a little insecure about the age difference, even still.

It’s not even a large one, you’re twenty-five  and he’s thirty-three, but with a nearly ten year old kid and his own business, he’s willing to bet he’s in a much different place in life than your friends' significant others. And if there isn’t a lot of common ground, Joel knows he’s not the most social or conversational.

Resting his eyes, his head rolls back onto the couch while the TV drones on about the latest Astros game. A short buzz from his phone in his pocket peels his eyes open, yawning quietly as he fishes the device out and flips it open.

FROM: Mariposa

Cn u pcik me up pLs????

While deciphering your drunk text, another couple are delivered and he keys down to see them as he chuckles at the antics. 

I miiss u

Eveynoe is w their BFs n I wnt mine 

Plesaseeeeeee J

Before he can type a response to you, an incoming call blocks out his screen, his thumb hitting the accept button quickly and bringing the phone to his ear.

“Feelin’ alright, Mari?”

A hiccup on the other line makes him laugh quietly again, your voice coming in over the music and people in the background, “No, not alright. M’sad.”

“Why’re you sad, sweet girl?”

“Cause you’re not here. Every—everybody’s…No I didn’t want a vodka water, gross! I wanna vodka soooooda with lime…Oops, sorry J. What was I saying?” A giggle from your end pulls a smile on his face, only slightly worried at your level of intoxication.

“You were telling me why you’re sad.”

“Right! M’sad cause all my friends have got their boy—” One hiccup. “Boyfriends here. And you’re aaaallllll the way at home.” Another hiccup. “I wanna be home with you.”

“I see. Well, I don’t want you to be sad, darlin’, so m’gonna come pick you up. How’s that sound?”

He hears a gasp into the phone and your voice gets quieter, imagining you holding the phone or turning your head away to a nearby friend.

“He’s coming! Jus’ to pick me up though, we gotta get back for Sar—Sarah…Yeah, she’s so cute…Well, yeah duh, he’s a DILF…I mean, to me I guess he’d be a DIAF…‘Dad I Am Fucking’…Oh, shit!” There’s a rustling as he laughs to himself overhearing your conversation, a smug smile on his face from you bragging to your friends. “M’sorry, J, god I totally forgot I was on the phone!” You punctuate your sentence with an incredulous laugh before quieting down to hear Joel.

“That’s alright, Mari. M’gonna drop Sarah with Tommy and then come and get you, okay? Can you tell me where you are?” Joel is already standing from the couch, grabbing his keys from the entryway before making his way upstairs to get Sarah into the car.

“Ummm…One sec!” The line rustles again while he stands at the top of the stairs. “Okay, we’re at that place on 11th, Nickel City.”

“Yeah, I know where that is, sweetheart. Be there soon, okay?”

“Okay. Tha—” One last hiccup. “—nks, J.”

“Anytime, amor. Anytime.”

With Sarah dropped off at Tommy’s, Joel goes into town to pick you up. It takes another twenty minutes from Tommy’s place, finding a parking spot not too far from the bar. He slips in the door and starts to comb his eyes over the crowd, most people stepping out of his way from his intimidating frame while he weaves through the masses.

Spotting you off to the side at a high-top table, some friends he recognizes from your photos dotted around the surface as well. You’re wrapped up in a conversation with the person next to you while you sit on a stool, Joel’s eyes finally landing on the person you’re talking to. It’s another man, about his height, maybe a few inches shorter. He’s got light hair, a clean-cut look with some fancy shirt on. Clearly, the guy is flirting with you, standing closer and leaning an arm around the back of your chair. Knowing how drunk you sounded over the phone, it occurs to him that you likely don’t even realize this guy’s body language, a primal possessiveness taking over his judgment. 

He’s waited years for you. There’s no way in hell he isn’t putting on a show for this guy to send him a message.

Joel rolls his shoulders back, chest raising with the corrective posture. He saunters over to the table, politely smiling and waving as your friends must recognize him and welcome him to the group. He walks right up to the other side of your chair, placing a hand on your lower back and brushing against the skin exposed by the tank top you’re wearing.

A small gasp exhales from you with the surprise contact, turning your head and beaming when you see him. The look makes the wings of his butterfly flap faster, beating in time with his heartbeat.

“You’re here! M’so happy to see you.” He matches your smile before he is crushed in a hug, your arms around his neck. Unraveling from each other, you turn back toward the other man, before one of your other friends comes over to tell you something, pulling you away but still within arm’s length for Joel to keep his hand on you.

Joel reaches his hand out toward the man,  “Nice to meet you…”

“Colton.”

“Nice to meet you, Colton. Are you one of the college friends?”

Colton gives a weak handshake to Joel, shaking his head with a laugh, “No, actually, never met any of ‘em until tonight. Well, except Taylor. M’relatively new to town, met Taylor through work, so you know how it is. Trying to make some connections.”

Joel has to hold back his eye roll, annoyance clear on his face at the skirting around that this Colton is doing. Joel’s heard it before from Tommy — going up to a girl and using the ��new in town’ line to get a conversation started and to hopefully get them to leave with you to ‘show you around’.

Mine. You’re mine, he repeats to himself, the jealousy pumping in his veins.

“So’re you one of the college friends? Or an Austin friend?” Colton makes polite conversation while you turn in Joel’s arm and wrap your own around his back. Tugging on his t-shirt the fingers of one of your hands slip under the material and skim across his skin. Joel clears his throat, chuckling dryly as he keeps his gaze on Colton.

“Uh, not quite. M’the boyfriend.” His head nods to his side to you, a tight, smug smile on his face as he watches the gears in Colton’s head turn.

It’s not happening for him tonight. Or ever.

“Oh shit! You must be Joel! We’ve been waiting for you. I’ve just been making sure she’s had some water and didn’t wander off before you got here. She’s been talkin’ about you all night, made me think about how many times I’ve drunkenly ranted about my girlfriend.”

“Your girlfriend?”

“Yeah, Taylor’s my girlfriend — she’s the one with blonde hair right across the table.” Colton beams down the way as Taylor makes eye contact with him, waving to the woman as she smiles back at him.

The man is a golden retriever. And Joel thought he was some douchebag trying to hook up with his girlfriend. Joel opens his mouth to apologize for his cold behavior, but before he can your head pops up from his chest, grabbing his attention. Hands at his back scratch your nails against his skin, humming contently as you press a sloppy kiss to his jaw.

Colton considers his duties relieved and goes to find his girlfriend before Joel can thank him, leaving the two of you at the end of the table. Joel pulls his chin in to look down at you, smiling softly and moving a hand to the back of your neck.

“You alright, sweetheart?”

“Yeah, jus’ happy you’re here. Missed you.”

Joe presses a kiss to your forehead and you hum again, swaying sleepily in his arms. “M’glad you called me, Mariposa.”

“Can we go home now please?”

“Yeah, Mari, ‘course we can. You want me to bring you to your house?” His hands move to your sides, running up and down against the fabric of your tank top. You hook your arms around his neck and shake your head, a tiny “humpf” accompanying it.

“No, home.”

“My house?”

“Yes! Home. Wanna sleep in your bed, s’comfier than mine.”

“Yeah, sweetheart, I can bring you home.”

A warm stirring is felt in his chest, steadying you in your stance and keeping an arm around your waist. You say goodbye to your friends, all of them waving to you both as Joel steers you through the bar and to his truck outside.

Joel calls Tommy on the way home, his brother telling him that Sarah’s out cold and he can bring her back in the morning when she wakes up. He presses for an answer about why Joel had to drop Sarah off, but Joel ignores Tommy’s question again and hangs up.

Safely back at his house, he helps you out of the truck and inside, walking behind you on the stairs as you stumble. It’s like a baby deer learning to walk — he’s never seen you this drunk, tipsy, sure, but never at this level. A smile crosses his face as he imagines a moment like this in the future with you, maybe after a night out for the two of you or maybe even after your wedding.

Your voice pulls him out of his thoughts, tripping over your feet at the landing and recovering on your own. His hand hovers at your back, ready to break your fall if it happens.

“I’m alright, m’alright. Jus’ tripped a lil’.”

To be safe, Joel holds your hips the rest of the way up and into his room, sitting you on the edge of the mattress and gathering a t-shirt from his drawers for you to wear to bed.

“No, I want the funny one that I like,” you whine, waving a hand back at his dresser. Joel shakes his head to himself, chuckling about the fact that you still have a preference for sleep attire.

He grabs the shirt you’re talking about, a worn and washed one that he got as a joke from Tommy a few years ago. He normally wears it to sleep himself, if he wears one, or around the house if he knows he won’t be going out. It’s faded black now, yellow text that reads ‘I do know it all…I just can’t remember it all at once.’

Upon finding it in his drawer last week, you laughed hysterically and made him put it on for a Polaroid. You’ve also requested it every time you’ve stayed over since. 

In front of you again, with the correct shirt, he kneels down and pats the outside of your thighs. “Can you stand for me, sweetheart?”

Using his shoulders as support, you stand on sea legs, swaying back and forth as he looks up at you. “Can I take off your skirt, darlin’?”

“Yeah, you can, cutie.” You giggle and sway wider, playing with the curls at the top of his head, turning his head to your will as he unbuttons and unzips your denim skirt. “You got some grays mixed in here, mister.”

“M’getting old, Mari. No surprises there.” He chuckles and helps you lift each foot to step out of the tube of material completely, rubbing a hand on your calf before he stands in front of you again. He’s faced with a pout, brows knit together in anger.

“You’re not getting old. You’re literally in your thirties. Not old.”

“Say that to the gray hairs then, sweetheart.”

“Gray hairs—“ Hiccup. “Mean nothing ‘sides the fact that you’re gonna be a silver fox. My silver fox.”

A content smile, closed lips, pulls the corners of your mouth up. Heavy eyelids cover your irises halfway, the sight of you so drunkenly drowsy is utterly adorable to him. Fingers grip the bottom of your tank top, kissing your forehead.

“Can I take off your shirt?”

“Take it all off, bay-beeee.” Your swaying causes you to stumble again, Joel catching you before you fall back onto the bed. Once you’re steady, your own hands slip under his shirt, running over his tummy while you press sloppy kisses into his neck. “Mm, want you so bad, J.”

“I love you, darlin’, and you know I want you all the time, but not tonight. You need to get some water and go to sleep. For a while.” A defeated sigh blows against his skin, rocking back on your heels and Joel holding your weight to bring you to stand straight again. “Arms up, baby.”

You comply without another ask, lifting your arms as if they’re heavy weights, allowing Joel to tug the material over your head. With a slight slap sound, your arms drop back against your sides. Joel takes off your bra for you and gets you into his t-shirt, giving you a small kiss. He walks you to your side of the bed, tucking you in.

“Be right back, sweet girl. Gonna get you some water and then you can go to sleep, okay?”

“Okay.” You sigh, nesting into the sheets and duvet. Your eyes close, soft hums filling the room as he runs downstairs, filling a glass of water and grabbing ibuprofen to leave at your bedside for the morning.

Returning to his room, he coaxed you to sit up, having you drink half the glass. He changes for bed himself, stripping down to his boxers and slipping under the covers, pulling you closer with an arm around your waist.

“G’night, Mari.”

“Mm, night, J. Thanks for coming to get me and bringing me home. Like sleeping next to you lots more than a sleepover with my friends…”

“Like sleeping next to you too, Mari. Missed you all night. M’glad you’re home now.”

“Nightie night.”

“Nightie night, sweet girl. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.” He pinches your side playfully, breathing a laugh out of his nose at your yelp and squeezing you closer. With a kiss to the top of your head, he lulls you to sleep with his fingertips running up and down your spine, thoughts going right back to those flash images of a future with you.

“Love you, Mariposa.”

There’s an ache all over your body, eyes too sore and crusted over with sleep to peel open when you first wake up. Light peeks through the curtains, shining onto the bed and directly at your face, making you groan into the pillow and attempt to roll over.

Unfortunately, your body is telling you to get up, find water or pain meds or some coffee, you really wouldn’t be all too picky at this moment. Rolling over onto your back, you reach out to your side and feel bedding underneath your hand, pouting to yourself when you finally open your eyes and see Joel’s gone. As you sit up, you can hear the shower turn on in the bathroom attached to his bedroom and you can hear some quiet humming from the other side of the door. A smile crosses your face, the idea of a shower nestling itself in your mind and feeling like it would be the only thing to get rid of all of this hangover.

On the nightstand next to you, there are two burgundy-colored tablets and a half glass of water, vaguely remembering last night when Joel made you drink the other half before going to sleep. Washing down the ibuprofen with the entirety of the water, you start to recount what you can recall from the night before, cringing internally when you get to the point that Joel showed up to pick you up. You don’t really remember getting home, but looking down at the t-shirt you’re wearing clues you in that Joel must have done most of the work to get you into bed.

Slipping out from under the duvet, you set the empty glass back down and slink over to the bathroom, twisting the knob and opening the door. The squeak of the hinges breaks your sneaking attempt and Joel’s humming stops.

He speaks up over the sound of the water, “Mariposa? That you?”

“I sure hope no one else would be sneaking into the bathroom this morning. Unless you have another drunk girlfriend you had to pick up from the bar,” you laugh at the self-deprecating joke, picking up your toothbrush and squeezing out a dollop of toothpaste to clean your teeth. And to get rid of the taste of tequila lingering on your tongue.

The shower curtain slides back a bit and Joel’s head sticks out, goofy grin on his face with curls hanging on his forehead. “Nah, just got the one. How’re feeling this morning?”

“Like I got beat up by a bunch of vodka sodas and a couple of tequila shots.” Your words are muffled around the foamy toothpaste, leaning back against the counter facing him.

“Yeah, you were pretty drunk, darlin’. But it was honestly cute, you’re a funny drunk.”

Turning back toward the sink, you fold over the sink to spit out and rinse your mouth out, groaning softly, “God, please tell me I didn’t do or say anything embarrassing.”

“Nothin’ too bad, but there were some things that I will be committing to memory,” Joel laughs and winks, the noise getting louder as you groan again and roll your head back.

“This is the worst part about getting drunk. People holding stupid shit you said over your head.” Crossing your arms in front of your chest, you look at Joel across the few feet separating you and watch him shake his head and grin sweetly.

“I’ll tell you what you said, sweetheart, but I think you’re in too physically fragile of a state right now.”

“God, you are right about that,” you sigh and shake your head, propping yourself off the counter you were leaning on, crossing the tiles to be only a foot from Joel’s face, “Can I join you? A shower sounds like exactly what I need right now.”

He nods quickly, halfway through the question and you chuckle at the antics, pulling the t-shirt over your head and slipping off your panties to leave both in a heap with Joel’s clothes. He opens the curtain for you and steps back toward the other wall while you close the curtain and drag yourself under the stream of water.

A sigh relaxes your chest and shoulders, closing your eyes as you let the warm water run all over you. Joel’s hands brush across your skin, the feeling of his work-worn palms sending a tingle of excitement down your skin and chilling your body even under the hot water. His thumbs cup under your breasts while the rest of his fingers splay out on your ribcage, tips of them toward your back as he holds you closer to him.

“Mm, you’re so beautiful, d’you know that, mi Mariposa? La mujer más hermosa del mundo (The most beautiful woman in the world),” Joel mumbles against your skin when he nestles into the crook of your neck, curving his back to fit with you perfectly. His hands wander from your ribs, circling around your back and drifting down to the swell of your ass where they settle with a gentle squeeze.

“I think I’m getting better at Spanish 'cause I understood that. And it was very sweet, thank you, J. I think you’re the most beautiful man in the world.” You giggle and feel Joel exhale a chuckle against your neck, peppering slow and spaced kisses along your shoulder.

“You also told me something else about what you think of me last night. Well, it was to one of your friends but you were still on the phone with me so I heard,” he stretches to full height again with a smug smirk, squeezing your ass again as you sigh.

“Oh god, what did I say to you? Did I feed your massive ego?” you tease, bringing your hands up to his shoulders and lightly scratching your nails against his skin.

“I learned that I am a DILF last night. Or according to you, I am a DIAF to you. Dad I Am Fucking.” He can barely get the last sentence out around his loud laugh, your embarrassed reaction of wide eyes and jaw dropped egging him on more.

“Stop, I cannot believe I said that. And that you heard! You’re never going to let me live that down.”

“Not a chance, sweetheart. Not a chance,” Joel can’t wipe the giggly smile off of his face as he continues, “Oh, and you also were definitely really into me getting you into pajamas last night. I asked if I could take off your shirt and you said ‘Take it all off bay-beeee’. Which was very tempting.”

“Oh my god, if you don’t stop telling me all of this right now, I won’t take anything off for you again.” It’s a thinly veiled threat, both of you know it holds zero weight.

“Alright, alright. I’ll stop.”

“Thank you,” you breathe out as you turn toward the shelf in the shower, reaching for the body wash before Joel intercepts your hand, holding it in his and lowering it to your side. He presses his chest to your back, the contact also nudging his hard cock into the flesh of your ass.

“Y’know, I woke up this morning after you were all over me last night with a fucking hard on. Aching for you. And then you come in here and ask to join me in the shower, made it come right back…” he leans down, kissing your shoulder, up your neck and to your ear, “D’you still want me, Mariposa? Hm?”

One of his hands drifts to your inner thighs, coaxing your legs apart and swiping two fingers from your entrance to your clit. Your arousal coats his fingers, a quiet whimper leaving your lips in an exhale, eyes closing and head rolling back against his shoulder.

“You still want me, mi dulzura? Feels like you do,” his lips are against your ear, voice low and gravelly, and he slowly circles your clit as you continue to whimper and writhe in his arms, “Sounds like you do, too, mi amor. Y’know, we have the whole house to ourselves, Mariposa. I want you to be loud for me while I touch you. Understand?”

Lost in the sparks of pleasure slowly building, your words get caught in your throat as one of your arms reaches up to wrap around to the nape of his neck. At the lack of response to his question, Joel pinches your clit before pulling his hand away.

“No, no, no, please. I understand. I’ll be loud for you, J. Please touch me…”

You grip the curls at the back of his head, biting your lip and opening your eyes again to look at Joel’s head at your side. His hand comes back, his thumb rubbing your clit while his middle finger sinks into you until the first knuckle. He keeps his eyes on your face, slowly working the finger in and out of your cunt, never giving it to you fully.

“Fuck, don’t tease me, Joel. Please, pretty please, gimme more.”

A deep chuckle rumbles from his chest, his nose nudging at your cheek to turn your head straight toward the tiled wall, pressing open-mouthed kisses along your jaw.

“You want more, Mariposa?”

“Pleasepleaseplease.”

“Mm, and are you going to be good? Give me all your pretty sounds that I love?” Joel pushes his entire middle finger into you now, holding it there, “If I give you what you want, you gotta be loud for me, pretty girl.”

“I will, I promise.” You wiggle your hips to get any more friction building, grumbling in frustration when Joel’s other arm tugs your hips back against him, strapping you to him like a seatbelt. The thumb against your clit leaves, and as you’re about to complain again, Joel adds another finger and starts to thrust them in and out frenetically, the heel of his palm rubbing the sensitive bud at the front of your folds.

A sinful moan rolls from your gut, bouncing off of the walls of the shower and drowning out the sound of the water for a few seconds. You can feel Joel’s satisfied smirk against your skin, his mouth dipping to the crook of your neck to suck at your pulse point and leave his mark. His hand continues its rapid pace, your legs bending as they start to give out the closer you reach to the edge. To attempt to hold your weight, you lean your arms against the tiles, feeling yourself being held up by Joel’s arm tightened across your hips.

“Fuck, Joel, feels so fucking good. Oh!” Your voice pitches up when his fingers graze that spot inside your walls, the sound catching in your throat. Joel pushes deeper with his fingers, hooking them to find that same spot and petting against it with small strokes of his fingers. The sounds coming from you are uncontrollable, head falling back against his shoulder as a mess of his name, lustful whimpers and whines, and wanton moans echo in the steaming shower.

“That’s it, pretty girl, I can feel how close you are. Nearly squeezing my fingers out of ya.” Joel’s small groan vibrates against your shoulder, his hard-on being pressed into your back and leaking pre-cum. You can feel yourself clench around his fingers, the edges of your vision blurring as you near your peak. “Gonna come for me, Mari? Gonna be a good girl and come all over my hand so you can be ready for my cock?”

His words are the final push, pleasure oozing around his fingers and dripping down your folds, warmth spreading in your body as your nerve endings tingle. You can hear yourself moaning his name, small encouragements spoken in your ear as Joel continues to fuck his fingers into you throughout your orgasm. When you’re fully present in your body again, Joel slips his fingers out of you slowly, turning your head and kissing you deeply.

“Need you so fucking bad, Mariposa,” he says against your lips, kissing you fervently before speaking again, “Wanna bend you over and make you take my cock, and you’ll tell me how good it feels filling you up. You want it, pretty girl?”

“Need it, J. Please, I need you so bad.” You kiss him this time, pressing your hips back and grinding against his cock, the rumble of a mouth muffled into your mouth as your tongues meld together. Joel pulls away and grips your hips, turning both of you so his back is facing the stream of water.

“Hands against the wall, amor, arch your back for me—” You follow his instructions with one of his large hands skimming along your spine, folded to an angle at your hips. “That’s it, baby. So good for me.”

Joel takes his cock in his hands, teasing his tip at your entrance and earning a whine from you. A dark laugh is heard faintly from behind you, an equally quiet sigh of relief when he gives you just the tip.

“Mm, fuck, Mari. Estás tan apretado, y húmedo, y cálido. Nunca me voy a cansar de este coño. (You’re so tight, and wet, and warm. I’m never going to get tired of this pussy.)” 

Before you can formulate any sort of response, despite not fully knowing what he said, Joel gives you a few more inches of his cock, stuttering out a moan from you before his hips set a rough, desperate pace. Grunts and groans, moans and whimpers fill the bathroom, your names exchanged back and forth as he fucks you from behind. His hands hold tightly onto your hips, digging in to surely form bruises to match the hickey at your collar, and to keep you from being rammed into the wall with how hard his thrusts are.

“More, fuck, gimme all of it, J. Want you to fill me up, make it hard to fucking walk straight.”

There’s a vibrating rumble that resonates in your own chest, Joel completely pulling out on the downstroke and heaving his chest up and down with shallow breaths.

“Fucking dirty girl. Mi chica sucia. Filthy, baby.” He runs his fingers down the line of your spine, still arched for him. You feel him lined up at your entrance again, whimpering for him and pressing your hips back to try to get him inside. Joel chuckles, shaking his head, “Mm, can’t get enough of my cock, can you, sweetheart? Greedy little thing.”

Your jaw drops open with a toe-curling moan, Joel’s hips thrusting his throbbing cock into your waiting cunt to fill you completely, the same rough and hard pace set as he makes you knock forward and brace against the wall with every movement.

“Take it, darlin’. Oh, fuck, aguantarla. Puedes aguantarla, mi dulzura. (Oh, fuck, take it. You can take it, my sweetness.)” Joel’s head rolls back with another guttural moan, tilting forward to watch his cock disappearing into your dripping hole. “Fuck, such a pretty pussy. And it’s all fucking mine, isn’t that right, Mariposa?”

“Y-Yes! Fuck yeah, it’s all yours, J. No one could ever fuck me like you,” you glance over your shoulder and he makes eye contact, a wide, knowing smile on his face. Your cunt clenches around his cock, his brutal pace hurtling you toward the edge. Just as you’re about to ask for that little bit more, he reads your mind and slips one of his hands around your front, errantly rubbing circles in your clit.

“Can feel you around me, Mari, know you’re close. You gonna let me fill you up with my come? Gonna milk my cock with your tight pussy?”

All you can do is nod, eyes shutting tightly as moans squeak out of you. One hand reaches back to grip his wrist as he keeps you right there at the edge.

“Say it, baby. Say it back to me and I’ll let you come. Give you just what you need.”

A deep breath brings enough air into your lungs to rasp out, “Please fill me up, Joel. Wanna milk your cock of everything you can give me, want you to be dripping out of me all day. Remind me of how only you can have my pussy.”

“Fuck yeah, that’s right, sweetheart. Such a good girl.” Joel eyes that you have a hand bracing you still, letting go of your hip as he fucks you, rubbing your clit continuously. He reaches his free hand around to your mouth, prodding his thumb at your lips and humming when you take it into your mouth and suck. After a minute, he pops out his saliva covered digit and brings it back to your body, pushing into the tight ring of muscle facing him. The sensation of stimulation at all three places barrels you to your high, pussy gripping his cock as everything tenses and pleasure rocks your body and clears your mind.

With the tightness felt in both holes around him, Joel takes one, two, three more thirsts before he’s spilling into you, ropes of come coating your walls and lazy jerks of his hips fucking it deeper into you.

After a moment, Joel pulls out of you slowly, gathering all that dribbles out of you and pushing it back inside with his fingers, causing a shudder down your spine.

The two of you come down from your peaks, the water running cold now. Still needing to clean yourselves, Joel washes your body while you shampoo and condition his hair as he folds over to gently exfoliate your legs. The tasks get swapped, Joel washing your hair while you wash his body.

Stepping out, he grabs a towel for you, wrapping it around you tightly and giving you a sweet, chaste kiss. He gets another towel for himself, both of you drying off and heading back into his bedroom to get dressed again.

You sit on the edge of his bed in your clothes from last night, one of his shirts pulled over your tank top and tucked into your skirt. As you comb your fingers over your wet hair, you look at Joel as he pulls on a pair of jeans standing next to his closet.

“Hey, I have a question for you, actually.”

“Shoot, darlin’.”

“Am I remembering correctly that last night when you came to the bar, you were acting a little jealous toward Colton? Did you think he was flirting with me or something and you got all possessive?” you giggle quietly.

Joel blushes and shakes his head with an overexaggerated eye roll. “Pffft, no. Don’t remember it happening like that, probably a bit clouded in your memory.”

Laughing more, you stand up and cross over to him, hands splayed on his soft tummy and head tilted away from him.

“Oh, sure. Sure, J, we’ll go with that if it makes you feel better.” Reaching up you give his cheek a gentle pat and wink at him, giggling faintly before he gathers you up in his arms and gives you a kiss.

“Good, 'cause it does make me feel better. ‘Sides can you blame me for getting a little jealous? We’ve waited like three years to get this right with each other, m’not letting it go.”

“Me neither, which is why you don’t ever have to be jealous cause it’s only you, baby.” You send him a wink and a grin, giving him a kiss before you both hear the front door open, Tommy’s voice echoing upstairs as he calls out for Joel. He looks down at you, biting his lip.

“I didn’t think he’d be bringing Sarah home this early. Uh, d’you mind that he’s here or should I jus’ say…” he trails off awkwardly, waiting for your thoughts on how to broach the fact that you’re over here, in Joel’s shirt and clearly have stayed the night with your wet hair from the shower.

“If you’re fine with him knowing, we can tell him. That is if Sarah hasn’t spilled the beans already.” Joel laughs faintly and nods, running his hands up and down your arms.

“That is highly possible. But guess we’ll have to find out when we head downstairs. And I’m apologizing now for any stupid shit my brother says.”

“You act like I don’t know Tommy already.”

“You don’t know Tommy as my girlfriend. He’s going to give you some shit, and he’s going to give a lot to me for keeping it from him.”

“Think I can survive Tommy Miller. Now, c’mon, get a shirt on, and let’s go. I need some coffee.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Joel descendsed the stairs ahead of you, rounding the corner into the kitchen and greeting his brother as Tommy pours himself a cup of coffee. Sarah is already at the table, cereal bowl in front her as she eats and reads her book. Joel grabs two mugs from the cabinet, earning a confused look from Tommy before you walk into the room, the confusion melting into mischief. His brother nudges at Joel’s arm and winks.

“Ah, así que esta es la razón de su aventura nocturna en la ciudad. Puedo ver por qué estabas tan desesperada por mi ayuda. (Oh, so this is the reason for your late-night adventure into the city. I can see why you were so desperate for my help.)”

Joel’s eyes roll into the back of his head, “Cállate, Tommy. Necesitaba que la llevaran a casa, así que le di una. (Shut up, Tommy. She needed a ride home, so I gave her one.)”

“Claro, claro. Un paseo. (Sure, sure. A ride.)”

“Pendejo de mierda (Fucking dumbass).”

“¿Qué? No estoy diciendo que haya algo malo en ello. Estoy feliz de ver a su hijo si significa que usted consigue algunos. Finalmente. (What? I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it. I am happy to watch your child if it means you getting some. Finally.)” He laughs when Joel glares at him, Tommy crossing over to the table and covering Sarah’s ears. “Además, ella está jodidamente caliente. No sé lo que ve en un viejo como tú. (Plus, she’s fucking hot. Don’t know what she sees in an old man like you.)”

“Yo tampoco. Y deja de hablar de ella así. (I don’t either. And stop talking about her like that.)” Joel’s voice grits out the last sentence, his short fuse being tested with Tommy’s teasing this morning.

“No, realmente, ella es casi diez años más joven y podría conseguir a quien quisiera, pero ¿eres tú? Mejor empieza a apostar por los caballos, hermano. (No, really, she’s almost ten years younger and could get anybody she wanted, but it’s you? Better start betting on the horses, brother.)” His younger brother comes back to stand next to him, picking up his mug and taking a sip.

“Déjalo. (Quit it.)” Joel sends him another glare, grabbing the milk out of the fridge to add some to your cup.

“Maldita sea, tal vez tengo que contratar a una niñera para Sarah cuando está en mi casa. O tal vez la contrate yo mismo. (Damn, maybe I gotta hire a nanny for Sarah when she’s at my house. Or maybe I’ll hire her myself.)”

When Joel looks back at Tommy, he sees him eyeing you as you talk to Sarah at the table, smacking him upside the back of his head.

“Tommy, si no te callas la mierda ahora mismo, lo juro por Dios. (Tommy, if you don’t shut the fuck right now, I swear to god.)”

“Qué? Ella tu novia ahora? (What? She your girlfriend now?)” The young Miller questions, raising an eyebrow.

“Sí, lo es. Así que deja de hablar de lo caliente que es mi novia. (Yeah, she is. So stop talking about how hot my girlfriend is.)” Joel states matter-of-factly, shutting the fridge after returning the jug of milk.

“I understood some of that actually,” you say with a proud smile on your face, one of eager mischief on Tommy’s across the room.

Joel whips his head to you, wide eyes, “What did you understand?”

“You called him an asshole. Something about Sarah. The word girlfriend was thrown in there.”

Joel sighs quietly in relief, picking up your prepared mug of coffee.

“Oh, and something about you being old. And that your brother thinks I’m hot. ” Tommy sputters on his drink as he starts to laugh loudly, a deep blush warming Joel’s cheeks. You walk over to him and take the mug out of his hand, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. Cause you’re not old and Tommy just wishes he wasn’t single at thirty years old.”

Joel laughs and Tommy waves your comment off, rolling his eyes before winking at you, “Oh please, you wish you found me before this old man.”

“Sure, Tommy. You can think that all you want, but I met you both on the same day.” Joel barks out a laugh, a smug grin on his face from you holding your own toward Tommy.

Joel looks at his brother, a smile growing on Tommy’s face, “Well, maybe you needed to get your eyes checked that day, Posey. Cause you’d have to be blind to not pick me over the decrepit ass.”

“Y’know, I’m happy to set you up with one of my friends. She likes the type of cute guys who think they’re funny.”

“I know I’m funny, Posey, so not sure if it’s gonna work out. But yes, I would like to be set up with this friend of yours, please…” You laugh and nod, sipping your coffee before answering.

“I’ll work some magic for ya, Tommy.”

“I like this one, Joel, better keep her around so she can be my wingman.”

“You say ‘this one’ as if there have been others,” Joel rolls his eyes and continues, “And I certainly don’t need your advice on that front Tommy. She’s got me as long as she wants me, but please dear god, you should not be his wingwoman. Don’t subject yourself to that torture, Mari.”

The three of you chat to catch up, Tommy genuinely asking about your time in Boston and telling you how glad he is that you’re back around to make his people happy again. The comment swells your heart before your attention is pulled to Sarah as she asks about having a sleepover with you.

“I would love to throw a sleepover with you, sweet pea. I’ll bring over all the goodies to your house and we can stay in your room and watch movies and paint our nails and do all the fun girly things.”

“Yes! And Daddy and Uncle Tommy aren’t allowed ‘cause no boys.” She points at the two of them, both of them frowning and sighing.

“Can I at least be at home, mija?” Joel jokes, and the three of you laugh as Sarah seriously considers her answer.

“Yeah, that’s fine, but you gotta leave us to do the sleepover things ourselves.”

“Deal, Bug. I can do that.”

“Oh yes! It’s all decided then, we’ll have a sleepover when your week at camp is over.” You clap your hands together and grin, already planning everything you need to do this week to prepare for it.

“Damn, Mari, you brought a lot of stuff for one night with Sarah.” Joel eyes you from head to toe, a duffle on your arm, and shopping bags in your hands. He takes the plastic bags from you, holding the back door open for you before following you over to the island to set down all of your purchases. “You do know it’s only Sarah, right, darlin’? None of her friends are coming. This is a practice run for a sleepover.”

“I know, but I wanted to make the first girly sleepover she has at her house fun. I loved having my friends stay over when I was younger, and I dunno, you’re a boy so you don’t get it.” Rustling around in the bags, you start to pull out snacks and candy, along with fun new nail polishes and nail stickers, new hair clips, some young-girl-friendly makeup, and new pajamas for Sarah and you.

“Sweetheart, this is all really nice, but let me give you some money for it all. This is a ton of stuff.” Joel glances at the counter covered in supplies, and before you can answer he’s walking to the front door to get his wallet from the entryway table.

You call out after him, “I’m not going to take it so don’t bother trying! It wasn’t even that much anyway.”

Popping back around the corner into the kitchen, cash in hand, he shakes his head with a mocking laugh, “You’re funny. Even if it was five dollars, I’m giving you ten. Now please take the cash.”

Joel stops in front of you, hand out with a hundred in his hand. A dry laugh leaves your chest, pushing his hand away as you continue to sort through everything from the shops, “Not happening. This was way less than a hundred dollars too, so definitely not accepting that. Go put it back in your wallet, Miller.”

“You’re so goddam stubborn sometimes.”

“Oh, yeah, and you’re not?”

“Hey, I didn’t say that. I know I’m stubborn, that’s why this argument is happening. And why I am about to do this.” Joel steps behind you, slipping the bill into the back pocket of your shorts. You groan, fishing it out and shoving it back in his hand, pushing at his chest.

Joel rebuttals with another attempt, stepping toward you but you step back, backing around to the other side of the counter as he follows closely. You hold your arms out to keep space between the two of you, not being able to hold back a laugh as you start to pick up the pace in your cyclical chase.

“Joel! I’m not taking your damn money, leave it!”

“Mariposa, please, we both know I am way more stubborn than you and m’not gonna stop unless you take it.”

Shaking your head, you turn around to actually move into a speedwalk-jog kind of walk around the kitchen, serpentining your steps.

“Darlin’, I can still catch you if you walk like that.”

“Well, I’d like to see you try.”

Joel takes that statement as a challenge, suddenly catching up with you and wrapping his arms to your front, slipping the bill in the waistband of your shorts before letting you go, putting his hands up in the air.

Wordlessly, you snatch the money from your bottoms, throw it on the counter, and go back to the pile of purchases on the counter. After all of that, you start to unload the drinks in the fridge and open the pantry to throw the sweets and other snacks on one of the shelves. Joel stands and watches you, eyes going back and forth between following your movements to all of the things lying out, including the money.

A feeling kicks up in your chest, tightening your insides with a wring. Small moments send you back to feelings like these, unsupported by actual occurrences but your brain doesn’t care about what actually happens; it prefers the what-ifs. What if this doesn’t last, what if you’re too young, what if you’re too anxious, too broken, too much and it all comes crumbling from under you before you fully realize it? What if this is one of those moments you look back on as a sign? It’s taut and consuming, begging you to say something about it to release the corkscrew.

“If this is too much or if I’m overstepping a — I don’t know — a parental boundary 'cause she’s not my kid, and I know that, of course, but I wanted to do this for Sarah. M’not the nanny that you have to reimburse anymore, I just thought it would be fun to make it like how my sleepovers used to be as a kid…”

Joel’s brows stitch together with what looks like confusion or concern, rounding the kitchen island and standing next to you. A hand on your hip closest to him presses into the flesh there, turning you toward him as the other hand reaches up to tilt your chin to him. Your eyes avoid his, embarrassment heating your body with licks of flames.

“Can you look at me? Please?” His voice is unwavering but shy, boyish. You answer with a flick of up, meeting his own stare. “Mari, sweetheart, this isn’t about anything like that. I know you aren’t ‘the nanny’ anymore, and if I’m being honest, I don’t think you were ever just ‘the nanny’ to either of us. I was being pigheaded, and I didn’t want you to take on doin’ all of this yourself. It’s jus’ automatic for me to want to cover for Sarah, with any sort of activity. Not that I don’t want you to do all of this. I can’t even begin to explain how much it means to me that you care so much for Sarah. I’m just, I’m being her dad. And not giving you the means to do things for her yourself. M’sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize, J. I should have better explained myself from the beginning. I want to be a part of your lives, I want to….I don’t know, I don’t want to take the place of her mom, obviously, but I want to be someone she can do girly things with if we’re gonna be together for a while—”

“Not if, Mari. I don’t plan on letting you go without a serious fight,” Joel’s thumb brushes against your cheek as he holds your gaze, “I am so grateful and so relieved that Sarah has someone like you in her life. ‘Specially right now with everything around her mom leavin’, you’re exactly what she needs. What we both need…I will take the money back. But next time we’re splitting it, and every time after that ‘til it’s time that it’s coming outta a joint account.”

When Sarah arrives home from her playdate, Joel retreats upstairs after ordering pizza for the two of you (and him, because he claimed he was gonna sneak down) to watch something on the small tv in his bedroom. You and Sarah changed into your new pajamas and got all of the snacks moved into the living room, trekking blankets and pillows and stuffed animals from her room and around the house to build a nest on the floor in front of the couch.

Sarah had chosen The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants out of the stack of movies you had rented, popping it in and sitting back with you while you had her pick out a color for her nails. The two of you talked about camp and the past school year, her confessing a crush she has on a boy in her camp group this year. There’s only a few details you get from her as you paint her nails, giggling with her when she gets shy and telling her about your first crush.

Sarah eventually is the one to paint your nails, turning out a bit messy and abstract during the process but nonetheless it was fun. As she’s finishing up a second coat on the last nail of yours, the doorbell rings for the pizza and Joel jogs downstairs a minute later to answer the door. Carrying the boxes over to the kitchen after he paid and tipped, he grins at you and nods to the set up.

“Is that every pillow in our house?”

“Well, no, you still have the ones on your bed cause you were sitting on ‘em,” you reply as you walk into the kitchen behind Sarah, fingers splayed apart, careful not to smudge. The younger Miller does the same, looking up at Joel when she stands next to the pizza box.

“Daddy, can you get the slices for me? I don’t want to mess up my nails that Posey painted for me. Look at them! They’re so pretty!” She raises her arms up to give Joel a look, his hand taking one of hers and inspecting it.

“Gosh, Bug, these are just gorgeous. Mari did a great job,” he grins at you, giving you a wink at the same time an idea pops into yours.

“I could do your nails, J. They could match Sarah’s!” Your suggestion is immediately supported by his daughter, her small stature jumping up and down in front of him.

“Yes, yes! You need to get your nails painted, Daddy!”

“Wasn’t this sleepover ‘no boys allowed’?” he arches a brow before he grabs a piece of pizza, plopping it on a plate for Sarah to take into the other room, “If I can stay for longer than it takes to paint my nails and hang out and eat your snacks, you can absolutely paint my nails.”

Sarah takes her plate from her dad, grinning ear-to-ear as she retreats back to the blanket nest. Joel makes a plate for you, carrying it out with his own and setting them on the coffee table. With a groan, he lowers himself to the ground, leaning his back against the couch and holding out his hands to you.

“Go for it, sweetheart.”

“D’you want the same thing as Sarah or something different?”

“Hmm, what d’you think, mija? Should we match?”

“I think you should give Daddy the color I gave you, Posey. It’s so pretty!” she leans back against you, using you as a backrest while she eats her pizza carefully with her wet nails, engrossed in the movie.

“Alright, guess it’s decided then. We’ll be matching,” you smile at him, taking one hand in yours to pull it closer, relaxing it against your thigh as you open the polish bottle. Concentrating on the tasks at hand, Joel wiggles his fingers when you aren’t in the midst of painting to get your attention, holding up a piece of pizza near your face.

“Eat, darlin’. Gotta fuel your artistic brain,” he winks and smiles sweetly at you, earning a quiet laugh before you lean in and take a bite chewing as you go back to painting. You switch hands after a few more bites, giving him a break to eat his own pizza and you yours while the three of you watch the movie. Once your job is done, you close the bottle tight and set it on the table, getting Sarah’s attention to look at it.

“How’d I do, Sare-Bear? Does your dad look pretty?” Her giggles pull some from all of you, nodding and clapping her hands together.

“Daddy, you need some of my pretty stickers and then Posey needs to take a picture with her camera.” Sarah stands and moves over to the pile of beauty supplies, grabbing the pack of nail stickers you bought and picking out a sheet. She sits next to Joel, stickering around his face as he closes his eyes and lets it all happen.

“Is this what happens all the time at girl sleepovers?” He peeks an eye open at you, getting a wide smile and shrug.

“Guess we’ll have to have some more for you to really find out.” Sarah steps back from her handiwork, and you pick up the Polaroid camera, lining up the shot from the side of Joel where there’s multiple star stickers clustered around his eyes. The shutter snaps when he looks at you, spitting out the image. You hand it to Sarah to watch it develop, showing you both quickly before going to hang it on the fridge along with a few other of your shots. You snap another of him looking at you directly, soft rounded eyes filled with affection.

Once you set the camera down, holding onto that photo for yourself, his hands find your thighs, running over the soft cotton of your PJ pants.

“Thank you for doin’ this for her, she hasn’t been this happy and giggly since before you left last summer.” Joel leans in, giving you a gentle, lingering kiss. “I love you. So, so much, Mari.”

Instead of answering, you give him another kiss before Sarah walks back in, settling between the two of you on the floor nest, cuddling up within your little unit of three to finish out the movie.

A few nights after your slumber party, you sneak over to Joel’s again before bed, using the key to the back door that he had made for you. He’s sitting on the couch, a line of sight to the door and a sleepy smile tugging at his lips when he sees you.

Padding your feet across the floors, you climb onto the couch next to him and curl your legs under you while you lean into his side. His arm wraps you up and his lips press against your forehead with a content sigh.

“Hi, Mari.”

“Hey, J.”

“How was your day, darlin’?” he asks as he turns off the TV, fingers ghosting up and down your bicep.

“Good, it was good. Babysat for the O’Connors today with the little baby. She’s so adorable, just a day full of baby giggles.” You grin and Joel smiles back at you, nodding along, “And then after that I drove to therapy and had that for an hour and then went home and waited to come see you.”

“M’very glad you’re here. Can’t sleep without you anymore,” he kisses your temple, “How was therapy, amor?”

“Today was a little hard. Talked more about maybe looking into medicine cause I feel like it isn’t fully there yet. But I do feel like I am happy. Like in my heart. My brain just can't keep up. Still have a lack of interest in things and not a lot of energy like I used to.”

Joel hums an acknowledgment, looking down at you on his shoulder, “M’here if you need to talk about anything, sweet girl.”

“I know. Thank you,” you give him a chaste kiss, smiling drowsily, “How was your day?”

“Pretty alright. Had to go fill in for someone who called in sick today at a job site so I’m exhausted from all the lifting and using machinery. But the framing is all done which means there’s something that looks like a house standing on the lot,” Joel chuckles softly and glances out the front window, “And then, uh, ran into your mom when I got home. She must’ve been running out for something but she stopped to talk and invited me and Sarah and Tommy to celebrate the Fourth with y’all.”

You sit up, grinning excitedly, “Really? Oh my gosh, that will be so fun. Our first official holiday together. Even though it’s just the Fourth of July. Kind of lame.”

Joel chuckles along with you, nodding his head and avoiding your eyes, “I mean, I told her yes ‘cause I didn’t think you’d mind. But the more I got to thinkin’, I guess, I just—I think I need some more time before we tell your parents about us.”

Your face falls before you can hide it, Joel’s hand immediately reaching to cup your cheek delicately, “M’sorry, sweet girl. I just don’t think it’s a good idea for us to do it at a family event and maybe it might be best if we can sit them down sometime to talk about it all.”

A slow nod keeps you quiet, in your thoughts, rambling out an agreement as you bring your eyes to Joel’s again, “Yeah, yeah, I understand. I agree. Would be best to wait a little while longer.”

“Thank you, darlin’. M’so glad you agree. We’ll find the right time, eventually,” Joel gives you a tender kiss, lingering against your lips for a few more dopey exchanges. He pulls away, standing up and gathering you up with him, leading you to his bedroom and getting into bed with you, “Night, Mariposa. Love you.”

“Night, J,” you reply meekly, the small sound of your voice easily brushed off as fatigue. Joel keeps you close, spooning you with his front against your chest, falling asleep behind you quickly. You can’t rest, especially after that short and decided conversation.

Why did you agree so easily? And why was he even asking for more time? His daughter knows, his brother knows, your friends know. What’s any different about your family? Is he afraid that if he breaks your heart he’ll have to move? But why would he even think about that possibility when all he’s told you is how much he loves you, how he’ll be yours until you want nothing to do with him anymore?

Every reassurance that he’s given you is flooding your mind, those doubts and fears worming their way into the sweet memories and poisoning them with twisted words.

Every time he’s said he loves you, does he mean it? Or is he only saying it to say it, to placate your anxieties about the future of you two by committing in a way?

Is this push back about telling your family a response to you not being ready to say ‘I love you’ back? Is he getting fed up with waiting for it?

Are you too much too quickly? Weaving yourself too tightly into his life and his daughter’s life? Is he going to start to drift, to put off telling your parents until he can end it?

These thoughts cycle in an endless loop, keeping you up while Joel sleeps soundly beside you. Nausea stirs in your stomach, rapid heart beating from the spiraling of your mind keeping you wide awake until the early hours of the morning.

The only way you can manage to fall asleep is turning in Joel’s arms, cuddling into his chest and breathing in his scent to halt the carousel of negativity in your brain long enough for his even breaths to lull you to sleep.

One last question flashes to you before you’re finally asleep:

 What happens when Summer ends?

taglist: @beskarandblasters @undrthelights @swiftispunk @joelsversion @asirenbyanyothername @ellenmunn @ja-ehyun @sw33tp1xie @marisemonteiroo @brunetteeras @beee-haw @jenna-mcgraw19 @whore-4-pedro @katifefe @joelmillerswifu @itsgiorgiaz @soph55 @wild-hearts-runfree @youcancallmeelle @jupitre @starkovli @thatgeminigirlx @livingdeadmaria @bunnyskisses @houseofballoonsth @casual-obsessions @pedro-pascal-lvr @bimbodolls-world @burningnerdchild @tuquoquebrute @mrsvedder12 @estelivi28 @bongsrconfusing @addictedtotlou @angie2274 @pedrostories @pedroholicx @theelishad @johnwatsn @elissaaa @felicityofbakerstreet @atinylittlepain @northernbluess @cannolighost

[kisscara]

may i request a fic of scara being a domestic bf for reader?? like super the way of the househusband type of domestic :0 if thats ok w u??

househusband in training ★ [scaramouche x gn!reader] ⎯⎯ fluff, modern au, college au

a/n: HIHI this idea is soso cute mima and ty 4 requesting! i love myself some domestic bf scara.. ( ´ ω ` )

when your boyfriend of two years moved in with you in a small but comfy apartment, you surely hadn't taken him for the type to do everything around the house. scaramouche has always had the ability to get quickly tempered, but you didn't know that that would apply to chores as well.

after a month or two, you got used to his constant nagging that always fixated on the dishes in the sink and the state of the bedroom. the thing is, he never makes you do it. "tsk, there's a spoon in the sink, (name). you know how i want the sink to be empty at all times," he would say, all the while putting on his rubber gloves and apron.

you peek from the doorframe of the kitchen. "it's a single spoon, scara. plus, i'll do it if-" he stops you short with a raise of the hand. "no, no. that won't be necessary." and the conversation ends there, or so he thought. you muse, "hm, i've been thinking about something for awhile."

scaramouche doesn't look up from his work as he scrubs the spoon with a soapy sponge, "yeah?" as he reaches forward to open the faucet, you add, "you're kind of like my little househusband in training." you pause when you hear the clatter of the spoon. scaramouche slowly turns to face you, "what did you say."

you laugh, amused by his reaction. "i mean, you kind of got the part down." scaramouche takes off his gloves and apron to make his way to you in a few strides. he holds your face in one hand, squishing your pudgy cheeks with his lithe fingers. "if i'm to be the househusband, that means you have to play the role of my spouse, no?"

scaramouche also takes care of things like meals. unlike his mother, who could blow up the entire world if she even touched the buttons of the stove, he's fairly good at cooking. breakfast, lunch, dinner, you name it. he'll be calling you from the kitchen to come and eat and you'll be greeted with a table full of meals.

once in a while, he'll let you help him. he prefers it whenever you take a part in baking rather than cooking, since it's less dangerous, in a way. speaking of your well-being, scaramouche always checks up on you, possibly more than your own parents do.

whenever he feels as if you've been studying too long, he'll pry you away from your screen to spend time with him. "c'mon, i'm more fun than words on a screen." he'd say, cuddling with you on the couch in the living room. feeling overwhelmed? scaramouche is your go-to guy.

he'll turn off the lights, only leaving the television set as the two of you snuggle beneath the blankets. scaramouche comfortingly strokes your hair and whispers endearments, your head resting in his lap as he soothes all of your worries away.

and even though scaramouche manages most of the house chores, he somehow is able to balance his college life as well. he wears reading glasses whenever he studies but he finds that he focuses better when he does it with you. he'll pretend that he doesn't know an easy question and makes you help him out from that point.

every night is spent with him in your arms or you in his, words of affection exchanged and kisses shared before the sleepiness gets to you two. scaramouche can be mean sometimes, but he's big on being soft when it comes to you. it's almost like his lips are made for yours, considering the way they perfectly slot against your lips is heavenly.

in the morning, he'll be awakened by you peppering kisses all over his face and clinging onto him like a koala to a tree. that is, if you wake up before him. every other morning, you'll rise to the smell of freshly cooked food. though the point is, scaramouche is the ideal domestic boyfriend and maybe even a househusband... ♡

© kisscara

[csuitebitches]

I really enjoy your blog and was wondering if you have advice on one of my biggest mental blocks. I'm 23 but struggle to feel like an adult and being independent deeply scares me even through I want to be "chasing my dreams". I've lived with my close knit family my whole life and still spend a lot of time with my parents. I'm almost going to move away(in the next year) and so I've began the process of getting a car/saving money, etc. But then I find myself subtly sabotaging these efforts because the idea of being alone/moving away also terrifies me. I really want to experience moving to a city and working and traveling and doing things I want and at this point I'm finding it draining being my parents "stay-at-home-daughter". But I also get anxiously sick when I try a push myself for more independence. I've put so much on hold going through school and then living in my home town w. parents and it's kind of scary to imagine dating (never prioritized men + parents didn't let me date in highschool= never had a bf or anything) or living alone even though I'd love to have the experience. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Basically I still feel like a 15 year old when it comes to my personal life and that feels a bit shameful.

I want to tell you that we all feel what you feel. You’ll only ever feel like an adult when you’ve exposed yourself to the outside world, regardless of whether you can handle it or not.

independence scares you because it’s unfamiliar territory. Often when we look at people who are independent and on their own two feet, they seem to have a sense of self identity, purpose and responsibilities to handle.

I’m always in favour of people moving out of their parents homes for a couple of years at least (the culture where I come from also emphasises on the whole family living together and there’s no move out at the age of 18 concept) because I see the pros and cons of both situations of living in/ out of your parents home.

No book, YouTube video, friends’ experiences will teach you about being an adult. You have to step out and experience it yourself.

Start doing exposure therapy. Basically, slowly, bit by bit, immerse yourself into the traditional adult experiences.

I’ll give you examples. Understand fully how your insurance works. Keep all your medical records in both a physical and a digital file.

Understand how your car functions as a product - which means guarantees, warranties, insurance, emergency numbers, mechanics nearby, etc.

Start tracking all your spending expenses, even if you’re using your parents money at the moment. The earlier you start this habit, the better. Create a monthly budget for yourself and stick to it.

Start doing your own laundry in the house and learn that not all clothes go in the washing machine, some go for dry cleaning etc.

Make it a goal to learn to cook at least 5 dishes properly before you leave. If your parents are good cooks, ask them to teach you or go to every introvert’s favourite site, YouTube.

Pretend that your room is a mini apartment and try to keep it clean at all times.

Start socialising more. Not just with known friends. Sign up for a random hobby class like a book club or a running club where you can meet more people. Yes it’ll be difficult, yes you’ll have moments of awkwardness but don’t give up after just one meeting - go and meet new people to get used to the idea of interacting with strangers.

You can’t rush into feeling like an adult. It takes time. Exposure therapy is the best way to get into it. The more responsibility you can healthily shoulder, even if you fail at times, you’ll still start feeling more confident.

We weren’t born with the knowledge of car tire changing mechanics, insurance, cooking or tidying up. We had to learn them as we grew up. It’s perfectly alright to not know how to do something. The beauty of living in today’s world is that the answer to nearly every question is one google search away.

[goosegoblin]

Hi jess. Hope you’re well. Asking you this because im honestly not sure who to ask in my life and ive liked the advice you’ve given to others in the past. So im an american poc, 21 and in college, as is my white bf. We’ve only been dating 5 mos but im more in love and secure w him than anyone ever and he feels the same. We’ve started talking about postgrad plans since we’re going to enter our last year of college. He is planning on a phd whereas im going corporate. He wants to live together after graduation and be in the same city. He’ll heavily consider my choice for location when it comes to grad school and wants me to apply to jobs in those cities. I really want to be with him and I can see a future w him but at the same time it’s really scary. Especially the thought of moving away from my state and moving in with him and starting a life together. I feel like im still young. But i also dont want to be long distance, esp because wherever he picks for grad school he will be stuck at for a few years. Are we crazy to be talking about all this and considering living together (a year later) when we’ve only been together for 5mos? Im aware we could break up before then and my immigrant parents will present MANY issues, but there’s hope in my heart that we’ll work thru all of it together. Or am I being delusional and need to chill out? We still have a few mos but I’ll need to start applying to jobs in the fall and will need to figure out which cities by then. Idk. It sounds crazy to me. He could be the one or he could not. I dont know and my heart wants to run w this but also scary to make decisions when we haven’t known each other that long (even tho it’s been wonderful. Not perfect bc many external obstacles but perfect btwn us). Any advice is much appreciated!!! Sorry this is so long

Hello my friend,

I think to a certain extent this depends on how much this would limit your career options. Are we talking about a career where you can pretty easily find jobs in most cities? Or one that's quite niche, where limiting yourself would make life a lot harder? If you weren't moving to be with him, would you consider moving to another state at all, or would you strongly prefer to stay where you are?

A few other things to consider- if you make these plans and then you break up beforehand, will you have somewhere to stay? What if you break up after a few months of living together- who will leave and who will stay? Will you be alright for money? Will you have a support network outside of him, even if not in person? You say there will be issues with your family- if they're currently an important part of your life, will you potentially lose them if you make this decision? Is that okay with you or not? None of these are leading questions, by the way- they're just things I think are worth consideration.

For reference, I moved in with my then-boyfriend and two other people in a shared house after dating him for around six months. We're now married, so it went pretty well! That being said, it was in the same city I was living in anyway, we were also living with other people, and we were both still attending (the same) university. I am sure many people have stories of moving in together early and having it work; I am sure many have stories of moving in together early and it not working (I suspect, sadly, there are many more of these). Nothing in life is risk-free.

I think if you do go through with it, it's sensible to think of and plan for worst-case scenarios- but I don't think this is a situation where I can tell you what's right or wrong. I think it depends on a lot of different factors. Are there friends or people in your life that you could ask that might know you and your partner better? I'm sorry that I couldn't give more specific or useful advice.

Best wishes and lots of love,

xx

[cruelsister-moved2]

Hiii I hope you don’t mind me sending you an aita question. Is not really an asshole thing, is more of a am i a bad friend kind of thing. I have a bff. We’ve known each other for 20 years now and we are currently sharing a place. She always wanted to buy a house before her 30s (we are both 26 btw) and like in January this year her parents offered to pay for the first payment deal (idk the proper term for it ) great news! She was happy and she said that I can live with her, I will pay rent. It was a win win situation cause instead of having to go through the hassle of finding a new roommate I could live with her instead. But the thing is, she’s planning to move to another country next year, and when her parents knew this they withdrew their offer so plan goes down the drain. She’s sad, frustrated cause her dream was crushed so she was finding for solutions. And here is where the am I a bad friend comes in play. My sister’s boyfriend is very financially stable, he helped my family a lot money wise, and she knows this of course, cause sometimes she hangs out with us and he pays for everything, like dinner at restaurants etc. So, since he has money her solution was if I could ask him to pay for the first loan (18k€), cause her plan is to sell the house after 10 years and with the money she from the sell she will pay him back. And I was like hummmm I won’t, I’m not comfortable asking for that much money lol. And she was like, if you don’t ask you won’t know, he may say yes or no and besides I will pay him back. And also into the mix she was kinda wanting this house to be both of ours but i said no, I don’t want to buy a house so that house is hers and hers alone, and that she should use the opportunity her parents gave her, maybe this year will be not possible but who knows, if you come back to this country you can ask them again. A whole mess. She was very stubborn, she didn’t get the picture that I didnt want to buy a house together, and that I should ask him so the matter could be closed. I said okay. Some weeks passed and she was finally letting go the idea of having a house by this year, she was getting around the idea that it would be possible. And didn’t asked him, I kinda lied to her saying he said no lol. And she heard this he was like oh well I have already gave up so it doesn’t matter. Thank god. I think I didn’t communicated clear that I didn’t want to buy a house together, cause the plan was yes we would be living together but I would pay rent so I thought with that action it was clear that my intention wasn’t buying a house either so i kinda felt bad for lying lol this all happened 4 months ago and it just hit me how absurd was for her to ask for that money lol I mean I understand people have absurds ideas when we are thinking with a hot head, so it’s important to let our thoughts cool down so we have a better understanding of the situation and she was just throwing ideas around and we live together so I’m already there but idk I felt that I in part also ruined her dream, but I know damn well I didn’t cause that was her business and business only. After all this months i realized that whole ordeal was kinda overstepping my boundaries. Sorry for this wall of text.

sorry I took a while to get to this bc it's long but like. so. she wants u to ask ur sisters bf to lend her a crazy sum of money so she can buy a house?! yeah that's really weird and also why does she want to buy a house if she's going to move away in a year...? like why doesn't she just wait and see what happens like u say bc she might end up not going or coming back and then she could ask her parents but this makes no sense. I'm sorry she asked u for that like thats honestly so weird and reads as her just completely losing touch w reality to try n get what she wants out of everyone including u. I get it bc I really want to buy a house some day n I don't have family money to rely on so I relate to like trying to make it happen but I just can't imagine not being embarrassed to ask one of my friends smth like that.... ur 100% not the asshole yeah this was really weird of her!?

[softieteez]

i love this yunho bf soooooo much ! could u make one for san, plsssss? 😔💗

what dating san would be like

sorry this took a while, i’ve been going through some stuff but a lot of people have sent in requests so i’m gonna try to push some out :)

warning : suggestive

taglist: @skzfairies @hyuncore

it’s so obvious how much he loves you but he will remind you constantly if you forget.

it’s so obvious how much he loves you but he will remind you constantly if you forget.

it’s so obvious how much he loves you but he will remind you constantly if you forget.

he’s very smiley around you

i feel like for dates you two would go to the arcade or something

cheesily enough, you two would win each other prizes

he will never stop hugging you or holding your hand

i feel like he’d be like a little kid, dragging you along to different games

oh and when you two eat, he’s feeding you. no questions asked.

i also get this feeling that after the arcade he’ll just sleep at your house claiming he’s too tired to go all the way back to the dorms.

speaking of, you were introduced to san by one of the members i feel like (idk why but it’s just the scenario that constantly lives in my head with him)

everyone was really happy when you got together

san definitely gets teased but that’s okay

he simply replies with the “at least i have a partner” and then walks off to cuddle you

if you introduce him to your parents, i think he would be nervous but be able to hide it hella well.

and your parents would absolutely LOVE him

he’s just that kind of guy yanno

and then his parents would be really excepting of you guys as well

the true test of character is seeing if his cat likes you.

which btw. i would die for that cat

okay. some suggestive stuff now. buckle in

not afraid to do it while the members are home.

in fact he probably plans that shit. js.

rough.

HAVE YOU SEEN THAT MAN HIP THRUSTING ON STAGE-

feel like he has a thing for choking. but you didn’t hear that from me

it’s rare that he’ll be vanilla, usually that’s for anniversaries or valentine’s day.

but he’s a big softy on after care

full of praises and kisses while running a bath

taking baths with san >>>>>>

OMG HE WOULD PROBABLY SING TO YOU

and then he would help you get into bed so you don’t sleep in the bath.

and then continue singing you to sleep 😭😭

mornings would be very lazy. he will not move out of that bed.

groans and grumbled when you get up to pee

complains about being cold because you’re not next to him.

he’s clingy with you.

if you refuse to kiss him, he’ll either pout or…

you know that video where he shoves woo into the wall just cause he wouldn’t give him a hug.

yeah that.

he would let you do his hair and makeup if that’s something you’re into

he’s honestly willing to try anything you’re into

he downloads the music you like, reads the books you read, if your native language is anything other than korean you bet your ass he’s gonna start learning that language.

also. idk why but i feel like on valentine’s day he would wake you by singing softly into your ear

i’m a slut for this man’s vocals.

honestly he would probably sing into your ear on any day

if your having a bad day he’s really good at cheering you up

so he’ll hold you, sing to you, let you cry for a little bit and then start cheering you up in anyway he can.

if you play an instrument play for him.

if you sing, sing for him

if you do art, draw/paint/sculpt something for him

if you have any fun talent/interest. S H O W. H I M.

he loves that kind of stuff

and he loves learning new things about you.

he believe you tell a story through your arts, and he wants to try and figure your story out.

he’s literally just the sweetest human honesty

also if you stan a kpop group, or any artist, he will buy tickets to see them, albums, literally anything.

i feel like he would also try to constantly impress you.

by singing, dancing, WORKING OUT

he would take you to the gym maybe. or he would just work out before bed or something

he prides himself on making you drool over him

literally nothing will stop him from being cocky asf

oh also, if you fall he will laugh, but also check and make sure you’re okay. and then laugh some more.

oh. he wants to meet all your friends.

like i said, he wants to know your story

the people in your life are part of your story

he’s just sentimental

overall, he’s a really nice guy. please treat him with a bunch of love plz.

AND GIVE HIM LOTS OF KISSES😠

[mythiccheroacademia]

African!Reader Series

Request: how would class 1-a’s main three be with a fem!black african s/o?

A/N: Did I just give myself my own request unprovoked? Yes I did. Am I gonna turn this into a series? Yes, because it’s about time I start being selfish with my own writing. This is gonna be the first time I see 100% of myself in a headcanon, so that’s exciting. Being stuck in that middle space between the culture you grew up in vs. the culture you’re born into is hard. Sometimes I feel like I don’t fit in anywhere. But, I’m learning to equally embrace both. So this is gonna be me navigating that space. I’m also excited for all my African/African-American (first gen) readers who’ve reached out to me about their experiences. Being African isn’t monolithic. I’m def gonna be keeping it vague enough for everyone to be seen. I’ll specify if I need to. Anyways, this is for y’all as well as myself. Hope everyone enjoys this 💋

All Characters are 18+

Warnings: cursing, some content that’s not even spicy enough to call pepper 💀

Midoriya Izuku:

just as with everything in his life, deku dedicates 100% of himself to learning everything there is about you

the first time he saw you? you had this man’s knees wobbling

your rich dark skin was doing wonders under the sunlight

and your body? went crazyyyy

but when he heard you speak your language, it was a wrap

doesn’t know how he ended up being your bf, but he doesn’t take you for granted

he’s always eager to learn more about your culture

has notebooks dedicated to your foods, clothing, hairtsyles, dancing, etc.

izuku practiced how to say I love you in your language for literally four weeks so he could say it to you perfectly on your six month anniversary

he stumbled a little, and his accent peeked out, but it was perfect and your emotional ass almost started crying

he studies and practices a lot so he can understand/speak to your parents if they don’t know english or japanese

your parents are urging you to marry this man. quickly.

he loves that you have 7000000 family members bc for awhile it was just him and his mom

your family loves him because he’s so sweet and respectful

already has the kids calling him uncle izuku

your mom and his mom use google translate to talk whiles they cook together and it’s so cute n wholesome

it makes you both go 🥺

a big part of your culture is dancing

whatever event you go to weddings, church, funerals, etc. you gotta dance, there’s just no getting around it my guy

you know your bf a little stiff in the hips LMAO so you show him some moves

and uh...he tries. really hard. but it’s looking rough so you just wave it off bc everyone gets hyped up regardless

so imagine your surprise when this man busts out with the shaku shaku at your auntie’s wedding, leg movement and hand gestures on point

the whole venue is screaming

they throwing money on him and everything😭

when y’all make it home (it’s like 4am smh) he’s knocked but you watch a little yt and find all these recommended how-to videoes about african dancing and everything makes sense

Bakugo Katsuki:

y’all met during a mission that required international heroes

being the asshole he was, he walked right through a conversation you were having w someone

him: “out of my way extras!”

he was shook when you told him to fuck off in perfect japanese before smacking your teeth and ending with “you foolish goat”

him: 😦😐😡 “hah!? what’d you just call me?”

and the rest was history

actually, he wouldn’t leave you alone and disguised it as him trying to intimidate you but it was bc your comebacks were so unique but so fucking funny (mannn the shit african parents be coming up w is violating 💀) and he was taking notes lowkey

you don’t take any of his shit and he loves it

it didn’t hurt that you looked like a goddess straight out of a fucking fairytale

he loves your sense of style

your hero costume is laden with traditional cloth and you just don’t see that anywhere

like your drip was immaculate

every time you step out, he’s thinking “motherland drip on meeee 😍”

he sends pictures of you to his parents to brag about you

speaking of which, ever since you met them he has this sneaky suspicion that they might like you more than their own child

but he couldn’t blame them bc after tasting your traditional dishes, he was sprung

especially the spicy foods you make bc they give him a run for his money (it’s not spicy unless you start sniffing)

has an uncanny ability of doing headwraps, like them shits are perfect on the first try

if you know your native language, please cuss him out in it, especially if your voice gets deeper

he’ll freak out on you at first, bc he’s a hothead, but it turns him on in the weirdest way

everyone knows he’s in deep when he starts adopting your insults and speech patterns

kirishima: *says something dumb*

him: “my friend, use your head before you speak to me, you castrated bull frog”

he even says it with the accent and all

and youre dying

my poor baby kiri is so confused even tho he knows he should be offended

Todoroki Shouto:

todoroki unofficially knew you bc he followed you on insta

he always thought you was a baddie but never had the chance to make his move

he was also a little scared of the culture clash

but then you dropped this here video with your friends 🥵

homeboy had never slid into anyone’s dms so fast before

he’s dead ready to change his life for you

luckily you knew english, so y’all were able to communicate

after two days of talking, he hits you with the “so when can I see you?” and he’s fine af so you make some plans and it goes really well

youre so different from any woman he’s met before and he loves that

you two are always talking about the similarities and differences of your cultures and it makes him fall harder for you

lives for your confidence

and your smile kills him every time

loves it when you start trying to speak to him in japanese, he doesn’t care if you butcher it

learns your language bc he wants to feel closer to you 🥺

show him some of your music and he’ll start playing it around the house

make him some soba with a twist of your traditional meals and he’ll drag you to the court house bc, ma’am, you finna be a todoroki starting today

whenever you step out in any traditional clothing, he insists that he takes pictures of you

when you start dancing and the ass starts a-jiggling, don’t expect him not to touch bc he will

don’t let him talk to your dad/uncles for too long bc he’ll start popping out with a dashiki print shirt and those wack ass sandals (y’all know the ones i’m talking about) like he did something 💀

all the boys will obviously defend you if someone comes at you on some racist/ignorant bs about your race/ethnicity, but todoroki will step for you

he will decimate a mf for even looking at you sideways

calls you queen bc he genuinely believes you are royalty (you can decided whether or not it’s cringey tho)

[cvastals]

ok heres my 8th char * starts crying cuz im getting ahead of myself bt idc ig *

* brenton thwaites, cis man + he/him  | you know abel romanov, right? they’re twenty-seven, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, their whole life on and off? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to the system only dreams in total darkness by the national like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole ordering coffee with an ice cube because you’re too impatient to wait for it to cool, unhealthy obsession with everything being perfect, forcing on a smile so often it aches thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is december 3rd, so they’re a sagittarius, which is unsurprising, all things considered.

background.

second child 2 senator vaughn and philanthropist adelaide who’s currently running for irving’s mayor, younger brother of cain!! the romanov’s r quite well known fr their All American n Lavish lifestyle

growing up abel worshiped cain he was the cool older sibling who cld do it all n still maintain the lifestyle he wanted/their parents expected n abel wanted nothing more than to follow in their footsteps

he tried his best to keep up, did everything cain did, but his grades were always just a bit lower, or his form was always just a bit off, he always felt second fiddle, like it was his role in life as the second child

abel ignored it the best he could for most of his life but he started to notice a different side of cain that he didn’t show their family and a side that :/ abel didn’t like or know at all that was quite vile and this was when some resentment started to form bc their parents thought of cain as their Golden Child n didnt see what was going on behind the scenes whereas abel tried his best to be genuinely good if he could help it

by his senior year of high school things were starting to look up a bit, his already rly good grades were managing to improve, he was on a bunch of social teams, and the coach was saying it was looking good for him to become captain of the soccer team by his second semester, which would look good for scholarships

bt bc i hate my muses obviously this was not going to happen?

abel was still subconsciously trying to impress his family, his siblings, the people around him, wearing himself out until he was stretched far too thin, and he paid for it with one wrong move during a soccer game that had his knee popping out of place and shattering

it was really really really bad, he was in a cast for a few months bc it needed several surgeries, obviously sports were permanently out of his future, he still walks with a limp in his right and is in need of a cane to this day

this sent abel into a really bad depressive spiral sighs that he didn’t really talk to anyone about cause he’d trained himself at that point to just keep things to himself and never reveal his emotions so that no one could catch him vulnerable or have an upper hand on him

however this was the final nudge he needed to really become his Own Person after realizing it’d gone too far and he’d gotten too bad (on medication now to regulate when he gets out of control/starts to get bad again bc it does happen from time to time)

told his parents fk ur money! n moved out of home, had a rly lovely letter of recommendation from airi’s dad that got him into medical school, started joining different teams tht he thought wld b more fun (radio, chess, etc.), starting to distance himself from his siblings a bit too (mostly out of shame)

personality.

rly started to loosen up, threw a lot of parties at the romanov summer beach house without telling his parents n would purposely act out/make more friends than he ever had trying to uphold the family image

is still . quite stiff around the edges to this day tho, thinks everything through and has like daily planners he writes down his entire days in to the Second old habits die hard its jst how he functions at this point

had another rly rly bad depressive episode when cain went missing bt like everything he does? he internalized it baybee!

is like overly nice tho he just rly struggles expressing himself/being openly emotional and vulnerable with ppl he thinks they’ll view it as weakness tho he’s a bit desperate to properly let someone in

when cain came back (will b explained in james’ bio) their parents encouraged abel to keep an eye on them n it made abel :/ another reason fr resentment in his eyes (he still loves his brother bt bc hes so bad at expressing himself he thinks hes gna make cain worse if anything)

has been with several ppl bc hes kinda desperate fr approval/fr ppl to need him so hes been quite a good bf in the past bt his incapability to properly open up has put a real Damper on things

likes to think hes in perfect control of his emotions bt explodes a lot bc hes bottled things up fr years

is in no way a Bros Bro but will blush over his shirtless guy friends sometimes then b like . awww so endearing of me i must love my friends sm<3 like jst doesn’t realize he’s Bi LKSHDGKLHSDKLG he wldnt even freak out if he found out he’s just clueless.

thts all . i can think of now ok bye<3

connections.

exes???? he wld have a Few methinks

fwb’s/past hookups/ur regular old Spice

obvs he’s never been w a guy before but i am So Desperate fr a funny/cute plot where a friend or even jst a random hits on him/Opens His Eyes and he goes wow this is all starting to make sense.

ppl he has a crush on…………. bt wld never say anything abt it . in his current Frivolously Unemotionally Emotional state

family friends/ppl he grew up with?? or ppl who knew him before he separated himself from his family a bit n knew him as a diff guy n is like ‘omg wtf lol’ now

obvs . some friends Bleathe

enemies?? ppl who he got annoyed with n jst lost it on bc it was a wrong place wrong time Situation.

thts all i can think of rn very basic bt teehee

[reversecreek]

ziggy strutting up to me like this gif as i hold up a crucifix n say begone begone vile beast BEGONE from my vicinity i will NOT buy u a happy meal wretched little boy...... some live action rp to start this off..... and SCENE. takes my bow. his pinterest is here n his playlist is here.

* dylan minnette, cis male + he/him  | you know ziggy benson, right? they’re twenty-four, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, all of his life? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to hand crushed by a mallet by 100 gecs like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole glitching televisions impaled by remotes, nonchalantly texting the babes as a stove fire ravages your kitchen & cartoons turned up so loud it fries your eardrums thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is november 24th, so they’re a sagittarius, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( nai, 24, gmt she/her  )

HISTORY;

from the second ziggy ws born he didnt stop screaming. within the first hours of his life he gave his father an ear splitting headache tht prompted him to say “that uncooked chicken’s fucking demonic” n joke abt popping “it” in the oven to roast. when this understandably received disgusted glances frm the nursing staff he ws all like “jeez alright alright i’m kiddin i’m kiddin can’t a guy have a joke around here?” n i feel like that sets up their dynamic so nice n sweetly <3 (sarcasm) (lips pursed)

frm day one he ws just honestly a rly hyperactive child. when he laughed he’d shriek it out at the absolute top of his lungs bc he’d just get this huge giddy surge of energy all the way to the very tips of his toes n it’d hit him like a shock from a fork in a plug socket. their parenting style ws rly just lazy tbh.... they didn’t have much time for disciplining him. ziggy’s mum wld halfheartedly be like “ziggy quiet now....” n then go bk to nuking whatever vegetables she’d defrosted until they tasted like dinosaur bones..... this wld not make any difference in ziggy’s behaviour

his father rly just took the stance that it ws ziggy’s mum’s job to discipline him or raise him in general which is. 🔪 please enter the 20th century sir.... get ur noggin sorted..... needless to say he wsn’t much involved in ziggy’s life n honestly generally jst didn’t like him. ziggy was a responsibility he didn’t want (accidental prregnancy) n in his literal words once said (blatantly while ziggy ws watching cartoons on the sofa) tht ziggy just “harshes my fucking vibe a lil bit”. 

he wound up leaving when ziggy was six ish.... ziggy watched thru a crack in the blinds as his mum tried to grab at his jacket to make him stay as he lugged out his suitcase..... she even tried to physically cling onto him so he cldn’t get in his ride bt the door wound up slamming n she sat on her knees watching the lights pull out the drive n even long after they were gone. ziggy didn’t rly kno what to do abt this (emotions hd never been smthn he particularly understood, his own or how to handle other people’s) so after watching her fr 5 minutes he went out n gently shook her shoulder n was like. mom come inside u look weird out here. FKGHSFHGSFHKGFHKSGSFGHK. this was him trying to show love <3

ziggy’s mum is like.... rly relationship dependent. she gets all her self worth n validation frm whtever man she’s dating.... so she went on this like.... wild rampage of jst. dating a very large string of men. they ranged frm dreadfully boring to downright awful n were always below her standards. ziggy quite literally hated. all of them. every last one. even one that tried to b nice to him by offering to help him do his math homework when he ws 13 (bc ziggy was struggling a lot w this) n in response ziggy loudly barked until the man gt scared n stumbled backwards into a dining chair on his way out of the room. KGHFHKSJHFJGSHKFG

while him n his mum hv a kind of strained situation (there’s a great deal of resentment from her end n kind of. blaming him fr “driving his father away” n it’s never spoken abt bt it’s very much Present in their relationship n honestly ziggy kind of resents her too fr bringing some of the men into their lives tht she did) there is. love there...... sometimes she’ll like. reach out to cup the back of his head n he’ll duck his head away n be like wtf are u doing checking me for lice? n she’ll jst smile like :)...... knowing that’s how he loves. KHSFGKJGHKSFGFHKGSHF. ugh we love men who know how to process their emotions yesssss king give us nothing <3

(abuse n violence tw) idk i won’t go into it too much bt even tho ziggy’s constantly like 🙄 when his mum shows him affection he wld quite literally. kill fr her n almost did one time.......... narrowly avoided getting charged w assault when one of her bfs was drunk n evil n he went into protective mode.... idk he. has gone thru a lot n seen a lot n so has his mum. they look after each other the best they kno how despite the negatives in their relationship.... it’s complex <3

literally got in trouble so. often. at school. he ws always hyperactive (undiagnosed adhd n also probably not helped by the fact he ws jst allowed to eat sm junk food w 459729457952 sugar percentage all hours of the day) bt when his dad left n like. dealing w acting out so severely at home where his mum’s bfs were concerned it rly escalated..... i jst think he ws like. literally a terror. probably got suspended so many times. maybe even was permanently expelled before he cld get his diploma honestly. set off a firework in school hallway. smthn absolutely reckless n stupid.

hs hd a bunch of jobs mostly in the service industry...... usually ends up getting fired.... worked at mcdonald’s fr a while n then one day he went in rly high n ate three cheeseburgers in front of a weeping child who hd ordered one.... promptly gt fired bt he ws like yo fuck this place i’m quitting n threw off his apron n was like who’s with me??? who’s joining the union??????? to the rest of the staff n they were all mostly like >_> <_< before security approached to forcibly remove him n he grabbed a cookie n crammed it into his mouth in rebellion mid frantic n frankly possessed escape.....

in terms of wht’s going on to this day w his living situation i honestly think he still lives w his mum. i can just see this. KHGFSKGHSFGKSFGH. in like. a ramshackle bungalow in delphinus heights.... having said tht she probably isn’t. there tht often nw she’s dating her latest man (jonas, somehow always sweaty no matter the weather, wears too many gold rings n smells like shoe cleaner) who owns a car dealership n thinks he’s a kingpin for it. still home sometimes tho.

PERSONALITY:

ziggy spends his days working shifts at an ice cream parlour (one he got fired from once bc he broke in high n ate sm ice cream he was lay on the floor in the bk pants unbuttoned stomach bulging sm calling himself garfield saying he had too much lasagna. they hired him bk tho bc he has a harem of middle aged women who lust after him n it brings customers....) or like. cruising parties...... setting off fireworks.... skateboarding...... breaking into abandoned buildings.... filming stupid jackass type tricks....... playing guitar hero...... getting drunk at the arcade..... sometimes busking fr cash in a tossed dwn hat (very badly) (thinks he’s sick at it however)........ or alternatively...... fucking chicks aha...... fuck.......... not exclusive to chicks tho just had to sound despicable bt :smirk: he’s bi Baby.... 

i won’t lie he’s kind of an asshole................ never rly was taught properly how to empathise with ppl so like he struggles w that....... sometimes he’ll say smthn tht’s genuinely just quite mean n doesn’t need to be said but he doesn’t rly realise it’s like bad. n he’s like. what’s the deal haha why are u mad...... 

fuckboy. genuinely jst. rly summarises it well. insatiable. sleeps around wildly. will say he’ll call u back n then will not call u back. lies like oh babe i’m moving to france tomorrow fuckkkkkkkkk sucks so bad that we can only have one night but let’s make it special yeah? tits? n then they’ll see him casually skating past them on the street a week later n be like well clearly he’s not in france. ziggy doesn’t care.

calls himself a “genius inventor” bc he once gutted a vintage analog television n made it into a fish tank. it literally leaked water a bit. still convinced he is a literal visionary never seen before never done again. he’s like i’m on the brink of greatness. i’m the next einstein.

has a bit of a god complex where he thinks he’s the sexiest person in any given room n it’s kind of funny bc like dylan minnette’s sexy to me bt tht isn’t a widespread opinion n ur being a bit bold ziggy...... regardless has confidence thru the roof tht isn’t rly deterred by anything or anyone.....

dyes his hair 49729572459752 colours every colour under the sun. sometimes all at once jst different patches. wears lots of tie dye tshirts n basketball shorts even tho he doesn’t play basketball. rly colourful sneakers. just lots of loud colours tbh. often wears a paper clip in his ear as an earring. pierced it himself. someone probably recorded him doing it fr his insta story. probably was drunk.

drives a vespa around tht is baby blue with pastel yellow polka dots. it has lots of tin cans attached to the back by string like on those cars when u just got married. he did not just get married. u can hear him arriving frm over a street away.

almost never pays fr anything bt is always like “yo it’s my treat” n then either dine n dashes or u have to pay

his idea of romance is nuking a hot pocket as breakfast in bed n then complaining he’s hungry n eating half

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

fuckboy antics: he’s insatiable. rabid. notorious. mayb they fkd n he didn’t call........ jst completely ghosted........ mayb they were genuinely into him n he honestly built up kind of false pretences abt them having a connection n then jst dipped..... cld  b good fr angst n drama <3 someone please egg his house he deserves it <3

high skl heathens: locals tht were equally chaotic in hs..... just picture him having this group of misfits tht were like so loud n always getting up to no good doing god knows what god knows where.... probably gt arrested together breaking into an old abandoned hospital one time........... rly just doing the absolute most at all times............. probably so loud........... drinking n smoking far too much.....

an attempted teenage relationship: i’m like. tentative to even put this one bc i just feel like ziggy wld be a shit bf. KJHGFSHGFHGSFHGFKGHFKSG. but. maybe it ended in drama.....i’d say this wld probably be a girl bc in hs he probably ws less open w his sexuality... maybe ziggy cheated on her or she cheated on him................ angst........ strife.... we love it we love it........ i crash my car into the bridge... i don’t care... i love it... sudden icona pop moment me stood on stage singing karaoke.... it’s just gone 7am as i write this so i apologise if this is losing any. coherency. smiles so sexy....

last adolescent plot i swear: i picture when ziggy was expelled he somehow amassed a large group to protest w signs outside the school fr him to be accepted back. it didn’t work. he threw a party when he received news he hadn’t got back in anyway. maybe ur muse was involved or helped organise this or was violently opposed.

enemies: ppl who just. don’t like ziggy bc like honestly that’s so fair n valid. KJHGFKGHKSFGHSGKHSFHG..... mayb he like. exploded their mailbox one time when they were younger. mayb he skated over their toes. mayb he fucked their bitch aha fuck................. (joking btw) (don’t condone misogyny) (hashtag feminism). cld be fun to play around w

fwb: probably hs a few of these......... mayb they’re cool w things being no strings attached n lax n at ease w ziggy being the mess tht he is in general..... mayb they want more bt ziggy cannot provide...... mayb they literally don’t get on at all n this is their only mutual ground n they keep coming bk to each other.... :smirk:..... whatever u Farncy....

maybe ziggy’s mum dated ur muse’s dad at one point???? we can discuss this if u think it fits..... cld be fun to play around w............

coworkers: past or present r fun..... mayb they were like WTFFF is this guy fking ONNN at a past job (he’s had a few in the food service industry so pretty open in tht area)... mayb they work w him at the ice cream parlour now..... cn discuss the dynamic probably wld be dependent on the muse involved fr like. how he’d act n stuff.... :yum:

[bitchesgetriches]

HELP! So my bf and I have decided to move in together, he’s already moved to another state because of his new job, I still live w my parents & they’re v strict & controlling and don’t believe in moving in w someone unless ur married & they have made it a huge deal before when I’ve wanted to travel w my bf & I’ve ended up not going. So, how do I tell them I’m moving out? How do I mentally & emotionally prepare & cope w the fallout after I tell them? I’m scared and the anxiety is consuming me.

My darling child, I’m assuming that if you’re talking about moving in with a partner, you’re at least 18 years old. Which means you are legally an adult, and your parents legally do not have any right to tell you what to do with your life. Furthermore, once you move out you will no longer be dependent on them for basic necessities like food and shelter. That’s when they’re REALLY have no right to dictate what you do with your life.

So remember these facts. Internalize them.

But of course, you wouldn’t be asking if interpersonal relationships were as simple as a legal precedent. Your parents clearly care about you, are worried about you making a mistake based on their personal beliefs and moral views, and want to protect you from making that mistake. Which I get! Their concerns are legit! Yet your legal rights as an adult and feelings about what to do with your life are also legit. 

I would invite your parents to a family meeting to discuss your future. Come prepared with notes and a script you write for yourself ahead of time if you find it’s helpful. I know when I was your age I found my parents really intimidating, and I was always tongue-tied when I confronted them. So write down some notes about your thoughts and feelings re: moving in with your significant other.

Then, at the meeting, start by asking them for THEIR thoughts and feelings. Why are they so concerned about you moving in with someone you’re not married to? What are the possible bad outcomes they are anticipating? Force them to actually articulate their motives and concerns in a rational setting. Your goal here is to have a discussion as adults. If they start yelling and screaming, calmly get up and tell them “We will continue this discussion when you can conduct yourself rationally, maturely, and respectfully. I promise to do the same.” Then walk away.

Once you’ve heard their thoughts on the matter, explain your point of view rationally and calmly. Again, you want to not only tell them you’re an adult with rights, but show them you’re an adult. 

One point I want you to make sure to bring up: you might be making a mistake, but it’s YOUR mistake to make. How are you to learn from experiences if you’re not permitted to have those experiences? They can’t protect you from life; they’re going to have to let go and allow you to make your own decisions, even when they’re sure those decisions might lead to disaster. And after all: it might not be disastrous.

In the end, they’re going to have to live with your decision. And they love you, so they’ll forgive you. 

Here’s one of our podcast episodes, which I think will help with framing how to approach the conversation:

Season 1, Episode 8: "My Mother Demands Information About My One-Night Stands." 

Lastly, a note from me, your beloved internet Auntie Piggy: moving in with a romantic partner is a big fuckin deal! Bear and I dated for four years (during college) before moving in with each other at 22. Kitty and Mr. Kitty dated for five months before moving in together. Both of us are now deliriously happy and married to these people, which probably says something very frightening about Bear and Mr. Kitty’s sanity BUT I DIGRESS.

When we first lived together, we both had other roommates. Bear and I lived in a four-bedroom house with five people and two dogs and a dude living in a tent in the backyard. Kitty and Mr. Kitty lived in a three-bedroom apartment with five total humans and a cat. I bring this up because the situation was a little less “honeymoon” and a little more “dormitory.” Having other roommates forced us all to really learn to cohabitate with non-family members. But more importantly, it provided us with a community in our homes. Our family-substitutes were not just our romantic partners, but platonic friends! It felt like living with a bunch of siblings really, and kept us from feeling too isolated with our romantic partners. Eventually, we moved out of our communal living spaces into our own homes with just our partners (for a while at least... we both have roommates as well now). 

I share this as a suggestion: get more roommates beside your significant other. Your parents might be more comfortable with the situation if they don’t see this as you and your partner “playing house” as a substitute for marriage. 

Good luck, piglet! We’re rooting for you.

Master the Logistics and Etiquette of Moving Out 

[kewltie]

in the midst of a battle w/ members of LoV, pro-hero ground zero save a rookie journalist who LITERALLY threw himself middle of all the chaos to grab photos & after yelling at the ignorant fuck, katsuki doesn't think he'll see him again but then HE SEES HIM EVERYWHERE. his name is midoriya izuku & he has some sort of death wish really bc katsuki keep finding him in the middle of all these hero vs villains battles and ONE TIME he tackled down a villain right???? and he doesnt even have a fucking quirk & yet he is seemingly unafraid of everything.

needless to say, katsuki is v smitten bc the litle awkward death defying shit. also, anyone who accidentally send katsuki to the hospital several times a month bc he keep getting into trouble and katsuki have to come rescue him and THEN YELLING AT KATSUKI FOR INTERFEARING W/ HIS JOB – may be katsuki’s true love.

katsuki get so fucking rile up at this quirkless man, who shown no fear and easily go toe to toe w/ him and yet is so incredibly humble and hilariously awkward, he is just into this badass idiot who is entirely devoted to his job and cursed w/ severe stubborn???? feels relatable. so yea, katsuki ofc taps that ass right the fuck away bc he knows a good one when he sees it bc izuku is indirectly responsible for three broken ribs after katsuki had pulled him out of ANOTHER TROUBLING SITUATION. he's a trouble magnet and shit-stirrer and katsuki's heart is moved.

so they start dating and it goes SO WELL. izuku still get in major shitstorm for his job and katsuki still drags him out of it w/ a few bruise here and there, but afterward they go grab a bite and crash at each other place. super romantic and sweet and it's so v good. but!!! there's something weird about izuku. he doesn't talk much about his family, to katsuki anyway. BUT HE'S SUPER CLOSE TO THEM. his parents seem to call him daily and he go visit them often, but he never bring his parents up to katsuki esp his dad & izuku kinda got a stalker??

it's not like katsuki didn't notice right away, but HE THOUGHT IT WAS HIS STALKER. one of his super creepy fans probably but nope this person only tails izuku and when katsuki tell him about it, izuku is like, 'oh that's just toga'. apparently, izuku knows his talker v v well. the stalker apparently is sent by izuku's father to watch out & protect izuku and katsuki pauses bc who the fuck does a journalist who lives on takeouts and shitty cable TVs need a bodyguard?!!! so yea katsuki's new bf background is fucking weird and mysterious.

katsuki has his agency dig into izuku's background (not that they hadn't vet izuku's before for katsuki's safety) but they comb through the archives and izuku's history and it's comes out v v v v clean, sparkling even. honestly, katsuki doesn't know WTF IS UP W/ HIS NEW BF. so he confront izuku about his weirdo stalker/bodyguard, his avoidance about his family & his dad in particular, and his eerie squeaky AND CLEARLY SCRIPTED papertrails. izuku get shifty eyes and is like, "you won't believe me." And katsuki says tersely, "fucking try me."

Izuku drops his gaze to the floor and says, finally, "my dad is the leader of the league of villains." and YEA, KATSUKI'S BRAIN SHUT DOWN FOR SEC bc his deku?? stupid suicidal stubborn bleeding heart deku??? FUCK NO. but izuku just nods his head and grimaces. the LoV is the largest criminal org in the world w/ long list of crimes & longer list of criminals that make its their home. their roster are made up of terrifying people w/ dangerous quirks... and IZUKU, quirkless and softhearted izuku is the leader's most precious son. the idea itself is COMPLETELY ABSURD! HOW does that ever make sense? izuku is a civilian who works normal if a bit dangerous job & doesn't seem to have any *evil* inclinations at all yet he hail from the worst kind of genetic source possible. maybe he's just faking it all along.

which made katsuki absolutely furious that izuku might been some kind of sleeper agent from the LoV sent to trick spy & kill him or something and izuku's eyes wide, immediately protests, "no, no, i swear! i dont have anything to do w/ my fathers... org." but katsuki has a hard time accepting it esp with the truth bomb thrown at his feet now that he realizes HE'S DATING THE ONLY SON OF EVIL OF THE MOST VILE CRIMINAL IN THE WORLD. so yea, he walks out on izuku, saying he need some space & izuku was looking so heartbroken as he left

for the next few days, katsuki stews in his thought. he doesn't tell anyone about what he had found out, but he doesn't contact izuku either. This last for couple of weeks until, one day just as he in the middle of patrol there's some commotion that attract his teams and katsuki is separated from them. he's cornered by several LoV members, outnumbered five to one and katsuki lost his comms in the ensuring scuffles but instead of kicking his ass bc well they're foes, one of them break ranks toga (the blood queen) approach him w/ a bloodthirsty grin & a knife pointing toward him.

"hey, pretty boy," she coos w/ a flicker of edge, "stop ignoring our young master! you made him cried & he won't come out of his room. I hate seeing him so upset bc Izuku-chan should always be smiling! if you dont fix this ill rip your hide from your bones and wear it as a cape."

the group behind her make various grunt of agreement, all promising him death and disembowelment for... apparently breaking izuku's heart. katsuki is so outrage that he nearly explodes on the spot bc these dumbass villains think they CAN BLACKMAL/THREATEN HIM?! HIM, GROUND ZERO?! also, even more furious by the fact that they insuate that HE BROKE UP WITH IZUKU?! wtf, he never said that!! needing space meant just a temporary break s he gets his bearing on wut to do next... but not like a perma break, but izuku's ppl thought their relationship ended.

katsuki is even more offended by that notion bc izuku is even a bigger idiot than he thought. HOW could someone that much of crybaby over just temp break is some manipulative coldhearted spy?? right now his instinct says, izuku is telling the truth. he isn't tricking katsuki.

izuku is seemingly sweet, humble, & awkward but he got that rebellious streak a mile wide. loud in his opinions & shit-stirrer by choice, he faces down villains & heroes alike like they're on equal ground even though izuku is defenseless. he respect the law but only when it applies. katsuki has never seen such a fucking firecracker like izuku who loves people & the world but have little respect for any gov entity or laws and think they're good only when they're helping ppl but otherwise they're abritary (lmao). he such chaotic force for good it's hilarious. so yea, he believes that izuku is the SON OF AFO now bc that lil shit is a menace. A GOOD MENACE, but still a goddamn menace. he seems to stay firmly on the side of 'good' as it is which make his relationship with his villain father a fucking mystery & headache for katsuki.

so katsuki, gritting his teeth, clichely demands the LoV group to take him to their leader so he can verbally kick his bf's ass for keeping his fucked up secrets and stupidly mistaken that they're broken up. the group happily ties up him and blindfolds him bc well SECRET LAIR. katsuki is crazy, ok. like, STUPIDLY CRAZY to go blindly and no backups w/ some of the worst villains in history so he can meet up w/ his stupid bf and his crazy father. he could end up dead tmr or some shit bc it all could have been a trick to lure him in w/ his guard down but if izuku can be an idiot for dating a hero when he's a son of a villain than KATSUKI CAN BE A BIGGER IDIOT FOR GOING TO MEET HIS BF'S VILLANIOUS FATHER AT HIS SECRET TORTURE FORTRESS OR SOME SHIT. love can make ppl dumb and they're both a perfect example of it.

so katsuki get blindfolded and escorted to the LoV hq and it's a suprisingly sweet ride to there. no bumps, no abuse, no torture shit going on. he get offer food and drink and it's FUCKING WEIRD. his kidnappers start some casual convo w/ him about izuku and his job of all things. they even joke about how katsuki arrested one of them one time and almost kill another THE OTHER TIME & it's all happy bs??? it's even worst than torture. katsuki just want this to end already!! eventually they arrive and katsuki is let out. he get inside & his blindfold is off.

it's... nothing like he expected. it's traditional japanese house w/ sprawling garden, koi ponds, & beautiful woods. it's pristine, homey, and terribly normal. "ha, you thought we were going to take you to some kind of evil lair, right?" twice says, grinning bc he's an ass. "that's next time! we save that for official bsn." he jabs Katsuki's in the shoulder playfully. "you're meeting sensei and the mistress so of course it got to be at their house and not the 'office'."

katsuki's hands start twitching like he's going to explode someone or something but he's quickly drag away before he could do anything about it. lead through some hallways before depositing inside a tearoom where there's a SHIT TON of pics of baby!izuku & his childhood accolades on the wall. this look less like a room to greet visitors but to show off izuku. just as katsuki goes to examine a cute pic of bb!izuku playing in a field of flowers & holding one up towrad the camera, the doors slide open and a couple walk in. one of them is an older woman who looks eerily like izuku and the young woman also ft. in many of the wall pics.

she smiles warmly at and goes to greet him right away. "hi, bakugou-kun! welcome to our home, i'm inko, Izuku's mother," she introduces herself. while she's a source of happy energy and warmth, the other man beside her is another story. he gives katsuki's an icy stare. katsuki already knows who he is before he even say anything. AFO looks younger in comparison to his reported age, notably handsome, and he carries himself like some warlord from the warring periods.

"I should kill you," is the first thing he says. "my son should only cry in joy, over his terrible taste in romantic media consumption, & dumber things." spoken like a man who dealt with midoriya walking crying machine izuku his entire life and also a hopelessly devoted father.

"hisashi!" inko scolds. which is strange to katsuki bc he didn't even think AFO even have a name but in front of him isn't some evil man who mastermind gov't take over & ruin so many ppl lives but astupid father overprotected of his son.

"but i won't," AFO admits regretfully. "Izuku would be even more sad and if you're dead your death will haunt him needlessly more. he won't be able to forget you and move on." he frowns, like he actually had CONSIDER THAT ROUTE DEEPLY before casting that idea aside.

What the fuck, katsuki thought and says exactly that, "what the fuck. there's something seriously wrong with you," he points out what he think is v obvious.

AFO shrugs. "I love my son. He's my-" Inko's frown and he clears his throat, "our most precious treasure and we do everything to ensure his happiness. do you understand us, bakugou katsuki? inko and i have raise with love and care for 20yrs and i won't have some rough neck capers try to destroy his smile. i dont care who you are or wut you can do bc i can put you ten feet under w/ a snap of my fingers & nobody will be able to save you but like i said i won't."

Katsuki grind his teeth, fists clenched at his side, before lowering his head. this isnt time to fight, they're not on the field & on the job. this isnt about their respective stance on moral superiority but izuku. izuku is why they're both here. "i came here for him. i want to fix it," he says. "just let me see him." he pauses & grimaces like the taste of whatever he say next disgust him. "please."

AFO frowns, staring at katsuki for a beat, two. like he can pull apart katsuki's motives and tears into his rib to see w/e make him tick. "fine," he waves katsuki away, "you may see him now but if he cry anything beside in happiness i'll have your head and your entire agency." it's not a threat. it's a warning lace with truth that katsuki has no doubt he will carry out if a single tear slip pass izuku and fall.

inko claps her hand happily. "great, i'm glad you guys are geting along so well!" she says, like threats of murder haven't been thrown at his feet. clearly, she's used to the fact that her husband is a completely psychopath and whipped for their son. this fucking crazy family.

katsuki grunts, not knowing what else to say beside, 'have you ever thought of fucking divorce bc yea maybe you will be less crazy by then' but he holds his tongue bc they're still izuku's parents and he already made a bad impression on them even though technically not his FAULT.

AFO doesn't promise anymore murder in his future but the dark look on his face is enough as inko's lead him out & toward izuku's room. she drops him right outside it and gives him an encouraging smile before heading off, but katsuki has no doubt the parents are lurking around. katsuki sucks in a deep breath before raising his fist and knocks. he hears unhurried footsteps on the other side and slowly the door is slide open.

"Papa, I already said--" izuku whines, and stops as soon as he sees who ACTUALLY on the other side. "K-Katsuki?! What are you--?"

Katsuki blinks, trying to get his fucking brain to grapple with the thought of AFO as 'papa' and his head nearly explode. he drags a hand down his face and once again thinks, THIS FUCKIN' FAMILY. "Look, you idiot," he starts in lieu of any answer. "We didn't fucking break up."

Izuku looks haggard, buffy red eyes and the dark circle under it, speaking of how upset he was. he clearly didn't get any good rest these several days they were apart. he lifts an accusatory brow at Katsuki. "you didn't pick up my calls or answer any of my text," he retorts.

Katsuki rolls his eyes. "what part of I needed space, time to think didn't you get?" he snaps back. "It didn't mean go cry and sulk your parent's home like a damn coward because you were too dumb to think of anything beside we may have broken up!"

"But--but," Izuku's lips wobble and katsuki nearly jump out of his skin bc jfc don't cry here or i'll be skinned alive, "i was scared that you really mean it! that's why i didn't want to tell you in the first place bc then you wouldn't want to have anything to do w/ me."

Katsuki sighs, a bone deep tired sigh. "Now, why would you think i would have any problem with dating the son of my nemesis?" he says dryly. Izuku's brows furrow. "All Might is Papa's nemesis," he unhelpfully point out. "I don't think Papa even knew you existed until we dated."

Katsuki scowls. "that's not the fucking point," he shouts, temper rising w/ every word. "Your dad is the fucking boogieman who wants to sow discord in the world & it's my job to catch him &lock away for good. Do you see my moral crisis over this when im dating his beloved son?!"

"I-" Izuku's face falls, "dont you think I dont know that? I've lived with him for over 20yrs, I know exactly what he's capable of." he looks away. "But, he's my Papa & im terrible for still choosing him over the world. So," izuku says solemnly. "i dont expect the same from you."

Katsuki grits his teeth and steps right into izuku's space, up in his face. "Look, im only going to say this once so listen the fuck up," he starts. "I like you. A lot. Stupidly. Gods know why when you drive me up the fucking wall all the time, but here I am standing before you."

"A lot, huh?" Lips twitching, Izuku's eyes go soft.

Katsuki scowls. "Dont make me repeat myself, but yes fucking a lot that your fucking groupies & your old man threatened to kill me several times over did not deter me from coming here," he says, hand cradling Izuku's cheek.

"It's because I'm dating you and not your father. Whatever crimes he'd commited is not on you, you don't have to carry his sins," he tells Izuku, leaning in to press a kiss too fast and fleeting on izuku's forehead. "just stay true to yourself and i'll fucking deal with it."

Izuku's close his eyes and lets out a shaky exhales, the air of relief that passes through him is shuddering. "Ok, ok," he murmurs, opening his eyes to look at katsuki. there's a twinkle in them as he smiles, soft and sweet, the kind you can stupidly drunk on & never let go.

In that hazy moment, katsuki thinks, AFO doesn't need to plan any premeditated murder in case things go v wrong bc this is how he'll die w/ izuku's smile right in his front his eyes, cutting him down one curve lips at a time. Fuck, he's just as whipped for izuku as AFO.

it's good that izuku not a fucking psychopath like his father bc this would have gone v v v wrong. izuku would make a terrifying villain. Worse than his own father bc it's not fear & intimidation that will get ppl to follow him but izuku's own magnetic personality that move them.

"don't ever become a villain, ok?" katsuki insists suddenly, grabbing his shoulder tightly.

"where did that come from?" izuku laughs, eyes crinkling. "And dont worry, papa had tried. many, many times but i haven't turn over to the darks ide if that's what you worry about."

"Good," katsuki says firmly, and thinks the world better for it. one less crazy midoriya to raise hell. izuku is trouble enough as it is when katsuki thought he was just a quirkless journalist w/ a death wish but now there's a chance he could go rouge any moment and--yea. no.

"Sooo," izuku says, bouncing on his heels. "are we back together now?"

katsuki flicks him on the forehead. "we never broke up in the first place, you dolt."

izuku grins and suddenly throws his arm around katsuki. "ah, i miss you so much kacchan!!!" he declares excitedly.

and after they made up, katsuki interrogate izuku about wtf is wrong w/ his father bc how did AFO of all ppl get a villain son who isn't all about /that/ kind of bsn he's in. turns out izuku always have a healthy regard for heroes so he never thought of joining his father's organization. though AFO would have been super happy to take izuku in bc izuku is terrifyingly clever & resourceful but he lets izuku go & do his thing anyway. they just mutually agree not to talk shop when it's family, keeping their jobs outside &not in the home to keep both of their sanity.

so izuku knows shit about the 'family bsn' except wut everyone knows bc he's not involve with any of that and in his everyday job as a journalist izuku often times clash w/ his father AND expose some of his schemes bc it's part of his job & he doesn't shy away from it. AFO wasn't upset at all having his plans ruin by his own son. nope. he was SUPER PROUD OF IZUKU!!! to able to accomplish such thing on his own even if it's against him lol. but izuku is still his father's so so he doesn't take on just AFO, other villains, & dark org. he takes on the gov't, hero association, and even other heroes themselves if he ever catches on if they didn't live up to his ideals of being 'proper hero' like all might. he fiercely chases and exposes anything that he deems corrupted and wrong not caring which side they're on.

which makes izuku kind of chaotic good. he acts on his own whims & sense of justice, disregarding all rules & barriers. which is why he admires katsuki so much bc katsuki stands by his rule staunchantly & won't ever move from it, izuku knows katsuki wont ever be sway by the dark. kinda like izuku's father who stands firmly by his belief & does everything to reach his goals. WHICH IS NOT EXACTLY WHAT KATSUKI WANT TO BE COMPARE TO ESP BY A NOTORIOUS VILLAIN LIKE AFO lol. but yea, now that he got izuku's motive and why he's the way he is, it get easier.

they continue dating, izuku continues getting into trouble 120% of the time, katsuki keeps bailing him out, and sometimes IZUKU BAILS HIM OUT bc izuku may be quirkless but he got an army of the world's most terrible villains on his side so yea izuku IS TERRIFYING. and they aren't just dating but they're 100000% serious w/ each other bc now katsuki go to izuku's parents house for dinner every sunday and have to put up with AFO and play nice w/ each other for izuku's sake bc they come ton an understanding they will be IN-LAWS one day lol! their dinner convo is mostly the two of them taking jab at each other bc katsuki trash of AFO's plans or AFO's sends katsuki's ppl to the hospital and got away with it. they never stop being enemy even for izuku bc of where they stand on but mutually agree not to kill each other. they're both fiercely devoted individual who are obsessively workaholic, stubborn, vainglorious, and loves just as much as they breathe for their ppl and though they never agree on anything, this they will agree on bc izuku's happiness is everything to them!!!

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #433

“i really wish that you could help, but my head is like a carousel: i’m going ‘round in circles”

Would you rather visit Rome or Spain? Rome. Do you really care what’s going on in celebrities' lives? Depends on the person. If I have a big interest in them, like Mark, then yes, because I care about that person and want to know they're well. Have you ever broke a plate/bowl? Accidentally. Has anyone ever drunk called/texted you? I don't think so. Can you do a backwards London bridges? Hell no, I'd bust my ass and spine. Are any of your pets “overweight”? Why the quotations? But anyway, no. Has anyone ever bought you a ring? Yeah. What has been the most traumatic experience of your life? Does it still bother you? The breakup with my first real bf. And well yeah, it resulted in PTSD. It sounds so overdramatic, I know, but I'm not even remotely exaggerating. Live a day in my head and tell me it's not actual trauma. If you knew you had the right person, would you marry them today? God no, not right now. I am not in a position to be married right now. Think back to your most important relationship, was it all your fault it’s over? My damaged side wants to say yes, but I know to be realistic, we both failed in unique areas. He didn't communicate, and I just put too much weight on him. What was your first alcoholic drink? A Mike's Hard Lemonade. What were the first lessons you ever took? Ummm I want to say choir? Did you ever go to a mental hospital? Multiple times. Do you believe that weed should be legalized? Yes. Have you ever had a significant other with a mental disorder? Yes. If you could transform into something, what would that something be? Uhhh idk. Maybe a cat? Out of 10, (10 being really shy) how shy are you? Oh, easily a 10. When was the first moment you discovered love? I actually don't really know the moment I realized I was in love w/ Jason. It was a gradual thing, so no one occasion stands out. What’s the best mistake you’ve ever made? Well, I suppose accepting Jason's Facebook friend request because I thought he was a different Jason. I can't think of many good mistakes I've made... Even the one I mentioned, it's debatable how good that one was. I really do wonder how different my life would be if I declined it. What do you think of frogs? I love frogs! They're so cute and derpy. :') Who did you last worry about and why? My cat, because he was apparently hiding somewhere and Mom couldn't find him. Who did you last feel sorry for and why? Sara, because of health stuff she's dealing with. Is there a name that you can’t stand but it’s the name of a loved one? It sucks, I feel like this burning in my stomach a lot of the time when I hear "Ashley" because that was Jason's girlfriend after me. But I have a sister with the same name. Are you currently looking for a new place to live? I'm not, and I don't think Mom actively is, though we both want to move. When did you last make up a baby’s bottle? I don't think I ever have. Well... maybe once? idr Do you believe there’s a devil? No. Have you ever felt an earthquake? No. Have you ever been on an island? Yes, actually. Did you watch the last presidential inauguration? I've never watched one. Have you ever been a fan of The Killers? I don't consider myself a true "fan," no. I only like two songs that I know. Do you have your own lighter (why or why not)? No, because I don't need one? Do you believe in miracles (why or why not)? No. I just don't. Everything has the have a cause and reason. How often do you sleep naked? Never. Are you looking forward to your prom? If you already went, how was it? I went twice, and it was fun. I especially loved having the pictures taken that I regret wiping from the face of the earth. Prom itself was pretty bland each time, like you can't hear shit and they just play awful music, but still. I was a teenager with a very fairytale outlook on love and wanted to just feel like I was in one I guess. Do you prefer Quizno's or Subway and why? I don't think I've ever tried Quizno's, actually. What’s one of your best memories from during a rain storm? I don't know. Why did you need your most recent x-ray and what were the results? It was to see if I broke my foot, I think? If that's the one, then no. I also had my legs x-rayed at some point to see if they could find any damage there because of my extreme weakness in them, but there wasn't. Do people more often mistake you as being younger or older than you are? I actually don't know. Have you ever made out with someone you weren’t dating? No. Do you know anybody who was abused? Yes. Have you ever touched an elephant? No. How many siblings do you have? I have five I "count," but I do have another half-sister on my dad's side that I don't know. I want to, but yeah... it just hasn't happened. Do you get bored of your girlfriend/boyfriend easily? I've never gotten bored of any s/o I've had. Who do you want for president? I voted for Biden. Do you think abortions are horrible? No. Forcing someone to undergo what can easily be considered a traumatic experience is horrible. Do you enjoy drama? Ugh, no. Have you ever had a guinea pig for a pet? I've had a few. Were you/are you popular in school? No. I was very much under the radar and mostly stuck to myself and a small group of friends. What brand clothing do you wear the most? No clue. Have you ever studied any new age or occult religions such as Wicca? Yes, actually, when I was leaning towards Neo-Paganism. I did research into some of its branches, such as Wicca. Are you a wrestling fan? Not at all. I honestly think it's dumb. What’s the longest movie you’ve ever watched? I want to say Troy? It never felt THAT long to me though because I love it. Have you ever been on a subway? No. Do you think spending a ridiculously large amount of money on one designer item is stupid? It sure as hell isn't for me; I lean towards people can spend their hard-earned money on whatever they want, BUT I do feel that they could still spend their money on more important things. Do you find baths relaxing? No, they gross me out. Do you have any hats? I probably still have the hat Dad got me at a Carolina Hurricanes hockey game somewhere, but idk where. Has any part of your house ever been flooded? Not on the interior, no. Have you ever been interested in learning about murderers or murder cases? Not especially. Is there anyone that you’re worried about right now? Who and why? I'm just about praying Sara's new med for her POTS helps. I think me worrying how Jason is doing after his mother's death is gonna be a permanent fixture in the back of my head... If you won a lot of money, would you donate any of it? To what organization would you donate it? Oh, absolutely. I'd have to do some research first, but the Trevor Project comes to mind immediately, as well as ones that protect wildlife, help the mentally ill, fight cancer... Are you a competitive person? What are you most competitive about? Not really, no. I have my areas where I'm more likely to feel it than others, but it's generally mild. I'm not too sure what I'm most competitive about, but maybe outdoing other hunters in WoW since that's my main class that I've played religiously for years. Have you ever adopted a stray animal? Yes. What do you appreciate most about your parent(s)? The fact they somehow still support me even though I'm like... this. I feel like I should've exhausted their faith by now. Do you believe America should legalize drugs? If you think they should legalize only some drugs, which drugs do you think they should legalize? I only support the legalization of weed. What is your biggest turn-off of a person (besides physically)? Arrogance, probably. Or being aggressive/explosive. What song cover do you like better than the original? "Sound of Silence" by Disturbed, for one. That one's easy. If you could find one long-lost friend of the past, who would it be? Megan. I want her to know I forgive her and miss her friendship. What holiday do you enjoy the most? Christmas. (: Were you born in the state you live in? Yep. Have you ever lived in a house that has been broken into? No, but almost. Who do you know that watches the most sports? Probably my dad? Idk. Do you like South Park? Not really. Are you good at bowling? No. Made out for more than 3 minutes? Three minutes is nothin' lmao. Have you ever gone snorkeling or scuba diving? If yes, what’s the coolest thing you’ve seen? No, but I'd love to. What’s your favorite filling in chocolates? Caramel. What do you remember from sex ed class when you were younger? Abstinence was the only option. Heteronormativity. What’s the first instrument you ever played? Ha, a recorder back in elementary school. Have you ever had a friend break up with a bf/gf for you? Essentially. We didn't date, but that's why he broke up with her, because he wanted me instead. Do you see a bright light at the end of your tunnel? I don't like thinking about this. I can only hope there is, but I doubt it a lot. Have you ever waited in line overnight for something? No. Is there such a thing as being too rich or too poor? "Too poor" is very obviously a thing??? "Too rich" is more complicated to me, as I can see both sides to it. Like it's your hard-earned money, but at the same time, is it really necessary at a certain point? Like start donating regularly or something. Do something good. Do you think having an expensive phone is a good investment? Depends on how expensive, I suppose, and what you use it for. What’s your largest bill? Electric, gas, phone, etc. I don't have any of my own bills. It's embarrassing by this age. Do you like your job? I'd like to even have a job... What is your favorite song and why? "False Flags" by Massive Attack, because it's so poetically haunting in its message of how fucked up politics are. Its monotonous tone also adds another layer of sadness to it, like a reminder of how "normal" and bland and unsurprising everything is, no matter how horrible... I could honestly probably write an essay on how I interpret the song, especially if you add in the incredible symbolism of such a simplistic music video. Are you introverted or extroverted? I am very introverted. If you’re married and your spouse cheated on you, would you forgive them? Nope, byeeeee~ Who knows the real you the most? Sara, really. How old is the oldest person you’ve had sexual relations with? He'd be 27 now. Have you been upset the past few days? My PTSD has been kinda vicious the past couple days, especially today. Then earlier at my nephew's b-day party I had to nearly bite my fucking tongue off with that family's political bullshit. My anger really flared up a few times hearing despicable shit, but I think I concealed it fine by just not saying a word. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever thought of doing for a job? Nothing "crazy," really... Who was your first celebrity crush? Jesse McCartney had my young heart, ha ha. When did you last see or speak to someone you dislike? Why do you dislike this person? Today, at my nephew's aforementioned b-day party. I in specific don't like my sister's husband because he's sexist, racist, homophobic, bigoted... I could go on and on. We don't just have "different opinions," we have different morals entirely. When you listen to music, do you generally sing along, or just listen? I almost always just listen. I don't sing a lot. Can you remember the last time you felt emotional? What was the reason? Today. PTSD is a bitch. What if you were told that your life has to stay exactly as it is right now, and nothing will ever change? How would you feel about that? Quite honestly, I don't think I would want to live anymore. Have you ever been to the hospital for something really serious? I'd consider an OD on cold medicine to be serious, but then again, I experienced almost no effects from it. Idk if I just got fluids fast enough or what, but whatever it was, I'm thankful for. Are you excited for winter? UGGGHHHH BRING IT ONNNNNNN. Have you ever had a moment with someone you like that seemed like a movie moment? Many. What are you listening to right now? "Down In The Park" by Marilyn Manson. What’s your favourite flavour of iced tea? Tea is gross. Have you ever been to a casino? If so, which one(s)? No. Have you ever visited a sex shop? I haven't. Have you ever ridden a bicycle through a busy city? NOOOOOOOO. I could never do that. What’s your favourite place to get pizza? Literally Domino's, lmao. I am so basic. Do you have a lock number or pattern for your phone? No. There sure isn't anything important on it. What’s the most number of people you’ve ever lived with? Five.

[s-nh]

It’s been 2 days since I went to my friend from high schools wedding and my friend was marrying my ex boyfriend from high school, sister.

It was my first time seeing him since sometime in 2017 & I was so nervous knowing we would finally be seeing one another after so many years.

I was 17 when I met him. It was my first time experiencing butterflies in my stomach, experiencing excitement from being around someone, experiencing caring about someone, it was my first time experiencing love.

He was my first love. It’s almost 4am and I just got done talking to my sister about how I felt seeing him and I found myself talking about the first time I met him which was at the mall’s food court, second table against the glass railing. I told her how we talked for months before meeting, to then only dating for a short period of time, To then us going to the same high school together and me breaking my own heart chasing for his attention even tho he was already w someone else at the time.

I told my sister how he we sat next to eachother in English class and we’d flirt all the time, how there was this security guard at school & she would actually let us walk around campus in the middle of class for a few mins just to go kiss behind the building.

I made him this huge Valentine’s Day card and got him candy and put it on his desk before class started for him to walk into and be surprised.

I think for his birthday I even got him a tiny piñata and he attached it to his backpack walking around school with it.

He would call me almost every night and we’d fall asleep over the phone. But there would be days where I’d be so sad knowing we were playing “boyfriend and girlfriend” at school but he had an actual girlfriend of his own. During those phone calls I remember telling him I didn’t wanna do what we were doing anymore bc it was too painful and I needed to move on and accept that we weren’t gonna be anything.

He would tell me not to and that he loved me. “But if you love me you would have still been with me.” No response. Not a good one at least.

We graduated and I never saw him again and I got into a new relationship. A long 5/7 year relationship of toxicity. During that bad relationship I broke up w my at the time bf for a year and then Chris walks back into my life that year I break up w my boyfriend of 2017.

We hadn’t seen each other since high school and we spent a lot of nights just hanging out and talking for hours till I had to leave.

He was still with that girl and lived with her at her parents house but according to him, they have both mentally and physically checked out from the relationship and he was even sleeping on the couch now. From what it sounded, I guess she didn’t wanna kick him out because his relationship with his parents at that time wasn’t the best.

I even remember driving him to his parents house because his step dad wanted to talk to him and I waited for maybe an hour before he came back apologizing like crazy about making me wait. From his behavior after that talk I guessed that his family just finally wanted to be on good terms.

He confessed after some time that he still had feelings for me after one of our hang outs and I was trying so hard not to feel the same. I had fear. I didn’t want to be hurt by him again.

I tried dating someone else that 2017 and it ended up not working out. I told Chris about it and mentioned how I wasn’t feeling it with that guy and he took that as an opportunity to kiss me.

All I remember was fireworks. Remembering those flutters and beam of excitement like I did when I was 17 from kissing him.

One night we were hanging out and we ended up in the back of my car kissing and I saw how excited he was getting that I thought to myself, I always thought I would lose it to him but I didn’t. For some reason we’re finally here again with one another and I know we’ve both always wanted to be intimate with one another.

But when I was 17 I told myself that if I was gonna lose my v card, I wanted to be in love and I wanted the person to feel the same.

I still knew I loved him and he loved me. And although he basically played me all my half of junior year and all of my senior year, and I was a dumbass letting that happen, somewhere and some way we both knew we had love for one another.

We finally did it. And after that night I never saw him again. Why? It was the end of 2017 and my ex who I broke up with reached back out to me and asked to see me to catch up. Catching up led to another few years of unchanged behavior and continuous negativity until I broke it off for good February of 2020.

By the end of 2020 I noticed Chris creeping on my Instagram stories and decided to add him.

There we found ourselves messaging one another and just simply commenting on each others stories and him finally asking me what happened that night after we had sex.

How he ended up being blocked and couldn’t find me anywhere.

I explained that it was all due to ex boyfriends and drama and that I didn’t know it bothered him.

“I thought we were finally going to be something”

To my shock: “really? You would have wanted that?”

“Well I wasn’t trying to hit it and quit it.”

He told me thought he did something horrible that night for me to just completely ghost him for what became years but really it was my ex blocking him bc of the relationship that I was in again.

We talked about how we realize that there’s still gonna be love between us and care for one another.

We talked about what could have been.

He finally apologized for the first time for how he treated me and made me feel.

He said he would have wanted us to happen to this day.

Then I finally see him at the wedding.

We looked at each other Forsure when neither of us were looking.

I walked up to the bar for a drink and as I waited in line I hear,

“Hi Natalie.”

My already semi drunk self looks at him carrying his now one year old daughter in his arms.

He was now in another relationship. He was now a father.

“Hi Chris.”

He looks at me and then at his daughter “can you say hi?”

His daughter was beautiful. An equal mixture of Chris and his new girlfriend. She definitely has his eyes and nose.

I told him how beautiful she was and the conversation didn’t last long at all. I’d say a solid minute till he had to leave back to his table where his girlfriend was at.

I ended up having to leave so my sister and I congratulated and thanked my friend for inviting us. We said goodbye to the groom, and I said goodbye to Chris’s little brother and his girlfriend and didn’t see Chris around to personally say goodbye but I at least sent a message saying goodbye.

It felt normal but a bit nerve wracking seeing him again but felt over all happy to get the chance that we both finally did once again.

We weren’t meant to be but I know in some way we’ll always be connected. Forever love you Chris.

[okayoonoh]

what do we do now?

“Those instructions weren’t too bad, right? Just one task, he had the whole day to do it.

So why, oh why, did Doyoung cut Minyoung’s hair himself?”

---

- PAIRING: kim doyoung x reader - GENRE: family fluff and some humor! - RATING: e for everyone!! - WORD COUNT: 7,255 - WARNINGS: just the fear of doyoung cutting his only son’s hair for the first time

a/n: the idea for this scenario came to me randomly and i just KNEW that doyoung and taeyong would fit best in this! i hope you guys like it!

here’s the masterlist to all things nct dad related! go and check out all of the other parts i have!

[ navi ]

---

key:

y/bf/n - your best friend’s name

t/w/n - taeyong’s wife’s name

---

It was simple, really. You told your ever loving husband to do one thing. One simple thing. 

Hey Doyoung, please don’t forget to take Minyoung out for a haircut. 

Those instructions weren’t too bad, right? Just one task, he had the whole day to do it.

So why, oh why, did Doyoung cut Minyoung’s hair himself?

The day started off as a beautiful day. Your precious 8 month old son finally slept through the night after a couple weeks of deciding that the early hours of the morning are for partying, not sleeping. You wake up to silence; the sunlight shining through the curtain, streams of warm light dispersing themselves throughout the soft features of your husband’s face. Your heart flutters. Waking up next to him everyday still overflows your heart with so much love and happiness. You know for sure that you are right where you belong in this moment in time.

You move gently from the bed, not wanting to wake up your sleepy husband. Taking quiet steps, you move over to the crib next to the bed, checking on your dear son. His eyes were shut, indicating that he had no intention in waking up anytime soon. You smooth over his dark hair, realizing his bangs have grown so much since he was born. Holding back a laugh, you reminisce on the times your son’s thick hair seemed non-existent, clearly remembering Doyoung’s major concern of that day.

---

“Babe, do you think we should be concerned about his hair? It just looks so thin.” Doyoung says from your side, his skinny frame squished in the tight hospital bed beside you, his arm around your shoulders as you hold your son born merely hours ago.

Your newborn lays comfortably in your arms, his soft blanket swaddling him perfectly. He looked like a doll with a soft squishy face, seemingly flawless. 

“I mean look,” Doyoung says, reaching a hand to remove the green beanie that rests on his newborn’s head, “It’s not like there’s no hair, but Minyoung just looks bald at this point.”

You glare at your husband, reaching for the beanie Doyoung pulled out abruptly, gently placing it back on the baby’s head. “Look, all babies are different, Doyoung. We should be happy; some babies are born with no hair at all! Let’s be happy with the hair he has, okay?”

Doyoung sighs, “You’re right, you’re right. It just goes to show that he doesn’t even need hair to be the cutest baby in the world.” His voice raises in pitch as he leans forward, pressing a soft kiss on Minyoung’s forehead. Minyoung wiggles a bit in your arms, a little annoyed that his dad woke him up from his sleep. You shush him, lulling the little baby back to sleep. You rest your head against Doyoung’s shoulder, his head resting on top of yours while you both look down at your entire world wrapped in a small bundle. Everything seems perfect. 

---

The days where your son’s hair was manageable and thin seem like yesterday. The days where the only thing you needed to do was let his hair just exist. You find yourself buying more hair pins, headbands, and clips for Minyoung rather than yourself. He may be less than a year old, but his hair is just getting too long. You decide, it’s time.

It’s time for Minyoung to get his first haircut.

Smoothing over his bangs one more time, you look at the alarm clock on your bedside table. 

7:13. You sigh, deciding now is the best time to get ready for the day. Your phone buzzes on the bedside table, your best friend’s name popping up as a text notification.

Y/BF/N: good morning y/n! taeyong’s wife said that she’s dropping off little youngchul at your place before heading over to the store. i originally had plans in the morning but they’ve been cancelled! I’ll be heading to your place with her so that we can all go to the boutique together. 

Today is the first day in a long time since you’ve gone out with just your friends. Your best friend was recently engaged and as her “maid of honor”, you have to go with her to say yes to the dress. Thankfully, your best friend knew your circumstances and didn’t put too many responsibilities on you since you’ve become a mom merely 8 months ago. She agrees that it’s easier for her, too. She’s always been someone who’s more on the particular side of things. 

Ever since your son was born, the most you’ve been out of the house was a quick dinner date you had with Doyoung; his parents gracious enough to watch their grandchild for a couple hours so you and Doyoung could breathe. No one said parenting would be easy and you and Doyoung are feeling the testament of it right now. Today will be Doyoung’s first time alone with Minyoung and you would be lying if you said you weren’t nervous. It’s not that you don’t trust your husband, it’s just this is the first time either of you are alone with the baby for this long.

Heading over to the bathroom, you grab your toothbrush, squeezing toothpaste on the bristles, wetting it, then brushing your teeth. You check your reflection in the mirror, checking your sleepy complexion. You hear the sheets of your bed rustle, watching as your sleepy husband makes his way out of bed. His feet pad against the wooden floor as he makes his way over to you, wrapping his arm around your side and kissing the top of your head. 

“Morning,” he says, his voice still raspy from sleep. 

You lean over the sink, rinse, and dry your mouth. 

“Morning,” you reply with a kiss on his cheek. “Are you nervous for today?”

“Not really,” he replies, turning on the sink wet his hands as he gets ready to wash his face. “I think I’ll be okay. It’s only for a day.”

You nod, watching as your husband grabs your cleanser, rubbing some in his hands and putting it on his face.

“Oh, before I forget.” You grab your phone from the counter, texting a location to Doyoung. “Please don’t forget to take Minyoung out for a haircut. I just sent you the address of my friend’s salon and she said she’ll do it for free since Minyoung is still a baby. You have to do it before 3:00, though. She has a full schedule after that so she can’t take us in after that.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it done.” Doyoung smiles after he rinses off his face. You return his smile with your own, gently rubbing his back in appreciation.

“Also! I forgot to give her back the necklace I borrowed from her, can you give this to her as well?”

Doyoung nods, “I’ll take care of it, babe. Don’t worry about us at home, go and enjoy your day with your friends.”

You smile at your husband, glad to see his attempts to comfort you. With a final pat on his back, you head back towards your bedroom, walking to the closet. Your phone buzzes in your hand, a notification popping up on the screen, this time a text from Taeyong’s wife.

T/W/N: i have some good news! well, more for our husbands, lol. taeyong’s schedule has been cleared, so doyoung doesn’t have to watch both babies on his own! 

You smile, texting back.

YOU: that’s perfect! I was so nervous that doyoung would just forget everything, but i feel comforted that taeyong will be there now!

You place your phone down on the bedside table, going back into the closet to finish selecting your outfit. It’s time to get back into the rhythm of things. 

---

Ding-dong

“I got it,” Doyoung says, “Babe, can you keep stirring this for me?” 

You nod, quickly moving to the kitchen while Doyoung heads towards the door. You stir the soup Doyoung was making, grabbing a spoon to give it a taste. 

“Hello!” Doyoung cheers when he opens the door, happy to see the visitors. Taeyong, his wife, and your best friend enter the door, Youngchul resting in his mother’s arms. 

“Youngchul! Look at you!” Doyoung smiles as they all make their way in. Doyoung lays out his hands, wanting to hold the adorable baby. Taeyong’s wife hands Youngchul to Doyoung with a smile, thanking your husband so she can remove her shoes. 

They all enter the kitchen, Doyoung attempting to make little Youngchul laugh the entire way there. 

“Dude, your best friend is here and you’ve only been acknowledging my son,” Taeyong pouts at your husband.

“I’m sorry, Taeyong. Little Youngchul is just more interesting than you,” Doyoung says, not taking his eyes off of the baby. Taeyong laughs in response, taking a look around the living room.

“Hi, Y/N!” Taeyong says when he sees you. You walk over and give him a hug.

“Hey Taeyong! Thank you so much for coming here. I don’t think Doyoung could survive by himself.” You smile. You see your friends and hug them as well, each one of you excited for the day.

Taeyong replies, “Don’t worry, Y/N. This is my first time being alone with Youngchul so we’ll both be going through it, but at least it’ll be together.”

“Y/N! We have to get going or we’re going to be late!” Your best friend says, all while eating some seaweed from the soup, causing you to giggle. Knowing the nature of your best friend, you knew that she forgot to eat before she arrived at your place. 

You quickly grab a snack for your friend and the three of you get ready to leave the house. You walk towards your room to check on Minyoung one last time, kissing his forehead. You head back to the kitchen to kiss Doyoung goodbye and good luck, then you leave the house to meet up with your friends. 

Doyoung sets the table, Taeyong sitting down with Youngchul on his lap. 

“Where’s Minyoung?” Taeyong asks, bouncing the leg Youngchul sits on. 

“Minyoung is still asleep,” Doyoung replies while filling up two bowls with the soup he made, “My son is finally sleeping through the night and we’ve learned that he really does like to sleep a lot.”

Doyoung sets the soup down in front of Taeyong, sitting across from his friend.

“I wish Youngchul would be at that stage,” Taeyong says, taking a spoonful of soup and carefully blowing on it, “The longest Youngchul has slept has been 5 hours, but that was after a full day of the ever energetic Chenle and Jisung watching after him.”

Doyoung nods, eating a spoonful of soup as well. While the two dads catch each other up with the latest news, Youngchul looks at all of the tasty food in front of him. Formula was great, don’t get him wrong, but with his new, growing set of teeth, he wants a bite of the real stuff. In his father’s tight grasp, Youngchul does his best to lean forward and grab the seemingly delicious soup his father was eating. 

“Pa! Pa!” Youngchul grunts, leaning forward with all of his might in attempt to eat some of the yummy food. 

“No, Youngchul, this isn’t for you,” Taeyong says, pulling the boy back. Taeyong takes a little bit of rice and puts it in front of his son’s mouth, “Here, you can eat this. Say ahhh”

Youngchul opens his mouth, letting his father feed him the small grains of rice. He smiles and claps, making a noise of approval of the delicious food he just received, causing both dads to laugh.

“Do you like it, Youngchul?” Doyoung asks with a gummy smile on his face. Youngchul returns the smile with his own, clapping his hands. Both dads let out a laugh at the baby’s adorable antics.

A loud cry cuts through the air, causing Doyoung to spring up and head straight towards the bedroom.

“Are you awake, Minyoung?” Doyoung says, leaning over the crib to pick up the crying baby. Minyoung continues to cry, his strong lungs seemingly sending shockwaves throughout the entire house. 

Doyoung quickly calms down his son, changes the baby's diaper, then heads back to the kitchen where Taeyong is. 

“Youngchul look! Minyoung is awake now,” Taeyong says while his son looks over at Minyoung. 

“Oh my god, look at that hair!” Taeyong laughs after noticing Minyoung’s unkempt hair. With random pieces sticking up, bangs growing past his eyes, one chunk that decided to be curly, Minyoung wins the award for “Best Bed Head” by a long shot. 

Doyoung moves his son to the side to take a look, his eyes going wide. “Minyoung! What happened?! Your hair wasn’t like this last night!”

With Taeyong’s laughter in the background, Doyoung walks towards the bathroom, grabbing one of your hair clips that you use for your son. He sits Minyoung on the counter so Minyoung can see himself through the mirror, fixing his son’s unkempt hair.

Doyoung grabs the brush and gently brushes the rebellious strands that don’t want to stay up. 

“Minyoung,” Doyoung starts, looking at his son’s reflection through the mirror, “Youngchul and your favorite Uncle came here to see you! Appa will make sure you look just as handsome as him so your Uncle will be jealous that my son is so handsome.”

“Appa! Pa!” Minyoung giggles.

“Yes, I’m appa!” Doyoung clips up Minyoung’s bangs, the hair sticking straight up, “There! Now we can see your eyes!”

He lifts him up into his arms and kisses his soft cheeks, now heading back to the kitchen. After the quick refresher, Doyoung sits back down in his seat, this time with Minyoung in his lap. 

“Good morning, Minyoung!” Taeyong smiles towards the baby, “Youngchul, say good morning to your best friend!” 

Both babies simply stare at each other, Youngchul’s sparkly eyes meeting Minyoung’s soft eyes. These two see each other often, but this is the first time they’ve seen each other this early in the morning. While Youngchul gnaws on his fingers, he gives Minyoung a cheerful smile accompanied by a soft coo. Minyoung returns the smile with his own, happy to see his best friend. 

Once both dads finally finish feeding themselves and their sons, they all find their way to the living room, two boys occupying themselves with the various toys on the mat while their fathers watch. Minyoung quickly finds two of his favorite toys within his proximity and crawls over to his friend, handing him one of the toys. Youngchul grabs the toy, giving his best friend a smile to show his gratitude. Both boys stare at each other again while a couple beats pass. They suddenly both burst out into laughter, seemingly talking in their own language.

“It’s really crazy how much they’ve grown,” Taeyong says, watching the babbling babies on the ground, “It really seems like just the other day they couldn’t keep their heads up.”

“I know,” Doyoung says, leaning over to wipe the drool off of Minyoung’s face, “Before we know it, they’ll be running all over the place with each other.”

“Youngchul has already started walking a bit!” Taeyong says, smiling down at his son as Youngchul crawls towards his father, hitting his hands against his father’s leg.

“Really?” Doyoung exclaims.

“He needs a little help, but with his walker at home, he walks all over the place without us! He even dances when we put music on for him.” Youngchul looks up at his father and whines, hitting his hand against his father’s leg again.

“Let’s show your Uncle Doyoung how well you can walk!” Taeyong says, extending both hands to his son. Youngchul grabs onto his father’s hands with his own and huffs, making the move to stand up on his own. Taeyong helps Youngchul a bit, helping him balance when the baby stands.

Doyoung claps from the side, “Wow! Youngchul look at you! You’re so big now!”

Doyoung counts “1...2...1...2…” repeatedly while the little baby marches on, hands in the supportive hands of his father. Youngchul giggles and smiles the entire way, liking this new form of travel.

“Oh, he’s so happy!” Doyoung says, holding his hands out now when Youngchul gets within distance. Taeyong lets go of Youngchul’s hands, letting the baby balance on his own. Doyoung holds his hands out on either side of Youngchul, getting ready to catch him when he loses balance. Taeyong counts the seconds in the background, seeing how long the wobbly baby can stand on two legs. 

“...7...8...9…!” Youngchul makes it to 9 seconds before he falls, caught easily by his uncle. Doyoung tosses Youngchul in the air, bringing him down to kiss his cheek.

“Good job, Youngchul!” Doyoung cheers. Taeyong laughs from the side, beaming with pride over the accomplishments of his son. He feels a small slap from his leg, grabbing his attention. He looks down and sees Minyoung, this time with his arms up in the air.

“Huh? You want to do what Youngchul just did?” Taeyong asks. 

“Ah!” Minyoung responds, holding up his arms.

“Has he tried to walk yet, Doyoung?” Taeyong asks, bringing Minyoung a little farther away from his dad so he could try to walk to him.

Doyoung shakes his head, placing Youngchul in his lap, “Minyoung can stand with the help of something, but anytime he tries to take a couple steps, he just falls and doesn’t want to try anymore.”

Taeyong nods, setting Minyoung down in a sitting position. “Well, let’s try with Uncle Taeyong, okay Minyoung?” 

Placing both of the baby’s hands in his own, Taeyong helps Minyoung stand just like he helped Youngchul stand. 

“Come to appa, Minyoung! Walk towards appa!” Doyoung cheers, clapping his hands at his son. Minyoung smiles and takes a step, supported by Taeyong. Doyoung cheers, trying to get his son to take steps towards him. Minyoung giggles and stomps over, walking towards his father with the help of his uncle. Youngchul claps from his uncle’s lap, excited off of the energy of the room. With a couple more wobbly steps, Minyoung makes it to his father, cheers erupting all throughout the room. Doyoung grabs his son and kisses his cheek, raining down praises. 

“You did it, Minyoung!! You’re such a big boy now!” Doyoung cheers, holding his son in his arms now. “You must really like your Uncle Taeyong. You wouldn’t even do that with me or eomma.” 

“No, don’t say that!” Taeyong laughs, sitting across from Doyoung. 

“Should we conduct a test?” Doyoung asks in a playful tone. 

“Ah!” Youngchul calls from Doyoung’s lap, responding for his father. 

“I accept that answer.” Doyoung jokes, setting Minyoung on the mat. Doyoung picks up Youngchul in his arms and carefully stands up, placing the baby on the couch for now. Taeyong follows Doyoung as they go to the opposite side of the mat, sitting on the ground. 

“Minyoung, who do you like more: Appa or Uncle Taeyong?” Doyoung asks. “If you like appa more, come and crawl towards appa! If you like Uncle more, go and crawl with him.”

Taeyong cheers from the side, trying to get Minyoung to notice him. Minyoung looks at his appa, then to his uncle, and places his hands on the ground and begins crawling. 

“Minyoung! Come to Uncle! I’ll feed you something delicious!” Taeyong cheers.

“There’s no way my son can be swayed that easily,” Doyoung scoffs, “He knows where his loyalties lie. Minyoung, come to Appa!” 

Minyoung stops in his tracks. This may seem like a hard decision to make, but Minyoung knows exactly where he’s going. Flashing one more smile, showing off his 4 growing teeth, he crawls to the person he loves most.

“I’m so confident you’ll come to Appa, I’ll close my eyes!” Doyoung jokes, shutting both of his eyes. He hears Minyoung’s giggles coming closer to him, opening his eyes so he can take his son into his arms…

“Oh? You like me? Thank you, Minyoung!” Taeyong’s giggles fill the room as he lifts up his best friend’s son, causing the baby to giggle.

Doyoung laughs, holding a hand to his heart in heartbreak, falling back. “Minyoung...How could you?”

Taeyong laughs and hugs Minyoung close, “Snacks win over love, every time.”

Doyoung shoots up, remembering the giggling baby boy on the couch. This is his chance!

“It’s no use, let’s try it with Youngchul now,” Doyoung stands up, determined to win this little competition. 

“Doyoung, just because Minyoung came to me, it doesn’t mean he loves you any less! He’s probably just happy to see his uncle he hasn’t seen in a while.”

“Quiet.” Doyoung says, grabbing Youngchul and placing the baby on the ground. 

“Let’s see who your son chooses,” Doyoung states, kneeling back in his spot, determination filling his features. 

“Doyoung, I don’t want you to be too sad when my son chooses me,” Taeyong says, placing Minyoung on the ground next to him. 

Doyoung chooses to ignore Taeyong’s remark and puts on an excited face, holding out his arms, “I know you like me more! Come to your uncle, Youngchul!”

Youngchul giggles and starts crawling on a straight path towards Doyoung.

“I don’t even think I need to get his attention. He’ll crawl towards me, watch.” Taeyong says, despite seeing his son clearly make his way towards Doyoung. 

Doyoung continues to call Youngchul, cheering him on. Taeyong starts to get nervous when he realizes it doesn’t look like Youngchul will go to Taeyong willingly on his own.

“No, Youngchul! You’re going the wrong way. Come towards appa!” Taeyong’s voice fills with desperation now, trying to get his son’s attention. Youngchul doesn’t even acknowledge his father’s calls as he reaches Doyoung, giggling when Doyoung picks him up and cheers, happy that Youngchul chose him. 

“Hey, that doesn’t mean anything!” Taeyong pouts. 

Doyoung holds Youngchul close and looks towards Taeyong, “It doesn’t feel good, does it?”

Taeyong rolls his eyes, picking up Minyoung. “Look. I bet by the end of the day, Youngchul and Minyoung will choose me.”

Doyoung raises his eyebrows at his friend, “Is that a bet?”

Taeyong nods, “By the end of the day, if both Youngchul and Minyoung choose me, I win. If Youngchul and Minyoung choose you, you win. Loser has to watch both boys for an entire day. Deal?”

Doyoung takes Taeyong’s hand and shakes it, solidifying the little competition they have just established. Doyoung’s competitive nature rarely comes out, but now that he’s a dad now, his competitive side likes to come out more often. 

Throughout the day, the two new dads do what they can to make the babies laugh, both trying to steal away as much time as possible. Doyoung dramatically acts out different fairy tales, Taeyong goes and cooks some yummy new homemade baby food for the two 8 month olds, both dads spending all of their energy both taking care of the two boys and trying to woo their hearts. 

The day drags on as Doyoung and Taeyong bounce around the living room, baby carrier around their waists with their energetic babies strapped in. Doyoung plays soft lullabies in the background, gently humming them as he caresses Minyoung's head against his chest, trying to get his son to take a nap. Taeyong breathes in deep as he makes white noise for the babies, gently  “shhh”-ing through his teeth, hugging Youngchul closer to his chest. Both Doyoung and Taeyong bounce in rhythm with each other, synchronized just like they are in their many dances. 

Doyoung laughs quietly, looking towards his best friend and whispering, “You know, we’ve been idols for so many years. We’ve had countless days of dance practices and then some, but this is the most tired I’ve been in my entire life.”

“You’re right,” Taeyong laughs, “I never knew that such small beings can have so much energy.”

Doyoung laughs again, looking down to check his son. Minyoung’s cheek stays squished up against his father’s chest, his eyes becoming droopier by the second. Doyoung returns to humming the lullabies, slowing down his bounces ever so slightly. Taeyong also looks down to check on his son, turning his head to look into his son’s eyes. Youngchul’s eyes are closed now, his chubby hand curled into a fist as his breathing slows down, indicating that he’s falling deeper into sleep. Taeyong goes into the bedroom, gently placing Youngchul into the crib, carefully taking him out of the baby carrier. He holds his breath as he carefully moves away, holding onto the carrier so it wouldn’t bump into anything. Taeyong let out a soft sigh of relief when it was successful, carefully stepping to the side so Doyoung could place Minyoung inside of the crib as well. Going through the same nerve wracking process Taeyong went through, Doyoung successfully places Minyoung into the crib alongside Youngchul, both babies drifting off to a deep sleep. Taeyong and Doyoung quietly leave the room, Doyoung carefully closing the door. 

Both dads head back into the living room, simultaneously collapsing on the couch in exhaustion. A couple minutes of silence passes between the two of them, both of them too tired to even talk. 

“I just realized we haven’t eaten lunch yet,” Doyoung says from his spot on the couch, making no effort to go to the kitchen to make something for them to eat.

“Should we just order delivery?” Taeyong asks, sinking further down into the couch. His entire body felt like lead, his joints aching and screaming at him to never move ever again. 

Doyoung takes a deep breath and puts all of his remaining energy into getting up from his spot to reach his phone he threw onto the couch hours ago. His soul leaves his body after he opens his phone, remembering that the one thing you told him to do is the one thing he forgot to do. He anxiously bites his lips as he checks the time, 3:23 PM.

He’s too late.

“Hyung,” Doyoung says, nudging Taeyong’s leg. “I’m so screwed.”

“What happened?” Taeyong says, groaning quietly as he sits up as well, looking at Doyoung’s phone. 

“Y/N asked me to take Minyoung to get a haircut before 3:00 and I forgot,” Doyoung says, his eyes wide and heart beating quickly. “What do I do now? It’s past 3:00!”

Taeyong’s eyes fill with concern as well, trying to find a solution to Doyoung’s problem, “Do you think you can go somewhere else? Other places should still be open...”

Doyoung shakes his head, “Y/N’s friend works at that place and not only was she going to give the haircut for free, I also had to return a necklace Y/N borrowed from her.”

Both Doyoung and Taeyong fall silent as they try to come up with a solution to this problem. Doyoung really did screw up this time. 

Doyoung gasps, causing Taeyong’s attention to go towards him, “I have an idea.” 

Taeyong nods, indicating Doyoung to continue.

“I can quickly go over to the salon, drop off the necklace, explain to Y/N’s friend about the situation, then I can run home and cut Minyoung’s hair myself!”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Taeyong asks.

“There’s no other way, Hyung.” Doyoung says, already standing up and making his way back into the bedroom to grab the necklace you borrowed. 

“I’ll grab food while I’m out, please take care of the boys for a bit. You know where everything is, right?” Doyoung asks, putting on a hat and grabbing his keys. Taeyong stands up and yawns, trying to keep up with his busy friend.

“I’ll manage. Keep me updated, though. When are the girls supposed to come back?” Taeyong asks as he follows Doyoung to the front door. 

“Y/N said that they’re not coming back until 8:00 by earliest. Y/BF/N is also trying to choose a place for the rehearsal dinner tonight so they’ll be eating out, too.”

Taeyong nods, sticking his head out of the door, seeing Doyoung off.

“Good luck,” Taeyong says as Doyoung rushes off, making his way to the salon. 

---

The front door opens as Doyoung makes his way back inside, a plastic bag full of food in his hands. 

“How did it go?” Taeyong asks, quickly reaching over to grab the food from Doyoung’s hands as he removes his shoes. 

“It went well, actually.” Doyoung replies, removing his hat. “She was actually really busy with the walk-ins that she also forgot that we were coming in. She said that Y/N never texted her to check if we went, so as far as I know, Y/N doesn’t know that we forgot.”

“Well, that’s good,” Taeyong says as they make their way to the dining table, taking out the food Doyoung brought back. Doyoung makes his way to the sink and washes his hands.

“She also taught me how to cut Minyoung’s hair, so everything should be fine. How did it go over here, though? Are the boys okay?” Doyoung asks as he dries his hands.

“They’ve been asleep the entire time. Minyoung woke up briefly but I just gave him a pacifier and he calmed right down and went to sleep. It’s almost as if my presence alone calmed him down.” Taeyong jokes, sitting down across from Doyoung. Doyoung rolls his eyes, his stomach rumbling at the smell of the food. Both Taeyong and Doyoung didn’t realize how hungry they’ve become. 

Doyoung turns on their TV, putting on a random show that gently plays in the background. Both dads eat with vigor, eating as if this is the first meal they’ve had in a week. They both stuff their faces, not caring if they eat too quickly. 

Once they finish off their meal and clean up, they make their way back into the living room, trying to get in a little bit of relaxation before the two babies wake up. Doyoung puts on videos of haircuts for infants on the TV, studying up before the real thing. 

“I thought you knew how,” Taeyong says, watching the video on the screen as well. 

Doyoung shakes his head, “I mean, the explanation she gave me was super quick and this is, quite frankly, the first time I’ve ever cut hair.”

“Don’t forget, the competition is still happening,” Taeyong says, “Just because you forgot to do the one task your wife asked you to do, doesn’t mean that I hold any sympathy. I will win.”

“Okay, okay. I get it.” Doyoung says, too tired to argue at this point. 

Youngchul’s cry rings behind the closed bedroom door, both dads jumping into action. 

“Did you wake up, Youngchul?” Taeyong asks, grabbing his son from the crib. Minyoung cries as well, being awakened by the cries of his friend. 

“Minyoung, it’s okay, appa’s here!” Doyoung shushes his son, picking him up as well. 

Both dads get back into it, changing their sons’ diapers, giving them both a quick refresher, some rice puffs as a little pick-me-up, all before it’s time. 

Doyoung sighs from his spot on the ground, his hands shaking as he examines his son’s hair. Taeyong sits on the couch, Youngchul on his lap as they both watch Doyoung and Minyoung. 

“Do you need any help?” Taeyong asks, just as nervous as Doyoung is. 

Doyoung shakes his head, “I can’t get you roped into this as well.” Doyoung grabs the spray bottle from the side, spraying his son's hair with water and gently brushing it down.

“I can do it. If I deal with Haechan for more than 10 years, I can deal with this.” 

Minyoung looks down at his toys, playing with a small, red, squishy fire truck that he places in his lap. A towel drapes his shoulders as Minyoung stays still, not making any sudden movements as his dad brushes his long hair.

“Okay, I’m going to cut now,” Doyoung says, his shaky hands reaching for the scissors. Taeyong puts a hand over his eyes and puts one around Youngchul’s as well, both boys too nervous to watch. Doyoung measures out his son’s long bangs with his index and middle finger before raising up the delicate hair he holds between his fingers. He grabs the scissors and takes a deep breath, holding it as he begins to cut. 

Snip.

Minyoung’s hair falls around him, landing on the towel and ground. Doyoung cut Minyoung’s hair in a straight line, remembering what your friend and the videos taught him. He takes the hair and textures it, cutting the hair vertically. Doyoung brushes it down to check the length.

“Oh no.” Doyoung says, brushing his son’s hair. 

“What happened?” Taeyong asks, taking his hand away from his eyes. He looks down at Minyoung, trying to see the damage done. 

“Oh no.” Taeyong says as well.

Minyoung’s bangs were definitely shorter. Instead of falling just to the middle of the forehead like it should have been, they fell well above it… well, at least, some parts of it. Doyoung was not careful when he was trying to texture the hair, cutting off big chunks of it causing Minyoung’s bangs to just look uneven. 

“I mean, it looks trendy! The short bangs are the biggest trend for babies these days” Taeyong says, trying to find light in this situation. Doyoung frantically combs his son’s hair, trying to see if his mistakes look noticeable at different angles. Regardless of what he does, Minyoung’s hair just falls back to their place, showing off all of the uneven cuts. 

“It’s not that bad, right?” Doyoung says, brushing his son’s hair again.

Taeyong shakes his head, “Minyoung’s hair has been cut! The instructions are now complete.”

Doyoung nods back, brushing off all of the cut hair from the towel and the ground. He grabs his son and places him next to Taeyong as he gets a broom to sweep up the hair, hiding the evidence. 

Taeyong brushes Minyoung’s newly cut hair, doing all he can to hold back his laughter, “You’re so trendy, Minyoung!” 

Doyoung sits back down after putting everything away, looking at his son again.

“It’s not that bad, I think?” Doyoung says. “Minyoung, look at me!”

Minyoung turns his head to look at his dad, his short, uneven bangs looking worse by the second.

Doyoung couldn’t hold it back anymore and lets out a hearty laugh, “I’m so sorry, Minyoung.”

Taeyong joins the laughter, “What were we thinking?” 

Doyoung shakes his head, laughing, “It’s just hair. It will grow back. It’ll all be okay.”

He picks up his son, looking down into his big eyes. Minyoung looks up at his father and suddenly starts laughing, causing Doyoung to smile back.

“Oh? Are you happy, Minyoung?” Doyoung laughs with the biggest smile on his face. “We can actually see your handsome face now, Minyoung! You’ve never looked happier!”

Doyoung jumps up and bounces his son, trying to keep Minyoung laughing.

“Look at how happy you are, Minyoung!” Doyoung cheers, happiness evident in his voice. Minyoung seemingly assures him through his cheerful giggles that everything will be okay. 

---

Towards the end of the day, Taeyong and Doyoung find themselves both on the ground again, Minyoung at the other side of the living room. 

“Doyoung, just accept your defeat now,” Taeyong says, “You already messed up the haircut, it’s only fair that Minyoung will choose me.

Doyoung rolls his eyes, “If anything, he’s glad that he can see his appa now. He’ll come to me, watch.”

Minyoung sits on the ground, looking at his dad and his uncle at the other side of the room. Doyoung claps his hands together, showing his son the biggest smile out of desperation, calling out to Minyoung to come towards him. Taeyong does the same, bouncing up and down, trying to grab Minyoung’s attention. 

“Snacks, Minyoung. Don’t forget the snacks!” Taeyong says.

“Minyoung, if you love your appa, come towards me!” Doyoung cheers, a slight tone of desperation apparent in his voice. 

“Appa!” Minyoung says, the gummiest smile on his face. Minyoung gets on all fours and starts crawling, this time, not towards Taeyong, but towards Doyoung?

“Minyoung, I love you! You’re doing it!” Doyoung smiles, his expression getting happier by the second.

“Appa!” Minyoung says again, crawling even faster towards Doyoung until he ultimately reaches his father, giggles all throughout the air.

Doyoung tosses his son into the air, catching him and covering his faces with billions of kisses. “You’re so happy, aren’t you? You can see your appa now!”

Even though he lost, Taeyong laughs alongside his best friend, the happiness in the room too contagious to ignore. 

“Alright, Youngchul, it’s your turn!” Doyoung says, standing up and walking towards the baby sitting on the couch. “Wow, I didn’t think Minyoung would actually come to me.”

“You seemed so confident, though, Doyoung.” Taeyong laughs.

Doyoung ignores Taeyong’s comment and places Youngchul on the ground, quickly rushing back next to Taeyong. 

“Youngchul, my darling son, come towards appa! If you love appa, come to me!” Taeyong cheers, bouncing up and down just as he did for Minyoung.

Doyoung hits Taeyong’s arm, “Hey! Don’t steal my methods! Youngchul, come to your favorite uncle! If you come to me, we’ll win!”

Youngchul’s starry eyes look up from his spot at the other side of the living room. He looks up at his dad, smiling as he sees him bounce up and down like a crazy man. His eyes move to Doyoung, watching his uncle clap and give gummy smiles, happily cheering for Youngchul. 

“Appa! Appa!” Youngchul cheers, moving onto all fours, attempting to crawl. 

“Yes! I’m appa! Come to appa!” Taeyong says, doing his best to not jump towards his son. 

Minyoung sits on the right side of his dad, shaking one of his toys proudly, trying to show as much excitement as the two dads in the room are. Youngchul’s attention is immediately grabbed by Minyoung and his rattling toy, causing him to change directions and head straight towards him. 

“Are you coming towards me?” Doyoung says, shocked that Youngchul changed his mind from heading to Taeyong to heading more towards Doyoung.

“Ah!” Youngchul cheers, heading even faster towards Minyoung. He sits right in front of Minyoung, clapping his hands together in delight that he’s closer with his best friend. Minyoung claps too, accidentally giving the toy to Youngchul who now grabs the toy and shakes it himself. 

“He went to Minyoung.” Doyoung says, looking at Taeyong.

“What does that mean?” Taeyong asks, trying to evaluate the situation. 

“This was an unexpected outcome,” Doyoung gets up from his spot, “It’s only fair that I won since Minyoung actually came to me.” 

“Okay, but the competition isn’t technically over! We didn’t make rules if Youngchul went to Minyoung.” Taeyong pouts, reaching over to wipe off the drool that leaks from his son’s smiley face. 

“Just accept your defeat, Taeyong.”

“But I didn’t even lose! The game isn’t over!”

“The game is over! I have 2 points and you and Minyoung are tied for second place with 1 point each!”

“Minyoung doesn’t count!”

“You’re saying my son doesn’t count?”

“Okay, you know that’s not what I mean! I’m just saying that he wasn’t in the rules, so his point doesn’t count!”

“Look, you’re just being a sore loser… Just accept it!”

“But I didn’t lose! Let’s put Minyoung on the couch and try agai--”

“--We’re home!”

The front door unlocks as you walk in, Taeyong’s wife and your best friend trailing behind.

“Where’s my Youngchul?” T/W/N asks, quickly removing her shoes to rush inside as quickly as possible, running past you.

“Ma! Ma!” Youngchul cheers when he hears his mother’s voice. She walks towards the living room, gasping in excitement when she sees her baby.

“Peek-a-boo! There you are!” she smiles, completely ignoring her pouting husband and going over to pick up her son, raining kisses on his cheeks. 

You trail behind her, equally as excited to see your son.

“Minyoung! Eomma’s home!” You cheer, gasping as well when you see your son, except, not quite from excitement. 

“Welcome home, babe!” Doyoung jumps up and tries to hug you, attempting to distract you from the botched haircut that he hopes you didn’t see. You totally saw it. 

You dodge his hug and grab your son, examining his unfortunate hair. “Minyoung! What happened to your hair? Why is it so short? Why is it so uneven?”

Taeyong and Doyoung both do their best to remove themselves from the situation, asking your best friend about the wedding dress as she heads inside, also noticing the botched haircut.

“Doyoung, what happened to Minyoung’s hair?” you ask, frantically brushing what’s left of Minyoung’s hair with your hands.

“Hm? Oh that? Well you see… what had happened was…” he begins, his eyes avoiding your’s. 

“The truth, Doyoung.” you say, knowing well that he would have come up with a crazy story before finally telling the truth. 

“Taeyong and I--”

“--wait, wait, wait. No,” Taeyong starts, “Don’t drag me in on this. If I knew, I would have reminded him. I sw-- OW!” His attempt at defending was cut short when his wife pinched his side.

“You still should have stopped him!” she scolds. Taeyong holds up two hands, planning to not chime in anymore.

Doyoung takes a deep breath, “Okay, okay. I was really busy and overwhelmed with taking care of the three babies--”

“--Wait. Three babies?”

“Taeyong.”

“Sorry.”

“As I was saying,” Doyoung begins again, “I was so busy taking care of the babies that by the time I realized I forgot, it was too late, so I decided to do it myself. I returned the necklace! So don’t worry about th--”

“--You really think the necklace is my biggest concern right now? Our son looks like-- he looks like--” You say, doing your best to control your anger. You take a look at your son again, seeing the Doyoung mini-me look at you with the softest eyes. When Minyoung notices your eyes on his, he smiles, happy to see his mom after an entire day.

“He… actually looks kinda cute.” You say, your son’s contagious smile causes you to smile as well. 

“I know, I know, I'm so sorr-- wait what? He looks what?” Doyoung says, shock prevalent in his voice. 

“He actually does look cute!” Your best friend now chimes in, standing beside you and looking at Minyoung. “This style of hair is very trendy amongst babies. I mean, not this extreme, but still!”

Minyoung’s smiles knowing that your best friend is near. He smiles and leans towards her, wanting to be held by her.

“Oh? You wanna come to me?” she asks as she holds her out her hands and carefully takes your son into her arms. Minyoung is all smiles in her arms, happy to see her after a long time.

“He does look cute, now that I think about it,” Taeyong’s wife says, “Little Minyoung is so handsome, he can pull off any haircut!”

Doyoung and Taeyong look at each other, both awestruck by unexpected reactions they received. You and the girls all gush over the babies, bringing up how one of their favorite celebrity’s baby also has the same haircut.

“So… you’re not mad?” Doyoung asks gently, trying not to get you any angrier if you were.

“I’m not mad. Just next time… let’s leave the haircutting to the professionals, Doyoung.”

---

ahh and it’s done! i had so much fun writing this scenario!

i have more scenarios in the works including some return of the superman situations!

i hope you guys liked this one and let me know if you have any requests! my requests are open :)

let me know what you guys think!

- amy <3