#i was just checking th notes on a post and saw that the reply text box had my wolfchannie icon instead of the bow i have on my main

[wolfchans]

Omg now sideblogs can reply with their actual url and not the main one 🎉🎉

[armandisdaddy]

We’re Just Friends Chp.2 -Modern Au! Rhaenyra x Dornish Male Reader

Pairing: Rhaenyra Targaryen x Dornish Male Reader (House of Blackmont) Aegon x Male Reader

Content/Warning: !!🔞PLUS!! Angst, Denial, Some Sexual Content, Tension,Strap penetration , Fem domme action, Smut, toxic love, LOTS of Jealousy, and a bit of a love square. (No not a triangle lmfao)

Word count: 2,065

Author’s Notes: I know you’re going to be surprised because I surprised myself honestly. This is one of my more depraved fictions…sooo hopefully I didn’t go to far..

Chapter Two

You slept off the tequila and woke up to an empty bed. You went to check Rhaenyra’s and there was no one there not even Aegon. Where did everyone go? So you pulled out your phone texting her.

You

“Hey wya?”

*No reply*

“Okay…” You decided to forget about it and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. Hours had passed and still nothing from her. You started to get worried and thought to call the police, but you were interrupted hearing the door open and laughing coming from the living room. You walked out seeing Lydia and Rhaenyra sitting there on the couch holding hands, laughing. You gasped loud enough for them to hear you and you smiled awkwardly waving at them. With a tight lipped grin you walked into the kitchen to get a drink locking yourself in your room for the remainder of the day.

After what just happened last night she took that bitch back….okay well seems like you were on the market again. You sighed feeling your heart crumble into tiny pieces, but what could you. It is what it is..you told your self. They stayed in the house all day not even giving you a chance to truly express the anger and hurt you were feeling. You decided you need to get out of the house. Texting Aegon,

You

“Hey..you know any good clubs to go to tonight?”

Aegon

“Hell yeah.”

You

“Pick me up at 10…😘”

You smiled yourself getting up to find something to wear. You searched through your closet finding a black fishnet top, a super short mini skirt, with fishnet stockings and some black platform boots. Putting the clothes on your body you took a few pictures sending them to Aegon and posting them on Instagram. Finishing your hair and makeup you were very happy with the end result.

Aegon

“You look fucking hot..🥵”

You

“Thank you, love.”

Aegon

“I’ll be there in like 5 mins..”

You decided it was time to go outside to meet him so you stepped into the hall looking at yourself one more time before you waltzed through the living room without saying a word. “Y/N your going out?” Was Rhaenyra really asking you where you were going? You turned to look at her with sickeningly sweet smile. “Oh yeah I decided to take your advice about your brother. We’re going to this sick club he told me about. Don’t wait up..you two have fun.” Her face dropped and you didn’t give her a chance to say a thing before you left.

Walking outside you saw Aegon pulling up in his sports car that he called Sunfyre. Impressive you thought running up to the car. He smiled getting out to give a tight hug. “You look..amazing.” He stared at you in awe. “Stop staring let’s go have fun.” You teased letting yourself in on the passenger side while he sat back in the drivers seat. Soon you were getting a text message from your “Bestfriend”

Rhae Rhae

“I thought you said you weren’t attracted to him.”

You

“Aren’t you suppose to be knee deep in some pussy right now? Please get tf out of my phone with this shit.”

*Read*

You

“That’s what tf I thought..”

Who the fuck did she think she was, you weren’t even bothered about what happened between the two of you last night. What you were pissed off about was the fact that basically chose being with that cunt over your entire friendship. Aegon touched your thigh as he drove. “ You okay, Y/N?” You exhaled slowly and sighed. “Honestly…no. Guess who your sister brought back to the house after she said all that shit about me.” He gasped “She didn’t…” You nodded, “Yeah..yeah she did.”

He rubbed your thigh trying to make you feel better and you smiled softly trying to push it to the back of your mind trying to reassure yourself you were going to have fun. Now you were pulling up to the club and surprisingly you didn’t have to wait in some crazy ass line. Well of course not, you were with one of the famous Targaryens after all. The music blared as you walked inside with Aegon holding your hand guiding you to his VIP section. “Wait here, I’m bringing a bottle back. Tequila right?.” You looked around bobbing your head to the music. “Yeah..right.” Before you knew it were up dancing by yourself waiting for Aegon to get back and apparently you had caught someone’s eye. Cragen Stark to be exact.

He gave a rather dashing smile and approached you. “Your Y/N, Rhaenyra’s friend right?” You had to yell over the music and move closer to him in order for him to hear you properly. “Umm yeah you can say that.” His smile never wavering. “You look good tonight.” You smiled blushing slightly looking away. “Thanks.” Looking around then back at you he pulled out his phone. “I see you’re with Aegon, can I have your number I’ll text you when I leave here.” You took his phone and smiled like the Cheshire Cat typing in your name and number quickly. “Thanks. It was nice seeing you. Hope to you see you again, Y/N.”

Aegon came back with the bottles and shot glasses. “You’re going to be pissed at me.” You looked confused . “Huh..why?” He sucked his teeth. “Umm…Nyra texted me asking what club we were going to and I fucked up and told her…aannnd now she’s here coming to our section.” You rolled your eyes and sighed seeing her coming up the steps with the cunt following behind her. “Just great…I’m going to go dance.” Cracking a bottle of the strong spirit open you poured yourself two shots kicking them both back with ease. Pushing past Rhaenyra not even giving her a second glance.

She waited to get Lydia drunk enough which didn’t take long and made her way down to the dance floor to find you. You were dancing like nobody was watching and she broke your trance taking your wrist dragging you off into the bathroom locking the door behind her. You pulled away, but she had quite a grip on you.

“What the fuck do you want?” Her violet eyes were fuming with anger and you laughed loving that you could get her so angry. “So what is your fucking problem? Scoffing, “My problem…? I’m not the one who fucking lied saying they were leaving their girlfriend last night because of how they treat your bestfriend. Not to mention you confess your undying love for me last night we almost hooked the fuck up and now your back with Lydia. So tell me do I have a problem? Because I don’t think I do. You’ve made me realize I’m not shit to you so we can keep it that way. From now on I’m just your roommate.”

Rhaenyra seemed to be in deep thought and then she remembered. “I told you I loved you…last night. And we kissed. I thought I imagined that…I was fucked up last night.” You rolled your eyes and left the bathroom. “Un-fucking believable.” Going back to your VIP section you found a seat in Aegon’s lap. Rhaenyra trailing not too far behind you she hesitated seeing the two of you like that, but fixed her face finding her seat beside Lydia.

The night went on and you almost forgot she was even there she was so quiet sulking and you were too busy dancing and laughing with her brother. A few moments later a fight had broke out and the club had been cleared out. Rhaenyra told Aegon she was taking Lydia home first and that she’d be back home soon. Aegon took you back to your shared apartment and attempted go up with you, but you declined claiming you were tired and had some last minute work to turn in for school tomorrow. He nodded understanding and hugged you goodnight.

You got inside showering and destressing you sighed to yourself hearing Rhaenyra come inside. Expecting her to go to her room you came out of the bathroom in your towel only to be pushing into your room against the wall. “Rhae…Rhaenyra what are you doing get off me?” You spoke with an annoyed tone pushing her away before she crashed her lips into yours.

“I remember last night…pretty well now and I remember we were rudely interrupted..no?” Her eyes were blown with lust and your were overwhelmed at the sudden intrusion of her tongue in your mouth. You wanted to be angry, but your body wouldn’t allow it. Your towel fell exposing your full body to her and she smiled.

“You’re gorgeous…you know that?” You look away shyly. “Oh no be a good boy and look at me..” You whimpered as her hands slid down your body teasing your already throbbing cock. “Nyra…please.” You begged her to stop teasing it was becoming to much. “Your so fucking pathetic…what were you saying in the club tonight? Oh yeah…I’m just your fucking roommate.” She spoke in a mocking tone. “And yet here you are ready to blow your load and I haven’t even gotten started yet. Pathetic.” Why did she have to talk to you like that and why did it have to make you so horny.

She pushed you to your knees and smiled softly caressing your lips and chin. Pulling down her pants she stood over you her strap and cunt in clear view and she sat it on your face. “Eat it..” You moaned inhaling her scent melting slowly lapping at her clit, cooing at the taste of her. She groaned wrapping her hands in your dark thick tresses pushing your face into her cunt. Her hips buck rubbing it up and down your face. Your nose nudging her clit simultaneously causing her to tremble every now and then.

“Good boy.” She praised and you moaned into her, licking and sucking with feverishly. She bit into her lip quickly coming undone on your tongue. Your cock twitching in agony by how stimulated you were. She laughed loving how cute you looked beneath her and she pulled back grabbing the dildo attached to her harness slapping it on your face. “Can you do something for me, sweet boy.” You nodded waiting for her next command. “Get on the bed on all fours.”

You obliged and quickly went face down ass up. “You belong just like this don’t you?” You whimpered as she laid a harsh smack across your rounded ass cheek. “Answer me.” You squeal. “Yes..” she went rummaging through your things and found some lube letting the the cool liquid drip down your tight hole she rubbing her thumb around the rim slowly letting it give way to the pressure of her pressing against it. Soon she added another finger and another until she felt you were nice and ready for her.

She lubed up her attachment and slowly prodded at your entrance before slowly slipping inside. You wince slightly, but your eyes rolled into your head from the way it filled you so nicely leaving no room for nothing else. She bucked her hips forward filling you until she hit a dead end and pulled back before pounding into you recklessly. Holding your hips her pelvis smashed into your ass over and over causing it to jiggle with each thrust. “Fuck..Rhaenyra…yes..” You whimpered and screamed grabbing onto the sheets of your bed.

“You lik this huh, your taking me so well, pet. You love the way I fuck you, huh?” She pulled you up by your hair. “Yes..yes I love the way you fuck me.” Your groan like an animal as she continued her assault. “Oh my Gods. I’m going to cum..please make me cum.” She slapped your ass again relishing how slutty you’ve become. “Your a little slut for this dick aren’t you.” You nodded vigorously exploding all over your sheets.

She pulled out from you and slapped your ass one more good time before picking you up to kiss you harshly. “Are you going to talk to me like that again?” She asked as she held your face so you looked her in the eyes. “No…” she pushed you back exiting the room. “Good…”

To be continued…

[snowdice]

Road Trips and Missing Persons (Part 12)

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Patton & Virgil, Virgil & Deceit, Logan & Patton, Emile & Remy, Roman & Remus & Janus

Characters: Patton, Virgil, Deceit, Remus, Roman, Logan, Emile, Remy

Summary: Patton was just getting groceries. The next thing he knew, there was a knife at his throat and he was an unwilling uber driver. Virgil’s on the run after the murder of his dad, and it’s not just his paranoia that’s telling him he’s being chased down. He has to get somewhere safe, somewhere he can trust, and all he has is a couple of stories from his dad and a name: “Green Bellow Foods and Dispensary.”

Notes: Secret Agents AU, knives, carjacking, kidnapping, murder mentioned, guns mentioned, pepper spray, blood mentioned, drugs mentioned, explosions (more to be added)

This is a fic I’ve been writing on study breaks that you have probably all already seen at this point. I’ve affectionately named it the Goblin Brain Fic because it’s helping my brain actually get motivated for studying. I’ve slightly edited it for wording and grammar, but not for content from my previous posts. Feel free to send in asks to direct it because I’m not 100% sure where this is going and you can help decide if you feel so inclined! You can see the process I went through to build this at this link.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 My Master Post

Remus sulked in the back of Roman’s car. It wasn’t fair. His brother and his best friend were both in the front seat and had been mocking him for the past 10 minutes and they wouldn’t even put on an interesting music station. Roman had even told Janus about the time Remus had peed on a wasp sting thinking it would work like it did for jellyfish.

“We should play a car game,” Remus suggested.

“Absolutely not,” Roman said immediately.

“Come on Ro, it’s tradition,” Remus said.

“You kill my cows every time!” Roman said. “You could kill Uncle Patton’s cows since he’s always winning, but you always choose to kill my cows!”

“But RooooOOO.”

“No.”

“Fine,” Remus relented. “No Cow Game.”

“Thank you.”

“I spy with my-”

“No, Remus.”

Remus paused. “I’m thinking of an animal.”

“I’m not playing Remus.”

They sat in silence for about 20 seconds. “There’s a Kentucky driver’s license. One point for me.”

Roman chose to just ignore him now.

“Janus you’ll play with me, won’t you?” he asked.

“Remus, I don’t even know what you’re talking about, and you’re already annoying me,” was the answer.

“Come on if we’re going to listen to stupid music, we should at least play a game. How about we try to find things outside of the car in alphabetical order. I’ll start. Airport sign! Now you find something starting with the letter ‘b’.”

Does the annoying bastard in the backseat count?” Janus grumbled under his breath.

“No,” Remus replied with a grin. “It’s got to be something outside of the car.”

Janus didn’t respond to that and Remus pouted. He went through a bunch of different car games he knew and tried to make some up, but none seemed to entice either his brother or Janus to play. While usually he might just give up after being ignored for so long, he noticed Janus’s hand start tapping a restless pattern on his leg after only about 10 seconds of Remus’s silence. So, Remus decided to drop the car games and instead just focused on being as annoying as possible.

…

“Theeeeeeeeee…. wheels on the bus go round and round!”

“I’m going to kill him,” Janus said blankly.

“That’s what he wants,” Roman said mildly. “Just ignore him.”

Remus kept singing for a long time. Eventually he ran out of verses, so he just started to make some up. “The strippers on the pole…”

“Oh my god,” Janus said. “I can’t handle this anymore.”

“Seriously Jan,” Roman said. “Just pretend he doesn’t exist, and he’ll eventually wear himself out.”

“In how long?” Janus asked, just the slightest edge of hysteria to his voice.

“It depends on if he’s had any caffeine today.”

Remus kept singing, but Janus and Roman remained resolutely silent on the matter until Remus eventually trailed off.

“This is boring,” Remus said.

Nothing.

“At least change the radio station to something not lame.”

Janus reached forward and turned the volume on the radio station up. Remus sat back in his seat and thought for a few minutes which is when he tuned into the radio station.

“So, if you’d like to request a song, you can call in or send a request through our new app,” the man on the radio said. Remus smiled widely and grabbed his phone from his pocket.

When he turned it on, he had a bunch of missed phone calls and text messages from dad. What? He opened the text messages and they all seemed to be asking the same question: ‘Have you seen your brother?’ Remus glanced up at the back of Roman’s head.

‘I’m not his keeper,’ he texted back.

Then, he closed out of the messenger app and pressed the button for the app store. He quickly found what he was looking for and pressed the download button.

It took a couple of minutes to download and about when it was over, he noticed Janus shoot a look back at him. He opened his mouth, doubtlessly to comment on Remus’s silence. Not wanting to be suspicious, Remus opened his mouth and let out his patented ‘banshee scream.’

“Don’t look at him!” Roman yelled over the sound of Remus’s scream.

“Why is your brother a demon from hell?” Janus asked, hands over his ears.

Remus ran out of air after a moment. There was a beat of silence.

“Can I please kill him, Roman?” Janus asked.

“No,” Roman replied. “Really, just ignore him.”

Janus grumbled under his breath and turned the radio station up even more. Satisfied that they were none the wiser, Remus opened the now downloaded app and quickly found the “suggestions” tab in the menu drop down. He didn’t even have to check the given list of suggested songs to know what he wanted was not on it.

So, he tapped on the button to suggest a different song and typed in the details of what he wanted before pressing send. Then it was just a waiting game and no matter what dad (and everyone else) had always said, Remus was good at waiting games. At least, he was when he wanted to be. Both Janus and Roman were looking resolutely ahead and Roman’s fingers were tapping to the beat of the current song on the wheel despite the fact that they were going over the speed limit to a crazy amount.

The song ended and a man came on the air.

“Hello, hello, hello,” the man said. “We’ll be getting right back to your suggestions on KSS-FM 102.9, but before that for anyone on Interstate 26, there was an accident near the Carlson exit involving a semi-truck full of cows. If you’re anywhere near exit 52, I’d suggest you moo-ve right on over to an alternative route.”

“Fantastic,” Janus hissed, slamming his fist against the dash.

“Hey, whoa, it’s fine,” Roman soothed, but Janus didn’t seem to be listening.

“Fuck,” he said.

“Hey, Jan,” Remus said. “You’ve got your map, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So, it’ll be easy to find an alternate route, yeah?” he asked.

“We don’t even know where we’re going!” Janus said. “How the hell are we supposed to find an alternate route?!”

“We know where he was right?” Remus said. “The cows might actually be a good thing. It’ll probably slow everyone down and we can guess what alternate route he might be using.” Janus didn’t say anything. “Here,” he said. “Gimme.” Janus handed over his atlas and Remus peered at it. “Yeah, here, see,” he said, showing it to him. “There are about four likely alternative routes someone might take near where Virgil was the last we knew. Three of them end up funneling into to Lincoln to get back onto the interstate and Lincoln has an ice-cream shop that got burglarized five times one summer, so they put up a security camera facing main street.”

“Please tell me you didn’t burglarize the ice cream shop,” Roman begged.

“You can prove nothing,” Remus said. He hadn’t actually, but he liked the distressed noise Roman gave in answer. “Anyway, I’d say we throw in our lots with that and drive to Lincoln to check the security camera. Even if he didn’t go that way, we can then make another guess based on where the 4th route went.”

“That…” Janus said. “Yeah, that’s actually a good suggestion Remus, thank you.”

“No prob Janny Fanny.”

“And you ruined it,” Janus said.

Remus just gave him the biggest smile he could.

Janus rolled his eyes and turned away from him to look back at the map. He grabbed a pen and circled the location that Remus had suggested. “You’ll want to get off at the next exit,” he told Roman.

Roman nodded. “Got it.”

Remus had actually almost forgotten in the interim about his absolutely fantastic idea until a few minutes later when the radio man announced the next song. Remus could already feel a smile creep up his face as the man snickered a little bit when he started speaking.

“Now,” he said, “we usually wouldn’t play this song, but it does seem… appropriate considering the trucks that crashed on I-26 and the person who suggested it wrote about why he wanted us to play it in the comments.” He broke for another short laugh. “As a sibling myself, I feel sympathy for your plight D-dongmaster-5000. So, here’s for you, stuck in a car while your brother and best friend hog the radio. I hope your road trip goes well.” And then, beautifully, the radio started singing the song of Remus’s soul.

Two trucks having sex

Two trucks having sex

My muscles, my muscles

Involuntarily flex

Remus saw Janus look over at Roman. Roman didn’t look away from the road. Instead, he just said with zero emotion, “Kill him.”

Janus vaulted over into the back seat as the radio crooned:

Two pickup trucks

Making love

American made.

Want to read more? Click below!

Part 13

[reyesstrand]

not sure if I’m allowed to send another but, what about 85 for tarlos?

sorry for the wait for this, but this idea got in my head and it kind of got out of control — a good ending to this series, i guess!! i hope you enjoy! 

prompt taken from this list. also available on ao3!!

Three weeks to the day after the solar flare, Carlos receives a cryptic text from his mom: come for lunch today?

He mulls it over; he loves his mother, and it’s no secret to anybody that knows him that he’s a total mama’s boy, but there’s got to be a reason behind her impromptu meal, and an evil part of his mind tells him it has to be bad news. She doesn’t mention anything about his sisters joining them, and Carlos doesn’t know if that should stress him out more or less. If it’s something bad, he’d assume that he and his sisters would find out at the same time — but that only leaves him more confused.

She’s a strong woman, and is a complete health-nut — ever since his abuela started having mobility issues, his mother’s been a champion for organic eating and natural sleep aids and doing yoga every morning. Carlos can’t put bad news from the doctor completely off the table, but he starts to drift towards the other countless possibilities — and so he can’t say no to her. Even if it’s his only day off that lines up with TK’s schedule, he spares a glance at his softly snoring boyfriend before figuring the man’s close enough with his own father that he’ll have to understand a shift in plans. And so Carlos finds himself more alert than he’d been when he’d rubbed sleep from his eyes and initially checked his phone five minutes ago, thumbs hovering over the screen before he sends her a simple of course, mami, and sets about getting ready for the day after pressing a quick kiss to TK’s hairline.

He’s showered and had his coffee and is trying to quietly get dressed when Carlos hears TK groan and grumble, clearly fighting between catching a little more sleep and getting out of bed. Carlos watches with a small smile as TK slowly sits up when he realizes he’s alone in bed, before their gazes catch, and his heart soars as TK’s eyes visibly light up at seeing him.

“Everything okay?” TK asks, voice still deep and groggy, and Carlos nods as he starts on buttoning up his shirt.

“We might have to change our plans today,” Carlos says apologetically. “I really—fuck, I really wanted to spend he day with you, but my mom wants me to come over and she usually doesn’t spring stuff like that on me unless there’s something wrong, and—”

“Hey,” TK cuts him off, and Carlos raises his brows at him. “It’s okay, seriously. Marjan’s been bugging me to take Buttercup to get some pampering, anyway.”

“You’re the best,” Carlos says, and TK grins at him.

“Damn straight.”

TK tilts his head up, clearly looking for a kiss. Carlos huffs out a laugh and comes in close, so their mouths are nearly touching, before he whispers, “You have no shame, do you.”

“Nope,” TK grins, eyes crinkling in the corners, popping the p before he closes the space between them and gets the kiss he wanted. “I’ll see you later, though?”

His eyes shine with hopefulness, and Carlos nods earnestly. “I’ll text you when I’m on my way home.”

There’s another brief kiss, before Carlos sighs as he presses their foreheads together.

“I hate just leaving on you,” Carlos admits, even though the thoughts surrounding what his mom’s intentions are with lunch are swirling around his mind.

“I’ll be fine,” TK says, ducking forward to press another kiss to the corner of Carlos’ mouth. “Say hi to your mom for me.”

It’s only half a joke — TK’s been talking, metaphorically, about meeting Carlos’ family for a week or so. He mentions it whenever Carlos talks about childhood memories or a story from one of his sisters, noting that Carlos has known his dad technically even before he knew TK. But it never evolves from a few jokes, and even though Carlos wants nothing more than to continue to make their relationship solidified through introducing each other properly to the people that mean the most to them, he doesn’t know how to seriously approach that subject.

Instead of trying now, Carlos leaves with a promised, “I’ll see you later,” before he grabs his keys and phone and makes his way out of his home.

The half-hour drive goes by mostly in a blur, because he’s too caught up in what might unfold at the lunch. They usually try to have big family dinners bi-weekly, due to everyone’s work schedules and his sister’s kids’ schedules, but he can’t remember the last time a meal like this was just dropped on him the day-of. He does have the right state of mind to stop and grab his mom a bouquet of lilies, her favourite, before he pulls up to the humble farmhouse he’d lived in his whole childhood.

“Is everything okay?”

The words are out of his mouth within seconds of stepping into the house, half-startling his mother as she pours out two glasses of sweet tea.

“Can’t I ask my favourite son to have lunch with me when I know it’s his day off?”

Carlos flushes a bit, handing the flowers to his mom as she pulls him in for a hug. “I’m your only son.”

“Still my favourite,” she grins, smacking a kiss on his cheek before she gestures toward the back deck. He follows her, taking a deep breath as he goes.

* * *

“I know something is up, baby.”

He'd been expecting something regarding her own well-being or health, or his abuela's, so when the conversation turns to him he's sort of confused. And Carlos has grown up hearing from people that he has his mother’s eyes, and as he looks into them now, he thinks he sees the similarities as she looks at him with a particular warmth laced with concern he’s been accustomed to since he was born.

“You know, I saw an interesting photo of you the other day,” she says it off-handedly, but Carlos still manages to choke on his drink. She doesn’t hesitate, going on to describe the picture he knows intimately because he posted it to his Instagram only forty-eight hours ago: him and TK, smiling as they stand close, too close to just be friendly to any onlooker, taken by Paul in the late hours of the night as they strolled around downtown after their shifts. He hadn’t even considered his family seeing the photo, and he silently rues the day his sisters made their mother various social media accounts so she could keep up with their lives. Her voice turns soft, as she squeezes his arm and asks, “Is there something you want to tell me?”

“Uh, I have to pee.”

He says it quickly enough that he can run off to inside the house, where the remnants of their lunch sits scattered over the counter. Carlos beelines for the bathroom and leans against the sink as he pulls out his phone.

how do you feel about my mom knowing about you?

seriously.

Carlos sends the messages to TK and taps his phone against the heel of his palm as he waits for a response. He thinks back to his mother’s implications — that she knows about them, is okay with them — and figures that he could always lie. It’ll look suspicious as hell, of course, after he just fucked off like that, but he’s never really brought any boyfriends around before. Mainly because he’s never been in a serious enough relationship to warrant that. But he thinks — he knows that there’s something real between him and TK, and he wouldn’t hate his mom and eventually his sisters knowing about him and meeting him and welcoming him into the fold of their family dynamic. But he needs to make sure this is still something TK’s okay with, that it’s going at his pace.

TK texts him back quickly, like always. i was serious about wanting to meet her someday. maybe even soon. so if you want to talk about me i support you.

you’re sure? Carlos texts back, as he feels his nerves starting to both tamper off and confusingly grow at the same time as he walks toward the backyard again, preparing to let his mother into this part of his life.

100%. tell her only the good things, i wanna impress her, TK replies, along with a string of heart emojis. Carlos huffs a little, quickly typing out, she’ll love you no matter what, before pocketing his phone and sliding back into his seat across from his mother.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, meeting her eyes, and as he opens his mouth to continue, she quickly interjects.

“Don’t lie to me, Carlos,” she warns, though there’s warmth behind her words, a desperate plea to tell him that she wants to be included in this part of his life, no matter how new it might be. "You know you can talk to me."

So Carlos takes another deep breath, not really looking at his mother as he whispers: “I met someone, mami.”

He stares down at the ground; after a few seconds, he shifts his gaze to stare at the blooming gardens that live in clusters around the yard, various vegetables and flowers alike growing with vengeance as the summer welcomes them back into the world. When she makes a noise and he finally meets her gaze again, she’s looking at him with nothing but fondness.

“Oh, baby,” his mom is smiling, now, and she brings his face close to press a kiss to his forehead.

“It’s only been official for a few weeks but, um, I really like him,” Carlos admits, as his mother lovingly squeezes his hand. With a laugh, he adds: “I like him a lot. And I’d love for you to meet him.”

His mother leans forward and curls her arms around him, like she did when he was a kid and he felt too small to conquer the world, and he immediately feels calm wash over him. “I would love to, mijo.”

(Carlos has a flash of a memory, then, coming out when he was fifteen years old and terrified but desperate for his truth to be known. He first told his older sister Camila, and then his mother a couple of days later, and he remembers so vividly how they hugged his then-tiny frame, all knobbly bones and a height he was getting used to, both of them supportive and loving and adamant that nothing would change how much they love him. He towers over both of them now, but he feels protected in his mother’s arms, like he always has).

As they pull out of the hug, his mother elbows him good-naturedly. “Alright, tell me about this boy then.”

His mama’s grinning at him teasingly as she says it, and Carlos sits back and huffs out a laugh of his own, rubbing the back of his neck.

“His name’s TK. He’s a firefighter,” Carlos says, barely holding back a bigger smile when his mother makes an approving face at that tidbit of information. “He’s—he’s funny and beautiful and has the warmest heart.”

“I’m so happy for you,” his mother says, eyes bright with love, as if just listening to him talk about TK has made her realize how truly happy he is. And maybe it's allowed himself to look at inside retrospectively and figure out that yeah, he is happier than he's ever been. “I’m sure I’ll love him. You’ll have to bring him around.”

“I will,” Carlos promises, feeling like he’s floating on air. “Oh, and he’s from New York City.”

He says it pointedly, knowing his mother’s always wanted to travel to the Big Apple.

“Well,” his mother says, “I guess we’ll have to show your city boy how we do family dinners, then.”

She brings him in for another hug as she smiles, before she goes off to refill their glasses. Carlos sits back, considering the idea of TK being a part of his family, for good — and he finds that he wants nothing else in the world.

[artificialqueens]

You're All I Want (for Christmas), Final Part (Branjie) - Kiki

A/N: This story is complete! I want to wish every single one of you a happy holidays and I hope that 2021 is an amazing year for all of you! 2020 has been so bad and reading everyone’s submissions on AQ throughout the year has brought me so much joy and distraction so thank you to everyone for that. Hope you enjoy!

Summary: A classic Christmas past, present and future fic. Brooke deals with the aftermath of the breakup and Vanessa has to move back to New York. Will they reconnect? 

14th of January 2020

When Brooke was feeling upset, she usually turned to two things for comfort: her friends and food. That’s why as soon as Nina had suggested getting brunch that morning, Brooke jumped at the idea and was ready to have an afternoon of fun and laughter with her friends. It was just the kind of distraction that she was looking for and desperately needed.

Although as soon as she got there, she realised that she was not going to get what she wanted. The whole situation was just awkward. They were dancing around the topic of Vanessa and no one wanted to be the first one to bring her up. Brooke hadn’t seen Nina and Detox since before the breakup because of how much she had thrown herself into her work and now she was regretting saying yes to Nina’s invite.

Nina and Detox had no idea what to say to Brooke. Obviously they were both still friends with Vanessa and had kept in contact with her over the last month. They wanted to be there for Brooke but they didn’t know how they could do that or even how she was feeling since she refused to even talk about it.

Brooke could feel herself growing more and more frustrated with the entire situation. She had thought she was going to get a morning of distraction where she could stop thinking about Vanessa for a couple of hours. But no. All she was able to do in that restaurant was think about Vanessa. Eventually, Nina broke the silence.

“Maybe you should just text her, Brooke. Maybe if you two could stay friends then it wouldn’t have to be such of an uncomfortable situation for you both.” Nina said sympathetically and deep down, Brooke knew she was right. She should text Vanessa. Make sure she was okay…see how she was getting on in Chicago. But there was no point, Vanessa wouldn’t reply anyway. Brooke was confident that she wouldn’t reply. After all, she did tell Brooke that she hated her.

“Nina, shut the hell up. That’s the worst advice ever and you know it,” Detox stated before looking Brooke straight in her eyes. “You need to get your ass on a plane to Chicago and tell Vanessa how much you fucked up and that you made a mistake. What’s the point in sitting here miserable when you could go and get her back?” Brooke immediately rolled her eyes at her friend’s comment. Detox had no idea what was going on. Why they actually broke up. Brooke presumed she had only heard what Vanessa had told her.

“Detox, I just wanted one fucking day where I could not have to think about this, can we please just talk about something else?” Brooke tried to plead with Detox but she was having none of it.

“No, Brooke. I’m not just gonna sit here and watch you ruin your life! It’s stupid and it’s embarrassing!” Detox replied and Brooke had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

“If you don’t stop fucking talking about her, I’m gonna leave.”

“Come on, Detox, just leave it for now, yeah?” Nina said calmly, trying to mediate the situation.

“No, Nina! Don’t act like you weren’t saying this was all a mistake too! You should be backing me up here.” With that, Brooke had heard enough. She took some cash out of her wallet and placed it on the table before storming out of the restaurant. All she had wanted was some pancakes, a nice conversation with her friends and maybe a few cocktails. But no. It seemed like Brooke couldn’t have anything she wanted these days…and she was just going to have to learn to live with that.

—

20th of February 2020

Vanessa was out in a club for the first time in almost three months. She was out with friends which was such a relief because she was starting to think she wouldn’t make any. Kameron and Aquaria were two girls who worked in the Chicago office alongside her. They were told to work on the same project together and the three of them hit it off immediately which made Vanessa very happy.

As Vanessa placed an order for another cocktail, she felt someone tap on her shoulder. As she turned around, she saw a beautiful girl with long black hair and gorgeous blue eyes. Any other time, Vanessa would have hit on her immediately. But she couldn’t right now. Not after everything that had happened with Brooke.

The girl asked Vanessa to dance with her and as much as Vanessa wished she could say yes, she had to say no. Kameron and Aquaria shared a confused look between them.

“Why the hell did you say no, Vanjie? She’s fucking stunning!” Kameron exclaimed and Aquaria nodded in agreement. Vanessa hadn’t told the girls anything about Brooke yet but she figured being drunk in a club was the perfect place to have that kind of conversation with her new friends.

“I guess I have this ex back in New York that I’m not really over yet,” Vanessa began with that which immediately interested the two girls so Vanessa ended up telling them the entire story: how they met, how they got engaged and how they broke up. When Vanessa finished her story, Aquaria had a mischievous look on her face. “What are you thinking, Aqua?” Vanessa was both intrigued and scared about what made her friend grin like that.

“Have you never wanted to make her jealous?” Aquaria asked with her eyebrow raised slightly. Vanessa shrugged and began to think about it. Did she want to make Brooke jealous? She did want to hurt her slightly just so she could see how much it hurt when she dumped her. But that would take a lot of effort and energy that she didn’t have. She came to Chicago to focus on her job, not to keep dragging up her past relationship.

“I mean I guess I would? But I dunno, I wouldn’t even know how do it. I’m here and she’s all the way in New York.” Vanessa explained, hoping that the topic of conversation would move on to something else but knowing Aquaria, she had a plan up her sleeve.

“Easy. Kameron’s your type, right?,” Aquaria asked while Vanessa blushed feeling slightly embarrassed. She guessed Kameron was kind of her type. She was tall, had blonde hair and was kind of quiet until you got to know her. She also had an awesome resting bitch face. Vanessa nodded and Kameron seemed happy to hear it. “I’ll take a few pictures of you two, you pose and make it look like you’re on a date or that you’re all loved up and post it to your Instagram. Then Brooke won’t be able to take her mind off of you for days.” Aquaria explained it all like it was easy and not a big deal but Vanessa felt like she was about to commit a crime. Needless to say, she said yes to Aquaria’s crazy idea and so did Kameron, so they began taking pictures.

Vanessa gave Aquaria her phone to take the pictures on and Aquaria turned into a full on photographer. She was telling them how to pose, where to look, where to put their hands. After a few minutes, they got the perfect shot: Kameron had her hands wrapped around Vanessa’s waist and was kissing her cheek while Vanessa grinned into the camera.

As soon as it was posted, Vanessa put her phone back down on the table and continued talking to her friends. Within two minutes, curiosity consumed her and she had to check if Brooke had seen it. Funnily enough, there were only a handful of people who had seen it, but Brooke was one of them. Vanessa wondered if she still had her notifications turned on for Vanessa’s posts. That would explain how she had seen it so fast. 

Vanessa smiled as soon as she saw that Brooke had seen the post but more than anything, she wished she could’ve seen Brooke’s reaction to it. To Vanessa, the fact that Brooke had seen it so quickly meant that maybe Brooke still cared about her. Or maybe she had just happened to be on Instagram when Vanessa uploaded it. Either way, she knew that Brooke wasn’t in love with her anymore, but the fact that Brooke had viewed it so quickly made her happier than she cared to admit.

—

12th March 2020

It’s crazy how things can change in a year. Last year, Detox’s birthday had been an amazing night of celebration for everyone involved. This year, Brooke had turned back into her past self: not wanting to go to her best friend’s party at all.

Thankfully, Detox had chosen a different club to go to this year so Brooke wouldn’t have to be reminded of meeting Vanessa for the first time. But let’s be honest, it had been on her mind all day and Brooke felt heartbroken about what this day in particular signified for her. She was trying her best to push it to the back of her mind and actually at least appear that she was paying attention to what was going on around her.

Brooke had finished a bottle of wine while she got ready so she was already kind of drunk when she turned up to the club. She wished that Vanessa would come to the party, after all, she was one of Detox’s closest friends. But Detox had already told everyone that Vanessa was too busy with work to fly back for it, much to everyone’s disappointment. Seemed like everyone loved and missed Vanessa.

After about forty-five minutes of everyone chatting and joking around with one another, a round of shots was brought to the table. Everyone was confused because no one had remembered ordering them but the waitress just pointed to a note on the tray. It had a phone number on it and said: For the hot blonde in the red dress, enjoy. Brooke didn’t want to deal with this right now. She just waved to the girl and said thanks awkwardly and took the shot.

“You should go talk to her, Brooke! Say thank you!” Nina suggested and the others agreed.

“I don’t really want to, Nina.” Brooke mumbled and Detox rolled her eyes.

“Why the hell not? She’s so hot!” Detox argued and Brooke could feel all the alcohol hit her at once. She hadn’t been this drunk in a long time.

“Because she’s not Vanessa, why would I waste my time on someone that isn’t Vanessa?” Brooke knew she was saying things she wouldn’t say if she was sober. But right now, she didn’t care. She was willing to talk to anyone who would listen.

“Then why won’t you go fucking talk to her? I swear to God, Brooke, I’ve said this a thousand fucking times, just go and talk to her!” Detox yelled and Brooke was starting to get emotional. Her drunken mind didn’t like people yelling at her.

“I can’t!” Brooke responded whilst trying not to appear sad but miserably failing.

“Why not?” Detox asked and Brooke looked at her like she was stupid and was missing something really obvious.

“She’s clearly moved on, D! Haven’t you seen her Instagram story with that girl?” Brooke said while she grabbed another glass of champagne from the table and started to drink it quickly. Detox looked at Nina and Nina just giggled, the two of them clearly knowing something that Brooke didn’t.

“Shut the fuck up, Brooke Lynn! She’s not dating anyone, that’s her new work friend who is straight, you absolute idiot!” Nina and Detox laughed and Brooke couldn’t help but smile. That picture had been burned into her brain for the last month and she was so happy that Vanessa was still single. She had no right to be happy about it, but she was. She just couldn’t help herself.

—

24th May 2020

Vanessa had been in her office for the last four hours finalising a new design for her company’s upcoming collection. She had been working on these designs with her team for the last six months and she was so proud of them, she really loved what she was doing. It was nice to be able to throw herself into her work, considering everything that had happened in New York. It was just an added bonus that she absolutely loved what she did. She was so in the zone that she didn’t even realise that her boss’s assistant knocked on the door and entered her office.

“Hey Vanessa, sorry to interrupt but Bianca wants to see you in her office. She said it’s important.” The assistant left the room immediately after saying that which made Vanessa’s heart rate increase. She had been working so hard recently. Her designs were amazing, everyone on her team was contributing to the best of their ability and she was sticking to the timeline she was given. What could possibly be the problem? She put down her pencil and left the office, walking to her boss’s office with a pit in her stomach.

“Hey Bianca,” she said as she knocked and opened the door to Bianca’s office. “What’s going on, is everything okay?” Bianca pointed at the chair opposite her own and Vanessa immediately took a seat and began to mentally prepare herself for the worst.

“Everything’s perfect, Vanessa. Actually, I’m really happy with the work that you’ve been doing recently.” Vanessa was waiting for the punchline after Bianca finished speaking. Usually, Bianca didn’t give compliments and when she did, you could almost guarantee that there would be about ten insults to follow after.

“Thank you, Bianca…” Vanessa responded and Bianca laughed at her confusion.

“The reason I called you in here is because I think that you can handle more responsibility within this job. I was talking to corporate and they were thinking that you should move back to the New York office to be the head of design there,” Vanessa was stunned. She had just gotten promoted to the top level of her company’s New York branch. If she had this job, she would be on the same level as Bianca. She would be the boss of everyone, including the people she used to work with. She would get to be back in her favourite city that she had missed so much…the same city as Brooke.

Vanessa’s mind was immediately made up the moment Bianca offered her the job. Chicago just hadn’t been the right fit for Vanessa. She missed her friends and she just missed the city in general. But she couldn’t help but notice the irony of having to move back to New York after only staying in Chicago for six months, considering it’s the entire reason that caused her relationship with Brooke to end. She couldn’t help feel a bit upset about how this had all happened. But in that moment, all she wanted to focus on was the fact that she was finally getting to go back home. Back to where she belonged.

—

12th of June 2020

Vanessa was finally back in her happy place. She was pleased to find out that New York hadn’t changed at all since she had been gone. All of her favourite restaurants were still there, the baristas in her favourite coffee place right by the office remembered her name and she was finally back in the same city as her sister and her friends.

Her new apartment wasn’t the best but she told herself she would find a new one once she settled back in to her work. It was, however, pretty close to where Detox lived which meant that they could hang out more outside of working hours, even though she was so happy to be working with her again.

She had gotten back to New York last week after wrapping everything up in Chicago and this was her first time hanging out with Detox outside of the workplace. They were going to get lunch in one of Vanessa’s favourite cafes and while she was excited, she was also full of dread as she knew that Brooke would undoubtedly be a topic of conversation. The only person she had spoken to about Brooke Lynn recently were Kameron, Aquaria and her mom and they were all on her side, even though there weren’t really any sides to take. She was interested to see how talking to Detox about it would be considering Brooke was one of her best friends.

She had to meet Detox in an hour which left Vanessa with a bit of time to do whatever she wanted. She decided to go to her favourite farmers market and stock up on some fruit and vegetables for the week ahead considering she probably wouldn’t have time during the week when she was working. She had been living off of takeout food and leftovers and knew she had to change that.

As she paid for some vegetables, she heard a familiar voice at the stall behind her asking for some strawberries. She turned around and to her surprise, it was Brooke Lynn…standing right in front of her. Vanessa didn’t know what to do. She was frozen. Should she go up to her and say hi? Should she walk away and pretend she never saw her? She couldn’t stop staring at her. Before she had a chance to make a decision, Brooke turned around and they immediately locked eyes. Brooke was also frozen in her spot and Vanessa decided to just bite the bullet and say hi to her ex-girlfriend.

“Hey Brooke!” Vanessa said awkwardly, not knowing if they should hug or not. She really didn’t know what the protocol was for accidentally running into your ex.

“Hey…what are you doing back in New York?” Brooke asked in what Vanessa could only describe as a nervous tone. Clearly their interaction was affecting Brooke as much as it was affecting Vanessa.

“I got another promotion so I had to move back…”

“Wow, congratulations V! That’s amazing!” Brooke said genuinely and Vanessa could feel her heart fluttering from Brooke’s compliment. They decided to catch up for a bit and walked around the market aimlessly. They talked about Chicago, their families, Thackery and Brooke’s job. It was then that Vanessa found herself thinking about unanswered questions and she was unable to hold back.

“Would you have broken up with me if I hadn’t been offered that job in Chicago?” Vanessa asked quietly and Brooke looked shocked that Vanessa had asked her that. She also looked extremely unprepared.

“I’m not sure.” Brooke replied slowly, unsure as to what direction the conversation was heading in.

“How long had you been wanting to break up with me for?” Vanessa knew that she didn’t want to know the answers to the questions she was asking but damn, it felt good to ask. It felt like a weight was being lifted off of her shoulders at the thought of finally getting some answers from Brooke Lynn.

“I never wanted to.” Brooke admitted quietly and Vanessa could feel her blood starting to boil.

“What do you mean you never wanted to? Then why did you do it?”

“I had to, V, you don’t understand.” Brooke looked like she was trying not to cry and Vanessa really wanted to feel bad for her but at that moment, she didn’t care.

“Yeah of course I don’t understand! How can I understand something if you don’t fucking explain it to me?” Vanessa stopped in her tracks and had her hand on her hip, demanding an answer from the blonde. But Brooke couldn’t handle seeing Vanessa and having her be angry like this. She had to get out of there. She was so overwhelmed.

“I’m so sorry Vanessa, I can’t do this right now.” Brooke walked out of that market with such a fast pace that Vanessa knew there was no way she would be able to catch up with her. All she knew was that Detox was going to get a big long rant about Brooke Lynn as soon as they sat down in that cafe.

—

14th of July 2020

Nina had just bought a new house around the same time as her birthday so she decided to put two celebrations into one and have a housewarming/birthday party. Both Brooke and Vanessa were of course invited, making both of the girls slightly nervous considering how their last interaction had ended.

When Vanessa arrived, Brooke was talking to Detox in the kitchen. To make sure things weren’t awkward, Vanessa said hi to both of them and used going to find Nina as an excuse to make a swift exit. It technically wasn’t a lie; she did have a gift to give to Nina after all. She found Nina in the living room with a bunch of her colleagues and they started talking as soon as Nina saw her.

“Are you gonna be okay, honey?” Nina’s maternal side was showing and Vanessa loved that about her.

“Yeah of course, I’ll be fine!” Vanessa tried to reassure her friend but Nina didn’t seem to be buying it.

“Okay but I’m here to talk if you’re not, okay? Just come and find me.”

“Shut the hell up, Nina, it’s your birthday! You don’t need to be worryin’ about me tonight!” Thankfully, Detox came over to them with two glasses of champagne and ended the awkward conversation that they were having.

There were a ton of people from Nina’s office there and Vanessa decided she might as well introduce herself to some of them so she had people to talk to who weren’t Brooke Lynn. She was just sitting around talking to a group of five people, joking around about Nina and how nice she was while they kept giving her glasses of wine and champagne and whatever else was in the house. Vanessa hadn’t even got off the couch in the last hour but had somehow finished six different drinks and it was definitely hitting her now.

As she looked out into the garden, she could see Brooke sitting alone on the garden furniture. She could tell that Brooke Lynn was quite tipsy herself from the way that she was swaying slightly and had taken her heels off. 

Vanessa’s drunken mind decided that it was the perfect time for her to go and talk to Brooke. She missed her so she might as well go talk to her, right? She plopped down on the sofa beside Brooke and they started talking as if nothing had ever happened between them. They were just talking like old friends. Vanessa swore that she hadn’t seen Brooke so carefree in such a long time, probably not since they got home from Mexico. It made her really happy to see Brooke relaxed for once.

Vanessa was absentmindedly stroking her ring finger where the engagement ring used to be. She had made that a habit when they were together: anytime she felt happy or loved, she would touch her engagement ring, kind of like a reminder that Brooke was going to be with her forever and how happy that made her. She started to feel strongly overwhelmed about her love for Brooke all at once and she longed for nothing more than having Brooke back in her life.

She looked at Brooke and was in awe of how beautiful she looked. She had cut her hair slightly since the last time she saw her. It wasn’t short, just mid length, but it really suited her. She was wearing a nude lip gloss instead of her usual matte red lipstick and overall, she just looked really good and put together. Vanessa had to tell her.

“You look really pretty tonight, B.” Vanessa said shyly and Brooke’s eyes widened in response to the compliment. She recovered quickly enough to reply to Vanessa.

“You always look beautiful, V. Every minute of every day.” Vanessa was grinning so much at this point that she was grateful for Detox interrupting them in case she accidentally said something about how much she loved Brooke in that moment. She would definitely regret that in the morning.

“Sorry to interrupt but I just found the hottest guy and I really wanna go back to his place, are you cool to make your own way home, B?” Detox asked, practically begging Brooke to say that it was okay for her to leave.

“I guess I should probably go too then, I do live a lot further away than you guys.” Brooke said sadly and Vanessa couldn’t bear this being the end of their conversation and their time together. She had to do something.

“You can stay in my apartment tonight, I don’t mind.” Vanessa offered, not thinking before she spoke, as usual.

“Really?” Brooke asked in shock and Vanessa couldn’t tell by Brooke’s reaction if she had fucked it up or not.

“That’s a fantastic idea, Vanessa! You’re so smart, thank you so much!” Detox said and immediately walked away, taking the hand of some random guy and leaving the party altogether.

“I mean if you don’t want to it’s completely fine, I just thought it might be easier for you—”

“No, it’s perfect. It’s really nice of you to offer, thanks Ness.” Vanessa breathed a sigh of relief that Brooke was okay with it and internally screamed that Brooke had called her ‘Ness’. She hadn’t heard that nickname in so long and she didn’t realise how much she had missed hearing it until now.

They spent the rest of the night outside talking and at around three in the morning, Nina started to kick people out so that she could go to bed. They were silent in the uber back to Vanessa’s apartment and when she opened the door, Thackery almost died of excitement as soon as he laid eyes on Brooke.

Brooke immediately picked Thackery up and cuddled him close to her and she started to cry. It reminded Vanessa of how she had reacted when Brooke had first surprised Vanessa with the cat, she was so overjoyed and fell in love with him so quickly. Vanessa couldn’t even dream of having to be away from him for as long as Brooke had.

After playing with Thackery for a while, Brooke started to yawn and Vanessa started to think about their sleeping situation. She apologised to Brooke because her guest room was currently occupied with unopened boxes so it wasn’t able to be slept in. Vanessa decided she would take the couch even though it was probably the most uncomfortable couch ever made.

“No, come on Vanessa, I’ll take the couch. It’s your bed, you deserve to sleep in it.” Brooke argued and Vanessa knew that realistically, neither one of them was going to be sleeping on the couch. Better to just admit it now and get that awkward bit of the night over with.

“We can just share my bed, B. it’s a lot comfier than that awful excuse for a couch, plus Thackery will be so happy to cuddle into you all night.” Vanessa added that little bit in about Thackery for good measure but in reality, Vanessa would love to be the one who could cuddle up with Brooke. Brooke agreed with Vanessa’s logic (of course she did) and they brought Thackery into Vanessa’s bedroom and laid down on the bed. Within minutes, Vanessa was asleep. Brooke was left watching her and Thackery, probably the two things she loved most in the world, while they slept. As she drifted off into a deep sleep, she realised she hadn’t felt this relaxed in a long time.

15th of July 2020

Vanessa woke up with Thackery lying on her legs and with Brooke’s arm around her waist, snuggled up into her from behind. For a moment, she genuinely forgot that they had broken up. Waking up like this felt totally normal to her and she really didn’t want it to end. She figured there was no harm in pretending to still be sleeping so that the cuddles could last for a longer time. No one would ever know.

After almost an hour, Brooke woke up and felt so peaceful. She woke Vanessa up (which didn’t take long considering she was completely faking it) and they said good morning to each other. Somehow, it wasn’t an awkward situation for them. Brooke figured waking up in your ex-girlfriend’s bed all cuddled up to her should be a bit of a weird experience, but it felt completely normal.

“I haven’t slept that well in a really long time.” Brooke said with a raspy voice, still not fully awake yet. She hadn’t attempted to move away from Vanessa, her arm was still wrapped around her and Vanessa was internally praying that she didn’t move it.

“Me too,” Vanessa said with a yawn and Thackery ran up the middle of the bed to push himself in between his two moms. “You know I really missed you, B.”

“I missed you two Ness…so much,” Brooke said in almost a whispering voice and began stroking Thackery. “We really should hang out more now that you’re back in the city, at least try and be friends, you know?” Vanessa nodded in agreement and they spent another thirty minutes just talking and playing with the cat. They made plans to get coffee in a couple days in a café they used to go to all the time and they were both really looking forward to it. After a while, Brooke decided that she had to get up.

“I should probably go to work.” She announced and Vanessa forgot all about that. It was already ten o’clock in the morning, Brooke should’ve been there almost two hours ago.

“Damn, aren’t you already super late?” Vanessa asked and Brooke nodded as she grabbed her belongings.

“Yeah…but it was worth it.” Brooke smiled to which Vanessa grinned in response. Brooke was actually prioritising Vanessa over her work and they weren’t even together. Brooke kissed Vanessa on the forehead and gave Thackery one last cuddle before she left and Vanessa swore to herself that she would be back together with the love of her life before the year ended.

—

29th August 2020

One month later, Brooke and Vanessa were back to being how they always used to be: inseparable. They weren’t in a relationship or anything (even though Vanessa had been manifesting it on a daily basis) but they had been hanging out multiple times during the week. They were either getting coffee, going to the movies or just hanging out in each other’s apartment…just friendly things. But recently, things had gotten to be more flirtatious between them.

Vanessa would catch herself flirting with Brooke out of habit. She slipped back into how she used to act as Brooke’s girlfriend whenever she was around her. Thankfully, Brooke always reciprocated it so it wasn’t one-sided. Vanessa also noticed that Brooke had been complimenting her a lot more recently. She was always saying that she liked Vanessa’s hair that day even when it was the same as how she always did it. Or that she liked her outfit when Vanessa was just wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She also talked about things that Vanessa loved a lot, like she would always pick movies to watch that she knew were some of Vanessa’s favourites and she would pick all of Vanessa’s favourite restaurants and cafes to go to. Vanessa figured that must be a sign that Brooke was still feeling the same way about her. Brooke must still want to be with her.

Brooke was coming over to Vanessa’s apartment that evening to hang out. They were probably just going to order Chinese food and watch a movie. Vanessa wanted to ask Brooke out tonight but she didn’t know how to do it. How do you ask your ex out on a date? She felt so unprepared. Brooke showed up exactly on time and as soon as they sat down on the couch, Brooke had something she wanted to say.

“Look, if I’m picking things up wrong and you’re not feeling the same way then I’m so sorry for making this awkward, but…I really wanna take you out.” Brooke said all at once and at first, Vanessa didn’t think she heard her correctly.

“What…like on a date?” Vanessa asked which made Brooke laugh in response.

“Yeah…like on a date.” Vanessa immediately accepted and Brooke told her to be free on Saturday night so she could take her out. Vanessa was so excited. She was already planning outfits in her mind, thinking about what colours are Brooke’s favourite and what outfits she had worn in the past that Brooke had loved.

They spent that evening watching The Notebook (another one of Vanessa’s favourites that Brooke suggested) and Vanessa ended up falling asleep in Brooke’s arms. Brooke didn’t have the heart to wake her up so she ended up staying the night, yet again.

—

15th September 2020

Brooke didn’t know how this had happened but somehow she had managed to go on six dates with Vanessa in the space of two weeks. They didn’t even go out that much when they were in a relationship. They’ve been for dinner twice, Brooke planned a picnic in the park for them, they’ve had a couple of movie nights and the most recent one was when Brooke asked Vanessa to come along to a work party as her date. It was weird for Brooke not being able to introduce Vanessa to people as her girlfriend, especially since some of the people knew Vanessa from when they were engaged.

She decided that waiting around wasn’t fun for either of them and she wanted to make it official with Vanessa as soon as possible. She invited her over for lunch that afternoon with the intention of asking her to be her girlfriend. When Vanessa arrived, she was wearing a sundress that she had worn on their vacation in Mexico and Brooke thought that she looked amazing, even better than she had back then. Brooke was overwhelmed with love for her again. She was taken back to how she felt when she proposed to her, which was only one year ago. As soon as Brooke placed their plates of food on the table, she asked her.

“Ness, I’ve been loving spending time with you recently and I know that we’re kind of in a strange situation here but…I really don’t want to lose you again. These past few months have really made it clear to me that my life is a million times better with you in it and breaking up with you was the worst decision I ever made. Will you please be my girlfriend again?”

Vanessa practically screamed in excitement and of course said yes. She had a feeling Brooke was going to ask her that today so she decided to wear a dress that Brooke had loved just to really seal the deal and make herself irresistible to Brooke. Vanessa ran over to kiss Brooke immediately and they spent the rest of the day together, relaxing and making up for lost time.

That night when Vanessa went home, Brooke went to the back of her closet and took out a jewellery box she had received as a gift last Christmas. She had put the promise ring Vanessa had gotten her back on the necklace and shoved it in the back of her closet to try and forget about it. But now she got to take it back out again. She couldn’t be happier.

She took it out of the box and put the necklace back on. She made a mental note to keep it under her clothes so that no one would see. She didn’t wanna freak Vanessa out by wearing it so soon but it just felt right. She was finally with the girl she loved again and all she wanted to do was be the love of Vanessa’s life forever.

—

25th December 2020

Christmas Day had come around again and the contrast from how the girls had spent their Christmas last year to this year was amazing. Last year, both of them had been alone and miserable. This year, they were back were they belonged: with each other.

Vanessa’s mom was flying into New York on the 26th and Vanessa was beyond excited about it. She couldn’t wait for her mom and Brooke to reconnect again. Vanessa had originally wanted her mom to be here for Christmas but Mrs Mateo insisted on flying out the day after so that the couple could spend Christmas together for the first time again.

They had already exchanged gifts and completed their usual traditions in the morning (Vanessa had woken Brooke up at 7am again) and after they had eaten some food, they decided to watch a Christmas movie.

“Before we watch this, I actually have one more surprise for you,” Brooke announced and Vanessa was immediately excited. There was nothing she loved more than surprises. Brooke walked into her bedroom and brought out a small gift bag. She sat back down beside Vanessa and took out a small box and handed it to her.  Vanessa opened the box and inside was a key. “I know you don’t like your apartment that much so I figured you might like living in mine a bit more.” Vanessa squealed in delight and hugged Brooke, saying she would love to move in with her. Vanessa loved Brooke’s apartment and she was so happy that she could call it her home now too.

“But wait, that’s not the only surprise I have for you,” Brooke took out another small box and Vanessa recognised it immediately. It was the box that her engagement ring came in. Vanessa couldn’t believe it. Brooke wanted to propose to her again. She couldn’t see what was happening because her vision was clouded by her tears. She was so happy. Brooke took her own necklace with her promise ring out of her sweater to show Vanessa that she had been wearing it all along. At that point, Vanessa was full on sobbing. Brooke tried her best to get Vanessa to stop crying to that she could actually propose to her properly and after a few minutes, she was successful. “Not having you in my life was the worst thing that has ever happened to me. I’m sorry that it took me so long to realise that, you deserve so much more than that and I promise to spend my entire life making it up to you. But there’s one thing I’m certain about, Ness. The love we have for each other is so strong and we will always find our way back to each other, no matter what. I don’t know how I thought that a job was more important than our relationship but I’ve now come to realise that my job means absolutely nothing to me. You are the only thing that matters to me in this world. I don’t care about dream jobs; my only dream is to have you as my wife. I know this isn’t as special as the first time I asked, but Vanessa, will you marry me?”

“Yes!” Vanessa said as she kissed her fiancé with tears streaming down both of their faces. “Nothing would make me happier.” They spent the rest of the day in their own little world, completely loved up and excited for the future. They talked about how they wanted their wedding to be, who they wanted to invite, where they wanted to live when they got older. Basically, all the conversations that Vanessa had wanted to have over a year ago when the only thing Brooke would focus on was work. Vanessa felt like her entire life was on track again. She had her dream job, she had Thackery and as of today, she had a gorgeous new apartment and a beautiful fiancé. Nothing could ruin that for her.

What they didn’t see was Thackery up on the kitchen counter knocking over all of the sugar cookies and food they had made for Vanessa’s mom coming tomorrow. But they could deal with that later. Right now, they were too loved up to care.

[cheryyori]

No. 1 FAN - K. TH SM AU

pairing(s): indie singer!taehyung/oc

genre: social media au, utaite/anonymous singer au, youtuber au, non-idol au, friends to lovers au, fluff, crack

summary: Kim Taehyung is an amateur artist and singer that posts his songs and covers on youtube. He also happens to be a huge fan of the anonymous singer Jae. Like any other fan, he hopes that one day she’ll notice him, so what happens when he runs into his old childhood friend who just happens to be the same anonymous idol he looks up to.

author’s note: Taehyung is a hopeless romantic mess in this and it shows. Sorry for taking a while to post this I was trying to figure out what to write for the drabble below, which I think is cliche but oh well.

MASTERLIST

01. shoujo manga style cliche | >>>

Drabble Under Cut

"Are you ready?” Jungkook’s voice called into Taehyung’s apartment, the older male frown as he saw the other outside of his apartment with the door wide open. His arms crossed as he leaned against the wall behind him, “We were supposed to go to the convenience store 10 minutes ago!”

“Alright, alright!” Taehyung sighs are he grabbed his jacket and keys. Jungkook let out an exaggerated sigh of relief, making Taehyung playfully hit his shoulder in response as he locked the door to his apartment behind him, “Shut up, stop being so dramatic!” He says as the two of them rounded the corner of the hall to the stairs. 

Other footsteps could be heard from above, but Taehyung paid no mind as he was in his own conversation with Jungkook, talking about what they needed to get from the convenience store. They stood near the stairs, going over what they plan to do when Jimin and Namjoon arrive but they stopped as they heard three loud voices and the sounds of running from above.

“Hurry up!” a voice echoes.

“Alright, no need to rush, I’m going at my own pace, shortcake,” another replied quietly. Taehyung’s eyes turned to see a young woman with dark brown hair pulled into a messy low ponytail and wore round glasses perched on the bridge of her nose being tugged by a shorter man with brown hair swept to the side. The first thing that crossed his mind when he saw her was that she was pretty. Very pretty.

“Can you stop pulling on Jaehee’s arm, Shin! If you keep doing that while running one of you is going to fall─” another woman’s voice said. The girl with the ponytail glanced up at the other, her eyes were focused on her friend that she didn’t notice her foot missed a step. A short shriek was heard as she almost tripped down the stairs.

Taehyung’s first reaction was to catch the girl. With arms held out, he caught her before her face could make contact with the concrete. Mistake number one. He let out a small cough as her body slammed against his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

“Oh god, Jaehee! Are you alright!” The other feminine voice asked. Taehyung glanced down to check if the girl he caught was alright when he felt his breath hitch.

Fuck, he thinks as he stared down at her. She was really fucking pretty. Mistake number two.

“Uh,” the girl suddenly speaks, “Thanks for saving me, but you can let go now,” she said. Taehyung blinks, his mind currently in a blank daze.

“Huh?” was all he managed to say before he realized that his arms were wrapped around her waist. With a flushed face, he lets her go and took a step back, avoiding her gaze out of embarrassment.

“Jaehee, are you alright?” the same voice from before asked as two others appeared. Jungkook made his way over to Taehyung before his eyes were glued onto the other girl that appeared beside the other his friend saved.

“I’m fine Kanao, just a bit startled,” she said turning her attention to Taehyung. He nervously glanced back at her and felt his cheeks redden again, “Thanks again for saving my clumsy ass,” she said with a small laugh. He couldn’t help but flash her his boxy grin at her. Cute, he thinks as he hears her laugh. The girl blinks, wondering why that boxy grin seemed so familiar.

“I-it’s fine,” he stutters, “I’m glad I caught you,” he backtracks, realizing how that sounds and the shorter boy behind the girl narrows his eyes at him, not that Taehyung noticed since he was wallowing in his own embarrassment, “I-I mean I just glad you didn’t end up hurting yourself,” he says nervously. Behind him, Jungkook sighs with his face in his hands, cringing from Taehyung’s flustered state.

“Right,” the shorter male drawls out, raising a brow at him in his suspicion, his eyes scanned Taehyung for anything fishy. The other girl gave him a pointed look as she pulls him back missing the small pout on Jungkook’s face.

“Y-yeah,” Taehyung said, “U-uh my name is Taehyung by the way,” he says. Why did he felt the need to tell her his name, he doesn’t know himself as he continues. The girl’s brows furrowed together, eyes suddenly widening.

“Oh! Taehyung?” She asked. Hearing the sound of his name rolling off her tongue, made his heart suddenly jump. “As in Kim Taehyung?” 

“Huh?” He blinks, wondering how this pretty girl knew his name. “Y-yes...?” He says. Suddenly she smiles brightly, and god did he felt his knees go weak.

“Woah! Really! It’s me, Jaehee! You know Choi Jaehee!” She said. Taehyung took a moment to process her words. Choi Jaehee, the only Choi Jaehee he knew was the small girl next door with the toothy-gap smile that loved jelly beans─oh wait.

“Wait, Jaehee?” He blinks. Holy shit, he thinks as he racked his mind over how this pretty girl here was the same girl he knew as a child. Damn puberty hits hard, he would know. “H-hey, wow,” he breathes taking in her appearance again, Jungkook groans behind him, and Taehyung felt his face flush again, “Y-you look good, like wow, it’s been like what? Five years?”

“Yeah, and thanks,” Jaehee replied with a smile, “You look great too!” She added, “Are you still close with your grandma? I haven’t seen her in so long!”

“Yeah,” he smiles, remembering how when they were kids, they would head over to his grandmother’s for freshly picked strawberries they would pick out. The sudden wave of nostalgia washed over him as he started to remember other things they did as kids.

“You two know each other?” The short male asked, pulling Taehyung out of his own thoughts. Jaehee turned her attention to her friends, remembering what they were doing before they stumbled into Taehyung and Jungkook.

“Oh, right! Shin this is Taehyung, we were neighbors and friends when we were kids,” Shin stares at Taehyung, making him shift nervously under the short male’s gaze. Noticing his apprehension, the other girl elbowed Shin in the side before speaking up.

“Nice to mee you, my name is Kanao,” she said. Jungkook’s eyes lit up as the other girl spoke up, saying her name. 

“I’m Jungkook,” he said suddenly, his voice cracking slightly as he had a small blush on his cheeks. Taehyung gave the younger boy an odd look as he watched him moved from his spot and in front of Kanao to shake her hand.

“Nice to meet you Jungkook,” Kanao smiled and Taehyung swears he had never seen his friend blush so fast. He knew that Kook wasn’t the most socially adept person when it came to girls, but he had never seen the youngest so flustered before either, “Alright, I hate to cut this nice reunion, we do have somewhere to be,” she said.

“Oh right,” Jaehee said, “Thanks again for saving my ass, Taehyung! It was nice seeing you again!” Just as she was about to leave, he panicked suddenly as he blurted out the first thing on his mind.

“Can I have your number?”

“What?” Her eyes were wide as she turned to stare back at him. Shin pursed his lips together and narrows his eyes at Taehyung, beside him, Kanao could help but snicker.

“Uhh,” he flounders, trying to think of an excuse for his sudden actions as Jungkook was cringing from secondhand embarrassment next to him. “I mean, it’s been a while since we last spoke, so I thought we could talk, to you know, catch up over the years.” Smooth Taehyung, smooth.

“Okay, sure,” she agreed, not thinking much on it as she gave him her number, “Alright, I have to go now, places to be but text me whenever!” She said before leaving, her form disappearing as she headed down the stairs with Kanao dragging Shin by the arm.

“What kind of shoujo manga style cliche was that?” Jungkook asked, smacking Taehyung’s shoulder. The later winced as he rubbed his shoulder.

“What?” He asked, raising a brow at Jungkook who gave him a look as he brushed him off, “It’s nothing, we’re just friends from back then. It’s been five years and I wanted to catch up with her, where’s the harm in that?” He asked.

“Uh-huh, Taehyung we all know you’re a hopeless romantic with your secret self-insert fanfics with Jae,” Jungkook replied nonchalantly making Taehyung choke on the air suddenly, “You don’t ask a girl that looks like that for their number because you wanted to catch up even if you two were friends in the past.”

“I-I do not have self-insert fanfics!” He choked as his face turned red again, “And it’s true, Guk! I just wanted to keep in contact with her after all these years!”

“Hm, okay sure, lover boy,” Jungkook rolls his eyes as he started to make his way down the stairs with Taehyung following behind.

“Ugh, I’m serious!” Taehyung huffs, “Forget it, let’s just hurry to the convenience store and grab some snacks before Jimin and Namjoon-hyung arrive,” he sighs out.

“Oh speaking of the others, wait till I tell them about this!”

“Jeon Jeongguk, I swear to god if you tell them, you can say goodbye to your limited-edition anime figurines and your collection of Kana’s albums!”

“Taehyung, you heathen! You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me, bitch!”

[captaindwobbit]

An Unexpected Family - Chapter Two

Word count: about 2823

Warning: Talks about death, the military

Read the previous chapter here: https://captaindwobbit.tumblr.com/post/625828977843519488/an-unexpected-family-chapter-one or on AO3 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/7532368/chapters/59508406#workskin 

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Monday September 1st, 2014

It took ages for the first day of school to roll around. School was hell, everyone looked at her like she was a sick shelter puppy. Maybe she was, Ninnith wasn’t sure anymore. The prospect of seeing Uncle Thorin again helped her through it, but just barely. It  would’ve been nice to spend the first day of school without the pitying glances. At least she was in Kíli’s class. The new English teacher, Miss Baggins, also seemed very nice. She was also the only teacher who had treated her like a normal person, which Ninnith greatly appreciated. Miss Baggins was also going to be their form teacher for the year.

The rest school day had been uneventful, though, and she told Dís as much when the woman asked Ninnith how her day went. Kíli was more enthusiastic, though, so excited he started talking with his mouth full during dinner, much to his mother’s annoyance. “We have a new form teacher, Miss Boggins. She teaches English and wears vests like headmaster Gandalf sometimes does. It’s like she’s wearing a uniform, like us, which is considerate of her.”

Ninnith rolled her eyes and swallowed her food before speaking. “Baggins, Kíli, her last name is Baggins.” “Same difference”, the boy grumbled, and he stuck out his tongue. The obvious more mature one out of the two, Ninnith rolled her eyes once more and decided to flick a mushroom at him when Dís turned her back to them to start cleaning up. If the woman noticed, then she didn’t show it. “You’ve been awfully silent, Fíli, is something up?” she asked her son.

Fíli looked up from where he was frowning at his food as if it had personally offended him. “What?” Kíli and Ninnith shot each other a Look before turning to the blonde in unison. “Is it a girl?” Kíli asked, beaming. Fíli growled and bumped his elbow into Kíli’s ribs. “No!” he exclaimed, voice cracking a little. It had begun to do that a lot lately, now that Fíli was 15. “It’s not a girl. There’s this new kid in our class, Ori. I tried to talk to him, but he just turned red, sputtered and then ran away.” The teen scratched the back of his head, frown not leaving his face. “He skipped a year, or so I’ve heard, and I figured he could use a friend. Guess not.” “Hmm, Ori… Think I’ve heard that name before” Dís mused from where she was leaning against the kitchen counter. “I’m sure he’s just a bit socially awkward, it was nice of you to try to talk to him. Don’t just give up on him, okay? I’m sure he’d like a friend.” Fíli got up from his seat with a shrug and put his plate and utensils in the dishwasher. “I’ll try, but I won’t go chasing him if he runs off again.”

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After dinner, Kíli and Ninnith sat on the couch to look at the homework they’d gotten and check out their textbooks. At least, that was what Ninnith was doing, Kili was just doodling on the front page of the notebook. Ninnith peeked over from where she was working, and saw that he’d drawn himself fighting a dragon with the text “Kíli’s Math Notes” on top of it. The girl snorted at the drawing. “I like your pencil sword.” “Sharpened pencils are dangerous”, Kíli said sternly, “I still have a scar in my palm from when you stabbed me with one.” Rolling her eyes, Ninnith went back to look at the list of books Miss Baggins had given them. “I was 5, and I’ve already apologized for that so many times. Which book are you going to read for the upcoming assignment?” Her friend shrugged a little, looking over at the list in her hands. “The thinnest. Books and I don’t mix well.” Ninnith sighed and bumped his shoulder. “We used to read together all the time when we were kids.” She knew Kíli was dyslexic, but Ninnith wasn’t going to let it bring him down. “So what if you read a bit more slowly than the rest? Miss Baggins even put fun books on the list, too!” “I’ll see, we still have time.” Kíli mumbled, going back to drawing, and Ninnith knew the conversation was over. She didn’t plan on completely letting it go, though. Kíli just needed some motivation.

“Are you looking forward to Uncle Thorin coming over?” Ninnith asked, deciding to change the subject. The brunet sat up to look at her, face split into a wide grin. “You bet your ass I am! I haven’t seen him in nearly over a year. Well, physically. Hope nothing bad’s happened to him, though.” Ninnith took the brown strand of hair her friend was nearly eating and tucked it behind his ear. He’d started growing his hair after he’d stumbled of pictures of Uncle Thorin as a teenager. He’d looked like a different person, with his piercings and long hair. Still handsome, of course, Ninnith had to  admit, and a bit like a mix of Fíli and Kíli. Kíli had started talking about getting his eyebrow pierced, but his mother had protested at that. She’d told him they could talk about body modifications again when he was 16. Kíli had just shrugged and agreed. “Your Mum said he wasn’t injured, so there’s that. Maybe you can ask him to come with you to get a second hole pierced.” Then a conversation about weird body modifications followed, and they got lost in watching YouTube videos about them until Dís told them it was time for bed.

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Friday September 5th, 2014

Ninnith was nervous. She hadn’t seen Uncle Thorin in several years. The girl didn’t really know how he would react to seeing her in his sister’s house. She herself still felt like a bit of an intruder at times. It was one thing to be close to a family, and another to live with them. The sound of the doorbell ringing interrupted her train of thought, and Kíli shot up from where he was sitting next to her on the couch to go open the door. Fíli shook his head at how his brother jumped over the back of the couch – something their mother had told them not to do – and followed his brother at a calmer pace. Ninnith could hear the door opening and Dís greeting her brother. Then Fíli and Kíli’s voices filled the hallway. All right, she could do this. Taking several deep breaths, she got off the couch and walked over to the hallway. The blonde was just about to step into the hallway when Thorin nearly bumped into her, and she scolded herself for having waited too long to go. It had only felt like seconds!

“Oh, hello, I’m Thorin”, the man fumbled a bit awkwardly, and it honestly made Ninnith feel better to know she wasn’t the only socially challenged person in the room. “Uhh, not sure if you remember me, it’s been a long time.” "Yes, I remember you, " Ninnith took a smiled slightly, standing up on her tiptoes to kiss the tall man on the cheek. "uncle Thorin." The man's shoulders visibly relaxed, and his eyes glossed over. Oh no, he couldn't cry. If he started crying, then Ninnith would too. She'd always had issues with that sort of thing. Blue eyes focusing on Ninnith’s green ones, he put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed softly. “Who wants food?” Dís yelled from the kitchen, breaking the rather awkward silence. Thorin had looked like he wanted to say something, but Fíli and Kíli both ran to the kitchen, and the tension was broken. Dinner looked delicious, Dís’ lasagna had always been one of Ninnith’s favourites. The blonde girl filled her plate while Kíli bombarded his uncle with questions, talking so quickly it was amazing the man understood at all. If she was honest, she was zoning out while eating until she heard Kíli ask how long Thorin was staying. “I’ll start looking for apartment next week, but I’m going to stay here for a while”, their uncle replied before finishing the last bite of his garlic bread. Kíli positively beamed at that – the teen was looking forward to spending time with his uncle. “Uncle, why did you come back? You haven’t said, and Mum won’t tell us.” Thorin smiled and grabbed some more garlic bread. “I decided it was time for me to be with my family more often.” The dark-haired man met Dís’ equally blue eyes at those words, the smile not leaving his face. There was something sad in his eyes, though, Ninnith noticed. It was the same look Dís got sometimes, when she thought no one could see her. Ninnith finished up her food and patted her stomach. “Wow, I’m so full, I don’t think I’ll be able to eat for the next few days.” She got up and quickly put her plate in the dishwasher. “Hey Fíli, could you maybe come help Kíli and I with our maths homework? There’s this one question we just can’t solve.” Kíli frowned a bit, he hadn’t really talked with his friend about maths yet. He was used to Ninnith’s schemes, though, so he didn’t say anything. His brother just looked confused. “Really? We have all weekend, does it need to be- ow!” Fíli turned to glare at his brother, who’d just kicked him under the table. “Okay, if it’s that urgent…” “Great, thanks Fee. Dinner was absolutely delicious, Dís, thank you!” And with that, all three of the teens left the room and headed upstairs.

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“Okay, so what was all that about?” Fíli asked once they’d made it to the boys’ bedroom, arms crossed over his chest. “Uncle Thorin obviously has to talk to your Mum about something, so I’m giving them some time.” She ran a hand through her hair and sat down on Fíli’s desk chair, spinning around. “They could’ve done so after we all went to bed. You didn’t have to lie about homework.” The older teen grumbled and walked over to the chair, grabbing it to keep it from spinning. “And stop spinning my chair like that, you’ll break it.” Ninnith tilted her head back to look at him, smiling a little. “So grumpy! What happened to our fun-loving Fíli?”  The older teenager glared at her at first, but then her smirked. “I’ll show you fun-loving!” Fíli reached over and started tickling the girl’s sides. That would teach her not to antagonize someone who knew all her ticklish spots! Kíli cleared his throat from where he was sitting on his bed, and lifted up his maths notebook. “We actually do have maths homework. I don’t know about her, but I need help with this. You two can continue that-” The brunette waved a hand in Ninnith and Fíli’s general direction, “when you’re done helping me.” Fíli instantly took his hands off of Ninnith and she would’ve fallen off if he hadn’t reached out to steady her. Her face was red and her hair a mess, but she still sent a fierce glare his way. The taller teen just grinned at her and went over to Kíli to help him.

Ninnith decided to leave them to it and go to her own room to read reviews on the books on Miss Baggins’ reading list. It was quite the list, and it a lot of fiction novels, which delighted the girl. She was used to having stuffy English teachers who would only allow non-fiction or incredibly boring fiction (it’s not that she hated Jane Austen, but her books were just so tedious to read). She was, however, finding it difficult to decide between the numerous books, two of them being Great Expectations and Ninety Eighty Four. She hadn’t read either of them, despite them being classics. Schindler’s Ark/List had been briefly considered, but Ninnith had decided she wasn’t quite in the right headspace for that book right now. Maybe in the second term. Then there was of course The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, which had been a pretty good book, but one she’d never written a report on. It would save her time, but she didn’t want to be a lazy student. Ninnith wanted to impress Miss Baggins. After about half an hour of reading reviews, she decided to slip on her pyjamas and get comfortable on the bed. Opening YouTube, she scrolled mindlessly through her feed and clicked on a random video. The girl didn’t really care what she watched, as long as it distracted her. After watching YouTube for what could’ve been twenty minutes or two hours, Ninnith drifted off to sleep.

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When she awoke, her room was completely dark and her mouth felt like she hadn’t drank any water in about a year. Tiptoeing on bare feet, she made her way downstairs, cringing whenever the old stairs creaked. Perhaps the sound of the gentle rain tapping on the windows would mask the sound. Ninnith got to the kitchen, and was surprised to find it already occupied. “Oh, hi uncle Thorin”, the girl whispered to the dark-haired and tired looking man. “Just wanted to grab a cuppa before heading back to bed.” The man didn’t react much, he just nodded. In the harsh kitchen light, the bags under his eyes were more defined. The silence was deafening, yet was harshly interrupted when Ninnith opened the cabinet to grab the box of chamomile tea. “Want some?” She turned her head to look at her not-quite-Uncle, and he seemed to hesitate for a moment before nodding. Ninnith prepared the two cups of tea, the only sounds in the kitchen the clanking of tea cups when she set both of them down on the kitchen table. She froze first at the scraping noise the kitchen chair made when she pulled it out, but sat down after a few seconds. The teen carefully picked up her cup and blew on it. At least she had something to do with her hands that way. Ninnith tapped on the cup to keep herself from saying anything. Her cup soon became half-empty, and not a word had been spoken. “Do you want to talk about it?” The teen asked softly after a few more moments of silence. Thorin’s head shot up from where he’d been staring at his own mug, as if he only just remembered someone else was in the room with him. “Talk about what?” No, Ninnith wasn’t having any of that. She was young, yes, but not oblivious. “The real reason you came back home. The reason you’re not in bed right now.” Blue eyes stared into Ninnith’s own green ones, but she didn’t budge. She’d had years of practice with Kíli and his moods. Thorin finally sighed and ran a hand over his face. “It’s not something someone your age should worry about.” The girl huffed and took a sip of tea before replying. “Someone my age shouldn’t have to worry about their parents dying, yet here I am.” The man’s eyes went a little wide at that, but Ninnith just shrugged and offered a sad smile. “Doctor Peredhel says talking about things helps you process them.” Thorin didn’t ask who Doctor Peredhel was, and she appreciated it. It was true, though. Talking to the therapist had helped a lot, he also never pushed her. “Being in the military, you see things. A lot of things no one – even adults – should see.” He grasped his cup with both hands but didn’t lift it. Instead he stared down at it. “I saw too many people die, and then I heard about Bel- about your parents.” Thorin’s voice was rough with emotion, but Ninnith didn’t dare move or interrupt. A lump was suddenly stuck in her throat. “I had to come home.” That seemed to be all he was willing to say. And that was okay, really, Ninnith wasn’t here to pry. She also didn’t quite want to know the details. The teen put her cup down and placed her hands on Thorin’s, which were now gripping his own cup too tightly. “Well, I for one am glad you’re here, Uncle. And I know everyone else is, too.” She squeezed the man’s hands and finished the rest of her tea in one gulp. “But if you do need someone to talk to, I could give you Doctor Peredhel’s card. He’s easy to talk to.” Thorin didn’t say anything, but she could tell he was thinking. Her ‘good night’ was answered distractedly and it made Ninnith frown. She hoped Thorin would accept her offer, or at least talk to someone. It would perhaps get rid of the haunted look in his eyes. Once in bed, she lay staring at the ceiling for what felt like hours before finally falling into a restless sleep.

Read the next chapter here:to be added

[blazerina]

Road Trip Ready (Ethan x MC)

Road Trip Ready (Ethan x Allie – Open Heart MC)

Word Count: 1638

Summary: Another regular day in the life of Ethan & Allie – Allie begging Ethan for something he doesn’t want to give in to…will she get her way in the end? Read on to find out.

Author’s Note: I did another one of these a while ago just for fun and was so pleasantly surprised by the response I received. This is in response to a prompt request from @mrswalkerwritesagain about Ethan & Allie going on a road trip but I spiced it up a little bit. Hope you enjoy! I love these two. xoxo Also tagging @parkerattano because I know she’d want to see this and she’s my biggest supporter - love you girl!

--

Allie glanced at her watch and sighed as she looked out the window of the moving train. She yawned and closed her eyes for a few minutes, leaning forward and resting her head on the back of the seat in front of her. Her last shift had turned into a very late night and she had contemplated sleeping at Edenbrook. But instead, she tried to get home to see maybe she’d be able to catch Ethan for a few minutes. She was unsuccessful in her attempt to spend a few moments alone in person with him.

Suddenly, she felt her phone vibrate in the cross-body bag she wore. Through heavy eyelids, she glanced at the text. It was from Ethan:

Allie smiled and placed her phone back in her bag when she realized this was her stop. Another day was starting. Another day full of people to heal, co-workers to encourage, and another day NOT see her boyfriend. It felt weird calling him that. He had first been her mentor, then her teacher, also her boss and then…it just happened.  He seemed too dignified and too mature to be considered her boyfriend - but that’s what he was.  

She missed him. Being a doctor herself, she knew all too well the realities of their hectic schedules and the very real issues that kept them both apart.  After all they had been through and overcome together as a couple, there was no way they would let a little lack of quality time, drive them apart. They’d been there, done that. 

However, she knew that both of them were in desperate need of time away. They needed a vacation.  Together. And a few moments to relax and unwind from the stress they were each under every single day. She asked him earlier if they could have a little getaway and that text on the train was Ethan’s reply. 

She picked up the pace as she entered the hospital, realizing she was a little later than she thought. Since their only way of really communicating throughout the day was text, she tried her best to keep him up to date on her day and he did the same with her. She always sent long and elaborate messages, his were short and sweet, but he had made comments on more than one occasion about how much he appreciated them, so she knew they made a difference.   Allie stopped at the entrance of the locker room and snapped a pic – immediately sending it on to Ethan:    

He was always incredibly slow to respond but Allie was especially proud of herself for being so darn punny this early in the morning.

She almost forgot the most important news from her morning and quickly typed out another update for him, this time getting a reply pretty quick:

Allie laughed out loud and said hello to a few fellow doctors changing clothes, while she made her way out of the locker room in search for her first patient of the day. She checked in at the nurses’ station and was making her way to room 604 when another text came through for her.

Finding a supply closet to suffice for a brief photo session, Allie replied by sending Ethan this picture:

Update – decision made. This is what I went with…photo creds - Belinda in pediatric oncology. She says hello.

Still pleased with herself, Allie walked quickly toward her patient’s room as the ache for her partner grew more and more heavy within her.

--

A few hours had passed since Ethan heard from Allie. The past few days he was living more and more for these texts from her. It felt as though they were in a long distance relationship as of late with both of their commitments at the hospital piling up more and more, keeping them apart longer than either one of them wanted.

“Damn.” He thought to himself as he realized it was his turn to respond to Allie. He had forgotten.

Seeing her dressed in scrubs would forever be his weakness. He had decided that long ago. Smiling as he frantically typed, he loved teasing her and realized with every message, just how far he had fallen for her.

“Saw you for 5 secs in the cafeteria but got called away…filling up the big one again?” He asked, and then followed up with:

  Ethan sighed as he remembered he had a few dozen case files to review in his office. He had about an hour between appointments and meetings so he rushed to his desk to see how much he could get done. His eyes were burning from the sting of the screen when the familiar hum of his cell phone shifted his focus from one electronic to another.

“hi.” The text from Allie read.

“this is what I look like…in case you forgot…😊”

“Took this the other day before going out with the girls. Miss you.”

Ethan felt his heart leap within his chest upon the sight of her and he quickly replied once again:

Shaking his head but not at all surprised by her response, he continued to focus on his work for a few more minutes before being distracted by an idea; a way to surprise her, that she would never see coming.

--

“Jeanine – could I have a post it note please?” Allie asked, hanging half her body over the front of the nurses station on floor 5.  

Allie wrote on the note for a few seconds before placing it inside the folder that held all the charts on Mr. Flores in 543, one of Ethan’s most difficult patients – one she knew he had been struggling with for a while.  

She caught a glimpse of Dr. Ramsey chatting with another doctor a few moments earlier. Her heart stopped seeing him right in front of her, but she could quickly see just how tired he was and could tell by his posture alone, that he was exhausted.

Being nosy, Jeanine opened the file and read the note:

“Honey, you two are so sweet. What is it the kids say these days? Couple goals? You’re it.” She patted Allie’s hand and winked at her before Allie said thank you and went about her business.

--

Later in the day, it was getting close to the end of Ethan’s shift and surprisingly enough, Bryce (who never texted let along communicated at all) sent Allie a message:

“U on floor 4? Get here now its going dwn”

Curious, Allie raced to the 4th floor just in time to see and hear Ethan chewing out a new intern. Even though Allie had experienced it for herself and knew it was for the betterment of the student, his patient and the overall experience for all involved, it was still hard to see Ethan act this way. 

She bit her lip and winced a few times when Ethan made point after point about using your head and thinking through the details, railing the intern about how people’s lives were at stake. When the worst was over, Allie text Ethan again:

Stealing away in the same supply closet where Belinda took Allie’s scrub picture earlier that morning, Ethan sighed and decided to give in to Allie’s wishes. But today had been longer than he anticipated and he still had so much work to do. He was grateful for her and the ways she helped him focus on what really mattered in his life. He adored Allie’s sense of humor and tried to match her in his response:

“You’re so full of it.” Allie responded with the eye roll emoji.  

Ethan snickered as he sauntered back to his office, praying he could have some peace and quiet in order to get his work done.

--

Not even a few minutes into more work on case files, Ethan’s phone was blowing up – message after message pinged, driving him crazy. He suspected a group message but was wrong.

Girl. Everyone knows my man Ethan is (fire emoji) but check this guy out. Yum. (eyes emoji) (drool emoji) He can train me anytime…know what I mean?! (heart eyes emoji)

Another message:

Shit. Ethan!! That was for Jackie.  And Sienna. Oh God. I AM SO SORRY. Love you? 

Another message:

OMG NO QUESTION> FORGET THE MARK. I meant: LOVE YOU. Mean it!!!!!

Ethan replied.

Pausing to think just a few more minutes, he then typed out his plan and sent it, knowing Allie would be stunned but also happy.

Also, we are going on vacation. Just you and me. Not sure where, but after your shift, come back to pick me up. We’ll swing by the apartment to pack and then we’ll hit the road.

Allie sent back a “happy dance” gif and Ethan knew he had made the right decision. He needed time with her. She needed time with him. They needed time together and far, far away from the hospital.

--

A few hours later, Allie was in the parking lot of Edenbrook, waiting on Ethan. 

She was beyond excited about spending some time with him. She didn’t know how long they’d have but even just a few hours would feel like an eternity compared to what they’d been given the last month. 

She snapped a selfie in car and captioned it Road Trip Ready!! Jenner’s here too.

Ethan practically ran out of his office, down the stairs and out to her car, smiling more than Allie had seen in quite some time. 

He threw open the passenger side door, slammed his body into the seat and quickly kissed her, tenderly at first with the kiss turning into one of longing and desire.

“Hey.” Allie whispered, breathless at the sight of him.

“Let’s go.” Ethan responded, holding her hand and kissing the back of it as his fingers laced with hers.

--

Later that evening, Allie posted this on social media for all the world to see:

Trapped alone in a car for hours on end with Dr. Ethan Ramsey. Some may say it’s torture but for me -- this is my happy place. Don’t be jealous. #bouttime #roadtrippin #lovehim

 THE END.

[btsandvmin]

Collection of asks - BTSandVMIN

Some of the asks I answer I personally feel are worth saving, for me personally, and perhaps for you as well. But I don’t want to put them all in my Masterpost since there are so many and I am sure the list will grow. So I am putting the ones I feel might have something worth reading in one place. 

Thank you all for asking me interesting questions and liking my posts. Asks are written more in the moment than my usual posts, so they might be less accurate as it’s all mostly from the top of my head. The newest ones will actually be on top, and then they will get older going down the list. I’ll update it regularly as I answer more asks. :)

Jimin was so clearly in need of cuddles from Tae as soon as they saw each other

Odd if none of them shared what they did during vacations

It just feels scripted, just like when they're talking abt what each other did during their vacations

100 days of winter bear and jiminie wears something that makes him look like a baby bear

About BV4, do you think it’s weird that Taehyung only found out about what Jimin did during his vacation on the day Jimin was back?

Dionysus stage as battle of gods and V=Apollo(God of Sun) and JM=Artemis(God of Moon) and their dance and wearing twin earrings(as the gods r twins) and I just remembered your whole vmin sun and moon theory

Is Tae Jm's mirror in bighits's fictional world?

Do you know what is the full video of this youtube video "BTS Jimin chose V ? VMin Moment?

When BV: Malta was airing, Jimin would post pictures of each episode on Twitter and stopped on the episode that Taehyung arrives

I'm like a hardcore Km shipper (romantically) since 2016 but i have to agree every song Tae has written connects with Jm

We don't see vmin together often... so yeah jikook could be more real then vmin

I'm trying to find tweets that vmin send to each other on their birthday but I can't find the one that jimin send for tae in 2017 did he send one? 

The new run bts episode was really filmed in May?

Did Jimin released Promise on Tae's birthday?

I am working on a Vmin analysis which is currently 24 pages just in text. O___o

He calls JM "My Baby" but the subtitles put in by BH say "Good Boy" Why would they change the translation. 

Shipping sometimes seems pointless. Especially when "moments" between one ship can easily be spotted with another. 

I can't believe that some fans thought that vmin were not friends anymore because a game!

It's so cute how Jimin and V talked about arguing with each other over small things because they are close friends

I think people who unfollow you are Multishippers who believe in other ship

Is it kind of weird that vmin has never went on a trip by themselves? 

Seeing all the vmin interactions of this last concert, do you think this might be a reason why BH will not give us vmin duet?

I would love to read ur vmin story

Concerning the nightmare before Christmas thing

The Disney birthday project turned up to be false

Jimin thinks V is "mi bb' What does the question mean?

I don't think we'll get a Vmin song

BTS, 191009_ ICN INT' Airport Departure) at 40 seconds

Where do you write fics? I really want to read your fics...

It's interesting to see the way the bh editors work

Where is the vmin break up mini movie video from?

Do you ship Jimin or Tae with k pop girls?

The members trying to break off a vmin moment on cam?

Is it true that bts don't live together?

What do you think about the concept photos? (PERSONA)

What other vmin blogs do you follow or check regularly?

In an usa interview where jimin was kinda leaning on the male interviewer for a few seconds and suddenly tae was looking kinda tense

Did you catch up on everything for bts or/and vmin before the BS&T era?

You should see @vlovers19 blog

I'm sorry if you think I offended you or judged you

Do you know that Tae hold hands with other member even Suga or they all hold hands with each other so it's not only a VMIN thing

About bon voyage 3 and them not sharing rooms and the car

4 oclock is supposedly dedicated to jimin, why Tae waits for him in the park if they live together?

Imagine my surprise when i saw vk/ook,ji/kook were the most popular. I tried to understand but i still don’t get why

Do you think vmins lack of or th reduced amount of skinship comes from the fact that they are same aged friends? 

Other ships (kpopidols) that you like?

Part of me wanted Taehyung to be in Paris too

The boys being apart of the lgbt community that's unrelated to their relationship

If someone in BTS is gay he will try to date girls or maybe marry a girl in the end?

If vmin are really together and if they were to come out, how do you think they would do that?

I feel like they use the word "friend" instead of, idk, "boyfriend”

You saw the hk concert right?

Unknown nickname in his thank you note for “Dark and Wild”

When did Vmin started dating?

Bv3, I ain't getting over it.

I feel like vmin have been sexually involved for a very long time 

Any thoughts abt Tae's three rings on his right hand and always not wearing one on his ring finger?

In bts festa profile 2015 when jimin wrote tae's profile he drew a character that reminds him of taehyung

Did u see the second trailer for bring the soul documentary series? 

In one of your asks you said jk wasn't having a great time in 2017

Are you gonna make a post about vmin sharing rooms?

What would be your top 5 favorite vmin moments? 💜

Run episode to Jm and JK "Are You Guys dating ?"

Barely getting any vmin content

Sometimes i cant help but feel really weird about vmin and feel insecure

Maybe you should just ignore all the asks about other ships

Sharing a car as proof

Docskim not being allowed to release the behind story of Lie

Getting it out of the way… (about various other ships and “proof“)

What are the moments that seems most like "proof" to you? 

Have you seen the Vlive remember party?

At the end of the day, it mostly comes down to personal interpretations and preferences

Do you know why T/ae and J/imin toxic stans really hate each other?

Is it being "delusional" for some vmin fans to think scenery, promise and 4 o' clock are related to vmin?

When will u start answering anons again i really miss ur insight and wise words 

I feel like jimin is forcing himself the affection he is showing is mostly forced

Do you have twitter?

The Rkive Vmin moment when JM ‘refused’ Tae’s cuddle

They were often looking behind cameras and it really shows like in episodes 59&60

Do you think there's a big reason that vm don't do Vlives together anymore

Vmin shippers spreading misinformation in aid of our ship?

Can I use one of your gifs? (I don’t make my own gifs, sorry)

Did you see what Tae said? ie I miss you even after being apart for 10 seconds

When one is clingy, the other will try to act as if it's bothering him

My friend is convinced Ji/kook is real

About namjoon's vlive, "it's a broadcast"

Oof is it just me or the sexual tension was through the roof between vmin in that vlive?

Tae says "our armys are watching this so... " so uhm was that..?

Where does the soulmate thing comes from with vmin?

Taehyung is more open both physically and showing affection wise with every member except Jimin

Have you seen the moments from today's concert? Fukuoka

They can do whatever they want people will say they're such good bros and won't look into it

Holding each other's hands is probably the least platonic thing that they keep doing

Do you know any good vmin analysis youtube account/videos?

why do you think jk and taehyung might not be straight?

Guys, I love vmin so much!

I really like your analysis!! a lot of good points. Can I add a couple things I noticed?

How long do you think vmin have been dating?

u really think vm is real?

Vmin are really bold these days

We get to see them bicker 

The video jimin posted where he's sending hearts to Tae

Feel conflicted about the rise in popularity

I’m a bit worried about the attention Vmin is getting recently

U answered my jik ask so well

Tae being bold because he's bursting with affection

Jimin admitted he was jealous

About the families (+kimchi ep. mini analysis)

About vmin/ji/ook/tae/kook

The whole maknae line

Never seemed to be in the same team

When people "ship" them?

Showing their bond more

About Jikook

About vmin being the less popular ship

Flustered vmin

Yeontan vlive

About the airport moment

Do you think that vmin live together?

About vmin rising in popularity

Do you have a link for that moment during New Year's 2016?

Platonic/bro label on vmin

More than friendship between vmin

My reply - Making Vmin videos

Thank you! A small reply

About my bias

Opinions above people

Once again, THANK YOU ALL so much for loving Vmin so much and for coming to me with your lovely messages. <3

[statsvitenskap]

All But Six- Chapter 1

Whoo! Took me a week to get this ready to post, but whatever. Anyways, the story of Iris and her friends is finally beginning!

I, Iris Elizabeth Blackwell, never was the type to go on adventures or anything of that kind, really. I’d already survived the “killers” as our generations called them, A.K.A. 4th through 8th grade; then, the first three years of high school. Even now, as a senior, I was called the “safe kid” or “teacher’s pet.” In fact, the most risky thing I ever did was dye the tips of my hair purple, and that wasn’t even that bad.

So why was it exactly that I decided to walk into that obviously dangerous, extremely frightening, up-to-no-good portal of my own accord? Not that I regret it, of course, but I may as well have jumped off a 100-foot ravine into a tiny stream filled with man-eating piranhas.

You see, it all started with a group text and the bottom level of a bunk bed.

Ping! The sound of a new text message echoed through the room I was sharing with my cousin, Andrea.

Andrea was a beautiful, popular 21-year-old brat. She was known across her university as Miss University Of Georgia, and took pride in it, too. The only reason we were sharing a bunk bed was because her family was visiting, and personally, I hated it. The brat had told me (or rather, ordered me) to sleep on the bottom of the bunk bed, for “reasons.” I knew better. Andrea knew that I would wake up at even the slightest sound, which meant-

THUNK!

“Ow!”

I let out a long string of curse words and rubbed my now aching forehead. “Stupid jerk Andrea…” Rubbing my drowsy eyes, I pulled myself up and sat on the edge of my bed, grabbed my phone, and turned it on, finding something I didn’t expect.

G-Note Grace: one group message

I rolled my eyes at nothing. Of course, I thought. Who else would text me at- I glanced at the clock- 4:00 in the morning?

Grace Kate Polinsky had been my best friend since 1st grade. You rarely saw the two of us not together, talking about bands or art or music or- well, you get the point. When we were apart, we’d usually just text each other about random things until we got bored. However, tonight’s text was much different.

G-Note Grace: Anyone else awake?

I squinted at the words. “Anyone else awake?” What was that supposed to mean? Grace knew that if she texted me, I’d obviously wake up because of the sound, and if I didn’t, then my phone was on silent, meaning not to text me anymore. She wouldn’t ever text me that. Slowly, other replies became popping up on screen.

Dat Boi Troye: yep

Troye McConnell- another friend of mine. Though he was one year older than me, he was a total maniac. You know that friend who always just acts weird and cheers you up, even if they didn’t mean to? That was Troye. Acquaintances since kindergarten, friends since 5th, he was, really and truly, the weirdest person I’d ever met.

TyTy: yo

Tyler Heath was also one of my close friends. We could talk about almost anything- from his nonexistent love life to the latest weird noise he loved to make. Like Troye, he was also extremely weird, but he was also supportive, helping me out through stressful times. Without him as support, my life would have been much more difficult.

Isaac: i’m here

Most of the people in our little group were total nerds, geeks, or fangirls; the same went for Issac O’Hagan. The only difference? He was the star football player of our school. Big and bulky, perfect for tackling. He’d been with us since 5th grade in Gifted and Talented and still was even during the AP classes of our senior year.

Dill Pickle: wtf what’d u wake me up for

And finally, Leo Chapmann, the only one in our group not in AP classes. Everyone called him Dillon, his middle name, with the exception of me; I called him anything from Dilly to Dill Pickle. He was prone to raging over the latest horror game. No, seriously, if you named any horror game, he’d probably played it.

I replied to the message: sup y’all

G-Note Grace: oh thank god everyone’s awake

Dat Boi Troye: wtf u talkin bout

Grace: no one in my house is waking up

TyTy: waiT WHAT

Dill Pickle: try CPR

Grace: they’re not dead

Isaac the “Chick Magnet”: check their pulse

Me: she said they’re not dead stupid

Isaac: >:(

Dillon: guys my mom’s not waking up

Dillon: it’s like she’s in a coma

Troye: my sister Joy (u guys know her, she’s in college) won’t wake up either

Tyler: just poured water on my sis, Brooke, as a nice wake-up call b4 college, but she

won’t wake up either

Tyler: it was very anticlimactic

Me: hold on let me try

I rushed out of bed, now wide awake. What was happening? Was everyone asleep except us? Or were we in a coma all together? Surely not! I ran downstairs to the kitchen, filled a cup of water, and ran back upstairs. Quickly, I reached up to the top level of the bunk bed and did my best to pour the water all over Andrea’s face.

No reaction.

Me: NOTHING

Grace: oh my god

Dillon: holy f

Me: don’t finish that

Dillon: udge on my sundae with sprinkles plz

Isaac: get serious

Dillon: ok

Troye: we need to meet up

Tyler: and EXPLORE

Troye: -_-

Grace: whose house is closest

Me: mine so get over here

Troye: i’m here

Me: HOW

Troye: skillz

Isaac: HEY WAIT FOR US

Dillon: omw

Grace: someone pick me up plz

Tyler: I gotchu

Me: see ya

I pulled on my favorite jacket and bolted outside, heart pumping. What had happened to everyone else? Was this sleep only limited to our families? Lost in thought, I grabbed my phone, lucky pen, and notebook and stuffed them in my purse. Flinging open the door, I yelled, “Troye!”

The boy a few feet in front of me turned around, his hazel eyes framed by black rectangular glasses and wavy brown hair.  He grinned.

“Hey, Iris.” He patted me on the head a few times like I had to him when we were younger.

“Stop that!” I hissed, swatting his hand away.

“Hey, you always did it to me!” He tried to defend himself, but I pouted.

“How’d you get here so fast?”

Troye rolled his eyes. “Duh. Figured you’d insist that we come to your house, like always.”

“How long will I have to be here with you?” I questioned, crossing my arms.

“A while, probably. Tyler’s picking up Grace, Dillon has to walk here because his car broke down last night, and Isaac- well, I don’t know what Isaac would be doing, but still…”

I rolled my eyes. “Weirdo.”

“I know. You’ve been calling me that for the past eight years.” He smiled (well, I couldn’t really call it a smile, more like a weird face) at me slyly, almost as if he knew something I didn’t.

“What are you looking at me like that for?”

“No reason.” He turned away from me and together we took in the silence.  

“So,” I broke the silence after a minute or two. “What do you think has happened? You know, with the whole…”-I gestured around us- “…falling asleep thing?”

Troye glanced at me. “What are you asking me for?”

“Just answer the stupid question, baka(idiot).”

“Well,” he began, hands in pockets, no longer looking at me, “Like Dillon said, they’re probably in a coma. The only thing I keep wondering is why us?”

“What do you mean?”

He sighed. “Like, are we supposed to fight to our deaths like in The Hunger Games or defeat some huge enemy like in The Last Olympian or what?”

I looked away. “Well…” I trailed off, not knowing exactly what to say. Troye sounds different, but he probably misses his family, I thought. Should I comfort him or compliment his book references…?

As I thought about exactly what to say, Troye spotted a car approaching.

He ran towards it, shouting, “Hey Tyler! Grace!” When I heard him yell, I whipped my head around, snapped out of my thoughts.

The car came closer, and I could see the familiar silhouettes of my friends through the windshield. “Grace!” I yelled, and began sprinting towards the car, right on Troye’s tail. The car skidded to a halt. Grace hopped out and we shot finger-guns at each other.

“Hey,” she said, smiling. “How’s life?”

I grinned in return. “Good.”

We took a minute to catch up with each other while Troye and Tyler did their “secret” handshake (which wasn’t really secret; we all knew it, but I just refused to do it, so the boys and Grace kept it between themselves).

“So,” Tyler began, “what about this… sleep?”

Troye glanced at me. “Iris and I were just talking about that, actually.”

Everyone looked at me, expecting me to say something. My eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, um…” I could feel my heart beating right out of my chest. Was I supposed to say something super smart or something? “Well, I guess… I mean…” I trailed off.

Thankfully, a red pickup truck drove up, and Isaac hopped out. “Hey.” Thank goodness, I thought.

“You guys figured out anything about this sleep thing?”

Well, frick.

“Hey guys,” I said sheepishly, “Where’s Dillon? His house is pretty close by, so he should be here by now...”

Everyone else immediately took on a look of worry.

“Now that I think about it...”

Isaac pulled out his phone.

Dillon- 1 message

Dillon: get iris to reply plz

We all looked at each other, worry in our expressions. I pulled my phone out and let the screen turn on.

Dill Pickle- 50 messages

Dill Pickle: hey

Dillon: iris

Dillon: IIIIIRRRRRRIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSS

Dillon: I FOUND A THING

Dillon: IT’S A PORRRRRTTTTAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL

Dillon: OHHHH MMMMMYYY GOOODDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dillon: AHHHH

Dillon: IM FREAKING OUTTTT

Dillon: GET TO THE DIXIE

Dillon: NOWWWW

And it continued. Grace looked over my shoulder at the texts. “What the…?”

“Well, then,” I stated. “I guess we’re going to the Dixie Theater.”

The Dixie Theater was our local theater for plays. I’d participated in a number of them, in fact, so I knew the route by heart. Isaac drove and the rest of us sat in the bed of the truck. I yelled directions from the back and the others continued their debate.

When we reached the theater, the first thing we saw was a broken glass window and Dillon flailing his arms from inside. I hopped out, about to scream at him for breaking the window until I noticed the portal. The others followed my actions.

“What is that?” Troye inquired, his eyes wide as dinner plates.

I examined the portal, amazed by its majesty. It was a blinding blue and made some sort of whooshing sound that reminded me of white noise. Silver and navy blue swirled around inside it.  I’d never seen anything like it; well, at least not in real life.

“Duh.” Tyler said sarcastically. “It’s a magical unicorn about to take us to Candyland where the trees are lollipops and-“

Troye punched him in the stomach, hard enough to get him to shut up but not so hard that Tyler found the need to punch him right back.

Dillon interrupted the two. “And look. Here’s what I found.” He grabbed a painting off the wall and, with some difficulty, threw it into the portal. The previously blue portal now turned a sickly neon green.

Isaac scoffed. “That’s not that wei-“ His remark was interrupted by a loud, guttural roar.

“What even- wh-what was that?” Grace stuttered out. We stood together in silence.

“I-I don’t know…” I murmured.

“Do you think we have to go into that thing?” Troye asked, just loud enough to hear over the whooshing that the portal continued to make.

I whipped my head around and glared at him. “What? Are you kidding? Go into that thing?”

“Iris, no one else is awake,” Troye defended. “It’s just us six.”

“So?”

“So, I don’t think we have a choice.”

“Of course we do!” I burst out. “We don’t have to go into that- that thing! We could all stay here together and, oh, I don’t know, just have fun, doing random things like we always do!”

Isaac replied, “But what if that’s where we find out what happened to our parents?”

“Well,” Dillon added. “I think I’ve played enough video games to know that most portals are dangerous, so...” He trailed off.

“Exactly!” I said, gesturing to Dillon. “Thank you!”

Grace sighed in exasperation. “How about we just vote? Who thinks we should go in?” She, Isaac, Troye, and Tyler all raised their hands. “Majority rules, Iris.”

“Ugh! You know what, fine- but if something bad happens, don’t say I didn’t tell you so!”

The six of us stood just outside the portal. Slowly and reluctantly, I stepped in.

[sky-casino]

Ice Cream

Genre: Fluff, Angst

Pairing: Sicheng/Winwin x Reader

Word count: 2370

author’s note: wah~ this is my first ever fic here on tumblr! It took a lot of courage to actually start posting here hehe. Feedback is appreciated but please be nice! Thank you~

Also, there are not enough Sicheng/Winwin fics so I had to write one. Please love this boy ;u;

You just moved to a dorm near your university in the city. You were about to start your freshman year in three days and you were both excited and nervous. Not only because you were entering college, but also because you were practically living alone now. No more mommy to wake you up and cook you breakfast and packed lunch. 

"Phew! I can do this!" You cheered yourself before you began unpacking your things. 

One thing that you were thankful for though, was that your dorm allowed each tenant to take one pet with them. You brought Muffin, your 4-year old Japanese Spitz, with you. You just finished putting all your things in order and were relaxing on your couch with Muffin on your lap when the jingle of the ice cream truck started to play from outside. Your unit was located at the second floor so the sound was very clear. Muffin jumped off your lap and looked outside the window, trying to find the said truck. She started jumping up and down and making cute pleading noises asking you to buy her a treat. This was a familiar situation to you despite moving to a new living quarter because ice cream trucks also passed by your house back in the countryside and Muffin made sure that you bought her a cone every time. She loved ice cream more than the usual dog treats.

"Fine, lil' munchkin. Will get you some." You said with a sigh before retrieving your wallet from your bag and placing a leash around Muffin's neck.

You crossed the street carefully and approached the truck to check the available flavors. As expected, the city had more to offer than your local trucks at home. Matcha, Salted Caramel, Red Velvet, Cookie Dough, Affogato, just to name some. 

"Hmm.. one scoop of Red Velvet in a cup and one scoop of Cookie Dough on a cone please." 

"Alright, that would be three bucks." The vendor replied with a smile.

You gave him the money and that was your first time to look at him. And you must admit, he just might be the cutest boy you've ever laid your eyes on. You just stared at him for around ten seconds before you saw his name tag, "WINWIN", it said. “What a cute name.” You thought to yourself.

"Here." He said, looking you directly in the eyes with matching bright smile.

"Th-thanks. Here you go, Muffin!" You sat at the nearest bench and gave your dog the cone with Cookie Dough ice cream. She excitedly licked it.

"Oh wow! I didn't know you have a dog with you. She's cute!" Winwin exclaimed. You looked at him and were surprised to hear how friendly he was, as if you two have been friends for a while now. 

"Can I pet her?" Winwin asked as he got off the truck.

"Sure. But let her finish her ice cream first or she'll get mad at you." You chuckled.

"Right. Dogs are sensitive when they eat, especially to strangers." He said as he looked at you and you were pretty sure you were already blushing at that moment.

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Winwin." He stuck his hand out for a handshake.

"Don't worry, I know. You have a name tag, remember? I'm Y/N." You replied as you shook his hand.

"Oh! Yah, I forgot about this. Sorry." He said as he laughed embarrassingly, looking at his name tag.

"Its okay." By now, Muffin was already finished with her treat. 

"There. You can pet her now." You carried Muffin and placed her on Winwin's lap.

"Her name is Muffin?" The boy asked as he cautiously ran his hand over the dog's back.

"Yep. Japanese Spitz." 

"So cute!" 

The three of you stayed in that position for around three minutes more until a kid and a mom approached the truck.

"Looks like you need to go back to work." 

"Yes. Hope to see you and play with Muffin again, though." Winwin smiled at you as he stood up from the bench. 

"Y-yeah. Of course. I just live in that dorm." You replied, gesturing to the said building.

"Alright. I usually pass by here at this time on the weekends. See you!"

"Okay. Bye." You said before heading back to your dorm.

All your worries and anxiety caused by the incoming start of the school year temporarily gone because of the cute ice cream boy.

The next time you bought ice cream from Winwin, you had a longer time to talk and get to know about each other more. 

"I just moved here early this month, for university. I'm studying Veterinary. That's why I really wanted to bring Muffin with me. To inspire me. something like that." 

"That's sweet! I'm taking up traditional dance and this is my part-time job."

"Wow, that's cool! I don't know anyone who does traditional dancing."

"Thanks.." Winwin said as he scratched his head cutely. 

"Why is this your chosen part-time job, if I may ask?"

"Oh, because I love ice cream. As simple as that. Uhmm.. do you miss your family? I mean, you don't have to answer it. It's a bit sensitive.."

"Well, yeah of course I miss them. But I know that I'll just get used to this. We both promised that if the other can't come, the other one will adjust and be the one to visit."

It was a bit awkward and hard to find topics to ask and talk about, but was still fairly fun. As you spent more time with Winwin, you realized that you could look at his face forever. So white and flawless, his eyes the most mesmerizing pair you've ever seen. What you can't get over though is how his voice doesn't match his soft face. Very deep and manly. 

On the third time, he gave you a free taste of each of the flavors.

"So, what's your favorite?" 

"Hmm.. they're all really good but my faves are Cookie Dough, Affogato, and Red Velvet. Why'd you ask?"

"I just want to make sure that all your favorite flavors are available every time I come here." Winwin said shyly, looking at everything but you.

"Aww, that's so sweet, Winwin!" You were honestly very touched by his little act of kindness.

"It's.. it's nothing. Don't worry about it.

It's been four months of being friends with Winwin and besides the usual ice cream "dates" you had with him (and Muffin), you also attended a couple of his recitals and performances. He lived far away from his family as well so when there were times they couldn't attend, you did. Not to be biased but you believed he was the best among his peers and you knew the moment you saw him dance that he had a bright future ahead of him. But at the same time, you also couldn't believe that he was the ice cream boy who passed by your dorm every weekend.

"Winwin! That was great! Even though this wasn't my first time to watch you, it still feels like it is. Congratulations!" You said as you met at the lobby of the auditorium.

"Thank you so much, Y/N. But really, I don't deserve such praises.."

"What are you talking about? You know you do!" You said as you lightly pushed his shoulder. 

"I'll treat you to dinner tonight, okay? In exchange for coming and supporting me." 

"No need, but alright." 

You had hot pot at his favorite restaurant, in other words, Winwin's favorite meal at his favorite restaurant. He also did well in the performance. So you were sat there across from him, wondering why he was being unusually quiet.

"Hey, you okay?" You asked him, he almost snapped his head.

"Uh.. yeah! I'm good. Why?"

"You're so quiet. I thought there's something wrong."

"Oh. N-nothing. I'm good, just tired. Really tired." He lied to you, hoping you wouldn't probe him anymore.

"Okay. I understand." You replied. He was relieved.

"Alright. Thanks for walking me home." You told him as both of you reached the front of your dorm a few hours later.

"No worries. Can't let you go home alone this late, you know?" 

"Get some rest, okay? You being so quiet tonight worried me." You said with a slight pout.

"Of course. Don't worry." Winwin managed to reply after he stared at your lips for a few seconds. 

"Bye!" You said as you went in.

Long after you disappeared from his sight, Winwin still stayed at the exact position. Various thoughts running in his mind. 

Saturday came and you were expecting Winwin and his ice cream truck to come around, but he didn't. 

"Hello~ you didn't come by today. Muffin misses her Cookie Dough fix :( " You texted him.

Thirty minutes later and still no reply. You didn't want to bug him, though. Considering that he might be busy. 

The next day, still no Winwin and ice cream. You were starting to get concerned.

"Hey, are you okay? Are you sick? You didn't arrive today either. I'm worried. Please text me :( "

Just like the day before, no reply. You thought you might have done or said anything wrong and you needed an answer from him.

You spent the next few days trying to remember the route of Winwin's ice cream truck. Your hardwork paid off when you recalled two places that he mentioned long before, hoping that they're still part of his route. The weekend arrived and you went to one of the two places, praying that Winwin would be there. 

After a few minutes of waiting on one of the benches, you heard the familiar jingle. A lot of kids welcomed the ice cream truck and you waited for all the them to leave until you approached Winwin.

"Hey! Long time no see! Well, not that long.. but still." You greeted him with a nervous smile.

"Y/N.." Winwin looked at you with wide eyes.

"Yep. That's me. Are we.. okay? You haven't returned any of my texts this past week. I wanted to call but thought that might be too much of a bother to you." You asked as you fiddled with your hands.

Winwin busied himself by fixing his things that didn't really need fixing.

"Hey. Did I do something wrong? You can tell me everything. You know that." 

The sadness and hurt in your voice alerted Winwin and he decided to finally speak, sighing before replying, "No, I can't."

"What?"

"I can't. I can't.. tell you everything." His voice got weaker as he spoke.

"But why? We're friends."

"That's exactly why." He raised his voice a little too high and you flinched.

"I'm.. I'm so sorry, Y/N." Guilt apparent on his face. You were speechless. You didn't know what to say or think anymore.

"Why are you.. being like this? I don't understand you, Winwin." All he did was sigh deeply and shake his head, looking at the ground.

"Alright, let's talk." He said as he gently pulled your wrist, leading you to one of the farther benches.

"What is it?" You asked in a low voice. 

"Damn I really didn't want to tell you this." He said as he sandwiched his head between his two hands, eyes closed. He looked so conflicted and nervous.

"Just tell me, okay? You’re making me nervous. Why are you so stressed about this? What is it?" You asked impatiently.

"I like you, Y/N." 

"You what?" You asked, breaking the silence after half a minute.

Winwin put his hands down but still had his eyes closed and you saw some tears forming under his long eyelashes. 

"Winwin~"

"I didn't want to tell you this. I was afraid I'll ruin the friendship. I'm sorry.." His voice broke a few times as he spoke. 

"But you didn't ruin anything. You don't need to be sorry." You said as you softly rubbed his back.

"And besides, I like you too." With this, Winwin opened his eyes in a snap and slowly turned his gaze to you.

"What?"

"I said I like you too." You said with a laugh.

"You do?" Winwin asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. Why are you so surprised? You're.. you're really likable." You replied shyly.

"It never occurred to me that you would ever like me. I thought you just saw me as a friend who's selling ice cream."

"What?! No way! You're more than that. Way more than that. You're my best friend, my confidant, very sweet, cute, thoughtful, talented, and just.. really really cute. I don't even know what I'm saying anymore!" You said in between embarrassed laughs before you covered your face.

"Hey, Y/N. Look at me. Y/N, please~" Winwin whined. 

You slowly moved your fingers apart to peek at him. "What?"

"I like you so much and.. I'd really love to be your boyfriend. Are you willing to.. give me a chance? I promise I'll do everything I can and be the best boyfriend to you." He asked nervously, licking his dry lips from time to time.

You placed your hands down and gave him the warmest and most welcoming smile he has ever seen. "Those ice cream dates with Muffin were already a huge step to taking my heart. I'm all yours." You said as your wrapped your arms around his neck. He buried himself in your scent and warmth and suddenly everything was alright in his world. 

You broke free from the hug and asked, "So, can I take a ride in your ice cream truck back to my dorm? Muffin is waiting for you and her Cookie Dough. She misses you!" 

He wrapped his arm around you as you stood up and went to the truck. "Sure, sweetie. You can ride in my ice cream truck and the three of us can finish all the left over ice cream." You laughed at what he said and he swore to god that it was the kind of laugh he could listen to for the rest of his life.

"Y/N."

"Hmm?" You asked as you looked intently to his eyes, giving him your 101% attention.

"I love you more than Muffin loves ice cream." 

[hayjeon]

Girls Like You (ft. Jeongguk)

→ badboy!jk, jock!au, prequel (part 2) to You Who [M] (part 1 here) → 8k words, (lots of fluff, slight smut, tiny bit angst)

A/N: Yay! Thank you everyone for enjoying the badboy!jk couple! You Who was my first fic to get to 1k notes, and after uploading the prequel pt. 1, I reached 1k! Thank you everyone again, I’ll be following up with a post soon! :) 

In the meantime, go check out my other tae fic, Give and Take, that I uploaded as another surprise :) It’s a similar au that I wrote before this prequel, so I think you guys’ll like it! 

You woke up with raging headache and you squinted your eyes at the sun shining through your blinds as you sit up. Grabbing your phone, you see the time 10:42 am along with other texts from Jihyo and Jungyeon. Groaning, you thank the stars that its Saturday morning and you have no other obligations today. You walk over to the kitchen and grab yourself a cup of water and chug it and rub your eyes. 

Your roommate walks out and laughs at your state. “Rough night?” 

You squint at her. “Oh god, I don’t even remember how I got home.” 

Nayeon frowns at you, “You don’t? I was next door, and I heard you talking with Jeongguk. Seems like he put you to bed then.” 

You scrunch your eyebrows. You distinctly remember going to get drinks after Jeongguk told you about the divorce, but everything after the moment you left the food truck was blurry. You gag, and clutch your mouth as you run to the restroom and empty your stomach into the toilet bowl. Nayeon just follows you silently and pats your back as you cough. “Damn, haven’t seen you get drunk in a really long time.” 

You groan, flushing and grabbing your toothbrush. “Ugh, I remember why I hate drinking, I’m a fucking lightweight and hangovers suck.” 

You finish brushing your teeth and grab your phone to send Jeongguk a quick text as you eat your cereal. 

[To: JK, 11:01 AM] Hey, thanks for bringing me home last night. Ugh, I have a horrible headache :( 

Usually Jeongguk is quick to respond, but even after finishing your cereal and getting out of a long hot shower, your phone is silent. You assume he’s busy with practice and reply to Jihyo and Jungyeon. 

[To: group message, 11:32 AM] Hi, im awake

[From: Jihyo, 11:33 AM] good morning sleeping beauty, it’s been a while since u woke up so late

[To: gm, 11:33 AM] Sorry i got shit drunk last night :( and i passed out until now

[From Jungyeon, 11:33 AM] uh WTF with who? tfti 

[To: gm, 11:34 AM] jeongguk

[From: Jungyeon, 11:35 AM] ugh I told you to be careful of him! what if he like convinced u into sex or something?!

[To: gm, 11:35 AM] ugh shut up he even put me in bed, relax

[From: Jihyo, 11:37 AM] just be thankful it wasn’t his bed

[To: gm, 11:37 AM] omg its not a big deal stop

[From: Jihyo, 11:37 AM] its so obvi u like him, we’re just trying to protect you.

[From: Jungyeon 11:38 AM] ya...heard from lisa today that the rumor is true. he humped and dumped jennie the other night 

[From: Jihyo, 11:38 AM] omg... srsly, why do you even like him? 

You set down your phone with a groan, curling up in your sheets, feeling a bit sick again at the reminder of the fact that Jeongguk did not see you as anything other than a friend. Which explains why he was okay with tucking you in with no problem and fucking a gorgeous girl like Jennie. You sighed as you closed your eyes. 

Jeongguk growls as he benches another five pounds on his personal best. Gritting his teeth he lifts the bar once, twice, before clanging it back on the original position, his phone lying discarded next to him. What a fucking joke. 

It was just his luck that you were too drunk to remember what exactly had happened. Just his luck that he ended up falling for the one girl that was exactly the kind of girl who deserved more than guys like him. You understood him, you were independent, kind, real, smart, sassy, funny, and everything he’d wanted in a girl. But he was the kind of guy who did one-night stands, who ended up unknowingly winning the bet on who got to fuck Jennie first, played football and was forced to attend huge parties where he got piss drunk again and ended up waking up with a ranging headache and an unknown body naked next to him. Rinse, and repeat. 

He never intended for it to become like this. What started as just getting accustomed to the team and its dynamics ended up in him developing an ego much too big for him to control, and a sex drive that he indulged too much. And now, it was too late. For once, he’d found something he wanted to prove himself to, pouring into his studies to impress you and convince you that he wouldn’t fuck you over like other athletes, and going lengths to salvage a friendship with you instead of scaring you off with the rumors of him being a fuckboy. The actions he did were genuine, he loved being able to walk you home to spend just a few more minutes with you, and tried his hardest to never miss your food truck nights. Whenever he saw you struggling with the huge textbooks, he found it natural to just sling his football bag over his shoulder and grab it from you, the thankful gleam in your eye when you smiled at him a much more than generous prize for his actions. 

You were different. You were honest, yet kind. You were funny, but still he found it so easy to just spill all his thoughts and concerns to you. You were so, so smart and diligent, and he really thought it was your most attractive feature, how driven you were on accomplishing something. And most important to him, was the fact that you knew him. He’d scrolled through your other texts that night, seeing how you defended him against your friends’ quite valid accusations about him. And his heart sank when he realized you harbored feelings for him since a while ago, feeling that he returned but was too much of an asshole to own up to. 

Because you truly deserved better. 

He was pumping again when Shownu walked up to him, offering to spot him. Jeongguk nodded and continued pumping the bar. The older boy commented, “Hey, so, you know that girl you’ve been hanging out with recently? Y/N?” 

Jeongguk pauses, “What about her?” 

Shownu grins, “Well Wonho and I have a bet going on to see which one of us can a nerd’s virginity first. And since you know this girl, wanna hook me up?” 

It all happens way too fast. Jeongguk slams the bar down in its place and gets up from the bench and lunges at Shownu, landing a hard punch straight on the linebacker’s jaw and kneels on top of him with his hands at the collar of his shirt. “Don’t you fucking dare to try that shit with her! I’ll fucking kill you!” He yells out, shaking the guy. 

The other guys training in the gym run over, grabbing the quarterback and yanking him away from Shownu, who’s bleeding from a busted lip. Smirking he taunts Jeongguk. “Why, you like her or something? Ha! Should’ve known your style was a cutesy little quiet nerd like her.” 

Jeongguk lunges again, but Jimin is there to pull his arms back. “Yo, bro, quit it. If coach sees, you’ll be off the team.” He mutters, and Jeongguk calms down, breathing heavily. He yanks his arms away from the boys and stomps towards the locker room. 

Jimin looks at Shownu who smirks at Jeongguk’s retreating figure. He’s never seen the younger one so angry before. “Not cool man.” He glares at the linebacker before jogging after Jeongguk. 

He finds the younger player sitting on the locker benches, his head in his hands. 

“Hey, bro, you ok?” He sits besides Jeongguk and waits for him to respond. 

“I’m fine.” He grits out and Jimin frowns. “Uh, well, you’re clearly not, so I’m not gonna leave until you tell me what’s been up your ass this whole time.” 

When Jeongguk doesn’t respond, Jimin carefully tests the waters. “Is it... is it Y/N?” 

Jeongguk stands up, grabbing his towel and heading towards the showers. “I don’t want to talk about it hyung.” 

Jimin watches him leave and glances at his phone on the bench. In the lock screen is another unopened message that Jeongguk probably hasn’t seen yet. 

[From: Y/N, 12:43 PM] Hey, are you ok? Can we talk? 

So he gets an idea and swipes the message open, using the quick reply option to text back a response before tucking it into the pocket of Jeongguk’s duffel bag.

[To: Y/N, 12:44 PM] Yeah, meet me at the game tonight. We can talk after. Wear my jersey.

You’re a bit giddy at the thought of finally going to one of Jeongguk’s games. Apparently, according to Nayeon, getting invited to a football player’s game wa a pretty big deal. In addition, wearing his jersey was also a pretty clear sign of interest. A glimmer of hope was in your chest, because Nayeon also mentioned that no girl had been invited to Jeongguk’s games, and better yet, he’d never invited any girl to wear his jersey before. 

Not even Jennie. So you smile as you check your hair, curled to perfection, once last time and smooth the jersey over your jean shorts. You’d paired some regular black converse with the look and a white t-shirt underneath the jersey to make the emerald green and yellow colors pop. Turning around, you smile at the large 58 with “JEON” stitched over it. Someone had dropped off the jersey at your door, and you suspected it was the one who lived three floors up. 

You check your phone and text Jihyo and Jungyeon that you’re on your way as you hitch a ride with them to the game. They, despite being quite studious, were still into the football games and went often. So you decide to sit with them. The bleachers are already packed when the three of you arrive, and Jihyo breaks off to go buy your snacks, and you and Jungyeon go to find some good seats. Thankfully, theres a small space for the three of you pretty close to the middle front, and you plop down before someone else can get it. 

Jihyo returns and you three chew on your nachos and hot dogs happily as you watch the game. You avoid their prying questions about your jersey and watch as Jeongguk literally owns the team. The stands erupt in cheers as he scores another touchdown, and he doesn’t even give them a glance as he runs back to center. You scream along with them, pumping your fists into the air and yelling his name. 

But he doesn’t even look your way, though, you note with a disappointed purse of your lips. 

Maybe its because he’s so into the game, you think, and you stand up to go to the restroom when halftime is called. 

You’re standing in line for a refill of your drink per sans Jihyo’s request, when someone taps you on your shoulder. You whirl around to see someone in a jersey with a helmet on so you smile widely. 

“Jeongguk?” 

The figure whips his helmet off and only then, you recover from your excitement and realize that this guy is shorter than Jeongguk and has a different number on his jersey. A handsome guy, with red lips and sweaty black hair smiles down at you. “Hey, Y/N right?” 

You nod hesitantly, gripping the cups in your hand. Since when did football boys know your name? “Uh, yeah. And you are?” 

He tucks his helmet under his arm. “Wonho. Nice to meet you. What brings you here? Jeongguk?” 

You nod, biting your lip as you take his outstretched hand. He holds on a little too long for your liking. “Um, yeah.” 

He smirks down at you, licking his lips. Other people in the line are glancing at the receiver chatting up the girl who had Jeongguk’s jersey on. “You guys dating or something?” 

You frown, “Uh, no, but it’s none of your business.” 

He holds up two defensive hands. “Woah, my bad. It’s just because I wanna get to know you a little better. How about you come to the afterparty?” 

“What afterparty?” 

He cocks his head as he hears a whistle, signaling for him to make his way back. “Basically, this team here is good, but we beat them every single year. We have parties whenever we win, and Jeongguk will be there too! You should come! Just hitch a ride with anyone and they’ll be going to Seokjin’s house. That’s where the party’ll be!” 

When you hesitate, he just throws another smirk at you as he jogs backwards. “See ya there!” He turns and runs towards the pit. And you step up to your spot in line, confused, but a little excited. 

As expected, your college’s team wins with an easy victory, and the crowd erupts in cheers. Jimin yells into the mic about the party, and the football team disappears into the pit. You try to follow, to try and get a conversation with Jeongguk and congratulate him, but you’re swept away by the rush of people getting out of the stands and into the carpools to Seokjin’s party. Sighing, you give up and hitch a ride with some girls from your math class to the house. 

It’s a huge mansion, the frat house, and is already booming with music and drunken people are dancing lewdly when you enter. It’s your third time at a party like this, and you recall why you haven’t forced yourself to come again to something like after the second. Parties like this weren’t your thing, and you hated how hot and claustrophobic it felt and how loud these things were. 

But you tack on a smile as you see the football boys getting out from their trucks in the parking lot a few minutes later, freshly showered and greeting the guests with handshakes and loud cheers. Before you can spot Jeongguk though, Wonho, from earlier jogs up to you with a wide smile. 

You can’t help but feel a tiny bit cautious around him, something about him was so off-putting. But he greets you politely, and smiles as he maneuvers you away from the entrance of the house and towards the kitchen. You look back to try and catch a glimpse of Jeongguk, but he’s quite insistent, so you let him guide you away. Leaning against the bar, he asks, “So how are you liking the party.” 

You bite your lip as you eye the dance floor and the overflowing drinks. “Um, I just got here so...” He notices your hesitation and smiles, “Well, then you gotta drink!” Ignoring your protests, he walks away from the counter, claiming to grab you a drink. You watch him leave with a pout, wanting to just go find Jeongguk. 

You sit down on a stool, observing your surroudings. The large living room has been converted into a dance floor, the DJ on the second floor bouncing along with the crowd to a loud beat that’s ringing in your skull. You can see couples giggling and jogging up the steps to hide away in one of the countless rooms, or making out furiously in the corners. In the dining room, there are boys who are chanting, “Drink drink drink!” at the new frat boy recruits, holding the poor kids above their heads as they stick a tube into his mouth and force him to chug the bag of beer. On the dining table, some people are doing body shots. You cringe as in the den you can see some guys whipping off their shirts and girls giggling as they remove theirs too in a game of strip poker. 

Was this the kind of world that Jeongguk enjoyed when he wasn’t hanging out with you? You frown as people elbow you and bump into you as they drunkenly stagger towards the dance floor, regret rising in you as you strain your neck to see where Jeongguk is. But he’s nowhere to be found. 

Actually, he’s sitting in the living room, in a corner where a few couches are clustered, sipping on his drink as he boredly ignores the chatter of the annoying girl next to him. He shakes off her arm when she gets too close, and rolls his eyes when she leaves with a huff. Jimin notices and plops down next to him. “Bro, you feeling better after the game?” 

Jeongguk finishes off his cup with a glare. “What are you talking about?”  

Jimin is drunk, clapping Jeongguk on the shoulder. “Well, you won, and Y/N was there to see it and all!” 

Jeongguk whips his head to him. “What did you say?” 

Jimin laughs again, too drunk to see his mistake. “I invited her to the game since you were too much of a little dramatic pussy to actually invite her yourself. She wore your jersey and everything!” 

Jeongguk stood up, knocking Jimin off his balance. “Where is she?” But Jimin was too drunk to respond, and passed out against the couch. 

“What the fuck?!” He grits out, grabbing his hair in frustration. There was a reason why he didn’t invite you to these things. It was because he didn’t want you to see how dirty these things were, and definitely after hearing what Shownu said the other day, didn’t want you fifty fucking feet near another football player. 

Yugyeom, one of the nicer boys from the team pipes up from the corner. “I think she’s here, Jeongguk.” He says lowly, and Jeongguk gapes. “How the fuck did she get here?” 

Yugyeom shrugs. “Not sure, but I saw her in the kitchen with Wonho hyung.” 

“Fuck!” Jeongguk surges up and out of the living room with a start, and storms into the kitchen. He sees Wonho leaning into you with a smirk and offering you a cup and he runs up and knocks the red thing out of your hand before you can lift it up to your lips. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” He seethes at you, and he hates how his gut clenches at your face that splits into a bright smile like a fucking thousand christmas lights. “Jeongguk!” You exclaim, as he surprises you. “Uh, Wonho here invited me.” 

He turns to the smirking older male. Stepping up to him, he snarls, “You do anything to her, I’ll fucking kill you.” Wonho eyes the drink on the floor with a smirk and Jeongguk realizes with anger that the bastard had probably spiked the drink in order to win the bet. Glaring up at the male, he grabs his collar and growls, “I swear to god, you and Shownu better call off that fucking bet right now or I’ll make sure you won’t be able to say anything with that dirty little mouth of yours.” 

You jump up and grab onto Jeongguk’s arm, trying to pry him off of Wonho. “Jeongguk! Jeongguk, stop, it’s not a big deal! He was just being nice!” 

Wonho just sleazily smiles and yanks Jeongguk’s hands off of him. “Hear that? I was just showing her around. No need to get your panties in a twist man.” Patting his collar off, he assures the collecting crowd that everything was okay before winking at you and walking towards the cheerleaders. Jeongguk tenses up and pulls you behind him when he winks, and when Wonho disappears out of sight, turns to you with a glare. He sees you wearing his jersey, and wonders how the fuck that fell into your hands and how fate had messed up and dragged you straight into the trap that he was dreading on you witnessing. 

He grabs your wrist, ignoring the way you look up at him in slight fear, and drags you outside, where it’s decently quiet, away from prying eyes. 

“Ow, Jeongguk, let go!” You hiss as he finally lets go of your hand. You cradle it to you, the skin there red from his tight grip. He’s angry, and you’re not exactly sure why. 

“What’s your problem? You’re the one who invited me here and you’re acting like a little ass right now!” You yell, tears pricking your eyes. 

He visibly softens at the sight and steps up to try and comfort you. “Y/N, I’m sorry, that wasn’t me. One of the hyungs sent the text to you as a joke and dropped off my jersey to fool around with me.” 

Your heart sank at the words. He was angry because he didn’t want you here, didn’t want people like you mixing in with his friends. He watches as your expression falls and realizes how you misunderstood his words. 

“W-wait, Y/N, I didn’t mean it like that, wait,” He reaches out for your hand again, but the angry tears are already falling and you wipe them away with your hand before glaring up at him. You whip off the jersey, leaving you in only your white t-shirt and tearily croak out, “No, Jeongguk, I get what you mean.” and turn away and run down the sidewalk towards the bus stop. He catches the jersey and groans as he turns to run after you, but suddenly the music gets louder and his teammates rush him. 

They lift him up on their shoulders and throw him around, “Cheers to the quarterback! Drink! drink, drink!” They shove a shot into his hands and cheer as Jeongguk downs it, but by the time he comes back out and looks for your figure, you’re gone, the bus stop empty. 

What he doesn’t know is that while you were waiting at the bus stop, you were waiting for him too. One word, one action, and you were ready to apologize. But then you’re hugging yourself as the weather gets a little too cold, and someone walks up to you. 

“Well, isn’t it Y/N? The bitch that’s been dragging our Jeongguk-ie around on a leash.” You look up to see Jennie and her posse of girls glaring at you in their cheerleading outfits. 

You stand up, frowning. “Excuse me?” 

Jennie rolls her eyes. “Don’t play dumb with me, bitch. You call him your best friend and always try to get him to go on your little food truck dates. The entire school knows by now. What a joke.” Her friends titter as she smirks and continues, crossing her arms. 

“Let me warn you. Stay the fuck away from him. You know he’s been missing out on some of the parties because of you? And because of that he’s also been missing out on getting to know the team and the cheer squad. And it’s all because of your stupid little dates and you dragging him to the library. Give him some space, and stop making his life into a little charity event.” With that, she turns on her heel and walks away. The bus pulls up with a screech, and you clamber on, numb and still reeling in shock. 

You plop down on the seat, exhausted, and curl up in the corner and try to press yourself into as small of a ball as you can manage. Because the tears were coming, and this time, there was no one to hug you and make them go away.

Jeongguk wakes up again, recognizing the guest bedroom of the frat house, groaning as he rubs his eyes. It was 4 AM, and next to him a girl was passed out. With a glance at her face, he recognizes her as Rose, one of the girls from Jennie’s friend group and groans, realizing that this was going to cause ten times more drama than he wanted. Rolling out of bed, he grabs his clothes, a can of beer, and his phone and runs out, stepping over sleeping bodies and puddles of beer to get out of the house.

Last night was a mess. After you left, he threw himself into the alcohol, unable to man up enough to give you a call or even get in a taxi and try to find his way home, where he knows you’ll be. Because despite wanting to reach out and hug you close and reassure you that he’ll never hurt you again, is the nagging reality that literally, good girls like you deserved so much more than bad boys like him. 

So he digs his hands in his pockets against the cold breeze and begins briskly walking towards home. By the time he reaches the area, the sun has begun rising and he swigs back the drink and stumbles up the stairs towards your apartment. 

He collapses against it, forehead against the cool metal of your door, and bangs on it, yelling your name. 

After his drunken antics, two girls open the door, that he recognizes through his haze as Jihyo, your close friend, and Nayeon, your roommate. They glare at him with squinted eyes, clearly having been woken up by his fuss. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Jihyo hisses. She makes a move to shut the door, but Jeongguk grabs the handle and yanks it back. “Please,” he mutters, “I need to see her.” 

Nayeon shakes her head. “She hasn’t been able to sleep all night because of you. Don’t you think it’s right to give her a little space?” When he doesn’t respond, she tries to close the door again but he slumps against the frame, croaking, “Please, please.” When they don’t budge and just glare down at him, he begins yelling drunkenly into the hall behind them. “Y/N?! Y/N! Please, please, let me explain myself!” 

Jihyo and Nayeon try to wrestle the door from him, and you emerge, your eyes red and puffy from crying. He stops and freezes when he sees you, and you walk up to him, and your friends disappear into the bedrooms to give you some spac. 

“What do you want, Jeongguk?” You whisper, and his heart sinks at the way your voice quivers. 

“I’m sorry. I never wanted to let you see me like that there,” he mumbles, still reeling from the drink. “I never invited you cause I didn’t want them to make bets on you,” he slurs, and you frown. 

“Jeongguk, what are you even saying?” 

He groans, slumping against the doorway. “’m just really scared of loosing you, that’s all...I really, you’re really m’ best friend ‘nd I like--” he slumps completely, and you scramble forward to catch him. Groaning under his weight, you steady yourself and call out to Jungyeon, and together, you both manage to shove him into the elevator and walk him to his apartment before letting him collapse onto the couch. He groans and mumbles your name and turns over, and you straighten up, glaring down at him with nothing to say. 

Jungyeon groans, “I swear I’m gonna fucking neuter him if he even comes across my sight again. You don’t deserve to be hurt like this, Y/N.” At the last thought, the water works begin and large tears roll down your cheeks. She coos, “Aww, Y/N,” and holds you to her as you sob again, unsure of how to feel. She guides you out the door and tucks you into your own bed, watching as you cry yourself to sleep for the second time that night. Looking at the time, it was already way too early in the morning to go back to sleep, so she shakes Jihyo up and storms out of the house with a glare of determination. 

“Okay, spit it out Park Jimin,” she snaps, crossing her arms at the frightened boy. “Or else I’ll literally grab the scissors over there in the cashier’s cup and jam it down your crotch.” Jimin glances nervously at the said cup and shakingly crosses his legs, cupping his family jewels. 

“W-what’s going on?” 

Jihyo rolls her eyes. “Oh, you know what’s going on. Why did you prank Y/N like that? We know you sent her the text with Jeongguk’s phone.” 

He recalls the incident and winces. “Oh shit, my bad. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way.” 

Jihyo glares, leaning forward with a glare. “My bad? My bad is what you say when you come and go to sleep before I even get a chance to take my pants off. My bad is what assholes like you say when you make a tiny mistake, not screw someone’s entire reputation and life over!” 

He holds his hands up in defense. “Okay, okay! Jeez, you’ll never let me live down that moment ever, won’t you?” Sighing, he leans forward. “I only sent that text to her because Jeongguk was being a little pussy. He clearly likes Y/N.” 

Jungyeon stops, “Huh?” 

Jimin nods, “He got really mad when Shownu and Wonho made a bet on who can get into a nerd’s pants first. So when Shownu asked Jeongguk to set him up with Y/N, he flipped.” 

Jungyeon curls her lip in a sneer. “You guys are literally, so disgusting.” 

Jimin nods sheepishly. “Well, I wasn’t part of it, so...yeah. But anyways, Jeongguk really likes her but he mentioned that he can’t make a move because he doesn’t want her to get a bad reputation from him. Did you guys say something to him that made him think like that?” 

Jihyo frowns, “Uh...well like we do tell her that she deserves better than him, like, practically everyday.” 

Jimin groans. “Of course you do. And you literally convinced him to back off from Y/N, when all of us know that they really like eachother.” 

Jungyeon and Jihyo exchange guilty looks. “Well,” Jungyeon pipes up, “Jeongguk isn’t really doing a great job of convincing us he can treat Y/N better otherwise, so, there’s that!” 

Jimin shakes his head. “Trust me, he’s a really good kid. It’s just that when he’s with the team, the older guys sort of pressure him to drink and go get girls and it just sort of happens.” He shrugs, “That’s the entire environment of the team. But trust me, Jeongguk is one of the more conservative ones and has started sleeping around less with anyone since he started hanging out so much with Y/N. The whole Jennie thing was a mistake. He does it often when he gets stressed out or mad.” 

Jihyo sighs, “You can’t expect us to think a guy like that is okay for our friend, do you?” 

Jimin shakes his head. “You know, I can’t convince you that he’s good enough for Y/N. Cause to be honest, from what I’ve seen, she’s a great girl and practically no one I know is good enough for her.” Your friends nod in agreement. “But what you have to do is trust her, that she likes Jeongguk for a reason and keeps him around for a good reason.” 

They exchange looks as they nod slowly, uncrossing their arms. 

“Hey, Y/N,” someone calls out, and you break out of your thoughts while sitting alone at the library. It felt too empty and cold there to get any work done anyway. When you catch sight of Jimin coming your way you sigh and turn back to your work. 

“Woah, hey, hey. Please just give me a listen. Let me explain myself.” 

You turn to him with a tired expression. “Explain what?”

He sits down, facing you with a solemn expression. “I-I just wanted to apologize.” 

You lift your eyebrow and he continues. “I didn’t mean to make it seem like a prank. Jeongguk had just been moping around all day and not confronting his feelings for you and so I just wanted to help him out a little. I had no idea he wouldn’t notice you were at the game, and no idea you would come to the party.” 

You run a hand through your hair. “I don’t really care about the text thing Jimin. I’m angry because of how Jeongguk acted at the party and how he’s just treating me like I don’t belong.” 

He sighs, leaning back in his chair. “Don’t you understand? You don’t belong.” He raises a hand to stop you from cutting in as he continues, “You’re so much better and kinder and smarter than all of us, and people like us don’t deserve to hang out with girls like you. That’s why, Y/N, that’s why he didn’t want you to come to the party, because guys like Wonho were betting on who could get you into bed the fastest.” 

“Th-they did what? A bet?!” You stutter, your breath coming out in short gasps. 

He nods, “Yeah. They’re the seniors on our team so no one really says anything about it but they’re really douchebags.” 

You think to how oddly nice Wonho was to you and scoff. They were really trashy human beings. 

He leaves with a final statement. “Trust me, Jeongguk cares for you. But sometimes, people like you deserve better, so people like us try to stay away.” 

Jeongguk stares down at the jersey in his hands, it still smelling slightly of your natural scent, and he fists the material as he grits his teeth. He missed you like crazy. Jimin had woken him up this morning and told him what chaos he made at 4 AM in the morning at your house and Jeongguk was so fucking pissed because even if he tried to, he couldn’t stay away from you. 

“C’mon team, let’s go!” The coach yells and whistles and Jeongguk shrugs on his original game jersey on with a grimace, pulling on his helmet and mouthguard. He jogs out with his team, the stands erupting in cheers as the team runs out. 

The team huddles and the coach reads out instructions for their plan of attack. Jeongguk was on the offense again this time as the quarterback. He zones out a bit as they yell coordinates, and Jimin pats him on the back. 

“Hey, Jeongguk, you okay?” 

He shakes his head, and Jimin pats his helmet. “Hey, do your best okay? She’s here.” He jogs away as Jeongguk whips off his helmet and mouthguard, and he turns around and scans the bleachers filled with people. 

But there are too many people in the stands, and he can’t find you and his coach yells his name before he can jog over to see where you are. 

You watch him from the sidelines, a hat stuffed over your eyes as you watch him hesitate as his eyes scan the bleachers. You duck your head even further until he runs off and joins his team and look back at him, the blaring 58 zipping across the field to take center position. Jimin had told you that Jeongguk was avoiding you because he felt like he wasn’t good enough, and if he was telling the truth, you were here to give Jeongguk one last chance.

All you wanted was some honesty. Because he probably had no idea how much you loved him, and how much you were willing to forgive everything he had done as long as he was willing to work with you. 

Your mind wanders as the game progresses, drowning out the cheers and screams from the stands. You pick at the holes on your jeans as you watch the game progress, and get up to grab a drink. You step down the metals steps and slowly make your way to the concession stand, making sure to keep your cap low over your eyes. 

Suddenly, a hand grabs you and whirls you around. You gasp in surprise as you spin around to see Wonho smirking down at you. 

“Going somewhere?” He sleazily grins down at you, scanning your body shamelessly. 

You yank your wrist out of his hand and face him with as fierce of a glare as you can muster. “Get the fuck away from me Wonho,” you hiss.

“Ooh, feisty,” he mewls, an arm slipping around your waist. 

But you grab it and crack his fingers towards his wrist, and he yelps with a growl, and tries to get out of your grip, when you kick him right in the crotch. Jeongguk had once taught you to aim there in self defense. He groans and falls to his knees, clutching at his balls. “What the actual fuck,” he groans and glares up at you. You glare at him, and grab your drink and walk away with a smirk. “If I ever catch you doing shit like those stupid ass bets again on other women, I’ll quick you so hard you’ll never be able to fuck again.” 

You walk out to the bleachers, expecting to see the game proceeding as usual, but no players are out running and are huddled at the corner of the field. You tap a girl who’s whispering with her friends. “Hey, I’m sorry, what happened?”  

“Jeon Jeongguk got hurt!” She exclaims, pointing at the huddle. “The other quarterback ran into him really hard and he’s not getting up. 

You drop your drink as you sprint towards the middle, but the fence prevents you from from running onto the field. You watch desperately as players and medics scurry around Jeongguk. 

“Is it a concussion, coach?” One of the players asks. 

The medic shakes his head. “I don’t think so. But I have no idea why he’s suddenly so weak.” 

Jimin scrambles down and pats Jeongguk’s cheek. “Hey! Get up! Y/N is here! You can’t give up right now!” Jeongguk opens his eyes and pants heavily. Jimin helps him sit up, “There you go, she’s right there!” He points towards you and you watch as they yell something at Jeongguk before helping him up and point at you. You’re confused because you can’t hear anything, but Jeongguk nods at whatever Jimin yelled and gets up slowly, grabs a drink, and then faces you. 

Everything stops, when he finally sets his sight on you, and he can see the worry on your face from halfway across the field. You’re gripping onto the fence and straining to see him. He musters up his courage, ignoring the way he was winded when the other quarterback slammed a bit too hard. But he was okay, and seeing you made everything even better. He smiles, and waves at you, and you burst into tears at the sight, relieved that he’s okay. 

With that, he turns and grabs his helmet, his members encouraging him as he joins once again on the field. 

He leans down, hands coming down to grip the grass. He remembers how you looked at him, desperate to see if he was okay. Jimin grunts out something, “Go get her, Jeongguk!” And begins yelling out instructions for the team. “Alright, 62, hike!” 

“Right right right!” “Lets...go!” “Hold your block, hold it!” “Go!” 

The whistle blows and the players rush at each other as the timer begins. Jeongguk grunts as he runs with the ball straight towards the goal post, and players jump and fall behind him, trying to grab his tail. His linebackers slam into the other boys, their shoulders slamming against shoulder pads and grunts echoing across the field. 

He yells as he strains his legs to run as fast as he can, the time ticking as the game draws to a close in a few seconds. Grunts and yells echo behind him, but he can’t think of anything else as he runs and runs towards the two yellow bars in front of him. He tumbles as he runs past the white line on the grass, and the bleachers erupt in cheers as he makes it past the yard line the moment the clock buzzes 0. 

But he drops the ball and doesn’t stop running, making a U-turn from the end of the field to come running straight to the bleachers. His teammates yell out for him, jogging after him towards the bleachers, but he doesn’t stop, because he has his sights on you. 

He whips off his helmet, and finds you behind the fence, which he hops without a blink, and waits until he’s in front of you. You’re looking up at him with trembling lips and teary eyes, and he smiles down at you, you’re seriously the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. 

He runs the last few steps and grabs you by the waist, lifting you clear off the stands and pressing you to his body. You begin crying, blubbering as he spins you and sets you down on the dirt of the field and leans down to hug you, a strong arm wrapped around your waist to keep you from collapsing and another pressed on the middle of your back, pressing your chest to his. 

And he sets you down, ignoring the whoops and hollers behind him. He cradles your cheek in his hand, leaning down to smile at you. You blubber, “Are you okay? You’re feeling okay? Jeon Jeongguk, I swear you had me worried sick I thought-” 

He smiles and whips off your cap, swoops down, interrupting your crying, and presses his lips hard against yours. You gasp into the kiss as he swipes past your lips, moving his lips against yours with desperation and joy and happiness. He grits against your lips, his smile so wide he can’t kiss you properly. “I like you, Y/N. No, I think I love you. And I’ve been so stupid because I don’t deserve you. But I also don’t ever want to see you walk away from me again. I’m gonna fight for you.” 

You smile up at him, tears still streaming down. “A-are you sure?” 

He smiles, leaning down to capture your lips in another breathtaking kiss. 

“I’m so sure.” 

It’s the night of your one-year anniversary with Jeongguk, the first week of senior year, and you’re currently at his house to work on a group project together.

Correction: you’re currently making out with your boyfriend on his couch, the assignment forgotten on the kitchen table. 

He groans as you perch on his lap and peck his lips teasingly, his hands coming up to grab your waist as a warning. You giggle and hold his cheeks as you lean down to press your lips hard against his, dipping your tongue against his lower lip and then nipping at it, earning another warning. “Y/N...” 

You smile as you wrap your arms around him, and situate yourself a little more comfortably on his lap, while, is currently trying his hardest not to spring up a boner at the feeling of you wiggling your ass into his lap. His hands are on your waist though, and his body betrays him because he subconsciously digs his fingers into the small of your waist and presses you closer against his chest. He practically melts at how soft you are and how warm you feel against him, and tries to hold himself back. Even though it’d been a year since you’d made it official, and a blissful year at that, he’d been careful on how far you two went. He knew you had boundaries that you were careful about, and never wanted you to feel pressured into taking your relationship a bit further. 

But with the way you kissed him and pressed your breasts to his chest and wiggled your hips against his crotch, his dick was saying otherwise. 

“Fuck, Y/N, if you keep this up, I’m not gonna be able to stop,” he groans as he distracts himself by kissing down your jaw, licking hesitantly at the crook near your ear, making you sigh above him. 

You hesitate, thinking about how hard you thought about regarding taking your relationship with Jeongguk further. You were still a little scared, because you’d initially wanted to take it to the next step a while ago, but you also wanted to go slow. And on this night, when the moon was high up in the air and some stupid episode of some TV show was blaring in the background of his house, you were way, way too much in love with this man underneath you to think about anything else. It was the perfect moment. 

You lean down, kissing him desperately. He groans again, and you detach from him, smiling down at him and thumbing his swollen lips and giggling at his blushing cheeks and overblown pupils. 

“I-I think I’m ready.” 

“W-What?” If possible, his eyes get even wider and his cheeks blush scarlet red as he gapes up at you.

“I love you, Jeon Jeongguk.” His hand comes up to swipe your hair away from your face, and he smiles. “I love you too. Are you sure?” 

You lean down and wrap your arms around him, smiling as he lifts you up and carries you towards his bedroom.

In this moment, when his arms are around you and you’re in just your pajamas and he in his, everything feels so right. 

“I’m so sure.” 

[28allthelove28]

Essay on Fandom and Obsession (One Direction & Fionn Whitehead mainly)

I think it is vital to not make people feel guilty for the things that they enjoy. It is also important to realise that everyone gets obsessed with stuff, and it’s not a bad thing.

Fandom can often be seen as being predominantly young girls screaming and crying over young boys, and apparently that is not cool. At least a lot of people seem to think it is not cool, but that attitude is wrong. Yes, teenage girls have been freaking out over young men since before Beatlemania, but intense fandom and excessive love for your idol is by no means exclusive to young girls. Think of Morrissey. Grown men devote their lives to worshiping him. I’ve witnessed hard, tough, old men in tears, covered in Smiths tattoos, shouting every lyric out at a Morrissey gig, and no one batted an eye. It’s great! David Bowie inspired generations of working class lads to dye their hair bright orange and go out wearing glittery make up. Loads of men really idolise Oasis. Everybody loves Radiohead. I’m one of the proud and devoted thousands who flock in their Goth uniform to see The Cure perform every couple of years, and hopefully I always will be. The best moment of my life was my last Cure gig, and I’m very happy about that. Of course, fan girls don’t just like male musicians, a lot of girls like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Little Mix, so do a lot of boys. Lads also like Justin Bieber as well as girls. Maybe it is naïve, unnecessary and problematic to even consider fandom in terms of gender, especially in terms of only two genders.

To mention fan fiction, I bought a book from Rough Trade Records which was part of a series of works inspired by different musicians. It was a short story which the author imagined after listening to the album Dry by PJ Harvey. It may not be classed as conventional fan fiction per say, due to Polly Harvey not being directly featured in the story, but each chapter began with the first lyric of Polly’s song, in order of the album tracklist. Something creative and imaginative was born from an enjoyment of music, it was wonderful. And fandom is obviously not just music orientated, thousands of people are obsessed and devoted to football. I couldn’t even count the amount of Newcastle United Football Club tattoos I’ve seen. Game Of Thrones, Star Wars and Harry Potter have enormous fan bases too. The Great British Bake Off is huge, so are specific YouTubers, make-up brands, celebrities like the Kardashians, fashion brands, games, and phone apps. There are so many areas of fandom and obsession, when you begin to think about it. I may have glossed over and simplified some things but these serve as only a few brief examples, out of many, of how diverse and wonderful fandom can be.

Being a fan is clearly by absolutely no means just young females liking young male singers, and it probably is problematic to think so. Perhaps why it can initially seem that way, to me anyway, may be because a girl obsessing over a boy has been my personal experience, and in contemporary culture today, the media really does like to mock girls like me. To focus on One Direction in particular, because that is my biggest obsession, and is most relevant to this discussion, many journalists enjoy frequently claiming that all One Direction fans are hysterical, naive 12 year old girls, who want to sleep with the band, and only like them because they’re pretty. When in fact, not only is that disrespectful to any 12 year old 1D fans, but many fans have grown up with One Direction and are around the same age as them, if not much older. Many One Direction fans don’t fancy the band whatsoever, many 1D fans are boys, many fans are gender fluid, and all the fans that I’ve interacted with genuinely love 1D’s music and respect the band members. Yes, there are some people who sexualise, worship, and disrespect One Direction, but tabloid journalists can often only focus on that side of things.

I think it is important to highlight more so, that a vast portion of the One Direction fandom are part of the LGBTQ+ community, and through 1D and their fans, feel loved, supported, understood, welcomed, included and inspired to be strong and proud. A lot of One Direction concerts are full of rainbow flags, which then get shown on the big screen, signed by Louis, and worn by Harry. Harry has ‘liked’ Instagram posts encouraging people to “Support feminine boys” and Louis has even corrected Harry when he accidentally misgendered a fan. A vast portion of the 1D fandom, myself included, genuinely believe that Harry and Louis are in love, and have been in a secret relationship for years, and we completely support them. (I have a separate essay on this.) I talked about this recently with a lecturer in queer art history, who also believes in Larry, and is in awe at the level of visual analysis ‘Larries’ have undertaken to examine Harry and Louis’ complimentary couple tattoos.

Harry has inspired young boys to wear nail polish because, until seeing him do it, they “Didn’t know boys were allowed.” Again, I don’t want to skim over important issues, but I am quickly mentioning the importance of One Direction’s queer community, and Harry challenging gender norms, to disprove the media idea that all 1D fans are just there to sexualise the band. Yes, I and many others do find One Direction very beautiful and sexy, but I don’t want to be their girlfriend or their lover, at most I just want to be their best friend. I want to continue enjoying their music and supporting them as individuals. And so do the majority of fans that I interact with.

The way in which mainstream media represents One Direction fans can make them expect everyone to mock them. However Mark Radcliffe, a radio presenter on 6Music, an alternative station you would never expect to mention One Direction, recently spoke very kindly of Harry Styles and his fans. He saw people queuing to meet Harry, and explained on his show that they were very excited, and “Why wouldn’t they be?” Mark discussed that Harry was doing solo work and even made a feature out of fandom, asking listeners to text in their own experiences of queueing for their idols. Mark kept chatting to Harry’s fans, checking they were ok and he even brought them breakfast. The entire time Mark mentioned Harry and the fans, he spoke sweetly and respectfully and completely normally. This shouldn’t have been refreshing to hear, but it really was. I tweeted to thank Mark for his kindness, to which he ‘liked’ and replied. I simply found this a lovely and heart-warming example of respectable music news outlets treating young pop fans nicely.

Harry Styles himself was even asked about his fan-base being mainly composed of young girls, as if he were supposed to feel embarrassed about that, and he brilliantly commented “Who’s to say that young girls who like pop music – short for popular right? – have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That’s not up to you to say. Music is something that’s changing… Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they’re not serious? How can you say young girls don’t get it? They’re our future – our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kind of keep the world going. Teenage-girl fans – they don’t lie. If they like you, they’re there. They don’t act ‘too cool’. They like you, and they tell you.” I really don’t think there is a better way to say it. One Direction fans defend them against the media, but they also correct them if they make mistakes. We are honest.

Louis Tomlinson has also talked about how impressive and “Remarkable” his own fans devotion is, and how endlessly grateful he is for it. Louis has discussed how he’s built up a special relationship with his fans and often credits his success as being a constant “Teamwork” between him and the fans working together, even saying that they deserve managerial, promotion jobs. Niall Horan from One Direction constantly looks out for the safety of his fans as they queue to see him perform, and he even regularly shares photos of letters which he’s handwritten for fans, personally updating them on what he’s been up to. Liam Payne from 1D always remembers to acknowledge special band anniversaries that the fans get involved with, and Zayn Malik frequently shares examples of fan art that his fans have drawn of him. The members of the band which people idolise, equally love and appreciate their fans in return and form a family-like unit together, and it’s lovely.

People have picked up on this and even said that society should be built in a similar way as a fandom; supportive, passionate and communal. A lovely article was written by Aarabelle Sicardi, in which she describes fashion designer Rei Kawakubo as her own Harry Styles. She rightly notes that “Loving people makes you brave.” And that “Fandom is a pure version of this. It’s an ideal receptacle of feelings because you ask for nothing personal in return… fandom gave me bravery and friendship.” She admits that you can often find yourself needing to “Defend” your fandom love, and that people may dismiss the thing you love but the thing you love will never dismiss you. She discusses similar points which I have made that “Fandom lives in every industry if you know where to look…teen girls are always attacked for their fandom regardless: music fandom to outsiders looks uncool, unhinged or wasteful. You might see teen girls crying and holding signs or collecting memorabilia and think it’s too much for something so trivial. But it’s not.” Sicardi quotes Harry’s fans as they describe how he was a gateway to finding their queer community and affirming their own identity, saying that “His existence in the world made them more comfortable with their own…Teen girls are criticized for loving the wrong things and loving them in weird and unproductive ways. But the criticisms couldn’t be more off base. They love things with a brilliance and curiosity that makes them better for it…Teen girls push themselves to learn how to code so they can build beautiful fan-pages and online communities… It helps them build worlds out of their imaginings.” Through writing about One Direction, myself and many other fans have also learnt more about putting forward an argument, gathering information, formatting essays and questioning things. Sicardi ends her article by saying that loving things makes fans smarter and braver, and I agree.

These are all beautiful, empowering things, but for me, being so engaged in a fandom can also mean that I do live inside my head quite a lot, but it’s mostly very nice in there, and I think everyone does that. Everyone imagines things. Everyone enjoys the things they enjoy. Admittedly I probably think that obsessing over famous boys is worse than it actually is. In reality I’ve now learnt that it’s not that bad at all. Yes, loving One Direction, Larry Stylinson and Fionn Whitehead can cause some problems – what if no man in real life can live up to them? What if Larry or ‘Larries’ have set unrealistic expectations of relationships? What if I’m more invested in their wellbeing than my own, and those around me? What if I spend so much time on them that I am ignorant to real world problems? What if their rich and privileged lifestyles have made me greedy and selfish? What if their success being born from luck on a talent show has made me lazy and less ambitious? What if their enormous success at the same age as me has made me value my own progress less? What if their physical beauty and that of the people around them has made me doubt and criticise my own? However, perhaps me thinking that loving a boy band or an actor is damaging and could cause all these issues, is the actual problem. Perhaps the obsession itself is not the problem, but my attitude towards it, an attitude influenced by media shame. Maybe me thinking it’s a problem is the only problem.

In reality, it is fun, and educational, and cultural to discover an actor or a singer. To appreciate a person’s talent and hard work, to notice their good qualities, to learn things from them and from their art, to unashamedly be passionate about something, to meet new people through that shared interest and then learn more things from them. All of that is a positive, and rewarding, and beautiful thing. I just have to keep thinking that until I no longer need to remind myself.

Perhaps this whole essay is my way of justifying to myself that it is ok for me to be obsessed with Fionn Whitehead and One Direction. Of course it is. Life is too short and dramatic to worry about things that you don’t really need to worry about. Life is too short and dramatic to deny yourself what you enjoy. Life is too short and dramatic to be over influenced by other people and their opinions. Life is too short and dramatic to not be proud of who you are and what makes you happy.

[evielynfic]

Pièce de Résistance - Part 5

RATING: MA PAIRING(S): Jai Courtney/Reader SUMMARY: You are taking a Life/Figure Drawing class in college. The usual model has called out sick at the last minute and the professor has had to ask a friend to help out for a few classes. Much to your surprise, the fill-in is a bulky, sexy, famous movie star. 

A/N: Hello, guys! I know this update is coming later than I had planned, but at least it hasn’t been a year. The first half of this part came to me very easily, but then the latter half wanted to be stubborn. Needless to say, finishing the story was a bit rough. I managed to push my way through the block, though, and was finally able to finish it. I’m not sure I’m completely 100% satisfied with the end result as a whole, but I wanted to finish it for you guys.

Also, this is where the MA rating comes in. It’s probably not my steamiest scene, but it’s definitely steamy. This is also the part that I’ve been thinking over in my head since just after starting the story that I really wanted to get to.

There’s another note at the bottom and I am posting a separate post since it got a bit long. I didn’t want to keep you guys from the reason why you’re here. ;) I hope you enjoy, and if you’re in USA, I hope you have a happy fourth!

Tag List: @beltz2016​, @lady-sloan​, @oddsnendsfanfics​, @frecklefaceb​, @jasonmccannsgirl8699​, @badassbaker​

Part 5

After arriving home from classes that day, you laid on your sofa wi​, th Jai’s hat in your hand. You had called Jai to let him know you had found his baseball cap, but he hadn't answered. You thought briefly of keeping the hat for yourself, but quickly dismissed the idea. For all you knew, the hat may have had a deeper meaning to Jai, much like your sketchbook had to you.  

You kept replaying all of the events that had taken place over the past few days in your mind, wondering where things had gone so horribly wrong. You had clearly misread all the signals and found yourself stumped as to how someone could turn such a complete one-eighty so quickly. It had to have been something you had said, or Jai had been playing you the whole time. You found the latter option unlikely, but then again, you really didn't know the man at all. One can learn facts and tidbits about someone from the Internet every day of the week, but knowing those facts and tidbits still does not mean that you really know the person.  

As you were leaving for work later that night, you set the cap on your dresser before turning off all of the lights in your apartment. Jai had still not called you back, but you tried not to worry about it. There could be many reasons as to why Jai hadn't answered his phone and had not returned your call. You left for work, clearing the whole situation from your mind.

A week had gone by without a single word from Jai. You had since given up on trying to contact him after five calls and three text messages. You tried to go about your days as if the ordeal didn't affect you and tried to forget about the entire experience with Jai. You had since moved his hat to your closet shelf where you wouldn't see it every time you walked into your room.  

Everyone at work could tell that something was going on with you over the past week. They tried at every turn to get you to talk about the situation, but you refused. Deep down you knew that they were all just trying to help you get through it, but talking about it would just make it hurt all the more.  

When you received the three drawings of Jai back from Miss Bailey, you tried not to look at them as much possible. You didn't even care to read her comments on the papers she had attached to them or see the grades you had received. You had stuck them in an old portfolio and placed them in the back of your closet.

A week after that, your co-workers had stopped talking about it altogether. Thankfully, they never mentioned Jai's name anymore, either. You were beginning to move forward and get back to how things were before. Although, even if you wouldn't admit it, you still felt something was missing.  

That Friday evening as you came in from work, you undressed and threw your dirty clothes in the hamper in the corner of your closet. You desperately needed a shower before you got started on your homework for the week ahead.  

After your shower, you had put on some comfy clothes and began to finish some drawings for class. You did your best not to picture a tall, handsome Australian in place of the latest model that you had gotten that week. After zoning out a bit, remembering those three classes two weeks prior, you were jarred back into reality again when your pencil snapped in two at how hard you had been bearing down on the paper.

Sighing, you stood and discarded the ruined pencil in the trash. You searched in your bag for a replacement and remembered you had more pencils in your closet. As you began to search on your closet shelf for the pencils you had bought recently, you pulled down the box they were stored in, causing several other things to fall off the shelf along with it.  

You groaned in frustration as you set the box on your bed before returning to your closet to clean up the mess off the floor. You picked up everything from the floor and froze when you saw Jai's hat lying there in the corner by your shoes. You quickly picked it up and started to set it back to where you had originally stored it when you saw a piece of folded paper lying on the floor where the hat had landed.  

Inspecting the unfamiliar piece of paper, you went to your bed and sat down, forgetting all about Jai's hat in your hand. You set it down in front of you on the bed and began to unfold the paper. The paper had been torn from standard printer paper and looked to be folded haphazardly, but folded into a small square. As you opened the paper, you began to read the short note.  

If found, please return to owner at the address below.

You stared at the address written on the paper with the initials J.C. written above the street address and the familiar phone number below. After mulling it over in your head, you grabbed the hat and turned it over to look on the inside. Running your fingers over the inner band, your lips slowly began to form a smile for the first time in two weeks. 

You had to research online to find where the address was located and discovered that it was only about twenty minutes away from your apartment. You thought about whether or not you should even bother returning the hat, but since you knew where Jai lived, you couldn't find it in you to keep it. Even if all you did was give him his hat back, you were going to Jai's house. You would rather not have the constant reminder in your apartment that you were completely gullible and probably the butt of all jokes for Jai and his friends.  

You managed to shove all thoughts from your mind before reaching Jai's house. As you pulled up by the curb in front, your mouth nearly dropped at the sight of the house. After turning off the ignition, you dug the paper out of your purse to check the address to make sure you were at the right place. It wasn't the largest house you had seen, but it was large enough to almost make you want to quickly drive off and change your mind.  

After gathering yourself and swallowing several times, you grabbed Jai's hat that sat on your front seat and forced yourself to get out of the car after sitting there for nearly ten minutes. You looked over the house more thoroughly as you walked up to the black wrought iron fence surrounding the property, suddenly realizing there wasn't a neighboring house in sight.  

As you walked up to the gate, you couldn't tell if Jai's car was in the drive or not from the trees. You noticed a call box beside the gate, but surprisingly found that the gate was unlocked after testing it. You looked around quickly for any guard dogs, but saw none. You still hurried to the door just in case there might be one or more lurking in the shadows, mentally chastising yourself for watching too much TV. After taking yet another deep breath, you rang the doorbell before you lost your nerve.  

Waiting for Jai to answer the door seemed to drag on for years. You had rung the bell again after about thirty seconds of not hearing anything. You sighed before turning around and began to step off the porch.  

Just before your foot hit the bottom step, you heard the door open behind you. You froze at the sound, chewing on your bottom lip.  

"Y/N?" Jai finally said after a moment of silence.  

After the shudder that ran down your spine at hearing that familiar deep, accented voice, you turned around slowly, coming face to face with Jai himself.  

"Hi," you said after another brief pause, finding it difficult to stop staring.  

Jai was wearing gym shorts, a thin white t-shirt that almost looked like it was two sizes too small on his muscular frame, and his feet bare despite the chill in the air. You couldn't help but notice that his hair was a bit wet and that there were a few wet spots on his shirt, as if he had just gotten out of the shower recently.  

"Hi," Jai replied, returning your gaze.  

You had forgotten the reason you were there, even while holding Jai's hat in your hand. You hadn't thought that seeing Jai again after two weeks would affect you as much as it was. You had clearly forgotten how magnificent he looked in person.    

"I wasn't expecting you," Jai commented after you remained silent.  

You cleared your throat and finally broke your gaze, glancing at the concrete beneath your feet. "Yeah, I'm sorry for bothering you. I just thought that I would..." You paused, holding up his hat. "You left this in class on your last day." You climbed the steps slowly and held the black cap out to him.  

Jai took the hat, watching you closely. "Thank you for returning it."  

"It's no problem. Again, I'm sorry for bothering you." You quickly turned around and began to descend the steps again, ready to make a hasty retreat.  

"Wait," Jai called out suddenly.  

You stopped on the steps and turned around once more to face Jai. You really just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.  

"Yes?" You asked hesitantly.  

"Where are you going?" Jai asked curiously, walking to the edge of the porch and placing the hat on his head backwards before crossing his bare arms to fight off the chill.  

"Um, I'm avoiding any further embarrassment and going back home. Why?" You felt tears begin to well up in your eyes, but you held them in. You hoped that Jai was far enough away and couldn't tell that you were five seconds away from crying like some heartbroken teenage girl.  

"What embarrassment, Y/N?" Jai probed further.  

"Like you don't know?" You asked, your voice full of bite. You crossed stuck your hands in your pockets as the wind picked up, blowing leaves across the ground at your feet.  

"No, please tell me," Jai responded, confusion written across his face.

"You're honestly going to stand there and tell me you don't think I'm an idiot for thinking that a guy like you could really be attracted to a nobody like me?" You paused a moment, trying your best to hold back the tears threatening to fall. "You haven't returned my calls or texts in two weeks, Jai. After your final time modeling, you just left without even looking back. I thought I might have meant something to you. You kissed me, remember? Why would you do that if you didn't like me and were just going to act like you had never even met me?"  

"Y/N," Jai started before pausing and sighed.  

"What?" You nearly shouted, swiping at the tears on your cheeks that were falling beyond your control.  

"I didn't mean to hurt you," Jai replied as he began to make his way down the steps closer to you. "Besides, you are not just a nobody."  

"Stop," you commanded.  

"Y/N, let me explain." Jai kept moving toward you anyway, despite your wishes.  

"No, just forget it, Jai." You turned and began to head back to your car.  

You barely made it five steps before Jai grabbed your arm and pulled you back to him gently, turning you so you didn't have any choice but to face him.  

"Y/N, look at me," Jai pleaded with you. "I didn't want things to end that way at all or for two weeks to go by without speaking to you."  

"Then why did you?" You asked, trying to calm down.

"Ella warned me to stay away from you and told me that you had a boyfriend," Jai finally revealed, releasing his grip on your arm.  

"What?" You stepped back a few steps to put some distance between you and Jai.  

"During the last class I modeled in, after I stopped talking to you, she told me that I needed to leave you alone. She said that our lives were too different and you were already seeing someone else."

"Why would you listen to her?" You asked curiously. "I'm twenty-four, Jai. I'm not some teenager who can't make her own decisions, and I don't have a boyfriend. I bet the only reason she said any of that to you was because she's jealous and she thought that she could scare you away from me."  

"What are you talking about, Y/N?" Jai asked.  

"Miss Bailey obviously has a thing for you, Jai. I don't know what relationship you two have or have had other than being friends, but she clearly wants it to be more."  

Jai rubbed his face with his hands. "I'm so sorry, Y/N. I shouldn't have listened to her. I should have come to you."  

"No, you shouldn't have," you said before beginning to walk to your car again.  

"Y/N, wait!" Jai called after you. "I left the hat on purpose."  

You stopped and turned around once again. "You did?"  

"Yes, I wanted you to find it, but then all of this other shit happened," Jai began moving closer to you once again.  

"Why?" You asked, raising your brow.  

"Because I wanted to know how you felt. If you cared enough to bring my hat back, it meant that you care about me." Jai stopped just in front of you. "Or at the very least, you would care enough about returning my hat."  

You looked at him, chewing on your bottom lip as you mulled over his words.  

"I didn't think that it would take you two weeks to bring it back to me, though," Jai responded. "I was starting to think that someone else had found it."  

"So, you planned the whole thing?"  

"Well, not the part about staying away from you, but the rest, yes," Jai answered. "You have no idea how much I wanted to call or see you, but I didn't know if you even wanted me to."  

"Why didn't you just return my call or texts, then?" You inquired.  

"I wanted you to come to me on your own. I didn't want to influence your decision." Jai paused a moment. "I also wasn't exactly sure you'd want anything to do with me."  

"I wanted everything to do with you, Jai," you returned quickly.

"And now?" He stood there defeated, gauging your reaction.

You acted like you were thinking a minute before smiling a little. You closed the distance that you had put between yourself and Jai, kissing him softly before you chickened out. The kiss was quick, and just after you began to pull away, Jai brought you back in for a kiss that was ten times more passionate than yours had been. You gripped his t-shirt and tried to make sure your knees didn't buckle.  

The kiss went on for several minutes, your breathing becoming ragged. Jai grabbed your hand and began to lead you inside. You didn't protest and followed him, a smile on your face.

After a few hours, you were still at Jai's house, talking and getting to know each other better. Sitting on the sofa beside Jai, you lightly traced the tattoos on his skin as he told you about each one. You smiled at the way his face lit up from the memories of getting them and the stories behind them.  

"So, do you have any tattoos?" Jai asked, his attention turning to you.  

"No. I've always wanted one, but I don't know what it would be, so I just haven't. If I ever do get any, there would have to be a reason for them. I wouldn't just get one to have one."  

"That's my philosophy on them," Jai agreed. "Each one has meaning behind it. Maybe not a always a deep one, but there's still a meaning."  

"I may end up drawing my own one day, but I haven't yet." You glanced at the clock across the room on the wall, realizing you and Jai had been talking for nearly two hours.  

"Speaking of drawings, how did you do on your assignments?" Jai asked with a curious look in his eye.  

You made a guilty face while biting your lip. "I actually don't know. I haven't really looked at them."  

"You're saying I posed naked for you to draw me for nothing?" Jai asked jokingly.  

You tried your best not to laugh at his antics. "It's not like I threw them away; they're just in my closet. And it's not like I need to look at the drawings, anyway."  

"Oh, really?"  

"Yes, your naked image is permanently ingrained in my mind," you admitted.  

"Well, that's hardly fair," Jai remarked.  

You shrugged. "You're the one who posed nude in front of a college class. No one forced you to do it."

"Okay, you have me there," Jai agreed.

"Yep." You smiled a bit smugly.  

Jai paused a moment as if he was contemplating something. "Do you remember when you told me that you didn't think you would have the guts to pose in front of a class full of people?"  

"Yeah, why?" You asked hesitantly with a raised brow.  

"Well, there's not a class full of people here right now..." Jai started.  

"And?" You asked, although you already knew where he was heading.  

"As you pointed out, you've drawn me multiple times." He watched you curiously to see your reaction.  

"Go on." You began chewing on the inside of your lip at what was coming to mind.  

"If you're up for it, I think it's only fair that I return the favor and draw you."  

"Nope." You stood up from the sofa with Jai quickly following you.  

"Oh, come on, please?" Jai begged before stopping you. "Hey, it's just me here. It's not like you're posing in front of a crowded room."  

"And posing for you isn't just as daunting?" You countered.  

Jai proceeded to poke out his bottom lip, giving you his best puppy dog face.  

"Okay, fine," you relented. "But it stays between us."  

"I swear that I will never say a word about it to anyone," Jai promised. "It'll stay between us." He took your hand and brought it to your lips, kissing your fingers softly.  

"You better not."  

"Hey, at least there's no potential for your naked drawings to be sold on the Internet," Jai pointed out.  

"Okay, you win." 

As you sat there on a bar stool in the middle of Jai's living room facing the man, you tried your best to stay still as Jai concentrated. Your legs were crossed over one another, your breasts were on full display, and your hands sat on either side of your legs gripping the stool with the sun shining in through the windows. You tried not to think about the fact that you were sitting there completely naked in the bedroom of a celebrity that millions would kill to be with.

You watched as Jai's eyes flicked up toward you every few minutes as the pencil trailed over the paper in front of him. You were surprised that you were as calm as you were since you were definitely not used to being on that side of the easel. Every time Jai's eyes would meet your own, you swallowed and tried to read his thoughts. Jai never gave anything away, remaining serious throughout the experience, but you did notice his eyes growing a bit darker every time you looked into them.  

"How do you know Miss Bailey?" You asked casually, trying not to be too obvious.  

Jai gave you a knowing look before answering. "I met her through one of my best mates. I met her shortly after I moved here."

"So, you two have never been more than friends?" You inquired further.  

“Translated: have we fucked?” Jai asked with a questioning look.

“Fine, yes.”  

"No, we're just mates. You can stop worrying," Jai replied with a smile.  

"Sorry if I was being too nosy, I was just curious." You looked at the floor. "She obviously wants you."  

"If she does, I wouldn't know. Ella's never said anything about being more." Jai noticed your distant look. "Y/N, trust me, you don't have to worry. I like you."  

You met Jai's eyes, your lips forming a smile that Jai returned. "I like you, too."  

"It's not like I want to draw every girl I know." Jai winked at you, a small smirk forming his lips. "Especially not naked."  

You chewed on your lip at his words and knew you were turning red.  

As you continued to sit there as still as possible, you tried not to think about the fact that Jai intently observing your naked form was a huge turn on. You tried your best not to bite your lip as your eyes trailed down over him as he sat across from you, his makeshift sketchbook that was a blank sheet of computer paper and a book underneath sitting on his lap.  

Thoughts began to race through your mind of Jai posing naked in class those three times, as you opened the door in your mind that you had firmly shut a few weeks ago. You let yourself daydream of what it would be like if he were to do more to you than kiss you. It was impossible to think that a man as sexy, muscular, and rugged as Jai wouldn't be good at pleasing a woman. Hell, he was pleasing you at that very moment, and he wasn't even touching you.  

After a few moments of fantasizing, you finally noticed the small, smug smirk that had appeared on Jai's lips. His smirk told you that he knew exactly what you were doing without saying a word. You managed to move your gaze away from him and tried to focus on something else before you got carried away, realizing you were squirming a bit on the stool and your legs were clenched tighter together than before. You glanced down momentarily to find your nipples hardened despite the warm air heating the house.  

"Stop fidgeting," Jai chastised, his smirk still firmly planted on his lips.  

"Sorry," you responded, trying to keep still as best as possible. "I'm not great at sitting still. It's a miracle I've lasted this long."  

"You're doing great," Jai complimented. He turned his gaze toward you, halting his pencil for a moment. "Just a little while longer."  

You took a deep breath, your chest and shoulders moving up and down, before trying to keep still again. "Okay, I'm good."  

Jai let out the small laugh before becoming serious and continuing his drawing.

The longer you sat there, the tighter your grip on the stool had become and the more you were subconsciously squeezing your legs together to try to create some friction, discovering that your mind was completely trapped in gutter. You cleared your throat and loosened the grip on the stool, noticing that your body temperature had risen even more. You glanced over at Jai, hoping he hadn't caught on to your current state. When you saw that his attention was currently on the paper on his lap, you sighed in relief.  

It suddenly occurred to you that if you were brave enough to sit completely naked only feet away from Jai, you could do something about the growing ache between your legs. You remembered the advice that Lila had given you several weeks back when Jai had met you at work: Don't be nervous. Seize the moment, make something happen.  

You watched Jai a few more seconds and waited. Once his gaze was back on the paper again, you quickly and quietly hopped off the stool and began to tip toe over to the love seat. You watched to make sure that Jai didn't look up to find you advancing toward him.  

As you reached Jai, you stood in front of him by the edge of the love seat. He hadn't noticed you standing there yet, so you halted his hand on the paper. His eyes were on you then an instant later, becoming more interested in what you were doing instead of drawing. You met his gaze and grabbed the pencil and pad from his grasp, setting them down on the floor. The drawing long forgotten, you climbed on the love seat on your knees and straddled his lap, your lips meeting his in a heated kiss and your hands gripping his thin t-shirt.  

It didn't take Jai long to figure out your intentions, his hands pulling you down onto his lap and running up your sides over your bare skin as he leaned against the back of the love seat. You could easily tell at that moment that you hadn't been the only one turned on by the experience, feeling the evidence through the soft fabric of Jai's gym shorts. You moaned at the discovery, Jai returning the sentiment as you began to slowly grind against him.

Jai broke the kiss for a moment to trail his lips down your neck. "Are you sure this is what you want?" Jai asked breathlessly against your skin.  

"What do you think?" You responded, your voice just as breathless as his as you tilted your head to give him better access. "I've wanted this since the moment I saw you without your clothes on that first day of class when I spit out most of my coffee and saw the smirk on your lips afterward."  

"Good to know," he responded as his hands finally grasped both your breasts, squeezing them gently at first before beginning to play with your pert nipples. "Because I wanted it then, too, when I saw the way you were looking at me."  

You couldn't help but moan and bite your lip, closing your eyes and relishing the feeling of his hands on you as you continued to grind against him. You tugged his shirt up, wanting to feel his bare skin against yours. Jai paused briefly to allow you to remove the item of clothing. After tossing the shirt aside, your lips met once again as your hands returned to explore the hard planes of muscle and skin as soft as silk as Jai continued to do the same to you. You moved even closer to him so that you were both skin to skin, only a thin piece of fabric separating you two from being completely so.

It wasn't long before you noticed Jai hooking his arms underneath your legs and lifting you effortlessly off the love seat. He carried you across the room to his bed, your lips never breaking for a moment until after he had laid you down on the mattress.  

You opened your eyes when you noticed his lips no longer touching yours to find Jai standing beside the bed, his eyes admiring your naked form. You watched him intently, biting your lip in anticipation. You smirked as you spread your legs briefly before closing them again.  

Your teasing seemed to get his attention as he began to slide his shorts down his legs, staring at you no longer his intent. “My turn.”

You couldn't help but notice that his voice seemed even deeper than normal and his accent thicker, sending a shudder down your spine. You sat up on your elbows to get a better view.

Once his shorts had hit the floor, he stepped out of them slowly, his darkened eyes staring at you intently. You tried not to let your mouth drop at the size of him, but you couldn't tear your eyes away from the sight of his hardened dick standing at attention.  

Jai swiftly climbed onto the bed, hovering over you in what seemed like a second. You spread your legs instinctively, as his hands trailed up your thighs to spread them further to accommodate his massive form. His lips met yours once again in a heated kiss, both of your moans melding together.  

You reached down and ran your hand over his length, eliciting a groan from him at the action, and felt even more evidence of his arousal as your fingers trailed over the tip.  

"Fuck," he groaned.  

You kissed him again with more fervor as you opened your mouth to invite him in, your tongues battling for dominance. He began to massage your clit before sliding a finger inside you.  

"Shit, Y/N." He slid in another finger before he began to slide them in and out of you very slowly.  

"Jai," you moaned at the feeling of his fingers filling and pleasing you.  

It was then you felt him lift up off you a bit and heard a drawer open and shut. You opened your eyes to find Jai ripping open a condom package with his teeth. You began to stroke him slowly, enjoying the feel of the soft but hard appendage in your hand. Jai stopped you seconds later, moving your hand before he quickly began to slide the condom onto his fully erect length. You bit your lip as you felt yourself become even more aroused at the sight.  

Jai quickly discarded the wrapper and turned his attention back to you, lowering back on top of you as he had been before. He began to run his length over your core and bundle of nerves slowly. You were torn between watching his actions and staring into his eyes, but once you met his striking gaze, you couldn't tear your eyes from his.  

Just as Jai was beginning to slowly slide into you, you closed your eyes at the feeling. A loud moan left your lips.

Seconds later, Jai was whispering into your ear, "Open your eyes, Y/N."  

You obeyed Jai's request and met his heady gaze, his pupils fully dilated.  

It wasn't long before Jai began to find his rhythm as he began his languid thrusts. You began to meet them as soon as he quickened them.  

You tried your best and failed to hold in a gasp as his fingers grazed your clit, causing your hips to jerk at his touch. "Mmm, you've been ready, haven't you?" He asked as he began to trail his lips and tongue down your neck.  

"Yes, I've been ready since I sat on that stool," you answered, surprised you could even form words at the moment.  

"I thought I noticed you squirming a bit," Jai said against your skin, his fingers moving away from your core and up your stomach. "And, now, I know why."  

"How could I sit still with your hungry eyes studying every inch of my body?" You asked, your fingers running into his curls as he nipped your skin.  

"Hungry eyes, huh?" Jai asked innocently, pausing a moment. "I don't know what you're talking about."  

"Bullshit," you answered, growing brave and pushing him onto his back. You straddled him once again, turning the tables on him as you began kissing his neck and chest. "Two can play this game, you know," you teased with a smirk.  

"Oh, I don't think so," he quickly turned you back over so you were on your back once again and your legs were hugging his broad hips, his body flush against yours. He grabbed your wrists gently and pinned them above your head to the bed, his thrusts becoming harder. "You give up yet?"  

You swallowed and moaned at the sexy, smug smirk that Jai wore at his victory. Instead of retaliating, you leaned up a little to kiss him, quickly wiping the smirk off his face as he returned the kiss.  

You tried moving your hands out of his grip so you could touch him again, but gave up once you realized he had no intention of letting them go. Instead, you intertwined your fingers with his as the two of you grew closer to the edge.  

You began to teeter on the edge minutes later, trying your best to last just a little bit longer. You tried not to make it so obvious, but knew you were failing miserably as your  restraint was quickly unraveling. You could sense that Jai was reaching his breaking point as well as his movements became more erratic and desperate with each thrust.  

When he finally released your hands, it was to trail his own down your body. It felt like your skin was on fire everywhere that his skin touched yours. His lips trailed shortly after, flicking his tongue across your slick, salty skin every so often. One hand tangled into his curly hair while the other gripped his shoulder, nails digging into his skin.  

When his hands reached your hips, he slipped one of them between your bodies, surprising you when he flicked his thumb over your throbbing clit. It was all you could do to not to scream at the sudden overwhelming sensation.  

"You're amazing, Y/N," Jai whispered seductively into your ear.  

A shudder ran down your spine and a few seconds later you finally let go, allowing yourself to embrace the release. A strangled moan of his name fell from your lips as you rode out your orgasm.  

Jai soon released a deep, guttural groan when he found his own release moments later, shutting his eyes and gripping the mattress underneath him to hold himself up. He soon gave up and gave into exhaustion as he rolled over onto the mattress beside you, quickly disposing of the used condom.  

With your breathing ragged and your mouth dry, you turned over slowly to face Jai, snuggling into his warmth. It was all you could do to place a soft kiss on his lips before laying your head down on his chest and surrendering to your own fatigue. No words were needed as you held onto each other.

As you awoke a few hours later, you noticed that the earlier sunlight streaming into the windows had been replaced with darkness. As your memories of that afternoon came flooding back into your mind, you glanced in Jai's direction, a small smile forming on your lips. You found him sound asleep with his arms and legs tangled with yours.  

It took a few minutes, but you finally managed to extricate yourself. After taking care of needs in the bathroom, you padded quietly back into Jai's room, finding him still asleep. You remembered the drawing that Jai was working on that afternoon on as you noticed the paper and book that had gotten tossed to the side on the floor.  

Sitting on the love seat, you reached down and picked up the book and paper, studying his handiwork. Taking a peak back over at Jai, you quickly grabbed his discarded t-shirt from the floor and pulled it on over your head before taking the drawing out of his room and downstairs.  

Turning the light on in the living room, you sat the drawing down on the sofa before retrieving a glass of water from the kitchen. You returned to the sofa, downing some water on your way. You set the glass down on the table in front of you and picked up the drawing, allowing yourself to study it.  

You were studying the drawing so intently, you didn't even notice when Jai entered the room. His masculine scent suddenly tickled your senses just before he reached the sofa. You tore your eyes away from the paper in your hand, looking up at his tall form in front you.  

"I thought you might have left," Jai said before sitting down beside you and pulling you to him.  

"No, I just didn't want to wake you," you replied, running your fingers over his.  

"What do you think?" He asked, pulling a few strands of hair behind your ear.  

"Even though it's a naked drawing of myself, I love it," you replied leaning back against his muscular chest.  

"I know it's not anywhere near as good as any of yours," Jai commented.

You looked into his slate blue eyes. "I actually think it might be better than any of mine."  

"How do you figure that?" He asked, looking intently at the drawing. "Your drawings are so much better than my shitty attempt at one."  

"Because every time I look at it, I'll remember today," you paused, your eyes glancing at Jai's lips. "I'll remember that you made me brave enough to take a chance, even if it just started out by me bringing back your hat."  

"You're welcome," Jai comment with a smirk.  

You raised your brow. "Who said I was thanking you?"  

"Oh, it was completely implied, and I think you want to thank me some more." Jai started to kiss you before you placed your fingers on his lips to halt his movements.  

You stared into his eyes a few moments before he began kissing your fingers. "Fine, I think you might be right."  

"Might be?" Jai asked, pulling you onto his lap.  

"Shut up." You leaned in finally, meeting his lips in a passionate kiss. 

A/N Continued: I really hope that you guys enjoyed reading this story! Thank you guys so much for taking the time to read it and for all of your lovely comments on it! I really do appreciate each and every one of them. You have no idea. ♥

« Part 4

[blackwidownat2814]

Never Forget (How Much I Love You)- Chapter 11

AO3 link to Chapter 11

OR

From The Beginning

Chapter Under The Cut

Six weeks later- September 2016, Manhattan

He hated the city.

Well…that wasn’t entirely correct.  He just hated being there away from his son.  When Liam had come to visit a few weeks previous, he brought papers from Emma for Killian to sign so that he would be officially and legally recognized as Brady’s father in every single way.  He sent them back to her signed and with a single Post-It note affixed that said ‘Thank you’.

“You need to come home little brother.”  Killian sighed into his cellphone.

“I know I do.  I don’t want to be here, away from Brady but my probationary time is almost up.  Just one more month…and it’s younger brother.”  Liam chuckled on the other end of the phone call.

“Of course.  Tell me…was it always going to be like this?  You getting this job and spending two months away?  Were you going to come back?”

“Of course Liam! I was never going to stay here.”

“Did you tell her that?”

“She wouldn’t let me. I tried, but she just wouldn’t hear it…and then the whole thing with Brady.  What made me angry was that she felt that she couldn’t trust me, when it should be the other way around.”

“I’ve seen her around.  She’s sorry, you know.”

“Then let her tell me herself.”  They were both quiet for a second before Killian spoke again.  “Did you receive the video?”

“Yes I did.  I’ll be seeing the little sailor tomorrow, so he’ll watch it then.”

“Thank you brother.”

They hung up a few minutes later.  Killian dropped his phone on the couch of the suite at the Roosevelt that Nautilus had put him up at and stepped out on the balcony, staring out at the city.

I’ll be with you soon my boy.

                                                     ~*~*~*~*~*~

September 2016, Storybrooke

“Uncle Liam!” Emma watched as Liam crouched to catch Brady in his arms in a tight hug.

“How is my favorite nephew?” he asked.

“Awesome!”

Emma couldn’t help but smile at how happy Brady was to see his uncle.  It had been almost a month since Liam had come to see him after his allergy scare.

“Guess who I talked to yesterday?” Liam asked.

“Who, Uncle Liam?”

“Your Papa!”

“Really?!”

It killed Emma that Brady hadn’t been able to see him.  But it had been her fault and she lived with that every single day she saw the sadness in her son’s face.  As soon as she’d yelled those horrible things at Killian, she had wanted to take them back. She had been so scared, seeing Brady that way, and faulted herself for not remembering to check if there was an Epi-Pen in the glove compartment of the Bug.  It’s what prompted her to go to see Peter Bell, Rose’s dad and Storybrooke’s only family lawyer, to ask him to draw up papers acknowledging Killian’s paternity.

                                                 ~*~*~*~*~*~

August 2016

“Come in Emma!”  She stepped into Mr. Bell’s office and hugged the man in question. Rose’s dad was a jovial person and always had a smile and a hug for everyone who came to see him.  Emma pulled away from the hug and they both took their respective seats.  “Now, getting down to business.  What makes you in need of my services?”

Emma flipped open the red file folder she’d brought with her and placed Brady’s birth certificate on his desk.

“I need to officially fill in this slot”, she said as she pointed to the blank ‘FATHER’ space.

“Okay.  What is the father’s full name?”

“Killian Brady Jones.”

Emma saw his eyes widen slightly when he heard the name. For the first year or so, the town’s gossip mill had been running itself ragged trying to determine who Brady’s father was because Emma refused to outright discuss it with anyone.  After a while, people were so charmed by her little boy that they forgot to care.

“I want to you to know that I mean nothing by this next question Emma, but it is one that I must ask.  Unofficially, I 100% believe you.”

“Of course.”

“Officially, I have to ask:  Are you sure Killian is Brady’s father?  There won’t be another man coming out of the woodwork to claim paternity?”

“No, sir.  I can assure you with 100% that Killian is his father.”

“Okay.”  Mr. Bell typed the information into his computer.

“However…” Emma continued as she pulled out two baggies and placed them on the desk.  “If you want proof, I’ve got hair from both of them.”  Mr. Bell chuckled as he looked at the bags.

“We don’t need that.  Like I said, I believe you.  Besides, I know them both and even the three blind Ivimey brothers that live over on Farmers Road can tell Killian is Brady’s father, that’s how much they look alike.”  Emma truly laughed for the first time in weeks.

“Thank you Mr. Bell, I needed that.”

“Well, I am here to help after all.”

Mr. Bell finished up the paperwork for Emma to sign and then put together the packet so that it could be sent to Killian to be signed by him.  She knew Liam was going to go visit him in the city in a few days, so she texted him on her way out of the office to meet her outside Granny’s for the hand-off.

                                                    ~*~*~*~*~*~

September 2016, Storybrooke

“Momma!  Did you hear that?  Uncle Liam talked to Papa!”  Brady jumped up and down in front of her with a wide smile on his face.

“That’s awesome Peanut.”

“When can I talk to Papa?”  It broke Emma’s heart to hear the sadness in her son’s voice when he asked.  She looked over to Liam who had a similar look to her own.

“I don’t know Peanut. He’s very busy working…”  She almost cried when Brady ducked his head and started shuffling his little feet around.  After what happened, Emma never intended to keep Brady from his father. She spent countless nights trying to make herself call Killian from her phone so she could just hand it to Brady. She was 1000% sure Killian Jones would never speak to her again…and he was quite right not to.

“Oh.  Okay then.”  Brady started to walk away to his room when Liam stopped him.

“Hey there, you didn’t let me finish.  I’ve got a surprise from your Papa for you.”  Brady’s little eyes widened.

“Really?!”

“Yes sir.”

“What is it? Can I see it now?  Please Uncle Liam!  PLEASE?!”

“Of course, but I need to borrow your mummy’s computer.”  Liam looked up at Emma at the end of his statement.

“Sure. Brady can show you where it is.  I’ve got to finish a few things before I go.”  She smiled to herself as she watched her three and a half foot son practically drag his six foot uncle out of the kitchen and out to the living room where their computer was hooked up to the TV.

Emma heard Brady telling Liam how to turn everything on.  She watched from the kitchen as Liam clicked on Brady’s profile picture and was prompted for a password.

“What’s your password Mr. Brady?”

“My hero!”

“Ah!  I’m sure I know who that is”, Liam replied as he tapped in a password.  Unfortunately, he was wrong.

“What’d you type Uncle Liam?”

“Jake.”  Emma saw him give Brady a puzzled look.

“Jake isn’t my hero Uncle Liam.”

“Clearly.”  He sat staring at his nephew for a second. “I think I’ve got it this time!”

Emma laughed quietly to herself as Liam’s new attempt at the password was rejected.

“How about this time?” asked Brady.

“I used ‘Hook’ this time.”

“Captain Hook isn’t my hero!”

“Then, pray tell, who is my dear nephew?”

“Papa!”

Emma’s hand flew to her mouth as she felt tears start to form in her eyes.  She was a horrible person for treating Killian the way she had.  None of this was his fault and she’d kept him from her little boy who saw him as his hero.

Liam successfully logged into Brady’s profile and Emma saw her son’s face light up when he saw his background image made up of pictures of him and Killian.  Liam said nothing and simply clicked into the internet and pulled up his email.  When he found the correct one, he opened and downloaded the attachment.

“What is it Uncle Liam?!”

“Your Papa made you a video.”

“I wanna see! Please Uncle Liam!”

Liam clicked on the downloaded attachment and a video popped up on the screen, Killian’s smiling face looking back at them…and it made Emma’s heart hurt even more.  Liam clicked once more, and the video began:

“Hey my boy!”

“Hi Papa!”

“I miss you so much and I’m so sorry I’m not there with you right now.”  Killian looked off camera and sniffled (and Emma kept dying just a little more).  “I wanted you to be here with me, you and your mum, that was my plan.  I was going to surprise you both.  But then, you got sick and I had to go.  I swear I didn’t leave without saying goodbye.  I went to see you and you were asleep.”

“Did he really Uncle Liam?”

“Of course lad, your Papa loves you very much.”  The video continued, but the scenery had changed: Killian was now in some park.

“I thought that maybe getting out of my place would be a good idea.  This is Central Park Brady, and it has a zoo!”

“A zoo Papa?”

“Yes my boy, a zoo.  I know how much you love animals.  I promise to bring you here and we’ll spend the whole day seeing all the animals you want.”  The video switched from Central Park to bustling Times Square.

“Momma!  Come see!” Emma wiped her eyes as Brady called to her and she went and sat next to him.  

“This is Times Square.  I’m here because I’m trying to decide what to buy you for your birthday.” The camera panned up to reveal the big blue sign that said THE DISNEY STORE.

“Momma!  Look!”

“I see Peanut.”

“I know you well enough to say you’re probably bouncing around and showing your mummy.”

“Yup!”  Killian walked inside the store and they heard him asking if it was okay to continue filming as he was making a video for his son. Once he was given approval, he continued, wandering in to aisle with all things Peter Pan related.

“I’m not going to show you what I’m going to get for you because that would ruin the surprise.  Suffice to say, I promise I’ll be there for your birthday.”

Brady turned to Emma with an eager look on his face.

“Momma, can Papa come to my birthday party?  Please?”

Emma could never deny her son, or Killian.  She smiled at Brady and pushed away the hair covering his forehead (much like his father’s liked to do).

“Of course Peanut, he’s your Papa.”

“I miss you, so much.”  When Emma looked up at the video, she just knew Killian was talking to her.  “And I’m sorry.  I’m so, so sorry that everything got bungled up and I didn’t have a chance to explain it all to you.  I’ll be home soon, I can’t wait to see you.  I love you so much…both of you.”

[andrewuttaro]

New Look Sabres: GM 19 - OTT - Jack It!

4-2 Regulation Win over Sens

The term “Must-Win” is a bit overused in our contemporary sports parlay. That phrase is placed before everything from pretty standard out-of-conference matchup to run-of-the-mill divisional games. Some games are must-win because if you don’t win em then there will be a new level of hell to pay. Last night was a must-win for the Buffalo Sabres. Rightfully. A loss against the Ottawa Senators would not just have been embarrassing from a skill versus skill perspective, it would have been a seventh loss in a row and trigger more than a couple alarm bells. Luckily it was a win, and a reasonably dominating one too. Still there are some storylines in this game that have been festering and will probably be with us for the weeks and months to come. Before that though let’s talk about Greatest Game Against! Brought to you by the 50th Anniversary Season of the Buffalo Sabres the Greatest Game Against attempts to memorialize the best game against each of Buffalo’s divisional rivals. There is history, and plenty of it, between these two clubs! However the greatest game against the Ottawa Senators is such in a walk, it’s not even close. The Greatest Game Against the Sens was May 13th, 2006. The Buffalo Sabres, a team that surprised many being so good so quickly after the lockout finds themselves in the second round of the playoffs against a team they had encountered many times before. The Senators were no laughing matter sporting the good, young versions of Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza, not to mention they had won the Northeast division that season. The Lindy Ruff Sabres had Daniel Briere and Chris Drury backed up by almost peak Ryan Miller with the likes of career-year having Maxim Afinogenov, Jochen Hecht, Jay McKee, and Mike Grier shepherding young guns like Jason Pominville and Tomas Vanek. After a killer first four games of the series Buffalo had the divisional winners on the edge of elimination in their own house. It was a back-and-forth affair: Buffalo’s Henrik Tallinder scores in the first minute before the Sens Alfredsson scored at the midway mark of the first. The Sabres took the lead again in the second period via a Chris Drury powerplay goal only to be equalized again by Brian Pothier. The game went to overtime when the most memorable goal of Jason Pominville’s career for most Sabres fans occurred: Pommer gets the puck in the neutral zone and streams in along the boards crossing in front of Ray Emery in the Sens net. He outmaneuvers Emery putting it in behind for the sudden win. That eliminated the divisional champs and sent the Sabres to a fateful Eastern Conference Final against the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes. A young Elliotte Friedman interviewed Pominville after the hand-shakes who was sobered by the reminder he started that season on waivers. Ryan Miller also had a gem of a post-game interview but its due time we talk about last night’s win over the Sens.

There’s no getting around the fact that the Sabres dominated the first period last night, they dominated every statistical category and the eye-test for you grumpy old men. However, they did not score and for a team in a must-win situation it was an uneasy first intermission. If you were looking for rays of light in what has been an ugly November so far the domineering start might harken back to…uh… last month when these guys pretty reliably jumped out to hot starts regardless of where it went after that. If you’re looking for rainclouds, like a lot of us seem to be doing these days, Jake McCabe and a very much not optimized defensive group shored up their numbers as one of the league’s top 20 dump-in defenses. I am particularly annoyed with the dump-in-chase style because its always statistically detrimental to your momentum in a games and normally signifies a team that does not know what they’re doing as a whole group. This season started with a quick-passing play-together kind of chemistry and I’m wondering where it went. I pray to God it didn’t freeze off with the first snowfall of the season.

Kyle Okposo took a weird hit coming on off the bench and he would leave the game early in the second period. Last time I checked the jury isn’t out on what’s going on there. We didn’t have a lot of time to think about it. Rasmus Dahlin got the puck to Jack Eichel skating along the boards hounded by Dylan DeMelo. Like so many times in his career we saw Jack quick-release a slapper that zipped past Craig Anderson, 1-0 Sabres. After what would turn out to be one of the Captain’s hottest nights, he would be asked by the Athletic’s Joe Yerdon what got him shooting so much more. The answer was something out of some demented Sabres fan fiction from 2015. Eichel said he got a text recently from an old friend named… wait for it… MATT MOULSON telling him he outta shoot more. Hmm. I’ll just let that one percolate in your head. This game was full of ghosts of Christmases past when Anthony Duclair cashed in on a Sens powerplay to even it up about five minutes later. Ok, that’s more of a personal ghost of my past. Halfway through the period Buffalo struck back. This time it was Victor Olofsson carrying the puck into the offensive zone and dropping it off to a 1, 2, 3… quadruple covered Jack Eichel? No matter what Eichel just took the puck and whacked it on net. It went in and Jack’s brace put the Sabres back in the lead 2-1. As this game got into its second half some peculiar things started to unfold. For one, a frustrated Sabres fanbase continued to wonder where we can find Colin Miller in order to free him because the top defensive minutes were not in the most capable hands last night.

Secondly, Rasmus Dahlin got benched. So this saga has already had a full life cycle in the 18 prior games this season so I am not going to prognosticate about why or how except for two things: Ralph Krueger said after the game quote “[Dahlin] just sometimes wanting too much maybe and finding the balance between his amazing genius and skill and what we need to win. He’ll improve from it.” Chad DeDominicis pointed out that’s not ever really been asked of the guy this organization keeps reminding us is still a teenager. Dahlin has, at every step of his career, including when he switch from forward to defense *checks notes* five years ago, been allowed to be creative. Certainly mistakes will be made but as you keep reminding us Ralph: he’s 19. Maybe benching him is riskier than him messing up on the defensive side every now and again. Players like him are not a dime a dozen. The other part of this worth noting is immortalized in my twitter cover photo: Captain Eichel grabbing Dahlin on the bench and giving him some kind of talk. We’ll probably never know exactly what was said but I chose to imagine Eichel imploring the young franchise defenseman to not lose his confidence and not to think too much. Eichel remembers the Dan Blysma era. What became the grievance with Disco Dan was forcing a complicated programmatic game plan on creative players. Everyone was second guessing themselves in the months leading into that Coach’s firing. That same self-doubt inducing split-second confusion is clearly evident in Dahlin these days. Eichel saw it too and addressed it to Dahlin. I chose this as my reality because the best teams in this league transcend their head coaches: the Pittsburgh Penguins, the San Jose Sharks, the Boston Bruins, the Tampa Bay Lightning. The players on those teams are the mood-setters and the leaders. Could you even name the coach on 2 out 4 of those clubs without using google? I’m sure you could name the decisive players on all four of those clubs. I want that for my team and I like to think Captain Jack is doing it.

Captain Jack scored a hat trick for the second time in his career. The third one came in similar fashion to the first as he skated along the boards and ripped one through traffic past the opposing goaltender. The hat storm goal made it 3-2. The Sens had already evened it up before that with a real blast from the Sabres past Tyler Ennis. It was really a tip-in originating with Ron Hainsey but that will count for Ennis the Menace. Nonetheless Eichel had the game winner but he wasn’t done yet. As the third period ticked away and it became clear this would be the game to break the losing streak the Sens pulled Anderson and Eichel launched an intercontinental missile into the open net to reach the four-goal dick trick. Do I need to explain that? I’ve learned my readers are a hockey-literate bunch. Well for those of you who don’t know Joe Thorton was once asked what he’d do with four goals in a single game. He said in such a scenario he’d pull his dick out and stroke it. Well last night our Captain Jacked it and pulled off the dick trick! I guess I have to mark this postgame explicit now, don’t I? It was over. The Sabres won 4-2 in regulation to collect all two points and finally get a win in November, the month they strung together ten in last year.

As always I’d appreciate a like, share and if you really want to be nice a comment on this blog. I think there is a lot to talk about with this team right now, in spite of the win. Moreover, either tomorrow or Tuesday you’ll be seeing another Sabres post on Southtowntickets.com. In it we’ll be discussing the simply befuddling question: What’s wrong with the Buffalo Sabres? The something wrong here is probably complex then let’s finally trade a defenseman but that will come into it as well. The Reply Guy of the game goes to @CaptPantalones (Brandon Andrerson) whose son got a Jack Eichel stick in the pregame skate. That’s a special kind of memory I suspect he won’t ever forget having seen the Captain tap in three goals the same night. That’s even more heart-warming then the Wedding I went to during this game, but I promised I wouldn’t brag about that here. Tonight, after a must-win Bills game in Miami I might add, the Sabres will take on another team they probably should beat: the Chicago Blackhawks. I’m almost afraid to say that because the Hawks have had our number a few times in the years since their dynasty team fell into the gutter and United Center isn’t a friendly place for any visitor. You got to start stringing those wins together again before the trip down to Florida next week. They’ve got a couple soft targets before the Bruins later in the week to do it so let’s see if we get the fun Sabres back. Last night came with a little treat beyond the Eichel Dick Trick: the Toronto Maple Leafs got rocked 6-1 by the Pens. The Atlantic Division isn’t the straightforward hierarchy we thought it was going to be. Not yet at least. Let’s Go Buffalo!

Thanks for Reading.

P.S. I hope Dahlin comes back from his benching to deke the pants off Alex Nylander tonight!