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watchyourbluesturngolden · 4 years

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I’ll never stop loving you

Ok, so, this is very heavy. This piece is about eating disorders. As always, this is only about my personal experience. This is probably very triggering, so I don’t recommend reading if you think this will be upsetting.

This was not easy for me to write. I kind of just started writing one day when I was feeling really bad about myself and then it just kept getting longer. I decided to post it because I know there have to be some other people out there who have these same feelings, and I want to help them feel less alone.

warnings: eating disorders, calorie counting, insecurity, hospitals/medical stuff

word count: 4.9k

Y/N held back a sigh as she unlocked her phone. She glanced up to make sure Harry's back was still turned before she opened her calorie counting app and entered the apple she had eaten earlier.

95 calories. That wasn't really so bad. Well... she battled with her thoughts a bit. No, it was fine. If she didn't eat anything else this evening, besides the pasta he was making, that would bring her to just below 500 calories for the day. Perfect. Y/N's relationship with food was... complicated. She had been overweight as a child, and even now she really struggled to keep from gaining weight. At her last doctor's appointment she had been told to try exercising and eating more greens. She desperately wanted to lose weight, but she also had a very hard time staying away from junk food.

There had been more than one occasion where she's snuck to the kitchen after she was sure Harry was asleep and eaten everything she could get her hands on. She always felt terrible afterwards. She was physically in pain, but the worst part was how ashamed she was. She often sat on the kitchen floor, crying and wondering what to do. She hadn't resorted to purging, but honestly that was only because she couldn't make it work. She had tried. Several times. She wasn't sure if it was physical or psychological, but she just couldn't. So, most of the time, she just restricted.

It had been easy when Y/N started, but since she started dating Harry 8 months ago, it was much harder to keep this secret. It was manageable since they didn't live together, but he was very perceptive and asked her several times a day if she was hungry or if she had eaten. She had gotten very good at lying.

A simple "not really, I actually ate just before you got here," or a "yes, I finished the pizza we made" was enough to satisfy his questions. She could rattle off these answers without missing a beat. Luckily, he never noticed how much food got thrown in the garbage. Every so often, she could tell he was suspicious. That's why she always made sure to let him see her eating at least once a week.

Even though she was essentially starving herself, Y/N wasn't seeing any results. She had actually gained a pound in the last month. After she saw this, she didn't eat anything for almost 3 whole days. Harry had been away on business, so he didn't see when she nearly collapsed in the shower. He didn't hear her crying at night because she felt so hopeless. She hid it all from him.

She had only felt more determined to lose weight since that incident.

"So, I was thinking we'd watch a movie tonight while we eat. Maybe a Christmas one?" Harry pulled her out of her thoughts, turning away from the stove. She quickly closed the app and smiled up at him.

"Sure, I'll go pick one out," She said, getting up from the table, taking her phone with her.

Harry was a little confused. She usually had no problem with him looking at her phone; they often used each other's interchangeably. They knew each other's passwords and their fingers could unlock the other's phone. Lately, though, she would quickly turn off her screen whenever he looked in her direction. He trusted her completely, but he knew something was going on.

Y/N was searching through the list of Christmas movies on Netflix. She loved watching them, but they were so upsetting at the same time. The main character was always so skinny, so effortlessly beautiful. Of course she knew it wasn't real, but... still. She knew she would probably never look like that.

Y/N finally picked one. It looked incredibly cheesy, so hopefully she could focus on that instead of how skinny the main character was.

She made sure her calorie counting app was cleared from her recent apps and went back to the kitchen. She grabbed two plates, already worried Harry would try to dish her food up for her. Luckily he moved away to wash his hands. She used that time to scoop the smallest amount she could (without causing suspicion) onto her plate. She spread it out as much as possible and took a rather large serving of green beans to make her plate look full.

He turned back around, frowning slightly.

"That's not very much, love. If you don't like my cooking you can just tell me," He joked.

"No, you're an excellent chef. I just had a big lunch," she smiled, lying right to his face without a second thought.

"Alright, if you say so. Shall we start our movie?"

"We shall," Y/N laughed, copying his formal tone.

He smiled as she walked toward the couch. He absolutely adored her, even though she had a hard time appreciating herself. She had never said anything to him, but he could see it on her face when she spent long amounts of time in front of the mirror, inspecting her appearance from every angle. He couldn't figure out why she felt this way. She was absolutely gorgeous. He didn't want to bring it up until she did, not wanting to push her to talk about anything she wasn't ready to talk about.

Harry started the movie, settling into the couch. About halfway through, Y/N got up to put her plate away and use the bathroom. Harry noticed she took her phone with her again.

While she was in the bathroom, Y/N quickly opened her calorie app. She estimated how much she had eaten, then added an extra 1/2 cup just to make sure. Her daily total was... 511 calories. She nearly let out a sob. Tears started forming in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. She could 𝘯𝘰𝘵 let Harry see her crying. He was so attentive and loving, and would stop everything to find out what was wrong. She closed the app and splashed some water on her face. Luckily, it was dark in the living room and there would probably be a sad part of the movie she could blame her puffy eyes on.

She stepped back out into the living room, avoiding Harry's eyes as she sat down. She pretended not to notice his concerned look as she started the movie again.

Sure enough, about 10 minutes later came the sad scene. The main character was breaking up with her perfect boyfriend, because "they just didn't work". Even though it was very cheesy and Y/N knew they would get back together before the movie ended, she couldn't help but get emotional. All the stress of undereating, recording every bite of food she ate, lying to Harry, and eating more than she planned today was building up. She was just so overwhelmed. She couldn't help when the tears started rolling down her face. Harry didn't notice until he heard her sniffling.

"Oh, love, it’s ok! Don't cry, they'll get back together soon, you know they will," He soothed, moving closer and putting his arm around her.

Y/N couldn't say anything, but Harry being so close just made her feel worse. She felt too big. She felt like she didn't deserve to have such a loving boyfriend.

"I know, I know, I don't know why I'm so emotional today, I'm sorry," She said, wiping her eyes.

"Why are you sorry? It’s alright if it gets your heart a little. I just hate to see you so sad," He said, rubbing circles on her shoulder with his thumb.

Having Harry so close, telling her how much he cared about her, was even more overwhelming. Nevertheless, she tried to keep her tears in so he wouldn't ask any more questions. She managed to hold off, promising herself she could cry to her heart's content once he went home for the night.

Once the movie ended, Harry moved his arm and kissed her hand.

"Feeling better now? I told you there'd be a happy ending," He smiled sweetly.

"Yes, much. You were right," She grinned, which quickly turned into a yawn. Harry checked his phone.

"Oh, it’s way later than I thought. I better get home, let you get some sleep." He stood up from the couch, stretching. Y/N stood too, walking with him to the door.

After putting his coat and shoes on, Harry gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"I'll text you when I get home. Goodnight, Y/N, love you," he said, smiling.

Y/N blushed. "Love you too, babe."

She was already feeling worse as she watched him drive away. she opened her calorie app, staring at the numbers. 511. How could she have done this? 511 calories. She felt miserable. She got into her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Against her better judgement, Y/N started thinking about her relationship with Harry. What would happen when Harry wanted to... take it further physically? She could barely handle seeing her own body in the mirror without breaking down, how would she let someone else see her?

Harry was a good guy, she knew he was. She knew he wouldn't pressure her to do anything she wasn't ready for. But... that really wasn't fair for him. It was unrealistic to expect him to wait forever and, what, never have sex again? She very much doubted he would be ok with that.

The more she thought about it, the worse she felt. Soon, the tears were rolling down her cheeks again. She did nothing to stop them.

A few minutes later, her phone dinged. She picked it up and saw it was from Harry.

"Got home safe. Love you darling, sleep well<3 "

She texted back, "Love you too, talk tomorrow :)"

She shut off her phone, not wanting to see his reply that would probably be very sweet and would make her feel worse.

She laid in bed for hours, feeling miserable and wondering what she was going to do, before she finally fell into a deep sleep. 3 days later (she didn't sleep for 3 days I just didn't know how to make this time skip haha) She startled awake after a very unpleasant nightmare. She dreamed she had finally agreed to be intimate with Harry, but at soon as he had taken her shirt off he started laughing. He broke up with her right then and there, telling her no one would ever want to be with her.

She hugged her pillow, checking her phone. it was 4 A.M. Great. Now she could either try and fall back asleep or give up and sit on her phone until the sun came up.

She chose the latter. She swiped away the text from Harry before opening tumblr and scrolling through her feed. Pictures of skeletal girls wearing fishnets, high waisted shorts, dresses, whatever they wanted, flashed across her screen. Y/N decided to continue fasting until the end of the week, then decrease her intake to 300 calories per day. She wasn't making progress at 500, so this had to work. It had to. She didn't have anything else to try. She was already doing yoga for weight loss 2 hours every day and eating next to nothing. This was her last option. She rolled out of bed when the sun started coming up and walked to the bathroom, weighing herself. She sighed, seeing she had only gone down 0.2 pounds. Better than gaining, she thought.

She changed into leggings and a sweater and rolled out her yoga mat. Y/N found her weight loss yoga series and stretched. She usually did every episode 4 times, just to make sure she was getting the full benefits.

On her second time starting over, she nearly fainted when get got up from the downward dog. She swayed on her feet, quickly getting down on the floor so she wouldn't fall. She laid there until she felt better, then slowly stood up. She sunk into the couch, deciding to be done with yoga for the day. She was exhausted, and she thought she might really pass out if she kept going.

Her phone dinged and she picked it up, seeing it was from Harry.

"Good morning love:) The sky's supposed to be clear tonight, want to come over and stargaze?"

Y/N smiled. He knew how much she loved the stars.

"Of course! I'll come over around 8?"

"Sounds good, see you then:)"

As long as he didn't try to offer her any food, everything would be fine. This would work. She could just tell him she finished the pasta he made so he wouldn't try to give her supper. Perfect. Y/N pulled one of Harry's hoodies out of her closet, slipping it over her jeans. She loved wearing his clothes. it made her feel small and safe and loved. She scooped the rest of the pasta into the garbage, only feeling a little bad for wasting the food.

She got into her car and plugged her phone into the car speakers, starting Harry's album. She had been playing it on repeat since it came out. The music was already incredible, but what made it even better was knowing it was about her. Harry clearly felt Y/N was amazing, which was hard for her to process. How could someone who looked like that be in love with her? It didn't seem real.

By the time she got to the third song, Y/N was almost at Harry's house. She pulled into his driveway and unplugged her phone, giving herself a minute to take a breath. Everything would be fine. She would tell him she had eaten the pasta and he would believe her. Everything would work out.

She turned off the car, walking up the path to Harry's door. He opened it before she even knocked, beaming and pulling her into a hug.

"I missed you, love," He said, squeezing her tighter.

"Harry, I saw you 3 days ago," She laughed.

"Yeah, well, that's way too long," He shook his head, pulling away from her a bit. "Did you eat? I can find something quick before we get out there-"

Y/N quickly cut him off. "No, I'm good, I finished the pasta you made. How does your food still taste amazing, even days after?"

"I dunno, I guess I'm just magical," He laughed.

He led her out to the back porch, gesturing at the ladder.

"I figured we'd sit up on the roof. There's a better view, and... it's more private," He smiled.

Y/N pretended she didn't know what he was implying.

"Sounds good!" She began to climb up the ladder. Suddenly, she didn't feel so well. She was dizzy and black spots were appearing in the corners of her eyes. "No, no, no," She thought desperately. "Not again! Just focus, one rung at a time, you can do it."

Luckily, she got to the top and made it onto the roof safely. She sat on the slightly tilted surface, putting her head between her knees.

Harry's head popped up from the edge of the roof, looking very worried. He rushed over, putting his arm around her.

"Y/N, are you ok? You don't look so good," He said nervously.

"I'm fine, I'm just..." Y/N tried to think of what to tell him. She couldn't exactly say "I'm dizzy because I haven't eaten in 3 days" because she had already lied about eating supper. "I'm not a fan of heights."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, why didn't you tell me? We didn't have to come up here!" He looked like he felt terrible, but Y/N was quick to reassure him.

"No, it's totally fine, I thought I could handle it a little better. I'm ok, maybe just... don't move your arm?" She moved closer into his side. While she felt self conscious with him so close, she really did feel dizzy and worried she might fall if he moved away. She was also freezing cold, despite the warm air, so she liked having his extra warmth.

"Of course I won't." They sat in silence for a few minutes before Harry spoke again.

"If... if you're feeling alright now, I'd suggest looking up," He said. She could hear the smile in his voice as she lifted her head.

"Oh... it's... beautiful," She whispered.

She had never seen such a clear sky. Billions of stars shone brightly, which was weird since there was usually too much light around to see them. That's when Y/N noticed it was a lot darker than normal.

"Harry, where are all the street lights?"

He blushed, looking down.

"I wanted you to be able to see the stars better, so I got the electrician to turn them off for a few hours. He's an old family friend," Harry explained. "He said he had no problem helping me woo a pretty girl."

Now it was Y/N who was blushing.

"Well, it worked. I am very... woo'd," She said. They both laughed before looking back up at the twinkling sky.

"Oh look, there's... that one constellation!"

Y/N laughed. "Brilliant, Harry, that ONE constellation."

He smiled. "No, no, it's... I can't think of the name! it's one of my favorites. it's the one shaped like a W. The one that's a queen, sitting on her throne. This'll drive me crazy if I don't remember it." He reached for his phone, hand patting his empty pocket. "Oh, must've left it in the house. Mind if I use yours?"

Harry didn't miss the split second of panic that crossed her face. He didn't know that she was frantically wondering if her calorie counting app was still open. She knew she couldn't say no without looking very suspicious, so she faked a smile and handed it over.

Thankfully, he didn't even open her recent apps. He just clicked on the safari icon and typed quickly.

"That's it! Cassiopeia! The beautiful queen on her throne," He said, handing her phone back to her. "Anyways, I think of you when I see that constellation."

Y/N smiled. "You see me as a beautiful queen?"

"Obviously, I do," He said, kissing her cheek.

For the first time, Y/N didn't feel embarrassed to be in his arms. He had always told her he loved her, but comparing her to a literal queen? A queen made out of stars? That was different.

Y/N was so happy that she didn't mind when Harry's lips lingered on her cheek, then moved to her jaw. They had never done anything except cuddling, so this was all new to her. She leaned into him, getting lost in the sensations.

Then she started thinking. She realized where this was going as his lips migrated down her neck. Though she was really enjoying this, she started panicking when she thought about what would happen next.

Her breathing and pulse sped up. Harry smiled into her neck, thinking it was just her reaction to his touch. Then she was pulling away, or rather, pushing him away.

"Stop, stop, I want to stop!"

He snapped his head up, backing away and holding his hands in the air to show her he wasn't going to do anything.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I should have asked you before I..." he was also breathing heavily. He knew she was inexperienced and was very nervous to try anything new.

Y/N felt tears springing to her eyes.

"I- I have to go," She said, swiping at the tears on her face.

"Wait, Y/N!"

She was already climbing down the ladder. As soon as she got down, she ran through his house and to her car. Harry was right on her heels.

Y/N started her car and drove away as fast as she could. She felt bad because she knew Harry was beating himself up right now, thinking he was the reason she freaked out. She just didn't know what to do. She couldn't explain why she had pushed him away without going into... everything. She couldn't tell him the reason she pushed him away was because she hated her body so much it physically hurt. He would just tell her she was beautiful, and then he would probably figure out she wasn't eating enough. He would force her to recover. And... she couldn't do that until she was skinny.

She pulled into her driveway, running inside. Before she had even gotten up to her room, she heard Harry pounding on her door.

"Y/N, open the door!" More pounding. "Y/N, I need to know you're ok! Please, you don't even have to let me in, just... text me or something to let me know you're ok! Please!" He kept pounding on the door.

Y/N crept up the stairs, ignoring his pleas. She felt awful, but she couldn't do anything. He kept pounding and yelling and she got worried someone would call the police, so she pulled out her phone, sending him a quick text. "i'm fine."

Then she shut her phone off, jumped in the shower, and cried.

By the time she got out, she didn't hear any more noises. She checked her phone, eyes widening when she saw the 27 missed calls and dozens of texts from Harry.

Her phone started ringing again, but she immediately declined the call when she saw Harry's smile light up her screen. She hoped he would get the message. She silenced her phone, settling into her bed and drifting to sleep.

The next day, Y/N startled awake to more banging sounds. She sat up, leaning over to look out her window. There he was, pounding his fists on her side door. "Well," she thought, "At least there's less chance someone will call the cops on him."

She heard faint yelling and knew she had to do something. He probably wouldn't leave, at least not until she actually asked him to. It was nearly 3 P.M., and she guessed he had been there all day, if not all night.

She swung her legs over the side of bed, but a wave of nausea and dizziness hit her as soon as she stood. She took a moment to steady herself before stepping out into the hallway.

Y/N held the railing with an iron grip as she slowly climbed down the stairs. Black spots began to swim in her vision and she felt even worse than before. Then the room spun around her and she fell.

Harry's p.o.v. He stopped pounding on the door for a minute to call her again. His phone rang for a while, so at least she wasn't just declining his calls.

Which... was actually worse. What if she wasn't ok? What if she was hurt, or worse? He knew she hadn't left, he had stayed outside her door all night.

Right before he started knocking again, he heard it. A very loud crashing sound. It sounded like something had fallen down the stairs.

His eyes drifted to the window and he pressed his face against the glass. His view was distorted through the sheer curtain, but he could make out something on the floor at the bottom of the stairs.

He focused his eyes and gasped when he realized it was Y/N, lying in a heap. He ran back to the door, trying again to open it. When it didn't budge, he went to the front and back doors, trying the same. Finally, he decided what he had to do. Harry ran to the back door so no one on the street would see him and picked up a shovel lying in the garden. He took a deep breath, steadying himself, and rammed it into the glass. He rotated the shovel around, clearing all the shards before he climbed through the hole.

He ran over to Y/N, dropping to his knees and feeling for a pulse on her neck. He nearly sobbed when he felt her heart beating, though it felt pretty weak. He yanked his phone out of his pocket and dialed 911.

Harry had been sitting in the waiting room for a few hours when the doctor approached him.

"Mr. Styles?"

Harry stood up quickly.

"How is she?"

She's doing fine now. But..." He didn't seem to want to tell Harry something. "Mr. Styles, she is extremely malnourished. She fell down the stairs, you said? It seems the reason for this is because she lost consciousness, because her blood sugar was so low. We usually only see levels like this in people with diabetes."

"She's... she not diabetic, though," Harry said, confused. "And what do you mean by malnourished? I see her eat all the time." He said, voice faltering a bit.

"From her labs and scans, it would seem she hasn't eaten in several days, maybe a week. She also shows signs of chronic undernourishment, which means she's been eating less than her body needs for a while now. She is extremely dehydrated, and her electrolytes are very imbalanced."

"But- how could she- I mean, she doesn't-" Harry couldn't seem to collect his thoughts. "Can I see her?"

"You can. She's not awake, but I'll take you to her room," He said, leading Harry towards her room.

Harry's eyes teared up when he saw Y/N in the bed. She was connected to several machines, and a nurse explained that they were getting her nutrients up and keeping her hydrated. She looked so fragile.

Harry fell into the chair by her bed, clasping her small hand in both of his.

"Was she- I mean- was she... starving herself?" Harry's voice broke as he spoke to the nurse.

She offered a sympathetic look.

"It appears so, yes."

"What can I do? how can I fix this?"

"Mr. Styles-"

"Harry."

"Harry, you're doing everything you can. We've got her, physically. all you have to do is love her and support her.

"Right," Harry said, looking down. "Thank you."

The nurse left the room, leaving the two alone. Harry stared into her face, silently willing her to wake up. She had to wake up. This was all his fault. He must've done something that upset her so much she stopped eating. He thought back to last night on the roof when she had pushed him away. Had she felt like this the whole time? Had she felt so unhappy in their relationship that she was slowly killing herself?

Y/N's p.o.v.

When Y/N woke up, she was in her bed. No, wait, not her bed. A hospital bed? She looked around, confused.

She saw Harry, asleep in the chair next to her. She tried to say his name, but she couldn't get out more than a hoarse whisper.

She looked around, searching for something to get his attention with. She settled on the empty plastic cup next to her, throwing it and hitting him in the shoulder. He jerked awake, eyes darting around until they landed on her. Relief flooded his face as he moved his chair closer.

"Y/N, you have no idea how worried I was about you," Harry said in a soft voice. Tears pooled in her eyes as she grasped his hand.

"I'm so sorry," She whispered.

"Just... why? Why did you do this? Is it because of me? Do you..." His voice shook and he took a steadying breath. "Did I do this to you?"

Y/N shook her head frantically, squeezing his hand. "No, no, Harry, you didn't, I promise, this isn't your fault. It's... I've just... I don't know," Y/N's voice broke off as tears started streaming down her face.

"It's not your fault, Harry. I-I just... I wanted to be... perfect," Her voice sounded so small. "I wanted to look like the girls in the stupid hallmark movies, who are so skinny and... just gorgeous," She said, still crying. "I wanted to look like them and I just wanted to feel pretty and I just hate my body so much," Her words ran together and got harder to understand as she buried her face in her arms.

Harry's heart broke a little more with each word she spoke. He stood from his chair, situating himself on the bed next to her and putting his arms around her. They just sat like that, Y/N's shaky breaths slowly settling to match his even ones. He could still hear her sniffling every once in a while, but she had mostly calmed down.

"I love you more than anything else on this earth, Y/N," Harry said softly. "I don't know what I would ever do without you. I'm so sorry I didn't notice you were going through this. You are the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on, and I don't want to change anything about you."

Y/N looked up at him. "I think... I think I need help," she said, her voice shaking. Harry just pulled her back against his chest, kissing the top of her head.

"I will stay with you, always," he murmured. "I know you can get through this. I won't leave your side."

"No, I... I think I have to go away somewhere," She said, avoiding his eyes.

"If that's what you need to get better, Y/N, then I will support you. I'll visit you as much as they'll let me, as much as you want to see me. I'll do anything for you, to see you get better."

"I love you so much," She said, eyes welling up with tears again.

"I love you too," He whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I'll never stop.”

#harry styles #harry styles/reader #harry styles/you #disordered eating #eating disorder #anorexia #harry styles x you #harry styles/you fanfiction #harry styles x reader #harry styles x reader fanfiction #one direction #one direction fanfiction

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t0wnspersonb · 4 years

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Love and Gains (Bokuto Koutarou x Reader)

Word Count: 2,657

Summary: After dealing with an intense breakup you find yourself in the gym in hopes of distracting you from your heartbreak. You end up running into an interesting character, and after the brief interaction you find yourself attending his volleyball game. But when you run into your ex once more, a certain owl headed player decides to help you out of the uncomfortable situation.

Warnings: FLUFF, making out, bad language, cheating, angst, Bokuto being a perfect angel

~~~

I hope you guys enjoy this one! I had fun writing it! I love Bokuto so much it’s absolutely ridiculous. Hopefully I did our boy some justice! I apologize if the writing is shit though lmao. I’m sorry I haven’t been updating more, I’ve just been busy with a broken foot and work now smh. I’ll probably start opening up requests again soon but I will let you know when I do! Anyway I hope you guys had a wonderful 4th! Please enjoy!🤗🤗🤗💕💕💕

~~~

You grumbled angrily to yourself as you walked out of the locker room. Today wasn’t your day, and all you could think about was blowing off some steam.

There weren’t that many people in the gym right now considering the time, so you easily found an empty treadmill, planning on doing a quick run as a warmup.

This is what you needed, the burning in your legs as you ran was gladly welcomed, it distracted you from the burning that rested in your heart.

You had gone to surprise your boyfriend at his dorm and had caught him cheating on you.

The image of him and that girl flashed in your mind, causing you to grit your teeth tightly, your fists clenched tightly together, and your legs started to carry you faster on the treadmill.

You had done your crying a couple of hours earlier. Heart break wasn’t easy, the devastation that you felt was soul-crushing, you couldn’t help but wonder if he had cheated because it was something that you had done.

Maybe you weren’t spending enough time with him, maybe you weren’t satisfying his needs, maybe you were too clingy, too annoying, too emotional; for him to handle.

You couldn’t help but think that it was all your fault that he cheated.

If you had just chosen the same college as him… then maybe he wouldn’t have cheated.

No.

You shook your head. You were done with these thoughts. You weren’t sad anymore, you weren’t blaming yourself anymore, you were angry now. You were fucking pissed now.

How dare he.

He was the scum beneath your shoes, the rotten garbage at the very bottom of the trashcan and… and… and, fuck why did he do this to you?

You felt tears sting at your eyes. You guys were together for three years, you never would have guessed that he would do that.

That he would rip your heart out and stomp all over it.

You wondered if he was trying to get a hold of you, you had turned off your phone, wanting to hide away from the world.

Boisterous laughter distracted you from your thoughts, you looked up to see two males stretching and doing light warmups.

“Hey hey hey! Tsum-Tsum I’m going to beat you at reps today!” one of the males declared loudly.

You looked on curiously, his hair reminded you of an owl. How strange.

The other male smirked at him, getting up from the floor. “We’ll see Bokkun. We also have to do legs today.”

You couldn’t help but notice that they were incredibly attractive, tall and muscular. But that was the last thing you fucking needed.

No more boys, no more relationships, you were done.

After you had finished your warmup on the treadmill you started fishing out the headphones in your pocket. You headed over to the stairs next, you were going to drown yourself in workouts tonight, you needed the distraction.

After finally finishing your exercises on the machines, you went over to the punching bags. Carefully wrapping your hands, you stared down at the red bag full of sand, and then started beating the shit out of it.

This was the steam that you needed to blow off. But after a few moments, something caught your eye out of your peripheral. The owl-haired guy that you had noticed earlier was on the stairs and… oh. You couldn’t help but notice how nice his butt was.

But then you started to notice how nice his entire body was. His back was strong and muscular, the muscles in his legs rippling with each step and…

What were you doing?

You shook your head at the thoughts and started focusing more on your punches. That’s right. You weren’t going to get involved with another boy, you were going to focus on yourself and on school.

Fuck boys.

Fuck your ex.

Your ex, your nostrils flared in anger and your punches became more intense; you couldn’t help picturing his stupid face as you punched the bag.

“Wow your punches are really intense!” a voice said behind you. You yelped and suddenly the punching bag was thrown back into you, causing you to stumble back and fly into the chest of the voice behind you.

It felt like you hit a brick wall. Warm, rough hands grabbed your bare shoulders steadying you as you regained your footing.

You looked up and saw the owl-haired male staring down at you with a wide grin. You felt your face heat up and you stumbled out of his arms, stuttering apologizes as you put space between the two of you.

He was so much bigger than you, you couldn’t help but to feel incredibly small as he stared down at you.

“Umm. Did you want to use the punching bag or…” you trailed off awkwardly.

“Oh! No not at all! I just saw you going crazy and I had to come over and compliment you.” he grinned widely, giving you a thumbs up.

You felt your face burning in embarrassment at his praise. “Oh umm -”

“My name is Bokuto! Bokuto Koutarou! But you knew that already, didn’t you?”

Your brows furrowed in confusion, what was he talking about? He was a complete stranger to you, a hot stranger, but a stranger no less.

Before you could say anything else his friend walked over to him.

“Oi Bokkun, we have to get going, Coach changed the practice tomorrow it’s earlier.” His eyes slid over to you, but he didn’t say anything else.

“See you around punches!” Bokuto waved goodbye as they took off.

You blinked after them.

What?

****

It had been several days since the incident at the gym, and your breakup with your boyfriend.

Right now your best friend was dragging you to a volleyball match, much to your distaste.

She was a big volleyball fan, it wasn’t that you didn’t like the sport, but it was because your ex was a volleyball player.

“You can’t let that asshole ruin the sport for you! There are so many other hot guys that play! Like the team we’re going to go see!” She chided you as you guys went to find your seats.

You rolled your eyes at her, “I don’t care, I’m not planning on dating anyone else right now.”

“You can’t - oh my god! There they are!” she said excitedly grabbing your arm and pointing towards the floor.

You looked over at the team, and then gawked. Familiar gray hair stuck out, his broad back sporting the number 12 with his name clear across.

Bokuto Koutarou.

What were the fucking odds?

“You’re kidding me,” you said under your breath, of course you would be attracted to yet another volleyball player.

“Shhh! It’s starting!” your friend shushed you. The game started, and honestly you were completely surprised.

They were incredible, all of them, and Bokuto… holy shit. Bokuto was on another level, the raw talent and strength left you in awe, and he looked like he was having fun, a lot of fun.

The entire game you couldn’t take your eyes off of him, and when they had won, your friend rushed you out of the gym in hopes of meeting up with them.

However, a detour to the bathroom left you standing out against the wall as you waited for her. You lazily flipped through your phone, completely unaware of the tall figure approaching you.

“Y/n-chan.”

Your blood ran cold, your eyes shot up to stare back at the man that broke your heart.

“What are you doing here?” you asked coldly, heart racing in your chest as you stared up at his face.

“Me and some teammates wanted to scope out the competition, we play MSBY in a couple of weeks. What are you doing here?” he took a step closer to you.

“Why does it matter?” you asked shortly, pressing yourself closer to the wall, your eyes flickered for a way to escape.

“Don’t be like that, I’ve missed you. I know you miss me too.” he said, resting his hand near your head, he leaned in closer to you. “Come on, what we had was good. We were good together, let’s get back together.” He grabbed your chin, forcing you to meet his eyes as he leaned in closer.

Anger and fear swelled into your being and you shoved him away, moving yourself away from the wall and putting distance between the two of you.

“You cheated on me. You did that, you broke our relationship. I don’t miss you. I don’t want to be with you. You treated me like shit.” you stated angrily, tears gathering at the corner of your eyes, but you bit them back.

He stared down at you with an unreadable expression and then it turned amused. “I’m the best thing you’ve ever had, will ever have. You’ve always been so ungrateful; you barely would put out for me. Of course, I would cheat on you, you weren’t satisfying my needs, you fucking prude. No one is ever going to date you.” he sneered and grabbed your arm, squeezing it painfully.

“I’m already dating someone.” You blurted out, yanking your arm out of his grasp.

“Oh yeah who?” he rolled his eyes.

Fuck. Why did you say that? Why did you lie like that? But then you noticed a familiar person out of the corner of your eye heading your way. You turned and all but threw yourself into his arms.

Bokuto easily caught you, his strong arms wrapping around your figure tightly as you clung to his broad shoulders.

“Please play along for a moment.” You whispered against his ear.

“Punches!?” he exclaimed, but never pushed you away.

“Kou-kun!” you cooed loudly, finally releasing your grip on him, you turned to look at your ex who was staring at you with a dumbfounded expression.

“I’m dating Bokuto. You know, the Wing Spiker from the MSBY Black Jackals.” You stated proudly, gently resting your hand against his left pectoral and - holy shit it was like touching thick steel.

It was then that you became entirely aware of his large hand resting on the small of your back. Heat burned you through your shirt, but it was comforting, safe, reassuring.

“You’re fucking lying.” your ex scoffed, but you could see the nervousness shifting through his eyes as he looked between the two of you.

“I’m not. We met a couple days ago at the gym and we hit it off.” You said simply, well it wasn’t a complete lie.

“Her punches were killer and I noticed her nice butt right away.” Bokuto threw in, carefully pulling you into his side tighter.

You ignored his statement and the rising blush that wanted to coat your cheeks, he was just playing along with you right? He didn’t mean that at all.

“I don’t believe you, Y/n-chan. I need more proof.” your ex said smugly.

You gritted your teeth in anger and peered up at the tall volleyball player that was staring down at you with curiosity and worry.

“I’m so sorry. Please hang on just a bit longer.” You mumbled softly and then you grabbed him by the front of his shirt, yanking him down to your height and kissed him.

A surprised noise escaped Bokuto’s lips, but he kissed you back immediately, carefully grabbing your jaw and fitting your mouth against his better.

His lips were warm and damp as they moved against yours urgently, his other arm wrapped around your waist and pulled your body flush against his. The hands that were gripping his shirt traveled up against his strong chest and across his broad shoulders until your fingers threaded through the back of his hair. The hair at the back of his neck was damp from sweat, but still incredibly soft.

You lost yourself in this kiss. No one has ever kissed you this way before. It was perfect, there were so many mixed emotions being felt in this moment.

“Whatever.” you heard your ex mumble and the shuffling of feet.

You should stop kissing right? You should pull away and apologize profusely right?

The kiss didn’t stop, if anything… it got more heated.

Bokuto dragged his tongue across your lower lip, begging for entrance, and you granted it immediately. A pleased noise escaping your mouth as your tongues swirled together.

The grip that Bokuto had on your body tightened at the noise, and his tongue battled against yours harder.

His smell, his taste, the way he felt pressed up against you… you couldn’t think about anything else other than this moment.

How could a complete stranger make you feel so good?

A stranger.

That’s right. You didn’t know this guy, not really anyway, and - oh - you reluctantly pulled away, you guys were in public, you guys were making out in public.

Bokuto wasn’t done though, when you pulled away, he immediately tried to follow; attempting to capture your lips once again in another kiss.

It wasn’t until you heard the loud throat clearing that you guys moved apart. His expression was dazed with lust as he stared down at you with gold eyes.

You were still pressed close to his body, his arms never leaving you, even after you made eye contact with your friend who was staring at you in amusement.

Your face burned red as you gently pressed your forehead against his thick chest. But when you had realized what you just did, you leaped out of his arms, eyes wide in embarrassment.

“Bokuto-san I’m so sorry!” you apologized bowing. “That was my ex and he -”

He held his hand up, stopping your explanation. His face was red slightly, his hair mused from your fingers. But his eyes were wide and bright. “What a way to greet someone, punches!”

His boisterous laughter eased the worry that was creeping into your being.

“It’s fate that we’re meeting again! Listen punches, I was going to ask for your number at the gym before Tsum-Tsum pulled me away. But after a kiss like that I definitely want to take you out on a date!” he grinned widely, fishing out his phone and handing it to you.

You blinked at him in surprise and then nodded slowly.

“Yeah… that… that sounds good. I’d like that.” you said, putting your number into his phone, a soft blush coating your cheeks.

“Hey, hey, hey!” he cheered loudly, his arms up in the air in triumph. “I got the pretty girl’s number! Oh… um,” he scratched his cheek sheepishly, “what’s your name?”

You blinked at him, you made out with the poor guy and he didn’t even know your name yet. “I’m so sorry I should’ve told you earlier… it’s Y/n.”

“Y/n.” Bokuto repeated and then grinned widely. “I like it! I have to get going punches! I’ll text you later tonight! I’ll be at the gym later too if you want to meet up!”

When the tall player was out of your sight a large smile began to stretch across your lips, your friend screeching at you about what had happened was a sight to see to the people walking past you.

Maybe you weren’t going to swear boys off after all, or at least, Bokuto would be the exception.

****

“Tsum-Tsum!” Bokuto called out angrily.

“What is it Bokkun?” the setter looked at him in confusion, where was this anger coming from?

“This guy sucks!” he said bluntly, pointing across the net to the other team, but his finger was pointing at the one guy he didn’t want to see ever.

Your ex.

It had been several weeks since that second meeting with Bokuto. You guys were dating now, and it was everything you could ever dream of.

“I’m going to crush him for hurting my Y/n!” he declared heatedly.

Your ex went home crying that day needless to say.

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x you #haikyuu fluff #reader insert #bokuto koutarou x reader #bokuto koutarou x you #bokuto x reader #bokuto x you #bokuto fluff #bokuto koutarou #bokuto kotaro x reader #fluff #bokuto haikyuu #boyfriend bokuto

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moonbeambucky · 4 years

Text

Hey Neighbor (Part 14)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader, Billy Russo x Reader Word Count: 6039 Warnings: fluff, light angst, mentions of cheating

Summary: You had a plan and then life came along with one of its own. With your future almost derailed you worked hard to get yourself back on track and finally everything seemed to be going right… that is, until your new neighbor moved in.

A/N: Major cringe warning everyone.. I can’t wait for your reactions! 😂 A huge thank you to my wonderful beta Sam @buckyofthemyscira Feedback is always appreciated!

PART 13 | HEY NEIGHBOR MASTERLIST

Bucky pulls off his headphones, pressing a finger to the keyboard to stop the music he’s reviewing, taking a moment to pinch between his brows. He gets up to stretch his legs, grabbing the empty beer bottle along with him for the short walk to the kitchen. He tosses it in the garbage with the rest.

He doesn’t like drinking this much but lately he hasn’t been feeling great. His music has been stagnant, devoid of life and energy. Thinking about it only makes him feel worse, a painful reminder that deadlines are coming up and what little he’s created is absolute shit.

The knob squeaks as he turns the faucet, letting the water turn to liquid ice before he runs his hands through them, splashing it up against his face. He hears the hiss of the pipes next door and his heart sinks.

It’s Y/N’s shower. He looks towards the wall wondering if she’s alone, quickly shaking the thoughts out of his mind. He shouldn’t care if she’s alone or not. She’s in a relationship and it shouldn’t matter.

Bucky tried really hard to not think about her. He promised himself he would get out there and find someone and well, it hasn’t exactly worked out. In the last three weeks he’s been on a dozen dates. Most of the girls could barely hold a conversation, while the others were less exciting than watching paint dry.

He fucked a few of them even though he said he wouldn’t. That wasn’t the point of these dates but Bucky needed the distraction. It was hard hanging out with everyone, it didn’t matter if Y/N was there with Billy or if they were not; Bucky wasn’t sure what was worse.

Over the last few days he has been messaging someone new who’s been doing a pretty good job of keeping him entertained. Bobbi, she works at a gym Uptown. She’s worked extremely hard for her body and flaunts it in most of her photos and sure, Bucky would love to hit it but there’s something more that keeps him drawn in.

She’s so direct, talking to him as if they had known each other for years. He loves checking his phone to see her latest message, a smile already stretching across his face when he sees a long text about something that happened at the gym. Apparently a lot of characters workout there and she has an endless list of horror stories she couldn’t wait to share with him.

They planned a date for the end of the week and Bucky was very excited to finally meet her. It was promising, the idea that he could be happy with someone just like… just like everyone else.

You hug yourself a little tighter as you walk down the block, feeling the cool breeze move right through you. Billy seems to be in his own world, his head gazing down to his phone as it had been through most of dinner. You didn’t voice your annoyance though because it would only make things worse.

Billy’s been in a bad mood ever since the Feds came knocking at ANVIL’s door. A few former employees were recently involved in a string of armed robberies and Billy was questioned about it. Word got out and he lost a big account as a result.

Obviously the situation is upsetting but it’s not just that, Billy’s been distant lately. You’ve been spending a lot of time together but maybe that’s the problem, the honeymoon period might be over. You know it’s a normal part of any relationship but the idea that things could change so drastically doesn’t make you feel great.

“Hey watch where you’re going,” an unfamiliar voice barked.

Your head turned quickly to find Billy getting in the face of the stranger he apparently bumped into.

“What did you say to me?” Billy’s dark eyes sharpened like a bird of prey closing in on its target. His nostrils flared as he snarled, staring down the other man until he backed away with his tail between his legs. Billy looked him up and down, a smug smile creeping across his face in silent victory.

A heavy arm fell around your shoulders as Billy pulled you closer to him when he began walking away.

“What the hell was that?” you asked after a long beat of silence.

He faced you with the same incredulity he gave the man before. “That was people knowing better than to get in my way.”

Your stomach churned with unease and that silent alarm inside you was going off. You needed to get away from Billy, for tonight at least. By the time you got to the front of your building you figured out an excuse you hoped would work.

“Hey so, I promised Elena I would head in early tomorrow. Paperwork’s been piling up and medical records have been on our case about it. So, can we raincheck this?” You smiled, using your best doe eyes to seem sincere about it.

Billy stared you down, looking for the slightest crack in your expression. It was something he had always done, reading people, checking for lies. You know it’s a product of his upbringing, with so many broken promises made by a faulty system.

“Yeah. Yeah that’s fine,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Remember I got us Knicks tickets.”

You nodded in agreement, gasping slightly when he caught you off guard by his kiss. It was the last thing on your mind but you gave in, opening your mouth to his forceful tongue. Anything to keep up appearances, for tonight.

Billy watched you enter the building and you waved back at him right before you disappeared for the hallway, finally able to take a breath. On the way up to your floor you wondered if you should talk to Wanda about what happened. It was kind of late though and even though she would want to hear everything about it you didn’t want to disturb her.

As you approached your door you looked towards Bucky’s. Maybe he could give some advice from the male perspective. Then again you didn’t want to bother him either. Bucky’s also been pretty distant lately and you’ve barely seen him in the past month. Maybe everything’s changed, your relationship, your friendships. Change is supposed to be good but this felt all wrong.

You couldn’t find a comfortable spot on your bed, tossing and turning, kicking off the covers, pulling them back up again. Nothing seemed right. There was too much on your mind and you couldn’t relax.

“Shut up brain, just shut up!” you begged out loud, grabbing your phone to find something to distract yourself.

Scrolling through your playlists you tried to find one that wouldn’t give you the urge to stay up and sing along, and then you stopped on the perfect one. It was Bucky’s playlist, Greatest Cinema Scores. Grabbing your headphones you laid your head back on the pillow as John Williams carried you to dreamland.

You groan, rolling over to one side. It’s still dark out. You don’t want to look at your phone but you give in anyway. Two in the morning. At least you still had a few more hours of sleep. Your stomach spasms forcing you to get up, hurrying your paces to the bathroom because the weird rumbling has you convinced you might not make it in time.

It’s five past two in the morning when all hell breaks loose. Hell translating to everything you’ve eaten this evening coming up and out of you from both ends. It’s not pretty. Tears are streaming down your face as you puke into the garbage can you’re rapidly filling, trying to catch your breath in between painful heaves. The other end isn’t much better, hot liquid expelling itself from your body; stomach cramps, body spasms all doing their part to add to the mess.

Ten minutes pass by the time it’s safe to leave the bathroom. Your throat burns with the remnants of vomit, your ass is on fire and you curl back into bed, brushing aside the tears from the corner of your eyes. Your reprieve is short lived as your stomach grumbles again and you rush across your apartment, giving yourself over to the porcelain throne.

More comes out of you than you’ve taken in and you wonder about the science of it all. When will it stop? Dinner was simple, a glass of wine, a small house salad, chicken parm and some vegetables that come out whole as you peer into the soupy garbage held out in front of you. A whiff of the stench makes you gag again setting off another round of vomiting.

Everything hurts. Tears burn hot against your skin as you cry alone, half naked and in need of a shower at this point to clean yourself up. Elvis died on the toilet, is that how you’re gonna go too? It seems entirely possible at this point.

By the time the sun begins to peak out through the large buildings you’ve exhausted your body of all its worth. You’re shaking as you change into clean pajamas, crawling back into bed, barely having the strength to raise your phone to your ear as you leave a message for Elena, telling her you won’t be able to make it in today.

Sleep doesn’t come easy, not when you’re still getting out of bed every hour to get rid of every part of your insides. Isn’t it out of you already? You think back to dinner and the slightly pink chicken you thought at the time was your imagination or bad lighting. Dammit.

You text Billy, telling him you have food poisoning, hoping his seafood and linguine didn’t leave him in the same position you were currently in. After the hundredth trip to the bathroom you opened up your fridge looking for something. You squirm as you look at the orange juice, however tempting it is the acid would probably burn through you. Your mouth waters looking at the forbidden food, aka anything that isn’t a plain cracker. Do you have any of those? Nope. How is it possible you don’t have a single thing you could possibly eat?

The trek across your apartment and back to your bed seems like it went on for miles and now you shake with chills, wrapping yourself up in the blanket as you text Wanda begging for her to come over with Gatorade, ginger ale and crackers.

You whimper out loud as you feel your stomach gurgling, it wants another round versus the toilet where you’re going to lose. By the time you come out again you’re sweating, shaking on weak legs as you cry yourself to sleep.

In another hour you’ve woken up, thankful for the returned text that she would come by before heading to work. After your latest round in the bathroom you trudge to the front door unlocking it, and move to your couch where you plop face down. You text Wanda, telling her the door is open, and try to shut your eyes until the inevitable happens. Because you know it’s going to happen again. For some reason you’ve been cursed and there’s nothing you can do about it but suffer.

You aren’t sure of how much time has passed but you hear your door opening, bags rustling in hand and the tiniest smile spreads across your face.

“Wandaaa, my butthole hurts,” you whined, lifting your head up off the couch slightly to groan even more. “It’s like a volcano that’s erupting hot brown lava. There’s so much of it Wan. It won’t stop. My ass is vomiting shit.”

“Wow Y/N, that’s quite a visual.”

Oh no. Panic surges through you when you realize that was not Wanda’s voice. A weak arm pushes you up from the couch where you turn around to find Bucky somehow looking at you in the eye after he heard your very blunt confession.

You’re stunned into silence, not knowing what to say because you had just said far too much than you ever wanted to. Suddenly you feel nauseous again but for a different reason.

Bucky shifted one of the bags he was holding into his other hand so he could send a small wave in your direction, trying not to burst out laughing as he said, “Hey neighbor.”

“B-Bucky, what are you doing here?” you asked, sinking back down onto the couch because you couldn’t support yourself anymore.

“Wanda texted me, said she wasn’t able to get these to you before work.” He set the bags down, walking closer to you and crouching down by the couch. “Are you okay?”

Your head shook a little before you answered. “No. I think I’m dying. I’m puking up my organs.”

“Oh yeah? Which ones?” he chuckled.

“My intestines, definitely my stomach… maybe a kidney or two.”

He cracked a beautiful smile that somehow made you feel better just by looking at it. Bucky reached the back of his hand out to feel your forehead. You were a little warm but you didn’t feel feverish.

“Well I’m here now and I brought all the good stuff you need. Will you let me help you?”

Tears filled your eyes as you replied, and Bucky smiled again. He emptied the bags in your kitchen, taking out a bottle of ginger ale, Gatorade, crackers and some instant white rice.

“How about a little ginger ale to settle your stomach, yeah?”

Bucky brought over a glass that was less than half filled. Sitting next to you, he helped you sit up and you waited for the room to stop spinning before you took a few small sips as he told you to. Your hand was shaking and Bucky took the glass from you before you spilled it.

You didn’t think a few sips of ginger ale would be a magical cure but you wished it would. You felt so shitty… which seemed fitting, but it really wasn’t funny. You leaned against Bucky, closing your eyes as you sighed in frustration. It was comforting to feel his arm around you, and hear his whispers that everything would be okay.

“Are you nauseous? Do you need to…”

“I just don’t feel good,” you cried against him.

Bucky pressed his lips into a thin line, wishing there was something more he could do for you. When Wanda texted him he had shot right up, threw on clothes and raced to the store. He wished you had asked him, that you were as close as you used to be but he understands why you might not have wanted him to know.

The briefest thought about Billy crosses his mind. Did you tell him? Was he going to come in and take care of you? Would you shove Bucky aside if he did? But Billy isn’t here, and Billy isn’t important. Right now this is about you and doing whatever he can to help.

“Hey doll, do you want to try and eat something?”

You barely process the nickname as you think about how your stomach is feeling. It’s still too early to try and eat so instead you ask for some Gatorade, hoping that might make you feel a little better.

Bucky brings it back, along with a wet washcloth he places on your neck, feeling your skin prickle at his touch as he moves aside the collar of your shirt. It’s a nice relief for the short while it lasts. You head back to the bathroom again but at least you didn’t vomit this time. You’re thankful since you’re really not sure you have the strength to even handle throwing up anymore.

Back on the couch you lay your head down on Bucky’s thigh, curling your body into a fetal position as he lays a throw blanket over you. You don’t realize when you’ve fallen asleep but you wake up at some time later to find the sky is lit in a golden glow of the afternoon sun. Bucky assists you with sitting up, helping you quell the dizziness with more sips of Gatorade and ginger ale.

You feel brave enough to eat, hoping that one single cracker will not send you back on the hell ride through your digestive tract. Bucky can’t help but smile as you nibble on the cracker slowly like a hamster.

“What did you eat that got you sick?” he wondered.

“New Italian place on 23rd and 8th. Bad chicken. I mean, I thought it was good at the time but I don’t think I’ll be going back again.”

“Good to know. I’m gonna cancel my plans tonight,” he said, digging his phone from his pocket.

“Yeah, definitely go somewhere else.”

“No, I’m cancelling the whole date.”

Your head spun as you turned it too fast to face Bucky. “You have a date tonight?”

His head shook before he began speaking. “Nope, not anymore. I want to stay here and take care of you.” You began to protest but Bucky insisted. “Y/N, I really want to do this. Please, let me help you.”

The fluttering in your stomach made you wonder if you needed to rush to the bathroom again but it didn’t feel the same as before. Instead you smiled softly, thankful to have Bucky’s kindness. It was nice to know someone wanted to take care of you.

In the moment you scanned the table for your phone, remembering the text you sent out this morning. Billy still hadn’t replied. Maybe he’s sick too or maybe… well you don’t have the energy to think otherwise at the moment.

Your mouth is watering, craving anything and everything that you can’t have. Even the drinks have to be sipped slowly otherwise you’ll set your stomach off again. It’s so unfair. Why is this happening? And why is every commercial food related?

“Bucky, can you change the channel?” you begged.

He switched it to a show about animals, that’s fine, that’s… not fine. The TV shows a raccoon eating delicious red grapes and you feel the tears begin to flood your eyes. You huff against Bucky’s leg, not bothering to change the channel because there was no point. You couldn’t eat and you probably never will again. Was that being dramatic? Maybe, but right now you’re not in the mood to think sensibly.

“I feel bad askin’ but is it okay if I order food? I know you can’t have any and I really don’t want to make this worse for ya.”

Bucky is staring at you with big blue eyes, hoping his small request isn’t too much of an offence at the moment. You almost wanted to say no but you couldn’t, it’s not Bucky’s fault you ate bad chicken.

“Pizza? Really?” you whined after he placed his order.

His eyes grew big with panic and he was about to call back and cancel his order before you stopped him.

“No, no. I’m sorry Bucky. It doesn’t matter what you eat, I’m gonna want everything so enjoy yourself.”

You pouted, grabbing the throw blanket to pull it over your shoulder as you adjusted your position of resting on his leg, shutting your eyes until he got up to answer the door when the pizza arrived.

“That smells really good,” you said, frowning as Bucky opened the box.

He was hesitant to take a bite, feeling guilty as you looked at him. “Can I make you anything? Think you could handle some rice?”

Your head shook and you took out another single cracker, chewing on it slowly as Bucky sat down beside you with a few slices.

“I’m sorry Y/N. You’ll feel better soon, I promise. And when you’re up for it let’s get pizza. We still haven’t kept our promise.” Bucky’s mouth dropped open in response to your confused face. “Our pizza quest! Remember? Eat our way through the city to find the best pizza!”

“Oh yeah!” You smiled for the first time, bright and beaming across your face and Bucky was happy he was able to bring that out in you. “We definitely have to do that.”

The night continued with Bucky putting on Galaxy Quest for you both to watch. Halfway through the movie you went back to the bathroom, missing a call from Billy. Bucky couldn’t help but look over as your phone buzzed, seeing a picture of you and Billy smiling together.

A moment later a text came through and he knew he shouldn’t read it but he couldn’t help himself. Bucky looked towards the bathroom to check that you weren’t about to come out before he grabbed your phone, reading Billy’s text.

Billy: Wtf Y/N where are you? Did you remember the basketball game?

Bucky placed your phone back on the coffee table, remembering to unclench his jaw as your bathroom door opened. What an asshole. He didn’t even ask how you were.

“Your phone rang,” Bucky reluctantly said as you sat down again.

He watched as you read the text, typing back furiously. Another buzz and you were responding to Billy again, your face getting angrier the longer the back and forth messaging went on.

“I’m sorry, that was rude,” you said, tossing your phone on the table. “Let’s put the movie on.”

You got comfortable against Bucky, ignoring the buzz of your phone. The texts didn’t stop coming in and you tried your best to ignore it and pay attention to the movie but Bucky could clearly see you were upset.

“You can answer that if you need to.”

“I really don’t want to. Billy’s so concerned about wasting money on tickets, not once has he even mentioned the fact that I’m sick. Did he not get my messages?”

Bucky bit his tongue, not wanting to say something he might end up regretting, especially if this isn’t the end of you and Billy like he hoped. Why would he hope that? He’s dating now. Or at least he thought he was.

He cancelled his date with Bobbi tonight without hesitation, just so he could take care of you. She seemed cool about it, asking if he was free tomorrow and Bucky agreed to another date but the longer you stay curled up beside him the less interest he has in wanting to see anyone.

The warmth of your body against his lulled Bucky into a deep sleep. It wasn’t the most comfortable, slumped on the couch in a mostly sitting position but he didn’t want to move, not when you had fallen asleep before him. You were exhausted from everything you went through so your sleep was more important to him than the cramp that developed in his neck overnight.

You woke up, slowly opening your eyes, rubbing the sleep from them as you realized you weren’t in your bed but on the couch resting your head against Bucky. You watched the rise and fall of his stomach through the soft sweater he wore, the one that most certainly left tiny marks on your cheek from leaning against it.

Looking up at Bucky you smiled at the way his head was tilted to the side, eyes shut peacefully as small puffs of breath left his mouth. You thought about everything Bucky had done for you, what was supposed to be a simple task of dropping off ginger ale and crackers turned into his whole day being rearranged just to take care of you.

You wanted to do something nice for him in return, it’s something you’ll have to think about when your head’s not as light as it feels. Slowly you begin to sit up, taking a few sips of Gatorade from the bottle that was left on the table. You feel… better but still not great.

It’s daring but you aim to eat two crackers, hoping it won’t set off your stomach. It was grumbling with hunger but you knew better than to give in with actual food even though you were craving pancakes.

After sitting up for a while you didn’t think you felt dizzy anymore so you got up slowly. You felt the weakness in your legs as they carried you across the room but at least your trip to the bathroom was normal. A regular pee was a lot better than everything else that came out of you yesterday.

“G’morning,” Bucky said mid-yawn as you opened the door, seeing his sweater rise up to reveal a sliver of his toned stomach as he stretched his arms out.

“Morning Bucky.” You smiled as you made your way beside him again, reaching your arm across his stomach as you settled back against him, nuzzling your head on his chest.

Bucky loved this but absolutely hated that he needed to use the bathroom and therefore ruin the way you cuddled up against him. “I’m sorry doll. I’ll be quick,” he said, rushing up off the couch.

Doll. You liked that nickname. It was a little on the old fashioned side but it was endearing. Billy called you babe which was fine and all but it definitely didn’t have the same effect as doll. The thought of Billy made you roll your eyes. You would have to speak to him today but you really didn’t want to.

“Alright, where were we?”

Bucky’s voice rang out as he opened the door, walking back towards the couch. He moved his neck from side to side to crack it before he sat down again, letting you cozy up to him.

“How’re you feelin’ today?”

“Better. I think I might try some rice later.”

“Just let me know and I’ll make it.” There was no hesitation in his offer, just pure tenderness in wanting you to get better.

The morning was spent cuddling on the couch until Bucky’s stomach began grumbling worse than yours. He got up to make himself something while you insisted you weren’t ready for anything more than crackers and ginger ale yet.

“I’m gonna take your garbage out and head home for a quick shower. You think you’ll be okay? I’ll be quick.”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thanks Bucky.”

He was thankful you didn’t tell him not to come back. You seemed much better than yesterday and you probably didn’t need him but Bucky really didn’t want to leave. Sure he had work to do but this was more important. He wouldn’t have been able to get you off his mind anyway so he might as well be useful.

During Bucky’s absence you debated talking to Billy, knowing it would probably end up in a fight but you didn’t have the strength to do that yet. Besides, you hadn’t done anything wrong so there is no need for you to be chasing him down.

With the little energy you had you decided to freshen up. While splashing your face with some water you noticed the broken blood vessels in your eyes, the result of straining so much to throw up. Fun stuff.

It was a bit of a struggle to get undressed and changed into new pajamas and you had to lay down in your bed before the room stopped spinning. Thankfully Bucky had come back and was able to help you.

He handed the glass of Gatorade to you, rubbing slow circles of comfort on your back that seemed so natural for him.

“You need to eat something Y/N. Think you’re up for some rice now?” he asked softly, gazing at you with concern as he awaited your answer. You gave a simple nod and Bucky leapt up to get it started.

The burn of tears rushed to your eyes as you thought about Bucky. He was so eager to make sure you were okay, taking out your garbage that was filled with various bags full of vomit without hesitation, spending every minute of his weekend just to take care of you. He even cancelled a date.

Something inside your stomach twisted at the thought of Bucky actually dating someone. It’s not like him sleeping with someone was a surprise to you but apparently in the last month you’ve drifted apart from him, unaware he had started to date people instead of just sleeping with them. You’re not so sure why this makes you feel so… well, you’re not really sure how you feel about it but you know you feel something.

None of this should matter though. You have been dating someone for two months. Someone you thought you loved but this past weekend has taught you a lot about Billy. Not only has his change in demeanor put you off but the fact that he hasn’t shown any concern for you over this weekend really makes you want to end your relationship.

Bucky happily brought over a small bowl of white rice. There wasn’t much in there to begin with but you could only manage a few teaspoons before you had to stop. The worst part of it all is that you were so hungry but you really couldn’t eat much, and certainly couldn’t chance upsetting your stomach anymore no matter how badly you wanted to shovel the rice down your mouth.

The afternoon was spent on your couch again, cuddled up against Bucky as you continued to watch movies. His arm was around your shoulder and occasionally you felt his hand rub up and down over the curve of your arm. You smiled against him, letting yourself enjoy however long you could have Bucky like this.

In the back of your mind you thought about him dating again. Whoever he ends up with would be the luckiest girl ever, to have someone as kind and caring as Bucky take care of them as he has been with you. You chew on your bottom lip remembering the shared kiss on New Year’s Eve. Yeah, it was safe to say you would be completely jealous of any girl that ends up with him.

While attempting to have a little more rice you watched Bucky respond to his phone that had gone off a few times. It was hard not to glance over at him, imagining what pretty girl he was probably talking to.

What you didn’t know was Bucky was talking to a girl, Bobbi, cancelling the plans they had rescheduled for today. He didn’t bother to reschedule again and Bucky knew it was stupid not to but somehow the weekend he’s spent on your couch made him lose all enthusiasm for dating someone. Logic tried to reason with him, remind him that you were in a relationship but it was hard to deny the way he felt about you, how he’s been feeling for a long time now.

Bucky can’t stop staring at you, watching as you finish up the rice from earlier. He’s hated seeing you in pain but being able to help you this weekend has been such an honor.

As the sun set you realized you were not at all prepared to go back to work tomorrow. You probably could use another day off but since you weren’t throwing up anymore you wanted to at least give it a shot. Besides, Tony had been relying on you a lot recently with the logistics of getting The September Foundation prepared and you didn’t want to disappoint anyone.

“I need to take a shower.” As you stood up you felt a little dizzy and Bucky had his arms around you just in case. After a moment of a few deep breaths you felt a little better. “I’m okay,” you assured him.

Bucky didn’t quite believe that so he poured more Gatorade and handed you the glass.

“I’m not leaving you.” Bucky wiped his hand down his face realizing how forceful that sounded. “I mean, I won’t leave until you get out okay? I don’t want you to slip and fall or anything.”

“I’ll leave the door unlocked just in case but now I feel like I’ve jinxed myself,” you joked. Having Bucky hear your vivid description of shitting was bad enough, you really didn’t want him to find you passed out in the shower.

Bucky lowered the volume of the TV to barely above mute, wanting to listen out for anything out of the ordinary. He heard the shower turn on and a minute later the curtain pulling as you stepped in.

A text from Sam pulled his attention away from listening and he opened the message, his jaw clenched as he scanned the photo attached. It was Billy, with his arm around another girl. She was short with dark hair pulled into a bun, dressed professionally and Bucky questioned if he was jumping the gun at thinking the worst. Maybe she worked with Billy or maybe it was his sister.

The next text that came through proved his theories wrong. Sam captioned the picture of Billy kissing the girl with “Asshole.”

Bucky: I’m with Y/N now. She’s been sick all wknd I don’t think she knows about this.

Sam: Do you want to tell her or should I have Wanda come by? She’s ready to rip his head off.

Bucky: So am I Bucky: Fuck. Bucky: idk maybe Wanda should talk to her?

There was nothing Bucky wanted more than to tell you what an asshole Billy was but he didn’t want to be accused of using it to his advantage in any way. Bucky would be there with everyone else to support you through this but as a friend only. You deserved better than Billy no matter who you ended up with.

“Bucky!”

The sound of your voice in distress makes him pop up from the couch. He runs to the door, fear coursing through his veins as he hopes you’re okay. Inside the steamy bathroom he finds your head poking out through the shower curtain, the rest of it pulled close to your body not to reveal yourself.

“I forgot to grab a towel,” you said, smiling. “They’re over there.” A bare arm slick with water points behind him and he grabs a towel from a shelf. “Thanks,” you said, taking it from him, watching as he nods awkwardly before shutting the door.

Bucky’s cheeks are flushed from the brief humidity and the sight of seeing you in the shower. Well, not that he saw anything but just the idea of it has his heart racing.

Ten minutes later and you were out of the bathroom, changed into new pajamas, these ones covered with a cute cactus print, brushing through your still wet hair.

Silence filled the room as you finished your post shower routine of putting on a variety of moisturizers and facial sprays and Bucky felt like he had overstayed his welcome. You were winding down even though it was still early, and truthfully he had a weekend’s worth of work to catch up on.

“So there’s more rice on the counter, plus an unopened bottle of ginger ale too, and if you need anything else you know where I live.” He chuckled uncomfortably at his bad joke. “Really though if you need me please call me okay? I’ll come running.”

He didn’t mean to sound so desperate but it was true.

“Thank you so much for everything Bucky.” You threw your arms around him for a hug, melting deeper into him as he wrapped his arms around your body.

Neither of you realized the other didn’t want to let go but you made the move to reluctantly pull apart. Bucky had spent his whole weekend doting on you, you didn’t want to force him to stay any longer.

Bucky smiled as he gazed upon you, the way your eyes shifted down before staring back up at him. He leaned in slowly, pressing his lips to your forehead and a surge of electricity went racing through you. His kiss lingered and the longer he made contact with your skin the more you wanted to press your lips to his.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” he said, walking away slowly towards the door.

Your heart was caught in your throat as you locked it behind him, letting out a deep, longing sigh, and the realization that you might have feelings for Bucky.

PART 15

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes au #billy russo x reader

792 notes · View notes

minniepetals · 4 years

Text

butterfly.05

— summary: the final series but with a promising tomorrow that your love will last until eternity

— pairing: bts x reader

— genre: fluff, slight angst, poly!au, ceo!au

— word count: 14.0k

— warnings: a scene with a car accident, besides that, just fluff fluff and more fluff

╰ part 1: buttercream / part 2: buttercup / part 3: buttermilk / part 4: butterscotch / part 5: butterfly

Soft music played from the kitchen and curiously, still half asleep with a bed head, Hoseok popped his head in to see what was going on.

It was a sight he never knew would ever make him fall more in love with you; making pancakes with hair tied into a pretty messy bun in your pretty white nightgown Yoongi once gifted you. It hugged your frame perfectly, silk, short, small straps, lying just against your thighs. Your head shook from side to side lightly to the beat of the music, soft hums escaping from you.

He never knew he'd ever witness you being awake before any of the guys. It happened once in a while, rarely, but only when you've had a good night's rest. Yet he knew you hadn't gotten your full hours of sleep but there you were, a soft expression resting on your face as you continued making breakfast without noticing him leaning beside the doorway leading into the kitchen.

Hoseok could still remember every moment of the night before filled with soft giggles, soft whines, soft embraces, and soft kisses. You fell asleep peacefully in his arms, snuggling up close to him and he swore he caught you purring. Luckily Taehyung got all of it on camera for the memories they'd never want to forget.

He was left waking up beside Yoongi and Seokjin, you nowhere to be seen on the bed. He called your name a few times and when there were no responses except the whines from Yoongi wanting more sleep, he stood up, put on a white t-shirt, before going on for his short expedition to find you. It was the first morning of the honeymoon, surely you'd want to sleep in some more, right? Weren't you exhausted from the night before?

As if on cue, a cute kitten's yawn escaped out of you and Hoseok silently cooed.

"The things I do for them," you giggled to yourself afterwards and finally Hoseok decided to make his appearance clear to you.

He stalked up behind you, letting his arms pull you into a sweet back hug (and you gave out a cute squeak) where he propped his chin upon your shoulder, nuzzling his head against your neck.

He breathed in. "Smells sweet."

You grinned excitedly. "I know right? The pancakes are going to taste so delicious and-"

"I wasn't talking about the pancakes, although they smell sweet too, but nothing can smell sweeter than you, my lovely wife."

Your heart soared and a short moment of silence passed, confusing Hoseok because he knew by then you should have stuttered your way out of trying to cope with his sweet talks like you always did. But when Hoseok looked up, he found a beaming sun glowing right in front of his eyes instead.

"You look like you're about to explode," Hoseok chuckled lightly as he pinched a cheek of yours, still unsure of the reasoning behind your smile.

"Doesn't it sound nice?" You asked him, turning your body fully to face him. "Hm? My handsome hubby?"

Hubby.

A curse left his lips almost breathlessly. "We really did that, huh?"

You squealed and he couldn't help but laugh aloud at how cute you were. "It's been what? Four? Five months? Since you've all proposed to me on Christmas."

"It really has, hasn't it?" Hoseok chuckled as he let his arms wrap around you to pull you in close, his body naturally allowing the both of you to sway to the soft sound of music that was still playing.

He could still remember the process that led up to the proposal.

࿐ ᶠ ˡ ᵃ ˢ ʰ ᵇ ᵃ ᶜ ᵏ

"Let's get married," Jimin said and they all looked up from the papers that laid in front of them on the long desk of the meeting room. Hoseok blinked and for a moment and Taehyung was about to give a silly remark but they could all see the serious gaze Jimin held, something he didn't often have when talking about other things besides being in his business mode. Only when he was truly serious about a certain topic.

"Married?" Namjoon repeated.

"We promised each other," the younger male reminded them all, "since we were kids, we promised each other that if we didn't find someone else to love, we'd end up marrying each other. Who would have thought the seven of us would actually end up together?"

It was a silly little promise they made during one of the very few sleepovers they had in the earlier years. They were playing truth or dare, something Jungkook had proposed he wanted to do, and with Yoongi asking them all whether they had anyone they loved and them responding with no's, Jimin pulled up a ridiculous dare for them to bet on, a promise of them marrying each other in the end if nothing worked out with their partners in the future.

Seokjin laughed but agreed and Hoseok placed his hand in just for the fun of it. Jungkook and Taehyung saw it as a competition so of course they weren't going to miss out, and the last two just shrugged it off as something that'll probably never happen but placed their hands in anyways.

Jimin was right, no one had saw the big relationship coming, not especially for Jungkook to confess one night when he was crying after Namjoon said he was about to leave to study in the states. A cute heartfelt confession with lots of tears and flushed cheeks, his bunny eyes looking at Namjoon with hands that held onto the man tightly, begging him to not leave because he had been his first crush.

Namjoon, one who cried only rarely, had a few tears slipping from his eyes and pulled the maknae into his arms, telling him that he felt the same.

Their relationship didn't last long, not before Jimin joined and then the rest of them came along on the ride, a relationship meant to last until the longest time because they knew and loved each other for the longest. It was the only spark they've actually felt, contrary to previous relationships with the ones before them, the first time something actually felt right.

Jimin reminded them almost every moment he could remember about the promises they made to each other that one beautiful night. It was something he had never forgotten because he was so in love and happy. He never missed a time to remind them, not until a few years prior to where they were now.

"And...Y/N?" Hoseok queried.

As if on cue, the door to the meeting room opened slightly with a light knock and in you came with a pretty floral blouse and white pencil skirt, beautiful as always.

"Just a reminder, Mr. Park, you have a meeting with the Yoon Corporation's executive leaders in half an hour and I have the meeting agenda here if..you'd..." You trailed off the second your eyes looked up and scanned the room, noticing every one of them looking at you with a serious gaze and Hoseok could see you visibly tense up.

Poor Y/N who knew nothing of what they were thinking about. But then again, it was good that you didn't.

"What...what's wrong?" You stuttered, voice small with the loss of confidence.

You always hated when they made you feel little in that sense.

"Nothing, baby," Jimin was first to say with a small smile. "I'll see you in a few minutes, okay?"

Your smile was a little lopsided but nonetheless nodded as you bid your goodbyes and left without another word. They wanted to say something more, Hoseok knew, to soothe your little worries but he also knew that the sudden proposition was placing them in a sudden overwhelming situation. A good overwhelming situation.

"She deserves a proposal," Yoongi said with his eyes still remaining on the door where you left just minutes ago.

"So..." Jimin trailed off, smiling, "we agree?"

"I agree," Hoseok mirrored the same excitement and the rest were quick to follow.

࿐ ᴱ ᴺ ᴰ ᴼ ᶠ ᶠ ᴸ ᴬ ˢ ᴴ ᴮ ᴬ ᶜ ᴷ

"Hoseok, you distracted me!" You chided at the man, quick to leave his arms as you picked up the spacula again with a distressed groan the moment you flipped over a pancake only to find it clearly burnt. "Look at what you've done."

"Me?" Hoseok laughed in disbelief while you dumped the burnt pancake into the garbage can. "It's my fault you forgot you were cooking?"

"Yes!" You reiterated as you poured another batch of pancake mix into the pan. "I'm trying to make as plenty of pancakes as I can before the rest of you wake up because today's a special day and I don't wanna ruin any part of our honeymoon, especially on our first day."

Hoseok cooed. "Aww, you pretty little thing. So you decided to wake up bright and early just to make us breakfast?"

"Why else?" You mumbled through a cute pout. "You know I cherish my sleep but you also have to know that I love you all more than anything."

You were so, so precious.

"I love you more," Hoseok challenged and you were quick to hold the spatula right up at him with a playful glare while he flinched back just as playful, both hands in the air.

"You can't love me more than I love you."

"Watch me," he dared and almost instantly, you were swept off on your feet and a squeal quickly left your lips as you laughed along while Hoseok spun you about.

"Hoseok, you—oomph.!" He held you steady in his strong arms, leaning up to kiss you right then and there while you tried your best not to let the spatula slip away from your fingers. The kiss was searing and hot like the passionate man he was but to have it so early in the morning while you were trying to cook, you lightly tapped him with your wrist, trying to get him to relent because you still had to cook before the others woke up.

"What's the matter?" The man let you go with a swipe of his tongue on his upper lip, smirking. "Too intense for you? Can't take anymore after last night?"

You frowned at him to show your displeasure but it only turned out into a pout with a beautiful blush Hoseok could recognize almost instantly. "I'm trying to be romantic here and you're ruining my moment." He laughed aloud, only to inject a whine out of you. "Why can't you just let me spoil you guys for one morning? It isn't even for a day because I know you'd never let me go that far but I've been spoiled enough from the moment we started dating and it's making me upset."

"Baby Y/N-ie's upset?" He feigned a cute teasing pout. "Haven't we told you plenty of times already? As long as you're with us — which will be for the rest of your life because we've already declared our vows, by the way — you're going to be spoiled until death takes us apart." With the pout still resting on your face, Hoseok couldn't resist and let out a sigh as he placed you back onto the floor. "Fine, just this one time."

You jumped with joy the instant that came out of his lips. "I love you, thank you! But..!" You gave him a pointed look with a finger hovered just below his nose. "I still hate you because you ruined my surprise for yourself."

"Hate me?" A dramatic gasp left him. "You can never, baby."

You giggled. "Fine, you're right. But I'm still upset with you."

"Hey listen, I think you're going to be even more upset and this time it really isn't my fault just because I'm too charming for you to resist but," he placed a quick peck on your lips before moving on to stroll out of the kitchen, "your pancake's burning."

You gasped immediately. "Hoseok!"

The only thing you could hear was his laugh fading away.

"What are you wearing?"

"A..swimsuit?"

"No," Seokjin decided as he grabbed your wrist to drag you right back into the vacation home.

"What? But Seokjin—"

"If you think me and the guys are going to let you walk around out there in that swimming suit of yours, think again darling."

Your lips pouted as he opened the door to the bedroom before letting your hand go. "Do I look that bad?" You asked him as you stood in front of the closed door while looking down at yourself, suddenly feeling self conscious.

He could immediately tell what that voice indicated and the man was quick to hold your shoulders together, walking you over towards the bed to have you sitting on the edge. He gave you a pointed look while you sat there refusing to meet his gaze with a sad frown. "The exact opposite of that is the reason why I will not allow you to step a foot outside." Seokjin's voice was deep, maybe deeper than the sea, and to hear him say such possessive words made you feel some type of way.

"Do you not understand? Hm?" He prompted with a raised brow before letting his eyes fall. A hand rested right on your stomach and chills were quick to fall. "I don't want anyone else seeing this pretty tummy." It rose, hovering up and along your breast before brushing lightly on your collarbones. "Your pretty chest, your pretty collarbones." He held your chin, rose it for you to meet his sharp gaze.

"The pretty face that accompanies this pretty body. And above all, I don't want them approaching you and finding out not only is your body pretty but your heart is too. Guys can be animals, some do not respect women, and many will go after the pretty vulnerable ones who hates violence, ones who can't stand up for themselves not because they're weak but because they're too kind to say no."

"I-I can say no," you tried to reject.

But his brow raised. "You've learned to say no to us, darling, you haven't learned to say no to your friends nor strangers," he reminded you.

You let out a little huff as you pushed him back just slightly so that you could breathe again. "I'm a married woman, no one will come up to me."

"Married or not, pretty is pretty and no man will want an opportunity to miss that."

You groaned. "I'm not you, okay? I don't attract attention that easily and have everyone looking my way just by walking around. I won't get—"

Suddenly you were pushed down against the mattress with full force and Seokjin hovering above you, his body supported by the two arms that stood trapping you from both sides. "Why can't you see that you're the most beautiful woman in the world?" He asked, so frustrated it almost came out into a whine. "Do you know how many guys we have to glare down whenever we're walking beside you? You're so freaking oblivious because you're always in your own little world and—"

"Exactly."

"What?"

You rolled your eyes before sighing as you looked back up at him with a serious gaze. "I'm in love, Jin, I don't care about anyone else watching me from a distance. I'm so oblivious because the only ones I see are you and the other six, who cares about those other men? They can flirt all they want, you know I won't react to them like I'd react to you. Sometimes it gets scary and I'll always want one of you by my side but you don't have to be so jealous, my love, I chose you and I love you, not them. I'm yours, I belong to you and you're mine. We're married and there's no way anyone can ever break us apart now."

Sometimes he wondered how you got the courage to say such endearing words he loved so much. When you first began dating, feelings were a little more held back on your side because you didn't know how to show your love. Your first relationship didn't teach you anything and your previous one left a scar that had you overthinking everything because you were afraid they'd leave you if you ever did something they didn't like.

But truth was, there was nothing you could have done to make them leave you. You were naturally a kindhearted woman, they knew even before the dating phase, and you've always put forth your best efforts to work hard each and everyday, even on days when you were sick but refused to stay in bed.

You'd worry about the slightest things they'd pay no mind to, your insecurities being a big role that kept you back from saying the things you wanted.

And what he hated the most was when hoarding your feelings became too overwhelming and tears would fall from your eyes. Like the first time they saw you cry when someone touched you but you had been too afraid to speak up, or the second time when you went to Namjoon about the jealousies that ran around the whole building.

࿐ ᶠ ˡ ᵃ ˢ ʰ ᵇ ᵃ ᶜ ᵏ

Seokjin fired his secretary but did it in an orderly manner even though he did wanted to act like Jimin for once and just fired people right on the spot without giving them a pep talk. Jimin was definitely not happy about the situation, none of them were, but the man was more willing to fire anyone that had so much as glared your way. Namjoon had to calm him into going about things in a rational way.

They watched you closer ever since you spoke up, kept an eye on you at all times in case someone were to mess with you. And if they were too busy to watch over you, they'd have someone else doing the job and reporting to them whether someone had said anything to you or about you.

Things were looking much brighter, you looked happier, and the company was back to being a hardworking environment without the envious situation thrown into the mix.

But there was still one little problem.

You stood next to Seokjin wearing pretty black trousers with a pretty white blouse while your hair was up in a pretty ponytail. Jimin had asked you to be Seokjin's acting secretary for the night since the older man needed one and he had already fired his a few days prior. He didn't thought much of it when some lady approached him to spark up a conversation, only noticing a few minutes later with the way you stood there, hands fidgeting with the sleeves of your blouse and fixing your hair every three seconds.

You didn't feel comfortable but didn't leave his side because you took orders seriously since Seokjin himself asked you not to stray from him.

He held on a small tight smile, not liking the way the lady had begun to stray away from business talks and opted with a less formal conversation. But he couldn't just stop the conversation mid-sentence, it would be rude. Yet the second she tilted her head back from a soft laughter and lightly hit him on the shoulder, his small smile began to fade.

Sure she wasn't that bad looking but she wasn't you. Not as gorgeous as you who didn't need to wear a dress to impress because you were already pretty without it. Not as sweet, not as kind. He didn't like her laugh. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't like yours, not like the way your sweet laughter would immediately light up his heart.

But then again, it was probably because he was in love with you and not her.

"Care to go out for a cup of coffee some day?" She asked him.

Years before, even before he understood what love was, he would admire the bold ones that approached him and got straight to the point. He wasn't too keen on being the one who chased after someone, he liked being chased instead.

The guys wasn't much of a task to chase after, he had not much of a need to chase after them at all. It was more of a childhood to lovers story. After Jungkook confessed to Namjoon, it was then that got him to realize being chased after the ones he didn't care too much about wasn't his style. It began to annoy him a little. But Seokjin was still a stubborn man who refused to chase after any of the guys, instead playing the hard to get card while they all trailed after him, rolling their eyes because he liked playing with them.

It was until you showed up did he realized what chasing meant.

You were so shy, a cute worker, quiet and soft, got scared easily but could never get mad at anything or anyone. You'd stutter your words whenever you'd talk to any of the higher ups (aka them), and he found himself curious as to what kind of person you were and what went on in that little head of yours.

It was a bit of a surprise when Yoongi deemed he fell in love at first sight all of a sudden but it did sparked more curiosity in the man.

Seokjin liked talking to you whenever he got the chance. He loved the way your cheeks were so easy to turn into rose pink, loved your soft voice, and got a little frustrated you weren't part of the group of ladies that showed love and admiration for him.

But your focus and hard work was something that made him fall more for you, made him realize he was the one chasing this time rather than being the one to be chased after.

And he liked it.

"Actually.." Seokjin took ahold of your fidgeting hand without any hesitation and while you began to panic, worried for the onlookers and the lady in front of you, he held your clasped hands up in full view, surprising both you and everyone else that looked your way. "I will be occupied until the day she decides to leave me." He paused, turning to look at you with a confident grin while you stood there, eyes silently asking him what he was doing but Seokjin paid no mind. "Which I hope will never happen, my love."

My love.

Seokjin wasn't one to declare his feelings out into the public, he liked to keep things private and hidden behind closed doors. But with the way you kept looking down on yourself and the previous events beforehand, he knew validating your feelings was so much more important.

"Shall we go?"

It wasn't a question, it was a declaration. And before you could protest or say anything, the man whisked you away.

"Seokjin?" You called upon his name the moment the two of you were alone and he turned around, prompting you to go on. You let go of his hand to hug yourself before speaking again and he frowned at the way your eyes refused to look at him. "H-How'd you know?" You asked him in a small voice.

With a small sigh that left his lips, Seokjin took a step forward to wrap his arms around your smaller figure, letting his chin rest atop your head. "It's kind of my job as a boyfriend to understand the feelings of my girlfriend, don't you think?" You kept quiet. "No matter how many ladies approach me, approaches any of us, just remember that we are yours and yours alone. There's no need to worry, baby, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon...ever."

࿐ ᴱ ᴺ ᴰ ᴼ ᶠ ᶠ ᴸ ᴬ ˢ ᴴ ᴮ ᴬ ᶜ ᴷ

"Why are you like this?"

You cocked your head just slightly, brows a little creased in confusion and he groaned again because you looked so adorable. "What do you mean?"

"I'm supposed to be mad at you, Y/N, you can't just be perfect all the time and think you can get away just by saying sweet words to me because guess what? I fall for it every time!"

"But I mean it!"

"Exactly!"

Dramatically, he clutched his chest and fell beside you, letting you have your moment of disbelief laughter because of the sudden change of heart.

Smiling, you leaned up against him to snuggle close. "I like this."

"What?"

"Being in love," you sighed.

"Yeah," he chuckled, agreeing before the sudden ding from both your phones alerted the two of you that the other six were waiting outside on the beach.

"I almost forgot we were going to see the dolphins today." You gasped, letting out an excited squeal as you hopped off the bed but not before Seokjin grabbed your wrist so that you couldn't leave the bedroom.

"Just because I'm no longer upset does not mean I'm letting you go out like that."

"But Jin, they—"

"I'll tell them you're being a brat and us being late won't be the only reason they'll be upset."

You huffed. "Fine."

࿐ ᶠ ˡ ᵃ ˢ ʰ ᵇ ᵃ ᶜ ᵏ

No matter how long time had passed since you've joined their relationship, Taehyung could never not fall in love with you more and more as each day passed.

You laid in bed, the last one left to wake up as always when it came to mornings, hair sprawled almost all over, your right hand laid on your chest while your left laid on your side. That morning, however, was a little more special.

After all, the day before they had just discussed wanting to get married and propose to you.

Taehyung took your left hand into his, playing with it for a moment as he examined each finger with gentle touches, kissing each fingertip before holding your hand out palm to palm and giggling at how much smaller your hand was compared to his. He had the largest ones after all, while yours came in last, smaller than Jimin's cute fingers.

You groaned softly in your sleep, squeezing his hand just slightly and he smiled, pressing a soft kiss against your lips. "Shh, it's okay. Sleep some more, baby, you don't have to wake up just yet," he said in soft whispers and as if hearing what he had just said, you turned your body just slightly to relax in your sleep again.

He chuckled at the sight before leaving one last kiss on your head and walking out the bedroom shirtless and feeling happy for what he had just done.

"I got it!" He announced to the group as he walked into the kitchen and was greeted by the smell of coffee and eggs.

They looked up at his arrival, chuckling when they saw Taehyung holding out a string that was curled into a circle. A string that he had apparently wrapped around your ring finger just minutes before to get your ring size.

"That'll work," Yoongi shrugged as he took a sip of his coffee.

"It'll have to work," Taehyung said, plopping himself on a chair next to Jimin, "I can't just ask Y/N what her ring size is without being discreet, it'll ruin everything."

Jimin chuckled while ruffling his soulmate's head. "Good job. We knew you'd come up with something creative."

"She's still asleep?" Seokjin asked and Taehyung nodded. He looked up at the clock that indicating the time being eight in the morning. "Someone should wake her up soon, breakfast is almost ready," he said, the scrambled eggs in the pan almost done and ready to serve.

As if on cue, small little stomps made their way down to the kitchen and in you came still in your pajamas, hair cutely ruffled while a hand rubbed at your sleepy eyes and they almost melted in sight.

"You can't do that." Your voice came out whiny and croaky and oh so adorable, a cute pout adoring your face. "You know I don't like waking up alone in bed," you reminded them, a little grumpy and still clearly tired.

Gosh you were so adorable.

Jungkook chuckled lightly as he walked up to you to pull you in more towards the kitchen, a hand ruffling your head and making it more messy. "Sorry baby, you woke up a little sooner than expected."

"One moment Taehyung was whispering something and then the next no one was there."

"I know, I know," the maknae cooed as he held you in his arms, swaying your bodies from side to side and placing little peppering kisses all over your face. "We're sorry, okay? It won't happen again."

You were so spoiled but they wouldn't have it any other way.

You giggled at the feeling of his lips and tried to push him away but along with how sleepy you still were and the fact that Jungkook would always be much stronger than you, you couldn't escape the tickling sensation.

"You're so sappy," you whined cutely, wiggling in his arms.

"You love it," Jungkook said as he let you go running over to where Namjoon stood, almost stumbling into him because you were still half asleep.

"Oof, I'm sorry Joonie," you quickly said while wrapping your arms around him and looking up at him with adorable eyes.

The man chuckled as he leaned in to greet you with a morning kiss. "It's okay baby."

"Baby," you repeated the word, sighing as if awestruck with a brilliant smile lifted upon your face. "I love you," you told him like a small child and he allowed you to snuggle up against him.

"My baby koala," Namjoon cooed.

࿐ ᴱ ᴺ ᴰ ᴼ ᶠ ᶠ ᴸ ᴬ ˢ ᴴ ᴮ ᴬ ᶜ ᴷ

Even if he was on his honeymoon, Namjoon could never truly stay away from work. Not only because he was the big boss but also because he was a workaholic who often found himself handling the portion of the burdens that needed at least one of them to stay connected to their business. And he wasn't going to let anyone else do the work though you guys did chime in from time to time whenever possible.

Namjoon liked working independently.

But sometimes it could get a little tiring and for that, he always found you tumbling towards his way wherever he was at the right times.

Your tinier self would walk into his study room at the vacation home, sometimes half asleep or just plain tired, sometimes fully awake and ready to help, asking him whether he needed a helping hand or not. And whether Namjoon would say yes or no, you'd remain by his side either way.

He found both your tired and fully awake side adoring, liking the small surprises you'd greet him with each day.

When you were awake and ready to help at any time, he knew that would be the right time to let you help him out even with the smallest things. You liked helping him after all, always finding something to do because he knew you wouldn't leave unless you did something to help ease his burdens.

And on times when you were tired from whatever you had been doing, he'd allow you to just crawl into his lap, legs rested at both side of his body, head leaning to rest against his chest as he worked independently, happy for your comforting presence.

"Y/N."

"Mhm?" You answered him, voice a tired hum.

"Were you with the maknaes?"

You nodded at his question, groaning slightly as you leaned up to rest your cheek against his shoulder, having it squished right there. "Jungkookie and Jiminie tried to push me into the pool while I was all clothed and I asked Tae to help but he was just laughing so now I'm a little upset at them," you informed him while huffing.

Namjoon chuckled. "They like to play around."

"I was trying to read," you complained in a whiny tone. "And it was coming to the exciting part too!"

"You can go get your book and read it here if you'd like."

"No it's okay," you said, snuggling in closer and placing a few little pecks against his neck. "I like it here, don't wanna move."

"Okay," he smiled, fingers still typing away, multitasking as he both spoke to you and did his work. "Stay here for as long as you'd like, baby."

You giggled, nodding.

࿐ ᶠ ˡ ᵃ ˢ ʰ ᵇ ᵃ ᶜ ᵏ

You were drunk on sleep again and it's become a similar pattern that whenever you were like that, the one thing they often found you talking is about how you loved their eyes, eyes that (in your words) glowed of a thousand starlights.

"The stars are pretty."

"The stars aren't even up, Y/N," Hoseok laughed. "It's barely dusk."

"I'm talking about your eyes!" You frowned, pouting for a moment before smiling all over again. "I'm so lucky you know," you said, head on the desk in front of you, looking at them with a smile so whipped. It was a late afternoon where they had all gathered, the meeting long over and you couldn't keep yourself awake for longer. After all, you had been up all night the night before with no rest in between and they felt bad. But watching you like that was cute. You were always cute.

"Stars are pretty, I've always liked stars ever since I was little," you told them and hearing that, they listened in closer, grinning at the mention of your childhood self that must've been even cuter than you were now. "But mom couldn't bring me to the, um...what's that place called?" Your brows furrowed, losing your words and they giggled. "The aquarium? No, that's where the fishes are, what are you talking about, Y/N?" You grunted, the word not coming to you. "You know, there's a place where you can see the stars outside of Earth but it's indoors. Ugh, why can't I remember?"

"A planetarium?" Taehyung guessed and you exclaimed.

"Yes, that's it!" You were too endearing like that. "So mom couldn't bring to me the planetarium so I asked her to bring me stargazing instead but she was always so busy with work she never had time for me. Which was why I snuck out of the house one day."

Yoongi raised a brow. "A good girl like you actually snuck out?"

Just to see the stars.

What a cute little girl.

"It was fun!" You remembered. "But it was also scary because I was alone so I didn't really have time to look at the stars for long. Mom never found out though," you giggled proudly.

"Still wish to see them?" Seokjin asked you.

"It's okay, I already see them everyday," you told him. "The stars are all in your eyes and it's so much more pretty like this," you giggled again and their hearts swayed.

How lucky they were to receive a love so pure.

Still, it would have been nice to let you see the real stars that laid up in the sky, brightening up the night with its lovely glow.

And then, they thought of it. That empty room towards the attic, glass walls and ceilings that allowed you to see whatever was outside, lying right under the stars with nothing to block its view.

It was the perfect place and you deserved something perfect.

࿐ ᴱ ᴺ ᴰ ᴼ ᶠ ᶠ ᴸ ᴬ ˢ ᴴ ᴮ ᴬ ᶜ ᴷ

"Y/N, are you still here?"

"Mhm," you hummed at Jungkook's call while his eyes were still glued on the large screen in front of him, sat on a gaming chair with a console in his hold, headphones on and a curse muttered under his breath for a quick second.

"For what, baby? Why aren't you sleeping yet?" He asked you, continuing on to game. You couldn't really blame him. After all, if it wasn't for the honeymoon, Jungkook wouldn't have much time to game just as he'd like it.

"Because you aren't sleeping," you pointed out.

"Aww," he cooed, a smirk curled at the corner of his lips, "does baby not want to leave me alone?"

You nodded but then remembered he couldn't see you and answered with a yawn. "Yeah."

"I'll be done in a few, okay?" He promised and you nodded again, letting him be.

But the game lagged on and you were growing more and more tired.

"Guk," you called his name after fifteen more minutes had pass, tugging at his sleeve. "It's getting late."

"Just one more round, baby."

You groaned and shamelessly slid your body under his arms to plop yourself right on top of him (to which he easily allowed you) while resting your head on his shoulder. "Come on," you whined.

"Okay, okay," he said, letting the headphone fall off on one ear with a light chuckle. "Just let me die first." He let himself end the game faster than what he wanted at first but with you there, straddling him and being a whiny tired baby, Jungkook's love and focus was shifted.

"Done?" You asked after he took off his headphone and placed his console down.

"Yeah baby," he chuckled again, allowing you to lean back just enough to meet his eyes with a tired smile. "You're cute, you know that?" He said, pressing two kisses on your lips. "Come on, the hyungs are probably wondering where we are."

With not much effort, Jungkook picked you up easily to lead you back to the bedroom where the rest of your husbands were.

"There you are, I was just about to come get you," Namjoon greeted the second the two of you arrived to the room.

"Sorry, she was waiting up for me," Jungkook said sheepishly as he greeted him back with a kiss. The others were already asleep with Namjoon kept up catching up with some work so he was the only one left to wait up for you and Jungkook.

"Babygirl's tired," he noted. "But we'll have to wake up early to catch our flight."

You whined at that. "Don't wanna leave."

"I know, baby, I know."

If only the honeymoon could last a little longer but as long as they had each other, there was nothing more Namjoon could ever ask for.

Light pink suit on with a white shirt tucked under and white pumps and your hair up in a ponytail, Jimin studied you carefully as you went over the meeting schedule for the busy day again. Your brows were slightly creased with a firm serious expression resting on your face, a few small baby hairs sticky out just slightly from having to run around that morning, and although he wanted to smile and praise you for how quickly you were to get right back on track despite whining for some extra sleep when you had to wake up, he held his blank demeanor as he stood there, waiting for you to finish.

Luckily for Jimin he could multitask. Luckily he could both focus on your words and study you in however way he wanted.

Because although his eyes stayed on your face looking as if there was nothing else but work occupying his thoughts, his head also swarmed with thoughts of you and how he wished the vacation hadn't ended so soon.

"Have you compiled the reports that I've asked of you?"

"I will have them ready the minute I return to my desk, sir."

"Good." He nodded, satisfied. "And the phone calls?"

"Already done, sir."

"There's an event coming up in a a few days."

"I got their phone call this morning and ran over there. Everything is organized and just needs a few more last minutes touches before the final day but besides that, there isn't any problems that needs to be dealt with."

"The meeting."

"I have the meeting agenda here if you'd like to look over them," you said, handing him your neatly organized notebook to which he quickly took to look over.

"And my coffee?"

"Ah."

Jimin looked up, raising a brow. Perfect as you were with everything, sometimes you did forget to do a thing or too. You were human after all, maybe a little better than most, but still human.

"Forgive me, I'll get right to it, sir."

"Go on." You hesitated and before he could ask what was wrong, you went on to walk up to him to the tie that wrapped against his collar, your soft perfume hitting his nose.

"It was a little crooked," you told him and the corner of Jimin's lips curled up just slightly enough to be playful as he leaned in for a quick steal of your lips.

"Thank you, honey." You giggled, losing the professionalism for a moment and he smiled at the sight. "Have you checked your messages?"

"No, I haven't. Why?"

"Jin hyung texted, demanding for some attention," he informed as he held out your phone that he stole an hour prior.

Seeing the screen lit up with text messages from the eldest, you chuckled in response. "I guess he'll be whiny if I don't give him what he wants, huh?"

"Can't blame him," he shrugged. "You're around me almost every part of the day while the rest of them sometimes only gets to see you before and after work." Your phone went off again, silently vibrating against his palm for just a moment. "It's Yoongi."

"We've got a meeting in half an hour, can I quickly check in on them afterwards?" You asked and Jimin nodded with no protests, giving you a soft kiss on your lips.

"Don't let them distract you though."

"Of course not," you giggled.

"Did you know that when a male penguin falls in love with a female penguin, he searches the entire beach just to find the perfect pebble to present to her?"

"Oh my gosh," you gasped, almost squealing at how cute it was as you began to imagine a scenario of cute penguins in love with each other. "How adorable!"

"Isn't it?" Taehyung bubbled from the other line of your phone call just as you had taken a right turn as you drove.

"Why do you know this?" You wondered with a soft laugh.

"I think back in primary school," he said.

"And it hadn't slipped your mind."

"Mmn." He laughed. "I remember it then, I used to have a crush on the teacher that told me this fact and I thought, you know, that she was hinting on the fact that I should go and find the perfect pebble for her because she liked me back. But turns out poor little Tae Tae was just dreaming in a delusional reality because she already had a boyfriend."

"Oof," you giggled, "how did poor little Tae Tae react?"

"He went to little Jimin and they cried together because little Jimin always hated seeing his soulmate cry."

"You guys are so cute!"

"You're not jealous?"

You chuckled. "Why would I be?"

"Because!" Taehyung exaggerated almost as if offended you weren't jealous of his story. "I learned that fact from another woman and I'll probably never forget her because it was that memorable."

"Tae, we're married. I'm your first and hopefully last wife so how are you ever going to forget me?"

"Oh crap, you're right." You laughed. "Wait, what do you mean hopefully you'll be my last wife as well? Are you doubting my love for you?"

His comments were amusing and you shook your head, smiling at how cute your husband was. "Hmm..I wonder," you teased.

"I'm telling you!" he declared, "No matter what happens, we're never letting you go so you better be prepared for what we have to offer."

"I was prepared the day I accepted your proposals," you told him and a look to your ring finger was enough to send butterflies your way.

You looked up again towards the road in front of you. There weren't many cars passing through, just about one or two but they were both going the opposite way of you. You hit your signal to make a right turn, pressing onto the breaks to slow down yet the pace of the car never did as you expected it to be and you frowned. You pressed the breaks again, and then again, and your heart began to race as your eyes widened with fear.

"Ooh you're smoother than I thought you'd ever be. You're catching on pretty well." The light tone in Taehyung's voice was the one thing that reminded you that there was still hope in the world, that one of the six of them had just been on the other line of your call and you bit your lower lip.

"T-Tae." Your voice came out more shaky than you expected, scared for your life.

"Yeah?" He replied casually, not realizing what you sort of situation you were in just yet.

"The breaks isn't working," you breathed.

"What?"

"The breaks, Tae, it isn't working, I can't slow down!"

With your voice growing louder and tears escaping your eyes as your heart raced rapidly against your chest, Taehyung's heart stopped.

"Taehyung please, I..-" you choked, "what do I do?"

"Where are you?" He immediately asked. "Just stay calm for me okay, baby? Take deep breaths and-"

"I'm going to hang up."

"No." His heart began beating fast as he stood up abruptly. "No baby no, don't do that. Don't-"

"I love you," was the last thing he heard before the line was cut off and Taehyung flew out the doors to his office, legs running faster than ever before with his fingers punching against his phone to try and call you again.

He had no time to remember to warn the rest about what had just happened, mind with only thoughts of you and how he could get to you on time.

Hot tears fell from his eyes, blocking his views while he continued wiping them away so that he could see properly on where he was driving. A hard knot constricted his throat, making it hard to breath as his heart ached and his stomach contracted into a tight ball.

Taehyung was panicking, knuckles white from gripping onto the steering wheel way too tight and cars beeped at him for going way too fast but he couldn't care any less about anyone else when you, his baby, his wife, one of seven reasons why he continued to wake up every day, was out there somewhere alone and isolated with nowhere near help.

'I love you,' your voice echoed into his head and he shook his head vehemently.

No, no. It couldn't. It couldn't be. He couldn't even say it to you, to let you know that he loved you too and that—

No.

Taehyung took a deep breath though it was so hard. He couldn't let himself think that way, if he did then it would mean...it would mean you wouldn't return to the seven of—

And that was when he remembered.

Seven.

Right, seven.

He still hadn't informed them and they out of anyone else should know what was going on as well. Who cared about the company at the moment? You were in trouble for goodness sake.

"Hel-"

"Y/N's in danger." He took no time to waste, taking a harsh turn that made the tires squeal in turn but he couldn't care.

"What do you mean Y/N's in danger?" Hoseok's brows furrowed, confused by the bitter taste in Taehyung's tone.

"Forget about going to that stupid meeting you have in less than ten minutes, Y/N's breaks stopped working on her way back here and now I can't get ahold of her and she's probably all alone out there with no one to help because that rode is away from the cities and isolated." He spat out a curse. "Hyung, I'm trying to get to her as soon as possible."

Normally Taehyung would never be so rude as to call Hoseok's meetings stupid but he was too worried and afraid for your life and at that point, none of them cared about his words lacking respect.

"I'll tell the rest and try to get ahold of her, just try to get there as soon as possible."

"What do you think I'm doing?"

It was harsh but understandable. "Taehyung."

"What?"

"Be careful," Hoseok warned, feet already taking him away from the meeting room and leaving his assistant to blink in confusion. "I'm not going to lose you in an accident because of your careless driving."

"Hyung, what if," he cursed again, "what if Y/N-"

"I'm going to end this call right now and inform the rest but you are not allowed to think that way, do you hear me?"

"I..-" Taehyung took a deep shaky breath, running his forearm against his eyes for the hundredths time. "Okay," he said, sniffling. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

The call ended and in less than ten minutes, he was on the familiar road of where you were when you called him, head stretching out to search for someone, anyone. A car, your car. Whatever sign that told him that you were alright, that you were safe.

But he hated how he couldn't see anything.

There were no cars that drove by, a street not many frequented and he wondered where in the world you were. Were you safe? How were you safe if there weren't any drivers driving by and could have coincidentally stumble upon you? They could have phoned the police, the ambulance, anything.

But he heard no sirens, no distress cry that warned him a wreck was nearby.

Neither was his phone called by any paramedics as he had been the last person you were on the phone with.

He could only hope, hope that you would be okay. Even if that meant you'd end up in the hospital, even if it meant you'd get hurt. He could only pray that everything would turn out alright.

And then, he saw it.

A body sat on the side of the road opposite of him.

Your body.

You.

He hit the breaks as soon as he was close enough and ran out the door as if his own life depended on it.

"Y/N!"

You looked up at his call, tears falling and falling from your precious cheeks and his heart shattered even more at the state you were in but he ran to you, crouched down, and pulled you into a tight hug while his own tears continued escaping from his eyes.

You were safe.

Safe.

In his arms.

Crying and scratched with your clothes a bit dirty but safe.

So, so, safe. Safer than he could ever imagine.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," Taehyung repeated over and over again, words he never got to say before you hung up on him in the middle of the crisis and his heart had ached before you never did get to hear those words when you were alone and had no one else but yourself to rely on. "I love you so much."

The images of your body having to be wheeled into the emergency room fell from his mind as he held you close, crying yet hushing you gently as you cried inherent words against his chest, hands holding onto his blazer with a grip tighter than his because you could have lost your own life.

"It's okay, baby, I'm here now. I'm here."

He let you go just a little to have a look at how badly the incident had caused. Your white blouse were ripped from the sleeves, dirty, with signs of scratches that you had probably dived yourself out of the car just in time before it could crash and stop itself against a tree. The scratches fell down to your legs and when he touched your left foot, you winced in pain, tearing up all over again.

"Does it hurt?" He worried. "I'm so sorry. Help is coming soon, Hoseok should have called. They're on their way too so there's nothing to worry about right now. You're going to be alright, Y/N, we'll get you fixed up. They're just little scratches, you'll be better in no time. Anything else beyond that, we'll figure out a way to make it right again, you don't have to worry about a thing, my love."

"M-my car.." Crashed and ruined. Even if it could be repaired again, Taehyung wasn't going to let you ride in the one thing that could remind you of all of this.

"We'll get you a new one," he vowed but you shook your head, not wanting that from them.

"My phone..-" Probably lost and damaged in the wreck.

"We'll get you a new one," he repeated and you shook your head again.

"T-Taehyung...I was so scared," you sobbed and he pulled you in against him again, holding your head, rubbing soothing patterns, and giving you a soft kiss there.

"I know, baby, I know. It's okay now." Truth was Taehyung was way too terrified to imagine what had happened after you hung up on him but he wasn't going to tell you that. You needed the comforting more than anything and he vowed to be the bigger person as Hoseok was for him. "I'm right here, baby, I love you."

"I love you."

Barely a month into the marriage and he almost lost you but it was your body that he could feel as he held onto you with a secure hold, a promise of tomorrow, that kept him sane. It was when Hoseok held onto him later that night when he woke up unable to rest, crying against his husband's chest in the bathroom, that kept him alive.

You were alive.

Awake the next day, pressing a soft kiss against his forehead with a whisper of a soft thank you because he had gotten there before anyone else, had been the one to inform the rest. Because if it wasn't for him, who would have known how long it'd taken before they found out where you were and what had happened.

It was him that you thought of, reminding yourself that Taehyung knew, that Taehyung would run over in no time, and that you were going to be alright.

Because Taehyung knew.

So he leaned up to press a sweet and gentle kiss against your lips, careful not to hurt you, afraid you'd shatter like a fragile glass in his hold, and silently thanking the angels that had kept you safe.

"Y/N is that you?"

You turned around to come into a halt as your eyes widened at the sight in front of you, heart suddenly doing something you weren't quite fond of. "C-Chan..." You breathed, surprised by how much the years had changed him. "Wow, hello."

Years before your heart would have broken at just the sight of him alone and you wouldn't be able to face him without tearing up but now? Now that you've found seven lovers who promised to cherish and love you for the rest of your life? Your heart ached slightly but it wasn't anything that had to do with missing him as a lover. He was your childhood friend after all. And if you missed him, then it'd be as a friend who fell apart after what had happened.

"It's been years." He sighed at the sight of you, smiling softly as he studied you for a moment. Autumn had come, winter being so close by so you were beginning to wear thicker clothes as the seasons began to grow colder each passing year, a pretty white capelet coat with white furs surrounding its collar and sleeves, making you look so soft. You changed, you looked more beautiful but still had on that lovely smile that he always remembered back when the two of you were children. "How have you been?"

"I've been great!" You said with a bright smile and it almost made him falter to see you look so happy like that, moving onto a life without him in it.

"That's wonderful, Y/N," he chuckled. "You look a little too fancy for someone out casually grocery shopping."

"Do I?" You laughed, looking down at yourself. Ever since you've began dating your seven princes, they've done nothing but spoiled you rotten and clothes were definitely not an exception. You loved the coat though, a Christmas gift given one year from Taehyung.

"Listen..." Chan began to trail off and you watched how he bit his lower lip, looking a little too nervous.

You knew what was coming and quickly shut him down. "It's fine, Chan," you said almost too quick for his liking.

He looked up again, blinking. "What?"

"Whatever happened between us is all in the past."

"The past...right..."

He looked like he wanted something more, regret and guilt shown in his eyes and maybe if he was a few years earlier, you would have easily gave in but he wasn't. The years had long passed and you were completely over him, love given for others whom have stolen your heart.

Just as he was about to say something else, someone interrupted the two of you as your grocery bags were snatched right out of your hands, causing you to look back and find Yoongi frowning.

"What did I tell you about calling me over so that I can carry these things for you? You're not allowed to carry anything except your purse, Y/N, your hands should be free of heavy things," he scolded the second you met eyes.

You shook your head lightly, smiling because they were always like that even though what you had been carrying wasn't heavy at all.

But they always refused to let you give them excuses.

"Um..who's this?"

"Oh!" You almost forgot Chan was still there. "Um, Chan, this is Yoongi," you turned back around, introducing with an awkward smile, "my husband of two years."

Chan's eyes widened at your words and the mood grew uncomfortable all of a sudden, being stuck between a previous lover and one of your current lover.

"And who's he?" Yoongi asked, voice monotoned as he raised a brow, not completely liking the fact that your sentences were informal as if you knew the guy.

"Ah, my um..childhood friend."

"Oh." An uncomfortable silence passed for a moment before Yoongi let out a scoff, knowing exactly what you meant. Seokjin told them about your two previous lovers, the two both leaving you heartbroken in the end and now seeing him in person, Yoongi wasn't going to make sure the meeting would last for much longer. So he handed over a few bags from his right hand on over to his left and took your hand, clasping it tightly. "Anyways, we're busy so goodbye," he said bluntly and turned around, dragging you away with him.

You panicked for a moment, turning around and waving at your speechless childhood friend. "Um, b-bye! It was nice seeing you!"

"Nice my ass," Yoongi muttered, scoffing bitterly.

"Hey, be nice," you chided softly after turning back and the two of you walked on towards his car.

"You really want me to treat your exes with grace and kindness?" He raised a brow, asking curtly.

Your lips pressed together into a small pout. "I...I don't know," you shrugged, unsure because yes, he did hurt you, but he was also your friend before the whole relationship happened. "He sounded nicer," you said ruefully.

Yoongi rolled his eyes as he took out his keys to press the button that unlocked the car and opened the trunk. "Oh please, didn't you catch his eyes? The man totally wanted you back," he huffed, shutting the trunk close after putting the bags in.

"That's why I specifically told him that you were my husband," you told him, allowing him to open the door for you before getting in, "To make sure he knew I was completely over him."

"Still." A sigh left him as he leaned against his car, a pout resting on his lips.

"Don't be too mean," you laughed.

"Mean?" He raised a brow. "Imagine the maknaes were with you instead, or Jin hyung," he said. "They'd be all over you if they knew that was the childhood friend, showing affection out in the open where everyone else can see that you're clearly are taken, making that Chan even more envious."

"Ah," you bit your lower lip, "I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right. But just because I'm not too into that pda crap," Yoongi said, head leaning in close to where his forehead met yours and your face began to flush, "doesn't mean I don't like claiming what's meant to be mine."

"Y-you.." you stammered, "you don't have to. He's already long gone and I'm long over him." A kiss to your lips and your cheeks reddened some more. "Yoongi there are people-"

"Being a husband is nice," he smirked. "If I were to still be your boyfriend, I don't think that would have shut him down so easily, he would have seen me as just a competition." Another kiss, a little longer, a little softer. "Good job though," he patted your head, "for telling him that I was your husband right away."

One last kiss, softer and gentler and sweeter, before he pulled away and closed your door, smirking with a light chuckling as he watched you from the window, sat in your seat with your face all flushed because he had just done that out in the open.

࿐ ᶠ ˡ ᵃ ˢ ʰ ᵇ ᵃ ᶜ ᵏ

"Can we have our wedding in Spring? And outdoors? I want an outdoor wedding in Spring. It'll be warm by then and the flowers will have bloomed and everything will be so pretty. Oh but," you paused, pouting as you realized something and they all look on over at you, wondering what was wrong. "Spring is so close and I've heard that wedding preparations can take quite a while to perfect everything. We're all so busy, I highly doubt we can get it all done that easily and then Spring will come to an end."

You sighed, letting yourself sit in front of your vanity as you took out a brush to run through your hair. "We can always have a Summer wedding," you said. "Or whenever preparations gets done," you shrugged not caring much for the date anymore as you met Namjoon's eyes from the mirror.

He walked on over with a soft smile on his face, resting his hands atop your shoulders and squeezing it lightly. "Whatever you want, baby, we'll get it done."

You made a face. "This isn't just my wedding, you know, you're in it too," you said, turning your chair around so that you could face him and look up with a pointed look, "I can't get married without my grooms."

"Of course not," he chuckled, pinching your cheeks gently. "We'll split up a few tasks, tackle this together. With the eight of us plus a few help, it won't take that long. We're used to big events and deadlines and so are you."

"And this is our event so it's even more important and special," Hoseok said nodding.

"Aren't you forgetting the fact that we're all so busy with the company already?"

Seokjin chuckled. "Since when have we let that stop us?"

"Don't think about the details just yet, Y/N," Jungkook told you. "If you want a Spring wedding then we'll make your dream come true."

You pouted. "But what about what you guys want?"

Taehyung smiled as he took your chin to let your lips meet his in a soft assuring kiss. "We're fine with whatever. Honestly."

"You sure?"

"Mhm," Yoongi nodded. "I'm just honestly looking forward to seeing you in a wedding dress," he admitted and you blushed just thinking about it.

"I can't wait," you breathed, smiling as you met all their gazes. "I love you so much."

"How was the cake tasting?"

"They were all so good," you whined when Jimin brought it up after you walked into his office to hand him the reports. You, Taehyung and Jungkook had gone to choose the cakes that morning and it was safe to say that you were all stuffed by the time it was all over. "Everything was sweet and pretty, I don't know what I'm gonna tell the wedding cake designer when we meet," you said, frowning.

"She's an expert," he reminded you, "she'll know what to design in the end after giving it a few ideas."

"I think I gained some weight after eating cakes all morning," you pouted, looking down at your tummy with a huff. "How am I gonna fit a wedding dress now?"

Jimin chuckled at your cuteness and stood up from his desk to walk around it and over to you, hands both tucked behind your waist as he pulled you in close. "Gain as much weight as you want, I don't care," he vowed sincerely with a smirk curling at his lips, "We'll still love you all the same."

You giggled, smiling into the kiss that he gave you. "Kookie said he's gonna go and burn some calories in the gym after work," you informed. "I planned on going with him and Taehyung but maybe I'll skip out."

"Good job," he smiled. "Do whatever you want, as long as you're happy."

"Should the cake be grand?" You asked. "Layered?"

"Of course," Jimin nodded. "The bigger the better."

࿐ ᴱ ᴺ ᴰ ᴼ ᶠ ᶠ ᴸ ᴬ ˢ ᴴ ᴮ ᴬ ᶜ ᴷ

"You okay?"

"Hm?" You looked up towards the door where Seokjin walked into the bedroom just as you had gotten done changing into your nightgown. A confused glance was made his way as you wondered what he meant by that and why his brows were a little furrowed as he walked your way, settling himself onto the large bed.

"Yoongi told us what happened this afternoon," he said. "You met him again."

Him.

"Oh." You shook your head, laughing lightly as Seokjin held an arm out for you to sit onto his lap, accepting it without a word. "There's no need to mention him anymore," you told him. "It's all in the past."

"I just thought, you know," Seokjin shrugged, "since you looked a little upset the last time you spoke about him. How he left you scarred."

Your heart melted at how considerate he was for you so you leaned in to place a soft kiss on his cheek. "I promise you, I am beyond over that. I've got you guys now, what more do I need?"

He chuckled, not able to stop himself from kissing you. "Good," he sighed. "I don't want any other man occupying your thoughts."

"Don't worry," you grinned, "they're all claimed by the seven of you."

࿐ ᶠ ˡ ᵃ ˢ ʰ ᵇ ᵃ ᶜ ᵏ

"Y/N? Why are you awake?"

At first Jungkook had woken up with the idea of needing to use the restroom but then he found you nowhere in bed and saw a silhouette outside the balcony doors. So when he opened it and found you resting your forearm against it, a warm cardigan hung over your shoulders as you looked up at the stars, he could only wonder what had gone wrong.

You weren't one to usually wake up in the middle of the night just to watch the stars. Sure your love for the stars were big but you loved your extra hours of sleep more than that.

"Something wrong?" He asked as he walked in further after you turned your head around and remained silent. Jungkook wrapped his arms around you from behind, feeling your body colder than it should have been. "You're freezing, baby," he shivered. "What's wrong, hm? Tell my what's wrong, baby."

There was a clear sign that he had recently woken up, voice groggy and tired yet Jungkook was clear on not heading back to bed unless he made sure you were alright again.

"I can't sleep," you told him, leaning back against him to welcome his cozy warmth. "I had a nightmare."

"Mhm," he pressed his nose into your neck, trying to warm more of your cold body, "want to talk about it?"

"No," you shivered as a chilly night breeze passed by though he could probably guess it was one of the few nights where you'd dream of the accident all over again. They had come around less and less as the months passed but that didn't mean you could ever forget. "Wanna sleep," you pouted.

"Then come on," Jungkook said, beginning to tug you along back into the bedroom.

"But the nightmares." Even as you whined, you still followed his steps back in, feeling too sleepy to remain stubborn especially when the night breeze was too chilly to handle.

So you let him pull you back into bed where the two of you laid in between Seokjin and Yoongi.

"It's okay," Jungkook whispered as softly as possible, "I'll fight the bad dreams off for you."

You snickered in a gentle tone. "And how will you do that?"

"By singing you to sleep."

A smile was quick to light up your face at his suggestion and without any hesitation, you let Jungkook hold you against him, lying onto his chest and having you listen to his heartbeat. Not long after the two of you settled into each other's warmth, Jungkook's soft voice was whispered into the night as he sang a lullaby for you.

Listening to his heartbeat on one side while your other ear was blessed with his voice, you fell back to sleep sooner than you thought you would.

࿐ ᴱ ᴺ ᴰ ᴼ ᶠ ᶠ ᴸ ᴬ ˢ ᴴ ᴮ ᴬ ᶜ ᴷ

"Y/N, it's three am, what are you doing up so early and..." Namjoon blinked though his eyes were still clear with drowsiness accompanied by a cute bed head, "..cooking...?"

You giggled as he walked further into the kitchen, greeting his tired self with a ruffle on his head as he let out a cute yawn. "I couldn't sleep," you told him. "I woke up and tried to go back to sleep but I was too awake and energized to dream again."

"So you decided to make pancakes."

"Yup," you nodded, exaggerating the last sound with a pop. "Doesn't it smell nice?"

He didn't answer but you were far too excited on your own to worry about it so you returned to the pan to flip two pancakes. There was soft upbeat music in the background and Namjoon shook his head, chuckling at the sight of his wife up so early in the morning flipping pancakes with nothing but an oversized grey hoodie that belonged to Jungkook.

You were quite the sight, pretty and adorable.

He walked up to you, wrapping his arms around you from behind and allowed you to sway the both of you from side to side while you hummed to the beat of the music.

"Hey, if you're going to have a party, you can't just not wake us up."

The two of you turned around to find Hoseok walking in followed by Jimin who let out a grumpy huff with hands stuffed inside the pocket of his hoodie.

"It's not a party," you insisted, "it's a late night snack I'm having."

"Even worse!" Hoseok pouted with a whine and you and Namjoon giggled.

"You can join if you want," you invited with a cute grin plastered on your face. For moments before, Jimin wanted to scold you for waking up so early just for that but who could get mad at such a sweet face?

"You're lucky you're cute," he said huffingly and your head tilted back, colliding with Namjoon's shoulder as you laughed. "What are you doing up anyways?"

"Y/N here can't fall asleep," Namjoon informed with a ruffle of your hair.

"So you guys decided to wake us all up by being loud?"

At the new voice, the four of you all turned to watch Seokjin walking in as he pouted, a clear tired expression plastered on his face.

"I'm so sorry," you quickly said, "it was my fault, don't blame the rest. We'll be more quiet so you can head back to sleep if you can."

"And miss all of this?" He scoffed stubbornly and took his seat next to Jimin, "No way."

Hoseok laughed. "You pretend to be mad but you love us anyways."

"Doesn't make you any less annoying," the eldest retort with rolled eyes.

"Is that pancake I smell?"

"At three in the morning?"

"Heck yeah!"

Jungkook and Taehyung both filed in no sooner than later and soon the kitchen was filled with all of your husbands. All but one who was a heavy sleeper and loved his sleep just like you.

"Is everyone awake now?" Jimin asked with a yawn.

"Yoongi isn't," Jungkook replied.

"Should we wake him up?" Taehyung asked.

"I think babygirl should do it, don't you think?" Seokjin said with a small raised brow and a smirk your way. "You're the reason we woke up after all."

A hesitant blush your way with Hoseok stealing the spatula from your hand and them pushing you out of the kitchen, you were left to sigh without a protest, dragging your feet up the stairs towards your shared room.

Even though you were the one to always leave the bed later than everyone else, Yoongi could get a bit grumpy when he's woken up unexpectedly — especially on purpose when there was nothing important to wake up to.

Nothing a few kisses and cuddles couldn't fix.

So you opened the door to find Yoongi alone, looking small against the large bed that took up a lot of space in the master bedroom. A soft smile curled along your lips as you walked up to him and bent down, shaking him lightly.

"Hey, Yoongi?"

You didn't get very far.

Not before he had grabbed your arm and pulled you right into his hold where his body held you tightly.

"What?" He grunted.

"You're heavy," you whined at his body weight but still he wouldn't move.

"You love it," His voice was deep and low, tired and groggy and you were already starting to feel bad for waking him up. "Well?" He asked, urging you to go on from what you wanted to tell him. Instead of answering him, however, you remained quiet to just listen to his soft breathing, the warmth given off by him suddenly making you sleepy. "Here because you want me to join your little party downstairs?"

"How'd you know?"

"Not hard to tell," Yoongi said, "they're pretty loud."

They definitely were. The two of you could hear their complaints and booming voices and laughter all the way from the kitchen to the bedroom.

You laughed lightly and he mirrored your amusement. "Not complaining?" You asked.

"Not going to convince me?" He remarked.

"I don't know," you shrugged, moving in closer to his warmth and he allowed you without protest, "I like it here."

"They're going to know something is up if you don't return soon."

You frowned. "Are you trying to kick me out?"

"No," he chuckled in a deep tone, soft and soothing, "I'm trying to keep you to myself for a moment," he said, "just until they all come barging in and ruin this peaceful quiet time."

"Mmn," you giggled, "you're so greedy."

"So are you."

You responded with a whisper of an 'I love you' and he replied with a kiss on your forehead to say the same thing.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

There they were. A little late, a little early. You didn't know what to mark it as but as they barged in, you and Yoongi remained holding onto each other before Taehyung excitedly jumped onto the bed and pouted.

"You love us too yet you're ditching us for more sleep?"

"Weren't you too energized to go back to sleep?"

"How dare you?"

Yoongi simply laughed while you left his arms to quickly sit up and try to defend yourself.

"No, no! I didn't mean it I promise!" You insisted. "It was just so warm and soft and Yoongi was holding onto me so tightly and I loved the feeling and..-" You met their disapproving look and your eyes fell, pouting. "I'm sorry."

"Stop it, it's not fair."

You blinked as you looked up at Jungkook. "What?"

He grabbed your face, squishing it against the palm of his hands with a cute pout of his own. "You're too cute to stay mad at!" He chided and you fell back against Yoongi as you laughed. "You can get away with anything with just this face alone, it isn't fair."

"Actually, I think it's quite a gift," you replied with a playful grin and they were upset because they couldn't actually stay upset.

"See what you've done, Jimin?" Taehyung glared at the other 95 liner, "She's caught up to us. I told you Y/N isn't the same girl we first met years ago."

"What? It's Jin hyung's fault too!"

"Hey!"

"Nah, I'd say she's still the same," Namjoon stated with a soft scoff. "Watch this."

You didn't know what he meant by that but the next thing you knew, Namjoon had caught ahold of your chin, tilting your head to meet him before soft yet passionate lips fell upon your own. A kiss that had his tongue dancing along your lower lip before it entered at your gasp and had you gripping tightly onto the sheets below you.

When he pulled away to give the both of you the breath of air you needed, you were left lightheaded and quickly fell back against Yoongi's hold to hide your blushing red face against the crook of his neck.

Chuckles escaped them at the sight and Namjoon licked his lips with a smirk. "See?"

"Cute," Seokjin commented with a grin. "Remember when we first kissed?" You whined against Yoongi and stomped your little feet in protest. "Gosh, Y/N was the cutest thing ever with her eyes so big and round and cheeks so flushed," he continued either way.

"Remember when you first came over?" Jimin added. "Or when we first shared a bed?"

"And the first time you had to stay over because the blizzard outside was too harsh?" Taehyung said.

"Guys, stop it," you whined, "I already embarrass myself enough, stop bringing the embarrassing memories back."

"Embarrassing? Y/N, they were precious," Yoongi insisted gently as he trailed his fingers along your jawline to get you to face them again. You did it with bits of hesitation and they almost melted in sight. "So, so precious," he said as he placed an assuring kiss to your temple.

"I still can't believe someone like you fell in love with us in the first place."

Your brows furrowed at Hoseok's words. "What are you talking about? You were like the most sought out men of the industry even though the relationship between the seven of you was clear from the beginning. You were so untouchable someone like me was lucky to even breath the same air as you."

He chuckled. "No, Y/N. You didn't know it then but from the first moment we saw you, something about you was different and special. You only proved to us each day with your hard work and efforts that what we saw then was not a mistake."

"So we started to observe you more as time when on," Jungkook said. "That's why Jimin and Jin both started to flirt around, eventually moving on to flirt with others to try and grab your attention."

"But you always acted so unfazed," Jimin pouted.

"That's because I had to remain professional," you remarked. "Plus how was I supposed to know you took an interest in me then?"

"That's the problem, Y/N," Namjoon sighed. "You're always stuck in this little head of yours, thinking you aren't good enough or pretty enough but you are, and you are so much more than that."

"And a little braver than we imaged you'd ever be," Taehyung smirked as he was reminded of something. "You were the one who took the initiative after all, confessing your true feelings first hand."

You blushed thinking about that moment. "I was drunk."

"On sleep," he laughed. "Still, your sleepy self was braver than any of us could ever be at that time."

"And we love you," Seokjin smiled as he leaned in to place a sweet kiss on your lips. "So much."

You returned the smile, heart fluttering. "I love—" you gasped, suddenly realizing you had forgotten something and they all gave you a confused gaze. "The pancakes!" You jumped out of bed, groaning as you slipped on your slippers. "Aw man, my late night fun time is all ruined because you guys decided to love me."

Jimin scoffed. "Did you not like that?"

You stopped yourself before you could run off towards the door and down the kitchen, feigning an innocent smile their way as you leaned up to press a quick kiss on Jimin's lips. "I love you!" You said and bounced away, leaving them to frown at your absence.

Not long after, however, their heads came popping into the kitchen, too awake to return to sleep now.

"It's gotten cold," you pouted as you turned to them, showing them the plate of pancakes that would have made the perfect early breakfast snack if they hadn't lost their heat. "I'm gonna cry."

"Really now?" Namjoon chuckled.

"We can make some more," Jungkook suggested, not liking the idea of heating them up in the microwave because microwaves scared him.

"But then these will all go to waste," you said.

"It's okay, you didn't make that much in the first place because you thought it'd just be you," Hoseok said pointing out and you nodded.

"Okay," you sighed. "Let's make another batch for the eight of us then!"

And so you got to working with a bit of help, adding in berries and chocolate, each batch with a little something different so that you could all choose whatever you wanted to eat. It was fun, being up so early in the morning with nothing to do for another hour until you had to get ready for work. Together. You and them.

Back then you'd always wonder on the thoughts of why they had chosen you, what they had seen in you in the first place. And sometimes you did find yourself going back to those thoughts.

"You know," you said as you all sat around the dinner table, "sometimes I wonder why you choose to enjoy these kinds of food when you can be enjoying those exquisite dishes that they always serve at those parties. You know, like the rich people you are?"

"It's good once in a while," Jimin said with a light shrug, "but we prefer this because it's better, it's more, it's true and it's made with love. It's made of your love. Our love."

And when Taehyung fed you a slice of the blueberry pancakes on his plate, you smiled because you understood.

You didn't have to be perfect to be loved by them (though they always insisted you were perfect), you didn't have to be the prettiest or the most hard working or whatever anyone previous had always told you. All you had to do was stay true to your heart and love them with your true heart.

It didn't have to always be pretty as long as it was you and them in the end.

A love stronger than the day before but less than the next.

With a promise of tomorrow and more tomorrows to come.

2K notes · View notes

solarune · 4 years

Text

flowers in your hair

part of @neo-cult-ure‘s colours collab! | masterlist + prologue

pairing: lee taeyong x fem!reader (feat. a nosy lee donghyuck, childhood best friend quian kun, and college best friend/co-worker johnny seo)

genre: fluff, soulmate au, florist au, coffee shop au, idiots (literally) to lovers

warnings: taeyong being too cute to be real, florist!taeyong, coffee shop owner!reader, donghyuck is annoying, reader has a nightmare, switches to taeyong’s pov for one part

word count: 10,577

summary: what you know about your soulmate taeyong in the 6 years that you’ve known him: he has 6 tattoos but is already planning on getting 4 more, he loves his dog ruby very much, he has only ever shared his banana bread recipe with one person (you), his mom makes the best kimchi jjigae in the entire world, his favorite color is pink, and he is the man of your dreams. literally.

what you don’t know about taeyong: what he looks like.

what you know about the owner of the new flower shop across the street: he has light brown hair, he’s a caffeine addict (if his cousin donghyuck picking up coffee 5 days a week says anything about it), and he is your enemy by association (according to kun).

what you don’t know about the florist: his name.

a/n: i’ve wanted to write a florist!taeyong fic for the longest time and i finally got to!! thank you so much to @neo-cult-ure for reaching out to me to be part of this collab and please please please check out the rest of the fics because they were all written by some really talented writers!! thank you to @jungwoohoos for checking this fic over as she’s done with my others ily. hope you enjoy and feedback is always appreciated :-)

When you open your eyes, you can’t help but feel like something is off. You can’t quite put a finger on it but something feels strange. But perhaps it was that strange dream that you had last night. Something about picking a color and finding your soulmate? The details of the dream were already escaping you but it doesn’t matter because you have to start getting ready for school-

Wait. School?

You sit up in bed and realize that you’re back in your childhood bedroom. You can even hear your dad singing in the shower judging by the terrible vocals that you can hear through your closed door. But why are you at your parents’ house? You look at your bedside table and see your phone and a letter with your name on it beside it. Picking up your phone, you check the time and realize that it’s 7am but it’s the date that throws you off; it’s 8 years behind. You pick up the envelope and slide your finger under the flap, hoping that whatever was inside would help you figure out just what exactly was going on.

Dear Y/N,

You’re probably wondering what’s going on. Your memories from our reality are mixing with your memories from the reality that you’re in so life is going to be a bit confusing. Good thing I wrote this letter to explain, huh? My name is Cyan. I’m the woman you ran into and told you to pick a color to find your soulmate. Yes, that was real, it wasn’t a dream. You’re currently in an alternate universe and your goal is to find your soulmate. Once you do that, you will return back to our reality and you and your soulmate will have the memories from the alternate reality. It’s your job to not only find them in the alternate reality but in our reality as well. This sounds difficult but don’t worry. Fortunately, you and your soulmate are able to meet in your dreams. However, I don’t know the exact details about that so you’ll have to figure them out yourself. Good luck and hopefully we’ll see each other soon!

All the best,

Cyan xoxo

You sit in bed for the next 5 minutes, trying to process everything in the short letter. You have a soulmate? You’re in an alternate reality? And not only that but you’re a teenager again so now you have to go back to high school? And what about your reality? How does time work here? Is this like a Narnia thing where you’re gone for years but return at the exact moment that you left? Or are you there for a week but 10 years have passed when you go back? And what the hell did “Cyan” mean about meeting your soulmate in your-

“Y/N! Are you awake? You’re supposed to leave in 20 minutes!”

Everywhere you turned, people were always talking about soulmates. Was there ever a time that we didn’t ever know who our soulmate is? How are we able to communicate with each other in our dreams? What about the people who don’t actually end up with their soulmate in the end? But you didn’t care about that. Especially in this very moment. Soulmates, in fact, aren’t real at all.

At least, you wish they weren’t real right now.

Because then Doyoung wouldn’t have broken up with you just because he finally dreamt about his soulmate last night. You’d probably be with him right now, watching whatever cult classic movie he thinks you just have to see because you made a comment once about never watching Fight Club during 8th grade. If he hadn’t had that dumb dream, your 2 year relationship wouldn’t be a flaming pile of garbage right now and you wouldn’t have the new drugstore eyeliner that Yejin had recommended to you running down your face.

“Wanna see this video that Xiaojun sent me of his dog?” Kun asks you, effectively breaking the hour of silence that the two of you have been sitting in, the only noise coming from your spontaneous bouts of crying and the videos on Kun’s phone as he scrolls through TikTok. After seeing that state that you were in at school when Doyoung broke up with you that morning, Kun knew that he wasn’t going to leave you alone today. You turn over to face him with a sigh, your head propped up on your hand as you watch Kun’s cousin’s dog run around their living room. But even an overexcited puppy isn’t enough to lift your spirits, something that Kun notices immediately and he frowns. “Listen, Doyoung didn’t deserve you and you know that and if given permission, I wouldn’t hesitate to dropkick him for you. You’ll find your soulmate eventually, and I’m sure they’ll be everything you actually need in a partner.”

You wrinkle your nose at his words; you and Kun have been best friends since you were 5 so it’s weird to hear him saying this cheesy stuff to you sometimes. “That was really nice and I really appreciate that, Kun, but please don’t tell me that you’re about to confess your feelings to me.” You laugh loudly when your best friend shoves you, returning his glare with a smirk as you attempt to smother him in a hug. “I’ll always love you but-”

“Y/N, I’m just trying to be a good best friend,” Kun rolls his eyes as he goes back to looking at his phone. “Your life isn’t one of those fanfictions you used to read when you were 15.”

“Yeah because if it were, the universe wouldn’t have made my boyfriend of 2 years dump me the day before my birthday!”

That night, you roll over in your bed for what feels like the millionth time. You check the time on your phone again and groan at the late hour, mentally preparing yourself for the exhaustion that you’re bound to feel tomorrow. You wonder if turning 18 will feel any different. Will you dream about your soulmate tonight? Not like you’re too eager to talk to any guy in a non-platonic way but it would still be cool. You wonder what they’re like; what’s their favorite color, what’s their favorite place to go to clear their head, do they like to look at the stars just as much as you do? You feel yourself grow tired as you think about your soulmate and force yourself to not think about Doyoung, your eyes finally closing as you wonder if your soulmate likes flowers.

“Thanks for coming tonight. Want some cake?”

Someone places a slice of cake into your hands and when you look up to thank the person, all you can see are deep brown eyes. Both literally and figuratively; their eyes are very nice but they’re also blurry. You blink a couple of times and squint to get a better look at them but even when they’re standing so close to you, you can’t seem to make out any distinct features at all. You look around at all of the other partygoers and find that you can see them all just fine, so why can’t you see this person?

“My name’s Taeyong. And judging by the fact that you’re the only person in here that I can’t see, I’m going to guess that you’re my soulmate and you also can’t see me. Am I right?” they say to you, and even though you can’t see him, you can tell that there’s a smile on his face.

You stick your hand out and, even though he can’t see you, you smile at Taeyong. “My name is Y/N.”

Taeyong shakes your hand but rather than letting go, his grip tightens ever so slightly and his hand slides across yours to grip it as he leads you away from the spot you were standing in. He takes you outside, the cool night air refreshing on your skin and the moonlight making everything glow ethereally. He sits on the grass in the middle of the yard and gestures for you to do the same, laughing quietly to himself when he sees you looking up at the night sky in awe. You take a seat next time, your eyes never leaving in the sky as you whisper, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many stars before.”

“Do you like looking at the stars?” Taeyong asks.

You nod, your gaze finally leaving the sky above you to look at the boy next to you. “They’re pretty. And they make me feel… seen. The light from those stars, which are most definitely dead by now, travelled millions of light years just for us to see them, and they see us too. I don’t really know how to explain it but looking at the stars just makes me feel like everything is going to be okay.”

“Whenever I visited my grandparents, my grandpa would take me outside and show me all of these constellations using his telescope. Everything I know about the stars and the planets are because of him.” Taeyong goes quiet and you wait. From the way he’s looking down and pulling up blades of grass, you can tell that what he’s going to say next is important. “He died when I was 16. Some drunk driver who couldn’t tell the difference between the road and the sidewalk. I was so sad after he died.” You place your hand on his knee as a sign of comfort, not wanting to push him since you two just met. He lets out a mirthless laugh and you can’t help but smile sympathetically. “I stayed with my grandma for that entire summer after it happened. One night I was using his telescope and I couldn’t get it to focus properly and I just got so mad that I broke it. I cried after that and my grandma found me the next morning, sleeping out in the yard next to the broken telescope. She yelled at me, not because I broke his telescope, but because I could’ve gotten sick.”

“He sounds like a great man,” you murmur. “I’m sure he’s proud of you and that he misses you just as much as you miss him.”

Taeyong hums beside you, the two of you continuing to look up at the stars in silence. “So,” he says loudly to break the silence. “Any sad childhood stories you want to tell me? Since apparently I’ve decided that that’s what we’re going to do the first time that we meet.”

You burst out laughing at that, and even though you just got your heartbroken, you think that having a soulmate won’t be that bad after all. “I think we’re going to have to at least be friends before I tell you all about my traumas.”

The boy beside you gets up and offers a hand down to you, helping you stand up. “Friends?” he asks incredulously. “We’re soulmates!”

“All I know about you is that your name is Taeyong and that you broke your dead grandpa’s telescope while stargazing,” you point out.

You turn to look at him and your breath hitches, finally noticing that Taeyong is completely facing you and is standing very close to you. He takes both his hands in yours and you look up at him, and even though you couldn’t make out his facial features, you could feel his hands in yours and the warmth radiating off of him and that was enough. There’s this inexplicable pull in your stomach that makes you want to move even closer to him and just as you can feel yourself lift your foot up to take that first step, you panic and take a giant step back instead, letting Taeyong’s hands fall to his side.

“I’m sorry, did I do something wrong? Did I say something to offend you?” your soulmate asks, taking a step towards you but stopping when you put your hands up.

“You didn’t do anything, Taeyong, don’t worry,” you reassure him. “It’s just that…” You bite your lower lip in worry, wondering if talking about your personal life was appropriate in this situation. But he did just tell you something personal about him- “My boyfriend of 2 years broke up with me today so I’m not looking to rush into anything any time soon. I know that we’re soulmates but I need time to heal and be my own person.”

Taeyong doesn’t say anything for a bit and you wonder if you’ve told him too much. Just as you begin to think of ways to stop yourself from sleeping ever again so you don’t have to see him, he surprises you. “Out of all the people the universe could have put me together with, it just had to be you. I think we’re going to be great friends in no time!”

He holds his hand out for you and you take it, allowing him to lead you back to the party.

When you wake up, the first thing you see are the glow-in-the-dark stars on your ceiling. Even though they’re nothing like the ones you saw in your dream, you can’t help but think of your soulmate’s grandfather. After a few minutes, you realize that you don’t remember your soulmate’s name or the story he told you about his grandfather.

“Great, so all I know about him is that he likes to stargaze with his grandpa-”

“Y/N, who are you talking to? Are you getting ready for school?”

Your meetings with Taeyong usually consist of you trying to remember at least one thing about the other, hoping that the repetition will be enough to get something to stick when you wake up that morning. The two of you are in Taeyong’s dream tonight (as you usually are since you rarely dream and if you do, usually it’s about someone trying to kill you), walking through a park full of cherry blossom trees with your arms linked together. He leads you over to a bench where you both sit in silence for a bit, the two of you lost in your own separate thoughts.

“So,” Taeyong says to break the silence. “We both leave for university tomorrow.”

You look over at him to find him already looking at you, and even though you can’t see him, you know that you share the same feelings he’s experiencing right now. “I know, it’ll be weird, right? One step closer to being in the adult world and all that. What higher power decided that I’m capable of being an adult?”

Taeyong’s hand brushes over yours and hovers hesitantly before taking it in his own. You let it happen because you know that he doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s just as scared as you are, so why not find comfort in the person that’s supposed to be in your life forever? You squeeze his hand and rest your head on his shoulder, inhaling the sweet scent of the cherry blossoms before sighing deeply. Everything is about to change.

Your soulmate hums in consideration, shifting his body closer to you to make you more comfortable. “Well I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to college so I can be an adult,” he confesses. “I’m going because I want to get drunk off my ass with my friends.”

You roll your eyes at his joke, sitting up straight so you could playfully shove him. “Oh shut up, Taeyong, you know you’re gonna be the best astronomer out there.”

He shrugs in response, fiddling with your hand in his lap as he looks out at the trees in front of you. “We’ll see. Life is crazy; we might end up somewhere we weren’t even expecting.”

And Taeyong was right. Life is crazy. Yours and Taeyong’s first year at university was hard. You were pursuing a major in economics while Taeyong was pursuing a major in physics with a concentration in astronomy. The two of you were so stressed your first year that you barely got to meet in your dreams because neither of you had any; you just slept. Your lives were: wake up, go to class, do work for the rest of the day, find some time to eat in between all of that, and then sleep just enough to keep you alive.

But you knew that you couldn’t do this for another 3 years. You ended up switching to a major in food science and nutrition with a minor in business while Taeyong switched to a major in plant science. During your time at university, the two of you tried as best as you could to remember where the other went to school so you could try to meet somewhere in the middle but the most you could remember by the end of your third year was that you both go to school in Seoul.

(“You remember that we’re both in Seoul, so that’s good!” Taeyong reassures you one night as you whine about still not being able to meet each other. “We’re one step closer!”

“Yong, Seoul is huge and there’s so many universities here. How are we supposed to narrow it down?” you pout as you lean forward to rest your forehead against his chest.

Taeyong sighs and pats your head, not knowing what else to say because he knows you’re right. But he won’t give up hope; he knows he’ll see you soon. Just as he’s about to answer, the room around you goes dark and you hear the creaking of floorboards above you. He can see the fear in your eyes when he meets your gaze and his heart begins to pound. There’s a loud bang from upstairs and you immediately run out of the building you were in.

“You know, I’m really starting to hate your dreams. Maybe this is why we can’t remember anything, because we’re too busy running for our lives like we’re in a horror movie!”

When you woke up that morning, all you could remember was that he hates being in your dreams.)

By the beginning of your last year, the two of you agreed to stop trying so hard to meet each other. You assume that the universe just isn’t ready for the two of you to meet yet so you might as well enjoy just spending time with each other. Taeyong agrees and surprisingly, it works. You start to remember more and more about him—small things like his dog’s name and that the scar next to his eye resembles a rose—so you start to write them down. You even make a list of things that happen every day that you would want to tell him just in case you see each other that night.

Last night, you finally remembered the recipe for his banana bread, something that took you nearly an entire year to learn. You grab your journal from your desk and write down the recipe, humming in satisfaction when you write down the last ingredient. You read over the other things you’ve learned about Taeyong over the years—his favorite color is pink, he has a dog named Ruby and she is one of the 4 most important women in his life (“Who are the others?” “You, my mom, and my sister obviously!”), he has 4 tattoos—and hear his voice in the back of your head from your first year reassuring you.

We’re one step closer.

You place the finished drink on the counter just as the bell above the door jingles, alerting you to your first customer of the day. “One medium iced caramel macchiato with almond milk,” you announce, holding out a straw and napkin for Kun to take as he walks up to you with half-closed eyes. “Busy night last night?” you tease him as he takes his first sip, laughing when you see his body relax at the first taste of caffeine. “That one’s on me since you look like you need it.”

“Xiaojun had his friends over last night,” Kun complains as he takes a seat at the counter to be near you, tracing the letters of the coffee shop's name that’s on the cup sleeve as he talks. “It’s nice living with him since we’re cousins and all but him and his friends are such enablers. But I beat all of them at Mario Kart last night, so it was worth it I guess.”

You hum in understanding and pick up a towel to clean off the counters, knowing that the usual morning rush would come in soon and you wouldn’t get a chance to clean when it did. “So what I’m hearing is that it’s actually your fault, is that right?”

“They’re enablers, Y/N, I’m telling you!” your best friend protests, his words a bit muffled due to the straw in his mouth as he takes another sip. “They know that I can’t resist playing Mario Kart when I’m drunk!”

“They got you drunk?” you repeat. “I’m starting to think that I don’t even know who you are anymore, Kun. Getting drunk on a Sunday night knowing you have work the next morning? Doesn’t sound like my best friend if you ask me.”

Kun rolls his eyes at you but just as he’s about to respond, the bell above the door jingles (quite violently) and another customer walks in with a “Good morning, Busy Bean!” You look up to find Donghyuck walking towards you, a wide smile on his face and his right hand hidden behind his back.

“And that’s my cue to leave,” Kun grumbles, gathering up his stuff as soon as he hears the younger boy’s voice.

You laugh at that, knowing that the only reason Kun dislikes Donghyuck is because he works for the new florist across the street. But Kun’s just funny like that sometimes. He had been the only florist in town and everybody knew about his shop, A Thousand Petals. The place was beautiful and Kun was good at what he did. But then a couple of months ago, the competition rolled in. At least, that’s what it was for him. To you, the new flower shop across the street from you meant nothing other than the fact that they had replaced the burger joint that nobody went to. And let’s just say that Kun didn’t appreciate being surprised with competition on a Monday morning while being handed his daily macchiato. You gave him free coffee for a week to make up for it.

“Bye Kun!” Donghyuck shouts happily, waving to him energetically even though your best friend only grunts in response. He walks up to the counter and reveals what he was hiding behind his back: a bundle of daisies. “Some pretty flowers for a pretty girl,” he says as he hands them over to you.

You accept them with a smile, thanking him as you put them in a mason jar in front of the register. “What’ll it be today, sunshine? The usual?” you ask, even though you’re already punching in the order for 2 iced Americanos.

Donghyuck blushes at your nickname for him and his lovestruck eyes staring at you doesn’t escape your notice. You’ve grown used to the boy’s antics and know that his flirting is meaningless. “Nope,” he replies, popping the ‘p’ as he leans against the counter. “Just a muffin please. And can I get it warm?”

You nod and put in his order, taking his cash and then smiling when you see him put the change in the tip jar. “So why no coffee today?” you ask as you put his muffin in the oven. “You guys find a place better than mine?”

The boy’s jaw drops at this, his posture straightening as he looks at you in shock. “Y/N, how dare you even suggest that. You know that there’s no coffee place better than yours!” He takes one of the flowers from the jar and starts fiddling with it, his smile widening when Johnny, one of your employees, comes out from the back. “Johnny!”

Johnny’s eyes widen at the sight of him and he freezes, his cup of coffee only midway to his mouth. “Damn, I thought you’d be gone already,” he mumbles, the two of you laughing as the boy starts fake crying. Johnny takes out the muffin from the oven and hands it to Hyuck after putting it in a bag. “Thanks for coming to The Busy Bean, we hope to never see you again.”

You push Johnny on to the floor, throwing a towel at his face as you chuckle. “Johnny, stop being mean to Hyuck and go clean the tables before Mrs. Choi complains again about them being dirty.” You ignore his noise of complaint in favor of turning back to the boy still in front of you who’s already started eating.

“His Majesty doesn’t want coffee yet,” he shrugs, crumbs falling from his mouth as he answers your question. “But you know he’s a caffeine addict so he’ll probably send me over during my lunch break.” He throws out the bag and puts the flower that he left lying on the counter back into the jar. “Speaking of which, I should probably head back. See you in a few hours!”

You wave goodbye to him and watch as he crosses the street to the flower shop. Donghyuck is an interesting kid. When you first look at him, you wouldn’t think that he works at a flower shop but you found out he’s only working there for the summer because he starts university in the fall. And his cousin’s the one that owns the place so it was a guaranteed job (“My mom and his mom actually had to convince him to let me work there but you know, I basically already had it.”). Ever since he first walked into your store, he’s been trying to set you up with his cousin, swearing up and down that the two of you would be great together. You’ve always laughed it off though since you weren’t particularly looking for anything and you weren’t about to take advice from an 18 year old.

“Here they come,” Johnny announces, running back to stand behind the counter with you as the morning rush comes in. You notice that the crowd seems to be bigger than usual and you feel nervous; The Busy Bean had just recently gone through some construction and had expanded but your new employees haven’t finished training so they can’t start working until next week. Johnny can tell that you’re nervous and places a hand on your shoulder, and when you look up at him, you see him smiling down at you. “Don’t be nervous, we’ll be fine! We always are.”

When you were in college, Johnny was the first friend that you made. Being without Kun was weird and scary even though he was only a 30 minute subway ride away from you but luckily, the boy living across the hall from you was there to provide you with company. The two of you did everything together—when you weren’t busy with labs and presentations and he wasn’t busy with his research and papers, that is. You even applied for jobs at the Starbucks on campus at the beginning of your junior year, and you were pretty sure the manager would have fired the both of you for always goofing off if you weren’t his best employees.

But the day that you knew he was going to be in your life for a long time was when you finally told him your dream of opening your own coffee shop. It was something that only Kun knew, too embarrassed to tell anyone else after your parents had told you that it would never happen. Johnny had surprised you that day, promising to be your first employee once it happened. You watch him from your place behind the coffee machine, watching him talk to Mr. Park from the restaurant that the two of you always go to with a smile on his face. Aside from Kun and your store, Johnny is all you have and when he notices you staring at him and makes a face at you, you thank the universe for putting him in your life.

“I have returned!” Donghyuck announces when he walks into the cafe, true to his word about returning during his lunch break. Behind him is a man who looks to be only a few years older than him with hair the exact same color as coffee foam. You’ve never seen him before but Hyuck apparently knows him as you watch him drag the older boy up to the counter. “2 medium iced Americanos please,” he says to Johnny in a cute voice, pouting when the man behind the register denies him his order with no emotion in his voice.

“Where’s your manager? I need to tell her you’re being mean to me,” Hyuck says as he sticks his tongue out at Johnny. You walk over with their coffee and place it down on the counter with a laugh, bumping Johnny with your hip to get him away from the register.

“Maybe Johnny wouldn’t be mean to you if you didn’t try to annoy him every time you’re here, sunshine,” you tease him as you take his money. Johnny hands them straws and napkins, making sure to stick his tongue out at the teenager in retaliation. You shake your head at him when he sees that you notice. You’re surrounded by children.

“Oh, this is the owner of The Busy Bean by the way,” Hyuck says to his cousin, smirking when he notices a blush beginning to form on his cheeks. “You know, the girl that you said you think is cute when you first saw h-”

“Hi, nice to meet you,” the older boy greets you very loudly as he cuts off Donghyuck, reaching out to shake your hand with blazing cheeks. “I’m- Uh- I-I’m TY.”

You shake his hand as you stifle a giggle, finding the blush on his face cute. Donghyuck on the other hand does nothing to hide his laugh, just narrowly avoiding an elbow in his side from his cousin. “Nice to meet you, Your Majesty. I wasn’t aware that I would be in the presence of royalty today otherwise I would have rolled out the red carpet.”

“I wasn’t aware that, uh, you have such a nice smile,” the florist compliments you, making you smile as you thank him. “Your teeth are pretty,” he blurts out and you feel your smile falter as you process the compliment. Your teeth are… pretty? Johnny and Hyuck attempt to stifle their laughter at the man’s outburst, the man in question turning red as a tomato when he realizes what he said to you. He slowly starts to back away, pulling Donghyuck by the back his shirt towards the exit as he stutters out, “U-Uh I mean- S-Sorry that was weird- You uh-”

“Watch out!” you warn him, noticing a customer looking down at their phone pushing open the door right into his back.

TY lets out an ‘oof!’ as the door hits him, stumbling forward and tripping over his own feet to regain his balance. The coffee in his hand wasn’t so lucky however, spilling all over the floor and some of it even getting on Hyuck’s white shoes. The two of them quickly rush over to get napkins, TY sputtering out apology after apology as he cleans up the mess on the floor while his cousin whines about the coffee on his new shoes. You quickly get to work on making him a new coffee while Johnny deals with the new customer.

The pair quickly exit after you give TY his coffee, and you’re able to hear Hyuck saying, “I’m telling your mom that you spilled coffee on my new shoes. Also who the fuck calls you ‘TY’, why didn’t you just tell your name like a normal person? I can’t believe I’m related to-” before the door closes.

“Do you think that guy’s ever gonna come back?” Johnny asks you after the customer had left, gesturing towards the flower shop.

You can see Hyuck dancing in the middle of the store while the owner laughs and you can’t help but smile. You wonder what his laugh sounds like. “I hope so.”

As you’re getting ready for bed that night, you open up the notes app on your phone to read over what you wanted to tell Taeyong about in case you saw him tonight. Even on slow days, you usually have at least one or two things to tell him, but tonight you find it empty. You hadn’t thought about him all day.

Taeyong surprises both himself and Hyuck when he decides to go back to The Busy Bean only a week after what his cousin likes to call The Incident™ (he even says “trademark” out loud, what a weirdo). The man usually isn’t one to be this brave but he can’t deny the pull that he feels towards you. You’re cute, you have a nice laugh, and he wants to make you smile again. And your iced Americanos are unmatched. Starbucks who?

Walking into the cafe, he immediately feels his hands start to sweat at the sight of you. Your hair looks extra shiny today and you’re dancing along to the song that’s playing with Johnny (kind of badly, but it’s pretty cute). Taking a deep breath, he repeats the simple order in his head one more time. One medium iced Americano, one medium iced caramel coffee, and 2 cake pops. (“If I don’t get to go, then you have to make it up to me somehow!” Hyuck protested when Taeyong told him to watch the store while he went to get coffee. So cake pops it is.) When you see Taeyong walking towards the counter, you give him the biggest smile and he swears his heart skips a beat. He knows he’s going to end up with Y/N eventually but wow, this girl sure knows how to take his breath away.

“Welcome back, Your Majesty,” you greet him, your cheeks still slightly pink from your laughing and dancing. Taeyong notices a daisy tucked behind your ear and he realizes that it’s one of the daisies that he had shoved into Hyuck’s hands and told him to bring when he went to the store just last week. The man feels his heart skip a beat at that; you look like a goddess. “Didn’t think we would see you back here so soon. Our red carpet is at the dry cleaner’s unfortunately.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Taeyong shrugs, playing along with your teasing. “I get treated better here than I do at my own shop anyways. Hyuck won’t stop bringing up last week to literally everyone we know.” He blushes when he brings up the events of last week but he feels immensely better when you laugh. “Thank you for replacing my coffee by the way. I can pay for it now since I left so quickly last time.”

“That one was on the house,” you say, waving your hand in the air. “Anyways, what can I get for you today?”

Taeyong makes sure to come back at least twice a week after that, much to Donghyuck’s dismay. Each time he comes, he has to force himself to go back to his own store rather than staying and talking with you and Johnny. He finds himself growing more and more comfortable with your presence, his words coming more easily to him the more he’s around you. The conversation even turns flirty at some point, something that he didn’t even think he was capable of since graduating college. Sure he’s had a few lay it on pretty thick with him when they come into the store but middle aged women aren’t exactly his type. You are more his type, if he’s being honest. You and his soulmate, Y-

“Your name is Y/N?!” Taeyong all but squeaks out, his voice cracking as he drags his eyes from Johnny to you. Could you be…?

Both you and Johnny blink at him, not understanding where this sudden outburst came from. “Uh yeah, why? Is there something wrong with that?” you joke as you continue to make his drink.

Taeyong mentally shakes it off, subtly rolling his shoulders to rid himself of the unnecessary excitement he just felt. It’s probably just a coincidence. The universe seems to like mocking him, apparently. There’s no way he would just randomly find his soulmate like this. He couldn’t even remember where she ended up living after graduating college. “It’s nothing,” he says while shaking his head, giving Johnny a small smile as he hands over his cash. He notices the withering daisies in front of the register and makes a mental note to bring some fresh ones next time. “I’ve just always liked that name. I think it’s pretty.”

When you first created The Busy Bean, you hadn’t thought of incorporating flowers until Kun brought up that you had said you wanted to make it stand out from other cafes. That and the fact that the store’s name is based off of “a busy bee” and that, in the words of Kun, “your best friend just so happens to be the owner of the best flower shop in the city.” Unfortunately for you, your best friend and the owner of the best flower shop in the city won’t be around for an entire week because of a family emergency. And because of the store’s recent expansion and being so busy with training all of your new hires, it had completely slipped your mind to order new flowers for next month’s theme. When you had said all of this to Johnny during a lull in the morning rush, all he said in response was, “That’s rough, buddy.” (The two of you have been rewatching Avatar: The Last Airbender together recently.) What a great best friend.

After making sure that Johnny and the new hires knew exactly what they would be doing during the closing shift, you take a deep breath and do the one thing that you know Kun will never forgive you for once he finds out. “He’ll forgive you, you have no other choice,” you whisper to yourself as you cross the street towards Bloomin’ Love. You open the door and are greeted by the fresh smell of flowers, a Yiruma song softly playing in the background and fitting the atmosphere perfectly as the setting sun shines golden light into the store. It felt like you had entered a magical world.

“Welcome to Bloomin’ Love,” Hyuck greets you, not even looking up from his phone as he leans against the front counter. “Is there anything I can help you with today?”

“I don’t think your boss would be very happy if he found out that you were using your phone while there’s a customer in the store,” you tease him as you walk up to the counter, laughing when Hyuck scrambles to hide his phone and looks up with wide eyes.

The boy’s shoulders immediately deflate when he sees that it’s just you, placing his phone in front of him as he smiles at you. “Y/N, I didn’t think I would ever see you in here. Did you and Kun get into a fight or something? Did he finally get mad that you’re ‘fraternizing with the enemy’s cousin because I’m trying to get you to fraternize with the enemy’?”

You shake your head, explaining, “Kun’s out of town, he has no idea that I’m here right now. I actually need to talk to TY, is he here? I have a big order because I need new flowers for The Busy Bean next month.”

Donghyuck nods as he points towards the back, an area that you assume is restricted to customers since it’s behind the counter. “He’s in his office right now. Let me just tell him you’re here really quickly.”

He walks away quickly before you even have a chance to nod, so you take a look at the flowers around the shop. Directly behind you are bouquets of roses but what really strikes your interest are the magnolia flowers and plum blossoms along your left. You lean down to smell them, their floral scent overwhelming your senses and making you feel even calmer than you already did.

“Plum blossoms are one of my favorite flowers,” a voice says from behind you, making you jump and bump into whoever it was. You feel hands on your waist that help steady you as you sway on your feet, your eyes coming up to meet those of the man you were looking for. “Sorry about that,” TY chuckles, the tips of his ears pink as he withdraws his hands from you. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Donghyuck said you’re looking for me?”

You nod frantically, before explaining your situation to him, his eyes never leaving you as you talk. “I usually give Kun complete creative control because I don’t know much about flowers and which ones bloom during which season.”

TY nods understandingly, humming as he thinks and scans over the various plants in the store. “Flowers that only bloom during spring…” He begins to walk around, with you following a few steps behind him, his hands hovering over the flowers and his fingers occasionally brushing over their petals as he looks at each one carefully. TY suddenly stops in his tracks, one hand resting on a peony before he suddenly turns to you with a wide grin on his face. “I think I have some ideas.”

The florist brings you back to his office, and you think you see Hyuck wink at the both of you as you follow his cousin to the back but when you get a closer look, the boy’s already assumed his previous position of scrolling on his phone. As of recently, the teenager has been teasing you more and more for what he assumes are the beginnings of feelings for his cousin. And even though you swear up and down that the two of you are just friends, you can’t help but think about the possibilities some nights. Which makes you feel guilty because what about Taeyong? Your dreams with him have felt different lately, both of you distracted at one point or another, the conversation becoming awkward at some points because the both of you know that something has changed. Is this the universe testing you? Putting a man that you feel yourself growing more and more fond of with every passing day just to see if you’ll reject him in favor of the partner that it has chosen for you?

“Y/N?” the florist calls out, his hand waving in front of your face to get your attention. You jump slightly in your seat, eyes meeting his after you’re pulled out of your thoughts. “You still with me? I asked if you could give me a floor plan or something of where you put all of your flowers.”

“Oh sorry,” you apologize, heart pounding in your chest at getting caught zoning out. You pull the floor plan that you and Kun had first made 2 years ago and hand it over to TY, your eyes tracing the veins in his hands as he smooths out the paper on his desk. His hands look like they would be really nice to hold. Wait what? No, stop, think about Taeyong.

TY shares his general thought process with you, lightly drawing circles and arrows on the paper to show you where he pictures bunches of hyacinth and jasmine would be. Names like Barberton daisy, dogwood, azalea, and peony are mentioned while you nod along enthusiastically, not really knowing what any of them look like but trusting the vision in the man’s head completely. As he’s talking, you can’t help but get lost in the sound of his voice, the passion and flow of his words making your heart swell. As guilty as it makes you feel, you couldn’t help the feelings that you could feel blooming in your heart for the florist.

The two of you stand once TY is done sharing his ideas and you’ve run out of questions to ask. You force yourself to leave rather than think up an excuse to spend more time with him, his laughter paired with the way he looks at you dangerous for your pounding heart and overly imaginative brain. He says goodbye to you with a wave but not before handing you a business card with the store’s number should you have any more questions. As you’re walking out, you can hear Hyuck teasing his cousin, and when you turn around to spare TY one last glance, you can see a blush on his cheeks as he quickly looks away, as if he was caught staring.

Just before you get into bed that night, you take one last look at the business card that you had been given just hours ago. When you read the name on the card, you feel as if time itself has come to a stop. Your breathing turns shallow as you bring the card closer to you, squeezing your eyes shut and then opening them just in case it was some weird trick of the light. But it wasn’t. Right there on the card is the one name that you weren’t expecting at all.

Lee Taeyong.

It’s just a dream, it’s just a dream, it’s just a-

You feel yourself being pulled down into the water, a hand wrapped around your ankle dragging you down to the bottom of the pool. You kick with all of your strength at the invisible attacker, your lungs screaming for air as you thrash in the water. A pair of arms wrap around your waist and pull you out of the water, the person screaming at you to stand as they tug on your arm. Coughing your lungs out, you can just barely make out Taeyong’s blurry form as he runs out onto the empty street with your hand in his.

Suddenly, an SUV with its lights on appears behind you, the driver revving the engine and accelerating very quickly towards the two of you. You just barely dodge it, the vehicle only inches away from Taeyong’s body as you pull him towards a dark house. You climb over fences and run through yards, neither of you daring to say a word in fear of whoever is after you being near. Your hand stays in his the entire time, too scared of getting separated to let go.

You see a light approaching you and duck behind some garbage cans, willing your breathing and heart rate to slow so that you could listen for any footsteps. Taeyong quivers beside you in fear, his hand squeezing yours and when you look over at him, you can only imagine how scared he must look right now. Looking at him, you realize that there was something you wanted to talk about tonight but with every single nerve being on edge since you’re, you know, running for your life, you can’t remember what it is for the life of you. Lights from the SUV pass by, gravel crunching underneath the tires as the car goes by you very slowly. You pray to every higher power out there that they don’t catch you and you release a quiet sigh of relief when you see the car turn and drive farther away from you.

“Have I ever told you how much I hate being in your dreams?” Taeyong murmurs, his grip on your hand loosening but still not letting go. “Because I really hate being here right now.”

You huff out a laugh before slowly standing up to brush the dirt off of you. Just as you’re about to respond, you feel a hand clap over your mouth, Taeyong’s eyes widening as he screams and reaches out for you. Something sharp presses against your back just as you hear a gunshot, blood quickly soaking into Taeyong’s pants from getting shot in the thigh, before everything goes black.

You have to stop yourself from looking over your shoulder every 5 minutes because of the intense nightmare that you had yesterday. The feeling of being watched lingered with you all morning, something that Johnny noticed and was concerned about at first until you told him the reason you were acting so paranoid and jumpy. Then he just ended up teasing you and even scared you in front of a customer, falling on the floor laughing when it happened. But you couldn’t help it, the dream just felt so real and it didn’t help that Taeyong, an actual person, was there with you to make it seem all the more real. You wonder how he must be handling it, you know he’s not the biggest fan of horror movies or scary things in general.

You decide to visit Bloomin’ Love during your lunch break, the questions that you wanted to ask Taeyong still unanswered. But if you’re right and Taeyong actually is TY, then you would get your answer in a few minutes. Except it turns out that you won’t be getting your answers today.

“What do you mean he’s not here?” you ask Hyuck in disbelief, even looking towards the back to check if the office light is on in case he’s just playing a joke. “He’s your boss and one of the two people that work here, why are you here and he isn’t?”

The boy shrugs before hopping up to sit on the counter, long legs swinging as he bops along to the music that’s playing from what you assume is his own playlist. “He was here when I got here this morning but then he left after an hour and told me he’s taking the rest of the day off because he’s been feeling anxious all morning. Something about having a nightmare last night? It must have been really bad for him to take a day off because you and I both know that this store is basically his baby.”

He had a nightmare?

The bell above the door jingles as a customer comes in and immediately approaches the two of you to ask for help. You back away to let Hyuck do his job, bidding him goodbye before heading back to The Busy Bean. Hyuck’s words swirl around your head, the conversation replaying over and over as you take out the business card that you put in your pocket this morning to look at the name printed on it.

Taeyong. Lee Taeyong, the owner of Bloomin’ Love. Lee Taeyong, who introduced himself to you as TY. Lee Taeyong, your soulmate.

After that, you become distracted during work, your eyes constantly looking at the clock to see how much longer until your shift is over. Of course the one day that you find out who your soulmate is, the one day that it would be super convenient to be able to leave work early, is the day one of your new workers can’t come in because they got food poisoning the night before. You don’t even know what you’re going to do once your shift is over though. The number on the card is the store number and you already know that Taeyong isn’t there. Maybe you could just ask Hyuck to give you his number? But then what? What would you even say? “Hey TY, it’s Y/N. Hyuck told me that you had a nightmare last night so I think you might be my soulmate”?

The universe, however, seems to have your back. At the end of your shift, just as you’re saying goodbye to Johnny and Jaemin, one of your new hires, you hear a very familiar voice call out your name. And when you turn around, there stands the exact man that you’ve been hoping but not expecting to see all day. You can’t help but smile widely when you see him and nod when he asks if you want to sit.

“These are for you, by the way,” he says as he gives you a small bouquet of pink forget-me-nots. “Pink is my favorite color but they reminded me of you when I saw them in the store just now.”

You thank them as you take the flowers from his hands, inhaling deeply before placing them down on the table. “You were in the store? Hyuck told me you took the day off.”

“I stopped by just to make sure he didn’t burn the place down,” TY chuckles and he sounds… nervous? Looking at him, you notice that he’s barely making eye contact with you, taking more interest in tracing the tattoo of a lavender plant that’s on his inner forearm. You wonder if he knows what you know, or at least what you think you know. You wonder if maybe he’s even known this entire time.

“Do you have a soulmate, TY?” you blurt out, too impatient to indulge him with more small talk.

He looks up at you with wide eyes at your question and you watch as the tips of his ears turn red. “I-I do,” he responds while nodding simultaneously.

“What are they like?” you ask him, telling yourself to calm down and to make sure that you’re right. It would be really embarrassing if you aren’t.

“She’s the girl of my dreams,” he jokes, laughing loudly when you groan and roll your eyes at his dumb joke. “She really is though. She’s really smart and knows exactly what she wants from life. She’s extremely hard-working but she also knows when she needs to stop and relax. She really likes strawberry cake and also likes stargazing. I actually tried making a move on her when we first met because I was young and dumb but then she told me that her boyfriend of 2 years had just broken up with her, so I felt extremely stupid that night.”

You feel like your heart is about to burst out of your chest at his words and you know that you must have a funny look on your face because TY- no, Taeyong is looking at you strangely. “What about you?” he asks, his wide eyes and head that’s tilted slightly to the side reminding you of a puppy. “What’s your soulmate like?”

You laugh and take a deep breath, mustering all of the courage to pour all of the love you’ve been wanting to show Taeyong all these years into your words. “He’s the best, honestly, I’m really lucky that he’s my soulmate,” you say softly, your eyes not once leaving Taeyong’s as you speak. “He’s really goofy and not at all afraid to be who he is. He’s very supportive too; Johnny and Kun were always there for me when college got hard, especially when I switched my major, but it was his words that always kept me going. His favorite color is pink and he absolutely adores his mom, he swears up and down that her kimchi jjigae is the best in the entire world. When we first met, he-”

You stop to look at Taeyong and you see tears in his eyes, a soft smile on his face as he listens to you talk. You take a shuddering breath and lift your hand to gently take his hand in yours; he knows. “When we first met, he told me about his grandpa and how his love for the stars came from him.” You see a single tear cascade down Taeyong’s cheek and you reach out to wipe it away. With a watery laugh, you say, “He also told me that he ended up breaking his grandpa’s telescope after he died.”

Taeyong rests his forehead against your joined hands as he laughs, his eyelashes wet with tears and his eyes shining when he looks back up at you. “I finally found you,” he whispers in awe. “After all of these years, the universe finally put you right in front of me and I didn’t even know.”

“That day, when you said that you think my name is pretty,” you say, his words playing in your mind as you remember the day you’re talking about, “did you know?”

“I was suspicious but I thought it was too good to be true,” Taeyong says as he shakes his head in disbelief. “I thought that there was no way that the girl I’ve been dreaming about for 6 years just so happens to own the coffee shop across the street.” He raises your hands to his lip to kiss the back of yours and you feel so happy that it feels like you’re practically vibrating in your seat.

You’re about to respond when you hear Johnny call out, “Hey lovebirds, keep it PG! There are kids in here!” The two of you turn your heads towards the direction of his voice to find not only Johnny behind the counter but also Kun and Hyuck standing there.

“Did you forget about our plans, Y/N?” Kun calls out teasingly, a smirk on his face as his eyes flicker from your hand in Taeyong’s to your face.

“Oh fuck,” you whisper, head turning to look at Taeyong with wide eyes.

He smiles at you reassuringly, kissing the back of your hand once more before letting go. “I’ll call you later?”

You nod enthusiastically, the two of you exchanging numbers before you stand up. You look up at Taeyong, not yet wanting to leave his presence. You can feel the warmth radiating off of his body and there’s a familiar pull in your stomach and this time, you allow yourself to indulge in it. He leans down just as you lean up, and as cliche as it is, it really does feel like you’re the only two there when you kiss. Taeyong tugs one of the flowers from your grasp and breaks off part of the stem, tucking the forget-me-not behind your ear and rubbing your cheek with his thumb before pressing one more kiss to your forehead and murmuring a “see you tomorrow” against your skin.

Waking up the next morning, you let yourself indulge in thoughts of yesterday, the events leading up to the kiss replaying in your head and making butterflies erupt in your stomach all over again. You and Taeyong had agreed to go on your first date today after work and you wish that someone could invent a time machine so you could just skip the work day and go on your date already.

You sit up in bed and feel every ounce of happiness drain out of you, your surroundings unfamiliar to you. The walls are still the same color but the books on your shelf are different, your floor is carpeted, and who the heck are those people you’re with in the pictures on your wall? You even look out the window to find a completely different view. Where the hell are you?

It suddenly hits you that you’re back in the real world—or your reality at least. The past 8 years have basically just been one long dream. You jump out of bed and rush to the bathroom to check to see if there were any visible signs of aging. You let out a sigh of relief when you realize that you still look the exact same and go back to your room to check the date on your phone just to confirm. There’s an envelope with your name on it beside your phone and you feel a sense of déjà vu as you rip it open.

Dear Y/N,

Welcome back! Hopefully you’re not too disoriented after returning to our reality but I wrote this letter just in case. It’s only been a day since we first met so don’t worry, everything in your old life is still the same as it was. It’ll take a few days for memories from your life here to resurface so just take it easy for now. You should still have your memories from your alternate universe and your soulmate should have them too, so all you have to do is find them! I know this sounds hard but don’t worry; as I’m sure you already know, the universe works in mysterious ways~

See you soon, Cyan xoxo

You let yourself plop back down onto your bed, giving yourself a few minutes to process everything before taking a deep breath. Taeyong. You have to find Taeyong. Getting out of bed, you decide you get dressed and get ready for the day, a memory of your friend Yuna telling you about the new cafe across town resurfacing, so you decide to go there. You feel too cooped up in your apartment, you need to do something.

Passing by the window of the cafe, you can’t believe your eyes when you see Cyan sitting at one of the tables. She smiles at you through the window while lifting a mug in greeting and you rush to enter the coffee shop, your hands shaking at your side as you approach her. “Good to see you, Y/N,” she greets you, standing up just as you sit opposite her. You’re about to stand as well before she gently pushes you back down with a hand on your shoulder. “These are for you,” she says as she hands you a small bouquet of pink forget-me-nots. You look down at the flowers, memories of the past 8 years (yesterday?) overwhelming you but you shake it off and look up, only to find Cyan gone. You look around frantically but it’s like she disappeared, completely vanished in thin air as you look around the coffee shop and even out the window. With a huff, you put the flowers on the table and settle your chin on your hand as you wonder what to do next.

“Are you finished with this?” an employee asks you as they point at Cyan’s empty coffee mug.

You look up, about to answer, when your breath catches in your throat, your eyes meeting very familiar brown ones that widen at the same exact time as yours. Before you stands Taeyong, a brown apron with the words “Wake Up Cafe” embroidered on it in gold tied around his waist. Standing up, you reach out to grab one of the flowers and break off part of the stem before slowly reaching out and tucking it behind his ear. His hair is different, a little longer and a dark grey color with bits of silver rather than the light brown that you’re used to, but you see the rose-shaped scar beside his shining eyes and you feel like you could cry. Taeyong’s hands cup your face and his thumbs come up to brush away tears that you didn’t even notice, the distance between your lips and his slowly decreasing.

His lips brush over yours and his eyes flicker back and forth between your eyes and your lips. “Found you.”

You chuckle at his words and close the distance, and you wonder if springtime feels just as good for the blooming flowers as the love that you can feel blooming in your chest when you kiss Taeyong.

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doodleimprovement · 4 years

Text

A Helping Hand is Never a Bad Thing

This is just me connecting 3 of @doodledrawsthings‘ comics into one fic for my own pleasure

Enjoy! I fiddled a bit with the timeline but everything should line up okay!

It had been 1 year, 3 months, 2 weeks and 3 days since they’d left.

1 year, 4 months, 2 weeks and 3 days since her mother’s facade cracked and shattered, and that fake smile she always had on finally gave way to bitter, vindictive anger

1 year, 4 months, 2 weeks and 3 days since her father was cursed, just because she was born.

Her father would swear to her up and down, hold her face in his hands, and look her in the eye as he proclaimed that it wasn’t, but the truth always stared her right in the face

If it wasn’t for her, her father wouldn’t….

That was irrelevant.

Right now, he needed help, and she knew that she wasn’t enough.

The Horizon Cafe was a small place, right next to the Songbird Theater and well taken care of by the owners, managers, and even employees - her father being included. She opened the door to the mostly empty venue - the store was close to closing, and the last of the customers had probably left quite some time ago.

“Oh, sorry!” a blue haired man spoke out, looking up from wiping the counter “I’m afraid we’re closed, little one!”

She squinted “Are you MJ?”

His brow furrowed behind his glasses

“Uh, yes? And yourself?”

“I’m Harriet. Luka’s daughter” he stated. The woman who had been sweeping looked up - as in in surprise.

“Oh, uh, well your father left work quite some time ago-”

“I know. But I also know that he’s dumb and stubborn and he needs help”

“Help?” Delilah gave a concerned, but still confused look.

Harriet nodded. “Can you come, please?”

Clover looked over at MJ, who looked about as concerned as she felt

“Can it wait until we’re done or does he need us now?” She asked.

“.. It can wait, but I can help!” she announced proudly “I do a lot of the stuff when my dad can’t. Just tell me what to do!”

Surprised but not put off by her enthusiasm, Clover gave her a small smile “I think the only thing left is to take out the garbage. MJ, can you point her in the right direction?”

“Oh, yes, of course! Follow me, Harriet!”

The little girl jogged right up behind

“My dad said your name is actually Moony McMoon” She stated.

MJ froze for a moment, while Clover nearly doubled over with a wheeze.

“... Well your dad is a liar. A terrible, awful liar” was all MJ responded with before speed walking over to the trash can.

They made quick work of the last of the chores before following Harriet to the duo’s tiny apartment, a 5th floor walk up that couldn’t have been easy on Luka’s knees.

Once they got to the door and Harriet took out her keys, they heard what almost sounded like Lukas voice… but not?

“Harriet, are you home? You can’t just run off like-”

Clover’s jaw hung open, and MJ followed close behind as they entered the living room.

The Snatcher.

The Snatcher

Was floating in the Princeton’s tiny living room.

And it had Lukas’ voice.

Harriet made a presentational gesture, and somehow, The Snatcher’s face seemed to pale in shock

Both MJ and Clover refused to move

“I uh…. I can explain” The Snatch- LUKA stated with profound awkwardness.

“... You’re the Subcon Snatcher” Clover managed, mouth still hanging open.

“... That's what they’ve been calling me” The being sighed, shrinking slightly. “It’s a… curse” He explained. “I’m reasonably sure, at least. It's been a year”

MJ was , surprisingly, the first to collect himself “I…. this explains… a lot actually. Wow”

“It does?”

“You’re uh… not as slick as you think, Luka.” MJ commented. He noticed that Harriet had mysteriously made herself absent.

The “man” shrunk further “I can explain” he repeated

“... I hope you do” Clover confirmed, her voice softer than perhaps expected “Whenever you’re ready, we are”

It took longer than expected for the whole story to come out. The coffee with his ex wife, the fear, the going on the run. By the end of it the being looked downright exhausted, talking about Harriet.

“I know it's selfish of me… to keep her when she could probably have a normal life with someone else” He looked down at the ground, his expression giving far more away than he’d probably want “But… I just- I can’t do it”

Mj looked a bit beleaguered by his friend’s confession

“Luka” The man reached forward, grabbing his hand “You are not selfish for wanting to keep your daughter!” he insisted “It’s not your fault that this happened to you” He affirmed and - with a bit of social courage, reached up to hug his strangely fluffy friend, seeing the tears in his eyes and seeing that he needed it.

Luka sobbed, just a little, acutely aware that his daughter was watching from the doorway, trying to be sneaky.

After parting, Clover approached, taking one hand in hers, and using her free hand to wipe away his tears “You’re a good dad, Luke” She affirmed “Any parent whose kid instantly asks to help us close up when she doesn’t have to was raised right”

The ghostly being let out a weak chuckle.

“Seems she was right… I can trust a few people”

Clover and MJ shared a smile before looking back “Will you be at work tomorrow?”

Lukas nodded “Yeah. . . Thanks for coming.”

The two just smiled kindly at him, and left, shutting the door behind him.

“... Harriet, I know you’re there.”

He looked at the supposedly empty hallway

“Can you come here, please?”

The 8 year old shuffled into view, fiddling with her fingers and looking down at her feet- a nervous habit she most definitely picked up from him.

“Why did you get them, kiddo? I mean, that went better than expected.. But-”

“Cause you needed help, Dad! You needed more people.. Not just me.. I’m not enough” She admitted, causing his glowing eyes to glow a little brighter in his concern.

“Harriet, kiddo, you’ve always been more than enough. I tell you every day” He reasoned, lowering his head slightly to try to reach her eye level. He saw the tears flooding her eyes - a dam threatening to break

“No, I'm not! I’m - Mom did this to you because of me-”

“Whoa, whoa hey...” he tried to stop that train of thought, but she’d already started to cry, trying to cover her tears with her sleeve

“This is not your fault. Okay?” He tried to sound firm, but he could feel the tenseness in his throat.

“Its just... “ She lowered her arm, hands fiddling again “I don’t know” she wheezed a bit “If you didn’t have me to worry about, you wouldn’t have to worry about money all the time… and Mom wouldn’t have done this to you and-”

Her words stopped when he put one of his hands around her back. Seemingly surprised by the comfort, she brought her hands up to her face again, sobbing

“I regret a lot of things, kid” Lukas admitted, touching his forehead to hers “But you are definitely not one of them”

And he said it with more than enough conviction that - at least for now- she believed it.

Hugging him as tightly as she could manage, she sobbed for a few more minutes before taking a deep breath.

“I love you Dad. You’re the best dad ever” She gave him a watery smile, and he smiled right back

“I love you too, kiddo. You’re the best daughter a giant, fluffy snake monster could ask for” he responded, proceeding to effortlessly lift her up and carry her in a noodly arm “Lets get some dinner, hm?”

“.... Can we have fancy ramen?” she asked sheepishly

“I think we’ve earned fancy ramen” he confirmed.

Her excited cheer was more than worth the 30 dollars.

#coffee shop au #a hat in time #a hat in time au #hat kid #snatcher #moonjumper #florist #ahit hat kid #ahit snatcher #ahit moonjumper #ahit florist #antonia writes #fan fiction #antonias fandoms

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cacowhistle · 4 years

Text

let’s go, let’s go right now

Fandom: Dream SMP Characters: TommyInnit, Tubbo, & Ranboo Word Count: 1548

a little thing i never finished completely, written right before doomsday. it was the idea that tommy, tubbo, & ranboo just left l’manburg behind for techno, dream, and phil to destroy, going off to start a new life in the wilderness on their own. title from hadestown. i just really wanted a happy, fairytale ending at the time. i’m glad things worked out in the end, for some of them. didn’t ever clean this up for ao3, so it’s going here.

Stupid, how could he have been so fucking stupid?

The discs were worth more than you ever were.

They weren’t.

Tommy stares out at the sunset and knows he’s fucked up. He’s been fucking up since the start, this entire place is one massive fuck up of his own making. Yes, L’manburg was built with noble intentions but he was so fucking stupid, so fucking naive and blind to how corrupted it became. He and Wilbur were not good leaders. L’manburg was founded on the labor and loss of people, not freedom. People lost lives for their shitty cause--freedom was never a part of it, Tommy is beginning to believe. Wilbur, at the end of the day, wanted to wrench control away from Dream. That’s all it was. It was a power play.

Tommy had good intentions. But he also just followed Wilbur blindly, hoped the man would come to his senses. He did the same with Technoblade. He will not make the same mistake a third time.

His hands curl into fists as he stares at the jukebox, placed by the bench. Fury roils in his gut as he stares at this useless piece of garbage. The discs don’t matter. They never did.

He feels the handle of Technoblade’s axe in his hands before he quite registers what he’s doing. The blade comes down on the jukebox, carves across its surface, leaves an ugly, jagged splinter in the wood. Tommy stares at what he’s just done.

He draws himself up to his full height with an enraged shout, and swings again.

And again.

The jukebox is a mess of jagged wood and splinters by the time he’s done with it, panting from exertion and on the verge of tears. Technoblade’s axe burns in his grip, betrayal in the back of his mind as he thinks of the man he began to call a fucking brother, and he just can’t keep his allegiances straight for the life of him, can he?

Tommy smashes the axe into the remains of the jukebox again with another shout, sending the pieces scattering over the cliff’s edge. He considers pitching himself off after them for a few moments, knowing the drop would kill before he grits his teeth and shakes his head. He’s not going to do that. He knows he won’t. He settles back on the bench instead, burying his face in his hands, axe forgotten by his side.

Dream and Technoblade are going to attack L’manburg tomorrow. Tommy was almost going to do it with them.

Phil will probably be on their side, too, even if he doesn’t show up. Tommy doesn’t know what to do. His breath hitches, caught in the back of his throat, and he blinks back tears.

“Hey,” a voice says from behind him.

Tubbo.

Tommy turns, hesitant, gazing up at his best friend from where he sits on the bench. Tubbo looks tired. The both of them do, now that Tommy thinks about it. He also looks painfully young, when compared to the faces of Techno and Phil as Tommy has come to be familiar with, recently.

… Have they always been this worn down?

“Hi,” he says, quietly.

They’re silent for a few moments, merely taking in each other’s faces again after so long.

“Can I sit?” Tubbo finally asks, and the tension begins to dissipate. Tommy shifts to the side, and Tubbo sits down.

The silence that hangs over them is almost worse, then, if only because they both want to speak. Tommy does not look at Tubbo--just stares out at the sunset, fingers clenched around the hem of the cloak he still wears, adorned with white and blue and red and gold. He toys with the fur lining, doing his best not to cry. Not here. Not now.

Tubbo, however, is looking at Tommy, as though he’s afraid if he blinks the boy will disappear. The outfit was made for colder temperatures, but Tommy remains nestled in it. Tubbo’s suit feels stuffy and restrictive, all at once.

They are very different people from the boys that first built this bench.

“I’m sorry,” Tubbo breathes out, “for everything.”

Tommy lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Me too,” he whispers.

It’s almost forgiveness.

“What are we going to do tomorrow?” Tubbo asks, and Tommy shudders.

“I don’t know,” he says, miserably. “Tubbo, he has--he has so many withers.”

Tubbo leans forward, eyes wide. “How many?”

Tommy buries his face in his hands. “The skulls lined the fucking walls, man, at--at least fifty, he has to have at least fifty.”

The silence that falls is worse than before.

Tubbo lets out a shaky breath. “Do you remember,” he begins, carefully. Quietly. “Before--before the first explosion. When--when we wanted to run away.”

Tommy looks up, eyes wide. “... we built that safehouse, out in the countryside.”

The one Dream blew up, Tommy recalls with a wince.

Tubbo nods, slowly. “What if we just… up and left?”

It’s a tempting option, Tommy thinks as he stares out over the forest beyond this cliffside. The more he thinks about it, the more he wants it. Just… to run away, to escape this nightmare of a place. It would be well worth it--they could start entirely anew, far from Dream’s grasp, far from the people that want to use them.

“We can’t just--you’re the president, Tubbo, there’s a nation here that needs you--”

“I’m president of a crater, Tommy,” Tubbo says with a bitter little laugh. “I always have been. Everyone has a place to go, anyway. The only person who really stayed in L’manburg most of the time was Ranboo.”

“... he could come with us,” Tommy says, thoughtfully. Tubbo perks up at the idea.

“Exactly! So--so we dissolve the nation--”

“--and let Techno and Dream destroy the place--”

“--because it’s not the important part anyways!”

The two of them stare at each other, silent. Tommy grins, and Tubbo beams right back.

“It’s always been the people, Ranboo was right,” Tubbo looks out over the sunset again. “And the people will still stick together, regardless of what happens to the country.”

There’s a few beats of silence, then, as they look out over the place they’ve called home for the last few years. The idea of leaving it hurts, causes a bone-deep ache in Tommy’s chest, but… they have no choice. And a home can be made anywhere, he figures, as long as he’s got someone by his side. As long as he’s got Tubbo.

“They’re not going to like it,” Tubbo finally says, pulling his knees up to his chest.

“Fuck them, then,” Tommy says, lifting his chin. “Fuck every last one of them. They’ve been walking over us for who knows how long. It’s adapt or fucking die, Tubbo. We can’t clean up all of their messes.”

Silence, again, they’re getting quite used to these quiet interludes. Tubbo breathes out, finally, closing his eyes.

“Okay,” he says. “Let’s do it.”

Tubbo is right. They aren’t happy--Fundy and Niki shout at them, and Tubbo can’t fault them. Tommy is uncharacteristically silent as they shout at the both of them, takes it without a word. His silence is almost scarier than his shouting, if only for how resigned he looks. He isn’t going to bite back like he would have, weeks ago.

So Tubbo will just have to do it for him.

“This country died the moment Wilbur did,” he says, firmly, staring Fundy down. “It’s been doomed from the start. We need to start fresh. We can’t keep going like this.”

He gestures to the city around them, to Tommy, who’s staring at him with wide eyes, still silent.

“Look what it’s done to us! We can’t keep doing this. It’s over. Let Dream and Technoblade have it. We don’t need it anymore.”

With that, he turns, shrugging off his president’s coat and hanging it on the back of his chair on the podium. He reaches for Tommy’s hand, and he reaches back.

They get their things. Ranboo comes to them while they’re packing up Tubbo’s old stuff, Tubbo replacing his dress clothes for a jumper and overalls, Tommy retrieving a familiar old coat from his ender chest.

He wrinkles his nose at the smell. “... I need to wash this,” he murmurs, and leaves Tubbo to continue packing up.

Ranboo passes him in the doorway with a small nod, before wordlessly beginning to help Tubbo get his things together.

After a few minutes of the silence, Tubbo finally speaks up. “Will you come with us?”

Ranboo breathes out a sigh of relief. “Thank god, I didn’t want to be the one to ask.”

Tubbo laughs, then. It’s more genuine than anything he’s done in the past few months. They finish their packing, bickering all the while, even more so when Tommy returns bundled in his old clothes and Wilbur’s old coat, packing the warmer uniform into his ender chest. A familiar compass and lodestone set is dangling from his neck, Tubbo realizes, and his heart warms at the sight of it, hand reaching for his own, settled in the bottom of his ender chest.

“Ready?” He asks the other two. They are.

The three of them leave, and they don’t look back.

#dream smp #dsmp #tommyinnit #tubbo #ranboo #dream smp fanfic #dream smp fanfiction #dsmp fanfic #dsmp fanfiction #tommyinnit fanfic #mcyt #mcytblr #dsmpblr #my writing

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lovelyirony · 4 years

Note

sweeter than honey (redux)

Pepper Potts did not exactly mean to become a criminal. Really, she still doesn’t think she is.

But here are the facts:

1.) She has broken several laws in pursuit of funds that do not belong to her.

2.) The FBI would like to talk to her about several things and potentially put her under arrest.

3.) She can no longer go to her regular coffee shop because the barista snitched and told them her name, as well as her occupation.

Pepper broke several laws because the company she was working for (Stane International) was technically breaking laws, but laws that do not apply to corporations because corporations do this thing called “funding campaigns” and also sometimes “doing favors.”

She decided to do the same and suddenly she is a criminal. Not her fault she redistributed money back into the community, and now they can’t get any of it back.

It’s just how that worked out.

She’s been staying at a hotel that serves many questionable individuals each month, and it has an indoor pool and a three-star rating on the latest travel website.

It’s nondescript, not her style, and she’s currently in the bathroom having a crisis because she most likely needs to dye her hair.

She’s vain. Pepper knows she is, has known it since high school when she trimmed her hair and cried. Her hair, by all accounts, is gorgeous. It’s a shiny strawberry-blonde that makes her look like an ice queen in winter and a mysterious fairy queen in summer.

She does not want to dye it. But here she is with an eight dollar box of dye and thoughts in her head.

And then her hotel door opens.

Not supposed to do that, but that’s what happens when you’re in a three-star hotel.

She is also in old athletic shorts that have most definitely seen better days and a tank top that was a last-minute buy from the nearest store, and it does not suit her at all.

Facing her is a man with an odd beard, tinted sunglasses, and a graphic t-shirt over a blazer.

“So. You pissed off Stane Industries,” he drawls. “I’m impressed. Usually they just sweep their little problems under the rug.”

“I’ll sweep you under one if you’d like,” Pepper offers, wondering how quickly a blowdryer can knock someone out. She’s not sure how well-made the hotel one is. Probably not very.

“I’m not here to kill you,” the man says. He takes off his sunglasses. His eyes are a nice shade of brown, not that you’re supposed to notice that about a potential enemy. Pepper is just that skilled.

“Then what are you here to do? Make me move to Florida?”

“No, the opposite. We’re staying here. I’m offering you a job position of helping me take down Obadiah Stane and the company itself.”

“Who would I be working with?”

“Anthony Stark.”

Pepper stills.

She read the news when she was in college, same time as Tony Stark. Went missing in the car crash, no one found his body. Temperatures were freezing, he was wearing a tuxedo. The chances were that he froze to death somewhere that they didn’t find yet.

Chances were. What an odd little phrase.

“So, you made it out.”

“Not as hard as people say it seems to be, Virginia.”

“Call me Pepper, my first name disgusts me.”

“Gotcha, Pepper. Call me Tony. You in?”

“Obviously. What do I need to do?”

“Meet the team.”

There is Rhodey, who was Tony’s best friend and sobbed on national television for two weeks until they forgot all about him.

“He’ll cry at anything,” Tony says with a laugh as Rhodey sends him a dirty look. “Just made him think about neon shoes and he bawled like a baby.”

“I did not,” Rhodey hisses. “I was a good crier.”

“You looked like a seal,” Pepper intervenes. “But you played the part quite well. Nice to meet you.”

“Right back at you, Pepper.”

She meets Happy, a man who is all serious and grumpy and “did not want to break the law before forty” but he also gets to watch Downton Abbey whenever he wants, so he’s not doing too bad.

He runs security and also tells Rhodey and Tony when they’re banned from ordering pizza all the time, and Pepper is inducted into the Healthy Eating Committee.

There’s Bruce Banner, who enjoys taking over corporations for fun, and this is his second one. His first was some sort of health insurance scam, and apparently that was just to finish up his thesis for his third doctorate.

“He has seven degrees, he’s weird,” Tony says.

“Oh like you’re any better,” Bruce says with a snort. “You learned twelve languages for fun. Including French, which is useless.”

“French is not useless,” Tony says. “It got us free food in Canada.”

“We would’ve gotten it anyway if we’d done it my way.”

“Stealing?” Rhodey asks.

“Yes!”

Pepper laughs.

Their job is a bit easier than anticipated. They found out from Pepper that getting into the building is stupid easy because no one likes their job and will do anything when bribed.

Tony struts in with a badly-made-employee-ID and talks about a copying machine and coffee and seeing someone next month for dinner. Pepper just keeps her head down and pretends like she’s meeting someone for something. Like usual.

Obadiah Stane is out of the country on a meeting, and his secretary is scared to death of him, so they’re allowed to poke around the office and find some interesting information.

The problem comes when someone recognizes Bruce outside (government watchlists: the most pesky things on earth) and suddenly there’s this huge fuss.

Tony pushes Pepper into an office closet and then promptly asks her if anyone opens the door, if she’s alright with him kissing her.

“Why would you do that?”

“People don’t like watching kissing, too intimate. Also, you have a lovely face and you’re quite funny, and I think it’d be fun and delightful to kiss you.”

“How long have you thought about that?”

“Not going to talk about that, just want an answer. If you say no--and feel free to, there’s no obligation in physical contact right now--it does complicate plans A to D. I suppose we could play the divorced couple route, but I’m not a gigantic fan about that.”

“I mean, I guess? It wouldn’t be bad, and I’m not exactly opposed to it, Would it mean anything later?”

“Do you want it to?”

“Let’s figure that out after we do it.”

“If we need to do it.”

Door swings open.

Oh, there’s a need.

Tony is a particularly nice kisser, Pepper thinks. The thought runs through her head that she’s only kissed two people before Tony, and one was in high school so that doesn’t count, but the other was a secretary at an old company she used to work for.

But Tony is nice. Soft and warm and he grabs her waist and that’s nice.

“Oh my god, sorry,” the employee mutters. “I just, I thought--”

“Occupied!” Tony says, not even stopping as he kicks out his leg and practically stomps the poor other guy in the stomach.

They get out, run, and Pepper laughs as she sees a bit of pink lipstick on the side of Tony’s mouth.

“So, how’d I do?”

“Send me a survey,” Pepper remarks. “Or a ranking.”

“On a scale of one to ten?”

“Seven.”

“I was that bad?”

“How do you rank things? Do you put one as the best?”

“Obviously.”

“No, you’re an idiot. One is always the worst. You’re a nine. It would’ve been higher but we were in a corporate office and in a supply closet.”

“So what you’re saying is, I’ll have to try again?”

“Preferably over a couple glasses of wine and pizza. The good kind, though. Not the garbage Rhodey orders.”

They approach the car that Happy has, with Rhodey and Bruce already leading others on a goose chase.

“You two have too much fun,” Happy mutters. “Boss, you got lipstick on your side. Did you get the drives?”

“Transferred and set to release to every major news outlet tomorrow morning at six a.m.,” Tony says. “Interns are going to curse my name as they’re forced to rewrite articles.”

Pepper smiles.

That night, they have a couple of glasses of wine and Tony orders the good pizza, the kind that costs a little bit too much for what it is, but it’s all worth it in the end.

When Tony takes over the company after about six months of legal battles that would probably have drawn on for well over a decade if not for the fact that Tony is one of the most in-your-face-let’s-talk men she’s ever met, Pepper was kind of expecting things to slow down.

Of course not. That’s not her style nor is it Tony’s, although arguably a vacation or a nice spa day would have been nice beforehand.

“We have shit to do,” Tony says. “Rhodey, you need to help me revamp R&D. Pepper, I need to talk to you in the office.”

They’ve already hired a company to completely redesign the entire building and refocus the company’s outlook, starting with getting rid of the disgusting 1970s carpet and chairs. God, it’s ugly. Pepper cried when she saw the office chairs.

But she’s in Tony’s office, and she’s wondering if this is going to be directly related to workplace relationships or not. She’s already prepared an argument as to why she still wants a relationship and just how much professionalism she can exhibit in the face of hardship.

(That hardship being the fact that Tony looks quite good in suits but also has arms that are made for tank tops.)

“I have a problem with you,” Tony says. “And it’s that I want to make you CEO, but I don’t want people to think that you got it just because we’re dating. So we have an issue to cross.”

Pepper was not expecting this. She was expecting maybe head accountant, or head of the PR team. But CEO? That was something that was...wow. Pepper had had a fifteen year plan for working up from wherever it was that she would be at.

She also didn’t know they were dating.

“We’re dating?”

“Did I read the kiss wrong? Oh shit, was the seven secretly the bad seven?”

“No!” Pepper says. “You just never told me that we were dating, we didn’t have a communicative conversation about it.”

“Oh. Well, would you like to go on dates and things?”

“What’s ‘and things’?”

“You know. Sexy times. But I wanted to be a professional about it. But I am not that professional.”

“No, no you’re not. Which is why you offered me the CEO position and why I am accepting it. But I will also date you...and things.”

“Excellent. Have a dinner tonight while we discuss how to do Microsoft Excel?”

“I already know how to use it.”

“Pepper, you are the only woman for me in this lifetime and the next.”

“And the one after that?”

“I’m assuming you’ll get bored of me and marry someone who’s seven feet tall.”

“Seven feet tall? What, am I going to attend every NBA game for the next husband?”

“Maybe, I don’t know what you’ll do. I’ll probably be halfway into a grave over despair.”

Pepper chuckles, dropping a short kiss onto his temple.

“Well, I hope I don’t have to witness that. You want me to make some salad for tonight then?”

“Yes please! We also need to review the decor and see what chairs to order.”

Pepper nods.

“We need to ask Rhodey, he has opinions about design of those.”

“Of course he does, he hates standing too long. We’ll send him some of our options.”

She waves as she leaves the office.

What Tony misses:

Pepper pumps her fist as she leaves the office, nearly stumbles, and is quite glad that no security cameras were installed that day.

What Pepper misses:

Tony spins so hard in his office chair as a celebration that it topples over.

Yeah, they’re made for each other.

#pepperony #tony stark #pepper potts #love this one #i love writing pepper and i don't do enough of it #i really like it when it's clear that they both love each other #bc with a lot of fics it's like pepper being like 'well i guess :/' or she's cool about it #BUT I WANT PEPPER TO BE A NERD!#rhodey #lovelyirony writes

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thequeenb · 4 years

Text

Pairings Poppy x MC

Zoe dragged me into this frat party where once again i had to see Poppy's face. I grew fond of her cruel words and her sharp glare. Everywhere i go i feel like i am being followed, that must be because everyone is so interesting in our stupid fights.

I am now sitting on a bench as the loud music consumes me. Zoe is playing beer ponk with the boys. She insisted on playing but i wasn't in the exact mood for that. Luis practically got offended saying he wants to team up with me again and kick their asses.

I chug the bitter liquor from my cup as i feel it burning my throat. What am i even doing here? Tomorrow i must grade the essays Professor Kingsley gave me. I probably drank more than i intended too but that's because of my latest encounter with Poppy.

As i stand up someone bump into me and the remaining liquor on my cup goes flying on my new shirt. Great, just what i needed. I glance up and see Veronica put her phone away looking at me apologetically. I never saw her alone without Poppy's dogs but now she looks different, more carefree

"You should really watch where you are going" she says smirking "here let me" she grabs a handful of napkins from a nearby table handing them to me

I roll my eyes "Maybe stop being on your phone that much"

Veronica chuckles sitting beside me "My followers will hate me if i do"

Wow how soothing. I try to clean the remaining alcohol knowing well it will leave a stain. I sigh running my hand through my hair, what am i supposed to say now?

"Are you here to livestream my failures or did Poppy send you?"

She looks at me skeptical and the silence is stretched out way to long "You know Poppy needs me i don't, i already have a platform"

I know well trust me. Me and Professor went through all of that a couple of weeks ago and luckily i am aware of the people around me

"Then why are you running behind her all the time?"

Veronica sighs and i can tell this question makes her uncomfortable "You dont have to tell me anything..you hate me anyways"

"I don't" she says looking at the chaotic party around us "i tried to put some sense into their heads but"

But they are a bunch of bitches threatened by a small town girl i know Veronica.

I laugh surprised at her statement "And why would i believe you?"

"I had a fight with Poppy. She wanted me to search something embarrassing about your past"

I am not surprised. Since day one Poppy has been nothing but bitter and cold towards me

She takes her phone out typing fast. Ok this girl is no joke. Finally she shoves her screen into my face and i gasp

"Oh my god delete that!" What the hell? How did she found my old account on Instagram

She laughs loudly "Gosh that selfie with the pig is amazing"

For a moment i think she will post it but she actually deletes it looking at me while typing a message. That's some skills.

"I mean no harm. I actually meant to bump into you" she takes a deep breath, her shoulders tense a little bit

"Oh really? Am i that interesting?" I chuckle as i gaze at her. She is indeed beautiful. Her hair is tied in a tight bun a little bit messy if you ask me. A lock of hair falls into her face and without realising i tuck it behind her ear

Her eyes have a hidden desire behind them as she lean in. Is this really happening? That until a loud cough bring me back to reality and of course its Chloe and Poppy

"I thought you said you are going to the bathroom not in the garbage"

I roll my eyes pulling away from Veronica who just sit up "What are you even doing with her? You know you really need to learn how to dress" Chloe says crossing her arms. She is two steps behind Poppy, her shadow basically how sad Chlo.

"Said the barbie wannabe" i stand up ready to leave when i hear Poppy clapping

"How charming Newbee thinks she is something, i can take you back to the bottom of the list but i feel to sorry for you"

Ugh yes Min-Sinclair i am so scared of you. I fight back the urge to respond to her as i head towards Zoe. She smiles warmly when she sees me

"Girl come here we are going to kick some ass!" She says excitedly passing me the ball

___

"Are you serious V you can't be seen with her in public" Chloe says looking up at Poppy for approval

Veronica rolls her eyes "Why don't you bring me a drink doggo?"

Before she can even respond Poppy waves her hand dismissively "Do that"

As she disappears they are finally alone and oh my her eyes are filled with anger

"If you felt nostalgic for the bottom food chain i can drag you there gladly"

Veronica laughs crossing her arms "What's your problem anyways, she is 20 on the rankings"

Poppy takes a step closer and i swear if this was a cartoon smoke would come out from her ears "Listen here you stupid cow i make the rules"

"Says who? The T? Or dozens of stupid brainless students?" Veronica claps back not backing down

"If i see you one more time near Hughes i won't hesitate to end you" Poppy spits out angrily as Chloe comes back with a drink

"I like her she is actually interesting"

Uh oh V you shouldn't have said that. Poppy is holding a drink i wouldn't test her. But instead she storms out with a low scream

Chloe is about to follow but she stops her tracks "Don't you dare follow me!!"

___

I am laughing with the boys felling the alcohol flowing through my veins. With the corner of my eye i see Poppy sitting alone on a bench. Where are her followers? Did Min-Sinclair fall off her high horse yet?

I sigh as i let my cup down approaching her. Zoe gives me a worried look and i nod thinking i am doing the right thing.

The more i approach the more clear i can hear. The music fades behind me and i can actually hear sniffing. Is Poppy crying? The heartless monster that tries to ruin my life has actual feelings? Wow shocker.

"What do you want? Talk to me when you find your sense of fashion" ouch i actually start to regret approaching

"You don't have to pretend, no one is around anyways" i say sitting a little far away from her testing the waters

She sighs letting her walls down "I don't like this party anyways Carter is giving no attention to me"

I try to hold back a laugh and i think she noticed "If you make fu--"

"Oh shut up i am trying to have an actual conversation with you"

"Don't kiss my friends, better yet forget Veronica because if you approach--"

I stand up throwing my hands in the air "Why are you so obsessed with me??" Oh wow i am actually impressed with myself

Poppy looks stunned for a second before standing up to face me "No one gets to talk to me this way Newbee especially someone with an annoying voice and no wearable clothes"

Gosh why do you have to be so annoying? I feel the alcohol kick in and i want to go as far away as possible before i say something i will regret

"You like me" yup there it is, i tried to warn you Bea.

"Excuse me? I like you?"

I suddenly get a notification on my phone. I ignore her outburst as i open the message noticing its from Veronica. Great timing V

"Will you look at that? Veronica wants to meet up so ta ta!"

"No!" She yells and i smirk. Good job Pop, very convincing

I laugh looking at her expression. I can see her faint blush under the neon lights. She is actually beautiful if she wasn't such a bitch. She looks uncomfortably around noticing we are all alone. Very subtle

"I don't want your dirt near my circle" she finally says crossing her arms. How cute

"There you are" Veronica appears at the best time looking between me and Poppy

"Am i interrupting something?" She says ready to step away but i walk towards her

"Actually i was about to come and find you" i say shooting a small smile at Poppy

"See you around!" I grab Veronica's hand leading us away. Oh its on

"AAAAAAA" i can hear a scream but it fades as we step into the dancefloor. For once i feel like i am winning. I dance my worries away as i enjoy making Poppy jealous as she watch us dance close. I will make you work for it darling, make your life a living hell.

As time passes i take a sit exhausted from dancing. Veronica had to go livestream promising she will be back soon. Aaand her comes Poppy once again approaching dangerously close

"What could you possibly want n--" but before i can even finish my sentence Poppy throws her arms around me pulling me into a heated kiss. What.Is.Happening?

I pull away stunned gazing at her shinny eyes "Never approach Veronica again" she says trying to catch her breath. Did she just kiss me?? Before i can even comprehend what we just did she blows me a kiss leaving "See you around Newbee"

I let out a laugh knowing well this is going to be fun.

Tag list: @lolimugly @origmansello @greatestflirt-hero @mvalentine @otakufangirl-12 @sugarplumpnhoneybun @princessstellaris @coldbatfriendroad @lilyspencerswife @indecisive-choices @i-loveeveryone @kiara-36 @ognenniyvolk @somewillwin @it-lives-in-braidwood-manor @sergeant-pepper-loves-choices @justastranger-passing

#queen b #queen b zoey #queen bee #poppy min sinclair #poppy x mc #choices fic #choices fanfiction #pb choices #pb #my fics #choices #anonymous #anon request

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wulfies-kpop-fanfics · 3 years

Text

Birthday → Jung Hoseok

↳ Pairing: Hoseok/Reader

↳ Word count: 3,137

↳ Warnings: Major depressive disorder, suicidal thoughts

⁙ Summary: In the midst of one of your worst depression episodes, Hoseok insists on celebrating your birthday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12:00 AM.

So this is it. Another year older, staring at your alarm clock from your bed. Glasses still on at midnight, unable to sleep. Fatigue blanketed you, but the chills of anxiety and dread still managed to burrow their way under.

It had been like this for weeks now. All you could think about was how you were getting nothing done, how you were eating too much and too little, about all of the garbage piling up in your room. You thought about how the dust settled on every surface and you haven't changed your clothes in days, maybe even a couple of weeks. You hadn’t showered, your hair was pushed upwards, more tousled and messy than a normal bedhead because of your ineffective sleeping mask and the oil collecting in your hair due to you avoiding washing it.

This behaviour disgusted you and made you feel worse than you already did, but you haven’t had the energy to do anything else but cry. You thought that life would get better once you moved away from your parents, but living alone in a small one bedroom one bathroom apartment didn’t help at all. At least your mother cleaned and told you to bathe on a regular basis and your father fed you. Now, everything was piling up and your depression episodes got worse.

Even if your boyfriend and your friends tried to lift you up, you wouldn’t let them in your house on a regular basis. You thought that if they saw what you had been neglecting to do, they would be disgusted and not want to be friends with you anymore. The thought of that made your heart feel heavy. All of you felt heavy, pressed into your mattress, curled up like a ball. You could barely move. You had barely any strength to.

Helloooooooo! Yes, sir, I’m one of a kind!

It’s your ringtone again. You snap out of looking at your clock, slowly moving your hand to the desk next to your bed and reach through the sea of dirty dishes in order to grab your phone, squinting at the brightness as you turn it on. You unlock your phone to see a text from your boyfriend. This late? Shouldn’t he be in bed?

Hobi: Happy birthday, (Y/N)!

(Y/N): Thanks, Hobi… shouldn’t you be in bed?

Hobi: I’m too excited! I couldn’t sleep knowing that your birthday was in a few minutes! Besides, I had to stay late at the studio.

(Y/N): Oh… you’re not overworking yourself again, are you?

Hobi: No, of course not. You made me promise, remember?

(Y/N): I didn’t think you took it seriously.

Hobi: Why would I not?

(Y/N): I don’t know…

Hobi: Hey, are you okay?

(Y/N): Do you want me to tell the truth or say what will make you go to bed? I don’t want you to be tired tomorrow. You’ll get exhausted faster at dance practice.

Hobi: Who said I was going to dance practice tomorrow??? None of us are going, it’s a Saturday!

(Y/N): But… you always are at the studio on Saturdays.

Hobi: Sorry, what I meant to say, it’s your birthday!

(Y/N): That shouldn’t stop you from working. That’s more important than me.

Hobi: (Y/N).... stop saying that. You’re more important than you know.

(Y/N): … I doubt it. What’s the point of even celebrating my birthday? I’m going to die anyway and all of it will be wasted…

Hobi: But you always plan a big day and bake a cake by yourself for mine.

(Y/N): That’s different because you’re actually worth it.

A few minutes have passed since your last text was sent. No reply.

More tears spring from your eyes involuntarily. Hoseok’s abandoned you, and that’s all that flooded your head. He doesn’t care. You knew it, you knew that he didn’t care and now he’s proven it and you should just continue to lie in your bed, hoping to die by the time the sun came up. Everyone hates you, nobody cared, and nobody wanted to help a lost cause.

You rolled over, thinking about what position would be the best to die in. On your stomach? Maybe. On your side? That hurts your hip too much. On your back? You lean back too much on your neck. You sigh, stomach it is.

There you lay, on your own, wallowing in guilt, garbage and anything else negative you could think of on the day that you used to count down to when you were younger. Now, you could barely get out of bed. You could barely eat or drink water. You were useless. Those thoughts spawned your usual tears, staining their usual tracks against your cheekbones to the dirty pillow beneath you.

You were startled into a small yelp as you heard a knock that came from the front door. Probably the drunk partiers next door playing a prank on you. You ignored it, there was no sense in worrying about them now. You turned your head over, adjusting your position a little bit, only to be startled again by the door opening and shutting.

Oh? So it seems like someone was here to kill you now.

Nice.

“(Y/N)?” That wasn’t the voice of a serial killer.

“(Y/N)? Are you still awake?” The voice came closer and closer to your bedroom. You couldn’t muster the strength to move from your position, to even say a word in protest to the person entering your bedroom. The door clicked and opened, a cold rush of air following it.

“Jesus,” you heard the person comment with mild disgust as your bedroom light was flipped on, causing you to groan at the assault on your eyes. “(Y/N), you should have told me.” The tone was softer this time.

Your throat convulses painfully as you gather all your energy to speak, “I’m sorry,” you mumble, still not moving as you heard a bag drop to the floor, your boyfriend approaching you through the rustling piles of garbage to sit on the edge of your bed.

“Come on, let’s get you into a bath.”

“No,” you protest.

“Why not?” He asks.

“Because I don’t deserve it,” you explain. “Because I’m useless and worthless and I don’t deserve to live anymore. Just let me get sick and die.”

“(Y/N), you know I can’t let you do that,” he says reassuringly, rubbing a hand up and down your back. “Your episodes always end and you always feel a little better once we clean you up a bit. Please, will you at least soak a little?”

“Hobi-”

“I promise you can go to bed when we’re done,” he says, and that finally makes you adjust the position of your head to look at him. His nose was briefly wrinkled, probably at the smell, but he still smiled at you. “How about it?”

“Fine,” you whisper. You still, however, stay still. You can barely muster the energy to speak, let alone move. Hoseok takes note of this and gently takes a hold of you, slowly flipping you onto your back so he can peel back the sweaty covers of your bed and lift you up. Soon you’re in his arms, him bringing you out of the room and into your bathroom.

“Okay, operation birthday is a go!” He announces into the dark hallway. From the wall hiding your living room came six figures walking through the darkness, their faces soon illuminated by the light of your bedroom and bathroom, all smiling and waving at you as they went by. All of your friends: Hoseok’s roommates and group mates. They all trailed into your bedroom, carrying garbage bags, cleaning supplies, and it looked as if Jungkook was hauling in a new set of bedsheets, Jimin following close behind with a neatly folded comforter.

You were set down to sit on the edge of your bathtub, it already on it was a warm and folded towel, as Hoseok moved to close the door. He approached you, kneeling down and smiling at you.

“Ready for a bath? I bought the bath bombs you like. Strawberry kiwi.” He waited for your nod and a meek ‘yes’ before he began to undress you- sliding off your grimy “BTS” printed t-shirt, tossing it into the little hamper sitting by the door. You were able to stand for a few seconds as he slid down your pants and underwear as well. You sat back down on the warm towel as Hoseok started the bath, feeling the water.

“Is that too hot? Feel it,” he offers, taking your hand and letting you feel the stream of water, waiting patiently for your approval.

“It’s not too hot, it’s okay,” you tell him. “Why are you doing this?” You ask. You felt your eyes sting with more tears. What have you ever done to deserve this treatment?

“Because I love you, silly. No matter how many times you fall into the pit, I’ll be there with a ladder and a flashlight to help you back out. You may not think you deserve it, but you do.”

You hiccup, tears once more spilling out on your face. “I… I love you too, Hobi.” Out of the weeks that you weren’t able to take care of yourself, you were finally able to crack a smile.

“There’s my beautiful girl’s smile,” Hoseok chimes with a bright smile, leaning forward to peck your lips gently. “I think the mat is warm enough now. We’ll wash your hair first.” Hoseok scoots a little closer to you, standing up to help you move into the bathtub. Your legs are bent a little bit as you’re a bit too tall for the short tub, but the warm water sliding over your feet is relaxing, to say the least. Your bum is sitting nicely on the plastic mat Hoseok bought you during your last episode, and you look up at him.

Hoseok slips off your glasses, quickly placing them on the counter area holding the sink. “Where did you put your water jug?” He asked.

“Middle cupboard.”

With a nod, Hoseok retrieves a plastic jug from the cupboard under your sink and the bottle of citrus shampoo from the counter. He then rolls up his sleeves and kneels down in front of the tub again, you watching him closely as he fills the jug up with water.

“Ready?” He asks, waiting for another nod from you before gently pouring the water over your head, The feeling of the water cascading down your face strangely unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. You thought that Hoseok would have scolded you more, would have been more disappointed in you because of the state you were in, but it put you at ease to know that he cared enough to help. More water poured over your head and you hummed at the feeling.

“Better?” He asks, running his fingers through your hair to make sure it was sufficiently wet.

“Yeah,” you admit, humming with bliss as his fingers massage your scalp. “You’re not grossed out?” You ask timidly.

“No, of course not. Besides, this isn’t my first rodeo,” he replies with a chuckle. “This might be a little cold.” His fingers leave your hair for a moment, to your disappointment. You bring up a hand to get the strands of hair away from your eyes, watching as Hoseok took the bottle of shampoo and squeezed some of the gel onto his hands. He’s smiling as he returns his hands to your hair, gently lathering soap in.

“Not too cold?” He asks.

“No, it’s ok. Can you go a bit slower, please?” You request, biting your lip, closing your eyes to avoid getting soap in them.

“Of course, anything for you, princess.” His movements slow just a bit, allowing yourself to smile more. “Good?”

“Yeah. Good.”

Sooner than you’d like, Hoseok is finished washing your hair and fills the jug with water again, rinsing your hair of soap. It felt so much better to have your hair clean, to have it sit properly on your head and to have it swept behind your forehead as Hoseok crudely styled it. When you open your eyes, Hoseok is still smiling down at you charmingly.

Hoseok then put in the drain plug and allowed the tub to fill up. “We’ll wash your face next.”

“Okay… um…”

“Hmm?” He hums, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

“When are we going to put the bath bomb in?” You ask, somewhat cheekily.

“Hey, it’s a little early in the game to be impatient,” he responds with a grin. “We’ve gotta wait until the water’s at least at your belly button,” he says, promptly poking your tummy gently, causing you to giggle.

Once you were all clean, comfortable and warm, the delicate perfume of the bath bomb replaced that of the three weeks of unwashed grime. You sat and enjoyed the warmth for a while, but then your bath was over. Hoseok pulled the plug and water began draining from the tub. He turned on the tap to fill the jug and rinse you off, making sure that any excess soap had been removed from your body.

“Ready to get out?” He asked, you nodding slowly. “Can you stand up by yourself or would you like some help?”

“Can I have some help, please?” You ask, reaching your arms up.

“Of course, baby.” He stood up, gently taking your hands and pulling you upwards, gracefully switching one of his hands from yours to wrap around your body and keep you steady. He helped you step out, sitting you back down on the towel at the edge of the tub. He made sure you were balanced before grabbing the hooded duck towel you kept on the little hook attached to your bathroom door, wrapping it around your head to begin drying you.

“How do you feel?” He asked, gently drying your hair. “It wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“No,” you admit. “Thank you.”

“Like I said, anything for my princess (Y/N).”

Occasionally, as Hoseok was drying your hair, he would lift up the front of the towel to look at you and press a quick kiss to your lips, your nose, or your forehead. Anything to make you smile. When he was finished with your hair, he moved to gently dry your body. He would continue to beam at you, make his funny faces and sing for you.

In these moments, as Hoseok is taking care of you and making sure you smile, is when you actually felt truly happy. Hoseok returned your glasses to the bridge of your nose, you sighed in slight relief that you could see clearly again. He gently ran a comb through your hair until it was styled the way you wanted it, placing another kiss on your forehead.

“Ready to put your pyjamas on?” Hoseok asked, hanging the duck towel back up on the hook.

“I don’t have any clean ones,” you say dejectedly. “That shirt I had on before was the last of my clean laundry.”

Hoseok only winked at you. “What day is it?”

“It’s (B/D), I think,”

He nodded, “Yep, it’s (B/D), and what do we give on someone’s birthday?”

“Presents?”

“Ding! Right again! Sit tight for a second, ok?” Hoseok quickly left the room and returned with the bag he brought in with him. From the bag, he pulled out a soft and new (F/C) onesie, one that even had the little booties attached to it. He also took out a pair of soft brief boxers, the underwear you preferred to have.

“Where did you get that?” You ask wistfully, admiring the onesie as Hoseok spread it out on the floor, instead, grabbing the underwear to help you put them on first.

“I have my ways,” he says cheekily, getting you to lift up your bottom as he slides on your underwear. “I know how much you’ve wanted a onesie, so hopefully you like it.”

“I already do,” you smile in contentment.

Once you were dressed and the zipper of your onesie zipped up the front, you felt so much better than you had in the past three weeks.

“Are you going to stay over?” You ask, hoping that the answer was yes. You grasped the edge of your tub and smiled triumphantly as you helped yourself stand up.

“Of course. I wouldn’t leave you, especially not today. Are you ready to go back to bed?” Hoseok gently took your hand, leading you to open the door to the bathroom. He smiled in the satisfaction that you could now walk on your own.

“Yeah, I am, but…”

“But what?”

“My room is a mess… more than a mess, it’s… a dump. You saw it yourself.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. Come on,” Hoseok led you back through the small hallway, back to your room, where the overhead light was still shining through the bottom of your door. He opened it, revealing all six of your friends and a completely (mostly) spotless room. It even smelled like a habitable environment, nothing like it had an hour ago.

“Happy birthday,” Namjoon declared softly as the two of you entered the room, everyone dressed in pajamas, night bags piled up against the wall, the free space of your room containing a hefty wad of sleeping bags, blankets and pillows, formed in some sort of a nest topped with eight more pillows and a giant quilt that you had forgotten that was formerly living in your closet. Your bed was clean, made up in a new set of sheets, even including a new comforter and pillowcase.

“We thought that we could all have a giant sleepover to make sure you’re okay,” Taehyung explains as he gestures to the wad of bedding on your floor. “If you’ll accept?”

“Of course,” you say, a smile spreading across your face as all the boys beamed at you. “I love you all so much, thank you…” you did your best to sniffle away your tears of happiness. You had done enough crying for today.

“You know that we will always love you, too, (Y/N), no matter how bad things get,” Jimin smiled warmly at you, all of the boys nodding in agreement.

It didn’t take very long for all of you to settle down and sleep, turning the lights off and retreating into the makeshift giant bed the boys made for you. All of you were practically glued to one another in an eight-person cuddle pile, and you slept peacefully for the first time in weeks, your friends and the love of your life surrounding you, loving you.

You could never ask for a better birthday.

#jung hoseok #hoseok x reader #fanfic #reader insert #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines #kpop fluff #bts #jung hoseok x reader

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