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baroquebucky · 3 years

Text

caress

soulmate au where when you touch your soulmate you see glimpses of your future with them; the winter soldier touches you and realizes there’s so much more out there

series masterlist // previous // epilogue

part five

word count: 6k (v worth it me thinks)

masterlist

a/n: the final official part has arrived bffs </3 i will be doing an epilogue of just pure fluff do not fret <333 i hope u all enjoy this one !! made it xtra long for y’all <3 let me know what you guys think pls !! , i cried writing jt and the ending is my favorite thing ever eeek !!!

You were sitting on the couch next to Natasha, it was quiet as the news played on the tv in front of the two of you, news reporters talking about the aftermath of Thanos’ doing.

23 days.

23 days since you had lost half the team, since you had lost half the universe. Since you had lost bucky.

Life was dull, you cried for hours on end at night, longing filling your chest. Sometimes you would dream of him, a smile on your face as you slept. Then you would wake up, reaching out next to you in hopes of your fingers being met with the cold vibranium of his arm. You were met with cold sheets, emptiness.

Steve missed him too, sometimes he would sit next to you when you were in tears, placing an arm around you and comforting you as best he could. Natasha and him took turns watching over you, making sure you stayed healthy.

The sound of low rumbling brought you out of the trance you were in, you furrowed your brows and looked at nat, she looked back at you equally as confused. As you went to get up things around you started shaking, steve came of the restroom concerned.

“what the hell is that?” You questioned, Rhodey and banner walking into the room together. The five of you ran out into the yard, looking up your eyes went wide. You recognized carol carrying the giant ship, you had met briefly when she came to earth after receiving Fury’s signal.

Your mouth flew open and tears filled your eyes as you saw tony, a smile on your face as Steve ran to tony, steadying him as the woman next to him handed him off.

The rest of you watched from afar as pepper ran up to tony, the two hugging. You felt your heart tug in your chest as the two soulmates embraced.

You were sat next to thor as while the others explained what happened, though you figured from the pain in their eyes they had suffered the consequences of thanos’ actions themselves.

“whats wrong with them?” Tony asked, looking at you and thor.

“oh he’s pissed, he thinks he failed, which he did-” the raccoon continued to talk but you zoned out.

“did barnes..?” Tony asked softly and steve nodded, his eyes softened, if he had the energy he would’ve gotten up and hugged you.

As they continued to talk you could see tony getting angrier at the captain, you hated it. You hated knowing that things would most likely never be the same between the two friends. You watched teary eyed as the two argued, the lump growing in your throat.

Thor placed his hand on you arm gently, reassuring you everything would be okay. You looked up and saw tony take out his arc reactor, shoving it into Steve’s hand.

“here, take this. You find him, and you put that on, you hide” tony spat, immediately falling to the ground. Steve was quick to catch him, holding him up.

Before you knew it he was passed out, steve carrying him quickly to a bed with steve and Rhodey hot on his heels.

You sat back down next to thor, he handed you some of whatever he was snacking on and you smiled at him softly. The two of you watching the rest of the team bicker and talk about where thanos was.

“-unfortunately they didn’t have you guys” carol replied to Rhodey, you looked at thor, nudging him and he nodded, getting up while he still chewed.

Thor walked up to carol, holding his hand out as Stormbreaker came to him, barely missing carol. The two stared at each other before thor nodded.

“I like this one” he turned to you and you gave him a tight lipped smile.

“Let’s go get this son of a bitch” steve spoke, a determined look on his face as everyone moved to get ready.

“y/n are you not coming?” Steve spoke and you hesisted, looking around before shaking your head.

“I’m gonna stay here with tony and pepper, in case they need something” you replied, fiddling with the dog tags you still wore around your neck.

Steve knew that wasn’t the reason, but he didn’t push you, simply nodding his head, giving you a hug and then walking away.

You sat back on the couch after letting pepper know you would be there if they needed anything. You let your mind wander back to the flash on you and bucky at a picnic, the sun seemed so bright and you caught yourself smiling as you thought of bucky. Your eyes were closed as you seemingly looped the flash of your futures in your head.

“isn’t the sunset so beautiful james” you sighed contently, a small smile on your face as you looked at the pinks and reds. You turned to look at bucky, but he was gone. “Bucky?” Your heart raced, tears in your eyes as you looked around.

“y/n?” You whipped around quickly, mouth falling open as you saw bucky fading into dust.

“no!” You cried out, running to catch him.

Your eyes shot open and your heart raced in your chest. That can’t be right, that can’t happen. Bucky was your soulmate. Those visions were set in stone they had to happen, those were the rules, they can’t just change all of a sudden. Right?

You peeked into the room, checking in on tony and pepper.

“can i get some water actually?” Pepper asked and you nodded, quickly coming back with water and some snacks for her. “Thanks” you whispered and you smiled at her.

“they’ll bring him back, i know they will” pepper reassured you. You gaveher the best smile you could manage and replied, “i know.”

You held out hope for the time the others were out. Shaking away the thought of the flashes of your future changing. It’s just because I’m on edge, that’s it. You reasoned, your leg bouncing as you waited for them to return.

Everyone walked in, you ran up to them hopeful for good news, you looked at steve with a smile, hugging him and holding your hand in his. He felt his heart crush in his chest, this was the happiest you’d been since the decimation and it was going to be torn from you immediately.

“so? did you get the stones? when are we getting everyone back? Does someone need to snap or clap or what? did you guys kill him?” You rushed out, eyes shining in hope as you looked at everyone. Your stomach fell as you saw the look on their faces.

“he destroyed them” Natasha spoke cautiously, “there’s no more stones, we- there’s nothing we can do.”

“oh,” was all you managed to say, your hand going limp in Steve’s, you felt a new wave of pain coming up and you didn’t want to have another meltdown infront of them.

“y/n, please we’re here for you” steve spoke, trying to grasp your hand again after you pulled it out of his.

“I’m fine” you smiled, walking away quickly to your room. Steve sighed, going to follow you but Natasha stopped him, knowing you would want some space.

You laid on your bed, at first nothing happened, you just looked up at your ceiling, an emptiness in your chest. Then it all hit you.

Bucky was gone, there was nothing that could bring him back. The one person you were destined to was gone and you couldn’t do a single thing about it. The little time you had together wasn’t nearly enough to you. The two day trips to wakanda left you wanting more, but you could never get more time. You were always out of time.

For years you had been praying to finally touch your soulmate, to meet them and live a long happy life together. You knew you would never get that the moment you reached out to bucky and saw your future with him. You knew the road would be bumpy but you held out hope, both of you did. You tried to keep him within your grasp, you tried to hold him close to your heart for as long as you could despite knowing you were out of time. You thought of how he would embrace you, how he would keep you safe in his arms while you slept.

Now you slept in an empty bed, knowing there wouldn’t be a next visit to wakanda. Knowing your soulmate was gone and you didn’t get to say goodbye. Knowing you were back to where you started- Alone.

——

Five years.

It had been five years since the Decimation happened, everyone else called it the blip.

Gently, you set down the bag of groceries, finally closing your apartment door after your third trip up. You arranged everything quietly, 40s music softly playing from your speaker and the jingle of Buckys dog tags filling the apartment.

You never took them off. They were all you had of him, they were the only thing to keep you going. You would fiddle with them and hold them close to your chest. They brought you comfort. The same comfort bucky would give you, the comfort he had given you during your time in wakanda. The same you should’ve had right in this moment.

One more fight

The words rang in your ears, taunting you. Rage, sadness and pain all filled your chest, your heart aching as you finished putting everything away, shutting the music off and turning on the tv. You looked down at the dog tags that rested on your chest, tears welling in your eyes as you read over them.

The hot tears fell down your face and you held the dog tags tightly in your hands, mind going blank as you let yourself wallow in the pain for a moment.

Your phone rang and you wiped your tears away, sniffling as you saw Steve’s contact picture. You hesisted before answering.

“hi steve!” You spoke brightly, putting on your best act.

“hey y/n how are you?” Steve spoke smoothly and you wiped at your tears before replying.

“I’m doing good! Just got back from the grocery store” you wanted to hang up, to just watch reruns of your favorite show and forget about everything

“are you sure?” Steve spoke cautiously and you replied quicker than you intended, “course I’m sure!”

Then there was a knock on your door.

“great because I’m outside” steve replied happily, hanging up and waiting outside. Your stomach fell, you looked in the mirror, your eyes and nose were redándolo your cheeks flushed.

Quickly you ran to splash water on your face, taking in a shaky breath as you dried your face and moved to open the door, putting a smile on your face and greeting steve.

“if it isn’t my favorite captain” you smiled, steve looked at you warily, taking you into a hug after you let him in.

“you forget i have enhanced hearing y/n, i know you were sniffling right before opening the door” steve spoke bluntly and your shoulders fell. “y/n, you can’t keep shutting me out, Natasha is worried about you too” he spoke softly, taking your hand and leading you to your couch.

“i just miss him” you whispered and steve sighed, pulling you into him so your head rested on his chest, he wrapped his arms around you as you cried quietly.

“i know, i do too, we just have to learn to live without him, he would want you to start a life y/n, you don’t have to be alone” steve spoke. His presence was calming.

You and steve had been friends for so long, there was a reason he knew he could call you when SHIELD fell. You were the one to help him adjust to modern society, you were his first friend out of the ice.

“how about you go shower and change, and I’ll make some food for us okay? We can watch your show while we eat” steve smiled, he knew you hadn’t showered in three days from the way your hair was tangled and messily thrown into a ponytail.

“okay” you nodded, smiling softly as he helped you up, handing you some tissues before the two of you headed to do your own things.

You were grateful for steve, he had always been there to check up on you, constantly making sure you were okay. You had basically shut everyone else out, Natasha didn’t really reach out. You didn’t blame her.

You walked out of your room, the smell of pasta hitting your nose and your stomach growled, steve smiled as he set out the two plates.

“tried my best” he mumbled and you shook your head.

“thank you steve” you hugged him tightly and he returned it, letting go after a couple moments so the two of you could eat.

“i saw some whales the other day” you spoke up, “when i was coming up the bridge” steve smiled, glad to know you were leaving the apartment.

“fewer ships, cleaner water” he nodded, “might tell Nat, I’m sure she could use some good news” you nodded.

The two of you ate in silence, watching your favorite show as you did. Steve stayed for a bit longer before heading back to the compound. He hugged you tightly and you held onto him.

“promise you’ll reach out” steve pleaded and you nodded, “I’ll try” he smiled at your words, it was a start.

It hadn’t even been an hour when steve was calling you again, you rolled your eyes as you answered the phone.

“steve im not crying i swear” you joked, a small smile on your face.

“you have to get to the compound” he spoke in a serious tone and your stomach dropped, “scott Lang is here” you felt your heart race.

“wasn’t he- i thought he-” you cut yourself off, moving to get a jacket and your car keys, “I’m on my way.”

When you arrived you rushed towards the living room watching as Scott paced infront of steve and Natasha

As you set next to steve, scott began to ramble, talking about quantum physics and his time i. The quantum realm.

“wait, are you talking about a time machine?” You asked him, and he shook his head.

“no, of course not, it’s like a- yeah a time machine i know it’s crazy but there’s gotta be a way” scott mumbled.

“Scott, i get emails from a raccoon, nothing sounds crazy anymore” you smiled at natashas comment.

“so who do we talk about this?” Scott asked nervously, you and steve looked at each other for a second.

Tony.

The four of you approached the cabin, your heart heavy as your eyes land on tony. You knew how much he wanted to just stay out of everything, he was happy for once, he was with his soulmate, he had a family.

“we know what it sounds like” Scott spoke as he finished explaining his plan.

You were quiet as tony and steve talked, Scott joining in when he mentioned his plan of a time heist.

“we can bring everyone back” Natasha reasoned and tony scoffed a little. “Or we could make things worse” he stated and you shifted. The four bickered for a while longer before you spoke up.

“Tony, we have to take a stand” his eyes landed on you and his gaze softened a bit.

“we did stand, and yet here we are” he spoke sharply.

“i know you got a lot on the line, a wife, a daughter, but i lost someone very importantly me, a lot of people did-” you zoned out as Scott spoke, your eyes resting on the lake and watching as the water moved slowly.

“Mommy told me to come and save you!” Morgan smiled as Tony picked her up. You smiled at the pair.

“good job, I’m saved” tony smiled at her, he turned to you guys before sighing, “i wish you’d come to ask for something else, i missed you guys” his eyes were soft and he spoke sincerely.

“I’m happy for you, i really am. But this is a second chance” steve pleaded and tony replied quickly, “i got my second chance right here.”

“Aunt y/n!” Morgan smiled as her eyes landed on you, wiggling out of her dads grasp as she ran to hug you.

“hi little stark” you smiled, picking her up with ease and carrying her on your hip.

Tony smiled at you as the steve and Natasha looked at you in confusion.

“i visit, I’m not a horrible person” you mumbled, you knew steve would have some choice words for you later.

“If you don’t talk shop, you can stay for lunch” tony spoke up, the others sighed, walking towards the car.

You set Morgan down, telling her to head inside. You gave Tony a hug, “I’ll visit soon, just haven’t been feeling the best” you mumbled and he rubbed your back.

“you always have a room here y/n” he smiled softly and you nodded, waving goodbye before going the other three in the car.

“we’re gonna need a big brain” steve spoke, Scott looked at him in disbelief.

“bigger than his?” Scott questioned and you rolled your eyes, knowing you would be seeing Bruce soon.

“can you drop me off at home actually?” you spoke up, steve looking at you for a moment before nodding, driving to your apartment building. You got out quickly and said goodbye, “let me know what you guys find” steve, Natasha and Scott nodded, wishing you goodnight.

The cold New York air nipped at your skin as you rushed up your stairs, holding your jacket tightly as you fumbled with your key and let yourself in, sighing when you closed the door.

You changed into your pajamas quickly, brushing your teeth before grabbing the notebook and your pen on your nightstand and sliding into bed. You flipped to the next empty page as you began to write.

hi james,

today was okay, steve came over and found me crying. he stayed and made dinner, he’s been taking care of me for a while now, i feel kinda guilty.

You continued to write into the journal, letting all your feelings pour out into the page. As you finished for the night you clicked you pen and set them on your nightstand. You had finished all the pages in the notebook already. With a sigh you got up from your bed, grabbing the small notebook and placing it on the floor as you reached for a container under your bed.

You reached for the lid and opened it, there were numerous other notes book, you placed the one you had just written in next to your last one, closing the lid and sliding it back under your bed.

For the past five years you’ve been writing to bucky, it helped you stay somewhat sane. If he ever came back you didn’t want him to feel left out, you wanted to make sure he felt like he didn’t miss those five years of your life. You wanted him to be there. Your hands fiddled with the dog tags as you laid on your side.

You needed him to be here with you.

The next morning you woke up to a call from steve, with fuzzy vision your answered the phone, bringing it to your ear.

“hello?” You mumbled and steve spoke quickly, your eyes widened as he spoke.

“tony found a way” was all you needed to hear to have you scrambling to get ready.

“be there in 30” you rushed out, a smile on your face. You felt hope blossoming in your chest, thoughts of the picnic with bucky flooded your mind as you got ready.

You were going to get him back. You were going to be together.

You ran into the compound as smiled at those around you, rocket looked at you in shock when you smiled at him.

“didn’t know she did that” he remarked and Scott looked at him equally as shocked.

“Steve! Tony!” You beamed, crashing into them and taking them into a group hug. You let out a sigh of happiness.

“Is it true? Can we actually get them back?” Your eyes shined and tony found his heart growing, it had been so long since you had been happy.

“we have a shot kid” he nodded, “Clint just tried it out and it worked,” your smile grew, throwing your arms around him as everyone gathered into the room

“well what are we waiting for? Let’s plan this heist!” You smiled, looking at everyone and steve nodded.

You listened as everyone spoke, sharing their knowledge on the stones. You sat next to Natasha who was taking notes, glancing over at them your gears turned, speaking up as they talked about Stephen Strange.

“he lived in New York?” You questioned and they nodded, Tony rolling his eyes at you, “are you paying attention?”

“if you pick the right year there’s three stones in New York” you replied quickly, everyone looking at you in surprise.

Not long after your realization there was finally a formulated plan. You were nervous, excited and hopeful. You were going to get everyone back, you were going to get bucky back.

“Six stones, three teams, one shot” you mumbled, everyone nodding as you looked at the plan you had come up with steve and tony.

“I’ll stay behind just in case, you all know what you’re doing and ive been out of the loop so” you trailed off and they nodded.

“you already did enough, i mean you came up with the whole plan” tony scoffed and you smiled at him.

“you guys got this” you encouraged them, natasha smiling at you. Without hesitating you pulled the three in for a hug, squeezing tightly before letting go.

“okay, go kick some ass” you smiled.

The team filed onto the time machine and you waited by the buttons, looking for steve signal.

“see you in a minute” natasha called out to you and you waved goodbye, pressing the buttons and holding your breath and they all shrunk and disappeared from your sight.

It was only a minute later when they all appeared, you smiled as you ran up to them, quickly doing a headcount. Your stomach fell when you saw Natasha was missing.

“Clint wheres nat” you asked quietly, voice shaking. He didn’t reply. You stumbled back, teary eyed as you walked out.

You looked at the lake, steve, Tony, thor, Clint and Bruce gathered around you.

“do we know if she had any family?” Tony asked and you scoffed.

“us” steve spoke up and Thor looked at them confused.

“you’re acting like she’s dead, why are we acting like she’s dead?” Thor spoke up, his voice growing louder and you winced as he continued, Clint soon jumping in and arguing with him. The two men shouted and you let your tears fall silently, steve noticed and wrapped an arm around you, pulling you into his chest.

“she’s not coming back” Bruce mumbled quietly.

“we have to make it worth it” you spoke up, wiping your tears and standing up.

“we will” steve spoke, getting up after you did.

“the what are we waiting for” you looked at them with a small smile, squeezing Clint’s arm before walking past him and into the lab.

You waited anxiously for them to finish the gauntlet, jumping up when rocket walked in with it in hand.

“who’s gonna snap their freaking fingers?” Thor spoke up, immediately volunteering.

“no Thor, wait a second” you stopped him, everyone else protesting his actions.

“what we’re just waiting for the right opportunity?” He huffed and Scott spoke up.

“we should at least discuss it”

Thor nodded his head, speaking up again, “I’m the strongest avenger this is my responsibility, it’s my duty” you were quick to stop him.

“it’s not about that” you spoke gently. He furrowed his brows and turned to look at you angrily.

“stop it! Just let me!” You could see the tears in his eyes, “let me do something good, something right”

Tony explained to him the power the stones had, trying to reason for him to not do it. Thor argued right back before Bruce cut him off, explaining how it almost killed thanos when he snapped and how no one else could survive it.

“how do you know you will?” Steve asked cautiously.

“it’s mainly gamma, it’s like i was made for this” he whispered as everyone moved back you noticed Nebula was missing.

Bruce’s grunts of pain made you focus back onto him, “are you okay? talk to me!” You screamed, frantic as he yelled in pain.

“I’m okay!” He spoke fighting against the pain and snapping his fingers, you held your breath as he did so, your heartbeat thumping in your ears.

You looked out the window and saw two birds, a smile on your face as you realized it had worked. Clint had a smile on his face as he answered a call, “honey, honey!” He spoke.

You turned to tell the team it had worked, but before you could you were blasted away by missiles, the compound crumbling underground.

You groaned as you heard rocket calling out for her, you and Rhodey doing your best to free him. Finally he wiggled free, the three of you sighing before your eyes went wide. A flood of water washing over the three of you as you panicked.

Rhodey called for help and you heard Scott on the other end. You kept your head up high, trying to not drown, rocket clung onto you as Bruce tried to hold the structure up.

“see you on the other side” Rhodey spoke and you geared up shaking your head.

“Hang on! I’m coming!” Scott yelled and you tried your best to stay above water, Rhodey struggling next to you as rocket clung onto your back.

Before you knew it you were clinging onto Scott as he turned into giant man, Rocket continued to Clint onto you and Rhodey held on for fear life.

Scott placed you and rocket down, you spotted the wakandans next to you and ran towards them, smiling as you saw t’challa and shuri amongst them.

“shuri!” You cried out, hugging her tightly. She handed you a gun and some knives and you quickly strapped them to you. “How’d you know” you smiled and she shrugged.

“you people never seem prepared for battle” she teased and you smiled, standing next to her as you prepared to face thanos’ army.

Your eyes scanned the crowd for bucky, heart beating louder and louder and you couldn’t find him. You ran onto the battlefield with everyone, immediately shooting and fighting the aliens off.

You shot them as fast as you could, but they were quickly surrounding you, grunting as one of them tackled you,

Before you could even think of grabbing a knife it’s body fell limp and you pushed it off you, looking at the bullet wounds.

“hope you haven’t been fighting like that this whole time doll”

You felt your heart drop and your stomach flutter. Bucky.

You turned around quickly, a smile on your face as your eyes met his baby blue one. Your smile grew as you ran towards him, dropping your gun and throwing yourself onto him. He picking you up as you wrapped your legs around his waist, holding you tightly.

“you’re here, you’re back, you’re here” you spoke over and over, tears streaming down your cheeks as you buried your face into the crook of his neck.

“I’m here doll” he reassured you, holding onto you tightly and closing his eyes for a moment. The sound of an alien screaming made you snap out of your bubble.

You groaned as you picked up your gun, shooting it in the head before turning back to bucky, you smiled at him before crashing your lips onto his. He smiled into the kiss, leaning in for a second before the two of you pulled away.

“been waiting five years to do that” you spoke breathless and bucky smiled at you.

“after this you can kiss me all you want sweets” he spoke and you giggled, moving to press your backs against one another, shooting at the aliens.

You thought back to wakanda, how familiar it all was. But this time you would win. This time it was your last fight, you would win and you could go home with bucky. You could be with your soulmate.

You watched as the other tossed the gauntlet around, trying to keep it away from thanos.

“Bucky we have to go help them!” You called out and he nodded, the two of you running towards where steve, Thor and tony were, helping fend off the aliens attacking them.

You saw thanos get the gauntlet and you felt you blood run cold, you froze in your spot. Please, not again. You turned to bucky, dropping your weapon as you clung onto him tightly.

“not letting you go again” you mumbled, kissing him before letting go and grabbing a knife from your suit and running towards the titan.

You threw the knife at thanos with all you had, lodging it in his shoulder. He cried out in pain as it stabbed him, giving Tony the chance to attack him once more, pulling the gauntlet before Thanos punches him away.

“I am inevitable” thanos spoke, your blood ran cold as he snapped, flinching away when he did. When nothing happened you looked at him once more, a smile on your face as you saw the glove had no stones.

“And i” tony spoke, “am Iron man” he snapped his fingers, the white light blinding you before bucky pulled you into him, shielding you from the light.

As the two of you looked again you saw the aliens fading into dust. You held Buckys hand tightly, your knuckles white. You looked at him in excitement, wrapping your arms around his neck when you realized you had won.

You had won.

Turning quickly you ran to look for tony and steve, the smile falling from your face when you saw peter over Tony’s body.

You ran towards him, falling to your knees next to him.

“tony? no you can’t” you shook your head, tears welling in your eyes and he turned to look at you.

“hey kid, take care of my girls yeah?” He smiled and you shook your head, “you can take care of em you have to hold on a bit longer” you protested.

“always told you that you had one hell of a throw” he chuckled dryly, “‘ts what helped me get the stones” he smiled gently and you broke down into tears, “you have him now, you’ll be okay” he whispered.

Bucky pulled you aside, letting pepper speak to tony. You cried into Buckys chest, not knowing what would happen to you if you looked back.

It happened so fast.

You were in a black dress outside the cottage you had visited countless time. You didn’t imagine the next time you visited would be for Tony’s funeral.

Bucky held your hand, his thumb making small circles on the back of your hand to calm you down. You could help but lean into him, his presence relaxing you immediately.

You smiled fondly as you thought back to the time tony tried to talk you into breaking up with bucky one time after you came back from wakanda. You knew he was joking but he still felt a little bad, buying you dinner as compensation

As the service ended you followed bucky, steve and Sam to the time machine where Bruce waited.

You stood next to bucky as steve said goodbye to Sam, walking up to you guys next.

“Don’t do anything stupid ‘til i get back” steve spoke and bucky smiled.

“how can i? you’re taking all the stupid with you” the hugged tightly for a bit before pulling apart.

“gonna miss you buddy” bucky sighed and steve looked at him softly.

“it’s gonna be okay buck” he turned to you.

“bye steve” you let out softly, bottom lip quivering. He hugged you tightly, kissing your temple softly.

“you’re still gonna be my favorite best friend” he spoke softly and you smiled, letting out a soft chuckle before sniffling.

“you finally have him back y/n, you’re gonna be happy, i promise” you nodded and hugged him one more time, knowing it would be the last time.

As he stepped into the time machine you melted into Buckys side, he put an arm around you and kissed the top of your head.

Steve vanished as he went to return the stones, seconds later Bruce signaled to bring him back, but he didn’t appear.

“where is he?” Sam spoke, worry lacing his voice.

“I don’t know he blew right past his time stamp, he should be here” Bruce panicked and you and bucky looked around your eyes landing Onondaga older version of him sitting on a log.

You nudged bucky as you heard sam and Bruce arguing.

“sam” you called out, looking at him before back at steve. Sam walked towards you cautiously as you pointed at steve.

“go ahead” bucky spoke to the man, the two of you smiled at sam as he approached steve.

You and bucky smiled as steve handed sam the shield. A grin on your face as he put the shield on his arm.

“he’s gonna be a great captain america” bucky smiled fondly and you nodded. “Steve made the right choice” you added.

The two of you walked away hand in hand, getting into your car and heading back to your apartment. Bucky settled in quickly, sitting on your couch and pulling you down with him, a small squeal leaving your lips as your back crashed onto his chest.

“missed you so much buck” you mumbled, wiggling so that you could cuddle into him, leaving open mouthed kisses on his neck and onto his jawline.

“i missed you too doll” he whispered, kissing you softly, his hand moving to the back of your neck. He pulled away when he pinky felt the familiar chain of his dog tags, hooking it onto his pinky and pulling them out from under your shirt.

“you kept them?” He looked at you teary eyed and you nodded, heart racing.

“they were the only thing left of you, course i did” you smiled, taking them off and placing them onto him, fixing them so that they laid on his chest.

“that reminds me!” You smiled, getting off of him and running to your room, pulling the bin from under your bed and carrying it towards bucky.

“i- uh- when you were gone i wrote in these journals almost everyday, to kinda keep you up to date for when you got back” you smiled sheepishly and bucky felt his heart grow in his chest.

“you never lost faith?” He questioned, he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. You shook your head.

“sometimes i wanted to” you mumbled, holding his hand in yours, “but you never took me on a picnic so i wasnt letting you go so easily” you pouted and he smiled, kissing you.

The two of you smiled into the kiss, giggling and he peppered kisses all over your face.

“I’m your forever y/n y/l/n” bucky whispered, his forehead resting against yours. You felt your heart rate speed up, your stomach full of butterflies. Closing your eyes as you relished the moment.

“and I’m yours forever bucky barnes” you kissed him softly before opening your eyes, the two of you pulling away a bit.

You reached out and caressed his cheek, you smiled at each other. You finally had your soulmate, and you had forever together.

#bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes blurb #bucky barnes series #bucky barnes completed series #bucky barnes drabble #bucky barnes one shot #bucky barnes soulmate au #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes #bucky barnes headcanon #bucky barnes imagine #soft bucky barnes

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n0tamused · 3 years

Note

Hellooo hon can i request pls? Can u write for tobirama a one shot where he rejects his s/o but then he sees her with another guy in the village often and starts to realize about hia feelings but its late bc she is marrying this other guy? I need some angst hahahah. Its ok if you don't want to write it! Thank you 😘

A/N: Hello anon, thank you for the request! Here's some Tobirama angst. It made me sad to write this but here we are. The things we do for angst. Hope you enjoy.

Warnings: none. Just pure sadness.

Words: Around 1.475

' The Fire Which Didn't Burn '

-"No. I do not love you."

Those words echoed in your mind days after his initial rejection. Over and over again until it was all you could think about. It stung your heart each time you repeated the sentence. The never ending feeling that it was something you did wrong wrecked your mind, it made work harder and rest scarce for a while. You didn't understand. You were sure he felt at least some semblance of love for you, in the end you were the one he truly did let in his company. One he could rely on for anything that he may need. Or did you read the signs that wrong? At that point it wouldn't be a surprise if it was all for business sake, seeing as you both worked together on making the village prosper and bloom.

But that was almost an whole year ago. Even more. Since then you have moved on from the heart ache. Although a few select close friends knew of your pain, you never indulged them with your gloomy moods that came and went. It was a tendency you seemed to pick up from the younger Senju and the years you spent at his side. Not letting anyone really in. Only letting them scratch the surface of it, to know enough to leave you be.

It has been a whole year since the last time Tobirama had spent proper time with you, a whole year since you both sat down to unwind and discuss things amicably. At the confession of your feelings for him he was rather cold, cooly brushing you off and trying to get back into his work. He didn't feel like it was such a big deal then, he believed that it didn't matter as long as you both still remained a good bond. But he was proven wrong. You recoiled from his reach and even disappeared from his sight. His ears seldomly heard of you anymore. It was as if you disappeared from the village all together. Even if he saw traces of your work, your signatures and reports. It was all superficial.

At first this didn't bother Tobirama much, even if he was initially worried about your lack of communication with him. The man was simply so drowned in his work to take some kind of action, to do anything to smooth things over with you again. On certain days, when work was lesser, he would indulge himself in things he did with you once. Only then feeling the effects, the weight on his shoulders due to your absence. There was no more of your reasoning voice, no more laughter, no more endless teasing when the two of you were alone, no more long nights where the two of you shared your worries and even fears. There was none of it. Only distant memories.

As stubborn as he was, he would finally come to terms that he, in the very least, missed you greatly. That he should've done something sooner. Now he felt embarrassed to even try after so long had already passed.

Tobirama had recently started to seek out information about you. Head full of things, horrible things. Were you alright now? Have you moved on?

As it turns out, yes you were alright and yes...you have moved on. You were still working as a ninja, so how you managed to keep out of his sight so much and for so long surprised the silver haired Senju. And when word reached him that you were getting married soon. He was...he didn't know how to feel, actually. You had found another man to love and share your burdens and future with. He had spotted the pair of you once in the village, walking peacefully side by side. Hand and fingers entwined together. You pressing into his side once to give him a quick hug. Him smiling down at you, a genuine, earnest smile which you reflected back just the same. It made Tobirama ill. A deep, gut wrenching feeling over took him so much that he wanted to bolt. As unlikely as that was for him.

Perhaps this was karma. You were his most trusted friend. You understood him at best and at worst times, and you dealt with him when he was being difficult. You were with him at his side even when his brother got fed up with his arrogance. The amount of times you sat at the stairs on his porch, waiting for him to cool off were countless; even your company alone was salve enough. And not to even mention your beauty, you were the rare one that really caught Tobirama's eye, like no other woman has before. And yet, he pushed you away. Perhaps this was his punishment. The maker gave him a chance, a chance to be happy and content and have someone with him and he let it fall and shatter to the floor. Tobirama could only scowl, and he found himself in a sour mood ever since.

He wouldn't admit it but his heart was aching. Was this how you too felt?

-"Tobirama!"

You exclaimed. Shock written all over your features, the basket of fruit, fish and vegetables hooked onto your elbow. Neither of you knew what to say at first. Tobirama was just as shocked as you, regretting not using his sensory abilities to sense you and turn in another direction. Now that you two ran into each other his tongue felt dry.

Your breath stopped in your throat as you searched his eyes, his face for anything that could indicate some sort of reaction. Yet the only thing you found in his scarlet gaze was yearning, and then emptiness once he collected his racing thoughts.

"Y/N. It.. it has been a while."

He spoke, clearing his throat while his heart felt as if it was going to burst out of his chest. The clothes he wore suddenly felt suffocating and scolding. A tangible tension grew between the two of you.

"Yes. It has been...How have you been doing? I surely hope you are getting some proper rest, I heard there was quite a scuffle recently."

Trying to keep the conversation average failed. A frown became prominent on his lips as he only nodded, in a almost mechanical fashion, but didn't respond to the question. You caught his gaze flickering, only for a second, down to your ring finger. Where the silver ring was. A small gem held on the top of it. And you understood, in a way.

"Oh..."

A wind breezed past the two of you, but it didn't feel comforting. It felt chilling and hot and dry all at the same time, like raking hands that clung to the both of you. If you were paying just a little more attention to the Senju, you would've seen the sadness collect in his eyes. Even if his face remained cold and unreadable. His eyes gave it all away.

The conversation ended rather awkwardly with both of you wishing each other well and saying your goodbyes. So many things were left unsaid then. It wouldn't take Tobirama long after that quick encounter to really admit it to himself that he has grown feelings for you, that he was in love. Realizing a year too late. A year he wished he could get back so he could be with you instead of that man. A year that could make it all better, for the both of you. But no matter how many sleepless nights he had, no matter how much he wished and even prayed, he couldn't take your happiness away. He couldn't even dare do such a thing, couldn't dream of it.

Sometimes you would even worm your way in his dreams, his mind visualizing a future he knew he couldn't have. A happy one with you at his side, in a house different from the one he was in now, with enough space for the both of you and even another addition. No matter how much he dreaded those dreams, he let himself drown in the comforts of them even if for a moment. Letting himself experience what could have been. The phantom touches and plush kisses that soon turned to dust in his mouth when he woke. The image of you still dancing vividly in front of his sleep hazed eyes.

Other times he even found himself crying in those dreams, angry, bitter and regretful tears. Clinging onto you in his dreams, pleading to not wake up yet to make it all better. It pained him. That he couldn't have you anymore. You were now married to someone, and that someone wasn't him.

Tobirama saw how happy you were, genuinely. And he wasn't going to take it away just because of his own mistakes.

Now it was his turn to share the pain you went through. He accepted it all. It was now his responsibility. His mistakes.

#tobirama #senju tobirama #tobirama x reader #tobirama senju x reader #tobirama angst #tobirama senju angst #Naruto #warring states #naruto x reader #Naruto angst #n0tamused oneshot #n0tamused writes

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yeojaa · 4 years

Note

GIRL we need a devil in a new suit drabble where jungkook gets jealous pls bless us😭😭❤️

[ read devil in a new suit ]

pairing. jjk x f!reader. rating. explicit. tags. kook being hilarious and naive, reader being a little frustrated but head over heels, smut in the form of: titty sucking (kook is a big boob guy in this), cunnilingus, kook wanting to love you forever. wc. 2.1k. author note. i am... so in love with this couple so what was meant to be a “kook gets jealous and breaks reader’s back” turned into... this.

Jeon Jungkook doesn’t get jealous. Not because he doesn’t care, or he’s unaffected, or any other negative connotation under the sun. He doesn’t because he’s him, too soft and sweet and silly to believe the worst in people. (This, coming from the man who’d steered clear of dating apps and blind dates because he was worried he’d be hurt.)

Once, you’d been waiting for him to pick you - he’d been running late, dinner with his parents and younger sister - and he’d found you chatting politely to an old fling of yours. Well, maybe not so old. A recent fling, a friend of sorts. Someone who’d swanned into your life during your college years and had remained there ever since, popping his head in from time to time.

You’d always been on good terms, caught up for lunch every six months or so when he’d return home from his overseas job. In the past, you’d found familiarity in the shape of his hands, the neon outline of his almond eyes and pouting lips. He was good in bed, as charming between the sheets as he was on the street.

But your heart belonged to Jungkook now - had, before you’d even realised it - and Taewoo was just another guy. Another face in a crowd.

Still, you’d thought your beloved boyfriend would have some sort of reaction. Maybe a quirk of his perfectly groomed brows, a certain tightness belying his displeasure in the softly peaked bow of his mouth. You’d spied neither after extracting yourself from the hug and waving goodbye. Jungkook had been sunshine and sweetness, opening your door for you and stamping a kiss to your cheek.

That night, he’d loved you how he always had, with you crying his name and making a mess of his sheets.

Another time, you’d been at a work function. One of those ridiculous galas you loved, full of women in their highest heels and men in their swankiest watches. (You’d worn Aquazzura that night, Jungkook with an Audemars Piguet loose around his wrist.)

He’d stuck close to your side, far more interested in the way your dress hugged your figure, cut intimidatingly high over your thigh and revealed the swell of your ass at juuuust the right angle. Yejin had been the only one to tear him away, insisting on shots that you knew she couldn’t handle. Anything went if free booze was involved.

Thirty minutes later - give or take, since you hadn’t had a watch of your own on - your boyfriend had returned, flushed and adorable. There’d been a garden of colour creeping over the expanse of his chest, peeking around the collar of his shirt and disappearing into his neatly tousled strands. He’d giggled his way back to you, somehow completely oblivious to the man that’d found you at your table and settled himself into the spot labelled Jeon Jungkook.

The imposter had been affronted, gaze narrowed at the younger man who was a little too loose, a little too smiley. Wholly out of place at an event like this, where people spent too much time up their own asses, noses held aloft and business cards exchanged.

(One of the reasons you loved Jungkook so much. He was a breath of fresh air in a world you thrived in - found humour in, at the very least - carrying you high above the clouds with the sound of his laughter.)

“Hi, baby.” Your darling boy smothered you in kisses, traced them up and over the exposed expanse of your shoulder, nosing against your skin, utterly unbothered by the man shooting him daggers, wishing him ill from the spot he’d wrongly claimed.

Of course, he’d thought Jungkook was making a point - claiming what was his - but that was so far from the truth you’d almost laughed when he’d spoken, voice carrying above the slightly laboured breaths of your lover. “I guess that’s my cue to leave, huh?”

You’d smiled, nodded with a hand threaded into cornsilk curling over Jungkook’s nape. “Looks like it.”

(Then your idiot love - your big-hearted moron, your doe-eyed baby - had come up for air, cheek resting in the palm of his hand. “Where’s your friend?” He’d asked, eyes so wide you couldn’t doubt the sincerity of his question.)

Such was the kind of person Jungkook was, with an unwavering belief in the goodness of others, a silver thread outlining everyone’s silhouette. You sometimes wondered what it would take to drive him to any sort of displeasure, any sort of emotion beyond quiet melancholy (seldom seen but heavily felt, when the rare occasions rose) or easygoing amicability (his default setting). Not that you’d ever push to see that, of course.

You were happy. Hopelessly in love. You wouldn’t have traded him for the world - couldn’t even fathom doing anything to hurt him.

And yet, you discover albeit by accident - it’s really not that hard. All it takes is a pretty girl.

“This looks incredible,” she says, standing close, long dark hair falling in a fluid curtain down the line of her back. It’s the loveliest shade, cool-toned beneath the boutique lights, and reflects colour like a waterfall. You’d complimented her on it when you’d stepped into the fitting area, a handful of hangers set across the rolling rack.

Fingers smooth over embroidery, revelling in the feeling of it over your skin. It’s a beautiful thing, black tulle that hangs to your fingertips. Not Jungkook’s preferred style - he much prefers harnesses and so many straps it might as well be a cat’s cradle - but you think he loves it nonetheless.

(You’d confirm, but he’s been stoically silent, seated in the plush chair tucked beside the privacy partition, normally soft gaze hard and trained on his phone. He doesn’t seem very much in the mood to talk, hardly reacting with each outfit change. A nod here, a smile there. Not even the most scandalous of the options - a black corset decorated in Leavers lace - had elicited his usual enthusiasm.)

“You think so?” You’re not insecure about your body - know what it looks best in, which assets to play up. Still, it’s nice to hear from someone other than your doting boyfriend, the people caught in your orbit.

The sales associate nods, beams at you in the multiple mirrors. A hand of her own drifts over the thin strap of the slip - an innocent gesture that dislodges wayward strands of hair from beneath. “Of course— and I’m not just saying that because I’m trying to sell it.”

You nod, satisfied. Even if Jungkook doesn’t seem ecstatic, your own joy makes up for it, buyer’s delight spilling over. “I’ll take the satin robe, the blush silk set, and this in the violet.”

“Great choices,” she hums, pulling back the curtain to the adjoining change room to allow you privacy. Silence follows as you slip the delicate number off, returning it to its hanger. You don’t expect when the brunette continues speaking - presumably to your surprisingly surly boyfriend. “Don’t you agree?”

“Yep.” He’s never been a man of few words, usually so full of excitement that he rambles when he doesn’t mean to.

It’s a dead giveaway - a confirmation that something’s wrong.

Unfortunately for you, you don’t have time to broach the subject, your purchases already paid for and a firm hand on the small of your back the moment you’ve stepped out of the dressing stall. “Jungkookie?” You mean it quietly, just for the two of you, but falter when he slots his fingers between yours and all but tugs you out of the boutique. You hardly even have a chance to toss the helpful girl an apologetic smile, imposing glass swinging shut behind you.

“Men—men are fine. I don’t have to worry about them.” There’s a confidence you’re so proud to see, turning his words as solid as the weight that rests against your hip, sears burning heat into your bared skin. “No other man is going to love you better than me. But women?” A shudder runs the length of his imposing frame, tugs his shoulders up to his ears and tingles the small of his back. “Women are scary.” (It’s a sentiment he’s echoed in the past. In particular, months ago when you’d insisted he dive into the dating scene.)

Hands thread through his too-soft strands, twirl the ends around your fingers as he speaks, nearly muffled into the crook of your shoulder. He’s being so tender, giving you all the love he has to offer as he writes his insecurities into your skin, offers them with the wet of his tongue.

“A woman might sweep you off your feet and steal you away.”

You laugh then - sound snapping past your teeth before you can tuck it away. It filters loudly into the baies scented candle you’d lit when you’d gotten into his apartment.

Jungkook whines in response - a terribly endearing sound that makes you roll your eyes but only with affection (always with that) - and buries his face into your tits, sucking your nipple into his mouth with complete disregard for the tulle that acts as a barrier. Saliva stains the material, makes it stick to your hardened bud as he laves over it with his tongue - bites surprisingly gently - and tugs it just hard enough to have you keening.

“S-s’not funny,” he huffs, palming your other breast in his broad tattooed palm. When he continues, he bites into you like he’s got a personal vendetta against whatever lies beneath your flesh. “She was flirting with you.”

It’s less of a sigh of annoyance - more sensual, drowning in need. “She was not.”

He nips at the delicate flesh again, spreads crimson marks all across the sensitive skin until it’s a mosaic beneath the fabric, his finest work painted by his second favourite brush. “That’s what you think but she was.” The hand previously kneading your skin drops, flat of his palm sliding easily over your bare pussy.

There’s zero hesitation when he slots his fingers on either side of your clit, catches the delicate pearl against the webbing of his hand and applies pressure that has you bucking beneath him. It’s not nearly as aggressive as he normally is but it’s just as good, paired with the sinful motions of his tongue and teeth.

“She wants to be the one doing this,” he continues, saliva pooling across your chest, slipping into the valley of your breasts only to be licked up by the flat of his tongue. He continues even once you’re clean, skin sticky and a little gross but so erotic it makes you quiver. Then he descends, pushes the hem of your new slip higher, and licks another stripe from the joint of your thigh up to your belly button. Repeats it again, moving lower with each pass until he’s sucking your clit into his mouth. “She wants to be the one tasting this pretty, pretty pussy.”

You reach for his hand - the one somewhere near your ribs, side of his wrist soothing against the ladder of bones - and tangle your fingers together as he drives you mad, tip of his tongue switching between sweet kitten licks and tantalising figure eights.

“Baby,” you coax, reprimand almost. Jungkook’s never this lenient, never this sweet on you (not inside the bedroom, at least). It brings you to a different high, his love folded into lovely origami cranes you tuck into your pockets and the spot you’ve carved out for him within your chest.

“Sing for me, sweetheart.”

He doesn’t mean literally - refers instead to the sound of your voice when it leaps three octaves, bounces between sultry and singed, burnt at the edges by the fire he brings to life.

“Tell me you’ll never leave me.” Despite how the words muffle, come broken between the glide of his tongue within your fluttering walls, you can hear the sincerity in them. The earnestness that begs you to promise him this simple thing. “Not for her. Not for anyone.”

“I won’t leave you,” you answer, threading the vow between your fingers as if they’re the thread binding your love story together. “Not for her - not for anyone.”

#anon.eml #bts drabble #bts imagine #bts au #bts fluff #bts smut bts jungkook #jungkook #jeon jeongguk #jeon jungkook #jungkook au #jungkook drabble #jungkook imagine #jungkook fluff #jungkook smut #incoming.eml #work.zip #drabble.zip #devil.doc #jungkook.doc

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nadisabug · 4 years

Text

Anything You Want

Pairing: Tsukishima Kei x reader

Warnings: reader is kinda depressed, idk she convinces herself that no one (Kei) could like her, so warning for that, no spoilers though, ooc Tsukki, I am so sorry this was a one am fever dream im sor-

Summary: As old childhood friends of Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, it doesn’t make sense why Tsukishima and you fight so much.

A/N: Ahh I’m so sorry I woke up out of a cold sweat to write this whole thing in one sitting at one am im just 💛love💙 him!! Also!!! I hit 150 followers!! So excited!!! I love you all so much!! Thank you!!!!! (ps requests are open pls send some in)

Haikyuu!! Masterlist

"Kiss me Kei!"

"What? Tch, no that's gross."

"But I'm the mommy!"

"So?"

"You're the daddy! You gotta!"

"I don't even wanna play this dumb game."

"It's not dumb! Pleeaaasseee Kei-chan! For me?"

"Fine, come here."

The slap of the ball hitting the gym floor startled me out of my daydream. My eyes snapped up quickly to the game before me. Did we score? It took me a minute to even register what was going on and who I was looking at. I looked to the referee on his stepladder, waiting for him to call the point.

The whistle blew. He raised his arm. Boys in black and orange jerseys shouted. I clapped and cheered.

It all felt so robotic. But then I looked at him. Then the world shifted into slow motion and began to flow more naturally.

He raised his arm to wipe the sweat off of his brow, the movement mesmerizing. Even the jerk of his body when a teammate patted him on the back seemed graceful. Elegant. He pushed his glasses up a bit and glared at the offender. He turned to say-

"Y/n?" Once again I was startled from my thoughts. My head snapped to the right side where Yachi was standing next to me. She had a concerned look on her face. I swallowed, my dry mouth only producing a lump in my throat. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," I responded quickly and looked back to the game. "Just focusing is all." This time I fought not to look at the boy. I didn't want to look at him anyway. I didn't. I didn't.

Finding my eyes drifting back to him, I launched into conversation to pull my mind from him.

"How's the girls team going?"

I was on the girls volleyball team as a first year. I only made the team because I was the only libero and, being honest, I was the best at receiving. I was abnormally short, so I knew I couldn't pull off many other positions.

Well, maybe I could.

I watched as the short, orange haired boy flew across the court and landed an impossible to receive spike. I still wasn't used to that combo no matter how many games I watched. Then again, I only had reflexes, not the raw power that that boy had.

I sighed and tore my eyes from the game to look at Yachi. I slumped onto the railing a plopped my head in my hands. "We need more practice games, honestly. The way we're going we're not going to win our match."

"Don't say that Y/n!" Yachi cried.

I shrugged and looked back at the game. My eyes found blonde hair naturally. "Its true. The girls don't practice enough. I think getting our asses completely handed to us will turn the team around. I just feel bad for the third years who will suffer from it."

Yachi didn't have a response to that. She changed the subject quickly and we chatted until the game ended, the whole time I focused on the freakish number ten instead of the boy I knew deep down in my heart I really wanted to watch.

"Nice net drop, broccoli brain," I smirked and clapped my best friend on the shoulder.

His shoulders slumped and he sighed. "I didn't even mean to do it," he bereaved.

"Fucking who cares?" I snorted. "Got us a fat point and they never saw it coming. Just remember how it felt and do it again."

"Y/n," Yama whined and tried to shake me off.

"Y/n giving you crap again?" A rich voice came from behind me, sending shivers down my spine. "That's rich coming from Pipsqueak."

"Says Mr-cant-block-for-shit," I shot back, turning around so that I could stick my tongue out at him.

"I'd like to see you try to pick up a real serve, not that-"

"Hey, hey, cut it out!" Yama stepped in between us, putting a warning hand on us both. "We're all friends."

I glared at Tsukishima but backed down. I didn't want to upset Yamaguchi. I knew how much he hated it when we fought, seeing as it was his two best friends.

I had known Yama since elementary school, when I saved him from some bullies. One day when we were clearly out matched, Tsukishima saved us in his aloof, roundabout way. From then on we were inseparable.

That is until the second year of middle school when Tsukishima and I started fighting all the time. Despite that, we still hung out together. Who knows why he put up with my constant antagonism, but he always reciprocated and never complained.

We got on the bus soon after the game, headed to the school. I was on the girls bus, them on the boys. When we got back to the school we met up again.

When we came to the usual splitting point, Yama spoke up.

"So I'll walk Y/n home," Yama offered like always. I was about to accept when Tsukishima spoke up.

"Nah, I'll do it." Yama cocked an eyebrow. "It's out of your way, Yamaguchi. She lives closer to me."

We all knew this, but the point had never come up before.

"Okay," Yama said warily. "Are you sure you don't want me to come anyways?"

"Tch, we're fine, I don't need a babysitter." Tsukishima rolled his eyes.

"Okay," Yama shrugged. He took a few steps backwards before he said goodbye and started off in the opposite direction.

Tsukishima wordlessly took off in the direction of our houses, so I followed. I was wondering why he suddenly offered to walk me home, but he offered no clues as to why. He used to walk me home before we always fought, but after that he stopped. This was the first time he walked me home in years.

So we walked in complete silence.

When we reached my house, we stood there awkwardly for a moment, looking at it. I wasn't sure what to say, but before I could figure it out, he spoke.

"Why do you hate me?"

I was startled by both the question and the sudden shattering of silence. I turned to look at Tsukishima. He wasn't looking at me, just straight ahead. I tried to read his facial expression, but like always, it was stone cold.

"I don't?" I answered uneasily.

Tsukishima sighed. "Yes you do, you always act so pissy towards me. You even tense up when I'm near."

"I do not," I frowned. I tried to think if I have ever done anything like that, but I drew blank.

"Yes you do," Tsukishima sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. "We..." He paused. He brought he other hand up and rubbed his eyes, pressing his two fingers into his eye sockets. After a moment he threw his hand down, clearly having made up his mind, and turned to look at me. I felt hot under his intent gaze, his eyes searching mine for an answer I was afraid I didn't have. "We used to be close when we were little. What changed."

It wasn't a question. It was more of a statement. It was like he meant to say something different.

So I said it for him.

"We changed."

He scoffed, his face twisting into his signature cynical look. "Bullshit."

"No, that's the answer. Maybe you're not asking the right question," I shot back, confidence fueled by his venom.

He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it soon after. His brows furrowed and his lips pressed together. It was more emotion than he was exhibiting earlier, and for some weird reason, it made something in me happy.

"Why are you so mad at me?" He finally asked, face relaxing a bit. He seemed genuinely curious as to the answer.

His sincerity almost made me explode with anger. How could he not know? He was the most insufferable person in the entire world, what wouldn't I be mad about.

But then again, that was wrong. He never mad me mad with his snide comments and dirty looks. It was all in play and it never really bothered me, ever since we were kids, and he knew that too. So I couldn't lie and say it was his personality because I loved his personality. It was something else. Something I was afraid of admitting.

I grit my teeth. What did it matter if I said it or not? It's not like he'd understand anyway.

Once I made up my mind I met his eyes.

"Because you will never give me what I want."

"And what is that?" His voice was soft, wispy, breathless. Afraid.

Your love.

I couldn't say it. Bile rose in my throat and tears prickled at my eyes. I opened my mouth but quickly shut it. I wouldn't say it. I was too afraid. My eyes fell to the ground, and with them, all my confidence.

All at once my mind began to barrage me. He will never love you, he could never love someone like you. He-

He laughed.

He fucking laughed.

My mind was thrown to a complete and total standstill by the absurdity of it. I looked back up at him with watery eyes in confusion.

"I thought you were smarter than that," he grinned, one corner of his mouth charmingly quirked upwards. "Than to decide what I think."

"What?" I mumbled nearly incoherently.

"We both know if you ask I'll do anything for you, so quit your crying, Pipsqueak."

I opened my mouth, completely surprised by his confession. He'd do anything for me? That couldn't be right...

But the more I thought about it the more I realized it was true. He had always done everything for me. Whenever I needed him he was there. It was me that started the fighting, all because I let my mind tell me that he could never love me, that he never would.

I met his eyes once again, this time brimming with happiness.

"Kiss me, Kei."

"Fine," he dramatically sighed, hiding a small grin. "Come here."

And he did.

Taglist:

Taglists are open! Shoot me an ask or a dm with what fandom you want to be tagged in and I’ll do it right away! :)

#sorry this is a crack fic #also this is my first haikyu fic pls be gentle #this is not really edited sorry #tsukkishima x reader #tsukishima x reader #tsukishima imagine #haikyu x reader #haikyu!! x reader #tsukki fluff #tsukki x reader #haikyuu tsukki

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storytellerofuntoldlegends · 4 years

Text

words fall flat (like cymbals crashing)

A/N: apparently the only fic I have motivation to write anymore is for the Mandalorian. anyway, have this INCREDIBLY self-indulgent fic with aroace din djarin, aro cara dune, and a heaping helping of hurt/comfort and mandalorian culture. enjoy! (title is from Constellations by The Oh Hellos)

Summary: Cara checks up on Din after the events on Moff Gideon's Imperial cruiser. Problem is, neither are them are very good at talking about emotions- but Cara figures out how to comfort Din in their own way.

Warnings: emotional hurt/comfort, awkward conversations, sort-of coming out, platonic cuddling, hugs, implied crying, bittersweet/hopeful ending

Din was distant after the jedi- Luke kriffing Skywalker- had taken Grogu and then their little haphazardly put together rescue crew got back on Fett’s ship. Not that Din was all that reachable of a person to begin with, Cara noted. But now he was even more withdrawn, and he seemed almost fragile despite all the armor he wore. Cara was sure she’d never forget watching the way Din’s hands trembled as he put his helmet back on- kriff, he had shown his face. Cara didn’t actually see his face, just the back of a surprisingly curly head of hair (out of everything, she never pictured her stoic friend with curly hair). So on top of losing his kid and unwittingly earning the right to Mandalore’s throne, he had broken his code as well. Surely he was not as put together as his gruff, standoffish behavior implied.

Hence why Cara was more or less lurking in the shadows near where Din was sulking in the storage unit aboard the Slave I. Fett had advised to “let him alone, Marshal,” in that rough and indifferent-but-really-he-was-fooling-nobody tone of his. But Cara felt that the last thing that Din needed was more space from people he cared about, so she stepped out of the shadows and closer to where Din was sitting on top of a storage container. At first glance, she thought he was cleaning his weapons, but as she came closer she noticed he was fiddling with a small silver ball- the same one that Grogu had been so attached to. Then, strangely enough, he pressed the ball to his helmet, just above its visor and where his forehead would be beneath it. Cara suddenly felt like she was intruding, and from the way Din jolted and scrambled to put the ball in a pouch at his side, she definitely felt like an intruder.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-” she started, but was cut off with a wave of Din’s hand.

“It’s fine. I’m- I’m glad it was you,” Din replied, sounding uncharacteristically shy. Cara smiled softly, walking closer and taking a seat next to him on the storage container.

“I just wanted to check in on you, after… everything,” Cara finished lamely. Din huffed out a breath that could have been a laugh, a sigh, a sob, or some mix of the three.

“Thank you. I- I’m- he’ll be safe. With the jedi,” Din said, sounding like he was more trying to convince himself than Cara. A chuckle escaped Cara’s lips, despite everything.

“Trust me, there is nowhere safer than with Luke Skywalker for Grogu. I never knew him personally, but the guy’s a rebel hero. It was his shot that destroyed the first Death Star, and he had a hand in overthrowing the Emperor and destroying the second Death Star. Plus I think his sister has a seat in the New Republic Senate now. The point is that he’s powerful, and that he has powerful allies. Grogu will be okay,” Cara assured him. Din let out another breath, and this time it was definitely a sigh.

“Thank you. That… that helps,” Din replied, sounding much more at ease than when Cara had first checked in on him.

“I’m glad,” Cara said, affectionately clapping him on his knee- and startled a bit when Din jumped at the touch.

“Sorry-”

“Don’t be, I guess I forgot that Mandalorians aren’t exactly touchy-feely people,” she interrupted him, giving him a soothing smile.

“And I am certainly no exception,” Din muttered under his breath, but as Cara was sitting so close to him, she heard it anyhow.

“What do you mean?” Cara asked, brow furrowed in confusion. Din swallowed nervously and seemed to shrink in on himself a bit, which would have been comical if every fiber of his being didn’t seem to be etched with embarrassment.

“I’ve… never really desired any sort of closeness. As teenagers, my fellow foundlings seemed to be interested in finding someone to be close with, but those sorts of desires never really occurred to me,” Din explained awkwardly.

“What sort of desires?” Cara asked with a raised eyebrow, somewhat understanding what he was getting at, but she wanted to be absolutely sure. Din fidgeted for a moment or two before making an irritated sound.

“I’ve never wanted any sort of intimacy or romance. Not even with Omera. Sure, the idea of having someone to come home to and start a family with sounds nice, but…” Din trailed off, sounding just as lost as when he had taken off his helmet to say goodbye to Grogu.

“But in reality it feels wrong,” Cara finished, understanding where he was coming from, at least a little bit. Sure, there were… ahem, other desires that were appealing to her, but romance? Definitely not her thing. Din’s head shot up at Cara’s words, struggling to form words of his own for a moment or two.

“You- yeah, that’s it,” he said, dumbfounded.

“I get how you feel- at least on the romance part. Although, uh, intimacy, as you put it... that I’m more down with. And I’m definitely more of a casually affectionate person than you,” Cara replied, cringing internally at her choice of words. This wasn’t something she really talked about a lot, and it felt like everything was coming out all jagged and lopsided. But fortunately, Din seemed just as out of his comfort zone as she was, and therefore didn’t mind.

“I mean, I don’t mind affection. It just surprises me, is all,” Din said sheepishly. Cara slowly reached out, gently grasping Din’s hand when he didn’t move to stop her. She gently rubbed her thumb in soothing circles on the back of Din’s hand, and he all but melted at the touch. Kriff, if this is how he reacted to some hand-holding, he’d probably implode if she ever tried to hug him.

“When’s the last time you’ve gotten a hug?” Cara blurted, startling Din out of his calm reverie.

“I… I mean, I would hug Grogu sometimes, but his arms are a little small to really hug back. He could always return a kov'nyn just fine though,” Din said fondly.

“Cove-what?” Cara asked, head tilted to the side in confusion.

“Kov’nyn. Sometimes it’s called a keldabe kiss. I had learned it from my Buir- the Mandalorian who found me and took me in. It can be a violent action, but I’ve mostly known it as an affectionate one. It… might be easier to show than to explain,” Din replied, seeming nervous again.

“Then go ahead and show me. If you want,” she said, hurriedly assuring him that she didn’t want to force him into anything he wasn’t comfortable with. Din took a deep breath, then reached out with his free hand and rested it on the nape of her neck, fingers gently tangling in her hair. He carefully pulled her forward until her forehead was resting against his. The moment her skin touched the cool beskar of his helmet, it felt like something had snapped into place- and dimly she realized this had been the same thing Din had done with Grogu’s silver ball.

“This is a keldabe kiss. It’s a form of greeting between Mandalorians and their loved ones,” Din said, shifting as if he was going to move away, but Cara grabbed his forearm with her free hand and halted his movements. Din let out a soft, almost broken sound, and Cara moved on pure instinct. She shifted closer and threw both arms around Din’s shoulders, now practically in his lap and forehead still learning against his helmet. Din responded in kind, one hand still firmly buried in the hair at the base of her neck, while his other arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her entirely in his lap. He let out a shaky sigh that could have been a shallow sob, but Cara didn’t comment on it. If Din needed to be held as he cried, Cara was more than willing to do so for him.

The Marshal and the newfound Mand’alor had been absent from the cockpit for far too long, in Fett’s opinion. So he entrusted the controls to Fennec, and made his way to the storage unit that the Mand’alor had been hiding away in. The sight that greeted him, however, was one that he never would have predicted. The Mand’alor, looking incredibly vulnerable for a man in pure beskar armor, had the Marshal in his lap, holding her close as he leaned his helmet against her forehead in a keldabe kiss. Fett smiled in spite of himself. Whatever happened, whether Princess ended up with the Darksaber or not, Fett was glad that the current Mand’alor had someone he could rely on.

post-fic notes: this whole fic was an excuse to write aroace din, keldabe kisses, and platonic cuddling between a man and a woman. the aro cara just sorta snuck up on me, as well as boba fett being a caring and concerned pal. oh also i personally hc fett as being the type of person to not call people by their first name unless he has a strong bond with them (you can read his relationship with fennec here however you'd like, although i like them as just buddies). i also hc his reaction to din getting the darksaber as "oh you're the king now, cool"

anyway thanks for reading, also pls reblog cause validation is my lifeblood

#the mandalorian #din djarin #cara dune #grogu #luke skywalker #boba fett #fennec shand #the mandalorian fanfiction #the mandalorian fanfic #star wars #star wars fanfiction #star wars fanfic #sage writes

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iamdorka · 4 years

Photo

COLSON (x Reader)

Last updated: 2020/04/25

Imagines

I Couldn’t Be More In Love ‘Colson and the reader have been friends since high school. “Friends”. Maybe they were more than that but before they never really spoke about it… and everything was okay until Colson started to act quite strange because the reader started to spend more and more time with his co-worker Harry Styles. ‘ not requested (12/08) 100+ notes

PART II (12/10)

PART III (12/12)

When we were young ‘Heyy I dont know if you’re a fan of adele but there’s this song of hers called when we were young… There’s a lyric there that goes ‘you are just like a movie just like a song’… Could you do one where they are breaking up because of obvious reasons but they’re still in love but they cannot do that anymore. Just her being sorry for what’s happening and like she says something on these lines to him. Her being tired and last goodbye type something.’ requested by @lovemythsworld (11/24)

IMAGINE ’Basically, it’s involve Colson taking care of the reader during her period please? I just got mine today and I passed out on the floor because I got very dizzy and then I had to run to pharmacy to get more medicine and to the store as I had no food left and all while feeling really bad… ’ requested by @being-worthy (11/05) 200+ notes

IMAGINE ‘Make the reaction of Colson knowing that it will be dad!!’ requested 11/03) 100+ notes

IMAGINE – ’Hey girl can you do a imagine where colson is meeting your girlfriends for the first time and he is kinda nervous but they don’t know he is mgk until he walks in with y/n and they get all the tea in the “ladies room” and y/n thinks it’s funny they are so interested because to her colson is colson not mgk’ requested by @britshmgkstan (10/30) 100+ notes

IMAGINE- ’Can I request an imagine of Colson pleasuring himself. And y/n catches him. She watches in secret for a minute then sneaks in to pleasure colson. He is in shock and literally has no words. Really really really smutty pretty please!!! Love you!!!’ requested (10/20) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - ‘Can you do a GC where you and kels are together and you guys decide to play never have I ever and of course it turns sexual and it gets revealed you and kels are in the mile high club’ requested (10/13) 100+notes

Bad dreams - ’Could I ask for a ColsonxReader where there not together yet please? She’s sleeping at their place after a party, has a bad dream, one of those that make you wake up with a jolt, racing heart, it’s very hard to get back to sleep. She goes to the kitchen deciding to stay up but C sees her, asks what she’s doing up. He decides to carry her to his bedroom and just holds her close & tight telling her it was just a bad dream, he’ll protect her, & confesses to her? ’ requested by @being-worthy (10/08) 100+notes

IMAGINE - ‘Hey girl I want to request teaching Spanish to the crew.’ requested by @verywell-fandango (10/06) 100+ notes

Headcanons

IMAGINE „Could I please request a ‘Dating ______ would include:’ bullet point headcanon for Colson, Dom and Pete respectively? I love your writing; thank you 🖤” (04/11) 100+ notes

new puppies. “How about an imagine with Colson, where his girl adopts two pups (they’re still growing and both are half husky half wolf) because they’re brothers and inseparable and couldn’t let them on their own and because she misses Colson, so she has someone to snuggle with. Colson comes back home after a few months and finds two huge dogs on his side of the bed and they’re growling at him because they think he’s a threat and wont let him get close to her?” requested by @being-worthy ❤ (03/15)

The making of the new album (02/01) 100+ notes

Mad Being mad at him (01/21) 100+ notes

Fashion week… in Paris Going with Colson to Paris fashion week (01/16) 100+ notes

Fake texts

IMAGINE “Will you write another ColsonxReader quarantine story soon? I’m bored and don’t know what to do with myself… Stay healthy and stay indoors!!!’ requested by @being-worthy 💕 (04/05)

COLD ‘I feel like these lyrics “You want somebody that’ll keep you warm at night Then, tell me, why you actin’ cold to me?” Would be great for an imagine’ (01/19)

Rehab ‘Hi, can I request an imagine with Colson inspired by/based on Rehab lyrics. Thank you💜 Love your works💗’ requested by @kiss-yall (01/18)

IMAGINE ‘She said no to him so many times. But she had enough with herself and she decided to have some fun because she knows she deserves it.’ (01/11)

IMAGINE ‘Request for Colson & Y/N teasing texts cause he’s feeling excited late at night! Please & Thank you love your posts!’ requested by @xxkellsvixen19xx .(12/23) 100+ notes

why are you here ‘The one based on Colson’s new song 'WHY ARE YOU HERE’ (12/19)

IMAGINE - ‘Can I request some fluff and funny convo between reader & colson ??? Being in love 😍 making fun of each other idk not too corny’ requested (11/16)

IMAGINE ‘Kells and reader have some history together, but after he texts her one day she doesn’t want to talk to him because she knows the reason behind his texts… and she doesn’t want to get hurt again’ not requested but special thanks to @echelonwonderland for helping me out (11/15)

IMAGINE ‘When you have time can you write one where he is working on a new movie in another state and she sees this video and she is mad because he has cut his beautiful hair?’ requested by @bakerkells (11/14)

IMAGINE - ‘hiii pumpkin, can i request a text w/ colson about him finally asking y/n to be his girlfriend after talking/dating for months? thank you in advance 💜’ requested (11/12)

IMAGINE ‘Hellooo.. I have a scenario in mind. Could you do an text imagine, where the reader has Colson watch over her puppy while she’s gone? Let’s just say he has a hard time keeping him/her out of trouble. ❤’ requested (11/09)

PART II - the new family member ‘Hi can you do an imagine based on the instagram story Colson put up recently of “well we got a dog in the family now” (I have a screenshot of it if you need it!) And something like hes away on tour and you are looking after Cassie and you two decide to get a dog while Colson is away? Thank you so much in advance xxx’ requested by @sacvf (01/07)

IMAGINE - ‘Can you do a chat imagine where they met the night before at a party an kells asks her on a proper date’ & 'Could I have a MGK request where you’ve just met at a party and exchanged numbers. Later in the night he sees you talking to another guy who is flirting with you so MGK texts you to ask you out before he loses his shot?’ requested by an Anonymous and by @thesetemporaryfeelings (11/08)

IMAGINE ’You’re a new actress and Kells slides into your DMs after watching one of your movies and invites you to his next show?! Love your blog!!!’ requested (11/02)

IMAGINE ‘Hieeya it’s me here again..So today what I had in mind is something like this..Colson and reader are like the chillest kinda friends (the ones where everyone thinks they are dating but they are not.. Cliche I know but pleasee read on) And then reader starts hanging out with a bunch of different different guys.. And colson gets like jealous. (some points it out on their group chat and colson like gets mad and then they talk on dm’s…)’ requested @lovemythsworld (11/02)

IMAGINE ‘How about imagine where Y/N is a single mother of a kid (6 y/o idk). Colson and Cassie just met her baby. And Colson texted Y/N how excited he was to finally meet him/her for the first time. And Y/N is kind of confused because she didn’t expect someone to love her child this much. And she tells Colson that her kid is constantly asking about him, and wants him to come back. And Colson wants to see Y/N more often and also he adores her baby. Thanks💜’ requested (11/01)

IMAGINE ‘Ooooh what about reader x MGK where he spots you in the crowd at his show, gets your number and ends up texting/ sexting you that night???’ requested (10/22) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - ‘can you pls make one where y/n love rock music and always get horny while listen no Marilyn Manson, and suddenly Colson tell her that we will be in his birthday party, and things get kinda hot there? tnx!’ requested (10/19)

IMAGINE ‘can we please have imagine where y/n is sick and grumpy and “doesn’t” want colson to come over and take care of her (but obviouslyyyy she does) thank you 😌’ requested (10/18)

IMAGINE ‘Can you maybe post a text where y/n sees what happened to Kells in his forehead and texts him worried?’ requested (10/18) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - I wanted to write an imagine based of some of my own bad experience with a boy (because writing this things down could help a lot even if it happened a long time ago and I don’t care about it or him anymore but it still an inspiration) then today I.D.G.A.F. by Dua Lipa started to playing on my phone today… AND IT MADE SO MUCH SENSE (it’s heavily inspired by that) hope you like this little thing too. 💜 (10/11)

IMAGINE - ‘Can you try one where colson loses his phone at a cafe he visits and then he texts his number from someone’s phone and the cute waitress who he flirted with before finds the phone and replies and they start getting to know each other and hit it off. You can totally ignore if you find it vague or stupid. I just had a thought.. ♥♥’ requested by @lovemythsworld (10/06) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - ‘My idea is just MGK texting you trying to stop you from breaking up with him.’ requested by @thesetemporaryfeelings (10/05)

IMAGINE - ‘Yn is an actress and her new movie debuted. Colson is a friend (and totally into her) and he texts her how great she was in the movie. Their flirting is really intense and in the end she invites him over her house…(maybe for something juicy? 😏) requested (10/04) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - ‘Can we pleaseee have a text imagine where colson is the one upset and needing his girl? that man is my heart and soul and it breaks my heart to know how much he’s hurting’ requested (09/28) 200+ notes

IMAGINE - ‘I would love to request something if that’s okay! Could I request a Machine Gun Kelly text where he texts you late at night because he hates your boyfriend and thinks you deserve so much better???’ requested (09/26)

IMAGINE - ‘Can I request reader and colson being writing buddies for a new song on her girl group and them being low key flirting with each other?’ requested (09/22) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - ‘hi angel 😍 would you be willing to do one where y/n had a really bad day and just wants to smoke with colson and forget everything? random i know but i’m such a pothead and i just wanna smoke w kells 😂🙈 don’t judge meeee’ requested (09/22)

IMAGINE- ’Can you do one where yn is pregnant. She’s at home due to morning sickness. Mgk is in the studio but checks on her like every second lol also she has weird cravings and after colson leaves the studio he has to bring her pickles and ice cream (or something). Thank you, sweetheart 😊’ requested (09/21)

IMAGINE - ‘Request for texts between Colson & Y/N after seeing an IG post if her from a photoshoot that gets him turned on! Please & thank you love your posts!’ requested by @xxkellsvixen19xx (09/19)

IMAGINE - ‘Haha can you do this: yn has a fave panty set. She wants to wear it, but just finds the bra, not the panty. She texts mgk (her bf) and she’s sad, that she can’t find it ☹ Turns out Colson took it with him on tour, to have a piece of his gf with him 😄❤’ requested by Anonymous (09/18)

IMAGINE - ‘can you do one where colson and the reader had an argument and are both too stubborn and have too much pride to actually fix it but keep messing with each other being sassy af and all that until one of them cracks (hope any of this made sense) hahaha’ requested by Anonymous (09/17) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - ‘Could you do one where reader just wants to be hold and loved with Colson please?’ requested by Anonymous (09/14)

IMAGINE - ‘Jealous kells text? Pleeeease?’ requested by Anonymous (09/13)

IMAGINE - ‘Can I request readers being upset about being far fron Colson and posting on her Instagram and kells texts her to make her feel better?’ requested by @verywell_fandango (09/11) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - ‘Can you do a imagine where you are on tour with colson and the boys and because he isn’t paying attention to you and your in the mood you send him a nude and rook or slim almost sees it and he punishes you because only he can see you like that’ - requested by Anonymous. (09/10) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - You terribly miss Colson and finding some of his photos with Casie… you start having a really bad baby fever… 😇 but what does he think about it? (09/07) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - ‘Could u write a friends with benefits with colson similar to the one you posted about the instagram story? that’s hot af btw’ (09/06) 100+ notes

PART II - - ‘Can you write a follow up to the fwb/hot date one. Maybe she’s having the date now. Even though the guy is hot, he’s so boring. So while he’s in the bathroom, she texts Colson to 'save her from the date’ (like with a phone call or text) so that she can leave the date. Of course she’ll go to colson then 😏 Thank you, you’re awesome! ’ (09/08) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - Colson is desperate to convince you to go the new IT premiere but the thing is.. you are scared af 🎈🙈’ (09/05) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - ‘Could you do a text for colson where he meets your family and you are at dinner and he texts you from next to you saying how good you look in your dress and how turned on he is and you knew it that’s why you wore the dress so you tease him and sext him and as soon as you finished dinner he punishes you for it’ (09/03, requested by anonymus)

IMAGINE - ‘Colson and Y/N are best friends and they start sexting because she sent a picture to him that was supposed to be for someone else. Thanks love’ (09/03, requested by anonymus) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - ‘Colson and Y/N working together on a shoot (music video or movie) but have to keep their hands to themselves because professionalism.’ (09/01, requested by anonymus)

IMAGINE - Colson’s new Instagram post makes you miss him even more and it’s not the only thing it makes you feel (09/01) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - because of the bad weather you decide to stay at home but then your texting with Colson turns into something else (08/29)

IMAGINE - ‘Could I request reader x colson text where the reader keeps on flirting with him, dropping hints that she likes him and him being oblivious?’ (08/27, requested by anonymus)

IMAGINE - the one where you argue about Bucky Barnes (08/25)

IMAGINE - you two had some history before which was a mess really and you haven’t talked like months because you were really hurt but one day you text him out of nowhere (08/25)

IMAGINE - long time no seen friends just start texting… and flirting (08/25, requested by anonymus)

IMAGINE - Kind of a drunk texting with Colson. (08/24)

IMAGINE - You are kind of deadly exhausted because of your work and Colson is done with that shit. (08/24, requested by @thoughtsoftheantagonist)

IMAGINE - Colson helping you out with your outfit for your girl’s night out (08/23) 100+ notes

Fake Instagram

#quarantinetime (04/19)

IMAGINE ‘Could we please get some MGK quarantine smut or something, please? 💜’ (04/10)

blank space (03/29)

#stayingathome (03/18)

the dork. the real. the Baker. (02/22)

#attheBahamas ‘Hey hun i wanted to ask are you gonna make a fake instagtam or a imagine based on his vacation in the bahamas? With the reader?’ requested by @kellysimagines (02/19)

Drunk night (02/15)

Valentine’s day (02/14) 100+ notes

adventure time ‘So the Reader and Colson took a little time off and went on a vacation, just the two of them and when they returned they just could not hold themself back and posted some pictures from their trip because they wanted to show the world how happy they are and there is nothing wrong with that because they can do whatever they want to do’ 👫❤ (02/01) 100+ notes

IMAGINE ‘Poking fun at each other on IG stories’ (01/14) 100+ notes

ADORE YOU ’Adoring your boyfriend’s futures’ (01/12)

part II (01/23)

Love is… “…a series of IG posts based on the idea of ‘Love is… ’ (01/09) 100+ notes

#thanksgivingatthebakersXX ‘Hiii happy thanksgiving! I love your writing, could you write about thanksgiving with Kells and the fam ❤️ ’ (01/05) 100+ notes

why are you here (the aftermath) ’Just got this idea from why are you here, but can u do one where is someone’s bday (like Pete’s or Rook’s or smth) and there’s a party ofc, and y/n is in Colson’s friends group, so she’s in the party but they always had this hate/love relationship, and they kinda fucked randomly but nobody knows, but now she’s there with somebody else and so he is, and that’s when the lyrics of the song starts to make the story you can do it imagine, instagram or sms. wtv u prefer ly’ // The backstory is the request and all of the pics were posted after that party, so it is the aftermath. An online game which only those two are playing. The song in this universe is out, just to be clear. Hope you like it this way too 😘 (01/03) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - Because there is no such a thing as enough IG love. #sorrynotsorry (12/29) 100+ notes

IMAGINE ‘Colson and Reader roasting each other in IG posts’ (12/26) 100+ notes

#christmasatthebakers 🎄🎄🎄 little Christmas present from me to YOU (12/24) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - Some IG stories from the Reader with the perfect captions.’ not requested (12/07) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - Reader spends lot of time with Kells in the studio… and she is making a journal of that time on IG 😍’ not requested (12/05) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - Colson’s girlfriend is just not having it’ not requested (12/03) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - Y/N and Colson showing their love for each other on Instagram because why not? 💋 not requested (12/01) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - Y/N showing her love for C and his friends in her special way 🙅❤ not requested (11/23) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - Just a little fake IG treat for You just because 🔥 not requested (11/14) 100+ notes

IMAGINE - Y/N shows her love for Colson on IG in a very unique way 📸 just capturing the real love (10/20) 100+ notes

PART II (10/25)

IMAGINE (male reader) ‘Can please I request another Colson x male reader Instagram style imagine and/or fake text kind? Thank you.’ requested (10/09)

IMAGINE (male reader) - ‘Could i request a reader x colson where the reader is male? im gay and there’s exactly: 0 content.’ requested by anonymous (09/14)

IMAGINE - Colson praisin’ his girl in his Instagram posts & in her comments (08/26)

IMAGINE - you lowkey admitting to the world you are a couple with Colson. (08/24)

Fake social medias (mixed: IG, twitter, texts etc.)

IMAGINE ‘After that pic of Colson with baby Ash, i totally need some fooking fluffy stuff like he and y/n have a baby boy, and she out of town for some work related shit, and he’s taking care of their child, and being all goofy and cute about it’ requested by @rosesinmars (01/02)

IMAGINE - Can i request one where the reader has curly hair (like myself) and she doesn’t like it and kells really loves it// requested by @bakerkells (12/25)

IMAGINE - So basically Kells is getting way too much hate from the online trolls because of his extrem behavior like partying and being seen with different girls literally every night. And it’s not just a momentary thing, they are hating on him strong even some ‘fans’ do this too. And it’s starting to piss off his friends too, the unnecessary behaviour of his so called fans because they know him better than those people and even if they want to ignore it… they see literally everywhere those hating, shading comments, opinions which nobody asked for. So one day Y/N, Colson’s long time no seen friend from his inner circle has enough because she knows even if C doesn’t admit it… this behavior from his 'fans’ hurt him a little bit.” not requested (11/28)

PART II (11/29)

IMAGINE ‘Reader is a famous actress and friends with kells. Before she had her big break, she modeled. She posts a throwback, when she modeled for Bikini or underwear. She’s like “so awkward lol” and Kells answers with emojis and is like “Damn YN!” They flirt in the comments and later Kells DM’s her ;)’ requested (11/26)

IMAGINE ‘you and Colson are close friends and occasionally sleep with each other. We all know about his feet kink. One day after you had a manicure and pedicure, you posted your newly designed finger and toe nails on insta. Colson is like 😍👅🔥😈 And then DM’s you, to invite you over 😏’ requested (11/10)100+ notes

IMAGINE ‘Could you make this: YN and Kells are friends and she visited him on The Dirt set. Afterwards she followed everyone on insta. One day she liked and comment on a post of Daniel Webber (something flirty) and he responds, also flirty. Kells see this and DM’s yn and is jealous but won’t admit it at first. YN finds this funny and says stuff like “You flirt even more than me on insta 😂” Kells can’t deny this 😄 Thank you, you’re so sweet!!’ requested (10/28)

IMAGINE - ‘So not a long ago Colson liked this first tweet (in real life) and it caused a little problem in our community and I just felt I needed to write about it.’ (10/27)

IMAGINE ‘Reader tweeting something like “we were so much more than you let us be” “our almost still haunts me” and kells texting her’ requested (10/19)

IMAGINE ‘Y/N is an actress and one day she totally starts to fangirl about MGK on Twitter/IG and then Colson sees it.. ‘ (10/01) 100+ notes

PART II (10/03)

PART III (11/19) 100+ notes

(the main masterlist)

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startwithbrooklyn · 3 years

Text

THE GREAT ND REWATCH OF 2021 / OCTOBER 3, 2019 // the trial

(TW SUICIDE)

it's the reveal!!!! love that for her hope shes thriving (shes not) again w the two minutes of the next episode to sync the dates

-lmaoooo so i honestly wonder why they went for the full pulling-it-out-the-throat thing but idk (an interesting foil to her getting sick for more stereotypical reasons ie s2 "people find out theyre grandparents every day"

-I LOVE THIS GEORGE HAIR

-"i'd do anything for nancy" okay but....why 👀bit of an odd reaction imo

-bess with spilling the truth again 😂and gets shot down. tragic #shetried

-wait sooooo nobody tested the fingerprints on the knife when this shit happened?? or that tech didnt exist in 2000? i mean without a body how could they even call it murder? and who told the police?? like if the drews took the baby, the dress, and said nothing, who tells the cops shes missing or even dead? how did they know to search the bluffs? who told the media/public? it had to have happened that same night because ryan said when he got there later there were already rumors she was killed. after the baby and bloody dress, only her crown, a knife, and tire tracks were left. how did anyone find anything at this remote bluff without some kind of tip off? and why on earth would they think murder and not suicide with so little evidence?? thats gotta be like suicide central, sorry for the trigger

-"a little help, lucy?!" lucy seems unable to disobey a direct request from nancy (ie "lucy, stop" from later in the ep) when nancy speaks directly to her. so maybe if nancy had spoken aloud/engaged more lucy could have appeared more? nancy said she only comes around when she wants to but what if nancy herself could do a bit more, being the last thing lucy touched and all

-so in ep 2 when nancys in jail carson says "great grandma rosalind buried her valuables in the trunk" including the knives shown here. did carson and kates families even know about nancy? how did they explain not announcing a pregnancy or birth?

-"oh." john lmfaoooo

-BESS lmaoooo and ace's looks in the background and then at seeing nick approaching lmfaooo oh no / also why on earth is she apologizing?? he dumped her but she has to be sorry he found out she fucked someone else? someone nicer pls explain to me bc i dont get it. she dont owe him shit

-george is SO CUTE lmfaoooo and so forward and he was so shook but then he was like "oh hell yeah"

-"is he a vampire?!" ik nobody i knew got that reference 😂

-this entire search of the claw is a sham. what are they even looking for. clearly a set up by tamura but why/what does he suspect them of. esp w karen as accomplice, story should be airtight so why are they still investigating?

-john + ace dream team 💙

-god ace is such a yes-man. why is he so fucking loyal?? people like him are insane. how are they real. i suspect they arent. and no matter what you do you are never worthy of their unending loyalty anyway.

-so in the Good Place nancy was the one who had the key but in reality its ryan

-wonder if lucy's listening to ryan here talking about his love and grief for her

-"you were throwing away your future on a nothing girl" - nancy & ryan - their fathers dont want them to see "troubled" kids, want them to focus on school instead --> which they both struggle with and eventually do not achieve (maybe bc they want their kids to leave horseshoe bay?) for nancy its an interesting vice for someone whos really a goody two shoes/for ryan its subverted bc karen actually did worse than him ie committed real crimes

-"stay away from my family" surprise bitch bet you thought youd seen the last of me 😉

-interestingly, ryan probably would have agreed with karen about switching the ballot boxes but he wouldnt have really understood the social consequences. both josh and karen are determined to see ryan as the bad guy when actually he didnt do anything, they did. 🤔

-karen is such a ride or die friend. again w the loyalty. if someone swapped ballot boxes for me i'd be touched. im sure going into active labor made lucy a bit upset but damn. what a friend.

-wonder when nancy starts calling her "Lucy" instead of "dead lucy"

-lucy primarily haunting her own house/love seeing this house overtaken by nature

-the concept of writing things down : starting from the first ep, nancy's journal (then and now), writing out simon cards, similar cemetary cards in the Good Place, "beautiful minding it," culminating in lucy's journal / writing it down to help figure it out/when theres too much going on to keep it inside

-"i'll make a salad" NICK LMAOOO

-wonder what happened to carson's old lawyer?

-"my testimony begins in the summer of 1999" because your story always starts with your mother's story

-lmfaoooooo this shit taking the stand is soooo never allowed but oh well

-"she stole a knife" and carson's face lmfaooooo he knows its not true but what could he fucking say?? no?

-"i love you mom, i hope you never find this." ironic bc nancy didnt want her dad to find her journal either

-lucy never wanted anyone to find out how she died d/t shame- but she didnt want carson to go to jail for it so she finally allowed it (or just couldnt refuse nancy asking)

-"i'm sorry for what you lost"/"i'm never gonna be free from them"

-awww ace/mcginnis goodbye / i wonder if ace is nervous thinking about tamura --> ace's dad since chief mcginnis covered for ace out of respect for his dads sacrifice but tamura would throw both ace and his dad under the bus just to get at nancy (get at her via ace? since he was already used as the blackmail plot device? they kinda touched in this in s2 but not fully)

-okay sooo why are they still doing this forensic analysis thing? like the whole things over so whats the point. i wonder if john had packed up and gone home what coulda happened

-nancy/carson - interrupted moments:

•family dinner interrupted by nancy's accsations

•being home after finding ted interrupted by carson's arrest

•celebration of dropped charges interrupted by nancy discovering the truth about her parentage

-"i cooked your favorite to celebrate" ironic bc shes upset that hes not her "real" dad but he IS because he knows her best. like theyre literally proving it right in front of her. vs ryan whom she doesnt really want anyway AND rejects requests to get to know her. like come on sis. his 20 years of parenting you arent going away, ever. deal w it.

-carson's little smile before he said "'mom never hurt lucy" like he knows this is the end / scott's acting here just kills me

~~~~~~~~~

-why did the drews come back at all? and why did kate really keep the dress? carson says she did it as a link to lucy, but did kate want to keep it to be connected to lucy? or did she bury it to keep lucy repressed? is this a positive or a negative? +keeping in attic - did lucy start to haunt kate, so she unburied the dress?

and lastly:

-why doesnt lucy haunt everett and celia hudson? she kind of does ie painting but only when nancy visits bc shes actually haunting nancy. isnt everything the hudsons' fault?

#brooklyn's ND primer #nancy drew cw #tw suicide #the Great Rewatch of 2021 #you best start believing in ghost stories miss drew - you're in one

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stxn-the-mxn · 5 years

Text

Supergirl || Freddy Freeman X Reader

Request: Could you write something where the reader is the daughter of Superman and meets Freddy and he starts crushing on her really hard and she crushes on him hard too and eventually Superman and Shazam get them together? - Anon

A/N: This is literally 23k+ words pls read

Warnings: Shazam spoilers

***

Y/N Kent was the new student at Fawcett Central School. Her father had decided that she needed an actual education and not just hero training, and she had been on board until her dad set out the rules.

No powers. No cheating. No this, no that.

Was he trying to kill her? She’d never survive school at this rate. She was no longer looking forward to the first day of school. But unfortunately, Monday rolled around, as it did every week.

***

“Dad, why are you setting so many rules? It’s just school…” You said through mouthfuls of toast, and your dad sighed for the millionth time that morning.

“Y/N, it’s a public school. With regular people. It’s a place for learning, and hanging up the cape for six hours.”

You dropped your toast straight onto the butter knife, which rocketed it towards your dad. Naturally, he caught it without even looking away from his newspaper, which he still chose to read for some reason.

“It goes for six hours?” He nodded, and you collapsed backwards in your chair. Six hours… legally, they can’t make you do that, could they?

“And those six hours start soon, so you better head off.”

You slung your back over your shoulder, looking both ways before speeding to school. People probably saw, but they were also probably used to it, what with the Justice League and everything.

You came to a stop in an alleyway across the road from the school, where no one would see you. Walking out, you saw a group of six kids standing in a line.

“Big school. 2,000 students. You might think ‘wow, so many strangers’ but not if you think of each of them as possible future friends, then it’s ‘wow, so many friends’!” The shortest girl said as you all crossed the road.

The young girl kept talking, saying something about the principal. Someone in that group must be new too. Walking into the school, you felt a tad overwhelmed by everything. Security guards checked all the bags as you entered the halls, and you began to panic.

Had you left some alien thing in there? Were you about to expose yourself on your first day? Would everyone figure out who you are? Would that affect your dad? Would th-

“Excuse me?”

A boy, about your age, looked at you with concern etched on his face. His eyes were trained on your face, examining it. Was this a regular occurrence? Would I have to deal with this daily? Why did I not mind this boy staring at me?

“You’re new here, right? I haven’t seen you around before, so I figured.”

You passed the security guard your bag, forgetting all your thoughts as the boy talked to you.

“You seem scared. Don’t be. It’s just a new school.” He smiled, and you felt like you would melt on the spot. Who was this perfect boy? He picked up his bag, giving you a small goodbye before walking off to the girl who had been talking before.

You noted that he had a crutch. A disability, most likely.

Maybe school wouldn’t be so bad.

***

By the time lunch rolled around, you had discovered that school was definitely bad.

Classes were boring, teachers were aggravating and some kids just weren’t fun.

Stepping into the cafeteria, you were overwhelmed by the smell of it all. Was any of this legal? You grabbed a tray, copying everyone else and stood in line for food. A small tap sound from behind you made you aware of the boy from this morning standing behind you.

As you were pushed out of the line, you faced all the tables of kids, not exactly knowing what to do.

“Follow me.” Crutch boy - you still didn’t have a name - led you to a table where another boy was already sitting.

“Flight or invisibility?” He said, and the boy with the red hoodie looked up, annoyance on his face.

“If you could have one superpower, what would you pick?” No one had time to respond before he kept talking. “Everybody chooses flight! You know why?”

Red hoodie - once again, you still didn’t have a name - spoke up, a shit-eating grin on his face.

“So they can fly away from this conversation?” You chuckled, thinking about the times you’d do just that when you and your dad argued.

“No, ‘cause heroes fly! Who doesn’t want people to think they’re a hero, right?” This kid was trying to get some kind of point across, but you weren’t sure what exactly that point was.

“But-But invisibility? No way. I mean, that’s pervy! Spying around on people who don’t even know you’re there. Sneaking around everywhere.” Red hoodie stood up, leaving the table, storming away. Crutchie’s voice grew louder.

“It’s a total villain power, right?” The whole cafeteria stared at crutchie as he picked up his crutch and went after hoodie.

You stood in silence, everyone’s eyes moving to you. Crutchie turned around, gesturing for you to follow him again, so you did.

“Then they did this study, and this is a real thing. They asked people the same question, you know, what power would you want? But this time, they made it so that the answers were anonymous.”

Shit, this was actually really interesting…

“And-And most people, since they knew that it was secret, said invisibility. And I think that’s ‘cause most people don’t feel like heroes on the inside, deep down.”

You had followed hoodie and crutchie down the hall to the boys' bathroom, hoodie trying to escape this conversation.

“You’re gonna run away. I mean, you stole my Superman bullet.” Your head shot up at the mention of a Superman bullet. If he lost it, you could always get him a new one…

“Dude, I get it, I get it. You’ve been screwed over way too many times. You don’t trust anyone,”

You stood by crutchie’s side awkwardly, feeling like you weren’t meant to be hearing this.

“But that’s the thing about invisibility. You end up all by yourself.” You kept your eyes focused on anything that wasn't crutchie or hoodie. This seemed like a personal conversation.

“I didn’t steal your dumb bullet.”

Hoodie slammed the bathroom door behind him, leaving you and crutchie outside.

“Sorry about that. Billy’s just like that.”

So that was Billy. You still didn’t know who crutchie was, though. He didn’t seem like he was planning on introducing himself, so you took that job for him.

“I’m Y/N.” You stuck out your hand out of instinct. That’s what your dad always told you to do. Crutchie shook it gently, giving you a confused smile.

“I’m Freddy.” Crut- Freddy said.

“Look, we still have ten minutes of lunch left. You wanna discuss superheroes over some shitty cafeteria food?”

You watched his jaw drop before it changed into a smile. He held out his hand, which you happily took, leading you back to the cafeteria.

“So, who’s your favourite superhero?” He questioned before you’d even sat down.

“How about we say it at the same time? Like on the count of three?”

You watched as his smile widened, yours automatically doing the same. He counted up from one, taking pauses in between, at the times when he started laughing a bit.

He reached three, both of you yelling a bit louder than intended.

“Superman!”

He let out an odd, yet adorable, laugh, which made you giggle too.

“God, you’re literally the best person I’ve ever met.”

Your mind wandered back to the conversation earlier, and the stolen bullet.

“Hey, if you want, I could get you another Superman bullet.”

Once again, Freddy’s jaw hit the ground. Jesus, could you be any more amazing?

“Wait, really? How?”

“My dad, uh, he knows Superman.”

Nice save Y/N.

“Holy shit! Have you met him?”

You were in deep shit now.

“Oh, yeah, a few times…”

***

The bell rang, and students piled out of their classrooms, in a mad dash to get home. You waited for Freddy, who happened to be in your current class, to finish talking with the teacher about the mark he’d gotten on a report.

“Freds, we should probably go.”

You’d started using the nickname at lunch after a small game of Superhero Would You Rather. When asked if he’d rather have his childhood nickname as his superhero name or have his least favourite person pick his superhero name, he had decided that Freds would be a better name than anything the Breyers would come up with.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” The teacher sent him off with a wave.

You walked outside with him, neither person noticing your incredibly close proximity. He walked over to the group of kids from this morning. His friends, maybe. He greeted them all, apologising for holding them up.

“No, actually we’re waiting for Billy. Did you see him insi- oh, hello.”

Four pairs of eyes met you, and you tried not to freak out.

“Oh, guys! This is Y/N. She’s my new best friend. Y/N, this is Darla, Mary, Eugene and Pedro.” Freddy smiled proudly, acting as if he’d just won an award for something.

“Well, Y/N, it’s lovely to meet you.” The tallest girl, Mary, said, her voice incredibly sweet.

“Not to be so forward, but would you like to come over for dinner tonight?” Freddy spluttered out, his smile not faltering.

You smiled too, nodding in acceptance. From behind the group, you saw Billy coming down the stairs.

“Hey, how was it today?” The same girl asked, but got no response.

“That good, huh?” You joked, Billy sending a small glare your way, which surprised you. You hadn’t done anything to him.

The whole group headed to cross the road, only for a car to come speeding down the street, headed straight in your direction. Fuck, you couldn’t get hit by a car. Not here. If you did, everyone would find out your little secret.

Freddy noticed the car and immediately pushed you away, allowing himself to be rammed into.

“Freddy!” You screamed as he was knocked to the ground, his crutch being tossed aside. Two boys jumped out of the car, laughing.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” You yelled, gearing up to punch the two unless they had some reasonable excuse, which was impossible.

They picked Freddy up off the ground, shoving him against the car.

“No way that’s gonna buff out.” One of the boys said, shoving Freddy again.

“You gonna pay for that?”

“For the dent you made almost hitting me? Yeah, sure, um, do you guys take these?”

He held up his two middle fingers, making you snicker louder than intended. Your laughter ceased as they threw Freddy to the ground.

“What’s so funny, new kid?”

You stepped forward, not listening to Freddy’s yells for you to stay back.

“New kid? That’s the best you’ve got? Jeez, at least try to be creative.”

You hands curled into fists, trying your hardest to not just obliterate them right there.

“Aww, do you need your fake family to stand up for you?”

You were seething by this point, but you knew that if you did anything, you were absolutely screwed. All you could do was watch, hoping for some assistance. The boys kept taunting Freddy, kicking him as you all yelled for them to stop.

“What are you gonna do? Go home and cry to mommy? Oh, yeah, you don’t have a mommy.”

That was the last straw. Just as you reared back to punch the dickwads, they were hit over the head by Freddy’s crutch. Billy threw the crutch over to you, and you caught it with ease.

“Man, sorry about that. That wasn’t fair, but then again, guys don’t play fair, so.”

As Billy took off, the boys in pursuit, you kneeled beside Freddy, easing him onto his feet. Handing him his crutch, he ignored it at first, leaning against you in a hug/physically support kinda situation.

“You’re still coming over tonight, right?”

“Jeez, Freds, you could’ve died and that’s what you’re worried about?”

He shrugged, smiling sheepishly.

“Yeah, I’m coming over tonight.”

***

Slamming open the door to your home, you ran in yelling about your day. Your dad was at the dining room table, reading some book he’d recently bought. You skidded to a halt, slamming your hands onto the table, causing a chunk of wood to break off.

Your dad raised an eyebrow, as you chuckled nervously, chucking the wood into a trashcan full of other wood pieces. Your end of the table grew smaller constantly.

“Sorry. Anyway! I made a new friend at school!” Your dad smiled, finding your excitement extremely infectious.

“And! And! He invited me over to his house for dinner!” Clark couldn’t say no to you, especially not when you’d been so adamant about not enjoying school earlier.

“Well, since we won’t be able to have our daily conversation over dinner, we might as well have it now.” You sat down, bouncing your leg extremely quickly.

“So, how did you meet?”

“Uh, he just helped me get over my first-day nerves. And we sat together at lunch, talking about superheroes. He absolutely loves superheroes! You’re his favourite, by the way.” You smiled, leaning on your hand.

“And then after school, these kids almost hit me with a car, but he jumped in front of me… they beat him up.” You trailed off, feeling tears spring to your eyes. “They, uh, they beat him up ‘cause he has a disability. And something about a ‘fake family’.” Your father leaned over, wiping away your tears.

“Oh, uh, it’s getting close to dinner time. I should head out.”

“Maybe get changed first. Dress up for your new best friend.” He winked, as you lit up red.

“Dad, seriously? I really can’t do anything with you around.” You tried to act seriously, but your dad kept winking with different eyes, and you walked away, sighing as you tried to hold in laughter.

You hated that he was right. You also hated that you were going to be late because you were trying so hard to look nice. Why were you trying to look so nice? Were you trying to impress his family? Maybe. Yeah, that was it. Impress his family.

“Y/N, you’re aware of the time, right?”

You were out the door without a response.

***

Freddy paced in his room, as fast a pace as he could manage, panicking. Billy hadn’t come home, Y/N was coming over and everything was in utter chaos.

The doorbell rang, and Freddy wished that he was able to run down and get the door for you, but he was still getting down the stairs as Darla swung the door open.

“Y/N!” She immediately pulled you into a hug which you happily accepted.

“Darla, I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

Freddy slapped his forehead. God, you were about to be so confused. He didn’t explain the whole ‘group home’ situation. He wanted to explain everything, but Eugene had already appeared at the door.

“Eugene?”

Freddy moved as quickly as possible but still wasn’t able to beat Mary to the door. He saw your eyes darting around the room, your eyebrows furrowing more and more.

“What’s next, Pedro?”

Said boy, upon hearing his name, poked his head around the corner.

“Okay, I’m very confused.”

“Y/N! Follow me!” Freddy called from the stairs, and you walked through the crowd of kids, stopping to hug Darla.

“Welcome to my home. Sorry about that, I should’ve said I lived in a group home. I’m a foster kid, by the way.” He looked down, as if ashamed.

“Freds, if you think I’m gonna judge you for being a foster kid, you’re dumber than I thought.” You laughed by at the end, making Freddy laugh softly too.

Looking up, you saw a Batarang on a shelf. Walking over, you admired it, examining it closely.

“Yeah, that’s my Batarang. It’s a replica, obviously, but it’s really sharp. Like ‘could definitely kill you’ level sharp.”

You gave him a jokingly concerned look.

“I’d show you my Superman bullet, but, yknow…”

“Hey, as I said, I can get you a new one.” Placing a hand on his back in comfort, you felt him tense under your touch. You pulled away, afraid you were being too forward with the boy you’d met that morning.

“Hey, what happened to Billy?”

“Oh, he probably ran away. I wouldn't be surprised.” He shrugged, going to sit down at his desk. You chose to sit on the bed, being careful not to hit your head.

You sat in silence for a while, both of your minds racing. Freddy thought about you, and how he actually had a girl, who wasn’t his family, talking to him. A pretty girl, none the less. You thought about Freddy, your first-ever friend. In less than 24 hours, he had quickly become the second most important person in your life.

He moved from the chair to beside you, sitting close to you, but with enough distance that it wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable.

“Yknow, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who likes superheroes as much as you.” You broke the silence, glancing over at him through the hair that fell around your face.

“I could say the same about you. I was amazed when you said you liked them. And we both think Superman is the best, which makes it even better.”

He was utterly adorable. The way he rambled, stumbling over words as his mind worked faster than his mouth, never ceased to make you smile. You hadn’t even known him for 12 hours, but there was already something there.

“Dinner!”

Freddy glanced over at you and took this as another opportunity to continue the little trend you’d started. He stood up, smirking slightly, and held out his hand.

“Follow me, again?”

“You’re a dork, Freddy.” You laughed, immediately placing your hand in his.

***

“Freddy, could you do the dishes, please?” Rosa gestured to the kitchen, and Freddy huffed, making his way to the sink.

“If you want, Mrs Vasquez, I could help him with the dishes.” You offered, Rosa smiling warmly, thanking you for your offer.

You walked into the kitchen, seeing Freddy at the sink, collecting the dish soap and sponges.

“Need any help?” He turned his head, nodding slowly. He handed you a towel, mentally telling you to dry the dishes after he’d cleaned them.

You could hear Rosa and Victor in the other room, talking about Billy. Rosa was on the phone, talking to someone about Billy. She mentioned something about him running away 23 times.

Freddy was also listening in, unaware he was splashing soapy water everywhere.

“You know guys, I’m happy to look for Billy. More than happy.” He splashed soap onto your nose, and you blew it off. He was yelling back into the living room but eventually gave up and turned back to the dishes. “But no, you gotta wash the dishes, that’s what’s more important. What are you gonna do, Freddy? Run after him? Hahaha. Very funny.”

You placed your hand on his wrist, and his eyes flicked up to yours. His tense expression softened, and his dishwashing pace slowed. Neither of you broke the eye contact, finding no actual reason to.

A slam on the window made you yelp, clutching Freddy’s wrist tighter. He screamed, clinging onto your arm. The man at the window held up a sign, saying not to scream. Both of you had done so anyway.

“No, no! I said don’t scream!”

Freddy ignored his request, screaming out for Victor.

“It’s me! It’s Billy! It’s Billy!” The man whisper-yelled, trying to stop Freddy, who continued to yell out for Victor.

“You asked me ‘flight or invisibility?’. I thought it was stupid but now I look like this and I need your help! Meet me back here after lights out?”

Holy shit. It was Billy.

As Victor entered the room, Billy ducked back behind the wall.

“‘Sup, bud? You alright?” Victor said, and Freddy froze, thinking of a lie.

“Sorry, Victor, we’re just a bit distraught about Billy.” You spoke quickly, trying to sound truthful.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m just… I’m really sad. Because Billy’s gone.” Freddy spoke, far less convincing than you. “And, you know, maybe it’s my fault. Maybe I did it. Uh, you know, maybe I-I snore.”

“Hey, hey, hey. Not your fault, son, all right?” Victor pulled him into a hug, Freddy standing awkwardly still, as you stood beside them, eyes darting to the window. “We’ll find him, ‘kay?”

“You don’t snore that bad. But you kinda smell.” Victor left the kitchen, as you tried not to laugh. Freddy gave you a “haha very funny” look, before turning back to the sink.

***

“Hi, Dad, uh, I’m gonna be home a little late tonight.” Freddy watched you talk on the phone, making sure no one woke up or caught you sneaking around.

“No, yeah, I understand. I just figured you wouldn’t mind. No, I’m not going out this late. Just, the family decided to watch a movie and wondered if I wanted to stay.” Freddy was impressed at how easily you lied to your dad.

“Yes, thanks, dad. I’ll be home later. Goodnight, love you.”

You hung up, turning around to meet Freddy. With a raise of your eyebrows, you held out your hand. Freddy giggled like a little schoolboy, grabbing your hand. You snuck down the stairs, helping Freddy to miss the bum step.

He unlocked the door, pushing it open incredibly slowly to avoid it making any noise, closing it in the same fashion. He brought you round to the back of the house, seeing Maybe-Billy ahead of you, looking in a car mirror.

Freddy charged over, as fast as he could charge.

“Hey, stop right there! How do we know you’re not a supervillain using telepathic abilities to make us believe that you’re Billy?” He held up his phone, 911 pre-dialled. “All I have to do is press dial on this thing.”

“No, no, no I have proof! I have proof, here. Look, I lied okay.” He grabbed his backpack, ripping it open accidentally. “I took your bullet.”

He pulled out the bullet, in its plastic bag, only for it to slip out. You lunged forward, catching it just in time. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Freddy and Billy worried about the bullet while you were more concerned about them noticing your reflexes.

“That was close. Nice catch.”

“Guys, you know it’s me. And I know we’re not close friends or anything, but you guys are the only people I know that know anything about this caped crusaders stuff.”

“That’s Batman.” You and Freddy muttered in sync, leaving Billy extremely confused.

“What?”

“Forget it. Can I?” Freddy gestured to the glowing lightning on Billy’s chest. Billy nodded, and Freddy moved closer, outstretching his hand towards the suit. The lightning substance had some kind of elasticity to it, as it reached out to meet Freddy’s fingertips.

Freddy let out some kind of shriek or joy, which made you giggle lightly. He truly was a dork. He continued to play with the lightning, as you decided to try as well. The feeling was strange and sent a tingle down your spine, but you kinda liked it.

“Oh my god…” You whispered, a smile growing on your face.

“It’s crazy, right?”

“What are your superpowers?” Freddy piped up, and you eyed Billy excitedly.

“Superpowers? Dude, I don’t even know how to pee in this thing?”

“Oh, that’s far too much information, Billy.” You said in disgust.

“Okay, c-can you fly?” Freddy suggested.

“Freds, he just got his powers and you think he’s able to fly already? Flying is difficult.” You said, not even realising what you said. The boys looked your way confused but didn’t question it.

Not even a minute later did Freddy have his phone out to keep video evidence of this.

“Okay, let’s do this,” Billy said, preparing for his first flying attempt. “How do we do this?”

How the hell did he end up getting superpowers?

“Just, um, just like, Superman it.” Freddy imitated the sound of Superman flying, and you raised an eyebrow. Dork. “Obviously, you have to jump. Come on.”

“How is any of that obvious?”

“Try, uh, to believe you can fly. I know it sounds stupid but, I did this deep dive into the pyramid studies of superpowers and, uh, in 6 out of 10 cases, belief is the key.”

You looked down, embarrassed by your rambling. Unfortunately, by looking down, you missed Freddy’s lovestruck gaze and Billy’s knowing look.

“Belief, belief, belief. Okay, okay. I believe I can fly?” Billy questioned his own words, which really didn’t help the belief part.

“No, yeah, I believe I can fly.” Billy ran towards a nearby car, leaping onto the hood. “I believe I can fly.”

He came crashing to the ground, and not in a graceful manner whatsoever. Billy looked at you and Freddy, both of you busy crying from laughter at his descent.

“D-did you believe?” You struggled out between the laughter. You found yourself struggling to breathe, laughter still pouring out. Freddy noticed the pain in your eyes as your chest and throat clogged with giggles.

“Woah, you okay, Y/N?” He said wiping away the stray tears escaping from your eyes. He had stopped laughing some time ago, but after he had heard your laughter, which sounded beautiful to him, he hadn’t wanted to stop you.

But now you were basically choking on laughter. Freddy flicked your arm, quite hard, and you stopped laughing, instead having to fake a yelp of pain. Blending in with humans was hard.

“Thanks, but also, ow.” You rubbed the spot he hit, hoping to at least come across as hurt. They seemed to believe, luckily.

“Oh, you wanna try invisibility?” Freddy suggested, still holding his phone out. Wait, did that mean he had video evidence of you actually dying from laughter?

“How do I do…?” Billy looked at you and Freddy for help.

“You… Forget it, you know.” Freddy sighed, deciding to give up on the whole ‘believing’ thing.

Billy stood still, eyes closed, possibly believing he was invisible. Freddy nudged you, before whispering something about tricking Billy. You were definitely on board.

“Oh my god! It worked!” You yelled, and Billy snapped his head up.

“Where’d you go?” Freddy looked bewildered. He was surprisingly very convincing.

“I’m right here, you can’t see me?” Billy had a stupid look on his face, not knowing you could see everything.

“I’m invisible!”

Billy danced around, looking like a complete idiot. You were trying everything to not burst out laughing again, but it was very difficult, considering how much of a fool he looked like.

“Hey! Nice outfit, dipshit!” A random passerby called out, breaking Billy’s gleeful jig. He looked at you and Freddy, and you both cracked up again.

“W-we may have been testing invisibility and super-intelligence at the same time.” Freddy wheezed out, his phone shaking from the laughter that reverberated through his entire body.

“Freeman, Kent, I’m gonna come over there and beat you two.”

Billy pointed angrily at the two of you, a spark of lightning exploding from his fingertip, hitting an electricity box on a pole. It sparked and exploded, and since you were right beneath the pole, Freddy pulled you into him to get you away from the sparks.

“Are you alright?” Freddy asked, dropping his phone to place his hand on your face. He had genuine worry in his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed softly.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good.” You mumbled, not even noticing yourself lean into his hand. He did notice, as did Billy, and while Billy stifled obvious schoolboy giggles, Freddy was an alarming shade of red.

After a few seconds, he pulled his hand away and you tried not to whimper at the loss of his warmth. A small whine escaped, but it was quiet enough to go unnoticed.

Freddy picked up his phone, which was still recording, and checked for cracks, of which there was none. He sighed in relief and turned back to Billy.

“The lightning emblem! It was staring us in the face the whole time. Literally!” He exclaimed, both his and Billy’s face lighting up with excitement.

You spotted a metal climbing frame at a nearby park. Metal conducts electricity. Could Billy do something to it?

“Hey, guys? You wanna try that electricity business on that thing?”

Billy and Freddy shared similar expressions, probably of weird and possibly dangerous ideas forming in their minds.

Billy walked faster than everyone, mainly because you stayed behind him to talk with Freddy, though you would’ve been able to keep pace with Billy.

“This is insane, right?” Freddy exclaimed though you shushed him, as you were passing by homes. “We know an actual superhero now!”

If only you knew, Freds. If only you knew.

“I know, it’s kinda strange. You think he’ll be good at it?”

“With some training, maybe. Maybe Robin level, but nowhere near Superman.”

“No, no one can compete with Superman.” You smiled.

“Well, maybe Batm-”

“I’m gonna have to stop you there.” You giggled. Freddy chuckled too, agreeing that his statement was a bit far-fetched.

Up ahead of you, you could see Billy messing with the metal climbing frame. His electricity was surging through it. The metal was a conductor after all. He looked impressed with himself for actually controlling his powers.

After another minute or two, you and Freddy reached Billy, in awe of what he had done. You stayed back, still a bit worried that something could go wrong, and your invulnerability would show through and then there’d be a shit ton of explaining to do.

“Billy, we gotta give you a lightning themed superhero name now.”

A screech resounded in your ears, and you had to fight the urge to scream in pain. Unlike your dad, you hadn’t fully controlled your superhuman hearing. So distant sounds were extremely loud, and it hurt. A lot.

Freddy gestured in the direction of the scream, telling Billy to go be a hero. It wasn’t getting through to him, though.

“Jeez, Billy, you kinda suck at being a hero.” You said, pushing him in the direction of the scream.

“Oh, right!” He started to run in the right direction but suddenly shot across the park, crashing into a figure.

“Hyperspeed, check!” Freddy cheered.

You groaned, massaging your temples. It was painful, not being able to just give Billy real superhero advice that you had gotten from your dad.

You heard the interaction, trying not to scream. Billy was utterly useless. You were so caught up being frustrated with Billy that you didn’t notice Freddy walking over to join Billy. When you did notice has wasn’t by your side, you looked around for him.

Jogging after him, you got to his side pretty quickly.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” The woman with Bill asked, concern on her face.

“His name,” Freddy approached them all, a smile on his face “is Thundercrack. Hero to the people. With the power and speed of lightning all in one.”

You were about ready to ditch the boys, just out of pure frustration.

“Dude that sounds like a butt thing.”

“Mr Philadelphia.”

“That’s a cream cheese thing, dude!”

You hit your head against a tree repeatedly, not realising it was splintering until it toppled over in your direction. It was about to land on you when someone stopped it. It didn’t take a genius to figure out it was Billy.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You walked back to Freddy’s side. Freddy’s eyes were wide with concern as he hugged you quickly. He didn’t need words to convey his worry for you.

“Uh, as I was saying,” Freddy started again, “Powerboy, cause he’s got all the powers. Cause sometimes, pepper spray can’t protect against evil.”

“Powerboy, do you know these children?”

“Like, like a teeny little bit. I don’t really know-” Freddy smacked him in the chest. “Yeah, they’re like, my managers. They’re like miniature managers.”

“Yeah, we’re his managers.” Freddy nodded, and you once again sighed in disappointment. This was difficult work, and you were unsure when you became a babysitter.

“Powerboy’s not gonna work either, okay? So work on something else…”

“Hey, hey, hey...”

“Electricity manipulation, hyperspeed, super strength! Dude, you’re stacked!” Freddy had that giddy look on his face again, that you couldn’t help but love. “You’re as cool as Superman!”

“Almost.” You corrected, in sync with Freddy.

Looking into his eyes, everything seemed to go in slow motion for a second. Was that normal, or some time-stopping ability you were yet to discover? You made a mental note to ask your dad later about it.

You were thrown back into a regular pace by the woman Billy was “protecting” shoving cash into your hands.

“I didn’t see you or what’s happened here. I don’t wanna know, just don’t hurt me.” The woman jogged away, leaving the three of you behind.

You looked at the money in your hands, Freddy glancing over to look at it too.

“Holy shit… we just made 73 bucks!” He took it out of your hands, but not in a rude snatching way, as he gave you an apologetic look afterwards.

“73 bucks?” Billy gaped at the money, and an idea flashed through his mind.

“Guys? It’s late. You should go home…” You said, but the boys didn’t listen, too busy awing over the money. “Guys?”

Billy muttered something about having an idea, and just like that, they were walking away, leaving you behind. You contemplated leaving them behind and going home, but when Freddy turned around, and everything went slow again, you had to grab his outstretched hand once again.

***

“I’d like to purchase some of your finest beer, please,” Billy told the woman working the counter, in quite an over-the-top voice. You and Freddy stood behind Billy, hidden by his wide figure.

As he walked away, you and Freddy met the eyes of the cashier, and with an awkward moment of silent eye contact, walked back to join Billy at the fridges. You kept glancing back at the counter, suddenly nervous for some reason.

Something didn’t feel right.

“I don’t know about this…” You muttered, hearing Freddy hum in agreement.

“I mean, we don’t have a fake ID.” He continued your thought perfectly. Maybe he was the one with the superpowers.

“Guys, would you two relax? Look at me, I am the fake ID.”

A terrifying thought crossed your mind. Was Billy gonna take this seriously? Or would he abuse these new powers for his own personal gain?

The doorbell jingled, and all of a sudden there was shouting from behind you. Spinning around, you saw two men in ski masks with guns. You let out a surprised yelp, alerting the two robbers to your presence.

Their guns pointed towards you before their eyes even reached the three of you. Freddy stood to Billy’s side, while you were directly in front of him. No one has time to think before a gun is fired.

The bullet zooms towards you, and at the last second, Freddy pulled your arm extremely hard, the bullet just grazing your arm as you collapsed onto him. The bullet hit Billy in the torso, right where you had just been.

The bullet clattered to the ground, as the three of you breathed heavily. You and Billy had just almost died, and your entire weight was on top of Freddy.

“Bullet immunity.” You gasped, as the bullet rolled next to you. You got off Freddy, wildly aware of your red face, and his very similar one.

“Y-you have bullet immunity!” Freddy exclaimed as you helped him up, handing him his crutch. He pulled out his phone, opening the camera.

“I’m bulletproof.”

“Today is December 8th and this is video proof of authenticity.” That damn smile was back. That damn smile that you couldn’t help but replicate. “Shoot him again.”

“Freddy, what the hell?” You expected Billy to argue with Freddy, and avoid getting shot again. But no, he encouraged it, inviting the robbers to shoot him in the chest. And they did, each bullet like the last.

You watched as Freddy shoved them in his pocket, and when he noticed you staring, he murmured something about memorabilia.

“W-w-w-wait!” Everyone faced Freddy, who still had his camera out. “We don’t know if the suit is bulletproof, or if you are. Shoot him in the face.”

You sighed into your hands, walking away from the group of idiots. You walked down another aisle, listening to the gunshots ringing. Dumbasses, the lot of them. You tuned out everything, simply pacing up and down the aisle.

The smash of glass hurls you back into reality, as you watch the robbers land outside on the pavement. Freddy joins you, a familiar concern on his face.

“You almost got shot…” He places his hand where the bullet grazed, his panic and worry blinding him from the fact that his hand was very close to your waist.

You were very much aware of his hand but tried to ignore the warm feeling it brought.

“Yeah, I’ve had a bit of a shitty night, huh?” A sudden boost of confidence struck you. “Luckily, I’ve had two heroes to look after me.”

Freddy turned a light shade of red, nervously giggling. Billy appeared behind him, a smirk on his face and beers in his hands.

“You two done being gross? I got the beers.”

You happily took a beer, needing one after tonight. Your dad wouldn’t care. You couldn't get drunk, anyway.

“Sorry about your window! But you’re welcome for not getting robbed!”

Freddy and Billy took a sip of their beers, immediately spitting them out. You, however, kept drinking yours. Their eyes widened as you chugged the whole bottle in a minute.

“Damn, alright.” Billy chuckled, as Freddy just watched you with amazement.

“You guys aren’t gonna drink those, are you?”

“No, not at all. Tasted like vomit.”

Billy headed back inside, buying some regular junk food, using up the rest of the $73.

“Yknow, habanero jerky, if you eat enough of it, could burn a hole in your stomach,” Freddy said, earning a disgusted noise from you. “Probably not you, though. Probably got stomach superpowers.”

You snorted softly. Stomach superpowers? Weird. You glanced at your phone, noticing the time. It was late. Very late.

“Shit, I’m sorry guys, I have to head home.” You sighed. “I wish I could stay later, but my dad wants me home now. It is a school night, after all.”

Freddy and Billy shared similar, sad expressions, though Freddy’s looked sadder. You awkwardly hugged Billy’s giant form, not noticing Freddy’s glare on the tall boy-man.

And then, you moved to hug Freddy. It was much tighter than the one you gave Billy. You didn’t want to let go, and something told you he didn’t want to either. As you did pull away, you pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” You smiled, walking away from the boys, a stupid smile forming on your face.

A similar smile appeared on Freddy’s face, as he placed a hand on his cheek. Billy nudged his shoulder, as they watched you leave.

“You’re whipped, Freeman, absolutely whipped.”

“Yeah,” Freddy grew extremely flustered, “Yeah I am.”

***

You rushed home, almost slamming through the door in excitement. Your dad flicked on the hall lights, making you freeze in your tracks.

“Uh, hi dad! I just got lost finding the bathroom.” You didn’t even try to sound convincing.

“You are aware of the time, right?” He leaned in the doorway, pointing at the clock on the wall. It read 12pm.

“Yeah, uh, the movie was long.” Your dad raised his eyebrow, and you sighed. “No, uh, one of the kids, Billy, just got superpowers. Freddy and I were helping him out.”

“He got superpowers?” You dad asked, curiosity splashing across his face. “Overnight?”

“Yeah, basically. And since Freddy and I know the most about heroes, we had to help him get used to it.” You walked into the living room and sat your dad down. “Let me tell you everything.”

And so, you did. You explained everything; the lightning and sparks, and how Freddy had pulled you out of the way. The woman, and the tree, and how Freddy had comforted you after it had almost crushed you. The service station, the robbers and how Freddy had pulled you out of the way of a bullet.

You were about to tell him about Billy being bulletproof when your dad cut you off.

“You talk about Freddy a lot.” He smirked and your eyes widened. Talking about Freddy a lot hadn’t been intentional, but he was just always there. He was your first friend, and he liked the things you liked, and he talked to you and he was adorable and sweet and kind and h-

“Do you like Freddy?”

You froze. Did you like Freddy? With everything you’ve said in the past few minutes, all signs pointed to yes.

“I… I think I do. But I only met him today. Is that too soon?” You fell into a panicked ramble, every thought about Freddy spilling out into a chaotic sentence that didn’t make sense to anyone but you.

“Okay, okay, calm down. It’s okay to like people early on. Ever heard of ‘love at first sight’?”

“Dad! It’s not ‘love at first sight’.” You argued though something told you that maybe, just maybe, that was exactly what it was. Was ‘like at first sight’ a thing. Love seemed too strong at this point.

“You wanna talk about it?” Your dad placed a hand on your shoulder, as small tears slowly slipped out of your eyes. Why were you crying? This situation didn’t warrant tears. You weren’t sad, or angry or anything. You were just overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed.

There were far too many emotions swirling in your head. Good and bad. You couldn’t do this right now. You hadn’t known Freddy Freeman for a day, and yet you were undoubtedly head over heels for him, but you weren’t ready to admit that to anyone.

“I… I’m tired. I’m gonna go to bed.”

You ran out of the room without a second thought.

***

Arriving at school, you instantly spotted Freddy and his family across the street. They were hard to miss, in a good way, of course. After last night, you were conflicted about whether to avoid Freddy or be around him, but unfortunately for you, your mouth moved faster than your brain.

“Freddy, wait up!”

He spun around, smiling brightly as he locked eyes with you. It was then that you noticed that Billy wasn’t there. Odd. but he did technically run away yesterday, so maybe he didn’t go with Freddy last night.

“H-Hey, Y/N!” He stumbled over his words, earning small giggles and chuckles from his family as they headed up to school without him.

“So, you have first period with me and Billy, right?” He asked, very clearly planning something. Freddy, you now discovered, always looked like he was up to something.

“Um, maybe? Do you have science first, with Ms White?” He nodded, his smile still there. “Well, then I guess we have first period together. Why?”

“You’ll see. Just stick with me and Billy.” You raised an eyebrow at the mention of Billy, who was still a no-show. “Yeah, no, he’ll be here. He had something he needed to do first.”

As if on cue, a loud crash caused you to jump out of your skin. Spinning around, you saw the same boys who had beaten up Freddy staring at their destroyed truck.

“I’m gonna assume that’s what he needed to do.”

“Yeah. Come with me, I wanna rub it in a little more.”

Walking over to the boys, you both examined the destruction. The car was absolutely destroyed, and there was absolutely no way it could be restored. Freddy wandered over to the boys, a smirk on his face.

“You know guys… I don’t think that’s gonna buff out.”

You subtly high-fived him as you walked away from the car, but as your hands met, he intertwined your fingers. From the way he kept walking, he hadn’t even acknowledged what he’d done, and from the way your mind was racing, you really didn’t mind.

You entered the school building, passing through security easily and heading over to your locker. Freddy’s locker was across the hall from yours, so while you did, unfortunately, have to let go of Freddy’s hand, you easily kept your conversation going across the hall.

When you went across to join him, the conversation topic quickly switched to Billy and his new superhero alter-ego. You wished you had the confidence to reach over and hold his hand, but luckily for you, Freddy instinctively did it for you.

“So, last night, when we went home, we found out how he can switch between forms.” He whispered excitedly, his voice rising every now and again as his excitement grew, but a soft hand squeeze from you was enough to quiet him down.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a flash of red and brown darting towards you and Freddy.

“Morning, Billy.” You said as Billy caught up to you, eyes instantly darting to you and Freddy’s interlocked hands. He raised an eyebrow, directing it specifically at you, and you really didn’t have an explanation.

“Nice job with the Breyers car.”

The school bell rang, and as everyone else moved off to class, the two boys pushed you into a storage room to hide. You tried your best to ignore the lack of distance between you and Freddy.

You looked up, meeting Freddy’s eyes. His face was as red as yours felt. As awkward as you both felt being so close to each other, you couldn’t look away from him. Without even noticing, you shuffled closer to him.

“Coast is clear, let’s go.” Billy stepped outside, scanning up and down the hallway. He went to leave, but upon not hearing the sound of Freddy’s crutch hitting the ground, he looked back into the closet, seeing you and Freddy.

“Guys? Guys! Seriously, can you do this some other time?” He groaned, causing Freddy to whip his head around, still blushing. Billy chuckled, and Freddy gave Billy a look that screamed ‘we don’t speak a word of this’.

As Billy headed for the front door of the school, you still stood frozen in place. Freddy had been so fucking close to you. Your heart had been racing, your mind screaming and all the emotions from last night had almost come tumbling out.

“Y/N? You okay?” You reached for his hand, even though he hadn’t reached out as he usually did. He happily accepted your hand in his, feeling a familiar warmth as your hand slid perfectly into his.

Billy had been watching over his shoulder, finding a certain enjoyment in the pure awkwardness of the whole situation between his- his friends. As you and Freddy walked down the hall, hand-in-hand, Billy caught the soft smile on Freddy’s face.

“Absolutely whipped.” He muttered to himself.

***

You sat on an empty oil barrel, watching as Billy used his lightning powers to blow up his school books. Freddy was throwing the books, both of them quite enjoying themselves. You didn’t know what to think.

Billy was a superhero now, and sure, he was still figuring out his abilities, but he didn’t show any signs of wanting to be an actual hero.

You had hoped that Freddy would teach him what actual heroes did, and yet he was encouraging Billy. You couldn't hate them, though. Billy was your friend, and Freddy was- well, he was something special.

“Hey, Freds?”

Freddy dropped the English book he was holding, jumping at your voice which he hadn’t heard since the three of you had found the abandoned warehouse. He had been surprised that you didn’t want to participate but didn’t question it, afraid that if he was nosey he would lose any chance of actually getting you to like him.

“Y-yeah? What’s up?”

“I was just wondering if we were gonna spend the whole day exploding things? Why not test out some other skills?” You suggested, hoping to actually get something done today, and not have wasted a day that you could’ve spent actually learning something at school.

“Well, yeah, we could. What do you have in mind?”

“You’ve got your camera with you, right?” Freddy nodded, and your idea fell into place.

You brought the boys over to another part of the warehouse, pulling an empty notebook out of your bag.

“Freds, can you set up your camera, please?” He happily obliged, as you scribbled out a warning message onto the notebook. Freddy finished setting up the camera and started recording. You held up the sign in front of the lense.

A few seconds later, you flicked it over to reveal the page reading ‘Super Strenght Test 1’.

“Right, super strength test, go!” Freddy informed Billy as you moved the page away, only to reveal Billy doing some weird dance-thing. You gave him a death stare, careful not to trigger your heat vision accidentally.

Billy noticed your glare, and he was surprisingly intimidated.

“Oh.” He walked over to a stone pillar, rearing his arm back to punch it, and as his fist collided with the stone, it cracked and crumbled, leaving Billy and Freddy wide-eyed, while you simply watched on, impressed.

“Right, well, how about we test flight next?” You pointed to the old skate ramp outside, the boys’ faces lighting up.

***

The next few days continued much the same, with you writing down what test you were doing and making notes of Billy’s attempts, Freddy recording it all, sometimes helping Billy with the tests and Billy just trying not to die as you put him through all these tasks.

Your dad was yet to find out about you skipping school, though you knew he wouldn’t be too mad, especially if he knew what you were doing.

Billy had failed most of the tests, only succeding in hyperspeed and super strength currently. Freddy had pulled out the weirdest tests, like time-reversal and telepathy, while you stuck with the more classic superhero ones. He couldn’t teleport, but he was immune to fire, as you and Freddy found out the hard way.

At the end of the day, you always found yourself at Freddy’s house, uploading the videos of Billy on YouTube. With each video, the superhero name changed, your personal favourite being ZAP-tain AMERICA.

During these days of “superhero training” you found it difficult to stay out of the Superman-related conversations. Freddy often compared Billy to your father, and recently, you were discovering a new-found struggle of lying and keeping secrets from Freddy.

You told your dad everything, so he was up to date on Billy’s situation, often giving you tips that you always had to say you “read online” to keep from being suspicious. He still didn’t know you were skipping school, thinking that this training was the reason you were always home late.

In reality, you were home late because you didn’t want to leave Freddy’s home. You liked it there, and you liked his family, and yeah, you definitely liked him.

***

This morning, after you’d obviously ditched school, you once again found yourself discussing Superman.

“More powerful than a locomotive.” You nodded, agreeing with Freddy

“Locomotive? What are you, an old prospector?” Billy teased, as you thwacked him in the chest.

“He can leap tall buildings in a single bound.” You stated, gesturing to a massive office building in the city. It was a way away, but Billy hoisted you and Freddy over his shoulders and just ran.

Freddy looked dizzy when he was set down, so you rushed to steady him. He thanked you, that adorable smile returning. You smiled back, as Freddy fumbled for his camcorder. He almost dropped it, and you went to catch it, before realising he had added a wrist strap onto it.

“Right, so, single bound, ‘kay?” You turned to Billy, before looking at the giant building. Maybe you should’ve picked a smaller one.

Billy prepared to jump, and as he left the ground, he went flying into one of the windows. You gasped, hearing the screams from inside. You hit the recording button on the camera, stopping it in a rushed panic.

“Let’s edit that one before posting it.”

A few minutes later, Billy came out of the building, looking quite embarrassed.

“What’s up, Bill?” You giggled at his expression.

“I had to take the elevator.” He mumbled under his breath, but you heard it anyway. You laughed loudly, Freddy looking extremely confused. You whispered what Billy had told you, and Freddy lost it.

“Oh, yeah, yeah very funny.” Billy glared at the two of you, who were clinging to each other in an uncontrollable fit of giggles.

“You two are useless. I’m hungry, let’s get food.” Billy started walking towards a nearby shopping strip. As your fit of giggles ended, you trailed behind Billy, your hand in Freddy’s once again. It was a force of habit, now.

As per usual, you and Freddy wandered a tiny bit back from Billy, discussing whatever came to mind.

“Your phone’s charged.” Electricity came out of Billy’s fingers, hitting passerby’s phones. He kept doing it, some people looking impressed, while others looked weirded out.

You caught up with Billy, both of you stopping for Freddy. Freddy had his typical expression on, which meant he was either planning something or that something was just on his mind.

“You know what? You really need, like, a mic-drop catchphrase after you do something cool.”

You sighed. A catchphrase? You loved Freddy dearly, but sometimes his ideas weren't exactly that good.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Of course Billy had been. Billy and Freddy were two halves of a whole idiot. “I was thinking, what about, what about this? ‘That’s why you don’t mess with electricity.’.”

You snorted. That was truly, utterly terrible. Freddy seemed to agree, considering his raised eyebrow, and humoured smile.

“Catchphrases, obviously, aren’t one of your superpowers.”

“Your phone’s charged,” Billy said, again, striking one man’s phone which sparked and exploded, and the man was most certainly not impressed.

“You need to stop doing that.” You patted Billy on the back, making Freddy laugh.

Billy, however, wasn’t laughing, a suspicious expression on his face. You went to ask what he was planning, but he picked you and flung you over his shoulder, hyperspeeding his way out of the shopping mall, leaving Freddy behind.

“Billy? Y/N? You’re coming back, right? Guys?”

***

After that day, you found yourself being pushed aside in Freddy and Billy’s escapades. Everything became less about training Billy to properly control his powers and use them for good, and more about just figuring out what they could get away with.

Billy claimed that everything was helping him become a better superhero, but you weren’t sure how a strip club, lair, and video games helped with that. Freddy didn’t agree nor deny with what Billy said, and you honestly felt a little upset about that.

You would have thought that Freddy, of all people, would take this at least somewhat serious, considering his love for superheroes. Even your argument that Superman wouldn’t abuse his abilities like this had no effect on the boys.

So that evening, after uploading all the videos Freddy had taken while the boys played video games, you packed up your stuff to leave.

“I’ll see you guys at school, hopefully.”

They didn’t notice, too wrapped up in their game. You couldn’t ignore the tears that rapidly fell from your eyes. Going down the stairs, you were met by Rosa and Victor, who were still hanging up Christmas decorations.

You really loved Rosa and Victor, and you hoped they liked you too, considering how often you were around. It would be awkward if they didn’t like you.

“Hey, Y/N, are you alright?” Rosa asked, and in a split second of confusion, you forgot about the tears streaming down your face.

“Uh, I just hit my elbow on a table edge. Yknow how much that hurts, haha.” You could tell that they didn’t believe you. “Uh, Freddy and Billy were ignoring me. It’s stupid, don’t worry.” You spoke quickly, trying to pass it off as nothing, but the crack in your voice said otherwise.

Rosa brought you over to the living room, inviting you to sit down. She sat beside you, while Victor sat across, both looking at you with concern in their eyes.

“They’re ignoring you?” Rosa placed a hand on your knee, in a comforting manner. God, she was the best mother on this planet.

You nodded, not speaking in fear of your voice breaking again. You wondered if you were stupid, being so broken over two boys, who you’d only known for a week, ignoring you.

“Just know that they don’t hate you, especially not Freddy.” You looked at Victor in surprise. What did that mean? “You’re all he talks about, ever. Not even Darla gets to speak at the dinner table now.” He chuckled, while you flushed.

“H-he talks about me?” You wiped away some tears, a small smile forming. Freddy talked about you. All the time. Rosa and Victor nodded, smiles on their faces too.

“He really likes you, Y/N. Billy does too, but nowhere near as much as Freddy does. We honestly can’t thank you enough for bringing them closer.” Rosa hugged you, Victor piling on top.

“Thank you, so much. But, uh, I should head home. My dad will start to worry.”

They nodded, walking you to the front door. As you opened the door, a creak from the stairs alerted you to Freddy’s presence. He came down to the door, hugging you tightly.

“See you at school tomorrow.” He whispered, kissing your cheek quickly. You were frozen as Freddy gave you a final hug and went back upstairs. You had forgotten that Rosa and Victor were there until Victor whispered a “told you so”.

“Heh, um, well, I’ll probably see you tomorrow?” You smiled, hand instinctively going to your cheek.

“And probably more days after that.” Rosa giggled.

With a smile, you left the Vasquezes home, now looking forward to tomorrow.

When you arrived home, you didn’t even notice your dad in the kitchen. He definitely noticed you, and the stupid smile on your face, and the way you were humming to yourself. It didn’t take a genius to know what was going on.

“What did I say about love at first sight?” He said, to no one but himself.

***

Walking the school halls, all you heard were whispers about Philadelphia’s newest superhero. Thanks to the videos you and Freddy had taken, Billy- you were yet to decide on a superhero name- was quickly gaining popularity.

It seemed as though everyone only had superheroes on their mind. Obviously, that included your little trio of friends. It was somewhat nice, being the talk of the town, even if no one knew you were the talk of the town.

“Hey, yknow, you guys gotta wonder who’s filming those, right?” You looked curiously at Freddy, as did other students. A wave of worry crashed over you, something feeling off. “I mean, that’s bravery in and of itself.”

“I mean, is it, though?” Billy commented, and then you knew that something was definitely not gonna go well today, so you kept your mouth shut.

“Yeah. I’d argue maybe even more brave.”

“Holding a camera?”

“Staring in the face of danger?” You felt the urge to make some comment about how neither of them had faced any real danger before, but you knew that would simply lead to a neverending run of questions, curious ones from Billy and concerned ones from Freddy.

You blocked their bickering out as best as you could, but the second the Breyer brother approached, you got ready to punch either of them if needed. They grabbed Freddy’s shirt, and you stepped closer to him, protectively.

“Hey, Freeman.”

“I-I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Freddy glanced at the fist around his shirt, before looking back at Burke.

“What? Is your bestie gonna hit us with a wheelchair this time?” Brett raised an eyebrow, mocking Billy. Your teeth clenched together.

“No, maybe not him, but I have another best friend.” Shit. You could see where this was going.

The brothers turned to you, half of your body covering the side of Freddy.

“Oh, so you need your girlfriend to protect you, too?” They mocked, using stupid sing-songy voices. You flipped them off, glaring.

“She’s not my gir- No. My other best friend. Who might hunt you down and destroy both of you.” You really wished Freddy could shut his mouth every once in a while.

“Okay, Freddy.” You and Billy both whispered, attempting to drag Freddy away from the Breyers, but to no avail, Freddy stood his ground.

“You may have heard of him… Uh, uh, The Human Power Storm. Frequency Flinger, Sir Zaps-A-Lot. Yeah. He’s a man of many names.” You sighed. Neither you nor Billy looked impressed in the slightest. Freddy was wonderful, but sometimes he really needed to know when to stop.

“You know the Red Cyclone?” The Breyers, understandably, didn’t believe Freddy in the slightest. I mean, why would you? “You? My ass you do.”

“Oh, we’re a lot closer than you think. Maybe even at this very moment.”

“Prove it.”

Oh no. Oh god no. It would’ve been a great time for you or Billy to jump in and shut Freddy up, but both of you knew how suspicious that sounded.

“I will, tomorrow. Tomorrow he’s gonna come to lunch.” You stared at Freddy, wide-eyed. This was not happening. “And… Right, right, Billy?”

Billy looked petrified, eyes darting between Brett, Burke, Freddy and you. Both your faces held concern and just a hint of fear.

“Oh, yeah, and then Superman’s gonna be bringing us dessert, right?” Freddy’s eyes immediately landed on you, and for once you didn’t fluster at this.

“Yeah, Y/N here knows Superman. Right, Y/N?”

Everyone's eyes fell to you, including the highly skeptical eyes of the Breyers. If there was any time to be frozen with fear, this was not the time you expected. With a sharp inhale, you nodded quickly, as to get it over and done with.

The bell rang, and finally, the crowd of students disappeared. It felt stupid, but you wanted to cry. The Breyers remained in front of you, and you had never felt so intimidated.

“Tomorrow at lunch. You’ll see.”

“And when they don’t show,” Shit, they were including Superman in this? “Then we’ll kick both of your asses.”

Your hand found Freddy’s, squeezing it tightly out of fear and pressure. What were you meant to do now? Freddy started walking, Billy following quickly behind.

“So, wait, my identity's a secret so no one I know can get hurt. Except when it makes you look cool, then it’s all good.”

In a common occurrence from the past few days, you insisted on keeping your mouth shut, instead choosing to focus on the feeling of Freddy’s hand against yours.

“Billy, it’s not like they’re supervillains-”

“They’re close enough.” You murmured.

“They're just super douchebags.”

“So you’re breaking your own rule? Got it.”

You were amazed that no one had figured out Billy’s identity, considering the volume at which the two boys spoke. For someone determined to keep a secret, Billy was awfully loud.

“This thing is as much mine as it is yours.” You couldn't even find it in you to argue that; 1) no, it really wasn’t and 2) why didn’t he include you.

“Starting to think you think it’s all your thing.” Billy stormed into his classroom, Freddy hopelessly calling after him. When he gave up on Billy, he turned to you, a desperate look on his face.

“Y/N? Do you want to stay for dinner tonight?”

***

“All hands on deck,” Victor called, everyone besides Billy putting their hand in the centre of the table. You hesitated, until Freddy placed his other hand on yours, bringing it up to meet the others.

“Thank you for this family. Thank you for this day. Thank you for this food. Sorry Billy’s hand’s on vacay.”

You absolutely adored the Vasquezes and their crazy family that all perfectly worked together. Everyone’s hands dropped, grabbing cutlery and eating.

“Big news in Philly. Got a costumed hero. He’s doing good.” You smiled at the mention of Billy until you saw the looks on Freddy and Billy’s faces.

“Yeah, but is he, though?” Eugene piped up, everyone immediately intrigued by his comment.

“Ooh! Controversy, into it. Share with us your perspective, Eugene.”

This was sure to be an interesting dinner.

“Just saying, he’s what? Charging people’s phones? So what? I can charge a phone with a plug.” You smiled at Eugene. That was an extremely valid point. Billy was, in no offence to him, kinda useless right now.

“Preach. Pedro, any thoughts?”

“Costume’s stupid.” You giggled, fully agreeing. It did look kinda dorky. Everyone else laughed along too, except Billy, which was even funnier to you. “Big white cape like he’s getting married or something.” You burst out into giggles, remembering when you had told Billy exactly that.

As you giggled, you didn’t notice Freddy’s hand on top of yours, or the smitten gaze he had. Everyone else, however, most definitely did.

“What if he didn’t get to pick his costume?” Billy finally spoke up, drawing everyone’s eyes to him. “Ever think about that?”

“You’re a specialist Freddy, and I’ve heard that you are too, Y/N. What do you two think?” Rosa prompted you and Freddy.

“Yeah, guys, let’s manage to see the positive.” Billy eyed you both warily, and as you went to speak, Freddy immediately cut you off.

“Okay, well, I think it looks likes he doesn’t have gratitude for what he’s been given.”

You wished Freddy had telepathy, just so you could tell him to not make this personal. But alas, he had no such ability.

“Very specific. All right. Y/N, what were you going to s-”

“Maybe to the superhero, gratitude doesn’t mean having to be clingy.” Bill retorted.

“Clingy? Wow, interesting take.”

You didn’t want to be overdramatic, but you were sure you had never been more stressed in your entire life.

“You know, maybe sometimes a superhero just wants a little me-time.”

Shit, they were making it personal. You kicked Billy under the table, only getting a glare in return.

“You know, me-time could also be construed as pushing away his family.”

You could feel the confused gazes burning into you like lasers. This had to be the most suspicious conversation ever.

“Family. Is that what they are now?”

You hid your face in your hands, sighing in annoyance. Why did you ever think that this would be a nice, normal dinner with your friends and their family, especially after school today?

“It’s a classic symptom of “Superhero Syndrome”. Coined by German psychologist Heinrich Von German-Something, where superpowers become an all-consuming narcotic.”

Billy immediately got up from the table, and you watched with a fearful look in your eyes as the chaos came to an upsetting end.

“Son, we’re still eating dinner.” Victor tried to call Billy back, but it was useless at this point.

“What he needs is a sidekick,” Freddy called after the boy, and then everything clicked.

“Name one cool sidekick.” Billy stormed up the stairs, leaving the rest of the family sitting awkwardly. You didn’t realise how nervous you looked until you felt Freddy’s fingers tracing small circles on your leg. The action was calming, and you shuffled closer to him.

“Darla, why are you so quiet over there, baby? You’re never at a loss for words.”

From the way in which Darla glanced at Freddy, Billy’s empty chair and you, you realised that Darla knew a lot more than you thought.

“I’m eating.” The small girl mumbled through food, just to get her point across.

Once dinner wrapped up, Freddy went to head upstairs, until you reminded him that Billy was up there, and that didn’t seem like a good idea right now. Instead, you took him out to the front porch, sitting on the steps, gazing up at the sky.

“It’s beautiful up there.” You mumbled as Freddy sat beside you. For a while, the two of you sat in silence, just gazing at the sky and the few stars you could see. The night sky always reminded you of the first flying lessons you had with your dad, back when you first started developing your powers.

“Yknow, I’ve always wanted to fly.” Freddy broke the silence. “It probably sounds stupid, but flying sure sounds better than walking, especially with this stupid thing.” He chucks his crutch to the ground, both of you wincing at the sound of it hitting the ground.

You don’t speak, not because you’re ignoring him, you just don’t know what to say.

“This… This was a bad night for you to come over. I’m sorry it went like that.”

“It’s fine. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of other dinners for me to join in.” You didn’t notice the impact of your words, but for Freddy, the idea of you coming to more dinners was like getting hit with a ton of bricks.

Freddy instinctively moved closer to you, which was no longer a big deal to either of you, but this time Freddy was trying a something else. He moved ever so slightly closer, and you finally realised what was happening.

You moved closer too, your heart practically running a marathon. The moment seemed perfect, and for a while, it was. He was about a centimetre away from you now, and that distance was only getting smaller.

“Freddy!” He jumped away quickly as the front door swung open. Rosa smiled sweetly, not realising what had just been happening. “Could you walk Y/N home, please?”

***

By lunch the next day, you were still thinking about last night. You had almost kissed Freddy Freeman. Twice. The first time, Rosa had stopped you just in time, asking if Freddy could walk you home.

The second had been outside your home. He had just dropped you off and thought that would be his chance. Unfortunately, your dad had other plans, swinging the door open, also not aware of what had been going on. He had thanked Freddy for walking you home, and you looked forward to the day when Freddy realised he had just met his idol.

They were the only thoughts that clouded your mind as you sat with Freddy at the lunch table, a massive crowd waiting for Billy and apparently Superman to appear.

You were unfortunately skeptical about Billy showing up, especially after what Freddy told you about this morning. Billy had walked to school with Freddy, and then immediately ditched. Freddy didn’t want to believe it, but he didn’t think Billy would show either.

You looked worriedly at Freddy, knowing that there was no chance Billy would show. The Breyers were staring you two down, and you were getting very nervous with all the eyes on you.

“I’ll just call him. I’ll just make sure.” He got out his phone, holding it up to his ear. “It’s ringing.”

Freddy was not a good liar in any way, shape or form. Not one single person here believed him. You knew that if you didn’t know the truth, you wouldn’t believe him.

“Red Cyclone, hey! Hey, what’s going on?” He paused for belief. Of which there was none. “Oh, that’s crazy! Yeah, it’s Freddy, by the way. Yeah, it’s crazy! Great story.” Someone from behind you snatched his phone away and you knew you were screwed.

“He’s not talking to anyone.” The crowd laughed and booed, and you immediately lived in fear of what the Breyers were gonna do.

“I was! I was! We’re friends. I know him, I do!” The crowd dissipated. “I know him! I know him! Uh, yeah.”

The Breyers laughed at your humiliation, and you latched onto Freddy in fear. You were royally screwed now.

“Shit.” You muttered in unison, giving each other frightened glances.

The Breyers dragged you out to the back of the school, to the alleyway between the school building and the hall.

Brett dragged Freddy aside, while Burke grabbed onto your shirt. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Brett carrying Freddy by his underwear, and when you looked back, Burke’s fist collided with your face. It didn’t hurt, nor did it leave much of a bruise, so you simply let him at it.

Better to let him get it all out now.

You did, however, get in one good punch on Burke’s face.

“Eat shit and die, Kent,” Burke yelled, punching you again.

“Eat shit and live, Breyer.”

Once the boys let you be, you rushed to help Freddy back to his feet. He looked like he was in a lot of pain, so you tried to act like you were hurt too, just to make him feel better.

“Are you alright? Burke packs a pretty mean punch…” Freddy’s hand traced where he had seen Burke punch you.

“Nothing I can’t handle.” You grinned, which made Freddy smile too. His smile, however, quickly turned to a grimace.

“We need to find Billy,” Freddy grumbled, not just annoyance, but anger in his voice. As if on cue, you spotted a spark of lightning in the distance. You spun Freddy around so he could see the sparks too.

“Found him.”

***

Freddy marched up to Billy, who was performing some stupid show in front of a crowd of people. What a surprise. Billy was abusing his powers. He even had a box laid out for money. Why, of all people, did Billy get to have superpowers?

“Hey. Hey!” Freddy pushed the crowds out of the way, anger seeping through his words.

“Hey, young man!” Freddy kicked Billy’s speaker, causing the music to stop. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing? I’m in the middle of a show right now. How can I help you?”

You scoffed, rolling your eyes. Was Billy really this much of an idiot?

“We just wanted to say thank you for showing up to lunch today.” From the look on Billy’s face, he had just recalled his plans. “Yeah, I got a little something called a, uh, suitcase wedgie, right? I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it, but it’s when someone grabs your underwear like that,” Freddy acts out his words as he goes, the crowd all with their phones out, “and holds you like a suitcase and walks you down the hallway.”

You scrunched up your nose imagining how painful that would be.

“And this was my underwear.” He throws the stretched out fabric in Billy’s direction, though it doesn’t go anywhere near him.

“Gross.”

You stepped in line with Freddy, looking up at Billy in disappointment.

“You said you’d come.” You uttered sadly.

“You said I would come!” You jumped at the outburst, grabbing Freddy’s wrist in shock. “I never said I was… I’m a superhero, dude!”

You very quickly went from being disappointed to just angry.

“Yeah? Well, you’re acting real heroic.” You spat out. “How much people paying you today?” The venom lacing your words was thick, even Freddy looked at you in surprise.

“Listen, I have serious responsibilities now, okay?”

“Oh yeah, very se-”

“But that’s cool because I can carry that burden with my… hands! Lightning with my hands!”

One strike of lightning struck much further away than you anticipated, hitting a distant bridge. It hit a wheel on a bus, and the bus came crashing off the side of the bridge. You gasped, catching Billy’s attention. He looked at the accident, before hyperspeeding away.

“We’ll just walk, I guess?” You asked, turning around to see Freddy already walking in Billy’s direction.

The walk was long and tiring, and probably not good for Freddy in the slightest. You could see the whole situation unfolding, sighing as Billy did all the wrong things. What you wouldn’t give to go be better than him.

Reaching Billy, you saw a news reporter leaving, but there were still news cameras everywhere.

“Guys! Did you see that?”

“Yeah. You electrocuted a bus and almost killed these people.” Freddy stated, but it clearly wasn’t getting through to Billy.

“And then I caught it! Guys, I caught a bus with my bare hands! I caught a bus like people catch fly balls!” If it was any other day, you’d be impressed, and proud of Billy for using his power for good, but today you weren’t happy, and neither was Freddy. “Like, who does that? I do that!”

“Billy! You do nothing.” Freddy cut him off. “You take selfies and make people pay you.” You placed a hand on Freddy’s shoulder in comfort. “You know, forget it. I can’t really talk to you when you look like this.”

You and Freddy turned to leave, Freddy’s hand finding yours instantly.

“You just wish it was you.”

You both froze, turning back around to face Billy.

“No shit! You think? I would kill to have what you have.” You felt tears welling in your eyes. You had figured out why Freddy was so angry not too long ago. “Because everything I do is, like, some desperate attempt to get people to notice me. To not feel sorry for me.” He glanced over at you, seeing the tears on your cheeks.

“I mean, look at me! Look at me. Do you even see me? ‘Cause most people don’t. ‘Cause they don’t want to. And now you don’t either. I mean, you think this is who you are? I mean, Billy, you’re 14 and now you’re no better than the Breyers.”

You could hear Freddy choking up, so you stepped in to help him.

“All this power, and all you did was turn into a show-off and a bully.” Your voice cracked, tears heavily flowing now. Freddy took your hand again, his one source of comfort, leaving Billy alone.

“Whatever, kid! I do what I want! And I’m like mid-20s probably! Maybe even, like, 30.”

You and Freddy didn’t turn back, storming away from the asshole you had once considered a friend.

You were a fair distance away when you heard the sound of glass shattering from behind you. Judging from the height of the broken window, there was only one person it could be.

“Billy?” Freddy questioned, as said boy flew- wait flew?- towards you.

“Guys! I need your help!”

“You can fly?” Freddy exclaimed, his smile coming back. Billy was about to respond when another figure flew from the building, grabbing Billy and sending him to the ground. The concrete where they hit broke as easily as the glass, and you immediately went to inspect it.

Freddy joined you, staring into the open floor.

“Who’s the other guy?”

There was no response, but you and Freddy had the same thought.

“Supervillain.”

Screams could be heard in front of you, and you looked up to see swarms of people running out of a nearby shopping mall. That’s where they had to be. Why else would people act like that?

“Freds, this way.”

Freddy made his best attempt to run, only tripping a few times. Eventually, you made it into the mall, seeing the heard of people running in a panic. Billy was nowhere to be seen.

“Billy?” Freddy called out. “Billy?”

“Billy, where are you?” You joined in, yelling, searching for any sign of Billy.

So far, nothing. Freddy called out a few more times, but you had stopped, seeing the bald man scanning the mall. That was him. The supervillain. It took a few more seconds for you to register that the supervillain was flying towards you.

He grabbed both you and Freddy, slamming the two of you up against some lockers. Your heart was beating at an irregular pace. How did your dad do this?

“Billy. Where is he?” The bald man asked, and you tried your best to stay calm. Freddy was not doing well in the calm department.

“Supervillain…” He said quietly, his eye wide with fear. This was the sort of shit you see on TV and in comics, not everyday life. “Supervillain! Supervillain!”

His screams were useless. No one was coming to your rescue.

“Worse. Much worse.”

You didn’t want to cry, but there was a high probability you would.

“Radioactive anthromorph?” Freddy asked. “Psychic energy manipulator? I won’t let you read my mind. My mind is blank. You can’t get in.”

“I don’t need to read your mind.” He slammed both of you against the lockers again, making you whimper in fear. “Because you are going to tell me. Where is he?”

As hard as you tried, you couldn’t find Freddy’s hand.

***

You found yourself outside Freddy’s home, still being held by the supervillain. Fear was rushing through your veins, and guilt, knowing that if you were able to use your powers, you could’ve easily stopped this.

The supervillain rang the doorbell, and the door was immediately swung open, Darla only seeing Freddy at first. He was shoved inside, you pushed in next, hitting into a wall. You hissed in pain and caught Freddy’s concerned glance.

“How quaint.” Mr Supervillain said, glancing around the room. Everyone’s faces held similar expressions of terror. “Actually, I take that back. What a shithole.”

You were grabbed by the supervillain again, and he scanned you up and down, his brow furrowing. Shit, did he figure you out? He threw you back with the other kids, and you stumbled backwards into Freddy.

Freddy dug in his pocket, hoping to find his phone, but an ominous chuckle from Mr Supervillain gave you a good idea of where Freddy’s phone actually was. He pulled out the familiar black phone, dangling it mockingly in your face.

You were all shoved onto the couch, ordered to stay like you were dogs. Mr Supervillain unlocked the phone, his eye glowing. When did he have hacking as a power? You all watched him, too scared to look away.

A sudden pressure on your hand made you look down, seeing a familiar hand in yours. It had only been an hour, but it felt like much longer since you had had Freddy’s comfort. You moved closer to him, shaking with pure terror.

“F-Freddy?” He looked down at you, and you didn’t have to say anything for him to pull you in closer. You had Freddy, but you wanted Billy here too. You wanted protection and safety and the knowledge that you’d be alright. You wanted your dad.

The familiar sound of a phone ringing startled you, and whoever was on the other side quickly picked up.

“Freddy, you were right. I’m so sorry I yelled at you.” You heard Billy through the phone, and both panic and relief set in.

“Come home, Billy. Come home.” Mr Supervillain spoke, eyeing you all evilly. You shuddered under his gaze, holding Freddy tighter.

“Billy! Supervillain! Supervillain!” Freddy yelled, hoping to be heard through the phone. The call abruptly ended, Mr Supervillain stalking around the house once more. He picked up a Christmas wreath on a door, throwing it to the ground.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Mary asked, Darla clinging to her jacket.

What do I want? I want...” The lights flickered, and the sounds of rumbling thunder could be heard from outside. You saw the golden glow outside the frosted window, knowing who was on the other side of that door. “That.”

Eugene whispered a quiet “Whoa” from beside you as Billy landed outside.

“Kick his ass, Billy!” All five of you turned to Pedro in surprise. You had never heard him speak that loudly.

Mr Supervillain pointed his hand at you all, a cloud of dust and smoke billowing out, the face of a monster forming in the cloud.

“No, no, no, this isn’t real. This isn’t happening.” You repeated your mantra to yourself, only stopping as Billy pushed some hair out of your eyes. You looked up at him, as he leaned close and whispered in your ear.

“Don’t look at that. Just focus on me.”

And you did. You gazed at Freddy, studying his face. For a while, you managed to forget about your surroundings. Not fully- how could you forget about the monster snarling and growling at you?- but enough for Freddy to be the main thought circling your mind.

“Let them go and I’ll come inside,” Billy yelled.

“Oh, first you come inside, and then maybe I’ll let them go.”

Billy did as told, storming towards the house. As he did, Mr Supervillain pulled the monster cloud away from you, and you relaxed a little. You were still on edge, but noticeably less so. Billy opened the door, fully entering the house.

“Good boy.” Mr Supervillain walked towards Billy, a smirk on his face. “Cause that’s all you are, isn’t it? How old are you?”

Billy stared the supervillain down, taking into account his glowing blue eye.

“Basically 15.” Mr Supervillain grabbed Billy’s face, humming in disdain.

“When I was a child, the old man told me I wasn’t good enough,” From beside you, you heard a faint whisper of “Evil monologue.” from Freddy. “Yet here you are, a coward. Run from me and the wizard chooses you? You’re not a hero.”

You almost yelled that he was more of a hero than Mr Supervillain would ever be, but the sudden feeling of Eugene clinging to your coat stopped you from going anywhere.

“But I’m gonna give you the opportunity to be one.” Mr Supervillain continued. “Give me the power of the champion.”

“No, don’t do it, Billy!” Freddy yelled, regaining the attention of both Billy and Mr Supervillain. The supervillain walked towards the couch, all six of you tensing up. You jumped slightly as a beam of lightning, not dissimilar from Billy’s, shot out from his hand.

It hit a door, seven rows of repeating images appearing, and an ominous glow from beneath it, as well as smoke that most certainly didn’t give you a good vibe. It opened itself, revealing what looked like a cavern of some sorts.

“Give me the power and I’ll let them go.”

“Billy, no! You can’t do that!” You found your voice, yelling at your friend. From beside Freddy, Darla stood up, running to Billy. Mary followed behind her, calling for Darla not to go over there.

“Don’t go, Billy!” She pleaded over and over again, hugging the tall boy-man. You felt tears prick at your eyes, huddling your face in Freddy’s side more, so as to not see anything that could unfold.

“No, I have to.” Billy stumbled out, and you looked up, seeing Mary trying to pull Darla away. This was all too much. “It’s what a good brother would do. Right?”

Billy walked towards the open door, Mr Supervillain not far behind.

“Billy,” Freddy said, trying with any hope to get Billy to stay. His attempts were useless, as Billy entered the door. You all watched on hopelessly, but the still-open door gave you and Freddy an idea.

“Freddy, we have to go help him.” You said, quickly forgetting how afraid you had been just a few minutes ago. You heard scuffling behind you, spinning around to see everyone gone. “Guys?”

“Y/N!” Freddy’s voice called from upstairs. “Get a weapon!”

You looked around, spotting the open kitchen door. You ran in, grabbing a small, but a sharp, knife and running back out to join the others. They all had their own weapons, but you glanced wearily at Pedro’s.

“Pedro, is that a lamp?” You asked, and he looked between you and the lamp.

“It’s an ugly one.” He stated, and you saw no reason to argue.

“Well, let’s go get your brother back.”

You stepped through the door, glancing around everywhere. You marvelled at the beautifully terrifying cave surrounding you. It seemed to go one forever.

“Well, Y/N, where do we go now?” Mary asked, still holding onto Darla.

A familiar yelp of pain echoed through the cavern, followed by the voice of Mr Supervillain. It didn’t seem like much to go off, but you had some help. You pointed forwards, knowing exactly where to go.

“There.”

The cavern tunnels opened up into a strange temple-like place. You pushed everyone behind some rocks, blocking them from sight. You couldn’t have them getting hurt. You watched on, as the supervillain continued to speak, telling Billy of his past.

Billy started to push himself off the ground.

“I get it. I get what that’s like. Feeling like you’re all alone in the world.” Mr Supervillain demanded Billy to stand. “Feeling like there’s that one thing, if you could just find it. Then you’d finally be good enough.”

Billy stood, Mr Supervillain holding out some staff-thing.

“The champion’s name. Say it.”

Your leg bounced in anticipation, as the same dust clouds swarmed around the supervillain like earlier, except this time they formed seven full monsters. They surrounded Billy, snarling and baring their teeth.

Each one was horrifying, towering over Billy. Their mangled faces sent shivers down your spine, yet you couldn’t look away from them. Their glowing red eyes seemed to speak, digging into the deepest corners of your mind.

“Look, no offence, mister, but I don’t think those things have your best interest at heart,” Billy argued, and as you stared intensely at the scene unfolding, you missed Freddy’s call for everyone to follow him.

But his hand back in yours, pulling you with the group was enough to get your attention. The monsters spoke, their gravelly voices haunting. They spoke to the supervillain, telling him of his actions.

“Don’t listen to this child.”

“Take the staff.”

“Hold it and say the champion’s name.”

They were using him. This wasn’t a team effort for them. These monsters had simply taken another victim for their own personal gain. From what Billy said next, it seemed he had realised what was going on too.

“They’re using you. You have to see that, that they are using you.” He said as you and the five others gathered in the centre of the room. Freddy poised himself, replica Batarang in hand.

He looked at you for confirmation, and you nodded. He threw the Batarang as hard as he could, and everyone watched as it soared through the air. As he threw it, you handed him your knife, so he’d still have some protection. You could fight without a weapon, he couldn’t.

“Say your name.” Mr Supervillain said, just as the Batarang came in contact with his head. It clattered to the ground, Mr Supervillain, the monsters and Billy all turning to face you.

“His name…” Freddy smirked, as you all got into a fighting position. “Is Captain Sparklefingers.” You finished.

“And we’re gonna keep throwing things at your big, fat, ugly-eyed head until you let our brother go,” Darla said, and you were amazed by the young girl’s bravery.

The monsters were taken back into the supervillain's body, taking quite a dramatic exit. He moved towards your little group, each of you taking a few steps back in fear. Out of the corner of your eyes, you saw Billy reaching for the discarded Batarang.

You drew your eyes away from Billy, scared to give away his plan. Sparks erupted as he picked up the Batarang, and even more flew as he stabbed it into Mr Supervillain’s shoulder. Billy flung the supervillain into the rock wall, hopefully knocking him out for a bit.

“Boy, am I glad I didn’t sell that Batarang.”

Now wasn’t the time to be mad about Billy trying to sell Freddy’s stuff, but you’d grill him later about it. Billy came down the stairs, looking back at the supervillain every now and again, juts checking he was still out.

“Pedro, is that a lamp?” You let out a soft snort at the question you had asked earlier. Pedro sighed, muttering the same answer he had given you earlier.

“Come on, come on, come on.” Billy pushed you all to start running, and you did, not wanting to be there when Mr Supervillain came to. “Guys, I appreciate the thought, I really do, but I don’t think your weapons are gonna help. I mean, Y/N, you don’t even have a weapon.”

“Don’t need one.” You shrugged, Billy giving you a skeptical look.

As you turned the corner, you all stopped, one singular thought in everyone’s minds. Eugene was the one to voice the collective thoughts.

“The door was right here.”

“Billy, how do we get outta here?” Mary asked, but everyone knew that it was unlikely that Billy had any idea.

“What, you think I know? I don’t know!” He rushed over his words, as he so often did.

“This way!” Darla pointed at a tunnel through the caves.

“Go, go, go. Follow Darla. Good job Darla. Go, go, go!” You all ran through the cave, waiting to find some kind of exit. Or at least something that wasn’t a tunnel. Unfortunately, it just seemed like tunnels.

“How long are these tunnels?” You groaned as you turned yet another corner into yet another long strip of rocks.

“Hey, Y/N?” Freddy spoke up, completely out of breath. This was unfair for him, having to run so much. “I’m sorry I dragged you into all this.”

You looked at him, bewildered. His eyes were downcast, staring at his feet as you both strayed behind the group. You lifted his chin up, looking into his gorgeous brown eyes.

“You didn’t drag me into this. I chose to come along, and up til now, it’s been pretty fun.”

He would’ve kissed you right then and there if it weren’t for Billy’s frantic screams for you to catch up, and the looming knowledge or the supervillain finding you. So you simply took his hand, as you so often did and ran as fast as Freddy could bear.

“Pedro, Pedro, come on.” You heard Billy up ahead, growing more frantic with each second. He turned around, seeing you and Freddy up the back of the group. “Freddy? Freddy, keep up. Darla, stay in front. We gotta hurry.”

The tunnel ended, and you found yourselves on a bridge, stretching across a frighteningly deep chasm. You tried not to look down, but your curiosity overpowered your sensibility, as you glanced into the neverending pit.

Any wrong move and you could be falling down there. Great, well at least it was a motivator and not just a giant pit of doom. Past the bridge, there were simply more rocky passageways.

“Would it have hurt,” You complained. “To put up a signpost, maybe?”

Pedro, Darla and Eugene stopped, scanning their eyes over the room. As you moved closer, you saw that it was filled with doors. So many doors, it could have beaten the scene from Monsters Inc.

One of these has to be a way out, right?” Mary asked, and everyone’s eyes trailed upwards, even more doors coming into view.

“Yeah, I would hope so.”

Eugene opened a door, and you peered inside. Three alligators in suits sat at a table, seemingly playing cards. Their heads snapped towards the open door, charging forwards. Eugene slammed the door in time, shaking his head.

“Not this one.”

Pedro opened the next one, revealing a misty view. A shadow moved forward, and as it broke through the fog, you saw a strange-looking creature. It reminded you of something out of ‘The Mist’, a book you had read earlier this year. It snapped suddenly, lunging at Pedro, who slammed the door on it. It kept writhing until Pedro finally got it inside.

You opened a door, seeing nothing but a forest inside until a giant eight-legged creature descended from the treetops. It’s eight beady eyes glared into your soul and you found yourself frozen in fear. The spider snapped its fangs, scuttling forwards. You felt like you could cry, almost screaming until someone closed the door on it.

“Y/N? Are you alright?” You nodded, only barely registering Freddy’s voice.

“Okay, no more doors. Nobody open any more doors.” Billy announced, watching Freddy shaking you away from you fearful state.

When Freddy did bring you back, he sighed in relief.

“Jeez, let’s keep you away from doors, huh?” You smiled, thankful for Freddy and everything he ever did for you. You moved back to the group, standing exceptionally close.

“Come on, Billy. What are we gonna do?” Darla cried.

“Darla, I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do. Just think. How’d you get out last time?” Everyone’s voices were filled with panic, fear and nervousness, the sound of rocks breaking alerting you to a certain supervillain’s nearing presence.

“Uh, last time, I thought about the subway, and I was on the subway.”

“Okay. then, Billy, look, think about the subway.” Freddy babbled. “Think about any place except for here, okay?”

“What is this, The Wizard of Oz?” You said, trying to bring a bit of light into the situation. Only Freddy laughed, and it was more of a short sound than a laugh. Everyone was far too on edge right now.

You saw the moving glow of the staff from down the tunnel. You didn’t have much time now. If Billy didn’t think of someplace soon, you’d all be dead. Or injured, at the very least. Either way, it didn’t end well for you and the Vasquezes.

“Billy? Any time now…” Your eyes darted between Billy and Mr Supervillain, panic rising like a volcano, waiting to explode. The lightning symbol on Billy’s chest glowed brighter, but so did the light emanating from the staff held by the supervillain.

Your eyes remained on Mr Supervillain as he shot his hand out, a beam of light coming straight for you. If Billy didn’t get you out of there soon, you were all dead meat. To everyone’s relief, your cave surroundings disappeared just as the lightning was about to hit you.

When regained your bearings, your jaw dropped at your surroundings. Mary frantically covered Darla’s eyes, while you did the same to Eugene. In the midst of the chaos, you lost Freddy in the crowd. Billy’s height helped to navigate the exit, and as much as you tried to focus on the red and white in front of you, the noises coming from left and right were heavily distracting.

You pushed open the doors, feeling relieved to be out of there. It was crowded, and sweaty and sticky and you hated it. None of you were particularly impressed with Billy right now.

“Why are you covering my eyes?” Darla asked, Eugene nodding in agreement.

“Really? This is the first place you think of? Wow!” Mary rolled her eyes.

“You’re welcome!” Billy had a point. At least you weren’t dead.

“Why can’t I see what’s inside?” Darla asked again, Eugene nodding again.

“You two are not old enough.” You and Mary said, only taking your hands off their eyes once the door had properly shut.

“Old enough to know that was great music.” Darla smiled, and you couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s innocence.

“Not my thing,” Pedro muttered softly, and you suppressed a slight chuckle. You looked around, realising a certain blue jacket-wearing boy was missing.

“Where’s Freddy?”

As if on cue, the strip club door swung open again, Freddy stumbling out, saying something about “Siracha”. You raised an eyebrow, but hearing Freddy wish them a “holly, jolly Christmas” made you laugh.

“Freddy! What are you doing?” Billy yelled as Freddy rejoined the group.

“Uh, n-nice people.”

“Nice people? Come on.” You marched over to Freddy, grabbing his arm gently.

“Is that glitter? They have glitter! Can I get glitter?” You had to commend Darla for always finding a positive, even when they were all being chased by an evil supervillain.

“No, not from them.”

A sudden crack of thunder had you all turning around to look back at where you came from, seeing a flash of lighting, much like Billy’s. Mr Supervillain was back on your trails. He burst out of the roof, a plume of smoke billowing from the building.

“Shit.” You muttered.

“Go, go go. Everybody, go!” Billy pushed everyone to start running, but you simply looked worriedly at Freddy, who was trailing.

“Freddy, Freddy, Freddy!” Billy rushed behind him. “One, two three. Up, up. Up we go.” He picked up Freddy, bridal style, hyperspeeding ahead of everyone. You all kept running, not looking back at the supervillain, in fear of being spotted.

You all ran into an alleyway, the Christmas Village just across the road. Glancing around, you did a headcount, finding exactly six others, thank god.

“Alright, all people accounted for, let’s move.” You spoke, mainly to yourself. As long as you could count the six heads, you knew that you hadn’t lost anyone. Six heads. Just six. Six. Wait, zero?

Everyone else had run into the carnival, leaving you in the alleyway. Your eyes darted around, searching for Billy’s towering figure. In the distance, you spotted a familiar white cape in the distance and ran in that direction.

Billy was being surrounded by people with their phones, all taking photos and videos f him. You pushed through the crowd, only getting hit a few times. One person’s phone connected with your nose, and you yelped in surprise.

“Y/N?” Freddy’s voice sounded from inside the circle. He could recognize you just from you exclaiming out of pain? You couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or not. Right now, it was very good as he fought his way through the crowd to drag you with him.

“Shazam!”

A lightning strike hit the ground, and soon Billy’s tall alter-ego was gone, replaced by his regular self, who was refreshing to see amidst all the chaos. You pulled Billy into a quick hug, finally finding a chance to.

The crowd murmured about the sudden disappearance of “Powerboy” and you and the Vasquezes made your way out of the crowd, hiding behind one of the booths. You thought you had a moment to rest until you realised that Mr Supervillian would have seen the transformation lightning. Your cover was blown.

“Champion!”

“Shit.” You muttered as the seven of you watched the supervillain fly over the top of the carnival

“You don’t deserve that name. Hiding behind innocent people who will now die. Because deep down you’re still just a scared, little boy.” You all shared very similar glances at the mention of people dying. Fuck, where was your dad when you needed him?

The crowd of carnival-goers was silent, simply watching Mr Supervillain above them. Then, all at once, all hell broke loose. People were running everywhere to get away from the ensuing battle. Mr Supervillain began his destructive descend upon the carnival, blowing boots up and striking the Ferris wheel.

It sparked, shifting to the side. You could see everyone on the ride, panicked and fearful. You even felt bad for the Breyers. Even they didn’t deserve to die. The wheel was collapsing, and none of you could do anything. Except for-

“Well, you guys wanted me to be a hero.”

“You kidding? Okay, no. Old guy’s up there, harbouring multiple spiritual entities.” Freddy rambled, tripping over his words.

“Plus, he has the same powers as you.” You added, “And, no offence, but I mean, he knows what he’s doing.”

“Plus, I mean, you’re one of my best friends I don’t want you to die.” Freddy finished, muttering the last part nervously, his eyes moving between you and Billy.

“If a superhero can’t save his family, he’s not much of a hero.” As panicked as you were, a smile spread across your face at Billy’s words. You were well aware of Billy’s familial struggles, having been both Freddy and Billy’s go-to person to talk about problems they had.

“That was a decent catchphrase,” Freddy said, making you both smile and smack him in the chest at the same time.

“Shazam!” And just like that, your big red friend was back, ready to destroy whoever dared to mess with his family and friends, in your case. He jumped into flight, seeming to have already perfected a skill he gained that morning.

You felt useless, watching Billy do all the work as you simply stood with the others. You should have been up there, by his side, kicking evil ass with your friend. But then again, Billy could protect all of Philadelphia, you just needed to protect his family.

You all watched the fight intensely, trying not to alert anyone to your whereabouts. Billy seemed to be winning, from what you could see. He sent the supervillain hurtling to the ground, a resounding thud echoing throughout the empty carnival.

Billy flew down, landing across from where you were all huddled.

“Or try that again!” He looked to you all for approval, only receiving an ‘eh, sure’ from Freddy and a ‘never say that again’ from you.

“Billy, look out!” Freddy yelled, having seen Mr Supervillain preparing for his next move. Billy ducked just in time, but you and Freddy both felt that his move was not over yet.

“Laser eyes! Guys, he’s got laser eyes! Too bad your aim sucks balls!”

You were about to tell him that, no they weren’t laser eyes, when the wooden planks behind him exploded, revealing one of those damn monsters again. It lifted up Billy, throwing him with ease.

You all watched on in fear as Billy landed in a nearby carnival game booth, Mr Supervillain stalking over to him.

“That’s his power matrix.” You said, watching both his glowing staff and glowing eye.

“His what-what?” Eugene looked at you in bewilderment.

“When the demon guys leave his eye, he loses his powers,” Freddy explained, you simply nodding along with what he said. “That’s why the Batarang hurt him.”

“Hey!” Mary suddenly shouts, you all turning to stare wide-eyed at her. “Over here!”

“Wait, what are you doing?” Concern and confusion are etched onto Freddy’s face, but realisation flashes across yours.

“Divide and conquer.” You said, Mary confirming your statement. “If we separate the monsters from the eye, he’s just an old man.”

“Gather the mutts” Mr Supervillain unleashes the monsters, and you all take off running. Mary and Darla are leading, while you help Freddy at the back of the pack.

Freddy is snatched away from you, and you speed up, yelling at yourself to not look back and keep running. You hear Pedro and Eugene yelping, knowing they got taken to. You speed ahead of Darla and Mary, only to hear the sounds of them screaming for each other as one more monster takes away your last two friends.

It’s just you, running as fast as you can. As fast as you can without using hyperspeed. You hide in a ring toss booth, hoping that the monster didn’t see your tumble in. Your breathing is heavy and ragged, but when the coast is all clear, you make a run for it.

Turning the corner, you see Mr Supervillain holding Billy, and not superhero Billy, but regular Billy, down into ice water. He’s not transforming, so you figure he isn’t able to. You look around for anything to help with, seeing a gun from some shooting gallery game lying discarded beside you.

You pick it up, aiming it towards the supervillain.

“Hey!” He turns to face you and the barrel of the gun. You fire, sending the bullet hurtling towards him. You suspect he’ll catch it, and it won’t do anything, but maybe it’ll distract him just long enough for Billy to transform.

And that’s exactly what happens. He perfectly catches the bullet, which was level with his eyes. You can sense the monster behind you, and now it’s too late to stop it. Just as it reaches out to grab you, you see Billy’s head leaving the water. You sigh in relief, happy that your plan at least worked out for him.

“Shazam!”

The lightning strike sends Mr Supervillain flying backwards, but he catches himself, properly flying to the open tent where you and your friends are held captive. Billy rises from the shattered ice, seeing all of you held kidnapped.

You’re struggling against the arms of your captor, as are your friends, but the monsters are stubborn, and they’re not planning on letting go anytime soon. Mr Supervillain stands at the centre of it all, awaiting Billy’s first move.

“Nice trick. Catchy. One simple word. I have a better trick. Four words.” You all stare at the supervillain, fear, stress and now pain on everyone’s faces. You can’t look away from Freddy and his face contorted in pain, and you find him doing the same.

“Kill the special one.”

Everyone’s eyes flick to Billy, expecting a monster to go after him. What they aren’t expecting, however, is for the monster holding you captive to growl, bearing its teeth, poised and ready to kill you with no hesitation.

There are screams of protest, and the monster nears. You can’t tell if you’re breathing properly, but your guess is no. The loudest screams are from Freddy, who you can tell is crying from just his voice.

“Don’t hurt her!” He screams, only to be cut off by the monster holding him tighter, his words turning to hisses of pain.

Your head is in the mouth of the monster, and by now you’ve given up fighting. If this is how it ends, so be it. There could be worse ways to go out.

“Stop!” Billy yells, and you let out a breath you were unaware you were holding in. the monster puts you down, and all you want is to be by Freddy’s side. Billy comes closer to the tent, Mr Supervillain smirking as if he’d achieved something. As he walked closer, the monsters held on tighter, taunting and tormenting Billy.

“Billy, there’s one more demon guy in his eyes! You gotta just rip it out of his face hole.” Freddy yelled, before having a monster hand clamp over his mouth. He fought against the monster but to no avail.

“It’s where he gets his power!” Mary finished. The monsters moved in, surrounding Billy, all of you still held tightly in their many, many arms.

“Reach for it. I dare you.” Mr Supervillain taunted, as Billy knelt to the ground before him. “Wise decision. Hands on the staff.”

“Billy, don’t do this. Billy!” Freddy protested, but once again, no one listened to his pleas. You all joined in his plea, begging Billy to not do as told.

Billy ignored you all, doing as he was told, wrapping his hand around the glowing staff. As he did, the monsters dissolved, leaving all of you to gather yourselves. Freddy stumbled right over to you. You caught him in a hug, feeling the exact level of comfort you both needed after that.

“He called you special. Why?” Freddy’s hands found your face, holding it softly as if he was scared to hurt you in any way.

“You saying I’m not special, Freeman? I’m a little offended.” Now did not seem the time for jokes, but hey, wasn’t that the perfect time to pull one out?

“You are so special, Y/N, but I need to know what he me-” He was cut off by Billy grabbing the staff, and slamming it into Mr Supervillain. He went flying backwards, buying you all some time.

“All hands on deck.”

You knew what Billy was doing. He had told you exactly how he got turned into his superhero self, so you stayed behind when everyone else held onto the staff. They all waited for you to join, but you didn’t move.

“Y/N? All hands on deck. That includes you.” Freddy smiled, but you just shook your head. He tilted his head in confusion, going to pull you over as Billy said something about running out of time.

“Y/N, come on.”

“I think I’ll be fine on my own.” You smiled, knowing that finally, the time had come.

“Freddy, come on, we gotta do this now.”

They all grabbed the staff, waiting for Billy’s next instruction. Freddy and Billy kept looking back at you, as you kept an eye on Mr Supervillain in the back.

“Say my name.”

At the same time, all five of this Vasquezes yelled out the same thing.

“Billy!”

You laughed softly, having had a feeling that that would happen.

“No, not my name. Say the name I say to turn into this guy.” You saw the realisation on their faces, as they all got ready to yell again.

“Shazam!”

The most powerful lightning strike you’d ever seen came crashing down, and for once, you didn’t have to run or hide from the sparks. It felt nice finally being able to be yourself. Once the light died down, you saw that the five kids and teens had been replaced with five adults.

Freddy’s crutch fell to the ground, and your excitement grew wilder. You stood beside Billy, seeing the five identical lightning-shaped glows coming through the fog. Your smile widened as they emerged, buzzing with happiness. This was probably the best-worst day of your life.

Pedro stood in green, Darla in purple, Eugene in grey, Mary in red and Freddy, your Freddy, down the end in blue.

You watched as they all gawked at themselves, impressed by their superhero counterparts. You were kinda jealous that you didn’t get a cool adult transformation, but that had been your choice so you wouldn’t say anything.

“Guys,” Freddy said, and when you looked at him, you saw that his feet weren’t on the ground. “What’s happening?” He kept moving upwards slowly, and something clicked in your mind. “I can fly!”

You giggled at his excitement, unable to forget your current thought. Freddy said something, back when Billy first became a hero. Belief was the key. Freddy had always believed he could fly.

Even in a grown-up body, his excited laughter was still as dorky as it was usually. You were so distracted by Freddy and his everything, that no one noticed Mr Supervillain rising from the floor.

“Guys. check out these guns.” Pedro said, and everyone looked at them grinning in shock and surprise, Darla even leaning over to poke said ‘guns’.

“Hey, Y/N, are you sure you’ll be fine without superpowers?” Freddy asked, to which you just smiled and shook your head.

“No, I’ll be fine without your superpowers, specifically.” You explained, leaving them as confused as they were before.

“No. It’s not possible.” You all turned to see Mr Supervillain, rising from the ground.

“Gee-whiz mister,” You had to hold yourself back from laughing at Billy’s childish words coming from his grown-up body, “Sorry I took your cane. You want it back?” Billy snapped it in half, and you couldn’t stop smiling like an idiot.

“Guys, I don’t believe in violence, but I think we should kick this guy’s butt, like, really hard,” Darla said, everyone getting ready to fight. Freddy floated in the corner, holding up two middle fingers at the supervillain.

Mr Supervillain shot out his lightning at Darla, sending her flying backwards. The blast set the booth alight, but you watched Darla speed away from it. She ran back over to you all, stumbling a bit, but you steadied her.

“Guys, I think I can move really…” She sped her way inbetween Mary and Freddy, “fast.”

“Hyperspeed! Check!” Freddy pointed excitedly.

Mr Supervillain sent out the monsters again, and for once you weren’t scared of them. You eyed one up and down, searching for where you thought would be it’s weaker spots. All hell was about to properly break loose.

“Billy! The eye!”

Mr Supervillain lunged at Billy, sending them both up and out of the tent. It was just the six of you now, against six monsters. Perfectly balanced.

“Look out!” Eugene spun around just in time, as a monster lunged for him. Lightning strikes sparked from his fingers, sending the monster flying backwards. He looked down as his electrified hands, as did everyone.

He accidentally set off another spark, hitting exactly where Darla was. She was, once again, flung backwards, but ran around to where Eugene was.

“You almost exploded me.”

Another monster appeared behind Pedro, and he put out his arm to defend himself. He hadn’t been expecting to catch the monster's arm and hold it away from himself. He threw the arm down, punching the monsters, as it soared backwards.

You and Freddy held similar expressions of unadulterated joy and excitement. Sure, Philadelphia could be destroyed by a supervillain and actual demons, but you were superheroes!

You saw a monster sneaking up behind Freddy, and without thinking, set your heat vision in action. You burned the monster, not stopping until it had run away to deal with its injuries. Everyone watched you, slacked jaws.

“What? I said I didn’t need your superpowers.” You said nonchalantly, though your mind was screaming about how good of a reveal that was.

“Y/N, you have superpowers? Oh my god, you have superpowers!” he went to lift you up to his level, but you simply floated your own way up. “Holy shit, you can fly, too!”

“Freddy, you’re flying right now, don’t be too impressed.”

“Yeah, but you can fly without having to say the word!” You had never seen Freddy geek out as much as he was right now. He was questioning everything you could do but didn’t ask how you got your powers. You told him everything you could do, and you felt that if he wasn’t losing his mind, he might have made the connection he needed to make.

The monsters didn’t seem to get hurt easily, as they kept coming back to attack you again. Mary got tangled up in the branch-like hands of one but threw it off her. You were busy helping Darla with an exceptionally big one when you heard Freddy from beside you.

“Dude, I’ve studied the fighting techniques of every single superhero. What do you got?” The monster you were fighting had scurried off to fight someone else, so you kept a watchful eye on Freddy.

The monster flicked its long claws out before they grew and sharpened even more.

“Well, that’s terrifying.” The monster prepared to lunge for Freddy, but he started running away from it. He took to the sky, the monster, unfortunately, having wings and following him. You wanted to go after him and help, but Eugene was having some problems and he would’ve needed more help.

“Eugene! Zap him over here!” You called, gaining Eugene’s attention. He zapped the monster, and as it flew towards you, you readied yourself to punch the ugly thing. You did, sending it soaring, ripping a hole in the tent.

You had to stand on your toes to high-five the now very tall boy. You used your arctic breath to freeze on of the monsters temporarily, allowing Pedro to weaken it more. The sound of whooping caught your attention, looking over to see Freddy flying through the carnival, the winged beast not far behind.

The monster crashed into the Ferris wheel, and it was then that you remembered that there were still people on the wheel. The impact from the monster caused the wheel to bend more, sitting at a terrifying slant.

“Oh my gosh, those people!”

You watched as one woman fell out of the side of her chair, clinging on for dear life. You wanted to go save them, but you couldn’t. You didn’t have anything masking your identity, and the Breyers were up there.

The woman fell, and Darla ran to catch her. As the woman landed in her arms, you sighed in relief, before pinning around to punch the beast sneaking up behind you. Looking back, the wheel was still bending under its own weight.

“Pedro! Try and hold it up!” You instructed, said boy doing exactly that. And he did it well. The wheel was no longer collapsing, perfectly held in place by Pedro. You once again sighed, only for it to be revoked when you saw a four-armed monster on top of the wheel.

“Shit.” You didn’t really have anyone else to send out after the monsters. Did you risk the reveal of your identity? Your thoughts were whisked away by Darla cartwheeling in to save the day. She grabbed the two citizens, taking them safely to the ground, as Freddy flew past, still battling the flying beast.

“You’re not gonna believe this,” You used your enhanced hearing to listen in on him, only half paying attention to the monster you were fighting. “but you’re actually the first villain I've ever fought. It’s, like, kind of a huge deal for me.”

The monster growled, sending Freddy off flying again. You turned your full attention to fighting a beast, punching it a few more time, successfully knocking it out. Your mind drifted to Billy, wondering how his epic showdown was going. Hopefully, he was winning.

You watched Darla save a screaming Santa Claus, running him to safety, as Eugene electrocuted the monster, yelling out some Street Fighter reference while doing so. The monster you had just been fighting rose, targeting Pedro next.

You could see the conflict on his face, as the monster charged. You had to help, so you lunged onto the monsters back, punching it repeatedly. It simply flung you off its back, and slammed you against a wooden wall. You felt dizzy, trying to stand up, only to fall back down.

You saw Pedro getting tossed aside, same as you had been, and watched as the beast pulled the Ferris wheel down. The support beam snapped, while the other one continued to bend, the monster still pulling it as hard as it could. It continued to tip over, at a much more rapid rate now.

It seemed that everyone besides the Breyers had been saved, and you could hear them screaming. You were about to risk everything and save them when a blue streak pulled them from their seat. The wheel hit the ground, all people finally off the ride.

From above you, you could hear the Breyers screaming, while Freddy had an amused expression on his face.

“Is he giving us suitcase wedgies?”

You giggled softly, busy finishing off another monster fight with Mary. Freddy finally got his comeuppance with the Breyers. He landed, harsher than the other times, just to get the last laugh. You rolled your eyes at his childishness, before flying up to meet him.

“Nice going, hotshot.” You smiled, earning one back.

“Yeah, I really showed those monsters what I’ve got.” He grinned proudly, his cape flapping in the wind. He looked happier than he ever had.

“I know, the Breyers were really screaming.” You giggled. Freddy suddenly dove down, swooping you up into his arms, which only made you giggle more. He flew back down to meet the others, and it seemed that the monsters had backed off for a bit.

“M’lady,” He said, placing you softly on the ground. You floated back up, pecking him on the cheek before touching the floor again.

“My hero.” You said, in an overly-dramatic and mocking tone. That sent you both into a fit of giggles, the other four watching with amused looks.

“This is nice, but maybe do it when you both look the same age,” Eugene commented, which made you and Freddy glow a bright red. “It’s just a little weird.”

The other nodded, and you smiled at the ground bashfully. No one noticed the monsters charging at you again.

Two of them latched onto Eugene, who kicked and punched as hard as he could but couldn’t shake them off. Mary swooped in to kick the one that Pedro hadn’t seen, sending it hurling out of the tent, landing near two more of the creatures.

Mary and Darla went to take care of those three, while one more came after you, Pedro and Freddy. It was easy enough to keep one down with the three of you, so you ran to help Darla, who’s hyperspeed wasn’t doing much right now.

You went to land a hit on its ugly face when it dissolved right in front of you. Turning around, you saw Billy reaching in to rip our Mr Supervillain’s eye. You all watched as the glowing blue orb was torn from the socket, the demon entities being sucked back inside.

Eventually, the orb was fully removed, and the supervillain collapsed to the floor. Billy held the glowing orb in his hand, staring at it.

“Here’s the thing about power. What good’s power, if you got nobody to share it with?”

All five of your friends landed behind Billy- Freddy had insisted on carrying you bridal-syle, and who were you to deny him his fun- looking at the defeated man before you.

“Ta-da!” Billy exclaimed, presenting the evil orb to you all.

“That’s disgusting,” Pedro stated, and you had to agree with him.

“Fatality.” Eugene once again referenced Street Fighter and laughed in amazement of himself. “I got the voice.” He smiled, everyone smiling in approval too.

“What’s that?” Your heads snapped in Billy’s direction, the laughter ceasing quickly. Billy was staring at the orb, bringing it closer to himself. “I can have anything I’ve ever wanted?”

“Billy.” You said, your eyebrows furrowing. What was he doing? Realisation dawned on everyone, protests coming from every person.

“No, no, no!”

“Stop it!”

“Don’t look at that!”

The orb was at eye level now. Was Billy really about to do exactly what Mr Supervillain had done? He couldn’t be that stupid, could he?

“Billy don’t do it!” Freddy yelled, and you all jumped as Billy suddenly pulled the orb away from him. You groaned, rolling your eyes.

“That wasn’t funny, Billy.” You walked up to him and punched him in the shoulder. He yelped in pain, grabbing his shoulder. You walked back beside Freddy, happy with yourself.

“Jeez, you pack a mean punch.” It was then that the six of you realised that Billy didn’t know you had superpowers yet. Well, he’d find out eventually. “You got super-strength or something?”

“Actually, yeah, she does,” Freddy announced, the others nodding in agreement.

“Well, anyway, we can talk more about that later. You really think I’m gonna put a demon ball in my head? That’s disgusting,”

There was a debate between the seven of you as to whether Billy’s joke had indeed been funny or not. The consensus said no, except Eugene.

“Uh… Guys.” Mary said, regaining everyone’s attention.

You all looked to see a crowd of people walking your way. You ducked behind Freddy and Pedro, jumping down to hide in the fallen Ferris wheel, both of them looking at you strangely.

“No disguise. No secret identity.” You whispered, Freddy immediately nodding and making sure to cover up your entire figure while you hid, along with Pedro.

The crowd clapped and cheered, while you all just stood awkwardly. Darla waved to the people, in her energetic little kid manner.

“Alright, we did it!” Billy cheered, his family moving to line up with him. You wanted to be up there, but you’d have to wait until you got a costume and an alter-ego for that. “Hey, alright, yeah! We did it! We did it!”

The crowd cheered louder and louder, more people coming to applaud the heroes. You smiled from below the Ferris wheel, picturing Freddy’s face as all his dreams come true.

“Hey, you guys are all safe. There’s no more danger anymore.”

Your friends still stood awkwardly, not really knowing what to do, besides Freddy who was completely owning this moment. He was truly in his element.

Eventually, the crowd died down, people leaving to go home after that night’s adventures. You floated up to join everyone else, who were still on a high from everything that had happened in just an hour.

“They all really love you guys.” You mused, earning happy smiles from everyone.

“They’ll love you, too, once we get you a costume,” You smiled softly at Freddy, his compliment meaning a lot to you, “I mean, how could someone not love you.” He rushed out his words, mumbling them quietly.

If he had been in his normal teenage body, you would’ve kissed him right there.

“Oh, guys, what do we do with this?” Billy gestured to the orb.

“Put it back where it came from, I guess.” You shrugged, not really having any other idea. “Which would be the temple cave thing. You transported us out of there, can you get us back in?”

Billy gave you his typical “I don’t know” face before it switched to one of concentration. He focused on taking you all back to the temple. Nothing seemed to happen, so you thought of something else.

“What if you all try?”

You watched them all concentrate on teleportation. You thought you might as well try too, closing your eyes tightly. When you opened them again, the bright lights and skyline of the city were gone, replaced by the rock walls of the temple.

“You guys can teleport!” You said, in a very Freddy-like manner.

Billy held the orb, looking for where it went. His eyes darted wildly, but Freddy’s locked on to something, Terminator-style.

“The pedestal, over there.”

“You sure this is gonna work?” Billy asked, placing the orb over the pedestal. A weird cage thing solidified around it, holding it floating in place.

“Told ya,” Freddy announced, as seven plumes of smoke left the orb. The plumes rebuilt broken statues of the monsters you had fought, each one even as terrifying in stone as they were in real life.

You just hoped they remained as stone for many years to come.

“You guys know what this place is, right?” Freddy asked, and you nodded in excitement. He had whispered it to you earlier, and you had to try very hard not to geek out.

“A dark, haunted cave with demon statues,” Darla said, and she wasn’t wrong.

“Well, yes, but also…” You and Freddy looked over at Billy, who looked at you weirdly. You saw the confusion being replaced by realisation, and then excitement.

“Lair! We got a lair!”

No one else was anywhere near as excited as you, Billy and Freddy were, but that didn’t matter.

“We got a lair.” Freddy smiled stupidly, giggling to himself.

“What’s a lair?”

***

That night, after Freddy had flown you home, even though you insisted you’d be fine on your own, you had told your dad every single detail of the events that had just occurred.

Two hours after your return, your dad knew everything. Billy skipping school, going with Freddy to find him, the bus, the argument, the supervillain, getting kidnapped briefly, the monsters, the temple, and the final battle.

He had listened intensely, saving his questions for the end of your story. When you wrapped up your story with Freddy bringing you home, your dad opened his mouth to start his questions.

“Are you hurt?” Head shake no.

“Did any of them get hurt?” Head shake no, again.

“So they know about your powers?” Head nod yes.

“And Freddy brought you home?” Head nod yes.

“And you’re together now?” Head nod y- wait, what?

Your jaw dropped open, as your dad didn’t try to hide his laughter. You burned red, fiddling with your hands. Your dad either maintained boundaries or never had them, and there was no in-between.

“W-We’re not together. Sure, I like him and I think mayb-” You looked down, not only because you were saying too much, but because you felt your phone buzzing in your pocket.

You saw Billy’s contact, looking at it in confusion, but you picked up the call.

“Billy? What’s up?” You saw your dad listening in.

“I need your help with something. You said the other day that your dad knows Superman.” Once again, your comment has landed you in deep shit.

“Uh, yeah, what about it?”

“Can you get him to come to school for lunch tomorrow?” Your eyes darted up to your dad, who could hear the entire conversation.

“I’ll, uh, see… what are you planning?”

“I thought you’d want to help me surprise Freddy.” Now that Freddy was in the picture, you couldn’t back out.

“Oh, yeah I’ll see if I can get him immediately.”

“Thank you so much, Freddy will be thrilled. See ya tomorrow.” He hung up, and you looked sheepishly at your dad.

“So, uh, abo-”

“I’m going.” You blinked a few times as if that would confirm that you heard your dad correctly. “Look, I want to meet this Freddy you keep talking about. Make sure he’s good enough for my baby daughter.”

“Fine, just be gentle with Freddy. I don’t want him running away from me.”

“He’s in love, he won’t go running.” Your dad smirked, seeing how flustered you got. You stood up from the couch, heading out into the hallways, but not before turning back around, trying not to laugh at your dad’s childish actions.

“I’m going to bed before you embarrass me more.”

***

Freddy walked through the cafeteria, trying to find a table with some empty seats. He spotted one up near the back and redirected his path. Sitting down at the table, it wasn’t long before everyone at the table got up and left.

Freddy acted like he didn’t care, but deep down, he felt a pang of sadness. He hadn’t seen you since before school, and he already missed you. He wasn’t ashamed to say that maybe he might be in love with you.

“What are you doing?” The annoying voice of Brett Breyer came from beside him. “Waiting for your imaginary BFF to show up?” Burke went to grab a chip from Freddy’s plate when his hand was swatted away by yours.

“No, just waiting for me.” You sat down at the table, moving your chair closer to Freddy’s. The brothers walked away to a different table, not before Burke knocked Freddy in the head with his elbow. You gave them both middle fingers, much like Freddy had done when they almost ran him over.

“Sorry, I'm late. I got caught up in class,” You lied, “Teacher wanted to talk to me about a paper we had to write.”

“All good things, I suppose?” Freddy smiled, leaning on his hand.

“Yeah, yeah. She said it was an outstanding piece of writing.” You kept lying, only feeling a pang of slight guilt.

“Well, yeah, duh. You’re smart enough to go to MIT or Harvard or something.” You went an alarming shade of red. Freddy always knew the right thing to say, even when you were blatantly lying to him. “Just, don’t go there without me.”

“I’d never dream of it, Freeman.”

Your little moment was interrupted by four trays hitting the table, and four people sitting in chairs. Freddy looked at his siblings in confusion.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“Well, we’re having lunch with you,” Mary said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“But you guys have different lunch periods.”

“Well, we made a very special arrangement.” They all nodded in agreement. You tried to look past their not so great acting and lying skills.

Freddy’s eyes moved to his little sister.

“Darla, what’s going on?”

“Why are you asking me?” She asked, innocently, though she suffered from Freddy’s issue of always looking slightly suspicious.

“Freddy Freeman.” You all hid your smiles as Billy walked into the cafeteria. You heard a wave of silence pass across the entire room. Freddy covered his face in surprise and embarrassment. “This guy taught me everything I know about being a dope superhero. True story. You should get some pointers from him.”

Billy sat down on the seat besides Freddy, really laying his acting on thick. “What’s going on, my best bud in the whole world? Hey, Y/N, you’re here too! And also new kids that I’m meeting for the first time but seem very cool.”

You let out a short string of giggles, only continuing when you saw the dumbfounded looks on the Breyers faces.

“Uh… I invited another friend. I hope that’s okay.”

You couldn’t keep the smile off your face as you saw your dad walk in, red cape and all. Every single person in the room gasped, pointing at the man that just walked through the door. As your dad approached the table, Freddy turned his head away from Billy, noticing the shadow.

He looked up, letting out an adorable yelp of shock as his idol stands beside him. You move a seat over, letting your dad sit down. Freddy seemed to be frozen in shock, only his eyes moving. You had a stupid look of affection on your face, so utterly in love with this dork.

Freddy suddenly broke out of his frozen state, a sudden tsunami of questions spilling out. He barely left any time for your dad to speak. Your dad glanced down, seeing your gaze on Freddy and the lovestruck expression on your face.

The bell rang, and Freddy sighed, going to grab his crutch and go to class. Billy held out an arm to stop him, and Freddy looked at his brother in surprise.

“We got special permission to miss the last lessons of class, we just have to stay in here.” You explained, “But they only let the two of us stay. Apparently any more than that, and it would be way harder to explain.”

Freddy said goodbye to his sibling, your dad also wishing them farewell. Once they were gone, your dad dropped his proper superhero facade, but not completely.

“So, Freddy,” You smiled at Freddy’s gasp of shock at hearing his name coming from his idol’s mouth, “I hear that you’re some new, hotshot superhero, alongside Billy here.” Freddy nodded along, wondering if Billy had told Superman everything.

“Well, if you need any tips, I’ll make sure to get back to you.”

“Sure, dad, you can’t even message me back and I’m your own kid.” You snorted, not realising what you had said. Freddy and Billy stared at you wide-eyed. “What? Did I say som- Oh. well, haha, surprise?”

You looked to your dad for help, but he was looking at the clock on the wall.

“Well, my time is up, I have work. See you after school, Y/N. Have fun explaining. It was great to meet you, boys. Freddy, you have permission to date her.”

And with that comment that left you and Freddy a burning red, your dad ran out of the school building. Billy went to speak but just ran out with no words.

You turned to the curly-haired boy, who was staring at the door in which your dad had run out of.

“Freddy, I’m s-”

“I’m in love with you.”

“W-what?”

Freddy grabbed your face, practically smashing his lips against yours. It was extremely messy and chaotic, and neither of you knew what you were doing, but it was perfect. You pulled apart eventually, both of you giggling like preschoolers.

“I’m in love with you, too.”

#freddy freeman #freddy freeman x reader #shazam #shazam x reader #dc #dc x reader #dceu #dceu x reader

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televisionboy · 4 years

Note

hi!!! i love your fics and love your blog even more! i was wondering if you’re still taking requests and if not pls ignore and be safe and healthy!! if you are, is it possible to write a Speirs imagine from best friends to lovers? ty🥺❤️

The 3 times Speirs made you smile and the 1 time you made him

Thank you to everyone who helped my dumb ass with locations and events.

Dedicated for @immrsronaldspeirs

Word count: 1,794

Tag list: @adamantiumdragonfly @raven-has-no-gender2272 @thatsonefishyboi @immrsronaldspeirs @punkgeekchic @inglourious-imagines @3milesup @murphyism @noneofurbusinez @hufflepuffpancakes @sunnyshifty @meteora-fc @alienoresimagines @band-of-bitches @wexhappyxfew @we-always-hit-our-ass @deldontplay @lovingunderratedcharacters @fromtheoldtimes @contrabandhothead @tremendousjudgesuitcasestudent @georgeluzwarmhugs @sunflowerchuck @sodapop182 @hoosiers-blanket @speirs-crazy-ass @mrseasycompany @vat69nix @stressedinadress @tyenesnakes

The first time you met Ronald Speirs was after the jump on d-day it wasn’t you hanging out with Luz, Skip, Malarkey, and Penkala that attracted him to you. It was your caring side, the side that helped people emotionally and physically up. Was it love at first sight? For him; it was. “And what’s your name, solider” he asked while seeing you. “I- Y/L/N, Y/N” inside him, it felt like a million butterflies exploded. But he nodded and walked away. Malarkey turned to you, his jaw open wide “Do you even know who that is?” You shook your head but watched the handsome Lieutenant walk away. “That’s Ronald Speirs” he whispered.

“So?” Why was Malarkey so scared? What did this Ronald Speirs do?”

“I could’ve sworn he was shooting the German POWS, he offered them cigarettes and shot them. But left one to survive” you raised your eyebrows but cut Don off “I’m going to go talk to Winters, alright? Find out where we are”

You walked over to the circle that Buck, Winters, and Speirs was. “Winters? Sir? Do you have any idea what our orders are?” He turned to you and moved a little to let you stand next to him without it looking like you were behind them. “No idea Y/L/N, still waiting but I’ll let you know, alright?” You muttered a “yes sir” and watched as Winters walked away to go find Nixon. Speirs turned to you “Y/L/N? We met back there?” You nodded your head, yes. “You got any cigarettes?”

“Uh” you patted your front pocket until you could feel a box, took it out and handed it over to him “I do” he lit one and gave you back the box. “No, keep it. I don’t really smoke, just won it from a fellow solider”

“Where you from Y/L/N?” He puffed out a smoke, careful not to breathe directly in front of your face as you told him.

“What about you?”

“From Boston” you smiled “My cousins live there, it’s quite a beautiful place”

He looked confused, almost as if he didn’t quite agree with you “the rurual parts are, yes” you were about to ask him a question but were cut off when he was called over. “Well thanks for the smoke” he brang his hand out to shake yours and you shook it “Anytime”

He gave you a tight lipped ‘almost’ smile and left, little did he know you had tiny little heart eyes and a huge smile on your face and Liebgott came up to you to ask what that was all about

2. When he arrived in Bastogne, the first thing you did was beg someone to take him away. It was unsafe territory and you would never forgive yourself if he got hurt. You slid into your foxhole you shared with Ronald Speirs. Stupid cold, Florida isn’t like this. California isn’t like this. TOCCOA ISN’T LIKE THIS! Ron slid into the foxhole after you, fishing around in his pocket for cigarettes and letting out several breaths that looked like he was smoking. You stared into the dark, crisp, night air before he called your name “Y/N” which led you to snap out of it “Hm?”

“I asked if you wanted a cigarette” he plainly said, Bastogne was wearing on everyone. You had bags under your eyes and Speirs had dark circles around his eyes, but despite that he still looked handsome as ever. “Yes please” he handed you a cigarette and you leaned forward so he could light it. As he did that, he really got a clear look at your face. Bags, hands freezing, hair a mess. It wasn’t exactly a beauty pageant but he didn’t want you feeling terrible.

“Have you slept here? At all?” He sternly asked “I’d be surprised if anyone has” you muttered, ignoring the question. “Y/L/N” he quietly pressed, careful not to bring attention but low enough to make it seem intimidating. “No okay, no I haven’t. I’ve been too busy focusing on not dying” you seethed while whispering. He sighed and his head fell back against the cold, snowy, frozen foxhole. “Come here”

You scooted across the foxhole to sit next to him, “You have a few hours, try to sleep alright?” You stomped the rest of the cigarette and layed against his shoulder “Thanks” he responded with a kiss on your forehead. “Anything for you, angel” you lifted your head up a bit, your cheeks bright red “angel?” You could’ve sworn you saw his cheeks heat up, but to this day he still says it was because of the cold. Not that you’ll press him but you know you’re right. “You’re an angel to all of these men here Y/N, now try to sleep” he simply stated like it was no big deal. You slept that night with a grin on your face.

Luz sorting Hershey bars and not letting anybody even go near them was humourous. When he saw Liebgott try to steal one he almost asked Martin to come over and be his body guard, but chickened out. You were sitting on a stool next to Joe trying to get a bar for yourself, George would not budge. Guess they got to him because he loudly declared himself done with it. When you heard someone ask where Speirs was, your cheeks heated up “Yeah, where is he?” Liebgott bumped shoulders with you “I’m sure you want to know where your boyfriend is!”

"We’re not dating, shut up” you blushed and smacked Liebs arm. “Down by the river, sir” George responded and you hopped up. “I have to go. George remember, Hershey bar for me please!” You winked and walked to the door “Yeah, yeah. I’ll see what I can do” he muttered before Liebgott heard that and started whining all over again.

When you got to the river you saw Dick and Nix walk by which meant Speirs was probably still there. Nix gave you a subtle wink.

“Hey” you softly said and Speirs jumped a little at the sound of your voice, even in a war surrounded by men (and you) a woman’s voice was still rare to him, especially such a gorgeous voice like yours. He hugged your side but returned to looking out the binoculars. “You ready for the patrol tonight?” You asked him

“Yeah, I hope” he shakily said, you were on the list for the patrol but he requested (more like threatend) that you be removed. He was scared, he hardly got through Bastogne with you emotionally. Don’t even get him started on physically. You shuffled around in your pocket and pulled out the remains of your chocolate bar and handed it to him “thought you could use something sweet” he stared at your hand like it was green and was talking, chocolate was brand new to him now. He scoffed but took it anyways “I already have you for that”

Leave it to Ron to make you blush, but you shook your head. “I was worried Bastogne rubbed off on me, wouldn’t want to become depressed. Believe me, I love Malarkey like my brother but he’s not the same. More.. quiet and it freaks me out, yknow?”

“I would hate if you lost your sparkling personality and I’m glad it didn’t rub off on you completely”

He looked into his binoculars again, staring at enemy territory “That’s because I had you with me. You kept me sane” you breathed out, you couldn’t tell if he was smiling or not but you could definitely see his apple red cheeks. He removed the binoculars and turned to you, brushing the hair out of your face.

“Malarkey will be fine, Y/N. I swear on that statement. War rubs off on everybody. And nobody will bring you down or wipe that smile off of your face, or I’ll have to kill them” you giggled and he brought you to him, embraced you in a warm hug. Your head against his chest and his arms around you. Little did you know he wasn’t joking, and the whole company knew it too. When you pulled back, you realized you were dangerously close to his face. He looked into your eyes, as if asking if it was alright to continue. To which you smiled softly and leaned in closer and closer. The moment your lips nearly touched your name was called by Winters. “Y/L/N! Can I see you for a moment please?” You called out a “yes sir” before saying goodbye to Speirs. Embarrassed and left wondering if you would ever have that moment again.

You were laying on the chair at hitlers nest. Hitler was dead, the Germans surrendered. You were interlocking hands with Speirs, you didn’t care he was too drunk. Winters had already left with Nixon to show him Hitlers alcohol collection which left you with Ron and a ranting Welsh. You turned over to look at Welsh, blinking the sun out of your eyes “that’s nice”

“I gotta take a piss, I’m gonna find a bathroom”

You watched as a drunken Harry stumble his way away. You stood up to sit on the balcony across from Speirs, staring out at the view. He stood up and wrapped his arms around you and rested his head on your chest. “Okay! Okay! Let me get down for a second..”

You hopped off and leaned against the wall, him leaning in to you. Cupping your face in his hands and gulped “We’re all alone” he softly said

“That we are” you whispered. Leaning in closer to him but you closely looked to see if Winters was there to call your name before you kissed him. But he wasn’t and you closed the gap, kissing him and smiling into it too. He ran his hands down your sides, the kiss was full of sadness, passion, relief, and anything you experienced during the war after 3 years.

You broke the kiss for air “I’ve been waiting a while to do that” you gasped.

“As have I” he laughed a blushing, red Speirs was left standing before you. “Happy VE Day” he grinned up at you, happier than ever

You sighed contentedly “I can’t wait to go home to Boston with you” you ran your hands through his messy,dark,curls. He kissed your chin, neck, and cheek several times. “We can live in the beautiful, rural part” he smiled

After 3 years he remembered that conversation. Your mom told you that war was not a place to look for love but you strongly disagreed because before you, stood a man who you met when you were scared of the rumors of him. But you became his best friend, and soon to be his wife. You made Ronald Charles Speirs laugh and smile and that deserved an award.

#band of brothers #band of brothers x reader #band of brothers headcanons #band of brothers imagine #ronald speirs #ronald speirs imagine #ronald speirs x reader #ronald speirs headcanons

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taelme · 5 years

Text

Dance major!Sicheng

genre: school!au, dance major!sicheng (slight angst, fluff, slow burn)

pairing/s: Sicheng / Reader (ft Xiaojun, Ten and Renjun n some of the 127 boys!)

word count: 18k+

tw: mentions of alcohol use, like tension between Sicheng and his parents...(this is fictional of course pls keep this in mind Sicheng’s relationship with his parents that I portrayed in this is in not real and this is just based off of personal experience pls)

a/n: only now am I realizing how many of my works include substance use lmao I need to calm down.. anyway this is just something I wanted to do for Sicheng inspired by his ‘lovely’ dance with Ten for ‘Rainbow V’ as well as by the videos of him dancing Chinese traditional dance in general!! believe me,... the amount of videos and compilations I've watched of him doing traditional dance is....a lot more than I'm proud to disclose HAHHA .. also there are some mandarin words mentioned here that I referenced from things sicheng has said before so yes that's all anyway enjoy!!

“We’re gonna have to start closing up soon,” you murmured, leaning down to massage your calf, beginning to feel sore after what felt like a whole day of standing.

It was your faculty’s turn to raise money for underprivileged students in your school to start the second half of the semester, the classes in your department setting up various booths ranging from food and beverage to booths like yours, selling customized handmade bracelets.

“You look tired,” one of your friends told you, earning a wholehearted nod from you.

“Very.”

Laughing, she shook her head at you, handing you the file containing your money collected from your sales, “D’you mind helping us collate this? We’ll go grab the rest of our bags and stuff from the lounge.”

You nodded, getting your phone out and kneeling at the table, dividing the money by quantity and starting to key in your phone calculator, your train of thought getting interrupted when you’d received a text from your friend Xiaojun, finishing your calculations before checking his message.

xiaojun 5:07pm -i can come to ur booth now !-

You huffed, your knees starting to hurt from the rough surface of the floor, typing out your reply to him with your pen still clasped in your hand.

5:09pm -we’re already almost closing ure a little late-

xiaojun 5:09pm -its ok i have friends with money they can donate even if they dont buy anything! where is ur booth-

5:09pm -@ the entrance of the design and performing arts school- xiaojun

Xiaojun 5:09pm - perfect -

“Y/N!” you heard the echo of someone whose voice was so distinctively Xiaojun it gave you goosebumps, looking up from your phone and spotting the boy himself walking alongside two other boys.

You first noticed they were very well dressed, giving you the vibe that they were from the design and arts department, possessing a different sort of charisma that was made even more obvious when they were walking next to a bouncy smiley Xiaojun.

You gave him a grimace, looking back at the list of ibanking transactions, adding up the total of that with what you’d calculated for physical money, eyebrows raised in surprise at the total, not expecting to have raised so much more than your class had initially expected.

“Y/N, this is Ten and Sicheng,” Xiaojun gestured to the two boys next to him, identifying the shorter of the two with short cropped hair with multiple piercings adorning his ear to be Ten, and the other taller boy with dark brown hair to be Sicheng, who simply gave you a nod in greeting.

“Nice to meet you,” Ten had smiled at you, instantly brightening his demeanour as he gravitated towards the beads and string. “Can I make one?” he was already starting to pick up the roll of thread, measuring it around his wrist.

“You didn’t even wait for her to say yes,” Sicheng pointed out with a sigh despite being busy with his phone, causing Ten to give you a sheepish smile.

You nodded reassuringly, gesturing to the materials, “sure, go ahead, we’re already done for the day, anyway,” you smiled.

Xiaojun had made his way around the table, making a loud displeased sound when he saw that you were kneeling on the floor. “Can’t you at least sit on a chair or something?” he clucked his tongue, making you roll your eyes. Your bickering had unknowingly caught Sicheng’s attention, the boy silently observing the way you and Xiaojun interacted as he typed out a reply to Renjun who was currently asking where on earth he was.

“I would if there was any chairs here,” you scoffed.

Xiaojun was about to retort when his gaze flickered to the numbers you were so busy writing down, “Wow! You guys made this money just selling bracelets?!” You shushed him quickly, not wanting to attract unwanted attention, but at the mention of money, Sicheng visibly perked up, making his way away from Ten to the table you and Xiaojun were at, curious to see the amount.

His eyes widened upon seeing the number, glancing quickly at the rates you sold each bracelet for.

“Wow,” he drawled, his eyebrows raising in surprise, “have you guys done this before?”

You were startled to find how different his voice sounded from what you’d expected, low and holding a certain thickness to the sound. Watching him pull the sleeves of his sweater to his elbows, he’d picked up the sheet of paper, analysing it before placing it back down on the table with a nod, looking back at you for your reply.

You knew you thought he was pretty when you first saw him, but your breath hitched at the discovery that he was even prettier up close. Sicheng. Even his name was pretty. You thought Xiaojun took care of his appearance, but Sicheng was on a whole other level.

Realising he was still waiting for your reply, you quickly shook your head, watching how his lips curved into a small smirk, nodding with an impressed pout on his lips.

“Well you should, you wouldn’t even need to get part-time jobs if you just promoted these,” he proposed casually. This earned him an obnoxious snicker from Ten, whose neck was still craned as he made his bracelet, struggling with a particularly small one.

“Saying it like that isn’t gonna make them give you any of the profit, you know,” Ten’s teasing tone did nothing to deter Sicheng, who simply shrugged.

Xiaojun chimed in quickly, waving his finger at Sicheng as he laughed with Ten, “This guy’s like that. He’ll propose the idea and make you do everything else,” he told you, making Sicheng scoff, a small smile of embarrassment on his face at his friends’ teasing.

“That’s called doing business. It’s so troublesome to do all of it yourself, might as well get people to help you carry it out,” Sicheng gestured as he spoke, waving his friends off. You scrunched your nose in amusement, shoving Xiaojun aside so you could straighten up, putting the paper with the calculations into the file with the money and setting it aside.

Sicheng tried not to make it too obvious that he kept looking at you, deciding to pretend to be interested in what Ten was doing so you wouldn’t notice his furtive glances. “Who are you making that for?” he nudged Ten.

“Not you.”

A sharp tut of the tongue left Sicheng’s mouth.

“Yeah, I know. I wasn’t—never mind forget I asked,” he laughed, taking his phone out to act busy with it.

You spotted the teacher-in-charge of the event gesturing for you to start packing up.

“Do you guys need help cleaning up?” Xiaojun gestured at the tables.

You’d started by squatting next to the table, picking up the multitude of beads that had fallen down throughout the day. Sicheng had gone over to help you since Xiaojun had chosen to hurry Ten into making his bracelet so you could pack up. He’d noticed how poorly you were balancing, wanting to tell you you could let him do it but he was interrupted by the buzzing of his phone, getting a phone call from somebody but simply tucking his phone between his ear and shoulder as he continued picking up the beads.

“Y/N,” you heard your friend’s voice, turning around a little too quickly and almost stumbling, anticipating the impact on your bum when you felt a hand on your arm, pulling you steady. Eyes widening, you regained your balance quickly, Sicheng still talking to whoever was on the phone in what you could decipher to be rushed chinese, casually removing his hand from your arm.

“What are you doing?” Renjun’s tone was exasperated, “You said you’d be here 10 minutes ago!”

Sicheng straightened up once your friend had approached you, “I got held back, I’m helping Xiaojun’s friend with something,” he emptied his handful of beads into their respective sections.

“I’m hanging up, I’ll be there in 5 minutes,” he told Renjun, hanging up promptly after.

“Guys, I have to leave, i’m gonna go find Renjun,” he spoke, Ten and Xiaojun both turning around and bidding him goodbye as he left.

You’d gotten up a little too late, your conversation with your classmate having distracted you into not noticing Sicheng leaving.

You’d gone to help your classmates bring back the tables to the storeroom, “So...” your friend drawled, mischief laced in her tone, “Xiaojun’s friends, huh?” she smirked, making you roll your eyes, a flustered scoff escaping your lips.

“What about them?” you raised an eyebrow at her, already skeptical about what she was about to say.

She shot you a look of disbelief, her smile widening, “I saw what happened just now, when the tall cutie saved you before you could fall on your ass,” she shrugged in mock nonchalance.

“He kind of scares me...” you admitted, making her burst into laughter, the obnoxious sound echoing in the empty corridor you were walking through.

“Didn’t seem like that just now when he grabbed you,” she sing-songed.

You shot her a glare, dismissing her accusations with a shake of your head. “Can you stack the tables properly,” you gestured to the haphazard stack of tables placed in an empty area of the room in her haste to get it over with, not being able to help yourself from laughing at her sheer excitement.

“Don’t try to avoid my question!” she waggled a finger at you, urging you out of the room so she could continue her interrogation.

“I’m not avoiding it, there’s literally nothing to say! I barely spoke a sentence to him,” you defended.

“What’s his name?”

“Sicheng,” you replied a little too quickly, making her squeal, “I think,” you added, just to make it seem like you totally weren’t sounding out his name in your head just moments before.

"What?" you snapped, hating how embarrassed her cheeky grin was making you, especially with her shrugging her shoulders suggestively, quirking an eyebrow and smirking at you as you returned to where Xiaojun and Ten were, seeing that your other friends had left already.

“Are you going home after this?” Xiaojun came over to you and asked once he'd noticed you were back. You nodded your head, earning a frown from Ten.

“We’re gonna stay to hang with Sicheng and Renjun, see you on Monday, then?”

Nodding, you waved goodbye to the both of them, endeared when you saw that Ten was already proudly wearing the bracelet he made, “Alright, see you.”

Glad to have made new friends, but strangely curious about Sicheng, feeling like you’d just been left hanging.

===

Thankfully for you, you had friends like Xiaojun. Though times like this you weren’t so sure whether you were so thankful for the boy sitting next to you whining about how late his friend was to meet him.

“Maybe he’s busy or something,” you shrugged, adjusting your legs so you were sitting cross legged, your laptop perched on your lap as you continued doing research for your essay.

“If he’s so busy he shouldn’t have started teaching Ren—oh my god, finally!” your head shot up from your laptop, turning to him with a confused gaze before seeing him frowning at something in front of him, turning your head to spot Xiaojun’s friend from that day at the charity event.

“Oh?” you’d accidentally blurted, catching Sicheng’s attention, making him look at you in surprise, giving you a small close-lipped smile in greeting, shoving his hand into his pocket as his other hand fiddled with his phone.

“Where did you go?” Xiaojun asked, genuine confusion laced in his tone, switching to Mandarin while he was talking to Sicheng. Not because he didn’t want you to understand, of course, but more because he was more comfortable this way. (And plus, you liked to think you had sufficient mandarin knowledge).

“What are you talking about? I told you I was outside helping Renjun this whole time,” Sicheng furrowed his eyebrows, a hint of amusement on his features. You understood the part about him being outside, somehow finding Sicheng’s personality to be rather strong, especially showcased when he was speaking mandarin.

Xiaojun’s mouth closed shut, looking slightly embarrassed, ignoring the knowing look you were giving him at how quick he was to scold Sicheng for being late.

“Oh, okay.” Xiaojun bid you goodbye quickly, Sicheng helping him off the floor and leaving promptly.

You found it strange, how he’d spent so much time in your faculty building when he wasn’t even from this faculty, only realizing why when you’d gone to help your groupmates who were spray painting their crafts outside the lounge, seeing the area usually occupied by students from the dance club practicing now taken over by Sicheng and a petite boy that you recognized to be from your faculty.

You heard the petite boy whine sulkily, looking at Sicheng with an exasperated look on his face, simply receiving a shrug and a smile from Sicheng.

“I never said this was easy to do,” he sighed deeply, looking towards the mirror to observe Renjun, catching a glimpse of you in the background.

You held the collar of your shirt over your nose, regretting not having better protection against the fumes of the spray paint, feeling a little bad for the people around you in case the fumes were too strong that it disrupted them as well.

“This one’s done, I’ll bring it aside,” you told your group members, seeing their nods of acknowledgement before using one hand to drag the long and heavy piece of cardboard to the more airy part of the area.

Sighing, you let go of your shirt, dabbing at your sweat with the back of your hand and looking around to see if anyone had been annoyed by the spray paint fumes, accidentally making eye contact with Sicheng through the large mirrors. Something made you feel prompted to say hello, but you decided against it, looking away quickly and continuing with what you were doing.

You tried not to let yourself get too distracted by seeing his demonstrations of the dance he was teaching to Renjun, trying to focus on finishing your task as fast you could so you could go back into the student lounge where there wouldn’t be a Sicheng to distract you.

Settling for just nodding in greeting to him, exchanging small smiles, you carried on seeing him and bumping into him in your faculty. Each time trying to ignore the way your mind was starting to create scenarios in your head about how you would approach Sicheng and start a conversation in another universe where you were confident enough to approach someone as pretty as him.

Sicheng too had been going through a similar dilemma in his head, debating on whether he would send the wrong message if he were to ask too many questions about you. He wasn’t usually the type to put himself out there or pursue potential love interests, it was just something about seeing you around so often and his unceasing curiosity that was starting to get the better of him.

“Your friend is my age, right?” he asked as casually as he could once when he was teaching Renjun at the mirrored area outside the student lounge, curious after seeing the multitude of things it seemed that you had to do (or maybe, just curious about you in general)

Xiaojun shot him a look of confusion, shaking his head rapidly.

“Oh my god, no, she’s my age,” he laughed, finding it weird that Sicheng would think you were his age, wondering momentarily if you looked that old.

“Oh,” Sicheng said, not realizing Xiaojun wasn’t listening to him anymore, too busy deciding whether you looked like a solid 20 year old or barely 19.

“Why’d you ask?” Xiaojun snapped out of his thoughts, turning to Sicheng with a questioning look on his face.

Sicheng shrugged casually, commenting that Renjun had done well before replying Xiaojun, “Nothing. Just…didn’t know why they looked so busy when I look at how free you are,” he grinned cheekily at the end of his statement, letting out a relieved sigh when Xiaojun had bought his excuse.

It wasn’t like Sicheng wasn’t telling the truth, because you did have a lot of things to do. Making Sicheng just the least of your worries at this point. You’d been so busy trying to churn out assignment after assignment that it was starting to take a toll on you. You hadn’t gotten a proper sleep in what was probably weeks, too busy thinking and planning time for all the things that were yet to be done, the constant worrying ridding you of a guilt-free sleep.

It wasn’t any better that you and your friends had all started spending long hours cooped up in the student lounge doing work; going home later and later as a result. And though many people would probably see that as a normal part of school life, you weren’t one for hustle culture, and you definitely weren’t used to experiencing it to such an extent, the stress from it all making you increasingly sensitive.

You’d been with your friend in the student lounge, with her trying her best to help you think of ideas that you could do for your assignment. (You didn’t think of yourself as the most creative person in the world). Hugging your jacket closer to yourself, you sighed, looking at your computer as you wracked your brains to think of a possible solution.

“I'm sorry, writing really isn't my strong suit, but I’ll try my best," she told you, tilting the computer slightly more in her direction, eyes rapidly scanning through what you had typed so far to see if she could get any inspiration for the other aspects of your assignment you had yet to think of.

You felt a sinking feeling in your stomach when you saw that her mom was calling her, asking—or demanding, it was a very fine line these days—her to come home since it was getting late. From the way she'd ended the call and looked at you, a certain reluctance mixed with sympathy in her expression, you already anticipated what she would say next.

"Y/N—" she started hesitantly.

"It's fine, really, your mom's gonna be pissed if you stay. I'll just..." you glanced at your work, trying to ignore the headache building at your temples, "...figure something out."

“—I’m really sorry,” your friend murmured, picking up her bags and shooting you one last sympathetic expression before leaving.

And now that your friend was gone, that left you sitting on the floor of the student lounge, your back against one of the pillars near the corner of the room. At this point, you'd managed to finalize your ideas, desperately wanting to get this over with, but the more you tried to think the more your ideas just weren't making sense.

Sicheng had just finished teaching Renjun for the day, strolling into the student lounge with his water bottle in hand, spotting Xiaojun sitting at the sofas using his phone.

"Renjun went home already?" Xiaojun asked, earning a nod from Sicheng, who flopped down on the sofa next to Xiaojun, a tired sigh leaving his lips.

"Do you have the stuff I needed help printing?" Sicheng felt a wave of relief upon seeing the clear plastic folder Xiaojun had taken out from his bag, handing it to Sicheng. In the process of leaning over to get his bag from where it was next to Xiaojun, Sicheng had caught a glimpse of someone that reminded him of you with your head resting on your folded arms placed on the table.

"You would not believe what I went through this morning..." Xiaojun began, not realizing he may as well have been talking to the wall due to Sicheng clearly being preoccupied with staring at your direction in concern.

Wondering if it was you, he'd glanced at the time on his watch, confirming the first bit about it possibly being you since he'd noticed you tended to stay in the student lounge later during this period.

"Yeah, and to make it even worse they're making us go to the farm!..." Xiaojun went on.

Sicheng’s suspicions were confirmed even more when he'd recognized the jacket you were wearing, having seen you wear it earlier on in the day when you'd greeted him on your way to the washroom.

She seems really tired, maybe I should tell Xiaojun? she is his friend after all...Sicheng contemplated, coming back from his thoughts to look at Xiaojun blankly.

"What did you say?" he asked Xiaojun, seeing the boy look up from his phone.

"Oh. No, I just said I needed to get going, I’m meeting my parents for dinner outside," he said simply, not seeming to have noticed that Sicheng hadn't caught a single word of his that came prior to that.

Nodding slowly, "Oh," Sicheng dragged his gaze away from you. "Okay, I think I’ll just stay here a little longer, I’m kind of lazy to leave.”

Xiaojun wasn't stupid, he'd caught Sicheng staring at your direction the moment he'd grabbed his bag, figuring he would let things flow and wait for the (much expected) updates he was likely to get from you the next day. Eyeing Sicheng suspiciously, he nodded, "Bye, see you," he waved, slinging his bag over his shoulder and leaving.

Sicheng frowned when he'd looked back at you, a part of him growing slightly hopeful when he saw you finally lift your head from the table top, rubbing at your forehead where there was now a red mark, your other hand coming up to wipe your tears roughly.

Seeing as no one else was there, and something was compelling Sicheng to check on you, he did exactly that. Making his way over to you, he crouched down next to where you sat in a squat, the feeling of a presence next to you making you turn, startled when you'd spotted Sicheng there.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Your hands flew to your face in your hurry to wipe the tears threatening to spill, turning your face away from him quickly, pretending to be busy and picking up your drink that had been neglected for God knows how long to take a sip. Ignoring the way the drink tasted diluted now from all your ice having melted, you turned back to him, holding a thumbs up with a small smile.

"Yeah, fine," you managed to muster out, trying to even out your breathing and calm yourself down.

“Uhhh...” he glanced at your face, searching your expression, noticing how your eyes got teary when you looked back at what was on your laptop screen, “hold on,” he murmured, and you tried not to let yourself get too nervous at his proximity.

Sicheng let his legs fold under him, resting his hands on his thighs as he inspected what was on your computer, receiving a pleasant surprise when he’d realized he’d done this module before.

“Do u need help? I did this module last year,” he told you, making your eyes widen, wondering just what you did in your life to warrant you such kindness from a stranger (or acquaintance, if you were being generous).

You shot him a hesitant look, feeling embarrassed if you were to ask someone you barely knew to help with your assignment.

“Honestly, I just need to know if my ideas make sense, because I’m really rushing for time right now and every time I look at them again it just feels like I’m talking a whole lot of bullshit so I’m literally stuck because I can’t think of anything else,” you rambled, out of breath when you were done.

Not that Sicheng minded your rambling, since the boy was more focused on reading whatever you had on your computer screen, his eyes squinting as he concentrated.

In your assumption that he was squinting because he couldn’t see the words well, you’d made the words a lot bigger, making him let out a small huff of laughter.

“Thanks,” he whispered, continuing to read.

“Okay,” he turned to you with a small huff, “it’s really not as bad as you’re making it sound,” you frowned at his wording.

“So it’s bad?” your lips parted in dismay.

He giggled softly, shaking his head, “No, it’s not. After reading it, I can see that you’ve sort of got all your points here, you just need to find a way to pitch them, like...sell it, you know?”

You nodded slowly, looking back at what you’d written. Sicheng figured he’d better guide you through it since your expression remained lost as your hands hovered over your keyboard, not quite knowing how to start.

“Okay, how about, you just try to follow this structure while writing and I’ll guide you as you go, how does that sound?”

You nodded, thoughts wandering to how surreal all of this seemed to you. You already had an interest in Sicheng from all your previous encounters in school, and to have him here now offering to help you with your work just seemed a little too good to be true, like what you’d imagined would only happen to you in another universe but you figured since it was already happening you should put it to full use, nodding at him (it was clear your priorities were a little mixed up now that Sicheng was in the picture).

Sicheng gave you a sweet smile, relieved that you hadn’t rejected his offer. Not wanting to get carried away, he’d immediately started giving you prompts for your first idea. Doing as he told you to, you were surprised at how quickly you were able to get your assignment done. This was of course aside from the time you spent being distracted by his proximity while he pointed at your screen once in a while to tell you what you could do while you were ‘stuck’.

Attributing your success to him having done this subject before, you’d finished way earlier than you expected. However, just glancing at the clock you felt the dread creeping up on you as you thought of what other assignments you had left to do, your long-awaited rest just seeming to grow further and further away from you.

Sicheng leaned back in his seat, resting his elbow on his knee as he looked at you, a small smile playing at his lips as he saw the way you let out a relieved sigh as you hurriedly saved your work.

“Satisfied?” he’d asked once you finished saving your work and closing your laptop.

You couldn’t help yourself from nodding vigorously, immensely thankful for his timely appearance.

“I really can’t be assed to think any more about this stupid assignment,” you admitted, making him laugh, shaking his head.

Glancing at his watch, Sicheng looked back at you with an expectant gaze.

“Do you live nearby?”

You sighed, shaking your head as you stretched your arms out, “Takes me about a half hour bus ride? to get back?” you yawned, hands going to cover your mouth quickly.

His eyebrows raised in surprise, “You should probably be getting back, then, it’s pretty late..” He stood up with a grunt, extending a hand for you to take.

Accepting it, and standing up, you let him go grab his things as you slung your bag over your shoulder, glancing at the other people in the student lounge who were starting to leave as well, knowing for a fact that if Sicheng hadn’t offered to help you, you would be still here looking at them leave in envy.

Walking out of the student lounge with Sicheng, you’d realized just how empty the school was at this time of the day, something about the mood of the sky and the breeze you felt walking out adding to your confusing mix of feelings.

“What bus do you take?” Sicheng asked you.

Replying him quickly, you were confused as to why he’d asked when he’d just continued using his phone after that, frowning as the conversation went silent.

“The next one’s coming in 8 minutes,” Sicheng told you casually, shoving his phone into his pocket.

You never knew Xiaojun had such considerate friends.

“What bus are you taking?” you’d asked, seeing him turn to you briefly before looking back ahead.

“The same one, goes to my house as well,” he told you with a shrug, though obviously he didn’t include the part about it being like 20 minutes longer than his usual bus, but he felt like you could use the company, with the way he could practically hear you stressing from beside him.

“You look really stressed—" he cut himself off at the sound of his ringtone, seeing the caller ID had read that it was his sister, “—wait, hold on.”

He held a hand up in a gesture to stop, picking up the call and switching to mandarin to talk to his sister.

“Where are you? what are you out so late for?” she questioned.

“I’m already on my way back, don’t worry. Don’t call me, I’m hanging up.”

Ending the call quickly, you looked at him in fascination, finding the way he spoke enough to put you in a trance.

“Okay, where were we?” he said, his tone a lot more gentle than it was to whoever he was speaking to on his phone. “Right, I was gonna ask you why you looked so stressed,” he tilted his head at you, spotting the bus driving towards the bus stop.

You huffed in half-hearted laughter, gripping the strap of your bag tighter.

“I mean like...you know, with submissions and everything...it’s kind of hard for me to not think about the rest of the stuff I have left to do,” you murmured.

“Do you have a lot left?” he asked, earning a shrug from you.

You narrowed your eyes in thought before shaking your head, “It’s only a few assignments, but the problem is not really the quantity more than the tedious....ness of the assignment,” you hesitated, unsure if you were speaking actual words, but you were glad that Sicheng didn’t seem to mind, nodding patiently as you spoke.

Getting onto the bus, you’d taken a seat between the window and Sicheng, hugging your bag to your chest, Sicheng fiddling with his phone in his hands.

“I’m sure you’ll find a way through it. I mean, if Xiaojun can do it, you definitely can,” you laughed at his consolation, something in Sicheng feeling triumphant at how he’d been successful in making you smile.

“I sure hope so,” you huffed, letting a silence fall between you both.

"Thank you so much for helping me, by the way," you murmured, seeing him shake his head dismissively.

"It's okay, you don't have to thank me," he laughed.

"No, I do! What are you talking about? You didn't have to help me but you did, so you have to know that I'm really really thankful for that, okay? I like....basically owe you," you frowned.

"Look," he turned to you with a soft smile, "you can worry about repaying me another time, yeah? For now, just focus on getting a good rest at home and getting the rest of your work done."

You hummed, shooting him a reluctant look but nodding anyway, looking out the window at the passing buildings, less clearly visible due to the time of day.

“Which stop are you stopping at?” he asked you after a moment, telling him the location, murmuring that you were about to get off the bus soon, “That’s fast,” he murmured, starting to regret and wonder if he should've used the chance to make more conversation with you during the bus ride.

“How many stops do you have left?” you asked him, seeing him shrug, knowing he had at least nine more.

“About five-ish?” he shrugged, not wanting you to feel bad for him when you were already so stressed from school.

You nodded, “Alright," you frowned at the bus nearing your stop, a part of you wanting to talk more with Sicheng especially since this whole situation made you kind of forget that you had work to do for a moment.

Turning to get out of your seat, he'd given you a shy smile as you tapped out, stopping at the bus stop to wave at him through the window, making him smile at you, waving back but not without mouthing a "dont stress!" to you, holding his fist up in a gesture to cheer you on.

Nodding, you left before your smile could grow any shyer.

===

"Y/N," you heard someone call you while you were in the queue to buy coffee, turning a full circle before realizing Sicheng was standing behind you in the queue, dressed in a plain black shirt, tucked into black jeans, hands fiddling with his phone and wallet in hand.

"Oh, hi!" you said, shock evident in your tone, you noticed the petite boy who you figured was Renjun, standing next to Sicheng, eyeing him suspiciously, before turning to you and giving you a small smile in greeting.

His hair was more messy today, but not the i-just-woke-up kind of messy, but more of the I've-just-been-dancing-and-pushed-my-hair-back kind of messy.

In short, you thought he looked hot.

Brushing the thought away, you thought on your feet, hoping you could find some way to repay him for what he did.

“Believe it or not, I still feel bad about how you stayed behind to help me the other day, can I like...buy you a drink or something? for the sake of my conscience?" you laughed, seeing him tilt his head at you in amusement.

He hummed in thought, "I guess you can make it up to me by getting something to eat with me after your assignments are all over," he shrugged casually.

Renjun looking at him, clearly scandalized, his mouth falling open as if Sicheng had just transformed into another person.

You nodded, collecting your drink, turning back to him with a grin, "I'll take you up on that, see you.”

You tried your best to remain calm, before practically running back into the student lounge and almost tackling your friend with how excited you were.

"What does it mean if a guy you barely know stays back to help you with your work and accompanies you home and then asks you out for a meal after hell week is over?!" your words came out a mile a minute, almost spilling your drink with how she had writhed when you touched her calf, forgetting momentarily how ticklish she was.

"Is it the tall chinese-speaking cutie?!" she asked, earning a vigorous nod from you.

"Yeah! I saw him when I was getting coffee just now, and i was saying like hey, you know, why don't i buy you a drink cause like you know, I felt like I owed him for being so nice to me," you started, your friend nodding along as she listened intently to your story.

You took a sip of your drink halfway, constantly glancing around to check if anyone was within earshot, suddenly embarrassed about telling her what happened.

"Okay, so then, he suddenly says like..." you dropped the tone of your voice to a much lower one in a poor imitation of his voice, "'i guess you can make it up to me by getting something to eat with me after hell week,' and I'm like," you raised your eyebrows, eyes widening and a strangled sound of excitement escaping your lips, not being able to find a word to describe what you were feeling.

"Oh my god....so what did you say?" she asked, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

"I said yes, duh!" you scoffed, groaning at how she'd hit you repeatedly on the thigh after that.

"Do you think I should have, though? I mean, he's like Xiaojun's friend and all, but like still....I don't really understand why he would go out of his way to do that for me?" you frowned, taking a long sip of your coffee.

"I mean, yeah, why not? You could be missing out on a pretty good opportunity here if you say 'no'," she told you matter-of-factly.

You frowned, picking up your laptop and placing it onto one of the stools near you, scrolling to find your work.

"I know, but it's just weird, I mean. No one's ever approached me like that, especially when I don't even know them that well," you made a face of uncertainty to her.

"Maybe you should like interrogate Xiaojun or something, see what kind of person Sicheng is," she shrugged.

You had to say, there were pros and cons to that plan, but you figured it would probably be a good move to do that.

Little did you know Xiaojun was conducting his own interrogation outside the lounge.

"You should've seen him, he was actually initiating an outing with this girl!" Renjun scoffed, looking at Xiaojun in exasperation.

Sicheng rolled his eyes, focusing on stretching before him and Ten started practicing.

"Yeah why don’t you just announce it over the PA system while you’re at it," Sicheng commented, bending down sit on the floor, stretching his leg out and reaching for his foot, grasping it easily.

Ten shot Sicheng a look, "what's your plan?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes at Sicheng.

"I don't know," Sicheng shrugged, Xiaojun didn't seem to be buying any of it.

"Do you like her?" Xiaojun asked, finding it amusing to see how much Sicheng was trying to divert the topic.

"Ten, are you done stretching?" he avoided Xiaojun's question, giving a pointed look to Ten who simply smirked at his friend.

"I'll be done when you answer Xiaojun's question," he shrugged.

Sighing, Sicheng stood up, directing an annoyed look at his friends.

"I wanna get to know her first, okay?"

Ten made a face, trying to stifle his laughter. Renjun simply sighed loudly, "he's gone, just you wait, he's gonna fall in love by next week.” Ten stared wistfully into the distance, causing Xiaojun to erupt in a fit of giggles.

"You know it's true," Xiaojun gave Sicheng a knowing look, simply receiving a shake of the head in response.

"Whatever," he nudged Ten with his shoe, "let's just start."

===

Soon enough (and very fortunately) you were done with your assignments, and though Sicheng still had one major assignment left, the moment Xiaojun had given his contact to you, you had taken the liberty of texting him to let him know you were done with your assignments.

sicheng 7:53pm -congrats, r u taking me up on my offer now, then?-

He had happened to reply you when you were talking to Xiaojun over the phone.

"What do I say?"

Xiaojun groaned, "Why are you asking me?"

"Because you're his friend! You're supposed to tell me how to approach this!" you frowned, though you knew he couldn't see you.

Xiaojun scoffed, "Sicheng is the least romantic person I know, don't get your hopes up.”

You frowned.

“Then do you think i'm getting ahead of myself with this?" Xiaojun could sense the excitement leaving your tone, making him regret saying that, not intending to have upset you, but at the same time not knowing what to tell you since Sicheng wasn't one to show his affection very freely.

"No, i mean like, Sicheng's just kind of weird in how he expresses how he feels," Xiaojun explained.

"So do you think he's just being friendly by asking me out?"

"I don't know, that really depends on how he acts around you from here on, but i've never seen what he's like when he likes someone so I really wouldn't know. But trust me, he's.....interested," he chuckled, making you gasp.

"Don't lie, are you sure?"

"I mean, forget it. It's not my place to say, i'm not him so I really wouldn't know, he's kind of hard to read if you haven't noticed." The thought lingered with you as you typed out a reply to Sicheng.

8:12pm -only if u want ofc-

sicheng 8:15pm - r u free this week? -

You typed out your reply quickly.

8:15pm -i'm free for dinner on wednesday- 8:15pm -i end classes at like 5 that day-

sicheng 8:16pm -sure thing, but i have dance practice until like 6? u ok w meeting at 7?-

You refrained from squealing out of excitement.

8:17pm -sure, see u then! :)-

sicheng 8:17pm - :) -

That was what ended you up in a popular hotpot restaurant at 7, reaching earlier than Sicheng who had texted you saying that he was on the way.

You definitely weren't expecting that he would walk in with the staff greeting him as if he owned the restaurant. Dressed in a casual grey hoodie and dark checkered patterned sweatpants, smoothing his hair down and adjusting his cap as he slid into the booth you were sat at.

"Sorry I'm late, did you have to wait long?" you shook your head. He wouldn't tell you, of course, that the reason he was late being that Ten was busy briefing him on how and how not to act while on a date.

"These soups are really nice, the rest are kind of weird," he admitted, gesturing to a few on the menu.

"Is there anything you don't eat?" he asked, already writing down on the menu, making orders of a considerable amount of dishes.

"Nope, go ahead," you smiled, looking at the menu and making your requests, seeing how he'd called the waiter over and ordered quickly, as if he'd done this a thousand times.

"You seem to be pretty familiar with the place, are you like a regular here?" you asked, seeing him rest his elbows on the table, covering his mouth with his hands as he smiled shyly.

Nodding with a small shrug, Sicheng glanced around at the interior of the restaurant.

"Used to come here a lot back when it wasn't so expensive, now it's kind of like a once in a while kind of thing, but the food here is great," he told you with conviction, his phone lighting up with notifications but he'd simply pushed it aside on the table.

"What did you do today?" he asked.

"Nothing interesting, if that's what you're wondering," you laughed, "just lessons, we haven't gotten any of our assignments back yet, Imean, not that I want to but-yeah." You stopped yourself, realizing you were rambling and trying your best to ignore the way Sicheng was looking at you, his blank expression making you feel like you were boring him.

Little did you know Sicheng was busy distracted by the way your lips moved when you talked, accompanied with the sweet tone of your voice making him almost forget he was part of the conversation.

"That's pretty much it, what about you?" you pressed your lips together, seeing him look up, trying to remember where you stopped.

"Right, okay. I just had a meeting with Ten to practice for our showcase, which is basically our last assignment but it's not due for another few weeks."

Your eyes widened, nodding at him, "That's pretty cool, do you guys get to choose what you dance to?"

Nodding, he moved back in his seat as a waiter came to deliver your food, giving her a nod in thanks.

"To put it simply we get to choose the song ourselves and choreograph a routine, design the set blah blah blah the whole production has to be designed by us basically, on top of the write up and the oral presentation," he told you after the waiter had left.

"That sounds tough," you murmured, reaching for the plate of meat but Sicheng had gotten to it before you could, "It's okay, don't worry. I'll do the work," he told you, the tip of his tongue peeking out from his lips in his concentration as he placed the different items you ordered into the soup.

"I guess it is tough but you know, it's worth it when you get on stage and feel everything come together and just....you know, dance," he shrugged, glaring at the meat as if it would make it cook quicker.

"So—" you were startled when you saw one of the staff of the place, seeming to be one of the managers, approach Sicheng with a loud squeal, draping her hand over his shoulder as he beamed at her, greeting her before she'd started speaking to him in mandarin.

"Si si! It's been so long since I've seen you! How are you?"

He nodded politely, "I've been good, just busy with school. You guys look like business has been pretty good here?”

She nodded at him with a proud smile.

"Of course! you were right, word of mouth does wonders," she told him, nudging him and looking at you with a smirk. "Are you not gonna introduce us to each other?"

Sicheng smiled shyly getting your attention in english, introducing you to her, seeing her smile after you greeted her.

"Are you sure she's just your friend?"

Sicheng scoffed, "Don't talk nonsense," he laughed, making her let out a sound of disbelief.

You'd managed to pick up on what they were saying, understanding this part since you heard Xiaojun say it pretty often.

"Whatever you say, Si si. Okay, okay. I won't interrupt you two any longer," she drawled, smirking.

Sicheng shooed her away promptly, and you swore his cheeks started tinting pink as he turned back to you and apologized.

"Well she seems nice," you smiled, starting to eat after Sicheng had deemed the meat to be cooked enough.

“How is it?” he asked, eyes widening and an eager smile on his face as he gripped his chopsticks in anticipation.

Upon tasting the meat, your eyebrows lifted, Sicheng mirroring your wide-eyed expression as his smile grew bigger.

“Wow, it’s really good,” you hummed.

Sicheng clasped his hands together triumphantly, nodding his head at you with an overconfident smirk, “Of course it’s good! Since I was the one that recommended this place,” he held his arms up in a shrug.

You rolled your eyes, giggling at his demeanour as he put more food into the pot.

"Did you understand what she was saying?" he asked you.

You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion, seeing him gesture with his thumb over his shoulder and you realized he was referring to the staff. You raised a hand, tilting it in a 'somewhat' gesture.

"Roughly, I used to learn mandarin when i was younger but it's been pretty long since then and I lost most of my knowledge, I only understand bits and pieces that i've heard from Xiaojun before," you laughed, the way he looked at you with a mischievous glint in his eye making you feel a certain type of way.

"So you don't understand what I'm saying now?" he asked you in mandarin, making you narrow your eyes at him.

"I feel like you're asking me if I understand what you're saying...." you guessed, eyebrow raising in the hope that you were correct. Your heart practically jumping at the way his lips curved into a smile, nodding.

He'd set his chopsticks down, holding his head up with his hand, elbow resting on the table as he looked at you curiously.

"What if i said you were a rice bucket (饭桶)?" you didn't catch what he said, the way he pronounced words being rather rushed, tending to mesh and mumble his words together, unlike Xiaojun who tended to enunciate his words strongly.

You frowned at him, chewing your food as you thought, piecing together the words you'd managed to catch, "I eat rice?" you asked.

You weren't expecting the burst of laughter Sicheng had erupted in, his deep laugh sounding throughout the booth you were in, making your eyes widen and look over to see if anyone was looking, thankfully seeing none.

"What's so funny about that?" you asked, genuinely concerned, meanwhile Sicheng seemed to find it the funniest thing ever that you didn't understand him, shaking his head at you.

"Nothing, you're correct," he said, calming down and sipping his drink, his cheeks red from how hard he'd laughed, scrunching his eyes shut in a failed attempt to stop laughing.

You'd let a silence fall between you two as you ate, Sicheng was almost done with his food, forgetting what Ten had told him about his bad habit of eating quickly so no one could take his food.

Glancing at the pot of soup, he'd picked up pieces of meat with his chopsticks, placing it into your bowl, something that he'd never done before other than for his parents, his behaviour shocking even himself.

Nodding gratefully but hoping you could hide how flustered you were, you broke the silence, asking, "anyway, are other people allowed to go for the showcase?" you asked, seeing his eyebrows raise.

"Uh-huh.”

You felt your anxiousness increase, having expected him to ask if you'd wanted to go, now making you wonder if it'd be weird if you asked if you could go watch.

"Can I uh...watch?" you asked, diverting your gaze to your food immediately after you asked, missing the way he scrunched his nose up with a smile, pressing his lips together to contain it before replying to you.

"No," he joked, making your head shoot up.

Sicheng giggling at your reaction, "I'm kidding, of course you can. I'll let you know the details closer to the date." he told you.

"You're not from my faculty, right? I was wondering cause you're in our building so much you could actually pass off as a student there," you laughed, seeing him give you a sheepish look.

"Well, I mean, i'm from the dance department but I've spent a lot of time in your faculty building recently ‘cause one of my juniors Renjun asked me for help for one of his routines and it was a good meeting space for us, since it had that area with the mirrors and all," he gestured with his hand as he spoke, picking his chopsticks back up and shoveling the noodles into his mouth.

You made a 'o' shape with your mouth in understanding.

"Which year are you in?" you asked him.

"I'm in my last year, actually. the showcase is kind of part of our graduating project," your eyes widened, realizing this made him your senior.

"Oh," you murmured. Seeing your phone light up in your lap with a text from Xiaojun.

xiaojun 7:40pm - hows ur date going -

You saw Sicheng move as if getting ready to stand, "Where are you going?"

"Bathroom, be back soon," he murmured. You simply nodded, too preoccupied with replying Xiaojun to pay attention to anything else.

7:40pm - pretty good, kinda weird. he told me in chinese that i ate rice for some reason -

xiaojun 7:41pm - r u sure he didnt just call u a fan tong -

You frowned.

7:41pm - he did....but isn't that what it means???-

xiaojun 7:42pm - no omg can u just... google what it means -

You did as he had instructed, understanding why Sicheng was laughing so much when you'd seen what it meant, and just as you'd found out, he'd come back to the table, hands resting in the front pocket of his hoodie.

"Ready to go?" you nodded.

"Also, you're a rice bucket!" you told him, seeing him laugh, realizing you'd found out what it meant. But you were momentarily distracted when he'd walked right past the cashier.

"Hey hey, wait aren't we gonna pay?" you grabbed his arm, seeing him shake his head and continue walking, dragging you out with him.

"I paid already," he nodded goodbye at the cashier, leaving you to fumble for words as he waved the receipt at you as proof.

"What the heck, when?"

Sicheng shrugged, "when you were busy finding out what a rice bucket meant."

"Well, then how much do I owe you?" you asked, trying to get the receipt from him, seeing him shove his hands back into his front pocket.

Sicheng pointed at a nearby convenience store, "wanna get ice cream?"

"Sicheng," you frowned, reaching over in an attempt to pull his hands out of his pocket to get the receipt, seeing him pull out the receipt quickly, tearing it into pieces and throwing it into the next trashcan you walked past.

"What did you do that for?!" you whined, letting him lead you across the street to the same line as the convenience store he was pointing at earlier.

He turned to you with a blank expression.

"Look, I said you could repay me by coming to eat with me, not paying for my meal," he gave you a calm shrug, "plus, i chose the place, wouldn't be nice to make you pay ‘cause its so expensive."

"And it's fair for you to pay?" he gave you a tired look.

"This isn't about being fair, Y/N. It's about me paying because i wanted to, alright?" you scrunched up your nose in distaste, but chose to accept your fate anyway since he was so insistent about it.

"I take it back, you're not a rice bucket," you huffed.

He'd led you into the convenience store, grinning at the wide variety of ice cream, Sicheng choosing his quickly, glancing at the aisle of candy and sweets.

"Do you want any of that?" you asked, watching him drag his gaze away from the colourful array of snacks to look at you with an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Are you offering to get it for me?" you shrugged, pulling the ice cream bar you wanted out of the cooler and shutting it tightly.

"I want to," you said, emphasizing your tone to make it similar to his when he'd explained the whole paying situation to you.

Sicheng grinned, moving to the aisle and picking out a packet of cookies, handing it to you together with his ice cream with a childlike smile on his face.

After paying, you'd walked out of the convenience store, Sicheng ripping open the packet of his ice cream quickly, taking a bite out of it and waving his arms happily.

Dear God, please help me not make it too obvious that I think Sicheng’s absolutely adorable.

"Is it far from here to your house?" Sicheng asked, and only then did you look at your surroundings, realizing you may be closer to your house than he thinks.

"There's actually a way to walk from here to my house," you said, seeing him nod.

"Alright, let's go."

"Huh?" your eyes widened, biting your ice-cream in your shock and shivering as a result.

"I'll walk you home." He said, gesturing for you to lead the way and so you did, wondering what about you was warranting such niceness from him.

You let him follow you anyway, shoving your hands into your pockets as you walked so you wouldn’t awkwardly brush hands with his.

Figuring you might as well take advantage of the time you had, you let your curiosity fuel your conversation.

"So, what are your plans after you graduate?"

Sicheng grimaced, not expecting you to have asked him that. At the thought of university, Sicheng couldn’t help but think of his dad, the overload of emotions and information that he desperately wanted to tell you making him eventually shrug at the question, not wanting to overwhelm you with the sheer weight of his emotions.

"I actually wanna go to this acting academy, but of course that's all dependent on how well I do,” he huffed.

You pursed your lips at the implication of his words, "Is it hard to get in?"

He nodded vigorously.

"They only accept a handful of students each year...but it'd be a dream if I actually got in," his voice dropped to a murmur, finishing his ice cream and tossing the packaging into a trash bin you walked past.

"Who knows, maybe you will," you shrugged confidently, not knowing just how much comfort the statement gave him.

Sicheng looked at you blankly, a certain warmth spreading in his chest. You turned to look at him, watching as a small smile gracing his features.

"Maybe I will," he murmured.

“Have you spoken to your parents about it? I know it took Xiaojun ages to convince his parents to let him do his course,” you mentioned, noticing the way Sicheng seemed to have tensed at that.

Sicheng pressed his lips together firmly before letting them part slightly, looking as though he wanted to say something.

Eventually, he nodded, “they know I want to pursue acting and dance.”

You raised your eyebrows slightly, craning your neck slightly to get a better look at his expression, “you can tell me if you don’t want to talk about it, but.. something tells me they’re not happy with it.”

Sicheng let out a deep breath through his nose, nodding at you.

“Yeah, they’re not. They never really…were keen on me pursuing arts. I mean like my mom sort of gave up trying to change my mind but my dad is um…” he paused, a huff of bitter laughter leaving his lips, “how do I say this in a nice way..”

Sicheng shook his head, “He’s just very… traditional.”

Sicheng expected to hear what he usually heard at this point, that his parents only mean well and that they’re just worried for him, but your response was something he hadn’t seen coming.

“So how does that make you feel?” You asked. And sure, it was a simple question but for some reason, it was making Sicheng feel as though he was being wrapped in a blanket and soothed like a child.

Sicheng couldn’t help but huff as he shook his head, “I mean, at the end of the day they’re my parents and I know that, but it still makes me feel.. hurt, I guess. That they don’t want to support me to do what makes me happy and what I’m actually passionate about, you know?”

You nodded, “I get where you’re coming from, and I know I’m not in any position to help you make any changes but…I hope you don’t let that stop you.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

You shrugged, unsure where your wisdom had stemmed from, but you figured it was from all those sleepovers with Xiaojun where you two could rant for hours.

“It’s easy to let yourself sacrifice things for people you care about, but I hope you never sacrifice your happiness.”

Sicheng looked away, trying to suppress the smile from his face as he nodded, glancing at you quickly before looking away, knowing it would do him no help in trying to conceal his smile.

You'd talked more about whatever you could think of, growing to enjoy Sicheng's company the more you spoke with him, not noticing how fast time passed until you were rounding the corner to the street you lived.

"I had a nice time with you tonight," you said, Sicheng able to sense that you were slowing down, having reached your driveway.

"Me too," he smiled, "thank you, for....your time." Sicheng internally cursed, thankful Ten wasn’t here to hear whatever bullshit he just said.

Your lower lip jut out slightly in a pout.

“Well, I mean, it doesn't have to be the last time we go out....you know, we can still hang," you let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding, seeing him nod, diverting his gaze elsewhere and fidgeting with his cap.

"Absolutely, you know, I'm basically free other than practices with Ten, just uh....let me know if you're ever like....bored and you wanna hang out or something," he mumbled, looking up from the floor to tilt his head at you with a smile, your heart nearly exploding with how cute the gesture was to you.

"Goodnight." You waved, seeing him nod at you, waving as you entered your house.

===

You were currently sitting in the library trying to do some readings for class.

Sicheng had just finished his practice for the day and was going to find you in the library, wearing a yellow hoodie and jeans, his hair (courtesy of Ten) was curlier today, since they'd gotten carried away with thinking of possible ways to style themselves for the performance. But you thought it wasn't such a bad thing. Because after it was messed up from the movements of the dance you had to say he was hard to look away from.

Spotting you at your desk in the library, he'd felt almost endeared looking at how concentrated you were, a part of him feeling overwhelmed with the urge to pinch your cheeks with how serious you looked. This left Sicheng with no other option than to resort to his only method of coping with it: teasing you.

"What are you doing?" he asked you in mandarin once he had reached your table, flopping onto the seat next to you, making you furrow your eyebrows at your computer screen.

"Readings for class," you murmured, using your pen to follow where you were.

“Okay, let me see your pretty face," he teased, making you huff, not understanding what he was saying.

"What does 'pretty face' mean?" you asked him distractedly, scribbling something on your notes.

"Your face," he said smoothly, so smooth you didn't even realize it wasn't what the word meant.

"That's how you say it in chinese?" he nodded.

"Learn something new everyday," you commented, turning back to face Sicheng only to see he'd already whipped out his phone and pressed on his game app, leaning his head on his arm that was resting on the back of the chair, looking at you with a lazy smile as it loaded.

"Aren't you tired from practice? and why is your hair curly?"

He nodded, pouting at you, "I'm tired, but never too tired to win," he said with an exaggerated amount of confidence, making you scoff.

“But do you like it?" he asked, taking a lock of his hair between his fingers, pulling on it before messing it up a little, you had to remind yourself not to stare.

"It's.....nice," you shrugged, turning back to your computer as Sicheng simply smiled, logging into his game.

By the time you were done with one reading, Sicheng had finished his game as well, the both of you getting ready to leave when you saw a girl that looked younger than you approach your table. You were sure you haven’t seen her before, looking at her in very prominent confusion before you realized she was looking for Sicheng.

The first thing that stood out to you was that she'd called him her older brother (哥哥), a term you knew held certain meaning to some guys as you'd learnt from Xiaojun, but not like you were in any position to be jealous or anything.

"I was hoping I'd run into you, do you know where I can find this teacher?" you heard her say, your gaze hardening from the way Sicheng smiled at her, nodding and giving her directions, a part of you wishing he would act colder towards her, but knowing it wasn't in Sicheng's nature to behave that way towards juniors.

"Thank you so much!" she said, beaming at him shyly before she left.

"Who's that, huh?" you asked, smirking at Sicheng.

"Just a junior," he shrugged, the both of you walking into the lift, squeezed at the back behind a crowd of students.

You pretended to be deep in thought, "Didn't seem like it though, did it, older brother?" you mocked, repeating the words of his junior.

Sicheng almost immediately replied, "Oh my god, shut up that was so gross, don't ever say that again," he shivered, trying to hide the fact that he was absolutely endeared to you and secretly wished you would say it again, but knowing he wouldn't be able to contain his happiness if you did.

You gasped, slightly offended at his outburst as you walked out of the lift.

"What?! What's so different about me saying it and her saying it!" you scoffed, seeing him shake his head, giving you a patronizing smile.

"It's really gross when you say it cause you're my friend!" he told you, making you scoff, at a loss for words.

Was this....him friendzoning you?

"Let's just go home." you shook your head, pushing the conversation behind you.

===

"Do you think this means he doesn't like me?" you sighed, seeing your friend shrug, you and Sicheng had developed a routine of seeing each other after classes or practice, even if it meant just hanging out and watching movies, or just him coming over to your house but ending up falling asleep on your couch because he was so tired from practice, but what bothered you wasn't the routine, but incidents like those in the library that made you confused over how he saw you.

Sure, he did nice gestures for you, but anyone could be nice to you with unromantic intentions. Xiaojun was nice to you, but he had no intention of dating you, so how could you be sure about the fact that he was interested in you?

"You can't be sure....i mean, from what I'm seeing he does a lot of nice things for you..but he doesn't necessarily...outrightly tell you things that can make you sure that he likes you?"

You sighed, waiting for your food to be ready. You'd planned on surprising Sicheng and bringing some food to him since you told him you'd meet him in his practice room.

"Don't overthink it," your friend gave you a sympathetic look, "Maybe he's just not that great at expressing how he feels?" she shrugged, making you shrug with her, collecting your food.

"You're going to see him now, aren't you?" you nodded, giving her a grim look. "All the best," she laughed, waving you goodbye as you left in the direction of the practice room.

What you didn't expect to find was to see Sicheng lying on the floor of the dance studio, sprawled on his back, wearing the same checkered sweatpants and a plain white shirt. He looked as though he was sleeping, not making a single move even when you entered the room loudly.

"Sicheng?" you called, not seeing him move, finding his demeanour similar to when you'd seen him the previous week, sleeping off his stress when he was supposed to be fine-tuning the report with Ten.

You set your bag down next to his, bringing the packets of food as you made your way next to him, not wanting to disrupt his sleep but at the same time knowing he had to eat.

You decided to text Ten first, in the hope that it would give you some insight as to how Sicheng was feeling.

6:23pm - hey, how was Sicheng during practice today? -

ten 6:23pm -???? we didn't meet today we said today would be a rest day-6:23pm - why?? did smth happen? is he ok? -

Frowning, you checked the date, it was only a matter of days before Sicheng and Ten's showcase, and you could tell that Sicheng was nervous, especially judging from his behaviour today.

"Hey, Sicheng, wake up," you murmured seeing him frown, his eyes opening slowly to see you sitting next to him, blinking at you before letting out a deep sigh.

Sicheng felt as though he was in some sort of hazy dream, the sight of you and the smell of food making his head spin, not being able to quite remember how he ended up asleep on the floor.

"What were you doing here the whole day?" you worried, seeing him push himself off the floor to sit with his knees up, resting his folded arms on his knees.

"Practicing....I guess," he shrugged, his gaze travelling to the bag containing food that sat next to you.

Realizing what he was staring at, you started emptying out the bag, laying the food in front of the both of you.

"Here, eat," he nodded at you wordlessly, starting to open the packets to eat.

You felt a little concerned at his lack of a response, not knowing if your presence here was welcomed or not, but Sicheng was thankful, even if it was hard for you to see that.

"Ten told me you guys were supposed to have a rest day today," he looked at you and nodded, confirming it.

"And?" you asked. "What part about 'rest' in 'rest day' do you not understand?" your eyebrows knit together in a frown, unsure what Sicheng's take on this was.

"I had to practice, Y/N." he swallowed his food with a wince, and looking down you realized he was almost done with his food. "I needed to just shut myself in here and concentrate. I know myself best and I know that I wasn't putting my all into this the past few practices," he told you, making your frown deepen.

"What makes you think that?" you murmured, looking down at your food, poking at it for lack of appetite, your worry for him getting the better of you.

Sicheng looked at you with a nervous expression, looking as if he was withholding something. What was he supposed to answer to that? oh, because I couldn't stop thinking about you? or oh, because I keep wanting to get it over with so I can meet you after? or oh, because I'm so stressed about how I can't bring myself to tell you how much I like you?

His expression was blank, shrugging as he mumbled, "just a feeling."

"Look, I know, you're stressed, but you have to trust me when I say that I've seen your rehearsals and you and Ten are doing so well!" you murmured, not missing the way he sighed as he reached for the plastic bag, dumping his empty packaging into the bag and leaning back to rest his weight on his hands.

"That's different, Y/N. You're you, and the teachers are the teachers. Not to mention my parents."

You raised your eyebrows in confusion, prompting him to elaborate.

“You're a lot nicer to me than they are," he murmured.

You felt something in you hurt when you heard how defeated he sounded, giving him a reassuring smile, "Hey, when did that ever stop you?" you asked, seeing him look at you, a tiny glimmer of hope in his eyes, shaking his head.

"Stop running away from your problems, man, face them head on! Sleep's not gonna perfect your dance for you," you held your fists up in a gesture to cheer him on, seeing him shake his head with a smile, rolling his eyes as he got up from the floor, nodding.

"Can you help me?" he asked, telling you what he wanted you to look out for, and to help him find ways to improve his expression from an audience's perspective.

You nodded, finishing your food and setting it aside, jogging over to a space in front of the mirrors and sitting down in front of it, opening your packet drink as he passed you his phone, with the song on the screen already.

"Ready?" You asked with a smile, seeing him cast you a unsure glance, leaning his head back with a groan.

You'd pressed play to the song, seeing him start his routine, only when he'd gotten to the part where he had to do a one-handed cartwheel had he stopped after that, wanting to restart.

You paused the music, "What's wrong?"

He shook his head, looking at you with an expression you couldn't place the feeling of.

"Just calm down, relax. You know this routine by heart, just don't think about anything else.." you

saw him nod at you, getting back into his starting position.

"Ready?" he nodded again, and when you played the music this time, you could see how much more in his element he was, letting his movements flow, performing tricks with ease, not to mention the intensity with which he performed, almost like an upgrade from the past rehearsals you've seen.

Once the song ended, he looked at you with a shy smile, smiling widely even as he caught his breath, and you couldn't help yourself from cheering and clapping.

"That was great! Best I've seen from you by far," he gave you a look.

"Why were you so nervous about it anyway? You danced it so well!" you said, seeing him shake his head at you.

"You know contemporary dance isn't my specialty, right?" Your eyebrows raised, making him laugh his deep bubbly laugh, covering his head with his hands. The way he looked at you now was the mischievous kind of look he gave you whenever he knew something you didn’t.

"It isn't? Then what is your specialization?" you wondered, sipping on your drink as he did a small turn.

"Chinese traditional dance," you gasped, almost being able to imagine Sicheng dancing that style of dance, and how mesmerising he would look while doing so.

"Oh my god...can you show me?"

Sicheng laughed, "huh?" his tone was embarrassed, as if he was suddenly too shy to dance for you.

You nodded vigorously, "please, I really wanna see," you clasped your hands together, rubbing them together in a pleading gesture.

He nodded.

"Anything for you," he told you in mandarin, you being to excited to fully process what he was saying.

"Can you reach in my bag and take out the fan?" he pointed to his bag, and you'd rolled over, reaching his bag and taking out a fan that was considerably bigger than you'd expected, handing it to him.

"This is really short, but just something I choreographed a while ago," he murmured, and you swore you saw a tint of pink shading his cheeks as he scrolled his phone for the song, pressing play and proceeding to dance the most enchanting thing you'd ever seen him dance.

You knew he was talented when you saw how he danced with Ten, but seeing him dancing something that he had so much skill in, so much technique and control over, it was like you'd fallen for him even more while watching him.

"Wow..." was all you could muster when he was done, turning back to you and hiding his face with the opened fan as he laughed, the way his tone would rise as he laughed serving to endear you even more to him if that was possible.

"What?" he asked you, making you shake your head, a giddy awestruck look on your face.

"I don't know how to describe it, but all Iknow is that I loved it," you told him, seeing him raise his hands dramatically, bowing dramatically in all directions.

"Thank you everybody!" he said in mandarin, sounding similar to those actors you would see at award shows.

You scoffed playfully, feigning hurt, stomping up to him, with your hands on your hips.

"Why are you thanking everyone! I'm the one who was encouraging you," you laughed, seeing his eyes widen.

Grinning at you, he blew a flying kiss to you with his fan.

"Oh, right, thank you, kiss kiss (么么哒)," he said, making you laugh.

"I don't know what that means but...i'll take it," you murmured, seeing him close the fan, looking at you with a tired smile. The kind of smile you would see in movies when the protagonist realizes he's in love, but in this case, Sicheng was the protagonist, and he was currently kicking himself on the inside because what are you doing!!! now is the perfect time to tell her you like her!!

But all Sicheng could do was smile, his words failing him at the worst of times, leaving an awful big load of tension between you two as you secretly hoped this movie-protagonist-in-love look would mean you would receive a slow-mo worthy confession now, only to get a shock when Sicheng had broken the silence.

"The tickets are with Xiaojun," he blurted, your potential movie-moment slipping away just as fast as Sicheng snapped his fan open, walking over to your bags and wrapping the plastic bag of your trash as a way for him to hide how frustrated he was with himself, scrunching his eyes up with an annoyed tilt of his head.

You were busy trying to hide your disappointment as well, using the time he was preoccupied with clearing the empty food packets to take deep breaths, calming your racing heart every time it remembered how close you came to revealing your feelings for him.

"Ready to go home?" he murmured, standing up and turning to face you, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

Recovering from your shock you nodded, "Yep, yeah. Let's go."

===

"Okay, let's do it again, just pretend I'm Y/N," Xiaojun said, not bothering to adjust his sitting posture, making it very hard for Sicheng to imagine the skinny boy in front of him chewing loudly on his lunch to be you.

Sicheng shot Renjun a helpless look, "save me, please."

Renjun shaking his head at the same time as Ten chimed in, "Me, me! I'd do it a lot better than Xiaojun," he claimed confidently, crossing his legs and straightening his posture, giving Sicheng a sensual look.

Sicheng shoved Ten, groaning, "None of you are actually helping, you know."

Renjun shook his head in disapproval at Xiaojun and Ten, pulling Ten out of his seat so he could sit in front of Sicheng, looking at the older boy with a neutral expression.

"Okay, pretend I'm Y/N, and just try to tell me something you've wanted to tell me for a while now," Renjun said simply, as if it should be second-nature for Sicheng to do.

"For someone who wants to go to an acting school, you really suck at this roleplay thing," Ten commented, arms folded over his chest as he watched Sicheng and Renjun.

"It's not as easy as you think, okay?" Sicheng groaned, “I regret asking you guys for help.”

Sicheng knew he’d only ended up in this situation after he told them what had happened in the dance studio the other day, the boys immediately initiating a plan to help their friend gain the courage to express his feelings to her.

“Focus!” Renjun clapped his hands in front of Sicheng, who had managed to get his expression to be neutral, his leg starting to bounce anxiously as he thought of what to say.

“Y/N,” he started, “well...you know...we’ve been friends for a...substantial amount of time now...”

“Cut!” Renjun yelled, making Sicheng frown, wondering what he said to make Renjun stop him so fast.

“Firstly, you’re not gonna confess to her in mandarin, are you? And second of all, that was the most unromantic starting sentence I've ever heard.” Sicheng sighed, switching to english.

“Okay, rewind.Y/N, I....” Sicheng felt himself start to second guess the sentences he had planned, suddenly feeling like for every way he could think of to confess to you, there would be a nicer way to do it that he would think of immediately after, making him stop himself, sighing again.

“You know maybe his saving grace will be that she still likes him even though he’s not very good with his words,” Xiaojun shrugged, making Sicheng shoot him a look.

“In all honesty, I feel like i’m okay expressing my feelings to her, just that I didn't know how she’d react, like, what if she wasn’t looking for a relationship-” Xiaojun practically burst out laughing at that, shaking his head at Sicheng as the three of them looked at him in curiosity (and a little bit of concern).

“Believe me, you’re way off if you think that,” he laughed.

Sicheng gave him a look, “What do you mean?”

Xiaojun raised his hands in defence, “I mean, i’m not gonna out her, but all I’m gonna say is that the last thing you should be afraid of is that she isn’t looking for a relationship.”

Sicheng hummed thoughtfully at what Xiaojun was implying.

This thought lingered with Sicheng until the day of the showcase, when Sicheng had been greeted with the news that his teacher had invited his family to watch the showcase, and as if that wasn’t horrifying enough, they actually agreed.

“Dude,” Ten called at the jittery boy who was currently squatting behind the stage curtains, peeking out to search for his parents in the crowd, and silently hoping to God that he wouldn’t spot them.

When Sicheng hadn’t answered, Ten tried again, “Dude!” he called, louder this time.

Ten sighed when Sicheng’s head whipped around quickly, his expression panic-stricken.

Walking over to where Sicheng was squatting, he cast the boy a sympathetic look.

“I heard about the um...parents thing,” he told Sicheng, the mere reminder of it making Sicheng let out a deep breath he wasn’t aware that he was holding.

Sicheng felt suffocated, the murmuring of the crowd only seeming to grow in volume.

“I’m gonna go get some air,” Sicheng sighed, Ten letting him walk out, hoping the air would do his dance partner some good as well.

You had just reached the performance venue with Xiaojun, you were already seated with Xiaojun when you’d started to feel a little thirsty, wanting to step outside to find something you could drink. Already having bought your drink, you were about to make your way back, opening your phone because you’d wanted to send an encouraging message to Sicheng, almost groaning when you saw a text come in from Xiaojun.

Xiaojun 5:37pm - can you get me a water too pls ?? renjun wants a coke -

Sighing, you made your way back to the vending machine, about to take your wallet out again when you’d spotted someone seated at one of the benches near you, head buried in their hands.

Frowning, you wondered if they were alright, pushing the coins absentmindedly into the vending machine as you tried to lean back as much as you could to get a better view of the boy.

The boy had looked up, making eye contact with you and looking away quickly, his hands going up to wipe at his eyes, and you realized only then that that was Sicheng.

Frowning, you carried the drinks in your hand as you walked over to where he was sitting, taking as seat next to him on the bench, looking at him in concern.

“Hey, are you okay?” you frowned.

Sicheng had avoided your gaze, fidgeting with his hands as he shrugged. “My parents are here,” he finally sighed, making your eyes widen, knowing the implications behind that.

“It’s my first time actually performing in front of them...like, ever.”

You weren’t sure what came over you when you reached a hand out to grasp his gently, surprised when he’d fidgeted with your hand instead, letting you grasp his hand and you squeezed his gently, hearing a shaky sigh leave him.

“I want to make them proud. I really do. But I just feel like I’m not ready yet, I don't know why my teacher invited them without telling me I wasn’t prepared for this at all and I’m so-” he stopped abruptly, a sigh leaving his lips as he looked up, blinking rapidly to stop his tears from spilling out.

“So worried that they won’t have a reason to be proud of me after watching me.” he mumbled, his words muffled by his hand that reached up to dab at the tear that had rolled down his cheek.

“Hey,” you started, seeing him look towards you, inhaling deeply as he tried to regulate his breathing, “I know I won’t understand exactly how you feel, but I can tell you that if you really want to make them proud, your job is to go out there and show them just why you love performing so much. You’ve worked so hard up ‘til this point, there’s nothing else left for you to do other than to just show them the result of this hard work,” you told him, hoping your words made sense as you tried to console him.

“Xiaojun and Renjun are already inside. We know what you’re capable of, and we’ll be supporting you,” you flushed, suddenly feeling shy to be telling him this but going out on a limb and telling him anyway in your desperation to make him feel less anxious.

“I’ll be rooting for you,” you mumbled, looking away in your embarrassment, not noticing the way Sicheng’s lips had trembled, his eyes not welling up in tears but his throat feeling as though it was closing up on itself, his chest feeling like it was almost burning with warmth, wishing you hadn’t stood up so quickly.

“You should probably be going in, the showcase is gonna start soon,” you gestured to the entrance, picking up the drinks in your hands and turning to bid Sicheng goodbye, the boy contemplating whether or not to hug you, realizing his contemplating had made him miss his chance when he saw you walking away from him.

Later on, you felt yourself growing nervous as you saw Sicheng and Ten step onto the stage, the announcer introducing them and giving a small background about the piece they would be performing. Sicheng felt it too, shutting his eyes after he got into position and breathing slowly. Opening his eyes again, he’d made eye contact with Ten, who gave him a reassuring smile.

And you were glad to say he had danced more beautifully than you had ever seen before.

After the performance, he and Ten had gone outside the venue after it was over to take pictures with friends who had shown up, seeing you and Xiaojun waiting there, you nervously clutching a bouquet of flowers in your hand that Xiaojun basically forced you to buy.

Tugging at the sleeve of your sweater, you waited impatiently for Sicheng to finish taking pictures with his teachers and other friends—Renjun would joke and say your flowers would be dead by the time they were done— and Xiaojun had eventually gotten sick of waiting and dragged you by the arm to where Sicheng and Ten were, with Renjun following close behind.

“Hey guys,” Ten drawled when he saw you, Xiaojun and Renjun approaching, looking at Sicheng with a pointed look, nudging his head in your direction, to which Sicheng furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“What?” he said in mandarin, eyes widening when he saw you holding out the bouquet of flowers for him, trying to distract yourself from the fact that the leather jacket he’d put over his performance outfit was distracting you greatly, having already given one bouquet to Ten while he was distracted.

“You guys wanna take a picture together?” you heard Renjun yell, and Xiaojun took that as his queue and pushed you towards Sicheng. You winced as you lost your balance with a yelp, only steadying yourself when Sicheng grabbed your arm, taking the flowers from you with a grateful nod.

“Stop being awkward,” Renjun mouthed with a glare, and you’d fixed your hair, suddenly feeling shy about your proximity to Sicheng, not knowing how to arrange your hands, but thankfully for the both of you, you had Ten on your side.

Sicheng had started simple, by placing his hand over your shoulder, his other hand holding the bouquet, tilting his head towards yours for the picture.

Meanwhile Renjun was hard at work bending down to find better angles to capture you both in.

“Okay..okayy,” you laughed, hoping you would hear that Renjun was done taking photos, but instead hearing Ten’s commentary as he watched Renjun taking photos of you.

“Okay, change pose,” he said, making you and Sicheng flustered, not knowing what other pose you could possibly do, Sicheng with his arm around your shoulder, looking at you with a tilt of the head as if to ask you what pose to do next, making you shrug.

“Should we just end it now?” he leaned closer to whisper, making you nod with a small wince.

Sicheng waved his hand dismissively, letting go of your shoulder and telling them that photo taking was over, Renjun putting his phone down with a huff and you swore he was muttering something about you guys being unappreciative.

They were all preoccupied with airdrop-ing the photos to each other, giving you a chance to properly congratulate Sicheng for successfully getting through his showcase, pulling him down for a hug to congratulate him, your heart jumping for joy at the comfort you felt when he hugged you back.

It felt like you hugged him for the longest time, and Sicheng knew this too, his free hand going up to cradle your head before pulling away, embarrassed that you’d hugged him in front of Ten, Renjun and Xiaojun.

You glanced at Sicheng, searching his expression and noticing how his eyes looked a little teary and bloodshot.

“Thanks for coming,” he murmured, his voice sounding slightly shaky which made him clear his throat quickly, making Renjun scoff.

“Did we have a choice? Ten would’ve killed us if we didn’t show up,” Renjun rolled his eyes.

“Did you tell her about the party yet?” you heard Ten ask, seeing you frown in confusion.

“What party?” you asked him.

His eyes widened in realisation, “Oh, right. I'm having a christmas party kind of thing, and i was wondering if you wanna come?”

You thought about it, Christmas wasn’t until next week, so you were pretty sure you would have enough time to prepare something to wear for the party.

“When is it?”

“Uh..we wanted it to kind of happen early because Ten’s flying home for Christmas, and I’m flying to China to go see my grandparents for christmas as well, so we were thinking of having it this Saturday?” he asked, and you’d glanced at your phone for confirmation.

This meant you had 3 days to prepare gifts for them and figure out what you were gonna wear.

“Oh.....well, alright then, that’d be nice,” you nodded, slowly recovering from your shock to give him a smile.

“Should I be anticipating your gift?” he asked, making you shake your head firmly.

“God, please don’t. I suck at giving gifts,” you laughed, “should i be anticipating yours?” you asked, just for the fun of it, both of you not expecting the way Sicheng had simply nodded.

“Yes, I'd like you to.”

===

That very statement was what left Sicheng a whining mess up until the day of the party, trying to figure out what the hell had compelled him to say that when he didn’t even have a proper gift in mind yet, almost contemplating asking his mom for advice when he heard her loudly packing in her bedroom.

“Ma,” he’d burst her bedroom door open, realizing with a disappointed sigh that it was his dad and not his mom.

“Your mom’s downstairs,” he told Sicheng, who had then promptly ran down the stairs of his house, finding his mother in the living room wrapping apples for the people she’d planned on giving them to on Christmas.

That’s when it hit him, he knew what he was going to give you for Christmas.

You on the other hand, weren’t having such luck in the gift department. You wanted to get Sicheng something meaningful and nice, but for lack of better ideas you decided on buying Sicheng a new set of headphones. You were familiar with Sicheng’s complaints about his parents nagging him for staying up late whenever he was gaming his parents since he didn’t use headphones, being too lazy to buy them, so you figured you’d do both him and his parents a favour with this gift.

Whereas for Ten, Xiaojun and Renjun (the only ones you actually knew who were going for this party) you’d already settled their gifts. So to any other person, you would have seemed to have everything under control, except, you had no idea what to wear.

Ten had tried helping you, suggesting you should wear something comfortable since it was cold out, but you weren’t necessarily sure how to impress Sicheng with your comfortable clothes, eventually letting Ten pick out for you a simple outfit, even forcing you to wear a scarf over it because he claimed Sicheng would think you looked cute.

So you trusted him (whether this was a good choice or a bad choice is up to you, really), and had brought your gifts, specially and individually wrapped, along with your own little handwritten note to Sicheng, and followed Ten to the party.

Only upon reaching were you truly thankful that he’d made you wear a scarf, it was cold out, and you were thankful that Sicheng’s house had pretty good heating. Not that you didn’t like being in the cold, you were just pretty sure you wouldn’t have liked it as much if you’d gone with your previous outfit choice.

Walking into the party, you’d spotted Xiaojun quickly, walking over to where he was in the kitchen, Ten having left you to greet the other guys Sicheng invited that you weren’t familiar with.

“Hey,” he waved, the sleeve of his oversized sweater engulfing his arm, making him look even smaller than usual.

Your greeting came out muffled as you loosened your scarf, hanging it around your neck loosely instead, “Have you seen Sicheng?” you asked, seeing him shake his head.

Feeling a little more than disappointed, you’d taken a drink from him before looking around the house, realizing that maybe Sicheng was a little more well-off than he’d let on, impressed by the warm lighting accompanying the chandeliers and very comfortable looking sofas, you’d been dragged by Renjun to join their movie session in the living room, only then realizing that Sicheng was there, engrossed in the Narnia movie that was playing on his (big) television set.

“Y/N’s finally here,” Ten’s voice had captured Sicheng’s attention, the boy turning around in his seat to look at you, and only then did you realize how good he looked.

Wearing a thick dark green sweater and jeans that were folded up at the bottom, not to mention his hair was styled up, he turned to you with a wave, patting the seat next to him as an invitation to sit there. In your attempt to get over your shock over his outfit, you took your time in placing the gifts at the Christmas tree, bringing his gift to where he sat, tucking it between your legs and the sofa as you sat down, realizing the space was tighter than you’d expected, making you have to squeeze shoulder to shoulder with Sicheng- almost spilling your drink in the process.

“Are those glasses real?” you whispered, not wanting to interrupt the rest of the guys who were watching the movie, the younger looking one sitting next to Renjun with bright orange hair eyeing you and Sicheng with a knowing look.

Sicheng shook his head.

“Nope, they were a gift from Jaehyun,” he pointed at one of the guys sitting on the floor next to the coffee table, wearing a black sweater and very ripped jeans.

“I’m wearing them because he was so insistent that I didn't like them,” he explained, and you desperately wished he would whisper because the way his hushed tone sounded so near to you wasn’t doing anything in calming you down.

“When did you get here?” he asked, making you shrug, not really wishing to disclose the time you spent in the kitchen hiding from the crowd.

“Not long ago, I was just in the kitchen with Xiaojun,” you told him, the mention of the kitchen directing his attention to the cup in your hand, leaning over to sniff it, his proximity to your face making you lean back.

Leaning back after sniffing your drink, he raised an eyebrow at you, “You drink this stuff?” his voice was surprised to say the least, relief washing over him when you shook his head.

“I don’t even know what it is, I just took it from Xiaojun but it smells like the hospital,” you made a face of disgust, hearing him let out a huff of laughter, grabbing your arm that was holding the drink and bringing it up to his face, downing it in one go before taking the cup from your hands and leaning forward to place it on the coffee table, returning to his original position and giving you a small smile.

“One less thing to worry about,” he shrugged, and you went back to watching the movie, seeing that it was only at the part where Edmund meets the witch.

The more you watched, you felt your head start to loll back, not realizing the movie had ended and the guys were now trying to decide whether to play 2 truths and 1 lie.

Sicheng had purposely shifted around in his seat more to wake you up before you could fall asleep, your head shooting up quickly, catching the attention of a few of them who turned to look at you curiously.

“Y/N, you wanna play 2 truths and 1 lie?” Renjun asked, making you frown.

“I really suck at that game though..”

Sicheng gave you a reassuring look, about to say something when he was interrupted.

“C’mon, in the spirit of christmas!” Xiaojun had chimed in to encourage you, earning nods and cheers of agreement from the rest of them scattered around the room.

Hearing the sound of them putting on a christmas playlist, you’d felt encouraged for some reason, giving a small shrug of agreement. You figured it wouldn’t be that bad.

That was until it was Sicheng’s turn and you found yourself panicked beyond belief, growing more nervous to see what he would say.

“Hmmm...okay, got it, I have someone I'm interested in, I have mistletoe hanging in here, and I’m afraid of heights.”

The boys had immediately chimed in with their various opinions, Ten shooting Xiaojun an impressive look at Sicheng for being so bold with his choice of truths, being the only ones that knew of Sicheng’s...character development. Though they weren’t sure if it was because of the drinks he had prior to that or whether he was simply feeling confident today.

“This one’s easy!” a guy with short brown hair had raised his hand, “The lie is obviously that he’s interested in someone, he hasn’t been interested in anyone for ages,” he’d said confidently, making Sicheng smile, just as another boy had chimed in.

“I feel like he had mistletoe here somewhere at the last party, though,” a younger-looking boy said, earning a, “You wish, Mark.” from another boy with a sharper pitched voice and very pretty tan skin.

“The lie is.....” Sicheng made a cute sound that he’d always done before announcing things, “I have mistletoe in here,” he said, the crowd of boys erupting in shouts and protests at the answer before moving on to the next person, who had seemed to capture their attention for long enough.

“Wanna go upstairs? I wanted to like..give you your present...and stuff,” Sicheng leaned over to ask you softly, making you nod, grabbing his present and following him upstairs, the boys noticing but choosing not to say anything.

Once you’d gotten upstairs, he stopped you for a while so he could go into his room, coming out with a small paper bag and continuing to lead you upstairs, glad you hadn’t taken off your scarf when he’d opened a door to the rooftop, revealing different plants and even a stone walkway leading up to a sheltered wooden planked area where you sat down with him, looking through the transparent glass of the balcony at the buildings of his neighbourhood, finding it cute how he had little lights hanging from the shelter.

You’d sat in silence initially, enjoying the feeling of the cold breeze against your cheeks, shutting your eyes instinctively in your attempt to savour the feeling.

“Thank you, by the way.”

You opened your eyes, eyebrows raising at Sicheng, “Oh, it’s no big deal, I didn’t have anything planned for today so-”

“No, not for coming today. I mean, that too but...I sort of meant for like..comforting me the other day,” Sicheng looked at you, a small shy smile playing at his lips, “I really needed that.”

Your lips parted, wondering what made him suddenly want to thank you for that. Choosing to give him a nod, you shook your head, “I really did mean what I said.”

Sicheng nodded, “I know.” He smiled, letting his gaze travel elsewhere as he stretched his legs out in front of him, swaying them side to side as he tried to contain his smile.

“Can I go first? My gift is pretty underwhelming,” you said, seeing him let out a tiny giggle but nod nonetheless, taking that as your queue to take out your gift from the bag, giving him the wrapped package of the headphones, watching him rip the packaging open casually, his eyes widening when he realized what it was. He’d placed the envelope containing your christmas letter for him gingerly back into the bag.

“Oh my god.... thank you so much,” he said, his eyes practically sparkling with how much he’d liked the present, making you shake your head.

“Use them well, okay?” you murmured, seeing him hesitantly reach over to pick up the bag containing his present for you, only serving to heighten your curiosity for what could’ve been in that bag.

“Okay, oh my god, why am i so shy,” you heard him whisper, making you laugh, “Hold your hands out and close your eyes,” he instructed, making you do as you were told, anticipating your present, shocking you when you’d felt something cold in your hands, opening your eyes to see....an apple?

“Is this another one of your jokes,” you pouted, seeing him shake his head, staring at the apple as if looking for answers.

“My family, uh...we have this like..tradition thing, where we give apples to people for christmas... like....to the people we care about,” he murmured, a shy smile gracing his features, looking up at you to see your reaction, wanting to reach over and pinch your cheeks when he saw your wide eyed expression, gripping the apple tightly in your hands.

Sicheng shivered at how cringeworthy he felt his words were, his hands going up to cup his neck, and for a moment you were distracted by his actions, concern for him taking over your shock.

“Are you cold? Do you want my scarf?” you asked, genuinely concerned for him only having a sweater to protect him from the cold.

Sicheng burst into laughter, looking at you with a raised eyebrow, “Isn’t that usually the other way around?”

You furrowed your eyebrows, only realizing then the context of what you’d said, making you hide your face with the apple in embarrassment, feeling him pull the apple away from your face, tilting his head at you in amusement.

“As I was saying....i would give you a thousand apples if i could, but that was impractical and sounded like a lot of work, but I just want you to know that if I could, I would have. But okay back to the point, the point is that, I care about you...like, a lot,” he paused, pressing his lips together and taking in a deep breath, “and not just as a friend.”

You pressed your lips together in a firm line, biting down on your lower lip trying to keep your composure, shyness taking over you at how close you were to Sicheng, not to mention what he was saying, especially given the context of the situation.

“Was that what you meant? When..you said just now during the game that you were uh... interested in someone?” you plucked up your courage to ask, seeing him bite the inside of his cheek, nodding wordlessly at you.

“Just kinda wanna know if this person’s interested in me too,” he murmured, making your cheeks heat up, wishing he hadn’t taken the apple from your hands so you had something to hold onto.

You nodded, “She is-i mean, yeah. I am,” you blurted, fumbling with your words like an idiot (a very love struck idiot, in fact).

Sicheng nodded, his smile growing wider, and just like that, it was like everything was more obvious to you, the sound of the christmas songs playing echoing up through the open door of the rooftop, to the sound of the guys fooling around downstairs, down to the sound of the cold breeze bristling your faces, and the warm lighting around you both. Sicheng felt it too, and now it was his turn to feel like the protagonist of the movie, now having to find something smooth to say that would make his love interest kiss him and then the story can end happily.

But Sicheng being Sicheng, just blurted out the next thing that came to his head, “Oh, look, how convenient, mistletoe,” he commented, glancing up at the mistletoe hanging from the ceiling of the shelter, dangling over your heads mockingly.

You gasped, “You totally lied just now, that was 2 lies,” you laughed, seeing him shake his head.

“In my defense, I told them ‘in here’, they just happened to interpret that as the living room,” he shrugged, your laughter dying down as he looked at you, fiddling with the apple in his hands.

“Can I..kiss you?”

You smiled, pretending to hesitate, “Let me consider.”

In his offence, he’d reacted quickly in rushed mandarin, “You still need to consider?! Isn’t it just agreeing!”

Nodding at him, he’d leaned forward, removing his glasses and setting it aside with your apple, bringing up a hand to hold it under your chin, tilting your head up as he connected your lips, smiling at how you could feel his hand slide under your scarf, placing at your neck gently, his hand doing a lot better at warming your neck than your scarf did, following his lead in the kiss.

You almost frowned when you felt Sicheng pull away slowly, but he didn’t give you a reason to. Sicheng’s other hand came up to rest gently against your cheek as he pressed soft kisses to the corner of your mouth, then your cheek, letting out an amused huff before he pressed a final soft kiss to your forehead, suddenly feeling like you were indoors, warmth enveloping you despite being outside in the cold.

You’d leaned over to rest your head against his shoulder, “Can we stay like this for a while before going back down?” you murmured softly, practically being able to hear him smile.

He continued in mandarin, his voice not making you shiver this time, but instead, comforting you beyond belief.

“Anything you say is fine by me.”

===

You’d gotten a video call from Sicheng on New Years Eve, celebrations had ended and you were already tucked into bed, slightly buzzed from the drinks you had at your house with Xiaojun and Renjun earlier when they’d come over for dinner, claiming you didn't have Sicheng here to drink your drinks for you so you might as well enjoy it.

“Hey,” he murmured, lying on his bed in his checkered pajamas, resting his head on his arm as he gave you a smile.

“Hi,” you said, giving him a lazy smile, making him raise an eyebrow in amusement at your buzzed-looking state.

“I see you’ve had more than a couple drinks with Xiaojun and Renjun just now?” you laughed, nodding, prompting him to continue, “I know it’s a little late, but...I just read your christmas note you gave me,” he told you.

“You’re only reading it now?”

He scoffed, nodding as if you should’ve known that, “Yeah, of course, I was saving it so I could read it on Christmas day itself...but I didn’t have the time and then the only good time I had was now and now...after reading it, it made me wanna call you because...I missed you,” he murmured, changing his position so he was resting his chin on his arm.

You scrunched your nose up out of shyness.

“Since when did you get so bold?” you laughed, seeing him shake his head.

“Anyway, I just wanted to check in on you. Had a good day today?” you nodded, telling him all the minor details about your day as he nodded, smiling and laughing and commenting every so often.

You’d listened to the details of his day as well.

“We just finished dinner, thought i would call you now before they all gather in the living room to watch movies,” he told you.

Nodding in understanding, you yawned, blinking tiredly, making him huff. “You should go to sleep now, i’ll talk to you more tomorrow....” he murmured, seeing you give him a tired yet reluctant nod.

“I’m really sorry, I wanna talk to you more because you’re spending New Year’s over there but the sleep is starting to creep up on me,” you pouted.

Shaking his head, he simply looked at you with that same relieved smile he gave you, realizing just how much he liked you, the extent threatening to tip over the line dividing like and love.

“Happy New Year, cheng cheng,” you teased, recalling what you heard his grandma call him, seeing him bury his head in his arm, his laugh muffled but no less cute.

“Happy New Year, Y/N.”

You’d ended the call, and his mother had walked into the room, a knowing look on her face, “Done with your sappy phone call yet?” she teased.

Sicheng simply sighed, flopping onto his back with a giddy smile on his face.

“Ma, I think I'm in love.”

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