#if you saw me post this a little bit ago before i fixed it....... no you didn't <3

[karinhart]

(ID in alt)

[maxidentscene]

anger management

⚘ genre. fluff, angst but not hella heavy idk i tried to make it pretty lighthearted

⚘ members. ot8

⚘ synopsis. post argument with bf!skz

chan checks on you even if you’re ignoring him

It had been a few days since the two of you went at it, you honestly couldn’t even remember what the argument was about. Everyone was just aware that the both of you were strictly not on talking terms, no questions asked

Truthfully, you missed him. Missed his dimples, missed his squeaky laugh, missed how his scent was so strong and comforting when you hugged him close. Fighting was so overrated but you couldn’t even find it in yourself to speak first

That’s why your heart leaped out of your throat the second you saw his name in your notifications. He had been the first to bite, swallowing his pride and asking if you needed any essentials while he was out shopping. You felt fragile, teary eyed as you typed the fastest you’ve ever typed in your entire life, letting him know that all you really needed was his presence

You stood in the doorway when he knocked, embracing each other and relaxing into each others arms. “We aren’t ever doing this again,” you sniffled against his shirt, that little giggle you’ve missed painting a smile onto your face. “Got it?”

“Yes!” He cried out with a laugh, jumping and flinching away from you as you pinched his side playfully. “I got it! Stop it!”

lee know takes you out as an apology

Here you were, laying face down on your bed, cheeks burning hot and shoved into your plushy pillows. Just minutes ago, you’d been scolding Minho quite angrily for a stupid reason, so worked up that you slammed the bedroom door in his face without second thought

Naturally, guilt had washed over your entire being almost immediately and you were currently planning out an apology in your head. Maybe a massage, maybe run him a relaxing bath and wash his hair for him, pay for the cat’s monthly supply of litter

Soft taps of knuckles against the door startled you. “Get dressed,” Minho’s voice chimed behind the wood, and you did as you were told, wiping your wet face and tugging a clean top over your head. It was the least you could do after your outburst

“Where are we going?” You asked gently as he took your hand in his, nose stuffed up and congested with all of the aggressive crying you did. He spared you a glance, sending a small smile your way before leading you to the uber he had called up

“Dinner,” he placed his hand on your head, soothingly patting you the same he would do to his cats. You melted in his touch, your mind and body both defeated. “I think I have a few things to fix between us.”

changbin can never stay mad at you

Teasing was an everyday thing with you and the boys, always constantly throwing friendly jabs at each other for being bad at a game or folding laundry a weird way. Today’s target was Changbin, and not knowing he was already in a bit of a sensitive mood, you had taken it too far on accident

He had left the room in a hurry, storming down the hallway and locking himself in his room as you sat on the couch, dumbfounded. “Look what you did,” Chan jokingly shook his head in disapproval before patting your back. “Luckily it would kill him to be mad at you. Go give him some love and say you’re sorry.”

Taking Chan’s advice, you hurried to Bin’s room and swallowed a lump in your throat as you knocked. “Answer me,” you whined from the other side, heart feeling a bit lighter as he opened the door with a small pout on his lips, the heated blush on his skin slowly calming down. “I’m sorry,” you coo and wrap your arms around his waist, resting your head on his chest. “I didn’t mean it.”

You could faintly hear Chan’s laugh in the living room and it made you giggle too because he was totally right, Changbin quite literally became putty in your hands and enveloped you in a strong hug. “You aren’t funny,” he sighs into your shoulder. “Literally so not funny.”

“Yes, yes,” you sighed before giving his ass a light smack. “I know.”

hyunjin gets extra clingy once all is well

Clingy is an understatement. Hyunjin has not let you go ever since you entered the dorm, and that was an hour ago. He’s got his head in your lap, snuggled against your stomach and humming at the feeling of your fingers in his hair. “You’re done being mad at me, right?”

You furrow your brows and tug at his light strands just a bit, earning a soft smack on your arm. “You were mad at me too, don’t act like I was the bad guy here.”

He giggled at your stern voice before completely wrapping his arms around your torso, cheek squished against your arm as he stared up at you. His eyes were hard to read sometimes, so deep in thought you weren’t sure what he was feeling. They flickered with an emotion that you couldn’t pick apart and you sighed, hoping he wasn’t about to cry

“I really am sorry,” he murmurs, twisting his head a bit to kiss the skin of your arm closest to him. “I hate fighting. Didn’t mean to make you upset.”

Your sweet boy. His heart was too big for his body, you could feel the slight tremble of his body against yours and you could only give him a smile. “I know, Hyune,” you flicked his forehead before leaning down to plant a kiss on it. “You never mean to make me upset, I know that. I’m sorry, too.”

han isolates until you offer some sweets

“Where is he?” you sigh sadly, arms aching as the plastic bags you carried were starting to weigh them down. Hyunjin jumped up to take them from your arms, setting them on the counter and shooting you a sorry look. He must’ve heard the yelling last night, it would’ve been hard to miss, honestly

“He’s holed up in his room,” Hyunjin pointed a finger towards his room before rummaging through the bags. “Oh, you’ll win him back with all of this, that’s for sure,” He clapped excitedly before sneaking a bag of gummies and running off to his room. “Good luck!”

Picking up the bags again, you mentally prepared yourself. The fight was normal, couples argue from time to time of course, but seeing Jisung so defeated would break anyone’s heart. You used that as motivation to burst through the door, not surprised to find a curled up lump under the comforter

You leaped up and splayed yourself over his body, hugging him over the blankets and letting your presence be known before standing up to spill the snacks out of the grocery bags. A fluffy brown head of hair peeked out to witness the mess, eyes brightening up at the sight of all of the treats

“Forgive me?” You asked with your arms wide open, delighted to be scooped up just seconds later and tugged under his covers

felix is heartbroken and the members are begging for forgiveness

Days have passed since the two of you got into a disagreement, mutually deciding that time apart was best. Of course it wasn’t much of their business, but the boys at the dorm felt almost as if they were apart of the disagreement as well when they saw Felix. It was hard to watch, their usual bundle of joy and love slumping around in his pajama pants

Your phone rang as you were on your way to pick something up and you were shocked to see Seungmin calling you up. As soon as you accepted the call, pleas from all 3 of the cuties dorm residents were in your ear, whining and begging you to come back

“I’ve never seen him so upset,” Jeongin cried out jokingly, you could picture him clutching at his chest and falling to the floor. “It’s been days, don’t you miss us too? This family is falling apart! Get over here!”

These boys. You let out a drawn out sigh into the receiver before accepting their invite, turning on your heels and walking over to the dorm. You admittedly had missed Felix, the argument was petty and it felt like it was so long ago that it didn’t even matter anymore

Arms wrapped around you the second you step foot into the building, soft hands massaging the back of your neck and you melted instantly into the familiar touch. “You’re too sweet for your own good,” you laughed into his shoulder, watching the other three members giving you thumbs up in the kitchen

seungmin will not tolerate the silent treatment

To be clear, if it were a more serious situation, Seungmin’s approach would be a lot different than this but the topic at hand that made you annoyed was the fact that he accidentally lost you in the mall. It had been a busier day and he swore that you were just at his side as he was looking at shoes but suddenly, you were gone

He found you sitting on a bench outside of a store, pouting to yourself after you had tried to find him for several minutes. He hadn’t answered his phone so you just decided to let him find you himself

When he did, he laughed harder than he ever has before, eyes squeezed shut as he wrapped a lanky arm around your shoulder. “You gotta understand!” He held your face in his hands as you pretended to be mad, turning your face away. “I seriously thought you were right beside me!”

Fake glares were shot his way and you decided to just stay quiet, getting up and taking his hand to lead him to the food court. “This never works on me and you know that,” he whined before pulling out his wallet. “I’ll get you whatever you want, but you can’t stay silent on me.”

“Learn to answer your phone when it rings, Kim Seungmin,” you grumbled as you pulled him into the line of the ice cream place. “I want two scoops this time.”

jeongin doesn’t have the heart to shut you out completely

Honestly, it was your first argument as a couple and he really just did not know how to handle it. Usually he just needs to have time to himself to calm down, but he can’t sit here comfortably without you. God, when had he become so cringe?

Just looking around in his phone and room were constant reminders of you. You were everywhere, his space had became your space as well

There were the pictures, the old texts that you two sent when you were planning your most recent date, the videos that you had taken on his phone while he was getting hair and makeup done. He could see the sleeve of one of your favorite hoodies poking out of his closet and the gum wrapper you forgot to trash was sitting on his desk

Defeat. This was utter defeat. Jeongin picked up his phone, fingers quick to find your contact and ring you up, letting out a breath once you answered. “Come over,” he let out a small laugh, unsure if he’s doing this right. “I know I literally told you that I wanted space minutes ago but that was enough.”

You bit back a smile on the other side of the phone, heart pounding in your chest at how cute he was. It would really probably destroy Jeongin to be mad at you

[malarign]

please don’t yell at me

(when you cry after he raised his voice on you)

contains: idolbf!Sunghoon x fem!reader | genre: angst with a fluffy ending | tw! arguing, raising voice, crying, accusing of cheating, kissing (or maybe making out) lmk if i missed anything! | wc: 0,8k

reblogs, likes and comments are highly appreciated!!!

author’s note: i don’t really have the energy or motivation to post lately, so just enjoy this old draft i wrote a while ago 🫶 i promise the next thing i’ll write will be the heeseung request from a while ago (sorry anon 😅)

In contrast to the ride home, your voices were echoing with anger in your apartment in a heated argument. Having enough of the tension between you two you decided to finally bring up the touchy subject that had been avoided for way too long, which was Sunghoon slowly drifting apart from you.

You tried to understand him for a very long time now; their first tour just ended, and they still had lots of work to prepare for their new album and comeback. It had been weeks if not months since you actually felt close to him for more time than that one date he took you on during this time. But you didn’t want dates, you didn’t expect anything big knowing how much work he had, all you asked was just a little bit of his attention and affection. Yet he seemed so preoccupied with his work he couldn’t spare you at least one hug that lasted longer than half a minute. And when he brushed your hand off of his shoulder when you tried to hug him after his dance practice you just snapped, not minding 6 other pairs of eyes that watched the scene with horror in them.

And here you were arguing like you never did before in your long-term relationship.

“You really had to make a scene next to the guys, right? Who are you, a baby? Everything has to revolve around you, y/n?” Sunghoon asked highly irritated, after slamming the front door behind him.

“Revolve around me? You can’t be serious.” You raised your eyebrows at his words in pure shock. “Sunghoon how can anything revolve around me when you literally don’t spare me any of your attention?”

“Oh please, you’re going overboard about it.” Sunghoon rolled his eyes and watched with his arms crossed as you paced the floor.

“No, I’m not! I can’t even remember when you genuinely hugged or kissed me. I can’t remember when was the last time I felt loved by you! All you do is go to work, come home late, and leave for work again. Sometimes I doubt you still love me, because all you love is your work, or maybe you love somebody new?” you asked, not knowing how your words wounded his sensibilities.

“Enough!” Sunghoon burst out. He didn’t realize how the impact and volume of his voice affected you. All he saw was how your eyes slowly disappeared under thick tears that now cascaded down your cheeks. His expression softened and his lips parted in shock at the sight. It happened. His worst nightmare happened. He made you cry and didn’t know how to fix this situation. He froze as he stood when he raised his voice and watched as you turn around and close the bathroom door behind you.

You slid down on the floor and sobbed your heart out. Feeling pathetic you thought of all those years of your beautiful relationship full of love and communication and what it had become. For the last months, you were nothing like the couple everybody envied. Now it was you who envied yourself from a year ago.

Does it mean he really found somebody new? Were you really going overboard with this situation? And maybe you were selfish for not helping him while he worked hard for his and his bandmate’s future.

Your train of thought was stopped when the bathroom door opened revealing Sunghoon. He hunkered down next to you and you looked at him. His eyes were just as puffy as yours, filled with regret and love. He hesitantly opened his arms inviting you into his embrace. You hugged him tightly and sobbed uncontrollably, choking out quietly: “Please don’t yell at me”.

Your words and tone broke his heart, the thought of you being scared of him crossing his mind. He brushed it off and left a long kiss on your forehead to soothe your pain.

“I’m so sorry, my love. I will never raise my voice at you again. I promise.”

Both of you cried on the cold bathroom floor until he pulled away and dried up your cheeks. He looked you in the eyes seeing a glimpse of a smile in their corners.

“I’m sorry for accusing you of cheating. And I’m sorry in general. I know how hard you work,” you admitted taking his hands in yours.

“No, love, just because I work hard doesn’t give me the authority to be an asshole to my girlfriend. I’m sorry for pushing you away and distancing from you,” Sunghoon rubbed his thumbs on the palms of your hands as he spoke.

You raised your hand and cupped his cheek, smiling as he melted at the feeling of your touch. You leaned in to give him a short peck on his lips but landed on his lap when he pulled you closer by the waist, plunging into a tears-salty and heated kiss. Both of you needed that kind of intimacy, hands wandering on your bodies searching for that one spot. You pulled away, to take a breath and he whined at the loss of contact.

“Sunghoon,” you called out his name drawing his attention. He looked at you, eyes opened wide waiting for what you wanted to tell him. “Let’s not argue again. Like ever.”

He smiled coming closer to you, lips brushing your skin as he whispered: “Of course, my love.”

thank you for reading! back to the masterlist

[celebtf]

Vinnie & the Car-shop

It was a hot summer day, Mid-july and and I was taking my Car to work. I woke up and I was not feeling well today, my head hurt, I was tired and hungry but I needed to work so I could afford rent and have food on my table.

I sat in the car, I got the AUX and put on some music from my regular playlist. The playlist is around 10h long so I have some songs to shuffle through.

As I was driving on the highway my car started to make this strange noice, I was in a rush and needed to hurry. I continued to drive even with the strange noice but the more I drove the more the sound got worse.

I picked up my phone and called my boss " Hey Joe, I'm sorry but my car just broke down on the Highway. I might not come in on time today, but I'm making it up to you" I heard my boss laugh a little " Hey man, it's okay, take the time you need and be safe while driving on the 40 highway. "

I hang up and called my local Car-shop and they send a car to pick my truck up. They come and I get a ride to the car-shop.

I walk in to the shop seeing a young man, im his early 20's, he can't be much younger then me, sitting on a box with his face in his face.

I go up to him and start talking " Hey man, what's up? How's it going " I asked to he polite and to see if there's anything I can help with.

" Hey man, I don't know, I'm having trouble with this thing over here, I don't know how or if I can fix this thing " the young man, who I now can see is that one tiktoker... what's his name, Vinnie hacker I think.

" Okay man, give me that thing over there " Vinnie gives me the screw and I show him how he can twist this and do that " Also, my fingers are getting dirty can I Barrow your gloves real quick " I ask him.

He gives me his gloves and I start to work on the car, and a bit later I feel the place getting hotter " I'm so sorry, but it's just so hot, I need to just take my shirt off" I said, throws the shirt and start working.

As I'm working I can feel my hands heat up, but I can't take the gloves off, my hands start to cramp and I can see them grow. My arms began so gain muscles and I can see a few, not a few alot of new tattoos for. My shoulders get bigger and my pecs too. I can feel my nipples getting hard and touching them feels really Nice. I felt something that felt like a punch to my stomach and I can see a pac of abs start to appear, a hard sixpack of Washboard abs.

I feel my face starting to heat up, my jaw cracked and got sharper, my eyes burned and my eyebrows grew bushier and my hair suddenly grew a bit longer, and blond. I'm usually not blond.

" Hey vinnie, wasn't your workday over 30 minutes ago? Why are you still here?" The owner comes up to me " I'm sorry I didn't hear you, what did you call me?"

He just looked at me and laughed " Vinnie you're always such a jokester " I didn't really understand him, but if I needed to leave then I would have to get going..

I went to the Bathroom before closing and that's when I finally saw what he meant. I was really vinnie, but how? And where was he now? But my mind started remember things, everything in my mind as Vinnie's memories.

" Okay I look really good, even better then before, I think I can get used to this"

I laughed and left the shop

Hey, I'm back, I wrote this story last week after trying to get out of this writters block I have had for like a month. I'm okay with this story not being the best. Just wanted something out and to post.

[steddieas-shegoes]

sew you up

for @steddieholidaydrabbles prompt 'hurt/comfort' rated t wc: 993 cw: injury tags: post-vecna, someone finally takes care of steve's bat bite, getting together

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

He just had to get them all safe. Then he could take care of the bite.

He just had to keep an eye on Eddie, make sure no government officials tried to take him or let the police arrest him. Then he could take care of the bite.

He just had to help Wayne get them moved into their new trailer. Then he could take care of the bite.

Excuses kept piling up, one after another, and the pulsing, searing pain of the bite became easier to ignore. That meant it was healing, right?

But one month later, the bite was still as open and ugly as it had been when the bat latched on, and he had to face the facts.

“You okay over there?” Eddie asked from his bed.

He was mostly mobile, but moved much slower than he used to and had a lot of aches and pains from still-healing scar tissue. He rested in bed more than he did anything else, and Steve usually kept him company long after everyone else left.

“Yeah, think I’m just tired.”

He was tired. But he was also in pain, and could feel the sweat beading on his forehead as he clenched his jaw to avoid groaning.

He’d just moved wrong a little while ago and the pain wasn’t subsiding like it usually did. He’d be fine.

“You’re pretty pale, Stevie.”

“Might be coming down with something,” he shrugged it off. It could be true, after all. He was feeling feverish.

“Oh! Meant to ask you the other day. How’s that bite doing?” Eddie asked casually.

Too casually.

Steve stared back at him, eyes squinting in suspicion.

“It’s fine.”

“Yeah? Mine’s kinda hurting still. Can’t bend down all the way.”

Still so casual.

“Yours was worse than mine, man.”

Eddie nodded, seemingly accepting that as a response, almost looking like he was going to move on.

“I saw a doctor for mine. Many doctors. A few nurses. One government person who took an hour bandaging it up. Not sure what that was about,” Eddie shook himself out of a thought. “But you didn’t see anyone, did you?”

Steve bit his lip.

“No. But mine wasn’t that bad. It’s healing.”

Eddie put his notebook down and took in Steve’s posture. Steve tried to sit up straighter in the desk chair he was lounging in, but as soon as he tried, he let out a hiss and small whimper.

“Let me see it.”

Eddie’s tone was short, serious, something Steve had never heard from him before.

He stood up slowly, wincing as the area around the bite pulled painfully.

Eddie slowly moved to the edge of his bed and parted his legs, waving his hand to get Steve to come closer.

Steve moved closer, ignoring the way his stomach fluttered when Eddie’s hand gripped his uninjured hip to tug him even closer.

His other hand lifted Steve’s shirt up enough to see the wound.

“Steve,” he breathed out. “This needs to be stitched up. It’s too deep to heal on its own. You’ve just been walking around with this?”

“I mean, yeah. It’s gotten a little better.”

Eddie looked up at him with wide eyes.

“This is better?”

Steve nodded.

“This is. Steve, does Robin know it’s this bad?”

Steve shook his head.

“Does anyone?”

Steve shook his head again.

“Alright. I’m fixing this.” Eddie started to get up, gently pushing Steve away from him, but not removing his hand from his hip. “You lay down. I’m grabbing my sewing kit and alcohol.”

“Wait. What?” Steve felt himself panic. “You can’t- you’re not!”

“Steve. Do what I tell you to do before I call Robin and tell her you’ve been ignoring a fucking demobat bite for a month.”

So Steve got as comfortable as he could on the bed, lifted his shirt up to his chest, and waited.

Eddie took his time, but Steve didn’t mind, would much rather wait than Eddie hurt himself worse.

Eventually, Eddie came back and pulled the chair to the side of the bed.

He worked slowly, but confidently. He gave Steve a pillow to hold so he wouldn’t flinch too much while he worked, closing up the main part of the bite so it could actually heal.

When he was done, he bandaged it up tight, and then traced the edges of the bandage.

“Why didn’t you say something?” He whispered.

“Didn’t think it was that bad,” Steve whispered back.

“You didn’t think an open wound like that was bad? Jesus.” Eddie shook his head. “I knew you were self-sacrificial, but this is insane. You can’t hide this shit, Stevie. You could get an infection, you could die.”

Steve gulped.

He’d considered it a few times, but figured he would have already ended up in the hospital if it was going to happen.

“Yeah. But you fixed it, so I’ll be fine.”

“You better let me change your bandages every day for the next week so I can make sure it’s healing right.”

“Won’t that get annoying?” Steve asked.

Eddie didn’t answer for a moment, just watched as Steve pulled his shirt back down.

And then his lips were gently pressing against Steve’s forehead, lingering heat making Steve close his eyes.

“You could never annoy me. The only thing annoying to me is that you thought that being taken care of was annoying,” Eddie said, lips still resting against Steve’s skin, his breath almost tickling.

“So you’re my nurse, now?” Steve asked with a smirk.

Eddie pulled back and cupped his cheek.

“Yep. You better be a good patient.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll steal your hairspray.”

Steve gasped.

“You wouldn’t!”

“I would. So you better do as I say and make sure you take care of this.”

“Fine. Do I get a real kiss for being on my best behavior?”

Eddie bit his bottom lip, his cheeks going red.

“Maybe if you make room for me in bed.”

“Deal.”

[dizzy-after-dark]

Cauterized | Steve Rogers

BOOM MIC DROP: SMUT FOR THE END OF THE YEAR! Y'all didn't think I would not post once this year, did you. Well, here it is. I TRIED! Mwah; see you in 2024!

Tags: Angst (not really but yeah), SMUT, fluff

Pairing: Nomad!Steve Rogers x F!Reader (Third Person)

Notes: UHHHHH 18+ BUCKOS; this is a continuation of Ignorant, which is the first part and angsty as FUCK but a personal fave of mine if I do say so myself; been really thinking about finishing my requests from over a year ago for Dinner At Dizzy's on my other account, @dizzydancingdreamer (masterlist linked if you're feeling peckish)

Warnings (what to expect, ig): oral (f recieving), fingering, sex (???), uhhhm lack of descriptive writing from a rusty author, sappiness, swearing, bad metaphors, shower sex, alcohol consumption (BARELY), size kink, over-use of the word "Stevie"

Word Count: 4.6k

She pushes the door closed, turning the shower on lazily. Her muscles ache as she twists the knob all the way to the left. Somewhere, sometime she was told about cauterization. You can seal wounds closed with fire— forcibly fuse the skin back together. She has no cuts. Nothing to fuse. And only hot water. However, maybe stepping into the scalding stream might fix the part of her brain that keeps replaying it all, over and over. 

Baby I— 

If anything, it might numb her. She would take that too right now. Hence the bottle on the counter, partially drunk and already open. She takes the first swig, the liquid like fuel to the inferno raging in her stomach, burning the rest of her in the process. The taste is acrid— she’s never been much of a drinker. She just wants to forget it all. Setting it down with a clunk, she strips out of grimey shirt, letting it puddle at her feet. 

Looking at the material, which at one point was a stark white but will now forever be a dingy gray, she laughs. Not really but, yeah, kind of— one of those half amused huffs, anyway. A pity laugh, for the state of her life. That shirt is practically trash. Even if she had the time, energy, or resources to wash it, there’s no way it’ll ever be the same. 

She should just throw it out. 

Is she even talking about the shirt anymore?

She kicks it into the corner, hands falling to the button of her jeans, swollen knuckles screaming as she fails a few times to push the little metal circle through the loop.

“Goddamnit,” she mutters to herself, and to the ghosts, and the spider she saw in the corner when she came in but didn’t have the heart to make the latter as well. 

She’s already made too many ghosts. 

“I, uh, I can help?”

None of those ghosts have ever answered before, though. 

Whirling around, fists balling in front of her face, she readies herself in less than a breaths time to send said ghost straight back to the grave—

“Woah, easy there, baby—”

Only to find Steve, his baby blues wide and a tad panicked but his hand nevertheless peeking through the crack of the door, reaching for her. Mind glazing over with confusion and, well, a fair bit of something russian and label-less, she blinks up at him and the damn door. She closed that— she remembers closing it… right? 

Her eyes flick down and the fire in her belly kindles a little more. 

“Are you kidding me?” She groans, the exhaustion an unwelcome guest in the cavern of her chest.  

His boot, right there in the doorway, holding the measly wooden traitor open. She never heard the damn click. Didn’t even bother to listen for it. Rookie mistake, honestly. She can’t even be mad, really. 

“Please just let me help.” Steve pushes past the door, both arms now extended towards her, but he doesn’t touch her yet. 

He’s waiting. She stays silent. Partly because she has no idea what to say— or what she wants— and partly because he hates it. He absolutely, agonizingly hates when she gives him the silent treatment. She watches his jaw tick, lips pressing together until they go white, and there’s a sick part of her that relishes in the cool satisfaction rushing down her spine. 

You made me like this.

But there’s also a part of her that mourns with him when he clears his throat, crystal eyes flooding over, liquid and glassy, and lowers his arms slightly. Not all the way. He’s hopeful, maybe. America’s sweetheart is always hopeful, that’s one of the things she fell in love with him for. 

That’s still Steve— her Steve. 

“I know—” Steve swallows, “I messed up. I just— you’re hurt, baby. Lemme’ help.”  

She huffs— why is it so fucking complicated? Why can’t they just be normal?

She is hurt. Nothing needs cauterizing but there’s no denying her mottled skin, blue-ish under the crappy motel bathroom lights. Her hands throb, joints screaming at her— when she turns to the mirror, she almost gags at the slight bald patch behind her right ear— fuck, that one had really stung. Absolutely ridiculous the way some people fight these days. 

Her silence is deafening. 

She wants to sob. It’s right there, in the hollow of her throat— she wants to scream. Maybe not at him but in general. She used to live in a penthouse, with all her friends, and the love of her life. Now what? She used to get hurt like this back then too but now it feels purposeless— what are they even doing this for if they have nothing. Have no one. It made sense when she still had him. 

Meeting his gaze in the mirror— disappearing a bit into fogged up glass but there regardless— she still has him. Kind of. But she still doesn’t say anything when she turns back to face him. The frown carved into her face feels vile— deep and disgusting and entirely real— but she can’t make it go away. She can’t stop the sniffle, either. Why can’t she just tell him she misses him?

“Fuck.” 

It’s mumbled under his breath. The Captain America, standing in some rundown wreck of a place off some lonely highway, is swearing. Because of her. Is this hell? It feels like hell. 

But, no, it can’t be, because his hands are so, so gentle as they cup her cheeks, thumbs softly dancing over the bruises, half assessing, half trying. Trying to do what, she doesn’t know. Wipe them away? Commit them to memory? She leans into his touch regardless, conceding ever so slightly. She won’t say it, but he can help. There isn’t a universe in which she would truly deny him. 

The first tear that falls isn’t hers, but his, landing on her forehead right before he buries his face in her hair, wrapping those supersoldier arms around her, trying and, well, failing not to crush her in the process. The tenderness in her broken body is worth it, though, because he smells like home, even if tinged with gunpowder and war. 

“I am so sorry—” he whispers, heartbeat erratic under her ear, chest heaving for breath— “I am so sorry I brought this on you. You’re hurt and it’s my fault.”  

Complicated. She fists his t-shirt as hard as she can— fists in until her hands go numb. It’s not fair how complicated it has to be for them. 

Steve didn’t throw her into the fight, didn’t slam his fist into her eye, or rip her hair out by the handful. Steve didn’t even make her come with him when he left; that was entirely her choice. But he did lose his mind a little bit. Power tripped a little too hard. Focused so much on keeping them all safe that he missed the part where he was just supposed to hug her— and that’s what sucked most— but he is now, right?

That has to count for something? 

He pulls back and her fingers tighten, steeling, tensing. He can’t go, even if she isn’t sure what they are anymore. 

The agony in his eyes when he draws the line from her balled fists holding on for dear fucking life to her own, misty gaze is indescribable. “Baby I don’t know how to fix this. I want to, I—” he clears his throat again and her frown carves even further into her skin, eyebrows drawing together— “I want to so fucking bad.”

He plants his forehead against hers and it aches, the warmth of his skin. “I don’t want to make it worse. I need you to tell me how to help.” 

There’s a stinging in her throat where the words simply don’t manifest. What the fuck is she supposed to say? Nothing, at all, really, because she doesn’t even know how to fix her and she’s not mad so there’s nothing to fix… but isn’t there? Isn’t there something between them that desperately needs mending? Isn’t she mad? 

Is it anger? 

Or is it something much more primal. 

No, there are no words she can tell him. She could show him, though. Maybe that will work.

Letting his shirt go, she watches the breath catch in his chest, stuck and frantic. She knows that feeling well— that icy desperation to keep holding on no matter what. But she’s only grabbing his hands, not leaving him, and he’ll see that soon so she continues to drag him towards the stupid, little button that her useless fingers couldn’t seem to undo. In hindsight, maybe they were just waiting for him. 

Realizing, his forehead is off hers quickly, eyes seeking hers. “What? I don’t—” She flattens his palms against her stomach, engulfing the button, and he breathes the last word out— “understand.” 

Her brows raise, cheeks still on fire but now also burning— yes you do. 

“Are you sure?” He asks but there’s a little click— the same one she hadn’t heard earlier— as his boot clad foot kicks the door properly shut, and she’s pretty sure he knows just how sure she is.

All it takes is her thumbs on his, prodding them towards her arch nemesis— damn you, Levi jeans— and the soldier is moving, not rough in his quick actions, but determined. The button is no match for Steve Rogers on a regular day, but today? Now that he has a goal? A starting place? The button may as well have disintegrated under his fingers. 

Her own hands fly to his shoulders, clinging to him as he tugs the blasted jeans off her legs, trying the best she can not to topple over with the sheer force of him. Material pooling at her feet, his palms smooth so slowly back up her now bare legs, rising goosebumps in their wake. She hasn’t been touched in ages— she feels kind of like an animal waking up from hibernation, disorientated and hungry. 

Grabbing at her hips suddenly, her ass is on the cool countertop before she even has the chance to get dizzy. Spreading her thighs with his own, he works on her bra next— this faded, hole ridden thing that if she wasn’t so engulfed in searing, licking desire, she’d probably be embarrassed about. But it’s gone so soon that she doesn’t have a chance and replaced instead with two, bulky hands that entirely engulf her breasts. 

They squeeze her skillfully— with purpose. Thumbs swiping delicious circles around her nipples, flicking this way and that, exactly how he knows she likes it— exactly the way that should have her as a mewling heap in his hold. But she’s not— she’s contained, even as her very skin thrums alive with anticipation. Is this revenge or is it just fucking complicated?

She can’t decide so instead she bites the moan clawing at her throat into small enough pieces to swallow, all the while tuning into something dark that sparks in his ever watchful gaze. 

She’s caught— he gets it now. 

“Really, baby?” He muses, palming her, squeezing just hard enough to give the touch a slight bite. His tone has her feeling like a deer in his headlights— like a freight train is barrelling directly at her and there’s nowhere to go— and she squeezes her thighs around him, welcoming the collision. “You think I won’t work for it?” 

She only blinks at him. Once… twice… 

Her panties are dropped somewhere into the abyss, long forgotten with the rest of her clothes, and his knees thud heavily against the tiled floor. Replacing his body, his head now hovers right in front of a different button, golden hair tickling her sensitive skin as he pulls her legs over his thick shoulders. His skin is warm but not as much as his balmy breath which hits her clit, teasing her into a mess, hands curling around the edge of the counter. 

Come on, Steve. 

But, no, he doesn’t give in to her just yet. First, he turns to her inner thigh, sucking her skin into his mouth with bruising pressure before letting it go with a pop. He peers up— nothing. Moving to the other one, he whispers quick kisses over her sex but never lingers, only biting into her flesh once more once across her mound, teeth almost teasing a whimper from her this time but no, she’s not budging. 

That doesn’t mean he isn’t driving her crazy. Inside, she screams— she craves. C’mon baby just give it to me. Outwardly, her hands drunkenly find his hair, tugging at his soft locks. Now, now, now she chants furiously.

He unseals his lips from her thigh, peering up, less dangerous and back to being her ever hopeful boyfriend— is her her boyf— He kisses her folds, spongy lips lingering a moment, rendering her blank and feverish. Angelic— he’s angelic. From under his long lashes he all but begs her, his dark eyes starving and wanting, but his hands are so soft on her hips, massaging deep into her. It’s this mixture of puppy dog pleading and a knowing of sorts— he knows she’s going to cave eventually.

How does he do that? 

“Words? Please?”

She only pouts and, again, the switch flips. “Fine.”

The word is punctuated with the warm, wet stripe he licks up her center, flicking his tongue languidly over her clit. For as rushed as he’d started this mission, he’s truly never been one to speed through his meals, preferring instead to devour her slowly— expertly— tasting her thoroughly like he has all the time in the world. Meanwhile her body pulses, teetering dangerously already on the knife-sharp edge of too much and too little as he masterfully carves her out. 

Her hands, which had moments ago tried to pull him closer, now use his hair as handles to keep herself from toppling off the counter when he slides her closer to him, burying his face fully into her heat. Heels digging into his back, she watches the spot where his shirt rides up intently, consumed not only by the harsh sucking on her clit but also the tanned, muscled skin peeking out and then disappearing below his own jeans, taunting her. Why hadn’t she taken it off him first? 

She doesn’t have time to think much more about it though because he’s ravenous and she may as well be ice cream, sweet and sticky, melting all over him, dripping down the sides of his face and fingers as they begin prodding against her. They tease, pushing into her but not quite far enough— hard enough.  

His gaze on her is overpowering— it’s deliberate. 

“Y’know,” he speaks against her, the vibrations making her tense, “you can just tell me what you want ‘and I'll do it.”

Her mouth is like sandpaper— her brain, uncooperative. This push and pull is becoming lethal, the next few pokes of his tongue honey slow and spine jolting. Please— she wants to beg. She’s so empty. So, so, achingly empty. Would his fingers even be enough? At this point, it’s as though he would need to crawl into her very chest to fill her up the way she needs to be. How could her words even convey something so needy? 

“Anything, baby. Whatever you want.” 

They can’t, so they don’t, but for the sounds she refuses to make, he doubles in his own, moaning his frustrations right against her. If he can’t make her say anything, he damn sure is going to make her do something. That’s probably why he finally caves, pushing his fingers in to the hilt, and she was stupid to think they couldn’t fill her, the slight burn of them not at all foreign but definitely intense. 

As they bury themselves in her over and over and over again, she bucks against his hand, chasing the start of a little ball of electricity growing in the pit of her stomach, getting higher and higher with every twist of his fingers. Combined with the incessant flick of his tongue— she’s a goner. Stifling the moan, her teeth find home in her lip, biting so hard her mouth gains a slight tang that excites her even more. What’s she even doing? 

Wouldn’t it be more fun if she just let loose? Isn’t that what’s been missing the whole time? The fun? 

When she sees the glint in his piercing stare— impish despite everything they’ve been through— she gets it. It’s hopeless— she is and they are but they’re together and the fun isn’t gone— she’s done. He earned it.

“Stevie—”  she finally cries, animalistic; it doesn’t sound like his name but he must know it is because, even with the intense throbbing consuming her entire body, she can feel his shoulders soften under her thighs— “please don’t stop, I’m so close!”

“That’s it baby,” he coos against her clit, voice raw, compliant as he continues to pump his fingers in time to her squirming, “that’s my girl. I missed that pretty voice of yours.” 

At what point the first orgasm turns into a second, she isn’t sure. It’s all one big blur of her whiny moans, wanton and liquid body, and his hushed prayers against her flushed skin, tongue lapping relentlessly against her. More baby; I know you can give me more. She doesn’t so much hear them as she does become them, absorbing them into her skin. That’s it angel— so good, so good for me.

She can feel him drinking in her mumbled, jagged noises, some words but others mere syllables, coaxed out of her by tongue and fingers all the same. Steve— honey— mmph, fuck, right there— oh my— the words pour out now, dam broken beyond repair, and for some reason, or maybe a lack thereof, it spurs her on even more, a freed woman if ever there was one— 

“Oh my god, Stevie!”

It’s maddening— he’s maddening. 

He’s relentless. 

It isn’t until she yanks his still-eager mouth away from her, stomach iron-tense from way too much overstimulation, does he slowly draw his hand reluctantly back from her shuddering body. His other arm unwinds from where it’s been snaked around her knee, anchoring her to him throughout the duration of his worship. Now pushing him upright, holding him just near enough to where she can hear his labored breaths but not feel them, she shivers, cold as ice without his heat. 

He stares down at her, unmoving, and her heart jumps in her chest. She doesn’t understand— he’s just standing there while she shudders, breathless. His shirt is stretched, no doubt from her pulling at it, and in noticing the damage she remembers how she’s completely naked and he’s completely not. Exposed doesn’t even begin to touch how she feels. 

She wraps her arms around her chest, knees drawing up to tuck under her chin. “Steve?” 

She’d forgotten what it felt like to constantly have him next to her— to have his furnace like warmth melting into her skin almost every minute. Now that she’s had her first real taste of him again, she’s de-acclimated to being alone. She needs him.

“C’mere,” she begs, shaking and a bit confused, why isn’t he touching her still, “please, Stevie, come back.” 

When her fingers finally swipe against his shirt, barely snagging it, he flinches, coming back to her. “Sorry baby, I didn’t mean—” 

She flings herself at him, heart off kilter and erratic in her chest as her lips press against his, swallowing his apologies and hoping beyond anything else that he just catches her, like he always does. He does, kissing her back fervently— reverently. His tongue, tinted with her essence, scoops into her mouth the same way he had been between her thighs. She welcomes the way he takes charge, knowing he holds her against him with every ounce of strength he has.

“—’m sorry,” he pants into her mouth, clearly not satisfied with the success of her attack, “so, so sorry baby.” 

He repeats the words deliriously. Presses them into her hair and against her temple, on her chin and both her cheeks. He especially feeds them to her, word for word, against her lips, soft at first and then rough, frenzied. He’s not talking about right now. He’s still back in that apartment; the fallen angel amongst the rubble, wings too broken to just leave it. 

It’s not complicated. And it’s not revenge, because she could never make him feel worse than he already does, nor would she want to. So, in between kisses and apologies, she answers.

“I know, Stevie.”   

“It’s ok— we’re ok, Stevie.” 

“Steve, stop— I love you!”

He stops. He sets her down, bare feet planting unsteady against the ground. He steps back. What?

“Stevie?” She questions, already moving forward, but his arms, sweeping over his head, towing his shirt up and off, halt her in her tracks. 

Oh.  

 Oh. 

This time, when she says his name it's only a breathy moan, fingers searching for his belt loops and hooking him towards her. In the time it takes for her hands to find the button— this one, thankfully, popping open immediately— there must be a god somewhere who didn’t abandon them in the rubble— he’s back on her, one hand carefully threading through her hair, dragging her mouth back to his, while the other pushes the rest of his clothes to the ground.

“I love you, I love— ah, fuck,” he hisses as her hand wraps around him, thumb brushing over his velvety tip.

For the first time, she smiles against his mouth, calm. “Language, Rogers.”

He pulls back, one neat eyebrow flicked up, but there’s humor in his eyes— no more tension. No more worry. Just fun. He leans down, nuzzling his chin down the side of her face, breath fanning her ear. Her hand stutters as it tugs on him, dragging up and down. He’s so hard— it’s been so damn long. 

“Thought I was Stevie, baby?” It’s an absent minded tease, blush lips parted even after the fact, glued to the way she touches him. 

In turn she watches his face, crowned in a mussed up halo of gold, some of which sticks to his forehead but most falling at every which angle, a product of her thighs sealing themselves around him. She can’t say that she’s never seen him this disheveled but she’ll never get used to it. He’s perfect— she makes him so messy. 

Clearly, she hadn’t been the only one enjoying herself, though, if the heaviness of him between her fingers, rutting into her palm is anything to go by. She squeezes harder, testing something, and he groans something almost inhuman against her neck. Guttural. He’s so close already. It fuels her like nothing else, tickling the part of her that just wants to please. She’s making reparations, too. Speeding up, she works him faster. Come on, honey.  

“Stevie—” she echoes and the next thing she knows, he’s pulling her off him, pushing her towards the steam which billows out from behind the curtain. 

From the moment her feet touch the warm, wet surface of the shower floor, everything is a blur. The water sprays over her harshly, but only for a moment, before he overpowers it with his own, massive body, just as searing against her skin. She registers the slick splat of her back against the wall, a grunt— missed this, baby, and her own feral howl as he slams into her. There’s no waiting, no tiptoeing, only his cock sealing them together furiously once more. 

One of her legs is hiked up impossibly far, hinging near his hip where his hand crushes her to him. The other leg holds her up— barely— heel raised, toes splaying for grip as she reaches higher. He’s just so big— so tall and so thick. So impossible to adequately open herself to without him fully lifting her but she wants to try so she does her best to meet his brutal pace, clinging around his neck desperately. 

If his fingers had filled her entirely, his cock is almost unbearable. She relishes it, though, the way she can almost feel him in her damn throat with each and every drag. It’s mesmerizing, the way there’s no need for adjustment— for remembering. He knows her body like it’s his own and it makes her drool with pleasure.   

The slapping of their skin together proves to be louder than the rush of the water, but not more so than Steve whose mouth is working over time, ladeling praises directly into her ear, soaked, stubbly chin grating deliciously against her temple.

“You look so pretty baby,” he hums, staring mesmerized at their bodies to where he slips in and out of her, “ look at you taking me so well.”  

And she does. 

It’s a lewd notion, the way she can see exactly where he is inside her by the way her belly ripples with his plunges, but one that makes her gasp nonetheless, spasming around him which is also visible to both of them. Loosening one of her hands from its vice grip on his shoulder, he places it on the exact spot, urging her to feel just how big he is. With every sloppy push and pull, she does feel it, and it sends her reeling.

“See that?” He rasps, and she can only nod, mouth agape enough for some of the water falling off his hair to drip into it. 

She swallows it, tongue somehow so, so dry despite everything. Her nerves are on fire, everything so much slower than it should be. 

The agonizing pull of his hand on hers, dragging her own fingers under his to toy with her clit. 

The little circles that take hours to complete but nurture the current running through her veins regardless. 

The fucking torturous in and out of his cock— taunting her, languidly pounding her for what feels like an eternity— she can’t think. She’s in the water but she feels under it, too, foggy and pent up. She just wants to cum—

“Fuck, baby, I’m gonna—” 

“—Stevie!” 

She breaks through the sluggish pleasure into electric and all consuming waves, head falling against the wall as his hips stutter against hers, pumping once, then twice, before falling still. Each time, she clenches harder, babbling something gritty and foul and incomprehensible. Something along the lines of holy fucking shit baby but its blurred with searing, pulsing pleasure.

There’s stars behind her eyes and steam in her nose as he falls against her chest, sopping hair tickling her hypersensitive skin. Him pulling feels like what two exposed wires touching must— all sparky and hot. It’s too much. 

“Mmm, careful baby,” she mumbles and he chuckles. 

“Of course.” 

The rest is truly a lull. Steve doesn’t bother gathering their clothes, only her, carrying her limp body to the bed and carefully setting her under the covers, dripping and all, before joining her. If she weren’t so sleepy, she would have scolded him. But she is and her eyes are refusing to stay open, let alone give him that look. It’s all she can do = to seek his warm skin once more, slithering against his body and rooting herself there. 

Cauterized, or something like it. 

[minisugakoobies]

Paradise | JJK - Fourteen

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: smut, neighbors to lovers (not quite friends but not quite strangers), slow burn, love triangle, Stripper!AU

Rating: M (18+)

Warnings: drinking, references to blow jobs that happened like 60 seconds before the chapter starts, Jungkook's a bit possessive, Jin's a bit jealous, mentions of pregnancy, references to sex, 2021 AMAs Jungkook is the wedding visual, special guest stars Woosung and El Capitxn

Word Count: 7.5k

Disclaimers: NSFW, obviously I don’t own BTS - they just inspire me

Summary: That sexy man on stage - the one currently giving your friend the lap dance of her LIFE - is your super shy neighbor, Jeon Jungkook?!

A/N: Happy two years of Paradise!! 🎉 Two years ago today, I posted the first chapter of what was going to be a five-part series. So to say I can't believe we're here is really no joke!! Thank you to everyone who has read, commented, reblogged, sent me asks or DM'd me about this series - this is all because of you! 💜💜💜

Unbeta'd as usual. Please don’t be a silent reader, I’d love to hear from you! Taglist is open. 💕

Previous Chapter ♦️ Paradise Masterlist ♦️ Next Chapter

Turns out that impulsiveness looks pretty good on you. 

Or so you think to yourself, catching your reflection in the mirror of the men’s room as you leave Jungkook to collect himself after giving him the best blow job of his life (your words - although, based on the look on his face as you’d swallowed, you might not be far off). 

You hadn’t planned on dragging him into the bathroom like that, but upon seeing him walk out onto the terrace in that grey belted suit, looking like an absolute dream, well, you simply could not help yourself.

You also hadn’t meant to tell him you missed him last night. But you had, because you did. God, when had you turned into this - this massive simp? It was only yesterday morning that you’d woken up in Jungkook’s embrace. You’d barely spent 24 hours apart - so why were you so desperate to get back into his arms?

Of course, none of this matters right now. There are only minutes to go before the ceremony begins, and you need to pull your head out of the clouds and get back to Jennie and the others. Starting by escaping the men’s room sight unseen.

“YN!” 

Or not.

As soon as you close the door, you hear Jin’s voice calling to you. He’s standing at the other end of the little hallway, near the entrance to the reception room.

“Hey,” you reply, trying to be the most nonchalant you’ve ever been in your life, as if you weren’t just gagging on Jungkook’s dick in a public bathroom. 

Jin smiles as you approach, but there’s a gleam in his eye that makes you nervous, and you’re so busy trying to come up with a valid excuse for why he saw you emerging from the men’s room that you apparently forget how to walk, trip over the hem of your gown, and crash directly against his chest. 

“Easy, tiger!” he laughs, arms locking around your back as he helps you stand back upright. “I’m used to ladies throwing themselves at me, but only you’ve taken it literally.” 

You roll your eyes, but you’re pretty sure he’s not lying about fighting off admirers, given that he looks like a supermodel in his crisply tailored tuxedo. His bowtie is a little crooked thanks to being squashed by your face during your ungainly landing, so you gently fix it, and Jin thanks you with a soft grin. 

“I left my glasses at home, so tell me - did I just see you leav-” Jin suddenly stops in the middle of his sentence, his gaze drifting over your shoulder. “Oh. Nevermind, I see.” He takes a step back, arms falling from your waist.

Another hand slips into yours. 

Jungkook didn’t wait very long before following you out of the restroom. He squeezes your hand as you glance at him, but he stares directly at Jin, nostrils flaring slightly, eyes narrowed, lips pursed tightly as if - as if -

Oh, shit. 

“You left this behind, jagiya.” Jungkook turns to you, his face shifting into a softer expression as he produces your clutch like some sort of trophy. You must’ve left it on the counter. “Did you want me to hold it during the ceremony?” 

Your brain is lagging severely at the moment, trying to process two major facts at once. Fact one: Jin obviously realized that you were with Jungkook in the bathroom. Fact two: you completely forgot to tell Jungkook that Jin would be at the wedding. Which, given the events of the last 24 hours, it’s understandable that it slipped your mind, but this isn’t how you’d expected to officially introduce them. And he doesn’t exactly look thrilled to run into him now. 

On top of that, Jungkook has asked you a question. And is now waiting for an answer, while Jin watches in polite silence. 

“Um. Yes. Sorry, yes, can you keep an eye on it for me?” 

Jungkook nods, tucking the clutch into his jacket and patting it lightly. “Of course,” he says, nodding solemnly, as if you’d just asked him to protect precious goods and not a cheap bag full of tissues and mints. 

Jin clears his throat lightly. 

“Oh! I’m sorry, Jin, this is Koo- Jungkook. Jungkook, Jin.” 

Of all the ways for these two to meet, this might not be the most embarrassing, but it’s definitely up there. There’s still a bit of Jungkook’s taste lingering on your tongue as the two men shake hands, Jin wincing slightly. 

You try to quickly fill Jungkook in. “Jin’s the best man.” 

“Sure am.” Jin grins. 

“He and Yoongi grew up together,” you add, ignoring Jin’s little interjection, knowing that Jungkook didn’t miss it based on the way his jaw flexes violently, as if he’s gnashing his teeth. 

“Nice to meet you, Jungkook. That’s quite a grip you have there.” Jin slides his hands into his pockets. “YN’s told me a little about you.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” Jungkook replies, inclining his head slightly. His hand returns to yours, fingers locking firmly. “Wish I could say the same, but YN never mentions you.” 

You try to control your face as you look at Jungkook. What did he just say?

Jin just grins wider. “So… she said you’re a dancer?” 

“Yeah, I'm a dancer. But I’m also an artist,” Jungkook replies, chest puffing out slightly. 

“Yes! You should see his work, Jin. He’s an incredibly talented painter,” you add, and the corner of Jungkook’s mouth twitches, like he’s holding back a smile. “I might actually have a photo on my phone…” 

Jungkook doesn’t give you any time to check. “Y’know, I think I’ve heard of you. You’re a cook, right? I think my halmeoni watches your show.” 

If Jungkook intended that as a jab, Jin shows no sign that he felt it. “Well, technically, I’m a chef. And a restaurateur. But yes, I do host a successful cooking program - actually, it’s about to be turned into a series for a major network.”

“Right. So like I said. You cook.”

Jin’s the one twitching now, his eyebrow rising slightly at Jungkook’s blasé tone. But rather than looking annoyed, Jin looks amused. Meanwhile, Jungkook is still glowering. You, though? Your smile feels a little strained as you try not to react to the snarky shots being fired off around you. Jungkook seems more rattled than you’d expected by Jin’s presence. You’ve never heard him talk like this. 

“You’re right, I do cook a little,” Jin laughs. “I’d like to think I’m pretty good at it. But YN could tell you, since I’ve cooked for her a few times.” He glances at you, the sparkle in his eye you’d noted earlier back and twinkling a little too merrily for your comfort. “From what I remember, she’s been pretty satisfied every time.” 

And you’d thought this couldn’t get any more awkward than running into Jin post-beej. How silly of you. 

Jungkook’s fingers grip yours tighter. “And yet not satisfied enough to ever bring it up. Huh. Sounds like it was kinda forgettable.” 

Jin’s eyes flicker to yours questioningly and you cringe, still struggling to come up with anything to say that could make this conversation less tense. At this point, you’d be better off wishing for the ground to open up beneath you, as useless as your brain is being.

Jin coughs. “Anyway, YN, Yoongi asked me to tell you to tell Jennie that the officiant is running a little late. Nothing to worry about!” he adds hastily upon seeing your concerned face. “Just caught in traffic. But on his way.” 

Great, another thing for Jennie to stress out about. “Okay. I’ll let her know.” 

Guests are starting to fill up the rows of chairs on the other side of the glass wall. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Lisa heading towards you, waving your bouquet. Thankful for the interruption, you stretch out your hand. 

“Come on, we’re cutting it close on time!” she announces. “Hey, what happened to your lipstick?” 

“Uh…” Rather than answer, you opt for escape, tugging on Jungkook’s hand lightly to urge him to follow you. “One sec, Lis. Come on, Jungkook, let’s find you a seat.” 

“See you at the altar!” Jin calls behind you, and you wince, feeling Jungkook stiffen momentarily. 

There’s an empty chair on the end of a row on the bride’s side. Jungkook folds himself into it, placing your clutch delicately on his lap. 

“Um, so, we already took photos earlier, so I’ll just come find you after the ceremony.”

“Okay.” Jungkook chews on his bottom lip, nodding. 

An unsettling feeling comes over you. Should you apologize for not telling him about Jin? Or say something about what just happened in the hallway? What did just happen, anyway? 

Through the glass, you can see Lisa waving, pointing at her watch. Shit. Whatever happened, you’ll just have to talk about it later.

As you turn to leave, Jungkook grabs your wrist. He threads his fingers through yours, pulling you closer to him, until his lips brush your cheek. “See you soon, jagiya.” He gives you another soft smile, sunlight sparkling in his eyes. The angry scowl from the hallway is nowhere to be seen. 

Your head is a mess as you follow Lisa. How had you not mentioned to Jungkook that Jin would be here? Damn, maybe he was right - maybe you really never talk about Jin. 

Both men had warned you when you started dating them that they could get competitive. Apparently that meant passive aggressive disses and weirdly possessive behavior. If this is how the two of them are going to behave, you’re in for a long day. 

A small room cordoned off from the rest of the rooftop restaurant has been turned into the bride’s waiting room. Jisoo’s doing a last pass on Jennie’s makeup when you arrive. She takes one look at you and reaches for a tube of lipstick sitting on the makeshift vanity. 

“Babe, what happened to you? You look stressed.” 

Rosé hums in agreement. “I expected you to stumble in here looking more satisfied than that. You dragged Jungkook away at lightning speed!” 

“Pucker up,” Jisoo orders you, and you obey, letting her fix your lips. 

“Mmm, well, I found her talking to both Jungkook and Jin in the hallway, so maybe that has something to do with it?” Lisa pipes up, eyebrow raised. 

“Oh shit, did something go down?” Rosé asks, a little too excited for your taste. 

“Well, actually,” you start to say, then shake your head. This is the last thing you need right now. This day is too important to be derailed by your love life. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine. Oh, but Jin did say that the officiant’s running a little late, Jennie. He’s on his way, so there’s no need to panic, but the ceremony might start a few minutes later than planned.” 

“Oh, see, Jennie? I told you there was no reason to worry - now you’re not the only one who’s late!” 

“Jisoo!” Lisa hisses. Rosé covers her mouth to suppress her giggles. 

Jennie, who has been sitting silently since you walked in, inspecting her appearance in the makeup mirror, lets out a strangled sound that’s a cross between a laugh and a wail, and buries her face in her hands. 

“Girl, please do not make me fix your makeup again,” Jisoo pleads as she crouches next to Jennie. You pull up a chair next to her and sigh, rubbing Jennie’s arm lightly. 

“Ji’s lame attempts at humor aside, how are you feeling?” you ask.

Your best friend is absolutely radiant in her white gown, dark hair tumbling in gentle waves down her back as she turns to you. 

“I’m still okay. I know things were a little… dramatic yesterday, but really, I’m okay today. You guys don’t have to keep asking me how I’m feeling.” Jennie clasps your hands, giving you a soft smile. “I’m excited and I’m nervous but more than all of that I’m ready to marry the love of my life.” She pauses. “I think maybe I should use the bathroom again, though. I guess I have some time.” 

“I’ll help you,” Lisa volunteers, gathering Jennie’s train and following her out of the room. 

You’re quiet until the door closes behind them. “Okay, was anyone else expecting her to freak out about the ceremony starting late?” 

“She’s keeping it together, somehow,” Jisoo shrugs. “I think she’s still a bit in shock, honestly. But she’ll be okay.”

“She’s fine, as long as no one mentions anything about the you-know-what,” Rosé informs you, crossing her arms as she glares at Jisoo. 

“You don’t have to censor yourself when she’s not in the room.” Jisoo rolls her eyes. 

Your friends fall into their usual bickering, but you’re too deep in your thoughts about Jennie to bother telling them to knock it off. Maybe Jisoo’s right and she’s still adjusting. Just another reason to try to stay focused on her and make sure everything goes perfectly for her and Yoongi.

It’s the least you can do for your friend, after the day she had yesterday.

Yesterday

Friday morning brings you a sweet surprise. You weren’t expecting to wake up with Jungkook in your bed. He spent most of the night making you forget all about Taehyung’s joking offer to drop to his knees at your promise to help him, doing such a good job that you’d almost forgotten your own name, too. You’d figured he’d slip out in the middle of the night after you’d fallen asleep. 

You were wrong. He’s still here, all messy bedhead and sleepy eyes, laughing quietly about alarm clocks and wrapping you up in his arms. He follows you like a puppy as you start your morning routine - into the shower, back into your room, and then into your kitchen - and honestly it’s no wonder that you decide to take the day off to spend it with him. The thought of repeating yesterday and hanging out with him all day is too tempting to refuse. Even though you’ll see him pretty much all day tomorrow at the wedding - look, if he’s down for it, then why not?

And then somehow the universe decides that your day has only been maybe a solid eight out of ten so far and decides to kick it up a few more notches, by offering you a possible life boat off the sinking ship that is your job. 

Hey YN!

I know this is ridiculously fast, but my company has an opening, and I think you’d be great for the job! Long story short someone unexpectedly quit yesterday, so now we have a position we  need to fill immediately. I hope it’s okay, but I’ve given your name to our VP in charge of hiring and she’d like to bring you in for an interview! She asked me to reach out and see if you’d be all right with coming in next week - I know that’s fast, but this is for a new project that’s being rushed to production so we really need someone to crunch some numbers ASAP! 

Let me know if you’re interested!

Best,

Wendy

As if that’s not enough, Jungkook offers to help you practice for the interview, and suddenly you can’t see through the hearts in your eyes. Could he be any sweeter? You thank him, and he kisses you, and you melt, lost in his warmth. 

Jungkook’s voice brings you back to reality. “How many more emails do you need to answer?” 

“Um…” you stare at your laptop. “Let me just respond to Wendy and then I’m done.”

“Cool.” Jungkook stretches. His t-shirt rises with the motion, his Adonis belt briefly visible, and you know he’s caught your stare when he smirks. You quickly turn back to your computer, but he just wraps his arms around your shoulders, catching you in a back hug.

“I’m gonna go home and take off these dirty clothes,” he murmurs, teeth nipping your earlobe. “Come find me when you’re done. I’ll be waiting.” 

“Fuck,” you breath. Jungkook laughs, obviously pleased at the effect he has on you. He’s such a tease sometimes. You’re trying to figure out how to flip the tables on him when your ringtone starts trilling.

Be still, my heaaaaart…

“Oh god, I bet that’s my boss, wanting to talk me out of taking off.” You frown as you check the screen. “Shit, it’s Jisoo. I gotta take this.” 

“Hey, do you have a second?” Jisoo’s voice comes through a little strained. And loud. She’s talking over some sort of high-pitched wailing. It takes you a minute to figure out that it’s a person’s voice making that sound.

“Ji! What’s going on? Wait, what’s that sound? Is that Jennie? Is she crying?”

“Yeah, that’s Jennie. She’s - she’s had - well,” Jisoo sighs. “Look, I’m over at her place because I wanted to treat her to a manicure today because I know she’s been too busy to schedule one and you know how she gets about her nails so I thought it would be a nice surprise but when I got here - oh, you know what, this is not important to the story, why am I telling you this?” 

“Just get to the point, Ji!”

“I’m trying! I’m sorry, it’s been a big morning and - what?” There’s a muffled conversation happening suddenly, and you stare blankly at your computer as you wait for Jisoo to return. You don’t know what the hell is going on, but you don’t like any of it.

“Just ask her to come over!” you hear Lisa say in the background. Lisa’s at Jennie’s, too? 

“I was getting to that!”

With a frustrated sigh, you try to get Jisoo’s attention. “Okay, okay, I’m coming over!”

“Do you mind? I know you have to work-”

“No, I’m not working today, I….” You pause, knowing that Jungkook’s just in the kitchen, likely able to hear everything you’re saying, not wanting to embarrass yourself by admitting that you took the day off just to be with him. “It’s a long story, I’ll explain when I get there.” 

You don’t end up explaining anything once you arrive. That’s because as soon as Lisa opens Jennie’s door, she greets you with a tiny white stick bearing two little pink lines. Rosé is right behind her, beaming from ear to ear. 

“Oh my god.” 

“I know!” Lisa grins, throwing her hands in the air. “Baby Min, coming to you soon!” 

You frown, glancing over Lisa’s shoulder. “Where is she?” 

The sound of Jennie’s crying gets louder as you approach the master suite. When Lisa stops outside the bedroom closet, you grab her arm. 

“Before I go in there - are those happy tears or sad tears?” You’re pretty sure you already know the answer, but you need to know what to expect. 

Lisa grimaces. “Somewhere in the middle, I think.” 

Jennie’s curled up beneath the hangers of clothing stuffed into the closet that she shares with Yoongi. She’s wearing one of his oversized hoodies, sniffling into the black material as Jisoo, smushed into the corner beside her, carefully untangles herself. 

“Tag, you’re in,” she says, taking the hand you offer to pull her to her feet. 

There’s not a lot of room for you but you squish yourself in as best you can, and immediately tuck Jennie against you. Jisoo closes the door behind you. 

“Hi, babe.” 

“Hi,” Jennie’s voice is wavery and small, so far from her usual confident, cheerful tone, that it hurts your heart. “Did they tell you?” 

“I saw.” 

Jennie settles against you, hiccuping slightly through her tears. “This wasn’t part of the plan.” 

“I know.” 

Jennie has been mapping out her and Yoongi’s future pretty much since the day they met. They both want to start a family, but Jennie insists that they enjoy their honeymoon period first. And she’s determined to make tenure at the school where she teaches before taking time off to have kids. She wants to have it all, but at her own pace and on her own terms. Which means timing everything out so meticulously. So carefully. 

Gently, you brush a lock of hair from her wet cheek. “So… do you know how…” 

Jennie sighs. “Pretty sure it was the night of my bachelorette party. I came home and Yoongi asked how it went and um, I kinda couldn’t stop talking about my lap dance.” Your friend’s face flushes at the memory, and you bite back a grin. You’ll have to tell Jungkook he left a lasting impression. “And Yoongi… well, you know how he gets competitive sometimes?” 

You can’t help it. You burst into laughter. 

“Yoongi gave you a lap dance?!” 

“God, I wish I’d seen that,” Jisoo says from the other side of the closet door. “I’d love to know if he’s got moves.” 

In all your years of friendship, you’d never known Yoongi to do more than a simple side-shuffle whenever Jennie would drag him onto a dance floor. The thought of him performing an erotic lapdance is too much for even your overactive imagination to conceive.  

Jennie just smiles to herself. “Believe me, he does.” She glances at you shyly. “He’d kill me for telling you this but… you don’t think Jin choreographed his routine all by himself, do you?” she laughs, referring to the night Jin danced for you, and your brain breaks a little trying to picture Yoongi doing the same moves. 

The closet door flies open. 

“I’m gonna need to hear every last detail about that,” Lisa proclaims. 

“Same,” Rosé adds, and Jennie laughs for the first time since you arrived. She sits up, dabbing at her face with the sleeves of Yoongi’s hoodie. 

“Ugh, my face is going to be so puffy tomorrow.” 

“No, it won’t. We’ll take care of you,” Jisoo promises, already on her feet. “I’ll go raid your kitchen for supplies. Do you have any cucumbers?” She’s gone before Jennie can answer, Lisa scrambling behind her.

“Anyway… we always use protection, but you know how they say it’s not 100% foolproof? Yeah, turns out they’re telling the truth.” She stares at her sweater paws, suddenly forlorn again, and you give her a tight squeeze. 

“I’m sorry, babe. I know this is… a lot.” 

“Yeah. And I just…” You don’t say anything, just wait patiently until she finds the words she’s searching for. “I just feel like a failure. You know? Like, it’s so stupid, but…” She shrugs. “I feel like everything’s ruined now.” 

“Oh, Jennie, no!” Wrapping both arms around her, you sigh. “Accidents happen. That’s life! You can make all the plans you want but you can’t control everything. There’s chaos everywhere! And even if you do your best to avoid it, sometimes it gets through. And it’s not always bad! I mean… look at me and Jungkook. He came out of nowhere. I didn’t plan to start dating him and Jin at the same time. I didn’t know it was gonna get serious. I thought…” you trail off, realizing you’re making it about yourself. “Sorry, this is not about me.” 

“No, it’s ok, finish your thought. Tangents and diversions are good right now,” Jennie informs you.

You bite your lip, weighing your words. “Back when Jin and I met, when you introduced us, I just thought… this is it. This is my chance to have what Jennie and Yoongi have. Something real. Something safe and steady.” 

Jennie nods, encouraging you to continue. 

“And then Jungkook… he’d always been so close but I’d never gotten to know him. He came in and opened my eyes to another possibility. To something exciting and different and - and passionate, and, oh god, I sound like a shitty romance novel, don’t I?” Burying your face in your hands, you laugh. 

“No, go on!!” Rosé says. 

“I’m just trying to say - plans don’t always work out. But that doesn’t mean you’re a failure. And sometimes, the unexpected can be exactly what you want. Or need.” 

Jennie sighs, and you can feel her relaxing against you for the first time since you sat down beside her. 

“I hear what you’re saying. And I’d like to believe that. It’s just… really difficult for me to accept that I’m not always in control.” 

“That’s a fucking mood,” Jisoo says, returning from the kitchen with a mug of tea in her hand. Lisa carries a bowl of some sort of cucumber concoction, and the two of them settle on the floor outside the closet. 

Rosé scoots across the carpet until she’s close enough to take one of Jennie’s hands. “Back to your chaos, if that’s what we’re calling it. Is it too soon to ask you what you’re gonna do?” 

Jennie groans, pulling the oversized hood over her head. 

“I’m gonna take that as a yes.” 

“I just want to get through the wedding,” Jennie states, voice muffled by the soft fabric. “I’m getting married tomorrow! And I don’t want anything to - to ruin it. Or make things weird, or more stressful than they already are. I mean, fuck, I think my halmeoni is already upset that we’re not doing a traditional wedding. Imagine if she finds out I got knocked up before marriage!” 

“Okay, then we’ll make sure no one finds out tomorrow.” Lisa glances at everyone and you all nod in a wordless pact. “We’ll do whatever it takes to make sure your day is as perfect as you’ve planned. You know we will!” 

“Does Yoongi know?”

Jennie peels her hood back to look at you. She shakes her head. 

“I took the test this morning, after he left for work. I’ve been so busy lately that I didn’t even realize I was late until today! Ji was the first person to find out when she showed up, and then she called the rest of you.” She pauses, fiddling with her sleeves again. “I think I’m going to wait to tell him until after the wedding. We’ll need to have a serious talk, and there’s too much going on right now.” She glances up. “Is that - do you think that’s okay?” 

Once again, she seems lost. This time, when you go in for a hug, Rosé joins you. 

“Babe, you can tell him whenever you’re ready! It’s your body.” 

“Yeah, but we’re in this together…”

“And you’ll be in it together still, no matter if you tell him today or tomorrow or next week.” Jisoo declares. She holds the mug out to Jennie. “And we’ll be here too.” 

“Yes. Maybe this is good chaos. Maybe it’s bad. It’s up to you to decide how to react - how to move forward. Whatever you decide, you know we’ll be by your side the whole time,” you declare, your sentiments echoed by the other girls. 

Jennie blows lightly on the steaming drink. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you guys,” she says, choking up slightly, and everyone else starts talking at once. 

“You deserve the world!” Rosé coos. 

Lisa shakes her head. “We’re the lucky ones, babe, having you in our lives!”

“How’m I gonna depuff your face if you keep crying?” Jisoo tuts. 

You just rise to your feet, laughing. “Come on. Ji said something about manicures earlier. Let us pamper you today, so you’re ready to knock Yoongi off his apparently very talented feet tomorrow.”

NOW

The officiant is only a few minutes late, and the ceremony goes off without a single hitch. You and the other bridesmaids join the groomsmen flanking Yoongi at the altar. In addition to Jin, there’s Yoongi’s brother Geum-jae, and two of his friends from work, Yi-jeong and Woosung.

As a string quartet plays the wedding march, Jennie walks down the aisle, beaming more brightly than the sun, and you catch a glimpse of Yoongi’s face, bearing such an openly reverent expression that it makes your eyes flood with tears. The officiant begins his speech, and Jennie and Yoongi stare at one another as if the rest of the world has fallen away, with nothing left but the two of them and their love.

Watching them almost feels like you’re intruding on a private moment, so you turn your face to the rows of guests, searching without thought for Jungkook, smiling when you find him already gazing your way. Your chest nearly buzzes as warmth spreads there, matching the glow in his eyes. 

Because Jennie and Yoongi chose to take photos before the ceremony, there’s no cocktail hour after the ceremony. Instead, everyone is seated for dinner. The happy couple sits at a table for two on a small dais in the front of the room. 

There are no tables large enough for the entire wedding party. There are also no seating arrangements for all of you, either. Jennie had worked very hard on the seating chart for all of the guests except the wedding party. (“You guys figure it out. I’m tired.”) So you quickly claim a seat at one of the two empty tables left open, with Jungkook taking the spot next to you on one side and Jisoo the other, with Rosé next to her. 

As the wait staff brings out the first course, you slide your chair a little closer to Jungkook. “Hey. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you that Jin would be here.” 

Jungkook’s eyes widen slightly. “Oh. Jagi, it’s ok.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure it is,” you reply. “That was not the way I wanted to introduce the two of you. It was, uh, not ideal.” 

Jungkook’s silent as he sips his water. He works his bottom lip between his teeth again, and you wish you could see inside his head, could get some sense of what he’s thinking, because sitting here waiting for him to say something makes your stomach churn a bit.  

Finally, he sighs, reclining back in his seat as he looks at you. “I’m sorry if I made that uncomfortable. I wasn’t expecting to see him.” 

“I know. I’m sorry I didn’t mention he was part of the wedding. Truly, it slipped my mind.” Repeatedly. You bite your lip, struggling to figure out what to say. This doesn’t have to be a thing, but you also don’t want them at each other’s throats all night. “But there’s no reason it has to be weird or ruin the night. Because I’m here with you, Kookie. Not him.” 

Your pulse begins to pound. It’s like you’ve just laid your heart on the line. Jungkook’s furrowed brows relax, doe eyes blinking slowly as he absorbs your words. 

“Is this seat taken?” 

You turn to find Jin standing with a hand on the empty chair across from you. 

Jisoo lets out a tiny “Yessss, game on,” and you covertly kick her under the table. 

“Uh, I think Lisa is going to -” Glancing around, you don’t finish your sentence as you spy your friend sitting with the groomsmen. Oh, right. Lisa has her eye on Yi-jeong, having basically all but explicitly called dibs that morning when she saw him in his tuxedo. You can’t really blame her. “Nevermind.” 

“Please, join us,” Jungkook offers, gesturing to the table. He says it so kindly that you can’t help but gawk at him in surprise. He doesn’t meet your gaze, but his palm rests on your thigh, rubbing lightly. Reassuringly. 

Your heartbeat returns to normal as Jin smiles. “Thanks.” 

Despite the ceremony being so modern, Jennie and Yoongi opted for more traditional dishes for dinner. For several minutes, there’s mostly an easy silence over the table, as everyone enjoys the janchi guksu and banchan in front of them, only the noise of clinking utensils filling the air. Well, that and the sound of the servers running back and forth to the bar, trying to keep up with drink orders. 

Jisoo, as usual, is the first one to break the silence.

“Okay, Jin, professional opinion on the guksu?” 

Jin chews thoughtfully for a few minutes. “I think they went a little heavy on the spicy soy sauce in the broth, but the noodles are just as tender as the ones I make. Oh, but you’ve had my noodles, YN, what do you think? Do they compare?” 

All eyes focus on you, including Jungkook’s. You swallow quickly. “Um, I think these are just as good! And I really like the broth, to be honest.” 

“You do like it spicy,” Jungkook murmurs under his breath, quiet enough that only you can hear him, and when you glance over, you’re met with that teasing smirk of his. It’s back again. For some reason, that’s more comforting to you than Jungkook’s hand on your thigh. Your heart does a somersault. It’s getting a real workout tonight. 

“You know, I never really thought about it, but it must be hard for you to eat in public. People are probably always asking you for your opinions on their food, or tips on how to make it better,” Rosé says. 

Jin shrugs. “Comes with the territory, I guess. I’m not gonna complain if people value what I think - and I’m always happy to help anyone improve their skills.” He swirls his wine glass before taking a sip. “But I suppose there can be a downside, too. Sometimes I just want to enjoy a meal without being asked to provide a full critique.” 

“I can understand that,” Jungkook replies. Again the other heads at the table swivel. 

“You can?” 

Jungkook nods. “Yeah. Like, right now, I bet you’re all expecting me to be the first on the dance floor, right?” He laughs as everyone suddenly becomes very interested in their meals. “It’s okay. That’s how it is whenever I’m out with friends. I can’t just sit at the bar and have a drink. And I definitely can’t just sway with the crowd. Everyone expects me to show off.” 

“I mean, I’m definitely hoping to see you turn up,” Rosé confirms, and Jungkook laughs again, gesturing at his point being proven. 

“Sure, that sounds annoying. But outside of going out with your friends, how often are you in a situation where you’re asked to dance? People stop me everywhere. When I’m out shopping. When I’m on a plane. I even once had someone ask me for deglazing tips while I was at a funeral! It’s not quite the same as being asked to do the robot at the club.” Jin shakes his head dismissively. 

Rosé mumbles, “I thought you weren’t gonna complain…?”

The two men eye each other for a few seconds as you hold your breath. Then Jungkook huffs out a laugh. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s not the same. That sucks, dude.” 

You exhale, settling back in your seat. 

Jin just hums, eyes darting back and forth between you and Jungkook before he speaks. “I suppose it’s just a small price to pay for being so successful.” He tips his wine glass back, emptying it. “Where are the servers hiding? I need a refill.” 

“See, this is one of the benefits of being a financial analyst - absolutely no one wants to talk to me about what I do,” you grin. 

“That’s because no one understands what you do,” Jisoo declares. 

“She’s right.” 

“Thanks, Rosé.” 

Jisoo points her spoon at Jungkook. “Okay, but real talk, you are going to dance tonight, aren’t you? You wouldn’t deny us a show!”

“Ji, we just had an entire conversation about this!” you groan, throwing your hands up. “Can you not?”

“What? I’m just saying! The man is a born performer. Right?” 

She looks at Jungkook, who nearly chokes on his wine in his haste to answer.

“Uh. Yes?” 

“Right. So there’s no way you’ll leave us disappointed.”  

“Let me get this straight - if Jungkook doesn’t dance for you, you’ll be disappointed?” you ask. “Hold on while I call Jimin and Taehyung real quick. Wait, sorry, I mean Min and Tae.” 

“All I know is suffering,” Jisoo sighs.

“Oh, relax, Kitty Cat,” Rosé giggles, nearly doubling over at the confused look on Jin’s face. 

As Jisoo loudly laments her choice of friends, Jungkook bends towards you, mouth brushing your ear. 

“Don’t worry, jagi, whether or not I dance here, you can still have a private performance later. I’d never deny you.”

Heat works its way through your body as you shift in your seat, squirming slightly from the low rumble of his voice and the promise laced within. There’s a sudden prickling at the nape of your neck, that nagging sensation of someone watching you, but when you follow the feeling and glance over at Jin, he’s staring at his empty wine glass. 

The tapping of a fork against stemware draws your attention to the married couple’s table. To your immense relief, Yoongi and Jennie had decided to nix the best man and maid of honor toasts, opting to say a few words themselves. Normally, Jennie does all the talking for the pair, but to your surprise, Yoongi rises to his feet, and the room falls silent.

“Jennie and I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for coming. It means the world to us that you took the time out of your busy lives to celebrate with us.” He glances down at his bride, who smiles back, and Yoongi’s gummy grin gets bigger than you’ve ever seen it. “As you all know, Jennie and I have been together since our first year of college. We’ve been through so much together - college, grad school, finding jobs, losing jobs, moving from apartment to apartment - but we weathered it all, because we always had each other.” 

Jennie’s cheeks are wet as she smiles at her husband. Yoongi takes her hand. 

“Jennie, I don’t know what life has to throw at us yet, but I want you to know that I’m never worried, as long as I have you by my side.” He presses a kiss to the back of her hand, and there’s a chorus of awwww’s from the guests, including yourself. Jisoo rolls her eyes, but they’re already spilling over with tears, and you poke her in the side as she laughs.  

“Here’s to you, my love. And to all of you with us here tonight. We can’t thank you enough for your love and support. Geonbae!” He raises his glass.

“Cheers!” his brother shouts, and the cry is echoed around the room as everyone raises their glasses to the couple. 

Just when you think you couldn’t be happier, once again you feel a hand slip into yours, pressing palm to palm, fingers threading through. Jungkook doesn’t say a word, too busy clinking his drink against everyone else’s, but his hand tightens around yours when you look at him, and you feel as though you could float right through the ceiling if it weren’t for his strong grip. 

To think that you nearly hadn’t asked him to come here with you. What a mistake that would’ve been. Thank god you’d ignored the constant fear and doubt in your head and listened only to the steady sureness of your heart. 

You’re getting better at it.

YESTERDAY

After you coax her out of the closet, you and your friends turn Jennie’s apartment into a mini spa, trying to help the bride-to-be relax. By mid-afternoon, as everyone is giving each other manicures, you realize that the window on your day with Jungkook is swiftly closing, so you text him to let him know you won’t be coming home any time soon. 

Not long after that, the door to Jennie’s apartment opens, and Yoongi walks in, trailed by Jin. 

Jennie greets her fiancé happily, hugging him with her hands held straight out so as not to smudge her pretty new pink tips. “You’re home early!”

“Couldn’t focus. Decided to call it a day.” As ever, Yoongi seems completely unfazed to see you and your friends at his apartment. Sometimes you wonder what it would take to ruffle him. Probably something extreme like the zombie apocalypse. “Figured I’d grab my stuff and then get some dinner with Jin.” 

Although they weren’t holding to every tradition, Jennie had insisted that they spend the night before the wedding apart. So Yoongi would be crashing at Jin’s tonight. 

Jin nods at the sound of his name. “By ‘get some dinner’, he means ‘take advantage of his friend’s restaurant and score a free meal.’” 

“As if you weren’t the one who offered,” Yoongi drawls, ignoring Jin’s squeaky chuckling.

“Sounds good, baby,” Jennie smiles as Yoongi presses a kiss to her cheek before he shuffles down the hallway towards their bedroom. “Do you guys wanna get some takeout?” 

While Lisa, Rosé, and Jennie argue about what they feel like eating, Jin catches your eye. “Hey, you got a second?” He jerks his head towards Jennie’s kitchen. Rising from the couch, you follow, closing the door behind you. 

“What’s u-oh!” Your question becomes an exclamation when Jin suddenly pulls you in for a hug, long arms wrapping around your waist as he holds you tight. 

“Just wanted to get you alone,” he says, nose brushing yours as he smiles. “Hi.” 

This is where the butterflies should come in. Standing this close to this incredible specimen of a man, this paragon of perfection, would normally send them flittering through you. Shivers should be running down your spine. Any number of excited reactions should be happening right now. 

Right. 

Now. 

Except… they’re not. 

“Hi,” you echo, grinning a bit weakly. Jin doesn’t seem to notice anything wrong with your smile, locking his hands behind your back. 

“I heard you got some good news today.” 

Your eyes widen as your stomach goes into freefall. 

“You know?” 

How? How on earth could he know about Jennie being pregnant?? Shit, did Lisa leave the pee stick out somewhere? Jisoo told her to put it -

“Of course I know! It’s my show.” 

“It’s your show?” What the fuck does that mean??

Jin honks in delighted laughter at your obvious confusion. “The interview Wendy emailed you about - that’s for my show! The one Nosh picked up?” 

The room tilts as gravity returns your stomach to normal. “Oh! Oh, wow!” Of course. The new project Wendy had referenced - it was Jin’s cooking show! “Wait, so we might be working together?” 

“Yes! Er, maybe! I don’t know how closely or whatever, but basically, the Nosh execs told me Wendy’s firm is responsible for budgeting and figuring out revenue streams and - and that’s really all I remember, sorry.” He laughs. “Most of what they said went straight over my head, to be honest. But I spoke to her on a conference call today and she told me they had an open position for the team that’s assigned to my show, and she’d asked you to interview.” 

“Wow, that’s really…” you trail off, lost in thought. “Isn’t it… the other night at the networking reception, weren’t you saying it might be a travel show?” You have a vague memory of Jin telling you what he wanted to do with his show if it got picked up by a network.

“That’s right. I pitched it as an exploration of local delicacies that often get overlooked by tourists. I’ll be going around the country, visiting tiny, off the beaten path restaurants and bars, and learning how to make their favorite dishes.” 

Traveling for work. That was one of the perks Wendy had rattled off when she’d given you the sales pitch for her company. So, if you got this job, did that mean you’d be traveling with Jin? 

Your mind is already wandering, thinking about what this new job might entail, when Jin brings a hand up to cup your face. His thumb traces your jawline. 

“Wouldn’t it be amazing? You and I, on the road together. Me, discovering new meals to cook for you…” His voice drops, a low murmur meant only for you to hear. “Maybe picking up some new dance moves to show off…” 

He rolls his hips slightly, jostling you right out of your tumultuous thoughts. 

“Doesn’t that sound good?” 

“It does,” you reply, mouth moving on autopilot, not waiting for your head to decide if it agrees. 

“I know I haven’t had the time to take you out properly, and I’m sorry for that. But this is my chance to show you that I’m still in this.” He sucks in a deep breath. “I like you. And I’m hoping it’s not too late for me to say that.” 

If this were a romantic movie, the music would swell now, strings soaring as he tips your mouth towards his. It’s a perfect moment, lush lips caressing yours, sweet and unhurried, lingering like he doesn’t care if anyone else walks in. 

It’s a perfect moment, for sure. Just, not for you. 

“Jin,” you begin, stepping out of his embrace, “I need to tell you something.” 

A/N Pt. 2: To be continued!! (Sorry, the chapter was getting a bit long and this felt like a natural stopping point… what do we think so far??)

Masterlist 💜 Find me on AO3 💜 

© 2022-23 by sunshinerainbowsbts/minisugakoobies. Crossposted to AO3. Please do not copy or repost.

[wosowrites]

International Break (Leah Williamson x Reader)

warnings: ⚠️swearing, smut⚠️

a/n: still don’t know about smut. wont write it often, much prefer the cutesy little couple moments.

prompt: Leah and reader having fun with friends and together during the international break.

International break were your favorite days. They were always fun, easy and full of laughs. It also meant you were back to playing striker. For Chelsea, you were their solid defensive midfield, but all that changed when you entered Sarina’s house. She wanted you as the nine. A team car picked you up from your house at 6:00 on Sunday evening. You had met up at Millie’s house with the other Chelsea lionesses. You, Lauren, Niahm, Jess and Millie all sang carpool on the way there, but eventually you got tired and fell asleep. The drive was two hours long and you woke up 15 minutes before arrival to the girls making tik toks. "Did you all make tik tok’s with me sleeping in the back?" You asked the girls, laughing slightly. "Definitely. Posted this one twenty minutes ago and all the comments are about you, lady pleaser." Millie tested, showing you her phone. "You’re funny."

"Yeah Mills, there’s only one lady she wats too please." Lauren said. She was sitting beside you and laughed, pushing you gently with her shoulder. "Ha ha." You said.

Leah and you had been together for six months. Not a long time, but you thought you would die if you didn’t know she was all yours. You got out your phone and fixed your messy hair, letting your waves fall loose on your shoulders. "Making yourself all pretty?" Niahm said. "I hate you all and I can’t wait to be there so I don’t have to talk to you until we have to go back to the club schedule." You told them. But yes. You were. You hadn’t seen Leah since the conti cup final. Your heart had been broken at that loss. And then after that it was Champions League nights, and your schedules collided with each other annoyingly. You couldn’t wait to be with Leah again.

Soon later, the driver pulled up to where the Lionesses would be training. You let all the girls get out first, and as you got out you looked around. There were videographers and photographers, but you couldn’t care less about them. You saw Leah leaning against a brick wall parallel to where the Cars were pulling in. She was talking to Keira and Georgia, you knew how much she missed them. You didn’t even grab your luggage from the back because you saw Keira pointing to you. She waved at you cheekily and you smiled at her briefly before locking eyes with Leah. You gave her the biggest smile and ran towards her. She took a few steps forward and opened her arms for you to jump into. You wrapped your arms around her neck and your legs around her waist. She buried her head in your neck, breathing in the smell of your hair. You hugged her back tightly. "I missed you so much." You whispered to her, feeling her hands run up and down your back. "I missed you more." Leah said to you as she put you on the ground. She was a bit taller than you, but barely.

She helped you bring your luggage in as she had already been here for over two hours because of captain duties. You fist bumped the anon for the Lionesses, laughing at Leah as she did the most extra high five ever, and then you walked in and then headed towards the dining hall. Twenty minutes later everyone was there including Sarina and the rest of staff. Sarina did a little welcome speech and then it was time for the roommate picking. It worked the same way every time. Sarina would choose one of the girls to come up on a little stage their was at the front of the dining hall and the lioness would pick a name out of a bowl, and that would be their roommate for the whole training camp.

You were sitting at a table with Lotte, Keira, Georgia, Lucy and Leah when Sarina called people’s names. Niahm roomed with Rachel, Millie with Mary ( which would be chaotic, everyone groaned as Millie picked Mary’s name ), Lotte would be rooming with Esme. And then

"Y/n! Come up here." Sarina said. You smiled at her as the group started to clap and cheer as they did for everyone. You bowed jokingly and walked up on stage. "Pick your fate." Sarina said. "Please not Lucy, please not Lucy." You jokingly muttered into the mic, making the room laugh and Lucy raise her arms in defeat. You chose a slip of paper and pulled it out, opening it slowly. "Ha! No way." You said, turning the slip of paper for the group to see. "It’s you and me, Leah."

The group laughed at the luck you guys had. "No funny business eh!" Sarina said, making you blush basically purple. Everyone knew you were dating, but having the coach bring it up made you feel lightheaded with awkwardness. You walked back to the table and high fived Leah. No PDA during training was one of your big rules. Football was your job, and you knew to be professional.

So, you brought your luggage to yours and Leah’s room, room 222, and settled in. "Right or left bed?" You asked Leah who stopped in her tracks. "What?" You asked her, deciding to mess with her a bit. But your smirk at her look of confusion gave you away. Her frown turned into a smile as she jumped on you and pushed you onto the far bed. She laid on top of you, pressing kisses to your face and then to your lips. It got heated quickly and she started to push her hips into you, you weren’t exactly innocent either, moaning at her smallest touches. But then a knock echoed on the door and Leah was suddenly on her feet and getting ready to open the door while you were standing up and pretending to take off your shoes. You nodded towards her and she opened the door to find Lucy, Rachel, Millie and some of the younger girls standing at the door. "What are you all looking at us weird for?" You yelled at them making them chuckle. "Thought you’d be fucking already." Lucy smirked. "Lucy! Children!" You scowled at her as you walked towards the door. "Hey we’re not children." Esme said. "Whatever. We’re going on a team walk. Wanna come?" Millie asked.

You and Leah agreed, Leah made the smart move of grabbing her coat while you just walked out in your england sweats and nike compression shirt. "You won’t be cold?" Leah asked you, slinging her arm around your waist. "Nah. All good." You told her.

You guys went out for your walk, and ten minutes in you were shaking like a leaf. Leah was walking slightly in front of you with Keira and Georgia, they had a lot to catch up on, and you were walking behind them with Jordan. "You cold?" Jordan asked, bumping shoulders with you. "Nah." You lied. "Liar." Jordan spat back. "Just don’t tell Leah or she’ll give me shit about it." You laughed, smiling at the short girl. "That’s why I want to tell her." Jordan said. You laughed and then things went quiet. "I’m happy you’re here, Jords. You deserve this spot." You told her. She smiled at you gently, bumping shoulders with you as a sign of affection. "Leah come get your girl! She’s freezing!" Jordan said before running away. "JORDAN!" You yelled after her as she ran to hide in front of Lotte.

Leah separated from Keira and Georgia and waited for you to catch up. "So. You’re cold?" Leah said. "Barely," you answered. Leah took your hand and instantly felt the shivers going through your body. She stopped in her tracks, you guys were closing the line so there was no blocking of anyone’s path. She slipped off her coat and gave it to you. "I’m wearing a hoodie anyways. I wore the coat more for you that for me." She said. She watched you, almost mesmerized, as you slipped on the coat and looked back at her. "You’re so beautiful. I’m so in love with you. Like… so in love. And I never want to loose you." You told Leah.

She was a bit taken aback by your words, but her face softened quickly. "Where’s this coming from?" she asked, cupping your face with her hands and using her thumb to wipe away a tear you hadn’t noticed was there. "Just form looking at you. From being with you." You told her. "I feel the same. All the time. I just didn’t know if you did. You’re not loosing me, y/n. Ever."

And with those words, she kissed you gently on the lips.

The next morning you were up at 7:30. Breakfast was at 8:00 and then it was photoshoot time in the new England kits. Every player had different time slots. Sarina had made groups of 5 to get their pictures taken at the same time to reduce any chaos. You were in a group with Lucy, Keira, LJ and Chloe for the individual photos. You were sad you weren’t with Leah, her time slot was after yours. But Sarina had asked you, Leah, Lucy, Chloe, Ella, Keira, Georgia, LJ and Hempo to come in after everyone else to take a group picture. You and Leah went downstairs for breakfast and then went back to your rooms to do your hair for the photoshoot, the makeup artist would be doing the rest.

You stood in front of the mirror, looking at yourself. You loved media day, you loved taking pictures, it was just the little comments people would say that made you worry. You hated the things people would say.

"You okay?" Leah said, walking to you and putting her hand on your back. "Yeah. Just not feeling myself today." You told her, looking at her and smiling slightly before walking out of the washroom. "You look amazing. You always do." Leah said to you gently.

You nodded and ignored the look of sadness on Leah’s face at the thought that you weren’t liking yourself today.

Your time slot was right before Leah. You watched the girls in your group take pictures, you cheered them on and then made tik toks with a few of the girls. Finally, it was your turn. You put on the white kit and did a few poses. You juggled, we’re asked to scream like you just scored which was always an awkward one for you. You then repeated everything in the away kit before taking pictures in the shorts and your sports bra. It was easy to say you had muscle to show.

You were the last in your group to go, so while you were taking the last pics in your bra and shorts, Leah came in with her group. She smiled at you, watching you pose. You hadn’t realized she was there. Leah took out her phone and video taped you, laughing at your awkwardness. Eventually, you had the go to put on your shirt again and you took a few pics with both Lauren’s and Lucy.

Finally, media was over. You spotted Leah who had now put on her home kit and smiled at her, but you couldn’t go talk to her because the photographer wanted to show you all some of the pictures.

To your surprise, you really liked them. "You always make me look so good, Mike." You said to him, hugging him quickly as he sat in the chair. "Hey it’s all you." He said.

You watched Leah take her pictures, her group being the last one and then you took the group pictures. It was a long day, and training started tomorrow.

Training was at ten the next morning. Leah woke up giddy and the first thing she did in the morning was lie on top of you and kiss you everywhere. "Mhmmm good morning to you too." You said, wrapping your arms around her body. "It is a good morning. It’s a good day." Leah said. "I wish we could play together all the time… Come to Arsenal! I’ll put in a good word for you. Jonas wants you already." Leah begged.

It was true, Jonas had put in a huge offer and you and Chelsea turned it down immediately. "No way. Never. I’m a blue through and through. Sorry baby." You told her, kissing her lips sweetly.

Before it got too heated, you pushed her off of you. "Come on you’re such a tease. We haven’t had sex in a month." Leah said to you. "And I want too. So badly. Like i’m actually dying internally but our friends are sharing a wall with us. Like Lotte and Esme are right there. Right now." You said, rummaging through your bag for the new training kit. "Let them hear!" Leah said. You gave her a 'really?' look and she laughed. "Okay. Not a good idea."

"No. Not a good idea. You laughed, throwing her her training kit and starting to change." She watched you, smiling, and then put on her own kit. You put your hair in a ponytail and then went down for breakfast. You went around talking to a lot of the girls, got pranked by Millie and Rachel and then you all went outside for training.

Leahs good mood stayed the whole day, she ran onto the field and you kept on making the joke that "your skipper was skipping."

Training was great. Everyone seemed to connect and you felt as though this was a world cup winning team. You put in the work, fighting harder than anyone else, except maybe Jordan. She had a place fo secure for the world cup. During an 11 v 11 scrimmage, you teased Mary with a panenka chip as Millie had taken you down in the box. Leah was on the other team and she shoved you jokingly after you scored that, Mary flipping you off with her keeper gloves was a funny sight. You hugged her after the game was over, your team winning 2-1.

It was then time for lunch, and then another training session followed by ice baths. You had fish, mash potatoes and a salad for lunch, going on your phone briefly to text your club teammates.

The second training session was really focusing on 1 v 1 and 2 v 2’s. Two nets about 15 meters from each other. Four groups. Two groups on each side of the net. One person would go from each side of the pitch, one defending, one attacker, and then when the ball goes out of play, another player from each side came in and it was 2 v 2.

Eventually it was your turn, 1 v 1 vs Niahm. You played with Niahm all the time, you were always with her so you knew how she played, but she did too. You dribbled up to her slowly, faked left and then did a scissor right, making Niahm step to block. After that, it was an easy tap through her legs and a hard shot to the bottom right corner. Niahm fell to the ground in defeat as the girls yelled "MEGGG"

You helped your Chelsea teammate up, laughing, and then it was you and Ella vs Leah and Niahm. Ella took the ball but Niahm stole it, with a quick slide, you got it back and passed it to Lessi, splitting Leah and Niahm completely. Lessi shot it but Mary saved it. "You do that again and i’ll put acrylics on." Leah whispered to you jokingly. You laughed loudly, no one hearing what she had whispered to you.

When training ended, you all headed towards the ice baths. You had a love hate relationship with them.

The whole team poured into the room, ditching shirts and socks and entering the water. You watched G, Keira and Leah enter but you stood at the stairs. "Is it cold?" You asked them, crossing your arms over your chest. "It’s an ice bath baby." Leah said, laughing. You pouted and looked at the water. "Come on y/n. It’s not that bad anymore." Georgia said. You stepped into the bath, your feet numbing. "Jesus." You groaned, going in deeper until the water was at your mid stomach. "Cold, cold, cold, cold." You groaned.

The photographers came and took a picture of all of you and you put on a smile for him before letting it falter. You could only focus on how cold it was.

Leah wrapped her arms around your upper body and you buried your head in her shoulder.

"You guys are gonna make this third wheel?" Keira said. "Nah! Get in here!" You said, opening your arms for Keira and Georgia to join. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea.

Georgia jumped into you at full force, and you were not expecting it. She sent you toppling backwards.

You felt nothing but ice cold water as your whole body got submerged into the bath. You were down there for a couple seconds before your body worked again and you came flying back up, gasping for air and coughing. Everyone was kind of silent, Leah was obviously trying to uphold her girlfriend role but she was the first to burst out laughing. "GEORGIA!" you yelled, shaking violently and pushing your hair out of your face. "I’m sorry! All those muscles I thought you could take it!" She squealed, hiding behind Leah. "Don’t hide behind me! I’m not protecting you from her!" Leah said, moving away. "Aww how sweet! How about you come give me a hug?" You said to your girlfriend, opening your arms to her. "No no no, i’m not getting all wet." Leah said, backing away. You stopped in your tracks, pouting. "Fine then. I’ll go put on acrylics." You said, using her threat from earlier. You turned around and walked out of the bath, laughing to yourself as you heard Keira and Georgia making an "ooooh" noise. Leah knew you were kidding, but she was quick to follow you out of the bath. "Everyone’s here for another 15 or so. Our room?" She whispered to you as you tried your whole body with your towel. "I don’t know. You really left me stranded out there." You told her, putting on an act. Leah looked over at you as she dried her legs. "Can’t leave at the same time. Meet you in three?" You quickly left the area and headed to the third floor. You used your key card to get in and then turned on the shower.

You stripped from your wet clothes and threw them in the hamper, proceeding to putting your hand under the shower to make sure it was warm enough. It was. You stepped in, feeling the relief of the heat on you.

Soon after, you heard the door open.

Leah walked in and heard the sound of the shower. She smiled to herself, shower sex was her favorite, always had been. She ditched her shorts and sports bra and walked into the washroom, looking at you through the clear glass. "You just gonna stand there?" You asked her playfully. "Just let me admire you for a second" Leah said.

You did not.

You walked out of the shower, not caring about the water you were sipping everywhere. You grabbed her by her waist, pulling your naked bodies together. Gently, but sternly, you pushed her into the shower and up against the wall. You took a moment to look at her, trace your fingers on her jawline and then you kissed her, nipping at her lips and using one hand to play with her nipples while the other one cupped her core. You trailed kisses down her body, Leah’s nails holding you tightly to her as she kept a stern grip on your waist. Her legs were shaking and as you kissed down her neck, too her collarbone, and slowly down her stomach, you we’re having to hold her up against the wall. "You ready?" You asked her, looking up at her through the valley of her breast. "Yeah."

You pushed your middle finger into her, using the pad of your thumb to push into her clit. She moaned at your touch as you pumped your finger in and out of her, holding her thighs steady. After her first orgasm, you put your head between her thighs and finished her off. When she came for the second time, you went back up and kissed her gently, grazing your nails down her stomach. "You tired?" you asked her, cupping her face. "Yeah. But you, I can-" she started saying. "No. Not today. You’re tired and so am I. It’s all good."

She kissed you sweetly and you took turns washing your hair and bodies.

The rest of the night was spent with movies and team bonding. It was all good, you were back with Leah, the lionesses were stronger than ever, and it was time to bring the World Cup home.

[unmotivatedwrit3r]

One in Eleven Million (ch. 6)

damian wayne x reader x jon kent

(A/N): So I think this ends up being ten chapters? I'll try to post more frequently; I've tortured you all long enough haha. Though I'm hoping to get a couple different things out in the next couple of weeks, so you'll get more from me, just not always of this.

As always, masterlist linked here.

warnings: air travel, turbulence

wc: ~1300

~~

Damian turned from where he was watching you continue your project to face Jon. He pulled off his zip up sweater, tugging down the sleeve of his long sleeved shirt to hide the bandages Jon did at the hotel earlier in the morning, before passing it over to Jon. 

“Here.” Damian nudged him. “For the sunglasses.” 

Though he could feel your eyes on the back of his neck, Damian ignored you for now, taking his sunglasses back from Jon’s outstretched hand. In the corner, Jon curled into a ball, head tilted against the wall and face buried in Damian’s sweatshirt. Damian watched him for a moment, chest tight. No matter how many times he’d been through this with Jon, it didn’t get easier seeing him in pain. Jon flicked him a thumbs up and Damian relaxed, turning back to you. Overhead, the safety announcement came to a close. 

“He’s okay?” You asked, eyes fixed on Jon. Your arms, already wrapped around yourself, tightened. Damian nodded, eyes straying back to his left for just a moment before returning to you. 

“He will be, once we get up in the air and away from the chaos of the airport.” He tipped his chin at the project left abandoned in your lap. “How long have you been doing that?” 

“Oh a couple of years maybe? I’m not sure exactly. Do you,” you hesitated. “Do you do some kind of art? And you read Arabic, right? I saw the book you were reading last night.” Damian’s eyes scanned your face. You looked nervous, though genuine, and he found himself not minding the questions. It felt more like curiosity than idle small talk. He hated small talk.

“I do. And speak it.” Your eyes lit up. 

“Cool,” you breathed, smiling. “I’m not great at languages but I would like to be fluent in a few one day. And art?” 

“I draw,” Damian revealed. “And paint.” He fought to keep from mirroring your smile.

“That’s awesome. I write a little bit, but only as a hobby.”  

“Really? About what?” He asked genuinely. 

“Whatever I get motivation for I guess? I wish I had a better answer but I just like it.” 

“Doing things for liking them is an answer.” Damian could almost see you mulling the words around in your head. He took the moment to observe your features up close: beautiful eyes and an unexpectedly striking smile. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” 

“I know.” 

Your startled laugh tore the last of his self restraint down. Damian’s face split into a grin.

The two of you spent the next while talking about everything and anything. You shared your reasons for being on the plane at all, your favorite color, your other hobbies. In turn, he showed you pictures of his art, his cat and dog, and gorgeous shots of Gotham at sunrise. He had a lot of pictures of him and a brown man with shaggy dark hair and bright blue eyes. In the recent pictures, Damian began to overtake him in height. “My oldest brother,” Damian offered when you asked. 

“You’re the youngest?” He nodded. 

“Of several. I am one of the tallest, though.” 

“Oh boy,” you laughed. “I bet your older siblings hate that.” 

“They do.” 

And then there were the pictures of Jon. Jon by himself or with Damian’s pets, Jon captured in Damian’s art, and Damian and Jon together. 

“Where was this?” You asked. In the picture, Damian was standing on a pathway covered in a dusting of snow, bundled up and on crutches. Jon, in a blue zip-up and jeans, was making a snow angel on the ground in much deeper snow beside him. 

“A few winters ago. In Gotham.” 

“I remember that snowfall” You thought back to the remnants of a Mr. Freeze plot. Following Batman’s intervention, all that was left was a snowy cold front. “But mostly I stayed inside and caught up on work during the snow day. And watched too much TV.” Damian huffed a laugh. 

On his other side, small snores emanated from the pile of denim and red fabric. Jon didn’t wake when the flight attendant came around with snacks. Damian accepted Jon’s pretzels for him.

“How long have you two known each other?” You asked, some time in. Damian looked over at Jon. The lights in the cabin were dim, and both boys were bathed in shadow. 

“A decade or so, now,” he said. Then, a little quieter. “He’s my best friend.” 

“You’re a good friend Damian.” Your eyes followed his over to Jon. He looked smaller than you’d ever seen him, all 6ft something curled up in an economy airplane seat. “He’s lucky to have you.“And I know I don’t know you guys that well but I can tell he’s a good person. And that you’re lucky to have him too.” 

Damian didn’t argue. 

“I am.” 

Two hours in, Jon stirred, pushing the hood off his head and blinking slowly. 

“Hey,” he mumbled. Your breath caught unwittingly in your throat. Jon’s voice was rough and his hair was mussed from where it had been smushed underneath his hoodie. You curled your fingers into your palms, resisting the urge to push back a curl that had dropped onto his forehead. Jon rubbed the backs of his hands against his eyes, dislodging his glasses. “Did I fall asleep?” 

“Morning,” you managed. Some part of you was surprised you managed to get out any words at all, much less in a tone that wouldn’t pass for a squeal. 

Damian took his sweatshirt back from Jon’s offering hand. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah,” he said, attempting to stretch while crammed in a seat with no legroom. You just watched, chest squeezing pleasantly. Damian was watching similarly. What am I doing? You wondered to yourself. He’s not yours, neither of them are. 

“You needed the sleep,” Damian said beside you. Jon snorted out a laugh. 

“Thanks Dames,” he said dryly. 

“Always.” 

You wrenched your attention away from the boys, turning your phone over in between your hands. It was too late, you knew. You were already attached. But this was a plane, a vehicle to get you from place to place. There was no reason they would be any different, just a passing point in your life. Selfishly, you hoped they might be more. 

A tap on your shoulder from Damian brought you back into the conversation. 

“Huh?” Two sets of concerned eyes were watching you carefully. Your eyes met green then blue for only a moment. “What’s up? I zoned out for a moment, sorry. Tired.” 

Damian looked like he wanted to argue with you. You hoped he wouldn’t; you might have only met him the day before, but you had a feeling he’d figure it out anyway. 

“Do you know how far we are?” Jon asked instead. 

“Oh sure I can check that one sec.” You opened the airline map on your phone. “About an hour and a half away.” The little airplane icon on your phone screen placed the plane somewhere above the Chicago area. “See?” 

“Oh that’s cool!” Jon said to Damian, taking the device from you. “Kinda looks like the thing your dad has for my dad.” There was context you were missing, you assumed. Damian huffed a laugh. 

“It’s a similar technology.” 

“What do your dads do?” You asked them. 

“He’s a journalist,” Jon offered. 

“Businessman.” Damian’s lips quirked up. “Family business.” 

That did not clear it up for you whatsoever. You snapped your mouth shut on any follow-up questions at the jump of turbulence. Your shoulders stiffened instinctively for a moment before you relaxed back into your seat. This wasn’t your first batch of turbulence and it probably wouldn’t be your last. Damian didn’t seem shaken. Jon, though, looked terrified, one hand gripping Damian’s wrist and the other tapping furiously against his thigh. 

“Is this normal? On commercial planes?” 

“Sometimes,” Damian assured. “The pilot warned of turbulence earlier.” 

“They usually come over the loudspeaker when it happens, just to reassure people.” 

Your prediction came true with a crackle of the intercom. 

“Just an average bit of turbulence folks. All numbers are still in the green, so no need to worry. As a precaution, the seatbelt signs are going back on so please stay seated if possible.” 

The pilot’s voice seemed to reassure Jon. You, for one, were tired of hearing it.

[lovechrissturniolo]

reading & answering

"weird" fan questions leads to more

* friends with benefits *

built up & foreplay

ends before the actual sex

short review

Y/N and Chris had been close friends for a while, but a week ago they had - by accident - become intimate: Y/N had spent the night at the Sturniolo's place after a party because she couldn't get a cab.

They both had been longing for physical contact. In Chris's cosy bed, cuddled up under the covers - the desire for each others touches had overcome them.

They agreed afterwards that it should remain a one-off incident. Their friendship meant a lot to both of them and nobody should get hurt.

now

Chris had just posted a story on Insta when the two of them were on the couch, Y/N lay on her side, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Can't wait to see the weird shit." Chris smirked, stretching and making a growling noise.

Y/N enjoyed the view as his body tensed:

his upper body in a black tank top

his stomach briefly to see

the waistband of his boxers peaking out

the outlines on the grey sweatpants

"I can't believe you're up for this right now." Y/N yawned, trying to distract herself from staring at his lap. "It's been such a long day!"

Chris slid a little deeper into the sofa and sighed deeply. "I don't know. I have so much pent-up energy in me - and my head's all over the place right now."

"Maybe I should go soon, it's pretty late." Y/N murmured as she saw the time on his lock screen.

"Nooo, you can't go now!" he replied, jokingly upset. "You have to go through this with me!"

Chris always became very cuddly when he was exhausted and hyper. It brought him down to feel her so close.

Y/N unconsciously put her leg over Chris' lap as she tried to find a more comfortable position. It was not unusual for them to lie cuddled up together, but Y/N immediately realized that it was risky now.

The tension between the two became more intense every day since they slept with each other a week ago.

"Look." he murmured, pointing at the screen. "I knew it wouldn't stop at one!" and pointed to a fan's question:

Favorite position sexually?

"Well, answer then!" Y/N said jokingly and looked up at him. "That's a fair question!"

"Pah," Chris felt a little awkward and rubbed his eyes to avoid eye contact. "I wouldn't even answer that to my friends!"

Y/N smirked. He looked so damn cute when he was a little bit irritated. "Maybe I already know."

Chris eyes got back to hers. "Because we had a drunken quickie once, you think you know everything, huh?" Her eyes being fixed on his lips as he spoke made him slightly nervous.

"Can I take a guess?" Somehow she liked it to tease him a little right now.

"Go for it."

"Regardless of my personal experience with our 'quicky' - I'd say you're the doggy kind of person?"

"Not bad!" he replied in a hoarse voice and cleared his throat. Their faces were so close together that he could feel her breath on his neck. "What's yours?"

"I like the way we did it the other day. Spooning cuddle sex-" Y/N realized that her teasing had the price of becoming increasingly aroused herself.

She lay her head back on his shoulder and took a deep breath. "But it depends, you know?"

Chris swallowed a lump in his throat. "Depends on what?" and wondered why he was even asking. He hadn't been able to think about anything else since they fucked last week. This conversation certainly wouldn't make it more bearable.

"To the mood, the situation, probably?" she mused. "I mean, I love cuddle fucking, but for harder sex, doggy style is wonderful. So rough and animalistic somehow..."

"Fuck yes." Chris rasped, leaning his head back and exhaling deeply, trying not to get too worked up.

"You should pick a new question." Y/N suggested to break the tension a little and leaned on her forearm.

"You pick!" he replied quickly and held the screen in front of her face. Y/N should be in charge of where it would lead, what she started.

It was only fair!

Y/N surrendered to the fact that she was dying to sleep with Chris again since they did it last week and chose another one of the "weird" questions:

Oral - giving or receiving

"Jesus, Y/N!" Chris groaned with a flustered laugh and put his forearm over his face.

Her squirming around, with her leg on his lap, while asking these questions started to make him crazy. "How about you start this time?"

"The questions are for you, not me." Y/N smirked and bit her lower lip.

"Alright." Chris returned somewhat desperately. "Hold on." He took a deep breath and his hand subconsciously reached for her leg to hold it in position.

Y/N's mouth went dry with excitement as she felt his clearly hardening member against her thigh.

"That's actually easy. I love both," he whispered, looking her straight in the eye.

"Same for me." she replied husky and glanzed at the screen again.

Tits or ass?

"That's a shallow question!"

"Why?"

"Because I don't look at tits or ass first."

Chris licked his upper lip with the tip of his tongue. "A nice neck is hot for me." and ran his finger along her neck.

"Waists are sexy, too." he added, tracing hers with his fingertips.

Y/N's pulse began to race and she got goose bumps from his gentle touch.

"Your mouth is beautiful." he added in a quivering voice and pressed his lips to hers.

Y/N put her hand on his chest and pressed herself against him while their mouths opened and their tongues met.

Chris pulled her on top of him and moaned softly from the pleasant feeling of her abdomen on his lap.

"Tits or ass?" he groaned between their kisses, put his hands on her breasts and pressed them gently. "Whatever I can reach..."

Y/N moaned from pleasure burrying her hand in his hair.

length of your dick?

she added breathless, "was one of the questions!" while her free hand wandered between his legs.

"Fuck, Y/N!" Chris moaned as she gently grabbed his cock and tilted the head in his neck from pleassure.

"One more exception wouldn't hurt, right?" she moaned in his ear.

"Fuck, you don't even have to ask!"

I love describing the built up/foreplay part more than the actual act, so I leave the rest to your imagination.

Hope you like it! 💕

⬅️ more

[clemswinecorner]

Small world [Clément Novalak]

Summary: Picking up your cousin from the club ends a little different then you expected… It’s a small world.

Wordcount: 2.9k

Warnings: They’re in the club, mentions of a toxic relationship and cheating (not y/n and clem), sexual implications

It has taken me too long to write a Clem fic, I’m glad it’s finally here!! Especially considering my username is literally clemswinecorner😐😐 Added in a waaaay more dramatic storyline then necessary cause I didn’t know how to end it whoops, but enjoy! For the Clem girlies (but especially Chloe and Yana)🫶🏼🫶🏼

Bit shit formatting because this is posted from my phone, will be fixed asap!

Main Masterlist

“Paris, I’m seeing your brothers Monday, I really don’t think I need to see them right now,” Paris, although you can’t see, rolls her eyes as she looks back at you. “They’re right over there, c’mon!” She yells, trying to be heard over the music. Before you know it you’re standing in front of a table at the back of a club. “Y/N, hey, what are you doing here?!” Despite not wanting to be there, you still smile at your cousin who pulls you into a hug. “I was supposed to pick up Paris and she dragged me inside. It’s good to see you though, it’s been too long,” Marcus laughs at his sisters ways as you briefly hug your oldest cousin, James, and his girlfriend. You saw the both of them just the other day, since you live on the same of London, but you hadn’t seen Marcus since you were both in New Zealand to celebrate New Year’s a few months ago. “Oh, that’s Juan, Franky and Emmy by the way, and you’ve met James and Alice. Do you want a drink? Our other friend Clem is getting some already, I can text him,” You smile as you look at Paris next to you, talking animatedly to her older brother. “No, thanks, I’m taking Paris home. C’mon, let’s get you home,” Paris pouts as you put your arm around here. “Noooo but I want to stayyyyy,” you sigh as you look at her. “You called me to pick you up because you wanted to leave, Pari, let’s go now. I made your bed with the Mickey bedsheets you love,” her eyes light up at the mention of her favourite bedsheets, but quickly get distracted again as someone hands her a drink that looks like coke (but most likely holds alcohol). Marcus sends you a sympathetic smile, as you sigh. “Clem’s getting more drinks, you could follow him to the bar, it’s not too busy there if you walk past the bathrooms there and keep right. Smiley guy, dark hair, slight beard, wearing glasses -fake ones- and i think a striped button up. Just tell him to put it with mine and Paris’ drinks when he sends me a payment request, I’ll try and get Paris ready to leave,” you give him a thankful smile as you start to make your way back through the crowd.

At the bar you don’t see anyone looking like the description Marcus gave you. There was a guy in a white button up -which looked extremely good on him- but it wasn’t striped nor was he wearing glasses. You take a seat, figuring the friend was probably at the bathroom. You glance at the handsome guy, currently chatting away with the bartender until he walks to the other side of the bar to prepare a few drinks. The handsome man moves closer to you, though he still keeps a respectable distance. “You havin’ fun here? Or just want to get steamed?” He speaks up, revealing a somewhat British accent. You chuckle at his choice of words- similar to your cousin’s. “Oh i’m just, you know, in the club, at the bar,” he raises his eyebrows, “ah, yes, as one is. Not a club person then?” He slowly moves closer, and though you weren’t in the mood to talk, you still found herself in a conversation with him.

“Hey, do you want to get back there, dance around?” You’ve naturally moved closer to each other, your arms touching as he swirls his drink- whatever cocktail. You bite your lip- you really weren’t the most social person (it was honestly a surprise you even considered dancing with him), looking down into your glass, previously filled with a coke, in consideration. “I was supposed to get these and some more to my friends, we can walk by them, sit there if you’d prefer?” He adds on, noticing how you weren’t very enthusiastic. “I think you should go back to your friends, enjoy your time with them together. I’ve probably held you back,” you smile lightly, as you sit up straighter, suddenly hyper aware of how close you are. “No, no, I want to spend time with you. I’ve gone out with them dozens of times. Unless you don’t want to be there with me and get back to your cousin, that’s also completely fine, sorry if you felt like you needed to stay in this conversation,” you quickly shake your head, putting your hand on top of his arm. “No, I like this. It doesn’t really happen that I actually like spending time with a stranger like this, usually I’d be trying to get home and watch a movie,” he chuckles as you subconsciously move your face closer to his. “I’m glad you like my company, then,” he smiles as his eyes flickers down to your lips. “I don’t, Clément, I just did it for the french and the drinks, obviously,” you joke and he laughs, his head falling forward. He looks up with a genuine smile, leaning forward and soon enough your lips touch. You weren’t sure who started the kiss, but it was better than most kisses you had (the best one so far, you’d even say). He knew just what the right moves and pace were and you were on the same wavelength the entire kiss, not wanting to pull back. Oh well, his friends were already waiting, what would those extra minutes be?

“Hey, I really like this, I do, but I would also love to dance with you. Plus, my friends are probably wondering where I wandered off too,” He whispers with your faces still only inches away from eachother- as far as whispering goes in a club. “They’re not used to you running off with random girls you’ve pulled your charm on?” He chuckles and looks down, contemplating his response. “Just the pretty ones. Nah, not really, my ex girlfriend and I broke up about 9 months ago, she did quite a number on me if i’m honest. I’ve been getting time to myself and friends even here, I have barely been with anyone, I only just got somewhat back to, you know, messing around last month. My friends don’t really know though, if I told them I was ready for something they’d push me towards anyone attractive in a 10km radius,” you laugh at the last comment, relating to the last part a bit too much- your friends also tried to get you with whoever was even remotely attractive. “So, what are you ready for, right now? Just so we’re both clear on that, because anything goes for me,” he shrugs in response. “I’m not really sure. I just wanted to keep things unattached, casual at best but I kind of really like you,” You smile his answer. “We can just dance around, see what happens tonight, maybe explore more of this if we feel like it tomorrow,” He nods, before he tenderly kisses you again with a smile.

“It’s not too much people, and you can keep your distance. It’s mostly my friends, their siblings, girlfriends. You don’t have to be introduced to them if you don’t want to, I can just drop the drinks off and we can dance. If the dance floor gets too crowded just say the word and we can get to some other place,” He whispers against your ear, making you blush “Actually, I kind of have to go to the bathroom. You get those to your friends, I’ll meet you on the dance floor?” Clem shakes his head, “meet me between the men’s and women’s. Don’t want to lose you,” you nod as you go separate ways. The music playing was nice, you realised as you went onto the dance floor, Clem’s hand in yours. You danced around for a short while, though it only took about half an hour before you both gave up trying to stay civil, deciding to go to Clem’s apartment. You had quickly texted Paris as you walked your way out, the people you came for soon forgotten.

It wasn’t until about an hour and half later, when you were sitting in his bed leaning against his headboard, drinking a glass of wine that Clem got a call. You’d settled under the sheets, Clem only wearing his underwear and you wearing your panties and his shirt. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, which you didn’t mind (you found out he looked very good without a shirt). “Ah shit, I have to take this, I didn’t tell anyone I left and it’s my mate,” you quickly motioned for him to go ahead, and he put the phone to his ear.

“Hey, where are you?” Clem hears his best friend ask. “Sorry, I left already, forgot to tell you. I’m at home now,” He simply answers, playing with your hand as you sip your wine. “Ah, okay. D’you know if my cousin went home too?” You see a surprised look on Clem’s face, “Your cousin?” He looks at you surprised as Marcus answers. “Yeah, Y/N. She was supposed to go to you at the bar.” He raises his eyebrows at you, saying “Oh, yeah, yeah, Y/N, I saw her get into her car safely, don’t worry.” You nod as you realise he was, in fact, Marcus friend you’d been looking for, quickly showing him your texts to Paris. “She texted Paris as well, I thought you knew she left,” He says casually, before they finish off the call and say goodbye, making plans for the next time they’d meet. “Alright, I’ll see you Friday. Bye Marcus, love you too mate,” You raise your eyebrows as he ends the call. “You’re Marcus’ friend?!” You simply ask, a hint of surprise in your tone. “Small world. Though you do not sound as shocked as you should be. I didn’t even know Marcus’ cousin was with us tonight?” You chuckle at his surprise. “I was picking up Paris and then she didn’t want to leave so Marcus sent me to you- for the record, to his friend, I did not know you were his friend because Marcus did not give an accurate description,” Clem laughs, “that doesn’t surprise me in the slightest,” he agrees.

Clem breaks the comfortable silence that fell first. “Are you- Do you want Marcus to know about, eh,” he carefully considers his words, “are we going to tell him this happened? Happens, or whatever’s next,” You study him as he asks the question, but nothing gives away how he feels. “I mean… Do you want him to know? I like you, and I would love to see where this goes, like, romantically or even physically, if we realize that works better. It depends on what you want from me,” Clem nods, grabbing your hand in his (though they were already practically on top of each other). “Yeah, me too. I’d like to hang out with you, ‘date’ or whatever it’d be called. Just… Do I get to kiss you still,” you jokingly roll your eyes with a smile as he pulls you towards you. “I guess you do, Mr Novalak,” he raises his eyebrows, “we’re on last name basis now? Did you stalk my instagram or what?” You chuckle in response. “I pay attention to my cousin’s life and stories sometimes,” you smile, which makes him laugh. “Hey, but if you don’t really want to tell your friends you’re dating, that’s okay. I don’t mind keeping it just us,” He smiles before he leans down to kiss you. “Thank you. It’s not that I don’t want to show you to them, you know that though, right? Just want to go at my own pace,” you nod, “I know.” You softly kiss him before he pulls back to cuddle. “So, now that neither of us have to inform people of our whereabouts, how about you take a shower, order food, watch a movie?” You smile, you were always in the mood for a late night snack. “If you can help me with the shower it sounds like a plan.” You smirk as you get out of the bed. “Alright, alright. Can you grab some towels from that closet? I’ll get the shower ready,” you nod as you do as you’re told, putting them in the bathroom when you’re done. Clem’s already in the shower as you take off your clothes and get in. “What’s taken you so long?” You jokingly roll your eyes before kissing him.

Around 11 AM you and Clem freeze in your kiss as the two of you hear rushed knocks on coming from his front door. “I’ll check that out,” Clem says and you nod as he gets out of bed, quickly putting on a shirt. Luckily you were both still wearing pants and your shirt was still on, if whoever’s at the door wants to walk into the bedroom. “Hi, mate, I’m kind of bu-“ Clem stop his sentence halfway as Marcus walks into the living room distressed. “Dude, are you okay? What’s up, did something happen?” Clem asks as he sits him down on the couch. You move out of the bed as well, recognizing your cousin’s voice. “No. Yes. I. I’m fine I just need to talk to someone. Last night, eh, Paris, I, shit, Clem,” You stand in the doorway of Clem’s bedroom, seeing Clem crouched in front of Marcus. You make eye contact with Clem, and wether you should keep listening or not. You decide yes, since you’d hear about it one way or another if it was about Paris. “Marcus, breathe. Is she okay?” Marcus takes hasty breaths and nods, “yes, she’s fine, uhm… Mate, I really don’t know what to do,” Clem looks at you once again, knowing you’d probably be a better help if it concerned his family. You don’t know how to go about it, but luckily Marcus turns around after he sees Clem looking behind him. He notices you and immediately turns back, and you speak up. “Sorry, do you want me to…?” Marcus doesn’t seem to register who’s standing behind him. “Oh, sorry, am I interrupting- wait,” he turns back to you and then to Clem, who gives him a tight-lipped smile. “This is a discussion for later, Marc. Do you want me to go or do you want me to hear?” Marcus stays silent for a moment still staring at you and then tells you to stay.

“When I left my apartment to work out I checked on Paris in the guest bedroom because she would stay at mine, but she was with a guy and it was not her boyfriend. I guess she went home with someone, James and Alice dropped them off before I was there so I didn’t know. I feel horrible and I don’t know if I should tell her actual boyfriend because were kind of mates but I don’t want to break her trust and she should be the one to tell him but either way it’s horrible and-“ Marcus keeps on rambling as you and Clem try to take in all the information. “Marcus, stop. Breathe. First off, I know she’s your little sister, but this is not your doing or responsibility, okay? Nothing you could’ve done,” Clem starts and Marcus nods as you bite your lip deciding wether you should say what you know. “Okay, look, I don’t know if I should say this but you don’t know the full situation, Marc. Their relationship is not as good as it seems and it’s toxic as hell. Paris never told you because she was scared, and she only told me because I found out by accident. You should talk to her, yes, but don’t force her to say or do anything, okay? Just ask her to be honest,” Marcus looks at you as everyone digests what’s just been said. “Okay. I will. Thank you for telling me, Y/N.” You smile at your cousin “of course. Think that’s what best for the both of you.” Its quiet for a few minutes before your phone rings on the table behind Clem. “It’s Paris,” He says, handing you your phone. You take the phone, standing up to go to the bedroom. “I’ll take this, be right back.”

When you come back from the call, Marcus is ready to leave. “Paris woke up a bit ago and told me what happened, I said she should talk to you. Best you don’t mention you were here, though, I think,” Marcus nods, looking more composed then when he arrived. “I won’t. By the way, we also should discuss why you are here. I thought you went home last night?” Clem pushes Marcus to the door, “don’t you have somewhere to be?” making you chuckle. “Like I said, that’s a topic for another time,” you say before hugging him goodbye telling him to keep you updated. He hugs you and Clem, “Yeah, and that time is tonight. We’re having dinner, I’ll text the details. See you tonight, bye!” He leaves no room to argue as he walks out of the door, leaving you and clem stunned. You look at each other as he closes the door. “Well. I guess we have a date tonight?”

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[lunamochii]

NYCTM: A moment with you || part IV

neteyamxfem!human reader

🎐content warning; little bit of angst, jealous neteyam, 🎐fluff [trust me on this one]

🎐a/n; no synopsis since I tend to slip away💀 as usual your feedbacks will encourage to write more! Reblogs are okay🤍 Enjoy reading!

edit: I finally fix🥹 after posting this I went to sleep right away.

3.6k words. part 1, part 2, part 3, part 5

“Can someone switch places with me? If staring can cause death, you guys would be crying right now”

Tilting your head slightly to take a glance on the man who just touch your face just a while ago. His stares is so deadly that you can tell, a hole is being drilled at the back of your head

“Maybe if you are not so close to Nate, he will stop”

Brows arching you turn to look at Spider who is eating. He shrug his shoulder as if his words were a matter of fact. You let out a annoyed huff and went to sit beside Max. All of you are gathered here since Jake invited you to take part with the celebration

You finish your food quickly and excuse yourself to go to the hut where the Sully family arranged for you and the others to have a space to put your things while you guys are here. Grabbing your bag, you pull out your diary and stare down at the drawings. Your mind immediately eases as you let out a sigh, if everything’s coming down all you have to is stare at this drawings and your mind will immediately be at ease

“Hey, you good?”

Nate had followed you noticing the discomfort you were feeling, you nodded and the man sat beside you. Resting your head on his shoulders, you felt his arm wrap around your shoulder

“I know Max told me to take it easy but how? These memories just keeps on coming like a flood”

Nate hum and his fingers carress your arm making you relax, closing your eyes you let everything go away. When Nate came into your life, he help you get back to your own feet. He was there through ups and down, supporting you on whatever your antics were

One time, you questioned him on what is the white thing that is falling down the sky. He told you the meaning of it and what are the fun things to do with it. The moment you ask him to teach him how, he held your hands and lead you outside. You can still remember the two of you playing and laying down while laughing to your hearts out

“Want to get away from here? I know you have been dying to see all the corners of this forest”

You immediately move away and look at him, you can’t hold back your smile

“You really know how to comfort me huh?”

“Ofcourse! What are friends for?”

You laugh and the two of you ran out, away from there.

Neteyam notices that you didn’t come back neither the man who pulled you away from him earlier, eyes meeting his. Oh how much he want to send the man flying across the other side

“I see you, Y/N”

He was about to hug when someone pulled you and put you behind him. He let out a low groal, the man before him look at him with displeased and Neteyam wanted nothing more to punch him straight on the face

“Get back. She’s not someone you can touch easily.”

“You—“

“Bro! Let’s get you dress up for the celebration!”

Lo’ak intervened and drag Neteyam away from the scene, Neytiri hiss at Nate before following her sons. Spider push Nate not too hard and glared at him

“You are the one who can’t touch Y/N easily, dimwit”

Neteyam got up and was about to go to the hut where his father provided for you but he saw two figures running. He caught a glimpse of your hair and immediately decided to follow but he wish, he didn’t.

Your smiling face, hands being held by someone other than him, warmth that was only for him to feel. If only he have his bow right now, he would of shot that man’s face

“Look at this Nate! This is so cool!”

Neteyam watch you from a far, how you took off your shoes to let your toes feel the ground. How you twirl around, your sweet voice. Ah, his hopelessly inlove with you.

“Aren’t they pretty?“

He heard you ask and he swear to Eywa, he could have revealed himself and strangle the man’s neck when he tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear

“Yeah… so pretty”

Although your reaction made Neteyam’s heart calm down as you only laugh and ressume admiring the beauty of his home.

‘That’s right. You don’t deserve her affection, skxawng’

“Sorry for this…”

You shyly whispered but that didn’t escape the Olo’eyktan’s ears, making him smile. For you to be riding with his ikran, your back press to his chest. You simply wish that this ride will end swiftly. You didn’t think he would offer to take you with him, I mean, it’s Neteyam! The Olo’eyktan!

‘For the love of God, calm my heart down’

“Do you want to see more? The view when you’re above the forest is majestic!”

Lo’ak said making you get intrigued more, it’s been a month now ever since you came back and you can say that you have seen most of the things on the forest now. So what Lo’ak just suggested just made spark something inside you

“Really?! Then me and Nate can fly through aircraft. We can fo—“

“No no! We will ride our ikrans~ I promise you that it will be better than riding those”

You look at Nate who is sitting beside you, he looked at you and just nod

“Then maybe we can ride with you Lo’ak? me and her”

Lo’ak click his tongue and wave his hands. He stood up and place his hands on the side of his hips

“You are flying with me Nate”

You look at the younger Sully if that’s the arrangement. Then who’s going to take you? A smirk appeared on Lo’ak’s lips then his eyes move to look at the person who just came in

“Oh don’t worry Y/N! My big bro will fly with you!!”

Neteyam suddenly maneuvered his ikran to sideways and you let out a yelp and you couldn’t help but grab tight on his arms, this earn a laugh from him. He touch your arm and whispered something that you can’t help but open your eyes

“I got you. Open your eyes and witness the beauty of Eywa’s creation”

You first let out a breath to relax yourself and when you feel the steady movement you slowly open your eyes and can’t help but gasp

Mountains floating, water falling from it. Kinds of birds you haven’t seen flying past by you and Neteyam. You look down and saw the incredible view, if the forest looks so pretty from the ground what more from above?

“Told ya you would enjoy it! Now let’s go HIGHEEEER!!! Wooohhooooo!!!”

“LO’AKKKKK!!!!!!!”

You heard Lo’ak and Nate scream but more like Nate’s is screaming for his life. You nervously laugh and turn slowly to face Neteyam

“You surely wouldn’t right?”

He smirk at you and your face went pale

“Hold tight, girlie”

You scream when his ikran suddenly fly up high that you couldn’t help but wrap your arms around his. You swear you blurted out all the bad words you know, making Neteyam just laugh at your reaction

“You can open your eyes now. You wouldn’t want to miss this”

“No! If I’m to open them, I will die!”

Neteyam let out a chuckle and wrap his one arm around your waist, you grip more tightly on his other laugh with his sudden move, he lean down so he can whisper into your ears

“I won’t let you go, I promise”

Something in his words assured you so you took your time calming yourself, when you were calm enough. You open your eyes and saw the sea of clouds before you, the sun settling above but it’s warm doesn’t hurt your eyes neither your skin. You can feel a different kind of warm radiating from the sun

“Beautiful…”

Neteyam look at your expression, it’s the same expression you had when you two were flying together

“Yes, very beautiful”

After some time all of you decided to go down now as the eclipse is nearing. You can feel your legs being all wobbly the moment you got down, luckily Neteyam is there to hold you. Still remembering how his arms were wrap around your waist, blush creep into your cheeks

“Thank you for today, Neteyam”

“No worries. Although I want to show you something and I know you haven’t gone there”

You tilt your head at the side and was about to ask him when a arm forcefully grab you

“Nate! Did you see th—“

“Let’s go home. Max must be worried”

“Huh? But…”

You turn to look at Neteyam and he have this expression that can be interpreted that he wants to tackle Nate down. You grab your arm away from Nate and ran to Neteyam

“Let’s go some other time, yeah? See you Neteyam!”

You said and wave goodbye to him as you angrily walk pass by Nate.

Neteyam watch you disappear from his sight, looking at his hands that was touching you today. Lo’ak notice this and elbowed his brother

“So? Did you manage to catch her attention this time?”

Neteyam laugh and put his arm around his brother’s shoulder and the both of them walk towards their home

“You should have throw that annoying fly. He won’t die, I just know that”

Lo’ak fake a shock expression

“Damn! That came from our olo’eyktan? You’re crazy bro”

Neteyam shake his head with a smile on his lips

“Just crazy in love brother”

This morning Norm and Max told you that they need to show you something, it was something that you have achieved before you got knock out, yeah you called your disease like that. It’s already afternoon and you are bored to your hearts out waiting for them to come back, you want to go out but the chance of you seeing Neteyam might be the cause of your anothe knock out

“One more kiss?” Neteyam beg

“Fine!”

You can feel your face heating up and you immediately bury your head on the pillow screaming, unlike all of the memories you have been seeing, all of them are blurry but this time, it was so clear that you can’t brush it off

‘Just who is Neteyam to my life?!’

“That brother, is you call a human about to become a worm”

Your head whipped at the side so fast you heard something crack, you rub your neck and glared at Spider who came in with Lo’ak and Kiri

“Everyone! Except with that person whose name is disgusting”

Lo’ak laugh and lightly hit Spider on the chest, Kiri giggled as she walk towards you

“Hey Kiri! Here to see Dr. Grace again?”

“Yes! I would love to have a chat with you but I’ll talk to my mother first~”

You laugh and let her go, you know how much she loves her mother. You watch the three of them hang out and you can definitely say that they are close, then you remembered how Lo’ak said that you’d choose hanging out with Neteyam. Maybe that’s why you have those memories with him! But then what about the…

“Waahhhh!!!!”

“Have you finally gone crazy?”

“Max! Norm! I have been waiting! Now what is it you are going to show me?”

The two men look at each other and told you to follow them, they led you to a room and notice that a white cloth is covering something. You see all the monitors as is monitoring something

“And??”

You impatiently remark and Norm told you to calm as they prepare something, you notice a pod that they opened then Max walk over to remove to the cloth and your jaw drop, not literally but you know

“This… this is like Dr. Grace..”

You muttered under your breath and walk around it, you see it flinch as if it’s just sleeping. Features similar on how you look.

“This is what you achieved on such a young age, the moment you tried it out, you were sprinting out only for your heart to lead a failure”

You clench your fist, you have a vague memory of it. Turning to look at Max who is looking at you

“Do you.. do you want to try it again? We figured out that it is time for you to freely explore Pandora. Your body is stronger now, I’m sure you will be okay.”

You glance at the avatar then back to Max, your heart already thumping fast but something is telling you, whispering that if you do this. You will certainly remember the true purpose on why you created this, why you pursued making this

Neteyam is busy on sharpening his hunting tools together with his hunting party when he notice the commotion, several Na’vi ran to take a look and all of them looks like they are circling on something

“Back off! If he sees you guys, he will surely rip your throats out”

Hearing the voice of his brother he immediately stood up, the people made way for him his gaze drop at the woman standing before him. He recognize those garments, it belongs to his sister but the person who’s wearing it is not his sister

He ran down his gaze throughout your body then back to meet your gaze, you bit your lower lip and tuck a strand of your hair

“H-Hi… Neteyam…”

Lo’ak’s lips is curve up into a smile seeing how dumb his brother look, well, all of them were also like this. You look pretty, you can easily rival to the women who is said to be beautiful on the clan

“Y/N…”

You were about to reply when Neteyam suddenly pulled you into a hug, burying his face on the crook of your neck. This earn a mad blush from you as you let out a nervous laugh and patted his back

“Sorry! It’s just… wow!”

You can’t help but laugh and the feeling of you being here, feels like that you belong here. Especially beside Neteyam.

At the other side Jake together with Neytiri, Max and Norm is watching all the commotion, they can’t help but still feel a little bit of worried but they know that this time, Neteyam won’t let anything happened to you. Although all Jake that wants now is for you to remember his son, to remember your love for him. If that’s not too late…

Jake’s eyes narrowed down at Nate who is clenching his fist, as he watch you smile and giggle to whatever Neteyam says to you. Something is bugging Jake about this young man but he decided to take care of it later as he doesn’t want to miss the happy moments of his son

—

Five months have passed and you earn yourself a place on the clan, Neteyam was the one who teach you their way just not to feel left out, he also trained you on how to get yourself a ikran

On those months you have also concluded that you like him, not because of the memories that keeps on coming back but because you saw how he cares for you whether you’re in your human form or avatar form. Neteyam is always true to you

“Remember that time when I told you that I wanted to show you something?”

You two sat on a trunk, the two of you were out hunting as you were ask by Neytiri to hunt with Neteyam. Who are you to decline when it’s your chance to get a moment with him?

“Yeah, but we got so busy these days…”

“Mhm but wanna go there now?”

You look at the animals you bought have catch

“What about this?”

“I’ll just put that at the back of my ikran.”

You finally agreed and the both of you called your ikran. While waiting for your ikrans, you tried to speak to him

“Thank you by the way…”

He turn to look at you, he look so pretty while leaning the back of his body with the help of his hands that is place on both of his sides. Your eyes flutter and you hug your knees, resting your head on top of it, facing him

“Thanks for helping me overcome my fear of heights. I mean, what’s the use of this if I’m afraid right? So yeah, thanks..”

Neteyam smiled softly and move closer to you as he put his hand on your cheeks, thumb rubbing circle on your cheek. The cold air is slowly turning into warm, staring straight to his eyes you felt as if you were being pulled

For it to be only disappear when both of your ikrans arrived making you both jump away from each other

“L-Let’s go!”

You said and connected your queue to your ikran and hop on, you fly up ahead of him not wanting to let him see your expression right now. For sure, you look incredibly stupid right now

Seconds later Neteyam was right beside you with his ikran

“Follow me”

You nodded and the both of you fly throughout the sky but Neteyam’s heart is telling him to fly with you. You in front of him, his arms on your waist. Minutes later he found a spot and landed on it. You followed thinking this is it

“Here already?”

“No but can.. can you ride with me?” You look at him puzzled “But I am already?” Neteyam let out a breath, he made a space and patted it as he stare directly at you

“Here by my side, please?“

Your grip to your ikran hardened, not breaking a second of contact on his eyes you nodded, you disconnected your queue from your ikran and press your forehead against it’s own and told her to go back for now

Your ikran as if understanding you flew away and you walk towards Neteyam, his ikran bend down making it easy for you to ride, he still help you though by placing his hand on your hips

“Thank you”

You can only nod at your head when his breath fan against your left cheek. You heard him command his ikran to resume flying, feeling the cold air you can’t help but admire the stars that are twinkling, the moons that shine brightly. You felt him poke your side and you glance at him and he motion you to look down

When you look down you were taken back by how every plant is glowing, you can even see a pond that is glowing, fireflies dancing above the water, you were enjoying the view when Neteyam maneuvered his ikran to fly a little bit higher and you can’t help but be at awe on how everything ahead of you is just plants, trees that are glowing softly. Animals noices that you can’t identify what’s what.

“Everything is so beautiful! Neteyam! Thanks for…”

You turn slightly to look at him but you caught him looking at you, tears threatening to fell down but your hands quickly found it’s place to his face

“What’s wrong?“ you ask, worried. He only shook his head

“I lied Y/N. The place I wanted you to see, it’s non-existent. The only place I want to be is to be beside you..”

You look straight at his eyes and you felt his hand gently grab yours as he kiss your palms, then kiss your knuckles

“Neteyam.. you..”

He nestled his face on your hands and look at you

“All I ever wanted throughout these years is for you to be finally beside me and now that you’re here… it still feels that you are far away…”

“What are you saying?” He cup your cheeks and place a soft kiss on it

“I don’t care if you don’t remember me, we can make memories again. Just don’t leave me again, please? I don’t know if I can live knowing you will leave me again..”

You notice your years trailing down from your eyes to your cheeks, you touch it and felt your heart breaking seeing him cry, Neteyam always look tough. Him leading their clan to a successful hunt. He always look stern around his family, this side of his is surely a new to you

“Do you like me?” You ask, Neteyam let out a laugh and lean his forehead to yours

“Like? I see you, Y/N. Never have I stop loving you, it’s always you. Always”

He grab your hands and along with his he position to your stomach, hands intertwined. He claim your lips as you made no protest. You two shared a kiss that was supposed to be shared long time ago, he pulled away and kiss your eyelids, nose then put a quick kiss on your lips. You both smiled and your head remain rested on his shoulder as you both conitnue flying throughout the sky, while holding each other

“I see you, Y/N”

“I see you, Neteyam”

—

In case you guys are wondering, NO, this is not the ending😊

Y/N fell in love with him all over again! And Neteyam?! Hello! He have always love you, not wanting to choose anyone other than you! But wait! As they say, when everything is going fine there will be always storm charging towards you, right? So yeah, sit tight and enjoy the upcoming parts!

Also can I read some of your favorite part of this chapter? How you feel on this update? Please leave a comment!

taglist;

@n1ght5h4d3-24, @mashiromochi, @itscheybaby, @calums-betch, @devil-on-acid, @laylasbunbunny, @neteyamsmate4life, @szchaql, @eddiesluvt, @kachowness, @mirikusashes, @erenjaegerwifee

[scarlettsandmaroons]

all the love we unravel | n. romanoff

about me | series masterlist | natasha romanoff masterlist

pairing: professor!natasha romanoff x collegestudent!reader

chapter ten | chapter eleven: (didn't choose the) midnight rain

chapter summary: while most people would have to be dragged back down to reality from their fantasies, you'd gotten enough of that. so you step down to reality yourself.

warnings: fluff; more natasha and reader fluff, billy being a big drunk baby, wanda being a sweetheart. angst; cheating, a little anxiety (if you squint), minimal guilt.

a/n: look at me posting twice in one week. who would've thought i'll ever be capable of doing such thing! also, the series is ending which makes me sad a bit. we're a few chapters away!

you stumbled on the pavement, looking back at natasha who's hand your were holding loosely on yours. "shhhh," you giggled. 

she didn't shush. in fact, your attempts at being silent only made her laugh harder. 

you jumped between shushing and laughing even as you stepped onto your porch, and especially when you were crammed between the small space between the walls where the door was and she was fumbling for her keys to open it. 

you were a little bit drunk, you will admit. while she wasn't, she couldn't help but laugh at your antics, at every thing you do so clumsily. 

it was 8pm. it was dark, and silent, and the roads were empty, and not one house-old from your block had their lights on. something about going home felt wrong. like you were sneaking back in after sneaking out at midnight to go drinking. like you just missed your curfew, and now you're trying your hardest to not get caught as you re-enter the house.

"natasha, you have to be really really quiet," you remind her hazily when she finally pushed the right key in. 

"i'm not even talking!" she protests in a whisper, but you only hold a finger against her lips. 

"shhhhh!" you silenced. "be quiet and do it carefully."

her gaze remains on you. then she smiles through your pressed finger. 

click. 

the door unlocks, but she doesn't quite open it yet. instead, she pushes through your finger and kisses you despite your index in between your lips. "i love you," she says through a muffled whisper. 

you silenced her with another shh. 

then she turns the knob, and all your weight pushes the door open, making you stumble through but she quickly takes hold of your arm to pull you back to her before you fell head first to the floor.

"careful there," she whispers. 

"natasha, dear, is that you?" 

blood left your face. you mind spun back to reality, reason and truth grasping your brain tight instead of the blissful fog that hugged it moments ago. you pushed yourself away from her. she didn't let you go, she never does, never by choice too. her body clings onto you the same way her heart holds onto every fiber of your being. she couldn't. 

but you always made sure to push twice, if not thrice as hard. you always made sure you'd be far far away from her, so far that you'd forget you were even close to her in the first place.  

you ended up near the stairs where natasha emerged from. "oh, y/n!" she greets happily. "you look famish," she tells you, her hands quickly coming to fix your hair, then caress your face, then lead you to the dining room. "come, i made you food!" 

you were stiff against wanda's arms. feeling a gush of guilt wash through your body when you saw a feast spread out on what usually was a two-dish maximum dinner table. 

"oh, you didn't have to—" 

"oh come on, just sit. you two have been gone for a week. i missed my girls," she tells you. pushing you to your seat while she moves around the table to hers. "being alone with billy drove me crazy. i forgot how it was to only live with that spoiled boy," she humors. 

while she went on, natasha was right next to you, absentmindedly pulling out your chair for you to sit on, but you swat her hand from your seat and subtly pushed her to hers in the process of sitting down. 

you got to shoot her a sharp glare which she caught on, realizing that she'd forgotten, just before wanda sat in front of you. she got your plate, beginning to put a bit of everything on it. while she goes on to asking you what you did.

you let natasha speak, naturally. you always let her speak. you would've stumbled for words, stuttered, slip. you could never lie. you couldn't even look at wanda when natasha does it for you. 

might be a little hypocritical considering you tolerate natasha's constant need for touch, and kisses, even if it means doing it where wanda can so easily see. 

"sounds like you two really bonded, huh?" wanda smiles. "you're stealing my only daughter away from me, nat."

you only noticed when she handed you the plate how all of it were vegetable dishes. barely any meat, just different vegetables cooked different ways. 

you were never a fan of vegetables. in fact, you hated them growing up, not that you were forced to eat them, you just simply didn't like them. but wanda made it, for you. 

you accepted the plate with a smile, but natasha quickly snatched it from your fingertips before wanda had even fully let go.

"looks good, hun," she says, and you only stare at her with almost wide-eyed confusion matching wanda's. 

"natasha!" her wife scolds. "that's rude," wanda looked at you with a smile. "don't worry dear, i'll fix you another plate."

you wanted to say no. you were praying she wouldn't. how could you possibly hide the way your face contorts when you put a piece of it inside. what would you say if she notices your quickened munching, and immediate sip of water. 

you could hear natasha and wanda having an exchange. wanda smiling at something natasha said, and sliding into a cute little argument still with endearments, and a flirtatious smile. you noticed that over the sudden ringing in your head when your mind filled with overlapping voices of whatever you could possibly say if wanda notices the way you stop your breathing when you put a piece of broccoli in your mouth. 

"i'm sorry i just don't like vegetables, but i am fucking your wife." 

how could you possibly decline the woman who offered you her home, who offered you a family, a real shot at having a normal life; a woman whose wife you're fucking. 

"y/n sweetheart, are you okay?" 

the world clears, and a snap from wanda's fingers was enough to silence your thoughts. 

"sorry what?" 

wanda's face was scrunched, worried. "are you okay, dear? you seem to be a little out of it today. did something happen?" she asks. "natasha says, you'd already eaten."

"no, i—," you looked away. "i'm just a little tired, that's all."

wanda smiles. "well, that's a sign that you two had a good time, isn't it?"

"i think y/n could say we had the best time," natasha adds in, taking a sip of her water.

"well, not that either of you asked. but billy and i had a great time too." 

billy. 

"oh, don't you wonder where billy is, dear?"

you were so worried about wanda, you'd forgotten about billy.

"oh i—," you stuttered for words. you know is bound to steal from you wanda's attention yet again, but she's saved far too many times tonight. she spoke for you the entire time. wanda would pick up on it. "i just figured he might still be studying for his exams."

you knew it when you said it.

"his exams were three days ago, dear."

this is why natasha speaks for you. 

"had you not been talking to him on the phone?" she questions. 

you knew that. he told you before you left. 

"reception." 

"her phone broke."

your eyes instinctively wanted to look at natasha, but you resisted. silently cursing yourself for the way you and natasha said two different things at exact time. 

"nat was messaging me just fine though. did you really not have reception?" wanda asks. "we even call everyday."

"did we?"

"we did."

the time you could've spent thinking for an excuse was instead spent on repeating, "natasha was messaging me just fine" in your head, over and over again. 

you couldn't expect her not to. but you'd never once seen natasha on her phone. you never saw her text, or call. sure, once, you saw her typing. maybe even twice. but she never told you. she hid it from you. why would she? 

was the secret of you two fucking behind her wife's back not enough for her to tell you that she's messaging her wife on the week you were meant to get away from her. 

she was yours, that week. just yours, solely yours. except, you find out, she wasn't. she was still wanda's even away. 

"my phone broke. something's wrong with the way it gets reception now," you save yourself. "where's billy?"

"he's out with tommy. tommy's in town for the weekend, so they went to a pub," you stand up abruptly which startles wanda. "wait, i—"

"well, i should get going then," you say. 

"but you just go home, dear."

"and i can't wait to see my boyfriend. i'm sure mrs. romanoff can't want to spend some alone time with her wife too," you spare a glance at natasha, seeing the visible urge to stop you. "not that you haven't been doing that on the phone."

"y/n, sit back down," natasha calls. 

you smile at her on your wait out. "i don't think i will, mrs. romanoff," you tell her. 

"sit. down." 

"oh let her go, natty. she wants to be with her boyfriend. she's gotten sick of you," wanda interjects. "go on, dear. i'll text billy you're coming." 

"she's drunk wanda!" natasha reasons then returns her eyes on you. "sit, the fuck, down." 

"what's with this hostility, nat? she's a teen who's been away from her boyfriend for a week. let her go," wanda scolds, looking at you then mouthing a soft, "go." 

that was your cue. you left completely disregarding the pair of eyes that you physically feel bore into your body. you called for a cab, your phone was fine. the missed calls from the last few days you intentionally missed popped on your screen. as well as the messages you did not even once open. 

you found billy in the pub near your university. at 9pm, it was only him and tommy, and another person sitting alone. 

you feel a sense of disappointment, searching for any signs of green in the brown eyes that met yours from across the room. he waved his hand, waiting for you to reach them. he continued his conversation with tommy until you sat on the chair next to him and flashed his twin a small smile. 

it felt different. it was always different. he was always different. he wasn't natasha. 

at some point, billy slid you his bowl of nachos when he adjusted himself to have his arm on the back of your seat. not once throughout the entire evening did he talk to you though. or look at you. he acknowledged you were there at least, whispering a small hi when you took a seat before returning back to his conversation. tommy would say something to you from time to time. but nothing that really involved you. 

after what seemed like hours, the two finally stood up to give each other a brotherly hug. tommy went off first, billy sat back down finally looking at you for the first time. 

he stares at you, his elbow on the table and his hand supporting the head the was on it. "i missed you," he says through a small smile. 

you could smell the alcohol through his breath. he was drunk. he never seems like it sitting down , but you know it'll only worsen from here. "i missed you too," you whisper. 

"i'm sorry i wasn't paying attention to you," he frowns. "i was catching up with tommy. and i know you hate pda."

something in your skin crawls, you weren't sure why. but you smiled nonetheless, "let's go home."

"y/n can i sleep with you?" he asks abruptly. 

in fact, he kept asking you that although out the ride home. and when you were trying to carry his heavy body over the pavement, and up the porch. 

you fumbled for your keys, struggling with carrying his weight. you pushed the door open, and came out was a loud groan from your boyfriend. "i want to sleep with you, y/n," he tells you hazily. 

you stood him up straight, still supporting his body through a hand on each shoulder. 

"you're drunk, billy," you tell him. 

"just a little bit."

"no. by a lot bit," you correct. "you know you're a lightweight. why would you even drink."

"just beer."

"i don't care." 

he closes his eyes, a smile drawing his lips before he opened his arms wide and trapped your body in his warmth. "oh i missed you, y/n," he tells you. squeezing your body while rocking you side to side like a kid with a friend. "and my mums love you," yeah, differently. "and i love you. and mommy said she'd disown me if i ever hurt you. and i looooove you, y/n."

your heart ached. 

"i love you too, billy," you whisper. 

once, in first grade, you were the shy kid who nobody would talk to in the playground. billy came up to you, handed you a lollipop, and asked you if you wanted to be his friend. you said yes, and he took you in his arms, squeezed your body while rocking you side to side, shouting to the world that he "loooooooves" his new friend. 

tommy made him cry moments after that. 

but you like to think that billy has never let go ever since. even thought sometimes, he suffocates you. 

"it's 1am. i thought we've established your curfew being 11pm, billy."

you quickly stumbled out of billy's hold, the man being too dazed off to even notice his mother leaning against the arch of the kitchen in a pink robe and a glass of wine.  

"hi momma!" he says cheerfully, going on for a hug but natasha tuts. 

"you're drunk. go upstairs," she tells him. 

the man frowns like a child who had just been told he's leaving the playground, "yes, momma...," he drags out. slowly making his way to the staircase before he got a glimpse of you again. "i'm sleeping with y/n today! yay," he says before hurrying upstairs.  

you cleared your throat, aware of natasha's sharp glare though you pretend to take no notice, eyes still on the staircase though billy was no longer on it. 

"and you," you hear her say, chills immediately running down your spine. "i told you not to leave, hadn't i?" 

this would either end in sex, or a hard cold lecture. you were hoping for neither. you couldn't possibly, not when the last thing you told billy was you loved him. and when a pulse from a headache is beating in your head. 

"well, i am a grown adult," you tell her. your eyes on the floor now, while your hands take its time searching for the back pocket of your pants to put your keys in. 

you hear her take a few steps towards you. and then warm hands snatches your chin to look at her, nails digging to your skin. "well, a grown adult should be able to look at me straight in the eye, don't you think?"  

her green eyes were dark, and her jaw clenched. you were silenced by the way she looked down on you, almost condescendingly with how you disobeyed her direct orders. 

she dragged you to the kitchen, carrying you to sit on the island which you take no time protesting in. she would never be swayed by your protests. she never hears them. 

but she does, however, have a very good sense of reading you. she picks up on the little things, on your routines, she notes your mannerisms. she knows you, and it scares you how much you hadn't told her yet she knows about you. 

so when she saw the way your eyebrows drop the moment she cornered you, the way your breath didn't hitch, but instead only searched for more ways you can breathe in much much deeper, she knew what you needed wasn't sex, or a lecture. you just needed a break. 

of course, you didn't know she knew that. your eyes followed her around the kitchen as she prepared something which you assumed would be something that would correlate to her fucking your senselessly, or maybe a snack she'd serve you as a side for her long lecture. 

"natasha, i'm just really—" 

"i know," she interrupts, handing you a glass of some green colored liquid, uncovering the mess she's made behind her. "drink."

"what's this?" 

your face scrunched to form wrinkles when you got a whiff of the juice. it could've been nothing else but green vegetables. and you couldn't. but before you could even set down the glass, natasha grabs it from you, takes a drink, and pulls you by the neck to smash your lips against hers. 

you could feel the liquid enter your mouth, and she felt your lips twitch almost in silent protest, but she refused to let you go. the expected bitterness wasn't there, instead, you tasted the wine that coated her lips, and the honey from her saliva. 

you swallowed it, but you didn't pull away. you pulled her, kissed her, this time even deeper. your tongue smoothly slipped into her mouth, her saliva coating your tongue. you explored her mouth, then her lips, searching for the sweetness of honey, and the wine, and every taste of her. 

she softly pulls away, catching her breath. and then she looks at you, "i didn't know you had it in you, y/l/n," she tells you.

"if you'd let me, i would so do a great job at dominating not just our kiss," you pull her back to you by her arms, wrapping your legs around her waist, and setting your arms on her shoulders. "i think i'd be great at dominating you in bed." 

"is that so?" she challenges. "but you can barely look at me, baby. how can you ever."

"blindfolded."

she snickers. holding you now by the waist, and looking up at you again. "were you mad at me?" she asks. "for what wanda said?" 

you look away, pulling yourself slightly further to give yourself the space to think, and process stepping into a more serious conversation. 

"i'm just—"

her hold on your waist became a full on hug. "you can't possibly be mad at me for something i—" 

you wrapped your arms around her head tighter, less like how it was loosely hanging earlier. "i know, nat. i get it. i just—," you take a deep breath, then you looked away. "i didn't do that with billy. i didn't answer any of his calls, or opened his messages because i thought... i want to be just yours for a week. not billy's... yours."

"but i am yours. even when we're here, or school. i'm yours, i'm yours only." 

"no you're not. you're wanda's wife," you move away again, allowing more air to be in between you two. 

but she pulls you against her again. "but you're the one i think of to sleep. you're the one i kiss. you're the one i touch. you're the one i hold. you're the one i make love to," she narrates slowly, looking up at you. "you're the one i love. i... am... yours."

"are you?" 

"every part of me, everything that i am, is yours," your heart melted. so did you. your body relaxed against her hold. your forehead resting on hers before she speaks again. "so tell me. why didn't you answer billy?" 

"i told you. i wanted to be just yours." 

"wherever you are, you're mine, dear. you can be anywhere in the world with billy, and you'll still be mine," you look away. unable to meep her gaze. "but i think, you just love me."

you giggled a little, leaning back with your arms supporting you weight on the counter. "you think?" you ask almost teasingly. 

"you know, i never heard you say you loved me."

"i'm waiting for our first year anniversary. i want it to be like a grand gesture—"

"should be today. it's almost 2am," she points out. "but that's not it." 

she was insisting. and you just sighed. you sit back up, taking the glass of green juice and finishing what turned out to be really sweet, and yummy. 

and then you look at her. she's still waiting. 

"i.... it's wrong nat. what we're doing," you fiddled with your finger through the glass you were holding. "you left your wife upstairs, and i left her son, my boyfriend to sleep on my bed alone, so we can kiss in the kitchen at 2am. so we can do all sorts of secret things that are wrong."

"i think we did worse things than kiss secretly in the kitchen."

"and that's what i'm saying," you say, sliding off the counter. "wanda offered me a family to save me from my own. she treated me like her own daughter, she's paying for my everything. and billy, i always loved billy... he's always been my family, and i—i'm betraying them to—for you."

"do you love me?" she says abruptly. 

you hesitated. you know you shouldn't. there was one straight answer. "if i say it, then i'll only confirm the feelings i shouldn't be having for you in the first place."

"do you... love me?" she pulls you towards her when you move to the sink to set your glass inside. "look me in the eye and tell me what you feel."

she trapped you between her and the counter. she had her hands on either side, holding you against the counter, her face inches form yours. 

you hold her face in your hands. "i love you so much, it hurts me."

"then runaway with me," she blurts out. "i'll divorce wanda, and we can make this right. we can be together. we can runaway." 

your heart dropped. "what?"

"let's run. we can move to new york, or california. away from westview, away from new jersey."

you couldn't think. your mind was foggy to the point that no coherent thought passed through. "natasha i—" 

"you can study in ucla. i can get you in," her eyes were straight, her breathing controlled. she thought about it. she knows. she's serious.

"natty, i don't think ucla will let me in. you did fail me first semester last year."

"oh, i can get you to harvard even. don't worry," she assures. but that doesn't really eases you. 

"then what will you do?" 

"anything i want. i can get a job anywhere," she smiles, noticing the uncomfortable position she's put you through so she moves away to allow you to breath. "i don't think you've seen my resume."

"nat, how about money, and—"

"you possibly can not think we'd ever have problems with money," she says, moving to the counter in front of you and leaning against it with her arms crossed against her chest. "we can get married when you graduate, then we'll figure it out from there. you can work anywhere, and i'll support you. we can travel the world, we can—"

"natasha..."

you move towards her this time, trapping her between your body and the counter behind her.

she holds either hands with hers, looking ay you with pleading eyes. "sweetheart, we can move to an apartment near your school. an apartment for just the two of us. then i'll drive you to then pick you up from school. we can go on dates, we can..." she paused. "you can live your life, you can do whatever you want. and you can be with me. we can be together," she was insisting, urging, pushing. "then we'll settle in norway, have a kid, build a family..." 

"i can't..." you whisper. 

"but you said you loved me......"

something broke inside you. the image of the family you'd build with her, the life. the feeling of how true all of that can be, and realizing you can't have that. what's in front of you, what's holding you. that you can't choose that. it broke you. 

"loving you is already wrong enough. if i runaway with you, i betray wanda, and billy. i betray my family, your family," your heart ached. "wanda and billy are very dear to me."

"dearer than i?" 

"...no. not dearer than you. never dearer than you," something hugged your chest, tightly. something choked it to a point where you can barely breath. "but they're dearer than me. they mean more to me than i mean to me," you see the light inside her eyes disappear, the same way you feel you getting farther from the life you wished you'd have. "natasha, i could never choose myself over them."

"but how about me?" 

tears started running down your face. you weren't sure where they came from. you never felt them coming. but they were there. 

hearing her plead for you. the very woman who would die before you see beg, the very woman who never asks, never cries. not in front of you, not in front of anyone. seeing the way her eyes held onto every hope, every love you have for her. it hurts you. 

"natasha..." you whisper. unable to get anything past the lump in your throat. "natasha, you're asking me to choose over you and your family. over you and billy."

"why can't you choose?" her voice cracked. 

but you stayed strong. you held her hands firmly no matter how much it sweats, and shakes. "because i grew up with a mother who chose everybody over me. who chose her boyfriend, and drugs, and everything else over me," you tell her softly. "i will never let billy have the same mother i did. a mother who didn't choose him. and i will certainly not let you be that mother. not to my bestfriend, natasha. not to billy," you say. "and i refuse to be the reason you don't choose him."

you wiped your tears, letting go of her hand, preparing to leave. "im sorry, i can't...," you turn away. 

"so what now?" but she stops you in your tracks. 

if you left before she asked, you could've woken up the next day pretending that none of this ever happened. that you were just as happy as you were five minutes ago. that you're still together, even in secret. you could've thought about it. you could've been okay. 

"what?"

"what are we now?" she asks again. 

you cleared your throat, looking back at her hopefully with less sadness than there is love. "people who refuses to hurt the people they love," you say shakily. 

"but you're hurting me..."

"and i'm sorry."

[samflir]

What makes a good boot sequence?

A while ago, I had my first truly viral post on Mastodon. It was this:

You might've seen it. It got almost four hundred boosts and reached beyond Mastodon to reddit and even 4chan. I even saw an edit with a spinning frog on the left screen. I knew the post would go down well with tech.lgbt but I never expected it to blow up the way it did.

I tried my best to express succinctly exactly what it is I miss about BIOS motherboards in the age of UEFI in this picture. I think looking at a logo and spinner/loading bar is boring compared to seeing a bunch of status messages scroll up the screen indicating hardware being activated, services being started up and tasks being run. It takes the soul out of a computer when it hides its computeriness.

I think a lot of people misunderstood my post as expressing a practical preference over an aesthetic one, and there was at least a few thinking this was a Linux fanboy post, which it certainly is not. So here's the long version of a meme I made lol.

Stages

I remember using two family desktop computers before moving over a family laptop. One ran Windows XP and the other ran Windows 7. Both were of the BIOS era, which meant that when booting, they displayed some status information in white on black with a blinking cursor before loading the operating system. On the XP machine, I spent longer in this liminal space because it dual-booted. I needed to select Windows XP from a list of Linux distros when booting it.

I've always liked this. Even as a very little kid I had some sense that what I was seeing was a look back into the history of computing. It felt like a look "behind the scenes" of the main GUI-based operating system into something more primitive. This made computers even more interesting than they already were, to me.

Sequences

The way old computers booted was appealing to my love of all kinds of fixed, repeating sequences. I never skip the intros to TV shows and I get annoyed when my local cinema forgets to show the BBFC ratings card immediately before the film, even though doing so is totally pointless and it's kinda strange that they do that in the first place. Can you tell I'm autistic?

Booting the windows 7 computer would involve this sequence of distinct stages: BIOS white text -> Windows 7 logo with "starting windows" below in the wrong aspect ratio -> switch to correct resolution with loading spinner on the screen -> login screen.

Skipping any would feel wrong to me because it's missing a step in one of those fixed sequences I love so much. And every computer that doesn't start with BIOS diagnostic messages is sadly missing that step to my brain, and feels off.

Low-level magic

I am extremely curious about how things work and always have been, so little reminders when using a computer that it has all sorts of complex inner workings and background processes going on are very interesting to me, so I prefer boot sequences that expose the low-level magic going on and build up to the GUI. Starting in the GUI immediately presents it as fundamental, as if it's not just a pile of abstractions on top of one another. It feels deceptive.

There may actually be some educational and practical value in computers booting in verbose mode by default. Kids using computers for the first time get to see that there's a lot more to their computer than the parts they interact with (sparking curiosity!), and if a boot fails, technicians are better able to diagnose the problem over a phone call with a non-technical person.

Absolute boot sequence perfection

There's still one last thing missing from my family computer's boot sequence, and that's a brief flicker of garbage on screen as VRAM is cleared out. Can't have everything I guess. Slo-mo example from The 8-Bit Guy here:

[altsvu]

three way phone part 1

pairing: sonny carisi x peter stone x detective!fem!reader

wc: 1.4k

summary: a movie night with the boys is all fine and dandy until things get spicy.

cw: shameless flirting, a little smut

a/n: in honor of this fic officially sitting in my drafts for THREE years (1/3/2021), i’m gonna post it today :) i’m thinking of making this a two part thing, with part two being raunchy asf. this is my first time writing a 3some so enjoy lovelies! 😭🫶🏽

law and order svu masterlist! ✯ taglist!

✯✯✯✯

For a while you had been toying with Peter and Sonny because they both had feelings for you, even thought lately you had been more close with Peter. Two weeks ago, Sonny took you out to his favorite restaurant, and last week, Peter took you to a baseball game. You, Sonny and Peter hung out a lot after work if one of them weren’t spending time with you, and you were hoping for something more with one, or both of them.

“Y/N.” You turned and saw Peter coming over to you. You were the only detective in the precinct, Sonny had left to get ready for movie night. On the other hand you were chilling in the break room getting some paperwork done. That was something you did when you didn’t feel like sitting at your desk.

“Oh hey Peter.” You smiled.

“Hey there beautiful.” He said. He kissed your cheek before he sat down.

“You always find a way to flirt with me.”

“Ever since that baseball game, I’ve had even more feelings for you.”

His hand found a way to your thigh.

“Aww, Peter. Really?”

“Yeah. I can’t stop thinking about you, and I was hoping...”

There was a bit of silence between the two of you.

“That maybe we can spend more time together. Alone.”

“I- How did you know?”

You scooted closer to Peter.

“It’s written all over you.” You whispered.

You and Peter both knew the energy shifted after that. He moved closer and kissed you. You kissed him back and it was one of the best things you ever experienced. His hands went to your ass, gripping it so he could transport you from your chair to his lap. A squeal escaped your lips.

“Damn Peter.”

“Damn, is absolutely correct. What’s on for tonight?”

“I was thinking Gothika or the Invisible Guardian, since you boys don’t want to watch romance movies.”

“I think we know how that would play out. But I would kill for some Naked.”

“Ooh, Naked sounds good. I’ll tell Sonny when he gets there.”

Peter smiled and looked at you.

“What?”

“Nothing. You just look beautiful sitting on my lap.”

You kissed him then slid the paperwork closer to you so you could finish it. You shifted in his lap so that both of your legs were facing the table and you let him grip you by your waist. Peter watched as you completed your DD5’s. At one point he pushed some of your hair back.

“Peter...” You smiled. “Very tempting of you.”

Your phone went off with a text from Sonny asking you if you were still on for sitting in on the civil court case he’s working with Pippa Cox for with him. You replied with an “Of course! I can’t wait!”

“You planning on being a lawyer?”

“I haven’t thought about it. I’m just really interested in the court system. Plus, if I ever decided to, I have one of many great former and current ADA’s I can go to.”

“Am I on that list?” Peter whispered.

“Top 3.” You whispered back, finishing the last component of the 5. “Okay. I’m done.”

“Good. I can’t wait to see what you wear later. “

“I’m sure you can’t.” You smirked, getting up from his lap. “Accompany me to Liv’s office and my desk?”

“Of course.” Peter got up and grabbed you by the waist as you were fixing up the papers.

“Peter!” You shrieked. He chuckled and pulled you closer to him, then kissing your lips. After your little make out session, you stopped by Liv’s office and placed your forms on her desk along with a small note, then went to your desk to grab your things.

“So... I’ll see you in about an hour or two?” You asked after getting outside.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

A grin formed on your face. “Bye for now, Peter.” You planted a kiss on his cheek and then went on your separate ways.

✯✯✯✯

You had just finished getting dressed and spritzing yourself with a body mist. You wore a pink silk spaghetti strap cropped v neck, a pair of pink and flower patterned tie up sleep shorts, a black silk long robe, and white fuzzy socks. Going to the kitchen to set up snacks, you heard the doorbell rang and when you went to check, it was Sonny.

“Sonny!” You squealed when he kissed your cheek and gave you a tight hug and lifted you off the floor a bit. You closed the door behind him when he put you down.

“You look beautiful for someone who’s hosting movie night.”

“You think I’m overdressed?”

“Of course not, doll.” Sonny stepped closer to you and his hand made its way under your robe. It slowly slipped off and there was a moment of silence between the two of you. Sonny’s hands then went to the sliver of bare skin. “What you’re wearing is just fine.”

“Good.” You whispered. You planted a kiss on his cheek and walked over to the kitchen to prepare the snacks.

You already had the wine out, two bottles of everyone’s favorite cabernet sauvignon to be more specific, and you wanted to prepare a small charcuterie board with several cheeses, meats, grapes, and dark chocolate. You enjoyed doing things like this, it gave you a sort of satisfaction. People always praised you for bringing the best snacks and things of the sort.

Sonny followed behind you and offered to help you set up and make a pretty display. While setting up, the doorbell rang and you went to get it.

“Y/N,” Peter started, looking at you with a smile on his face.

“Hi Peter!” You smiled back. He pulled you into a hug for a little while. “We’re in the kitchen.”

Now finally, the three of you were here and ready to get the party started. You spent some time with them in the kitchen playing around by tossing and playfully feeding each other pieces of cheese, grapes, and chocolate. You were having fun. You liked hanging out with Peter and Sonny, and they liked hanging out with you just the same.

After a little while doing that, the guys helped you finish your display in the living room with the last of snacks, and then it was time to settle down.

✯✯✯✯

“Are you boys getting bored?” You asked, taking another sip of wine.

After many glasses of wine and a fee snacks remaining, the three of you had finished the first movie, and was on the second movie you chose.

“Oh dear Y/N, very, very bored.” Peter joked. He draped an arm around you and looked at you passionately.

“Boohoo.” You mused. You turned to look at Sonny who was sitting beside you as well. “Sonny?”

Sonny smiled. “Never with you.”

“You’re so cute.” You smiled, planting a small kiss on his nose.

Peter’s hand trailed along the bare parts of your body. “I think… we can have a lot more fun on our own.”

You looked back at Peter, noticing the fierceness in his eyes. You let that same hand caress your cheek. Peter wanted to do his own thing, give you pleasure, and he wasn’t gonna let you go easily. He moved closer to you, his hands moving to your thigh.

However, you weren’t gonna give in. Not that easily. You sat there, letting Peter seduce you until you reached your breaking point. The softest moan escaped your lips. Sonny watched in amazement as Peter continued to seduce you. He turned your head to face him and he leaned in to kiss you. It was soft but also rough. You gave in and kissed him back, pulling him closer to you. You guided his hand to hold your waist. While kissing Peter you searched for Sonny’s hand to touch you as well. You could tell Sonny was hesitant, but when you felt the warmth of his body touch through the thin piece of silk that was the robe, you knew he wanted a piece of you too.

Sonny slipped a part of your robe off and kissed your bare shoulder, then went up to your neck and sucked on the soft skin. You had stopped kissing Peter at this point and he was leaving kisses on your chest. He slipped off the other side of your robe and as of now, the two men left you with bare shoulders.

“Boys. I think we should take this to the bedroom.” You whispered ever so shallowly.

✯✯✯✯

taglist: @storiesofsvu @averyhotchner @ssaic-jareau @detective-giggles @blackbeautifulqueen @lapaquerette @itsjustmyfantasyroom

[p1a9u3]

PeepHole Ch.1: Moving Day

Masterpost Ch.1 - Ch.2 Pairing: Dylan Matthews x Fem Oc

Rating: 18+ (mdni)

Genre: Neighbors/Strangers to Lovers, Smut, Angst, Fluff, Slow-burn

Summary: Moving isn't as exciting as Amoya thought, plus she may have pissed off her new neighbor.

Words: 3.2k

Warnings: (This story takes place in 2024) Mental illness (anxiety, ocd), Violent intrusive thoughts, Language, Age gap (5years), Using phone while driving

Status: Unedited

Author note: This is the first fic that I've ever posted, I've written before but I've never finished anything and published it so don't tear me to shreds, please. I chose to make an oc instead of just writing as a reader mainly because I made a whole character in my head before I wrote this so I decided to just make her an oc, if you would like a post going more into this oc of mine feel free to ask (I might post it anyway because I like her), there is no smut in this chapter btw. Please give me feedback and suggestions, constructive criticism, etc. Don't be a bitch about it though...please. I'm thinking of making this a series POSSIBLY, but I procrastinate a lot so that may never happen. To my fellow troublemakers hopefully, I do Dylan justice and my writing is at least a little bit accurate to his personality. Still, to be fair I'm a fairly new troublemaker having only found out about this man a few weeks ago, so if something isn't accurate please correct me...politely. He's become my new hyper fixation so when I saw there aren't really any fics about him I decided I should make my own so here we are. Anyway with that being said Enjoy <3. Update: Dylan is barely in this chapter

Monday, February 26, 2024 Time: 8:30AM Moving out was less relieving than you thought it would be. Having been by your mother's side for almost all your life, you'd gotten comfortable always having someone around.

'You can't live with your parents forever'

People would remind you whenever the topic of anyone's living situation would be brought up. Being twenty-seven and still living with your mother wasn't something you wanted to keep telling people, no one would take you seriously. Though your mother never pushed for you to move out, never mentioned it actually. You think you know why. You never say anything though, so you deal with the slight embarrassment, and ignore the judgmental stares you get whenever someone brings it up.

'They don't know our relationship'

More excuses you make up to justify your obstinance; and to mask the anxiety you're feeling as finish up packing your U-Haul. You had finished packing your stuff from your shared apartment and were now finishing the few boxes you had in storage. Now in the elevator mustering up the strength to carry the last two boxes back down to the truck. Grabbing the lock you had left on the floor, you place it on top of one of the boxes and stack the box onto the second one, bending down and lifting with a soft grunt. Long strides carrying you to the elevator, you push the down button with your foot. The doors open soon after, you step inside setting the boxes down as you push the bottom floor and wait. Pushing off the wall as the doors open you pick up the boxes once again, you quickly load them up into the U-Haul before grabbing the padlock from on top of the box, and then heading to the front desk of the storage building.

"Here, the unit is clean and empty." You smile at the woman as she takes the lock and keys with a thank you.

Turning on your heels you walk back to your U-Haul giving everything a once-over before locking it all up, now turning your attention to the hitch attached to the back of the Truck where your precious car is hitched too. It was a black and cherry red 1993 Nissan 240SX with a red interior, you had seen it while driving with your mom past a repair shop when you were 25, back then it had no windshield or wheels. You won't lie and say you fixed it yourself but you did invest all the money you had at that time to fix it up and color it how you wanted; you still would say it was worth it. Checking the hitch and chains attached to the bottom of the car making sure everything was set and ready.

"Everything looks good?" Your mother said making you jump

"Yah! A warning ma, please! And yes everything looks good, I packed up the last two boxes and returned the keys and lock to the front desk while you were in the bathroom." You let out a breath calming your heart from the scare you just had, your mom snickering next to you. You turn to her rolling your eyes playfully as you walk to the front of the truck, your mom following behind you.

"Good, let's get on the road." Your mom hops into the passenger seat and rolls down the window. "I wanna get home by Wednesday."

You climb into the driver's seat, buckling your seatbelt then checking your mirrors. You two had agreed on driving to your new apartment, taking turns every 5 hours, once you got there she'd help you unload and unpack on Tuesday, and your mom would then fly back to New Orleans on Wednesday. The more you think about it the more you feel yourself panic a bit.

"Okay."

Time: 9:00AM Starting the car, you let out a breath putting the car in drive and pulling out of the parking lot of the storage building. You could tell your mom was trying to keep herself calm by the way she would rub her right thigh with her right hand, it was a nervous tick she passed down to you. Unfortunately, you were just as nervous, so you decided to turn on the playlist you and your mom made while eating the night before, mixes of all kinds of genres put into one playlist to keep you both entertained during the drive. Pulling off the main road and merging onto the freeway, you glance over to your mom to see her smiling wide looking back at you. She has that look in her eyes, you know it well.

"Its happening ma." You smile back at your mom then look back to the road

Your mother places her hand on your thigh, letting out a long sigh and a soft squeeze before returning it back to her own lap. You see her wipe a single tear from your peripheral; you don't acknowledge it. She'll start bawling the second you tell her not to cry. So you pretend not to see it and start singing along to Erykah Badu, your mom turns the music up a bit and starts singing along too. You smile to yourself as you glance out your side window, watching as familiar buildings pass by in a blur, You think you'll miss this place. No, you know you will, but a part of you is kinda excited, relieved almost. You've silently always longed to live on your own, but another part of you calls you selfish for even wanting that until now

'How could want to leave your mother'

You know it's normal to want to move out of your parent's home, every grown adult has to move out at some point, and twenty-seven is a perfectly normal age to do so, You wanted to move when you were twenty-four. Hell, some people live with their parents till they are far in their thirties.

'But you know your mother may need you right'

All your brothers have moved out, they are doing good on their own, and you're the only one left. It was only a matter of time; you tell yourself. Your mom will be fine, she's dating a new man who treats her great and takes care of her. Hell he tried to hire a moving crew to move all your stuff, but you wanted to do it yourself and your mom wasn't going to let you drive almost halfway across the country by yourself.

'you could've found a place closer to her you know'

Phoenix, Arizona. You chose Phenix simply because it was affordable for you and close to LA, your mom agreed it was a good choice. There is work in LA, California is just so expensive, so you chose the next best thing. The apartment is nice from what you saw as well, one bedroom, two baths with a study. It was perfect for you.

Time: 11:23AM The drive was going well so far, your mother eating a bag of chips she packed along with all the other snacks and drinks. You were eating a Honeybun, one of your favorite snacks, and drinking water. Your mom had turned off the music and started watching YouTube with mostly commentary so you could listen and drive, Right now a video was playing talking about some ice cream drama in North Dakota. Author note: if you watched this video featuring Dylan is in Trouble, I know it's technically in the future but I don't care, this is all fake anyway. You found it interesting and kinda funny, laughing every now and then when your mom would pause to add her opinion. About two-thirds of the way into the video you glance down at the screen, there are two guys now instead of one, and one of them is wearing glasses, you glance back down looking at the title of the video 'Insane Local Ice Cream Shop Drama (w/ Dylan Is In Trouble)' You made a mental note of the second guy's name for later, his voice was nice you told yourself, he was also fine as fuck. You leaned your seat back as far as it would go, which wasn't very far, getting comfortable. You still have two more hours left to drive.

Time: 12:35PM Your mom had fallen asleep about ten minutes ago, YouTube was still playing, The next video had been the same guy as before. You looked down for a second, looking at the title of the video that had been playing for about fifteen minutes. 'Guessing Finales After ONE Episode (ft. Dylan Is In Trouble)' You smile to yourself a bit recognizing the name at the end of the title, you let the video play just listening to the guy talk for ten more minutes. You caught yourself smiling again when you recognized the second guy's voice as he joined in for the rest of the video, you took a sip of your water glancing down at the video, seeing him pop on screen whenever he had something to say

"he's funny." You mutter to yourself quietly, thinking out loud.

The video had ended and your lips fell back into their original position, as an ad played before the next queued-up video, you looked down at your GPS. 1322 miles to go; you let out a sigh.

'200 miles closer to leaving you mom'

She was helping you unpack, so you technically wouldn't be leaving her really. If anything she was leaving you since she had to fly back home. You prop your left elbow on the open window, your left hand holding the steering wheel, and your right hand comes down to your thigh, rubbing small circles back and forth.

'What happens if Devon goes back home'

Your oldest brother Devon was working at a mental facility. He was on his medication and was doing good, he managed to get a job there and has been making decent money. He was doing fine, He is doing fine.

'What if he stops taking his medication again.'

They will keep tabs on him, they know his habits, his symptoms, He is fine.

'Has another episode and gets out'

That wouldn't happen. He's fine

'He'll be there when mom gets back'

No.

"Hes gonna ki-'

-beep! beep! beep!-

Time: 2:00PM Your mom's alarm goes off, making you jump a bit. Reaching over to turn it off, your mom moans a bit as she wakes up from her short nap, stretching her arms a bit as she yawns.

"Jeste li spremni za promjenu." she yawns out, going for a sip of her water ( translation: Are you ready to switch)

Your mother's Croatian tends to slip when she's just woken up, or delirious. You nod your head looking at the next exit sign to find a gas station, spotting a Love's off the side of the freeway. Slipping off the freeway you pull up to the gas station before parking next to a pump.

"Bathroom?" You look over at your mom, she nods, unbuckling her seatbelt and hopping out of the truck, you do the same.

You both enter opposing stalls to relieve yourselves of all the water you had been drinking, washing your hands after. Your mother heads back to the truck to pump the gas as you browse the aisles for any extra snacks, spotting a honeybun you instinctively grab one, then two, and head to the cashier. You place your honeybuns on the counter and then look up at the cashier who seems to be invested in something on her phone, she wasn't wearing headphones phone volume at maybe thirty percent, you could hear what she was watching. You recognize the voice, the cashier finally looks up from her phone quickly apologizing for not paying attention.

"Oh I'm so sorry, will this be all" She quickly rings up the two honeybuns.

"No you're fine, that'll be it actually." You dismissively wave your hand pulling out your wallet to pay.

Looking down you notice her phone, she had put it on the counter, and the video on it had been paused but on the screen was that guy again, though it seemed to be a video of his own this time. You pull out some cash and hand it to the young woman behind the counter, she takes the cash, counts it, and then goes to get your change.

"No, it's fine, keep the change" Flashing a smile then grabbing your honeybuns you take another glance at the women's screen before it turns off from being left alone for too long.

Opening the passenger seat door, you climb into the seat buckling yourself in. Pulling out of the gas station your mom pulls off back onto the freeway continuing your journey. You pull out the bag you had brought for little activities, pulling out your book of choice. You had splurged at a Barnes and Noble a few weeks before you began packing, picking up a bunch of books you had either heard good things about or had been wanting to read. Red Rising was one of the books, it was also the one you were currently holding.

"I'm gonna put my headphones on, so you can listen to whatever you want." You tell your mom as you put your headphones on and pull out your phone.

You had gotten the book on Audible a while back and wanted to read and listen at the same time. Pressing play you turn to the first chapter and begin reading as the narrator spoke. Your mom seemed to have put music on, you could feel the bass as she turned up the volume and began singing along.

Time: 10:56PM Hours had passed, it was your turn now with two hours left till your next switch. Your mother was knocked out, lightly snoring as you drove in silence, you had stopped reading once you had switched. You also decide to put off reading it until you were moved in, the book had grabbed your attention, so much so, that you wanted to be able to focus on it solely; so you chose to wait. You had a couple hundred miles left to go and things were sinking in more as you drove silently. Your mind doing its usual thing, making you worry about things that most likely won't happen, even if it did, you know it wouldn't be your fault. You couldn't help but think maybe it would be though, it was a dumb thought but you couldn't help it

'What was that guys name again'

Your brain blanked for a second, random but ok, your brain goes back to the YouTube video your mom had been watching, that cashier was watching him as well. Dylan is in Trouble, you wonder what kind of videos he makes, most likely commentary. You pull your phone out glancing down and go to YouTube, you use the voice to text and hold your phone up to your mouth.

"Dylan is in trouble"

You press search, going back and forth between looking at your phone and watching the road. You look down to find his channel, press his icon, and scroll through some of his videos. Movie commentary is what you mostly see, occasionally you'd spot something different, you decided you'd dive into his channel later when you weren't driving.

Time: 5:00AM You were in the driver's seat, you had let your mom sleep more after she had been driving for about three hours. She was up now though, you could tell things were starting to catch up to her again. She was fidgeting a lot more now, well so were you, she looked very tense. She helped you find this apartment, but you assume she wants to see the neighborhood for herself, in person, wants to see how good the security is and what the neighbors are like. It's only natural, she's a mother and her only daughter is moving twenty hours away from her. You look down at your phone, your GPS says you are pulling up now, you look around the area, it was very nice, wasn't too far from the city. You spot the complex to the left, it was pretty big with multiple sections with apartments, you were building three, kind of in the middle of everything. You pull into the complex parking in front of the leasing office to speak to your landlord and to get your keys, your mom comes with you of course, sizing everything up.

"Hi welcome to Arts District Apartments, it's Amaya correct, my name is George?" An old-looking man stands from his desk, his hand reaching out to shake yours

"Thank you, George, it's Amoya actually" You reach out and shake his hand with a smile.

You two talk a bit about the complex and its rules etc. Your mom chimed in every now and then to ask her questions. Before you know it you're unloading the truck into your new apartment, you're realizing now that you didn't have as much stuff as you thought. The last thing you had left was your bed, you and your mom had been doing well with just the two of you, but after you two had gotten the mattress inside your mother's back began to bother her. Now you had your bed frame, you told your mom to relax for now and that you could get the frame up yourself. Partial lie, you previously took apart the bed frame and so there were mainly long pieces that weren't too heavy except the backboard, that thing was heavy as fuck, luckily you had a dolly at the storage building to help you carry it out, but now you have to carry it to the elevator and down the hall. You managed to get it down from the truck, and from there you lifted it and sped walked to the elevator, almost dropping the bed frame on your foot as you set it down to push the button. The doors had closed on you twice as you tried to pick the frame back up and lift it into the elevator, but alas you made it, now on the third floor and outside the elevator. You took pride in your body, you considered yourself strong, regularly went to the gym, and you would say your legs were the strongest part of your body, with that being said, you tried to make as little noise as possible since it was still early in the morning, you lost your footing. You were almost there, your door being right in front of you; but you fell. Landing on the door behind you hitting your head with a very loud thud.

"Bumbo." You whisper yelled at yourself in Jamaican as you set the frame down and leaned off of the door. (translation: Fuck)

Holding the frame upright you walk around it reaching for your door, the frame slipping from your fingers and falling against your neighbor's door again. You prayed that your new neighbor was either a very deep sleeper or wasn't home right now, though maybe you didn't pray hard enough. You lift the bed frame from your neighbor's door, getting your phone to get your mom to hold the door open for you so you can slide it the rest of the way inside. Stopping, you hear the door behind you click open. Your bed frame blocked your view of whoever had stepped out, but you could hear him.

Ch.1 - Ch.2

Updated Author note: Hopefully this was an enjoyable first chapter or part. The apartment is just a random apartment complex I saw on Zillow, everything in this is all fictional besides the YouTube videos and things that are obviously real. Anyway, I have decided to make this a series, I've gone into too much detail on little things like Amoya's intrusive thoughts and all that, and it'd be a waste to shorten and delete half of what I put and speed through everything, Amoya's intrusive thoughts and anxiety is a trait I added from myself, so you'll notice a lot of internal thinking and scenarios she makes up in her head. Hopefully, the idea is as cool as what I thought of in my head. If this does well, I will upload the other chapters one after the other, If it does bad I'll just delete everything, but please be patient I procrastinate a lot and I want the writing to be good. Please be honest and let me know how you all feel about this, if you like the writing, the main character, the pacing, the storyline, length, anything, and everything, I need criticism but don't be a bitch about it.