#it took 2 weekends and 7 people to go through and sort everything
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Ugh im at the movies and im watching the ad my company made. This is also the same ad that I took 2 cars full of clothes home to donate because the production was just gonna throw them in the skip.
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clbenvs3000f24 · 9 months ago
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𖦹Unit 2: my role as an interpreter𖦹
When I picture my future as an environmental interpreter, I’ve always imagined my ideal role working in nature alongside animals, specifically with rescued and rehabilitated wildlife with the goal of furthering conservation research and efforts. This lifelong dream of mine has shifted through various possible visions and phases of interests throughout the years, but at this very moment, I could most realistically see myself enjoying animal (specifically bear!) management at a few National Parks. I have the ultimate goal of facilitating a wildlife sanctuary later down the line in life and gathering hands-on experience anywhere I can. I’ve always been open to the endless possibilities regarding *where* I would pursue this dream career and what kind of ecosystem/creatures I would work with. However, there’s something about bears and big cats that sparked my fascination at a very young age.
I would love to envision my future role embracing the diversity of natural life around the globe, and further, how we can support the environment and be better members of the ecosystem. I hope to create a space that educates individuals on the importance of different species, large or small, and offers hands-on opportunities to explore. This requires strong communication skills and the ability to engage various ages and levels of knowledge with suitable enriching content.
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I remember putting on Bindi the Jungle Girl the TV as a little girl and dreaming of being right alongside Bindi on the show handling various wildlife, educating other kids about conservation and a new range of native species each episode. When we had our very first free choice project assigned in grade 6, I chose to educate my peers on dozens of facts about polar bears. I chose the same path in my grade 7 writing class when I took my one and only chance to use my free choice essay to speak up about the environmental impacts of factory farming. After a weekend full of google rabbit-holes, 11-year-old me suddenly became hyper-aware of the effects my actions and consumer habits had on the environment. To spare you a long story and boring details, I was that middle school girl who started frantically pushing metal straws, paper over plastic, going waste-free, and re-usable *everything* on all her family and friends. Although annoying, I admire the skills I started tapping into at a young age to partake in animal welfare/environmental activism and speak up for something I was passionate about.
Among the array of conservationists in the history of environmentalism to look up to, I’ve found plenty of inspiration from a few past and present, notably Steve Irwin and Steve Kroschel. When I think of the skills I might need for this future I dream of, I try to think about the qualities I’ve always admired in those role-models of mine. Empathy, patience, and a heart full of passion only scratch the surface. They have to be master storytellers and know just how to captivate the attention of an audience, for something as small and simple as a bug or teeny lizard.
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I'm a huge tactile learner and I find I absorb information best if there's some sort of active and engaging hands-on learning. I aspire to be able to not only inform, but also create experiences for people exploring nature and conservation in the future. Working with wildlife, this opens the door to endless opportunities for close up encounters that might spark inspiration or create a lasting memory for my guests.
As an interpreter I would love to inspire other little girls, like baby chance, to pursue their passion and love for the creatures of the earth. I want to show the next generation of little biologists/zoologists/etc. and conservationists that this field is full of exploration, play, and restoration.
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doedesk · 2 years ago
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10.31.2023
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𝒹𝒾𝒹
GEOG Lab #1
↳𝓅𝓇𝑜𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈: ██████████
GEOG Lab #2
↳𝓅𝓇𝑜𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈: █████████░
RLCT Research Paper (Undecided)
↳𝓅𝓇𝑜𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈: █░░░░░░░░░
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𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃'𝓉
ANTH/SOCI studying (Durkhiem)
↳𝓅𝓇𝑜𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈: ████░░░░░░
ANTH/SOCI studying (Weber)
↳𝓅𝓇𝑜𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈: ░░░░░░░░░░
RLCT lessons
↳𝓅𝓇𝑜𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈: █████████░
ANTH Final Project (Commodity Report)
↳𝓅𝓇𝑜𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈: █░░░░░░░░░
CLAS Paper Revision (Historicity of the Trojan War)
↳𝓅𝓇𝑜𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈: ████████░░
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𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒹𝓊𝒸𝓉𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎:
█████░░░░░
𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓇𝑔𝓎:
█████████░
𝓂𝑜𝑜𝒹:
██░░░░░░░░
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𝒹𝒶𝒾𝓁𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝑜𝒹𝒷𝑜𝒶𝓇𝒹
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I was sort of productive today! Which is a surprise because my day started at 7 am and I fell asleep last night at 4.
I went to my GEOG lab and while I (for once) didn't finish completing my personal mapping I did fly through the lab instructions! I could've finished the lab completely in class but the dataset I am working with is so large it keeps crashing everything I try to work with it on (thank you Statistics Canada (ಥ⌣ಥ) ). So I just called it in, drafted my answers and went home.
I took a quick nap after that then went shopping for snacks because I am planning on having an all-nighter this weekend to study for my second ANTH/SOCI midterm (Don't ask why my teacher is giving two midterms for one class, I don't know, I don't care, I've given up trying to make sense of this class or the teacher at this point). When I got home I accidentally took another nap and woke up to find that my afternoon class was cancelled because my teacher was not feeling well (I hope he gets well soon, despite his class being depressing), while I was sleeping the season went from nice orange yellow fall to pure white winter (there's now snow about an ankle high!), and lastly, my archaeology class, the one class I was really looking forward to next semester has been cancelled.
I'm not sad about it being cancelled, I am absolutely livid. The only time I see kids talk about their classes getting cancelled its humanities classes. This is around the third ANTH class my university has cancelled this year alone. I now have to wait yet another year to take anything directly related to Archaeology. To get an archaeology certificate that my school offers I need to take two classes that they never run literally ever, and they also added a third archaeology class that I bet money on being cancelled when I try to take it next year. At this rate I won't be able to get the certificate when I graduate because they Keep. Cancelling. The Classes. I. Need. I love how they also cancelled a class that had around 30 people registered in it but last year my introductory Latin class only had around 12 people in it, and that one didn't get cancelled! But as soon as it's an ANTH related thing my school immediately has to cancel it or forget it exists
Anyways because I now have an open spot that I need to fill I have registered for a forensic science class; I am excited to take it, it seems really fascinating, and one the topics it covers is forensic anthropology so it does sort of connect to my major; but I would much rather have my archaeology class instead.
I also got yelled at today by an old lady at the store today, I saw someone go flying on the bus today because the bus drivers are crazy, and I accidentally made people sledding outside my window uncomfortable by opening my curtains and making awkward eye contact with all of them for a split second just now, but that isn't related to studying so I'm not gonna get in to it.
At least I had really good instant ramen and the drink of the Gods (Dr. Pepper), and I watched two of my favourite episodes from one of my favourite shows; little comforts (‐^▽^‐)
Anyways I'm completing my GEOG lab #1 as I draft this and am going to take one last shot at my GEOG lab #2 to see if I can get my dataset working properly and then I'm calling it a night!
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alianoralacanta · 10 months ago
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Section 7: My analysis of the PR interactions between Silverstone 2022 and the statement OP is asking about in Austria 2022 (concision not being my strong point)
So, what Ferrari probably expected to hear was for Carlos to celebrate his victory (which he did) and Charles to be quiet and not distract much from it, because he could take pride in his excellent defensive work creating an impossible feat. Its attempt to claim that the decisions it took were logical (something that nobody who knew how these matters are usually handled would believe) depended on a belief that everyone would pretend all was well for the sake of psuedopolitics.
Mattia Binotto in particular did not count on Charles being sad and angry. He should have done.
Charles knew he had done everything needed to win, and had only lost through Ferrari making a terrible mistake for no fathomable reason. He also knew that the 1-2 had turned into a 1-4 and could easily have been a 1-7 had Carlos been in Charles’ shoes. Where was Ferrari’s speed? Where was its verve and boldness? Where was its self-belief? Where was the remembrance that Ferrari represents the tifosi, most of whom were sad and furious about the way the race was handled?
To Charles, this wasn’t just a lost victory, hard as that was to take. It wasn’t even just a victory lost to a team error. It was Ferrari forgetting its mythic duties, without the defenses of conventional PR considerations or competitive skill. As team leader, he felt he had to set the proper example of how to handle the situation – with inward-pointing anger.
Now, Charles has had a lot of practise at handling his anger (space, peace, quiet and then problem-solving). It turned out Mattia had forgotten what he had learned about how to deal with it. With someone like Charles, a scolding was never going to be an effective calming method. Doing so in front of the cameras was ridiculous and put Mattia in a vulnerable situation.
Charles treated Ferrari with silence for the next two days. In the meantime, some people associated with Carlos made Ferrari’s PR more complicated than needed, particularly Santander (Ferrari’s sponsor, introduced by Carlos), which said “Winners win”. Most other races, that would have been a reasonable message, if incompatible with the demands of modesty and respect of opponents. In the context of this specific race, it also amplified team psuedopolitics, lacked eloquence and style, critiqued team tactics and failed to represent the honour of the tifosi (most of whom recognised Charles as the rightful winner of the race). I don’t think Carlos asked for these people to say such things – he is PR-savvy and knew that with that furore going on, the best idea at that point was to quietly enjoy his success.
All this was met with silence from Monaco. Charles missed the Maranello Monday debrief, which is usually mandatory after European rounds. This was clearly not a conventional falling-out.
In the end, Mattia Binotto had been obliged to go to Monaco to speak to Charles, and try to patch things up. The last time a Ferrari team boss travelled to a driver in order to sort out a problem was when Jean Todt went to Michael Schumacher’s house in 1999 to find out what needed to happen to get him back to into racing after his broken leg. (He walked in on Michael playing football in the garden, so it transpired that all that was necessary was a chat on that occasion).
Mattia probably wished he was dealing with a broken leg. Those are concrete and it’s usually obvious immediately whether the right thing was done or not. What he faced here was a philosophical difference. Charles had been convinced by Ferrari’s PR over the years and decades that his interpretation of the Ferrari philosophy was correct and Mattia’s was wrong. We will probably never know exactly what happened over that dinner, but Charles said in a Channel 4 interview near the start of the Austria 2022 weekend that Mattia had “tried” to make things better. Well, usually people only say someone “tried” to make things better when they failed… (I suspect, but will never know, that Mattia’s attempt to smooth things over failed for reasons Charles found entirely predictable, understood, but also found incompatible with his own needs and/or those of Ferrari).
Hi Alianora! I am curious to know your thoughts on Ferrari and PR. Particularly how they do damage control. 2022 comes to mind, and this year's triple header as well.
Maybe it's because I don't keep up with other team statements as much but Ferrari seem to be less... transparent?? with their struggles as a team. Binotto in 2022 comes to mind when he would pin the blame on his drivers and say that nothing needs to change.
Also Charles in particular plays the PR game more than Carlos. I mean, this year in China, Charles said the two of them had talked and everything was fine, but then when asked, Carlos said the complete opposite and that they hadn't actually sorted it out. Oops.
I remember specifically Charles saying the team was "extremely united, no division" in 2022 but then multiple statements of his in 2023 under Vasseur imply otherwise.
Ferrari seem to be more willing to throw their drivers under the bus when shit hits the fan and it's more clear that the team messed up big time. Vasseur will have no problem defending Charles in weekends where Ferrari aren't a complete disaster, but in situations like the triple header, he's willing to shift the focus on the drivers.
Is it a Ferrari pride sort of thing?
Ferrari and PR
Firstly, apologies for the long delay in replying. This is my 3rd attempt at finding a coherent frame for my thoughts on the subject. I hope this works. If it does not, please request clarification, reframing or simply to have another attempt.
Also, fair warning: long essay. This essay is 6060 words long, excluding headings. As such, it will be divided into multiple “read more” sections. Tumblr only allows this by posting the essay multiple times, with a fresh addition each time. Please wait for the “Essay complete. Hope this helps” before reblogging. Firstly, PR is not a monolith. Humanity is not a monolith with one unified opinion of what everything is and how everything works. They agree and disagree on what is appealing in a statement made to them on a given subject. Thus, PR can and often is tailored to particular audiences. Furthermore, different groups that produce PR value different things. Section 1: What does Ferrari value? (Ferrari myth PR)
Ferrari has been stricter about PR than any other team. Part of this originated with Enzo Ferrari himself, for he was careful to ensure that nothing was said that undermined Ferrari's political position or offended his sense of what the speaker's job should be (driver or engineer). It has to be said that this didn't put the boundaries in the same place as any modern team's PR approach. While complaining about the team or car being slow was considered just as wrong then as now, a driver saying they'd been cautious because the race was long would also be considered bad. Enzo considered it his job to worry about the car, and the driver's job to press the car as hard as possible. (An engineer who suggested putting less emphasis on the engine in favour of the chassis would fare no better). On the other hand, skipping a sponsor event to go kart would probably meet with his approval. (Whether he would have regarded Max's sim racing as similar enough to treat likewise is unknown, since race driving software wasn't very sophisticated in the 1980s). Later in Enzo Ferrari's career, there began to be more emphasis on Ferrari the myth. Niki Lauda was not particularly appreciated while he was at Ferrari because his approach was so different from Enzo's ideal, but Niki became far more appreciated after that because Enzo realised what he'd done had, in fact, resulted in Ferrari's myth strengthening. (The title did no harm either). Gilles Villeneuve encapsulated what it meant to augment the Ferrari myth. The intervening decades ended up condensing the traits that became part of "Ferrari myth PR": - humble and modest - fast - respectful of opponents - downplaying team psuedopolitics - eloquent and concise when needed - competing with style, verve and boldness - able and willing to do the impossible - believing in the team even when it does not believe in itself - remember one represents a dream - remember that, whatever one's nationality, one represents the honour of the tifosi The price for defying PR in the Enzo Ferrari era was variable and fickle, due to the perennial psuedopolitics behind the scenes. (The situation under Fred Vasseur would have been considered relatively calm back then. Some parts of the Mattia Binotto era, not so much).
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queenoftheworldisdead · 4 years ago
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Off Schedule Chapter 7
Summary: Slow burn. Brad Pitt is your boss and he is going through a divorce.
Note: I don't write for real people anymore, but i will finish this damn series.
Warning: 18 +Only, kissing, spanking, fingering, sex, i'm putting dubious consent because of the alcohol.
Brad Pitt x Reader, Keanu Reeves x Reader
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8,
Friday
Keanu didn't call you back last night. Probably because Brad told him everything. They were best friends and business partners. Why wouldn't he have?
How he fingered you and kissed you in his office. How he bent you over and spanked your ass on your couch. Your thighs squeezed tightly together as a warmth bubbled up between your legs as your mind drifted back to that night.
* Snap out of it he is MARRIED
You dragged your feet through your morning routine as a knot formed in your belly. If Keanu started to treat you the same way Brad had, you weren't sure if you could take it.
From the night stand you heard the familiar chirp of your cell. You took a deep breath and picked it up. You didn't know if you should feel relieved, worried or disappointed.
MSG Jen: Morning Hon! Just letting you know the party will be at TheRead tomorrow. You still coming?
With all the drama from work you almost forgot the baby shower /bachelorette party was this weekend. Jen was super nice, but her happiness was starting to drain you meager finances. The baby shower gift, wedding gift and the outfits for each event had yet to be purchased, so you would need to find time in your day to get that all sorted.
MSG: yes of course I am!
MSG Jen: great!
MSG: And I need to know if your bringing a plus one for the wedding.
Your mind fell to Keanu, but you quickly brushed the notation aside. Even if he possibly didn't hate you, doubted the high powered executive would have time to be your date. Maybe Sarah or Zoe would be up to be your date.
MSG: How long do I have to decide?
MSG Jen: OOOh so there are that many choices? Get'em girl LOL
MSG: I wish LMAO
MSG Jen: I will give you till Sunday.
---------
Jonah's head rested in his laced hands as Brad sat across from his desk. Brad's migraine had grown in intensity as he waited to be berated by his attorney.
"Why?"
Brad gave a hefty sigh, but nothing else. His head was killing him. Once again he had too much to drink and was now paying for it.
Jonah raked a hand across his face as he tried to think. His client had, made him earn his pay check that was for sure. This was possibly fixable, but nothing was guaranteed.
"Well expect a restraining order to come within next few weeks." Jonah proclaimed as he moved to type something on his laptop.
That bit of information hurt, but it was to be expected.
"She will make a cause that you are unfit to see your children. That won't be enough to break the prenup and that is what she really wants the most, but this doesn't help."
Brad was confident technically he hadn't crossed the line, but he was dancing on it for sure.
"Is there anything you wanted to enlighten me on?" Jonah questioned finally looking at Brad.
---------
You stared at the screen in disbelief. Brad's schedule that you had meticulously organized the day prior had changed. Everything was canceled and replaced with large blocks labeled private.
When you clicked on them you were more surprised to find access denied. He was firing you. That was the only thing you could fathom.
Pushing off your desk you stormed over to his office. You frowned finding it locked. Brad had a habit of keeping the door closed but you had never once found it locked.
Your desk phone rang distracting you from the swirl of emotions that riled up inside.
You answered with your normally greeting hoping that your voice wouldn't betray you.
"Hey can you help me setup a conference room? There is a lot of folks coming in and it hard balancing the front desk and everything else." Zoe pleaded.
"Sure thing, down in a minute."
-----
When Zoe informed you that the board room needed to be set up you frowned. If the board was here then they had to be too. You worked as fast as you could to setup the refreshment table and layout some binders that Zoe handed you.
From the cracked door you could hear Zoe welcome the incoming members just as you placed the finishing touches in the room.
As they started to pour in you smiled and welcomed them while they entered and waited for your chance to leave.
Your ears picked up when the familiar sounds of your boss's laugh. You did your best not to let your smile falter as he entered the room. "Good afternoon Mr. Pitt" you smiled at him. You felt the atmosphere shift as his smile fell and so did Keanu's. "Good afternoon Mr.Reeves."
From their looks you devised that your suspicion was correct they had indeed talked about you. And we're now actively avoiding you.
Shame began to bubble up inside you, But you refused to let it show.
They said nothing as you exited the room, but you felt humiliated. How could you show your face here again? You wanted to go up stairs and clean out your desk, but you couldn't bare to be here any longer.
"Hey Zoe you think you can cover for me?"
She frowned at your request. "Sure thing hun. You ok? You sick or something?"
"Yeah I'm not filling well? I am going to go home."
"Oh gosh if I would've known I would got Sarah. Sorry"
"No, no it's fine I thought I could handle it, but I can't"
"Ok sure thing. Feel better and have a good weekend."
------
Brad wasn't expecting to see you and it was clear on his face, but quickly he regained his composure. When you exited his eyes didn't stop following your figure until it disappeared past the frosted glass walls of the conference room.
"Remember this is only temporary" Keanu reassured him with a pat on the back. It didn't matter if it was temporary. This was a meeting that needed to happen. But even after the long discussion with to Jonah and Keanu, Brad was still not ready to relinquish control. He hated not being in control and right now his soon to be ex was stripping that away from him.
Keanu explained to the board that Brad would be stepping down from Terrilum. Relinquishing his shares, board seat and position in the company. Also his seat shall remain vacant for ninety days and until everything was finalized with his soon to be ex wife.
The judgmental looks from the other board members aggravated him. It was the same look of worry and sustain they had the last time this happened. As if they weren't doing the same or worse.
Keanu prattled on to the board while Brad found himself distracted by you. You had to be the most pissed at him yet you still smiled brightly. He was going to miss that. Those desk chats the friendly banter.
Hiking up your skirt, the way your ass slightly jiggled as he slapped it. He wanted to hear you whimper as he rain down spanks until your ass was sore. God he needed a release. Slyly he adjusting his pants as he felt the stiffness grow.
He had never done anything like that before. Sure the occasion smack on the ass during sex but nothing like what happened with you. What was happening? There was a growing urge to bend you over and feel the sting of his palm as he listened to you whimper. Brad wanted to fuck thrust into your tender ass as you begged him to cum. Why did he want to punish, fuck and take care of you all at once?
"Ladies and gentlemen if we do agree to the terms stated in the documents the board seat shall stay vacant for ninety days." Keanu started to wrap up the meeting. This plan was not without its faults. Brad and Keanu wouldn't lose control of their majority control, but Angelia could still clean him out financially.
The meeting broke with fake smiles and hardy handshakes. He wondered how you would take the news or what they would have you do while he was gone. But he was sure that Keanu would take care of you. Brad looked over to his co-founder and friend as a twinge of jealousy rippled through him. His jaw clinched tight as he thought of Keanu taking care of you in his stead.
------
Saturday
"Hey! You made it" Jen exclaimed as she waddled over to you. Her stomach much more round than you remember.
"Hope you like it!"
She had better, it was the cheapest thing on the list, along with a few dollar store new born dippers to pad out the large box.
"Oh course." Jen side hugged you as her hubby to be took the box and placed it on the table. "The food tables are there, the bar is just that way, everything is free, so order whatever you like." That bit of news was really great to hear. "We are gonna start the games in a few minutes." Jen was glowing while you did your best to hide your awkwardness.
Jen excused herself to welcome another guest, leaving you to feel awkward in a sea of strangers. You felt under-dressed in your discounted sundress, compared to the more stylish guests. You couldn't shake the feeling of being judged as an interloper, who stuck out like a sore thumb.
She rented out TheRead completely, you never been to the posh lounge, but from the looks of things you could never afford it. You had presumed that this would've been a ladies only event, but instead it was quite the mixed crowd. All of which you did not know.
You were relieved not to see Brad or Keanu, but if they were here it wouldn't have mattered. Brad either did not notice or care about your absence yesterday. While Keanu had yet to contact you.
You wondered seriously if you should even return to work or clean up your resume and begin a new career search. You cringed at the thought of them trading stories about you. Pathetic assistant that easily gave into both of them, at least to some degree.
You made a beeline to the bar to get a drink to settle your nerve. Indulging on the selection of wines that you knew you could never afford.
As Jen announced the baby shower games you stayed back at the bar and babysat a third drink. Looking around you pulled out your phone and take a selfie at the swanky bar, clicking several angles, before shooting them off to Sarah and Zoe.
"Feeling better I see" You squeaked in surprise from the deep voice behind you, almost dropping your phone. Your stomach sank like a rock as you spun to find your boss right behind you. Where he had come from you hadn't a clue. But fuck it all did he look fucking gorgeous. Brad dressed down in a band tee, leather braided bracelets and boot-cut jeans that you were sure cost more than everything you had on put together.
"Yeah" you mumbled into your drink, taking a nervous sip. Was he mad? Was he going to shout at you in front of all these people. You looked at him with pleading eyes, hoping that he would not make a scene in front of all these people.
"Can we go somewhere to talk.. privately?"
Before you could reply Brad linked his arm around yours and lead you through the crowd. He walked so fast that you bumped into every odd person and each time you apologized.
You found yourself leaning into him when the cool night air hit you. He moved his arm from yours and wrapped it around your waist, before taking out the keys to his mclaren.
When he made a move to the car you planted your feet. What were you doing? He had been the cause of so much stress you were not going to take it anymore. You weren't going to let him push you around. You shoved him away and slightly stumbled back. Waving off his assistance when he tried to help you.
He sighed looking back at you. Raking his fingers through his hair as he considered you. You frowned, crossing your arms unwilling to go further.
"Don't be a brat and get in the car."
"You don't want me hanging out with Jen because your firing me. Aren't you?" You pouted. You could feel tears threaten your eyes as you stared back at him full of emotion. The alcohol had you more in your feelings that you thought.
Brad looked at you confused before smirking. "You're not fired."
You were surprised by his reply. He walked you to the passenger side and in your shock you allowed it. The vertical door opened and you audibly gasped at the cool door.
You had been in his car before, but not this one. You were surprised the tiny sports car could fit you both. Wood-grain paneling, rich leather seats, it also smelled like cedar and citrus.
Brad slipped in and started the car. Placing an arm around the back of your chair as he began backing up. "Why are we leaving?" you slurred. You assumed he just wanted to talk out of ear shot of everyone. "The games just started."
You turned your body to face him, but you found the seat belt frustrating.
"Don't" he said flatly when he caught you attempting to unbuckle yourself.
"No!" You let the belt zip past you. "I'm going back to the party. Where people are nice to me and aren't mean to me for no reason." You poked at his shoulder with each point. The car revved loudly as he pealed off onto the road. "Pull over" you demanded, flopping back on the seat, brow furrowed and arms crossed.
He sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "I told you I needed to talk to you."
"I don't care. I quit. You're not my boss anymore. I gonna go work for someone that is nice to me."
You sat fuming as he sped through the streets, clutching your phone, debating if you should breakdown and call Keanu to rescue you. Brad said nothing as he continued to drive, keeping his focus split between you and the road.
After a tense few minutes Brad pulled into the parking garage of the glass building. You squinted looking at the building. You hadn't recognized it. Where had he taken you?
The car slowed to a stop in front of two large double doors. You yelped at the attendant that suddenly opened the door for you. You stared at him wide eyed as he held out his hand to help you out.
"Watch your step miss." He warned as you stepped on to the curb. "Good afternoon Mr.Pitt." another red vested man rounded the car, taking Brad's key as you stood stupefied on the side. Where were you? You looked around and didn't recognize the upscale parking garage.
As you passed the doors you realized this was a condo. "What are we doing here?" You finally build up the nerve to ask."Where are we?"
Brad urged you to follow him inside. The automatic doors swooshed opened and your mouth fell open at the sight of the beautiful entrance. It looked even more exquisite than the office that you worked at. Sparkling chandeliers, marble floors and high ceilings with pillars all around.
"I told you we needed to talk," Brad said while he led you to a bank of elevators, pressing the button on the elevator. "So we are going somewhere to talk."
----
Once the doors opened you once again followed behind him. The elevator had a window wall that faced the city and the higher up it went, more of the beautiful twinkling lights of the city you saw. It was a nice distraction from the long cart ride up. He said nothing even after the doors opened, just silently leading you on to a door at the end of a short hall.
You stood aside as he placed his phone on the pad. The door clicked open and you were taken aback by the even more luxurious sight of the condo before you. The white marble floors paved a way to a spacious living room dining room area. The windows encompassed the outer wall giving natural light all around while the opposite walls fostered paintings that were taller than you.
The living room held an oversized couch that looked like it could host a football team comfortably. Everything the decorated the room you wondered if they were custom made, because you never ran across anything of the sort furniture shopping at IKEA.
"Would you like a drink?" Brad asked walking over to the kitchen. Your buzz was still going strong, but another drink wouldn't hurt the nervousness building up in your gut.
"Um sure" you opted to take a seat on the couch and taken the view while he poured the drinks. This place seemed more like a bachelor pad than a place for a family. You wondered if that was just the norm for rich families, but you half expected to see some evidence of children.
Brad rounded the giant couch and handed you the glass before sitting down next to you. You thanked him and took a big gulp. The brown liquid burned making you wince and cough, with instant regret. "It's an acquired taste" he chuckled into his glass before taking a sip.
Brad looked off into the beautiful skyline of the condo, sighing deeply before speaking. "I've stepped down from Terrilum" the words sounded heavy as they came out, while you sat stunned.
"Don't worry though you still have a job, just because I'm out doesn't mean we... They are letting you go." He looked at you as he explained before taking another sip.
"Oh" you blurted out. Was that the reason he had been so mean to you? The board wanted him out? You couldn't imagine Keanu going along with it. "Is it because of what happened last night?"
"Keanu told you huh" his jaw clinched at your question.
"He said you got arrested, but he didn't say anything else."
"Sorry for ruining your date" he said turning towards you, his face a little softer, but still hid an edge.
"It wasn't a date." You tried to play it down. He obviously didn't like you hanging with his friend. "We were just co-workers hanging out, blowing off steam." You looked away, choosing to play with the glass in your lap. That's what it was supposed to be, but that kiss. The way Keanu looked at you, just the thought made your heart flutter.
You felt a dip on the couch cushion and realized Brad was a lot closer than he had been originally. "Well I am sorry non the less." He began again, taking your half empty glass from your hand and placing it on the floor.
You felt your heart beat through your ears at his closeness. You blinked and felt his lips on yours. Your body exploded with heat as his hand moved up your thigh. What was happening?
Brad's kisses were needy and desperate. Your phone fell from your hand and to the floor with a thud. You attempted to pull back, but Brad wrapped a hand around the back of your neck.
He sent a flood of emotions through you, all pulling you in different directions. You lost yourself in his desire, unable to think. His fingers teased along the seam of your dress as you panted on his mouth. With an urge of his hand your legs fell apart allowing him to roam further.
You gasped over his mouth when you felt his hand slipped past your panties. Embarrassment burned through you as he felt your very wet slick. He is married. Brad slipped two fingers in, it felt wrong and right at the same time. Briefly your mind drifted to Keanu. What about Keanu?
He held you in place, kissing you deeper while his fingers tightened the coil of heat in your core.
When his hand slipped from between your thighs you whimpered at the loss of touch. You felt him grin on your lips as he wrapped his arm around your back to bring you closer.
Brad leaned backwards making you fall over top of him, pulling your legs until you straddled him. You felt your dress rise above your ass while his hard cock pressed against your mound.
Brad palmed your ass, spanking it lightly over your panties. That slight touch sent you buzzing, wanting more.
"Fuck your gorgeous" He pulled you back by your neck and stared at you before spanking you a little harder. Biting your bottom lip you looked back at him pleadingly, wordlessly begging from more.
"You like that?" Brad slapped your ass again. The sting made you hiss, but you loved it. You felt hot as he waited for an answer. When you didn't reply he hit you even harder. You bit down on your lip as you mindlessly ground over his crotch. Brad gripped the sore spot roughly and by the look on his face he was becoming impatient.
This was all types of wrong, but your body gave zero fucks. "Answer me" he popped your ass with so much force you couldn't hold back. You finally relented and told him 'yes' weakly. Brad's eyes lit up as his hand slipped under your panties, soothing the sore spot with his warm hand.
"That's my good girl."
He leaned up to kiss you again, his tongue invading your mouth hungrily. Brad rocked you over his jeans, building the need between your legs. Your fingers threaded through his hair while he pulled your panties past your butt.
"Like it when I have you bent over?" He taunted. Rubbing your ass fervently before spanking each bare cheek. The sounds of the slaps bounced off the walls as his need pressed desperately against his zipper.
You whimpered in his mouth as he forced you to rub your cunt on his pants. Damn he was hard and you wanted to feel it deep in your core.
"You feel what you do to me?"
He flipped you over, pinning you beneath him on the couch. Brad kissed you wildly as he unfastened his pants, pulling down the pants as your thighs stayed open in anticipation. He plunged into you with ease. Your cunt ached as he stretched you open. You mewled as he praised you for being so tight just for him.
"You don't know how much I've needed you."
He grunted as he haphazardly pulled off his shirt and you marveled at his fit physic. You felt the top of your dress ripped as he pulled it down. He played with your breast as he rolled his hips into you. Your nails dug into his skin, leaving trails along his arm and back.
You gasped his name when he lifted your thigh, seeking to deeper as your cunt quaked around him. "Take it." He cooed as he bent you to his will. "That's my good girl" Brad praised as he fucked you senseless on the couch. Your sweat bodies writhing in a primal rhythm in sync. The wrongness of it all only served to fuel the fire that burned in you.
You clinched uncontrollably around his cock, unable to hold back the explosion of need. A warmth coated your walls as he rutted atop of you. You felt him fill you. His come coating your wall as he grunted and praised your tight hole.
---
You laid passed out on the couch, still glistening. While brad sat with your head in his lap. When your phone chirped he would've ignored it had he not seen the name of his friend.
Brad leaned down and picked it up, reading the notifications. With a guilty hand he deleted Keanu's communications off your phone as you nuzzled into his lap.
Chapter 8>>>
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fwkei · 4 years ago
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Time.
Kazutora x fem!reader (angst/fluff)
CW/TW: Mentions of suicide, (slight) mention of starvation.
MAJOR SPOILERS FOR VALHALLA ARC
Note! Explanation of story at end just incase you’re confused also i apologize for mistakes, i did not read this over. 🙆🏻‍♀️
WC: 3.4k
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You sat at the edge of your seat. Watching the clock above your teacher's head ever so closely. 
“When you want to find the common di-” 
Suddenly the bell rang, interrupting your teacher from his final words. 
“Oh my bad, guess I lost track of time, anyways please remember to study for your quiz on Monday! I know it's a weekend, but save some time for academics!” said your teacher as your classmates packed up their stuff to leave. 
Today was Friday, meaning it was the day you get to visit Kazutora at juvie for the first time after Keisuke's death, and your attempt. It was 3:30, and visiting hours started at 4 to 5 every Friday for inmates. Running to the metro takes about 5-7 minutes, and walking from the station to the actual juvie takes about 20 minutes, while the ride lasts up to 10, meaning you should arrive there at around 4:10. And there's no time to waste. 
You ran out of class, ignoring your fellow classmates goodbyes. You held your book bag tight as you ran fast to the Tokyo station. Seeing you arrived just on time you jumped in just before the 3:30 o'clock train leaves to a different side of the district where Kazutora is being held. You held onto the rail beside you to keep yourself steady as the train started to move . 
You felt scared but happy to see Kazutora. He most probably didn't know you would be coming, he probably thought you would at most write letters to him, like before, but again...Kazutora believes that you hate him now. You didn't know what you were going to say to him. Draken told you that he already visited him while you were in psychiatric hold for a bit, and he told you that Kazutora was planning on killing himself. Draken did not specify if he told Kazutora about your own attempt but you didn't worry too much because you were healing, and you now had hope.  
Your heart was racing, as the train came to a stop. As the doors opened you ran, and fast. Dodging people to not hurt them and almost stepping on things you shouldn’t be stepping on. You checked the time to see it was 4:01, and you still had about 10 minutes worth of walking/running to cover. 
You were breathing heavily when the Juvenile building came into view. You checked the time again to see it was 4:11. You jogged to the doors of the building despite the fact that your thighs were burning from the amount of cardio you had just done. 
It's all worth it. 
You thought to yourself opening the doors. 
Kazutora sat on the bed of his bland and colorless cell. He signed as he looked up at the ceiling light before turning his position to look at the side of the wall. He held his pillow tight. He knew it was visiting day, and his heart was anxious despite the fact that others had already been called to see their visitors, and there was still no call for him. He didn't even expect any visitors.
Kazutora didn't know if he wanted to see you or not. He’s spent so much time alone in his cell thinking. He wondered if you had figured out the other reason for him stabbing his best friend, you could read people, but he knew you had a hard time reading him. He felt his heart ache. He was scared of the karma that would hit him because of it. Maybe not even Karma, but just some sort of punishment, for causing pain to the soul that cared for him so much, and for not being there for that soul when she needed it the most. Which... ultimately lead to your attempt, which Draken told him about during his visit. He shut his eyes as he remembered Draken's words. 
“I don’t wanna hear you say there is no point anymore. Because there is, and it’s kinda frustrating and irritating how you can’t see it even though it’s right there. She’s in psychiatric hold right now because she was close to ending her own life. After Baji died, and you were taken away, Y/n couldn't take it anymore, and no one could see it because she just...she just kept it in, like you do. She was going to die on Baji’s birthday if I wasn’t there to make her throw up the pills she took. Her and I may not be blood related siblings, but I know she’s been through a lot and has always gotten over it just fine, you know that...but this time...I got really fucking scared.”
Kazutora felt his heart drop to fucking hell at Draken’s words. He felt his breathing stop as his mouth parted.
“I know you love her, I'm not sure in what way but I could care less about that. I know, Kazutora. All those times you came crying to the brothel, crying into her arms, begging for some type of help and she helped you, lended you her body for you to cry on, I’d hear all of it. I know you’re hurting, but if you go, I don't think she will be able to live with herself. She’ll blame herself for not being there for you like she’s always been. Do you understand?”
He felt his body throb from literal physical pain. Kazutora was feeling and getting the punishment he deserved right then and there. 
“You owe it to her, whether you like it or not, to stay alive because she's doing the same for you. And once you’re out of here, you should finally grow up. Let her cry into your arms for once. She’s your best friend, right? Because she deserves for those efforts to be reciprocated. And you deserve to see what she’s gone through because of everything that happened. Take care, Kazutora.” 
Kazutora was lost in his own mind, to the point where he couldn't even register that one of the guards was calling his name from the cell door.
“Hm? I’m sorry I wasn't...uh, paying attention. What did you say?” he asked sitting up nervously 
“You got a visitor, kid. C’mon get up.” said the man unlocking his cell 
“A- visitor?” he said quietly getting up from his bed with shocked eyes 
It was already 4:15. Kazutora grew anxious at who his visitor could be. He was sure it wasn't you, your school is too far for you to make it here in time. There would only be a couple minutes to spare if you did try. Could it be Draken wanting to give him a word of advice? Or maybe Chifuyu.. Maybe Mikey? God, who could it be. It made him feel even more congested and trapped than before.  
As Kazutora walked, he looked down at his feet avoiding people's gazes. He saw the backs of his fellow juvenile delinquents from the side of his eye. His heartbeat became stronger, and he felt it thumbing in his ears. God, he didn't know what to expect. He was just so...frustrated. 
“Here, you have until 5.” said the guard, taking off his hand cuffs. His back was facing you. You grew anxious bringing your hands to rest on your things and skirt, waiting for him to turn around and look at you. You watched as he rubbed his wrists and sat down at the stool still not looking at you. You rubbed your hands together under the table separating you both, as the guard walked away to patrol. Your eyes followed the guard, not even noticing that Kazutora had turned to look at your face. 
Kazutora felt his face get hot at the sight of you. You had a school shirt on, with a dark blue tie and a sweater vest, Your hair tied into a low and messy bun with some of you natural and dyed hairs falling out framing your face. He felt his whole body go warm as you turned your head and gave him a nervous smile as a small blush formed. He didn't know why he was scared to see you, because every time Kazutora had the chance to see you, he instantly felt better, no matter what.
You two, and the other inmates and visitors, were all separated by a piece of plastic with a vent to capture sound better. On the side there was a subsection with an opening to the other side where you could pass things through. Such as notes, toys, hygiene stuff, and extra. You brought your hands to the table holding them.
“Hey...sorry I’m late.” you said as you saw Kazutora snap out of his gaze 
“Oh no I-, please don’t be..” he said waving his hands frantically, clearly nervous
“I had to run about 2 miles to get here..” you laughed trying to not tense up
Kazutora felt… stupid, why would you do that? Just to see him? It just made him even more confused...confused about how he felt towards you. 
“Just to see me? But..why?” he asked without thinking and just speaking, giving a regretful and embarrassed face after asking his question.
“Hm? Oh well it's simple really…” you said bringing your hands to rest in between your thighs on your seat 
“I know that I've told you that I don't like saying these words to people because it sounds like some sort of goodbye but it’s time I grow up from my past, and stop keeping things in..so…it’s because I love you... I thought that was fairly obvious but I don't wanna mess up like I did last time. I want you to know that I do love you and care for you.” you said giving him a closed eyed smile, this made Kazutora realize that you deeply regretted not telling Keisuke that you loved him more often when you two still had time. He felt his heart ache. He felt so guilty and gross.
“So, I’m gonna try and start saying that more often..” you said laughing to break the silence 
Kazutora was still speechless at what you had just said. He couldn’t seem to process it, and he wanted to say it back but for some reason he just couldn’t. He was afraid that something else might slip out. He truly didn't think he was worthy of your love and care. It became quiet. Again.
“I made you a bento box with your favorite things, I made sure to put some extra meat. Cause you always used to ask for that when I would make bentos for study days with you and Keisuke. And don’t worry! It’s allowed and you can have the kitchen hold it for you till you’re ready to eat it for today's dinner, the guards said so. And the container is microwave safe! So you can warm up the entree section. There’s rice and BBQ meat, little octopus shaped sausages and sauce with it! Oh and a salad with sesame dressing on the side, and desert which is just mochi. Every Friday I'll come by, and give you the new bento and you'll just give me back the old one, so that I can wash it and so we don't have to waste stuff.” you said smiling 
Your hand dung into your bag, and you pulled out a wooden bento box sliding it halfway through the subsection, but Kazutora hung his head low. You smiled, trying your best to make things right, as silence grew loud again. 
“I can also bring some mangas for you, I know you like shounen and also horror.. So I can buy some and give them to you so that you aren't bored! This week's shonen jump is good… It’s about a boy who is trying to save his mom, and ends up traveling across lands, with close friends, to get this special potion that will heal her, but I’ll make sure to look for some good horror manga too...I know you like stuff about folk tales, that sound okay?”  
Silence.
After a few minutes you spoke again.
“I decided to let my hair grow out cause I kinda miss having longer hair…There's this really pretty girl in my class who has long blonde hair.. Like Emma’s but longer and more wavy.. What about you? Anything you wanna do to your hair when you get out? I’ll take you to get it done-” 
Silence. 
The time now at 4:40. Kazutora bit his lip out of frustration, refusing to look up at you. 
“Oh! What about I bring over a sudoku book, so you can work on your academics as well! I can teach you how to play, it’s fun once you get the hang of it. Or I can bring just a simple literature book, it’s really up to you, I think both are great.” 
Silence. 
“Maybe markers so you can draw on yourself when you’re bored? I remember you doing that while I would tutor you and Keisuke. I can get big and small ones, and ones with different colors too. Also a sketch book, since you’re really good at drawing.” 
You were met with silence again. You felt your heart ache. Your eyes looked up at the clock and saw it was 4:47. You both were running out of time. About half an hour went by of your speaking, you giving a couple minutes in between waiting for him to speak back, but nothing. You clenched your hands into fists, biting your bottom lip as you looked down at your hands, resting on your thighs. 
You felt a strong feeling in your throat, the feeling you get when you’re about to sob. You were so frustrated, and you were trying to keep a level head. It was hard and you just wanted to fucking cry. 
“I- '' you said before closing your mouth realizing you were about to let out a whine. You didn't wanna cry, you wanted to say something but you were afraid that if you did, it would just come out as a sob.  
“I know it’s hard on you-” you said holding back your sobs while still looking down at your hands, letting your hairs cover your face 
“If you don’t want me here, I promise- that I’m fine with that...but~” you said in between pauses keeping your sobs in, but your last word came out shaky making Kazutora shoot his head to see you about to cry. 
He felt his heart ache once again. 
 “But please….jus-just say something. Anything. At least acknowledge that I'm here.” you cried quietly while tensing up your shoulders 
Kazutora frowned. This was his punishment. Seeing you cry, and not being able to hold and comfort you like he desperately wanted to. He opened his mouth, but closed it soon after when nothing came out. Not even a squeak, or whine, or breath. 
“I-”
You heard him say. You looked up with tears in your eyes seeing his face of desperation. 
Kazutora wanted to speak so badly, there were so many thoughts in his head he just could not push one out of his mouth, and he was afraid he might say something he would regret. He wanted to respond to everything you asked him, add commentary, tell you that you looked pretty today, say thank you for the food you made him. Tell you to not waste your tears on someone like him. Say sorry for making you feel uncomfortable because of his silence. God he just- 
“I love you-” he choked up and said in a louder tone causing your eyes to widen and mouth to part from shock at his sudden outburst.
He was avoiding your eyes as he spoke. 
“I- thank you, thank you so much for the food! Really! And I would really love whatever and everything you bring me.” he said, quieting down towards the end.  
“I...can’t put my thoughts into words… and I don’t wanna say something I’d regret. All this time I’ve just been lost in my own mind. I just want you to know that..that I really am in- that I really appreciate you. I want you..to be here, and I’m so...sorry for making you cry.” he said in between pauses of frustration and embarrassment 
You felt your body get warm, your heart beat was strong and you could feel it in your finger tips and temples. You opened your mouth to say something before Kazutora spoke again. 
“I..wanted to.. Wanted to help you...in just some way...after seeing you cry for the first time...with Baji in your arms….I shouldn't have stabbed Baji...I took the person you loved more than anything...away from you.. Because I was j- because I was so stupid, and still am. Even when you’ve done...so fucking much for me...I- and I took him from you...I just don’t get it… how can you have any empathy towards me anymore.. It doesn't make sense. I took so much from you… I killed Shinchiro, and I killed Baji. You loved them both...Mikey loved them both, why do..why do you even have any feeling towards me?” he said looking into your eyes with tears   
Your eyes softened at him. You took a small breath before saying-
“I thought I already told you why, Kazutora. I love you.” 
Kazutora felt a tear run down his cheek. He knew how much thought came behind those simple words. 
“I don’t need a reason to love you. Just like I don't need a reason to be hungry. It’s just there, and will continue to be there, you know what I mean? Same thing with everyone I love.” you said 
His breath hitched. The time now at 4:52.
“The only difference is I was in love with Keisuke. I still am in love with him. Even though he’s not here anymore. I know you might think I love him and Shinchiro and Mikey because they saved my life and helped me. But I was only so little. I had no concept of it. So was Keisuke. So was Mikey. Keisuke had no reason to come up to little me while I was starving on the ground practically dying. He just did it. He was too young to understand love. You think he understood his feelings for me the second he saw me? Or even with Mikey or Shinchiro. Of course not. They were just focussed on saving my life at the time. We discovered the love that was involved later. Even if it was too late to say anything about it. It took Kei and I about...hmmm..5-7 years maybe...to understand what we felt toward each other specifically. It is different with everyone. The love is just there, it’ll just be understood when the time is right. Like when your hunger just hits you. So when you ask me why I love you, or care for you, or forgive you. I just can’t give you a simple answer, even if I wanted to….because there's so much. Too much.” 
Kazutora understood your words. He really did. It made so much sense to him and he just wanted to scream.
Why? Well.. 
“The time will come where you believe that you're worthy of someone else's love and even your own, and even worth loving someone else yourself. So don’t worry. I’ll wait. I’ll wait as long as it takes. Even if it takes all the time in the world, okay?” you said smiling at him leaving him with shocked eyes
“Alright times up! 5 o'clock!” yelled a guard 
“Well, I'll see you next Friday, okay? I’ll bring over some manga, oh! And don't forget the bento!” you said getting up from your seat as Kazutora did the same keeping his hands on the table as the guard came to cuff them 
“Y/n I-I’m…”
No. He can’t say it. He can never ever say it. Why? And say what? 
Because he will never be him. He can never be like him for you, and he was perfect for you. He was the one there for you. He had the time to love you. He was the one. He could never even compete. Not after what he did. Not after the jealousy and envy grew and brewed inside him towards him. He is filthy. Not worthy of your love. Right? 
But someday, he desperately and genuinely wants to allow himself to be loved, and to love. Kazutora will forever be longing for that moment. And when he can love, and allow himself to be loved, he wants it to be with you. 
But till that time comes..
“I’ll...really be looking forward to it.” he said biting back his words and smiling softly 
“Likewise.” you said smiling as you both parted your ways, at least for the time being. 
------------------------------------------
Explanation/note: when i wrote this, i made y/n be a ‘foster’ siblings with Draken and childhood friends with Mikey and Keisuke. << Reason being is because i gave her a backstory where she was neglected and ran away, hence her having a more naturing personality. Y/n and Keisuke were a couple till he died but Kazutora always loved Y/n so it’s a love triangle in a way? I don’t know, but Kazutora grew envious of Keisuke in this ff which ended up being a motive to stabbing him during the fight, to which he later regrets and gets punishment for. Y/n in the story doesn’t know that so that’s why Kazutora can’t accept her love for real because he doesn't know if Y/n will really forgive him after that, and Kazutora won’t be able to learn/accept love till he admits what he did. Holding in that secret, and being in love with Y/n makes him feel frustrated and act out. And obviously time is the theme of this whole story. Kazutora at the end decided to avoid his feelings because the way things are going right now fro the time being for him are fine because he doesn't believe he deserves anything more.  But that can only last for so long, so he’s gambling with his relationship with you. He thinks of it as his punishment for now, not being able to tell you how he really feels, and not being able to comfort you.
ANYWAYS hope you liked it, sorry if it’s confusing. 
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mcbex · 2 years ago
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**All Twisted Up**
I'll just say it, I like to sing in my car. In fact I am a 1 woman band. With the voice of an angel, or maybe that of a frog, I sing and often play the drums... on my steering wheel. It's quite the display. This morning I was feeling extra feisty as I blared worship music to get my funky feelings under control. I had one hand raised could feel my mood changing as I sang "now come on my soul, don't you get shy on me lift up your song"... and then I came to a red light, where I ironically got shy and turned down the music. I felt sort of silly thinking about the prying eyes of people I didn't know watching me raise my hands and sing badly, even though no one was looking. Nevertheless I respectfully turned my song low, sat through the light and reached up to my neckline where I anxiously fiddled with the 2 necklaces that lay there intertwined.
The strands I had on were a modern day rosary I found online a few years ago. Although I haven't worn it everyday since I bought it, I don't remember the last time I took it off. I recently add to it a BFF necklace my daughter chose for us last weekend. We were shopping for something else. Needless to say when your 11 year old asks you to be her best friend you say yes and buy the necklace.
While I sat there fidgeting with the mess I noticed how at this point the necklaces are conjoined. I sort of like how they have merged with each other. It reminds me of how life is sort of twisty like that too. It reminds me of Gods love. How our souls are indivisible from him.
Sure I could take them off. I could unclasp and take them apart link by link until all I had left were parts and pieces. But they would never go back to together the same as before they were tangled. That's how we are when we've found Christ and try to live without him. Before I met him I could go along and share meaningful enough moments but I wasn't tangled up in anything lasting, even if it felt important. Yet after we find a relationship with him it's never the same. He gets fused with our souls and constantly breathes safety, joy and grace into everything. Even the hard things by reminding me to have patience with him. By showing me the tiniest details I would have never noticed if my heart wasn't open to his overwhelming love.
Back at the traffic light, I pulled through as it turned green, but I didn't sing as loudly and I didn't turn the radio back up. I was lost in the reality of creation. Because even if I chose to ignore him, if pretend he isn't there or disengage entirely, I don't get to choose to live without him. None of us do. He is constant, inseparable and always with us.
Job 12;10 In his hand is the life of every creature, and the breath of all mankind.‭‭
Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
#godthoughts
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maria-akira · 4 years ago
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how you meet the ahs boys + their reaction while you're having a class - PART 1
—♡—
hey yall im back again 🧍🏻‍♀️ is this what you call a headcanon?? idk BAHAHSHHA. anyways i've had this idea in my mind for a while and i wanted to share it to yall, so i hope you guys like it 😌
these also have a little back story on how you guys meet !!
also, special mention to @tatestripedsweater for helping me give ideas with jimmy's part !! thank you so much mwah 🥺❤
warnings: none! just pure fluff <3
please excuse any errors !
—♡—
~♡ TATE LANGDON:
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before the pandemic, you and your family have moved into the murder house.
the house gave your family a very odd vibe, but nonetheless all of you had to bear with it because it was sold for a cheap price.
but when the pandemic arrived the country, you were stuck at home 24/7. thus, classes were online.
you met tate because of your father. tate was one of his patients and the both of you grew close.
"Y/N, what are you doing?"
tate would randomly barge in your room while having a class and you would jump out of shock.
"Jesus, Tate. Stop scaring me like that!"
tate would giggle and lay on your bed, observing the lesson that the teacher rambled about.
while you're writing notes, he would stand up and take a chair from some part of your room and sit beside you.
knowing that tate is clingy, you would warn him not to bug you and behave while you listened in class.
of course, he doesn't listen and he would place his head on your shoulder and eventually would cuddle you.
"Taaate, please let me focus."
luckily, you always keep your camera off.
"Mmm, no. I enjoy bugging you."
~♡ KIT WALKER:
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one time, you were driving to school on your own and you were almost running out of gas.
luckily, you saw a gas station nearby and decided to get a fill before heading to school. and there, you met kit.
when you first laid your eyes on kit, you thought that he was the prettiest man ever. you couldn't let this chance slip, thus, you exchanged numbers with him.
you talked all day and night, the both of you were so inlove with each other and you finally decided to introduce him to your parents.
your parents loved him and you were so, so happy.
but when the pandemic came, it affected your relationship with kit.
since all schools and unis were closed down, everything went online.
when kit stayed over, he couldn't spend a lot of time with you because you had to attend classes early in the morning, till afternoon.
"Can you stay in bed with me for a little bit, darling?"
unfortunately, you woke up late that day and you missed 10 minutes of your first class. and just like that, you were stuck to your desk until afternoon.
"Kit baby, I'm sorry. I'm late for my first class. Maybe later, okay?"
as much as kit hated this whole online class thing, he would always find a way to cheer you up.
thus, he would cook you breakfast and bring it over to your room.
"C'mere, I'll feed you while you listen and write down notes."
~♡ KYLE SPENCER (PRE DEATH AND POST DEATH) :
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PRE DEATH:
madison, your friend, had bugged you all week to go with her to this college frat party near your house.
you weren't the party type. you loved staying at home, watching netflix or reading some sort of fan fiction on wattpad.
but you hated being single. so, this was your chance to actually get a boyfriend.
when you arrived at the party, you immediately hated it. everything was so loud and everyone was drinking, it was definitely a new sight for you.
you were sitting on a couch that was in the balcony, with a red cup that was filled with punch. you loved being away from the commotion.
this is where you met kyle, it was love at first sight. the both of you had so much in common and you thought that he was the man of your dreams.
you exchanged snapchats and from there, you were partners-in-crime.
you and kyle had stopped going to parties ever since the pandemic arrived, which means you got to see each other less.
since the both of you were students, both of your classes went online.
one time, kyle had no classes for a day and he decided to surprise you.
that day, you were having an online presentation. both your camera and microphone were on.
"Rene Descartes was the Father of Modern Philosophy—"
as you were presenting the slide show, you were cut off by kyle's presence infront of your desk.
"I brought you food, baby!"
you would shush him and suddenly turn off your mic.
"I'm so sorry, Miss. My boyfriend arrived and I—"
kyle would go beside you and kiss you on your cheek, your classmates and teacher cooing over it.
"Miss, you better give my girlfriend a good grade."
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POST DEATH:
*pretend that he survived the bus accident and had a coma, because we arent involving witchcraft here*
kyle and his fraternity were on a bus that was going to some college event at school.
on the way there, you guys snapped each other and his friends would talk to you as well.
unfortunately, they got in an accident and the bus was flipped over.
a few students, including kyle, survived the accident.
when you heard this news, you cried your heart out and you didnt talk to anyone in your family.
you and your family visited the hospital and you rushed to kyle's room, it broke your heart to see tubes in him, with machines that beeped like there was no tomorrow.
when the doctor said that kyle was in a coma, your heart sank in the deepest part of your body.
this made you stay 24/7 with him until he was discharged.
when he was discharged from the hospital, he was not his usual self. the bubbly, energetic kyle was gone. instead, he was so confused with everything.
kyle's mom made him stay with you until he got his memory back, and you were more than glad to help.
but this took a toll on your studies because your classes were online due to a pandemic.
everyday in class, you would let kyle sit beside you and let him observe what you were doing.
"We're in Science class, Kyle. You were really good in Science, you helped me alot with my homeworks."
most of the time, you would help kyle develop his speech and his writing. but it was difficult for you.
"S-Sci... S-Sci-en.. ce?"
"Yes, Kyle! Good job, now one more time."
~♡ JIMMY DARLING:
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ever since you were a kid, you loved going to carnivals, your parents would always bring you there every weekend.
there were carnivals almost everywhere, and your family brought you to all of them.
to you, each carnival was unique. the clowns and magicians in each carnival had different tricks up their sleeve.
but as you grew up, these carnivals slowly went out of business. except for one, which was elsa's cabinet of curiosities.
you decided to visit it one day just for a trip down memory lane, you never really had expectations for this place.
when you arrived there, there were a few people that were seated.
the show started and it instantly made you smile, they reminded you of your younger days. oh how you wished to be a child again.
you watched through a few acts, and the last act was a man named jimmy darling
when he came on stage, you locked eyes with him. there was something about him that really struck you.
after the performance ended, jimmy ran over to you and got your number. from there, you always talked and you would visit him regularly.
the regular visits stopped when the pandemic struck the country, forcing entertainment establishments, schools and unis to close down.
for the mean time, all your classes went online. you told jimmy that he could stay with you until things went back to normal.
on an early tuesday morning, you were in english class. jimmy was with your parents preparing breakfast, and you were falling asleep while your teacher discussed about the odyssey.
unlike tate, jimmy would always knock on your door. as his mom always taught, never enter anyone's room without knocking.
jimmy would giggle at your sleeping sight, your head lowered and your hair messed up.
"Hey, sweetheart, wake up! You're in class."
jimmy's timing was perfect. as he woke you up, you were called by the teacher.
"Miss Y/N, Do you think Odysseus was loyal to his wife?"
obviously, you panicked. but jimmy was there to save you. since jimmy was fond of reading, he finished the book and he whispered the answer to you before you could turn on your mic.
"No, Ma'am. Odysseus had an affair with Calypso and Circe."
once you got your teacher's approval, you turned off your microphone and let out a sigh of relief.
"You're lucky that I'm here to help you."
jimmy would joke and you would jump up to him, tackling him into a hug.
"I'm always lucky to have you, baby."
~♡ DANDY MOTT
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at a young age, you were exposed to different types of fabrics. denim, silk, corduroy, neoprene. they name it, you've probably seen it.
your mother worked as a fashion designer. she managed to open a shop in the city and it was a great success for you and your family.
your mother has styled famous models. because of this, the shop was promoted and broadcasted all over the country. one day when you came from school, you saw a long line outside the shop.
that day, the staff count was low. there were only 5 employees instead of 10. you didn't exactly know why, so you decided to help.
after what felt like several hours, the long line finally dissolved into 2 customers, which was a mother and her son. they looked through the shop and the mother instantly loved everything.
her son, on the other hand, was trying on this lilac tux that your mother made.
you assisted her son and when you locked eyes, the both of you smiled. you entertained him throughout his shopping spree and the both of you never broke eye contact.
this was how you met dandy. he made the first move by getting your number, and of course you gave it back.
from there, the both of you talked day and night, even when you were in school.
since dandy's mother, gloria, loved your mother's shop so much, she would invite you and your mother regularly to her mansion.
gloria and your mother got along very well, and it was like gloria was your second mother.
so when your mother went to paris for a fashion show, she let you stay in gloria's mansion until she came back.
but to your dismay, your mother was not able to come back due to a pandemic that was all over the world. flights, establishments, and schools closed down.
of course you were sad, but you didn't worry so much because gloria treated you like her real daughter.
classes were online and you were forced to attend them everyday in the shared room you had with dandy.
since you had to get ready for class early in the morning, you would quietly get out of bed because dandy was sometimes a light sleeper.
it was around 8am and you were in math class. in your school, cameras were required to be turned on at all times. you thought this was a shit rule, but you had no choice to comply.
you were drawing some circles with a compass for an example that was being discussed by your teacher, when all of a sudden dandy was beside you.
"Dandy, sweetie, what are you doing up so early? Go back to sleep.."
dandy would pout at the lack of attention that you were giving him. since he loved holding your hand, you let him hold your other hand that you didn't use for writing.
"You're doing Math instead of cuddling with me!"
—♡—
i'm actually super proud of this omg !! i hope yall enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it 🥺❤
—♡—
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screamin-abt-haikyuu · 4 years ago
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A Comedy of Errors. Chapter 3: The Way of the Aces.
Please read the previous chapters before proceeding!!
Click here to read Chapter 1: Negotiations.
Click here to read Chapter 2: Suga the Setter.
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Background: Y/N is a transfer student who joined Karasuno High in her second year because her family shifted to Miyagi. She is a volleyball player and plays as a wing spiker (ace) in the Girl’s Volleyball team.
Pairing: Karasuno x fem reader || Romantic Pairing: Asahi x fem reader
NOTE: Y/N plays volleyball in this. I am not familiar with all the rules of the game so pls 2 forgive if I get any of the technicalities wrong.
Genre: Fluff and comfort with sprinkles of comedy this time! || SFW
A/N: At last, the final chapter. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. I really poured my entire soul into this. --------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Say, since you guys are already here. Why don’t you stay and watch us practice?" Asahi's lifespan is being shortened with every word as Suga invites Y/N and Michimiya to watch them practice. Asahi waits with bated breath. Even though he is extremely nervous, a part of him does want you to stay. So, when you do say yes, he doesn't know whether to feel happy or run out of the gym screaming. As they walk off to warm up, Suga whispers to him, "I know you're probably thinking about how you're going to fuck up your play and embarrass yourself in front of her. But while you're at it, maybe you should also think about what will happen if you actually play well." Asahi nods. "Suga." "Hmm?" "Thank you. For everything you just did. I really do appreciate it." "Of course! I'm just glad it worked out well." "And you are right, I do like her. I don't know her much but I would like to." "Aha, finally some truth around here! Well, then we just gotta make sure you give her a show worth remembering!" Suga says, winking.
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Michimiya had been watching the game intently, as was evident by her gasps and comments on everything. But you? You hadn't been able to keep your eyes off of Asahi the entire game. So much so, that you had barely given a second thought to the first years' amazing quick attack or Nishinoya's outstanding libero skills.
Asahi's spikes, his serves, his receives, his posture, his spirit, and his determination had you just...rapt with attention.
"In case you are wondering, yes, he is single." Michimiya's whisper startles you.
"W-what?" you start to blush. "I'm just taking notes!"
"But I didn't even specify who I was talking about."
You turn redder.
"He's really nice too, you know. A very genuine and kind person. I think you two would make a cute couple."
Your face is so hot now that you're sure you'll hear a sizzle any moment. You turn your head back towards the game to avoid Michimiya's gaze.
"I- I don't know who you are talking about."
Michimiya chuckles. "Of course you don't."
Even though you can feel Michimiya's gaze on you, you can't help but smile as you watch Asahi land another beautiful spike in the opponent's court.
You didn't know, of course, that you being around and watching him had been a huge boost of motivation for him to perform at his peak. You didn't know how he had been wondering what you were thinking about him the entire game. You didn't know how hard it had been for him to not glance at you after every move he made, just to see your reaction.
But he didn't know how you had felt either. He didn't know how your heart rate sped up every time he came on to serve. He didn't know you had also felt frustrated whenever his spike got shut down, feeling as though you had been shut down. He didn't know how you had wanted to shout and cheer him on but you hadn't because you didn't want to come off as a weirdo.
Truly, you would make a good couple.
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Practice is now over. Asahi's team won both the practice matches (of course they did, Suga would not have had it any other way). You and Michimiya walk over to the third years. As Michimiya starts gushing to Daichi about their game, you turn to Asahi.
"You were really - glorious, brilliant, like a God, I wish you were spiking me instead - amazing out there," you say, your eyes full of admiration.
Asahi instantly turns a deep shade of red.
"Th-thank you." He says with a smile.
"See, I told you he is great!" Suga says with a proud smile on his face.
"You were right. Karasuno really has a very talented ace."
"No, it has two of them," Asahi says, looking at you with a smile.
Now it is your turn to blush.
"Aah, I wish. I'm not quite there yet. I'm definitely nowhere close to your level," you say.
"I would love to help you any way I can."
"I would be honoured to learn from you," you say with a bow.
Suga piped up, "It's Saturday tomorrow! The boys' gym will be free till 10AM. If you want, we can practice here early morning. Say, around 7? Asahi can teach you the techniques and I can set for you both. We'll ask Daichi and Michimiya too if they want to join." and before you can answer, Suga is off to ask Daichi and Michimiya.
Wow, he really doesn't wait for an answer, huh.
Asahi looks at you and he can see you're a little unsure. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, it's just... I really don't want to bother you guys so early in the morning like that."
"It's no problem at all, we usually practice early on the weekends anyway." Asahi says with a reassuring smile. That seems to melt your doubts away.
Suga walks back to you. "I've spoken to the two of them, they will join us but a little later."
"It's sorted, then." you say, smiling.
Of course, Asahi was the one who ended up walking you home that night.
Of course, Suga was "late" for the morning practice the next day, giving you and Asahi a lot of time to get comfortable around each other get nervous and DIE.
Of course, situations like these happened more than a few times.
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Before you know it, two months have passed. With Asahi and Michimiya's help, you improved tremendously and the Karasuno Girls Volleyball team cleared the first set of qualifying rounds for the Spring Interhigh. And so did the boys.
During this time, you and Asahi have become really good friends. Since you two live in the same area, you often end up going to school and walking home together, giving you a lot of time to talk about every topic under the sun. It took a while but you are now very comfortable around each other. In fact, Asahi himself wonders how he is able to tell you things so easily.
Both of your friend groups (and your entire school, also the neighbouring schools, random passersby, street dogs, birds flying past - you know, basically anyone with eyes) can see that you two are absolutely head-over-heels for each other. The only two people who don't know it are you two.
The way Asahi had gone out of his way to teach you everything he knew; how patiently he had walked you through every technique, every mistake; how he had sweetly asked you for permission every time before correcting your posture and showing you the right finger placement (mind outta the gutter fellas, we talking about volleyball here); how every time he did that, you felt a jolt of electricity whenever his fingers touched you (I promise it is still about volleyball); how he cares about even the littlest things regarding you; how every time he smiles reassuringly at you, the world feels all right again; how supportive and encouraging he has been through it all: You have fallen for him harder than you have ever fallen in your entire life.
And you just keep falling harder and harder every moment you spend with him. He has become your comfort now. No matter how stressed or nervous you are, just having Asahi around makes you feel much calmer and confident.
Asahi, on the other hand, has smiled more in these last two months than he has ever smiled. He can't help it, being around you just makes him feel like he is floating. He was blown away by how talented and hard working you are and is so proud of the progress you have made.
The way you are so kind to him. The way you always speak up whenever someone makes fun of him. The way you always hype him up and believe in him. The way the world seems to stop every time you smile at him. The way your laugh has become his favourite sound in the world. Asahi could not be more enamoured by you even if he tried. You too, are his comfort now. He knows he can talk to you about every "sentimental" topic on earth without being made fun of.
The only problem is: You both are afraid that this comfort you find in each other will be ruined if either of you confesses and the other does not reciprocate your feelings. It is now a waiting game to see who spikes their ball into the other's court first, if at all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You are shaking. Partly with excitement, partly with nerves. After defeating Tohoku High, only one school remains between you and the nationals: Niiyama Joshi, one of the most powerful schools that always makes it to nationals when it comes to the Miyagi prefecture.
The boys' game had ended earlier than yours and they had already left the stadium. You were absolutely delighted to hear that they beat Seijoh. Now, they have to face Shiratorizawa, another powerhouse school that always makes it to the nationals.
You and Asahi both have your own mountains to climb tomorrow.
As you are walking out of the stadium with your teammates, you spot something.
"Hey, you guys go ahead, I will be right there." you say and turn back.
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It's been a very long day but you cannot sit still at all. You cannot stop thinking about the match tomorrow. Your hands are sweaty knees weak, arms are heavy because you keep clenching your fists open and shut as you pace around your bedroom. You had hoped to be able to meet Asahi and maybe feel a little better but by the time you had reached school, the boys had already left. You know how big a day it is for him tomorrow too so you don't want to bother him by asking him to meet. However, you should at least text him and congratulate him on his victory. You open your phone and see you already have a message from him:
Asahi: Hey, I heard you guys beat Tohoku! Congratulations! I knew you could do it.
You smile.
You: Thanks, I still can't believe we did that!!! Congratulations on beating Seijoh!! I heard it was a close match.
Asahi: Thanks! Yeah, it was anyone's game by the end. It was really intense. But we managed to win. Also, I had full faith that you would make it!
You: Damn, wish I could have seen it. Sooo, Shiratorizawa next. How are you feeling?
Asahi: Really, really nervous. They're really strong and I don't think anyone believes we can beat them.
You: Well, you just gotta prove them wrong, then! I truly believe that you guys can do it.
Asahi: I really hope so. Anyway, what about you? How are you feeling about going up against Niiyama tomorrow?
You: Honestly, I cannot stop shaking and thinking about tomorrow. We are so close and I just don't want to screw up and let my team down.
Asahi: Can you get out of your house?
You stare at your phone for a moment before replying.
You: Yeah, I can sneak out the backdoor. Why?
Asahi: Sneak out after 5 minutes. I'll be there.
You: You sure about this? It's late and you need to rest for tomorrow too.
Asahi: I'm sure and I'm already on my way.
You grab your schoolbag and quietly make your way out the backdoor. You see Asahi standing outside your house. He's wearing a purple t-shirt and is carrying a bag in his hand. He smiles and waves at you as you make your way towards him. The knots in your stomach are already starting to loosen.
"Hey, Asahi!"
"Hey, Y/N, I'm sorry for making you sneak out like this but... I couldn't help myself when I read your messages."
"No, it's completely alright. Actually, to be honest, I was kind of hoping to meet you too. I-I always feel calmer after talking to you."
Asahi blushes.
"R-really?"
"Yeah."
"I always feel better after talking to you too."
You can feel the heat starting to build in your face as you smile at him in response.
Asahi continues, "I-I know I am not good with words. But I want to tell you that I know exactly how you feel. You won't let anyone down. I have seen you play and really, you have nothing to worry about. You have made it this far and you are strong enough to take it further."
His words make you want to cry. He has always shown so much faith in you. You look at the ground and don't say anything as you try to hold back your tears.
"-And I - uh - got you something that I thought might make you feel better."
You look up in surprise and you see him reaching his hand into the bag he brought with him. As you watch, he pulls out a light blue cloth. It's a t-shirt.
You gasp as you recognize what it is.
He holds the t-shirt open by the sleeves so that you can read what's written.
It's a "The Way of the Ace" T-shirt.
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"Oh my God!!" you say loudly.
He is completely thrown off by your reaction as you throw your head back and laugh.
Oh no. Does she think this is lame? Asahi starts to panic.
You reach into your own bag and pull out a similar looking light blue cloth. Asahi's eyes widen.
"I bought this today at the stadium for you. I know how important tomorrow's match is for you and I knew you'd be nervous so I wanted to give you this as a motivational sort of good luck thing." you say as you hold out a larger sized "The Way of the Ace" T-shirt.
All of your tension and nerves melt away as you both stand there laughing and holding the T-shirts.
"I hope I got the right size," Asahi says as you exchange the t-shirts.
"Same."
"It's perfect!" You both say at the same time and erupt into a hearty laugh again.
"Thank you, Asahi. I feel a lot better now. Really, thank you for everything. We wouldn't have made it this far if not for your help."
"It was all you, Y/N. All I did was show you the way. You walked it on your own."
"Yeah, you showed me the way of the Ace." you say, smiling.
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The score is 30-31 and it is match point for Karasuno Girls' High School against Niiyama Joshi for what seems to be like the 100th time. It has just been ties after ties after ties and every set has stretched well into the 30s. Somewhere at the beginning of the fifth set, you looked up to see the Karasuno boys piling into the stands to cheer your team on. From the looks of it, they won their match against Shiratorizawa.
Playing such intense 5 sets back to back has taken a massive toll and the players on both sides of the court are at their limit. However, it is now your turn to serve and if you manage to get this point, you will be through to the nationals.
"Y/N, GIVE US A NICE SERVE!!" the boys cheer for you from the audience.
Your knees are quaking and you feel like you can barely stand, much less run or jump. You are so out of breath that you feel like you are going to pass out any minute. As you somehow force yourself to walk into position, you can feel your knees buckling under you.
As you stand there, waiting for the referee to blow the whistle, your eyes instinctively search for Asahi. Even though he is far, you can easily spot him due to his height and the familiar light blue t-shirt he has changed into after his match.
As your eyes meet, Asahi cups his hands around his mouth and BELLOWS.
"JUST ONE MORE. YOU GOT THIS!"
The whistle blows.
BAM.
You barely have time to realize what happened as you are tackled to the ground by your teammates. There's a lot of hugging and crying and shouting.
As you recover from your shock, it finally registers. It was a service ace. Niiyama's libero had tried to dig the ball but it had bounced out of bounds.
You've won.
Tears of exhaustion and exhilaration start to flow from your eyes as you hug your teammates.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your feet are killing you as you walk out of the locker room towards the bus, wearing your own WotA t-shirt. It's late and the corridor is silent and empty as you're one of the very last few people to leave.
"I told you you could do it."
You look up and see Asahi standing a little further ahead, smiling at you.
You don't say anything, you just walk up to him and hug him. He seems taken aback but only for a bit as, barely a second later, you feel his large arms wrap around you tightly.
You both stand there for a while, both too exhausted to speak but finding comfort in each other's arms. It just feels so...right. Like this is exactly where and how you are meant to be.
When you finally break apart, you can see that Asahi is looking a little nervous.
"S-say, Y/N. I was wondering... i-if you would maybe want to go on a- on a date with me?"
Your eyes widen in surprise.
"It is completely okay if you don't! I'm sorry I shouldn't have said anythi-"
"Yes, yes, YES! I will go on a date with you."
"Really? You really want to go out with me?"
"Yes. Honestly, Asahi, I fell for you a long time ago. I was just afraid of freaking you out and ruining our friendship. So, I didn't say anything."
Asahi let out a little laugh. "It's freaky how we think so similarly because same." He takes your hand in his. "I fell for you the day I met you. And I just kept falling harder and harder the more I got to know you. I just never imagined you would feel the same way for me too."
"I do, I do, I so do! I always have!"
Both of you have the biggest smiles on your faces as you stand there holding hands and looking into each other's eyes.
You suddenly start to blush furiously.
"So...um...since we usually seem to be thinking the same thing. Um, would you like to kiss me?"
Asahi's eyes open so wide that you're worried they'll pop out of their sockets any minute. He is blushing furiously as he simply nods and leans in.
Your heart is thundering as your lips meet. But, it's Asahi. He kisses you with such tenderness and affection that you just melt into him.
The two aces of Karasuno walk out of the stadium hand-in-hand, wearing their matching WotA T-shirts. You're going to nationals, you've found some really great friends and you have found each other. Life is good.
FIN.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally, I am so happy with how this turned out. I was stuck for a while trying to decide where to go with this story and I was panicking a little about not updating sooner. But I am glad I did not hurry this up because I really LOVE the turn this took in my head which it wouldn't have if I hadn't let the ideas stew in my mind for a while.
I know this was a long read but I really hope you guys enjoyed it and it was worth the read and the wait.
Likes, comments, reblogs and follows are always appreciated. Please DO NOT repost
Buy me a Kofi! <3
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Text
Different worlds, same heart - Chapter 8 (the end)
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Chapter summary: After months apart, (Y/N) is determinate to keep fighting alongside Theseus and the ministry against Grindelwald and his followers. Her conviction and strength makes the Auror rethink about his choices, his feelings and the path he wants to follow.
PART 1 – PART 2 – PART 3 – PART 4 – PART 5 – PART 6 – PART 7
***
Theseus smiled sightly seeing the graduates reuniting with their families, some with joy, some with sadness. Some of them had lost relatives, friends… That celebration wasn’t a happy one. Those students had ended their life in Hogwarts, but it was far from being a happy occasion. The director and some professors, Dumbledore and (Y/N) between them, tried to cheer up the students, but they weren’t very successful.
(Y/N) said goodbye to some of her alumnus, with small smiles or hugs, specially from those who had lost someone and had found comfort with the professor. Theseus knew first hand all those loses, he was the one to give the bad news to the children back at the school next to the family. (Y/N) was always next to him to wrap her arms around the devasted families. The Auror and the professor had seen each other more than they thought in the last five months, although they would rather have met in other situations, like those weekends at London. Those days they could just forget about the war, walking, laughing, just in each other company.
The Auror titled his head approaching (Y/N) slowly without making his presence known. He thought about how he actually missed her when they weren’t together. At the beginning it scared him, feeling so strongly, but he ended up embracing it and accepting that he couldn’t stop the growing feelings for the Ravenclaw who had been respectful of his boundaries but without fear of being affectionate too.
“Take care, dear” she said to an alumnus who had lost both parents in a raid before she turned with a sad face.
But when (Y/N) saw Theseus there, a few meters from her, smiling slightly with his hands in his coat’s pockets, her face lit up. She ran towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck “thank you for coming” she whispered next to his ear.
Theseus smiled and hugged her back “of course, are you ready to go?”.
She pulled away and nodded “I think that, for the first time since I work as a professor, I want to leave Hogwarts, I need to go back to the ministry and fight”.
“We’ve talked about this…” he started to say.
“I-will-fight. Next to you” he knew it was a lost cause trying to talk her out of it, so he just nodded with a sigh “I have to say goodbye to some of the professors and take my trunk. Then, we can go”.
“I’ll wait for you at the main door”.
Not much later, Theseus and (Y/N) stood in front of her house back in London. Without a word, he followed her into the apartment where she sorted out her luggage. The Auror waited for her in the living room, looking through one of the windows.
“Theseus” he turned to see her back from her room “I wouldn’t want to keep you from doing…”.
“If they need me, they will send a patronus” he said walking to her and taking her hands softly “what do you want to do? We can stay here and just rest, you may be tired”.
“I’ve been tired for months, just like you” she said squeezing his hands “but if I stay here I will think about everything we’ve been through and the journey we still have ahead, and I don’t want to think anymore…” her eyes filled with tears.
Theseus pressed his lips into a think line and hugged her closely to his body “you still have nightmares?”.
“From time to time…” she whispered back and snuggled into his chest “but I’m okay. I will be fine”.
He kissed her hair and they stayed like that, breathing deeply into each other, enjoying the warmth and comfort. She cherished every hug Theseus was willing to give her and tried to make them as long as possible because, even though she knew the Auror felt something beautiful for her, he might not even act on his feelings soon. If ever.
“What do you want to do?” he asked after a while in silence.
“Let’s just see where our feet carry us”.
They started to walk through the streets of London, through High Park, until they decided to have dinner at the Leaky Cauldron. There, although some people recognized them, no one approached to talk because somehow, they knew that Theseus, as a wizard who was in the first line of the fight, needed to rest.
“How it was Newt’s class?” Theseus asked with a small smile.
“The students were delighted to have their last class of Care of Magical Creatures by the hand of the best one in that field. It was amazing” she smiled at Theseus who had the habit of tease her about her admiration for the youngest Scamander “as if I was to ask you to give a class about defensive spells and battling”.
“That’s a proposition for next year?”.
“I hope so” she said with sadness before taking a deep breath and looking up at him “you know? Yes, this is a proposition because we will be victorious and the students will learn a lot from the best Auror”.
Theseus smiled at her and took her hand over the table “your conviction is more than welcomed, I sometimes feel myself wondering if we’ll defeat Grindelwald”.
“We will” she said as a promised and a genuine smile.
After having dinner, the both of them decided to go back home, their tiredness began to become visible. In their way to her apartment, they walked through a park too familiar for them, although that night there was a muggle representation. They stopped to watch it, they didn’t understand what it was happening. Those persons were just singing and dancing with vibrant colours in their clothes, making the children around laugh.
(Y/N) sighed and took Theseus arm, leaning her head on his shoulder contemplating the spectacle in front of them. The Auror caressed her hand calling her attention and pointed to three persons a few meters from them. Those persons were looking at them and nodded, they were wizards and witches too. (Y/N) smiled and observed how their fellow wizards were enjoying the dance of the muggles.
“This is why we have to keep fighting, for us and for them. To live in harmony and enjoy the beauty of both worlds. To keep the muggles fascinated about the wonders they can’t explain, to relish in their simplicity and complexity. To keep having two types of magic, ours and theirs”.
Theseus stared at her profile, appreciating her words that were filled with determination and resonated in him with force.
(Y/N) shivered and he took his jacket, as the perfect gentleman he was, and put it over her shoulders. She smiled thankfully and put it on properly, a bit big on her figure but really warm.
They stayed just a couple of minutes more before keep going their way.
“I will go tomorrow morning to the minister, I know Dumbledore will too” she said once they were at her street.
“I can pick you up and go together, if you want” he suggested softly.
They stopped at her door and she turned to him smiling “sure, I’ll wait for you. Thank you for today, Theseus. Today and all days actually” she pulled her hair behind her ear shyly.
He smiled softly and took her hand, kissing the back of it “same here. Rest, okay?”.
“You too, goodnight”.
“Night” he said softly watching her stepped into her building.
Theseus walked down the street with a small smile, thinking about that night. Past nights. Smiles. Laughs. Touches. Looks… And he suddenly felt cold. And it wasn’t for the lack of jacket that he had just realized he didn’t have with him, but because of the absence of (Y/N) next to him. Theseus swallowed and turned, taking a run back to her house but found her already running to him.
“You forgot your jacket” she said smiling and taking it off.
The Auror observed her there, under the light of a lamppost, his jacket in her hand and a bright smile with twinkling eyes. And his heart made the choice at least.
Theseus ran the few meters that separated them and took her face softly, making her eyes widen in surprise, before he pressed his lips on hers softly. He heard his jacket fall to the floor and then he felt her pressing back her lips slightly with a sigh. The Auror pulled away slowly and opened his eyes to see (Y/N)’s eyes still closed for a few seconds before opening them and stare at him. His ragged breath hit her lips that made her bit her lower lip. Theseus smiled slightly before kissing her again. She smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, prompting him to press her to him by her waist before one of his hands travelled to the back of her head. Their lips speaking for them, demonstrating the desire contained all those months with passion.
When they pulled away, (Y/N) giggled happily and he chuckled kissing her forehead while holding her tightly. She looked up at him and stood on her tiptoes to peck his lips once more. Theseus caressed her cheek looking her with the most tender eyes. They didn’t need to say anything when their eyes and lips did say everything.
***
One year later
“Thank you very much, minister”.
“It’s always a pleasure to have you here, Ms. (Y/S)” the minister said standing up from his seat and went with her to the door of his office.
“It’s been a real honor that the new spells were registered under my authorship”.
“I wouldn’t have it in another way. They have been so helpful to defeat the followers of Grindelwald… There were so many of them even after Dumbledore’s victory” the man said with a sad sigh “but we are now at peace”.
“That we are, so we must enjoy our time with our love ones after all the terror we have suffered”.
“I couldn’t agree more with you”.
They smiled at each other before saying their goodbyes and (Y/N) left the minister’s office. Looking at her watch, she saw it was near time for lunch so she smiled brightly and walked to an office she had visited quite a bit in the last year. She knocked softly and waited to be allowed in.
“Hope you don’t have plans for lunch”.
Theseus looked up and smiled seeing there the woman who made his days bright, especially with the way she smiled at him like in that moment. He stood up and went to her as she closed the door behind her. The Auror took her face to kiss her sweetly “it’s not that I’m not happy to see you here but… What are you doing here? I don’t remember you telling me that you were coming”.
She smiled taking his wrists and caressing the back of his hands with her thumbs “I received an owl this morning really early, the minister was calling me for the authorship of the spells” he smiled brightly letting his hands go to her waist and her hands to his shoulders.
“So your work has finally been recognized, congratulations darling” he said before pecking her lips “now we do have to celebrate this great news!”.
“You can come to mine tonight if you want” she smiled sweetly at him.
“No, we will go out to dinner, and not to the Leaky Cauldron” he winked making her giggle.
(Y/N) raised her eyebrows with a smile before they were interrupted by an owl who pecked the window.
Theseus went to take the letter which made him smile “it’s from my brother. I guess you scolded him in your last letter to write to me too. I guess he liked you more than me”.
She laughed shaking her head “you know it’s not true, we just have a… Unique bond about the knowledge of magical creatures and our letters are more interesting that the ones you send him”.
“How dare you…” he said feigning hurt.
Through their relationship, Theseus learnt to let his less serious side appear comfortably. Even though he had joked with her before they started to court, he used to be on alert, as if he always was in Auror mode, so he wasn’t completely relaxed. Thankfully, next to (Y/N) he learnt to be not tense around her.
A thing he didn’t have to learn was the intimacy, both had been affectionate before and they didn’t have problem to display their love for each other when they were together. They kept it minimum when they were with more people, although Newt and Tina had seen them sharing soft touches and short kisses on the forehead or cheek, comfortable with the youngest brother and his girlfriend who were really happy for them.
Ever since that night Theseus summoned the bravery of the Gryffindors and let his heart speak, they had fought together, cried together, laughed together and just love each other without measure. She made him see things in another light while he challenged her, they were different but their differences joined them even more thanks to their comprehensive and generous natures. And what most united them were their desire to make the world a better place and the love they nurtured every day.
“Well, lunch. I’m afraid we’ll have to eat in the cafeteria here” he said pressing his lips into a thin line.
“It’s okay, it reminds me of our classes days” she replied smiling.
Theseus returned his smile, kept the letter of his brother in his pocket and took her hands “let’s go then”.
After having lunch together, (Y/N) left the ministry to go back to her apartment where Theseus met her that night.
She was finishing to get ready while the Auror waited for her in the living room. He saw many scrolls on the table and he couldn’t help himself but peeking. They were plans for the next year in Hogwarts which made him smile softly.
“Okay, I’m ready” she said putting on her coat.
He turned to see her and couldn’t help but checking her out, giving her love eyes when he reached her face “you are beautiful”.
(Y/N) blushed and slapped his arm softly “stop it”.
“It’s true” he said getting her closer by her waist “you are just so wonderful in every sense”.
“Are you going all romantic on me, Mr. Scamander?” she asked still with red cheeks.
“Yes, I am. I know you love it deep down” she laughed and he smiled before kissing her cheek and caressing her hair “I mean it, you are such an exceptional woman. I’m lucky”.
(Y/N) shook her head and kissed his lips softly as an answer. Theseus took her hands and felt a ring in one of them, which made him smile brightly because it was a ring he had giving her on her birthday a couple of months before. She had been scared when she saw the box, but he reassured her it wasn’t what she thought. That ring was a symbol of his loyalty and adoration to her, a promise of one day having a future together. And she didn’t take it off except when she was in class.
“Well, Mr. Highest Auror, where are we going tonight?”.
“As you once said, let’s see where our feet carry us. It worked quite well that night”.
“Yeah, it did” she smiled brightly at him.
Theseus looked from her eyes to her lips a couple of times before putting one of his hands on the side of her neck, the other on her hip and took her to him before leaning down to kiss her with as much passion as the first time.
Note: Well, this is it. Thank you so much to those who have read it, comments are more than welcome. Hope you have enjoyed this little story about the oldest Scamader xx
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serenityseventeen · 4 years ago
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Love & Letter: To The Thirteen Boys I've Loved Before
The Ninth Letter
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To: Kim Mingyu
From: Y/N
Dear Mingyu, are you doing well?
Well, we don't see each other often anymore so I'm always wondering that. We used to always bump into each other at the grocery store or the mall. Now, I don't even see you anywhere.
I don't blame you for it. Now that we've broken up, I can feel your love. The love that you gave me when we were together still lingers. I haven't forgotten about you yet. Do you know why? It's because I'm convinced. I still love you.
These days, even after breaking up with you, I still think back on our sweet moments. I stayed up late a few days ago, just thinking back on our relationship and how far in love we were.
Before I go to sleep, I always feel the empty space beside my bed for you. You came by to my dormitory whenever you had the chance and would sleep in my bed because you said you missed me. Thank God my dormitory allowed visitors because if it didn't, we would have seen each other even less.
Even if I was just working on school assignments on my laptop, you would crawl beside me and sleep. Sometimes, no, every time, I couldn't stop myself from messing up your soft hair. You didn't want to bother me and just wanted to be by me so you slept, right?
Well, you sleeping was just as big of a distraction.
I promised to tell you on your birthday when and why I fell for you. Today is your birthday. April 6th.
I'll tell you, in this letter.
It wasn't on the first day that I began working at the cafe with you that I fell for you. I started working at the cafe in the middle of summer break for more money and you were my senior. You know how hard it was for me. I needed money for living expenses and my father was hospitalized for cancer.
I'll get back to the subject. I started falling in love with you because...well, you were you. Your personality, just the way you were made me gradually fall for you. You made my heart flutter and race with your gentle and caring actions. You were also funny and kind and clumsily cute.
Before I met you, I was battling a small heartbreak. I lost one of my friends because I liked them romantically. I was going to push myself away from love because you know, loving me is like a curse. I didn't want to fall in love again but then you... I met you.
At first, I was growing a bit suspicious of you? I was starting to think that you liked me when you always hovered over me and lingered behind me. You also held my hand frequently to ‘help’ me.
I didn't think much of it until I saw your eyes and smile. I always thought that I fell in love way too easily but I don't know how I was able to resist you. That's when your indirect back hugs began to make my heart pound.
Summer break was almost over and I became sure of my feelings the more that I hung out with you. We would also coincidentally meet each other at the grocery store, food markets, and malls, and we were able to hang out together that way too. Shopping with you was fun and memorable.
Since summer break was coming to an end, I didn't want to go back to college with a lump in my chest. I just felt like I should tell you about my feelings while not expecting us to date.
So, that's how I asked you out.
I made sure that it was only us in the kitchen of the cafe. I was pretty confident that you liked me back but I still wanted to ask.
We were washing dishes when I said, “Mingyu, I like you. What do you think of me?”
“You? Of course, I like you too.”
I won't lie, the answer got me a bit disappointed at first, but then you kissed me softly on the lips afterward and made me realize otherwise.
I liked the romance we had. There was no one to tell us apart. At work, when we were alone, you would become all lovey-dovey with me, sneaking kisses and grabbing my hand. I liked it. It gave me this feeling of... Youthful romance?
With you, I was able to overcome everything hard. College was kicking me constantly but I was always excited to come to work. I was always excited for the weekend because we could just lay in each other's arms. We would go on classic dates, holding hands, walking. Mingyu, it was because of you that I was able to smile.
You even visited my father with me, bringing delicious foods that you made yourself. Do you know how grateful I am for that? I always thanked you but I am truly thankful. My dad liked you a lot and wanted to see you often. Seeing you two get along made me happy.
I was really happy but of course, the curse had to strike and everything we built had to come tumbling down.
We didn't last long enough to even celebrate your birthday, which is regretful. I actually already had a gift for you, a nice watch because you recently broke yours, but I guess I can't give it to you. Maybe I'll slip the watch in the envelope with this letter.
I know for you, it'd be hard to believe what I'm about to say but please, believe me. I was cowardly and because I didn't want to hurt you more in the future, I made that decision.
Mingyu, I know I still love you.
Maybe there was a chance that we would break through and not drift apart but to me, that's nothing but assumptions and I don't want to get ahead of myself.
College is tough and I'm sure you understand that. After I got fired from the cafe, I knew that I wouldn't be able to see you that much anymore. Plus, you also know that I started taking more part-time jobs to pay for my father's hospital bills and my own living. We both needed money just as much as we needed each other.
Maybe if I made the decision of ignoring that guy, I wouldn't have gotten fired; but I couldn't stand it. I saw you too, clenching your fist as you watched, I just got to the guy before you did. I mean, how could he so publicly harass one of the waitresses? I was so angry and got out of control, so I threw a milk bottle at him. I don't know if I should regret that choice.
I don't want you to think that you were nothing but filler, something to fill in my romance cravings amidst my hectic schedules. I truly loved you and I know that because I feel it. I can feel this strong desire to stay with you, see you smile, spend time with you...
And if you read this letter, you might ask, “Then why did you break up with me if you felt like that?”
Well, I didn't want to become a burden.
The day was already gloomy and the weather said it was going to rain. I asked to meet up and when you rushed over, I could tell that you already knew what was coming.
I don't have enough time for love. My weekends became bombarded with part-time jobs so I was rarely at the dormitory. My schedules became hectic and school just made it harder for us to see each other.
It was beginning to rain when I started talking.
“Mingyu, I think we should stop seeing each other; we don't even see each other often.”
“But it's fine, isn't it? Why would we...”
“You know how it is for me.”
“It'll be fine, Y/N. I'll be here for you no matter what.”
I shook my head.
“Let's just break up.”
I don't know what was going on in your head but I'm sure you were angry. I couldn't read your eyes and I couldn't tell what you were thinking because I was consistently repeating to myself in my head while holding back my tears, ‘I'm sorry’.
“Why? We can overcome this! I'm sure I can help your father get better. We can live together, we can help each other.”
“I'm sorry, Mingyu.”
I remember you took my hand when as I was turning to leave. I almost cried.
“Why?” You asked. “I know we can...”
“Mingyu... don't get ahead of yourself. I don't want to ruin our relationship because of my problems.”
It was painful for me to let you go. I just gave you my umbrella and boarded the bus. You were too late and started chasing it but didn't catch up. I began crying so much that I had to cover my face and mouth. I'm sure people were looking at me. With rain pattering the windows, my tears flowed.
I hope that somewhere, you have left a trace of me.
I have a feeling that somehow, I could have chosen a better solution for this problem. Now that I'm spending a few days back here at my house, I miss you more than usual. I dream every day that maybe, we'll meet again coincidentally and you had been waiting for me, but who am I to think that when I was the one who ended it?
You've stopped posting on your social media.
Yesterday night, I looked back on our pictures in my photo gallery and my heart ached so much. Just seeing your smile was enough to cheer me up but break me down at the same time.
I wanted to reach out to you today and wish you a happy birthday. I kept typing and erasing, typing and erasing, and in the end, I didn't send any sort of text. Your birthday is almost over and I haven't said anything nor have I given you my gift. I'm sorry. If I do send the gift, maybe we'll see each other again, but at the same time, I'm afraid to see you again.
Your puppy-like personality, your sweet words, your soft gestures, your smile that can light up my world, your everything that I loved, I miss it all. Will time do its work?
Maybe one day I will move on and forget you.
I don't think we have another chance.
You probably feel betrayed that I don't think our love was powerful enough to overcome my problems. Was I selfish? I think so. Now that I think about it, I didn't want to drag you into my problems but I didn't give you much chance to speak. I didn't want to hurt you but even then, I only thought about myself. I guess I didn't want the guilt of having you bear my problems with me. I was selfish and didn't consider anything else.
I couldn't think of any other solution.
If we did continue dating, would it have been better or worse for us? Would we have broken up with bigger scars or would we have continued our love with stronger hearts?
Yes, I was stupid. I'm a fool and I'm sorry. I won't be mad if you resent me because I'm just a cowardly fool. This letter makes me realize that now, belatedly.
All this time, I thought I was doing something right by not taking you into hell with me.
In the end, I still don't know if I chose the best choice for us.
Yours truly,
Y/N
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© serenityseventeen
7/2/21 - 3:17 pm
a/n: I have finally learned the chorus choreography to RTL. It's not as hard as Home or Getting Closer but it's also tiring lol. I need to work more on my posture and angles to make it look good. What should I learn next...?
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silver-renjun · 4 years ago
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Cafe 7 Dream: Renjun
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Word count: 2,745
Warnings: violence, stabbing
Read the prologue before reading this!  
It was 2:13 am when you got a call from Renjun.
“Dude, why are you calling me no-”
“Cafe. Now.” That was all Renjun said before he hung up the phone. 
You wondered why Renjun wanted you at the cafe. You knew the boys went partying on the weekends, but you were pretty sure the parties didn’t happen at the cafe. You weren’t sure why they would need you there either. Yet the seriousness in Renjun’s voice pushed you get ready and leave for the cafe.
When you arrived, you saw that the cafe was empty except for the dreamies. You walked over to the spot they usually hanged out after their shifts.
“If this is some prank Renjun, I’m going to ki-” You stopped speaking when you saw their expressions. The boys all looked distressed. 
“y/n, sit down,” Renjun said, offering you a reluctant smile. You listened to him, as you were even more confused than before.
“This might sound crazy. You probably think we’re just drunk but you just have to listen to us, okay?” Renjun said as he held your hand.
“Some people aren’t normal people. Some people have magic abilities. Some of us here have those powers. We’re not just regular human beings.” Renjun continued.
You pulled your hand away from Renjun. “That’s what you called to tell me? What the hell Renjun?” You stood up and turned around to leave.
You froze at the sight before you. There was a wolf in the cafe, a wolf made of water. You screamed and it disappeared. All that was left of the animal was a puddle on the floor.
Renjun put his arm around your shoulder and said, “like I was saying, magic powers. That’s Jeno’s powers. He’s a water spirit. Are you following along so far?” 
You were still trying to process what had just happened so you were unable to respond to Renjun.
“Just sit and we’ll explain everything,” Renjun said in a soft tone. You sat down since your body felt too weak to move further.
“Next up we have Jisung. He’s a wizard. His specialty, well, why don’t you tell y/n your specialty, Jisung?” Renjun said with a smirk. 
“Love potions,” Jisung admitted. His cheeks were burning at the revelation of his skills. The other boys noticed and laughed quietly. 
“Yeah, Jisung puts the love potion in the food so people come back to the cafe. The first batch actually gave our customers food poisoning, but they still came back for more.” Renjun noticed the shocked look on your face. “You’ve had the love potion too. Surprisingly though, you’re in love with working at the cafe more than eating here.” 
“Hurry up and explain your powers already Renjun. I want to go home,” Jaemin grumbled.
“I’m an oracle. I have visions about the future. And I kind of had one where you were attacked,” Renjun said, his voice becoming quiet at the last word. The tension in the air grew again. “I’m sorry y/n.”
“What? What the hell? When is it? When am I going to be attacked?” you said. You had grabbed onto Renjun’s collar and began to shake him.
“y/n, y/n. Just listen okay?” Renjun said with his hands up in surrender. “Visions don’t come with times and action plans. But you’ve got us here. We’re going to protect you no matter what okay?” 
You let go of Renjun and looked at the other boys. They seemed genuine in their concern. 
“Well how am I supposed to just go home knowing I’m about to be attacked at any second?”
“From now on, we’re going to escort you everywhere you go. If you need to go somewhere, just call one of us and we’ll take you there.” Renjun stood up. “It’s time to get you home now y/n.”
The other boys all had other plans, so they didn’t walk home with you and Renjun. As soon as you guys left the cafe, Renjun held onto your hand. Your head snapped towards Renjun. 
“What? I’m doing this for your protection,” he said with a smile.
“What about the other guys?” you asked.
“What about them?”
“Mark, Jaemin, Haechan, and Chenle. You didn’t explain their powers to me.”
“Well Mark and Jaemin are just humans. They’ve pretty much been connected to the magic world their whole lives though, so they’ve got an advantage over you. Chenle’s family happens to be one of the most powerful magic families in the world. They’ve got a lot of enemies too, so disclosing their abilities is a safety concern for them. You know, in case they get attacked one day.”
“Like me.” 
“Haechan, well, Haechan doesn’t really have his powers yet. They usually awaken by puberty, but he’s a late bloomer I suppose,” Renjun said with a chuckle. “If he ever seems like an ass, it’s probably because all the magic inside him is being turbulent.”
“Magical puberty sounds like it sucks,” you said with a smile.
“You have no idea.” 
You and Renjun continued on to your apartment, discussing your classes instead of magic. You had enough of that for one night. 
When you reached outside your apartment building, you hugged Renjun. 
“It’s probably not easy on you. You know, having those visions and all. Seeing what happens.” You took a long pause before speaking again. “But I’m grateful for you Renjun. I grateful that you care about me.”
That morning, you got a call from Renjun.
“Rise and shine, sleepyhead. The cafe opens at 6 am on Saturdays and I’m letting you leave my sight,” Renjun said.
“Okay, okay. Knock the door when you get here and I’ll you in,” you said, still groggy. 
You heard a tap on the door.
“I’m already here.”
You opened the door and let Renjun inside. He took a seat on your sofa and said, “just get your clothes on. You can eat breakfast at the cafe.” He took a second to inspect your clothes. “Hey, you’re still wearing the same clothes from earlier! Come on, let’s go!” 
Renjun jumped up and dragged you out the door. You wondered how someone could be so upbeat in the morning, but you didn’t have the energy to ask him any questions.
At the cafe, you took a seat with Renjun in his usual corner. He was still working on the poster for the cafe event.
“So, the event, it’s next week Saturday right?” you asked. Renjun nodded. “The people that are coming, what are they?”
“Magical beings. Diplomats, businesspeople, those sorts of people. Chenle’s parents are showing off the implementation of magic in the regular world and the cafe happens to be one of the sights. That’s why I have to make sure we get a bunch of customers in here. Real, paying ones.”
“Won’t that be dangerous for me, then?” you said quietly.
“Nope. Nobody with status is going to attack a regular person at such a busy event. You’ll probably be safer, actually,” Renjun said with a smile. “I know it’s making you worried, but you’ve got the best guys protecting you here.”
After spending the day at the cafe, Renjun walked you home again. You invited him in again.
“It’s getting pretty late, you know. I wouldn’t want the guy who’s boasting about his protection to get jumped on the street,” you said. You knew Renjun was more than capable of taking care of himself, but you couldn’t bear to see him go.
“Good looking out, y/n. Mind if I sleep here tonight?” he said, pointing to the couch. Renjun wanted to keep you by his side, but he knew there were limits. 
You nodded and went to go find a blanket for him. It just so happened that you had been putting off your laundry for weeks.
“Um, Renjun? I kind of don’t have any clean blankets, unless you’re okay with some food stains so-”
You stopped mid-sentence but you and Renjun both knew where this was going. You couldn’t bring yourself to offer your bed, so you just pointed your head towards the bedroom. Renjun, who’s mind was speeding through scenarios a mile a minute, mustered up a quick nod.
The two of you got in bed together and kept a distance, though you both wanted hold each other tightly. 
“Good night, Renjun.”
“Good night, y/n.”
You woke up to find an arm around you. You pulled it in closer until you remembered what had happened last night. You shoved Renjun’s arm away, wondering what he would think of this situation.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Renjun said with his raspy morning voice. 
You turned around and Renjun quickly pulled away when he realized it was you.
“y/n, ah, oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! I, uh-” Renjun blabbered.
“I like you,” you said with a hopeful smile.
“What?” Renjun said with wide eyes. He noticed the look on your faced and continued, “I mean, uh, I do too.”
You got out of bed and started saying, “I’ve liked you for a long time Renjun. I couldn’t hold it in any longer, since you’re protecting me and all.”
“You seriously like me? Oh my gosh! Jeno told me to ask you out, like, weeks ago when I told him I had crush on you! You mean I’ve been nervous this whole time when you actually like me back? The guys are going to have a field day over this one,” Renjun said as he slapped his forehead. 
“The guys don’t have t-” you started.
“Well of course they have to know! I’m dating the most beautiful person in the world and they’re all single! Come on, get dressed quickly! We’ve got to get to the cafe!”
Renjun practically dragged you to the cafe to show you off to the boys. You were too tired to fight his energy. Once you were inside the cafe, Renjun called everyone to gather around.
“This better be good,” Chenle said.
“What happened Renjun? Did you get another vision?” Haechan asked.
“Even better,” Renjun said before planting a kiss on your lips. It was soft and loving. 
The dreamies erupted in screams upon seeing this.
“Oh my gosh, there are children here you know!” Jisung said teasingly.
“Ah, how can I work after seeing that?” Mark said.
“You finally got the guts to ask y/n out?” Jeno said with a smile.
“Actually, I’m the one who confessed first,” you said before kissing Renjun again.
The boys screamed again and laughed at Renjun.
“Okay guys, let’s get to work. Renjun’s not the only one who’s getting busy. We’ve got the event this Saturday,” Chenle said. 
You and Renjun spent the day talking to customers and handing out flyers for the event. The two of you walked over to the campus and taped a poster on nearly every wall in the lecture halls. 
After a long day of work, you and Renjun walked back to your apartment and watched a movie. This became a routine for you and Renjun. You two would go to the cafe, class, the cafe again, and then home. You and Renjun were never separated for even a second.
That’s why you were confused when you woke up on Saturday morning with Renjun gone. He never left when you were still asleep, he always stayed in bed until you woke up. 
You walked into your living room to find Renjun and Haechan in the living room. Renjun was tied up with rope and was sitting on sofa. His mouth was taped up. Before you could even react, Haechan began to speak.
“Your sweet little boyfriend is okay. You’re the one that should be worried, y/n,” Haechan said as he stepped closer to you. “Your boyfriend has been lying to you, y/n. He saw more than just you being attack in his vision. He saw exactly who did it, but he didn’t even tell you.” Haechan pinned you to the wall.
“You’ve got a bad boyfriend, y/n. And even worse friends,” Haechan said with a laugh. “They were never going to protect you, y/n. And now you’re all mine.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m sure Renjun told you about my powers. They’re not awaken yet. But today’s the the of the cafe event, and all those magical beings are going to be there. I’d be shameful if I didn’t have my powers,” Haechan said with a mocking pout. “But there is one way for me to get my abilities. A human sacrifice.”
Haechan pulled out a knife and slashed your arms and legs. You had no energy to scream. You collapsed on the floor and passed out. 
You woke up and found yourself on your living room couch. All of the dreames were surrounding you, except for Haechan.
“y/n, I heard what Haechan told you. It’s not true. I never meant to put you in danger. I didn’t know it was Haechan, I never knew-” Renjun broke down crying before he could finish.
“What happened to him?” you asked.
“The ceremony worked. Your blood was enough for him to complete the rutual and gain his powers. He’s a fire demon,” Mark explained.
“He’s run off and we have no idea where he is right now. But don’t worry y/n, we’re still be by your side,” Jeno said.
“I made a healing potion for you. You’ve got some pretty bad burns,”Jisung said. He handed you the liquid to drink, which happened to be in one of the cafe’s cups.
“What happened the cafe event? Who’s handling that if you’re all here?” you asked.
“Since Haechan summoned his powers illegally, everyone’s on the lookout for him. Most magic practices are out of service until he’s found,” Chenle answered.
Weeks went by after the attack, but there was no sign of Haechan. Renjun continued to stay by your apartment and never let you out of his sight. The cafe continued serving customers, but business was slow since they weren’t using any potions. Jisung hated being the delivery boy. 
On the day of your exam, you headed into the lecture hall and took your seat with the boys. You looked over to the seat near yours and thought of Haechan. You knew deep down that he was a good guy, things had just gotten out of hand. You wanted to talk to him and check up on how he was doing. 
“y/n, will you please stop staring at my desk? I’m supposed to cheat off of you, remember?”
“Haechan! What are you doing here?” you said with your mouth agape.
“It’s finals. I’m here to take the test,” Haechan said. “I’ll explain everything when we get to the cafe.”
On your walk over to the cafe, the boys all stared at Haechan intensely, trying to figure out why he had come back. Renjun gripped your hand tightly. 
“I know I’ve got a lot of explaining to do, but can you guys just come down for one second?” Haechan said as he pushed open the cafe doors.
Once everyone sat down, Haechan began to talk.
“After the ceremony, I was in intense pain. I ran into the forest to meet with the elder spirits. They calmed me down and healed me. They trained me on how to manage my powers. I’m a changed person now. I’m really sorry for what I did y/n.”
“You’d better be,” Renjun said. You stroked Renjun’s hand so he would calm down.
“I’m glad you’re back Haechan. Now let’s get to work!” you said. 
It took a while, but everyone slowly became more comfortable with Haechan around. You and Renjun had a thriving relationship, much to the group’s dissatisfaction. All was well and you were safe. 
Select another route 
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sunflowerim · 4 years ago
Text
I LOVE YOU 3000!
-PART 40
Weekend 7
Harry reached sharply at 8 and was warmly greeted by Lux who couldn't stop smiling. Theo was playing with Cliff and upon seeing Harry, both of them ran to him at once.
"Will Cliff be joining us?" Harry asked, scratching Clifford behind the ears.
"No," replied Theo sadly, "he is not allowed, so we're dropping him at the dog sitters place."
"Aww Cliffy we'll miss you,'' Harry patted Clifford before looking around for Louis.
Louis emerged right then from the room wearing an unbuttoned sap green shirt over a plain white tee, sunglasses hooked in the t-shirt, chocolate brown fringe falling over his eyes. He looked beautiful.
Louis caught him staring but was awestruck himself to do anything about it. Harry stood in front of him wearing a pink shirt with white polka dots, buttons half undone (as always) and sunglasses atop his head, tangled in his curls.
They stared at each other without even moving a muscle when Theo and Lux started aggressively tugging Louis, breaking the moment.
"C'mon uncle Lou, let's goooooo."
"We're getting LATE!"
Within fifteen minutes, all of them were seated in Louis' car driving to the dog sitters house. The car speaker was playing 'Do you wanna build a snowman' on Theo's insistence and after dropping Clifford, they were driving off to the wonders that awaited them.
Harry waited with the kids as Louis went ahead to buy the tickets. Once they got the tickets, they stood with a group and a tour guide greeted them.
"Hello and welcome to the Warner Bros Studios- the making of Harry Potter. I'm gonna walk you through the sets and--"
Harry was distracted by Louis practically bobbing with excitement next to him. Soon the guide led them into the studio and they stood in a wide hall, at the centre of which a statue of the Gringott's dragon was suspended.
People around them were buzzing around and clicking pictures. Even Louis took out his phone and with great concentration took a picture if the dragon. From there, they were led to a set up of the inside of privet drive and the cupboard under the stairs.
"Oh my god, Theo look Harry's room," Lux pulled Theo out of the crowd to show him what she'd seen.
Next they went inside the great hall where and it was magnificent. Harry had seen the Harry Potter movies, but wasn't that deeply invested in them. But Louis. Let's just say Harry had come to visit the place with three kids and not two. Louis couldn't contain his excitement at all. He took in everything with eager eyes, took pictures randomly and every now and then Harry could hear him murmur "wish I was a wizard."
Slowly they walked through a lot more sets each as exciting as the last one. From the Gryffindor common room, boys dorm, Hagrid's hut, potions & herbology classroom, leaky cauldron, to the various shops of Diagon Alley, each captured the attention of the crowd and made everyone's jaw drop. They had a difficult time in the forbidden forest, where huge spiders kept appearing every now and then, scaring Theo and Lux, and Louis had to keep explaining that those weren't real.
There was a particular emotional moment when Louis was brought to tears by a stuffed werewolf because it reminded him of Remus Lupin. Both Lux and Theo, along with Harry had to console him afterwards. He had barely recovered when they were faced with a abstract statue of Sirius Black and Louis was sad again.
Soon it was time for lunch and they found some nice seats in the in-studio restaurant and ate to their fullest. Louis and Harry even tried butterbeer and Louis declared this should be available at all regular clubs too.
After lunch, they were led towards the Hogwarts Express and Harry took pictures of Lux, Theo and Louis one by one in front of the 9¾ platform. In another section, tourists could dress up in Hogwarts robes and sit on a broomstick and record videos and of course all three of them did.
All of them were amazed at the props section. Each and every prop used in the movies was placed in glass boxes and they looked so realistic, it'd make one think that they were actually in the wizarding world.
Walking around the wizarding world set up they didn't even notice the time and soon it was almost evening.
The tour was almost over and their last stop was the merch shop. Upon entering the merch shop, nobody moved for a few seconds. They were taken aback by the variety of items that had been stacked up for sale. Louis bought Lux and Theo a wand each and they couldn't stop waving it around even for a second. He himself wanted to buy a Gryffindor quidditch costume, which earned a tease from Harry,
"Fancy seeing you go to work in these."
"Don't be silly Harry, it's for Halloween."
At the end he settled for a Gryffindor t-shirt and bought robes for the twins instead. Hufflepuff for Theo and Gryffindor for Lux.
Louis even made Harry take the Sorting Hat quiz right there, so he could buy him something. Hufflepuff.
"Yay, Harry you're with me," said Theo running to hug him.
Harry wouldn't buy a robe so Louis got him a t-shirt too.
They also bought a Hogwarts poster for the twins' bedroom at Louis' (because their mum wouldn't let them put up so many posters in the room in their own house and well Louis is the cool uncle so he'll obviously buy it for them).
On their way out they bought loads of chocolates and in his excitement, Louis didn't notice that Harry was lingering a little longer at the payment desk.
It was a wholesome day and it left them exhausted but happy.
After exiting the studio, Louis drove them to his favourite restaurant for dinner. The twins were staying with them tonight and had insisted Harry stay back too. Harry readily agreed and Louis was the happiest.
Theo had fallen asleep in Harry's lap and Lux in Louis' and the two of them slowly climbed the stairs to the apartment carrying the kids in their arms.
After reaching the apartment, Louis woke them up for a while to brush their teeth while Harry got them ready for bed. As Harry and Louis tucked them in their bed, they both said their goodnights in sleepy murmurs.
Harry was feeling tired too and went to the guest room (which had begun to look like his room) after wishing Louis goodnight.
As Harry settled in the bed, he took out his phone, deciding to post some pictures.
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As he finished posting some pictures, he noticed that Louis had put up some stories on Instagram too. He was amused by the excitement which was radiating off of Louis' stories. He really was a kid at heart.
Harry was about to keep his phone down and go to sleep when he noticed that Louis had posted a picture. He quickly scrolled up and when he saw what Louis had posted, his breath hitched.
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Harry will never know what possessed him at that moment that he jumped out of bed and pulled the blue wrapped packet from under the bed, deciding to go to Louis' room at once. He grabbed a clean t-shirt (which belonged to Louis) from the bedside drawer and at once made his way across to Louis' door. Clutching the packet tightly in one hand, he softly knocked.
Harry waited for about 2 seconds before the door was opened by Louis, still shirtless.
"What happened Harry? Did you need something?" Louis asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
"No, --um yeah, I mean- I wanted to give you something," Harry replied waving the packet slightly.
"Oh come in."
They made their way to the bed when Louis seemed to remember he wasn't wearing a shirt and quickly dived into the drawers for one. Harry's brows furrowed in frustration when he saw Louis putting on a black tank top and coming over to sit next to him.
"What did you get me?"
"See for yourself," Harry said handing the packet to Louis.
"You didn't have to," Louis continued, carefully opening the packet, "When did you even--"
Louis paused midway, opening the box in the packet, gaping at the content inside. "Harry, you-- I-- you- thanks wow, I mean- how did you-", he tried forming a coherent sentence while picking up the carved wooden wand from the box.
Harry chuckled quietly, "I saw how intently you were learning the wand choreography. It's only fair that you have one too."
Louis flung himself on Harry, knocking the breath out of his lungs, "thank you so much, I love this."
Harry hugged him back tightly, trying to steal as much warmth as he could before he had to let go.
Louis let go after a few seconds, face flushed and went back to examining the wand. Harry watched Louis' eyes sparkle as he held out his wand and tried out some moves. Louis couldn't stopped smiling and that made Harry's insides flutter.
After a while, Harry decided it best to leave, "So I'll leave you to your devices. Goodnight."
Harry got up to leave but was stopped by Louis tugging the hem of his t-shirt.
"You could stay if you want," Louis said, ducking his head down.
"Here?" Harry asked, unsure, not letting his hopes get the better of him.
"Here," Louis replied looking up, holding Harry's gaze.
"Um okay."
Harry sat back on the bed as Louis shifted around to remove his clothes from the bed. Harry moved back in the bed and leaned against the headboard. Louis joined him soon and for a few moments both were quiet, not knowing what to say. The silence wasn't uncomfortable though.
Louis had kept the windows open which let in the cool summer breeze and Harry felt at peace listening to the sound of crickets with Louis beside him.
Louis started first-
"I saw that you posted a picture of me from your main."
"Yes."
"Wouldn't that be a problem?"
"Why? I can hang out with my friends."
Friends
Harry quickly tried to correct himself after seeing the look on Louis' face, "Not that I consider you one-- I mean-- yes I do, but not in that way, you know-- I mean-"
"It's okay Harry. I know," Louis replied, relaxing once again and slowly sliding down the bed, lying flat on his back.
Harry watched him as the moonlight settled on the curves of his face, and watched as his eyelids fluttered slowly, the moonlight dancing in the shadows of his eyelashes.
Harry tangled his fingers with Louis' half afraid that Louis would remove his hand but Louis just tightened the grip.
"Thanks for today," Harry hummed so slowly, that Louis missed him.
"Hmm?"
"Thanks for today," Harry said, a little louder this time, "for everything actually."
Louis craned his neck upward to look at Harry's face and said, "Someone's being sappy today."
Harry smiled and slid down himself, propped himself on his left elbow, head resting on his hand and looked down at Louis. "Well you make me one."
"You make me one too."
If Harry could choose one moment to relive over and over again, it would probably be this, him lying beside Louis, their fingers intertwined and his face hovering inches above Louis'.
They gazed at each and even in the dim moonlight that had filtered in the room, they could see every inch of each others face clearly and suddenly without a warning Harry leaned in and kissed Louis.
Louis' brain short circuited and he froze for a second before giving in. Harry astounded by his own courage didn't waste time in climbing on top of Louis and taking his breath away.
Harry could feel the butterfly convention in his stomach going feral.
Louis let out a nervous laugh when they stopped to catch their breaths. Harry's curls were all over his face and Louis brought his hand up tuck the wild curls behind his ears.
"Harry are you sure?" he managed between ragged breaths.
"Yes," Harry replied, his voice strained.
"But-" Louis stopped, not knowing how to say it.
"Oh god," Harry groaned, "you're gonna make me say it aren't you? Yes Louis Tomlinson, I want this, if it wasn't clear enough. Just that-" he paused, "you're the first-"
"-bloke you're snogging?" Louis completed with an all knowing smile.
"I would have framed it better, but I guess that works too."
With that Harry closed the gap between them again, hands fiddling with the fabric of Louis' shirt which he managed to pull off in a few minutes.
"Shouldn't have put it on," Harry murmured in between their kisses.
Louis tangled his hands in Harry's hair and tugged at it in response.
"I love seeing you in my shirt," Louis said, rolling them over, settling on top of Harry, legs straddling Harry's hips, "but right now, I'd like for it to disappear."
Louis grabbed his wand from the bedside table and pointing it down at Harry, said "Evanesco!"
Harry watched in amusement as the boy above him, held a wand out and incanted a vanishing spell in the middle of a heated moment. Trust Louis to be dramatic. Louis' eyes glistened in the dim light and Harry obliged instantly. Louis leaned in on Harry and they got into their rhythm again, slowly discovering every inch of each other's skin, neither willing to let go.
--
When Harry woke next morning, he pleased to find himself on top of Louis' chest, listening to his heartbeat and feeling the rhythmic rise and fall of Louis' belly underneath his hand. He slowly got up, careful not to wake Louis up and got off the bed, planting a kiss on Louis' forehead and made for the bathroom. He quickly freshened up, and returned to the room, to find Louis sitting up, with his back facing the window, sunlight slipping in through the curtains and illuminating his back. Louis smiled sleepily and beckoned Harry to come over. Harry started making his way over to him but suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Stay here, don't move, I'll be back."
He dashed out of Louis' room and into the guest room and returned a minute later with his phone.
"Can I take a picture?"
"What?" Louis laughed in disbelief. "You can't be serious, I'm in my boxers."
"That won't matter. You look beautiful."
A slow blush spread across Louis' face and Harry took that as a cue to move forward. He stood at the end of the bed on Louis' right side and with great concentration took a picture.
"Let me have a look" Louis asked.
"Nuh, uh. You'll see when it's time."
Louis pouted his lips in faux sadness which earned a kiss from Harry.
"Now freshen up, the twins will be up anytime soon."
Inside the shower, Louis couldn't stop thinking about last night. He could feel a stupid grin spread on his face everytime he thought about Harry.
God. He might be in love.
Louis emerged into the drawing room and an amazing smell of pancakes wafted into his nose.
"Hey how'd you know?" Louis asked, making his way over to the kitchen and climbing on top of the kitchen counter.
"Huh? --oh this? Lux told me. Pancakes. Household favourite."
"You're spoiling them."
"You're one to talk," Harry raised an eyebrow at Louis and had to force his thoughts from wanting to kiss Harry again to the delicious pancakes being cooked.
The twins absolutely adored Harry and wouldn't let him leave even after breakfast. Lot's of negotiations and promises later, they finally agreed to let Harry leave. Louis walked him to the door and as Harry was leaving, he reached out and held his hand.
"Um, you do realise that we've watched 21 out of 22 movies and it's just week 7?"
"So what? If you thought you'll get rid of me after a few calculated weeks, you're wrong mister. I think we established that already."
"Yeah, I was just checking if it stands," Louis replied sheepishly.
"After yesterday, you don't have to worry," Harry said, moving closer and pressing a chaste kiss on Louis' lips.
And he was off.
Louis would have stood in the doorway for a little longer if the sound of giggles behind him didn't break his train of thoughts.
Lux and Theo were peering around from the couch and had apparently witnessed the display of affection.
"Are you going to marry him uncle Lou?" Theo asked, his expressions a mix of glee and confusion.
"No Theo, put your mind to rest," Louis ruffled Theo's hair.
"Do you love him? Like mommy and daddy?"
Louis smiled at that, "I don't know Lux, maybe ask Harry, next time you see him."
Lux beamed at that and soon Louis was getting the twins ready to be picked up by their mum.
Louis' sister actually stayed for an hour and they talked about all sorts if stuff, catching up on things they'd missed in each other's lives. Louis thought for a moment of he should tell her about Harry but then decided against it. It was too soon.
No sooner had all of them left, when Louis got a notification of a new post from Harry's private instagram. He quickly opened it and what he saw took his breath away again. Harry seemed to be doing that quite often.
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Harry Styles was going to be the death of him.
-----
Note : first of all I'm so sorry for the late update, my college schedule is all packed up ugh -_- Secondly I've never been to Warner Bros Studios myself, so excuse the narration!
PREVIOUS / NEXT
INTRO
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misslilli · 4 years ago
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Felix Felicis
MSR. AU. PG-13. | tagging @today-in-fic | AO3
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10
Chapter 11 - Friday Night's Alright For Fighting
[ FM ]
On Friday, it’s Felix’s mother’s turn to pick him up from school since he’ll be spending the weekend at her place. I briefly wonder if he’ll tell her about his new-found admiration for the enigmatic Miss Scully and for just a little bit, the petty side of me wishes he would. It’s not that she’s a bad mother per se, but she never shared a strong connection with our son and ever since the divorce, it somehow got worse instead of better.
Felix took the divorce pretty hard, lashing out at me and the teacher and kids at kindergarten. There were times when I couldn’t even recognize my own kid. Because of my background in psychology, I tried to talk to him countless times but I finally had to admit that I was too emotionally involved to really help him. So we began to see a therapist back in Washington, D.C, him and I. His mother refused to participate because “He never acts out when he’s at my place, Fox, seems to me like that’s a you-problem.” That day, only the thought of what would become of my son if I went to jail had kept me from murdering her on the spot.
We don’t stay in contact much, except for negotiating pick-up and drop-off times for Felix, and that’s about all I can handle from her. The custody battle was a hot mess, not because she particularly wanted to keep Felix, but she used it to humiliate me, dragging my abilities as a father and caretaker through the mud in front of a judge and our lawyers. I tried to keep Felix out of the court hearings, putting my foot firmly down when her lawyer suggested that we could just ask the child where he wanted to live. He was three years old at the time, fat chance I was going to let that happen.
Thankfully, we were able to convince the judge that I was willing and more than capable of caring for our son and that me working from home was a more child-friendly environment than his mother’s job, which takes her out of the country several times a month.
I take off my reading glasses and close my laptop, this trip down memory lane has put me in a sour mood. After putting away everything work-related for the weekend, I stretch my arms over my head, contemplating what to do with my free time. I don’t have any friends here yet and since I can’t meet anyone at work, I decide to walk down the street to the harbor.
The streets are pretty busy with locals and tourists alike and as I walk past the crowd that stand around the rock that marks the place where the pilgrims debarked the Mayflower back in 1620, I think to myself ‘Guys it’s just a rock. In the ground. Walled in on all four sides.’ I was pretty disappointed, if you couldn’t already guess that.
I continue my walk and pass the dock where you can usually see the Mayflower II anchored, swaying with the waves of the Atlantic. She’s an accurate and beautiful reproduction of the original ship with which the pilgrims had sailed to America, founding Plymouth Colony after 10 gruesome weeks at sea.
Currently though, the dock is empty safe for a few seagulls harassing the tourists – they have taken the ship to a shipyard in Connecticut for restoration, much to Felix’s chagrin. When he heard that we were going to move here, he spent countless hours reading up on the history of Plymouth, the Pilgrims and everything that happened afterwards. He got a real kick out of imagining the American Protestors and the British Government officials dressed up in frilly dresses and huge feathered hats, actually having a fancy tea party instead of the Boston Tea Party, which escalated the American Revolution in 1773.
His special interest, though, had been captured by the Mayflower, which is not surprising because he loves anything that’s big and can transport people or cargo. Planes, helicopters, trains, you name it, but especially ships. On the first night in our new house, he insisted that we leave the boxes packed for now and head down to the harbor, right now.
At first, always the responsible adult, I refused, but he didn’t let up, resorting to pleading with me, then he practically begged me and when I still wouldn’t budge he went in for the kill with his puppy-dog look and a pronounced pout. I could see the tears welling up in his eyes. Damn, he was using my very own look against me!
The tears still came a little while after, when we reached the harbor and found the dock deserted. I wanted to kick myself for not checking if the ship was actually there or not and I had to carry a bawling, devastated Felix back to our house. He only stopped crying when I promised him that we’d go see the Mayflower II the very second she sailed back into the harbor.
After another, more pleasant, trip down memory lane, I had reached my destination: The Cabby Shack, a local bar and restaurant that is made up of an inside bar downstairs and two large decks, the lower one housing the outside bar, the upper one the restaurant.
Making my way through the crowded room, I spotted an empty seat at the bar and ordered a drink aptly named Islands of Misfits. I snorted out a laugh at how accurately it described my situation right now. Island of Misfits alright, inhabitant: 1.
I took a sip of my drink and twirled the tiny umbrella between my fingers when out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone take the seat next to me at the bar.
“Islands of Misfits, huh? Must be bad!” Looking up, I’m surprised to see that it’s Walter Skinner, my son’s principal.
“Yeah, sort of. Sorry, hello sir, it’s nice to see you!” He shakes my hand briefly and orders himself a whiskey on the rocks. Had I been a more insecure man I would’ve felt stupid for my drink choice, but as it was, if I like my drinks sweet and with a cutesy umbrella in it, then that’s what I’ll have. And don’t you dare forget the fucking umbrella!
“So Mr. Mulder, what is it, love troubles?” As a born and raised city boy I have yet to come to terms with small town frankness but I like Principal Skinner and his lack of beating around the bush.
But still, I couldn’t exactly tell him the whole truth, I don’t think he’d appreciate a Actually yes, sir, I’ve been staring at one of your teachers for every damn day of the week and when I’m not busy staring at her, I think about her all the time. I wonder if her kisses taste like strawberries and what her hair smells like. I’m driving myself slowly insane by imagining running my tongue over the spot where her neck meets her shoulder and let me tell you about the dreams I’ve been having real quick. Yeah that won’t fly.
First, he’d kick my ass into the sixth dimension and then he’d have me arrested for gross misconduct or worse, sexual harassment. Even though I’m not sure if that’s really applicable when it only takes place in your mind, it’s still inappropriate as all hell and I’m not going to test out my little theory. I don’t think I’d fare well in jail, to be honest.
So instead, I opt for a more appropriate half-version of the truth. “Yeah, sort of. I had a huge argument with my ex-wife over the phone when she was late picking our son up from school. If I had one, I think my swear jar would be able to buy me my own Island of Misfits. And what’s even worse is that I think my – our son was there to hear at least her end of the fight.” I take a miserable sip from my drink.
“I’m really sorry to hear that, Mr. Mulder. Your son’s name is Felix, right? He’s in Miss Anderson’s first grade?” Thankful for the slight change of topic, I nod.
“Yes, sir, that’s him. We got off to a rocky start but after the first week, he really loves going to school, Mr. Skinner.” The other man shakes his head and offers me his hand once again.
“Please, call me Walter. Outside of school only, of course, you understand.”
I grab his hand and give it a brief shake, smiling wryly. “Of course. I’m Fox but I make everyone call me Mulder. Even my parents. I hate my name.” He huffs out a laugh at that and I can tell that it’s a rare occasion.
“I get the feeling you’re in need of a friend on your island, Mulder not Fox.”
That I do, indeed.
Island of Maybe not such Misfits, inhabitants: 2.
Chapter 12 - A Rainbow In Its Natural Habitat
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waynewifey · 4 years ago
Text
Fading away. —
Pairing: Jason Grace x Roman!DaughterofPluto!Reader
Sumary: after moths of over working, a colapse makes you get into a coma and reflect on your feelings.
Warnings: coma, angst, Pluto as a caring dad, fluff at the end.
Words: +-3k.
A/N: This is my first Percy Jackson Franchise fanfiction, so take it easy on me. This is also my biggest and favourite one. I hope you like this! My requests are always open.
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(Y/N) (L/N) had a good reason to hate Jason Grace. How could she not? Jason was so annoying, self centred, selfish, stubborn and worse of all? He dated Piper McLean. Piper was great, (Y/N) knew that and they seemed happy together. But, still, he chose Piper, not (Y/N), his girlfriend back at Camp Jupiter, who he totally forgot about. How come Percy remembered Annabeth but Jason wouldn't remember (Y/N)? And when he recovered his memory, he chose Piper. But she also loved him still, and seeing him hurt like a bullet going straight through her heart. She decided to spend a year at Half-Blood Camp to stay with her half-brother Nico Di Angelo when Gaea were defeated. She thought she could manage to see him almost every day, but she couldn't. So she started doing anything to get her mind occupied. Going on meaningless quests, travelling to New York randomly, volunteering for literally any service in the camp and barely sleeping — because sleeping meant dreams.
"It doesn't have to be like that, (Y/N)." Her brother gave her another shot of Nectar. The sunlight that entered Hades' cabin was leaving slowly as they talked, (Y/N) leaned on her bed watching her fingertips become solid again.
"I'll learn how to do it right and I promise I won't push myself too much, but I can't stop practicing." She avoided eye contact with Nico, feeling ashamed of herself. After all, she was supposed to be the one taking care of him, since she was older. She came back from a "quest" for her father, that was staying a weekend on the Underworld. She started using Shadow Travel to get there. The problem? She had no idea how hard it was, and she almost died every time. He sighted.
"I'm not talking about Shadow Travel. You should talk to Jason and sort this out. You're almost killing yourself everyday doing the craziest stuff just to keep your mind off him. He already broke up with Piper, what's stopping you now? I'm your brother and it pains me to see you suffering, I won't just sit and watch while you literally desapear." He got up and walked to the door. The (h/c) girl forced a smile so he believed she was fine. Nico left the cabin.
After hours reflecting and thinking, she heard the trumpets that announced the convocation to a game of Capture the Flag. Since she was feeling better, she changed her clothes and walked outside. The teams were: cabins 1, 4, 5, 9, 12, 14, 18, 21, 23, 27, 28, 29 vs. cabins 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 20, 24, 25, 26. They started the game. (Y/N) had to protect the boundary with a kid from Hipnos' cabin while a group attacked the opponent's flag and another protected their territory and their flag. Everything was going as planned, she hadn't seen anyone yet. Out of the sudden, she saw a blond guy running in their direction with a sword. Oh hell no, Jason Grace wouldn't attack her like that. But he did.
"What the hell?!" She screamed, reacting to the blade flying in her direction. Her teammate was asleep. She defended herself with her own sword and counterattacked. He invested against her leg, trying to make her fall. Her instincts took place, she jumped, attacked again and they started a meaningless battle. Jason looked the same as always. He was almost the same Jason that used to take her on cute dates in New Rome. But he fought like a greek. And that was when it hit her, he changed. The mixture of love and hate made her loose her senses for a bit, giving Jason the lead. He focused on her leg but hesitated to hit it, giving her time to get back on the fight. She knocked him to the floor, her foot on his chest and her blade on his neck, when she heard footsteps approaching quickly. Of course. It was a trap. She turned around and saw a son of Hebe holding her team's flag running, followed by two daughters of Hephaestus. She grabbed a knife from her belt and threw it to his leg, hitting exactly where she wanted. She then grabbed Jason's blade and Shadow Travelled. For a moment everything was fine, while she drowned into darkness, but then she couldn't get out. She saw her father's face mixed in the dark. He raised his hand and touched her face, than she was back at the forest. Realising not even a second had gone through, she attacked the — injured — boy and the two gigantic girls at the same time. She wasn't really expecting to defeat them, just trying to win some time so, hopefully, someone would come help her. The boy dropped the flag and got a small sword. The two girls had hammers... oh. The three of them attacked at the same time and she protected herself with Jason's sword, which flew away. She was out of hopes when a figure appeared beside her and started fighting them.
"What are you doing here?! You're not supposed to help me, we're enemies, remember?" She said, fighting Hebe's son.
"I guess you're welcome then." Jason replied smiling, fighting the hammers-girls. (Y/N) sighted in annoyance. Seconds later, her teammates came running from the enemies' territory with a flag and the three-people group surrendered. Everyone started screaming and celebrating. (Y/N)'s head hurt with the noise and she looked to her brother, feeling numb.
"Hey, can we talk?" Jason said, getting in front of her with a big smile. He was proud of himself for helping her? Of course he was. He was going to take all the credit for her team's win. The anger rose inside of her burning everything. She furrowed her eyebrows and with the last energy that remained in her body, she tried to Shadow Travel for the perhaps hundredth time that day.
She fell into the darkness while feeling her body desapear quickly. Her heart was very accelerated but then it stopped. She saw herself at the barks of Lete's river. I'm dead., she thought. The desperation started taking over. She remembered the face of all her friends. Her siblings, Hazel and Nico. Her mother. Her best friend Reyna. Camp Jupiter. New Rome. The Lar Vitellius. Lares? Lares! Maybe she could go back as a ghost! She would at least see her friends again.
"Didn't expect to see you this soon." A voice said with humor. She turned around, as always enlighten by her father's presence. But his face was sad. Not the everyday-sad-Pluto, but the my-daughter-just-died-sad-Pluto.
"Am I d-... dead?" The anxiety forbid her from crying in front of her father. The one she never knew and once she did, she didn't want to disappoint him.
"Yes and no. You see, my darling, there are things more powerful then death. Right now, your physical being is exhausted from travelling through darkness and light — which I told you not to, but we'll talk about this later, you have a decision to make. You're body is surrendering to Death out of hopelessness. But your soul, on the other hand, still fights for the heart beating in your chest. And your conscious, the controller of both body and soul, has to decide which one of them you'll support right now. As Lord of the Death that's all I can say to you. But as your father, I would like to say that we have a room for you in the castle, if you'd like that. And also, I feel obligated to show you what is happening on Earth." When he finished his words, an image formed in the air, sort of an Iris message, but no one saw them. (Y/N) saw herself laying on the grass, surrounded by some campers, Nico and Jason.
She was watching them from above. Jason put two fingers on her neck, trying to feel her pulse. She — the one in the Underworld — gasped as the blond boy whispered 'nothing'. She glanced at her father, who had a pained expression as he stared at Nico freaking out. Her brother had his hands on her chest and was murmuring something in greek. Then, he opened his eyes, filled with tears of desperation, and glanced at Jason, who didn't look any better. She wanted to scream and go back to up there, but her voice wouldn't come out of her throat.
"Half of her is already gone." Nico struggled to say. Everyone around gasped. "I can't Shadow Travel with her, it- it would k-kill the other half..."
"Let's take her to the Infirmary. Everything's gonna be fine. She'll be okay." Will Solace had appeared in the crowd and kneed down to take (Y/N) in the arms, being helped by the other two. As they walked, (Y/N) held herself in her arms, sobbing. She didn't want to die, not like that. The image faded away and Pluto hugged her. He never did that before. She left out all her emotions through the cry. Her father caressed her back and gently kissed the top of her head.
"Now you see, my child, what those on Earth are going through. You have a family up there. And if you'd ask me, Jason Grace is a good person, even being a son of my brother. You have a choice, so make it wisely." Pluto said, not backing away from the hug. She nodded and he immediately knew what her choice was. "You know I'd love to have you here with me, but I'd love even more to see you happy. Don't be reckless. And listen to your brother. You don't have to worry to come see me, I'll make sure to visit you during your recovery." As he said that, a white door appeared out of nowhere. "Here's your carpool." The girl started to walk to the door, when she heard Pluto say: "(Y/N) I lo-... Good luck." She smiled to him and went through into the door. It felt like eons in the nothingness. She felt so much pain all over her body. Then she gained conscience. She didn't knew how long it had passed. She also couldn't open her eyes or say anything, but she knew she was laying down something comfortable, a bed, perhaps. But she could hear perfectly well.
"... and I'm so sorry you had to die for me to gain the courage to say this. Please come back to us... Come back to me. Nico barely leaves this room and nor do I, Will had to force him to go eat. It's not the same without you, (Y/N/N), it really isn't." Jason's words gave her the urge to cry, but she couldn't. It was like her body had shutdown completely. She felt his warm hands on her cold ones and after that, a door was opened. Footsteps. Only one person. Jason didn't move. Someone sat down next to them.
"Dad- I mean, Hades said she will be okay." It was Nico's voice. He sounded extremely tired.
"Didn't he say that last month?" Grace was annoyed, but he didn't stop holding her hand.
"I know, I wish I could do more... I'm... I'm sorry Jason." The blond sighted.
"I should be the one to be saying that. I know there's nothing else to do. I'm sorry for putting the blame on you. It's just- if we've talked before, nothing of this would have happened. If only I was brave enough..." (Y/N) felt weak and her consciousness was back at nothing again. When she heard something again, it looked like a lot of time had passed by, but she wasn't sure at all. Jason's voice was happy as he told her his plans to the future.
"I realised you would like to work with me training the legion. You're obviously skilled and the payment is quite good. And I've heard they are planning to build a village here as well, but I don't know if you-..." Every time she tried to stay conscious, she felt weaker. 'Rest', her father's voice said inside of her head, so she let herself.
Some time...? A long time...? She didn't knew. But the next time she heard, she was way stronger. She waited until then, so she could stay longer and try to understand her emotions. She heard almost an entire day. Her friends entered and left cabin 13 — she found out that she was there. Some of them talked "to" her, some just sat there in silence. When alone, Nico talked a lot about Will Solace. (Y/N) smiled mentally. Then Jason entered. She could already recognise the sound he made walking. He sat beside her bed and held her hand, as usual.
"Hello, princess. You look better." She reunited all the strength she had storage and sent it all to her right hand. She softly squeezed Jason's hand, for a small portion of second, trying to say 'hi'. She felt exhausted. He gasped.
"She just squeezed my hand!" He screamed, laughing. Nico jumped out of his bed, laughing as well. They both stared at her, waiting for more. "You're there, right? I knew you were! It's been long months, but you're getting better. Don't work too hard. We'll see each other soon, don't worry." He kissed her forehead. After that, it was easy for her to let go and dive into her sleep again.
She was slowly getting better. She noticed her comas were smaller now, and she got stronger every time. She started communicating by squeezing people's hand. One time for 'yes' and two times for 'no'. But it still was exhausting. She met with her father a couple times through dreams, but it never lasted long. She was sick of it. She wanted to jump out of the bed and run through all the camp. She was alone with Jason, as he talked about the last time he went to Camp Jupiter, telling every change. She slowly forced herself to open her eyes. It wasn't for too long, just enough for her to see the big smile he had while talking, her favourite blond hair and how he gesticulated while speaking. By that time, her feelings were completely lined. She declined her childishness and stubbornness to accept the fact that she obviously loved him. Her lips were able to form a small smile. He hadn't noticed her yet. I can do this, she thought.
"J." She whispered for the first time in five months. Her eyes were already closed again. He gasped.
"Did you just say J? That's me! I'm here, i'm right here, love. Can you hear me?" She squeezed his hand one time. Yes. He chortled. "You're so strong. I miss you so much." He started softly crying. She squeezed his hand two times. No. Don't cry, she wanted to say. "Alright, 's fine, 's fine. Gods, you're coming back. I bet Aphrodite is watching us closely." He chuckled but suddenly stopped. "I forgot we haven't talked about that yet, i'm sorry. I don't wanna be intrusive, you know. It's just, by what Nico has told me, well, you still liked me." She squeezed two times. "That's... that's great, love. But don't worry about that just yet. You should take some rest now, my love."
Five days. She had woken up every single one of them, but only listening. No squeezes, no talking, no looking. Just storing strength. She knew she was close to fully waking up. She was already able to keep track of the days. It was a Sunday, the day she received the most visits. It should be morning, because she only heard Nico's snorting. She slowly opened her eyes. The same place. Different clothes. She wondered who had changed them. Perhaps Will did. She systematically moved her arms, pushing herself to sit. Her back was laying at wall. She took a deep breath. It was going fine. She wanted to wake Nico up, but she decided to wait to see if she would be able to actually stay awake. About an hour later, Nico woke up by himself. He yawned and turned to her bed. She looked at him with a big smile. He jumped out of bed.
"Holy shit, (Y/N)! You're up! How- Wait! I need to- Wait! Don't fall asleep, I'll be right back!" She blinked slowly to sign 'ok'. He was back moments running later with a bunch of teenagers in pyjamas. They all froze at the door, staring at her. Hazel, Frank, Annabeth, Percy, Jason and even Piper. Hazel was the first one to wake up from the trance. She ran to her sister and hugged (Y/N).
"Ouch." She managed to say, reacting to the tight hug that made her head hurt.
"Right, sorry! I forgot. Wait, you speak!" Hazel answered and laughed. All of the others joined in, amazed by her friend, and started talking, telling everything she had missed. (Y/N) couldn't speed properly, only a few words like 'hi', 'ow', 'miss' and 'food'. Later that day, Will came to check on her. He said everything looked just fine, but that she should rest.
"Hey." Zeus' son said, once they were alone.
"Hi."
"Gods, it's so good to finally hear you again. I've talked to myself for a long time." They giggled softly. (Y/N) wasn't showing any signs of it, but that day had been extremely tiring. Her entire body hurt but she couldn't give up just yet.
"I... heard." She whispered. "A bit." Her eyes tried to close but she opened them wide, fighting her own nature. Jason noticed that.
"Hey, no need to over do it.” He brushed her cheek with his thumb.
"Sleep... here." She begged, placing her hand beside her. He froze for a moment, embarrassed. And then, with a rubor across his face, he sat on the bed beside her. She laid her head on his chest and quickly fell asleep.
“Go to sleep, love. We have all the time in the world.”
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peaches-writes · 5 years ago
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how to appease your asian aunties ch. 1 - christmas
description: in the immortal words of wine aunts and aunts you’re not even related to but forced to call your aunt at gatherings, ‘do you have a boyfriend?’ member: jisung / han genre: fluff, fake dating au, implied rich kids au, eventual childhood / best friends to lovers au, college au, implied fem reader (but i still used they/them pronouns) word count: 7.5k chapter warning: food, drinking, explicit language, one comment about weight note: insp by a twt meme + this is my first attempt at making a story with parents having a bigger role in them omg
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ch. 2 // ch. 3 // series masterlist
Though you’re a semester away from graduating college, with your own circles of friends, clubmates, and close classmates, you still can’t understand why your mom and her sorority batchmates feel the need to have reunion parties every single year. Maybe it’s the product of growing connectivity in this modern age or just simply your wide age gap preventing you from having the same nostalgic feelings attending these dinners; nevertheless, ever since your mom started bringing you to these parties to socialize with her friends’ children when you were four, you've always personally found it a bit troublesome. 
They see each other at mall sales, weekend brunches, weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries all the time—a lot of them even work closely with each other. For as long as you can remember, you can’t help but endlessly wonder in this time of year: will they ever get tired of each other?
As you adjust your coat over your semi-formal attire for this year’s dinner party, you sigh in front of the full-length mirror by your house’s front doors and mentally conclude that they probably never will. This is your 19th reunion dinner now and even from meters away in the kitchen, you can hear your mom fuss to your dad and the helpers either worriedly about the desserts that everyone in the house (and your nearest restaurant branch) was forced to bake two nights ago; or excitedly about seeing her college best friend, Mrs. Hwang, even if they literally just dragged their respective families to the monthly brunch last weekend—like she always does minutes before you leave. She always sounds like a crazed woman but you know deep inside that she’s excited to see her friends again and reminisce about the same old college memories you’ve even memorized by heart now.
It’s cute and all, maybe you’ll even end up the same in a decade or so but you swear at present on the dinner menu tonight that the more you spend your first day of Christmas break attending these dinners, the more you’ll slowly lose your mind over this unofficial holiday tradition: from your mom’s dramatic ramblings at the start of the night to the prospect of spending the rest of the evening laughing off your unofficial aunts and godmothers’ unnecessary backhanded comments and trying not to get caught in the trouble the younger children make.
It really just isn’t exactly your type of scene. It’s like family Christmas parties but with more passive-aggressive internalized drama since you’re not related to any of the guests by blood.
“Y/N, dear, come along now, we’re running late!” Your mom scolds you as she approaches your direction to the double doors, carrying cupcake caddies and cake boxes with your dad and your six house helpers. She’s wearing the dress you helped pick out last month, you observe, which is another tradition of hers. Rich people and not wanting to be seen wearing the same clothes twice, you guess. “Oh dear, I need to fix my hair in the car!”
You take one last look at yourself in the mirror before sprinting to the doors and helping your dad open them. You also take a couple of boxes from one of the helpers as you all pile outside, letting everyone pass through before closing the doors behind you. 
The nine of you then head to your dad’s Ford you parked outside the house gates earlier this afternoon, loading the everything in the back of the car without much difficulty before parting ways with the helpers for tonight with the same house instructions from your mom to not wait up for the three of you.
“Bye!” Your mom waves at your helpers through the rolled down windows on the front passenger seat as your dad begins to drive away from the house. 
Once your house begins growing smaller in the distance behind you, only then does your mom attend to her hair while your dad closes all the windows and locks the doors.
You, on the other hand, lean back in your own seat, taking out your phone to pass the ten minutes travel time to one of your godmothers, Mrs. Kim’s house in the adjacent subdivision.
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“Y/M/N! Y/F/N! Welcome!” Mrs. Kim greets you at her house gates with her own mini army of house helpers, kindly helping you and your parents unload your party contributions and transfer them inside her recently renovated kitchen. “Oh, Y/N! Look at you, you look so beautiful tonight!”
You smile politely through the wave of compliments and ‘oh you gained a bit of weight’ comments that follow as you try your best to not to trip over the slippery marble steps leading to the house. Contrary to what your mom has been worrying about earlier at home, you eventually discover that you’re fairly early to the party for the 19th year in a row with only half of the families already in attendance to greet you when you entered the house.
“Y/N, all the teenagers are upstairs on the second floor, by the way.” Mrs. Kim informs you once your cupcakes have been neatly organized in the caddies at the very end of the buffet table, making you cringe internally at her preferred term for you and the other older kids in the house. “Dinner is at 7:30.”
“Thank you, auntie.” You smile one last time at her before excusing yourself to go upstairs, sighing internally in relief that her son, Seungmin, has smartly gathered everyone upstairs for the third year in a row to avoid the aunts and uncles for as much as possible.
You’re not completely fond of the parties, sure, but you can’t deny that there are little parts that have unconsciously grown on you—like your unlikely band of childhood friends and your shared hatred for this particular party.
Climbing up the slippery staircase as fast as you can with a death grip on the railings, you reach the second floor in no time to be greeted by six out of the eight people you’ve sort of grown up with in these parties occupying the common area: Felix and Hyunjin having a Wii dance battle in front of the television, Seungmin and Minho having a violent game of UNO on the coffee table, and Ryujin and Yeji scrolling through their phones on the sofa before abandoning them to approach you at noticing your presence by the staircase.
“Y/N!” Ryujin calls you in as she reaches you first for a brief hug and a short exchange of compliments on each other’s outfits, as if you didn’t just meet at one of your shared class’ Christmas parties yesterday. Though all of you attend the same university, you see Ryujin the most since you’re in the same college, just in different departments. “So nice to see you again!”
“Yeah, yeah, hello to you too again.” You chuckle, more genuinely now in the company of party guests you’re actually comfortable with, before waving hello at Yeji who trails behind. 
Yeji then naturally hugs you next, pulling you a few steps away from the staircase so the two of you don’t topple over when she leans her weight on you. “Y/N, took you long enough!” She says next to your ear. “Hyunjin and I were starting to make bets if the aunties suddenly trapped you downstairs like Chan and Miyoung.”
You hug her back with equal force, a little more than you did with Ryujin, pulling away after to playfully slap her arm for the teasing comment. “I’d sell my arm first before I let that happen.” You retort as the two of you laugh. “I just helped set up desserts—mom made us do an extra two boxes of brownies and cookies this year so you better get a lot later!” 
“Of course, but only if you eat a lot of the spaghetti my mom made!” She reminds, kindly fixing your hair for you. “I missed you! You look so pretty tonight!”
Behind the two girls, the boys also greet you in scattered casual ‘hi’s and ‘hello’s before going back to their own activities. You greet them back as they acknowledge you (and even reciprocate Felix’s long-distance high five mid-dance), crossing off everyone’s names in your mental attendance list as your gaze wanders around the room.
Since Chan is busy being a grown-up and showing off his fiance downstairs, you conclude that only one person is missing among your eight friends.
“Ya, Han Jisung!” As if on cue, the missing eighth person in your list emerges from the staircase behind you as Minho calls his name. “Welcome back!” 
Jisung greets everyone back in their second wave of scattered greetings as he walks to Minho and Seungmin’s direction, purposely acknowledging you last by suddenly turning around and walking backwards to send a wave and wink your way. He almost trips over the long ruffles of the big accent carpet as he does this, making you, Yeji, and Ryujin laugh as the only witnesses.
“Oh my God.” You place a hand to your forehead in secondhand embarrassment, stifling your laughs as your best friend regains his balance and looks behind him in case anyone else saw (which, unfortunately for you, they didn’t). You can’t believe that despite missing last year’s party because of his study abroad program’s strict schedule, he still manages to do his ritual clumsy carpet accident somehow. “This dumbass, I swear.”
In front of you, Jisung only laughs it off as well. “You didn’t see that!” He adjusts his coat with one hand and scratches the nape of his neck with the other in between laughs, walking forward to you properly after with his arms extended for a hug. “Stop laughing and come here, ugly. I missed you.” 
You feign a scowl but hug him back anyway, Yeji and Ryujin slyly stepping away with knowing smiles that only you can see with Jisung’s eyes turned away. You stick your tongue out at the two girls as they abandon you and walk back to the sofa before slapping Jisung’s back harshly for the familiar insult. “Speak for yourself, you ugly. I missed you too.” You reply to his latter comment with an amused chuckle of your own. “How are you?”
“Better now that I’m seeing you in person again.” He pulls away after with his signature flirty smirk, visibly eyeing you up and down now while his hands are still on your upper arms. Though he knows such gesture irks you, especially when it comes to the aunts and uncles downstairs, Jisung is the only one among your friends confident enough to tease you this way. Knowing each other a bit longer than everyone else has its perks, he’s come to realize over the years. “Look at you, all dressed up tonight. For me?” 
“Of course I’m all dressed up tonight, it’s Chan’s engagement announcement later.” You retort, swatting his hand away to adjust your now wrinkled clothes. “You’ve known me for twenty years, already; I think it’s time to stop assuming I’ll ever dress up for you now.” 
He only shakes his head, his teasing and lighthearted mood unwavering in front of you. “Nah, I really think you dressed up for me tonight.” He insists jokingly, a hand lingering over the fabric of your coat. “If I get welcome back parties like this from you in the end, should I just do more one-year study abroad programs?” 
“And leave me to fend off the aunties every other year? I don’t think so.” You’re quick to turn down, walking pass him to rejoin your group now. Jisung naturally follows along like a lost puppy, suddenly changing his mind on joining Minho and Seungmin to follow you around now that you’ve started conversation. “You owe me for leaving me to take all the ‘I can set you up on a blind date with my godchild’ and ‘are you dating anyone’ comments last year.”
The two of you sit next to Ryujin and Yeji who, without even looking up from their phones, quickly scoot away to the other end of the big sofa which makes you send pleading looks their way while Jisung laughs and gains enough confidence to sling an arm on the sofa behind your shoulders.
Another annoying thing from this yearly reunion party is how it’s an unspoken rule in your group to leave you and Jisung alone whenever you’re engaging in your usual banter. You and Jisung are the enemies type of best friend, for God’s sake. You don’t understand how everyone (yes, even Seungmin) thinks the two of you are being cute. 
“I keep telling you, you wouldn’t get all those comments if you just tell them you’re dating someone, dummy.” Jisung returns to your conversation once you’re settled, purposely placing a suggestive emphasis on the pet name. “That’s just the most natural thing to do in front of the aunties.” 
“And who would I show them if they ask who?”
“Try me.” Jisung answers smugly, earning him an eye roll from you.
“As if.” You deadpan, leaning to his arm anyway as you take out your phone and connect to the wifi. “Given your new fuckboy look to the aunties, I’m pretty sure they’ll see past that kind of bullshit, especially Yeji and Hyunjin’s mom and Minho’s mom. They’d be more convinced if I tell them I’m dating Seungmin instead and he’s already in a relationship.”
You don’t even have to look to your side to see Jisung pouting as he whines in complaint, his free hand going up to your side to shake your arm. “That hurts.” He dramatically points to his chest when you show the slightest hint of turning his way. “And having Bumble on your phone isn’t being a fuckboy, I don’t even use it to get dates.” 
“That’s not what the aunties think.” You point out, knowing just how much your aunts and uncles easily misunderstand concepts from your generation like social and dating apps. “I’m telling you, I prefer you swaying the conversation for me over you pretending to be my boyfriend.”
Jisung is quiet for a moment and you’re convinced that he’s decided on ending the conversation at this point until he suddenly twists his body towards you and challenges, "Do you wanna bet? Test out that theory?” He smirks again. “It’d really spice up this party, besides Chan’s announcement, of course.”
Only then do you look up at him since you sat down, deadpanning, “No.” 
“Come on, it’d be really interesting!” He taps you on your shoulders with a laugh, a combination of habits he always does whenever he’s trying to involve you in his usual trouble-making antics. “My mom will finally get off my back for always nagging me as a ‘fuckboy’ and our mom’s sorority friends will finally get off yours for not dating.” 
“You’re crazy.” You comment, crossing your arms in front of him. “I think I’ll just re-download Bumble too and bring someone to the party next year.” 
“You’re really taking too much jabs at my heart right now,” He sighs with a contrasting smirk. “and we’re not even past dinner yet.” 
“Because you deserve it,” You chuckle back at him, pretending to punch him on his stomach which he reacts to dramatically. “I’ve always known you’re a dumbass but that’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard from you.” 
Stubborn, he shakes his head in disagreement as you speak. “Nah, nah, we’ll see about that.”
And as if on cue, Mrs. Kim emerges from the staircase and announces that dinner is ready, luring everyone out of the second floor before you can even ask Jisung what he means with his words. 
“Ya, Han Jisung!” You call for him when he sprints to Seungmin’s side when the latter begins leading everyone downstairs. 
You try catching up to him but the staircase becomes too narrow for you to squeeze past everyone, forcing you to walk with Minho and Ryujin at the back of the group. With this, Jisung then takes this as an opportunity to look up at you from the turn on the staircase and send you another wink, a more confident one this time since he doesn’t trip after. 
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Your ‘age group,’ as the aunts differentiate you from the younger children, hogs the extensive buffet and steals the best table in the backyard, near the karaoke machine so you can stop the uncles from singing too much of ‘My Way’ once they get drunk later on and as far away from the children’s table as possible so you don’t have to be obligated to take care of them later on. Chan, the eldest among you now, joins your table with his fiance, Miyoung, after they’ve officially declared their engagement before the buffet opened, happily handing out their save the date cards for their May wedding.
“Just remember, Miyoung, that you can literally get all your wedding needs from us, okay?” Yeji comments amidst all the talk about the wedding, gesturing to everyone as you eat and drink champagne. “Like Y/N and Seungmin for catering, Ryujin for the attires, Felix for your honeymoon trip, me and Hyunjin for the flowers and documentation, and Jisung can dress up as a clown for your reception.” 
“Ya!” Jisung protests to your left, cheeks full of steak and spaghetti that makes the whole table erupt in laughter. “Chan’s and Minho’s studios can arrange the music and the decor; my mom will probably argue with Miyoung’s mom for the locations and hotels.” 
“I can just tell my dad to hire you as a clown, though.” Minho shrugs nonchalantly, further fueling your laughter. To your right, you can even see Miyoung giggling through her glass of champagne, having given up on stifling her laughs. “It’d make good entertainment.” 
Jisung then leans over to you to turn to Miyoung on your other side with a pout and a pleading look to her and Chan. “You two are just letting them drag me like this?” He whines dramatically before turning to you. “Y/N, back me up here.”
“No!” You press a finger up to his forehead and playfully push him back on his seat. “It’s a great idea, what are you talking about?” You tease as you do so, much to more whines from him. “There’s like five months before the wedding, think about it.”
Next to you, Miyoung forces herself to stop laughing, teasingly asking Chan, “Babe, what do you think? Should we just demote Jisung from groomsman to clown?” 
“I’d very much prefer being a groomsman, please.” Jisung asks over Chan, leaning over the table. “I can’t compete with Changbin for best man but as long as I’m not dressing up as a clown I’m good!” 
“Hey, how come Jisung’s a groomsman?” Seungmin complains from across you, frowning cutely at the couple. “Miyoung, I’m your cousin! I introduced you and Chan in university!” 
“You’re a groomsman too, Minnie, don’t worry.” Miyoung reassures with a warm smile before elbowing her fiance. “As long as you can get your parents to cater with Y/N’s family.” 
The offer makes Seungmin’s ear perk up in interest. “Okay, call!” 
“Can we all be in the wedding party at this point? I’m seriously pushing it now, I want to dress up really cute!” Yeji, who sits on Chan’s other side, pleads. 
“Me too! I second that!” Felix backs her up immediately, the two now leaning over the table expectantly in Chan’s direction. “Though I’m not so keen on designing things.”
“Ah, but we have to make more room for actual relatives.” The groom-to-be in question laughs sheepishly. “Though, knowing our parents, I’ll try to squeeze everyone in somewhere in the program. Just let us iron out everyone’s contributions first.” 
“Yeji, I’ll take note of your suggestion, though.” Miyoung points at the younger girl with an appreciative grin. “I’ll message the groupchat once Chan and I meet up again with the planner.” 
Meanwhile, Chan’s last comment gives you and Minho an idea and the two of you suggest in chorus, “Get Seungmin to sing!” 
“Jinx!” You and Minho exchange winks and long distance-high fives from Jisung’s two sides after while Chan and Miyoung ask Seungmin about said idea, making Jisung pout at you. 
The general table conversation then naturally flows to other matters, mostly about the famous names you might be expecting at the wedding, but Jisung doesn’t participate much anymore, turning to you instead and asking, “Ya, are you cheating on me with Minho now? You sacrifice me as entertainment then back Minho up but not me!” He rambles in between mouthfuls of food, making you and even Minho chuckle in amusement despite the latter being in another conversation with Ryujin and Seungmin. “I just left for one year and you’re already doing this to me!” 
“What are you on about again, dumbass?” You roll your eyes with a scoff, stealing a piece of steak from his plate for the third time this dinner. “Finish your food, everyone’s done and you’re so slow!” 
Jisung then belatedly swats your chopsticks away, “I’m almost done, dumbass, stop mooching off my plate!” 
"Then hurry up, you still have to accompany me to the dessert table.” You point out, referring to your least favorite part of this reunion parties: getting attacked by invasive questions on your return trip to the buffet table. “Remember, you owe me. I’m not going in there alone again.” 
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” He replies on his last two bites of food, eating one then handing the other one to you. “Have the other one, then.” 
He pokes your lips with the last piece of steak and you instinctively lean your head away, catching the food with your own chopsticks instead. “Thanks.” You bring the food to your mouth before carefully patting the oil he ended up smearing on your lips with your table napkin. 
Across the table and out of your earshot, Yeji elbows Hyunjin and points to the two of you. “They’re at it again.” 
Without you or Jisung looking, Hyunjin looks at the two of you in feign disgust. “I know, every damn year.” 
On Hyunjin’s other side, Seungmin nods frustratingly in agreement which makes Yeji laugh. “We shouldn’t have taken last year for granted, 'no?” He sighs. “Last year was so peaceful without them together.”
“Agreed.” The Hwang cousins agree in chorus before listening to the table’s general conversation again.
Meanwhile, Jisung finally finishes his food and excuses the two of you from the table to get dessert. Miyoung waves at you politely and Felix playfully orders that you two get him cupcakes but the rest only acknowledge you with simple nods as they’re completely engrossed in betting on whose dad will be singing My Way on the karaoke machine first (everyone’s in the middle of betting on Mr. Bang). With that, you and your best friend then take your leave, going back inside the house and making a beeline to the kitchen.
Unfortunately for you, you catch your mom, Mrs. Han, and Mrs. Hwang gossiping by the punch bowls once you reach the kitchen’s open doorway—literally the worst combination of sorority aunts to be bombarded with invasive questions.
“Shit.” You mutter under your breath loud enough for only Jisung to hear, the two of you still out of the three women’s sights. Looking up at Jisung with pleading eyes, you ask, “Should we just go back later?” 
Quickly seeing this as an opportunity to get back at you, Jisung only smiles evilly and links his hands with yours, dragging a hesitant you inside the kitchen and towards the direction of the dessert table. “No, let’s get dessert now, baby.” He dismisses your silent pleas teasingly, making sure his voice is loud enough to get your worst nightmare of trio’s attentions. “Felix also asked us to get cupcakes too, remember?”
And like vultures, the three women immediately turn to you and Jisung as you head in their line of vision, three different shades of questioning looks on their faces. You especially catch your mom’s face, a mixture of surprise, amusement, and genuine curiosity for some reason, which sets all the gears in your head into panic mode while Jisung only gains more confidence from this. 
You swear at that moment on Jisung’s sort of untied shoelaces that you just want Mrs. Kim’s new kitchen floor tiles to swallow you up right there and then.
“Hey, mom!” Jisung greets his own mom with a wave, coming off as sweet to her but mocking to you. He then bows politely to your mom and Mrs. Hwang and you’re forced to follow along for the sake of courtesy. “Mrs. Y/L/N, Mrs. Hwang.” 
The three women look at each other curiously, as if in a silent debate on what they’ve just heard, while Jisung pretends to be unfazed, passing you a dessert plate and examining tonight’s dessert options. 
“Jisung, I swear to God,” You hiss at him as you take a slice of chocolate cake for him. “I’m going to kill you after this party.” 
He leans close to your ear while gathering cupcakes on a separate dessert plate, whispering, “I think it’s too late for that, though.” before your mom, Mrs. Han, and Mrs. Hwang suddenly appear in front of the two of you on the other side of the buffet table with sickeningly sweet smiles, and a million questions. 
You especially fear Jisung’s mom. Mrs. Han and your mom often go to the mall together, especially when there’s an ongoing sale, and you’ve been forced to carry all their shopping bags over the years because Jisung and his older brother usually bail on you. Though she’s very sweet, you’ve always known her to be very picky on some things and it just makes you think that she’s picky on who Jisung dates too. 
“Mom,” You call for your mom with wide eyes. “Do you need anything?” 
But she waves her hand dismissively with a reassuring smile at your question. “Oh, nothing, Y/N dear,” She answers, eyes darting almost threateningly between you and Jisung. It makes your hand shaky as you now complete your tower of dessert plates. “your aunties and I were just talking and we didn’t mean to but we saw you and Jisung so we just got curious and thought we’d ask how the two of you are.” 
“Oh, just ask them already!” Mrs. Hwang exclaims excitedly, slapping your mom’s arm like a school girl. “If you won’t, I will.”
But Mrs. Han is already leaning over the table with a knowing smile, straightforwardly asking, “Are you two kids dating?” which immediately makes your mom and Mrs. Hwang erupt into fits of giggles. “Come on, the aunties want to know!” 
“Oh, um—” You stammer out before Jisung beats you to it. 
For the second time tonight, you feel Jisung’s arm on your shoulder as he speaks over you confidently, “Y-Yeah, we’ve been for a while now!” He then places his dessert plate back on the table and boyishly rubs the nape of his neck which only elicits swooning reactions from the three women, a complete contrast from your expectations a while back. “Just some time before my program ended so it’s been a bit long-distance for the most part.” 
“Oh? But how?” Mrs. Hwang asks curiously. “I didn’t hear of you going to Malaysia this year, Y/N, and Jisung, your mom told me you didn’t have time to go home!”
“You could’ve just told me, Sungie! Then, I would’ve had you sent home earlier if you wanted to see Y/N!” Mrs. Han adds as well, clasping her hands in satisfaction. “I knew this was coming! You two have always been so cute together!” 
Your mom agrees, “Luckily, I refused Mrs. Park’s offer to set Y/N up with another one of her nephews a while back. Had I known you two were dating, I wouldn’t have talked to her tonight at all!”
You open your mouth to try and speak but Jisung beats you to it again. “We’ve been in touch: message, calls, and video calls, you know.” He half-shrugs casually, as if he’s been rehearsing the line for a while now. “It’s our first time meeting since we started seeing each other so telling you guys just kind of flew past us.” 
You groan internally but you also can’t help but sigh in relief at the prospect that you avoided getting set up by Mrs. Park again because of Jisung. Though this doesn’t completely erase your annoyance over him for putting you in this situation, you still owe him a ‘thank you’ after somehow.
So, you conclude that you should just follow along. It’s fake dating your best friend over another pointless blind date at this point now, after all. “You’re okay with this, right?” You decide to ask in a follow-up, pretending to not know that they’ll agree anyway. Next to you, Jisung’s eyes visibly widen and, seeing it from the corner of your eyes, you quickly elbow him in response before giving your most innocent look to your mom. “I mean, Jisung won’t be studying abroad now and we’re graduating, anyway, so it’s cool, right?”
Judging by their softened reactions, you feel like you could challenge Hyunjin to acting now. 
“Of course we’re okay with it!” Your mom answers first, Mrs. Han nodding along happily. “I’m glad that it’s someone I know at least and I’m sure your dad wouldn’t mind.” 
You hear Jisung gulp nervously at the last comment. If you’re afraid of his mom, he’s afraid of your dad because of the one time he helped you practice for your driver’s license and the two of you almost ended up crashing the Ford on your subdivision’s club house. You allow yourself to relax and laugh at this, making him tighten his grip on your shoulder. 
“Me too, sis.” Mrs. Han agrees, gesturing over to her son. “My Jisung here’s been going on dates with strangers online before this so I’m glad he’s finally stopped and settled for your kid! Modern love, huh?” 
“Oh my God, mom!” Jisung whines, his free hand coming up to his face in embarrassment. “I’ve told you before, I use them to meet friends! Not in front of Mrs. Y/L/N and Y/N please!” 
“Ay, it’s the same thing!” His mom insists to him before turning to Mrs. Hwang and your mom. “Social apps, dating apps, they’re all the same. Why do you even use them if you’re just going to fall in love with the person right in front of you? I taught you better than that, Sungie.” 
“Mom!” Jisung hisses, cheeks tinted pink. “This is so embarrassing!” 
You snicker next to him, catching his attention. “Your mom’s right, you know. Tsk, dating people from miles away and you just end up confessing to me on FaceTime.” 
He scowls at you in a way that scolds you for suddenly turning this situation in your favor. You only smile triumphantly at him which the three aunties take as a really sweet moment. 
“Aw, look at them! So cute!” Mrs. Hwang gushes before turning to her two best friends. “Should we just leave them alone now? We’re intruding!” 
“Right! It’s especially embarrassing since we’re both here, Mrs. Han.” Your mom agrees, leading the three out now. She then turns to you and Jisung, “I guess we’ll be off now, then? Don’t want to intrude to you two lovebirds anymore!” 
You smile up to your mom, making sure Jisung does too. “It’s fine, mom, we’re going back to our table now too, anyway.”
But Mrs. Han waves her hand dismissively at you. “No, no, we’ll run along now first! See you later, okay?” 
You and Jisung bid your moms and Mrs. Hwang goodbye, overhearing your mom bragging that she’ll share this new information to Mrs. Park while Mrs. Han and Mrs. Hwang agree before the three completely exited the kitchen. 
Once they’re out of earshot, you sigh in relief and elbow Jisung harshly who responds by dramatically taking a step back and massaging his side. “Ow!” He winces, careful not to hit the dessert table. “What was that for?” 
“I told you to drop the fake dating thing a while back.” You protest, threatening to hit him with your plate of chocolate slices. “Now I have to have you at home more often. I’ve already had enough of you at campus, here, and when your mom visits at home.”
“Ya, but you played along!” 
“That’s because I was put on the spot! And they did mention another blind date from Mrs. Park’s army of nephews.” You explain. “It was between you and another blind date.”
“At least I got you out of another potential blind date, right?” He points out defensively, proceeding to put your hand with the chocolate slices down on the table with caution. “And more effectively now than before, too! So why’d you hit me?”
“Yeah, I know but still, that doesn’t cancel out how you got me out of that.” You frown in disappointment, taking both of your dessert plates now. When he holds his hand up defensively, as if expecting you to throw them to his face, you only roll your eyes and walk past him to the direction of the second kitchen exit. “Now, I have to fake date you for real either until Mrs. Park lays off the blind dates or until I actually date someone.” 
Jisung immediately follows you suit, genuinely rubbing the nape of his neck in a bashful way now. “We don’t have to, maybe they’ll forget about it.” But when you give him a pointed look, as if suggesting that what he just said seems unlikely, he ends up suggesting, “Okay, fine, should we break up after Chan’s wedding, then?”
He then glances over at you to see you contemplating and calming yourself down so he instinctively insists on carrying the dessert plates for you, walking a little bit ahead as well and opening the screen door leading back to the backyard. 
When you’ve made yourself calm down and think more rationally, you firstly point out, “That’s too far away and wouldn’t that be too scandalous? It’s a big event so it could become gossip.” 
Passing the entire length of the backyard now, you receive a few congratulations and questions confirming your relationship from some of your mom’s sorority friends and their husbands, forcing Jisung to hold his thought until you’re not being swarmed again. 
“But if we do it before, it’d be too suspicious since we’d only be dating for less than 6 months.” He counters once the adults have left you alone, glancing ahead and seeing your entire table looking at you with quirked up eyebrows and comically intimidating looks. “Remember when my older brother did that as a joke to the aunties and got caught because they only did it for 3 weeks? They smell fear and deceit, Y/N.”
You sigh in defeat, “Let’s just figure it out later.” With that, you reach your table, setting your plates down and asking, “What did we miss?”
Judging by the way they eye you, your mom has probably told Mrs. Kim who’s gone table to table. 
“It’s fake, isn’t it?” Ryujin speaks up once you’ve settled back in your seat, making the table break character and laugh. “It can’t be a coincidence since you two were just talking about that a while ago inside!” 
“Please be fake.” Seungmin adds, gesturing to you and Jisung. “It’d be more annoying for all of us next year if it’s true.” 
You and Jisung, having the same thought and trust for your friends, nod simultaneously at Ryujin’s question, eventually joining in on the laughter. 
“Oh my God, I can’t believe you’d actually try that!” Ryujin cackles, a clear giveaway that she and Yeji were eavesdropping on you and Jisung a while back to a degree.
“To be clear, though, it’s his fault!” You add in between laughs for clarification, pointing to Jisung with your dessert spoon. “He started it!” 
“And they were about to get set up on a blind date by Mrs. Park again.” Jisung gestures to you back, completing the thought. “I was being a good Samaritan.”
“Ooh, and what did they say?” Felix asks curiously, one elbow propped up on the table as he listens intently. 
Jisung groans in exasperation as he eats his chocolate cake. “We bumped into my mom, Y/N’s mom, and Mrs. Hwang so you can imagine how they reacted.” 
“I can imagine, especially our mom.” Hyunjin sighs with his hands carding through his hair in secondhand embarrassment. 
“At least now we know where you inherited certain qualities from.” Chan teases, making the younger boy exclaim ‘ya!’ at him. 
“This is good, though isn’t it?” Yeji asks curiously over her iced tea. “I mean, Mrs. Park’s wouldn’t set you up on blind dates now.”
“Yeah, but that leaves me as Ms. Park’s only target!” Ryujin moans in frustration. “You know Mrs. Park doesn’t get convinced with dating people online!” 
You shake your head at Ryujin’s complaint. “Yeji can fake date you, though.” You point out, much to the girl’s annoyance. “Or ask out that girl from our lab.”
“So, does this mean we’re getting a dramatic break-up at Chan and Miyoung’s wedding?” Hyunjin interjects, having moved from playing with his now long hair to his glass of champagne. “Because if so, then you better tell us now so we won’t get too drunk at the reception until it happens!”
“I honestly want to see that happen too.” Seungmin agrees, the two high-fiving at the thought.
“That’d be interesting, breaking up at weddings.” Minho chuckles along now too. “People usually propose or hook-up so this is new.” 
“Hey, no stealing my spotlight on my wedding!” Miyoung complains playfully to you and Jisung this time. “We’re all supposed to have a good time there!”
Chan nods in agreement. “If you break up at our wedding, you’re getting kicked out.” 
So you shake your head reassuringly in between eating cupcakes. “We aren’t planning to.” 
“You’re going to date for real?” Felix asks teasingly, earning him a glare form you.
“Gross, no.” You and Jisung turn down the thought in chorus.
“Jinx.” Jisung adds, stealing a spoonful of cake from your plate.
“So when are you breaking up?” Chan asks, leading the whole round table to look back to you. 
“Whenever, I guess.” You shrug casually, belatedly swatting Jisung’s hand from your plate this time. “Until Mrs. Park gets off my back and Jisung actually stops fucking around on Bumble.” 
“I don’t fuck around on Bumble!” Jisung complains over a mouthful of chocolate cake.
“Well, that’s going to take a long time.” Chan dismisses. “At least let us all know so we can schedule faking a whole drama in this group.” 
“Anyway, it’ll die down soon, surely.” Jisung assures with a half-shrug. “Also, our parents only meet up constantly during this reunion party. If anything, we just have to fake date in front of our moms since they meet up more often.” 
“And Mrs. Hwang.” You point to Hyunjin and Yeji. “Since we all go to brunch once a month.” 
At the mention of the monthly brunch, Yeji’s eyes widen. “Does that mean Jisung has to be at our monthly brunch?!” 
“Oh, ew!” Hyunjin adds in disgust. “I’ve had enough seeing you at campus already!” 
“Why does everyone keep saying that?!” Jisung exclaims back in complain. “I doubt I’d get invited to that, we’re supposed to be dating not getting married!” 
Jisung turns to you expectantly, sighing in relief when you say, “That seems unlikely, it’s my mom and Mrs. Hwang’s thing, anyway. It’s not the Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner brunch.” 
“It better be!” Hyunjin says with crossed arms. “Hopefully our moms don’t get that kind of idea.”
You quietly agree. Having Jisung on your monthly brunch with the Hwangs would just cause so much trouble and cement him in your mom’s good graces—but as your boyfriend, this time.
That’s probably not good. 
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The party officially ends some time around 3 AM, when most of the parents with elementary school children have gone home hours earlier and, besides the Kims, it’s just your family, the Hwangs, the Hans, Chan, and Miyoung left at the front gates, bidding each other goodnight.  
“Thank you for having us again, Mrs. Kim.” You bid Seungmin’s family last since they’re the hosts, bowing politely to Seungmin’s parents before giving Seungmin a high-five. 
“See you after break.” Seungmin greets you after your high-five. “Have fun in Japan.” 
“And you enjoy your trip to New York.” You reply with an enthusiastic smile. “I do hope your mom reconsiders staying longer so you can spend the New Year there.” 
He nods with a sigh, “Yeah, I know. Still, I’ll try my best to convince her.” 
Your mom then approaches the two of you, bidding Seungmin and his parents goodnight before taking you away by the arm then turning you towards the direction of Jisung and his family. “Goodnight, Seungmin, Mr. and Mrs. Kim!” She smiles warmly to them before turning to you. “Y/N, aren’t you going to say goodnight to Jisung?” 
“I already did.” 
“Ah, but go to him anyway! Your dad still has to start the car.” 
You groan internally. After a whole night of drinking, singing, and gossiping with her friends, you’d think that she would’ve forgotten about earlier. 
Yet you oblige anyway, excusing yourself from your parents and approaching Jisung whose parents are busy having last-minute small talk with Chan and Miyoung, probably endorsing their chain of hotels as early as now for the wedding. 
“Hey, ugly.” You greet him casually as you approach, both your parents out of earshot so the old nickname naturally comes out. At this, Jisung immediately turns from scrolling through his phone to looking up at you with wide eyes. “My mom didn’t see us say goodnight a while ago so I’m here.” 
“Oh,” He muses, eyes flitting to your mom behind you once. When he sees her glancing expectantly, he turns to you and suggests, “Should we hug?” 
“Yeah, I guess.” You sigh, going straight into his extended arms. “‘Night.” 
“’Night, baby.” Jisung hums gently, too sleepy now to throw more witty comebacks besides the cheesy pet name that originally got you in trouble tonight. “See you after the break.” 
“No, see you on our moms’ next shopping spree.” You correct firmly, pulling away from his warmth before you could accidentally fall asleep on him. “Since we’re ‘dating’ now, you’re morally obligated to attend shopping bag duty now, too.” 
This makes Jisung sigh in defeat, “Fine, fair enough. See you on our moms’ next shopping spree, then.” He pauses for a moment then asks, “The day after New Year, right?”  
“Yeah.” You confirm with a nod when you catch him pouting, “You started this so don’t pout now.” 
“I know, I’m regretting it now.” He rolls his eyes with a scoff, only making you chuckle. “I suppose it’s different when we hang out as friends and when our moms think we’re dating.”
You continue laughing anyway until a thought crosses your mind and softens your gaze up at Jisung. “Anyway, thanks for saving me from another date—I almost forgot. The means is still annoying but I have to appreciate it somehow, right?” 
This time, it’s him chuckling, “Now you appreciate my efforts. See, I told you, something good comes up with this.” 
“Whatever.” You dismiss before you hear your mom calling for you as your dad pulls up in front of the Kim’s gates. “Okay, that’s me. Bye, ugly!” 
“Hm, bye!” With a final wave, Jisung then sees you off before joining his parents who he didn’t even realize have already gone to their car. 
Seating himself at the backseat of his mom’s car a moment later, Jisung accidentally glances over to his mom from the rear view mirror only to see her wiggling her eyebrows at him. 
“So,” Mrs. Han says. “you and Y/N.”
“Yeah?” Jisung response with a questioning tone. “Me and Y/N, what about it?” 
Mrs. Han only shrugs from the driver’s seat as she now drives away from the Kim’s house. “Nothing, you’re just both really cute.” She comments casually with a proud smile. “I like it. Though it is too bad we can’t invite them to dinner since they’re going to Japan for Christmas this year.” 
“How about next year?” Jisung’s dad suggests. “We can go on one of our hotels abroad.” 
“Ah, but—” Jisung stammers, only to be interrupted by his dad again.     
“Or, honey, when you and Mrs. Y/L/N go to the mall again.” Mr. Han quickly quips in to Mrs. Han before turning to their son in the back seat. “I expect you’d stop bailing on your mom when she goes to the mall now since Y/N’s always at these shopping trips.” 
At this, Jisung shakes his head, “I won’t. I’m ‘morally obligated’ now, apparently.”
“That’s good.” Mr. Han says, turning back to the road ahead and relaxing into the front passenger seat. “You better.”
Jisung sleepily props his elbow up by the window and sighs, letting his parents enjoy this new prospect of him seriously dating someone now. “Yup.” He ends the conversation, closing his eyes and getting a few minutes of sleep before arriving back home. 
Suddenly, this is probably not a good idea—lying to his already hyped parents. 
ch. 2 // ch. 3 // series masterlist
tag: @t-toodumbtocare​ @sandaigdigan-reads​ @pwarkhans​ @ruellelix @malai-barfi @mahalau​ @milkywayfelix @qweens-stuff​
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