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uglypastels · 4 years

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Slide In // Frat!Tom

(a/n) I’ve never written this au before, in like a full fic i think, so i have no idea if this is good, but i had this idea in the middle of the night and yeah. I hope you guys enjoy. this may or may not have been inspired by a certain post @duskholland made about Tom and his mirror selfies <3 how amazing that he literally just posted one today lol

word count: 16.7k

warning: drinking, mention of drug use (weed), school, social anxiety, some smexy innuendos. i made some big last minute changes, so i hope its all coherent.

DEEPFAVE: Liking a photo (or any post) from over a year ago.

It was a cloudy morning, and it was early. Really really early. Not even the birds felt up to it, it felt like. The campus was slowly awakening or going to sleep (depending on if you had been to last night’s Delta Kappa party, of course).

It was cold, and the leaves fell off the branches with each huff of the morning breeze. The grass was wet from the previous night’s rain, and it soaked your ankles as you ran through the small grass field, in hopes to cut a bit off the distance to your lecture hall.

It had not been your fault that you overslept. You had gone to bed early; your backpack was already packed for the next morning. It was supposed to be a relaxing morning, perfect for easing back into it after a week of sleeping in and celebrating the holidays. How could you have expected that your roommate would barge into your dorm at 2 am, still whoo-ing her drunk ass in the corridor with other wasted idiots?

And it wasn’t like you were against all that partying and drinking. You would have gone yourself to the frat party, but it just didn’t sit right with you. A giant house full of intoxicated strangers- the anxiety running through you just thinking about it was making you shake.

So, instead of “living a little”, as your older brother called it, you preferred to stay in bed most evenings, either watching Netflix or reading a book. Yet, still, you had been kept awake for so long last night that you slept through your alarm. What was supposed to be a calm morning turned out to be ten minutes of rushed panic. Eventually, you had decided to skip most of your morning routine, including breakfast, brushing your hair or even putting on a decent outfit. You ran out of your dorm, clutching on to your bag, phone and keys.

Your hair was reasonably alright. It was still in the braid you had made before going to bed, but a lot of hair had fallen out during your slumber. When you looked in the mirror though, you saw that it looked decent so you let it be. Not so much could have been said for your outfit. You kept on the same shirt in which you slept in, which was a slightly oversized grey graphic tee from a random indie concert you had been to ages ago. Unfortunately, it was so cold that you couldn’t just go outside in your shorts, so had to spend a precious minute slipping into a pair of sweatpants that were actually not as bum-looking as you had feared.

Luckily, the walk (or in this situation, run) to the lecture hall was short. So, you survived with only a thick sweater over your arms.

And so, just like that, you were running through campus. The cold air was piercing your lungs as you inhaled deeply. Each breath started with this whistling sound, as you tried to ignore that pain, and ended in an exhale of a cloud of condensation. Maybe you weren’t in the best shape, but even this horrible experience would not make you sign up for the campus gym. No way.

You could see the lecture hall doors, the wide wooden panelling already towering over you, and you slowed down. You were trying to catch your breath and composure. As always, the doors were heavy and to add to it, the wood could not handle the temperature, so it was even harder to open them.

“Oh, let me,” you suddenly heard behind you, almost making you jump. The voice sounded familiar, but it wouldn’t click to a particular face just yet.

“Thanks,” you breathed out as an arm extended from behind you, clad in a leather jacket, and pushed the door open with ease. You followed the arm up with your eyes and saw how it connected to an actual person. Yes, you definitely recognised him. But what was his name again?

T- something starting with a T.

He smiled at you politely, nodding the gesture for you to go inside.

“Thanks,” you said again, before finally moving.

“No problem,” he was walking behind you but quickly caught up to your side. You saw in his hand a Starbucks coffee, which almost made your mouth water.

“Professor Dowling’s lecture, right?” he asked, before taking a sip. Your eyes unconsciously followed the movement as the need for caffeine was growing.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah,” you shook your head, focusing on anything but the delicious rich smell that you could sense coming from the cup—dark roast.

“Well, good to know I won’t be the only one late,” he chuckled. Troy? Was that his name? No. He didn’t look like a Troy.

“We’re not that late,” you checked your phone and cursed internally, “only… nine minutes.”

“Dowling doesn’t care if it’s nine minutes or nine hours. Late is late.” He took another sip. You had to look away before your stomach realised how empty it really was.

“True, I guess. Well, it was nice knowing you.” You sighed as you had reached the second door leading to the lecture room. Ty raised an eyebrow. No, his name was definitely not Ty. What was it?!

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Dowling is gonna kill us, isn’t he?” You explained, and he nodded in agreement.

He was again the one to slowly and quietly opened the door, giving you insight into the room. You almost yelled out in excitement when you saw that the lights had been somewhat dimmed for a slideshow that the professor was giving. You have Tim (nope, not Tim) a knowing look and smile. You had been saved. Then, the two of you slipped into the room, letting the doors close themself. You saw a few people turn their heads as you walked by together, searching for a seat, but you didn’t think much of it. You would have looked too if someone dared to be late for one of Dowling’s lectures.

Finally, you found an empty seat. Two, actually. It was in the back of the class, so you hoped that once the lights would go back on, Dowling wouldn’t immediately notice the addition of two more faces. The mystery guy, as you were too tired to think of more names and decided to give up, sat down next to you. He pulled out his laptop and turned it on, quickly putting it on the lowest setting of brightness. Just before he had opened it up, you noticed a few stickers. Between a few references from tv shows and movies, you saw the logo of Delta Kappa. You only recognised it because you had been seeing the logo on almost every notice board the last few days together with the campus-wide invitation for last night’s party.

So he was a frat boy.

You looked up to the side at him as you pulled out your laptop and notebook. The notebook was more for doodling than anything. But also to write down some more of the essential or just entertaining parts of the lecture, since you had come to realise that writing things down by hand helped you remember better.

Your heart stopped beating for a second as you opened your laptop, praying that no embarrassing tabs were open or, even worse, you still had Spotify playing on full blast. But you could let yourself relax when the laptop just showed you your desktop.

Right then, you could hear your stomach growl of hunger.

“Here,” suddenly T, as you decided to call him for the time being, slid over his coffee to your small desk. You looked up at him in confusion. He had a cap on, so there was not much you could see in the dark shadow, but you saw his sincere smile.

You thanked him before grabbing the cup. Since it was Starbucks, you hoped to learn his name finally. But instead, in black marker, was written “Holland”. Last name. Well, that was something.

_________________________________

“Thank you,” y/n said before grabbing the drink, taking a look at the name written on it, and taking a big sip of it, although she quickly pulled it away from her lips, her face distorted in a sour expression.

“Sorry,” Tom apologised, “my hand had slipped when I was pouring in the sugar.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” she whispered, still a bit disgusted, but it didn’t stop her from taking another large sip. “How can you drink this stuff?”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.” Tom grinned.

Times weren’t exactly desperate, in his case.

The party had been a massive success. Everyone seemed to have had a great time, and this time, not even at the cost of any of the frat house furniture. Sure, some people might have thrown up in the cooking pans, but that could be easily cleaned up by one of the pledges.

It all ended around 2 am, which was fairly early, but it was, of course, a school night. Tom remembered to drink water before going to sleep and woke up with only a mild headache. A few painkillers solved that pretty quickly. He got up, stumbled a bit over the mess around the house and was on his way to class.

He was sure he would have made it on time if it wasn’t for his usual appetite and need for coffee. Yes, he could have made it at home, but for some reason, the coffee from that machine always tasted like piss. And Tom did not want to find out why. So, it had almost become routine for him to stop by the Starbucks that was on the way from the house to the lecture halls.

What he had not expected was the giant line of customers inside. More people had felt the need for coffee after a wild night of partying. He recognised some girls, still wearing the same dresses they wore to the party. A few guys who looked like they were on the verge of death were sipping their drinks in the corner of the room. The two baristas were running around behind the counter, trying to make the drinks as fast as possible. As fellow students, they knew that there were a lot of people rushing to get to class, at least.

Tom had even looked at his phone, checking the time before he decided to step into the queue. He had majorly misjudged the time it would take the baristas to make the few drinks before it was his turn to order. In the meantime, people would walk up to him, also recognising him from the party, to tell Tom what a great time they had last night.

Finally, he got his drink and made his way over to the second station and poured in some sugar. For that extra kick of energy, but also, secretly, because he could not stand the bitterness of coffee. Then, it was really time to leave the crowd. Tom never really minded people and was definitely what you call a “social butterfly”, but there was always a limit. And the limit on a Monday morning was minimal. Even smaller, if you are still trying to get rid of a hangover.

He had just reached the main square of campus when he saw the big clock. He was already late, so it wouldn’t do much to run. Professor Dowling did not care for excuses or how late you were, even if it was a second. So he could as well just take his time.

Others had different ideas apparently.

Tom watched as someone ran across the grass, clutching on to their backpack. She stopped at the same door that he was heading for, so he got to have a good look first. The first thing he saw was the back of her head. Hair made up in a braid that was falling apart. A large black sweater, probably her boyfriend’s, was covering most of her frame.

She was trying to pull open the door that had the word PUSH on them, but Tom didn’t say anything. It was early, and by the looks of her, not that he was judging, she didn’t have a great morning.

When they had made eye contact, he recognised her from the lectures but did not think he had ever heard her name being mentioned. Professor Dowling loved interacting with the class, no matter how large, and often called out people to answer his absurd questions. She had never put her hand up to answer. Tom was sure of it; he would have remembered her name.

It interested him to see her pull out, not only a laptop but also a notebook. Did people even use those anymore? Even the dim light he could see the words scribbled on the cover. The decorative style did kind of make it hard to miss it.

Property of y/f/n.

So that was her name. Tom couldn’t help but smile to himself.

Having already missed the first ten minutes, he tried his best to focus on the words of the professor, but some things just couldn’t go unnoticed.

By the look y/n was giving his coffee cup, he could tell that she had not had any herself and the sound of her empty stomach as they sat next to each other only confirmed his suspicion. So, it only felt like the right thing to do to give her some. And the smile he got in return definitely made it worth it.

His attention was entirely gone by that point, as he watched her open her notebook. It was filled with little drawings. Some were more distinct than others. There were the classic five-petal flowers and the single mysterious eye with no other entity attached to it—also a few little scratchy tornadoes and random filigree. Patches of just lines and different patterns filled up the corners and extended out to the middle of the pages. Tom also definitely recognised a few attempts at bringing back the Super S in there.

But what also filled up the page were little characters. She must have drawn them during the lectures around Halloween because he recognised a little witch, stylised to the perfect amount of cuteness. There was also a cauldron of bats flying off to the side.

Tom could have looked at it for much longer and still find some more doodles in there, but unfortunately, she flipped the page. This one was blank. She took out a pen and started to doodle mindlessly.

First, a straight line, to which she attached little ovals. Lightly, but the lines got darker, the more she went over it. Then she made some more lighter lines across it. It made him chuckle when he recognised what it finally was—a piece of wheat. The way she stopped drawing for a second, Tom thought that she had not realised what she was drawing either. It was just a random coincidence where a few lines suddenly could make up an existing object. Then she continued.

From time to time she’d stop to make a note somewhere in the middle of the page, something that professor Dowling said that made her giggle. It was adorable to hear.

“Now, this,” Tom could hear the professor say from his little podium, the two little words shook everybody in the room awake because those they were code for IMPORTANT. As Dowling kept on talking, y/n closed her notebook and pulled her laptop closer to type. Tom had to pull himself together to focus on the actual lecture.

Then the sound of her stomach pulled him out of that. That was followed by the whisper of an angry “fuck”. Tom looked over to y/n again. She was trying to type something out, but her shaking fingers kept pressing the wrong buttons. She was crumbling apart from hunger.

Crumbling…

Suddenly, Tom remembered. He leaned down to look in his bag, hoping it was still there. It was.

“Hey,” he nudged her side, making her look up at him once more, with caution. He grabbed the small pack of Oreos and slid them over to her desk. She looked perplexed. Then she pushed the, slightly flat-looking, cookies back to Tom. He frowned.

“I thought I’m not supposed to be taking candy from strangers.” She whispered. Tom chuckled and pushed the pack of four cookies back to her.

“Well, good it’s not candy then. Eat. I can tell you’re starving.”

Y/n looked at the Oreos, not sure whether to take them or not, but her stomach answered for her. She opened her mouth, but then she closed it again and turned away. Tom understood it. It would have been the fourth time she would have said: “thank you”. By now, he got the message. As she opened the packet of cookies, Tom went back to listening to the lecture.

_________________________________

You hesitated before taking the cookies. Were they some kind of prank? You knew how frat guys loved to pull jokes on everyone, even if they were no better than middle school hijinks or cheesy April fools clichés. But the silver packet, except that it looked a bit flat, seemed to be untouched. Most likely because of getting squashed by something in his backpack.

You opened it and were immediately hit with the delicious whiff of chocolate. You took out one cookie and didn’t bother with the usual way of splitting it open to eat the filling first. You needed food. Now. Even if it were just four broken Oreo cookies. It was better than nothing.

Obviously, you were still hungry and in need of a proper breakfast, but the small snack helped you hold out for the rest of the lecture.

But now that your stomach was sorted for, you had another problem concentrating. Your new, still unnamed, friend tended to type very loudly. At first, you looked over in a bit of annoyance, which made you actually notice his hands. There was nothing special about them. They were naturally just hands, but the way he moved his fingers across the keyboard… it made you look back in that general direction a few times more.

Probably because of all these distractions, the usual hour and 45 minutes felt much shorter. Before you knew it, professor Dowling was saying his goodbyes and everyone around you started packing up their things.

Needing to get some food ASAP, you packed up your things and practically ran out of the room. Only as you were nearing the cafeteria did you realise that you had never said goodbye to your snack provider.

Shit.

_________________________________

“Hey, so I was thinking-” Tom was going to suggest grabbing a bite for breakfast together, being somewhat hungry himself, but when he looked up y/n had already packed her things and was on her way to the stairs, following the other students out the door.

Tom sank back down into his seat.

“Any problems, Mr Holland?” Tom’s head shot forward to see professor Dowling looking up at him. When he looked around, he saw he was the only one who had not started packing up.

“No, everything’s alright, sir,” Tom said before getting up with his laptop. “Great lecture. Learned a lot... and stuff.”

“Good, good,” Dowling said. His glasses were slipping off his nose slightly, so he pushed them back up with his middle finger. “I did not expect you to have heard anything, by the way you and miss y/n were chatting.”

The professor’s words made Tom’s cheek burn up as he pushed the laptop back into its place in his bag. That man saw everything.Suddenly he felt as if he was in middle school again.

“Try to not make it a habit.”

“No, sir,” Tom said.

Dowling just nodded, meaning the conversation had ended and giving Tom permission to sprint out of the room.

He wasn’t sure why he was in such a hurry. Maybe he was hoping to find y/n waiting outside the doors. He didn’t even know why he wanted to see her there. He just did. He had this urge just to watch her doodle in that notebook of hers. There was something so endearing about it.

Alas, no one was waiting for him outside that door. Or even in the proximity of it. There was no one but groups of students making their way from and to class.

Then, Tom realised that she must have run off to the cafeteria. Still, he decided against going there. As much as he wanted to talk to y/n again, he didn’t want to come off stalkerish. Besides, they’d have another class tomorrow. He could speak to her then.

“Ayo! Holland!” Tom looked over to a group of people he recognised to be his friends. They were gathered around one of the large windows that was open in the hallway. He waved to them before making his way over.

“What’s up, man? You looked like a lost puppy.” Jacob said.

“No nothing, I just zoned out a little, I guess.” Tom shook his head, clearing it off thoughts of y/n.

“Well, we were thinking,” his best friend and fellow Delta Kappa resident, Harrison joined in on the conversation, “There is this new bar opening next week. The… something- shit, what’s it called again?” He looked over at the rest of the group.

“The Sterling,” it was Zendaya that answered. She was sitting on the window sill with both legs in front of her, not living much space for anyone else to sit. She had something between her fingers, and Tom could not make out if it were a regular cigarette or a joint. (The smell insinuated at nicotine, so that answered for itself.) The fact that they were on campus did not make much difference to them. She took a drag and blew the smoke out, before handing it to Harrison.

“So, Holland, you’re in?”

“Yeah of course.” There’s nothing like the hysteria of drinking yourself sick in some new dingy place across campus. A new one would open up every few months because its predecessor would get shut down after too many accounts of selling alcohol to minors. It had almost become a game for younger students to see how quickly they can destroy a business. Tom and Harrison had been record holders for a while. Five weeks. Tom wasn’t exactly sure how anyone could tell they were the reason for The Six-Ball to close, but it didn’t matter. (“With a name like that, they deserve to shut down,” Harrison had joked before ordering two Long Island Iced Teas.)

Now that they were of the legal drinking age, of course, maybe it wasn’t as fun to go to those shitty holes in the wall, but with the right people, they made it a party every time.

“Nice! So-” Jacob started talking about how he thought the night had to go, but Tom was already zoned out again. Between Zendaya and Harrison, he had the perfect view of the small grass field. Some people had sat down there with their friends to enjoy the midday, but most people still considered it too cold to sit outside. But what Tom was looking at was behind the grass field. It was the cafeteria doors. He saw that large sweater again. y/n walked out, holding something that looked like a sandwich. Tom smiled to himself.

“What are you smiling about?” He got nudged in the ribs by someone.

“Oh, you know, the uhm-” he had no idea what the rest of his friends had been talking about to include in his lie.

“I know,” Harrison said, lounging his arm across Tom’s shoulder to point in the same direction that Tom had been looking at. Tom froze up when he pointed straight at y/n with his finger.

“Angela Pikowski.”

“What?” It took Tom a second, but indeed, right in front of y/n, stood Angela with her own group of friends. She laughed at something, whipping her bottle bleached blonde hair across her shoulder. He understood too, how Harrison had caught her so quickly in his vision, for she had her jacket open and her shirt was pretty tight and low cut. How did that girl not catch pneumonia or some shit?

“You ain't slick, bro.” Harrison patted him on the back. Tom, not wanting to get into it more than he needed, just grinned awkwardly. When he looked out into the square, Angela still stood there, but y/n was gone.

_________________________________

The campus food was never that good, but it didn’t matter. The feelings of having actual food in your body felt so good that it might as well have been a five-course meal from a three-star Michelin restaurant. While, in reality, it was just a little bacon, egg and salad sub on stale bread.

It did not matter.

You enjoyed your breakfast as you walked down the path, back to your dorm. After that horrendous morning, and the pretty… interesting lecture, you were ready to lock yourself up in a room and do nothing but watch Netflix. And thankfully, due to having only one morning class, you could actually do it too.

You said your polite “Hi”s and “Hello”s as you passed some other people you recognised from other classes. A bit hopefully, you were on the lookout for your (still nameless!) friend from the lecture. You really had to figure out what his name was.

By the time you had reached your dorm building, your sandwich was gone. A part of you was still hungry, but you ignored that. You were probably just bored anyway.

The dorm hall was basic in every way, from the carpeted grey floor to the plainly painted walls. But the inhabitants, of course, did try to give it some life. They hung up posters and banners, flags and lights. You reached the door that was decorated with a collage of different 80s glam rock artists and walked into your room. That college had been a little bonding experience with your roommate, Marie, during the very first week of Freshman year.

When you walked in, your eyes were immediately drawn to the lump on one of the beds. A groan erupted from underneath it when you switched on the light.

“Ruuuude,” Marie yelled out. She came out from beneath the sheets. Her hair was bigger than ever, and you could see the mascara and eyeshadow stains under her eyes, and there was still some glitter on her.

“You know, you should take off your make-up before going to sleep,” You said as you took off your sweater.

“You know, you should put some on before leaving the house,” she said before diving back underneath her sheets.

“Ouch,” you both laughed. But you couldn’t help but take a look in the mirror as you passed it. Maybe you could have used some concealer under your eyes, but it wasn’t that bad. Right?

The room the two of you lived in maybe wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small either. You were definitely one of the luckier people in the building. Your room, after all, had just enough space for the two beds, desks and closets to mirror each other on each side of the room. You also went the extra way to put up some extra shelving on your side above the bed, since one closet was not enough.

“Didn’t you have class this morning as well?” you asked as you sat down on. You could hear something coming from Marie that resembled an “Mhm”. Not in the talking mood, got it.

So, in quiet, you pulled out your laptop and searched for something that did not look mind-numbingly dumb to watch, eventually settling for a show you had probably watched five times out of pure overwhelming of choice. After a while of moving around in your bed, you found a comfortable position at last and turned the show on, ready for a day of uninterrupted laziness.

_________________________________

Tom got home a bit later than he had hoped. After making plans for the next night, his friends were determined to go out for lunch as well. What he thought would be just a quick grab-and-go, turned out to be a full two-hour lunch where they talked about anything and nothing.

He loved the company of people, but not on Mondays. Mondays were his day to do nothing except for going to class, and Tom felt like he had already done too much.

When he did get back, people were still busy cleaning the aftermath of the party. It had gone a bit wilder than Tom remembered. Some jackass had decided to spray paint one of the upstairs hallways, and the colour was not easy to get off. Luckily, it had become almost a custom for all the house members to lock their doors during a party. For privacy sake firstly, but like anything at Delta Kappa, it turned a bit into a game.

The first two unlock their door, either if the person was too tired to stay at the party or wanted to bring a guest into their room, was obliged to do something horrible. It was up to the rest of the house to decide what. Fortunately for Tom, he had not been the first to unlock his door that night. That luck fell on poor Billy.

Even if it came to be so, the rule didn’t make sense because no one could check who the first one was to open their door and even if- it was not an official Delta Kappa rule. That meant that, even if the person got caught to be the first, they could simply deny the dare. They would be known as Head Chicken, of course, but there were worse things in life.

Tom moved up the stairs, saying hi to a few of his roommates, feeling very lucky as one of the senior members of the house, he did not have cleaning duty. Most of that was up to the pledges anyway.

He remembered when he had to do all those tasks and shit to get into the house. It was so stupid; he didn’t even understand why he chose to be in a fraternity, in the first place.

He did think the other guys had gone a bit softer on himself and Harrison since at the beginning of it all, they had been chosen by the sorority of Alpha Zeta Zeta as the favourites. Still, some unspeakable things had been done that year.

But now that he lived in a giant house with some of his best friends, it all felt like it was a bit worth it. He had a great time at Delta Kappa.

One of the best pros, by far, was that he had his own bedroom. Spacious for everything he needed plus a bit more. A large, unmade, bed waited for him when he opened the door. That, and the happy barks of Tessa.

“Hello, darling,” he bent down to pet her as she jumped to his knees. Tessa was the official mascot of the fraternity, but she had very early on found a great liking to Tom. It only took her a few days to get settled in his room, and from then on, she wouldn’t sleep anywhere else.

Tom moved up to his bed, and Tessa gladly joined him. She patted down a circle before lying down with her head on his chest, letting out a satisfied huff of air. Even if he wasn’t comfortable, Tom had no way out anymore. He was stuck. With nothing else to do, he took out his phone and went through his notifications.

Some texts from Harrison and Jacob, a missed call from that girl he made the mistake of giving her his number. People were getting Wi-fi again because he got at least twenty different Snapchat pictures and videos from the party.

What else there was plenty of, were Instagram mentions and tags. He went through the photos, smiling. It really had been a great party. Then, something popped up in his mind.

Property of: y/f/n

y/f/n

Could it be that easy? He could just search for her and hope to find her account. He typed it in. Her first name was already enough to get plenty of results. As always the profile pictures were too small to really make out a true identity, so he made his way through the accounts.

He only needed three tries, though. The picture already resembled her, so with hope, he clicked on the account.

This account is private. Follow this account to see their photos and videos.

Tom sighed. Not so easy after all. Then he saw the bio. It was a bit vague, just a few random emojis. But what interested him was the Followed by and the fifteen mutual followers that she had. It couldn’t be anyone else.

For some unknown reason, his heart was beating in his throat as he clicked on the blue Follow button and watched it turn grey. Now it was just a matter of waiting until his request got accepted. Or maybe denied. Who knows.

_________________________________

Watching a show for the fifth time got a bit boring. You could still laugh at the jokes, but at the same time, you could also almost flawlessly quote it as the scene went along. So, a few episodes in you took out your phone and started scrolling through various app feeds.

Marie had fallen back to sleep since you could hear her snore in her bed. And you were falling asleep slowly too. It was so warm in your room, and your bed was so soft and comfortable. Your eyes were getting heavier by the second.

Then a notification popped up, brightening up the screen in your hand. Half-awake, you tried to read it.

(your account): Tom Holland (@tomholland2013) has requested to follow you.

Tom? Your mind took a moment to process. Then the face finally clicked to the name. Tom! His name was Tom!

Without much further thought you accepted the request and before you even put your phone down, you fell asleep.

_________________________________

Not to sound desperate, Tom waited for a good half hour before rechecking his phone. He clicked on the Instagram app and the search icon. Her account was still the last one from the recent searches he made. Tom clicked on the account and, to his unexplained surprise, he was greeted with a gallery of pictures.

He had noticed earlier that the count on top of the page said 53 Posts. Interested, he clicked on the first one. It was a picture of a coffee cup. It wasn’t tagged, but Tom recognised it to be from that café Le Moulin. He saw the distinctive black windmill on the napkin that could not be missed.

He scrolled down.

It was a selfie from last summer. The filter slightly enhanced her bright smile on the picture, but Tom could tell it was more to show off the warm atmosphere of her holiday destination. The next photo was from the same holiday, he assumed, of her and a group of friends. He recognised the girls from campus. When he tapped the picture for the tags, he saw their names. @tiffani.btx @bonne_marie @lucywithnodiamonds

He thought to have spotted that Marie chick at the party. She was French if he remembered correctly. She was definitely a wild one. Might have even grinded up against him during one of the better songs that were played.

There were some more selfies, solo and with friends, sunsets and landscapes. The picture quality got worse as he scrolled down. It matched with the timeline. People should not be keeping up their pictures from seven years ago, especially not with all those fucked up filters they used back then. Tom was, of course, one of those people.

He scrolled to the last picture; it was of a dog—one of the cutest little labrador puppies.

Out of nowhere, Tessa barked in her sleep, making Tom jump up. This sudden movement, in its turn, woke the dog up completely. Tessa kept barking.

“Right, I think it’s time for a walk, what do you think?” He patted Tessa on the head as she tried to lick his arm. Tom got up and was about to leave his room when he realised he almost forgot his phone. The screen hadn’t turned off yet, so he looked at the puppy again. But something was off this time. Something had changed.

The little blank heart under the image- it was now pink.

He accidentally liked her oldest picture.

_________________________________

There were two types of naps. Those that made you feel amazing and refreshed by the time you got up. And those that made you feel like you had fallen asleep on a bed of rocks. You felt even worse than before when you woke up. Your head was throbbing, and your bra had pushed itself into every possible part of your chest, making it that much more uncomfortable.

“What time is it?” you asked Marie, but she was still asleep.

The light of your phone almost blinded you, so you quickly put down the brightness. It was around four o’clock. Meaning you had slept for a good three hours.

Besides the time, you checked your notifications. There were not a lot of them. A few spam emails, a few texts in a group chat you never responded too and… a like on Instagram?

tomholland2013 liked your photo. 1 h

You had to think back to the moment before your nap to remember that he had in fact requested to follow you. And you had accepted it.

You clicked on the notification, and it sent you to the liked picture. To your surprise, it was the picture of your family dog, Spot. Your family had picked the name even though he was a completely yellow labrador, loving the irony.

It was your first-ever picture, from over seven years ago. Had he been stalking your account? Why the fuck would he do that?

Well, you thought, it was only fair if I do it too. So, through the like, you made your way over to his account.

First thing you noticed was the number of followers he had. 15.7k How the fuck do people even get those numbers? Well, it’s easier if you’re a hot frat guy, of course.

His profile picture was a mirror selfie, and clearly, it was his favourite composition, for at least five out of the first nine pictures in the gallery were the same style. All full-body reflections, with him holding the phone in his right hand, leaning his head a bit to look at the screen as he took the picture. His lips weren’t exactly in a smirk, but there was that cockiness in there. He really was feeling it, that was obvious.

The first picture was a classic mirror pose- A black jacket and a black hat: the same outfit he had been wearing in class. You looked at the timestamp and saw that he only posted it an hour ago. Already it had dozens of comments and a low thousand amount of likes.

You scrolled down. A denim jacket and beanie in the mirror; a grey t-shirt and sweats in the mirror; a black suit in the mirror, the list could go on. There were other pictures, mostly from the frat house parties and other events where alcohol played a significant role. There were also the occasional front camera selfies.

You couldn’t help but look at those a little bit longer. There was something about that small tight smile that he made that was so cute. In one of the more saturated pictures, with a deeper shadow, you noticed that his nose actually had a little bump in it, most likely from breaking it in the past.

But just from likes alone, you could tell that the mirror was a public favourite.

There was something about the confidence that the pictures portrayed that spoke to you.. He knew he looked good, and no one could deny it. Except, he looked so much better than good.

It was interesting to be scrolling down his posts because it was like a trip back in time. At first, it didn’t wasn’t that obvious, just maybe a change in temperature during the year that was referenced through his clothing. Then it showed a bit more as his hair started to get shorter by each picture taken. It got shorter and shorter until his hair was not much more than a buzz. The reason for the drastic hair change was explained in the next picture.

You had already scrolled down four years worth of pictures, and this one was of him (taken by someone else). Tom was standing in a victory stance on a grass field, which you recognised to be the campus square. He was only wearing boxer shorts and on his chest was painted, in bright blue paint, 𝜟K. Underneath the post, read the caption: Delta Kappa babyyy! with a bunch of other hashtags. One that was included was #deltakappapledge #initiated. Of course, it was during his pledge period.

You kind of hoped that he had to do more than just shave off his hair because he didn’t even look half that bad. It even suited him actually. Hoping to find some more evidence of that embarrassing period, you scrolled on.

The sound that came out of your mouth as you scrolled to the next picture was inhumane. Keeping to tradition, it was a mirror selfie. Behind him seemed to be some workout equipment, possibly from the campus gym, but no one would look at that. Everyone would be too focused on what was in the foreground.

It was Tom standing in front of a mirror, chest glistening with sweat as his hair draped in front of his eyes. Instead of the usual pose, he stood sideways, showing off not only his flexed bicep as he took the picture, but also the outline of all his other muscles.

Completely forgetting what you were doing, you double-tapped the post. How could you not? Only a second later, did your monkey brain realise what you had done. You had made that exact same mistake as Tom. Except while he had liked a picture of a cute dog, you had made your mark on a shirtless selfie.

As the pure humiliation flooded over you, you threw your phone to the other end of the bed with a squeak.

What’s done was done.

_________________________________

Tom came back from the walk with Tessa after an hour. They both enjoyed a long walk around the park neighbouring the campus, just to then pretend like they were too exhausted and lay in bed the rest of the day. Well, Tom pretended. Tessa seemed legitimately tired.

They went back to their position on the bed. Not sure what else to do, Tom got back to Instagram. There was no reaction to his accidental like yet. Not even a follow back from y/n. A bit rude but okay, maybe she hadn’t seen it yet?

He shook his head. He didn’t like this weird side of him. Where had it even come from? Since when did he wait for anyone to respond to him? And they weren’t even having a conversation!

Having nothing else to do, he searched through his phone gallery for a good picture to post. He chose one he had taken during lunch, on his way from the bathroom. It was still crazy that his friends wanted to go to a place where you needed to take an elevator to go to the toilet.

He didn’t care for editing, so he went through the usual Instagram process of making a post, thought of some dumb caption and send it out into the internet. Soon enough, as if they had a notification on for his activities, the likes streamed in. For the first few minutes, he tried to look through them, again hoping that y/n would be one of the likes or the heart eyes emojis in the comments, but quickly it became too much, and Tom couldn’t keep up. He still enjoyed reading the comments.

Of course, it was all one big ego boost. The praise and compliments, even if it was for something as shallow as his looks, definitely gave him a good kick of dopamine and all those other happy chemicals during the day.

Tessa was snoring and drooling on his belly as Tom went through his timeline and explore page. There was not much exciting happening in peoples’ lives, but it made the time flow by faster. An hour had gone by probably when he decided to recheck his activities. His new picture already had a few thousand likes and was close to reaching a hundred comments. He went through some of them and either liked them or responded with a matching emoji.

But as he scrolled through the activity, he saw a like that was to a different picture. A rather old one too, just from the beginning of college. And who might have liked this picture? y/n

She liked a workout selfie, huh?

With the confidence that the like gave him, Tom clicked on her account and the message button. He thought about what to send for a moment but decided against overthinking it and went with a simple-

_________________________________

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: Hi

You looked at the notification for a while. He definitely saw you had liked his old picture. Was he going to make fun of you? Tease you how you had outed yourself for thirsting over him?

But maybe he just wants to talk? You tried to sound optimistic to yourself. After all, he did like an old picture of yours too. You were kind of in the same boat.

Putting all worries aside, you clicked on that damn nerve-wracking notification, and without much more thought send out the reply.

(y/n)

Hey :)

Before you could even send out the smiley, the message rose to reveal “SEEN” beneath it. Was this happening? Was it? You could see he was typing.

(tomholland2013)

After stalking me you could have at least followed me back lol

(y/n)

Right sorry just a lot of mirror selfies. Thought i’d seen everything there is to see 😂

(tomholland2013)

Rude Seen anything you like though? ;)

Uhhh, of course, you have. You liked it. A lot. But you weren’t going to give him that satisfaction.

(y/n)

No not really

Quickly change the subject.

So what are you up to?

Good enough subject?

(tomholland2013)

Just lying in bed with Tess

Tess? Who was Tess? Did he have a girlfriend? If he did, he would have posted something on his Instagram, right? That’s what couples did? Unless it was just a one time fling. You couldn’t even call it a one-night stand since it wasn’t even night.

Wait, why did you even care about that? You had literally only said hello to each other and shared a coffee during class.

But the curiosity was gnawing at you.

(y/n)

Tess?

(tomholland2013)

Yeah, she’s falling asleep on my chest. Kinda tired her out lol

You looked at the text, unsure how to respond, or even if to do it. Was he telling you about his hookup? It didn’t sound like the nice guy you had met in front of the lecture hall, and that gave you his leftover coffee and Oreos. Your face wrenched into a grimace, not sure anymore what to make of this conversation or of what had happened during class.

He was typing again.

Wanna see?

Jesus Christ, this was a mistake. You didn’t respond, but he still sent you a picture anyway. It was a timer, unfortunately, meaning you had to click on it to see what he had sent. But he could see you got the message and that you were online. The longer you took, the more prominent you would make it that something was wrong, and you didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He had given you his coffee.

The curiosity got the better of you once again, though, and you clicked on the little bomb. What popped up was almost what you expected- but at the same time, so not. Before your brain properly processed what you were looking at, you were scared that he had sent you an unsolicited dick pic, but it was the furthest thing from that.

What you saw was a POV shot of his chest and legs. He was indeed lying on his bed. On his chest, however, was the head of a grey silver dog. “Tess” had her eyes closed peacefully as she slept on.

Of course, it was a dog.

You decided to be honest. For the benefit of the conversation, if anything.

(y/n)

Omg 💀

(tomholland2013)

We just came back from a long walk, so she’s pretty knackered What? Did you think I meant something else?

Embarrassment kicked in anyway.

(y/n)

No... lol

(tomholland2013)

You sooo did lmao Jealous much ;)

(y/n)

Of the dog maybe

(tomholland2013)

Cause she gets to be here with me?

(y/n)

No I meant it like She’s so cute I want one

(tomholland2013)

Relax I was just messing with you But if you ever wanna come over

(y/n)

Maybe another time

The response came out in a panic. Had he invited you for what you thought he did? No, there was no way he did. Besides, you couldn’t go to his house. You barely knew the guy- your mind kept on whirring about it. But the conversation continued.

Soon the sun had gone down, and it got dark outside, but the messages kept coming in. At one point Marie finally woke up from her hangover slumber. Drowsily she got up and headed for the shower with a towel and toiletries bag in her hand. Before she left, though. She asked you if you could prepare something to eat for dinner since she was starving. You being you, agreed.

(y/n)

Hey, I think I gotta go for a bit. Gotta make dinner for my roommate

(tomholland2013)

What’s on the menu?

(y/n)

Probably spicy ramen?

(tomholland2013)

Damn. sounds good But can’t she make it herself?

_________________________________

A part of Tom wanted to send another message. I want to keep talking to you. But that felt like a bit much. She was typing again anyway.

(y/n)

Because she’s still hungover from your party lol Thank for that btw

(tomholland2013)

You make it sound like i am personally responsible

(y/n)

Well your the only guy from DK i know so you’re** 💀fml. There go my chances of an english degree

(tomholland2013)

Nah babe YOU’RE good ;)

_________________________________

Your heart fluttered at the little word, for no reason. It was just a text message. He probably called every girl he texted that. Still, the sentiment was there. Also that winky face of his. Could he stop?

He started to type again.

(tomholland2013)

But if you ever wanna meet the other guys, you really are welcome to come over.

(y/n)

I’m good thanks.

Going to a frat house alone? You felt like that could easily be the start of your personal horror movie. It would absolutely crash at the box office, but that didn’t matter. And it was the second time he invited you to come over. If it was a hint, it wasn’t a subtle one. It didn’t stop you from doubting it.

(tomholland2013)

No need to be scared. They’re pretty chill dudes.

It was cute how he could read your mind because you were undoubtedly scared, but what he probably did not think was that you weren’t interested in meeting any other frat guy because there was only one on your mind at the moment.

(y/n)

Maybe another time ttyl?

You had sent the last message in the hopes that he had as much fun talking to you as you did with him. You watched eagerly as the three dots danced around on the screen while he typed out his answer.

(tomholland2013)

Absolutely

_________________________________

Tom turned his phone off with a smile covering his face. He had just spent talking a good two hours to y/n, and he had to admit, he hadn’t had that pleasant of a conversation with anyone in a long time. It was just so easy to talk to her. It might be partly because it was only texts. But still, she was funny, sweet, and so pretty...

Unbeknown to himself, he was falling a little bit for y/n. Although, maybe he did feel it coming. The idea of getting another text from her made his face heat up. The idea of seeing her in class the next day almost made him… giddy. And it’s only been a day.

“Hey, man,” there came a knock on his door. “Better hide anything that would make it awkward between us cause I’m coming inside in 3-2-1-”

“‘S all good,” Tom said right as Harrison walked through the door.

“We’re gonna order pizza, what do you want?”

“Just the usual, I guess,’ Tom shrugged. Honestly, he didn’t really feel like eating pizza but to be the only one that wasn’t having any wasn’t a good strategy either.

“Alright, then.” As quickly as he walked in, Harrison was also leaving the room. But he peeked his head through the door once more before actually walking away.

“Hey, are you sure you’re good?” Harrison looked at him through narrow eyes.

“Yeah,” Tom answered as he prodded himself to sit up. “Why?”

“I don’t know… Nevermind.” And with that, Harrison left to share Tom’s order.

It was a rare occasion that all the house members would be at home on a night that wasn’t reserved for a party. That night, when it came to dinner, it was around 8 of them. Everyone was already sitting on the couches when Tom came downstairs to grab his pizza. He grabbed a chair and his box and sat down. A football game was playing on tv, and it made Tom roll his eyes. He still had no real idea of how football was supposed to work. He always preferred golf or basketball, or even baseball.

The guys cheered at a touchdown or whatever but all Tom could focus on was his phone. He kept checking if there were any notifications from y/n. So far, there was nothing. She was probably busy, he told himself, not wanting to feel too disappointed.

_________________________________

“So who were you texting back then?” Marie said as she slurped on her noodles. You were playing around with your own portion a bit, not really in the eating mindset.

“Huh? No one.” you shook your head.

“So it is someone. C’mon. Who is it?” She extended her leg to poke yours. She kept going until you finally gave in.

“Just this guy from Dowling’s class.” you finally took a bite of ramen.

“Aaand does this guy have a name?” Marie kept on asking.

You looked up from your cup of noodles. “Tom… Holland.”

Marie gasped, almost dropping her food onto her lap. “Tom Holland? As in Delta Kappa Tom Holland?’ you nodded your head yes. “No fucking way.”

“What?” Not the most nuanced reaction, but it would do.

“No way you have a crush on Tom fucking Holland.” You always noticed that when Marie cursed her French accent would show up again. Just the slightest bit. This time, however, what you stayed on was her statement.

“I do not!” you said as your cheeks were heating up.

“Ohhh, you do. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have said ‘nobody’. Everybody knows that ‘nobody’ is code for either crush, boyfriend, or drug dealer. And I think we can exclude the last option.” you were going to protest, but you would have only been fooling yourself.

“So, hypothetically, let’s say I do have a crush on him. Why did you scream out ‘No way’?” You bit your lip, a bit scared for an answer.

“No, no, no. I didn’t mean it like that.” Marie put down her ramen on her desk and came to sit down next to you on your bed. “I didn’t mean that you, like, don’t have a chance with him. Please, if anything, you’re too good for him.’ you both chuckled. “I just didn’t think he’d be your type.”

“What, hot?” You raised an eyebrow to which she slapped your shoulder.

“You’re being difficult. I mean, so… out there. You know, he’s basically the leader of that frat house, he always parties, always has stuff to go to. And you’re… well, pretty much the exact opposite. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Completely not. I just don’t want you to put yourself in any positions that you’re uncomfortable with to impress him or anything. Remember, you are too good for him.”

“Thanks.” you hugged her from the side. “But don’t you think that it would be good for me to go out once in a while? Out of my comfort zone?”

“Sure, if you’re actually doing it for you. Not some guy.”

“He is really nice, you know.” you smiled, remembering what had happened that morning. You went on telling Marie about it.

“Oh, so he’s got a crush on you too, huh? That works out perfectly. ” She finally said when you were done telling your story. You looked at her with wide eyes.

“What? Noooo,” you said, letting an awkward laugh escape through the no.

“Fine, whatever,” Marie moved back to her own bed and grabbed her cup of ramen. “But I bet you that if you check your phone now, you’ll have at least one message from him.”

You rolled your eyes again but grabbed your phone either way. And, fair enough, you had two notifications from ten minutes ago.

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: Heyy

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: I hope the ramens good

Holding in your smile, and ignoring the smart ass comments of Marie, you replied quickly.

(y/n)

It was :)

_________________________________

The speed at which Tom checked his phone when he felt the vibration in his pocket could have caused someone severe whiplash. He responded to the text and got up. Ultimately, he had hoped that he could slip out the room unnoticed, but he never got what he wanted, did he?

“Where are you going?” It was Dave that saw him get up. Tom stopped in his tracks like a little kid that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Just up to my room. Feelin’ a bit tired.’ He explained. This answer received several strange and confused looks, but Tom ignored those and just walked upstairs without saying another word. He plopped down onto his bed. Tessa was still downstairs under the table chewing on some pizza crusts, so he was finally alone.

The texting continued through the whole night, and Tom had wholly lost the sense of time. He didn’t even feel tired. If it wasn’t for y/n saying that she was about to fall asleep, he wouldn’t at least. Like that, the windshield crashed, and he felt the fatigue from the hours of messaging and staring at a screen overwhelm him. He just about managed to send out goodnight before his eyelids were too heavy to open up again.

_________________________________

The next morning you woke up feeling much better than either time the day before. Fresh and energised, with plenty of time to get ready before class started. Not that you really put much effort into how you looked for the morning lectures. It was more mental preparation. With enough time to eat breakfast, shower and brush your teeth, you felt excellent walking out the door. Dressed in a sweater that was warmer than two jackets and some loose jeans. With your bag over your shoulder.

You always thought the walk from your dorm to the lecture halls was delightful. The path leading toward it was enveloped in a tunnel of trees, and during the end of the year, when the leaves were turning into their auburn and golden shades, it almost felt warmer than in summer. Because the harsh wind still kept up with its schedule. It blew in your face as you walked, rubbing against your cheeks.

When you got there, the lecture hall was still relatively empty. Only a few other people had taken their seats. This was the crucial moment of choosing your seat. Against all your own instincts, you walked down to the bottom of the auditorium, into the fourth row. You had never sat that closer to professor Dowling’s podium, too scared you would be too easy to notice and called to answer a question. But something in you told you to be brave.

Besides, you had the idea that Tom wasn’t eager to sit there either.

As much as those butterflies in your stomach fluttered at his mention, you didn’t want to talk to him now, not during class. You needed to pass this class badly and to do that, you needed to focus. Something you could not do with him sitting next to you.

That’s what you told yourself. It was, of course, true, but the bigger problem was that you were scared. Tom sounded like a nice guy, a very good looking nice guy, but Marie’s words played in your head. He was from a completely different world. And it was a scary one. Why not keep a bit of a safe distance at first?

So, you kept your head buried in your notebook as people started to stream into the room. One by one, the seats around you were getting occupied—none of them by Tom, for better or for worse.

_________________________________

It had taken Tom a while to find y/n. He walked into the room, thinking he had come in with plenty of time to spare, but as he was making his way down the steps, the professor was already making his way to the podium. Tom tried to look around the room as quickly as he could, but he could not see her. Where was she?

Professor Dowling coughed loudly, indicating for everyone to shut up and sit down, so he could start the lecture. Tom took the first empty seat he saw. An aisle seat somewhere around the 8th row. The course started, but Tom’s eyes stayed on the seats, looking for that braid.

It wasn’t a brilliant plan, because he had no idea if she had actually kept that braid in for another day. And she had not, in fact. He noticed her, sitting somewhere at the bottom of the class, as she grabbed her hair and was pulling it up into a bun. She did it so quickly, so smoothly, without ever letting her attention get away from her. Focused on the class. He could really learn something from her.

And he tried to take a page from her book as he finally looked ahead of him to see Dowling write an entire essay on the blackboard. He cursed himself and quickly started to type everything over. His fingers went in fully automatic mode, and he had no more idea what the words he was typing actually meant.

His mind had wandered off once again. He couldn’t stop feeling that disappointing pull at his heartstrings. He had hoped they could have had a repeat of yesterday. She apparently thought differently. Or maybe she had hoped he would sit next to her, but he was just too slow?

The lecture went on forever, felt like. Tom’s fingers were cramping up from typing so much, and he could feel his back beginning to hurt in the uncomfortable chair. He kept stealing quick glances at y/n, hoping to catch her in doing the same, but she had not moved once.

He had to get a grip. They had known each other for one day, spoken maybe ten sentences to each other in person. The rest was all through text. And nothing was the same via messages. Maybe all his feelings were coming from the entirely wrong place? Perhaps she was just polite, and he had misinterpreted it for casual flirting? Besides, there was that sweater of hers yesterday- what if she had a boyfriend?

But a part of him still wanted to ignore all those signs and go for it. So, when the bell rang, and professor Dowling finally dismissed the class, Tom made sure he was one of the first ones outside. The large hall had two exits, so he stood against a wall, somewhere in the middle between both doors, hoping to catch y/n as she was walking out.

The loud rumbling of thunder caught his attention momentarily.

It was just a second, he swore to himself. But the second was enough to miss her. Somehow she had escaped him, nowhere to be found.

_________________________________

You had seen Tom waiting out in front of the room, and you felt horrible for walking the exact opposite direction. For the sake of your own feelings, you didn’t look back at any point on your way to your second lecture.

As Professor Phillips spoke, you felt your phone vibrate.

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: where are you? :)

The little smiley made heat up in the cheeks, but you tried to ignore that as you typed out a response. You didn’t even click the notification to go to the app, just responded through the shortcut.

(y/n): had another class

Another notification popped up not long after.

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: wanna meet up later?

(y/n): ngl I don’t feel well, will probably head back home right after

(y/n): but i’d love to chat

You shut off your phone, too scared to see the reply. Maybe it wasn’t the best move since you could not think about anything else for the remainder of the class. When you checked your phone again on your way back to the dorms your heart was lifted.

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: of course. hope you feel better <3

_________________________________

Tom tried to think that she wasn’t avoiding him. After all, they texted almost every possible second that they had the time for the past week

They had talked about pretty much anything and everything. And it felt great. The way they spoke to each other, or at least Tom to her, was as if they had known each other for ages.

Tom only wished he could do that with her from across a table, or a on a bench. Where ever, he didn’t care. He wanted to be able to look into her eyes as they talked and see her smile. Hear that lol and not just imagine it.

Unfortunately, y/n was kind of giving him the cold shoulder in the real life. She ignored him during classes, and was gone before he could get the chance to talk to her. Whenever he asked if they could meet, she’d give him some reason she couldn’t. If it wasn’t for the fact that they had actually already met in real life, he had vary valid reasons to think he was being catfished.

Another reason could have been that she sounded too perfect.

It was the next Tuesday already, and Tom was waiting eagerly for the lecture to end. It had been a full week and he had decided, while copying some of Dowling’s notes, that he would talk to y/n today. After class.

Tomorrow would be the opening of the Sterling and he wanted to ask her if she wanted to come.Or at least to know if she wanted to hang out ever. If the truth came to be no, he would be fine with that. He respected that. He just needed to know. It wouldn’t take away from the fact how great it was to have someone to talk to, even if it was only through text bubbles.

The bell rang and Tom sprinted out. He kept his eyes on both doors as best as possible and finally saw her.

_________________________________

“Hey, y/n!” you heard your name being called from behind you. It was from Tom. He waved to you so would come over. Taking a deep breath, you decided to wave back, but your legs were frozen in place.

You felt absolutely terrible for ignoring him and denying his various invitations to hang out or to go anywhere, but it was just too terrifying. You were scared of fucking it up. Of it to turn out to be one big joke. You had heard of frat guys using dates and hookups as dares and shit. You didn’t want that. You couldn’t let that happen.

But when you saw Tom smile at you, those worries suddenly disappeared and your legs moved without connecting to your brain. Suddenly, you found your spot next to him.

He had been leaning against the wall with one foot, his arms crossed. You decided to lean against it with your shoulder. Even though you had your sweater, you could feel the grizzly texture of the bare red brick. He smiled and mirrored your movement, so you were only a few inches apart. ,

“Hey,” he said, still with the smile on his face.

“Hey,” you replied.

Tom uncrossed his arms to brush his fingers through his hair. As you watched him do so, you couldn’t help imagine how it would feel to play with his hair. It looked so soft.

“I just wanted to say,” he licked his lips. You were so close to each other that you could see how pink and chapped they were. Focus. “How much fun I had the past week. It’s bee really great talking to you.”

“I had fun too,” you said. It really was nice talking to Tom. Especially now, standing so close to him, you could smell the coffee he had consumed that morning. Was it pumpkin spice? You felt stupid for not letting it happen sooner.

“Great, that’s- that’s really great to hear. I said great already, didn’t I?” He laughed, shaking his head, “Anyway, I was thinking: a couple of friends of mine are going to the opening of this new bar, the Sterling, it’s probably going to be a bit boring, but I thought, maybe you’d like to come? With me?” He looked at you with those big brown eyes. Your mind started racing a million miles an hour at his words. The fuzzy warm feeling that you got from looking at his smile was dispersing and setting in for anxiety.

He wanted you to go to a bar with him and his friends? Would that be considered a date? For the sake of your dignity, you decided against asking for clarification. It didn’t matter. You couldn’t go to some dingy bar with strangers, even if one of them was Tom. You could already feel your body heating up in anxiety as all the horrible scenarios played out in your head.

You realised you had been quiet for a while and Tom was still looking at you hopefully.

“No,” you blurted out. “I mean, I can’t. Sorry.”

“Oh, that’s fine. Totally. Maybe another time? Or if you don’t wanna go there, we could go somewhere else?”

“Uhh,” you couldn’t breath. All his suggestions were so sweet, but it felt too overwhelming to answer. Thankfully, the clock tower at the other end of campus rang and indicated the quarter of an hour. Your next class would soon start, and it was about a five-minute walk to get to.

“I have to go.” you pointed back and started walking, but Tom grabbed your hand gently, just enough by your fingertips.

“Sorry, I just- if you don’t want to hang out with me, that’s totally fine. You don’t have to pretend to like me, no hurt feelings. I don’t want you to-”

“I do, Tom,” you told him with a compassionate smile. Then you looked back at the clock. “But I really got to go.”

“Right, sorry.” he let go of your hand, and you ran off to your next course.

_________________________________

“Who was that?”

As soon as y/n ran off, Tom heard the voice coming from next to him. Zendaya popped up out of nowhere, an unlit cigarette hanging between her lips as she leaned in the same spot y/n had.

“Just a friend,” Tom shrugged. That’s what they were, after all. If even. He hoped he could describe someone he had mainly only spoken through texts with as a friend.

“You sure about that?” Zendaya smirked. “Cause by the looks of it, she’s got you pretty hooked. You were basically begging her to go out with you, bro.”

“Yeah, well, forcefulness isn’t exactly an aphrodisiac, is it?” he sighed then almost turned pale at the words he had said. Zendaya didn’t say anything, just nodded and took out her glittery lighter.

“Could you not?” Tom pulled the cigarette out of her mouth before she could light it and put it in his pocket. “We’re inside, for fucks sake.”

“Fine, but tell me who this friend of yours is.” She nodded her head back into the direction that y/n ran in.

“I don’t really know. I mean I do, but- Basically we met last week before class. Then I found her on Instagram and DM’d her-”

“You slid into her DMs? Bro,” she laughed.

“Call it what you want, it was the only way of reaching her I had.”

“Fine, so you like her, yeah?”

“I guess.” Tom didn’t like sharing his feelings. It put him in this vulnerable position that he was not used to. Zendaya knew that, yet still she pushed him to do it almost every time they talked.

“For what it’s worth, I think she likes you too,” she said.

“How so?” he questioned hesitantly. It wouldn’t have been the first time that Zendaya had pulled that trick on him to date someone. And it had not ended well.

“Well, body language for one, she felt comfortable enough around you to stand close to you, facing you; she smiled at your rants which, props to her, is hard to do.”

“How long had you been watching us, exactly?” Tom asked a bit freaked out. Zendaya ignored the question.

“Believe me, she likes you. She’s just scared.” she pulled out another cigarette from her pocket, “also, taking a girl to a shithole like the Sterling for your first date? I’m glad she said no. Set some standards, man.” And with that lovely comment, she walked away. She didn’t have to see Tom flipping her off, she knew he would do it, and she replied lovingly in the same way.

That’s what you got for being friends with psychology majors.

_________________________________

The first thing you did after walking out of your second class was to check your phone if you had received any messages from Tom. There was nothing. So you decided to message him yourself.

(your account)

Hey Sorry I ran away like that And basically anytime after class and making those dumb excuses not to meet up Just so you know I do really wanna hang out with you I’m just not really great with crowds or with places like bars and stuff And ive also never really been asked to go anywhere with anyone, like personally Idk why im telling you this. I’m definitely rambling Texting is definitely easier than talking huh Sorry for all this

It took Tom two minutes to see your messages and to respond.

(tomholland2013)

It’s totally okay. I get it And sorry if i made you uncomfortable with all that. Can i come to your place tonight? Or how about we go to Le Moulin?

Le Moulin. You had been there before. You could do that. With trembling fingers of excitement, you replied

(your account)

Deal. Around 7?

(tomholland2013)

Sounds perfect. See u then

_________________________________

Tommo: Hey guys, sorry but im gonna have to skip on tonight

This short message was seen and very much not appreciated by his friends. None of the replies could be seen as appropriate for day-time television. Except for the one Zendaya had sent him through their personal chat. It was simple,

Z: 👍

With the entire afternoon off, Tom made sure he looked somewhat decent for the night. He took a shower. Washed his hair and made sure it was extra soft. He wasn’t sure what y/n thought of it, but from past experiences, he knew that usually, girls loved his hair. Thinking about other girls was probably not the best mindset, though. Still, his hair did look really good. He brushed his fingers through it.

It had not yet stopped raining, which was a bit of a problem, but he hoped she wouldn’t mind getting a bit wet. For the sake of it, he took an umbrella with him. Luckily it wasn’t very windy, so it actually came to good use. The walk from the frat house to the dorm that y/n said she lived in wasn’t too far away, and fortunately on the way to the place he had in mind to take her to.

On his way over, he thought about what Zendaya had told him.

Was y/n scared? Of what?

They had talked about that kind of stuff briefly, during the weekend, and she and said that she suffered from anxiety. Tom just thought it was stuff like giving a presentation in class. He hadn’t even thought about the more social aspect of it. And here he was pushing all those things at her like going to some bar with strangers. Jesus, why did he have to be such a dumbass?

The dorm complex had a buzzer system like a regular apartment complex, so he searched for her name on the long list, and pressed the button next to it.

“Hello?” It was her roommate, Marie, that answered.

“Hey, it’s Tom. I’m here to pick up y/n.” He could hear some indistinct giggling coming from the other side of the line.

“Of course, c’mon up. But I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a bit.” Next followed the buzzer, and the doors opened for him. The number on the button said 54, so he assumed it had to be on the fifth floor. When he walked up to the door with that number, he was greeted with a colourful collage of rock bands whose hair was probably more impressive than their vocal range, which said a lot considering Queen was on it.

He knocked and waited for someone to open. y/n was the one to do it. She stood frozen in the door, only a towel wrapped around her body.

“I thought we said seven?” she said, her voice a bit higher than usual.

“It’s quarter past seven!” Marie shouted out from inside the dorm. y/n cursed.

“Shit, sorry, I lost complete track of time. Give me ten minutes, okay?” she held up a finger so he would wait here. Tom nodded and let her close the door again. He could still hear her yell at Marie as to why she had not told her she was running late, to which Marie only responded with hysterical laughter.

“Holland?” someone in the hallway asked a few minutes later. Tom turned in the direction to see a guy with a head full of bed hair poke out of his doorway (which was covered in pictures of death metal posters and my little ponies). He stepped out in the hallway to reveal he was wearing nothing but a pair of tiny and tight briefs, leaving little to the imagination.

“Oh hey… Crocker,” he called the guy by his preferred nickname.

“Hey man, what are you doing here?” Crocker asked. The way his eyes were almost ruby red and the stench coming from his room, Tom presumed that the guy was higher than a kite.

“Oh you know, waiting for a date, heh.” He said a bit awkwardly, pointing back to door 54.

“Ah, getting some of that French jay nehsuh gwaa.”

Tom looked confused. He wasn’t sure he had ever heard someone butcher a language that badly. Well, probably, but he didn’t remember it. He kind of understood what Crocker meant, though.

“No, I’m here for y/n. Not Marie.”

“Damn? Really.” Crocker started to giggle, which might as well just have been a side effect from whatever he had smoked up in his room.

“Yeah?” He wasn’t sure how else to react. Crocker just shrugged and walked back into his room, smashing the door closed. Tom turned slowly, not sure what exactly had happened just then. And he turned right on time too, because the door of dorm 54 opened and y/n walked out. Wearing a raincoat over a sweater and jeans. She also had a pair of black ankle boots on. Tom could not help but smile at the sight of her.

“Sorry about that,” she said, the nervousness in her voice was unmistakable.

“First,” Tom spoke, remembering one of his earlier worries from days ago, “you don’t have a boyfriend, do you?” The question made her laugh.

“I very much do not. Why did you think that?”

“The sweater you wore when we met. It had that whole stole-it-from-my-boyfriend vibe.”

“No, I haven’t had anyone to steal clothes from in a long time.” she shook her head. Tom extended his hand for her to take, which she gladly did. It felt amazing.

“So what will you be ordering?”

“Ice cream,” Tom answered, almost matter-of-factly.

_________________________________

“Ice cream?” you asked to make sure you had heard him correctly. He nodded in agreement. “Don’t you think it’s a bit cold for that?”

“No.” He said bluntly, which really sold the case for you. You were on your way again.

You could hear the rain pound against the main door before you even reached the ground floor, and it only got harder and louder the nearer you got. Tom, being a true gentleman, opened the door for you, but you were a bit hesitant to walk outside.

“Oh, shit. Sorry,” he let you hold the door so he could step through the threshold and push open the umbrella. You noticed it was a Delta Kappa umbrella. They really made merch of everything. As he put the umbrella up, he extended his arm for you to intertwine yours through. Then, you walked.

Though it was relatively early, the sky was pitch black because of how early the sun set those days and the dark clouds that had been pestering the sky that entire day. Not a star was to be seen. The rain tapped heavily against the umbrella, and you tried to stay as close to Tom as possible. The excuse, of course, was to not get wet but really you wanted to enjoy the warmth that he was giving off. At one point you had changed position from just having your arm over his, to him wrapping his arm over your shoulder.

You walked down a brightly lit path, so you could see everything around you. The trees, the cars passing by, the building. So, when you saw the little café at the end of the street, you squealed.

While there were plenty of bars, pubs and clubs to go to around town, so there were restaurants and cafés. And while restaurants really weren’t your thing, you loved to sit in one of the cosy coffee shops with a cup of tea or coffee and read a good book. Another fun thing about all those places was that they were very internationally orientated, speaking to the wide variety of students that the university had. Le Moulin was of course based on a Parisian café. You had actually found it together with Marie, in hopes she could have something that felt a bit closer to home. Though it didn’t come close to the real magic of the French capital, it still had plenty of its charm in it. Not to mention, the pain du chocolats were to die for!

Yet, you had never actually had ice cream from their menu.

You still weren’t sure if today would be the day for it. By the time you wear under the little entrance roof, you were freezing, and so was Tom, visibly.

“Are you still sure about the ice cream?” you asked him as he closed the umbrella.

“Hot chocolate?” he suggested, suddenly fluent in your love language: chocolate and hot drinks (it was a very simplified version of said love language).

This time Tom got to be the real gentleman as he let you walk inside first. He dropped the umbrella in the stand, together with a few others. When you looked around the café, you saw that a few more couples were enjoying the cosiness. A sweet melody was playing from the speakers. The rain had also softened outside, and together with the vintage sounds of guitar and vocals, it gave the perfect atmosphere for the night.

You had barely stepped inside when one of the waiters walked up. He smiled and said: “Your table is ready,” which surprised you, but Tom took you by the hand, and you both followed the waiter to one of the tables next to the wall, where one side had a couch instead of the usual chairs. You sat down first, taking off your jacket. Tom was going to sit opposite you, but now it was your turn to grab his hand.

“Slide in.”

He smiled and sat down. He probably didn’t need any convincing and just wanted to hear you say that you wanted him to sit next to you. You didn’t mind that.

“Should I prepare the order?” the waiter asked as you made yourself comfortable, again confusing the hell out of you.

“Actually, scrap that. We’ll have two large hot chocolates.” Tom said.

“With cinnamon!” you added.

“One with cinnamon.” Tom corrected. The waiter nodded and walked off.

“Don’t like cinnamon?” you quizzed, to which Tom shrugged.

“It’s alright, just not a big fan.” Both of you looked around the room. You had never been in the café at night, so you hadn’t even realised that the walls were covered in soft gold lights, giving it all that much more the feeling as if you had stepped into a fairytale.

“I didn’t know this place took reservations.”

“I’m not sure either,” Tom replied, you noticed he had his arm draped around you again, “I just called to be sure.”

“Really?” That split you up into two. Your heart skipped a beat at the thought that he had made a special call to the café to get, probably, the best seat in the house. On the other side, you were freaking out for a few reasons. He had put in quite the effort in an almost last minute notice of plans, while you were fifteen minutes late. That was embarrassing enough. And this reservation basically put you in a spotlight for the entire business, which was really not ideal. You didn’t want to be noticed.

“Hey,” he whispered and squeezed his grip around you lightly, “everything okay?”

“Huh? Mhm,” you nodded your head and smiled, trying not to think about how the waiters might be judging you.

“I saw you had posted a picture from this place on your Instagram, and I used to come here a while back, so I thought it would be cool, but if you don’t like it-”

“It’s perfect,” you made up your mind. In the end, it didn’t matter what anyone else thought. You felt safe, sitting on the little couch, next to Tom.

Soon after, the waiter came back with two mugs of hot chocolate. When Tom ordered large ones, they delivered. The mugs might as well have been cereal bowls, topped with a peak of whipped cream and cocoa powder, and a cinnamon stick in your cup to distinguish the two drinks.

“Et voila!” the waiter put the cups down. You thanked him, and he was gone again.

There were spoons, but you decided to stir your chocolate with the cinnamon stick.

Still with his arm around you, Tom took his mug up to his lips. With the feeling of having him so close to you, you wondered what this really was. What if he just wanted to be friends and spend some time with you? Had he noticed how sad and lonely you were, and did he want to take his pity out on you? Were you a charity act for him? God, you hoped not. You really really hoped not.

“Tom?” You looked at him, to see his eyes dart in your direction. His top lip was covered in whipped cream. You gestured it to him, slightly giggling, and he wiped it off with the back of his hand. How was someone that hot, so adorable?

“You were saying?” he said, putting the mug down on the table in front of you.

“I was just wondering,” Be quick, get it over with, you’ll feel better when you say it. “is this a date?”

“Do you want it to be? It doesn’t have to.” He added the second part quickly after.

“I- I think I do,” I smiled. Though he had just put his mug down, he picked it right back up, you did the same.

“Then a date it is.” You clinked cups. Still, something felt off. You were holding the cup up to your lips, but just far enough not to be able to drink from it. Your eyes glazed over as you focused them on the mural in front of you. It was of the Paris skyline. With the Eiffel tower in the middle, the Arc de Triomphe a bit to the left, on the other side stood the two symmetrical towers of the Notre Dame cathedral. It was probably geographically inaccurate, just good enough to keep everyone who had never been to the City of Love satisfied.

“Okay, something’s up.” Tom brought you back to the date. “What’s wrong? And, please, be honest.”

“I don’t know,” you huffed out a laugh. “But before you start to freak out, it’s nothing to do with you, I swear.”

“So, you kind of know what it is about.” he raised an eyebrow. He had a point. If you knew what it was not, it meant you knew what it was, indeed.

“I, uhm,” suddenly you felt very much aware of everything and everyone around you. Were they listening? “Well, I really want to apologise for being so distant outside of Instagram.”

“There’s really no need for that, darling,” he said. “I understand it, and should have been a bit more considerate. I should have realised sooner that bars and shit aren’t your cup of tea.. or hot chocolate.”

You both laughed.

“Yeah,” you were smiling, but the word came out a bit as a sigh, conveying your all the troubling thoughts that were going on in your brain.

“There’s more, isn’t there?” Tom saw through it. You bit your lip, not sure how to say it. You didn’t want to say it. He would probably think you were a joke. Besides, all those people around. Some of them from your school. They could probably hear every word you were saying.

“Do you maybe want to text it to me?” he suggested with a kind smile. You hadn’t realised when he had moved, but he had let go of your shoulders, and his hand was now on top of yours. His thumb moved slowly over your skin, reassuring you that, whatever it was, it was okay.

How you hoped it was.

You grabbed your phone and started to type out your message, taking a deep breath before sending it to him. You heard the vibration in his pocket, and with it, your heart skipped with anxiety. Tom kept holding on to your hand as he took out his phone and read the text. His eyes shot wide open.

“Wait, really?”

_________________________________

“Never?” he asked, to which she bit her lip and shook her head.

No, it wasn’t possible.

“How has no one- nooo,”

“It just… never got far enough- No, I mean, ugh,” she finally took a sip of her hot chocolate. Tom had to admit that it was cute how that was her go-to frustration action. She wiped off the whipped cream from her lip. Tom couldn’t stop looking at them, they were just so perfect. He wanted to feel her, to taste her. He wouldn’t even mind the taste of cinnamon that would have remained on them.

“There was just never a guy that made me think, oh yeah, I want to kiss him,” she said after another sip of the hot chocolate.

“So, you’d want to kiss me?”

“Shut up,” she said glaring, but just to hide the big smile on her face.

“Sorry, I just can’t believe you’ve never been kissed.” She flinched a bit at his words. “I don’t mean it in that way. You shouldn’t be ashamed of never being kissed. Sometimes it happens early on, sometimes it doesn’t. If it wasn’t for my pledge, I don’t think I would have had my first kiss till last year.” He confessed. y/n looked at him with eyebrows that had a twist of disbelief in them.

“Yeah, right.”

“I swear,” Tom laughed, putting his hands up. “So really, no judgement here.” Then he leaned in to whisper into her ear, “and I definitely won’t mind breaking you in,” He couldn’t keep a straight face saying it, and neither could she. He had thought it would make her nervous or flushed, but she just slapped him on his arms teasingly.

“In your dreams, Holland.”

“Fuck, I hope so.” That made her freeze, just for a second though. “Shit, too much?” He asked, afraid he had finally taken it too far with his inappropriate humour.

“No, you’re good.” She took another sip of her hot chocolate, allowing Tom to do so as well.

“See, just because I’ve never been kissed, it immediately puts me under this label of being a prude or something, but I’m really not. I’ve just- had a really shitty love life.” Or just a complete lack of it.

“Well, I hope to change that.” He leaned in again and pecked her cheek. That finally got him the flushed reaction he had hoped for.

“You already did.”

_________________________________

Your hand moved up to your cheek, hovering above the area that he had kissed. You felt like an idiot, but with Tom, it didn’t even feel like a bad thing.

“We’ve known each other for less than two days, and I can already tell you, you’re way up there in the list of good dates.”

“Way up there? Give me stats.” He nudged on. You thought for a second.

“At least… top ten.”

“Top five? Oh C’mon, babe, I think I’m a bit better than that. Not to toot my own horn, of course.”

“Top five.” You said, ignoring the butterflies that had escaped in your stomach. He glared at you. You glared back, keeping your eyes on each other for another moment until he had dipped his finger in his hot chocolate and pressed it against your nose. You blinked in confusion.

“That just moved you down to number six.”

“Well, shit.” Tom leaned in and licked the whipped cream off your nose. As disgusting as it should have been, you burst into a fit of giggles, hiding your face in his chest to not disturb the rest of the restaurant. While you were trying to calm down, you felt Tom kiss the top of your head a few times.

Finally, you sat up again.

“Top three,” you stated. It was good enough for Tom. For now.

You drank the rest of your drinks in the best silence possible that could be kept as both of you kept laughing at each other. Finally, the mugs were empty. Tom paid for everything and let you take the lead to walk outside with the umbrella. When you opened the door, however, you saw that the storm had now passed over into a light drizzle. You kept the umbrella closed.

You were already letting yourself get taken up by the rain when Tom was outside. You thought he would come to join you, but he stayed under the little roof, watching you with a big smile.

“Not afraid of the rain, are you?” you asked. “Or are you made of sugar?”

“All I can say is, come and find out for yourself.” You were already a few steps away, so you hopped over to him, took his hand and took the final step, so you were touching chest to chest. His other hand found its way on your hip. You saw his eyes flicker from your eyes to your lips. You smiled and pulled him in closer, making you take a step back and exposing him to the weather.

“Mutherfucker!” He gasped, not having expected that. “Ohh, you’re good.”

Before you knew what was happening, he had picked you up by the waist and spun you around. You squealed from surprise before the both of you started laughing again. Eventually, he had to put you back down again, and your eyes widened in horror when you saw him walk to a large puddle.

“No, Tom! No, no, no.!” He put you down right next to it. Probably an inch from the water edge.

“C’mon, I’m not that mean.” he pouted.

“Nah, you’re a softy,” you poked his cheek. He grabbed your hand.

“Oi, I wouldn’t go that far.” then kissed the tip of your index finger, which you had poked him with a second before.

“Too late, I guess.”

“You sure about that? You’re still really close to that puddle babe. We wouldn’t want any… accidents!” He gripped you by the waist again, and the sudden movement made you feel like he was gonna throw you down into the puddle. You shrieked but soon felt his arms still around you and no parts of your body were soaked (only moderately wet from the light rain) or on the ground. He was still holding you.

“You never answered me,” he said, his sweet laughter was gone, and his eyes were on your lips again.

“Answer what?” you kept looking at his face as a whole, taking in every detail. The way his nose scrunched when droplets of rain well on it. How one of his eyebrows was more bushy and irregular than the other. The dimple in his chin, his freckles- everything.

“If you wanted to kiss me.”

His golden-brown eyes were so warm, even in the dim street lights at night. His wet hair was sticking to his face, but framing it so nicely. His jaw was sharp, it didn’t seem like it should be real.

“I do.”

His lips. Though thin and a bit chapped, they still felt so soft. The sweet taste of chocolate, mixed in with the rain that had fallen in the few moments that you stood outside. His hands cupped your cheeks, pulling you in closer to him. It felt so good. So right.

You pulled away but with no idea how much time had gone by. His stands stayed in their position, his eyes searched yours for a reaction. Nothing came from it since you were still in an emotional daze.

Tom chuckled.

“Fuck, I should have slid into your DMs sooner.”

“Way to ruin the mood, Holland.”

“Oh, you love it.” He said before pulling you into another kiss.

The END

> song played in Le Moulin: Rendez-vous sous la pluie (Jean Sablon)

> Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed

> please leave a comment or ask with your thoughts. i love reading them and let me know if you want to see more of this au cause i really enjoyed writing it :)

> if anyone has a comment about how it had only been a day since they met etc. i wrote this 15k story in the span of 24 hours. i wish i could have added more to it but at this point, i am physically and emotionally exhausted and do not want to make it even longer.

>masterlist and link to taglist in bio

tagging:

@definitely-not-black-cat @artemisiaarm @nerdyhockeygirl @miraclesoflove @justasmisunderstoodasloki @thefridgeismybestie @m19friend @creative-happenings @parker-holland-osterfield @fanficparker @fanficscuziranout @peterparkoure @xxtomxo @happywolves81 @captainbuckyy @tra-gicx @qxeen-of-hearts @varshavisuu @kangaroobunny @petersunderoos96 @the-lost-fairy-tale @nerd-domland @sleepybesson @rissa067 @the-queen-procrastinator @scarletteclipze @screeching-student-unknown @spiderrrling @captainpeggy40 @tomhollanders2013 @miraclesoflove @playinonaloop @queenoflostspirits @roses-hxlland @hereiamhereigo @sunnydays0803 @averyfosterthoughts @moorehollandplz @beiroviski @you-bleed-just-toknowyouarealive @peterparkerbabyyy @multifandomlover21 @lmaotshollandd @badbitchydecisions @tikapollak @awesomehritz @madzleigh01 @oh-what a beautiful-parker @taciturnspidey @quaksonhehe @mountainsforwords @harryfobter @peepeeparkerr @viagracex @ethereal-beauty-p @slytherin-chaser @worldoftom @moonysoftt @peeterparkr @wazzupmrstark @saintlavrents @peachybloomss @blissfulparker @chloecreatesfictions-archive @fallinfortom @bitchydecisions @okokimfreakingoutahh @cicicantblog @musicalkeys @joyleenl @multifandomdoodles121 @awkwardfangirl2014 @marvelouspeterparker

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland fluff #frat!au #fratboy tom #college!tom #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland imagine #tom holland fic #tom holland fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #imagine #stranger to lovers #college!au

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stephspurs · 3 years

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A Family Affair | Euro 2020 Football Fanfiction

Life is beautiful and life is cruel. A window into the souls of the victorious and the vanquished. In a way, football did come home during the summer of 2021. Follow along Amelia’s journey, navigating the football world as a tactical analyst for the italian football team, with a brother and father part of the three lions. Will Amelia leave Italy and come back to England? Will she leave the Serie A for the Prem? Will she set aside the bianconeri stripes for new colours, leaving behind friendship for love? Maybe she can have both...

Hello my lovelies!! Part 3 sees a whole lot Amelia's beautiful brain & you get your first slice of interaction with the british boys - leading up to an all important Mykonos adventure (part 4 - out friday). As usual, please let me know your thoughts and feelings, and let me know what you want to see happen with Amelia and her story! Updates have increased to 3/week! I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am!

Love always,

Steph xx

UPDATE as of 31/07: I've made some additional editing changes due to some feedback about the confusion between ben white (her brother) and ben chilwell (not her brother LOL). Nothing has been added to the story, just the addition of either surname has been added where i think it could be more straightforward - for future readers!

Part 3. | parte terza

warnings; none - just a whole lot of feels.

word count; 2081

writing tools; third person until dashed line, first person thereafter.

next update; Friday 30/07 5pm AEST. Updates are three times/week (Monday, Wednesday & Friday)!

Tags (as requested by users); @footballffbarbiex @obsesseds-world @abysshaven

link to fic masterlist here

It was the day after the final match and Amelia should be nursing a hangover due to the large amount of red wine she consumed with her Italian counterparts the night before. However, she finds herself at St. George’s Park before 9am, meeting one of her father’s colleagues who directs her to the recreation room that she remembers from a few days prior.

Standing outside the door, she assumed she was just waiting for her dad as agreed on the phone an hour earlier. As she was waiting, she could hear Gareth Southgate give a team talk to the players, praising them for their ability and pleading for them to bounce back from this defeat and use it to push on. The next voice she could hear was that of her father, giving them the tactical run through of the game. She listened to the points her father made, and both agreed and disagreed with some. Unexpectedly, the man sent to collect her opened the door and ushered her inside.

She stood at the back of the room, facing her dad and Gareth, whilst the team and other management staff had their backs to her. Making eye contact with her dad, he smiled slightly.

“Whilst I can offer you my opinion on the match last night, to better prepare you for the next time, there is no better opinion to learn from at this moment than that of your opponent. Amelia, would you please come up here” Dean really threw her into this situation, that again, she was not prepared for nor did she want to participate in. However, the 30+ sets of eyes that had currently turned around to stare at her didn’t exactly inspire a choice to be made here.

_____________________________________________________________

“Lads, this is my daughter. I taught her everything she knows, which was probably too much considering I can now recognise that it was her signature plays that the italian side used to their advantage last night. Treat her with respect, or I will let her at you. Which i’m sure you all saw a few nights ago in this very room” My dad spoke as I walked up to the front area, weaving in and around beanbags with players occupying them.

Standing in front of the Three Lions was more nerve wracking now than it had been when she was confronting her brother, maybe Fede did offer her protection as his bodyguard. Either way, she put her big girl pants on (figuratively speaking, literally she was wearing her official puma tights and Italian polo) and got on with it as if she was speaking to her team.

“Thanks Dad. Hey guys, I think the first thing I would like to say is that you’re allowed to feel exactly how you feel right now. There is no rush to ‘get over it’ or ‘push on and learn’. You need to feel this now, feel it throughout your body, understand the pain and then turn it into motivation.” I speak to the group, trying to accurately express how sincere I am to this group of heartbroken men.

“As for tactics, I can stand here and praise you for how good you really are but that's not how you are going to learn. You came into the game hard and fast.” I paused, understanding the innuendo just as it was flying out of my mouth. I pursed my lips and tried to hold my giggle in, however some of the boys seem to have the same sense of humour as I do. My brother, face of steel and eyes that burn into any man that tries to joke with me.

“Sorry, can’t help myself. So yeah, you took charge of the game from kick off and we were not ready. You had the aggression and desire to push from the start and that's what you did, Shaw, you really surprised me with that goal. Not because I didn't think you could do it but because I wasn’t anticipating you being someone we had to watch so closely.”

“Again, something you guys need to keep in mind is that it is literally my job to know everything about you and how you play the game, what foot you prefer, who you pass to, how long you hold the ball before you pass, do you like to assist or score...all of these things make a massive difference in each play we make.”

“The error you made came around the 25th minute of the game, we had settled into the game and did what we do best - we slowed you down. In Italy, in the Serie A, which is where most of my team play, the game is a lot slower. There is more skill and tactic used to ensure a favourable outcome. Again, i'm not saying you all don’t have skill, but the Prem favours pace over tactics and strategy. The only way we were going to be able to win was by making you play our game, but in your half of the pitch.”

At this point, all of their eyes are trained to me and the more senior players of the team, like Henderson, Walker, Coady, Kane, they understand what i’m trying to say. Gareth, my dad and other members of staff are sitting to one side, arms folded and a slight smile on their face at the simplicity of my approach to such an important game. I direct my next question to them.

“Can I ask - have you already selected your man of the match?”

“Off record, yes we have. Before I announce to the team who it is, can I direct the question back to you and find out who you would award it to?” Gareth poses back to me, interested to hear my opinion.

“While the obvious choices would be Kane, Sterling, Maguire - your players who perform week in week out and are consistent and no doubt deserve an award as such. I would recommend Declan Rice. Personally, he was the most instrumental in the match last night. Every time we turned to attack, he was there to stop it. He was a player I was confident that I knew the extent of his ability, when it was obvious that I didn't.”

The boys around him, Mason Mount & Ben Chilwell, offered him a gentle shove and ruffle of the hair, to show their encouragement to the bashful boy who seemed surprised at the praise he was receiving.

“The other player that I think deserves a bit of a shoutout, and not because of his hair, is Jack Grealish.” I spoke, looking around the room until we locked eyes. I wanted him to understand how serious i was about my next words.

“You are so dangerous on the ball, you are an asset as a team mate, you aren’t guilty with the ball, but you have the power behind you to score when the opportunity presents itself. The moment you were subbed on I pulled Jorginho to the side and told him to treat you like Chiellini and Bonnucci were handling Sterling and Kane. You were one of my players to watch, and for good reason”

At the end of the little session, I said thanks to the boys for listening and that I hope to see them again in a tournament. The only way to be the best is to beat the best. After a quick round of applause that made me feel more special than I am, I walked past my brother, gave him a quick ruffle of his hair and met my dad at the back. Gareth dismissed the boys and they all stood up, breaking away and grabbing some breakfast that was set up to the side of the room, for one last team meal.

“Mills!! I’ll get you an almond croissant and a coffee, come sit with me!” Walker shouted from across the room.

“Oi mate, she’s my sister not yours” Ben counters from the back of the line.

“Yeah she's your sister by blood, mine by choice.” Kyle firmly states and begins his way to one of the tables.

“I suppose i better join Kyle before he drowns everyone in his tears” i joked with the england officials i was standing with before walking over to Kyle and a few of his team mates.

“Sooo am I supposed to pretend I don’t know who you all are so you can introduce yourselves? Or do we just mutually agree that I know too much about each of you and not bring it up?” I question the boys, jokingly. They all laugh and I sit down in the space Kyle left between himself and John Stones. I sat there and got to know some of the boys on a less competitive level, working out who was a leader both on the pitch and off it. After listening to the boys joke around and just be mates, rather than teammates, I leaned over to Kyle.

“Hey, before I go, do you think you can introduce me to Bukayo? I want to speak with him for a moment.”

“Yeah sure, I'll take you over there. Why are you nervous? You've never been shy before” Kyle questioned back at me.

“I’m not nervous, I'm just hyper aware of the sensitivity of the moment. Last night would have been tough”

Saying goodbye to the boys, Kyle directed me over to a table that was sitting my brother Ben White, Kalvin, Ben Chilwell, Grealish, Saka, Sancho & Rashford.

“Hey boys, Ben, I just wanted to come say goodbye before I head off.” I directed towards my brother. He pulled up a chair and asked me to sit for 5 more minutes, claiming he deserved it after months of no contact.

“Ben here didn’t let us know he had a sister as smart as you...what happened to you Ben? Did you miss that gene?” Jack Grealish poked at my brother. With his signature scowl on his face, Ben White let his mates laugh at his expense.

“Oh don’t make fun of my brother Benny, that’s my job!” I joked back, setting the boys off again with my brother’s childhood nickname. It was nice to hear some laughter again from a side that looked so solemn the night before.

“No in all seriousness boys, I especially came over because I wanted to talk to you Bukayo - what you did was so impressive. In a final, as the last penalty taker, to take on the responsibility of the nation at the age of 19! Not many players would dare to do that. You have earned a lot of respect, particularly from the Italian camp.” I spoke with a smile on my face, directed at the young boy.

“The same goes for you two” Now looking at Sancho & Rashford.

Bukayo looked down at his hands & smiled, before getting up and walking to my side of the table. Anticipating what he was going to do next, I stood up and welcomed him with open arms. Grateful that he understood my message and was beginning to accept the praise he so deserved. Stepping back from the hug, I turned to address the group of lads one more time.

“If any of you fancy a change of pace and want to come over to the Serie A, just give me a call - Benny can give you my number!” I start to speak, before I'm cut off but my brother.

“Stop poaching my mates! I’ve already lost you to another country. I don't need to lose anyone else” He jokingly says while standing to walk me out of St. George’s Park. I know it was a joke but I can't help but think there was some truth to that.

It had been more than 3 years since I moved out of our family home to start my life in Turin, and not one moment had i regretted it or thought i made the wrong decision. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when I wished I was closer to my family, but I know I had to make that move to prove to myself I am just as successful as I hoped I would be. Not saying I have learnt everything there is to learn with the Serie A giants, Juventus, but maybe it's time for a new challenge? Maybe I can bring the strategic spin on the game to the fast paced action of the premier league?

Part 4. | quarta parte

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smilesvt · 3 years

Text

honey muffins | pt.1

pairing: seungcheol x reader

genre: fluff, suggestive, possible angst later on,,

warnings: slight suggestive but nothing smutty!

summary: a stranger who catches your eye leads to a swirling discovery of your fates. will you succumb to the forbidden love that lies between you?

‘You know we shouldn’t be doing this right now Cheol.' You whined, hands pushing against the mans broad shoulders.

Yet your complaints made him even more riled up. The fact he could taste you when he wasn’t supposed to made the adrenaline rush faster through his veins, the sounds of your sweet voice echoed in his mind and filled him with even more desire.

'Says who?' he whispered, his lips like shadows of your own, his soft breath seeping into your very self.

You had never wanted something so bad, to feel his lips against yours as he whined into your mouth, helplessly and at his very edge.

But you had self control.

And you would never let your desire get a hold of you.

~~~

You mustered the energy left in you to fully shove the man away, however his strong hands still gripped onto your sides.

'You know exactly who.' you sighed, as if you hadnt had this same conversation with him plenty of times before. The man scoffed, looking away with his tongue pressed firmly in the side of his cheek.

'Seriously? That’s all you can think of right now? Whilst you have that pathetic look in your eye thats practically begging me for more? Don’t make me laugh.'

Cheol had never got angry at you; and he wasn’t about to now. But the tinge of annoyance mixed with desperation hidden in the depths of his voice made you feel slightly guilty.

'Fine.' You managed to speak out, your voice calm and steady, yet your eyes looked down at your lap, unable to make eye contact with the man.

'Do what you want with me. Anything and everything. But you know what risk that comes with. Is it worth never seeing me again for a night of pleasure? I would hope I mean more to you than that.’

His hands fell from your waist and onto the cold kitchen counter you were sat on.

‘Of course you do. You know that.’

‘Stop coming so close to losing me then.’ You poked at his chest, and tilted his head up to look at you.

He smiled, but it didn’t seem to reach his eyes.

——

Yours and Seungcheol’s families had never liked each other. It was a decades long feud, started when your great great grandfather opened a restaurant with his best friend, Seungcheols great great grandad.

The business had a slow start, what with the two men only being teenagers when they started selling their food to local people in the town. Little did they know, over the years, their seemingly perfect business would gain traction all over the country and earn them more than ever expected.

But as with most co-owned businesses, one half of the duo would become increasingly greedy, wanting more than the other.

And so the feud started. Seungcheols family had accused yours of stealing money from the joint bank account, and the business relationship crumbled.

Your great-great grandad opened his own bakery chain, specialising in his favourite, muffins: whereas Cheols turned his into a patisserie.

Fast forward to now, both of the families had stores around the country. You would have thought, what with the huge amounts of success from the two businesses, the family beef would have been quenched. Yet both of your families were stubborn: refusing to ever apologise or simply even acknowledge the other’s existence, despite walking past each others stores nearly everyday. And thats when you and Cheol came into the mix.

~~~~

You remember that day as clearly as if it were yesterday.

3 years ago, sometime in December, a fairly handsome man had walked into the bakery whilst you were working.

His beanie was pulled down low, with a few strands of espresso coloured hair peaking through. However the casual headwear contrasted the grey suit he was wearing, a burgundy tie pulled down in exhaustion and shiny black shoes at his feet.

You had had many weird and wacky customers walk in during your part time shifts at the family bakery (you worked in the heart of the city after all, weird was practically the usual) but something about this man had struck you. Your eyes had followed him as he perused around the store, occassionally stopping and observing the packs of bread. He looked way too interested in the baked goods, and you smiled to yourself as you looked down at the book you were reading.

'Excuse me.' A deep voice as smooth as honey had spoken from the other side of the counter. You quickly stood up from your stool and walked over to the till.

His golden eyes met yours over the rim of his thin gold glasses, with a sweetly intense gaze.

'How can i help you?' You had smiled at the man, your customer pleasing voice hiding your slight nerves.

'I was wondering, say you had a date coming up, and they really loved bakeries and such, what would you treat them to?'

The question had taken you aback, and he smiled as he noticed you pause to think of an answer.

'Well I’m personally a sweet sort of girl, so I would probably subconsciously choose something dessert like. A good neutral choice would be a muffin of some sorts-' you glanced over the array of treats that lay on the counter in front of you. 'I’d strongly recommend the blueberry honey one, it’s sweet yet not too overpowering, but I guess it’s all down to their personal preference.' You looked back up at the man, who flashed a warm smile at you.

'Perfect. I’ll take 2 of those then.'

---

It had been the day of your graduation when you decided to treat yourself to the slightly boujee patisserie down the road from your bakery.

Seungcheol remembered it as clearly as day.

The bell at the front entrance had jingled as a familiar girl waltzed through, a bright smile plastered on her face. He instantly recognised her; the pretty one from the bakery just up the road. She seemed to have recognised him too, as she slightly bowed her head towards him as she walked over to the till.

'How can I help you on this fine day mademoiselle?' he had questioned, taking the girl aback as she slightly giggled.

'Well I was wondering, say you had a person you wanted to impress and they really liked sweets, what would you treat them to?' He smiled at the words coming from her mouth, the ones that mirrored his own.

He gazed upon the small crescents your hazel eyes made as you laughed, a warmth seeping through his body.

His heart had never felt that way before.

---

From that day on, Seungcheol visited your store more often than he would like to admit. Sometimes he wouldnt even buy anything, he just wanted an excuse to be able to speak to you.

When the shop was filled to the brim with customers, he would simply wait at the end of the long line and you would smile at how stubborn he was.

~~~

'Its raining and you still stood out there.' You sighed as he shook his wet, curly hair in front of you. 'Worth it.' He flashed you his comforting gummy smile and your heart burst into smithereens.

'No work today?' You asked, looking down at the mans grey sweats and oversized hoodie, a backpack strewn over one shoulder.

'Fortunately not. There’s only so much pretentious business ladies in pencil skirts buying mille-feuille that I can handle.’

'I can imagine.' You sighed, glancing out at the thousands of raindrops hitting the shop window.

'At least its your day off tomorrow.'

You smiled internally: he knew your work schedule probably better than he knew his own.

'You might as well get something since you were stood out there for so long.' You started, opening a brown paper bag and waiting for the mans response.

'Hmmm...Is this new?' He pointed through the thick glass of the display.

You giggled. 'I’m glad you noticed. It’s a little something new we’re trialing, made by yours truly.'

'You shouldn’t have said that, I’ll end up buying the whole stock for you.'

'Don’t be stupid.' You chuckled, handing him the treat over the counter. 'Get going you idiot, I have to clean up.'

He took the bag with a smile. ‘I’ll see you soon, and let you know how good it tasted.'

---

Yet you never did see him soon.

The man stopped turning up after his shifts finished, he stopped waiting behind the long lines of customers. You would catch yourself staring out of the shop window, waiting-or maybe,hoping- to see a familiar mess of jet black hair pop into view, a gummy smile that made your heart burst, an outstreched hand waving excitedly at you.

But you never saw it.

'Are you expecting someone?' Your mother had asked you one day, when the shop was calm and empty, shaking you out of your daydream.

'No, why do you ask?' you wondered.

'You keep looking out of the window as if someones meant to be there.'

You nearly sighed, running a hand through your hair.

'It’s fine, just bored.'

‘Well the banquets tonight, hopefully you wont be bored there.'

The banquet had slipped your mind. It was a fancy dinner for corporate directors of companies around the country. Of course, you and your family had been invited. You knew your mom was hoping for you to meet some handsome rich man; she was always asking when you were ever going to get with anyone.

It was dumb you thought, constantly thinking of the man from the patisserie. You knew nothing about him, just his name and where he worked. Other than that, his whole existence was an enigma. That’s why it hurt when he stopped visiting, because you couldn’t even call him to ask what was up, or visit his home to check in.

He was a mystery man.

Then why did you care so much?

---

The truth was, Seungcheol wasn’t allowed to come see you. As he walked into his house, munching on the chocolate tart you had so carefully handed him, he couldn’t wait to tell you how good it was.

'Are you actually being serious?' his younger brother had said to him as he walked over to the fridge.

'What is it?' he turned around, chocolate circling his mouth.

'That’s from THEIR bakery... oh you are in so much trouble when I tell dad.' His brother ran off in the direction of their fathers study.

Dumbfounded, Seungcheol wondered. What was wrong with the bakery? It was just a local joint, surely no place his father would have any issue with.

However, as he turned the brown bag around to see the logo adorned on the front, he nearly dropped the tart.

There was no way.

No way he had fallen for someone he couldnt have.

----

So when you saw your parents disgusted faces as they looked at the family on the opposite side of the banquet hall, and your eyes fell upon a disgruntled Seungcheol, you had to stop your jaw from falling open.

It suddenly made sense, why he had seemingly ghosted you for weeks. His family mustve found out about him seeing you at the bakery.

His eyes met yours as you sat down at your table, and you swore you saw them light up.

You weren’t going to give up on this mystery man just because of your parents.

So fast forward to now, nearly 2 years later, where you were sat on your kitchen counter, the now not so mystery man in front of you.

Over the years, you and Cheol had been secretly hanging out without your parents' knowledge. You thought it was dumb, how the two of you, both adults with stable jobs and social lives, were meeting up in secret like teenagers hiding a relationship. Yet you knew if either of your families were made aware of this, they would do anything to stop it.

‘I’m sorry.' The man breathed out with a heavy sigh, his eyes suddenly glistening with the type of glow you hated to see. 'It’s okay.' You replied with a soft smile, patting the top of his head. You were used to this, Cheol getting too ahead of himself and apologising like a child getting caught stealing sweets.

It wasnt like he had never felt you before, the hotness of your skin against his hands as he ran them down your arms, your spine, your legs was something he knew well.

He had had all of you: apart from one place. Your lips.

You knew if your lips ever grazed upon his, you could never go back. And as much as you wanted it, as much as your body was craving it, you knew of its consequences.

'I’ll get going now.' He whispered, pushing himself away from the counter and picking up his suit jacket from the sofa.

You leant against the corridor doorway, watching the man pull on his dress shoes.

'See you tomorrow then? I’ve got some new cupcakes coming in that I think you’ll like.'

His ears shot up at the sound of sweets, and you giggled.

Some things never change.

He kissed the top of your head before opening your front door.

'See you tomorrow muffin.' he smiled, before walking out and closing the door behind him.

And everytime you saw his back in front of you, you hoped it wouldn’t be the last.

~~~~

a/n: ahhhh this is my first ever fic on here so if anyone reads this- which honestly im not expecting much- i hope you enjoyed, heres to many more xo

#seungcheol #seventeen #svt #svt imagines #svt fluff #seungcheol fluff #svt x reader #seventeen seungcheol #seventeen imagines #seungcheol imagines #scoups #scoups imagines #scoups svt

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halpertstuna · 4 years

Text

red cheeks - jj maybank

A/N: this was supposed to be a short blurb but you know me, i always have to add way too much details. so let’s just pretend it is. don’t know how i feel about this but i hope you guys enjoy(:

quick reminder, REQUESTS ARE OPEN<3

-> prompt list <-

pairing: jj maybank x reader

word count: 2,171

summary: jj knows you always have something to say and gets suspicious when all of the sudden you stop talking back.

warnings: maybe like one mention of smoking, cursing, probs typos and i think that’s it really, if you notice something else lmk

-> masterlist <-

(gif credit: @anakin-skywalker )

—

Ever since the day JJ first met you, he’s been nothing but a flirt, and you always had something to say about it. Whether it was a sly comeback, a witty comment or a mean burn. From eye rolling to flipping off, you never let him forget he’s got absolutely no chance.

But lately, you’ve been awfully quiet around him, as if your hard exterior all of the sudden became much softer.

And he noticed.

The first time he became aware something changed, was one Thursday afternoon. You parked your car in front of the chateau, exiting it, then made your way towards five folding lawn chairs, two of which were occupied by Pope and Kie’s butts.

“Hey! We haven’t seen you all week! I guess you got John B’s text” Kie greeted you with a warm smile.

You plopped down on an empty chair beside her, filling it with your presence. “Yeah, I’ve been busy,” you stated as you looked around, followed by the question “where is the idiot anyway?”

“i’m right here!”

JJ said like a frisky pup, exiting the chateau as he took a swing of his almost empty beer bottle.

“surprisingly enough, i’m not talking about you this time” you retorted, smiling at him sarcastically.

“He ran out of liquor and chips, so he went to the grocery store to get some more” Pope answered your already forgotten question as JJ’s essence filled the air.

“What do you need him for anyway?” Kie questioned, “I need to talk to him about something”

“You can always talk to me princess” JJ said through a smirk as he sat on the armrest of your chair, then brushed a stray strand of hair behind your ear, expecting an elbow in his ribs. But nothing followed his action. That’s when he perceived the faintest of flushes creeping up your cheeks.

At the beginning he thought nothing of it, but the way you practically flew out of your lawn chair with John B.’s arrival, made him a bit skeptical.

When John B. parked the Twinkie you offered to help him put away the groceries, and walked him inside with bags of food, snacks and beers in your hands.

As you assisted in unloading the contents of the bags to the fridge and cabinets, he trailed off “So...did you tell him?”

“Shhhh!” He cackled at your reddening face “keep it down Rutledge! Or I swear to god I’ll sew your mouth shut, you indiscreet meatloaf.”

John B. was your best friend far before the other pogues came along, he knew you like the palm of his hand. He always suggested you had a thing for JJ and that you rather enjoyed the attention he gave you, yet you always revoked his claims, stating he was nothing but annoying.

Until you realised John B. might have been right all along.

It happened last Friday. You guys threw a kegger at the boneyard and for the first time, you actually took notice of how JJ gave all of his undivided attention to some touron.

As you stared at the tan boy, you found yourself wishing it were your hip he was caressing.

Suddenly he paid no heed to your existence and that’s when you realised all of your feelings and responses to his so called annoying actions, were you denying yourself to him. And as he talked her up through his enchanting smile, you realised you didn’t want him to give that teasingly, flirty care towards anyone but you, and for a brief moment you found yourself actually missing his antics.

Luckily, you were quite gifted with the ability to hide your feelings, almost no one could see through you. Just almost. Of course you couldn’t hide anything from John B., just by the way your eyes flickered past JJ as he led the touron to the spare room, he noticed something was wrong. Different.

Later that night he nudged you until you broke, admitting your feelings for JJ were true, and during that week, he kept trying to convince you to tell him how you feel. With no luck, you hadn’t said a word. Instead, you had been trying to avoid JJ by avoiding the rest of the pogues.

“Well, did you?”

“No you melon, if I had I would’ve told you, obviously”

“Okay Juliet” he teased and you poked his side making him flinch then chuckle.

“No but seriously, you should do something about it”

“Do something about what?”

JJ chimed in, walking towards the two of your figures that were sat on the kitchen counter.

“Nothing” you said simultaneously. You started feeling nervous and decided to jump off and walk out, leaving the two alone inside.

JJ had a bewildered expression on his face, he was expecting a ‘keep your nose out of my business’, yet instead you just walked passed him avoiding eye contact, which was very uncharacteristic of you.

“What’s up with her today?”

JJ asked as he hopped on the counter, taking over your former spot next to his best friend.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh come on, you couldn’t have possibly missed that. She is way nicer to me than usual”

John B. shrugged his shoulders, as if he didn’t know what he were talking about.

Curious, JJ couldn’t help himself, “So... did she ask about me?”

John B. rolled his eyes at the question, he was fully aware that all of JJ’s courtship wasn’t completely an act, he knew JJ was fairly infatuated with you, yet he felt it wasn’t really his place to interfere, knowing you have the right to tell him when you’re ready. And even though he did try to push you to do it, he still knew where to draw the line, not selling off either of his best friends to the other.

“Yes”

JJ looked at John B. wide eyed waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t he impatiently blurted “well!? What did she say!?”

“I believe her exact words were ‘what can I do to get that nitwit to leave me alone’”

JJ jabbed his side and in reply, John B. smacked the back of his head gently, saying “what is with you guys and my ribs today? Leave them at peace you feisty goon”

“She didn’t actually say that right?” JJ tried to play it cool, pretending it didn’t really bother him but it was apparent to John B. he somewhat cared.

“I’m just joking dude, ask her yourself if you want to know so badly” He replied as he too, hopped off the counter joining the rest outside.

At the beginning, JJ was only inquisitive by your behavior, but with time he got suspicious.

You didn’t only stop talking back but stopped being around him as well, like two days later, it was the moment he stepped foot in the chateau that you were all of the sudden in a hurry to leave although only seconds before you were talking about how comfortable the couch was and how you never wanted to get up. Every time he was around, you avoided his eyes, touch and tried to ignore his overall presence, you talked to everyone regularly but whensoever he’d tempt start a conversation, you’d shy away.

He didn’t understand what happened, he even contemplated the possibility you were mad, yet it made no sense, for he couldn’t recollect a reason to why you would be.

He couldn’t recall saying or doing something that could hurt you either, so the only alternative left to think of, was that you actually began hating him.

Unbeknownst to him that your attempts at avoiding him were for the exact opposite reason.

You were petrified that if you told him and he didn’t feel the same way, it would ruin everything.

Sure, he always pinned after you, constantly reminding you how much he did want you, but that was just JJ. He hit on every girl with a heartbeat, you never thought of his gestures as anything more than his sheer nature. So you never even considered to confess your feelings for him.

Two weeks have passes by since you guys all sat together at John B.’s, two weeks since JJ developed his suspension.

You were doing a history assignment when your phone buzzed, the screen lighting up then reflecting on the glass of the framed picture of you and the pogues that was sitting on your nightstand. You decided to ignore it in favour of the unfinished essay, knowing if you checked it now you’d be stuck on your phone for ages.

A couple of hours passed by and you completed all of your work.

You rushed to pick up your phone, practically collapsing onto your bed, ecstatic that you finished and can finally rest. You unlocked it only to find out your very much needed break was over. You had a text from John B. asking you to come over to the chateau asap.

You reluctantly got up and drove to the chateau, wondering what could possibly be so urgent - but not urgent enough to call.

As soon as you got there, you noticed a mop of blond locks peaking out of the hammock, you immediately recognised them as JJ’s.

You tried walking passed him but his words halted you in your tracks.

“He’s not in there,” you turned around to meet his drowsy figure laying on the hammock with a lit joint resting in between his lips.

“And hello to you too” he added, knowing you saw him.

“Hi” you walked closer to him, lips curving into a faint smile.

He diverted his gaze upwards, it was quite for a few moments, then he asked “Are lobsters mermaids to scorpions?” mesmerised by his own question he narrowed his eyes, making you giggle and roll your own.

“JJ, how high are you?”

“Six foot, why?”

You scrunched your nose at his answer, face palming at his stupidity.

“Well i should probably go look for John B.,” you declared beginning to make your way towards your car when he admitted, “I actually sent you that text”.

You turned around with furrowed eyebrows to meet his guilty eyes.

“I’m going home JJ”

“Wait! Please, stay” he plead. “I wanted to talk to you, and I wanted it to be face to face but I knew if the text was sent from my phone you wouldn’t be here right now”.

It took you a moment to comprehend his words, his actions, eventually realising it was true, you gave in. You approached the hammock signaling him to move and he obeyed, you got in and laid beside him, hands on your stomach as an awkward silence filled the air.

“Well, did you swallow your tongue or something?”

He was actually thinking about a way to ask his question in a gradual manner.

“how come you’ve been abnormally nice to me lately?”

But failed.

“what do you mean?”

“oh come on, you‘re nicer than usual”

“i mean, i’ll punch you in the face if you want” you asserted confidentiality as if you didn’t understand what he was talking about.

“I’m serious! First you started ignoring my comments which is very unlike you, since you always talk back. But then you started ignoring me in general. It’s like you always seem to be away when I’m around or at a distance when I try to engage conversation. What’s up with that? Are you mad at me, did i do something?”

“What? No JJ, you didn’t do anything”

“Then why?”

You stayed silent, not wanting to admit you had feelings for him. He continue throwing possibilities, trying to justify your actions, going crazy but knowing you probably won’t tell him what’s going on. And you only grew redder by the minute.

“I mean it’s either I did something to upset you, or- Wait a minute-“

He turned to look at you, a mischievous smile of realisation painted across his face, “you like me”

Your eyes widened, mouth slightly agape as you didn’t know what to say yet still tried to stall “I will squeeze your kneecaps”

“You didn’t say no!”

“Why did you get high anyway?”

“It took you two hours to get here, I thought you weren’t coming- Ah! You’re trying to change the subject! you didn’t say no!”

“Just shut up and kiss me you dill hole”

With no hesitation he launched his entire body to his left in an attempt to hover over you and do as told, but instead, he ended up flipping the hammock upside down, hurling both of you onto the solid ground.

You were out of breath as you guffawed, the sound of your heavy laughs mingled filling the air, when his hand found its way to your hair, pulling out a leaf that was tangled in it.

He brushed the loose locks behind your ear, his eyes holding nothing but utter adoration towards the girl beside him, since he now knows, he will never cease to make you blush.

—

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wiypt-writes · 4 years

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Stark Spangled Banner

Ch 11: A Turkey Called Marv

Summary: Nat, Clint, Evans, Lawson and the rest of her SHIELD team throw Katie a leaving party once news of her resignation spreads across the Triskellion before Katie and Steve head to New York to spend their first Thanksgiving as a couple with Tony, Pepper and Bruce.

Paring: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Warnings: None for this chap, bar a bit of bad language and teeth rotting fluff

A/N: Accompanying One Shot- The Life Of Marv.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 10

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

November 2013

News of Katie’s spectacular resignation spread like wildfire through the Triskellion. Evans, Lawson, Natasha and Clint had all been pretty upset but had understood when she had explained why she was doing it, even if Natasha didn’t necessarily agree. They had no intention of letting her go quietly, however, and the team took it upon themselves to organise a small Leaving do at Lori’s which was in full swing. Background music was playing, food had arrived and the drinks were flowing. Steve was talking to Lawson, Rumlow and Evans by the bar, leaning against it, an easy smile on his face as Katie stood with Clint and Natasha a bit further down the bar as Clint was talking to them about his latest home improvement plan.

“So I thought about putting in a pool.” Clint mused, “Now the kids are bigger I thought it might be nice to have one. Maybe even a pool house round it for bad weather.”

“How ambitious.” Nat quirked an eyebrow.

Clint grinned. “That’s my middle name.”

“Really?” Katie asked. “I always thought it was Robert.”

“What?” Clint looked at her as Nat snorted out a laugh. "Francis. Why would you think its Robert?“

Katie shrugged "You look like a Bob.”

“Wait… so it’s not Ambitious?” Nat asked, winking at Katie. “How boring.”

Katie nodded, draining her glass. "Bob would have been better.”

"Right,” Clint started, pulling himself taller. “I hate both of you.”

The girls laughed and Nat turned to Katie. “So what’s in the pipeline for you now Nova?” “I have no idea.” Katie shrugged and she didn’t. “I guess I’ll just get more involved in the family business.”

“You gonna move to New York?” Clint asked. She shook her head. “Probably spend a bit more time there but, I’m not moving back.”

“Nah, she can’t leave lover boy.” Natasha looked at Clint and Katie rolled her eyes. Truth is Nat had hit the nail on the head. No way was she leaving Steve in DC to move back to the tower. Although they had only been together seven months she had spent over a year of her life being ‘with him’ one way or another and the thought of him not being there terrified her.

“You know, to be fair Nat, they’ve been going out a while now. Things are probably starting to cool off.” Clint teased “Oh trust me, there’s no problems in that department.” Katie sniggered, looking over to where Steve was stood.

“And would you look at that. I’m out of alcohol…” Nat said, suddenly “And so is Stark.”

“There’s a bar over there,” Clint pointed

“Cheers…”Natasha took Katie’s glass and handed it to him along with her own. Clint shook his head taking the glasses with a sigh.

“So… now he’s gone…” Nat glanced over at Steve then back to Katie “Gimme details…”

“Details on what?”

“Throw me a bone here Stark. I’m working on a dry spell.”

“Why are you so obsessed with my sex life?” Katie groaned. “You’re constantly trying to get me to talk about it.”

“Hey, look, up until a few months ago I was convinced he was a virgin.”

“Well then you’re a dumbass.” Katie smirked “Like I said, he’s Captain America, had girls throwing themselves at him back in the day.” “So he was until the serum?”

“I never said that.” Katie flushed.

“You’re such a shit liar.”

“Can we change the subject?”

“Ok, answer me one question and then I’ll drop it.” Nat pressed.

“What?” Katie snapped with an air of playful frustration. If she was honest, it was quite nice to have a girlfriend to chat to about these kind of secrets.

“Did the serum enhance…everything?” Nat wiggled her eyebrows.

Katie glanced over at Steve and smirked before she looked back at her. Fuck it.

“Well if it didn’t, I’ve no idea how he managed to stay upright before.” she smirked "I’m a lucky woman”

The red head threw back her head in a dirty laugh, a laugh that Katie had never heard from her before and it made her snigger at the sight of the normally composed assassin letting loose.

“What I miss?” Clint asked as he reappeared, handing them their drinks.

“I’ll explain when you’re older…” Nat said, patting his chest fondly.

*****

The next two weeks flashed by and before they knew it, it was the morning before thanksgiving and they were at the Tower in New York. Last year Katie and Steve had spent Thanksgiving as friends. This year they were spending it as lovers, and Katie was also excited to be spending it with Tony, although she would never admit that out loud.

Steve was also looking forward to it as well. Tony had mellowed to him somewhat over the past few months, especially when he had found out Steve was supporting Katie’s decision to quit SHIELD and not trying to stop her as he had original thought the Captain would. He was also looking forward to Katie’s damned fine cooking as well. Despite the fact that Tony had offered to cater in as Pepper was away until the very last minute, his girl had insisted on cooking it herself, especially now she had plenty of time on her hands.

As such, Steve and Tony had left her in the kitchen area of the main living quarters at midday to head down to the lab to discuss some further upgrades to the Tower. When they left Katie had been surrounded by bags of flour and ingredients, and when Steve returned he found her at just gone 5:30 surrounded by 3 pies (one apple, one pumpkin and one blackberry) pans of vegetables prepped ready for the and a turkey in the oven ready for JARVIS to turn on in the morning. She was stood at the sink, gently humming, the kitchen now clean and the smell of her baking making his mouth water.

“What are you doing Soldier?” Katie asked, jumping a little as Steve’s arms came around her sides, reaching for the sink, effectively trapping her between the counter and his body.

He laid his chin on her shoulder. “The dishes,”

“I’m only leaving the pie dish to soak.” She informed him, turning her head to give him a quick kiss. “The rest are going in the Dishwasher.”

“Oh because God forbid her majesty would actually wash a dish.” He teased and she rolled her eyes.

“You don’t wash them much either. How many brushes did you break last week?”

“The plastic is bad quality.” Steve pouted.

“Nothing to do with your ridiculously large hands being too rough.” “You weren’t complaining last night.” He grinned, lips warm against her neck as he gently nipped under her ear. Katie squirmed a little and then swatted him in the face with the dishtowel, and he laughed out loud.

“Seriously though Doll face, are you nearly done? You’ve been in here all afternoon. You do know we’re not eating till 3 tomorrow, right?” His hands squeezed her hips and she tossed the dishcloth down and turned to face him, her hands sliding up his chest to his shoulders.

“Yeah but the more I do now, the less I have to do tomorrow, and let’s face it, it’s not like I have anything else to do, on account of being an unemployed bum.” She shrugged making Steve laugh again. “Plus, I just want everything to be, you know…right.” she shrugged, and she did.

“It’s a dinner.”

“It’s Thanksgiving” She corrected him.

“Yeah, and last years was pretty cool, remember?”

“Yeah but…” she trailed off, biting her lip. Steve knew that look well enough now to know there was more to this.

“What?” He probed gently.

“Nothing, just, well I never had a boyfriend over for Thanksgiving before. Or Christmas come to think of it.”

Steve smiled “I like being your first…” Katie grinned. The whole ‘I like being your first’ thing had started off by her saying it to Steve but they’d fast come to realise that they actually both had a world of inexperience between them when it came to relationships, and it was nice that they could be each other’s firsts in a lot of ways. “Honey, tomorrow is gonna be great.” He assured, tipping her face up to look at his “Don’t sweat it.”

“Did you seriously just say don’t sweat it?” she sniggered.

Steve groaned “I told you I spent the afternoon with your brother…”

She giggled and leaned up to catch his lips in a soft kiss.

“Getting kinda tired of catching you two making out in a kitchen!” Tony chose that time to waltz in and open the fridge door, pointing to them as he did so. “You got your own floor, piss off and go use it.” ******

Katie woke the next morning to find Steve’s side of the bed empty and cold. It wasn’t unusual for him to be up earlier than her, she knew he would either be out running, in the gym or making coffee. She climbed out of bed and walked to the blinds of the bedroom, instructing JARVIS to open them, the AI being one of the many perks about being 'home’. The New York skyline stretched below her and as she glanced down she saw the people gathered on the sidewalks, attention turned to the streets, obviously waiting for the Thanksgiving Parade. She had asked Steve if he wanted to go and watch it in person but he had said he would prefer to stay in and watch from the tower as he didn’t fancy getting mobbed in the street. Being recognised by one person every so often was fine but in those crowds if one person spotted him then it would spread like wildfire. Besides, as he had pointed out, her floor had an awesome view so they could watch out of the window with a drink. Katie frowned as suddenly a large brown turkey shaped balloon floated in front of her eyes. The parade wasn’t supposed to start until nine and that meant by the time it made its way to the Avengers tower it would be… she turned and glanced at the click and gave a yelp. She had slept in until Ten.

Steve heard her before he saw her, not that he needed super hearing to hear the loud yell of "how fucking late?” coming from the bedroom. Grinning to himself he turned back to the griddle on the island of the kitchen, flipping a pancake with one hand and drinking a coffee with the other. “Why didn’t you wake me?” Katie grumbled to him as she leaned in the kitchen doorway, taking him in for a moment. He was freshly showered, dressed in a loose grey t-shirt and sweats, hair still a bit damp and spiked up in a way that made her smile. “Because you were up early yesterday and I thought I’d make you breakfast for a change.” He shrugged as she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face into the back of his shoulder. The smell of his shower gel mixed with the smell of the pancake mix, made her nuzzle her nose into him to inhale deeply. “You smell good.” She eventually spoke again. “Good to know.” A grin tugged at the corners of his lips at the fact she was still clinging to him. “I just saw a giant inflatable Turkey.” Her hands dropped and slid under his T-shirt, gently rubbing at his stomach. “What?” Steve paused. “The parade”

Steve smiled. “You know when I was a kid, the parade was the best part of Thanksgiving.” “Yeah?” she mumbled, her cheek still pressed to his shoulder.

“Yeah. Me and Bucky used to come into Manhattan with his family and my ma if she wasn’t working and stuff ourselves on popcorn and warm mixed nuts” He smiled to himself at the memory. They always picked out their favourite balloons, ate until they thought they would burst, and made Rebecca, Bucky’s younger sister laugh till she cried by pretending they were in the marching bands. But once the war started, the parade had ended. He had never realized that they started it up again until Tony and Katie had mentioned it last night as they had sat eating takeout. Part of him had wanted to go to the street to watch it but after seeing that morning how crowded it had been on his run he was happy to watch it from the comfort of Katie’s floor. He turned to face her for first time that day, her arms still round his waist. Her hair was pulled up into a pony tail, face fresh, eyes bright and she was, as ever, in one of his shirts and not a lot else. He leaned forward to give her a quick kiss and when he moved away, she quickly closed the space to give him another, letting her lips linger on his for a second. “I’ll burn the pancakes.” He murmured and she grinned, pulling away. “I’ll make fresh coffee.” She pat his chest and turned to the machine. “Hey JAR…Hit me with some Christmas tunes, buddy” “The usual Miss Stark?” “As long as it has the Pogues on…” “Wouldn’t dream of not doing” the AI replied and then the apartment was flooded with the sounds of ‘Fairy Tale of New York.’ “It’s November.” Steve turned to look at her, but she simply grinned to herself and turned around, singing to him. He couldn’t help but laugh, he knew from last year that Christmas for her started at Thanksgiving and ended on New Year’s Day. Plus the fact that the previous year she had spent Christmas day fighting a bunch of exploding super soldiers meant that she was going to enjoy this year as much as possible. He shook his head, a low chuckle escaping before he turned back to his pancakes. They dragged the cushions off the couch and ate breakfast sat by the huge floor to ceiling windows of the penthouse, Katie sat between Steve’s legs as they both watched the parade. Suddenly, a large green balloon floated by the window and Katie gave a loud squeal when she saw what it was. A Hulk float. An amused smile spread across her lips as she watched the balloon bob in front of the window, twisting to the sides in the air as it wrestled with the wind. “Oh my God!” Katie giggled again, gently tapping Steve’s right calf but he had already spotted it. A massive shield was coming out, followed by Iron Man’s mask, Thor’s hammer, a bow and arrow, Natasha’s Red Widow symbol and her own Nova star. She turned to look at him, a little smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth and when he met her eyes the smile broke out across his features. Laughing in disbelief, he shook his head, turning his attention back look at the shield float bounce down the street. “That’s pretty cool.” He allowed himself a slightly smug and amazed sigh, and it was. If anyone had told him all those years ago that one day he would feature in the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade he would have told them that they were mad. Yet there it was. He found himself smiling as he thought about how his ma and Bucky would have reacted. When they had finished eating, Katie leaned back into him a little more, slouching so that her knees were bent and her feet rested on the bottom of the window. His arms reached round her neck, and he kissed the back of her head as they continued to watch the floats, the gentle sound of Bing Crosby “White Christmas” now playing through the room, the two of them simply enjoying the closeness of one another. ***** Eventually it was time to head downstairs and join Tony, Bruce and Pepper for their dinner. Katie and Pepper left the men to it and finished off the prep before calling them all to the table. As was tradition, as ‘head of the house’ Tony carved the turkey with his usual, trademark drama and they took it in turns to give a few things they were thankful for. Tony was thankful for his friends, family and a decent brand of scotch he had in the cupboard for later, Pepper was thankful for being so fortunate and being surrounded by people she loved, Bruce was thankful for being welcomed into their family home, not just for today but since he had taken up residency just after the Chitauri Battle, and Katie was thankful for being in the presence of people she cared for, and for the last year being so much better than the previous twelve months. She shot a wink at Steve as she said that and he beamed before he realised they were waiting for him.

"Okay, well…” He cleared his throat. “I guess I’m thankful for being given a second chance, being welcomed by you all…and for, err, you.” He grinned at Katie who gave him a playful roll of the eyes but the flush on her cheeks told him she had understood.

“Awww.” Pepper smiled, as Tony made a gagging noise which resulted in Katie throwing a carrot at him. He pointed at her, frowning.

“No food fights on my floor, Kiddo.” He said sternly and she simply raised an eyebrow at him, taking a sip of her wine.

The food was good, not that anyone expected anything else. Both Tony and Banner managed two servings whilst Steve made it through three. And then there was the pie. Steve scoffed down a piece of each, whilst everyone else could only face one, but no one cared. And he found himself secretly pleased that there was enough left for him to scoff later on.

“I’m so glad I wore leggings.” Pepper sighted, leaning back and massaging her stomach.

“Tell me about it.” Katie moaned. “I’m so glad this denims have an elasticated waist.” She pulled at the middle of her long maroon peplum style top. “Think I’m having a food baby.”

“Yeah, I gotta hand it to you Kiddo…” Tony leaned back in his chair, undoing the top button of his pants and massaging his stomach “That was absolutely awesome.“

Steve’s hand dropped to his girl’s leg under the table and he gave her knee a little squeeze as she reached for her wine glass, before he moving his arm to drop it round the back of her chair. "I certainly prefer the Turkey dead and cooked anyway” Tony added and Katie groaned. “Are you ever gonna let me live that down?” She looked at him. “No” he shook his head. “What’s this?” Steve asked, setting his glass down. “Did she not tell you about the time she brought home a live Turkey one year? Katie sighed as Steve sat up, turning to her, smirking "No…” “I was seventeen and going through a meat is murder phase.” She waved away the comment with her hands. “I was in the way home and saw him. He was the only one left in the farmyard so I liberated him” “By liberated she means stole.” Tony quipped, standing up to retrieve two more bottled of Rijoca from the wet bar as laughs rang round the table. “No one came looking for him.” She shrugged. “Marv lived a happy life for five years in our back garden” “Marv?” Bruce looked at her, a smile creeping across his face. “After the character from Home Alone.” She replied simply

“You had a turkey called Marv?” The scientist deadpanned and she nodded.

“He was a great pet. Used to chase Tony around” “The bird was a fucking menace.” Tony frowned, topping everyone’s glass up. Settling back into his chair, Katie noticed Pepper giving him a look and he started suddenly as if he was remembering something. He leaned forward and looked at Katie. "So I know we don’t do Thanksgiving gifts kiddo but I was thinking yesterday about something you said to me once, about having a vision for a publishing company.”

Katie stole a look at Steve who simply shrugged. It was true, when she had first graduated she had thought about setting up a publishing company, but one that dealt with unknown writers. Her favourite books in the world were the Harry Potter series and during her degree she had been lucky enough to attend a small seminar held by JK Rowling, who had openly discussed her life before becoming a famous author. She had been a single mother, struggling to make ends meet, and even after she had written the books it took her years to get a deal, being rejected by four different publishers before Bloomsbury (a small, independent group) took a chance on her and it paid off for both of them. Katie loved the rags to riches story and since then had always harboured a desire to do the same thing for other authors but it had never really been much more than a pipe dream.

“It was an idea I once had.” She shrugged, looking at Tony. “Then things went a bit crazy.” “Well… how about we make it a bit more than an idea?” Pepper said. “What?” Katie frowned, looking at Pepper, then he brother who nodded. “I want you to put a proper proposal together, business plan, mood and story board that type of thing.” He said, waving his hand in that Tony-esque manner “Then we’re gonna look at what we need to set it up and take it to the board. Run it as a Ltd company under the Parent company of Stark Industries, but you’ll be the Managing Director.” “I…, I can’t run a business!” She stammered. “Didn’t you run the UK branch of SI for a while?” Bruce looked at her, smiling. “That was different.” She pressed. “Why?” Steve asked. “Shut up Steven.” She shot without even looking at him.

There were a few chuckles round the table before Tony continued. “Look, you don’t need to work.” He shrugged. “You have enough capitol behind you plus the revenue from the business as it to live your life out as an IT girl, but we both know you’ll end up killing someone if you get bored, and that’s likely to be Cap seeing as you see him most so this is for him as much as you.” “Thanks Tony.” Steve tipped his glass to the Inventor who winked. Katie pondered. It really had been a dream of hers since leaving Uni, putting her degree and passion into her work and she would be lying if she said the thought didn’t excite her but it was a hell of a big commitment, and what if it all failed?

“I’ll help you.” Pepper smiled at Katie who was biting her lip. "I’ll proof read the proposal and I’ll be there every step of the way whilst you set up.” She leaned back in her chair. "The week before Christmas there’s another board meeting. I suggest we use that to pitch the idea.”

“I think this could be a great opportunity for you and Stark Industries.” Tony looked at Katie. “And you’ll get full autonomy over it all, I promise.” This was amazing. She looked at Steve who nodded encouragingly. “What is it you keep saying to me? You’ll never know until you try?” he smiled at her. She took a deep breath and looked around the table before throwing caution to the wind and letting out a huge grin. “Ok. Fuck it. Let’s do it.” **** After another half an hour or so of chatter, and a bottle of champagne to celebrate Katie’s agreement to the business idea, everyone chipped in to clear the table before retiring to the plush living area of Tony and Pepper’s floor for more drinks and chat. Then the alcohol really did began to flow, Steve and Tony moving onto the scotch, the soldier watching as everyone around him descended into that well recognised drunken haze. And then out came ‘Drawing Without Dignity’, a game Steve had never played before which was really rather vulgar, but he couldn’t help but enjoy it. The game fast slid into chaos which was to be expected with an extremely competitive Super Soldier who had a natural advantage as he could actually draw, an equally competitive billionaire and a normally mild mannered scientist who also was quite cutthroat when it came to winning it turned out.

Pepper and Katie spent most of the time sniggering at the bickering men, and at the point when they were laughing that much when it was their go, the three boys got so frustrated they banned them from playing. For that, the next time Steve asked Katie what one of the more risqué sayings meant (he had cringed at a fair few of them over the course of the evening) she lied to sabotage him earning her a full on Captain glare. “That was a pretty shitty thing to do.” He grumbled at her as Tony and Bruce were both howling with laughter. “Not my fault Captain Badass doesn’t know what Rimming is!” Katie shot back, wiping away her tears. Steve had to bite back his own laugh at the ridiculous nickname, instead he fixed her with another glare which she returned with a simple shrug of her shoulders. The game ended, and Steve and Tony called it a draw, which was probably the easiest thing to do since Pepper had stopped taking count and tallying towards the end. It was now well after ten pm and Steve looked around the room as Tony stood up, a little unsteady on his feet, teetering back over to the bar.

“I think maybe we’ve had enough.” Pepper hiccupped slightly looked at Tony who had been reaching for another bottle of liquor, wheeled round slightly too fast causing him to stumble into the bar.

Katie cackled as Tony looked at Pepper “Shut up Mom.” he grabbed another bottle of scotch in one hand and the open bottle of Krug the girls were drinking in the other. He walked carefully over towards the sofa, as he dropped down into it heavily, handing the champagne to Katie who was on the floor in between Steve’s legs, her back resting against the sofa. She took it and poured herself and Pepper a glass, quite pleased that she didn’t spill any.

“You know he…he can’t get drunk!” Tony handed Bruce a now full glass, pointing to Steve.

“That’s sad.” Bruce surmised, taking a sip of his drink before Tony sat bolt upright, and pointed at the scientist.

“Hey, I wonder if Hulk can get drunk?”

“That’s an…that’s an…ex…exper-expediment I don’t think we should do.” Bruce shook his head, hiccups punctuating his speech.

“Absolutely not.” Steve shook his head as Katie cackled.

“But it would be for science purposes.” Tony pressed

Bruce wrinkled his nose and shook his head “No Code Green.” “Spoil sport.” Tony sniffed

They stayed for another hour or so, until Pepper fell asleep. Katie’s cheeks were flushed pink and when she asked for a bottle of water Steve knew it was time to go. After asking Tony if he needed help clearing anything up, which he declined stating housekeeping would be in at some point tomorrow to deal with it, Steve stood up, surprised to find he actually felt a little bit of a head-rush. Ok, so maybe the three bottles of scotch they’d managed to go through had had a little effect after all, but he felt the fizziness ebbing away as he pulled Katie to her feet and she grinned up at him.

“Wanna carry me Soldier?” she asked.

He arched an eyebrow and in one swoop had her over his shoulder, causing her to shriek with laughter as she clutched at his navy blue cardigan jacket.

“Night!” She waved from her upside down position. Tony and Bruce waved distractedly from where they were now trying to mix some form of cocktail at the bar.

“You can put me down now.” Katie patted Steve on his back as they boarded the elevator. “Steve…”

He smirked to himself, ignoring her giggles and protests, swatting lightly at her ass, and didn’t put her down until they reached the bedroom where he tossed her onto the bed and set about showing her exactly how thankful for her he was

******* If you want to read more about Marv the Turkey, check out the One shot: The Life Of Marv. As with all SSB One Shots, they don’t need to be read to understand the main story...consider them tasty little side dishes.

********

Chapter 12 Part 1

**Original Posting**

#stark spangled banner #steve rogers #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character #katie stark #chris evans #chris evans characters #mcu #mcu fanfic

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red1culous · 4 years

Text

Familiar Stranger part 3

Part 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

At 6:10 pm you rush out of the store through the back entrance like a bat out of hell and stop dead in your tracks. Natasha Romanoff is leaning against your bike speaking to someone in a black corvette parked on the curb. You try and control your breathing and walk towards her smoothing down your clothes and running your fingers through your messy hair. You’re pretty sure you look like an absolute terror. She on the other hand looks as stunning as ever in her black jeans and black leather jacket.

As you approach her you notice through the tinted windows of the car a man with dirty light brown hair. He notices you and alerts Natasha who spins around to face you a dazzling smile on her face.

“Hey there” she says reaching out to you and giving you a quick hug.

“Hi” you say softly afraid your voice will betray you. “Sorry I’m a little late. Had to do some stock taking” you add shifting nervously from foot to foot.

“Oh sorry this is Clint” she says pointing towards the man in the car. He gives you a hard look and nods before pulling out of the parking spot and driving off.

You swallow nervously, “don’t worry about him” Natasha says, “he’s always looking out for me”.

“Right” you say softly still unsure of what to do.

“You ready?” she says straddling the back of your bike and patting the space in front of her.

“Uh yeah” you say gingerly mounting the bike trying your hardest not to let any part of yourself come into contact with the Widow. You shiver slightly when you feel her thighs press on either side of your hips. And you groan internally when she places her hands on your waist.

You start up your bike and after a minute turn your head slightly towards her and say, “umm where to?”

She just laughs heartily, “let’s start with your place so you can get changed and then I know this place where they serve the best cake in town. How’s that sound like to you?”

You just nod and ride off in the direction of your apartment unable to process the fact that Natasha Romanoff was pressed tightly against your back.

The drive home helped clear the fog from your mind…a little. Riding always loosened you up a little. But the anxiety came back in torrents when you started to climb the steps to your apartment.

“Ok so I can’t remember if I left the place in a mess or not so please ignore everything that you see” you say as you slide the key into the lock and open the door holding it for her to walk through.

She chuckles a little and steps inside a smile growing on her face, “it would take a lot to phase me” she walks in looking around, “it looks fine to me Y/N”.

You look around and let out a breath. Thank god you had tidied up before heading off the work this morning. You make a mental note to always keep the place tidy from now on just in case…

“Umm would you like a drink while I get changed?” you say walking to the fridge and peering inside.

“Sure what do you have?” Natasha follows behind you looking at the knick knacks you had decorating your place.

“I have water andddd…” you stick your head further into the fridge picking up a carton of orange juice and cringing after you take a sniff of it, “…more water” you smile at her chucking the orange juice into the trash bin.

“Water is fine, thanks” she comes up to you and leans agains the counter.

“Right so I’ll just go change real quick and umm we can go right after” you say walking backwards towards your bedroom and bump into the console table which earns you a chuckle from the redhead.

“You like knives?” you hear her shout from the living room as you pull a t-shirt over your head.

“What?” you say walking out of the bedroom a denim jacket draped over your shoulder.

She holds up a large Damascus knife raising an eyebrow at you.

“Yeah” you smile walking up to her, “I actually make knives in my spare time”.

“I love knives” she says passing the blade from one hand to the other with a dexterity that was mind boggling. “You’re really good. This one is very well balanced” she adds.

“Yeah? I could make you one” you say eyes still glued to her hands as if mesmerised by them.

“I should show you where I keep all my toys” she says with a smirk passing the knife back to you. Her hand lingering in yours for a second longer than it should.

“Yo-your toys?” you swallow hard. She winks at you.

“Come on let’s get that cake and coffee” she says before walking towards the door and adding, “this time I’m driving”.

The ride to the coffee shop was something else. It had you gripping onto Natasha like a koala. You’re pretty sure Natasha could feel your heartbeat with how close you were holding her. In no time she pulled into this tiny parking lot next to a diner that looked like it came out of a 50’s movie set. Sofia’s Cafe Diner look cute but classy at the same time. As Natasha holds the door open for you she said she often came here because she knew the owners from way back and they made the best peach pie this side of town. She walked past the old lady behind the counter who spoke to her warmly in an accent that sounded Russian. Natasha led you to a booth in the back and took your jacket sliding into the seat opposite you.

You tried to be civil but sitting opposite the Black Widow was proving harder than you thought. Natasha sensed your unease.

“Is this weird for you, Y/N?” she asks.

“No. I’m fine” you lie and she cocks an eyebrow at you.

“Ok maybe it’s a little unsettling” you blush thanking the girl who brought your pies to the table. When you’re alone again you look at your date and sigh, “it’s just that you’re super hot and I’m just me and I don’t see why I’m even here”.

“First of all” she beams, “thank you for the compliment. And secondly I have a confession to make” this time she ducks her head and you can see a faint blush blooming across her cheeks.

“I’ve been watching you for awhile now” she says.

“That’s umm…comforting?” you say and she laughs.

“Promise me you won’t freak out?” she says placing her hand on yours which causes your breath to hitch.

“No promises but I’ll try” you say.

“You know about six months back when there was that assassination attempt on Councilwoman Staunton?”

“Uh huh” you say slowly nodding.

“I saw you” she adds.

“You saw me?” you parrot her.

“When everyone was running for safety you were running in the opposite directly looking for people caught in the rubble”

“You saw that?” you scrunch up your face in slight embarrassment.

“Well you kinda saved me actually” she says pausing for a second, “I was under one of the slabs of concrete you shifted”

“But I would’ve remembered you” you say thinking back to that time.

“I was caked in blood and muck even my teammates didn’t recognise me at first” she says smiling at you.

“You pulled me out and stayed with me until…”

“…until Captain America came by” you finish her sentence, realisation finally dawning on you. “That was you?”.

“That was me” she nods, “you said I looked like shit” she chuckles.

“Oh my god!” you panic, “I didn’t realise that was you”

“I did look like shit” she laughs, “you saved me that day and I’ve been searching for you ever since to say thank you”

“Wow” you stare at her dumbfounded.

“So…” she hands you a fork, “this is my thank you. The best pie this side of town”

“You really didn’t have to Natasha. If you needed to do anything a simple thank you would have been more than sufficient” you smile accepting the fork from her and taking a bite of the pie moaning at how good it tasted. She just smiles at you taking a mouthful for herself.

“Plus you looked really cute covered in concrete dust” she says causing you to choke on your pie.

“Well” you say wiping your mouth on the napkin, “it was my pleasure”

“So eat up there’s something else I want to show you” she says taking a sip of her black coffee.

You glance at her a quizzically. Swallowing hard on a too-big-spoonful-of-pie you mutter, “oh…show me what?”

“Well...the first one has to do with your doctoral thesis and the second…” she takes a minute as if contemplating what she’s about to say. Leaning against the table resting her hands on its edge she says in a hushed tone, “…the second part involves rope”.

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

Tagging: @natasharomanoffismywife @imnotasuperhero @ellebellerules @cybeleceto @silverwing2522 @thelastavenger-3000 @peggycarter-steverogers @niquey-salvatore @rooskaya-yelena @blackwidowromonoff @lesbian-x-blackwidow @nowthisisliving27 @jumbojamba47 @izalesbean @aaron-despair @rooskaya-yelena @marvelfansince08love @rileigh519

#natasha x reader #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff x fem!reader #familiar stranger #redfic

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leftonraed · 4 years

Text

The Night We Met - Episode 3

pairing : Taehyung x OC genre : bodyguard!au, singleparent!au, idol!au word count : 2.3k summary — Taehyung has a talk with his father. He also starts to catch feelings. Prologue | ep.1 | ep.2 | ep.3 | ep.4 | ep.5 | ep.6 | ep.7

You park the car neatly along the sidewalk. When the engine dies down, nothing else can be heard beside the subdued tweeting in the trees nearby playing with the agreeable silence the upscale neighbourhood is plunged in.

A cold wind blows on your face as you step out of the vehicle. There are leaves everywhere, covering the ground with hues of brown, red, orange and yellow. You walk around the car and see Taehyung adjusting Hina’s beanie and gloves while she waits patiently.

With a quick nod, you let him know the vicinity is clear and show you’re ready to escort them to his parents’ house.

He wraps her hand in his and leads the way. You keep a small distance behind. He stops in front of a tall front gate and rings the bell. You keep looking both ways until it opens and they are inside.

Taehyung notices his father at the other end of the path, waving and smiling warmly. He gestures back but gets surprised when the little girl lets go of his hand.

“Hina! Come back!” He orders as she runs away, giggling, towards the big piles of leaves gathered at the foot of the old tree in the garden.

“Go. I’ll watch her.” He hears you quietly saying right next to his ear, the sudden proximity making his heart jump hard.

“But-” He mumbles, flustered.

“She’ll join you after.”

Taehyung heads to his father reluctantly, gazing steadily at Hina making a mess around herself.

“Don’t worry about it,” grins the older man. “It’s been a while since we’ve heard someone laugh in here.”

“She never listens to him,” he complains and it reminds his father of his son’s childhood days.

He stops at the doorstep. “Did you ever?” Taehyung stares at him dumbstruck. “I’m just kidding. Come. Is your friend joining us?”

He looks back where you’re standing ramrod straight, fixing Hina with an attentive look.

“She’s watching her.”

Taehyung welcomes the warmth of the house with contentment and starts getting rid of the thick layers he’s dressed himself in. The fire crackling in the living-room is the sole sound and source of light inside. He follows his father.

“It’s getting colder this week. I’m heating up tea.”

Taehyung offers a soft smile.

“So?” His father looks at him pointedly, sitting next to him.

“What?”

“You think I don’t know what’s between the two of you?”

Taehyung frowns, taken aback. “What?”

“I’m no fool. I know you like her.”

“B-but- I mean- No- It’s not what you think!”

His father chuckles the more he gets mixed up. “I’m just messing with you. What’s with that face you’re making?”

Taehyung pouts, feeling his cheeks warming up.

“I didn’t catch her name.”

“______.” He answers softly. “She’s Seojun’s replacement.”

“She seems reliable and… one-of-a-kind.”

“She is,” he trails to himself and gets a glimpse of him out of the corner of his eye. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m sure she has you under her thumb.”

Taehyung crosses his arms, slightly upset. “That’s not even true.” He opens one eye and catches him stifling a snicker. “Stop it!”

“Still so easy to get you worked up I see.”

Silence comes again and their smiles die down.

“How’s mom?”

He hears his father’s intake of air, trying to come up with an answer. “I don’t really know... She started eating again.” He looks at his son, “I guess she’s getting better. But I don’t know what this really means. I don’t think we’ll ever get over what happened.”

Taehyung keeps staring into space, at a loss for words. He can hear Hina’s laughter from the outside and his heart tightens as chaotic thoughts fill his mind.

“Maybe-”

“Hm?”

Taehyung sounds unsure about what he’s about to say. “I was thinking- If I left Hina here… It’d help?”

“We miss her terribly,” he sighs. “She does bring a lot of happiness. She looks so much like him. And you.” His father smiles tenderly. “But she grew attached to you. And we know why. I think you’re her best solution.”

“I just wan’ help mom and you get well fast.”

“I know. I know... Don’t worry too much over us, you already have a lot on your plate. We look after each other and- to know Hina and you have each other, it helps us feel better.”

A part of him feels relieved about keeping Hina home but he can’t ignore the heaviness in his chest the longer he thinks of his parents on their own with their sorrow.

Taehyung lets out a breathy chuckle. “ You know she-… She’s started to call me ‘daddy’ and-” he sees his father gazing back. “I don’t really know how to react.”

“Does it make you uncomfortable?”

He shakes his head. “Not anymore.”

“Then, it shouldn’t tick over in your mind. As long as she feels safe and you’re still managing… things… Cause you are, right?”

“Yeah,” Taehyung promptly reassures him. His mouth stretches in a small grin. “I- I get a lot of help back there.”

“I’m sure you do.” His father reaches for his shoulder, smiling as well. “I’m serious, Taehyung. No need to get concerned about anything. We got this. All of us.”

They share a look, simple, yet holding so much more.

The kettle’s suddenly whistling, prompting the old man on his feet.

“Get’em inside. I’ll go wake you mom.”

Taehyung stands up and heads to the entrance. He opens the door and is a little surprised to see you already there, assisting Hina in climbing up the stairs.

The tip of her nose has turned pink and he can feel the freshness of her palms through the fabric when she hugs his leg. He hurries her inside after getting her shoes off.

He steps aside to let you in.

“Oh, wait…” He suddenly says. You look back, caught off guard as you watch him reach for the top of your head. “You have a leaf stuck in your hair.”

The moment is short but feels drawn out. His fingers are delicate in their motions, you can even feel him lightly combing your hair before he abruptly stops when he catches you staring back intently.

His cheeks warm up yet again. “Done.”

“I suggest you get in before we all freeze to death.” His father puts an end to your staring contest.

You both look away and watch Hina hugging her grandmother who just came down the stairs. She meets your eyes, surprised.

“Mom, this is ______.”

________________________________________

Taehyung’s not sure what to think of your closeness with Hina. It’s as if he feels obliged to feel bad about you watching her while he’s working on his new songs either in studios or shows venues when you’re only paid to keep any harm from her and not play babysitter. He still remembers that one day he firmly told her not to use walls as a written medium and started drawing on your body after you've told her she could and showed the tattoo on your thigh.

He was both befuddled and surprised to note that particularity. And he hates how stoical you always seem to be about everything. He wants to be able to read your mind but you’ve never indulged him. He gets more curious about your opinion of him as a performer.

As grateful he is for your presence, he’s come to realise, after only a couple of months in your company, its impact on their relationship. It’s not as if you’ve been trying to create any particular bond with his niece, yet you’ve managed to get Hina to ask after you when you’re nowhere to be seen. He never feels jealous about it, it simply makes him smile. He’d even find himself missing you oftentimes.

Today’s Wednesday and it’s awfully quiet this afternoon.

Taehyung’s scrolling endlessly through movies and dramas when Hina comes plopping down on the couch, face first, next to him.

“Are you bored ?” He smiles at her and playfully taps her bum.

Another minute passes by and he turns off the T.V. to grab his phone. It’s seven pm.

“Wanna go see ______?”

Hina pulls herself straight up at the mention of your name and squeals a little ‘yes’ as if he’s just had the best idea ever.

“Let’s go get prepared.”

Not long after, they’re already on their way to the gym where you’re always spending your free time on his days off. It’s not a long walk by foot. He knows he’s taking risks but he doesn’t feel like driving.

With Hina in one arm, he pushes open the front door. The air inside is thick and heavy with the smell of sweat. Music’s blasting, although low enough for him to hear the fit man greeting him at the entrance.

Taehyung adjusts his sunglasses on his fringe. “I’m looking for _______. We agreed to meet.” He lies.

“Wait here, I’ll go get her.”

“Thank you.”

He watches the man walk around a corner. He lets Hina sit back on the counter to ease his arm tired after holding her the whole walk.

“_______!” She exclaims, which has Taehyung looking where she’s pointing.

He spots you a few feet away walking in his direction and chatting with another man. He’s staring back quietly and feels satisfied when he notices the surprise in your eyes for a split second at their sight.

He feels Hina tugging at his collar to get back in his arms. She waves at you excitedly when you’re near. The man in your company stops behind to chat with another person crossing his way.

“Hi,” you hear Taehyung breath. He hopes you don’t notice his staring.

Your outfit isn’t much different from what you usually wear at home when you work out but your chest is glowing with your effort enticingly and your hair sticking to the flushed skin of your neck. Your worked up expression makes his stomach feel tingly.

“What are you doing here?”

“Uhm- We… Hina wanted to see you.”

“That’s really stupid of you.” You frown a little. “What if something happened on your way here? Or if someone recognised you?”

Taehyung feels himself warming up at your worry.

“We took care of it. Hina, show her,” he smiles proudly and raises a finger to tap and have his sunglasses falling down on his nose. Your gaze shifts back and forth to his cheeky smile and Hina who’s keeping a tight tiny hand on hers, obviously too big for her, clearly playing along.

“Secwet.” She hushes.

You pinch your lips not to let yourself get endeared by her.

“______?” The stranger suddenly says.

Taehyung’s eyes instantly look at his hand cupping your waist to fit himself between you and the counter. He notes he’s barely taller than him but his physique is near perfection. You do nothing to take his hand off of you. His smile dies a little.

“New friends?”

“Uhm-,” you turn your head to glance at him quickly, “Shownu, this is Taehyung. And his niece.” You gesture between them. “Taehyung, Hina, Shownu. He owns that gym.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Shownu doesn’t seem to recognise him as he swipes his hand on his shorts and offers it. Taehyung shakes it shortly and nods. “You should come someday. We’re offering fifty percent off of membership and the first month is free.”

“Now’s not a great time.”

“Why not?”

You shake your head at Shownu. “Why are you being so nosy?”

“I’m just asking.”

Taehyung intervenes. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Great.” He smiles and stretches a hand to pinch Hina’s cheek lightly but she leans away on Taehyung’s shoulder. He grips your shoulder, looking down at you. “Have to go. I’ll text you about the thing, okay?”

You nod.

Taehyung watches you watching him walking away. He can’t help but compare himself to him and wonder if he’s your type. It itches him to know more about the two of you but he knows better. You catch him and he grins a tight-lipped smile.

_______________________________________

The walk back home is quiet. Hina’s happy about not having to wear those gigantic glasses anymore and bounces her way in front of you.

“Don’t get surprised if you’re making headlines tomorrow.”

Taehyung turns around to see you staring blankly at him, “what are you talking about?”

“I’m sure someone’s already spotted you. You’re surely all over the internet.” You say pointedly.

“Uh- No, that’s impossible.” He quickly interjects. “I was careful. And it’s too dark now.”

“You don’t know them. They’re crazy.” You suddenly breathe very closely to his face. “They’re everywhere and watching everything you do. Seojun told me all about them.”

Taehyung freezes, uneasy. “Hina!” He calls when she starts to get a little too far. “Why are you saying these things? It's scary.”

“It’ll be your fault.” You close your eyes, slightly pouting.

He picks her up when she’s at his feet. He frowns,“stop saying that.”

“Then don’t go out without telling me.”

“Alright, I got it!”

Hina looks back and forth between you two.

“Maybe, we’re being followed.”

He’s getting a little alarmed. “You think?”

“I don’t know.” You walk closer and closer until your chest presses against his arm. “The best thing we could do... would be to pretend to be a family? Taking a walk?” You drag out.

“Eh?”

You grin a little lopsided smile at his funny expression. “Yeah, like this.” You sneak an arm around his, tightening him more to yourself.

Taehyung doesn’t know how to react to your sudden move. Hina stretches her tiny hand to cup your cheek and he notices a glint of satisfaction in your eyes. “Bu- but, you’re sweaty.”

“What did you expect, fetching me from the gym?” You jerk your body away.

“No, no, no! I take it back!”

You shake your head at him and he looks away when you don’t, trying to contain himself.

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#taehyung scenarios #bts scenarios #bts smut #Taehyung smut #bts angst #taehyung angst #bts fluff #taehyung fluff #bts imagines #taehyung x reader #taehyung x oc #taehyung x y/n #bts reactions

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hidden-otaku-stuff · 4 years

Text

Lockscreens (ch. 3)

tw: Implied drinking

Word count: 2.9k

Genre: Angst, fluff

All trigger warnings will be tagged and posted at the beginning of each chapter! This will have *manga spoilers*

Pairings: Bokuto x fem!reader, Kuroo x fem!reader

Summary: Nearly four years ago, Bokuto left the love of his life for volleyball. Despite all the time, he’s still very much in love with her. He comes home to a major surprise leaving him wondering…What happened while he was gone?

AN: Please check the bottom for info about my 150 follower special!

Masterlist | prev | next

ch 3: No new notifications (13 weeks)

“Cheers! To the best, most hard-working Manager I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, who is doing a kickass job in her life. This is all for you, bestie!” Kuroo pointed at her, brandishing his red solo cup. The room broke into cheers as she began to glow cherry-red. She glanced down to the phone in her hand. No new notifications.

“Congratulations (Name)!” Yaku grinned, tapping his cup against hers. She tucked her phone back into her pocket as she took a sip of the sparkling apple cider.

Kai stood beside her, elbowing her slightly. “We always knew you could do it.”

“He’s so embarrassing,” she huffed, cheeks puffing up. Kuroo walked over, pushing her cheeks together. His own glowed like fresh-picked strawberries.

“You look so adorable kitten~!” She playfully nipped at his fingers, causing him to pull them back and wag his finger at her. “Is that really any way to treat your bestest friend who planned this party for you?” They stood side-by-side as they surveyed the scene. Kuroo had gone all out. He’d ordered food and had even helped prepare curry prior to the party while she had made the gyoza. Her house was filled with familiar faces. Her heart glowed, recognising all the members from the Nekoma team from her third-year. Even senpais who had graduated two years before had stopped by. Here and there were familiar faces from other teams like Sugawara from Karasuno, Konoha from Fukurodani, and even some of her classmates from university.

By the entrance, a large white poster was tacked to the wall serving as a backdrop. On it was “Congratulations (Name)!” with markers were provided for party-guests to leave heart-felt messages. The pop of another champagne bottle being opened caught their attention. White and gold streamers decorated the walls. Balloons were center-pieces at all the various tables. Her heart clenched, an all-too familiar jersey and face popping into her mind.

“Congratulations Kou!” She squealed, jumping into her boyfriend’s arms. Bokuto beamed, wrapping an arm around her waist.

“Congratulations to you too, babe!” He leaned down, rubbing his nose against hers. She giggled, pulling back and straightening out his tie.

“I can’t believe we’re finally finished,” (Name) smiled, turning her body so that her back was against Bokuto’s chest while they surveyed the room. All around were various former third-years of Fukurodani and Nekoma. Nekoma’s graduation ceremony had been yesterday whereas Fukurodani’s ceremony had been that day.

“Finally finished, but still stuck together,” Kuroo appeared, looming over their shoulders with a smirk on his face.

“It’ll be a new adventure,” she protested, glaring at the male.

“Oi, Kuroo, leave the love-birds alone,” Yaku scolded, holding two red solo cups. Yaku handed her a cup. “Cheers guys!” They all cheered, their cups tapping together.

“To another four years with my babies,” she smiled affectionately, letting her head rest against Bokuto’s chest.

“I guess I’ll sacrifice another four years taking care of you children,” Kuroo teased. She rolled her eyes, feeling Bokuto’s warm breath on her ear.

“To four years of university, and then a lifetime beside the girl who stole my heart all those years ago,” he whispered. (Name) flushed pink, only for a scarlet glow to overtake her when Bokuto pressed a sloppy kiss onto her cheek. “Let’s party!” He cheered, pulling away and chugging the rest of his beer.

She glanced down to her phone. No new notifications. All that stared back at her was the picture of some cute dog she pulled off of the internet. Nimble fingers plucked the phone from her grasps. “Hey!” She protested, hands reaching up to try and grab it.

“This is your party!” He gestured to the room. “All of these people gathered here to celebrate this accomplishment with you.” He sent her a soft look, cupping her cheeks before pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead. “You can have your phone back later, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she pouted, pushing his hands off of her face.

Kuroo pushed her towards Kai and Yaku before he walked away, joining Kenma in the corner. “You and Kuroo seem closer than ever,” Yaku commented, shooting the girl a sly look. “Did something happen?” The former libero eyed the rooster-headed male as he laughed.

“Oh, let me help you with that Kenma!” (Name) called, putting down the water bottles as she made her way over to the first year setter. Kenma’s face turned as he avoided direct eye-contact, focusing on the ball he was wiping down. She stood beside him, grabbing a towel to wipe another. Her perky voice carried through the emptying gym. Hazel eyes followed them, a smile proudly displayed on his face. Yaku and Kai exchanged looks, a smirk creeping on Yaku’s face. The second years entered the locker-room, following the rooster-headed male.

“God I’m so happy right now.”

“Oh really, what’s going on now Kuroo?” Kai inquired, sending the male a sly look.

“Does it have anything to do with (Name)?” Yaku teased.

“No!” Kuroo pouted. “Maybe.” He took off his shirt, grabbing a different one from his bag. “I’m just happy that she and Kenma get along, okay?”

“Don’t they usually hangout anyways?” Kai raised his eyebrows.

“Is that all that makes you happy about her?”

“Well I mean...isn’t that good? Isn’t it a good thing my best friends get along together?” Kuroo smirked. “I don’t see you having any best friends, Yaku, so I guess you can’t relate there.” Yaku’s face crossed into anger, as he rolled his shirt sleeve up.

“Hey, don’t start fighting here,” Kai warned, tugging his own shirt down.

“He started it!” Yaku scowled.

“Well, I’m ending it.”

There was a knock at the door. “Kuroo? Are you still in there?”

Kuroo was holding his hand against Yaku’s forehead, preventing his movements. “Yeah!”

“Hurry up, rooster-head. I gotta get home and get started on my paper!”

“Coming!” Kuroo pushed Yaku back, throwing his bag over his shoulder as he ran out, tripping slightly. The boys exchanged looks.

“He’s so whipped.”

Kai grunted in agreement.

“Something like that.” They all turned to look at the pair of best friends.

“What happened to Bokuto?” Kai asked, his eyebrows raised.

(Name) turned to look at them, her eyes dimming. “He uh...he left, I guess.” She cleared her throat. “He went to go pro and left me behind.” She shrugged. Another sip.

“That owl-haired idiot,” Yaku scowled. “You guys seemed so in love though.”

“Didn’t you choose your major because of him?”

“We were and yeah, kinda.” Kuroo’s eyes met hers from across the room, and he sent her a cheeky smile. “But sometimes, you gotta let go of the people you love so that they can fly to their highest.” The group drank, Kai and Yaku exchanged looks at her sorrowful expression. “Besides! I love being a recreational therapist anyways.”

“Are you planning on getting a doctorate? I know you mentioned wanting to do physical therapy sometime.”

She shrugged. “I don’t think it’s in the cards for me right now, but maybe sometime down the line.” A hand subconsciously settled onto her stomach. In turn, she asked them about their post-graduation plans and they soon fell into an easy conversation.

After a few hours, the party began to wind down. People left, the food and alcohol had long been consumed. “Thank you for having us!” Yaku waved as he and Kai left. (Name) had been bent over the kitchen counter, picking up the empty cups and dirty plates that littered it. She waved at the duo before the door snapped shut behind them.

“Thank god that’s over with,” she said as she went back to cleaning. Another glance at the phone on the table. No new notifications. She bit back her sigh. At this point, she shouldn’t have even been surprised.

Kuroo’s annoying laugh echoed in the house as he began cleaning the table. He eyed the decorations. “How about we leave the decorations up for a bit? There’s no harm in celebrating a little longer.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re just too tired to clean up.”

He walked around the island, wiping down the cleared counter. “That and you need rest,” he chided. A light hand pressed against her lower back. “Go shower and get ready for bed. I’ll take care of this.” A chaste forehead kiss. Her eyes fluttered shut at the searing contact.

She let out a long sigh, a hand on her stomach, a slight bump meeting it. “Only because my feet and back are killing me,” she acknowledged. She leaned up, pressing her lips to his cheek. “Thanks rooster-head.” Ignoring his cry of indignation, she headed to the bathroom. By the time she was finished, Kuroo was sprawled onto her bed. “I don’t remember giving you permission to sleepover,” she remarked, leaning against the doorway as she towel-dried her hair.

“And I don’t remember getting a thank you for today. I guess we’re both missing something now aren’t we?” His snarky reply had her balling up and throwing the damp towel on his face. Kuroo whipped it off, complaining loudly. She walked over, crawling towards Kuroo to hover over him.

“Thank you for the party.” His eyes gleamed as he tapped his cheek.

“I think you missed something here.”

“Kuroo!” She warned, and he threw his head back in a good-natured laugh.

“Down, kitten,” he teased. “No need to get your claws out.” He gently eased her off of him onto the bed. “I’m gonna shower and I’ll be right back for cuddles.” She scowled, throwing a pillow at him.

“Don’t even think about it Kuroo!” He cackled as the pillow bounced off the door. She stretched slightly before she relaxed onto her side. Exhaustion overwhelmed her, and she slipped into the abyss.

****

Nearly 300 miles away, a muscular male was just clambering into bed. His phone vibrated, lighting up.

Konoha: Missed you at (Name)’s grad party! Hope you’re having fun with the pros 🙄😜

Gold eyes widened as he opened his calendar. He cursed. (Name) had finished university last week, and he hadn’t even sent her anything! Setting a silent reminder to send her a gift in the morning, he quickly drafted a text.

Bokuto: Congratulations baby! I’m so proud of you 💖 Can’t wait to see you soon!

He tossed his phone onto the nightstand and laid on his back. His muscles were extra sore that day, practice had run three hours over due to an interview that had predated it. He closed his eyes as his breathing deepened. The wing-spiker didn’t notice the error message that popped up on his phone as he fell asleep. Nor did he notice that his phone wasn’t plugged in.

****

(A week later. Name is 14 weeks along)

Stepping into the comfort of her home, (Name) let out a sigh of relief. It had been nerve-wracking, going to the clinic alone. She threw her purse onto her couch, plopping down next to it. Glancing down at her phone, she realized she had probably an hour before Kuroo would be coming over. At the thought of her friend, her heart skipped a beat. A hand settled on her stomach again as she slipped in her thoughts. Feeling the bump, seeing the doctor….it was all so real. She really was having a baby. She was having Bokuto’s baby. Her fingers played with her phone. Should she…? A thumb hovered over his contact. (Name) gnawed on her bottom lip. She tapped on their messages.

Last message sent:

[Name]: Hi baby! I hope you’re having fun at your training camps 💞 Don’t forget to eat and drink water. I love you. Read: 1 month ago.

(Name) shook her head. There was no point in texting him if he wasn’t going to respond to her. She sighed, startled out of her thoughts as her stomach gurgled. “Ooh, I’m sorry baby. Gimme a sec.” She stood up, making her way to her kitchen. Opening the door to her fridge, she was greeted to the sight of prepared bentos. “Oh, Kuroo,” she sighed affectionately, taking the top box out. A sticky note was tacked onto it. ‘Figured you might be too busy to make food. Enjoy! -Kuroo’. Popping the lid open, she was greeted to rice, a fried egg, sliced chicken breast, and spinach. Placing it in the microwave, she pulled out her phone to send a text.

[Name]: Thank you for the bentos! It looks delicious

Rooster-head: Anything for you, dear 😼 See you soon!

The microwave beeped, calling her attention. She sat at her table, whispering a quick, “thank you for the meal,” before she started scrolling through social media. As she placed the empty container into the sink, there was a knock at the door. Briskly patting her hands dry on the towel, she opened the door.

“Howdy-do!”

She rolled her eyes. “Hello to you too Kuroo. Do you have any other weird greetings for me?” He shrugged off his coat, throwing it over the back of the couch.

“I’m sorry, is ‘Honey, I’m home!’ more appropriate for you, princess?”

“You’re insufferable.” He cackled, pulling her into a hug.

“Eh, but you love me.”

“Do I really though?” She dead-panned, gently pushing him off. “Thanks for coming over, I really appreciate all the help you’ve been giving me.” He let her go, taking a step back.

Kuroo cracked his knuckles. “Don’t sweat it, I offered. Now, is everything already in the room?”

“Yeah, I just need to get some last bits of furniture, and then it’ll be all set.”

“Let’s get to painting then!” She stepped into the secondary bedroom, revealing a cloth-covered floor. “What color did you pick out?”

(Name) popped open the lid for the bucket. “I liked this blue-grey colour. Figured I wanted something gender neutral.”

“Makes sense.” He surveyed the walls. “Are you going to do a mural or something on the wall too?” Kuroo bent down, pouring a bit of paint into the tray.

“Maybe? Might have to ask someone who’s more artistically inclined.” A hum in response.

“How was the appointment, by the way?”

She put her hair in a bun, pulling on a pair of stained overalls. “Good! The doctor just told me to have more DHA, protein, and to make sure to get sufficient rest.”

“I told you that you needed more docosahexaenoic acid.”

“Like I said, insufferable.” They stared at each other before bursting into laughter.

Kuroo clapped his hands, rolling his shoulders back. “Well, the paint isn’t gonna get on the walls itself.” They rolled up their sleeves. “Let’s get to it.” The next hour was filled with laughter, their favorite songs blaring from the Bluetooth speakers that (Name) brought in. Just as they were about to jump into the chorus of (favorite song), the music died out and was replaced by a ringing noise. She raised a brow, laying the paint brush against the lid as she went to her phone. Her heart skipped a beat. Was it Bokuto? (Name) answered, taking the call off of Bluetooth.

“Hello, is this (L. Name, Name)?”

Her brow furrowed. “Yes, this is she.”

“Excellent! My name is Kirishima Kayda, I’m with the Tokyo Office of Sports Medicine. I’m calling about the resume you submitted recently. Will you be free for an interview next week?”

Her eyes widened, and she started smacking Kuroo’s arms as she bounced with excitement. “Oh my gosh, hi Ms. Kirishima, yes! I have open availability next week. When would you like me to come in?”

“How about Tuesday at 10 A.M.? I will send you an email with the interview confirmation and all other information you’ll need.”

“That sounds wonderful, thank you so much for your time.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you next week!”

“What was that about?” Kuroo asked as she pulled the phone away from her ear.

“I just got an interview with the Tokyo Office of Sports Medicine!” She squealed, glowing with excitement.

“Ooh, I’m so excited for you! Congratulations, kitten.” Kuroo pulled her into a hug, causing her to whine as splatters of paint transferred onto her clothes. “Now, help me finish getting this room ready.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she pouted, tucking her phone back into her overalls. After tucking some strands of hair back into the bun, she grabbed one of the brushes, flicking paint at the tall male.

“Oi!”

She giggled, ducking under his arms as he attempted to send a glob of paint at her. They began running around the room. More paint ended up on them rather than the actual walls as they played like children.

****

“Not that I care, but why the hell have you been checking your phone so much?” Bokuto jumped, his phone flying out of his hand and skidding across the ground. Sakusa stood in front of him, his arms in his pockets.

“No reason!” Bokuto replied nervously, running over to pick his phone up. He winced at the cracked screen. “Aw man,” he whined. Bokuto had already been having issues with his phone for the past week or so.

“Serves you right,” Sakusa rolled his eyes. “C’mon, we’re supposed to be practicing.” Bokuto let out a soft sigh as he walked back to his bag. Sakusa turned, heading towards the court while Bokuto dropped his phone into his bag. No new notifications. Every opportunity he had, he was racing back to his phone. No new notifications.

AN: Thank you to everyone who has been reading my work so far! I really enjoy putting Lockscreens out for you. I have officially reached 150 followers!! Please read this post for more info about my request celebration that I am having!

Taglist: @toaster-stick @thatartsybitch @brazil-hinata @sawamooora @lastminaddition @anejuuuuoy @abby-rutledge20 @babybluebisexual @badboysdoitbetter2 @liathachcapricious @cosmiclunas @wishingforanother@toobsessedsstuff @setterfish (If your name is bolded, I had trouble tagging you!)

Please message me or send me an ask if you’d like to be added to the taglist! 💞

194 notes · View notes

rogershoe · 4 years

Text

Lights, Camera, Action

Part five

(Part four)

Masterlist

Summary: You’re a production assistant on the set of Cursed. The night before your first day at work, you opened your laptop to shockingly realise you’d be working with Daniel Sharman (and a plethora of other amazing actors), someone you’d been watching on screen since you were a teenager. You kept your expectations low, the PAs rarely got to interact with the talent…what was your chance?

Word count: 2.6k

Tag list: @sxperncturalimpala67 @mrsaaronkeener @tinygardensoul @disasterday @5am-cigarette @lancelotapricot @demoiselle-en-detresse00 @slytherlight @18somethingpsyche @ceruleanmusings@glxctt@cavillxhenry@lovelyapplessss@hereagainsstuff@linkpk88@aliceperdida@weeping-redemption@magicalsaladnacho@lancelotapricot@ineedyourskulls@fandomarstrash@cheythefangirl @pure-ghost @estrielle @tessxblxckthorn @isaac-lahey-is-bae @bubblyanis @proudhufflepuff77

Warnings: age gap between reader and Daniel, swearing, blood/fear of blood, reader gets injured (cut on her finger), slow burn

Notes: This chapter is a lot shorter than the last one but also definitely more exciting!! I hope you guys like it and plzz lmk in the comments whether this was alright or not! I know that the plot of this part is a bit exaggerated but bare with me hahaha

You looked at Daniel and found that he had closed his eyes and Jasmine was dabbing a bit of powder over his T zone…probably to absorb the excess oil that she had proudly told you he didn’t have.

“Do you do a lot of makeup yourself?” Jasmine asked you

“Not usually but sometimes I guess” you said

“So you know all the different brushes?”

You thought back to the hours of mindless makeup videos you would spend hours watching at 3:00 am when you couldn’t sleep.

“Yep, I do actually” you said confidently. Thank god you weren’t completely clueless in this new endeavour.

“Oh awesome! That’ll make all of this so much easier Y/N”

You laughed, happy that you were doing something right. You honestly just could’ve spent this whole time looking at Daniel but you obviously didn’t want to seem like a creep. You wondered if he recognised you from the battery station or his trailer. Not likely…you doubted that your face was all that memorable.

“Can you pass me the spoolie?” she said, closing the powder and putting it on the counter. “It’s in the first drawer”

You quickly opened the drawer, and bent down to look through it. You were uncomfortably self conscious of how close you were to Daniel, your hips were almost brushing against his chair.

Thankfully you spotted the spoolie and grabbed it, standing up straight and using your free hand to close the drawer. As you turned to give it to Jasmine, you took the opportunity to glance at Daniel. What you didn’t anticipate was to find his piercing eyes looking right back at you. His lips turned up and he smiled slightly at you. A small smile spread across your face and you felt your cheeks heat up.

You hoped he didn’t notice you blushing and quickly turned away as Jasmine took the tool from your hand. You looked at her and saw her narrowing her eyes suspiciously at you. Trying to act natural, you looked around to see Cassandra walking back to you from talking to an extra across the trailer. Although she was one of the head make-up artists, she didn’t seem that old at all and looked to be in her early thirties.

“How’s it going Y/N? Not too overwhelmed I hope?” she said, a snide smirk on her face.

You swallowed slightly and attempted to sport a carefree smile on yours, “No, not yet”

She ignored your answer and instead went to look at Daniel.

“Oh your beard needs a quick trim” she said laughing

Daniel smiled, “Do you have to? I’m trying to grow it out” he said laughing and running a hand across his jaw. You could tell by his expression that he was joking.

Cassandra giggled like a little school girl making you raise your eyebrows and your stomach lurch. You could tell she was enjoying working with Daniel just as much as you

“Y/N, pass me the facial scissor”

You looked towards the counter where she was pointing and saw a tin full of multiple small scissors, some open some closed. As you wrapped your fingers around one of the tools, you felt a sharp pain on your index finger and quickly pulled your hand away, the scissor clattering onto the floor. As you had snatched your hand from the tin, the scissor had probably dragged across your finger, making your injury deeper and longer. You looked at your finger, beads of blood falling from the deep cut and cursed under your breath. Why did you have to be so fucking clumsy?

You looked at the floor and saw the scissor at Daniel’s feet, where he was already picking it up.

“ Oh god…I’m so sorry” you said and grabbed a tissue to try to dab the blood away. You looked at Daniel through the mirror and saw him looking at you.

“Are you okay?” he said, and for a second after hearing his voice, you forgot all about your bleeding finger.

Before you could respond, Cassandra interrupted you, “I’m sure she’s fine…right Y/N?”

You nodded clutching your finger and trying not to wince, the pain was slowly increasing.

“Go and get cleaned up Y/N” she said, her face showing sincerity…whether it was real or not you couldn’t tell.

“Thank you” you were about to leave when you heard Jasmine’s voice,

“Can I go with her Cassandra?”

“Of course not…who else is supposed to help me if you’re gone too?”

You ignored her response and walked out of the trailer thankful that at least there was one person in there who liked you.

When you got outside you weren’t surprised to find your vision going slightly hazy. You could watch hours of gory, bloody fights and killing on your TV but the second you saw anyone, (especially yourself) bleeding in real life, your warped brain suddenly decided it was time for you to start fainting.

You walked to the side of the tall trailer and leaned against the vehicle, taking deep breaths. The metal was still wet from the rain this morning and so was the ground. Your head started throbbing and you hoped with everything that no one would walk out of the trailer and see you. The only people who had seen you before like this were your parents and Talia…it was rare for you to bleed anyways.

For some reason your vision and head weren’t getting any better. It was probably the lack of sleep or food and water you had had since you had stupidly decided to skip breakfast this morning. You knew you had to sit down so you walked to the edge of the trailer farther from the door and sat on the tarmac. It was wet and you felt the water soak through your jeans. You put your elbows on your bent knees and your throbbing head in your hands. It was only your second week and you were already lightheaded. If only you had been more careful while grabbing the stupid scissor.

You tried not to look at your finger that was now wrapped in the thin tissue you had hurriedly grabbed. That was probably a bad idea since the rough material would most likely start to stick to the blood. You took a deep breath and glanced at your finger to see the tissue was soaked through..how deadly was that scissor?

You suddenly heart footsteps coming towards you and quickly looked up, scared to see who it was. You breath caught in your throat and you could’ve sworn your heart stopped beating when you saw Daniel’s face come into view. Oh god….out of all the people it had to be him?

“Fuck, are you okay?”, you saw his lips move as he came over to you and knelt down.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine” you said and looked at him. Even in your awful state you noticed the way one strand of his hair fell across his face and how soft his dark blue hoodie looked.

“Are you sure?”

“Oh yeah…definitely” you lied. To prove yourself right, you swallowed and put your uninjured hand on the ground and stood up. Of course you did it too fast and suddenly your vision went blurry again. You reached out a hand to lean it against the trailer but instead of feeling the cold metal of the vehicle, you felt warm skin. You looked up quickly to find that Daniel had taken your hand in his. Now that you were standing you were even more intimidated by how his tall figure towered above you. For a second that felt like minutes, you stared at both your hands….was he seriously holding yours right now? Maybe it was a sick illusion your brain had conjured up.

“Oh no you aren’t” he said laughing slightly. He looked at the door of the trailer before gripping your hand tighter with his long fingers, probably afraid that you’d collapse again. Nevermind, it definitely wasn’t an illusion. Your heart beat faster because of the close proximity you two were in.

“I think you should come with me” he said looking worried.

“What? No, I can’t” you said shaking your head, the concrete dancing underneath your eyes.

You looked up at him and saw the confused look on his face, your head still throbbing, “Cassandra would kill me”

You saw the glint in his eyes as he grinned slightly, “Cassandra? I’ll deal with her…we need to get some fluid into your body or you could faint”

You knew he was right, you were just scared that if you were alone with him you might just end up fainting anyways.

“It’s okay…honestly, I can just go get some water myself” you said not wanting to trouble him, he probably had to get back to the trailer anyways.

“I have water in my trailer, I was on my way there to get my phone anyways”

You smiled through your pain and gave in, “Okay…thank you”

He smiled and started walking towards his trailer. You found yourself gripping his hand tightly, not because you wanted to but because you had to. Your knees felt like they would give away if you didn’t. The fact that it was Daniel Sharman’s hand was just a huge plus.

Once you finally got to his trailer he stopped by the stairs and gestured for you to go in. You smiled gratefully and stumbled up the stairs into the familiar trailer. Your head was getting better now as Daniel had almost completely distracted you from your cut.

He came inside behind you but didn’t close the door.

“You wanna wash that up?” he said looking at the cut and grimacing slightly. He gestured to the door that you had suspected would lead to the bathroom.

You blushed and looked down at it, completely and utterly embarrassed. It was bloody and disgusting.

You rushed into the bathroom and slowly peeled the tissue away, wincing at the pain. The blood had dried up and pulled at your torn skin. It hurt and tears welled up in the corners of your eyes but you blinked them away quickly. You finally got it off and threw it into the toilet and then flushed it (not wanting to dirty his dustbin).

You turned the tap on and ran your finger underneath it, closing your eyes in pleasure at the cool stream.

“Do you need help?” you heard his voice from outside the bathroom.

“No no..I’m alright” you said quickly. He had already wasted so much of his time on you so you tried to hurry up and closed the tap. The bleeding had thankfully almost stopped but the cut was still raw.

You walked outside and found him bending down looking through a mini fridge.

“Oh good you’re okay” he said smiling and gesturing to the purple couch, “sit down”

He pulled a bottle of orange juice from the fridge and handed it to you, “Here Y/N”

Your eyes widened when he said your name.

You grabbed the cold bottle, “You know my name?”. As soon as you realised what you had said in your hazy state you looked down and wanted to slap yourself. Had you really just asked him that?

He laughed showing his teeth and you couldn’t help but smile as well when he sat beside you on the other side of the couch, “Of course I do….Cassandra said it like ten times”

For some reason your heart ached at her mention.

You suddenly felt a wetness where you were sitting and remembered the ground had been completely wet where you had sat down. You hurriedly got up and looked at the couch which was now also damp where you had been sitting. Fuck, you had lost count of how many times you had embarrassed yourself in front of Daniel just today.

“Shit, I’m so sorry” you said, and clasped a hand over your mouth

“Oh no, it’s fine” he said sporting a confused expression.

“It was raining outside” you said hurriedly, not wanting him to think it was some other accident.

He looked at you a soft grin on his face, “I know, don’t worry”, his voice was oddly soothing, calming your nerves almost immediately.

He walked to a cupboard near the bathroom and pulled out a towel. He placed it on the damp spot.

“There we go” he said smiling. He put his hands on his hips, looking at you and then towards the couch, “you can sit now”

You did but decided you had bothered him enough for one day.

“I should get going now…I’m so sorry for troubling you” you said getting ready to get up.

“Wait your cut…and drink some before you get up” Daniel said softly, pointing to the bottle in your hand. You opened it and took a sip, you could feel the sweet cold liquid travel down your throat and through your chest. You took another.

“Feels good doesn’t it?’ he said from his position on the counter. From what could you see, he was rummaging through his wallet. He pulled out a large bandage and came over to you.

“Here…it won’t do much but it’ll keep the cut covered until you can get it wrapped by the medic inside the studio” he quipped handing it to you.

“Thank you so much…seriously”

“Do you need help putting it on?” he said grabbing his phone and putting it into his back pocket.

“Oh no, I’ll manage….I’m sorry again”

“I have to go now but you stay here as long as you like, okay?” he said.

“Thanks” you said smiling, who knew he would be so nice?

“Oh and do me one favour” he said grinning, as he was making his way out the door.

“Anything” you replied, curious to hear what he had in mind.

“Stop apologising” he laughed, before leaving the trailer.

You smiled widely to yourself.

Had this all really just happened? Seeing Daniel was insane in itself but actually interacting with him? You honestly still didn’t understand how you got a word out of your mouth. He seemed intimidating, but when he spoke to you, his voice was soothing and you felt like you could’ve talked to him forever. You looked down in awe at the hand he had held. You knew you were acting like a crazy fangirl, but you couldn’t surpress your emotions all the time.

You snapped back to reality when you felt your cut suddenly sting. He had said there was a medic inside the studio. You got up quickly, Cassandra was probably wondering where you were and you had to get your finger wrapped first.

8:12 am

You took a deep breath as you walked up the stairs of the make up trailer to Cassandra, Jasmine, and Daniel. You hoped that Cassandra wouldn’t be mad at you for taking so long. You hadn’t realised how bad the cut actually was until you took it to the on set medic and he wrapped your fingers in who knows how many layers of gauze.

Your heartbeat accelerated as you opened the door slowly. You thankfully calmed down when you saw that everyone was loud and bustling around, no one had even noticed you had entered. You walked over to Daniel’s chair, where Jasmine was looking closely at the mirror. As you got closer you saw that there were multiple pictures of the weeping monk stuck into the frame of the mirror. She whipped her head around when she saw you in the mirror.

“Y/N!” A worried expression adorned her face, “are you okay?”

“Oh yeah I’m fine…It looks worse than it really is” you said waving your finger in the air to show her.

“Are you sure? Are you okay to help us?”

“Oh yeah definitely” you said scoffing, “It’s nothing”

She smiled, “Okay good”

You looked in the mirror at Daniel. He was looking at you, a knowing smile on his face. You looked away. You still couldn’t believe that he had seen you in such a flustered and sick state. It had been exciting when he had helped you but now you realised that he probably thought you were some kind off freak, going berserk over such a small amount of blood.

All of a sudden feelings of sadness, anger and embarrassment flooded over you. Sadness because this was essentially the first impression that Daniel had of you, and anger directed towards yourself for freaking out like you did.

129 notes · View notes

calunasteria · 3 years

Text

please, xanny. | sanzu haruchiyo

"𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚."

- ever wonder how love will feel like if its with sanzu haruchiyo?

current word count: 2.3k

tw (throughout the series): mentions of drug use and abuse, manipulation (gaslighting) and toxic relationships, mentions of blood, death, and murder, rape (attempt), use of deadly weapons, slight nsfw (??) - kindly tell me if i missed one. thank you.

date started: 07/29/21 (wattpad) | 07/31/21 (tumblr)

date ended: -

02 ! please, xanny.

i still dont know sanzu's background/backstory so this might be inaccurate but i'll try to edit this out once i'm done with the story and once their backstory is out (akashi siblings).

note: not proofread

sanzu was never the type to associate and talk his feelings, emotions, and ideas out loud, not unless if it became too much for him to handle. he was never the type to play hero for someone he barely knows because his heart and mind can only let few people in. once he made up his mind about something, or fixated his loyalty for someone, it can never ever waver.

so for him to do such actions to help this girl infront of him, with tear stained face, ruined polo shirt, and ripped cardigan, under the hazy moonlight, with crisp consternation in the air - was definitely something he wouldn't do on normal occasions.

he doesn't know, his body, and his will just shifted and had a strong urge to help when he heard a familiar yet hoarse voice crying for help, when its literally 3 in the morning in a deserted area.

he and kasumi never shared a conversation before the incident, yet he always admired the way she carries herself with confidence, while her eyes says otherwise, for her ebony orbs were almost dead with dwindling light and maybe that's the reason why he, sanzu haruchiyo is somehow interested in her, inconspicuously.

bright, gleaming rays of the golden sun that passed through the transparent glass window woke kasumi up as it was another day, another day to deal with numerous shits with monotonous routines. but this time, she has an objective to go talk to someone. she has something to look forward to for today.

but was completely shut down when she can't get ahold of the man she was trying to find and talk to. he wasn't at his classroom. he didn't attend his classes either - he wasn't at the school.

why? did i do something wrong? kasumi cogitated. she was hopeful to bring him his jacket back and to formally say her thank you to him, but he wasn't even around. and after a few hours of thinking where he might be and why back and forth, she came to a conclusion that maybe he needs to do something else or that something came up that's why he was absent - but as another day goes by, she never saw sanzu haruchiyo again.

he was avoiding her. and she doesn't know what to feel. she was conflicted and amused because how can he avoid her when they literally study in the same school?

"if he doesn't wanna show himself to me, then fine. all i want to do was to say thank you." she sighed as she walked to their house. booming voices and gut wrenching sobs was heard inside, that caught kasumi's attention making her rush towards their front door, frantically opening the doorknob to see what was happening.

"man, she's still not here huh." kaoru pouted as she sat down on their usual place, but the only difference is that kasumi is not present. and its been days since kasumi stopped going to school and attending her part time jobs- and sanzu knows that something was definitely up. although he can't find any information about kasumi's whereabouts and he was somewhat frustrated so he decided to go on a local bar to drink something when he saw a familiar figure, face lying down on a table, multiple empty alcohol bottles found near her.

what the fuck is she doing here, haruchiyo pondered as he rushed towards the unconscious girl. "hey. wake up." he shook kasumi's shoulder making the girl grumble and squint her eyes towards the person who woke her up. her head was wobbly, and her vision was kinda blurry but she recognised the scent that was bewitching her system at that moment.

"sanzu!" she beamed, lifting her head up to see the man before her, eyebrows furrowing as he can now see her upclose - busted lips and eyebrows and an evident chestnut color with a hint of purple and blue bruise across her face. and he felt that again. he felt this urgency back then when he helped her on that night and here he is ushering and helping kasumi out to stand up, head empty just him following what his system is doing.

"stand up. can you walk?" he asked as he tried to hold kasumi up, her eyes unfocused and somewhat lost. "yep!" she chimed in trying to steady her movements as she was now aware that the person she was trying to find last week was now here in front of her.

"really?" sanzu lifted one of his eyebrows, as kasumi tried to shoo away his arms that was supporting her weight to keep her from falling down. "yes, now let me go." and sanzu did, making kasumi almost stumble down as her vision is still swirling, but sanzu caught her waist gracefully before she fell down.

"hold my hand, kasumi, or i'll carry you outside. you choose." sanzu offered and kasumi noticed the genuine concern hinted on his stern voice.

she took his hand all while sanzu swiftly intertwined their hands together, holding her closely, enough for her to feel his warmth that soothed her overflowing emotions these past few days.

he opened the door's car and guided her inside, setting her down carefully as he walked towards the driver's seat to go start the car.

"wait, where are we going? why did i followed you here?" kasumi blinked earning a small scoff from the man beside her.

"why don't you ask your alcohol intoxicated system, nakashima-san?" he was definitely grinning, but kasumi was too tired to argue and her head was wobbling around as if she's swimming in a tide pool.

"were sobering you up." was the last thing she heard from sanzu before car engine started and the scenery before her starts fading away into illuminated lights.

the car came to a halt breaking the deep reverie kasumi was in, and there she noticed that they were infront of a small coffee shop with a very people in, since its already midnight. "were here," sanzu spoke softly, as he grab another jacket on the backseat tossing it to kasumi who's still processing the things that are happening.

as she stepped out of the car, she was greeted by a sharp, cool, wintry breeze that hit her face gently. her vision is still whirling and she still feels lightheaded because of all the drinks she had but she's in a better state now than she was earlier.

the coffee shop was decorated with retro styled lightbulbs that hanged on wooden ceilings, walls with floating shelves that have books and two and tiny succulents, vintage designed portraits, landscapes, and paintings and the ambience tasted like vanilla and sleepless nights as the coffee's aroma permeated their sensation.

"what do you want to order?" sanzu asked, hands inside his pocket, eyes scanning the menu on the screen at the counter, still wearing his face mask.

"just hot chocolate." kasumi replied, as she fumbled with her wallet handing money to sanzu that just walked past her, quickly muttering her to just sit down and wait for him.

kasumi just stared at sanzu while she waited for him who was now at the counter, ordering and it was not long after he came back with a paper bag and hot chocolate on both his hands.

the paper bag contains a box of chocolate cookies that is freshly baked. "who's this for?" she asked, eyebrows raising at sanzu all while he just blankly stared at her.

"for you." he replied nonchalantly as he went outside the coffee shop, kasumi trailing behind him with so many questions pivoting in her head.

"but i only ordered hot choco? and here's the money. how much is the cookies though?" she protested, trying to keep up with his pace and she noticed that sanzu walked pass his car that was parked a few meters from the coffee shop.

"hey, where are you going? kasumi stomped her foot and sighed loudly because sanzu was ignoring all her questions and she doesn't even know where this man is going.

"sanzu haruchiyo!" she called out, still dizzy and frustrated because of how he ignores all her protests and actions and it was as if sanzu snapped out of his train of thoughts after he heard kasumi yell out his name, he then turned around to see her face tainted with color of crimson red, eyebrows furrowed, and a slight pout on her mouth.

"i'm sorry. just follow me, and you'll see." he went back to her with a few steps, taking the paperbag in her hand so she can drink her beverage while he walks towards the nearby beach. kasumi just followed silently, saving all her questions for later. the walk they shared was quiet yet comfortable even though the wind was all they can hear, and some car or vehicles driving past them.

once they reached their destination, kasumi's hot chocolate drink was long gone and the scenery before her got her awestruck and her breath was taken away.

there was no one on the beach except for them, the sound of the waves crashing was a melody in their ears, and the breeze that blew from the horizon tasted like salt and tranquillity. the sky was painted with dwindling gray, the darkest navy blue, and black ink, with the stars, constellations and crescent moon that adorned the cosmos.

they momentarily locked eyes before kasumi went ahead and ran towards the shore, the sweet and gilded sand soaked her feet was rough, yet the waves was gentle and caring.

everything was so beautiful.

she was beautiful, haruchiyo thought. as her raven hair rode through the wind current and her soft facial features was highlighted by the dim illumination of the moon.

kasumi was playing in the sand when she sat down and admired the sky's reflection on the ocean and it was not long after sanzu sat down too, his zircon gem colored eyes glimmering like the stars that hanged on the night sky. its a shame why he still has his face mask on though.

"thank you, sanzu. for everything," she smiled as she looked at him with adoration, their eyes locked with each other, both orbs filled with unsaid emotions, "but why? why are you being so kind to me? when you barely even know me?"

sanzu just stared at her, unable to answer.

because he himself doesn't even know the answer. why? why did he help her and why does he keep on involving himself with her?

"i don't know." he whispered, words getting lost within the soft breeze blowing from the horizon. "but how about you?" he spoke, as he look towards kasumi who's intently looking at him.

"what do you mean? i didn't do anything much." she replied, her heart getting heavier as the moment passes, being in that place now reminds her of the past she can never bring back.

"you have a bruise on your face. you have a busted lip. you weren't attending school and your part time jobs too. we came here so that you can atleast let go of all your problems." sanzu blurted out, making kasumi turn her head towards sanzu, eyes blinking with amusement while a soft chuckle escaped her lips, stretching it into a wide grin.

sanzu looked confused at her reaction, "no, its just that, you literally said a whole paragraph there, i was shocked. you never said anything more than 10 or more words." she explained, as she lay down on the sand, staring at the stars.

"its just, everything is so shitty. i just found out that my father cheated on my ill and sick mom and he raised his hand at her, and that everytime he'd go out he'll just go whoring around with his bitch downtown. and when i stood up for my mom? he beat me up too. god, when the fuck did it all went wrong?" kasumi ranted, tears falling down her eyes non stop as she let out everything that's been hunting her these past few days all while sanzu just listened intently, his heart sinking slowly in behalf of what kasumi had vented.

"there's no such thing as a perfect family, but that doesn't justify what your father did to you." he muttered, and kasumi sat up, wiping away her tears.

"say, sanzu-"

"haruchiyo." he corrected, voice unwavering.

kasumi was astonished. man, he was definitely full of surprises and as the moment they both share together, stretches on, she felt more and more comfortable with his presence. "haruchiyo, can you remove your mask, please?" she asked, and sanzu was taken aback by her request and he doesn't want to remove it yet his hands moved on his own.

why?

is it normal to feel so fucking connected to a person who doesn't even know you before what happened? to feel so comfortable to someone who barely knows you? to feel so secured with someone whom you only shared a few words and moments with?

he doesn't know.

he doesn't know anymore.

his long, slender, and veiny hands moved towards his face mask and finally removed them.

he thought that she might find it unpleasant, and hideous, just like what other people think, so he just hang his head low but then he felt her warm hands lift his chin up, there he saw her with genuine, fond smile, eyes full of affection.

and oh how sanzu fell in love that moment.

but of course he's not gonna admit it.

he just thinks that its the alcohol with her. yeah. she's still drunk, probably. the male mused, trying to convince himself.

both of them talked and stared at the stars for a long time before kasumi fell asleep. but then after that night, the girl disappeared. she never went to school ever again, nor to her part time jobs.

it was as if what happened that night was a dream.

#bonten #bonten tokyorev #sanzu haruchiyo #tokyo manji gang #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers kokonoi #toman sanzu #tokyo revengers fanfiction #sanzu fanfiction

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baldwin-montclair · 4 years

Text

The Unlikely Advocate - Thunderstorm

Baldwin looks after his niece in France whilst his wife wrangles a troublesome witch in Oxford

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

———

“Darling, she’s asleep, has been for the last hour!” Baldwin took a sip of wine from the glass in his hand.

“Did you read her-“ Eileen started.

“Sleeping Beauty, I know it’s her favourite tale, even if it’s an entirely butchered version of the initial moral.”

“Maybe, but let’s not scar the seven year old with original version, just yet.”

“I defer to your wisdom,” he smiled a little, “how are things with the Oxford coven?”

“As expected, that bitch Alison is trying to get her little clique to oust me again.”

“Should I-“

“No,” the answer was abrupt, “I can handle some jumped up little cow with delusions of her own importance.”

A bright flash of light flooded the study of Baldwin’s Chateau, followed by a loud crack of thunder.

“What was that?” Eileen asked.

“Thunder clap, we’re due quite the storm.”

“Izzy hates thunder, I should come back.”

“She’s fine, she’s asleep and if she wakes up, I’ll take care of it. You can’t travel in this weather, it’s not safe.”

He heard her sigh on the other side of the phone.

“I just miss you both so much!”

“As do I you. Be safe and I will see you soon.”

After exchanging their farewells and hanging up, Baldwin returned to the pages in front of him.

Two empty wine glasses and several financial reports later, he put the pen down and leant back in his chair, turning to look at the heavy rain beating the windows. He closed his eyes, enjoying the soothing sound.

A definitive tug on the sleeve of his shirt drew his attention to the little girl in her pyjamas and holding a stuffed toy in her arms.

He had bought it for her from an old toy store when she lost her own comfort toy.

“Mr Nibbles is afraid of the thunder!” She told him, matter-of-fact.

“Is that so?” He asked in a mock serious tone, receiving a nod in response.

Eileen initially disapproved of the antique toy, frowning when he brought it home.

‘It’s creepy!’

He saw where she was coming from.

Older toys did have a tendency towards being less saccharine in expression than modern ones. Regardless, it didn’t matter, at three-years-old, Isobel studied the rabbit for a moment before picking it up and never putting it back down again.

“He told me he usually gets hot chocolate when he struggles to sleep!” She had a very well developed vocabulary for one so young.

Baldwin got up from his chair and effortlessly swept her into his arms.

“Who am I to argue with Mr Nibbles?”

Isobel giggled.

Isobel watched from her perch on the counter as he warmed the milk over the stove, chocolate and vanilla essence nearby, just one of the many pieces of culinary tips he’d learned between babysitting his niece and nephews, and, helping to raise Isobel.

“So, what is it about the thunder that scares Mr Nibbles?” He asked.

“It sounds angry,” she shrugged, “I don’t like when people are angry, or fight, fighting’s bad.”

“Sometimes,” he half agreed, “but other times it’s necessary.”

“Sarah says it’s the primitive male response to everything.”

Baldwin chuckled, the child had clearly heard the red haired witch say this thing often enough to repeat it.

“That’s possibly also true,” he nodded to the vanilla extract and Isobel dutifully handed it to him, pleased to be helping, “which is what makes it necessary.”

“Why?”

“Well, sometimes bad people threaten those we care about and we need to protect them. I actually faintly remember being called to your pre-school when some boy tried to take Mr Nibbles from you. Remind me?”

“Tommy’s was being mean. He called Mr Nibbles ugly and tried to take him to throw him in the trash!”

“And what did you do?”

Isobel thought for a second and then raised her little fist in the air.

“Bang!” She giggled.

“Exactly, bang!”

Baldwin had heard the boy’s father ranting before he even arrived at the principal’s office. As soon as he entered, however, the look of abject terror on the face of the hedge fund manager upon recognising him signalled a swift and favourable resolution.

Still, the man and his son were fortunate in not having faced Eileen, given her species’ extreme impatience with abusive males of any age.

“We’re fine now, he always keeps the bucket I like for me at golden time.”

“I feel like I have to at least try to advocate that violence isn’t always the answer but, it’s hard to argue in this case.”

“It wasn’t because of the punch,” she smiled, “he said it was because his father told him to be nice to me or they’ll have to leave their house!”

“Why?”

“Because all of their money is in this one big bag and he said that you decide how much that bag is worth.”

“Such an exaggeration,” Baldwin rolled his eyes, “but if it makes him play nice then fine.”

“Yeah, he shoved Brian the other day when he was being mean.”

“To you?”

Eileen nodded.

“What did he do?”

“Nothing, he was just saying things to try to annoy me.”

“Such as?” He asked, pouring the hot chocolate into a mug and sliding it across to the child.

“Well, we’re having a faire at school for parents and he said I can’t come because I don’t have a Mum and Dad.”

“You know that’s nonsense? Your aunt and I are your parents.”

She nodded.

“I know, he’s just-“

“An asshole!”

Isobel stared at him in shock for a few seconds before collapsing into giggles.

The storm passed, Baldwin looked over at the child fast asleep on the sofa in his study, a comfy blanket draped over her.

He picked her up and carried her to her room, settling her into the bed and left the room door ajar, just so she could follow the light if she was scared and wanted to come find him.

In the meantime, he had a vital project to undertake and dialled the number of the only person who might be able to help him.

“What have I done now?” Diana’s tone was airy and playful despite her exasperated words.

“Nothing, I uh-that is I wanted to speak with you regarding-sorry, it’s late it can wait until tomorrow. Goodnight.”

“Stop,” he heard her command as he moved to hang up and thought better of it lest she materialise in his office right then, “you’re freaking me out, tell me what’s wrong!”

“Nothing’s wrong, I just need a sounding board before I speak to Eileen about a matter regarding Isobel.”

“Is she alright?”

“Yes, she perfectly fine.”

“Then what can I help with?”

“Well, you went back in and met my father, he made you his blood sworn daughter without turning you.”

“You’re still doubting that?”

“No, not at all, in fact,” he hesitated, “I want to speak with Eileen about my adopting Isobel, properly, legally and in the eyes of our community. I just don’t know the procedure, he never told me how.”

“I’m sure I can help when the time comes.”

“If, I still need to speak with Eileen first, and if she consents then I will put it to Izzy. Should probably speak to Miyako as well.”

“Why? In case she takes the news about as well as you did?” Diana needles him affectionately.

“Something like that.” He answers with a weary sigh.

“Are we talking about the same Miyako who basically kidnaps Izzy and spoils her with ice cream and gifts when she visits, that one?”

“They do get along well,” he agreed thoughtfully, “so you don’t think it’s a horrible idea?”

“I think it would be a horrible idea not to!”

“Thank you, sister, having your support in this matter is welcome.”

“Don’t mention it, and Baldwin?”

“Yes?”

“You are already her father in all the ways that matter and you’re a good one, she’s lucky to have you.”

“Not as lucky as I am to have her, and, I suppose,” he started grudgingly, “to have you for a sister.”

“Aww, that’s so cute,” she teased, “you’re gonna get such a big hug from me next time I see you!”

“You shouldn’t threaten the head of your family, it’s disrespectful!” He retorted with a smile.

“Goodnight Baldwin.” She chuckled before hanging up.

#baldwin montclair #a discovery of witches #adow #baldwin de clermont #adow baldwin fic #adow baldwin #adow fic

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alternateafterthought · 4 years

Text

Waxing Crescent

Ø Pairing: Kim Seokjin x Witch! Reader

Ø Genre: Gang!au, Supernatural!au,

Ø Warnings: None

Ø Word Count: 6455

Ø A/N: Hey guys, this is just something random I wrote!! I didn’t know who it was going to be for or what it was going to be about, but it ended up being something for Kim Seokjin!! There will be a second part to this, and it might take a while for it to happen but I really hope you guys like and support this!!

The things people would do for money in this day and age. She was born in that grey area that wasn’t exactly a Millennial but also not a Gen Z, drifted between both in an everlasting fight between existentialism and nihilism.

It might be why she does what she does.

It was a generation that had one defining factor, a trait that made her numb to the world and her own personal suffering. Until the sun rises and the smile on her face lets people believe they can change the world.

And maybe they can. She wouldn’t personally know, not with where she stood now.

Or it was the simple fact that her father was an absolute asshole who never shouldered on inch of responsibly.

No, that was her job. To take care of herself. To make sure that what happened to her mother never happened to her.

It was the main reason, the only reason she worked 2 jobs and took online classes. One of her jobs was all together fun, easy and it was honestly the reason she hadn’t packed it all in and just left. Working in a library isn’t something people around her normally think is something good and fun. Actually, she was never seen as someone normal who came out of the town she lived in, anything but, and yet she knew how to survive this life.

There was always something around her that no one, not even she could explain to them. Found at 8 years old, wandering the woods that surrounded the town, dirty, cold, no shoes and no will to talk. She sat under the root of a tree, surrounded by a pack of wolves who seemed to have taken her into their pack. One of the bigger mothers had wrapped herself around Y/N, shielded her from the cold of the forest floor.

When police found her, it was because a wolf had led them to her, recognising that she was one of them. Y/N never spoke a word, never looked anyone in the eye, barely accepted the food they tried to give her. Not until the woman who would become her mother walked in the door, a motherly smile and shock to see an 8-year-old with no shoes on in the middle of winter.

She did what any mother would do, fussed over Y/N, getting her showered and into the warmest clothes an 8-year-old had felt. She cooked her food, watched as she ate, brushed her hair, and stayed with Y/N until she had fallen asleep. It was only a matter of time before Y/N’s mother adopted her, and Y/N had a family in such a small town.

Then there were the reoccurring unnatural disturbances that happened when Y/N was around. A freak storm could be written off as just that, a freak storm; though a freak storm to only hit one small town in the middle of nowhere after a girl was attacked by others. Y/N had muttered something under her breath the kids hadn’t heard and the next thing they knew her eyes glowed.

It only solidified her status as some freak who didn’t belong in such a small town. Her eyes glowed, whenever it rained it seemed her skin started to turn a lovely blue, and someone swore once she had scales.

Though Y/N was always the least of the towns worries. The biggest concerns being the gangs that seemed to run the town completely over. Violence and all out wars happened on the streets and suddenly a girl whose skin turned blue when it rained was nothing to worry about. The spike in dangerous animals around the forest edge, every single one of the predators, every single one of them dangerous.

Doing a final round of the library, Y/N was kinda annoyed. It was supposed to be her day off from her second job, she was supposed to leave the library with a warm smile, stop at her favourite restaurant to pick up her favourite food. Then she was supposed to drive home, draw a warm bubble bath, set up a movie to watch as she ate and soaked in the bath.

But there was an unfriendly word there… “Supposed”.

No, on her one day off out of the month, she had been called into work because some of the other girls couldn’t work today. She understood why the girl had asked for the day off, but Y/N was always a last resort to call. Then she heard the others were either working as well or out for something else.

The girl she was covering for was taking the next few months off, needing to be at her grandmothers bedside, she wasn’t doing well. Another girl was out being 7 months pregnant; their boss having put in a rule when he took over nearly 3 years ago that after 4 months, he would happily pay maternity leave. Another girl had fallen in love, her boyfriend didn’t want her working anymore, and with the line of work they were in, Y/N could see why.

With so many girls on roster and even replacements if needed, somehow on Y/N’s one day off, she was still called in.

Park Jimin would so owe her.

Finally saying goodbye to the older ladies of the library, Y/N walked the few blocks to a small diner that her mother owned and worked at with her best friend. Smiling as she walked into the familiar smells, she remembered growing up around, seeing the familiar people working.

“Y/N, how have you been sweetheart?” Y/N was greeted by Mrs Kim, her mothers best friend since they were children.

“I’m good Mrs Kim.” Y/N took a seat at the counter.

“How many times do I have to tell you, little miss.” Mrs Kim smiled, a flash passing across her eyes that Y/N never missed but never bought up, a motherly smile at the young girl who looked like her childhood best friend. “One, I am your aunt, two, where have you been?”

Y/N laughed a little as she got comfortable in her seat before speaking; “I’m sorry, Aunty. I’ve been working and studying a lot lately.” Y/N’s eyes were wide, trying for innocent. “I promise to visit you more often.”

“Aish… What am I going to do with you?” Mrs Kim laughed a little as her hand moved to cup Y/N’s cheek, warm, always warm, like her mother’s hand used to feel. “You’re working too much, sweetheart. You need to take some time off.”

“I know. When everything is fixed,” Y/N knew Mrs Kim knew about everything she was going through, her mother having asked her to take care of her only daughter. “I promise I will take a holiday.”

“Good. You deserve it.” Mrs Kim leaned over the counter to kiss Y/N on the forehead like her mother used to before standing back. “The usual?”

With a grateful nod, Mrs Kim moved to the kitchen to put in her order as Y/N pulled her phone out. She saw that she had a message from Jimin, no doubt making sure she doesn’t back out on her shift tonight. Reading the message and reading it again and again for good measure, Y/N understood why Jimin was so on edge about her coming in tonight.

They were coming in tonight, the members of what the girls called, the 7. Her friend and boss, Park Jimin, was apart of the 7, but he was the man in charge of the entertainment tonight. It always put him on edge when his friends came to town, there was usually only one of two reasons for their visits.

One being someone had died. Two being someone was going to die.

Y/N had made it her mission to never have to work the days the 7 were in town, and not for the reasons people normally thought. They were known as ruthless killers, the only affection they had were for each other and a strong drink at the end of the night. They had fun in their work, enjoyed what they did and always looked the part of a group of men who did bad things for a living.

Though like any woman who grew up around here, she knew them, or at least knew of them. Y/N was thankful that it was the latter in her case, she knew off them, knew of the danger they possess. She knew that once all 7 were together, all bets were off.

Y/N had been, rather lucky to have meet Jimin nearly 3 years ago when he was by himself without the others. He had been assigned the clubs that they owned and he particularly like the one she now worked at. It became easy to see why in her first few weeks of service to the 7, it wasn’t the girls or the alcohol or the money or the gambling. It was the connection, the communication the club allowed Jimin to have with his own and with those in other gangs.

With her food ready and messaging Jimin to tell him she was on her way, Y/N hugged Mrs Kim before walking the 6 blocks to the club. Y/N could see people already lining up, the bass of the music already on the street as the sun set. The illuminated letters on the front of the club “Eternal Rest” was supposed to be funny, at least that’s what Jimin insisted.

And maybe, the clientele they receive it might be funny to them. But to Y/N it was plain and simple… it was where she would die. She was already working there against her will, to pay off debt her father had happily acquired as he stole her life away from her. It was also a place that would drag her to hell.

Moving around the building and to the back entrance to the club, nodding at the security guard before he allowed her in. Going straight to the dressing rooms, knowing full well that the other room would be occupied by now, Y/N took her time getting ready. Savouring her food, she ate slower than normal before getting ready, the last thing she wanted was to look bloated on the floor and having one of the important clients complain. She knew the type of pressure Jimin was under, hosting such important clients, and she didn’t want him to be in trouble.

Y/N could see herself in the mirror as she leaned over her leg, raised onto her chair to slip her shoes in place. So much skin was revealed, the skin-tight black lace that clung to her body like a second skin was surprisingly easy to breath in, the amount of cleavage that showed was due to the lace. Or mostly due to the fact that her breast had grown larger than she ever wanted, but it helped with this job, it helped when they tipped her. Every part of her body, every part she would frown upon looking at, was always used to her advantage to get one more step closer to freedom.

Placing her other leg onto the chair as she slipped her second shoe on, there was a knock at the door; “Are you decent?”

“Everything important is covered.” Y/N allowed Jimin to come in the dimly lit room before standing tall in the red bottom boots.

“Wow, you’re not messing around tonight, are you?” Jimin’s eyes lingered on Y/N’s breast, the lace following the curve of them.

“You said you needed me on my best behaviour.” Y/N shrugged, sitting back on her chair, finishing her final touches.

“Well remind me to ask for you to be on your best behaviour more often.” Jimin gave an appreciated nod to Y/N in the mirror before moving closer to sit at the chair next to her, seeing the question in Y/N’s raised eyebrow. “They arrived 10 minutes ago. I greeted them and the girls did what they do best, swarmed them to entertain.”

“But...?” Y/N knew there was more to it, seeing him hesitate. “Jimin we’ve talked about this, you don’t lie or keep things from me,” Y/N put the last of her jewellery on her fingers and wrist. “And I don’t make up bad lies not to be here.”

“One of them requested you.” Jimin watched how Y/N’s whole body seemed to stop, an uneven breath leaving her lips.

“Which one?”

Without so much as an answer from Jimin, Y/N simply nodded. He had been asking for her for months, having seen her around the club once, bought her one drink and he hadn’t let it go. It was just unfortunate for him that she was already on someone else’s arm that night, a rival man’s arm, but someone’s else’s arm, nonetheless. Every time they had come in, he had asked after Y/N, yet she was never working, smart enough to never let that happen again.

Tonight, she hadn’t been as lucky.

“What do I have to do?” Y/N asked, finally turning to look at Jimin fully.

“It’s just a candy night.” Jimin quickly took everything else off the table, holding up the necklace of the 7, of him. “He asked what you normally did, and I told him you don’t go any further than entertainment. He won’t push past candy.”

With a nod Y/N looked at the necklace, well more collar, before speaking; “Where is he?”

Jimin stood again, moving around her chair to hold the necklace against her skin, his touch was cold, it was always cold, clasping it behind her neck. He looked into the mirror, seeing Y/N looking at the pendant on the necklace, the small pearl seemingly shining against her tanned skin. It was even easier to see considering her outfit she had chosen was all black, and Jimin knew what it would give to everyone to see Y/N with this necklace and on his brothers arm.

She was the angel in the darkness.

“He’s in the VIP.” Jimin took a few steps back as Y/N stood, coming to her full height that was a little taller than Jimin himself. “He made one request of you though.” Y/N stopped before she had the chance to move, intently listening to her instructions before going to the floor. “He asked if you would go to the bar and…”

“And…?”

“And allow you to play the room. He wants you to have fun before he summons you.” Jimin finished the odd request from his brother, but he was never one to judge.

Y/N nodded, summon you, like a dog with a bone, taking it in before giving a few calming breaths to slow down her racing heart; “I’ll follow you out after 2 minutes and head straight for the bar.”

“Thank you, Y/N.” Jimin smiled sweetly before leaving her to herself.

xxx

Y/N had been sitting at the bar for around 10 minutes by herself, nursing the vodka soda she had ordered when she sat. The bartender had smiled when he handed her the drink but then looked over her shoulder to the pair of eyes that burned into them. He hadn’t looked Y/N’s way since.

It’s been happening the whole time. Someone would sit next to her, press against her, and offer to buy her a drink, whisper something dirty into her ear. Then she would have the pleasure of watching their eyes widen as they saw what sat on her next, the pearl a reminder to them all. They would soon turn to see the same pair of eyes staring at them before making a quick, fumbled apology before seemingly to run away.

Y/n never once had to say a thing, never once had to remind them of why she sat there at the bar, alone and nursing her drink. They all knew the boundaries that were placed on her, she was claimed, she was his.

Not even the other girls she had worked with for years had made a move to talk to her. They knew that not even they ran the club tonight, they had to do what they did best. The girls put on a show, sitting on the arms of the rich and famous, being the men’s lucky charms, being a pretty face. They knew when to cheer, when to press against one of the lucky men, what to whisper into their ear to get more money from them. They knew when it was time to offer one of the many luxurious rooms past the dark entrance to the left of the club.

But they also knew, that when another girl was claimed by the pearl, they did not disturb the waters.

So, Y/N sat alone at the bar, taking in the atmosphere around her. People were winning, people were losing, girls cheered when a man won a game, chips flicked together, diced rolled. There was even girls dancing on the many smaller stages around the club, girls dancing upstairs on the second floor, rich men ogling the women who performed.

Y/N wished she had been lucky enough to be one of those girls, just to dance where none of them could touch her. It was the rule of the club, no man could touch the dancers, the other girls were free game. But tonight, she was claimed.

“Hey, so,” A very handsome looking man came into Y/N’s view, leaning against the bar, resting his head on the palm of his hand as his elbow leaned on the bar. “You’re the girl my brother claimed for the night, huh?”

Y/N looked at him with wide eyes. Kim Taehyung, one of, if not the most dangerous executioner sat next to Y/N, all smiles, and bright eyes. She should have run away, especially from all the stories of the blood that ran along the streets, just from his hands.

Up close Taehyung looked so childlike, she could even see a small freckle on his cheek under his left eye. And his smile, boxy and playful, no wonder women fell for him, no wonder women never headed the warning to stay away from him.

“Oh right, Kim Taehyung, at your service.” Taehyung offered his hand for Y/N to take, something changed in his eyes, once a golden brown but seemingly flashing a dark red, then it was gone.

“Y/N.” Y/N offered only her first name as she shook his hand.

“Just Y/N?” Taehyung’s grip on her hand tightened a little, pushing his own body slightly against her right side.

“She doesn’t have to tell you her full name, Hyung.” Another voice, although not as deep as Taehyung, just as chilling, came from her left. “But I would love to tell you mine, Jeon Jungkook, at your service.”

Jungkook took Y/N’s other hand into his warm one’s, now Y/N’s arms were crossed over her body, trapped between two, although handsome, extremely dangerous men. Unlike Taehyung, Jungkook was an enforcer. He enforced the law of their ways, enforced punishment to those who are against them. He was the best fighter they have and a little too, uncomfortably, well versed with sharp objects.

“So, Miss Y/N,” Jungkook, like Taehyung, did not let go of Y/N’s hand but kept talking. “Would you mind if we kept you company until our brother comes to you?” Jungkook’s eyes becoming a golden stare.

“There are plenty of pretty girls around and yet you two stand around, in the hands of a claimed woman.” A voice behind Y/N caused both Taehyung and Jungkook to release her hands and turned to face it. “Now, beat it you two.”

“Aw, come on, Hyung.” Taehyung whined. “We’re simply keeping Miss Y/N here company.”

“We would never tread on the claims of a woman marked by our own brother.” Jungkook laughed a little, still leaning into Y/N.

“Well what did you slip into Miss Y/N’s drink then?”

The question caused Y/N’s blood to run cold, her wide eyes moving straight down to where her now warm drink sat. It was untouched and would remain untouched as she pushed it further away from her. Y/N pushed both men away from her as they laughed, seeing this as a joke, as Y/N finally turned around and came face to face with the unmistakable voice of Kim Namjoon.

Just like Taehyung and Jungkook, Kim Namjoon was unmistakeably handsome, taller than the others and a voice any woman would gladly throw her panties away for. As Jungkook and Taehyung joked, moving away and into the crowds of people, of women, Y/N was then left with Namjoon. His dark stare trapped her to her seat, but she had to move, standing as her heels touched the ground.

She was still a little shorter than Namjoon, but with her back straightened and her eyes steeled, she spoke; “Is he not coming down tonight?”

“He has asked me to come fetch you.”

“So, no cat and mouse game tonight?” Y/N boldly asked, stupidly looking the leader of the 7 in the eye.

“He did not say where for me to take you.” Namjoon smirked. “You are of course a little mouse, Miss Y/N. You just did not realise what game you were actually playing.”

Namjoon’s eyes were beautiful, dangerous, a golden that Y/N could never miss. They flashed a dangerous glint that told Y/N she was in the company of something not entirely human.

There were rumours, stories told that the men of the 7 were not entirely human, that they were something more. As were the customers of “Eternal Rest”, an ironic name was what they called the name of the club. They were something more, and it looked like Y/N was getting a firsthand look at just how true rumours and stories really were here.

“Come on, little mouse,” Namjoon smiled wide. “My brother is waiting for you.”

xxx

Namjoon had turned without looking back, expecting Y/N to follow him and she did just that. She knew when to fight and when to follow, and right now she followed Namjoon to the VIP area. Namjoon have pointed her in the direction she should follow, after that he had turned on his heels and moved away to where the rest of the 7 sat, loudly laughing and gambling with Jimin.

Making eye contact with Jimin, he gave her a nod before she walked off down a very dimly lit hall. She knew these parts of the club, the bedrooms in which the girls truly service the clientele. The VIP was just beyond the bedrooms, and from the sounds coming from them, the giggling girls as they stood at the doors waving off satisfied men, Y/N continued to walk.

Y/N was by no means a fool, she was no stranger to sex and nor could she be working here. Yet it was still something she shed away from when it came to this club, these men, this circumstance. She was not one of those girls, she was merely paid to be a candy girl, and at the door of the VIP, she looked upon the man who wanted her on his arm.

“Sir,” Y/N stood at the door, leaning down in a bow as she had been told to do when greeting a client.

“Someone ordered some entertainment?” A voice pierced through Y/N’s ears as she remained bowed. “Good.”

“She is not for entertainment.” Another voice spoke. “She is claimed.”

“It would seem our young, Mr. Kim here is going to be busy.” The first voice spoke again. “We shall leave you to it.”

Y/N finally stood back to her full height as 6 men moved out of the room and past her. Her eyes remained to the floor, like she had been trained to do when she first started there.

She never once spoke until she was spoken to; “Y/N, would you like to have a seat next to me?”

Y/N finally looked up and into the eyes of the man who claimed her for the night. Kim Seokjin sat on a leather couch, under the dim light his eyes flickered between a brown and a gold. His legs were crossed, his arms spread out over the back of the couch and a smile on his face. His gaze was predatory, watching Y/N as she moved closer into the room before standing in front of him.

“Sit.” Jin pointed his eyes down next to him, following closely as Y/N took a seat next to him. “Would you like something to drink?”

“As long as your brothers don’t handle the drinks.”

Jin raised his eyebrow at that, knowing about the mischief his brothers get up to, also liking the confidence she had. Jin had meet Y/N a handful of times and each time she had been the only woman to ever speak to him as if he were just another man. She was different, not liking how every other women to walk around this club, this town, treated him as if one wrong move and she would be dead.

“It’s okay, I’ll be the only one to handle your drinks.” Jin’s smile was breathtaking, absolutely heartbreaking.

He stood from next to Y/N as she leaned back into the leather couch, watching Jin move to the bar in the VIP room. She watched the way his wide shoulders shrugged out of his jacket, placing it over the back of a chair. He unbuttoned his cuffs, rolling his sleeves up as he rounded the bar, his smile still on Y/N.

“Any requests?” Jin caught Y/N eyeing the straps around his body, the guns in the holsters just under his chest. “I’m surprisingly good with cocktails.”

“What’s your best?” Y/N smiled, leaning her elbow against her knees, resting her chin on her palm, engaged in Jin as he twirled and spun bottles around his hands.

“You seem like a whiskey type of girl.” Jin smirked at the slight widening of Y/N’s eyes.

“Am I that obvious?”

Jin shook his head as he picked up each bottle as he worked and kept talking; “No, not really. You just order a vodka soda when you sat down at the bar. It must be what they make you order here?”

Y/N was surprised. It was something that Jimin made sure every girl did, order something not too strong, enough to keep the men they entertain involved, but not to strong it makes the girl sloppy. Vodka soda was Y/N’s set drink, the one she would nurse as she (un)happily played candy. But she loved whiskey, it always reminded her of her parents at a happier time.

Maybe that was the worst part about it.

“So, I’m assuming you like something older, smoother, something that can hold up to the men you would never find around here.”

“Not all men here are that bad.” Y/N leaned back into the couch again, watching Jin pour the pale-yellow liquid into a glass with ice.

Now it was Jin’s turn to look at Y/N with surprise; “Do you really believe that?”

“Absolutely not.” Y/N watched the lithe movements of Kim Seokjin as he walked towards her again, a drink in each hand.

“Good.” Jin said as he offered Y/N her drink. “Whiskey sour for the lady.”

“Thank you.”

Y/N nodded before bringing the drink of her lips, taking a small sip. Jin seemed to be full of surprises it would seem, as Y/N took a better drink of the whiskey sour, savouring it as he sat next to her again. His leg pushed right up against Y/N’s own, giving off such a warm heat to her exposed skin. He was confident, confident enough to sit his hand on her knee, as he too took a swig from his own drink, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“What do you think?” Jin gestured to the drink in Y/N’s hands.

“It’s delicious. You really are amazing.” Y/N swirled the cherry around the glass. “How did you learn to make them?”

Jin shrugged, comfortably leaning back into the couch; “I wasn’t always where I was now. Everyone has a story of their beginnings.”

Y/N nodded, understanding that not everyone has a happy beginning, or a happy middle. But Y/N wanted to give herself a happy ending, and everything she was doing now was a lead up to her happy ending.

“Well however you learned, I’m kinda thankful for it.” Y/N moved her leg over her other, Jin’s hand moving off it for only a moment before running over her exposed thigh. “You were right, I do like whiskey.”

“I’m always right.” Jin smiled wide, bringing his drink to his lips again as he seemed to smirk over the glass.

“Well, Mr. Always right…” Y/N sat her smaller hand on top of Jin’s, stopping his movements as she stared into his eyes. “What exactly is it you want me to do for you tonight? I’m only a candy level, and a man of your status shouldn’t want anything to do with a candy.”

Jin shrugged, comfortably leaning into Y/N, both of their heads leaning back on the couch, lips mere inches from each other. Y/N could feel the warm breath of Jin on her lips, she could smell the whiskey on his breath. He was so close, and he seemed to have no thoughts of moving.

“Is it wrong for me to want to get to know you?”

Y/N could hear footsteps, though she didn’t move she could count how many walked with a purpose towards the room they sat it. She didn’t know what was going on, and she knew that Jin himself could hear the footsteps himself. Yet, neither of them moved, neither moved away from each other, neither moved to look at the door. They seemed to both only look at each other, almost like there was something familiar between them.

But Y/N only knew of him. So why did he look at her as if she had all the answers to every question of his?

“Very.”

As the door opened, only Y/N moved, looking up and feeling Jin get comfortable next to her. His hand never left Y/N’s skin, even as she sat up to look at Jin’s brothers as they walked into the room. They barely gave Y/N a second look, Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook moving to the bar themselves, Namjoon and the final 2 of the 7, Min Yoongi and Jung Hoseok, sat at one of the other chair.

“Hyung,” Yoongi sat on the couch next to Jin, handing him something.

Y/N knew her role, to stay quiet and only move when her client needed her to. Like now, she reached her hand out, taking Jin’s drink like it was normal as he took whatever it was that Yoongi handed Jin. She didn’t look at it, she knew better then that, instead, finding the contents of her drink fascinating.

“Seems we’ll need a females opinion after all,” Jin spook loud enough for everyone to hear, seemingly all turning to look at Y/N as he continued to talk. “What do you think, Jagiya?”

She didn’t realise straight away, but when she finally looked up, all eyes on her, Y/N finally looked back at Jin. He smiled at her, taking his drink back and putting into her hand a file. The rather thin file almost felt like she was holding the fate of the world on her shoulder, even if Jin gave a reassuring nod from his laid-back position.

Sitting her own drink in front of her on the small table in front of her, Y/N opened the file to find the last thing she would have thought.

Cakes.

There were 3 different cakes, with what looked to be intensive background information of the cakes in the file. Y/N looked over them each before looking at Jin again, raising her eyebrow in question.

“It’s my sisters birthday, apparently I have to plan it.” Jin laughed a little as he sat up, still leaned back enough Y/N had to turn her body to him. “I’m not the best when it comes to this. I could use a female’s opinion.”

Y/N looked back at the cakes, looking up and catching Jimin’s eyes. He gave a quick smile, looking over Y/N before nodding, to trust the situation, if not then to trust him. Taking a deep breath, Y/N looked back at the cakes before reading which bakery they were choosing from, the choice so much easier.

“The sponge from Serendipity.” Y/N handed Jin back the file, reaching to pick her drink up again. “If you’re not a fan of something too sweet then it’s perfect. If you want something sweeter, all you have to do is ask for Mrs Kim. She always makes it a little sweeter.”

“I told you Serendipity was the best.” Hoseok laughed, leaning back into his seat as Taehyung handed him a drink, all of them sitting with a drink in hand.

Jung Hoseok. All smiles and laughs and sweet words to the lucky woman he decided he wanted for the night. It was sometimes way to easy to forget about the small detail of his crimes. That had never once been proven that is. It was always too easy to forget that Jung Hoseok could hack your entire life and still play with sharp edges. He was, in short, a hacker, with a dangerous pass time of blades.

“You only like Serendipity because they give you extra tarts whenever you go in.” Namjoon spoke from Hoseok’s left, shaking his head as he sipped the scotch Jungkook had handed him.

“But now we have an outside opinion.” Jimin raised his glass in gesture to Y/N, winking at her. “Can’t be the worst place.”

“Aren’t you a little bias though?” Min Yoongi, who still sat on the edge of his seat, looked at Jimin with a smirk. “I mean we can all appreciate a nice pair of breast but even you shouldn’t be bias to the tits you see every day.”

“At least I have tits to stare at, Hyung.” Jimin leaned happily against the bar with his drink, seeming to toast to Yoongi. “Stuck on the streets where you are, I’d rather you shoot me now.”

Y/N didn’t recognising Yoongi until he saw the rest of them. He was a ghost, almost quite literally. You never saw him unless he wanted you to, he never let you know when he was going to attack. He was a sharpshooter; he was the type of man that you would always want to watch your back. Min Yoongi was the one of the most lethal men sitting in the room, and he was joking about Y/N’s boobs.

Before anyone spoke, Y/N noticed how the room suddenly shifted, it got tense and almost dark. Y/N saw how Jungkook sniffed the air, standing from his seat, a deep growl clawing from his chest. Jin, who was once relaxed, shoot up to his feet, pushing Y/N behind him, her eyes peaking over his shoulders as they all seemed to moved into a position, of sorts, around Y/N.

“Why do they always send corpses?” Yoongi, who was the closest to Y/N and Jin, sighed as if he were bored.

The door burst open, a blur rushed through the doors and a voice spoke from behind YN; “Because we’re bottles of fun.”

Y/N hadn’t turned around, but she knew what was behind her, could feel the cold, death of the body behind her. Everything happened so fast, fast enough that everything was sorted out by the time Y/N’s drink smashed on the floor besides her feet.

Y/N could feel it, the life forces in the room, only 5, which meant that 2 of the 7 were just like those who surrounded them. Vampires.

From the claws, the growls Y/N could feel Jin, Namjoon and Jungkook. Their own life force connected to one another, pack, protect the pack. Werewolves.

Taehyung and Hoseok seemed to enjoy it most, they seemed to still be smiling and Y/N could feel why. They were connected to the earth and the stars and the water as much as she was. Fae Folk.

Y/N made eye contact with Jimin then, he seemed to be checking in on her. He and Yoongi barely moved, they didn’t even breath. Y/N had them figure out, so it was time for her to do what she was meant to do.

The glass in her hand dropped and no one could move a muscle. Y/N stepped back a little, enough to turn her body hold her hand out to the vampire behind her who had spoken. A beautiful woman looked into Y/N’s eyes with a smirk, before widening in fear as she saw the sparks fly around Y/N’s hands.

The sparks were purple and ancient and the death of many in that room that night. Y/N found it easy to lock onto who she needed to, her eyes changed as she whispered and incantation under her breath before she moved like the ocean would against the shore. One by one the vampires dropped, meeting a true death as they burned into the floor as if the sun had caressed their flesh. The molten puddles of blood drifted against the floors as did her drink now at her feet.

Taking a calming breath, Y/N centred herself before she looked back up to the room full of men who stared at her wide eyes. Only then did they see it.

The witches mark.

An ancient mark that had been lost over the centuries. The last known witch to ever walk the earth was nearly 300 years ago, the horns that sat atop the witches head now sat, forgotten, a prize to the vampire king. Yet here was Y/N, and her mark was clearer now than ever before.

The blue of her eyes had become clearer, like a storm on the sea. Around her eyes, like every time she used her magic, different blues graced her skin, her scales. Even her ears seems to point a little more like Taehyung and Hoseok they noticed. The water that was a current on her body swayed, sensing to feel if there were anymore coming, if they were in any more danger.

“It would see I have a bit of explaining to do.”

Y/N couldn’t hide anymore. She just sent out a very loud, very public signal to all who magic touched. She knew that everyone in the building, everyone within a 200-mile radius would have felt the shift in the air. She knew they would talk, would question, would find Y/N. She also knew that the men in front of her were the best option at protection.

And from the looks of each man staring at her, she needed to explain quickly.

126 notes · View notes

currywaifu · 4 years

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𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: playing pretend 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: minagi tsuzuru/reader 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: sfw 𝐰𝐜: 3.5k words, 1 image

𝐚𝐧: tysm~ Everyday, my love for this boi increases. Also here’s the thing, I’m a hoe for fake dating. Listen, I can and would write so many fake-dating fics. Watch me apply every trope here lol. enoUGH ABOUT THAT, enjoy :>

He watched you stride over to him, quickly setting your bag down the empty space beside him. Before he could greet you, you slapped what looked to be a flyer in front of him. He was no Kazunari, but the tackiness of the hot pink mixed with crimson made his eyes burn.

“Hn? Did you design this or something?” He asked, turning away from the paper to look at you.

“Tsuzuru!” Watching you pout reminded him a little bit of his younger brothers when they wanted something from him, maybe that was why the brunet couldn’t help but tease you a little bit.

He’s known you for almost two years now, so he can already guess what you’re gonna ask of him. Nevertheless, he patiently waits for you to sit down and begin your business pitch.

“So you remember the cute but affordable cafe we went to two weeks ago right?” When Tsuzuru nods you scoff at yourself, “duh, you’re sleep-deprived not suffering from memory loss. Anyway,”

Tsuzuru intercepts you with a quip of his own, “takes one to know one, right? Who’s the one messaged me at 3 am?”

“It was important!”

“You sent me a TikTok asking if I was a toaster,” he watched the corners of your lips stretch upwards, “because you wanted to take a bath with me… you need help.”

You could only nudge him in retaliation. “It was a 3 am mood, okay? I was going to go to sleep already when I realised I forgot the assigned readings and I went all what the fuck.”

“Good grief… Seriously,” Tsuzuru laughed, shaking his head as he read the flyer more carefully this time, “2 for the price of 1 drink of your choice?”

Your eyes sparkled with excitement, “so the fine print does say it has to either be hot chocolate or milk tea, but like, still!”

“I have a shift 6 pm onwards, but,” well, not spending at all would be optimal, but exams finished two days ago and neither of you had the chance to reward yourselves for the hard work, “as long as we don’t stay that long.”

You giggled, trying to suppress your volume as the door burst open with the professor in tow, “you really are the toaster to my bathtub, the left AirPod to my right Air-“

“I’m regretting everything,” he groaned, “not that I mind getting discounts, but will you ever take someone else?”

“Listen, my fellow stingy boi,” with the most serious tone you could muster, you put your hands over his, “for as long as you don’t start dating, I will exploit you in all my schemes.”

As soon as 4 pm rolled in the two of you were out of the campus. It wasn’t the first time you dragged him into similar endeavours, neither did he have the heart to stop going along with you nor stop you.

Every now and then there would be a special offer or discount for couples, and Tsuzuru was your poor victim. It wasn’t bad, though. The two of you valued affordability and formed some kind of partnership in finding and sharing good deals on all sorts of products.

If that included coincidentally wearing the same outfit colour scheme and walking closer to each other, it wasn’t either of your faults if people assumed you were dating. At least, that’s what he’ll tell himself. If somehow his acting skills and your determination don’t win in the end, he’ll just chide you for bringing him into this and run.

“Looks like we’re not the only ones with the same idea,” you said, the both of you looking at the line just starting to form outside the establishment, “should we get the drinks to go? It’ll be less hassle than trying to get a seat inside.”

Tsuzuru nods, letting you hold onto his arm while falling in line for a special booth specifically for take-outs.

An unfamiliar voice, to Tsuzuru that is, calls out your name; the both of you find the couple directly in front you turned around to face you. When you grip his arm a little tighter, he knows something’s up. For a moment, you stiffen slightly at the sight of your high school ex-boyfriend and the girl beside him who was smiling as awkwardly as you felt. Quickly fixing yourself, you set a grin on your face.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” You replied, stepping a little closer to the boy beside you.

Subconsciously you wrap an arm around Tsuzuru’s waist, and if he’s uncomfortable by that he doesn’t show it. As expected of your favourite actor!

“It really has! You getting the promo too?” With a wide grin, he put his arm around who you presumed to be his girlfriend, “she’s been craving milk tea, so we decided to get some ♡~” Oh? He wants to out-sweet you? Doesn’t matter if it’s intentional or not, he’s gonna get it. You can be petty too!

You pressed the side of your face against Tsuzuru’s shoulder, leaving just enough room for you to be able to reply back.

“Same here~ Tsuzu-kun and I really love the stuff here ♡ we can’t get enough of the flavours- oh, looks like it’s your turn to order?” Gesturing at the front of the booth where the cashier stared at the pair, the female proceeded to order while the guy kept talking. Inwardly, you wished you could tell him to shut the hell up. Was he always this talkative in the past?

“Well, it’s been fun catching up!” Catching up, he says? What the fuck did you guys catch up on? The fact that both of you had dates? Well, not exactly on your case, but he didn’t know that, “I hope you guys enjoy your date ♡!”

Before you could think of the most sickeningly sweet way to phrase a you too, Tsuzuru breaks his silence, “we already are enjoying, thank you.”

Your ex looks slightly shocked, before turning around. Holy shit, your brain.exe isn’t responding, do you close the program or wait for it to respond? Totally forgot that not only was Tsuzuru an actor, but a playwright as well. Of course he’d be good with dialogue.

You weren’t really expecting Tsuzuru to respond. Usually it was you who did the talking, you took responsibility for dragging him along all the time so might as well play the role of the sweet s/o, right?

Still, just one line from him was a pleasant surprise. And to your ex nonetheless!

When it’s your turn to order you quickly slam the payment on the counter, startling both the poor cashier and Tsuzuru. Before he could protest, you wink at him, “let me treat you for your hard work today!”

As the two of you left, your hand hung lightly on his arm, you swore you could feel eyes digging into your skull. You spun around, causing the man beside you to stop his tracks as well, but from what you could tell you didn’t recognise anyone.

“You alright?” Tsuzuru asks, sounding slightly concerned at your sudden action. You looked back to face him, before nodding to reassure him.

“Yep! Let’s go find somewhere to sit before you go to work. We still have some time to hang out.”

Neither of you noticed the two people staring at you from inside the cafe.

“Oi oi, ain’t that Tsuzuru?”

“Haa… looks like we’ve seen something we shouldn’t have?”

Finally sat at a park bench, you found yourself a little bit more conscious of how touchy you were being a while ago. Sure, holding onto his arm here and there when people could see was fine, but if he wasn’t okay with it you had to apologise.

“Sorry, was I too much a while ago?” He sipped onto his drink for a moment, before shaking his head. He looked slightly exasperated, but it didn’t seem to be directed at you.

“Was that your ex? He was kind of annoying.” You chuckled.

“Yeah, but like way back in high school so I’m not pressed or anything. Broke up through text, had the audacity to use text abbreviations plus send a heart emote with his message. Character limit, I guess.”

Tsuzuru’s expression twisted, and you couldn’t tell if what he felt was wry amusement or disgust. Both, perhaps? “That ain’t it, chief. He’s either an insensitive jerk or an, uh… insensitive eccentric… you’re really okay?”

Rolling your eyes, you brought back your hand to his arm to squeeze it to put him at ease. “Obviously! Tsuzuru, you and me, we make a great pair! Plus, your ad-lib totally shook him! Simple but effective, it was a nice touch.”

Just as Tsuzuru was getting used to the added weight on his arm, the pressure lightened up once again. You one-sidedly clink your cups together before you resumed drinking the beverage, “we should do this again sometime.”

Which part?

The two of you always went out to redeem promos and discounts anyway, that much was a given, so did you mean something else?

“Yeah, we should.”

He did not expect to be confronted within a minute of coming back to the dorm. Itaru, Kazunari, Banri, Omi, and Tsumugi all simultaneously looked at him upon his entrance in the living room.

“Good evening?” He greeted them, albeit a little awkwardly. Is he missing out on something? Were they playing some kind of mind fuck prank or psychology game?

“We were just talking about you,” Tsumugi started before quickly retracting his statement, “ah, wait, that sounded kind of weird right? What we’re trying to say is-”

“Tsuzuroon, I totes get why you never wanna go to mixers!” Kazunari interrupted, adding onto Tsuzuru’s confusion.

“Didn’t know you had it in ya,” Banri continues, “when we saw ya outside the cafe a while ago-“

Oh, ohhhhh. That’s what they meant?

For a moment, he feels a smidge of relief from figuring out what he was missing out on, until his stomach plummeted once more. Oh, fuck, that meant at least Banri and some other guy saw him, with you. With your hand dangling on his arm, your arm around his waist, your face pressed up against his shoulder-

He can feel his face start to heat up, though he’s not sure if it’s more getting caught or more recollecting what happened a while ago.

“Can’t believe you’re dating someone now, GJ.” Itaru says with his shit-eating grin, before looking back down towards his phone.

He should really be clearing up the misunderstanding. It was simple- the two of you were just friends, you went together to redeem a promo, that was it.

“Hey, that’s not-“

“Is it someone from Yosei?” Omi interjects, looking a little bit thoughtful as he tried guessing who it could be, “Hmm… the one you’re with a lot, right? What was their name again?”

He prays to the first deity he could think of, which was for naught because Tsuzuru’s ears perk up as soon as the photographer says your first name. At a loss for words for how fast your identity was revealed, Omi’s chuckles get echoed by the other boys.

He didn’t get to deny it. He wouldn’t be surprised if by tomorrow morning, everyone thought the two of you were a thing.

Tsuzuru thinks this should be more of a pain to him, but he can’t will it in himself to be bothered by the assumption they have on his relationship. If for a little while he could avoid Kazunari wanting to bring him to mixers, he could consider this an advantage.

…

When your phone alarm rings you jolt up from your bed, panicking slightly until you realise that you didn’t have class today. Lazily stretching to grab your phone, you notice a text from Tsuzuru.

“Pfft, can’t believe I influenced him this much, lol.” You muttered, setting down your phone to make breakfast.

It’s not until you enter the kitchen that you realise you were smiling the whole time.

Other than a few knowing looks from Omi and a curious gaze here and there from the purple-haired one (you’ve come to learn his name was Juza), nothing really changed between the two of you.

Until Tsuzuru gets hit by the familiar sight of you rushing towards the table he was situated at. Your eyes weren’t brimming with excitement, no visible smile, so he braced himself for what you had to tell him.

“I need a favour. You can refuse if you want, but you’d actually be saving my life so hear me out please,” as if to put further emphasis on your current predicament you placed your hands atop of his.

“Go on,” he urged you.

“Not to be a fanfiction trope, but I need you to be my date at my old homeroom teacher’s wedding,” you groaned, “that my ex is also attending.”

Tsuzuru didn’t know if he should comfort you or laugh at the situation, “and you need me to go because-“

“Because,” you interjected, “that dumbass asked the group chat if he could bring a date, then encouraged me to bring my date too. Then my competitive dumbass was all like, yeah we’ll see you there!”

You hid your face with your arms, resting your head on the table. “Tsuzuruuuu, I messed up huhu. I only wanted to go for the reception, what am I doing with my life, I didn’t even like that teacher so why did I accept?” you whined.

Fake dating to redeem promos was one thing, pretending to be a couple in front of your old classmates is another thing, pretending to be a couple while attending a wedding is another spectrum of things.

“When is it?” You raised your head to respond.

“Next Sunday, 10 am. Reception at noon, probably.”

He’s not too sure why he keeps going along with your whims. It could be because you’re a dear friend to him, or he doesn’t mind all that much whenever you’d drag him along to fake-date to get sweet deals hang-out, but he can’t deny that being with you is a nice feeling lowers his stress levels.

“I’ll be your date,” Your eyes immediately snap up to meet his, still traces of hesitance on your face.

“I could totally just make up an excuse on why you or both of us can’t go, are you sure?”

Nodding his head, Tsuzuru was soothed by your usual, bright smile- spectacular to the point that it made him think of the rainbows that came after spring showers. He felt the corners of his lips being tugged upwards; before he could calm himself you wrapped your arms around him, a spontaneous and affectionate embrace.

“Thank you, thank you! Gosh, I love you!” You squealed, and his plan to calm himself down failed ultimately. He was glad your face was buried against his chest right now, at least you wouldn’t be able to see the rising flush on his face; then again, you probably could detect how his heart writhed and thumped.

“What colour are you wearing?” He finally asked, refusing to acknowledge the slight displeasure as you let him escape your caged arms.

“Green or teal, maybe.”

“We’re in your room exactly why again?” You propped your hands on your hips, giving him a look that said really, now.

“We need to practice touching each- okay, wait let me rephrase, ugh…” trailing off, you sat yourself down on your bed as you covering your face with a pillow, your voice coming out muffled, “casual touching.”

“Don’t we already touch each other?” Lowering your pillow to peek at Tsuzuru, he turned away from you in apparent embarrassment, “you know what I mean!”

Tension was building up in the room, much to your chagrin. Tsuzuru had a point. Even though you initiated affection pretty much all the time, the two of you already had a bunch of pre-planned poses to convince people that you were dating.

“I guess I just wanted to do more…” it was hard for you to admit that to yourself, much more out loud, but it was the truth. You didn’t have any grounds to ask more of him, but selfishly you wanted him to reciprocate your affection.

You could swear up and down that it was just you craving affection, but the truth of the matter was that it was his affection you wanted- you craved being physically and emotionally close to him.

The line you drew was getting blurry. You didn’t want to ruin anything.

The weight on the bed shifted.

“Hey,” Tsuzuru looped an arm around your waist, gently petting the top of your head, “don’t overthink this. Just be natural, whatever you do I’ll go along with and vice versa. This is just the same as all the other times.”

It didn’t feel like it.

“Thank you,” you replied, releasing the pillow from your death grip and lightly hugging it instead, “I was overthinking it. Can you stay for a while, or do you have to go? I feel like watching Whisper of the Heart.”

Tsuzuru scoffed lightly, “We watched that last time. Laputa: Castle in the Sky or nothing.”

With a laugh you shoved your pillow at Tsuzuru, standing up from the bed. “I’ll get some snacks, brb.”

As soon as you exited the room Tsuzuru buried his face against the fluffy cushion, letting out a noise between ardour and agony. This was just method acting, they’ve done this before. No need to get all worked up about it.

As luck would have it, you and Tsuzuru immediately ran into a bunch of your old classmates.

“Ne? Is this your boyfriend?” One of the girls asked, giving him a quick glance, “your outfit matches his eyes! Love it~”

Tsuzuru coughed lightly.

“Shh, I was waiting for him to notice!” You giggled, looking into Tsuzuru’s eyes before looking away within a few seconds, “his eyes are really beautiful, I doubt I could ever do them justice.”

“Hey, don’t say that,” Tsuzuru swoops in, curling an arm around your waist, “you look really lovely today.”

“Tsuzuru,” you murmured, heart hammering a little faster, wondering if he was being as truthful as you were.

In the eyes of the girls in front of you, they were looking at two bashful lovers, and they were eating it all up.

“Wah! I wish I could get a boyfriend as sweet as him!” With a pout, you situated yourself to stand a little closer to your date.

“Well don’t get any ideas, he’s mine~” you teased them, laughing along with the rest of the group.

…

When the vows of the couple began, you found yourself sniffling.

“I thought you didn’t like that teacher,” Tsuzuru whispered jokingly, but he reached out to hold your hand for comfort, brushing his thumb against your knuckles.

You ignored him, actively listening to the bride’s speech.

“Falling in love with you was like entering a house and finally realising I'm home. When you smile at me, I feel the glow of the sun against my skin. When your eyes are locked on mine, it's like I can see countless of stars instead of just pupils. Having you in my life makes me feel like everything's possible in this world, we simply work together. With you, I’ve discovered so many things, things I’ve come to treasure, but the best discovery of all was love.”

Eyes stuck on the scene in front of you, you failed to notice the look of longing from the man beside you. It was as if the words uttered all applied to you, and yet somehow the words he could write about you wouldn’t be enough to express what he felt.

He settles on retrieving his handkerchief from his pocket and gently dabbing it around your eyes.

…

The whole reception was a bliss that came and went too fast for your liking. There was the plus that your ex miraculously couldn’t attend the reception, as well as the chef’s kiss worthy buffet, but you owed it all to Tsuzuru.

It was the same feeling for Tsuzuru, who didn’t feel awkward or out of place the whole time with you by his side. He kept looking forward to the next thing you would do, regardless if people were even watching the two of you or not.

When you let him feed you a slice of cake.

When he used his thumb to wipe off the crumbs near your lips.

When you rest your head against his shoulder.

When he cheered for you even with an unsuccessful bouquet toss.

Nothing felt faked today.

After saying your goodbyes to everyone, the two of you headed home hand-in-hand in silence. Every time you took a glance at the man beside you, so much feelings burst from within, but words themselves could not escape.

Stopping outside your apartment, you let go of one hand.

“Thank you for today,” you whisper, cupping his face to kiss him right where the corner of his lips ended, barely missing them. Tuning out every noise but yourselves, you heard his breath hitch.

“Are… are we still pretending?” Tsuzuru waited with bated breath for your response.

Mustering up all your courage, you shake your head. “I’m not. Are you?”

Squeezing your hand, he pressed his forehead against yours, “I’m not either,” he said quietly, before softly pressing his lips against yours.

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lilmissbeanie · 4 years

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Tetsuro Kuroo x F!Reader. Fluffy Word Count ~ 4.3k Happy very late birthday to a dear friend of mine, I hope you had a great day girl!

KozumeKenma is going live!

The girl grinned at the notification that flashed up at the top of the screen of her phone. Her favourite streamer who she had been watching since he started streaming, she had just randomly found him playing some Minecraft years ago and decided to watch, she had been a loyal follower since that day, his streams always made her laugh and she loved how relaxed he was, she would often pop up in the chat, commenting on the game. Kenma had recognised her as one of his top fans, she had VIP status on his streams and he always said hi to her. Y/n had noticed that he was looking a little more run down recently, so she would often pop up telling him to hydrate or go get some food. She often used buying a treat for Kenma through streamer treats and he would often scold her for another pizza or ice cream Sundae, but Y/n knew he didn't mean it especially when it was her favorite pizza, she had been sending water with them too as the boy seemed to live on soft drinks.

Opening her laptop she turned it waiting for it to load up, it usually took a little while now, she needed to get a new one, this one had to be about seven years old now so it was starting to get a little slow now but it still did the job for now anyway. While she waited, her fingers tapped against keyboard on her slightly cracked screen of her phone,

Snowy Bluewolf: Happy wednesday! How are you?

She heard Kenma chuckle, of course she was the first to message the chat. “Hey there, as always you are straight in the chat Wolfie.” Kenma gave a smile seeing her username, Snowy Bluewolf. “I’m good thank you, how is your lock down wednesday going?”

Snowy Bluewolf:: Ah you know the usual, I got out of bed, moved to the couch to play on the ps4 and haven’t moved since unless to get food or another drink.

“Ah, what have you been playing today?”

Snowy Bluewolf: Just some bloodborne, still terrible at the game

He chuckled, “It is a hard game wolfie, the offer still stands, anytime.” She smiled, she had told him she had started playing bloodborne over the lockdown and that she was finding the game incredibly difficult and he had offered to help her out if need be.

Snowy Bluewolf:: I heard orphan is a bitch to beat so I will give that one a few tries and then I may take you up on the offer! Thanks, Kenma!

“Okay, the rest of you, stop being jealous, you all know Wolfie has been here since day one and she is super loyal follower so of course I’m going to talk to her!” Kenma rolled his eyes playfully at the jealous messages in chat, Kenma looked dead in the camera with a playful look in his golden eyes as he teased the rest of his followers “She is also one of my mods so watch it.”

The girl laughed, she had never abused her power as a mod in his discord or in the twitch chat she only kicked those who didn’t obey the rules. She also was friends with Kenma. On discord they were quite good online friends now and they do play games together in private and they do have quite a laugh together.

“Right let’s get on with the stream!” Kenma said getting straight into the game.

Y/n had gotten her laptop all set up and ready now, she lounged out on the sofa, getting comfy for the Animal Crossing New Horizons stream. She would lurk in the chat making sure that everyone was behaving, she rarely had to time out anyone, but she liked to keep an eye making sure everyone is behaving, over the eight years she has been a part of Kenma’s streams and been a mod she had only have to ban about a couple hundred people though she had timed out a lot more than that, she reckons she has hit over the thousands or more.

She smiled as she watched Kenma update his island, trying to make it five stars, he had built his orchard, a zen garden and a flower garden, it was looking quite stunning so far. Had been streaming about an hour and half when she noticed he had yet to have a drink.

Snowy Bluewolf: Oi, Kenma! Hydrate would you, have some H2O smh

“Ergh, Wolfie you are starting to sound like my friend Kuroo.” He sighed, grabbing his water bottle, and having a drink. “Always telling me to drink something...” He tightens the cap on the bottle.

Nekomasbestcaptain: I heard my name? What shit are you saying about me now?

Y/n giggled at the fact his best friend had been lurking in Kenma’s stream this whole time, Y/n knew of Kuroo his best friend but had never spoken to him even as a mod all these years. “Nothing Kuroo, just saying Wolfie is as bad as you, reminding me to hydrate.”

Nekomasbestcaptain: Wolfie? Oh, you mentioned her before. One of your mods, right?

Kenma glanced at the chat quickly, before replying, “Yep.”

Snowy Bluewolf: @Nekomasbestcaptain hi! I am the one making sure he stay’s hydrated and that he eats

Nekomasbestcaptain: @Snowybluewolf haha thanks he does forget like all the time.

For the rest of the stream Kuroo and Y/n chatted and flirted back and forth, Kenma rolling his eyes at his two best friends.

To: Kenma From: Kuroo Sent: 04:14pm Dude, how can I talk to wolfie other than through your streams?

To: Kuroo From: Kenma Sent: 08:17pm Discord.

Kuroo had never downloaded an app so quick in his life, he created his account, got Kenma’s discord tag added to him then begged him to allow him to join his discord server before tracking down Y/n and private messaging her.

The months of lockdown flew past, Y/n and Kuroo bonding over the course of three months, they had gotten to the point they would video call in bed usually with Y/n falling asleep while they chatted which he found super cute.

Nekomasbestcaptain: Hey, Y/n seeing as lockdown is finally over, did you, maybe fancy going for dinner?

Kuroo sat at his desk in his home office as he chewed on his lip as watched her name pop up at the bottom of the chat bar in discord, before disappearing and reappearing again.

Snowy Bluewolf: Sure (*ﾉ▽ﾉ) I would love too. Rather than going out for now, maybe we could have a stay at home dinner, like we each cook a course and share one?

The grin was spread across both their lips as they stared at their phones, the crushes they had developed over the past few months had come clear and they had slyly admitted it to one another and Kenma hated how they were with each other yet loved it cause they both deserved to be happy. Kuroo’s eyes sparkled as he read the message.

Nekomasbestcaptain: Sure, who’s place shall we do it at? I don’t mind travelling to yours.

Snowy Bluewolf: We can do it at my place and I’ll pop out and buy the food for the mains if you don’t me doing that course.

Nekomasbestcaptain: Sounds like a plan. I'll make the starter and we could have a cheese board for dessert?

Snowy Bluewolf: You are talking my language rooster boi! So, friday?

Nekomasbestcaptain: Friday is perfect, 6?

Snowybluewolf: 6 is perfect, I’ll send you my address on friday

Y/n couldn’t help but squeal she had a date with this beautiful man, it may be a home date, but she had a date. Kuroo flopped back in his desk chair, he had done it he had finally asked her out.

Friday rolled around in a flash both arguing over who was buying the cheese, in the end Y/n won to buy the cheese and crackers but Kuroo said he would be buying the wine. Y/n decided to make a sushi from scratch, Y/n wasn’t going to admit it, but she did want to show off a little. She had all the equipment she needs to make sushi at home she had just never used the sushi kit she had brought.

Kuroo had spent days trying to work out what he would make for the starter, he finally decided on tempura. He wanted to make a mix of vegetables and fish. He knocked on her door, with a few bags in hand.

The door opened shortly after, he was met by a h/c haired girl, her e/c eyes peering up at him, with a shy smile on her face, “Hey rooster boy.”

“Hello Chibi-chan,” Since he discovered she was the same height as Kenma he had begun to call her Chibi-chan, he loved how a light blush covered her cheek bones. He smiled at her leaning down pecking her forehead, not chancing more yet seeing as this was the first date. Biting her lip, she stepped back gesturing for him enter, trying not let the blush erupt over her cheeks from the feeling of his lips against her forehead. It was a small innocent gesture that caused goosebumps erupted over her skin as she knew the small peck had a deeper meaning behind it. The pair had become comepletely and utterly smitten with one another.

Showing him into the open plan kitchen sitting room “Can I get you anything to drink?” She asked leaning on the counter, “I brought some wine with me” Kuroo grinned pulling a bottle of wine out of one of the bags. Y/n smiled in return, opening the cupboard by the fridge pulling out to large crystal-clear wine glasses, while opened the bottle with the corkscrew. “What have you planned for starters?”

Tetsu gray orbs met hers as he poured them a glass each, “I was thinking of making Tempura. What are you doing for mains?”

The girl took a sip of the wine and sighed, her eyes widening at the smooth taste coating her tongue and the velvety texture running down her throat, “Well I was goinf to make sushi but I’m thinking screw the starter and mains and let’s just have a cheese and wine night, Tetsu this wine is delicious what is it?”

“Cabinet Sauvignon by a California vineyard called dark horse,” Kuroo swirled the wine in his glass before smirking “and I won’t say no to a cheese night.”

Y/n emptied out the carrier bags taking everything that needed to go in the fridge and placing it there, before giving him a playful look with raised eyebrows at the 3 other bottles of wine she removed from the bags. “Tetsurou are you planning to get me drunk this evening?”

“What?” Elongating the word, “No! Whatever gave you that idea?!” He gasped, placing a hand over his chest struggling to keep the fake offended look on his face, before they both cracked up laughing, the pair relaxing in each other presence for the first time that evening.

“So, cheese and wine night?” The nod of Kuroo’s head joined with the twinkle in his eye was all Y/n need to grab one of her wooden chopping boards, the crackers from the cupboard before she pulled the fridge door open and snatching the selection of cheese, she had brought earlier that day from the fromagerie, the strong-smelling shop contained a wide variety delicious French cheese.

Y/n wasn’t sure what kind of cheese Kuroo would like she got some milder ones as well as some strong ones, the milder ones being those like brie, camembert and cantal, a cheddar like cheese, the stronger ones like Roquefort and stilton. She had gotten quite a mix of hard and soft cheese too. Taking all the cheese out of their respective wrappings before placing them on the wooden board.

Kuroo watched each of her movements carefully from his seat at the breakfast bar, she did everything so gracefully and he was awestruck by how beautiful she was, he already thought she was when they video chatted but seeing her in person was a whole other ball game. He watched as she stood on her tiptoes, reaching into the cupboard to get down two small side plates, her flowing red blouse riding up slight allowing him to catch a glimpse of her smooth looking s/c skin of her waist. The way she bent over as she rummaged through the fridge looking for something, gave him perfect view of her arse in her skin-tight dark blue Levi's over the rim of his wine glass as he took another sip. He glanced away as she straightened up, turning around with some chutneys in hand, making it seem like he was admiring the apartment rather than the owner of it.

“Did up want to sit here or move to the sofa?” She asked gesturing towards the dark blue loveseat with a pair of matching armchairs that was placed opposite a flat screen TV on that was mounted to the wall with a light oak sideboard under it, he could see through the glass of the doors that it contained a PlayStation four, Nintendo switch and a range of games and DVDs, separating the two was a coffee table that matched the sideboard, light oak with a glass top. “Sure, the sofa sounds good.”

Kuroo grabbed the two glasses wine and made his way after y/n to the sofa as she made her way over to the coffee table with the wooden board with the cheese on before they both when to grab the condiments and utensils.

“Hey, google, shuffle wake up and smell the coffee.” Y/n called out to her google home which sat on the side board under the TV.

“Okay, I’ll shuffle the Spotify playlist wake up and smell the coffee.”

The gentle strumming of the guitar of Comethru by Jeremy Zucker played threw the Google home. The pair got comfy on the loveseat, letting the music flow through the apartment, they both snacked on the cheese and biscuits chatting and talking about their days at work. “It’s nice to not having to go into the office that often yet I do procrastinate while I’m at home.”

“Oh god I am just the same and Kenma is not helping when he streams when I am trying to work.” The girl laughed as she sipped at her wine enjoying the smooth texture.

“I have Kenma’s streams playing as background noise these days myself.” Kuroo added with his own deep chuckle as he watched the girl drink her wine and the way the tip of her tongue darted out over red full lips, temptated to kiss them to discover how soft they are , “This one is nice.” Kuroo said grabbing another cracker with some brie with the fig chutney, Y/n hummed agreeingly in response as she had her own mouthful of blue cheese and cracker, taking a sip of her wine before responding, “The fig chutney does go well with brie, try the blue cheese with a sip of wine.”

He did as she suggested and his eyes widened at the mixture of mouth-watering tastes, “damn that’s good.” He grabbed another chunk of the blue cheese, placing it on his plate and grabbed another cracker. The cheese board didn’t last long between them even with the six different cheeses they keep eating until there wasn’t even a crumb left.

“Whoa, I’m stuffed.” Kuroo sighed as he flopped back on the cushions of the sofa, they had finished a bottle of wine and began the next. Copying his movement, Y/n made herself comfy on sofa, the music still softly playing in the background, 1994 by Alec Benjamine harmony filled the room. “God, I love cheese nights.”

“I have decided, this,” He gestured to the empty plates, board and the bottles wine “Shall become our first tradition. We will have regular cheese nights.” Kuroo said, nodding in agreement with his own decision with a proud smile. A gentle smile crossed her rosy lips again, the look in her jewel-like eyes holding a matching look, nodding in agreement with his idea. Their first tradition, Y/n was filled with giddiness and tried not to squeal at the fact he wanted to start making traditions with her, “I’d like that.”

His grey eyes watching as she curled her legs up under herself, her left elbow resting on the back of the couch, her chin resting on her on the palm of that hand and in her right hand held the wine glass which rested on her knee. The small ball jumping up on the sofa between them broke him out of his trance of checking her out. His eyes landed on the black kitten whose large blue eyes were briming with curiosity. “Oh, there you are Luddy.” Sitting up slightly, the h/c leaned forward enough to gently pet the kitten, the second Y/n fingers met the top of his head, Luddy began to purr, his blue eyes closing in contentment.

“Did you have a nice sleep baby?” Y/n cooed to the bundle of fur starching behind his ear making him lean into his touch, Kuroo was in awe as he watched her coo over the small creature. “Do you want some dreamies?” The kittens eyes seem to fly open at the word dreamies as if he understood what his own had said, he looked at her and gave her a small meow. Y/n giggled placing her glass down on the coaster before standing up.

“Okay you make friends with Tetsu while I grab the dreamies.” Starching the back of Luddy’s head, Y/n gathered up the plates and knifes an placed them on the wooden board along with the chutneys and taking them to the kitchen, leaving Kuroo and a kitten staring at one another, molten grey eyes staring into inquisitive sapphire blue ones. In the background you could hear dishwasher being loaded and the opening and closing of cupboards as Kuroo gently reached a handout allowing the small cat to sniff his calloused fingers, from all those years playing volleyball, before Luddy rubbing up against the man's large hands purring, he stood up walking over to Kuroo sitting down on his lap, allowing Kuroo to continue to pet him, purring happily at the affection. Y/n watched the interaction from the kitchen smiling, before shaking the bag of dreamies, causing Luddy’s ears to prick up and turn to look where the sound came from, he jumped over the back of the sofa trotting his way towards the sound of the treats. Kuroo watched as Y/n opened a ball with a few holes in it, pouring the treats in, shutting it and placing it on the floor for Luddy who ran up to it and batted the ball across the room causing the treats to fall out of the holes. Y/n walked back over to the sofa, grabbed her glass of wine off the table, taking a seat next to Kuroo, whose arm was resting across the back of the sofa, where she was sat it looked like it was placed around her shoulders. Trying his luck, he placed it around her shoulder and tugged her into his side, “Come ‘ere.” To which she responded to his tug by curling into his side, head resting on his chest while he drew gentle circles on her shoulder happily relaxing into the sofa with her curled up to him.

It was peaceful as the pair led there on the sofa curled into one another, the only sound in the room was Luddy’s ball rolling around and the music still quietly playing, “This is nice Tetsu,” Humming in agreement, he kissed the top of her head allowing his lips to linger inhaling in her soft scented shampoo. He could get used to this, ruining the perfect scene was a loud ringtone going off.

"Is Kenma really streaming at this time?” The girl sighed untangling herself from Kuroo to get her phone from the kitchen counter where she had left at the start of the evening. “Ya know, he only lives around the corner,” Y/n turned to look at Kuroo confusingly as her eyes met with his that held a mischievous glint, “and I have a key.”

Y/n confusion turned into a smirk as she caught onto what Tetsuro was planning, her eyes brighten up and nodded in excitement, this would be the first time she was meeting her favourite streamer and she would gate crashing his apartment with his best friend. “Can we stop and buy food and drinks for him? I bet he hasn’t eaten.”

Kuroo couldn’t help but be just as enthusiastic as her, seeing her excited was contagious and made him just as excited. “Of course, we can” He smiled pulling on his shoes and jacket as Y/n did the same. “Luddy be good while we’re gone. Mummy loves you baby.” She blew a kiss towards the kitten who was sat on the sofa looking at the pair with a bored look in his eyes as they stepped out of Y/n apartment door. They made their way to local convenience store fingers entwined together as they searched for Kenma’s favourite soft drink and a few bottles of water before going to the pizza takeaway and order the largest pizza they could with Kenma’s favourite toppings. Y/n couldn’t believe how close they lived together, Kenma live barely 2 streets over, they had the same local takeaways and supermarkets she was surprised they had never bumped into one another before.

Kuroo entered the code to Kenma’s apartment building, saying hi to the kind looking receptionist who knew him very well with how often he visits his best friend, Y/n sent a wave to the lady behind the desk who returned it with a smile. “Back to see Kenma I see Kuroo, and who is this?”

“Hi, yep!” He popped the p “This is Y/n she is my girlfriend and actually I met her through Kenma streams she’s one of his mods and he decided to stream during out first date so we thought we would come and crash his stream” The lady giggled and nodded, noticing the blush that exploded over h/c girls cheeks as she heard Kuroo tell the receptionist that she was his girlfriend. “Pleasure to meet you Y/n have fun crashing his stream.”

“pleasure to meet you too. And thank you we shall.” The girl replied with a smile as Kuroo tugged on their entwined hands towards the elevator, he hit the button for the eighth floor and watching the doors close as the pair made their way up to his floor, Kuroo fished his set of keys out of his pocket, “So we’re going to sneak in and sneak to his stream room and throw the door open and yell at him to hydrate right?”

“That’s the plan.” The girl nodded bouncing on the balls of her feet. She was so excited to do this. The bell ding in the elevator signalling they had arrived at the eighth floor, stepping out the made in along to apartment 803, Y/n took the carrier bag from Kuroo’s hand as he slipped the key into the lock carefully turning it to unlock the door quietly, they slipped inside stylish modern apartment, they both took there shoes and jackets off, placing the bottles of water and one of his soft drink bottles on the counter, before sneaking there way towards Kenma’s stream room.

Showing three fingers Y/n began the silent countdown, She knew the whole stream would see this as Kenma had recently moved his stream room around so his back was now facing the door.

3...

2...

1...

Kuroo threw the door open “YO KENMA! HYDRATE!” The pair yelled at the same time, they watched as the streamer jumped five foot in air out of fright and the stream chat was moving at a mile a second asking what was going on. Kenma pulled his cat ear headphones off his head placing them down on his desk slowly turning around in his desk chair to find Kuroo leaning against the door frame one arm around his date and in his other hand was his Kenma’s drink while Y/n was snuggled into his side with the pizza box in hand. Both of their face held large cheeky grins.

“Kuroo? Wolfie?” He questioned, Kuroo was the first to speak between the couple, “This what you get for crashing our date with your stream”

“Oh, so now I have to plan my streams around your dates?” Kenma sassed them. The h/c cocked an eyebrow before replying, “Yep, you do.”

Kenma laughed at her response, watching as the pair stepped into the room, Y/n thrust the pizza box into his hands “bet you haven’t eaten yet tonight so here it’s your favourite.” Before she pushed his chair with him in it out of the way and crouching down to be eye level with the webcam seeing herself in the video, of the stream managers on Kenma’s second monitor, “Hey chat! It’s me, Wolfie! You best be all behaving while I am not there to mod you” She winked into the camera, noticing Kuroo making his way over to her kneeling down behind her, he was still taller than her, he placed his chin on his head, reading what the chat was saying.

It was exploding with laughter over how they made an entrance, to how pretty Wolfie is and how handsome Kuroo was. “He is handsome isn’t he but hands off he’s mine.” Y/n replied sticking her tongue out at the chat.

“This gorgeous girl is mine so back off lads I can see yall eyeing her up.” Kuroo growled out playfully.

Kenma just sat in his chair chopping happily on his pizza while shaking his head at his two best friends who had just stolen all the limelight of his stream, which had gone from a Bloodborne stream to just chatting in a matter of seconds, with a gentle smile on his face glad they were happy together.

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