#it was ALL a misunderstanding that the reader was clued in on and i still couldnt deal with the conflict lmao

[genshingarbage]

So, uh, this is just some mindless drabble type stuff that sprouted for my sheer love for Al-haitham lmao, not me with the C1 Al-haitham whaaaaaaat??? Lmaoooo, but yea, this is just pure smut for the sake of smut, so uuuhh? Yea, enjoy, I guess? Lol also fair warning, in my mind Al-haitham is only cold and distant at work and to those he doesn't really trust, with those he trusts he's a giant sweet goofy teddy lmaooooooooo - Mod Diluc

My Business Not Yours.

||NSFW||

Al-haitham x Reader / Smut / One-Shot

The voices inside saying to turn tail and run, not to bother the man, leave him be and that you're just going to annoy him, after all he had stopped showing up at the Akademiya for a while now, and you had already clued in as to why; it was no secret, to you anyways, of the man he shared his home with, how close they seemed to be too. Where ever Al-haitham was in that building, Kaveh was right behind him, as if joint to hip.

You swallowed down the thick lump that was in your dry throat, nervously tugging at the bottom of your shirt that hugged around your body, your skin paling as the thoughts in the back of your mind began to grow increasingly louder the closer you got toward Al-haithams home.

Of course you liked Kaveh, pray he don't misunderstand! He's never done you any ill, and not once has he been rude or dismissive of you, whenever you use to visit he was so chatty and engaging toward you, it almost could've been mistaken for him enjoying anyone's company other than his own boyfriend's. Because they were boyfriends, they had to be. It just made sense in your mind.

But it didn't stop the little pain that nestled into your heart everytime you thought on it for too long, whether you wanted to admit it or not, you had fallen for Al-haitham, pathetically hard might you add. It wasn't your intention too, of course not, The Scribe was merely tutoring you as the Akademiya were low on staff as of late. He always kept discussions, work related, and professional.

Until as of recently, that is however, roughly two months ago, if you were to try conjure an estimation exactly of when he suddenly became a little more informal toward you, making jokes, asking more personal questions, ones that were on the level of what friends would ask. And with this sudden change of behaviour spiked a change in your way of seeing him, feeling for him.

You originally thought he was single, for he'd never mentioned the existence of Kaveh before, not for the entirety of the year you've known him. But he was if anything, a private man, kept to himself on almost everything and anything, so it shouldn't have been a surprise to you when he asked you round one evening for a few drinks, and some light chatter, to suddenly be introduced to this man who unbeknownst to you, and the rest of Sumeru City it would seem, had been settled here for some time now, in Al-haithams home.

But surprise you, it did, and you'd be lying if you didn't have to choke down the raw disappointment and heartache that swelled within upon the realisation as you smiled politely and introduced yourself to Kaveh. But still, you didn't blame him, of course not. You weren't entitled to Al-haitham in any sense of the word. The man can love who he wants, and Kaveh was a charming man to boot, not to mention friendly and sweet. You just got your hopes up is all, silly of you to do so in hindsight now, but what can you do? You're only human.

Still, it had been three weeks since Al-haitham had last been seen by anyone from the Akademiya, and that was unbefitting to The Scribe, other students and colleagues began to chat and spread rumours that he'd chucked his role in, but you knew better, no way in all of Teyvat would he quit his job, one, not unless for immensely good reason, and two, not without showing face and telling you, you hoped...

That is why you now stood here, hand clenched tightly around a case of yours, and his favourite alcohol shipped all the way from Mondstadt, the type you both enjoy when chatting the night away and killing time, knuckles whitened from your tightening grip as your other hand, clenched in a fist raised up toward the expertly designed door. Nerves gnawing away at your sanity and the burning desire to give up on it all and go home, but despite all the sirens going off in your nervous brain, your hand subconsciously knocked all the same.

Knock, knock, knock.

Nothing.

...nothing.

......still nothing.

Was he not home? It would be just your luck, after all, that he be out the one day, the exact time you come by to visit.

Knock, knock-

You jumped slightly as the door suddenly clicked opened. You hadn't heard him approach from within. How silent must he have been?

"Hello Al-" your voice died down in its happy greeting instantly, at what you saw before you.

Al-haitham hung against the door, drowsy, silver hair dishevelled, eyelids half closed, clothes wrinkled and... exposing parts he probably wasn't aware of, or by the lack of enthusiasm on his face, didn't care of.

"...Haitham" your meek voice finished your greeting that had partially died on your tongue.

He sniffed casually as his eyes opened more, revealing those oddly coloured pupils you could fall for again, and again, as he clocked it was you, his demeanour relaxing instantly he lazily turned and began to walk away from the door he now left open.

"Y/N, what brings you here." He asked in a monotone voice, though it didn't sound like a question, more so a statement.

You took it upon yourself to warily step inside his darkened home, closing the door gently behind you. Glancing around, you softly sighed. You'd feared this outcome. He'd been dumped, hadn't he? It's the only reasonable excuse as to why he's been absent, and now being here, seeing him so hopeless looking. Kaveh would've greeted you by now, but as you expected, the blonde never revealed himself.

"You've uh, been absent for some time, I grew worried is all Al." You continued to glance about realising; Kaveh's paintings and various other decorations were gone. Almost all that was him had disappeared without a trace. Your heart ached, not just for Al-haitham but also yourself, for you'd began to grow a bond with him too, seeing him as a dear friend.

"How thoughtful." He merely spat out, laced with nothing but sarcasm, his mood was sour, and it filled the place with tension. He slumped down on the stool in his kitchen that faced his island in the middle, resting his chin boredly in his palm, which was propped up by his elbow on the hard surface. His eyes darting to you and then to your hand.

"For me?" He questioned properly this time, albeit in a muttered tone, making you draw your attention back to him. Seeing his eyes on the dandelion wine case in your hand, you blushed softly at your forgetfulness.

"O-oh yes! Sorry, I thought maybe we could, uhm, I don't know, chat, I guess? And catch up." You hated how timid you sounded, but it was natural for you to be so around him at this point. He was intimidating even when he was not trying to be.

"Chat?" He mused lowly before huffing aloud, "Sure, haven't seen you in weeks. It would be nice to know how you've been, at least." He finished. You blushed harder at his confession, but he paid it no mind for his eyes were already off you and glancing ahead of him, at, nothingness, blankly.

You made your way around the kitchen island and placed the case down. You were nervous around him, sure, but once in is home, you found it second nature manoeuvring around and making yourself busy. Grabbing some glasses and pulling one of the bottles out, popping the cork off and steadily pouring the glasses out with the beverages. It just felt right and easy to go around his home and have it feel like it was part of you now.

Once filled you slid the glass across the surface to his open palmed hand, he gripped it and began to sip it instantly, it concerned you how fast he was consuming the liquid, but you'd just decided to keep a silent eye on him for now. Taking a small sip yourself, you tried to seem natural with the questions you had bubbling at the surface, wanting to ask them for minutes now; "So... Kaveh?"

"Gone." Short, curt. You expected that response.

"As in?" You replied.

"As in, not coming back." He finished.

You nodded to his words, swirling the glass in your hand as the other rest against the kitchen surface, before adding; "Am I allowed to know why?"

"Disagreement." Elusive again, he clearly didn't wanna talk about it, and you weren't in any position to press further either.

"I see..." You stated flatly, "I'm sorry." You felt obligated to say it, but his solemn look as he nodded slowly in appreciation to your care made you realise why it felt like an obligation in the beginning.

He held out the now empty glass, a silent request for a refill, so you did, placing the bottle back down once finished. He bought the glass back, but this time, he took a more tame sip before placing it down.

"How's work?" He suddenly questioned.

"Boring." You scoffed softly, to which he chuckled gently in response. It felt nice to hear him make that sound, even if it was only briefly.

"You meeting the deadlines?" He continued.

"Of course, I had you as my tutor for a year, remember?" You jested.

His brow furrowed as he sat up properly now to look you in the eye, "what you mean, had?"

The question caught you off guard because, in all honesty, you hadn't realised you'd used past tense. You looked up at him now, your eyes no longer transfixed on the coloured liquid swirling in your glass, gaze locked with his expectant look.

"I- well, uh, I just, people have been talking-"

"Saying what." He demanded.

"Well, that, uh, uhmm, well... that you've chucked the position of Scribe in, that you uh... aren't coming back to The Akademiya..." You finished shakily as if a student being interrogated by her teacher.

He let a sigh draw out his mouth slowly as he shook his head, eyes scanning up to the ceiling of his house as he muttered below exhausted breath; "Archons have mercy."

You stood there unsure what to say next as he just huffed out at nothing before feeling his gaze on you again, the weight felt instantly by you, your eyes shooting back to him to focus now.

"I'm just taking a small vacation Y/N, don't listen to them idiots when it comes to anything to do with me." He stated before taking another sip of his drink.

You nodded, affirming your understanding to his words as you chuckled; "I had a feeling you wouldn't quit your job over a break up anyway." You let out a soft laugh as you took a large sip of your own drink in hand.

His eyes nearly popped from his head at your words, however, as he set his glass down and stood from his stool now; "a what? I'm sorry? Did you say breakup?" The disbelief in his tone had you taken aback again, your tongue really was running loose right now wasn't it? You had a right mind to cut it out.

"I- I," you stuttered, unsure where to take the sentence formulating in your mouth now.

"Y/N... did you think me and Kaveh were..." he looked at you, brow quirked up in utter disbelief still.

You placed your glass down and sheepishly nodded your head as you scratched the back of your neck awkwardly.

You expected him to shout, to yell, but instead, he let out a boisterous laugh, guttural too. It rose from the truthfully deepest parts of his chest. You couldn't help but chuckle slightly yourself, seeing him laugh so giddily, it was contagious.

The tears swelled in his eyes and threatened to spill as he laughed so hard from your assumption before finally wiping his eyes and sighing aloud, coming down from his high.

"Y/N!" He said loudly but not in an angry way more of 'I can't believe you' joking kinda way, "I'm not gay?! What on earth gave you that idea?" He snickered again, his lips curving up into a wide smile. You opened your mouth but quickly shut it, wanting to save grace and not make yourself more of a fool.

"I- well, I don't know! Maybe the fact you had a man living in your home in secrecy for one! Sheesh, you can't blame me for thinking you two were an item. You bickered like an old married couple every time I came around to visit archons sake!" You lifted your hands in a gesture akin to 'help me out here'.

However, his smile faded when the realisation of the fact Kaveh had come back into play hit him, and you mentally yelled at yourself again for ruining the mood.

"I'm sor-" you instinctively went to apologise as the sad face he now had hurt your heart so desperately, but he waved his hand, dismissing your words.

"No, it's alright, don't be sorry, it's funny you assumed we were together, but no, we are just g- we were just good friends." He smiled at you as if to be reassuring to him saying he's alright, but the look of brokenness didn't help him in that effort. "We hadn't seen eye to eye for a while, and it was only a matter of time before, well, this," his hand gestured to the lack of Kaveh's decorations and designs, and presence "finally happened." He sighed, reaching for his glass again and taking another large swig.

You remained silent for what could you possibly say right now that would be of any comfort? He'd lost a once dear friend, and you'd now realised you'd lost a blossoming friendship too, and it stung you bad, so you could only imagine how much it hurt for him. The way he downed his drink made you happy you'd bought it in the first place, though you wasn't one to agree with drowning sorrows with alcohol. It helped every now and then, at least.

You stretched out, allowing a loud huff to leave yourself and effectively kill the silence that had begun to drown the room in tension; "Come, no more sad talk, let's take the drinks to the sofa and have some catch up time, I've missed my drinking buddy." You smiled warmly, and he simply smiled and nodded back.

-

The night quickly went by with you both talking about work, discoveries you'd made, ideas he'd been sitting on, interests and further hobbies you'd both decided to reveal to one another, reminiscing on past funny moments when working together, joint dislike towards certain colleagues and disagreeing with many of The Akademiya's methods in pursuit of knowledge.

It was moments like this that made your heart swell harder and reminded you why you'd begun to fall for him in the first place. You both clicked together over every little detail. You either complimented each other perfectly with your agreements on matters or delicately accentuated your differences in debates on others. Either way, you were both puzzle pieces that perfectly placed together in any jigsaw.

From both yours and his humour to your hobbies and interests, it didn't matter. You just enjoyed the company of each other over everything, you were comforted in his presence, and he was comforted in yours. There was no need for further questions or desperate attempts to create conversational topics, they fell from you both so naturally, and even more so once the alcohol had finally began to take root in your mind and his.

Cut to fifty-seven minutes later, and you're both closer with one another than how you'd oringally started out tonight, figuratively and literally. The jokes becoming more daring with underlining tones you couldn't quite take as anything more than flirtatious banter right now, and your tongue becoming even more looser than before.

-

You couldn't stop laughing, not with how Al-haithams drunken impersonation of one of your more annoying work colleagues was so spot on! Right down to the way he always flicks his hair as if he's a famous scientist known world wide.

"Pffthahahaha!" Your tears fell from your eyes freely as you couldn't stop laughing. You'd broken into such a giggle fit it even caught Al-haitham in the midst of it beginning to wheeze himself, you both sat on his sofa, the light basking you in a relaxing glow as the nightsky had claimed territory above Teyvat outside now.

You tapped his knee gently pleading for a time-out to catch your breath, though he'd stopped impersonating a full minute ago now and so you both were just clutching your stomachs and wheezing like two utter mad men as the alcohol sent a pleasant buzz down your spine.

Once the laughing had finally begun to die down, you found yourself just staring at him, your head cocked to the side and resting in your palm as it pressed against the back of the sofa. He breathed in deeply to regain some slight composure before looking at you, cocking his head playfully at you now.

A small smile crept onto your lips uncontrollably, and your words fell effortlessly from you; "you're just a big goof ya know that?"

He gasped mockingly as he turned to place his glass down on the small coffee table stowed away at the side of his sofas' arm rest. Turning his attention back to you, "so rude Y/N."

You giggled, rolling your eyes, your other hand loosely holding the glass at a slight angle, the wine inside close to spilling out if you were to tip it anymore so; "No, honestly, I use to be so afraid of you, worried I'd make you unhappy with my work, or you'd not even bother to grace me with your attention ever. You came off so cold and distant..."

He began to nudge himself closer to you, subconsciously maybe, but you weren't finding it anywhere in yourself to complain right now.

"That so?" He drawled out in a smile, "makes sense, I suppose, I do tend to keep everyone at arms length. Can't trust people that well from The Akademiya, even so-called colleagues." He finished slowly. His eyes locked with yours, "Why'd you stick around if I was so unwelcoming?" He questioned.

You shrugged as you broke the joint gaze to bend round and place your own glass down now, feeling your mind become ever so slightly dizzy you had little foresight left, which gave you the reasonable reaction of putting the glass out of harms way, turning back round you noticed Al-haitham had moved even closer now, and the proximity had began to make butterflies flutter in your stomach ever so slightly, but the alcohol made good distraction of said feelings.

His eyes searched yours for something. You were unsure of what, but they were definitely searching and searching deeply, too. Neither of you spoke now as your eyes were lost in one another, till he finally broke the silence; "I wanna kiss you." It was sudden, and so crystal clear you couldn't even pretend to have not heard it. Your cheeks burned as you suddenly felt hot and entirely trapped by him. Your throat ran dry all too quickly, and you swallowed down a lump that had begun to form; "i-... okay..." is all your drunken mind could respond with, for it seemed much easier to follow your hearts wants and desires now that you'd drowned yourself into intoxication.

He shuffled closer slowly, his eyes burning into yours before dropping to your lips, his tongue swiping across his bottom lip subconsciously, your mind was moving at a thousand miles a second right now, but the only thought that stuck out from all the rest was how unbelievably sexy he looked right now, as the redness dusted over his cheeks became more visible, and the slight huffs of his breath became more audible, as the air grew hotter and more tense as he drew in closer, his arm spreading over you to lock his fingers into the armrest beside you, effectively caging you in, his other hand cupping your cheek softly but firmly, angling your chin just right and then-

A relaxed sigh escaped your mouth only to be swallowed by his own as his lips pressed gently into yours, his tongue seeking permission to enter inside your mouth, to which you eagerly granted him, your eyes had closed instantly upon the feel of his lips meeting yours, and he slowly closed his eyes a few seconds after, the kiss now deepening as his tongue danced around yours and laid claim to your mouth with his dominance.

You felt your mind going light and fuzzy now, the kiss drifting you further into a dreamlike buzz. You so hopefully wished to never wake if it were just a dream all along. The breathing that exited both your noses were louder than usual as the intensity of the kiss grew more feverish, the wheeze of your lungs be pushed to their limit began to sting, and it must've been doing the same to the scholar above you as he then slowly, albeit it reluctantly, removed his lips from yours.

The string of saliva that connected both your lips snapped once he took a somewhat bated shaky inhale, his eyes never leaving yours once you'd finally reopened your eyes to catch your own breath. His thumb absentmindedly began to stroke sweet circles against your jawline and cheek, and you found yourself happily pressing further into his touches.

"How long?" He questioned, though his voice was more hoarse and rough now.

You looked into his eyes, knowing what he meant instantly, for you could see the same want spread across his face that you were also clearly painted with too.

"Several months now." You replied, honestly.

Still looking at you he began to manoeuvre you both softly, guiding you down, back pressed against the sofa chair, him now looming above you, the light that lay suspended in the air from his living room ceiling being blocked from directly shining in your eyes by Al-haithams towering figure above you now.

"Is your assumption of my relationship with Kaveh the reason I've been getting zero response from you with my advances?" He asked earnestly. His eyes make you feel naked with how intensely they stare at your every detail.

"I... I suppose so, yes." Your mind couldn't think straight anymore. You were in such a proactive position with the man you'd had a burning desire for months for now caging above you, alcohol having now also dammed your senses and sunken your defence, and he was interrogating you? When your mind clearly hungered for something else right now.

He chuckled softly as if it was all a big joke the world had been playing on him from the start. He lowered his face abruptly and placed warm, open-mouthed kissed against your neck and the juncture between where your neck and shoulder connect, eliciting a breathy moan from your numbing body.

"You nosy little minx," he began to gruff the words out through intakes of air between his onslaught of sensational wet kisses that marked all over your neck and shoulders, his hand gripping the top of your shirt to lazily pull it further down to reveal more skin for him to revel in. "That was my business, not yours," he nipped at a specific soft spot on your neck that made you hitch your breath under his magnifying pleasure. "Because of your sniffing around, you conjured up false accusations, and it cost me," you began to pant harder as his kisses grew more heated and possessive in their nature to mark up your skin and lay claim to you.

"Al-...mmhaahh- Al-haitham," your voice was soft, barely above a whisper as you shakily moaned his name out, a plea, a beg, you wasn't sure what, but your instincts could only give you strength to say that one word, however as he hungrily bit down on your neck you couldn't stifle the proper moan that slipped from your lips this time.

"Make more of those noises for me," he sounded drunk on his lust, and you were in the same ship as him, his lips and tongue were made by the devil, they had to of been, to elicit such sinful sounds from your very own mouth. His fingers clutched tightly on your shirts fabric. It was only a cheap, flimsy thing you'd thrown on in your haste to come see him today, "this, is in the way," he practically snarled the words out as a loud tearing sound echoed throughout the spacious living room, a blush burning at your cheeks now as you felt the temperature change, you hadn't worn a bra either-

"Temptress." He stated in a frenzied manner as he dipped his head down past your neck now, you cried out in sheer overwhelming pleasure as his hot mouth encased round your nipple, sucking on it fervently, his tongue flicking it around between the clasp of his teeth inside. Your hands slipped through silver locks, so silky to the touch, you giggled to yourself inside, as depressed as he was, he always made sure he was well pampered, such a pretty boy.

Your eyes closed as you got swallowed up to all the burning sensations that engulfed your body right now, his tongue, lips, teeth made sure to bite, kiss and suck any and all flesh that held his attention, while his hands left delicious squeezes and gropes all over your thighs, slipping underneath your arching behind to properly feel your rear too, he made sure to leave no part of you undiscovered by him.

"Tried so damn hard," he continued to growl hoarse and roughly as he bit against your fleshy mounds that were now glistening in slight sweat, "to make you realise my obvious want for you," he panted heavily as he began to shuffle about again, your body too weak and overwhelmed to resist anything he'd do to you now, but as you felt your legs being lifted and the feel of your pants being roughly pulled down you mewled in excitement as to what's to come.

Though your mind was hazy with the thick fog of arousal as the room slowly began to permeate with that smell of sex, your hands slid up his body, squeezing into his firm muscles on his arms, your mouth watering slightly as you took into consideration the sculptured frame of perfection that hungrily stripped you as if you were the marvel to behold here.

"Feeble Scholar, my a-ass." You breathed out to which he once having finally thrown your pants on the floor bent back down closer to your mouth to properly hear, "what was that?" He panted out his request, his face so flushed with his burning desire for you. "Yo... you can't blame me for having... doubts, how could I have ever expected to... engg... have a chance with you? You're so... perfect." You confessed your insecurity to the whole ordeal that had been burning at the back of your mind since the moment you began to pine after him, alcohol really was a dangerous thing you'd drunkenly realised.

He sat up, an almost flustered amusement painting his face as he lulled his head back, lazily running a hand through his silver hair, looking as if in thought, before sniffing in sharply through his nose and lowering his head back down to burn his gaze back into yours. You suddenly felt that naked feeling again, and it wasn't because you were in nothing but your dampening panties underneath him, no, it was that look he gave again, as he burned every detail of you into him, as if blinking would make you disappear so he wouldn't dare too.

"I won't be held responsible for this," he muttered out as you felt a tug at your waist and then heard another snapping sound. You gasped about to voice a complaint over one of your favourite panties now being ruined, but instead, you choked on your words and hiccuped a moan out instead. His long fingers deftly shoved into your now soaking entrance, two push inside which caused you to shudder hard under him and writhe around, his grip on your hip kept you in place however, bruises were sure to show tomorrow from his hold.

He began to scissor you open in an expertly way that left you speechless and mewling with delight, his thumb pressed against your clit and stimulated it simultaneously with quick and fast circular motions, your eyes beginning to water as your body wracked with pleasure as if small sparks of electrocution ran through your very veins, the heat pooling below rapidly now. "Heh, that's it, keep singing for me Y/N, keep," he began to spread his two fingers wider inside you, stretching you open deliciously past your normal limits, "making, those, faces." every word he gruffly barked out with that hot underlining tone of lust was accentuated with the spread of fingers lodged deep inside you.

You felt your climax barrelling into you so suddenly, the way your body tensed under him, your eyes rolling back as you cried out, the gush of your own slick and juices coating his fingers and hand, dribbling down to his wrist, he merely smirked as he watched you unravel beneath him, a gift for himself, so beautiful and alluring, he continued to scissor and thrust his fingers slowly inside you as you rode down from your incredible high.

He then leaned down beginning to pant harder, he sounded out of breath, much like how you sounded right now too, your face flushed red from cheeks to nose and ear tips, he wore the same expression, both of you intoxicated by far more than just alcohol. You had so many thoughts and words wishing to be voiced aloud but you found them dying on your tongue with every attempt, the sensations causing too many shudders and delectable thrums of ecstasy up your spine.

It wasn't long at all till his mouth was on yours again, another hot, sloppy make out between you both, tongues twirling with each other as air was squeezed from your lungs, teeth clattering in the transaction but it meant nothing to you, feeling him on you like this, devouring you, it felt good, so good, and so right, you submitted yourself wholly to him and he could sense it in the way your body relaxed and fell pliant beneath him as he continued to domineer the stinging hot kiss between you both, a muffled groan leaving his throat only to be swallowed hungrily by you in return.

"w-want you..." you whimpered softly while catching your breath.

"You're gonna have me." he concluded as he sat up and swiftly removed his tight emerald green vest that often left nothing to the imagination of his amazing physique.

You hesitantly lifted your hand up, the intrusive thoughts of wanting to explore every crevice of his skin, every ridged bump along his six pack down to the sharply carved V-line that disappeared beneath his unbelievably tight trousers. But your hand stilled, as if worried or more so, undeserving to feel such a beautiful being like him. He merely scoffed incredulously to your hesitancy, gripping your hand firmly and placing it flat against his abs, your cheeks flaring red as he guided your hand along those said tempting ridges and bumps, feeling the divine skin underneath you.

"We are past shyness of touch dear, stop looking at me with such hunger, and start actually acting on it," he chuckled in a far too sexy way above you as he knelt between your legs that were now hung either side his own legs. His hair a cute mess, his lips wet from your constant need to suck the air from one another, his eyes glossy and coated over with soul damning lust.

You let your hand continue to explore his abs before slowly sliding up and over his pecs, across his toned chest, he truly was stunning, so well built, he lies when he says he doesn't work out, no one gets a shape this godly without putting effort in, but you would reprimand him for lying later, now is worship time, your other hand began to join you in its neediness to explore him and he chuckled airy like toward you, his brow raising in amusement making him look like a smug god before you, "You really like what you see huh?"

You scoffed with the first sign of confidence you'd had since this whole crumbled down fiasco transpired, "Wouldn't you if you was faced with such an unremarkably sexy person?" you quipped back, he then swiftly gripped your hands and bought them to his lips, soft gentle kisses pressing into them as his eyes locked with yours once again, a smile pressing into your hand from his lips as the hot breath fanned against them as he spoke, "I am." is all he rebutted back at you before guiding your hands up and above your head, locking them together with one of his own, his strong fingers clasping round your wrists.

You blushed hard at his compliment, suddenly he has such a way with words, so suave and smooth out of nowhere, you were use to the cold distancing from before, and then the goofy and sarcastic man after, but this new side of him was just as welcome as all the ones you'd seen before, any side of him you would accept as part of him, just as you knew any side of you yet to be revealed would be seen no differently by him.

You blinked the tears away that swelled in your eyes from the overwhelming insanity of all that was taking place currently, sniffing softly as you tried to regain composure, the buzz of the dandelion wine and the heady scent of sex clouding your judgement so easily, your focus was redirected down south sharply however, when you heard the sound of his zipper ringing out, your throat suddenly felt too dry as you swallowed in anticipation.

You didn't even notice the cocky smirk on his lips as he watched your shining eyes focus solely on his fingers under his trousers away from your prying sight, he couldn't deny the desperation frothing inside him to feel your walls clenching around him however, so in one swift movement he pulled the front of his trousers down and with it the spring of his nearing eight inch cock bounced out in all its well trimmed glory.

Your eyes bulged wide at the sight, Archons he was massive! ...was, ...was he gonna be able to fit inside you? Suddenly you wasn't so sure as you looked at the pretty shaped pink head weeping plentiful of its precum, the thick girth and more than generous length, so heavy it was that even with how hard he was to the thought of taking you, the blood pumping down south couldn't properly lift the darn thing, it stood straight out and drooped ever so slightly.

"Holy fuck Al, you're ma-massive." You choked your words out with little care of modesty, you were worried and impressed, and you wasn't gonna deny it to him. He laughed, properly, full of warmth and genuine amusement, it gave you that giddy feeling again to see his sweet smile with no filters. "Relax Y/N, if you don't think you're up to it-" he was being polite, you knew that, but the look in his eyes was obvious, and you also knew he didn't mean it, he wanted you, bad, and you're anything but a liar, your mind could hardly even catch up to your current thoughts as you blurted out shamelessly, "No, fuck me-"

He squeezed your wrists in his grip tighter, to the point that you'd almost forgotten he still had them caged above your head, his eyes simmering into a darker shade as his lust consumed him, his expression looking ravenous and hungry now, "Thank fuck you didn't say no, I need you, so fucking bad," he snarled the words out beside your ear to which you mewled at as you felt his thickness now rubbing against your slick covered walls, your hole clenching around nothing in desperation to feel full.

Just as his head began to prod and poke at your entrance, sending tiny shivers rippling all over your muscles, for some reason, completely lost to you, your mind thought about the condition of his clearly expensive furniture. "W-wait! Your s-sofa..." your voice was so unsteady now, words became harder and harder to force out, you just wanted to make animalistic sounds of pleasure, pleasure he kept sinking you further into. He shook his head as his hand released over yours and placed firmly beside your head, the other now on the other side too, caged beneath him once more, just how you'd grown to like it apparently. Your hands reflexively shooting out as your hands dug into his muscular arms, flexing beneath your squeezing fingers, you squeezed tightly, trying to ground yourself to him, to anything, just, to feel as if you wasn't drowning, but oh, you were.

"May come as, a haaah... surprise to you, Y/N," his voice strained as he began to push his thick girth deeper, and deeper inside you, spearing your insides and stretching you unfathomably around him, your juices spurting out in unbelievable amounts, coating his cock in a shiny layer of slick as it continued to bury deeper inside you, your voice gone entirely now, replaced with heavy pants, whines and mewls, your brain frying all that's coherent. "But I don't give, a shit, about my sofa, ahhh f-fuck meeeerrngh, right now." he snapped his hips forward suddenly to finish bottoming out inside you fully, your stomach looking slightly bulged to his sex driven mind, but he could just be high on endorphins right now.

Upon feeling his tip press and kiss against your cervix it forced a combined moan from the pair of you, you'd never felt so fucking full, you'd only had sex a handful of times, but you didn't need to be a slut to realise no cock would ever have this man beat, he remained still, his thick veined cock lodged deep inside your spasming and tight walls, his eyes fluttering shut as he sucked a breath in harshly trying to steady his control, "fucking...hell Y-Y/N, you're so bloody tight mmnph.." you panted heavily, your tongue lulling out as you did, he couldn't help but to lean down and kiss you with a searing hot passion, your fucked out expression did something wild to him and if he had any less self restrain you'd be fifty-shades fucked out your fucking mind right now.

Your tongues danced with each other in nothing but a messy exchange of saliva, muffled moans and whines at his testing little thrusts, short and slow, but he was so deep that he was already making you see stars, you pulled away to breath once again, your lips shiny from your messy and continuous make out sessions, "well sorry, but did i-it ever occur to you, you're too f-fucking deep," you hissed as he suddenly rolled his hips into you causing him to rub and press against several of your sweet spots, your shuddering and spasming causing him to shudder as well, both of you cursing to high Celestia and back in unison as he then breathily chuckled against your ear, "nah, you can take more feisty thing," he mused.

Before you could question what he meant though he began to thrust fully into you now, slow but continuous and deep, your eyes squeezed shut as you began to moan loudly with wild abandon, he had no neighbours anyway so what'd you care? "S-see? taking me so well, good girl, haah." his voice was deep, strained, rough and hoarse, everything and all things that make him sexy to you at any given time, he was all in one at this exact moment, and his praising made your mind go fluffy and flash white behind your eyes, he realised it instantly with the way he almost came from your sudden squeezing and sucking from your ever so tight fluttering walls.

"ahh, fuuucckk, you like that baby? mmh?" he tilted his head as he sat up, his hips flushed against yours still, but now knelt between you sitting up he could probably admire the picturesque form you currently were in, sinfully gorgeous with how thoroughly fucked out your face was, your eyes half open, filled with lust and want, your cheeks red, your skin glistening with more sweat, panting and mewling, you were utterly divine to him right now, he laid his hand flat against your stomach slowly, pressing the bulge that he could certainly conclude was actually there now.

The way he pressed down on your stomach made you stutter out a sobbed moan, he was making you feel more full if that were even possible, he pressed against his own cock that was wedged so deeply inside you now, "mmh, I never did realise, just how... small you were, fuck, compared to me Y/N." he bit his lip harshly and you somehow found the energy to chuckle, though you were becoming rapidly more lightheaded, "telling me you have a size kink now, h-huh?" he smirked at your jab as he rolled his hips roughly against you again, causing your eyes to roll back and let out a wanton moan, "what was that, my little good girl." You mewled in response to the praise, the pet name if you will, your walls fluttering vigorously around his length again causing him to bite his lip once more to remain composed before beginning to trust at a steady pace now.

You couldn't believe you both were just idly revealing kinks while he was actively impaling you. But like you'd come to accept, opening up to him really was easier than breathing at this point. And breathing was suddenly becoming harder for you too, with how he continued to spread you open, rearrange your organs and insides to mould into the perfect sleeve for his cock, and his cock alone, he was burning his girth, his length, him, inside you fully, and you knew you weren't gonna forget the feelings he gave to you, and you didn't want too.

Your eyes had closed what, ten minutes ago, twenty? …forty? You really wasn't sure, but his pace hadn't let up, the battering of your poor insides was starting to ache you, you'd already came again and he'd just thrusted you through it into utter overstimulation, his lips trailing your neck, your shoulders, nibbling your ear, marking your chest, overstimulation was clearly another one of kinks, but with the way your tears spilled so gratefully and the delicious burn of your battered inside built you quickly to another encroaching climax, maybe... you were also into over stimulation, hmm.

"Fuck... Y/N, sorry but, I'm close..." if you were able to form anything of coherent audibility right now you would tell him to shut the fuck up with the whole 'sorry' sorry for what? Idiot. If he thought he was under performing right now... he needed a serious talking to, but as you felt his cock begin to twitch wildly so deep inside and the way he showed no signs of slowing down or pulling out, you started to realise why he may have said sorry...

"w-ahh wait, wa-wait, Al...mmhp, Al, you aren't s-seriously going to, to..." he shook his head as he pressed himself down onto you, his chest pressing against yours, your breasts rubbing against his chest as his hand flatly laid over your mouth, so big it was his fingers had to part to let your nose have an airway to breath through as your eyes widened to your sudden forced silence, "shhh, be a good girl, take it, take it all Y/N, Mmph...," he rolled his hips before beginning to rut into you, his hand sliding between your bodies and hurriedly swirling circled motions against your swollen clit and with that your eyes rolled back as he sent you over into another blissed out orgasm that flashed your sights white and your hearing just ringing out.

"Ahh fuuuck, yes, just like that baby, just like that, keep cumming on my cock you slut." you couldn't say anything, even your moans were muffled into near silence, your harsh breaths through your nose as your head went fuzzy and utterly fried from overstimulation now to the point of being fucked dumb, your nails scratching down his back leaving marks, eliciting a sharp hiss and growl from Al-Haitham as he continued to rut hard into you, "f-fuck, I'm cumming baby, I'm cumming, take it, take it a-all, arrghhh!" his head lulled back as he groaned out and then you felt it, spurt after spurt of hot thick ropes of his cum painting and smearing your insides, filling you to the brim, the squelching of your ridiculously soaked and battered entrance around his throbbing and twitching cock, hungrily your insides sucked and milked his balls dry till his shallowed thrusts into you and the twitching of his cock had nothing left to give.

He dropped down onto you, careful not to fully crush you under his weight, both of you panting heavily as he slid his hand from your over your mouth up into your hair, softly petting your scalp, the affectionate gesture made a warm swelling feeling inside you, that or you know, the bucket load of his cum and cock still deeply buried inside you. It was only once the haziness began to leave and you were left post thoughts after sex that you began to chuckle before breaking into a fit of laughter, his eyes had closed from exhaustion, but opened slowly to your laughing fit, chuckling himself and lifting his head softly before the contagious laughter caught him too, causing him to break out laughing as well while dropping his forehead against yours, both of your eyes watering with joy filled tears and overwhelming emotions.

Once the laugher died down and you were both now just sniffling with slight chuckles his eyes sunk downward then back up into yours, "Darn, the sofa's ruined now." he snorted to which you giggled at childishly, then the silence took over fully and you both lay together, eyes locked on one another once again, "I like you too Y/N." He boyishly smiled at you to which you rolled your eyes before a smile couldn't help but form too, "I would hope so" you returned.

-

After your pillow talk to one another you both got up and cleaned the mess up as best you could, he offered you first shower to clean yourself but you decided it was easier to just shower and clean together, you both continued to chat and joke, somewhat naughtily in your washing up time, but managed to come out of it actually clean. You didn't further discuss his prior feelings toward his ex-friend, it was his business not yours after all, though it saddened you to think you may never see Kaveh again, people come and go unfortunately, and in all honesty, no one knows what the future holds do they? Optimism is best suited in these saddening times to keep one going, and you wanted him to remain positive, you wanted to help relieve some of his sorrow and tension and you felt the mood had finally lifted and unbelievable progress had been made, the man you'd been crushing so hard for, reciprocated your feelings fully and it left you warm and fuzzy whenever you thought about it.

You stayed the night, to which more less than innocent things took place in his bedroom with you, no surprise there, he had amazing stamina and recovery time you'd thoroughly figured out during this endeavour. But the next morning you ate breakfast with him and continued to bask in the comfort of just being around him, to which he fully and equally returned the mutuality of. But alas, you did have work back at The Akademiya, so with a chaste farewell kiss you bid him goodbye till the next time you had time to come see him, assuming he still wasn't ready to come back just yet, which you were fine with, at least you had closure to his absence and could tell your colleagues to shut up with their bickering and rumour spreading.

-

The sun was rising bright above Teyvat as you were inside Al-Haithams office giving it a quick clean over, it was growing dusty from the lack of attention it had received for weeks now, it had been a couple days since you and him, took the next step in both of yours relationship, so to speak, and you couldn't help but already be missing him, did it make you petty? Probably, but at least you felt somewhat closer to him in here, in his office, and the excuse of spring cleaning kept everyone's suspicions at bay.

"Missing me so much already are we?" His voice came from behind you suddenly, causing you to jump near out your skin, whipping round fast eyes wide before resting your hand on your chest calming your nerves, "Archons Al, don't sneak up on me like that."

He quirked his brow as he set down some various documents and paperwork onto his desk turning to you, "Me? You're the one skulking about my office stalker." he squinted his eyes in challenge but you knew better than to raise to it, "Am not." or so you thought.

He smiled as he glanced around realising you had been cleaning his office during his absence, "Thank you though, honestly, for taking care of things while I was too busy moping." He turned back to his papers beginning to organise them in order of projects in dire need of attention on top, with the less urgent ones beneath.

"Well, everyone needs their time and space Al, even the amazing Scribe." you smiled warmly as you finished the left over areas that needed cleaning, gasping softly when you felt hands suddenly squeeze your hips and spin you back around, your hands dropping the cloth as they rested quickly atop his broad and firm shoulders, meeting met face to face with Al who stared down at you, your cheeks flushed red, you were in public was he mad?!

"Al?! Not here you mad man!" You whisper yelled to him trying your best to have a serious and scolding expression but he merely chuckled an kissed the tip of your nose lovingly, "Whatever happens between us in this office, is of no concern to others." he flatly stated as he began to trail kisses down your neck, your core beginning to pool with heated arousal and neediness for the man against you, a sigh of content seeping from your lips as your eyes fluttered softly, "What do you plan to do to me in here AL..." your voice was soft and laced with nerving excitement and anticipation.

He lifted his head to let his eyes capture yours once more, his breath hot against your lips as he whispered seductively, "That's my business, not yours."

[teawiththespleen]

i read in a winnie the pooh book,

if youre feeling blue or hurt by something someone said dont keep it bottled up inside just use your words instead

and felt so viscerally uncomfortable id literally skip the ending where the moral of the story came to a head so i didnt have to deal with fucking roo telling tigger he felt left out or whatever

and i think the little ripple of not learning that lesson has caused waves and so forth

[hajimewhore]

Love Letter To You 💌 (Iwaizumi Hajime/Reader)

on [Ao3]

➸Rated T, fem!Reader, 7k+words  ➷Fluff, some angst, humor, confessions, misunderstandings, twins with Tooru   ➷You’ve had a longtime crush on Iwaizumi Hajime, and you can honestly say you don’t recall ever not having a crush on him. He’s your best friend, who also happens to be your twin brother’s best friend.

But that’s the problem, he’s still just your best friend.

What better way to tell him how you feel than through a letter confessing your feelings? Nothing could go wrong with that marvelous plan.

[Masterlist]

You let out a long sigh of defeat, scribbling across the page uselessly.

Realistically it’s a waste of ink if you’re just going to crumple the page and toss it anyways, but it provides some minor release of frustration at least.

Helplessly, you unlock your phone to google ‘How to write a love letter—‘ before entirely giving up on that idea.

Red faced and slightly embarrassed at the thought of resorting to a shitty wikihow article on love letters, you bury your face in your arms.

Taking that moment to collect yourself, you dive back into writing the confession letter to your longtime crush and friend, Iwaizumi Hajime.

Easier thought than done of course, but you’re sick of dancing around the topic and dragging it out.

You, Hajime, and your brother Tooru, are in your third year now. It’s better to rip the bandaid off, your older sister told you once.

But she’s married, and has Takeru. Needless to say you’re a little bitter to listen to her advice when she’s got everything sorted out, and when her husband was the one who confessed first.

You let out a whine of frustration, she is right in the end, she always is.

...Especially considering you’ve harbored this crush for quite some time now.

You sigh, tapping your lip with the edge of your pen.

Hajime isn’t one for dramatics, so simplicity is best. But there obviously needs to be more than ‘I like you’ scrawled on the page.

Instead, you decide to just write out a ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this but here goes nothing,’ (more like everything).

The line is followed by why you like him to begin with.

His strength, his passion, his humor, the other adjectives that follow suit, the fact he doesn’t let Tooru get away with being manipulative and bad mannered, all the good qualities that made you fall for Hajime.

And well, you’ve liked him for a long time. And you’d hate to let it go without ever having tried to tell him.

“Hey, can you—“

The previously mentioned bad mannered Tooru bursts in your room unannounced, and you let out a squeak in your surprise. You hastily shut the notebook to hide the letter.

“Tooru what the fu—“

“Can you stop yelling for a second? I need a face mask, I’m all out.”

“Can you learn to knock?”

Regardless of your irritation, you shove a face pack into his hands, while pushing him out of your room.

“Jeez, we shared the womb at some point but you cross the line at me coming into your room? We even used to share a bunk bed too! I miss those days.”

He sighs, but it’s cut off by the slamming door in his face.

“Thanks for the face mask!”

His voice is muffled through the door as you hear his footsteps echo down the hall.

Sighing in the relief of his absence, you slip the letter into an envelope and seal it shut.

You’re not even gonna bother to read it over, feeling far too nervous and embarrassed after having actually written out a confession to Hajime. And you don’t want to stress yourself more feeling self conscious about your handwriting, grammar, syntax, and whatever bullshit.

You wish you were bold enough to tell him to his face, feeling the letter might be a bit of a cop out, but you quickly disregard the notion.

Thinking about staring into his dark eyes and professing your love sends chills down your spine, you’re almost positive you’d bolt after barely stuttering out an ‘I like you.’ This way, you’re definitely able to get more than three words out. At least, that’s what you tell yourself to believe this is a good plan.

Now to just get the courage to hand it to him.

When the next day arrives, you find out you never actually gathered the courage to hand it to him.

The morning was spent with Tooru chattering away on the route to school.

Handing a letter to your childhood friend with a heart stamped over it in front of Tooru’s annoyingly perceptive eyes, directly in his field of vision, didn’t sit well with you.

For good reason, he’d definitely be clued in on your crush by the evidence before him. Not to mention Hajime would hate that kind of attention coming from Tooru.

In other words, it was the most inopportune time. You spent the entire walk pink faced and scowling, Hajime eyeing you with a brow raised and Tooru doing his best to lead the conversation for unusually quiet twin.

And that’s why you find yourself shoving it into his locker during practice.

The boys are busy in a set, and the coaches won’t notice you slipping away from your managerial duties for the moment.

“Oh. Oh fuck. I can’t do this!”

You suddenly panic, pressing your hands to your face in mortification.

“What am I doing?!”

But it’s too late, the deed is done, you’ve already gone and slipped the little letter containing all your secret feelings for Hajime between the slots of his locker. And there’s no way you can deface school property by taking a crowbar to the damn thing.

You shuffle out of the locker room, thankfully unnoticed. The last thing you needed in this state of utter disarray was to be caught red faced leaving the men’s locker room.

You just hope Hajime will set the letter aside and you can deal with the consequences later.

Or maybe he’ll set the letter aside permanently and forget of it’s existence entirely. That’d be a good option.

Except for the fact you would never know if he just forgot about the letter, or if he’s just ignoring the contents of it and in turn shutting you down and ruining your friendship and ignoring you for the rest—

The sound of whistle rattles in your eardrums and you jump, startled by the sharp noise.

“Clean up, boys! Head home, get something to eat, and rest well.”

Coach Irihata’s gruffly gives directions, and the team follows with a resounding ‘Yes Coach!’

You spend the entirety of clean up ignoring everyone. Not on purpose, no, but your nerves have absolutely skyrocketed.

When Matsukawa tried to say something to you, you nearly dropped all the water bottles. Thankfully, he caught the end of the box before you could create another mess to clean up.

Whatever he’d said to you went in one ear and out the other, as you caught Hajime’s hard stare at you.

“Sorry about that! Thanks, Mattsun.”

You bow out of the conversation, dipping out before anything else can be exchanged. Mostly so you can physically get yourself out of Hajime’s view, you don’t think you can handle seeing him after he finds what’s in that locker.

You wait outside, contemplating whether you should walk home ahead without Tooru and Hajime. If he stone cold rejects you, you might as well just do that. Knowing Hajime though, he’d never be so callus to you.

There are times he’s reprimanded you for having that patent Shittykawa personality, of course. You hate to admit it, and you’ll never be caught admitting it aloud, but you and Tooru are cut from the same cloth in the end. Though much to your affection, Hajime’s always been more gentle when he raps you on the head. You just hope he retains that same generosity when he inevitably rejects you.

He might just feel the same, though. Thoughts of Hajime pulling you aside to tell you he shares your feelings fill your head. You can almost feel him ruffling your hair, scolding you for being stupid to think otherwise.

The scenario makes you blush, and your hopes rise as you plop onto a bench and resolve yourself to wait.

“Shittykawa better hurry up. I don’t want to have to wait extra time, I swear I’ll ditch him.”

Hajime grumbles, swinging open his locker to pull out his casual wear.

“He said he wanted to talk to Coach Irihata.”

Hanamaki informs, but Hajime just scoffs at the info.

“Probably to get some copies of another team’s match. He’s gonna stay up watching it too, more trouble for his sister to wake him up in the morning.”

Hajime slips a sweater over his head, and the other laughs knowingly at his observation.

“Poor, sweet Oikawa-chan, cursed to be twins with someone as overbearing and overzealous as Oikawa.”

Hanamaki clicks his tongue, pulling a loose tee on, just barely missing the sour look Hajime sends him for the ‘poor, sweet Oikawa-chan’ bit.

“Ah! I-Iwaizumi-senpai, you dropped this!”

Kindaichi is delicately holding some sort of letter, presenting it to Hajime nervously. Why the boy is always so skittish around him he could never understand.

Hajime carefully takes the letter, examining it.

“This isn’t mine.”

He furrows his brow, he’s never seen the thing before.

“It fell out of your locker.”

Kunimi points out, and Hanamaki and Matsukawa choose that moment to tune back in.

“Did an Oikawa love letter get put in the wrong locker?”

Hanamaki teases, and Kunimi chooses that moment to tune out back out.

“What?”

“There’s a heart on it, it’s clearly some girl trying to confess.”

Matsukawa taps the heart sticker sealed over the top.

“Or guy!”

Kindaichi blurts out, and Kunimi rolls his eyes heavily at that.

Hajime goes to shove it into Tooru’s locker, ready to complain about his fanbase diving into the men’s locker room while they’re practicing, but Matsukawa’s swipes the letter from his hands.

“Hold on, you don’t know if it’s actually for Oikawa.”

“Who else would it be for?”

Hajime raises an irritated brow, already wishing he were at home.

“Could be for me.”

Hanamaki winks, tearing the letter open.

“No way, Hanamaki.”

“Oh yes way, Matsukawa.”

The two peer over the contents of the letter with excitement.

Kindaichi mumbles something about invasion of privacy and Kunimi eyes the situation from behind the locker, a little curious after all.

“Dear Hajime,”

Hajime blinks in mild shock at hearing the two words that sound from Hanamaki’s lips.

“Hold on—“

He reaches for the letter in disbelief, but the two swivel to block him out.

“‘I can’t believe I’m doing this. I’ve never done this kind of thing before, but I know you’d understand,’”

Hanamaki reads out, and Matsukawa chimes in,

“That’s cute, she’s embarrassed.”

“‘That’s what I like the most about you. You’re understanding, hardworking,” etcetera, etcetera, haha wait ‘You don’t let Tooru get away with being a brat’,”

Hanamaki practically busts a gut, and Hajime growls out trying to snatch the letter back but Matsukawa’s got it back in his grasp,

“She did not say that.... Hah! She did! Wow, this girl really likes you, Hajime~”

He teasingly refers to him.

“Hey, asshole, give it back.”

“We’re in too deep now, Hajimeee, sorry!”

Hanamaki sidesteps a smack that definitely would’ve left a bruise. Kunimi briefly thinks his senpais should be this level of eager to read in their studies.

“The stationary is really cute too, wish you could see it Haaajiiimee. It’s got little hearts and— no fucking way.”

Hanamaki cuts himself off, and at this point everyone is eyeing the trio’s shenanigans.

“Just give it back, dickhead.”

Hajime glares as Hanamaki points at something on the letter for Matsukawa to see. After a moment of analyzing he bursts into laughter alongside Hanamaki.

Hajime doesn’t think he’s heard Matsukawa laugh this hard about anything, and it’s kind of pissing him off how he’s only choosing now to start being more vocal.

“What the fuck are you laughing about?”

Hajime growls, feeling especially pissed he’s being left out of his own damn letter. The two bumbling, annoyingly tall fools wipe actual tears of laughter away.

“I-It’s not signed!”

Hajime gapes at the response, reaching for the letter again which Hanamaki so graciously allows him to take.

And true to their audio book version of the letter, it writes ‘Dear Hajime,’ at the top, kind words about himself, includes some badmouthing of Shittykawa that he momentarily appreciates, and at the bottom...

“You’re kidding me?”

“I’m sorry man, that sucks.”

Matsukawa pats his back in faux comfort, hiding his snort of laughter.

“And what’s this?”

In his distraction, he didn’t notice Tooru entering the locker room until he’s already plucked the letter from his hands.

“Hey fucker—“

He just got it back, but Tooru is already doing a second rendition of the audio book love letter.

“‘Dear Hajime,’ what the hell? This is so annoying!”

He puts the letter down to glare at Hajime, the look and tone of annoyance send a spike of anger in him.

“What are you on about? You get letters like this all the time!”

He’s ready to beat Tooru’s bratty ass but his response stops him in his tracks,

“Yeah, but not from my sister. I wish she’d write me heartfelt letters like this. But nooo, she’s always ganging up on me with you!”

Tooru angrily pokes him on the chest, but Hajime doesn’t retaliate. His world is spinning.

“What?”

“Oikawa-senpai, that letter wasn’t signed.”

Kunimi informs, very helpfully, and Matsukawa and Hanamaki eye each other with shocked expressions.

“Haaah? You guys are trying to tell me you don’t even recognize your own manager’s handwriting?”

His hands are at his hips, letter clutched between his fingertips.

“Someone as annoyingly perceptive as you might, but the rest of us are still humans.”

Hanamaki bites back, and Matsukawa snatches the letter in place of the dumbfounded Hajime.

“Hey, I didn’t get to read that!”

Tooru growls, but Matsukawa shoves his hand against Tooru’s face before he can lunge for it,

“....I think Iwaizumi’s the only one who should’ve read this.”

He mutters, reaching out to hand the letter back.

You lay seated at the bench, still, elbows to your knees and fingertips interlocked before your mouth. Your leg shakes with impatience and a swell of anxiety.

“What the hell is taking so long!”

You throw your head back with a cry, cupping your cheeks.

In an attempt to resolve the tension you feel coiling in your gut, you slide off the bench to your feet, reentering the gym to a find the stragglers.

Most of the team is already gone, but it’s strange how long the rest are taking. Normally, Kunimi is the first out with Kindaichi following close.

But you’ve yet to see either of them, or Mattsun and Makki.

Tooru is slow as always, that’s a given considering he’s late to practice half the time and late to leave, but Hajime usually keeps him in check.

You haphazardly swing open the locker room door, not caring if any of them aren’t presentable.

“Can you hurry up?! It’s cold out and I don’t wanna walk home by my...self...”

The end of your sentence trails off, losing its bite as you lock eyes with a wide eyed Matsukawa.

Who happens to be holding a letter, a very, very familiar letter.

Your cheeks turn a hot red at the realization, that’s your confession letter for Hajime.

You shift your eyes around the room to assess the damage. Kunimi and Kindaichi are averting their gazes nervously. Hanamaki and Matsukawa look like they want the ground to open up and swallow them whole, guilt written all over their features.

Tooru looks like he’s in the middle of a hissy fit, and you feel humiliated thinking he was here for what more than likely transpired, judging by the open letter in Matsukawa’s hands.

The thing that bothers you the most is Hajime’s slack jawed expression, opening and closing his mouth unsure what to say for once.

You can’t help but take heavy footed steps, the loud stomps echoing the uncomfortably quiet locker room. You feel as if your embarrassment and humiliation is tangible, the sheer awkwardness sitting so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife.

Matsukawa pales when you stand before him, and though he towers over you, he can’t help but feel intimidated by the anger stricken look etched across your face.

You swipe the letter from his hands, the paper sounds with a rip as it crumples in your shaking grasp.

You shift your gaze to Hajime, and Matsukawa almost sighs in relief at the attention being redirected off of him.

You glare, feeling the most contempt and anger for Hajime you’ve ever felt in your life. The petty arguments you had growing up can’t even compare.

“I-I— It wasn’t— I didn’t...“

Hajime can’t come up with anything to say. He’s never been one to stumble over his words, but the misunderstanding is set in stone while the guilt tears away at him.

He doesn’t even know why he’s feeling guilty, he didn’t even do anything wrong. Those lanky bastards stole his stuff from him, and he didn’t even know it was from you to begin with.

But that didn’t stop his heart from sinking when he saw the heartbreak and anger on your face.

“If you didn’t like me, you should’ve just said so. You didn’t have to show everyone!”

You yell out, voice unsteady, covering your face and willing yourself not to cry just yet.

You’re angry that they were reading the letter that was meant for Hajime’s eyes only. Angry that the red blush from the humiliation won’t leave your face, and it only serves to make you more red faced. There’s this sticky hot itch that’s burning at your skin. It’s starting to prickle the back of your neck, you just want to go home.

You thought Hajime would never do something like this, you were almost certain of it. He wasn’t the type to entertain locker room talk and banter about girls with his guy friends. And you definitely didn’t think he’d be the type to let your friends make a joke of you by reading out your stupid love letter.

You should’ve never written it in the first place.

“Hey, we didn’t know—“

Hanamaki tries but you’re quick to interrupt him,

“I’m not talking to you right now Hanamaki!”

He shuts his mouth the second he hears your scratchy voice. You didn’t even bother to look back at him, but he can probably guess the look you have on your face. He rubs the back of his neck, lips pressed into a thin line.

Kindaichi is looking at Hanamaki with a sorry expression, and Kunimi’s eyes have been trained on his locker the whole time, silently wringing his hands together.

You feel a pang of guilt wedge it’s way into your already complex fray of emotions, feeling bad for lashing out so hard on him. Feeling bad for making the first years so anxious.

The feelings are only brief. You disregard them when the image your Seijou teammates laughing about the letter inserts itself into your mind.

You sigh, lips pursing as you shift your watery eyes to your feet.

Why isn’t Hajime doing anything?

“Whatever. I’m going home. And don’t follow me.”

You give Hajime one last hard look before turning on your heel, storming out of the locker room.

You make sure to pitch the letter in the garbage on the way out, cursing the flimsy paper for causing so much turmoil.

You wait to exit the gym before you let the floodgates open.

Tears pour down your face, as you head back home.

At some point you stop bothering to wipe them away, since they just keep coming.

The sounds of the night fill your ears, cars passing by and wildlife calling out, but it’s still so quiet.

The lonely walk leaves you entertaining intrusive thoughts. How could Hajime feel the same way? It was foolish to think there was a chance, you’re his best friend, and his other best friend’s twin.

He must have felt so uncomfortable when he saw the contents of the letter. So grossed out he just had to show the rest of the guys in there.

The things Hajime did that once melted your heart nearly make you cringe, had it been platonic the whole time? And now you’ve misread it and ruined all those special moments, you’ve practically gone and reset your relationship status to strangers.

The head pats and hair ruffles. His rough hand, much bigger than yours, running through your locks or petting your head.

The rare, genuine smile he gives you alone. You swear you’ve only caught it on the volleyball court a few times, but it fills you with butterflies to see it in the comfort of your movie nights.

When you walk home together while Tooru is off gallivanting or practicing, he always makes sure to take you to your doorstep. Something you never understood considering you live next door to him, but it filled you with warmth every time.

The tears pool out harder when you think about how you’re going to lose all of it.

You let the thoughts snowball in your head, wondering how you’ll recover from this, how you’ll get over it, as the hot tears drip down you’re chin to the concrete.

The boys are left to stew in the silence of your wake.

None of them knew what to say, they only just realized it was their manager’s letter to Hajime moments before.

“Kunimi, Kindaichi,”

The two stiffen when they hear Tooru’s voice, his expression is neutral but his usual cheery tone is swapped for a terse, stern one.

“Get home. I know you two weren’t a part of this.”

The two nod tight lipped at their captain, collecting their bags. Kunimi keeps his eyes at his feet, and Kindaichi risks a glance at the upperclassman to see their faces turned down with regret. Hajime looks worse, brows furrowed and clearly distraught. He bites his lip before swiftly making his exit with Kunimi.

“Oikawa, you know we had no idea she wrote it.”

Hanamaki sighs, finishing what he didn’t get to say earlier.

“I don’t care, the damage is already done Hanamaki. You assholes are the reason my precious little sister is walking home, alone, to cry herself to sleep.”

Tooru’s gaze is as harsh as his words, the normal light in his honey brown eyes is traded for a darker look.

Normally, Hanamaki would correct Tooru by saying he’s only a few minutes older, but the current situation and the way his captain neglected to call him ‘Makki’ for once makes him abandon the idea promptly.

“I expect full handwritten apologies from both of you at practice tomorrow.”

Tooru demands, folding his arms across his chest.

“Honestly I don’t think she wants to see another letter—“

Matsukawa quiets himself as soon as Tooru whips his head to stare him down with narrowed eyes.

“Yep. On it. We’ll get to it right now.”

Matsukawa presses his hand to Hanamaki’s back and pushes him forward, briefly wondering if Tooru will let them leave the locker room.

But once their passed him, and out the threshold of the gym, they exhale deeply.

 “You’re awfully quiet.”

Tooru turns his attention to Hajime, and the furrow in his brows and his scowl only deepens.

“I don’t want to be scolded by you right now, Oikawa.”

Hajime’s voice is rough. Tooru merely shrugs, arms still crossed.

“Fine. I won’t then. You look terrible enough already.”

Hajime would glare at him if he had the capacity to right now.

Tooru raises his brow expectantly after a beat of silence, though Hajime doesn’t know what expectations he could possibly have for him.

He’s dumbfounded, shocked, irritated, guilt ridden, honestly feels like dog shit at the moment, but at the same time...

“She likes me?”

Hajime covers his mouth and mutters lowly under his breath, but Tooru hears his realization and rolls his eyes with as much drama as he could muster.

“Did you miss her whole rant?! Or did you not read the letter?”

Tooru huffs, taking a few long strides to pluck the tattered paper from the trash.

“Of course I did! It’s all I can’t think about right now!”

Tooru cuts Hajime off by shoving the letter into his chest roughly. Hajime reaches up reflexively to grab it, feeling a bit somber at the torn state of it.

“I’m going home. Don’t come over.”

Hajime doesn’t think he could face you in his current state anyways, or yours for that matter. He saw your watery eyes holding back tears, and doesn’t think he can handle seeing you cry because of him.

“And get your shit together by tomorrow morning, yeah?”

The way Tooru tacks a smile at the end of that sentence makes Hajime want to hit him, but he knows Tooru’s right to act so bitter. For once.

“Yeah.”

He mutters, carefully folding the letter.

“Oh,”

Tooru stops in his tracks at the entrance to the locker room, causing Hajime to glance up.

“If you break my sister’s heart, I’m beating you up.”

Tooru calls out, tossing the gym keys to him. Hajime catches it with ease, while gritting his teeth.

That’s fair. He’d honestly have to let him, he’d hate to break your heart. He hates that it’s breaking right now.

“And if you date my sister, I’m gonna beat you up.”

Tooru pokes his tongue out and flashes a peace sign. So it’s a lose-lose?!

“Just go home, Shittykawa!”

Hajime spins around to hide the flush growing on his cheeks, willing himself to not beat Tooru’s ass for today.

He sits on the bench gathering his thoughts, giving time for Tooru to get a head start. He’d rather not awkwardly trail a few steps behind him while contemplating his relationship dilemmas.

“She likes me.”

He finds himself repeating, pressing a closed fist to his lips.

“...and she thinks that I don’t like her.”

Hajime groans, covering his face in his frustration.

A knock sounds at your door, and you’re positive it’s Tooru. He has a pretentious way of knocking. You’re also positive you don’t want to see him.

You turn over on your side, burying your face into the plethora of blankets and pillows you’ve huddled yourself into.

If you pretend to sleep, maybe he’ll go away.

“I know you aren’t sleeping!”

Tooru’s voice calls through the door, with an annoying lilt.

Curse this damn twin telepathy or whatever the fuck you call it.

You slide out of bed wiping a few more tears, knowing he’s not going to leave unless he gets his way.

“How’d you know?”

You open the door, giving space for him to enter.

“Hah! How could you after getting so brutally humiliated, heartbroken, and embarrassed?”

He makes himself at home on your bed and you grimace at the sheer audacity of it all.

“I should’ve put on the deadbolt when I got home and locked you out of the house entirely.”

You take a seat beside him, eyes catching the convenience store bag on his lap.

“Kidding, of course. I think it was worse for them. The way you stared down Mattsun? I thought he was gonna pass out. And you shut Makki up real quick too. Ahh, they must feel terrible.”

He eagerly recounts, and you’re suddenly reminded of what a bad personality your brother has.

“Don’t remind me.”

You sigh, after having time to think about it you started to feel a little bad for the way you reacted, they clearly looked guilty, and they’re your friends too.

“Don’t worry, I chewed them out. They’ve got a surprise for you tomorrow.”

You’ve already been dreading tomorrow, but Tooru doesn’t give you time to question what he means by his comment. He’s rustling through the bag, piling your favorite snacks and ice cream flavor onto your lap.

“Ice cream too? I must’ve looked pathetic!”

Though ice cream seems like a classically depressing heartbreak treat to have, you smile for the first time that night.

“You still do! Eat up.”

He cheers, procuring a spoon seemingly out of nowhere. You choose to ignore that comment this time.

“I thought ‘It’s bad to binge junk food, and especially so late at night’!”

You recount part of Tooru’s endless nagging when he caught you and Hajime during a movie night. Truthfully you think he was just jealous and feeling especially spiteful that he wasn’t a part of it.

“It is, but I’ll excuse it this once.”

He turns his nose up bitterly, and you can tell he’s recalling the same memory.

“Thank you, Tooru.”

You’re speak softly, almost brought to more tears at how thoughtful he’s been after the incident.

“Don’t sweat it. And don’t get too bent out of shape over Iwa-chan. You know he’s a good guy. When he’s not hitting and insulting me.”

He frowns, rubbing his arm as if he got a phantom pain.

“He’s the best when he’s doing that though!”

You’re crying again, much to your dismay, and you turn away from Tooru to eat your ice cream in tears.

“Let it out. Tomorrow’s a new day, alright? And at least get some sleep.”

He pats your head, and you feel the bed shift as he stands up to leave the room.

“You too! Don’t think I didn’t see you with those Karasuno and Shiratorizawa match history dvds!”

You call out through your sniffling teariness, and he sticks his tongue at you before leaving the room.

You set the snacks aside with a sigh, leaning back against the wall.

Your head is practically swimming, feeling overwhelmed by the events in the locker room as well as Tooru’s kindness (and semi-crypticness).

You tried to heed Tooru’s advice for once and attempted to get some semblance of rest, but you ended up sleeping rather poorly.

And to top it off, you’re lacking extra sleep considering you woke up earlier than normal. That was intentional though, entirely so you could skip walking to school with Tooru and Hajime.

Especially Hajime. You’re not sure you can face him just yet. The thought alone makes you want to explode.

You toe your shoes on at the door and sling your school bag over your shoulder, braving yourself for the day that awaits you.

When you swing the front door open, in some grand cosmic scheme the universe has against you, who do you see sitting on the steps before your house?

Iwaizumi fucking Hajime, of course.

“Iwaizumi fucking Hajime.”

You huff, just who you absolutely did not want to see.

Your name leaves his lips in his surprise. Upon hearing his own name being so bitterly called, he quickly stumbles to stand up.

Hajime averts his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Hey.”

Is what he comes up with.

“Hey? How long have you been sitting out here?”

A frown tugs at your lips, and you try not to let your eyes water at the sight of his face alone.

“I figured you’d try to leave early, I wanted to catch you before then. So... maybe an hour?”

He runs a hand through his hair, and you try to hide your shock at the information. Upon closer inspection, it looks like he hadn’t slept much either. Though, somehow, he still manages to look that rugged type of handsome. You kick that dangerous line of thinking to the curb before it continues.

“An hour?!”

“I didn’t get the chance to talk to you last night, after... yeah. I wanted to give you some space.”

He trails off and you bite your lip, readying yourself for the rejection speedily approaching.

You simply nod for him to continue. You don’t think you can trust your voice right now, and you feel your knees turn to jelly, shaking from the anxiety resurfacing.

“Your letter,”

You glance up when you hear the ruffling paper from his pocket. When he unfolds it, you see that it’s been smoothed out and the rips from having been recklessly snatched from Matsukawa’s hands have been carefully taped.

Your heart swells at the sight of the repair, but you bite down the hope that’s starting to peak.

 “You didn’t sign it.”

. . .

“Hah?”

You blink at him, jaw dropping dumbly.

“You forgot to sign it. I didn’t know it was from you at first.”

He grins at your animated reaction, and you’re once again caught up in how handsome he looks with a smile on his face.

You quickly shake that thought, physically and mentally. Your cheeks bloom pink as you grab for the letter.

“I didn’t?!”

You’re eyes scan to the bottom of the page, and you notice that you in fact did not sign the damn letter.

How could you be so careless?!

You suddenly recall Tooru clamoring into your room for a face mask like some heathen that has no respect or morals for personal boundaries. You also remember that it caused you to scramble to hide the letter. After you’d been interrupted, you just sealed the note away.

“Tooru...”

You growl out, hiding your face with the page in your embarrassment.

Hajime laughs lowly at that, he doesn’t need any context to believe it turned out to be Tooru’s fault.

“Matsukawa and Hanamaki we’re dicks to steal it from me and read it, but we didn’t know it was from you until Shittykawa busted in and ranted about your handwriting.”

“Tooru...!”

You’re a broken record now, actively cursing your brother for his transgressions.

Hajime plucks the letter hiding your face to get a good look at you.

You’re mind practically soft resets at the cool expression and his dark green eyes.

“I’m sorry. This probably could’ve been avoided if I had just confessed to you first.”

He mutters softly, red starting to creep on his features.

“No, it’s not your fau— wait what?”

You must be hallucinating. That, or you’re unconscious and the part of your brain that handles dream production is being a huge asshole right now.

Hajime sighs, nervously running his hand through his hair again,

“I should’ve just told you I liked you sooner. Honestly, I’m kind of embarrassed you had more guts to do it first.”

“You like me?!”

You step closer, peering up at his face to find any tells for a lie or signs of a really convincing Iwaizumi Hajime imposter.

“It’s what I said, isn’t it?! Don’t make me repeat myself a third time.”

He presses his palms to your shoulders to take a step back, the proximity of your blushing and eager face is making him short circuit.

The fabric of your uniform sadly prevents any contact with skin, but you still feel yourself heating up at the touch of his hands resting on your shoulders.

“I... really?!”

“I think I’ve liked you for a long time, but I only realized it this year.”

It’s cute you can tell how hard he’s trying to maintain eye contact and keep a straight face.

You break out into a grin, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“Hajime! You even said you didn’t want to say it a third time, but you did anyways!”

You hold him tight and he stutters a ‘Shut up!’ at you, the normal bite behind the retort is completely lost.

You pull back a bit to catch his eyes, and his lips turn down in that usual scowl. You laugh softly, the expression is severely displaced in juxtaposition to his now brightly colored cheeks.

You stand at the edge of your toes and pull him close, lips catching his. The sound of his shock from the abrupt, bold action is muffled.

Hajime quickly leans into it, his wide eyes slip shut as he moves his hands to caress your neck.

Your lips part from his so you can peak through your lashes to see the expression on his face. You’re only briefly able to admire Hajime’s handsome features and rosy colored cheeks, before he chases the kiss to reconnect your lips.

It’s more than you ever imagined, and you’ve definitely imagined what it would be like to kiss Hajime multiple times.

His hands are steady, thumb delicately brushing your jawline, he’s leaned close to match your height, and he kisses so intensely, showing a rare sweetness that Hajime can only reserve for someone he trusts.

Before it can escalate any further while you’re both on the Oikawa doorstep with the Iwaizumi household next door, you separate with a content smile.

You’re eyes are practically glittering, arms still rested around his shoulders. His impassioned gaze stares intently at your every feature,

“You’re so perfect, how did I get so lucky?”

And you’re almost drawn into another kiss but—

“Are you two gonna block the doorway all day? We have school you know.”

Tooru decides to make his entrance then, and he would’ve wacked you with the door if Hajime hadn’t been quick to pull you closer.

“What are you gonna do? Beat me up?”

He gives a knowing look to Tooru, a shitty grin crossing Hajime’s features.

“...if it were any other guy, I probably would. But I’m glad she chose you.”

Tooru steps around the two of you with a soft smile, leading the way to school.

Hajime stutters, and let’s out a huff at Tooru’s unusual display of sincerity.

“That brat is trying to act like the better man. He sure changed his mind overnight...”

Hajime stalls for a moment, before deciding to slip his arm from around you and his hand into yours, threading your fingers together.

“Tooru will be Tooru.”

You shrug, enjoying the feeling of his larger hand laced with yours.

“You mean Oikawas will be Oikawas. You’re both brats with bad personalities.”

He snorts, walking forward and gently pulling you along.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

You retort, and Tooru, embarrassingly enough, happened to say the same thing in perfect unison.

Hajime laughs loudly at that, and despite the tease you find yourself laughing with him.

Leaning into his shoulder, the constant smile is starting to make your cheeks sore, but you find yourself looking forward to feeling it more often now that you’re with Hajime.

Bonus:

Hanamaki and Matsukawa stand before you the second you enter the gymnasium.

“Wha—?”

“Oikawa-chan. We’re very sorry we read your letter,”

Hanamaki starts and Matsukawa continues,

“It was wrong of us to do, and we feel really guilty about it,”

They simultaneously produce letters from their pockets,

“Please accept our apology.”

They say in unison, and you can’t help but let a laugh burst from your lips. You’re bent over and clutching your stomach, nearly in stitches when you see their deadly serious expressions.

“Did you guys practice this?!”

You snort, this must be what Tooru meant when he said these two tall bastards had a surprise for you.

You accept the letters nonetheless.

“I’m guessing this is Tooru’s doing.”

You carefully open the letters, pulling Matsukawa’s first.

“Who else would it be?”

He grunts out.

“I see you two did your homework!”

Tooru calls from the door, entering the gym alongside Hajime.

“They really did it, huh.”

Hajime slings his arm around your shoulder, and you feel warm at the comfortable gesture.

“We’re men of our word, of course we did.”

Matsukawa shifts on his other foot, resting his hand on his hip.

“Right, of course. You don’t mind if I read this out loud then, do you Mattsun?”

You’re eyes glint with mischief and Tooru cheers excitedly, Hajime muffles a laugh beside you.

“Actually, I do mind—“

“That’s weird I’m already reading it out loud DEAR OIKAWA-CHAN,”

Matsukawa rolls his eyes, the irony cuts deep here.

“What is this, a love letter?”

Tooru jabs and Hajime immediately sends Matsukawa a sour look,

“She’s taken.”

You almost stutter reading aloud the apology when Hajime’s grip tightens around you.

“So this is karma.”

Matsukawa mutters with a light blush of embarrassment, feeling thankful he kept his letter concise so he didn’t have to sit through much more of that.

“Ahh, you don’t have to read mine right now. Practice is starting soon. Look, Kunimi and Kindaichi are ready to start!”

Hanamaki thinks he’s being sneaky, dragging his underclassmen into the matter, but he honestly just made this so much worse for himself.

“I’ll wait.”

Kunimi gives a bored expression, face tucked into his track jacket lapels. Kindaichi just stutters his agreement beside him.

Hanamaki sends him a look that probably translates to something like ‘you little bastard I’m gonna make you work so hard this practice’.

“Well go on dear sister, I wanna see what Makki came up with.”

Tooru wraps an arm around Hanamaki, who’s feeling very tempted to throw Tooru off of him for making him and Matsukawa go through this mockery.

“I’m invested now.”

Hajime voice sounds close to your ear as he leans close, you glance up and smile softly to see him peer over your shoulder at the letter.

“It’s genius, really. I put my heart and soul into it.”

Hanamaki tries to brush it off, but you bark out a laugh immediately after.

“Hey, don’t laugh at my heartfelt apology!”

Hanamaki complains, but you can’t stop the laughter erupting from you.

“Yeah, don’t laugh at his heartfelt apology.”

Matsukawa aids, already having been on the receiving end of the jests.

“I’m sorry Makki but... you forgot to sign it!”

You point at the letter, and Hanamaki stutters as he reaches to give it a once over. Matsukawa just rubs his forehead at the irony doubling.

“Tsk, Makki, Makki, rookie mistake.”

Tooru pats his back comfortingly, but it feels more like he’s mocking him than anything. Which he definitely is.

“How could I have known it was from you?”

You stick your tongue out at him teasingly.

“You didn’t sign yours, you know.”

Hajime pokes your cheek and you flush. The absolute betrayal, from your new boyfriend no less.

“Hajimeeee, I know! But we’re supposed to be making fun of them, not me! I was humiliated enough last night! They need to feel it too!”

You point accusingly at the two in question, and they raise a brow at your display of contempt.

“Not everything has to be turned into some revenge plot, Oikawa twins.”

Hajime pinches your cheeks and glares at Tooru for good measure.

“He’s right, you know.”

Matsukawa points out, feeling especially inclined to agree considering him and Hanamaki were at the butt end of the counter humiliation scheme.

“The audacity—“

Tooru starts, and you chime in,

“The nerve, my own boyfriend!”

“My best friend!”

“You should be encouraging me.”

“You should be encouraging her, but also me—“

“Enough already, you brats!”

Hajime smacks Tooru in the gut, before gently tapping you on the head with his knuckles.

“Iwa-chan, that’s blatant favoritism!”

Tooru coughs out, clutching his side.

“Get used to it.”

He grunts out, and despite being reprimanded by Hajime, you gently touch the spot on your head he tapped with a soft smile.

You preen at the soft way he scolds you. The warmth of his arm wrapped around you, his gentle looks of content to you when he thinks no one is looking, it sends the butterflies in your stomach crazy.

It’s all for you, and it’s hard to believe that Hajime is finally your boyfriend now—

“THIRD YEARS, STOP LOITERING AND GET PRACTICING!”

A/N:

Tada! 🎉 my first official fic!

Hope you enjoyed! If you could tell, I love drama. And humor. My asks are open, so shoot me a message! ▼・ᴥ・▼

[Masterlist]

[world-of-aus]

Behind the Screen - (Part 8)

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 3,653

Warnings: angst, misunderstandings, fluff, all the love.

Author’s Note: updates for BTS will be moved to Tuesday’s & Thursdays, and updates for FM will be on Wednesdays and Fridays! This will give me time to work on the chapters, and my course work for my masters over the weekend & Monday. If you would like to be added to either series tag-list you can send me an ask and you’ll be added. Also i saw this on a blog and felt the need to bring it up, if at any point for whatever reason you would like to be removed from the any of the tag-list at any point you can always message me privately to let me know, in no way will it offend or hurt me, i understand that there may be things that i put out that you the reader may not like or be interested in any longer. Anyways i hope you enjoy this chapter, this has been a longtime coming, thank you for reading, liking, and reblogging you all warm my heart immensely! - xoxoxo

Part 7 / SERIES MASTERLIST

“So what are the terms of this new agreement?” You questioned your head resting comfortably against Bucky’s chest.

“I wouldn’t even call it an agreement per say, I don’t like how it sits on the tongue, I'd say it's more of us helping each other out?” he murmured fingers running aimlessly in circles on your bare back.

You perked your head up, eyes catching his, “okay so we’re helping each other out,” you chuckled, “but tell me again how it is I'll be helping you out?”

“like I've said many time already, there’s things I read that I'm curious about, and well I want to try, and who better to do it than with you,” he shrugged.

You gnawed on your lower lip as you thought it over, you still felt you were treading in dangerous waters with your feelings on the line, “i dunno Buck, why not try these things with a stranger, you know whole no strings attached, hit it and quit it, one night stand type of deal,”

Bucky chuckled low in his throat, his chest vibrating underneath you, “are you saying your iffy to do this with me because you’ll catch feelings?” he questioned an underlying teasing tone peeking through.

You cocked your head to the side staring at him confused, it took you a second to realize what you had said, “no, absolutely not what I'm saying,” you murmured unsubtly.

Bucky was grinning as he sat up slightly, sliding you under his body, “awe come on doll, who better to do these things with than with you, you’ve been having a good time haven't you?” he smirked.

You rolled your eyes a small smile pulling at your lips, “Buck YOU’RE INSURFFERABLE,” you grunted under the weight of his body.

“you’re not denying the catching feelings doll,” he grinned cheekily, “have you caught feelings for little ol’ me?”  

Your mouth dropped open and then closed, you were stumped, how could you reply without it coming out like a total lie, the longer you stayed quiet though the more that grin pulled at the corners of Bucky’s lips. Bucky’s heart was beating away wildly in his chest, the rhythm matching yours, and you prayed he couldn’t feel it like you were feeling his. Truly he didn’t mean to put you on the spot, but he couldn’t help himself when he heard those words spill from your mouth, he wanted to know.

Though the longer you remained quiet beneath him he couldn’t contain that little part in his mind that was telling him otherwise, making him feel a fool for even insinuating you felt the same.

He kept his grin intact though not wanting you to see through him, his hand played with your hair, fingers running over your cheek, “m’just teasin sweetheart, I know you couldn’t possibly catch feelings for a grumpy old man,” he teased nudging your cheek with his fingers.

Your heart clenched in your chest, you wanted to tell him, but your heart was acting on your thoughts instead of your feelings. Your hands found their way onto his cheeks keeping him in place, “Buck I-”

“Y/n, you up??” Natashas voice sounded hurriedly behind your closed bedroom door.

Bucky eyes went wide, a muttered shit falling from his lips, “Y/n!” she called a little louder, her knocks getting louder too.

Bucky slid off you then both of you getting frantic, “y/n i’m coming in,” The two of you froze at her words, “buck hide,” you hissed. Your heart was beating wildly in your chest as the door started squeaking open, you stood from your bed pushing bucky onto the floor on the side of your nightstand, grabbing your comforter to cover your naked form.

Your door pushed open the rest of the way, Natasha taking in your disheveled form, “did you just wake up?” she questioned with a raised brow.

Fuck she was analyzing you, “obviously,” you murmured looked at your nightstand, “tasha it’s four in the morning what is this about?” you murmured pushing out a yawn.

“do you always sleep naked?” she questioned an all-knowing grin pulling at her lips.

Son of a bitch, you thought, she's onto you.

You rolled your eyes, “I was tired Nat, and very frankly I didn’t feel like changing post shower, so I just fell asleep, now can you tell me what this is about?”

“Was it really that you were tired or did you have a gentleman caller in your room last night?” she questioned a gleam in her eye.

“Natasha!” you screeched, “there was no gentleman caller!”

“Хорошо, тогда держи свои секреты, Был�� бы стыдно, если бы Барнс узнал, о, он был бы опустошен” (alright then, keep your secrets, would be a shame if Barnes were to find out, oh he would be devestated)

“Natasha” you ground out, your eyes turning to slits, “will you tell me why you’re beckoning me from my room?”

“we’re all needed for a retrieval, we assumed you were with Barnes since he wasn’t in his room, but” she grinned that damn twinkle in her eye, “ it seems he must be elsewhere since he’s not in here with you  like usual, anyway get dressed and meet us in 15”

You were about to let your guard down when Natasha turned back around stopping just outside your door, “ты должен сказать ему” (you should tell him)

You cocked your head at her, her words completely flying over your head, she shook her head before she continued on her way.

Once the door was shut again you turned to look at Bucky who was now standing, his face was unreadable, “she knows,” is all he murmured.

Your heart stilled in your chest, his voice sounded so distraught at the fact that someone knew about you, had natasha said something, was the last thing she uttered something about you?  

“Buck-” you tried, he held up his hand, “we should get ready I'll meet you down at the hanger he murmured.”

You couldn’t help the feeling of rejection that washed over you, maybe the two of you just weren’t meant to do this. This whole thing should have never occured in the first place, and it was plain as day to see that this thing between the two of you just wasnt going to work. Bucky always closed you out the second the two of you almost got caught, he didn’t want you like you wanted him. The more you stewed in your own mind the worse the thoughts got, you were even beginning to feel the slightest bit used, you should have never agreed to this.

You wouldn’t look at him, not even sparing him a glance when Steve had announced him as your partner to retrieve the intel. He knew he messed up but truth was he didn’t want to do this anymore, he didn’t want to have to do this secretly, he didn’t want to have to use an excuse to be with you. While yes he wanted to try all these new things he had read and never heard of before with you, he didn’t want to feel like he was using it as a crutch when all he really wanted was to be with you.

“you and y/n alright?” Bucky turned his head to see Steve standing there a questioning look on his features.  

“what are you on about punk, why wouldn’t we be?

“I don’t know buck maybe it’s the fact that she isn’t acting like herself one bit, y’all get into a fight or something?”

Bucky’s brow creased, “we’re fine Steve, she’s fine” he murmured looking over at you.

Steve huffed out a laugh, “Bucky she’s not fine, the two of you are not fine, if you were you’d be sitting right next to her huddled in close like you always do right before we go in,”

“let it go man, we’re fine,”

Steve chuckled, “you know for being someone so close to y/n the way you are, you’re really clueless bud.”

Bucky’s brows furrowed further, “I do know her, what are you trying to get at steve” he muttered.

Steve chuckled again shaking his head, “ so then when are you going to tell her?” he questioned, “or are you two just going to keep sneaking around, you really think she’s deserves just that from you?”

Bucky head snapped over to Steve, “what are you talking about?” he questioned trying to play off the words that had just fallen from his friends lips.

“I know Buck, and given how you feel about her, and how I'm sure she feels about you, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together, hell the only one who hasn’t clued in yet is Sam,”

“It’s not like that Steve,” he sighed he knew Steve and knew how stubborn he could be, “it’s”

“it’s what Buck, you’ve had feelings for her for months now, and it’s obvious you care for her in more than just a friendly way, you’re with her more than us most days”

“Leave it alone already” he hissed, “we’re not a thing, why can’t you just leave well enough alone, why do you have to push things that just aren’t there,” he questioned through gritted teeth “so we mess around, doesn’t mean there's something there, maybe that’s all that this is”

Steve sighed, “and if she wants more, then what Buck?”

“she doesn’t” he murmured thinking back to the moment you two had in your room, “she doesn’t want me in the way that I want her,"

Steve placed his hand on Bucky’s shoulder giving him a comforting squeeze, “maybe you just haven't given her the chance to tell you,”

Bucky nodded his head slowly letting Steve’s words sink in, and the more he thought them over the more he thought maybe he was right. How would Bucky get you to talk to him though, he had messed up yet again, and he had a feeling getting you to hear him out this time wouldn’t be as easy, and he was right, because while to them it seemed you were off in your own mind with your earbuds placed tightly in your ear, you had heard everything he had had to say to Steve, well almost everything.

“Talk to her Buck," Steve advised him after sometime.

Bucky could only nod as his eyes returned to your slumped over form, before they were returning to see Steve’s retreating back heading to the front of the plane.

“Alright team, games faces,” Steve called out, “we’re going in”

To say you were upset would be an understatement to the storm of emotions rolling through you. You hadn’t been in the right headspace when you were thrown into the mission, and you had been reckless. The anger, sadness, and rejection that flowed within had blindsided you. Both you and Bucky could have been badly hurt had Steve not rushed in when Bucky gave the call for backup. You had still been able to retrieve what had been asked of you, but not without the consequences that had come with you being so reckless.

The ride home had been tense, everyone had chosen a corner to unwind in, Natasha sitting close by as she wrapped your ankle.

“what happened back there y/n?”  

You leaned your head back against the cushioned seat, your teeth grinding at the pain surging through your leg, “what didn’t happen” you grunted, “I messed up Nat, I should have had Steve pair me with someone else, this whole mission was fucked the minute we stepped off the jet.

Natasha tsked, her eyes searching yours, “you always work so well with Barnes, what was so different about this time around?”  

You wanted to just tell her what the real problem was, but it was obvious Bucky didn’t want anyone to know about the two of you, and you felt like a damn fool for thinking there would have been anything more between the two of you.  

“was it what I told you in your room, is that what threw you off your game?”

You sighed shaking your head, “I just don’t want to talk about it Nat, I messed up today and I should have been better about it.”

Natasha's hand left your leg momentarily to give your hand a squeeze, “we all make mistakes, no one is going to hold this over you, you did your job, you completed your part of the assignment,” she reassured, “and if you ever want to talk about what happened, you can always come find me when you’re not locked away with Barnes.”

You looked over at her like a deer caught in headlights, “what?” you questioned.

She smiled then her voice dropping into a whisper, “I’ll pretend not to be appalled at the fact that you didn’t know I knew,”

“knew what?” you questioned brow raised.

Natasha rolled her eyes her hand reaching down to pinch at your side, “you wound me y/n,” she chuckled lowly.

A shaky sigh left your lips, “guess we weren’t as secretive as we thought,” you murmured.

“honestly hadn’t we known about your feelings for one another we wouldn’t have caught on,”

You scoffed, “those feelings are one sided, I can assure you nat,”

Her brows furrowed, “what do you mean one sided y/n Bu-”

“Buckle up guys if you aren't already, we’re descending,” Steve voiced out from the front abruptly cutting off yours and Natasha’s conversation.

You were being surrounded once the carrier had touched down in the quarters, “I’m postponing the briefing till later on this evening,” Steve murmured from his spot.

“going for your morning jog?” you questioned looking down at your watch on your wrist, the watchful eyes of your teammates making you uncomfortable.

Steve chuckled, “not today, think we all deserve to sleep in, and you,” he aimed a finger at you, “you need to go get that thing, wrapped, iced, and lay off it,”

“anything else cap?” you questioned.

“Buck’s going to accompany you down to medbay and then he’ll take you up to your room,” he added.

You cocked your head to your side, was this your punishment?

“Steve this is nothing,” you spoke up gesturing to your likely sprained ankle, “i’ve had worse and never needed to be escorted before,”

Steve sighed, “well those other times you weren't reckless, don’t want you going against what is advised and hurting yourself further,”

Ouch, low blow.

You raised your hands in surrender, not wanting to argue, because then you definitely wouldn’t hear the end of it.

You watched the team unload from the hangar, Bucky moving to your side as you unfastened your seatbelt his hand at the ready.

“You know you don’t have to do this, I can get myself to medbay,” you murmured looking up at him.

He looked down at you, eyes stormy, jaw clenched, “you’re really going to go against orders again, do you want to get yourself hurt again?”

Your brows furrowed at his tone, he really had some nerve, “look Barnes,” you hissed pushing yourself to your feet, “you don’t have to pretend like you care right now, I can get myself to medbay and to my room just fine,”

Not wanting to be in his presence a second longer you moved past him you shoulder knocking into his as you limped down the ramp.

“y/n,” he called out, but you were determined to get away from him, the events of the day rising to the surface once more.

“y/n goddamnit would you just hold on,” he grunted as he followed after you his arm wrapping around your bicep as he pulled you back.

Your turned on him as you pulled your arm from his grip, “leave me alone Bucky,” you glared.

“What’s your problem?” he growled.

“My problem?” you questioned angrily, “my problem is you!”

He took a step at your ourburst, “what?”

You scoffed shaking your head, “i said you’re my problem, this,” you said waving your hands between the both of you, “I can’t do this anymore, I’m done,”

His face fell for a split second, “what are you talking about?”

You threw your hands in the air, “do I have to spell it out for you?” you hissed, “what aren’t you understanding?” you questioned, “I’m not doing this stupid agreement with you anymore,” you added not letting him get a word in, “I’m not going to be someone you just mess around with,”

“I thought you were okay with it,” he grunted out.

“and I was, but Bucky, “your words fell short, you wanted to scream them, but you weren't sure how much more pain you could take.

“But what?” he urged, he wanted you to say it, he wanted Steve’s words to ring true.

Your shook your head, “I don’t want to be that person you just mess with, I care about you Buck, and I thought I could do this with you, but it’s been all wrong from the beginning,” a sigh left your lips, “you agreed to do this with me for all the wrong reason’s and I thought I could do it because - I just – I don’t want to do this anymore, I just want my best friend back, I don’t like the way this has made me feel, when we almost get caught, I hate that wall you bring up because of it, I'm sorry but I just can’t,” you murmured.

Bucky’s heart was clenching in his chest, Steve words from earlier ringing in his ears, he saw you turning away from him, your feet moving to carry you to the door, but he just couldn’t let you go, not without knowing.  

“Y/n wait,” you turned to face him features forlorn, he pushes himself forward on unsure feet.

Bucky licks his lips, his eyes searching your face, god he thinks no one has ever made him feel the things he does when he’s with you. No one is quiet as beautiful as you, nobody compares to you, and that’s why he wants you. He’s wanted you for so long now, and you’re here in arms reach.

“I don’t want to do this either,” he starts but its only then that he realized he should have thought over his words, when your face morphed from one of sadness to anger.

“Jesus buck, is that what you wanted to say, I think I heard enough of it earlier when you told Steve that we were just messing around, that that’s all this was, all this would ever be,” you hissed smacking away the hand that reached out for you.

Bucky’s mouth dropped open, so you had heard, but why were you so upset, “what else did you hear?” he questioned cautiously.

“nothing,” you grunted, “I didn’t need to hear more,” you muttered.

Bucky felt relief wash over him, a chuckle bubbling deep within his chest, his hands reached out for you once more, only for you to smack him away the anger and rejection building through your chest again.

“leave me alone Bucky,” you hissed smack his arms away, “i said leave me alone!”

He didn’t listen though he was a man on a mission, “sweetheart stop,” he grunted, trying to contain your swinging arms, “y/n would you just stop,”

“No buck, seriously let me go,” you grunted squirming in his arms, trying to contain those tears threatening to spill over.

“no not until you hear me out,” he muttered

“i think I've heard enough!”

He let you go but his hands caught your face holding you still, “you didn’t, you didn’t hear enough,”

You scoffed a laugh, “really Barnes, you didn't think I heard enough, what more did you want me to hear?!”

His face softened, “had you heard just a little longer you would have heard me to tell Steve that you,” he whispered thumb running over your cheek, “you couldn’t possibly want me in the way that I wanted you.”

Your frozen, his words bouncing around in your head, you couldn’t have heard right, he didn’t just say what you thought he did.

“sweetheart I can’t do this either because I can’t keep lying to myself, to you,” he continued, “i can’t keep doing this when I want so much more than just this stupid agreement, I want more than just what it entails, I want you, I want all of you.

You couldn’t breathe, he had just said everything you had wanted to hear, and you couldn’t bring yourself to believe it.

“Buck” you murmur, “you don’t know what you’re saying,”

A chuckle is falling from his lips, “doll, I promise you, I want you, and not just for some agreement I put together because I couldn’t fess up how I felt for you, because I'm doing that now, and im sorry it took me so long,”

“Buck-”

He’s shushing you with a finger to your lips, his thumb trailing you bottom lip, “just answer me this one thing sweetheart, and I promise I'll let you go,”

Your silence is enough answer for him to continue, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips, “did you catch feelings for little ol’ me, and don’t worry if you did, I promise they’re not one sided.”

Your heart is beating wildly in your chest, you had thought he wouldn’t want anyone to know, that to him you were just a secret pass time, like he was yours in a way.

You couldn’t find the words, but you hoped your actions would show him, pressing onto your toes your lips pressed to his passionately, your lips molding with his until your lungs burned in your chest and you both had to pull away for air.

A relieved chuckle is falling from his lips, his head pressing against your’s

“is that answer enough?” you murmured pressing your lips to his once more.

Part 9

Behind The Screen Tag-list: @ladifreakingda @georgialeighc13 @racewife2004 @multy-fandom-lover​ @otvlanga​ @sailorstupidsblog​ @n1ghtsh4d3-67​ @wantingtobekorra​ @gazzan-a​ @clarinette07​ @amanda-the-fangirl​ @im-sure-its-fine​ @sagechanoafterdark​ @heyywestman @runaway-escape​ @ilovesupersoldiers​  @unlistedpond​ @rayofdawnworld​ @badassbaker​ @spookyanairwin​ @fandom-basurero​ @krabby-tentacles​ @sassy-pelican​ @lizlepuffs​ @jaywolf840​ @xoasalxo​

[jooniperhun]

The End of the Rainbow | ot7 (1)

pairing: tall!black!reader x bts, poc!reader x bts, woc!reader x bts, black!reader x bts

genre: fluff, strangers to friends to (maybe) lovers [later], romance [later], comedy, misunderstandings [later], (slight) angst [later], smut (maybe??) [later], idol!au

rating: PG-14

wc: 2.3k

warnings: swearing

notes: the boys won’t make an appearance until chapter 2 but there is some foreshadowing in there (hint hint); pretend that corona never happened; most of the geographical locations/distances will either be made up or not named because I’ve never been to Korea lol whoops; this reads more like a reader-insert sorry that’s my default writing setting; and the boys’ backstories and such won’t be all that accurate because I’m the author and I say so teehee :)

“Text like this is spoken in Korean.”

“Text like this is spoken in English.”

summary: Your current job as a travelling housesitter has taken you to many places, some strange and many wonderful. When the acquisition of a new client takes you to Korea for three months, you wonder if your self-esteem can survive being around so many other-worldly looking people. Also, not to be paranoid or anything, but maybeperhaps you’re being stalked by the same seven strangers? They’re pretty loud and always surrounded by a tonne of people, so you write it off the first few times.

But this shit is getting excessive, chile. And annoying…

Rhetorical question, but what lies at the end of a rainbow? You hope that it’s a pot of gold, but with the way that your luck has soured, it might just be seven short(er than you), rowdy leprechauns ready to flip your world sideways…

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

Usually, when it came to social outings, ___ would go out of her way to make sure that she looked her best. Her wild mane would be tamed, her makeup would be carefully, painstakingly applied, and her clothes wouldn’t hold a single wrinkle. This, however, isn’t ‘usually’— this is an airport, and ___ currently couldn’t find it within herself to give a single, flying fuck about her appearance after the flight that she had just had. 

That isn’t to say that it was terrible— she was flying first class, for Christ’s sake! Not to mention that she didn’t have to spend a single dime on it (excluding the multiple new outfits and lashes that she purchased for herself because if she was anything, it was slightly vain). But a roughly 18 hour flight, combined with slight motion sickness? It doesn’t matter how comfortably she had dressed, or how attentive the flight attendants were, or how delicious the food was— ___ walked off of the landing strip probably looking exactly as she felt (read: terrible). 

Luckily, the good thing about airports was that she wasn’t the only one. No one paid her any mind, too worried about themselves and finding their respective luggages and families to be giving some rando more than a passing glance. 

She was officially in Seoul, South Korea, and she couldn’t read a damn thing.

Okay— slight exaggeration. Most of the signs had English (and Spanish, and Chinese, and Japanese) translations beneath the larger blocks of Korean, but her damn near-blind ass missed that the first time around. 

The airport looked as airports tended to look— large, modern, and clean. There was a beautiful netting of glass in the ceiling that let gentle rays of sunlight in. The walls were similarly comprised of the netting design and slanted outwards, away from all of the passengers. Statues and abstract constructions divided the masses. People from all walks of life milled around, looking for their luggage or anxiously waiting for their plane to arrive.

Incheon International Airport, Terminal One, Flight DL27. ___ reminded herself over and over of the number of where she would go for Baggage Claim, scanning the area and mumbling slightly to herself. She adjusted her dark shades and hefted her purse (her only carry-on) higher onto her shoulders, following the crush of fellow passengers into the depths of the fragile looking place. 

There were a lot of people walking around with black facemasks and shades on, so she was glad that she wasn’t the only shady-looking sista walking around. Inwardly snorting at her own pun, ___ nearly walked past her destination. 

It was honestly this part of each trip that gave her the most anxiety— that is, waiting for her suitcase to come around on the conveyor belt.

She had heard and read multiple horror stories about too many passengers never recovering their luggage. Either stolen, lost, or dropped from the airplane itself— if it could go wrong, it went wrong. But it’s not like hers’ is particularly interesting to look at. It was a simple, standard black. Only a red, knotted ribbon tied around the handle marked it as her own.

Ten minutes of fretful bag checking later, ___ finally found it. She gave a silent sigh of relief and turned towards the exit. Then, her anxiety flared right back up when she realized that she would have to hail a taxi to get to her destination. 

Honestly, her people-meter was getting a little bit too full for her to actually be initiating direct human interaction right now. 

But she would persevere! Even if her persistence could use a bit of work, she’s faked confidence enough times to make it. 

Getting a taxi to stop for her was like pulling teeth. By the time that she had stuffed her menial baggage into the trunk and clambered into the front seat, her temper had risen a few notches. She’s had a long two days. The flight wasn’t kind on her stomach or her sleep schedule— not to mention the fact that she felt disgusting. A shower sounded so nice right now… She didn’t want to be on the streets any longer than she had to be, dammit!

Donning her ‘Customer Service’ voice (as she liked to call it), she politely rattled off her destination to the driver in Korean. He was on the younger side for the profession (at least, from what she’s seen), with neatly laid dark hair and slightly tanned skin. His dark eyes constantly shifted from the road to her when they were stopped for traffic, but he luckily seemed to sense her mood as he did not say anything more than the polite initial greeting. 

All in all, it was a 30 minute drive filled with determinedly unawkward silence. ___ sent a quick text to her employer to inform them that she would be at the house in a bit, then sent another to her mother to let her know that she touched down safely. Almost immediately, her phone began to buzz.

Rolling her eyes, ___ answered. “Good morning to you too, Ma.” She said as her full lips tilted up in amusement. Upon hearing the English, the driver sent another glance in her direction.

“Hey, baby! It’s night time for us right now (we just got finished eating dinner). How was your flight?” Her mother’s voice gave a slightly tinny echo as she spoke, and the sound of shifting fabric clued ___ in to the fact that she, indeed, was probably on the toilet.

“Tiring. I forgot to buy Dramamine, so it was a fun time for me.” She switched hands with her phone so that she could look out of her window more comfortably. Little snatches of the city flashed by before they turned into a slightly more residential area. The houses here were large and gated, yet closely located. “How is everyone doing? No-one dead yet, right?”

Her mother snorted. “Yet is correct. Turns out, ya’ sister got herself a lil boyfriend—” ___ had to stifle her laugh before she gave herself away, “— and ya’ daddy wasn’t too happy when he found out. Her fast ass is sitting in her room right now, phone taken and everything. Woulda’ gotten an ass whoopin if we found anything triflin’ in it, but she’s clean.” Yeah, only because of her advice. No sending nudes back and forth, no secret folders dedicated to trifling shit, and no conversations going further than normal teen-girl gossip. Those were her three cardinal rules to sneaking around with a boy, and it seems that her little sister had done well to heed them.

“And the lil’ boy? Anyone we know?” ___ asked, playing along. If her parents found out she already knew about him, her ass would be grass, too. 

“Yes!” Ma exclaimed frustratedly. The driver jumped at the sudden loud sound in the otherwise silent car. “That nigga, Devin. Lives a block down from us? You know the one.” She gave the appropriate gasp at the news while rolling her eyes. Devin was a sweet boy who had a good future ahead of himself. There was no goddamn way she would waste her painstakingly gathered advice on someone who wasn’t good for her sister.

“Dam— I mean, wow. You think you know the people you live around...” She caught herself quickly before she cursed. Even halfway across the world, her fear of her ma’s wrath was still very, very healthy.

“I heard that, but I’ll let it slide this time.” Her mother’s tone was amused despite her previous outrage. 

“Anyways, as I was saying… I don’t see anything wrong with Devin. He was a nice boy, last time I talked to him.” From the cover of her shades, ___ watched the driver watch her from the corner of his eye. The car began to slow.

“Tell that to ya’ daddy. He—” Ma began to rant as ___ pulled the phone away from her ear. 

“How much do I owe you?” She asked quietly, hands dropping to rummage through her purse for her wallet as she cradled the phone between her ear and her shoulder. “—Alright, Ma. Imma have to call you back. We just pulled up to the house and I gotta get situated.”

Handing the driver the appropriate amount of Won, they both left the car to remove her luggage from his trunk. “Okay, sweetie. Love you! Call me again when you get settled in.” Her mother echoed as she mouthed a quick ‘Thank you,’ with a shallow bow.

“Gotcha. Love you, too! Bye.” She hung up and grabbed the handle of her suitcase, making it extend before dragging it behind her towards the house that they had stopped in front of.

She couldn’t really see anything past the high, brick walls and iron gate. Spotting an intercom, she quickly checked her reflection in her phone’s camera before she could press the button to call her employer.

Removing her silk head-scarf, she found that her high puff had held up reliably under it. She quickly stuffed it into her purse and pulled out her glasses case to place her shades in. Shoving that back in, too, she smoothed out her black jeans and checked for stains on her yellow top. It was only after assuring that her face was, indeed, clean that she rang the buzzer.

A red light blinked on before a voice answered. So there was a security camera for surveillance? Good. “Good morning! You must be ___, right?” Her voice was smooth and low, like velvet. It hinted towards an older age, especially when compared to the commonly high pitched tones of the youth.

“Yes, good morning.” ____ stepped back slightly to bow. The gate unlocked with a soft click, and she made her way up the driveway. She could only see one car at the moment, but from the size of the house— no, mansion—, she was sure that a lot more were probably in the garages (yes, plural).

The mansion was a modern white with a lot of windows to let in natural light. The lawn was cleanly cut and the rich, emerald grass shined with small droplets of morning dew. There was actually a surprising amount of yard space, which was ideal for pets and children. The only thing that she would be needing to worry about this trip was a dog and some plants, though.

Little solar-powered lights lined the walkway that ___ walked down. They looked nothing like the one-dollar versions from the Dollar Store, and definitely cost a lot more, too. She climbed a few stone steps to reach the porch. On either side of a dark-wooded door, two gold vases stood guard. They were almost as tall as her and intricately carved with little, delicate flowers. The welcome mat that she stood upon was a sensible dark brown and had a looping Welcome swirled across the front in white. 

She rang the doorbell and patiently waited.

A few moments passed before the door sprung open. The lady that answered was small and adorable in her old age. Her dark hair was sprinkled with white streaks, and her large, dark eyes were creased with laugh lines. The same lines were also wrinkled around her mouth, but they did not take away from the traditional beauty that she still held. Her cheeks were rounded and scattered with pink, and her skin was the color of milk. She was dressed in a fashionable black pantsuit and wore black pumps that boosted her height. 

“Good morning!” ___ bowed lowly with a sweet smile. Her eyes, large and slightly too round to truly be almond shaped, disappeared into crescents. With her face transformed so cutely by just a single smile, one would find it hard to believe that ___ had a mean, mean resting bitch face that, when combined with her not inconsiderable height, gave her a naturally intimidating demeanor.

Endeared, the woman bowed back. “Please, come in.” She invited, stepping aside and letting ___ and her suitcase drag in. 

***

She was still getting situated in the guest room when the door slowly creaked open.

Though she couldn’t see anything from where she was seated on the bed, the tell-tale pattern of claws clicking against the hardwood floor cued her in to who was entering— Mickey, a cute, little Shih-Tzu breed with floppy ears and a brown and white coloring. Despite the fact that he was male, Mickey had two tiny, powder-blue bows woven around his ears. His matching sweater creased slightly as he padded towards her.

“Hi, sweetie!” ___ cooed, reaching down to give him a gentle pat on the head, “Are you looking for some company now that Grandma isn’t in?” 

Mickey had been (surprisingly) very calm upon his introduction towards ___. He barely reacted (outside of a few weak wags of his fluffy tail) to her squealings of how cute he was. Perhaps it was behavior that he was used to.

He settled down onto the carpet next to her bed, the ideal spot for her to reach down and pet him if she wanted to. It was a good move on his part, because that was exactly what she wanted to do. 

___ was a huge dog lover— in fact, she just loved cute, fluffy animals in general. Cats, llamas, sheep— you name it. She tolerated reptiles, and if she had to handle insects, it was usually with gloves and a healthy bit of distance. 

The moral of the story is that she adored fur-babies, and until Mickey’s owner came to pick him up or his Grandma came back home, Mickey was her dog.

a/n: Thank you all for reading the first chapter! I really hope you liked it. The fun stuff starts next chapter, so please stay tuned! I have so much planned *evil laughter*

[nightqueendany]

Jonerys “Subtext”

Rather than answer your anons on my other blog, I thought I’d make this a meta and a teaching point.

And boy Anon, you really are a piece of work:

You also don't know what subtext means. Sub meaning underneath and text mean written word.  In this case since the medium is tv it's underneath the dialogue.  The hidden meaning.  What the characters are really thinking and really believe but not saying.  What their true motivations are. They often remain underneath until the author wants it to become known at which point it will become the text.  What you have presented is foreshadowing. And with the Dragon door reaching. How is that even text. Jon and Dany aren't parallels.  So those metas don't exist.   Those are wrong.  They are foils.  But you don't understand the meaning of that or don't want to so of course those metas don't exist.  Two pins on a costume lol.  Ok I'll give you that one.  Tho not a meta but an observation. "Ohhhh, and the BIGGEST piece of subtext this season: BRAN’S VOICE OVER “HE LOVED HER AND SHE LOVED HIM” OVER THE SHOTS OF JON AND DAENERYS. THAT’S SUBTEXT YOU WILLFULLY BLIND SHIPPER."  That's the text.  That's what's being said.  Bran was talking about R and L.  If you take that as a hint for Jonerys then that's foreshadowing.  Bran had no motivations behind that but to tell the audience the truth.  That's it. The thing about foreshadowing though is that they can misdirect.  False hints. "Dany’s supposed infertility was mentioned officially three times but she and Jon spoke about children (or it was mentioned to them) a total of five times in this one season. And then they had sex. That’s not scene analysis. That’s your “subtext” for you. Chekhov’s gun. If it’s mentioned, it must contribute to the story and is essential. If Dany were just going to remain infertile and never have a child, why mention it SO many times?" MENTION is text. This too is foreshadowing. "And again, that word: TOGETHER - a word that was REPEATED OVER AND OVER AGAIN throughout Season 7" Subtext is subtle and hidden it certainly wouldn't be repeated over and over again lol. "Now, if Political!Jon were true, at the very least, Jon’s pre-boatsex attire would include the Stark gorget as he’s known to wear because it would COMMUNICATE to the audience that he’s still a Stark, he hasn’t forgotten his family and the North... " Pol!Jon is part of the subtext. What Jon is really thinking.  What his true motivations are. What is being HIDDEN from the audience. If you believe in what you see is really what's happening then there is no subtext for you.  You don't believe it. 

First off anon, I have to say thank you for this because it so perfectly demonstrates (1) your own entitlement. It’s quite funny to observe (2) your growing paranoia that Jonsa actually isn’t happening so to create an outlet for your fear and frustration, you’ve been spamming the inboxes of Jonerys/Daenerys stans (3) the absolute and complete bias of Jonsas and your tendencies to twist words attempting to make it so you’re always right and anyone who opposes you is always wrong (4) your utter misunderstanding of literary devices and trying to use your misunderstandings as if that’s proof that you’re right.

It’s really a laugh. Thank you for showing your side of the fandom’s weaknesses and highlighting them for all to see.

And thankfully, I have the receipts babe.

You also don't know what subtext means. Sub meaning underneath and text mean written word.  In this case since the medium is tv it's underneath the dialogue.  The hidden meaning.  What the characters are really thinking and really believe but not saying.  What their true motivations are. They often remain underneath until the author wants it to become known at which point it will become the text.

1) How can you sit there and pretend to know what a character on screen is thinking? If we’re basing everything off “character thoughts” then none of us would have any evidence at all because on a television show with no internal monologues, we aren’t privy to a character’s thoughts.

2) Don’t argue literary devices with someone who studies both English and Film. This is not a fight you will win. As it happens, I DO know what subtext is, but you seem to be having quite a difficult time with the meaning so I’ll explain:

The subtext is the unspoken or less obvious meaning or message in a literary composition, drama, speech, or conversation. The subtext comes to be known by the reader or audience over time, as it is not immediately or purposefully revealed by the story itself. - Literaryterms.net

There can be subtext of 1) an entire story 2) a passage or scene or 3) a single line. Also, you seem to be operating under the impression that “subtext” in film/television can only be through dialogue. This is not true.

For example, the entire subtext of the novel Animal Farm is firmly anti-communism, criticizing the rise of communism in Russia. Likewise, the subtext of the film Avatar (James Cameron) is a criticism of the genocide of Native Americans by the Europeans.

But do either of those “texts” ever mention communism or Native Americans?? No. Because it’s subtext.

What you have presented is foreshadowing. And with the Dragon door reaching. How is that even text.

*Sigh* (again, “subtext” does not have to mean “text” as in dialogue. See above examples of subtext as non-dialogue).

Foreshadowing drives subtext and they work together, oftentimes with Foreshadowing cluing the reader/viewer in on what the Subtext actually is. And both can work either with dialogue/text, or without. Especially in film/television. In film/television, we’re not limited to only words on a page (or words spoken by the characters). Things such as costumes, music, even the way certain scenes are shot can contribute to foreshadowing and subtext. 

For instance, we hear creepy music. This foreshadows something bad will happen. The subtext is danger.

The Rains of Castamere is an excellent example throughout Season 3 of GOT because by the time we get to the Red Wedding in Episode 9 and we hear that iconic song, we know something terrible will happen. Subtext and Foreshadowing working together in a non-dialogue way.

By the way, you asked for “endgame” metas:

You were looking for metas that pointed to Jon and Daenerys ending up together. And you seem to have confused “Subtext” with “Foreshadowing” because “Subtext” does not point to “endgames”. “Foreshadowing” gives the audience clues as to what will happen in the future. “Subtext” does not. “Subtext” only shows the audience hidden or less obvious meanings of things. And again, the two often work together.

So please decide which you are looking for, subtext or foreshadowing, and stop bitching when you don’t get what you want because you didn’t know the right word.

And BTW, how is my “dragon door” example “reaching?” We get a very clear and purposeful shot of Jon being the one to close the door and of the Targaryen sigil being on the outside of it, with two known Targaryens inside. So far as “endgame”, I already told you what that points to (foreshadowing) - and that’s the continuation of House Targaryen through Jon and Dany and Jon embracing his Targaryen heritage. The “subtext” is, again, together. That’s the meaning behind it. Jon and Dany are united under one symbol, one House, one cause, and one love.

Just because you don’t want that to be the meaning of that shot, doesn’t mean it’s not.

Jon and Dany aren't parallels.  So those metas don't exist.   Those are wrong. They are foils.  But you don't understand the meaning of that or don't want to so of course those metas don't exist.

Did. You. Not. Click. On. The. Link. From. The. Other. Ask??

Parallel characters, also known as “Mirror” characters, function in a similar way to “Foils” in that they are used to highlight qualities of the characters and aspects of their journey. Mirror characters: embark on parallel plots, sometimes to achieve a single goal, which tests them and highlights their traits in different ways.

Jon and Dany have had parallel plots from the very beginning. Again, it’s in THIS link so I’m not going to detail every single reason why their plots are parallel to each other. If you are blatanly ignoring those parallels, I have nothing to say to you.

Also, you seem to be confusing “Foil” with “Antagonists” and as I talked about HERE, that isn’t always the case. You can have Foil characters who are very similar save one key difference and they don’t always have to be antagonists to each other (like my Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom example). And as I pointed out HERE, Dany is not Jon’s Antagonist. She is an equal Protagonist to him.

And going back to “Foils” vs “Mirror” - the reason Jon and Dany aren’t considered “foils” is because Jon isn’t the only protagonist. Dany is one as well. The story is about both their journeys, not just Jon’s with Dany’s story serving to highlight aspects of his story. She’s a major POV character. It’s HER story too. They are mirrors.  

Two pins on a costume lol.  Ok I'll give you that one.  Tho not a meta but an observation. "Ohhhh, and the BIGGEST piece of subtext this season: BRAN’S VOICE OVER “HE LOVED HER AND SHE LOVED HIM” OVER THE SHOTS OF JON AND DAENERYS. THAT’S SUBTEXT YOU WILLFULLY BLIND SHIPPER."  That's the text.  That's what's being said.  Bran was talking about R and L.  If you take that as a hint for Jonerys then that's foreshadowing.  Bran had no motivations behind that but to tell the audience the truth.  That's it. The thing about foreshadowing though is that they can misdirect.  False hints.

Oh my, there is so much wrong here, it’s genuinely mind boggling.

Again, Foreshadowing gives the audience hints of the FUTURE. Jon and Dany’s love for each other isn’t something that will happen in the FUTURE. It’s happening NOW.

“That’s the text.” - YES. That’s the text. “He loved her and she loved him.” The TEXT is that Bran is referring to Lyanna and Rhaegar because that is who he is watching in his vision. He’s not having a vision of Jon and Dany on the boat together. So the TEXT is directly referring to Lyanna and Rhaegar.

HOWEVER, you asked for “subtext”. Again, “Subtext” shows “hidden meaning”. The hidden meaning isn’t that Lyanna and Rhaegar were in love. That’s not hidden at all. It’s right out in the open.

The “Subtext” comes in when Bran’s words about Rhaegar and Lyanna are voiced OVER the shots of Jon and Daenerys. Why sync that voiceover with footage of two people it supposedly doesn’t refer to? Because that’s the underlying meaning of the scene. That was a very specific choice by the writers (it’s in the scripts written that way) to have those words over Jon and Dany. It’s communicating a different meaning to the audience that way. If those words were said over footage of Lyanna and Rhaegar, there would be no hidden meaning. They would mean just what was said. Lyanna and Rhaegar loved each other. But putting them over footage of other characters creates a second meaning to them to include Jon and Dany.

“The thing about foreshadowing though is that they can misdirect.  False hints.”

Seriously? If that’s the hill you want to die on, be my guest. It’s an ‘I say, you say’ argument and that gets people nowhere. You won’t have any “proof” that they were false hints until the season airs I’m afraid. Until then, nothing is for sure so you can’t just say “false hints” and make it proof. That’s not proof. That’s a claim. And you need evidence to back up a claim which you don’t yet have.

“MENTION is text. This too is foreshadowing.”

Yes, mention is the text. The text says Dany is infertile. The subtext is that she’s not infertile or that the audience should be asking themselves if this is really true.

Subtext through Questions is subtext created when readers and audiences have questions about a story, such as how a plot is developing or what a character will do. -  again from: Literaryterms.net

The foreshadowing is that she and Jon will have a child. Again, you need to figure out whether you’re looking for subtext or foreshadowing because you keep confusing the two. And again, they are related and often work together in texts but are not the same thing.

Subtext is subtle and hidden it certainly wouldn't be repeated over and over again lol.

Again: The subtext is the unspoken OR less obvious meaning or MESSAGE in a literary composition, drama, speech, or conversation. The subtext comes to be known by the reader or audience over time, as it is not immediately or purposefully revealed by the story itself.

The text says the word Together in a number of different circumstances. So on the surface, there are numerous meanings in each of the different instances the word is spoken. The underlying MESSAGE of all these instances throughout the story is that only when the entire country, all the living in Westeros come together, quit their fighting, put aside their differences, and all strive for this common goal, will they defeat the Night King.

Pol!Jon is part of the subtext. What Jon is really thinking.  What his true motivations are. What is being HIDDEN from the audience. If you believe in what you see is really what's happening then there is no subtext for you.  You don't believe it.

“What Jon is really thinking” - again, how can you know what Jon is really thinking when his thoughts are never told to us? You don’t know his thoughts any better than we do. We only have actions and his words and his history to go on.

And as I demonstrated in my example of the Stark gorget which Jon is curiously not wearing when he goes knocking on Dany’s door on the ship, if Jon was being deceitful on behalf of the North, if PoliticalJon was true, to show the audience the subtext of that, Jon would be wearing that gorget. He’d be showing something “subtle” to the audience that he is still aligned with the North, not Daenerys.

But that “subtext” of Jon still being aligned with the North and the Starks and him actually opposing Dany is absent from that scene. There is nothing at all to show that Jon is being dishonest with Daenerys in any way or that Jon cares about Northern Independence or that he’s going to Dany’s room for any other reason than that he loves her.

So anon, why don’t you stop bugging Jonerys/Daenerys blogs, stop bitching when you can’t find metas you want just because you don’t know the difference between literary devices and how they work together, the different ways they can be portrayed in film, and stop acting superior to everyone when you clearly have no idea what you’re talking about.

[carisi-dreams]

Why didn’t you call me?” And an mc! Boy x reader please!!

yay new original characters!! & less angst/drama!! :)

/////

You were in the middle of asking Cameron a question about work experience when Sonny let himself into the house. He took one glance at where the two of you were seated on the couch and pulled his gun. Matty was behind Sonny and barely in the door when he immediately did the same in response.

“Who the hell are you?!” Sonny yelled, gun trained steadily on where Cameron was sitting next to you.

You stood up slowly to caution him, not daring to put yourself between the two of them. Sonny would no doubt get agitated even further and that was the last thing you needed over a misunderstanding.

“This is Cameron. I think I just found you an administrative assistant,” you said slowly and calmly. You brought your hands up to caution him, taking a few steps in his direction. Sonny’s eyes darted between your face and where Cameron was still seated on the couch with wide eyes and hands up in the air.

“I texted you to let you know someone was here with me so you wouldn’t be surprised,” you reminded him in a scolding tone. He narrowed his eyes at you, but didn’t drop his gun at all.

“I thought that was some kind of code! That someone was here trying to hurt you. Jesus! Why didn’t you call me?” Sonny asked in an exasperated tone and although he still had kept the gun in his hand he let it slowly drop to hang by his side.

You gave Matty and Chibs a pointed look over Sonny’s shoulders, but they ignored you and kept their guns trained on the couch. You sighed and looked heavenward for a moment.

“We have a code for that situation, babe,” you reminded him pointedly and he looked chagrined and brought his free hand to rub the back of his neck.

“Sorry. Just…bad experience with my wi-girlfriend and strangers,” he muttered and you laughed a little and finished crossing the room to hug and kiss him hello.

“Let’s try this again, shall we?” you murmured into his mouth after a another kiss and he nodded and pulled back.

“Sonny, this is Cameron. They’re interested in the administrative assistant position at the parlor,” you started introducing, but Sonny tensed again.

“They?” he asked sharply, whipping his head around and bringing his gun back up. Matty took off into the kitchen and Chibs was on the way to the stairs before you took command of the situation again.

“Everyone freeze! Take a deep breath. Good grief, you’re all jumpy today,” you said in an exasperated tone before turning to Sonny in a softer voice. “Cameron is nonbinary. So yes, they. But Cameron is the only person here other than me and after all of this it’ll be mighty difficult to convince them to take this job. Which is a shame after I spent the better part of fifteen minutes talking you up.”

Sonny’s eyes flickered to Matty and Chibs and made some gesture to let them know to relax. Matty shrugged and opened the refrigerator to get something to drink and Chibs threw himself in the armchair in the living room catty corner to Cameron. You went back to where they were still sitting on the couch.

“I’m so sorry,” you apologized around a wince. “Sonny’s a little…protective.” They raised their eyebrows as if to say ‘no kidding’ and you laughed a little again.

“So, like I was saying…Cameron and I met a couple of days ago and they’re interested in the administrative assistant position,” you tried for the third time. Sonny remained where he was, although he did holster his gun.

“How did you two meet?” he asked suspiciously.

“Outside of the hospital,” Cameron supplied slowly as they eyed Sonny warily.

“You don’t look…traumatized,” Sonny said dryly and you rolled your eyes.

“They weren’t my patient. We met outside—”

“She was on a break. I was smoking and trying to figure out what I was going to do for a new job and–,” Cameron cut in. Sonny eyed you incredulously and raised an eyebrow.

“I wasn’t smoking,” you hastened to say. It was a longstanding point of contention between the two of you because Sonny swore he quit, but you’d caught him smoking from time to time. If he thought you were smoking behind his back you’d never hear the end of it.

“No, she wasn’t smoking. It was her co-worker. They were standing there and—” Cameron tried to continue.

“Female co-worker,” you hastened to add again at the way Sonny’s eyes had gone steely. Cameron paused for good and turned to look at you incredulously. You gave them an apologetic nervous smile. 

“It’s been a rough couple of moments,” you supplied and they nodded as their eyebrows climbed up their forehead further. “Why don’t I summarize it all for Sonny in the kitchen? Then the three of us can all talk after, maybe?” you proposed.

Cameron nodded, but eyed Chibs and Matty warily. Chibs was currently doing something to his nails with a knife and Matty was standing by the doorway silently, sipping iced tea in a manner you could only describe as menacing. In his defense, it was Matty’s usual expression, but a stranger wouldn’t be used to it.

“They won’t hurt you,” Sonny said gruffly, cluing into Cameron’s wariness. You gave them a reassuring smile before standing and pulling Sonny into the kitchen.

[whispersandwhiskerburn]

The Christmas Con

Angel’s 2017 Christmas Drabble #5 (Christmas Drabbles List)

Request: @plaidstiel-wormstache said: OMC OMC OMC - Dean, the impala, mistletoe hanging from the rearview mirror.  Pairing: Dean x Reader Word Count: 1,820 Warnings: Dean is being a bit of a Grinch. Kinda relationship angst/kinda fluffy? Flangst maybe? Reader is a bit maudlin at one point, but I’d call this fluffy and cute...idk, you guys tell me. Author’s Note: This image in my head was great, and I wish I had a gif of it. Thanks for always providing such great inspiration to my writing, Jess. :) Also, it was almost painful how many times I messed up while trying to switch to first person narration on this fic, but I wanted to try on your favorite style for your request. 

Even from the beginning, I knew life on the road with the Winchesters wasn’t always going to be easy.

Frankly, they both could be rather grouchy, Dean especially. Around the holidays it always seemed to be worse.

Don’t misunderstand--I love them both, but sometimes….

“Dean, seriously? That’s the third time!”

The three of you had just checked into yet another off-putting hotel for the third time so far this December. No case this time, at least not yet, just moving on to a new spot after the conclusion of a last one before the local cops started asking too many questions about the paperwork.

And at all three hotels, Dean had made a point of sneering at the clerk’s “Merry Christmas” greeting and accidentally knocking over or damaging some piece of Christmas decoration in their lobby. Sam was doing his best to ignore it, picking his battles I guess, but I’d about had enough of this Grinchy-behavior.

“What?” His voice was immediately on the defensive as he dropped his suitcase on the bed closest to the window. Sam had made a bee-line for the bathroom, the coward, as I squared off against my boyfriend.

“‘What?’ nothing. You know exactly what I’m talking about, Ebenezer. And don’t even!”

His mouth had been open, the words ‘bah’ and ‘humbug’ hovering on his lips when I’d preempted him.

“What exactly is your beef against Christmas anyway? I know you and Sam fought off that pagan Christmas deity pair, and you didn’t have the greatest Christmases growing up, but does that mean you have to stomp over everyone else’s good mood on the holidays?”

My hands were on my hips, and I was even surprised myself at how vehemently I was arguing the issue. Dean’s attitude must have been bugging me more than I’d realized.

He looked genuinely surprised by my rant too, sitting down on the bed and pulling me close to him.

“Why does it matter, Y/N? Christmas is really just another day on the job for us anyway, and it’s not really the holiday mood I have an issue with, it’s people who are cheery for no reason whatsoever. They bug me the other 11 months of the year too, but you don’t call me out about it then.

“So the real question, Y/N, is what’s got you so hot and bothered?”

If he had asked it in a condescending way, or accusing, I probably would have kicked his ass on principle. But a sincere Dean Winchester was a hard thing to resist or get mad at.

I rested my hands on his shoulders and took a deep breath, trying to figure out what was bugging me so much. It didn’t take long.

“I’m new to this hunting game, Dean. I didn’t grow up in it like you--Hell, I didn’t even know monsters were real until I was an adult. My childhood… it wasn’t perfect, but I can remember Christmas being amazing, and a part of me misses it. Decorating, shopping for the perfect gift, the excitement on Christmas morning, going sledding and ice skating, quiet time with family, making snowmen and snow angels….”

My voice drifted off as I lost myself in memories for a moment. Dean brought me back to Earth with a gentle squeeze on my hips through my sweatshirt and denim.

“Babe, that sounds nice and everything, but we don’t really do Christmas. It’s all for tourists--with the wrapping paper and the shopping and the nativity scenes. It’s not really part of the hunter lifestyle, you know? Sometimes you just have to let those things go.”

I eyed him, judging if he meant it or not.

Maybe he was right. Hunting didn’t leave time for much caroling or candy canes. Maybe this was just another adjustment I’d need to make.

“Okay, Dean. I’m going to take a shower and get to bed. I’m tired.”

Sam had emerged from the bathroom, apparently having judged our volume as safe-enough-to-risk-it, and I stepped back out of Dean’s reach, grabbed my toiletry bag, and claimed the bathroom.

A hot shower, no matter what the water pressure in this crap hotel, was sure to be some improvement on my maudlin attitude. There wasn’t much sense in wishing for childish things… what was that poem again?

I sat on the toilet and googled, my mind tugging at a remembered phrase about childhood and childish things, until I found the poem by St. Vincent Millay. I skimmed it, nodding to myself.

Yes, I’d left that particular kingdom behind the same day I’d met the Winchesters, grieving over the horrible deaths of my parents. And the holidays were the time I missed them most, remembering the fun they always put into the season, the closeness, the warmth, no matter how cold it got outside.

I felt the tears welling up in my eyes, and I put the phone down, internally scolding myself. I reached over, turning on the hot water before turning on my phone’s music to drown out the sound of the groaning pipes.

Moping would solve nothing. I had a new family with the Winchesters, after all, and a new purpose in hunting.

And that would have to be enough for all the holidays to come.

“C’mon, Y/N, wake up, sweetheart.”

I groaned and tugged on the blanket. There was no telling how long I had actually been asleep, but my internal alarm clock was reading “not long enough”.

Stupid Dean didn’t get the message.

“Y…… N……” Dean’s voice was particularly annoying right now. He apparently was okay without having sex again anytime soon if he kept that shit up.

“C’mon, gorgeous, you’ve got to get up. We’ve got to get some coffee in you and get on the road. We’ve got a new case.”

I groaned, recognizing his tone. Dean was in hunter mode--relentless and impatient. There was no way I was getting back to sleep this morning.

“Fine. I’m moving. But if I don’t have a coffee cup waiting for me by the time I get out of the bathroom, you won’t be.” My voice was grumpy grumble as I rolled out of the bed, heading for the tiny bathroom. I dimly noticed that Sam wasn’t in the room and Dean was sitting by his computer.

As I shut the door I heard Dean chuckle, “that’s my girl.”

When I came back out five minutes later, marginally awake but still in desperate need of caffeine, Sam had returned and was bearing Starbucks, the saint that he was.

I made grabby hands until he laughed and passed one over, “good morning, Y/N.”

“Hmmph.”

I sipped slowly at my hot beverage, barely listening as Sam and Dean continued a conversation they’d apparently started last night or this morning.

“We can’t just not help Garth. We owe the guy, and besides--I’d feel bad if he got killed.”

Sam shook his head, “but we can’t ignore Bobby either. I say, divide and conquer. I’ll take care of Garth, you two follow up on Bobby’s lead.”

Dean frowned, then nodded, the plan making sense to him. “Why not? We should both get done quicker that way, maybe meet up in a couple of days at Bobby’s place.”

“We might even make it in time for Christmas.” Sam smiled, but Dean rolled his eyes, his mind apparently not changed at all since last night.

I finally felt alive enough to interject, “when are we leaving?”

Dean eyed me up and down, a smile on his face. I probably still had bed-head or something, but at least he was too smart to say anything about it.

“Just as soon as you finish that coffee.”

Ten minutes later, I had packed my duffle and thrown it in the trunk of the Impala. Sam was going to wait at the hotel for Garth to give him a ride while Dean and I followed whatever lead Bobby had given him while I’d been asleep.

I sighed a bit as the festive decorations on the front lobby of the little hotel caught my eye. Hunting a monster wasn’t exactly how I had wanted to spend the last few days before Christmas.

But life was change. I’d adjust soon enough.

Dean was already behind the wheel, and I could practically feel his impatience to get started, so I opened my door and slid in.

And immediately stopped.

“Dean, what is that?”

“What’s what?” Dean’s voice was carefully hiding something--amusement? Excitement?

“This.” I reached out and tapped the small bunch of mistletoe hanging from the rear view mirror. Maybe it was some kind of warding, but it hadn’t been there the last time I got in the car.

“I’m shocked, Y/N. Don’t you know what hanging mistletoe is for at Christmastime?”

I finally tore my eyes away from the plant to see Dean’s mischievous smile. I hadn’t seen that smile since the time he’d put benadryl cream in Sam’s toothpaste tube.

“You bastard.” I whispered as it all clicked in my head.

He laughed then, pulling me across the seat to kiss me under the mistletoe.

I kissed him back briefly, then pushed at his chest to get some space. “So all that talk about Christmas not being a part of the hunting life? It was a prank?”

He shook his head, his hand threading through my hair.

“No, not really. I haven’t paid much attention to Christmas since Sam was a kid.” His other hand reached for the charm that always dangled around his neck.

“But if it matters to you, I have no problem indulging. And it might be fun.” And the way his eyebrows waggled at that last sentence clued you in about another layer of this elaborate hoax.

“So this case that we’re on….”

“Isn’t a case. Bobby’s loaning us one of his hunting cabins for the rest of the week. Sam’s going to meet us at his place on Christmas day and we’ll have a family get together. Sound good?”

I smiled, touched that he’d apparently put all this together, noticing how I felt about Christmas even before last night.

“It sounds perfect, Dean.”

“Good.” He drew me close for another kiss which I was much more enthusiastic about now, and he was the one who had to pull away for breath, turning the key in the ignition and starting the growl of the Impala’s engine.

“I can’t believe you set up this ridiculous con though. I love a surprise, but really Dean?”

He put his arm on the back of my seat, looking over his shoulder as he backed out of the parking space, his mouth twisting into a pleased grin.

“Yeah, but you should have seen your face, babe. Now, that was a good Christmas gift.”

I elbowed him lightly, but he only chuckled as he pulled out of the lot, headed for a Christmas getaway that I suddenly couldn’t wait for.

This fic will have a sequel! Keep an eye open for it!

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To my Forevers, the ones who keep me writing:

@2wonderinsighlents, @adaliamalfoy, @alcpegasus22, @andrastesflamingtitties, @angelofwinchester17, @alexastacio, @anokhi07, @ariethegreat98, @atc74, @arryn-nyxx, @autopistaaningunaparte, @avasmommy224, @babypieandwhiskey, @bennyyh, @benjerry707, @boxywrites, @bringmesomepie56, @bucky-thorin-winchester, @but-deans-back-tho, @captainemwinchester, @carry-on-ms-believer, @casownsmyass, @cfordwrites, @chaos-and-the-calm67, @dancingalone21, @d-s-winchester, @deafgirlsarecooler, @deandoesthingstome, @deanfuckingwinchesterrr, @deansarms, @deanscherrypie, @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog, @deanwinchesterforpromqueen, @deanxfuckingadorablexwinchester, @deliciouslyshadowymilkshake, @demonangelimpala, @demondeansdomme, @end-lessnights, @faith-in-dean, @fandommaniacx, @feelmyroarrrr, @fiveleaf, @gallxntdean, @graceforme86, @i-is-for-inspiring, @ilostmyshoe-79, @impala-dreamer, @jalove-wecallhimdean, @jarpadandjensenaremyheroes, @jencharlan, @jensen-gal, @jotink78, @just-another-busy-fangirl, @just-a-touch-of-sass-and-fandoms, @katnharper, @kittenofdoomage, @kristaparadowski, @lipstickandwhiskey, @littlegreenplasticsoldier, @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid, @love-kittykat21, @loreleilara, @lunarsaturn88, @luv4jensen, @lynnebla, @marilynnlew, @millaraysuyai, @mogarukes, @moonstonemystyk, @mrsbatesmotel53, @mrsjohnsmith, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mzpearlz, @nightmaredean, @notnatural-supernatural, @paintrider13-blog, @pinknerdpanda, @plaidstiel-wormstache, @rizlowwritessortof, @roxy-davenport, @salvachester, @seenashwrite, @septicxsoulxdarkxmind, @scorpiongirl1, @skathan-omaha, @spnrvt, @supernatural-jackles, @supernaturalyobsessed, @theafinnerup, @thedevilinthedetails, @thegreatficmaster, @vote-for-pedro, @waywardjoy, @wi-deangirl77, @wonderange, @wheresthekillswitch, @withoutaplease, @wonderless-screwup, @xtina2191, @yoursmilemakesmeloveyou, and @yume-deaimashou

If you want to be removed from or added to my forever tag list, send me a message/ask! Only 18+ please!!