#it was only last semester when i started listening to crown and run away on the way to uni to feel less alone when i wasn't feeling well

[binniesoob]

this wasn't supposed to make me cry.

[branwendaughterofllyr]

Branwen reads ASOIAF (again) - AGOT ARYA I

yeah, uh, it’s been a couple months. I spent that time FIGHTING for my life during the last semester since I’m in the final year of my degree and it’s only going to get worse from here. But I’m back and ready for GRRM to absolutely massacre me again. And it’s going to be a rough start, because I really don’t like this chapter and, believe it or not, I’ve already rewritten this summary at least once because I’m not trying to engage in ~the discourse~ too much. 

And listen, I like Arya a lot. She’s always somewhere in my top five. I like the whole justice versus revenge narrative she has going on. I like feral little girls with knives. There should be more of them!

But this chapter is not it, y’all. Now, I’ve read quite a lot of 90s fantasy with spunky tomboy heroines in my day, and this chapter is like middle tier at best. If I’m gong to read 90s fantasy with a spunky tomboy heroine, I’d much rather go for the crème de la crème like Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce or even The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (which is actually 80s and the likely originator of a least a few spunky heroine tropes.) But I’ll freely admit that I’ve always been sensitive to men writing female characters who do a lot of hating on other women. Sue me. 

ANd I guess I’ve come around on this chapter some??? I think it’s a pretty good piece of character writing and unreliable narrators upon reflection, but I still don’t have to like it. 

So onto the chapter, I guess, though  @alaynasansa has already summarized this chapter better than I ever could

That’s it, that’s most of the chapter. 

But no seriously, Arya is a nine year old kid with a well-behaved older sister, who she resents for being well-behaved, and needs a lot of recess time to in order to pay attention in class. Give Arya scheduled run-around time, and I feel like half of the problems could be solved. 

We open on Arya having crooked stitches, yet again, while Sansa’s sewing her perfect.

“Sansa’s work is as pretty as she is,” Septa Mordane told their lady mother once. “She has such fine, delicate hands.” When Lady Catelyn had asked about Arya, the septa had sniffed. “Arya has the hands of a blacksmith.”

Mordane, I’m begging, at least put the tiniest of effort in to not showing favoritism. We all know you’re Wenda the White Fawn and should not be anyone’s governess, but a shred of effort towards maintaining your cover. please!

Also, rip to all that Gentry foreshadowing struck down by the time skip being cut. You will be missed. 🫡

 Arya thought that Myrcella’s stitches looked a little crooked too, but you would never know it from the way Septa Mordane was cooing.

The Starklings need to stop dogpiling on Myrcella. She’s done nothing to you??? She has like two character traits, both of which contradict each other, and she’s an incest baby. She’s got enough on her plate. 

She studied her own work again, looking for some way to salvage it, then sighed and put down the needle.

I ask the same question every time. WTF have you done to your sewing, Arya? I’m assuming some comically big knot that would never exist in reality. 

And then we get EVUL Sansa talking with her fellow preteens.

Sansa was chatting away happily as she worked. Beth Cassel, Ser Rodrik’s little girl, was sitting by her feet, listening to every word she said, and Jeyne Poole was leaning over to whisper something in her ear.

Beth is, what, ten? And Jeyne is the same age as Sansa. Keep this in mind when GRRM decides to fridge both of them. (The wiki refers to them as Sansa’s “more glamorous retinue” and who ever wrote that needs to be shot.) 

So Arya wants to be included in the conversation, which fair enough, Arya. I, too, am a gossip hound. 

“We were talking about the prince,” Sansa said, her voice soft as a kiss. Arya knew which prince she meant: Joffrey, of course. The tall, handsome one. Sansa got to sit with him at the feast. Arya had to sit with the little fat one. Naturally.

Now, now, Arya. Don’t go judging appearances, or you too will be almost raped at knife point. Also, people would (and do!) kill to sit next to Tommen instead of Joffrey, so. 

“Joffrey likes your sister,” Jeyne whispered, proud as if she had something to do with it. She was the daughter of Winterfell’s steward and Sansa’s dearest friend. 

It’s feeling sad about Jeyne hours.

 I choose to believe that Sansa and Jeyne have one of these:

“He’s going to marry her,” little Beth said dreamily, hugging herself.

This chapter is just making me sad. 

Sansa had the grace to blush. She blushed prettily. She did everything prettily, Arya thought with dull resentment.

Peak sibling behavior. Your sibling is literally just sitting there, and you're like “they’re doing this to spite me specifically” and half the time, you're right. 

“Beth, you shouldn’t make up stories,” Sansa corrected the younger girl, gently stroking her hair to take the harshness out of her words.

I hope nothing happens to these sweet kids. 😬

“What did you think of Prince Joff, sister? He’s very gallant, don’t you think?” “Jon says he looks like a girl,” Arya said. Sansa sighed as she stitched. “Poor Jon,” she said. “He gets jealous because he’s a bastard.”

Is she wrong? No, we all read Jon I. We saw the breakdown. Sansa just succinctly summarized one of Jon's core character conflicts in one sentence, and I have to laugh a little. More Jon and Joffrey foiling. (Actually this whole chapter is JoJo foiling, really.) 

“He’s our brother,” Arya said, much too loudly. Her voice cut through the afternoon quiet of the tower room. Septa Mordane raised her eyes. She had a bony face, sharp eyes, and a thin lipless mouth made for frowning. It was frowning now. “What are you talking about, children?”

Maybe Syrio’s greatest lesson was teaching Arya how to use her inside voice. 

“Our half brother,” Sansa corrected, soft and precise.

EVUL Sansa. How dare you!!!!!! (Nevermind all the times the other Starklings call  Jon their half-brother, shhh, Sansa is the evil Catelyn 2.0)

She smiled for the septa. “Arya and I were remarking on how pleased we were to have the princess with us today,” she said.

Look how smoothly Sansa covers for Arya! 

One thing I’ve noticed about this chapter, is how chill Sansa really is to Arya. She’s just very relaxed and isn’t that interested in picking a fight with Arya. It’s such a contrast to their later AGOT chapters, when both of them are under immense amounts of stress. It seems that fist fights at the breakfast table is, in fact, not their default state. 

Septa Mordane nodded. “Indeed. A great honor for us all.” Princess Myrcella smiled uncertainly at the compliment.

Somebody help Myrcella. She has no clue what's going on. 

“Arya, why aren’t you at work?” the septa asked. She rose to her feet, starched skirts rustling as she started across the room. “Let me see your stitches.” Arya wanted to scream. It was just like Sansa to go and attract the septa’s attention.

Unreliable narrator Arya Stark. You were the one being loud three paragraphs ago. But love the commitment to blaming it on your sister, peak sibling behavior! (Is George an only child? He must have a sibling, he captures the dynamic so well). 

The septa examined the fabric. “Arya, Arya, Arya,” she said. “This will not do. This will not do at all.”

I am once again asking what Arya has done to her sewing. 

Everyone was looking at her. It was too much. Sansa was too well bred to smile at her sister’s disgrace, but Jeyne was smirking on her behalf. Even Princess Myrcella looked sorry for her.

Yeah, being the negative center of attention can be rough. I get it. But also, love the assumption that Sansa would of course smile at Arya getting in trouble if it wasn't rude, when she was covering for Arya five seconds ago. I will not be commenting on Jeyne at this point in time. 

Arya felt tears filling her eyes. She pushed herself out of her chair and bolted for the door.

I am struck by how similar Jon and Arya are. Both them run out in tears in their first chapters. This is probably on purpose. 

Arya stopped at the door and turned back, biting her lip. The tears were running down her cheeks now. She managed a stiff little bow to Myrcella. “By your leave, my lady.” Myrcella blinked at her and looked to her ladies for guidance. 

Myrcella is literally just here. She’s only got brothers, she’s completely lost here. 

“Just where do you think you are going, Arya?” the septa demanded. Arya glared at her. “I have to go shoe a horse,” she said sweetly, taking a brief satisfaction in the shock on the septa’s face. Then she whirled and made her exit, running down the steps as fast as her feet would take her.

Arya Snark makes her first appearance. Rip that gendrya foreshadowing. 

I don’t know who’s more glad that Arya escaped that sewing lesson, me or her. 

It wasn’t fair. Sansa had everything. Sansa was two years older; maybe by the time Arya had been born, there had been nothing left.

This is just what having an older sister is like. Most realistic thing George has ever written. This is peak realism. 

Her hair was a lusterless brown, and her face was long and solemn. Jeyne used to call her Arya Horseface, and neigh whenever she came near. It hurt that the one thing Arya could do better than her sister was ride a horse.

The realism of the steward’s daughter name-calling the lord’s daughter aside (because, really? You don’t think Vayon is pulling Jeyne aside and nipping that in the bud?), Arya is usually covered in dirt and can mistaken for a stable boy and she loves riding horses, so I feel like this nickname might be for multiple reasons. 

Well, that and manage a household. Sansa had never had much of a head for figures. If she did marry Prince Joff, Arya hoped for his sake that he had a good steward.

We’ll see about that, Arya! Sansa’s taking a summer class on how to run a castle in two books, and we’ll see what grade she gets. 

(But love the hyper nine-year old asserting that she could be a better household manager than the patient eleven-year-old. Never lose that confidence, Arya)

Nymeria was waiting for her in the guardroom at the base of the stairs. She bounded to her feet as soon as she caught sight of Arya. Arya grinned. The wolf pup loved her, even if no one else did. They went everywhere together, and Nymeria slept in her room, at the foot of her bed.

I am not immune to the cute prehistoric killing machine and it’s cute little paws. 

She had yellow eyes. When they caught the sunlight, they gleamed like two golden coins. Arya had named her after the warrior queen of the Rhoyne, who had led her people across the narrow sea. That had been a great scandal too.

Somebody smarter than talk about Nymeria’s golden eyes. Doesn’t Lady also have golden eyes?

Also, love Arya’s naming choice. When I was ten, I named my cat Cleopatra. Very relatable. (But also, what's the scandal? Did the septa sniff when Arya announced it? Seems like a fine and very Arya name.) 

But a warrior queen and body of water. HMMMMM. The ship girl foreshadowing starts early.

Sansa, of course, had named her pup “Lady.”

Be still my heart. 😩

The boys were at practice in the yard. She wanted to see Robb put gallant Prince Joffrey flat on his back.

Have I mentioned how fond I am of Arya?

There was a window in the covered bridge between the armory and the Great Keep where you had a view of the whole yard. That was where they headed.

Another puzzle piece for the people meticulously reconstructing WF in Minecraft. Godspeed to them.

Jon is watching from the window, and Ghost and Nymeria have a cute moment that melts my frozen heart. 

To her disappointment, it was the younger boys drilling. Bran was so heavily padded he looked as though he had belted on a featherbed, and Prince Tommen, who was plump to begin with, seemed positively round. They were huffing and puffing and hitting at each other with padded wooden swords under the watchful eye of old Ser Rodrik Cassel, the master-at-arms, a great stout keg of a man with magnificent white cheek whiskers.

I know that this moments gets a ton of callbacks, being a big moment of King Bran and dead Tommen foreshadowing, but look at the bundled-up seven year olds! SO cute! 

“A shade more exhausting than needlework,” Jon observed. “A shade more fun than needlework,” Arya gave back at him.

I mean- we all know where this is going. 

Jon had their father’s face, as she did. They were the only ones. Robb and Sansa and Bran and even little Rickon all took after the Tullys, with easy smiles and fire in their hair. When Arya had been little, she had been afraid that meant that she was a bastard too. It had been Jon she had gone to in her fear, and Jon who had reassured her.

I am not immune to Jon and Arya being adorable together. 

Little Arya is afraid of being a bastard because she sees how Jon is treated, so she goes to him, and Jon puts all of problems to one side to comfort his little sister. Argh, my heart. 

“Why aren’t you down in the yard?” Arya asked him. He gave her a half smile. “Bastards are not allowed to damage young princes,” he said. “Any bruises they take in the practice yard must come from trueborn swords.”

It’s- It’s irony. Becuase- because the Baratheon kids are bastards, and Jon is a prince. 

(Is Jon actually a bastard, or is he true born through some horrible shenanigans? Let’s keep a running list.)

“Oh.” Arya felt abashed. She should have realized. For the second time today, Arya reflected that life was not fair.

I feel like this speaks for itself mainly. All of Jon’s siblings can be thoughtless when it comes to Jon’s situation. 

She watched her little brother whack at Tommen. “I could do just as good as Bran,” she said. “He’s only seven. I’m nine.”

The sibling age hierarchy is so very real. 

Jon looked her over with all his fourteen-year-old wisdom.

This will never not be funny to me.

“The Lannisters are proud,” Jon observed. “You’d think the royal sigil would be sufficient, but no. He makes his mother’s House equal in honor to the king’s.” “The woman is important too!” Arya protested.

Get em, Arya! 

“Perhaps you should do the same thing, little sister. Wed Tully to Stark in your arms.” “A wolf with a fish in its mouth?” It made her laugh.

I- I can’t. What do you want me to do with this??? Because my mind is in fact a gutter. Someone put me out of my misery. 

“Girls get the arms but not the swords. Bastards get the swords but not the arms.

This feel significant on multiple levels. The way that daughters and bastard sons are permanently slotted below true born sons in the Westerosi patriarchy. The way that a bastard son and true born daughter could consolidate their claims together to make a stronger one. Something something. 

Prince Tommen was rolling in the dust, trying to get up and failing. All the padding made him look like a turtle on its back. Bran was standing over him with upraised wooden sword, ready to whack him again once he regained his feet.

Yeah, Tommen’s pretty toast. There can be only one apparently, and its going t be Bran. 

Ser Rodrik has got to one of my favorite silly old men, with his silly little beard. 

And then we get the Joffrey-Robb conflict foreshadowing that feels like they were actually supposed to have a more personal showdown but it got dropped.

Arya could see Robb bristle. His pride was wounded. He turned on Ser Rodrik. “Let me do it. I can beat him.” “Beat him with a tourney blade, then,” Ser Rodrik said. Joffrey shrugged. “Come and see me when you’re older, Stark. If you’re not too old.” There was laughter from the Lannister men.

Is this or is this not fulfilled by the war of the Five Kings? You decide, I guess. 

The Hound is terrible, Joffrey is terrible, Theon has to hold Robb back from committing some serious treason, Jon has a cryptic description. 

Jon watched them leave, and Arya watched Jon. His face had grown as still as the pool at the heart of the godswood.

Huh. Always interesting to see how Jon is identified with WF early on. 

“You had best run back to your room, little sister. Septa Mordane will surely be lurking. The longer you hide, the sterner the penance. You’ll be sewing all through winter. When the spring thaw comes, they will find your body with a needle still locked tight between your frozen fingers.”

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, JON. DO not foreshadow your little sister like that. Now she’s definitely losing her fingers, if not her hand. You’re worst than Ned, I swear. 

The chapter ends with a funny haha sitcom moment that does not make me want to gouge my eyes out at all.

It was worse than Jon had thought. It wasn’t Septa Mordane waiting in her room. It was Septa Mordane and her mother.

I’m laughing so hard, guys.

Conclusion: Uh. Arya is peak sibling behavior in every way, Sansa is actually very chill when her spirit animal hasn’t been killed, the Bran and Tommen see saw is real, and Jon is a great big brother when he’s not foreshadowing. 

And no women wins under patriarchy?

Who’s next? Bran? Thank god!

[issaxcharlie]

Falling like the stars✨

Pairing: Alive! Luke Patterson x Fem Reader

Summary: Luke and Y/N never got to be a thing. Whatever they had ended abruptly when she settled on someone with far more status than the aspiring guitarist. Months later, now single, Luke entangles her in a scheme to make Sunset Curve more popular. The only thing she needs to do is fake date him for 2 weeks.

Songs used: Holy Ground by Taylor Swift, Loved You First by One Direction and Falling Like The Stars by James Arthur.

High school is a world by itself. It has its own system and everyone moves through it. It is something that although it is not discussed, everyone knows. Including the three members of Sunset Curve, who are lying in the yard trying to find a solution to their latest problem.

"We need more people to support our music. If we can't get this little school to support us, how are we going to fill clubs or sign with a label?” Reggie wonders aloud to himself, no matter how hard they try, they can't get the Los Feliz student body to listen to their band.

“We should have thought about it before, Reg. Now we're just the problem kids who most likely won't finish school. Why would they come to see us at those seedy little clubs when they can go show off at football games.” Luke stands up suddenly after Alex words, one of those huge smiles that comes out when he has a really bad idea on his face.

“Well it seems that the solution is easy, boys. We have to make them see us on the same level as those jocks.”

“Oh yeah, and how are we going to do that, genius?” Alex fiddles with his hands as he rests his head on Reggie, both tired of not being able to come even close to fulfilling their dream.

Luke points to the nearest post, on which there are at least 5 posters to support the homecoming king and queen.

“Really? Do you think someone would vote for you? Before all those star athletes who also have a cheerleader to back them up? You basically have just us and I don't think I can do one of those tricks.”

“We’ll think of something. Winning that stupid thing would put us directly in the top of the pyramid. We’ll find a way, we always do.” Before anyone can respond, some screaming and commotion can be heard.

“Savannah is accusing Y/N to mess with her man! Run, they are in the hall!" students mention as they start running to watch the discussion.

“Oh god, Y/N. I’ll better go and see if I can help her somehow.” Alex gets up and Reggie begins to follow him, but not before turning to make sure Luke is following too. The guitarist makes an irritated face but ends up walking behind his friends.

From the moment they enter the main hall they can hear the screeches of probably the most popular girl in school, Savannah Miller. One of those typical unbearable girls who for some reason always reach the top of the elite in schools despite treating everyone badly.

Y/N Y/L is on the other side of the discussion, she looks calm and even bored. The first thing Luke digests from Savannah's words is that she thinks Y/N was making out with her idiot of a boyfriend during third period. What's interesting about the situation is that Diego cheated on Y/N with Savannah maybe a week and a half ago and had been dating her ever since.

But that's not Y/N's style, no matter how angry she is.

Luke knows her well enough, or so he wants to believe. She was always good friends with Alex and Reggie, and her relationship with them remained strong over the years despite how unstable and fleeting her relationship with the guitarist was.

He's never going to admit how deeply he felt for her. How much it screwed him up that just when he finally began to believe they could be something else, she completely walked away from his life so she could date the man that would end up cheating on her just because he looked more promising at the time. Rich, popular, the quarterback of the football team, the ‘perfect guy’ she said to the boys.

But hey, that's past.

Luke looks up to meet Y/N's eyes on him. In the moment she realizes she was caught, she sneakily turns to Alex, who is just inches from the guitarist and smiles at him.

“Are you actually smiling? You think this is funny?” The girl looks furious, but she's smart enough not to make this a battle of strength.

“I already told you, Savannah. It wasn’t me.”

“I can count, Y/N. Neither you nor Diego were in class."

And that’s when it hits him. The possibility of getting to the top of the pyramid in front of him. Because maybe Y/N is not the most popular, but it is undoubtedly one of the most loved by everyone. Intelligent, caring, beautiful, talented. And she certainly has the status after dating Diego Hernandez for one semester. No one had managed more than 3 months with him and the guitarist thinks that was a good sign that that idiot is not a good idea but well, it wasn’t his choice.

Luke begins to walk towards the center of the circle, Alex tries to stop him but cannot catch his arm in time. Both girls turn to see him surprised, but neither says anything.

"You can go find culprits elsewhere, Y/N was busy with me at the time. You can ask whoever you want and they'll tell you that I wasn't in class during third period either."

Of course, he wasn't there because the trio got into Reggie's old truck to get some hotdogs but no one has to know that.

His hand goes to take her firmly by the hip, just like all those nights that now only remain as memories. He is looking at every inch of her face, searching for her reaction, and is surprised by the naturalness with which the girl accepts the gesture. As if his hand belongs there. And maybe, just maybe, it does.

“Do you really want me to believe this?” Savannah asks, clearly annoyed.

“Y/N and Patterson? There’s just no way in hell. C’mon babe, he’s just pathetic, you could do better.” Diego says out loud as he approaches the scene in the middle of Y/N and Savannah.

There's something about the disgruntled way they both said it that makes Luke want to prove that a girl like her could want him. He doesn’t know how to distinguish if it is pride or insecurity but at the moment he is not interested.

He's barely going to open his mouth to defend himself when Y/N starts talking. "No. You can speak as badly as you want of me but you're not going to bring Luke into this."

Luke lets go of her so he can step back a few inches and see her from a better angle. She’s definitely not calm anymore. Her face looks altered and she is undoubtedly in protective mode. She turns to see him when she feels his hand leave her body but he offers her his hand and she intertwines it between her fingers without hesitation. At this rate she is taking control of the situation so he is going to let her continue and try to achieve his goal along the way.

“I know you need a partner to have any hope of winning the crown, but choosing Patterson is a desperate move.”

And that’s his cue. "If my baby wants that crown I will get it for her. It's that easy.”

“What? I do-” At that moment Luke panics and pulls her by the hand that they have intertwined and with the other holds her face while bringing their lips together. When he reacts to what he is doing he is afraid that Y/N will push him in front of everyone but to his surprise she kisses him back instantly, releasing his hand to bring him closer to the neck.

The kiss is passionate and almost desperate, but it only lasts a few seconds since a voice brings them back.

"This feels like deja vu." Reggie whispers to Alex, they both walked during the discussion towards the circle and are so close that Luke and Y/N heard him clearly.

“Well, we already clarified that she was not with your boyfriend so, I’ll take my girl. It was a pleasure, we should repeat this another day... said no one ever." Luke takes her hand and leads her to the nearest empty living room, Reggie and Alex locking the door behind him.

“What the hell was that crown bullshit? Why did you even cover for me? What are you up to? At least tell me is fun... or that includes you shirtless.” She jokes, a cheeky smile spreads in Luke’s face.

“I need a favor and thought you’ll appreciate an alibi.” She raises her eyebrow in reflex.

“Why would I help you, Lucas?” Luke can only think of how she makes a name as simple and boring as Lucas sound so sexy when she says it. Is incredible.

“Cut the act, beautiful. We both know you've never been able to resist me.” Y/N laughs amused at the boy’s sassiness. She won't admit it but she missed his eyes on her. She missed the way he uses that cocky stupid voice that melts her when he wants something. How he gets closer with each sentence, or his lips on her mouth.

Before she can counter attack, Alex stands in front of the guitarist raising his hands. “I know he’s an idiot, but we really need your help, Y/N. If we want Sunset Curve to gain popularity we have to start here, and this is our last year. Gaining popularity among the elite of the school would help us a lot.”

“We are getting desparate.” Reggie adds, a sad smile on his face.

“And pretending I made out with Luke in third period and getting to be homecoming dance queen and king helps you... why?”

“That crown is literally a test of popularity and status. It would put Luke on the same level as the popular kids like Savannah and Diego. People would be more interested in Sunset Curve after that. For now, for them we are only three good for nothing that one day will not appear around here again. You heard yourself that those two didn't think Luke was good enough."

Her face flushes with anger as soon as she remembers the contemptuous tone of voice they used to refer to Luke. If they hadn't been in the middle of the hall, she probably would have said a lot more than she did. That single comment is enough to make her decide, so without thinking Y/N asks “What do you need me to do?”

“Just play perfect couple with Luke until homecoming dance. Then you are queen and king, Sunset Curve gets the fans we deserve, you get to laugh at Savannah’s face and you can separate next day if you want to.”

“I’m not sure If someone is going to believe it.” She blurts out loud as she glances at the guitarist.

“Oh please, you know each others mouth better than your own names.” Reggie says without thinking, Luke snorted with laughter and Y/N blushes like crazy.

“Yeah, and you used to spend a lot of time together too, two weeks shouldn’t be that hard.” Alex tries to recover the seriousness of the situation to close the deal.

“Okay then. If I can help Sunset Curve and get that smirk of superiority off Savannah's face then sounds good to me. Are you willing to date me, Patterson?”

Their eyes meet again and without a sign of hesitation her now officially boyfriend for the next two weeks, answers.

“Beautiful, you have no idea.”

There is something about relationships that never get to happen that make the heart weigh more, that nostalgia to be stronger, the person more difficult to forget. Luke can't help but remember during the last periods of the day just how good it felt to taste the girl's lips again. Feelings of desire, of familiarity, of belonging. All colliding and going deep into his bones.

He decided a long time ago he didn't do relationships, but if he did, it would have been with her. He was willing to break that rule for her, but she had the final decision and it wasn't him. He accidentally put himself in the perfect situation though. All those what if’s will finally have an answer.

For two weeks he can test what it would have been if Y/N Y/L had chosen him. And when he finally tries the experience he will be free. Free from all the what if’s, free from her, from her memory. And there's also the part of how much the band will benefit. The main objective of doing this, obviously.

The last hour is finally over and Luke sped off toward Reggie's truck. In front of it is Alex already waiting and he can see Reggie and Y/N also walking in the same direction. The four of them regroup and Y/N starts to discuss game plan.

“If we are going to do this, we are going to do it well. There will be a party at Finch's house this Saturday and the three of you are coming with me."

The three members of Sunset Curve make an annoyed face at the words of their friend. "That's exactly why no one supports you. You think you are too cool to hang out with the people but then you want everyone to happily buy your shirts and listen to your music."

“She has a point there.” Alex agrees, and puts his arm around her shoulder.

“Okay, let’s do this. If you all come with me, we can leave early and crash one of those places you usually play. Maybe even have some people of the party to come with us and hear you rock the shit out of that place.” All three smile with bright eyes In response.

“You got yourself a deal, pretty lady.” Reggie says in a flirting tone and winks at her. Luke gives him a light punch on the arm.

"I'll see you on Saturday in my house then, at nine. Goodbye boys." She winks at Luke and walks over to her car, making sure to do a perfect walk because she knows pretty well that the guitarist isn't going to stop watching her until she pulls out of the parking lot.

Luke gives her a perfect smile one last time before Y/N leaves school. These two weeks are going to be weird.

The four members of the band are in the truck, Bobby decided to get out of school recently but a party and a gig sounds like a rad Saturday. Luke gets out and walks to the door to wait for Y/N to come out. When she finally comes down he feels like all the air is coming out of his lungs.

She's wearing the black Sunset Curve t-shirt that he forgot one of the many times he climbed up to the second floor of the house to see her. A short black skirt and one of his red flannels that he probably left there several months ago as well. Black fishnets stockings which he can't help but imagine ripping out with his teeth, her lips in that tone of red that drives him crazy, and her classic black boots that he hadn't seen since she started dating the cheating idiot.

“Genius huh? Is there anything that says more ‘Luke Patterson’s property’ than this? I don’t think so." She smiles proudly and blushes when she notices Luke's gaze locked on her legs. Fishnets may have been included in the outfit due to a certain weakness that the musician has towards them.

The hair that the guitarist is used to seeing in a perfect bun lately, is now loose and tousled. As rebellious as the day he met her, moving in harmonious tune to the rhythm of Now or Never.

Luke reaches out to to entwine his hand in her hair and whispers slowly into her ear “You look... fucking hell, you are not playing fair, baby.” Lightly biting her lobe when he’s done speaking.

They both linger in a trance for a few seconds, considering whether they should just walk in and lock the door. But before they can decide, the boys that already know this story pretty well and are sick of waiting for them while they flirt, get out of the truck. Reggie carries Y/N like a sack of potatoes and between Bobby and Alex take Luke by the arms, putting them in the vehicle so they can finally get to the lame party and then, the gig.

When they finally arrive, the eyes of almost all the girls go to the members of the band, who are definitely dressed for the occasion. Y/N can't help but notice how most of the cheerleaders wink at her boyfriend. Yeah, it’s not real and will last two weeks, but for now she justs wants to forget that part and enjoy the feeling of him being hers.

So she makes a small, harmless gesture to mark territory and puts her hand in the guitarist's back pocket.

Luke turns to see her, an amused smirk on his face. “Jealousy looks so hot on you, I wouldn't mind if you marked my lips with that red lipstick too."

That statement resonates in Y/N’s head. All the times Diego refused to kiss her so as not to stain himself and even forbade her to use that lipstick that for her was part of her brand returning to her head. Followed quickly by every night Luke came down after finishing playing and instantly attacked her lips with his, caring for nothing more than the feel of their tongues fighting for control.

“Not jealousy, just a quick reminder to everyone. You are all mine tonight.” She puts a little more pressure on the hand in his pocket and stands on her tiptoes to kiss the corner of his lips.

“Dance with me?” She asks innocently while giving him a flirtatious smile.

“With you, always beautiful.” He smiles back, winking charmingly.

His hands find hers and she begins to dance and jump gracefully to the rhythm of the music as he spins her around, both singing the lyrics to each other with unmatched energy, happy to be together.

“Tonight I'm gonna dance, for all that we've been through.” She sings with a determined voice, taking the musician by the hair and bringing their faces closer.

“But I don't wanna dance, If I'm not dancing with you.” Luke returns the verse with the same passion, just inches separating their lips. His beautiful and trained voice tends to sound like a more country vibe when he gets carried away and especially in more pop melodies like this, and honestly drives her crazy.

The fact that the rocker at heart gave in to listen to other genres for her and even remembered the lyrics was enough to melt her heart. The last time she was able to let herself go and sing at the top of her lungs like this was with him, listening to a mix of their favorite songs in his car while going for their favorite icecream. Whatever they had was a lot more deeper than what they are willing to admit.

“Did we really just see Luke sing and dance to a pop-country song?” Reggie asks the band, Alex and Bobby behind him laughing at the guitarist who blushes and kisses his date's forehead. “I am not going to discuss this. I'll go get us something to drink." He winks at her and dissapears into the crowd.

“I’ll go too, be right back.” Bobby announces leaving Y/N with Alex and Reggie, who smirk at her.

“It seems that pretending is easier than you thought.” Alex can't stop smiling, Reggie playfully itches the girl's ribs who grins from ear to ear.

"Everything always fits when I'm with him. I ruined my chance. I'm totally aware, and I'm not expecting anything from him, because I honestly don't deserve it. But I plan to enjoy every second of these two weeks that came from heaven to the fullest.”

“You should explain hi-” Before Reggie can finish speaking, Diego appears behind Y/N and tries to forcefully pull her by the arm.

The guys manage to react quickly and release her arm while stepping in front of her. But right away his teammates get behind him.

“Save yourselves the pain, she is going with me.” Diego says confidently, his face showing arrogance.

“Guys, ple-” She tries to stop them from getting hurt, but both step a little forward, determined to protect her no matter the cost.

“You are not taking her, Diego. But you are more than welcome to try.” Alex's voice sounds cool and calm, but Y/N can see how much his hands are shaking and her heart hurts at the sight.

They are all so into their own business that nobody notices the guitarist's return until his lips collide with his girl, who is surprised for a few seconds but immediately recognizes him and gives him space for his tongue to taste her mouth.

They both lose themselves in the kiss for a few seconds longer than necessary and then slowly separate. Y/N grinning from ear to ear as she tries to wipe some of her lipstick off Luke's mouth. He just smirks, as happy as ever.

"Sorry guys, do you need something?" He plays the innocent card. After that kiss, most of the people at the party are watching the scene, so Diego, who looks furious, chooses to leave without saying anything. Right away they can hear a long restrained breath from Reggie and Alex.

“You are a cocky genius, I'm not sure we could have won that one.”

“I’m not sure? Did you seriously think we had a chance?” Alex asks, clearly anxious after what had just happened.

Y/N stands in front of them and throws herself into their arms, whispering how many thanks she can say in a row. They return the hug and begin to relax in each others arms. Bobby and Luke join in the hug, and Luke whispers his own thanks to his friends.

The band decides that it’s time to go and to their surprise, when they let people know that they are going to play at a small club in the center of the city, some decide to follow them. On the way, Y/N spends her time wiping her lipstick off Luke’s face with some wipes she had in her bag, struggling not to press her lips against his every time he made her an adorable grimace or a flirtatious smile.

“You know the drill, beautiful.” Luke turns to see her directly in the eyes, concern on his face just like every time before.

“Front row, not a second out of your sight, so if I need something better wait for you guys to finish performing to get it. Better safe than sorry." She recites, proud to remember every word.

“Thank you, baby.” He smiles a little more calmly, gives her a light kiss on the cheek and starts to help take out the instruments.

They are only doing a few songs from their repertoire, but the energy they transmit drives everyone in the little club crazy. The Sunset Curve members look at a Luke they haven't seen in a long time. The energy and passion in his voice dedicated entirely to the little woman in the front row who sings with all her strength every word and melody, imitating Luke's guitar solos or Alex's drums with her arms.

The 15 students who decided to attend are close to Y/N, trying to get her attention from time to time but nothing can take her eyes off her friends. Not even she knew how much she had missed seeing them play. The look of maximum happiness on their faces.

The last song is one that the little club seems quite familiar with, but she had never heard it before. So it must have been written in the last six months.

“Had my chances, could've been where he is standing.

That's what hurts the most, girl, I came so close

But now you'll never know. Baby, I loved you first.”

The lyrics leave her breathless. Luke, who had made contact with her practically all night, now seems to avoid her eyes like a plague. She definitely has to ask Alex about this song before getting any ideas.

The four bow and get off the stage, Luke launches immediately for Y/N, some of the girls try to get his attention and even try to grab him by the arm or waist but he remains firm until his hands meet his girl's hip.

“What do you think?” Luke's fingers shaking in the grip on her waist tell her he's nervous. The fact that her opinion of them matters so much to him that it makes him feel insecure makes her heart skip a beat.

“It was amazing as always, rockstar.” A huge smile appears on the guitarist's face, who gently takes her face with his hands and kisses her nose. After all, he has to remember that they are only pretending to date and for now he has no good reason to push his lips against hers. It doesn't matter how much he needs her.

The way home is uneventful, Y/N sleeping in Luke's arms while Alex puts the guitarist's red flannel over her.

“Will they ever stop pretending they're ridiculously in love with each other?” Bobby asks Reggie as he turns his head to see the couple.

“They are both stubborn and allergic to real feelings. Especially love. They are so terrified that they have to sabotage themselves somehow.” Alex answers for Reggie who just nods without taking his eyes off the road.

"Do you really have to talk like I'm not here?" Luke asks, resting his chin delicately on the head of the woman in his arms.

Tonight felt unreal. Felt practically like one of the many dreams he has had with the girl throughout these months. Seeing her in his clothes was enough to make the night special, but without a doubt dancing in her arms, savoring every inch of her mouth and seeing her energetically sing each of his songs to end the night with her in his arms is just perfect. Reggie parks at Y/N’s after dropping Alex and Bobby, and as Luke decides how to get her to bed without waking her she sinks deeper into his chest.

"Carry me to the door hotstuff, I like to be in your sexy arms." Luke lets out a cheeky laugh in surprise, another laugh coming from Reggie.

“She’s so asleep, I can’t. Adorable though.” Luke agrees and takes her bag before walking down with her in his arms and carrying her effortlessly to the door.

“Thank you for tonight. I didn’t think I could ever feel this happy and complete again.” She murmurs in his ear before giving him a sweet peck in the lips and enter the house.

What the two of them took from tonight is that indisputably, they are both still head over heels for each other. But it was like that the first time and it just wasn't enough.

Days go by with the couple being the school's favorite gossip. People talking in the hallways about the special way Luke looks at his girlfriend, comparisons about the dry way Y/N used to be with Diego compared to how she is with the guitarist, always touching him somehow and spending all the time with him as possible, visibly much happier. Some also talking about how good the band sounds and wondering why they hadn't heard it before. Everything going according to plan.

On Thursday afternoon, Luke arranged to pick her up for the two of them to find him something formal enough for the dance. When Y/N opened the door she met his beautiful greenish hazel eyes, and swears that for a second she forgot how to breathe.

She knows this scene. He smiles sweetly at her, takes her hand and opens the door of the car for her. Multiple interesting memories inside this car coming back to her mind. His firm hands on her legs, his tongue testing her mouth, his hot moans after biting his lower lip...

“Beautiful? Whatcha thinking?” Luke's voice brings her back to the present, his hand goes directly to her thigh as all that many midnight drives and without saying anything he plays the girl's favorite album.

That’s it. If she wants a chance with him, she needs to make this right. “I- We really need to talk.” Hearing the tone of her voice, Luke senses what is coming. He was here before. So he turns off the car that hadn't even started to move yet and turns to look at her.

"I know we've been putting it off, but we have to talk about how it all ended, I-"

Luke interrupts her before she can finish, his voice sounds broken, sad, angry. "I really don't want to talk about how you preferred an idiot for whom you don't feel the remotest thing just because he'll get a football scholarship and this perfect future.”

She spends a few seconds processing his words. Did he really say what she thinks he said? "It wasn't like that, Luke."

"I know it looks like I can't compete with him, but I would have done anything for you. And I thought you knew that.”

She doesn't know what to do or say. She was so unconscious, so selfish, so heartless, that she didn't even think about how he could have understood the situation. In how much he must have suffered these months watching her with Diego, believing he wasn’t good enough. Believing that she chose someone who wasn’t him, because he wasn’t good enough.

He stays quiet, examining the girl who seems about to cling to tears. The anger evaporates instantly and he leans into her seat to wrap his arms tightly around her. She starts sobbing, but seems determined to talk.

“R- Remember the night we met? It was the first Sunset Curve presentation. I had just entered the little club, but your voice dragged me to the front row like a magnet. And when I was finally in front of the stage, I knew it. It was you. The butterflies that everyone talks about for the first time in my stomach. I knew I could never feel again something even close to what I was feeling at that moment.

I got carried away in your voice, dancing to the rhythm of the melody and recording every sound in my head. And when I opened my eyes again, yours were staring at me. And I understood that you felt it too. It was me, and you knew it. It was so natural, powerful, magnetic, deep. I loved you since the first day, Luke. How is that not going to scare me?

When the feelings started to get so strong they burned, I knew I had to run. You always made it very clear that relationships were not your thing, I could not continue to wait for something that from the beginning you made it clear you could not give.

Then Diego arrived at the right time to give me an exit, and I took it. I knew he just wanted to have me around to raise his good boy status, and feeling nothing was safer than feeling too much. So I lied. I lied to you, to me, to everyone. And I’m sorry, but I was so scared. I was a coward who should have done things differently.”

When she finally finishes pulling out what she's been saving for months, she pulls away from Luke to see his face. His eyes look crystal clear, his cheeks red. But his beautiful white smile lights up his face.

"Next time you love me so much that you can't bear it, let me know, please? I can step on your foot or sneeze in your face. I was literally going to ask you to be my girlfriend that weekend. I even wrote you a song."

“You were? The one you sang the other night?”

“Okay, I wrote you a lot of songs. Maybe too many. But the one I'm talking about is different. Maybe I'll let you listen to it one day. If you stick around long enough this time.”

She smirks and kiss him lightly on the lips, enjoying the feeling of being able to. He knows he reacted way too chill. But he also understands her feelings. What is the point of reproaching her for something they can no longer change? A bad decision made by a love so immense that it left her blind. He is simply not willing to waste any more time. They are finally going to do things right. Neither of them is going to self-sabotage it this time, and since he doesn't trust it, he'll put Alex and Reggie in charge to make sure.

The night of the dance arrives. Y/N is wearing a beautiful black dress and her classic red lips. Luke tried his best to look fancy and he's wearing a pretty cool suit but in a sleeveless version. His still fake girlfriend couldn't stop smiling when she saw him. Just perfect.

Dancing in his arms, letting him go only once in a while to dance with the other three members of Sunset Curve made the night amazing. The rest of these two weeks they spent it talking, laughing... making out. Enjoying the most of the time they lost. Even completely forgetting why they were faking it in the first place, until they ask the candidates to take the stage.

"And your king are queen are... Y/N Y/L and Diego Hernandez!"

They all turn to see Luke in shock. Just hearing their names together is enough to make him frustrated, but there's not much he can do right now. And that's when he remembers what he asked the boys to play for the king and queen's first dance. Great, now dance they’ll dance to his song together. Just his damn luck. He sabotaged himself again without imagining it.

They are crowned and Diego offers her his hand, not without first throwing a face of superiority to the guitarist. She walks but continues straight until she is in front of her lover.

Luke looks at her strangely, she smiles at him.

“But I don't wanna dance, If I'm not dancing with you. Remember?” She sings happily in his ear, and offers her hand.

“Dance with me?” He looks at her adoringly and takes her hand.

“Always, beautiful.”

They walk to the center of the floor, Alex begins to sing the first verse. Y/N rests her head on Luke's chest, her hands around his neck, as he presses her against him by the hip, wrapping her in his arms. His head bent to sing the song in her ear.

“I swear to God, I can see... you're still the girl in the club.”

Tears of happiness begin to flow from Y/N, the words that she never had the opportunity to know, finally getting revealed. Luke's sweet, soft voice in her ear. The perfect melody and the beautiful voice of Reggie and Alex in the background.

“And I need you to know that we're fallin' so fast

We're fallin' like the stars, fallin' in love.”

The moment he sings in love, Y/N lifts her head to meet his eyes. He lifts his hands to her cheeks to wipe her tears, gently holding her face to make sure she sees him recite every word.

“And I'm not scared to say those words. With you, I'm safe.

We're fallin' like the stars, we're fallin' in love.”

The second Luke finishes singing, Y/N stands on tiptoe and pushes her lips against his. Tears of happiness continue to fall from her face, wrapped in a passionate, slow, deep kiss. He's all she wants. Her heart chose him since the very first day.

“I can’t believe one of Luke’s random ideas it's what made them find their way back to each other. Reg, we tried for 6 months and we were never even close. Two weeks ‘pretending’ and bam! they are just fine.”

Both watch the happy couple dance now that they are official.

"You know what they say, Fake it till you make it.” Reggie smirks while watching Luke happily kiss Y/N.

“Fair. At least everything was fixed before we shoved Luke into the pool to see if Y/N would rescue him with a mouth-to-mouth kiss."

“We still could try, you know... for science.”

“Cool. Monday works for me. Do you think that even though he didn't win, we still have a chance to win some more fans?”

Reggie raises his head before answering, a smile appears when he sees the bunch of girls and boys who are spying on them just a few meters away. Probably waiting for them to finish talking to get closer.

“I think Sunset Curve will be just fine too, Alex.”

Thank you for reading✨

Taglist: @writerinlearning , @ghostofmgg, @strangerthanfanfiction713, @thebloodthirstyvampress, @kinda-really-lost, @kcd15, @magnet-girl, @aliandthephantoms, @stxrkspidey, @pinkrockstar19, @s0uz4s, @shycupcakealissa @cookiebuba, @fangirlangioma, @sageellsworth05, @twist3dtinkerbell, @sunsetcurvenotsunsetswerve, @caitsymichelle13, @ifilwtmfc, @luckylouiebug, @bibliophilewednesday, @totomoshi, @siennanoelle01, @lunashadow6955, @bookfrog247, @morganayennefertyrell, @kiss-themoongoodbye, @rachelle3musicals, @imsydneywalker, @really-dont-forget-it @agentstarkid @talksoprettyjjx @kaitieskidmore1

[unholyobsessions]

Take a sick day (or a dozen)

Pairing: Julie x Luke

Description: Five times Julie takes care of Luke and one time he returns the favor

Requested: Yes

A/N: For the first part technically, Luke should not have gotten the symptoms as quickly, it normally takes days, but let’s just pretend okay? let’s not worry about technicalities

Warnings: Sickness, light cursing

Word Count: 4.7k

Masterlist 

It’s the middle of July. Julie should be getting ready to go to college not taking care of her stupidly adorable little brother. Her dad is out of town photographing a wedding, so when Carlos comes down with Chicken Pox, she is stuck with nurse duty. 

Luke, her ever so caring boyfriend, offers to help her so that is why they are both running around the house, waiting on Carlos hand and foot. Julie keeps phoning the doctor every thirty minutes because Carlos still will not eat and Luke keeps replacing the cold towel on his forehead. 

What Luke forgot to mention when he offered to help was that he never got the Chicken pox as a child. After the third day Luke woke up, scratching at his arms and torso non stop, Julie starts getting worried. A few hours later she gets tired of seeing Luke not so subtly scratching again, so she grabs his arm and pulls up his sleeve. His arms are covered with blisters and Julie lets out a loud gasp. 

“You lied!” Julie exclaimed. 

Luke pulls his arms away from her grasp and raises them in defense. “Technically I didn’t lie. I did not know I never got chicken pox!.” He counters her accusation and Carlos, who is sitting between them, just glances back and forth between the two, highly amused by the interaction. 

“Go take a shower, I’ll go call the doctor and ask him what to do when an eighteen year old idiot gets chicken pox.” Julie huffed out, getting up from her crouched position beside the bed. 

Carlos and Luke stared after her and the former shook his head. “You’re lucky she loves you.” 

Luke let out a small laugh and pushed himself up. “Yeah I am.” 

Fifteen minutes later Luke is out of the shower and now running a high fever. The doctor reassures her that he would be fine and that she should just use the same medication that she has been giving Carlos. 

With that out of the way, Julie realizes that Luke is a giant baby. He complains more than Carlos and whines about the slightest inconvenience. It should be in her best interest to send him home and have his parents take care of him but she knows they both have full time jobs and cannot afford to take a week off to take care of him. So she muscles through it, running back and forth between Carlos’s room and her own room, where Luke is staying. 

It’s after midnight, two days later, and Carlos has already succumbed to the exhaustion so she is sitting next to her bed, placing a cold towel on Luke’s forehead, who had just been complaining that the room is too hot. A moment later, after he had taken his medicine he turns to look at her, a loving smile on his lips. 

“I love you so much. Thank you for putting up with my bullshit.” He says it so softly that she has to lean forward to hear him properly, but there is so much emotion in that statement that it makes her cheeks flush. 

“I would do it one hundred times over Luke, you know that,” she whispers, reaching a hand toward his, curling their fingers together. 

“I know, but still thank you. I know you would much prefer to spend the weekend shopping with Flynn.” That gets a laugh out of her and Luke smiles triumphantly. 

“You would have found a way to tag along,” she retorts and Luke barks out a loud laugh, immediately followed by a yawn. “Go to sleep, I’m in my dad’s room if you need me.” She presses a kiss on the crown of his head and gets up to leave, turning the lights off on her way out. 

. . .

It’s their first semester at University and things are going great. But of course Luke had to go and ruin it all. Julie really does not know how someone could get sick as easily as Luke. It’s normally a common cold that goes away in twenty four hours but no. He had to go all out. 

It’s flu season and Julie is stuck in a dorm room with her very annoying, very sick, and very adorable roommate/boyfriend. 

Luke can barely move, his body feeling heavy. His head is pounding and the room feels both too hot and too cold at the same time. 

Julie walks back into the room after a quick trip to the local CVS store to get supplies. She really hopes this doesn’t last for more than a few days, because she can’t afford to miss too many classes. She makes the mistake of turning on the light, prompting Luke to grown loudly and yell in discontent as if he were being stabbed. Julie rolls her eyes and turns the light off, settling for the lamp on her desk. 

She pulls out the thermometer from the bag and proceeds to tear up the packaging with her teeth because in her state of stress, she didn’t think of just putting the bag down. Once she finally got it open she put it against his forehead and waited for the indicated beep. 

She hisses once she sees the temperature. “102.5. Damn I was really hoping you didn’t have a fever.” She takes out the packet of pills from the bag and a water bottle and hands him two pills and the open bottle. “Take these.” 

Luke obediently takes them and turns to look at her. “Aren’t you worried about catching it?” 

“Not really. I had my flu shot two weeks ago. I told you to get it but you’re afraid of needles.” Julie deadpans and sits on the edge of his bed. 

Luke shoots up with a sudden burst of energy. “I am not afraid of needles,” he exclaims. 

Julie rolls her eyes and pushes his shoulder lightly. “Yes you are you big baby. Now lay down or you’ll get dizzy.” 

Luke mumbles incoherently, no doubt complaining, but he obeys and lays down, squeezing his eyes shut because just as Julie said, he gets dizzy. Julie pulls the covers up to his shoulders and runs a hand through his hair. Luke hums, content with the feeling of his girlfriend playing with his hair. 

“Can you sing me a song?” He asks after a few minutes, startling Julie who thought he had fallen asleep. 

“Yeah, of course.” She nods her head even though he can’t see her. Luke grasps her arm and pulls her down to lay down next to him. She lets out a small giggle and cuddles up to him

“I’m in my bed

And you're not here”

Luke interrupts her, finally opening his eyes to look at her incredulously. 

“Could you have picked a sadder song?” Julie barks out a loud laugh, slapping a hand over her mouth in order to not be too loud. 

“I’m sorry! It was just the song I had in my head.” Luke shakes his head, whispering a soft “unbelievable,” under his breath.

“Pick something happier but still soft.” 

Julie looked down at him, fully prepared to ask him what the hell he meant by his request, but he has already nuzzled back into her side with his eyes closed. She let out a small sigh with a small smile on her face. 

“Any suggestions?” 

Luke stayed quiet for a second before piping up with a tired voice. “Truly, Madly, Deeply. The One Direction song you showed me other week.” 

She decides not to comment on his unusual choice, Luke never having been one to willingly listen to One Direction (he loves them, he just refuses to admit it.) Julie simply kisses the top of his head and with a deep breath, she begins the song.  

Julie missed three days of classes, and every second not spent doing the work she missed or getting Luke his medicine, was spent singing him to sleep. 

. . .

Luke should have known that eating those hotdogs was a bad idea. The food truck was sketchy and mostly without customers but Reggie and Alex dared him to do it and because he’s a prideful idiot, he did it. Now he is suffering the consequences as he retches the contents of his stomach into the toilet as Julie rubs his back soothingly. 

She’s singing something under her breath, Luke doesn’t recognize it at first so he focuses all his energy on listening to her voice. 

“Sana sana colita de rana si no sana hoy, sanará mañana,” and she repeats it again and again. Luke has stopped throwing up by now and is resting his head on the toilet seat, which is not the most hygienic  but he can barely keep his eyes open much less move. He mumbles something incoherently and Julie leans forward, “What did you say?” 

“What the heck are you singing?” 

Julie has to resist the urge to laugh as she answers. “It’s I guess a saying? I’m not sure how to describe it, it’s just something my mom used to say whenever I would get injured.” 

Luke wants to believe that he nods his head in affirmation but in reality, it doesn’t even look like he’s breathing with how still he is, slumped against the toilet. His lips starts moving but there is no sound escaping them and for a moment Julie thinks he fell asleep, but then his arms reach forward to grip the edge of the seat as he starts throwing up again. 

Julie grimaces and continues to rub his back, only stopping when her phone rings and she has to reach her arm up to the counter to grab it. She speaks in hushed words to the doctor on the other end, nodding her head along to what he’s saying. A few minutes later she hangs up and Luke squints at her, wanting to know what’s going on. 

“Well apparently all of your symptoms align with mild food poisoning. Nothing too serious and since you don’t have a fever, it should go away on its own by tomorrow. Only thing is we have to keep you hydrated so I texted Alex and Reggie to get you some electrolytes.” 

Luke didn’t even try to move this time, simply groaning audibly and clutching an arm around his abdomen, which feels like it’s on fire. After Luke goes a full five minutes without throwing up, Julie brings a hand up to flush the toilet. The sudden noise causing Luke to jump up and turn to Julie with a paranoid gaze. 

Julie, not wanting to make him feel bad, hides her smile by biting her lip. She runs a hand through his sweat matted hair and gently pulls his head onto her lap. She continues to softly speak the ‘sana sana’ because even though she knows now that it doesn’t work, her little seven-year-old self believed it could cure any injuries or sickness. 

She stays in the bathroom floor, back cramping and neck stiff, for about thirty minutes, simply enjoying seeing Luke breathing in and out calmly. She knows that as soon as he wakes up, he will be filled with pain and discomfort so if she has to suffer a few minutes of it, then so be it. 

He is woken up by the sound of a knock on the door, no doubt Reggie and Alex with the supplies she made them get. Luke immediately shoots up and starts gagging and Julie doesn’t know how he can still be throwing up after having done so about five times already. 

She gets up and brings a hand to her neck, yelling out an annoyed “coming!” as the knocking persists. She opens the the door, takes the bag out of their hands, and closes it again, the fact that they are the reason she is in this situation not escaping her. 

She makes Luke brush his teeth before bringing him to bed, knowing he will be much more comfortable. She hands him an opened bottle of the lemon flavored drink, but he pushes it away. Julie rolls her eyes and pushes the drink back toward him. He groans and turns away, refusing to even so much as look at what she is offering. 

“I swear to God Luke if you don’t take this right now, I will pour it down your throat myself.” And she knows she is being a bit harsh but this is the only thing he has to take in order to feel better and he is acting like a child over it. 

With fear in his eyes, Luke takes the bottle, bringing it to his lips and taking the tiniest of sips, his mood immediately brightening at the smile Julie sends him. 

(Julie was right and he did feel infinitely better the next day)

. . .

It was supposed to be romantic.  

Julie smiling widely at him as he twirled her and dipped her repeatedly. Their laughter both echoing louder than fireworks and being drowned out by the wind. The rain hitting them at a rapid pace, quickly soaking them from head to toe. But they didn’t care. They were just two teenager in love, enjoying the clicheness of dancing in the rain to the beat of their hearts, which pounded against their chests as one. 

Luke doesn’t remember when exactly he started to sing, a couple of meaningless lyrics he had had stuck in his head for the a few days. And he is not sure when Julie joined him, but by the time they stopped, they were out of breath, it was already dark, and the large raindrops had turned into a light drizzle. 

So in reality, it was extremely romantic. 

What isn’t romantic is Luke waking up the next day with a horrible cough, congested, and a low fever. He tries to hide it, not wanting to admit it is big deal, but of course, Julie sees right through it. 

“You literally have the immune system of a newborn,” she says with a shake of her head. “Go take a warm shower, I’ll go call the doctor.” 

Luke opens his mouth to protest, but one harsh look from Julie sent his way and he immediately heads to the bathroom. He lets the warm water run over him, closing his eyes and hoping the steam created will ease up his nose. 

By the time he gets out, Julie has placed a warm towel and his favorite pair of sweats on the counter. He smiles and quickly dries up and changes. He pulls on one of his old muscle tanks as he exits the bathroom. 

Julie turns at the sound of the door opening and smiles. “I changed your sheets so they will be more comfortable. And the doctor said to give you the same things as when you had the flu but just in smaller doses.” 

Luke simply stares at her because he can’t help but think how the hell he got so lucky. His head is pounding and his throat is sore but with her sitting there in front of him, looking so effortlessly beautiful, he feels on cloud nine. He scampers off to his bed, taking in the scent of the new sheets and closes his eyes. 

Julie appears next to him a few seconds later, holding a bottle of cough syrup, a water bottle, and a small bottle of pills. He lets out a loud groan that is immediately followed by a cough. 

“You know Luke when I said I would take care of you one hundred times over, I didn’t mean it literally,” she says, trying to feign annoyance, but the loving smile on her face gives her away. “Now take your medicine please.” 

Luke throws his head back but takes the items from her hands. “Only ‘cause you said please,” he pouts. 

Julie snorts and kisses the top of his head before turning around. Luke lets out a sound of protest making her turn around instantly. 

“Where are you going?” He asks, voice filled with concern and disbelief. 

“Uhh class?” She phrases it like a question and shrugs her shoulder, not knowing what else she’s supposed to say. 

“And you’re going to leave me alone?” Luke has the biggest pout gracing his lips and he feels his throat closing in a little. Julie never leaves him alone when he’s sick. 

“You’re going to sleep all day anyway.” Luke shakes his head so fast that he has to squeeze his eyes to stop the room from spinning after. Once he has regained control he looks up to find Julie eyeing him softly and he knows she’s caving, so he puts on his best puppy dog eyes. 

With a defeated sigh, Julie drops her backpack. Luke cheers triumphantly and pats the space next to him.

“Wait. Before you lay down, can you get me one of those wet rags for my forehead?” Luke practically begs, and who is Julie to deny him?

She marches up to their little kitchenette and soaks a rag in cold water before filling a bowl with ice. She places the rag in the bowl and makes her way back to the bed, where Luke is just about ready for cuddles. She places the rag on his forehead and Luke shivers involuntarily. 

It is only a few minutes after Julie lays down beside him, when Luke decides to ask for something else. It seems that since he got her to stay, now he will take full advantage of it. This time he asks for a hot peach tea to ease his throat. And after that it’s a cold water bottle. After that it’s a plate of her peanut butter banana toast. 

By the time Luke falls asleep, she has ran around the room about ten times in order to fulfill his requests.  She lays down in her own bed, absolutely exhausted and is about to fall asleep when a loud whine come from Luke’s bed. With a groan, Julie sits up and her heart melts at the sight. Luke looks at her through half lidded eyes and makes grabby hands at her, clearly not liking having her so far away. 

Julie’s sure that by the time he wakes up he will no longer feel any trace of sickness so she goes and lays next to him, enjoying the familiar weight of his arm around her after a long day. 

. . .

Luke has no idea what words are coming out of his mouth at the moment and he supposes that’s an effect of the drugs. Today is the day he got his wisdom teeth out and his parents were supposed to take care of him for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, they had a last minute business trip and who is left with the responsibility? No one other than Julie. 

So that is why she finds herself lugging a nineteen year old back to the car, as he slurs out sentence fragments that don’t make a lot of sense. She finally gets him into the backseat and she takes a moment to breath before making her way to the drivers side. 

“Vroom vroom.” Luke mimics the sound of the engine turning on as Julie turns the key. 

“Yes Luke vroom vroom,” she responds with a smile on her face. Julie has taken care of Luke a number times but she has a feeling that this will be much different. 

When she parks in front of their dorm Luke lets out a loud ‘whoop’ from his place in the backseat. Julie turns and smiles at him and he does his best to smile back with the amount of cotton in his mouth. 

“The first thing I do,” he pauses as Julie wraps an arm around his waist to lead him up the stairs of their building. “The first thing I will do when I die, is ask Jonbenét Ramsey who killed her.” 

Julie stops walking for a full minute but Luke doesn’t seem to notice as he keeps rambling theories on who he thinks killed her. She looks at him, at first thinking that he is spitting out nonsense and then realizing that what he is saying actually makes a lot of sense. She makes a noise of agreement and continues walking up the stairs, letting go of Luke to open their door. 

Once she gets Luke settled he pulls on her arm and grins up at her, a small amount of saliva dribbling down his chin. “Kiss?” 

Julie shakes her head. “Sorry bud, no kisses until you’re no longer on drugs.” She wipes the drool with the tip of her thumb smiling back at him. He pouts and hugs his stuffed koala closer to his body. 

“Kiss!” He says again with a slight bounce. Julie laughs and shakes her head again, telling him to get some rest. “Cuddle?” He asks, trying to compromise. Julie complies with this request and lays down next to him. 

“You know what?” He mumbles and Julie hums, prompting him to continue. “I love you, more than you could ever possibly imagine.” 

“Is that so?” Julie giggles. 

“Yes. You are,” he furrows his brows to try to find the perfect word to describe her. “You’re music Julie. Your voice is the lyrics of my heart and your laughter the melodies.” 

Julie’s heart stops, her breath hitching as she blinks away tears. “I love you too Luke.” 

When Luke wakes up, he asks Julie if he said anything weird and Julie tells him he didn’t. And maybe it’s a little selfish of her but she wants to keep that little love confession to herself. 

. . .

Julie does not get sick often, so it it quite surprising when Luke wakes up and finds Julie curled up in her bed, groaning in pain. He scampers to her side quickly, gently shaking her shoulder in order to get her attention. With a soft whisper of her name, Julie stirs and squints up at Luke. She releases a whine and pulls the covers over her head. 

Luke’s eyes widen and he freezes for a second because, what the hell is he supposed to do? This situation is normally the other way around. He spots Julie’s phone on her desk and he makes a dash for it, knowing that she has the doctor’s phone number saved. 

“Come on, come on,” he mutters under his breath as the phone rings in his ear. He almost yells in success when the doctor’s voice comes through the phone but he is immediately offended by what the man says. 

“Is your boyfriend sick again Miss Molina?” Luke scoffs and responds in an equally sassy voice, because if Luke Patterson is anything, it’s petty. 

“No, actually Miss Molina is the one sick this time,” He waits for the reply, expecting another dig at him but the doctor shows immediate concern and asks for her symptoms. In that moment Luke realizes he doesn’t know what Julie’s symptoms are and has a weird need to turn to his mom (who isn’t there) and have her answer the questions. “Hang on a second.” 

He goes back to Julie’s side and does his best to get her to say something to him. He tells her that if she tells him what hurts he’ll get her ice cream, not actually expecting it to work. Seconds later, Julie is telling him all of her symptoms which he promptly repeats to the doctor on the other end of the call.

He tells her that it is better to bring her in so he can test her for different sicknesses but the one that caught Luke’s ear, is strep. He got strep (unsurprisingly) when he was younger and although he doesn’t remember all the details, he remembers it sucks. 

He coerces Julie to take a warm shower, insuring her that she will feel much better when she does. With a disgruntled noise and a lot of protest, Luke gets her to the bathroom. As she showers he changes her sheets and gets her favorite hoodie of his from his dresser. He places them on the counter for her and then sits by the door, leg bouncing up and down with anxiety. 

A few minutes later he is driving a sleeping Julie to the doctor’s office where they confirm that she does in fact have strep throat. Julie whines about getting her ice cream to ease her sore throat and he makes her promise that she will eat the chicken soup the doctor recommended first. He get’s to CVS and gets all of the medication the doctor prescribed as well as a pint of Julie’s favorite cookie dough ice cream and a few cans of chicken noodle soup. He can’t cook okay?

He tucks Julie into bed, giving her all the extra pillows so she can sit up as Luke heats up the soup. Julie grumbles about it being from a can and Luke does his best to assure her that it’s good, which includes him having to eat his own bowl of it. She falls asleep immediately after finishing the soup and Luke stays next to her, running fingers through her curly, still slightly damp hair. 

He is scrolling through his phone when Julie starts to stir, a noise of pain exiting her lips followed by a whine. 

“Hurts,” She whispers, cuddling closer to Luke. His heart aches for her and he pulls her even closer, kissing the top of her head. 

“I’m sorry Jules. Anything I can do?” He feels her nod and he looks down at her surprised. “Really? What do you need?” 

“Ice cream,” She mumbles into his chest and Luke’s shoulders start shaking with silent laughter. When he tries to get up, Julie clings to him and he has to remind her that she has to let go in order for him to get her the ice cream. She reluctantly allows him to leave and smiles the brightest she has all day when he comes back with Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough and a big spoon. She quietly enjoys her ice cream as Luke starts up a movie on his laptop. 

Luke spends the rest of the day emailing both his and Julie’s professors which takes much longer than he expects since he only has the use of one arm, Julie clinging to the other one tightly. The response from their professors are about the same, telling them to make sure to do their readings and whatnot. Eventually, when it is already late and dark outside, Luke shuts his laptop and goes to sleep. 

The next day, when Julie is a bit more lucid she pushes Luke off the bed in a haste. He yells out a string of profanities as he hits the floor and Julie looks at him incredulously. 

“Why are you in my bed? I’m going to get you sick!” Luke rolls his eyes as her hand goes to her neck, immediately regretting raising her voice. 

“Really Jules? You literally have taken care of me dozens of times. If you think that I’m not doing the same for you, then you’re insane. I love you and I’ll do anything for you. So lay back down while I heat you up some soup.” Luke gets back up and pushes her back into a laying position. 

Julie complains about it but agrees to his conditions quickly, not really having much energy to argue. She is much less clingy, now fully aware that she could let Luke sick if they’re not careful. 

Luke finds that taking care of Julie isn’t as bad as he thought it would be. He teases Julie about her always complaining after he gets sick and she reminds him that she is much less of a nuisance than he is, which Luke supposes is true. After a week of Luke fighting Julie to take her medicine, long whines, five pints of ice cream, and a whole lot of naps, Julie is feeling much better. Luke says it’s all thanks to him, and Julie agrees with him for the sole reason of seeing him smile after she does so.

The most surprising part though, Luke doesn’t get sick and to them, that is a win within itself. 

(He does end up with a twenty-four hour virus going around campus about three weeks later but that’s a story for another time.)

[giyuwu-san]

burn the stage — part 1 // dabi

—  A multi-chapter fic complete with your favorite indie and mainstream bops. Watch as you fall in love with the captivating guitarist of a band one drunken, perfect night. (BAND AU)

↱ PAIRING : Dabi x Female!Reader

↱ WORD COUNT : 5K

↱ WARNINGS : Mentions of alcohol, Suggestive themes, Strong language, Dabi being hot

↱ TAGS : @yusemis​ @lordexplosionsextra​ @astrrnmy​​ @basicallyberry​ @j-brielmalfoy​ (I actually remembered my taglist this time wow)

↱ AUTHOR’S NOTE : Thank you sosososo much to @kaikamikazi​ for allowing me to use her likeness for Kai’s character! Happy birthday to my favorite clown <3 everyone please wish her a happy birthday woot woot !!! And also huge huge thanks to @doughnuts-5ever​ and @jojosmilktea​ for helping me proofread/betaread this fic huhu it was a whole ass mess you guys are absolute legends tysm!!

↱ PLAYLIST

↱ SERIES  MASTERLIST 

------------------------------------------------✈

scene one; no song

          "Thousands of years ago, our ancestors looked up at the night sky and saw a field of lights." 

The aged man paced around the room, hands folded behind his back and hair graying by the roots. His side facing the blackboard on the wall, he continued;

          "None of them really knew what they were," he stopped and looked at the vast sea of students perched atop of chairs in the big room. "But, they made a fascinating observation."

You sat listening to your professor, your chin perched on your open palm, and eyes focused on the notebook that sat idly on your connected desks. 

          "They noticed that the patterns were predictable and had clear effects." The man said with some form of self-acknowledged eureka, his left hand coming up to the height of his face, index finger pointing up at the heavily-lit ceiling. "The seasons, the tides, the harvests."

          "Incredible, isn't it?" he resumed.

The man was about to continue on his tangent. But that was until a hand shot up in the air, followed by a voice. 

          "Uhm, professor?" the boy who raised his hand asked. "Aren't we supposed to be learning about chemistry?" 

Your professor looked at him, who now appeared to be slightly frightened by the blank but disrupted gaze of his teacher. 

          “Pfft—” 

You turned around to see your friend Kai, her head resting upon her folded arms. Was she seriously trying to sleep through the lesson again?

          “The one opportunity we got to sleep,” she sighed. “You just had to ruin it, brainy.”

          “Is that seriously what you call a sufficient insult?” you asked as you fully tilted your head towards her direction.

          “Wasn’t saying it to insult him.” She said casually as she massaged her head with the hand closest to her, face still partially buried within her entangled arms. “Wasn’t saying it to compliment him either though.”

You scoffed.

          “You’re unbelievable,” and at that, the darker-skinned girl turned to you with horror in her eyes.

          “Oh no,” she said petrified.

          “What?”

          “You’re being a Karen again.” 

You looked at her dumbfounded, sighing.

          “I am not being a Karen,” you started. “I’m just saying—” 

It was already too late, however, as Kai had both her hands covering her ears, blocking out your protests as well as all her other life issues. 

You sighed once more and turned your attention back to your professor, your notebook still open on your desk.

          “Your semester is practically over,” said your professor, standing idly in front of all the students, his left hand reaching up to habitually play with the fabric of his suit tie. 

          “So, let me have some me-time every once in a while," he continued.

‘You never let us have any me-time—’ is what you could feel the hoard of tired students internally screaming around you. 

The aged man cleared his throat and set along to once again resume his lengthy ramble. 

          “Where was I?” he asked himself, his feet already departing from his standstill position in the middle of the room as he started walking about once more. 

          “Ah yes, so it seemed logical that these lights shaped everything else in our lives. But with the scientific method disproving all these theories, why do people still look for meaning in the stars?”

A hand shot up in the air once again, only to be shot back down by a quick hand gesture from the professor.

          “Calm down now, I’m not done yet,” he said. 

          “Many prolific historical figures of our kind, such as the Iikes of William Shakespeare, have used the concept of astrology as a metaphorical expression, more than an actual study. Whether or not he truly believed in it, he still used the idea of astrology to create some of his most well-known epigrams to date,” he continued.

          “With lines such as; ‘These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us.’ from King Lear, ‘A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.’ from Romeo and Juliet— I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with that one." He faced the students once more. "And my utmost favorite, ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars—’” 

          “But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” 

          “—From Julius Caesar,” the professor smiled. “Well done, Miss L/N.”

Shock settled into your form, having realized that you had said that much louder than you had anticipated. Now with the burning stares of your classmates and uncontrolled laughter coming from a seatmate you used to call your best friend, you let out an exasperated sigh, head falling onto your desk and arms protecting you from the unfiltered judgment of the outside world. 

You sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time that day before finally coming out of hiding, your chin once again finding shelter in your welcoming palm. You stared down at your open notebook, observing each line and angle. Stared at the drawings of orbits clashing together with the unwelcome intrusion of jotted scientific equations. A picture of the sun as each planet aligned themselves accordingly within their rotation, along with the lengthy compound formula of 4 Bromo, 3-4 Dichloro, Ethyl Hexanoate, written briskly, and uncared for.

But despite your apparent unhappiness and deep-rooted sorrow, you lifted your head forward and listened to the lesson in front of you.

"You seriously need to loosen up," said Kai, her head faced towards you. "When was the last time you danced to music alone in your bedroom?"

You thought about it for a second.

She sighed.

          "You're so sad," she sighed once more and patted your head. "Poor baby."

She brought her hand down from the crown of your head, arm now resting on your shoulders as she brought you in closer. 

          "I'm gonna get you laid tonight," she said with conviction. You looked at her profile, absolutely bewildered.

          "I'm sorry, what?"

          "That's right," she nodded her head in content. "You're having sex tonight, just leave it to me."

          "Shouldn't we work on having me dance to music alone in my bedroom first?" you countered.

          "Even better," she grinned at you with the type of grin your primary teachers warned you about. You know, those creepy man smiles that you should run away from when faced with in a dark, ominous alley? "I'm taking you to a bar."

You could feel Mrs. Peterson screaming at you to run. 

But nobody really listened to Mrs. Peterson. Sorry.

You sighed once more at your beaming friend and nodded your head slowly.

          "Whatever," you finally said. Attention spanning back to the lecture in front of you as you turned your head. "After the class ends."

Kai smiled and leaned back into her chair, legs crossing and folded arms supporting her head from behind. She looked utterly satisfied.

          "Alright Karen," she said. 

          "My name is not Karen," you grumbled.

          "Then stop being such a Karen and let me have my fun," she closed her eyes and smiled. Totally abandoning the lecture playing out before her. Chemistry was all just a bunch of bullshit anyway. 

scene two; black eyes

Ambient lighting and muffled voices were what greeted you and Kai as you both entered the bar. The light that shone down above you cast an evanescent sheen across the tiny, hidden bar. 

You fumbled in with your red dress and heeled boots, bridging the edge of comfortable and painfully exposed. It’s been years since you've last worn a dress. 

          "Are you sure this isn't some kind of ancient speakeasy?" you asked Kai, uneasy. 

          "A speakeasy for bands and stuff sure," she shrugged. "Sadly, no dancing flapper girls, so sorry to disappoint." 

You nodded and started heading towards the bar. No matter how badly you wanted to keep up the 'holier than thou' attitude, college was rough and unforgiving. 

You ordered your drink and sat down on the stool, Kai following you shortly after as she sat beside you. 

          "I heard there's gonna be a good band playing tonight," she rings up the bartender and orders a drink. 

She takes one look at your drooping face and sighed, her hand coming up to massage your shoulder. 

          "Loosen up," she takes a sip from her drink, "just for tonight, okay?"

You sighed and nodded timidly, copying her as you took a swig of your own drink. 

          "Looks like they're almost up," she taps your shoulder. "Mr. Compress is about to introduce them." 

          "Mister wha—" she shushes you before you could continue, leaving you no other choice but to sigh and watch.

The man with the strange name took center-stage with the microphone in his hand. The crowd seemed to know who he was, for they cheered and started gathering at the front of the stage. 

          "Let's go take a closer look too," Kai stood up and started dragging you with her. "Take your drink with you."

You looked at the already half-empty glass and shrugged, opting to chug it down instead. You finished your drink and walked with Kai towards the pit of people, still confused about what exactly was going on.

The strangely named man started to speak.

          "Ladies and gentlemen," he threw his free hand in the air by his side flamboyantly. "What an incredible pleasure to have you all here tonight. I am delighted to see some familiar faces, and some new ones too." 

He grinned.

          "I'm sure a lot of you are here to relieve some stress, no?" he asked, and the crowd cheered in affirmation. The man chuckled and continued;

          "Well, I best not keep my wonderful patrons waiting then." The crowd cheered louder. "Without further delay, may I present to you, The Villain League!"

The crowd roared as four people took the stage, varied instruments at their disposal, but the one that caught your eye was the one that stood at the center, a guitarist, and a good looking one at that. 

He was mostly dressed in dark clothing, aside from the white t-shirt he wore under his long coat. His features were hidden beneath the shadow cast by the dimmed lights.

And that was when the music started.

Electric guitar blinded your senses and opened your eyes. The exhilarating sound numbed the nerves that coursed through your entire body. Every hair on your body stood on its roots, awakened by the new thrill of music.

The lights turned on to the max, and the crowd went wild. Hands flew up in the air, the drinks in the opposite limb gambling on the edge of death.

It was music like you've never heard before. 

          "Holy shit," you said to yourself, the alcohol in your system taking its effect.

The man in the middle started singing, and you gasped as you took in the rest of his features. A good portion of his face and neck were covered in burn marks, as well as the top of his torso, which then spread across his arms. You awed.

How could someone who looked so damaged be so perfect?

Your eyes watched in wonder as your ears listened with delight. You made a mental note to thank Kai for dragging you into one of the best nights of your life. 

So this is what college was supposed to be like.

You smiled, feeling the bricks fall off your shoulders. You stood straighter as your eyes opened wider, and shined even brighter. 

This is so awesome.

You threw your hands in the air and let out a scream with the rest of the crowd. Kai catches sight of this and follows along with your mania, a laugh escaping her lips.

You were enjoying the aura of absolute chaos, but nothing had prepared you the moment your eyes caught his, staring right back at you. His mouth formed a devilish smile that made all the heat rush through your body in mere seconds. 

          "The girl in the red dress," he said into the microphone. Your eyes widened in unalloyed shock as they caught sight of the mischievous glint in his own. "Come out on stage with us."

What the fuck?

The crowd cheered louder and started to look around to find who he was referring to. They soon caught sight of you, who was still calculating the odds of you being the only girl in red. 

The sea of people parted and formed a direct path from you to the stage, and you were honestly shell shocked. 

Kai laughed and cheered you on.

          "Congrats Karen, you've officially been promoted to Moses!" she cheered even louder.

          "What, I—" you sputtered out.

Kai took her left hand and smacked your back, forcing you to stumble forward.

          "Go!" she yelled at you through the howls of the crowd. "Get. Fucking. Laid!"

At that, the crowd burst into an explosion of screams. Whistles and hoots were all that was heard as your shaking legs made its way towards the stage. 

You eventually made it to the edge, and the enigmatic guitarist leaned down to help you. Grasping your hand firmly in his, he hoisted you up easily. 

          "What's your name?" he leaned into your ear as he said it, his steady voice combating all other noises, and winning. 

          "Y/N," you said right back into his ear, a shiver coursing through your body as the current situation was doing its number on your sanity.

          "Nice shoes Y/N," he said cooly, and your head started spinning.

          "Uh, thank you—"

          "Let's have a good time together," he smirked at you, who blushed madly. 

You looked over at the rest of his bandmates. A young girl with a blonde fringe manning the second electric guitar, she looked at you and grinned widely at you. Eyes smiled shut and tongue jutting out, she threw you a peace sign in welcome. 

You looked behind you and saw a strange-looking man playing both the bass and keyboard. You made eye contact with him and he smiled, only for him to completely change his expression and give you the stink-eye, much to your confusion and anxiety. 

Finally, you looked over at the drummer who had dead-looking baby blue hair; he glanced at you and nodded briefly in acknowledgment.

          "Don't mind the last two," the mysterious guitarist chuckled, "they're a lot more decent than they seem."

You nodded and smiled at him.

          "So," he started. "Care to join in on the fun?" 

You took a deep breath.

          "Okay."

It was funny how you had started with not even being able to dance alone in your room. And now here you were, dancing along with countless strangers to music you never felt before.  

scene three; ilysb

            "You're new here, right?" the man said. He was sitting across from you with his head resting on his hand. His piercing blue eyes were focused only on you. 

It had been about an hour since you stepped foot inside the hidden bar and thirty minutes since you were standing on stage with the band having the time of your life. 

You looked over to the stage and saw your drunk friend Kai singing 'I Kissed a Girl,' microphone in her hands as she belted her heart out to the cheering crowd. 

You couldn't help but chuckle, before turning your attention back to the enigmatic man staring intently at you.

          "That's not slightly creepy at all," you answered jokingly. 

The man chuckled slyly.

          "I play here almost every night," he retorted coolly. "I would have definitely remembered you if you weren't new." 

You nodded. Smooth.

          "Fuck men!" you turned around to find Kai screaming into the microphone, one hand on the microphone stand and the other on the microphone itself. You sighed at the common occurrence. 

          "Fun friend you got," the man with burn marks said, attention also brought over to your crazed friend.

You sighed and nodded.

          "I'm this close to dropping her," you said with no conviction.

He seemed to have caught on to your tone and answered accordingly.

          "But you never will," he said.

          "Yup," you nodded once more.

You looked over to him again, the alcohol in your body taking full effect.

          "Wanna get out of here?" you asked him.

He looked at you with his eyebrow raised, a small smirk playing on his lips.

          "And abandon your fun friend?" he asked you.

          "Yes," you looked at him straight in the eyes as you said it.

          "Sounds fun," he said, already standing up from his seat.

You followed suit, casting your drunk friend one last look before following the strange man out of the small speakeasy.

The cold night air greeted your body that clung tightly onto the limited warmth of your sweater jacket. You walked idly with the man standing beside you, the streets painted a dark vignette by the evening sky. The night suited him, you thought.

You let out a deep exhale which invaded the darkness with its cold color, the hues fighting until the dull white was engulfed by the overwhelming darkness of nightfall.

You looked up at the stars that were scattered across the sky, their white twinkle enrapturing the night sky with its light and color. Their light so bright that it couldn't be overthrown by the darkness of black. Instead, they were displayed up in the sky, allowed to show off their beauty with no restraints. 

          "Orion's in the sky," you observed quietly. 

The man turned over to look at you.

          "The constellation?" he asked as he too tilted his head up to watch the night sky.

          "Yeah," you nodded, "I can't find the Pleiades, though." 

Absentmindedly, your feet started moving in hopes to catch sight of the constellation. The dark-haired man watched you quizzically.

          "Do you really think moving around will make them appear?" he asked you, who was now trudging farther and farther away. He sighed and started following you.

          "There're so many buildings around," you groaned in your drunken state. "Can't a girl just see her stars when she wants to?" 

He tilted his head in slight amusement and chuckled lowly. 

          "If it's the buildings you're worried about, I know where there's a field," he said. You turned around instantly.

          "Show me this field, good sir." 

          "It's this way," he tilted his head over to the right, feet already walking towards its direction. You followed him, skipping.

You eventually were led towards an open field located on a small hill in the park. Wow, we had a park?

          "Woah," you said in wonder. Your arms flying up from your sides as you spun around the grass, hair dancing in the breeze from your movements.

The man just watched you curiously, a small smile of endearment flickering on his lips.

You let out a big sigh of contempt and threw yourself down onto the grass floor, feeling at peace as the earthly bodies embraced you. The man who led you here followed suit, leaving little to no distance between your two figures as he laid down beside you.

          "Can you see the Pleiades now?" he asked from beside you.

You looked up and examined the heavens, and your eye immediately catches the open star cluster that painted the sky. A gasp escapes your lips as you point up at the constellation you were looking for.

          "There they are!" you squealed slightly, unable to control your excitement in your drunken state.

          "Why'd you want to see them so badly?" he looked at you and asked.

          "If you catch sight of Orion, then you're most likely gonna find the Pleiades too." You started, eyes focused eagerly on the stars. "There's this whole story behind them you know, about Orion and the Seven Sisters.

          "It was said by Greek mythology that Orion fell in love with the sisters, and pined over them for 12 years. He would always chase after them in hopes that they would become his someday. But that was until one day Zeus decided to turn him and the sisters into stars. So Orion could chase them forever for the rest of eternity but never once be able to touch them."

          "Wow," he said from beside you.

          "Yeah," you said from beside him.

          "You said they were the Seven Sisters," he said.

          "Yeah?" you turned your head over to look at him, his eyes seemingly glowing under the star studded sky.

          "But I can only see six at most," he stated.

          "Oh," you turned your head back to the sky. "That's because those are the only ones visible to the naked eye. If you look through a telescope, a dozen more stars are visible."

          "Is there a story behind that, too?" he asked.

          "Yup," you stated and continued. "According to storytellers, Merope— one of the sisters, is hiding her face because she's the only one of the sisters who married a mortal and thus isn't respected for it. 

          "Her husband, Sisyphus isn't represented in the night sky either, cause he was condemned by Zeus to forever roll a stone up a hill in Hades only to watch it roll down again when he almost gets it to the top."

          "That's..." his voice drifted off, "really sad." 

You hummed in affirmation.

          "You really like astronomy, huh?" he stated. "I'm assuming you're into astrology too?"

          "Yeah," you answered.

          "So, you're some type of zodiac girl," he said. "How quirky."

You scoffed.

          "What type of music are you into?" he suddenly changed the subject, surprising you.

          "I don't listen to music that much honestly," you said, surprising him, but not showing it on his face.

          "Okay," he said. "Very quirky."

You laughed at yourself.

          "Are you okay?" he asked you jokingly, maybe the alcohol was finally starting to get to him too. "Childhood trauma? Emotional baggage? Crazy ex-boyfriend?" 

          "Traumatizing college life," you said matter-of-factly. "And also just downright not having the time to listen to music."

          "Spotify's expensive, too," you added.

          "Ever heard of a radio?" he asked.

          "Yes, but I can never concentrate on studying when music is on," you said.

          "Ah," he said in a moment of realization. "It all makes perfect sense now. What's your major?"

          "Organic chemistry," you said.

          "Yeah," he nodded. "Makes sense."

          "Kindly enlighten me then, cause I can't make sense of anything going on in my life," you said.

          "You're a young adult suffering from the expectations and academically-focused constructs of our society," he said.

          "Damn," you started. "You're right." 

You sighed and placed your attention back at the azure before you.

          "The moon's crying," you stated.

          "What?" he asked, confused.

          "The moon feels sad," you answered vaguely.

          "The moon is sad," he stated beside you, eyes now focused onto the heavenly body in question. "The moon's just a broken planet that needs the sun to make it shine."

          "Just because it needs help doesn't mean their shine is any less beautiful," you said back.

A long silence passed between the two of you, he looked at you, whose focus was still set onto the night sky. Whatever had you so enchanted by them, he might never know, but as he watched your features bloom with the ethereal sparkle of night, the twinkle in your eyes matching— no, outshining that of the stars you looked so fondly upon, he just sighed softly.

          "Whatever you say, zodiac girl."

scene four; still with you

You were walking home with him in the cold night air, wind dancing softly around both of your figures as the gentle shrill tickled your senses. 

It was colder than usual, you thought. But maybe that was just from the thrill of not spending your nights like you usually did, alone in your bedroom studying a topic you couldn't care less about. You sighed.

When was the last time you were able to lay down on your bed listening to music?

You were grateful for Kai, who you just realized had been abandoned at the bar she forced you into. You prayed for your survival the following day. You say that, but in the end, you were nonetheless thankful for giving you a college experience other than cramming every day.

You thought about what you would have been doing if you weren't forced into the bar, and laughed at the predictability. 

You finally made it to your front door.

          "Goodnight," the blue-eyed man said to you. 

          "Yeah," you said back. "Thanks for walking me home."

He nodded and watched as you made your way over to your front door.

You stopped.

You didn't know if it was the alcohol in your system, the cold night air, the thrilling atmosphere of spontaneity, or all of the above. But right now, you weren't in the mood to answer any multiple-choice questions.

You wanted to live for once. You wanted to feel anything else other than the dread of an upcoming deadline or relief after a grueling exam. 

For once, you wanted— needed to be free of the expectations and academically-centered constructs of society. Constructs that you never wanted to question until now.

Even if it was only for tonight, you wanted to do the thing you wanted to do. 

Even if it turns into a mistake, you would gladly take it for a few minutes of freedom.

You turned around and ran towards the man whose names you realized you didn't even know. But you were too far gone to be stopped. 

Your hands found the side of his face and pulled your faces close, eyes meeting and lips almost touching. You breathed nervously.

          "Can I kiss you?" you asked suddenly.

Shock and confusion flickered before his eyes but disappeared just as quickly.

          "Sure—" he said, and your lips finally connected.

The kiss lasted for mere seconds until you pulled away, flustered and drunk and confused.

What were you doing?

You turned back around to enter your home and scream at yourself.

How could you just throw yourself at him like that?

But suddenly, his hand grabbed your arm and pulled you back towards him, connecting your lips once more. You could have sworn you melted.

The kiss lasted much longer, lips moving against one another and breaths being mixed together in the cold night outside your apartment building. Your hands in his hair and his arms around your shaking frame.

You pulled away to catch your breath, your air puffing up in the chilly twilight.

You pulled onto the sleeve of his jacket and led him towards your apartment, rushing past the other tenants and employees, you quickly got on the elevator where more kisses were exchanged in a drunken haze.

The elevator doors opened, and the two of you rushed out with you guiding him to your door.

You hurriedly put in your key, hands slightly shaking, the door opens and you hastily go inside.

He comes into your small apartment and closes the door with his foot, the door meeting the frame with a soft thud. He pushes you against the wall and your lips meet once again.

You didn't know how much time had passed with his lips moving against yours and hands roaming across your body, the contact sending both heat and shivers to course through your entire being. 

His lips moved to your jaw, slowly making its journey down to your neck. Your breath hitched. 

Some more time passed with low moans and heavy breathing coming from the both of you, now laying on your twin-sized bed half-naked.

You looked out the window beside your bed and saw the stars and moon staring back at you, illuminating your figures in its magical glow. 

It was like time didn't exist when you were engulfed in his arms, his lips peppering your body in kisses and bite marks causing you to moan softly. You wanted to know what he was thinking, what he was feeling, with the moonlight shining softly on his features.

Your hands found themselves buried in his soft hair, time passing by faster as more clothes were being discarded around you.

          "Y/N..." he said your name softly. His light voice passes by you, sending shivers down your spine. 

Your breath hitched. Having no name to call out to, you whimpered instead. Your bodies intertwined together under the dim light of your apartment, and your heart taking timid steps towards him, tripping and falling deeper and deeper. 

It was colder than usual, the low-pitched hum of the air conditioner you forgot to turn off comforting you from afar. Your body shivered more, not used to the sensations. It felt good, it felt really good, but there was something about it that pained you and made you want to fall apart. 

The unfamiliarity of the pleasure and sweat clouded your mind and made you think back to the times when you were studying instead. This was far different than the dull absence your mind feels when reviewing all your lessons. But even then, thinking back to the simple emotions that came from your textbooks and notes, maybe these simple feelings were special to you too.

The night progressed further, and time was lost once and for all in the midst of your shared pleasure, the night turning darker as the sparkling sky glowed onto your sweaty figures. 

You both reached your climax and breathed heavily, eyes meeting and foreheads touching in what seemed like a hazy afterglow, both your minds fogged and judgments clouded. 

Your hand delicately went up to touch his cheek, his eyes shimmering in the glow of the night sky. He looked at you with the faintest smile. Underneath it was painted the most beautiful purple, his broken and damaged face sending your heart into a fit of shooting stars. 

His body collapsed next to you on the small bed, arms encasing you tightly against his warm body.

You looked over to the window beside your bed. The sun was slowly rising, and the moon began to fade away into the brightening sky. 

You felt your eyes slowly closing, finally giving in to the sleep you denied yourself all night.

Goodbye moon.

And just as the moon left your sky that February sunrise, so did the man who slept next to you that very next day.

[lilibetts]

Sometimes A Girl Just Wants Some...

Falling in love with Riverdale, Theme 2: Spicy

Part 1/3

The 14th of February. A fraught time for the serially single in New Haven, to hear Veronica describe it.

“The end of Cuffing Season is nigh!” she proclaimed, holding an enormous dildo aloft.

(“That’s Colt,” their boss, Zelda Spellman, had explained when she hired Betty, upon seeing the younger woman’s wide-eyed fascination. “He’s a replica of a porn star’s penis. A very popular order, but also a very popular return.”)

In true Veronica Lodge fashion, she didn’t seem the least bit put out by this development. Next to her, Kevin Keller seemed markedly somber, but that was because his own casual boyfriend had ditched him on the very last day of January.

Betty, however, was indifferent in opinion to it all.

From her seat next to their workstation, she held up her pink mug with the penis-shaped handle in a toast. “Cheers, I deleted Findr from my phone,” she announced before taking a gulp of lukewarm coffee.

“Betty!” 

“Betty!” 

Both Veronica and Kevin were aghast.

“It’s barely February. What happened to TwentyTwenty being ‘The Year of Horny Betty’?” asked Kevin.

In her defense, she’d made that New Year’s Resolution last December, after one of those ‘look at your life, look at your choices’ epiphanies that left her life seeming very lacking. The reality of putting herself out there on a matchmaking app and meeting with the rare specimen who didn’t seem completely terrible and who seemed to have an actual body that was not 100% an ugly penis, however, had been nowhere near as exciting as she’d expected.

She was saved by Kevin’s computer chiming. “Sorry, satisfaction waits for no gossip.” He tapped a few keys and answered the incoming call. “Good afternoon and welcome to the Toyz R Us Customer Support Helpline. My name is Kevin. How may I help you today?”

Veronica’s computer chimed too and she pointed an expensively manicured, accusative finger in Betty’s direction. “Don’t think you’re getting away with this!” She hissed before taking the call.

Toyz R Us only had two brick-and-mortar stores, but it did fairly well with online sales in New England. Betty had only taken the job because she needed some extra spending money around the holidays, and she’d stuck with it into the following semester because she liked the new friends she’d made and found the atmosphere surprisingly enjoyable. At least she got to put her writing skills to good use, even if it was for composing informative, yet enticing descriptions of sex toys.

Of course, her parents had no idea she worked here, and if she was careful enough, they never would.

Veronica’s call ended much more quickly once the man on the other end realized she wasn’t Cheryl. Unfortunately, Cheryl Blossom’s brusque and insulting phoneside manner was such a turn-on to a specific subset of men that she really could’ve started her own side hustle and made bank. Ridiculous bank.

“No sir, I can’t tell you how much thicker it will make your penis. We do recommend that if you use a penis pump, you do so regularly and continually,” Kevin advised before tapping a few keys and removing his headset. To Veronica and Betty, he exclaimed. “That idiot just asked me how much bigger the penis pump would make his dick...my god, how would he think we’d know?”

Betty snorted as she stood, penis-mug in hand. 

“Hey!” Kevin called after her. “We weren’t finished!”

“My break time’s over!”

There actually were a few minutes left of her break, but she had a good reason for being sneaky. You see, it might be Valentine’s Day, but it was also a Friday, and Fridays at Toyz R Us meant freebies in the Friday Reject Box. Due to the sheer volume of products that got moved between Christmas and Valentine’s Day, management had provided them with *two* Friday Reject Boxes.

Betty was a college student at heart—if she was going to support her newfound lingerie and sex toy habit, she had to avail herself of cheap and free products whenever possible. 

Carefully sticking her head out around hallway corners, Betty tiptoed around the building like Nancy Drew herself, on the lookout for her coworkers. 

It had taken her about a month of working here before she stopped feeling embarrassed by the products, although she tried to always approach it as any other job...with professionalism.  Still, there was something illicitly thrilling about being twenty years-old and working at Toyz R Us that made Betty feel like a truly independent woman, more so than moving 350 miles away from her hometown.

Betty wasn’t inexperienced, exactly, but she’d been raised a very straitlaced 'good-girl-next-door' and while college had done wonders for her independence and self-affirmation, she still struggled with the idea of discussing sex with her friends/coworkers.

Luckily, she made it to the table holding the Friday Reject Boxes without running into anyone, and Betty wasted no time starting to rifle through them. Hurry, hurry, before anybody else comes and sees you.

In the first one, there was a Fingo Nubby finger vibrator, a very intimidating looking Booty Camp Training Kit that featured three sizes of anal plugs. She didn’t care for the pink crotchless tights but she grabbed the package with the lavender babydoll that had small slits for the nipples and a matching set of panties with an open crotch. That went on the table, and, after assessing the toys in the first box, the Sweetheart Choker and finger vibrator was added to the small but growing pile of goodies. Just the thought of playing with those was already turning her on. With hot cheeks, she turned to the second box.

Since she started working at Toyz R Us, Betty had been exploring her own sexuality, giving more consideration to what actually turned her on and put aside the time to make herself feel good.

She was distracted from the quick nature of her mission when she noticed a stack of dvd cases towards the bottom. “Ooh,” she cooed, intrigued. “The Seduction of Heidi.” That was added to her pile. She skipped The Best of Ron Jeremy and picked up 49 Positions for Lovers, whose cover promised better sex for couples. Well, the way her sex life had been going lately, Betty needed all the help she could get. 

Deciding she had enough, and that she really should be nice enough to leave some things for her coworkers, Betty gathered up her loot and spun around, only to collide with the hard body of the man who had been standing behind her. She yelped and felt a few of her selections spill out of her arms as she nearly stumbled backwards into the table.

Strong arms grabbed ahold of her, righting her, and Betty’s eyes widened when she realized who it was.

“Jughead,” she croaked. “Have you come to look through the Reject Boxes?” 

Jughead Jones was more or less her mentor on the Content team, in some ways her boss. It was him to whom she showed her first product descriptions for approval, him who she worked hard to please. Over the months, they’d gotten to chatting from time to time, and that had been how she found out he was working on writing his first novel.  

Over the weeks, they had shared their personal work—chapters and articles—for the other to comment on. Jughead encouraged her, Betty cheerleaded him. She came to admire him...his intelligence, soul, personality...and she liked to believe he did so for her, as well. He was thoughtful, too, in a way that threw her because none of her boyfriends had been this attentive...it had always been her that listened and took care of people. Jughead turned the temperature up in their office and kept it relatively higher than he was comfortable with because Betty had kept shivering and working with thick cardigans and hoodies on. He remembered how she liked her coffee and made sure their room had a steady supply of scrap paper and colored pens so she could work out word choice and technical phrasing before typing anything up.

One thing was for certain: she was ponytail over heels in lust with him.

She wanted him to do things to her. Things.

Jughead stood there and adjusted his crown beanie ever so slightly. “Uh, yeah, I’ll just…” he trailed off and, to her horror, he bent down to pick up the things she’d just dropped. All she could do was watch as he straightened up and glanced at the educational dvd and the choker before handing them back to her. “Here, Betty.” 

She couldn’t even look him in the eye, so she stood there, intensely aware of the flush climbing up her chest and into her cheeks.

Betty wanted to die.

“Thanks. Uh...I better go get back to work. I’ll see you when your break’s over. Bye!” She couldn’t get away fast enough.

Once she turned the corner, however, Betty did not head back to the Content room. Instead, she slowly craned her head around the corner, just enough to see Jughead as he bent over one of the Friday Reject Boxes. Scarcely daring to breathe, she watched as he quickly grabbed two dvds. Squinting, she recognized them. Scooby-Doo: A XXX Parody, and The Twenty: Self Pleasuring, which featured a bunch of solo female masturbation scenes.

Well.

She knew what tonight’s masturbatory fantasy was going to be about.

[amazingdriverfics]

Crowned by the devil - ch. 13

Summary: Kylo has to deal with the consequences of his act and so do you. Will you ever be able to forgive him? 

Warnings: lots of angst, sad Kylo, sad reader. 

A/N: this took me so long I am truly embarrassed and also sorry for all of you who read this fic which is very important to me just like you all. As you might know my aunt died and I was at the end of my College semester and as someone who has depression things just got a bit out of hand. I hope that I can write the next chapter sooner since I already have the planning written down. 

Thank you all for not giving up on me. It means a lot, for real. I hope you all had a great day.

My masterlist

Previous Chapter

Kylo left the room like a hurricane, all the anger he held towards her a moment before now fueling his self-hate, he had wished so many times to be different, to be someone who could open up, who could be loved, but everytime Ren proved to himself that he was only good at being hated, at being feared, at being the monster Snoke shaped him into. As he stomped to the halls, lightsaber already in hand ready to be ignited destroying all it could possibly touch as if it would solve his problems, Kylo kept on seeing her face as he unleashed the demons in his insides, the tears running down her face, the disappointment in her eyes, the fear she felt kept hitting him in waves and the feeling of being the most feared being in the room, which usually made him feel powerful, now making him ashamed of his attitudes. 

He didn’t meet anyone as he walked through the ship, his loud steps enough to let all of his employees know that they shouldn’t cross him if they had any love for their own life, Ren would kill anyone in that moment, would do anything at all to end the feelings crushing his insides, to take his mind away from her, to make him feel alive again. 

Before he could even notice he was inside a monochromatic room filled with computers, lightsaber in hand, the red light coloring his face contorced in an angry expression and the room. He didn’t think twice before destroying the room, watching as sparkles flew, ignoring the sounds of his actions since they were drowned by her “Leave”s, the pain in her tone amplifying his own hurt, it almost felt like her hands were back on his chest, hitting him over and over again as if she could really physically hurt the man built like a tank.

Eventually his rage died and despair took control of him, without even think he let the lightsaber fall to the floor, not listening to the sound of the fall as he started to sob, tears spilling and staining his skin as he too fell to the ground, the pain becoming too much for him to even stand. He had just lost his Empress, Kylo knew that he could make her marry him, he could do anything he wanted, but the knight also knew that he could never force her to truly love him, to look at him like he had hung the stars, to want his body, to kiss him with want as she used to do, to care for him. He had given all that up for his stupidity, for not being brave enough to let her see what he was like inside. 

As the night went on Kylo laid on the floor with the remains of his destructive behavior crying his eyes out and calling her name, praying to the force that there was something he could possibly do to make her care about him once again. 

——————————————————————————

For the following week Kylo stayed in his bedroom, too ashamed and sad to leave the comfort of his quarters, allowing the guilt to eat him from inside out, not eating properly, barely showering or leaving the warm feeling provided by his bed. The knight couldn’t even look at the mirror, his reflection judging him, holding him accountable for all he had done and for his mistakes. Ren knew he would have to leave that space - mental and physical - soon, he knew that the First Order needed him and that he couldn’t trust Hux to stay in charge for too long without trying to overthrow him, the worst part was that he knew he couldn’t ignore his actions for too long as well, he would have to face her, he would have to try to fix the mess he had made even though he wasn’t sure how he would do so, but Kylo loved her too much to let everything fall apart like that. 

He took one last look at the mess in his room, at the clothes spreaded around the floor, at the bed sheets covered in sweat and got up going straight to the bathroom, starting the shower as he looked into the mirror, straight into the reflection’s eyes, ready to do whatever he needed to do to make her his once more. 

——————————————————————————

Your sadness had turned into a uncontrollable rage in the day that followed the fight, at yourself and at Kylo, the wish to kill the Supreme Leader filling your head constantly as you lived through the day, trying your best not to unleash your anger in Mitaka who seemed to be frequently scared of you ever since your attitude change no matter how many times you tried to explain to the sweet Lieutenant that your mood had nothing to do with him. The only ones who were really able to handle you like that were Cardo and Trudgen which kept on trying to cheer you up with his super annoying sense of humor. So whenever you weren’t with Mitaka in the library gathering all the information you needed or in your quarters, you were with the two knights doing your best to live through the days as you tried your hardest to ignore each and every thought about Kylo that didn’t involve your fists hitting his perfect face over and over again. 

Mainly, it wasn’t too hard keeping you from thinking about Ren, but sometimes a wave of sadness would hit you straight on the chest remembering that you missed his presence even though you couldn’t bring yourself to understand why on the Galaxy you would miss that man, well until your body remembered you not only about the times he pleasured you, much more than that really, every time you felt like that your faded scar burned a bit remembering that night when Kylo comforted you and defended you from Hux, about his body on the small couch on the medbay as he slept and waited for news about you since he was deeply worried about your wound and about how grateful you were to him for ordering the doctor to treat your scar, fading it enough so you could cover it with a tattoo. 

The sound of Trudgen’s voice calling you hottie brought you back to reality, forcing you to remember that you were in the knight’s living room drinking with your two friends, even though you would never admit you considered Trudgen one of your friends. You grabbed the drink on the table, feeling the coldness of the glass and allowing the sensation to ground you even further so it could take your mind off of Kylo Ren. 

“Yes, Trudgen” you said with a fake annoyed tone, arching your eyebrows before taking a sip of the drink with a strong alcohol taste. 

“I asked you who you think will win the game” he replied, voice showing a bit of worry he and Cardo shared anytime you zoomed out of reality even though they knew better than to ask you what was happening, not talking about their master or about what happened that night was an unannounced deal you three had and even though you were sure they knew how Kylo was doing you knew it was better not to ask about it, not wanting to drag yourself deeper into the mess you had put yourself into. 

You looked at the screen in which both of them were watching the game, doing your best to analyze the teams strategies and players even though you weren’t the biggest fan of soccer nor had a lot of time during your life to watch those games, but the dizziness in your brain caused by the combination of alcohol and thinking of Ren made it impossible for you to have a logical response to the match playing in front of your eyes. And so you shrugged, taking your drink to your lips once more before saying a “don’t fucking care” which caused Cardo to laugh. 

“Come on, y/n, it’s the Galactic Cup, you must care about it” Trudgen said back, trying to bring you into his conversation with Cardo despite it being a loss fight, you were too in your head to come back. 

“Leave her alone” Cardo commanded, knowing that there was nothing that both of them could do, but letting you be. 

And so you stayed on the couch barely moving except when you took a sip of your drink feeling as your scar burned, shouting to you that there wasn’t a way to really keep yourself from remembering how Kylo took care of you. ——————————————————————————

Ren was in the throne room with the most expensive jewelry consultant in the Galaxy, looking at the thousand of pieces he had in his holotablet, double checking each one making sure that he would choose not only the best one, but the one which fitted his Empress more perfectly, which would make her skin and eyes pop. Just by following his plan to get his love back, Kylo felt a bit of comfort, of course the fear of it still not being enough to get her back was present, but knowing that he had already come up with a plan and that he was a step closer to feeling her against his arms once again was enough to keep him going. And so, despite what anyone could expect of him, Ren kept on scrolling and on deciding his favorite jewelry with a feeling of enjoyment pumping through his veins. 

The Supreme Leader was interrupted by the sound of one of his knights dropping on one knee in respect before saying “Master Ren” allowing him to know that the one in his presence was no other than Cardo, his Empress best friend and one of the people he had been avoiding in the past days knowing that the encounter would make the wound in his chest throb. Seeing his knight, however, didn’t make him want to cry or destroy a whole room, instead he felt proud of himself, he knew that Cardo would appreciate his attempt to make y/n feel better. 

“Cardo” he replied, gesturing for the knight to get up, waiting patiently for the knight to announce the reason why he had come to Ren. The waves of worry coming from the man, however, allowed his master to have an idea of what he wanted to talk about. 

“Master, I don’t mean to overstep, but I’ve been really worried about y/n, ever since whatever happened between the two of you, she hasn’t been the same.” he started, eyes looking at his calloused hands, stopping for a moment to catch a breath before continuing “Whenever she isn’t furious looking like she is about to throw a punch in the nearest surface, she looks lost, as if her sadness swallowed her whole and there’s nothing left of her but a shell” Cardo finished looking, for once, directly into Kylo’s eyes and even though he tried to keep a hard facade which didn’t show emotion, his light colored eyes were see-through, he was truly concerned for the girl he had the chance to grow to love as a friend. 

Kylo’s heart almost stopped for a second, all the good sensations he had been feeling just a couple of minutes before completely gone, overshadowed by the crushing pressure on his chest almost as if a hand was crushing it. If he was alone, Ren might have cried or allowed his self-hate to express itself in the room’s walls, but he knew better than to throw a tantrum in front of one of his knights, someone who not only should respect him as a master, but also someone he considered to be family. 

“I see” he replied, voice hoarse and distorced with the sea of emotions taking over him. “I have a plan to win her heart back Cardo, don’t you worry.”  

——————————————————————————

You were wandering in the endless halls, watching as the same bucket faces passed through you, as the droids worked and as the stars shone in the never ending blue galaxy, wondering what was your role in it, if you were really supposed to be living in a ship suffering for a man who could never give you what you needed when you had spent all your life on your own when the first encounter after the fight happened. 

As strange as it could possibly sound, you felt him before even seeing him, as if something about his aura was always recognizable from all that time you had spent with Kylo. Just the feeling made your body hair stand as anxiety started to fog your brain, it was truly your worst nightmare, you were pretty you weren’t ready to see him, but there was no point in running, you knew that he could find you anywhere he wanted, no matter how good you were at hiding yourself from your problems. Therefore you waited, standing still and trying to keep an emotionless face that could do nothing to help you to keep your feelings from the dark knight. 

The first thing you listened to were his steps, loud and confident as ever and it immediately caused you to look up, facing the thought you had tried to ignore the most. He was just as beautiful as ever, his gorgeous dark and intense eyes looking directly into yours, his hair adorning his face which seemed a bit thinner and his mouth you had kissed so many times in a line as he kept his neutral expression. Seeing him awakened a lot of feelings, the first one was a pulsing rage which had been with you ever since you woke up after Ren left your room, the second one was relief to know he was alive and well and even though you felt sad from all that happened, the most present feeling was disappointment, you didn’t exactly know why you weren’t expecting Kylo Ren to act like a monster after he had kidnapped you, but after all the nice moments and all the kindness he had shown you, seeing him as a captor once more, more so, as someone that even remotely reminded you of Kreat was just too much, too heartbreaking. 

“y/n”. 

[lookatmerosalie]

Love’s Consequences, Fifteen

   Not even really caring about class starting, I run after Sammy as fast as my legs can take me.

  "Sammy, wait!" I yell as she turns a corner. She runs faster in response, and jumps into the nearest women's restroom.

  I stand outside, not wanting to cause a scene and possibly get in trouble for violating Title IX. Instead, I knock on the door.

  "Sammy, can we talk? Please?" I beg.

  "Go away."

  "You can't stay in there forever," I tell her sternly.

  "Try me," she says, clearly through tears.

  To make matters weirder, a girl, likely a freshman, walks over to try to enter the bathroom. As soon as she notices me knocking and yelling, she turns around and keeps walking in the other direction. Oops.

  "Listen, I just want to talk. I want to explain it to you," I tell her, desperate.

  She opens the door very suddenly, and I double backwards.

  "What is there to explain? You not only lied to me, but you started dating the guy I obviously liked?" she confronts me angrily.

  I go silent for a moment.

  "I'm sorry. I was scared to tell you that I'm gay. And I started liking Austin out of nowhere. I didn't do it just to spite you, Sammy."

  "Tell me, what day did this start?" she asks, crossing her arms. I look at the ground, not really wanting to respond.

  "Listen, it doesn't--"

  "No, tell me when it started," she insists, annoyed.

   I sigh. "It was the day you told him you liked him."

  "Unbelievable," she says, storming off.

   Is it really so bad that I started dating the guy I love?

  I head back to class after her, and stay silent the whole time. It's a total repeat of last month, as if I hadn't gone through enough stress with her.

   The whole way home, I couldn't stop thinking. I was torn; I should be able to be with Austin, he doesn't belong to anyone else. But the timing did suck.

   If I put myself in her shoes, I know I'd be just as upset. If I asked Austin out that day, he said no, and Sammy swooped in and took him, I'm not sure I'd ever recover. I can't imagine the way she feels.

  As soon as I get to my room, I start brainstorming. I close the door behind me, pull out all the art supplies I can, and try to use as much of my puny brain as possible. I work tirelessly, until I can't work anymore.

It's complete.

  "Dylan, I don't want to talk to you," Sammy says sternly after picking up her phone. She had no choice, she left me to go on voicemail at least five times before that.

  "Sammy, I want to make it up to you. Can I come pick you up?" I ask, pleadingly.

   She sighs deeply. "You're the last person I want to see right now."

  I frown. "I know. I want to make things better."

   "Whatever, but it doesn't mean I'm going to forgive you."

  "I understand."

  I instantly drive over to her house, and wait for her to come outside. She gets in the car willingly, but glares out the passenger window the entire time.

  I don't bother to start any conversation with her in the car. I knew it'd be hopeless to try. So, I continue driving.

  Once I park, she looks at me, a little confused.

  "Why are we at this park?"

  "Come here, follow me."

  Sammy and I head out on a field trip with the rest of our art class. They ended up deciding on this park in town, holding some beautiful waterfalls, streams, and ponds.

   The late March breeze hits us, but the pretty scene helps us stay distracted enough from it.

  "Have you ever been here?" Sammy asks me as the group follows our teacher down a trail.

  I shake my head. "I wish, this is a pretty nice place."

  We all stroll down as a group, heading to where the water pools at the bottom. Sammy and I stick to our own little pair, while the other cliques talk amongst themselves.

   All year, of course, Sammy's been having to deal with Rachel, an ex-friend of hers, being in the same class. Back in eighth grade, about a year ago, the two of them had an extremely rough fight, and neither have recovered since then. Since then, Rachel's picked up a new group of friends, spending time with the more popular art girls.

   They hadn't gotten into any kind of confrontation up to this point. Merely passive aggressive maneuvers and bitter glances.

  Today, that track record changed.

  Once the teacher had us split off to find different sceneries to sketch, she went off with a group of students, leaving Sammy and I to explore where we were. What we didn't realize, however, was that Rachel was close by.

  Sammy points out a small creek and squats down to feel the water. Out of nowhere, Rachel pushes her forward, making her fall into the stream.

   "Hey, what's your problem!" I yell as I lend my hand to Sammy. She takes it, and gets back up. Her shirt got all wet, and ended up dropping her notebook in the water.

  "Sorry you can't take a joke, loser," Rachel laughs, walking away.

  "Are you okay?" I ask Sammy, trying to help her reorganize her stuff.

   She gives me a light smile. "Yeah. Thank you for helping me up."

  "I wouldn't leave you hanging."

   I lead Sammy down to the same creek that Rachel pushed her in nearly two years ago. She looks at me and glares a little.

  "What, are you gonna push me in? Is that why you brought me here?" she jabs.

   Instead of saying anything, I hand her a piece of paper. She looks at it, her facial expression transforming.

   "Wow... is this supposed to be me?" she asks, softer. I nod.

  Before I left, I finished a sketch of her that I'd been working on back in January for an assignment. Though I abandoned it then, I knew I had to finish it and follow through.

  I depicted her with beautiful, flowing hair, adorned by a flower crown. Though I didn't have time to add any color, I made sure to present her the way I saw her: beautiful, strong, and happy.

  "I thought you ditched this back at the beginning of the semester," she says, staring at the page.

  "I wanted to finish it. I want you to see how you look, not how you think you look," I tell her.

  "I don't look this pretty, you're buttering me up," she says, laughing gently. I shake my head.

  "Sammy, I know you're gorgeous, and I'm not even attracted to girls. The reason, I think, that I wanted to date you, was because I love you so dearly. But just platonically."

   She smiles, but then goes back to frowning not long after. "Then why'd you do all this to me? Why'd you swoop in like that? Do you not care about me?"

   "Sam, of course I do. Austin called me over, not the other way around. I didn't time it that way on purpose, I promise," I admit.

   She furrows her eyebrows. "So, Austin totally brushed me off for you."

   I look at the ground, figuring out the words to say. "Listen, Austin didn't mean anything by it either. He realized he didn't want to risk anyone else's feelings because he was too scared to admit his sexuality. That includes you."

  "You're just saying that."

  "No. He told me he was mad at himself for leading you on, and for hurting anyone's feelings."

  Sammy sighs and sits down on a rock. "I need time to process this situation. I don't know if we can go back to normal yet, Dylan. I'm mad, and I'm upset."

  I pat her on the shoulder. "Take as much time as you need. But know that I'll be right here when you need me."

   "Thank you."

[monkeydra]

Heeereee comes some prompts~! :D For the AU-list: Blind Date AU for Ichigo/Chad; Bodyguard AU for Grimmjow/Urahara/Yoruichi; Dragon AU for Hardison/Parker/Eliot; Roll Reversal AU for Wei Ying/Lan Zhan; Royalty AU for Lan Xichen/Wen Ning; Paranormal Investigator AU for Evie/Rick/Ardeth....aaaand I'll stop there XD Feel free to ignore some or all of these, of course! ;D

Sorry this took approximately forever! Hope you like them XD

I tried the leverage ot3 prompt but I really struggle with zoomorphism it seems, sorry :(

Ichigo/Chad - Blind Date AU

“I’m so sorry you got dragged into this,” Ichigo groaned, hiding his face in his hands, his usual furrow between his brows. Chad allowed himself a small moment of disappointment before reaching for Ichigo’s hands and tugging them down from his face. When Ichigo met his eyes, he smiled at him, fondly as always and Ichigo responded with his own small and precious smile.

“Do you still want to go in?” he asked, tilting his head towards the restaurant.

“You don’t have to,” Ichigo replied, looking sheepish again. “Rukia’s just. She’s trying to help.” Chad nodded, guiding Ichigo away from the entrance with a hand on his lower back. Ichigo didn’t like being inside when he felt agitated. He leaned into the touch and walked with him, his shoulder’s loosening. “It’s good to see you,” he said after they were down the street from the restaurant, beaming at him, eyes warm. Chad nodded in agreement, and Ichigo bumped him with his shoulder.

“How’s your family?”

“Dad’s as annoying as always,” he started with a roll of his eyes, “but Yuzu and Karin are in their last year of high school.” He brightened completely at the mention of his sisters. “They’re third and fourth in their class. Karin has been taking karate lessons from Tatsuki and Yuzu started a cooking channel on youtube.” Chad hummed to show he was still listening, pulling him a little closer when the crowd got denser. Ichigo’s hand came up and curled in the back of his shirt, leaning his head on Chad’s shoulder in an affectionate bump.

“How’s studying to be a teacher?”

“Good. I get to assist in a classroom next semester.”

“What year?” he asked, his smile and eyes soft and warm around the edges now, shifting a little closer himself this time.

“Second.”

“They’re gonna love you,” Ichigo declared.

“Thank you,” he murmured, pleased, and looked down at Ichigo again, now tucked under his arm. He was always so tactile, and he was only too happy to oblige. They fell into an easy silence, the crowds thinning again as the dinner rush came into full swing. Ichigo shivered at Chad’s side as the sky darkened, and Chad rubbed his hand over Ichigo’s arm.

“How did Rukia get you here anyway?”

“She told me I would be going on a date with you.”

Ichigo froze, and Chad stopped with him. He hadn’t stepped away, which Chad supposed was a good sign.

“You knew the date was with me?”

“Of course.”

Ichigo whirled out of his arms and kept Chad where he was with his hands on Chad’s shoulders.

“Can we start the date over?”

Chad tilted his head in confusion, but nodded, adding “If that’s what you want.” If Ichigo’s grins were bright before, it was blinding right now as he nodded. Once more, Chad couldn’t help but smile back. Ichigo wrapped his arm around Chad’s waist and nudged Chad with his shoulder in the short amount of time it took Chad to wrap an arm around him again, and they headed back to the restaurant.

Grimmjow/Urahara/Yoruichi - Bodyguard AU

Grimmjow clenched his teeth and nodded at Yoruichi.

“Okay, on three. One,” she started, and then wrenched his shoulder back into place. Grimmjow hissed and glared at her, but she just grinned back. “Good as new,” she said even as she poked at his shoulder.

“What are you doing then?” He kept his tone bored and Yoruichi pretended not to notice the strain in his voice, reminding him why they made such a good team.

“Feeling you up.”

Grimmjow rolled his eyes. She grabbed his arm and moved it up, to the side, back down, up again.

“Everything feel okay?”

“A little stiff, but it should be fine.”

“How do you know he’s not lying?” Urahara asked, voice filled with a forced levity neither of them called him out on. They also ignored his tightly crossed arms.

“He doesn’t lie on a job.”

“He can hear you,” he grumbled, stretching his arm out.

“He also gets grouchy when he doesn’t get to finish a fight.”

“Why start a fight if you’re just gonna run away?” he exclaimed. “And for fuck’s sake get over here,” he snapped. Urahara jumped, covering his shocked expression with the same appeasing, bland smile. Yoruichi leaned back until she was reclining on her arms, amusement radiating from every inch of her. Grimmjow cocked an eyebrow at Urahara, and evidently he was too curious to resist.

“What is it?” he asked once he was standing over them.

“Sit down, I don’t need a sore neck on top of everything else.”

Urahara made to sit and did not yelp when Grimmjow shoved him so he landed next to Yoruichi instead.

“You’re supposed to be protecting me, not injuring me!” he cried, whirling to look at Grimmjow on his other side.

“Try that on someone who actually believes your hopeless nerdy scientist routine,” Yoruichi drawled, sitting up again, her own smile unaffected even as Urahara’s froze on his face.

“That’s not the secret we’re tackling today,” Grimmjow said with a dismissive wave.

“I think you both know I’m too boring to have secrets,” he stammered. They both leveled him with looks so icily unimpressed that he almost hung his head in shame. Knowing them, they were less irritated by the lie and more how shoddy it was.

“Anyway, how much more do we have to flirt before you finally ask us out?” Yoruichi asked. “We’re both running out of excuses to lose our shirts.”

“And shirts,” Grimmjow added, shrugging his bare shoulder where his tank top strap should have been. Urahara’s mouth opened and closed helplessly, for once completely clueless on how to respond.

“Would you like to go on a date?” he asked finally, figuring that was a good place to start. They both grinned and leaned closer, twin yeses wafting warm over his ear and neck. “How did the conversation get here?” he asked.

Yoruichi shrugged and said, “We decided a few days ago to give you one more week to figure it out. If you didn’t then we’d give you a nudge.”

~

Wei Ying/Lan Zhan - Role Reversal AU

He traded the pristine whites and soft blues of his robes for something more functional, staked out a camp in the swirling miasma of resentful energy and mountains of death, and even then Lan Zhan still looked like untouchable jade. Wei Ying was tempted to ask what his secret was, but he suspected it was simply how stunningly beautiful he was.

“Let me carry you back,” he blurted out instead. Lan Zhan’s rosy lips parted, dark eyes widening just slightly before his expression shuttered again.

“No need.” He moved around Wei Ying and continued walking to the burial mounds, carefully stiff to hide the limp and broken ribs. Wei Ying ran so he was in front of him again.

“I can help with Wen Ning, and Wen Qing will have my head if she finds out I let you hike up a mountain like this.”

“Wei Ying isn’t letting me do anything,” he said, but before he could move around him again, Wei Ying laid a gentle hand on his arm.

“Lan Zhan please. Let me help you,” he said, echoing Lan Zhan’s own plea. Lan Zhan stopped, his icy mask faltering just enough for Wei Ying to see the uncertainty, the exhaustion, the pain. Lan Zhan had always been so softly, blessedly human. He nodded, and Wei Ying beamed at him. He turned and crouched down so Lan Zhan could climb onto his back. It was the fastest way to get him back to Wen Qing, and there was less of a risk of Lan Zhan reaching a meridian by accident and feeling his missing golden core. He felt warmth at his back before Lan Zhan’s weight on him, and waited until his arms were around his shoulders, Bichen dangling in front of them both, before standing. Lan Zhan’s arms tightened around him in surprise, but he was otherwise quiet and still.

“Don’t worry, Lan Zhan! We’ll be back at the burial mounds in no time, and between the two of us we can definitely restore Wen Ning’s consciousness.”

“Mn.”

Wei Ying smiled to himself at the instant agreement.

“And Wen Qing will have you fixed up in no time. Does she bully you with her needles too?”

“Wen Qing doesn’t bully me.”

“Ah, you would say that Lan Zhan. You’re so patient with everyone. I used to think you were a stick in the mud until I got to know you better,” he said, ignoring the hitch—likely from pain—in Lan Zhan’s breath. “You’re actually a really good guy.” Lan Zhan’s arms tightened around his shoulders briefly and loosened again. “You can hold on tighter if you want, Lan Zhan. And don’t think I didn’t notice how you spoiled A-Yuan. Is it that you like cute things? I remember you like rabbits.” Lan Zhan’s arms tightened a little around his shoulders, and slowly the last of his weight leaned on him, his silken cheek pressed to Wei Ying’s.

“Wei Ying does not have to carry me all the way up.”

“I’ll do it anyway. You shouldn’t be walking on a broken leg Lan Zhan, and Wen Qing might not bully you but she’d definitely pick on me.” He shifted him carefully to secure his grip on him. “Now hold on tight Lan Zhan. This path is a little steep and I wouldn’t want to drop such precious cargo.”

Lan Zhan’s breath hitched again, and Wei Ying made a note to be even more careful about his grip on his injured leg.

Lan Xichen/Wen Ning - Royalty AU

Wen Ning remembers his first impression of Lan Xichen: gentle smile and impeccable manners. He remembers the overwhelming feeling of relief that his betrothed seems kind—not that his sister would have allowed otherwise. Even if his fiancée didn’t love him, maybe they could still be friends, he hoped.

Wen Ning supposes that impression still holds even now.

A pretty flush started on Lan Xichen’s ears and spread to those high cheekbones, his sweet smile even wider than normal, his crown and ribbon slightly askew on his head.

“Wen-gongzi!!!” he cried, standing quickly in what would have been a scramble if Lan Xichen were any less graceful. Wei Wuxian hid a laugh behind his drink, his own husband staring dazedly at him at his side. “Didi look!!!” Lan Xichen said to Lan Wangji, prompting him to look away from Wei Wuxian and to his older brother. “My fiancée is here!!!”

Wen Ning felt his face flame even as something unfurled in his chest at hearing Lan Xichen sound so happy to see him. Still, he was here for a reason.

“W-Wei-gongzi, why did you c-call me?”

“I do remember giving you permission to call me Wei Ying,” he replied with a playful grin.

Lan Xichen took his hands in his before Wen Ning could muster a reply.

“I asked him to,” he said earnestly, squeezing his hands. “I have a very important question.” Wen Ning found himself standing straighter at the serious look on his face, nodding in response.

“Of c-course, Lan-gongzi.”

“This is important,” he said again, nodding gravely. “May I call you A-Ning?”

“W-what?!”

“May I call you A-Ning?” he repeated patiently, that wide, beautiful smile still on his face.

“Y-You can call m-me whatever you w-want, Lan-gongzi.”

To his confusion, Lan Xichen vehemently shook his head.

“Only if it’s alright with you,” he declared. “And may I hug you?” he added. “I like you so much!!!” Lan Xichen looked so happy, so hopeful. Wen Ning felt the all his blood rush to his head.

“Y-you c-can,” he finally whispered, voice hoarse. “T-to b-both, I w-want you t-to.” He found he truly meant it, too, his stuttering getting worse with just how much he wants it, how much his nervousness was choking him. Lan Xichen’s arms were around him in an instant, sweeping him in so he was completely pressed to his warm, firm body, his face tucked into the crook of his neck. Lan Xichen’s chin rested on the top of his head as he swayed them back and forth, and Wen Ning worked his arms out from between them to hug him back.

“I can’t wait for the courting period, A-Ning,” he said, only a little quieter than before. “I’m going to spoil you! So much!” Wen Ning buried his face deeper. He swallowed and took a deep breath, like his sister taught him, and pulled away enough to look up at him.

“T-Thank you, A-Huan,” he whispered. Lan Xichen gasped and beamed down at him, squeezing him impossibly closer.

“I like you so much, A-Ning!!!”

Then all his weight dropped onto Wen Ning.

He caught him, looking at Wei Wuxian when the man laughed.

“He’s asleep,” he reassured in between giggles, wiping at his eyes. Still, there was something soft and delighted in his expression, enough to reassure Wen Ning this wasn’t a joke of some kind.

“W-what should I d-do?”

“If we wait a little while, he’ll sober up.” He took another sip of his drink, and Wen Ning only now noticed Lan Zhan asleep on Wei Wuxian’s shoulder. “Sit with me, and bring him with you. I’m sure he’d like waking up with his head in your lap.” Wen Ning hid behind Lan Xichen again, sure his face matched his robes. Still, he half carried, half dragged him to the table, carefully easing them down until they both sat and, after a moment of self-conscious hesitation, pushed Lan Xichen’s legs further out and guided his head to his lap.

Wei Ying met his eyes across the table, undeniably pleased. He pushed a cup to him, already filled with wine, but Wen Ning shook his head.

“N-no thank y-you, Wei-g--” he stopped, deciding to take another risk tonight. “W-Wei Y-Ying.” Wei Ying grinned. They sat in companionable silence until Wei Ying set his cup down with a quiet, definitive clack.

“He meant every word you know.”

Wen Ning nodded.

“He w-wouldn’t lie,” he agreed softly. Wei Ying stared at him for a moment, oddly serious, before the grin was back on his face.

“As long as you know that.” He took another sip of his drink. “Also, you might want to brace yourself for the courting period.” Wen Ning cocked his head to the side, a silent question. Wei Ying’s grin was a little frightening this time around in its blatant amusement, clearly at Wen Ning’s expense this time. “The Lans don’t half ass wooing.”

Wen Ning felt his cheeks warm again.

Evie/Rick/Ardeth - Paranormal Investigator AU

Sorry this one is so short! I couldn’t think of much for it unfortunately

“Evie, darling,” Rick said with a stare that spoke of being completely desensitized to this very situation, “please step out of the pentagram.”

“Oh!” She looked around and realized she was indeed standing in the middle of the pentagram, painted on the floor in a red liquid that Rick refused to contemplate the origins of. “Well, at least we know we’re going in the right direction. This was in my vision.” She still hadn’t stepped out of the pentagram, but before Rick could point that out again Ardeth walked by and took her hand, gently tugging her out of it. Evie swung the flashlight around again, distracted, as Rick and Ardeth shared a fond grin.

“See any ghosts so far?” Rick asked.

“No. I can’t sense any either.”

“So is this place haunted or just creepy?”

“Too soon to tell,” Evie replied, looking closely at the walls for any distinctive features. Ardeth looked to the side and ran his hand along the markings, neither of them noticing the pipe Rick willed away from their heads.

[thewritewolf]

Eating Habits Chapter 6: Date Night

I think ‘date night’ might very well be my most used chapter title of them all, but chapter titles have never been my strong suit... Anyway, have an aged-up Adrienette date. Plus some other things.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 (Final)

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3. 

Adrien had gotten home late after another long but enlightening shift at the bakery. Well… relatively late. The hours that a baker worked meant that his bosses were in bed long before most people, but that didn’t matter much when they took advantage of his youth and strength to do the heavy lifting for them. He hadn’t even considered checking his mailbox last night with the bone deep exhaustion he’d felt. The first rays of dawn were only just barely able to wake him.

He threw his legs over the side of his bed and took the time to watch the sunrise through his bedroom window. Another beautiful day in Paris. Even if it was a little chilly in the early October air, the cold had never bothered him as much as they had his lady. A ghost of a smile flitted across his face as he remembered her and slipped his feet into the silly kitty slippers she’d made for him ages ago.

His muscles ached as he stretched, but between his excursions to the gym, the years of superheroing, and the schedule from his youth that had run him ragged, the pain was more than bearable. A warm shower to help relax helped take the edge off the soreness. Now all he needed was some breakfast, and something to distract himself. With those goals in mind, he got dressed and headed into the kitchen, sparing a glance at Plagg. He was still laying on his back, bathed in a sunbeam as one of his legs twitched. Adrien smiled as gently closed the door behind him.

Despite all the classes and his time at the bakery, breakfast was still Adrien’s strong suit. He started to cook up a cheese omelette stuffed with fresh vegetables, paired with some leftover bread he’d taken home from the Dupain-Chengs yesterday. Barely a few minutes had passed before the silence became maddening. Another lingering pain from his childhood, but one that he could easily remedy. A playlist Nino had made for him filled the air and Adrien’s mind cleared.

Halfway through breakfast, he remembered he’d never checked the mail yesterday. Not wanting his food to get cold, he dashed down to the mailroom of the complex and quickly opened his slot. As expected, there was a bundle of letters that he snatched before closing it and running back into his apartment.

He slowly shuffled through them while he ate. Most were worthless spam or worse. One from a modeling agency he’d worked for a month or two ago. Probably either thanking him for the work or pre-emptively asking for him to come back on for the winter lines. Considering his finances were doing alright, he’d likely pass on that and carefully set the letter aside. Reaching the bottom of the pile, he froze.

A familiar type of envelope in the same familiar handwriting of his father.

Everything in him told him it was a bad idea to read it. He never came out of it any better than when he went in. His heart was pounding in his chest and he began sweating. His breathing was ragged as his eyes flew over the page.

They were all the same. Every single one of them. Different words, same meaning.

‘I did what I had to.’

‘This was for YOU.’

‘Our family needed this.’

‘Put yourself in my shoes.’

‘Would you have done any different?’

The words flew past in a blur as his eyes glazed over. Before he could properly read it, a sharp voice drew him out of the downward spiral.

“I’m hungry!” Plagg whined as he flew in front of Adrien’s vision. “I’m wasting away here, kid. I need delicious, gooey camembert NOW.”

A smile tugged at his lips but didn’t reach his eyes as Adrien jolted to his feet to find his kwami’s breakfast.

----

While Adrien was distracted, Plagg narrowed his eyes and faced the letter. He was sorely tempted to just cataclysm it right here and now, to make sure his chosen would never be hurt by it again. But control of their powers had never been the forte of any of the kwami, least of all the kwami of destruction. Deciding that it was only barely not worth ruining the apartment, Plagg batted the letter into the trash. If only he’d had the opportunity to do the same to Gabriel himself.

Adrien returned with a quarter wheel of cheese, which Plagg took to eating with gusto. Adrien frowned as he looked on the counter.

“Hey, Plagg?” The kwami slowly looked up from his breakfast. “Do you know where that letter I was reading went?”

“Somewhere it belonged, I’m sure,” Plagg replied irritatedly. Adrien was about to speak again, so Plagg interrupted him. “So, date night, right? That’ll be something to look forward to.”

Just as expected, a dopey grin crossed Adrien’s face. Plagg could play the boy like a lute. “Yeah, it’ll be great to go out again. We don’t get to go on dates as much as I’d like.”

“That’s ‘cuz you’d want to go on dates every night,” Plagg pointed out.

“True,” Adrien conceded. “But I don’t hear you complaining.” He rested his head on his hands, almost flush with the table, putting him at eye height to Plagg. “Maybe because you have a love bug too that you get to cuddle with, hm?”

Plagg made a gagging sound. “Sugar cube and I don’t cuddle. We are ancient beings from the dawn of time.”

“Really? Curled up into each other like that, you could’ve fooled me. And what, exactly, is it that kwamis call it?”

“...Shut up.”

“And you have pet names for each other! Just like me and Mari. Sounds a lot like you two are dating, you know.”

Plagg slowly turned to Adrien and narrowed his eyes. “Shut. Up.”

“Aw, I’m sorry Plagg. Truce?” Adrien scritched between his ears in just the right way.

Unable to fight his instincts, Plagg purred in spite of himself. Refusing to continue the conversation, he doubled down on eating his cheese. Adrien chuckled and returned to his breakfast.

Despite his denials, Plagg was looking forward to the date night, but for more than just seeing his Tikki. Plagg snuck glances at his charge, but Adrien seemed to be back to his usual peppy self again. He breathed a sigh of relief. Another crisis averted, barely.

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

With how much she’d been pushing herself, it was bound to happen eventually. Late night studying. Early morning classes. Every hour crammed full of work. Between the darkness of the theater, the calm and pleasant movie, and the comfortable shoulder of her boyfriend, Marinette was destined to fail. None of that made it any less mortifying.

Marinette was gently shaken awake by Adrien as the credits rolled. It took a moment for his face to come into focus, but when it did the amusement was plain.

“Rough night, huh?”

She snorted. “More like rough semester.” She wrapped herself around his arm as they walked out, leaning on him as her eyelids grew heavy. Despite her best attempts, she yawned.

She felt him kiss the crown of her head. “My poor, sleepy bug. How about we bail on the restaurant part of our date and just head over to my place?”

Even in her exhausted state she managed a grin. “Why Adrien, you tom cat. And without even buying me dinner first.”

He rolled his eyes playfully. “You’ll get your food. I just don’t want you face planting in your plate in public.”

“Oh, so it’s alright when I dive face first into my food, just so long as it's at your apartment?”

“Yes,” he said with a stoic expression. “Then when you drown in soup I will be slightly less embarrassed.”

“Oh, I see,” she deadpanned. “Well, as long as my impending doom isn’t an inconvenience to you.”

“I’m glad you understand.”

Their eyes met briefly, but that was enough to break their charade. Both of them broke out into giggles and the conversation passed into a comfortable silence as they made their way to Adrien’s apartment. At which point, she let out another big yawn.

He looked at her with a frown. “You going to make it, lovebug?”

“Nope,” she said, popping the ‘p’. “You’re going to have to carry me.” She stuck out her tongue at him and took a step towards the elevator.

Naturally, she didn’t make it much further than the one step since Adrien swept her up into his arms.

She laughed. “I was joking you ridiculous man.”

“Princesses get carried to their towers,” he replied loftily. “I don’t make the rules.”

The strong, independent woman in her wanted to struggle and get down, but the very tired design student who was presently in control simply cuddled closer as she laid her head on his chest. She felt warm and secure and relaxed for the first time in days. She closed her eyes to listen to his heartbeat more clearly.

She must have drifted off since when she opened her eyes, she was laying on his couch. There was a delicious smell in the air that was enough to make her stand up, clutching the blanket Adrien must have draped over her.

He smiled as she approached his kitchen. “Hey bed bug. Done with your cat nap?”

“For now, at least.” She rested her head against his back as he stirred. “What’re you cooking?”

“Potato soup. Straight from your father’s cookbook.”

She hummed happily. “I can’t wait.”

“Take a seat, I’ll pour you a bowl when its done.”

She moved to do so and happened to walk past the garbage can. Her eyes were drawn towards an uncrumpled letter facing up. It wasn’t hard to recognize the writing - years of idolizing the man behind the brand had trained her well. Even if it had been even more years since that particular pedestal had been broken, never to be rebuilt. She cautiously lifted it from the trash and scanned the page. Ladybug levels of singular purpose parted the tired fog of her mind as her anger was stoked.

“Adrien…” Something in her voice caused him to turn around with a frown. When he saw what she was holding, his eyes widened. “...Have you read this?”

“S-some of them.” There was a tenseness to his shoulders that hadn’t been there a moment before. A stiffness to the way he held himself. “Only skimmed that one before… before I lost it.”

Lost it? Sounds like Plagg’s doing. Marinette made a mental note to sneak the little guy even more treats. Then her eyes widened in realization as his words caught up to her brain.

“Wait. ‘Some’ of them? There are others?”

Adrien swallowed and visibly paled.

In a heartbeat, Marinette was beside him, the blanket forgotten as it pooled on the floor behind her. She reached a hand up to cup his cheek and he leaned into her touch gratefully. With her other hand, she grabbed his forearm and squeezed.

“Oh, kitty…”

After a few more deep breaths, he got himself under control. He took the letter and folded it up neatly before stashing it high on his refrigerator.

“So, uh…” He said in a voice that only barely warbled. “Soups ready.”

She knew him well enough to let it lie… for now. Adrien didn’t like being pressed or forced to talk about things, but she trusted him enough to talk in his own time. For now, all she could do was take his mind off of it.

And if that meant chatting over a dinner of soup and then cuddling on the couch for a few hours… she wasn’t about to complain.

-----

It was morning when Marinette woke up. Apparently she’d been picked up yet again since now she found herself in Adrien’s bed, with the man himself nuzzled up underneath her chin.

As much as she wanted to sleep in, a glance at the clock proved that wasn’t likely. She groaned and tried to wriggle out of Adrien’s grasp.

“Nooo…” Adrien moaned into her collarbone. “Stay…”

“You know I’ve got classes, sunshine…”

He raised his head and pleaded at her with those big, green eyes. His bottom lip quivered with overplayed sadness. It was almost enough to break her right there, but sheer stubbornness carried her through this time.

“Nice try, and very cute, but it’s still a no.”

He sighed. “It was worth a shot. What if I drive you into class?”

“I…” She glanced at the clock again. “I’d actually appreciate that, thanks.”

“And if I happened to not have anything else to do today and brought you lunch later… I don’t suppose you’d appreciate that too?”

She tried to pout at him for babying her, but the warm smile he was giving her was proving contagious. Instead, she sighed and rolled out of his arms before walking into his shower room.

His laughter could be heard even through the door. “I didn’t hear a ‘no’, princess!”

[jimin-jungshook-over-literalbae]

BTS Jungkook Soulmate AU

Hey guys! What’s up? So, I just finished this one and wanted to get it up. Hopefully, I should be done with Taehyung’s soon. I feel like I’m back in the groove with this one. I really like the way it came out. I apologize to anyone who doesn’t like Big Bang as they are my boys and I know that Jungkook is a huge fan of G-Dragon. Big Bang was my first Kpop group so I reference them a lot. I had a lot of fun writing this but I need to be real with you guys real quick. I have to write a 75 to 100 page thesis paper so that I can graduate at the end of this semester. My stress level is high and my posts are probably going to be even more irregular than they are now. I’m going to try to write when I take a break from my thesis but I have a lot of other homework to do. That’s the sad reality of this moment. I’m sorry guys. As always, if there’s anything that you want to see, please feel free to send me a request! I love writing what you guys want to see! Lets get into this, shall we?

Soulmate AU Set Up: here

Profiles: here

The mass of people around is just at the verge of being overwhelming but you can’t help but love this place. It’s been quite a while since you’ve been able to attend a concert, let alone one from one of your favorite bands. The yellow crowns floating in the crowd around you bring a smile to your face. You get so swept up in the music and the crowd, you’re not completely aware of what’s happening around you. If you had, you would have noticed the boy sitting next to you with a camera in his hands.

His camera mostly points at the stage, but occasionally, it turns to look at you. You smile and dance to the music, singing along to all of your favorite songs. Someone knocks into your other side, knocking you into the boy with the camera. He steadies you against his side, his hand pressing to bare skin of your arm. A bell tolls a small, 4 note song in your head. It seemed to completely conflict with the hyped and exciting music surrounding you. You glance around with a confused glance and noticed the boy holding you doing the same. You blush quickly before stepping away.

“Are you okay?” He yells close to your ear, his words nearly drowned out.

“I’m fine! I’m sorry for knocking into you,” You yell back, going onto your tiptoes to talk to him. You notice the camera in his hands still pointed toward the stage and being held quite steady.

“It’s fine. Not your fault,” He offers you a smile, his bunny teeth poking out of his top lip.

“What’s the camera for?” You ask, your eyes finally returning to the stage. G-Dragon and Seungri are on the edge of the stage near you and you can feel their charisma from here. The boy’s expression lights up as he looks at G-Dragon, changing his angle to point toward him.

“I’m a Youtuber. I figured I would vlog about the concert since I always talk about how much I love G-Dragon,” He explains, his eyes and camera following GD across the stage.

“My name is Y/N,” You introduce yourself quickly, struggling to be heard over the crowd.

“Jungkook,” He responds quickly, bowing slightly.

Seungri bounces toward us, a wide smile on his face. He stoops down to wave at the camera as he pulls the mic up to his lips and starts to sing. Throughout the concert, you notice Seungri whispering to his other band members. Each one he talks to crouches near the edge of the stage where we are, waving at the camera. At some point, a body guard makes his way over to the two of you. Jungkook looks at him nervously as he stops in front of him.

“Come with me real quick,” The guard says, indicating for Jungkook to follow him,” You might to have your friend here hold your camera.”

Jungkook looks at your helplessly before handing you his camera and following the guard. You’re not sure how shocked you should feel when he ends up on the stage with the band members, a microphone clutched in his fingers. Seungri speaks up first.

“So, it turns out we had a mega-fan in the audience today. For anyone who doesn’t recognize him, this is Youtuber Jungkook. I’ve heard he makes some pretty good covers of our songs so I figured I’d invite him to sing a song with us,” Seungri’s voice is boisterous as he looks at the surprised child next to him.

“A couple of my friends have shown me the videos and I’m excited to perform with you,” G-Dragon’s shy voice draws Jungkook’s attention. You quickly steady the camera in your hands as you listen to the boy perform. You grin and mess with the camera enough to zoom in and watch him having the time of his life. He finally returns to his spot next to you and takes his camera back, he looks back on the footage that you took. He’s grinning broadly, bouncing with his excitement.

“Do you wanna go get a drink after this?” He yells near your ear, pointing his camera back at the stage. The concert is almost over at this point, the last few songs rushing to a quick finish.

“Sure?” You’re almost surprised by his invitation. He grins at you before giving his full attention back to the stage. By the time the concert is over, he’s finally packing away his camera and leading you out of the stadium. You follow behind him closely and watch as he gets stopped a few times and people take pictures with him.

You end up at a small, out of the way bar. There are a few people littered about but no one is causing trouble. A pink haired man at the bar runs up to give him a high five before holding out his phone. There’s a video already up of Jungkook performing with Big Bang.

“You always manage to get yourself in all kinds of situations, Kookie,” the pink haired man grins,” But I’ll forgive you this one time. Even if you did steal my dream of performing with Taeyang.”

“Maybe they would have brought you up too if you had sat with me, Jimin-hyung. But nooo… You had to sit in the celebrity setting,” Jungkook mocks him, sticking his tongue out at the shorter man.

“Hey! Did you see how many girls were in that section? There could have been a riot,” The pink haired man, Jimin, points out, sipping from the drink you hadn’t noticed clutched in his fingers.

“Yeah, yeah, Mr. Famous Idol,” Jungkook scoffs before heading to bar to get a drink. You’re left standing with the pink haired man who is giving you a curious look.

“Did you go to the concert too?” He asks, the curious look only seems to grow on his face.

“Yeah. It was a lot of fun,” You let a big smile grow across your face.

“Quick, favorite member,” Jimin asks quickly, catching you off guard.

“I’d like to hear that too,” A voice says from behind you. You turn to see Jungkook holding a drink out to you. You take it, your fingers brushing across his. Once again, that lone bell chimes in your ears. You can’t help but let out an audible gasp. Jimin gives you a curious look but he doesn’t say anything.

“Daesung. Followed by Taeyang and G-Dragon,” You purse your lips as you think, the cool glass slick on your fingers.

“Original answer,” Jimin smiles a bright smile, his eyes closing into smiles of their owns,” I approve.”

If you had looked behind you, you would have seen Jungkook shooing Jimin away. Jimin snorts but smiles and says a quick goodbye before leaving. Jungkook leads you to a small, unoccupied table. You take a seat and sip the drink in your had. It’s not bad but you’re not quite sure what it is. It’s one you’ve never ordered before.

“So, I guess I should have known I would meet my soulmate at a Big Bang Concert,” His tone is curious yet seems quite sure.

“Wait, how do you know we’re soulmates?” Your tone is incredulous.

“This,” He reaches forward and takes your free hand, the bells sounding once again,” This is pretty damning evidence.”

“I thought I might have been imagining it,” You admit, chewing on your bottom lip. His thumb frees your lip from your teeth, causing your eyes to widen.

“Definitely not, princess. We just weren’t in the right setting to talk about it,” He gives you a cheeky grin.

“And a bar was the right setting?” Your tone takes on a teasing tinge.

“I figured it would be too forward to bring you back to my apartment,” He admits, his hand rubbing against the back of his neck.

The two of you talk until it’s time for the bar to close. You’ve each only had a few drinks and are nothing more than a little buzzed. He helps you to your feet and he keeps your fingers clasped in his. The four note song is soothing, nothing too extreme or complex but yet feels like the most beautiful song you’ve ever heard. The walk to your apartment is a little chill but remains warm in the pleasure of good company. When you get to your door, you turn to him. He starts to say something but you quickly cut him off with a soft kiss.

Once again, your hear that little song played on a bell but it has changed. There’s a new note added, as if the song is changing and shifting along with your relationship. It makes you curious as to how that song will change as your relationship grows. Will it become more complex? More beautiful? Who can tell. For now, all you know is that this moment is perfect and you hope to have many more like it.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Please feel free to send me any requests you might have!

[czeriahshiptank]

Missed connection

Ok, so I started writing this during the Zelink month last August, but we lost my aunt and life in general caught up with me. I've been stranded home with the chicken pox for the last week and a half, so I finally had time so stop and finish this.

Needless to say that it wasn't how I had imagined writing this particular piece, but it kinda got away from me, and I now think that it's probably my best one so far. I really like it...

It take place in a Hyrule after BOTW, with some weird spirits tracks elements, imagine just a BOTW Hyrule but where the technology had evolved again after the game, kinda modern time Hyrule. I might have a few headcanon going on in there, I hope I doesn't bother anybody.

I listened to this Youtube channel during the writing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHW1oY26kxQ) and I think it grasp a lots of the general atmosphere I tried to convey, so don't hesitate to give it an ear during your reading.

As always, English is not my first language, so I apologize for any awful mistake I might have left, I've reread that a hundred time already and I can't see anything anymore...xD

Happy new year to everybody, and have a good read ! I hope to read in the comments your thoughts about this ^^

Note : cross posted on my own account on AO3.

That year, as it happen sometime, autumn arrived on a crisp summer night. One hour the air was heavy with warmth and sweetness and the next was ice cold and filled with the bittersweet taste of the end of something.

Weather in Hyrule was often like that, mostly on the far sides of the kingdom. The plain around the castle always seemed to have her own micro climate of soft breeze, shy sun and eventual rain, meanwhile the outskirt could go from year long frigid air of the Snowpeak, to the desertic warmth of the Gerudo valley.

But nothing ever felt like home to Link like the crisp and cold air of the Akkalan plains, so close in shape as the rest of the grand plateau but as if engulfed in a perpetual autumn late afternoon.

As much as he loved his job as Hyrule Train Track employee, he enjoyed it most when he was assigned here, in the Akkalan station. Most of his coworker were assigned to a certain place in particular and stayed there, or enjoyed running the trains all over the country while always going back home at the end of the day. Link wasn’t like that. He was a floater. They were only a handful of employee like him, never assigned to a task in particular, always changing affectation.

He hated staying in one place for too long, but he had to admit that this station near the University was his favorite one.

If you asked him, he would tell you it was because of the bright colors the tree leaves seemed to have all year long, from bright greens to dark reds. the low light of the sun on the long meadow, never high enough to make you feel like it was summer, but giving this eerie feeling of late autumn to the area all year long. He would tell you about the crisp air of the wind, sometime hot when it came down from the Eldin volcano, sometime full of salt when the sea would bring rain.

However, he would probably never tell you about his main reason to like the place.

In the very north-east of the province, you could find an old scientific facility. It was said that this place had been crucial in the defeat of the calamity, but that was hundreds of years ago and mostly history lovers would talk to you about that. It was only an hour away from Tarrey town, the capital of the region.

The place had probably changed a lot since that time. It was said that the only remaining piece was the giant telescope on top of it. The building was now surrounded by houses and smaller labs as well as the biggest university of the land.

The school was well loved by his students, as much for the history surrounding it that for the serenity that came with the area. It has a couple of coffee shop, the biggest library outside of Castle town and the kind of atmosphere you only see in movies, where everybody likes to study and all is good in the world. Like a Yuletide tale where the heroine find love at the end of the story.

Zelda kinda felt like she was the heroine of a bad movie like that, and if you asked her, she would tell you that she might have preferred not missing her last train home. But of course she had. Her last class of the semester had run late, the professor had gone on and on about the schism between the Sheikah and the Yiga, from all those centuries ago, and how it was believed that the royal family of that time hadn’t really made a good decision in making the Sheikah destroy all their technology. Zelda actually agreed with him, who knows how would be the scientific global knowledge if her ancestors hasn’t been so stupid. But as interesting that lecture had been, it had extended the lesson by a good thirty minutes and as a result made her missed the connection to the central tower which was the only way for her to go back home on time. She would have to wait for the 6.45 train on the next day and of course, had no way to go back to her small appartement in the campus since everything was closed for the Yule season.

She took in a long, meant to be calming, breath.

Part of her had always loved train station. Particularly this one. It wasn’t the huge ones you could find in big cities, engulfed in a shell of metal and glass. As claustrophobic in their metallic skull and ambient madness than liberating as the new travel prospect they announced. They always smelled like the end of something and the beginning of everything. The crowd and the noise, so overwhelming you just wanted to fall into the first train possible without knowing where it could take you, just hoping it would be an adventure..

The Akkala Faculty station was not like that. The station was situated just before Tarrey Town, which was the last of this line. It was composed of four docks, next to each other, and a small building to buy tickets and be safe from the weather.

It wasn’t in the middle of the city but slightly on the outskirt, just at the verge of the forest. If you squint along the east of the tracks, you could even see the ocean not so far away. It was always breezy, mostly in the evening, and most often misty in the morning. It has the kind of atmosphere you imagine when someone tells you a fairy tale filled with magic and weird places, the kind that gives you the chills and make you dream of sorceress and mighty heroes. The kind you see in these movies, where the two lost lovers meet and fall in love right next to the tracks before each leaving in a different trains.

Train station always made her think of sad love stories. Like the ones of the heroes of old, and the princesses also named Zelda. The ones where the princess send back her hero back in time to let him live his life, the one where he decide to leave all by himself, the ones where he died in her arms, and all she could do was to hope than in her next life they would finally be happy.

They're haven't been a hero for so many years, and even if the Royal Family kept the habit of calling their first born daughters Zelda, most of the links she met were the ones made on the Sheikahnet. Ganon, or the calamity, was just a memory, kept alive by Historian and old fear that it could always come back, but never really sure if it was a legend or reality.

She breathed out.

The sun was slowly going down, and there was no use staying outside now. No magic train would come and pick her up. She could only wait for the morrow. At least she had taken a couple of books with her.

Link loved reading strange stories on the Sheikahnet. Tales of liminal space, moments and places in time that did not really exist, but were there anyway. Feeling that anything could happen if you were attentive enough of your surrounding.

Like sometime in the morning, when from the corner of your eyes you could glimpse a fairy. Nobody ever believed him when he mentioned it as a kid, so he stop speaking about it, but it happened. A small light that would float on the verge of his consciousness when the light were low and the mist so thick you could cut it with a knife. He sometime dreamt about a moon about to fall, about great battles that happened here and somewhere else. Of big birds, one as red as the fire of Eldin, and another bluer than the sky above. He dreamt about fairies and princesses, sometime brunet, sometime as blond as the wheat he could see from the train windows. Sometime he dreamt he was dying, other time he dreamt that she was.

Most time he just dreamt of her. She was always the same even if she never bore the same face, and he was always himself even when he wasn’t.

He never talk to anyone about these dreams.

He loved the Akkala Faculty station most of all the places he knew. The weird feeling like he could meet anything, anybody from anywhere. Although at night, like right now, most of the time it was empty.

He hadn’t expected to see someone, let alone a girl, sitting on the bench inside the station, but here she was anyway. Long blond hair, falling on her laps, even as she put them back behind her long and fine hylian ears. She was reading a book and in the silence of the place he could hear a slow music being hummed. A lullaby of sort, one he had never heard before but was strangely familiar anyway.

She was familiar in that way strangers sometimes were, as if he had met her in another life, and maybe he had. He dreamt of strange life so often that he wouldn’t be surprised, and after all, he might have seen her on another day, in a train. She was familiar because somehow, he knew who she was, he had seen her, who hadn't? She was the crown princess after all, he recognized her. Everybody knew she was studying here. But he knew her, not in a gossipy way, just a true as saying he knew the grass was green or the sky was blue. He just knew….

“Excuse me miss, are you waiting on a train ? There isn’t another one before tomorrow…”

She hadn’t expected anyone to be there. The place was so small and quiet, she had never realized how much she had needed the calm before staying there for the last hour, alone with her book and the slow sound of the light rain falling on the glass ceiling of the station. His voice made her jump slightly, all taken as she had been by the story within the page of her novel, she hadn’t heard him coming closer. He was wearing the uniform of the Train Tracks, a green tunic, with golden boutons. A nice green cap over dirty blond hair and big blue eyes who were looking at her with a bit of worry.

“Yes, I know, I missed my last one and can’t go home because of the holiday. I was hoping of staying here for the night, is that a problem ? I can leave…” Now that he was closer, she could read his name embroidered in gold lettering.“...Link?”

The name was strangely familiar on her lips. And after all, it was. She study history after all, and if one name came back as often as her own, it was this one. It was quite a strange name to wear nowadays, less and less people named their sons after the heroes of old. Too much to bear, too dangerous, if the calamity was to come back, and their son was the one to go ? She could understand the predicament. After all, she herself was the most likely Zelda to be called upon if anything like that were to happen.

“Oh, no, don’t worry miss, you can stay.”

His voice was soft, almost inaudible. She had read that a lot of the heroes had been shy, silent, some says that a few were completely mute. She wondered if all the Link in the country were like the first one, if the name was implicitly making them take certain character. A name is a heavy burden to carry, one that most parent didn't really realize.

She looked at him and everything inside her was yelling that she knew him, but no word would come out of her mouth, his eyes were full of recognition and the fear was restraining her heart. The silence stretched for what seemed like years, when finally her throat allowed for the sound of her hope and fear to come out.

“Do I know you ?”

Could she know him? Yes she could, as true as he knew her without having a clue on how he did. He wanted to touch her, to feel the soft skin of her hand like all the other time he had met her. Sometime with a glove, sometime with fur. He knew her in a way he couldn’t understand.

His voice was silent in the back of his throat, memories of dreams too real, and realities that couldn't have been anything else but dreams. In this place where everything could happen, he had met her, and somehow, something in him told him it was impossible.

But here she was, Zelda, his princess, his everything in so many lives. It was unlikely, said the voice inside his head, that they somehow manage to meet for once without the hovering of an horrible future. But maybe it had happen, maybe this time they could just be themselves without the fear of imminent death and unshakable duty…

Maybe it was just a flicker of his imagination, maybe it was just him who felt the overwhelming need to wrap her in an embrace and never let her go. He wanted to say something, anything, try to make her feel what he felt…

“I think you do.”

They looked at each other for what felt entire lifetimes. All the one they could  never be together, and some of the one where they were. They say that some kind of love transcend life time and maybe theirs is one of them.

One of Zelda favorite story was the one of the creation of this land. Strangely enough, it arrived almost unscathed to them when so many others were just like tree leaves, scattered to the wind, never to be heard again. It was said that it was the will of the goddess that her soul be reborn in a human girl, and her hero soul to follow hers until the end of time. And maybe it was what that was. She for sure wasn't feeling really goddess like right now, but the rythme of her heart was telling her that it was him.

Some things are just too hard to ignore, and the attraction she felt for this boy, no older than her, was unprecedented. Before that, she realized, she had been mostly going through her life like a lifeless puppet. Or maybe the goddess had just made everything happening to make their encounter possible.

Her mind was filled with so many memories that weren’t her own, it was almost hard to keep up. All the faces of the same man, so different were suddenly juxtaposing on the face of the one in front of her. That’s how she realized.

“Do you...want to have a coffee ? I think we both need a hot drink…”

The eyes and the voice, they had always been the same.

They ended up in the all night coffee shop next to the station. The place was about as empty as it could be, a few patrons here and there and a waitress who would have prefer another shift. The music was soft, the booth comfortable. Their hands were joined in the middle of the table and their hot coco discarded on the far side of the table for the last ten minutes. If you looked carefully, you could see the soft curl of three triangles softly shining on the back of their hands, another proof of what was happening, but too taken they were with each others presence, neither of them seemed to acknowledge their presence.

They had talk about their lives, how for all this time it has felt like something was missing. For the first time Link told someone about his dreams, and Zelda about her own. They spoke endlessly about their families their works, the school. How freeing conducting a train was, and how much a single jar could teach you about your own civilisation.

It felt like no time at all had pass when Zelda realized the first ray of light had started to appear by the large window of the shop. The clock was announcing 6 o’clock, and it was almost time for her to catch her train. They had taken the time to exchange slate number, and as Zelda was dragging him to watch the sunrise on the tracks, the incomprehensible need to tell him she loves him was overwhelming.

How could she just say that to someone she barely knew, if her mother were here she would probably scold her like the teenager she acted like. But when her eyes fell once again into his, it was like the whole world was lit on fire.

She didn’t know him, yet, but her soul did. And if you can’t trust the very soul of the goddess to find true love, then who could you trust ?

She was surrounded by light and Link had never seen anything as beautiful as her right now. The whole evening was surrealist, but even him couldn’t have invented a plot like that for a dream he hasn’t been asleep to have. For all time, the mere concept of Soulmate has seemed somewhat preposterous to him. Not something someone like him could ever hope to have. Even with the dreams. So many of them finished with despair and sadness that he never thought that he would meet her, and live to tell the tale, even less enjoy her mere presence, here, in his favorite place of the world, with her in his arms.

But here she was, and together they were.

Well, she had to leave soon enough, but they knew the real them now, and texting was a thing they could do. Meet up somewhere else and get to know the them from this lifetime, after getting to know all the them from before. They could go on dates, learn to love each other, and spend the rest of their life, knowing that they would never be truly ever appart for long.

Maybe the next one won’t be as nice and peaceful as this one was about to be, but he knew they would be together.

Finally the train arrived, he listened to the sound of the wheels, grinding against the tracks, smelled the smoke of the chimney concealing them from the crowd starting to mass around them. Even now, they felt alone, just the two of them. Neither of them could say which one went for it first, but when their lips met, if was like a hello and a goodbye. The happiness of the start, followed by the bittersweetness of the separation.

It was a promise of more to come.

The ring of the train called them back to reality and Link dutifully brought them to her wagon, helping her with her luggage before dropping a last short kiss on her lips, followed by one on her hands.

“Your highness, I’ll text you when I arrived in Castle Town on the weekend.”

She could feel the blush on her cheeks, she curtsied.

“I’ll be waiting” she paused and winked at him, “Even if I sure hope you will text me sooner.”

He smiled at her and she swear it could have eclipsed the sun.

He watched as the train left the station, too slowly and too quick at the same time. Once it had disappeared, his gaze got lost in the forest surrounding the area. The leaves, as green as her eyes, and red like the blush the hard wind had left on her cheeks.

Yes, Akkala University Station was definitely his favorite assignation.

[fanficsforheartandsoul]

A Familiar Name | Seed Siblings x Fem!Reader

Hello! 

Welcome back to part 2 of The Letters Series! I hope you enjoy this as well :) The characters might be a little OOC but please consider that this is from the Seeds siblings point of view and I don’t really know a lot about them...

Attention!

Faith’s letter and the story around it is divided into two parts because I wanted to write a little more detailed. But I still hope you like it ;P

Part I

Warnings: Mention of Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Swearing

Summary: Faith reads part of her letter and comes across a familiar name. To find out more she has to visit the youngest brother of the Seed siblings...

The statue of the father seemed to glow in the light of the sun setting and a small smile appeared on her lips. Faith sat on one of the cliffs before the statue with her personal copy of Joseph’s Word in her hands. The deputy hadn’t shown up in the Henbane River region yet and her followers were still focused on their mission. She was relieved. Their thoughts shouldn’t be poisoned with the lies of the young police officer and his friends. The mission was the only thing they should think about. The collapse would come soon and they couldn’t risk being distracted. Unfortunately, she was at the moment. The blue envelope, which Faith only wanted to use as a bookmark, somehow made its way, into her hands. She was curious and that got the best of her. She looked over her shoulder. No one was near. She opened the envelope carefully…

The envelope contained three folded papers and an old Polaroid photo. Faith inspected the picture first. A young woman, probably even younger than her smiled into the camera, holding a diploma. The woman had remarkable h/c colored hair and her smile was so wide and full of joy, Faith could only imagine how happy she must have been. On the back of the photo was a name and a place written. Y/N L/N Montana State University. “So that’s what you look like.”  The youngest of the Seed family smiled a little. She could totally see Joseph and Y/N in a relationship, and if they really had been she knew why. That woman was beautiful.

She unfolded the first paper, it was a copy of a diploma. “Master of Fine Arts, huh. Impressive!” Faith hummed in acknowledgment. “So, Joseph knows an artist.” She put the paper away and turned to the actual letter. It consisted of two slightly yellow letter paper, which gave away a faint but still memorable scent. “Did she smoke?” The youngest herald of Eden’s Gate frowned. Sniffing once again she scowled in disgust. "She's so young! How can she do this? Smoking is a sin! Maybe that's the reason why Joseph...” She didn't finish this thought.

Faith took a deep breath. “Come on, I wanna know who Y/N is! I will change the deputy but for that, I need a chance!” Then she unfolded the letter. She found the beginning immediately and her lips formed into a grin when she saw the little doodles at the edge of the sheet. “Okay, here we go.” And she started reading.

3rd of August

Dear Dad,

Guess who graduated at the University in Bozeman! Yup, it’s me! I’m finally free! No more drunk freshmen in the dormitory, no more essays, which I have to write overnight, and no more FUCKING 8 a.m classes!!! I’m so happy! 

Cross that out, it’s not really true. I mean yeah, I am happy but it would’ve been so much better if you were there, Daddy. I know you couldn’t but I just think what would have been if you had been there. If you would have been home. With Mom. Maybe then she would have come...

You know, I expected that my graduation would be celebrated with both of you but unfortunately, none of you were there... You're probably asking yourself why Mum wasn't able to attend the ceremony and you have the right to know... She's currently at the rehab center in the next town. She relapsed.

Fuck, I really thought she got better. The last time she took some pills and shot up some heroin was years ago. And then I'm away from home for a semester and suddenly she's addicted again, like what the hell? What happened? Why??? 

Tomorrow starts the fifth week of her stay in the center. Since she got admitted I can’t really sleep. Every night I convince myself tomorrow will be different, but it never is. She’s still addicted and I just can’t handle the fact that it is probably my fault that she relapsed. If I haven’t decided to stay in the dorm for the last semester maybe she wouldn’t have shot up 

And now; the worst news... The bill of her stay is bigger than I expected. And with my student bills... We're in trouble, Dad. God, I fucking hate it.

When I visited her yesterday she didn't even talk to me. Apparently, she doesn't talk at all. It's the fucking Center I swear. I just hate Estherwoods.

Faith stopped reading. Her breathing also did for a few seconds. Suddenly her hands started shaking and she had to put the letter down. She knew the rehabilitation center Y/N was writing about. Institute Estherwoods. Oh, dear Lord. Memories crashed down on her and she began to feel slightly dizzy. Taking deep breaths the youngest Seed tried to calm down.

A shout in the distance caused her to spin around in caution. She sighed in relief when she saw that the calling one was only a VIP member of the cult and not one of her brothers or even the deputy and his pack. "Faith. We have a problem..." The herald of the Henbane River region frowned. With one swift movement, she stood up and hid the letter and Joseph’s word behind her back. "What is the matter?" The red-haired woman scowled. "The deputy was seen near Lorna's Truck Stop. He killed a few of our people and then made a run for it." Faith sighed and then took a bliss flower from her flower crown on her head. "I will take care of him. I want you to do something for me meanwhile." The VIP nodded in excitement and blushed a little when the siren put the white flower in her hair. "Whatever it is, I'll do it." Faith smiled lovingly. "I need you to contact Nancy from the Hope County Sheriff's Department." The woman narrowed her eyebrows. "O-Okay... And why?" The Herald took a deep breath. "I want her to contact the Estherwoods Institute in Jacksonville. I'm looking for a woman with the last name L/N."

 A few days went by and Faith couldn't even think once about Y/N or her mother. And that only because the deputy was a huge pain in the ass. Even though he seemed to be making a step in the right direction when he had jumped from the father statue without fear, he appeared to have forgotten her story and decided to hurt her and Project Eden's Gate even more. He destroyed her outposts and killed dozens of members and she couldn't do anything about it. She was expecting Joseph to call her in anger but when she finally heard her radio station crackle while she was in her bunker, the person on the other end wasn't her brother. "Faith Seed?" It was an unknown male voice. "Who is there?", she asked with distrust in her voice. "I am Derek from the Hope County Sheriff's Department. I have some information about the woman you're looking for."

She remained silent for a while. "What about Nancy?" Derek answered shortly after. "She had to flee. After the disappearance of Sheriff Whitehorse hell went loose. The FBI came and started snooping around. Her cover would've been blown up soon, so she deserted. I'm her replacement." Faith sat down and smoothed her dress. An actual surprise could be seen on her face. She didn't think that people actually cared about the deputies and the Sheriff that much. Well, sometimes she was just too naive.

"Okay, tell me about the woman." A short silence followed then Derek started to tell her everything he knew. "So the woman you're looking for was a patient in Estherwoods for a few years. Her full name is Eliza L/N and she was in therapy for abusing various drugs like heroin, cocaine and also for her smoke addiction. She was depressed and self-harm endangered. She went to various therapy sessions but apparently never got fully clean. The last records about her are from 2012 when she was admitted after a suicide attempt." Faith tried to listen attentively but memories of her past started to haunt her and she heard whispers and shouts and her breathing began to become ragged.

"Are you still listening?", asked Derek after a while and his calm voice was like an anchor in the storming sea of her thoughts. "C...Could you repeat your last words?" The man on the other side of the line seemed to realize that something was wrong with her but he didn't ask her about it. "I said I contacted the appropriate authorities and apparently Ms. L/N still lives in the same house." This pricked up Faith's ears. "And she lives where?" She didn't know Derek but she could imagine him smirking when he said: "In Hope County."

Without wasting time Faith started to get up. Her legs still felt wobbly but she didn't care. Derek told her the exact address and she almost laughed and cried at the same time when she found out where the woman lived. Or used to live. She didn't actually know if the former was still the case. Eliza's house was in Holland Valley, really really close to John's farm. So it was possible that she joined the Project. Or got killed while resisting. She didn't want to accept that possibility yet, she wanted to confirm it. Eliza must know something about Y/N and Joseph and somehow Faith also felt connected to the woman. Both of them stayed in Estherwoods.

The young woman rushed to her room, grabbed the blue envelope and its content from her nightstand and then hurried out of her bunker. On her way, she lost her flower crown but she didn't care. Faith hasn't felt so excited and nervous at the same time since Joseph chose her to be Faith. As soon as the sun hit her face she started looking for a truck. She hasn’t driven for years but who cared. She had seen how some of her members are driving so it wouldn’t attract that much attention. «Truth, you can’t hide. I’m coming for you!»

 On her way to her brother’s farm, she used the radio to contact him. «John?» It was silent for a while. Then the radio crackled and she could hear the smooth voice of her older brother. «Heey, if this isn’t the siren.» She rolled her eyes when she heard her nickname. «Guess who already got a clue about Y/N!» She could imagine his shocked face but instead of a surprised answer, she got an evil laugh. «Well, you’re not the only one! I’m gonna win and the deputy will atone because of me!» Now she was the one who was surprised. «What did you find out?», she asked with disbelief. «Not gonna tell you! And I need to leave now, I’m busy with someo- something.» «Wait, John, I-« «Goodbye!»

The radio turned silent. Faith breathed out a frustrated sigh and let her head hang low. I couldn’t even tell him that I’m coming to his ranch. An angry honk got her attention and she shot upright to fix her eyes on the street again. «Asshole!», shouted somebody and she let out a shaky breath. «I need to concentrate now. I-I’m still driving…» And with that, her journey to John’s ranch continued.

 When she arrived she didn’t expect to see twenty cult members just standing there on John’s veranda. With furrowed brows, she stepped out of the truck and let her eyes wander over the farm. There were some really big bullet holes in the wooden walls and the ground was covered in craters as if somebody had played with explosives. She walked up to the crowd of cult members but they didn’t seem to notice her. «I think he’s done now.» «No, no. I bet he has just begun!» She frowned. What was going on? But she found out as soon as she asked herself that. «I will squeeze every sin out of you and I won’t stop until you atone! And when you do, you will pay for everything you did to Eden’s Gate! You will rebuild my fucking sign piece by piece and Deputy, my friend, I will make sure that you claw out every single bullet in my walls with your fingers until they bleed!»

Oh. Now she understood. Her brother’s voice was so loud and full of anger he could be heard from outside. Even though he probably was in his office in the back of the house. «The deputy will be a goner once John gets him…», whispered a female VIP and the others nodded. A sort of pitiful silence fell on them. It lasted until loud footsteps were heard from inside the house and the crowd started to panic, right when Faith opened her mouth to ask them something. «Out of the way!», whisper-shouted a brown-haired man and all of them scurried off the veranda and started to act like they were busy.

Exactly at that moment, the front door opened and her brother walked out. Oh, boy. Oh, boy… John looked angry. No, that was an understatement. He looked like he was about to strangle someone with his belt. His eyes had a ferocity in them that made her take a step back. She had met people with the same gaze. And she knew how careful she had to be now. «H-Hey, John.» Faith cursed silently for stuttering. «What are you doing here?», asked the lawyer with malice in his voice, his breathing still audible from screaming so loud earlier. «I wanted to ask you something… Something involving Y/N L/N.»

Her name must have been a trigger for him because John started to calm down and his furrowed brows allayed and were now lifted in curiosity. «What is it?» Faith took a deep breath and fidgeted with her dress. Maybe I shouldn’t tell him. He could take an advantage from it… She shook her head. No, she would ask him anyway. She came this far so she wouldn’t just back down. «A woman lived really close to your ranch. Her name was Eliza L/N…» She didn’t say anything else and neither did her brother. He just scrutinized her and then turned around and went back inside without saying a word. What…? The herald of the Henbane River region just stood there dumbfounded. «Uh… Okay? That was… an informative talk.»

A few moments later came John back, in his hands five big files. «Here.» He just said and gave them to her. Faith blinked a few times. «T-Thank you…?» Her brother folded his arms in front of his chest. «These are all of the files I got when we came here and I started to purchase land. They contain information about all house owners in Holland Valley.» A surprised gasp escaped her lips. «Seriously?!» John nodded. «Will they tell me something about Eliza?» He just shrugged his shoulders. «I don’t know.» Frustration started to build up in her. «Then how are these files gonna help me?!» The annoyance clearly audible in her voice. «Just read them. And now please excuse me. I have a date with a certain someone.» Faith looked at him in bewilderment. She wanted to respond but before she could her brother turned around and slammed the door behind himself. 

Asshole was the first thought which came to her mind. A long sigh escaped her lips. “Seriously? You could’ve at least let me read them inside...” Instead of sitting in one of the chairs on John's veranda she decided to read the files in her truck. She decided so out of pure stubbornness. First, she thought he wanted to help but he clearly just wanted her out of his way. Walking down the stairs and back to the vehicle, she heard some of the cult members talk. "The deputy got some balls showing up here with that airplane he stole from John a few weeks ago!" "I'm pretty sure he's suicidal... Did you see John's expression when he walked out? I almost shit my pants... He’s so gonna kill him!" So that’s what happened. The deputy attacked the ranch! 

A wave of concern for John washed over her and she felt bad for insulting him in her head. Since the Police got involved with them all of her brothers seemed to be nervous and edgy. Faith could understand why. The deputy and his companions brought hell over Hope County and threatened the success of their mission. 

Stil feeling slightly bad for her too fast judging she entered her truck on the driver’s side and relaxed for a second. “I’m gonna find Y/N’s mother and then she’ll tell me about Joseph and Y/N!” Determination glistened in her blue eyes and she opened the first file. She started reading...

Many, many, many contracts, ownership, and other papers later she finally found something interesting. The L/N family owned two pieces of land. One in Holland Valley and one at the border of the Whitetail Mountains. The one in John’s region was a farm. The other was a small house. Even though she already had a feeling that she would be more successful with the later, she decided to visit the farm first. She looked up and wanted to start the motor of the truck when she realized that the sun was already setting. She has been reading for hours! To emphasize this, a loud yawn escaped her lips. Faith sighed. It will take a long time to drive back to her bunker. She let her head hang low and in frustration, she banged her forehead against the steering wheel. “Uuuugh, why is it always me?!”

A knock on her car window almost made her scream. The herald of the Henbane River region turned her head and her eyes fell on John. He wore that stupid coat which he ordered online with Joseph’s credit card and in his hands were two cups. Her eyes widened slightly. A smile crept on her lips and she let the truck window down. “How can I help you, Baptist?” Her brother raised an eyebrow when he heard her slightly mocking tone. “Just open the door already and move over!”” She followed his request and scooted over on the passenger seat. John sat in the driver’s seat and handed her the cup. “Thank you”, she spoke softly. The aromatic smell of coffee spread in the truck and both of them drank their drinks in a comfortable silence. 

It was weird how John’s behavior changed so fast but it has always been like that. She couldn’t remember the lawyer otherwise. When she first met him and Joseph introduced him as her new brother she had just turned 18. John was 26 years old at that time and “busy” with his job to buy more land from the people in Hope County without making Eden’s Gate suspicious. He told Joseph that in response when the father asked him to show her around in Holland Valley. It was a big fat lie. She had known that. Faith wasn’t blind and she was able to see past his stupid excuses and eventually she had found out about his and Holly's relationship. She was quite in shock. How could he do something sinful like that? She had asked herself and a mix of disgust and disappointment for him started to form in her heart. But when she found out about his parents' cruel methods of atonement these feelings disappeared. And when John suddenly turned up at her doorstep of the Jessop Conservatory blood all over his chest with the word Sloth carved in his skin and the expression of pure peace on his face and the words "I welcome you in our family" on his lips, Faith knew he was a split soul. This evening he had been peaceful and happy and they talked almost all night long about her time as an addict, her rehabilitation in Estherwoods and many things more. But as soon as he had left her house he turned into the sadistic man that he created himself, once again. Occasionally he let her see the loving John and at these moments she felt truly like he was her real brother.

One of these moments was now. Sitting in her truck, drinking coffee together. "You shouldn't go home at this hour. It's late and you might encounter a bear." Faith didn't expect him to break the silence so she was surprised when he did. His words made her chuckle. "I'm not walking home, John." He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I know. But these animals are crazy! Once a brown bear attacked my plane. While I was in it!" She couldn't stop herself from bursting out in giggles. His rambling was just too goofy for him. "How would a bear be able to attack you in your plane??" He was in a huff. "I was still on the ground!" When he shot her an angry glare she held her hands up in defeat. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm not gonna laugh anymore." He just nodded and stared out of the window. She calmed down and once again it was silent in the car

After a while, he asked: "Are you okay?" She raised an eyebrow and looked at him confused. "I mean with this whole Eliza L/N stuff. She was in Estherwoods... Do you know that?" Realisation hit her and she started fiddling with her sleeves. "Yeah, I know... I didn't expect to hear that name again but I guess that was naive of me." Once again her mind drifted towards the memories she tried to forget. The long corridors, the white walls of her room that were once stained with her friend's blood. The syringes. The screams, sleepless nights, Dr. Lester's evil grin when he stepped into her room and-

“-ey! Faith, are you okay?!” She snapped out of her thoughts and realized that she was crying. Tears flowed down her cheeks and she got a hiccup. John had grabbed her by the shoulder. “Hey... It’s alright...”, he spoke softly. He placed his cup behind the steering wheel and then engulfed her in a big brotherly hug. Faith's tears soaked his coat but John didn’t seem to mind. Her hands held onto him like he was a lifebelt and at the edge of her thoughts, she knew that her fingernails probably damaged the leather of the designer clothing. The herald of Holland Valley started to hum a song and she tried to concentrate on his steady heartbeat and the rumble in his chest when he hummed. She soon recognized the song and her lips formed a weak smile. 

Help me Faith, help me Faith, shield me from sorrow, from fear of tomorrow. Help me Faith, help me Faith, shield me from sadness, from worry and madness... Lead me to the bliss.

Her breathing started to become normal again and the tears stopped flowing. She was still hiccuping but besides that, she calmed down. She felt still a little shaky but mostly because she was embarrassed. John hasn’t seen her crying in years and now she clung to him like a little kid. But the lawyer didn’t seem to mind. He still hummed her song and stroke her hair to comfort her. It looked like he didn’t know that she had calmed down. But she didn’t want to destroy the moment so she kept her mouth shut and just relaxed in his arms. The familiar scent of John’s cologne surrounded her and the feeling of safety made her realize how tired she was. Soon - without her wanting it - her eyes fell shut and she drifted to sleep.

“Please leave me alone! I already did what you wanted!” Her desperate shouts were ignored. The man stepped closer to her. “But my dear Rachel, you didn’t make Archie happy. And you know what that means...” She couldn’t make out his approaching figure because her vision got blurry from her tears. “P-Please dont’.... I-I n...no more drugs, please! I will make Archie happy, I will! I promise!” His shadow loomed over her. “You’re too late, Rachel.” “No, please, no! Don't hurt m- AAAAGGGHHH!!"

[thedefinitionofbts]

Kingdom of Crystal Snow

↳ Christmas Special ❄️

Pairings: Kim Taehyung x Reader ft. Park Jimin

Genre: Comedy, Light Angst, Fluff, Royal Au (?)

Words: 10K

Description: A prince from a far off land is sent to earth to discover the meaning of crystal snow, and you are somehow just what he needs. 

Jimin has always told you that you should change your awful habit of putting off studying for a test last minute. He calls it a bad case of procrastination. You call it “living on the edge”. And it’s not that you don’t want to change per se, it’s just hard when you’ve always relied on that rush of adrenaline from imminent doom to give you a push to take action. If it were easy to alter such an innate mindset, you’d actually be prepared to ace your final tomorrow.

“I’m going faaaaiiiil!” You groan, banging your head against the textbook laid opened in front of you. 

“What did I say about trying to cram a semester’s worth of information in one night?” Jimin says, not even bothering to glance up from his own book.

You tsk in annoyance. “Can’t you just be a little more supportive?” 

“Okay, okay” He gently closes his book and takes off his glasses to look at you. “You are not going to fail.” You can tell he’s not trying very hard to sound convincing. You’ve known him long enough to distinguish authentic support and just going through the motions to make you feel better.

“But I am!” You insist, more for the purpose of complaining out loud rather than actually getting another half-assed response from your friend of five years. “I barely understand the first chapter, how the hell am I going to learn the entire book by tomorrow morning!?” 

You were right and wrong, more or less. You were right in thinking there was no way you were going to understand the entirety of your textbook by sunrise the next day, but you were wrong in believing you would fail the entire class.

Thank Jesus Lord.

Jimin would actually, maybe, perhaps be proud to know that you were a measly 2 points away from failing, but pulled through. 2 points away from having to repeat the course and having to graduate a year later (aka having to walk with Jungkook at graduation, which god knows will go down in the unofficial history books among your group of friends for the rest of eternity). It actually feels pretty good, knowing you were blisteringly close to being depressed over winter break only to be saved from said hellish nightmare by such a blessed margin. 

2 points. Jimin would call it getting lucky, but you refer to it as “having talent”.

At the moment you are running through all the ways you can break the good news to him, debating whether you should pretend that you failed and psych him by telling him you didn’t whilst he was consoling you. But just as you were playing house with all of these hypothetical scenarios in your mind, you spot someone just appearing out of thin air on your way to the coffee shop near campus. Appearing out of thin air. Like poof, there’s your living, breathing human being delivered right under your nose. You could’ve sworn the public park wasn’t this tripped up the last time you were here, and last time you checked, you were awake and not dreaming.

Must be post-finals stress disorder.

“Ok, how the fuck did you do that?” You point at the man sprawled on the ground as if he had just flown through a time portal.

He groans in pain, rubbing the back of his head. “W-who are you?” He looks up at you, squinting due to the blinding rays of the sun that your head is conveniently just two inches away from blocking.

“I think I should be the one asking that question.” You observe suspiciously as he stands up. He’s much taller than you had expected, and slightly intimidating now that he’s towering over you.

“I am Kim Taehyung, crown prince of the Winter Kingdom.”

There are mainly two things that cross your mind as you casually register his words. 1.) It’s a shame this guy is high on drugs right now because he’s actually really attractive, and 2.) Did he actually just say what I thought he said?  

It takes every last ounce of strength you had to not erupt into laughter.

“Uhhhh, is this supposed to be some cosplay thing for the holidays, cause I’m really not into that stuff, and I’d rather not deal with drunk strangers.” You start to walk away, eyebrow still raised even as you switch your attention onward and try to erase the thought of how realistic his costume actually looked. The dude must’ve spent hours putting something like that together, so you can’t blame him for trying so convincingly to stay in character.

“Please, you must help me.” He begs, following closely behind like a lost puppy. “I can’t return until I have discovered the meaning of crystal snow.”

You stop walking abruptly, causing him to almost crash into you head on. “Crystal snow?” You turn to him, raising your other eyebrow dubiously. “You mean like snowflakes and shit?”

He looks at you confused. “It’s not that simple. It’s something that has been at the core of our kingdom for centuries. Every ruler brings a different kind of snow to the wintry realm. I must find the meaning of mine. ”

“Don’t you guys have encyclopedias or some ratchet form of Google for things like that? I mean, how the hell are you going to find answers here, on earth, a place where crystal snow literally just means snowflakes?”

He sighs. “We do, but they do not contain the information I seek, and the sorceress has never been wrong.”

“The sorceress?” You furrow your brows even harder as you begin to grasp how ridiculous this conversation was getting. “Ok, listen buddy. I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but I need to go.”

Taehyung opens his mouth to protest, but shuts it before the next words can escape his lips.

You flash him a weird look one last time before quickly running off. Finals were over, winter break is beginning, and you have a coffee date with Jimin to get to. There was no time to mess around with a random stranger who claims he’s from another world. What was the guy smoking anyways? He had to be high or something…right?

“You’re late.” Jimin’s familiar voice cuts through your reverie.

“Only by like five minutes.” You counter, setting your peppermint latte down on the table.

The café was festively ornamented the same way it is every year, with a large Christmas tree crammed in the corner and wall decorations hanging on a space that is clearly too small for so many objects to be juxtaposed. Despite looking cramped and messy, the atmosphere was earnest and cozy, reminiscent of nostalgic childhoods and charmingly intimate conversations with those you are closest to.

Jimin’s face breaks into a smile. “I’ll let you off the hook seeing as though you just went through a week of hell.”

“Ugh, story of my life.” You roll your eyes. “I’m surprised I managed to survive.”

You decide to not make a big deal about passing the exam. Whether it was because the events from this morning had shaken you up or because it seemed insignificant in the grand scheme of things, you figure you’d rather talk about winter break and Christmas plans.

“Namjoon and Yoongi are going back home, Hoseok has this dance camp he’s doing for the next three weeks, so it’s just me, Seokjin, and Jungkook.”

“Oh boy, that’s going to be interesting.”

“Tell me about it.” Jimin sighs.

 …

 You spent the rest of the day chatting with Jimin at the café, something you had grown accustomed to doing over the years. It was a good way to pass time, or waste time, depending on how you chose to view it. By the time the two of you leave, it’s already late afternoon, and since it’s winter, the prematurely setting sun gives off the impression that it’s a lot later than it really is.

However, it’s not completely dark yet; the sky is just reaching that magical twilight hour where it’s painted with baby blues and pastel pinks. The temperature is beginning to drop, but the crisp winter air is still and almost therapeutic. You don’t notice anything peculiar at first, not until you squint your eyes and spot the one person that you wished your mind could just allow you to ignore, and maybe you would’ve if you and Jimin had not carelessly walked so close to where he was sitting.

“Oh god, why is he still there?” You quickly attempt to hide behind Jimin, the latter being somewhat taken aback by your sudden change in demeanor.

“Who?” He looks around obliviously before his eyes land on the very person you were referring to. “Oh, him?”

Said “him” just happens to be Kim Taehyung, and he was quietly sitting on the bench by the same park you had saw him suddenly appear at this morning. He was just staring at the ground absentmindedly, not even noticing you and Jimin standing a mere ten feet away from him.

“Shhhh” You quickly reach up to cover Jimin’s mouth as if it would prevent Taehyung from spotting you, which seems downright futile in hindsight because honestly if Taehyung actually cared about your presence, he would’ve gotten up by now.

“You know him?” Jimin mumbles, speech muffled by your hands.

“He’s just some crazy guy I ran into this morning.” You explain, releasing your hold on his mouth. “The reason I was late in the first place was because I couldn’t get him off my back.”

“Was he insistent on getting your number?”

“No, no” You shake your head. “He kept asking for my help because he claimed to be a crown prince of this snow kingdom and was sent to earth to find something.”

There’s a fleeting pause before you hear Jimin laugh out loud, throwing his head back and everything.

“I’ll give him props for being creative.” Jimin says in between fading giggles.

You roll your eyes, slumping your shoulders in defeat. You hadn’t noticed until now, and you blame Jimin for laughing so loudly, but Taehyung had looked up from the ground and was now staring at you and Jimin.

“Hey, he’s looking at us” Jimin comments as you continue to make eye contact with Taehyung. “Should we, uh, go before he comes over?”

You can hear Jimin’s question loud and clear, but your eyes remain glued to the boy sitting on the bench. It’s strange that you’re just now noticing how odd and unearthly his appearance was. His sculpted, almost otherworldly, facial structure and flawlessly transparent skin was clearly not a result of makeup, and the way that his silver speckled irises expressed a sort of disorientation that made your heart clench ever so slightly should’ve been enough to convince you that he was maybe telling the truth. As absurd as his whole story was, you somehow begin to think he maybe wasn’t lying about being from another world, but it wasn’t his strikingly non-human features that made you want to help him, it was the way he dropped his gaze, not even making a motion to stand up, the pure hopelessness engulfing his entire being that compelled you to walk over to him, even though Jimin was baffled as fuck by now.  

“Y/N” You vaguely hear Jimin call from behind you, but you don’t stop until you’re standing right in front of the male sitting on the bench, who by now is looking as confused as Jimin.

“Prince Taehyung, right?” You voice, crossing your arms as his head tilts up to look at you.

You watch Taehyung’s Adam’s apple bobble up and down as he swallows nervously while he nods.

“You’re very far from home and you can’t get back until you’ve discovered the meaning of crystal snow, correct?”

He nods again.

You let out a long sigh. “I’ll help you.” At this point, you don’t even know what possessed you to act so boldly. It was like you were in some role-playing mode where you had this urge to act all cool and pretend that the situation wasn’t completely ludicrous. But he did appear out of nowhere, so he was either telling the truth or just a really talented magician. You hope it's the former.  

“You will??!!”

Both Jimin and Taehyung speak at the same time, almost making you jump out of your furry down jacket. It was almost amusing how similar their reactions were, but it evidently wasn’t the time to laugh.

You clear your throat and looked back and forth between the two of them. “Yeah.” You finally manage to say with poise before beginning to walk as they both scrambled to follow you.

“Will you take me to find crystal snow?” Taehyung’s deep voice is a clear contrast to Jimin’s slightly high-pitched tone.

“I would if I knew where that could be found.” You reply.

“Does it not snow on earth?”

“It does, but it’s just…snow.” You pause to think. This was going to be a lot harder than you had originally planned. You had completely forgotten the reason Taehyung had even asked for your aid, and truthfully, you didn’t really think this whole “offer help” thing through before just jumping into it. “There are places around the world where it snows more than others. Like the north and south pole…” You trail off.

“Can you take me there!?” Taehyung sounds too hopeful, and you almost want to tell him that people don’t actually go to those places and there was no way in hell you were going to accompany him in the event he decides to go.

“Whoa there, she’s not going anywhere with you.” Jimin interrupts, making you wonder why he was getting so protective all of a sudden. It’s not that he ever acted like he didn’t care or put on an absentminded façade when it came to you, in fact he had been your best friend for years and always looked out for you, but his particular reaction at that moment would have any outsider wondering if he was-

“Are you her suiter?” Taehyung’s direct question makes both you and Jimin fall silent. You’re cheeks begin to heat up, and judging by the way he was sinking deeper into his scarf to hide his face, Jimin was feeling quite embarrassed to.

An awkward silence falls over the three of you.

“We’re just friends.” You finally manage to voice, avoiding direct eye contact with either of them.

The rest of the walk to your apartment is strangely less dramatic, other than Taehyung explaining everything about the place he came from, and why he needed to find this mysterious crystal snow that you’re starting to think is going to be impossible now.

“Each ruler brings a different kind of snow to the kingdom. My father’s snow is opaque and white. The flecks of precipitate are large and float for long periods, dancing in midair before slowly drifting to the ground, which is why our nation is called the Kingdom of Ivory Petals while it is under his rule. The prophecy states mine will be crystal.” Taehyung’s explanation almost sounds like a fairytale, something too distant to grasp or even fully comprehend.

“So when you take the throne it will be called Crystal Snow?” You inquire, switching the lamp next to the couch in the living room on and allowing light to fill the previously dark room.

“Yes, the Kingdom of Crystal Snow.” Taehyung gazes wistfully out the window at the sparkling cityscape that is now twinkling in the distance.

Jimin nods slowly. “That sounds really cool, but we don’t really categorize our snow like that, or more accurately, it doesn’t hold as deep of a meaning here on earth. 

“Are you sure it’s actual snow and not some sort of gemstone we have to dig up from the ground?” At this point, you’re just throwing out random ideas because you have this hunch that it’ll increase the chances of hitting a plausible target.  

Taehyung shakes his head dismally. “I wish the sorceress told me more.”

You continue to run through anything and everything you can think of, but none of it sounded likely. By the time you were finished, it was already verging on midnight.

“Why don’t you spend a few days in the city, see if you can find anything here and then decide what to do next. I mean, you were sent here for a reason, right? Maybe what you’re looking for is closer than we think.” The tone of your voice sounds more encouraging than you actually feel, but it was the best decision you could come up with for now.

“Yeah, and it’s the holidays, maybe something magical will happen.” Jimin agrees and Taehyung doesn’t argue.

 …

 So it’s not that Jimin wanted to leave you with a stranger in your house, knowing him, he’d want anything but that. But the truth of the matter was, he lived with 5 other guys and there was just no way their tiny apartment could fit an extra person, not when Jungkook was already exiled to the couch.  

And Taehyung seemed harmless enough, because by the next morning you wake up to him lying face flat on your couch, snoozing away like any other 20-something year old college student who had just pulled consecutive all-nighters right after finals.

You’d be doubting the validity of his royal claims if it weren’t for-

“We need to get you some new clothes.” You eye his princely wardrobe up and down. “This isn’t going to cut it if you don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb.” You tug on Taehyung’s blue and silver robe and scrunch your nose at how distasteful it looks. Don’t get you wrong, like it was gorgeous for a Halloween costume and all, but completely unfit to roam a modern city in.

“This” Taehyung holds his sleeve in front of your face. “is made from the finest silks harvested in the everlasting ice caves. Its fibers are crystalized for decades before they are deemed fit for our most skilled tailors to transform into fabric for the royal families.”

You can tell he’s mildly offended, but what else could you do? You couldn’t just let him walk around like that. “And it’s gorgeous, so wouldn’t it be better if it doesn’t get ruined on Earth?” You’re fairly proud of yourself for coming up with such a convincing argument, one that to your relief works because fortunately for you, Taehyung is relatively cooperative for a prince set to be king.  

But you’ve spoken a bit too soon.

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that finding clothes on earth that Taehyung would actually be willing to wear is a challenge in and of itself. You sort of expected that a prince would have expensive tastes, but you had no idea he’d have such an affinity for luxury brands. In retrospect, maybe you shouldn’t have taken him down the street where only the wealthiest of city dwellers even dare to tread (or the poor who go to window shop in prospects of experiencing that sensation of being surrounded by gold).

It was supposed to be out of sight out of mind, but by the time you recognized your mistake, it was too late because his eyes literally lit up as you passed the likes of Saint Laurent, Valentino, Givenchy, and most notably…Gucci. And you most certainly can’t believe you are dropping 4K for an outfit you are buying for someone you just met yesterday, but at least you can return it as soon as he leaves earth…right?

“So how do you like it?” You watch as Taehyung examines his reflection in the mirror of the shop, turning and doing all of these model like poses that you swear he must have practiced, because how?!?

“It’s quite nice” Taehyung responds, fixing the collar of the floral button up and performing one last pose in the mirror. He then turns to you with a faint smile that makes your heart skip a beat. “Thank you.” 

Fuck. Why does he look like he just walked off the cover of Vogue?

“Uh, yeah, n-no problem” You reply rather nervously, questioning why the room was getting so hot all of a sudden. 

So maybe Taehyung didn’t force you to buy anything for him, you wanted to ok? You just couldn’t bring yourself to denying him of something he clearly wanted, clearly as in nonverbally spoke to you through his sultry eyes. Fuck.

People on the streets start doing double takes, even going as far as to ask what agency he models for. Taehyung doesn’t understand why everyone passing by is staring at him like he’s some circus freak, only blinking in a dumbfounded way when he flashes them an innocently shy smile that puts your maternal instincts on overdrive. Some girl runs up and asked for a picture with him, in which you have to kindly turn down through partly gritted teeth. You were beginning to wonder why you even bothered to buy him “normal” clothes when he’s drawing just as much attention as he would’ve had he been wearing his royal attire.

“So the weatherman said there’s an 80% chance of snow tomorrow.” You look up from your phone app.

“The weatherman?” Taehyung tilts his head as he looks at you like you had just spoken in a language he didn’t understand. “Is he the ruler of snow on this planet?”

You have to hold back a laugh at his childish statement that sounded downright silly yet came off endearing because he genuinely didn’t know. “No Tae, he’s uh, just some guy that makes predictions about the upcoming weather based on atmospheric readings and stuff.” You pause, realizing Taehyung is probably not going to understand any of what you just said.

“So like a wizard?”

“Uh, yeah sure” You lie, not wanting to go into an entire lesson on something that doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.

“Will it be the first snow of the winter?”

“Huh?”

Whether it was because Taehyung’s question had caught you off guard or the way he was gently staring at you, crystal clear pupils with cerulean hues searching into yours like he waiting for a sign of recognition or anticipating something magical to happen. You find yourself with a blank mind, mouth waiting to relay a response but getting no signal from your brain. “I-I guess it will be.” You murmur, averting your eyes and clearing your throat before your body loses any more of its functionality.

“I really hope I make it back before the first snow hits the kingdom.” He’s not looking at you anymore, but instead staring at the clear sky.  

“Does something happen if you don’t?” Your eyes follow his to some fictional place above.  

He turns back to you. “I will lose my right to the throne.”

You swallow heavily. “Dang…that sounds pretty serious.”

“My father is prophesized to pass this winter.”

You don’t really know how to respond to such a revelation, not that you were ever good at consoling people to begin with. You literally tried to crack a joke when Jimin’s cat died two years ago and thought it would cheer him up, which ended up doing more harm than good.  

“So basically the first snow will be your coronation.” You attempt to use reasoning this time around.

Taehyung nods. “If the flakes are not crystal, the people will not accept me as the new king.”

 …

 So as expected, the weatherman was wrong about the snow. You weren’t excessively disappointed because you had never put much faith into the accuracy of weather predictions, if anything you just felt kind of bad for Taehyung because you found him eagerly sitting by the window the next morning, waiting for white snowflakes to fall from the sky. Which they never do because weather readings are shitty, and nothing on earth is ever 100% guaranteed, even if it claims to be.

You don’t think you’ve ever hated the weatherman this much for being wrong.

“It’s bound to snow eventually.” You pat Taehyung on the shoulder, a weak form of comfort, but within the same category nonetheless. “We’ve always had a white Christmas, and even if the weather says it’s not going to snow, there are a lot of miracles around this time of year.” You personally don’t believe in miracles, but the words had flown out of your mouth before you had a chance to stop them.  

Taehyung just nods, not fully understanding what Christmas miracles were since it’s probably not a cultural thing where he’s from, but he does understand what you’re trying to do, and you’re relieved you’ve managed to restore some of his optimism.  

“So what’s the Winter Kingdom like?” You query, thinking that perhaps knowing more about him and where he’s from will reveal some clues as to why his snow is destined to be crystal…not that you understood the differences between the various types of snow or anything. But small talk, right?

“Cold.” He grins, mouth forming a rectangular shape and you wonder why you never noticed how distinct his smile is, but then you come to realize that this was the first time you’ve seen him smile in such a way, like really beam so brightly that his lips are stretching from ear to ear. “The land is blanketed in sheets of snow, and all of our infrastructure is made of diamond-like ice.”  

“Do you miss it?”  

Taehyung sighs. “In all honesty, I don’t.”

Your ears perk up, eyelids fluttering open wider. “So you don’t actually want to go back?”

“Not if I had a choice.” He looks at the floor and smiles less enthusiastically. “It’s not very fun tending to royal matters every day, but my people need me, and it is my duty to take the place of my father.”

“Oh, right…”

 …

  Jimin doesn’t think any of this is actually going to work out. He doesn’t have faith, and you don’t blame him. Heck, you more than fully agree with his doubt, but you were really being unlike yourself for not giving up despite the odds. You had spent the last weekend scouring the city for clues, nonexistent ones at that, but a little voice inside was threatening you with the belief that if you didn’t at least look like you were trying, Taehyung would leave and look for someone more “qualified”. He would finally come to terms with how useless you were, and leave you…not that you wanted him to stay…but you more than obviously do. 

“I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but Y/N, do you seriously think he’s going to find his ticket to the throne here on earth?”

“Well what am I supposed to do, Jimin?” You burry your head in his couch cushion that smells oddly like Jungkook, and you know exactly why. You scrunch your nose and toss it off to the side. “He’s all alone, and I barely had the guts to come over here today and just leave him by himself at my place.”

“You left him in you’re apartment…alone?” Jimin’s jaw hangs slightly.

You narrow your eyes suspiciously. “You’re point?”

“I dunno. Like what if he burns the whole place down or something?”

“Why are you acting like he’s a pyromaniac? He’s a winter prince.” You cross your arms protectively, frowning at how ridiculous you thought Jimin was being. 

“You didn’t even trust me to be alone with your laptop until we had known each other for months, and now you’re just letting strangers stay at your place alone?” Jimin looks to be a mix of disbelief and a tinge of jealousy.

“Jimin, I’ve been sleeping with the guy for the past week, if he wanted to kidnap me or steal my stuff, he would’ve done it by now.”

“You’ve already slept with him?!” He probably didn’t intend for his voice to get so loud or for it to sound so alarmed, but it does and it makes you jump a little in your seat.

“Not like sleep, sleep…but just sleep, you know?” You quickly defend.

A look of relief washes over Jimin’s face, not that he really cared who you actually slept with…it’s just surprising to him that you would trust someone so easily, when he literally had to work his butt off to even get you to go out to eat with him and his buddies for the first few months you had met. 

“But still…what does he have that I don’t?” He mutters.

“Height” Jungkook’s voice startles the both of you, but he was clearly unaware of what you two were actually talking about by the way he nonchalantly plops down on the couch and turns on the TV.

Jimin looks like he’s about to run up and kick the younger male’s ass, but refrains from doing so seeing as though you were still in the room.  

“How did you know he was tall?” You inquire, astonished that Jimin would tell Jungkook about Taehyung without your permission.

Jungkook casually turns to look at you. “Who?”

“Taehyung”

“Who’s Taehyung?”

“The guy-” You stop yourself before continuing. “Wait, so who were you referring to when you said he had height over Jimin.”

“Well, I mean, isn’t every one taller than Jimin?” Jungkook cackles obnoxiously, leaning back against the couch.

“Do you want me to kick you in the balls?” Jimin’s voice is strained as he tries to hold back his annoyance.

“Can you guys not do this now?” You roll your eyes at their childishness.

“So who’s this Taehyung guy?” Jungkook cocks a brow. “New boyfriend?”

“He’s a prince.” Jimin mutters.

“A prince?” Jungkook huffs dubiously.

“He’s not from around here.” You explain.

It takes a good half an hour for you and Jimin to convince Jungkook that the two of you weren’t pulling some lame prank on him. Jungkook isn’t exactly the type to cast aside something just because it sounds outlandish, but he’s also not going to readily believe in whatever his friends tell him, especially something as unbelievable as this.

“Crystal Snow huh?” Jungkook’s eyes are wide as he stares into oblivion, nodding his head as he pokes his tongue in his cheek. “Like snowflakes?”

You shake your head. “That’s what I thought at first too, but apparently there’s a deeper meaning.”

“Of course there’s a deeper meaning. If it was just snow, I doubt he’d be sent to earth to find something his entire kingdom is covered in, literally.” Jimin tosses a couch cushion to the side and leans forward against his knees. “It has to be something he can only find here…like love or something.”

“As expected from the romantic one…” Jungkook mutters.

“Last time I checked, you wanted to meet your soulmate by hearing a bell in your head.” You comment, knowing fully well that it’s something your group of friends still make fun of him for, playfully of course. Jungkook’s face heats up, but you decide to not see how red it can get.

You turn to Jimin instead. “So you’re saying love doesn’t exist back in his kingdom?”

Jimin furrows his brows. “I’m just saying it’s probably not something tangible and snow is always portrayed as romantic or at least somewhat along those lines, right?”

“Wow, you two are really determined.” Jungkook comments before getting up and heading to the kitchen to grab something to eat. The room feels a lot dimmer now that the television screen is back to black.

“Maybe make him watch some romantic winter movies?” Jimin suggests. “And if that doesn’t work-“

“If that doesn’t work, I guess I’ll just have to hope he’ll have an ‘ah-ha’ moment when it actually snows.” You sigh, finishing the sentence for him.  

 …

 So maybe Jimin was right about leaving strangers alone in your apartment, or maybe you should’ve told Taehyung how to turn on the lights because by the time you make it back, the entire place was pitch black. But that couldn’t be it because you could’ve sworn he had seen you turn on the light switch before and he was definitely intelligent enough to put one and one together.

Then you realize the power must’ve gone out because the entire complex was void of light and freezing cold because the heating had ceased as well.

“Taehyung?” You call out, feeling against the walls with your outstretched arms.

“I’m in the bedroom” You hear a familiar baritone voice drift over, and sure enough there he is, overgrown bangs covering his glossy eyes.

“What are you doing in here?” You question, barely able to make out the silhouette of the man standing by the window where the smallest amount of moonlight was filtering in through the blinds.

“Sorry, I was just looking through some of your old pictures.” He murmurs. “And then the lights went out and I thought I had angered the gods, but they won’t seem to listen to my apology.”

He genuinely sounded scared, and you have to try and not run up to give him a hug. “It’s just a power outage. The lights will be back in no time.” You reassure him, despite knowing that the electricity won’t be back until tomorrow at the earliest.

“So it wasn’t me?”

You shake your head. “Of course not!”

“Oh, ok, that’s good.” He slowly puts the photo he was still nervously holding in his hands back in to the bedside drawer. “Well, I’ll just let you rest…”

He starts to walk out the room, but something about being left alone in a cold dark room makes you-

“Do you want to sleep here tonight?” Your question hangs in midair, long enough to notice, but not long enough to make you retract your offer before Taehyung could accept it.  

And you didn’t know why you were expecting him to be icy cold, but he was actually inexplicably warm. Warmer than the rays of sun hitting your skin on a chilly winter day, warmer than the wisps of heat from a crackling fireplace in the middle of a snowstorm, and certainly warmer than you imagined a winter prince would be.

“Is this ok?” Taehyung’s voice is low and creamy, and it makes you wonder if you are dreaming as you nuzzle closer to his chest. You don’t really know how it happened, but somehow you ended up in a position where you were enveloped in Taehyung’s arms, but you have a hunch it’s because you were shivering so hard he felt obligated to offer you some warmth. Or maybe there was more to it than that.

“Are you uncomfortable?” You murmur lazily, pulling back a little out of courtesy.  

“No, no” Taehyung replies quickly. “It’s just…I-I’ve never shared a bed with a woman.” His statement is so soft you almost couldn’t make out the last part.

“Oh right, royal marriages are arranged” If you weren’t already half asleep your heart would be racing by now and you’d be tripping over your words like there’s no tomorrow. “Don’t over think it. Just do whatever feels right.”

You’re lucky Taehyung’s a gentleman, or more accurately a noble prince because two practical strangers doing whatever feels right in bed usually doesn’t end up being right.

Taehyung shifts into a more comfortable position, one in which your face is buried into the crook of his neck and his chin is resting gently on top of your head. The world was still moving at its regular pace, and the room was icy cold, but the heat of his body is lulling you into the realm of slumber.

  …

  “It’s called science”

You didn’t really know what you were doing with a glass cup and silver spoon, mixing a whole bunch of salt in not enough water, an attempt to create an oversaturated solution.

“Science?” He says it in that same confused tone he always does, and it makes you flash him an assertive look that is not fitting of your randomly conjured idea.  

“If it’s not going to snow, we’re going to make crystals some other way.” You reason in an attempt to sound like you know what you are doing.

Confidence is key.  

You even had a rock candy jar set up in the kitchen this morning, and you were planning on going window shopping in some of the jewelry stores downtown right after you set up the evaporation apparatus.

Maybe you were just insane and maybe all of your efforts are useless, but you didn’t want to give up. And despite never being the type to clutch onto unrealistic expectations or endure through things that you knew you’d never succeed in, you were somehow persuading yourself that as long as you kept trying, something was bound to come out of it. As pathetic as it sounds, you were also secretly enjoying all of this just, success or failure, because it meant spending more time with Taehyung. Seriously, what was wrong with you?

Impractical logic aside, thank goodness the jewelry shops downtown are not on the same street as the luxury fashion brands, because your wallet still hasn’t recovered from being sucked dry at Gucci, and you know for a fact that another look of longing from Taehyung’s glittery eyes will weaken your already crumbling resolve to not put yourself deeper in financial debt.

Strolling along the shop lined streets; you gradually forget why you were looking at jewelry to begin with because Taehyung starts humming this beautiful melody that you are sure isn’t from Earth, and it urges you to allow yourself to enjoy his soothing company, freed from all the concerns that had subconsciously plagued your mind, even if it’s just for a little while.

There was virtually no one in the area, sans the occasional car and dog walker. You presume it’s because everyone had already finished doing all of their Christmas shopping by now and were probably all waiting to exchange gifts in 2 days. It’s serene and relieving to know you don’t find the need to fill in the silence, because just walking alongside Taehyung was comfortable enough to feel at home, something you don’t think you’ve ever experienced before, because even with Jimin, things get a bit awkward if neither of you talk for longer than 10 minutes.

Hours pass by and you start to wonder if the salt water from this morning has already evaporated from the shallow dish you had poured it in, or if sugar crystals have latched onto the string inside the Mason jar. Just as you were pondering over these things, Taehyung stops in front of one of the jewelry shops, staring at a stunning gemstone through the freshly cleaned glass window.

“It’s a diamond wedding ring.” You explain casually, glancing over at the piece he was observing. “Cause diamonds are supposed to be a symbol of forever and stuff.” You shrug, not really interested in these kind of things since marriage was leagues away from your current very, solo, single life.

“A diamond wedding ring?” Taehyung’s curiosity surprises you.

“Yeah, in our world we used those for marriage.”

“Ah, the union of two lovers.” Taehyung nods in understanding. “We have something similar back in the kingdom, but it’s made of a kind of ice that never melts.”

This time it’s your turn to nod, and although you are trying to avoid eye contact for reasons you claim you aren’t aware of, you can feel his attention settle on you once more. “So ummm, have you-uh…do you know who…” You bite your lip, regretting even bringing the topic up. How the hell did that question slip out?  

Taehyung shakes his head. “There was another part to the prophecy…” He inhales deeply before proceeding. “I will rule without a queen.” 

Your eyes widen at his statement. “Wait, what? Why?” You don’t know why you’re getting so worked up over something that doesn’t even really affect you, or at least, isn’t supposed to. But it isn’t even just you; because who wouldn’t find a prophecy like that beyond unbelievable? Not only was it was unfair, but it also made no sense whatsoever because doesn’t every ruler have to procreate? What King rules without a Queen? How else are they supposed to continue the royal bloodline?

Taehyung huffs a weak laugh, one that gives off a powerless sort of acceptance. “When I first heard about this, I thought I was surely cursed. But the sorceress told me that I end up living a happy life, so maybe it’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“Geez” You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. “This prophecy sounds more and more like some evil doctrine written by the angry gods.”

Taehyung turns to you with a playful glint in his eyes, and you’re caught between a storm of pity and endearment. “Because I looked through your old photographs without your permission, right?” You know he’s trying to lighten the mood, and you’re more than grateful you don’t have to use you nonexistent comforting skills. 

You laugh lightheartedly. “Eh, it’s fine. I don’t have any dark secrets that need to remain buried. Although I would prefer that one photo of me with birthday cake all over my face to remain anonymous.”

“You were very cute as a child,” He unexpectedly says before pausing and adding- “Still are.”

“W-what?” Your heart skips a beat and you can sense the heat rapidly flooding your cheeks. “I-I, uh…thanks?” You mentally face palm at your own awkward response, but what were you supposed to say when he just blurts stuff out like it was the most normal compliment he could’ve given you in that not-so-suitable moment?

You almost feel attacked (in a good way, you guess…). It’s definitely not how you ever imagined being complimented, but it makes a kind of giddy warmth spread throughout your chest, and you almost forget about the bitter cold wind that is blowing towards your face.

  …

  You were originally planning on going home for Christmas, but you didn’t think introducing Taehyung to your family and extended family would be a very good idea. Not that you wouldn’t love to see the jealous look on all of you female cousins’ faces if they assumed you had found a new boyfriend who was hot as hell, with visuals that were literally unreal if you had to describe it in not-so-poetic words.

“Can we go there?” Taehyung points at the scene in the television where one of your favorite Christmas movies was flashing across the screen.

So yeah, the Grinch isn’t exactly a romantic winter movie, but you really wanted to watch something festive and traditional, especially since Christmas films were something you looked forward to watching every year. 

“It’s just a movie. Whoville isn’t real.” Your eyes remained glued to the screen where the people of Whoville were waking up and realizing all of their presents and Christmas decorations were stolen.  

“Oh…it’s not?”

There’s a certain amount of disappointment tangled in his voice, tearing your attention away from the movie. You never felt bad about being direct with Taehyung, and he never took your blatant honesty offensively (minus that time with his silk robe), but it’s been an entire two weeks and the two of you had not come any closer to finding crystal snow, or any snow at all for that matter. You could tell he was starting to lose hope, and you can’t help but feel regretful about how limited your aid to him was.

“Listen Tae, I’m sorry I’ve been the shittiest form of help you had the misfortune of finding on this planet-” You’re not allowed to finish what you were going to say because the hand that reaches up and caresses your cheek makes you stop mid-sentence, mouth still hanging agape.

Lifting your gaze you are met with a pair of eyes so tender that you swear your breathing has stopped all together. There is a stillness that falls over your living room, and even the subtle flashing of the TV in your peripheral is not enough to convince you that time has not stopped as well.

“Your kindness was more than I could’ve asked for.” His eyes are now tracing along the contours of your face as he continues to cup your jaw in his graceful hands, skin smooth and soft. You vaguely see his tongue poke out and wet his lips from the corner of your eye, but your attention was too focused on his glistening pupils in that moment to notice him leaning closer and closer, until the distance between the two of you was nonexistent.

His lips envelope yours in slow and steady strides. Taking his time to taste you like the most opulent fruit in the forbidden garden, and allowing you to subside from initial shock and fall into the realm of relishing in the sweetness of his enchanting touch. You lose track of the seconds that pass by, and you don’t notice the movie ending and the screen fading to black. Fuzzy clouds that are too nebulous to make out are gradually beginning to cover the moon, and that’s when the magic happens.

“It’s snowing!” You gasp as he breaks away from the kiss.

Taehyung’s gaze trails after the finger you had lifted to point out the window.

 …

 Once upon a time, a winter prince fell in love and crystals fell from the sky.

You don’t remember what happened after it started snowing last night. You do, however, recall running out the door without your coat and forgetting about how easy it was to catch a cold because you were too excited over nothing as you soon came to discover the next day.

“You should be glad I called Seokjin right away.” Jimin says as he feeds you a spoonful of hot soup, courtesy of the resident chef.

“I could’ve just called him myself.” You defend, voice hindered by your stuffy nose.

“But then I still would’ve had to bring it over.” Jimin counters. “Am I right or am I right?”

You mildly roll your eyes. “Yes, Jimin, thank you for the kindness you have shown me.”  

“Well, at least I know you’d do the same for me.” His eyes transform into half moons as he beams, choosing to ignore your sarcastic tone.

“Would I though?”

Jimin’s crescents narrow into slits, and he stops feeding you.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Of course I would!”

His smile makes a return. “By the way, where’s Taehyung?”

You nod your head towards the bedroom window, facing the area where Taehyung was still outside watching the snowfall.

“I’m still banking on that ‘ah-ha’ moment, because after this, I’m all out of ideas.”

“Did you make him watch romantic winter movies?”

“Umm, not exactly…” Your mind has a flashback of scenes from the Grinch, and subsequently the kiss that happened less than 12 hours ago. You inform Jimin of what had happened, skipping the unnecessary details for obvious reasons.

“You kissed?!” He shouts so loudly you swear Taehyung could hear him from outside.

“Yeah… about that… I don’t know how it happened, but I didn’t pull away and it was actually…quite nice….” You scratch the back of your neck awkwardly.

“Oh my fucking god.”

“Why are you acting like I did something illegal?”

“It’s not that…” Jimin sighs. “It’s just…you’ve really fallen hard.”

You cross your arms defensively, pursing your lips and scrunching your nose in distaste. “And you would know because…?”

“Y/N, you’re friends with six of the hottest guys in the country, and we’ve all tried to get in your pants at one point or another. Minus Jungkook who couldn’t talk to girls until a year ago.” He lays out the facts on the table.

Your face twists in mild disgust. “Stop stroking your ego. And ewww, can you not put it so vulgarly?”

Jimin lets out a prolonged sigh. “The point is, you don’t fall for people easily, and the fact that you were soft for him from the start really says something.”

You ponder over what Jimin had said- the conclusion that he, as your friend of many years, had come to- and deem it not incorrect, yes, double negative. But you also weren’t so keen on readily accepting the indisputable fact that you had fallen for someone who was not even of your world, and a prince of all unearthly beings you could’ve had the chance of stumbling upon.

Completely absurd, right?

Taehyung comes back inside shortly after Jimin leaves in the evening. He had been outside all day and yet his body temperature is still as warm as it always is. He slips into bed quietly, assuming that you were asleep but you stir a little to signal to him that you were still awake. For once you are glad that your fever can act as an excuse for how flushed your cheeks are looking, not that it would’ve been obvious in the dark room anyways.

“So did you find it?” You inquire meekly, face still half covered by your blanket.

He hums delicately, eyes still concentrated on the wintry scenery outside.  

“I think I’m leaving soon.”

You poke your head above the covers in minor shock. You obviously hadn’t expected this moment to come so quickly, but then again, you had been hoping the snow would provide him the answers he was searching for, and it was supposed to be a relief that it did. It’s just you had anticipated to have more time to at least say goodbye, but it seems that you will not be granted that kind of closing fulfillment.  

“I can sense her approach.” Taehyung says, voice not giving away any sort of emotion from what you could tell.

“Holy shit, the sorceress?”

He nods and you can hear the friction of his head against the pillow.

“Am I going to like, meet her? Is she scary?”

“No and no” He chuckles lightly. “She will not appear in her physical form when she comes to take me, but she is very beautiful.”

“So the Winter Kingdom is just full of ethereal creatures.”

“That’s one way to put it.” The both of you laugh, but it doesn’t wash away the subtle stinging that lodges itself in your throat.

A long silent passes, and neither of you make a move to address the unknown fate that is drifting in the space between you.

At one point you almost do it, just ask the question that is burning on the tip of your tongue, but you’re afraid to hear the answer you fear he’s going to give you. Maybe it’s best that you don’t know, so that you can continue to believe in happy endings.

 …

  When Taehyung does leave, he does so soundlessly. Early the next morning in those seconds before dawn where the sky is the darkest but the sun is just around the corner.

To him the feeling is foreign even though he is being taken home, and there is a certain amount of uncertainty and hesitation even though the sorceress reassures him the prophecy has, indeed, been fulfilled.

“You understand now, don’t you?” The elderly woman’s voice echoes under the ethereal light raining down from above, colors splitting into their respective wavelengths and casting rainbows in the space around him.

Taehyung only nods at her words, not entirely paying attention to how he was being transported back to the Winter Kingdom. But it didn’t really matter because he’s preparing to re-enter the palace, to be welcomed by his family, and to fall back into his old life.  

The palace has not changed one bit, walls still as smooth and icy as they were when he left, albeit he has not been gone for all that long. His mother is ecstatic to have him back, and his father only nods in acceptance knowing his reign will soon come to an end.

“Welcome back, my son.” The King is perched on his throne, looking down at the prince who will soon be inheriting his kingdom.

“Thank you father” Taehyung bows ceremoniously.

“I assume you have learned what you needed?” The King’s voice is not harsh, but laced with a hue of sympathy that is unlike his usual demanding self, like he knew the destiny that was to befall his son and was feeling rather apologetic.

“Yes, father.”

“Very well then.” He exhales before calling for one of the royal servants to bring Taehyung up to his bedroom, a magnificent chamber located on the second floor of the Winter Palace.

Taehyung bows one last time before taking his leave back to his room where he can have time to think over all that has happened. Never had his legs felt this heavy walking up the grand staircase, and never has he felt this reluctant to walk into his room as if he had never left, as if the past few weeks was nothing more than a distant dream.  

“Your majesty, would you like change out of those… rags?” The servant lady’s comment was not intended to be offensive, but the way she referred to his earthly garments sparked a flame of anger in Taehyung, one that he would’ve acted upon had his mother not walked in before he could contest. 

“He most certainly would.” Her voice is commanding but not forceful enough to come off as aggressive.

“Mother” Taehyung gasps.  

“My son, I’m so glad you are back.” She walks over and embraced Taehyung warmly, a hug he eagerly returns. “How was it? How do you feel? Were the people on Earth kind to you?” The questions come quicker than he can answer. 

“It was amazing, mother. I was so happy.” He rests his head against her shoulder, staying in that position for just a tad bit longer.  

“You met her, didn’t you?” She murmurs.  

Taehyung nods tenderly, trying to come to terms with the muted aching that has settled in his chest, making a home at the center of his heart.

The layers of contiguous white expanse covering the land are waiting to welcome the snow his heartfelt yearning will bring as the frozen trees and icy cottages display the timelessly enthralling scenery he has known since he was born.

The people of his kingdom will never know the true meaning behind the snow he is destined to gift the wintry world, but he knows, and despite the hidden sadness that lies at the root of its beauty, he’s holding onto the conviction that it will become less painful one day.

You had defied every expectation he had for the meaning of his snow; every possible explanation the world could have given him an answer for, as well as everything he ever knew about himself and what his heart is capable of creating. His snow that is breathtakingly beautiful and different from that of all of his predecessors is a precious fairytale that will remain engraved in history books for several millennia.  

The yearning of star-crossed lovers who have not given up on the hope that they will one day meet again, like crystals that have yet to melt into tears.

“Someday…” Taehyung whispers, gazing at the crystal flowers that are now starting to gently fall from the sky.

   On particularly cold winter days you still think about him.

You don’t draw upon those memories on purpose, and they aren’t called forth as often as they used to be, but there are times when you are walking on untouched white expanses or when you experience the first snowfall of the season, that you are reminded of the enchanting circumstances in which you met him.

Sometimes you wonder if any of it actually happened. If he was real and still exists somewhere…out there, in the prisms of crystallized snowflakes that hold entire stories within their multidimensional crevices, and if he is perhaps thinking of you.

“Someday…” You voice into the wind.

You close your eyes, basking amidst the warm sunlight cascading from the clear, cloudless firmament, but you can’t seem to be left in peace because-

“Are you just talking to yourself?”

Your eyes flutter open, whipping your head around to see Jimin trudging up the path that is now covered in 6 inches of freshly fallen snow.

“I-uh, umm” You’re at loss for words because you swear you were alone, and no one has ever caught you in your most private moments. “I was just clearing my head.”

“You’re thinking about him aren’t you?” His question was so direct you find yourself at loss for words for the second time in a row.

“Does it matter? He’s gone.”

“Have you tried calling him back?”

You scoff. “Are you indirectly making fun of me right now?”

Jimin shakes his head violently. “No! Why would I do that?”

“Jimin, he’s from another world. It’s not like I have any way of reaching him now.”

“But still, you can’t give up hope that easily.”

As pathetic as it sounds, truthfully, you really haven’t given up hope. Because if you did, you wouldn’t still be thinking about him in your loneliest moments, and as much as you want to wave off thoughts of him returning, you can’t help but clutch onto that thread of possibility still shining brilliantly like diamonds under the sun. 

And it is on a particularly chilly day, characteristic of all winters, that Jimin’s words prove themselves right, although you refuse to give him credit for anything.

“Y/N!”

The all too familiar baritone voice startles you to the point where you find yourself stumbling backwards, slipping on a small patch of ice, and landing flat on your butt. Normally you’d be cursing in pain, but you’re too busy staring in awe of the man standing before you that you completely forget about the excruciatingly embarrassing fall you had just taken part in.

“T-Taehyung?”

“Are you ok?” He furrows his eyebrows in concern, causing you to realize you were still sprawled on the ground.

“I-uh, yeah I’m fine. B-but how-?” You cautiously stand up, dusting the snow off your pants, eyes never leaving the face of the impossibly ethereal person positioned before you.

“I decided to come back.” The boxy smile that causes warmth to spread throughout your entire being makes an appearance and lights up his face. You have to blink several times to make sure you are not seeing things, and that he is indeed not a figment of your imagination in that split second.

You can barely digest the situation you were in. “But what about you’re family? Your people! The Kingdom!?”

He chuckles. “I left it in good hands.” He voices proudly. “And it’s still snowing crystals.”

“But, but, but…” There was so much you wanted to ask. So much you didn’t understand, and it didn’t help that you were both now standing the middle of the park that has now transformed into a winter wonderland.

Taehyung reaches up to cups your cheeks in his hands, melting your frost bitten skin. “I missed you.” He whispers. “And I finally found the meaning of my snow.”

Snowflakes that freeze slowly into the clearest form of ice, pure and gentle, the way tender emotions develop into deep, everlasting love.

You aren’t able to hear the rest of what he says, or maybe he doesn’t even bother to finish because he obviously can’t kiss you and speak at the same time. All you can remember is him momentarily breaking away to ask-

“Can I be your one?”

-and you nodding before feeling the gentle touch of his lips connected to yours once again.

So yeah, you were right about believing in happy endings.  

...

[pepperoniwhirlwind]

~Honesty Hour~

     I was asked by @lovelynhiddenkittens to do all 150 questions in the Honesty Hour tag! 😮 Thank you, lovely and curious stranger~! 😆 But since that’s a lot for one post, I’ll break it up into chunks of 50 questions so it’s easier for all my blogging buddies to digest. 😊 Starting... now! 😝

1. Who was the last person you held hands with?      That would have to be Alex. He was warming my hand for me because it was ice cold. Though he doesn’t know that’s because I intentionally held my super cold drink for a really long time with that hand, then casually mentioned how cold my hand was so he’d try to warm it... >//> Introverts are sneaky flirts, what can I say? 😆😏

2. Are you outgoing or shy?      Shy, definitely. Though there are alters in the system much more outgoing than me.

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing?      Tyler! 😄 I’ve been staying over at her apartment every weekend this past summer, and always enjoy our movie and gaming marathons. 😝

4. Are you easy to get along with?      I think so. I’m not very easily angered, a pacifist at heart, and a people-pleaser at my core. 😂 So it’s pretty hard not to get along with me.

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you?

     I don’t know, Alex is a sweetheart so he’d probably help, and Tyler cares but she doesn’t do bodily fluids. 😆 So, it depends. And considering I’ve never been drunk, and seem to have too high a tolerance to get drunk without having to rob a bank to fund the sheer volume of alcohol needed, I doubt this problem will ever arise. 👌

6. What kind of people are you attracted to?

     Kind and funny people. 😊

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?

     I have no idea, but I won’t rule it out. Alex has kinda been cute and flirty towards me lately, so maaaybe~? >//>

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind?

     Uh, well, the subject of the last question was Alex, so, him. 😆

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?

     A wee bit, yes. 😅 I put up a good facade though, but being asexual, sex is kinda... bleeehhh~ for me. e~e

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?

     That would have to be Tyler. :3 She’s my bestie from my ASL classes~ 💜 We have a looot in common, so we talk for hours at a time, in between movie and game marathons that is. 😆

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say?

     Context: I was spamming Tyler gifs of adorable animals earlier today.

     The Text: “Aaand now I gotta get ready for therapy, so this shall be the crowning gif of adorable goodness!”

     Followed by a gif of two golden retrievers fighting over a tennis ball, with a third retriever (being shoved into the frame by a fourth, offscreen, retriever) resting his head on the two dogs feuding over the aforementioned tennis ball. 💖

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

     This is rather hard... so I’ll just list the songs that I listen to on repeat a lot.

     1. “The Cure” by Lady Gaga

     2. “Insomnia” by IAMX

     3. “Middle of the Bed” by Lucy Rose

     4. “All the Rage” by Allie X

     5. “Wires” by The Neighbourhood

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair?

     Yes. No. Kinda? It depends... If I’ve just had a shower and my hair is clean, I love it. ^w^ But if it’s been a bit and my hair isn’t all that clean I just feel embarrassed if people touch my hair. e~e

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles?

     Ehhh... Depends which alter you ask really. Me, personally? Not so much. My family has always told me our family line is cursed to have bad luck, so if I believed in such things, I guess I’m doomed. 😂

15. What good thing happened this summer?

     I’ve started working on myself and my social life, strengthening friendships irl and online, or, at least attempting to. 😅 Sometimes I’m just bad at not isolating. But this past summer I’ve been spending basically every weekend at my friend Tyler’s apartment and hanging out with her core group of friends. It’s been a nice break from the chaos of the school semester. 😊

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

     Well, considering she’s on the other side of the country back in my home state, probably not. She was a lovely first kiss, but I’ll leave it at that. 🤭

17. Do you think there is life on other planets?

     With how many planets there are in the galaxy; the universe? Not to mention how many planets within The Goldilocks Zone that share a similar atmosphere to earth within the observable universe alone... How could I not think other life exists? At the very least, in some kind of bacterial form, though, I dare to dream a little bigger. ✨

18. Do you still talk to your first crush?

     Well, I’ve never really had a crush, per se, though plenty of squishes. :3 But my first squish did not turn out well, so, no. :c

19. Do you like bubble baths?

     Yes, especially if I go all out and light candles and play music on my phone. 🕯️🎶😌 However, I don’t do that very often. I take showers mostly.

20. Do you like your neighbors?

     Yeah, they’re chill people. The neighbors with the overly-territorial pitbull that kept us prisoner in our car for hours and broke into our fenced-in backyard to take massive doggie dumps out of sheer hatred for us moved away because their dog kept terrorizing the neighbourhood and was going to get put down if it didn’t stop breaking out to chase children on trikes and joggers onto rooftops. So, the neighbors we have now are awesome! 😆

21. What are your bad habits?

     Sometimes I’m too honest and don’t know when to stop talking, other times I’m so socially anxious I might as well be a feature of the wall at parties. 😂 I also have trichotillomania, a compulsive disorder related to OCD, in which I get really strong urges to pull out my hair sometimes, so definitely a bad habit... Just talking about it kinda... ehhhh... moving on. e~e

22. Where would you like to travel?

     A lot of places. Though Scotland is at the top of my list. Scotland is a huge part of my family’s heritage, and some of my family still lives there. So I would love to visit and spend some time in nature there~  💕

23. Do you have trust issues?

     Yes.

24. Favorite part of your daily routine?

     Well, anytime I get to de-stress is nice. I know wiping down my face with a face wipe always feels nice and refreshing after a day out running errands and attending classes. It’s the little things that are the most help~ 😊

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with?

     All of it. If I could edit my body, that would be nice.

26. What do you do when you wake up?

     Hit snooze on the alarm a couple times, get up, walk to the bathroom... you can imagine the rest.

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker?

     Nope, I’m quite happy with my vampire pale skin, and even my dirty blonde, curly lion’s mane of hair, and my blue eyes ain’t so bad either. I’m not completely hideous, just 97% hideous. 👌😂

28. Who are you most comfortable around?

     Myself. My alters. Tyler. Alex. My Tumblr fam~ 💞

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up?

     No, because I usually cut them out of my life after they break my heart. Some have tried to stay friends with me or become friends with me again years later, but... no. I don’t need backstabbers in my life.

30. Do you ever want to get married?

     Maybe, someday. When the time is right, I’ll know, until then, I’ll enjoy my singledom~ :3

31. Is your hair long enough for a ponytail?

     Yes, it’s in a ponytail right now actually. 😆

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with?

     NONE.

33. Spell your name with your chin.

     gtlo nhy (Oh gawd... What a name. 😂)

34. Do you play sports? What sports?

     Mi-Suk used to play on tennis and basketball teams, but our spine is a little too deteriorated nowadays to attempt such things.

35. Would you rather live without TV or music?

     Without TV, hands down. I’d die without music. I bleed music.

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them?

     Yep. I had a bit of a squish on this kid named Travis in elementary school and never told him. My frenemy told him I had a crush on him, and he never talked to me after that. 😭

37. What do you say during awkward silences?

     I either make a joke or just enjoy the silence. Depends what mood I’m in. Sometimes I’m more introverted and just want to sit in silence or listen to music instead of talk. Other times I just wanna connect with people and I tend to crack a lot of darker, self-deprecating jokes as a way to break the ice, or tension if I feel some.

38. Describe your dream girl/guy?

     I want someone who is genuinely kind, patient, and funny. It also helps if they are neurodivergent like me, and have similar enough interests, sense of humor, etc. to my own. c: Overall, I just want to feel comfortable and safe with someone. 😊

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in?

     I buy food at Fry’s... so... Fry’s?

40. What do you want to do after high school?

     I’m already out of high school, bub. Now I’m in college, and I still have no idea. I have dream jobs, dream homes, dream lives. But none of them seem realistic.

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?

     Depends on the crime, really. If I hired someone to babysit my hypothetical children, and they forgot to tell the children to clean up their toys, I believe a second chance is in order. If they, however, ditched the job to mack on Paul Puffy Lips next door, leaving my children to starve, I don’t believe I’ll be giving them another call.

42. If you’re being extremely quiet what does it mean?

     It means I’m probably really socially anxious at the moment and would prefer to not be made the center of attention. o~o’

43. Do you smile at strangers?

     Yes, sometimes to spread cheer and joy, other times because I’m worried they’ll think I’m an up-to-no-good deviant or zombified by depression, which is how I feel at least 80% of the time, and worry everyone notices, even strangers, who probably would not assume such things, but that’s social anxiety for you. 😂

44. A trip to outer space or the bottom of the ocean?

     Why not both? However, humans are so preoccupied with space that we’ve only explored 5% of our oceans. I don’t want the oceans to feel lonely, so I’ll visit them first. 💙

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?

     Sometimes the looming responsibilities in my life, other times I just don’t get out of bed. 

46. What are you paranoid about?

     A lot of things, but the most pressing concern of mine is that everyone will inevitably leave me because I’m a terrible, horrible human being who doesn’t deserve friendship. 😅

47. Have you ever been high?

     Every day, if I can help it. I have a medical marijuana card and have for a couple years now.

48. Have you ever been drunk?

     No.

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?

     No, not really. Nothing is coming to mind. 

50. What was the color of the last hoodie you wore?

     Well, I’m wearing a hoodie now, and it’s gray, with the Nirvana emblem on the front. 😝 It’s my favorite and coziest hoodie of all.

[commandercrouton]

Jonerys Secret Santa 2017

Here is my submission for Jonerys Secret Santa. I was assigned @violet-eyes-silver-hair for this year, and I hope she really likes my fic! This is my first fic for the fandom, and it is still Christmas here so I made the deadline. I am so sorry I posted this so late. As soon as I got home, I unloaded my car and went straight for the laptop to upload it. This day has been hectic!

Violet eyes met brown eyes for the first time across the fire that was burning in the backyard of the party. She had blonde hair that looked white in the moonlight, and wore a ocean blue dress that highlighted her pale skin. A necklace that looked like a dragon’s tooth fell between her breasts. Jon stared for a second too long at the area where the necklace fell and looked up to find her staring at him with arched eyebrows. Jon blushed furiously and looked away, his cloak billowing in the wind.

His brother didn’t notice a thing as they continued their conversation, red cups in hand running low on beer. When Jon glanced back to the young woman, she was gone. He took a small sip of the cheap beer, and pretended to listen to his brother ramble about this new girl he was interested in. He didn’t understand why his brother’s frat decided to throw a costume party when Halloween was a few weeks ago.

“Did you hear me?” Robb interrupted his thoughts.

“What?” Jon blinked rapidly.

Robb rolled his eyes. “I said your ex-girlfriend is here.”

Jon looked up to see Ygritte’s red hair flash through the crowd. He wondered if she was bringing her new boyfriend as well.

“You okay?” Robb asked.

“Yeah, we broke up a while ago. We are fine now.”

“You’re too forgiving.”

“And you should be bringing me another beer,” Jon joked, thrusting his now empty cup to his brother. Robb smirked as he walked into the frat house to get more of the alcohol from the kegs they bought.

Jon stood there awkwardly, staring at the people surrounding the fire dressed in different costumes.

“What are you supposed to be?” The voice was quiet and commanding.

He turned around to find the petite blonde woman he was staring at. Her entire persona was regal and refined. She stood tall with an air of grace and power. Immediately he knew she was the type of person to get what she wanted, no matter the obstacles.

“I’m a Northern Commander,” he answered, feeling foolish in the attire he borrowed from his father. “And you are a…,” he looked over her outfit and couldn’t figure out what she was.

“I am a dragon queen,” she answered, winking. He grinned at her teasing tone.

“Don’t queens usually wear crowns?”

“A crown does not make a queen.”

“Very true. Where are your dragons?”

“I think a drunk girl stole them from me. They were cute stuffed animals.”

Jon laughed and he was pleased to see her smile a little at his response. “I’m Jon,” he introduced himself, bowing to the queen in front of him.

“Daenerys,” she answered, smiling even bigger as he finished bowing.

“I’d bend the knee, but…” he gestured to his heavy outfit and the fallen leaves on the ground.

“So what are you doing here. You don’t seem to know the members of this fine fraternity.”

“My brother dragged me out. He is trying to convince me to join next semester. Speak of the devil,” Jon said before his brother clapped him on the back. Jon could see Robb eyeing the new girl, and felt a surge of jealousy. It wasn’t Robb’s fault he was so likeable, but Jon was too familiar with girls preferring his brother over him. Robb handed him the drink and he smiled at Daenerys.

She nodded politely in his direction before turning her attention back to Jon.

“Is this the brother who is trying to get you to join?”

“That I am,” Robb interjected. “If I can’t convince him to join, maybe you can.”

“Unfortunately I cannot help you either. I am only here because my friend dragged me out. This isn’t really my scene,” she answered, never breaking eye contact from Jon.

Robb grinned as he realized there were sparks flying between this girl and his brother. Jon had been ignoring girls since him and Ygritte broke up the first month of the school year. It was a shock to both of them since they both chose this school to attend together.

Robb pretended to check his phone and told the two, “Sorry guys, but Theon needs me. Some guys are challenging us for our beer pong title. You two have fun!” He walked away, turning around to wink at his brother out of sight of the blonde girl. Jon raised his eyebrows in warning, causing Daenerys to turn around to see Robb grinning at the two.

“I am starting to believe there was no challenge,” she said.

“And you would be right.”

She stood tall and adjusted her long sleeves of the dress. He noticed her hair was done in beautiful and intricate braiding. He was about to ask her a question about her major, when they were interrupted by another person.

“Daenerys!” A beautiful black woman wearing a sheer grey dress stumbled onto Daenerys. She stumbled under the weight, and tried hard to regain her footing.

“Missandei how much have you had to drink?” Daenerys tried to shrug off her taller friend, but wasn’t succeeding.

“More than I intended. Tyrion is such a bad influence,” Missandei slurred. She saw Jon standing awkwardly besider her friend, and grinned. “Who is this handsome man? I knew I dragged you out for a good reason. Don’t mind me you two. If you want to bring him home tonight, we can sneak him in. Rhaegar won’t ever find out,” she tried to whisper, but failed miserably.

Jon blushed furiously at her suggestive tone. Who was Rhaegar?

“I am so sorry, but I think we have to go. It was lovely meeting you Jon.”

“Do you need help?” Jon saw how Daenerys was struggling under her friend’s height. She bit her lip nervously and darted her eyes back and forth trying to figure out how best to get her to the car. Jon saw the indecision and grabbed the other side of Missandei.

“Where to?”

Daenerys smiled a true smile at him, and his heart skipped a beat. Her normally stoic face completely transformed when she smiled.

“I have a car a block down from the house waiting for us.”

“Lead the way,” Jon answered, adjusting the weight so her friend was leaning more on him than Daenerys. She instructed him as they weaved the way through the crowd until they finally emerged from the house.

An older gentleman leaning against the lamp post ran toward them.

“Miss, is everything alright?” the stranger asked as he took the weight of Missandei off of Daenerys.

“Everything is fine Jorah. Missandei just had a bit too much fun. We should go home.”

Jorah nodded before realizing Jon was standing by them. Jorah appraised Jon warily before sharing a glance with Daenerys.

“He is a friend,” she affirmed.

“I’ll carry her to the car. We should get you ladies home.” Jorah scooped up Missandei and stood off to the side.

“Do you normally have men waiting for you outside of parties?” Jon joked, but immediately realized how inappropriate it sounded.

“Jorah is a close friend, and I guess you could say, bodyguard.”

“Bodyguard? Are you really a queen?” Jon teased.

Daenerys face became guarded as she shook her head no. “Goodbye Jon. Maybe we will see each other again. You seem like quite a man.”

Jon nodded, urging himself to ask for her number. Women like her don’t appear everyday. As he was mustering up the courage to ask her, she turned and walked away from him. He watched her stride confidently to her friends as they began the walk to their car. Jon waited a moment before he turned around himself and entered the party once again.

“You didn’t even ask for her number! You’re a fucking idiot, you know that. She was hot, and she was totally into you,” Robb berated Jon as they had lunch in between classes in the middle of the week.

Jon put his head in his hands and groaned. “I know, I fucking suck,” he moaned. He brushed his hair out of his face and tied it into a bun. “I don’t even know her last name, or how to find her. I don’t even know how to spell her name.”

“I can ask around, see what I can find out. Man, I was sure you had taken her home! Do you have any more details that can help us find her?” Robb grabbed the mug in front of him and took a sip of the black coffee.

“It doesn’t matter, I think she has a boyfriend.”

Robb looked at him questioningly. “What makes you say that? Did you see her with someone?”

“No, it was something her friend said. She said they could sneak me in their home without letting...what was his name? Rhaegar, I think…anyways, without him finding out,” he replied.

“Rhaegar? That does seem weird, but that doesn’t mean it’s her boyfriend. Could be a jealous ex, or a prude roommate. What else do you remember?”

“She said she had a bodyguard. That was really weird. He was waiting outside for her and helped carry her drunk friend back to the car. Part of me believes she might really be a queen,” Jon let out a frustrated sigh. If he ever met a pretty girl, thoughts of her would disappear by the next day, but she was different. Her looks haunted his dreams, and he thought he heard her voice on more than one occasion while waking in between classes. Wherever he looked though, she was nowhere to be found.

Jon looked up from his plate of food to see his brother’s face twisted into concentration. “What?”

“No fucking way,” Robb muttered as he pulled out his phone. Jon knew it was useless to try to get any information from him now. Robb wouldn’t talk until he was sure on his decision, or if he needed advice. From the looks of it, he knew what he was doing.

“Was this her?” Robb asked, thrusting the phone in his hands. Jon grabbed the phone and found pictures of the blonde haired beauty all over the screen.

“Why are there so many pictures of her on Google?”

“You really know nothing Jon. She is Daenerys Targaryen. I can’t believe it. The company said she was taking a year off from school.”

“What company? Why did you make her name sound all fancy?” Jon asked, scrolling through the countless photos of her. There were photos of her in formal wear, with suspected love interests, going to clubs with her friends, leaving the airport in sweats and sunglasses. He felt a pang of sympathy for her at the lack of privacy she had growing up.

“She is Daenerys Targaryen, heiress and partner to Targaryen Empires. One of the top ten businesses on the fortune five hundred list. Her brother is Rhaegar Targaryen, the President of the company. He inherited it from their father when he went mad. She is supposed to help takeover the business when she finishes school.”

“I guess that explains the bodyguard. Once word gets out she’s here, people will go crazy. I’m surprised she blended in this well. The media seems to follow her wherever she goes.” Jon handed back the phone.

“Well thank her brother for that. He has been leaking to the media the different countries she has been visiting on her ‘year off.’ Now we know it’s bull,” Robb answered. “I can’t believe you snagged a Targaryen.”

“Don’t say it like that,” Jon frowned.

“Like what?”

“Like she is some piece of meat. It’s not like that.”

Robb stared at his brother a moment before apologizing. “You’re smitten with her,” Robb teased.

Jon rolled his eyes. “Just help me find her. Without blowing her cover. Maybe ask your friends if they knew a Missandei or Tyrion,” he added, remembering the names of her friends.

Robb agreed and began texting his frat brothers for more information.

Daenerys groaned as she saw her brother’s name flash along the screen on her phone.

“Hello Rhaegar.”

'How is my darling younger sister? Are classes okay?’

“Classes are fine. What's wrong?”

'Straight to the point, just like Viserys taught you. I'm calling because Jorah let it slip you didn’t wear your disguise to the party you went to.’

Daenerys cursed under her breath, making a note to talk to Jorah about the meaning of loyalty. “It was a costume party. No one recognized me. They were too drunk anyways to remember me. I blended in, just like you asked,” she reasoned.

'Dany we made an agreement. If you were going to college away from home, you must wear that wig and keep Jorah close by at all times. No exceptions. You are recognized from your hair. You wanted a normal experience, so you have to make the effort to keep it,’ he reprimanded her.

“Fine, I will wear the brown wig to everything else. But the minute the media catches on to your lies about me travelling, I will burn that wig to ash,” she threatened.

Rhaegar held back a laugh. 'The wig isn't that bad.’

“I disagree. Anything else? I am meeting Tyrion for a tutoring session. Finals are coming up, and I will not fail.”

Rhaegar paused before deciding to continue. 'Jorah also mentioned a boy at the party…’

“And?” she challenged.

'Is he a boyfriend? How much does he know about you.’

“He knows nothing. I just met him at the party. He did not even ask me for my number.”

'You sound disappointed. Did you like this boy?’

“He was interesting,” she admitted. Looking at the clock, she realized she was late to meeting Tyrion, and rushed off the phone with her brother.

Daenerys drove and parked on campus in a record amount of time, and rushed to the library on campus. She glanced at her rose gold watch and saw she was only a few minutes late. The doors to the library automatically opened and she glanced around to find Tyrion waiting in the common area for her.

There were only a handful of people who knew who she really was, and he was one of them. He saw her enter the library and rose to meet her.

“Forgive me for being late, my brother called me. Seems Jorah let him know I didn’t wear this to the party,” she apologized, and gestured to the wig on her head.

“No apologies neccessary. What are we studying today? Politics or history?”

“History. I need to go over the War of the Roses. My professor advised it will be heavily covered on the final.”

“Right then, let’s get started shall we.” Tyrion led the way to the elevators and led the way to a quiet corner on the top floor of the library. The two spent the next few hours going over important names, dates, and battles until it was drilled in her mind permanently.

Daenerys stretched and sighed. She still had to finish a paper for her literature class.

“Need a break? I know an excellent pub with the most amazing honey mead,” he suggested.

She frowned in response. “I have not forgotten how you influenced Missandei drinking at the party. She was completely incapacitated the next day,” she lectured him.

Tyrion laughed in response.

“It’s not funny. I had to take care of her all day!” she reminded him, a small smile gracing her lips.

“Missandei mentioned you met a cute boy at the party. Perhaps you are really mad you had to leave Jon behind.”

“You know him?” she asked.

“Jon Stark. His major is environmental studies, and is on the rugby intramural team. I am also told he has a white husky named Ghost. Many siblings, but only has one brother who attends the college with him. They are roommates in an apartment a few blocks away from campus.”

“How do you know this?” she asked, impressed by his knowledge in not only subjects, but people as well.

“That’s what I do. I drink and I know things. I also know you made quite an impression on him.”

“Really now?”

“Yes really,” a roguish voice came from behind them. Daenerys’ heart skipped a beat at the northern accent she faintly recognized. She turned around to find Jon smirking at her, a backpack slung across his shoulder.

“Jon,” she said, shocked to find him standing there. He looked even more handsome than she remembered. His face had a romantic glow in the firelight, but now in the flourescent lights, she could view the curls of his hair, his strong jaw, and his arm muscles rippling underneath his tight jacket.

“You’re a hard woman to find Daenerys,” Jon told her.

“I’ll leave you two alone. Daenerys, I’ll see you this weekend for our next session.” Tyrion excused himself and left the two to talk and catch up.

“You look different without your cloak,” Daenerys started.

“You look different with that hair. Wasn't your hair blonde?”

A faint blush covered her cheeks as she consciously moved a strand of the brown hair behind her ear.

“You don’t have to explain, I figured it out, Ms. Targaryen. People seem to follow you wherever you go. It is a nice disguise.”

Daenerys stiffened at the sound of her last name. She was worried someone would overhear and then her cover would be blown. She eyed him as he mentioned her name, worried he only found her for her toes to the company. Her fears were unfounded though when he didn’t seem to be interested in her name.

“It was my brother’s idea,” she answered quietly, quickly glancing around to make sure no one else was around.

“Can I sit down?” Jon asked. She nodded in response and motioned her hand to the seat next to her.

“I want to explain that I have no intention of telling your secret to anyone. My brother helped me figure it out. He knew I was interested in finding you again, and he helped me locate Tyrion.”

“You wanted to find me,” she plainly stated, hoping he would elaborate more.

“I was quite fond of you at the party, and I’ve been kicking myself that I didn’t get your number. So I was hoping to find you and ask you out for a date this Friday.”

“Are you going to do it?”

“Do what?”

“Ask me out,” she smiled at him.

Jon smiled sheepishly and asked her, “Would you like to go on a date with me this Friday?’

“I’d love to,” she replied.

The two stayed in the library to talk for a bit longer before Daenerys insisted she had to go home to finish her homework. As Jon was walking Daenerys back to her car, their fingers would graze cautiously, until Jon gathered the courage to grab her hand completely.

He was shocked to feel a spark of heat shoot through him at their first contact. Jon knew she felt it as well from the look she gave him. Neither of them knew the date they would go on would be their last first date, but they both knew this relationship would be the start of something amazing.

Fin