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eleanorfenyxwrites · 1 year

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You're Safe Here

@polyshipweek 2023 Day 2 - Missing Scene

I left a cameo of 3zun in the epilogue of 'The Sculptor' that I feel like deserves to be expanded on, so I thought I'd give y'all a few scenes of their first couple of meetings.

TW for mentions of police violence against a gay OC (it doesn't happen on-screen, but both Meng Yao and Lan Xichen recall the event and its aftermath in conversation as a significant plot point). Also, as in the main fic, this is not a perfect world without homophobia, so there's a bit of that as well (i.e. I tagged for 'Period-typical attitudes' and 'Period-typical homophobia' on ao3, though it's also only discussed and not shown outright).

It's fluffier than it sounds I swear lol, and we already know that their story also ends happily thanks to that mention in the epilogue.

--//--

Xichen meets Mingjue first.

He tells himself that it’s research.

He nearly convinces himself that it’s research.

Xichen is a well-seasoned veteran in his field. Sure, he hasn’t been a lawyer for nearly as long as many of his peers, but he’s had a robust career so far, and it’s preceded by many years of job shadowing at his Uncle’s side, first, and then years of internships throughout university – and those not just at the family firm, either, though that first round of experience had certainly helped get his foot in the door elsewhere. In the world of law he thinks it would be difficult to find anyone in his position (especially at his age) who didn’t get there at least in part through nepotism, but such is the way of things.

He's earned a good reputation for himself anyway, completely irrespective of his family name, and it’s one that he’s quite proud of even if it makes things…taxing, sometimes.

Xichen is well known for his delicate and respectful handling of particularly sensitive cases, and it’s a responsibility that he takes seriously. People of all sorts come to him to rely on his discretion, his tact, his ability to put himself in anyone’s shoes and approach their case with a sympathetic ear. His latest case had taken quite a toll, in that regard, but it had taken until it was over and won for him to realize why this victory feels sweeter than so many others.

Something about it all hit closer to home than he would have ever expected, or perhaps been willing to admit.

So.

Xichen goes to the place where his client was arrested and unjustly assaulted by police officers, and he tells himself that he only wants to get a feel for how his client had been deceived that night. (He only half-believes himself.)

“You’re new,” a gruff voice says from a cut of shadow. Xichen blinks to try to clear his eyes of the way the streetlight nearby is blinding him, but in the end it takes the man pushing off the wall and into the light for Xichen to know just where to look to address his reply.

“Yes, I suppose I am,” Xichen replies to the absolute bear of a man who emerges, lit cigarette hanging from his mouth under a truly impressive mustache, his white tank top doing very little to contain his well-muscled, hair-dark chest (and, as it’s designed to do, absolutely nothing at all to contain his heavily-tattooed arms that are equally as impressive). “I’m just..having a look around?”

The man raises a brow at him and exhales smoke from his nose on a sigh.

“We don’t really take kindly to that, just so you know. Gawking’s not really the name of the game around here.”

Ah. Yes. Xichen had…been warned about that. It’s part of why his own excuse is a bit harder to buy than he’d like.

“Right…” he trails off and glances around, though if anyone else around has noticed he’s in need of some help, they’re not really showing it. There aren’t many people around to begin with, though – he’d come out on a Wednesday night, hardly ‘peak season’ as it were, but there’s enough of a crowd for him to know he’s in the right place anyway.

When he looks back at his unexpected conversational partner it’s to find the man slowly starting to grin, sharp and wicked around his cigarette glowing orange, the tiny light of it catching and cupping in a dimple nearly hidden under that mustache.

“You seem nice, so I’ll save you a bit of panic. I’m not cruising either, I’m here to keep a look out for the people who are so they can focus on what they’re doing. You can stand here and nobody’ll bother you, okay? I won’t even make a pass at you, I swear.”

Xichen flushes warm and he hopes that the yellow, monochrome glow of the street lamp hides it well enough.

“Ah…thank you, that’s very kind of you,” he says perhaps a little awkwardly. The man saves him by dusting off one massive hand on his jeans before he holds it out for Xichen to shake, which he does entirely on instinct.

“I’m Mingjue,” the man offers while Xichen is trying very hard not to think about how big and warm and rough his hand is curled around his.

“Xichen,” he offers, going still when Mingjue’s eyes narrow ever so slightly.

“Lan Xichen?”

“Ah..”

“Gotta be, can’t be many Xichens around town, and definitely not ones who’d know to come here. I’ll bet my last $10 you’re the lawyer who just won Danny Boy’s case for him.”

Xichen, wary of discussing any of his clients but particularly his most recent, can only fidget as he tries unsuccessfully to come up with a convincing lie.

Mingjue squints at him for a moment, his grin fading into something a little softer around the edges. “Hey, chill out man. I’m serious, no one’s going to hurt you around here. Danny only got nabbed because I wasn’t here that night to chase off the fuzz, and you representing him earned you a lot of favors with this crowd. Alright? You’re safe here.”

Xichen will never know exactly what it is about Mingjue that makes him believe him, but those three magic words, ‘You’re safe here’, feel like they take far more weight off his shoulders than just the fear that he’ll be caught cruising for other men (which he isn’t even here to do!).

He glances around again, for what he isn’t sure. He catches a glimpse of a couple of guys disappearing around the bend of the pedestrian path in the park across the street, a few more hanging out on the low wall around some brick building Xichen doesn’t know the purpose of, chatting and laughing. He watches a beer get passed around, sips taken between laughs like indirect kisses, mouth-bottle-mouth. There are others like Mingjue, just hanging out on their own having a cigarette or a drink, bodies casually on display with the sort of confidence Lan Xichen can only envy.

There’s a sense of…camaraderie under the edge of a sexual charge.

When he looks at Mingjue again the man’s watching him, eyes dark and thoughtful in the moment before he slips back into shadow, leaning against his wall. He takes a drag off his cigarette, the extra burn glinting for a moment off that dark, assessing gaze. A spark that fizzles into ash with his next exhale.

Xichen crosses the couple of feet of pavement between them to lean against the wall beside him, a respectful distance between his shirtsleeve and Mingjue’s bare arm.

“Want a light?” Mingjue asks, holding a fresh cigarette into the space between them.

“Ah..no, thank you though.”

Mingjue snorts and slides the cigarette up behind his ear. Now that Xichen has joined him in the shadows he’s easier to see, the streetlamp no longer blinding him. He looks perfectly at ease like this, even as Xichen spots the shine of brass knuckles on the hand he’s using to pluck his cigarette from his lips to talk.

“You’re better off that way, it’s a nasty habit. I always told my brother growing up I’d better not ever catch him smoking or I’d kill him myself, then what do I do? Let my pretty little boyfriend talk me into picking it up, the snake.”

Xichen, thoroughly out of his depth but…bemused, asks, “Did he have an easy time talking you into it?”

Mingjue snorts again, grinning in the second before he takes another drag.

“We’d just started dating, right, and I told him I don’t care if he smokes but I don’t want to, and he got it no problem, said he’d tried quitting a few times before too, but it never stuck. Then one night we’re out with some friends from around here and he looks at me – he’s got these big dark eyes and the longest lashes you’ve ever seen – and he asks me so sweetly if I’d light his cigarette off one in my mouth. Hot as fuck when you’re half-drunk and thinking this guy’s the best thing to ever happen to you, so I say yes and then it became a thing. And all he ever wanted me to do is light his, that’s it, but, well. Here I am. I still light his with mine though, so as usual: he wins.”

Xichen laughs a little and tries to imagine it, finding someone – another man, even – alluring enough to go along with such a proposition. He’s never really had a reason to think about it before, but picturing it he can see the appeal. The intimacy of it, anyway, is something he could certainly imagine himself craving. Perhaps not…quite like that. But he gets it.

“He must have quite some eyes, then,” is all he can think of to say, but it makes Mingjue laugh as he flicks his cigarette butt to the ground and snuffs it under the heel of his boot.

“Yeah he’s a keeper, damn him,” Mingjue sighs. “But come on, what’s your story then?”

Xichen blinks at that and finds his mind has suddenly gone blank. His story? Does he…have one of those? It seems so…mundane, his life so far. Surely it wouldn’t be interesting to someone like Mingjue. Someone with a boyfriend. Someone with a boyfriend he clearly cares for but who hangs out where guys go cruising anyway all night long, just to run off the cops. Someone with tattoos down his arms and a cigarette tucked behind his ear, brass knuckles on his thick fingers.

“I’m not quite sure I’ve got one,” Xichen says, because he truly doesn’t know what else to say. It seems safest to not open that door anyway. He doesn’t want to examine what might be behind it.

Mingjue turns his head to look at him, their heights perfectly matched despite the way he feels like Mingjue has a much larger presence than Xichen himself ever has. “Nah, everyone’s got something to tell. I know you do, too; doesn’t have to be your whole life, Xichen. Maybe start with what you came here looking for – everyone’s looking for something, whether they know it or not.”

Xichen swallows thickly and looks out into the street again. In the alley across the way he sees, through the shadows, a man on his knees in front of another with his head tipped back to bare his neck. They’re barely shapes in the darkness, nigh on undetectable had he not accidentally looked right at them and spotted the pattern of recognizable shapes the pair of them make. Even though it makes his entire face and neck burn he can’t seem to tear his eyes away again.

He sucks a deep breath in and says, eyes still trained on the pair in the alley, “I wanted to see what was here that was worth getting arrested for.”

Mingjue hums in what sounds like understanding. Xichen exhales shakily as he hears the scratch of a match being struck, the smell of it tickling his nose even before it’s followed up with fresh smoke from Mingjue’s next cigarette.

“I want…” He trails off into nothing.

What does he want? It’s not a question he asks himself very often, and one he answers even less so. That’s not really ever been…an option. There are things he needs. There are things he does. There aren’t many things he wants.

Mingjue takes a drag off his new cigarette and hums again, prompting.

“I want to know what else is out there,” he finally decides. “I just..I wanted to know.”

Mingjue nods and tells him, “Yeah. I get that.”

In the alley, Xichen watches the man on his knees stand up to kiss his partner like they’re the only two people in the world, and something in his chest clenches.

--//--

Xichen meets A-Yao second.

After that first night, he’d told himself he wouldn’t go back. It hadn’t been exactly pleasant, no one would think it strange if he didn’t go back. His clothes reeked of Mingjue’s cigarettes, and the balmy night had left him feeling too sticky and out-of-sorts to go to bed until he’d relented and taken a shower.

And he’d stood there under the water, and leaned back against the tile, and thought about what it might feel like to be rucked up against a wall in a dark alley with a man on his knees in front of him. Or Mingjue leaning in close enough to touch the tip of a cigarette against one in his mouth. Or sharing that single bottle of beer that he’d seen the group passing around, lips pressed to where lips had been mere moments before. Would it feel different? Would it taste different? He’s never had beer before but would he like it if other men had taken swigs of it first, left their kisses behind for him to taste?

He'd stood up straight with a jolt and spent the rest of his shower breathing carefully through the shock of cold water pouring over him to help clear his head.

So he wasn’t going to go back.

But Mingjue had told him that Wednesdays are too quiet, and if he wants to know he needs to come back at the weekend.

“Friday nights are hopping,” he’d said around midnight with a glance out of the corner of his eye. “Can’t hardly move without getting at least a look, if not an offer. You want to know what’s worth it? That’s the night to check it out.”

On Friday evening after a too-long day, Xichen turns down an invitation to go out for an evening of schmoozing and social climbing at a bar near the firm with some of the other partners and heads home instead. When he changes out of his work clothes, he reaches for the soft pajamas he always wears – and then without consciously deciding to do so, he’s striding into his closet to find anything to wear that would possibly be…interesting. Anything that might make him seem like less of an outsider.

By 10 – horribly late by his standards – he’s got his hands tucked into the pockets of jeans he hardly ever wears and he strides with a false bravado into the area ‘everyone’ knows you don’t step foot in past dusk if you know what’s good for you.

He finds Mingjue standing at the same wall, in the same shadow, cigarette glowing between his lips and brass knuckles once again on his fist.

This time, there’s a tiny Asian guy tucked under his arm, nearly hidden by Mingjue’s bulk, and when he turns his head to watch his approach Xichen thinks:

Oh. Eyes.

“Mingjue, is this your new friend?” he purrs. Something about the way he says it makes Xichen feel like he’s done…something, or maybe that’s just guilt for the fact that his dreams for the last two nights had smushed Wednesday’s snapshots together and put Mingjue on his knees with his mouth full of Xichen’s cock. He’d woken up hard as a rock.

That can’t possibly be okay.

He isn’t thinking about it.

“Xichen,” Mingjue greets, warmer than his greeting that first night but still gruff around the edges. “This is A-Yao. A-Yao, Lan Xichen, Danny’s miracle lawyer.”

“Just Xichen is fine, there’s no need for any of the rest of it,” he says with a smile as he reaches them. He doesn’t want to be ‘Lan Xichen the lawyer’ here, to them, though he isn’t thinking about why that might be, either. “Is this the infamous boyfriend who can charm one into picking up smoking?”

“Ugh,” A-Yao scoffs, turning his head to glare up at Mingjue who’s grinning around his cigarette again. “I hate that you tell that story, you make it sound like I forced you!”

“I do not! I tell it exactly like it happened!”

Xichen clears his throat delicately. “I got the impression, rather, that you didn’t pressure him at all, but that he finds you impossible to resist and so ended up falling into a habit that supports yours, simply because it’ll make you happy.”

A-Yao looks up at him again, an incredulous little smile on his lips, and this close Xichen is in a position to think:

Oh. Eyelashes.

“Mmm lawyers and your quicksilver tongues,” A-Yao smiles, “Finally, someone I can talk to properly.”

Xichen ducks his head to hide a smile of his own when Mingjue snorts and jostles A-Yao under his arm a little as he says, “Don’t be rude, A-Yao,” without any heat behind it.

“I don’t want to intrude on your evening so I’ll just – ” Xichen starts, taking a half-step back towards the curb. A car passes on the road behind him, music on and windows down as they roll far too slowly along the avenue. Xichen turns his head to investigate, only to realize that this is the actual, literal ‘cruising’ part of the slang when he spots a couple of guys leaning out of the windows, a few of the men standing around offering them long glances that promise more.

“Ohh,” A-Yao says quietly, like a dawning realization. “Come here baby, come stand with me. Mingjue said you just want to see what it’s like around here?”

Xichen, reeling from the fact that A-Yao had apparently called him ‘baby’, finds he can only nod a little helplessly.

“That’s alright,” A-Yao tells him, so soft Xichen can’t help but believe him. “You can watch if that’s all you want to do, no one’ll bother you if you’re with us. You’re not interrupting anything, we’re just watching too. Come on, don’t be shy. You’re with us for the night.”

Xichen swallows and looks at the pair of them again, tucked so comfortably out of the way. Tucked up comfortably together, so obviously a package deal. They’re both watching him with looks he isn’t going to analyze. A-Yao leans a little more into Mingjue’s space, laying his head against his boyfriend’s chest, and Mingjue plucks the cigarette from his mouth to hold it down for A-Yao to take a drag off of.

Mouth-paper-mouth.

Xichen thinks he maybe gets the appeal of smoking a little more.

He crosses the pavement to turn and stand next to them on A-Yao’s other side, and A-Yao turns fully to rest his back against Mingjue’s side, the man’s enormous arm wrapped across his chest like a sash to keep holding him close while A-Yao tips his head to the side, looking up at Xichen like he’s a puzzle to be solved.

“I’d ask you what your story is but Mingjue already warned me you don’t like that,” A-Yao says after his moment of contemplation (in which Xichen hopes he wasn’t judged too harshly). “So, just Xichen – how are you?”

He asks it so sincerely, so kindly, not like he wants a standard water cooler answer but like he wants to know. Xichen hopes the shadow they’re standing in hides the way his eyes are suddenly stinging and he can’t see more than a wobbly outline of A-Yao reaching up to steal Mingjue’s cigarette from his lips for another drag.

“I’m alright,” he manages to answer. And it’s true. He’s fine.

He’s good.

He’s alright.

“You’re a shit liar, Xichen,” Mingjue tells him, and somewhere in the middle of Xichen’s answering laugh it turns into a sob.

--//--

“Get him some water, Mingjue, will you?” A-Yao requests as the door to their third-floor walkup (just a block over from the cruising spot) slams shut behind them, making Xichen jump. “Sorry, forgot to warn you it does that,” A-Yao sighs with a pat to his arm. “You just get used to it eventually, even if you don’t ever think you will.”

“It’s alright. You really don’t need to do this –” he starts. Mingjue comes back out of the kitchen with a glass of water in hand and raises an eyebrow at A-Yao dropped to his knees on the carpet to unlace his shoes. Not his own shoes. Xichen’s.

He’s very determinedly not thinking about the men in the alley (they’d been back for a repeat performance tonight, or else someone else had had the exact same idea in the same spot).

“A-Yao don’t smother him.”

“I’m not, and you’re worried about him too so don’t give me any sass,” A-Yao tosses back over his shoulder. Xichen meets Mingjue’s eyes, pleading for help, but receives nothing more than a shrug with a sort of ‘what can you do’ look on his handsome face, bottom lip pouting out from under his mustache. “And grab him the blanket off the bed!” A-Yao adds towards Mingjue’s retreating back.

“Really, I’m fine –”

“Xichen, you just broke down crying because I asked you how you are. It’s okay, we’re just going to get you some water and a quiet spot to sit down for a while, and when you’re calmer you can go if you want to.”

Xichen blushes (the recap of what’s probably one of the most embarrassing moments of his life was wholly unnecessary) and concedes that A-Yao is going to accomplish whatever it is he wants to, and it’s probably better to just go along with it. He slips out of his shoes when he feels coaxing hands on his ankles. A-Yao sets the wingtips aside on the rack inside the door before shepherding him further into the tiny apartment.

It's a chaotic mess, dark wood paneling and strange paintings on the walls, orange carpet with a pea-soup green throw rug over most of it in the living room that seems to double as a dining room as well. The couch matches the rug, the drapes don’t match anything at all, and Xichen feels more at home in the middle of all of it than he ever has in his own apartment.

Mingjue reappears from what Xichen assumes is their bedroom with a loudly-patterned throw blanket in his hands, frowning in thought as he attempts to find the long side by spreading it corner to corner, and then again on the next side.

“Here, sit down,” A-Yao coaxes to plonk him down right in the center of the couch. The water Mingjue had fetched for him is on the coffee table (it’s also wood but not a shade that matches the wall panels at all) amongst a few scattered papers and magazines he doesn’t recognize. The second he leans forward to pick up the glass, Mingjue tosses the blanket around his shoulders for A-Yao to pull tighter around him.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs after a few sips of water, feeling contrite. Mingjue sits down in an arm chair caddy-corner to the sofa (it’s mustard yellow, unlike anything else in the room) and lets A-Yao sit down in his lap with all the ease of a couple who have done so a thousand times.

Xichen’s chest clenches again and he rubs his hand over his sternum automatically, trying to relieve the ache.

He continues, “I don’t know why that…that happened. I’ll be out of your hair soon and then you can go back to your nice evening, I really don’t want to intrude.”

A-Yao watches him with those wide, dark eyes of his, assessing. Mingjue looks up at his boyfriend but says nothing, and Xichen wonders just what it is that they must think of him, showing up out of nowhere to gawk at them and their friends only to break down crying when asked how he is. He must look like a lunatic.

“You know,” A-Yao says after a long silence that’s heavy and soft as a down blanket, “Danny came back as soon as they let him out and he got things going with your firm. He went right back to chatting up the guys he likes flirting with, and when Mingjue asked him if he shouldn’t lay low for a while you know what he said?”

Xichen holds a sip of water in his mouth as he shakes his head.

“He said he didn’t have to worry about a single thing, because he’d found the best lawyer in the city who was going to look out for him, and make sure he was taken care of. He came back singing your praises, talking about how kind you are. How you really listened to him when he’d been so scared nobody would even take him seriously, let alone understand.”

Xichen fidgets with the corner of the blanket, the glass of tepid water in his hands, anything to avoid meeting that assessing gaze. Of course he’d helped. It’s his job to help. It’s his job to care, and to know exactly what he needs to know to make sure the people he protects get to see justice served. To know that they’re not alone, that someone is in their corner. He’s not special, that’s every lawyer’s job.

“I was there, Xichen, when Danny got arrested.”

Xichen looks up sharply – Mingjue had said he wasn’t, it hadn’t even occurred to him to think that A-Yao was.

“They beat him half to death while we all tried to pull them off him, and I know that there are plenty of people – the majority of people – who wouldn’t have given two shits about him, or how much having to see that hurt us all. But you cared, and you did it in a courtroom full of people. You can’t possibly ‘intrude’ on us or our community, okay? You’re Family now.”

Xichen’s next inhale catches in his chest and he tries to cover it with another sip of his water.

“Knew you’d be better at explaining it than me,” Mingjue rumbles low in his chest. “I tried to tell him the other night but I guess it didn’t stick.”

A-Yao hums and leans back to kiss Mingjue’s cheek, casual and sweet and it doesn’t even occur to Xichen to find it odd. How could he – clearly they love each other. A-Yao stands up from Mingjue’s lap then with a pat to one broad shoulder.

“Keep an eye on him, ge, I need to go call A-Sang.”

“Sure,” Mingjue agrees easily and doesn’t bother hiding that he watches A-Yao’s ass as he leaves. Xichen hides behind another sip of his water and very carefully, very slowly, relaxes back into the couch cushions with a little sigh of relief.

They sit in companionable silence for a while. Xichen feels himself calming down despite the riot of color around him. A-Yao’s talking quietly in the other room and occasionally laughing, though never loud enough to disrupt. Mingjue’s staring off into space as he brushes his fingers back and forth across the heavy metal rings still on his knuckles, and Xichen happily leaves him to whatever thoughts he’s having as he tries to get his own in order.

Finally, eventually, he sets his empty water glass down on the coffee table and without taking his eyes off of it he admits, “Danny’s case was…surprisingly important to me.”

Mingjue’s attention shifts to him, he can feel it like the press of a hand on the back of his neck, but he doesn’t look up from the coffee table to meet his gaze. If he does he isn’t sure he’ll actually find the courage to keep talking.

“All of my cases are important to me, but Danny’s was…when I heard what happened, what…what they did to him, all I could think was that no one deserved it, but especially not someone just looking for some companionship. And he was so sweet when I met with him. His eye was still swollen shut and he looked so relieved when I told him I was sorry it had happened. I didn’t…It seemed so unfair, for someone so sweet to have been excited by a new encounter only to have it go horrifically wrong.”

Xichen sucks in a breath that shudders in his chest and Mingjue levers himself up out of the chair to sit next to him on the couch instead, not quite touching but close enough that Xichen can feel the solid weight of him as if they were.

“I don’t understand what people think is so wrong about the way you all live,” he admits in a murmur. It feels like if he says it loudly enough Lan Qiren will somehow hear him, punish him for falling into degeneracy when he was raised so much ‘better’ than that. “It’s just…it’s still love, isn’t it? It’s really not so different to anyone else. Everyone just wants...someone who cares. What else matters?”

Mingjue exhales and leans back to rest more fully against the sofa, head tipped back to rest on top of the cushions. Xichen mirrors his posture, hands linked over his stomach and elbow knocking against Mingjue’s beside him.

“Well obviously A-Yao and I aren’t going to argue with you on that,” Mingjue jokes, dry as a bone. “We don’t get the big deal either, and I can guarantee you we’re about as ‘out there’ as they get, especially by most people’s standards. But it’s not like it’s anyone else’s business unless we decide that it is, so why should people care? We’re just minding our own.”

Xichen isn’t really sure what ‘out there’ means, but. Well. He has an imagination. It’s not very creative (it doesn’t have much to work with), but maybe that’s something to be examined at a later time when he’s not on Mingjue and A-Yao’s sofa and failing to prevent himself from having an identity crisis.

“I can see the appeal of it, your lifestyle,” he says next – utterly damning, by the standards he was raised with. Mingjue just snorts hard enough that Xichen feels it through the couch cushions.

“’M not surprised, if you’re really as good at understanding other people as Danny says. Anyone that good at listening would see there’s an appeal to just about anything under the right circumstances. You just have to figure out what appeals to you. If it’s your clients and your suits and your buttoned-up coworkers that’s fine, there’s a place for that. If it’s this –” Mingjue gestures expansively with one massive hand at the apartment around them, including A-Yao still chatting in the kitchen and the sound of music and laughter down in the street below “ – then obviously there’s a place for that too. Maybe it’s both, who knows?”

Both?

Xichen hums to show he’s heard but he doesn’t say anything else, too caught up in the idea of that.

Both.

His office, and the career that he finds fulfilling and satisfying even if he didn’t necessarily get to choose it for himself. He’s never resented that, not even once. He likes it. But his life could be…more. It could be…this. At night. When he’s free to do as he pleases.

Some of the pressure in his chest eases.

He doesn’t have to devote his entire life to only doing what his Uncle expects of him. He probably should, it would be unfilial not to appreciate everything Lan Qiren has given him in this life. The potential for guilt is there, waiting in the wings behind the possibilities unfolding in his mind’s eye. But he doesn’t have to. He could simply…add to it.

“Danny mentioned a…place. A club,” Xichen says, a little breathless with his daring. This isn’t research, he can’t even pretend it is. He’s seen the spot where Danny got hurt, he’s seen what it’s like for the men who go cruising. He gets it. He doesn’t need to see anymore.

“Yeah? Probably mine. A-Yao and I run the gay bar at the other end of the street, but on the weekends it’s definitely more like a club. You wanna see that too?”

Xichen turns his head to look at Mingjue beside him to find the man already peeking at him out of the corner of his eye. There’s no judgement in the look, just open and frank honesty. Does he want to see the gay club? It’s entirely up to him, and Mingjue won’t be bothered one way or the other.

“Yes. Yes I think I would. Tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

“What’s tomorrow?” A-Yao asks as he comes back into the room to sit down with a sigh on Xichen’s other side. Xichen turns his head to look at him without lifting it from the back of the couch and gets the strangest thrill out of sitting with such poor posture for so long. He imagines Lan Qiren scolding him for not sitting properly on such a garish sofa in the apartment of two people so deeply important to the local queer scene and has to hold back a smile.

“I’d like to come see yours and Mingjue’s club, if I may.”

“ ‘If I may’,” A-Yao quotes back with a smile that makes twin deep dimples pop in his cheeks. “Such a gentleman. Of course you can, Xichen. We’ll need to be there tomorrow night anyway so you can come with us; no safer place to be.”

Xichen tucks that promise of safety, so similar to Mingjue’s the other night, into his heart and tells it to slow down, that he doesn’t have to be afraid. Not when they’ve got him taken care of.

‘Out there’ for A-Yao and Mingjue, he learns a few weeks later, means at least in part that he’s apparently being ‘tag-teamed’ according to Nie Huaisang, visiting from a few towns over for the weekend. And when he tumbles very happily into bed with A-Yao and Mingjue later that night (with far more leather than he would’ve ever thought the activity could involve), Xichen is thoroughly startled to realize he’s maybe a bit ‘out there’ too, and he knows he’s very lucky to have realized this whilst in such indulgent company.

#the untamed fanfic #polyshipweek23 #3zun #You're Safe Here #The Sculptor #<- universe #Lan Xichen #Nie Mingjue #Meng Yao #I put some extra headcanons that didn't make it into the fic in the end notes over on ao3 so y'all make sure to check those out!#I may bring them over here as a separate post in a few days though we'll see

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nysocboy · 2 months

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Gemstones Episode 2.7: Holding hands among the yurts, and eating pizza for dessert

When you get tired of discussing sex: Whew, Eli's not dead after all, but he's in a coma. Jesse/Amber and Judy/BJ hug and cry at his bedside. Kelvin is noticeably absent. Then the siblings go out into the parking lot and throw up multiple times. followed by the partners. Is this a common response to grief, or did they all have bad sushi for dinner?

Ok, we're not tired of discussing sex yet: We cut to Keefe trapped in the God Squad's tiger cage. There are several openings to look through, but he prefers the glory hole.This time, Sky (Joel Rush, top photo) pushes through, hitting him in the eye!

Keefe collapses, screaming in pain, and starts to cry. He has died and gone to hell, being punished for Kelvin's sins -- a veritable Christ figure. Note that Keefe undergoes a symbolic death and resurrection in every season.

When the God Squad guys leave, Kelvin appears with food and toiletries. Interestingly, Keefe calls him by the formal "Brother Kelvin." He isn't sure that he wants a romantic relationship with this guy who lets him suffer in a tiger cage instead of saying "Game's over! Let Keefe out!" and calling security if the God Squad resists. But Christ-Keefe doesn't even suggest release; instead, he advises Kelvin that he's as powerful as Eli, just as Jesus was as powerful as his Father.

Beauty and the Beast: In church, Jesse announces that Eli was gunned down while driving on Long Point Road. Trivia note: This is a real road in a suburb of Charleston. It leads past the Seacoast Church, a megachurch that closely resembles the Salvation Center.

Afterwards, the family is at their post-church dinner at Jason's Steakhouse, when Kelvin arrives, wearing a dark purple robe, carefully holding his glass of orange drink.

They yell at him for not being around late;y, but he isn't ready to show himself in public yet. "I am a beast!" Jesse quips that the robe makes him look like the beauty from Beauty and the Beast.

Next they argue over who will fill the power vacuum left by Eli's absence, until Martin has had enough: "Can't you just be kind to each other? Self-absorbed, loud, arrogant fucking assholes." That's about the size of it.

Kelvin agrees:"Y'all are a bunch of a-holes." Jesse points out that he was talking about "you, too, dick-lips." The term refers to lips that would be especially nice to have sex with: a call-back to the glory hole scene earlier, and yet another reference to Kelvin being gay.

Jesse's Plan: After discussing the possibility of blowing up Junior's house and having a heart-to-heart with Martin, Jesse reveals to the siblings his new plan: he'll tell the congregation and the news media that Eli is recovering, and give them his hospital and room number, so the listening Cycle Ninjas will know to where to strike again. Except Eli won't be there: Jesse will clear the hospital and lay in wait, ready to gun them down. Can you really clear an entire hospital? The siblings think that it's a crazy idea, but he talks them into it: "Let's lie to the church like a fucking family."

Cut to the ambulances and army jeeps moving Eli to the safe house. Which happens to be his own mansion; is that wise? Judy, Amber, and the kids join him.

On the third day he rose from the dead: Meanwhile, Keefe sneaks back to the God Squad compound and tells Keefe: "I'm busting you out of here."

Wait. When Eli visited, Keefe was already in the tiger cage. Then he was shot, and they announced that he was in a coma in the Sunday service. IT'S SUNDAY AGAIN! Has Keefe been in that cage for over a week? That would be inconceivably brutal. Besides it wouldn't fit with the Christ motif: Keefe has to descend "into hell" on Friday, and get resurrected on Sunday. I think there is a problem with the show's continuity.

"Are we taking back the house?" Keefe asks. I'd be asking a lot more than that, just before I called the police and my lawyer.

"We are ejecting," Kelvin answers. "We'll move in with the rest of the family in the safe house." They run hand-in-hand through the yard to freedom.

This is a significant scene: Kelvin admits that Keefe is a member of the family, and invites a public display of affection that establishes them as a romantic couple. A scene ago he yelled at Keefe for trying to hold his hand. Now he initiates it.

Question: Keefe is wearing only a jockstrap. Where do they intend to find clothes? Kelvin had to move their stuff out of the master bedroom suite, but it would still be in the house, right?

Pizza and Cycle Ninjas: At the safe house, Keefe goes to work on embedding himself into the family. First he advises Kelvin to visit his father (and calls him Brother instead of the formal Brother Kelvin). Then he tries to distract Jesse's kids from the crisis with what he thinks are funny stories. While they are eating pizza, he notes that as a young boy, he often had pizza for every meal, even for dessert. That's not funny, it's sad. Where were your parents?

They are not impressed.

We cut to Kelvin visiting the comatose Eli. He admits that the God Squad was kind of dumb, but he just started it to make Eli proud. And invite a lot of musclemen to the steam showers. He prays, promising to "never succumb to hubris again" if God heals Eli. And Eli speaks! A miracle! The end.

Oh, right, we still have 15 minutes to go. Jesse, the men in the family, and the mercenaries waiting in the cleared hospital. Four Cycle Ninjas appear, armed with rifles. One is shot, and the others flee. Jesse follows, knocks a second off his motorcycle, and shoves a taser up his butt, enacting an anal rape. Gideon chases and subdues the others. The end.

The full review, with nude photos and explicit sexual discussions, is on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends

#the righteous gemstones #kelvin gemstone #keefe chambers #The God Squad #Jonathan Bennett #Van Wilder #Joel Rush

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mermaidsirennikita · 1 year

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Caro's Best Reads of 2022

2022 was an interesting year for me in general, and that did not let up re: my reading life. I continued to read almost exclusively romance, with a few exceptions. Most of that was historical romance--but that's not the only subgenre I love. I'm also trying to make more of a concentrated effort to explore other subgenres, for a couple reasons.

A) Very bluntly, to avoid burnout. Variety is the spice of life, etc.

B) Historical romance can be amazing. However, it can also be very white and heteronormative. To me, it's easier to be aware of the pitfalls of some historical romance novels when you read from subgenres that offer greater variety.

I also finally really got into Immortals After Dark and... By God, my life was changed. I don't think I've ever read a romance series that really thrilled me quite as much (newbs get a cheat sheet). I'm going to list my favorite IAD books here, (separately) but know that I do advocate for reading that series in order due to its mythos and series-long arc.

I'm not ranking these books, because I can't. And this list is about what I read this year, not what was released this year. I will, however, be holding 2023 ARCs that would have made off the list, because I feel like it's a bit unfair.

With that said--here's what I loved the most this year.

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall.

A gorgeous historical romance that is, in fact, one of the few friends to lovers novels that works for me. It's true that A Lady for a Duke breaks new ground in historical romance--and it's an inherently queer story. Even beyond Viola's identity as a trans woman, much of this novel surrounds the concept of the found family--the Duke of Gracewood is saved not only by Viola, but his family. The story takes turns that I didn't expect, especially regarding the physical nature of Viola and Gracewood's relationship; this one doesn't take any kind of expected, heteronormative beats. But at the end of the day, what struck me most was how truly I felt like Viola and Gracewood knew each other deeply. And as their knowing shifted to a romantic and sexual relationship... It was just really, really moving. And, it must be said, super passionate.

Run, Run, Rabbit by C.M. Nascosta.

Listen, while everyone else was loving the minotaur book--and look, I get it, the minotaur book is very well-done, I'm not saying y'all are wrong--THIS was my Nascosta of choice. Run, Run, Rabbit is a quick, very dirty read that toes some lines with romance and gives us a deliciously toxic couple in Grayson and Vanessa. They are coworkers (really, he's kind of her boss), they're lawyers, they hate each other, and they are werewolves. This one is primal on every level--much of it is told in flashbacks around the framing device of a Lupercalia in which Vanessa is just dying for an alpha male to chase her, catch her, and fuck her in front of a million other werewolves. But it's also primal in that, while Grayson and Vanessa want to keep their relationship surface level... As the deeply competitive, naturally wolfish, and frankly erotic people they are, the time they spend together fucking and talking after they fuck and revealing casual truths to each other is true intimacy. They fall in love without realizing it, and he does! Remain! An asshole! There aren't easy fixes in this book, and I can't say I'm confident Vanessa and Grayson have like, healthy relationship at the end... but I am confident that they're under each other's skin in every way. (Also: there is shifted sex in this. You've been warned.)

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid.

The "closeted gay hockey player" is kind of a subgenre of a subgenre in romance--if you like sports romance and you like m/m romance, maybe you'll like... And as someone who does find hockey to be the sexiest sport, but also a sport I don't know about and don't care to watch, I wasn't that into the concept. Then I read Heated Rivalry. And then I read Heated Rivalry again. And then I read The Long Game. And then I read Heated Rivalry again-- There's something addict and charged and just like, achingly romantic and hot about this book. Ilya and Shane feel like real people to me. Their romance feels real. I buy that they would be in and out of each other's lives for like, a decade, unable to fully let their thing go while also being unable to commit. Shane's internalized homophobia contrasted with Ilya's seemingly carefree bisexuality (I say seemingly because... Ilya is Russian) adds stakes to a story that is really mostly about two people having to come to terms with the fact that they are in love. The Long Game is also a worthy sequel, delving further into Ilya's sense of humor and extroverted charm as a coping device for his trauma and depression--and giving them real challenges as a couple, while preserving the romance and happy ending. Fucking LOVE.

Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley.

If you want a marriage in trouble book--this is a marriage in trouble book. What I love about this novel is that it really examines like... what happens after that sweeping romance. Mac and Isabella are instantly smitten, and he is the classic rogue and she's the classic virgin, and he sweeps her away and they marry and it should be happily ever after... But the little things pile on, until the two of them can't withstand a BIG THING together. You feel the sense that he's given her space, and you feel the gravity of their situation, which is why she needs that space so badly. This is basically a book-long grovel--with paint sex, because Mac is one of the few artist heroes that actually works. And it's also deeply, intensely, painfully hot in a way that can only be found in a book about two people who know each other emotionally and physically, and know exactly how to push each other's buttons. This is what I want out of a good, angsty historical romance.

The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton

I also read The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels this year, and that was another five-star read. But The League of Gentlewomen Witches took it all up to another notch for me. The magic was even more whimsical. The heroine was even more lovable (in this case, a proper lady who desperately wanted to walk on the wild side, my favorite). The sexual tension was hotter, the romance swoonier, the pirate even sluttier. I frankly had a great time with it, and it only got me more invested in the quirky, wacky world India Holton has created. Escapism at its finest.

Indigo by Beverly Jenkins.

Yes, obviously Indigo is a classic. But I had never read it, okay? And God, I'm glad I did. Indigo is beautifully written and romantic as fuck, with one of my favorite grand gestures I've ever read in a book. (Really, two of them.) It's also an older book, and there is like, a wacky kind of villain that I imagine you could pick apart critically... However, I loved the drama of it all. And there's just something really classic and beautifully sweeping about Galen and Hester's love story. He's a rake who's smitten. She's a smart, sensible woman who's innocent in many ways, but experienced enough in life to be skeptical about his devotion. He chases her, literally and metaphorically, throughout the novel--and why wouldn't he? Hester is awesome, and Galen knows she's awesome. There's journeying, there's action, and there's the embedded history that Beverly Jenkins fucking aces. She knows how to tell a story authentically, and Indigo is just.... Both incredibly romantic and ready to bring you to tears.

Lead by Kylie Scott.

I just really enjoyed Kylie Scott's Stage Dive series in general, and the final book, Deep, was also a five-star read for me. But I decided to single out the third book, Lead, because it just felt so different from the rest. We're introduced to Jimmy in the first book at its lowest--in many ways, he was the villain. The hero's promiscuous brother who was high (once to the point of overdose) for most of his page time, essentially harassing his brother's new wife... While we find out that he also slept with his brother's ex-girlfriend. What this book does is show us the work that Jimmy has done and is doing, pairing him with the only kind of heroine that could work for him--a no-nonsense broad who doesn't take his shit and is a friend to him far before things get romantic. Lena and Jimmy's romance is full of tension and unsaid feelings, and when feelings are said--and acted upon--God, does he fuck up. A couple of times. It's the kind of push-pull angsty romance that's great to read, coupled with great sex scenes (even if Jimmy is very bad at after care) and Kylie Scott's signature sense of humor. A fabulous celebrity romance.

Forbidden by Elizabeth Lowell.

Elizabeth Lowell's medieval trilogy is a fabulous shot of pure 90s drama, with everything from horrible heroes who can't love to.... horrible heroes who can't love, even more! Forbidden really took me aback, though. It's got everything: a kind of wacky premise full of medieval borders I didn't fully understand, a rich sense of the world and atmosphere, a bit of mysticism, and a CURSE. Oh, also, amnesia! This is one of those books that hinges on something being revealed... and once that thing is revealed? Oh, shit. Is the fallout fantastic. And that's what really got me about this one. The emotional reactions, the way everyone had to withstand the drama between Duncan and Amber? Oh yes, she is Amber--Amber the Untouched. Incredible. And he, of course, is the sub-villain of the previous book, which makes all of this even more intense. Old school excellence.

The Bride Goes Rogue by Joanna Shupe.

If you want to get emotionally invested and on the edge of your seat for a romance novel.... You need to read Joanna Shupe. The Bride Goes Rogue has all the beats of a great Shupe book--the hero is a ruthless tycoon, the heroine has zero time for his bullshit, and there is much illicit sex, partying, and secrets. Oh, and the hero absolutely hates the heroine's father and wants to destroy him. What I think takes The Bride Goes Rogue to another level is the interplay between Preston and Katherine, the way they can't help but needle each other at every moment. It goes beyond enemies to lovers--it's how they're physically wired. It's a dom/sub book, straight up; Katherine loves pushing his buttons, and she gets off on teasing him. The power she wields over this man while playing submissive is great to see--and the grovel? Please. All of this wrapped up in Joanna Shupe's Gilded Age, which is my favorite iteration of the era. Addictive, and leads into an even better book... which isn't out until next month, hence why it's not on this list.

How to Steal A Scoundrel's Heart by Vivienne Lorret.

One thing I really appreciate out Vivienne Lorret's last few books is that they seem really preoccupied with playing with older tropes of historical romance. This one is no different, taking on the idea of the fallen woman, the mistress, and making her our heroine. As innocent a mistress as Prue is, she's nonetheless a woman so desperate that she's willing to sell her reputation--and her body--to a hero who's more than willing to take her up on it. All of that sounds kind of dirty... but while Prue and the Marquess of Savage definitely get down and dirty, the love story itself is sweet and tender and romantic, and FUNNY. This was my first Vivienne Lorret, and I'm so glad to have discovered her. And this is another one that leads right into a fabulous early 2023 release...

Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath.

There were... several... Lorraine Heath books on my favorite 2022 reads shelf, so I decided to pick one and run with it. Of all of them, I think Between the Devil and Desire stuck with me the most this year... for now. That could always change. Much like The Bride Goes Rogue is a classic Shupe, Between the Devil and Desire is a classic Heath. There's a zany plot, a woman with a queenly resolve who's rattled by the hero, a great supporting cast (some of whom have or will get their own books), and a wacky twist that is so chaotic it absolutely works. Also, lots of angst. This one is a classic Lady and the Tramp setup, but with the added stakes of the lady being a single mother who can't afford to let go... unless she can. And yes, reader, she does pass out after seeing his dick at one point. TW: discussions of childhood sexual abuse.

Heartbreaker by Sarah MacLean

In many ways, Henry, the Duke of Clayborn, is a hero I think Sarah MacLean has been waiting to write and I've been waiting to read from her. He's stern, he's bossy, he's actually a sweetheart, he has an absolutely filthy mouth. But to be honest, I wasn't sure about how Adelaide would shake out as his heroine at first... And then I got to know her. This is classic MacLean: you have a woman who's really good at what she does, and a man who just adores everything to do with her. But what I loved most about Heartbreaker is how it emphasizes what makes Adelaide and Henry's relationship so beautiful. She thinks her greatest asset is her ability to go unseen... Yet he has always seen her.

Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare

I had two Tessa Dare five-star reads this year, and everyone knows the other one is amazing and I love it and recommend it (A Week to Be Wicked). But I want to call Any Duchess Will Do out, because it is just as funny and hot and zany as any great Tessa Dare book... with a reveal that had my heart breaking. This is the best kind of interclass romance--complete with a scene I have mentioned many times that features the hero fucking her while making her repeat his courtesy titles (it's.... very fun). And our heroine--not a virgin, a bit jaded yet still quite innocent, swept away yet imminently practical--is the perfect juxtaposition to a hero that was introduced in A Week to Be Wicked as... kind of a total jackass! Come for the laughs, stay for the tears.

The Duke I Tempted by Scarlett Peckham

We need more kink in historical romance!!! People of the Regency and the Victorian eras were kind of inherently kinky--the culture is like, social edging. What I loved so much about this book was not just its explicit handling of kink, but the sensitive exploration of how that kink helps the hero, how he's been shamed into hiding it, and how healthy and beneficial it is not only to him but his heroine. While I totally respect and love erotic romance and erotica, I do feel like many historical explorations of kink do veer into those zones, to the point that at times the meaning behind the kink feels tangential. And while that's totally valid (after all, not everyone has a deep reason for indulging in kink!) I just liked how much Scarlett Peckham clearly researched and thought about d/s in this book.

The Special IAD Corner:

Look man, I was consumed by Immortals After Dark, and those books had a strong presence on my Favorites shelf. In order to keep them from dominating the list, I'm going to allow them they own corner... ahead of the guide. Although I do generally recommend reading these books in order, some claim you can... not do that. Either way, I'm listing them in order of their place in the series.

Dark Needs at Night's Edge by Kresley Cole.

The first IAD book to feature a virgin hero, and by God did this have me on my knees. It still does. This is one of the most weirdly romantic books I've ever read, and it's arguably at that earlier point in the series where it's easier to jump into. Though of course, you might miss out on Wroth Brothers drama--which is part of the appeal of this book. Conrad Wroth is broken not just because he's an insane centuries-old vampire who existed in his mortal life to kill what he was forced to become... but because the people who forced that transformation on him are his brothers. The pent up desire of Conrad, someone who not only could not have sex, but wasn't even interested in it due to his preoccupation with his thirst and insanity... Is delicious. And Neomi is a magical heroine, so it's easy to see why he's so enraptured with her. She had me from the moment that she, a ghost, tried to determine if Conrad could see her by doing a sexy striptease (it worked). He's a crazy virgin vampire who in many ways is quite innocent and in other ways totally corrupted, trying his best; she's a determined, flirty, funny, and yes, angry ghost who just deserves a break. They are magic.

Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole.

For all that Conrad and Naomi are romantic sweetness, Rydstrom and Sabine are the... exact opposite of that. While also having some pretty sweet moments. Sabine is an understandably controversial heroine, wicked and proud of it, kicking off the book by taking her hero hostage and beginning a campaign of edging in an attempt to become his wife and the mother of his child. For politics! But I'll be real--nothing that Sabine does is beyond what certain heroes in this series do... And it works, for me, because Rydstrom absolutely revels in her. Their love story is perhaps the definition of a love/hate story, full of one-upmanship and "parity" and Rydstrom just desperately trying to claim Sabine and make her realize that she loves him... Even if it's kind of insane that he wants her love. It's a twisted romance, but it's one that I found thoroughly enthralling, hot, and darkly funny. (The first time he grins at her is when she flips him off... how am I supposed to fight that?) And the kink in this book? Is fabulous.

Pleasure of a Dark Prince by Kresley Cole.

This one... This one.... It speaks to something.... deeply cavewoman within me. The line "she was born to be found by me"? Listen. LISTEN. There's just something about Kresley's werewolves, and Garreth is kind of definitively wolfy--erotic, protective, extremely devoted, hedonistic, and very alpha. But in an incredibly charming way. The idea of pairing such a carnal hero with a heroine whose abilities and identity are tied up in her vow of chastity? Fabulous tension. Garreth's very literal pursuit of Lucia is fraught and tense, but also funny and sexy and eventually, incredibly tender and romantic. You get the adventure of them traveling by river on a quest--and the heat of them... working around that vow of chastity. But all of this hinges on self-denial--Lucia denying her desires, and Garreth very literally denying what he is in order to be with her. You know that the thread between them is stretching thinner and thinner with every page, and when it finally snaps? It's absolutely delicious. The scene where Garreth chases Lucia through the jungle? Etched. Into. My Brain.

Lothaire by Kresley Cole.

Look. This is a classic. It's plain and simple. It's a romance classic in general, it's a paranormal romance classic specifically, and it is a perfectly done villain romance. I cannot imagine the anticipation for this book back in the day, because it's like--literally, how the fuck can Lothaire be a viable romance hero without losing what makes him... Lothaire? His truly evil impulses and deeds, his ambitions, his incredibly dark sense of humor? His insanity? And for that matter, how could you possibly give him a heroine to match him? Kresley's inspired choice was in giving Lothaire Ellie--not just a mortal woman, but a poor, seemingly ignorant mortal woman he'd find totally beneath him... Only to discover that as much as Lothaire is a master manipulator, Ellie isn't bad at mind games either. The twisted game between them, the cat and mouse that just every so often revealed their true feelings, is just... captivating. Is he going to kiss or kill her? Does she love him--can she love him, after everything he's done to her? Somehow, Lothaire never loses his bite (haha) and Ellie rises to the challenge of fucking with his head until he is so incredibly unhinged for her that it's easily one of the most satisfying reading experiences of my life. And the blood blowjob? Lives up to the hype.

MacRieve by Kresley Cole.

Look, man. There's weaponized sadness, and then there's this book. Never have I read more heartbreaking prologue--and MacRieve is just an absolutely broken hero at the beginning of this book. The brilliance of the novel, however, is in seducing you into believing that MacRieve and Chloe can just magically fall in love and now that they've met, all his issues are cured. Time to move on! And then--wham. They're confronted with their real, unavoidable problems, and they (largely MacRieve) have to fucking deal with them if they want a chance at lasting love. This is a challenging book--but I found it incredibly powerful, without losing the sense of adventure and sex and even humor (MACRIEVE BRAIN) that makes IAD so good.

Special Shoutout for 2023 ARCs!

Two of my favorite books of 2022 were actually... 2023 ARCs. So while I can't necessarily recommend them as 2022 novels in good conscience, I will recommend pre-ordering them.

The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe (out 1/24/2023)

The culmination of three books of buildup (though it does stand alone), The Duke Gets Even is so incredibly satisfying that I was basically just clutching my face throughout my first read. You want enemies to lovers done right? You want two people who try so desperately to avoid one another while also being ridiculously attracted to each other? You want a woman who believes in abortion rights and a duke who believes in a bit of pain with his pleasure? Read it. I'm still not over this one.

Never Seduce A Duke by Vivienne Lorret (out 2/21/2023)

This book has the kind of zany daring and boldness that I've been looking for in recent historical romance releases. It's funny, it's hot, it's angsty, and its completely fearless. You never get the sense that Vivienne Lorret is thinking about what people will think of her next move with the plot. She just goes for what she thinks is right, and it totally sells the (admittedly wild) story.

#romance novel blogging #books #book recs #book reviews

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wigglepiggle · 10 months

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hi it's almost 2 am and I'm thinking of youtubers I liked when I was younger so I'm gonna yell about random encounters video game musicals now nobody asked but I don't care this is my house ah shit it devolved into ace attorney again please help those gay lawyers got me in a GRIP I CANNOT ESCAPE THEM

do y'all know random encounters. those video game theater people. those people were so so so close to making me a theater kid.

phoenix wright the musical fnaf the musical hell yes I even liked their 60 seconds musical despite the fact that i personally hate 60 seconds (it made me really paranoid of nuclear war I couldn't even hear a plane without crying after that when I was younger oops that's more of me being an idiot than the games fault though so I'm not blaming them)

they're awesome even if I don't like a lot of their musicals as much anymore I admire their dedication to making so many good props and going odcostumes and scripts for these games even if they're not like big production this is really impressive for like a group of. idk not a lot of people but they have guests on a lot so

and also a lot of their songs still slap I mean like. stranger things have happened my own little nightmare wright is wrong don't play this game fran bow paperboy they all sound good to this day hell out of all of these songs I only know one game ace attorney (well at the time I first heard them I didn't. but now I do) but I still knew what was happening in them kind of

I still have the lyrics to a lot of these stuck in my head after years especially that part in phoenix wright the musical where edgeworth just starts making a cool rhyme dissing phoenix even harder than he already was:

"forgive my lack of tact but wright knows little more than jack cause he's a wacky crackpot quack exactly that a backward hack in fact in spite of been said in light of Wrights quite empty head Mr Wright is wrong!" will live in my head forever. it has for like 4-5 years anyway it's gonna keep going strong

and also "mr wright please do desist! disrupting court! we get the gist! no need to constantly insist OBJECTION!!!!" has also been in my head for so long. you can probably tell what my favorite musical of theirs was/is now lmao after getting into ace attorney it's only getting stronger tbh

and for some reason I never cared about don't play this game when I heard this when I was younger???? whoever voices franziska in that song has an amazing voice oh my god I love this song so much it's great

I'm going to get my ace attorney friend to watch this now he needs to see it she knows it exists but they didn't see it yet. idk how but I've gotten them to watch 2 object shows I can do it /lh

I kinda hope they do a apollo justice one I think they said they were thinking about it but idk if they will. it's alright if they don't I love the phoenix wright one we have anyway

anyways bye I'm going to sleep soon hopefully I've been awake since 7:30 am

#unfortunately im too self conscious to do theater #i absolutely would if i coulf though it looks sick #cant speak about their new ones though havent seen em #maybe ill peak at the amanda the adventurer one bc i kind of know that game #random encounters #perry parle #probably will delete this later bc this post is like nothing but eh #yall get wiggle lore tonight (almost theater kid)

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baladric · 2 years

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blorbo town, u.s.a., population: me, weeping and wailing and rending my clothes

these are the brannon siblings, about whom i know far too much and also nothing at all. one day i will write something about them, but for now i will simply lie on the floor and whisper "y'all deserved better"

top to bottom: finley, eldest (she/her, queer/ace trans estate lawyer who raised her brothers more or less single-handedly after the untimely death of their parents and has yet to learn how to put down the burden of the hardships she couldn't save them from)

lorcan, middle (he/him, queer trans autistic man who bounces between lackluster jobs, mostly just trying to figure out how to breathe through the noise in his head. all he really wants to do is take a long walk and convince people that society fucked up when they walked away from cassette players)

kendry, youngest (he/him, gay barista whose main goal is to fall in love and make his family laugh. he struggles with addiction and his attraction to the familiarity of toxic/abusive relationship dynamics, both of which send him [and his siblings] to the breaking point that lifts them all back out of the mud)

#the art tag #original characters #the writing tag #kind of #brannon brannon

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milesdadworth · 2 years

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I Want To Consume Ace Attorney

#im visiting my parents for mothers day and all theyve managed to do is annoy me about queer issues #as if they aren't fully aware one their children is queer #like do not start shit i'm here to have a nice weekend with y'all #you cannot bring this shit up to me or i'm just gonna be mad #so anyway i want to be consuming gay lawyer content #rambling

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symphonic-scream · 2 years

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Tell us about the gay lawyers, please

Okay so,

Out of practice talking about non ML aus so sorry if this kinda sucks

Also sorry for people who don't know shit about Ace Attorney. This is about to sound kinda weird even with the context so,, uh,, good luck?

Anyways

It's not my most interesting au, since I'm just kinda still getting into the games and stuff, uh, it's been only a few months but still. It's, technically high school au? Yeah

Uh so in terms of other shit- the real details I'm sorry about my words I'm kinda head dead tonight -Pheonix and Miles are like, seniors, grade 12. They're in mock trial, on opposing sides, and yadda yadda all that jazz of arguing and believing they're rivals not in love- but they're not the focus

No I'm doing a fake out. If I were to write it I'd make it seem like they're the focus for a long bit then suddenly like at the 3/4 or so point of chapter one, I'd switch to the real stars

So in this Maya and Franziska are in the year below them, and while Fran is a full member of team prosecution in Mock Trial, Maya is on the team of writers that help make all the cases they pretend to do, and even acts as witnesses and the accused

Basically something about the cases Maya writes for Franziska's days makes her angry and during a "recess" she confronts her in the hallway and- oop they're making out

Then uh, plot happens a bit later but basically it's them being gay and in school and not doing things the right way but who cares?

Also Misty Fey, Mia, Gregory Edgeworth, and a bunch of others are still alive

But that's the basics of y'all want more let me know

...what the fuck do I tag this

#ace attorney #??#franmaya #aa high au #im giving it that tag for now

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valdangelodumbasses · 3 years

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Valdangelo Headcannons #1

Leo and Nico are both introverts but Nico loves affection

Leo made Nico tiramisu once and he swallowed it faster than Percy could ever

Leo couldn't look him in the eyes for a week or he got so flustered

Nico is lawyer bf

and a demon at monopoly; him playing w/ Annie is the worst.

gamers! both like monster (specifically mango loco) but Nico also loves tropical redbull

Nico teaches Leo and hazel how to play so they can battle 2v2

Nico wipes the floor and Leo is just glad he understands half the rules

Nico and Leo wear heels.

and they're good at it too.

Confident Nico>>>>>>

Leo has a fucking heart attack when Nico pins him to a wall

Leo makes Nico laugh with his jokes and shitty pickup lines

but when Uses shitty pickup lines on him he steals them, after he stops looking like a tomato

Nico does Cosplay and they cosplay together and its so fucking rad

making out while baking/cooking? more likely than u think

Leo tells Nico he looks cute one day b4 they started dating and Nico is like: Is this friendly affection

Caffeine addicts rise up

but Nico hates coffee and honestly same

teas n energy drinks>>>

Leo is a fucking swine who mixes all his foods and Nico nearly vomits bc he wont let his food even touch goddamit

Piper and Hazel being wingman while Percy and Jason are the matchmakers

p r a n k s

like so goddam many

they are unstoppable and they pin it on the Stolls

or Leo gets caught

Nico n e v e r does bc like? scary emo kid? prankster? nah, NAh,

he sticks his tongue out at leo anytime leo gets caught

bisexual leo or gay leo? leo doesn't even know!

all he knows is that nicos hot and has a cute butt & personality

nico is a theater gay

he sings every musical

his favorites are Heathers, Beetle juice, Legally blond, and the greatest showman

Leo has theater kid energy but probably works the tech stuff

he likes heathers, Chicago, legally blond, Grease, and dear evan Hansen the best

Hamilton is neither of their favorites yet they end up dueting it all the time

Art kid and Repair kid>>>>>>>>>>>>

Percy sees them kiss after dating (and kissing) for 6 months and wait yall are friends?

Hes slow but he means well, Nico sticks his tongue in leo's mouth after percy says that

he's like “O H , sorry im dumb”

“jackpot” “Valdez shush”

they talk abt their moms

angsty emo boys listen to greenday

and every other emo band

Leo calls Nico mammacita once

never again (Nico started crying)

why? It was commonplace used by his uncles and grandpa

Nico demands leo call him that more though

Leo is Hesitant but obliges

mexican or italian food restaurant arguments

leo steals nicos breadsticks even tho he has some

nico steals leo's nachos when he has his own

they're petty? yes but petty and in love!

and gay/ did i mention g a y

Demiboy leo rights

leos a fuckin lefty

Trans Nico rights mtf or ftm rights

nico may not be trans but he's also demiboy

demi boys calling each other they all day because nobody uses the they in he/they (speaking as a demigirl)

If nico IS trans tho hades 100% uses magic to transition Nico bc yes good dad

laughing abt trauma and they're friends are like: NO

memes

“get ur hands off my bf”

“kick their ass baby i got cho flower”

imagine, just imagine nico fussing over leos hair because curly is the cutest

leo fusses over nicos when he's in a slump and brushes his hair

skincare is vital to both

Leo does engineering n shit but does it for like 16 hours straight much to everyone's dismay, but Nico who has (arguably) fresh eyes and make sure his physics is right

Nico loves physics fight me

but nico sleeps like 4 times a week for 3 hours or 3 days a week for 12 hours

Insomnia gang don’t rise up go to fuckin sleep

will keeps giving them melatonin and they always forget to take ti and will is going to fuckin murder them maybe then they'll sleep

u know that comic where they naruto kiss S P I D E R M A N K I S S I E S

nico hangs like a bat and leo is a memelord

nico also loves spider man

they def try to make spider man gear but annie smashes the shit out of it

dorks! comic!

omg comic book shop au nico owns it

soulmate au where u loose shit n it goes to ur soulmate

nico has NO clue what the hell to do with all this nails n hammers n shit

Leo builds stuff out of nicos lost mytho dupes

Leo doesnt know what to do with his underwear, or all the mcdonalds receipts and the crumpled up sketches and sketch books

anyway

aphrodite ships it as she SHOULD and hades n heppy do too

why did i cal hephaestus heppy ? idk maybe aphrodite calls him that

They both hate yoga with a passion

does nico have an obsession with spn or does he hate it sm that he watches it ?

its as ambiguous as leo's sexuality!

Leos like what if i'm straight

then nico walks in

No he's definitely not straight

who even heard of greeks being straight smh

Nico in miniskirts, aline, or any skirt makes leo go brrrrrrr

he wears leggings or tights under them though

Nico also wears leggins to bed

or the fluffy pants he steals from leo so leo doesn't have any pants

“IM FEELINGS DEVIOUS AND LOOKING GLAMORUS-”

band band band band band band band band band Nico can sing and leo plays drums

Nico and katie are friends and Nico has a green thumb so leo is surprised when nico has more houseplants than crowley (Good omens)

He has tons of hanging and not hanging terrariums

Leo tries not to set them on fire

After Leo and Nico start hanging out more Nico bribes Lou Ellen to make his plants fire proof

they are now

Nico knows how to fire a gun and he's good at it

Pirate Nico!!

Leo and Hades get along well

So does Nico and heppy

the parents get along too but they diss heras bad mothering

Nico gets de aged and leo is ???? but he's so CUTE AND TINY

Leo babysits him for a week in the bunker and nobody even knows until Percy and Will goes in there looking for him

Nico and Clarisse sparing? Sweaty bf? Leo loves it and chris and leo are just staring and say “yes”

Nico has freckles and leo kisses each one

Leo has these really dark freckles spread across his body but they aren't as frequent as freckles?? y'all know what i mean? ne way nico kisses them

Leo uses Yall.

It rubs off on nico

jason is a die hard anti y’all

they annoy the shit out of him

Cuddles

nico and leo having bakeoffs

Nico asking piper for advice but editing it so its not super obvious its leo

She figures it out and tells leo like any good bff

nico promptly leaves camp when leo busts in asking if he has a crush on him

hades laughs but understands

leo sulks back to piper and percy is there and Percy got no chill

so he goes down there

Hades ain't too happy w that but Nico just gets so embarrassed and goes back with him

Hephaestus and aphro watching this go down like a romcom

I'm getting tired so im going to stop here anyway stan valdangelo for clear skin

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skeleton-fucker69 · 2 years

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So, since due to the war this account is a little content starved, a little post i thought of

Why real furry's would suffer in real world

(Just a little note, im talking about furry's as in anthropomorphic animals, not people that are furry's)

Okay so, first of all, the large problem of having fur. Now, it may sound fine until you understand that it means restricted access to a LOT of area's, since without even mentioning the whole "global warming" thing, a lot of country's are hot, and that's by HUMAN standarts. Having fur in a hot are would litteraly boil you alive. Now, someone might say that they could get their fur shaved, but there comes problem 2. Society is created by humans, for humans. Shaving fur for furry's would not only be a pretty important task due to the, yknow, the disadvantages of having long fur, but also incredibly costly since its a full body shave. Then, there's the problem of health. As you may know, doctor's mostly know about human health, furry's would take not only specifically taught doctors to actually know how to help them, but also a whole new age of medicine development to accommodate for all the differences in biology that are likely to pop up. And, next, the need to actually spread the doctors like that around the globe. Out of that comes the next biology problem, interracial marriage. Its really hard to tell what happens, and probably a whole new set of problems would arise including diseases from that. Now, I don't wanna address the elephant in the room but, the main issue would, as you probably guessed would be racism. Now, i know y'all might start saying something about how society grew and whatever, but still, its first of all in human nature, second of all you can DEFINITELY see the difference between a furry and a human, not like how there are different shades of black. It would be day and night, so, antagonizing them would probably be a piece of cake, and even easier, setting laws and borders against them, like how some country's don't allow gay marriage. And now even though there isn't likely to be something like the moustache guy's tirade against glass of juice (im not getting cancelled today), its still gonna be a large issue, and faith would also be one (im sure some furry's are gonna be alike maybe some monsters from Bible or whatever). Now with that out of the way, we have the laungage barrier problem. Even if furry's would be capable of human speech, there's no telling they could speak the same way, so possibly some letters, especially complicated one's from not English language could be off limits, limiting them more (and probably an easy way to make fun of them, butchering pronunciations.) So, to sum it up:

Heat would be a large problem, due to the whole fur part of furry's.

Poverty most likely, due to the fact society made most things for humans, and making fur-alternatives would take time and people could easily jack up prices to heaven.

Health would be low, due to a whole different biology most likely.

Racism would just drive furry's into a constant life of hate and fear.

And finnaly a lot of laws would drive furry's into a constant need of a lawyer, and once again thoose cost like hell and aren't guaranteed to work.

In the end, being a real furry would be hell.

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yanderefantasies · 3 years

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IM GLAD WE BROUGHT UP THIS TOPIC AGAIN

OK SO UHMMM

The reader is a baker(once again) in a little town that is separated from the big towns.

The reader lives there as a way to keep himself safe from the constant struggles and fights on the more urban area.

There he lives with some harem m3mebers that are:

Antonio-He owns a music shop, he also teaches people how to play instruments there

Luchino-He is a toxicologist and a bio researcher who has been sent there to study the fauna of there

Norton-He was one of the people to live in that town, and he was also the one who showed the reader around when they first got there.

Luca-He owns a repair shop with Tracy, his best friend, the shop is very popular bc it is the only repair shop in the town

José-An ex-sailor who was many histories to tell if he is asked to, but he is a drunk, so nobody really knows if they are real

Freddy-He is a lawyer on the town, though he is not very well talked, he can be very sweet if you push the right buttons

Aesop-The town's embalmer, he also works at the local church

Andrew-The town's Gravekeeper, nobody really talks to him except The Reader, Aesop and Emma

Leo-He works as a gardener with his daughter Emma, they are very known around town bc everyone buys seeds and flowers from them

Kevin-He works on Demi Bourbon's bar, he is very known for his charming personality

Victor-The town's postman, who is mainly very quiet yet very sweet

Emil- An survivor of bad treatment in a corrupt hospital in the big city, who now is under the caretaker called Ada Mesmer

Polun, Mike and Servais-Who all work at the local circus

One day, the reader is called by his parents/caretaker from the big city, requesting his presence urgently.

The reader without any questions goes to the big city to visit them and see what is going on, when he gets there his parents/caretakers tell them that, since his grandmother started living in a cottage in the forest with her "best friend" *cough* gay grandmas *cough*, they lost contact with her and don't know how they are doing, so they ask the reader to visit her daily, the reader agrees with that and proceeds to visit his grandma every day from now on.

But what he didn't know we're that the sudden paranoia that he felt sometimes while walking or driving to his grandma's cottage was not bc he wasn't familiar with the trail yet, they were the lurking shadows of the creatures that every day got more and more interested on him.

÷÷÷÷

JWHWIWVSOWWVWUE. THIS IS TRASH IM SORRY Y'ALL

I FUCKIN LOVE YOU OMG

#red riding hood au #idv harem discussion

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drawingwithdonnie · 4 years

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I know I'm a tad late but!!!!!!! Happy gay lawyer day y'all. And congrats to the ace attorney tag for trending lmfao

#ace attorney #unnecessary feelings #phoenix wright #miles Edgeworth #i missed nicks birthday and i REFUSE to miss another fandom holiday

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jeontaeh · 3 years

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〚FORTY THREE〛

Visiting day was always the worst.

"Aah! Tae, I'm trying to get ready!" Jungkook grumbled, wearing a nice blue button-up and jeans. His hair was neatly brushed down, everything about his look prim and proper. "I need to look straight, remember?"

Taehyung hummed, wrapping his arms around his waist and looking at him in the mirror. Taehyung, meanwhile, was in a casual black sweatshirt and grey sweatpants. He could not care less for visiting day. "You never look straight, baby."

"I can try." Jungkook scoffed and then turned around in his arms. "My dad's going to be here and he's going to be mean to me as usual so let me be!! I don't want him to know how much of a disappointment of a son he is just yet,"

"Disappointment? Right... getting straight A's and working your ass off every single day doing art? Has he seen anything you've painted? Does he know his own son? You're far from a disappointment. You're everything a father should or could want. You're amazing and perfect and-"

"Okay, first of all, you're making it sound like you want me to be your son," Jungkook stated, and Taehyung's face contorted uncomfortably. "And secondly, stop with the sappy kindness. I know you just want me to suck your dick."

Taehyung smiled and nodded his head, cute. "Yeah I do."

Jungkook poked his chest. "Maybe later. Don't leave your room, okay? I don't want my parents to see you. They think we're boyfriends."

"We ARE boyfriends."

"I know! But stay in here. Finish your math homework. And- when was the last time you showered? Jeez," Jungkook grumbled. Taehyung frowned.

"Hey! It's not my fault you didn't let me shower with you this morning. I'm expecting you to come back and shampoo my hair for me." Taehyung grumbled, arms folded. Jungkook giggled.

"You're such a baby," Jungkook said, and Taehyung wrapped his arms around Jungkook's small waist again, kissing his jaw. "I love you. I'll come back later. If you don't shower by the time I'm back I won't suck your dick."

"Taking a shower pronto." Taehyung nodded. Jungkook blew him a small kiss and then walked out of the room, closing is behind him.

Visiting day was always funny. Everyone suddenly remembers what they were. Kids. Teenagers. It was the one day you won't hear a single curse word in the hallways. No sex talk or gossip. Everyone pretends they're the perfect child. Pretends all they do is study and make friends. No one mentions how they were probably going to third base in empty classrooms every day.

Jimin was in a neat pink shirt that he was determined to wear because his mom bought it for him. Eka was in a neat grey dress, hair braided. Jungkook scoffed. "Jeez are we all going to church or something?"

"I wish. My mom's here and she's just going to compare me to my older sister the whole time. Why do people need to become doctors?? Older siblings should NEVER succeed in life. They fuck everything up for their younger siblings." Eka said, rolling her eyes.

"Tea. Being an only child sucks too. All the pressure's on me to be perfect." Jungkook said distastefully.

"Y'all families suck," Jimin said. "My parents just want me to be happy and shit."

"Lucky." Eka sighed. "What do you want to do after school anyway?"

"Criminal law," Jimin said. Jungkook was walking between the two and hummed.

"That's cool. You'll probably have to wear a lot of suits and stuff, hm?" Eka asked, and Jimin grinned, looking at her. "Probably. Being a lawyer will be fun. I have the charm, don't I?" Jimin winked.

Jungkook watched awkwardly as the two walked in front of him, leaving him in the dust. "Um-" Jungkook began, but they completely forgot he existed. Jungkook snickered to himself, seeing the two walk off, talking to each other while smiling. Good for them.

Jungkook walked to the cafeteria where the parents would all come in to meet their kids. Jungkook instantly saw what the cafeteria was serving for the parents and students that day and took his phone out.

Jungkook babe they're serving peanut butter cookies

Taehyung omg my favorite

Jungkook i know 😙 should i get you some?

Taehyung nah i'll go get it myself thanks baby :)

Jungkook put his phone away when he spotted his mother in the far distance. She was in a long coat with sunglasses resting on her head, her hair pulled into a tight bun. Her eyes wandered over the numerous students for a second or two, until she found Jungkook. Jungkook watched tensely for his father to follow, but almost felt relief when he didn't see him.

She walked over to him, a small smile on his face. "Oh, Jungkook! Look at you, you've lost weight!" She fretted, and Jungkook rolled his eyes.

"You say that every time, mom. Where's dad?" Jungkook asked, and his mom went and hugged him tightly. She pulled away from the quick hug and sighed. "No, he had some last-minute meeting. So I decided to come alone."

Jungkook wanted to squeal in excitement. But instead, he cleared his throat and nodded. "Cool."

They sat down. Jungkook told her about the grades and everything. She wasn't upset about any of it, instead quite proud. Jungkook learned more about what was going on in the company, though finding it all quite mundane and boring.

"So... how's the homosexual thing going?" Jungkook's mother asked, hesitant. Jungkook let out a big sigh.

"I'm still gay, mom," Jungkook said.

"You can't be so sure, Jungkookie. Maybe you just haven't found the right girl yet." His mom said softly.

"I never will, mom. Give it up, please." Jungkook murmured. His mom hummed. "Fine. But if I find a good girl, I'll introduce you to her."

"No, you won't! I have a boyfriend, remember?" Jungkook said, and his mom tilted her head. "Oh. I honestly thought you were lying. He didn't look gay. He plays sports, after all!"

"Mom!"

"Sorry. Where is the boy anyway?" Jungkook's mother asked, giving him a pained smile. Jungkook shook his head. "He has some work, so he's not co-"

"Jungkook!" A loud voice came, and Jungkook turned around slowly, nerved. "I wanna put your cookie in my mouth." Taehyung grinned, and then Jungkook's mother turned around, and Taehyung froze, eyes wide.

"Oh shit. Sorry. I thought you were one of our friends... um-" Taehyung began, and Jungkook groaned, putting his hands against his face, embarrassed. Taehyung smiled sheepishly and began walking backward very slowly.

"This is the boy you've decided to disappoint your father for?"

"MOM!!" Jungkook cried. Jungkook's mother put her hand on his arm. "I'm joking! Can I meet him?"

"I-I guess," Jungkook said, and then got up from the seat and walked to get Taehyung, who was still walking backward. Jungkook rushed towards him, angry.

"Dumbass! You absolute dumbass. AND you didn't shower." Jungkook growled. Taehyung put his hands on Jungkook's waist.

"I sprayed deodorant on myself 4 times."

"That's even worse!"

"I'm sorry! I just wanted to come get those cookies you were talking about. Does your mom want to meet me? Your dad isn't here, right? I can't deal with an angry 40-year-old dude right now." Taehyung spoke quickly. Jungkook grabbed his hand.

"Don't say anything stupid, Kim. I swear to god." Jungkook said lowly and then dragged him towards the table with his mom. Taehyung looked at his mom nervously as both boys sat down.

"Mom, this is Taehyung," Jungkook mumbled. His mom smiled. "Last time you said 'V'. I got sort of scared if I'm honest. Because that's a crappy name."

"Mom stop!" Jungkook snipped. Jungkook's mom smiled at Taehyung, sweet, but almost a little bitter. "So, how long have you two been... um... together?"

"For some time now," Jungkook said. His mom nodded. "How nice. How did you get together?" Jungkook's mom asked, and Jungkook and Taehyung looked at each other with eyes wide, gulping.

///

"Jeon, what's so hard to get? You can't play. Get off the fucking team!" Taehyung snapped. Jungkook slammed the locker door, turning to look at him.

"You are such an egotistical bitch! You think the whole fucking world revolves around you, V. It doesn't! You ruin every practice-" Jungkook said, and then saw Taehyung looking around, annoyed.

"Where the fuck is everyone? Why's the locker room empty?" Taehyung asked. Jungkook turned to grab his things. "I don't know. But now I'm stuck here alone with you. Rather die."

"Wish you did," Taehyung grumbled, taking his shirt off. Jungkook rolled his eyes, taking his shorts off, leaving himself in his tiny boxers. On the inside, he felt a little tensed by just V being in the changing room. Why?

Because V was the hottest fucking dude in the whole school and Jungkook knew that since the start of the year. When V walked into the school after summer and had his hair dyed grey and tied in a bandana. Jungkook knew he was gay but oh, he was GAY gay.

Jungkook grabbed his towel and turned a little, only to find Taehyung walking towards him. Jungkook gulped, seeing him get really close. "W-what?" Jungkook piped.

"You're blocking the way to the showers," Taehyung said, voice low. Jungkook's eyes trailed down stupidly and saw Taehyung in nothing but a towel. Jungkook's breath hitched, and he looked back up instantly.

If V found out Jungkook was gay he'd probably beat the shit out of him. Jungkook didn't want that, so he snickered, trying to play it cool.

"Go around me." Jungkook voiced, irked. Taehyung leaned in a little more, a certain look on his face Jungkook couldn't comprehend. It's like Taehyung's mind was whirring, and he was... figuring something out.

"Move, Jeon," Taehyung growled. Jungkook looked at him with annoyance for a few seconds and then humphed. "No," Jungkook muttered and then tried to push him back, putting his hand on his chest.

Jungkook attempted to, but Taehyung didn't move an inch. Jungkook groaned and tried using both hands to push him off, but Taehyung grabbed his wrists and pinned them against the wall, above his head.

"What're you trying to do?" Taehyung whispered, smirking. Jungkook's eyes grew big, and he cursed himself internally when his cheeks turned red.

"N-nothing. What- w-what are you-" Jungkook began, voice weak. He'd never been this close to a boy before. His insides were all over the place. Contracting and pulsating.

"Hm. Your skin's real soft, Jeon. What, you moisturize or something?" Taehyung asked, finding it amusing how Jungkook was pulling at his wrists.

"Y-yeah... I-I guess." Jungkook said hurriedly. Taehyung let his wrists go, letting them fall. "That's kinda gay."

Jungkook scoffed. "Right, basic fucking hygiene is sooo gay, V-"

Taehyung snickered, and then placed his hand on the wall beside Jungkook's head. "You talk too much," Taehyung said. Jungkook blinked in confusion.

"You're being weird," Jungkook replied. Taehyung bit onto his bottom lip, grinning. He looked more confident now as if he was sure. Sure of what?

"Yeah? You like it, don't you?" Taehyung whispered. Jungkook frowned.

"What? No, I don't. Why're you talking like-" Jungkook began. Taehyung gritted his teeth. "God, shut up, Jeon. How dumb are you??"

"Dumb? Excuse you, I wasn't the one who got a fucking 14 out of 60 on their maths test because they were too busy thinking about tits or whatever it is your tiny brain thinks about-"

"Fuck you. I don't study, Jeon. I have better shit to do. And yeah, If I do have a tiny brain, it's to make up for my big dick." Taehyung smirked.

"Stop lying, V. We all know your dick is shorter than your temper." Jungkook spat out. Taehyung's eyes grew dark.

"Short dick? You've got your facts all wrong, bro. My dick is huge." Taehyung said, words hushed.

Jungkook paused. He paused for a good few seconds. Taehyung had never been this... weirdly close before. This was weird. Was Taehyung insinuating something? No. No way! If Jungkook got the wrong idea, then he'd be in for trouble. He'd read stories about this. He should just leave-

"Prove it," Jungkook said. Taehyung stilled.

WHY THE FUCK DID I SAY THAT! Jungkook thought while looking calm. He knew what was going to happen. Taehyung would make some 'your mom' joke and then they'd move along with their days, pretending like this weird as fuck exchange in the locker rooms never took place-

"Oh, you want me to prove it?" Taehyung grinned. "Oh. Oh okay. Yeah." Taehyung said. Jungkook opened his mouth to say something, but his jaw literally dropped when Taehyung pulled his own towel off.

"O-oh." Jungkook let out, eyes going wide. Taehyung's dick was, well, out and proud. Huge, like he said. Half hard. Why was he hard? Why was he showing Jungkook his dick? What the actual dick was going on-

"Hm. Still think I'm small, Jeon?" Taehyung asked, looking him in the eyes. Jungkook was still looking at his dick. God fuck, Jungkook was gay. He's never seen a dick so close in person. He tried to hold onto his hetero demeanor, but-

"You're hard," Jungkook stated. He then looked up at Taehyung, eyes glittering.

"Kinda. Would help if someone, y'know, touched it." Taehyung said, and Jungkook's mouth went dry. He licked his bottom lip apprehensively and then gulped.

He thought to himself: if this goes badly, he'll move schools. That was his last thought before he reached his fingers forward and wrapped them around Taehyung's cock.

Taehyung grabbed Jungkook's waist and pulled him in closer, and Jungkook squeaked out in surprise, blinking his big eyes in confusion. He began moving his hand up and down Taehyung's cock, their faces quite close.

"W-what is happening," Jungkook said weakly. Taehyung shushed him, sucking a hickey onto his neck. Jungkook continued jacking him off and then heard Taehyung grunt.

"I wanna fuck you."

"What?" Jungkook yelped, eyes blown wide.

"I said I want to fuck you. I want to put my dick in you." Taehyung said, fast.

Jungkook couldn't believe this was happening. V. Homophobic asshole prick bitch. Captain of the football team. The guy who's always called him a fag and nerd and loser and every other term. He. Wanted. To. Fuck. Jungkook.

AND HE WAS SO HOT!!! Jungkook was losing his mind.

Jungkook was quiet for a long time, and then- "A-are you gay?"

"No. Shut the fuck up. Now can I fuck you or not?" Taehyung snapped, looking at him angrily. Jungkook stilled for a few seconds and then gulped.

"I-I have lube in my bag." Jungkook blurted out, releasing his hold on Taehyung's dick. Taehyung snickered. "Why?"

Because sometimes I finger myself in the shower because I'm really fucking gay. "No reason," Jungkook said instead.

They both got the lube and condoms, that Taehyung quite conveniently had in his gym bag. Jungkook told Taehyung this was gay, and Taehyung attempted to pin him against the wall but instead, both went tumbling and ended up on the floor of the locker rooms.

Not bothering to get up, they got into it. Jungkook's tight briefs came off and Taehyung looked at his dick for a hesitant while before touching it. Jungkook conveniently left out the fact where he had never done this before.

"Finger me fuckface, you're literally taking forever."

"Maybe if you shut the fuck up."

Taehyung pressed his fingers in and Jungkook moaned high. Taehyung watched with a smile as Jungkook screwed his eyes shut, fists above his head, tightened. Taehyung continued moving his fingers in Jungkook's cute little butt.

"You're really tight Jeon."

"Sorry I wasn't intending on getting fucked on a Tuesday."

Taehyung soon pressed his cock into the boy. Slowly. Jungkook gasped so loud and almost started crying from the feeling. But he held it in. It'd be super weird for Taehyung if Jungkook randomly burst into tears.

"There, look at you, taking my cock so well, like a champ."

"Don't talk to me like that!" Jungkook cried, putting his hands on Taehyung's shoulders.

And what happened after that? Well. I think we all know.

///

Jungkook looked away from Taehyung and at his mother. "Oh, y'know, we just... got together."

"Yeah we did do that exactly." Taehyung reinstated. Jungkook's mother nodded, hesitant.

"Oh, well, that's nice. What do you plan on doing after college, Taehyung?" Jungkook's mother asked, smiling. "Jungkook's doing art or whatever. What about you?"

"I want to continue with football." Taehyung nodded. Jungkook's mother paled. She gulped, still smiling passively. "As- as a career?" She said, her voice wavered.

"Yup," Taehyung said. Jungkook looked at how his mother nodded with a pressed smile. "What- what about, like, a backup option?"

"I haven't really thought about that," Taehyung said. Mrs. Jeon looked at him with raised eyebrows, and then let out an uncomfortable sigh. "Well, thank god you kids are rich."

"I don't plan on being dependent on my dad's money after high school," Taehyung said curtly. Jungkook nodded, holding Taehyung's hand under the table.

"Oh........." Jungkook's mother drew out. She then looked at Jungkook. "Son, I'll be honest, you're making this really hard for me to take in-"

"You don't have to take in anything mom. You just have to know that I'm with Taehyung and I love him." Jungkook said strongly, and Taehyung looked at him, smiling. "That's all."

"Of course. I accept you and I understand. But, I mean, I'm sure you're aware that... realistically, high school relationships don't really last long, sweetie. Not trying to be rude or anything, just being honest." Mrs. Jeon said, looking like she was trying really hard to be sweet.

Taehyung bit the inside of his cheek. "We're not really scared about that. Sure, most couples don't last. But if we work hard enough to make it sustainable, we can-" Taehyung began, and then looked at Jungkook. Jungkook was pale, eyes wide, scared.

"Right. I'm sure you will. Now, sweetheart, I have to go. I've got work. Call me more, okay?" Jungkook's mom began, getting up to hug him. Jungkook got up as well, hugging her. "Eat properly! You're getting too skinny. And if you ever think you're straight, tell me first." Jungkook's mom said, squeezing him tightly.

"I won't." Jungkook reminded her. His mom sighed. "Eh, I tried. That's okay. I'll see you, Kookie." She said, brushing his head and then walking away.

When she left, Taehyung snickered. "At least we have one parent between the two of us who's decent, right?"

Jungkook was looking away, tense. Taehyung got up and frowned. "What's wrong?" Taehyung asked. Jungkook looked at him, and then gulped. Taehyung knew the look on his face. He wanted to be alone. So the two walked out of the cafeteria and outside in the hallways.

"Is this about what your mom said? About high school couples?" Taehyung asked.

Jungkook looked down and then played with the bottom of his shirt. "I-I don't wanna leave you."

"You won't, baby. We could try for the same college." Taehyung said. Jungkook looked at him. "Like Seoul University. Coach says my scholarship for them is pretty much secured. You could join the art college there-"

"Tae," Jungkook said, looking up at him. "I told you I wanted to go to that art school in- in Japan, remember?"

Taehyung paused. "Y-yeah- but- I thought you said that was your dream college. Are you actually going to try for there?"

"Of course I am. It's one of the best in Asia. I don't think I'll get in, but-" Jungkook said. Taehyung nodded. "Yeah. You might not get in. And if you don't, you can come to Seoul-"

"My second option is the university in Busan. Their art department is the best in Korea." Jungkook said. Taehyung hesitated.

"Don't make this hard, Kook," Taehyung said, trailing. Jungkook frowned for a second. "Why can't you try for Seoul? It's not bad."

"It's not, Tae. But you don't expect me to put you over my education, do you?" Jungkook said. Taehyung was quiet for a few seconds, so Jungkook let out a spluttered weak laugh. "Taehyung... my- my future is very important to me, you know that-"

"Am I not?" Taehyung asked, looking like he was trying his hardest to remain calm.

"You are. But who knows how long we're going to last?" Jungkook said in a small voice. Taehyung's face went blank. "What?" Taehyung said softly.

"I mean- like- I don't want to go all the way to Seoul for you, only to break up or something," Jungkook said, mumbling.

"Why do you think we'll break up?" Taehyung said, annoyed. Jungkook closed his eyes, not liking where this conversation was headed. He opened his eyes and looked into Taehyung's dark brown ones.

"I don't. But if-" Jungkook began, and Taehyung snickered, looking away. "So, that's it? After school ends we-we breakup or something?"

"If we have to," Jungkook said. Taehyung looked at him, eyebrows furrowed, jaw clenched. "Are you serious? Then why stay together at all?"

"Tae, don't be like this. I said if we have to. We don't know what'll happen-" Jungkook began, gripping his arms. Taehyung pulled his arms back.

"Aren't relationships meant to be about compromise or something?" Taehyung asked, curt.

Jungkook looked at him. "Compromise? Taehyung, be honest. You would never give football up for me. If I asked you to try in Busan for football, you'd never agree to that. Don't act like you're on some moral high horse." Jungkook snapped. Taehyung looked at him, quiet.

"Sometimes, things don't work out. And that's fine. We'll move on. Or we'll try long distance. Or something. I don't know." Jungkook said, and then looked down. "Can we just... not think about this right now? I'm sorry I brought it up."

"It's fine." Taehyung said, and Jungkook reached forward and hugged him tightly. Taehyung returned the hug limply. Jungkook pulled away from the hug and kissed his nose. "Let's go back to the dorm and cuddle? I'm really exhausted from all this-"

"I have some work." Taehyung mumbled, moving away from him. "I'll see you later."

"What work?" Jungkook asked, seeing Taehyung walk away. "Tae?" Jungkook voiced, but Taehyung left.

Jungkook sighed to himself, knowing Taehyung was upset about the conversation and probably needed to be alone for a while. Jungkook left to his old dorm and stayed there for a while, finishing up homework. He kept texting Taehyung, asking of his whereabouts. No response.

Jimin spent times with his mom all day, so he came back later in the evening. "Oh, hey. You're here. How was the meeting with your parents?"

"Good," Jungkook said, closing his notebook. "My dad wasn't there, so it went relatively well." Jungkook nodded. Jimin hummed, nodding.

"I'm gonna head back to Taehyung's." Jungkook said, and then looked at Jimin and gave him a small sad smile. "I'm sorry. I'm being the worst best friend ever, aren't I? I chose hoes over bros. Do you want me to stay here more often?"

"What? No, don't be ridiculous, Kookie. We have almost every class together. We hang out all the time. You can stay with Tae. I love being alone anyway." Jimin said, smiling. He didn't look upset at all. Jungkook looked at him suspiciously.

Jimin saw the look on his face, and then sighed. "Fine! You got me. Eka sneaks in here at night and we room together. Now shut up." Jimin said. Jungkook smiled.

"Good. Because that blue bra in the washroom is definitely not your size." Jungkook said, and then headed for the door. Jimin rolled his eyes at him, and Jungkook walked out.

Jungkook walked towards Taehyung's room. On the way there, he saw Taehyung walk from the stairs, sweating. Jungkook spotted him and rushed towards him. "Tae!" Jungkook called, and Taehyung saw him. "Were you practicing football?"

"Yeah." Taehyung said. Jungkook tsked. "You're all sweaty. Let's go back to the room and shower. You shouldn't be out so late, Taehyungie. If you practice when it's so dark, you'll hurt yourself."

Taehyung walked with him towards their room. Jungkook saw him looking away, hands in his pockets. Jungkook looked at him and then gulped. He really didn't want Taehyung to be upset at him. "Babe, don't be upset. Please." Jungkook said. Taehyung didn't respond. They reached the dorm, and Taehyung pushed open the door, and then stopped.

Taehyung's father was there.

Jungkook didn't see him past the door. "Tae talk to me, please-" Jungkook began, but then saw Taehyung's father inside the dorm and froze.

"What are you doing here?" Taehyung asked. Taehyung's father was in a suit as usual, bags heavy under his eyes, hair grey. He looked careless, but drifted his eyes over to Jungkook, and looked at him.

Jungkook moved away from the room, heart beating out of his chest. Taehyung's father walked up to Taehyung. "Isn't this that boy? You're still around him?" Taehyung's father said to Taehyung, words achingly low.

Jungkook looked at Taehyung, fearful for the boy. Jungkook didn't want to be here at all. He got deja vu. Taehyung looked at his father, who was still inside the room.

"Why- why did you come here?" Taehyung asked.

"To check up on you. I knew you were up to no good. Bringing that- that queer into your room like that-" Taehyung's father snapped. Jungkook felt his eyes grow with tears, hiding on the other side of the door. Jungkook looked at Taehyung, who looked helpless.

"He's just a f-friend, dad." Taehyung said, tried.

"Friends? I don't want you to be friends either. Not with a faggot." Taehyung's father growled. Jungkook felt tears fall down his eyes. "Do I have to remind you again? As long as you're my son, you are not allowed to ruin your life with such disgusting things, am I clear?" Taehyung's father shouted, practically. Thank god the hallways were empty, or people would be wondering what was happening.

"I'm n-not-" Taehyung began faintly. "I swear, I-I-"

"Why is it so hard for you to understand? Your mother would be so disappointed of you, Taehyung." Taehyung's father tutted. Jungkook wiped at his tears, growing a stronger hatred of this man.

Taehyung opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly; "Taehyung?" A girl's voice came.

Jungkook looked with wide eyes when he saw Eka, her hair tied up, probably on her way to Jimin's. Jungkook saw her walk past Jungkook and to Taehyung. "I've been calling you for ages!"

Taehyung looked confused, looking at her, wondering why she was suddenly here. Eka put her hand on Taehyung's arm and then reached up to press their lips together.

Taehyung's eyes widened for a split second, but he kissed her back quickly. Jungkook's eyes were wide, stomach turning. Eka pulled away from the kiss and looked at Taehyung's father.

"Hi. I'm Taehyung's girlfriend, Eka. It's nice to meet you." Eka said, smiling. Taehyung's father looked at her, suspecting. "Taehyung must have told you about me!" Eka said, looking at Taehyung, squeezing his arm.

"I was about to." Taehyung chuckled, and then looked at his father. "You-you were saying something, dad?" Taehyung asked, hoping for the best.

"Nevermind." Taehyung's father said, low. He looked in relief. "I'll see you in the summer, I suppose." His father gruffed, and then nodded his head at his son before walking away, leaving the three teenagers.

The moment he left, Eka left Taehyung. She looked at Jungkook, who was staring in confusion. "I'm sorry. I-I overheard Taehyung's dad while walking and- a-and thought I could help. Sorry."

"Are you kidding? Thank you so much." Taehyung said, hugging Eka tightly. Eka smiled, hugging him back. "He probably would have hit me if you hadn't shown up and pretending to be my girlfriend."

"I'm glad I could help." Eka said. Jungkook grabbed her hand and hugged her too. Eka hugged him and smiled. "Sorry for kissing your boyfriend." She whispered.

Jungkook smiled gratefully. "No problem. Now go get yours." Jungkook replied. Eka looked at him in confusion. Jungkook giggled. "Jimin!" He winked.

"What? Jimin????? N-no. Ew. That's gross. He's my friend. Bye." Eka said quickly, before running away.

Jungkook's smile faltered after looking at Taehyung. Taehyung took him into his room, and then Jungkook wrapped his arms around Taehyung. "I-I'm so sorry. Your dad is the worst and I-I wish all bad things on him."

Taehyung hugged him back, quiet. Jungkook pulled away from the hug to look at him, and shook his head when he saw Taehyung with tears in his eyes. "D-don't cry," Jungkook squeaked.

"Kookie," Taehyung said. Jungkook sat him down on the bed and sat down beside him. "W-what- what you said this afternoon- ab-about me not making compromises for you-"

"Forget about that conversation, Tae. I'm sorry for bringing anything up at all, I should've just-"

"I got an offer," Taehyung said, looking away. "A scholarship from- from a school that's n-number one in football training. For me to finish my senior year there and get the professional football training I need."

"W-what?" Jungkook let out, eyebrows going up. "That's- that's amazing, Tae. When- where- where is it? Why didn't you-"

"I got it two weeks ago." Taehyung said, and then looked at Jungkook. "It's in London."

Jungkook's eyes grew big. "L-London?" Jungkook squeaked. Taehyung nodded. Jungkook gulped. "T-Tae it sounds r-really good. You- you should do it-" Jungkook began.

"I already said no." Taehyung whispered. Jungkook felt his breath stop. He looked at Taehyung, and then frowned seriously.

"Did-did you talk to the coach about this? And your father? You shouldn't told me-"

"Coach told me to do it. My father told me it's my choice. And I knew if I talked to you about it, you'd tell me to do it too." Taehyung said, drawled. Jungkook looked at him in disbelief.

"Why d-didn't you?" Jungkook asked. Taehyung looked at him and then shrugged. "I-I didn't want to lose you."

"Tae," Jungkook breathed out. Taehyung felt his eyes grow warm with tears. Jungkook reached forward, cupping his jaw. "You w-won't. I'll always be here for you, Taehyungie-"

"You d-don't understand, Kookie. I'm so in love with you, my baby." Taehyung said, voice wavering, cracking from how close to tears he was. "I d-don't want to leave you. I know I'm being stupid. I might even regret it in the future. But I don't care. I'll be with you, and that's more than enough." Taehyung whispered.

Jungkook climbed onto his lap, wrapping his arms around his neck. Taehyung pressed his nose to the crook of Jungkook's neck, wrapping his arms around his waist. Jungkook held him for some while, and then opened his eyes, his full of tears too.

"A-and when I said that- that you w-wouldn't make compromises for me, you got u-upset?" Jungkook asked. Taehyung sniffled.

"I don't want you to throw your future away for me, baby. I really don't want to be the reason why you don't do what you love. But- but I j-just... I want us to be together. I know it'll be hard. But we can do it, r-right? Fuck. I don't want to imagine being without you, Kook. It hurts to even think about it. I'm not letting you go." Taehyung said, muffling his words into his chest.

"I love you so much, Tae..." Jungkook said, and Taehyung looked up. "I'm sorry, I g-got all in my head earlier. We've been through so much, we c-can't just throw all of that away. I'm not going to get anyone better than you." Jungkook bubbled, blinking back his tears.

"Me neither." Taehyung whispered, and then kissed Jungkook. "Don't cry. Pretty baby, don't cry." Taehyung cooed.

"T-that doesn't help!" Jungkook squeaked out, putting his hands on his face. Taehyung chuckled, watery.

They lay down on the bed, Jungkook's arms around his neck, Taehyung's arms around his waist. Jungkook kissed his forehead. "We'll figure everything out. We always do. If I stay in Busan, and you in Seoul- then we'll make it work. Meet up on holidays. Weekends. Everything." Jungkook said, eyes closed.

"Mmm. Video chat sex." Taehyung said. Jungkook giggled, kicking him, their legs tangled.

"Or!! Maybe we'll end up in the same college. And we'll live together!!" Jungkook squealed. Taehyung smiled at his excitement.

"Yessss. We'll live in a big loft with a bed in the middle where we have so. much. sex."

"No." Jungkook booped his nose. "We'll get a normal apartment with good amounts of space and a big kitchen and a big bedroom."

"Where we have sooo. much. sex."

"Stop."

Taehyung kissed Jungkook's cheeks. Jungkook looked at him, and then made his lips into a small pout. "I-I'm still sorry you missed out on going to London because of me."

"Don't worry. I like it here. I have friends and I'm captain. I don't wanna pull a reverse Sehun." Taehyung said. Jungkook giggled. "I have the most beautiful boy in the world. I'm more than happy staying here."

Jungkook blushed, and then cuddled close to him, kissing his lips. Taehyung kissed him back, and then pulled away, smiling into his lips. "Can't wait until you become the most amazing artist in the whole wide world. You'll be like... Leonardo DaVinci but gay."

"Leonardo DaVinci was gay."

"Dude. What." Taehyung said, opening his eyes. "He was? Oh my god. I knew he looked like a twink."

Jungkook laughed loudly. "I can't wait until you become the most amazing football player in the whole wide world." Jungkook said, kissing Taehyung's cheek. "You'll be like Messi but attractive."

"Damn. What'd the guy ever do to you?" Taehyung said, and Jungkook smiled, giggling again. He hit Taehyung's chest. "Stop! I can't stop smiling."

"How is that my fault??" Taehyung snapped but smiled as well. "You're so cute-" Taehyung began, rolling on top of Jungkook. Jungkook cried in protest but Taehyung pushed through and pressed kisses all over Jungkook's face.

Taehyung looked down at Jungkook, holding him underneath him. Jungkook looked up at Taehyung, and both boys smiled. They were the happiest at the moment.

"I love you." Jungkook said. Taehyung kissed him. Jungkook hummed into the kiss, and then felt Taehyung's lips part his. "Can't wait to spend the rest of my life to you."

Taehyung kissed Jungkook again. "Marry me."

"Okay." Jungkook said, kissing him back. They kissed some more, and then Taehyung flopped to his side, cuddling him again.

"I'm kidding by the way." Jungkook said. Taehyung frowned, eyes big. Jungkook scoffed. "Taehyung you're not fucking proposing to me on this cheap dorm room bed in our junior year of high school."

"I can do what I want." Taehyung said. "And I'm marrying you."

"Nooo." Jungkook squeaked. Taehyung shook his head. "Too bad. I now pronounce us husband and wife."

"Get out with that heteronormative bullshit." Jungkook scoffed. Taehyung giggled, kissing his cheeks.

"I love you so much. Goodnight." Taehyung said. Jungkook was comfortable in his arms. "Goodnight. I love you too."

There was a bit of silence, nothing but the trees in the distance. And then; "Oh god you dumbfuck. You didn't shower."

"Shut up I'm not taking a fucking shower now."

"You are. Let's go." Jungkook said, and dragged Taehyung out of the bed. They went into the shower. Jungkook shampooed his hair. Taehyung kissed Jungkook's mouth the whole time.

They were so in love. Just like they were always meant to me.

https://jeontaeh.tumblr.com/post/647265533448912896/epilogue

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