#killer frequency game x reader

[eating-plastic]

Carnival Lights: Henry Barrow x Reader

Warnings: mentions of murder (come on, it's Henry), swearing, some mean!Henry, naive!reader, sunshine!reader x grumpy!Henry (my favorite dynamic lol), some fluff, probably grammatical errors

Word Count: 3434 words

A/N: This is for that anon that asked me if I wrote for Henry Barrow (assuming that they wanted me to write something for him lol). I know I said I was going to take a break from Killer Frequency, but the “people pleaser” in me wanted to get something done. So yeah, I hope this isn't too disappointing. I also hope that my interpretation of Henry is to your liking (you gotta get creative when given a blank slate like him 😆). As such, I also hope anyone else that is a fan of this skrunkly also enjoys this as well. Oh, also, this takes place before the events of the game during Marie and Henry's "national murder tour" leading up to Gallows Creek. Just thought you should know that. Bye!

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Sparkling lights and the sound of upbeat music and screams of excitement flood your senses as you skip through the crowds attending your hometown's yearly carnival. You had always partaken in the festivities ever since you were a child, and the event still filled you with joy. Some of the older booth vendors and ride operators even knew you by name.

You had originally shown up with two of your friends, promising that they wouldn't get too "lovey-dovey" with each other since they were a couple, but that was broken about 15 minutes into your arrival. Feeling like a third-wheel, you broke off from them, not really caring too much. You could easily enjoy yourself here without them.

After you finished playing a game where you had to try and hit cartoon sea creatures with a water gun (and failing since your aim wasn't the best), you decided to head to something you knew you were good at: the funhouse maze.

You knew the maze like the back of your hand, and could easily make it from the entrance to the exit, so you decided to see how many combinations of routes you could go. You wanted to know every nook and cranny that these dark, black light lighten halls had to offer.

Once you got bored, you began to make your way to the exit. Once at a crossroad where you needed to turn right, you stopped when you heard a man let out a shout of frustration. Worried that they were lost, you made your way towards the noise to help them out.

'God fucking damnit,' Henry thought. He was so fucking close to getting the man his mother told him to kill. He was right on his tail and then...he was gone. Now he was lost in this Goddamn maze and it was all his stupid fault because he knew he wasn't good with mazes. It was a good idea in theory, since the man would be all alone with no one would hear him scream. But of course in practice it had to bite him in the ass.

He tore his mask off and shoved it into his large duffle bag at his side. God, was it making it hard to breathe in this stuffy prison. Not to mention how that man was probably long gone by now.

'Augh, what am I gonna tell mom?' worry began to flood his mind. She was no doubt going to be pissed at him.

Luckily for Henry, his unaware savior was approaching.

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

As soon as you rounded the corner, you were now facing a man of decent stature, with long hair, a black trench coat, and a large duffle bag at his side. It was quite odd attire to be wearing in the middle of summer, but maybe he was just a worker at the haunted house who wanted to try out the maze on his break. He also seems to be oblivious to your presence, muttering to himself.

"Hi!" you chirp, causing the man to jump and spin around.

"The hell are you doing, here?" he hisses.

"Uh, it's a maze at a carnival. I'm here having fun," his harsh tone was completely lost on you. "You're lost, right?"

"What do you think?" he snarls, but you just laugh.

"Yep! I thought so! Come on, I'll show you the way out," you grab his hand, noting that he was wearing black leather gloves. Also odd, but once again that could've been just another part of the haunted house attire.

The man rips his hand from your grip as if yours had burnt his. You look back at him confused, but just shrug and begin to run off towards the exit.

"Hey, wait!" the man shouts and begins to chase after you, making sure to be on your tail so he could leave.

Eventually, you and him were able to taste the fresh air of the carnival, with the added smell of fair foods. You turn to look at the man, only to be taken aback a bit.

He looked to be a boy about your age, with piercing eyes but a very handsome face. You also noticed that he was unfamiliar to you.

"Huh, I don't think I've seen you around before. Are you new?" you smile at him, but he just turns to walk back towards the crowded rows of booths. "Hey, wait up!"

You decide to follow him. If he was new, you didn't want him to be overwhelmed or lonely.

"I'm Y/N!" you grin, but he just continues walking forwards. His eyes scanning the crowds and his jaw tight.

"Oh, you don't talk much, huh? That's okay! What do you wanna do? Do you wanna get something to eat? Oh! Or we co-"

"Look, don't you have friends or something that you can go hang out with?" he asks sharply. Unfortunately for Henry, the tone was once again lost on you.

"I do, but they'd rather make out in the tunnel of love than hang out with me," your tone drops slightly which makes Henry's eyebrow quirk up. After a couple of seconds though, just shake your head and smile back at him. "It's okay though, because I met you! I love meeting new people!"

'Jesus, what was your deal?' Henry thought. You were like a Care Bear in human shape. So sickeningly sweet that it was making him feel weird. How could someone like you exist in the cruel world his mom had told him so much about? Has it not broken you, yet?

"Oh, look! Bumper cars! You wanna go do those?" you beam up at him. Henry sighed. If he put up with this, maybe you would leave him alone. Besides, you provided him good cover. A new face like him dressed the way he was all by himself may drive suspicion. So he turned his head to look at your eager face and uttered one word.

"Fine."

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

You weren't bad at bumper cars, but you also didn't win. Not that you cared though, especially since your mystery man had won. You were surprised at his skills and made sure to tell him.

Henry listening to you gush over him was odd. Not used to getting such praise from someone who wasn't his mother. And like with his mother, it made him feel good.

You continue to skip through the crowds with him at your side. He was still scanning all of the people around you, but his jaw wasn't tight anymore. That elated you, as you took it as him finally enjoying himself. You both stop when you hear someone call your name.

"Is that you, Y/N?" the voice of an older man called from a game booth. Your face brightens and you run to him, Henry following after you.

"Frank! I haven't seen you in ages!" you hug him over the booth's countertop. Henry tenses up and watches the man closely.

"You're one to talk! I haven't seen you since you were just 'this' tall," Frank levels his hand to show just how small you were when he had last seen you. He opens his mouth to speak again, but stops when his eyes fall on Henry. "Hey, Y/N, who's your friend?"

"He's new in town! I saved him from the maze!" you chirp.

"Ah, okay," he drawls, looking at Henry suspiciously. Upon seeing you look at him fondly though, he puts on his best "friendly face" and holds his hand out. "Pleasure to meet you, son."

Henry looks at Frank's hand before shaking it, still analyzing the older man. You are completely oblivious to the tension, as you look at the milk bottles that are stacked up in the booth.

"Hey, Frank! Care if we play?" you pull some tickets out from your back pocket. Frank's mood changes at the sound of your voice and smiles at you.

"Of course! You and your friend here get three shots," he kneels down to hand you three baseballs first.

You throw all three and only get three of the six bottles down.

"Oh, well! Your turn!" you turn to smile at Henry and move out of his way. Frank hands him three baseballs just as he did with you. He takes the ball, pulls his arm back, and....

All six bottles tumble down with a force that startles both you and Frank.

"Well I'll be damned! I have never seen anyone knock those bottles down like that! You play baseball, son?" the older man asks Henry, amazed.

"No," he says, shortly.

The older man clears his throat at the awkward silence before looking towards the stuffed animals that hung around the booth.

"Well, you won. Pick out your prize."

Henry wanted to just walk away, but looked at you in his peripheral. You were staring longingly at a pink elephant plush that had a cute, cartoony face. He points to that one.

"This one right here?" Frank asks, taking the elephant down. Henry nods. "Alright! Here ya go."

Henry takes the stuffed animal and nods at him.

"Bye, Frank!" you call as Henry begins to walk away from the booth.

"Bye, Y/N! See you next year!"

As soon as you both are five feet away from the booth, Henry practically shoves the plush at you.

"Here."

"What-?"

"You wanted it. I got it. Now take it," he says shortly. You look up at him, confused, but he still continues to walk forward and scan the crowd. You take the plushie and smile at it. It was the cutest thing you had ever seen, with the softest fur you ever felt.

You squeal and pull Henry into a hug, thanking him. He tenses up and pushes you off.

"What the hell are you doing?" he scowls.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I just w-wanted to...," you trail off, hurt evident in your voice and eyes.

Your change in demeanor causes Henry to feel guilty, and the couple of eyes he could sense on him only added to that feeling. He sighs and rests his hand on your shoulder.

"Look, I'm...I'm sorry, okay. Just...just warn me before you do that again...please," his voice is now soft as he looks at you, wanting you to know that he did really feel sorry.

"Okay," you whisper, still feeling miserable about making him uncomfortable.

"Hey, why don't...," Henry thinks for a second. "Why don't we go on a ride, huh?"

"Okay," a smile forms on your face. "Which one do you wanna go on?"

"Whichever one you'd like," Henry gives you the first genuine smile you had seen that night. This causes your own smile to grow and you take his hand to lead to one of the more thrilling rides. Henry doesn't rip his hand away this time, allowing you to drag him to where you wanted to take him.

Once at the ride you wanted to go on, you handed your elephant to the ride operator and Henry hesitantly gives up his bag, before you enter the ride.

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

By the time the ride had ended, you and Henry were wobbling in the best way possible. Henry let out a shaky laugh. He had never felt so alive. Where had this been his whole life? You let out your own laugh at Henry's reaction, before you and him collect your belongings and go on to do more rides and games. While walking, and even making some small talk with your mystery man, he stops when he spots a phone booth.

Henry thinks about his mother, about his mission. He had to call her, to tell her about how he couldn't get a good opening. He wouldn't mention how he was getting distracted or how he was having fun with a living ray of sunshine. He knew how she would probably react if he was honest.

"Hey, uh, Y/N?"

"Yeah?" you look up at him, beaming.

"I, uh...I have to make a phone call. I-I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay! I'll wait right here!" you chirp.

He nods and gives you a small smile, before walking to the booth.

Henry enters the booth and sighs. He rummages around in his pocket before finding some quarters and inserting them into the machine. He lifts the phone and inserts the number to the motel room he and his mother were staying in. He waits, tapping his foot nervously as he waits. Then it stops, and a familiar voice speaks from the other end.

"Yes?" his mother says.

"H-Hi, mom."

"Oh, Henry!" her voice is cheerful. "Did you finish your 'assignment'?"

"No, I haven't. I can't get a good opening," he doesn't mention that he had lost the man to begin with. "Besides, this one person won't leave me alone. They're constantly following me around and bothering me."

His mom sighs on the other end and thinks.

"I'll be over there in a bit. Keep trying, dear. And remember, if you do find your opening, do what you must. Poor kid," she mutters towards the end of the statement.

Henry's stomach drops. He knows instantly what she meant. He didn't want to hurt you. You had nothing to do with...with all of this. You were an innocent, sweet person in this miserable world. Why get rid of someone like you?

"Henry, sweetie, you there?" his mother questions.

"Y-Yeah, yeah, I, uh...I was just looking around. Look, don't worry about coming over. I got this, I promise. I'll call you if I need you, okay?"

"Hm...okay," she pauses, clearly skeptical at her son's words. "Please just stay safe, okay? I love you."

"I love you too, mom. Bye."

"Goodbye."

There is a click, and then the line goes dead. Henry lets out a shaky breath and sets the phone back on its cradle. A knock at the booth startles him out of his thoughts. He turns around to see you looking at him, concerned.

He opens the door to the booth and steps out.

"Sorry," you apologize. "I just wanted to know if you wanted something to eat. Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, yeah...don't worry about it, okay? Food, uh...food sounds great."

"Okay. What would you like?" Henry thinks for a moment before cracking a smile at you.

"Surprise me!"

You nod and walk off to find a food booth. You knew exactly what you wanted to get. You had been craving it ever since you entered the carnival grounds.

Henry followed behind you, curious as to what you were going to get as you passed booth after booth. Then you stop, just what you were looking for.

"I was wondering when you were gonna show up," a woman greets you.

"Hi, Pam!" you smile at her and hand her some dollar bills. "Two candied apples, please!"

"Two?" Pam cocks her head to the side until her eyes fall on Henry. "Oh, I see."

She smirks, interpreting the mystery man besides you and how you were lovingly holding your elephant plush as a date.

A few moments later, Pam turns back to you and Henry with two candied apples in her hands.

"Enjoy, you two!" she winks at you when you and Henry take your treats. The two of you walk once more, while Henry investigates the sweet in his hand. You look over at him and laugh.

"What? Have you never had a candied apple before?"

"Uh, no actually. Are...are they your favorite?" he asks.

"Uh huh!" you nod eagerly. "I have to have at least one when the carnival's up!"

It was true. Ever since you had the teeth to eat them, candied apples had been your favorite treat, even with all of the cavities you had gotten over the years because of them.

Henry slowly raises the apple to his lips and bites down. The taste causes him to pause. He had never tasted something so sweet. It seemed fitting that they were your favorite.

"You like it?" you ask.

He nods his head, before he takes another bite.

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

"So you really aren't gonna leave tomorrow?" you look at Henry sadly.

"Yeah, I-I'm, um...I'm afraid so."

You had learned that Henry was just visiting your hometown on a road trip with his mom. You thought that was fun, because your family always goes on road trips every summer, and yet you were going to miss your new mystery friend.

"Oh, Y/N! There you are!"

You and Henry turn around, seeing your two friends running towards you.

"Yeah, we were really worried!"

That causes Henry to stare daggers at them. They were worried? If they were so Goddamned worried about your safety, then they wouldn't have abandoned you.

"Uh, Y/N...who's this?" they both look at the man beside you that was making them feel uncomfortable under his stare.

'Good,' Henry thought.

"Oh, this is just my friend I made who kept me company this whole time," your voice is still cheerful, but you were still trying to guilt them. Henry smirks at that.

"Oh, well, uh...it's-it's getting late. We should start heading home."

Your eyes widen at that and you look down at your watch. It was almost midnight. God, your parents were gonna kill you.

"Yeah, you guys head to the entrance. I'll catch up!" your friends look at the boy besides you. Despite being the same age as them, something about him didn't seem right. They slowly turn around and do as you told them. As you watch them go, you hear a certain someone mutter something behind you.

"Henry."

"What?" you turn to look up at him.

"That's my name," Henry says.

You try the name out and smile. The sound of you saying his name made his chest feel weird.

"You look like a 'Henry'," you quip.

"That a bad thing?" he quirked an eyebrow at you.

"Nope!" you giggle and shake your head. Your demeanor changes and you awkwardly fiddle for something in your back pocket.

"Here," you hand him a small slip of paper.

Henry takes the paper and unravels it, a phone number revealing itself to him.

"Just in case you wanna keep in touch, o-or you know...just letting me know if you're gonna be in town again," you sheepishly state, squeezing the elephant in your arms. You had written your number down when he went off to make his phone call. You felt silly since you didn’t even know his name yet, but you knew you liked him either way.

"I, uh...I think I'll do just that," he smiles at you and puts the paper in his pocket. You smile back.

"I'm gonna hug you. Is that okay?"

Henry laughs, before opening his arms to you. You wrap one of your arms around him and he wraps his arms around your waist. Neither of you want to pull away, knowing that it would mean the end of your night together and who knows how long until you see each other again.

Unfortunately, your friends were waiting for you and he had a mission that you were unaware of. You pull away first.

"Goodbye, Henry," you quickly press a peck to his cheek. He tenses, but then looks at you shyly.

"Y-Yeah...goodbye, Y/N," a shade of pink crosses his face. He then clears his throat before pointing to your plushie. "You take good care of him."

You giggle and nod your head, before turning and walking away from him. Not even five feet away from him, you turn back and wave both your hand and your elephant's arm goodbye. Henry shakes his head and smiles, lifting his hand up to give a small wave of his own.

He stood there, watching your figure get smaller and smaller, until you disappeared into the crowd entirely.

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The man was killed swiftly in the haunted house of all places. No one suspected a thing, believing that the body was just a prop and the screams just sound effects.

Now Henry was laying down on his bed in the motel room his mother had rented. She was in the bathroom washing his knife and mask.

He could still hear the noises of the crowds cheering, feel the shakiness in his limbs after a thrill ride, taste the candied apple on his tongue, and feel your kiss on his cheek.

Perhaps when he and his mother got into the next town and had to split up again, he would see if that number you gave him was real.

[yaut-jaknowit]

Returned At Last Part 2

Pairing: Wolf x Reader

Word Count: 4647

Summary: Wolf comes for you. Nothing can step in the way of that beast when he's enraged. Someone took his ooman. He's getting them back, no matter the pauking cost. Not one can or will stop him. Blood will cover him.

Author Note: Oh yes, I wrote even more this. I don't know what possessed me to do this but oh well. Here we are, going further down the whole, no point of return.

I TOTALLY DIDNT FORGET TO TAG YOU, @kissmyaft

Masterlist

Ao3

Part 1

Taste of metal hit your tongue. A raging headache is what you’re forced to awaken with. The light above buzzed with a low frequency, further growing the pain inside of your head. A groan sounded in the extremely limited space given to you, echoing back at your naked, bruised, malnourished body. Your form shivered at a cold drift blowing over you. Goosebumps growing moments afterwards. You tried to pull all of your limps closer, in an attempt to hold in any heat. It did nothing to help this situation.

Everything ached. It’s been like this for what felt like days. The dirty, tiny, dingy cell they threw in after every time they demanded information from you didn’t have a window. The artificial light above was never turned off. Always on. Always singing its horrible pitch. It was either that or listen to your own heartbeat thunder in your ears.

Inside of your mind, you cursed to every and any god that would listen. Whoever let this happen, you hoped they had their good laugh at your misery.

Time was hard to tell in here. Your sleep schedule had been thrown off completely. Sometimes when they don’t get what they want, they beat you to an inch of your life. After resisting, you’ve experienced that four times. Bones broken, organs bleeding, vision blurry. The whole nine yards. Most of the time, they use a knife or gun to threaten you.

A good quarter of their questions you only the answer to. You’ve been to Yautja Prime, kept safe by Wolf as he strutted around his home world with you at his side. You’ve also been to a mothership as well. Wolf is the best out there, many call for his attention and aid. They question your relationship with the alien. They never once say his name, confirming they don’t know it. It’s only ‘alien’, ‘monster’, or -your least favorite – ‘owner’. They act like he owns you. You didn’t know if that hurt you or mad your blood boil.

Other questions, you didn’t dare even make a peep about. It was along the lines of relationship with Wolf. But, it was about your sex life with him. When you ducked your head with a blush covering your cheeks, that probably confirmed their suspicion. Wolf fucks you. Those in the room had made their disgust and horror known to you. As much as you should’ve, you didn’t feel a drop of shame. Wolf is the best partner you’ve ever had, in bed and on the streets.

More inquires were talking about the inner life of the Yautja. They asked all the wrong questions to you, a mere humans that was lucky to walk among them. How were you supposed to know about their military? The Yautja probably didn’t even have one. You had no clue about the numbers. They have a planet, what does that tell you? Well, you didn’t say that. You kept your trap close, thinking constantly about Wolf. You wouldn’t give up on him. You wouldn’t spill his secretes to save your own skin.

Guess what, he would do the same for you. To be honest, he would have the people torturing him dead within moments. If one lifts a weapon to him, it’s game over.

Fuck, you missed him so much. A large part of you hoped he was searching for you. Was he looking high and low for you? Was he going without sleep just to find you? Was he slaving away his body to capture any data about you? You could only hope.

Dread creeped like a silent killer within your heart. Whispers crawled to your ears, speaking in harsh, horrible voices. One spoke, telling you he wasn’t. That he was happy to be rid of you. You are dead weight to him, dragging him down. You’re nothing compared to him. You offer nothing to him. He’s probably happy to have you gone.

A whine scratched at your dry throat. You tried to swallow any of saliva in your mouth, all that was there was cotton. At the same time, your empty stomach rumbled its call, forcing you to curl in on yourself. Your arms wrapped around your middle.

Over the time you’ve been locked in here, the soldiers have only given you scrapes of bread. Every few feedings, as rare as though are already, they gave you enough water to just fill your mouth. It was enough to clear a fraction of the cotton in your mouth. It never satisfied you. It left you wanting more, hungry and thirsty for more. You knew it was part of their plan to get you to crack, spill the secrets they wanted to know.

With a hoarse groan, you rolled over to your other side. An attempt to ease the pain growing on that side of your body. The concrete was cold and unforgiving. You bit at your bottom lip to prevent any noises. Their camera watched your every move, recording it. The person who leads this operation was probably hoping you whisper a confession. You kept yourself silent in the artificial light.

The fight had long left you, slaughtered out of your body in harsh hits and threatening cuts. All you could muster was to lie on the floor, by your lonesome, with no hope of rescue. Wolf… His name hurt your throat, playing a broken record player. You wanted him here with you.

Hands harshly pulled you to your knees, yet you had to full comprehend what was occurring. A film blurred your vision, unable to focus on whoever was touching you. You hissed when the limbs pulled at your aching injuries.

Pain exploded across your face. It took you a long moment to realize what even happened. Fresh blood dripped down your chin, splattering against the unforgiving ground. “Shut the fuck up, twat,” a voice spat harshly at you. He, a soldier, had hit you on the head. Why does it have to be your head?

He jabbed the barrel of a gun into your bruised side. This time, you bit down on your tongue, eyes squeezed shut. That soldier wasn’t going to get a sound out of you. That you’ve learned your lesson. He hauled you to your feet and began to drag you half-haphazardly out of the cell. You let him, head hung low and shoulders sagging.

Unshed tears began to grow as much as you tried to fight it. You couldn’t stop them from dribbling down your dirty cheeks. Yet, your sobs were stopped before they sounded in the short hallway.

At the end, was an elevator that would take you two floors up. Then, the soldier with his gun in your side would continue to drag four doors down on the left. The door would open and you would be shoved inside. You didn’t have time to look at the surrounding four walls. Nothing changed, it was always the same, dingy walls.

The light had a horrible flicker that would drive you insane the longer they kept you in here. The concrete ground still dug into your naked flesh as you were forced inside. With a grunt, you rolled onto your back, eyes still closed. It was the same thing over and over and ov-

Breathing. Ragged breathing – it sound like they were trying to be quiet. Immediately, you shot up into a sitting position, head swirling to the direction. The room wasn’t large yet the light wasn’t bright enough to fully expose whoever crept in the corner. Whatever. Your slightly blurry vision didn’t help you either. All you could make out a dark, blurry figure crouched, hiding in the corner. It was something big though. Even if they tucked themselves away, it took up a large portion of the area.

For once, you didn’t make a sound. All you did was kept both eyes on it, observing it, listening to it. The thing didn’t move from its simple spot. You have expected it to lung out when the light turned off longer than it usually did. When the light flicker back to life, it still was there with it’s broken breathing. It was injured, that much you could tell from just the sounds it made.

What caught your attention was a neon green substance leaking from various wounds along its body. You quietly gasp before scrambling to crawl away. Right off the bat, you knew this a Yautja from that alone. Second, this wasn’t your Yautja. Wolf wasn’t thickly corded as this one. The color was completely off.

Its eyes were locked onto your form as you backed yourself into a corner. Stupid thing to do but what else could you do? If it attacked you… you would be completely defenseless. What a way to die.

That got you thinking though. If it killed you, this misery would end. No more shocks, cuts, or being naked in this frigid place. You would be free.

Wolf would never see you alive again though. You curled up into a ball, arms wrapped around your legs and face buried into your knees. More unshed tears prickled the corner of your eyes but you didn’t let them fall. You didn’t know what to do. You didn’t know what they wanted from you in this situation.

The fact they have a Yautja locked up here though. Is that how they found Wolf’s ship? Whoever these people are, they must’ve had access to a Yautja’s technology to be able to know where the ship was. They had to gotten it from this one locked up with you.

Your eyes suddenly narrowed on the alien. It was his fault you were here, stuck so far underneath ground, butt naked and hurt. It was his fault you weren’t in bed with Wolf, with his arms wrapped around you. It was his fault you were alone and in pain. It was his fault.

A boiling rage surged to life in your slowly moving veins. But, you didn’t have the strength in your legs to stand up. It was a miracle you were able to scamper away from him. Adrenaline can be a useful friend in situations like this. You also knew there was no way to even hurt the lumbering giant. He’s a Yautja. Injured or not, he’s still deadly. Far more than you are, even in perfect condition. Instead, you kept snug in your own corner, eyes watching him.

Time passed at an unknown pace. You stayed glued far away from him, arms still holding your knees. You were still confused on what these people wanted from you. Why have they changed their tactic? It was working so perfectly… Were they just trying to get you killed without the blood being on their hands? It just didn’t make any sense.

At the exact moment you were being to get annoyed at the lack of action, the door opened. Since the Yautja had sort of forced you in this position, you were behind the newly opened door. The camera already alerted to where you were at all times though.

Whoever was there stepped inside with the two of you and quietly closed the door. You choked on spit, eyes widening and heart skipping a beat. Curses were racing around your head. This was person that always handled your interrogation. He wore his normal gear, the same as always. It had been cleaned of the blood his forced from your body yesterday.

When he pivoted his body to face yours hiding in the corner, you saw through the dim light a smirk. It crinkled the edge of his eye. Dickwad – a name you’ve picked out for him – took a single step towards you. You flinched away from him, somehow curling more in on yourself. It injured your leftover pride the moment afterwards. You didn’t blame yourself for the reaction though.

Something crossed your mind. Dickwad freely walked into the room, back to the Yautja, barely sparring him a glance. Why didn’t he fear the deadly creature on the other side, watching this interaction? None of his weapon would save from the Yautja if he lunged at him. Why wasn’t he scared? Like he should be. Like you are.

It’s like he read your mind. That crinkle never left his right eye. Dickwad nonchalantly glanced behind him, keeping his exposed back to the alien. “Oh, don’t worry about that thing. It can’t hurt you. Poor thing is a little… tied up.” Though you’ve never met this alien before or yet to learn his name, you glared at the dickwad for a just second.

“But don’t worry, I have a fun little button that can release it. Don’t forget that if you misbehave. Now… why don’t we start off from yesterday?”

A pool of blood surrounded you, dark red. Pains stabbed your nerves, never ending. Nausea washed over you, mouth watering with thick saliva. When bile rose in the back of your throat, it burned before you were barely able to swallow it. All it was just stomach acid and more blood. You laid on the cold, frozen concrete, tears and sobs long dried up. Both of your arms were wrapped around your fragile, now more injured body. You didn’t know how much longer you could survive in this pit of hell.

Chains rustling had your head snapping painfully in the direction. It was the Yautja. The chains that encased his body reflected off the light as he moved his position. Yet, he didn’t settle. He kept shifting, rattling the metal against each other. What was his deal?

The sounds frustrated Dickwad, who was using a rag to clean off his knife’s blade. He spun his head to glare at him. “Stop moving, you lumbering ogre. I can show you again why that’s a bad thing,” Dickwad spat and pointed the newly cleaned weapon at the Yautja. Dumb ass, pointing a weapon at him. It’s an open invitation to get yourself killed.

“Why don’t you taunt him when he’s not chained up?” you snarked at him from your spot on the ground. He’s already done his worse to you. Why not add onto it? Why not hurt you some more? Maybe it’ll be enough to finally kill you. The least he could do for you.

Dickwad whipped his head towards you then smirked down at you. “One thing that separates the rookies from the experts. I have that thing chained because I know how deadly it can be.” Then, he lifted a hand to stroke at his limited beard. “Maybe you should learn your lesson, rookie.” You just stared up at him, too tired to think on what he’s trying to get you to understand.

This, he noticed and huffed with a roll of his eyes. “Fine, since you’re such an imbecile.” A device was pulled from a pocket and held in front of you. “I press button. Chains go bye-bye. Alien kills you. There, understood?” Death. Finally. A calling you’ve been making since the third day locked away in your cell. The damn man thought that was something you didn’t want. Who is the imbecile now?

Your eyes rolled widely. He growled before calming himself. “It won’t matter. You are no longer of use. You haven’t gi-“

The only entryway was blown off of its hinges, slamming into the wall on the other side. Your whole body jerked, only a couple feet from the door. A harsh breeze of air slapped you in the face. The person before you yelped and skidded forward, barely a hair’s width from it. He twisted around, both hands filled with a taser and knife.

From your spot, you glanced at the discarded door close by. It hadn’t been blasted off of by explosives. No. The middle was bent with a print of a foot. Someone had kicked it of its hinges. You felt your heart drop. What in the hell could’ve done that?

That question was swiftly answered. A thundering form swept into the room. A deadly hand coming out and wrapped around Dickwad’s throat. Claws didn’t hesitate to pierce his precious, soft skin. Through the limited light, you saw small rivers of blood run down his skin.

Then, it finally struck you. That arm, the claws, the stance, the armor. You recognize who this was. Even with a dried throat, you cried out in relief, a hand reaching out towards your boyfriend.

He was your angel, knight in shining armor. He came for you. He’s come to save you from this place. He’s taking you away, back into his arms.

Wolf’s eyes snapped to your form on the ground, red staining your plush skin. The grip on the ooman’s throat tightened, on the verge of snapping it within his grasp. The least he deserved from the horrid smell coming from him. His mind already connected the dots of all the clues given to him. This creature injured you, hurt you. You were wounded because of this pyode-amedha. It was going to pay for its heavy, detrimental mistake.

At the same time, you were hurt. You were bleeding, heavy by the looks of it. You didn’t have time for him to enact the revenge he desperately wanted to. As much as it pained himself to do this, Wolf crushed the ooman’s throat, effectively ending its life. It deserved far more than that but you were his priority from the beginning.

The now lifeless body of Dickwad was dropped to the ground you laid upon. With one long stride, Wolf knelt next to you, hands tentatively touching your dirty, bruised skin. A burning rage boiled in his veins at the sight of you. It ached his old heart at the scene before him. The way you looked up at him, unshed tears threatening to fall. The swirling of emotions that filled the pools of your eyes.

Relief flooded yours whole form as he accessed the situation at hand. He was here. You lifted a shaky hand and touched the cheek of his cold, metal biomask. Wolf paused what he was doing. He had to get you out of here, now. If you were to survive without lasting injuries.

With gentleness you didn’t know he possessed, Wolf scooped his arms underneath you and pulled you flush with his chest. In the Yautja’s mind, he believed this is where you needed to be at all times now. You will never leave his sight again. Never again. You will be at his side, glued to him if he has to. He can get a leash, attach it to his belt. You are his.

Pain flared to flames at the movement. You groaned, hands grasped blinding at his chest, feeling the bitter cold of his armor. “You cold,” you whined to him. The cold helped you stay awake though, shocking you further awake.

If the situation wasn’t so dire, Wolf might have brought himself to laugh. Instead, his heart squeezed tightly in his chest at your words. He needed to get you out here now.

His sturdy legs lifted the two of you without faltering. When he turned to leave this retched place, he forced to stop at the cry that sounded from your sore throat. His head snapped down to ensure it wasn’t him causing any more pain. You were reaching over his shoulder, wiggling within his hold. It took a hunter’s skill not to let you drop or further injure yourself.

He believed this to be a moment of hallucination. The blood that coated his arms, hands, and chest was his excuse. Yet, when Wolf tried to leave again, you tugged at one of his sensitive tresses. Wolf finally listened to you and followed where your hand was pointing.

In the farthest corner, a form lurked. At a quick glance, it was encased with chains, bounding it there. That’s when Wolf noticed the smell that was hidden underneath the others that drenched it. A Yautja. There was another Yautja. Wolf snarled and tucked you away from the opposing Yautja.

By Paya’s name, what he would’ve done to that ooman for further endangering with one of his kind. He, once more, turned to leave, this time you screamed out with your frustration. It hurt, eyes watering with tears but it got the point across. “Release ‘im,” you demanded of Wolf. You weren’t about to leave the unnamed Yautja to be trapped here. You didn’t know how long he’s been here but no one deserved that.

Wolf was taken back at this. “You want me to free him?” he reiterated, head cocking with a centimeter to the side. With the state of your throat, you didn’t dare speak again. A nod answer his question for him. “Why?” It came out before he could stop it. It was stupid. He didn’t want you further worsen your throat. “Fine.” Is all you got out of him.

If that is what will make you content, so be it. Wolf cautiously entered the unknown Yautja’s space, eyes carefully watching him. He noticed the blood dripping from him as he stopped in front of him. Now, Wolf was able to get a better look at him. This was a young blood, barely blooded by the looks of it. “What’s your name, pup?” he questioned with a grumbly voice, in Yautja and shifted your body to sit upright against him. Your legs swaddle his thin waist the best they could. Your head rested on his shoulder, eyes barely keeping open.

The unnamed Yautja has his eyes locked onto Wolf, body straining against his restraints. “Scar,” is all the elder got from him. Wolf could read the newly named Scar like an open book. He was exhausted, in pain, and struggling to breath. His young body was covered in wounds that would likely scar.

“If you hurt my ooman after I release you, there’s no place in the universe you can hide from me.” Scar’s eyes widened at the threat. If you had more thought process than currently, you would’ve whacked Wolf for that. Scar hadn’t hurt you, he wasn’t a threat.

Scar dipped his head, submissively for a couple of long seconds. “Understood, elder.” Wolf smirked underneath his biomask. The pup has manners, something that seemed to be slipping lately.

With that settled, Wolf used his whip to break the chains that held up Scar. The poor Yautja dropped like dead weight to the ground. He grunted at the sudden jarring of his injuries before shuffling to his hands and knees. “Thank you, elder.”

When Wolf took a breath in to hum at him, you whined within his hold. Immediately, Wolf’s entire focus returned to you. Then, he marched out of the room, leaving behind the young blood. Wolf gave him the opportunity to escape, it was on him to do so. Behind him, Scar scrambled after them. Smart. But the youngster stayed a few paces from him. Once more, smart.

At that point, the relief of freedom on your tongue and the exhaustion weighing you down, you promptly passed out. A sorrowful smile stuck to your face as you slept against the Yautja.

Your body suddenly shifted within his grasp, you almost falling back. This caused him to fret, both arms surrounding your frail body. Wolf maneuvered you into a better position before resuming his rescue, rage fueling him along the way.

Safety. Warm. Tired. Pain. Those were the first things you felt when you were drawn from your heavy sleep. The desperate need to pee forcing you awake. When you went to move, you gasped at the shock of agony that ran up your side. Something blazing touched your shoulder, gentle, it held you there, forcing you still. “Stay. Don’t move, ooman.” In return, you whined as an answer.

The voice released a grunt, hand leaving your body. The spot now feeling much colder than what you’re used to. You hoarsely cried out, hand reaching for them to return. It had brought comfort to you, soothing away those pestering thoughts and fears. They plagued your mind from the moment you woke up. “Still,” the voice grounded out, firmer this time; no hints of harshness though.

“Gotta pee,” you explained, tone begging for you to be let up. With your eyes still closed, the unknown figure huffed a sigh before gingerly scooping your body up. The familiar pelts that you were laid upon left the comfort of your skin. Pelts. Warm body. Strong arms. Grumbly, grumpy sounds. You tiredly smiled as his name entered your mind like molasses. “Wolf.” Your voice whined to him. A hand shakily reaching up to touch him.

He was here. He was holding you. He had saved you. You were safe from harm.

At the sound of his name on your tongue, he tightened his hold just a hair. You’ll never hear or come to know but his heart ached at the sound. The way his body twinged after all that had occurred yesterday… Wolf refused to let himself rest though. You needed to be cared for. The wounds constantly checked for infections. This was the first time you had awoken in the last twenty hours. Any longer, and he would’ve believed he had lost you.

Wolf’s never felt this way. Not once in his hundreds of years alive. To be honest, he felt fear at that and at you being captured. His anger over took his body first. Now though, since the storm had calmed with the two of you far from your home planet, he felt terror in his veins. Your voice on the comm. Channel begging for him, not wanting to die.

Despite the situation he had been in when he first heard your call, he was quick to answer, questioning what was happening. Yet, it was like you couldn’t hear him. It was a one-sided call. To his knowledge there wasn’t a way to block his side of the comm. on the console. Something had blocked him.

You shifted within his hold, whimpering again. He’s already put you in the expansive tub he has, medicine mixed within the water. If he were to do it again, it might overwhelm your body and cause damage. Instead, he carried you to the connected bath room and let you relieve yourself. He saw the way you winced as you did.

Fluids. He hadn’t been able to get you any for the last twenty hours. You needed them now, with food. Your body looked malnourished, ribs showing. All the muscle you had gained from your time with him was almost gone. But that was last thing on his mind. First, your health.

He had tried to transfer you back to the bed. Yet, even with weakened arms, you refused to release your hold on the older Yautja. His body heat swaddling you better than any blanket could. His body a protective shield from the horrors of the world you’ve seen lately. Nothing could take you away from him right now, not even him. “Don’t le-ea-ve me,” your voice cracked. If your eyes could, tears would be dribbling down your face.

Something dangerous almost snapped deep within the Yautja. If you weren’t in the state they had put you in, he would’ve taken his sweet pauking time killing those disgusting pyode-amedha. Each one. Slowly dragging out their death. You were his top priority though; get you to safety.

Over the course of fifteen minutes, Wolf prepared three large cups of fresh, clean water and a plate of soft food. The bruises on your jaw told him to do so. Then, the lumbering giant balanced everything with his grasp towards the bedroom. That place would become your sanctuary for however long it took for you heal. Wolf would be forever there, at your side, every step of the way. You were no longer allowed to leave his sights, Wolf’s orders.

[gothy-froggy]

Let Me Love You in My Own Way

Killer Frequency (spoilers)

Note: this fan fiction doesn’t canonically follow the game fully to make the plot more interesting. It also takes place years after the game.

The Whistling Man (Henry Barrow) x (fem)reader

Warnings: mentioned deaths, obsessive & stalker behavior, not proofread AND rushed

Summary: reader is well known as one of few survivors of the Whistling Man after his return. While hanging out with another survivor on the Whistling night, the Whistling Man returns 8 years later. Reader now relives the night, but noticed an unexpected behavior from him..

——————————————-

“Good evening Gallows Creek! I’m your host, Allison Berks on the show Night of Terrors. Today I have one of our soul survivor from the Whistling Man after his return almost around eight year ago.” The hostess introduced as the cheered and clapped. Her smile as she glanced at some papers on the coffee table.

“Well Mrs. Berks I have to say, it’s a honor to be on this show.” The woman flashed a smile as she calmed her nerves down. It’s been so long since she really talked about that night. Allison chuckled.

“I feel like I should be the one saying that to you, really. I mean, you are Gallows Creek’s main survivor of the Whistling Man.”

“No, please, I’m not as successful as you are.”

“Well, I bet you won’t have any trouble. I’ve heard from your friends you’re quite talented. But, perhaps that’ll be a discussion for another time. As we all know, tomorrow is the night of the Whistling night. I just have a few questions about the night lit you don’t mind me asking.”

“Not at all, ask away.” The hostess grinned as she held her tea in her hand.

“Now you along with Carrie claimed that the Whistling Man spared you. Can you tell us what happened that night? We’d love to hear it from the final girl herself.”

The woman chuckled nervously, holding her beverage in her hands as she stared down at the liquid.

“Well, I wouldn’t call myself the final girl, scream queen or whatever. Carrie deserves it. She actually made a plan and fought. It was..different for me.” She sipped her beverage before letting out a quick sigh.

“Um…I was in my home. Lights were off, nobody was with me, I was listening to Forrest Nash and Peggy Weaver’s station about the murders. While listening in, I heard the whistle,” She paused. Allison placed a hand over hers.

“It’s ok, you can take your time.” She reassured. After taking a breath in, she continued.

“He was in my kitchen. I don’t know how he got inside since my back door was locked, but he did. My front door was farther away and he was in front of my back door. So I ran upstairs and pushed whatever was near me down the stairs to slow him down.”

“That’s when you called Nash? You were whispering when you called.” The woman nod to confirm.

“Before I was able to make a plan, he- the Whistling Man grabbed the phone and placed his free hand on my face. He just…stared at me. Did nothing. After a bit he just tossed the phone and walked out.” Her voice softening, as if she dozed off to think about that night.

“Wow. That’s definitely out of character for him. Um, you must’ve been terrified.” Allison folded her hands.

“I was. I grabbed my phone and told Nash what happened. I didn’t see him after that.”

“Well, the night is tomorrow. Do you have any plans?” Allison questioned to lighten up the mood.

“Well, I’ll be having company over for the night. I hope that nothing will happen tonight for me. Or anyone else. It’s very traumatic and I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone.” Allison nod at the plan before continuing the show. After a while, Allison thanks her before thanking the audience and ending the interview.

——————————————-

“Well, is it true?”

“Is what true?” She sat down with snacks right next to friend. The lights were dim. The television providing most of the light.

“You know, your interaction with the killer. Didn’t leave any details out?”

”Eugene, why would I make it up? Did you make up your ‘love of your life?’” She sassed him.

“Hey, I was a dumb teenager then…” He huffed. She chuckled, handing him some snacks.

“I wasn’t lying. It was really weird. It sucks that they still don’t know who was behind the mask. Forrest was so close to the truth..” Eugene nod in agreement.

“Yeah…so many people died during this day.”

The two changed the subject and switched through channels to find something to watch. She met Eugene while at work. He recognized that she was survivor and they talked about that night, becoming good friends after.

It was last. The night has been long. Maybe because she stayed up so late, maybe the dread of it being the night of the murders. She couldn’t tell if it was one of those reasons or both. She was a little bummed that Eugene had to leave for some emergency with his girlfriend. She waved goodbye and went upstairs to go to bed.

She tossed and turned under her covers. She couldn’t rest for some reason. Perhaps it was her just being paranoid, but she decided to try again. It didn’t work. She sighed, getting up and going down the stairs to get a glass of water. She looked around in her kitchen as she took a sip. An odd feeling raising inside her as her heart started racing.

Something didn’t feel right.

She tried to shake off the feeling, but it didn’t go away. The lights were off. The night was cold and silent. It was always haunting. The woman placed the water down and switched it out with a knife. She placed the knife in her hoodie pocket. She glanced outside of the back door.

Nothing.

She let out a sigh, making her way back to stairs as the feeling started to fade away and the weight fell off her shoulders.

But it came back.

The faint sound of a familiar whistle could be heard somewhere nearby. Was it inside? Was it outside? The whistle called out once again, proving that it wasn’t her imagination giving her hearing phantom trick again.

No. Not again.

She hurried up the stairs and quickly shut her door. She turned around to see him.

The Whistling Man.

He reached out and yanked her away from the door. She tried to scream and pull away, but his grip was too strong and his other hand was against her mouth. His horrifying mask tilted to the side as watched her struggle.

The man waited until she stopped struggling and quiet down. His hand slowly left her mouth. He let go of her body, shoving her dresser in front of the door.

“Hey, what the hell-” She was about to speak up before to made a sharp turn towards her. She shut her mouth, stepping a few steps back. He watched her for a few seconds before walking towards her desk. She hugged her arms as she watched him look at her desk. He scattered through the papers, picking up a newspaper. He turned back to her, looking up at her from the newspaper.

“I- um, I couldn’t help but do some research..” She chose her words carefully, barely speaking above a whisper. He tossed the newspaper back on the desk. The masked man walked back up to her. Her heart quickens, watching him get closer and closer.

Then she remembered. The knife in her pocket. She grabbed the knife’s handle and swung the knife, aiming it at his chest. But she wasn’t quick enough. The Whistling man grabbed her wrist. He added pressure. Forcing the knife to drop from her hand. He swiftly pushed her against the wall, keeping her in place.

“Let me go!” She cried out. She let out a sob. The man slowly tilted his head to the side. His hand reached for her face. Instead of being hit, choked, or any sign of violence, his hand caressed her face. A small gasped came form the woman.

“What do you want from me?” She whispered. He just stared, his hand still on her cheek. The masked man let her go, his hand leaving her face. She watched him grab his knife from the desk and slipped out of her window. He glanced at her one more time, disappearing from her view. She slid down against the wall, letting out a sigh out of relief. After a moment to collect herself, she got up and looked at the desk.

Is that…blood?

She then scattered towards the window. He wasn’t anywhere to be seen. The woman then reached for the door, moving the dresser out of the way. She raced down the stairs and looked outside of the windows. A car parked outside near her house. Her blood went cold. It was Eugene’s. She didn’t want to believe it. His car, the blood…is he?

She quickly grabbed her phone and ran out, calling out to Eugene.

“Eugene? Eugene!” She called out, sprinting towards his car. She stopped, seeing a familiar red liquid drip from the car. No, no, no. She followed the trail on the ground to meet Eugene’s still body. The screamed, letting out sobs as she called for the police.

“Hello? Hello police? Please I need help-”

“This is 189 16-”

“Forrest? Oh God Forrest please help me! It’s me. He’s back and he got Eugene!” She stammered over her words.

“Are you alright?” Forrest asked. She assured him that she’s alright. After answering a few questions, her breathing got heavy and quickened.

“Hey, breathe. You’ll be alright.” Forrest caught her attention back. She couldn’t believe it. It was like that night all over again. The police being down, having to talk to Forrest for help…

The Whistling Man.

“Hey, we called someone that’s going to help and get Eugene. Everything is going to be fine.”

“Yeah…yeah ok. I’ll uh, call you back. Thanks Forrest.” She hung up and sat next to Eugene.

“Come on Eugene…” She murmured.

——————————————-

“Forrest? It’s me. The person you called came and took Eugene.”

“Glad to hear that everything worked out.”

“Yeah…Forrest? How many other calls did you get about the Whistling Man?” A few moments of silent passed by until Forrest sighed.

“Quite a few. Doesn’t seem like he’s playing this time.”

“I wish you luck with the others. And please, figure out who it is. This needs to end.” She told him.

“Right. Talk to you soon.” Forrest said his goodbyes.

She sighed in relief before dragging herself back to her door. She looked down while looking for her keys.

Huh?

She looked down to see a single flower and a note.

I’ll see you soon

- Hen W.M.

She stared at the note as a shiver trickled down her spine. She took the note and the flower inside. She sat on a stool in her kitchen, twirling the flower in her hand.

“Who the hell could this be from?” She asked herself, staring at the note. It was haunting, eerie. She look outside, letting out a loud gasp.

A familiar mask was on the other side of the window. He let out another whistle before walking away. She didn’t even bother to call Forrest. It felt…different than being stalked and killed. Was he the one who left the note? Why? She was too tired to stress anymore. She placed the flower in a vase and went upstairs.

Tonight was stressful enough.

——————————————-

As she went upstairs, she failed to notice the masked man watched her go up through the window again.

He still had much so much to do, but

Harming her will never be on the list. He picked up his blood stained knife and walked back into the woods.

Gallows Creek needs to pay, to have a cleansing.

And he’s glad that she didn’t seem to notice his mistake signing the note.

He let out one more whistle, going to find the next one of the list.

——————————————-

A/N: very rushed but hey, this is just chapter one. Maybe? Might continue this. But hey! The Whistling man content for my simps

[cykirs]

I absolutely ADORE Peggy from the Killer Frequency game, so do expect a Peggy x Reader fanfic soon. Possibly later today if I have time.

(And maybe a Forrest Nash x Reader too. He’s cool.)

[smileysuh]

Baby Face : Frat Haechan

🌙 staring. Haechan x afab!Reader

🔮 synopsis. You and Haechan have been enemies ever since highschool, when debates between you in class would get heated. Now, you’re in a sorority and he’s in your brother frat, NCT House. Trivia nights are supposed to be fun at the campus bar but you and Haechan always take it personally, and your friends see the sexual tension, even if you and Haechan don’t. Johnny and Jaehyun concoct plans to force you and Haechan interact, frat boys lie, and even if Haechan gets you on your back, you’re never going to stop calling him the nickname he hates so much: “baby face”.

cw/ tw.  lots of competition, high key GAMER HYUCK, dom leaning switch Haechan, oral (f/r receiving), pet names, slight degradation, angst, unprotected sex, fingering, BIG DICK HAECHAN, dumbification, body worship, he refers to himself as daddy once or twice, etc..

👹 rating. 18+ explicit I wc. 14.4k

🍭 aus. frat, enemies to lovers, childhood enemies, crack, etc…

☀️ mlist + an. find the rest of my frat universe here

“So then we get back to his room-”

“Is he still rooming with Johnny?”

“Yeah!”

“Fuck, I’d climb that guy like a tree.” 

“I know right? But we get back there, and he throws me on the bed-”

You close your book loudly with a sigh, drawing the eyes of your sorority sisters who hadn’t even noticed you sitting in the living room by the window, the drapes half obscuring you and shutting you in with the beautiful morning sunlight- which you had been enjoying. 

“Oh, hi Y/N.” One says awkwardly. 

The man they’re talking about is Lee Donghyuck, notorious roommate of Johnny Suh and renowned “lady killer” of the frat system. Almost as well known as his reputation, or yours for that matter, is the fact that you both hate each other- and you have since high school, where you made a point to personally pick fights with each other in debate team.

“Don’t let me stop the story.” you wave your hand as you head towards the stairs leading up to the second floor of your sorority house, “Ryujin told me her version of it last Saturday,” you wink at the two girls, “and I hear the ending where he kicks you out at two am before Johnny gets home is the best part.” 

Fucking Lee Donghyuck, you think to yourself as you head up to your bedroom. When are the girls in your sorority ever going to learn that he’s the worst of the worst?

“Could you just be nice this once?” Jenni sighs as you slide into the booth next to her at the campus pub for Trivia Tuesday. 

“No.” you answer, flashing a smile at Johnny, who’s just finishing setting up the projector for the game. He waves at you, grabbing a stack of trivia answer papers to begin handing them out to the tables who are playing.

“You cut it a bit close.” Johnny says to you as he gives you a peice of paper for your answers, checking his watch to see how long he has until he has until it’s 8, and trivia night officially starts. 

“I knew you wouldn’t start without me.” you beam up at the tall frat boy. As much as you hate Haechan, his roommate, in fact his entire frat, is pretty cool. NCT House is technically the brother frat of your own sorority, as much as you and Haechan wish this wasn’t the case, and that means that you end up in the same circles as NCT boys with some frequency. 

“Who would compete with Haechan if you didn’t show?” Johnny points out, eyes sliding over to his roommate. 

Your sorority and frat have two tables you’ve all but claimed on Trivia Tuesdays. Squished up next to each other, the two hour long game from eight to ten gives your houses plenty of time to intermingle and flirt. You’re at the end of one side, and Haechan has his claim all the way at the end of the other table. He has a beer in front of him, and he’s twiddling with a pen, chatting with Mark Lee and Kim Jungwoo. 

Johnny heads over to give Haechan’s table their own trivia paper, he does a few errands as a timer ticks down on the projector screen. Johnny manages to bring you a beer, and serve a few others at the table before the clock hits one, then he heads over to the bar, where he’ll be stationed for the next two hours, testing out the audio system. 

Taeyong enters the bar, eyes quickly scanning the tables, he makes the decision to join you and Jenni, taking the only free chair across from you. “Hey! You made it!” Jenni beams at her friend. Since they’re both leaders in your houses, they spend a lot of time together. You enjoy Taeyong, he’s a bit quiet, but a genuinely nice guy. 

“Happy Trivia Tuesday everybody!” Johnny says into the mic, drawing your attention from the wide eyed frat president, and earning a few whistles from the NCT table next to yours. 

“Take it off!” someone bellows, and when you turn to follow the voice you see that Lucas and Hendery are already drunk, happily situated near where your tables are joined. Most of the younger members, with the exception of Haechan, just come to Trivia Night to flirt. You’re not surprised that Lucas and Hendery already each have a few empty shot glasses in front of them.

Johnny grabs the bottom of his shirt as if he’s about to follow through with Lucas’s crude request, only to stop just as the first inch of beautiful skin is revealed, “You wish slut!” Johnny teases Lucas, getting back on track immediately. “I take my job as MC very seriously everyone.” Johnny laughs to himself, “For those of you who are new, the rules are quite simple. There are five categories, five questions each, with a total of 25 fill in the blank answers. The five categories are Art, Movies, History, Music and a Random category. Each category has a theme that changes every week. Every slide will be numbered and you get four minutes per question, with a five minute break between each category, which means we finish at 10:00.” he speaks so quick its hard to follow, “if you didn’t catch those rules, just roll with it. Without further ado, today’s first theme is…” he turns to look at the screen, hitting the next slide button to reveal “classical art!”

Your eyes shift to Taeyong, “We’re lucky you sat with us.” Jenni voices your thoughts. Taeyong might be a business major along with a few of the other NCT boys, but he has a minor in art history.

“Taeyong!” Haechan calls from the other end of the table, “come over to our side!”

Taeyong looks between you and Haechan, but luckily he doesn’t even get a chance to speak or choose who to listen to, because the ever prudent MC’s voice fills the room, “Whatever table you’re sat with is now your group, no changing or cheating, or you’ll be disqualified.”

Haechan makes a big deal out of this, rolling his eyes, throwing his hands up in the air, groaning- you’re surprised he doesn’t full-on throw his drink on the ground like a tantruming child.

“Is everyone ready?” Johnny looks around the room, then he switches to the slide.

“QUESTION 1: theme - classical art - name this painting and the painter (.5 points per answer)”

The picture on the screen is one you’ve seen before, hell, Lucas is so drunk he bellows “Easy! It’s the scream!” Loudly enough for everyone in the bar to hear.

But when Taeyong reaches for your pen- and you allow him to write “The Scream - Edvard Munch”- you realize the two part answer might not be as ‘easy’ as Lucas first thought. Edvard Munch- you’re glad Taeyong is here. 

You can’t help but sneak a glance down the table. Doyoung has the paper in front of him, and he’s pressed up to Haechan’s side, both of their heads bowed as they whisper. Jaehyun’s near them too, the final member of the ‘nct competitive trio’ who always does their absolute best to beat you at Trivia Tuesday. The dimpled captain of your university's soccer team throws you a wink, a challenge, and you shake your head at him.

It’s on. 

Between you, Jenni and Taeyong, you’re pretty sure you do well in the classical art category. However, Doyoung is a formidable foe, especially where Taeyong’s concerned. They might be best friends, but they compete as if they’re each other’s biggest enemies, and it proves to fuel the energy in the bar.

Category two ends up being Children’s movies. You’re a little nervous when Hendery, Yangyang and Lucas perk up at the first picture, a film you don’t recognize, but Taeyong simply takes your pen and fills in the blank. Again, when the round finishes, you feel okay with your answers. 

You and Haechan exchange a look when the History theme ends up being ‘Greek mythology’. You’re in a greek mythology classical studies class together right now, and you’d even had a debate over Hades and Persephone’s love story in high school. “To play the devil’s advocate” Haechan had said, as he began to defend Hades’ actions- the debate had gotten so explosive that your teacher had to threaten sending you to the principal’s office if you didn’t both calm down. Suffice it to say, the entire trivia round is spent with the both of you painstakingly answering the questions, personal investment making your skin flush with competitive anger. 

By the fourth round, which ends up being hip hop music, nearly everyone is tipsy. Johnny hums hip hop songs without using the lyrics, and everyone gets really into the game. Entire tables sing out songs to completion, not caring that the answer becomes a given. It’s during this round that a bunch of people leave the bar. A few couples pair off, and you’re a little shocked to see Sweet Baby Taeil leave with one of your frat sisters holding his hand, good for him. Winwin, Yuta, Mark and Jungwoo all clear out as well, and you watch the way the drunken lion hangs onto the small Canadian music theory major. 

Johnny comes with a pitcher of beer, filling up the cups of those of you who are left. It’s unspoken common knowledge that the final round is always for you and Haechan to fight it out.

Johnny counts out everyone points, whoever is left in the bar that is, and the top two groups get to go into the final lightning round which consists of abstract questions with no set answers. The two group leaders have to convince two of the three bartenders to their argument to win the game point. With the topic being random, you and Haechan both rely on your years of experience bullshitting your way through debates. 

“Okay, as predicted, the two leading teams are ‘NCT House’ and ‘The Sorority gal’s’” Johnny giggles and you nudge Jenni with your shoulder, being late means she gets to choose your team name, and this one is not up to standard in the slightest. “Y/N and Haechan, come on up for the final round.”

Those who are left in the bar are primarily your own friends, however a few other students come to watch the Thursday night trivia takedowns. In fact, the younger members of NCT House have started taking bets on who’s going to win, you or Haechan.

Jaehyun has migrated to a table with a few other frat guys, you recognize his friends Mingyu, Eunwoo and Yugyeom, as well as a tattooed Film Major named Jungkook, who you’ve hooked up with once or twice. 

The two bartenders who are on shift with Johnny tonight are Baekhyun and Kai. they’ve acted as the referees for your trivia nights a number of times, and you trust the impartiality of the three men, although Johnny does technically have a bias towards Haechan, he has so much chaotic Aquarius energy that you know he won’t show preference. 

“Okay, question twenty one, which doggo is best doggo?” there are four pictures of different dogs on the screen.

“Haechan!” Donghyuck screams his own name, hand raising immediately to signify he has an answer. Haechan’s tactic is always to answer first, so he can choose the easiest answer, or speak first, which he thinks gives him the upper hand. But it also gives you more time to fine tune your answer. 

“Haechan!” Johnny nods to the man standing a few feet away from you.

“Doggo number two is the best doggo for three reasons!” Haechan answers, he’s also loved giving ‘three’ examples ever since high school, so none of you are shocked his answer begins this way. Next he’s going to give a logic based answer, then one that makes your heart hurt, and he’ll finish it off by being charismatic and funny. “One, it’s a german shepherd, which are really smart, so smart they’re one of the best breeds for police force work. Reason number two, look at it’s little face and it’s cute little hat. Third and final reason, I used to volunteer waking dogs and german shepherds always attracted a specific kind of girl that was just,” Haechan makes a motion with his fingers, “chef's kiss.”

“Good reasons,” Johnny laughs, “Y/N, rebuttal!”

Unlike Haechan, your strategy is this: know your judges. 

“Doggo number four is the best doggo for one obvious reason!” you respond in the same animated manner as Haechan does, mocking him, which you know he hates. “It’s a corgi, in fact, I'm pretty sure that’s Baekhyun’s dog at Exo House’s Christmas party two years ago.”

“What?!” Haechan narrows his eyes at the picture of doggo number four, realizing a moment later that you’re right. 

“And we all know that Baekhyun’s doggo is the best doggo.” you conclude, speaking over Haechan. 

“And this round's winner is…” Johnny picks up his whiteboard paddle, your name written on the front of it, Baekhyun and Kai following suit, “unanimously Y/N!” 

“What!?” Jaehyun yells from the tables, “But the hot girls!”

“The chefs kiss!” Doyoung agrees loudly.

“Excuse me, are you two the judges?” Johnny glares at his friends, “no? I thought so, now shut up and let us work! Remember, there is no right or wrong answer, this is all based on your ability to argue. Next slide… question twenty two! Who’s the hottest?”

Four pictures appear on the board: Taeyong, Doyoung, Jaehyun and Ten. 

“Y/N!” you throw your arm up and grab Johnny’s attention.

“Someone’s eager, Y/N!” Johnny points at you to let you answer first.

“The hottest is Taeyong!” You know he’s good friends with not only Johnny, but Baekhyun and Kai as well. “He’s got an amazing jawline, gorgeous big eyes, and he’s just generally beautiful.”

“Haechan, Haechan, Haechan!” your opponent is wiggling with energy, and you turn to watch his rebuttal. 

“Haechan go!” Johnny nods to his friend.

“Ten is the hottest! His teeth are perfect,” Haechan begins counting to three with his fingers, “he looks amazing in any style of clothing you throw at him, and look at his nose! I’ve seen girls with nose jobs that aren’t even as pretty! Come on, Ten’s the hottest for sure.” 

Johnny holds up the side of his paddle that says ‘Haechan’, and after a moment, Kai agrees with him. To your credit, Baekhyun holds up your name, and he even verbally disagrees with his fellow judges, “Look at him!” Baekhyun points to Taeyong still seated at your table, his ears turning red from the attention, “He’s adorable!”

“If Ten was here you’d say he was adorable too!” Johnny insists, “Haechan wins.” He adds a tally to the board he uses to keep track, hiding the points from you and Haechan until the end of the trivia night. Sometimes, there’s not even really a point to go one versus one because you or Haechan have a five point or more lead, but Johnny likes the theatrics of it all. If he was to tell you that one of your wins is guaranteed, you and Haechan might not fight to the death as you do when it’s a close call, and Johnny’s nothing if not a slut for drama.

“Question twenty three,” Johnny switches to the next slide, “The best category on Netflix to watch when you want to get laid.”

Haechan is quick to throw up his hand to answer, and a moment later he’s going into a full on rant, “horror movies are the best to watch when you want to get laid because the girl will hide on your shoulder and you can cuddle up close-” You roll your eyes and Haechan turns to glare at you, “oh yeah? What's your answer then?”

“Well first, not every girl is going to ‘hide on your shoulder’ because of a horror movie, in fact, Donghyuck, if I remember correctly, you’re the one who screams at jump scares.” 

“That was one time in tenth grade-” Haechan glares at you.

Johnny smacks his hand down on the bar top, “order in my court! Y/N, name a Netflix category, other than horror, for when you want to get laid.” 

“Yeah babe, what are you going to put on Netflix for background noise when you finally give in and just admit you love me.” Haechan teases.

You scoff loudly, “you know what, Haechan, when pigs fly and I finally decide to graciously allow you to get with this,” you motion to your body, “I’ll be putting on a comedy, that way at least something will be guaranteed to be funny.” 

Three paddles present your name and Johnny is still laughing as he gives you the point, Haechan left stuttering with comebacks that fall short.  “Question twenty four, name one person to bring to a deserted island with you. Y/N you’re first.”

“The dude from that survivor show, Bear something-”

“Bear Grylls!” Johnny helps you with the name.

“Yeah him, because he’s been doing this shit on tv for years. He would be the best person to bring.” You say, knowing that you answer is falling a bit short, but that’s what happens in the final few questions, Johnny purposefully puts pressure on you and Haechan to answer quickly. 

“Haechan!” Johnny points to your debate counterpart.

“If I was on a deserted island I’d bring Y/N, and she’d be the best person because she’d be so fucking annoying I’d have a ton of motivation to build a raft to get the fuck out of there. Worst comes to worst I eat her-”

“Haechan!” Taeyong scolds from the table, “what did we say about cannibal jokes?” 

“You said they’re not funny, but they are!” Haechan insists, pointing to Baekhyun and Kai who, unfortunately enough for everyone else, are so immature that they’re giggling. 

“Are you two seriously going to vote for Haechan saying he’s going to eat me!?” you ask in shock, gaping at your two trusted bar tenders, “Johnny?! You too?!”

Johnny gives Haechan a tally mark. 

“Question twenty five, first answer that comes to your head.” Johnny says loudly, “Name the best song to fuck to.”

“Who even chose these questions?” Doyoung asks, smacking half empty glass of beer down on the table, “these are rigged!”

“What!?” Taeyong argues back, “Haechan just won due to cannibalism!”

“Silence from the peanut gallery!” Johnny screeches. Doyoung lets out a ‘hmph’ sound and crosses his arms over his chest. “Haechan, answer!”

“Uh…” Haechan falters, then he says “Anaconda, Nicki Minaj! Because my anaconda don’t want none unless you got buns hun!” 

“Y/N?” Johnny turns to you for the tie breaker answer. 

“Or Nah, by Ty Dolla $ign,” You respond smoothly, “because I can lick the tip then throat the dick.”

There's a brief moment of shock and then Jenni and Taeyong are cheering for you, Jaehyun’s frat table bursting out into a fit of giggles as Jungkook nods in confirmation, and all three bartenders show your name on their paddles, signifying another win for you. Haechan is sputtering beside you, “that’s cheating, you’re seducing the judges!” 

“She’s not seducing us.” Baekhyun laughs at Haechan’s tantrum, pouring the celebratory winner drink that the bar gives the Trivia Tuesday winner for free. 

“And the winner is, drumroll please…” those who are left in the bar follow Johnny’s cue and begin to tap their hands and feet, Johnny coming to stand between you and Haechan, grabbing each of your hands, “coming in first place with 23 points is…” he throws your arms up, “Y/N’s team!” 

Haechan doesn’t even take his loss graciously, a groan leaving his lips as he stomps back to his table. You don’t care, you accept the beer from Baekhyun and dance over to your side of the big Greek System table. 

“By half a point!?” Haechan’s voice draws your attention from the celebration. Johnny’s just handed him back his score sheet, of course Haechan always goes over it immediately after any loss, just to make sure the marking is correct. “On question one?!”

“The answer is Edward Munch!” Doyoung insists, grabbing the paper from Haechan to inspect it. his pointer finger repeatedly smashes against the name he’d written, and his eyes are wide as he looks up at the bartender and part time trivia judge.

“No it’s Edvard, with a V.” Johnny says, pointing it out to them, a shit eating grin on his face.

“Since when was this a fucking spelling test!” Haechan throws the paper in the air.

“Uh, since always,” Baekhyun calls from the bar, tapping the trivia night poster which clearly says in the rules at the bottom that spelling counts when it comes to names and close call winner ceremonies. 

Haechan slumps his head into his hands, “God damn it.”

“No, don’t let her in, she’s not invited.” Comes an irritating voice from over Jaehyun’s shoulder. 

“Aw, are you still upset that I beat you at Trivia Tuesday, Baby Face?” you pout at Haechan teasingly, utilizing the old pet name you gave him back in grade eight. In those days he still had all his baby fat, and would get so upset in class arguments that he looked like a baby. He still does the tantruming, but he’s lost the weight, his jaw now nearly as sharp as his frat president’s… he’s not a baby face anymore, but you’ll never acknowledge it.

Jaehyun smirks at you and Haechan bickering, moving out of the way to let you and your friends through the door to NCT House. Of course you’re invited to the party, as the ‘sibling sorority’ to NCT, you and your ‘sisters’ get free access to pretty much all of their frat events, especially their parties. 

“You beat me by less than a point.” Haechan rolls his eyes at you, taking a sip from his red solo cup. His eyes are dark and alert, sizing you up. He wonders why you have to dress so- so- revealing! That’s the word. Haechan hates it. You should be in a jacket, it’s cold out. In your outfit right now, well, guys will be checking you out, and for some reason the thought of one of his frat brothers kissing you- it sets Haechan’s teeth on edge. 

You grin as you walk past Haechan, “okay Baby Face, keep telling yourself that.”

NCT House is large enough that it’s easy to get lost in the sea of people. You’ve never had any problems avoiding Haechan during parties, and tonight isn’t any different. Three hours pass by blissfully, you bounce around with your friends from the dance floor to various rooms throughout the house, even joining in on a game of beer pong with Jaehyun, Johnny and Yuta. You’ve been drinking on and off, and end up in a happy buzz, looking for Taeyong and Jenni, who you lost a little while ago.

You poke your head into Doyoung’s room, only to be met by Mark, Doyoung and Haechan. 

“You looking for someone?” Mark asks, smiling lazily at you.

“Just Taeyong, he’s obviously not here.” you respond, turning to continue your search. 

You don’t hear Haechan excuse himself and follow you, the music from downstairs drowning out just about everything as you pass down the hallway in a pleasant half drunken state. You feel good, happy, aware of everything, just tipsy enough to be carefree. 

Haechan watches the way you walk, it’s different from normal, your gate is all off. He’s spent years watching you walk away from him, so of course he notices the ‘drunk waddle’ you do at parties. He licks his lips, still able to taste the peach schnapps he’d just been drinking. He’s around your level of tipsy, but where you’re happy and lightheaded, Haechan is determined, with a stubborn set to his jaw. 

“Why are you looking for Taeyong?” Haechan asks. The sudden intrusion of his voice on your otherwise happy hallway walk makes you stop and turn to look at him, eyes narrowing. 

“What?”

“Taeyong. He’s busy. Why are you looking for him?”

“Stop being so jealous, you big baby,” you roll your eyes at Haechan, turning to continue down the hall- only to be grabbed in a vice grip. Haechan throws you against the wall, the air leaving your lungs from shock more than anything else, eyes blinking away any tipsy haze that your last drink had offered you. 

“Call me a baby one more time, I swear to god-” Haechan growls, his face getting close to yours. You can see the deep brown of his eyes, looking rich against the beautiful tone of his skin. His breath smells sweet, like alcohol, but oddly enough you don’t mind, body reacting as it tingles across the skin of your neck and face-

“Woah?” Taeyong’s confused tone snaps you back into reality, and you push Haechan away from you, “am I interrupting… something?”

“She was just looking for you.” Haechan answers smoothly, turning and heading back into Doyoung’s room without another word, foot shutting the door behind him.

“What was all that about?” Taeyong asks you.

Your brows furrow in confusion, “i don’t know.”

By the next morning, you’ve all but forgotten about your little altercation with Haechan. He’s pissed you off enough in your life that the times he’s made you mad at frat parties all seem to blend together, besides, he’s done worse. Like the time he cock blocked you with his friend Jeno… but to be fair, you’d cock blocked him with one of your friends the week before too- in all honesty, your feud has gone on for so long that the scoreboard is marred beyond recognition, who truly started it? You’re inclined to say he did, but if you were to ask him, he’d point to you as the reason the two of you will never be able to get along.

Regardless, your life continues as it is, and on Trivia Tuesday, you find yourself at the bar, sitting opposite ends from Haechan. 

It’s nearly eight, trivia starting time, when Jaehyun rolls into the bar. He looks fresh from the shower, hair damp, and you know he’s probably just coming from the gym. Instead of going to sit on the NCT House table, he comes to you, taking the seat across from you and Jenni. The tables do intermingle, a few of your new pledges stuck between Lucas, Jungwoo and Yuta, but to have one of their star players here on your side? If Haechan could shoot laser beams from his eyes, Jaehyun would have been dead the moment he started over to your table. 

 “You’re playing with us tonight?” Jenni asks in shock.

“Gotta switch it up every now and then.” Jaehyun shrugs, “besides, tonight’s game isn’t going to be that fun anyways.” 

“And how would you know that?” You laugh, enjoying the cockiness that radiates off of the gorgeous man in front of you.

Jaehyun shrugs, “let’s just say I have insider’s information.” 

Johnny starts the game up a moment later, and when the first Art theme is ‘Van Gogh’, you realize that all the questions are going to be super easy, so much so, that Jenni takes the sheet of paper away from you to answer, leaving you to be able to talk to Jaehyun, who is obviously here to see you, not Jenni.

“So, Spring Formal is coming up.” Jaehyun says, leaning his chin on the palm of his hand, “you guys going as girlfriends again, or are you actually going to allow us guys a chance?” 

Jenni giggles next to you. At the last formal, your entire sorority had gone as each other’s dates, to prove to the guys that none of you need them to show up in suits with flowers and a limo- because if they’re not going to live up to your standards, you guys can reach them yourselves. You and Jenni had had a wonderful time at the formal, and only a very select few guys were even able to convince some of your sisters to dance- you know for a fact Jaehyun had gone the entire night without touching a woman, and you’d kind of felt bad at the time. Now here he is, and you suppose as far as NCT House boys go, he’s one of the better catches- despite you arguing for Taeyong’s looks in trivia night last week.

“We’re not going as girlfriends.” Jenni quips.

“Great,” Jaehyun looks to you again, “want to go with me?”

It only takes you a moment to agree, easily won over by Jaehyun’s charming smile and that cute dimple that appears when you say “yes.” 

“These questions are too easy!” Haechan whines from the other end of the table, as the category switches to movies and ends up being ‘vampire themed’.

The first picture is of a Twilight movie, and on the other end of the table, Hendery immediately whispers “breaking dawn part 2.”

“No it’s part one.” Xiaojun responds, with just as much ferocity. The two start arguing and Jaehyun laughs, watching as Jenni writes down ‘breaking dawn part 2’. 

“Last week’s game was too intense.” Jaehyun says, sitting back in his chair, “everyone wanted something fun.”

You have to admit, now that you’re not on the edge of your seat, muscles tensed with anticipation to answer trivia… well, it is relaxing to be hanging out with friends in the bar. You find yourself leaning against Jenni, laughing at something Jaehyun is saying as question three becomes question twelve becomes question nineteen. 

“Okay, final round, the two teams who’ve made it are…. NCT House and Sorority Gal’s 2.0. Please send up a team leader!” Johnny’s instructions draw your attention.

“I’ll go up.” Jenni says, patting your hand and moving out of the booth to go stand next to Haechan by the bar.

“Watching this part is always the most fun.” Jaehyun comes to steal Jenni’s spot next to you, and you can’t help but enjoy the closeness. He smells good, and he’s so big- you can feel his warmth as his shoulder brushes yours, his eyes glued to where Jenni and Haechan are facing the projector screen.

Everyone seems to be a little shocked that Jenni is up there and not you, even Haechan whips around to look at you and Jaehyun. His mouth forms a firm line, and he turns back to the projector screen. 

“Question twenty one,” Johnny begins, “If I, Johnny motherfucking Suh, had to dye my hair any colour, which colour would be the sexiest? Jenni, you’re first.”

“Blonde.” Jenni answers, “that way, you can temporarily dye it anything you want, but you need that base blonde level, and I think it would look really good next to your brown eyes.”

“Ok ok, good reasons,” Johnny nods, “Haechan!”

You brace yourself for whatever bullshit answer Haechan is about to give, ready to see him try to decimate your best friend-

“I agree, blonde would be nice.”

You feel your jaw drop.

“Haechan, you’re supposed to argue a different colour, that’s the point of the game.” Johnny says, “Did you hit your head climbing out of our window last night?”

“I’m fine,” Haechan pushes away Johnny’s hand as he tries to assess Haechan’s head, “Jenni’s just right, blonde is a nice colour for you.”

“So I guess… Jenni wins this round?” Sungchan, a new bartender and pledge to NCT House asks. He’s never judged one of these before, and the paddle with Jenni’s name in his hand looks a little out of place. 

Next to him, Shotaro, the second new bartender pledge, follows suit, flashing a big puppy dog smile as he shows everyone the Jenni paddle. 

“This is bullshit.” you mutter to Jaehyun who laughs, moving his arm around your shoulders to pull you tighter so he can whisper back into your ear. “Just relax and have some fun.” 

You take a breath, focusing more on your friend winning than Haechan, who is obviously allowing her to have the upper hand. It irks you the entire night, all the way back to your sorority house, that Haechan would work so hard to beat you, but be nice to Jenni.

You know that Haechan is generally well liked, but there’s something about him rubbing it in your face- the fact that he has the capacity to be nice, but just never tries with you, well, it’s awoken a fury inside of you that you just can’t get a handle on. 

“No this plan is genius.” Johnny assures the two people sitting in front of him, “Jaehyun has Y/N, Hyuck will take you-” he motions to Jenni who holds up a hand.

“You still haven't explained how you’re going to subtly pressure Haechan into asking me, of all people, to the Spring Formal.” She says.

“Pff,” Johnny laughs, “that will be the easy part. I can hypnotize him in his sleep.”

“Really?” both of his friends gasp at him.

“No not really, I mean, I’ve considered it, but I haven't tried it-” Johnny waves his hand, “just trust me, I’ll make it happen. Haechan is vindictive, if Y/N is going with Jae, the only possible equivalent is you, Jenni. And then once Haechan sees Jae with Y/N and she sees you with Haechan-”

“They’ll both be so jealous they have to admit they like each other.” Jenni finishes for him. She’s been watching you and Haechan with interest the past few months, having always suspected there were some deeper feelings there, and now, knowing that Jaehyun and Johnny see it too- well, she can’t just ignore the obvious sexual tension any longer, and god damn it, she’ll get the two of you laid if it’s the last thing she does. 

“You know Johnny,” Jaehyun stretches his arms behind his head with a smile, “This isn’t the worst idea you’ve ever had.”

“So…” Johnny collapses onto his bed, eyes moving to Haechan who’s sitting at his desk, headphones half on as he plays online games. Johnny can hear Yangyang’s voice on the other end of the call, yelling something that Johnny is pretty sure is ‘Get Chenle! Get Chenle!’

“One sec.” Haechan madly clicks buttons, letting out a big sigh and taking off his headphones, putting them down, “okay, what’s up?”

“I was just wondering if you’re going to the Spring Formal on Saturday” Johnny says. It’s less than a week away now, and Jenni’s only going to stay single for so long to allow Johnny’s plan to work. 

“Of course I am.” Haechan rolls his eyes.

“Who are you taking?” Johnny pretends to be nonchalant, pulling out his phone to scroll through it before he goes to sleep.

“Not sure yet, why?”

“I just thought maybe you’d asked Jenni,” Johnny shrugs, “you were nice to her at Trivia Night last week.” 

Haechan’s mouth forms a firm line and he looks for a moment like he’s trying to figure out if this is a compliment or an insult.

“She’s pretty.” Johnny continues.

“She is.” Haechan agrees. “I always thought Jaehyun was into her.”

“Jae asked Y/N.”

Haechan nods, eyes narrowing as he turns to look back at his computer screen, “Maybe I should ask Jenni.”

Johnny smirks to himself. Haechan’s so predictable. It’s about time someone gave him a taste of his own match making medicine, and Johnny’s glad he’s the one who gets to be the mastermind behind it.

At Tuesday Trivia night, Jaehyun comes to sit with you and Jenni. He’s a nice guy, and he’s a good conversationalist, able to keep up with you and your best friend, while filling out the easy trivia questions.

“Why is it another easy week?” you sigh, looking at the paper wistfully. You kind of miss the burn of the pencil in your palm, finger aching from furiously scribbling out answer after answer-

“I think Haechan suggested it.” Jaehyun says smoothly. He’s lying, but the look in your eyes tells him that you’ve bought it and it’s made you mad.

“Why would he want it to be easy?” you cock your head.

“I think he has something planned,” Jaehyun shrugs, “there’s a special girl he wants to ask to formal or something.” 

Your eyes immediately move to all the girls at your table. Many of your sorority sisters are gorgeous, and there’s a pang of something like anger in your chest. You ignore the anger, thinking it must be just general dislike for Haechan, you don’t want him dating any of your sorority sisters, that’s for sure. 

The game night continues, the three of you spending much of your time talking about extracurriculars. Jaehyun’s the captain of the university soccer team, and it looks like they’ll be doing some traveling soon to play against other schools. Before you even know it, it’s the final round, and once again, Jenni heads up to fight Haechan.

After last week, most people have kind of realized that Haechan and Jenni aren’t as fun to watch as when you’re Haechan’s foe. Conversations continue, all the sparkle lost from the usually fiery final round. 

When Jenni comes back to sit next to you, after Haechan won, she says, “he asked me to be his date to Spring Formal.”

“What?” you narrow your eyes.

“I said yes.” Jenni’s words come out quickly, “I know you don’t like him, but you have to admit he’s attractive-”

“Haechan?!” you say it so loudly that you fear he may have heard you, and your eyes slide over to where Haechan is talking with Johnny at the bar. 

Jenni shrugs, “maybe it will be fun.” she’s smiling, and it is nice to see your best friend happy- but you just can’t get over the bad taste the news has left in your mouth. 

“But why Haechan?” you groan for the umpteenth time, watching Jenni finish the last touch on her hair. 

“Honestly?” Jenni sighs, turning to look at you, “you have to admit he’s hot. I know you two have your history of fighting, but come on Y/N, he’s gorgeous.”

“He is not!” you say, but Jenni grins because you’re not fooling anyone.

“Y/N, you’re not blind.” Jenni adjusts her dress, fluffing her hair out, “I know you call him Baby Face and Cry Baby and all sorts of variations on the word baby, but he’s not that kid you debated against in eleventh grade. He’s a hot frat boy now. Maybe it’s time for you both to bury the hatchet.”

“Never.” 

“Well, at least try to be civil at the formal, we’ll all be sitting together.” She reminds you and you let out a groan. At every formal you’ve been to, avoiding Haechan has been easy, but now he’s going to be sitting with you? With Jenni? His date? 

The frat village holds all the sorority and frat houses on campus, and when you look out of your window, you can see the square is filled with people dressed for Formal, waiting for the big party busses to arrive and take you to the venue. 

“Hey, are you into Jae?” Jenni asks as you leave the bedroom, heading to join everyone outside. 

“Uh, I mean he’s cute, but I don’t know, I couldn’t ever date him, if that’s what you mean.” you answer, “He only asked me to the formal because we’re friends.” It’s not uncommon for NCT House to take girls from your sorority to the formals, last year you went with Taeyong to Winter Formal and Yuta to Spring Formal. 

“Do you have your eye on anyone else then?” Jenni asks, “I know you liked Jeno for a while-”

“No, Jeno wasn’t really my type either.” you sigh.

“True, weren’t you mostly just flirting with him to piss Haechan off?”

Before you can answer- and by answer I mean defend your honour and your hatred of Haechan to your best friend- you bump into a group of boys from NCT House. Jenni smoothly inserts herself into the conversation, slotting between Taeyong and Doyoung while you go to stand near Jaehyun.

“Hey, you look beautiful.” Jaehyun smiles.

“You clean up nicely too.” you grin, nudging him with your shoulder. The two of you begin to chat about the venue, Jaehyun’s pretty sure you’ll end up at the same place as last time, but only frat presidents/coordinators know the location, that way no one can party crash because only a select few have the details. 

There’s a commotion from NCT House and all eyes turn to the doorway, where Haechan and Kun have run outside holding something that’s on fire. Haechan throws the flaming piece of fabric onto the grass, stomping it out aggressively with his foot and cursing while Jungwoo follows holding a phone and giggling.

“I told you it was flammable.” Kun is saying as he makes sure the fabric, which you see now is what appears to be a suit jacket, is fully extinguished of fire.

“Everything’s flammable.” Haechan mutters, picking up the black jacket and inspecting it, “well, my bad. Here Kun.” he holds it out for the older man whose jaw drops.

“What do you expect me to do with it?” 

Haechan nods, “good point.” he drops it on the grass again, “I didn’t need a jacket anyways.” and then he shoves his hands in his pockets and saunters over to your group, coming to stand next to Jenni who still has a look of shock on her face.

“Haechan-” she begins and he holds up a hand.

“Don’t question it.” he says smoothly, “trust the process.” he rolls up the arms of his dress shirt, exposing the pretty skin and arm veins beneath, and you tear your gaze from him, focusing instead on Jaehyun.

“I can’t believe Jenni said yes to him.”

Jaehyun laughs, “You know, you and Haechan are more alike than you’ll admit.”

“Excuse me,” you scoff, “and when was the last time I lit a jacket on fire?”

“I'm pretty sure you almost lit Johnny on fire at New Year’s actually-”

“We don’t talk about that night.” you interrupt Jaehyun before he can get into the details on how you got so drunk you spilled champagne on Johnny and then proceeded to try to hug him, which made him bump into a table holding a candle… which then rolled to his shirt sleeve, and well- the disaster had been thwarted by the ever watchful Taeyong. “Look, the bus is here.” 

Jaehyun’s hand finds the small of your back, and the two of you get onto the bus with the other members of your university Greek System. When you sit down, you look for Jenni, only to realize that she’s dragging Haechan after her. They manage to grab the seats in front of you and Jaehyun, Jenni fully turning around in her seat to begin talking with you and your date, after a moment, Haechan turns too. 

You can tell he’s making an effort not to look at you. And you don’t mind, you try to ignore him as well.

Haechan has to remind himself to breathe properly, and his mouth feels dry. His skin is prickling with tension, and it takes all of his concentration not to look at you. He’s seen you dressed up before at formals, but never up this close, no, this close he can see every detail. 

This close, his fingers ache to reach out and tug at one of your loose strands of hair, to annoy you- to watch your pretty strands bounce back after a rough tug- 

And god, who let you buy your dress? Haechan swears it must be tailored or something because no dress off a hanger could fit you so well. He’s almost angry at the dress, but then he directs that anger at you, and it festers the more people sneak glances your way.

Lucas, two rows back, has his eyes fixed on your neck and shoulders, exposed by the dress, and Haechan grinds his teeth together. Across the aisle sits Mark, and even he keeps sneaking glances at you. But Jaehyun is, without a doubt, the worst. Haechan catches the movement of his hand, and watches with disdain as it finds a home on your thigh. 

“Haechan?” Jaehyun’s voice interrupts his younger friend's loathing, and Haechan’s dark eyes snap up.

“What?”

“We asked what venue you think it will be.” Jaehyun says smoothly.

“Does it matter?” Haechan asks, his tone coming off ruder than he intended… ‘but if Jaehyun would just remove his hand, then maybe I wouldn’t feel the need to be so rude now would I?’ Haechan thinks to himself. 

“What’s got you in a huff?” Jenni asks, her hand finding Haechan’s shoulder to soothe him.

You watch the motion, the way her beautiful hand rubs his shoulder up and down. ‘Haechan’s being a baby, he doesn’t need coddling right now, especially not from Jenni,’ you fume, hoping Jenni doesn't end up as yet another one of Haechan’s noona hookups who brings him coffee and cuddles him when he should be studying for tests- 

While Jenni and Haechan begin their own conversation, Jaehyun asks you about classes, and despite how hard you try, you can’t ignore the mere existence and close proximity of the annoying man sitting in the seats in front of you. It’s as if his voice is an annoying melody, and you can’t seem to get it out of your head.

The formal had gone well for the first hour. There were some speeches and then food was served, but when dessert rolled out and dancing started, Haechan had decided that the time for pleasantries was over.

“Next week’s Trivia Tuesday,” he says, drawing your attention, “I’m going to kick your ass.”

“Oh yeah?” you roll your eyes, turning to look at him, “you keep saying you’re going to kick my ass but most of the time, I end up winning.”

“Most of the time.” Haechan scoffs, “as if.”

Jenni and Jaehyun exchange a glance. 

“If you miss getting beaten by me so bad, invite me to one of your video game nights, I’m sure I could beat you there too.” you say, lifting your chin defiantly and crossing your arms over your chest.

Haechan laughs loudly, “are you drunk? Yo must be drunk to say something as stupid as that.”

Jaehyun and Jenni smoothly excuse themselves, but you and Haechan barely even register their exit, too caught up in your own feud.

“I’ll beat you at anything Lee Donghyuck.” you seethe, “trivia night, video games, cards, board games, chess-”

“Ok, checkers, right now, pull out your phone.” Haechan demands. 

A minute later, you’re both hunched over your phones at a table in the corner at Spring Formal, dueling it out over checkers while your dates dance and laugh the night away in each other’s arms.

Checkers becomes chess, becomes scrabble- and finally someone approaches the two of you. It’s Taeyong, and he asks you to dance, because he’s requested DJ Johnny plays your favourite song next. “What have the two of you even been doing in this corner all night on your phones?” he questions as he takes your hand to pull you from your seat.

“Been battling to see who’s the best gamer.” Haechan answers.

“And who’s winning?” Taeyong laughs.

Haechan narrows his eyes at you, “it’s pretty even, but we haven't played video games yet.” 

This makes Taeyong stop laughing, his eyes widening, “Y/N, you really don’t want to challenge Haechan to video games.”

“Too late, she already did.” Haechan stands triumphantly, “where’s Jenni?”

“Pretty sure I saw her and Jaehyun go to the bathroom together a while ago-” 

“What!?” Haechan looks around wildly, eyes searching for one of the two people in question, “THAT ASSHOLE STOLE MY DATE!”

Taeyong smiles softly, “you stole his first.”

You’re whisked away before Haechan can start throwing fists, and Taeyong brings you into the middle of the crowd dancing. It’s nice to be with him, and he’s a great dancer. “How’s your night going?” The soft hearted frat president asks.

“I mean, all I’ve been doing is playing games with Haechan.” you answer.

“Sounds… fun?” Taeyong laughs a little.

“It was, kind of.” you admit, “but enough about him, where’s your date?”

“Look on the stage.” Taeyong twirls you so you can assess the DJ setup. Johnny and Mark are up there, and they’re swarmed by girls, one of whom is pressed to Mark’s side, you recognize her as Taeyong’s date. 

“Oh.” 

Taeyong laughs, “when do people ever really end up spending the night with their own dates though?”

“Good point.” 

Dancing with Taeyong feels easy, and before you know it, it’s nearly midnight and the busses have returned to take you all back to the Frat Village. While waiting to get onto the bus, you look around for Jenni and Jaehyun, with little luck. “They’re probably already on a bus.” Taeyong says, hand smoothing against your lower back to offer some comfort.

“Who?” Doyoung asks, stepping into line next to you both.

“Jae and Jenni.”

“Oh yeah, they’re on bus number one.” Doyoung points to the bus that's closing its doors, fully packed and ready to leave.

“Fucking Jaehyun.” Comes Haechan’s voice as he appears next to Doyoung. The four of you enter bus number two.

“Dibs on Taeyong.” Doyoung says when you find an empty seat, grabbing the NCT president and dragging him to sit down.

This leaves you standing there with Haechan, who grumbles “fucking Doyoung” and then continues down the aisle towards one of the last free seats. You follow after a moment’s hesitation. “Sit.” Haechan says without looking up from his phone, his free hand patting the spot next to him. “I wanna try checkers again.”

Jenni nudges you and you immediately put your phone down, continuing your notes for class. “You’re so distracted.” she whispers when your professor turns their back to you, looking at the projector screen.

“I’m kicking Haechan’s ass at chess.” you mumble, waiting a few moments then pulling out your phone to make your next move. While you’re deciding what to do next, a notification tells you Haechan’s also made his move in checkers, and a few seconds after that, Scrabble as well.

“How many games are you even playing against each other at the same time?” Jenni asks.

“I don’t know, four or five.” you respond, eyes focused on your screen, “he’s beating me at checkers.”

Jenni’s phone dings and she frowns, “no one’s going to Trivia Night tonight, looks like a bunch of NCT have a midterm project due tomorrow and are studying in the library.”

“What? Tell them to bring their books to the bar!”

Jenni types something into her phone then laughs, “Jaehyun says that Haechan suggested the same thing.”

“Okay good.”

“No, they said no to him too, I’m just saying… you and Haechan said the same thing.” her tone is kind of weird, and you can’t help but notice that since Formal a few days ago, she’s been bringing up Haechan a lot.

“Did Jaehyun invite you to go to the library to study with everyone?” you ask, hoping that if you talk about her new crush, she’ll drop her whole weird confusing Haechan obsession. 

“Yeah,” Jenni smiles, “I think I will actually, what are you going to do after class?”

“Well… tonight’s Trivia Night.” you frown. You’d been excited for it, excited to go and compete against Haechan. 

“Maybe you should go play video games against Haechan instead.” Jenni suggests, “the frat will be mostly empty anyways.”

“What does the frat being empty have to do with anything?” you narrow your eyes at your best friend.

Jenni smirks mischievously, “well you and Haechan can yell at each other all you want and no one will over hear it.” 

Haechan: Did you hear about Trivia Night?

Y/N: yeah it’s canceled :(

Haechan: come play video games

Y/N: ask nicely

Haechan: come play video games after class or I’ll come to your sorority house and egg your window :)

Haechan doesn’t even greet you when he opens the door to his frat, waving you in as he aggressively argues with someone over the phone, “No Yangyang, I’m not saying you should climb up to the top of the gym by using the flower thing as a ladder,,” he motions for you to follow him through the frat house with his free hand, “I’m saying that if you did, and you got caught, you could run fast enough that no one would be able to catch you, and if you’re wearing a ski mask- well, i mean, it’s cold out still isn’t it? Is wearing hats illegal now?” You get to his room as Haechan says goodbye to his friend. 

You’ve been in Johnny’s room once or twice, but you’ve never spent much time looking at Haechan’s side of the room. He has an entire gaming table, and there are two controllers sitting on his bed, with Call of Duty opened on the screen.

“You just told your friend to climb the gym and take photos at the top.” you say when Haechan puts his phone down.

“Technically I didn’t, I just told him how to if he made that choice for himself.” Haechan responds, jumping onto his bed, “one versus one call of duty.”

“Isn’t it kind of not fair that we’re playing all your favourite games.” you sigh, tentatively taking a seat next to Haechan on his bed.

“We’re playing the ones I don’t use often.” Haechan responds, his eyes scanning the screen, “but if you’re really that worried I’m going to beat you, we can go play some of Yangyang’s video games, or Jaimin’s.” 

“Ok, after this.” you watch Haechan customize his gun, rolling your eyes when he goes for dual pistols as a secondary weapon. 

Within ten minutes, the game is starting, and Haechan is leaning forward with full focus on the screen. He’s never taken any of your games anything less than 100% seriously, and you don’t think he’s going to go easy on you now just because you’re playing video games, which are his medium of choice.

You notice the way his tongue peaks out, he appears to be almost gnawing on it as the game begins. You also sit forward, figuring that there must be a reason for it, and you notice that closer to the screen, you can be more immersed-

You die.

“Hey! Are you screen peeking!?”

“Maybe.” Haechan giggles next to you and you take a glance at his screen.

“And you’re camping! With a sniper!” 

Haechan’s laugh becomes sinister, “you never said there were rules.” 

Your jaw drops as you respawn, “i can’t believe you.”

“Ha ha!” 

“Well. Two can play that game.” you find a corner and put your controller down, looking at Haechan, who is, of course, still camped out in his one sniper hole.

“Hey!” he protests, “you have to run around or I can’t shoot you!”

“Maybe you should leave your hiding spot.”

“No. I’m winning.” 

“By one kill.” you scoff.

Haechan shrugs, putting his controller down, “I’m hungry.” he reaches for a bag of candy sitting by his monitor. 

You’re glad that it’s a Tuesday, because Jenni and you stopped at the bookstore for lunch, and you still have a bag of chips from the vending machine. You grab your purse and fish out your treat, Haechan watching your movements and licking his lips. “You have chips.” he says.

“Yeah, and you don’t get any.” you state.

“Well you don’t get any of my candy.” Haechan responds quickly, but his eyes stay glued to you as you plop a chip into your mouth. Haechan licks his lips, “what if, if I kill you, I get a chip.”

“Good luck killing me while camping out with a sniper.” you laugh.

“I’ll come down, I’ll play fair.”

“And if I kill you?”

“Then you can have a candy.” Haechan moves the candy bag in front of your face and you can smell the delicious food inside.

“Fine. You’re on. But you have to come down from your hiding place first.” 

You wait until Haechan’s side of the screen shows that he’s in the open, and then you pick up your controller.

“Let the games begin.” Haechan mutters, eyes narrowing as he adjusts back into ‘gamer position’. 

A few moments later, you see a flash of movement and then you and Haechan are shooting each other. You almost think you’re going to win, but you die first, and you groan loudly while Haechan cheers, “chips!” he says, turning to look at you expectantly.

You sigh and hold out your food, Haechan grabs a chip, chewing aggressively, then he turns back to the screen, “you should just give me the whole bag now.”

You roll your eyes, “as if.”

Haechan is so cocky, and it pushes all of your buttons, making you extra focused on beating him. When there’s a brief movement, you begin to shoot, and a moment later, you watch Haechan’s character fall down dead. “Ha!” you jump up, throwing your arms in the air, “I got you!”

Haechan groans, watching you sit down, then he fishes a candy from his bag, holding it out, “say ah.”

“What?” you smack his hand away, “you’re not feeding me that candy.”

“Well then you don’t get it.”

“That wasn’t part of the rules.” you glare.

“Is now. Do you want the candy, or are you too chicken?”

You groan loudly but give in, Haechan can’t call you a chicken and get away with it, and you’ll be damned if you don’t get your fucking candy. You open your mouth.

“Tongue.” Haechan watches you carefully.

“I swear to god-” you roll your eyes and push at Haechan, but he simply grabs your wrists, pinning them with one hand.

“Tongue.” he repeats, eyes dark. The tone in the room has shifted, and your skin feels electrified, pulse racing at the sudden situation you’ve found yourself in. You stick your tongue out for him and Haechan places the candy on it. “Good girl.” 

He lets go of you and turns back to the tv. If it wasn’t for the fact that he could legitimately find you and kill your character, thereby getting even more of a lead on you, maybe you would have stopped to fight him. But instead, you grab your controller, focusing your attention on the game instead of Haechan’s close proximity to you. 

You’re on the edge of your seat now, eyes glued to the game, and you shock both yourself and Haechan when you end up killing him a second consecutive time. 

“Bullshit!” Haechan groans next to you.

“Aw, is Baby Face made that I’m beating him?” you turn to gloat, revelling in the feeling of competition-

But then Haechan is grabbing you and slamming you down against the bed, slotting himself between your legs and pinning your arms above your head, “call me baby again, I fucking dare you.” he growls. His voice is low and his words go straight to your core, which comes alive with interest, your legs tightening unconciously around Haechan’s waist.

You swallow thickly and lick your lips, “quit being a baby and give me a candy.” you say smoothly. 

Haechan narrows his eyes at you, face getting closer to yours. You can feel his breath against your skin, and his lips look so pretty-

Haechan reaches for something, hand coming back with a candy that he slots between his teeth, holding it just above your own mouth. His eyes challenge you, eyebrow cocking as if to say ‘your turn’. 

You lift your head up to try to get access to the candy, but Haechan pulls away, smirking down at you. You groan, rolling your eyes, a rude comment just about to work it’s way up your throat when Haechan sucks the candy back into his mouth and plants his lips directly onto yours. He has the candy wedged in his cheek, but you can taste the sweetness of it on his lips.

Haechan releases his hold on your wrists, which have been pinned this whole time, and now that you have mobility, you wrap your arms around the back of his neck. One of your hands moves to his pretty hair, and you get a good handful, pulling lightly and earning yourself a growl from the man who’s kissing you as if his life depends on it.

Your entire body feels on fire, consumed by the feeling of Haechan. You’re not even sure how you’re able to sneak breaths between the kisses- and you gasp when Haechan grinds down, the front of his jeans catching deliciously against your core. 

“Whoever caves in first and takes clothes off loses.” Haechan says when he moves his kisses to your neck, nipping and sucking at the skin. 

You laugh, “and what does the winner get?” 

“The winner gets to have her brains fucked out.” Haechan responds. 

Her brains fucked out. He’s already declared you the winner. He’s given up. The knowledge that you’ve broken Haechan- he’s going to give up the game- gives you a sense of power that makes your heart feel tight in your chest.

“What if i want to be the loser and fuck your brains out?” you ask. 

“Lose the next game.” Haechan responds, hands grabbing at the bottom of your shirt and lifting to expose some of your skin, “you see, I already lost.” 

You grasp the bottom of Haechan’s hoodie, but he smacks your hands away, “no, I’m in control.” he tells you, looking into your eyes with a firm expression on his face. 

“Prove it.” you challenge.

Haechan scoffs, and the cocky attitude that has for so long annoyed you, oddly enough, sends a shiver of anticipation through your body. Your mouth feels dry from being so wound up, waiting for him to just do something- 

His hand wraps around your throat, “I’m about to prove it princess. And any time you call me baby again, I’ll prove it then too. I’ll fuck you anywhere and prove to everyone that you’re mine.”

His grip on your throat is so tight you can’t even respond, so you’re left to fester in the idea of belonging to Haechan, as his free hand begins to undo your pants. 

“No fucking talking back.” Haechan growls as he tears your jeans open, “if you do, I’ll have to gag you.”

“Maybe you should make me gag on your cock.” you say the moment his hand moves from your neck.

Haechan pulls your pants and your panties down just enough for him to get his hand between your thighs, which are spread because he’s still slotted between your legs. 

“I’ll make you choke on my cock later.” he says, pressing his mouth to yours again as his fingers slip between your folds, “so fucking wet. My little fucking whore-”

You nip at his lip, a warning for him not to be too degrading, and Haechan smirks against your mouth, “aw, kitten doesn’t like being called Daddy’s little whore? Well she’ll have to get fucking used to it.” Two of his fingers glide into your pussy and you gasp when he hooks them up, searching for that spot- 

“Fuck, Haechan! Right there!” you pull at his hair, moaning against his lips as his fingers work you up. He’s so good at this- where the fuck did he learn how to do this?

His tongue invades your mouth, forcing another gasp from you, your back arching off the bed only to be pushed back down by the weight of Haechan’s large body, which holds you steady and in place as his fingers continue their assault. 

“Cum for me.” Haechan says, voice low and husky. 

You clench your eyes shut as your body follows through with his command, it’s not like you can help it even if you wanted to, Haechan’s too skilled. The orgasm slams into you hard, and with Haechan where he is, you can’t even close your legs or get away as his fingers glide in and out of you. You can hear your wetness now, pussy all but squelching, your moans uncensored as you dig your nails into Haechan’s shoulders. 

“You like that kitten?” Haechan watches you closely as your face contorts with pleasure, and he all but eats up your sounds, which are music to his ears. When you finally come down, Haechan removes his fingers from your core and pushes them past your lips, watching with interest as you suck him clean. “Bet you taste amazing, I think i’ll have to see for myself.”

His lips move to your neck, and then down, tongue dipping to caress the well of your collarbone. His free hand pushes your shirt up, “take this shit off.” he instructs as he continues his descent, manhandling you a little so you’re now laying with your head against his pillows. The fabric smells like him, and for some reason, you groan at the beauty in being surrounded by Haechan. 

The competitive frat boy’s lips leave little kisses on your abdomen and his hands get your pants the rest of the way down while you remove your shirt. Haechan settles between your legs, fingers smoothing over your skin, “so soft.” he coos, teeth nipping at the sensitive flesh of your inner thigh. “Tell me you want me.”

“Are you serious?” you almost laugh, only to earn a rougher bite from Haechan, who suckles on your skin after to sooth it, a non verbal confirmation that he is, in fact, being serious. “Fuck, Haechan I want you.”

“How bad?” his breath ghosts over your entrance as he moves to your opposite thigh, and you nearly groan at having been anticipating his lips only to fall short. You lift your head to look down at him as he pulls his hoodie off, revealing pretty shoulders that are shockingly broad.

“Really bad, Haechan please, I need you-”

Your words seem to be enough this time, because Haechan’s tongue finds your clit a moment later. He flicks at it, making your legs shake, before he fully places his mouth on you, lapping at all you have to offer. 

You reach down to grab at his hair, loving the way the soft strands feel. Haechan groans at the pain on his scalp when you tug lightly, and the vibration runs through your entire body, your own whimper echoing the sound.

Haechan is practically devouring you with his mouth, and his hands move to grip your thighs, fingers digging into your skin. His lips suction around your clit and your back arches off the bed. You’re still sensitive from your first orgasm, and your legs are already trembling on either side of Haechan’s head. 

“Haechan-” you pull on his hair to try to get him away, not wanting to cum so quickly- but Haechan has other plans. He doesn’t seem to mind you tugging at his hair, in fact, if anything, you notice that his tongue applies even more pressure to your entrance. Each flick, each sinful slurp, gets you closer and closer to another orgasm until it’s crashing into you with as much ferocity as the first.

His warm hand flattens on your abdomen to keep you still as he works you through your orgasm until your throat feels raw from moaning and your whole body is wrapped in a wonderful afterglow, chest heaving as you try to get your breathing back to normal. 

Haechan begins kissing up your body, lips tickling your tummy and making you giggle. You can feel him smiling against your skin, and then he’s pulling your bra away from your skin and watching it smack back down, a mischievous glint in his eyes when you look down at him ready to fight due to the slight pain. “Take this off.” Haechan says, now kissing the swell of your breasts pushed up by your bra.

“Do it for me.”

Haechan sighs loudly but, as is the case with everything, he’ll accept your challenge.

“One handed.” you smirk.

“You think I can’t take off your bra with one hand kitten?” he narrows his eyes at you, “if I can, do I win?”

“Yes, and then as a reward I’ll fuck the shit out of you.” you moan when his lips move to your neck, suckling the spot that sends shivers through your body, your fingers clawing at his shoulders. 

Haechan laughs, one hand snaking under your body to unlatch your bra. The moment the tension goes slack and your bra is undone, you shake your head, of course he’d make it look easy as fuck on top of being able to do it with one hand. 

He slips your bra off, lips once again moving down. He sucks on your nipple softly at first, but then his teeth graze your skin and you moan, hips buckling up, searching for friction or pressure or something-

“Haechan-” you moan, reaching down between your bodies to try to grab his cock through his pants.

The man sucking on your nipples ignores you, caught up in the feeling of your boobs. Haechan’s always been a boob man, well… he likes ass too, in fact, Haechan’s just a ladies man in general. He worships the female form, and having his face squished up to your breasts is throwing him into overdrive, his mind nothing but a lusty haze. 

All those times he wanted you to cover up at parties and bars- it’s not because he didn’t want to see you, he just wanted to be the only one seeing you, and now he is. 

Haechan groans and you note the way he grinds his hips down against the bed. the visual is so hot, and if you weren’t so pent up, you think you might enjoy watching him just grind against the bed forever. 

You’ve had enough of his teasing, now it’s your turn. You push at Haechan’s shoulders roughly, and Haechan immediately gives you space, eyes looking up at you questioningly. You push him again and Haechan allows you to get him onto his back, a smile forming on his lips when you swing your leg over his waist so you can straddle him. Now you’re the one on top, and Haechan’s view has never been this good in his entire life.

His hands find your waist, eyes glued to your tits as you look down at his form. 

You have to admit he’s gorgeous. You think you’ve always been aware of his beauty, but you’ve had this thing where you’ve been so competitive with him that it’s been easy to ignore. Sometimes you still view him as that pudgy faced kid who would fight you over everything in highschool, but the man under you is not the boy you grew up to hate. The man under you is all chiseled angles, and his beautiful dark eyes draw you in like nothing else. 

It’s as if you’re seeing each other for the first time. There’s no witty back and forth, no thoughts of competition. No, it’s just you and him, suspended in a moment of quiet and primal pleasure. 

Your eyes travel to the beautiful column of his throat, and you decide the skin there has to be peppered in love bites. You lean down, and Haechan sucks in a breath when you grab his jaw, forcing his head to the side to give you better access. His fingers dig into your hips, “don’t forget who’s in charge.” he growls from under you, his hands forcing you to grind down on his length, which is still hidden from you by his jeans. 

“I’m in charge now baby boy.” you smirk, suckling on the skin of his neck.

Haechan lets out a groan, his eyes closing as the pleasure of the pet name washes over him. Baby Boy isn’t so bad actually, it’s better than ‘baby face’. His skin tingles with the newfound discovery that he actually kind of enjoys you being dominant with him, or at least challenging him like this. No other girl ever has, usually they just submit to him and be pillow princesses- but you? You’re something else, and maybe the fire in you is something he’s always been addicted to, without even consciously knowing it.

Haechan allows himself to relax a little, giving up control to you as your lips trail down to his collarbones. Your hands brush by the soft ticklish flesh of his abdomen and Haechan jerks under you, making you both burst into giggles. You continue pressing kisses to his skin as your hands undo his jeans.

Haechan lifts his hips and helps you wiggle his pants down, but he leaves his briefs on. Yes, you’re down there, but what if you’re not really ready to blow him? He doesn’t want to just whip his dick out-

You shove his briefs down. 

Haechan’s cock smacks up against his abdomen, and you lick your lips at the way the head of his cock glistens with precum. He’s a decent length, but what really catches you is his thickness. He’s big, and the vein that runs up the underside of his cock draws you in for some odd reason. You grab the shaft and position yourself over his cock, kitten licking the head and earning a groan from the man above you. “Feel good?” you smirk, repeating the action.

“Fuck, yes.” one of Haechan’s hands snakes down to your hair, he gets a grip but doesn’t apply pressure, doesn’t coax you to sink your mouth down on his cock. You don’t need any persuasion though, licking your lips one last time before you wrap your mouth around Haechan’s girthy cock, fitting as much as you can. 

Haechan moans above you, fingers flexing in your hair. His head falls back into the pillows, eyes clenched as he enjoys the feeling of your mouth smoothing up and down his cock.

“So good kitten,” he groans, hips jumping slightly, cock hitting the back of your throat and making you choke a little, “fuck, just like that- you weren’t kidding at Trivia Night when you said you could lick the tip then throat the dick-”

You work your mouth up and down faster, trying not to laugh or gloat, one of your hands wrapping around the base of his cock where you can’t reach. This better be the best fucking blow job he’s ever had, or you don’t win. You focus more on the head of his cock while your fist pumps his long shaft, using your saliva as lubrication as you twist your hand in a repetitive motion that has Haechan nearly cumming on the spot, “holy fuck-” his eyes snap open and he looks down at you, which is not the best idea, seeing as the visual of you worshiping him- he can feel his orgasm building in the base of his cock, and he’ll be damned if he cums from a fucking blow job.

“Fuck, enough of your mouth,” Haechan pushes your head away.

“I’m in charge.” you pout, looking up at him with a challenge in your eyes as your hand continues to pump him up and down.

“Not anymore.” Haechan smacks your hand away, and within moments, he has you pinned under him again, lips aggressive against yours. His tongue invades your mouth, and you feel something against your entrance- only to let out a disappointed moan when it’s just his fingers again. “Quit whining, I need to stretch you out.” he growls against your lips, opening his eyes to look at you.

He needs to stretch you out. He’s that big. You nearly salivate at the information, pouting up at Haechan, “I need you now.” you whimper, legs tightening around his waist. 

“Then get ready to scream for me kitten.” Haechan presses his lips to yours again. You can feel the head of his cock at your entrance, and you smile because you’ve won- and then he starts pushing into you and your nails dig into his shoulder blades at the stretch. 

“Fuck- Haechan!” you gasp as he peppers your face with kisses, smirking against your skin.

“Told you.” he says, sliding into you inch by inch, “fuck, you’re so warm and wet-”

He’s fully sheathed in you now, and his breath fans over your neck and face, his kisses softer now as he allows your body to get used to his size. He also just needs a breather, because your blow job got him closer to cumming that he’ll care to admit. The feeling of your walls fluttering around him is cute and he enjoys watching your face, eyes meeting yours every once in a while just to check and make sure you’re okay.

“Haechan, fuck me.” you groan once your body has adjusted to the size of his cock.

He doesn’t need to be told twice.

Haechan’s hips move fluidly, his cock sliding almost all the way out of your core, only to slip back in, refilling the emptiness he’d left in his wake. A moan leaves your lips, your eyes closing as the pleasure engulfs you. Your fingers find Haechan’s soft hair and a small tug makes the man holding you let out a whimper of his own, hips thrusting even harder.

There’s no need for talking, and even if he was to say something, you’re not sure it would even register in your mind. You’re so overwhelmed by the feeling of him, by the sweet taste of his lips, the soft warmth of his beautiful skin, and the smell of his cologne. 

You’re aware of Haechan moving one of your hands, but you don’t open your eyes until his fingers lace with yours and your hand becomes pinned down to the pillow by your head. Haechan is looking down at you, and this close, you can see the rich chocolate browns hidden in the dark depths of his irises. Blue eyes get a lot of love, but you can’t imagine finding anything more beautiful than the soft richness of Haechan’s eyes.  

His gaze dips to your lips and you do the same, a flare of envy running through your body when you notice how fucking perfect his mouth is, lips all swollen from kissing- 

You press your mouth to Haechan’s, suckling on his lower lip and earning a groan from the man who is literally fucking you silly. 

You can feel your orgasm rising in the pit of your stomach, and your muscles cry out from the fact that you’re about to cum for a third time in such a short period. You can’t remember the last time a man made you feel this good-

A whimper leaves your lips when Haechan slips his hand between your bodies, finding your clit again. Your hips thrust up, legs tightening around Haechan, “fuck- Haechan- cum for me-”

He growls against your lips. Usually he’s the one commanding that his partner cums, but to hear those words coming from your mouth- a shiver runs the entire length of his body, his fingers squeezing yours where he still has your hand captured as it’s prisoner. 

“Please-” you whine again when he rubs your clit faster.

He can feel your walls tightening around his cock, betraying how close you are, and he knows the moment you cum, you’ll drag him over too, so his goal is entirely on your own pleasure.

His lips move to your neck and he finds that spot again- you’re pretty sure he’s marked it- how else would he be able to find it so easily every time? All you can do is hold on tightly to Haechan as he throws your body into overdrive. 

Your grip on his shoulders anchors you a little, and you begin to move your own hips to meet his- something no one’s ever done with Haechan before. The motion takes him back a little, but fuck, it’s so fucking sexy- 

“Cum for me baby boy-” you whisper into his ear, and the moan that leaves Haechan’s lips is so sinful and sexy that it triggers your orgasm.

Your pussy clamps down on Haechan’s thick cock, and he swears he’s in heaven You were tight enough as it was, but now that you’re cumming? Haechan cum’s hard, his hips continuing their assault even as you both moan, lips reconnecting so your tongues and teeth can clash, eating each other's sounds as you both nearly vibrate with pleasure. 

You’re not sure how long you both ride out your orgasms, only that your bodies are both sweaty and exhausted as Haechan’s hips finally begin to slow down. You try to catch your breath even while kissing. His cock stays buried in you while you make out, and when you move your fingers to Haechan’s hair, intent on tugging, he pulls away finally, “if you tug my hair, I’ll have to fuck you again.” he warns you.

You smirk, “sounds like a challenge.”

“Where are Y/N and Haechan?” Mark asks as he arrives at trivia night, shocked to see neither of the tables regular team leaders are present. In fact, the whole set up is a little odd, both tables firmly pushed together, with members of the frats and sororities more intermixed than Mark is used to.

“We told them trivia night was canceled.” Jaehyun answers from where he’s sitting with his arm around Jenni.

“What? Why?” Mark pulls out his phone, ready to text Haechan to come-

“So they could get laid.” Johnny says, coming to stand next to Mark as he hands out drinks to people, “if you tell Haechan we did trivia night without them I’ll break into your room at night and shave off your eyebrows.”

Mark swallows thickly, knowing that Johnny will for sure follow through with his threat. One time Lucas had pissed Johnny off after a particularly tense game of basketball and that night Johnny had held him down and taken a razor to his brows. Johnny had been nice and just given him two slits, which, honestly, had looked pretty good- but Mark isn’t willing to risk Johnny deciding to go full evil.

“Wait is this why Taeyong sent that message out that said the frat is supposed to be mostly empty today?” Mark looks around.

“Mostly? What do you mean mostly? We told everyone but Haechan that the frat had to be empty because it ‘smelt like there might be a gas leak and someone’s coming to check it out’.” Taeyong leans forward with concern.

“Yeah but… but Yuta’s at the frat right now.” Mark says.

“He’s WHAT?!” multiple men whip out their phones to check their group chats for any messages from Yuta. The group had been studying in the library all day and ignoring their phones.

“Yeah, this morning he said,” Mark reads out the text he received from Yuta before their 10am lecture, “‘i’m skipping classes today, fuck a bad smell, a bad smell can’t kill me, i’m a bad bitch’.” 

Mark taps on the group chat, which has come alive since he sat down.

5:13

Yuta: fuck Haechan and Y/N are fighting again

Yuta: wait… they’re not fighting

Yuta: YO HAECHAN’S GETTING LAID 

7:58

Taeyong: WE TOLD YOU TO LEAVE THE FRAT

Yuta: YOU SAID THERE WAS A GAS LEAK YOU NEVER SAID I HAD TO LEAVE

Jae: are u still at the frat????

Yuta: maybe

Johnny: have you just been LISTENING TO THEM FUCK THIS WHOLE TIME????

Yuta: maaaaybe

Taeyong:......

Johnny: you fucking dirty psycho

Mark: ooooop

Lucas: are they being loud?

Doyoung: LUCAS!

Kun: LUCAS!!!!!

Taeyong: LUCAS

Yuta: SO fucking loud

After spending most of the day with Haechan on Tuesday, the two of you continued your competitive gaming through various apps on your phone. You knew there would be a party at NCT House on Friday, and as each day passed by, you waited for Haechan to invite you. 

You walk into the frat party with Jenni, having not received a specific invite from the boy you’d fucked three days prior. To say you’re on a warpath is an understatement. 

“I swear to god if that dude kisses someone else in front of me-” you say as you and Jenni head to get drinks.

“Y/N calm down, A, he’s not your boyfriend, and B, he wouldn’t do that.” Jenni sighs.

“Oh yeah, because your intel from Jaehyun is always one hundred percent reliable.” you scoff.

“Did someone already spit in your drink?” Haechan’s voice comes from over your shoulder, an arm sliding around your waist as he takes his place next to you. “Or is this just your normal resting bitch face?”

You turn to look at the man who’s joined you, glaring, “no one spat in my drink.”

“Well maybe I should fix that,” Haechan leans in, his lips ghosting over your ear as his tone lowers, “are you into spitting, kitten?”

You groan and laugh, pushing at Haechan, who remains firmly glued to your side.

“She’s mad you didn’t invite her to the party.” Jenni says, eyes looking around for Jaehyun, but her smile tells you this is a calculated mischievous plan. Traitor.

“I didn’t realize I had to invite you,” Haechan’s brows furrow a little in confusion, his body angling towards you more so he can face you, hands finding your hips.

“You didn’t have to invite me.” you groan.

“Kitten, you’re a bad bitch, you walk into every frat like you own the place.” Haechan says, “you never need my permission to show up here,” his hand dips lower, grabbing at your ass, “you should know you’re welcome any time.”

His words are nice, and they melt you a little, but you still have a bone to pick with him. “It would be nice to be invited though.” 

“In that case,” Haechan’s face is close to yours, lips nearly ghosting over your own, “would you like to come play beer pong with me, and after we kick Taeil and Yuta’s ass, you’re invited to come to my room and get your brains fucked out again.”

You laugh as you look up at the man you wasted so many years hating, “Baby Face, that sounds perfect.”

Thank you so much for reading! oof, this frat univese- it’s my baby

Find the whole masterlist for this frat universe Here

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[blushingreid]

Prove It

Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

A/N: inspired by an ep of Rizzoli & Isles (y’all should check it out if you’re looking for something new to watch). I hope you enjoy & pls slide some feedback <3

Bad luck. That’s all y/n could think when she woke up. She had gone alone to check out a lead on their most recent case. The abandoned house was clear, but y/n hadn’t known that she was going to run into the unsub leaving it. Last thing she remembered, before she passed out, was chasing after him and getting one good punch in, before she got clocked in the face by the unsub.

The next morning, she had woken up in the hospital with an aching pain in her head, her busted lip stitched up, and her sprained wrist wrapped. She had missed out on the team catching the unsub, only getting to relive it through the team’s stories on the jet. They had all felt guilty about letting y/n go alone on a lead. It had only been 6 weeks since y/n had joined the team. Rossi had been the one to convince Hotch that it was time for “baby bird” to test out her wings.

“Baby bird’s first task alone clearly did not go so well, now she’s got a busted beak and a sprained wing,” Morgan had teased on the jet.

“I think a certain doctor bird should keep her under his wing a lil longer,” Emily joined in.

Y/n was too zoned out on pain killers that she hadn’t picked up on what the two were implying.

“Did you know, baby birds leave the nest usually no more than 16 days,” Spencer had cluelessly added, not looking up from his card game with JJ.

Everyone around Spencer had mentally rolled their eyes at him. Clearly, these subtle hints weren’t getting through to either of the love birds.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: * ✧

It had been a week since the incident, and y/n had gone back to work after resting for two days, much to everyone’s disapproval. The team had stopped babying y/n, for her injuries at least. All except Spencer. Morgan had teased Spencer that if he didn’t ease up on his worry for y/n, she might finally realize his feelings for her. Morgan had been the first one to notice Spencer’s growing crush on y/n ever since she was first introduced. The team had all picked up on his crush on y/n. Especially this last week, they’d all spotted Spencer’s more affectionate interactions with her. Spencer had been going out of his way to bring y/n a smoothie and muffin every morning since she’d gotten back to work. He’d been checking on her every two hours, making sure she was feeling okay. Even his occasional glances at her had increased in frequency and length.

Spencer didn’t realize that every small gesture he did for y/n filled her stomach with butterflies and made her heart flutter. She too had been crushing on the boy genius, ever since they met. Except, she was just more experienced at hiding it, or so she thought.

The first time they met, y/n was instantly infatuated with the young doctor. He’d mistaken her for an intern when they first, literally, ran into each other. Y/n had been late to her first day and actually almost knocked Spencer over as she was running to meet Hotch. Spencer had been at a lost for words when he first laid eyes on her, and had assured her that interns got leniency on their first day. The look of shock was clearly evident on his face when she was later introduced as “agent y/n y/l/n”.

It’s not possible that he could like me as more than a friend, could he? y/n thought to herself as she worked on some forms. She had noticed Spencer’s glances over at her desk become more frequent ever since she got back, but she thought maybe he was just concerned for her recovery.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: * ✧

After a boring day of paperwork, y/n had said her goodbyes to the team for the night as she exited the elevator into the parking garage.

“How are your stitches?” Y/n heard from behind. She immediately recognized the one voice that always made her heart race.

“Spence, for the hundredth time, they’re fine. You don’t have to worry about me so much. I’m a big girl, you know,” y/n replied as she walked toward her car. Once she reached her car, she sensed Spencer was behind her, unsatisfied with her answer. She spun around to face him.

Y/n had no idea where this sudden confidence came from when she grabbed hold of Spencer’s tie, maybe she was still coming off the pain killer high. She pulled him excruciatingly close to her, hoping he couldn’t hear her heart about to beat out of her chest. Gazing into Spencer’s eyes, their lips millimeters apart, y/n softly whispered,”I’ll prove to you they’re fine,” before sealing the distance between them and their lips. Their mouths molded together, Spencer instantly wrapping his arms around y/n’s waist, pulling her closer to deepen the kiss.

When they finally pulled away, neither one of them could keep the small smiles off of their faces. Spencer had been dreaming about this moment for so long, and it was blowing his mind that he’d finally gotten the chance.

Her sudden rush of confidence running out, y/n gave Spencer a small wave and turned to escape into her car. Suddenly, she felt a hand wrap around her wrist and a gentle tug sent her flying back into Spencer’s chest. Spencer placed a finger under her chin, tilting her head until her eyes met his as he slowly leaned in. 

“Scientifically speaking, in order to come up with a proven conclusion, I’ll have to conduct more tests before confirming your belief.”

[heyheyloki]

Nervous

Summary: You seem to have a short attention span, getting bored with practically everything after a period of time. But, you can’t seem to lose interest in one person and begin to distance yourself in hopes of unnecessarily hurting him. Though, after two months, the nerves still won’t go away.

Spencer Reid x M!Reader

Inspired by the song Nervous by The Neighbourhood

Word Count: 2040

It’s been months working in the BAU, and surprisingly, you haven’t requested a transfer yet. It was easy for anyone to see that you weren’t a very consistent guy. You’d always take up a new hobby almost every two weeks, saying that the one you had last time got ‘too boring’ for you. It was amusing at first, and it still is to some of your co-workers. Now, it’s just route. If it was photography this week, it would probably turn to painting the next. The only consistent thing in your life was your job and your friends, but sometimes even that would switch. One week all your attention would be on Derek while the next week it was Hotchner. 

And while everyone got their fair share of attention from you, you never seemed to give any of your time to Spencer. At least, not like you used to. For months it was almost like you couldn’t get enough of the brainiac that talked your ear off about some new nerdy show or comic. Now, every time he even got near you it was like all your nervous fired off at once and signaled your brain to run, turn away and look the other way.

The drastic change that everyone noticed started about two months ago. No one remembers if anything could have triggered your panic around Reid, in fact, it was an overnight change that no one saw coming. One day you were smiling, chatting with him about the most meaningless things in the world than the next, avoiding eye contact, the slightest bit of touch, and even basic good mornings the two of you made a routine out of. 

It was more than odd, bizarre even. However, no one dared to bring it up. It was like this unspoken notice that they were all aware of, but didn’t want to meddle with. They all just thought you and him would figure it out on your own, or perhaps something private happened in your life. That was the mindset a month ago, now, they all thought this was getting a bit ridiculous. It was obvious how off Reid had become because of the change that even he didn’t dare to bring up. Hell, he even started to day dream on the job, mess up on the most simple things and sometimes not even go over the case.

The bond between the two agents that have been frozen in time was now affecting the team, and Hotch wasn’t about to let that happen on his watch. Not when you’re all casing after serial killers, rapists, kidnappers, and all other kinds of bad people everyday. 

The case today was no different than any other. Overall dangerous, and plainly disturbing. A normal day. Although, the day took a turn when Hotchner suddenly placed Reid and you to work together. Throughout the two months, he’s never done such a thing and actually made it so the two worked so far apart they would only see one another on the plane back. Now, both of you were to drive to the dumpsite to examine the remains that turned up. 

Everyone noticed when your muscles tightened, your jaw clenching. For moment, they all even wondered if this was a good idea and thought it best to just let you both solve your problems on your own. But, when they saw the surprise wash over Spencer’s eyes and look at you, only to notice you aren’t staring back, that surprise quickly was replaced with a heavy film of sadness. At that moment, they knew they all couldn’t sit on the sidelines of this anymore. 

 When Reid and you were assigned to the job, you knew automatically that you’d be driving. In your months here, you never saw the guy touch the wheel of a car once. Not that you complained, it gave you the excuse to keep quiet while you focused on the road and allowed the radio to drown out the tortuous silence that would have surrounded the both of you in an instant.

Sadly, Reid wasn’t allowing you the comfort of a quiet ride to the dump-site. After being in the car for about ten minutes at least, Reid took in a deep breath and moved his thin hands over towards the volume of the radio, effectively turning it into a low frequency noise. Simply part of the background as Spencer’s words became alarmingly loud in your ears.

“So.. what do you think about today’s case?” He asked innocently, his voice soft and teeming with anxiety. 

You, however, began to grip on the wheel harder. Your knuckles almost turning white. It was strange at how long it took you to reply, but to you it was necessary to not start blathering like an idiot. 

“Just got to stick to the profile and we’ll get through it like always.” You simply put, your voice deeper than normal. More stable, controlled. 

Then, the silence came back. Nerves completely swelling up in your lungs as it suffocated you to death. Without the radio, you were hopeless from having thoughts, ‘what if’ thoughts that began to cloud your mind. It felt like minutes, hours even as neither of you spoke. You didn’t even notice when you started to tap your finger against the wheel, trying your best to shoo away the thoughts and concentrate on the road. 

However, all that suddenly exploded, completely killing all of your thoughts when you heard Spencer ask, “Is everything okay?”

It was soft, gentle. It made something inside you twist uncontrollably with guilt beyond imagine. It was like those few simple words that anyone could say had unimaginable effects. An itch began to form in your throat, one that was similar to that of one you’d get when you get a cold. One of those annoying ones that could pester anyone. Your concentration started to completely disappear into thin air, basically questioning which way to go even with the GSP installed in the car to help. 

You knew you couldn’t stay silent forever, even if that was the only desire you had at the moment besides the others that have been pushed down for your and Spencer’s sake. At least in your mind that’s what you thought. This was all for him, so that he wasn’t burdened with something consistent. Something that he may grow bored of like you tend to get with almost everything in your life. Everything except him. And it ate you alive till you could barely look him in the eyes, until you became so nervous to even speak to him. 

“Everything is fine.” You put, unable to say anymore. 

You noticed Spencer side-eye you from the corners of your own colored hues. It made you sweat, it made your heart patter against your ribs. And all you wanted to do in that moment was wish you could blind him so he could never look at you like that again and slam your heart beneath the heel of your foot.

“You know,” Spencer started out saying, “you aren’t a very good liar.” 

You kept quiet for a moment, unable to fully think about what to say until you stopped the moving car at the stop-light. You took a moment to collect yourself, accepting the fact that slammed in your face that you couldn’t run this time. You couldn’t walk away from the good mornings, you couldn’t avoid his gaze, and you most certainly couldn’t run from your truth anymore. 

“I guess it was never part of my skill set.” You admitted, a dry chuckle leaving your lips. Your gaze jumped everywhere besides Spencer’s eyes.

Spencer leaded his head in a bit, wanting more than anything to just hear you speak. 

“Talk to me.” He pleaded. “Please.”

You brought your hands into your lap as you turned towards the man. With a large and fairly noticeable breath you began to relax your body, trying to calm your nerves. Though, you supposed at this point in the game it would always end up a failure. 

“I’m, uh, sorry for the past couple of months..” you began to say, your throat quickly getting dry as you spoke more words. Kept your voice in the fragile air longer. “I’ve just been thinking about some, uh, stuff, I guess.”

“Stuff?” Spencer questioned. You could tell he was trying to be as sensitive as he could, as gentle as he could with you. “What kind of stuff?”

“Uh,” you muttered. A small, nervous smile inching onto your lips that didn’t quite reach your eyes. You turned your gaze away from him, knowing it was now or never. You needed to put all your cards on the table or else nothing would be the same again. Nothing would go back to the way it was, or even become better than you ever imagined. Sure, that nagging feeling of ruining something so good was horrid. It was honestly your worst nightmare. Yet, at the same time, you knew that you already ruined it. 

Time froze for a moment. All surrounding sounds drowned out, everything around them seeming almost unimportant. The air was warm as it brushed against both of their skin, the smell in the car was a mixture of nerves and gasoline fumes. Then, you spoke words that could be mistaken as pure music to Spencer’s ears.

“I think I really, really like you, Spence.” You muttered under your breath. Your words would have most certainly been unheard if it wasn’t for the short distance between you two. Though, you didn’t stop there. It was like once your confession made way out of your mouth, the dam flooded open. “You’re the one thing that I can’t seem to lose interest in. No matter how hard I try, even just ignoring you didn’t work.”

When your words came out in one large gust of oxygen that shot out of your lungs, you were desperate for air once more. You took in a few minor breaths, gaining a curiosity to gaze up at Spencer and look him in the eyes for once. When you did, it was like an arrow shot right through your heart and stayed uncomfortably stuck in there. The layer over his mesmerizing chestnut brown hues was new, unfamiliar to you, even though many of your team members saw that look in your eyes over and over again when you looked at him. His lips were twitching into a soft smile that felt like someone’s hand was wrapped around your heart, giving it small yet intoxicating squeezes every now and then. 

You could tell he was about to say something but, before he could, you both jumped out of the fantasy you were so engrossed in when the sound of a car horn boomed in both your ears. Silence grew over both of you again as you began to drive once more. Though, this time it was both a mix of comfort and anticipation. Wonder couldn’t help but sprinkle itself in there as well. For you, your thoughts were running like crazy. Many positive, but just as many were negative when you realized the situation you put yourself in. The high of living in the moment washing away as now you had to deal with your past choices. 

As some time went by, unsure if it was seconds or minutes later, you suddenly said clearly, “It’s okay if you don’t like me the same way.”

You noticed Spencer’s head whip around in the corner of your eyes. You couldn’t study all of him, even if you wanted to more than anything in the world to gain that pillow of knowing you could be facing rejection. Though, those thoughts were wiped from your mind.

“What?” Spencer asked in a more frantic, higher pitched voice. It was one that could probably match a nervous love struck teenage girl. “No, are you cra--. I do.”

“You do?” You questioned quickly, a hopefully tone floating around your words without a care in the world. 

“I do. I like you too.” He confessed. 

As you kept your eyes on the road ahead of you, a mere five minutes from your destination, you couldn’t help but let a soft, gentle smile graze your adored features. You knew later on, maybe after this case you’d have to thank Hotchner for less than subtle push.

[plus-size-reader]

Cool

Noah Foster x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 1216 words

Warnings: none 

Summary: The reader is part of the ‘popular crowd’ but has a bit of an unconventional crush

I just love writing awkward Noah, I apologize. 

——————————————————————————————————

Frankly, Noah had no business at one of Brooke's parties.

It wasn't a scene that he needed to be at, and not the sort of thing that was within his comfort zone but that was exactly what drew you to him in the first place. He wasn't the kind of meathead jock that usually showed up to those things and you were interested in him.

You had never really talked to him, aside from a few group projects in English class and you wanted to know what his deal was.

So, you did the only sane thing you could think of at a high school party, after the death of a close friend. You plopped down beside him on the couch, careful not to spill your beer, and smiled.

It wasn't a foolproof method, of course, but it wasn't awful. If nothing else, it made you more available to him than you would have been standing across the room in close conversation with Brooke and Riley.

"Hey, you're Noah right? I'm Y/N, we have English together" you started, watching just how caught of guard he was at your talking to him. You were marginally hot, far too hot to ever be talking to him, and that was enough to sketch him out.

Still, when you smiled again, clearly waiting for him to say something, Noah knew that silence was only going to make him look like more of a crazy person.

"Cool, that's really cool" he tried, hoping that you wouldn't immediately get up and leave. He sometimes had that affect on women, especially those who he was attracted to. Noah just had awkward energy, and it was too much for a lot of people to handle.

Not you though.

You only giggled at his obvious nerves, hoping for the best. You were nervous too, of course, but you were just better at hiding it. You never really had a crush on a guy, it was usually the other way around, but not in this case.

It was lame, and your friends would never let you live it down but you were a bit of a secret geek. You loved video games, and horror movies, and all that kinds of stuff that Nina would never let you hear the end of if she was still alive.

She always made a joke of it all, tormenting anyone who didn't fit into her perfect existence but there had always been an exception for you. You had been friends all your lives; you, Nina, Brooke, and Emma, adding Riley into the mix a little later.

That was just the way it had always been, and that was never going to change but you couldn't be blamed for having interests outside of mani-pedis and ceaseless drama. It was part of who you were, but not all of it.

"Hey, I had a question about what you said in class the other day? About slasher movies" you hummed, gingerly trying to broach the subject without seeming super weird. You had always been really into those sorts of things, but didn't have many people to talk to about it before.

It could be really interesting to talk to someone about it that wouldn't think you were completely out of your mind.

"Who do you think is the most prolific serial slashers? Personally I think that there a tie between Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees but the body count doesn't really reflect that. Any thoughts?" you asked, taking a sip from your bottle neck, never once looking away from him.

Understandably, he was in shock.

He had never known pretty popular girls to have thoughts like that but you clearly did. He knew that for sure because you weren't wrong. There was a correlation between the murders and the the bodycount in those movies but nothing accounted for the lethal nature of some of the killers over the others.

In his opinion, Michael Myers was pretty high up on the list, due to his whole, being a faceless sociopath but the math didn't support that if that was what you were going for. That didn't even take into account the kill frequency and number of movies.

All interesting things to think about, for sure.

"Those are definitely good ones as far as stats go" he allowed, clearly just a little tipsy after however many he'd had at this point, not that you felt the need to say anything about it quite yet. You figured he knew what he was doing, and wouldn't overdue it.

Still, you felt like this conversation was coming to a natural end and you were worried that this would be all you two would ever have to talk about. After all, there wasn't a ton you had in common in the first place.

You just didn't want to go back to talking about Brooke's daddy issues quite yet.

"Hey, you wanna maybe get a coffee tomorrow? We could talk about it a little more" you suggested, gingerly playing with your fingers like you always did when you were nervous. As best you could tell, he could just say no and that would be it, but you hoped not.

You didn't want this to be all there was between you.

Noah faltered at that.

He wasn't really used to being asked out, or talked to at all by pretty girls who had no business caring about him at all. Not to mention that fact that he very rarely, if ever, was asked out at all. You were way out of his league, but maybe that didn't matter.

After all, no one said that two people had to be on the same level of attractiveness or skill to care about one another. It didn't matter if you didn't have very much in common, or if you ran in completely different social circles, there was a spark between you.

"Or not, I mean, if you don't want to" you shrugged, naturally taking his silence as refusal. You knew well enough to know that if he wanted to, he would have said yes by now.

Though, as soon as those words left your lips, Noah shook his head. Even in the little bit of a buzz he was currently harboring, he knew that this wasn't the sort of thing that he was going to pass up.

"No, no, that sounds great, but uh, are you sure you wanna do that? With me?" he clarified, shocked that you would do something like that. If only he knew that  you had to down quite a bit of Brooke's cheap kegger to even work up the nerve to ask.

He thought that you were out of his league, but never even gave your clear feelings for him a second thought. There had to be a reason you asked, after all. You wouldn't have just done that with anyone.

"Of course. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to, silly" you teased, earning a sort of awkward laugh from Noah, who was relieved at your response, though feeling just as awkward as before. He just had no game, no matter how hard he tried to be cool.

It just wasn't in the cards for him.

...But if that didn't bother you, he wasn't going to argue.

[lils-writes-stuff]

A Thin Line

spencer reid x reader 

Best years part 4 | part three | part two | part one

summary: the team takes on a case in California involving home invasions. the reader has a surprise for her when they get back. 

warnings: normal criminal minds things, mentions of racism and sexism (are those warnings idk)

A/N: based on season 7 episode 15; this ones cute ngl 

“I think you should tell Spencer,” Penelope said turning in her swivel chair to Y/N who was sitting behind her. 

“Tell him what, ‘Hey Spence, guess what, this girl who tormented me through my college life has come back to haunt me.’ Yeah, okay,” she said, shaking her head. She took a sip of the coffee in her mug, “And besides, there’s nothing really to tell him, she could just be trying to scare me, she loves to play mind games.” 

“Well, you should at least tell him what’s going on, you’ve received two more notes from her since the night that you called me, and it’s been almost a month,” Y/N sighed knowing that Penelope was right. “And you guys have been going out for that long now, so I’m sure he’ll understand if you don’t want to tell him all about your past right away.” 

“You’re right,” Y/N said, her finger trailing along the rim of her mug as she thought about when she should tell him. 

“And you should also tell Hotch.” 

“Tell Hotch? Why would I need to tell him?” Y/N asked looking up at Penelope. 

“I think it would just be smart, you know in case something happens,” Penelope responded with a small sigh, remembering back to the whole Emily situation and what happened when she didn’t tell them.

“I’ll tell him if I get another note.” 

“Okay, good,” Penelope said, then she smiled and began to get really excited. “So, you have to tell me, how have you and the good doctor been doing?” 

Y/N giggled as she watched her friend get excited about her relationship. “It’s been going good, we’ve gotten to know each other a lot more on our dates, the other night we went to this museum, and at first I didn’t think that would be a cool place to go on a date, but then it turned out really romantic,” Y/n smiled as she thought back to the night of the date. Spencer’s hand grasping her’s as they roamed the halls of the museum. Her eyes trained on him as he spoke about the parchments in a case or as he explained in depth about the artifact on the wall.

“Oh my gosh, that’s so adorable!” Penelope exclaimed, clapping her hands together excitedly. “Have you two kissed yet?” 

“No, we haven’t, but I’m not rushing this, I don’t want to rush it.” 

“Oh my- that is so mature, look at you, you're all grown up,” Penelope said, taking Y/N’s face in her hands squeezing her cheeks together. “I remember when you first joined the team, your 26-year-old self all antsy and ready to catch some serial killers. Now, look at you! 27 and so grown up I-” 

“I’m 28 actually,” Y/N corrected Penelope with a laugh. 

“Did we miss your birthday?” Penelope asked with a guilt written face. 

“Yeah, but don’t worry about it, birthdays are just days,” Y/N said trying to reassure her friend. 

“Don’t worry about it? You and Spencer both, he did the same thing awhile back on his birthday,” Penelope said referring back to when Spencer had turned 30. “And they’re not ‘just days’, it’s the day that you were born, they are wonderful days! We need to do something for it, when was it?” 

Y/N just shook her head with a laugh before standing, “It was last week, but we really don’t have to do anything.” She tried to explain to the bubbly woman in the chair. 

“No, we do, we are going to have dinner together as a family, and you are going to like it,” she stopped her rant when she saw her case alert go off and a text from Hotch. “Right when you get back from this case.” 

--------

   Y/N walked into the round table room smiling at her co-workers then making eye contact with Spencer. “Hi,” she said with school-girl glee as she took a seat next to him. 

“Hi,” he said back, the light blush on his face growing. 

“Y/N and Spencer, sittin’ in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-,” JJ began to sing the schoolyard rhyme.

“Shut up,” Y/N said giggling looking at the blonde who just laughed at her. 

“Alright let’s get started,” Hotch said, taking his seat Derek and Emily following closely behind him. 

“San Bernardino, California,” Penelope began as everyone opened up their tablets with the case file. “Two home invasions in less than a week, only a block apart, exact same M.O… Both houses were burgled, power and phone lines cut, and they broke in through a back window.” 

“In each case, the entire family was shot and killed?” Spencer asked, eyebrows raised at the thought. 

“Yes, that is right. I present to you the Mitchells and the Lewis family,” Penelope grabbed her remote from beside her, pulling the pictures of the family up on the screen. 

“They took out the power and phone so what, they could feel isolated?” Y/N asked. 

“The alarm system wouldn’t work and they couldn’t call for help,” Rossi explained the probable reasoning for why the power was cut. 

“Most modern alarm systems have a backup generator and a cell phone connection to the security company,” Spencer said wondering why this didn’t happen in this scenario.

“Yeah, but the Mitchells had an older system, and the Lewis’ were behind on their account, so it was inactive,” Penelope explained. 

“An assailant was killed in each case?” JJ asked, looking at Penelope next to her.

“Affirmative, but the sheriff hasn’t I.D.’d them yet.”

“So both families were armed, and fought back and shot one of their attackers,” Emily said looking around the table. 

 “Is that a coincidence or a connection?” Derek asked looking over to Emily. 

“What concerns me is the frequency of the kills,” Hotch said looking up from his tablet. 

“Only four days apart,” Y/N said looking at the dates. 

“Alright, it’s a long flight, we better get going, wheels up in 30.” Everyone stood up and headed out of the room to grab their go-bags. 

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

“Brian Mitchell was an avid hunter and Matt Lewis was an Iraq war vet, so it doesn’t surprise me that they both owned guns,” Y/N said looking up from her tablet. 

“Last year, southern California’s inland empire ranked fourth in the nation in foreclosure rates. Typically, as the economy falls, the crime rates will rise,” Spencer said. 

“Times are tough, desperate people do desperate things,” Rossi said, agreeing with Spencer’s statement. 

“Greetings all,” Penelope said as she appeared on the screen. “Your herald bears tidings.”

“What you got, Mama?” Derek asked as he turned to the screen. 

“The sheriff I.D.’d both the dead home invaders,” Penelope began to type on her computer pulling up some of the files. “First up is Alex Collison, twenty. Made an impressive list of bad life decisions before he croaked, included but not limited to...possession, a couple of drug charges, a card-carrying member of the Verdugo heights boys.”

“They’re gang members,” JJ realized as she listened to what Penelope was saying. 

“Oh, he was, but slow your roll, home-girl,” Penelope said before she told of the next victim. “Because next up is Ronald Underwood, 19. Zero records, unless you want to count some volunteer work. Straight-A student, putting himself through school.”

“Not exactly the home invasion type,” Emily said. 

“Both from a poor area of town, grew up a mile apart,” Hotch said while he looked down at the tablet in his hands. 

“Hard to actually tell from the crime scene photos of how many assailants there actually were,” Y/N said as she swiped through the photos. 

“Well, if it was gang-related, there could be a lot of them,” Emily said looking at Y/N.

“The homes that got invaded were on the other side of town, a predominantly white area full of middle-class families,” JJ explained the demographics.

“Hey, guys,” Penelope said, bringing the attention to her. “The M.E. report just came in, both of them had high levels of oxycodone in their system.” 

   “That’s strange. Violent crimes like these are normally associated with stimulant drugs,” Spencer said puzzled as to why that was. 

“Like meth?” Y/N asked turning her head to look at Spencer next to her. 

“Yeah, like meth.” 

 “Underwood’s as straight as an arrow,” Derek began. “Collison’s a garden-variety gang-banger. I grew up with knuckleheads like that, high-risk break-ins, and oxy, that’s not their M.O.”

“Regardless, we need to get ahead of it. The press has got a community on the verge of panic,” Hotch explained. “JJ and I will coordinate with the sheriff’s office, I want the rest of you at the crime scene.” 

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

Y/N walked into the home of the Lewis’, inspecting all the blood on the walls. It almost felt like she could hear them scream for help and she so desperately wanted to go back in time and save them from all this. The shattered family photos and the torn-up house just made her feel so unsettled. 

 Y/N turned as she had finished with the room she was in and headed out meeting Emily in the hallway. 

“You alright?” She asked as she saw Y/N’s sad face.

“Yeah, just family annihilators, they always hit me differently, you know?” She said as they turned and walked down the hall towards the stairs. 

“Ballistics confirmed that the rest of the Lewis family was shot with the same 357,” Spencer said as he turned and watched Y/N and Emily walk down the stairs together.

“So if it was a gang, there was only one shooter,” Rossi stated after processing the information he had just received. 

“The second and third victims were Trisha Lewis and six months old Blake,” Emily said. 

Spencer shook his head at the thought of a six-month-old being killed. 

“The injury patterns suggest that Mrs. Lewis tried to shield the baby with her own body,” Y/N said with a sigh trying not to let herself get worked up. 

 “Matt Lewis was found right here,” Rossi said with his hands pointed to the floor. “Ronald Underwood just over there-” he pointed to the blood spot to his left- “Underwood was shot eleven times in the head and abdomen.”

“But Lewis himself only had a single gunshot wound to the head at almost point-blank range?” Spencer questioned.  

“How did someone get that close?” Y/N asked looking between Rossi and Spencer. 

“He could’ve been subdued first,” Emily proposed. 

“The M.E. didn’t find any signs of a blitz attack or struggle,” responded Spencer. 

“Well, it had to be an ambush of some kind,” Derek said as he inspected some of the walls with blood spatter. “Probably when he was confronting Underwood.” 

“But that’s almost impossible based on where the body was found,” Spencer said looking over at Derek. 

“It’s right in the middle of the room,” Emily said as she looked at the bloodstains. 

“It’s too out in the open to surprise somebody,” Y/N said agreeing with Emily. 

“Matt Lewis wasn’t shot here,” Rossi said as he pointed to the spot where the body was found. 

“No, but someone moved the body to make it look like he was,” Spencer said. 

“Forensic countermeasure designed to make us think that these guys died in a gunfight that never occurred,” Derek said as he realized what probably happened. 

“Bullet and blood everywhere, too messy for an accurate reconstruction,” Rossi said. 

“Okay, so the unsub gets the drop on Matt Lewis,” Y/N said as she pointed to where Matt Lewis was found. “He then kills the rest of the family, and then leaves behind a drugged-up patsy to cover his tracks?” 

“This wasn’t a burglary at all. There was a higher purpose here, they’re staging the crime scene as some kind of message,” Spencer said. 

“This guy’s trying to make it look like black kids from the hood are killing white families, in white neighborhoods,” Derek said. 

“Pretty powerful message,” Emily said.

“No kidding,” Y/N added as she shook her head. 

The five finished up in the house and decided to head back to the station

“You good?” Spencer asked her as they walked out of the house, noticing how she was looking a bit upset. 

“Yeah, yeah, I just can’t believe what happened in there really, family annihilators you know they just get to me, this one more than the others,” she explained to him. 

“Yeah, this one is sad, I get it,” he said as he looked at her. “But we’ll catch him like we always do, and if you’re lucky you’ll get to put the cuffs on him.” The last statement was a hope to make her smile because he loved her smile so much.   

It worked. 

A smile crept up to Y/N’s face. “I might just do that.”

-----------

 Y/N sat in the station the next morning. Head laying on her arms as she looked at the crime board on the wall. Another family had been killed last night, so they had been added to the board.

 She stared at the victims of the first two families, they looked so much like hers. She saw herself in the shoes of the young girls, the memories of her childhood overwhelmed her. She lifted her head up and rubbed her face with her hands lightly, not wanting to rub the makeup on her face off. 

The feeling of a warm hand on her back made her pull her face out of her hands. She looked beside her and saw Spencer as he sat down after taking his bag off, a coffee in his hand. 

“You didn’t bring any for me, I see how it is,” Y/N said with a fake hurt expression on her face as she leaned into the back of her chair. 

“Actually-” he pointed to her right side- “I did think of you.” 

Her heart fluttered, “You sure know the way to my heart Spence.” She grabbed the large coffee cup and took a sip from it. The warm liquid running down her throat soothing her. 

“Hey love birds, we’re about to give the profile,” Derek said leaning into the room they were in. The two stood up and made their way to where the rest of the team was.

 “We believe we’re looking for a white male, in his late twenties to early thirties,” Hotch said, beginning the profile. 

“Wait, wait, wait,” A deputy said quickly. “I’m sorry, I thought we were looking at black gang-bangers?” 

“The unsub has been staging the crime scenes to make it look like black gangs and undocumented immigrants were responsible,” Derek said to the deputy.

“Why would anyone do that?” The deputy asked. 

“We think he’s trying to create some racial conflict,” Y/N said hoping that was the best way to answer. 

 “In 1969, Charles Manson orchestrated the Tate-La Bianca murders, in the hopes of creating a race war between the blacks and whites that he referred to as Helter Skelter,” Spencer explained. 

 “A name he stole from a Beatles song,” Rossi added, the comment only being funny to the team since they knew that Rossi’s friends with Ringo.

“Members of the Manson Family left watermelon rinds at the scene of the crime and also painted panther paws on the wall in blood in the hopes of convincing authorities that the black panther was responsible,” Spencer continued on his explanation. 

 “Hate groups like the Aryan Nation believe that race war is not only inevitable but necessary,” Hotch said looking over the see of officers. 

 “Our unsub may be a member of one of these groups,” Emily added. 

“Aryan gangs have a strong presence in prisons, so he may be an ex-con or even possibly related to a convict,” Y/N said. 

“We think he may also be some kind of zealot,” Rossi began. “He believes his war is already being fought, and these murders are a mission to him.”

“And like a soldier, he is willing to put himself in harm’s way,” JJ added. 

“The unsub may also be vulnerable somehow, weak mind, or even lonely. His cause gives him a sense of power and belonging,” Spencer said giving more depth to who the unsub might be. 

“He’s physically fit enough to move dead bodies, so he’s probably young,” Derek said. 

“But not too young as to be impulsive,” Y/N added quickly.

“These attacks took planning and focus. So, he’s disciplined,” Rossi said. 

“He uses oxycodone to drug his unwilling partners,” Spencer explained. 

“He does this without killing them, which shows that he is knowledgeable about dosages,” Y/N said. 

“And oxy is expensive, so look at medical care professionals and caregivers, anyone with access to prescription drugs,” Emily said. 

“This unsub is dedicated and driven, it makes him especially dangerous. Surrender is not likely part of his strategy,” Hotch said as the profile came to a close. 

---------

“Hey Hotch, Y/N,” Derek said as he walked over to the two that were sitting at a desk going over some geographics to help Spencer with his profile. “There’s a mayoral race in town, and there’s a guy named Clark Preston all over the news.”

“Looks like he’s running a close second,” Y/N said as she looked at the tablet in Derek’s hand. 

 “Yeah, and check this out,” He scrolled down and clicked on the video. 

“These vicious home invasions are a sign of the times,” Clark Preston said in the video. “As demographics change, so do crime rates. Now we may not be able to slow the browning of America, but we can sure as hell take our city back. And if you elect me, I’ll lead that charge.”

“The browning of America?” Y/N asked with astonishment. 

“That’s a damn near hate speech,” Derek said as he looked at Hotch.

 “He’s using the murders to further his campaign and I guess people are rallying behind it,” Hotch said. 

“So what if our unsub is nothing like Manson? Manson never got his hands dirty, what if our unsub is more like his followers?” Derek proposed. 

“You think he’s being manipulated?” Y/n asked pulling her legs up in the seat she was sitting in. 

“Maybe even unintentionally, but either way, rhetoric like this could fuel his fire,” Derek said. 

“We should talk to Preston,” Hotch said, nodding to the tablet. 

“I already sent a car,” Derek told Hotch. 

“Good,” was Hotch’s short response. “Y/N, do you mind talking to him with us, your knowledge in political science might help,” Hotch said turning to the woman in the chair. 

“Sure,” she said with a nod. 

“I can’t tell you how happy I am you’re here gentleman,” Preston said, not even acknowledging Y/N in the room. “Maybe now someone will stop these savages, what can I do to help.” 

Derek looked at Y/N with one raised brow in question, after noticing that the politician in the chair wouldn’t even look at her. She just shook her head while she shrugged her shoulders and listened to what Hotch was saying. 

“We were hoping to talk to you about some of your rhetoric,” Hotch asked as he looked at Preston across from him. 

“My rhetoric,” Preston said, it wasn’t a question just him repeating what Hotch said hoping he heard him right. 

“We believe the recent murders maybe hate crimes,” Derek said walking closer to Preston. 

“Some of the things you say, well they maybe be construed as inflammatory,” Y/N said while she moved spots to stand behind Hotch.

“Agent Y/L/N’s referring to some of your recent campaign speeches and the references to the murders,” Hotch explained.

 “We believe that whoever’s responsible for these crimes is impressionable and may be responding to the vitriol,” Derek said. 

“You think I’m responsible?” Preston asked, turning to look at Derek. 

“Nobody said that,” Y/N said crossing her arms. Preston never even looked at her when she spoke. 

“If this person is motivated by racist sentiments, then what you are saying publicly may be affecting him,” Hotch explained making Preston turn his attention towards him.

“You’re profilers right?” Preston asked. 

“Right,” Hotch responded. 

“You study behavior, not actual facts,” Preston’s comment made Y/N sigh. “And then you come up with theories.” 

“It’s really, not that simple,” Y/N said as she looked at the man. For the first time, he looked at her, and then he rolled his eyes at her statement.

“I’m sorry, who are you a secretary or something?” The blood in Y/N’s body boiled with rage at the question. She then watched Preston turn to Derek, “I’ll bet you had to work extra hard to get in the bureau, didn’t you? Probably still have to prove yourself on a regular basis. I respect that. I wish there were more like you.” He took small pauses in between each statement.

The man stood up from his chair and began to head towards the door. “I’ll cut back my media appearances, for now. But I suggest you start proving some of those theories of yours. And get some of those hard-working men to arrest those punks doing this.” 

The way he said men made Y/N want to punch him so bad that she had to fit the urge to walk over to him and do just that. 

“You gentlemen enjoy your day,” Preston then let himself out, once again not acknowledging Y/N. 

 “We should check out his list of contributors and his staff, it might be somebody in his camp,” Hotch said standing up from his chair.  

“We need to check him out, too,” Derek said. 

“No kidding,” Y/N said stilled enraged by the man. “Did you see what he was doing? Or more like wasn’t, he wouldn’t even acknowledge my presence and than he dared to ask me if I was a secretary.”

“The guy is no doubt a racist and is also very sexist,” Derek said.

“Oh yeah for sure,” Y/N said as she walked over to Derek by the door. 

  “Come on Pretty girl, don’t let him get you all riled up,” Derek said to her as they walked out of the room. 

“I know, I know, it just makes me angry,” Y/N said as she and Derek walked over to the area where the rest of the team sat.

“What makes you angry?” Spencer asked as she sat down beside her. 

“Clark Preston, not only is he a racist, and let that be known when he spoke to Derek, but also he is majorly sexist,” she grabbed a paper cup from the middle of the table and then poured herself some water. “The whole time we were speaking to him, he didn’t even look at me, and the one time he did he rolled his eyes and asked me if i was a secretary.” 

“Are you serious?” Emily asked with disbelief.  

“That’s ridiculous,” Spencer said while he shook his head. 

“Uh-huh, you know Derek if he is a part of this, you know what would make me so happy,” She said as she turned to Derek. 

“What’s that?” He asked her. 

“If we got to arrest him, but I want to put the cuffs on him, just to let him know that a woman has power over him,” she said with authority.

Derek laughed before agreeing and promising her that if Preston was a part, they would do that. 

The team sat scattered at various desks around the station they were at. Y/N stood next to Emily and Spencer as they looked over some maps of the area. Rossi sat at a large desk to left and Derek in a desk behind them towards the right. 

“Hey, talk to me, doll face,” Derek said answering his phone to talk to Penelope, everyone’s attention now drawn to Derek and the woman on the phone. 

  “I got some dirt on your mayoral candidate, Clark Preston,” she spoke. 

“He’s a politician, that shouldn’t be hard,” Rossi said as he walked over to be closer. 

“Yeah, he’s a real estate lawyer who ran for city council last year and lost,” Penelope explained. “And he’s rich, as in if money was dirt he’d be filthy. He quadrupled his net worth in the last ten years, mostly from real estate.”

“So he managed to thrive despite the area’s economic downturn,” Spencer said in realization. 

“What do you mean by mostly?” Y/N asked leaning closer to Derek’s phone so that she could be heard. 

“Well, he is on the board of several financial institutions. Hedge funds, pension funds, oh, he likes to shuffle his money around. Even found some offshore accounts of his, I did,” she said giving what other dirt she could find on Preston.

 “You only do that if you’re trying to hide it,” Emily said.

“What about his staff and contributors?” Spencer asked the woman on the phone.

“Uh-uh. No, they’re clean,” she said.

 “Alright thanks, Garcia,” Derek said before he hung up the phone.“Preston’s a part of this, me and Y/N both think so.”

“Yeah you should have seen him in there,” Y/N said as she turned to Emily. 

“He’s sexist, racist, and a little shady, maybe, but a murderer?” Emily asked as she looked between the two.

“It may be just a feeling, but I know he’s in this, we just need to figure out how,” Derek explained.  

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

The next morning the team arrived to bad news, as another family was killed earlier that morning. Surprisingly this time, the guy the unsub would have left for the blame got away.

 “His names Ramon Gomez, he’s an undocumented immigrant from Mexico City and he’s pretty freaked out,” JJ said as her, Y/N, Derek, Spencer, and Emily stood in front of the room Ramon was in. 

“That’s pretty understandable,” Y/N said while she folded her arms over herself. 

“Was he able to give a description of the unsub?” Spencer asked as he looked at JJ. 

“Uh, just of the vehicle, his English is not that good,” JJ explained. “We put an APB out.”

 Emily nodded her head, then turned to walk into the room with Ramon in it. “Hole, mi nombre es Emily Prentiss,” she said to Ramon. 

The four others stood outside and watched as she interacted with the man sitting at the table.

“This poor guy,” Y/N said as she looked at the frightened man sitting at the table. 

The three beside her hummed in agreement as the continued to watch and somewhat listen to what Emily was saying to Ramon. He pulled his arm out showing scars on his arm. He then got a look of realization on his face as he remembered more.

Emily then thanked him and walked out of the room to the other four. 

“He remembers hearing a train and then loud music,” she said as she came to the four standing. 

“That’s something, let’s get started,” Y/N said and the five began walking towards the area they had been working in. 

“There are approximately two hours between Ramon’s abduction here-” Spencer pointed to one spot on the map- “and his escape here. He crossed the train tracks here. Now, given the time and distance parameters, there’s no way the unsub could have ventured outside this radius.” 

“Okay, so he said the train was close, and he heard laughter and loud music,” Emily said. 

“I looked at points of interest next to the train tracks and there really isn’t much. There’s a warehouse, a taco stand that would have been closed, and a bar called the drunken dog ” Spencer explained.      

“Why stop there? He need a drink?” Rossi asked. 

 “He doesn’t seem like the drinking type,” JJ said. 

“Yeah, he’s not impulsive or sloppy enough,” Y/N said sticking her hands into the back pockets of her pants. 

“I live to serve you, sir,” Penelope said as she answered Hotch’s call. 

“Garcia, what can you tell us about a bar called The Drunken Dog?” Hotch asked.

“Ooh, I like it already. Let’s see- uh- it’s been around thirty years. It was opened by a warehouse worker named Manny Gresham, upon his death six years ago it was bought by a hedge fund company called First Advantage.”

“Why would a hedge fund company want a bar?” Emily asked. 

“Let’s see. Well, they bought it for a song,” Penelope began. “And, poor man, his medical expenses bankrupted him, I guess that’s why-- shut the front door.” 

“What is it?” Y/N asked. 

“Clark Preston is on the board of First Advantage, which explains why the bar is on a shortlist of local businesses that support Preston for mayor,” Penelope answered.

 “Of course it is,” Y/N said as she sat down on the desk behind her.

“Okay we missed something, we need to go back over his staff and contributors again,” Emily said looking at Spencer beside her. 

“They all came up clean,” JJ said.

“Garcia, look up DMV records and find every registration in the area that matches the description on the unsub’s vehicle,” Derek said to Penelope over the phone. 

 “Okay, 79 names and I’m way ahead of you, none of them match anyone Preston’s team-” she stopped. “What the what? Oh. I’m good at my job. Pamela Mills donates monthly to Preston’s campaign. Her son Trevor, his car matches the description, and it’s registered in his name.”

“Got a photo and an address?” Y/N asked.

“Yes, I do. I also have a place of work for Trevor. He is a part-time messenger, I’m sending it now,” Penelope said pressing ‘enter’ on her keyboard aggressively. 

“Alright JJ, Morgan, and Prentiss take the workplace, we’ll take the house,” Hotch said dismissing everyone to go off. 

  ---------

“What do you have, Garcia?” Hotch asked as he sped down the road, lights on in case they were stopped. 

“Sir, I found the connection between the Mills family and Clark Preston. Ten years ago, the Mills were the victims of a home invasion. Robert Mills, the father, and 10-year-old Julie were killed. Pamela was raped, and now she has a lot of brain damage, that has left her in a near vegetative state,” Penelope said explaining the sad story of the family. 

“What about Trevor?” Spencer asked. 

 “He hid in the closet and when it was over, he called 911,” Penelope answered. 

“That’s why he stuffed that boy in the closet,” Hotch said referring to the last family that was killed.

“He was reliving his own victimization.” Y/N said in realization.

“He didn’t do that to the other children he murdered because he didn’t relate to them,” Rossi said. 

“Garcia was anybody convicted of the crime?” Hotch asked.

“Yes, a Ronnie Green and Carlos Jackson. Both African American, both serving like in Folsom,” Penelope said before she continued with her story. “And then after the murders, Preston, he financially supported the family almost entirely. “ 

“So they’re close, he’s known the family for years,” Rossi stated. 

“That must be how they’re paying Pamela’s medical expenses,” Spencer said. 

“Yeah, it would be really hard to cover with Trevor’s part-time messenger salary,” Y/N added looking to Spencer beside her. 

‘Yeah, I mean, it’s a top-flight policy,” Penelope said reading the health care bill.

“So Preston is playing the savior,’ Rossi said. 

“And it looks like that monthly donation, that Pamela makes to Preston's campaign, is her disability check,” Penelope added.

“My guess is Trevor authorized that because he feels beholden to Preston,” Rossi said piecing together why that would happen. 

 “He probably Idolizes him,” Y/N added. 

 “So Preston is manipulating the Mills family to further his own agenda, he’s behind everything,” Hotch said coming to the conclusion that Preston was part of it all along.

 “He took advantage of Trevor in a vulnerable state and made him trust and then brainwashed him,” Y/N said. 

“Turned him into a killer,” Spencer added. 

 “Uh, guys,” Penelope interrupted. “There’s something else, Preston bought the Mills home after the invasions.”

The tires came to a screeching halt as Hotch pulled up to the Mills house. The four hoped out of the car, taking out their guns and walked to the front door. 

 Hotch pounded on the door, “FBI!” 

When no answer came, Hotch pushed the door in and entered the threshold of the house. Y/N stood between Rossi and Spencer as they walked into the house. They then split up and looked around the house, Hotch and Rossi downstairs, Spencer and Y/N upstairs. 

  Y/N held her gun out in front of her as she entered a small guest room. She made sure the room was clear before walking out and meeting Spencer in the hall. 

“You find anything?” She asked while she holstered her gun on her hip. 

“Yeah, this note,” Spencer said as he inspected the note in his hand. 

“Come on, let’s go find Hotch and Rossi,” She said before they walked downstairs. 

 “He’s not here,” Y/N said as she walked into the room with Hotch and Rossi. Spencer close behind her. Pamela Mills was seen laying in the bed not moving but looking at the four by her door.  

“I found this in his bedroom,” Spencer said holding out the letter he found. “It’s addressed to her,” he said referring to Pamela.

“ ‘The price of peace is sacrifice, and I’m prepared to pay that price, no matter how high. I hope you’ll still love me.’ This is a goodbye letter,” Rossi said after reading the letter. 

“Or a suicide note,” Hotch countered. 

“He doesn’t profile as suicidal,” Spencer said in a hushed tone not wanting to disturb the woman in the bed. 

“No, but he knows this could be his final mission,” Rossi said. 

“He may want to go out in a blaze of glory,” Y/N said as she glanced at the woman in the bed. 

“It’s all about the election, he’s only got one move left, we need to secure Mayor Wennington, I’ll have the rest of the team find Hilary Ross,” Hotch said pulling out his phone to call Derek. 

They headed back out to the car and got an address for Mayor Wennington heading over to his house. Y/N walked up the front door, the three men with her following behind closely. 

“Mayor Wennington?” She asked when the door opened and a white-haired man in a loose-fitting tie answered.

“Yes,” he responded. 

“Hi, I’m Agent Y/N Y/L/N, this is Agent Hotchner, Rossi, and Dr. Reid, we’re with the FBI,” she said introducing the men behind her. 

“Is this about those recent murders?” The Mayor asked with concern. 

“Yes, sir, we have reason to believe you might be in danger, would you come with us,” she said gesturing to the car in his driveway, 

“Yes, of course, let me grab my coat,” he turned around and walked ten steps to a coat rack to grab his jacket before he headed out the door with them. 

“Yeah, Morgan,” Hotch said answering his phone while they walked to the SUV.

“We’re on our way to Hilary Ross’ house now, she’s still not answering her phone,” Derek said.

 “All right, call local police, he’s not going to go quietly,” Hotch ordered.

“You have Mayor Wennington?”

“Yeah, keep me posted,” Hotch said before hanging up. 

----------

The next day, Y/N pulled into Clark Preston’s campaign office parking lot with Rossi ready to arrest him. 

“You want to do the honors kid?” Rossi asked Y/N as they exited the vehicle they were in.

“Absolutely,” she said with a smile, her wish from the previous day coming true. 

“I hope this is a good enough birthday present,” Rossi said with a smirk looking at Y/N.

“Who told you? Penelope? I thought she would’ve dropped that by now,” she said with a laugh as she opened the door to the office.

The two agents walked back to the room where Preston was sitting. 

“Clark Preston you’re under arrest,” Y/N said as she walked over to the man sitting at his desk. She pulled him out of his seat and placed her handcuffs from her pocket on him. 

“For what?” He asked defensively. 

“For orchestrating the murders of the Mitchells, Lewis’, and others,” Rossi said as he and Y/N began to lead Preston out of his office. 

“What proof do you have?” He asked trying to find a way out of the situation. 

“Voicemails left by Trevor Mills,” Y/N said shoving him when he stopped walking.

“Voicemail messages? That’s ludicrous, that boy is mentally unstable, always has been,” Preston said. 

“Clark Preston you have the right to remain silent,” Y/N said, not only because she had to but because she really didn’t want to hear his pathetic excuses anymore.

“I’m Innocent!” He tried to protest. 

“And please feel free to exercise that right,” Rossi said grabbing Preston’s other arm as he tried to move out of Y/N’s grasp.

“Anything you say can, and will be used against you in a court of law, you have the right to an attorney, if you can’t afford one, one will be appointed to you,” She continued as Rossi opened the door and led them out. 

--------

“Come on, Spence please tell me where we are going,” Y/N asked, her arm linked with Spencer as they walked down the street. 

“I can’t do that Y/N, you know that,” he said as he led her further down the road. 

“Can you tell me if this has to do with my birthday?”

“Maybe.”

“Oh, come on, I told Penelope that we really didn’t have to do anything,” Y/N said as she shook her head. 

“Well, I learned that you need to let them have their moment with you, cause they’re the closest thing you’ve got to family here until you have your own,” Spencer explained to her as he looked at her with a smile.

Y/N sighed in defeat, knowing Spencer was right. 

“Oh look we’re here, can’t believe you didn’t notice where we were going before,” he said as he turned to Y/N’s favorite dive-bar in the downtown area of D.C. Spencer began to pull her inside but she stopped him before he could walk up the small stairs to go inside. 

“Wait- Spencer, before we go in, I have to do something,” she said pulling on his arm making him turn to her. 

“What is it?” He asked facing her with a curious look. 

She replied by placing her lips on his in a gentle kiss. It was a kiss that made both their stomachs do flips. His hands reaching up to grab her face as hers gripped the front of his coat. A year and a half's worth of bottled up feelings were expressed as Y/N deepend the kiss. 

“I just really wanted to do that,” she said to him after they pulled apart. A smile came on Spencer’s lips and he pulled her in again for a shorter but just as meaningful kiss. 

“I really like you Y/N,” he said face still close to hers. 

“I really like you too, Spencer,” she said back with a smile. “Come one let’s go in.” 

The happy couple walked into the bar seeing their friends standing in a corner to the left of the door. 

“There’s the birthday girl!” Penelope said as she saw Spencer and Y/N walk in. 

“Happy Birthday!” They all said. 

Y/N blushed as she approached the table, “Thanks, guys.” 

The team laughed, drank, and danced till the late hours of the night. Even Hotch laughed and gave Y/N a hug as they all danced to the music. A smile stayed on Y/N’s face the whole night as she danced with all her friends and drank happily. 

Spencer watched the woman he was beginning to fall in love with belt the lyrics to a Coldplay song that played through the speakers and dance with Penelope and JJ. Y/N looked over and saw Spencer staring at her at her and walked over to him. 

“You know it’s rude to stare,” she said with a giggle.

Spencer laughed, “I wasn’t staring.” The blush on his cheek told Y/N otherwise.

She quickly grabbed his arm and started to pull him onto the dance floor.  

“Oh no, I don’t dance really-” he tried to protest but Y/N wasn’t having it. 

“You do tonight!” 

She brought him to the dance floor Penelope and JJ yelling ‘Hi!’ over the music as they started to dance again. Y/N tried to help Spencer move less awkwardly and he eventually started to get the hang of it. Taking Y/N’s hand in his he spun her around and danced with her. A smile formed on their faces hoping the moment would never end.

tag list (let me know if you want to be added!!):

@throughparisallthroughrome​ @word-scribbless​ @nintendumbfuck​ @confused-and-really-hungry​ @justine-en​

[hellreads]

Thank you for your blog it's really helpful sksjsksj anyway i don't know if you like dark themes(yandere, supernatural, psychological) but if you do what are the best fic you can recommend? Especially Jimin's? Thank you in advance ❤️❤️

hello there lovey! thank you for appreciating my blog, btw I LOVE DARK THEMED FICS and I have read a lot of stories with said theme (yandere and psychological are part of my fave reads), anyways, I will be listing below my favorites for every member, you can also check other fics on my organized shelf in case you’re looking for specific stories xxx | 🍒

Kim Namjoon

❥ Let the Villain Win by @lemonjoonah➴ Author/Yandere!AU | Namjoon x Reader | One-Shot➴ Kim Namjoon, famous author and your childhood friend has been keeping a secret from you. His new book treads on such dark themes that he’s finding it difficult to write. Excited by the prospect of a sinister plot you offer him a piece of advice, “Let the villain win…”

❥ First, Do No Harm by @psycho-slytherin➴ Doctor/Yandere!AU | Namjoon x Reader | One-Shot➴ Dr. Kim is well known as the most skilled heart surgeon in the hospital, but when you notice his mortality statistics seem skewered, you discover all is not what it seems. Now, Dr. Kim is offering you a choice: will you join him? Or become yet another broken heart beneath his scalpel?

❥ A Little Bit of Sugar (but lots of poison too) by @lthyl➴ Noir!AU | Namjoon x Reader | One-Shot➴ Namjoon is well aware that some, well actually most people could find his hobby not exactly common, yet he still considers himself to be a man of tasteful words and higher intellect - someone who managed to understand the true, deepest meaning of beauty itself.

Kim Seokjin

❥ A Portrait’s Whisper by @jimlingss➴ Supernatural!AU | Seokjin x Reader | One-Shot➴ When you’re trapped in a house controlled by a witch’s power, Seokjin will go through every means to search for you again.

❥ Cake by yeyeniejjung➴ Killer/Yandere!AU | Seokjin x Reader | Series➴ “I was always hungry for your love. Just once, I wanted to know what is was like to get my fill of it. I wanted to be fed so much love that I couldn’t take it anymore, just once.”

Min Yoongi

❥ Dead Leaves by wrienne➴ Police/Det!AU | Yoongi x Reader x Jimin | Series➴ In which you (reader) are a homicide detective about to face the biggest hurdle both of your career and life.

Married to probably the kindest but most boring man you’ve ever met and living in a town where nothing ever seems to happen means life for you is dull. Dull enough to drive you crazy with boredom and dissatisfaction. However, life changes abruptly when your old boss retires and a new man takes his place - a man you used to love (and sleep very regularly with) more than a decade ago. Especially when your husband comes home smelling of perfume, you’re unable to resist your more carnal urges and dead women start showing up across the city with unnerving frequency.

Jung Hoseok

❥ Lost and Found by @fortunexkookie➴ Peter Pan!AU | Hoseok x Reader | Series➴ The only hope you had at ending your exile and earning your life back came in the form of an infuriating and uncatchable man: Hoseok. He seemed to love the endless game of cat-and-mouse you two played - so much, in fact, that you were unsure if you were the cat or the mouse. What he failed to realize was that there was a third player, and this one wasn’t after him. The Crocodile hunted you with an intensity that rivaled the way you chased Hoseok, but with one difference: the games he played were deadly.

❥ Taken at Dusk by @yeontanismypresident➴ Hybrid/Yandere!AU | Hoseok x Reader x Jungkook | Series ➴ The moment you sauntered into the party, his gaze was locked in on your form. Everywhere you went, his eyes followed along, not wanting to lose you in the huge crowd of sweaty bodies. There was something about you that drove his instincts wild. Was it your scent? Your attitude? The manner in which you held yourself? He didn’t have a clue and he couldn’t have cared less, so long as you were his and his only. And he would do anything to make that happen.

❥ Red Door, Yellow Door by @polaritae➴ Supernatural/Incubus!AU | Seokjin x Reader x Hoseok | One-Shot➴ In hindsight, maybe going into a trance to communicate with the spirit world was a bad idea.

Park Jimin

❥ Eradicate by @gukptune➴ Purge!AU | Jimin x Reader | One-Shot➴ A hotel intern finds himself trapped between death and lust.

❥ Neighbors by @jkeuphoriadreamland➴ Neighbors/Yandere!AU | Jimin x Reader | Series➴ Finally achieving your successes in life you never expected the distraction that came with your new hot neighbor. He however, had been trying to get your attention for a much different reason.

❥ Otherworldly by @sinning-on-a-sunday➴ Coraline!AU | Jimin x Reader | Two-Shot➴ When you discover a tiny door in your home that leads to a much better version of your own life, it seems too good to be true. little do you know, the man posing as your boyfriend may be a lot more dangerous than you care to admit. and he is not intent on letting you leave.

❥ The Uncanny by sinsirella➴ Stalker/Yandere!AU | Jimin x Reader | Series➴ “The uncanny is the psychological experience of something as strangely familiar, rather than simply mysterious.” An everyday object or occurrence can be experienced as something unsettling and alienated. This is accompanied by a discomforting effect and—most of the time—leads to an outright rejection of said subject. Or Someone.(Y/N) is a young girl whose Life turns upside down. One day her mother surprises her with news of her arranged husband, forcing her into her new chaotic lifestyle. Join her journey and experience her new life through her eyes. Will she get along with her husband? Or someone else? What are they hiding?

❥ Nine-One-One by @yminie➴ Det/Killer!AU | Jimin x Reader | Series➴ When murder and crime threaten the city of Seoul, there’s a team in place to help keep the public safe, but just what do you do when all your training is to help others, and the one that needs help is actually you?

❥ Devotion by @sugaxjpg➴ Angel/Demon!AU | Jimin x Reader | One-Shot➴ As an angel questioning your place in Heaven, the last thing you needed was for someone like him to appear.

❥ The Devil’s Own Luck by @jimlingss​➴ Demon!AU | Jimin x Reader | One-Shot➴ You should’ve known that opening that box would’ve made your luck go rotten. And not only that, but a certain demon would end up following you for the rest of your days. Introducing the devilish boy - Jimin! Your childhood best friend from the underworld who will never leave your side!

Kim Taehyung ( I read a lot of dark fics for Taehyung so just check my shelf)

❥ Beastly Gods by @lemonjoonah​➴ Hybrid/Yandere!AU | Taehyung x Reader | One-Shot➴ ‘Don’t leave the forest,’ a rule that you’ve been forced to follow since birth, but you are tired of living in this wooden cage. Out of desperation you cut a deal with Taehyung, who claims to be the only one who can get you out safely, even though he might be just as dangerous as the god you’re trying to escape.

❥ Minutiae by coconutty ➴ Stalker!AU | Taehyung x Reader | Series➴ Y/N meets a mysterious and alluring photographer and wants to interview him. Along the way things start getting a bit strange. What happens when you draw the attention of someone who always gets what they want?

❥ L’Appel Du Vide by @infireation​➴ Killer!AU | Taehyung x Reader | Series➴ //

Jeon Jungkook (I read a lot of JK dark fics too so pls just check my shelf)

❥ Only You by @sweetbunnykook (+ all of her stories!!!)➴ Lovers/Yandere!AU | Jungkook x Reader x Namjoon x Jin | Series➴ Jeon Jungkook, your wedding photographer, helps you escape on your big day upon learning about a secret your groom-to-be kept hidden. You soon fall for this young, passionate photographer. However, you underestimated just how much he was willing to reciprocate that love. Maybe, you think, he’s loving you just a little too much.

❥ Every Breath You Take by @junqkook​➴ Stalker/Yandere!AU | Jungkook x Reader | Series➴ Everything was going great when you first met jeon jungkook. he was a new light in your life with soft smiles and tinkling laughs; but then you noticed a lurking presence that seemed to follow you wherever you went.

❥ Lust by @umitae➴ Stalker/Killer!AU | Jungkook x Reader | Series➴ Everybody has a lust for something. but his lust was beyond the ordinary one. his lust for you was out of this world. he only wanted you and in order to make you his, everything had to go his way.

OT7 (so all possible dark tags apply to these stories so please please please check all tags and warnings before reading!!!)

❥ Extreme Obsession by saylilirose➴ Psychological/Poly!AU | OT7 x Reader | Series➴ In life, you meet one person that you live and grow old with. You? You meet seven. But your love? Non-existent. But theirs? Real…and obsessive.Which turns deadly and dangerous. Without hesitation.

❥ The Scarlet Lust by infires_fanfic➴ Vampire!AU | OT7 x Reader | Series➴ Your world becomes turned upside down as a series of unfortunate events places you directly in the hands of a clan of blood-thirsty vampires, where you become their one and only human servant. Filled with uncertainty, strange emotions and many questions, what truths will you uncover? Are your new keepers the intimate form of evil incarnate, or is there humanity hidden beneath the surface of their statuesquely beautiful faces?

[eating-plastic]

Autumn Leaves: Henry Barrow x Reader

Warnings: fluff, first kiss, Henry and reader reunite, some swearing, murder, death (Henry and Marie go sicko mode on Gallows Creek), some guilt (Henry questions his mother's actions), I feel like I gotta say this but spoilers (mostly for the bad ending of the game), probably some grammatical errors

Word Count: 2576 words

A/N: Hey everybody! Let's break up the puppet master stuff with some x reader thingys. Leading the pack is a sequel to my first Henry x Reader fic Carnival Lights. I wasn't going to write a part two, but someone wanted it, and that got me brainstorming. It's funny, I never thought I'd like Henry so much (well, I like my version of Henry lol). Enjoy!

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

Ever since that night at the carnival, Henry never forgot you. The first chance he got, he tried to call you. He wanted to believe that you gave him a real number, but there was still this sliver in his mind that wouldn't have been surprised at you deceiving him.

Of course, the moment he heard your voice on the other end of the phone, guilt consumed him for thinking such. You were so happy to hear him, eagerly asking how he was doing and asking him what he had seen on his "road trip" with his mother. He told you everything, with the exception of all the "murder stuff".

Despite wanting to make his mother proud, and wanting to see her plan through, he missed you. That longing to see you again grew with every phone call. With every mile driven in-between the two of you.

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

Henry was lying down on the bed in the motel room his mother had rented. While he was originally listening to the TV, now he was just staring up at the ceiling. His mother sat on her own bed, writing in a notebook on her lap and occasionally mumbling something. He brings his wrist up to his face to look at his watch. It was almost time for him to find a phone booth and call you. He always tried to call you at a set time, so he would never miss you.

He sits up and stretches, before walking to where he and his mother's black trench coats hung.

"I'm going out to get some fresh air, mom," he calls while putting on his coat.

"Alright, be careful,," she replies, glancing up from her notebook, briefly.

"I know," he opens the door and exits the room.

Henry wastes no time walking to the phone booth that stood by its lonesome. He pulls his coat tighter around himself when he enters. It was autumn now, and the weather was getting chilly. He reaches into his pocket for some quarters and inserts them into the machine. He always made sure he carried change on his person now.

He then raises the phone to his ear and waits.

"Hello?," you chirp from the other end.

"Hey, Y/N," he smiles at the sound of your voice.

"Oh, Henry! Hi! How are you?" you ask. He can practically feel your cheerful nature radiate through the phone.

"I'm doing alright. How have you been?"

"I'm good. Nothing too big to report. Just hung out with friends a bit," you respond.

"Well, as long as you're doing okay," he thinks for a moment. "I uh...the road trip's been fine. In fact, tomorrow's the last day."

Tomorrow. The big day. The day that Gallows Creek pays. And then after that...well...Henry wasn't too sure. His mother said that they could finally live a normal life, but where? He thought about asking her to move to your hometown, but then he'd probably have to explain why. And if she said "no"....

Fuck it. He was going to see you again, no matter what she decided.

"Oh, did you have fun?" you question.

"Yeah, it's been fine. I just...I really miss you," he sighs.

"I miss you too. Will you...will you ever be in town, again?" your voice drops.

"I want to. Believe me, I do. I'm...I'm gonna see if my mom would think about swinging through, again. You know, after tomorrow," he decides.

"Really?" you light up.

"Yes...really," he nods to himself.

"And...and if she says 'no'?"

"Then I'll figure something out. Look, I'm not gonna stay away from you any longer than I have to, okay?"

"Okay," a small smile spreads across your face.

"Okay," he parrots. "I, uh...I guess I should say goodbye now, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so," you sigh. "Good night, Henry."

"Good night, Y/N. I...," he stops himself. "I...I'll see you soon. I promise."

"You better," you quip.

You both hesitate, before ending the call. Henry lets out a shaky breath as he puts the phone back. He was really going to do this. He was really going to go through with his promise.

With that, he walks back to his motel room. When he enters, his mother's bed was now littered with pictures of different people. People he had never seen before. As he glances at them, he feels a bit of guilt twist in his gut. Some of the people in the photos had smiles on their faces, looking innocently into the camera. They really did remind him of you.

He just shakes his head and turns his attention back to the TV. He didn't want to think about that. Instead, he thought about how the faster Gallows Creek reaped what they sowed, the faster he could see you again.

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

As night fell on the small town of Gallows Creek, so did a dark, suffocating cloud. Blood stained the streets under the moonlight. While only some who were lucky managed to escape the wrath of Marie and her son, a devastating list of victims piled up.

Then the end came. Henry visited the radio station KFAM, and stared at the silhouette of Forrest Nash. A savior to few, but definitely not to all. He could hear his mother as she slowly cut away at the man that took everything away from her, Teddy Gallows Jr.

Life really was cruel. His mother, young and alone, trying to raise him with what little money she could scrape up. Meanwhile he sat upon his ivory tower getting richer and richer. If he had it his way, he would take a swing at him too. But no, his place was here. His job was to kill the loose end.

Then Peggy came into the picture. He remembered looking at the photo of his aunt, he did feel a bit ill. She had a smile similar to your own. It was bad enough having to listen to her screams as she died, but Forrest made it worse. He begged, he cried, he sobbed. He wanted Henry's mother to stop, and honestly he did too.

When he had enough, he burst into the room and stabbed him over and over again. Henry just wanted him to shut up, he wanted it all to shut up.

Once he was done, he ran out of the station, keeping to the shadows of the dark alleyways.

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

Henry continues to stare up at the ceiling of the motel room. His mom had been gone for a while now. Sure, there was no possible way that cops could stop her, they both made sure of that. But of course that wouldn't stop vigilante justice from rising up. His mother was just one woman, and a group of people who wanted to avenge their slain neighbors could easily carry that task out. Fortunately, he hears the sound of the lock to the motel room clicking.

His mother walks into the room and removes her mask, an exhausted look on her face.

Henry gets up from his bed and runs over to her.

"Mom, are you alright? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Henry," she nods. "I'm...more than okay."

"So, it...it's over, now?" he asks, hopefully.

"Yes, it's done," she raises her hands to hold her son's face. "Now we're free. We can finally live a normal life."

"Where?"

"Anywhere you'd like," she smiles.

"Really?"

She nods once more.

"Then...then can we live...," he gives her the name of your hometown.

"I don't see why not. Although I don't know why out of all places you'd want to move there."

"I, um...," Henry sighs. "There's something I have to tell you."

A look of concern spreads across Marie's face.

"Okay."

"I...remember when we stopped there and...I had to kill that man at the carnival?"

She nods.

"And I told you that someone was following me around?"

"Yes."

"That...that wasn't true."

Marie's eyes widen.

"Henry," she places a hand over her heart.

"I know I should've done what you told me, and I did...eventually. I...I had fun with them, mom. For once in my life I felt normal. For once in my life I had fun. I...they gave me their number and I've been keeping in touch with them ever since. I...I love them, mom."

He finishes his confession and doesn't break his gaze from his mother's face.

A whole range of emotions go through her mind. She was upset at her son for lying to her. For getting distracted. Then again, that man paid in the end and...and her son was in love. And how was that something to be upset over.

"Oh, Henry," she pulls him into a hug, which he returns. "Remember to hold onto them tightly. To never let them go."

He nods.

"Now," she pulls away. "We've got a bit of a trip ahead of us. We need to rest up the best we can."

Henry smiles, and his mother walks away into the bathroom. He looks down at his hands. Hands that were conditioned to bring pain and death. But not anymore.

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

Leaves in shades of oranges and browns dance in the wind as Henry walks down a sidewalk in your hometown. He and his mother pulled in a couple of hours ago, and he needed to stretch his legs.

Oh, and he also wanted to look for you as well.

He could've called you, but he wanted to find you. He wanted to surprise you. Luckily, he gets his chance.

As he passes by some diner windows, he glances inside and sees you sitting at a booth, too invested in your menu to notice him.

He enters, and you still don't look up. You don't look up until he is right by your booth.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Your head shoots up and a smile spreads across your face.

"Henry!" you stand from your seat and pull him into a tight embrace. He happily returns it. "When did you get into town?"

"A couple of hours ago. Decided to do some exploring."

You giggle and pull away.

"Oh! Are you hungry? Do you wanna have some lunch with me?" you ask

"Food sounds great."

Henry was no stranger with diner food once his mother decided to set her plan in motion. And you know what? He still enjoyed it. From eggs and pancakes to greasy hamburgers and french fries. So he ate what he ordered so eagerly, that you playfully asked him when the last time he even ate was.

Once the two of you finished eating and he made sure to beat you to paying at least for his own food, you decided to show him around town. All while you held his hand in your own, this time without the barrier of his leather gloves.

As you both walk, a flier catches your attention.

"Oh, hey! I got an idea!" you exclaim.

"What is it?" Henry asks, intrigued.

"The fall festival starts tomorrow. Do you wanna go?" you look up at him, still beaming.

"With you?" he asks, jokily. You nod.

"Well then. I think I do."

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

You stand by the entrance of the festival, glancing around. Your friends came by and asked you to join them, but you told them you were waiting for someone, so they hesitantly left you be.

You eagerly bounce on the balls of your feet, the smells of cinnamon permeating the air. Then you spot him walking towards you, a smile on his face and his hands in his black trench coat pockets. You run to him, greeting him with a hug as you did back at the diner.

"What took you so long?" you ask.

"Sorry, my mom and I had to, uh, figure some things out," he says in a way that makes you want him to explain.

"What do you mean?" you look up at him. "How long are you two staying?"

"Hopefully forever."

Shock spreads across your face.

"Wha-wait? What?"

"Yeah, we...we're trying to find a place to live."

"I...," joy consumes you and you hug him even tighter. "Oh my God! Really?"

Henry chuckles and returns the hug, before patting you on the back.

"Come on. Are we gonna stand here, or are we gonna go to a festival?"

"Oh, right! Sorry," you pull away, and he offers you his hand, allowing you to drag him wherever you wanted to go.

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

The night was no different to the night when you both first met, filled with games and candied apples. The only changes were that the weather was colder, and Henry was warmer.

Now the two of you were sitting at a picnic bench drinking some hot cocoa. While you were interested in your sweet beverage, he was glancing up at the lights strung up above you.

"This is nice," he remarks absentmindedly.

"It is," you smile over at him. He takes a deep breath before turning to you.

"Can I tell you something, Y/N?" he gazes into your eyes.

"Of course you can," you say, your cheeks growing warm from his eyes.

"I like this," he begins. "I like...I like hanging out with you."

"I like hanging out with you too, Henry," you nod.

"It...it's more than that," he shakes his head. "You're so sweet, so gentle. It's hard to believe that someone like you exists....And honestly, I am so happy that...that you decided to follow me around."

You let out a small laugh that makes his heartbeat increase.

"Yeah, I'm...I'm happy I decided to bug you, too. I had way more fun with you than I would've had by myself."

"There's...one more thing," after some debating in his head, Henry takes both of your hands into his own. "Until I met you, I didn't have the best life. My mom had me when she was young and my dad was killed. She had no one...she had nothing, and she tried to give me the best life she could, but....I knew that that life wasn't normal, that I wasn't normal. But you didn't care. You saw something in me."

He moves closer to you.

"When I'm with you, I feel normal. I feel so happy with you, and...a-and I love you, Y/N....I-I really really do."

You were silent throughout his whole confession, but you're smiling harder than you had ever before.

"You mean it?" you lean closer to him.

Henry nods, smiling back at your positive reaction.

It was at that moment that you felt like your happiness was overflowing, bubbling over the surface. So you do the first thing that comes to your mind.

You kiss him.

It's a little rough and awkward with you doing it so impulsively and with Henry having never kissed someone before, but you two evened it out rather quickly. And it felt like the best experience in your life. Both of your minds were completely empty, the only resident now being bliss. To make it even better, you both taste the hot cocoa on each other's lips.

Eventually, you two pull away, your smiles still not wiped away.

"I love you too, Henry," you begin. "I promise that I'll do anything I can to keep you happy."

Henry laughs.

"Believe me, Y/N, with you, that won't be very hard."

[vrheadsets]

Razer Blade Pro featuring NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Arriving Next Month for $4,000

Last October VRFocus reported on Razer announcing the launch of its premium laptop range, the Razer Blade. The company also released spec details for its top-of-the-range model, the Razer Blade Pro, but didn’t state prices or availability. Today Razer has done just that.

Being the top flight model the Razer Blade Pro packs a punch with a Intel Core i7-7820HK Quad-Core Processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 GPU making it completely ready for virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMDs).

The laptop has also qualified for THX Mobile Certification, covering the display and audio output. This means the audio jack met THX requirements for voltage output, frequency response, distortion, signal-to-noise ratio, and crosstalk that guarantees clear sound through headphones.

“The Razer Blade Pro is a top-level laptop providing an excellent THX viewing mode and audio experience,” says Ty Ahmad-Taylor, CEO of THX. “It can easily handle extreme gaming and content creation with exceptional mobile audio and visual performance.”

“The Blade Pro was recently hailed as the ultimate Windows laptop, and we’ve leveled-up on our previous achievements with certification by THX,” says Min-Liang Tan, Razer CEO and co-founder. “Each refinement of the Razer Blade Pro moves us closer to an ultimate desktop replacement.”

To buy all this tech won’t come cheap, it’ll set you back $3,999.99 USD / $5799.99 CAD / £3,799.99 GBP/ €4,499.99 EUR. If you’re still interested the Razer Blade Pro will be available from April 2017 via Razerzone.com and select retailers.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Razer, reporting back with the latest VR related announcements.

Full Specification List:

THX® Certified Mobile Device

Intel® Core i7-7820HK Quad-Core Processor (2.9 GHz / 3.9 GHz)

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1080 (8GB GDDR5X VRAM)

17.3-in. IGZO UHD G-SYNC, 16:9 ratio, 3840 x 2160, with LED backlight, with capacitive multi-touch

Windows® 10 64-bit

512 GB SSD RAID 0 (2x 256 GB PCIe M.2) / 1 TB SSD RAID 0 (2x 512 GB PCIe M.2) / 2 TB SSD RAID 0 (2x 1 TB PCIe M.2) options

32 GB Dual-Channel System Memory (DDR4, 2667 MHz)

Anti-ghosting individually backlit ultra-low-profile mechanical keyboard powered by Razer Chroma

Killer DoubleShot™ Pro:

Killer™ Wireless-AC 1535 (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth® 4.1)

Killer™ E2500 (Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000)

Thunderbolt™ 3 (USB-C™)

USB 3.0 port x3 (SuperSpeed)

HDMI 2.0 video and audio output

SDXC card reader

Built-in stereo speakers

Dolby® Digital Plus Home Theater Edition

7.1 Codec support (via HDMI)

3.5 mm headphone/microphone combo audio port

Built-in webcam (2.0 MP)

Array microphone

Razer Synapse enabled with programmable keyboard, trackpad, backlighting, and fan control

Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0) security chip embedded

Kensington™ security slot

Compact 250 W power adapter

Built-in 99 Wh rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery

Approx. Size: 0.88 in. / 22.5 mm (Height) x 16.7 in. / 424 mm (Width) x 11 in. / 281 mm (Depth)

Approx. Weight: 7.69 lbs. / 3.49 kg

from VRFocus http://ift.tt/2oda6Px

[eating-plastic]

Heart-Shaped Roller Rink: Roller Ricky x Reader

Warnings: A lot of tooth rotting fluff, slow burn, age gap (reader is implied to be in their early 20s, Roller Ricky is in his late 30s), some swearing, first kiss, a bit of city life slander (sorry for my city lovers), mentions of alcoholism, mentions of going to the hospital, Roller Ricky just pouring all of his trauma out to you (poor bby), Max being a good boy, probably cringy dialogue, probably an incorrect assumption on how transferring colleges and buying houses worked in the 80s, probably some grammatical errors

Word Count: 7910 Words

A/N: Yay, my first x reader fic! How fun! This may seem rough around the edges, but I’m still very happy with what I came up with. I’d like to thank all the 80s love songs I listened to that helped me with writing this lol. Anyhoo, I , like most Killer Frequency fans, absolutely fell in love with Roller Ricky, so I knew I had to write an x reader fic with him. See you!

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

Ever since you were small, you’ve had a fascination with the simplicity of small town living, despite living in a large city your whole life. Anytime you and your family would go on a road trip, you’d always stop to get gas, eat, and just walk around the small towns you’d come across. You liked the architecture, the less stuffy air and streets, the people that radiated the friendliness of a greeting card. It was like walking into a whole new world that you always felt yourself longing for even into your adulthood. Still, you never really thought you’d ever truly live in one. The little job opportunities and often lack of colleges is what kept that simple life you wanted just out of reach.

That was until your roommate came back from her winter vacation with some news she had known you would love. While driving to a cabin her family had rented out, she drove through a small town that she knew checked all of your boxes of what you were looking for. You wanted to believe her, but you didn't want to get your hopes up in case it would just be another town you’d only live in when you dreamed. That was until your roommate showed you some polaroid pictures she had taken when she stopped for gas. Gallows Creek, she said it was called, and the best part: it had a college.

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

To make a long story short, a bunch of back and forth phone calls and a bunch of paperwork being mailed later, your mission of transferring was 90% completed. Only one problem still remained: Where you were going to live. Well actually there was also the problem of getting a job, but you’d tackle that once you’ve found a place to live.

You have only ever gotten a couple of surprises in your life, but none of them and any of the surprises following will trump the one you got when you found out you would be able to own an actual house in Gallows Creek. Specifically, there were three houses on the market, all one story and all in pretty good condition. Your spring break was spent with Gallows Creek Realty looking at the houses yourself, because you honestly couldn’t believe that you really could own a house with your college student budget. You couldn’t even afford a tiny, dingy apartment in your home city with the money you had. Small towns apparently had the added bonus of having affordable, nice houses. Either way, a good deal was a good deal, and by the end of your spring break you had made your decision.

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

The end of the semester felt like it took both forever and a mere second to arrive. You packed up as much of your stuff as you could in your car, putting whatever couldn’t fit in your parents’. You had picked a cute little house on Romero street. Not only did you like the house, but you liked the location too, finding yourself surrounded by possible job opportunities. Sure it was gonna be a bit of a drive to get to your classes, but considering that you didn’t have to worry about backed up traffic, you could handle it. As soon as everything was unloaded and you said your goodbyes to your parents, you slumped down in one of the chairs in the living room. Today you would just worry about unpacking, organizing, and most importantly relaxing.

Once you caught your breath and looked around the room at where your stuff could possibly go, you started unpacking. You got halfway through organizing your silverware in your new kitchen, when there was a knock at the front door. Upon opening it, you were face to face with a friendly looking, elderly couple.

“Hello there, dear,” the old woman started. “We had noticed you had just moved in and wanted to give you a warm welcome.”

You looked down and saw her offering you a small plate of fresh baked cookies.

“Oh, thank you!” you carefully take the plate from her old, weathered hands.

“We’re the Castevets,” the old man said, offering you his hand to shake. “Your neighbors on your right.” 

You take his hand and introduce yourself before shaking his wife’s hand as well.

“So, what brings you to Gallows Creek anyways?” Mr. Castevet asked.

“Yes, it’s not a place many move to. Especially those as young as yourself,” Mrs. Castevet adds.

You had no problem providing them an explanation. You were used to explaining your love for small towns and how Gallows Creek had everything you wanted.

“Besides,” you conclude. “If everyone is as nice as you two, how couldn’t I move in?”

The Castevets laugh, before the husband of the duo reaches into his back pocket to find a small packet.

“You’ll find a couple of hardasses, but they’re few and far between. Here, for you,” he hands you the packet, which appears to be a brochure of Gallows Creek. Inside of it was a map with a description of each significant place your new home held.

“Thanks! I’ll definitely be needing this, tomorrow,” you smile at the couple.

“Well, I think we should leave you to continue unpacking. Just wanted to show you a bit of Gallows Creek hospitality,” Mrs. Castevet decided, her husband agreeing with her.

You said your goodbyes, leaving you alone once more to unpack, but this time with a plate of cookies and good spirits to keep you going.

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

You had decided your second day in Gallows Creek would be spent getting acquainted with the town a bit. Mostly trying to find a job and get some groceries, but a bit of exploration wouldn’t hurt. You left with high spirits that only soared higher when the Castevets greeted you from their front yard garden. 

Your search was…decent. It wasn’t terrible, I mean sure, only three out of the six places you had visited were hiring, and one of them was the Gallows Reporter which had one of the few hardasses that Mr. Castevet had mentioned, so that one was probably out, but still. You weren’t going to be discouraged, though. You look at the map you were gifted while you walked. 

‘There’s still the supermarket,’ you thought. ‘I need groceries anyway. Let’s see…there’s also the library…KFAM-.’

“Woah woah woah, careful!”

A voice pulls you from your thoughts and your map as you quickly move out of the way. An older woman in bright aerobics clothes stops in front of you and continues to jog in place. Despite almost crashing into her, she still seemed cheerful.

“Careful there, dear. I coulda hitcha,” she said while still holding a smile on her face. “I don’t think I recognize you, stranger.”

“Yeah, sorry. I’m new to Gallows Creek,” you hold your hand out and introduce yourself. “Sorry, I should have been watching where I was going.”

“Oh, don’t you worry about that. I’ve tripped over more people than I can count. Anyhoo, I’m Sandra. It’s always nice to meet new faces,” after shaking your hand, Sandra looks down to the map in your hand, all while still jogging in place. “Oh, what are you looking for?”

“I’m just exploring the town a bit. Trying to find a job and all that-.”

“Oh, you’re looking for a job? Good! I’ve got a position just for you at my jazz studio! Come on!”

Sandra takes your hand before you can speak, and drags you down a block or two before you come face to face with a large, brightly colored building. 

“There! Now let's see…I’m sure I can whip up all the paperwork you need! Then, we’ll-!”

“Sandra!” of course you are happy that she was so quick to offer you a job, but first you needed to get some things out of the way. “This is really nice of you, but what will I even do?”

“Oh, your job is simple. Let’s see…you’ll help keep the studio tidy, pick out songs to play for a session, decide routines, keep equipment organized and clean oh and you can even participate in classes absolutely free,” she counts off your potential tasks on one of her hands. “You’ll do fine. Besides, my hours are very flexible. You just give me a call, okay?”

You honestly couldn’t believe what you were hearing. It was just like you getting your house. There had to be a catch, right?

“Nope! No catch at all!,” Sandra exclaims. “Now, why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself.”

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

It shocks you how an older woman like Sandra could have so much energy that makes even you feel exhausted. Still, she was a very friendly and even encouraging woman, which you found out when you had mentioned college. When you checked your watch and saw that it was three o’clock, you had to wrap the conversation up. On top of being high energy, Sandra could really talk about anything and everything. You told her that you would keep in touch with her, a.k.a take her offer. I mean, you weren’t going to pass up another good deal. 

You would also rather have Sandra as a boss over that “hardass” at the Reporter.

Now, you are walking back home with two large bags of groceries in your arms. Sure, you would’ve been able to buy more if you had backtracked to your house for your car, but with it literally being walking distance, it seemed like overkill. Besides, you were saving money by only buying necessities and not getting gas. 

As you walk up to your front door and set your groceries down to find your keys, you look up to the house on your left. You haven’t met that neighbor yet. After you put your groceries away, you’ll head over to see if anyone’s home. 

You didn’t know what to expect with your other neighbor. You thought about who they could be as you put groceries away. You imagined that they’d be as friendly as the Castevets or Sandra. Then again, they could also be a total asshole. No, if Mr. Castevet was right, then the chances that they are a dick would be slim to none. 

Well, only one way to find out. 

With the last of your groceries put away, you head out your front door and walk towards the house. You don’t even realize that you are fiddling with your hands in a nervous manner. 

‘What do I have to be worried about?’ you take a deep breath. ‘If they’re an asshole, then just don’t talk to them.’

The way you saw it, one good neighbor that always had your back would always outweigh the rude and antagonistic. You also knew that when you were nervous about something, it always arrived faster. Case and point, you were now on your other neighbor’s doorstep. 

Whelp, here goes nothing. You raise your fist and knock three times.

The sound of a loud dog barking makes you jump, even though it doesn’t sound malicious. You hear a man’s voice on the other side of the door, but it’s too muffled to make out exactly what he is saying. Probably trying to calm the dog down if you had to guess. When the door opened, you were a bit taken aback.

Not in a bad way. Nope, definitely not in a bad way. In fact, you would have to say that the man you were now looking at was probably one of the most handsomest men you have ever seen. Short dark hair, a nice build from what you could tell from your peripheral, a nice face, and the one feature that had captured you the most: his dark eyes. They looked friendly enough, and yet they looked like they were concealing…something. You didn’t know what, but you did know that you loved staring into them…and that you had been staring for way too long.

“Um, hi, sorry. I just wanted to introduce my-woah!” your awkward rambling gets cut off when you feel a cold, wet nose nudging and sniffing your hand. You look down to see a large, but friendly staring dog looking back at you.

“Sorry about that. Looks like Max wants to say ‘hi’ back,” the man laughs nervously. You note that you like his voice. You reach your hand out to the canine, who closes the distance between it and his head. You scratch his ears, causing his tail to wag.

“That’s okay. Um, let me start over,” you introduce yourself properly this time, just saying that you’re his new neighbor who just wanted to say “hi”.

“Oh, right! Yeah, I wanted to walk over and introduce myself, but I had to take someone for his evening walk. I, uh, thought it was too late. I tried again this morning, but the Castevets told me you had left. Just my luck, huh?” he offers his hand out to you, which you shake. His hand was nice.

‘Jeez, was there anything about him that wasn’t nice?’ you wonder.

“I’m Ricky, but most folks around here call me Roller Ricky. Got it because of how often I’m at the roller rink,” he explains.

“Makes sense,” you say, smiling. “Does Max here have any fun names too?”

Ricky laughs, and you have to refrain yourself from thinking about how nice it sounds. 

“No, not that I know off. I just call him ‘Maxy’. He should get a fun name, though. He’s even better at skating than me.”

“He can skate?” you ask, and instantly get the image of the big dog trying to move around with skates on his paws.

“Yep! I taught him everything he knows,” he beams before his face drops. He curses and spins around to shut his door that had still been open this whole time. He turns back to you and once again laughs nervously. “Sorry. Bugs.”

“Oh shit! Right, yeah. I, um, I should probably wrap this up,” you don’t want to leave, but the urge to be polite overrides it. You do have a small epiphany, though. “Hey, the roller rink? It’s nearby, right? Maybe I’ll swing by tomorrow. You know, to see Maxy skate.”

“Yeah, sure! That’ll be great. He loves to show off, don’t you boy?” the canine moves away from you and back to his owner to get some attention from him. You laugh.

“It’s settled, then. See you tomorrow, Roller Ricky. See you, Max,” you turn to head back home, causing the canine to whine in confusion at his new ear scratcher walking away.

“Yep! Be seeing you too!” and with that, Ricky reopens his door to usher Max back inside.

You didn’t even realize you were back in your house until the sound of the front door closing behind you roused you from your thoughts.

That truly couldn’t have gone any better.

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

“Oh, good choice! That one’s always been a favorite of mine,” Sandra exclaimed at the album you pick out for one of her sessions, tomorrow. “Now let’s see….Oh, I haven’t done this routine in a while!”

Working with Sandra was as simple as she had described. It honestly just felt like you were working with a friend, even though you have only known her for less than 24 hours.

You showed up at the jazz studio that morning to accept her offer. You had to wait a bit as Sandra had a class going at the moment. Once it was done and everyone funneled out of the large gym room, you entered. Sandra was ecstatic to see you, and even more so when you accepted her offer. Now, you two were in her colorful office full of extra exercise equipment and albums on both cassette tapes and vinyl records. What was supposed to be you both coming up with the agenda for tomorrow's classes, was mostly just you and her talking. As such, you were constantly looking down at your watch to make sure you wouldn’t be too late with meeting Ricky and Max at the roller rink. 

You’d be damned if you never saw Max on roller skates.

“I wouldn’t be too worried, you know,” Sandra smirks at your fidgeting. “He’s called ‘Roller Ricky’ for a reason. He and his dog are always at that roller rink even into the late evening. Besides, he’ll definitely wait up for a pretty little thing like yourself.”

“Sandra!” you blush at her words, but with how you talked about your interaction with Ricky yesterday, even a blind man would be able to see the crush you had on him.

“You know…if it really bothers you so much, you can just go make sure everything in the gym is organized and clock out. I’ll take care of the rest-ah, and I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer,” Sandra cuts you off before you can object.

It feels wrong leaving after barely doing anything on your first day, but Sandra really wasn’t going to let you stay. With that, you walk to the gym, put a few things away in their proper places, and walk out the door.

One thing you had quickly grown to love about Gallows Creek was how close everything was. Even now, as you almost walk past the actual roller rink due to how lost in your thoughts you were, you still enjoyed it. 

Walking through the front doors causes you to find yourself face to face with bright neon colors, upbeat music, and the collective chatter of all the people. You notice that there were a lot of families on the floor of the rink, telling you that this is a popular place for kids to spend their summer break. The thought makes you smile but also nostalgic. 

“Oh, hey! There you are!”

A voice rouses you from your thoughts, and you look up to see Roller Ricky with a wide smile on his face and leaning on the fence that separated the entryway from the actual rink.

“You didn’t think I was going to stand you up, did you?” while it comes out as a joke, you really hope he didn’t actually think you were going to flake on him.

“What, you? Nah! You don’t seem like that kind of person.”

“You haven’t even known me for an hour, and you already know everything about me? Do you have a good judgment of character or something?” you quip. 

“Eh…that’s debatable, but for the sake of the argument I’ll say yes.”

You laugh, until a furry creature on the rink floor catches your attention.

“No way,” you let out a laugh in disbelief. Turns out Ricky wasn’t lying at all when he said that Max could skate well. He was gliding in between adults and children alike as if he didn’t even have skates on, occasionally getting a scratch behind the ears here and there. 

Ricky grins at your reaction.

“Did you think I was lying?”

“I don’t even know anymore,” you say, shaking your head. What you were seeing was both impressive and sad. Impressive because it was a dog roller skating as if it was second nature. Sad because a dog knew how to skate…and you couldn’t.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Ricky reaches over to unlatch a gate next to him and opens it, gesturing for you to enter the rink floor. “Let's get you some skates and have some fun!”

“Wait, what? Ricky I don’t think that’s a good idea,” you stutter out due to the suddenness of you being pulled from your focus on Max.

“What’s wrong? Do you not know how to skate?” he cocks his head to the side.

“Um…yeah,” might as well be honest with him.

“Is that all? That’s nothing to be worried about! Come on, I’ll teach you!” he once again gestures for you to enter.

You glance back at the rink floor. There were a good amount of people. It wasn’t packed by any means, but still enough for you to potentially bump into or knock someone down. Not to mention all the people that would see you fall on your butt over and over. 

And yet the reassuring look on Ricky’s face caused you to hesitantly enter. He latches the gate behind you before you follow him over to some benches.

“Alrighty, the first part of skating is easy: Tell me your shoe size,” the statement makes you laugh and almost melts your nerves. Almost. You tell him your size and remove your shoes to trade for your skates. He disappears into a small room next to the benches, however he quickly sticks his head back out to look at you. “Hey, second question: what’s your favorite color?”

You tell him and he disappears once more. A couple of seconds later, Roller Ricky reappears holding skates in both your size and favorite color.

“Voila! See, you’ve already got the first part of skating down.”

You laugh again. Perhaps this wouldn’t be too bad after all. You take the skates and put them on, being sure to fasten them tightly. 

“Okay, you ready to go?” he beams.

“As ready as I’ll ever be…I guess,” you try to mirror his enthusiasm, but clearly it must not have looked convincing.

“You’ll be fine. This next part isn’t too difficult. You just need to work on your balance. Here, take my hands and just hang on, okay?” he holds his hands out, which you take. 

Once again, maybe learning to skate wasn’t going to be that bad.

That thought only lasted a mere second as you stood up. Your legs instantly felt wobbly and your grip on Ricky’s hands only grew tighter.

“You’re okay. Just keep hanging on,” he gives you an encouraging smile before looking over his shoulder to make sure he wouldn’t bump into anyone as he started to skate backwards.

Your legs still felt like Jell-O even with Ricky confidently gliding backwards. You could only imagine what you looked like to the other skaters. The scene of Bambi walking on ice came to your mind. Yep, you probably looked just like that. Even with your self depreciation on your lack of skating skills, Ricky still looked at you as if your legs weren’t as unstable as a newborn giraffe’s. Occasionally he would even tell you that you were doing fine.

After a bit of gliding, and a reassuring boost from Max coming to say “hi” to you, your legs felt sturdy and you began to feel confident in your skates. Ricky saw this new found confidence too, and felt that it would be time for you to master your next lesson.

“See, look! You got this part down to a tee! You wanna try to actually move now?” he asks. 

After glancing around the rink and seeing that a couple of people had left, you made up your mind.

“You know what? Yeah! Let’s do it!”

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

By the end of the day and a couple of trips onto your butt later, you had gotten the hang of actually gliding from one end of the rink to the other. You still felt a bit clunky, but you considered the fact that you weren’t slipping anymore to be a victory. A lot of your confidence of course, had to go to Roller Ricky. He truly was a good teacher. Always encouraging you and treating every little bit of progress as an achievement. Even when you did inevitably fall, he had laughed at you, but not in a malicious way. It was always playful and he would calm your embarrassment by saying that everyone slips their first time around.

Now, you were sitting back on the benches untying your skates, feeling much better about yourself than you did when you first sat down.

“Now, what were you so worried about? You’ll be a natural in no time,” Ricky grinned while waiting for you to get your skates off.

“I owe that all to you. You’re a really good teacher,” you hand him your skates.

“Why do you think I charge people for lessons?” he joked while walking into the small room to get your shoes, but the tone was lost on you.

“Oh yeah, right, of course! Uh…how much do I owe you?” you called to him. He returned to you with your shoes, smiling and shaking his head.

“Don’t worry about it. Consider it a ‘good neighbor’ discount,” he winks. 

‘How did I luck out and meet such generous people?’ you wonder. 

Every effort to try and get Ricky to tell you how much you owed him fell on deaf ears.

“How about this,” he begins. “I’ll consider us even if you can buy a bag of jerky for me and Maxy to share from the vending machine. That’ll be your payment.”

You decide to take it. It was something. After all, Ricky deserved it for not only being a good teacher, but a nice person too. And Max was just always a good boy, so he deserved a snack as well. 

You had learned a bit about Ricky while he was teaching you. You had learned that he played football in high school which explains his nice build, how he was still into the sport although now watching instead of actually playing, how he enjoyed occasionally going on long drives to nowhere in particular with Max, how he would occasionally jog with Sandra which would explain how she knew him, his favorite movie genre was comedy, he had a preference for spicy foods, and the most shocking revelation of all: he was in his late 30s. You thought he was in his late 20s at most from how young he looked. Perhaps you were just used to men his age being so worn down from the bustling life of the city.

Still, with everything he had revealed about himself, there was still something he was trying to protect. That didn't really shock you. Your…friendship, if that was the proper word, was still very new. While he did say he considered you a friend after you both talked about yourselves, you just weren’t used to making one so fast. If you tried doing that in your home city, people would think you were crazy.

With all the reflection you were doing on the day, you didn’t even realize you had put money into the vending machine near the front doors of the roller rink and got Ricky and Max’s jerky until you heard the sound of it hitting the slot. You grab it, before walking back. As soon as you are close enough to Ricky, you toss the bag towards him. 

“Woah!” he grabs it, before smirking at you. “Thanks! Now enough of this ‘paying’ stuff, got it? This is good enough.”

At the sound of Ricky tearing open the bag in his hands, Max eagerly begins to glide towards his owner. Ricky scratches behind the canine’s ears, before asking him to perform a couple of tricks for a jerky strip. It amuses you greatly. However, as luck would call it, your stomach began to growl.

“Augh, I guess that’s my cue to head home and make some dinner,” just like when you first met Ricky, you didn’t want to leave. 

“Oh yeah, I guess I have kept you here long enough, huh?” he rubs the back of his neck.

“Don’t worry about it. Besides, I had fun, ‘teach’,” you quip, causing him to chuckle. “I’ll be seeing you two tomorrow?”

“Only if you’re not busy,” he nods.

You nod back to him, and feel the overwhelming urge to kiss him before leaving. Self control pushes the thought to the back of your mind just as quickly as it had popped up, though. You settle with giving him a smile, before turning and walking out the front doors. At least you thought you saw Ricky looking as disappointed about you leaving as you did too. 

‘Damn you, stomach.’

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

You really loved the smell of ‘Rise and Shine Coffee’. It became common for you and Sandra to head there after her noon class. She claimed that she needed a bit of extra “pep” before her session at 2 o’clock. You enjoyed these little coffee breaks with her. Although, you really could take or leave trying to keep up with her as she always insisted on jogging to the coffee shop instead of a leisurely stroll. 

It was August now, and your new life in Gallows Creek was still positive. Your relationships with Sandra, Ricky, and of course Max were still going strong. Even the Castevets never stopped being friendly towards you, occasionally bringing you leftovers from their dinner the previous night. Mrs. Castevet even made you some red, white, and blue frosted cookies for the 4th of July. 

Unfortunately, you were going to have to prepare for your time with everyone to become limited. Classes were going to start up at the end of the month and you could feel the mix of excitement and nerves in your stomach. Maybe that's why you barely touched your muffin. It could’ve very well been untouched because the urge to confess your feelings for Ricky were starting to become almost unbearable, though.

“So let me get this straight,” Sandra begins. “You have had a crush on this man since the day you met him and practically see him everyday…and you still haven’t told him you are absolutely in love with him?”

“It’s not that easy, Sandra,” you take a sip of your beverage. “If I confess and he doesn’t feel the same, I’ll ruin everything. We’ll never be able to properly hang out with each other ever again. Besides…you really don’t think that the fact I’m kinda…younger than him is an issue?”

“Of course it’s not an issue!” Sandra looks at you as if you had said something absurd. “You’re pretty, you’re sweet, you’re attentive…you’ve got a great taste in music.”

Sandra continues to list off as many good qualities she could about you, before you cut her off.

“Sandra, I’m serious. I really, really like Ricky, and I really don’t want to ruin everything we have.”

“Hun, I have known Roller Ricky longer than you have. You confessing will not ruin everything,” she reaches across the table of the booth the two of you were sitting at and takes your hands, squeezing them reassuringly. She thinks for a moment, before a smirk forms on her face. “You know…I wouldn’t count on him not having a crush on you.”

Your eyes widen at that.

“What are you talking about?” you say, trying to not sound too hopeful.

“Don’t you remember? We go jogging every once and a while. And while we jog…he tells me a lot of revealing things,” she leans in a bit closer to you. “Believe me when I say this, hun. How he talks about you would make a person think that he was head over heels in love.”

“You’re…you’re sure about that?”

“Hm, I don’t know. Have I ever lied to you?”

She had got you there. Sandra was always honest with you ever since the day you had met her. Plus, her closeness with Ricky did make her claim hold some weight. You nod your head and sigh.

“You’ve got me there. So…you really think I should tell him?”

“You tell him, dear, and I’ll give you a raise!”

“Sandra…seriously?” you finally crack a smile.

“Mmhm, I mean it. You confess to him, oh let’s say…before your classes start up, and I’ll give you a 15% raise,” she holds one of her hands out for you to seal the deal. After staring at it for a bit and mulling over her offer in your head, you reach out and shake it. 

“There! It’s settled then!” Sandra nods at you, before changing the subject entirely. “Now, let me tell you what I heard yesterday….”

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

You thought about Sandra’s offer the whole day, even when planning tomorrow's classes. You didn’t want to jump immediately to confessing that day, however you didn’t really know if you would get a better opportunity.

Instead of hanging out with Ricky and Max at the roller rink like always, he had decided to invite you over to his place for dinner. Sandra of course lit up when you revealed such vital information, and you had to tell her it was not a date, even though you really wanted to call it that.

Your brain was a battlefield of “should yous” and “should you nots”. You hated the back and forth and all the doubts. All the fear.

And Sandra was growing tired of it.

“There really is nothing to be afraid of, dear,” she repeats. “Besides, you really don’t have to confess, tonight. You’ve got the whole month don’tcha?”

“I...I know...but tonight would just be so...,” you trail off. Maybe just getting this off your chest as soon as possible would be best.

“It is rather romantic, isn’t it,” a small smile spreads across Sandra’s face. “I don’t think I have ever heard of Ricky inviting his friends over to dinner, before.”

“It’s still something friends do, though,” you sigh as you shoot the idea down.

“Oh, enough of that!” Sandra exclaims, completely done with your negativity. “If you confess tonight, you’ll leave his place, still his friend or something better. I don’t know how many more times I gotta repeat myself before you get it, hun, but I am being completely honest with you. Besides, the weight’s only gonna get worse and worse the long you wait. Now, tell me: which of those sound like the better outcome?”

You’re almost frozen on the spot at your typically happy-go-lucky boss snapping at you, but you know that it’s just her wanting the best for you.

“The...the first one,” you answer.

Sandra nods, before gently pulling you into a hug. You hug her back.

“I’m sorry for snapping, dear,” she begins. “But I know how badly you want to tell him, and I know how badly he wants to tell you. Ricky is as in love with you as you are him, hun. You have nothing to worry about.”

You stay in Sandra’s arms and continue to replay her words in your head. After repeating her words enough times, you are decided. You pull away from her, and look into her eyes.

“Okay,” your voice is barely over a whisper.

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

Your heart to heart with Sandra was very much appreciated. You had to admit, having that moment really helped her encouraging words pierce your mind easier. 

By the time the clock told you to head over to Ricky’s, you felt gassed up and ready to go. Sandra yelled “good luck” to you as you walked away from the studio towards your neighborhood.

Now you were approaching Ricky’s house, with your chin still high and a smile on your face. After getting to his front door, you knock just as you did when you had first gone over to introduce yourself.

‘God, that feels so long ago,’ you reminisce.

Max began to bark eagerly from inside, and you could hear Ricky trying to calm him down before walking towards his door. He opens it and beams when his eyes land on you.

“Hey, uh, come on in,” he steps to the side to allow you to walk inside. “Thanks for coming. I, uh, I didn’t know if you were going to show up.”

“You didn’t think I was going to stand you you, did you?” you joke once more. This makes him laugh.

“Nope! Not at all!” he closes the door behind you.

Upon entering his house, you notice how the interior was arranged very similarly to your own, with the exception of the dog toys, leash hanging by the front door, and a large dog bed next to his TV. 

Oh, and of course the large dog that was greeting you and trying to get you to scratch him behind his ears. You laugh and pet Max before you stick your nose into the air and sniff, catching the scent of something familiar to you.

“Ricky, are you cooking something?” you ask as he walks into his kitchen. He laughs, nervously.

“Well, do you remember how I asked you what your favorite dish was, yesterday?” he calls back.

You let out an incredulous laugh before moving from your spot in the entryway and walking into the kitchen, which was also laid out similarly to yours. The smell of your favorite dish only got stronger as you got closer to Ricky, who had his back to you as he checked the food. You lean against one of his counters and look at what he had prepared. The sight made your stomach growl.

“Now that looks good!” you grin up at him.

“Thanks. I, uh, I really wanted it to turn out perfectly. I even called Mrs. Castevet over to make sure.”

You giggle at that. You really didn’t know if it was possible for Ricky to get any cuter.

He reaches for a cabinet nearby and takes two dishes to put the food on. He opens his mouth to say something but Max’s whining causes his brain to change direction.

“Hey, uh, you don’t mind getting Maxy some supper too. His food’s in the big blue container there,” he nods his head over to where the container sat near a food bowl, water bowl, and a hungry Max.

“Nope, not at all,” you walk over to the canine and coo to him as you feed him.

While you feed and pet the large dog, Ricky places the two plates on his small dining room table. He then turns to get two glasses to fill with water.

You move from your spot near Max to sit at the table. Ricky came back with the two glasses, handing you yours before sitting on his end of the table. 

You eat and compliment him on his cooking. The dish tastes almost as good as how your mother would make it, which impresses you.

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

The rest of dinner was filled with idle chatter here and there, with both of you talking about your days and anything else that came to Ricky’s mind. He was a bit similar to Sandra with how he could pull out random topics to discuss, and like with Sandra, it amazed you. However, he seemed to suddenly shift the conversation to a new topic or be vague about some things. You had noticed this change in how he conversed with you a couple of weeks ago. While it did have you curious, you never questioned him about it.

Now that dinner has come to the end, so has the positive energy. Ricky was deep in thought about something, and the dark eyes that had once hidden some type of pain were starting to reveal itself to you. 

“Ricky, what’s wrong?” you look at him, worried. 

He parts his lips as if wanting to say something, but shuts them. You watch him mull over what he wanted to say in his head, until he finally has it.

“I wanna talk to you about something,” he says, while standing up from his seat. You stand up as well, and follow him into his living room. He sits down on his sofa and you decide to join him. You look at him with concern in your eyes, waiting for him to speak. 

He takes a deep breath before starting.

“I wanna tell you this because…because you have always been so honest  and open with me and…I haven’t,” He swallows before continuing. “And that’s not right of me. You deserve me being open when you have told me so much about yourself and your life, the good and the bad.”

You don’t speak. You want Ricky to feel like he can let out everything he needs to. It’s quiet except for the clack of Max’s nails on the floor as he moves to rest his head on his owner’s knee.

“There was a period of my life that I’m not proud of. I had lost someone close to me…and for years I blamed myself for it. Some of what should’ve been the best years of my life were spent with me drinking the pain away. Even when I would get blackout drunk and wake up with hangovers that made me feel like I was dying, I still drank .That's, uh, that’s the thing about having a problem…you never truly realize how bad it all is until it’s too late,” Ricky closes his eyes, clearly remembering another harsh experience and starts to pet the large canine near him. You give him his time to recover, until he feels comfortable continuing.

“One of my old friends had visited me. Wanted to check up on me. God, I can only imagine what I looked like to him. I probably looked like a blubbering, drunken idiot….The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital. According to my friend, I had passed out and was unresponsive. My breathing was shallow, too. He thought I was dying. Apparently I had to get my stomach pumped. Laying in that hospital bed, I probably did look like I was dead. My skin was pale and I felt exhausted. My friend was there, waiting for me to wake up. He told me that I had a problem and I believed him. It took me winding up in the hospital to realize I needed to get help...so that’s what I did,” slowly, the pain in his voice began to melt away now that he was entering better memories.

“It’s really amazing just how much talking with someone can help. People who are always there for you, even when you relapse…even when the withdrawals start to feel unbearable. I own each one of them for pulling me out of that dark period of my life, especially the one that recommended I get an emotional support dog. I, uh, I bet you can guess who that is,” he cracks a smile while looking down at Max, and you nod. “Eventually, I finally got my life together and I haven’t touched a drop of alcohol since.”

You were speechless. Your tongue felt like it was made of lead. You took this time to process what you should say.

“Jesus, Ricky,” you say in the meantime.

“I just feel like you should know that. You deserve that after how…avoidant I’ve started to become with us talking. You don’t deserve that. You don’t deserve…,” he stops, not knowing how to continue. Fortunately, you knew what to say now.

“Ricky,” you take one of his hands into your own and wait until he turns his head to look at you. “You are very brave for not only going through all of that, but also telling me all of it. I’m happy that you trust me enough to open up, but I didn’t care that you weren’t revealing anything. I’m used to people being distant and private, so I respected whatever you decided.”

It’s true, you really didn’t care. You respected his decision of keeping something so personal private. After all, not many people in the city wore their hearts on their sleeves and broadcasted such things to others. Sometimes not even those they loved. 

Your words dance in Ricky’s head and he glances away from you.

“You really are too good of a person, you know that?” he lets out a weak chuckle. “Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve a friend like you.”

“Honestly,” you begin, wondering if you should really go through with what you wanted to say. “I don’t think there is anything you can say that would make me stop being your friend. Especially not what you just told me.”

‘Oh God, I’m really doing this,’ you thought.

“You are a very sweet, funny, and patient guy, Ricky,” you’re really going to do this. “You have been a wonderful friend to me. In fact, I think you’ve been too good of a friend.”

Ricky looks at you confused, wondering where you were going with this.

“There really isn’t anything you can say that would push me away from you, because…,” whelp, here it comes. “...Because I am in love with you, Ricky….I…I think I have been since the day I met you.”

There it is, you finally admitted it. You finally got it off your chest. While you felt relieved to say it, you still needed to know Ricky’s response. The silence causes you to look down at your hands that are resting on your lap, and you begin to fiddle with them. 

Eventually, all the waiting becomes too much.

“It’s fine if you don’t feel the same. I’ll be okay with that. Just please promise me you’ll still be my friend. Please,” you finally look back at Ricky, who had a surprised look on his face. 

After hearing how small your voice was and seeing the pleading look in your eyes, he realizes that he should speak as well.

“I…you mean it?” he asks.

You nod, unable to find your voice.

“Well,” he begins. “Would you believe me if…if I said that I’m in love with you too.”

Now it was your turn to be shocked.

“Wha-really?” 

“Yes,” before he cracks a small smile. “I have been ever since I taught you how to skate.”

You crack your own smile, back.

“That…that long, huh?”

Ricky nods.

You truly didn’t know a time that you’ve felt this happy. Without thinking, you throw your arms around his neck and pull him into a tight hug. Ricky chuckles at this and wraps his arms around you too. The two of you stay like that for a while, not wanting to let go for fear that this would all fade away, becoming nothing but a dream. After a while, you find something else you can confess. 

“Can I tell you something else?” you ask, pulling away from him.

“Of course.”

“You obviously remember the day you taught me how to skate,” he nods, waiting for you to continue. “Well, when I had to leave to make dinner…I really wanted to kiss you before leaving.” 

This causes his smile to widen.

“Really?” he asks.

“Mmhm, I did.”

“Well,” Ricky drawls, thinking about how to quip at that. “Do you want to have that kiss, now?”

You giggle and nod, slowly beginning to lean forward. He does the same, slowly leaning towards you until his lips touch yours. 

As soon as this occurs, it feels like fireworks explode behind your eyes and electricity runs through your veins. You never thought a kiss could make you feel high.

Max looks up from where he was laying on the floor and wags his tail, sensing both his owner’s and your own happiness.

When the two of you have to finally pull away once more, Ricky rests his forehead against yours. You've never felt so content than you were now in his arms. You had to refrain from giggling at how Sandra was probably going to react to this when you tell her tomorrow. Why think about that though, when you need to savor the now. Especially when there were three little words that were dancing on the tip of your tongue, desperately wanting to get out.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

[eating-plastic]

Headcanons: Roller Ricky General and Relationship Headcanons

A/N: Yes, I know I got done with a whole x reader fic with this man recently, but I got more ideas. This will include expansions on headcanons I mentioned in the fic and ones I didn’t. And yes, some of these will be relationship headcanons because I can’t help myself lol. That’s all for today. Bye!

🛼-It is implied that Roller Ricky would be in his mid-late thirties at the time of the game, but if I were to give him a specific age, I would say that he is 36-37 years old

🛼-He absolutely loves animals, and he occasionally volunteers at an animal shelter near Gallows Creek. While he has a preference for dogs, he doesn’t mind cats. Especially kittens, they are a close second to puppies when it comes to “warming his heart”

🛼-Speaking of animals, I should probably mention Maxy since he and Ricky are a package deal. I headcanon Max as being a German Shepherd. Idk why, that was just the first dog breed that comes to mind when I think of him

🛼-Ricky has a bunch of fun shirts that he sometimes dresses Max in. He even has some matching shirts of his own

🛼-Though he obviously doesn’t play the sport anymore, Ricky still enjoys watching football. He even bought a jersey of his favorite team for Maxy

🛼-While of course he loves roller disco, he also enjoys going on drives with Max in the front seat as a way to clear his head or get away from Gallows Creek for a bit

🛼-I can see him and Sandra being on good terms. While he’s not as crazy about jazzercise like she is, he doesn’t mind jogging with her from time to time

🛼-I see Ricky as being bisexual with a 50-50 spilt preference for men and women

🛼-This is because he is just looking for a person that he can hang out and have fun with. He wants someone who he can wake up with in the morning and go to bed with at night. Someone that he could see himself growing old with, and it doesn’t matter if that person is a man or a woman

🛼-This man is a massive cuddle bug. No one can tell me otherwise. Now, obviously he knows there is a time and a place for snuggling up with you and will respect your wishes on the matter, but if your down, he’ll be down. He also makes adjustments based on if you are shorter than him, taller than him, or the same height as him (I see him being 5′ 10″ / 178 cm)

🛼-While he does have his preferences when it comes to music, he’s not a music snob. If you listen to a genre or artist he’s not the biggest fan of, he’s not gonna tell you that “it sucks”. He’s more than happy that you can hear something in a song that he can’t

🛼-Speaking of music, Ricky will definitely make a relationship mixtape that contains songs that are significant to both of you

🛼-Dancing with him at the roller rink when it’s just you, him, and Max. That’s all. Just imagine that

🛼-This man is so good with kids. While he offers lessons for both adults and children alike, he often finds himself teaching kids. He’s encouraging, fun, and patient, which makes children like him. He also knows just what to say to calm down a kid that hurt themself or are getting discouraged at constantly falling over

🛼-All I’m saying is that if you and Ricky decided to have kids whether it be through adoption or ,if possible, getting you pregnant, he’s gonna be such a sweet dad  ❤️

🛼-As we know, he is apparently not too good with keeping secrets, so he would accidently tell you if he was going to propose to you. He’ll feel terrible about it, but you couldn’t care less. You’re happy to be his fiancé no matter how he pops the question 

🛼-His favorite movie genre is comedy, but he can sit through mostly anything. He’s not the biggest fan of horror movies. Especially ones that involve a masked psycho killing people. You can imagine why that might be a bit triggering for him. He’s cool with Universal monster movies like Dracula or Frankenstein tho

🛼-Ricky has a preference for spicy foods. I mean, he loves food in general, but the way to his heart is any dish with a bit of a kick to it

🛼-His love language is quality time. He loves spending time with you whether you’re going out to eat, taking Max for a walk, dancing with him at the roller rink, or just simply staying inside and watching TV

🛼-In conclusion, Roller Ricky is the ideal man and the reason why my standards have now skyrocketed. Thank you

[eating-plastic]

Room for One More: Roller Ricky x fem!reader

Warnings: AFAB!reader, pregnancy, established relationship, some suggestive content (like a very small amount), vomiting (once again, just a small amount), a whole bunch of fluff, probably some grammatical errors

Word Count: 1720 words

A/N: Okay, I promise this is gonna be the last Roller Ricky x reader thing I write...maybe. Look, I got a major case of "baby fever" a couple of days ago and I just know the this man would be the best dad ever (referring back to my headcanons), so I had to write this. Another thing to note is that you can either see this as a continuation of "Heart-Shaped Roller Rink" or its own thing, I tried to leave it up for interpretation considering reader has a gender in this one and a full time job. After this, I'll move on to other men to write for...maybe. Until then!

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

If you had to make a list of all the things you loved about Roller Ricky, you would probably be able to make a full 10 page essay out of that list, single-spaced. What wasn't there to love about him? He was sweet, considerate, fun, had a cute dog that emulated those same traits, you truly couldn't have asked for a better man. Now though, you were admiring just how good he was with kids.

Sure, Ricky taught anyone how to skate adults and children alike, but he always found himself teaching kids a lot more. They absolutely loved him because of his encouragement and how he carried himself as a "silly" and "relatable" adult. Not to mention how he would use Max as a means of confidence for them, and how he knew just what to say to calm a child down if they were growing frustrated by always falling down or after hurting themself.

At the moment, you were sitting on one of the benches off to the side, watching him as he helped a cute little girl with braids and a missing front tooth learn to keep her balance. As she got her bearings, he cheered her on, causing her to giggle with joy at getting it. You truly did not know anything cuter than that or any better way to spend your break, even though you didn't have the time to actually skate alongside him.

While watching Ricky teach and cheer on a child wasn't anything new, something about today was different. You began to think about life in general. Everything couldn't be better in your relationship, work, finance. Perhaps now would be the time to maybe start a family. You had no doubts in your mind that Ricky would be a wonderful dad. You imagined a life with him, Max, and a new little bundle of joy. Watching them grow up loved and cared for. Playing with them, teaching them, guiding them-

"Now what's got you smiling like that?"

You look up at Ricky who is now standing by the benches. He had never seen you with such a dreamy look on your face.

"I'm just thinking, that's all," you smile up at him while he sits down beside you.

"About what?"

You open your mouth to tell him, but stop. Maybe you should think more about it. You're not stupid. You know pregnancy isn't going to be a walk in the park, but it would all be worth it in the end, right? And Ricky? Sure he loved kids, but what if he didn't want ones of his own? And to tell him in the roller rink of all places...it just didn't seem like the right place or time.

"I'll...I'll tell you tonight," you determine. "I feel like there's still a bit more I need to think about.”

"Okay?" Ricky drawls with confusion but you just hug him and place a kiss on his cheek.

"It's nothing bad, at least I don't think so. Don’t worry about it.”

"You know that's all I'm going to do now, right?" he smirks before kissing you properly, knowing your break was coming to an end.

"I'll tell you before dinner. I promise."

With that, you said your goodbyes until later that evening. Yes, you need to think your decision over a bit more. Luckily one of your work friends was not only a mother, but a mother of two. Surely she'd be able to give you some insight into the whole ordeal.

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

Your friend provided some good info when it comes to pregnancy and motherhood, telling you symptoms she experienced and generally what to expect. Of course, she also gave you the disclaimer that not all pregnancies and children are the same. Still, you had a better grasp on the matter, and decided that yes, you did want to go through with having children with Ricky.

So while the two of you were preparing dinner for that night, you were ready to tell him.

"So?" Ricky drags out while wrapping his arms around your waist while you chopped up vegetables.

"'So' what?" you quip, trying to stifle a laugh.

"Come on, Y/N. You know what I'm talking about," the hold on your waist tightens.

"I guess I do, huh?" you set the knife aside and wipe your hands on a nearby towel.

You turn around in Ricky's arms to drape yours over his shoulders.

"I've been thinking about us."

"Us?"

"And life. Just a lot of things. Everything seems to be going well."

"It is," he nods and beams at you. "That can't be it, though."

"You're right, it's not," you take a deep breath. "Because of just how good everything is, it got me thinking...about how much I want to have a baby with you."

Ricky's eyes widen at this and he stutters while trying to find what to say.

"You mean-I mean, you're serious. Like, you..." he trails off and your face drops, taking this as rejection.

"We...we really don't have to. I-I just thought...," you arms drop from his shoulders and your gaze falls to your feet.

"Hey now, I didn't say I didn't want to have a kid with you. This is all just really surprising that's all," he tilts your head up to look at him and see how serious he is.

"Really?"

"Yes, really," he smiles reassuringly at you and you smile back. He then lets out a nervous laugh. "So, uh...when do you wanna start 'trying'?"

You let out a laugh of your own.

"Honestly...I wouldn't mind tonight. You know...if you're okay with that."

"Tonight it is then," a light pink dusts Ricky's cheeks as he grins at you.

The rest of the night follows the same routine of you and him making dinner, eating, taking Max for his evening walk, and watching a bit of TV before you grab Ricky's hand and lead him to the bedroom for the "main event" of the night.

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

Just as your friend had told you, you didn't know that you were pregnant for a bit. That was until you woke up one morning rushing to the bathroom to puke up your dinner from the previous night. Ricky leapt from the bed to follow you into the bathroom to hold your hair out of your face and rub your back.

Afterwards, you and him both knew what this could mean. Emphasis on "could". You could've been pregnant, but you also could've ate something bad the night prior, or caught something.

Ricky left that morning to go get you two pregnancy tests while Max stayed by your side to comfort you the best that a large canine can to comfort a human.

Vomiting wasn't even the worst part of that morning. No, the worst part was waiting for the results. You had to sit with Ricky and Max as your mind began to flood with worrying scenarios ranging from realistic to unrealistic when you were just sitting by yourself.

Once the cooking timer beside you went off, you and Ricky made your way to the bathroom to see the results.

And luck was one both of your sides as they both showed to be positive.

You squealed so loud with joy at the results and threw your arms around Ricky's neck, almost strangling him from how tightly you were squeezing him. He just laughed and squeezed you back just as hard, also overjoyed with the results.

The commotion caused Max to sit in the doorway of the bathroom. He didn't understand what wasn't going on, but both of his favorite humans were happy, and that caused his tail to wag.

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

It's funny how long ago that was, you think to yourself while you watch TV. Usually you would've gone with Ricky as he took Max for his evening walk but now you were at the point in your pregnancy where you waddled more than walked. On top of that, your feet have gotten sore more often, resulting in you only moving when you needed to.

As such, Ricky had been sweet as can be, doing whatever needed to be done or getting you anything you needed. Of course, he was also sweet throughout the entirety of your pregnancy leading up to this point, doing whatever he could to comfort and support you. Max had also been just the sweetest, always staying by your side whenever he could.

You were comfortable, sitting with a bunch of soft pillows around you and laughing at a joke someone in the show you were watching had said. It was nice.

That was until you felt a kick to your lower abdomen. You sigh and begin to rub your large belly.

"I know, I know. You miss your papa," you coo. Your baby, who you and Ricky found out was a girl, was starting to get fussy whenever he wasn't around. Despite the discomfort, you had to admit that it was cute. There was no doubt in your mind that she was going to be a total "daddy's girl".

"He'll be back soon. Don't worry," in fact, he should get back right...about....

"And we're back!" Ricky announces as Max swiftly rushes to your side, gently nudging your hand.

You laugh and pet the large dog, telling him that you were just fine, while Ricky locks the front door and removes Max's leash from his collar.

"How are my two favorite girls doing?" he asks while placing a kiss on your temple.

"We're alright, but someone missed you."

"Did she, now?" Ricky kneels down in front of you and starts to rub your belly. "It's okay, little one. Papa's here, now."

You smile and sigh, happy that your little girl had decided to stop kicking.

"We can't wait to meet you. Did you know that? Your mama and papa can't wait to meet you," he continues to coo before Max's snout nudges him. "Oh! And uncle Maxy, too."

You laugh. You truly didn't know how everything could get anymore perfect. You felt so happy, that you could swear that tears of joy were starting to well up in your eyes. If you were as delighted as were now, then you really couldn't wait until you would actually be able to hold your daughter in your arms.

[eating-plastic]

Augh, sometimes I just remember that Roller Ricky canonically has a rifle that he only uses when he believes that he or his loved ones are threatened and it just makes me love him even more ❤️