#like girl what gave you the impression the entire rest of the class wants to hear you loudly narrate your thoughts and actions throughout i

[nikkashidashipper]

you know that one post saying "you ever meet a man and its so obvious nobodys ever told him to shut the fuck up" and. yeah. been coming across these men and women and etcetera lately. and my god

[mandy-asimp]

Forever home

Melissa Schemmenti x reader

Warning: hurt, lots of crying, yelling, throwing things, miscommunication, insecurities, a few swear words, fluff at like the veeeerrrrry end

A/n: I'm sorry if I forgot any warnings, I didn't proof read, I literally had this idea off of like a spurr and just started going

"You tanked Janine! Took the whole school with you! It was impressive." Melissa poked at the younger teacher. Not knowing you were walking out the building.

"Leave the poor girl alone, she tried to help." You stood behind the red head. "Janine I think you made a choice and it didn't give you what you wanted, but it's nice that you care so much." You didn't look at the two, focusing on your class before you threw a water balloon at one kid.

Your class lit up and you took the to the open park across the street. Missing the rest of the conversation held between the two.

Today you wore a white top, not really planning to be playing in water today. So while your class left, you were in your classroom. Soaked to the bone.

The knock on your door made you head snap up. "Oh! Hey Janine?" You flashed a smile. "What can I do for ya?"

"I just wanted to say thank you. For the words you said earlier. You really had my back. And you know how Melissa is." She stood cautiously by your door.

You furrowed your brows, "Janine why are you just standing by the door? You're free to come in more. Hey did you eat today?"

"Im fine I was just stopping by. And I was gonna wait...but I should eat now since I'm hungry." She nodded like it was some new discovery.

"Well it's me and Melissa, but I also know Gregory is going out if you wanna go with him. You wont get bullied by Melissa." You joked. Still drying out your shirt.

Janine watched for a second. "You and Melissa? What's that all about?" Her curiosity peaked. "Also I have an extra shirt if you wanna change?"

"No I'm good, I have to go home to change anyways. And me and Melissa? We're just friends I guess." You played it down. "She was the teacher I began with. She made me like it here a lot and then during the pandemic, she let me come stay with her and her husband. I usually had headphones playing loud music so they had time together. She got mad at me for it a lot cause I never came up for dinner."

"You lived with her?! How did you manage?" Janine was baffled by the new found information. "Does that make you like the second person who knows so much about her? After Barb?"

You shrugged and didn't see harm in talking about the past a bit. "She gives you a hard time cause your new."

"Ok but that doesn't explain how you went from her student teacher to living with her?" Janine pushed. She needed to know what was the reason for the favoritism.

"Are you ready?" Melissa's voice came from the door way. Ending the conversation entirely. The 2nd grade teacher in front of you frowned at the nasty look the older gave. "Still can't believe you tanked. Like the whole school Janine. The. Whole. School."

"Melissa," You warned lowly. Getting into a short staring match with her. Which you won with a smile. "I have to run home and change, but then I'll be there for dinner."

"Whatever." She scoffed and walked away.

You had to take a deep breath before having to deal with her. "Janine, just don't listen to her. She's clearly just upset you took whatever fish she had in the fridge. She'll find something new Monday. Have a good weekend." You led her out the room.

Once you got home, you could find no sight of Melissa. No car in the driveway, no opened wine, nothing. You tried to call her, but got the voicemail. Five times. You looked for her location, but got her at the school.

With one last call, you changed and just went to the restaurant. Sitting at the table while dressed in your best. But after waiting for half an hour, you decided to just go home. Tipping the waiter for putting up with you and holding up a table.

You felt embarrassed. There was also anger and fury in you. You called Melissa while on your way home, leaving a voicemail. Going on about how when she's ready to pull her head out her ass and talk to you, you'd be ready.

What you didn't expect was that to lead into tomorrow.

Staurday.

You woke up in a bed alone. It had been years since this feeling. You groaned in frustration and went looking through the house. Not any trace. No note. No car. Nothing.

You let it play out, maybe she just went out early and would be back before noon. Constantly checking your phone to see if anything would come from her.

By five you were at Barbs in tears. You explained you hadn't seen her for twenty-four hours now. How you got nothing from her but she left Friday with a scoff.

That night you stayed at the kindergarten teachers house. Her and Gerald being the nicest people to you while in such a state.

Barbra had watched you two fall in love. The first year you two worked together, she knew you were the one. So seeing you crying over such a thing hurt her. It enraged her that her friend could do such a thing.

That night, before dinner, Barb tried calling Melissa. Getting the voicemail, and she wasn't going to call back. She explained calmly but with so much venom about the harm she's caused. How you can sobbing to her.

"Why don't you come eat with us? Get something in you?" She offered to your lifeless body. You were so numb you couldn't. You just shook your head. "Y/n, sweetheart, please. I know it hurts but you have to get something in you."

"What if she never comes back?" You whispered out. "I don't know what I did. I...I don't know how to control this. I was angry. So so angry at her for standing me up. But now I just I want her home. But what if she doesn't come home?"

Barbra hugged you. She held you on to you tight. Feeling you tremble in her embrace. She held you until your cries subsided. Holding you even through uneven breathing and the soft sniffling. Scared that if she let go, you'd think you had no one.

"Come on, we can make plates and eat on the couch tonight. Watch your favorite?" She offered. Seeing the smallest sparkle in your eyes. "I'll make you a small plate, and if you want more, you can grab more."

You nodded and mumbled a thank you. Slowly trying to find The Devil wears Prada.

Sunday.

You woke up on the couch. Frowning that you still had no sign of Melissa. You cleaned up your stay and wrote Barbra a note thanking her for everything and saying you'll see her Monday.

On your drive back you stopped at the store. Desperate to find something to distract you for another day.

You picked up a Lego set, one that you didn't need but knew it would take your entire day.

Driving home, you had a large pool of hope to see her car. It hurt you to know that you were getting hopeful for the worst. And then it hurt when you didn't see the red truck. That red truck that you had star gazing dates in. That red truck that you've made out in. That red truck. Tears streamed down your face when you got inside.

They kept falling as you showered and changed. You wore one of her sweatshirts and a pair of shorts. Crew socks protecting you from the cold floors. They felt colder than normal. The whole house did.

It was empty.

Your Sunday was filled with movies, legos, and multiple water bottles. Your phone next to you as you desperately awaited a call or a text.

Monday.

You woke up to rustling. "Mel?" You quietly called. Voice being dry and hoarse from sobbing yourself to sleep. You sat up and rubbed your eyes. "Melissa?" There was no one, it was still dark in the room. The tv being the only light.

"I'm sorry, but it's just me. You weren't answering my text about if you were awake." Barbra's voice came through the dark.

You stayed silent as your lip trembled. Tears rolled down your face. "I...Barb." Was all you could say. She nodded and walked over. Pulling you from the bed and hugging you.

"Why don't you get ready and I'll drive you to work today?" She held your face, her thumbs wiping your tears away. "We can even stop for breakfast."

You nodded and got ready. Not putting much effort in, and everyone knew when you walked in the morning.

Your hair was freely down and you were in jeans. But you hardly wore jeans unless it was Wednesday or Friday. And the button up that belonged to Melissa was untucked. Your socks didn't match. You had your glasses on and hardly any makeup.

You moved in silence while in the lounge. Head held down and picking at your nails until the coffee was done. You took it straight and walked silently to your class. Not coming out until you had to print your papers for the day.

Ten minutes before she's counted late. You counted those second that made up the time. Once the kids came in and she didn't, you rushed back with your papers holding in your tears.

You sent her one simple text. Turning off your phone for the morning and masking everything for your kids.

Thankful that gym and lunch was back to back. Giving you an hour and a half or so to cry. It was only three minutes into that time before Barbra was comforting you again.

You had cried so hard that you had to throw up. You were surprised by yourself today. You've never cried this hard. Never. And now you were dry heaving.

Barbra was leading you down with your head buried in her side. You could hear her say something, but you couldn't bear look at who she said it to.

You knew who it was, especially went you felt your heart get pulled back. You wanted to run to her. To cry into her knowing she was safe and she was here. Yet, you couldn't. You just let Barbra walk you to Ava. Leaving you with her.

Ava, when she cares, she get serious. And seeing you, one of her more valued workers, made her serious.

She held you for the rest of the time you had. Letting you cry into her shirt. She didn't care you were soaking it with sadness, she just wanted you ok.

Once your time was up, you wiped your face. Giving a final hug to your boss before trudging to the lunch room.

When you opened the door, your heart wanted to burst. The overwhelming emotions seeing her talking to your class. You mustered it all up, ignoring her entirely as you collected your class.

On the verge of tears when your hand brushes against hers. A shaky breath left your body when it happened.

The rest of the day you stayed in your class. Feeling relieved when your kids left and it was just you.

A few tears fell out your eyes as you packed up. Taking in your silence as you left the building. You didn't stop and talk to anyone. Just walked out to your...Barbra.

You instantly spun in your feet, ready to head back but there she was. Not Barb, no Melissa. You wiped away the tears that started falling faster. "Shit," You whispered in annoyance. Making a beeline to the eldest teacher

Barb was expecting you. But not with this many tears. "You know you can't avoid her forever. She's hurting just as much as you are."

You nodded, knowing she was right. "It just hurts to see her after being completely ignored. I just...I couldn't even figure it out."

"Well, I'll drive you home." She knew you didn't want to get into it. She knew most of it already anyways.

When you got home, there was no truck again. Barbra asked if you were going to be ok and you had to be. You couldn't keep her forever so you just nodded.

When you got in, you poured a glass of wine and changed. Balling up on the couch and watching another movie.

Waiting for that door to open again. Needing her walk through the door tonight. If she doesn't you might died.

Tuesday.

You sat in the teachers lounge this morning. Not letting tears get you today.

"Oh! Y/n! Its good to see you! Where were you yesterday?" Janine came in, a bright smile on her face.

You hummed, "busy morning. I got nothing done over the weekend." The lie fell from you with ease. "And its good to see you as well Janine."

Everyone else began to fill in. And you could sense when Mel came in. You could sense her any day.

The morning was quiet with you. You didn't sit next to Melissa, instead you sat next to Janine. Listening to her watch videos for the wish list.

"Janine, I swear if I hear one more preppy video," Melissa turned in her chair. "You should put a pair of headphones on that list."

You gave a quiet scoff. "Janine, I wouldn't stress it. I think it's adorable how you're making a video for your classroom needs."

Melissa looked at you next, right before turning while shaking her head. "Well maybe you should just date Janine." She whispered so quiet only Barb heard it, and you could tell it.

"Melissa!" Barbra scolded, never seeing such a side of her friend. Her brown eyes quickly jumped to you. "Y/n..."

"No. If she wants to be immature and childish, the so fucking be it." You collected everything and rushed out. Tears burning in your eyes.

The rest of the day you avoided everyone. Not wanting to give into the tears that begged to spill. You were tired of crying. Tired of being tired.

The woman you've been with for the past five years is suddenly someone you've never met. You've met jealous Melissa, and this was not that green monster.

That night you stayed up. You expected her to come home tonight. After what happened you expected her to. But she didn't.

It hurt. It burned. It shattered. You couldn't understand what the hell was happening. So you called her. Not getting any answer, but you laid it out in the voicemail. The emotions ripping at you.

Wednesday.

You didn't go to school. You stayed home and sulked. Crying the entire morning. Only stopping for an hour or so to drink water. Just to cry it all out again.

It was a repeating pattern with it. That was all your day was. You couldn't believe you were crying this hard for someone.

Yet, it'd be terrible if you weren't crying over her. You spent the past five years with her. Even though it wasn't official till last year though.

You were with her through everything, and now she's just throwing you away.

That night you stared at yourself in the mirror. First silently, then after an hour, you screamed. You screamed so loud you heard dogs start barking from streets down.

Thursday.

Tomorrow would mark a week of whatever is happening. Not...that anyone was keeping track or anything.

You went to school and just kept to yourself. It was a you day where you talked to nobody. You hardly talked to your students.

You gave them papers of what they knew to just do extra practice and did your own thing.

And at night you did what you did for what seems like a month, sat with a glass of wine waiting.

Friday.

A week. A week if not talking to her. A week without a text. A week without a call. A week of constant tears. A week of hurting.

You walked into your classroom and see a box. A familiar box that you adore so much. There was a blue sticky note on top.

Your heart thumped loudly. Each step was a louder thump.

You read the note and a small smile tugged at your lips. But then you let the pain she cause catch up to you today.

You went through your day, a bit more on edge. A bit meaning you were shaking the entire day since reading the note.

By the time you were home, you were downing water. Trying to calm the nerves that we're eating you alive. They took over your body and you felt cold and clammy.

The door opened. You wanted to throw up everything. You wanted to be eaten alive by the floor. To be abducted by aliens. Ran over by a train. Honestly anything to not be here.

"Hun?" A soft voice called in. She walked further into the house. And when you laid eyes on her, you couldn't.

The mixture of rage and sadness forcing tears out. You began yelling. It didn't stop, you just kept yelling. Screaming things you didn't know you wanted to say. You stepped closer and closer and once you were close and she stared at you, she looked shocked to think you could say such, and it made you even more mad.

You threw your hands up and kept screaming. You began throwing objects, being conscious of what you had. Nothing was breaking to satisfy you.

You grabbed your wine glass, note it still had a bit of wine, and threw it at her. Instantly shutting up when it fell to the ground where she used to be standing. You were thankful she moved, but the feeling that glass had made you pant.

"I know you're upset," she began. But it didn't go long because you kept going. You laid it on to her heavy. You've never yelled at someone like this before.

You plopped down when you were for sure done. Watching her with puffy eyes.

She began to talk. And as she went on, you still didn't hear her reasoning. It was just a long apology of how she knew she was wrong.

"Please, I'm sorry." She looked at you longingly.

You shook your head. "You don't get you just apologize and not give me a reason. You left me for a week without saying a word. You stood me up at dinner Mel. What did I do?" You croaked.

Melissa's eyes went wide and she rushed to crouch in front of you. Holding your face and wiping away tears.

"Honey none of this. And I absolutely mean none of this, was your fault. I...I let my insecurities get me. On Friday when you were defending Janine and then talking to her alone," she got out quietly. The fear of you looking at her differently feasting on her.

You could only begin crying. You slipped off the couch into her arms. Sobbing so heavily. Melissa wrapped her arms and held you tightly. Even when you tried hitting her chest and pull away. She could only apologize at you.

Tears of her own showering your head. Neither one of you able to part. You not wanting her to disappear ever again, and her not wanting to see you pained the way you are.

It was well past midnight when you came through again. Stirring around trying to determine where you were.

In your bed with a bonding like grip on you. You couldn't move but you moved enough to wake up Melissa.

"Mel..." you softly spoke. Grabbing at her hands to loosen them. Only making them tighten around you.

"No..." she grumbled. "I can't let go of you."

"Melly? I'm not asking you to let go of me, I'm asking you to just let go of me." You pulled at her hands again, getting the to let go. You rolled over to prop yourself up. Looking down at your woman as her face was so relaxed.

Her eyes fluttered open. Instantly filling with tears. "Please don't leave me..." her tears began falling. "I know I was wrong but please. I cant go through it."

"Melly, I'm not leaving you. You did a terrible terrible thing and I still hardly know why, except that it had something to do with Janine?" You pushed hair out of her face and getting comfortable in her arms again. "What went through that head?"

Melissa moved to rest lower and bury her head into your chest. You knew she needed to be held, so that's what you did. She explained it all to you while you played with her hair.

"And I just....it kept eating at me that you were tired and wanted someone young. I know not Janine but I wanted to get it over with so you couldn't break my heart." She finished. The sun peaking up and through your blinds. "And when you yelled and said what you said, I had a reality check."

You pulled her head back slightly to see her face. Leaning down and kissing her so passionately.

"I will never, and I mean never, mean what I say when I'm mad. It will never mean anything until I have time to calm down and talk sensibly. I was so so hurt that you did that to me though. And it hurt even worst because I knew I still would love you after it all. Because I love you Melissa." You kissed her forehead.

You took in this moment. You had the woman you swore to marriage within your own head. She was your forever. Since the first day with her she was your everything.

"I love you too, y/n." She smiled. It was the most genuine smile you've ever seen this woman give you.

The look in that woman's eyes before you both fell back asleep was all you needed to know she was your forever home.

[delicatenerdbluebird]

My Random Takes on The Secret History (contains spoilers)

The biggest tragedy that comes with being Richard Papen coded is you need a group like Julian's Greek class to feel normal about yourself because the rest of the world makes you feel like a misfit.

That Richard and Camilla scene where she reveals being physically abused by Charles... I feel that scene is a strong criticism of abusive households. Like Richard was used to seeing his mother getting beaten by his father and sometimes he was also a victim of his violence. And in 'that' scene, he fantasizes about doing the same to Camilla and worse. This shows it's a never-ending cycle no matter how you see it. The kids are gonna end up developing fucked up fantasies if their exposure to fucked up things is constant.

I strongly believe Henry was gonna make Richard the scapegoat had something gone sideways. And honestly, it makes perfect sense. Richard insisted on joining their class. He was an outsider. Henry could have easily made up something like Richard was envious of their group, he was jealous of his and Bunny's closeness and so he ended up killing him, something along those lines that Richard wanted to be accepted and we would not accept him instantly, naturally because of our prior history. Knowing how Henry was good with words, he could have made Richard an obsessive, disturbed freak to the FBI for all we know. Remember how Henry saved him from getting frozen to death? This incident can be perfectly used to portray him as a mentally disturbed person who would rather freeze to death than go back to his home to a normal eye.

Now Julian. Oh, Julian I knew was the red flag the moment it was mentioned he does not accept students who have different ideas than his. But to think that fucker would turn out to be the biggest crankiest bitch?!! I mean I am soo mad he was the one who fed those Dionysiac ideas to them and in the end, he just ran away?! I was baffled by how he treated Henry during that confession scene he did not even listen to him completely... Henry does not stutter HE WAS STUTTERING and Julian shoved the letter back to him... I mean the disrespect! This scene (for me at least) was a reality check that no matter how loving, cool, caring, and impactful you might think your teacher is, at the end of the day, they are gonna be a teacher and you are gonna be just a student. It destroyed my heart when Henry said he loved Julian more than his own father 😭 The worst thing you can do is take advantage of the vulnerabilities of someone who not only respects you but also loves you dearly. This mf can move mountains and I would still hate his old rat ass!

Charles and Camilla Idek what to make of them. Charles turned from a pitiable character to an entirely disgusting one for me. I accept Francis' theory that he wouldn't have made that much fuss about his interrogating situation if Camilla and Henry weren't a thing. Remember when Camilla and Henry had some secret code and he got mad why he didn't know about it? I do think camilla and henry were always a thing before it became apparent to everyone. Besides the book is from Richard's perspective, and he does seem oblivious at times.

I am not aware of the popular takes in the fandom so I don't know if this is gonna be a hot take or not but Camilla gave pick-me-girl vibes. She did not have any girl friends and looked down upon Judy (I am not asking them to be besties exactly but a little respect won't have killed) Judy only developed a weird impression about them during that party scene when Camilla dropped her drink onto her and did not apologize (or was it the opposite? i dont remember exactly but the point is Judy is not the type to judge others for no reason...she judged them after that party) Camilla's attitude could be attributed to the fact that Charles was controlling but idk

The Secret History reminded me of The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot (some of the verses below):

We are the hollow men

    We are the stuffed men

    Leaning together

    Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!

    Our dried voices, when

    We whisper together

    Are quiet and meaningless

    As wind in dry grass

    Or rats' feet over broken glass

    In our dry cellar

   

    Shape without form, shade without colour,

    Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

So basically I am yapping here because my friend hasn't finished tsh yet and I just needed to let it all out 😩

Not to mention I absolutely love my expensive gossip boy Francis 🥺 ☕

(Thank u for reading it this far!!)

[stuff-i-found-while-crying]

Quidditch and Tea

Enzo x Reader(Ravenclaw)

a/n: this was a little idea... actually half of the idea. the other half was the game. but I am a little in a writing slump. So posting this before I loose my nerves again.

Not edited. Not proofread. Not anything really.

This feels more like the beginning of a longer story... What do you think?

You never understood Quidditch.

Which was fine. As a Ravenclaw you understood many other things. One of those things was team spirit. The only thing that made you get up and walk over to the Slytherin table.

Because the quidditch captain had sounded worried about the game tomorrow. So worried that even you, someone too busy with books and music, had heard him last night.

"Are you mad?", Alma hissed behind you. She tried to grab you and pull you back down.

But you had a plan.

At least the start of a plan.

This was a good plan, right? What was the worst that could happen?

And then you stood next to Enzo Berkshire. The guy with the soft curls and adorable dimples. And the weakest link in the Slytherin Quidditch team.

"Hi", you said.

He turned towards you. All his friends turned towards you. Most of them knew you from class. Mattheo even winked at you. But you weren't here to play along. You wanted to win.

Or at least help your team win.

Without waiting for Enzos reply you swung on leg over the bench and sat down, facing him. His eyes wondered down to your tights that were hugging the bench. Just one second too long and you knew you had him.

With a sweet smile you leaned in. "I heard a rumor."

"Don`t" came a warning from Draco Malfoy, the captain. "Go back to your own table."

But Enzo was grinning at you. "Did you now?"

"I heard that when a girl asks you out for a butterbeer you never refuse her."

"Shit, she is good", whispered Mattheo from across the table.

His commend made you almost drop the act. You had questions. Was it the smile that was working? Or your words? What was it about girls in skirts that made the boys pay attention more?

You could almost feel your inner professor pushing up her glasses and taking notes. Later you would have to discuss this with Alma.

"It`s true", Enzo leaned in as if he was sharing a secret with you. The sparkle in his eyes told you that he was almost where you wanted him. With his head way up in the clouds and distracted from the game tomorrow. This was too easy.

You also leaned in. Noses almost brushing you let out a sad sigh.

"Pity that I don`t like beer. Would have loved to asked you out."

His eyes blinked at you. "Hu?"

You got up, one hand on his shoulder, pretending to balance yourself. Than you gave him a soft pat and a wink.

Mattheo started laughing.

Draco was just starring daggers into you.

Enzo was still looking up, eyes wide, lips parted. He was gorgeous. You had always known that. In this moment you understood the other girls that would so easily fall for him just to be heart broken. Interesting.

Swiftly, you turned around and left the great hall. Alma was waiting with your bag outside.

"What the hell? Since when are you flirting? I did not even know you were interested in Berkshire."

You shrugged. "You saw our team. All is fair in love and war."

"Wait, you did all this for the quidditch team?", she grabbed you by the shoulder. "You flirted with Enzo in front of the entire school, made hundreds of girls jealous, had Malfoy almost rip your head off, just for a quidditch game."

You grinned. "He will play awful tomorrow and you know it."

"Some one should give you house points for that."

Indeed was Enzo starring at you for the rest of the day. Luckily you had only two classes with him. In Transfiguration you winked at him and he almost burned down his table. McGonigall was not impressed.

History of magic was proving to be more difficult. Binz never payed attention to the class and normally you would do homework for Potions in that time. But Enzo sat right behind you. And after a couple of minutes a Note appeared on your desk.

"Why don`t you like beer?"

Alma was shaking her head next to you.

"Because it tastes awful?" you wrote back.

It took him ten seconds to reply. "What about tea?"

"I love tea."

"Why don`t you ask me out for tea then?"

You grinned while answering. Your plan was going perfectly. "Why don`t you ask me out for tea?"

This time his answer took longer.

"Tonight, you and me on the astronomy tower. I will bring the tea if you bring sweets."

Should you feel bad? Maybe a little. But it was just tea. And stars. And Enzo Berkshire with his killer smile.

For the first time you asked yourself if your plan wasn't as perfect as you thought. Not that you put much thought into it. It was more an idea. Enzo had always been on your mind. And maybe you had taken the Quidditch match as an excuse.

"I know that look", Alma whispered.

"Psst", you pointed to Professor Binz. "I am trying to listen."

She rolled her eyes.

After class you took your time packing up. It was Friday and lunch and you had the rest of the day off. Alma was not as lucky.

"I See you later" she said and run off to Ruins.

"I See you later too", a deeper voice said right next to your ear.

With a jump you turned. Enzo grinned down at you.

"Right", you said. Suddenly you realized that you had a date with him. Oh Merlin, alma was right. You were mad.

"Anything with chocolate", he said and turned around. "But I also dont mind lemon."

The sweets. He was talking about the sweets. You took a deep breath. Where the hell would you get sweets from?

[sarahshot1st]

"Do you want to go see a movie on Saturday?"

Diana frowned, pulling out one earbud, arm resting lazily against the library table.

"A movie?"

Leona stuttered. "Yeah, I mean - it's just, there's a lot of good ones showing right now, you know?"

Diana huffed. "I guess."

"I was planning on going alone, but it's nicer when you have someone to go with." Leona forced a smile, which completely failed to cover up the nervousness she was obviously feeling. Diana had the distinct impression the red-headed jock had planned this interaction out, and that it wasn't going how she had planned.

She decided to be merciful. "Yeah, I know what you mean. At least if the movie sucks, you have someone to shit-talk it with afterwards."

"Right! And if it's good, you can talk about what made you like it."

Diana gave a faint smile. Based on what she knew of Leona, she could likely talk someone's ear off for thirty minutes about a movie she enjoyed. When the brawny athlete got excited about something, it became her entire universe. She reminded Diana of how her History of Religion professor gave lectures, jumping from topic to topic, making connections with whatever else was currently on his mind; only instead it was about Taylor Swift's latest album, or the plot of some anime Leoma had been watching. Diana honestly found it amusing to see that same level of hyperfocus applied to much more light-hearted subjects than the heavy things Dr. Terris discussed - topics like ethnic displacement and conflicts between rival sects.

"I suppose that's a fair point," Diana said, closing her notebook. She had finished studying an hour ago, and had been passing the time doodling on blank pages and listening to her mellow playlist. She could have left, but Leona studied better when she had someone with her. It didn't matter if they talked about the homework or not, having another body present helped Leona stay focused.

"...So? Do you wanna?" Leona's tone was so full of innocent pleading, she might as well have been pointing her index fingers together.

Did she? They had been study partners for two weeks now, and Diana was honestly coming to enjoy Leona's company. Goodness knew she could stand to expand the size of her friend circle. She had become something of a loner at Targon University, with most of the people she knew from high school going off to different schools or starting careers. Having someone to consistently spend time with had proven good for her. But going from "study partners" to "actual hang-out friends" was a big leap. Is that what she wanted?

"Fine," Diana said, trying not to make a big deal out of it. "What do you want to see? I hear the new Scream movie's supposed to be halfway decent."

Leona paled. "I'd … I'd rather not see a horror film. They're not really my thing."

Interesting, Diana thought. The big, tough, jock-girl is squeamish. She filed that information away for later use.

"Well, I'm not that picky. Pick something out and let me know. But Leona?"

"Yes?"

"Let's do Sunday instead of Saturday."

"Okay…" Leona's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Monday's your off-day for practice. I don't have work, and our classes aren't until the afternoon. We can stay out late and sleep in. Thar way, we can dodge the Saturday evening crowd."

Leona nodded. "Good thinking."

Diana shrugged. "I worked at a movie theater during high school. The employees would always fight each other over who got the Sunday shifts because the place was practically dead. The less people going out on dates, the less popcorn there is to clean up afterwards."

She kept her tone of voice completely neutral, avoiding Leona's face by taking a sip of water. When she lowered her Nalgene, however, she saw that the girl's face had turned nearly as red as her hair.

So Leona did consider this to be a date.

Did Diana mind that?

"I'll … I'll pick you up at 7?" Leona asked, hastily packing up her things. Her homework, Diana noted, was only half-finished.

Well, this could prove interesting.

"Sounds like a plan."

[quillyfied]

Hellaverse Theories: Hazbin Hotel S1E3

Welcome to Quilly’s Hellaverse Theories, where I overthink the entire Hellaverse! It’s been a little bit; life got busy, I have a semi-major medical procedure at the end of next week, and my reverse seasonal depression is hitting real hard this year, so let’s jump into the madness.

Starting tonight with s1e3!

Short diversion to say: Lucifer sending Charlie out into the world with Razzle and Dazzle (who can turn into dragons) and KeeKee (who appears to be a powerful tool of creation that Lucifer uses, though all the theories I’ve seen people swapping around say it’s something more integral to the hotel itself rather than to Lucifer, but just based on what’s in the show…sure looks like Lucifer gave away a heckin powerful magical artifact to his daughter) is sensible but also warms my heart so much. And I would love so much to know if that was Lucifer’s doing at all, or Lilith’s, or a joint venture from the both of them. I am so ready to learn more about their relationship without the Charlie Blinders on.

Y’know. There is a very strong trend I’m noticing about my own fiction preferences right now wherein a bubbly blond of privileged status undertakes an impossible task to make a difference in the places they choose to be, meet a colorful cast of queer characters, and continually fail while also somehow succeeding at the bigger and more important task of creating a space where a bunch of traumatized folks with a lot of baggage can feel safe to work through those issues and bond with each other and form wonderful found families. Charlie and Stede Bonnet from Our Flag Means Death would have a DELIGHTFUL afternoon tea of swapping lesson plans, is what I’m saying.

(And Angel and Lucius would probably have a field day swapping stories but anyway)

Charlie and Vaggie’s relatively harsh sex-negative attitudes strike me as unusual for the show, which IMO itself has a pretty sex-neutral to sex-positive stance, depending on the angle. It begins to make more sense with a later episode and I’m sure I’ll talk more about this then, but in case I forget: they both appear to be operating off of what they THINK is the standard for getting into Heaven, which…is baloney because NOBODY knows how a soul gets into Heaven (and once they’re there they still bone with frequency and impunity, or at least Adam does). But if you’re going off the basic Christian-centric idea of sin, I can see where Charlie and Vaggie are coming from. Though Vaggie should know a little better what the Heavenly culture is like around those kinds of things, but tbh until we get more information, my assumption is that Vaggie hung around Exorcists pretty exclusively and they seem like a separate class entirely from other angels, if their jobs are a secret from the rest of Heaven and they purposely go into battle fully helmed. They’re two sheltered girls without a clue.

(The way Charlie turned out does make me heavily question what Lilith was actually like and how she expected Charlie to act. I want to KNOW dangit.)

Zestialllllll. I adore him. And I adore that he is, outside of Lucifer, most likely the most ancient being in Hell that we see. Certainly he’s the oldest sinner, and given that there are at least three methods of regular mortal turnover in Hell, that makes his very existence highly impressive. He’s survived hundreds of years of Overlord politics, turf wars, and Exterminations (assuming they’ve been going on for a while, GIVE ME A NUMBER VIVIENNE I NEED TO KNOW), and is so well known that people SET THEMSELVES ON FIRE to get away from him and Alastor walking together down the street. And Alastor gives him something much closer to actual deference, as opposed to what he gives the literal ruler of Hell next episode (a high-charged rivalry anthem on par with Loathing from Wicked, how have I not seen anyone do an edit or a comic of that one yet).

“Some have spun tales of you falling to holy arms.” Followed by Alastor pulling a major bluff, complete with shifty eyes. So Zestial’s information isn’t entirely inaccurate. Which still means just about anyone could be holding the other end of Alastor’s leash, but the major theories of it being Lilith (my personal favorite but also too easy and coincidental, feels like a red herring) or Eve (bound up somehow with Roo, I can just feel it) still feel most plausible to me. This could be foreshadowing and Zestial is wrong, since Alastor does nearly die due to holy arms in the finale, but…those shifty eyes. Zestial is definitely close, guessing a little too near the mark for Alastor’s comfort. What the HECKIE happened that put the Radio Demon and the Queen of Hell down for the count for the same amount of time? It is MADDENING. The incidents are obviously related, but how did that end with Alastor showing back up in Hell and Lilith up in Heaven?

(My cracked fanfic writer brain just went “Lilith decided she was done and passed her Queen duties to the deer man, Lucifer just found out he’s essentially married in power to Alastor, now discuss” but that is getting stuffed to the back of the mental closet where I will only ponder it late at night when I need a good giggle. Especially because it’s far more plausible that if Alastor and Lilith have any kind of deal whatsoever, it has to do with guiding and helping Charlie.)

(…could it be possible that Lilith’s deal with Adam involved trading Alastor somehow? Unlikely, since Adam had no idea who Alastor was, but Alastor being used as a pawn instead of being a major player would be such a delicious burden for his arrogant ass to bear and I kinda want to see it.)

Anyway.

Seeing an Overlord meeting is so fascinating, because watching Velvette come in and immediately challenge Carmilla and Zestial very much establishes something of a generation gap; the oldest Overlords in the room versus the youngest. But before I get ahead of myself and how BRILLIANTLY MANIPULATIVE Velvette is, a little stage-setting: no Overlords appear to have the same business dealings as the Vees, though there is genuine friendship between some of them (Carmilla and Zestial, Alastor and Rosie). No Overlords are locking horns at this meeting before Velvette shows up, no hint of political undercurrents or rivalries. The Overlords in the room are also high-rollers, it seems, the more powerful of the bunch, if only SIX of them own MILLIONS of souls. However, there are some hints after Velvette’s musical number to further shed some light on what Hellish politics are like, but before she comes in, all seems fine. Alastor gets his pride wounded (much to my personal amusement), but overall it’s perfectly civil.

Enter that hashtag bitch.

Her entire performance from top to bottom is a calculated strategy. Step one, show up late, ruffle some feathers with her lack of decorum, make it very clear up front that she’s showing up despite having better things to do. Put Carmilla on the back foot right away. But Carmilla is a professional; she’s a ballerina, used to dancing around her opponents. Step two, pull out the angel’s head and keep a close eye on Carmilla’s reaction, and start to push when Velvette meets immediate resistance to her “full assault plan” (I will eat my hat if they had such a thing at all; the three of them are safe in their fancy tower and they know it, and Velvette attending this meeting was never about the Vees working together with other Overlords at all). Step three: annihilate the meeting, push Carmilla into either admitting what she did and starting an uproar across all of Hell or shutting down the discussion before it can come to light, and the result is: the Overlords don’t actually sit down and make a plan about what to do about this accelerated Extermination. The Vees’ power remains unchallenged as the other Overlords scramble to keep theirs. Velvette planned this from the beginning.

The lyrics in the finale number confirm it, too “After the battle, masterless cattle, Overlords hanging by a thread…nature abhors a power vacuum, it leaves room for you and me. The future of Hell belongs to the Vees.” What better way to secure power than making sure your enemies can’t organize, even if it isn’t against you at first? The Vees are formidable, practically untouchable, because they work together. They can’t have other Overlords doing the same thing, because uniting against one seemingly impossible threat and succeeding has ripple effects. It becomes easier to unite against other threats. And if every other Overlord in Hell decided to band together to take down the Vees, the Vees wouldn’t win that encounter. Much easier to let Overlords’ natural distrust of each other continue to keep them alone and vulnerable while the Vees work in the background to take advantage of that vulnerability.

The Vees are a union-busting corporate tech giant monopoly, is what I’m saying.

Annnnyway.

Side note about character design: Velvette and Carmilla and Carmilla’s daughters all having very similar, if not the same, eye design is fascinating, but I’m not sure if it denotes a connection between them, since they also have the same eye design as hellhounds (seen more in Helluva Boss but there are a few in the background of Hazbin Hotel), and I’m not sure what to make of that tbh. Though Velvette being a doll and the Carmines being ballet-themed, possibly music box ballerina themed, does strike me as interesting too.

Okay, Zestial’s response: “Mightn’t they purge all of Hell for daring an uprising?” He’s the oldest guy in the room. He’s the most cautious, the most cunning, and one of the most powerful Overlords in that room, so probably in all of Hell. And what he just said is EXACTLY why the Exterminations are happening in the first place. Which begs the question: do the sinners know why Exterminations happen? Charlie knows, or at least knows a version of the story; Zestial being so ancient and also throwing out this incredibly obvious possibility that is already currently happening…I’m not sure if this is a writing continuity error or a hint that Exterminations have been happening for longer than Zestial has been around, so long that the original reason for it is lost to time for those who weren’t old enough to be there. The cautious way that Zestial and Carmilla are determined to stop Hell from trying to go to open war against Heaven makes me think that even if they don’t know the reason for the Exterminations, they’re smart enough to guess, and to want to keep their heads down and their people as safe as they can possibly be during a yearly bloodbath.

Also it continues to beg the question of why Lucifer “granted a pardon” to the Hellborn in the first place, if it was so long ago that Charlie probably didn’t exist yet, because a Hellborn sanction wouldn’t protect Lilith. She isn’t Hellborn. Technically neither is Lucifer, but I assume they figured that as an angel, even a fallen one, he wasn’t going to be in any danger anyway (since it apparently took ten thousand years for them to figure out on a wider scale that angelic steel kills angels too) (though it wouldn’t surprise me if the Seraphim all knew and just didn’t say anything). I’m rambling now but hOW LONG, VIV. HOW LONG HAVE THE EXTERMINATIONS BEEN GOING. I’M GOING TO START SCRAWLING ON THE WALLS.

“That was a productive meeting!” Okay, that’s my indication that expecting anything actually useful from this was probably a high bar to reach, but Velvette throwing an angelic bomb in the mix and then working Carmilla up to a bloody froth didn’t help, either. Overlords don’t collaborate, they don’t band together, they don’t share power. Even the Vees’ brand is held together with a lot of mutual self-interest and each one of them thinking that they’re the top of the operation. Though, personally, with this one scene, my money is on Velvette for being the top of that particular dogpile. Since. Y’know. She just single-handedly destroyed any chance of the Overlords working together to try and protect Hell.

(Also please tell me there’s at least one fanfic out there where the Hotel crew actually gives BDSM a shot. I don’t need to read it; I just need to know it exists. With a more nuanced and fair view of what professional BDSM is that isn’t just “weird deviant sex.”)

I can also see why a lot of people think Carmilla is a fallen angel when she’s placed so very obviously in narrative parallel with Vaggie. Part of me thinks this is merely foreshadowing to Carmilla becoming Vaggie’s mentor, because Carmilla being an Overlord and having daughters both seem like things that angels don’t do (and Carmilla’s daughters sharing physical similarities with her indicates to me that they might not be adopted daughters, but perhaps her actual daughters from life, since Sinners can’t reproduce). But there are plenty of little tidbits that would lend themselves to Carmilla being a fallen angel as well, such as the winged shape of her face markings and her general coloration being similar to Exorcists. Not to mention her deep knowledge of how to beat them, but that could very well be the decades or even centuries of observance Carmilla would have gotten in as one of the few demons willingly out during an Extermination Day. I lean towards Not, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she was, either. (How Carmilla and Vaggie both speak Spanish if they were both once angels is another question I want answered, tbh, but that could be something as simple as Heaven/Hell being multicultural by design and maybe they just sort of picked it up. But that doesn’t feel right tbh.)

“I just thought this would all be easier.” OH HELLO MAJOR THEME OF THE SHOW. Charlie’s naivete can be so charming sometimes, but so deeply saddening other times. Watching her grow up and start to shed some of that is a satisfying and subtle character arc and I can’t wait to keep watching her go.

Pentious having minions that have nothing to do with his power makes me more inclined to think that the little creatures that Alastor summons are souls he owns, but again, there’s literally no way to tell just by watching the show right now. Sigh.

Okay, only took two hours to get through this episode, so let’s take another two for the next one! It’ll be fine!

[peterpparkrr]

Are you taking requests? Could you write an anthony Bridgeton fic where the reader is very poor, and the opposite of who he is supposed to be with, but he falls for her anyway?

Pinned

Pairing: Anthony Bridgerton x f!reader

A/N: a little short and sweet but Anthony x a working-class girl is something I didn’t know I needed until I got this ask. Thank you for the request! 

Word count: 1.4k

Summary: A young seamstress catches the attention of a certain Viscount.

Next part

You can find my other Bridgerton fics here

“If you wouldn’t mind stepping up, my Lord,” You asked softly as you squatted to adjust the bottom hem of the pants you were fitting to Lord Bridgerton. 

The Bridgerton brothers had descended upon your boss’ tailor shop this afternoon, all looking to get new suits fitted for the season. While Mr. Raugland sized up the youngest Mr. Bridgerton, who had gone through an impressive growth spurt during his year at Eton, you were tasked with ensuring the measurements of the older two brothers. You were pretty sure there was another brother, but he had not come with the others today so perhaps you’d just imagined him.

After you finished pinning the open hem at the bottom of Lord Bridgerton’s pants you straightened yourself back out and wiped your hands on your apron before inspecting the cut of the overcoat draped over his shoulders. 

Your eyebrows furrowed as you looked at the cuffs of the jacket.

“Arms out, please, sir,” You told him.

He complied, never looking away from his brother, who was chatting loudly with him as he waited his turn for a fitting. 

You’d grown used to this work. And the reality of being ignored by men whilst you poked and prodded at them wasn’t something you minded. At least not anymore.

Frankly, you didn’t want to make conversation whilst you worked fittings, and strongly preferred ignorance to the leering looks and unwanted attention that other gentlemen gave you. Mr. Raugland was a great boss if only in the sense that he was quick to remove you from a client if they started to get too familiar with you. 

Once you’d finished fitting the older two brothers you quickly took the garments into the back of the shop and got back to work. You were going to have a late night, trying to get these garments, along with the rest of your work, finished and back into their hands by the end of the week.

And you had no time to waste, not if you wanted to remain employed. It wouldn’t take Mr. Raugland long to replace you with someone else who could do the work just as fast if you couldn’t keep up with the load. 

And that was not an option.

The next evening you were rushing through Mayfair with the final box for the Bridgertons tucked under your arm.

You’d completed the first two deliveries, the older two brothers lived in separate Bachelor lodgings across town, closer to the shop. Why on earth three brothers needed to live in three completely different homes made no sense to you, but it meant there were three different delivery charges so you weren’t going to complain.

Besides, the youngest brother still lived with his mother and sisters, in one of the beautiful large homes for the landed gentry in fashionable Mayfair. Walking through this part of town made it almost easy to forget one's troubles, and imagine a far easier, perfect life. 

The walk gives you a chance to daydream whilst you traverse the streets, imagining what it might be like to live in one of these homes, to spend one’s days leisurely, drinking tea and eating biscuits, and completing little embroidery projects instead of sewing entire garments in hours. 

You’d been so lost in that particular daydream that you hadn’t seen the tall figure coming through the Bridgerton house door just as you went to knock on the door.

“My Lord!” You exclaimed as you jumped back from the door as it swung open suddenly. “I’m so sorry, you frightened me.”

“And you are?” He asks.

“I’m here to deliver Mr. Gregory’s new coat and pants,” You explain quickly. “I’ve just dropped your garments at your address.”

You tell him your name. “I work for Mr. Raugland,” You add, though the blank stare you receive tells you that he has no recollection of seeing you.

“I-” You hesitate slightly. Already embarrassed at the need to remind him that you spent an hour crouched at his feet, fiddling with his hem. “I fitted you for your new coat yesterday.”

“Oh, yes, I remember you now,” The Viscount replies.

You study him curiously. You don't believe him, of course. But you’d never say that sort of thing to a gentleman’s face. 

You hand off the package to a footman who steps out when he notices the package you’re clutching in your hands. You hand it off to him with a grateful smile, appreciative that you don’t have to track down a member of the household to find the proper person to hand it off to.

You turn back to Lord Bridgerton, surprised to find him still standing next to you, watching you as you face him once again. 

“You and your many brothers keep us in business,” You finally say. Desperate to say anything so you don’t have to continue standing in this awkward silence.

“Why are you out delivering, aren’t there boys who do that for you,” He says as he gestures with a nod of his head to the footman stepping back into the house.

“Oh, I was heading in this direction anyway,” You reply with a shake of your head. And frankly, you needed the extra money. Not that you’d ever tell someone like him that.

“And where are you off to now?” He asks curiously.

“A meeting,” You reply as you glance up at him, descending the steps up to the house, and onto the pavement to make your way back down the street.

“What kind of meeting?” He asks as he follows you down.

“It’s not a meeting for someone like you, my lord,” You tell him with a slight smile as you shake your head.

“Well you can’t walk alone, let me at least accompany you,” Lord Bridgerton tells you.

You stare at him for a moment, as if he’d grown two heads. A Viscount offering to escort you? Perhaps you were still daydreaming. That would be the only explanation for this sort of madness.

“Sir, I assure you that I will be fine,” You reply quickly, dismissing his offer as politely as you can. “I’ve been walking around London by myself for years, I don’t think tonight needs to be the night that changes.”

Lord Bridgerton merely stared at you with his eyebrow raised, and his stupidly handsome face and you had no choice but to sigh and continue to walk, allowing him to follow beside you.

“So what is this meeting about?” He finally asks as he turns to look at you.

You pause for a moment. Thus far he’s been kind enough, and the offer to escort you was odd, but did not feel improper. So you decide to tell him the truth.

“Topics I’m sure are not of interest to you, and that will surely get me fired,” You tell him honestly. “Right of workers, women, that sort of thing,” You explain.

He raises his eyebrows as he glances over at you. “And you go to these meetings often?”

“Yes,” You tell him with a nod. “My brother fancies himself a bit of a revolutionary. A political leader for the working class. He works on those pamphlets that get circulated about the vote.”

“You’re a radical,” He says. It’s not a question, or even a judgment, really. He says it lightly. As if it’s a perfectly normal and natural thing.

“If wanting people to be treated equally makes me a radical, then yes, I am,” You reply.

“You would love my sister,” He says with a chuckle. “I’m sure she would love to learn a thing or two from you.”

You smile at the sound of his laughter and look away briefly. What a strange night this has turned into. Who would have thought you’d be laughing alongside a gentleman. 

“This is where the meeting is,” You tell him once you arrive at the meeting house. “I’m afraid if you step inside looking like that… well the men won’t take kindly to someone like you snooping around, you best be on your way.”

“Very well,” He replies, not looking the slightest bit off-put by your frankness. Though he does hesitate slightly. “Good night, Miss.”

“Good night, my lord,” You reply with a small smile.

[eddieandbird]

Angel’s Touch

Sequel To: Can’t Stop Staring

Summary: You just watched Eddie do his infamous lunchroom monologue and it becomes your new inside joke

Warnings/Tags: fluff|f!reader|short blurb|cursing|s4 scene

____

You waved at Eddie when you passed by him in the cafeteria. He saluted you and smirked. You continued to the lunch line walking beside your friend, Leah.

“No fucking way. Did that freak just wave at you?” She scoffed, tossing her long brown hair over her shoulder.

“He has a name, y’know! His name is Eddie,” You spat back, feeling your blood start to boil. You tapped impatiently on your lunch tray as you were being served your food.

“I don’t care about Freak Munson. I care about you,” Leah groaned. You two made your way to your usual spots in the lunchroom, at the table across the walkway from where Eddie sat with the rest of Hellfire Club. You raised an eyebrow as you noticed Eddie speaking to the group. He looked worked up, as if someone just insulted him or something.

“BUT! As long as you’re into band…” Eddie slammed his hand on the lunch table before climbing on top of it before he continued his little speech. “Or science, or… partieees,” You giggled at his mocking accent. “Or a game where you TOSS BALLS INTO LAUNDRY BASKETS!” Eddie cupped his mouth and aimed his words at Jason.

“You want something, Freak?” Jason barked back.

Eddie threw his hands up on the sides of his head, pointing out his index fingers in the shape of devil horns and made a demonic noise.

“See, girl. A total psycho. Real friends wouldn’t let you hang out with Eddie Munson,” You rolled your eyes as Leah nudged your arm.

You continued to watch as Eddie repeated his devil horn trick for you. You gave a goofy smile in return before tracing a halo above your head and using your hands to mimic tiny angel wings. Eddie beamed back at you. He didn’t know anything could be that cute. As he climbed down from the table he approached you with a shy smile.

“Hey there, Angel. What’d ya think of my performance?” He asked, placing a hand on your shoulder.

“You know you shouldn’t put your muddy feet where people are eating,” Leah said in a snarky tone.

“God, Leah. Could you not be an ass? He was just having a little fun,” You scoffed, picking up your lunch tray and book bag.

“Where are you going?” She asked you.

“I’m going to sit with Eddie,” He perked up as you said that. He took your bag and lunch as you stood up.

“I got it,” He grinned as you blushed, impressed that Eddie was such a gentleman. “Thanks for standing up for me back there. You didn’t need to do that,” He said as you two stepped away from Leah.

“I’m sorry about her. She’s usually super sweet,” You sighed and placed a hand on his back as he led the way.

“Yeah she seems like she’d be sweet to everyone but me,” He sadly chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m used to it,”

“Doesn’t make it right…” You bit your lip with a frown.

“At least I rescued you from her. Now you can meet the rest of the crew,” He placed your lunch on the table and returned your bag. “Gareth, would you mind scooching over for our newest member?” Eddie hummed.

“Ah, this is the creepy girl who drew you in class yesterday?” Gareth chuckled and moved over for you. Almost instantly Eddie reached out and smacked his head. You felt your face flush from watching them get in a spat. “Hey!”

“Show some respect. She’s got more talent in her pinky than this entire table,” Eddie demanded. You were intimidated by how much he was hyping you up in front of the boys. His face was intense and made you want to change the mood.

“It’s fine, Eddie. What I did was kind of weird. I’m sorry about that,” You giggled nervously.

“Nothing to be sorry about, Angel. You were just following your artistic instincts. You saw a subject you felt you needed to be drawn, and you went for it. That’s the kind of drive that Hellfire needs,” He pressed his finger into the lunch table, keeping his serious tone. Your eyes grew wide and your heart was warmed by how much Eddie was vouching for you. He noticed your stare and he made his devil horns at you once again. You responded with your angel wings. “Even Hellfire could use an angel’s touch,” He winked.

“Maybe that could be our handshake,” You said sweetly, continuing to flap your hands.

“The devil and the angel, huh…” The way Eddie spoke slowly made you question for a split second if that was even a cool thing to say. “Hey, I like it,” You exhaled in relief.

[formenis]

Can you do a oneshot of L Lawliet where he is in a secret relationship with Light's twin sister and she finds out she is pregnant so she shows up at Task Force to tell L and just announces it to the whole task force but its L who announces he is the father.

OML I'm so sorry for the delay, Anon-san 😭😭

Lately I'm feeling so overwhelmed and in the dumps that I lost any sort of inspiration. I hope you like it thou.

.

.

TITLE: NEWS

pairing: L x Yagami!fem!pregnant!reader

warning: none.

«See you later mom»

«Be careful dear. You too Light»

«Yeah bye mom»

And the door was softly closed after that answer. The two Yagami twins, Y/N and Light, always left home earlier than their sister Sayu. Light had to take the train for the Daikoku Private Academy while Y/N was a last year high school student at the Gamou Prep Academy, where her twin brother attended supplemental classes in the afternoon. Actually, it was what her family knew. The reality was a lot different.

Despite the two twins had the same age, the same skills and the same perfect school report, Y/N had that extra oomph that Light hadn't. It was thanks to this oomph that ensured her a special, secret job. She was noticed by no less than the greatest detective in the world, L.

Y/N Yagami had everything L needed: intellect, slyness, excellent rhetoric. At first, they had a simple working relationship made of mutual respect and esteem. But as time passed those feelings changed.

Initially Y/N felt strange: L was this mysterious detective with an extraordinary mind and skills, she never saw him in person. She had the impression that what she felt for him was wrong: what if L didn't exist? Y/N was so curious about him that one of their online meetings, she couldn’t wait to ask him thatquestion.

«L, can I ask you something?»

« 𝚈𝚎𝚜»

«Why did you decide not to show yourself? Can you describe yourself to me, please?»

A long pause followed her question. Y/N didn’t know what to say (or to do). She had the feeling she crossed the threshold.

«𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝙻 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚢. 𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝙻 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛»

Such an arrogant person. Y/N expected an answer like that. So she gave up with her wish to see her crush' face.

Sometime later, however, the Yagami girl met someone. A pale, tall young man with a simple white shirt and faded jeans; his hair was moved by the wind and they seemed messy yet rather silky. He was standing there, at the top of the Tokyo Train Station's stairs, staring intensely at her, few steps higher than the girl. This man was blocking the way and Y/N was in a rush.

«Excuse me, I have to-»

«You're Y/N Yagami?» he immediately interrupted her and in the meantime he hid his hands in the pockets of that faded jeans.

«Who wants to know it?» Y/N replied defensive. Unlike Light, Y/N had good skills in many martial arts and she was ready to kick his ass, just in case.

«Me»

Y/N hadn’t the idea that in front of her there was L himself. He introduced himself as Ryuzaki but, for some reason, she couldn’t believe him. For her, it was like he had a good answer for everything as if he planned every single (and possible) question from the Yagami girl. That reminded her of…L. Everything about him reminded her of the detective.

Day after day this Ryuzaki started to appear more and more often in her life: at the train station, on her way home or after school. He told her he was studying for the entrance exam at the To-Oh University, that was why the two of them were seeing each other that often.

«I see, what do you want to study?»

«Criminology»

Y/N and Ryuzaki created a strange bond between them. The Yagami twin felt so at ease with him despite his particular (and rather unique) behaviour: she didn’t mind about the large amount of sugar he ate or the sitting position he took. He was so smart and brilliant…once again she thought about L.

It seemed like that Ryuzaki appreciated Y/N's presence too. He loved listening to her or analyse every single feature of her figure. She would find him staring at her such intensity that she would look away.

Y/N, however, had so much in her mind. She was so convinced that Ryuzaki and L were the same person that she felt so anxious around him. She had to know the truth.

«Ryuzaki, can you tell me something?»

«What is it, Y/N-san?»

«Are you L?»

The two of them were waiting for the train and Ryuzaki was standing (or "slouching" actually) right beside her. His dark hair covered the face and Y/N couldn’t tell what he was feeling or thinking. She was afraid that she crossed the threshold.

Ryuzaki smirked and sighed through the nose as if he laughed silently. Then he turned to look at her. «Yes»

He kept staring at her while Y/N got pale and returned the stare with wide E/C eyes. So she was right…he was L. The real L. She couldn’t believe that this man…with faded jeans and a simple white shirt…was L. The same L she started to love.

That was how their story began.

───────◇───────

Now Light was going to finish his last year of school together with his twin sister Y/N but something else what happening outside the Yagami household: Kira.

This person took the role of judge, jury and executioner of the criminal world not only in Japan. Kira was such a disgusting, immoral human being, Y/N hated him. Nobody had the right to play with other's life regardless of their police record. Light, however, didn't agree with his sister.

«I don't understand your point, N/N. The world would be a better place without criminals, you have to realise that»

«Of course it would be a better place without them, Light. But it's not the right method!»

«And what would be "the right method"?» Light asked her making air quotes with his fingers.

«Uhh…I don't know maybe putting them before a judge?» Y/N simply replied. «Kira is not the solution, Light»

Her brother was so different lately. Since this Kira appeared Light started to act strange, Y/N was the first to notice it. Not even her mother, father and Sayu perceived it.

Y/N was feeling strange too actually. After Ryuzaki's "confession" about his identity the two of them admitted their respective feelings. Y/N was so happy that Ryuzaki felt the same as her, she was so happy. Sachiko noticed it and asked her if her happiness was due to a boy but Y/N didn’t give her a proper answer.

Ryuzaki was investigating about Kira and he booked a suite at the Imperial Hotel and Y/N would pay him a visit from time to time. They talked, played, ate and even made love in that room. And it was since one of those times that Y/N started to feel weird.

«Let's not talk about it, alright Light?»

«Fine» her twin shrugged and kept walking home together. After a while they crossed a konbini, a Japanese convenience store.

«Wait Light, I have to buy something»

«Alright, I'll wait you here»

And Y/N ran inside the shop while Light started to read a book outside. She had to buy few things: a new set of pencils, chips and…a pregnancy test. Yes, a pregnancy test.

She had all the symptoms: swollen breasts, nausea, fatigue. And the fact that she missed the last period was a sort of final proof. But she wanted to be sure.

Once she payed everything Y/N left the shop and kept walking home with Light. He was looking suspiciously at her but he said nothing.

.

> TIME SKIP <

«Positive…it's positive» Y/N repeated in a whisper while looking at her pregnancy test. Her E/C eyes were still glued to the test when she heard someone knocking at the door.

«Y/N! I need the bathroom!»

«Me too!»

Light and Sayu were staying right outside the door, Y/N hoped they didn’t hear what she said before. She hid the test in the pockets of her jeans and left the bathroom.

«Sorry» and she ran downstairs. Light, once again, looked at her with clear suspicious and raised an eyebrow. Sayu took advantage of this moment to lock herself in the bathroom.

«Sayu! I have to go with dad, leave the bathroom!»

In the meantime, Y/N already left the house and was literally running towards the Imperial Hotel, where Ryuzaki had his room (and where the Task-force met L for the first time). He had to know it.

About ten minutes later Y/N arrived at the hotel and quickly went to Ryuzaki's suite. She was bouncing off the walls for the excitement.

«Ryuzaki!» she spread the door open and ran inside. She quickly reached him and made him turn towards her.

«What is it Y/N-chan?» he asked calmly.

«I have to tell you something!»

«And what would it be?»

«I'm pregnant!» she said smiling. It, however, faded quickly when she saw Ryuzaki's lack of reaction to that news. Was he…disappointe-

«What?! Are you serious Miss Y/N?» the young voice of Matsuda echoed in the room making Y/N distract from the man in front of her.

The Yagami girl noticed that her father's entire Task-Force was working in the same room as L and she didn’t notice them when she entered the suite. Excitement was replaced by fear.

«Uhm…well…»

«Congratulations!» Matsuda got up and walked closer to her with a kind smile on his young face. That smile cheered her up a little.

«Thank you Matsuda-san»

The rest of the Task-force congratulated to her too, they were all so happy about that news. The only one who didn’t say anything was L, the father.

Aizawa started to give Y/N some "parental" advices when L's suite room opened again revealing Soichiro and Light at the doorstep. Y/N didn’t notice it immediately and she couldn’t stop Matsuda from rushing towards his boss to give him that important announcement.

«Boss, did you know it?»

«What is it Matsuda?»

«Miss Y/N is pregnant!»

Silence.

Silence of a grave, to be precise.

Nobody dared to speak, to move, to breathe. It seemed only Matsuda wasn’t feeling that heavy atmosphere.

At those words Soichiro walked towards his daughter and placed his strong hands on her shoulders.

«Y/N, is it true?»

She gulped and swallowed hard. «Yes dad, Matsuda-san is right» her voice showed no fear, no embarrassment, no shame. Even if her family didn’t agree, she wasn’t going to give up that easily.

«Who is the father? Someone assaulted you?» he immediately asked sounding rather worried and serious. Y/N was going to answer when she heard some sort of mumbling from behind, where L was sitting.

«Did you say something, Ryuzaki?» asked Soichiro.

«I said, Yagami-san…» he took an ice-cream sandwich and divided it in two. «I am the proud father» he turned towards the policeman and licked the vanilla cream without looking away from the man.

Soichiro couldn’t see her but Y/N was smiling widely at Ryuzaki who smiled back for a mere second before

[adelheidvonschicksal]

182 Centimeters | Tall!F!Reader x Surprise

A great boon has been bestowed upon Aoi Todo. First, he got to meet Takada in person. Second, he gained a brother. Third, he was able to fight a special grade all in one month.

Is there anything else that could make this trip perfect?

Todo didn't think so until he lays eyes on you, standing in the middle of the hallway with luggage tucked under one arm and the other holding onto a rolling suitcase. He remembers now about Mai mentioning a late edition transfer student who was going to be joining in the school games a little late. He only wishes Mai had warned him about the other thing about you. The fact that you are an amazon in the flesh.

"She has to be 187," Todo thinks upon first seeing you and sizing you up from a respectable distance. "No, she's definitely closer to 185. Definitely, 185," he corrects as he tries to measure you by judging how far your head was away from the top door frame. When he glances down at your feet, he realizes his stupid mistake and smacks himself on the forehead. "I'm such an idiot. I forgot about her shoes." Taking your soles into account, he finally narrows down your height range. You have to be 182cm. An even 6 feet. That makes you taller than even Takada!

Todo's eyes widen upon the realization.

You had half his attraction factor right there; and with his help in training, you would definitely have the second half. He knows plenty of exercises that would make your ass look great and have the rest of your body strong enough to toss any curse. You guys could make training into dates, and dates would lead to the two of you making kissy faces. Aoi can already picture it. Naturally, you'd be admiring him, shirtless and glistening with sweat, unable to take your eyes off him. Then, you'd grow embarrassed when he would call you out on it and try to look away like you were never staring in the first place. Luckily for you, he wouldn't mind if you wanted to look at his chiseled chest a little while longer. Or better yet, touch it. 

Todo isn't sure what he's done to deserve such luck. Perhaps the world is rewarding him for finally breaking his record of 1000 sit-ups in an hour or maybe it's the limited-edition lucky Takada-chan charm that arrived in a mail a week earlier working its magic?

Either way, this might be the best year of his life, Todo decides.

That is until he hears a familiar voice. 

"Hey there! How are you doing?" Yuuji asks loudly as he walks up to your person. Todo should've known. Of course, his brother would sense best girl material walking into the building.

"My name is Yuuji. What's yours?"

"I'm (Name). I'm a new student here. I'm a little lost actually. Could you help me out?"

Even your voice sounds so cute! You were so perfect.

That means Yuuji had no chance with the way he was doing things now. Despite Todo wanting you for himself, he could never leave his brother to make such an embarrassment of himself. If the two of them are to battle for your love, it has to be a fair battle.

"Yeah, the dorms are thi—" Yuuji yelps as he's suddenly tugged away from you and dragged around the nearest corner, leaving you in a confused state where you stood.

"What’s the big idea?" Yuuji asks, breaking free from the grasp that held him.

"I'm trying to save you, brother! What do you think you're doing walking up to a woman like that so casually?" Todo asks.

It takes Yuuji a few seconds to realize that Todo meant you were the woman that couldn't be so casually spoken to since he's fairly sure you're a first-year like him. "I'm pretty sure she's the same age as us, dude."

This is worse than he thought. He's definitely going to have to give Yuuji the rundown on how to properly ask a girl out. "That doesn't matter. She's still a lady that requires finesse if you're going to try to ask her out," Todo says. 

Sadly, they are too busy in their discussion to notice you getting impatient for Yuuji to return or to notice another one of your classmates passing them and heading in your direction. You are just thankful to finally have someone help walk you to your dorm and not ditch you instead.

For the rest of the day, Yuuji is stuck with Todo lecturing in his ear. The first time being at the baseball game against the Kyoto school.

"First, you need to set the mood. And by mood, I mean you need to get her attention on you. Do something to impress her without her knowing you're trying to impress her," Todo instructs as you round home base on long legs, which Todo claims is made for a goddess. You were able to get a score for the team thanks to Fushiguro's sacrifice bunt, and the two of you take a seat in the dugout.

"Shouldn't you be helping your team?" Yuuji asks Todo after seeing him compliment your score. Todo sighs. Obviously, Yuuji needs more lessons. 

Eventually, Yuuji steps up to the plate for his turn. Naturally, he hits a home run. As he rounds home, he sees you applauding loudly. Your eyes perfectly on him. It definitely feels good to have a cute girl's attention, and Yuuji realizes that he did really want to ask you out. He wonders if Todo thinks that's a good way to set the mood.

The next time Todo decides to instruct Yuuji is after they all take their showers and decide to rest up before dinner. "Next, you need to leave a letter under her door. Something to pique her interest and make her want to meet up with you."

Luckily, Yuuji has seen this before in anime. "Right, right. I heard of that actually." He easily drafted a letter and slid it under your dorm door. It sounds like you're talking to someone else on the other side so Yuuji hopes you'll see it in time so the two of you can meet up in fifteen minutes.

"Finally, make sure the place you meet up is scenic," Todo says, nodding his head and closing his eyes to repeat the steps in his head as he follows his brother to the school's courtyard. Impress? Check. Letter? Check. Scenic meet-up place? Check.

It isn't until he feels Yuuji's hand on his shoulder and a quick thanks that Todo realizes his mistake. Yuuji rushes away from him to the other side of the courtyard where you're waiting with the letter in hand. 

"My name is Yuuji. I don't know if you remember me from class."

"Oh, yes, I know! You hit that homerun. It was really great."

Todo stands in shock. 

...He was so busy trying to teach that he actually forgot to pursue you first!

"Really? Thanks! I was just trying to make sure I actually hit it. I wasn't expecting it to go so far." Yuuji laughed. "So, (Name), I was wondering if you wanna go out together?"

Todo could cry. Actually, he already feels the tears coming down his face, but his brother could at least be happy. And if his brother is happy, that's all he needed!

"I'm sorry," you say sweetly. "I only showed up because I didn't want to stand you up, but the truth is I already like someone, and I wouldn't feel comfortable going out with someone when I have a crush on another person."

Todo's ears ring with your words. You already like someone!

"Oh, well, that's too bad, I guess. Thanks for telling me," Yuuji says with a disappointed yet understanding smile while Todo finds the opportunity to scoot in the middle of your conversation.

"Excuse me but your crush wouldn't happen to be on me by any chance?" he asks, hopeful.

You force a smile onto your face and tilt your head. "Sorry...Have we met?" you ask, nervously.

Todo gasps as he feels his world crashing down. Your date. Your marriage. Your kids. All gone, and it’s all black in his memory after that. The next thing he can recall is sitting in the eating area with Itadori. He remembers this heartache once before. "It's just like with Takada-chan..." he mumbles heartbrokenly.

"I told you already. We never went to the same middle school, and you never confessed to Takada," Yuuji grumbles, but Todo knows that Yuuji is only trying to make him feel better. He is so lucky to have such a good brother.

"Who...Who do you think it is anyway?"

Yuuji pauses.

He actually wonders that as well.

Then, they hear your voice ringing through the dining hall. Immediately, both sets of eyes are on you. 

"Fushiguro-kun, I wanted to thank you for helping me get settled into the academy. My mom gave me a buy one, get one free for a sushi place for when I made some friends, so...I was wondering if you wanted to be my plus one?"

Then, Yuuji finally gets it. He had been ignoring the small conversations happening around him the entire time thanks to Todo's interruptions.

The Hall.

"Excuse me. I'm looking for the dorms. Gojo-sensei was supposed to show me, but he got sidetracked so I've been sort of left on my own."

"Of course, he did. Geeze, that guy." Megumi sighs. "You can follow me. I'll show you where some empty rooms near the other girls are."

"Thank you so much! I'm (Name) by the way."

"Fushiguro," he states plainly and simply as you struggle behind him with your luggage. "Is that stuff heavy? Want me to help you carry it?"

”Yes. My arms got numb while I was waiting. Thank you so much!”

The Game.

"Out!" Gojo says. Fushiguro rounds first base to head back to the dugout, but you at least made it home to score. You head to the dugout as well.

"That's too bad, Fushiguro. You'll get it next time," you say, sitting next to him.

"As long as Kugisaki made it to second and you made it home then it's fine. I'm not really too hyped up on winning anyway."

”Oh. I was really looking forward to seeing you get one.”

”Too bad. Guess you’ll have to wait,” and by “wait” Megumi had meant probably not ever but you laughed anyway even though you had got what he meant. 

”I don’t mind waiting.”

The Dorms.

"Kugisaki-san said you could summon different shikigami animals."

"That's true."

"Would you mind showing me sometime? I love animals."

"What is your favorite?"

"I really like rabbits. Are you able to summon those?"

"Not at the moment, but I’ll show you when I learn it. How do you feel about dogs instead?"

”That cute dog was yours? That’s amazing.”

And now.

"Yeah, sure. I wasn't really in the mood for anything at school anyway," Fushiguro agrees, and your face lights up with a glow that could rival sunshine. Yuuji thinks if he squints he can see the anime hearts starting to dance over your head but Fushiguro didn't seem to mind.

Itadori could almost laugh. That's a new record in anyone ever befriending Fushiguro. The two of you must have hit it off really well. Yuuji smiles. In that case, he couldn't be upset. That must mean fate has something in store for you guys, and he didn't want to get in the way. "I guess girls really do like that cool, quiet type."

Meanwhile, Todo is crying in defeat. How could a woman like you like Fushiguro? 

"He's so boring though..."

[shewrites02]

Gone Too Long |Shikamaru x Reader|

Summary: Not having his partner around begins to toll on Shikamaru

Word count: 3k

Lady Tsunade was assigning weekly chores to all the Shinobi who had yet to be assigned a mission. Usually these tasks were reserved for Genin, but this week had been slow for the village. Many Chunin and Jonin were left task less aimlessly patrolling the village.

"Shikamaru, you'll assist Iruka at the Academy for the remainder of the week."

Shikamaru let out a long dreadful sigh before muttering "What a drag, that's so much work." Just above his breath.

Shikamaru complaining was not out of the ordinary, but him complaining in front of the Fifth Hokage was and everyone took notice. Lady Tsunade slowly looked up from her journal with her eyebrow slightly raised. She was offering Shikamaru a chance to apologize before she completely ripped into him like she often did with Naruto. But all he did was smack his lips and cross his arms against his chest.

"Forgive him Lady Tsunade, he gets like this whenever y/n is gone on a mission." Ino announced proudly as a devilish smile graced her lips.

The other ninjas futilely tried to suppress their laughter but soon the whole room erupted into a uncontrollable fit. Even Lady Tsunade's scowl had turned into a humorous smile. Shikamaru's face began to turn beat red as his fellow shinobi teased him.

"So that explains his nasty attitude this whole week. Me and Akamaru knew there was something up with you!" Kiba laughed after Akamaru barked, agreeing.

"I bet his attitude will change once he gets some... special attention" Tenten snickered.

This even warranted a light chuckle from the stoned face Shino Aburame.

"Special... Attention?" Naruto mumbled completely lost. as usual he wasn't paying any attention and the joke had gone completely over his head. Kiba leaned over and explained the joke as clearly as he could. It took Naruto probably a full minute before he caught on and laughed with the rest of them.

Shikamaru grumbled under his breath, but didn't argue. As much as he hated to admit it to his friends, not having you around severely impacted his day to day interactions. He was constantly irritated because he didn't get as much sleep with you gone. The side of the bed where you usually reside seemed like a gaping hole with you not there, and no matter how much tossing and turning he did he was never comfortable.

He was frustrated that he couldn't come home to you after a long day of working with idiots. Even if you did nothing but tell him to give his teammates a break he missed the sound of your voice soothing him. He missed laying in your arms while you lectured that not everybody was a genius like him. At this point he would settle for your hands just gracing his.

And most of all he was distracted by the crippling fear that one of these days you might not come home to him. Shikamaru undoubtedly knew that you could handle yourself. Yall had spared a couple times and you'd come close to beating him more than once. But the idea of not being there to protect you often left him feeling helpless.

With these thoughts constantly running through his mind, it was difficult to focus on the seemingly mundane tasks he was often given. To be honest the only times he wasn't thinking of you was when he was on his own missions, and even then his thoughts were reserved for keeping his squad alive and staying alive himself specifically to see you again.

"Well you'll be glad to know she's coming back today, I'll be expecting you to be in a better mood tomorrow!" Lady Tsunade teased before shushing the crowd and returning to give out assignments.

-

Just as Shikamaru had thought working at the academy was the exact mindless work he dreaded so much. They could've put him with the younger children, given him a challenge, well at least that's what he thought. Instead he supervised a group of kids around the ages of 9 to 11. These children were no stranger to Shikamaru or his legacy, actually any shinobi rumored to have amazing talent or great potential was a topic of discussion amongst the children in the academy. The stories they've heard of Shikamaru and the Nara clan as a whole were impressive enough to earn their respect. In fear of potentially earning themselves a bad name with someone they could possibly call their squad leader once graduating, They gave Shikamaru absolutely no problems.

"Shikamaru Sensei... is it true you forfeited your last match in the Chunin exams?!" A little boy shouted across the blacktop as he and a large number of his classmates came rushing towards the lazy uninterested ninja.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I told you, Idiot!" A young girl exclaimed, hitting the previous boy in the back of the head with a scroll she had. "He was running out of Chakra and knew he couldn't finish the fight!"

The young girl's confident proclamation surprised Shikamaru. Every ninja in the village knew the story, but very few knew the reasoning behind his actions. Usually the only ones who accurately recounted the story were those who saw the match with their own eyes.

"Who told you that?" Shikamaru inquired.

"Y/n Sensei told our whole class the story the last time she came to the academy, had all of us try to figure out why you'd throw a match that you practically had won. She said it's her favorite story to tell students who are about to graduate."

"Yeah she said it's still the most amazing match she's watched during the Chunin exams, even now!"

"She told us that if we wanna be half the ninja you are, we always have to be thinking two steps ahead."

Shikamaru couldn't stop that infamous smirk from creeping onto his face. He loved hearing that you spoke to your class about him, that you even bragged about how talented he was, even if it was to a bunch of children. You admired him not only for the person he is, but the ninja he's become and that was a great honor to Shikamaru.

"Look, it's y/n Sensei, she's back from her mission!" The little girl from before yelled pointing over at the village's entrance. All the children fervently yelled your name in a vain attempt to get your attention. The academy laid on hill that allowed them to peer down at the entire village, though they could see you, you could not see them.

Shikamaru acting as if he too were one of your students rushed to the fence to see if they were correct, if finally the love of his life had returned home. Sure enough right alongside Kakashi and Tsume there you were. Your smile is as bright as ever despite having a few minor scrapes and bruises. Butterflies filled the pit of Shikamaru's stomach and what was just a sly smirk had turned into a full blown smile, teeth and all. He's heart fluttered, but skipped a beat at the same time it was like he had seen you for the first time.

"Go ahead, class is wrapping up anyway!" Iruka whispered over to him.

Shikamaru was stunned, he was so entranced by the sight of you he was completely ignorant to his surroundings. For the first time since he graduated from the Academy he had let Iruka sneak up on him. Your being gone had even a greater hold on him than he initially thought. He needed to see you right now.

He thankfully patted Iruka on his back before darting off toward the exit. He knew you'd first go to Ichirkau Ramen to pick up dinner for the two of you, a tradition set in place to celebrate a successful mission. So if he could move quick enough he could make it to the flower shop and back to the apartment the two of you shared before you. He did not want a cold empty uninviting apartment to be what greeted you once you returned home, especially after seeing you had endured wounds while on your mission. Honestly he didn't want you to have to worry about a thing.

Once he fumbled into the door, he immediately began to prepare for your arrival. He lit every candle he could find and arranged them around the perimeter of the bathroom while the water for a hot bath drew. He even went as far as to place rose petals in the water. Something he never understood but knew you would appreciate. When that was handled he placed one of his t-shirts on the counter and dimmed the lights. He could hear your footsteps approaching down the hall.

His nonchalant nature made it absolutely impossible for him to display any type of excitement or anticipation willingly. Due to this he sprinted back to living snatching up a book that was left on the coffee table and pretended to read it as you walked into the room.

He lowered the book just below his nose being careful to conceal the wide tooth smile he had behind those pages.

"You're home." He announced very casually.

You laughed. He never exceeded those two words when it came to welcoming you back, never a "I missed you" or "I'm so excited to see you" always those two words. When you first started dating such a dull response hurt your feelings, you wanted him to be jumping for joy to see you. Now the promise of hearing those two words was the primary motivation in completing your missions.

"And look, ramen!" You squealed slightly shaking the bag.

Shikamaru glanced over at the bag then returned his gaze to his book. You scoffed slightly offended, this was your favorite part of coming home, pigging out on loads of ramen after eating forest food for a week. Shikamaru knew this! He'd let you recite the details of your mission to him while he attentively listened, it was when you explained all the scrapes and bruises you inevitably always returned with.

"Go get cleaned up so we can eat." He demanded eyes still glued to that stupid book.

Your face fell, that childish giddy smile now wiped clean away. Shikamaru had never had a problem sharing at least a quick meal with you before you hopped in the shower. You were well aware of the toll half a day's walk had on one's body, but was this your boyfriend's crude way of telling you, you smelled. You sat the ramen on the dining room table not bothering to suppress the pout on your face.

Shikamaru got a glimpse of your expression out the side of his eye and immediately felt guilty. Perhaps there was a better way of getting you in the bathroom to see his surprise for you. One that hadn't made you feel so self conscious or small. For such a genius he made some stupid mistakes.

He placed his book on the coffee table to meet you in the kitchen. Bypassing the food he snuck behind you, creeping his arms around your waist before planting a small soft kiss on your cheek. Shikamaru snuggled his head into your neck before speaking.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so crass." He mumbled against your skin. "But I do have a surprise for you in the bathroom."

You perked up at the mention of a surprise. A wide grin sneaking on your lips as the scowl you held earlier dissipated. Shikamaru had always been a thoughtful boyfriend even if he was so coy in his interactions with you. He'd fill the apartment with roses for your anniversary , then downplay the extravagant act when you walked in the door. He once planned an entire surprise birthday party for you just to spend the entire night proclaiming he barely did anything. You were excited to see what considerate display your partner had put together this time.

You let out a small gasp as you walked into the romantically decorated bathroom. The dim candles created such a relaxed yet intimate ambiance to the entire space. You chuckled some at the rose petals. Despite the countless lectures both you and Ino had received on how pointless it was to pick the petals off of roses when a person could simply just give their partner a bouquet of roses, he still included them in your warm bath.

"Shika... you didn't have to do all this."

"It was nothing." He reassured disregarding the full speed sprint from the academy to the Yamanaka flower shop, then to the apartment. "Here let me help you."

Shikamaru assisted you in removing your garments. He knew how even the smallest tasks could bring out the failure's in your body after such a long mission. Something as simple as slipping out of a pair of cargoes seemed like a feat to a body so sore from what felt like an endless battle. He let you grasp onto his forearm before dipping into the tub and sinking shoulder deep. The warm water against your ailing body felt almost euphoric. As usual Shikamaru knew exactly what you needed.

Of course your generous boyfriend could not stop there, running you a bath was not enough. He was going to bathe you himself too. Tenderly rubbing the dirt and grime from every cut and scrape on your body.

"How'd you get this one?" a question he asked ever so often. His tone is always dull and irritated.

Shikamaru hated to see you covered in bruises. You called them a causality of the job, but to him they were just a sign that he wasn't there to protect you. He would try to ignore the small ones, but any that seemed too deep or painful he felt obligated to inquire about. Although he never liked the answer. That's probably why wiping away your wounds was so therapeutic for him. If he couldn't prevent the pain, at least he could alleviate it now.

"A shuriken hit me, cheap shot." You huffed.

Your boyfriend's face didn't soften, in fact you were sure you saw him actually grimace at the mention of you getting hit. You wondered why he even tortured himself asking questions he didn't want the answer to. Nonetheless you weren't going to let some small injuries ruin your first night home.

"Rumor around the village is you missed me a whole lot while I was away. "

Shikamaru's cheeks instantly flushed as he averted his eyes away from you. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously as a few unsure chuckles fell from his mouth. He was searching for the words to say.

"I ran into Naruto at Ichiraku's, he said you had such an attitude with all of them. Heard you even snapped at Lady Tsunade you missed me so much."

"Damn, Naruto!" He mumbled underneath his breath. "You mess up my whole routine when you leave!"

You let out an exaggerated sigh at the tired excuse.

"Give it up Nara, you missed me!"

Reluctantly the shadow ninja accepted defeat. He laced his now wet hands with yours and brought them to his lips. He planted a trail of endearing kisses up your arm to your elbow before gently returning your hand to the soothing water.

"I'm a mess when you're not here. I swear you occupy so much space in my brain, I can't even think straight. I miss you so much."

The revelation caught you off guard. Maybe it was his lustful entrance of finally having you home after a month, but Shikamaru very rarely was this vulnerable with you. Such words blossomed butterflies in your stomach. It was as if Shikamaru was confessing his feelings for you for the very first time.

"I love you so much y/n."

"I Love you too."

The two of you feel into a comfortable silence. Shikamaru stood to grab you a dry towel. Reluctant you feel deeper into the water, Although drawing colder you couldn't imagine getting out the tub just yet. After all it had been weeks since you allowed yourself to be pampered in such a way. You wanted to savor every moment.

"God, this feels so good." You moaned in pleasure.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at your blissful proclamation, that infamous smirk plastered on his face. He approached the tub, abandoning the towel on the counter, and kneeled behind you. He snaked his hand up your torso, fondling you some before they landed at your neck. You'd have let out a small gasp if the familiar feeling of his fingers lightly squeezing your throat hadn't completely knocked the air out of you. He kissed his way from behind your ear down to the base of your neck.

"I can make you feel better."

-

The next morning the two of you found yourselves in Lady Tsunade's office, along with your comrades. As usual the Fifth Hokage was assigning daily tasks, when her eyes fell upon Shikamaru. His demeanor was clearly different from yesterday, His hands had returned to his pockets and his scowl had been replaced with a content grin.

"You seem to be in better spirits Shikamaru." Tsunade announced inquisitively. "I assume you've resolved that issue of yours?"

The other shinobi snickered at her insinuation. The attention made both you and Shikamaru look down at the floor hoping it would open up and consume you two whole. Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck, eyes closed before answering.

"Yes Ma'am."

[sukisdeliveryservice]

hello!! could i kindly request for a student campus crush! wonwoo hehe and you’re best friends and have unrequited feelings but u dont know if he feels the same so over a sleepover u tried confessing and you can continue from there hehe -🐼

let me hear you say | j. ww

✎ pairing: best friend!wonwoo x female reader

✎ genre: collegel!au, friends to lovers!au, mostly fluff

✎ warnings: none!

✎ wc: 2.40 k words

✎ notes: hi 🐼 anon! i got a little carried away with this one because soft, cuddly wonwoo makes my stomach do flips but i hope you like it! i'm not sure how i feel about my portrayal of yn here because i wanted them to be really supportive of wonwoo but kind of having a hard time because of their feelings towards him. i hope i was able to express that without portraying them as kind of eh :/

“Don’t you ever get tired?” You take a quick glance at your best friend as he folds up another piece of paper with a phone number written on it.

“Of what?”

“Of everyone in this school falling head over heels for you,” You say like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, proceeding to look back down at your notes. In reality, you were trying to prevent yourself from looking at the cute (albeit, confused) way your best friend was staring at you over your abrupt question.

“Well I can’t say I’m not flattered, but there aren’t really that many people yn,”

A total lie, you think to yourself. Every time you two walked around campus, your best friend attracted the adoring stares of all your classmates like some hotshot celebrity. Yes, he was popular, and yes, he totally deserved it, but if everyone knew how dorky he was, maybe they wouldn’t be so quick to hand him their number after a single conversation.

Another lie, if everyone knew what a nerd Jeon Wonwoo actually was, they’d probably fall for him harder. You would know of course, first hand experience taught you a lot of things.

It taught you how endearing it was when Wonwoo wore oversized clothing, so that he could pull the sleeves over his palms when sipping on a hot drink at the local campus cafe. It made you realize his habit of pushing his glasses up his nose, because he was too stubborn to get the bridge adjusted. It made your insides melt whenever he was nervous because he had a habit of fiddling with his fingers. You were certain that if anyone was completely head over heels and absolutely smitten by him, it was definitely you.

“Not many people my ass,” you scoffed, “you spoke to her once, just once! And now you are holding her number.” Wonwoo laughs at your poor attempt at hiding your annoyance, “For your information, we were talking about a group project, and exchanging contact information. Nothing more, and nothing less.”

You gave a little huff before going back to pretend-studying, you definitely couldn’t focus when he was sitting right across from you. You knew you were more prone to jumping to conclusions nowadays, and you hoped that Wonwoo didn’t notice your shift in behaviour. In reality, you couldn’t help but feel a little pang of worry whenever your best friend was asked out on another date. And while he rejected the offer every time, you worried that one day he might say yes and you could lose him forever.

Not that you were against Wonwoo falling in love someday. If he found a good person that he wanted to be with for the rest of his life, you would support him in a heartbeat. It was just the selfish feeling that blossomed in your chest that prevented you from feeling any true happiness for these kinds of situations, and you hated it.

You knew that he would never abandon you completely, because Wonwoo was the best friend you could ever ask for. But you also knew that it would kill you inside to see him sweep someone else off their feet.

You’ve known Wonwoo since high school, and you definitely harboured a puppy crush on him all of first year. This was back when he was still trading pokemon cards in the gym stairwell and poking at you to buy him something from the milk vending machine. The crush went away eventually and you found yourself enjoying the rest of your high school career with your closest confidant by your side.

Once you both entered university, Wonwoo had a sudden growth spurt that now put him a total head taller than you. He no longer lurked at the stairwells during lunch and instead made lots of new friends that he went out for coffee with. He started dressing nicer, and once he exchanged his old glasses for a pair of round silver ones that rested on his nose so perfectly, he instantly transformed into someone straight out of a kdrama.

Now, you have caught feelings again. And you’re scared to admit that this time a puppy crush doesn’t even encapsulate everything you’ve been feeling lately. Of course Wonwoo’s sudden change in appearance didn’t spark anything new in your feelings towards him. It was the fact that he had a new air around him that was just completely different.

Wonwoo in high school was shy, and you loved him for who he was. You two had your own small circle of friends and you would spend all your time reading or playing games in his bedroom. Wonwoo in college however, was breaking out of his shell and being the first to approach people and make new friends. He was still introverted of course, shyness and introvertedness were two different things after all. But you were proud to see Wonwoo take the initiative to make plans more often and reach out.

Wonwoo has also gotten a lot more comfortable around you. He’s grown fond of resting his head on your shoulder after a long day of classes, and wrapping you in his sweaters whenever you came by his flat. In conclusion, everything about university student Wonwoo, was driving you, (and probably the entire campus) crazy.

“Hello? yn? Don’t you have a class soon?”

You swat away the hand that was waving in front of your face to meet the eyes of the cause of all your heart troubles. One smile from Wonwoo and you were in shambles. You had it really, really bad. “Right, right, sorry I was just...distracted.”

“We’re still on for tonight right? You can just head straight to my dorm after your last class.”

“Of course Won, did you really think I was going to miss out on another rewatch of Extraordinary You?”

“Of course not,” Wonwoo chuckled. You were met with another one of those soft gazes from him, and you immediately tried to break your stare. Something in your heart tells you that you should just confess right now, and that Wonwoo was a sensible individual who wouldn’t let go of your friendship if he didn’t feel the same way.

“Hey Won, can I tell you something after class later?”

“Of course.” There was that smile again. If you weren’t so busy trying to slow your heart rate down, you would have caught the way his eyes brightened at hearing your question, and the way he looked down to twindle with his fingers.

You give Wonwoo your own smile before heading off to your last detour of the day.

Sleepovers with Wonwoo always consisted of a mountain of blankets, a never ending pile of snacks and a show to watch before eventually both of you fell asleep. When you arrived at his flat just as he was adding the finishing touches to a home cooked dinner, you realized that sleepovers with Wonwoo also consisted of another thing: Your tragic inability to keep your heart rate down.

“Dinner will be ready in a bit, you can just wash up and get changed for now,” Wonwoo turns to greet you before adding some pepper to the tteokbokki.

You nod and head over to his bathroom, where you already find your change of clothes resting on the counter. Any outsider would have been under the impression that you and Wonwoo lived together, considering that pieces of you were scattered all over his apartment. From the matching toothbrushes that were kept by the sink, to the drawer reserved only for your clothes in his bedroom.

The only reason that you and Wonwoo didn’t room together upon entering university, was the fact that your parents were wary of you rooming with a boy you weren’t even dating. Not that it mattered now, considering that you at least spent two nights at his place away from your own dorm.

After you showered and changed into your pajamas, you realized that Wonwoo had given you one of his sweaters to wear, instead of the usual shirts you slept in. Usually you would have raided his bedroom after dinner to steal one (you slept much better when you wore his clothing) but this time it appeared that he had taken the initiative for you.

Once you stepped out of the bathroom, you saw that Wonwoo was already sitting at the dining table and was on his phone. It looked like he was texting someone, and you felt your heart sink a little when he laughed at a message. No, you are not going to be jealous. You are going to be happy for your friend because he deserves all the happiness in the world.

“Is that the girl from your group project?” You sat down across from him and started piling the tteokbokki and rice onto your plate. “Yeah, she said that the professor just sent out a mass email to our class, saying that we were going to be given an extension. Turns out that email was meant for another course, but everyone is already celebrating the new deadline.”

Wonwoo shuts off his phone and turns to you, “Was there something you wanted to tell me today?”

Right. You were going to confess your feelings. It was now or never, and you weren’t sure if you could hold it in much longer. “I can just tell you after dinner, I’m starving.”

Tragic. Tragic. Tragic. Why couldn’t you just say the words, “Hey Won, I have feelings for you, do you feel the same way?” Must you be in a spiraling paradox of questioning the presence of unrequited love in the relationship you had with your best friend? Yes, most definitely yes. Since the world likes to make everything difficult for those in love.

Dinner was eaten in a comfortable silence for the most part. You liked that you never felt the need to fill the air with more conversation whenever you were with Wonwoo. There were days where you would just sit in each other’s presence and do your own thing, and those days left you with lots of time to ponder on your feelings for him. Tonight was the night that you were going to say these feelings aloud for the first time...you just needed a bit more time to procrastinate.

After you both finished your food, you relocated yourselves to the couch. You fidgeted with the end of your (his) sweater while Wonwoo searched for the show on Netflix. You figured that you would let him know in the morning, since there was a chance that you two would fall asleep before the episode ended. And you didn’t want to confess beforehand either, in fear of having to endure a brutal one hour of awkward tension if he didn’t feel the same way.

“Who would have thought that out of all the days the wifi could have chosen to bail on us, they chose the day where we were going to find out whether Haru belonged to Dan-oh’s story or not,” Wonwoo fiddles with the remote some more, while you panic in silence at the thought of spending the night with no distractions from your feelings.

“It’s not like we don’t already know how it ends,” You take deep quiet breaths to calm yourself down, you can definitely make it through the night, “We can just do other things.”

“What do you have in mind?”

You couldn’t answer him right away. The only thing you had on your mind was the fact that Wonwoo’s hand was now resting on your knee and that it was baffling how good he could look in pajamas. Wonwoo, sensing your inability to form words nervously glanced up at you before moving the conversation in a different direction, “Look, I know you had something to tell me today yn, but I realized that I wanted to share something with you too. I am in love-”

“I am in love with you Jeon Wonwoo!”

There. You blurted out a long-awaited confession before the anticipation consumed you whole. You couldn’t tear your eyes away from your hands in fear of seeing the look on Wonwoo’s face.

“Let me hear you say it again.”

“What?” You turn to Wonwoo, who no longer looked nervous. Instead, he wore the biggest shit-eating grin on his face that made you want to both kiss and strangle him. “Say it again.”

“Not when you look like you just won the lottery you nerd, you didn’t even say-”

“I am in love with you too yn.”

Well, you were never one to complain about the fact that your feelings were returned. But the way Wonwoo was cooing at your adorable expression of shock only made you want to shove him off the couch.

Which you proceeded to do.

“Hey! Aren’t you happy that I like you too?”

“Of course I’m happy! You didn’t have to try to beat me to my confession though, tonight was going to be my night!”

“You didn’t seem like you were going to say anything for the rest of the evening! You were going to wait until the next day weren’t you?”

Absolutely yes. “No!”

Any remaining tension in the atmosphere washed away as you and Wonwoo made fun of each other on the living room floor. You were beyond relieved and a little giddy that your best friend in the whole wide world saw you in the way that you saw him.

“But on a more serious note Won, were you also going to confess tonight too?”

“Actually no, but once you came out of the washroom wearing my sweater, I just had to say it before I tackled you with cuddles or something.”

“You gave me your sweater instead of my clothes to wear!”

“I know!” Wonwoo was holding your hand now and rubbing circles into your palm. The idea of cuddling the entire night didn’t sound so bad. “But you looked all nervous and shy and I was hoping that you were going to be the one to say something first.”

“Can we just agree that we confessed at the same time?” As the adrenaline from the confession began to slip away you suddenly became very tired, and you were hoping to just spend the night in the arms of your favourite person.

“Deal. So can we cuddle now?”

[plant-flwrs]

Heyy!! I wish you would write a fic where Fred is lowkey really into Shakespear and Romeo and Juliet and tries to woo the reader cs she’s muggleborn? Idk but it would be so cute!! 🥺

romeo and juliet // fred weasley

masterlist!

summary: Fred reads Romeo and Juliet and can’t help but fall in love

a/n: schools out, so hopefully that means more time for writing! thanks for the request anon i thought it was adorable, hope you like it!!

(2.5k)

At first, it was a secret. Fred had no intention of actually enjoying it. He had simply accepted the book Professor Lupin had lent him, thumbed through it, and stayed up all night to read it by accident.

Maybe it was because Lupin had seen the way Fred looked at you across the class, separated by hidden bloodlines and upbringings. You, with your muggle pens that you smuggled in. You, with your muggle records you used an entire bag to carry onto the train. You, with your muggle magazines that spread through the common room like wildfire. You, with those weird little things called cigarettes that you sold in your third year to the older students. You, with the way the older pureblood witches would sit and ask you to do their hair for them because only you could do all the newest muggle styles. You, with your reluctance to Quidditch but your love for soccer.

Fred was gone, absolutely gone for you. He was even more behind than usual in class because he couldn't help but find you with his eyes, no matter the room you were in or the distance between you both. Remus Lupin, the secret romantic, asked Fred to stay after class.

"Mr. Weasley," Professor Lupin called, feet kicked up on his desk while he levitated a novel wandlessly in front of him. A half-eaten apple rested on a napkin beside a chocolate wrapper and Fred was forced to remember the breakfast he had barely eaten, choosing to instead pretend he hadn't noticed the fact you had only sat a few seats away.

Fred stood in front of Lupin's desk, waiting as the room emptied out and George shot him a wink from the doorway.

"Yes, Professor?" Fred rocked on his feet, hands stuffed in the pockets of his robe. He tried not to wonder if you had noticed that he had been called behind, or if you had noticed him at all. He vaguely registered that this might what his brother would call 'pathetic'.

"You never turned in that essay on wandless defenses," Lupin said slowly, the book moving to rest on his desk as he moved his feet to the ground.

Fred was quiet, biting the inside of his cheek as he couldn't seem to recall the last time a teacher had bothered to talk to him about his assignments instead of deeming him a 'lost cause' or a student who 'simply wouldn't apply themselves'.

Professor Lupin sighed, moving again to stand. Fred thought he caught a flash of pain on the professor's face, perhaps a wince as he stood, but the moment was gone before Lupin was giving Fred a calculating and sympathetic glance.

"Do you need an extension?" Remus offered, leaning his hip against the desk and inclining his head to show Fred the importance of this offering.

"I'd appreciate that, Professor," Fred admitted.

They were silent again, Remus still looking at Fred like he was something to figure out. Remus shifted, eyes dropped to his desk and lips lifting.

"What's got you so preoccupied?"

Fred was blushing before he could think of a lie, and then he realized he didn't want to lie. He hadn't even told George about his crush on you- no doubt it was obvious. Fred had had flings and crushes on loads of girls, all fun and easy, but this felt heavier. He didn't want to have a fling with you.

"I guess-" Fred sighed, removing his hands from his robes and wiping them on his trousers, "I've just been distracted recently. A lot on my mind."

"Ah," Remus smiled fondly, nodding slowly.

A book began to move from a pile in the corner, elegantly and easily avoiding the tall stacks of clutter and various lumps of papers to levitate to Fred. Fred reached out for it, moving it in his hand to read the cover. Romeo and Juliet.

"I'll make you a deal, Fred," Professor Lupin said, his voice sounding so mischievous that Fred was surprised he hadn't become ten years younger right in front of him. "You can either write the essay on wandless defenses, or you can read that and write an essay on 'Romeo and Juliet'."

Fred thumbed through the book, eyebrows furrowed. He had never liked reading, most of the books at the Burrow belonged to Bill, Percy, or his father. He was pretty sure that George would find Fred reading Shakespeare to be just as funny as the time they released Cornish Pixies in the Slytherin changing rooms.

"Yeah, alright."

Fred managed to eat dinner that night, with you safely at the opposite end of the table. The curtains to his fourposter had been closed for hours and the light from his wand had been steadily bright for just as long. He had gone from laying on his back, head propped up beneath his arms, to resting his back against the headboard, to sitting upright in the center of his bed, head propped on his fist, to laying on his stomach, to laying on his back again with his head at the foot of his bed, and soon enough, the sun was flooding through a crack in the curtains. He had just finished Romeo and Juliet when he heard the showers starting.

"Lupin!"

Remus stopped and watched Fred catch up to him. He looked tired and simultaneously wide awake, his hair was a mess, and Remus was almost certain that he was wearing his pajama pants beneath his school robes.

"Mr. Weasley," Remus said cordially, continuing his walk to the greenhouse.

"I wanted to talk to you about that book you lent me-"

"Oh, you can keep it, if you'd like. I've read it dozens of times."

Fred hesitated, a wide smile spreading over his face, "Oh, thanks, Professor! It's just, I wanted to tell you I really liked it."

"You've finished it, then?" Remus asked with an impressed smile.

"Read it last night," Fred admitted, somewhat embarrassed.

"I look forward to the essay, then," Lupin said with a kind smile and a nod, turning into the greenhouses and leaving Fred in the corridor.

Inside his robes, he felt the weight of the tiny book against his chest. He kept it in a pocket there, fingers itching to hold it and read it again.

He couldn't help the roaring thoughts in his head. The idea that you were his Juliet, that you and he could find a hidden love, just for you two, amongst your external differences. He was oddly disappointed by the ending and decided he might not completely finish the book if he read it again, perhaps pretend it ended differently. He leaned his back against the stone wall behind him, fighting a blushing smile from his face.

So, Fred loved Shakespeare in secret. He loved reading in secret. He loved the weight of the book in his hands in secret. He loved the words and the phrases in secret. He loved the way it made him think in secret. He loved you in secret. He loved in secret.

Until you started dating Thomas Meadowbrooke. Thomas was a Ravenclaw, wickedly smart, handsome, kind, and the victim of many of the Weasley twins' pranks for a while. George didn't directly ask Fred why they were suddenly pranking this one boy so relentlessly all of a sudden, but he didn't need to.

Thomas wore blazers with patches on the elbows and combed his silky hair down the middle. He always had a flower in his coat pocket to give to you and he always carried a book of poetry with him. He was sensitive and wistful in all the ways girls loved, including you.

You thought Thomas was painfully boring. He would fawn over you in the most annoying ways, giving you poems that he wrote (horrendously awful, they were) and quoting lines from old and boring books to you. He didn't listen to Joan Jett or Janis Joplin and he cringed when you played your records. He suggested Bach or Debussy instead. He was boring.

You had only agreed to go out with him because he asked. Thomas Meadowbrooke may have been able to put a cornish pixie to sleep just by talking to it, but he was undeniably handsome. Well, he was more handsome before he had fallen victim to a particularly entertaining Weasley twin prank that turned his hair gelled and spiked up for a few days.

You broke up with Thomas soon after. He took it well, saying it gave him fuel to finish some poetry he hadn't been inspired enough for before.

Remus heard this gossip quite excitedly.

"She did, did she?" Remus tilted his head, a coy smirk on his lips.

The smell of fertilizer was strong, but he learned not to mind it as he watched the merry witch digging in various pots.

"He was quite heartbroken, the poor thing. Filius said that when he did routine bed checks, he could hear Thomas crying for weeks!" Professor Sprout sighed, patting down the soil and checking for weeds.

"Teen romance is always quite fickle," Remus commented, following Pomona as she moved to the next pot.

"Says you!" Pomona playfully scolded Remus, her red cheeks filling as she smiled.

Remus chuckled, thinking back to Sirius who would sneak into his office later to distract him from grading papers.

"You know, Pomona," Remus said in that voice of his, the one that got Sprout to drop her trowel and lean in close to hear the latest gossip. "I think Fred Weasley's got a bit of a crush on Y/n."

Pomona gasped, dirty hand flying to cover her mouth. She paused, scrunching up her face and sticking her tongue out to spit out the clump of dirt.

"He hasn't!" she continued, not minding Remus' amused smile and the clean rag he offered her to wipe her hands.

"He's always staring at her," Remus said, thinking on it. "I reckon he's quite the secret romantic."

Pomona cooed and awed as she continued to tend to her plants, she and Remus trading anymore gossip that they could think of.

The weather changed at quite a convenient time for Fred. With the slightly warm but still a bit chilled fall weather, Fred could dawn his lighter coats. His lighter coats that happened to have wonderfully shaped pockets on the inside, just the right size for a book.

Fred wondered if you had gone out with Thomas because Ravenclaw book nerds were your type, or if you had broken up with him because Ravenclaw book nerds weren't your type. Fred had spent almost all of the warm weather contemplating how he was going to continue to live if he was determined to remain secretly in love with you. By fall he had figured it out.

Fred wasn't going to hide anything, not the books he had recently begun to love, or the way he loved so strongly. He wasn't going to miss meals because you were so distracting. He wasn't going to suffocate under his crush on you.

It was a beautiful day. George was up in the dorms with Lee working on a prank and Fred had decided to take a walk down to the Black Lake. His lighter coat was a bit heavier because of the book in the pocket, and Fred pushed his hair out of his eyes as he looked down at the ground to avoid stepping on tree roots. He found a nice spot beneath a tree, resting against the trunk and reading.

"Hey, Fred," a voice called, coming closer as they easily avoided the maze of tree roots.

Fred looked up to see you, in those perfect muggle clothes you wore any chance you could, hair styled in that wonderful muggle way, one of those muggle cigarettes tucked behind your ear, walking towards him.

"Hey," he responded, surprised by how easy his voice sounded.

"Have you been reviewing at all for Lupin's?" You sat next to Fred like it was the easiest thing in the world, brushing your shoulder against his.

"No, not really," Fred closed his book with his thumb tucked between the pages saving his spot.

"Mmm," you hummed, leaning your head back against the tree and closing your eyes. "What're you reading?"

"Romeo and Juliet," Fred replied, looking at your profile while he had the chance.

"Didn't think that was your thing," you said playfully, opening one eye to catch Fred looking at you.

He flushed and turned his gaze to his hands in his lap. "Me neither," he admitted, swallowing.

"I always liked ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, personally."

Fred smiled to himself, because of course, you had also read Shakespeare, and of course, you would have a cool favorite.

"I like that one, too," Fred said lamely, enjoying the way you were smiling at him.

By winter, Fred had devised a plan. It was perfect, more perfect than any prank he had created or any Zonko's product he had bought. He would die if he kept all this love to himself, so he decided all he needed was one kiss.

The Yule Ball was in full swing, the classical and slow music long forgotten as everyone moved to the dance floor and rocked to the loud and fast rhythm. Fred had seen you when you first arrived, noticing with glee that you were alone, and hadn't lost sight of you since. He had removed himself from the heavily crowded dance floor, stumbling to the table with the juice he and George had spiked hours earlier. He loosened the collar of his robes and pushed his already disheveled hair out of his face.

You watched Fred move through the crowd like a tornado, a mass of energy that you felt required to look at and admire. He strode to the table, a quiet and self-satisfied smirk on his lips as he took a long sip of punch.

Fred caught you staring at him with pleasant unexpectedness. You looked just as beautiful as you did when the night started, skin glowing and everything dawned upon you with your magical muggle-ness. Fred put his cup down, a comfortable pink hue warming his cheeks, and approached you. He touched his hand to yours.

"Hey, Fred," you said with an entertained smirk, glancing down at his hand on yours.

"I need you to do me a favor," he slurred, voice easy and breath warm as it landed on your skin.

"What kind of favor?"

"I need you to kiss me," Fred pulled his mouth away from your ear, looking to your face.

He didn't have much of an opportunity, though, before your lips were on his and you stole his breath. He tasted of the spiked punch and his hands were trembling and careful as they rested on your waist. You grabbed a fistful of his robes, pulling him close to you with urgency.

He pulled away, lips red and swollen, with his eyes still closed.

"I need you to do me a favor," you said, mouth hovering above his.

"Yeah?"

"Kiss me," you whispered, just loud enough for Fred to hear.

He listened, and held onto you with less trembling and more confidence as you kissed for the second time.

[nerdythebard]

#50: Erin Solstice [The Wandering Inn]

(Art Credit: cmarguel on Twitter) ---

Welcome back, my lovelies.

I will be honest with you, I've been putting this one on hold for some time because I wasn't sure if I can do this right. One of our newest friends, @bomoboo, gave me quite a challenge. I didn't want to straight-up deny a request, so it kinda sat there until I got my things together. This one's not perfect, and I know it, but I hope we can work on those together and enjoy creative D&D plays henceforth. Anyway, Erin Solstice, would you mind inviting us for a game of chess?

Next Time: You either die a hero or... well, you don't become a myth.

So, what is our strategy for this game?

Isekai Protagonist: Erin is a human girl from Michigan, who ends up in a fantasy realm after walking into the bathroom. It really doesn't get more anime than that.

Peaceful Warrior: Just because Erin doesn't like fighting, doesn't mean she can't. She'll take on an entire army for you, and then happily invite you over for a game.

Jacqueline of All Trades: Anything you can think of, Erin can probably do. She crafts, she plays chess, she cooks, she brews her own ales.

---

The story gives it to us right away, Erin is a Human. But since she's essentially an anime protagonist, we're making her a Variant Human. This gives us a +1 to two abilities of our choice (Intelligence and Charisma), we can speak Common and one other language of our choice (perhaps Goblin?), we gain proficiency in one skill of our choice (Persuasion), and we get to pick a feat; for the best [Innkeeper] in Izril, we gotta pick the Chef feat from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. We can increase our Constitution or Wisdom by 1, proficiency with cook's utensils, and the ability to prepare some food and treats during a rest that provides those that eat them with some extra Hit Points. Just like mama used to make <3

Since Erin literally came to Izril from another world, we're gonna make her a Far Traveler. We gain proficiency in Insight and Perception skills, proficiency with one musical instrument or gaming set (do I need to say anything?), and one more language proficiency. The All Eyes on You feat definitely makes us stand out at first, but those curious glances and whispers could be used to our advantage to, for example, secure an audience with somebody important in exchange for a tale or two from our homeland.

ABILITY SCORES

While Erin is a talented chess player and a very pragmatic thinker, we're gonna put Charisma as our priority for her persuasion and manipulation capabilities. For her equally impressive willpower, we're getting Wisdom next (both are the most common saving throws against compulsion), followed by Intelligence.

Constitution will be next, as Erin's alcohol immunity, endurance, and recovery seem to be pretty good. Dexterity is on a lower end, and we're gonna dump Strength.

CLASS

This one was difficult, but when accounting for all of Erin's skills and items, we have to go with a Bard, start-to-finish. Bards get the d8 as their Hit Dice, [8 + our Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiencies with light armour, simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, and shortswords (feel free to pick whatever, for the purpose of the build we'll go with the classic leather, also perhaps include a dagger to mimic the knife she got from Pelt), as well as three different musical instruments. Our saving throws are Dexterity and Charisma, and we get to pick any three skills (Investigation, Performance, and Survival).

Level 1: We start with Bardic Inspiration, the class's staple. Through the means of singing, poetry, or a little entertaining jig, we can give a creature within 60 feet of us an Inspiration Die. The creature can use the Inspiration Die to add its result (starting at d6, increasing as we level up) to the next saving throw, ability check, or attack roll it makes within the next 10 minutes. We have a numer of Inspiration equal to our Charisma modifier and we regain all expended ones after a long rest.

Bards also gain Spellcasting at level 1. Charisma is our casting ability and we know cantrips, regular spells, and rituals. Bards have access to their entire spell list and get a fixed number of spells as they level up. We start with two cantrips (Friends and Prestidigitation) and four 1st-level spells (Charm Person, Cure Wounds, Detect Magic, Heroism).

Level 2: We can now reach one of our goals and became a Jack of All Trades. From now on, we can add half of our proficiency bonus (rounded down) to any ability check that we lack proficiency in. We also learn the Song of Rest: during a short rest, we can revitalise our allies with songs and stories. If the characters spend Hit Dice for healing, they can add extra 1d6 HP (the dice value changes as we level-up).

We also learn one more 1st-level spell. Since we're an innkeeper, we need to resupply. How about getting some better prices for our wares with Distort Value.

Level 3: At this level, we get to pick our subclass, our Bard College. Since Erin relies a lot on her charisma and persuasive skills, we're going to pick College of Eloquence. By carefully and beautifully weaving our words, we can resolve conflicts and achieve our goals without the need to draw a weapon. We start with Silver Tongue: whenever we make a Persuasion or Deception check, we cannot roll lower than 10. This essentially give us Rogue's Reliable Talent (a feat from Level 11). We also get to speak Unsettling Words: as a bonus action, we can spend one Inspiration Die and choose a creature within 60 feet of us. The targeted creature then have to deduct the ID result from the next saving throw it makes before the start of our next turn.

At level 3, we also get the first part of Expertise. We get to pick two skills and double our proficiency bonus to any ability check used with those skills. Let's pick Insight and Persuasion.

We also unlock 2nd-level spells. Let's pick Borrowed Knowledge.

Level 4: We get our first Ability Score Improvement. Let's bump our Dexterity up by two points for better AC. We also get a new cantrip (Vicious Mockery) and another 2nd-level spell (Locate Object).

Level 5: At this level, our Bardic Inspiration die increases its value to d8. We also become a Font of Inspiration, and now we can recover our Inspiration Dice during a short or long rest.

We unlock 3rd-level spells here, so let's grab Motivational Speech.

Level 6: We get Countercharm. As an action, we start a performance that lasts until the end of our next turn. During that time, creatures within 30 feet of us (ourselves included) gain an advantage on saving throws against being frightened and charmed.

For this level's spell, let's get Nondetection to mimic Erin's anti-scrying ring.

Level 7: We don't any new features here, but we do unlock 4th-level spells. Feel free to grab Dimension Door, in order to replicate Erin's Magical Door.

Level 8: Time for another ASI. Let's increase our Constitution by two points for that nice HP bonus. For this level's spell, we're gonna go back a level and pick Summon Fey Spirit.

Level 9: Our Song of Rest value now becomes d8, and we unlock 5th-level spells. Let's grab Mass Cure Wounds to better support our allies.

Level 10: Halfway through the build and we get a bunch of goodies. First of all, our last cantrip of the build (Mending), then our Bardic Inspiration Dice become d10s, we get two more skills to put Expertise into (Perception and Survival) and a massive spell boost with Magical Secrets. We can choose two spells from any spell list and add them to our repertoire, as long as they're of a level we can cast. We're gonna grab the 1st-level Shield spell for some AC boost and the 4th-level Fabricate spell.

Level 11: At this level, we don't gain any new class levels, but we unlock 6th-level spells. From now on, our spell gain is slowing down, so we have to make it count. Since the best Innkeeper has to serve the best food, it's clear we're gonna go with Heroes' Feast.

Level 12: Another ASI. This time, we're gonna bump up Dexterity by two points.

Level 13: Our Song of Rest now becomes d10. Additionally, we unlock 7th-level spells, and it's finally time for us to get our beloved Wandering Inn (and it actually will be wandering!) with Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion.

Level 14: Time for another magic haul. From our subclass we gain Infectious Inspiration. Whenever we successfully inspire someone and they use their Inspiration Die, we can use our reaction to automatically inspire another creature (other than ourselves) within 60 feet of us without losing an ID. We can do that a number of times equal to our Charisma modifier per long rest.

We also get to pick two more Magical Secrets. This time, let's grab Guards and Wards to have complete control over our inn, as well as Drawmij's Instant Summons to always have a pick-me-up at hand.

Level 15: Our Bardic Inspiration dice now become d12. We also unlock 8th-level spells. Let's grab Glibness to raise our charisma to the level of gods.

Level 16: Time for another ASI. Let's grab some more power before the endgame and bump up our Charisma by two points.

Level 17: Our Song of Rest value now becomes d12. We also unlock the pinnacle of D&D magic (for players), the 9th-level spells. However, let's grab the Mind Blank spell from level 8. Just wait and see...

Level 18: We get two more Magical Secrets here, and it's time to make an actual wandering inn. As long as we'll get the funds for it. And we will, because the final spells of this build are Mighty Fortress and Wish.

Level 19: For the final ASI, we're gonna bump up our Dexterity by two points.

Level 20: Our capstone is Bard 20, which gives us Superior Inspiration. Whenever we roll Initiative, if we don't have any Inspiration Dice left, we regain one.

---

And that's the lovely Erin Solstice. Let's see how we did:

First of all, we're a master manipulator. With a Passive Perception of 24, we know what happens in our inn while being in its basement. With our subclass and Expertise in Charisma-based skills, I can assure you most of your conflicts will end before they even begin.

Our AC is 14 (with a standard leather armour) or 19 (with the Shield spell), we have a +3 to our Initiative and the average of 136 Hit Points.

As you can clearly see, this build was made for support purposes. We're not a frontline fighter. Our job is to make sure our allies can defeat their enemies, and then live to fight another day. Our strengths lie outside the battlefield, and we're a strong candidate for the party's Face.

---

Phew, now that was something. Once again, I cannot express how thankful I am for your patience and support, my darlings. Things are starting to come up Nerdy, so I hope I can return to my groove.

I'll see you soon <3

-Nerdy out!

[angry-geese]

Hi there <3 I've read some of your works and i'm in love with your writing. May I please request a fluff gojo x fem!reader? Like they finished their work in the evening and spend the rest of the night together at home💕 It could be a oneshot or a hc, whichever you feel to write. Thank you so much ^^ I'm sorry just in case my request is somehow not really clear☺️

Of course! here you go <3

Mochi

Gojo Satoru x reader

Warnings: none! entirely fluff! this will quite literally rot your teeth. afab reader

a/n: this ended up being a little longer than I intended lol whoops

Word Count: 2.5k

Satoru Gojo is a busy man.

The strongest can't really take a break. He’s on call 24/7. People are pulling him in all directions simultaneously. With everything that's been going on, between the mess with Sukuna, and everything happening at the school, he’s been short on time.

He needs a break.

He's more tired than he lets on. He’s good at hiding it. Especially around his students. It's hard to pull him away from his work. He's insistent that he’s fine. When you’re around someone for so long, you learn to pick up when they aren't. He can pretend to be fine all he wants. You know otherwise.

Sometimes what the strongest needs is someone to boss him around.

He’s capable of taking care of himself. He’s proven that already. But worrying is in your nature. You care about him, of course you’re going to worry.

You were a first year when you met him, having just transfered schools after an incident involving a curse. In a matter of weeks your life had seemingly been flipped on its head. The switch took some time to get used to. Switching schools your first year, let alone switching to this one in particular, was never going to be easy. Getting used to the way Jujutsu society worked took a while. He was a year above you, and you remember absolutely hating him. Gojo was insufferable- or you found him to be such. But he was friends with Nanami, who was a friend of yours, so you reluctantly hung out with him. Nanami, being in the same year as you, was the first to help you out, extending a hand and helping you get used to the way things worked.

Spending time with him didn't do much to change your views. The two of you couldn't have been more different. You still are. But something about opposites attracts.

The first time you gave him the benefit of the doubt was the first time he saved your life.

It may be a bit of an over exaggeration. You’re certain you would have survived without his help, but that could also be an attempt to preserve your pride. You went after a curse, not expecting it to be as strong as it was. As far as you knew, it shouldn't have been stronger than a grade three. Being a grade two at the time, this should have been well in your ability. There ended up being more than one curse, and they were stronger than anyone had realized. You were in over your head.

It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known. It's not like you could pick and choose which curses you fought. As a student, that was decided for you.

You had resigned to your fate, separated from the others, injured. Nothing fatal. It left a cool scar, though. But you were well out of your league, put on an assignment far harder than you could deal with. You hate to admit defeat, but you had no other option.

Out of what seemed like thin air came Gojo, taking out both curses like it was nothing. Despite not liking him all that much, it was hard to not be impressed. He was strong. Stronger than you could ever hope to be.

You made it home in one piece.

It was three days before you’d finally confront him.

Getting him alone was hard enough. Being an underclassman, you didn't interact with him a whole lot. You didn't have any classes together. The few times you ran into him were when you hung out with Nanami, who was gone at the time.

When the opportunity presented itself, you took it, cornering him behind the school.

Even back then it was impossible to sneak up on him. He could sense you coming.

“Jesus-” he said, referring to you by your last name, “you look like you want to kill me.”

“You helped me out.” You said. “Why?”

He only shrugged. Not wanting to take that for an answer, you followed him. You were insistent you paid him back. You’d never let a debt like that go unpaid. The first debts are always the hardest to pay back. And when a first debt involves saving your life, well, you’ve got a lifetime to pay back. You only left once Gojo showed up. He needed to talk to Gojo about something, and although you were curious, you didn't feel like sticking around.

Gojo spent the next couple days scheming. You were determined enough you would do just about anything. He could have easily abused his power. It would have been even easier to force you to drop it, but something told him you weren't about to take no for an answer.

You wouldn't.

3pm in the bathrooms. It was hardly a week later. Your last class had ended for the day. You had snuck cigarettes in, blowing the smoke out of the crack in the window. You don't smoke anymore, but you went through nearly a pack a day in high school. There wasn't a specific brand you liked—you didn't necessarily like smoking, but you did it when you were stressed—you just used whatever you got ahold of.

You didn't hear the door open. Gojo wasn't the sneaky type, but he could be when he wanted. You weren't too hard to sneak up on.

If you didn't have contraband that likely would have gotten you expelled, you would have screamed when you saw him. He scared you, not to mention he snuck into the girl’s bathrooms. The two of you would be in equally deep shit if you reported the other. So at that moment you came to a silent agreement.

“You still want to pay me back?” He asked. “Cause I have an idea.”

You perked up at his words.

“Get me mochi from that shop just down the road. You know the one that just opened up?” He asked. “Bring me some and I’ll call us even.”

“That's it?” You asked. It was almost anticlimactic. But despite everything, he was insistent.

Gojo hasn't changed a whole lot since then.

He still has his sweet tooth. He still makes you get him mochi from that shop. It feels like you’re the ones keeping it in business nowadays.

You’re not quite sure who made the first move.

Soon you began spending more time together away from Nanami and Geto. You got along better than anyone—mostly you—ever expected. You weren't the most outwardly affectionate. While you were far from shy, pda wasn't really your thing. Gojo is the opposite. Even now, years after you began dating, he’s still clingy. You’ve gotten used to it. Gojo is possessive, he wants everyone to know you’re his. Not that they don't know already. He can't shut up about you.

Getting him alone has always been hard. Not much has changed in the past few years. He’s only gotten busier. Try to drag him away from work all you want, you rarely succeed.

Tonight he's come willingly. He finished his work early, and all you had left was stuff you could finish in the morning.

Nights at home like this—together—are rare. It feels like you hardly see him anymore. You often fall asleep alone, only to wake up to the other side of the bed being cold. He’s been so occupied with this business with Yuji, that he’s hardly had time for anything else. You sneak away during your breaks, like you’re teenagers again, stealing kisses between classes. You almost don't know what to do.

It almost feels like you should do something to celebrate.

The lights are off when you get home. Your apartment looks empty. Megumi must still be out with his friends.

“What should we do for dinner?” Gojo asks.

“Takeout?” You say. "I don't feel like cooking."

Gojo’s a decent cook, but he doesn't feel like doing so either. He’d get takeout every night if you’d let him. But that's not good for him (or Megumi) so you force him to do otherwise. Because you’re normally home, and you like baking, you’re usually the one to make dinner. There's not much in the fridge. You'll have to get groceries eventually. Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow. It shouldn't take long.

“How does Korean barbeque sound?" He asks. "From that place down the street?”

"Sounds good,"

You find a menu buried in one of your kitchen drawers, stashed with other takeout menus. You pick out something—two meals, plus some sweet buns for dessert—he calls the restaurant. You pay the extra cash to have it delivered. Neither of you feel like going and picking it up. It's more convenient than the alternative.

The tv drones on in the background while you wait. There’s not much on tv at this hour. News, some late night soaps. While you do like your occasional soap opera, none that you normally watch are on. Gojo changes it to the news. The weather. It looks like it'll rain tomorrow morning, but the rest of the day is supposed to be warm.

"We should go to the park tomorrow," you say, "having a picnic sounds nice."

Gojo hums in approval. As long as you make those tea cakes—the ones with honey drizzled on top—he'll agree to tag along. Maybe you'll go check out the bookstore too. It's been a while since you've last gone.

You strip out of your uniform, pulling on some more comfortable clothes; a pair of shorts and one of Gojo's shirts. It smells like him. You can't help but bury your nose in the collar.

When there’s a knock at the door, Gojo is the one to answer. He returns with your food. You gather napkins and utensils. Gojo never saw the point in anything other than stainless steel chopsticks. Or wooden ones—those given to you with takeout—if he wasn't feeling up to doing dishes. You, on the other hand, bought all sorts of colorful ones and stands that may or may not have been lifted from various restaurants. That's one habit from your teenage years you never lost. You'd pocket almost anything that wasn't nailed down. Your apartment has a rather impressive assortment of salt and pepper shakers. Not to mention the box of hotel soaps you never use, but took because you "might" need it. He enables you, taking some whenever he stays out of town, bringing them home for you. Gojo can hardly say no to you.

Gojo settles next to you on the couch, his shoulder pressed to yours. He can't keep his hands off of you. He’s possessive by nature. Everyone has to know you’re his. He always has to be touching you. Not necessarily with his hands, but he presses his thigh against yours while sitting next to you, or his body pressed against yours from behind in public.

The two of you eat in relative silence. Gojo’s attention turns to the tv, but that doesn't stop him from practically laying on top of you. Occasionally he’ll sneak bites of your food, and you of his.

When you’re done, you clear away the empty containers, sitting any leftovers in the fridge. Gojo sprawls out on the couch. He easily takes up any bit of space. The couch can hardly fit all 6-foot-something of Gojo. It hardly fits you. You've been meaning to look for another one, but haven't found the time to.

He opens his arms, and instinctively you go into them. You move so you can rest partially against the arm of the couch, Gojo's head leaning against your shoulder. His arms loop around your waist, his fingers lacing over your stomach.

It doesn't take him long to begin to drift off. He falls asleep in the crook of your neck. The low sound of the tv, combined with the warmth of his body makes you want to drift off to sleep. Sleeping on the couch like this isn't very good for your (or his) back, but you don't want to move.

The next time your eyes open, some late night game show plays, disturbing your sleep with loud music. The clock on the wall reads some time past two. It's hard to read the minute hand. You gently shake Gojo awake. One of his eyes cracks open and he lets out a soft “hm?”

“Come to bed,” you say, your arms wrapping around his neck, “it's late.”

His eyes close, and for a moment you think he’s drifted back off to sleep, when his grip around you tightens, and he’s rolling over on top of you.

“I think I’ll stay here with you, mochi,” he says, planting a wet kiss to your neck. The feeling of his lips on your neck makes you shiver.

And though he doesn't move, there's a look in his eyes that tells you he has something planned. You only notice too late that his grip never loosens, and the mischievous glint to his eyes. You couldn't wiggle out of it if you wanted to. You're effectively trapped.

He litters your neck with kisses, sending you into a giggling fit, and he doesn't stop until you’re begging him to. Tears prick at the corners of your eyes from laughing. Your nails dig into your palms so hard they leave little crescent-shaped indents.

When you finally settle down, he’s pulling you into his arms bridal style, heading for your shared room. The bed is still unmade from this morning. Neither of you bothered to put it away. You were busy, and the thought slipped your mind.

Gojo shoves the covers aside, pulling you to lay on his chest. His fingers gently trace up the curve of your spine as he watches the steady rise and fall of your chest. Goosebumps prickle your exposed skin. He’s careful with how he touches you, loving, and soft. It's like he’s trying to memorize every inch of your body. His heartbeat is audible. Steady, and quet, acting as a lullaby. Your eyes shut, but you’re still awake. The intimacy of the moment doesn't go over your head.

He thinks he could die happy at this moment. Any moment, with you, really. Even during fights, or nights where he doesn't come home until long after you’ve fallen asleep, and you’re left irritated with his lack of time. As long as you’re by his side, he’s content.

He doesn't give much to the thought of settling down. His work will never let him. Neither does he think much about having any biological children. You practically have two already. Settling down isn't really an option for the strongest. This is the closest he’ll get to it.

For now, he just thinks about the park, and the blue sundress you always wear when you go.

Not many people can say they’ve changed who Satoru Gojo is as a person—let alone for the better—but you’ve changed him twice. Once in your meeting behind the school, and once again tonight. He’s found the one.

The first debt is always the hardest to pay back. But you've paid it in full.

[jisungsmochi]

favorite crime - na jaemin

favorite crime - na jaemin 

this is the second installment for my SOUR series! you can read jeno’s one here! 

a little bad boy!jaemin x troubled (?) but still a ‘goodie goodie’ reader // strangers to friends to partner in crime to strangers again :/ 

word count: 7.2k 

summary: “It's bittersweet to think about the damage that we'd do

'Cause I was goin' down, but I was doin' it with you” 

who would have ever thought that, jaemin, the quiet boy you met in detention, would become your first love? getting involved with his shenanigans was probably the worst thing you could have done in your life. you were lucky enough to love someone like him, someone who excited you, scared you, and most of all, loved you back. but what happens when his actions suddenly have consequences? 

a/n: this summary sucks but i liked writing this alot,, explains why it took me so long to write it oops. 

tagging the bestie: @skrtbabe

//

Know that I loved you so bad

I let you treat me like that

I was your willing accomplice, honey

//

as you walked into the near-empty classroom, you made a beeline for the closest seat to the window. if you were going to be stuck in detention for two hours, you might as well have a nice view. you let out a short sigh to yourself, one hour and fifty eight minutes to go. the supervising teacher was lazily marking her class’ essays, completely choosing to ignore the entrance of na jaemin. he gave her a subtle scoff before stumbling past the desk, making his way to sit behind you. you heard him roughly place his bag onto the surface of his desk. you’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to look back and see what he was up to. jaemin was always a mystery to you, and to everyone else in the school. despite keeping himself away from the majority, people had quite a lot to say about the boy. you heard rumours that he got stabbed (which you didn’t believe at all) but your classmate, haechan, insists he had video evidence. if anything, you don’t think you had ever spoken to jaemin in your entire life, but that was all about to change.

thirty minutes into detention and you were beyond bored. everybody was either catching up on school work or trying their best to not be caught on their phones. you opted to staring out the window, eyes following the movements of a particular butterfly. eventually, the butterfly decided it was time to leave your line of sight, causing you to let out a short huff. you heard a soft chuckle, belonging to the previously silent boy behind you. you slowly turned to face him, his eyes immediately latching to meet yours. he had his chin perched on top of his right palm, a cunning grin on his face. you gave him a glare,

“what are you laughing at?” you faintly whisper to him. this caught him off guard, he didn’t expect you to sound so stern.

“an explosion is about to happen” you grew to be more confused, what is he talking about?

“wha-“

“i’ll be right back! s-stay where you are!” your teacher suddenly blurts out, rushing out of her room as fast as she could. the rest of the students all looked over at eachother, some even opting to leave detention entirely.

you turned back to the snickering boy, who clearly had something to do with it.

“what the hell did you do?”

“put laxatives in her coffee” your jaw dropped, how the hell did he manage to do that?

“w-what’s wrong with you?”

“what’s wrong with you? learn to live a little” he suddenly stood up, slinging his bag across his body. his eyes still stayed on you, silently asking for you to follow him. this was one hell of a first impression. you weren’t sure what took over you in that moment, but you found yourself trailing behind na jaemin like a lost puppy as he led you both out of the school gates. he didn’t speak much to you, aimlessly walking to wherever the hell he needed to be.

“so what did you get into detention for?” he suddenly asked you, causing you to stiffen. you weren’t a stranger to getting into trouble, your short temper often being the root of your issues. but you weren’t exactly the most comfortable talking to new people.

“ah you’re a bit shy? i’ll start then, i stole lee haechan’s clothes after gym practice” he smirked to himself, feeling some sense of pride.

“that was you? he was running around school butt naked because of you” you couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory of seeing two full ass cheeks after your history class.

“that’s what he gets for claiming that he has proof i got stabbed? which is ridiculous by the way” jaemin shakes his head before coming to a complete stop. you slightly bump into his right shoulder, quickly stabilising yourself before looking at the quiet cafe infront of you.

“hungry?” you nodded in response, following him into the cafe. he seemed to have known some of the workers, earning you a free croissant and hot chocolate.

“so, i told you why i got into detention, now it’s your turn” he chimed, clearly entertained by having you as company.

“i punched kim yuna in the face” you slightly cringed at your own words. you weren’t the one to be physical in your confrontations, but this girl really struck a nerve.

“sheesh, i saw her earlier, you gave her nose a good bruising, i must say” he couldn’t help but find the entire thing entertaining. this was so odd to you, every person that had witnessed it, thought you went crazy. but here jaemin was, laughing at the situation.

“you think this is funny?” you asked curiously, rather than in a judgemental manner.

“well yeah, i don’t know why you did it, but she probably deserved it” he shrugged, taking a bite of his own pastry. you felt your shoulders begin to relax, infact your entire demeanour had changed. jaemin was the only person that didn’t push you to admit your faults and apologise. he didn’t need to know the whole story, he just took your words for what they were.

the next hour consisted of you and jaemin, sharing stories on some of the mischievous things you had gotten up to in the past. from small things like setting off stink bombs during an exam, to running from the mall cops after stealing a pair of pants from a store. jaemin liked your reactions to his stories, at first your face would be full of shock, then turn into some sort of enlightenment. he found it quite endearing to watch. he wasn’t too bad on the eyes either.

“need me to walk you home?”

“i don’t need you to do anything for me” jaemin just smirked at your response,

“but i wouldn’t mind if you did”

“ah i see how it’s going to be”

“what do you mean?”

“our relationship, it’s going to be very push and pull” what on earth was he on about?

“you got that from just spending a few hours with me?” jaemin nodded, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.

“i think we’ll be spending a lot of time together” was all he said back. if you had told yourself earlier that day, that you’d become na jaemin’s partner in crime, you’d punch yourself in the face. but this was only the beginning.

//

from that day onwards, you would purposely seek out jaemin’s presence. whether it be you walking to the most isolated parts of school, or simply trying to get into detention in the case he was there again. as a result of the laxative prank, jaemin had earned a two week long suspension. you had caught wind of this information from the school’s chatterbox, haechan. you’d think after being humiliated by jaemin, he’d keep his name out of his mouth.

you decided to visit the same cafe you accompanied jaemin to, incase he was hanging out there. you weren’t sure why you wanted to be around him so much. if anything, you were more at risk of getting another detention, or becoming a social outcast. but you were going to take those chances.

as you entered the cafe, your eyes scanned near and far for any sight of the black haired boy. you were about to give up, when you heard a voice,

“stalking me now?” you immediately froze, too nervous to turn back. you felt jaemin’s hand on your shoulder, slowly turning your around to face him.

“i-i no it’s not what it looks like-“

“it’s fine, you must have missed me, no?” he let a cocky grin land on his face. you just rolled your eyes, ready to walk right back out that door.

“let’s get up to some trouble today” he gripped your wrist gently, dragging you out of the cafe. he didn’t let go of you, once again, you were aimlessly following him. why did you let him do this to you?

jaemin wasn’t too much of a talker, he tended to try and speak with his eyes. you found it interesting, the way he expected you to know exactly what was on his mind. he eventually stopped walking after reaching an abandoned building. you were beginning to feel slightly anxious, noticing that the sun was slowly setting and the breeze was getting cooler. jaemin plopped his carry bag on the concrete floor, you heard clinking sounds erupt from the bag. he moved to pull out a few spray cans.

“ever graffitied?” you shook your head,

“not spray painting, but i’ve drawn some not so pleasant pictures in the bathroom stalls” you shrug as he handed you a can of bright yellow spray paint. he slightly chuckled at your anecdote, which made you look down at the ground.

“well you won’t get in trouble for messing up this place”

“what is this place anyway?” you start to shake the can, watching as jaemin started spraying onto the blank wall.

“somewhere i come when i don’t feel like going home” you weren’t sure if you wanted to press him to elaborate, so you just nodded, beginning to spray a random design of your own.

jaemin found hanging around you quite amusing. you were always up for anything he wanted to do. you seemed so cheerful about the simplest things, and never pushed him to explain the questionable things about himself. you were a lot different than the people he would usually surround himself with. but like many things in na jaemin’s life, they often went sour very quickly.

//

And I watched as you fled the scene

Doe-eyed as you buried me

One heart broke, four hands bloody

//

jaemin had asked you to accompany him to the abandoned building one night. you were half asleep and freezing to death as you approached his car. it was quite beat up, making you worried,

“is this thing even safe to be driving?” you groan as you wrap yourself in your large puffer jacket. jaemin had previously insisted you bring a sleeping bag and pillow. you chose not to question it, too tired to argue back with him.

“don’t disrespect my sweet ride! be grateful i didn’t make you walk in the cold” he scoffed before starting the engine. the car ride was fairly quiet, you were drifting in and out of sleep, in which jaemin noticed. he thought you looked so peaceful, so he tried his best not to make any sharp turns or run over many speed bumps. in a matter of time, he parked the car, gently wiggling your shoulder. you woke up instantly, feeling his cold hand on your cheek. you furrowed your eyebrows before following him out of the car. he led you to the same wall you both had graffitied on before, but this time, it seemed to have become a complete picture.

“i wanted to show you this! isn’t it cool?” he gleamed, pulling you to his side, slightly rubbing your shoulder to warm you up. you quickly ignored his touch, focusing back on the wall. it was a mirage of different doodles and words that must have meant something to jaemin.

“this is amazing, you did this all by yourself?”

“yeah, i really wanted to see your reaction”

“what does it all mean?”

“it’s kind of a representation of what goes on in my mind? i’m not the best with expressing my feelings with words, so i decided to let it out on this wall” jaemin spoke with such ease, his voice filling your ears with warmth. he pulled you closer to him when he saw you shiver,

“care to share?” you slightly joked. jaemin never got too deep with you, so you assumed he would brush the comment off. but he just stares back at you, his eyes piercing into your own. you held your breath as he leaned in closer to you.

“sure thing” he slowly leads you back to the car, turning on the heater as you both wrapped yourselves in sleeping bags. you were huddled up in the back seat, your head leaning on his shoulder as he played with his fingers.

“i never had an outlet for my imagination. my parents weren’t the most warm or loving people in the world. i barely remember anything from my childhood, except for the unpleasant memories. when i started hanging out with some of the older kids, they showed me the ropes of their crew. they taught me how to graffiti, how to carve things with a pocket knife, you know, basic seventh grade stuff” he let out a soft chuckle, but you didn’t laugh. instead you placed your hand over his, feeling the coldness shoot through your body.

“i-i don’t like showing how i feel. because i think it makes me weak, or pitiful. that’s a bad way of thinking, but i can’t help it. so i let out my frustrations here, by either spray painting or smashing random things. it’s nice to get it all out” he stops speaking, his posture suddenly stiffening. you lifted your head from his shoulder, forcing him to look over at you.

“i’m here to listen to you. you don’t have to result to destroying things in order to reveal your feelings. you can just talk to me next time, okay?” you assured him, tightening your grip on his hand. jaemin just nodded, his eyes faltering from yours. why were you so considerate towards him?

“wanna know why i punched yuna in the face?” you saw jaemin crack a smile, nodding frantically.

“she said some things about my family, how they only took me in because they felt sorry for me. see, i’m actually a foster kid, my real parents weren’t in the ‘right state of mind’ to take care of me. well, in the eyes of the law atleast” jaemin didn’t know how to respond, opting to pulling your head back into his shoulder.

“i know she was just trying to rile me up, my foster parents aren’t terrible. but hearing those words just struck a nerve. how can people be so judgmental?”

“that’s just life, love. everyone will always have their own opinions, but it’s up to you, on how to respond. or you can simply choose to ignore them, it’s always worked for me” jaemin started tracing small patterns on the back of your hand, feeling his eyes become drowsy.

“but i don’t want to always ignore my problems. i want to be able to face them, how else will i grow as a person?” you sighed,

“we grow each and every day, most of the time we don’t notice. you’re doing better than you think. sure, you’ll grow up soon enough, you’ll develop your own identity, but for now, enjoy the moment. don’t care too much about what others think, this is your life to lead” jaemin looked down at you, feeling a warm sensation reach his heart.

“for someone who doesn’t like speaking his mind, you sure give some great advice. promise we’ll be there for eachother?” you pull out your pinky finger from his grip, watching as he blinks for a few seconds. you sensed some hesitation, but blamed it on him being tired. eventually, jaemin linked his pink with yours, sealing it with a gentle press of his lips. you couldn’t hide how flustered you had gotten, burying your head in his chest as he started stroking your hair.

“thankyou for being with me tonight” he mumbled as he felt himself fall asleep,

“anytime”

//

sometimes jaemin would leave you hanging for days on end. at first you would get concerned, mainly for his own safety. you were never sure what he got up to in his spare time, and to be honest, you didn’t want to know. but after a certain amount of days, he would pop back into your life that nothing happened, as if no time had passed. today was one of those days. he was sitting on your bedroom floor, flicking through your history notes. you couldn’t pry your eyes away from him, he looked so peaceful.

“you’re so much smarter than me” he huffs, scratching his head as he closed your notebook.

“no way, i’m pretty average. you’re more street smart than i am” jaemin perks up at your words,

“i guess i am huh” he smirks to himself, making you slightly smile.

“i can help you study if you want, you need a pass, right?” you scooted over to him, sitting so that your shoulders brushed against eachother.

“well yes, technically. but passing doesn’t secure i’ll get into college. not that i can even go” he shrugs, eyes focused on his rings, beginning to fiddle with them.

“what do you mean?”

“i don’t have the grades, my parents barely have any money saved for my college fund. i don’t have a job, you see the issue here?” you sensed him stiffen up next to you, this topic clearly striking a nerve within him. you placed a hand on his shoulder, gently squeezing it,

“you know college isn’t for everyone. i’m sure you will be able to live a good life” jaemin knew you were trying your best to cheer him up. but these were constant thoughts and struggles he had been dealing with for what seemed like a lifetime. he knew you would never fully understand, and he couldn’t be mad at you for that.

“y-yeah, i’ll be fine” he sighs, linking is fingers with yours. you worried about jaemin so much, it slowly began to take over your mind. you caught yourself thinking about him more often, how you wanted to be there for him during his dark times. but jaemin always shoved off the idea of getting too deep with his emotions. sure, he trusted you with most things, but there was always a thought in the back of his mind. you were way too good for him.

//

“what is this?” you smiled brightly at the boy standing across from you. he was leant up against your locker, gift bag in his hands, shoving it towards you.

“a token of my appreciation for our growing friendship” you chose to ignore the last word, your feelings towards jaemin still being undecided.

you slowly open the bag, your eyes landing on a small box. you furrowed your eyebrows, before opening it.

“t-this is beautiful, jaemin. how did you afford this?” you gasped, pulling out the shiny necklace from the delicate box. it was a silver chain, that sparkled under the light at just the right angle. there was a small pendent latched onto it, a butterfly.

“don’t worry about that, do you like it?” he grinned at you, taking in your ecstatic reaction,

“of course! i cant thank you enough!”

you pull him into a warm hug, arms tightening around his torso. jaemin chuckled softly, bringing his arms to wrap around your frame, slowly swaying you side to side.

“being there for me is enough, i promise”

//

The things I did

Just so I could call you mine

The things you did

Well, I hope I was your favorite crime

//

the following few days, jaemin went MIA again. you were beginning to become annoyed by his lack of communication. you wanted to believe he was gone for good reason, but something in your gut sensed something worse was happening. that’s when you decided to go to the abandoned building, remembering he often went there when he wanted to be alone. not having a car of your own caused many issues in your life. like right now, you were huffing and puffing once you hopped off your bicycle. you quickly set it aside, making your way to the building. before you turned to the main corridor that you met jaemin in many times before, you heard hushed voices, one belonging to the boy in question.

“we need this deal done asap. no excuses” a deep voice echoes through the building. you couldn’t get a good look at them without being caught, so you remained hidden behind a huge slab of concrete.

“b-but what if they think i’m scamming them because i’m new?” jaemin squeaked. you had never heard him so worried before.

“well you better think of some way to get them to buy, we can’t risk anymore losses. take this as initiation into the big boys club” what the hell was going on?

soon enough, the small group of men had left the building, walking past the concrete slab you were hiding behind. you let out a sigh of relief before rushing to jaemin. his eyes widened at the sight of you, part of him wanting to yell at you for being so stupid.

“what are you doing here?!” he was mad.

“i could ask you the same thing” you scoffed. jaemin suddenly became quiet, eyes avoiding yours.

“what’s going on? and i want the truth. the whole truth” he just sighed, dragging you back to his car. you folded your arms, in disbelief from what you had heard prior.

“i-i’m helping them with some deals okay? it’s just a side hustle to get some cash, i want to get out of this town. this is the only way”

“what are you dealing? drugs?” you gasped, watching as jaemin snapped his neck to face you.

“yes, it’s not as bad as you think-“

“not as bad? they’re literally part of a gang. do you know what happens to people who don’t seal these deals?” you couldn’t believe what you were hearing.

“i know the risks. but i’m desperate. i just need enough to buy an apartment in another city and finally start my life” jaemin doesn’t know why he’s bothering trying to explain this to you. he brushed his fingers through his hair roughly, letting out a groan as he did so.

“when i said there are ways for you to live a good life, i didn’t mean deal drugs. i meant get an apprenticeship or something! literally anything but this”

“there’s nothing you can do to change my mind. i already swore i’d do this deal. i need the money. you wouldn’t understand” jaemin struck back, feeling attacked by your words.

“what the hell is that supposed to mean? i-i can’t do this. come back to me when you’ve come to your senses. this is stupid and you know it” you rush out of his car, causing jaemin to trail behind you as you stumbled to find your bike.

“come with me” you stopped in your tracks.

“pardon?”

“come with me to the deal. i-i don’t want to go alone” he says barely above a whisper,

“you’re crazy if you think i’ll follow you like a lost pup-“ jaemin pressed his lips on yours, hands stuck to your waist, gently rubbing your sides as he deepened the kiss. your words became jumbled as he continued to kiss you. as much as you wanted to argue back with him, feeling his lips on yours was only something you had experienced in your dreams.

“please” he whispered, pulling away from you momentarily.

“o-okay” you whispered back, hands now on his shoulders. jaemin smirked with pride before pulling you in once again. he led you back to his car, dragging you into the backseat. he began trailing kisses down your neck, erupting a pleased sigh from you. and just like that, you were wrapped around his silly little finger.

//

you were now seated in the passenger seat of jaemin’s busted ass car. your nerves were off the charts, and so were his. you had never seen him so anxious before, he was breathing in quick successions and couldn’t stop shaking.

“just get it over and done with...okay? get in and get out” you try your best to ease his nerves but how much could you really say? you were encouraging him to commit to a drug deal, this was not how you expected your friday night to go.

jaemin just nodded, clutching onto something in his jacket pocket. he pressed a soft kiss to your forehead, gently stroking your hair as he did so.

“thankyou for coming with me” he mumbled. you just nodded, trying to ignore your intense gut feeling that something was going to go wrong. he led you by your waist into the noisy bar. you kept your head down, allowing jaemin to gain sight of the clients. he didn’t let you approach the group of men, so you tried to distract yourself with a random fruity cocktail from the bar. it wasn’t enough to push aside your worries.

after what seemed like hours, you caught sight of jaemin, who seemed like he was in a rush. he quickly scooped you away from your seat, swiftly leading you out of the bar. before you could even open your mouth, he interjects,

“no time for questions, get in the car now” he harshly shoved you into the passenger seat. now you were more worried than before.

“what the fuck is going on?!” jaemin didn’t answer you, starting the engine of the car. before you could press him any further, the same group of men rushed out of the bar, eyes scanning for the boy next to you. this wasn’t good.

“may or may not have given them the wrong amount...nothing a little hide and seek can’t fix!” jaemin tried to laugh it off, but you knew he was equally as scared. his dingy car wouldn’t start, adding to the panic in the atmosphere. the group of men were already in their own vehicle, approaching jaemin’s car rather quickly.

“fuck fuck fuck” he began shouting, slamming his foot on the accelerator as the car hurled forward. in a matter of time, he was speeding down the street. he probably ran a couple red lights and a few stop signs, but he wasn’t fazed. you on the other hand, were about to throw up. jaemin kept taking sharp turns to throw off the car chasing you, he barely looked back. you were terrified in this moment. anything could go wrong, one wrong turn, and it could all be over. soon enough, he stopped right outside the all too familiar abandoned building. he was out of breath, the adrenaline still present in his system. you were completely frozen, still in shock at what had occurred.

“wasn’t that riveting?” he smirked. he fucking smirked?

“are you kidding me? that was fucking insane. d-don’t do this again. i don’t want any part of this anymore” you began tearing up, feeling your heart pump out of your chest. jaemin’s face dropped as he tried to hold your hand, in which you pulled away immediately.

“t-take me home. please.” he didn’t say anything back to you. he respected your wishes and took you home safely. you didn’t even want to think about the punishment he would receive from the gang for messing up the deal. the only thought of your mind was your own safety. jaemin risked your safety this time around. you would have done anything for him, but in this moment, you were beginning to regret it. na jaemin was trouble. and you needed to stay away from trouble.

//

staying away from na jaemin was harder than you thought. subtle glances from across the classroom or school courtyard wasn’t doing you any good. so you sought refuge in the library. somehow he managed to find you there too.

“y/n, please, talk to me” you continued to read the novel you weren’t interested in, trying your best to remain angry. he sat across from you, pulling down the book from your face, eyes begging to meet yours.

“there’s nothing left to say” he just sighs, never seeing you be so stubborn.

“i know what i did was wrong, i shouldn’t have put you in that posit-“

“can we please not discuss this here? where anyone can hear us?” you quickly interrupt him, pulling him to the school parking lot. out of habit, jaemin led you to his car, opening the passenger side door for you. you got chills as you sat in the seat once again, the memories flooding back.

“i-i’m sorry. i shouldn’t have brought you into it. i just didn’t want to be alone...you’re the only person who doesn’t make me feel alone.” jaemin could barely look at you, too embarrassed of being vulnerable.

“you know how i’m against what you’re doing. and i know i can’t change your mind. i just can’t keep worrying about your safety. it hurts me knowing that you could get hurt one day” you began sniffling, which made jaemin’s heart ache. he pulled your face to meet his own, staring at your soft features. he slowly guided his fingers to wipe away your tears.

“don’t worry too much about me, love. i’ll be just fine” he pressed a soft kiss to your lips, and just like that, you were dragged right back into his arms.

“be careful” you whispered against his lips,

“always”

//

You used me as an alibi

I crossed my heart as you crossed the line

And I defended you to all my friends

//

jaemin wasn’t careful. not in the slightest. he showed up at your window, hands clutching to his lower torso area as he stumbled into your room. you hushed him to be as quiet as he could but you immediately knew something was wrong. he practically fell to his knees, soft whimpers and sighs leaving his mouth. you quickly moved to turn on your lights, taking a better look at the boy in pain. your eyes travelled along his face, covered in scratches and bruises.

“you good with playing medic tonight?” he joked, trying to relieve the tension. but you were not having any of it. you pulled him into your bed, allowing him to lay on his back. he had an array of cuts over his body, including a large gash on his lower lip. you swiftly rushed to the bathroom, grabbing your not so impressive first aid kit, but it would have to do for now. you tried your best to disinfect what you cold, until you reached his torso. you saw there were specks of blood leaking onto his t shirt, which made you more worried than you were initially. jaemin just sighed, lifting up his shirt slowly. your eyes were glued on the painful wound plastered on the right side of his body.

“d-did someone stab you?!” you felt tears prickle the side of your eyes. how could he be so stupid?

“n-no, its just a cut, it’s not even that deep” he tried to play it off, but the moment you pressed the cleansing wipe onto the wound, he winced.

“stop playing the tough guy. i hate when you play tough guy” you groan, trying your best to tend to his wound. jaemin watched as your expression changed from one of concern, to annoyance.

“hey, don’t be mad at me, okay?” he brought his hand to hover over your thigh, gently stroking his fingers on the surface.

“i’m sorry” he whispered, trying his best to sit up, but you immediately pushed him back down. you moved to lay next to him, allowing yourself to finally look him in the eyes.

“i can’t always be here to take care of you like this, jaemin. as much as i want to, there are going to be times where i just can’t. you have to understand that”

“of course, i didn’t expect you to be my personal nurse or anything. i just don’t want you to leave” his words sank deeply into your thoughts.

“i-i won’t leave”

“thankyou. i promise i will take you out and we will have fun. like old times. we can go on a road trip, or even that stupid homecoming dance you keep talking about. i’ll do anything to make it up to you because i ca-“ he immediately stopped himself, clutching his side.

“just get some rest, we can continue this discussion another day. goodnight jaem” you just sighed, turning on your back to face him. jaemin didn’t know why he couldn’t finish his sentence. he does care about you. more than anyone else in the world. but why couldn’t he just say it?

you on the other hand, were too busy imagining your future with jaemin. would he be there as your partner in crime for life? or was he just someone passing by to teach you a lesson? you weren’t too sure you wanted to find out.

//

“y/n, principal lee wants to see you in his office” your economics teacher informed you during class, eyes of classmates following you as you left the room. you swore you hadn’t done anything remotely mischievous lately, besides snatching a cheat sheet for the upcoming final.

“ah yes y/n, please take a seat” principal lee invited you into his office. you tried your best to stay focused on the stubby man in front of you but you couldn’t ignore the two police officers standing to the side.

“you wanted to see me, sir?”

“yes, these officers are here to ask you some questions. don’t worry, you aren’t in trouble. they just need some information for their investigation” he explains as best he could, shifting the conversation over to the two officers.

“as principal lee mentioned, we just need information. are you comfortable with us asking you a few questions?” you slowly nodded, hands beginning to clam up.

“we have reason to believe your friend, na jaemin, has been involved in an incident that occurred last thursday. he claims he was present with you that night. can you confirm this?” you immediately froze. you swore you didn’t even blink. that was the night he came to your window, all banged up a bruised. but you couldn’t tell them that part. so you went with a variation of the truth,

“yes, he was with me, we often study together and watch movies on thursdays.” you tried your best to maintain eye contact, not wanting to draw any more attention.

“have you noticed anything odd in his behaviour lately?” you knew they were just following protocol, but you weren’t prepared for any of this.

“not really. he is quite reserved naturally, but there hasn’t been anything too alarming, in my opinion” the officers just nodded, scribbling down your words.

“thankyou for your time, if we were to need any more statements from you, would you be okay with that?” you simply nodded, wanting nothing more than to get back to class.

“great, we’ll be heading off now, thankyou principal lee, and y/n” you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding in. what in god’s name happened that night?

“why were the cops coming out of the office? did you do something?” your friend, jimin asked you as she rushed to your side.

“n-no, they were asking about jaemin” you sighed. you didn’t want to tell her much, knowing she wasn’t his biggest fan.

“y/n, you have to stop hanging out with him so much. he’s bad news. i mean, he’s got the cops questioning you? is that someone you really want to be with?” you knew she had your best interest at heart, but she didn’t know jaemin like you did. no one did.

“don’t talk about him like he’s some pest in my life. he makes me happy, okay? i’d do pretty much anything for him” you huff, beginning to walk away.

“but would he do anything for you?” her words made you stop in your tracks. she was right to question that. god, even you questioned it sometimes. would he?

//

And now every time a siren sounds

I wondеr if you're around

'Cause you know that I'd do it all again

//

jaemin insisted he take you to the homecoming dance — he even pinky promised you.

“jaemin! i’m so excited for tonight, what time are you coming by?” you excitedly squeal into the phone, making jaemin slightly chuckle.

“uh love, i-i don’t think i can make it tonight” you felt your heart drop.

“what? why?”

“i have some business to take care of. i promise you i’ll take you out soo-“

“i think you should stop making promises you can’t keep. hope you have fun doing whatever you’re doing” you immediately hung up, wiping the stray tears from your face. you quickly pulled yourself together. showing up alone to the homecoming dance after you told your friends you were going with jaemin, was probably one of the most embarrassing things you had ever experienced. they all felt pity for you, dragging you to dance, trying to get you to forget about jaemin. but nothing was working. you were beyond disappointed, partially in yourself, for believing he could actually keep his promise.

the moment you got home, you saw someone sitting on the steps just outside your front door. you let out a loud sigh, hoping he heard everything. you wanted to push right past him and go to bed, but jaemin trapped you in his arms. you felt something was off about him. he was stiff as a board, he didn’t say anything to you. you finally got a glimpse of his face, his right eye was swollen and there was a slight gash on his cheek. you immediately gasped, all your anger towards him had fizzled away.

“w-what happened?” you barely whispered, bringing your hand to the side of his face. jaemin winced as he felt the touch, quickly pulling away.

“finally got what was coming” he tried to laugh it off, but he knew you weren’t going to laugh back. instead, you allowed him to follow you to your room, hoping your parents were fast sleep.

jaemin slowly made his way to sit on your bed. you felt like he had something else he was hiding from you, but your main focus was yet again, tending to his wounds.

“i’m getting some real déjà vu right now” you sighed, cleaning his face. jaemin tried his best to not move, but everything stung. he really got it bad this time.

“i’m sorry for breaking my promise. i know how much the dance meant to you” he softly muttered, eyes avoiding yours.

“i-it’s okay”

“no it’s not! you do so much for me, and i couldn’t even do this one thing for you. i feel so shitty. why do you even keep me around? i’m deadweight and that’s trouble for someone with wings” he scoffs, replaying harsh words he had heard from others in the past. you slowly plucked away the medical kit, turning to face him properly. (a/n: not me using a quote from the show ‘panic’)

“you’re not deadweight...you’re a good person, jaem. you’re good to me, that’s what matters” you gently push away the stray strands of hair that covered his forehead. he smiled at your touch, leaning into your palm as you brought it to cup his cheek.

“i love you”

you almost choked on your own saliva...he loves you?

“w-what?”

“yikes, not the response i was hoping for” he yet again, tried to relieve the tension with a joke. but you weren’t having any of it.

“can you be serious for one minute in your life? you can’t just say something like that and not expect me to freak out! i mean, do i love you too? of course i do! i would be stupid not to, but jaemin, you cant just spit that out of nowhere!” you began pacing around your room, which made jaemin smile even wider.

“well i just did. and i mean it” he stood to meet you, standing in the middle of your room as he held your shoulders in place.

“s-so what happens now?” jaemin hesitated for a moment, did he just ruin everything?

“we can’t be together”

“pardon?”

“i-i can’t do that to you. i can’t let you be with someone like me. i’m constant danger. the cops are going to get me one day, and i don’t want you to see it happen” he started rambling, you were barely understanding anything.

“this makes no sense. you’re telling me that you love me but you can’t be with me? why would you do this to me?” you started sobbing,

“i-i don’t expect you to understand. i just needed to tell you before...” he paused, pulling you closer to him. but you pushed yourself away. you didn’t want to hear anymore but forced yourself to listen. you needed answers.

“before what?” you gritted through your teeth,

“before i leave” your eyes widened, tears stopped flowing for a moment. you couldn’t make out any words, allowing jaemin to explain,

“i cant stay here, not in this town. i need to go somewhere else. somewhere they won’t find me. somewhere i can start over” he sighed, sitting back down on your bed.

“take me with you! we can go tonight, i don’t care where i am, as long as you’re with me i’ll be okay!” you begged, pulling out your duffel bag from under your bed. but jaemin quickly gripped your wrists, pulling you to sit with him on the bed.

“y-you can’t come with me. it’s not fair on you, or me. i want you to have a better life, a life with no regrets. you have so many goals, i can’t hold you back from them. i won’t” he insisted, holding your hands in his as he pleaded you with his eyes. you weren’t thinking straight, everything became so overwhelming.

“why are you doing this to me? i cant do this without you! i cant get through all of this without you. please don’t leave” your hands began to shake. jaemin brought them to his lips, placing soft pecks on each knuckle in an attempt to calm you down.

“you can. i know you can. because you’re you. an incredibly loyal, intelligent and courageous person. you don’t need me. if anything, i need you more” he smirked at the last part. you kept shaking your head, not believing anything he was saying.

“just promise me one thing?” he whispered, leaning in closer to you so that your foreheads touched.

“don’t forget me. don’t forget all the things we got up to. i had so much fun with you, more fun than i’ve had in my entire life. i can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me. i love you, okay? i’ll always love you” finally, he kissed you. his hands dragged to your waist, rubbing over the soft skin. you shined into the kiss, partially still upset with his departure.

“can we just have one last night together?” you pulled away, wiping away the rest of your tears. jaemin softly nodded, pulling you down onto the bed, wrapping his arms around you.

“thankyou for being my partner in crime. i’ll miss you” he sighed, gently scribbling random doodles on your arm with his fingers.

“i miss you already. maybe one day, we’ll meet again? i don’t know, am i being silly?” you didn’t want him to answer, afraid he’d break another promise.

“you’re not silly at all. we’ll see what life has planned for us” he responded. that was enough for you. you’ll leave it up to fate. you were just happy you were spending one last night with the boy you loved so dearly.

//

It's bittersweet to think about the damage that we'd do

'Cause I was goin' down, but I was doin' it with you

Yeah, everything we broke and all the trouble that we made

But I say that I hate you with a smile on my face

Oh, look what we became

//

you awoke the very next morning in an empty bed. your heart sunk, knowing jaemin was gone had finally hit you. your eyes drifted to where he once was, landing on a piece of paper.

‘go to the building for one last goodbye. i hope you like it.

- jaem <3 ‘

you quickly got changed and rushed there as fast as you could. would he be there to bid you farewell? you weren’t betting on it, but was still curious as to what he had to show you. you made your way into the building, your eyes cascading over all the graffiti. finally, you saw exactly what he left for you. he painted over the mural you both worked on. it had been replaced with a painting of a butterfly. its wings were all different colours, you could tell he spent ages on it. you finally reached the bottom of the artwork, a small inscription was engraved,

‘for the one with the wings, keep on soaring’

“so cheesy, i hate it” you joke to yourself, smiling at his words. this was his final gift for you. as you admired the painting once again, memories of all your little adventures came rushing back. everything you did together seemed like an eternity ago. although you wished you had confessed to him sooner, or kissed him harder, you knew that he was gone for good. jaemin wasn’t the time to keep many promises, so you’ve learnt. you started to put your faith in the universe. if you were meant to be, then you would meet again. but for now, you were content with everything you had gone through together. you were grateful to have known someone as amazing as jaemin, and you would never take that for granted. you only hoped he would do the same, no matter where you both were in life. you hoped you could both grow wings and soar through life without any regrets.