#literally so unbothered by anyone and everyone knowing he's head over heels

[eddiemetalheadmunson]

just thinking about eddie and his mannerisms and needed to get this cute lil thought off my chest

eddie wears his every expression blatantly and unapologetically on his face, so when he sees you, its like the sun coming out from behind the clouds

he will straight up light up and get this huge, dorky smile on his face with his pretty white teeth on display as he's walking while his eyes stay completely glued to you, until he runs into something/someone and trips, momentarily breaking his trance

his hellfire buddies will chuckle and give him shit about it but his eyes will quickly find yours again and he'll give you a wry grin and a shoulder shrug because who can blame him for being distracted by someone as beautiful as you? he's not sorry in the slightest

you blush beautifully and he sees your flustered reaction from across the room and it fills him with confidence

he shoves his hands into his pockets and departs with a cheeky wink, a crooked little grin, and a pep in his step.

[bigskydreaming]

Okay, so you know “Justice League meets Batman’s kids, who they’d previously been unaware existed” AUs?

So picture that.....but this time, instead of them just having no knowledge of any of these other Gotham vigilantes at all....the Batkids all migrate to various cities as they get older and become known as their protectors - Dick in Bludhaven, Tim in San Francisco, Cass in Hong Kong, etc....

Meaning they’re all established figures, the Justice League are aware of them as solo local heroes who stick to their cities and so they just don’t interact with them much if at all, or else some are members of team lineups but are particularly vague about their histories or life outside of the team’s adventures....

So the big reveal isn’t that they become aware of all these other Gotham vigilantes all at once....its that some big conflict or whatever requires a huge team up of all available heroes, and in the aftermath, they figure out that like.....despite being known as solo heroes who work alone or loners outside of their team settings, 80% of these heroes all not only seem to already know each other, they seem to be related.

And so naturally they all turn to Batman, who has profiles on every known hero and they thus figure had researched these individuals too and just never mentioned this little detail, and they’re like, “Did you know about this?”

And then Nightwing turns to him too, arms crossed and is like, “Yeah Dad, did you know about this?”

And the infamous Red Hood is all: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have never met any of these people before in my life. Lives? Whatever.”

And then Red Robin moodily grates out “I have no siblings.” Since he’s nursing a grudge since Dick and Jason broke into his apartment the night before and replaced all his custom Red Robin gear with Darkwing Duck merchandise and his vengeance will be swift and also totally disproportionate because things escalate quickly in this family, that’s true in every universe.

Cass meanwhile has deftly skewered Jason’s lie by walking over to him and brazenly patting down the man with many many guns with no fear whatsoever. He squawks and futilely attempts to bat her hands away as she riffles through his many pockets, but he doesn’t seem shocked, just annoyed. Eventually, she pulls away and triumphantly reveals a box of Hello Kitty themed band-aids.

“So these are yours then? Just for you?” Black Bat asks smugly. Red Hood squints at the box.

“What the fuck? How long have those been in my jacket? Why are those in my jacket? Did you freaking plant them in my jacket just on the offchance you could at some point in the distant future use them at my expense?”

Black Bat frowns, puzzled. “Yes?”

“Oh come on, Dead Hood,” Spoiler says with an exaggerated toss of her head meant to convey she’s rolling her eyes beneath her own mask. She skips her way across the room to Black Bat and then drapes herself languidly all over the smaller woman. Who in turn doesn’t so much as twitch beneath the sudden added mass as Spoiler holds out her hand towards the box of band-aids. 

“One please. I have a boo-boo,” she says with easy familiarity straight into the intimidating cowl of Black Bat. Only then does she deign to finish her train of thought with Red Hood.

“I mean seriously, are you saying you don’t have potential blackmail set-ups, pre-rigged releases of incriminating material, and a random assortment of traps, pratfalls and mortifying scenarios in place for the express purpose of being able to humiliate any and all of your siblings at any given moment, without any need for additional prep time?”

“Is this true, Little Wing?” Nightwing whirls on the larger Red Hood with a faux-scandalized gasp. The founder and leader of the Titans, formerly the Teen Titans, renowned for his stratagems and calm competence when directing squads of supers in the heat of battle while he keeps pace with nothing more than naturally acquired acrobatics and a utility belt that apparently uses the same technology as Wonder Woman’s invisible jet....now appears to be....staggering with the back of his hand pressed to his forehead, moaning about how he felt....faint? 

What is happening right now, several dozen superheroes want to know. Is this a drill? Are they supposed to be checking for signs of a mental ambush from undetected psychic saboteurs? Did they all hit their heads at the exact same time and are now experiencing some kind of shared mass concussion?

Look, that wouldn’t be the weirdest thing to ever happen on the Watchtower. 

“Have I failed you so utterly?” The veteran child hero bemoans with a dramatic twirl - that when contrasted with his stern demeanor of a mere ten minutes ago - makes the fears of telepathic infiltration seem less paranoia and more....concerningly probable. “Did you learn nothing from me? Did you learn nothing from B?”

He stops and jabs a finger up at the sky. “Quick, everyone! What is the very first rule of Living While Batty?”

As if by rote, over a half a dozen voices chime in from all over the room, causing various heroes to jump. Spooked by yet more and more vigilantes joining in some kind of mass recitation like they and they alone have some kind of clue what the hell is going on and everyone else just hadn’t been invited to the party. Which is just rude, honestly. Nobody likes feeling like they weren’t invited to the party. Not even superheroes. 

“If you’re not going to bother preparing for every possible contingency and at least six impossible ones, you might as well just stay in bed.”

Even the Red Hood joins in the Illuminati chant or Cub Scout pledge or demonic ritual or whatever the fuck that just was, though his slumped and exasperated posture gives away every hint of sulkiness his headgear otherwise would have kept safely hidden. He’s surprisingly more...expressive, than most who’d only known of him by reputation had expected him to be. The day continues to yield surprises.

“Of fucking course I do,” he growls out, snatching the box from Black Bat. She doesn’t even fight to hold onto it, just lets it go with a knowing smirk. “I wasn’t surprised by the idea of it, I was just surprised she bothered with such a weak effort. Like yeah whatever, actually those could be mine. I use those all the time at home. So what?”

He aggressively yanks one of the band-aids out of the box, fumbles with the peel-off strips with one hand and he roughly rolls up the sleeve of his jacket with the other. Then just slaps it on his forearm and raises said appendage high, showing it off this way and that. “See?”

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Signal drawls from the other side of the room, nodding his head approvingly. “Totally convincing. Nice job walking that one back, you really showed them.”

Red Hood’s head snaps in his direction with ominous intent. “Watch it, Day-Glo.”

Signal just snorts.

“Yeah, like I’m gonna take constructive criticism on my name and costume from a dude who’s spent the last several years calling himself Red HOOD while running around in a freaking HELMET.”

“Its not meant to be literal, you fucking pedant.”

“So wait, its not literally a helmet? Huh, does it at least protect your head literally, or just like...symbolically? Like if Bane were to clock you across the head, would your concussion just be a metaphor? What’s the treatment protocol for a metaphorical concussion? Fluids, bedrest and a philosophical prescription of two chapters of Chicken Soup for the Soul as needed?”

“Laugh it up, KC and the Sunshine Band,” Red Hood bats back. “You just got yourself disinvited from Thursday night’s poker game.”

Signal just grins and folds his arms over his chest cockily. “Please. You’ve been looking for an excuse to ban me for weeks, cuz you know until you can prove I’m using my ghost vision to cheat, you can’t actually bring suit against me for it in Family Court.”

“That, and also Family Court isn’t a real thing, you toddler. Stop validating Wing-a-ding-ding’s obsession with Shitty TV Nostalgia and just call it that thing where Oracle traps us all in a room until we settle our latest fight without anyone getting stabbed.”

“Yeah, but like, say that five times fast,” Spoiler pipes up. “Its just not practical. Family Court’s way easier.”

“Says the one who’s not even in our fucking family.”

“And yet I grace you all with my sublime presence anyway,” she blows a kiss at him, beatifically unbothered. “You’re welcome.”

The Red Hood scoffs and rounds on his heel, zeroing in on Batwoman in the far corner.

“Hey Auntie B, my siblings are all dead to me and I just helped stop an alien invasion so I deserve nice things like a fun Saturday night. Can you get me into Dad’s fundraiser so I can crash it? He won’t put me back on the list until I promise not to bring any C-4 with me and I won’t promise not to bring any C-4 because he should just trust me that I won’t when I say I’m not gonna and he won’t trust me that I won’t until I admit I shouldn’t have brought any to that sting last month where three tiny little yachts blew up through barely any fault of my own, and I’m just not gonna do that ever because I have convictions and I feel I shouldn’t have to be punished for that. Y’know?”

Batwoman blinks at him. “Kid, I’m not gonna lie to you. You’re my nephew and I love you, but I stopped listening three seconds into all that.”

“Ugh, fine. Can you help me crash Dad’s event tonight so I can teach him a lesson about why he should just trust me not to make a scene so I don’t have to always make a scene to make a point.”

“Tempting as you make that sound,” she says wryly, “I have a strict policy for dealing with you lot and your......everything. I only worry about tolerating one of you at a time, and there’s seven of you, and seven days in the week. You each get your own. You know perfectly well its Robin’s day today. You get me on Tuesday, just like always.”

“Auntie B, we’re not like other families, are we?” Red Robin’s delivery is sarcastically childish and his question clearly rhetorical. Most of his attention is fixated on whatever it is he’s doing with his wrist-mounted computer. 

“No sweetie, we’re all severely fucked in the head and a little bit too comfortable with that.”

“Just checking. Oh hey, Hood, I just emailed you a patch for the hole in your firewall I exploited when replacing all my shit using your accounts just now.”

“You did what?”

“Used your accounts to pay to replace all my stuff that you fucked with last night?” Red Robin says slowly. “Did you not realize that I’ve been sticking within ten feet of you for the past five minutes just so I could clone your devices and do all that while BB and Spoiler kept you distracted? I gotta say, bro, I feel like that’s on you then.”

Red Hood swivels his helmeted head in the direction of the aforementioned two. Black Bat waves. Spoiler shoots him an utterly unrepentant thumbs up.

“You’d side with your ex over me? That’s what its come to?”

“My only allegiance is to chaos,” Spoiler says brightly. Black Bat shrugs.

“Plus he bribes better.”

“Hateful,” Red Hood points at Black Bat, moving on to level the same finger at Spoiler, who curtsies in acknowledgment: “Hateful-er.”

Then the finger rounds the bases to aim judgmentally at Red Robin. “Hateful-est. And that was all Nightwing’s idea anyway, not mine.”

“Oh, I assumed as much,” he says casually. “Your idea of a prank tends to have more of a Carrie vibe. Or be a literal literary reenactment.”

“Its called an homage, 4chan.”

“Whatever, plagiarist. And anyway, I couldn’t go after ‘Wing for payback on this one. He used an Immunity card. If you didn’t want me getting back at you, you should have used one too."

Red Hood looms aggressively. Red Robin ignores willfully. Round and round they go. Superheroes who can survive excessive G-Forces are getting dizzy just watching them have a largely motionless stand-off. That shouldn’t be how that works, but whatever. All the most infamously reclusive and isolated heroes in all hero-dom are apparently part of the same one big reclusive and isolated family of fucked up weirdos and they’re all officially bonkers. Nothing makes sense anymore. Reality broke. Try another stall.

“Okay, but see, in order to have an Immunity card, I would have to participate in one of you losers’ stupid Immunity challenges,” the Red Hood drags out with exaggerated patience. “And I’m just not going to do that, on account of those all being fucking stupid. You see the problem there?”

Red Robin just shrugs. “I don’t know what to tell you, bro. You can have principles or you can have an Immunity card. You can’t have both.”

Meanwhile, on another side of....the same room.....look, its like, an octagonal room, probably. It has a lot of sides. Robin fends off questions from an aggrieved looking Superboy.

“You never told me you had a bajillion brothers and sisters!”

“Yes but I never said I didn’t either.”

Superboy rolls his eyes. “Oh yeah, so I should just assume everyone I meet has a bajillion secret brothers and sisters?”

“Well clearly it would have worked out in your favor in this instance if you had, now wouldn’t it?”

“Assuming of course that you can trust what has been said or implied here today and I am actually related to any of those numbskulls. Which I am not actually admitting to,” Robin tacks on hastily.

Superboy eyes him dubiously. “You joined in the same creepy chant all the others did and then got super self-conscious and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Which uh. I did.”

“First off, your interpretation of body language is abyssmal. I do not get self-conscious,” Robin says with a delivery that probably could have benefited from being a little less self-conscious. “And second....that proves nothing. I guessed what they were going to say.”

“Word for word,” Superboy says super-skeptically.

“I’m very good at guessing things. You know this.”

“Okay. Guess how much I believe you right now then.”

Robin glares and folds his arms grumpily across his chest. 

“And what was that anyway? Was that like....you guys’ family motto or something like that?”

“Oh no,” Spoiler pipes up. “That’s much shorter.”

Superboy balks at that. “Wait, you guys actually have one of those for real?”

“Yup,” Steph says, counting out the words with her fingers. “He who laughs last....probably works for the Joker. So tranq him just to be safe. See? Only sixteen words. The first rule of Living While Batty is way longer, and what we said was just the abridged version. You should hear the original, before Black Bat put her foot down and refused to memorize it unless sizable edits were made.”

Superboy hovers between her and Robin now, both in mid-air and on the verge of taking Spoiler’s words as an invitation to hear just that. A low growl arises from Robin’s direction.

“Must you?” He asks the older vigilante, with a most put upon expression.

She looks at him pityingly. “Do you actually need me to answer that? Like, we’ve met, right? Hi, I’m Spoiler.”

“Wait, so Robin said that I just never specifically asked him if he had a bajillion brothers and sisters, and that’s why he didn’t tell me, so that means he wouldn’t have just lied and there’s not some code of secrecy that flat out forbids telling other people stuff, right?” Superboy realizes excitedly.

“Yes, excellent direction. Go on,” Spoiler says, steepling her fingers. Robin buries his face in the palm of one hand.

“Soooo, what other stuff could you tell me about Robin’s super top secret family that I wouldn’t think to ask about but that he would tell me about if I knew what questions to ask?”

She claps once, lightly but with emphasis. “Well done. You’ve passed the first barrier. Untold secrets await you behind just a few more.”

“I’ll get you for this,” Robin vows calmly. She waves a hand at him.

“Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you do it before January 1st, remember? You’ve promised retribution like ten times already this year and those don’t roll over, y’know. Rules are rules.”

“Enough!” Thunders a voice then, from the front of the room. Well one of the fronts anyway. Like sides, it has a lot of them, but this is the one where Batman’s standing. All eyes snap to him. Which is kinda just what eyes do when Batman says stuff like that. Its like his superpower, except he doesn’t actually have superpowers, which is what makes it scary. But where the snapping of the eyes (directional) is usually followed by Batman saying something else besides just “hey look at me,” here he pauses in the wake of his own call to attention’s waning reverberations. Uncharacteristically silent.

Not that, y’know, he’s normally Mr. Talkity Talk, but usually his silences feel like he has the words to fill them, he’s just withholding them. This though, this feels more like he doesn’t have any words at all. And he’s as confused by it as any of them, and most everyone else is confused by Batman being confused, and its this whole trickle down economy of confusion and its wrecking havoc on the value of the golden silence standard.

Of course, not everyone present is rendered spellbound with confusion.

“C’mon B,” Nightwing cajoles, leaning forward and practically radiating delight. “I think you know what you have to do now. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Its not likely to come around again.”

Red Hood snickers beneath his helmet and chimes in. “Yeah Pops, go ahead. You do this and you’ll actually have my respect for a whole twenty four hours. No, wait. Sixteen. No! Eight. Yeah, eight. Still a good deal.”

“Carpe diem, B,” Red Robin grins, leaning back as if to enjoy the show.

“Hey! Infringe on my trademark one more time, dude,” Signal throws a faux-glare at the former. Red Robin just quirks an eyebrow.

“And what, you’ll start saying Yum every time you eat a burger? Oh no. I’m hoist by my own petard.”

Signal flips him off with a grin and then redirects his attention back to Batman. “Yeah seriously though B, you kinda gotta do it now. Because if you don’t do it, then you’ll forever be the guy who didn’t do it, and you don’t want to be that guy, do you?”

“Yeah you really don’t want to be that guy,” Spoiler shouts out. “Nobody likes that guy. He’s the worst.”

“Do it, do it,” Black Bat starts chanting beside her, steadily picking up speed and volume. Several others start joining in. Even Robin appears to be slightly anticipatory, albeit trying very hard to hide it.

Batman sighs, and somehow everyone manages to hear it. Stills. Waits for....something? Nobody but them seems to have any clue what, but the air is thick and heavy with portentiousness. Something is about to happen, and all most of the heroes present could say for sure is it was something they never would have in a million years seen coming.

Finally, Batman straightens with the resigned air of a man about to have oh so many regrets. He crosses his arms, shakes his head, and in an absolute deadpan monotone, says:

“You are awful children. You know you’re killing me. You’re killing your father.”

[hangovercurse]

In These Walls

Colson finally writes a song about you, years after your whirlwind relationship. You come to his house to confront him, only to relive your favorite memories.

Request: “Hi, i was wondering if you could possibly write something about the background for "in these walls" song. Like it's a wrong time right person situation. Maybe like they split up and get together multiple times knowing that it's true love. And in the end after hearing the song reader leaves him for good and wishes him to be happy? But you could change any part of it, it just would be really nice to have a back story for this song.”

Colson x Reader

Warnings: Adult content (It’s not full blown smut but it’s there), substance abuse, cursing, angst

A/N: I changed this request just a little bit, I hope you don’t mind. It’s the same concept it just ends a little differently. I had to take a little artistic liberty with the lyrics since some (a lot) of them were pretty ambiguous, but this is just my interpretation of the song.

A/N part 2: I really fucking loved writing this. I absolutely love this song and literally wrote like multiple plots for this. Also I was gonna keep it as the original ending but I had to do what I did (you’ll see what I mean)

Word Count: 4897

Listen to the In These Walls

masterlist

You parked your car on the side of the street, taking in the all too familiar house in front of you. As you walked up to the door, you could already hear the party in full swing. For a second your heart fell, just a little. You hadn’t realized how much you’d missed his parties.

Your hand grasps the handle to the front door, opening into the once familiar entryway hall, where the two of you had first met.

You walked up to the door with Ashleigh, trailing slightly behind her. “Don’t worry Y/N, they’ll love you. They have to.”

You chuckled, “You know me, Ash. These kinds of parties just aren’t my thing. I’m much better at working with rock stars than partying with them.”

Ashleigh rolled her eyes, opening the door. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

You walked into the house, eyes wandering over the high ceilings and pristine decorations. You were slightly surprised that someone as infamous as Machine Gun Kelly had a place as clean as this.

“Kells! Slim!” Ashleigh called to two men, pulling you out of your thoughts. Your eyes landed to where her attention was focused, meeting the brightest blue eyes you’d ever seen. He walked over to you and Ashleigh, his friend following behind.

“Hey Ashleigh, this must be the new assistant you’ve been talking about.” The blue-eyed boy greeted your friend and boss, his eyes still focused on you. “I’m Kells, but you can call me MGK, Colson, whatever you like.”

You smiled, maintaining eye contact, “Nice to meet you Colson, I’m Y/N”

 Your eyes traveled the house, just as they had that first day, landing on one of the jackets hung up by the door. You chuckled to yourself. Two and a half years later and he still had the same leather jacket that he had once so carelessly thrown on the floor of your hotel room.

 “Are you sure we should be doing this?” Your head rolled back, giving Colson better access to your neck. Your hands made their way to his hair, running your fingers through his locks.

Colson’s teeth nipped at your neck, ripping a small whine from your lips. Colson smiled against your skin, mumbling, “Why shouldn’t we?” His hands reached for your shirt, pulling it over your head, and returning his lips to your exposed skin.

You suppressed your moans as best as you could as he moved lower, his lips sucking at your nipples. “I mean, technically you’re my boss.” Your hands pulled on his hair as he nibbled on the sensitive bud. “And if Ash found out she’d fire me on the spot.”

His mouth moved lower, pressing sloppy kisses to your stomach. “Then we just don’t let her find out.” He smirked, unbuttoning your jeans, and pulling them down your legs, smiling at your lacy light pink panties.

 Your eyes dropped to the floor as you recalled that night, the night everything changed. The night you had fallen head over heels in love with the man in the leather jacket.

You laughed at the memory. Hindsight really is 20/20.

You stepped further into the house, nostalgia hitting you at every corner. As the extent of the party came into your vision, you spotted Dre in the middle of the floor, dancing with a bottle of Jameson in his hand, no care in the world.

 The party on the tour bus was in full swing when you and Ashleigh finally got on. Dre and Irv were in the middle of the floor, dancing and jumping with a group of girls around them. Rook and Slim were in the middle of a drinking competition, with Baze judging.

You looked around the room as inconspicuously as possible, searching for the man whose arms you had woken up in that morning. Your eyes met his as Ashleigh handed you a cup with who knows what in it, but you were too distracted to thank her.

Colson was sitting on one of the couches, a girl on his lap and a drink in his hand. His free hand was wrapped around her waist as she whispered something in his ear, pressing a kiss to his neck. His eyes, however, were trained on you.

Against your better judgement, you downed whatever was in the cup, feeling the burn of the alcohol in your throat. You met Colson’s eyes again, a smirk on his face.

You walked over to Ashleigh, grabbing another drink. “What’s gotten into you?” She laughed. “You never drink.”

You rolled your eyes, hiding the real reason you were eager to get drunk. “It’s our night off, right?” You laughed, raising your cup before drinking it.

 You stayed on the outskirts of the crowd, trying to find the blue-eyed boy that you came to see. Your heart was racing as you leaned against the wall, suddenly anxious about what you were here to do.

As you searched the crowd, you saw Rook sandwiched between two girls in typical Rook fashion.

 “Hey Kells, have you noticed something going on with Y/N?” The shorter boy got his friend alone, concern in his eyes.

Colson shrugged, unbothered. “Not really, why?”

“I dunno man, she used to never drink or smoke or any of that shit. Now I don’t think she’s been fully sober for like a week.”

Colson knew what was going on, but he couldn’t exactly tell Rook about it, Rook liked you too much for that. “I haven’t noticed anything. Maybe she’s just getting more comfortable with us. She’s probably fine.” He fed his friend lies, hiding the fact that you were trying to impress him.

To your benefit, it was working. Colson found you much more attractive when you weren’t so strung up all the time, and he made sure to tell you that every night when you were under him.

Rook sighed, “I mean, maybe. She just never seemed like this type.”

 You hadn’t been to a party like this in months. After everything that had happened, you’d been trying to get clean. You’d been officially sober for 15 months.

Realizing that Colson was probably outside or preoccupied with someone else, you made your way to the bathroom further in the house, the one no one really knew about or bothered to use.

 You’d been rushing around for the last few hours making sure everything was ready to go and as soon as you thought you could relax, Colson disappeared.

You were about to get onto the tour bus when Slim told you. You sighed in frustration, realizing you would have to find the man before anyone could leave.

You made your way through the venue and towards the greenroom that the boys had trashed earlier that night. You walked across the room towards the dressing room door, seeing as Colson wasn’t in the room.

You had been in the dressing room with Colson dozens of times, you never felt the need to knock. No one did. So, you thought when you walked in, you’d find him changing or packing his things up. Instead, you found him in a much more… compromising position.

The girl was on the counter, head thrown back and eyes shut in pleasure. Colson’s head was buried in her neck as he slammed into her. When he heard the door open, his head shot up, your eyes connecting. In that moment, all of the feelings you had for him left your body.

“Everyone’s on the tour bus and waiting for you so we can leave. Join us whenever you’re ready.” Your voice and expression were emotionless.

“Y/N wait.” Colson called as you turned and walked out the door. “Fuck.” He grabbed his boxers, pulling them on and rushing after you. His hand grabbed your arm, stopping you and turning you towards him. “Y/N please, it’s not-“

“What it looks like? Funny.” You shook your arm from his grasp.

“Don’t get all mad about this.” Colson pleaded.

“Why shouldn’t I get mad about this Colson? We’ve been sleeping together every night for what, three weeks now? How many other girls have you had between then and now?” You kept your voice even, not showing how much you were hurting inside.

Colson rolled his eyes, “C’mon Y/N, you know that shit wasn’t serious.”

You bit your lip, nodding slowly. “Yeah, of course it wasn’t serious for you.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Do you have any idea what you do to people?” Your voice finally raised, “You make people feel so special for a little while, and then just when they think they have something real with you, you take it all away from them.”

Colson stood there, stunned. He wasn’t expecting you to be this upset. You continued, “And I knew when I met you that this would happen, I knew this was the kind of person you were. I guess I got so caught up in you I didn’t realize how stupid I was being.”

You studied Colson’s face, searching for any sign of a feeling in him. “This is ridiculous. I’m fucking ridiculous. I can’t believe I ever thought you and I would work out.” You let out a bitter laugh. “I told myself that even if it took forever,  that me and you would be together, but I guess you didn’t feel the same way.”

 The bathroom was clean, like most of the rest of the house. It was ironic, you would think that a band of boys would have a house that looked trashed, but these boys seemed to like the clean.

You took a look at yourself in the mirror, hands resting on the counter in front of you. You took a deep breath, calming your nerves. “You can do this, it’s just Colson.”

 “You can do this, it’s just Colson.” You told yourself, looking at his contact in your phone. You’d run out of options at this point. You were desperate.

You clicked the call button, hearing the phone ring before the familiar voice picked up. “Y/N?”

“Hey Colson, it’s me. I-uh- I hate to do this but I really don’t have anyone else to call.” Your heart was beating a mile a minute as you collected your thoughts. “My roommates kicked me out and I don’t have anywhere to go. I know we didn’t end on the best note, but I’m desperate.”

“You can stay over here.” He didn’t question you, didn’t even hesitate.

“Thank you.” You sighed, letting out a breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding.

 You made your way back through the house, hoping Colson would have rejoined the party-his party- by now. On your way you stopped at the door that had become all too familiar for you. Your door.

You took a deep breath, reaching out and turning the handle, pushing the door open. He hadn’t changed anything in two years. The same orange comforter covered the mattress, the same decorations hung from the walls. The only thing he had changed was the lamp, which you two had broken during your time here.

 “Any luck?” Colson asked, pushing the door open.

You sighed, pushing your laptop away from you. “No.” You frowned. “No one is looking for a roommate and no one is renting anything within my budget.”

Colson sat on your bed, a sympathetic expression on his face. “You can stay here as long as you need. But if you need help looking, I’m always willing to help.”

“Thanks Cols.”

Over the last week that you’d spent at his place, things seemed to get better between you two. The feelings you once harbored for him seemed to have disappeared, and now you were content with being friends.

“Of course.” He smiled, his hand reaching out and rubbing your thigh.

Ok, your feelings for him were gone, but even you had to admit he’s the best guy you’ve ever been with.

“If you need anything, I’m here.” His smile was very suggestive, as was the emphasis he put on “anything.”

You leaned towards him, face very close to his. “Anything?” You whispered seductively, a smile spreading on your face.

“Anything.”

All it took was his voice and the look in his eyes for you to connect your lips. His were so familiar to you yet seemed like a distant memory.

He moved your laptop off the bed, climbing over you, his knees on either side of you.  Your bodies moved in perfect sync with each other, both needing the other’s.

And that was the start of the best 6 months of your life.

 You leave the room, a shiver running up your spine at all the memories Colson and you made in there with the lights off. You start making your way to the kitchen, deciding to move around the crowd and sneak through the hallway, passing the open garage door, where more partygoers were dancing around Colson’s purple Aston Martin.

 The breeze flew through your hair as you flew down the street, a joint in your hand.

“Are you gonna tell me where we’re going?” You looked over at Colson, a smile on his face.

“Nope. It’s a surprise.”

You rolled your eyes, taking a hit and blowing the smoke in his face. “A surprise at 2 in the morning?”

He chuckled, glancing over at you. “I’m sorry, is there something you’d rather be doing?”

“I can think of a few things.”

“Well maybe we can try some of your ideas when we get there.” He smirked and you laughed reaching your hand out the window.

 Your plan didn’t work as well as you thought, as the entryway to the kitchen was just as crowded as the one closest to the living room. You squeezed your way through, trying to find someone you knew who could tell you where to find Colson.

 The club was dark and smoky. You had been drinking with Colson for about an hour when you made your way to the dance floor, stumbling over your shoes and shooting Colson a smile. You had asked him to dance with you, but he insisted he was fine watching you.

You used to hate the feeling of so many people so close to you, but since touring with Colson you’d grown accustomed to it. You didn’t like the feeling of foreign hands around your waist, however.

You knew they weren’t Colson’s, his hands were gentle, these were rough, gripping your hips too tight. You reached down, trying to push them off of you, turning around to face the stranger.

“Hi beautiful.” The guy was a few years older than you and he smelled overwhelmingly of alcohol.

“I’m not interested.” You smiled kindly, stumbling away from him. His hand wrapped around your arm, pulling you back to him. With the high alcohol content in your blood, you couldn’t muster up the strength to push him off.

“You’re just gonna walk away from a man like that? I said hi beautiful.” The man’s grip was harsh, and you winced as it tightened.

“And she said she wasn’t interested.” Your chest lightened when you heard Colson’s voice.

The man looked up at Colson, realization hitting him. He let you go, raising his hands up in surrender. “Sorry man, I didn’t know she was your girl. Maybe if she wouldn’t dance like such a slut, I wouldn’t have thought she was single.”

Colson took a step towards the stranger, pushing you behind him. “Excuse me?” He questioned, head tilting.

“Your bitch was the one dancing like sh-“ He was cut off by Colson’s fist connecting with his jaw, sending him to the floor.

“Colson!” You squealed, stepping backwards.

“Don’t ever talk about her like that, or any other girl for that matter. Motherfucker.” Colson moved away from the man, turning to you, and taking you in his arms.

“You didn’t need to do that.” You said softly, wrapping your arms around him.

He pressed a kiss to your forehead, “I know, I just couldn’t stand to hear him talk about you like that. Needed to teach him a lesson.” You nodded into his chest before backing away and taking his hand.

“C’mon, let’s get outta here.” You led him out of the club before security had the chance to throw him out.

 As you made your way through the crowd you caught a short glimpse of a familiar red jacket.

 “Cols?” You questioned, looking at yourself in the full-length mirror, his red jacket wrapped around your naked body. The man you’d been sleeping with for the past 5 months hummed in response, glancing over at you with a smirk on his face. “Why haven’t you ever written a song about me?”

You thought it was an innocent question. Even though you wouldn’t consider what you were doing a “relationship,” you two had been through enough shit together to warrant a song about it.

“Do you want me to write a song about you?” He questioned, his eyebrow raising.

You shrugged, looking away from the mirror and walking towards his place on the bed. “I just figured; you’ve written so many songs. None of them have been about me.”

He smiled, pulling you onto his lap so you were straddling him. “I can work on something.” He bit his lip, taking in the view of you on top of him.

 You pushed through the crowd, trying to find the jacket again. After pushing through too many drunk rappers than you should ever have to, you saw him. He looked different from the last time you saw him, but he was still Colson.

 “Babe,” Colson’s head was propped up by his elbow on the bed so he could face you. You looked over at him, your face still glowing from your last high. Colson took you in, the way your hair fell on the pillow, the way your makeup was slightly smudged, the way the light hit you just right, making you look like an angel.

“I love you.”

You froze at those three words, your breath catching in your throat. You were racking your brain, trying to figure out when you guys went from friends with benefits to this and you couldn’t find one. You thought you were just having fun; you didn’t realize how serious things had gotten for him.

“Don’t say that, Colson.” You whispered, your mind traveling back to the night in the greenroom, when you swore you’d never let yourself be so vulnerable in front of him again.

“What?” His face scrunched in confusion as you sat up, bringing the sheet up to cover your chest. “I mean it.”

“Well then don’t mean it.” You said, climbing out of the bed and pulling your red panties up your legs, throwing your shirt on.

Colson sat up, watching you with sad eyes. “What are you doing?”

You sighed, turning to face him. “I’m sorry, Colson. I thou- I thought we were just having fun. I didn’t realize you felt.” You paused, taking a deep breath, and choosing your words. “I didn’t know you felt like this.”

His face turned to hurt, almost anger. “What the fuck do you think we’ve been doing for the last six months, Y/N?’

You bit your cheek, trying to keep a clear head. “I’m sorry Cols, I didn’t mean to lead you on I just didn’t realize what we were doing was that serious.”

“Are you serious Y/N? You think I just let all the girls I’m hooking up with stay at my house for six months? Do you think I go on drives to the middle of nowhere at 2 am for just anyone?”

“I don’t know,” You were trying to suppress the tears that were pricking your eyes as you realized that all the signs had been in front of you, and you had ignored every one of them. You had led him on worse than you’d ever thought possible. “I’m sorry, Colson, really. I don’t-“ Your head was spinning, and you couldn’t form a coherent thought, much less a coherent sentence.

Colson had brought his hands up to his face, palms pressed against his temples. “God I’m so fucking stupid.” He mumbled to himself. “You know I didn’t sleep with anyone else after what happened in the greenroom? I couldn’t think about anyone but you. Y/N I would give up everyone- hell, I did give up everyone- for you. No one matters to me but you.”

It was like he was pleading with you at this point, begging you to love him back. The breaks in his voice and his sniffles told you he was crying, but you couldn’t feel anything. The world around you had gone numb, and it was all you could do to grab the rest of your clothes and walk out of the room.

“I have to go.” You whispered, wiping your tears, and looking at him one more time.

 The last time you had seen the man in front of you, he was absolutely shattered. Now, looking at him, he seemed happy. You admired him as he laughed at something someone said, taking in the shape of his jawline that once was home to a number of your hickeys.

As if he could feel you looking at him, he turned his head, his eyes connecting with yours immediately.

 It wasn’t until months later that you sorted out your thoughts. For a while you had pushed down all the memories and feelings you had about the situation, but after 3 months passed you realized how unhealthy it was.

You were spiraling, your memories being replaced with alcohol and drugs. It wasn’t until you were lying on the floor of your tiny apartment and wondering where you were that you realized just how bad you’d gotten.

You checked yourself into rehab a week later, getting help for your addictions and your mangled thoughts. You were finally able to understand your emotions and why you left.

It was two months later that you realized you had loved him too.

 Colson’s happy demeaner sunk completely when he saw you, the gleam in his eyes disappearing.

 “C’mon man, you can’t stay in there forever.” Slim knocked on the door, jiggling the locked handle.

Colson sat on the floor in your bedroom, a match in one hand and a cigar hanging from his lips. His eyes were red and puffy, his throat raw.

The first 2 months without you were the worst. He hadn’t realized he could feel so strongly about someone, and as soon as he came to terms with his feelings you left him. He finally started to pick himself up, but he could never let you go.

He tried to move on, he really did, but no one made him feel like you. And the way things ended between you didn’t leave any room for resolution.

He lit the match, lighting the cigar in his mouth. He inhaled the smoke, letting the flame burn itself out in his hand until he was left in the darkness. 

  You nodded your head towards the front door, asking him to meet you outside without words. He nodded, putting on a fake smile to say goodbye to the people he’d been talking to.

It was dark outside, so you stood under the streetlight outside his house. You dug your hands into your jacket pockets, biting your lip. Images of him flashed through your head as you waited for him. When he finally came out of the door, you sent him a small, sad smile.

“Hey.” You tried your best to not be awkward, but there wasn’t much you could do.

“Hey.” His eyes raked over you, taking in the changes two years had made on you. You had done the same thing, so you couldn’t complain.

“I heard your song.” Your voice was softer than you wanted it to be. You wanted to be strong but standing in front of him brought back all of the feelings you’d been trying to overcome. He nodded, looking down. “It’s really good.”

“Thanks.” His eyes wouldn’t meet yours, and you couldn’t blame him.

“Listen Colson,” You took a breath, “I’m not here to try and get you back or anything. I just couldn’t stand to have all that shit out in the world and not resolve it.”

He nodded again, still looking at the floor. “Yeah, yeah I get that.”

“I’ve missed you.” You whispered. “I missed you as soon as I left.” You were hoping for any sign of acknowledgement from him, but you got nothing from him. “I got pretty bad after I left. I started doing all this shit to try and forget about all the shit I put you through, and I had to go to rehab. I got clean, I got help with all of it. And I realized you deserve so much better than me.” You felt tears forming in your eyes.

“That’s why I never.” You had to pause, leveling your voice. “That’s why I never came back.”

He bit his cheek, finally looking up to you. “And I know that not everything was my fault. We both made mistakes but after hearing your song I couldn’t just not tell you that.”

“I, uh, I shouldn’t have released that song. I didn’t mean to hurt you with it or anything.” You shook your head.

“You didn’t hurt me. I mean, it sucked to have that be the song you wrote about me, but it was honest. I think I would’ve been more hurt if you wrote me something dishonest.”

He smiled softly at you, “I mean, it wasn’t completely honest. I definitely didn’t write about all the shit I put you through.” You let out a soft breath, almost like a laugh. “I was an asshole when we first met. You didn’t deserve that shit. You deserve someone who’s gonna treat you right and not try to change you into someone you’re not.”

You smiled at him, a real smile. You went to thank him when he spoke again, “And I just wanna say that I really did love you, and I still do. I think I always will, at least a part of me. But I know it’s never gonna work out, I’ve accepted that. With all our history, it’d just be too toxic. For both of us.”

You nodded, “I love you too. I didn’t realize it until so much later, but I loved you then and I love you now.” You let out a breath. “But I agree, like I said I just wanted to lay this part of my life to rest. Finish it once and for all.”

Colson nodded. “Goodbye Y/N.”

You leaned off the streetlamp, “Goodbye Colson. I hope you find happiness; you deserve it.”

Watching you walk away for the third time, knowing it would be the last time, just didn’t feel right. The battle between his head and his heart was intense, but he knew if he didn’t chase after you now, like he should have all those times before, he would never get another chance.

“Y/N, wait!” He jogged to meet you at your car, grabbing your waist as you turned to face him. Without thinking, he pressed his lips against yours. It wasn’t hungry, or needy, or angry. It was sweet, and passionate. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer to you. You didn’t realize just how familiar his lips would feel, even after 2 years. It felt like coming home. When he pulled away, you looked up at him through confused eyes.

He pressed his forehead against yours, hand still on your hip, the other reaching up to touch your cheek. “I’ve watched you walk away from me too many times to let you do it again.” You smiled softly, biting your lip out of nerves. “Honestly, I don’t think I’m ever gonna love anyone else but you, and I can’t lose you, not now that I’ve got the opportunity to get you back.”

You turn your head towards his hand, pressing a small kiss to his palm. Looking into his eyes you saw a different Colson than the boy you knew two years ago. He was still Colson, but he was older, more mature, and so were you. He wasn’t pleading with you, he wasn’t begging you to stay. He was asking if you would. And in that moment you realized just how much you wanted to. 

You closed your eyes, taking in a breath. “I’ve never loved anyone else but you.” Your voice was a whisper, the words you said were only for you two to hear. You opened your eyes, staring into his as you continued. “And if you still want me, I’d really like to start over with you.” 

Colson smiled, his forehead pressing against you as he nodded. You giggled, and he pressed a kiss to your lips. “I’ve always loved hearing you laugh.” He whispered. You pulled him closer to you, capturing his lips in yours and tangling your hands in his hair. 

When you finally let him go, you reached up to wipe your lipstick off the corner of his lips, resting your hand on his face and trying to convince yourself this was real. “You wanna come inside?” He whispered, head leaning into your hand. 

“Yeah, I’d love that.”

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

Don’t Feed The Flames - Bucky Barnes x (f)reader, Natasha x platonic (f) reader

Summary: Bucky has made you angry after a tough mission with the crew, why you ask? Apparently he thinks it’s totally fine to run inside a burning building to help you complete the mission in question. 

Warning: bit of angst, mostly a good time with the team, Bucky fluff shoved in ur welcome

-reader has fire powers btw, I don’t wanna confuse anyone lol

Masterlist

The mission was difficult to say the least, successful in its own right, but tough for everyone involved. All the Avengers were needed for this clusterfuck of a mission, minus Bruce and Thor who are elsewhere in the universe, lucky them.

All the team needed to do was infiltrated one of the last highly armed Hydra bases left in existence, get rid of the artillery and boom, slither right on in. Objective? Snatch valuable intel as to where the other bases are hiding, and surprise surprise, you and Wanda had to take care of some very pissed off experimentees who were unfortunately brainwashed beyond the point of helping them recover.

Ending the night in everyone quickly evacuating the premise with the essentials while you stayed back to blow up the base to nothing more then bricks and ash. Although during this, Bucky stayed back to shoot some freelancers who tried to take you the fuck out, with what would you know it; flame throwers.

Apparently Hydra is greatly lacking in weapons and functioning brain cells, among other things. Granted, you understood Bucky’s concern for your well-being when he ran into the fire. But oh dear lord were you not happy with him one goddamn bit.

Luckily Sam was able to pluck him out before anything fell on your idiot boyfriend while you were producing mass destruction in the giant airplane storage area. In the aftermath, you came out unharmed but covered in smudge marks and burnt off cloves yet again.

Bucky? Well he came away with a pissed off girlfriend and his life to say the least. And let’s just say the long four hour ride back was a tad bit awkward, even if you were too damn exhausted to show your irritation with Bucky. The team sure as hell knew he wasn’t going to be spared of your wrath when the jet landed.

It took approximately ten seconds for your man to shuffle out of your line of sight, using Steve as a shield to hide behind while they walked out. You had been distracted when Natasha asked for something picked up, then suddenly your mind was on Bucky. A moment later you stomped out of the Quinjet in pursuit of the one and only James Buchanan Barnes as he awaited your fury.

“James!” You growl fiercely, “You are the most fucking reckless person I’ve ever fucking met and I’m literally friends with Tony!” You snap while the rest of your teammates go about their business, trying to listen yet smartly staying out of everything.

“I know.” Mutters Bucky like a kicked puppy suffering his mother’s wrath, blue eyes looking at you with regret clearly visible on his handsome face.

“You know! You know!? Then why the fuck would you just run into the flames like that!” You shout while throwing your arms into the air in frustration, “You’re not fire proof Bucky!”

“Y/N...”

“Do you have a goddamn death wish!?” You interrupt, giving him a dumbfounded look as he glances from Steve to the floor then back to you again, trying to find something or someone with enough pity to help him. 

He finds none, “Well....no.” Your brows raise yet again at his short and annoyingly blunt answers to make up for his stupidly daring boldness. 

“Then why-ugh, whatever never mind.” You dismiss with a wave of your hand before quickly turning on your heels to walk for the metal doors into the main part of the facility, while the others keep their distance from your heated state.

“Wait Y/N, come back I’m sorry!” Exclaims Bucky desperately while you continue to ignore your reckless man, “You’re right I shouldn’t have....ugh...come on babe....shit...” Mutters Bucky as he watches you leave him in such a heated state.

“Dude just let her cool off, oh uh well....no pun intended.” Jokes Sam with a shrug as Bucky watches you stomp away in frustration, your body almost sizzling with actual flame.

“I didn’t mean to....well...ugh, shit I guess I kind of did.” Admits Bucky with a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck as you slam the door shut with a loud thud, “Sometimes I forget fire can’t hurt her. I should have just let her handle the burning building herself instead of going inside when she uh, told me not to.”

Steve walks out of the Quinjet with a bag in hand to greet the two, “Y/N seemed a bit...”

“Pissed off.” Adds Sam with a light chuckle as Bucky frowns at the giant glass window.

“Yeah.” Mutters Steve awkwardly as he side eyes Bucky, “Well ugh, see you guys at dinner, I think Wanda and Vision are getting takeout from somewhere.”

“See ya Steve.”

“Bye.”

Sam and Bucky watch as Steve heads for the metal doors, soon he’s gone and the two are the only Avengers left in the giant parking garage of sorts.

“She’s going to hate me for the rest of the day I know it.” Sadly mutters Bucky, already missing your beautiful face no matter what state your in.

“I wouldn’t say it’s hate.”

“She’s going to be very disappointed in me then.”

“Yeah probably.”

Bucky gives him an offended look, “You’re supposed to say something uplifting or positive.”

“Man don’t look at me for relationship advice. This is Y/N we’re talking about, just give her a couple hours she’ll simmer down.” Inquirers Sam with a friendly pat on the back before he starts walking away for the door, as casually and unbothered as ever.

Bucky keeps silent for a moment while his mind swims with what to do next, suddenly he looks up at his retreating friend, “Hey Sam!” Shouts Bucky just as Sam opens up the door, causing him to stop and give his friend a quizzical look.

“What?!”

“Fuck you!”

Sam immediately snorts, “You brought this upon yourself brother!” And with that he shuts the door leaving Bucky alone and full of regret for putting himself in danger today when you specifically told him you could handle yourself.

Why is caring for someone so hard, wonders Bucky.

——

After taking a greatly needed shower and putting on a fresh new pair of comfortable clothing for the evening, you slipped past your friends rooms and away from where Bucky may be hiding.

Until at last you made it to Natasha’s door without being caught by anyone in the hallway and stopped for a needless conversation. Soon enough you slip into Nat’s room and saunter around for a bit as you wait for her to end her shower.

“Oh shit!” Gasps Natasha as soon as she opens the door and notices you poking around her stuff, “Jesus Y/N how’d you get in here!?”

“I opened the door.”

“I thought I locked it?”

“You did.”

Natasha gives you a puzzled look as you wander over to her nightstand, nonchalantly minding your business while picking up her current novel as she watches you curiously, “So uh, how’s it going?” She asks cautiously, well aware of your irritation with Bucky earlier that day.

Flipping through the pages you answer her honestly, “I’m fine now.”

Natasha nods before turning around to search through her drawers for an outfit, “I figured that much, considering if you were still pissed you’d be throwing fireballs into the cement wall downstairs.” She quips with her usual smirk as you gently close the book and set it back in its rightful place.

“That is.....true.” You agree with a shrug, “I’m just sending a message at this point.”

“Oh really?” Laughs Natasha while slipping on a shirt, “Poor Bucky then.”

“Yeah well he was being an idiot tough guy so....it’s what I’m doing.” You add with a lopsided smug grin, “Serves him right for being reckless with no regard for his physical safety. I love him but at what cost?”

“Someone needs to tell Steve that.” Mutters Natasha as she pulls on some sweatpants.

You chuckle, “What? That someone needs to tell Steve they love him? Not a bad idea.”

“That too.” Points Natasha, “I seriously don’t know how he’s not dead yet.”

Your brows furrow in thought for a moment, “He’s built like a stone sentinel with a will greater then many, he fears nothing.” You deadpan, face stoic and serious.

“Just about.” Laughs Natasha as you begin to cackle right along with her, in the middle of your laughing fit does the door suddenly burst open to reveal...

“Hello ladies.” Chirps Tony with an award winning smile, usual old T-shirt on and hair a bit of a mess though somehow managing to keep his Stark charm.

“I really need to get an automatic lock on that thing.” Mutters Nat to no one in particular.

“What’s up Stark.” You add with an acknowledging tilt of your head, “You here to bother us or tell us something interesting?”

“Everything I say is interesting my dear sparky.” Quips Tony with a brow wiggle.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Right, anyways. Foods here.” Chides Tony as he sets a hand on his hip, “Unless you’re both too cool for movie night. More for us then, I’ll have Vision drop off our half eaten tacos.”

“We have tacos?” You ask with an intrigued raise of your brow, just wanting to confirm and make sure he’s not bluffing, you fucking love taco night.

“Yep.”

“How long have they been here?”

“Wanda and Vis just arrived so you’re the first two I found.” Oh, fuck yeah!

Turning your head to a smirking Natasha you smile back before bolting for the door, “Move Stark!” You snap before shoving him to the side and cackling as you and Natasha book it down the hall with Tony trying to keep up in the background. What can you say, Natasha always makes it a competition and its taco night. Sometimes you gotta play dirty.

Soon you and your assassin best friend who you tripped up before reaching the door finally skid into the Avengers giant lounging area. The room is relatively empty with the exception of Wanda and Vision who are seated at the large metal table near the kitchen where all the various paper bags of tacos are seated. And ripe for the taking.

Smelling absolutely delicious all tucked snug in their wrapping and filled with the most divine ingredients, you could just about die of happiness. With a beaming smile upon your face and the surprised expressions from your two friends you belt out loudly, “Tacos FUCK YEAH!” Before racing for the bags and getting tripped by Natasha.

Whipping your head up to watch her snatch a bag you growl half angrily, “You bitch.” While she happily smiles back down at you, taco in hand.

“What are you doing on the floor? Foods here.” She jokes as you quickly walk over to the counter with all the bags.

“Ha ha, you’re hilarious now give me that.”

After about ten minutes of eating and shooting the breeze with Natasha, Wanda, Vision, and Tony; you’re ears immediately catch the sounds of thundered running down the hallway and other muffled curses from two familiar individuals.

“Fun’s arrived.” Whispers Natasha with a friendly nudge to your arm as it lays on the flat surface of the table while you absentmindedly crumple up a wrapper.

Biting your lip you anticipate the impending commotion, “Fantastic.” And this whole evening could be more enjoyable if your hundred year old boyfriend would have used some common sense.

A second later the door swings open to reveal a panting Sam before Bucky slides in after him, equally as flustered, those two idiots. As they stand there collecting their breaths, Steve casually steps into the room, walking past them and over to the bags of tacos, “Aw sweet, taco night.” He confirms excitedly, hungrily eyeing up a particular bag.

Rolling your eyes, you slouch carelessly into your expensive swivel chair before turning to Wanda who’s seated across from you, “Hey, Red Riding Hood, you’re up.” She turns her attention away from Vision and nods before giving you a sly smirk and using her power to send a balled up piece of taco wrapping straight for your head.

In one calculably swift motion do you incinerate the paper material before its able to reach your face, “Y/N you’re going to set the fire detectors off.” Laughs Tony as he crumbles up a new ball.

“Eh, we could afford a renovation.”

Tony fake scoffs, “Rude.”

“Well Y/N, I thought you did great.” Applauds Wanda with a chuckle as the three other men walk around to the far end where no one is seated, “Alright Tony you next.”

You refrain from making any eye contact with Bucky who steals a few longing glances at your smiling face, instead he follows Sam and Steve to the opposite end and watches as you quickly turn another balled up paper to ash. The sounds of your laughter and the rest of the tables almost enough to drive him insane.

Yet he refrains, Bucky knows he’s essentially in time out, reason for almost getting himself killed today; and you’re not breaking anytime soon, or so he thinks.

Ignoring the three boys hungrily attacking their poor tacos away from the main groups theatrics, Vision suddenly gains your attention, “Well I suppose I should participate with this game or fear feeling left out....uh, what is the objective? Or perhaps the name?”

“They throw wrappers at me and I set them on fire before it hits myself or the ground.” You reply while crumbling up another piece, leaving Vision to process the possible deeper meaning to your brief explanation, though there really isn’t one. It’s just for fun.

“By the way I’ve been able to get her exactly once.” Brags Tony with a shit eating grin, causing you to scoff at that memory. 

“Oh fuck all the way off you flicked water into my face and then threw the paper.”

“And it was very much worth it.” He confirms as you roll your eyes at his cheating from last taco night.

The rest of your friends fill the room with snickers and some louder laughter coming from Sam down at the far end, with a raised brow you snap your head in that direction and stand, “Something funny bird boy?” You quip in a half threatening manner.

Sam’s smirk immediately drops from his face as his expression appears nonchalant, “What nooo. That was Steve.” He mutters before taking another bite out of his taco.

“Y/N that was definitely not me.”

“Uh huh.”

“Maybe it was Bucky.” Jokes Sam as you shift your fiery attention over to a fearful Bucky who quickly shakes his head before smacking Sam on the arm.

“No.” You confirm with a knowing smirk, “He doesn’t have a death wish.”

“Well neither do I please have mercy.” Pleads Sam with hands raised in defeat, “I would like to finish my taco.”

You stare down at them for a brief tension filled moment before casually shrugging, “Yeah alright.” Before sitting back down again.

——

Opening up the trash can you quickly shove down three giant paper bags from dinner with a bit of effort considering how full it is. Natasha and Vision are cleaning up in various areas nearby while Sam, Bucky, Natasha, Steve, and Tony sit in the lounging area discussing if it was necessary that Dobby was killed off in the Deathly Hallows. You know, normal things you discuss with your superpowered friends.

Well Bucky is mostly just listening and stealing glances over to you every couple of minutes, really wishing you would just walk over to him and let him show you how sorry he was with the biggest hug he could possibly muster. Probably never letting you go again, though you wouldn’t mind.

Ignoring your own longing to be cuddled up next to Bucky, you instead fight with the damn trash can to fucking shut its dumb lid already. With one hand forcefully shoving down bags, paper plates, and banana peels you start to think if volunteering for clean up was even worth it.

A blue flame suddenly erupts from your palm and makes a big black hole through the paper bags and plates, your eyes go wide in surprise as you immediately retract your hand from the trash and shut the lid just as quickly.

Taking a single step back you let out a breath before turning your head to find Bucky watching your whole ordeal go down with a drink in hand, guess he must have gotten up to get some juice and stayed for your one on one brawl with the trash can. Rolling your eyes, you wave it off, “Completely under control.” You mutter as he slowly nods.

Well this is awkward.

Shifting your gaze from Bucky to your friends and back to Bucky again, he finally speaks, “Is that why the lid has smoke coming from under it?”

“What?” You wonder in puzzlement before looking back down at the trash can to find smoke indeed rising, “Oh fuck!” Ripping the lid off you’re kindly greeted with a burst of flame and smoke. Well, shit.

“Uh, Y/N?” Asks Bucky with an uncertain chuckle, “You’re positive everything is under control?” Quips your smartass boyfriend.

With more flames rising to an almost alarming level, though not quit yet, you glance at your oblivious friends before racing for the sink, “Yes! Everything is fucking fine!” Wanda skips to the side as you snatch a cup of something from the counter by the sink.

Running back you skid in your tracks and dump the clear liquid onto the flames which causes them to rise even higher and gain the attentions of everyone sitting down and relaxing, “Why is my trash can on fire?” Asks Tony as casually as ever.

“I don’t know maybe it looks better this way?!” You sass before giving the glass a double take, “The hell? What the fuck was in this!” You shout, holding up the glass while fire burns in the trash from behind you.

“Oh that had some Quinjet fuel in it, why do you ask?” Replies Tony, he’s gotta be fucking with you.

Squinting at him in bewilderment, you shake the empty glass in frustration, “Why the fuck would there be a random glass of fuel sitting in a clear unlabeled glass on the fucking sink of all places!”

“What did you think it was?”

“Oh I don’t know!? Water?!” You snap causing the fire to roar even higher at your outburst.

Looking almost like a demon princess standing there with flames rising from behind you, your fists ball up with blue flame, something that you don’t even realize is happening as you give Tony a (what the fuck are you actually stupid) face.

Sensing your obvious irritation and rising anger, Bucky comes to the rescue with a whole bowl full of actual water and promptly dumbs it onto the flames which causes the unless materials to sizzle and whine. Soon the oranges and reds are gone, leaving the contents turned to ash and nothing more then wet soot.

Distinguishing your own flames, you hang your head low, revealing a tired heavy sigh as you mumble, “Shit.” Suddenly you feel admittedly quit drained and annoyed from the events of the day, even if they weren’t all bad.

Your friends keep silent for a moment before Steve quickly stands, “Movie night anyone?” Gaining the attention of everyone in an instant; you bless the blonde for his intuitive ways of helping you out in the smallest of moments. He truly is a great friend.

“Yeah I could watch something.” Adds Sam with a shrug, “I’m thinking Deathly Hallows Part 2.”

“Yeah it’s pretty good I’ll join.”

“Me too.”

“Yeah I’m in.”

Everyone get up and begins walking for the door as you stay standing in your spot near the wet and ash covered metal trash can, everyone exiting for the home theater except for Bucky who’s back is to you while he tells Sam you’ll be there in a minute.

Folding your arms, you suddenly feel like it’s the first time you and Bucky have ever talked one on one with each other, you’re typically a pretty damn confident and fiery person to begin with, it’s just. Being mad at your favorite human in the whole entire world and then embarrassing yourself with accidentally setting the trash can on fire can take its toll.

Also not to mention the mission many hours ago was admittedly hectic and stress inducing and then, Bucky....perhaps a moment to calm down would have been smart if taken earlier. God your life moves to damn fast.

“You are so intense sometimes.”

Breaking out of your self reflective trance, your eyes quickly dart up to see Bucky who’s giving you a soft smile, “If you wanted my attention you could have just asked.”

“Very funny.” You scoff, “I was actually too busy being mad at you.”

“Ah, right.” Nods Bucky as he mirrors your defensive positioning, deciding to cross his arms and make a pouty face like yourself, “So I guess we’ll just stay here and brood then?”

“I’m trying to make a point.” You mutter, you’re not gonna crack, you’re not gonna do it.

“I’m trying to get my girlfriend to watch a movie with me.” Admits Bucky with an affectionate head tilt as you frown, “I know they’re not going to wait for us so....uh....okay let me start over.....I’m sorry for being reckless and almost dying. And I mean it too, with all of my heart. I love you Y/N.”

Although you’d like to throw his dumb reckless ass some sass and strut away leaving him guessing and begging for more, you just can’t find it in you at this point. He looks at you with those big beautiful blue eyes full of love and adoration for you and only you, how could you possibly resist them?

You know with every ounce of your soul that he means every single word, and you also know that he’s missed you since the second you yelled at him and slammed the facility door, leaving him alone and regretting his past decisions that could have potentially ended him then and there.

“Sometimes James, sometimes.” You mutter, shaking your head in disapproval before a small smirk pulls at your lips and in that moment he knows you’re his, “Come here.”

Heeding to your wonderful command that he’s been waiting to hear all day, he swiftly makes the short distance to gather your smaller body into a giant Bucky bear hug, his strong arms wrap protectively around your back as his head falls into the side of your neck as he quickly steals a small kiss.

You pull him in even tighter and fully enjoy the sensation of himself flush against you, metal arm squeezing your rip cage and long dark hair that falls into your eyes; god you love him so much.

Giving you one last little squeeze of affection, Bucky slowly pulls away and presses his head against yours, “I gotta be honest, I have no idea what this movie is about.” Reveals Bucky as he continues to holds you close.

Chuckling you press a kiss to his lips, “I’ll tell you what’s happening. Let’s go before we miss anything else.”

Nodding, he tilts your head up to press a sweet kiss to your lips one last time before letting you go, so that the two of you can begin walking for the door. Opening up the metal and glass door for you like the gentleman that he is, Bucky quickly jogs over to your side.

“So Sam told me these guys are wizards or something? Like they can teleport and fly I think?” States Bucky in question while walking in step with you.

Looking over at him you smile at how cute he’s being right now, giving him an agreeable nod, “Yeah they can do cool stuff like change form and set things on fire.”

Bucky suddenly starts laughing much to your confusion, “Y/N does that make you a wizard?”

Shoving him to the side you snort as he keeps laughing, “Shut up.” You mutter humorously as he stumbles from your friendly push.

Making quick steps to catch up with you, Bucky pulls you into his side, “Forgive me I didn’t mean it...” Snickers your adorable idiot, “I bet you’d be the best wizard, pointy hat and all.”

Shaking your head you can’t help the smirk that tugs against your better wishes, “I’m gonna set you on fire.” You jokingly threaten him with as he affectionately squeezes your side, causing you to be pressed even closer against him.

“Wizard.” Muses Bucky as he plants a kiss to your cheek as you try and push him away.

“Bucky, shut the fuck up.”

“But, I love you.”

[chokemeanakin]

Give Me Love

Chapter Two

Wc: 1.5k

MASTERLIST

Since then, you had made a considerably stronger effort to get over your intimidation of Anakin. It was hard to accept that the man could turn you into such a sensitive little girl so easily. Your childhood shyness came back full-force around him. You could flirt and tease and play with any guy, but the minute he so much as looked in your direction, you froze. Clammed up. Lost all thoughts that might have been formed in your head, and stood there like a cadaver. Brain dead.

You hated the reasoning for it even more. You were demoted to a shell of a human being around him because he was pretty? How pathetic of you.

That wasn’t the only reason. Yes, you had always thought he was beautiful in ways you’d never seen before and know you will never see in anyone else. But that first night walking home with him cemented your feelings even more-- he was charming, and funny, and sweet, and ambitious-- and so so intelligent.

He had walked with his hands clasped behind his back like a prince, gloved arm in his flesh hand, guiding you leisurely through the streets as he waited for your shorter legs to keep up. He had smiled at your attempts at conversation, and inquired about your training as a field nurse at the Temple medbay. As if he really cared. He even pretended not to notice the goo-goo eyes you had shot him for a fleeting second, when you finally mustered the courage to look him in the face as you bid goodnight.

He was so handsome. Such a gentleman. So sweet and caring and brave. And strong and determined and on and on and on. He was everything. And that’s why your existence crumbled around him, because you felt like anything you did might annoy him, gross him out, make him detest you. Your self-esteem was never perfect, but around him it tanked. The thought of him dreading your presence scared you into motion, fleeing before he could realize how ugly, or annoying, or terrible you might be.

You knew it confused Ahsoka. She’d seen you play guys until their jaws were on the floor, whining and drooling after you like dogs. But as soon as her Master’s voice came over her com? You were a shaking, whimpering mess.

Her little plan had worked though. Soon, you were risking a quiet, “Hello, General Skywalker,” as she urged you to greet him over the com. You had twisted your hands together so hard the joints in your fingers popped, forehead breaking out with a slight sweat. But you had addressed him directly, even if it was over com. Baby steps, Ahsoka commended you.

And then, you had agreed to walk her to the starfighter hangars one afternoon-- a place he was notorious for hanging out, and one you had adamantly refused even stepping in the direction of. When you got there, he was, of course, under his yellow Eta-2 Actis-class interceptor, tweaking something with a wrench in one hand and a blowtorch in the other.

“Say hello,” Ahsoka had grit through her teeth, jabbing you in the ribs with her elbow. You winced and rubbed the spot, freezing in place as Anakin rolled out from under the starfighter and lifted his goggles onto his forehead. It pushed his bangs up, the curls sticking up cutely, making your heart skip a beat.

“Thanks for walking me, Y/n,” the Togruta padawan stressed your name pointedly.

“Uh… you’re welcome, Ahsoka.” You flinched as she raised her eyebrows, shifting your gaze to the man beside her. “Hi, Anakin.”

“Hey, Y/n,” his answering smile was blinding. Your veins filled with lava. Hearing your name formed from his sultry voice, dripping off his lips like honey, dancing across the room and tickling your ears with butterfly wings… it felt more like a blessing than a greeting.

It got easier with time. Baby steps was right. Soon, you weren’t turning on your heel as soon as you saw him walking down the same hallway, instead passing him quickly and returning his casual head-nod. If he caught sight of you in the mess hall, he’d wave and offer a small smile, a gesture which you returned. You had even managed to get that awful stutter under control, able to form words around him like you weren’t a newborn baby.

Ahsoka was proud.

And then. And then. And then.

He had snuck up behind you one day as you were cleaning up your station in the medbay. You had been switching gauze pads, removing stitches, and setting bones from clones and Jedi all day until the last patient came in, a clone bleeding from a slashed artery in his thigh where a bounty hunter had stuck him with a knife. He was lucky he got to you in time, or he surely would have bled to death. You managed to staunch the spurting flow of blood enough for him to be prepped and brought in for surgery, and then your shift was over. You were scrubbing the tiles clean of the results, scrubs absolutely drenched in blood, when Anakin knocked on the doorframe.

“Hard day?” he’d asked, eyes sweeping over the gory mess of the usually stark-white room.

“Quite typical, actually,” you grimaced, mind still reeling from the adrenaline. You guessed that’s why you had the confidence to actually speak to Anakin right now, as well as look at him without falling to your knees. Well-- you were already on your knees, so all you had to battle with was the flurry of butterfly wings in the pit of your stomach.

“Did he live?” Anakin walked a couple steps into the room, arms crossed, avoiding patches of dried blood on the tile.

“He’s in surgery, but he’ll pull through. Amazing, considering how much blood he lost.”

“I can see.”

You scrubbed away at the tile for a moment, strangely unbothered that he was seeing you covered in bodily fluids. You were most comfortable when you were in your element, and well, here you were-- quite literally in your element.

“Can… I help you with anything?” your heart lurched as you questioned him for the first time. Demanded his attention for the first time. Braced yourself for those heavy eyes to land on you and squeeze the breath from your lungs.

But if he was hurt… well… it was your job to fix it. Stupidly-strong crush or not.

“You can, actually.” He stood over you, looking down with a small tilt to the corner of his mouth. A flush rose to your cheeks as your eyes sifted over his body, looking for any wounds that might be visible.

“Nothing like that,” he shook his head, and then knelt beside you as he realized you weren’t going to stand. He reached into the soapy bucket beside you and grabbed a sponge, helping you scrub the floor clean of blood. “I was wondering… Obi-Wan and a few others from the Council have tickets to go to the Opera tomorrow eveing. They want me to go with them, but…”

You chanced a look at him, and he was wincing. “Well, let’s just say the Opera’s not a very entertaining place to be on a Friday night.”

You laughed lightly, nodding in agreement. The Opera was such a prized part of being on Coruscant, where all the wealthy and important people go to watch a swirling ball of light for hours. You never understood the novelty of it, but you found that everyone was afraid to call it out on its blatant dryness.

“So…?” you mused, dipping your sponge back in the bucket to get more water.

“So, I was thinking you could put me in for a checkup at that time just so that I’d have an excuse to bail.”

“You want me to give you a checkup?”

“Not actually,” he squeezed pink, soapy water into the bucket. “Just schedule one, so I can take the card and show it to them and then not have to go to the Opera. And to pay you back, I’ll take you to Dex’s for that breakfast-dinner you, Sabè, and Ahsoka do every week. Since you’ll be missing it to help me, and all.”

Your head rushed with blood, swimming as you took in his words. He wanted to take you to dinner?

No, he wanted you to help him. But… he didn’t have to pay you back. He wanted to do that. He was also waiting for your answer, so you got your wits together and accepted, eyes locked onto your scrubbing sponge as you replied,

“I think I can do that. As long as you show up here at exactly 8pm, cause that’s when my shift ends and there’s a 5 minute break as night shift takes over. I’ll let you in, and then we can sneak out the back.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Anakin flashed a dazzling smile at you, and for the first time, you were able to meet his shining eyes straight on and smile back.

Taglist:

@a-sterism @artiza-n @monamourani @anakinlove @haydens-moles @anakinswhore @ani-skyvvalker @sarahb1024 @anakinsbestgirl (why don’t they tag 😔)

Join the taglist!

[beauenfer]

Confessions We Won’t Admit | pt. 1

: *✧𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: @beauenfer

: *✧𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 4,581

:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*: .: ⋆*･ﾟ: ﾟ .: ⋆* .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

•‎𐩐 ༘ ✦* FANDOM: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

•‎𐩐 ༘ ✦* PAIRING: Xander Harris x chase!Reader

•‎𐩐 ༘ ✦* WARNING: language, bitchy reader, some meanie behavior from Xander

•‎𐩐 ༘ ✦* SUMMARY: Reader is Cordelias sister, or according to Xander, Satans spawn. They don’t get along (well, most days), but all it takes is for some alone time in a sewer and an almost kiss for them to figure out why

:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*: .: ⋆*･ﾟ: ﾟ .: ⋆* .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

“XANDER?” THE BOY IN QUESTION turned his head towards you with a curious hum in response, being misled by the sweet smile on your face. You had your arms crossed against your chest, your hair neatly held back with a bulky headband so Xander could see your face clearly. You cocked your head at him, letting out a delighted chuckling noise to further confuse the boy.

“Can you shut up? Unlike you, some people like to listen.” Your smile fell from your face into your standard pouty frown, your glossed lips twisting into a grimace that contrasted the genetic beauty of it. You were a Chase, after all. Your eyelids, shaded with a faint green to match your dress, blinked at him when he just continued to stare at you, as well as made your eyes pop.

“Even I felt that burn.” Cordelia, with her hands crossed over her knee, turned to her ex with a deadpan expression, raising her brows at him in a knowing look. You smirked slightly at that, seeing the way he opened and closed his mouth to form a response. To be truthful, you were trying to listen to Giles and his demon lecture, but Willow and Xander’s irreverent giggling was distracting you from it. Plus, you took any excuse you could to push Xander’s buttons, It was too easy.

“Oh please, like you can hear anything with that antenna on your head.” He pointed at you with a fervor, talking about the forest green headband on your head that matched your outfit. Your hands flew up to the accessory, offended. You glared at the brown-haired boy, clutching the headband in your hands.

“Antenna!? This is Burberry I’ll have you know, but of course you’ve never heard of it. You’re not financially able to get one!” You exclaimed with a sneer, jerking your head at him as you watched his eyes widen in response. Willow sat between you and him with a scared expression, literally in the middle of an argument. Giles just stood by the table with an open book in his hand, turned to the page he had been reading off of, looking at the table in annoyance.

“Well, (y/n), why would I get one!? I’m a man!” He cried, pointing at himself as he leaned over Willow to get in your face, the smell of his cologne (which you were shocked he even wore) distracting you for a second before you did the same, your lip curled in anger.

“A man? Now I know why everyone thinks you’re so funny!” You heard a ringing in your ears and felt your cheeks start to heat up on their own accord, an anger only Xander could bring out in you bubbling in your chest. You couldn't focus on anything but Xander and that smell that seemed to smother you; the smell of bergamot oranges and cedarwood. You crinkle your nose as you take another whiff; intoxicated.

He flared his nostrils, the both of you hovering over Willow to meet in the middle, equally irritated with the other.

“Oh! Oh, I’ve had it up to here, Missy!” He raised his hand above his head with crazed brown eyes, and you just scoffed at him, getting closer until you could see the stubble on his neck and above his lip. You flickered your eyes back up to his eyes once you caught yourself, giving him a glare.

“Oh really? Well, I could say the same for you, Missy!” You mocked, his eye twitching at you. Willow looked between the both of you with a panicked expression, leaning back in her chair as she watched the exchange. She winced at your statement, but looked at Xander with furrowed brows. She didn’t understand why you guys were arguing so much, she was observan like that. She noticed the glares, the frowns, the scoffs, the arguing that seemed to increase when Xander and Cordelia broke up. Honestly, she was worried. Because Xander and Cordelia used to argue like this, over the smallest things… before they dated.

“Uh, guys?” Willow interrupted the stare down with a small voice, hesitant to put herself in the situation. She didn’t want anyone to snap on her.

“What?” You and Xander snapped your heads over to the redhead, too engrossed in the tension that seemed to surround you both like a bubble. It was always there, lurking above your heads like a storm cloud ready to explode.

Willow flinched, letting out a nervous chuckle.

“Erm, air? I kind of… need it.” She sighed, giving you both a nervous smile. You frowned, giving Xander a glance as you realized how little space there was between the pair of you.

“Oh, right. Sorry…” You mumbled, leaning back in your seat and clearing your throat as everyone stared at you. Xander let out a laugh to clear the tension, shooting back in his seat and swallowing down a lump in his throat. He glanced at you a moment after you did him, suddenly jolting in his seat and looking at Giles with a frazzled expression.

“So, Giles, a demon sacrifice? Let’s talk about that. Please, god, let’s talk about that.” He stammered, wringing his hands together with a nervous giggle. You nodded your head, crossing your legs and looking up at the librarian.

“Yeah, I mean, like, a virgin sacrifice. Because those used to… used to be a thing.” You coughed, your hands intertwined together on the table as you leaned away from Xander to appear unbothered. You weren’t having anyone fooled.

Giles looked between the both of you with an annoyed, but curious expression, holding his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

“Oh, yes, right. And please, d-don’t interrupt. This-this information could be proven futile on your patrol tonight.”Giles mumbled, flipping a page and wagging his finger at the group.

“Oh right, because Buffy decided to ditch us to go to Los Angeles and leave us with the slaying. Isn’t this her job?” Cordelia furrowed her brows at Giles, who just threw his head back to look up at the ceiling.

“Oh lord…”

“Uh, Cordelia, Buffy left to go see her father.” Xander looked at her like it was obvious, speaking slowly. You didn’t want to look at him for too long, so you just cracked a small smile at your sister and looked at her confused expression.

“Your point?” She said, waving her hand at him.

“Cordy, Buffy didn’t ditch us. She just went away for the weekend. She’ll be back on Monday.Besides, I think we’ve been doing pretty well given the circumstances. We’ve been kicking some vampire ass.” Willow gave the group a cheesy grin, bouncing in her seat. You let out a small laugh, knowing this little vigilante group of humans has most definitely not been kicking vampire ass.

“Will, while I appreciate the enthusiasm, you’re living in a fantasy world. Dare I bring up last night when a vampire snuck up on me and almost had his dinner?” Xander recounted, putting an arm around Willow’s shoulder. You didn’t miss the action, but refused to look too much into it. Willow frowned, slumping her shoulders.

“Yeah, you’re right. We suck.” Willow pouted, putting her arms in her lap.

“ Oh, I remember. I was the one who saved you.” You smirked, remembering when you staked the vampire that pinned Xander to the side of a crypt, his teeth near Xander’s jugular.

“That is so not the point. But since we’re on the subject, remember when your heel got stuck in the mud and you fell? Huh, I bet you don’t remember that one, do you? See, it’s no fun when people bring up embarrassing moments, is it?” He waved a finger at you, making you give him a mean look for bringing it up. You took three showers last night trying to wash the mud out of your matted hair, clumps of dirt splattering onto the tile. But worst of all, you had lost a heel last night. And that part of you will never be recovered.

“You wore heels… to a cemetery?” Willow raised a brow at you, but you didn’t have an explanation. You just shrugged, moving past the matter.

“But see, this is my point. Buffy’s in Los Angeles having the time of her life while we’re stuck here getting our asses handed to us every night.” Cordelia gestured around to everybody, making you look down at the wood grain of the table. You slumped, a part of you agreeing with her, but you also knew Cordelia could be insensitive at times. You loved her, she was your sister, but she wasn’t always the most understanding unless it benefitted herself.

“Now you know how Buffy feels every night of her life.” Xander gave Cordelia a smile, that playful atmosphere shifting into something more serious. You quickly looked at Giles for a distraction so the table of students could move on from the subject. Your pleading eyes met his, and he quickly jumped into gear.

“Oh, right, well, erm. I know it’s been discouraging, but I have faith in you lot. Somehow, you never cease to surprise me. Now, back to tonight's patrol. I have been given word that tonight is no ordinary night. Which means you guys need to be careful. There’s been word circulating that the demon, Akristos, will be risen tonight. Now, now, this does not mean it will happen, just be on the lookout for anything suspicious. If I hear anything more on the matter I’ll tell you all immediately. Are there any questions?” At some point Giles had put the book down and now had his hands in his pockets, looking at the group with raised eyebrows. Xander raised his hand with a goofy smile, wiggling in his seat. Giles looked him over, then turned elsewhere.

“Great. I will see you all tomorrow. And, again, please be careful and extra cautious. This may very well be the most important night of your young lives and there is a high possibility one of you will die..” Giles took a pause, his eyes looking Xander over distastefully. “Probably Xander.” Giles walked off to his office, unknowingly casting a feeling of dread to run through you. As casual as Giles seemed to be on the matter, you were worried sick. The four of you could barely handle a vampire on your own, how could you face up against a powerful demon? You swallowed down a sour taste in your mouth. You needed Buffy.

“Is it just me or was Giles being sarcastic?” Cordelia voiced once Giles’ office door slammed shut. You looked at her to try and remain unbothered, that sick feeling in your stomach making you feel a little nauseous.

“Giles was definitely being sarcastic.” You sighed, getting out of your seat and picking up your purse. Willow nodded her head, putting her bookbag on.

“I think he learned it from us.” She smiled, adjusting the straps. Still, the words echoed around in your head, a frown forming on your face. You always had shaky hands when’d you walk in the cemetery, especially at night. But unlike Xander, you were able to keep it to yourself. You used to be one of the most popular girls in the school, you were good when it came to hiding your emotions. It wasn’t that hard, everyone already thought you were a bitch so might as well play the part.

“I, personally, cannot wait. I already planned me and (y/n)’s outfits.” Cordelia picked up the books in her hands and held them to her chest, giving you a look as she sashayed away, her skirt swaying behind her. Xander stared after her with a shake of his head.

“Can you believe I used to date that woman?” He looked down at Willow, his hands holding the strap of his bag that crossed over his chest.

“Not at all.” Willow said, giving him a final look before heading towards the doors. Xander did a double take, running after her.

“Hey, what is that supposed to mean?!” As the double doors swung behind the duo, you stared after them with an unfamiliar longing in your chest. You’d been feeling it these last few weeks but you didn’t know why. All you knew was that you were dreading tonight and whatever mystical demon that may or may not be arisen.

You flicked your hair back behind your shoulder, taking a few steps towards the door as the sharp pang of the dismissal bell rang through the intercom.

You almost jumped when a head popped into the room, the stream of students filling the halls.

“Hey, you coming to fifth period or what? Dylan Carter said Mr.Henderson was wearing his toupee today.” Xander gave you a large grin that you couldn’t help but look at, and you let a small smile slip too as the thoughts of what’s to come later tonight got pushed to the back of your mind. You shook your head, walking a little quicker to join him.

“Of course that’s all you’re worried about. Nevermind you're failing the class.” You gave him a look as you joined him in the hall, rolling your eyes.

“Wait, you’re telling me you do the work? How could you when his hair is flying all over the place? If you ask me it’s not the vampires you needa worry about. It’s that creep. Hey, we should just slay him!” Xander theatrically went on a rant that had you laughing as you two walked down the crowded hall, another bipolar episode you two shared. One minute you’re fighting, the next you and Xander are walking to class together. You laughed again at something else he said, instinctively putting a hand on his shoulder.

He wasn’t blind to it, looking down at your manicured hand that touched his bicep. It might’ve been over a t-shirt and flannel but it made him jumpy anyways. He rubbed the back of his neck and nervously glanced at you, paying attention to the way your eyes crinkle when you laughed and the way your makeup matched your green dress and cardigan. He quickly went back to telling his story so you didn’t get suspicious, hyperware of your hand on him.

Unbeknownst to the both of you, Willow watched from down the hall as one of her friends mindlessly spoke to her, a frown on her face as watched her best friend flirt with one of the sisters in the I Hate The Chase Sisters Club.

:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*: .: ⋆*･ﾟ: ﾟ .: ⋆* .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

“Wait, did you guys really wear matching outfits? That’s completely insane, you realize that right?” Xander told you and Cordelia as you met him at the gate entrance, the chirping of crickets loud in your ears. You carried a stake in your hands and an axe tucked into the waistband of your pants. You weren’t going to come unprepared to a demons awakening that may or may not happen.

You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms over the brown long sleeve you had on. The leather was heavy on your form but it was worth it. You and your sister looked bad ass.

“You’re just mad she didn’t do it with you.” You jutted your chin out, crossing your arm with Cordelia’s.

He waved his fingers around, looking at you like you were stupid.

“Dear god, let me tell you how wrong you are.” He narrowed his eyes, eyes that seemed darker in the night.

“Um, where’s Willow? She said she’d be here already.” Cordelia asked, looking at Xander with furrowed brows. You looked at him too, asking yourself the same question when you noticed the redhead was nowhere to be seen. As your eyes scanned the cemetery in front of you, a thin veil of fog surrounding the grounds, you couldn’t help but feel you were entering your own doom. You swallowed, your mouth feeling like cotton as you clutched the stake tighter in your hand.

“To hell if I know. You would expect her to be punctual. She’s Willow, for Christ’s sake.” Xander stated, sucking his teeth as he turned towards the road to see if she would miraculously appear. You sighed as a cold chill ran through you, about to say something before a voice piped up from behind you.

“Hey, guys. Sorry I’m late. I got stuck doing dishes.” Willow gave us a small smile, running up to the group with a cross necklace jangling around her throat. You made an amused face, you and Cordelia walking into the cemetery once the group was reunited.

“Really, Will? Dishes? Do you not understand the world needs saving?” Xander reprimanded, but only jokingly as the pair followed after you and Cordelia. You two carried on your own conversation as the two in the back made their own. It might’ve been unwise to do so, especially when there was a 50/50 chance you’d stumble on a demon parade.You tried not to think about that as you and Cordelia talked.

“Oh my god, and did you see Melanie’s hair? I mean, who does she think she is? Madonna?” Cordelia referred to Melanie Harp, one of the girls who used to follow you and Cordelia around like puppies. Melanie dyed her hair last week into platinum curls once Harmony took over the clique, effectively ruining the soft brown hair she used to have. You agreed, laughing as quietly as you could.

“Oh my gosh, right! And you know she only did that because Harmony has blonde hair.” You rolled your eyes, the grass crunching beneath your boots, the same ones Cordelia had on. It was Saturday night, a night you should’ve been at The Bronze shacking up with college boys. But lately, boys just didn’t interest you anymore. You barely glanced at boys in the mall, the boys Cordelia hooked you up with didn’t interest you anymore, and you’ve been surprisingly by yourself the last month. I mean, a Chase daughter actually focusing on school and not boys? Okay, that’s a stretch. You just found it odd that you weren’t chasing after male attention like you usually did. You got pulled out of your head whenever Cordelia spoke, a gentle hand touching your elbow.

“Are you okay? You’re being weird.” She noticed, furrowing her finley plucked eyebrows at you in question. You looked into her brown eyes and saw an emotion Cordelia Chase rarely showed. Worry, concern. But she wasn’t going to be outright about it.

You gave her a little shove, bumping your shoulder with hers. You smiled, hoping to relieve her.

“I’m fine, Cordy. Are you? I mean, you're still friends with your ex-boyfriend. That’s gotta be weird.” You gave her a knowing look, but she just scoffed, looking at you like you were ridiculous.

“Oh please, me and Xander? There’s nothing there anymore, trust me. I would never stoop that low again. Although, I have noticed you and him, don’t think I haven’t.” She put her hands in your pockets and raised her eyebrows at you, she wasn’t looking particularly supportive of the idea. And that’s all it was, an idea, a silly notion, an absurdity. You would never go for Xander. Him? No, no, no. You let out a disgruntled noise, your mouth twisting in disgust. You gave her a real shove this time.

“Oh my god, why would you even suggest the idea of that? Ew, no, never in a million years. Light years, even. Infinity years.” You made gestures with your hand to elaborate your point, but it didn’t seem she believed you with the way she raised a brow.

“Yeah, well, I said the same thing and next thing I know we’re making out in the supply closet.” She shrugged, remembering the year before when Xander and her would run off to the makeout closet during class. She didn’t miss those times. You made another noise of disgust at the image that popped in your head.

“Ew, TMI.” You groaned, putting a hand in her face.

“I’m serious. Don’t get yourself into something you don’t want to, because I’m telling you right now Xander has got a big fat crush on you. Shocking, I know. He just has a thing for us Chase girls. I mean what is it about us that gets us all this male attention?” You stopped listening to your sister as she considered what makes us so attractive, looking at the ground with wide-eyes. Xander has a crush on you? You didn’t believe it. Cordelia was an expert when it came to men, but she's also an expert in misinterpreting things. Xander was just your friend, but also the guy you hated most of the time. Besides, you knew for a fact he had a crush on Buffy, with the way he stared at her in class and held her textbooks and hated Angel. You took a big breath in to calm yourself, a fuzzy feeling fluttering in your stomach. While you considered why he wouldn’t like you, your mind slipped up and said, what if he did? Would it be so bad?

In that moment, when your brain said a relationship with Xander wouldn’t be such a bad idea, you knew you were fucked.

:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*: .: ⋆*･ﾟ: ﾟ .: ⋆* .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Half an hour went by with silence and stealth, featuring the occasional laugh, with nothing showing up around the cemetery. Nobody saw demons, robes, or sacrificial virgins anywhere. Sometimes, Xander would yelp at a grasshopper or a bird, and everyone would pull their stakes up ready to fight only to see nothing. Sure, those moments were funny, but you couldn't be bothered, what with your sister's accusations still going through your mind.

You had been quiet unless directly spoken to, a pit of nerves sitting heavy in your stomach. You were uncomfortable; your jacket was making you hot, your shoes cramped your toes, and the handle of the ax was digging into your lower back. Oh, and the fact you couldn’t look at Xander without seeing Cordelia, which makes you think about Xander. On top of that, you felt that if you looked at him he would hear the thoughts going through your head, or the anxious beating of your heart. You believed that all it took was for one look for Xander to strip you down layer by layer and everything you’ve been thinking will be exposed. And on top of that, the longer you stayed in the dark cemetery with the rustle of bushes and the haunting croaks of birds the more your nerves acted up. You had come here confident, but you’re going to leave a muddled mess.

This was all Cordelia’s fault. If she had just not said anyth-

“Hey, guys, over here.” Xander hurried to hide behind a crypt, waving his hand to signal to you. You looked up, and across an empty patch of grass, right next to a neighboring crypt, could robed figures be seen.

Your eyes widened, Cordelia grabbing your wrist and bringing you both over behind Xander. Cordelia was behind Xander, you behind Cordelia, and Willow behind you. Each trying to breath and talk as quietly as possible.

“What do you see?” Cordelia murmured, leaning up to Xander’s ear. He held up a finger, eyes focused on the group of demons. You looked behind you at Willow, who was clutching onto your jacket with a white-knuckled grip of fear.

“Do you mind, Rosenberg?” You raised a brow, her shaky hands releasing her grip with an squealed out sorry.

“Hey, is it wrong that I’m a little excited but also a little scared for my life?” She murmured, giving you an unsure look as she put her hands on your shoulders. You thought about it, nodding your head.

“I think it's a little weird because we can die, but hey, to each their own.” You shrugged, pinning yourself to the wall before Xander whipped around with a scared expression. The group of you moved back a little so you’re out of earshot, looking at Xander with curious expressions.

“What’d you see?” Willow whispered, making the boy snap his head towards her with a petrified expression. You furrowed your eyebrows at the sight. That couldn’t be good.

“I saw a weird, veiny thing! To give you a better image… a penis with horns.” Xander explained, making the three of you cringe.

“So is that the demon that Giles said wasn’t going to be summoned tonight? Because I wasn’t prepared for this. Oh god, oh god, we’re going to die. (y/n), we’re going to die and I’ll never get to see Richard again.” Cordelia shook her head, breathing heavily with the humid air and fear coursing through her veins. She went into full panic mode, leaning back against the crypt and sliding down to the grass melodramatically. You nodded your head, giving her a pout as you agreed with the statement, sliding down next to her.

“Xander, I think we lost them.” Willow frowned down at the two of you, rocking in the dirt as the thoughts of death consumed you. Your measly axe was no match for a big demon, and they were big from the glance you had to them.

“So, Willow, what’s the plan? Come on, use that gifted brain of yours and think! Think, damnit!” Xander spoke quickly, looking at Willow hopefully. You looked up at the redhead too, knowing she always came through in situations like this.

“Plan? I-I don’t have a plan. This is too much pressure, Xander, I don’t know what to do!” Willow panicked, stumbling over her words and looking at Xander frantically.

Xander went and slid down next to you, the doom settling in.

“Oh, god. Oh, god, I’m gonna die only having had sex with Cordelia.” Xander frowned, looking at the ground with a glazed over look. You side-eyed him, rolling your eyes. Cordelia scoffed, but said nothing else.

“Well, Xander, was the demon fully, you know, arisen?” Willow looked down at him, the distant sound of chanting entering your ears. It was scratchy, deep, and some foreign demon language you obviously didn’t know. You could barely speak english right, much less whatever the hell that was. You assumed they were reciting an ancient text, as all spells go.

“Not as far as I could see, why?” Xander mumbled, a little out of it as his head lolled back and forth when he talked to her.

“Oh, I haven’t made it that far, yet.” Willow cringed, seeing Xander’s expression. He threw his hands up, while you sat next to him trying to get your thoughts together. You couldn’t possibly attack them. There were too many, and they were powerful, if their broad backs and tall stature were anything to go by. You looked across the field at the other crypt, eyeing the statuesque angels standing on either side of the entrance.

“Wait, guys, you see that other crypt over there?” You whispered, pointing towards the gray construction.

“Yes, (y/n), but we need to think of a plan, not go sight-seeing.” Xander scoffed, looking at Willow in bewilderment. Willow crouched down, slapping his shoulder.

“She’s saying the plan, dumbass. What are you thinkin’, (y/n)?” Willow looked at you with a softer expression, the aimless mumblings of Cordelia still in your right ear. You took a hot breath in to calm yourself, then looked back at Willow.

All you could do was hope it worked.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ part two

omg, I didn’t know there was a text limit so I made this big ass one shot that’s gonna have to turn into a two shot. hmmmmm.

so that’s why the ending is SHIT. I had to cut it off so it made somewhat sense. ugh. argh.

and to whoever requested it, I should have part two up soon. Thank you for requesting. Gave me something to do ♥️ 💜 ♥️ 💜

[tosikoarts]

Sugimoto Saichi falling for Russian girl HC

There was a lot on my mind so I might lost the track of the request... Feel free to send another ask if it was not quite what you wanted, anon. Anyway, enjoy ♡ You can check tosikowrites tag for more.

Well, crossing Soya Strait on the way to Karafuto with a bunch of 7th Division soldiers looking for brazenly stolen Asirpa, Sugimoto most definitely didn’t expect to fall head over heels for anyone since there was already a lot on his mind. He was waking up and falling asleep with the tense thought of where to find the ghost tread of traitors’ steps then boom – in one of the small Russian villages, a comely Russian girl nods in agreement at Tsukishima’s question about the Ainu girl on the photo. Sugimoto finds himself pushing Tsukishima to ask even more questions than usual and he can’t understand if it’s because of joy that they are on the right trail or because of how weirdly adorable the Russian language sounds coming from that girl.

Seeing how a conversation is going to an inevitable end, he overcomes himself and with serious face forces Tsukishima to ask her name for the future. What if he, I mean, they have more questions about Asirpa’s location? Sugimoto quickly rumbles few more made-up reasons trying to act as unbothered as he potentially can.

To his surprise, the girl catches out a few familiar words and introduces herself in albeit accented but comprehensible Japanese. A short “oh” of pleasant surprise escapes his chapped lips as Sugimoto pushes Tsukishima to the side and bombards her with questions in Japanese Eminem’s speed.

To Koito’s gloat (for which he will get punched to the teeth a little bit later), Sugimoto finds out he was way too cheery: girl awkwardly apologizes, mentioning she is not that good with long sentences and difficult words, and by the time Sugimoto realized his mistake, Tsukishima is already too far to seek help. Koito is towering by his side turns his head and gives Sugimoto a wide mocking smile.

Despite the communication difficulties, a new Russian acquaintance doesn’t stay at a loss and with the help of gestures and word-salad continues an impromptu dialogue. Yeah, there are a lot of pauses and confused facial expressions but it goes relatively well. Sugimoto asks her to meet him again. Tomorrow. At any time. He tries to explain it like a failed circus mime and is worried that he won’t see her ever again. It would be… heartbreaking.

To everyone’s surprise the next day Sugimoto not only comes back with his new friend but also brags about his newfound knowledge in Russian. He just goes around pointing to different things and speaks with interrogative intonation. “Брусника?” [broos-ni-kah] (well, with a Japanese accent it’s more like bloos-ni-kah) – then he gets an approving nod and points to other stuff. “Небо?” [ne-boh] – another nod. “Собака?” [soh-bah-kah] – and another one.

Then he points finger at Koito and repeats “собака” and receives a disappointed sigh from Tsukishima. If Sugimoto managed to make a Russian girl crack a smile, he immediately considers this day an absolute success. For a second weight on his shoulders disappears like all of his life got rewound back to the days of tart persimmons and peaceful sunsets.

What was Sugimoto's surprise when the paths of his group and the Russian girl crossed again! They were heading the same way up North though the goals were different it meant they’ll have a chance to spend more time together. Sugimoto felt his cheeks burning every single time this girl looked at him with curiosity or approached him with short questions about literally anything. When it came to an old scar crossing his face, Sugimoto got too excited and dragged Tsukishima to translate a half-an-hour long story about his soldier past. Of course, Sergeant couldn’t translate all word for word but seeing Sugimoto falling deeper and deeper in love, Tsukishima couldn’t just brush it off like a waste of time.

Sugimoto is grateful for her help in the search for Asirpa but he wouldn’t want her to follow him to the end. He knows his search will end up in a blood bath, probably, with few breathless bodies and he wouldn’t want her to be one of them. His group has to move forward, towards two lying snakes and one dumb monkey with Asirpa on their hands, so Sugimoto has to go. He reluctantly says goodbyes to a Russian girl still wondering whether he should ask her to meet him again on the way back.

Ecstatic if she does it instead! A couple of days is too little to understand or somehow sort out your feelings, but if there was a month, two months, three months? When she gives him carefully wrapped pierogis for the journey, Sugimoto promises to find her again, and repay for her kindness.

[florbelles]

'rip to he' and/or 'the burke roast'?

thank you so much! 💕 i have not forgotten these, sorry it’s been an eternity and a half (as per usual).

RIP TO HE

The context here is pretty apparent from the piece, I think, especially to anyone who more or less knows what happens in Lyra’s story, but a group of the valley’s chosen is hunkered down at the ranch after they receive word that John was killed and Lyra is presumed dead (Hudson took advantage of the chaos and made her escape and the bunker is unstable but not destroyed). Lyra turns up on the ranch’s doorstep three days later looking like a corpse, and the door is opened by John’s bodyguard, Luke.

[EXCERPT]

(unedited and relatively unreviewed disclaimer here)

Something’s wrong. She’s swaying in the doorway, lips pale and drawn, skin caked with mud, dirt, blood – oh, god, so much blood – and she staggers toward him, bloodshot eyes staring blankly.

This is not their herald.

“Lyra,” he stammers. He steps back. “Praise the Father, we thought you were –“

“Where the fuck were you?”

Her voice is throaty, hoarse, low, too low, words rasping out of a dry throat. She still hasn’t blinked. Her eyes are wide, the whites showing, blazing. Her flesh is bloodless. Her side is open.

“I –“ he opens his mouth, closes it, looks to them for assistance, finds none. “We came here, after – John – he told us to get him to the airstrip.”

She’s nodding rapidly, but she’s not listening, it’s manic, wild, disconnected. Her mouth is a snarl.

“You’re not answering the question.” She stares at him. Swallows once. Luke’s eyes dart over to where they’re huddled again, and Matthew shakes his head.

“Where the fuck were you?” she repeats, quiet now. Too quiet.

“I didn’t – we – everything happened – there were –“

“Where the fuck were you?” she shoves him back, and she’s starting to break, and oh, god, her hands, her hands are wrong.

Her nails are gone, fingertips torn and bloody.

Oh, Jesus.

Oh, Jesus.

“Where the fuck were you?”

She’s shrieking, now.

“I didn’t – please – I –“

“Where the fuck were you?”

She yanks his head back by his hair and her ravaged hand goes to his throat, clamps that place at the base of his neck shut the way they’ve watched her do it a hundred times, hundreds upon hundreds over to hundreds upon hundreds of the unfaithful, but no, not the same at all; he coughs, his eyes bulge, grotesque, his tongue protrudes sickeningly from his mouth, and it happens so fast, too fast, there’s a crash, she’s spun him around, she’s bashed his head into the stairs.

His mouth gapes, his body stills, too stunned to fight, too stunned to speak, and she brings his head down on the corner again.

It’s impossible she should have that strength. She’s half dead, or mostly dead, or back from the dead. She couldn’t. She can’t.

But she does.

“Where” – slam – “the fuck” – slam – “were you?”

She’s smashing, smashing, and his face is caved in, bloody, unrecognizable, his skull his cracked, its insides are spilling onto the stairs, and she’s still screaming, where the fuck was he, where the fuck was he, and a piece of his hair comes off in her hand, rips from his scalp, and she seems to realize he’s dead, dead, long past dead, her breath ragged and heaving, her hands shaking. She lets out a whimper, a sob, looks from her fist full of bloody hair to the body on the stair. Her breath hitches.

She doubles over, a wail rips from her throat, erupting through her body, high, piercing, a shriek, an animal sound.

A banshee scream.

“Oh,” she whispers, crawling toward him, what’s left of him, the mangled bloody mess. “Oh. Luke. I’m sorry.”

She’s crying quietly, now, rocking, holding his corpse. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It was not your fault. I’m sorry.”

She looks up, seeming to notice them for the first time, and her face is still inhumanly pale, her eyes wild.

“I did not mean –“

“We thought you were dead,” Matthew croaks.

She nods once. “I am.” She drops Luke’s head, watches it thud again down onto the staircase one final time. She nods slowly again. “I am.”

BURKE ROAST

No Burkes were roasted in this WIP.

This document is most of the scenes involving/leading up to the arrest attempt, usually from Burke’s POV (the titular roast is actually Burke mentally hating on literally everyone around him because he’s 100% done with this shit.) This excerpt is Burke and Lyra’s first real meeting; she’s circling the department to get intel on the impending arrest and seeking Nancy’s aid in getting her on the task force, posing as an investigative media contact (the reason, she insinuates, she arrived shortly before the now-vanished camera crew – untrue, of course). Burke ain’t having it; he doesn’t think much of her or of the cult leader he’s been sent to arrest, and he sure as hell doesn’t think much of this god forsaken job. It’s a rough piece, but it's a good example of how Lyra works; she doesn't directly lie, everything she says is some version of the truth, but the insinuations and implications are extremely wrong (she has been at this for months, but "at this" is working for the Project, not watching them; she did slice her palm open by grabbing a blade, but it was during her first kill when she was 18, not a recent injury; her hand is bandaged here to cover her Eden’s Gate tattoo.)

[EXCERPT]

“You see, darling —” she gestures to the WRATH sprawling across her breasts in large, angry lettering, “— it’s personal.”

“All the more reason for you to stay the fuck out of it.”

“You misunderstand.” She smiles softly. “I’m not seeking vengeance. My personal stake is an investment. I’ve been at this for months.”

“What happened to your hand?” he asks abruptly.

She glances at the bandage winding around her palm, disinterested. “Cut myself. Grabbed a knife.”

“You should be more careful,” he says.

“Hm.” She takes a drag, blows the smoke out through pursed lips, more in his direction than the wind blows.

He coughs, pointed, and wishes he had a goddamn cigarette.

“Look, we done here?”

"Burke, darling.” She’s studying her cigarette, watching the wisps of smoke drift upward. “You're not completely stupid, so I'm going to assume that you're corrupt.”

He stares at her. “The fuck did you just say?”

“Do you not find it odd?” She meets his gaze evenly. Her mouth curves with a smile that doesn’t meet her eyes. “You would think in this situation there would be a plant, would you not? A stakeout of some sort. Someone on the inside.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“It’s sabotage, don’t you see?” she leans forward, more eager, now, eyes lit up, teeth bared. “Have you not wondered why you’re the only one they’re sending? Have you not wondered why we’re going in —”

“You're not going in.”

“Fine.” Her lips curl, acidic, serpentine. “They are sending you in, eyes blind, guns blazing, and you are unbothered.”

Yeah, sure, that and everything else about this fucking job.

“No guns are gonna be blazing, alright?“

“If they’ve no informant on the inside, perhaps there’s a reason for that? Perhaps you’ve been set up.” She tilts her head. “Or perhaps Joseph Seed has thought of what you haven’t. They’ve a man on the inside, is that it? Perhaps it’s you. Perhaps that’s why I make you uncomfortable.”

Fucking hell. “I don’t have time for this shit.”

“Perhaps that’s why you oppose transparency.” She grins at that, takes another drag. She looks terribly pleased with herself. He wishes someone would smash those over-whitened teeth in. She steps closer to him and murmurs, only inches from his face, “are you frightened?”

He steps back, instinctively, and immediately hates himself for it. He isn’t paid enough to deal with this. He isn’t paid enough to deal with her.

“Jesus,” he mutters. “Look, lady, I don’t know where you came from or who the fuck you’re supposed to be —”

“You wish for my credentials? You may speak to Nancy, if it bothers you.” She drops her cigarette on the ground, crushes it beneath the red sole that’s probably worth more than his next paycheck, maybe his next five, who the fuck knows. “Is that all?”

She’s apparently decided it is, because she’s flicked the flattened cigarette butt into the trash bin and is already gliding away, hips swaying precariously close to knocking against him as she passes, ridiculous heels clicking on the pavement.

“I’ll be seeing you around, darling,” she calls over her shoulder.

“Great,” he says. “Terrific.”

Pain in the fucking ass.

It isn’t until she’s gone he thinks to wonder how the hell she got there.

[atlafan]

Take it Slow - Part Eighty

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry.

Warnings: Fluff and smut.

Masterpost (all previous parts can be found in the masterpost)

Harry goes to work the next day and Isaac practically leaps into his arms. Harry chuckles and hugs him back.

“Please, don’t ever leave for two weeks again. We missed you too much.” He pouts.

“Sorry, mate.” He smiles. “Where’s Mariah?”

“She’s coming in at noon. She’s had so many early appointments, she blocked herself off to sleep in a bit.” Harry hums his response. “Your first will be here in an hour.”

“Perfect, thanks.”

“So you had a good trip?”

“Mhm, it was great. I wish Y/N could’ve stayed the whole time. We had so much fun together.”

“She came in to see us.”

“She told me.” Isaac grins at him. “What?”

“So…we can really go on a double date when you all get back?”

“Yes.” He sighs. “We can all go on a double date.” Isaac hands Harry his coffee.

“Thanks, I just need to get settled upstairs and then I’ll come down to chat. Got lots of pictures to show yeh.”

Isaac nods and sits back at his desk. Harry goes up to his office and rifles through his bag for your engagement ring. He unlocks his desk drawer and puts it inside. He locks it back up and checks a few emails. He forwards a ton of things to Isaac for him to take care of, and goes back downstairs.

“What did she tell you about Seth, exactly?” Harry asks, leaning on Isaac’s desk.

“She told me what he does for work, and that he’s really very sweet.”

“And it’s not weird for her to be setting him up with you?”

“She seemed really unbothered, like I literally think it was just a sex thing between friends, Harry.” He nods. “You’re not seriously jealous are you?”

“It’s not jealousy.” He fidgets with some of the pens on the desk. “It’s more like…unease. Like why is he coming back into her life now?”

“Timing is a funny thing sometimes.”

“What would you wanna do for a date?”

“Drinks could be fun, don’t you think? Something casual.”

“We could go to that adult arcade. Y/N and I went there on our second date, it was fun. The food was pretty decent too.”

“That would be fun! Nice way to beat the heat too.” Harry nods. “You’d do anything for her, wouldn’t you?” He laughs.

“You have no idea.”

“Is that why you walk funny sometimes?” Harry’s cheeks heat up. “Like this morning.”

“Isaac, I don’t know what you’re gettin’ at, but-“

“Relax, I won’t say anything to anyone.”

“About what?!” Isaac gives him a knowing look. “How, how could you possibly-“

“Sweetheart, please, don’t insult me. I know what it looks like the day after some good railing.”

“Jesus Christ.” Harry runs his hands over his face.

“Like I said, I won’t say anything.”

“You know, it’s not like…I mean…she…”

“H, it’s okay, we all like different things.”

“The thing is I don’t think I’d like it if anyone else did it…it’s just something about her doin’ it.”

“You know, there are certain ways to stretch beforehand so it’s not so obvious afterwards.” Harry rolls his eyes at him. “Just speaking from experience.”

“Thanks, mate.”

Harry’s first appointment comes in, a girl and her mother.

“Hi, you must be Rebecca, here for your senior portraits?”

“Yes.” She smiles and look at Harry.

“We’re gonnna go across the street to the park.” He says to her with a smile.

//

Harry has lunch outside with Isaac later that day.

“I really appreciate you blockin’ my calendar so I actually have time to eat.”

“Please, I do it for myself and Mariah. You get so hangry when you don’t eat.” He laughs. “Does Y/N make your lunch? It always looks so good.”

“We take turns meal preppin’, but she’s usually the one to pack it. She leaves me these little notes, it’s cute.”

“You guys are such a cute couple. I hope I have that some day.” Harry puts his hand on his shoulder.

“You will.” He smiles.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Always.”

“How did you know you were in love with Y/N?”

“Oh god, well, we went on this weekend away together up in New Hampshire, like, really early on. Think we had only been together a couple of months, maybe three. I took this picture of her while we were walking along this trails…” He takes his phone out. The lock screen was a picture of the two of and Buster from your trip to Castle Island. His wallpaper was the picture of you from the trip. “See?” Isaac looks at it and smiles. “When I look down at the picture and back up to her, I was like, holy shit. You know?”

“Had you ever been in love before?”

“No.”

“Never?”

“Never…I mean I had a high school sweetheart, and ‘loved’ her, but that wasn’t real, you know?”

“Yeah, I get it.”

“She realized she was in love with me that weekend too.” He smiles.

“How did you say it to each other?”

“Over a fuckin’ fight on the phone.”

“You’re kidding!”

“I wish.” He scoffs. “We had gotten into this thing, it was her fault, and she went home. She called me hours later cryin’, and then she said she loved me.”

“What did you do?”

“I didn’t think I heard her correctly at first, but I did. And I told her I loved her too, and rushed over to her place, and then we said it in person.”

“God, that’s so romantic.” He laughs.

“I guess.” He takes a sip of his water. “You know, I’ve had girls tell me they were in love with me before, and it never meant anything to me. But when she said it, I was all consumed. She had me.”

“What was it about her?”

“What wasn’t it?! She’s insanely beautiful, smart, funny, and she’s so genuine. She’s a good person, Isaac. She’s not always great at expressing certain things, but she makes up for it in other ways. Like, she just takes really good care of me.”

“How so?”

“She does all of my laundry. She folds it all for me, puts it away, irons it, hangs it up. She washes all the towels too. I have no idea when she washes the sheets, but they’re always fresh. She restocks my shampoo and bodywash, she makes me breakfast every single morning, packs up my lunches…”

“Sounds like your mother.” He laughs.

“My mum didn’t do all that for me. Well she did, but once I got old enough to do it myself, I did. I haven’t needed her to do any of those things. She just does them. She’ll even text me to ask if I’ve eaten. She jumps at the chance to help me with whatever I need. She’s amazing.”

“I hope someone talks about me some day like this.”

“Who knows, maybe Seth will be your Y/N.” He nudges Isaac’s shoulder.

//

“We feel like we haven’t seen you in forever.” Kate says to you as you plop down on the couch in your apartment.

“Same could be said for you.” You say, rolling your eyes.

“I have a boyfriend.”

“And I have a friend.”

“Yeah, that let get in there balls deep whenever he wants.”

“Hell fucking yeah I do, and it’s not just whenever he wants, it’s when I want too.” She sits down next to you. “And we don’t always meet up to hook up, sometimes we just hang out as friends. We cook together, in fact, I’m going over for dinner tonight. I think we’re making meatballs.”

“You were just there…”

“For sex.”

“Are you sure he’s not falling into the boyfriend category?”

“Positive.”

“So you’ll come out with us for girl’s night tonight then? After your little dinner?”

“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it, Kate.”

//

The idea that this would be your first birthday without Kate in years was starting to get to you. But you knew you’d be just fine without her. You had started packing somethings on Wednesday evening. You’d all be going down to the Cape on Thursday evening to beat some of the traffic.

Harry gets home from work and gives you a big hug and kiss. He takes Buster out quick and then joins you in the bedroom to help you pack.

“You’re in a good mood.” You say, kissing him for the millionth time since he’s been through the door.

“Just had a nice day with Isaac is all. Mariah came in after lunch so he and I got to have some one on one time.”

“Oh good.” You sigh at the mound of clothes on your bed. “Let’s start with the swim suits. I’d like to bring a few.”

“Ohhhh, look at these bottoms.” He holds up a thong style bathing suit bottom. “Didn’t know you had this.”

“It’s for tanning.” You snatch it from him.

“I think you should bring it with you.”

“Oh, you want everyone to see my bare ass? Okay.”

He snatches it back from you.

“Nevermind.” You start laughing and shake your head. “What about this one?” He holds up a bright orange, strapless bikini top.

“Yeah, I like that one…I could just bring a pair of black bottoms and mix and match the tops. I’d rather save room for my dresses and stuff. What are you bringing?”

“Got my yellow trunks.”

“Are those the only trunks you have?”

“Uhhh, got a pair of purple ones too. I just prefer the yellow. Let’s look at your sundresses, what vibe are you goin’ for?” You both step to your closet and furrow your brows.

“I don’t know…oh! I have this coral, teal sparkly dress I’m wearing on my actual birthday. See?” You pull out a short, strapless dress. “I even have the heels to match. I wanna wear shorts too. I have a few tube tops, lots of crop tops…”

“It’s your birthday, pack what you want so you have options. No one’s gonna judge if you back heavy. Four nights is a lot to pack for anyways.”

“True.”

“Tell me again why all the girls are drivin’ together, and Niall and I are drivin’ separate.”

“You’re lucky you’re even invited you know?” You say jokingly. “It’s usually a girl’s trip. We wanna be able to blast whatever music we want for the drive, and talk about whatever. Plus, Sarah has a nice SUV so we can fit more of our shit in the trunk. We’ll need the room for groceries when we all shop Friday morning.”

“You and I get to sleep together right? Boys aren’t banished to one end of the house.”

“Are you crazy, I’m gonna be drunk all weekend, I’m gonna need that dick.” Harry bursts out laughing and kisses you.

“I’m very excited.”

“I’m gonna miss Buster…”

“Me too, babe.”

“You’re sure Isaac doesn’t mind watching him for so long?”

“Not at all. He likes hangin’ out with him. He’ll be bored with the studio closed anyways, it’ll give him somethin’ to do. He’s, uh, really excited about Seth.”

“Seth’s excited too.”

“You speak with him today?”

“Mhm, for a little bit on our ways home from work.” Harry nods. “Is that alright?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. You’re reconnecting.”

“Exactly.”

“Could you please just go put these on, I need to see what your ass looks like in these bottoms.”

“Oh my god!” You laugh and take them from him. “Fine!”

//

You and Seth are full to the brim from your dinner. You had a lot of fun cooking with him. You’re both just hanging on the couch when you see it’s starting to get late.

“I gotta get going. Girl’s night. Need to go pregame and get ready.”

“Want me to walk you back?”

“Nah, it’s still light enough out, I’ll be alright.”

“Okay, just text me when you get there.”

“Can do.”

“And, uh, text me when girl’s night is over too.” You grin at him.

“You know girl’s night ends in a sleepover in the living room.” You stand up and walk towards the door and he follows you.

“Or, and hear me out, I could meet you at the bar and bring your ass back here.” Your cheeks flush. “I’d take you upstairs now, but I wouldn’t want you looking fucked out before you go out with your friends. On second thought-“

“Seth!” You swat a hand at him. “Stop it.”

“Seriously though, come over tonight.” He tucks some hair behind your ear.

“I’ll let you know.”

**

You have a great time at the bar with the girls. You didn’t think about Seth once until your fifth shot of tequila. Even though had him that morning, you wanted him again…and again…and again. You all start walking back to your apartment when the bar closes.

“So, what movie are we all watching tonight?” Kate slurs.

“I think it should be a comedy.” Rachel says.

“I…might not stay for the movie.” The three stop short and look at you.

“Why not?” Kate asks.

“She wants to fuck Seth, obviously.” Sarah smirks. “That’s cool, do you want us to walk you there?”

“Actually, yeah, do you-“

“Wait a second. No fucking way. We’re supposed to-“

“Kate, why are we even having girl’s night anyways? Oh yeah, because Kevin went home for the weekend.” Rachel says. “So what, because you’re not getting any this weekend that means Y/N can’t? We can all watch a movie tomorrow.”

“But that’s not how girl’s night goes. If she goes, then Sarah will go off with Ben, and you’ll find some girl’s cootchie to stick your tongue in, and-“

“Woahhhhh!” You say. “Who the fuck are you to talk to all of us like that, Kate? Jesus.”

“Kate, we’re walking Y/N to Seth’s and then we’re going home.” Rachel says and turns to start the walk.

Kate walks behind all of you as you walk to Seth’s apartment. Seth opens the door after you text him.

“Hey.” He smiles and grabs you by the waist. He almost kisses you when he sees the other three. “Oh shit, hey guys.” He blushes.

“Just wanted to make sure our girl got here safe.” Rachel says. “Have fun.”

You giggle and thank them. You and Kate look at each other.

“Did I ruin girl’s night?”

“No…Kate’s just mad because she didn’t get her way.”

“Oh, well, she’s always pissy about something.”

“Exactly.”

“Alrighty then.”

He lifts you up over his shoulder and carries you upstairs. You squeal, and he smacks your ass.

“Roommates, remember?”

“God, just get me up the stairs and fuck me.” You whine.

Seth gets you on the bed and practically slams his door shut. He gets a good look at the tight dress you’re wearing. He licks his lips and smiles. You were in for it tonight.

//

Harry helps you get your bags down to the street Thursday evening. Him and Niall were already loaded up, you were just waiting for Sarah to roll up with Rachel and Mariah. Sarah drives up blasting Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and you start laughing. They all get out and help you load your things into the car.

“You get shotgun, birthday girl.” She says hugging you.

“Please, don’t crash your car. I know how crazy you all get.” Niall says, kissing his girlfriend.

“We’ll do our best.”

“See you guys in a little while.”

Harry pulls you in for a kiss that leaves butterflies in your stomach.

“Drive safe, see you soon.” He gives your bum a pat before you get into the car.

“Y/N, put on that playlist.”

You plug your phone in and connect to the Bluetooth. You put on a song by the Ying Yang Twins and Sarah cranks the radio. She honks her horn as she pulls away. Harry and Niall look at each other after they get in Harry’s car.

“What did we get ourselves into?” Niall asks.

“I wish I fucking knew.”

//

You wake up the next morning with some fresh bites on your neck and chest. Seth had scratch marks all over his back. He rolls over to face you, and watches you get up to use his bathroom.

“Hey, can I borrow some clothes to walk back in?”

“Yeah, but…later.” He yanks you back into bed with him.

“My friends think I’ve been spending too much time here.”

“And by friends you mean Kate?”

“Bingo.”

“Do you ever think she regrets getting into a relationship? She used to be way more fun.”

“I know! I have no idea, I feel like she and I can’t have a conversation these days without fighting.”

“Well, feel free to take out any and all rage on me.” He pulls you closer to kiss you. “I like the way it feels when you really fuck my shit up, the way your nails just dig into my skin.”

You groan against him as he presses his hips to yours, and you pull him on top of you. You wrap your legs around him and pull him closer. His hand trails down to your folds and you gasp when his fingers slip inside.

“I mean, why the fuck would you stay home when you can come here and feel good.”

“She’s crazy, ugh, so fucking crazy.” Your head rolls back into the pillow.

“You don’t think we do this too much do you?” His thumb circles over your clit.

“Not at all.” You look up at him. “In fact, I think we could stand to do it more.”

“I wasn’t gonna say anything, but we gotta put the overtime in to get our numbers up.”

“I agree, if we want to perform to the best level possible, overtime is a must.”

“Glad we’re on the same page.” He thrusts in knuckle deep and you moan.

“Me. Too.” You say through gritted teeth.

**

“So are you like dating her?” Ben asks Seth a few days later.

“No.”

“Are you sure? She leaves a ton of her shit here, I feel like every time I’m here she’s here.”

“Am I not allowed to have a friend over? We’re not always here to fuck, and she leaves stuff here so she can dress comfortably when she stays over. It’s not in your way.”

“I think you like her more than you’re leading on.”

“She’s my friend, and a really good fuck. I don’t have to explain anything to you.”

“If all you’re looking for is a hookup, why not do it with the random girls that come onto you all the time?”

“I hate that shit, man. It’s all so fake. With Y/N I can just be myself, and it’s not awkward after. We can talk and joke around, and it’s whatever.”

“One of you is going to catch feelings.”

“Not a chance. She’s not like that, and if I thought she was then I never would have hooked up with her. We’ve gotten to spend a lot more time together this year because of it and I like it. She’s a lot of fun. You know how much fun she is.”

“Yeah, she’s always fun…I just think you guys are gonna get into trouble.”

“I really don’t think so. We’re on the same page.”  There’s a knock on the front door. “That’ll be her.”

“To fuck or to be a friend?”

Seth flips him off and opens the door. You had your backpack with you.

“You ready to kick this presentation’s ass?”

“Oh we’re gonna spank the shit outta this thing, come on.” You laugh and head up to his room, not even acknowledging Ben.

You run through your presentation three different times before taking a break.

“I’m so glad we have this class together.” You say.

“Me too, I’m even more glad we got to pick our partners. I did not want to get stuck with some idiot that would make me do all the work.”

“We certainly both know you don’t like doing all the work.” You smirk. He whips a pen at you and you laugh.

“I do plenty of the work, besides that’s not really work is it.”

“I suppose not. Work would mean it’s not fun.”

“Feel like having some fun now?”

“I think we’ve earned it.”

//

“Okay, so rule number one, save the fucking for when we all go to bed.” Sarah says, looking at you slightly.

“I’m feeling very attacked right now.” You say laughing.

“It’s her birthday weekend, if her and Harry wanna sneak off, let them.” Rachel says.

“At least be discrete. I wanna jump Niall any second of the day too, but Jesus you two are gross.”

“One time! One time you saw him give me a hickey Sarah.”

“I will never get the sound of your skin popping from his teeth out of my head.” She laughs. “Look at your neck now, I mean fuck.”

“Listen…it was not my intention to let him fuck me up last night, but he was helping me pick out swim suits and one thing let to another…so you may see many marks on my bod this weekend.”

“Oh, not just your neck?” Mariah smirks.

“Nope.” You turn to look at her. “You’ll see more when I actually have a swimsuit on. He got me pretty good on my hips and thighs last night.”

“Doesn’t it hurt when he bites you like that?” Sarah asks.

“No, it feels so fucking good.” They all laugh. “You know when we first started going out I thought he was doing it to get some frustration out because we weren’t like…actually fucking, but it turns out he just likes to leave a mark. I do it to him too.”

“On his hips and thighs though?” Rachel asks. You turn and grin at her.

“God, you choke each other, you bite, you pe-“

“Sarah!” You shake your head at her. Luckily Mariah didn’t hear over the music. “You can’t, you cannot bring that up at all this weekend, I mean it. I already told Rachel. He would kill me.”

“Shit, you’re right, sorry. My bad.”

“Y/N, you’re setting Seth up with Isaac?” Rachel asks and you turn to look at her.

“Yeah.”

“Damn…that’s really nice of you.”

“Why wouldn’t I help him out? Isaac’s super nice and so is Seth. I think they’re gonna get along well.”

“Yeah, but isn’t that gonna be awkward for you?”

“No, why?”

“Because you two used to fuck any chance you got.” She laughs. “You were addicted to what the dick did.” You all laugh.

“That was because at the time that was the best dick I ever had. Can you blame me? I’ve had better since him.”

“Yeah and his name is Harry Edward Styles.” Sarah says.

“It’s not even just good dick, it’s good everything. Harry should write a fucking book on how to get a girl off. Harry gets me off every single time, the same could not be said for Seth Rowan.”

“Ohhhh the truth comes out!” Rachel squeals.

“I mean, at the end of the day he was a guy in college, looking to get his. Sometimes he wouldn’t do stuff long enough to get me there, or like he would come too fast. You know, stuff like that.”

“Sometimes Niall comes reall fast, and then he’ll finger me until I come.” Sarah says and you start laughing.

“Shit, that’s that good good.” You say to her.

“I know, you’d think it would be gross with all his come there, but it’s actually a really nice lubricant.”

“Sometimes after Harry comes inside me he sticks his fingers in and he’ll press rally far up, and then he’ll take them out and I’ll suck on them.” The car falls silent, all the girls mouths fall open. “Oh god, I shouldn’t have-“

“That is some kinky shit!” Mariah says, bursting into laughter. “I knew I liked you, but shit Y/N, you are a wild bitch.”

“How does something like that even come up?” Rachel asks. “God, I remember what jizz tastes like, and it does not taste that good.”

“It’s not about the jizz itself, it’s about the intimacy.”

“Yeah, guys love when you suck on their fingers, show them what that mouth do.” Sarah says.

“Hey, what do all think the guys are talking about right now?” Mariah asks

//

“So the ring’s locked in my desk drawer at work.”

“That’s great! The picture you showed me I’m sure doesn’t do it justice. It was simply breath takin’.”

“Thanks, my mum loved it. She cried, I cried. Gem was about ready to kill the both of us.”

“I can’t believe you’re gonna do it next month, that’s so crazy.”

“I know.” He smiles just thinking about his plans.

“She’s gonna love it.”

“You think it’ll really surprise her?”

“Oh for sure, she’s gonna be blown away.”

//

“Probably how hard their lives are because they to adjust their balls all the time.” Sarah laughs.

“God, you know, I wish it was okay for to grab my crotch and adjust my pants in public.” You roll your eyes. “One time Harry was wearing a pair of tight dress-pants, and I literally watched him grab everything so he wouldn’t sit on himself.” You shake your head.

“Jesus Christ.” Sarah says laughing.

The car ride continues. You all sing along to the loud music. Eventually Harry catches up with the car. Sarah was driving really fast in the left lane. You see Harry’s car in the rear-view.

“Oh, looks like they finally caught up.” You say.

“I’d say lets flash them, but Harry would go nuts if Niall saw your boobs.” Sarah says.

“Wouldn’t you go nuts if Niall saw my boobs?”

“In all honesty, no. Your vag, yeah.” You both laugh.

//

Eventually you get the beach house you’d be staying at for the next few days. The four of your start jumping around when you get out of the car.

“Sarah, for the love of god, figure out how to unlock the door. I have to pee.”

“What the fuck are they doin’?” Niall asks Harry as they pull in.

“I think they need to pee, mate.”

“Shut up! It’s dark and I have to put the combination in just right, and we all have to pee!”

“Oh my god.” Rachel says. “Drank too much water on the ride.”

Sarah gets the door open and you the four of you rush in. Harry and Niall slowly walk inside. They look around and take it in. There was a large living area that extended into an open concept kitchen. There were all three bedrooms were upstairs. There was a half bath downstairs and three full baths upstairs. Harry was thankful you wouldn’t have to share a bathroom with anyone.

You all come back together after using the bathroom.

“Neither of you need to pee?” You ask.

“No.” Niall says laughing.

“Okay, boys, let’s unload the cars.” Mariah says.

“Who’s getting’ what rooms?” Niall asks.

“Oh we just claimed them all by peeing.” Rachel says. “Let’s get everything in and then we can go upstairs.”

You all take multiple trips. There were cases of water, snacks, and booze you had all gotten ahead of time. Tomorrow you’d be going to the market early to do a real grocery shop. Harry gets your bags upstairs and into the room that would be yours.

“Oh, this is nice.” He says.

“Shower’s just a stand in, and it’s a little small, but it’ll do.” You smile and go to walk out but he grabs your wrist.

You smile up at him, and pulls you close. He cups one of your cheeks and kisses you. Your hands fly up to his hair and you deepen the kiss just a bit.

“Time to make, oh Jesus.” Sarah says. You both turn to look at her. “Time to make jello shots, let’s go.”

“Oh fuck yeah.” You say and leave the room.

Harry joins everyone downstairs. Niall got some music playing on the smart TV and was sitting with Mariah while you, Rachel, and Sarah were all boiling some water for the jello. He sits down on the couch and smiles when he hears the three of you giggling.

“What flavors does everyone want?” Sarah yells out, and the three come into the kitchen. “We have strawberry, blue-raspberry, grape.”

“Just make ‘em all babe.” Niall says.

“I agree.” Mariah says.

You help pour the mixtures into the little portion cups Rachel took from the ice cream shop, and you pop them into the fridge.

“What now?” Harry asks.

“Now, we drink.” You say. “Get the shot glasses.”

Rachel gets down six shot glasses, as you slice up limes and get a thing of salt.

“Everyone sit at the table, we’re gonna play sip or spill.” Rachel says.

“What the hell is sip or spill?” Niall asks.

“It’s a drinking game, it’s a lot of fun.” Sarah says. “And a good way to get drunk quick.” Sarah grabs a hat with some torn up pieces of paper in it and everyone sits at the large round table. “Okay, so we all take turns reading one of the questions, and you either answer or take a shot.”

Harry fills all the shot glasses with tequila and puts the bottle on the table. You put the bowl of limes and the salt in the center.

“You ask the first question, Y/N.” Sarah says.

You grab a piece of paper and your eyes grow wide.

“Jesus, Sarah, where did you come up with these?”

“I got them off a website! There’s a mix of types of questions. Just read it.”

“I’m not nearly drunk enough to even read this!” Your cheeks were flushing.

“Stop being a baby!”

“Fuck! Fine, it says do you have a safe word?!” Harry immediately looks at you.

“Guess he just answered for you.” Mariah says laughing.

You open your mouth, but instead of speaking your lick your hand add the salt, lick the salt, take the shot and suck on the lime.

“He answered nothing, and neither did I.” You hand the hat to Rachel.

“Have you ever moaned the wrong name in bed?” The three of you burst out laughing. “Okay, this is so bad. Um, it was when I was still having sex with guys, I think I thought I was bi or something at the time, still figuring things out you know? So I was hooking up with this random dude, and he was going down on me, but I was picturing this girl from my college Spanish class, and I moaned her name instead of his.”

“What did he do?!” Niall asks.

“Um…he looked up at me and was like what? And I was like…I’m gonna go.” She laughs. “It was so bad.” She hands the hat to Mariah.

“Ever faked an orgasm if so with who?” She smirks. “Can’t remember his name, but it was the last guy I ever had sex with.” Everyone laughs. Niall takes the hat next.

“Oh no.” He laughs. “Out of this room who would you have a threesome with?” He grabs his shot glass and takes the shot. Everyone cheers. “Not goin’ down that road.” He laughs. He hands the hat to Sarah.

“Out of everyone in the room who is the sluttiest?” She grabs the salt and a lime and takes her shot.

“That’s right, bitch.” Rachel says.

“I didn’t say anything!” She laughs.

“Good.” You say. “Hope that lime tasted real good.”

Harry takes the hat next.

“When was the last time you took a lewd or nude photo?” Harry grabs his shot and tips it back. Your cheeks grow red thinking of his naked photos, and your own for that matter.

“Oh, do you two not see each other naked enough?” Sarah asks facetiously.

“You know, sometimes you just wanna feel good about yourself and takes pictures to look back on later, and be like wow I looked really fuckin’ good back then.” He smiles at her. “Go ahead, your turn, babe.” He hands you the hat.

“Have you had sex with guests or parents over?” You roll your eyes and fill your glass up to take your shot. “I have a feeling I’m gonna get fucked up.”

“That wouldn’t be such a bad thing to admit.” Rachel says taking the hat.

“Yes it would because then you all would want to know with what guests and parents.”

“Do you prefer oral or penetration?” She laughs. “That’s easy, oral. But I’m gonna take a shot anyways because I would actually like to get fucked up.”

“Who is your worst coworker?” Mariah smirks at Harry.

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare say Isaac.”

“Guess I’ll be taking a shot then.” She tips her drink back.

“I can’t believe he’s your favorite!”

“I didn’t say anything, I took a shot.” She smiles and he pouts at her. Everyone laughs.

You all go round after round. Everything stayed really lighthearted. It gets back to you again and you’re so drunk, you can barely read the question because you’re laughing so hard.

“Do you have a name for your partner’s genitals?” You completely lose it. “I can confidently say no to this.” You look at Harry. “I don’t call it anything do I?”

“No, babe.” He chuckles.

“I feel like I use adjectives or descriptive words, you know?” You address the table.

“Please, do tell.” Rachel says giggling.

���I’ll be like, come here and give me that bi-“

“Okay, your turn’s over.” Harry says. Everyone laughs hysterically.

“I think you’re the only guy I know who’s actually embarrassed to talk about how big his dick is.” Mariah says.

“I just think that some things should be left private.”

“Right…because leaving hickey’s all over your girlfriend’s body screams privacy.” Harry’s mouth falls open, and he looks at you, then her.

“Wait, I wanna know.” Sarah slurs. “If Y/N doesn’t have a name for your…penis, do you not have a name for her vag?”

“S’not my turn.”

“I don’t give a crap anymore, answer the question or take the shot.”

“I’ll answer for him.” You say. “He refers to it as my cunt.” You laugh and so do the girls. “It just sounds so good in his accent, go ahead Harry, say the word cunt.”

“Cunt.”

“Ahh! See, everything sounds good when he says it.” You all laugh.

A little while later you decide it’s really late and probably time to go to sleep.

“What’s the plan for tomorrow?” Nialls asks as he helps Sarah up the stairs. You were being given a piggyback ride by Harry.

“Um, we gotta go to the store, and then we can make breakie, right Harry, breakie? And thennnnn, um beach? Everyone wanna go to the beach?”

Everyone agrees. Harry gets you into the room and you immediately go to pee. He makes sure to lock the door behind him. He doesn’t want anyone walking in.

“Harrryyy.”

“Yes, love?”

“I’m really drunk.” You say coming out of the bathroom.

“Me too.”

“Can I suck on it?”

“Think that’s a good idea right now?”

“I think it’s a great idea, go on, sit on the bed.”

Harry sits down and you undo his shorts. You kneel in front of him and take his dick out. You spit into your hand and start pumping him. You lick your lips and suck on his tip while you continue to pump him.

“Jesus.” He grits his teeth.

“You know what I never do, I never suck on your balls.”

“Babe, you don’t have to-“

“Shhh, you deserve it man.”

You continue to pump him up and down while your mouth trials to his balls.

“Shit!” He groans. “Oh my god, Y/N.” He falls back on the bed and bucks up into your hand.

You lick up his shaft and take him deep into your mouth and down your throat. You choke on him a couple of times, but you work through it, knowing how much he loves the way it feels.

“So good baby, sooo good.” His praise was everything you needed.

He comes into your mouth and you swallow every last drop. You stand up and look at him. He looked beautiful and breathless. You strip yourself of your clothes and crawl onto the bed. He goes to get between your legs but before he can return the favor you’re fast asleep. He chuckles and gets up to do his business in the bathroom. He gets into bed next to you and holds you close to him.

“Sweet dreams, angel.”

[wkemeup]

Guiding Light (4)

summary: It was supposed to be a simple mission. Get the intel and go home. Until everything goes wrong and you’re taken captive by Hydra and now, Bucky can’t breathe without you. Not until he brings you home. If he even can. pairing: bucky x reader chapter word count: 6.8k warnings: torture, angst™ 🖤series masterlist

T W O  W E E K S  E A R L I E R

You couldn’t hear Bucky when he called your name or when he had begged you leave without him. His voice was muffled and muted by the barrier between you and you would have given just about anything to hear his voice once last time, to hold him, to touch him and brush his hair from his eyes, to remind him that he was so incredibly adored and that none of this was his fault, but you wouldn’t get the chance.

Harsh hands gripped at your arms until bruises formed under the thin layer of your suit as Hydra agents dragged you down the hallway. You watched helplessly as Bucky struggled to break through the impenetrable wall, fist colliding to the glass only for it to remain unmarked.

You tried to fight the men, digging your heels to the concrete and flailing in their arms, but there were too many of them. From the distance, you could still make out the desolation in the blue of Bucky’s eyes, the pain and guilt you had helped him work so hard to let out go of rushing back to the surface; the unbridled shock on his face when you said the one thing you had been trying to tell him for years, when you told him you loved him.

On some level you were sure that he knew, but watching the genuine surprise on his face mixed with the devastation of what was about to happen was something else entirely; knowing he had you and lost you all at once.

The agents dragged you around the corner, Bucky disappearing from view, and with one sharp hit to the side of your head, you were pulled to the darkness.

When you woke again, it was to ice cold water and a hard burning in your lungs. Shocked back to consciousness, you struggled to find your breath amongst the pour of the water on your face. When it finally let up, your chest was heaving in throbbing pants, hands curling into the arm rests of the chair you had been bound to, as beads of water ran down your back, your face, and dripped from the ends of your hair.

In front of you stood three men, all dressed in military style uniforms. The two in the back held automatic assault weapons aimed in your direction, safety released, despite the fact that you were currently cuffed in place.

The man at the center stood with his arms crossed; dark hair, scruff along his jaw line, and a jagged scar running from his left temple to the bridge of his nose, crossing over his eye and leaving a clouded, damaged orb in its place he didn’t bother to cover. He wasn’t one you recognized. None of them were.

He nodded to the man standing on your right who held the now empty bucket in his hands. Then, Scarface dismissed the three men, leaving you alone with him. 

He began to circle you, studying you from every angle and you did your best to keep your breathing steady despite the rage boiling in your chest. When he came back around to your front, a slow smirk drew up the right corner of his lips.

“Agent Y/l/n, it is such a pleasure to have you in our company,” he drawled, voice thick, deep, and with an American accent. “My name is Alex Cainning. But you can call me Cain.”

You narrowed your eyes on him, unwilling to provide even an ounce of reaction. Cain shrugged, unbothered.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why we went through the trouble of setting up false intel just to lure you to our base and provide us with the prime opportunity to take hostage one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” He chuckled, unable to even get the term passed his lips before he started laughing. “That title always irked me. Sure, I get the science experiments and egotistical billionaire with the super suit and the literal God of Thunder, but you? What do you possibly have to offer to a team like that? You're human. Weak. Just like the arrow guy and the soviet whore.”

You gritted your teeth. “So why take me? Why bother if I’m so... uninteresting?”

“Even despite your failings, your arrogance is astounding.” Cain smiled, running his tongue over the white of his teeth. “You make the mistake in thinking this is even about you.”

A flash of surprised grazed your features and before you could restrain it. Cain had clearly noticed. A satisfaction curved up his lips as he turned towards the door. He paused, knocked several times and the locks began to unclick. You counted eight.

“We’ll be seeing a lot of each other, Agent Y/l/n,” Cain said as he stepped through the door, the dim lighting behind him making it impossible to make out the layout beyond the four walls to the cell they had dropped you in. “Make yourself comfortable. You won’t be leaving.”

The door slammed shut and the metal clasps binding your wrists to the chair snapped open. Sprinting up, you raced to the door, shoving your shoulder against it though you knew it would do no use. You pounded your fists to the metal frame, shouting for them to let you go, to face you like the grimy cowards they were, and you only stepped away when your arms had grown sore and an ache throbbed in your hands.

You panted, turning back to look around the room. Concrete walls by concrete floor with a single twin mattress sitting upon the ground in the left corner. It was stained and warped with use, springs puncturing the surface and a dark red discoloring on the ground beside it.

Head pulsing, you brought your hand to the source to find a sticky substance on your head. A heavy sigh as you lowered your hand to examine it further to find blood coating your fingertips. You must have sustained the injury when they knocked you out.

Feeling dizzy, you slowly made your way to the mattress, grabbing a hold of the corner and dragged it to the right side of the room, away from the blood stain on the floor. You flipped the mattress over, somewhat relieved to find the underside minimally less repulsive, and collapsed down onto it. Staring up at the ceiling, you tried not to think about what Cain had meant, about why they chose to take you of everyone who had stormed that base.

Bucky was just as trapped on the other side of that wall, if not more so because he didn’t have access to the exit the way you did. But they left him alone, didn’t even attempt to injure or subdue him. They just left him to watch. It didn’t make any sense.

Why bother taking you if it wasn’t you they wanted?

***

Five days later and you learned their routine.

With no windows in your room, it was impossible to keep track of time, but these men, these soldiers, had schedules, and they came barreling into your cell with the smell of coffee on their breath and crumbs in their beards enough to tell you that morning broke. They’d strap you into the chair, ask you some questions about the security at the compound to which you’d give them jack-shit, and they’d return the favor with a few cuts to your arms, a punch to the gut, or a damp washcloth pressed over your nose and mouth until you couldn’t breathe.

You’d been trained by the best, which meant you could withstand torture on par with Navy Seals. It frustrated Cain to no end, though he still had yet to explicitly tell you what they had captured you for. You assumed part of it was to obtain information on the Avenger’s compound, on the Avenger’s habits and schedules, perhaps on SHIELD’s strike strategies or their weapon’s base, but that was information he’d be able to get from any agent, even a rookie. It didn’t explain why they needed you.

After a few bruises to your ribs, reopening the split in your lip, and coming up empty handed again, they’d leave you alone for a few hours.

Then, they’d return a second time and once you overheard one of them grumbling about the choices of food in the dining hall, which lead you to believe their second visit took place around dinner time. It was around then that they’d bring you a tray of three slices of bread, a wrinkling apple with brown spots on the sides, and a cup of water that had flecks in it and a bitter aftertaste. You didn’t touch it for the first three days, but caved on the fourth from the awful pangs in your stomach.

So, for five days, you knew what to expect. Torture and interrogation on the first visit in the morning. Food on the second visit. Aimless silence and solitude in between.

That was, until you were no longer alone.

Halfway through your fifth day in captivity, mid-way between the waterboarding you endured earlier that morning over your refusal to provide information on the layout of the compound and your only meal of the day, you heard a muffled groan through the wall beside you.

Propping yourself up on your elbows on the lumpy mattress, you narrowed your eyes on the wall next to you. A sharp crack in the foundation of the concrete ran along the surface, ending in an impossibly small opening by the corner of the walls. A shuffling came through, this time followed by the sharp close of a door.

You leaned closer to the hole in the wall in an attempt to catch a glimpse of what lied beyond it, but then the twist in your stomach sent a stabbing pain through you ribs and you let out a yelp, collapsing back down onto the mattress that provided no relief. You grumbled under your breath, frustrated with the state of your weakened body.

“Hello?” a voice called through the wall, male, American. Midwestern, maybe. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

“Yeah, hi, I’m here,” you huffed, pressing your hand to your side to help alleviate the pain from where Cain had given a rather rough beating to your ribs the day before.

“Where-- Where are we?” the voice asked, trembling almost, and it surprised you.

“Not sure,” you replied truthfully, staring up at the ceiling. “Hydra base for sure. Location... Don’t have a clue. Nationalities of the soldiers seem to be all over the place so getting a sense of the country has been difficult. My best guess is western Asia, maybe Middle East. Couldn’t have been more than a few hours plane from where they took me in Russia.”

There was a long pause before the voice spoke.

“Sounds like you, uh, you know what you’re talking about,” he muttered.

You shrugged, hulling yourself up to sit on the mattress with your back pressed to the wall. The crack wasn’t wide enough to get a good look at him but you could make out the blur of him sitting just a foot away from the shared wall, knees tucked to his chest.

“Yeah, well, it’s kind of my job to know that kind of stuff,” you said, surprised when a breath of a laugh passed through you. When he didn’t reply, you took a deep breath. “So, what got you landed in this dump, anyway?”

“Oh-- I um, I was stationed in Iran with my unit and... it was so stupid, I wandered off base to help this guy whose car broke down,” he replied and you could hear him tap his head against the wall in frustration.

“Army?”

“First tour, actually,” he confirmed with a heavy sigh. “Didn’t even make it three weeks.”

He sounded young. Too young to be signing his life over to a military that would offer him no favors and leave him defenseless and traumatized when and if he eventually returned back to the states. He couldn’t be more than twenty years old.

“Listen kid,” you started, pressing your hand to the wall as if he could see you. “I’m with SHIELD and I guarantee there’s some pretty pissed off people looking for me. We’ll get you out of here, okay?”

“SHIELD? Shit, you must be pretty important,” he chuckled softly and it was nice to hear the fear slipping out of his voice.

“I don’t know about that,” you replied, though the smile fell from your face rather quickly. An image of Bucky on the other side of the glass barrier flashed behind your eyes, the panic, the desperation, the last words you saw on his lips as you were dragged away from him, kicking and screaming. “My team, they’re like my family. They’ll find me.”

“Sounds nice. My unit just rags on each other all day and I’m pretty sure my Sergeant straight up hates me.”

You laughed, listening to his stories from the base. Once he started talking, it was difficult to get him to stop, not that you much wanted to. It was a nice alternative to being alone with your thoughts, getting caught up in wondering what Bucky was doing or if he was losing himself again to the guilt and shame he worked so hard to overcome.

Over the next few hours, you learned the kid’s name was Danny and he grew up in some town in Indiana with a total of two gas stations and a single grocery store. He told you he thought joining the army was his shot to make something of himself when he dropped out of community college a year in and couldn’t find a decent paying job to make it work back home.

Danny was a sweet kid. Young. Naïve. The kind of person that would disobey orders to help a stranger start their car a mile off base, only to find out it was a trap set by Hydra agents.

The hours seemed to go by faster now that you had Danny. He only put the pieces together about who you really were when you gave him your first name.

“Y/n? Wait--” Danny paused, a soft shuffling as he repositioned himself on the other side of the wall. “As in Agent Y/n Y/L/n of the Avengers?”

You chuckled at that, a slight nod before you realized he couldn’t see you. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Holy shit! How did you not lead with that!?” Danny shouted excitedly, though a muffled breath alerted you that he had clapped his hand to his mouth to keep his voice down. “You were all over the news before I got taken...”

“Oh--”

“So, the team you were talking about? Your family... is the Avengers?” Danny asked, seeking confirmation he didn’t quite need as he started to answer it all on his own. “That’s nuts! What’s it like working for Captain America? Or, or Iron Man? Is Tony Stark as cool as he seems?”

“Well first off, I don’t work for Rogers. I work with him,” you laughed, enjoying his amusement, “and Stark is a massive dork. Don’t believe the garbage in the papers about him. He’s a good guy and definitely way cooler than he seems.”

Danny asked you about a hundred different questions about what it was like working with the Avengers, about your friends, and how you came to be part of the team.

You wondered if he had chosen a different path, if maybe there were more opportunities presented to him, he would have done well as an Agent, or a technical analyst, or even doing crew work because he had the kind of excitement so many of the rookies were lacking these days.

Hours later, your stomach was starting growl, more so than it usually did, and it was getting close to your second visit of the day. You were laying down on the mattress, staring up at the ceiling, hand propped under your head as you did your best to get comfortable.

You told Danny of the schedule you had come to learn and warned him that they might try and hurt him for information he won’t know the answers to. That scared him a bit, but you promised you’d be here for him, that if he could just hold on a little while longer, you were certain Buc-- your team would get the two of you out of here soon.

***

You started keeping track of the days in scratched lines under the top right corner of the mattress. Nine marks in the concrete. Nine days you’d been held in captivity.

You kept your eyes closed long after you woke from your restless sleep, muscles aching from the lumps in the hard mattress and goosebumps littering your skin from the chill in the room. The dream you had had been a decent one, one absent of nightmares and horrors from your past or the fear of your impending future. No, this dream was about the first time you got Bucky to leave the compound and venture out into Brooklyn.

You decided to borrow one of Tony’s cars after some serious convincing and a few concessions to opt for his team over Steve’s in the next full team mission and to bring him back a cold pizza from a specific shop in Queens. Tony was always a bit of a negotiator and he took a quick liking to you after you joined the team a few years back. He had a hard time saying no to you.

Bucky was apprehensive the entire walk down the garage. Hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans, navy blue bomber hiding the reflection of his left arm, and a baseball cap to shield his eyes. He was still in covert mode and you were determined to shake him of that. He didn’t need to be so guarded. He was an Avenger now, not a criminal, and he had every right to enjoy a day in the city as the next guy.

You told him so and he just waved you off with a shrug. He didn’t believe it just yet. 

He stared at the red paint on Stark’s convertible as you jumped into the driver’s seat for a solid three minutes before he eventually opened the door and slumped into the seat next to you. 

“There’s no turning back now, Barnes,” you grinned over at him as you roared the engine to life. It was an older model, vintage, and the engine had that kind of purr that reminded Bucky of cars from his youth. He let a smile slip before he could suppress it.

He had only been living at the compound for a few months and while he had started coming on those early runs with you and would only occasionally mumble a few things under his breath, he had still agreed to go with you into the city. It surprised you when he said yes right away. You thought you would have needed to threaten his coffee supply before he caved, though you didn’t complain.

You parked Tony’s car outside of the city limits at a train station that was largely unoccupied and purchased tickets to the heart of Brooklyn from the woman at the counter. Bucky stood a careful distance behind you, silently observing the few commuters standing by the platform from under the bridge of his cap.

“Hey,” you said softly, noticing the way he was suspiciously eyeing a man reading a newspaper on a bench by the tracks, taking a step further away, “you’re safe, Bucky. No one here is a threat.”

Without thinking, you ran your hand up his arm in hopes to ease his tension, but in that shiver that traces up his spine, he flinched away instantly, almost repulsively and he gritted his teeth, embarrassed at his own reaction. He hadn’t meant to, but he wasn’t used to touch like that. Soft. Gentle. Without cruel intent. 

You quickly muttered an apology and stepped away from him, giving him a few feet of space. You didn’t notice the way he glanced back over at you, sad blue eyes wishing for you to try again, knowing if he had just been prepared for it, if he’d known it was coming from you, he'd lean into it. It would be welcomed, maybe. He hoped. 

When the train rolled up at the platform, you ushered for Bucky to follow you inside. At the rear of the car, you spotted two open seats far away from the crowd, though you did warn him it would fill up before you made it to Brooklyn. Bucky nodded at that, though he still insisted on sitting in the aisle seat. Quickest escape. Easiest to protect you.

He did better on the train than you expected, even with the crowds and with the unpleasant memories of the fall, though you did have to stare daggers into a teenager who had set his sights on Bucky. Some cocky little prick who recognized the former winter soldier and was snickering something to his snide little friends. It was the last thing Bucky needed. So, you scooted just an inch closer to him and didn’t take your eyes off the kid the entire way to Brooklyn. If Bucky noticed, he didn’t say anything.

Once you got to your stop, Bucky had exhaled a heavy sigh of relief the moment he stepped out of the train. The sun was warm on your skin, even in shorts and a t-shirt, so you couldn’t imagine how Bucky was feeling under all those layers. 

You tried to convince him to take the jacket off, but he just pressed out a thin smile and said, “I’m good, doll.”

It was the first time he called you one of those names, those terms of endearment he never seemed to give to anyone else, and it made your stomach twist. He said it so casually, just rolling off his tongue, and you wondered if he realized the effect it had.

You had your sights on bringing him to a bookstore that claimed to be around since the ‘20s, but the architecture seemed too recent and if you were honest, you wanted to prove to those gentrifying hipsters that you saw right through their round framed glasses, ankle pants, and expertly groomed facial hair. Regardless, you needed to get Bucky caught up on the literary masterpieces he missed in the last few decades.

Bucky kept a careful stride by your side, though you noticed he swerved out of the way of on-comers despite being much larger of anyone he encountered. It was endearing almost, and though you knew he was nervous, he still came with you anyway. It made you smile.

“Oh! Bucky, there it is!” you yelped, pointing to the bookshop across the street. You grabbed his left hand from his jacket pocket without thinking much of it and dragged him across the street. 

He jogged behind you, trying to keep up as you pushed through a sea of pedestrians, and you didn’t let go of his hand even as you stepped into the cool air conditioning of the bookshop.

“This wasn’t here in the forties, was it?” you prodded from Bucky, eyes catching on the hipster you often found yourself feuding with. The owner, characteristically wearing suspenders he clearly didn’t need, rolled his eyes.

Bucky cleared his throat and you narrowed your eyes on him, confused, until he glanced down between you to your hands, still wrapped together with yours clutching solid metal. Your eyes widened and you stepped away from him, dropping his hand in an instant. 

“Shit, I’m-- I’m so sorry, Bucky,” you apologized nervously, scratching at the back of your neck. “I don’t always think when I get excited and-- I’m sorry I should have paid more attention. I know you don’t like it when people touch--”

“It’s okay,” Bucky replied sincerely, cutting you off with the sweet, kind smile you couldn’t seem to get out of your head. 

He glanced around the bookshop, stepping further inside, and to your surprise, he removed his hat. The hairs at the nape of his neck were damp with sweat and while you knew there wasn’t a chance he’d go as far to remove his jacket, it was a step. He raked his fingers through his hair to put shape back to it.

“I don’t know for sure, but I definitely don’t recognize this place,” Bucky offered and before he could tell you that he almost swore there used to be a tailor in this spot, you had already started gloating to the thirty-something-year-old owner. 

By the time you turned around again, Bucky was chuckling under his breath and it made something swell behind your chest. 

Now, lying in the cold, dimly lit cell at a Hydra facility, you kept that image of Bucky as long as you could. Not daring to open your eyes in fear of losing the picture of the crinkles up by his eyes, the incredibly kind blue of his irises, the freckles under the thin layer of scruff on his cheeks and the wonder with which he carried as you explored the rest of Brooklyn together.

You clenched your jaw, trying to hold back the well of tears when suddenly, the sharp clicks of your door began to unlock.

“Y/n...?” Danny’s voice called for you nervously, recognizing the sound himself.

“Don’t let them know you can hear what goes on, okay?” you said quickly, watching the door for when it opens. “No matter what happens, I’ll be fine, you hear me? Just don’t let them know. They’ll move one of us if they do.”

Danny didn’t have time to reply before the door to your room slammed open with a sharp bang! and Cain strolled inside, pushing his sleeves up his arms. His eyes settled on you as two of his men rushed towards you, grabbing a tight hold of your arms and yanking you to your feet. They shoved you into the chair deadbolted to the center of the room and locked your wrists into the metal cuffs.

“It’s going to be a good day, Y/n,” Cain smirked, leaning over you and running his fingers down the side of your face. You stretched your neck away from him, revolted by his touch. Cain only snickered, unbothered, as he straightened his back.

“Yeah?” you grumbled. “Why’s that?”

“Because today is the day you’re going to tell me about what our... mutual friend,” Cain sneered and the men behind him started to laugh. You narrowed your eyes, a dread forming in your stomach, as Cain cracked his knuckles. “How’s the asset adjusting to the ivory tower? He still twitchy if he hears a certain set of words?”

You clenched your jaw tight enough to draw blood from the bite of your cheek. Face as stoic as you could manage, you didn’t dare meet Cain’s eye. Even hearing Bucky referred to as ‘the asset’ set a rage firing in your stomach.

“Touchy subject?” Cain taunted and he threw a nauseating smirk at the soldiers behind him, all too amused by your attempts to ignore him. “Tell me, what exactly is your relationship to the soldier? Can’t imagine he actually has feelings under all that mush in his brain. I do have to be honest, though. I am exceptionally curious... can he even get it up?”

You let a heavy breath exhale through your nose as you kept you stare at the door. You jaw ached from how tight to was clamped down. He snickered with the guards behind him and your nails dug into the wood of the chair.

“Listen princess,” Cain started, pacing back and forth along the small room, “we can go through this day by day and I can keep torturing you, but when is it going to end? Huh? It ends with you telling me what I want to know. And I want to know about that insufferable, botched experiment of a traitor!”

Cain’s fist hit the side of your face before you could quite prepare for it. It stung, burned, and you met his eye as you spat blood onto the floor.

He groaned, shaking his head in disgust. “Did that... teenager in Wakanda get the trigger words out of the asset's head or not?”

“His name is Bucky, you piece of shit,” you growled and a flash of shock flash over Cain’s face, only to be replaced by an unsettling rage as his upper lip began to twitch, a heat in his face built entirely from fury.

He held his hand out behind him and one of the soldiers placed a brass ring in the center of his palm. You took in a steady breath, heart pounding, and in a fruitless attempt to prepare yourself. Cain slipped the ring onto his fingers, admiring it as it reflected in the dim lighting.

“One last time before this gets ugly. Have your docs cleared the trigger words from the asset’s head? Answer me, bitch, or you’ll regret it.”

“Fuck. You,” you spat, your hands curling into the arm rests, ready for what came next. He was a fool if he thought you’d turn on Bucky before you turned on SHIELD. You’d give up everything before you gave up Bucky.

It didn’t matter why they needed to know if Shuri had been successful in clearing the trigger words from his mind. You weren’t telling them shit, even if the words had been removed years ago. Bucky was free from these assholes and it wasn’t information they should even had the privilege of knowing.

Then, in one swift movement, Cain’s hand curled into a fist and he let out a ragged shout as the brass metal of the ring came in contact with the side of your face. A sharp crack! sounded through the room and your vision began to double. Cain swayed in front of you, two of him, four of the men behind him, and he shook the blood from his knuckles.

You struggled to keep your head up, eyes falling heavy as the menacing sound of his laugh echoed through the room. The last thing you saw was his hand raising up again, ready to strike, before darkness consumed you.

***

“Y/n?”

You groaned, rolling over onto your back and your cheek stung as your skin pealed from the concrete. Dried blood caked against the ground as you struggled to push yourself up. You didn’t know how you ended up on the floor or when they had released you from the chair, but the splitting ache in your head was enough to know you’d been knocked out cold.

“Come on, Y/n, wake up... you better still be alive over there...”

“M’alive,” you muttered out, using most of your energy to do so. Your arms collapsed beneath you and the concrete was cool on your skin.

“You sure?” Danny called nervously. “It didn’t sound good over there... What do they want with the Winter Soldier anyway?”

“Bucky,” you choked out as you crawled to the mattress in the corner of the room.

“What?”

“His name is Bucky,” you repeated, determined for at least one other person in this hell hole to know Bucky as the man you did, not just as the weapon Hydra designed him to be.

Danny paused and you could vaguely hear him scratching at his head. “Right, of course. Sorry. Do you think they’ll go after Bucky, too?”

You sighed, a slight swell of relief as you curled up onto the mattress, resting your head against the thin layer of cushion, thought it was stiff and prodded you with metal springs.

“I don’t... I don’t know,” you admitted, eyes falling heavy again. “If they want to know about the trigger words, they’re probably looking to activate the soldier again or... I don’t know...” your eyes closed, head starting to feel dizzy again and you struggled to talk, “...make new ones or... restart... restart the program with someone else... make it so they can’t take the words out of... of...”

Danny cursed under his breath and you didn’t hear him call your name again, lost again to the cold embrace of your mind.

***

Fourteen marks hidden under your mattress and it had been two weeks since you’d been taken hostage. You’d be lying to yourself if you said you weren’t questioning whether the team would ever find you. You held onto that image of Bucky, the one of him from your day in Brooklyn with the smile that etched up into his eyes, because it was the only thing keeping you from giving in to the hopelessness Cain worked so hard to instill in you.

“You doing okay, kid?” you asked through the wall after Danny groaned for the third time in as many minutes.

Turned out, Hydra had a use for the young soldier because they started to take him from his cell mid-way between the two visits they paid to your room. Danny was quiet about what they did when he was taken away. All he’d tell you was that they beat him and asked a few questions he didn’t know the answers to. You left it alone.

“Yeah,” Danny sighed, mattress squeaking as he turned over. “Better than you seem to be.”

Cain had grown increasingly frustrated with you and your refusal to give him any information on the team or on Bucky. He broke your nose the day prior and had yet to allow the doctor on site to attend to the infected open wound on your cheekbone from the brass ring. It oozed and smelled and ached like nothing else, like it had a pulse all its own.

Not only that, but Cain had decided to withhold your meals for the last three days as punishment for when you spat on his face after he taunted you about Bucky’s history as the soldier, how they had conditioned him and broke him. Despite the three punches to your gut that followed, it had been worth it. At least, until you started to feel so weak you could hardly hold your head up.

“I told you, Danny, I’m a survivor. It’s what I’m trained for,” you replied, leaning against the wall to get some relief from the fever flushing your skin.

“Yeah, but--”

The clicks echoed through your room and Danny silenced immediately. You closed your eyes, a heavy exhale in your lungs as you prepared for the devil to walk through. Cain stepped in through the frame with two lackies behind him. Only bothering to watch from the corner of your eye as you kept yourself slumped against the wall, too tired and too feverish to even produce the effort to glare at him.

“Come on, princess, we’ve got a show to do,” Cain sneered, his hand snaking around your forearm painfully tight and he yanked you to your feet. Your knees buckled under you and Cain let out a frustrated groan and tossed you into the arms of one of his men. “Get her to the holding room.”

“Yes, sir,” the man replied in a thick Australian accent. His grip was no kinder as he hulled you through the door.

As they dragged you through the hallways, you tried to memorize the layout of the building, but were met with too much stimulation, blinding white lights, chatter of the agents, and an influx of various sounds you hadn’t been exposed to in weeks and it was all too much. You clamped your eyes shut and the dizziness in your head kept you from following his pattern through the halls.

Then, you were thrown to the ground, cold concrete under your body and a sigh of relief was only short lived before you were yanked up again, shoved into a chair and wrists locked to the arm rests.

You licked at the split on your lip, seeking moisture to alleviate the dryness there, only for it to burn. You winced, trying to find your strength as you watched Cain pace around the room. It was then you noticed the camera standing upon a tripod just a few feet from you. You swallowed back the bile in your throat at the steady realization of what they were going to attempt.

A woman walked into the room; someone Cain must have been waiting for because he stopped pacing the moment she stepped through the frame. Blonde hair tied up away from her face and dressed in jeans and a black, long sleeve t-shirt; she made her way to the camera, standing behind it and adjusting the specs.

“Listen up, princess,” Cain growled, grabbing a tight hold of your chin and forcing you to look in his direction. “You’re going to read from the cue cards and that’s it, do you hear me? No cute little quips or secret messages, because we’ll just start over and you won’t like what happens when we do.”

Cain’s grip grew tighter and you couldn’t stop the whimper the came out. Cain smirked at that, releasing you and your jaw ached even as he stepped away. He moved to stand behind the blonde woman he addressed as ‘Moira’ and nodded for one of his henchmen to hold the card up.

The red light appeared on the side of the camera, blinking. You stared at it for a moment, the thought occurring to you that your friends would see this, Bucky would see this, and you didn’t want to imagine the look on their faces when they did. If anything, it gave them proof you were still alive. You knew the SHIELD protocol was to presume an agent dead after ten days missing behind enemy lines. It was an efficient system, a largely accurate one. Hydra didn’t usually keep their prisoners alive for this long.

“Read,” Cain seethed from behind the camera and you thought of Bucky, of Nat, of Steve, Tony, Sam, everyone back at the compound and you wondered what they would do, if they would give in to these demands so easily.

So, with a defiance, you looked straight into the camera and spat, “Fuck Hydra.”

It was a mistake.

Cain rushed at you, unclipped your restraints and slammed you so hard against the wall, you were certain your head cracked. Vision blurring as his hand wrapped around your neck, spitting words into your ear you couldn’t quite hear as his fingers dug into your jugular. You scratched at him, nails too frail to make any bit of difference, and you struggled to breathe.

Gasping for breaths, kicking the air beneath you and Cain pushed you higher up the wall, and an immeasurable pressure built in your lungs, in your head, and you were teetering on the edge of consciousness.

“Enough, Cain! I need her to actually be able to speak for this to be effective,” Moira groaned and Cain released his grip on you. You slumped down to the floor, barely able to catch your breath. “I’ll just keep rolling. Get her in the chair and we’ll go again.”

This time, it was Cain’s men that strapped you down to the chair, masks covering their faces for the sake of the camera. You stared at the blinking red light, then to the center of the lens, knowing that Bucky, your Bucky, would be on the other side watching this soon enough. You didn’t dare wonder how he’d react.

For a brief moment, unsure, your eyes flicked to Cain. Without much of a warning, his fist barreled against your jaw, just for the hesitation, and you spit a glob of blood off the side of the chair.

It took every ounce of energy you had to glare in his direction, though when Cain’s hand curled back into a fist and his upper lip twitched at you, you dropped your gaze.

Then, looking back to the cue cards placed just under the camera’s lens, you read, “My name is Special Agent Y/n Y/L/n. I am an Agent of SHIELD, an Avenger, and I was abducted by Hydra two weeks ago from their base in Western Russia.”

Your voice was raspy, broken, from Cain’s grip on your neck.

Moira grabbed a newspaper from the floor and put it in front of the camera, focusing on the date. Then, she tossed it aside. You swallowed back the excess blood in your throat. You glanced down at the cue cards, narrowing your eyes upon the words. Your heart dropped.

Shaking your head, clenching your jaw as you turned to Cain. “I’m not reading that.”

Another hit to your jaw and blood splattered from your lips. A heavy pant in your lungs and a blinding pulse in your head, you turned back to the camera. There was no fighting this. Your body couldn’t take any more. You straightened your back, hardening your features so it was clear, without a doubt, that these words were not your own.

“This is a warning to the people of New York,” you read, your voice flat and defiant. “The Avengers cannot protect you. They...” you took a deep breath, eye flashing at Cain before your turned back to the camera and thought of Bucky. You knew he’d take your words to heart, that he’d latch onto any excuse to blame himself for this, and you spoke the words anyway, even if you hated yourself for it. “They can’t even protect their own.”

The cue cards fell to the ground and Cain nodded, pleased as you bit down on your tongue to deprive him of the satisfaction of seeing you cry.

“You will hear from us again,” Cain announced off camera and you couldn’t stop the look of blatant detest as you glared at him.

Moira moved to turn off the camera and your breath hitched. It was your last connection to Bucky, to your family. You couldn’t tear your eyes away from the lens, imagining that it was Bucky you were staring at; deep blue ocean eyes and a kind smile that warmed a sense of relief in your chest.

Then, the red dot vanished and he was lost to you.

--

ok fam if you thought this was tough... just you wait 

feedback is always appreciated 💖

tags 🎥 @musiclover1263 / @pies-wands-and-more / @buckygrantbarnes​ / @mywinterwolf​ / @breatheeagainnnn​ / @jewelofwinter​ / @panic-naran​ / @fairislesheets​ / @kaliforniacoastalteens​ / @captain-hammer-of-asgard​ / @daydreamsquad​ / @deanssweetheart​ / @maybesomedaytho​ / @montypythonsholysnail​ / @saharzek​ / @jillybeaner13​ / @chubby-dumplin​ / @searchingforbucky​ / @alohafromhell1​ / @tabalugax​ / @shesalatesh​ / @whyamidoingthistomyselfhelp​ / @aliensbecameourstyle​ / @bucksgoat​ / @serpensortiaaa​ / @trash-rats-unite​ / @hungry-pasta​ / @nervosaa​ / @lbuck121​/ @get0verit​ / @obama-mia​ / @imsoft-barnes​ / @this-broken-band-girl​ / @michelehansel​ / @itz-kira​ / @forever157​ / @grey-water-colors​ / @sebastianstan-posts​ / @sarcastic-and-cool​ / @sweetheartbarnes

[wordsablaze]

5~ it’s hard to get to know me

tell me your problems (i’ll chase them away) Internal scars can be difficult to deal with but Eskel vows to heal any that Jaskier is weighed down by if it’s the last thing he does…

A/N: can’t decide if we want fluff or angst so we’re getting a strange mix of them both ;)

@random-nerd-3 @betaray-jones @w-s-kibela @cloudspeck @in-love-with-writing002 @screaming-flapjacks @booboomuffin

previous chapter

-

Eskel opens his eyes to the sight of messy brown hair.

He blinks once, twice, thrice just to check he’s not imagining things. And for the record, he’s not, it’s just that Jaskier seems to be using him as a pillow, sleeping almost sideways on the bed.

It doesn’t look very comfortable but he doesn’t know enough about Jaskier to argue yet so he just gently manoeuvres himself out of the bed and makes to go put his armour on. Only for his attention to be drawn back to Jaskier when he lets out a sleepy groan and curls up on himself.

It’s far more adorable than it has any right to be.

“Geralt?” Jaskier mumbles, yawning.

“Uh, no,” Eskel replies, not exactly sure what he’s meant to do when Jaskier looks so confused, and when there’s suddenly a strange stinging in his heart.

Before he can say anything more, Jaskier shoots upright, his eyes wide and his gaze frantically searching the room until he sees Eskel, at which point the sharp scent of fear fades into a soft relief.  

The stinging in his heart fades as he realises Jaskier is somehow comforted by his very presence. People seeing Eskel usually results in fear or uneasiness so he doesn’t understand what it is about him that could even possibly be soothing Jaskier’s fear. But he doesn’t know how to ask.

“You’re not him,” Jaskier sighs, pressing the heels of his palms to his eyes.

Eskel clears his throat awkwardly. “No.”

There’s a very small silence before Jaskier looks up with a strained attempt at a smile. “You’re not, of course you’re not- I’m so sorry, I… I was- I don’t know, really. He- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to and it was just- i only- you- please don’t leave?”

Jaskier’s eyes water ever so slightly and although Eskel doesn’t know why, he finds himself moving to sit beside him immediately. “I’m not leaving. I promised not to, remember?”

There are arms around Eskel’s neck even as he finishes talking and it takes an awful lot of energy not to simply throw Jaskier off. Instead, he curls one of his own arms around Jaskier and waits until he stops panicking and stumbling over his words.

“It’s okay, bardling,” Eskel promises as Jaskier exhales slowly, again and again and again.

And it is okay because of course Jaskier would think he might be waking up next to someone he’s woken up next to for over two decades. Not that Eskel has ever been in a similar position but he’s pretty sure he would do something similar so he can’t exactly fault the bard.

“I’m so sorry,” Jaskier mumbles eventually.

Eskel makes a mental note not to try and sneak out of bed in future. “You don’t have to be.”

Jaskier pulls away and brushes away his unshed tears before offering Eskel a much stronger smile than before. “Thank you for not leaving,” he says, even though Eskel had, more or less, attempted to do exactly that.

“And I’m sorry for waking you,” Eskel replies slowly.

But Jaskier shakes his head at that, elbowing him. “You didn’t wake me. Well, I suppose you sort of did but it’s not exactly early so I can’t blame you. And, uh, you have that siren problem to deal with,” he rambles, springing to his feet.

Bemused, Eskel stays exactly where he is as Jaskier slips his doublet on and turns to him with his hands on his hips and one eyebrow raised. “Well? Don’t witchers like to eat breakfast with their armour on just in case someone dares to steal their food?”

“What? That is not why we keep our armour on!” Eskel protests, mildly offended.

He lets Jaskier continue to talk at somewhere that seems close to the speed of sound itself as the two of them make their way downstairs.

It’s not long before they’re given food and Eskel hides his laugh as the woman who serves them attempts to flirt with Jaskier. He’s sure that if Jaskier weren’t still trying to cover up his previous panicking, she might even have been successful.

“This is really nicely salted,” Jaskier comments once she’s gone.

“Why didn’t you tell her that?” Eskel asks, trying his best not to laugh.

Jaskier just blinks. “Who?”

“The woman who so clearly wanted your attention.”

As he follows Eskel’s gaze, Jaskier’s face flushes red and he shrugs almost defensively. “I didn’t really notice her,” he admits, and Eskel is reminded that Jaskier can probably interact with people the same way he breathes, which is to say he can do so without even thinking about it.

Eskel is torn between being impressed, concerned, amused, and slightly jealous; it seems Jaskier will always remain something of a mystery to him.

“I’ll make it up to her later,” Jaskier mumbles, sounding more than a little remorseful.

Shaking his head, Eskel just carries on eating, neither of them saying much until a very visibly distressed woman bursts in and all but falls onto Jaskier, breathing heavily.

Jaskier doesn’t miss a beat before putting an arm around her. “What’s wrong?” he asks gently, seemingly unbothered that she’d interrupted his meal.

“The s- siren I told you about…” she manages.

“Who was it this time?” Jaskier asks even as he shares a look with Eskel, who manages to get all his wits about him and pay a little more attention instead of musing.

“My brother, my poor brother,” the woman sobs.

As Jaskier murmurs comforting nothings to her, Eskel leans forwards, waiting until she’s a little less distraught before asking, “What’s your name?”

Upon hearing him, the woman looks up and sniffles twice before taking a deep breath. “Lillia.”

“Well, Lillia, I promise to try and help your brother,” he says, and he means it. Even if they’re all well aware her brother probably isn’t coming back.

Jaskier beams. “And this is my- the darling witcher I was telling you about yesterday.”

Eskel doesn’t miss the slip of tongue and briefly wonders how exactly Jaskier had introduced him to Lillia. But he doesn’t get to wonder for very long because she nods and starts explaining how her brother and his friends had all gone missing near the river.

Once she’s done, Jaskier hands her a napkin. “You know we can’t promise you we’ll return your brother but I can promise you Eskel won’t let the same thing happen to your husband.”

“Try to stay indoors, okay?” Eskel suggests.

She nods and thanks them profusely before leaving to presumably go and tell her husband the good news. Eskel raises an eyebrow at Jaskier when she’s out of earshot. “You didn’t ask her name yesterday?”

Jaskier huffs. “Excuse me for having a little more on my mind than learning the names of everyone in the room during a performance.”

Eskel laughs, standing up. “Well, we should probably go prepare then.”

Although Jaskier stands to follow him, he frowns. “Prepare?”

They make their way back to their room before Eskel replies. “You can’t just attempt to talk to a siren without being prepared.”

Jaskier almost drops the lute he’s just picked up as he turns to Eskel, frowning yet again. “Why would I need to talk to a siren?”

Oh.

Of course.

Eskel internally makes a note to throw something that’s at least slightly heavy right at Geralt’s face as he offers Jaskier a smile. “Do you want to stay here or do you want to come with me to find this siren?”

The way Jaskier’s jaw drops is nothing short of comical.

“You mean I don’t need to stay behind?” he asks hopefully.

Eskel shakes his head, then realises that might be confusing to anyone outside of his own head. “No, you don’t. As long as you run exactly when I tell you to.”

With a bright grin, Jaskier nods enthusiastically. “I promise I will. So when are we leaving?”

“Sirens are usually strongest at night so surprising one during the day seems like our best chance,” Eskel replies as he checks over his bags, making sure he has enough of everything just in case their encounter goes wrong somehow.

“So… now?” Jaskier asks with all the glee of a toddler.

“Do you have something you can cover your eyes or your ears with if necessary?” Eskel asks, “A second doublet at the very least?”

Although he knows that a siren’s enchantment can rarely be stopped by anything less than magic, he’d definitely feel a little better if he knew Jaskier had some kind of defence, although he’s still working on trying to figure out why he so strongly wishes for the bard to stay safe.

Jaskier shakes his head. “I would rather risk being devoured than sacrifice any of my doublets, thank you very much.”

Eskel sighs. “In that case, you can stay with Scorpion while I find the siren.”

“Obviously,” Jaskier replies, having placed his lute in its case and slung that over his shoulder while they were talking. “Are you ready?”

He should be the one asking that, Eskel thinks, but chooses only to nod, grabbing the bag he needs and letting Jaskier lead the way back downstairs, where he stops to whisper something to a barmaid. She nods solemnly but says nothing and disappears before Eskel can figure out what Jaskier was doing.

“Why are you bringing your lute?” Eskel asks.

Jaskier looks ever so slightly outraged. “I’m not just going to leave her behind. And what if I get stuck by inspiration only to find I don’t have her with me? What then?”

Scorpion headbutts Eskel before he can think of a reply but Jaskier just grins and pulls out another apple from literally nowhere - Eskel’s beginning to think he has magical pockets sewn into his clothing.

He offers the apple up to Eskel, who lifts his hands above his head and nods his head to Scorpion. Just as Jaskier opens his mouth to apologise - which Eskel can tell he’s about to do because he’s shuffling his feet again - Scorpion bites the apple and makes the choice for them.

“Woah there,” Jaskier breathes, lifting his other hand to stroke her.

Eskel almost forgets what he’s doing altogether as he watches the two of them; there’s no explanation for the rush of warmth that surges through him but gods is he glad Scorpion approves of Jaskier.

“Well, let’s go then!” Jaskier calls over his shoulder as he starts walking, at which point Eskel realises he’d spent too long in his thoughts yet again , something that seems to be quickly becoming a habit the longer he spends with Jaskier.

He takes Scorpion’s reins and guides her out of the stables, then pointedly clears his throat. “Jaskier?”

Jaskier hums, turning on his heel only to frown when he sees Eskel walking. “What are you doing? Is she injured?”

Eskel’s eyebrows furrow as he glances between Scorpion and Jaskier. “No, she’s fine. What are you doing?”

“Did you just lose a marble, darling? We’re going to find Lillia’s siren? Well, it wouldn’t be her siren exactly, but it’s her problem and the problem just so happens to be a siren so it’s her siren problem and so-”

“Jaskier. I meant, why are you walking?”

The look of confusion on Jaskier’s face makes Eskel want to both laugh and punch Geralt yet another time. Since neither of those things are likely to help the situation, he foregoes both of them, instead gesturing to the saddle. “Don’t you want to ride with me?”

“But this is a contract,” Jaskier argues.

Eskel nods. “Yes, which is why I’d prefer you to be as close as possible.”

It makes perfect sense to Eskel but Jaskier worries his lip for the duration of a short uneasy silence before shaking his head and folding his arms in front of him. “I can walk fast, I- I won’t slow you down, if that’s what you mean. You don’t have to…”

Once Eskel is sure Jaskier isn’t going to continue, he steps forward and places a hand on Jaskier’s arm, offering him a smile. “When I said you could ride with me, it wasn’t just a one-time offer.”

“Oh.”

Jaskier’s face goes through a rapid series of emotions that Eskel can’t quite place before he beams and loops his arms around Eskel’s neck, waves of happiness radiating from him as he whispers, “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it, bardling,” Eskel replies, focusing on getting them both secure on Scorpion instead of how surprisingly nice it feels to hug someone, to have someone want to hug him.

Like last time, Jaskier holds on to the saddle itself rather than Eskel, which is perfectly fine for now because it’s not particularly rough terrain and he figures that if the bard is more comfortable that way, there’s no reason to complain.

“Have you come across many sirens before?” Jaskier asks once they get moving.

It takes Eskel a minute to try and remember. “A few.”

Jaskier shifts a little. “Would you be so kind as to tell me about them? I’ve only seen one and I don’t remember enough about her for a full song.”

Eskel laughs lightly. “Sure. I bet you haven’t heard much about their wings.”

Behind him, Jaskier gasps so dramatically that Eskel fleetingly wonders if he’s falling off. But then he blurts, “They have wings? Are you quite serious? I cannot believe I’ve missed out on such a magnificent piece of information!”

“I’m very serious,” Eskel promises.

And as if they’ve swapped roles, Eskel finds himself narrating something of a story about the last siren he’d come across while Jaskier stays mostly quiet, only asking the occasional question every so often and acting as a rather perfect audience.

He’s almost sorry he has to stop when they finally get to the river but he doesn’t want to suffer through the irony of falling prey to a siren whilst telling a tale about the very same creature.

“This is as close as you get,” he tells Jaskier as he swings himself off Scorpion.

Jaskier nods solemnly. “I won’t go anywhere, I give you my word.”

Eskel nods, then looks to Scorpion. “Make sure he doesn’t run off,” he says, smirking when he hears Jaskier splutter indignantly.

It feels almost wrong to leave Jaskier but he trusts his horse with his life and he’d really rather not take either of them any closer to a lone siren than they need to be, especially since a siren without a group is either an outcast or a narcissist.

“Eskel?”

He turns to see Jaskier biting his lip. After a moment, the bard smiles softly. “Be careful.”

“I give you my word,” Eskel replies, returning his smile.

When Jaskier nods, he continues towards the river, not bothering to try and cover up the smile that refuses to leave his face because there’s nobody around to see it. His muscles aren’t used to smiling so much and he can almost hear their confusion, but he’s not opposed to changing that.

Or rather, he’s not opposed to letting Jaskier change that.

-

okay listen, i know Eskel is a fierce and skilled witcher but i just wanted to see him lowkey melt when faced with the wholesome chaos that is Jaskier,,,

-

thanks for reading! masterlist | witcher sideblog: @itsjaskier | next chapter

[weirdochick56]

Mr. Evans II- Chris Evans AU Chapter Two

Teacher!Chris Evans x Student!Reader

Warnings: Explicit language, heartbreak, angst, MILD SMUT, a little bit of infidelity

Disclaimers: I don’t condone relationships of this kind, this is for entertainment purposes only.

Word Count: 3, 509 words

Read Chapter One here!!

***

(Gif isn’t mine!)

He’s looking at you and you’re looking at him and all you can think is god, his voice is sexy.

Your dad looks between you two, brows raised.

“You two know eachother?” He asks, bewildered.

You barely hear him, too taken by Mr. Evans’ intense aqua gaze on you and how good that nickname still sounded and looked coming out of those oh-so kissable lips. 

“Hey, Chr-Mr. Evans,” you correct yourself in a soft whisper, unable to conjure much else in response. 

His name felt so unfamiliar in your own mouth, and yet, your tongue welcomed it with such vigor, wrapping around each syllable, each sound like it’d never get to do so again. 

You finally tear your eyes away from his, turning to your dad. “Mr. Evans was my English teacher.”

He beams, pleased beyond your comprehension. “What a small world we live in! Funny how I’m marrying your teacher’s aunt isn’t it?”

You can’t help it when your brows raise to your hairline. “His aunt?”

Ah, so that’s where the familiarity in the eyes came from...

You can see it now, their similar features.

Kennedy interjects, gripping your father’s arm with a grin. “Yeah. Chris’ mom is my sister. He’s been really great through all of this, too. He even helped repaint the house.”

At this, your stomach falls. Your face goes stone hard as you fight the urge to turn your gaze to him because you knew if you did you would explode. Betrayal burns low in your belly and you hold back the impulse to lash out on Mr. Evans, clenching your fists. 

Instead, you look at your dad with an icy stare. “Are you fucking kidding me, dad?” 

His face falls, the color draining. “Y/n, please not here.”

But you don’t care. Your heart aches and your stomach churns with anger. Seeing him move on and try to repaint over your mother’s memory- this wasn’t how you expected it to go. You wanted him to be happy, yes, but not if it meant he’d be erasing everything about your mother and her legacy. Everything but that. 

But what really bothered you was that Mr. Evans, of all people, had helped do such a thing. Just thinking about how he had helped erase your mother’s memory made you want to barf. Now that was a sting you weren’t quite sure you could ever recover from.

You step up to your father, chin held high. “With all due respect, father, I will talk my mind wherever and whenever I damn well please. As far as I’m concerned, you are not removing her entirely from our lives like she never even existed.” You smirk. “Luckily, I’m here now. And I’m gonna be your daily goddamn reminder of that.”

“Y/n can you please-“ your father grips your arm in his but you feel utterly repugnance for his touch right now.

“No, dad!” You hiss, ripping your arm from his touch. “She loved this house, and you knew that! Why would you let her-” you point aggressively at Kennedy. “Come in and change our house. My house. Mom's house?!” Without realizing tears have trickled done your cheeks. Of anger or hurt, you don’t know.

You wipe at them furiously. Fuck, you hated this and you were not planning on crying on your first day here. Pathetic little girl. 

Despite your blurry vision, you manage to preserve your snark, looking around at you. “Congrats on the engagement, guys,” you spit disgracefully before your gaze lands on Mr. Evans who watches you with an unreadable expression. That fucking wall again. 

You just wish you could read him like one of his books but that wall- it was damn near unpenetrable. 

“You know what? Screw this. I’m jetlagged and quite frankly your faces are boring. I’m headed to bed.” You look at your father and Kennedy, tone satirically lazy. “My room is still there, right?”

Your father clenches his jaw, clearly wanting to say something else before Kennedy squeezes his arm in warning, offering him a small smile. He visibly relaxes and a firm nod of his head is your only response. 

You can’t help it when you scoff, rolling your eyes as you spin on your heel to walk up to your room. “Fuck’s sake,” you mumble under your breath incredulously.  

*

Not even a few minutes after you’ve begun settling into your room, does a knock come at your door. You sigh, not necessarily wanting to speak or even see anyone right now. 

“Whoever it is, I’d appreciate it if you’d kindly fuck-!” you call out before being abruptly cut off as the person opens the door, striding in any way. 

“Still got that potty mouth, I see.”

You freeze at the sound of that voice. That voice...a shiver travels through your spine like a small ripple travels in water.

You immediately pause your unpacking, gaze immediately snapping to his. “W-what’re you doing here?” you fight against the lump in your throat, swallowing tightly. 

He licks his lips, watching you from his stance near the door with his strong arms crossed across his now even broader chest. His gaze is undecipherable and you feel at a huge disadvantage not knowing what the hell it is he’s thinking. 

Nothing much has changed, apparently.

“I didn’t know,” is what he says once he finally breaks the insufferable silence. 

You huff at him, going back to your unpacking merely to seem unbothered. 

“I’m sure you didn’t.”

He sighs, running his fingers through his hair. “Y/n,” he begins seriously. 

Your insides instantly melt at hearing his voice embrace your name once again after all this time and out of pure damn instinct, your movements freeze and your gaze jumps to him. Fuck. 

His gaze doesn’t waver. Doesn’t move away an inch. “I just-,” he licks his lips. “If I had known how much it meant to you- I mean....I-I wouldn’t have- I hate seeing you cry,” he whispers sincerely- as if that is all he is allowed to say.

And you believe him, dammit, you do.  

But you’re not the same naive girl from before and he needed to know that. He needed to know that you’d grown up and that he was a part of your past. Not your present and he sure as hell was not a part of your future. Not the one you had planned, anyway. 

“Okay,” you retort nonchalantly, not even sparing him a glance. “Do you mind closing the door on your way out? Thanks.”

You hear the shuffle of feet then the closing of the door and then silence. 

Finally feeling like you can relax, you release a small sigh, looking up.

A strangled, small, startled gasp escapes your lips and you force your hand down from jumping to your racing heart. 

In the few seconds you’ve kept your head down, he’s stridden over to you with incredible stealth and is currently towering over you so closely, you can smell him again. In fact, he’s so close that from this angle, the tip of your nose brushes against his firm t-shirt-clad chest. Was he working out more? Your stomach clenches and your lips part in shock. 

He gazes down at you with a spark of emotion in his eyes. “You’re back.”

It’s as if he can’t believe it.

You peer up at him, once again trying to read him. Was that...pride? Curiosity? Longing? It was hard to tell. 

“I wanted to be here for the wedding,” you confess quietly before chuckling dryly. “But I might just end up leaving earlier than planned.” 

At this, he jerks. It’s small, minuscule even, but you catch it before he regains composure. 

“Aunt Kennedy is a really kind woman and she loves your dad. Give her a chance,” he responds calmly. “I know it’s hard for you to watch this happen right now, but everyone deserves happiness.”

You look him in the eye, your heart clenching. ”I assume that includes my mom too,” is all you answer despite wanting to say “And what about me? Us?”

His gaze saddens dramatically. Still, it’s a controlled emotion-- not a crack in the wall. Merely a door he’s opened because he’s allowing you a glimpse into what’s simmering beneath. “I-”

“I know,” you cut him off. “I know that I have no right to stop them from marrying and finding happiness because my mother never got to live her happiness thoroughly. I don’t care that they’re getting married, frankly. What I won’t allow is having my mother’s memory destroyed.”

He licks his lips. “Sweetheart, I get that. I really do and I respect it, too. But-” he hesitates. “Why does it matter so much that we repainted?”

You sigh. “One of my fondest memories is painting this house with my mother. It was one of the things that made it ours. Home. Purple isn’t a common color in this neighborhood in case you haven’t noticed. And my mom- she absolutely abhorred blue.” Your lips quirk up lightly. “Thought it was too sad of a color.”

When you look up at him, he’s even closer, glancing down at you like he couldn’t get enough of having you close. Inspecting you too. 

“You’ve changed.” It’s not a question and you wonder how this is all still happening right now. How you had him in front of you, talking to you like you’d been long lost friends who’d had a rough patch but still somehow found your way to one another again.

“Have I?” you decide to play coy, remaining planted in your spot as if to let him know you weren’t intimidated by him even though you were quite literally shiting your pants right now. 

How your body was reacting to his proximity was freaking you out even though you should have been used to it. It infuriated you that even after all this time he was able to do this to you. To cause such internalized emotions to whirl around you and force you to suppress them.

He nods, his fingers twitching beside him as he scans your face closely. “You have.”

You swallow the lump in your throat, trying to control your fast-beating heart to no particular avail. “So have you.” 

He smirks softly.  “Have I?”

You nod in response like he had earlier, weirdly enjoying this new back-and-forth banter. 

It was as if this new energy between you from your time apart was fresh and new and clean- and suddenly you could feed off eachother like never before. But still, the weight of what you refused to discuss hung over your heads like some unreachable, unbearable burden. 

And there was an air of maturity and even an entitlement that came with that. Alongside it, all these old emotions you’d suppressed over the last two years ferociously fighting to break out of you. 

It was all too complicated.  

“You have. And it’s not just the hair,” you jest, giggling lightly at your own little joke. 

God, he smelled good. And looked so good. And-

“You’re beautiful,” he whispers like it’s hard to find his voice and you can see his hand slowly rising to touch your face. “Still such a firecracker-” he pauses to chuckle with sad endearment, his gaze twisting into a confused frown. “But...different somehow. And I can’t quite put my finger on it.” 

His words are enough to make your limbs tremble with delight and you can’t help it when you’re taken aback by his bluntness. You hadn’t expected him to be so upfront with his thoughts right away. 

He still thought you were beautiful...

In your time apart it is true that you’d hardened your heart. Truth be told, after the heartbreak he brought you, you couldn’t bear another heartbreak. It’d kill you. So you decided to put up a wall of your own.

His fingers are two centimeters from your face and your skin immediately buzzes with exciting liveliness, anxiously, desperately, seeking his touch on your skin. Wanting- no. Needing it more than anything. 

You ached for him to touch you like he had before. To light the same fire within you that you knew could never be put out. To hold you so close to him, entangle himself with you so intricately, you wouldn’t be able to tell when you started and he ended. 

But nothing is as it was before. And it wouldn’t be fair for you to act like it was.

“Then don’t,” you mumble and just before he can fully press his fingers to your face, you swiftly step away from him, rounding your bed and acting like you’re so much more interested in unpacking even though your heart is fucking racing in your chest. 

The silence that settles between you two is tense and horrible, the air filled with so many questions about what had gone on in the past two years you hadn’t seen eachother, but neither of you is brave enough to act on your curiosities. 

So you say the first thing that comes to mind without looking up. 

“Who is she?” 

He quirks a brow at you. “Who is who?”

He’s acting coy- baiting you to get a reaction, you can tell. It was a game you weren’t all too eager to play, to be honest. So you stop unpacking, looking up at him straight in the eye. 

“You know exactly who I’m talking about,” you retort sassily. 

He doesn’t even try to hide his smirk. “Why do you care?”

You hide your embarrassment with nonchalance, shrugging. “I don’t. I was just curious.”

He chuckles mockingly. “You know...curiosity killed the cat.”

“But satisfaction brought it back,” you quip, glancing at him.

He laughs that beautiful laugh that made your insides quiver, skillfully avoiding your gaze (and your question).

And rather than stand around awkwardly, he opts to spin on his heels and look around your room. He does this with such a high degree of casualness and familiarity that it boils your blood for some reason. He prods and pokes as if you aren’t standing right there with him, looking at the band posters and books. 

“Interesting...” he hums before laughing under his breath as he holds up a Queen vinyl record with a raised brow. “You’ve got some taste, sweetheart.” 

You snort, trying to hide how bothered you really were. “Yeah, says the guy who listens to Frank Sinatra.”

He freezes for a only a split second but you catch it once more. What? Did he not think you’d remember?

“Touché,” he retorts under his breath, flipping through one of your books.

Something about the way he carried himself in your space like it was his too- even after all the time that has gone by without you even seeing eachother- made you so utterly pissed. 

 “Can you-” you sigh, trying to refrain from letting your petulant side slip. 

“Why are you here, Mr. Evans?” you ask point-blank, unable to see why he was choosing to stick around you despite your weird and awkward situation. You’re also not seeing a point in beating around the bush.

He doesn’t respond at first, merely looks at you with that same unreadable expression you hated so much. 

“I had found out about your father and Aunt Kennedy only when they were already engaged. It came as a shock to us all. I don’t want you to think I planned any of this in some weird, creepy strategy to-“ he inhales sharply, smiling wryly. “...you know what I mean.”

You shrug. “I didn’t think it was either way.”

He clears his throat. “Good, because I have no reason to do that, you know?”

Sharp pain inevitably shoots through you at this and you can’t help but laugh dryly. “Of course you don’t. I hadn’t expected this either, for the record. If you were shocked, imagine how much of a sneak-up this was on me.”

“Well, that’s because you left.” It comes out of his mouth too fast and there’s something ever so slightly strained in it.

You reel back immediately, brows raised. Is he accusing you of something? And is that hurt you hear in his voice?

You don’t get time to voice these questions before he’s completely backpedaling, freaking out because he’s said and shown too much. 

“Anyway, I think it’s about high time I head back downstairs. Get some rest, sweetheart.”

Before you can even fully process what you’re doing, you throw yourself in between him and the door, blocking his path. Peering up at him, you try to ignore how close you two are and how softly your chests are brushing. 

“Answer honestly. Do you hate me?” you whisper so softly, you’re sure he has to strain to hear what you’re saying.  

His face immediately twists into a sad grimace- tender and vulnerable- as he looks down at you. His eyes are utterly entrancing, your lips only a few inches apart. Slowly, his hand reaches up to touch you again. 

A crack in the wall?

Your flinch is tiny, a twitch at best, but he notices. His grimace deepens and he slowly retracts his hand, letting it drop stiffly beside him. 

He gradually steps back and you’re terrified he won’t answer your question before he talks again, his voice soft and earnest. 

“I thought you would know by now.”

“Know what?” You frown.

 He smiles. “I could never hate you, sweetheart. Even if I tried.”

And then he walks out. 

*

You sleep for hours, too exhausted to even change out of your clothes before you tumble onto your bed and pass out.

You really must’ve been jetlagged because with all the thoughts racing through your head after what’s just occurred with Chris, you’d think it would have been impossible to fall asleep in the first place.

It’s all so confusing and weirdly coincidental. Like really, what are the odds of this happening? And maybe in a moment of insanity, you can’t help but think what if this is destiny? 

But it isn’t long before another thought overrides that one and you grow scared when it strikes you right in the gut. This would mean that you’d have to see a lot more of him. Especially since it’s the week of the wedding.

Something in you curls and you don’t know whether it’s in excitement or fear. Probably both. 

You stay in bed a while longer, unable to go downstairs in fear of awkwardness and having to face more guests with a fake smile plastered on your face. Your thoughts kept going back to Mr. Evans and all the questions that were left unspoken between you two, so you decide to distract yourself. 

Talking with Margo and catching her up on everything seemed as a good place to start at as any. 

And she -as you’d expected- freaks out after you tell her Mr. Evans is related to Kennedy and you have to take your phone off your ear momentarily due to her shrill screams.

“Margo, seriously. Calm down, it’s not that big a deal,” you lie right through your teeth, getting off your bed and putting your phone on speaker as pull your hair into a messy bun. 

She laughs maniacally. “What the hell do you mean, baby girl!? Do you even realize how gaga you were about eachother just a few years ago? It’s crazy that your teacher crush is now practically apart of your family.”

You scoff, blushing madly as you pull your heels off. “I was not gaga about Mr. Evans, Margo. It was just a schoolgirl crush.”

She hums unconvincingly. “Yeah, sure. It’s not like it was clear as day on both your faces that you loved eachother.” A pause. “...not to mention the fact that you both went on to have a relationship afterward.”

You freeze, eyes as wide as saucers. “W-what?”

She laughs breezily. “Oh please, Y/n. You’ve been my best friend since childhood, you really think you could hide something that big from me? Nuh-uh, babygirl. It was written all over your face when I even brought him up, too. But even more telling were the looks you gave eachother. That’s when I knew.”

You swallow harshly, slowly reaching for your makeup wipes, almost like you didn’t know whether you should be acting like this wasn’t completely unexpected or not. “We gave eachother looks?” 

She snickers. “Did you ever! Hate to break it to you, hun, but the look of two people in love is practically impossible to hide.” She sighs, voice lowering. “I’ll admit, at first I was offended you hadn’t told me but then I remembered those looks. You were wrapped up in your own little world and I knew telling me would mean letting someone else in that world. You weren't ready for that and neither was he.”

You’ve ceased everything you’re doing, your mouth trembling and tears already gathering in your eyes. You have no idea what to say or even do right now. Hearing someone else say this out loud...it was electrifying in a horrific way.

After a few seconds of this, she finally speaks up again. “Y/n?”

You swallow the lump in your throat. “I’m sorry,” is all you can say in a shaky whisper. 

She clicks her tongue. “It’s fine, really! I just- I know it’s not because you didn’t trust me with it. I mean I could see you practically dying to tell me. It must’ve been hard not being able to talk to anyone about what you felt, right?” Her tone is soft, comforting. 

You sag with relief. “God, you have no idea. It doesn’t matter anymore though,” you straighten out.

“Why?”

“Because it’s been over for a long time. In fact, we hadn’t even labeled what ‘it’ was,” you laugh dryly. 

She’s silent for a second before responding in a matter-of-fact tone. “Doesn’t mean it wasn’t real.”

That strikes you for some reason and you remember what you’d told him that day at his house when you were pointlessly and foolishly begging him to keep loving you. “What we feel is real. This- us, we’re real. You know we are.” 

And yet- You huff, a sardonically sad smile spread limply on your face. 

“I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what that means, Margo.”

Your talk with Margo had carried on far into the night, and you’d caught up with her life, not wanting to think anymore about Mr. Evans and everything that was going on with the wedding and your father. 

She had met a guy a few years ago- Todd. He was a nice dude. Kinda nerdy, totally not her normal type. But he treated her like she deserved, loved her endlessly and she did so too. You envied her happiness, truthfully. But you were also really excited for her.

You tell her about Daniel and the problems you had been having, practically screaming about how complicated it all was and how you “just wish you could fuck him”.

 Margo, who had never shied away from sex and all its conversation glory, explained that once you found someone you truly loved-- it was magical to become one with them physically. Heightened everything about sex-- the pleasure, was an obvious one, but the intensity with which you experienced that pleasure, on the other hand, wasn’t that obvious.

That also really stuck with you. Was it really? Would it feel like that with Daniel? What was holding you back from just going ahead and doing it? You loved Daniel so shouldn’t it be easy to want that with him?

I don’t know. Maybe I’m making it too complicated. Maybe I should just go for it.

After you’d finished talking to her, you’d changed out of your clothes into your PJs- a simple tank top and cotton shorts and once you thought it was late enough into the night that you wouldn’t bump into anyone, headed downstairs for some food. 

All this emotional turmoil makes one hungry.  

Read Chapter Three here!!

***

Does it ever!

A Special Thanks to:

@star-spangled-steve​

@tomoyaevaans​

@pepsicola-is-my-brand-man​

@whereeverythingisbetter​

@fallenoutofrose​

@plutonium-m​​

@beepbeepromanoff​

@faithmichaluk​

@sincerelytlh​

And my forevers!

@jessikared97​

@ladyofletters67​

@lilypalmer1987​

@sammykb1994​

[k-llama-llama]

Stuck With Me Now

Stray Kids AU: 10th member

Tori x Stray Kids

Tori meets Sumi

A/N: Please check out my PATREON (patreon.com/kllamallama) for exclusive posts you can’t get anywhere else, as well as lots of other cool benefits!

Requests are closed, but your feedback is still greatly appreciated!

Masterlist and other Follow Me links in bio!

“Are they really here?” Minho whispered as they snuck backstage.

Tori nodded. “Apparently. They’re presenting, and I heard someone say that one of them might be doing a special stage.”

He straightened his jacket. “Do I look okay?”

“You look fine.” She promised. “And besides, it’s not like you haven’t met them.”

“Yeah, but it’s different. I’m like...not their backup dancer anymore.”

“I don’t think BTS is going to-”

“What am I supposed to do now?” Someone’s very loud voice carried down the hall.

Minho and Tori turned to look as a figure stormed down the hall, two very nervous-looking venue employees hurrying after.

Only when she stepped into the light did they realize who it was.

“Hide.” Minho said quickly. “We need to hide.”

“No.” Tori shushed him. “I wanna know the tea.”

“I hate that I know what that means now.” He groaned, turning to look the other way in case Sumi looked at him.

“You can still go on stage, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” The staff tried to reassure her.

“The song is for a group of four. And we got it down to two. And now you’re telling me that Jimin can’t make it because filming for Queendom ran over.”

“You knew that was a risk when you agreed-”

Sumi crossed her arms. “So I perform by myself?”

“You have to.”

“Great.” She threw her hands up in the air and turned away. “My first solo performance back and I’m going to do a half-assed performance. Really-”  She paused.

Tori looked up from her shoes after a long silence, finding Sumi and the staff all staring at her. The staff looked confused, but Sumi was just staring at them inquisitively.

“Ah, Hi.” Sumi bowed. “This is Minho. He used to dance backup for-”

“How tall are you?”

“Me?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Sumi stalked over, her heels making her about the same height as Tori. “I’d say you’re about the same size. Tori, right?”

“Yes.” Tori squeaked, having never felt more intimidated in her life.

Sumi nodded, thinking for a moment. “Zoey says you’ve got your shit together.”

“Mostly...” Tori thought for a moment. “I think. What are we talking about exactly?”

“I’m supposed to perform Bad Girl Good Girl with Jimin from AOA in twenty minutes, and she won’t be here. You’re from JYP, the same size, and have Zoey vouching for you. You in?”

Tori blinked. “I’m confused.”

“She wants you to perform with her.” Minho whispered, trying to be unnoticed.

“Hi, Minho. You’ve done well for yourself.” Sumi said, not even looking at him.

“Well, I tried. I mean-”

“You were always very talented.” Sumi finally smiled at him. “I’m just thrilled we got the chance to work with you before you were famous.” She looked back at Tori. “Are you in?”

Tori looked at Minho. “You were right, we should hide.”

Sumi smiled. “It’s okay if you say no. I’m just kind of in a pinch, and quite frankly I think performing with you will be fun.”

“We...” Tori rubbed her arm. “We haven’t had a chance to rehearse.”

“We have twenty minutes and a well-known choreo.”

Tori bit her lip. “I guess...Stray Kids is done for the day. And...it might be fun.”

“Perfect!” Sumi clapped her hands, turning to the staff. “One of you please go arrange everything with Stray Kids’ team, and Tori, you and Minho come with me and we’ll get ready for the performance.”

“Me?” Minho squeaked. 

“Yeah, I’m sure the boys would love to see you again.”

“We met, briefly at an award show last year.” Tori said quietly as Sumi set off at a brisk pace down the hall.

“I remember. Sorry we didn’t get a chance to chat more.” She stopped at the door of a dressing room and pushed it open. “Put clothes on losers, I brought guests.”

As it happened, all members of BTS were appropriately dressed, looking up in mild confusion at the new visitors.

“Stray Kids?” Yoongi tilted his head.

“Yup.” Sumi reached for a hairbrush. “I’m performing with Tori now.”

“I thought you were performing with Jimin.” Namjoon said, hands on his hips.

Sumi shook her head. “I’ve only got room for one Jimin in my life.”

“So what? You kidnapped Tori?” Jin asked.

“Pretty much. But she’s cool with it.” Sumi winked at Tori.

Tori awkwardly smiled.

“Right.” Sumi clapped her hands decisively. “Boys, you remember Minho. He used to dance with us. Go keep him company so Tori and I can get ready.”

“You can’t kick us out of our own dressing room.” Taehyung complained.

“Sure I can.” She flashed him a finger heart. “Get out.”

Jhope rolled his eyes, swinging an arm over Minho’s shoulders and leading him from the room.

Tori was tempted to reach for him, but watched them all trickle out, taking her only ally and leaving her with Sumi.

“Your outfit is marked with the red tag.” Sumi said. “Try it on, and we probably have time for quick alterations if need be.”

Tori didn’t spot a changing screen, so she stood in the corner. Sumi seemed suitably unbothered, and stripped and dressed herself in her own costume without so much as casting a look at Tori.

When she did, Tori had pulled on the striped crop top and black shorts, and was working her way into the jacket.

“It looks good.” Sumi smiled. “Everything feel okay?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Tori swallowed. “Are you sure you want me to perform with you? It might be better if you just go on by yourself.”

Sumi snorted. “I doubt it. We’ll need your looks if we’re going to stand a chance.”

“My looks...” Tori tilted her head. “But you’re very pretty.”

Sumi snorted. “Trust me, you’re prettier. Now, do you know the dance?”

“Yeah.”

“Kay, here’s the positions we’ve worked out.”

Tori looked at the outstretched sheet, considering it for a moment. “Got it.”

“That fast?” Sumi raised an eyebrow.

“I’m a dancer.” She said by way of explanation.

“Ah.” She smiled. “That’s why Zoey likes you so much.”

Sumi smoothed out her own skirt and set to applying some makeup. “I hope I’m not scaring you or anything.”

“Scaring me? Of course not.” Tori said, her voice high and squeaky.

Sumi laughed. “Going on without being certain of your set is nerve-racking at the best of times. Getting such little notice is even worse.”

“I’m not worried about the set.” Tori said, moving Jungkook’s sweater so she could sit on the chair. 

“Then what is there to worry about?” Sumi asked.

“Performing with you.” Tori said quietly.

Sumi’s eyes widened, and she looked at her for a long moment, before turning back to the mirror. “If that’s your concern, there’s no problem.”

“There is!” Tori insisted. “You’re like....the most famous Korean woman in the world.”

“Okay now, Hyuna exists.”

“You’re more famous and you know it.”

Sumi gave Tori a soft smile. “I’m just another idol. And I promise I’m a worse dancer than you.”

“Well, that’s something at least.” Tori gave a small laugh.

“So...” Sumi said, touching up her mascara. “Since we’re best friends now, can you spill whatever was up with the whole stalker thing, and the dating thing?”

“You saw that?” Tori winced.

“Everyone did. You okay?”

Tori nodded. “Guy was a creep, and broke into my apartment and tried to kidnap me, so you know.”

“Sadly, I do.” Sumi frowned. “But they took care of it?”

“They did.”

“And what about the dating thing? Just stupid rumours I assume. Those are the freaking worst. Last year everyone thought I was dating Shownu. And I mean, dude’s nice and looks great, but I feel like it’d be a little like dating a mannequin, you know?” 

Tori took a moment to process all that she’d just said. “I...guess so?”

“Anyways.” Sumi spun in her chair. “Dating rumours. Ridiculous, right?”

“Well,” Tori instantly wished she was a better liar. “It wasn’t entirely unfounded.”

“Really.” Sumi looked playfully scandalized. “You and the leader?”

“Chan. A bit. But it’s over now.”

Sumi shook her head. “From the look on your face, I’m pretty sure it isn’t over.”

“Two minutes to stage prep!” 

“TWO MINUTES TO STAGE PREP!” Jin knocked on the door.

“You ready?” Sumi smiled.

“I think so.”

“Good.” Sumi linked arms with her. “I get a vibe we’re going to be friends. Is that okay? I literally never get to hang out with anyone other than the guys. And occasionally Zoey. I’d love love love a new friend.”

“Okay.” Tori nodded shyly.

“Oh, yay!” She gasped. “You, me and Zoey should have sleep overs!”

Tori laughed. “I’m in!”

“Great!” Sumi reached for the door. “And, since you just told me a secret, I’ll tell you one too.”

“Okay, I’m ready for it.” Tori grinned.

Sumi gave a positively evil grin. “I have a boyfriend.”

“WHAT!”

“Let’s go.” She opened the door, pushing through the crowd of boys.

“How have you kept that hidden? Who is it?”

Sumi laughed. “You don’t get that many secrets until we’ve at least exchanged friendship bracelets.”

“Please, Eonnie.” Tori begged. “I need to know!”

“Tell you what, I’ll tell you over dinner. A thank you for helping me out with this.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Good. Because we need some serious best friend bonding time.”

“Oh, I can’t be best friends.” Tori said honestly. “Felix will be devastated.”

“Other Australian boy?”

“Yeah.”

“Jeez girl, you get around. Okay, fine. Zoey and I will just be second to Felix. Deal?”

“Deal?”

Sumi shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m being treated like this.”

“I can’t believe someone is making me go onstage with twenty minutes of prep.” Tori winked.

Sumi narrowed her eyes. “Well played. Well played.”

[pcygoldenchild]

The Boss Is Watching

✨summary: Kyungsoo was your incredibly hard working boss who was amazing good at everything. Good at running his company. Good at making you laugh. Even good at making you cum...with his questionable skills.

✨warnings: NSFW, masturbation, fingering, squirting, voyeurism.

✨A/N: Looky here, another request turned into a one shot. What a surprise. Sorry to keep you waiting @kkyunnggiie hope you enjoy it!

PART 2

You walk into the office like any other weekday. You were that loyal assistant that would show up and hour before everyone else to make sure everything was perfect before the big man came in. The clicking of your heels on the marble floor was a therapeutic sound to you now. You went to the kitchen and made two things of iced coffee, you and Kyungsoo’s addiction as of late. You also made yourself a bagel with cream cheese. Once you were done you stopped by your office first and picked up the papers you left there the night before to bring to his office. You were about to leave when you heard a laugh. It was the quietest laugh but you knew that vibrato anywhere. You looked around and saw no one then heard the silenced laugh again. You stopped and rolled your eyes before turning to look at your computer. This hacker.

“Hi there.” Kyungsoo smiled brightly. You laughed and shook your head.

“Boss, how many times do I have to tell you to stop hacking into my computer? It’s really creepy.” You say leaning over. You were oblivious to the cleavage you just presented your boss.

“Hmm well I just have to make sure you’re keeping up on your work and not watching porn or anything.” he laughed. You rolled your eyes again and scoffed.

“If you need to check on anyone, it’s Jenna in accounting. And Robert in advertising. They are the ones watching porn and fucking each other in the bathroom.” You say defensively. He laughs at your reaction.

“I’d think you’d show more loyalty to not snitch on your coworkers.” he said raising his eyebrow.

“They are not my coworkers. You are my coworker.” you say before hanging up the FaceTime call. You grab the papers and food and walk to his office. You walked in and he came around the desk to grab the coffees walking with you back to his desk.

“What are you doing here so early? Your don’t have a meeting until about-,” you said cutting yourself off. You noticed he was wearing the same thing as yesterday.

“Kyungsoo you didn’t.” you glared at him putting your hand on your hip. He moved back and scratched his neck.

“Listen there’s a logical and important reason why I stayed here last night.” he said reaching for something on his desk. He handed you a packet labeled ‘finance advancement plan’ from the one and only Lee So Man. You looked at Kyungsoo with confused eyes.

“He’s agreeing with the plan. We’re getting our corporate buildings!” he said smiling widely at you. You went up and hugged him tight. This was a huge deal. He worked so hard for this and now it was all coming true. You pulled back and looked up at him. He was smiling at you as he started playing in your hair. You instantly felt your face get hot. He was so beautiful even more so up close. He laughed at your red cheeks and kissed your forehead.

“Anyways I just want to thank you. You’ve been here every step of the way and I couldn’t have asked for a better assistant and friend.” he said kissing your nose before walking towards his desk again to grab his coffee. You stood there for a second and watched him. You were so happy you couldn’t stop smiling.

“So that’s why I stayed here. He’s going to call me in about 30 minutes to discuss some things and I needed to highlight some things. I promise I did go to sleep on the couch. I didn’t stay up all night.” he said handing you your bagel after taking a large bite.

“Well that’s a good reason. Do you need anything?” you said taking a much smaller bite.

“I actually want you to stay here with me while I talk to him. You’re clearly my lucky charm.” he said grabbing your hand and walking around his desk. He pulls a chair up next to his and you both sit down.

“What can I do? I literally do not want to ruin this.” you say nervously. He puts his hand on your thigh and squeezed lightly smiling at you.

“You could never ruin anything. He won’t even know you’re here. He can’t see you in the camera. I just need your presence if I get nervous.” he said now rubbing your thigh. You slightly twitched under his hand and he looked at you with slight amusement in his eyes. You looked down at his hand as it squeezed again. Lucky for you, the computer rang. Kyungsoo cleared his throat and sat up straight but never let his hand move from your thigh.

The call went on and on. You sat and watched Kyungsoo talk and act so diligently. He was incredible and no one fit this spot more than he did. You also watched how calm and collective he was as his hand slowly crept up your thigh and under your skirt. You watched as his jaw tightened as you tighten your legs together.

His fingers danced along the hem of your underwear ever so lightly. The light feel of his fingers making you push into his touches. You pull your skirt up so it’s not in the way and see him smirk. You spread your legs and he slowly draws circles over your clothed clit with his thumb. You closed your eyes and grabbed the edge of the desk giving you something tangible to rely on. He pinched your clit and pulled the fabric telling you to take your underwear off. You did as told remembering to be very quiet and not get into the camera view. Once you were exposed you opened your legs wide and got comfortable in the chair. He brought his hands back to you and lightly rubbed up and down the insides of your thighs. The feeling made your breath hitch as he got closer to your core. He squeezed your thigh to warn you to keep quiet.

Then he all at once plunged two fingers into you. You nearly chocked trying to hold in the moan you wanted to let out. Your grip on the desk and side of the chair tightened as his fingers started fucking you. You took it upon yourself to rub your clit. You wanted to cum but you also didn’t want this to draw out and risk getting caught. Although you were sure he could hear the sounds of Kyungsoo’s fingers fucking your wet cunt. You were also sure he could see his arm moving at an alarmingly fast rate. But the stoic look on Kyungsoo’s face said everything was fine.

You were getting closer and closer and you prayed you didn’t make a mess this time. Kyungsoo didn’t know your messy habits but the way his fingers curled and danced around inside you, he seemed to have a goal. The combination of you rubbing your clit and him finger fucking you sent you flying off the edge. You arched off the chair and smacked your other hand over your mouth as a long low whine escaped. Kyungsoo let out a rather deep groan as his fingers kept fucking you feeling your walls get increasingly wet. The sounds of your impeding waterfall getting louder and louder. You hurried and slammed your legs shut but was too late as your juices sprayed on to him. You froze. There was no way he didn’t notice that. And once you saw Kyungsoo smiling his devilish heart shaped smile, you knew something was up. He brought his fingers to his mouth and sucked turning to look at you. You looked at the computer screen and saw Soo Man still talking but unbothered by the actions in front of him. He was responding without Kyungsoo talking and then it hit you. This fucker.

“I knew I was great with video editing, but I didn’t think I was this great. I can’t believe you didn’t realize until now that this was fake. And I can’t believe I didn’t take you as a squirter.” he teased as he kneeled down in front of you licking between your legs. You were speechless.

“Are you serious? Was any of that real? Did you seriously do all of this just to get in between my legs Kyungsoo?” you said playing with his hair as he licked up your cum.

“Well the deal is real and the video call was real, but it happened last night. I just recorded it and memorized how it went and recreated it. And yes I did. But you were going to get fucked by me sooner or later. I might as well have made it a memorable first time.” he said standing up and kissing you. He walked around the desk to his closet and pulled out a overnight duffel bag.

“I’m also glad I didn’t change because now I have someone’s cum all over my two thousand dollar suit.” he said taking out a new suit. You rolled your eyes and fixed yourself before walking over to him and grabbing his face.

“You are unbelievable Kyungsoo. And to think you spied on me. I think you were just watching me for your own amusement. Do you do the same to Jenna?” you teased kissing his heart shaped lips. He smiled and looked deep in your eyes.

“No one is half as interesting as you.” Kyungsoo confessed. But you were sure he was way more interesting.

[heyyyharry]

Valentine’s Day Special: Roses Are Red… 

(from the ‘Couple in Flat 102’ Series)

…in which Y/N and Harry spend Valentine’s Day with different people.

In this chapter: 10k words 😱, probably plenty of unedited mistakes, fluff, mostly fluff, a bit of smut at the end, Harry being soft and extra as always, cute flashbacks from their time as flatmates 🤷‍♀️ 

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"Which color of these wedding dress would look good on me?"

Nam shifted closer to the bride-to-be so he can have a better look at the pictures in the wedding catalogue she was holding.

"Aren't these all white?"

His question and the perplexity on his face stole Y/N's and Layla's attention away from the glamour of these wedding shots. Layla immediately turned to Ben, who was sitting next to her on the couch as she scoffed. "Why did you get so offended when I said your ivory shirt was white, when the person you're dating is practically colorblind?"

"First of all." Ben raised one finger, obviously unamused by the girl's remark. "That shirt was obviously ivory, even someone like Harry could tell it was ivory."

Y/N couldn't help but snort when her fiancé's name was brought up because she knew it was true, if Harry had been there he would've been just as confused as Nam was right now.

"Second of all, Nam and I may be Treasure's godparents but we aren't dating, two gay people can be friends okay?"

Ben's clarification caused Nam to widen his eyes and release a slight laugh. "I expected at least one of those two statements was to defend me."

"Sorry, sweetie, I can't defend someone who doesn't know there are different shades of white."

Y/N and Layla exchanged looks, neither was convinced that there was nothing going on between their two gay friends. Y/N knew that they'd been spending a lot time together and not just to babysit her cat. But after having been cheated on twice, Ben was probably just being careful before letting himself fall head over heels for someone else. She couldn't really relate considering how happily in love she was, yet Y/N still somewhat understood why he didn't want to rush into another relationship, even though Nam was clearly a sweet guy.

"Questions!" Ben quickly raised a hand as if he was in a class and needed permission to speak his mind. "Shouldn't you discuss these things with Harry before consulting us? I'm surprised we're also choosing the wedding venue, what if he doesn't like it?"

"Harry and I share the work," Y/N cheerfully answered. "So he lets me decide the wedding date, venue, theme, decorations, food..."

"So the whole wedding then?"

Layla's cheeky comment made Y/N roll her eyes, still she went on, "...and he'll be in charge of the guest list, because, you know, he knows more people than I do."

"Sounds like the Harold I know." Layla gave her best friend a shrug. "He's always hated weddings, he only likes it for you."

"That's my man." Y/N sighed in contentment and a subconscious smile spread across her face. She always started grinning like a Cheshire Cat whenever she talked about him, and vice versa. Having been together for that long and now getting married, nobody knew how they could still be so in love with each other. But they were.

"I'm trying to have a few options for the wedding venue picked out today so we can have a carefree Valentine's Day tomorrow."

That year's Valentine's Day, Harry and Y/N had decided not to get each other anything and were just gonna spend time together, doing the things they enjoyed.

"Speaking of Valentine's Day..." Nam exchanged looks with Ben and Layla, not sure if he should tell Y/N this, but because she was his friend and he loved her so he ended up saying it anyway. "Shouldn't you be concerned that your future husband is hanging out with another girl the day before V-Day? Girl, I wouldn't be as chill if I were you, especially when that girl was obvious about her crush on my man."

Ben gasped as he heard what Nam had just said, his eyes broadened instantly. "Wait, he's with that Rose girl at the moment?"

"Yeah." Y/N nodded, her unusual composure was certainly not the reaction her friends were expecting to see. "They're not really hanging out. Her car broke down and the poor girl didn't have any friend so she called H to pick her up from her campus."

"You're telling me that little rich bitch couldn't call one of her fifteen personal drivers to come pick her up?" Layla scoffed, squinting her eyes in doubt at her best friend, who for some reasons still appeared pretty unbothered.

"I trust Harry completely, okay? You don't have to worry, because I don't. He's the most loyal man I know," Y/N said, as she gave her friend a reassuring smile.

The discussion about her fiancé and his twenty-year-old admirer was cut short when her phone lights up, notifying a new text message. This was probably the fifth one she'd got ever since they sat down on this couch. And judging by how annoyed she seemed when reading it, Ben just had to ask her who it was that'd been calling and texting her the entire morning.

"My new boss' being annoying again. I'm gonna call him back later."

She put the phone back down on the table without bothering to reply to those texts. After all, it was the weekend, and she'd got a wedding to plan which was way more important than anything else. Besides, she'd been working with that man for a couple weeks now, and she could bet there was nothing urgent at all, he just really enjoyed troubling her, even on her days off. But she didn't want to talk about or think about him at the moment, so she put her phone on airplane mode and assumed it would solve the problem.

Well, she was wrong.

It actually brought the problem to her front door.

The sound of door bell pulled everyone's attention away from their unfinished wedding planning business. Y/N didn't expect any guest at the moment, and it couldn't be Harry since she'd made sure to put the key in his pocket herself before he left the flat this morning, knowing how often he forgot his key.

Who else can it be?

The answer really shocked the girl when she came to open the door.

"What are you doing here?" Y/N exclaimed, eyebrows furrowed at the man standing in front of her.

Her unwelcoming attitude didn't offend her twenty-seven year old manager, in fact, it amused him. The attractive young man looked past her shoulder into her living room, smirking as he waved at Layla, Nam, and Ben, who were not even being subtle while checking him out. He didn't seem uncomfortable with all this attention he was receiving, so Y/N assumed that happened to him very often.

"You're having guests I see. Bad time?"

Y/N ignored his question and shut the door behind her so her friends couldn't listen to their conversation.

"What are you doing here, Jack?!" She asked again, more assertive this time because apparently making her life at the office a living hell wasn't enough for him.

"You didn't answer my calls."

"I was busy and it's Saturday!"

"The clients don't care if it's the weekend," Jack spoke calmly, pulling out his phone as he showed her an email he'd just received. "They've changed their mind about the entire plan for the opening event. They don't like it anymore and want to meet us tomorrow to discuss the changes."

"Us?!" She dropped her jaw, pointing to her face. "Why do I have to go? You're the VP!"

"You were the one who wrote and presented the plan. Now they want to change it so you're coming with me."

Y/N heaved a sigh, looking slightly worried.

"But tomorrow is..." Valentine's Day!!! "...Sunday."

"So? Told you the clients didn't care if it's the weekend." He gave her a shrug like it was no big deal.

Y/N swore that was the first time she'd met someone who was more obsessed with their job than she was, and also a conceited asshole who'd been breathing down her neck ever since he replaced her lovely old vice president. She had never hated anyone that much since...well, Harry.

Gosh, why am I comparing this douchebag to my future husband?! She thinks, Harry was lowkey a sweetheart; Jack, on the other hand, probably has a heart made of ice.

"Tomorrow, 10AM," said the man as he put his phone back into his jacket and pointed a finger to her. "I'll text you the address, and I don't want to hear any excuse for being late, not even a minute."

"Seriously?! Why do you hate me?!!!" She shouted after him when he walked off. But Jack didn't say anything else, he simply shot her a teasing smirk, and just like that, disappeared into the lift.

When Y/N returned inside, all six eyes were fixed on her, staring at her like she'd committed an awful crime, or wearing the most ridiculous outfit of all time.

"What?"

"Who's that?" Layla asked with a smirk.

"My boss."

"Does Harry know your new boss is hot?" The next question from Ben got Y/N to laugh as she shook her head fast.

"He only knows my new boss is an asshole, which is more correct by the way."

"But he is hot," Nam joined in. "Maybe he's got a thing for you, I mean, he showed up at your door literally five minutes after you didn't answer his text."

"He was here to talk about work." Y/N gave her friend a funny look because the idea of Jack being attracted to her, even a tiny bit, was absolutely absurd. "It's strictly business, guys. And Jack doesn't have human feelings anyway so...But don't say anything to H, he'll freak if he thinks my boss is into me."

"Is his name really Jack?" Ben seemed weirdly excited about the name and Y/N didn't know why so she just nodded her head, looking at him funny.

"Oooh, I have the perfect wedding theme for ya!" He exclaimed with a massive grin as she sat back down. "How about Titanic? Get it? Jack and Rose?"

Despite how thrilled he was to have discovered that coincidence, everyone else just stared at him with a straight face.

"That was a terrible joke, wasn't it?" He asked and Nam patted him on the back for encouragement, whereas Layla just saw that as an opportunity to tease Ben.

"Congrats, you can now be Harry's new BFF!"

Layla and Y/N fist-bumped in reaction to how offended Ben looked after being compared to Harry. Despite having a good laugh about the situation, subconsciously, Y/N hoped her friends weren't right, and that the Titanic duo wouldn't ruin her Valentine's Day.

As Y/N got back to the planning, Harry just arrived at Rose's university campus. He found the poor girl waiting for him in the parking lot, hair tied up in a high ponytail and the wet paint stains on her clothes, arms and hair had him confused.

"Is everything alright?" He asked immediately as he stepped out of his car and approached her.

With a tired smile, she told him, "my car broke down."

"No I mean, why are you covered in paint?" He eyed her from head to toes and exhaled a laugh.

Rose knew she probably looked like a silly mess right now, yet when she saw those dimples on his face, she felt like the happiest girl alive. So she enthusiastically answered, "I was building my own booth for the students' flea market tomorrow."

"Cool. What are you selling?"

"Myself."

His eyes grew wide in reaction to her unexpected answer.

"Sorry, bad joke." Rose giggled, shaking her head. "I'm gonna do a kissing booth, because, you know, it's Valentine's Day tomorrow."

"A kissing booth? Nice! Reminds me of my student years."

"You did a kissing booth as well?" She seemed pretty amused, eyes squinting at the man. "I bet you earned plenty from it."

"No, no, not me, my missus' book club did a kissing booth to raise a fund for charity, I showed up thinking she was gonna be at the booth, but she wasn't, and I was very disappointed, didn't get to kiss her that night."

The way Harry started smiling as soon as he mentioned his 'missus' absolutely shattered Rose, still she faked a smile and spoke like nothing was wrong, "wow, you two have been together for that long? That's very admirable."

"Yeah, we were flatmates then," he answered with a vibrant beam on his face. "It's a long story, I'll tell you another time."

"Oh, okay...I assume you're gonna be busy tomorrow night then?"

"Yeah, I'm spending the whole day with Y/N."

Despite already knowing his answer, Rose still got disappointed, but the frown on her face didn't get to stay for too long because afterward he told her, "maybe we'll stop by and say hello."

'We'

Rose didn't like the sound of that, and the thought of meeting his wife-to-be was already heart-wrenching. However, Rose was still curious about the girl he was in love with, she wanted to know what she was like, so while grinning from ear to ear, she clapped her hands and told him she couldn't wait to finally meet Y/N.

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"What are you doing tomorrow night?"

Y/N's eyes nearly popped out of the sockets when she received that question from her flatmate. It was February 14 tomorrow, and she expected Harry to already have his own plans; considering how popular he was, girls would be lining up to be his Valentine. What she didn't expect was him to come into her room as she was getting ready for bed, and ask her that question.

Did he want to spend time with her on Valentine's Day? Or was he just checking if she was gonna leave the flat, so he could bring someone over?

No, Y/N, you need to calm down.

"Why?" She asked him cautiously, and that look on her face put a smile on his.

"Since neither of us has a Valentine, I was uhm...thinking...maybe we could do something...together."

"Yeah, like what?" She tried to hold back the exhilaration from showing only to fail miserably. Though there was nothing official about their relationship, or even friendship, she knew he had a soft spot for her as she did for him. And it made her so happy that he wanted to hang out with her on Valentine's Day.

"Like...well...we can...uhm..." Harry stuttered for a few seconds since this was all new to him, the struggling was etched on his face. "What...what would you like to do?"

Ooooh, Y/N was glad he'd asked, because she had a lot of suggestions for their 'non-official' date. She opened her mouth, just about to start ranting about the things she'd always wanted to do and places to go, but all of a sudden, she remembered something that crashed her entire vision of a romantic night out with Harry.

"Oh no, I've got plans tomorrow night."

Her announcement turned him to stone right on the spot. He shifted a little bit on the edge of her bed and cleared his throat, trying to remain cool.

"What? With whom?" He asked, breathing out a nervous chuckle.

"With the people at my book club." Her answer made him sigh in relief, well, not literally. "We're doing a kissing booth."

"Shit, really?"

"You can come if you'd like, all the money will go to charity."

Harry didn't know what to say. Was she seriously asking him to come and see her kiss other people? But on second thought, if she was gonna kiss random people on Valentine's Day, he should show up as well.

"Okay, I'll take my friends there, charity is...important." He smiled nervously and his heart nearly burst from joy for how elated she looked as she thanked him.

The truth was, Harry'd never really spent Valentine's Day with a girl before. In fact, he hated Valentine's Day. When he was in high school, girls usually snuck flowers and cards and little gifts into his locker, hoping they'd get his attention, but he didn't care, sappy stuff like those only annoyed him. So of course, he had never done the same for any girl.

That year, however, things had certainly changed for Harry. He'd got a girl to care about and even though she didn't know it yet, she was his Valentine. He wanted to do something special. He didn't know how to do it without being too extra and obvious about his feelings for her, even though it was already pretty obvious. He wasn't sure where they stood, or what they wanted themselves to be to each other. Sure they'd been heavily flirting ever since Christmas when she gave him a kiss on the cheek, but they'd never once said how they felt about each other. He wanted to know how she felt about him, but at the same time, afraid of the answer, and of admitting how he felt about her.

So he sought for advice from Niall, not because his best friend was 'the expert of love' or anything, just because he'd got no better choice.

"Give her flowers."

"That's the lamest thing ever!" Harry snorted at his friend's suggestion. He didn't expect much from Niall, but flowers? Really? "What did you get your previous girlfriend?"

"Nothing. I forgot it was Valentine's Day, that was why we broke up."

Harry rolled his eyes and patiently asked again, "how about the one before that?"

"I got her flowers."

"Why are you even my friend?" Harry buried his face into his palm as he sat down on his best friend's bed. Niall, who was now sitting at the desk facing Harry, gave him a little shrug while tapping the pen on the pile of books in front of him, trying to come up with a better solution.

"I can ask Layla for you if you want."

"No! I don't want Layla to think I'm in love with Y/N!"

"Dude, everyone knows you're in love with Y/N!"

"Admitting it is a different thing!" Harry scoffed, hands tangled in his own hair. "Okay, so I know there are at least two people who are into Y/N."

"How the fuck do you know that?" Niall cracked up. "Have you been stalking her? Reading her diary?"

"Fuck no! She told me! She just wasn't interested, but I'm afraid if those guys do something for her on Valentine's Day, she'll fall for one of them."

"No she won't, Y/N likes you, we all know that."

"No we don't, not...for sure at least." Harry slowly shook his head, eyes fell to the floor. "I don't want to lose her..."

"Then tell her how you feel," Niall said it casually, like it was easy when Harry knew better that it was not.

"If I could just tell her then I wouldn't even need to ask you what to do."

"What's stopping you then?"

He didn't answer that question. If he started listing out the things that keep him from confessing his feelings for his flatmate, the list would be endless. He could give a thousand reasons to just give up on Y/N and try to move on, one of it being...she was Y/N, sweet, innocent Y/N who was way too good for someone like him, and him hurting her would be much worse than his own heartbreak. But he only needed one reason to keep on loving her, and it was also because...she was Y/N, sweet, innocent Y/N who was way too good for someone like him.

"Don't worry mate, you'll come up with something," Niall said, giving his friend an encouraging smile. And Harry really hoped that he would.

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Y/N had decided to tell Harry about Jack, everything, from him showing up at their door to him giving her no choice but to be at work on Valentine's Day. At first she'd thought it would just be a meeting, lasting about one or two hours top, but turned out, they were gonna have to spend the entire day monitoring the organizing process and coming up with solutions for the new adjustments in the original plan, because apparently, the clients changed their mind like the weather.

"I feel so bad now that I can't spend Valentine's Day with you...I'm so so sorry, baby..." She sighed, holding his head close to her chest while they were cuddling on the bed with their cat, who was sleeping soundly on Y/N's stomach right now.

"It's okay love, I can't say I'm not disappointed but it's not like you have a choice." He looked up to meet her eyes and showed her a smile. "Your boss really is a dick."

"He's still my boss."

"Yeah." He nodded, furrowing his eyebrows. "Don't worry, babe, one day you're gonna be your own boss."

The corners of her lips curved into a smile when she heard him. "Until that day, I'm gonna have to tolerate people like Jack. Ugh... don't know why he hates me so much."

"You told me you disagreed with him once at his first meeting."

Now that she was reminded about that argument she'd had with her boss in front of the other employees, Y/N got all riled up again. "Well, maybe if he hadn't said such bullshit and forced everyone to think his way! I mean, it's the twenty-first century now and women are allowed to have their own opinions!"

Her annoyance amused Harry somehow as he chuckled and reached up to gently comb a few strands of hair out of her face.

"I'm in love with a feminist, hmm?" His remark made her giggle. She was so glad to have him around and make everything better.

Harry carefully sat up, trying not to cause too much movement that might wake up their sleeping cat. Then he laid soft kisses across her neck and smirked when she released a soft moan in response.

"You do your thing and I'll pick you up when you're done," he whispered into her ear while nibbling on it. "Then we'll have a quiet dinner, just the two of us at home, yeah? I'm gonna make dinner."

"You? Making dinner?" She raised both eyebrows, turning to the side a bit to rest her forehead against his, holding his face with one hand. Her teasing caused him to laugh and scrunch up his nose.

"Shut up, I'm still learning," he said.

"Could everyday be Valentine's Day please?" She giggled before kissing his cheek.

Obviously, Y/N didn't think much when she made that wish. It was not until now, on Valentine's morning, when she was standing in front of her client's representative and listening to this woman dissing all the ideas she'd spent many sleepless nights working on, that she realized she didn't want everyday of her life to be like today. She'd never hated her job more than this moment.

Jack wasn't there yet. It was ironic that he'd been the one who'd warned her not to show up late, not even a minute, when now it'd been over half an hour and he was still nowhere to be seen. And because he wasn't there, she had to take all the rage from their angry client.

The woman looked around the venue in distress as she paused her rambling to release a long heavy sigh.

"This place can't even fit 300 guests, and it certainly doesn't look like a fashion event if it's held here."

"300? How has the number gone up to 300?" Y/N was in shock, but the woman from the other firm turned her nose up at the poor girl.

"We've expanded the guest list, no big deal," she said, sticking out her bottom lip like the opening event of her firm is a children's playdate, and it drove Y/N up the wall.

"Adding 100 more people is a big deal!"

"You've got nearly a week to figure it out."

Those words really made Y/N's blood boil. She opened her mouth, about to tell this woman off, when a familiar voice interrupted her all at once.

"Sorry I'm late," said Jack as he calmly approached the two ladies. Y/N had never been happier to see him, well, she'd never been happy to see him until now.

"Nearly 40 minutes late," she whispered to him when he stood by her side, resulting in a smirk on his face.

"Sorry, went back to get something," he told Y/N under his breath before turning to the other woman and instantly putting on the most charming smile he could fake to ease her anger. It did work, it'd always worked.

"Mr. Coleman, lovely to see you again!"

Y/N couldn't say she wasn't offended by this tremendous attitude change from the lady right here. She supposed some people can get really blind in presence of a good-looking human being. She couldn't blame her though, Jack knew his ways around people, that charming public persona could win over even the grumpiest ones. Wait, but now that she really thought about it, she couldn't recall ever seeing Jack being mean to any other person, only her. Okay now, she was even more offended!

"I guess there's a bit of a problem here, Ms. Flores?"

"Oh, call me May." She waved her hand and giggled like a teenager. Is this woman for real? Thought Y/N, yet she stayed quiet and lets Jack do the talking. "So this venue is too small for our guest list, we've recently decided to boost the number to 300 guests."

"300?" Jack also seemed stunned. "That's 100 more!"

"See I was trying to—"

Jack immediately nudged Y/N and signaled her to let him handle this.

"You should've thought of a backup plan in case your clients wanted to change the guest list, how unprofessional!" The woman glared at Y/N, who looked at Jack, waiting for him to back her up. And surprisingly, he did.

"It's not her fault."

Those words that'd come out from his own mouth left a huge shock look on Y/N's face, her mouth was agape as she stared at him wide-eyed. "I was the one who proposed the idea of having the event here and I didn't consider the possible changes in the plan, so I apologize for all this inconvenience. It's not Ms. Y/L/N's fault as she was just presenting my proposal."

"Oh...Okay, so how are you gonna fix this?" Asked the lady, now that she was convinced it was really Jack's mistake, she seemed to be more at ease, which slightly upsetted Y/N. But she was just glad Jack'd rescued her when he could've just pin all the blame on an employee like her to save his face.

After a long negotiation, Jack managed to have their clients reduce the number of guests back down to a hundred and they didn't have to change the venue at the last minute.

"Wow, who would've known organizing an event could be this hard!" Said Y/N as she was watching people putting up the lights and getting the sound system ready, already thinking about how hard it was gonna be for her to finish planning her wedding.

Jack was standing next to her, his eyes were fixed on the girl, and not what he was supposed to be paying attention to. A big smile displayed on his lips as he questioned her, "your first time being in charge of a project?"

"Yeah, since I was new they didn't actually let me do anything on my own," she replied, turning to look at him. "But I fucked up this time so I get why they doubted my abilities."

"You didn't fuck up." He smirked, slightly amused by hearing her curse because he didn't take her as a person who would ever say a bad word. "You did a great job."

"I did?"

"Yeah." He nodded then leaned in closer to whisper to her, "that woman was pretty annoying by the way."

His comment made her laugh. It was actually the first time she'd laughed at anything he'd ever said.

"I'm sorry you had to take the blame for me though, I feel very guilty."

Jack gave her a shrug with his hands shoved in the pockets of his trousers. "Don't be. That's what bosses do, take responsibilities for their employees. And I did ask you to work on the plan, you did it on your own, put hard work in it, and you did well. The clients can be mean sometimes, but you're not allowed to disagree with them. Take my advice, let them think they're right and try to maneuver the plan back to how you think works best by negotiating."

"I'm just not good at..." she paused and heaved a sigh "...dealing with people."

"I know, that's what I like about you."

She immediately dropped her jaw and shot her head up to stare at him, unable to believe he'd just said those words. Jack pretended like he didn't see that dumbfounded look on her face, he tilted his head and told her to follow him.

"Come. I'll show you the PR clip and you can tell me what you think."

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"Oh my God, why are we here?!" Layla complained, again. In fact, that was all she'd been doing since she got out of the car. "Let's just go to Ruth's party instead, where the cool people are!"

Liam didn't even hesitate to jump on board with the girl. "I agree with Layla, why are we at a flea market?"

To be honest, Harry hadn't even known there was a flea market on campus tonight until Y/N told him so. He wasn't interested in any activities by the student clubs of the university, but since Y/N was a member of a few so maybe he'd changed his mind a bit and stopped assuming that if you were in a club then you were all lame.

"Because Harold promised Y/N he would come," Niall spoke for Harry, who immediately glared at his best friend for saying that out loud for everyone to hear. However, nobody seemed to be surprised.

"I personally think this is fun!" Said Louis who threw an arm over Harry's shoulders and the other in the air. "They're selling beer over there, that's all I care about."

"And Y/N's club has a kissing booth!"

Niall, once again, received dead eyes from Harry.

"A kissing booth? Wow, where?" Trix, who had to hurry up to catch up with the group, finally spoke up. She'd been so distracted by all of those heart balloons they had just walked past until she heard the keywords that got her attention.

"Booth number 27 she told me," said Harry as he awkward scratched the back of his head.

"Is she gonna be at the booth?"

"Of course, Harold's expecting a kiss on Valentine's Day!" Niall answered Liam's question before Harry could even open his mouth, and this time Harry didn't even bother to try and stop his best friend anymore. All the beans had been spilt.

"So you're paying money to get a kiss from your crush? That's sad."

Layla only wanted to tease Harry, it was a harmless joke, but it really hurt his feelings, because she was right. Receiving a kiss from her at the booth wouldn't make him special, he was gonna be like all the other guys who got to kiss her.

Fortunately, luck was smiling at Harry on this lovers' night, because Y/N wasn't gonna be giving out kisses to random people. She was actually selling tickets, and when he saw her talking to the people waiting in line with a bright smile on her face, he felt his heart skip a beat.

"Oh man, so this means I won't get to kiss Y/N?" Louis joked and Harry slightly pushed him by the shoulder then told him to shut up.

Layla rolled her eyes as she looked at everyone, seemingly unimpressed. "Are we gonna go somewhere else now, or...?"

"No way, I'm gonna be in line, that girl in the booth is hot!" Liam said quickly then joins the other people who were waiting for their turns and Louis soon followed him for the same reason. Layla then turned to Niall, who still looked so uncertain whether he should go with them or stay.

"You can go if you want," she told him with a straight face then walked off without saying another word. And Niall took it as a cue to follow her, waving goodbye at Harry before he was gone.

Here goes nothing, Harry thought to himself then made his way towards his flatmate, who had just spotted him and now was waving her hand to get his attention.

"Hey, don't cut the line, moron!" Someone shouted at him when he went the the head of the line. Harry meant to turn around and shout back at them, but Y/N already had it all handled.

"He's only here to talk to me, you're not getting a kiss with that attitude!" She told the guy, making Harry laugh.

"You shout at people now? Who are you?" He gave her a cheeky grin, receiving one back.

"Try standing here for two hours and you'd understand why I get irritated by mostly anything!" She breathed and handed the tickets back to a girl next to her as she asked her to take her place so she could go talk to Harry a bit.

"So..." Y/N took a deep breath as they walked together away from her kissing booth. Harry was trying his best not to hold her hand right now. It was right there, brushing against his several times by accident, and it was so hard not to grab it. Oh the things she does to him. "...where are your friends?"

"Liam and Louis are waiting in line at your booth, we kind of lost Trix, and Niall followed Layla, I don't know where they are now."

"Thank you for bringing your friends here," she told him with a shy smile. "I mean, I heard about the party at Ruth's, you could be there, but you're here so..."

"Ruth throws party every weekend, it's not fun anymore," he lied to her. That wasn't why he'd decided not to go, obviously.

"Have you received any special gift from someone yet?" He asked after letting the silence take over for a couple seconds. He didn't want to know what the other guys had done for her, but at the same time, needs to know so he could step up his games.

"Well, yeah, the two guys I told you about..."

"Yeah?"

"One gave me a sloppy handwritten card with only three words 'Happy Valentine's Day', and the other gave me balloons and a box of chocolate, along with a sappy two-page love letter," she said, rolling her eyes and that was the reaction he'd been hoping to see. She wasn't interested in either of them, one barely put in effort while the other was too extra. Harry was now pretty proud of his little gift for her because he was in the safe zone.

"How about you, Harry? Probably got plenty?"

Some girls had come up to him this morning after some of his classes to ask him out tonight, but he'd turned them all down, for her. He wasn't sure he could tell her that though.

"Nope, you know how I feel about romance and shit."

"Don't have to tell me twice." She snorted, when suddenly her phone notified her of a new text.

"What is it?" He asked when he saw the look on her face.

"They want me back at the booth, that girl I asked to take my place left the spot without telling anyone, and now no one's there to sell tickets," she told him with an unpleasant grimace.

"It's okay, I'll walk you back," he said and they turned around to return to her friends. Suddenly, he remembered something and stopped halfway, pulling out his wallet from the pocket of his jacket.

"Here," he handed out some money, leaving her a bit confused. "Uhm...I want to contribute something to your charity fund, but I don't want to kiss anyone." Anyone that's not you.

"I can't accept this, silly, put it back." She scoffed, pushing his hand away, but he refused to comply.

"Just take it." He shoved the money in her hand with a smirk. "It's not like the money is for you anyway, silly."

The way he mimicked her voice made her laugh. So Y/N thanked him and watched him put his wallet away. He had his cute little dimples on and was humming a familiar tune she couldn't recall what song it was from, all she knew was that he looked so adorable, and his good intention really won her over.

"Wait."

He raised an eyebrow at her when she grabbed his arm."You're not giving me back the money now. I already put my wallet away."

"Not that!"

"Then what?"

She parted her lips with the intention of saying something else, but then she changed her mind, keeping the words to herself, and tiptoed to kiss him on the cheek, again, like she had on Christmas' Eve under the mistletoe.

Harry was absolutely shocked. When she pulled away, he gently put his hands to where her lips had been and his mouth fell opened but no words escaped. Y/N thought that look was just priceless.

"Just to be fair, you're still getting a kiss, and we're getting money." She waved the valuable piece of paper in front of his face and Harry swore he had to use all of his inner strength not to pull her in for a real kiss. A simple peck on the cheek could get all the butterflies in his stomach to come alive and go insane, so now he wondered what would happen if they had kissed. He would've probably burst into flame.

"Harry!" Her voice pulled him back to reality and he had to blink a few times to realize where he was. "Why are you standing there? Hurry up, I must get back now!"

Without waiting for a reply, she just took his hand without warning, and didn't let it go until they were finally back at the booth.

.

.

.

"Flea market! Ahhh memories!" Layla excitedly exclaimed as she threw her arms in the air and received worrying looks from Niall and Harry.

"Why are you two here?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. He only remembered telling Niall about going to stop by and say hello to Rose before going to pick Y/N up, he didn't remember asking Niall to come along, bringing Layla with him.

"The question is, why are you here?" Layla asked, pointing a finger to his chest and Niall just seemed so done he didn't even try to intervene.

"Chill, Y/N knows I'm here."

"So?"

"So, I'm only here because I promised Rose I'd stop by, and then I'm going straight to pick up my girl." Harry scoffed, thinking Layla was absolutely ridiculous. He just felt bad that Rose didn't actually have a friend and he appreciated that she considered him as one. "Don't you guys trust me? I'm not gonna cheat on Y/N."

"I trust you, not that little girl," Layla said, hands on her hips, eyes narrowing at Harry. "I'd like to meet her to see how thick her skin is. A normal person won't go this far to pursue someone who's already engaged."

Harry gave Niall a questioning look, and Niall raised two hands in the air to defend himself, saying he had nothing to do with this and was only there because he had to.

"Okay fine," Harry said at last. "If you two want me to be your thirdwheel, then stay."

"Great!" Layla cheered, grabbing Niall's arm and pulling him along as they both followed Harry to find Rose's booth.

When they arrived, they saw a long line waiting. At first Layla and Niall were very curious, but as soon as they saw what Rose looked like, they kind of understood why there were so many desperate people gathering there at her kissing booth.

"She is pretty."

"What did you just say, Niall?"

"Nothing, love."

Layla huffed then turned to Harry, who, instead of looking at Rose like the other males here, was on his phone, texting Y/N, and the crinkles between Layla's brows eased at once.

"So which one of us is gonna kiss her when it's our turn?" Niall asked, chuckling at his own joke, but he instantly regretted it when he saw the look on Layla's face.

"No one!" She groaned, switching her eyes between the two guys. "Why are we lining up anyway?"

"Because it's a polite thing to do?"

"Well, thanks Niall, if we're gonna be polite, we're gonna wait until tomorrow, look at this long ass line!" Layla said in annoyance as she grabbed both Niall's and Harry's hand then dragged them with her to the front of the line, ignoring people shouting at them not to cut in.

Once Rose saw Harry's face, she quickly ran out of the booth, making plenty of people upset, but she didn't seem to care. She told them that she was taking a break before pulling Harry in for a hug, probably would stay glued to him if Layla didn't interfere by pulling him back.

"Oh, this is..." Rose looked at her, not knowing why this girl she had never met before in her life seemed so hostile. Y/N had been to Harry's office before so Rose knew that wasn't her.

"These are my friends, Layla and Niall," Harry said, smiling at the girl, who exhaled a laugh, shaking her head and said hello to them with enthusiasm.

"Where's Y/N?" She asked, looking behind him, expecting to see the girl he was gonna marry, but just like last time at the party, Y/N didn't show up.

"She got stuck at work," replied Harry.

"But it's Sunday, how obsessed is she with her job? Jesus!"

"Honey, when you finally grow up, graduate and actually have to work, you'll understand."

"Layla!" Niall stopped his girlfriend by grabbing her by the hand and pulled her with him. "Let's go over there, okay? I'll buy you some flowers."

Layla agreed to come along, but before she left, she didn't forget to give Rose a warning death glare just to remind the girl where she actually stood.

"Do you think your friends hate me? I wasn't trying to be mean, I was only kidding," Rose said, putting both hands on her chest and shaking her head apologetically.

"Don't worry, Layla acts like that with everyone, it's alright," Harry assured her and pressed his lips into a smile. "Do you sell anything here? I'll buy one to support you."

"Only my kisses!" She answered with a huge grin then noticed how awkward he seemed so she tried to fix it. "Not that you can buy one anyway, but you don't have to support me, I've made enough money today."

Harry nodded. Rose assumed that beam on his face was for her, but it was actually him remembering the little kiss Y/N had give  him for a kissing booth on that same day a few years ago.

"What do you need this money for?" He asked her suddenly. "If you don't mind that I ask."

"Well, I want to buy new stuff for my design studio but I don't want to ask for daddy's money," she told him with a slight shrug. "People just assume I live on his money and I don't like that."

"I've never thought so, you seem very independent."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

By saying that, he'd made her day even though she didn't tell him that. Rose intertwined her hands and told him she should get back inside before those people went insane and demanded a refund.

"Have a fun night!" He said, waving at her.

"You too," she replied, and this time, the lack of her usual positive energy was quite obvious. She wished him a happy Valentine's Day, didn't sound like she meant it, but as she watched him walking away towards Layla and Niall, she knew he didn't notice anyway.

.

.

.

Harry and Y/N stumbled out of the lift into the hallway, nearly tripping on their feet as they were drowning in laughter on their way back to their shared flat.

"Good evening, kids!" Ben greeted the two young people as he locked his front door and Y/N broke into a smile, waving at her neighbor.

"Hey, Ben! Going out on a date?"

"Yeah, I'm picking Mark up from his workplace and we're going to this restaurant. You two wanna join us? Like a double date!"

Harry and Y/N dropped the beam on their faces instantly as they exchanged looks by accident before shifting their eyes away from each other real quick to avoid the awkwardness.

"I'll take that as a no then..." Ben squinted his eyes at them, sensing something weird but didn't want to say it out loud. "Happy Valentine's Day, you two."

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Harry shouted after Ben and lingered there for a little while to watch Ben go, even though Y/N had entered their flat.

The neighbor was seemingly in a hurry as he headed straight to the lift, wearing a nonchalant smile because he was so excited to see his fiancé. Harry thought, maybe one day, when things had changed, that was gonna be him.

"Harry, why are you still out there?!"

"Uh...Coming!"

Harry walked into the flat then straight off told Y/N he was gonna take a shower before dinner. She didn't suspect a thing and didn't expect anything because even though it was Valentine's Day, they were only just friends. But when she went back to her room after he'd gone to his and turned on the light, on the bed she found a small teddy bear facing the door, wearing a cute little hat and a red ribbon as a bowtie, next to it lied a little card, on which written two lines in Harry's all too familiar hand-writing.

Roses are red, violets are blue,

I suck at poems, this is the best I can do. H. :)

"Harry! Harry! Harry!"

When Y/N rushed into Harry's room, all out of breath, he was grabbing his clothes from the closet and just about to head to the shower. He saw the look on her face and the bear she was holding and instantly started beaming at her.

"You like it?" He asked before she could say a word. "I didn't know what to get you, Niall suggested me to buy flowers but...flowers die so..."

Y/N thinks she was going to cry, but she was glad she didn't. She'd just received gifts today, so why did she get so emotional over a teddy bear? Maybe because it was  from Harry, who couldn't shut up about how much he hated Valentine's Day and 'romance and shit', maybe because she loved him so much, she didn't think he could ever tell. Whatever the reason, she was now over the moon.

"Why did you think you should get me anything though?" She asked, taking a couple steps towards him and she could feel how nervous he was through the look he was giving her and the way his lips were quivering.

"Well, because you're my..." He sucked in a breath when she stopped in front of him. "...best friend."

"I am?" She raised a grin.

He nodded his head and teasingly patted the top of her head like she was a little kid. "Congratulations, you can now go tell everyone."

Y/N breathed out a laugh as she brushes his hand away. She then surprised him for the second time that night by throwing her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. It took Harry quite a moment to get grip on reality and finally held her back, hoping she couldn't feel his heart thumping like a drum.

"You're my best friend too, H. Happy Valentine's Day!" She whispered into his ears, and those simple words had given this day a lot more meaning.

So, "Happy Valentine's Day, love," Harry said back as he made sure to leave out the most important three words, which remained a secret between him and his heart only.

.

.

.

When Jack walked Y/N out of the building to his car parked out front, it was already dark outside. The many pedestrians walking past them were either couples holding hands or lonely people heading home to spend the night alone. Strangely, Y/N began to wonder whether her boss was the first type or the latter. After today, she thought everything she'd thought she'd known about him was all incorrect.

"Thanks for spending today working with me," he said at last, inhaling the cool February air as he looked around, everywhere but her. "I know it was harsh to ask you to spend Sunday at the office."

"It's fine. I'm glad it's over now." She pretended to wipe off her sweat and blew up her cheeks, the gesture put a smile on his face.

Jack nodded his head towards his car and asks her if she wanted a ride home, that was when she knew he was the latter type since he didn't seem to be in a rush to go see a special someone. She thanked him for the offer, but explained that her fiancé was already on his way to pick her up, the news came as a surprise to Jack apparently.

"You're engaged?" He almost looked like he didn't believe her. So she showed him the ring on her hand and another smile. "Wow, didn't notice the ring. Congratulations."

"Thank you."

"He's not upset that I stole you from him on Valentine's Day, is he?"

"He is, very." Y/N furrowed her eyebrows and Jack cracked a beam.

"Well, shit. Am I in trouble?"

"Hope not."

Jack noticed that Y/N was cold and offered her his coat, to which she refused at first, but he insisted her on taking it anyway. He threw it over her shoulders, then told her to wait as he went get something from his car. She expected it to be some files for her to prepare at home because it was Monday tomorrow, but it turned out to be the last thing she would think of, a box of chocolate.

"This is for you."

"For me?" She looked at him like he was joking, at least hoping that he was.

"Yes. I felt guilty for ruining your day off so I got you a Valentine's gift...not that you need one from me anyway." She didn't get what he actually meant by that, yet she didn't ask. "I almost forgot it at home this morning."

"You came back to get this?" She broadened her eyes at the man. "Was this why you were late?"

"Yeah. Pretty much."

"Well...thank you." She didn't know what else to say so she stayed quiet, and so did he.

Five minutes passed by, Y/N had no clue why he was still there when he could've just gone home because someone was coming for her anyway. As if he knew what she was thinking, Jack immediately answered the inquiry in her head, "it's not safe for you to stand here alone. I'll wait with you."

But as soon as he finished that sentence, two headlights approached them and Harry's car pulled over by the pavement. He stepped out, perplexed to see his girl standing with another man while wrapped in his coat. Y/N could read that expression so she quickly introduced the two of them to each other.

"Harry, this is Jack, my boss. Jack, my fiancé, Harry."

The two men shook hands, but oddly didn't exchange a single word, not even a 'hello'. They just stared at each other and would definitely continue to do so if Y/N didn't break the awkward silence.

"Thank you for this," she said, handing Jack back his coat. "And for the chocolate. Have a good night."

"You too, Y/N. See you tomorrow."

Jack waved his hand and watched the girl hold onto Harry's as they walked to his car, smiling at each other, being so in love like an engaged couple should be. Harry gave her a kiss on the forehead and asked how her day had been and if she was tired, to which she answered by saying she'd had an interesting day and was not tired anymore now that she saw him. Neither of them paid attention to Jack enough to wonder what was really on his mind, but he did leave very quickly, as soon as Harry opened the car door for Y/N, he was already driving away.

Harry, being Harry, kept asking Y/N about Jack on the drive back home. He wasn't being mean about it, he was just curious and a bit uneasy because, why on earth would a decent man gives an engaged woman chocolate on Valentine's Day?!

"That bloke is into you, I know it!" Harry snorted as he held the door for her to enter their building. "I'm gonna eat all of his chocolate!"

"That's a very big box, H." She laughed, shaking her head, but he didn't seem to mind.

"I don't care if I get diabetes, not gonna let you eat another man's affection."

Y/N cracked up when he tickled her side then wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her close to his chest. They walked past the front desk, cheerfully saying hello to their doorman Nam before heading straight to the lift, but Y/N's eyes were quick to spot the huge bouquet of roses in front of Nam. She stopped and came back to him immediately, pulling Harry alongside her.

"Well, well, well, I wonder who these are from?" Y/N put her forefinger to her lips, pretending to not have an idea as she turned to look at Harry. "Any guesses, love?"

"Hmm, maybe they're from another friend of ours?" He knitted his eyebrows together, playing along as he gave Nam a fake look of doubt. "I could be wrong but..."

"Oh my God, you two are the most ridiculous couple ever!" Nam tossed his head back and laughed. "Yes, they're from Ben, happy?"

"Pretty sure you said you two weren't dating."

"We aren't," the doorman told Y/N, smiling from ear to ear. "Not yet, but..."

"Aww, we're very happy for you!" Y/N clasped her hands together, beaming brightly. Harry, on the other hand, was getting pretty impatient.

"Yes we are very very happy for you," he said then hugged Y/N from behind and kissed her cheek. "But I need some alone time with my girl now so excuse us, good night."

"Eww, leave, you two are gross!" Nam sticked out his tongue as he laughed, then watched the couple hurry their way to the lift, hand in hand, releasing a sigh. He did hope that he was gonna be happy as they were now, one day.

Y/N and Harry stumbled into their flat, without bothering to switch on the light. Harry had already made dinner in the kitchen but it was the last thing on their mind right now since their mouths were attached and he kicked the front door closed while holding her up with her legs wrapped around his waist, struggling to lock the door without dropping his girl or falling over.

Harry had no idea what'd gotten him so worked up, maybe he'd got provoked by seeing Y/N's good-looking boss giving her so much attention after spending the entire day with her, maybe his trip to the flea market and Rose's kissing booth brought back a lot of loving memories of him and Y/N when they were still flatmates. He didn't know why, all he knew was that he wanted to show her how much he loved her.

They ended up riding out their first orgasm before they could even reach their bed, sprawling across the floor with her ontop of him, chest to chest, clothes lying all over the place. It was wild. But after that, it was full love-making. He weny down on her, sending her to her second climax before diving into that all too familiar spot that left him grunting every single time he entered because he could never get used to how good she felt wrapped around him. This time he went slow, wanting to feel all of her and give her all of his. He'd lost count of how many times he'd told her he loves her, just mumbling the same three words against her lips until she cummed for the third time and he followed, giving her all he'd got. As he collapsed ontop of her, head buried in her neck with her body still keeping him warm, he repeated once again those three words, and Y/N thought she'd never get tired of hearing it, ever.

"I love you a lot too, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me," she told him with a tired smile, wiping away the beads of sweat running down his handsome face. "No matter how much I tell you I love you, please know I always love you more than that."

"Fuck...You made me the happiest man alive, love."

They shared another kiss, and when Y/N saw how Harry's eyelids started to flutter she burst into laughter. "Ey, don't fall asleep, we're still gonna eat the dinner you cooked for me!"

"Okay but stay here a few minutes more. I missed you today," he muttered, brushing his nose against her collarbone, pulling her closer, and Y/N couldn't say no to that.

They cuddled for a little while and then got off the bed to go clean up only to end up having sex again in the shower because, Harry's reason, it's Valentine's Day.

When they returned from the bathroom, he finally remembered what he'd thought about on his way to pick her up. When he saw Jack with her it completely slipped from his mind.

"Do you remember the bear I got you on our first Valentine's?" Harry asked, pressing his lips into a soft smile as he held her by the hips while sitting on the edge of the bed and she was standing in front of him, drying his hair with a towel.

"Before we got together?" The memories turned into a beam on her face. "Yeah, I still have it in that drawer over there. Why?"

"I just thought of it today, not sure if you know this yet, probably not, but have you ever discovered something odd about that bear?"

"No." She stopped and dropped the towel down on the bed so he could pull her onto his lap and have her sit with her arms wrapped around his neck, his around her waist. "Oh no, Harry, what are you hiding from me?"

With a cheeky smile on his face, he looked at the ceiling and said, "well, if you take off the ribbon around the bear's neck, you'll find a zipper."

"Wha—No way!" She laughed, mouth opened wide as she stared at him in shock. "You sneaky bastard!"

It didn't take no time for her to remove herself from his lap and rush to their closet to search for the stuffed animal. When she'd found it, she did as he'd said. And he wasn't kidding. There was a zipper hidden under the cute little bowtie. She furrowed her eyebrows at him, and he told her to go ahead and check what's inside.

"I should've known you wouldn't have just given me an ordinary bear!"

Harry gave her a shrug for he knew it was the truth. He'd always been so extra when it came to her, he'd nearly hired a freaking band for her birthday, for crying out loud!

Y/N pulled out a piece of paper from the bear's neck. She couldn't believe it'd been there for years and she didn't know about its existence until today. So she didn't hesitate to unfold it, and read the words out loud for both her and Harry to hear.

"Roses are red, violets are blue...I like you a lot..." she paused to look at him "...if only you knew."

"I was pretty cheesy back then." He pressed his lips together. But Y/N thought that was actually one of the sweetest things he'd ever done for her. "I took the risk, put that note inside the bear, thinking to myself if you found out I would confess to having feelings for you, but you never did."

"Why didn't you say anything?" She put the bear down on the table nearby, along with the note, to return and sit on his lap, holding his face between her hands. "How on earth would I know there was a freaking note hidden inside the bear? I'm not Sherlock Holmes!"

"Maybe a part of me didn't want you to see the note, I was still scared," he replied. "But the next morning when I saw you in the kitchen, you seemed pretty normal so I knew you didn't see it, and the other part of me got disappointed."

"Dumbass," she whispered, nose brushing against his. "We would've ended up together sooner, had you just hand me the note like a normal person!"

"If you want, we can tell our kids the bear story instead of how I actually confessed my feelings while being drunk off my ass."

Y/N laughed as she heard him, but then shook her head no. "I still prefer how it actually happened. The waiting was torturing, but it was worth it."

The Harry who'd written that note on Valentine's Day a few years ago never would've seen this day coming. They were getting married soon and were happier now than ever. So Harry guessed Y/N was right after all. All the bad and good things they'd gone through, it was all worth it.

[kflirts]

somebody like you; hwang hyunjin

genre: fluff

like 600 words ig idk

I never post here anymore but this is for my friend cait!! She wrote me jisung fluff and I'm writing her hyunjin fluff (rt ur friend goals)

God, you just really wanted to go home. How you'd ended up at this dumb party was beyond you, and now you'd gotten yourself in an awful situation. You'd come to avoid seeing him. You'd cancelled your regular study session with Hwang Hyunjin to avoid having to see him. After last week, you're sure you would be alright to leave the country.

You'd never intended to confess to him on a Thursday night in the library. That was the LAST thing you'd wanted to happen. But he was staring at you with those big puppy eyes and he'd pouted and the next thing you know, you'd whined to him.

"Stop looking at me! Its hard to think when you look at me."

He'd blinked, surprise on his face for a split second. "Pardon?"

"I- I meant... 'Casue of the way you look...at people... I..." You'd retracted into your metaphorical shell, suddenly paying more attention to the work in front of you than it required. A smile tugged at his lips. Hyunjin was by far the best looking boy in your class, maybe even the whole college. And he knew that. He was never arrogant or annoying about it, he just was aware of it. So, he was used to people being flustered around him. That's one of the reasons he'd be drawn to you.

At first, you hadn't paid him any mind. You'd seen pretty people before, this boy wasn't about to shake you up like he had almost every other person in class. You'd taken the envied yet feared seat next to him on the first class, completely unbothered. And that caught his attention. You had a timid confidence about you, you weren't going to let anyone walk all over you. He found that extremely charming.

And so it was. Through the semester, you'd helped each other with schoolwork and in the process, become good friends. You'd been pleasantly surprised that Hyunjin didn't live up to his "cold prince" image. He was a funny, sweet boy who liked puppies and watermelon ice cream.

Maybe that's how you'd ended up falling for him. The one thing you'd silently swore not to do. You didn't need a crush, especially not on him. The boy loved and wanted by all.

"You like him, don't you?" Your head snapped up at the sound of Chan's voice. You scoffed immediately.

"No." You say firmly, ignoring the tightness in your chest as your poured another glass of juice.

Now it was Chan's turn to snort. "So, you've been hiding in this kitchen.. the whole time.. For what?"

"I'm thirsty." You gulped down the sweet liquid, flashing the boy a pretty, albeit, rather fake smile.

"So it has nothing to do with the fact you told Hyunjin, and I quote, 'You're.. Uh.. really gorgeous... And like.... I uh... Could like you., at some point' ?" Chan smirked as you almost choked at his humiliating impression of you.

"No.. It doesn't." You paused. "Why is he even here?"

"Well, you lowkey bailed on him so, what else was he supposed to do? Of course he'd come over here, he's Felix's best friend.."

You mentally face palmed. Of course he'd come here. You sighed, placing down your glass as you leaned against the kitchen counter, crossing your arms.

"So. You like him?" Chan repeated.

Everything in you screamed yes. Yes, you liked him. You liked him more then you'd ever liked any other person before ever. You liked his smile and his dumb fluffy hair and his big eyes and the way he stared in concentration and the way his eyes and nose scrunched when he laughed. You liked his gentle way of making someone feel special and you liked the way he made you feel special and yes. Yes, you liked him. But there was no way in he'll you were going to let him know that. The risk was way too big. You'd become another girl who was infatuated with him. And the thought of being just another girl to him was horrifying.

"You can lie to him, to the others and even to yourself, but you can't lie to me." Chan finally said, breaking the silence. "I'm your friend, remember? I see how you look at him when you think he isn't looking."

You clear your throat awkwardly, biting at your lip. Was it that obvious?

"Okay. Yeah, I like him. So what?" You huff, standing straight and going into Felix's fridge once again. "He's out of my league."

You didn't even have to look at Chan to know he was rolling his eyes.

"God, you're so dense, you know that?" Chan says, and you look up, confused.

"What?" You say, biting on a donut.

"You do know Hyun has had the biggest crush on you since like... The first time you talked, right?" He leans against the door frame, watching you visibly choke. "Try not to die."

"Gee, thanks." You say, coughing. The Hyunjin, having a crush on you. Huh? It was way too much to try to process. "He has a what on who?" You ask for clarification.

"He's been head over heels for you, but you're always so damn hard to read he never knew what you felt. Then you said what you said, and he was gonna ask you out tonight. He was so damn happy. But you ditched him, so now he's more confused than he was to begin with."

Jesus Christ.

"Wait... So." You finished the donut quickly. "You're telling me.. Hwang Hyunjin.. Has a.."

"You're so stupid. Yes. And I would bet anything he's not in there playing games with everyone else. He's probably outside hoping you'll grow some balls and talk to him."

The way Chan says "probably" hints that he knows way more that he's letting on. His eyebrows raise and you couldn't push past him fast enough, running though the living room to the front door. You burst out, almost tripping over your own feet. You look up and are met with those same big old eyes. Your mouth is probably hanging open as you try to form words but your voice fails you. He looks ethereal and there was no way, in your mind, someone like him-

As if he could read your mind, he's cupping his hands under your chin, forcing you to look at him and squishing your cheeks. His face, which looked stressed before, softened into a smile.

"Hi." You basically squeak.

"Hey." His face nears yours, and he scrunches his nose. "So you talked to Chan, too?"

You move to open your mouth, but he's talking before you can.

"For the record, you're gorgeous-er." He grinned.

"That's not a word." You teased, standing up straight and moving your cheeks out of his hands. He was so close to you, you could feel his breath.

"I just made it a word. So."

"You can't just make something a word; gorgeouser doesn't even sound right."

"Well," Hyunjin shrugs, immediately before pressing his lips against yours quickly. You jump at the sudden loss, almost squealing. He sighs, like a weight was lifted from his chest.

"I don't know when it happened but the day you told me that you didn't want to study at my dormroom, it made me unhealthyly interested in you. Nobody's ever turned me down like that. There was... There is something extremely special about you. You balance me out. You're the salt to my light, ya know? I can't even think straight around you."

You chuckle. "Salt and light don't even go together."

"I know." He shrugged. "It's a Bible verse or something."

"Felix?"

"Yeah."

"Please don't take Bible pickup lines from Felix anymore. Big turnoff."

"Noted."

You glanced down at your feet, heart dancing. "I was scared of liking you."

"Pardon?"

"You're..You're you. You're amazing. Like, and I'm so totally, not that amazing. I don't think someone like you could like s-"

"Shut up, ______. I like you and you only."

You hesitate. "It's just... You're so sweet, and you care about people and you make people feel amazing and people like you a ton and, and people really think the world of you-"

"I don't care about people, ______. I care about you." He cuts in, grabbing your hand and squeezing it. "I literally only care about you. Unless you're those people, I don't care."

You burst into giggles and he smiles, kissing your forehead. "And if you ever, ever say you're not amazing, I swear to god, I'm beating you up. You're the amazingest. You make me feel like I'm actually someone important while still keeping me in line and it's the cutest thing when you bite your lip and shit like when you forget things and have to go back and.. Anyway. Shut up. because you're the most amazingest."

"This is why you're failing English." You snort, only to have a faceful of Hyunjin's shirt as he pulls you into a giant hug and peppers your head with kisses. "You're annoying."

"I'm not the one kissing you over and over." You giggle as he tickles your side lightly.

"Well, you should be." He pulls away, only to look a little more serious. "So, ________. Go out with me."

"We're already out."

"Shut the heck up."

"Never."

"God, just say yes or no."

"Ummm," You hesitate, just to teade him. He groans.

"Why are you being this way?"

"I'm not!" You laugh, before cupping his cheeks and ruffling his hair. He blinks at you, eyes anxious. "Of course. I'd love to go out with you."

"Ayee!" He yells, squeezing your sides in a tight hug, kissing your cheeks. You blush when he rests his head on your shoulder, nuzzling your neck.

"God, are you always this clingy?"

"You like it." He mumbles, breath ticking your ear.

"Maybe." You smile, wrapping your arms around his neck. It feels so right with him. He feels like home.

You roll your eyes when you see 8 pairs of nosy eyes peeking out of the window.

"Fuck off!" You yell as you hear a chorus of "awwww!"s and one "told you! where's my money?" from Chan.

"They bet on our relationship." You say flatly. Hyunjin doesn't move.

"That's... Sligtly concerning. At least we won, though."

"Yeah, I guess we did, didn't we?"