#low-key hope we see more from this AU; but i'm not counting on it

[r0semultiverse]

holy shit, Bungo Stray Dogs multiverse real 👀

[bvidzsoo]

Who am I?

Author: bvidzsoo

Warnings: mentions of a gun, cursing, smut

Pairing: Jeong Yunho x female reader

Word count: 14,2k

Summary: Going through the dark passageway late in the night really wasn't your greatest idea, but the angels were on lookout that night and sent Jeong Yunho as your savior. But what happens when you realize Jeong Yunho isn't at all what he seems to be?

A/N: Uh...hi? This piece here really shouldn't exist, like the way I wrote it was so against the routine I have when doing stories, I'm even shocked it became real. It also was supposed to be a mere longer drabble but oh well, I suck at writing short stories either way. Also, Jeong Yunho is a constant in my mind lately so...ig it was inevitable that I write something with him. *sigh* There's smut in here and ugh...yeah, I tried again lol. Leave feedback, I very much appreciate it and stay tuned for the next chapter of the rockstar!au Mingi story! Enjoy now and tell me your thoughts!

⟨Masterlist⟩

            It really was my fault; I should have been smarter before turning down the dimly lit passageway between the two tall buildings. But the path towards my flat was shorter this way, and I was in a hurry, desperate to finally get home after a long and busy day. The streets were quiet as night had settled upon the otherwise lively city and as I exhaled through my mouth, a little puff of smog appeared in the chilly air. My hands slipped deeper into the pockets of my black bomber jacket as I nuzzled my nose more into it, the tip of it unmistakably red. Winter struck upon us quite unexpectedly and the hope that we still had a few more days of sunshine and as little warmth as the sun could offer came crushing down when the wind picked up two days ago and snow started falling immediately. And what was even worse is that the temperatures dropped so low that everything had frozen over by now and it was slipper; in the past ten minutes I have almost fallen on my bum at least three times. But the little scare got my heart pumping faster, and I wasn’t feeling as cold as I was supposed to despite the layers of clothing adorning my body.

There was a light shuffle behind me, that was the first thing which caught my attention, and then suddenly, the dark figure standing a few feet ahead close to the wall, as if they were facing it, was the second thing to alarm me. My heart leaped slightly as my hands balled up into fists in my pockets, but I quickly tried to calm myself down. Not all men were evil and not all men wanted to hurt women, and I wasn’t even sure it was a man standing up front. My legs carried me faster and I gulped when the person whipped their head around to look at me. My hunch was right, it was a man, and he had a bloodied lip as I took in his face while still approaching. I quickly averted my eyes and quickened my pace, hoping that if I ignored him, he would ignore me as well. I had nothing on me if he decided to attack me, I could only hope my fists were good enough and I wouldn’t break my fingers if I was forced to use brute force. I only would have had to take three more steps to be past the man, but he suddenly jumped in front of me and I came to a halt as he squared me up. I tried not to let him see the fear I was feeling pulsing through my body as I clenched my jaw as my body lightly trembled from the adrenaline coursing through my bloodstream.

“Hey there, bunny.” My eyebrows furrowed at his raw voice, almost as if it was hard for him to speak as a disgusting smirk painted his lips. I suddenly wished I had taken the longer way, walked on the main road instead of this shortcut. When the man realized I wouldn’t say anything back, he tsked, “Are you shy, little bunny?”

Nicknames were annoying in a normal scenario and it was only making my skin crawl right now, but I remained silent, gripping the keys of my flat’s front door which I had in my left pocket. One wrong move from the man, and I wouldn’t hesitate to stab him with it.

“Why are you not answering me?” His voice got rougher and he took a wobbly step towards me, and without much thought, I whirled around with the purpose of walking back the way I have come, but another man was blocking my path. He looked lanky and was hunched over as his lips pulled into a scary sneer. I was cornered. My hands started trembling more as I took a deep breath, trying to think level headed, but my mind was clouded with panic as I searched for an escape route without much success. Before I could even react, the man with the busted lip approached me from behind and as I turned to be able to see him, his rough hand made contact with my left shoulder. I quickly yanked myself away and slightly crashed into the concrete wall of the building behind me.

“Don’t touch me!” I managed to snap out with a shaky voice, yet it sounded rough. It certainly didn’t match the way I was feeling, scared absolutely shitless.

“Is my little bunny scared?” If I wasn’t so scared I probably would’ve seen red at his claim over me, and it only made it worse as the other man chuckled. My eyes snapped towards him before quickly looking back at the other man when I realized he tried to grab at me again.

“I said, don’t touch me!” I shrieked and went to push him backwards, breathing irregularly as I was full on shaking, on the verge of a break down. But if I started crying I would look helpless, which I was, and I probably wouldn’t be able to see anything, so I willed myself to blink away the tears quickly.

“You little bitch, you wanna play rough?” The man spat as he had stumbled backwards from my push and I shrunk against the wall when the taller one suddenly started approaching, a hungry stare in his eyes. My lips started trembling and I went to yank out my keys and lunge at the taller one, but a very amused chuckle halted everyone’s actions. All I could think about was a third man coming to do vile things to me and at the thought, a few tears rolled down my cheeks, but I quickly wiped at them when I saw the battered-up man smirking in my direction at my distress.

“I thought I beat your sorry ass into unconsciousness.” At the hear of the third person’s voice, the battered-up man suddenly froze and his eyes widened as the taller one took a step back, leaving just enough space for me to run away, “What are you still doing out here?”

The battered-up one cursed under his breath before putting on a fake smile as he whirled around, facing the third man. I was too scared to look, shaking, as I pondered whether it was the distraction I needed to run away, “I was just playing with my little bunny, you should go on your way—”

“She doesn’t look like she wants to play with you, Siwon.” The third man snapped and my eyebrows furrowed at the familiarity of his tone. It resembled someone’s I knew from my university, but I remained unmoving as the tall man slowly backed away, “And you, Nikhun, I thought I said I didn’t want to see you around here, anymore…”

“I was just passing by.” The taller one, Nikhun, stiffly said before he abruptly turned around and took off almost in a run as the familiar voice just chuckled. My muscles slightly relaxed as I realized I could now just run back the way I had come, and moving slowly, I started heading just that way.

“I know I said I wasn’t going to kill you, Siwon,” The familiar sounding man tsked as I continued slowly walking with my back pressed up against the building’s cold wall, “But you’re really testing my patience lately.”

“Fuck you, man.” Siwon spat and I jumped when there was suddenly a loud crash and an exasperated scoff. I froze and didn’t dare breathe as I felt eyes on me. I didn’t know who was looking at me or what happened, I was scared to turn my head and look. I had to run. But as I pushed myself away from the wall, the familiar voice suddenly called out.

“It’s okay now, Y/N.” What—I whipped my head around and first took in the scene. Siwon, the battered-up man, was lying on the ground unconscious by the big trashcan. The loud bang must’ve been him. With wide eyes, I looked at the third man alarmed, and my jaw dropped as I stood staring at the familiar face of Jeong Yunho. Everyone knew him at university and everyone loved him. Jeong Yunho was like the sunshine. He was always smiling and laughing, cracking harmless jokes and hitting up a conversation effortlessly with anyone. He was kind and considerate, he always helped out anyone who needed help. He would carry your stuff if they were heavy and he’d walk you home if it was too late. He held the door open for anyone and he would make place for you at the Cafeteria if there were no more empty spots. The Jeong Yunho who was often found in the library with his nose buried in books, typing furiously on his laptop, and always turning in his assignments way before their deadline. He wore light colors and fluffy clothes, often paired with hilarious beanies and hats. But the guy standing a few feet away from me looked nothing like the Yunho I have taken glances at or heard stories about. Yunho and I weren’t friends, we were far from being acquittances even, but everyone knew him at our university and that included me. We were people from two very different universes and I had no idea how he knew my name. Yes, sure, we would cross paths in the library at times when I was in a rush as my deadline was a day or two away, and yes, I did almost spill my coffee on him once, but there was never a conversation involved or an exchange of names. Just a small, “Oh, my, God! I’m so sorry, that was a close call.”, and a “Don’t worry about it, you have great coordination, you stopped in time.” If I would have had great coordination, I wouldn’t have nearly ran into him, but I didn’t have the time to tell him that as I was late to work.

“Yun—Yunho?” I stuttered out finally once I was one hundred percent convinced it was Jeong Yunho. The dimly lit passageway made it harder to see his face from where I was standing and his clothes were unrecognizable, but it was his voice which confirmed his identity.

“Jeong Yunho in person.” He chuckled and I finally pulled myself together and slowly started approaching him. My legs were slightly shaky and I was still clutching my keys tightly in my left hand, but my heartbeat was slowly calming down. I passed by Siwon and took a peek against my better judgement, eyes widening when I saw the little trickle of red from the side of his head. Was he…going to die?

I looked up as I came to a stop a few steps away from Yunho and exhaled, coming face to face with a very unfamiliar looking Jeong Yunho. Despite the cold weather he was wearing a black leather jacket over what seemed to be a long-sleeved form fitting blouse with graphic design on it, and wide black jeans hugged his legs with the blouse tucked in, showing off his waist. His neck was decorated with various necklaces and as he extended one hand towards me, I noticed all the rings on his long fingers. I gulped as I looked back up at him, slightly intimidated and mostly confused. His black hair was completely pushed back and the usual fluffiness was gone from it.

“Come, you’re safe now.” Yunho encouraged me with his usual warm smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. My eyebrows furrowed as I reluctantly extended my hand and placed it in his palm, gasping when he yanked me forward, making me jump over Siwon’s slumped body. Yunho smirked as I somehow managed not to fall against his chest, big eyes staring up at him in shock, “Good thing I was passing by, angel, or else these two…”

He didn’t finish his sentence and he didn’t have to; I knew. I gulped and became aware of the awfully obvious height difference between the two of us and scrambled to pull my hand out of his, but Yunho’s grip suddenly tightened and he stepped closer, making me tip my head back as I tried looking in his eyes. My heart was racing once again and I could feel a blush creep up onto my cheeks as Yunho’s eyes examined my face with a small smirk, “What are you doing out here so late at night?”

“I—” My mind blanched for a second as Yunho’s cold fingers intertwined with mine, “I had the evening shift today, I—I was just walking home.”

“It’s unsafe at this hour.” Yunho’s voice turned stern and I averted my eyes, suddenly embarrassed that I was getting scolded by him, “And especially through this neighborhood, Y/N. You should’ve stuck to the main road instead.”

“I know.” I grumbled under my breath and Yunho chuckled, his voice deep, and it only made me flush harder as I avoided eye contact.

“Let’s get you home.” He said quietly and I looked at him alarmed, extracting my hand from his as he started walking us towards the end of the passageway.

“I can walk on my own—” I said in a panic, not wanting Yunho to walk with me. I wasn’t even far away, I have taken this route so many times before, I was going to be fine now that those two men were gone, but Yunho’s tone definitely made me rethink my words as he spoke up.

“You are not walking on your own, especially around here.” Yunho’s voice was sharp and he threw me a quick glare as he looked behind, at me, “Do you not know anything about this place?”

I shrugged and pushed my hands into my pockets again, “I do, but it’s not that big of a deal. I always walk home at this time and nothing has ever happened. I just had bad luck tonight.”

“Bad luck, you say.” Yunho scoffed, face contorted into disgust, “The things those two would’ve done to you would have been terrible, Y/N, and you call it bad luck?”

“Okay, fine.” I snapped and walked up to his side, giving him a wide-eyed stare, “Walk me home then, but this is fucking weird. How do you even know my name?”

Yunho’s eyebrows furrowed and his sharp stare made me gulp as I shrunk back, walking a little further away from him, “We go to the same university.”

“I’m not popular.” I deadpanned and Yunho shrugged, looking ahead as his jaw clenched and unclenched.

“You once scribbled in a book from the library and I was at the front desk when the librarian lost it. She rambled on about you for a good fifteen minutes before I was finally allowed to rent the book I wanted.” I cleared my throat in embarrassment, remembering well what the next day looked like when I walked inside the library. I have skipped going there for the next two months from shame as the librarian had screamed at me for ten minutes without even as much as taking a breath.

“Whatever, it’s still weird.” I muttered and nuzzled my nose behind the neckline of my jacket, regretting now that I haven’t worn a scarf. Yunho just chuckled and cast me a side glance as his longs legs carried him around faster than my shorter ones; it almost felt like I was jogging next to him. He must’ve been cold with how few clothing items he was wearing. I couldn’t help but let my eyes wander towards him as I took in his appearance again, deciding that this version of Yunho was intimidating and quite…hot. His bright persona was certainly eye catching but this felt different, alluring almost.

“It’s not weird,” Yunho said with a chuckle, lips pulling into an amused smile, “I’m just observant.”

I hummed, but didn’t look at him as I asked my next question while we crossed the road, “What are you doing here, anyway?”

Yunho chuckled again, but it was lower and as we looked at each other briefly, there was a dark glint in his beautiful chocolate brown eyes, mischief written all over his face, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

I rolled my eyes and quickened my pace, just wanting to get home already. I was tired and cold.

“Do you have the evening shift often?” He asked after a minute of silence.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I fired back and Yunho laughed, head tilting back slightly, “Don’t expect me to give you an answer when you evade mine with a question.”

“You didn’t look like you’d be this feisty, angel.” My steps halted as I stared at Yunho incredulously, eyes slightly widening in offense. What did he mean by that?

“I’m tired.” I called out since Yunho hadn’t stopped walking and now I had to jog to catch up with his long strides, “And you’re walking too fast.”

“My apologies.” Yunho suddenly slowed down and looked at me with a big smile, the first time he looked like the Yunho I knew from university, “Sometimes I forget not everyone has long legs like mine.”

“Yeah,” I rolled my eyes, “I wonder how’s the weather up there.”

Yunho suddenly laughed, pressing a palm against his lips as it was loud, “I haven’t heard that one in long.”

I just hummed and cast another glance at him, confused of our whole conversation and the situation we were in. To be fair, I was grateful for him, of course I was, but the shock still hadn’t worn off and I was still slightly thrown off by his demeanor and change of personality…and looks. We continued walking in silence, steps hurried as the wind started blowing harder and all I could think about was Yunho being cold and getting sick because of his choice of clothing. However, the quiet didn’t last for long around us as we heard approaching footsteps, it sounded like they were running towards us. Yunho and I looked back at the same time and I failed to notice the way his expression hardened and jaw set. Before I could react, a heavy arm was draped around my shoulders and I was pulled into a sturdy body, warmth wrapping around myself and a masculine scent. I looked up at Yunho flabbergasted before watching the running man again as he came to a stop a few feet away from us.

“Hey, Yunho—” He panted as he leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees, “Finally found you, man.”

Yunho said nothing as he watched the guy, strengthening his grip against my shoulder when I tried to move away. My eyebrows furrowed as I struggled for a bit more, until Yunho clicked his tongue and I looked up at him, feeling his gaze on me already. His eyes were sharp and dark and I gulped as I looked away, stilling in his grip when he looked back at the younger looking guy, “What do you want?”

His voice sounded nothing like the friendly person I have been just talking to, it was ice cold and it made me shiver.

“Yeah, uh,” The guy glanced at me reluctantly, “Cheol wants the money. Soon.”

Yunho scoffed and rolled his eyes as I looked at him curiously, wondering where this conversation was going, “I thought I have made myself clear already, Chan.”

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger, alright?” The shorter guy scoffed and stood up straight, his eyes hardening as he looked at Yunho now with a slight glare, “You’ve been avoiding us for months now, Cheol is getting fed up…so is everyone else.”

“And I have a reason for that,” Yunho snapped, anger coating his voice, “which you all know of. If you want my money, do your fucking end of the deal for once.”

“Was the merch not good enough last time?” Chan raised an eyebrow. These two were acting like I wasn’t even there, so I tried to get out of Yunho’s grip again, but instead, he gripped my nape and roughly pushed my head into his chest, making me gasp. I clutched against the collar of his leather jacket and tried to pull away, but Yunho’s strength was immense, so, instead my cheek was mushed against his firm chest, his musky cologne invading my senses and making my head slightly dizzy.

“If it were good, you would’ve seen the money by now.” Yunho’s voice held no emotions and I watched as best as I could from my position as he reached with his right hand behind himself, moving at what looked like lightning speed to me, but with my vision obscured I wasn’t able to see what was in his hand, “Go back to Cheol and tell him to get his fucking act together before I take action.”

“Asshole.” I heard this Chan guy snap and then an unsettling silence followed. I bit my lower lip and wondered what was going on, and it didn’t take long to find out as he spoke up soon again, “Got yourself a shiny new toy?”

“She’s a person, not a toy, Chan. And she’s not mine.” Yunho’s voice was rough and my breath halted for a second as I felt Yunho’s fingers twitch against my skin. I moved my head slightly to look up at him and caught the quick glance he sent down at me. It was dark and emotionless, yet it held a clear warning that I needed to stay quiet. My heart skipped a beat involuntarily.

“You better claim her then, before Cheol gets his hands on her—”

“Get lost, right now.” I have never heard such a threatening tone from anyone before, and my blood froze over at the anger and sneer in Yunho’s voice as he grabbed onto the back of my head tightly, making me freeze as I heard the click of something. Was…was he holding a gun? I gasped quietly as my fingers dug harder into the fabric of Yunho’s jacket and I heard the Chan guy cackle before his footsteps stared fading away. Yunho, however, didn’t move and I was too scared to do so as I realized I had started shaking. Suddenly, my head was being pulled back by Yunho’s hand on my nape and we made eye contact as he looked down at me menacingly.

“Not a word to anyone.” I exhaled shakily and frantically nodded my head as I dared to take a glance at his other hand, which, to my horror, held a black gun. My blood ran cold as Yunho released me at the same time as he put his gun away, behind himself, probably in the belt of his jeans, “Let’s go.”

And the rest of the walk was silent and hurried as I almost ran to finally get home, confused and scared and needing a shit ton of answers to the questions swirling in my head, which Yunho was probably unwilling to give. I valued my life above all, and therefore I remained silent, besides, the anger oozing off of him was enough to shut me up despite my sparkling curiosity. Who the hell was Jeong Yunho?

            The next day I did everything in me to forget about last night’s endeavors and about Jeong Yunho. I could act like nothing happened, like it was all just a dream. And everything was going well, until…until Yunho and I crossed paths in our university’s hallway. Well, we didn’t actually cross paths, but we saw each other briefly as I was walking with my best friend to class and Yunho was headed towards the stairs, the two of us on the two opposite ends of the long hallway. My friend was talking about the book she was currently reading and I would hum or nod along to her words, letting her know that I was paying attention despite being silent as we walked, my hands gripping the straps of my backpack. I nodded in agreement at her characterization of a character we both enjoyed from the book, when I finally looked ahead and my mind blanked. It certainly did feel like last night was a fever dream as Yunho stood on the other end of the hallway, black hair falling in soft curls against his forehead with his rainbow-colored sweater hanging loosely around his frame, big hands disappearing in the sleeves of it. His jeans were a faded grey and he was laughing as he talked to someone, eyes disappearing and cheeks puffed out. He looked nothing like the guy from last night and it gave me whiplash as his menacing and threatening eyes flashed before my eyes just as Yunho suddenly looked ahead, his eyes finding mine, looking at me with the warmest gaze anyone could muster up. I realized I was gaping, but I couldn’t help it when my brain convinced me that Jeong Yunho from right now and Jeong Yunho from last night weren’t the same person.

“Are you staring at Yunho right now?” My best friend’s voice finally snapped me out of my staring and I looked at her with the same wide eyes.

“I—yeah, but—” I needed to get it together, “That’s not Jeong Yunho.”

“Uh,” My friend looked at me like I had grown another head, “then who is he?”

“I don’t know, but—” I let out a long huff, eyebrows furrowing as I looked back at Yunho, “but that’s not the same guy from last night, I’m telling you.”

I could see the confusion on my friend’s face as she looked towards Yunho, crossing her arms in front of her chest, “He looks like—Yunho. I mean, what are we even talking about right now? Did you hit your head or something?”

“Stop it.” I snapped at her and pushed at her shoulder in frustration, making my friend glare at me, “He must have two personalities or something.”

“That’s not a very nice thing to say about someone, Y/N.” My friend chastised me and I groaned in frustration. Of course she wouldn’t understand. She wasn’t there. She didn’t see the Yunho I have. Coming to think of it…I don’t think anyone had from around here, seeing as everyone was flocking towards him and acting so freely with him. His laughter carried down the hallway and it was soft, his cheeks slightly rosy as a girl leaned too close to him and he averted his gaze shyly. He was void of all the accessories he had been wearing last night and his clothes were what I was used to seeing him wear on a daily basis. He kept shifting from one foot to another as a guy threw his arm around Yunho’s shoulders as the two giggled about something, Yunho covering his mouth before whispering something to him back with a cheeky smile. The image of him holding a gun suddenly flashed behind my eyes and I jumped, sucking in a sharp breath of air. My friend looked at me like I was crazy and I averted my eyes from Yunho, looking at her like I have seen a ghost.

“There’s something very wrong with that guy, I’m telling you.” I muttered as I grabbed her wrist and pulled her in the opposite direction, scared of facing Yunho after his weird personality shifts.

“You sound super crazy right now, bestie.” I rolled my eyes and huffed as my best friend taunted, cackling when she saw the discontentment on my face.

            And the days passed just like that. Jeong Yunho, wearing every existing bright color, avoiding eye contact when he felt shy and hiding behind his hand when he laughed a little too hard. His cheeks had a flush to them constantly and he would carefully arrange his wavy bangs against his forehead. It was confusing. I was becoming convinced with each passing day that what had happened that night was just a fever dream, and that it was so real that my mind decided to believe it. Perhaps I was lucid dreaming or something, it wouldn’t be the first time. Two weeks had gone by since my strange encounter with Yunho and I have finally come to terms with the fact that maybe what happened wasn’t even real. It couldn’t have been, not when Yunho didn’t even glance my way once. Not when he remained the bright and lovely popular boy and I…continued almost missing my deadlines, which meant I was coped up in the library currently, searching for the book I needed without having much luck in finding it. I was too lazy to ask the librarian as I would need to descend the stairs, so I instead grew more and more frustrated as I stomped around between the bookcases. I was surely disturbing someone, but I didn’t care. Eyes set on the books, one title caught my attention and I stopped, hoping that it was the book I needed. It was at eye level and I pulled it back just enough to be able to see the cover and title of it. I felt like banging my head against the shelf when I realized it wasn’t the book I needed, and with a very loud sigh/groan, I pushed it back harshly, almost screaming when a human head was casually leaning against the bookshelf next to the book I had just examined. My heart beat like crazy as I gaped at Yunho, his warm eyes twinkling with amusement as his eyebrows were slightly furrowed. His baby pink shirt hugged his frame messily as the collar fell a little low, showing off the smooth skin of left shoulder, and his dark green cargo pants were an interesting choice to wear. Yeah, this was the Jeong Yunho I knew. Dressing quirky and looking almost like an oversized puppy as his lips were pushed into a pout. I couldn’t find any words to say so I just scrambled through my brain for something, pushing my hair behind my ears as Yunho continued staring. It was becoming too much, his gaze.

“What?” I managed to say, still at a loss and not knowing how I should approach him.

“Hi.” His lips suddenly pulled up into the brightest smile I had ever seen, and his eyes twinkled with so much warmth that I took a step back. I’m going crazy, aren’t I?

“Hi.” I willed myself to greet him back, taking another step back as Yunho took one towards me, smile still on his face. He didn’t say anything else as he proceeded to come closer and closer, making me chuckle nervously as I continued putting distance between the two of us, not for long though. My back soon ran into the bookshelf and I internally whined as it cut into my back sharply. Yunho came closer, caging me in between the bookshelf and his body, making my heart somersault as I looked up at him confused, but intrigued. He was still smiling, still looking as friendly as ever, still the bright and well-liked guy from our university. Suddenly, his arms raised and were placed on each side of my head, slightly above. Yunho went and leaned down a bit, crooking an eyebrow as my eyes widened and body shrunk against the hard shelf. His musky cologne wrapped around me once again, and the events of that night flashed before my eyes without a warning.

“What are you doing?!” I whispered, sounding panicked as Yunho looked almost confused by my reaction. Almost as if it didn’t make sense that I was reaction to him like this. But I had every reason to, I can’t be crazy.

“I’m looking for a book,” He said with a light tone, expression calm, “this is the medical section. You know I’m studying to become a doctor, right?”

“No.” My answer was instant; I had no idea what his major was. I only heard rumors about how great he is, not about what he does or studies here.

“Oh, now you know.” Yunho said surprised and looked above my head, grinning happily as he reached out. What the hell was happening?

“You’re majoring in architecture, right?” I nodded wordlessly, confused as to how he knew once again something about me. I never told him. Just like with my name.

“So, did the librarian tell you this too about me?” I asked, sounding a little accusatory, as I raised an eyebrow at Yunho. He chuckled and shook his head, looking down at me in amusement.

“Not quite, I figured it out when I saw you leaving class a good while ago.” Right. He saw me leaving class. Sure. My eyes narrowed at him and I licked my lips, about to slip away and go on my merry way as this whole interaction was weird and confusing, but as if Yunho read my mind, he stepped even closer, the front of our boots touching. I looked up at him alarmed, eyes widening as Yunho lowered one arm, holding a book.

“This is so weird,” I muttered to myself, feeling uncomfortable, “Is there something wrong with you?”

My question was quite offensive and I didn’t think it through before I said it out loud, but it didn’t seem to affect Yunho as he started giggling quietly, eyes becoming smaller as his cheeks flushed. How was this the same man from that night? Did he have a twin or something? Why would his name be Yunho too? Was he fucking around with me? Or did he just have multiple personalities?

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me, angel.” My body tensed at the nickname and I watched as Yunho composed himself, and yet, the Yunho suddenly caging me against the shelf wasn’t the same Yunho from just a second ago. The friendliness and warmth slipped from his face as his eyes slightly narrowed, darkening as a smirk appeared on his lips instead of the cute smile he directed at everyone. My heart started beating faster as he bit his lower lip, leaning down even more to be eye level with me, making my breath catch in my throat, “Do you think there’s something wrong with me?”

“Something very wrong.” I managed to whisper as Yunho chuckled darkly, the knuckles of his free hand suddenly grazing against my cheek. I flinched, but didn’t pull away as his eyes ran over my face. The way his wavy hair fell in his eyes made them look sharper. He oozed danger and my mind screamed at me to high tail it out of there, yet my feet remained planted.

“There’s nothing wrong with someone who has a colorful personality, angel,” Yunho’s deep voice rang through my ears as he leaned in to whisper in my left ear, goosebumps erupting on my skin, “Have you told anyone about our encounter from that night?”

I quickly shook my head no and Yunho smirked, pulling back and gripping my chin tightly, yanking me forward and knocking the wind out of my lungs, “Good girl, keep doing that. I’m afraid something might happen to you if you decide to blabber on about it to someone.”

I shuddered as his piercing gaze kept me locked in, a whisper barely passing between my lips, “Like what?”

The sinister look which crossed Yunho’s face felt like a punch to my gut and I suddenly remembered the gun he owned. He’d shoot me. He’d kill me. Of course he would, something told me he wouldn’t hesitate or think twice about it.

“I would have to punish you—” He bit his lower lip as he paused for a second, making me realize I started shaking, “And not in the way I would love to.”

“Fuck.” I muttered, gripping his wrist and lightly pushing against it. His words were meant to be threatening, and they were, I was shaking after all…but his words also did something to me as my stomach twisted and body shivered, eyes subsequentially falling onto his red and plush lips. Yunho’s smirk widened and he leaned so incredibly close that I could feel his breath hitting my lips, his skin seemingly flawless from up close. My fingers closed around his wrist tighter as my back melted into the bookshelf behind me.

“Let’s keep it our little secret for now, angel.” His thumb swept against the skin of my chin, my face flaming at the motion, “And I shall reward you if you’re a good girl.”

“How?” I whispered, looking into Yunho’s dark eyes.

“You shall wait and see.” He winked and before I could think more about his words, he was gone just as quickly as he had come. I was left blinking confused at nothing and struggling to breathe regularly as Yunho’s warm, and big, hand left my skin burning where he had touched. What have I indirectly gotten myself involved into?

            Things happened the same way like the first time after my strange encounter with Yunho in the library. He didn’t look my way, he didn’t acknowledge me, he didn’t speak to me for at least a good two weeks. It was weird, everything he was doing. I had so many unanswered questions, but I pushed them to the back of my mind and hoped that whatever weird thing going on between Yunho and I would stop for good now. I didn’t want to get tangled up in something which felt so unsure and dangerous. I still haven’t forgotten the gun Yunho owned nor the conversation between him and that Chan guy. Even a dumb person would’ve understood that there was something illegal, at least, going on between the two of them and I didn’t want to get involved. However, the radio silence didn’t last for long as it was another Thursday and I was closing up the small convenience store I was currently working at. I had the evening shift again; the clock was close to hitting midnight and it was snowing heavily outside. I sighed when I realized I would have to walk twenty minutes just to get home. There were no signs of snow half an hour ago, it came out of the blue and I watched as a group of teenagers ran past the convenience store laughing loudly and having a snowball fight. I couldn’t share their joy as I shrugged on my coat, the weather had been nice today, I thought it wouldn’t get cold and thus abandoned my thick winter jacket, which I came to regret now. I switched off the lights and braced myself for the cold as I pushed open the door and instantly shuddered. There was a freezing chill in the air and it clung to my body as I quickly tightened the scarf around my neck, at least I had half a mind to bring one with myself. I struggled for a few seconds with the lock, it's been acting up for a while now but the owner didn’t bother to fix it, until I heard a click and pushed against the door, making sure I have truly locked it. I whirled around to stalk off towards the bus stop, with little hope that the last bus hadn’t went by already. However, I was quickly forced to stop by the sight in front of me. Yunho, painfully underdressed for the current weather, stood leaning against a black massive car. It was an SUV, a very expensive looking one.

“Evening, angel.” My jaw shouldn’t have almost hit the pavement, but I couldn’t help but gape at him. What was he doing here? Why was he here? Was that his car? How? Was he rich? Now that I come to think of it, I have no idea what Yunho does outside of university or the type of family he comes from. The sudden realization of knowing exactly nothing about him besides the persona he paints himself as was startling as a sly grin crossed Yunho’s features. It made my stomach flip.

“What are you doing?” I managed to ask, reluctantly walking closer to him. Yunho pushed his hands inside the pockets of his leather jacket, which looked thicker than the one he wore on the night he had to save me from those two creeps. His jeans were ripped and black and a very tight, form fitting, white shirt clung onto his well-defined body. With a black baseball cap over his wavy hair he looked extremely handsome underneath the street light, I had to stop myself from letting my eyes wander all over his body once again.

“Saw how hard it started to snow,” Yunho spoke up casually, smirking when I stopped a few feet away from him, “Figured you might just take the shortcut again, so, I’m here to pick you up.”

“No, you’re not.” My answer rushed through my lips instantly and I looked at him startled, slightly taking a step back as Yunho pushed off his car, “I am perfectly capable of walking home and besides—I might still catch the last bus.”

“It went by while you were still locking up, angel, just accept my offer and stop being so stubborn.” Yunho sounded slightly irritated as he walked closer, head lowered so that I was able to see his eyes from this angle. They were narrowed and I gulped, realizing that he wasn’t playing nice nor would act goofy like at university, this was the weird and intimidating version of Yunho.

“Excuse me if I’m hesitant in accepting your offer, Yunho,” I snapped, slightly fed up with the constant whiplash this guy was giving me, “But I have no actual idea who you are and so far you’ve been acting like a stalker. You know my name, you know my major, you randomly show up when I’m in trouble and then you walk me home despite my complaints. You proceed to act completely different than the guy I’m used to seeing at university and you have strange conversations with weird people who are threatening you and are calling me yours like I’m simply just a piece to be put on display and you—you have a gun! And you’ve threatened someone with it. So, yeah, I don’t exactly want to get in your car for you to—drive me home? Or kill me. Or do something else to me.”

“If I wanted to do something to you or harm you I would’ve already done so, Y/N, I had plenty of chances for that.” My jaw hung open once again at Yunho’s instant reply, heart hammering at his admission. Is this seriously the only thing he’s taken from my rant? Which felt good to finally get off my chest, but it seemed to make no difference as Yunho shook his head lightly and suddenly invaded my personal space, taking me completely off-guard, “Who I am at university and who I am outside of it might seem like two completely different people to you, but it’s me. I’m not always happy, and goofy, and I’m not always in a good mood. I just don’t like showing the real me around people.”

“I am people, so what’s different?” I scoffed, glaring up at him, “We don’t even know each other so I don’t understand why you feel the need to drop your act around me.”

“Would you prefer me acting all fake, then?” Yunho’s tone was harsh and his face read displeasure as I allowed my eyes to soak in his expression. Would I prefer that? It was the Yunho I was accustomed to, but would I like that?

“I don’t know,” I managed to mutter out, averting my eyes when Yunho’s dark gaze became too much, “I guess I’m just used to that version of you and this—feels weird, perhaps scary.”

Yunho suddenly sighed and his shoulders slightly dropped as he looked up at the sky, his smooth skin glinting under the streetlamp, “I’m sorry if I scared you, that wasn’t my intention.”

I chewed on my bottom lip as Yunho looked at me again, our gazes connecting. He was sincere, his eyes were shinning with honesty and an almost innocent like gleam, just like the one I was used to seeing. I hummed wordlessly and looked away, feeling slightly more at ease in his presence. He just sighed quietly and I heard shuffling before I felt the weight of a big hand pressing against the top of my head. I looked up at Yunho wide eyed as he started patting my hair, almost as if he was flicking something out of it. The snowflakes, probably. My cheeks flamed at his action.

“Will you let me drive you home, then?” Yunho asked again, voice softer this time and features relaxed, “I don’t want you walking around late at night and in this weather.”

“Alright,” I gave in, clearing my throat as Yunho suddenly grinned widely, “But you should be worried more about yourself, you’re barely wearing anything.”

It made Yunho chuckle as he headed for the passenger seat’s side and opened the door for me. I muttered a small thank you as I carefully slid inside.

“I’m rarely ever cold.” Yunho said with a cheeky wink before closing the door and jogging around to the driver’s side. I allowed myself a quick check-out of the car, eyes widening when I saw the emblem on the wheel. I was sitting inside a Maserati Levante. Just how did Yunho afford this car? The seats were of black leather and it was definitely heated as I felt my body warm up quickly as the engine has been left on. Yunho grinned as he slid inside and quickly buckled his seatbelt, reminding me to do the same as he put on the blinker, signaling that he would drive off now. The car slowly started rolling, pulling away from the store as I gazed out the window, feeling slightly awkward that I was now enclosed in such a small space with Yunho. I took a quick peek at him and watched him gripping the steering wheel lazily, hair framing his face as tonight it wasn’t as wavy as usually. His eyes were set on the road and he licked his lips before glancing at me, making me quickly look back outside the window, hating the way my cheeks instantly flushed. And as we drove by the bus stop, my eyes widened when I spotted the bus which would’ve taken me home.

“You said the bus went by already!” I exclaimed and turned to look at Yunho slightly offended.

“Oh,” He hummed but by the smugness coating his face I knew he had lied on purpose, “my bad, thought I had seen your bus.”

I scoffed and shook my head, melting into the warm seat as I glared ahead, ignoring the fluttering feeling of butterflies in my stomach at the thought that Yunho only lied because he wanted to drive me home. Perhaps he wasn’t so awful at all times.

            Despite me feeling like Yunho brushed over my outburst that night, he seemed to change a bit. He started gradually approaching me at university and even hung out with me during our shared lunch breaks. He also started stopping by the convenience store whenever he had free time and I soon came to know that he lived just a few blocks away from it. Which was a surprise because I have been assuming he lived in some fancy rich neighborhood due to the car he was driving. Nobody really seemed to question our suddenly blooming friendship, although I felt like we still had a long way to go, and Yunho also stopped being so mysterious. He still didn’t answer all of my questions and often changed the subject when I asked about that first night, so I stopped asking about it after a while. I figured that I might get him to tell me at some point, and if not, I could always start asking around. People loved to gossip and maybe they would know something about this Chan guy who had called Yunho a few times while we were hanging out, but he always declined his calls. Tonight was supposed to be a chill night, but my best friend decided that she has had enough of staying at home every Friday and thus dragged us to a house party not far from our university. It was a half an hour walk away from my flat, so we opted to walk and just grab a cab on our way back. The house was large and packed with people as we made our way inside and I sighed at the sight of so many familiar faces. Almost everyone from our university was here and I realized I was tricked into coming to a party organized for our university specifically. My best friend just giggled as I have her a glare, already hating the fact that I had to stay here for hours and hours as she was in the mood to party. The only savior I found at the moment was alcohol, so the two of us made our way into the kitchen, both grabbing some beer from the fridge. Apparently, my best friend knew the host of the party and got us invited easily.

“I really needed this.” My best friend said as she threw her head back, downing half of her beer in one go. I raised my eyebrows at her as I sipped on mine casually.

“I can see that.” I chuckled and allowed my eyes to wander around the kitchen, taking in the faces. A few people above our grade were gathered around the sink, laughing about something and pointing at something. I wasn’t further interested, so I averted my eyes and noticed two friends of Yunho’s.  They were standing in the corner and laughing about something as the taller one had his phone out. My staring must’ve been insistent as he looked up and we made eye contact, a smile appearing on his lips. He smiled and waved as he called us over. Due to Yunho and I hanging out more often lately, he was quick to introduce me to his friend group. They were a nice bunch but a bit too energetic and happy for my liking. My best friend, however, was totally into their vibe and would beg me to hang out with them. It was fine, I knew she wanted to make some new friends and these guys were nice and…handsome.

“Hi!” Mingi was quick to greet us happily and I smiled at him, waving at Seonghwa as my best friend went and hugged him. The two seemed to click instantly, it was nice to see.

“Was it you who urged Sooyoung to come to this party?” I asked Mingi accusingly and he laughed as he looked down.

“It was actually her who gave us the idea of coming here tonight.” I hummed and threw a knowing look at my best friend as she didn’t bother focusing on Mingi and I, already wrapped up in a conversation with Seonghwa.

“I see, I should’ve known.” I chuckled and Mingi nodded while putting his phone away. It was a little unusual that these two were here without Yunho, but I didn’t question it. I knew he wasn’t a big fan of parties and besides, he didn’t tell me he would be coming. Therefore I didn’t expect to see him here.

“Did you finish your project?” I asked Mingi, remembering him complain about it two days ago. Mingi’s shoulder slumped and he started pouting as he stole my beer swiftly.

“Almost, I have to design the garden and then I’m done.” Mingi was a landscape architecture major and he was always busy with projects, barely out of the house if it wasn’t for Seonghwa and Yunho dragging him to places. He was quite dedicated to his work and it was admirable. Especially when I could barely find any inspiration to do my assignments. Whenever we shared a few of our classes I was amazed by his knowledge and drive to learn even more.

“That’s good, you’ve got this, Mingi.” I gave him an encouraging smile and he chuckled, looking at me knowingly.

“So, did you start your design?” I fake laughed and took a swing of my beer after taking it back from Mingi.

“You know me, I’ll do it two or three days before the deadline.”

“At this point I’m afraid you’ll fail.” Mingi’s eyebrows furrowed and I chuckled, shrugging.

“Don’t worry, I function best under pressure.” I saluted him mockingly and Mingi chuckled, soon our attention on Seonghwa as him and Sooyoung approached us.

“I really want to dance,” Seonghwa said, drunkenly gazing at Mingi, “Are you coming?”

Mingi just sighed but stood up, throwing an arm around Seonghwa’s shoulders, “Of course, I’m coming. Someone needs to make sure you don’t trip over your own legs.”

Sooyoung and I chuckled as we followed after the two boys despite me not being too fond of the idea. I didn’t feel like dancing tonight, but I didn’t want to leave Sooyoung alone, and besides, I could see it in Mingi’s eyes that he didn’t want to be alone with the two. Whatever was going on between them, which both were denying, was pretty obvious.

The music was loud in the bigger room compared to the kitchen and I looked around, realizing it must’ve been a sort of library hence the bookcases on both sides of the room were filled with books. My heart broke a bit for the books, I could only hope no one was stupid enough to damage them. Otherwise the room was cleared up and there was a table with a mixing console on it, the DJ standing behind it and playing trendy songs everyone seemed to enjoy. The bas thrummed against my chest and I downed my beer in one go before I pushed through the crowd, making way for myself and my friends. Somewhere in the middle we found a good spot and formed a circle starting to dance.

I couldn’t tell how much time passed before I needed to use the restroom, but just as I went to tell Mingi I would be leaving for a few minutes, he leaned in to tell me that he needed some air. And so, after telling Seonghwa and Sooyoung where we were headed, Mingi and I took off hand in hand towards the exit. We agreed on meeting in the kitchen in around ten minutes before heading back to our friends, and so we parted, going on our way. The bathroom was in the far back of the house and I was thankful as the music didn’t reach here, I could finally hear my thoughts. The air was gradually better too compared to the suffocating heath in the library like room. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long to make it inside the bathroom and I was quick in doing my business, washing my hands thoroughly before splashing some cold water on my face, tapping it against my flaming skin. Perhaps I should join Mingi outside for a second before grabbing another drink. I huffed and smoothed down the top of my hair, baby hairs all over the place, before I unlocked the door and left the quiet bathroom. The hallways had no lights but it was fine as the living room was well lit up and it poured out here too. There was a staircase leading upstairs, but it was barricaded off and I knew not to go upstairs even if I wanted to. Just as I went to walk past the staircase, someone collided into my shoulder, knocking me slightly backwards. I gasped in surprise and looked back, surprised to see a slightly familiar face. The guy was younger, and he quickly apologized before a look of recognition crossed his features. Despite it being almost two months ago, I remembered his name. Chan. The guy Yunho threatened with a gun. I gulped and accepted his apology, about to walk off when he spoke up again.

“Don’t I know you?” He asked with narrowed eyes and I cursed silently, facing him again.

“Uh, barely.” I offered with a small smile and Chan hummed, eyebrows furrowing.

“Weren’t you with Yunho once?” So he remembered too, huh.

“Chan, right?” I raised an eyebrow and suddenly the guy was grinning and extending his hand towards me to shake.

“Knew it,” He said with a chuckle as I reluctantly shook his hand, “I don’t know your name though.”

“It’s Y/N.” I introduced myself and Chan smiled, his grip lingering for a second longer than necessary. It unsettled me as I cleared my throat and very obviously made to leave, but Chan seemed like he wanted to talk a little bit more.

“I had no idea you knew Jeonghan.” My eyebrows raised at the name and I thought for a second until I realized he was the host.

“I don’t, my best friend does though.” I explained and Chan hummed, a small smirk appearing on his lips.

“Now that I come to think of it,” He took a step forward and I willed myself to not move backwards, “Yunho never mentioned you again after that night.”

Oh, well…that didn’t feel nice to know. I thought we were sort of friends by now, but maybe Yunho needed more time. Our relationship dynamic was still weird and most of times I didn’t know where to put us, so maybe Yunho was feeling the same way. Or maybe there was something dangerous about this guy and Yunho just simply avoided talking about me in his presence. Our encounter that night felt almost fresh in my memories and I willed myself to not think about the gun pointed at this younger guy.

“He must have a reason, then.” I found myself answering with a cold smile, ready to excuse myself finally, “My friend is waiting for me—”

“Just because he doesn’t mention you doesn’t mean we don’t know about you, Y/N.” His sinister smile and cold tone sent a chill down my spine and my eyebrows furrowed as I looked at Chan, “Do you have a tattoo?”

That was a very random question, one that took me off guard as my eyebrows raised, “Uh, no, I—”

“What a pleasant sight, Lee Chan.” A sharp tone cut me off and I turned my head to see Yunho approaching us in all of his tall glory. His glare was sharp and body stiff as he came to a stop next to me, instantly pressing his warm palm against the small of my back. It made me straighten up slightly as I gazed at Yunho’s profile, surprised to see him here.

“Thought you weren’t coming, Yunho.” Chan said with a chuckle, eyes falling between the two of us and the non-existent space between our bodies as Yunho pressed up against me, his musky cologne invading my senses.

“Maybe you should check on your friend, Chan, he might be unable to walk for a week or two.” The dark smirk which crossed Yunho’s lips made me gulp, and I watched as Chan’s expression fell, suddenly it felt like we were back to that chilly night out on the street.

“You son of a bitch,” Chan hissed and marched up to Yunho, who didn’t even as a little as flinched, “What did you do to Hansol?”

“Nothing he won’t survive.” My eyebrows furrowed as I looked up at Yunho, who seemed to be unbothered by my piercing gaze. Chan hissed under his breath and with one lasting glare quickly stormed off, grabbing for his phone as he raced towards the front door. I released a breath I didn’t know I had been holding just as Yunho faced me, and I took in his attire in surprise. His black long-sleeved blouse was tight and was unclasped down to his chest, blank ink peeking through from underneath on his left pectoral. His outfit was completed by black leather pants and his black hair, which fell messily against his forehead. I was snapped out of my staring the second I felt Yunho caging me in against the railing of the staircase, big palm still pressing against the small of my back, eyes very slowly dragging up from his exposed milky chest to his chocolate warm brown eyes, which were narrowed and carried a hint of frustration.

“What did he want?” His voice was low and it brought a flush to my cheeks as I looked up at him, suddenly all too aware of the lack of space between us.

“Nothing much.” I muttered with a shrug, but Yunho didn’t seem to believe me as he lowered his head, eyes boring into mine. His gaze made my skin crawl and my fingers twitched as I placed my hands behind my back, doing everything in me I could to focus on his eyes and not on his cherry red plush lips, which were too close to my face all of a sudden.

“Don’t lie to me.” His right knuckles grazed against the skin of my cheek and I gulped as something coiled in my stomach. Was I this transparent? He could read me so easily.

“He just asked if I have a tattoo or something.” I answered after a beat of silence and Yunho’s eyebrows slightly furrowed as I dared to peek at his chest again, the ink more visible because of his stance. The collar of his shirt fell lower and I could make out a thick line which went in a circle and the tip of a letter, perhaps A?

“And what did you say?” His forefinger was suddenly underneath my chin as he tipped my head back, pulling my eyes away from his chest. I blushed furiously because of the amusement in Yunho’s eyes and the wide smirk on his lips, I was caught staring. His voice was low and breathy and I bit my lower lip for a second, trying to ignore his proximity and scent as his head seemed to be even closer to mine right now.

“No—nothing,” I exhaled and licked my lips, “you got here when I was answering him.”

“Good girl.” My legs shouldn’t have almost given out at his praise, but my mind wasn’t clear anymore. Yunho’s scent and proximity were intoxicating and I sure as hell wasn’t drunk from one beer, but everything about Yunho made me feel like it. I don’t know when it happened, but I couldn’t pull my eyes off Yunho whenever we were hanging out. And when we were at university, I was just like the others, flocking towards his bright and warm aura, desperate for his attention at times. When it was just the two of us, I yearned for his warmth and dangerous eyes, often breathless when his voice dropped to chastise me for something. When we hung out with our circle of close friends, I wanted his undivided attention on myself only. I had come to realize that Jeong Yunho was insanely good-looking and his mysterious aura was nothing but a little spark which made him even more irresistible.   

“Wanna get out of here?” I heard him asking once I was done daydreaming, “I know you don’t like parties.”

I nodded wordlessly and as Yunho slowly, without breaking eye contact, pulled away I almost chased after him, hands balling up into fists in order to prevent myself of doing something I might regret later. There wasn’t a label to our relationship, but friends certainly didn’t want to fuck each other, therefore I needed to keep myself in check and control my desires.

            After letting our friends know that Yunho and I would be leaving we got our jackets and went up to Yunho’s car. It was slightly dirty, which made me wonder where he had been as he had a habit of keeping his car crystal clean, even just a speck of dust made him wash it. The car ride was quicker than I expected as we flew through the quiet city, lights blurring at the speed Yunho was driving. He wasn’t a reckless driver, but it seemed like he was eager to get home. I couldn’t blame him, there was nothing better than the feeling of finally reaching home after a long and tiring day. I could imagine Yunho’s had been the same after he texted me in the morning that he had some business outside of the city and wouldn’t attend his classes, therefore we wouldn’t meet up. It was a surprise that he even made it to the party. It wasn’t the first time Yunho and I hung out in his apartment, but it was the first time I had come here so late and without a real purpose. Usually we huddled together to study, Yunho’s determination finally rubbing off on me to do to my assignments in time or when our friend group wanted to hang out and have a chill night.

After Yunho and I got settled, he went and grabbed a bottle of red wine, saying he needed it after the day he had. I didn’t complain as I watched him from the couch, body turned around and eyes running all over his frame. The clothes he wore did an amazing job at showing off his forms and I couldn’t help it but linger on his shoulders and waist as he had his back to me, grabbing around his counter while he had the wine in front of him. He popped it open without much struggle and then poured some red wine in two glasses, putting the bottle away. I watched as he turned around and leaned his hips against the counter, crossing one arm over his chest as he grabbed a glass and raised it to his lips, closing his eyes. He took a small sniff of the beverage before taking a long sip, letting out a content sigh. The image shouldn’t have made the hairs on my skin stand, yet all I could do was watch and gulp, mind blank until Yunho’s dark eyes snapped open and he smiled. It was mischievous as he spoke up.

“Won’t you get yours?” He pointed at the second glass and I hummed, wondering whether I should mix beer and wine, but it’s been a few hours since I last had beer. Besides, I was feeling fine. It shouldn’t do any damage. So, I pushed off the couch and approached him carefully, feeling fidgety under his sharp gaze. His eyes followed my every step as I stopped next to him and grabbed the glass, copying him. I sniffed it before I took a careful sip of it, the sweet taste exploding in my mouth. I hummed and took a bigger sip, appreciative of its taste. Yunho was smiling as he sipped his, and we remained standing like that as I tried to find anything to look at which wasn’t Yunho. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was getting too much and I felt like I needed to break it, so I spoke up, “You never told me you had a tattoo.”

Yunho eyebrows slightly raised, almost surprised that I knew, until he glanced down at himself and chuckled, “Ah, I forgot this blouse was low cut.”

“It’s not low cut,” I snickered, “You’re just wearing it like that.”

“Are you saying I should button up?” He asked with a playful smirk and I just smiled while shrugging. If he did that perhaps I would stop staring, but I wasn’t about to say that to him.

“So…does it mean anything?” I asked nonchalantly, having now an excuse to look at his exposed chest as Yunho glanced down too. He remained silent as he looked up, eyes searching my face for a few seconds before he lowered his glass on the counter.

“Not one you’re expecting to hear.” He said lowly and I raised an eyebrow as he suddenly stepped closer, looking down at me with a serious expression and darkening eyes, “Do you want to know?”

I gulped and busied myself with the glass I had in my hand as I looked down at it, pursing my lips in thought. I was trying to ignore the rapid beating of my heart but Yunho took away my only distraction as he took the glass from my hands and placed it on the counter next to his, now I was forced to look at him.

“I guess.” I muttered, hoping he couldn’t hear the shake of my voice. His scent was once again all around me and it was hard to focus on anything he was saying.

“But if I tell you…” He took a step forward, making me step back and collide into the counter, “and you tell anyone…”

My body tensed as he reached forward and pressed his thumb against my lower lip, eyes focused on my lips, “I will have to kill you, angel.”

I gulped as I shuddered, and Yunho lightly dragged my lower lip down, licking his lips as we looked at each other. His gaze was challenging and dark, lips about to break into a sneer as I was scared but intrigued, “I won’t tell anyone.”

“How can I know for sure?” Was he testing me? His voice dropped to an almost whisper and he cocked his head to the side, eyebrows raised almost mockingly, “You have a vengeful personality, who knows what you’ll blabber on about if I happen to hurt you.”

“Don’t hurt me then.” I snapped and Yunho chuckled, but there was nothing amusing about it.

“Are you reckless or simply dumb?” He was taunting me and I didn’t like it. I grabbed his wrist and glared at him, pulling his hand back and thumb off my lips.

“That’s some nerve coming from someone who was everywhere I went and knows everything about me without actually knowing me.” Yunho’s lips pulled up into an amused grin at the way I snapped at him, nose scrunched in annoyance.

“I’m in a gang,” He stepped impossibly close and placed both hands on the counter on both sides of body, “A very dangerous gang, the tattoo is to signify where I belong to.”

I gulped, slightly thrown off. I was expecting many reasons to answer the enigma around Yunho, but I didn’t exactly envision him being involved into gang activities or the mafia, even. Was he just simply not saying? Wouldn’t be the first time he lied to me.

“Why did Chan ask if I have a tattoo?” My voice was hard and I tried not to shake when I felt Yunho’s large hands gripping my waist. His hold was firm, like he was afraid I would run away.

“Because,” Yunho licked his lips as he lowered his head so I didn’t have to crane my neck up so high, “if you’re mine you have to get the tattoo as well.”

“But I’m not yours.” I quickly said as I tried to process everything and ignore the way Yunho’s grip tightened around my hips and jaw clenched, “And I don’t want to have a tattoo.”

“Then you won’t have one,” Yunho’s tongue peeked out as he liked his lips swiftly, his eyes glued onto my lips, “But you are mine, Y/N.”

Before I could ask him since when, Yunho closed the gap between us and pressed his plush lips against mine. I didn’t mean to flinch, but it was unexpected and rough as his hands on my waist pushed me up onto the counter, easing the height difference a little between us. I kissed back when I felt him about to pull back, probably thrown off by my lack of response, and Yunho was quick to smash his lips against mine with a fever, setting a hasty and messy rhythm as my head was tilted back and arms circled around his shoulders. It was everything I have envisioned and yet nothing like it. His lips were plush and warm yet rough and relentless as he bit at my lower lip, almost as if he was trying to inhale the whole of me. His scent was the only thing I could smell around us and my brain was fogged up as Yunho’s lean body pressed into mine, pushing me flushed against himself by placing his hand on my back. My legs parted wider, making more space for Yunho as one of my hands traveled towards his hair, gripping at the black wavy strands firmly. His warmth was overwhelming and it made me breathless as his large hand wrapped around my neck as if he needed something to hold onto. My lungs were screaming for air and I pulled back once it got too much, lightheaded as I leaned forward, teeth attaching against the soft skin of Yunho’s neck. His chest was falling and rising rapidly, just as breathless as I was feeling, the hand from my neck traveling to my nape as I pressed open mouthed kisses against his skin, lips trailing down to his collarbone. Yunho groaned when I bit lightly at it, teasing and licking, before I was pulled back and forcefully met with lips against my own. It didn’t take long for Yunho to push his tongue against my lips, asking for permission. I opened up without hesitation, letting him take the lead as his wet tongue licked against mine, humming, the vibrations traveling through my whole body as I pulled on the smaller strands of his hair. Yunho tasted like the red wine he just had, sweet and so intoxicating that I couldn’t get enough of him. His tongue explored my mouth as my hips bucked against him and I wasn’t surprised to find him just as affected as I was feeling. I could feel him through his leather pants and the friction was much needed against my throbbing core as I grinded against him once again, catching his lower lip between my teeth as he went to pull back. Yunho’s eyes were the darkest I had ever seen them and his cheeks were lightly flushed as he grabbed my nape firmly, jaw clenching and lips plump from the kissing.

“Bedroom, right now.” His voice was raspy and it sent a chill down my spine as I quickly clung onto him, legs firm around his waist as he walked us to his bedroom, large hands holding me up by my ass and allowing me to grind against him as Yunho groaned and nipped at my lower lip until we were standing in his dark bedroom. He carefully lowered me and onto the ground and I was quick to get rid of my jeans and shirt, helping Yunho in undoing the zipper of his leather pants as he had gotten rid of his blouse. I allowed myself to stare unabashedly at his body, taking in his lean but muscular form as he towered over me, stomach well defined and thighs thick. It was a sight worthy for drooling and I snapped out of it when Yunho started walking me backwards, not expecting me to palm him through his boxers. He sucked in a harsh breath and allowed me to feel him up and massage him before I was pushed down onto the bed by my shoulders. I scooted back before he crawled towards me and leaned down to press kisses against my neck and shoulder, tongue flattening against the flush skin of my collarbones before he sucked hard at a patch of skin, making me groan at the sting. His kisses didn’t stop there as he kissed down between my breasts, biting at the skin before he continued, all the way down to my stomach. I was panting and itching to grip onto his hair, but his face was in front of mine in an instant and he kissed me breathless once again. My nails dug into his back as my hands roamed over it, mapping every flaw of his skin, soaking in his warmth. Before I could register it, his fingers were ghosting over my thigh and slowly itching closer to my panties. I groaned into his mouth as he yanked them down, eyes opened as Yunho pulled back just slightly, hot breath hitting my face as one finger slowly slipped inside my wet hole. I gasped at the feeling and Yunho groaned, lips pressing against my cheek as he pushed himself up by one hand near my head. He slowly started thrusting it in and out, making my eyebrows furrow as he dragged the movement out, not waiting long to add another long finger. I grabbed his arm as my toes curled and hips lifted off the soft cover of the bed, trying to meet his lazy thrusts. They weren’t enough and they made my skin burn as my other hand tangled into his hair.

“Please, Yunho,” I whispered out, moan choked back as his thumb pressed against my clit, stomach coiling at the added sensation, “Faster.”

His teeth bit into the skin of my jaw, not hard enough to leave a bruise as he slightly picked up his pace, fingers curling against my walls and making my back arch off the bed as he rubbed harsher and faster against my clit, fingers thrusting in and out. A knot was forming in my stomach as more sound left my lips, sharp exhales and broken moans as Yunho’s fingers reached the spot which made my back arch off the bed, my own hips picking up its pace as I chased for an orgasm.

“Such a good girl,” Yunho rasped in my ear, making me moan as his finger grazed the spot again, “you were so patient for me.”

“Yunho.” Our eyes connected and I pulled his head closer by the hand I had tangled in his hair, “Please—”

“Not yet.” He bit my lower lip as his hand stilled, making me whine as my walls clenched down against his fingers, every nerve in my body burning. I tried to move my hips despite it, but Yunho’s fingers quickly were pulled out from where I needed him most and I watched helplessly as he sat back, the tent in his boxers obvious. He proceeded to pull my panties all the way down before getting rid of his own boxers, pumping himself as his head fell back. I watched with hungry eyes as his size came as no surprise, matching the massivity of his body. He reached over my head, holding a package as he opened it, putting on the condom before he hovered over my body. For a second he didn’t move and my skin tingled in anticipation as I reached my arms around his shoulders, pulling his hot body against mine, whispering in his ear.

“Yunho, just fuck me already.” I didn’t expect him to moan and before I could blink, his tip was at my entrance, slowly pushing in. My mouth opened as I clenched my eyes shut, surprised at the burn as he stretched me out more and more as he slid inside. He was bigger than anyone I was with before and I needed a moment to adjust to his size as Yunho pressed kisses all over my face, biting my earlobe.

“You can’t tell anyone.” He said lowly, and despite our predicament I heard the threat in his words.

“Which part?” I questioned despite knowing what he was talking about, hand trailing down his smooth back.

“The gang part.” Yunho clarified, as if I needed it, lightly thrusting up. I gasped and gripped his sides, walls clenching around him, making him groan.

“I won’t, I won’t, just—” My voice broke off as he did the same again, smirk on his lips, “Move, please, Yunho.”

“As you wish, angel.” He whispered in my ear before pulling out almost all the way and slamming back inside, making me gasp loudly as I didn’t expect it. Yunho’s smirk stayed glued to his lips as he did it again, ripping a loud whine from between my lips, nails digging into his skin as he set an excruciatingly slow rhythm. It did no good but rile me up and make me reach around for anything to hold onto as my body flamed, walls clenching more around him, desperate for more friction. But Yunho seemed to enjoy the desperate state I was in as he chuckled, and suddenly, I felt his big hands bringing mine together, pushed above my head as he pinned my wrists together and pushed them down harshly into the mattress. He suddenly was moving, getting up onto his knees and sitting back as his right hand slipped under my lower back, guiding me up, lower back hovering in the air. Yunho only paused for a small second, eyes connecting with mine before he moved, sharp and clear, pace nothing like the slow one previously. I moaned loudly as he started rocking his hips harshly, pace relentless and dick reaching deeper than before, making my hands ball up into fists as I couldn’t hold onto anything with Yunho pinning them above my head. It didn’t take long for Yunho to get vocal, cursing under his breath as his eyes were closed and he was biting his lower lip, pace picking up the louder my moans got. I couldn’t focus on anything else but the pleasure building up in my lower abdomen and the electricity coursing through my veins, mind wrapped up in the scent of Yunho, the feel of Yunho…Yunho.

“Yunho.” He was the only thing I could think about and at the desperation in my voice he got rougher, pistoning his hips at an unforgiving pace, making me cry out in pleasure as my hips thrusted up, chasing for an orgasm as I tried to meet Yunho’s frantic thrusts. He finally released my wrists and gripped my hips firmly with both hands as he helped me move against him, my head thrown back at the constant ripples of pleasure as my fingers tangled into the sheets above head and twisted hard, moans of Yunho’s name tumbling through my lips. He was panting loudly and whines left his lips as I could feel him throbbing and I knew he was close like I was.

“Fuck, Y/N, you feel so good.” He moaned out as my walls clenched down hard on his length, toes curling and mind completely fogged up with pleasure. The second his cold thumb started rubbing circles against my clit I saw stars and I came with a high-pitched moan of his name, Yunho’s hips stuttering before he guided my hips, riding out my orgasm just as he muttered a quiet fuck before he came too, groan low and guttural, movements never ceasing until it became too much and I whined, gripping his wrist in an attempt to ask him to stop as I haven’t managed to find my voice yet. Yunho groaned as his hips stuttered and slowly stopped, panting hard as he stared down at me. My eyes took him in before they stuck to the tattoo on his left pectoral. It was big. A big circle going around the letter A and cutting into it at the bottom. I shuddered as he slipped out and got off the bed, leaving my limp body on the bed to recover as my fingers tangled in my hair in an attempt to tame the wild strands. Yunho got rid of the used condom before he stood by the bed, towering over me. We stared at each other for a few seconds before he leaned down and tucked the covers away, effortlessly picking me up and slipping me underneath them. He got in next to me and pulled the soft covers over our bodies. I sighed in content at the warmth spreading over my naked body and nuzzled my nose into the pillow which smelled so much like Yunho. I felt him shift behind me before the front of his big body was pressed against my back, a hand coming around my body to hold me. I didn’t expect him to grip my neck firmly and push me back even more into himself as he slightly leaned over me. I was able to look at him from the corner of my eyes and I watched the menacing look on his face and the darkness in his chocolate brown eyes as he leaned close enough to be able to whisper.

“You don’t have to get a tattoo,” Despite his expression, his tone was soft, “but you’re mine and everyone else will know about it. I’ll make sure.”

I gulped as Yunho pressed a chaste kiss against my cheek before his long fingers slipped from my neck, making me realize I had been holding my breath. I released it shakily and felt him settle down behind me once again, nose pushing against my shoulder blade as his arm was firmly planted around my middle.

“Alright, let’s say I’m yours for now.” I found myself saying, but didn’t expect the chuckle from Yunho. I didn’t like being called nicknames nor being claimed like I was an object, but they didn’t sound so bad coming from Yunho’s mouth, they held no menace nor ulterior motives.

I didn’t know what this made us, but I knew I had one or two secrets to keep and that Yunho wasn’t letting me go nowhere from his sight.

⟨Part 2⟩

[macaroonff]

This Autumn, - Shin Ryujin

Genre: Roommates x lovers, College +Domestic Au, Autumn feels Pairing: Shin Ryujin x fem! Reader ↪Content warnings: Mentions of a dysfunctional families, slight angst, mentions of homophobia, mention of insecurities Word Count: 7k+ words Suggested Songs: We found Love in October- Girl In Red I wanna be your girlfriend- Girl in Red Bubble gum- Clairo Duvet- Bôa October Passed Me By- Girl in Red Girls-Girl in Red Softly- Clairo You know where this playlist is heading- feel free to recommend more ↪not proofread

Sometimes fall meant that the clarity of summer had ended, and that the dryness wasn't accompanied by sweat, but by the heaviness of hoodies and the bareness of barks. A bore compared to the freedom and excitement that summer offered; a dispirited time when you look back to the last three months. 

Of course autumn wasn't all bad. The colours took on a warmer palette as the trees bared themselves devoid of its warmth: warmth which could be found in campfires and cosy sheets; in people's hugs and weighted blankets; in hot lattes, crunchy leaves and early sunsets.

But when assignments piled up from the start of the season, finding opportunities to revel in such warmth seemed unsuccessful. You hurriedly tried composing yourself from last month's activities; internships, staycations and pool parties, returning from a whirlwind of adrenaline. It was exhausting, and you were burnt out before the semester even started. 

But a student you were, a decent one you tried to be, as you file your assignments, albeit slowly due to sleep deprivation. The first week of autumn went by with professors dumping assignments immediately as you try to ease the pace at which you deal with it. Clearly, autumn had you drained from day one.

Autumn hated you more than you hated it.

Autumn, two weeks in wasn't too bad. You took time to catch up on deadlines, you made plans with friends, went on walks and you got especially close to your new roommate. Her name was Ryujin, a dark haired divinity with prominent features that meshed gently. Someone who never forgot to get you your daily dose of iced latte and her favourite mocha bread from the café opposite your dorm.

It started when she came back from her evening lectures on a Thursday, holding one mug in her hand, a woolly scarf tucked into her shirt. She came in to see you with hands knitted in your hair, frustrated at the work you had, feet bobbing in concentration. 

A small 'hi' was all that you returned when you noticed her presence.

"Another stressful assignment?," she asks, concerned. Her low timbre is soothing and takes you out of your sums for a brief moment, a sigh escaping your chapped lips.

"It’s calculus." You make eye contact for the first time since she entered, a polite smile greeting her, though the frown almost tilted the other way. 

She waved her hands in a light motion acknowledging your concern, the room key in her palm dangling in it to make a soft clack. 

"Understandable, it's a real headache, especially since you're in Mr Lee’s course. Anything I could help you with?"

"I just need a break," you reply dejectedly, hoping to get away from your monotonous, monstrous tasks. 

"Wanna watch a movie?" she asks, a soft grin hiding on her face. She watches your ears perk up and your eyes shine at the suggestion, to which a chuckle remains stuck in her throat.

"Why don't you choose something and I'll join you after I'm done freshening up." she hands you the remote before walking into her room, grabbing her white towel from the laundry rack.

You sit in silence and wallow in contemplation. Choosing a movie, should be easy. 

Would a sappy rom-com distracting you from your lamentable, gapingly non-existent love life suffice? Or did you need another of those poorly directed and filmed action ones, which would, undoubtedly help you fix your sleep schedule. But then again, would Ryujin watch it? What’s a movie she’d like? Slice of life? Coming of age? Horror?

A change in the lighting of the room, and Ryujin’s tap on your shoulder was what eventually brought you out of your dilemma, and you take your vacant stare off of the blank tv screen towards your roommate instead.

The warm lights had blurred everything in the background in a way that it brought Ryujin’s face into focus, a soft glow emanating from her cheeks. Her hair was wet, the towel lazily wrapped around her supple hair, doing a measly job at keeping it from seeping into her t-shirt. Her oversized black t-shirt had patches of darker spots that clinged to her because of it, making you worried she might catch a cold. You rush to hand her a new towel, one that would actually help. 

“Don’t catch a cold, not the best time of the year to fall sick.” you whisper.

She smiles in appreciation and holds your arm, accepting the fabric for you. "You're cold too y/n. It'd probably be best for us to grab some blankets." 

After ten minutes of rummaging through your creaky cabinets and five minutes of popping corn, you were ready to distance yourself from your headaches, with new-found warmth in your newly washed duvets. 

Snug and pressed against the cushions of the sofa, with your head on her shoulder. Snug as she pats your back until the television's whisper no longer has your attention and you find your heavy eyelids closing on their own. 

Snug as you embrace sleep after months of running away from it.

Snug, however, wasn't what you felt when you woke up in the morning, blankets tangled between your legs, and an annoying ache in your ribs, due to the crushing weight of your favourite cushion. 

Snugness was replaced by the bitterness of another new day, and your long forgotten assignments weighed heavier than they did before. 

All of a sudden last night's peace was something you regretted. And you regret having been swayed by someone you considered an acquaintance.

If Shin Ryujin hadn’t offered, you'd never have taken a break. You'd never have given yourself the opportunity to be wasteful with time. You shouldn't have been tempted by the thought of a moment's freedom. 

Freedom that remained a mirage. A mirage that showed you a time of comfort. Comfort that would last one evening until you'd have to revisit everything you ran away from.

What's the point in having comfort if it's given by someone you interact with for three hours a day? What was the point in comfort if it was momentary?

Shin Ryujin was a roommate you'd have for only two more months until her grandparent's apartment was done with renovations.

Shin Ryujin was temporary.

Autumn three weeks in, was no different. Except that your backlog had increased, your sleep schedule got worse and all that you cared about was getting over with your to-do lists. How you had energy to do everything one by one remained a mystery, but you soon realised that it wasn’t energy that drove you to finish work, but the fear of running out of it sooner or later. As if it wasn’t already obvious, you were on the brink of burnout.

Not that you hated burnout. For some reason being burnt out meant that you'd be forced to take time out for mental health sooner or later. You would be forced to slow down like you did last week. 

Sitting down and finally looking back, last week felt like a distant memory so far away from your reality. It was a privilege you gave yourself, and it was so worth it, contrary to what you felt immediately. She was right, the movie did help, the movie did get you back into a safe space from your anxiety; and you never cared to thank her for it. 

You’d do it today. Thanking her. You absolutely had to.

You spent the next ninety minutes planning the best way to return the favour. Essentially, you spent the next ninety minutes going back on all the little things Ryujin did for you. Which led to the realisation that her love language was a careful amalgamation of acts of service, quality time and physical touch. 

“Maybe I’ll just bake mocha bread. I couldn’t go wrong with that,” you contemplate. You weren’t the best baker on earth, however you had enough experience to go ahead with it.

All you needed was milk, eggs, flour, yeast, sugar and coffee. Everything you had at home, really not much could go wrong.

Until it did. There was no way the universe would let you have anything good before your semester tests. Of course it had to sabotage you when you tried to do one thing with actual love behind it.

The microwave oven she brought in with her beeped once before a loud pop stopped you in your tracks. It was overheated, and nothing you did brought the irksome device back to life. No matter how many buttons you pushed vigorously, or hit the back of it tiresomely, the empty  black box on the door showed no sign of the tiny numbers signalling time left.

Time left. You look at the Ikea clock hung on the wall. Ten minutes more for the bread to be baked until completion, and thirty minutes until she’d come back and discover this mess and the damage to her microwave.

And boy does she love that microwave.

Shin Ryujin knew something was wrong when she entered later at night, almost too late for you to be up right now, just a little before midnight, the smell of sweet coffee greeting her. She’d gone to visit the apartment her grandparents had bought for her, a half hour from here. She was so caught up in finalising the layout that she forgot to mention that she’d be late home. What’s worse was that she had got caught in heavy traffic, and her phone lost charge in the middle of dialling you. 

And when she got up here, completely spent from the work, it took very little for her to be consumed by frustration. Not particularly because of you. None of it had to do with you. She knew that the tedious microwave was ancient and that her parents only gave it to her to get rid of it. She also knew that she should’ve told you about it sooner, before it actually became a problem. So no, in no way was this your fault. 

She looked at your head buried under your arm on the dining table with a mitten on one hand and a post-it under your elbow. The post-it didn’t say much, just scribbled and crossed out words that all seemed to resemble different “I’m sorrys" and “microwaves". You had multiple other post-its crumpled nearby and she picked all of them up and carefully opened them one by one. Between the creases, one said, “I’m so sorry for the microwave Ryujin, ik you treasure it because your parents lent it to you. I just wanted to thank you for last week and I thought I’d bake your favourite but -” it stopped there at which point you must’ve crumpled it. 

Ryujin let her sight wander across the baking utensils washed and stacked neatly on the drying rack and a box of half baked, burnt dough nearby. She smiles, both grateful and apologetic, an urge to caress your head settling in. She takes a closer look at you, trying to figure how she could deposit you to your bed. 

She slowly lifts your head up, wiping excess dough from near your frowning mouth, and her eyes wander up, to your slightly fluttering eyelids facing the yellow lights. It was then under the warm lights that she noticed semi-dried tears under your lashes. Another surge of guilt ran through her, thinking of how worried you must’ve been. 

In the cold kitchen, she lifts you off the chair as carefully as she can and gently drags you across the living room. It was when she’d propped you against the headboard that you stir awake.

Through half-lidded eyes, you take in whatever you can. Ryujin was holding on to your hand gasping slightly.

“Ryujin?” you whisper.

“Shit I didn’t mean to wake you up,” she looks at you a little surprised.

“I’m so sorry-” you mumble in desperation.

“Shh," she places a palm over your eyes, "don’t worry about it love. Go to bed, we’ll talk in the morning”

You aren’t convinced but you also realise that now isn’t the best time to talk. Ryujin’s eyebags seemed deeper in the warm light and you knew both of you needed a decent rest. It had been a hectic time for the two of you, and all you needed was sleep.

Ryujin still had the benevolence to pull the blanket over you and stroke your hair until you fell asleep.

It was the second time you fell asleep in her arms.

The following weekend you were on a shopping trip.

At a semi-large Ikea warehouse about forty minutes away from the campus. It was Ryujin's idea to come out here despite you convincing her to find a shop closer, but she insisted.

"Trust me, it'll be fun. We can look at furniture too."

Of course, she needed new furniture. It slowly dawns on you that you have very little time to spend with her in your home. Home.

You don't remember the last time you called your dorm a home. For all that you knew, it was a messy damp space that you couldn't wait to escape from, an absolute nightmare with it's cramped furniture. But it was cosy, something you couldn't deny now.

Maybe because you were with her. All her little habits that grew on you, her impeccable daily routine that had become a source of stability in your life, even her lesser known quirks such as keeping a picture of her two cats at home framed on her desk and kissing the before going to her classes in the morning.

You admired all of it, and it wouldn't have been the same if it were someone else. You never felt like this with your previous room mates. They were just people who lived in their own solitary spaces. But with Ryujin, somehow you were involved in most housework together. You felt involved, and somewhere more loved than in your own home.

Your family wasn't bad, at least on the surface. They never compromised when it came to your education or your standard of living. But somewhere between those lines were impossible expectations they wouldn't hold themselves to either. And you got tired of them easily. They hid toxicity behind "criticism", where criticism only meant negatives beyond your control. Your last year of high school, particularly faced extreme criticism, and you felt your confidence dipping. You managed though. You're not entirely sure how you coped, but with support from school, you managed a scholarship, a meagre one but still enough to get away from your family.

You hadn't seen them in three years.

Ryujin, on the other hand, had a lovely family, and you were, at times jealous of how perfect she seemed; how perfect everything around her seemed.

She seemed to have every aspect of her life in order. Whether it be top of the class majoring in Business, or being captain of the girl's football team, or the fact that she could spare three hours to stay with her paint brushes and that they would come out having the entire beauty of the universe encompassed in them. She could manage being both a homebody, while still being popular in school, she could be assertive when she needed to be without actually disturbing the fragile ego of most in her class.

She surpassed every definition of balance mentioned in the dictionary. She was living it, breathing it. Stability.

You admired her, a lot, but you couldn't stop this ridiculously miniscule base of malevolence in your heart. And every day you were scared it would become worse.

Especially now, when all she wanted was to spend precious time with you, constantly putting effort into your friendship whereas you were held back by bitter thoughts. And you hated yourself for it.

You force back your envy, distracting yourself by browsing through the shelves of cutlery displayed. You notice the absence of Ryujin's presence, and slowly find yourself lost in this maze of a shop. Maybe it was better that she wasn't in this aisle now, or else you wouldn't be able to face her with the guilt of having thought of her so poorly.

You find yourself interested in the array of pretty pink melamine plates stacked in front of you, in the stainless steel spoons with animal handles, and little napkin holders shaped like boats. You pick up different pans, weighing how heavy each is, looking to keep your brain unnecessarily busy. If you spend a second more comparing yourself with Ryujin, you knew you wouldn't be able to think of anything else for the entire day, or week.

You remember what your therapist told you, all the comfort and validation that you needed pouring in through words. You open up your notes, all the affirmations typed out one by one. You repeat them in your mind, with a new goal in sight.

You wouldn't let your insecurity ruin another good relationship. Especially not with Ryujin.

She emerges after some time, holding in her hand, a grey device, and a grin painted on her face. "I think this is the one. It's a cool toaster cum oven sort of thing, and it's cheap," she winks at you.

How was she so decisive? you think again. It had only taken her fifteen minutes. If it were you, you'd have taken forty minutes more.

"I trust your decision," you reply, giving her a soft smile. You notice her eyebrows raise a little. "You sure?," she asks. "You usually don't agree this fast. You have this terrible habit of sitting on decisions for ages." she rambles on.

You take a moment to process this. You knew it was true, and she probably didn't mean malice, but it was not something you'd accept easily.

Ryujin never had to think twice about what she wanted. She knew exactly what she wanted, and she always got it. Whereas every decision you seemed to make bore consequences you didn't want. And often, the times you didn't heavily weight them out was when things backfired. The last time being with the microwave oven.

It was the only way you knew to trust yourself.

So it irks you greatly when Ryujin calls it a "terrible habit". Because for you, it was a habit that gave you security. Certainty wasn't achievable, but you'd try as fucking close as you could get, and Shin Ryujin won't tell you otherwise.

She'd never understand how imperfect you were. She'd never understand the little complexities that hold you back. For the most part, she had life easy. What would she ever understand?

You ignore her comment, instead picking up a ceramic mug from the shelf, thumbing on the floral patterns glazed onto it.

Ryujin barely senses your predicament, instead grabbing onto the mug placed besides the one you hold onto. "These are pretty, it's like a cute matching set. We should get them," she winks.

The rest of the day follows with more furniture in your cart, and mostly unnecessary plushies plaguing your living room. New pillows, potted plants, wardrobe organisers, a work desk and the biggest Djungelskog bear lying near the couch.

It dawns on you the next morning, after waking up to the chaos, that she was shifting out in two weeks.

On the first of October.

All of a sudden she was busy, very busy, and the two of you barely met, with bigger gaps in your schedule. Part of it was because of Ryujin arranging her main furniture in her new house, and part of it was because you were busy with academics, only that it was voluntary this time. It just so happened that you needed a few more credits to retain your scholarship, the only thing weighing your new found freedom. Along with that, you busied yourself so that you didn't have to face Ryujin later at night.

You were scared. Other than the obvious rent that you'd have to pay by yourself, you also avoided other parts of this change that bothered you. Which was spending time with her. You were scared you'd miss her a bit too much.

Sure, you were friends who were only half an hour away, but now that her colourful room started fading into a bleak white, the emptiness of it reminded you of why you hated autumn. The fall orange left you feeling lonely, and like the very leaves that craved pigmentation, you craved more life. Regardless of the minimal time you spent with her in the evenings, she slowly integrated herself into your life in the smaller ways.

Now they weigh too much in your life for you to be able to cope without it. You ended up distancing yourself from her, in a pathetic attempt to cope with the anticipation of absence. Maybe you just needed more friends, the thought crossing your mind a lot more these days. But you had plenty of them at uni, most of who you loved. But none of them were Ryujin.

None of them cared for you as much as she did. None of them taught you how to care for yourself like she did. None of them held you in their arms throughout the night, until you felt rested and loved. Nobody inspired you as much as Ryujin did.

Maybe Ryujin wasn't just a friend, something you were scared to consider in the past few weeks. It was a feeling completely new. Other than a failed situation-ship in high school, you never considered the possibility of a relationship, much less exploring your sexuality.

It was an intimidating prospect that you hadn't considered. Something that initiated urgency more than curiosity. Unlike the diverse spectrum that your feelings for Shin Ryujin belonged to, your thoughts focused on just one. She was important in more ways than platonic, and the distance that was to be would be extremely difficult to cope with. The distance that you had created seemed silly, but at the same time there was nothing you could think to resolve the conflict. You were going against this wall you'd built for yourself, and the facade of distance only grew day by day. So much so that at one point, Ryujin stopped approaching you first.

In a way, you deserved it. For someone who had been so unreceptive to her life as a coping method, this is the least you deserved for being a little jerk. Why would someone pursue any relationship, even platonic if you'd put yourself back into the mega cage you thought you'd escaped from. Something you'd escaped from only temporarily in her presence. Something you're going back to by the next week when she's gone.

You suffer multiple sleepless nights, the mid terms only a catalyst to your loneliness, when all you remember is Ryujin and her quirks.

You do accept another roommate later on, a mutual contact in your friend group, someone who was introduced to you by Ryujin herself. She'd dropped in a small text at 8 in the morning, on the way to class, you'd assumed. All it did was talk about how a common friend, Yeji needed a room to stay.

You accepted it of course, because you didn't have to foot the entire month's bill but also because you thought having someone else would curb your loneliness. And this loneliness was stupid. Ryujin wasn't the only thing you had in your entire life, and she should've been inconsequential, the same way the daylight hours gradually decreased. But it isn't too hard to notice once the sun's gone down.

The new roommate was like a transition from summer to winter, but unlike Ryujin , who helped ease the transition between the seasons, this one only reminded you that it would be cold. She wasn't a bad roommate, no she was perfect, did the laundry on Wednesdays, did the evening dishes at 6 in the evening and gave you a lot of personal space. She was nice, but not like Ryujin.

You hated how you compared her to Ryujin, how you compared everything to her. "She isn't your entire world," you remind yourself. "Shin Ryujin was only temporary."

You'd decided that your feelings for her were only a means for you to be validated. That was all you'd craved from her, validation. That was all she'd given you, validation.

October 15th, you felt relieved. Your mid terms were over with and you had a little bit of free time. Were you going to spend it wisely? No. You were going to sit in bed all day, scrolling through Youtube, a luxury you'd afford yourself rarely in the last month. You went home early, to a somewhat excitable Yeji, another rare sight.

"What's up?" you ask her, noticing her vibrant demeanour.

"Nothing much, just excited because Ryujin's coming over today."

You're surprised to hear this, and a little disappointed that Ryujin never told you herself. Or maybe there was no reason to, it's not like you kept in touch with her.

"That's cool, are you guys ordering something? Or should I make food for you two?" you offer, realising the amount of free time you had.

"We'll just order pizza," she replies. She hesitates for sometime, as if she has something to say. "Y/n?" she calls out slowly.

"Hmm?" "...you're nothing like what Ryujin described you as."

You still in your spot.

"It's just that you're really kind you know. I thought you'd be more distant, and cold."

"Ryujin said that? About me?"

She nods her head.

Is that really how she saw you? Distant and cold? Sure you were closed off towards the end, but is that really who you were to her? After all the good memories? You weren't sure anymore, insecurity creeping inside you.

It hurt. Was it this easy for people to be unforgiving? But then again, you never apologised, so in a weird way what Yeji relayed sounded justified.

You offer her a stiff smile.

"I'll be in my room then, tell me if you need anything."

Dejected, you go back to your blank room, where even the orange of autumn feels comforting, something you hated previously. You stay inside the entire evening, occasional sounds of muffled laughter behind your walls being all that you focus on for the duration. Every time you heard her laugh loudly from behind the door, you wondered if she ever laughed like that in front of you. Did you ever make her feel happy? The same way she did to you?

You want to go out and say hi, but after what Yeji said, you stop yourself. She must hate you now, there was no other way.

It isn't later at night, after you're sure the laughter was no more, and only when the silence of the room becomes comforting, you step out to see a dim blue light in the darkness of the living room, Yeji working on the dining table. "Y/n, didn't come out to say hi to Ryujin?" she asks, with pity that sounds forced.

"Yeah, no I was just napping," you lie, "did anything fun happen?"

"Mhm, we were discussing Ryujin's blind date tomorrow with a senior from the engineering department. Apparently, he's handsome," she shrugs her shoulder.

"Ryujin likes boys?" you ask without realising.

"Hmm, I'm not sure actually."

A small part of you feels dejected as you get a glass of water, all while contemplating if you should have reached out.

"You like her don't you?" Yeji whispers, looking up from her laptop.

It's the second time you still in your spot. Yeji had brought up something you never thought was prominent.

"Your lights were on, I could tell from your slightly ajar door. You weren't sleeping were you?" she gives you a knowing smile.

"I'm not judging you- it's just that it's obvious that you miss her. It may or not may be romantic- but you do miss her don't you?". You don't know how to reply to her. You barely knew Yeji, but somehow she very accurately read your emotions.

As if she knows what you're thinking, she continues.

"You know, every time that I've tried bringing up Ryujin, you've always changed the conversation, instead isolating yourself in your room."

Looking back, it made sense. You didn't want to think about her anymore. Your meeting with Ryujin's was temporary and never mattered. It was almost crazy how dependent you were on her within just a few months.

" I realised that I don't know much about Ryujin, nor does she about me. Sure I know she loves mocha bread, she loves her big Ikea Djungelskog soft toy, that she's watched the perks of being a wallflower more times than she can count; but I don't think I could be truly vulnerable with her. I'm scared to be vulnerable with her."

Yeji sighs, almost disappointed. She went back to working, despite her twitching lips, like she had more to say.

That night, you reflect for longer. Why was it that you felt scared to lean on Ryujin? Technically you told her about troubles with academics, problems with some of your classmates- that is considered being vulnerable right? Then what was it that you wanted her to know, but you never wanted to admit? Was it your insecurities? Was it the thought she'd never understand it?

It was like your mind had accepted that you and Ryujin had come from two different worlds, and if you invited her into yours, she would run away, like your family. Despite you coming to terms with it, the distance with your family was a wound still fresh. And nothing would change, until you could put it behind you.

25th October, Yeji handed you an invite to one of her friend's Halloween parties.

After your confession, she'd been a little nicer; she was more active in initiating conversations, and you realised she was more extroverted than your first impression. Eventually, you did watch the Maze Runner with her again, and you appreciated how she gushed about Dylan O'Brien throughout it, dispelling any awkward moments.

"I designed this invitation by the way, cool isn't it?", she asks about the party invitation in your hand. It had black bat details engraved in a glossy reflective paper. "Please come, we've had a difficult week, one party won't hurt will it?" she states, the question more rhetorical.

You agree quietly, excitement bubbling in you.

Until it did hurt, a week later.

Barely five minutes after you enter the loud, congested apartment, with strangers in costumes, you felt a part of your heart drop. There was a tight feeling in your chest, something you were sure wasn't because of the new corset you wore. Because you felt comfortable seconds before you saw Ryujin with her hands wrapped around this guys neck, kissing him on the couch as if he were her entire life. At first, you weren't even sure it was her- her hair was shorter, dyed a platinum blonde. She wore a leather jacket and a white skater dress, dressed so differently than what you were used to seeing her in.

You weren't able to comprehend how good she looked in his arms, with all her attention focused on him, smiling. The same smile that you'd missed for a month. When she does look away from the vampire- you assumed was her boyfriend, her eyes scan the crowd and she almost looks bewildered. You were stood so motionless near the entrance from where you could see them, that even the crowd that pushed past you couldn't bring you to move. It was suffocating, and unconsciously you head for the exit, looking to get away.

But fate wouldn't be so kind would it? The universe wouldn't just let you be would it? "Are you leaving already y/n?" Yeji screams from across the room, which you were sure was audible to everyone. She finds her way to you, a smile on her face. "You just came in, why are you leaving? Cool outfit by the way."

"Thanks," you offer her a stiff smile, eyes going back to Ryujin, who because of Yeji, had finally found you.

Yeji, who just noticed the tension, holds your hand and pulls you towards Ryujin.

"Atleast say hi, y/n, it won't hurt."

Yeji's assurance of "it won't hurt" was what brought you here, it was indeed what hurt you. Her saying this now wasn't helping, and you scoff. It was almost like Yeji knew this was going to happen. It was like she knew how much it hurt you, and may even enjoy it.

"Why did you invite me Yeji? You knew about this didn't you? It hurts, I..I shouldn't have come." you spit out, trembling.

"Y/n, there's something you need to know."

"What? that she has a boyfriend?" you spat, annoyed by her deception.

Yeji sighs, holding onto your shoulders, somewhat urgent.

"No, it's something only Ryujin can tell you. Please, just talk to her. This once."

At this point, you couldn't trust anyone, neither Yeji, Ryujin, nor yourself. It was like you were at different crossroads- to run away, or to confront her again. She hadn't even done anything wrong, all she did was kiss a guy. She didn't owe you anything.

You choose to run away, until you notice Ryujin approaching you with her boyfriend. It's like she withheld any decision you make, with her forcing you into a circumstance you would not choose for yourself.

"Y/n?" she asks softly. Her otherwise comforting voice now made you uncomfortable, almost bringing you to tears by how much you missed it.

"It's been so long," she holds your hand gently.

Her hands felt colder than before, and before you could say anything, the tall, matching vampire spoke up.

"Hi y/n, I'm Jason, her boyfriend. I've heard a lot about you." he looks friendly, and he doesn't seem to hold any malice. But you still hated this guy.

"You have?" you ask saltily. "...good things I hope." you couldn't help but say drily, hands fiddling with the witch hat you'd worn.

"A moment please love," Ryujin signs to her boyfriend, who goes towards the bar with Yeji.

Ryujin takes your hand and drags you towards what you assume to be the bedroom, away from the crowd.

You enter the bedroom with her, with your head ringing because of the way she called him love. You remember how she'd called you love the day you'd tried baking, the day you'd fallen asleep in her arms. You thought the word "love" meant nothing, that it was an endearing term with no implications. But if that was the case- why did she address him as love?

Jealousy eventually overrode the confusion, and the hurt that stained you previously had multiplied. You couldn't feel more stressed, it was so much more than any calculus assignment you'd ever come across.

"Are you crying?" she eventually speaks, eyes concerned. You didn't even realise the visible tears falling down your cheek slowly, your mascara ruined in the reflection of the mirror behind her.

"What do you wanna talk about Ryujin?" you huff. "Y/n, do you need time to calm down? I don't think you're in the mood to talk."

"I'm fine. Just get to the point please." you say, barely concentrating on what was going on. She comes in to hug you, but you step back.

She looks upset by this, seemingly as confused as you. "I...I thought we were friends y/n," she whispers in the same tone she'd always used to comfort you. "We weren't this far apart were we? Why do you hate me?" she raises her voice in desperation.

This was an accusation you could not believe she had made, hate was too strong for what you felt for her.

"I don't hate you Ryujin." you speak, resigned. "Then why do you look so upset, why can't you even say hi?" she emphasises, her voice breaking in between.

"Because it hurts... I can't"

You fall against the bed post. Eyes finding the bear plushie you bought her. You slowly realise that this is her bedroom, and that you were in her new house- the apartment you'd never come to before. You were barely able to process all of this when she speaks up again.

"You can't what y/n? You can't accept the fact that you like me?" You look back at her, eyes widened, as though whatever little sanity you had remaining was destroyed like the branches of an autumn tree- fallen, and weak. It was almost humiliating.

"I don't like you Ryujin," you hide behind your words like a coward. "Don't lie to yourself y/n, is it that difficult to accept that you like me?"

You don't know where this was coming from. If she knew you liked her, couldn't she just let you down gently?

"What does it matter? You have a boyfriend. Even if I did like you; no even if I loved you, nothing would change." you say dejectedly. It must have been true, because there was silence that persisted for longer than you wished it would be.

"What if it did change? What if I said I liked you too? Would you believe me?" she asks quietly, reverting back to her calm persona as she takes a big breath. You scoff, noticing how different she had become in a month. The audacity she had to ask you if you believed her, right after making out with her boyfriend in front of everyone in the room disgusted you, something you don't think you'd ever be able to comprehend.

"Why would I believe you? I saw your boyfriend. Besides, if you did like me, you'd be honest with me. I think that's the least I'd expect from you, so don't play with my feelings; because unlike yours, I can say with conviction that mine are real."

You see her expression change, her eyes becoming teary.

She sits beside you, against the wooden footboard. "I can't be honest, because I'm scared. There's so many people watching me- so many people who my family knows. I barely had, or still have any privacy in my life. Do you know why my grandparents left me this apartment? Because they don't trust me." she pauses for a minute. Taking another deep breath, eyes now fixed on to the floor.

You don't know where she's going with this, but don't say anything because this may be the last time you'd get any closure.

"There was a girl I really liked in high school, but we could never be together, because my family refused to let me meet her. They pretend to be liberal in their thoughts- but they're as homophobic as they get. There's no way they'd understand. The only time I felt safe was in our dorm, because there was no one who would snitch on me, nobody who cared. It was utopia- where you were my solace, and I just basked in the temporary peace.

But when my grandparents asked about you, they'd worry I'd gotten too close to you, refusing to believe you could be just a friend. Two months after I shifted in to our dorm, they made preparations to isolate me in this house of theirs."

She couldn't continue, as tears you'd never seen from her before, collected as a tiny stream between the cracks of the tiles on the cold floor. You understood what she meant. In an evening's moment, you realised that she wasn't this perfect being that she always projected. Yes, she was amazing, but she had her own challenges, something you thought she'd never had. Unlike the two different worlds you thought you were in, your access into her world made you realise you were more similar than you could've imagine. All of a sudden you hated your past self for being so mean to her, for harbouring insecurities that in hindsight were not worth the pain.

"Jason, is my neighbourhood friend, and he's the one of the few people I can trust. He's pretending to be my boyfriend, so that if my family ever found out, they wouldn't doubt me." she explains, trying to resolve your distrust.

"I'm so sorry," you whisper, leaning your head against her shoulder, gently holding onto her hand."

The two of you sit their in silence, reflective, though relieved.

She gently kisses your forehead, arms wrapping around your waist.

"I missed you y/n. So much. But I'm also scared to go back to you, to our place. I don't know what we're going to do. I'm sorry too, for the situation I put you in. For the situation I've put both of us in."

You rub her arms gently,

"It's ok, we'll figure it out slowly. I'm sorry too . You were always there for me- and I, like the coward I am was scared of being attached to you, your generous love . I was also so insecure of how perfect you were- but now it's all so inconsequential."

To this Ryujin laughs, and she wipes her tears. "It's funny how both of our insecurities hurt us in the end. I promise, I wont' let it affect us in the future. I won't ever hurt you again y/n. I love you, so much."

"I love you too Ryujin."

You know that it's going to be a long road ahead of the two of you, but you'll be alright. You comb through her hair, leaning in to meet her lips. Her quivering lips are not soft as you expected, but slightly chapped, brushing against yours. She drags a cold finger down your spine, causing you to lose your breath. Her pulling you closer, slipping behind your corset, unzipping it. Your hands are tangled in her short locks, and you pull away in between to breathe.

With the kiss, and this new path, the autumn you hated so had come to an end. Autumn had become easier to think about, among the loneliness of the dry leaves and the warmth devoid in the air, you'd treasure the warmth that she provided. Shin Ryujin, unlike autumn wasn't temporary. Autumn will come and go, but Shin Ryujin would always stay, and you'd treasure her in every season. In the end, autumn didn't hate you as much you did, because despite everything, autumn gifted you Shin Ryujin.

Am I actually posting an autumn fic when its almost summer? Yes, yes I am. This is long overdue and idk why it took me this long to finish it ahhhh.

I appreciate any feedback, feel free to interact with this post!

-Macaroon

[wonyui]

𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 | 𝐘.𝐉𝐌

SUMMARY If it hadn't been for the mischievous game that you came up with, then maybe just maybe — Karina would have been able to keep her mouth shut about the crush she had on you for years. Especially since the two of you were supposed to enjoy your time, walking on the long beach at night as nothing but friends.

Pairings: Yoo!Jimin x F!Reader

Genre: wlw, fluff, 6th!member au, she fell first and she fell harder trope

A/N: STAYC GIRLS.. IT'S GOING DOWN ‼️(this is my apology for deleting the Newjeans series. Feel free to send requests if you want, so I don't feel guilty)

WORD COUNT 3.1K

Karina had been struggling, clearly — judging from the way she had been sighing nonstop the whole day with a frustrated look on her face. She was your best friend(along with your very best roommate, but you weren't gonna admit that), so you thought it'd be kind to come up with the idea of just strolling and chatting. Location? The beach just a couple walks away.

Plus, you low-key needed an excuse to get away from the rest of your chaotic members. Thank god time has been so kind to the both of us. You thought. Karina, of course, took notice of the way you had been staring at her so intently. The young leader felt more panicked than worried. Did you possibly figure out why she had been acting differently? She hoped not.

"Jimin?"

Great. She walks over to you, biting her lips out of habit due to the nervousness that she had been feeling the entire day.

"Yeah?" She asks, hoping you had a different question from what she had in mind.

"Up to filling up your storage?" You ask, smiling sheepishly, before putting the Polaroid camera up in the air whilst waving it like it was some sort of flag.

Blinking in confusion, she tilts her head. "I'm sorry? I mean, yeah— but where exactly are we going with this?" Winter enters the frame, shoving Karina while doing so as an attempt to not question your motives. It's clear you want to spend some time alone elsewhere. Everyone in the room knew that. Everyone except Karina.

"I was thinking we could stroll together since it seems our muscles are tightening," you thoughtfully said before adding on, "Are you down? You seemed to have quite a lot on your plate."

"What about our manager? Does the company know?" Karina unintentionally asked, her nervousness building up more than her worries.

An amused chuckle was all she needed to hear for her worries to disappear. Although her nervousness changed into butterflies that freely flew in her stomach. "We'll be fine, Jimin. I've been in this industry for enough years, too. Trust me."

Ningning, who had been on her phone, scrolling endlessly while laying her head on Giselle's shoulders, finally looked up to see the both of you putting on your shoes and coats. "Stay safe. Beware of the stalkers.. and what not," She jokingly warned, adding effects to her voice by deepening it, "we don't know who could be roaming around.." She continued. Winter took a seat right beside the two, slapping Ningning on the thigh for her horrible attempt on scaring the two of you, "Ghosts aren't real idiot."

"Hey now," Ningning shrugged before eyeing the lead vocalist up and down, "You're breathing. That's enough evidence."

A slap landing on her thigh harder than last time was all Ningning to immediately apologize and shut up. Winter smiled in satisfaction as Giselle ignored the two, switching the channel every now and then to find something that she'd actually enjoy.

"We'll be gone for a few." Karina stated, as if the rest of them hadn't been listening to your conversation the entire time.

"Have fun!"

"We'll try not to burn the house down."

"I'll keep an eye on the both of them."

—

"What made you suddenly have the need for fresh air?" Karina jokingly asked, finally easing up.

The two of you had been currently making your way to the beach, hand-in-hand with your masks and hoodie covering your faces very well so not a single soul could tell it was the two of you. You shivered, wanting to answer, but failing because of how cold it had gotten all of a sudden. L.A. air is seriously no joke. Karina skillfully took notice of this as if it was on the back of her mind, taking one of your hands and letting it slip into the hole of her coat. The other hand? She had been holding onto it still, hoping her own warmth would provide you with warmth.

"Thanks.." You muttered, feeling more assured knowing your hand wouldn't fall off from the numbness, "and I figured the two of us could enjoy it. Free stress life."

You're so caring. And I find that annoying.

"I'm certainly enjoying it." She mumbled. "Sorry?"

Her cheeks reddened, too embarrassed to even utter out another reply. You thought it was cute, giggling at the way she still managed to act awkward despite the two of you knowing each other ever since your predebut years. For Karina, the moment you had giggled at her awkwardness, it reminded her as to why she even caught feelings in the first place.

"Do you want to get drinks? You can pay." Are you seriously gonna make a girl pay after asking to get drinks?

You scrunched your nose, thinking of something else to say so it'd be a perfect cherry on top. "We can call it a date."

Because it's working and Karina doesn't mind.

"Okay—" Pause. "—but only because I'm feeling nice and not because you added the date part."

"You're cute, Jimin, but it's a friendly date. You have nothing to worry about." Oh. It was absolutely wrong to even have the high hopes that you were referring to something else. "I'm joking. You're literally buying us drinks, and we're about to take a whole walk on the beach at night."

She begins to tense.

"Tell me," you begin, "what friendly dates involve these things anyway? Can you believe how dense some people are?" It was certainly aimed. The way you had been staring pointedly at her with no emotion to share made her feel small. As if you were trying to hint at something.

Karina actually thought about it for a few seconds before you stopped her — huffing and puffing at the fact that she had actually thought about it. Just how dense can this girl be? You knew of the feelings she harbored for you, but a miracle would have to happen for her to actually confess her feelings.

You were sulking. Sulking hard.

"We're almost there. What drink do you want?" She had been so considerate to ask.

Though she already knew what you wanted.

"The same drink I've been getting since predebut days thank you very much." You answered, slightly raising your eyebrows. "They should have that here. It's almost everywhere."

"Right.." She chuckled, taking out her card to pay.

—

"I didn't think the beach would need a couple more miles to reach wow." You sighed in exhaustion before taking a long sip of your drink in hopes of getting energy from it.

"Eh. We're really not far away.." Karina squinted her eyes, acting as if it'll help with zooming in more. "Yeah, we're dead close."

She had been correct. The beach wasn't too far, and you could smell the salty air already. Though it kinda creeped you out, growing up at the thought of meeting some sort of siren that could possibly lure you into the ocean and drown you. Odd fear, but everyone must have had this sort of thought growing up.

"Did you seriously have to get ice cream, though?" You, for some reason, warily eyed the ice cream cone in her hand.

Karina pursed her lips into a thin line, unsure of how she should reply to that. "Um, yes? It's tasty."

"It's not that. It's the fact that you're a messy eater when it comes to ice cream." You stated, gesturing for her to wipe the bits of ice cream on her chin for her to miss it horribly.

Annoyed, you decide to do it for her yourself. "Uh.." Karina goes breathless, "thank you. But I could have done it myself?" It was more of a question than whatever she was trying to prove, showing that she could have not.

Finally reaching the sandy beach, the two of you admired the small waves that would form every now and then. You took out the Polaroid camera, feeling somewhat proud that you didn't forget it. Karina continued to admire the view, noticing how the sky painted itself onto the sea.

If anything, what she had been currently looking at couldn't compare to you. The way your hair swayed the same motion as the wind. The way you laughed at her jokes despite them all being unfunny — at least that was what she thought. Nothing could certainly beat the way you managed to come around like autumn, making her fall every time.

You were honestly captivating.

"So, what do you think?" You snapped her out of her own thoughts. Shit.

"It's pretty." She admitted.

"Really?" You tilted your head out of habit. "I think it's more than pretty."

You paused. Trying to find the right words to describe how beautiful it looked. Especially since the lights added onto the whole thing, making it the perfect cherry on top. "Ethereal?"

This time, she looked away to look at you. Hinting that the word wasn't aimed at the sea, but at you.

"Yeah.." You trailed off. "Yeah. Ethereal."

"Wow, the stars look pretty." You aimed the camera at the night sky, hoping you'd get a good shot.

Karina simply nodded, waiting for you to put the camera down to at least look her way. Because even if the sky managed to hold that amount of stars in its possession, it certainly couldn't beat the ones in your eyes that had always been on display oh so effortlessy.

"Random. But are you up for a game?" Your tone sounded mischievous, causing her to silently gulp. "List the things you like, and then list the things you don't."

She frowned, not understanding why you would even want her to do such a thing but because you said so. She will do so.

"I like uh, food. Shopping. Green tea. Animals. Mint chocolate. Pineapple pizza." She added the basics of what she liked before pausing a bit, "I dislike—"

"I don't see me on that list. I'm truly disappointed." You fake sighed.

Were you messing with her? Karina couldn't tell, but she swore she could somehow see a smirk forming under all that fake disappointed sadness.

"But.. I like you too." She found herself blushing at that statement — cursing herself mentally for not wording it correctly. "I meant I like you too, with the list of things I like. But you're not a thing! Don't get me wrong. And I mean it in a platonic way. Because that's what we are. Basically pla—" you stopped her by putting your index finger over her mouth, smiling so fondly at her, "Jimin, I know what you mean. Although it's sad because I like you too, definitely not platonically."

Silence crept up, and she couldn't find the right words to reply to that. She was happy, more than happy, actually. You obviously were waiting for any sort of reaction, but all you could find was a shocked look that could probably stay on her face forever if she could.

"Say cheese." A camera click stopped her from processing at the thought of you liking her back.

She was confused at that moment.

"Wait, do you like me or not?"

It was an obvious answer. Did she think you were playing with her? Probably. You literally took a picture of her, catching her even more off guard. She felt perplexed. Very unsure of whatever message you were trying to send her way.

You pretended to ignore her, humming whilst continuing to walk as if what you said earlier didn't affect her a big amount. She was down bad, and she wanted actual answers from you even if it meant making you repeat it. Evil. That was what she had been repeating endlessly in her mind while staring at that pretty smile of yours. Asshole. I hate that I let you get away with such things.

Karina continued to walk along too — behind you this time. She was tempted to whisk you away in order to get her questions answered. You stopped your place, waiting for the clueless latter to catch up. Karina did eventually — still questioning your motives.

"I said what I said," you grinned from ear to ear. "I like you too."

"How?" She asked, still feeling dumbfounded.

You knew she was leaning towards the question of how you even knew instead of when you harbored the same mutual feelings for her.

"It was obvious." A lie.

Truth be told, you were as clueless as her. That was until the day Ningning and her big mouth spilled the young leaders secret by asking whether you liked her back or not.

"You were just too obvious with it." Another lie.

It felt wrong to feel, but she still couldn't tell whether you were lying to her face or not. She wanted reassurance. Anything.

"You don't seem to believe me." You pointed out.

"That's right," Karina bravely admitted, "Unless you have something that could prove that you do — in fact — like me back."

The teasing tone in your voice made her wanna cave in. "How smooth. Really. If you wanted a kiss, then you could have said so."

"What? I don't—" Not even halfway through to finish her words, you cut her off by taking your mask off and kissing her right on the lips that had been attracting you the entire night. It's almost like a moth to a flame.

Karina's eyes widened, eventually melting towards the kiss afterward. It was good that nobody had been around because the two of you would have gotten in big trouble if a paparazzi or fan caught the both of you, sharing each other's first kiss under the moonlight.

Finding your hands during the kiss — Karina finds herself smiling against your lips as soon as she successfully interlocks her own hand with yours. Pulling away, you looked for any sort of reaction. She was cute. The way she had been currently covering her face, trying not to show how giddy she had felt from that single kiss, made your knees feel weak.

"Was that enough proof?" You had the audacity to ask after fulfilling her lifelong dream.

"Are you even real?"

You laughed at how serious she sounded. If anything, she should be asking herself that. Karina held such a strong aura that intimated other people around her. That was your first impression of her. Now, in your very own eyes, she looked as though she could be related to a puppy.

Deciding to call it a night, the two of you made it back to your dorm, unsure of the reaction from the other members if they had found out that the two of you were something more than just friends. Karina wasn't nervous, rather annoyed, already imagining how badly they were gonna tease her.

"We should keep it a secret for a bit. You softly muttered to her, already reading her mind. "We know we can't survive their teasing. Plus, they'll find out eventually."

"Secret? What secret is there to keep?" She grinned, expecting a smart reply from you.

"Haha. Funny." You deadpanned, realizing that the two of you didn't really make it official other than kissing each other. Did the kiss count? You sure hoped so.

Karina noticed the frown on your face, half smiling and sighing. "I get it. We're now uh.. girlfriends?" She tried not to stumble over her words, ears reddening. "You're so smooth." You giggled, which sounded like music to her ears. "I'll have you know this is my first relationship. Be supportive of that thought." "I don't think I will." "Seriously? You're already a bad girlfriend."

"And it's the first few minutes to our relationship and you're already annoying." You snorted, obviously joking.

Okay. Wow. How romantic.

Karina jokingly scoffed, "You're joking."

Not a reply after that, the wind being the only kind thing that somehow replied.

"You're joking."

Ignoring her words that were meant to convince the opposite of what you had just told her, you continued to fasten your pace, Karina following behind at an even more faster pace. Though she kept trying to convince you to answer(a proper one at that) her back. Forgetting her own words the moment she saw how perfect the moonlight illuminated your face, she had been left breathless.

"You're quiet all of a sudden." Jeez. Thanks captain obvious I certainly didn't know that.

"Yeah," She nodded, biting her lips, "yeah I guess I can see why those other male idols are always staring."

A fake frown formed. "You guess?"

"Don't start." Karina rolled her eyes, smiling uncontrollably afterward.

You mockingly did the same, "Okay, I won't."

"Just to be clear you're the annoying one."

"I am not afraid to break up what lasted a few minutes."

"I take it back."

—

"So? How did it turn out?" Winter asked, seemingly to have waited the entire time with that question in her mind.

You were the first to put down the already unnecessary items, along with your shoes so you were given no other chance but to reply. "Fine. Just two friends enjoying each other's company."

Since Karina's back had been facing all of you, she rolled her eyes, cringing at the word "friends". Ningning appeared out of nowhere with marshmallow stuffed in her mouth, resembling a chipmunk.

"How'd ittt gooaoao?" She asked, basically speaking nonsense from her already stuffed mouth.

Giselle appeared after, judging the younger latter with no remorse. "Don't speak with your mouth open."

"Daunt speek with yourr mowth open." Ningning mocked, swallowing all of it in one go. "I am officially a legend."

Karina sighed, "We'll be in our room if you need us. Which if you do, we'll be ignoring you." It was almost obvious. We? They all raised their brows at her statement, suspicious as to what she meant by that. "What she meant was that we're both TIRED from walking. My feet feels wobbly." You tried to save yourself, to which they nodded in acknowledgment to because you were a great liar.

"Giselle, you're in charge. Again. Don't let them near the stove."

Winter and Ningning frowned in annoyance, wondering why they even needed someone in charge knowing damn well that they were the reason for why the last dorm had fire almost everywhere. Giselle nodded, eyeing the two odd pair in a judgemental way.

Heading upstairs, Karina followed from behind. Winter and Ningning glanced at each other before sighing in disappointment.

"I win." Giselle proudly stated, taking her hand out for the money that they promised to give if she won the bet.

The two groaned before doing so, handing over their hard-earned money to the older latter. It was bad to place their bets on the two of you but it was the funny-entertainment kind. Nobody would pass up on that opportunity. Obviously — for the fun of it.

"I still can't believe it." Ningning was the first to speak after handing her money.

"Right I expected the both of them to at least go on like this for at least another few years."

"You think too low of them."

"When it comes to stuff like this? Yes we do."

[j4y-lvr]

day flower (alternate ending) … park jongseong

SYNOPSIS. bent over the sink, coughing up petals and blood, you knew that your worst fears had come true.

PAIRING. jay x fem!reader

GENRE. fluff, angst, lovers2?, established!relationship (?), hanahaki au

WARNINGS. profanity, mentions of food, mentions of blood, quite a lot of kissing, possibly making out (?), one mention of loss of weight, graphic, mcd(?), death(?) !!not proofread!!

WORD COUNT. 1.6k (total :: 7k)

NOTE. i just wanted to write something sad and i came up with this,, idk why i chose jay to fit my mental image of this bc its so saddening to even imagine— EVEN THOUGH ITS SAD PLS DO READ😭‼ thoughts on an alternative ending?

Reblogs and feedback are highly appreciated!

iv. wither (alt ver.)

Jay felt like an ass to put it simply. On a deep dive inside his feelings revealed that he wasn't plainly bored at his current relationship rather bored with his stagnant work-life moreover his regulated stress load. Blown over he weighed on going over for the first time in weeks to apologise and win you over though his damage was severe.

The keys jingled in the near distance, jay slipping in through the door, watching as nothing had really moved around in the house. He contemplated on notifying you of his abrupt appearance, opting to slowly creep up the stairs. Unknown to you, you had started coughing again, the strength in your arms to cover your mouth non-existent.

Resulting in the blood coating you and the mattress in a painful fit of red as you sobbed heartbroken to yourself wondering where it went wrong, did he require more space, had you been more mindful would he still be at your side.

Jay stilled on hearing your heart wrenching sobs, the previous hesitance gone as he ran up the stairs and to your situation on the bed stained bed. Having forgotten about your coughing fit of blood through the apparent stress from the separation. 

His sight fell to the canvas in front of him greeting as you cough seized, your eyelids lugging over your glassed over orbs, jay getting to knees as he saw you covered in blood, his hand finding your paint ridden hand. You gave a weak chuckle, "if we ever meet again, I hope it works out then," you say, the diamonds leaving the comfort of your eyes and onto your crimson imposed self. 

Jay heaved from panic, "why didn't you tell me?!" He hurried exclaimed, his hand running down your arm to keep your burning vessel even warmer. Unbeknownst to him he'd been crying and you watched with low eyes close to shutting, your palm lifting up to his tear stricken cheek, "just know," you paused, shutting your eyes completely feeling the life get sucked out of your body. 

"i love you."

"I'm sorry! I was never bored with us to begin with, i wasn't in my right mind, i do love you!"

The reverting of branches in your lungs was faint heard as you experienced multiple waves of pain that had a different accent of beats in your heart, feeling yourself heal internally. Coughing, you requested, "say that again," you managed with your orbs clamping shut from the intermolecular forces shifting the branches out.

"i love you, i love you, i love you! I can't bare to see you like this i'm a real jerk, i'm so sorry darling,"

The corners of your eyes crinkled and you left the last of your sobs, turning away from him and curling into a ball, hiding away from him. He ran over to the other side of the mattress and hopped on, settling an arm over and rubbing your back as you hid in arms, sniffling.

"you're such a dick, i genuinely hope you know." you murmur loud enough for him to hear. Jay frowned and inched closer, clutching you harder, his free hand searching for your face, resting his palm on your cheek, continuing to caress it. "i'm sorry, i'm such a shitty boyfriend."

"elaborate," "on what?"

"on how you're absolute shit," "i'm that bad..?" "as of late."

Gripping your front out of the safe place you'd made for yourself, he brought you to his chest though the blood would stain his clothing, ruffling your hair not minding the blotting. Tugging you away, he brought you to his lips to which you refused, pushing yourself away. He wore a sad smile, "right, take your time."

May with diminishing hope for jay who hadn't given up on trying to win back your heart after crumbling it to pieces. He rented out a nearby apartment and would send you gifts and presents along with his handwritten letters every morning before he left for a tiresome day at work. Day after day, he'd leave them at your doorstep, leaving immediately after ringing on the doorbell.

Today was nothing different. At 8 sharp he'd drop by with a cap covering his face, items in hand, placing them in a hurry, needing to rush to work right after. Not once had you written a reply to his letters, finding it hard to write back to the man who threatened your own living from misjudgement. You watched through the small gap from the window, observing the way he fixatied his letter in the front with a weightsome sign.

He left rather slowly, drifting onto the pavement, shuffling away. Once a good few minutes had passed, you panned open the door, picking up the gifts and his handwritten letter signed up to you. You marvelled at his unwavering hope that you'd cave in even though a month without single response from you passed lestfully.

You placed them in the countertop, unfolding the letter, the usual contents consisting of little inserts of his recent updates and excerpts of his life without you. Though the one you held was shorter than expected, certain parts of the paper were spotted with water of what you suspected to be tears. Your concern spiked, hastily flipping the page over to reveal the written contents in his signature messy handwriting.

"i'll be giving up today. i'll be starting fresh elsewhere, far from here, you don't have to worry about running into me when you're out and about. finally, i'll be quitting my job, it was never for me, i'll go live a quiet life somewhere. I still love you and i will forever. live a good life without me and with someone who can treat you better than i ever did, my dear, yn." — once your shitty boyfriend, jay.

You front fell. This was what you were waiting for, so why were you clutching your mouth in a tight clasp, feeling tears escape your eyes? You didn't know how to take the news, dropping the heartfelt page to the surface, flipping open your door and on your sandals and kicking onto the sidewalk.

Walking in a sped up pace, the wet tears planted over your face, your hand wiping them away as you began jogging, taking a right turn advancing to sprint, spotting his rented out apartment right down the alley. Skipping up the metal stairs you stood before his front door, panting and sobbing all in one, stopping to think about the passcode.

Recalling it for his letter to you from the early days of April when he first bought the unit, stating it was your birthday if you ever felt the need to barge in and make yourself at home. You pressed down on the padded keys, beeping as you left and trailed over the numbers. You entered the last number and a harsh tone buzzed.

He left.

You collapsed to the floor, back to what was once his front door as you hugged your knees while tears ran down your face, clad in your pyjamas from your slumber. Footsteps echoed to your left and you couldn't give a damn as you continued to sob your heart out, grabbing your hair in frustration as you slapped your forehead from regret.

"yn?"

You peered up from your stained clothing and onto the figure who stood by your side. You scurried to your feet upon glimpsing at the stature of your boyfriend, running up to him as you collapsed into him, wrapping your arms around him. "dont leave," you uttered in a broken sob in the day at possibly 8:10am on an unsuspecting date for many.

His arms feel limp to his sides as you pull away softly, peeking at him from your teared eyelashes, solely to find him looking away from you and to the wall that faced you two, droplets of his own trailing down his cheek and onto the cold, hard floor. "no, please, look at me,"

"i can't,"

"please, jay," you voiced desperately, the man attempting to veer his head towards you, failing as he met you in the middle as soon as his eyes met yours, hanging his head low, crying.

Lifting up his head, biting down your lip, watching him refusing to open his eyes and gaze at you. You hesitated for a moment before you embraced him and let your head fall on his shoulder like in the past, your fingers clasping onto his, running another on his hair in a pat repeatedly.

Prying open his glassy orbs, he looked down at you on his shoulder, feeling your tears father and soak into his shirt. He sighed shakily, deciding to act on his desires, bringing you to him once again, just like the month where you rejected his lips, hoping you'd accept this time. If not, he'd leave without a trace.

Hesitation clouded his mind as he stared into your watering eyes. Sensing his present nerves, you slowly placed your palm to him, reaching into him, nearing his chapped lips. You stopped centimetres away, breathing out to his parted mouth. Sealing the deal, you lunged forward, yearning to lean into his touch, his fingertips gripping your shoulder setting to fire. 

You pulled away and breathing in and reached for him again, the lack filling with having, tilting into him as you deepened the kiss, the rushed sentiment healing your lonesome, listless heart with love. He broke off the connection, saliva dripping from the passion and heat between your mouths.

"do you still love me?" you queried, hoping for an affirmation. "yes, like i said, i will forever." "good because I didn't brush my teeth again,"

[dadsbongos]

starcourt massacre - 1986

Stranger Things x Horror Movie Collection

American Psycho / Halloween / Scream / Friday the 13th / Fear Street / Jennifer’s Body

warnings - descriptions of wounds/violence (blood n gore n such (EXTREME, i'm not kidding)), not very billy friendly, fear street au

summary - Hawkins, Indiana, is cursed. With people being slaughtered in the streets and their own homes, the Starcourt mall becomes a quick hunting ground for this curse that you and your friends now have to try and survive.

Six months is a long time to be dating when you’re a teenager, and while Steve is more than happy to celebrate that, you and Robin are further prone to encouraging the honeymoon behavior. Though, that’s more often because the both of you like teasing Steve, not actual compassion for Max Mayfield and Lucas Sinclair’s blossoming romance.

Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that Scoops Ahoy! was the designated date spot for the two to celebrate their six-month anniversary. Closing time is in a short two minutes and you’re itching to get out of the stupid sailor uniform your boss has you stuff on every morning.

“I don’t get why you two are even allowing this,” Steve is boredy swinging the store’s key around his finger.

Robin punches in the register code and it pops open with a cartoonish ching, she shrugs while you remove your sailor hat and toss it onto the counter, “Why not?”

“We could get fired,” he glares at the two of you.

“What? Is Mr. Ahoy himself going to find out we let two teenagers try new flavors before they came out, Harrington?” you shoot Steve a pointed look, then turn your gaze back to the food court - where Max and Lucas can be seen approaching your humble ice cream parlor.

You wave at them, and subsequently their driver, Max’s step-brother, Billy.

Lucas returns your gesture much more excitedly than his girlfriend, but that’s nothing exactly new.

Max is sweet on you, Robin, and Eleven compared to her teasing of the guys in the group, but she’s more casual. A simple nod of acknowledgment means you’ve made the big leagues in her book.

Billy stops outside the store, hands deep in the pockets of his denim jeans that really hug, and sunglasses low on the bridge of his nose even though it’s already nighttime.

“Thanks for delivering the kiddies safely,” Steve grins, tossing you the key so he can proceed with one of his infamous dick-measuring contests with Billy, “Corey Hart.”

“You really think you’re funny, don’t you, Harrington?” Billy is just a couple inches taller than Steve, but that has never once stopped him from holding it over the man’s head.

“Oh my God,” Robin groans, setting down the money she was counting, “You made me lose focus, you asses.”

“Stop fighting during custody trades,” you kick at the back of Steve’s calf, “It’s bad for the children to see their parents fighting.”

“I- “ Steve cuts himself off, “Fine. I don’t even care.”

He snatches the key he threw to you and begins towards the back door of Scoops, Max and Lucas trailing after like little sheep.

You turn to Billy while Robin restarts her counting, “Try not to crash, Hargrove. It’d be a shame to lose our only lifeguard that thinks he’s a dictator.”

“Very funny, sweetheart,” your face sours at the nickname and he chuckles, patting your cheek before pulling out a cigarette - seemingly from his ass - and placing it between his lips, “See ya soon.”

“Let’s hope not,” you mutter bitterly.

Billy gives a mock salute as he turns, lighting his cigarette as he goes.

Max and Lucas’ combined glaring through your skull calls, though, and you don’t have the heart to make them sit for one of your rants about Billy Hargrove’s ego when they could be eating exclusive ice cream flavors.

So you hurry to the freezer and encourage Steve to pry it open for the lovebirds.

Across the mall, a fly swirls around Billy Hargrove’s head. It buzzes and lands on his cheek, he flinches at the proximity and swats a hand through the air. Another fly joins its brother and Billy walks faster toward the Starcourt mall doors. Billy puts out his cigarette on a nearby wall and sticks it behind his ear, genuinely considering running when he hears it.

The hiss of his name.

Layered, but still high-pitched. A whisper.

“Billy!”

He snaps around, eyes flitting this way and that.

“Billy.”

There’s no apparent source.

His hands clench as yet another fly drones around his head.

“Billy! Billy! Billy!"

The calls come from all around and he’s sick of it. Something squeezes at his heart.

A fourth fly comes - it lands on his brow and Billy’s hand moves faster than he’d ever thought possible. The fly is squashed dead against his forehead as what sounds like your voice mixed with Max and Neil’s calls from above.

“Billy!”

“Alright, alright,” Steve holds out two small-size cups to Max and Lucas, “Just - just try it before you knock it, okay?”

“It’s just ice cream, captain,” Max rolls her eyes but takes the cup anyway.

“It’s my specialty,” Steve insists, “Rocky Road, Cherry Chunk, and strawberry syrup - it’s good.”

“It sounds disgustingly sweet,” Max turns her gaze onto you. A brow quirked as if to ask if Steve is serious. But Lucas is not so hesitant, already beginning to dig into his serving of the Harrington special.

“You are in Scoops Ahoy!, Maxine,” she gags at her own name and you laugh.

Just through the candy apple red door is Robin, still stuck counting the register. She’s going as fast as her tired, frazzled brain will allow when she hears heavy footfalls approaching the counter. Losing count, Robin sighs and goes to tell off a lost shopper when she sees who has returned.

“Hey, Hargrove, you’re not needed for another…” she judges the clock, “twenty minutes? At least.”

But Billy steps past the counter, slipping over the lackluster fall board that separates you three from the customers and standing before Robin Buckley.

“I’m gonna need you to get back,” Robin’s always been intimidated by Billy, as much as she hates to admit it.

But come on, she’s been the band geek since freshmen year and he was just… generally terrifying, unless he was trying to fuck you.

“Seriously, Steve is right back there- “ her point is seized, Billy snatching her by the bangs and pulling until her mouth parts to scream.

His hand scrambles for a long-abandoned ice cream scoop that glints under the yellow fluorescents. It’s crusted with the mint chocolate chip that’d been served to a couple of middle schoolers only an hour ago. Billy takes up the scoop and jams it through Robin’s lips, forcing it down her throat until the edge of the black, rubber handle is just peeking through her teeth.

She chokes and claws at her throat, earning no sympathy from Billy when he uses his hold on her bangs to shove her head through the sliding glass panel that separates the ice cream tubs. Robin’s held down in a nearly empty container of cotton candy as Billy slams the panel shut around her neck - hard enough for the glass to shake.

Max’s head snaps around at the sound of a slam, but neither you nor Steve follows. Lucas is busy trying to keep dripping, melted ice cream from both his fingers and the floor.

“Did nobody else hear that?” Max furrows her brows at the three of you.

“Robin likes stealing ice cream after closing,” you reach into the freezer and pull out a tub of birthday cake, “Here. New and improved flavor, straight from corporate themselves.”

Lucas takes a spoon to the treat but Max shakes her head, stepping back as she says, “I’m just gonna check on her.”

“Alright,” Steve steals back the tub from your hands when Lucas goes in for seconds, “but don’t get huffy when it’s just Robin eating caramel pecan butter.”

The three of you pause now, you lean against Steve’s side as Max approaches that fiery red door. Her hand wraps around the doorknob and she looks right at you, sticking out her tongue as her arm moves to lug the door open.

You all jump back when the door slams right back into the side of Max’s face. She yelps, Billy storming through the doorway and grabbing his step-sister by the neck - lifting her up in the air. Her feet kick out uselessly, hands beating at his arms.

Before Lucas can stupidly run forward, you snag him by the collar of his letterman jacket and hold him away from the man. Max chokes out a desperate scream and her face grows bright red. Steve, though, is free to stupidly runs forward, his body coming back alive when Billy’s hand visibly squeezes tighter around Max’s throat.

It’s fruitless, however, as Billy’s other hand moves automatically - inhuman and mechanical - towards Steve. You scream, back hitting the cold shelves of the open ice cream freezer when Steve is grabbed like a doll by Billy Hargrove. Lucas fights against your terrified grasp, but your petrified arms refuse to release the boy as Steve is lifted just like Max.

You shove Lucas behind you when Max’s face tilts into something purple, racing forward to tug Steve back by the loose, deep blue cloth of his uniform shirt. Both hands come into the effort and Steve’s hat is rocked off of his head, you rip at the flesh of Billy’s fingers around Steve’s neck.

Billy drops Steve with a thud and you drag him away, but there’s a loss immediately at the surface as Billy returns his attention to Max.

The very air in your lungs is stolen when both hands come to Max’s neck. There’s a strangled gasp, Lucas’ guttural shriek, and a snap. A snap you’ve never heard before - like a broken bone, but different. Worse.

So irrevocably worse.

Max’s face drops - all muscle releasing, and you realize that that supposed relaxation leaves her looking horrified. Mouth agape and head hanging like there was never bone there at all.

You’re up first, having to drag Lucas through the door that connects Scoops Ahoy to the neighboring food stall. Steve follows the both of you into the Imperial Panda kitchen.

Max’s body cracks against the floor like sacked potatoes and Billy steps over her like the dirt on his shoe.

Billy’s boots thunder against tiled floor as he follows your trio - the shing of a blade being drawn out from the cutting board echoing ominously in your ears. Lucas heads your group and it feels like your legs can’t burn fast enough.

Like you’re too slow. Like you’re going to die.

His hands on your neck, his bloodlust in your lungs.

You knew Billy Hargrove was an asshole, but you never could have guessed that he would go so far as murder. It’s unlike him, even for - well - him.

Your legs begin to ache, begging to seize, but it still isn’t enough.

Your ears scorch at the sound of Steve’s scream.

The collar of Steve’s uniform shirt cuts to his throat when Billy grabs the back to tug him to his doom. Steve is never presented with the opportunity to defend himself when a clever is hacked between his shoulder blades. He throws a hand forward, caught between pleading with you and Lucas to turn back for him and crying for you both to run faster.

Billy pulls out the clever and kicks Steve to the ground, raising his foot and pressing each corner of his newfound strength and force and hatred into its downfall. Steve’s skull eggshells on the reflective tile of the food court - blood and brain spilling between onto neon reflections.

You can imagine it vividly - Billy right behind you. Hauling ass after the both of you, but the doors are in sight and he’s still with Steve and once you’re out he won’t be able to get you and-

Billy releases the clever in an angled, timed throw - one eye clenched shut to get the best judge of sight.

Your head rocks forward on impact, body freezing and smacking to the ground once the clever buries its mark in the back of your skull. You thud. Dead weight.

Lucas hears it - the sound of your skin like raw meat on a kitchen counter, the ringing silence when your footsteps are no longer behind his.

He wants to run back. Wake you up, wake you up, as if you’re sleeping - because you have to be, your death doesn’t feel real. Max and Steve and Robin - none of it has registered but the looming threat of Billy Hargrove most certainly does.

Those footsteps fill in where yours left off and Lucas feels trapped.

But the doors are coming up. Overwhelmingly close and yet miles away.

His hand shoots out, shoes squeaking against tile, lungs in hell, and his fingertips graze the cold metal push-frame of Starcourt’s front doors.

The doors gasp as he pushes and they release, squealing open.

Then Billy gets a lethal grasp over the collar of his basketball team letterman jacket.

Lucas screams, knowing exactly well how futile ripping apart his vocal cords is. He catches a glimpse of you and Steve over Billy’s shoulders.

Blood pools below what remains of your heads, bodies sprawled and lifeless inside the Scoops Ahoy! uniforms you were both making fun of not ten minutes ago.

Lucas peels at Billy’s face as he’s flipped and held straight. He cries and whimpers like a young babe at the growing pressure that comes from Billy’s hands on either side of his face. It grows and grows and grows and just as he comes to question this unnatural display of strength and cruelty - even from Billy - it pops.

His bones crunch and the teeth are the first to fall out. Blood drools from between his lips and Billy drops Lucas’ body to the floor which continues to shine in what neon signs remain of the stores’ stalls.

Sweat sheens his body as Billy steps over the teenager, his hand pushing open the Starcourt doors so he can carry the devil inside him’s will to the streets.

Eleven traces a finger over the polaroid of you that’s been stuck onto your locker. You’re standing in the middle of a sunflower field - a road trip to the midwest that Eddie forced you to join him on, you once told her. Notes and folded letters of well wishes in the afterlife have been pasted onto your locker with picked flowers from the side of the road in memoriam. Beside your locker is Robin’s, also littered with notes, letters, and flowers by your fellow students. At the top of each locker is RIP etched into the metal, which she’d seen done by Louise Graham only minutes ago.

Mike tenderly takes his girlfriend’s hand and brings her to his side, though his eyes remain on yours and Robin’s lockers.

The group is peculiarly silent, but nobody is exactly rushing to undo the crickets.

Will fiddles with his fingers as a couple of students from down the hall are sticking daisies through the slats in Steve’s locker as tribute. Dustin stares at his shoes to hide the wetness that gathers in his waterline - hat hiding his reddening, sorrowed face.

Eddie, however, is in full contempt as he watches with crossed arms while a man races down the corridor in a copy of the outfit Billy Hargrove was wearing during his Starcourt massacre. A wife beater, gold-rimmed sunglasses, and denim jeans.

“Hawkins is fucking cursed,” Eddie murmurs, glaring at the boy all the way until he’s no longer in sight, “I’m tired of these bullshit freak incidents.”

“What can we do?” Will shakes his head, looking up at Eddie.

Mike squeezes Eleven to his side, as if it’ll successfully hide her from the evils of Hawkins, Indiana, “Hope we make something of ourselves like our parents never did so we can get the fuck out of here.”

“If we can make something of ourselves in Hawkins,” Dustin sniffles one final time and watches a group of cheerleaders run by, preparing for the homecoming game later tonight.

One cheerleader, captain Chrissy Cunningham, slows to a stop by your and Robin’s locker - pulling out two folded letters to jam between the slots of your doors.

“Why wouldn’t we be able to?” Eleven frowns, and Chrissy pauses at the sound of her voice.

Eddie pushes himself off the locker and spreads his arms wide, grinning as he mouths a distasteful, “Hawkins is fucking cursed.”

[aliypop]

Anyway You Want Me: Chapter 2

(Rewrite)

Word Count: 3,531

Writers Note: I abandoned this fic, but I'm rewriting it now that I've expanded on Cecelia and Elvis, This is an au idea as stated last time! Well let us try this again

Warning: None so far except for language and historic language

Pairing: POC OC x Elvis

Plot: In 1953, in Memphis Tennessee, Cecelia and her mother Denise Valmos move to Shelby County as Her mother Calpurnia's Nashville home is going through renovations, but when asked to keep a low profile by her mother, Cecelia makes friends with the quirkiest, shy, yet charming kid in class, at least Friends is what she'd call them.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

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Memphis, Tennessee, Saturday, May 1953

"Is it three yet?" Cecelia asked as she was in her bedroom brushing out her curls and adding a small victory roll, adding a flower to the side for good luck. Sure, the look was out of style, but she still appreciated the timeless look, 

"It's 2:40," Denise shouted back as Cecelia grinned. She was finally going to be hanging out with someone, a cool someone, a shy someone, but it was someone she could talk to and share her everything with. Taking her keys from off her dresser, she was ready to go. 

"See you later, mother!"

"See you later, and be safe!" 

"I will!" Walking out the door, Cecelia passed her father, "Hi Daddy, bye Daddy..." Racing to her car, she got in and drove off, waving at the fans who were there for her parents. The life of being a child that no one exactly knew had any talents.  

"What's gotten into her?"

"A boyfriend." Denise rolled her eyes at her ex-husband, "You'd know that if you were in her life more." 

"Maybe if you weren't so busy with Sinatra-"

"Don't you go there..."

Elvis would be lying if he wasn't twiddling his thumbs with jobs at the electric company just to kill time today. His watch was reading 2:56, which meant his shift was almost over, and he could hang out with Cecelia. Elvis couldn't wait to see her, which was totally not weird because Elvis only knew her for two days, but she was cool enough for him to be excited about seeing her, right? Either way, he knew she was worth him hanging around. Pulling back up to the store, Elvis saw her pink car. His heart was pounding out of his chest as he saw Cecelia, wearing shorts and a striped shirt, leaning against the counter with the toned legs of a dancer, and, boy, was Elvis entertained. She had on heels. And a pink chiffon bow in her hair and Elvis wanted nothing more than to pull her close and whisper sweet nothings and say- 

"There you are! I was talking to this young lady here about electric wiring."

"Did you know that when the male goes into the Female, and they plug into each other, boom, we get lights!" Cecelia glanced at Elvis, acting as if she didn't know that. Meanwhile, he was thinking about a male and a female, but not lights.  

"Mhmm... I-I-I'll actually be right back." Elvis said as he went to freshen up. It wasn't like he was trying to impress Cecelia, Well, maybe a little, changing out of his work slacks. He had on a pair of black slacks and a white lace see-through button-up shirt with pink socks and his loafers. When he walked out, Elvis had hoped he would have taken Cecelia's breath away, but instead, he heard, "You look good, Pres."

"Thanks, Val, you uh ready to go?" 

"Yeah." Taking his keys, he opened her door, then his, as the two began their adventures,

 "So where to first, record shop, comic shop?"

"Surprise me," Cecelia said, taking a bit of a glance at him as he began to drive. He wanted to rest his hand on her thigh, but friends didn't do that. He just had to focus. 

"Music shop it is."

Music played on the radio as Cecelia hummed along. She could carry a tune, Elvis thought to himself as he listened. He didn't sing much unless it was at Church. Or his room or the stairs of his apartment complex. Other than that, he was a shy little thing,  

"So Cece..."

"Hmm?"

"You never did tell me where you moved from." 

"Well, sugar..." Elvis felt his heart pound when she said sugar. That southern drawl of hers was strong, a bit like Scarlet O'Hara but sweeter, "North Carolina, Originally born and raised, but then for three years I lived in Georgia, and that was like stickin your hand in a jar of hot peppers and rubbin your eyes afterward." she laughed as Elvis kept trying to focus on the road, but he had laughed with her too, 

"Sounds like it was hell."

"You've no idea, sugar." She smiled, applying her red lipstick, 

"So what about you? You don't exactly sound like a Memphian boy." She smirked as he blushed. It was back on him now, all the attention, 

"Well, I was born and raised in Tupelo, Mississippi," Elvis smiled as Cecelia grinned,

"That explains that heavy accent."

"Yours ain't light either,"

"I don't know what you're talkin bout." Cecelia playful nudged him as they parked at the music store, 

"Oh really, what do you call honey."

"Definitely not what you call it." She laughed at his adorable accent as he helped her out of the car, 

"And what do I call it."

"Hunneh..." she mumbled as he laughed with her,

"That's what I sound like?" He questioned as she nodded, 

Watching him walk to the comic store was like he was some star of importance, which to her he was. He had distinctiveness about him, but it was clear that he didn't notice it yet. When they walked in, Cecelia called to the guitars on the wall. Her medicine of choice was a Gretsch, but she didn't mind a Gibson. Or a Fender. 

"Do you play?" Elvis asked

"A little..." Cecelia said, a guitar pick in her mouth, trying to reach for one of the Gibson guitars on the top shelf.

"Mind if I..." Before Cecelia could respond, she was suspended mid-air and sitting on his shoulder,

 "Oh..." reaching for the guitar, she grabbed it, 

"Thanks, sugar. I mean, El, Pres." She was flustered by the actions before her.

"No problem. Cece with an E," He put her down. And he grinned a little bit. Her skin was actually really smooth, not that he was surprised, but it was a bonus. Sitting down, she strummed the guitar.

"Well, I don't care if the sun don't shine. I get my lovin' in the evening time. When I'm with my baby." Cecelia began to sing as she played the song with a more bluesy rock and roll feel. She had a jazz undertone, but to Elvis, it sounded like an Angel was singing to him and a guitar princess strumming with the way her fingers were on the fret playing. It was almost as if Cecelia were a pro, and the song Cecelia picked was a classic now sung by Dean Martin. 

Elvis was enchanted by her. But he couldn't be. Cecelia probably saw him as a friend anyway, and he'd been okay with that, even if his heart would simply ache from the confession.

"Do you play Pres..."

"El..."

"Elvis!"

"Hmm, sorry, I-I-I was thinkin." he stuttered as Cecelia blushed. Why was he so cute and innocent? She couldn't think of him like this. He was her friend, and he probably didn't feel the same.

"Oh, I was wondering if you played guitar."

"A little." He rubbed the back of his neck, "But how about the comic book shop?" he added. He wanted to save Beale Street for later in the afternoon when the lights started to come on, and the street really came to life, 

"I'd like that," putting the guitar down. The two then walked to the comic book store, 

"So, where'd you learn to sing and play like that!"

"Well, my mother. She sings, and my daddy. When he was around. Played guitar, then I learned the rest from B.B. King." She shrugged,

"A girl who enjoys good music."

"Good music, good food, and great SUPERMAN!" she rushed to the window as Elvis laughed, 

"Cece, wait up!"

"EL IT'S A NEW ISSUE."

"Superman nice... But" his eyes saw a Jay Garrick comic, he snuck off and picked it up as he showed her, all he heard was a gasp, 

"ELVIS YOU FOUND IT!"She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him, a blush creeping on his face, 

"F-F-Found what?"

"The comic issue I've been lookin for! " 

"you're welcome!" there were eyes on them as Cecelia and Elvis both blushed, 

"A discount for your date there," Irene said. Irene was the daughter of the owner. She knew Elvis well, in the sense he'd buy his Captain Marvel Jr. comics here. 

"She's just a friend, Irene."

"Sugar, look what I found!

"Mhmm, a friend..." Irene smirked, "I'll ring that one up, too." she winked, walking toward the counter. 

"This one's gonna be legendary..." He looked at the comic book as she grinned, "Definitely legendary." They walked to the car to further their adventure. As they cruised down the street, the radio had been playing Dean Martins That's Amore, in which Cecelia had taken it upon herself to croon her entire heart out as Elvis as the test subject, 

"Y-You speak Italian..."

"Well, I've sung in German, French, Italian, and Spanish," she grins, "But Sometimes I speak French." 

"I-I-I-"

" Êtes-vous d'accord, Elvis?" Cecelia leaned in,

"I don't know what you just said. But hell, it sounded pretty." Elvis's brain was short-circuiting. If she was being a flirt, then he needed to get her back for it, too. 

"You think so. I've been a little rusty and haven't been to a French restaurant in a while..." She sighed,

"You live an interestin life, Cece." 

"I try to. Sometimes, I can never sit in one place. I have to be doing somethin. You know El. Like playing violin or singin or," Elvis was listening to her. She was passionate and energetic, a fast talker when she was excited, and he loved it. 

"Am I talking too much?"

"No, you're talkin just fine," opening her door, he took her hand and helped her out as she blushed. He was a gentleman, a good listener, who had a keen attention to detail, and soft yet slightly callused hands that she could admire. 

"So this is Beale Street..." She said to herself,

"Wait til you see it at 7 pm. It's only 5, so we got time to see whatever you want." 

"Hmm... Let's walk and get into some good trouble." She grinned as Elvis smirked,

"I'm beginin to really like you." he said, as Cecelia blushed, "As a friend."

"Me too, kid," she giggled. Ruffling up his hair as she laughed, 

"I-I- I ain't no kid, Cece, why I bet I'm older than you."

"When's your birthday, El," Cecelia smirked, stepping up to him,

"January 8th, 1935." he smirked as if he were right, and she would grovel at his feet and say she was, in fact, a kid, a mere worm, "What about you, huh,"

"January 7th, 1935." she grinned, 

"Damn it, guess you're the boss." He laughed as the two then came up towards a tailor shop. Elvis was standing at the window looking at the suits and the shoes, 

"Wanna go in?" Cecelia asked. Elvis looked a bit hesitant. He had always craved the look, though he knew he couldn't afford it much. But a man could dream.

"I can't afford much of anything in there..."

"Elvis Aron Presley, You are going in that store. You will try on whatever it is you want, so that way. You know what you'll want when you can," she smirked, taking him by the hand and dragging him through the doors. She was gutsy, and he liked it. Really, he loved it.

"Excuse me, but my friend here wants to try on..." Her eyes scanned the room for the pink suit that was in the window, "That fine suit right there, if you please." she smiled,

"Of course, Ms. If you'd follow me, sir."

"Cece..."

"Trust me, you'll look great." Cecelia smiled as she sat down in the waiting area, reading the men's fashion magazines and swooning at some of the men in them. She could hear Elvis in there having a bit of a ball and commotion over the experience, a snicker leaving her lips, 

"Cece little help here!" was all she heard,

"You'll be fine. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about!"She shouted back. She was on a page about Frank Sinatra and her mother when her concentration was taken off guard. 

"Well, Ms., what do you think?"

"Well...I..." The pink in the outfit brought out those electric baby blues, and the lace gave him this alluring, sultry feel. The pants gave him an essence that told him he could have anything he ever dreamed of, and suddenly, she was beginning to dream of him in broad daylight, 

"Well, Cece..." The sinister smirk on his face was doing something she'd never felt before,

 "Stand up straight..." she stood up, "Well, aren't you cookin' good lookin," Cecelia smirked, looking him up and down like one would inspect a car. 

"You really think so?" He asked as he danced a little in the outfit,

"Mhmm..." Her mind was racing, but they were just friends, "You could get any girl in that."

"You should get it for your boyfriend, Ms. We'll make up a fake invoice if you want to keep you two a secret..."The clerk smirked as both Cecelia and Elvis blushed,

"Oh no, we're just friends and just browsin' around, really," He then went back to the dressing room to change into something else. Cecelia couldn't contain the blush on her face when she saw him in another outfit, "Woah... you're a knockout." She smiled,

"We have a dress that compliments his suit." The clerk said. And Cecelia was in the dressing room, turning into a young woman rather than a young girl. She was wearing the latest dress in fashion, the Wiggle dress.

"Well, what do you think?" 

"I-I..." That was all Elvis could say. He short-circuited like a bad electric cable. There was no going back now. He was past a crush. He was in love. 

"You're beautiful."

"You mean it?"

"Yeah..." Elvis said as he went to get changed back into his clothes. Cecelia was tricky to read, but he knew he'd get the gist of her. Cecelia couldn't help but feel butterflies in her stomach, but maybe she was just hungry. The shop keepers shook their heads.They knew young love when they saw it, and that definitely was it.

"You hungry?"

"Hmm, I could eat, El." she took his hand. She waved the shopkeepers goodbye. They waved back and watched them leave until they were safe towards wherever they were going. 

"So the thing about me getting any girl..."

"You could in that outfit. You just gotta be confident, you know..." She paused. There in the cafe was an array of black skin dancing and singing, having a grand time while they were enjoying their burgers and fries, 

"We can eat here if you'd like." 

"YES!" this was the life she had missed, the life Elvis had always known. 

"Hey Elvis!" some teenage girls waved at him as he waved back. 

"Hey Mildred, Shirley, Rudy," he winked as they giggled, "Who's your friend."

"Cecelia Valmos." She introduced herself as they walked over and sat down, "

Oh girl, I love your hair!" one of the girls said as Cecelia grinned, 

"Thank you. I love yours, too!"

"She just moved here not too long ago." 

"You picked a good tour guide."Rudy said, "He's always here like he lives here," she chuckled, 

"Is that so."

"Girl, you should see E cut up a rug. He's like a white guy with a black soul." Shirley commented as Elvis blushed, "And when He sings..."

"Ladies, I'm right here." he blushed, getting embarrassed a bit. 

"I'll keep that in mind." she chuckled. The waitress then came by as she looked at saw Elvis, 

"Let me guess, cheeseburger, a milkshake, fries salted." she laughed, "And for you, dear?"

"Cheeseburger and a soda, please." 

"No fries?" Elvis asked,

"I'll just eat yours."

"Aw, a date?"

Elvis and Cecelia quickly shook their heads,

"We're just friends..." Cecelia said,

"For now, " the three girls had said as they went to dance with their boyfriends. Cecelia watched them as she then looked at Elvis, who was tapping his foot, 

"You wanna dance?" offering her hand out to him,

"Sure." Elvis took her hand as they went up to the jukebox. Let's have a Party was playing, and that's what Cecelia intended to do. The two were dancing together and laughing as it had been the most fun the two had been having. Pulling her close and spinning her around, he was impressed with her footwork. There had been a few girls he'd danced with, but this one, for once, could keep up. He then began doing his own thing as Cecelia watched his hips. She began to be mesmerized until she joined him. Swaying her hips as Cecelia danced around him, another guy took her by the hand as they began to do the Lindy Hop, flipping her over his shoulder as Cecelia laughed. He was impressed with her courage and how much of a fun time she was. 

"HEY E CATCH!" Bernard shouted as he spun Cecelia into Elvis's arms.

Elvis caught Cecelia as he dipped her, heart racing as she looked up at him, "Nice catch..." She said as Elvis blushed, "Nice, dancin." he then walked them both to their table. Sitting down, Cecelia and Elvis ate and talked as she took some of his fries, and he took some of her pickles from her burger, 

"So, has today been fun so far," Elvis asked as Cecelia sighed.

"I don't know, I mean..."

"Yes..."

"Well..."

"Cece..."

"I've been havin a blast!" she smiled. 

"Great, 'cause now I wanna show you the true Beale Street." he smiled, clutching his heart at her reaction. 

"Is this not the real..." walking outside. Cecelia saw the city lights. They felt more comforting than New York and brighter than Paris. They felt like home. Elvis could see the sparkle in her eyes as she was mesmerized by the scene, music from every street, people dancing, cars going by,

 "May I?"

"You may." Elvis took Cecelia's hand and walked with her across the street. Walking by other shops and bands. Cecelia could feel that this was where music truly lived. A group of musicians were playing as Elvis began to mumble under his breath and sing the words. Cecelia had tried to listen. 

"You know... You heard me sing..." Cecelia smirked,

"Yeah, I did..."

"it's your turn..." 

"Cece..."

"Please, Pres..."

"Cil..."

"Elvis... Elvis...Elvis." She cheered as he took a deep breath and sang along to the song. When he began to sing, it was like time stood still to try to catch up to him. He was lost in the music, dancing and almost nearly performing the song. When he had stopped, Elvis had noticed Cecelia's mouth completely wide open in shock.

"ELVIS ARON PRESLEY!!! WHY ARE YOU NOT ON THE RADIO!" Cecelia playfully shook him about. As he laughed, "Or on TV, people should have posters of you, they should have billions of your records!!" she grinned, 

"I could say the same about you," he smiled as Cecelia giggled. He was right, but she was right, too.

 "Yeah, but this is about you!"

"Well, Cil, I got terrible stage fright." He laughed, "I can't be no singer or actor with stage fright." he sighed,

"Yeah, you can. Many get nervous, too."Cecelia said as she got closer to him,

"I-I-I-I da-don't pronounce my W's right an..."

"So, you got the look. I mean, behind the lanky look and the choppy colored hair... There's a star." Cecelia backed away,

"Cil..."

"Imagine it, everyone screamin Elvis Presley!" she twirled, stumbling a bit as he caught her,

"Yeah... no," He laughed. Maybe if I played football or somethin, they should be cheerin your name." he smirked, lifting her up again on his shoulders, "Cecelia Valmos, the great guitar player, the amazing singer." he looked up at her as she looked down at him both their eyes meeting, it was electric.

"Elvis Presley, the great dancer! and mover of hips and remover of panties!" she joked as Elvis turned red,

"That don't sound half bad." he laughed with her, the two heading back to his car, 

"Elvis... Are you free tomorrow?"

"I got church an work, but after that..." 

"Wanna hang out again tomorrow?" Cecelia asked,

"Sure, we could go to a park or the library, maybe we could study at my place?"

"We could do that, I could make brownies as a snack," 

"It's a done deal then Cece," he smiled driving her to her car,

"See you tomorrow El."

"Same time?"

"Same time!"

Walking to her house, she was on cloud nine. She was in love, and her mother knew it. For every mother did, they all could remember that rush of joy the first time they fell head over heels in love, 

"How was it."

"We went comic book shopping. And to a music store, and dancing." She twirled around giggling, 

"Oh, mama, it was great." Elvis smiled as his mother watched the blush on his face get deeper.

"Are you gonna see her again?"

"When are you going to see him again?"

"Tomorrow, after church," She blushed,

[dustofthedailylife]

Hello sweetiee

There is a brainrot lingering on my mind since my teacher told us some stories about pirates. Genshin Impact Pirate AU?

We all know Beidou would be the captain for sure, and I also have a feeling that even tho it was all an act, Kaeya might also have some skills. Kazuha would write poems and Venti would sing them. Zhongli would tell stories at night, and I think Ayato and Thoma would be his #1 fans. Diluc would still be a barman, serving drinks to the captain and her fellow drinking buddies; venti, Rosaria and Kaeya. Childe, Kaeya, Venti, Itto, Cyno and Yae would be pranksters and their victims would be probably Xiao, Gorou, Diluc, Jean, Tighnari, Kujou Sara and Ei. I bet they also prepared a prank for Ayaka but they got scared of Ayato and didn't do it.

I'd like to write something for each character but I can't think of something for all of them. Do you want to add/change something? You know me, I always love your ideas<3

Love youu take care mwah •3• ♡

-⛄️

Hey my dear! Hope you've been doing well! ♥

I love this little brainrot!! Let me see, I've never written any AUs but here goes (maybe something to dabble into in the future... low key I'm a sucker for reading highschool AUs ngl, haha!)

I'll post them under the cut... couldn't come up with something for everyone 🤭

Beidou - Captain, 100%

Kazuha - Captain Beidou's Right Hand

Xingqiu - Logbookkeeper

Kaeya - Rivaling Captain (because listen, I do think he has Captain qualities, sort of also because of the eyepatch but not only. His charisma just screams Captain to me).

Rosaria - Captain Kaeya's Right Hand (also quite the capable assassin, trained with daggers and used to working in the shadows)

The Fatui - Enemy Raiders & main antagonists

Diluc - Tavern owner (there is not much that changes for him, it's kind of perfect for this AU already imo, upside, he gets all the gossip from the different crews and can gather intel and info on people and for his secret nighttime job where he isn't just a tavern owner).

Venti - Wandering Bard (joins different taverns or ships from time to time and stays with them for a while. It is said that whenever he is aboard a ship there is always sufficient wind and no strong storms or turbulences.)

Ningguang - Wealthiest fleet owner in Teyvat.

Ayaka & Ayato - Traders & Warehouse owners (business inherited by their parents - when they died, it had lost a lot of reputation but Ayato build it up from the ground again. Ayato can be quite intimidating, don't try to scam him while doing business)

Zhongli - mysterious storyteller the crews often listen to when they travel to Liyue (There is some peculiar aura about him but no one can really put their finger on it.)

Itto - comedic relief of the story (seems dumb at first but has a heart of gold and helps his crewmates where he can saving the day more days than you can count)

I think that is all I can up with for now. Really enjoyed this little brainrot. Probably also will have better ideas for some characters later but that's the best my brain can do for now 🤭

[chachamaru-s]

red red wine

akaza x fem!reader tags: period sex, oral sex (f!receiving), menstrual blood eating, squirting, modern au, probably the least sexy smut you’ll ever read word count: ~2.9k a/n: look i dont usually write smut, and certainly not of this variety, but the thought wouldn’t leave me alone. i dont know who the target audience is for this, but i hope you enjoy. its a modern au im assuming at some point during canon akaza broke muzan’s curse and thats why he’s still kicking. yes the title is a joke i couldn’t come up with anything

The day is stifling, so hot and humid that even laying on your futon with the fan blowing on high directly on you, your boyfriends tank top sticks to your skin. You can bring yourself to do nothing more than lay there, fanning yourself with a cheap one dollar hand fan with one hand and clutching at your panty line with the other. If it was just one thing or the other, you think you could have handled it. But as it was, you were having to deal with a nightmare of a heatwave and cramps from hell. You were used to the latter, at least, having always had a heavy period with lots of bloating and cramping. It did not make it any more pleasant. You thought, with humor, that at least it was nice that now you had someone to take care of you, leaving you to do what you really wanted to: slump around the house in misery.

Akaza was, like a good, dutiful boyfriend, making a run to the convenience store to pick up some pads and candy for you. Now that the sun had set, he was free to do so, and was happy to as well. He always told you that doting on you was his favorite pastime, and by the way he did it, you could only assume that was fact. He'd been gone long enough that you start to wonder when he'll be home, eager to make him crawl into bed with you and hold you. When you'd first met, you'd been alarmed by his low body temperature, his skin cool to the touch. Now, and especially on days like this, you were glad of that difference between the two of you.

No sooner than you had the thought did the door open, signaling his arrival. "Babe, I'm home!" He calls. You can hear the jangle of keys as he drops them onto the counter, the rustle of the bag carrying goods for you. You smile to yourself at how lucky you are to have such a dutiful boyfriend. At first, when you'd found out he was a demon, you weren't sure how you could proceed in a relationship with him. But as time went on, it became a non-issue. You didn't ask about his eating habits, didn't have to know, and felt safe in the knowledge that he'd never harm you. That was all that mattered, at the end of the day, wasn't it?

"I'm in here!" You call back, still fanning yourself and laying down against the pillows on your futon. You watch the door frame expectantly, waiting to catch a glimpse of your beloved. You don't have to wait long before his figure is there, entering the room. He's wearing his disguise right now, the one where he looks more like Hakuji than Akaza. It makes him less conspicuous when he goes out, more like a human and less like the ageless demon he is.

"Brought you something." He says with a sly smile, and that's all Akaza. It's so easy, then, to see him as you first did: pink hair to match impossibly long lashes, markings all over his body and face, skin as pale as the moonlight cast on him. You smile back, and he goes on, dropping the bag beside you on the futon. "We got pads," He picks them up and tosses them to the side, "Don't worry, they're the kind you like. We got a variety of chocolate, some peach rings and jelly beans. All your favorites - I don't know how you eat this trash." He grumbles the last sentiment, wadding up the now empty bag and shoving it in his pocket.

You laugh at him, bringing the fan to cover your smile as you retort. "You eat people." You say it simply as if there's no room for argument, and Akaza pauses. It's always felt like an off limit topic, something the two of you didn't talk about. But you couldn't help yourself, and the look on his face was well worth it. You snickered at him as his shock melted into indignation.

"Only people who deserve it!" He defends, so cute and serious that you decide to run with this. You truly do not fault him his diet, and know that he is selective on who he eats like some sort of vigilante. But you enjoy messing with him, and in truth, you think he enjoys it too if the spark in his eyes has anything to say about it.

"Who deserves to be eaten?" You ask and immediately he sputters. The two of you stare into each other's eyes for a moment, an unspoken challenge between you. The fan covering your smile is starting to shake with the effort of trying to hide your amusement and for his part his lips are twisting slowly into a smile. After a minute or two, the pair of you burst into laughter, looking at one another with humor and affection.

"Come here," you say sweetly, throwing your arms open to welcome him. He climbs into your embrace, wrapping himself around you and nuzzling the sweat-slick skin at the crook of your neck. You shiver at the sensation, sensitive around your neck and he knows it. You can feel him smile against the skin there. His body is cool against yours, but you suddenly feel impossibly hot, in a way that has nothing to do with the temperature of the day. "Thank you," you start on a sigh, "You're so good to me." and you mean it. He took care of you in so many ways, every day since the pair of you had gotten together.

"I can be even better," He whispers, breath hot against your skin as his teeth grazed the sensitive flesh there. It was a wonder, that you trusted a demon like him with his, and when he bit into the skin just shy of breaking it, you let out a moan. He laved your skin with his tongue before he released his bite. "You smell so good like this." He mouths against your neck.

Your breath hitches. "Like what? Sweaty and bleeding?" You ask as if you don't already know the answer. Akaza has never said as much, but when you were on your period, he was always nuzzling into you. You wondered what his superhuman senses picked up on during this time of the month that he liked so much. You didn't think it really mattered much - you just wanted him to keep sucking at your neck, gripping at your hip and kneading the flesh there.

"Mmhmm." Is his only answer, he's too busy running his hands up your waist, not stopping until his hands cup your sensitive breasts, thumbs flicking over already hardening nipples. "Do you want me to keep touching you?" He asks, pulling away enough to look you in your eyes. You're already getting excited, heat coiling deep in your belly just at the way he handles you.

Your immediate thought is yes! yes! but you're afraid that if you open your mouth, an embarrassing sound will come out. His thumbs are still working circles over sensitive buds so you bite your lip and nod your head, earning a chuckle from Akaza. You should have known that wouldn't be good enough for him. Before you can even blink, he's pinching your stiff nipples between his fingers.

"Use your words." He sounds teasing, the way he knows makes you want to play hard to get. But he has you gasping right now, pinching you where you're sensitive. He knows this, too, if the smirk on his face is anything to go by. Half of you wants to wipe that smirk from his face, the other half wants to let him have his way with you. Your periods always make you hormonal, and with those hormones comes the itch to feel Akaza's touch all over.

"Akaza...please." you shifted your hips towards him, hoping to draw his attention there.

"'Please' what, (y/n)?" He's being impossible, because he knows how to get what he wants. His hands drift down your waist again, to your panty line where he tugs at the elastic with his fingers. You think he's going to give in first, this time. That he won't make you beg for him. You're wrong, of course, and when this becomes apparent, you let out a short whine.

"Please touch me." You try to keep the need from your tone, but you're sure you failed by the way Akaza's eyes darken.

"Should I guess where you want me to touch you?" He asks, abandoning the elastic of your panties with a snap to draw his hands towards your face. "Here?" He asks, pulling you close to press a lingering kiss to your lips. His hands travel to your neck, where he leans in and presses his lips against the little marks he'd previously left there. "Or here?" He's teasing you now, hands wandering further down to your breasts. "Maybe here." He says as if he's thoughtful, as if he doesn't know where you ache to feel him. You make a noise of frustration, and he has the nerve to chuckle at you.

"Oh, I know," He starts, his hand inching ever lower, "you want to be touched here." He cups your mound with just enough pressure that you feel it through your pad. He's being a little shit on purpose, teasing you through your pad until your hips move to seek his touch. "Needy." He chastises, amusement and want etched across his features as he tugs your panties down.

"We're gonna make a mess!" You protest, as if it's just now occurring to you that you're on your period and the two of you have never been intimate when such was the case. For his part, he looked unimpressed by your admittedly weak protest.

"I'll put a towel down. Any mess left after, I'll take care of." He promises, removing himself from between your thighs to go grab your oldest, rattiest towel. He lifts you by your legs like you're a baby to place it under you and get back to his task of removing your panties. "There? Can I go on now?"

"Sure." You say, and you don't sound nearly as put out as you intend to, instead taking in a breath of anticipation as he discards your underwear and spreads your legs. You shift under his intent gaze, he's looking at you like he wants to eat you right up. It occurs to you, then, that that may very well be his intention. Maybe you were to be a snack between his meals. The thought made you heady with want despite yourself.

"Fuck, you look delicious." He says, reverent, and you think he might mean that literally. You're not afraid, however, despite knowing his nature. No one has ever made you feel safer, more desired than Akaza has in the few months you've been dating and besides - you know he doesn't eat women. You trusted him, and his ability to reign in any blood lust that may come with being exposed to your bleeding cunt.

"Is the big bad demon going to eat me?" You ask demurely, pointing your toe to nudge him in the chest with it. His hand instantly catches your ankle and he yanks, drawing you closer to him with his enormous strength. You love it when he gets like this, using his strength freely to handle you. He was always careful not to be too overpowering, but aggressive enough to entice.

He nibbles at your thigh, licking at some blood smeared there. Though he's told you he can get nutrients from blood, he's never tasted yours before. What a way to get the first taste, you think, as you watch him nuzzle into your thigh as his face travels ever nearer to where you most want him to touch. He doesn't keep you waiting long, tongue darting out to taste your nether lips agonizingly slow. The broad of his tongue licks stripes against your slit, tasting the blood there.

"You taste so fucking good," He growls, and when you look into his eyes they aren't clear blue anymore, but back to their cracked-glass state, golden and blue. He looks at you so intensely that you can't help but shiver under his attention, his tongue still teasing you but refraining from going where you need it to. You have no response for him other than to shift your hips, chasing his tongue, and whine low.

He knows your urgency, then, and rewards your patience by delving his tongue between your folds, licking you from hole to clit. You still as he laps at you there a few times, tasting your arousal and blood straight from the source. Fingers thread through pink hair as your hips buck against his mouth, driven wild with need at the obscene sounds of him licking you clean.

You're panting as his tongue swirls around your clit, gripping his hair tight as his growls rumble against your cunt. "A-akaza..." You moan his name, arching your back. He's relentless, lapping and sucking at your clit in equal measure. "Akaza." You repeat and he stops what he's doing, pulls away to look at you. He looks like himself now, blue markings and inhuman eyes, but there's blood smeared around his mouth and it shouldn't heighten your arousal but it does.

"What is it babygirl?" He asks and you curse yourself for opening you mouth, because now you have to articulate a thought. You're filled with need, body scorching with desire because of the state he's worked you into. You want to feel him more, harder. You want him to consume you, reduce you to a puddle of pleasure on the bed.

"Want you. Inside." You manage to express, causing him to grin at you in a way that tells you he won't give you what you want so easily. You pout at him, but he remains unmoved. You're anticipating your climax already - he always knows just where and how to touch you - but you don't want to be empty, clenching at nothing when it comes. You're at his mercy, and he knows it, hovering just shy of touching you with his lips.

"And waste this feast on my dick?" He says with amusement, and you know he won't give you what you want. You make a pitiful noise only to be met by his chuckle. "You'll have to do with my fingers." He tells you, and you feel a finger at your entrance. It slides in with no resistance causing you to let out a guttural moan. In an instant, his mouth is latching onto your clit again, a spark of pleasure coursing through your body.

You close your eyes to the sensation as he adds a second finger into the mix, causing you to suck in a harsh breath. The stretch of his fingers feels divine, his touch exploring your walls and hitting that spot inside you that makes you see stars behind your eyes. You can feel heat coiling tight in your gut, you're close to release and you both know it. Akaza picks up the pace, thrusting his fingers in and out of you with more force as he laves your clit in attention.

"C-close," You pant, opening your eyes to look at him between your thighs. His eyes are half-lidded, nose to your mound as he works to bring you closer to your climax. Just looking at him down there is enough to cause a jolt of pleasure to course through you. Your hands find his hair again and you tug there, keeping him in place as if he'd want to be anywhere else at the present moment.

"You gonna cum all over my face?" He asks huskily and the words shoot right through you. You mewl in response, raising your hips to meet his lips better. The pressure was mounting, and the way he was talking to you did nothing to relieve it. "Come on, then, pretty girl. Cum on my face." With that his tongue resumes its work on your clit, and sends you over the edge.

For an instant, all pains and aches fade to the sidelines in the face of blinding pleasure. You grind your pussy against his lips, chasing the feeling as you feel your orgasm squirt out of you and all over his face. For his part he seems delighted, lapping at your juices and blood. His tongue eased you back down from the heights you'd soared, your hips still jerking from sensitivity. You exhaled a breath you didn't even realize you'd been holding when he pulls away, your body still sensitive from the high of your orgasm.

He sucks blood and cum from his fingers, leaning down to kiss you on the thigh before working his way up your body to try and kiss your lips. "Bleh, not until you brush your teeth." You say, hands up to block him and prompting a laugh from him.

"It's your blood!" He protests, but you can tell it's just to be contrary.

"Yea, and I don't want it in my mouth." You say, stretching out, feeling boneless in the aftermath of his affection. You really needed a bath, to clean all the sweat, blood and cum off your body. You look to him and bat your lashes. "While you're in there run me a bath?" You ask sweetly.

He rolls his eyes but moves to get off the futon regardless. "Yea, yea. Spoiled brat." He mutters, but it's full of so much affection you can't even be angry at it. You mutter a thank you, stretching your arm over your eyes to rest until your bath is ready. You think you might make him carry you to it.

[valberryy]

i wanna ruin our friendship. — childe

im sorry for using jenny song lyrics but its been living in my head rent free 😩 diversity win? anyways

the second of the raffle requests!! this one is for @pazii !! i had a lot of fun writing this, so i hope u like it!! <3 also i call childe by his real name here cause idk how to explain his uhhhhh soundcloud rapper nicknames or whatever in a modern au so. does peace sign in front of mirror

pairing: childe x gn!reader

content warnings: spoilers for childe's real name

Of all the ways Ajax expected his summer break to go, getting random texts from you was honestly a rather common occurrence—he'd have found it weirder to not hear from you, honestly, no matter the time of day.

What made this stranger than the normal "hey ugly where are u" messages he'd often get was the sheer absurdity of what you were asking: with no pretense whatsoever, he had been woken up at some ungodly time of the night to see a text from you that simply read, "can you pretend to be my boyfriend for a thing".

He simply rubbed at his eyes and went back to sleep.

The next day you barged into his apartment and made yourself at home on his couch, your feet up on the armrest as you explained yourself. "My cousin's getting married," you said, "and he and I made a bet a few years ago that I wouldn't be able to get a boyfriend by college."

Ajax raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of his coffee as he said, "And what does that have to do with me?"

"I hate losing."

He raised another eyebrow at your determined expression—and he'd deal with any and all jabs you'd make about how dumb he probably looked right now—but agreed, taking another swig of coffee as he did. He watched as you grinned, clapping your hands together in a way that made him suspect that he was definitely the first person you asked.

"Great! That's good!" You started digging through your pockets for your phone and continued to explain. He caught the date and also something about, "needing to act the part"—and he nearly dropped his mug as you dragged him forward by the collar with some starstruck look in your eyes.

"Let's go gift shopping, dearest boyfriend of mine!" you teased. "What better way to get into that mindset, you know?"

You stifled another laugh as he shoved his hand in your face and pushed you away.

And a few hours later, Ajax found himself strolling with you through one of the many malls near campus. At some point during the trip he had joked about wearing matching outfits, and it seemed you were so into the idea that he was at your mercy as you dragged him in and out of clothing stores. More than once had you shoved him back into the fitting room for coming out in what you called, "an insult to anyone with a decent sense of fashion."

"Oh? And would you prefer to dress me instead, sweetheart?"

"Just change back, Ajax!"

He laughed as you kicked at his shin to force him back inside.

By the end of the day, his and your arms alike were sore from the weight of the bags you'd been carrying around ("Hey! It's not my turn yet, take them back!"), but Ajax couldn't quite find it in himself to tease you for the dopey smile on your face as he walked you back home.

"If I'm going to be your pretend boyfriend, I need to go the whole nine yards," he had said.

You stopped walking in front of your door, peering into shopping bags and handing him the ones with his things in them. Ajax was about to bid you a simple goodnight right when you pulled him in for a hug, lingering for a few seconds longer with your hands wound tight against his waist.

"Thanks for agreeing," you said, and he could hear the beginnings of a laugh start to bubble up your throat, "even if it's kind of a dumb thing to ask."

You let him go before he could respond, making a show of blowing him a kiss as you closed the door.

Ajax' chest felt warm as he walked home that night.

"So, how thick do I need to lay it on them?"

He heard you let out a little snort from the passenger seat, hearing the rustling of your clothes as you inspected the wrapped gift in your hands for any dents. "Just don't go getting on one knee or anything," you said. "But don't worry, they'll love you...I think."

Ajax drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "You think," he repeated.

You snorted again, and through the corner of his vision, he caught the way you were smiling at him.

The rest of the trip was silent save for the occasional snide comment and the low droning of the radio, and the wedding ceremony itself was rather quick in and of itself—the parts that felt the longest were the ones that involved talking to your family.

But you stuck by his side after the ceremony and into the reception—in true best friend fashion, he joked—and instead of leaving him to the wolves, whatever fabricated stories dates you two went on (which were mostly just joyrides where Ajax dragged you to come with) left even your skeptical cousin looking convinced.

And then you were dragged away to dance with one of your younger cousins, and Ajax was left to the wolves.

Your cousin walked up to him and nudged his shoulder, jerking his chin in your direction. You had to bend down a fair bit to "dance" properly with the cousin who had dragged you off, and they were standing on your feet to boot, but you still looked rather happy in spite of that.

"Thanks for dealing with them," your cousin said, snapping Ajax out of his daze.

"If anything, I think you should thank [Name] for dealing with me."

With a laugh, your cousin clapped him on the shoulder before going off to mingle with the rest of your family, and Ajax found his gaze drawn back to you.

Somehow, he wished that the night would go by slower.

A few hours later, you stood by his side in the parking lot, rolling the few knots out of your neck as you waved goodbye to your relatives that passed by. "Ahh, I can't wait to get out of these shoes," you said.

Ajax glanced at you as he dug through his pockets for his keys. "Don't go stinking up my car, dearest partner of mine," he replied.

You laughed as you slipped into the passenger seat.

He hadn't bothered to turn on the radio, or the GPS for that matter, and you made an odd noise from the back of your throat once you realised his little detour. You turned to him with an eyebrow raised, and he looked at you as much as he could without taking his eyes off the road.

"Don't look at me like that," he teased. "Let me do this one last thing as your pretend boyfriend."

"Where are we even going?!"

He laughed, opening the windows and sputtering as a stray leaf hit you square in the face.

"We'll see when we get there."

You seemed about to curse at him again, before you settled with a fond sigh. "Well then, pretend boyfriend, you better make it count, hm?"

He didn't say anything in reply, only watching you out of the corner of his eye and watching the way the moonlight shone on your hair.

Maybe next time, he wouldn't have to play pretend.

[ajaviary]

Hi boo! I wanted to take part in your event if that's okay! I'd like the character(s) to be a surprise and I'm also completely open to poly ships, love them, even! I'm Sunny, She/Her. I'm the good student type, very focused on my studies, determined and ambitious, but as soon as I get out of class, I love the unexpected, the unknown, the adventures. As much as I like planning my far ahead future, I really enjoy not knowing what tomorrow will bring, like buying random plane tickets and leaving on my own without a dime in my pocket. I spend most of my time reading, writing, studying, traveling whenever I can. My love languages would be words of affirmation and physical touch. Tell me if you need more info, thank you so much for this event ❤️

MHA Match up - Touya Todoroki/Dabi X Keigo Tamaki x Reader (College AU)

Summary: You’ve been hitting the books a little too hard lately, studying for finals like your life depended on it and maybe it did. Touya was amazingly helpful, being your study buddy throughout the whole ordeal. It helped that he was a year above you, he had already been there and done that with a lot of the Gen Ed courses you were taking. Keigo was far more relaxed about the finals, preferring not to stress over them, but it was easy for him to say, he picked up on things so easily and his photographic memory did him so many favors. It came in handy in other ways too. While Dabi was your study buddy, Keigo was the one taking care of you both, feeding you, making sure you guys did find your way to your bed after you just couldn’t stay up any longer. You wouldn’t have believed that Keigo’s carefree attitude would rub off on either one of you but now that finals are over the three of you were off on a surprise adventure that was all Dabi’s idea.

Word Count: 3282

A/N: Thank you so much for joining my Fall in Love Event! I hope you like how this has played out! I really love the dynamic between them. Thanks again!

|~|

You place your feet on the dashboard, your bare feet wiggling as you’d removed your sandals, this unplanned road trip was just what you needed after the dreaded finals week was officially over! It couldn’t have ended at a better time. You’d been ready to crawl into bed and sleep the moment you returned to your apartment. Those plans were derailed obviously, but you knew something was up as you’d been heading toward the bus stop, you’d left your car because Touya had dropped you off for your last exam that morning before he headed to work. Keigo had been still asleep in your bed when you both had been getting ready. To be fair, that man had the world's worst sleep schedule.

Warm fingers slid into your own, you stopped walking so quickly that Dabi had almost knocked you off your feet, his low growl in your ear as he curled his arm around your middle to keep you on your feet was well worth his irritation as you turned to look up at him. “I thought you were working!” You exclaim not at all bothered by the fact that a few of the college kids leaving have to weave around you both, but you don’t care. Your attention was all for him.

His fingers squeeze your own a little tighter his own way of telling you he’s not happy about the earphones in your ears, it was one of the reasons you hadn’t heard him call your name when you’d left the Science Building. He’d been waiting to catch you, but he’d just missed you having gotten taught up in a conversation with Tomura and Toga, when they had spotted him waiting for you. Getting the petite blonde to stop talking was nearly impossible. Thus he’d cut her off and told him he’d catch them later as he’d seen you leave through the crowd.

Touya was the one always harping on you about being aware of your surroundings. It was a safety thing, he was just trying to protect you. He knew some horrible things happened on College Campuses and he didn’t want any of those to happen to you, it was one of the reasons usually Keigo or himself would meet you outside your late night classes. It also said that he didn’t want to have an argument about them.

“I took a few days off -” He started but was immediately cut off as your hand raised to press your wrist against his forehead, checking to make sure he wasn’t sick. He looked a little flushed along the cheeks as your warm skin pressed against his forehead reminds him of what his mom used to do, when he was little. You’re much more attractive for worrying about him. Not that he doesn’t think he’s mom was cute, he does, but you're one of the ones he wants to spend the rest of his life with, so it’s different. That was another conversation to be had later, but he’d been working a lot of extra hours lately for something special, something you and Keigo weren’t aware of just why he was doing it, but Keigo knew something was up, that golden boy didn’t miss a damn thing and he was pretty sure he was snooping around his room when he’d been out.

“I’m fine,” he told you seriously, the scowl on his lips made you slid up on your tiptoes and plant a kiss on at the edge of his lips, just to hear him give a low growl as he curled his arm around your back and claim your mouth for a proper kiss, swallowing down your laughter and loving the feeling of your fingers in his hair. Yeah this was exactly where he wanted to be.

“Alright, Alright,” You tell him as you break away. “So why the time off?” The two of you had resumed walking as he led you toward his car. “It’s a surprise,” he told her with a grin, watching your face morph into a pout at the fact that he wasn’t going to tell you. Dabi already slid into the driver's seat by the time you stepped off the curb after shooting a hurried text to Keigo asking him if he knew what the surprise was. His only response was a winking emoji face which only caused you to round on the car to the passenger seat with an irritated huff. You hated being out of the loop when the guys planned things without you. It was a great little bonding time for them as they loved to tease you over what you didn’t know. You got them back though in ways that neither would ever forget.

“Don’t pout Princess,” Dabi told you with a smirk as he shot you a glance as he backed out of the parking spot and began to head toward the apartment you all shared. He wouldn’t be the first to admit the relationship the three of you had was a little odd, roommates turned shared lovers was not something that could easily be explained, but you didn’t need any labels, there was no jealousy in your relationship and things were usually open and relaxed, but today was the exception, it had to be as the surprise was for you and he refused to tell you, he was stubborn like that.

You round on him as he stops at a red light, you’d been shooting a flurry of texts back and forth with Keigo, Dabi knew because he could see the way your thumbs were flying from his peripheral. He expected you to start pestering him with questions so when you didn’t, he let his teeth sink into his lower lip, scraping his teeth over his own lip piercing as his fingers tightened on the steering wheel. He didn’t want to fight with you, but the silent treatment was making him antsy. “Baby,” You ask him, as you lean over the console, your hand pressing the rest of your body toward him, this position gives you too much close contact with placing your lips so close to his ear. “Will you please tell me where we’re going?”

Touya shot you a glance with his bright blue eyes slamming to the light as he waited for it to turn green. It would turn green soon, he was sure of it. “Touya,” you ask softly, he can hear the smile in your voice as you know you’re about to get him to crack. His sigh of defeat is music to your ears as you lean back in your seat with a satisfied grin sliding along your lips. “So -” You start, letting the word drag on, as he rubs his free hand along the side of his neck where your breath had fanned over him, you did that on purpose you knew all his weak spots. “Where are we going?” you ask him again, waiting expectantly. There was no way your plan would fail you.

He had just turned into the parking lot of the apartment and pulled into one of the spots as he shut off the car and pulled his keys from the ignition. “Do you really want to know?” he asked you as he clicked the doors to unlock, he cast you a sideways glance, you didn’t catch the smirk that slid along his lips. “Yes!” You can’t help but exclaim as you throw up your hands as if that’s the most obvious answer. “We are going on a road trip,” he kept this voice as uninterested as possible as he got out of the car and closed the door, able to hear your scream of frustration before you had even opened your door. His laughter that you could hear as he walked away, should not have caused you to smile a little, you were supposed to be mad at him!

He wasn’t running from you, but his long strides were taking him further and further away from you. He let his fingers drag through Keigo’s hair as the other had been loading some bags into his SUV. You guys were taking his vehicle because it was going to be far more comfortable to ride in than his two door Mustang. “She’s all yours Hawkeye,” he told him. Keigo curled his fingers into his shirt and hauled his mouth down to his own for a quick kiss, not about to let him disappear that easily. Dabi let his fingers curl along his shoulder before he pushed away from him. “How pissed is she?” Keigo wondered his gaze darting to where you were still sitting in the passenger seat of the car. “Very,” Dabi told him with a chuckle before he disappeared into the apartment to make sure they weren’t forgetting anything and he had some extra things to pack up away from prying eyes.

Keigo watched you for a moment as you slammed the car door shut, only to stare for a moment at your bag on the floorboard and have to open the car door again to get it out, so your attempt at proving your point was lost. He chuckled to himself, his fingers dragging forward through his blonde locks to fix them, as he came over to you, your bag hanging between your fingers. He took your bag and slung it over his shoulder as he curled his arms around you from behind his chin resting on your shoulder as he nuzzled against your neck. “What’s wrong Songbird?” he asked softly, his voice low and soothing, but he already knew, he knew how much you hated not being in the loop.

“Keigo,” you mutter his name, a soft prayer on your lips as you let your body sink against his own, all solid muscle and comfort. “He’s such an asshole,” you grumble and you can feel the Blonde smirk against your neck as he tilts his head, a single golden eye raising to peer up at you. “Tell me something I don’t know,” he tells you with a chuckle, his fingers digging against your sides and he’s tickling you before you can even truly suck in a breath to comment on his obvious bullshit answer. You’re laughter is filling the apartment parking lot and can do nothing more than wiggling against him, attempting to break free, but it’s half hearted as he drags you back against his chest and after a few more moments of torturing you, he’s stopped with the dragging of his fingers into your sides and they instead stroke along your sides in a tender moment of domestic bliss.

“How was your Exam?” he asks gently, enjoying the feeling of you in his arms. He won’t ever admit that he’s been a little left out given all the time Finals have taken up, but he understands; he’s just feeling lonely. Your fingers move to rest atop his much larger ones and you let your thumbs brush over his knuckles and he presses a kiss against your neck as he waits for your answer, his hip shifting to press against Dabi’s Mustang. “I think it went well, but just glad it’s over you know?” you told him and for a moment you let your head fall back against his chest. “Me too,” he can’t help but agree as he shifts your stance; he presses your back against the car as his mouth claims your own, his tongue sliding along your lower lip and your fingers tighten on his forearms as you feel his tongue enter your mouth.

Some time in between the lazy kisses between you two Touya had returned and he stood leaning over the open driver side door of Keigo’s SUV watching the two of you. Some of his friends wondered how his relationship revolved around two people, one of them another guy no less, some wondered how the three of you got along like you did, many wondered if jealousy would have played a role, the answer was no, not really. It might have been if Keigo wasn’t interested in him too. He knew how lucky he was. The love each of you felt for each other was equal, neither stood above the other as it should be. He might have continued to watch the two of you if it wasn’t for the fact, they did need to get on the road. He enjoyed watching the two of you. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t tease you two a little, better him than your damn nosy neighbors. You know the ones who had their opinions ready to pass out, no matter if you asked for it or not. He just didn’t like to share the two of you with anyone.

He whistled, the sound sharp and clear, one of those wolf whistles and Keigo knows it’s him and he’s also one of the more observant, so he’s very aware of the fact that he’s watching them. “Let’s put on a show for him, wadda ya say?” he murmured in your ear. Your low chuckle is the only answer he gets before your arms curl around his neck and press your lips against his own and he hooks his arms easily along your legs and your legs curl around his waist, but your breaking the kiss and resting your cheek on your arm that’s still curled along his neck over his shoulder as your gaze is on Touya’s lingering form.

You stick your tongue out at Dabi, aware by his scowl as his gaze sweeps the apartment lot, that he doesn’t like the fact that you two are being so chummy in public. He’s such a sucker for keeping you both safe, but his protective nature isn’t something that truly bothers either of you. “Do you know where we’re going?” you ask Keigo as he walks with you easily across the lot toward the car. “Not really, but he’s pretty tight-lipped about where, but he told me to take a few days off work about three weeks ago,” he told you honestly. “Wherever we’re going he wanted it to be a surprise,” he flashed Touya a bright grin as he stuck his tongue out at him as he took his time getting to the SUV. “This sort of adventure isn’t usually his thing, I’d wager this is for you,” he admitted to you softly.

Your fingers press against his shoulders as you lean back in his arms, feeling his other hand travel up higher on your back to accommodate your shift of weight without any sign of discomfort. Your men had no issues carrying you at all. He doesn’t miss the way your eyes fill with guilt and regret for getting so angry with him when Dabi had only been wanting to do something nice for you, to surprise you. He loosened his hold on you and you slid to the ground at the front of his vehicle. His fingers travel along your shoulder before he’s disappearing into the back of the car, your bag safely being stowed away. He’s giving you two a moment to clear the air before the trip. That didn’t mean he wasn’t being nosy about it, the blonde was leaning his elbows on the console from the back seat, his shoulders touching the front seats as he watched you move toward their dark haired Prince.

Touya frowned as you moved around the vehicle and ate up the distance toward him. He couldn’t see your face because the wind had blown your hair in front of your face, but he could see the tension in your shoulders, he caught the tremble of your lower lip. He sucked in a breath your name, a soft question on his lips, his blue eyes concerned. You slid your arms around his waist and he curled his arms around you without needing conscious thought. As your cheek presses against his chest, your ear over his heart listening to its rapid cadence. He can feel your fingers curl along the fabric of his shirt across his toned stomach. “I shouldn’t have gotten so mad earlier.” He closes his eyes with a sigh as his arms tighten around you, before he places a soft kiss on your temple. “You know it’s no big deal,” he says gently, hoping to reassure you and when your hold only tightens, he knew he’d have to go another route to get you to see that it wasn’t a big deal. “I love riling you up,” he can’t help but tease with a sexy chuckle, his fingers traveling up and down your back in light scratching motions. “You’re cute when you're angry,” he can’t help but continue, feeling the way your body tenses against his own. As you shove against his chest and his hold only tightens on you as he claims your mouth with his own, his hand cupping your neck as he bends you back as he deepens the kiss and your fingers curl on the fabric of his jacket.

Keigo shifts his body till he’s half way on the console of the car, he’s just as bad as Touya with watching you both. “As hot as this is we should probably hit the road or we’ll never leave the apartment,” he calls out, as Dabi sets you back on your feet, his palm cupping your cheek, his fingers curling along your neck for a moment over your racing pulse. “I’ll give you a hint (Y/N), you’ve been there before and loved it,” Dabi told you before he directed you into the SUV, you were going to go around, but instead he directs you to the drivers side and you scoot over the console Keigo has vacated and slide into the passenger seat, you look down to see your sandals on the floorboard and you smile softly at the gesture as you change out of your shoes and slip on your comfy sandals and expose your painted toes as you lean back against the seat. “I think I’ll let this be a surprise,” you tell them both watching as Touya starts up the car and you lean your seat back a little more your arm stretching up over the head rest and Keigo laces his fingers with yours from the back and you other hand reaches over to across the console and Touya’s fingers curl with your own as he begins the start of your adventurous trip.

[adxmparriish]

sirens in the beat of your heart - read on ao3

writer: lizziebxnnet / godgavemelou words: 3510 rating: explicit

As Jude’s hands grab Cardan’s face, cradling him between her palms, the pounding on the door rattles her nerves. She can hear them trying to pry it open. They only have a few moments.

“Everything is going to be fine,” Jude assures him. It feels ridiculous coming from her mouth, with the alarms blaring and the door on the brink of being busted down. She knows she’s right, though. She can feel it.

OR an AU where Jude and Cardan rob a bank.

I'm tagging a few blogs I tagged for Folktober! If you enjoy please reblog and share <3 @jurdanhell @jurdannet @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @clockworkgraystairs​ 

---

As the alarm rings loudly inside the Southern Standard Bank, Jude thinks to herself, We’ve really done it this time.

There is endless shouting and random popping coming from behind her as she sprints down the hall, her shoes pounding the marble floor. Her breath is ragged, her heart is racing, and she prays to a God she doesn’t believe in that she can get to the vault in time. The long red wig she’s wearing keeps getting in her eyes and her mouth, and she brushes it back again as she makes her way to where she needs to go. Another pop and a bullet wizzes past her shoulder. The cops are narrowing in on her.

She counts the doors as she runs. One, two, three, four, until she reaches the eighth, kicking it in and slamming it behind her when she’s safely inside. Someone’s desk sits abandoned, and quickly she realizes it’s owner is knocked out cold underneath it, his hands tied behind his back. Jude lets out a relieved breath. She quickly moves, throwing all her weight into moving the desk in front of the door. It won’t hold the police long, but hopefully long enough so she can get out of here.

Right as she’s positioning the desk, fists begin to pound the hard steel of the door. They’re all shouting, their words mixing together. She does her best to ignore them, moving away from the door and into the vault that’s standing wide-open, fluorescent lights bleeding into the room.

“We’ve got company!” Jude shouts into the vault before she enters.

“The bags are full, we just need to get to the underground.”

Jude sees Cardan kneeling on the floor, zipping up two duffel bags. He hasn’t packed up all the money, nowhere close, but it’s enough to keep them going for a long time, years probably, and that’s enough. Cardan’s blonde wig sticks to his forehead with sweat, his hands shaky as he finishes his work. After all their years of robbing, it’s never gotten easier on him. Sure, they mostly steal from smaller places, just enough to get by for a few weeks. Robbing a well-known bank… well, it’s certainly new for both of them.

Jude kneels beside him, grabbing a handle of her bag, before looking him in the eyes. He’s so nervous and scared, it bleeds into all his features. Jude is scared too, every inch of her lit up with nerves, but she keeps it together. For Cardan, she can do that. They need this.

“Give me the plan,” she demands, hoping it’ll calm him down to talk to her.

“There’s a door behind the vault that leads to an underground tunnel. We are going to take it all the way to the end, where the car is waiting. Then we ditch the disguises, and drive as far south as we can.” Cardan exhales shakily.

As Jude’s hands grab Cardan’s face, cradling him between her palms, the pounding on the door rattles her nerves. She can hear them trying to pry it open. They only have a few moments.

“Everything is going to be fine,” Jude assures him. It feels ridiculous coming from her mouth, with the alarms blaring and the door on the brink of being busted down. She knows she’s right, though. She can feel it.

Cardan’s inky eyes look misty, but he nods. His hands grab his own bag, shouldering it as they stand. Jude puts her own on as well, and quickly they move to the hidden door behind the massive vault. When they’re both inside the passageway, the door separating them from the police finally crashes open. Quickly, they slam the door, Cardan pulling out a chain from his own bag. 

He hands it to Jude and her hands fumble as she wraps it around the handles, finally snapping the heavy duty lock. The snap of it rattles them both, and at once they begin to run. Jude’s hand finds Cardan’s as they sprint through the tunnels, the low yellow of the emergency lights their only companion. 

Jude has studied the map of the tunnels Vivi stole for her a thousand times. She knows they don’t have long to go. The curves are winding and narrow, but only a mile or so away from the bank. It’s eerie as they run, the only sounds being their feet on the concrete and their ragged breathing. Cardan’s hand is sweaty, his fingers struggling to keep hold on hers as they grow tired. The bag of money on her shoulder slams against her thigh every time she takes a step.

Finally, when Jude is pretty sure she can’t run another minute, the dim light of the outside shines underneath another door at the end of the tunnel. They slow down when they reach it, Cardan putting his ear to the metal to listen. They’re quiet for a few moments before he smiles wide, the first bit of happiness Jude has seen on his face in days.

“No sirens, no nothing. I think we’re clear.”

They open the door and light blinds them, the afternoon sun blazing down brightly. Their car sits exactly where Vivi parked it, a beat up old Honda she bought with cash a few weeks ago. They move with haste, opening the trunk and finding their new clothes. They change behind the car, discarding their other clothes and their wigs. Jude wraps them in a trash bag before throwing them in the trunk and closing it. They’ll discard everything later - now, time is of the essence. Cardan climbs in the driver’s seat, Jude next to him, and they both take a deep breath.

“Remember Cardan, we want to go slow. We don’t want to look suspicious. They don’t know about this car, if we aren’t here when they get here, they won’t find us.”

“Got it,” he says, fingers shaking as he tries to start the ignition.

Jude grabs his hand, squeezing his fingers tightly. Her own hand threatens to tremble but she can’t let it take over. Not right now.

“Baby, we can do this. We are almost done, and then we don’t have to worry again. Not for a long time. Maybe not ever.”

Cardan’s eyes find her own and his breathing is shallow as he tries to stay calm.

“We can do this,” he repeats back to her. Jude grins. He doesn’t look completely sure, but regardless, his fingers finally turn the key and the car starts.

Slowly but surely, they pull out of the alley. They leave the radio off, listening closely as they edge on to the street, heading to the highway. Jude can hear sirens, but the sound is distant. They must still be back at the bank. They move at the speed limit, keeping their eyes peeled, but so far, they don’t see anything suspicious. They aren’t being followed.

The few minutes it takes to get the highway seem to drag on forever, Jude’s leg shaking as anxiety pricks at her. Cardan’s own hands tremble on the steering wheel. They don’t say a word to each other as they drive. Right before they need to turn on to the highway, they get stopped by a red light. Of course, Jude thinks.

The car is stifling, so Jude rolls her window down. Only a little longer before they truly get away. Only a couple miles of interstate before they can find some back roads and get lost, head south, completely start over. She has to fight a smile from breaking over her features. If only the damn red light could turn green.

Then, like a sledgehammer to the heart, she hears more sirens. They start to grow louder, and the light isn’t changing. They can’t run the red without looking suspicious, and Cardan looks over at her, his eyes wide and terrified. Her own breathing grows stuttered and she looks in her side mirror, trying to find the blue and red lights. How did they find them already? There weren’t any cars around them. 

“What do we do, Jude?” Cardan asks, his knuckles white as he grips the wheel.

“If they’ve found us, we have to go as fast as we can. Hit the gas and go. Don’t stop for anything.” Jude’s voice quivers, but she tries to hide it. They were so close, she really thought they were going to get away.

Like a gift from the Heavens, the light finally turns green but they can’t move, as the car in front of them hasn’t. Jude fights the urge to scream as they remain still, the sirens growing louder in her ears. They need to move, and quickly.

A few more seconds tick by and Cardan’s fist pounds on the dashboard, shaking the car. Jude jumps in her seat, her nerves shot.

“What the fuck is going on?”

Finally, at the same time, they see it. An ambulance flies through the intersection, the lights and siren blaring as they go. They watch it go by, mouths hanging open, not even noticing the car in front of them has finally gone on. Someone behind them honks their horn and finally, Cardan moves, taking their exit and merging onto the highway. 

When their tires hit the black of the asphalt, the long expanse of road that will take them south, Cardan’s lips break into a smile that overtakes his entire face. A laugh erupts from his chest, and Jude can’t help herself but to do the same, giggles overtaking her quickly as she finally realizes they made it. They fucking did it.

Tears leak from Jude’s eyes as she laughs, her cheeks beginning to hurt from it. One of Cardan’s hands finds her own, gripping it tight over the center console as they drive. 

“I can’t believe we mistook the sirens for cops and didn’t recognize them as an ambulance,” Jude says when her laughs finally calm down.

“I was a little busy shitting myself from robbing the biggest bank in the area, Jude. I had more important things on my mind than the sound of a siren.” His words hold no malice as he speaks, but Jude knows he’s telling the truth. He’s been worried for weeks about this going wrong.

“I told you we could do it,” she says. His reply is a smirk, and she takes it.

In about twenty miles, they pull off the highway, merging on to a smaller one. It’s quieter, less police presence, and it goes for hundreds of miles. They plan to take it as far as they can. Cardan finally gets the nerve to turn on the radio, and the only station he can find is playing old country music. He rolls his eyes but settles there, turning it up enough to drown out the noise of the car.

Jude’s hair whips in the wind coming from her lowered window, as does Cardan’s. When she looks at him, the afternoon glow of the sun lighting up his features, her heart aches. They’ve been through so much together. Living on the streets, stealing here and there to eat, to live. When they met in college, everything had seemed destined to be perfect. Years later, when student debt, no job offers, and no opportunity greeted them, they did what they could to survive. It hasn’t been easy, but they’ve made it and that’s what matters. She can’t imagine doing any of it without him.

Jude rotates in her seat, her head leaned against the headrest, so she can watch Cardan drive. This reminds her of their first date, both of them barely nineteen, driving to a local diner at golden hour. She smiles at the memory, at him, and he notices, glancing over at her with an eyebrow cocked.

“What’s going through that devious brain of yours?” he wonders.

“Nothing,” she replies. She glances at the clock on the dash, noticing it will be getting dark in a few hours.

“We should try to find somewhere to stay tonight. We can grab food, a room, and think about where we want to head.”

--

Stacks of twenty dollar bills and abandoned take-out boxes lay all across the floor of the motel room. Jude and Cardan sit with the stacks surrounding them, slowly counting everything they have. They move the money from one pile to another, Jude jotting down the numbers on the little notepad provided by the motel. When their last stack is accounted for, Jude does a tally and almost cries when she sees the final number.

“Well? How much is it?” Cardan asks, leaning over the look at the notepad.

Tears collect in Jude’s eyes, her voice cracking as she speaks.

“There’s almost 2 million here.”

Cardan snatches the paper, eyes grazing over the tally again, ensuring she’s correct. Jude’s heart hammers in her chest as she takes it all in. As Cardan double checks, his eyes grow wider.

Finally, Cardan glances up at her, a breathtaking smile causing her heart to skip a beat.

He laughs, wrapping his arms around her neck and they tumble to the floor, knocking over the pile of money, the stacks cascading all around them. His breath warms her neck as he laughs, and her hands find his hair, tears falling from her eyes as she does. 

“We fucking did it,” she murmurs. All of the struggles, the pain, the fights, the bad luck. It’s gone. They’ll never want for another thing again.

“We did,” Cardan replies.

He lifts his head from her neck and moves to kiss her, his lips sliding over her own. She deepens it immediately, clutching at his inky black hair and pulling it hard. He groans into her mouth as she does. Desire pools inside her, making her want more, more, more.

A stack digs into her back as they kiss and suddenly, an idea pops into her head. Reluctantly, she moves away from him. Cardan frowns.

Jude sits up, grabbing a few of the bundles and ripping off the paper strap holding them together. He watches as she scatters the money on their queen bed and suddenly his eyes light up, mischief dancing in the darkness of them.

“My sweet villain,” he says, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. Jude grins wickedly.

As the last bill floats to the sheets, she spins them and pushes Cardan down to the mattress. All around him is the money they stole, wrapping around him like a blanket and she smiles so wide, she’s afraid her face might crack.

“Haven’t you ever wanted to fuck on a pile of cash?” she asks, leaning down to remove Cardan’s t-shirt. The milky white of his skin taunts her and she runs her hands over his chest, nails making tiny red lines as she does.

“Of course,” he replies, doing his part to remove Jude’s own clothes. “Just never thought we’d have the chance.”

“We can do it every day for the rest of our lives,” she replies, her jeans finally coming off as she does. 

“As long as I’m with you, I’d be ready and willing.”

Jude captures Cardan’s lips, kissing him fiercely at his words. She finally gets his pants removed after a few minutes, their inability to stop kissing causing some slowness. Jude goes to move her hand between Cardan’s thighs but he beats her to it, his own hand sneaking it’s way into her underwear. She gasps as he finds the small bundle of nerves, his middle finger caressing it carefully.

Jude’s head falls to Cardan’s shoulder as he plays with her slowly, teasingly. Every once in a while he’ll dip a finger inside her, making her cry out, before withdrawing it again. A warmth builds in her belly and before she can ask him to, Cardan dips two fingers in, his thumb rubbing furiously at her clit. It’s like he can read her gasps, the way her breath hitches in her throat. He knows her like their favorite song.

Jude bites her lip and grips the sheets, bills collecting in her fist as she does. Cardan moves his head up, his other hand pushing aside her bra so she can capture her nipple in his mouth. Overstimulation lights a ravenous fire inside of her. It’s all Jude can do not to scream out as his teeth graze her nipple slightly, causing her to tip over the edge, an orgasm crashing over her.

She shivers and shakes as she comes down, Cardan’s hand moving slower as he helps her ride it out. Before she can protest, he flips her over so her back is on the mattress. His lips find her lips, her cheek, her earlobe, her neck, her chest, her stomach, and then finally, the one place she’s been waiting for.

Jude looks down just in time to meet his eyes before his tongue finds her folds, licking a hot, wet stripe. She’s still sensitive so she moans loudly, the sensation overwhelming. Cardan places her thighs on his shoulders, moving closer to her as he does.

“You deserve this,” he says, licking at her again, making her writhe in his grip. “Your plan got us here. Your determination, your brain.”

“I’d do anything for you, for us,” Jude pants. And it’s true. Her happiness with Cardan was more important than anything. It still is.

Cardan doesn’t respond with words, but in action. He doesn’t come up for air for minutes, feasting on her like he’s a starving man. Jude bucks against him at every turn and he welcomes it, pulling her closer and closer until she’s sure she’ll suffocate him. The fire burning inside her begins to build again. Her fingers find his hair, gripping and pulling hard as she rides his face. 

Her hips begin to buck against him as she threatens to spill over again, only this time Cardan removes himself before she can. Jude pounds a fist on the bed, and at that, Cardan smirks.

“Don’t worry my dear criminal,” he says, leaning over her to kiss her. “I’d just rather you come around my cock instead of my tongue.”

Jude gasps as he enters her slowly, taking all the time in the world. She can taste herself on his tongue as he kisses her. She has so many feelings trying to override another. Her hands scramble to find purchase before they finally settle on Cardan’s arms that are framing her face. He pulls away so he can look in her eyes as he bottoms out. Jude wraps her legs around his waist, pulling him closer, deeper.

Moonlight filters through the curtains of their room, threads of silver highlighting Cardan’s face. Jude reaches up, wrapping her arms around his neck to bring him closer. She loves him, with every piece of her soul. She loves him enough to fight tooth and nail, to steal, to lie, so they can live happily. She’d risk herself every day for him, for her Cardan.

Like he can read her mind, Cardan bends down, kissing her roughly.

“I love you,” he moans into her mouth. 

He begins to move faster, a hand snaking between her thighs so he can play with her clit. Jude bites her lip to fight the scream that threatens to rip from her throat. She loves him so much she can hardly breathe, or think, or feel anything else.

“More than all this money?” he asks, teasing. He pulls away and looks into her eyes. 

“More than anything.”

He grips her hair and yanks, exposing her neck to him. He mouths at her throat, sucking a bruise into the light mocha of her skin. Everything is too much. Jude feels like she’s burning from the inside out. Her arms around Cardan’s neck circle tighter and she lets herself be taken completely over. Everything fades away and it’s nothing but Cardan. The way he makes her feel, his eyes, his laugh, his voice, the pounding of his heart, his everything. 

Jude erupts for the second time, her orgasm crashing over her like a wave. Cardan follows soon after, a moan falling from his mouth and into the skin of her shoulder. When they’re both completely spent, he rolls off of her. He immediately pulls her into his chest, her forehead meeting his neck.

A twenty dollar bill sticks up from underneath Cardan’s arm and Jude laughs lightly, pulling it away from him and throwing it to the floor. It’s everywhere, sticking to their sweaty skin as they’ve moved across the bed.

“I meant what I said, Jude,” Cardan says, eyeing her carefully. “All this money… well, it wouldn’t mean a damn thing if I didn’t have you.”

Jude fights a lump in her throat at his words. She’s never been the type to say how she feels, it’s always been more of Cardan’s thing. She blinks away the mist in her eyes before grinning at him.

“I know what you mean.” Jude pauses. “I love you so much.”

Cardan leans in, kissing her forehead.

“Let’s start our new beginning.”

[kpop---scenarios]

Mated (3)

Mated (1) | Mated (2)

Pairing: Sehun x Reader / Suho x Reader

Genre: Wolf AU

Warning: Violence, Blood etc

Word Count: 2.1k

"Lay!" You call you, helping Sehun into the house. "It happened again." You sigh, helping him onto the couch as Lay comes over to take a look at Sehun's wrist. 

Again. 

"What the hell triggered it this time." Lay asks, examining the clearly broken wrist. 

"Look I'm fine. I heal quickly." Sehun spits, standing up. 

"Good, then I can fuck you up again." Suho spits, walking into the house, slamming the door shut. "Yanno Ayn, you're my mate too. You shouldn't play favourites." He spits at you. 

"I'm not playing favourites. As I recall, I spent the day with you yesterday." You say, justifying yourself. 

"You don't need to be an asshole." Sehun chimes in, making you sigh heavily. 

"Should I break your other fucking wrist?" Suho snaps, charging towards Sehun. "Maybe just snap your neck this time." 

"Stop it!" You yell. "What the fuck is wrong with you two?" You cry. You push between them, storming out to the yard to clear your head. 

You weren't sure how much longer you could live like this. The constant fighting between the two men who were supposed to love you unconditionally was emotionally draining, the fighting for your attention, one always making it seem like the other was getting more was draining, the fact that you couldn't stand to be in the same room with them together was draining. And it wasn't just your relationships with Sehun and Suho that were suffering, the pack was as well. 

Suho wasn't acting like the leader he should be, his temper was short, he wasn't the kind and caring man you once knew. He didn't care anymore, his focus was now beating Sehun in every single way possible, it was an unhealthy obsession they both had. 

Sehun was the same way. He had a hatred for his leader that he once considered a brother, he needed being the better mate, the better man, just all-around better. 

Their competition was exhausting. You were exhausted. 

You headed back into the house, grabbing your keys before taking off in your car, heading to the one place you hoped had the answers you desperately needed right now. As you drove you thought about your options, you loved them both, they each had their set of faults along with their good qualities but as of now, everything bad was overshadowing the things that were once good. 

"Oh my god." You giggle, running behind the couch. "Stop, please." You beg Sehun. 

"No." He laughs. "It's called payback, baby." 

You squeal as he lunges for you, running into the kitchen where you're grabbed by Suho. 

"I'll save you." Suho smiles, hoisting you over his shoulder and play fighting with Sehun to protect you. 

"Put me down." You say, lightly tapping his back. 

Suho sets you down and you look up at him, giving him a small peck on the lips. "My hero." You smile before walking over to Sehun and kissing him as well. "My other hero. I'm so lucky." You sigh, looking at the two men who love you most in this world. 

Before you knew it, you pulled up outside your parent's house. Your mom had passed away a few years ago but your dad still lived there, mostly spending his days sitting on the porch, drinking coffee while reading his book. He had a lot of knowledge in mates and you knew he would be able to help you out in your situation. 

"Hey, dad." You wave, getting out of your car. 

"Oh hi, bug." He chuckles, standing up to greet you. "What a nice surprise. What brings you here?" He asks.

"I need some advice." You say, giving him a small hug before sitting down next to him. 

"What's on your mind?" He asks. 

You pause for a minute, unsure of where to even start when your dad pipes up again. "It's the mates, isn't it? They're different." 

"How did you know?" 

"Despite there not being much research on it, I did see a Gemini mate once before in my lifetime." He smiles. 

"Well, what happened?"

** 

Sehun runs down the stairs, his body is tight, he's pissed off and ready to snap at any moment. He figures now would be a good time to go for a run, trying to get some aggression out while you're gone. Of course, he felt bad about putting you into the middle of his fights with Suho, but he couldn't help it. Even with how long it had been he was still jealous. You were never supposed to be with Suho, Sehun never wanted a mate he had to share but he adjusted to it, for you. But now enough was enough. He couldn't stand the way Suho looked at you, the way he smiled at you or spoke to or about you. Sehun needed Suho to disappear, and it needed to happen fast. 

He walks out the door, slamming it behind him, making the rest of the men in the living room jump. 

"This needs to end." Baekhyun sighs. "I can't walk on eggshells around them anymore." 

"I worry if I cough too loud." Chanyeol whines. "Suho yelled at me for breathing yesterday." 

"Things are tough but they'll get through it." Minseok sighs. "They have too." 

** 

Suho runs through the forest, not yet wanting to switch to his wolf form. He feels the burning in his legs as he picks up his pace, sweat dripping down his face as he pushes himself to do better. He knew he needed to be better, for you. But he was struggling because of Sehun. He wanted the whiny fuck away from you, if Sehun wasn't in the picture then things would be so much better. You'd be happier too, he just knew it. If only there was a way to cut the younger one from both of your lives. Suho knew it would be a big risk, somehow getting rid of Sehun, but you would eventually forget about him, and then finally Suho would be the only one in your life, the one that made you smile, the one who had your whole heart. That's all he wanted, was for you to be happy with him. 

**

That evening you sent a message to both Sehun and Suho letting them know that you wouldn't be coming home that night. You had too much on your mind and you just needed space to think about things. 

"You have to choose one, bug." He tells you. "There's no way around it. Wolves are extremely territorial creatures that do not do well sharing. It's a surprise you have lasted this long before things got bad." 

Thinking back you remember the first time you noticed them starting to get short with each other. 

"Get the fuck out of my way." Suho snaps at Sehun. You had been sitting on the couch with Sehun, watching a movie when Suho approached, snapping at the two of you cuddling before wanting to get in the middle. You honestly had thought he was joking at the time. 

"What are you doing?" You giggle. "You know this is his night." 

"Yeah, my night, now fuck off." Sehun growls. 

"Okay.." you pause. "Are you both serious?" You ask. You look at both men whose eyes are locked on each other, their chests heaving as they stare each other down. "What the hell is happening?" You ask, moving out of the way. 

"I told you, it's my night." Sehun growls. 

"What the fuck, you guys?" You yell. "What's wrong with you?" 

Suho shakes his head, coming out of whatever mood he was in. He looks at the two of you before apologizing and walking away. 

That was only the beginning. 

"I know." You sigh. "Maybe I should go and talk to them tonight." 

"Can't hurt bug. I love you." Your dad smiles, kissing you on the forehead. 

"Thanks, dad. I love you." You say, giving him a quick hug before running to your car. This talk couldn't wait until the morning.

** 

"Do you wanna come out?" Lay asks Suho, who was drinking a glass of water. 

"No." He answers, placing his cup in the sink before walking away. 

"How about you Sehun? You wanna join?" Minseok asks the younger man. He shakes his head no, his eyes never leaving the TV. 

"Try not to kill each other while we're gone." Baekhyun mutters as the rest of the pack leaves the two men alone. 

Sehun's breathing becomes heavier as he feels Suho still in the kitchen. He hated being even this close to him, he could smell the pathetic need for you from where he was sitting. 

"Christ." Sehun snaps, turning off the TV.

"What the fuck is your issue?" Suho spits. 

"You and you're fucking need to have her is my issue. She was mine first. Mine!" Sehun yells. 

"Well, now she belongs to both of us." Suho chuckles. "You just know if she chose, it would be me. You're too immature for her, she needs a man." 

"Doubtful she would choose you. You should hear the way she talks about you after I've shoved my cock in her." Sehun laughs. "Pathetic." 

"I'm done." Suho says. "I'm done with this two mates thing." 

"Good, so leave us the fuck alone." Sehun smiles.

"No. We fight for her." Suho says. "You and me, tonight. The winner gets to be her mate." 

"Loser dies." Sehun declares. 

Both men nod at each other before heading outside into the field where the battle will begin. 

Both men stand on opposite sides of the field, shifting into their wolf forms. They stand there on all fours growling at each other, each one waiting for the other to lunge. 

Suho takes the first leap, running for Sehun. Sehun takes off, both their bodies colliding, snarling at each other. 

Suho's mouth grips Sehun's neck, tearing a chunk of fur and skin off making Sehun yelp, but come back even more aggressive. He lunges for Suho, opening his mouth and comping down on his leg, twisting it to break. Suho claws at Sehun, using his head to knock him off. 

They both back away, dropping low as they circle each other, snarling and snapping, waiting for the other to lunge until Sehun does. 

** 

You sped through the dark streets, making your way onto the gravel road just before the house. Out of the corner of your eye you see two large, what look like dogs fighting in the middle of the field. You turn your head to look and instantly recognize the two wolves that were tearing each other apart. You swerve your car into the ditch, driving into the field before throwing it in park and running towards the two men you loved the most. 

"Stop!" You yell, your voice cracking as the tears fall from your eyes. You can smell the blood as you near them, both of their bodies are limping, tired and bloody. 

"Please stop." You cry, running closer towards them. You should have stopped, you shouldn't have run in any closer but you did. The moment Suho opened his mouth to lunge for Sehun's neck, you stepped in the way, his teeth gripping your neck and shaking before he realized what he had done. 

Within seconds Suho releases you and your body drops to the ground, blood spewing from your neck. Instantly they're both back in their human forms, huddling over you, trying to stop the bleeding. 

"Ayn.. baby, I'm so sorry. I love you. I'm so sorry... I'm so.. sorry." Suho cries as you struggle to breathe. You reach your hand up, stroking his cheek before your eyes turn over to Sehun who is kneeling in the grass, tears shedding. A tear rolls down your cheek as you hiccup, your rigid breath becoming your last as you fade into nothingness. 

Rage fills Sehun as he stares at the man who murdered his mate, the man who used to be his brother and leader but was now someone he didn't recognize. 

"You did this." Sehun calmly says. "You killed her!" He yells, getting up and charging for Suho who just kneels there. Sehun tackles him, knocking his beaten body to the ground. Suho barely fights, he lays there as Sehun wraps his hands around his throat. 

"Do it." Suho whispers. "Kill me. Let me see her again." 

Sehun releases his neck, standing up, towering over the man. "You don't deserve that." Sehun says, limping towards the house as he hears the other men running towards them in the field.

"What happened!?" Minseok yells, stopping Sehun before he reaches the house. 

He blankly stares at Minseok, trying to speak. "He.." he whispers. "He murdered Ayn." He finishes, moving past him to walk into the house, the fire that was once burning bright inside him was now gone, he was no longer mated. 

[is0gild]

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Bonus Chapter 5

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 13,151

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

"Come on, Lea, unlock the door," I coaxed gently as I tugged on the car handle a couple times, even though I knew the action would be in vain. "Don't you think it's possible that you're being just a smidge childish?"

"What else is new?" Saïx deadpanned from where he leaned with one hip propped against the hood of his car and boredly scrolled through his phone, not even bothering to look up.

Lea's only response was to glower, razz his tongue and flip his brother the bird before huffily crossing his arms and slouching even further down into the driver's seat.

A testament to what a pillar of maturity he was being at the moment.

Sighing, I bent forward slightly so I could better see him through the window glass. "Need I remind you that you agreed to this?"

"I was tricked!" he harrumphed back, his voice muffled from the other side of the closed door.

My head tipped to one side. "Alright… how exactly were you tricked?"

His head turned to meet my gaze as he drooped his eyelids. "You had a cookie."

I blinked. "...and?"

"And I wanted the cookie."

"...so…?" I prompted again as my brow furrowed.

"So now the cookie's gone, I've changed my mind and wanna go home! Now get on board or get stranded cuz either way, I'm leaving." He jammed the key into the ignition, twisted hard and… nothing. Lea's eyes widened briefly before narrowing as he turned it again. And yet again.

"Did you forget my car requires the key and the code to start the engine, oh brainless one?" Saïx said flatly, eyes still trained on his phone screen.

That's right. Saïx's vehicle had a friggin' keypad built into the center console that required a seven-digit code. And it was a BMW no less. One did really have to wonder what his mystery job was that allowed him to afford such luxuries.

Lea growled, banging his palms against the steering wheel. "God fucking damnit, Saïx! This is exactly why ya shoulda told me the stupid password ages ago!"

He cocked an eyebrow at that. "So you could lock me out of my own automobile and drive away with it? As compelling an argument as that may be, I'm not exactly swayed."

"As compelling an argument as that may be, I'm not exactly swayed," Lea parroted back in a mockingly nasal tone before mashing his hand down hard on the car horn, blasting it and startling Saïx into jumping away from the vehicle and nearly dropping his phone. He shot Lea a dirty look, who simply replied by flashing him a half sneer, half smirk - a "smeerk," if you will.

"Well," I hastily interjected, trying to keep the peace as I once more peered inside Lea's impromptu little sanctuary on four wheels, "since I think we can all agree that it looks like you're stuck here for the time being, perhaps now you'll want to come out? Maybe even go inside the house with us?"

"Mm-mm. Nope. Not going anywhere near that dump," he hitched his chin with a derisive sniff. "My happy ass is gonna stay put right here, thank you very much."

My lips pursed to one side. "...okay… for how long?"

"Forever."

I fixed him with a dull stare. "Forever? Really?"

"Forever," he repeated, his voice firm. But then with a thoughtful frown, he amended, "...or until ya tell me you won't make me go inside. Whichever comes first."

I exchanged a brief look with Saïx. Then we both nodded as we came to an unspoken agreement together. My gaze settled on Lea once more, "Alright. I won't make you go inside."

He squinted at me, eyes suspicious as they darted over to his brother, then back. "You swear?"

"Cross my heart," I used a finger to draw an X over my chest.

Still, he looked unconvinced. A pause, then he rolled down the window a crack, just enough to poke his little finger out as he insisted, "Pinkie promise?"

My lips flapped as I blew out an incredulous little huff, but I hooked my pinkie with his. "I promise I won't make you go inside."

"Well, alright then!" his face immediately brightened and he unlocked the door. I took a step back as it swung open wide and he stepped out, reaching his hands skyward for a whole-body stretch with a satisfied sigh. "Whew! Feels good to be outta that car after all that time on the road, huh? My ass was starting to go numb from all that sitting and- shit motherfuck!"

The last part came out in a hiss when Saïx rushed him and Lea dodged just in the nick of time. "Betrayal! J'accuse!" Lea snapped as he dove for the still open car door, but stumbled just short of it thanks to Saïx catching his ankle in both hands. Not one to go out without a fight, Lea desperately latched one hand to the steering wheel and the other to the door frame, trying with all his might to pull himself back inside the vehicle while Saïx threw his entire body weight into dragging him out of it. Muscles straining, Lea snarled through grit teeth, "You promised!"

"She did. I made no such promise," Saïx replied matter-of-factly. He didn't even seem to be breaking a sweat.

"Don't think you'll get off on a goddamn technicality!" Lea grunted, gaining another inch into the car interior. He attempted a futile kick towards Saïx's face, "Leggo!"

Gnawing on my thumbnail, I now just watched as these two grown ass men basically played tug-of-war… with Lea's leg. And… shoot, it looked like Lea was winning. I had to do something, but what?

He suddenly shot me a tiny glare over his shoulder, "I expect this kinda bullshit from him, but not from y-"

I lunged towards him, grabbed his face with both hands, and pressed my lips firmly to his.

He lost his grip and came flying out of the car, crashing into Saïx who staggered but managed to stay upright. "That's cheating!" Lea huffed indignantly as he tried to scramble back inside the car again, but Saïx got him in a headlock first. He fought to pry himself free and when that proved unsuccessful, his hand suddenly produced the car keys once more, almost seemingly out of thin air. Threateningly tapping the tip of one key to the car's paint job, he spat, "Unhand me, villain, or the Beemer gets it!"

Saïx made a grab for the keys which gave Lea the opening he needed to elbow him in the gut and break free. But Saïx was quick to recover and snagged Lea again before he could get back inside the safety of the BMW. A struggle ensued, one that resulted in Saïx getting Lea in a grapple hold from behind by hooking his arms up under his armpits, back over his shoulders and interlocking his fingers together at the nape of Lea's neck.

Huffing and puffing and subdued for the moment, Lea grumbled a long string of curses under his breath as his brother hauled him around the car and across the front lawn towards the house - a rather nice suburban home, I might add, despite Lea's earlier comment about it being a dump. There was even a rather expensive looking car in the driveway, some sort of convertible that was sleek and black with a plate that read Insomnia RHS-113.

I took a quick glance inside Saïx's car to make sure we hadn't forgotten anything and noticed Saïx's had left behind the bag he'd brought with him. Grabbing it, I closed the driver's door and as I hurried to catch up, I could hear Saïx lecturing, "I did not ruin my sleep schedule and drive for half a day to get us all here just for you to chicken out at the last second and hole up in the car. You're going inside. Deal with it."

Lea turned his head to one side with a tiny scoff, but had no other retort. As we stepped onto the porch, his eyes landed on me. "You! Can't believe ya used your feminine wiles on me for evil. Of all the cheap, dirty, underhanded - dude," that last one had been directed at Saïx, who still had him grappled, "ya mind? You won already, jackass! I'm not going anywhere, jeez!"

Saïx hesitated for a few seconds, his face pinching before finally letting him go. "Thank you," Lea ground out in a tone that was the very antithesis of gratitude as he rolled his shoulders and popped his neck. Then he focused on me once more as Saïx retrieved his bag from me, "Now, where was I...? That's right! Of all the low, crooked, sneaky-"

"I'm sorry," I grimaced as I fidgeted with my braid. "...are you mad at me?"

"You kiddin'? Hell no, I'm proud of ya! Slowly but surely, I'm corrupting you to the ways of the dark side, El! 'Sides, who could get pissed at this adorable widdle face," he cooed, pinching my cheeks and smooching my forehead.

Then he tried to bolt.

It seemed he was hoping the element of surprise would be on his side.

"Gack!"

Unfortunately for him, it was not.

For that'd been the sound of him choking as Saïx snatched him by the scruff of the shirt , causing its collar to dig into his throat. He stumbled to an immediate stop and Saïx let go, folding his arms together and fixing him with an unamused look. Lea just rubbed at the fresh sore spot around his neck and laughed sheepishly. "Uh… wouldja believe I just forgot something in the car?"

Saïx drooped his eyelids. "No."

"Heh. Was worth a shot."

"It really wasn't," Saïx harrumphed as his hands smoothed his hair and swiped the wrinkles out of his clothes from their little kerfuffle. Then, without further ado or preamble, he pressed the doorbell.

A hush fell over us as we all waited. Lea glanced back over his shoulder, furtively side-eyeing the car. Saïx smacked the back of his head with a sharp thwack! "Ow! What the fuck was that for?" Lea snarled, socking him in the arm.

He didn't even flinch, just kept staring hard at the door as he muttered, "Don't even think about it."

"Wha- me? Think? Psh, I would never!"

"Finally… something we can both agree on."

Lea curled his lip with a soft tch, but otherwise fell quiet again… unnaturally quiet. At least for Lea anyway. He looked agitated now, with his eyes downcast and his lips set into a grim line, his posture very rigid and his whole body very still. I frowned and slipped my hand inside his, gently squeezing as I laced our fingers together. He looked over at me, eyes softening and smiling weakly as his grip tightened around mine and stayed that way.

That's when the front door opened.

Lea looked at the new face that greeted us now. "Hey…" he began, then paused, seeming to struggle with the next word. He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply before exhaling, then finally forced out a soft, "...Mom."

You read that right.

Mom.

Lea had finally done it. At long last, he'd caved and agreed to see her. And trust me, he really had consented to this reunion, despite what his little tantrum a minute ago might look like to the contrary. Was it weird that I was here too for this? I thought maybe it was, at least a little bit. I mean, somehow I just felt like the first time I met his mother shouldn't also be the first time he was seeing her again in twenty years. Maybe that was just me though. In any case, Lea had kept saying how much he'd wanted me with him for moral support. Somewhat more surprisingly, Saïx had been pretty insistent about me joining them as well. Perhaps he thought my presence might keep Lea more docile and civil towards their mother.

If so, I got the feeling Saïx was about to be in for a rude awakening.

The woman who stood in the doorway before us now was pretty, her silver hair pulled back into a ponytail with long bangs that framed her face and the same vibrant green eyes as Lea and Saïx. She would've had to have been young when she had given birth to these two. Oh gosh, I might even go so far as to guess that she'd still been a teenager when she had Saïx.

Her eyes widened at the sight of Lea and she blinked a couple times. But then a slow half-grin tugged at her lips as she crossed her arms and lazily leaned one shoulder against the door frame. "Well, look who finally decided to give me the time of day."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, averting his gaze with a tiny scowl as he rubbed his shoulder with his free hand, "let's not make a huge fuss outta it."

"Course not, wouldn't dream of it. I-" she cut herself off, looking past him towards the afternoon horizon, bringing up a hand to shade her eyes with. "...wouldja look at that? Why, I do believe that's a pig flying."

"That's it, I'm leaving."

With a snort, she snagged him by the elbow before he could get very far. "Now now, no need for the ruffled feathers, I was just jerking your chain. Now stop camping out on my porch and c'mon, get in here!" It seemed it was not a request for with that, she yanked him inside, forcing me to stumble and follow since our hands were still linked.

"When you mentioned you might be bringing friends with you, Saïx, you never said anything about one of 'em being Axel," the woman good-naturedly accused him as he stepped in behind us, clicking the door shut before accepting a hug from her. From this angle, I could see her ponytail was composed of several smaller, segmented ponytails.

My boyfriend narrowed his eyes at her, "Not Axel. It's Lea now."

Releasing Saïx, she cocked her head at Lea and then hummed a laugh. "Right. Saïx told me something about that. Gotta be one of the cool kids and go by your middle name, huh, Lea?" her fingers bounced in air quotes around the name.

"It's not about being cool, it's- ugh, nevermind," Lea grumbled before shooting his brother a little death glare and muttering, "She didn't even know I was coming?"

"Didn't want to get her hopes up," he replied in his usual cool monotone.

Whatever comeback he might've had to that was swallowed in a grunt as he next suffered (quite visibly, in fact) a hug from her. He did not return the embrace. She didn't seem to mind or even notice. "C'mere, let me have look at you," his mother suddenly demanded as she pulled back and Lea's face scrunched up in displeasure as she grabbed it, tugging him down for closer inspection. After a few seconds of scrutiny, she smirked and declared, "Pretty Boy, mm! Both you and Saïx. You have me to thank for those good genes. And you're both so tall too! Dunno where that comes from, cuz you certainly didn't get it from me. You boys must be eating your Wheaties."

Now that she mentioned it, she was pretty short. About my height, in fact, maybe an inch or two taller. It was hard to be sure exactly in those heels she was wearing. But that did raise an interesting point now…

...how did such big men come from such a tiny woman?

The logistics of it had my mind boggling!

"And who's this cute lil thing?" she was now turning her gaze on me. Then to where my hand was still intertwined with Lea's and her eyes crinkled slyly. "Oh-ho, I see. This is the girlfriend."

I smiled shyly back before shooting Lea a quick, awkward glance. He stepped in to introduce me, "Mom, this is Elsa."

Still feeling rather out of place here, I sucked in a tiny, anxious breath before getting out, "It's so nice to meet you, Mrs-"

"God no, please, none of that 'Mrs' crap," she said dryly before grinning once more. "First name's fine, shortcake. Just call me Aranea. Alright, you're up."

...up? Up for what exac-

I squeaked as I too was suddenly assaulted with a hug. Just as abruptly, she was leaning back just enough to squint her eyes at me and tilt her head.

Ah. I see. My turn to be assessed and appraised like a piece of meat.

Well, I certainly hoped I passed inspection!

After a few tense seconds, one corner of her lips quirked up. "You two are gonna make absolutely gorgeous babies. So when are you gonna get on popping out my grandkids? Wait, don't tell me… there's already a bun in the oven."

"Mom!" Lea snapped, my face erupting into flames as he lunged to get between me and her.

There was most certainly not a bun in the oven! There wasn't so much as… as… as dough! The oven wasn't even, uh... preheating! No, trust me, my "oven" was one hundred and ten percent bunless, thank you very much!

Aranea snorted, "Calm down, was only having a lil fun. Just trying to make up for all those years of motherly teasing I missed out on."

A soft hmph from his throat. "Yeah? Well, who's fault was that?"

Her eyes widened slightly and a heavy silence descended over the cozy foyer we were all currently gathered in. Saïx directed a muted scowl at his brother. It went ignored, Lea idly inspecting his nails now and not looking the least bit sorry.

This visit? Off to a great start. Simply superb.

"Aranea?" a clipped, British accent suddenly came echoing from somewhere else in the house, thankfully shattering the long, uncomfortable lull. "Who was that at the-?" the owner of the voice emerged through one of the archways and the words died on his tongue as his eyes alighted on all of us. He had short, dirty blonde hair that was spiked up and intelligent, green eyes that were sharp behind his sleek, black-rimmed glasses. "Oh. I see you've begun the pleasantries without me. Saïx, my boy," he smiled, extending his hand, "a pleasure as always. Might I inquire as to who your comrades are?"

"The prodigal son returns home at last," Aranea wryly chimed in before Saïx could. "Iggy, it's about time you've met my second eldest knucklehead of a kid Axel and his-"

"Lea, Mom. Lea. Get it memorized!"

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lea," the man cordially stretched a hand out to him now.

He didn't take it. "It's something, alright…" he arched an unimpressed eyebrow, "...Iggy, was it?"

He gave a curt if a bit sheepish chuckle at that. "Ignis, if you would. And who is this lovely companion of yours?"

A beat.

Then I gasped, "Oh!"

It's me.

I'm the lovely companion.

Self-consciously clearing my throat, I supplied, "E-Elsa." I did take his hand when offered, blurting out, "And I'll have you know I'm completely and totally bunless."

...thank you, mouth, for that entirely unnecessary addition to the conversation.

His brow furrowed as he took his hand back. "Well... allow me to see what I can do about that."

Uh…

...was he propositioning me?

"Perhaps I can whip up a few rolls to go with dinner," he suggested, tapping his knuckles to his chin.

Oh.

He meant bun buns. Not-

Ahem. Nevermind.

"So," Lea spoke up once more, folding his arms beneath his chest as he fixed the man with a hard stare. "You're the orthodontist."

"Optometrist, actually," Ignis corrected. "By the by, when was your last eye exam? If you'd like, I could squeeze you in for a quick checkup sometime, free of charge."

A small, contemptuous huff escaped his nostrils as his eyelids drooped. "Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Ignis gave a bemused frown at that, but was saved from having to respond as Aranea inserted herself back into the conversation with, "Iggy, is that…?" She trailed off and the second Ignis glanced away from us to look at her instead, Saïx discreetly elbowed Lea, forcing a tiny oof out of him. Aranea grinned as she took in what Ignis was wearing, "It is. You old softie, you put on the apron I got you."

"I cut quite the dashing figure in it if I do say so myself," he gave a pleased little sniff as he stood a bit straighter and absently fiddled with the neck strap of said apron which had the words Gordon Ramsay is my bitch proudly emblazoned across its breast. That, plus the fact that I was just now noticing that he was carrying a meat mallet in one hand, suggested he'd most likely just come from the kitchen.

"Mm, I'll say," she nodded as she continued to eye him up and down appreciatively. But then her gaze landed on the meat mallet - more specifically, on the little gooey red flecks clinging to it. "Hey, did you start tenderizing the steaks without me? Told you I'd help with that."

"I'm loath to make a lady bloody her own hands," he murmured with a tiny smile, wrapping his fingers around hers and bringing them up to his lips.

Lea made a low noise deep in his throat that was half scoff, half gag. That earned him a firm shoulder check from Saïx while he walked past Lea to step closer to his mother and Ignis. As Saïx engaged the two of them in some polite small talk, Lea's expression twisted sourly and he started muttering something under his breath too quiet for me to make out. Seeing as how the others were preoccupied with their own conversation at the moment, I took the opportunity to once more take his hand in mine and ask gently, "Something you want to get off your chest?"

"Hm?" he distractedly hummed, still with a slight glower as his gaze remained fastened to the other three for a few seconds more. But then he snapped out of it and huffed out a sigh, fingers agitatedly ruffling at his hair. "Aw, nothing. I just don't trust it."

I tipped my head to the right. "Don't trust what?"

"Him," he hissed through his teeth, gesturing with his chin towards Ignis. "The whole fucking posh, namby-pamby Brit orthodontist act. Nice try, pal. Not buying it."

I shook my head with a snort, "He's an optometrist, Lea."

"Exactly! The jerk can't even get his story straight," he harrumphed. "Betcha he doesn't even know the first thing about corrective lenses."

"The man wears glasses," I deadpanned.

"All part o' the cover. Mark my word, that slimy sneak can't be trusted." As if sensing Lea's gaze on him once more, Ignis glanced up with a courteous smile and nod in our direction. "Yeah, keep smirking, you smug bespectacled bastard. I'm onto you," Lea mumbled low enough that only I could hear him, but pointed two fingers at his eyes before redirecting those digits at Ignis, who just blinked before returning his focus to Saïx and whatever it was he was talking about.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, groaning, "You're ridiculous."

Lea looked at me now, banishing the dark look and grinning softly. "Heh… maybe…" Giving my hand a quick squeeze, he then pulled me towards him and brought my arms up to hug his neck before slipping his own arms around my waist. Nuzzling his nose lightly to mine, he conspiratorially whispered, "Let's bail."

My head rocked back at that. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. This is a bust, El, so let's blow this popsicle stand. Slip out the door while their backs are still turned. Lookit what I still got," he removed one hand from my hip, shoving it down into his pocket before producing the car keys with a little jangle.

Only mildly surprised that his brother hadn't managed to recover those in their scuffle out front, I rolled my eyes, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What, ya mean Saïx? Eh, ditch him. Loser can hitchhike his dumb ass home."

I gave him a dull stare. "Still forgetting something else."

His lips pursed to one side as one eye squinted. Then it clicked. "Shit, you're right. Still don't have Saïx's code to start the car engine. Damn, guess that leaves us high and dry. Unless of course, you happen to know the code," he chuckled with a shake of his head.

Biting down on my lower lip, I averted my gaze.

"Wait… do you?" his eyes narrowed suspiciously at me. I wrinkled my nose and still kept my mouth shut. "You do! Crap, why didn't ya say so earlier?"

I gave a noncommittal shrug, still avoiding eye contact. "You never asked."

"Oh, for the love of… why would he trust you with the code and not me, his own brother of all people?"

Now I met his gaze once more, raising one eyebrow. "...maybe because he knows I'd never use it to steal his car while we're hundreds of miles away from home?"

He gave me a flat look. "...okay, just because it's true, doesn't make that any less of a low blow."

"Moonglow pear, you say?" Ignis's voice suddenly picked up, drawing our attention back over to him. It seemed Saïx had just gifted him with that small bag he'd been carrying, which one could reasonably assume was filled with the aforementioned fruit. Ignis had pulled one out and was turning it over in his hand for a closer look. "Yes, I've heard of these and have been meaning to try them." He studied it for a few seconds more, then his eyes lit up and he snapped his fingers, "That's it! I've come up with a new recipe!" With that, he bustled back out through the hallway he'd come in through.

Smiling fondly after him, Aranea then glanced towards the rest of us once more and gestured towards a different corridor. "Why don't we continue this somewhere more comfortable like the living room, hm?" She turned to lead the way and Saïx did not hesitate to follow. I cocked my head at Lea in silent question and his face scrunched up in distaste, but then with a grumbling sigh, he released my waist, took my hand and we trailed after them as well.

The living room was big and filled with a homey, tidy clutter. The far wall had a giant sliding glass door that led out onto a wooden deck that overlooked a reasonably well-kept backyard. A massive entertainment unit took up another wall, housing a big screen TV amongst the ordered chaos that filled the rest of its shelves. Across from it were a few armchairs and one long, very comfy looking couch. Said couch was currently occupied.

The two boys looked to be teenagers - highschoolers, by my guess. Neither of them glanced up as we entered the room, just continued to concentrate on their phones as their thumbs tapped and swiped at their screens. The blonde one with freckles was sitting upside down with his knees hooked over the sofa's backrest and seemed extra focused, licking one corner of his lips while his brow furrowed. The other guy with the black tousled hair, black shirt, black jacket, black everything had taken up the rest of the couch by sprawling across it, propping his feet up on the armrest. He was a lot more apathetic as he stared at his own phone screen, even though his thumbs continued to be a blur of activity. Maybe he was just in "the zone."

"Look alive and make room on the sofa, boys. We got company," Aranea told them, coming to a stop next to the coffee table and planting one fist on her hip as she eyed them both.

They neither budged nor took their eyes off their smartphones. The blonde one did however chime in with, "Bah, it's just Saïx. Saïx's not company."

Her eyes narrowed with a flat, "Wanna run that by me again, Prom?"

"Lemme finish! He's not company cuz he's family. Yes!" he whooped the last part with a tiny fist pump as something good had apparently just happened in his phone game. Already, his thumbs were back on the move across his screen as he tacked on, "And family means never having to give up primo sofa real estate."

"Aw, what a sweet, half-hearted attempt at sentiment," Aranea cooed with a bat of her lashes before scoffing. "Nice try, bucko, now scoot."

With a grunt, he flipped over to sit on the couch properly and shifted closer to his armrest to make room, all while still staying fixated on his game - rather the impressive feat, I might add. The other boy however remained exactly where he was. "That goes for you too, Noct," she patted a hand to his shoes.

"In a minute," he mumbled, eyes narrowing slightly on his smartphone now as his thumbs started tapping more furiously.

"Not in a minute, now," she insisted sternly. Still he didn't move so much as an inch, not even bothering to reply this time. Aranea rolled her eyes, "Look, I know you fancy yourself a prince round here and like to lounge about like that couch is your throne and this house is your castle with everything the light touches in it your kingdom. But if you're the prince, that makes me the queen, so what I say goes. That means move your princely ass!" With that, she unceremoniously shoved his feet off the armrest.

"Hey!" he scrambled not to fall off the couch altogether, catching himself and sitting up next to Prom. Gritting his teeth as he looked at his phone again, he then puffed out a sigh of relief, "Whew, still got the Devil of the Cygillan on the line." And just like that, he was sucked back into it.

"Ah, the mortal struggle between man and virtual fish," Prom sniggered, gaze still trained on his own phone.

Aranea scrunched up her nose, "You two playing that silly game again? What's it called… King's Kite?"

"King's Knight," Prom corrected, tongue once again poking out of the corner of his mouth as his thumb mashed at the screen now. "And we were, but then Noct decided to be lame and play his dumb fishing game instead."

"Ugh, lazing about like a couple of couch potatoes all day, doing nothing but staring at your phones for hours on end…" she grumbled, folding her arms together and shaking her head. "This is why neither of you boys have gotten laid yet."

I'll say this for Aranea... she seemed to have a rather, hrm… unique approach to parenting.

Prom frowned, "'Scuse you, I've just been scoping out my prospects, thank you very much."

"More like stalking," Noct snorted, squeezing one eye shut as he rapidly drew circles on his screen with a fingertip.

"Hey now, what Cindy and I have is beautiful and I won't have you cheapening it by making it sound crude and perverted," he shot back with a small hmph.

Aranea quirked an eyebrow. "...and Cindy would be?"

"My Goddess of the Gears," Prom sighed dreamily. Eyes still glued to his game, mind you.

Eyelids drooping, Noct clarified, "She works over at the Hammerhead Fuel and Garage."

Giving the ceiling a thoughtful squint for a few seconds, Aranea then blinked a couple times. "Wait, you talking about the blonde knockout? Oh, Prom, she's gotta be at least a whole second grader older than you and way more woman than you could ever handle."

"Pretty sure she has a thing for Uncle Gladio too," Noct smirked.

Making an indignant noise in his throat, Prom scowled and freed up one of his hands to wave in front of Noct's phone, blocking line of sight to the screen as he spat out, "You shut your whore mouth!"

"Shit, Prom, language!" Aranea snapped. As Noct used an elbow to knock Prom's hand away so he could salvage his game, Aranea puffed out an annoyed breath and turned to face us once more. "Sorry about them. These would be the rugrats… your lil brothers, Ax- Lea," she hastily corrected herself before jerking her thumb over her shoulder towards one, then the other. "Noctis. Prompto."

Right… I remember Lea mentioning something about his mother and her two-point-five kids. Did that mean that there was still another o-

TWHUMP!

The sound of a large throw pillow suddenly smacking Noctis in the face.

Courtesy of a little girl with brown eyes and short, dark hair who'd suddenly popped up out of hiding from behind the sofa armrest. She proceeded to shriek with laughter as she dashed off and made her getaway down a hallway, her cackling echoing off into the distance before a door slammed shut somewhere in the house.

Huh. Guess that'd make her the point-five.

Wide-eyed and clenching his teeth, Noctis snatched up his phone from where he'd dropped it on the carpet after the vicious assault and frantically swiped the screen a few times. Then he glowered, slamming a fist down onto a couch cushion. "My line snapped and he got away. Dammit, Iris, I'm gonna kill you!" he snarled, jumping to his feet and ready to charge after her.

"Hold it!" Aranea ordered and he froze before he could even take a single step. "You leave your sister alone and sit your butt back down, mister."

"But she-"

"Ah-ah!" she waggled a stern finger at him, then pointed down in a silent but firm command.

Growling, he threw himself into his seat once more, slumping down low and crossing his arms. "You all baby her too much, especially Uncle Gladio! She's such a brat!"

"Takes one to know one, eh Noct?" Prompto chuckled. Noctis shoved his shoulder hard and he shoved back before they both settled down and became engrossed in their phones again.

"Well?" Aranea prompted them, planting both fists on her hips now, which I took to indicate she really meant business. "It's not every day you meet your other long lost half-brother. Aren't you two gonna put away the phones long enough to at least say hello to Lea and his lil girlfriend, Elsa?" No response. Her right eye twitched. "Seriously, boys, turn off the phones and stick 'em down your pockets before I stick 'em up somewhere else."

Noctis was the first to comply, tucking his phone away with a tiny eye roll before tossing a hand up in a lazy wave towards us. "Hey. Nice to meet you."

Prompto on the other hand kept his phone out, merely taking a split second to shoot us a quick glance before focusing on the mobile device again with a, "He-" The word however got swallowed in a splutter as he did a double take at me, then hopped up to his feet so fast the phone went flying out of his hands. He fumbled to catch it and hastily pocketed it before stepping closer to me with a big grin and sheepish laugh, "He-he-hello there!" He cleared his throat and smoothed his hair, then continued more confidently, "What's shakin', Miss Breathtakin'? Name's Prompto, perhaps you've heard of me? I'm kinda legendary with the ladies around here." Insert wink and finger guns.

I just stared at him blankly.

What…

...was even happening right now?

A wry snerk from Noctis. "Yeah, legendary for being a totally tongue-tied bonehead around them."

"Shush, man, be cool," Prompto hissed back over his shoulder at his brother. "Just cuz you're already tied down, doesn't mean you hafta always ruin it for the rest of us!"

"Tied d-" Noctis began to echo before cutting himself off with a huff and a tiny glare. "Luna and I are just friends!"

"Who ever said anything about Luna? You're the one who brought her up," he singsonged back with a bounce of his eyebrows.

Snorting, Aranea moved to take a seat in the chair next to the far end of the sofa as she added, "You two lil lovebirds have been practically engaged since you were in diapers."

Prompto declared triumphantly, "Exactly! So zip it, Noct! Now where was I…? Ah, yes." He turned back to me, reaching for my hand to plant a kiss to the back of it with a debonair, "Enchanté."

A groan escaped Aranea as she facepalmed. "Prom, stop hitting on your brother's girlfriend."

"I don't see no ring, which means all's fair in love and-" the words abruptly died on his tongue as he looked past me and his eyes grew round, his face paled, and he gulped. Curious as to what had caused such a reaction, I glanced back myself to discover Lea looming behind me with the darkest look I'd ever seen to grace his face aimed directly at Prompto. "Uh, heh… L-Lea, w-was it? N-Nice to m-make your acquaintance," he squeaked out before darting back to his spot on the couch and using Noctis for protective cover.

Hiding a grin behind her hand, Aranea gestured towards the freshly freed up seating, "You all gonna keep standing in the hallway? Go on, take a seat already."

Lea continued to give Prompto the evil eye as he and I settled into the now empty half of the sofa with me next to Noctis. Saïx took the armchair to Lea's right and with that, a hush descended over the room.

...a very drawn out, very awkward hush.

Now don't get me wrong, I am no stranger when it comes to uncomfortable family gatherings. My parents and I were on very, very tentative speaking terms again and I'd recently been to a handful of uneasy dinners with them where silence had reigned supreme around the dining table. Of course, even before I'd ran out on my own wedding, back when I was still their perfect daughter that always did as she was told, even then the Fryse household wouldn't exactly have been considered warm, friendly and inviting. It was just the way my family had always been - cold and distant.

But this home felt different. Here, the quiet felt unnatural and wrong. This seemed like a place that was normally filled with chatter and laughter, making its absence now very unsettling. Especially with Lea in the room, who practically considered silence his arch nemesis and always felt the need to fill the void with his ramblings. In fact, until this very moment, I'd thought him physically incapable of keeping his mouth shut whenever there was a gap in conversation in desperate need of small talk. And yet there he sat now, slouched in the couch cushions, elbow on armrest and head propped up against his knuckles, lips clenched firmly shut and his pinched expression making it abundantly clear he would rather be anywhere but here right now.

I glanced past him and made eye contact with Saïx. He merely frowned, flicked his gaze meaningfully towards Lea before looking back at me again.

Saïx wasn't going to be the one to speak up first. Afterall, he'd already long ago patched things up with his mother and was on speaking terms with her again. Now it was Lea's turn. However, Lea needed to at least make some small effort on his part.

But I'm not sure exactly what Saïx expected me to do about that.

I hesitated, gnawing on my bottom lip for a few heartbeats. Then I lowered my gaze to where Lea's hand rested atop the cushion between the two of us. Slowly, I covered it with my own and he turned his head to look at me.

Alright, so… I've always heard about couples who are really close developing sort of this, I don't know… relationship telepathy after they've been together long enough, to the point where a single glance between the two of them can communicate an entire conversation. Time to see if that theory held any water.

I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders and fixed him with a determined, steady stare.

Talk to your mother. You hear me? Do it. Do it now.

He watched me blankly for a few seconds. Then one side of his mouth lifted and he gave me a tiny nod.

I blinked.

...did it work?

Had he actually received my otherworldly message?

His hand shifted to instead be the one on top of mine, giving it a gentle squeeze as the other reached over to graze my cheek with his thumb and tuck my bangs behind my ear while he bent to press a kiss to my forehead.

Gah, no, you sweet but oblivious dope!

What, did he think the situation was stressing me out and I'd been seeking comfort?

...which, to be fair, was not an unreasonable assessment.

Puffing out a tiny, irked breath through my nose, I firmly locked gazes with him once more and jerked my head towards Aranea a couple times.

Talk.

To.

Her.

Dork.

More blank staring from Lea. But then it finally seemed to click, at least if the way his face twisted into a petulant grimace could be taken as any sort of clue. I responded by narrowing my eyes at him. He relented with a low sigh and at long last shattered the quiet with a, "So… Mom…" he paused, frowning as he rubbed at the nape of his neck and struggled to come up with something to say. "...how do you… keep yourself busy these days?"

A growling huff erupted from Saïx as he directed a dull look towards Lea. "You should know. I've told you before."

"And I wasn't listening," Lea shot back through his teeth, brutally blunt and not seeming to care. He toned it back a bit however as his eyes settled on his mother once more. "So what… ya do the whole suburban housewife, minivan driving, pep rallies and bakesales running, soccer mom thing now?"

Prompto burst out laughing at that. "This is our mom we're talking about here, right? Please, you know how she is."

Lea glared daggers at him and he blanched, ducking down to hide behind Noctis once again. Looking away, Lea mumbled under his breath, "Oh yeah… know her super well."

"I'm a process server," Aranea piped up and all eyes turned to her. "Ya know… those people who'll find you on the street, hand you legal papers and go, 'You've been served!' I'm pretty damn good at it too. I take care of all the tough cases, you know the type… those squirrelly, shifty-eyed motherfuckers who bolt at the first whiff of trouble, thinking they can outrun me." She smirked now, "Hehe… love it when they try to run."

"Mom's earned a bit of a reputation," Noctis added with a tiny grin. "People call her the Commodore."

Aranea chuckled at that with a smug, "Stop, you'll make me blush."

"Huh," was all Lea said at first, pursing his lips to one side. Don't think he quite knew what to do with this information. "...sounds… fulfilling."

And with that, a crushing silence stifled the room once more.

Okay, so… that'd worked well.

Sort of…

I mean, it'd worked okay.

At the very least, it'd worked.

They'd talked!

...for a grand total of two seconds… but still, that was something, right?

Oh who was I kidding, this was a total trainwreck.

So then… now what?

Luckily, I was saved from having to figure that out by Ignis stepping into the living room just then, dusting his hands together as he announced, "That ought to do it for the moment! Now to let those steaks au poivre cook for a bit. Saïx!" The man in question glanced up at the mention of his name and Ignis went on, "If memory serves, I seem to recall you taking a rather keen interest in observing the night sky. Well, I'm a bit of dabbler myself and have recently acquired a new gadget to fiddle with. A telescope - the Ultros StarSeeker Reflector. It's in my study, would you like to come have a look at it for yourself?"

"The mark VI?" Saïx asked, already rising from his chair.

"The mark VII," he corrected with a smile. "150 millimeter. It's supposed to be the latest. Makes the moon seem so close, you'll think yourself to be standing on it. Boys," he now addressed Noctis and Prompto, "why don't you join us?"

"Already seen it. Pass," Noctis muttered, distracted by his phone once more.

Ignis cleared his throat, smile widening. "I must insist."

Prompto groaned, "Dad, can't we do it later? It's not even dark out."

"Alas, science waits for no man, nor do I. Elsa," his gaze landed on me now, "might I interest you in accompanying us as well?"

It was then that it dawned on me that Ignis was probably trying to give his wife some time alone with her (until as of twenty minutes ago) estranged son. Even as I opened my mouth to reply however, I felt Lea's grip tightening slightly around my hand. I hesitated.

I don't think he wanted me to leave.

Maybe I should have anyway. Maybe just a smidge of tough love was in order. Maybe it would have been for his own good.

However…

"I think I'm good, thank you," I politely declined.

With a small bow of his head, Ignis said, "Very well. Come along, boys!"

Heaving a heavy sigh, Noctis stood up and moved towards him. Prompto sprung up with a chipper, "Just a sec! I wanna snap a picture of this!" He darted past the two of us still seated on the couch, snagging Noctis by the elbow and Saïx by his sleeve and yanking them back over towards Lea. Then he fished out his phone before slinging one arm around Noctis and Saïx, forcing them to huddle in close and hunch down as he crouched to throw his other arm around Lea's shoulders. Awkwardly maneuvering his phone and pointing its camera at the four of them all squished together, he laughed, "Group shot of the four bros from different Joes but all from the same ho! Say cheese!"

As the flash went off, Aranea leaned forward in her armchair, her tone dangerously sweet as she asked, "All from the same what, Prom?"

"Aw, Ma, c'mon, you know I don't mean it! It was just for the sake of the rhyme!" he brushed off as he released Saïx and Noctis, freeing up that hand to tap at his screen and double check that the photo came out well. "Lea, dude, you so did not say cheese. I mean, look at th-" he glanced towards Lea (who he still had his arm around, mind you) and choked mid-word at the withering look he was giving him. Hastily snatching his arm back and jumping away, he turned to the others. "L-Let's go look at stars n' shit! Hell yeah constellations!" Then he all but blurred out of there with Ignis, Saïx and Noctis following behind him at a more relaxed pace.

"Seriously do not like that kid," Lea grumbled low as he scowled after him before looking back at me. More specifically, at my tiny grin I was rubbing my curled fingers over. He cocked an eyebrow, "...what?"

"Oh nothing," I whispered back with a shake of my head, trying to school my expression and failing. "It's just… well, he reminds me a little of you, is all."

He stiffened, looking outright offended. "You gotta be joking. That punk? We're nothing alike."

Said one upbeat, flirty goofball about the other.

My grin twitched wider as I merely shrugged, "If you say so."

Our brief exchange had me almost forgetting it wasn't just the two of us in here. Now as I glanced over towards Aranea, I gave her a timid smile. She smiled back, shifted in her seat and crossed her legs, but said nothing. Lea continued to avoid meeting her eyes, frowning off into space as his knee restlessly jiggled up and down while he held my hand in his lap, his fingers idly fidgeting with mine.

The quiet stretched.

I had to wonder if maybe I should have left with the others. If I weren't here this very second, would they be talking now? Could it have really made a difference? Honestly, I don't think it would have. Lea had already tried to start a conversation once. Sure, it'd been a rather feeble, halfhearted attempt at that, but still the effort had been made. And now he was done. He had no interest in doing it again and seemed perfectly content to go on stewing in silence. As for Aranea, I may have known her for less than an hour now, but even in such a short amount of time I could tell she was not someone who was particularly shy about speaking her mind. If she had something she wanted to say to Lea, I very much doubted my presence would have stopped her in the slightest.

I think the two of them were just… stuck.

In some sort of limbo with zero clue of how to proceed or handle this situation.

...should I try relationship telepathy again?

No, judging by the stubborn set to his jaw, it seemed highly unlikely at this point that any amount of mental nudging or prodding would push Lea into being the first one to speak up.

...but maybe a different target would be slightly more receptive to some subtle psychic persuasion?

I slowly turned my gaze on Aranea once more. With a tiny inhale and exhale, I hitched my chin and squinted.

Here goes nothing.

Speak to your son. Say something. Anything. Just talk.

A brief pause, then I winced.

Uh… please?

Musn't forget manners when trying to pierce the cosmic veil to telepathically coerce your boyfriend's mother!

That is, er… if it's not too much trouble, ma'am?

Gah, what if she thought being called ma'am was insulting?!

N-not ma'am! You're not a ma'am! I meant Aranea- no, too overly familiar… um… Mom? Dear god, no! Commodore? Yes, Commodore!

I almost saluted her for good measure, but thankfully caught myself before I did. That would have been silly!

...as if me attempting to psychically communicate with the woman weren't already silly enough.

Lea was right. I really was a friggin' kook.

Ah well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

Please, just… talk to him, okay? Talk to-

"So, Elsa…"

No, not me! Him! Him! For the love of… what, were our metaphysical wires getting crossed? Ignore me, talk to-

Ugh, forget it, I give up.

Consider my brief and not at all glorious career as a mystical telepath officially over.

She grinned at me as she continued, "...are you still a college student?"

"Oh!" I sat up a little straighter. "No… er, I mean, yes. I mean… rather, I've graduated. But… it wasn't for me. My major, that is. So I went back, and… and now it's a much better fit." A beat. Then I gasped, "Acting! That's my new… that's what I'm doing now! What I, ah… what I went back to college for," I breathed out an awkward little laugh.

Wondering why was I suddenly so nervous?

Oh I don't know… could it be that it was just now really sinking in that this was officially my "Meet The Parents" visit? I was in no way prepared for this! I mean come on, she was supposed to be focusing on Lea, not me! Crud, I just hoped I was making a halfway decent impression so far.

"You wanna be an actor, huh? Get into showbiz?" she nodded encouragingly.

Oh, we were still talking about me? We weren't done?

Fudge.

"Maybe… I think so…" No wait, that wasn't quite right. Lifting my chin and steeling my gaze, I said more firmly, "Yes. It's… something I'm actually quite passionate about. Both singing and acting. It's a childhood dream I hope that perhaps I might one day turn into a reality."

Her eyes crinkled and she nodded again. "Been in any productions?"

"Two. Well… rather, one and a half I suppose… I'm in rehearsals for my second show. It's only community theater mind you, I'm still learning," I tacked on shyly.

It occurred to me that maybe this was her way of reaching out to Lea. I mean, a common tactic for connecting with someone was talking about something they liked. And seeing as how I was his girlfriend, it stood to reason that Lea liked me. So maybe, in a way… talking to me was her trying to score points with Lea?

Gaining a bit of confidence, I went on, "We're putting on Rocky Horror Picture Show, what with Halloween coming up and all. I got the part of Columbia, which is a supporting role but still very exciting!"

"Oooo, Rocky Horror you say? The one with all the tight leather, fishnet stockings, and lacey corsets?" Her eyes shifted slyly over to Lea as she shot him a wink, "Betcha you're a big fan of your girlfriend starring in that."

Lea's face twisted in disgust, "Ugh, Mom, don't be gross about it."

For the record, he was a big fan of it.

A really, really big fan.

She chuckled at his obvious discomfort before her eyes suddenly lit up as a thought seemed to strike her. "Speakin' of Halloween… be right back," she smirked, quickly standing up and disappearing down one of the hallways.

"Quick, now's our chance, let's make a break for it!" Lea leapt up to his feet, but I used the hold I still had on his hand to yank him back down into the cushions next to me. He drooped his eyelids at me. I drooped mine right back. With a huff, he slumped further down into the sofa and straight up sulked.

It wasn't long before Aranea returned, now with a pair of stacked cardboard boxes weighing down her arms. She deposited them onto the coffee table with a heavy thud, blowing off some dust before turning them so we could see there was something written in sharpie on their sides. Aranea shifted the top one branded SAÏX off and settled it down next to the other box that had AXEL scrawled across it. Lea's glower darkened as he spotted that particular label.

Flipping the lid off that one, Aranea began rooting around inside. "Hm, lessee here… blankie?" she muttered, mostly to herself it seemed as she then shook her head and shifted more things around in the box. "No… binkie? No…"

"What are you doing?" Lea asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at her.

"What's it look like I'm doing? Going through a few odds and ends I kept from when you were a tyke," she grinned at him before pulling something out and holding it up. "D'aww look… baby's first arson!" In her hands was the charred and blackened remains of some sort of stuffed animal. She cocked her head slightly as she scrutinized the thing, "Think it used to be a rabbit… or maybe a piglet?"

"Tiger!" Lea snapped as he snatched the thing out of her grip. "He was a tiger and his name was-" he suddenly stopped, glaring at the mutilated little plushie for a second. Then he chucked it back into the box, grumbling, "Doesn't matter."

I however reached in to pick it back up for a closer look at it myself, brow furrowing as I turned the roasted to a crisp little feline over in my hands. "...what did you do to this thing?"

"Happened when he was four. Just happily tromped the doll over to the burning fireplace and tossed it in before I even realized what the lil snot was up to," Aranea chuckled wistfully before returning to digging around in the box. Next she was lifting out what looked to be a clay mold of a child's handprints as she snerked, "Can you imagine him ever being this small? Crazy." Then she was frowning at it, lightly scratching a finger at one blackened corner of the plaque as she arched an eyebrow. "Huh. Looks like you scorched this a bit too."

Shrugging, she set it aside before taking another look into the box, her face brightening. "Ah, and here we have Lea's masterpiece collection." She stuck her hands back inside it, this time retrieving a handful of crude drawings on slightly crumpled papers. To me, she said, "Ya know, he was quite the lil arteest! Coulda been the next Picasso if he'd just…" she trailed off, distracted now as something caught her eye on the top drawing. She squinted, "...is that a tree that's on fire?" Flipping to the next sheet, she blinked. Then the next. Then the next. "Yeesh, kiddo, you really had a thing for fire when you were a tot. Maybe I shoulda been more worried." Then she brushed it off with a bat of her hand, "Bah, you turned out fine!"

Rummaging around in the box a bit more, she gave a victorious, "Ah-ha!" before pulling out a thick stack of photos. She took a second to shuffle through a few of them before showing us one, "First day of kindergarten." I took it from her, seeing as Lea showed zero interest in accepting it himself. I couldn't help a small smile as I looked at it. He really had been an adorable child, almost ridiculously so. "Second birthday." I glanced up at her words to see her holding out another photo, which I gladly took as well.

She thumbed through a couple more photos before, "Oh, here we go." Plucking one from the bunch, her fingers gave it a satisfied flick before turning it towards us with a half-grin. "The whole reason I remembered to dig up this box just now: Halloween photos! Didn't he just make the cutest lil ninja assassin?"

He really did.

"Mom," Lea abruptly spoke up, his tone low and even and… something else that made the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stand on edge. "...why do you have all this stuff?"

"Hm?" she hummed absently, already back to flipping through the photos.

There was a pause, then he quietly rephrased, "When did you have time to grab it?"

"Oh, I just-" she cut herself off, posture suddenly snapping straight as she grimaced slightly. Her eyes darted to Lea then quickly looked away. Putting the photos down on the coffee table, she cleared her throat and began again, "I took it all with me when…" Another pause, another frown. "...when I…"

"When you abandoned Saïx and me," he finished for her, the edge to his voice unmistakable now. "So… instead of taking me with you when you flew the coop… you took a box."

Uh oh.

"Lea, that's not…" she began, then stopped, lips pressing into a grim line and face pinching as she stared down at her lap for a second. Then she lifted her gaze once more, opened her mouth to speak but clicked it shut again with a tiny growl in her throat, clearly frustrated with herself for being unable to think of the right thing to say.

Her son on the other hand seemed to be having absolutely zero trouble finding his own words, still with a deadly calm to them. "So... what? After dumping Saïx and me like yesterday's garbage, you took the boxes just so you could put on a show that you ever gave a shit about us?"

She gave him a sharp look, her eyes flashing dangerously. "That isn't fair, I-"

"Fair?!" he was on his feet in the blink of an eye, his hands balling into fists at his sides. Nostrils flaring, his voice began to rise now, "No, what wasn't fair was you deciding you didn't want your goddamn kids anymore and leaving them behind to go off and start your new stupid, perfect life and your new stupid, perfect family filled with perfect little snot-nosed brats given to you by your fucking perfect orthodontist!"

Optometrist. Not orthodontist.

Should I correct him?

I decided against it.

(Rather wisely too, if I do say so myself.)

Standing up as well now, Aranea tried to argue, "It wasn't like that! I-"

"Then please! By all means, tell me what it was like!" he snarled back. Two fingers jabbed at his temple, "I'd simply freaking love to know how you rationalized this all away in that screwed up head of yours so you could sleep at night in your comfy, cushy tempur-fucking-pedic king-sized bed while Saïx and I got chewed up and spat out by the hellhole that is the foster system! Tell me, how the fuck is what you did to us okay?!"

"It wasn't okay! Shit, of course it wasn't and I'd never try to tell you that it was!" she yelled, her breathing heavy now as she lifted her chin slightly. "But… you have to understand, it was… I was still young and-"

Lea barked a cold laugh at that. "Young? Seriously? That's your go-to defense? You wanna talk young, Saïx was eight. For fuck's sake, I was six." He shook his head, sneering, "But no, you're right. You were young, so let's just forget it and continue sitting around getting all bogus nostalgic over a buncha meaningless crap in a box while pretending everything's fine and dandy and like you didn't royally fuck over our whole goddamn lives twenty years ago."

Shoulders tensing, Aranea shot back, "Damn it, if you'd just let me talk-"

"You had your chance to talk!" he shouted over her. "You've been talking nonstop since I walked through the front door and it's all been nothing but bullshit and rubbing my nose in your happy, cozy, picture-fucking-perfect lifestyle!"

"That's not- I never meant to-" she blew out an exasperated huff, pinching the bridge of her nose as she took a second to compose herself. Then, more softly if a bit strained, "Look, obviously I'm no good at this. But I'm trying here."

"Yeah? Well not hard enough," he ground out through his teeth. He took several deep breaths, hands clenching and unclenching repeatedly. When he at last spoke again, his voice was now hushed and thick with unshed tears, "Were you ever even sorry for what you did? Did you ever even have any regrets at all?"

Her eyes widened as her head rocked back. "Of course I had regrets-"

"No, you had a box! Just a dumb box!" he smacked said box off the coffee table, sending it crashing to the floor and spilling its contents across the rug. With that, he stormed over to the sliding glass door, throwing it open and stomping out onto the backyard deck.

As he slammed it shut again behind him, the sharp noise jolted a breath out of me that I hadn't realized I'd been holding. It was only then that I noticed how loud the pounding of my heart was in my ears, how tense my muscles were or how tightly my fingers were clutching at the skirt of my dress. Forcing myself to relax a bit, I released my grip and anxiously brushed out the wrinkles in the fabric as my gaze drifted towards Lea once more.

I could see him out there now, hands angrily ruffling at his hair as he paced back and forth. Honestly, his blow up probably shouldn't have come as any sort of shock. This was something that he'd been carrying with him for years now, an anger that had been building inside for two decades and in desperate need of release. It probably really hadn't even been a question of if he would explode, but when.

A loud scoff drew my attention over to Aranea who was also watching Lea, a little scowl twisting her features. Squaring her shoulders, she started marching over towards the sliding glass door grumbling, "Oh-ho, if you think this is over, you got another thing coming, you lil-"

"Wait," a new voice calmly commanded, freezing her in her tracks. I glanced towards where it'd come from to discover Saïx in the threshold to the hallway, frowning and arms crossed with one shoulder leaned against the inside of the arch. I wondered how long he'd been standing there unnoticed, how much of the fight he'd witnessed. Probably most of it. Pushing himself away from the wall and walking towards her, he reasoned, "You'll probably only set him off again. Allow me. Perhaps I can get him to cool down a bit first before coming back inside to continue your discussion more rationally."

Aranea's face scrunched up at the idea of having to back down for the moment but then she sighed heavily and stepped aside, letting Saïx pass. Soon he was outside with his brother, the door gliding quietly shut in his wake. Aranea stood there for a few seconds more, eyes narrowing as she watched them through the glass before turning away with a tiny hmph. "That knucklehead has more Reno in him than he'll ever know," she muttered sourly under her breath. Then she looked at me. "...excuse me, I… I need a minute." She stalked towards one of the other doors, pausing long enough to add over her shoulder, "Sorry… that you had to see that…"

"No, that's, uh… don't mention it," I said awkwardly, my voice small.

With a curt nod, she made her exit.

Peering outside once more, it unfortunately appeared like Saïx wasn't making any headway in pacifying Lea. Though the closed door muffled it, Lea was quite visibly yelling again as he gestured furiously back at the house. Saïx looked remarkably unruffled as he withstood the tirade and every now and again, I would see his lips move whenever he got a chance to squeeze in a few words, face expressionless as he did so. But if he'd intended for whatever he was saying to be soothing, it seemed to only be having the opposite effect as Lea kept bursting out into more impassioned rants. Though it was hard to tell, there was a slight twitch to Saïx's eye now that hinted at him getting more irked with each new outburst.

Finally, Lea just hotly tossed his hands up and turned his back on Saïx, kicking at the wooden railing of the deck. It seemed Saïx had had enough himself for he too turned away, pushing the glass door aside so he could come back in. As he pulled it closed with more force than necessary, he seethed, "I give up. Possibly you'll have better luck convincing that idiot to get his head out of his ass." Without waiting for my reply, he crossed the room in a muted huff and was gone.

I bit my bottom lip, hesitating for a heartbeat. Then I rose, hands smoothing up and down my dress as I slowly stepped towards the door leading out to the backyard. My hand reached out for the handle, stopping just short for a second as I inhaled and exhaled slowly. Then I grabbed hold, slid it open and stepped outside.

Lea was facing away from me, surveying the backyard as he bent forward slightly with hands braced atop the railing. A light breeze picked up, tugging at his crimson spikes and making them dance. By contrast, his whole body was very still, almost eerily so. His muscles were taut and there was a stiffness to his shoulders that was impossible to miss. His fingers squeezed around the railing to the point of practically turning his knuckles white.

No question about it. He was still very much pissed.

It was almost strange, in a way… I was so used to him always being such a boundless source of energy and joy. I'd only ever seen him get angry one other time and that was when Grandfather had tried to bribe him during that disastrous weekend with my family. Even then, it hadn't lasted long and paled in comparison by far to his temper now. It was odd seeing him like this. Unsettling even. But I understood. I knew Lea's mom had always been a sore spot for him, so I was actually almost kind of amazed things had remained civil for as long as they had.

In a way, it was maybe even a good thing he'd went off like he did. You know… cathartic. Better he have a chance to rant and get all those things he'd probably been wanting to say to her for years off his chest, rather than keeping it all bottled up inside to fester.

But now it was time to pick up the pieces, pull him back together and maybe possibly even get him talking with his mother again, hopefully in a more constructive way.

...but how to do that exactly?

I just stood there in a moment of silent uncertainty, staring at his back as I tugged and twisted at my braid. But the longer I watched Lea, the more my heart squeezed at the sight of him. At how dejected and unhappy he appeared, his raw emotions practically etched into every line of his body. Eventually, my feet made the decision for me and I took an almost instinctual step towards him. Then another, and another one after that.

When I was close enough, my hand seemingly of its own accord reached out to softly touch his back. As soon as my fingertips made contact, his whole body went visibly rigid, even more so than it already had been. I brought my other hand up to join the first and slid them slowly around his middle as I took one final step forward to hug him from behind, resting my cheek against his warm back and closing my eyes as I listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

It took a few seconds, but then I felt the tension in his muscles start to ease as he gradually relaxed into the embrace and my hold around him reassuringly tightened. I had to let go however when he abruptly turned towards me, his arms encircling my waist to hug me fiercely to him. My arms shifted up to wrap around his shoulders instead as he buried his face in my neck, inhaling deeply and exhaling a couple times. I could feel him trembling, but with each steadying breath he took it subsided little by little.

I wasn't quite sure what to say or do beyond holding him and tracing light soothing circles along his back, hoping he found it as comforting as I always had whenever he'd done it for me so many times in the past. I patiently waited and just assumed he'd eventually open up when he was ready.

When he eventually did speak, it was so low and muffled against my throat that I almost didn't hear it. "...sorry, El… if I scared you..."

I shook my head slightly, my fingers shifting up to stroke his hair as I murmured, "Scared? No. A bit startled? Maybe… Concerned? Definitely." I tucked in my bottom lip for a hushed moment, then asked, "...are you okay?"

At first Lea said nothing, his only reply coming in the form of squeezing me more tightly to him. We stayed that way a few seconds more before his hold loosened but didn't let go - just enough for him to straighten up and press his forehead to mine. His gaze was downcast and my chest ached at how miserable he looked. His lips parted once more but instead of answering my question, he grumbled, "What she did was wrong."

"It was," I said calmly with a single small nod.

"She doesn't deserve my forgiveness," he tacked on, still quiet but more firmly now.

I noticed tears brimming at the corner of his eyes. Moving my hands to cup his face, I gently wiped them away with my thumbs as I agreed, "She doesn't."

"Serve her right if I never spoke to her again," he gave a tiny scowl.

Again, I nodded. "It would."

Now his green gaze locked on mine, squinting for a second before he puffed out a heavy, bitter sigh. "...but you think I should talk to her, don't you?"

My eyes lowered briefly and I pursed my lips to one side as I tried to choose my next words carefully. Then I looked back up at him, "I think… that you've had your turn to speak your mind, so maybe... it might be the right thing to do to give her a turn as well."

Lea merely made a noise of derision deep in his throat, glancing away.

I used the hold I still had on his face to gently make him look at me again. "I'm not saying you have to let her off the hook. Nor that you have to see her side of things. Nor even that you have to listen to her really. But I believe letting her speak and say whatever it is she was trying to tell you… maybe it could do some good. For both of you. And then... " I paused with a thoughtful frown. "...well, I'm actually not really sure what then, but... maybe the way forward will be clearer once you've both had a chance to talk. You'll never know until you try. And it's at least worth a try, isn't it?"

His expression softened somewhat, but not completely. "...how very logical, insightful and sensible of you, Doctor Phil."

I made a little snort at that. "Why, thank you."

"It wasn't a compliment." The words had no bite to them and were more so just tiredly teasing. He then fell silent for a moment, seemingly mulling over my advice while still holding me against him, his thumb absently rubbing up and down where it rested against the small of my back. Then his face pinched slightly and he harrumphed. "...she never even said she was sorry for what she did."

"Maybe she would have if you hadn't kept talking over her," I lightly pointed out with a wrinkle of my nose.

He hummed a weak, almost inaudible laugh at that. "There ya go with that logic again." He then heaved another sigh, "...I dunno… I guess maybe I can go back inside and…" he slowly closed his eyes and grimaced, as if even the very idea of his next words turned his stomach. "...give this a shot. Chances are good though it'll just end up being the sequel to the earlier shitshow," he rolled his eyes.

I tugged his head down and got on tiptoe, murmuring against his brow as I pressed my lips to it, "I'd expect nothing less."

As I lowered myself back down onto my heels, Lea brought a hand up to graze his knuckle tenderly along my cheek, giving me that soft look of his that still to this day caused my heart to flip-flop and made it hard to breathe. Then his fingers trailed past along my jawline to cup the back of my neck as he bent down to kiss me, slow and thorough, sending a heat through me that made me melt from the inside out. When he at last pulled away, his voice was husky against my lips as he said, "Thanks, El... for coming with me today. Having you here during… It makes everything a bit easier."

Face hot and feeling a bit breathless, I cleared my throat and smiled shyly. "Happy to, uh… to help… in whatever small way I can."

He grinned, his fingers toying with the tip of my braid as he gazed down at me for a second longer before he planted a quick peck to my lips. Then he was releasing me, taking hold of my hand instead and tangling our fingers together. Blowing out a breath that flapped his lips, he muttered, "Right. Back into the fray for round two now, ding-ding."

"Maybe try not going back into this expecting a fight?" I suggested as I felt a sudden buzz from my phone in my pocket. I went on as I fished it out to check my notifications, "Never know, it could possibly even-" The words however got strangled in my throat as my eyes widened, I nearly dropped my phone and I gasped out, "Baby!"

"Yes, Cuddlebug?" he cooed back.

I blinked at him. "Wha-? No, not you. I meant Rayne."

Lea looked positively scandalized. "You have other Babies besides me?" He clutched a hand to his chest, "The betrayal."

"No, I- That's not- She's not-" I stammered out before giving up with a groan of frustration and then shoved my phone up against his nose, reiterating more desperately, "Baby!"

His brow furrowed as he took it from me, eyes quickly scanning the open text message before both eyebrows shot up his forehead. "Holy shit, Raindrop's gone into labor?! I thought she wasn't s'posed to pop that kid out for another few weeks!"

"Well she's popping it out now!" My spine snapped straight as a thought struck me. "Like… now now! While she's there! And we're here! But we shouldn't be here! We should be there, not here! Definitely not here! We-"

"Shh, it'll be fine, I gotcha," he gently shushed me, one of his hands gripping my shoulder and the other coming up to rest his warm palm against the side of my face. "I'll put the fam drama on pause and we can hit the road ASAP."

"...really?" I asked slowly, uncertainly. "...that would be okay?"

He gave a soft snerk and shrugged. "It's waited twenty years already, I think it'll be fine waiting a lil bit longer. 'Sides, it's not every day our friends are having a baby, we should be there."

I turned my head slightly, giving him some side-eye. "And I'm sure this in no way is you hopping on the first excuse you could get to procrastinate sorting things out with your mother like a mature adult."

"Nah, that's just a bonus!" he chuckled.

I fought a tiny grin. But then it swiftly faded, a crease forming between my eyebrows now as something else occurred to me. "But we're so far away… it took us most of the day to get here!"

"The way I drive, we'll be back in half that," he wickedly smirked, digging the car keys out of his pocket, tossing them up into the air and catching them with a wink. "Just leave it to me! Now c'mon, babydoll, let's say our hasta la vistas then make like a piñata and beat it!"

With that, he took my hand in his again, opened the sliding glass door and we hurried inside.

Author's Note:  We've had plenty of Elsa's fam drama by now, figured it was high time for some of Lea's fam drama too xD Plus we all know our fave Fire Boi can have a bit of a temper even if he doesn't let it loose often, so it was fun to finally have a excuse to REALLY show that side of him in this fic! Luckily our ICE Queen was around to COOL our FIRE boi's HOT temper... hehehehehe xD Anyhoo, I knew for a while that I wanted to do a chapter with Lea's mom and her new family, but I was mega stumped on which characters would play the parts. For the longest time, I wasn't sure if I was gonna include any of the FFXV cast in my story (except for the brief reference to Meteor Publishing and Vyv allllllll the way back in chapter 2 as to where Rayne works and who her boss is respectively) but then when this idea came up, it really was too perfect! Aranea is just the right amount of sass and kickass that could totes be a perfect fit for Lea's and Saïx's mom! She even TALKS a lot like Lea with similar speech mannerisms and everything, or so you'll notice if you rewatch her video game cutscenes (as I have multiple times while writing this chapter now lol!). The main struggle was that she has a tendency to be quite flirty in the video game, but seeing as how 4 of the 5 men in this chapter were her SONS, couldn't really have her doing that except for with Iggy xD Hopefully I still managed to capture her personality well enough! And of course, including 3 of the 4 Chocobros was a pleasure to write! Plus, I got to squeeze in SO MANY FFXV references this chapter, it felt ridiculous after a while, but I couldn't help myself xD And bonus: in case it wasn't clear in that one quick sentence that was tossed out, turns out Reno was Lea's biological dad! Which sucks a lil cuz that means Reno is deceased in this AU and I hate to do that to another one of my fave redheads... but ah well! Who knows, maybe he only faked his death all those years ago and he's still out there alive and kicking and wreaking havoc xD

Teeny fun facts: I wrote that Lea's new step dad was an orthodontist waaaaaaay back in ch15 before I even knew Iggy was gonna be his step dad, so when I was rereading that for this chapter, I was all "shiiiit, I can't make Iggy an orthodontist, ew!" xD Optometrist didn't seem THAT much better, but hey, at least the dude wears glasses - that's all ya need to become a licensed optometrist, right? xP At least the whole orthodontist-optometrist thing made for a pretty decent running gag this chapter haha! Also, the telescope was based off a real telescope model I found after some googling, just the original brand was named after some sort of constellation, I forget what (...Orion? maybe?). So I changed THAT to one of the constellations from KH3: Ultros! ...because it was the best sounding one for a telescope - sorry, no Cactuar brand telescopes in this story xP

No clues or hint word/phrase this time for what the next one-shot is gonna be about - given the kinda sorta cliffhanger I left his chapter off on, you can probably guess what blessed event is gonna happen next time xD Don't worry, I'll try to throw in a couple of surprises for you still that you hopefully won't see coming!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

[knjnvrland]

Prank Wars - ch. 1

> pairing | jungkook x reader

> word count | 2.9k

> genre | college!au, fluff, smut

> warnings | just some good old swearing for now

> synopsis | College can be a stressful time in anyone's life as it is, why don't we throw a little prank war in the mix to make it harder?

> fic masterlist

> A/N | Hey everyone! This is the first fic I'm posting on this Tumblr, please be kind with your words but make sure to let me know what you think! This is a multi chapter fic I'm cross posting at ao3, search me there as 'restlessxsleeper'. English is not my first language, I'm sorry for the eventual spelling mistake, please let me know if you find any! I'll add trigger warnings at the beginning of every part, because even though we start funny and soft it takes a turn at some point, so please be sure to read those at the beginning of each chapter.

Chapter 1 - New Beginnings 

If you ever encountered another box in your lifetime you would be capable of murder, you thought to yourself, unloading the last of your belongings onto the bed.

“All good here, y/n?” Your brother checked from the door, peeking his head inside your room.

“Yeah Joonie, I’m all set” you still had a lot of unpacking and organizing to do, but for now you could set your brother free.

“Okay good, I still have to pick up Jin hyung from the train station so I’ll get going, call me later?” He was already halfway to the door and you knew.

“Yeah yeah, just go” you waved him off without looking back.

You heard the door closing behind him and then there was one. You knew your brothers were all just a few minutes away now, much closer then they used to be, but it felt weird knowing that this place you were standing in is now your entire home. The dorms weren’t nearly as bad as Jin and Tae made them out to be. You had to share a room, yes, something different that you never had to do before - being the only girl amongst your siblings you always had the privilege of having a room to yourself. But the dorm also had a small living room and something close to a kitchen. And the bathroom was clean, although you doubted a normal sized human-being could fit in that bathtub.

Your roommate’s side was already decorated. She had pink floral bedsheets and fairy lights hanging all around her stuff. You were sure she was one of those cute petite girls with big dreams and high hopes. She was nowhere to be seen though, you had been here for almost an hour now and still had to meet her. But that’s okay, you enjoyed being by yourself and you didn’t mind the peace and quiet to unpack at your own pace, so you just got right into work.

A couple hours flew by and you had just finished stuffing the last of the empty plastic boxes under your bed when you heard her coming. She was nothing you had imagined. Dark long hair and shiny eyes, yes, but taller than you, and skinnier, for sure. She had tight black skinny jeans and a pretty red shirt on, and although she was dressed simple, the way she stood made her look as if she just walked out of a fashion show. But as soon as she noticed you, her whole demeanor changed.

“Oh hey! I nearly didn’t see you, you must be y/n, right?” She was all smiles looking at your small figure barely showing from behind the bed.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, hope I didn’t scare you" you finally got up from your hiding spot to confirm that yup, she was definitely taller.

“No you’re alright” she took a step closer with open arms and you allowed yourself to be hugged by a complete stranger “I’m so excited to finally meet you! I’m Alice, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you” you managed to respond through the mane of hair around you and gave a small nudge to her waist to get out of her embrace.

“Oh I’m sorry! Did that made you uncomfortable? I’m a hugger, my friends keep telling me to take it easy but I just never do” She politely took a step back and seemed genuinely concerned about your feelings about that small act of affection.

“It's cool, I’m just not really used to it, I have three older brothers, we spend more time hitting each other than hugging" Alice took a sit on her bed and you did the same on yours, reading her motion to keep talking. “They all go here, well… not all of them, one just graduated actually, but he still lives close by, it’s a family thing I guess.”

“Oh who are them? I might know them or something, I’ve been here for a while and, as I’m sure you just saw, I’m a bit too social for my own good” she kicked her shoes off and made herself more comfortable, and again you mimicked her actions.

“Well the older one is Jin. Seokjin, actually, but I can’t remember the last time someone called him by his full name” you smiled, remembering that the only person he would let actually use his birth given name was your mother. “Then there’s Namjoon and Taehyung, they live together off campus with a couple of their friends” by the time you finished talking Alice had the biggest smile on her face.

“I can’t believe you’re the baby Kim they talk about so much!” At your confused expression, she continued “I’m really close friends with your brothers, my boyfriend introduced me to them last year and they had been a pain in my ass ever since! I don’t remember seeing you at Jin’s graduation though.”

“That’s so weird” you laughed, surprised at how small the world actually was. Or maybe your brothers, contrary to you, were just very social. “I was living abroad when he graduated, actually, and I was coming to surprise him but my flight got delayed and I missed the whole thing, he still gives me hell about it.”

“I can imagine” Alice laughed as well, swinging her body up again and standing by your bed now “I was actually just passing by the dorms to grab a coat and was heading to the boy’s house, you should come, it will be so nice to finally have another girl there” she extended her hand to you “We'll be the best of friends, I can already feel it” at that you grabbed her hand and reciprocated her warm smile.

You were not very sociable, and throughout all your life your closest friends have always been your brother’s friends, you wouldn’t bother changing that now, and it was good to have a girl by your side.

“Yeah sure, can I just take a shower first?”

Namjoon actually texted inviting you to come over when you were already on your way to his place in Alice’s car, so you never bothered answering, assuming you’d just show up in a few minutes anyway.

“I just have to pick my boyfriend up, if that’s alright?” You nodded, not really having any right to oppose, seeing as you were in her car anyway.

“Should I jump to the backseat?” You moved to unbuckle your seatbelt but her hand stopped you.

“It’s alright, really, I texted him before we left and I bet he won’t even look up from his phone when he gets in the car. Plus, you have a better music taste then him and I need you to keep changing songs” the compliment made you feel good and you relaxed in you seat, waiting for the boyfriend to show up.

A couple minutes later the door opened, just as you were looking for the next tune, and a handsome man took his place in the backseat. He had hair darker then Alice’s and although a little intimidating, he wasn’t tall or muscular, just had a certain aura around him. And just like the girl beside you predicted, he didn’t look away from his phone for a second.

“Y/n, this is Yoongi, Yoongi this is baby Kim” at his girlfriend’s voice he finally looked up, a confused look on his face.

“Baby Kim?” His voice was low and controlled, and he had the smallest pout searching for Alice’s eyes through the rearview mirror.

“She’s Joon’s younger sister” she started the car again and as soon as it left the driveway his attention was already gone.

“Oh, cool. Hi.” You assumed he addressed it at you, but his focus was entirely on the small device in his hand again.

“Don’t mind him, he’s just always working this days, I can’t believe I managed to get him out of his apartment today and- Hey! I love that song!” And just like that her attention was gone too. You could see why they worked.

Yoongi actually had the key to the apartment so you just walked right through the entrance of the building and up the elevators, only bothering to make yourselves known when you were already at the front door, ringing the doorbell. Not even you had the keys to your brother’s apartment, so they must be pretty close with this Yoongi guy. Just how much have you lost in the year you spent away? Before you could finish your thoughts, the door opened to review Jimin smiling warmly at the three of you. His expression changed quickly though, when he realized it wasn’t just his friends at the door but also little old you.

“Y/n-ah!” He opened his arms to welcome you “I missed you! Tae didn’t mention you were coming tonight!” You reciprocated the hug gladly.

Jimin is one of your oldest friends as well. He was Taehyung’s best friend since your brother could barely walk, and you all grew up together. With him constantly at your place, it was difficult to not see him as one of your own. He swung with you in his arms left and right before releasing you again.

“Yeah, Joon invited me actually, I just didn’t respond” you admit, passing your fingers through your hair to get it in place.

Yoongi and Alice just walked straight ahead and made themselves comfortable in the living room sofa. Namjoon’s and Taehyung’s place was much nicer than the dorms, that's for sure. It was way bigger as well, even if there were four people living here. You’ve been around a few times before with your mother, but it was clear that the boys made an effort then, seeing as how the place was kind of a mess now. Not dirty or anything, it just had a lot of stuff around. It was a four bedroom apartment, two of those bedrooms being suites. It had a spacious living room with large comfortable couches and a TV that was way too big for the table it was on. There was also a small table that was clearly moved to the side and not used much, and then there was a kitchen, only separated by a counter from the rest of the place. And your favorite part of the place: a large balcony filled with plants and pots and all things green that Namjoon kept.

“Y/n?” You were so caught up looking around that you didn’t realize your brother had left his room to see who arrived.

“Hey Tae, I can see that the getting-your-life-together thing was just an act for mom, uh?” You teased, pointing at the pile of clothing that was clearly his laying in one of the chairs around the small table beside you.

“I didn’t know you were coming today” ignoring the provocation completely, he walked past you into the kitchen “any of you guys want anything?”

“A beer, please, and do you have soda for Yoongi?” Alice turned from her place to see his response and as soon as Tae raised her the can of coke she smiled happily and returned her attention to whatever her boyfriend was showing her on his phone.

“Namjoon hyung should be right back, he went to buy more beer with Hoseok” Taehyung offered you a bottle of beer as well and went to sit on the sofa beside Yoongi. At that, Jimin, who was still by your side, nudged you to follow him and sit as well.

The conversation started flowing and you soon explained that you were actually rooming with Alice. To that, Taehyung offered his condolences to your new girl friend and earned himself a good old smack on the neck from you. Yoongi didn’t talk much, but whenever he opened his mouth it was to roast one of the other younger boys, and for that you were already very much a fan of him. Alice seemed at ease and both Jimin and Tae called her 'noona', showing how much they really cared for her. You were still a little bit shy, not knowing how to behave being around so many people your age again, seeing as you had spent the last year of your life mostly with really nice old ladies, volunteering at an organization in Dublin, but the change of pace seemed nice, and you were excited for the college experience, specially if it meant having friends like these around.

The door opened again a while later to reveal Namjoon, Hoseok and Jin carrying multiple bags of groceries, mostly filled with booze, you guessed. They didn’t notice you there at first, but as soon as Jin did, you were instantly smashed by the weight of him on top of you.

“Y/n-nie I missed you so much” he squeezed your head in a suffocating way.

“You saw me a week ago, please, I can’t breathe” you struggled and he released you from his deathly grip.

“That’s too much time to be away from my baby sister” he stated matter of factly and went back to the kitchen to help Hoseok, while you, once again, tried to tame the mess he made on your hair.

“I wasn’t sure you were coming” Namjoon took his place beside you, handing you another bottle of beer when he noticed yours was empty.

“I was already on my way here when you texted, my roommate is Alice” you clinked bottles with him as you have done many times before and took a sip, while he scanned the room to find Alice already smiling reassuringly back at him.

“Well, that’s a coincidence” Hoseok took his sit on the floor in front of you and smiled. He had helped you unload your boxes earlier with Namjoon and you were already so very fond of his heart shaped smile.

The night went by quickly, with you getting adjusted to the new dynamics. You learned that Hoseok and Jimin were both dance majors, and that’s how the four of them ended up living together. You also learned that Yoongi was a music major and worked at the campus’ official radio station, so you'd better get used to hearing his voice through the speakers wherever you were. Alice was a psychology major and, although you already knew your brother’s study fields, it was different hearing Tae complain about his art history professor in such colorful words that he obviously kept from your mother, and Joon candidly reciting books by heart at the most random times, you could only hope to take literature as serious as he did. Jin made you all dinner, but of course you all had to promise to swing by his cafe the next morning before classes start to repay him. Finally, you learned that there was still a piece missing, some dude called Jungkook that was apparently the same age as you, but a year ahead in college, seeing as you took a gap year. He was still moving in and that’s why he never came, but if he was half as cool as the people around you, you’d be just fine.

The next morning you woke up with time to spare. Alice was already up and showered when you left your room, witch you appreciated, as you now had the bathroom all to yourself. You washed your hair and got dressed in the outfit you had planned almost a week prior. As you were applying a bit of make up, Alice entered the room and gave you a cup of coffee she had just made, and you were a thousand times happier with the roommate you were assigned. Both of you grabbed your stuff and headed out the door to pass by Jin’s coffee shop for a nice morning treat as promised.

It was a short walk but it still took you a while to finally enter the place, as it was packed with anxious young adults heading to their first day of classes. As soon as Jin spotted you both, though, he pointed at a couple of free seats he saved for you at the counter and made a motion with his hands asking you to wait a second for him. You had had your coffee already, so when Jin brought two plates of toast you were amazed at how well your brother could read your mind. 

“Jin oppa, can you get me a couple of muffins, I’ll drop them at the studio on my way to class” Alice asked nicely when Jin finally caught a break and he promptly found the two prettiest blueberry muffins for her to take “I’ll get going so I can feed Yoongi one of these, see you later, Y/n! Thanks again Jin!” Blowing a kiss at the both of you, Alice went on her way.

You took a look at your phone and realized you had fifteen minutes to get to class, more than enough time, sure, but you still wanted to get there early and find yourself a good seat, as Namjoon had told you creative writing was one of the hardest to get a good place. You waved your brother goodbye and just as you were leaving, it happened:

Out of nowhere, this tall dude ran into you as if you were nothing, spilling the dark coffee he was carrying all over you. He cursed -not at you, he didn’t even look at you-, and just kept walking, no apologies, no looking back. He just left. Your white shirt and your pants were ruined and you definitely didn’t have time to go back to the dorms and change. Facing the facts, you would spend your first day of college with stained clothes, but you swore to yourself that you would find out who that boy was and, when you did, you would make him pay.

> A/N | It's simple and cliché, I know, but give it a chance, I promise it gets better! Have a nice day, wherever and whoever you are :)

TAGLIST IS OPEN!

[dylanxmin]

A Little Serendipity

Part.20

before / next

•masterlist•

pairing; min yoongi x reader

genre; fluff, slight angst, slice of life au, strangers to lovers au

rating; PG-15

warnings; swearings, drunk yoongi, slight fighting(just yelling)

word counts; 3k

a/n; well, it is quite a long part right? lol,,, IM SO SORRY that it took ages to write, (it’s 2 week) but i had a writer’s block for this fic, and again, i’m so sorry,, but let’s chat a little, how did you find this part? i hope you liked it,, thanks for reading, ily ♡

''Y/N, can you take out the trash?'' after hearing Soobin voice, I blow a breath to the air, taking out trash never felt this tiring in my life, and probably this was all because of me laying on my bed for all day and doing nothing. My body slowly turned into a jelly by days, as I do nothing but pitying myself and yes, I know that is one miserable move, but no one can judge me at the moment, as I won't let it.

''Is it okay if I take out myself as trash?'' Soobin looks at me worriedly, fixing her posture to give me a response, raising her head from Taehyung's legs, ''We are still miserable, huh?'' With her move, Taehyung looks at me with flat lips, probably he was worried about me too, as Soobin tells him everything, and I'm totally okay with this because he is a good guy, making my best friend happy and all. At least one of the people who live in this apartment were happy. ''I am totally okay! Can't you see how fine I am Soobin?'' I scoffed but it wasn't intended to hurt her or anything like that. I just so sickened myself with these behaviors, and now they were stuck with me, and won't let go of me for a second. ''I'm sorry,'' misery was hearable by my tone, but I didn't mind it.

''Okay, that's enough!'' Taehyung and I were surprised by the sudden yell coming from Soobin, as we didn't expect it at all. She is looking very frustrated at the moment, and I can't deny that I'm low key scared at her. ''You. Sit.'' she points the light green couch with her finger, demanding me in a tone that I immediately obeyed. Taehyung's wide-open eyes wandering on Soobin, he was surprised as much as me, which it's understandable because I don't think that Taehyung made Soobin this angry before, and I can say that this is my specialty. ''I. Sit.'' after sitting to the couch I said in irony, but I only wanted to ease the tension she got in her veins but sadly, it backfired.

''Cut the crap, Y/N,''

''Okay, honey. I think we need to calm a little, huh?'' Even though I appreciate Taehyung's efforts to calming Soobin, I knew that it would backfire, too. Her deadly gaze gathers on him and he goes silent in a second, which I tried to hold my laughter as watching them will never make me less entertained, but right now I need to be serious, for not to be killed by Soobin. ''I don't want to become this, but you literally forced me to do this, Y/N. You know that right?'' she holds her hands on his knees, lifting one eyebrows judgmentally. I nodded, and if I have to be honest with this situation, whenever I feel or act miserable, Soobin is the one who always pulls me up with her attitudes, with her rough but correct words, so in a way, it was a relief to see her in this attitudes.

''Look, I know you and Yoongi for a long time, and I can't say that he is a bad guy, but if he said that he doesn't want you, then you have to move on sweetie. It's for the best,'' after she ends her words, Teahyung nudges her with his elbow, shake his head in disapproval, but I ignore his kind warnings. ''Well he didn't say that he didn't want me or anything,'' murmuring in my own didn't go as I plan it, and I understand that by the wide-opened eyes, staring at me in surprise. ''Wait a minute, what?''

''Why did you say that he rejected Y/N, Soobin?''

''Because she was living in her bed for almost a week now, and not doing anything apart from eating, and breathing which she barely eats. I thought that he rejected you, Y/N!'' Both of them now looking at me, their puzzled glances stay on me until I start to speak, which is a very uncomfortable moment for me. ''He never officially rejected me, but with his lack of interest, finally, I understand that he doesn't want to be with me.'' With an exhausted whine, Soobin puts her head in his palm, covering her face, while Taehyung shaking his head, and he tries to hold back his laughter by biting his lip.

''Y/N, what did he say to you?'' Instead of giving him a decent response, I just shrug my shoulders because remembering the moments we had wasn't the best thing I wanted to at this moment, but eventually, I gave up. ''Well, he said that he needs some time to deal with his problems and all, that he couldn't find the answer yet, and something like this.''

''You are such a stupid person, Y/N,'' Soobin start to talk under her breaths, looking at me in disappointment, but I couldn't understand the fuss about what I said. He clearly rejected me with his behaviors, didn't he? Taehyung gets up from the couch to come to my side, holding my shoulders after sitting right beside me. ''Honey, I'm sorry but you totally misread the situation.'' his lips were still flat, but I could read the pity that he feels for me, and still I couldn't understand what they were trying to say.

''If he didn't reject you 'officially' then that's mean, he didn't reject you Y/N, because Yoongi isn't a guy who interprets his words or, his behaviors. He would totally speak to you, in a case like this.'' Taeyhung start to explaining to me, probably gets sick of my silly looks, as I can't understand what they were trying to say to me by calling me stupid. ''He is one straight guy, like the straightest.''

''Firstly, I don't think this word exists, and secondly, are you sure? Because it feels like he rejected me.'' Soobin literally growled at me, before start to talking and telling how stupid I am, all over again, and in a way, I agreed with her. ''I'm telling it for the last time, I know him, okay? I know him and yes, it is not a rejection. Get this, Y/N.'' The room buried in silence, after what she said. I tried to order my thoughts for a second beside my emotions because if it's true, and if he really didn't reject me, so that's mean I still have a shot with him. ''I guess we broke her, baby.'' Taehyung's words were nothing but a whisper for me at the moment, thrill just takes over my body, heartbeats reach my neck, goosebumps appear. Even though they explained to me more than one time now, I still couldn't believe it and didn't want to believe it mostly. Because if I hold my hopes high one more time just to drop them all over again, I couldn't bear the idea of this. I just needed to suppress it, give this possibility a good thought then, maybe I can be happy about it. Yes, this plan sounds good to me.

Well, I gave it a good amount of thought this idea, but whenever I think, it feels like it's not real at all, sounded like a dumb idea but every time I call this idea 'dumb', Soobin was there to punch me or kick, and if she can't be my side physically, she would simply call me dumb as quittance, which I find it very childish but who am I the judge? I literally stayed at my bed for weeks and cried like a highschool girl, and being a high school girl isn't a bad thing unless you are not a grown woman, who has to work for paying her bills, for food and all. I'm almost twenty-six and my behaviors would tell the very opposite.

''Y/N, we are leaving! Are you sure about not coming with us?'' Whoops! I totally forget the dinner thing, but even if I didn't forget it, I wouldn't dare to go out and face with him as nothing happened before or, how many times I thought about his feelings for me, as according to Soobin and Taehyung, he had feelings for me or, didn't reject me? Whatever it is, I just couldn't face him, so I just passed tonight's event. ''I'm pretty sure Soobin, have fun!''

''Okay, I love you, have fun!'' And after the last yelling, she closes the door very loudly that I jumped on my chair. ''Jeez. woman,'' But after a moment, her words start to itching my mind, how could I have fun in this home, with my thoughts? She was clearly mocking with me, but I decided to let it slide away. As I have to deal with my work stuff, and I meant writing when I say it because I need to get my work done or, my publisher is going to kill me eventually. Okay, maybe killing is a little exaggerated will but still, I couldn't judge her, as I came back Seoul for almost four months now, and I did nothing, rather, I have to write at least half of the book that I'm working on these days.

Hours had passed, and I could barely write a decent storyline as most of my paper had a lot of crossing on the words that I wrote but still, it was better than nothing, I guess? When I finally straighten my back cracking voice reach to my ears, shut down my eyes when I feel the pain, the ache reaches through my neck, and I sighed. I didn't know how much time had passed now, but according to my back pain, I could say that it is a lot. ''Okay, now what I am going to do?'' I ask myself out loud, lean on my back until I touch the chair, rubbing my eyes because they were itching in exhaustion. So, I stayed in this pose until I heard the door ring, which it's a semi-surprise for me, as I didn't wait for Soobin to come back this early, but probably she felt sorry for me and decided to cut the night early this time. I stand up swiftly to open the door, which I still couldn't understand why she wasn't using her keys. ''Are you too drunk to open-''

''How did you know that I'm drunk?''

''Yoongi?'' My jaw drops to my chest after seeing the boy leaning on the corner of the door, a silly grin hanging on his lips, looking at me in shock, as I 'know' that he was drunk. After a moment of not knowing what to do and failing to talk to him finally, I could be able to gather my courage to talk. ''Okay, I guess you need to come inside,'' and before I could finish my words properly, he takes a step to the small apartment, walking to the couch as he was familiar with this apartment more than me. I close the door, before following his steps, and watching him sitting to the couch cozily. ''You didn't come today,'' he said as making a statement, but it was obvious that I wasn't there with them, as he came to my place but he was drunk so I hold myself from saying something ironic. ''Do you need to drink water?''

''You didn't come,'' he just ignored my question with a very demanding voice. I didn't know what to do for a second, so I just ignored him just like him. ''Maybe coffee. So we can purify from all the alcohol, huh?''

''You didn't-''

''Yes! Yes, I didn't come today Yoongi. What are you trying to say? For god sake!'' We both look very surprised, as neither of us waiting for this aggressive yelling from me, but hearing the same thing over and over again starts to irritate me, as I could feel the tension between us growing rapidly, his chest starts to move swiftly as well as mine. I watch his expression to go angry from shock, but without waiting any minute, I continued to talk. ''I have a life beside you. You know that right? Plus, I don't need to explain it!''

''Oh you have a life, huh?'' his husky voice spread into the room, misty glares of him stayed on me, there were some emotions that I couldn't understand but decided to ignore it. ''Yes, and this surprised you because?''

''You can have a life but I can't?'' now his voice starts to raise, leaving me in shock with his statement, so he decided to continue. ''When I say that, when I say that I have a life and have something to deal with, you scold me. But here we are, you say that you have a life!''

''Okay I think you are overreacting right now, Yoongi,'' I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his reactions, which his attitudes now making me a little uncomfortable, but what I said made him angrier I guess, as now he stand up swiftly with shaky hands. ''Am I overreacting? Overreacting!'' his hands start to brush his hair, now his whole body was shaking in rage, for a second I thought he was going to throw something at me but thankfully, he did not.

''If I am overreacting then what are you doing? Why are you not coming when we all hang out? Are you chicken out for being at the same place as me? Just because I said that I need some time?'' if someone could see the two of us, probably would think that he was having a tantrum with all of these hand gestures and yelling but luckily, we were alone. But the one who is not lucky right now is no one other than Yoongi. As he called me a 'coward' after all, he has to pay this. ''I am not. Chicken out. I have some things to deal with, you know?''

''Haha. Funny but I am not buying this crap.'' his imitation of the laugh was highly ridiculous and unnecessary, but somehow he manages to trigger my anger. ''What do you want, Yoongi? One second, you want me gone, don't want to see me, but then coming to my house and scolding me. What do you want?'' breathlessness takes over me at the end of my words, semi-coughed for fixing my throat, but just when I stop talking, his husky voice covered the room. ''I'd never not want to see you, Y/N,''

''What?''

''How could you think that? I'm dying to see you every damn day, every moment.'' When he stopped talking, I just stay there quietly, staring blankly at his face because words were pretty hard to establish for me, as what his words now wandering in my mind, trying to make it sense but doesn't work. He sigh. ''I'm not a bright person like Hoseok or, funny like Jin. I don't even know how I got to be friends with them Y/N. I am not an outgoing person. I'm just a man who goes to his studio, locks himself to there, and just works on his music.''

''And you think that I am best at being funny or anything else? I called you Min Yoongi for days, Yoongi,'' I said immediately after he finishes his words because he was being ridiculous.

''Everyone loves you Y/N. You are funny, caring, pretty-'' his eyes widened after what he said, taking his sight from me to landing on the room. ''You think I'm pretty?'' I questioned because I had to. It is just too much information for me at one time. First, he says that he wants to see me every day and then calls me pretty? This man wants me dead, for sure. His shy smile appears on his lips, only to cause me more ache on the heart, taking my breath by my lungs, so we both stay silent. Nevertheless, I could hear my heartbeats, throbbing loudly, and I'm pretty sure that he could hear it too.

''Yes. Yes, I think that you are pretty, beautiful and amazing. As I know that I'm a stupid man who is afraid to break your heart or, couldn't fulfill your needs, but I am sure about one thing that I want you in my life, as more than a friend.'' he ends his words, raises his brows as waiting for an answer, but I couldn't talk at the moment. Neither I manage to talk, nor breathing. Jaw drops to the chest, mouth dried in shock, vacant stares placed on his weak smile. I waited for this moment, for almost three months, and now instead of jumping to his arms, I just stay there, petrified like a statue.

''Okay, I guess this is the time where you say that you want me in your life as more than a friend or, I am going to freak out,'' An instant laughter takes over me until I start panting, his face grows more worried now, but it was so cute. ''I.. Of course I want you in my life as more than a friend, Yoongi. Stop looking at me with those doe eyes.''

''Thank goodness! For a second you got me, Y/N,'' his chuckles echoed with mines, as his steps start to get closer to me, while I could feel my pulse on my body, wriggle on the stomach, as he holds my wrist to pull me closer, nodding as asking for permission. Rather than permitting him, I bumped my lips to his soft ones, tiny giggle slides by his mouth when he deepens the kiss.

''Did I mentioned that you are talented as well?'' he asked after breaking the kiss, caused me to chuckle, and I gave him a little hard hit on the shoulder, but he responded it with a giggle, before leaning to kiss me, he said, ''Well, just to make sure, you are very talented.''

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