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evolutionsvoid · 6 months

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A notable character from a dream a while back that really stuck with me, so I just had to draw her and regale ya'll with the whole thing. I remember the dream fondly because A) it actually had like a coherent story and some neat encounters and B) it wasn't just horrific things happening to my body. So here we go, it's a long one!

The dream I had put in me in Japan, in a place where there was an insane amount of buildings and businesses, the whole place was jam packed, to the point where pretty much every place was the size of a single room and interconnected with the other businesses around them. I remember there being a tiny restaurant that served buns, and five feet away from your table was a sign and door for a pawnshop. Cramped movie theaters connected to weird art rooms, where colors flowed over wall, floor and ceiling. The setting was modern, with a touch of extra future. Made me think of those future overpopulated cities where everything and everyone is stacked atop one another. (The reason I think it was set in Japan is because my sister was currently there for her honeymoon. In fact, I recall seeing them there at the hot bun restaurant.)

As for me, the character I was was traveling through the city in secret with an older raggedy man who was like a mentor to me. Like your typical duo of lowlifes, where he was the tired, run ragged man who has seen it all, and I was the naive younger fellow that he had taken under his wing. We were moving through the city, for what reason I don't know, but it was obvious that we were trying to lay low. This particular city was currently occupied by two major gangs who were locked in an endless power struggle. I don't recall the name of these criminal organizations, but I did know who ran each. One side was run by someone called Lord Hollow, and the other was King Consort. Each side wanted full rule of this city, but they couldn't ever get the momentum to run the other side out. This led to frequent skirmishes between the two, which the people were so used to they never even batted an eye. (Funny enough, right before bed that night I was playing Dishonored 2 and the level I ended on literally had two gangs locked in a power struggle.)

For the people in the city, these fights were hardly a concern, more of an annoyance and sometimes a spectacle. People just moved on with their day, because these two had been going at each other for so long with no progress, that everyone knew nothing would change. While we were weaving between businesses and buildings, we witnessed two groups of effigies moving through the neon-soaked building that had been sent out by Lord Hollow for a hit. Each had the crowd parting ways to let them through, not out of fear, but more knowing to let them pass and that is how these things got over the fastest. The first group that we saw were human statues carved out of wood. They had a dark color them and a clear stain, and they were a mix of effigy and human, almost anatomically correct, but with some simplicities and odd runic flares. I recall that the way that they were carved, with the clear finish making their grain stand out boldly, it looked like these statues were flayed. They slid across the floor silently, with a few arms and legs moving slowly and uselessly. Despite their looks, everyone knew they were out to off someone working for King Consort.

The other group of effigies were also carved out of wood, dark wood again, but these were shaped to look like movie monsters. They weren't full standing, but more curled in a ball form, like what you would see if you caught one in a pokeball. I recall seeing one that was carved to look like the Creature from the Black Lagoon and a Frankenstein's Monster. The funniest line I remember from the dream was from the crowd watching these things slide by, as one unseen person said aloud: "Oh look, they have a Bagul!" (that is the demon from the Sinister movies)

We stayed back and let them pass by, as we wanted to keep out of sight. What I later picked up on from my mentor is that he was on the run from King Consort, having done something to screw that mob boss over. He had been running and hiding for years, but for some reason he had to come back to this city now, and thus was in danger. I don't know why we were there, but it was obvious we had to keep our head down. However, eventually, I got separated from him in the tetris-like layout of these endless interconnecting buildings. I remember running around trying to find him, but wound up getting super lost. Unsurprisingly, when we got separated, King Consort's men nabbed my mentor and made off with him. I don't recall how I learned this, but I immediately ran out to find him.

The only thing I thought to do was go to King Consort's headquarters, as obviously my mentor would be taken there. Funny enough, I recall it being equally cramped and claustrophobic, as even these powerful gangs couldn't get that expansive of real estate. Though I came to this place as a stranger and outsider, no one gave me any guff. None of the guards or members were hostile to me, as they knew I wasn't with Lord Hollow and King Consort seemed to have no animosity towards those who weren't actively working against them. I was let in, and I demanded to see the King, which they took me to. King Consort was at the top of a weird medieval esque tower cobbled from bricks and rusty metal shacks, and that too was incredibly tight space wise. I remember climbing stairs with practically both shoulders touching the walls. Which made it odd when I got up top to the open air area atop the tower and finally saw King Consort.

King Consort was about 8 to 10 feet tall, and as wide as a car, so how they moved down these stairs was a mystery. But the thing was, King Consort wasn't a person, they were pretty much a mech. Or more so, she was a mech. Her appearance was the cross between a heavily armored woman and a fortress, mechanized into this living weapon systems. She was mostly red with gold trim. Her head had a crown-like arrangement, and sitting amongst the spires of it was a very small being who was dressed in kingly robes, wore a crimson featureless mask, a crown of his own and a royal scepter he waved around. Though I couldn't see much of him beneath this mask and robes, I got the impression he was a robot too. From his sitting point, the wild gestures and scepter waving he did, one would get the impression that he was ordering around this bulky mech. But what I soon realized is that the mech was King Consort and the little king atop really wasn't in charge.

King Consort appeared to be almost built into the tower itself, her huge bulk nearly crushing the metal and brick around her. However, when I finally got to the top to meet her, she was starting to become mobile, tearing free from her surroundings and standing tall. I later got the impression that my mentor had stolen or ran off with some key component to her, which left her in a powered down immobile state. My first thought was that he had been hired by her to fetch this piece that would bring her to full function, but changed his mind upon getting it and fled. They had caught him, tortured him then imprisoned him, and I never saw him again for the rest of the dream. With the part finally given back to her, she was now fully active, and her first order of business was to finish off this feud with Lord Hollow. Though I had been an associate of the man who robbed her, she had no ill will towards me, pretty much shouldering past me on her way down the tower with an aura of "sorry you picked the wrong guy to follow." It should be noted that she never spoke during the dream, and I wonder if she was even capable of speech, getting the impression the king guy atop did all the translating and talking.

How she got down at such a size, I have no clue, but I remember following her and her posse as they gathered up to take down Lord Hollow's operations. When we finally got there, we were now in a train rail yard, with abandoned train cars strewn about and some building in the center where Lord Hollow resided. His men and effigies came racing out to stop King Consort and her men, but she activated her weapons system and pretty much decimated them. There was zero fight to be had. I don't even remember her men doing a thing to help, she was just obliterating everyone who came out to face her.

Finally, Lord Hollow came out from the building, and he was revealed to be pretty much the Headless Horseman. He wore a haunted looking garb, like a mix of warlock robes and a business suit. He had the pumpkin head with toothy, evil glowing face but the head was much larger than the rest of his body, like it stretched to his shoulders and was more flatter than round. When he came out, I got the impression he was a magic man, and this was a case of tech vs magic (obviously seen in his living wood effigies). He appeared to be a formidable opponent, but with King Consort at full power, he was helpless. He tried to run from her as soon as he realized the battle was lost, but she didn't let him get away. She single handedly grabbed a train car and rammed it into him, crushing him between two cars. (Though he died like a videogame NPC, staying fully intact but ragdolling as he was pinned between the two objects). With Lord Hollow down, his gang was finished and King Consort claimed victory.

I either blacked out or forgot what happened between, but I found myself at a bar the next morning. I was amongst other patrons at the bar, who were watching the TV and chatting about the power upset. Both were about King Consort completely taking over the city, ruling unopposed. It was from the broadcast that it was confirmed that King Consort was the mech and not the tiny king riding in her crown. I recall seeing an image of her deconstructed, where only her upper half was present, standing on her arms as her ribcage ended in nothing. I believe it was a photo from when she was building her body. From the way people were talking, her gaining her full power was pretty much a disastrous upset. As someone said "She is ruling this city now, but forget that, it won't be long til she's ruling the world." The funny detail I remember was I chimed in confused at some point, because I didn't know how to interpret her gender. "So King Consort, should I call them he, she or they?" As I was thrown off by the mech woman and little king guy atop her, not knowing which to refer to. The reply was "Her. She's a woman." And I was like "good to know, thanks."

The last bit I remember from the dream was trying to find my mentor again, as I somehow knew he wasn't dead, just imprisoned. So I went back to King Consort's base to sneak in and break him out. Though everyone had no issue with me, I kept hidden and tried to stealth around the place, as I knew my mission wouldn't be well received. To figure out where my mentor was being held, I wound up sneaking into King Consort's maintenance room, and accidentally finding she was currently in there getting tuned up. I didn't see her, as I was still near the entrance hiding behind a wall, but I could see the light of sparks flickering and the shadow of mechanical arms working and welding. At that point, a guard came in through the front doors and spotted me, and the dream ends with me being caught. And that is that!

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"King Consort"

This piece took me a long time to get around too, as I never draw tech stuff and am actually pretty bad at it, so I was hesitant to even start this drawing to begin with. But honestly, out of all the weird stuff in that dream, she stuck out a lot to me, and I kinda keep thinking about her from time to time. Partly because of her design, and also just because of the untold story surrounding her. Of how she wound up in that tower in a powered down and trapped state, unable to even move her own body. Leading one of the most powerful gangs, but not having the energy to even lift a finger. Relying on this little king guy to listen to the hum of her tired engines and sounds of her barely powered machinery to interpret her words and wants, who then relays it to her gang members. The vision of her stuck atop that tower, trapped in her own body, exposed to the elements and looking out over a city she should be able to claim as hers, but cannot in this weakened state. I think there is something neat there.

And also the moment the dream was over, I knew her design was Basically a mecha version of Hammer-chan.

#mech #mecha #robot #castle #fortress #king #art #drawing

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braveclementine · 3 months

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Day 3 ~ 8:48 a.m.

Warnings: None, Readers under 18 can read this book.

Copyright: My OCs are Coach Yonce, Emma, Ila, Tempus, and Itty Bitty. I own these characters. I do not condone any copying of this.

"Will you tell me your name today?" The guard asked as the elevator made its way down to the negative twelfth floor. I guess we were going to be playing on a new map today. That was just slightly scary as the airport was my best map. The others I didn't know as well.

"Will you tell me yours?"

At first, the man was silent for a moment, and then he said. "It's Sebastian."

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes. I couldn't even think of a person, famous or not, whose name was Sebastian. Well, except the crab from Ariel, but he didn't look anything like a crab. He must just look like someone I knew from school. . . maybe Comer's brother? Did Comer even have a brother?

"What, you're not going to tell you yours?" He asked when I didn't answer.

"I don't trust you enough to tell you my name. You're letting us kill each other." I said softly.

He glanced over at me, and was silent once more as the elevator doors opened up to reveal a brighter hallway.

There were more people up here- people besides us children. More guards for one thing, but also people who looked like they could be heading to work as lab assistants or scientists. Maybe researchers.

None of them even gave us a second look.

I wondered if they knew what was going on.

"Are you going to tell me what food to avoid today?" I asked.

"I thought you didn't trust me." He stated.

I stayed silent and then said, "Maybe you're helping me, but kids are dying because of this. You're letting them do this to us. All of you are."

I walked away from him, taking a seat at the table between Emma and Itty. Itty still had a bruise on her cheek, and Emma had her wrist wrapped in an ice pack from a fall she'd taken yesterday.

I was lucky that I hadn't gone- the games had gone on exceedingly slow yesterday, despite the brutalness. But I knew that meant I was definitely up today.

Most of the kids had learned that we didn't have to wait to eat today, and most of them had already started eating. Some kids however, had their heads down on tables, just looking at the food. I noticed that all of these kids were ones that had eggs on their plates.

So the food really was poisoned.

I gingerly ate my toast, not really having the stomach for anything else. I sipped my water as well, washing down the bread. I could see the guard on the other side of the room. He'd pulled his hair back between the time I'd left his presence till now and it was now in a man bun.

It looked pretty goo-

What?

I looked away and back at my plate.

What a weird thought.

Regardless of his good looks, he was the enemy. He was letting children die.

The door opened at the other end once again, the same lady as before walked through. She was wearing the black suit, but this time, it was missing the red stitching. Her neat hair had been curled so that it rested lightly on her shoulders.

"Congratulations." She said as she reached the chair at the head of the table. She pulled it back, sitting down at it. "You have reached the top one hundred contestants."

It felt like more than twenty of the children had died. Each loss felt like ten. I wondered how much longer we would all have to endure this.

"When do we get to leave?" One of the younger boys asked. He looked to be on the verge of crying, wearing a white T-shirt with a guitar on it. A black hoodie was worn over it. His hair was falling down behind his ears, like it hadn't been cut in a while.

"When a hundred and twenty rounds have been played." The woman said, smiling sweetly. "A round for each person here. Well, twenty less people now."

I felt my mouth drop. One hundred and twenty?

How many had we already done?

As if being in line with my thoughts, the lady continued, "This means you have exactly eighty-six rounds left."

This brought on an onslaught of murmurs and I didn't blame them. Eighty-six more?

I did the math in my head. We had one hundred and twenty rounds to go. If we had eight-six more, this meant that we had already gone through thirty-four rounds. If twenty people had died in those thirty-four rounds total, then my chances of living were pretty slim.

Twenty people in thirty-four rounds. I think. If my math was right that meant there was a 59% death chance.

Which left me with a 41% survival rate. Actually lower because I was going to have to protect Itty and Emma- who'd I'd given the nickname Jaguar- as well.

However, I also knew that I wouldn't be playing in every single round. In fact, I had only played in one of the thirty-four rounds to begin with. If I continued like that, then I would only play in. . . 9% of the rounds. Three rounds. So two more rounds.

Unless more people died. Then my chances of being in the rounds would go up and up.

At least I had the assurance that neither Itty nor Emma would be in the rounds today- unless lots of people died every round- as they had been in the rounds yesterday.

"Eighty-six more rounds?" Itty hissed next to me and I was jerked from my mathematical thoughts.

"If you think about it though, we'll be sitting out most of them." I whispered back. "So far at least we're only participating in one round a day. You may not even play in any of the rounds today."

"Are there any more questions?" The lady asked.

I looked at her, but I didn't have any more questions.

One of the older boys however, did. "If no one else died in the next eighty-four rounds, we would all go home right?"

"Of course." She said sweetly. "But that better not mean you're slacking off your game. You've already been warned what happens if you attempt to team or go easy on others."

But I could see that her answer had also put new hope in everyone. There was more light in the children's eyes and I was glad for that answer- even if it might not be true.

The lady started to move away from the table, telling us to go through the double doors at the end of the hallway.

Though I didn't mean to, though I wasn't trying, I caught the eye of the guard again. I don't know why he was staring at me. Maybe he cared about me. Maybe I was just his charge that he was required to keep an eye on whenever he was in the same room with me.

Whatever the case was, I found I actually liked his stare. It was starting to become comforting.

No. I attempted to scold myself. You're having that illness. That mental illness. Stockholm Syndrome, that's all it is. Ignore him. Keep yourself and Itty safe. And if you can afford it, Emma too. That's all that's important. You, Itty, and Jaguar.

You can tell yourself whatever you want. Sometimes, it doesn't do anything but make your feelings stronger.

⬅️➡️

#Braveclementineworks #BraveclementineNovels #Novel #Escape the Facility #Flee the Facility #18+readersonly #Itty Bitty #Emma #nicknames #xreader #Sebastian Stan #Tempus #Roblox #Roblox games #horror games #Winter Soldier #mcu

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my-moony-and-padfoot · 2 years

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Always there

TW: Depression, eating disorder maybe something else (so tell me if there's something i should warn about)

AN: idk what this is but hope you like it :)

Word count: 3 800

“C'mon Sirius baby, wake up.” Remus whispered softly, Sirius stirred, but just buried himself deeper to Remus' side. He knew Sirius didn't want to get up, probably didn't have the energy to do anything today, but they had a couple of tests today they needed to go to.

“I don't want to.” Sirius mumbled, sniffling a bit. Remus started to card his fingers through Sirius' tangled curls, hoping he wouldn't start to cry because it was almost impossible to say no to.

“I know, I know. But I promise as soon as we're done with our classes, we'll come up here and cuddle, yeah?” He felt Sirius nod against him, and he kissed the boy's hair. “Let's get up then.” He said, getting himself up and pulling Sirius with himself.

“How are we feeling today?” He asked, leading him to the bathroom.

“I don't know, sleepy?” He said, taking his toothbrush and looking down to the floor, already feeling like it's not going to be a great day.

"'kay, something else?” Sirius shrugged, glancing up at Remus, before looking back down to the floor. “It's alright, want me to do your hair? Maybe braids or a ponytail or a bun?”

Sirius nodded shyly, he liked when Remus did his hair. “Ponytail?” He asked, knowing he wouldn't get a straight answer from Sirius. Sirius shook his head.

“Braids?” He asked, probably knowing that it was what Sirius wanted. And he was right, after a moment Sirius modded, glancing up at him and finishing brushing his teeth.

“Sit down for me.” He said, and Sirius did as told. “Thank you baby.” Remus smiled, gently starting to brush through Sirius' tangled hair from the night.

He talked to Sirius as he started to make the braids. About nothing important really, he just talked because it made Sirius calm down and not to think about the stuff that was constantly in his mind.

“All done.” He whispered, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and kissing his cheek. He started to brush his teeth as Sirius got up, running his hand down the braids, giving a small smile to Remus.

“Thank you, moons.” He said, before walking out of the room, going to find his uniform. He was trying to tie his tie when Remus walked out of the bathroom. He finally got it tied as Remus dressed up, he left it loose like he did every morning, just because.

“Let's head to breakfast then, right?” He asked, swinging his bag over his shoulder. Sirius glanced at James, who had just got out of bed and was about to throw a pillow at Peter.

“Shouldn't we-.”

“I think they'll be fine on their own, for this once.” Remus grinned, handing Sirius his bag and taking his hand. Knowing it'll take longer to eat with Sirius, that's why he always woke him up earlier, so he'd have time to get ready at his own pace and didn't have to get stressed and anxious over it.

When they sat down in the great hall, Sirius let go of remus' hand and started to play with his fingers. “What do you want, angel?” He whispered softly, but Sirius just shook his head, already holding back tears. “Oh, baby, I know. Just something small, please.” He said, placing his hand on Sirius' thigh and rubbing small circles on it.

Sirius looked up at Remus then around him, making sure no one sees him like this. He rested his head down to the remus' shoulder and took a couple of deep breaths. Looking down at the table.

“Some toast?” Remus asked, and Sirius nodded, lifting his head up. Remus took one slice of toast and spread some butter on it, then handing it to Sirius.

“Thank you.” He whispered.

Some people who had seen how much Remus did for Sirius thought it was weird or something like that. But it made Sirius feel safe, especially when he was struggling more. He needed the reassurance and some guidance in his life, and Remus didn't mind giving that to him. Sirius still hated when other people saw him like this, except for James and Peter, he didn't mind if they saw.

Sirius was halfway through eating his piece of toast as Peter and James sat down across from them. Both looking incredibly tired, and Peter looked annoyed, probably because he was woken up by James throwing a pillow at him.

“What do we have today?” James asked, pouring himself some coffee.

“Double transfiguration and potions, where we have exams on both, after lunch we have herbology and I have ancient runes, but you three have, history of magic.” Remus explained, Sirius tensed up, remembering he and Remus didn't have the same classes today.

He didn't say anything, but felt Remus squeeze his hand a little tighter for a moment, and he relaxed, looking up at him with a small smile, even though he didn't feel like smiling, all he wanted to do was go back to bed and sleep the day away.

When they were all done, they started walking to the transfiguration classroom. Sirius started getting anxious about the exam because he hadn't studied to it at all. He had done the bare minimum for his studies, so he wouldn't get detentions from missing out and not returning works. He really didn't have the energy to do anything, but he managed with Remus' help, which he really appreciated and hoped Remus knew that.

He never wanted to ask for anything because he didn't want Remus to feel like he was constantly asking for something. Or like that, he was annoying and needy. Remus was always there when he just couldn't do anything and just cried, and he was there when he was actually smiling and having a better day. Remus was there when he couldn't, didn't want to eat anything, or was scared. Remus just was always there.

When they walked into the classroom, Sirius let go of remus' hand and sat down at the back of the classroom with Remus next to him. Peter and James sat next to them on the other side of the classroom, like they always did.

“You alright love?” Remus whispered quietly, as McGonagall started to hand out their exams.

“Mhm.” Sirius nodded, glancing at him, taking out his quill.

Soon McGonagall placed the papers In Front of him and Remus and walked back to the front of the classroom.

He stared down at the paper, not understanding anything or having an answer to any questions. He pulled one of his legs up to the bench and rested his chin on his knee, trying to think.

He got the answer to most of the questions, they weren't the best and probably weren't right, but he tried, and he was one of the last ones to finish the exam and return it to McGonagall. He went to sit back down next to remus before they were dismissed.

They exited the class and Remus took Sirius' hand back to his, as they started to make their way down to the dungeons.

“How are you feeling?” Remus asked, from Sirius who was walking alongside him, looking down to the floor.

Sirius shrugged, mumbling. “Stupid.” He glanced at Remus who had a confused look on his face. “I didn't know any of the answers, and I feel stupid.” He muttered, looking back down to the floor.

Remus stopped which made Sirius stop as well, he saw Peter and James continue to walk down, knowing they'd catch them sooner or later. “Look at me, baby.” Remus whispered, cupping Sirius cheek, making Sirius look up at him. Remus glanced around, making sure the corridor wasn't too filled with people. It was mostly empty, which was good.

“You're not stupid.” He said. “And it's okay if you didn't know the answers, but you tried and that's good, you did really well, angel.” His words made Sirius blush slightly, so he hugged Remus and wrapped his arms around his waist, resting his head on remus' chest. Remus wrapped his arms around the boy.

“Let's go now, so we're not late, yeah?" Remus whispered and Sirius recuntacly pulled away from him and Remus took his hand back to his own. Sirius looked a bit down as they continued their walk down to the dungeons.

“It's alright Siri, we have some spare time after lunch, and we can do something you want.” Sirius nodded, not really looking forward to lunch, not wanting to go there and eat. He was anxious about the exam they had next because, again, he hadn't been studying.

The exam was in two parts, first writing and answering questions, then they had to brew a potion in pairs. He had been paired up with James, Remus with Lily and Peter with Doracas. He didn't mind being with James, he was his best friend after all. But neither of them were that good at potions, so it probably wouldn't go well, and him most likely failing the first part just made him stressed and anxious.

When they finally sat down in the potions classroom, they had to sit in the pairs they were doing the second part. He again hugged one of his knees to his chest as Slughorn started handing out the papers. He was fiddling with his quill, looking down at the table.

He glanced at Remus as he got the paper in front of him, he looked anxious, and Remus hated that he couldn't do anything to help him. So, he just smiled softly at Sirius, trying to tell him it's okay.

He looked at James when he returned his paper, and felt bad because he was barely halfway done, and now he was the reason they couldn't start brewing the potion.

He quickly looked at James: he didn't look frustrated. He looked across the table at Remus and Lily, who had started making theirs, making him feel even more bad. So even though he hadn't answered all the questions, he got up and returned his paper. He walked back over to James, who had started to get out the stuff they needed.

“So, what are we brewing?” Sirius asked, they had talked about this in their last potions' lesson, but he didn't remember any more.

“Draught of peace.” James said, showing him the page from his textbook. “So let's get started. We need to add powdered moonstone until it turns green.” James read from the book and glanced at Sirius. “Can you go get it? We also need syrup of hellerbore, stewed Mandrake, powdered unicorn horn and porcupine quills.”

“How am I supposed to remember all that?” Sirius muttered, grabbing his textbook, trying to find the right page and going to search for what they needed. He found powdered moonstone and the syrup of hellerbore, whatever that was. He brought them back to the table. “Can't you go find the rest if I get this started? We both know I'm better at potions than you.” Sirius said, and James went to find the rest of the ingredients, knowing Sirius was right.

Either of them weren't the best on potions, but Sirius was better at brewing them, although right now, he didn't trust his skills. His thoughts were all slurred together, and he just tried to make something out of it and read the instructions.

He read through the instructions, and they seemed endless, add this until it turns this colour and stir until it turns this colour and add this and add that. He started doing like it said, and James returned just when the potion turned green.

//Stir until the potion turns blue

//Add powdered moonstone until the potion turns purple

He started stirring it and when it was blue, he asked James to add the powdered moonstone. “Why isn't it turning purple?” James asked, looking at Sirius.

“Add until it turns purple, so I guess add more?”

//Allow to simmer until the potion turns pink

//Add syrup of hellerbore until the potion turns turquoise

//Allow to simmer until the potion turns purple

They did everything their textbook said, but when they had to add the stewed mandrake, it had to be shaken before adding it to the potion. The potion was supposed to turn red, but it turned to an ugly green colour and started to bubble.

“Jamey, I don't think this is right.” Sirius mumbled, stepping a little away from the cauldron as it started to bubble more. “We can't fail this one.” He whispered quietly, not that anyone heard.

“It's supposed to be red.” Sirius said as James looked inside the cauldron. “Did you shake the mandrake?”

“Yes, yes, I did. I don't know what went-” James said, but was cut off by a loud bang, which made Sirius flinch and take a sharp breath in. Now they were in trouble. And he just hoped they wouldn't end up in detention for ruining the exam and messing up the classroom. But most likely they would.

He had closed his eyes, on instinct, and he opened them looking around seeing, both he and James had their failed potion all over them, as well as the floor and the table. There wasn't any on Lily and Remus, which was good, but it looked like their potion was ruined as well, he felt terrible for that. Everyone was quiet around them and everyone had stopped working, they were all looking at him and James. Sirius just wanted to shrink down and curl up into a ball.

Slughorn walked over to them. “Everyone back to work.” He said, before turning his gaze to Sirius and James. "What happened?” He asked, he didn't sound too mad, but he never really sounded mad, but didn't mean that they couldn't get detention.

They both shrugged and Sirius kept looking down at the floor, trying not to let his breathing get heavy, he felt his hands start to shake and people watching them, even though they were supposed to continue their work.

“Well it happens just clean this mess up, and I'll see you tomorrow evening after dinner for an hour, Mr Lupin, miss Evans you both pass as your potion got ruined, and you don't have time to do it again.” Slughorn explained before walking back to the front desk.

Sirius nodded, but he didn't move to start cleaning up, until he felt a hand on his shoulder which made him flinch again, but he relaxed, noticing it was just Remus.

“What happened?” He asked, caressing Sirius' cheek, who looked up at him with fear in his eyes. He shrugged, he wasn't sure what happened, he knew there was a loud noise, and he got scared, and now they were in trouble. “You okay?” Remus asked, pulling out his wand, so he could clean Sirius' robes as well as James'.

“Yeah, m'fine.” Sirius mumbled, Remus waved his wand and Sirius' robes and hair cleaned up. He smiled up at Remus and pulled out his wand, starting to help James to clean it up.

Remus did the same to James, who thanked him. He walked to their side of the table, packing his stuff and helping Lily out who had started to clean their side of the table to help the boys out, even though she was a little frustrated about what happened.

When they had cleaned everything up, they all sat down at the table, waiting until the first ones started to be ready, and they were allowed to leave. As soon as they were in the corridor, he searched for remus' hand, his hands still felt shaky and clammy. Remus looked at Sirius, as they were walking and decided to lead him to a smaller corridor that was more empty, luckily James and Peter understood and went before them.

He sat Sirius down on a bench, and he crouched In front of him on the floor. Sirius had a confused expression playing on his face. Remus noticed that the boy was taking deeper breaths and avoiding eye contact.

“Talk to me, angel.”

“I-i don't know.” Sirius whispered, starting to play with the hem of his jumper.

“What you don't know?”

“Anything?” He glanced at Remus, before focusing his eyes back to his lap. “I didn't even finish the exam, but I didn't want to disappoint or make James fail because we couldn't start the potion and.”

“And?” Remus prompted as Sirius didn't continue.

“I don't know what happened, but it was probably my fault, and then I got scared because of the noise.” He whispered.

“It's okay, and you're okay, nothing bad happened, baby.” Remus said, caressing his cheek, Sirius leaned into his touch and relaxed a little. “And I'm certain you didn't do anything wrong.” Sirius nodded a little hesitantly, looking at him.

“Now how about we go and have some lunch and go to the common room and have a cuddle?” Asked, standing up and pulling Sirius with him into a hug. Sirius rested his head on remus' chest, shaking it.

“Don't want to go to eat?” Sirius shook his head again, sniffling. “Don't cry, it's alright.”

“You promised to at least try on every meal, didn't you?” Remus asked softly, and felt him nod slightly against him. “Can you do that, baby? Just try a little bit and if you can't, then we'll leave, okay?”

“Okay.” Sirius whispered, pulling away from him and taking his hand, wiping his eyes before they walked out of the corridor, starting to make their way up to the great hall.

“Feeling alright?” Peter asked, looking at Sirius. Sirius was comfortable with talking about how he was feeling or if something wasn't right, not always, but most of the time he was. Not like he spoke with Remus and how he trusted him, but he didn't mind the other two asking as long as they didn't tell anyone else.

“Yeah, m'good.” Sirius said, smiling at them, even though he didn't feel like smiling, but he smiled anyway. Because he knew very well that James couldn't tell whether it was a real one or not, and Peter wouldn't dare to ask even if he noticed it was faked.

Sirius looked down at the table, one of his hands still in Remus' underneath it. Nothing there looked like he wanted it, It all just made him feel sick, and he definitely didn't want to eat anything. He quickly glanced around him, seeing everyone around them had piled food on their plates and started to eat.

He kept his gaze down at the table, the sight only making him feel more sick and anxious and uncomfortable. He wanted to leave, but he had promised to try. But he didn't feel like he actually could. Remus noticed how Sirius started to shake, and he didn't start to eat.

“What's wrong bub?” He whispered, softly, brushing his thumb over Sirius' knuckles.

“I-i can't.” Sirius mumbled, looking up at him. “I just can't, moony, c-can we go?”

“Yes of course.” Remus sighed, not annoyingly, but he was worried about Sirius, he hadn't been eating much in the past two weeks, it had really started to worry him. “Let's go then, love.” Remus smiled, standing up and pulling Sirius with him, starting to lead him towards their common room.

“I'm sorry, rem.” Sirius mumbled. “You don't have to come with me, sorry.”

“No, no, don't be sorry, everything's alright, and of course I'll come with ya, why'd you think I don't want to spend time with you.”

“I dunno.” Sirius whispered. “I don't want to be too clingy and all this, besides, you already do so much for me for nothing.” Sirius mumbled as they got to their common room. Remus wasn't surprised that Sirius thought that because they had had this conversation before. Remus sat down on one of the couches, pulling Sirius to sit on his lap.

“You're not clingy or needy or a bother, okay?” Remus said, caressing Sirius' cheek and looking at him, even though he refused to meet Remus' eyes. “I don't mind doing stuff for you or with you, you're having a hard time and I want to be here and help you.”

Sirius nodded slightly, leaning down and resting his head remus' shoulder. Remus wrapped his arms around him, drawing mindless patterns to his back. Sirius pressed his nose close to Remus' neck, just listening to his breathing.

“Wanna tell me why you wanted to leave?” Remus asked, not wanting to push on it, Sirius shook his head a little. “That's okay.” Remus said, kissing the top of Sirius' head.

The common room started eventually fill with students on their lunch break and soon James and Peter came over sitting with them. Sirius didn't move from Remus' lap, he didn't really listen to the conversation around him, he was lost in thought.

Thinking about what happened today, and how he'd probably fail the transfiguration exam and the first part of his potion exam. He was thinking about tomorrow's detention where he definitely didn't want to go, he also didn't want to go to his classes for the rest of the day. He'd much rather go back to bed and just sleep, or something.

“You okay to go to classes?” Remus asked as people started to leave the common room.

“I don't know.” Sirius mumbled, finally lifting his head from Remus' shoulder. He didn't want to go, but knew he kind of had to because he had already missed a lot of classes.

“I can't decide for you, baby. I can tell sprout you aren't feeling well, and Mr Bins won't notice you missing.” Remus said, rubbing Sirius' back and looking at him.

“I don't know Remus, can I skip just today? I promise I'll come to all classes tomorrow.” Sirius said.

“You can do whatever feels right, okay.” Remus smiled. “But wanna know what I think, you should go to speak to poppy or someone, won't do any bad.” Remus said. Sirius shook his head, slowly getting up, so Remus wouldn't be late to class.

“You don't have to think about it right now, or decide anything, just know that they'll help you, I will and James and Peter.” Remus smiled, Getting up. He cupped Sirius' cheek, caressing his thumb over it. He placed a soft and brief kiss on his lips.

“See you later.” Sirius smiled, looking up at Remus and starting to walk up to their dorm. Remus smiled at his direction, before walking out of the common room and catching up with Peter and James.

He went up to the dorm, changing his clothes to something more comfortable, meaning remus' soft and oversized jumper and some joggers. He pulled the jumper over his head, inhaling the comforting scent of coffee, chocolate and occasional cigarettes. He crawled into bed, just wanting to sleep and not think what happened or about anything. He'd just sleep until Remus would wake him up and drag him to eat something, he appreciated it, but wasn't sure if he could eat something.

AN: I've wondered why I always write something to do with mental health and stuff like this, but then i realized it's what going on in my head and can't express otherwise, and no there was no point to this authors note, but whatever. Hope you liked it if anyone read this :)

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watchmegetobsessed · 4 years

Text

Never Have I Ever - Harry Styles (part 8)

a/n: oh my! we have finally reached the end of this story and I never thought it would turn out to be this long but im happy it did! thank you for reading and loving it, and now, enjoy the last part!

pairing: Harry x actress!reader

word count: 4k

warning: just pure fluff

SERIES MASTERPOST

masterlist

“Girl, even if you don’t win, you’ll surely take the title of the hottest woman on the red carpet tonight.”

Florence’s words make you chuckle, but you try not to move your lips too much as the makeup artist finishes up the last touches on them, using a nude shade.

“Stop, my head is big enough already,” you tell her, giving her a look through the mirror. She is standing a few feet behind you, already wearing her beautiful, golden Versace gown that hugs her perfectly. Her hair is up in a neat bun so her back can be on full display and the diamonds in her ears can also shine brightly. She looks amazing while she is the opposite of what you’ll look like tonight.

Rhonda, the makeup artist has an amazing notion about your look when you showed her the gown you’d be wearing tonight and since the dress is not the sparkly kind, like Florence’s, she went a little heavier with the glitter on your eyes, using mostly whitish-silver colors, creating rosy cheeks and topping it with nude, glossy lips. Your hair is in loose curls with a bunch of extension, creating the illusion that you might as well be Rapunzel herself tonight. But you are the most excited about the gown that’s already waiting for you to be finally put on.

“What time is it?” you ask Florence as you don’t have your phone on you, but she has hers in her hands already.

“We still have half an hour before we have to leave. Dude, I can’t believe you are an Oscar nominee and might turn into a winner tonight!” she sighs, eyes shining bright with excitement. She hasn’t come off of this high for days, so over the Moon that you get to walk the red carpet tonight as a nominee.

“Don’t jinx it, Flo,” you warn her.

There’s a knock on the door of the hotel suit you’ve occupied for the glamming and Florence is quick to rush to it answering, but you both know who it is. As she throws the door open Harry comes to your sight, looking as handsome as ever, wearing his custom made Gucci suit with a pink dress shirt underneath that matches your gown perfectly.

“Florence, you look wonderful!” his british accent fills the room, making you smile. Rhonda sets your makeup with some spray and you’re finally done. Standing up you move your legs around a bit as they went a little numb from all the sitting.

“Thank you! Pink suits you well, Harry,” your friend compliments your man and you watch them smiling.

When Harry’s eyes set on you, the light up, his smile widening from ear to ear. He looks spotless, freshly shaved, his hair recently cut and combed into place for a change. Not that you don’t like it when it’s all tousled and messy, especially when it’s because of your fingers.

“Angel, wow!” he breathes out as he walks up to you, taking your hands in his. You know he wants to kiss you, but doesn’t want to risk messing your lips up, so he is left with admiring you with only his eyes.

“Just wait until you see her in the dress!” Florence chimes in making you chuckle. You kept your dress a secret, wanting to surprise him with the first look. You gave out only the most necessary details for Lambert so the two of you could match.

“You’d be great like this too,” he teases, taking a look at your fluffy robe.

“I’m not going to the Oscars in a robe,” you tell him with a narrow-eyed look.

“I know, I’m just saying that you’d still be stunning,” he mumbles with a boyish smirk.

“Y/N? Time to choose a necklace!” Your stylist, Rupert appears from the room where your gown is hanging. He has a few jewelry boxes in his hands and he sets them all to the coffee table, opening up you are met with four breathtakingly beautiful diamond necklaces, each of them different yet so magical looking, you can’t decide which one you like the most.

“Harry, which one do you like the most?” you ask, kneeling down next to the table, mesmerized by the jewelries in front of you. Harry leans down and inspects them one by one before poking on the last one in the row. It has three rows of diamonds, not too big, the stones in the last row are shaped like water droplets, it’s such an elegant looking piece, it surely caught your eyes as well and you think it would be perfect with the dress.

“This one,” he tells you and you nod, shutting the other boxes, satisfied with the choice.

“Alright, time to get you into the gown, girl,” Rupert winks, gesturing at you to follow him into the room.

“I’ll be right back,” you tell Harry, risking a quick peck on his lips before you disappear in your temporary dressing room.

You fell in love with the gown on the first fitting when Rupert pulled it out, still in the finishing phase. It still has pins in it, but it already took your breath away. It has a massive A-line skirt and a tight upper part that hugs your body perfectly, a row of buttons running down the middle of it. The sleeves are puffy, but then end in a tight run from a little above your wrists, the same set of buttons appearing like on your chest. It’s giving out some Victorian style vibes in a more sophisticated and simpler way, but it’s by far your favorite dress you’ve ever worn to any event.

It surely needs the extra pair of hands from Rupert to put it on, but once you are secured in it, you feel like a princess straight out of a fairytale and surely, your prince is standing on the other side of the double doors.

“Alright! Everyone get ready for the big reveal!” Rupert announces, sneaking out the room so he can open the door for you. He waits a few moments as you hear everyone shuffle around outside, probably lining up to see you walk out in your finished state. “Okay, three! Two! One! Welcome our Oscar nominee!” he cheers, a round of applause is heard before you even appear, but it’s quickly replaced with gasps when Rupert pulls the doors open and they get the first glimpse of you in your gown.

“Holy fuck!” Florence gasps, mouth hanging open as she keeps raking your form up and down. Your eyes find Harry’s gaze and you see him in a state you haven’t often found him in the past almost two years you’ve been dating. He is completely speechless, eyes glued to you in awe as if he just saw an angel in real life.

“Y/N, I—wow,” he breathes out, still at a loss of words.

“You like it?” you ask with a shy smile.

“I fucking love it, baby. You look… You really are an angel,” he tells you, making you chuckle at his words.

“Would you please help me put on the necklace?” you ask him and he nods eagerly, carefully taking the jewelry out of its box and walking behind you, he brings it around your neck, his fingers delicately working on the clasp. Once it’s all set, you step to the floor to ceiling mirror, taking in the final look.

“There won’t be a straight woman left on Earth once you step on the red carpet,” Florence bluntly comments, making everyone in the room laugh.

“Let’s take some photos, I need to immortalize this masterpiece,” Rupert gestures around, already grabbing his camera.

The next ten minutes you take hundreds of photos, alone, with Florence and then with Harry. He still seems a little stunned by your look, feeling shy when he circles his arm around your waist, but it’s cute that you can still have such an effect on him after being together for almost two years.

Florence snaps some with your phone as well, your favorite is when he held your waist and leant you back, making you arch backwards as your noses touched since he couldn’t kiss you. You already know it’ll end up as your lockscreen, replacing the selfie the two of you took on your latest trip to Hawaii.

When it’s time to leave you grab your little purse with your phone and other necessities and the three of you pile up in a minivan, since your dress needs all the space so it doesn’t get wrinkled before you step out to the red carpet.

As you sit in the car and watch the buildings pass by, your nerves start to rise in you. When the nominations came out a month ago it seemed so far, you couldn’t imagine yourself actually attending the Academy Awards, but now here you are, on your way to find out if you’ve been good enough to be the best.

Your role in Sinful Heaven has brought a lot to your life aside from the nomination. The three months of filming was one of the hardest times in your life you’ve ever worked through and at some points, you didn’t even think you’d get through it. Working so closely with Levi took a toll on you while you were trying to prove in such a heavy and serious role. It was a mess especially at the beginning when you and Harry were still in this weird phase, but that eventually turned right when he literally punched Levi in the face and ten minutes later asked you to be his girlfriend. It’s a badass way to start a relationship and you wouldn’t trade it for anything, especially because it put Levi into place or at least scared him enough to get off your back for the rest of the filming.

When Harry left following that visit, you couldn’t see each other until filming wrapped and you flew straight to him and travelled with him for the next two weeks, hopping from one city to the other, watching him perform every other night and spending all your time with him.

When the movie premiered eight months later, you didn’t appear with Harry by your side, Maya was your date for the evening, but by that time everyone knew you and Harry are an official couple. Neither of you felt like hiding it or caring about what others would think and you were able to focus on each other and rely on the strong foundation you’ve built for your relationship.

He was there with you when the nominations came out and probably screamed louder when your name appeared in the list. With tearing eyes and choked out sobs you jumped into his arms as he mumbled into your ear.

“I’m so proud of you, Angel. So, so proud!”

And now you are on your way to the show, only hours away from finding out if your dreams will come true tonight. Harry squeezes your hand and you turn to face him, his soft eyes meeting yours.

“Nervous?” he asks with a small smile.

“Very,” you admit with an airy chuckle.

“Whatever happens tonight, I’m very proud of you. Don’t forget that.”

“Thank you,” you whisper, giving his hand a squeeze back.

Since it’s the first time you and Harry appear on the red carpet as a couple, once you set your feet out of the car, everyone goes nuts. He helps you out and even fixes your dress so it falls just perfectly around your frame before he offers his arm. You link your through it, taking a deep breath as the two of you start walking down the carpet, posing for the photographers.

You feel powerful and strong, like it’s the peak of your career, but you also feel that it wouldn’t be the same without Harry by your side even though he is making sure to let you shine tonight. At one point he even steps back for a moment so photographers can snap you alone and you think it’s such a caring move from him.

You feel a little dizzy from all the flashlights by the time you walk into the theater, Harry holding your hand tightly as he leads you to your seats.

You’ve been to plenty award shows and it’s not even your first Academy Awards appearance either, but for obvious reasons, it’s the most important. Sitting in your plush chair, you can barely stop yourself from continuously fidgeting as one category follows the other and it’s still not yours.

Then following a jaw-dropping performance from Dua Lipa, Chris Evans walks out with a golden statue and an envelope in his hands and your heart skips a beat, but not because of the man himself, but because you know he is the presenter of the Best Actress category.

Your hold on Harry’s hand on your lap tightens and you glue your eyes to the big screens behind Chris as he smiles around.

“Good evening. It’s a pleasure to be here and to present the award for Best Actress. The theater tonight is filled with exceptional talents, but let’s see the nominees,” he speaks into the microphone and then he starts listing the names.

Emma Stone, Anne Hathaway, Margot Robbie and Rooney Mara are called and a camera fixates on each of them when Chris says their names, all smiling brightly and waving around before your name is called at the end. Taking a deep breath you plaster your most wonderful smile across your face, waving around like the other nominees did before the big screen splits, showing the five of you simultaneously.

“We’ve seen some spectacular performances from these ladies and now let’s see who proved herself to be the best this year.”

Chris flips the envelope open and pulls the little paper out that has the winner’s name written on it and for a moment you’re convinced you’ll pass out. You’ve never felt this anxious before and you’re gripping Harry’s hand so tightly you’re surprised he hasn’t pulled it back, but he is patiently putting up with your nerves, his eyes glued to the man on the stage as well.

“And the Academy Award for Best Actress goes to…” Chris starts with a charming smile, holding a short pause before he finally says the name. “Y/N Y/L/N for her role as Marie Davidson in Sinful Heaven!”

Your mouth hangs open, ears ringing as you process that your name was called. Everyone around you jumps up, including Harry, who is screaming just like when the nominations came out, while you are completely blank. It takes you a couple of moments to realize that you in fact just won your first Oscar and everyone is waiting for you to go and get your little statue.

“Baby! Baby you won!” Harry cheers as he helps you up from your seat and you throw yourself into his arms as reality sets in. “I fucking love you, Angel. Go and get your Oscar!” he laughs, pride all over his face as he urges you to walk up to the stage.

“Walk me up, please!” you stammer, not trusting yourself with walking in this fragile state. He offers his hand without a second thought, walking you to the stage where Chris is politely waiting for you to help you up on the stairs.

“Thank you,” you breathe out once you’re finally up on the stage, every set of eyes on you as Chris hands you the little statue.

“Congratulations,” he smiles as the two of you exchange two kisses on the cheeks before he steps aside and lets you give a speech.

You thought about writing a few words beforehand, but you figured if you end up being the winner you’d forget the whole thing, so there would be no use and that’s the case. Your mind is still blank as you look down at the award in your hands, the crowd still cheering on you, giving you a few extra moments to figure out what to say.

“I uhh—I don’t even know what to say, this feels like a dream,” you admit talking into the microphone, the clapping dying down so that everyone can hear your words. “I want to thank to everyone who worked on Sinful Heaven, because I wouldn’t be here without them. To my wonderful director and amazing costars, it’s been such a wonderful journey with you all. Thank you to my friends and family who were there with me from the very start, believing in me when I was losing faith in myself, thank you for never giving up on me. To my parents who I assume are now crying in front of the TV,” you add chuckling softly, imagining your mom and dad in tears as they listen to your words. “This is a wonderful sign to me that I am where I need to be and that I’m on the right path, so thank you for giving me even more motivation to keep me going on my way.”

Your eyes roam around all the guests until they fall on one proud man staring at you in his Gucci suit and pink dress shirt, his green eyes looking glossy as he listens to your words.

“And last but not least, thank you to one special person, because I’m convinced I wouldn’t be here tonight without him. I have one thing to tell you.” Forgetting about everyone in the theater you hold up the Oscar in your hand as you finish your speech: “Never have I ever loved someone like I love you.”

The crowd starts cheering again as you step away from the microphone and Chris is quick to jog up to you and help you down the stairs, Harry rushing back to take your hand once Chris lets go of it.

You catch him wipe a tear off his cheek as the two of you walk back to your seats hand in hand. Once you are settled, you take a deep breath and turn to Harry who is already looking at you, the same proud smile you saw from the stage still on his handsome face.

“I have never,” he tells you as his answer to the last line of your speech and you chuckle as your free hand finds the back of his neck, pulling him close. The lipstick on your lips long forgotten as you finally kiss him for the first time tonight.

“I have never either,” you whisper against his lips before kissing him again and again.

***

Smiling around you wait for the audience to quiet down as you make yourself comfortable in the familiar armchair. It’s such a nostalgic feeling to sit here again.

“Y/N, it’s so nice to have you here again,” Ellen greets you once the clapping has stopped.

“Thank you for inviting me.”

“Of course. A lot has happened since the last time you were here, you won an Oscar just a few weeks ago, congratulations!”

The cheering starts again as a picture of you appears on the screen behind you, wearing your iconic pink gown, holding your Oscar in your hands.

“Thank you,” you shyly smile, still not entirely in peace with the fact that you are now an Oscar winning actress.

“Such a major thing, congrats.”

“Thank you, it is a huge thing, yes.”

“Do you already have a spot for the award? Does it have a designated place?”

“Well, for now it is in my study along with some more mementos, but I’m planning to have a little stand made in the living room,” you share your plans.

“Surely, I would want to show it off if I had an Oscar,” Ellen chuckles. “You have such a busy time behind you, have you been up to something new lately?”

“We finished filming the third season of The Umbrella Academy, so now I’m having a little break before I jump into anything new.”

“Sounds nice, you deserve all the relaxing. Anything planned while you’re on a break? A new book to read, or maybe a concert to go to?” she asks and you already know where this is heading.

“You know you can just ask if I’m planning to attend a Harry Styles concert,” you bluntly tell her, making the audience and Ellen laugh.

“Well, I was just asking around about your plans, but I’m happy you plan to visit Harry’s concert! It’s also good to know that the situation has changed since the last time you were here, you definitely have been to one of his concerts since then.”

“I have been, yes,” you admit smirking.

“And I assume the two of you are now very close, am I right?” she asks and suddenly a paparazzi photo of the two of you appears where you’re walking down the street hand in hand just a couple of weeks ago.

“You could say that,” you nod, biting into your bottom lip.

“Amazing, because he is going to join us now. Everyone, please welcome Harry Styles!” Ellen announces and turning around you spot Harry walking out from backstage, the audience screaming for him. He shyly waves around walking up to the center, greeting Ellen with a kiss on the cheek before he turns to you, pecking your lips shortly as he sits down next to you.

“Harry, so good to see you again,” Ellen smiles at him.

“Good t’ see you as well,” he nods.

“So, the last time you two were sitting here, you—it was the first time you ever met, right?”

“Right,” you nod with Harry.

“And now you are…” she gestures at the two of you, not finishing the sentence, but everyone knows what she meant by that.

“And now we are… not strangers anymore,” Harry says chuckling, making everyone in the studio laugh.

“Certainly,” Ellen nods. “Alright, I thought that we could play another game, just to bring back some nice memories,” she explains, reaching behind her armchair, grabbing the familiar board from her, flipping it in your hands with a nostalgic smile.

“Can we keep it PG rated though?” Harry asks, examining his board before looking up at Ellen.

“No,” she simply answers, reaching for her cards as the audience starts laughing. “Okay, you know how to play it, no need for explanation. Here is the first one: Never have I ever used my fame to get in somewhere.”

Ellen is quick to show the I HAVE side of her board and you slowly do the same while Harry thinks to himself.

“Oh come on, you surely have,” you elbow him playfully as he smirks in your way, holding up the same side as you and Ellen.

“We all have, it’s not a shame,” Ellen shrugs. “Next one. Never have I ever forgotten the name of someone right after they introduced themselves.”

Ellen holds up the I HAVE side and you do the same again while this time Harry flips it over to I HAVE NEVER confidently.

“Really?” Ellen asks him, surprised at his answer.

“I’m good with names,” he simply shrugs.

“That’s a good trait. Alright, let’s move on. Never have I ever punched someone in the face.”

It’s a sneaky and very shady statement. Just a few days after the incident with Levi, word got out that he was punched, a few blurry pictures floating around the internet of his bruise, then fans figured out it had to happen around the time Harry visited set and people were quick to put the picture together and assume that Harry was the one who hit Levi, but it was never confirmed.

Glancing at your boyfriend you are fighting your smile back, holding up the I HAVE NEVER side as he is looking back at you slyly, continuously flipping his board before it finally lands on I HAVE, the audience immediately rumbling at the partial confirmation and seemingly Ellen is also amazed by Harry’s honesty.

“Alright, interesting. Love that for you, Harry,” he comments making everyone laugh as you reach over and give Harry’s hand a squeeze. “Last one,” Ellen announces, reading the last statement from her cards. “Never have I ever fallen in love with someone I played never have I ever with.”

Ellen quickly shows her I HAVE NEVER side as you suck your lips into your mouth, glancing at Harry again. You share a look before you both slowly raise your boards, both reading the same sign on them: I HAVE.

#harry #styles #harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles au #harry styles oneshot #harry styles fluff #harry styles one shot #harry styles series #harry styles x reader #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x famous!reader #harry styles x actress!reader #never have i ever series #harry styles never have i ever #harry styles never have i ever series

1K notes · View notes

sunrisefairy · 4 years

Text

Chocolate

Pairing: George Weasley x reader

Word count: 1.8k

Summary: Y/N drunkenly confesses her feelings for George thinking it is actually Fred she’s talking to.

Warning: mentions of alcohol

A/N: I’m having way too much fun writing again, any feedback is always welcomed and if you have any ideas for future one shots let me know :)

Taglist: @hufflepuff5972 my first little tag list, my heart ❤️ if anyone else wants to be added, just message me

The Gryffindor common room floor feels like it’s about to take flight with the vibrations from the multiple speakers set up around the room. The Gryffindor quidditch team had won the first game of the year against Slytherin so of course celebrations were in order.

You found herself in the middle of the makeshift dance floor with Alicia and Angelina dancing and singing, no screaming to the music. You jump up on the nearby table taking a big swig of some fire whiskey. You start to swing your hips to the music and continue yelling the lyrics to your favourite song which just started playing. You hear a few people below whistling and cheering you on.

“Yeah! Go Y/N! Woo!” You think it was Angelina calling out, acting as your hype woman.

As the song comes to an end you jump off the table feeling like a rock star. As your feet make contact with the floor you stumble. Your legs seem to give way, maybe it was because of the way you landed but it was most likely because of the amount of alcohol running through your system, you fell to the floor.

“Woah Y/N are you okay?” Alicia was immediately by your side helping you up. You couldn’t control the giggles escaping from your mouth.

“M’ fine babe just need ‘nother drink” your words mixing into each other.

Alicia shakes her head at your drunken state, “I think you need to slow down love. C’mon, come sit down while I get you some water” Alicia guides you over to the couches on the corner of the common room, looking for a free one which isn’t occupied by a couple making out, she spots George sitting alone, perfect she thinks, a mischief glint in her eyes.

“Hey, do you mind watching this one for a minute?” Alicia practically pushes you onto the couch and you might as well be sitting on George’s lap with how close you are to him. The redhead just laughs and nods his head at Alicia who disappears back through the crowd.

The thing with being drunk is your vision tends to get blurry which is exactly what had happened to you, your surroundings becoming fuzzy. Fred and George can be tough to tell apart on a good day so add

some alcohol into the mix and some might find it near impossible. You always prided yourself on the ability to tell the 2 twins apart, noticing subtle differences in their appearance and the way they spoke which helped you realise which one was which. Although the butterflies George never failed to give you when he was in the same room as you, helped you in telling who was who. However right now in this moment you were absolutely certain the redhead sitting next to you was Fred, oh how wrong you were.

“Havin’ a good night then little one?” George says, placing an arm around your shoulder in an attempt to steady your swaying body, maybe using that as an excuse to be close to you.

“Oh loads” you yell over the thumping music, “my foot is kinda sore though, actually ya know what might fix that?” George is too entertained by your drunken rambling to answer. “I think some chocolate will help, don’t ya think chocolate just fixes everything, maybe chocolate has somethin’ magical in it. Don’t you think chocolate is just delicious?” you hiccup, George nods amused.

Your eyes widen as you’re reminded of something “Oh Freddie, I think I know why I love chocolate so much” George doesn’t think he heard you right, did you just call him Fred? He goes to correct you, but you keep talking.

“Chocolate tastes so warm and sweet, it reminds me of Georges eyes, his eyes are so warm and sweet to look at” you say almost dreamingly, George shuts his mouth pretty quickly. “George has the prettiest eyes. I mean he’s got the prettiest everything. His face is like, like it was crafted by angels. And he’s so funny, everything he says makes me smile, I like him so much Freddie.”

George thinks he must be dreaming, surely he hadn’t heard you correctly. You feel your eyes growing heavier by the second, resting your head on the redhead’s shoulder.

“Freddie, promise me you won’t tell George, I couldn’t take it if he doesn’t like me back.” You say curling into his side.

George doesn’t know what to say, part of him wants to tell you that he isn’t actually Fred, that he’s George and he does like you back but the other part of him kind of feels embarrassed he didn’t say anything sooner, so he opts for:

“I’m sure he likes you too.” He doesn’t think you heard it though, judging from the light snores coming from your mouth.

At that point Alicia is back in front of them, thanking George for watching you while she was gone, with a little struggle she is walking you back to your dorm.

~~~

The next morning George is sitting with Lee and Fred in the great hall, spilling everything Y/N said last night.

“I knew she liked you!” Lee exclaims, “like she’s always staring at you during class.”

Fred chuckles “maybe she thought she was staring at me.”

George shoves him in the chest, shaking his head. The tall boy is nervous to see you today. He isn’t sure what he is going to say, George knows he needs to tell you that he feels the same way but a part of him is worried you didn’t actually mean what you said. You were very drunk and drunk people tend to say some random stuff. He doesn’t have much time to dwell over it because he spots you and Angelina walking into the great hall. Your hair is a little crazy, obviously quickly been thrown in a bun and you clearly are sporting a killer hangover but he still thinks you look divine.

“Surprised to see you up so early Y/N, you were very intoxicated last night” Lee laughs as you and Angelina sit down.

You groan, rubbing your eyes “I’m surprised too, I feel like a zombie and my ankle hurts.”

Fred laughs loudly after sending a wink Angelina’s way, “that’s probably from when you jumped off the table after your little dance performance. You went tumbling down. It was hilarious” George whacks his twin over the head, eyeing you slightly as you put some toast on your plate.

“Merlin, I don’t remember that or anything from last night to be honest. It’s all so fuzzy” you mumble as you take a large bite of your toast.

George feels his heart drop a little, although last night you hadn’t realised it was actually him you were talking to, he thought it would be easier to confess his feelings if you actually remember last night, now he was too scared.

~~~

Later that day you and Angelina are back in your dorm room laying on your bed with Alicia talking about previous night.

“What even happened last night? The last thing I remember is dancing and that’s it” you laugh as you flick through a magazine.

“So you don’t remember chatting to George on the couch before passing out? You can thank me for that Y/N, I had the brilliant idea of having George look after you while I went to fetch you some water” Alicia grins.

Alicia and Angelina were the only ones who knew of your major crush on the tall sweet redhead. Many times, they have tried to convince you to just tell George how you feel and even try to meddle themselves.

You furrow your eyebrows, trying to remember if you said anything embarrassing to the boy.

“Huh, are you sure it was George? I swear I was chatting to Fred last night” you chuckle remembering some of your conversation.

Alicia shook her head, “nope it was definitely George, I know that for a fact because when I left to get your water, I passed Fred and Angelina making out” Alicia elbows Angelina’s side who is blushing profusely.

You shrug your shoulders, “well me and George then were having a pretty weird conversation about chocolate actually. I thought it would heal my sore ankle” the girls all giggle as you continue, “it was very random we were talking about chocolate and then…” your voice fades into silence as you remember how that conversation went.

Alicia and Angelina are confused as you leap of the bed and start running out the door, “wait what happened?” you hear Angelina yell as you run out of the room.

Your heart feels like it’s going to beat out of your chest, you need to find George. You are beyond embarrassed that you basically confessed your love to George, the whole conversation becoming clearer and clearer in your brain. But you are unsure if you had dreamt the reply Fred, no George had given you as you drifted off to sleep on that couch.

You enter the common room, scanning for a particular redhead who you find sitting on the couch with Fred and Lee. You run up to the group, out of breath.

“Did you mean what you said last night?” you blurt out, feeling very, very nervous.

George break eye contact from whatever he was originally looking at and meets your eyes which are desperately searching for a response “what?” he squeaks out.

Fred and Lee share a look at each other and move from the couch, figuring out that the pair need some privacy although they do continue listening to the conversation from the other end of the common room.

“Last night. On the couch. I told you that I liked you, well, I said I liked George because I thought I was talking to Fred. And then you said ‘I’m sure he likes you too’ so do you? Like me?” you feel like your heart is going to explode and you are well aware of the multiple pairs of eyes staring at yours and Georges exchange which is making you extra scared of the potential rejection.

George nods, not really confident enough to speak right now. What you do next surprises him. If he wasn’t already sitting down, he might have fallen over with the force of you leaping towards him. You wrap your arms around his neck and press your lips to his. George immediately grips your waist and kisses you back. You can hear some people cheering in the background which makes you smile into the kiss.

You pull away slightly breathless, “that’s good then,” George chuckles and you hear Fred from somewhere behind you say rather loudly to Lee.

“Imagine if she kissed the wrong twin.”

“Shut up Fred” You and George say simultaneously.

#George Weasley #George weasley one shot #George weasley x reader #Fred and george #George weasley fanfic #George Weasley x you #George Weasley Fluff #George Weasley imagine #George Weasley oneshot #Harry Potter #harry potter imagines #hp fanfic #hp one shot

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malfoysstilinski · 4 years

Text

girl in the mirror | DRACO MALFOY

MASTERLIST

PAIRING: Draco Malfoy x Muggle!Reader

WORD COUNT: 2.1k

SUMMARY: in which draco and y/n are soulmates and can hear each others’ music, and you’ve been blasting sad songs all week, worrying draco.

WARNINGS: one mean joke about americans sozzles

A/N: based on the tiktoks where soulmates can hear each others’ music. i dont think ive seen an imagine like that on here so i thought i’d write one :)) also set in 2010s

In the Wizarding world, on your thirteenth birthday, you are officially bound to your soulmate. This means different things for different wizards and witches, depending on what they valued. For example, when Blaise Zabini turned thirteen, he was able to see his soulmate in mirrors-- fitting considering how self-obsessed he was.

Draco, however, heard music. You must be obsessed with it, he realised. He found out he was right pretty quickly, waking up to the sound of your playlists muffled in his ears and falling asleep to them too.

It was always Muggle music too. You must be a half-blood, or even… Merlin forbid, a Muggle-born. Realising that his soulmate wasn’t going to be a pure-blood like his parents had planned, Draco kept the news to himself and worked on his vocabulary. He tried his best to bite his tongue around Granger, ignoring his friends when they made fun of their ‘dirty’ blood.

He didn’t want to hurt you when he got to meet you.

It took Draco longer than it should have to realise you definitely didn’t go to Hogwarts. How could you when he’d be sat in assemblies, the room so silent you could hear a pin drop, and all he’d hear is the thumping of your music in his ears as if he was underwater?

“She’s probably an American,” Pansy pretends to gag, the others laughing with her.

“Could be a Beauxbaton,” Blaise suggests.

Draco doesn’t like to make assumptions, but he thinks you are definitely a Muggle. It’s rare, but not unheard of in the Wizarding world, especially nowadays. For the Malfoys, though, it would be an outrage.

You play your music the most when he’s eating dinner in the Great Hall or when he’s getting ready for bed.

At first, he hated it. He hated your music, he hated how his head was rarely ever quiet, and he hated that he didn’t know who you were in order to beg you to take your headphones out for once.

However, Draco learnt to love your music. Songs and bands he’d never heard of before quickly became his favourites and eventually, he found himself humming your Muggle tunes in the common room or quietly singing along in his dorm when the other boys were out doing whatever.

He learned to love having your music in his head, especially as the years rolled on and his life became harder and harder. It made him feel like he was never alone, your muffled melodies making a home in his head and pushing out all of his anxiety and depression.

Draco wanted to dance with you to them. He liked to lay in bed at night and listen to your songs and imagine that you’re lying next to him. He bets you have a nice singing voice. Maybe you can even play an instrument or two. Maybe you could teach him how to play the guitar, and maybe he could show you how to play his favourite pieces on the piano.

Your music is never too upbeat, but today Draco feels like he hasn’t heard a single song that wasn’t about being sad. As he trudged from class to class, Draco couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong with you. It had been going on for the past few days, and the music stopped altogether on one of the days.

He went to bed with an empty head for the first time in a few years, staring at his ceiling. He plugged his iPod in and went to the Muggle section, playing a few of your favourite songs. It wasn’t the same.

“What’s up with you?” Blaise demands as Draco doesn’t touch his meal for the second time that day.

Draco glances to his friend and looks away, shaking his head. “Mind your own business, Zabini,” he mutters weakly.

Blaise’s soulmate, a Slytherin in the year below, joins them at sitting on the table and Blaise immediately forgets all about Draco, the two of them giggling as they hug each other. Draco thought he could throw up right there and then, shaking his head in disgust.

Green was Draco’s colour and Merlin was he jealous.

Why did you have to be a stupid Muggle?

Draco immediately feels bad for even thinking it. He wants to hug you and kiss the top of your head and mutter apology after apology. The soft feeling makes him feel weak. You did things to him that nobody else did, and he doesn’t even know who you were. The fact that you were most likely going through a rough time right now made it ten times worse.

“What’s wrong with Draco?” He hears Zabini’s girl whisper.

“Why don’t you ask me yourself?” Draco snaps, lip curling in disgust. “Instead of talking behind my back like a coward!”

“Draco,” Blaise growls. “I don’t know what’s up with you, mate, but you need to calm down.”

“It’s your soulmate, isn’t it?” Pansy quirks an eyebrow from opposite them. “Are they playing that rubbish song you hate on repeat again?”

“No,” Draco hisses in defence of you. “I like that song, thank you.”

Pansy holds her hands up. “Okay, whatever. Sorry, Malfoy. What has got your knickers in a twist, then?”

He hesitates. He doesn’t like talking about you to anybody else but he’s really worried and he thinks maybe one of them might be able to help.

“She’s…” Draco’s eyes drift to burn holes in the table in front of him. “She’s been listening to sad songs.”

Goyle snorts, making Draco’s head snap to him in fury.

“Sorry, Malfoy, sorry… But that does sound ridiculous, mate,” Goyle admits. “She’s probably just into that… genre?”

“No, you don’t understand,” Draco huffs and shakes his head. “You don’t know her like I do. Something’s wrong with her, I can tell.”

“Well, why don’t you visit her?” Blaise asks, grabbing a grape and popping into his mouth.

“What?” Draco spits. “Is that a joke, Zabini? I don’t find it funny--”

“I’m not joking,” Blaise frowns. “Merlin’s sake, Malfoy. Do you not pay attention in Charms?”

“Of course I do,” Draco hesitates, lying. “But what are you talking about, anyway?”

…

Draco feels ridiculous as he stands in front of the mirror in the bathrooms later that night. It’s silent since it’s the middle of the night, but Draco knows you’re awake because of the glum music playing faintly in his ears.

He wants to visit you like Blaise told him to do, and as he stands in front of the mirror and casts his incantations, he can’t help but wonder if this is a setup. He doesn’t give his hopes up, doesn’t hold his breath that when he opens his eyes you’ll be on the other side of the mirror.

But he wants you to be. He wants you to be there so badly.

Draco does sort of believe it so he put on his black turtleneck and black suit and combed his hair like usual, replacing the uniform and robes he’d been wearing all day. He doesn’t want you to see him and be disappointed.

He knows he won’t be disappointed no matter what you look like or what you are.

Draco takes a deep breath as he lowers his wand and closes his eyes. When he counts down and opens his eyes, he’s stunned into silence by the sight in front of him. His heart skips a beat and he nearly chokes on his own spit.

Staring back at him in the mirror is not his own pale reflection but what looks like a bedroom. The mirror glows orange from the lighting and he can see that it’s decorated with posters and records and other Muggle things. Draco doesn’t even process that you’re a confirmed Muggle at this point, he doesn’t care enough about that.

On a single bed in the middle of the room, sat up in the very centre with headphones in and a laptop in front of her, is a girl his age. She’s got beautiful y/s/c skin and y/c/h locks that have been thrown up into a messy bun, her y/c/e trained on the screen in front of her as she watches what he assumes is a film or a tv show.

She’s wearing a school uniform, not quite as posh as Hogwarts’, and it’s slightly crumpled from sitting in her bed with it on. Her polished black shoes are nowhere to be seen, rips in the bottom of her tights no doubt from wearing them thin five days a week.

Draco can’t believe he’s looking at you right now. He reaches his hand out, eyes widening when his fingers seem to slip past the glass and he’s sucked into another world-- your world. He wasn’t expecting it to happen, a small yelp leaving his lips as he tumbles straight out of the mirror hanging on your wall and onto your carpet.

You both scream as you make eye contact and you’ve thrown your laptop about in a panic. There’s no music in his ears now that he stands in front of you. Draco breathes heavily, unsure what to say.

“Um, hello?” He offers.

“What the hell?” You yell. “What are you doing in my bedroom? Who are you? My laptop!”

You ignore him as you dive off of the bed and pick it up. The screen is smashed making you glare at him harder.

“I’m sorry!” Draco practically squeaks. “I- I have Galleons--”

“Who are you?” You cut him off roughly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Draco keeps repeating, hoping you will calm down. “I-I’m Draco Malfoy.”

“Draco Malfoy?” You repeat with a mocking laugh. “Is that a joke?”

“No,” he replies, voice pitched higher than usual with offence. “What’s your name?”

Normally you wouldn’t tell a stranger your name, but this situation is anything but normal. You stare at the boy for a few seconds, wondering why he feels familiar. There’s something about him that has you relaxing under his gaze, which is weird because he literally just appeared out of nowhere.

“Y/N Y/L/N,” you reply sceptically.

Draco smiles, “beautiful name.”

“Are you like a nonce or something?”

“Nonce?” Draco crinkles his nose in confusion.

You narrow your brows at him. “You’re literally British-- how do you not know what that means?”

“I’m not… I don’t really come from your kind of England,” Draco doesn’t know how to explain there is an entire world she’s been hidden from-- this is the first Muggle he’s ever had a conversation with.

“Are you Welsh?”

“Do I sound Welsh to you?” Draco cocks his head to the side, already amused.

“Sometimes I can’t tell the difference, not gonna lie,” you reply. “But no. I’m sure you’re English. You sound like you’re a private school kid or something.”

“I guess I am,” Draco replies quietly, looking around your bedroom and taking in all of the colours that it has.

You seem to snap out of whatever daze you were in. “Hey! You distracted me. Now tell me what the hell you’re doing in my bedroom before I call the police.”

Draco’s tongue darts out to wet his lips as he contemplates his next words. He hesitates and sits down on your bed next to you. You can smell his cologne-- it smells much more expensive than the Lynx sprays the boys at college seem to be obsessed with.

“Do you ever hear music in your ears?” He asks, watching your eyes widen in conformation. “You do. That’s… that’s me. My music. I hear your music too. You listen to it all the time. Um… normally a lot of bands and stuff.”

There’s a long silence. “Do you have me on Spotify?”

“What’s Spotify?” Draco’s nose crinkles.

“You probably just see what I listen to on Spotify!” You claim, standing up as you become weary of the boy on your bed.

Draco still doesn’t quite understand your Muggle terminology, but he gets the gist of what you’re trying to imply.

“That doesn’t explain the music you hear in your head from me,” Draco tries. “Or how I just came out of your mirror.”

You look overwhelmed. “What are you?” You whisper.

“We, Y/N, are soulmates.”

...

yuh

PART TWO HERE

#draco malfoy #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy imagine #draco #malfoy #harrypotter #harry potter #dracotok #blaise zabini #pansy parkinson #gregory goyle #soulmates au #soulmate au #harry potter imagine #harry potter au #draco malfoy au

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zekeluvr · 4 years

Note

i,, i’m going through an eren brainrot rn and i was hoping if i could request a sub n very needy eren x f!reader. something along the lines of him pissing off the reader and she teases him to the max and eren’s just begginggg ; and then reader gets herself off without letting him release and he’s just cryinG AGGHHABA I HOPE THIS MAKES SENSE <//3 ty have a nice day ≧ω≦

oh lord................................... i have to....................... think alot oh god,,, also college au bc head empty <333

vvv nsfw under the cut vvv

today has been so fucking stressful for you. class has not been treating you well and your asshole of a boyfriend has been acting more like an asshole than usual. you loved him, of course you did, but god did you wish he would shut his fucking mouth sometimes.

you often confided in your dorm-mate, ymir for advice, causing her to just laugh and nudge you with a: “sorry can’t relate, my girlfriend is basically an angel on earth.” to which you respond with a snicker and nudge her back.

you often wished you had what historia and ymir had between them with eren but he had a weird charm that had you fall for him in the first place.

you had a free period sandwiched between two lessons of english literature. so, instead of going back to your dorm for a nap or to the nearest starbucks, you spent it in the library with a classmate of yours. she was quite standoffish when you first met her. a short blond who intimidated nearly everyone around her.

you were one of the few lucky ones who were able to get close to her. the other two being a jock and his sidekick but more into that later.

sighing as your phone buzzed against the wooden table, you saw the multiple notifications from eren pop up on screen. your eye twitched as you tried focusing on studying and annie let out a small chuckle at your reaction.

“problem in paradise?” she mused, watching as you tensed for a second before letting out a deep breath.

“man, i don’t know. i love eren but-” you were about to go on until annie kicked you under the desk, jutting her head towards the right. you furrowed your brows, looking behind you to see your boyfriend enter with his two friends.

“speak of the devil.”

“y/n.” eren smirked, taking a chair and spinning it around, sitting down with his legs on either side. his arms rested on the top of the back of the wooden chair. “whatcha doin’” his head cocked to the side to look at you, like a lost puppy.

his hair was slowly falling out of his bun, causing small strands to frame his face. you would be lying if you said he didn’t look ethereal.

“im studying, jaeger.” you let out, running a yellow highlighter along a few keywords, keeping your eyes on your textbook.

eren rolled his eyes in response, peering over the chair to take a look at your various notes before snorting. “fuckin’ nerd.”

you threw a look over at him. could he not take anything seriously? “don’t you guys have somewhere to be maybe? like i don’t know, catching up with professor erwin?” annie spoke up, causing all of you to have a moment of shock. armin nodded, agreeing with her, tugging on eren’s hood.

“they’re trying to study, c’mon don’t bother them.”

mikasa was silent, giving you an apologising smile.

“bother my own girlfriend? more likely than you think, but yeah, my brother will be on my ass if i miss another fucking meeting.” he sighs, giving you a playful two finger salute before rushing off with the other two. you slumped into your chair.

“sorry annie-”

“just teach him a lesson or something, if you catch my drift.” she mumbles quickly, collecting her stuff. you look at her in surprise.

“what?” she snickers at your reaction, “im not a fucking virgin. time for class.” she mentions, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

“good idea..” you mumble to yourself as she walks off, leaving you to your own thoughts.

good idea indeed.

and eren gave you just the perfect opportunity. he burst in with no knock, no indication he was coming over, nothing.

ymir was spending the night at historia’s so you didn’t have to worry about that.

“eren what the fuck have i told you about coming in unannounced? ymir could’ve been i dont know, getting it on with historia for all you know.” you looked over at him, smiling internally at how he remembered to take his shoes off before joining you on your bed. you were not about to have his dirty ass shoes on your clean bed.

“sorry but to be fair i did see ymir walk into historia’s dorm so i knew you were alone.” he steals your soda to take a sip of it before placing it back on the bedside table.

annie’s words echoed in your head, causing you to jump into action.

you threw yourself over him, straddling his waist as he straightened up, excitement flashing in his eyes at where the night was leading. your threw your arms over his shoulders, shuffling so that you purposefully pressed onto his bulge through his jeans.

he moved forward to catch your lips but you ducked your head, kissing down his cheek and jaw, running your tongue along the skin. your continued down, relishing in the way his hips jutted up once you pressed your lips to that one spot on his neck. you bit and sucked, marking him as yours.

eren’s hands rested at your hips, his fingers digging into your thin tank top.

you spot ymir’s tie on the floor. perfect.

you climb off of him, a quizzical look painting his face as you picked it up along with one of your (clean) socks. the brunet seemed to put two and two together.

“ohhh is that what we’re doing huh baby?” he threw his jacket off along with his shirt, expecting you to stare. however, he got the opposite. you ignored his movements, simply binding his hands to the bed and the using the (CLEAN!!!) sock as a makeshift ballgag.

you were impressed with yourself. taking your phone out to take a quick picture before tossing it away and getting to work.

“you’ve been such a bitch boy for the past few days. why?” you questioned him, enjoying how he struggled to form words with the cloth in his mouth.

“is it because you haven’t got your dick wet in a while? is that it?” you tease, slipping your clothes off, leaving you in your underwear and bra. his eyes trailed your form, every curve and beauty mark. he flicked his eyes from you to his pants, which had a much evident tent in them now.

you gave a little bit of mercy, pulling his jeans off and dragging a palm over his boxers where his cock had already leaked with precum. after a few teasing presses, you give him the relief of taking off his boxers.

you took his dick in your hands, pumping it a few times. you swiped your tongue along the tip, causing him to shudder under you. you stepped out of your panties, letting them drop to the floor. his eyes took notice of your arousal dripping down your thighs. your finger toyed with your clit, spreading your legs for him to see, his cock twitching when you shoved a finger into your cunt.

eren wanted nothing more than to shove his face between your thighs right now. to lap and lick at your juices as you moaned his name. he tugged at the binding, brows furrowing as his cock begged for attention.

you giggled at his neediness, crawling over to him and hovering over his length before fulling sitting down on him. drool split out of his mouth, causing the cloth ti go damp. a dull moan escaping his throat.

you were so hot and tight around him and he couldn’t help but buck his hips upwards into yours. though he easily hit into your sensitive spot.

“holy fuck, you’re so fucking big fuck.” you cursed, lifting yourself before slamming down onto him, causing him to throw his head back at the feeling. the lewd sound of skin on skin echoed throughout your room and whoever walked past would definitely know what was going on.

you continue fucking yourself on his cock, using your fingers to pinch at your clit. the sight alone could’ve made eren cum in you but it was nothing compared to how you creamed around him, your walls pulsing around him. he was literally about to fall off the edge, before you pulled off of him. his cock falling limp as a tiny drop of cum dribbled out of him.

“wha fe hell!” he yelled through the fabric. you pulled the sock in his mouth down, letting him talk freely.

“please y/n! i want to cum! please let me cum!” eren begged, tugging on the bindings harder. “please fuck- i just wanna feel your pretty pussy please.” he pressed on further, causing the corners of your lips to curl up into a teasing smile. his eyes were glassy, tears falling with a single blink. long brown hair sticking to his damp forehead, messy on the pillow under his head.

“sorry baby..” you threw on a hoodie, your panties and some shorts after cleaning yourself up.

“maybe if you weren’t such a little bitchy boy, i would’ve let you cum.” you slid his boxers and jeans back on for him, zipping him up.

“now, you stay here, im gonna get us some pizza, yeah?” you pulled his hair into a bun and loosened the tie around his wrists slightly.

you’ll untie them completely later, but for now, you wanted to have your fun.

#eren smut #timeskip eren smut #eren yeager smut #eren jaeger smut #eren x reader smut #attack on titan smut

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twiddle-dee-twiddle-dumb · 3 years

Text

A/N - I was bored in the office. There’s nothing much to do and an idea for ficlets, drabbles for Haikyuu Boys came into my mind. So here it goes…

WAS SUPPOSED TO ADD USHIJIMA HERE BUT I'M ALREADY TOO SPENT. HAHAHAHAUHSHSHAJSSAJSJK (TT-----TT)

HAIKYU! BOYS & S/O ARGUED BEFORE AN IMPORTANT EVENT

Toru Oikawa

Warning: slightly suggestive (???); jealousy, jealousy; provocation

It's something petty, honestly. It's just because you didn't hear what he was trying to say since you are busy making dinner in the kitchen. And that you made him repeat what he said three times. THREE TIMES. That is enough to make Toru feel neglected. You knew that there's a change in his demeanor so you apologized but he ignored you all through out the dinner. He's stubborn and you knew better than to push further. You both went to bed not speaking to each other. I mean, Oikawa not speaking to you.

The next morning, hours before the event, he went to work early. He just left a note on the fridge. "I'll go to the party. I brought my party clothes in the office. Attend if you want to." you crumpled the piece of paper you're holding and you're gritting through your teeth. You are seething with anger that Toru chose war—he chose to prolong this petty drama, so be it.

It's time to change the plans. He already knows what you're gonna wear. Well, since it has come to this point, you decide to go to an emergency shopping. You bought a red open back dress with a low neckline paired with a white gold chandelier earrings and chandelier choker necklace. Show-stopping, attention-grabbing like he wanted.

You drove to the venue, not informing your husband that you're gonna dang see him at the party. You arrived earlier than him. You greeted everyone you know at the party. They were complimenting you, men and women alike. However, people can't help but ask where your husband is. "He is still quite occupied but he'll arrive shortly." is what you tell them and try to swerve the point of the conversation to them.

Not moments later, Oikawa entered the scene as pointed out by someone in your circle. You see him greet everybody who comes in his way. Looking at him right now, he's still as popular and handsome as before (too bad, he's being a real bitch to you). You turned back you attention to your social circle before he could see you looking at him.

It was not that long when you felt a scorching gaze from across the room. You feigned indifference. You knew who it was. Your phone kept on buzzing. Taking your phone out of your purse, you checked who it was thinking it was an emergency at home or your parents' house. It was just Toru—bombarding you with messages and missed calls. Trying to get my attention I see, you thought. You glanced at his direction, for mere seconds, before turning your attention to back to your phone. With no intention to reply, you returned your phone back inside the pouch. Two can play this game.

Until you caught a whiff of his cologne and felt something being placed on your shoulders, covering your back. You eyed him, expression unreadable. "I'm afraid we're going to go home early, sweetheart.", he whispered in your ear as you feel the pressure of his grip on your side.

"So, we're talking now?", raising an eyebrow, you can't help but retort, pushing his buttons even more, even though you know that you're going to pay the consequences for the rest of the night.

Tetsurou Kuroo

Warning: suggestive; provocation; innuendos

Kuroo informed you that the company anniversary is coming up and he's bringing you along for the party. The day before the event, you decided to go to the dresser to get your hair done. It was going well until the dresser made a mistake which resulted to your hair a tad shorter that it was. The dresser apologized profusely. The poor girl was nearly in tears. You just laughed it off, reassuring her that it's fine. Not really making a big deal out of the nagging feeling that your husband might react. Oh please, hair grows back. Plus, it doesn't look bad. You looked more glowing so maybe that mistake isn't bad after all.

When you got home, Kuroo was acting weird. He kept on glancing at you like you're someone unfamiliar. When he saw you at the door, he just stared at you with his brows furrowed. When you were eating dinner, he was awfully quiet. Usually, he would tell you about his day at the office but to day, he's painstakingly silent.

"Babe, is there something wrong?" you asked again for the umpteenth time. Because clearly, something's wrong. He just evades or refuses to answer. But, this time, you pressed further. "Come on, tell me."

"Your hair!" he answered, voice slightly higher than the usual with a slight anger undertone. Of course, you we're expecting some reaction but not like this. You were surprised. You know how much he adored your long hair. You were even more surprised that he's noticed. Oh my dork, baby.

"Well, the dresser kind of made a mistake so we end up cutting it." you reasoned which he responded with a grunt. He's really sulky about this. "I apologize for the accident. But love, it's just four inches long and it's going to grow back in time."

"NO." he said. you gawked at him. Shocked at his response.

"Ruru, you're being a baby about this."

He proceeded to ignore you. He isn't usually like this. Most of the times he listens to actual reasons. You just shrugged it off, thinking that he'll come back around in the morning.

Oh boy, he's still that sulky little kid with a cold reception. He ate the breakfast you made him though but he went to work in haste. Guess, you really need to do something to rectify your situation as you start to get annoyed. He's smart but he's acting like a dummy right now. It's just hair and he perfectly knows that hair grows back.

It's only hours before the event, you're rummaging your closet for something to wear. You settled with a salmon pink pantsuit with a white chiffon string strap as an innerwear. you brought out your cream faux leather block heel sandals. You also laid out all the accessories you want to wear for this event.

You start prepping up for the event. "Testu, babe. I'll be a bit late.", you texted him but this motherfucking child had the guts to purposely leave you on read.

You put your hair in a messy half bun adorned with cute pearl accent hairpins whilst curling the remaining hair into soft waves. (Makes your hair a bit shorter, heh.) You're going for the Smokey eye look and those cat eyeliner is popping. you put on the accessories. you even wore ear cuffs for some additional swag.

All satisfied with your vibe, you took a cab to the company. When you arrived, you were greeted by the people you know while they ushered you to where your husband is. When you arrived at the table, he still hasn't spoken a word. Trying not to get the silent treatment under your skin, you excused your self to socialize with the people you know. As you kept on chitchatting with them, someone pointed out that your husband is sending weird glares to your direction. You told told them to pay him no mind.

You occasionally push your hair behind your ear or play with your hair like subtle flips while laughing with your friends. Partly provoking, trying to get Kuroo to look at the angle of your jaw and neck with your new hairdo. You got compliments because of your more fresh and glowing look.

Your phone kept on vibrating in your pocket. It was Kuroo. Ranting about what you're doing. You can't help but play with fire so you replied only with "Oh, so now we're talking?" inwardly smirking, you think you had the upper hand.

"Party's over. We're going home. There are things we needed to discuss." he replied back. Not long before a hand touched your lower back and the voice you badly want to hear was murmuring excuses and goodbyes to the people at the party while casually leading you to exit.

Oh sweet, you've never been more excited to go home than tonight.

#hq oikawa #hq kuroo #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu!!#haikyuu time skip #haikyuu fic #kuroo testuro #oikawa toru #hq fluff #ficlet #drabble #short fiction #i just wrote this out on a whim

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kuronanox · 4 years

Text

Every moment with you-Ukitake Jushiro

"If I had to be reborn every lifetime it would always be you."

(Your Name) sighs while sitting on the floor packing all her belongings and putting them in boxes to move out the barracks. This was the hardest thing to do, everything they shared and everything Ukitake had were being placed else where. It didn't feel right to her but and she just lost her husband and home.

She felt lifeless as Kyoraku sat across from her and frowned. Of course he was still heart broken by his best friend, his brother death. They were inseparable.

"(Your Name) I know it's hard but I promise you things will get better."

"Better said than done." She answers back but doesn't look him in the eye and folds his captains cloth placing it in a nice decorative box where she put all his special belongings.

"You will be okay out there?" He asks worriedly as she nods her head in response and rubs her red eyes from all the crying.

"I'll check up on you every often." Kyoraku sits himself up and takes one last look of Ukitake and (Your Name) house before looking down and bidding a farewell.

"(Your Name) come here." Ukitake kindly smiles at his wife as she set the hot tea down. Walking towards him he held a brush as she sat in front of him and hummed in delight.

"You know my favorite part of the day is at night and we get to spend quality time together." He says as she hums in response.

"My favorite part is waking up to you." She answers back as he chuckles and ties her hair back in a low bun as she turns towards him.

"I guess your answer is better than mine." He slightly pouts and takes a sip of the tea that was prepared.

(Your Name) curled in bed alone as she cried again they spend hundreds and years together as friends and the love of each other life's. So she asked herself how do you fully heal if you've spend most your life depending on each other.

Ukitake was no longer here, who could she depend on that was like him? His soothing voice and calming nature made her feel secure.

Looking out the window it was a starry night as she moved out to the country side to heal more. Setting up his shrine and everything else it was weird. Never had she been alone like this.

(Your Name) wondered was his soul reborn yet? Was he in Rukongai or the Human World? Either way it would be impossible to find him. There's was millions of soul getting reborn everyday.

"You're sick! I'm not letting you leave this room." (Your Name) yells at Ukitake as he coughs and holds onto his desk for support as she ran to his side and held him up.

"Yes but work comes first." He says softly and sits back down to do unfinished business.

"Honey. You've down enough, maybe it's time you retired? It's only a matter of time and you are only getting older!" She exclaims as he chuckles and swats her away kindly.

"I still look young though."

She rolled her eyes and pouted, Ukitake health was slowly getting worse but it never stopped him from working hard and supporting his squad.

There were times she worried he didn't have long to live because of how severely sick he would get at times but those thoughts she bore were heavy on her heart.

"I'm just scared...what if something bad happens to you?"

Ukitake looks up to her and grabs her hand gently with his and kisses it.

"I'm here right now that's all that matters."

"But what if there comes a time you aren't no more?" She questions as he knits his brows to find words to say.

Ukitake didn't know what to say because he also knew.

"You know I'll always have you and I'll be somewhere better." Although those weren't the words he wanted to say the truth had to be told as she looks down and nods.

"I love you." She whispers and he smiles.

"I love you too."

Waking up the sun peaked up as she groaned and looked towards her side.

"I guess its still a habit. I can imagine you here but you aren't here."

Getting ready for the day she had a unexpected visitor. Well it was expected but he didn't tell her.

"Good morning!" Kyoraku happily says walking into her new place as she smiles back and lets him in.

They both said their prayers to the shine before setting up the table to eat breakfast.

"How are you holding up?"

She wanted to lie but didn't know how to.

"It's okay, I can't say I haven't stop crying and doing old habits but I think being out here is better and getting the fresh air feels nice."

The older man hums in response and stares out to look at the flowers scattered everywhere. "He would have loved it out here."

"I know... that's why I decided to come out here. It's more like 'you've worked hard let's go rest somewhere peaceful now' I know it's time for me to rest also."

Kyoraku smiles and then looks at Ukitake picture.

"He's smiling down at us (Your Name) theres no need to torture yourself no more."

She rolls her eyes playfully and looks at the picture too before grinning. "I know but it's hard."

"I'm not leaving him!" (Your Name) screamed at Kyoraku as Ukitake prayed to Mimihagi as to becoming the right hand of the soul king.

"I promised him you would not die in this war!"

(Your Name) cried as she watched Ukitake sacrifice himself and suffer in pain.

"You knew and didn't tell me, you guys both knew! How could you let me leave him like this." As she cried and fell on the floor.

Kyoraku grabbed her forcefully as she struggled to get loose and she screamed in pain.

"I'm not letting him leave by himself."

"Don't be selfish (Your Name) you aren't thinking! He's doing this for the sake of Seireitei! He's doing this for everyone! For you!" Kyoraku yells at her as she looks away and cries into his chest.

Glancing back at Ukitake she wasn't sure if he was still physically here.

Wiping her tears she cooled her head and nodded.

Kyoraku left as she signed and laid in bed. She would go back to work when she was fully healed but as of right now she didn't wanna do anything.

Life at this point had no meaning to her if he was gone.

"I promise you I'll get better."

50 years later

It took her a few years after Ukitake death to piece herself back together, during the time she went back to being a shinigami and full filling her duties to protect souls and those she loved.

There had been a disturbance in the world of living so her and few lieutenants were sent down to the world of living to check it out.

"I feel a high reitsu coming from the west." Hisagi says as him and Kira went to check it out.

"I'll check east and Renji will go south." Rangiku tells (Your Name) as she nods and follows north.

It had been many years since she was last down here. It had been during Aizen's battle.

"The human world has changed quite a bit."

After reporting a few suspicious incident to Kyoraku she watched the sunset alone waiting for the others.

A man in his 30s walked by her reading a book, he was smiling peacefully with his hair tied in a low pony and a nice button up.

The white hair tamed.

She gasped slightly as he looked up to her and his eyes widen a bit.

"You can see me?" She asks questioning him.

"I can see you, Ive seen many things since I was a child." Ukitake laughs not fazed a bit from her outfit and sword.

She felt happy tears fall from her eyes as he jumped a bit afraid he had hurt her feelings because she was dead and he wasn't.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so happy. You're alive."

He tilts his head in confusion as she wipes them away.

"My name is (Your Name)." She introduced herself as he kindly bowed

Although she wanted to bring him back he had a different life here and showing them together would only confuse him.

"Your name sounds familiar to me." Ukitake says as she sadly smiled and lied to him. "Maybe it's common around here?"

"No it's pretty unique. I've heard it somewhere." He says but can't seem to connect the clues.

Oh how was the world was cruel to them both at this moment. She would have to remember all the memories of them as his was mixed with confusion and facts.

"Do you believe in rebirth?" She then asks him as he nods his head. She took a deep breath and said the following words Ukitake told her before his death and sacrifice.

"If I had to be reborn every lifetime it would always be you."

Ukitake touches his head as it started to feel a bit dizzy and she held him and he gasps. He knew for sure something about her was familiar but he was getting frustrated not being able to figure it out.

Tears fell from her face as Ukitake eyes were watering. "Why am I crying? My body is doing it on its own."

Ukitake was beyond confused but she wouldn't let him suffer no longer. She knew he was safe and happily healthy living down here and that's all she needed to know.

"I'll wait a few more years for you and then we'll meet up there."

Ukitake looks at her and reached his hand out. He didn't want her to leave this comforting feeling and Ukitake knew he knew her somehow but he can't remember.

Kissing his forehead she took one last glance and disappeared.

"I'll see you then my love. I'll watch over you till it's your time and then we can finally be together again."

Ukitake looks up to the sky as the uncontrollable tears fell from his face and he tried his best to compose himself. He just couldn't as he cried, he felt something from her and he would have to wait.

As much as he wanted the pain to leave, his own heart neglected his mind.

"I'll see you again (Your Name)."

(Authors note: Oo so sad, Ukitake is literally so precious, he didn't deserve death.)

#bleach #tite kubo #bleach x reader #bleach oneshots #bleach oneshot #bleach imagine #bleach imagines #bleach ukitake #jushiro ukitake #jūshirō ukitake #ukitake jushiro #bleach Jushiro #bleach Kyoraku #shunsui kyoraku #kyoraku shunsui

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dnarez · 3 years

Text

Chapter 7 - Autumn Coat

It's been a few months since you started to work as a caretaker, nothing grand happened, but the times you left for your break once every 14 days, you always come back to a crying Keigo, and a missing mother.

The last time he wrecked the house, there was glass on the floor, footprints on the ceiling, walls painted with... wine? jelly? blood? You don't know, but it was hell to clean, which of course you made lil birb help too.

By questioning him after cleaning everything and then cleaning him, you discovered that his "mother" gave him coffee, and A LOT of it, and went her merry way to meet with someone.

---

To say that you were pissed was a mistake, you were furious, but the commission didn't let you reprehend her, so you had to teach him to not eat and drink something that his mother gave to him, without knowing what it was, and that if he drank coffee he would stop growing, which made him cry, but you promised a day outside with him, where they would eat out, maybe go to a mall, and he could have anything that he wanted.

It was his first time going out to have fun, instead of just going to the gym, or the doctor appointment, so with the 'okay card' from your boss you took him for a stroll, which is why there is a very excited Keigo jumping on your bed at 6am.

"COME. OOOOON!!! WE STILL HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY AHEAD OF US!" he shouted while jumping up and down on your bed, his wings flapping behind him.

"Hun, what time it is?" you yawned and sat on the bed.

"It's 6AM! On a Monday!!!"

"I wish you would be this easy to wake up every day, it would make my mornings easier" you huff and got up. "Go wash your face, I will get changed and come to help you change yourself."

"I don't need help! I'm a big boy! I can change myself!" he pouted and crossed his arms.

You smiled at him, seeing how much he opened up to you in comparison to the first day, when he would tremble form how scared he was, and how he talked so little. "I know you can, but you need to put warmer clothes than normal, and it would be better if you didn't pick that awful t-shirt again"

"The one that his written 'Daddy's little boy' with the Endevour's face?" he tilted his head a little.

"Exactly, that one! Now go, we will eat breakfast outside today."

"Woo-hoo!" he raised both hands and was about to jump down to the floor when you held him back and fills his face with kisses "Let me go mommy!" he giggles a lot, and you keep doing it until you decide to release him.

"THE FLOOR IS LAVA!!" You shout and jumps up "If you aren't on your bedroom in 15 seconds the world is going to END!" You say dramatically and open's the door to the laundry room "1... 2... 3... aaaaaand... he's gone" as soon as you opened the door and started the countdown he flew off your small home to his room.

After fixing your bed and washing your face, you went to get changed and choose something comfy, some black jeans, a long sleeved red shirt, a black purse and your favorite beige coat that had white fur on it.

You went to his room to get him ready when you were surprised by the scene, him, Keigo, your baby birb, the cute little shit that was getting more confident with each training, that had the most beautiful smile you had ever seen.

On the floor, curled up in a ball, with a few drops of blood on the ground of the floor, and his mother with her hand in the air, like she was about to hit him...

The world was turning slowly, almost stopping, after three movements of your finger, the one that the nail was always painted black, the dame that had cut the wall.

As the world was moving slowly, you were moving like normal.

5... you calmly walked to Keigo

4... you took him on your arms

3... you put him on the bed

2... you took the pillow case from the pillow

1... you tied both of the hands of Keigo's mother.

The world was back to normal, and Keigo blinked looking at what was now his mother on the ground and you on top of her mobilizing her, while he was no longer on the floor, but on his new fluffy bed that you picked for him "so quick..." he mumbles and look at you with admiration.

You took your phone from your purse, and sat on top of her back "Hello? You saw from the cameras, didn't you? Yeah... I think she needs a few days of vacation... about a week? Okay I let her on the couch then? Thank you, good bye" you turn off the cellphone and look at Keigo who was mouth agape looking at you with shiny eyes. "Let's go?" You smile and pick him up.

"YOU WERE SO AWESOME!!! And didn't you told me to change my clothes?" He hugged your neck

"We can just buy it on the mall but... outside is really cold..." you put him back on the bed and took off your coat "here, I'll lend you my favorite coat, please take good care of it"

He sniffs the coat and is meet by the soft smell of lavender and sweetened coffee.

He looks at you with shiny eyes, "okay!"

You pick him up again and hold his mother's ankle while you drag her to the living room. "Tomorrow is your trainer's day off, so today you can sleep later"

"Woo-hoo!!"

You chuckle and let the woman on the couch, then you go out with him.

"Let's have breakfast and then go out and about"

You carried him to the car, and there you put him on the backseat and when you were going to buckle him up he stopped you.

"Let me do it! I'm a big boy" you nod and watch as he struggles, but after some time does it.

"Good job" you kiss his forehead and goes to the front seat.

As you drive around you put some kids pop, which he sang along to the Disney songs from the movies you showed him.

As you stop at a café that you liked, "Let's go?" He unbuckles himself, and you open the door to him, picking him up again

"I can walk!"

"Not with that bare feet of yours" you tickle his feet which makes him squirm and giggle.

Walking in you take a sit and sat Keigo beside you. "You can get anything, ask away" you took the menu and give it to him "since you learn how to read better I'm sure you can pick what you want"

"Okay!..." he spends 20 minutes choosing his food, which ended up being a chicken breast sandwich and a soda, you immediately told him no soda in the morning.

"How about some juice?" You offer

"What are you going to drink?" Keigo tilts his head to the side.

"I want to go out and by sweetened coffee from the vending machine, it's my favorite, and no you can't have some"

He giggles and nods "I want strawberry juice!"

"I'm gonna go order it to the cashier, two chicken sandwiches and a strawberry juice"

"Can I pick a dessert?"

"After you eat everything, sure, here play a game on my phone while you wait, I'll be right back" you give him your phone unlocked and go to the cashier.

Keigo is playing on your cellphone when someone approaches him, his little trained feathers don't recognize this person's vibrations, so he looks up and sees a dude with a scary look and long black hair.

They both just stare at each other "sup" Keigo say and discreetly send a feather to you and taps your feet.

You come back to the table and is surprised to see your oldest friend, you give him a big smile "Shouta-niisan!" You hug him, but he only pats your head.

Keigo looks surprised at the interaction, you don't talk about yourself, only the basic and vaguely gives information about what you did before him.

"Is this your kid?" The man looked at Keigo, the man looked like it was around 23 maybe 25.

"Yeah! I'm his-... mom, yeah! I'm his mother" you smile breaking the hug and sat down "too busy to stay?"

He nods and put a can of your favorite sweetened coffee in front of you "You're doing a good job, just be careful, you never know"

You nod back at him and give him a big smile "I will, at least I'm no longer doing patrols, don't forget to call me once a week"

"I never broke a promise, won't start now" he pets your hair and goes away.

Keigo watched the weird transactions extremely curious "Who was him? Is him your older brother? You don't look alike. Why didn't you say goodbye to him? Why does he look like a bun? Why-"

"Enough!" You put your hand on his mouth "He's an old friend, I call him nii-san because I always called him that, no we aren't blood related, he always looked like that, and... we promise to never say goodbye to each other"

"Why?"

"Because a goodbye can be forever, so we just don't say it" a waitress comes to you both and puts everything on the table.

You open the canned coffee and drink it, smiling at him as he eats, you both eat and then went shopping.

...

Keigo could fit in anything, and he would look cute you just loved the way he looked on yellow or beige, they fit well with his red wings.

"Hey mom... I wanted to know if-..." he was scared, uncomfortable maybe? About something.

"You can ask me anything Birb, there is no way that I will not answer" you kneeled on the floor besides him and looked at him through the mirror.

"What's your quirk?" He looked at you while fiddling with his hands.

You smiled at him "It's kinda hard to explain, It's better if I show it to you" you took his hand and paid for the clothing, now that he was with some clothes that were good for the Autumn cold weather.

After getting to the car you drove off to the training gym.

"Why are we here?" Keigo recognized the building quickly.

"My power can be a little destructive, its1better to do this in a place that no one can get hurt" going in you went to your private training room with the little boy following you like a baby duck.

"How destructive?" Keigo held your hand and you held his.

"Very, now stay back" you pressed a bottom on the wall "My quirk needs ink all the time to do anything, and I always have it around me, most likely on my point finger, here I can do almost anything" you made a straight line in the direction of the dummies and cut 3 at the same time, cutting through them.

"Woaaah! What else?" Keigo's wings fluffed up at your awesomeness.

You walk to the middle and make a dot next to him, a huge tree appears from nothing surprising him, he falls to the floor shocked.

"I can also make a path of flowers, and the tree will only stay there for a few seconds, but it can surprise the enemy enough to take them down" you move your finger around under Keigo's feet and there grows some flowers.

"My ability is called Celestial Brush"

"THIS IS SO COOL!" He runs to you, and you pick him up when he's close enough. "MOM YOU ARE AWESOME!"

You look at him surprised and hug him tightly "My son, you are awesome too"

You two stay like that for some time, until he bugs you to show more of your ability, which you do, you show him each trick and technique you learned until now.

https://youtu.be/BRcfqu3hQkY (your quirk)

(Yes this is your quirk, and everything you can do with it)

After showing him everything you picked him up and you both go back home to take a shower, eat and sleep.

Those moments in his life were the happiest that Keigo had ever been, always protected by you, he was given the love and affection that he always wanted, he didn't care for everything else, he just cared about you, because you were his true mother, the woman that he would run to when he got himself hurt, to ask about life, to ask about anything really, since you also were his teacher. When he had nightmares you would hold him until he calmed down, would kiss his head, would compliment the small things he had done, and would scout him when he did something wrong.

Keigo loved you more than anything in his life, and Hawks miss you dearly in his, because in the end, you still worked for the commission, and he too didn't have a choice when you went away for an important mission.

The day before your departure you both made a pillow nest in the living room, you induced him on his bird instincts, HD wouldn't have such luxury after you went away.

Neither of you talked about you leaving, instead you showed him your favorite movies, snacks and old latin folktales, the feeling of sadness was there the whole moment.

You tried to give as much advice you could, and only took him off your arms to use the bathroom.

Keigo also didn't wanted to let go of you, both sleep hugging each other, you promised that you would come back as soon as you could, that tou would ever forgive him if he died while being a hero, that you knew he was build for greatness.

Only when you had to leave that you allowed yourself to cry, at the door with only a backpack in hands, you put your coat on Keigo while he sleep, also letting your diary on his bed, to let him have you all the time.

After tucking him on his nest, you kissed his forehead and kisses his toy's head, going out of that house took a lot of strength, you didn't wanted to go, but duty called, you just hopped it would take less then a year.

. . . . .

But it didn't took a year, it took 18 years to take the ring leader down, and just now you were finally going back to Japan, and to the now number 2 pro hero Hawks.

.............. As you can see there is more to this book

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hournites · 3 years

Text

Bait & Switch

Hournite Week 2021 - Day 3: Secret Admirer

~.~

“And then we can head to the Pit Stop for—eeep!!” Beth jumped from her locker as a piece of white paper landed in her hair.

“Oooooh!” Yolanda poked her side. “Is that another letter?”

Beth reached up for the standard printed paper sheet folded in three. She glanced at it, biting her lip as she scanned the page. “Looks like it, yeah!”

“I’m sorry,” Rick interrupted when Courtney grabbed Beth’s arm to squeeze. “Another what?”

“Beth’s been getting letters in her locker.” Courtney pointed to the little green shelf attachment Beth had on her inner locker next to magnets and pictures of Yolanda, Court, and Rick. A small pile of like creased letters accumulated there, sitting innocuously.

“Love letters,” Yolanda chimed in.

Rick’s frown stayed in place. “Since when did Beth have a boyfriend?”

“I don’t,” Beth corrected him. “I mean, not yet? I don’t know? I haven’t reached out or anything, I just started getting them a few days ago. I’d ask Chuck to scan them for fingerprints or something, but...you know.” She laughed a bit, pushing down the way Chuck’s blown in frames still stabbed at her heart. “Anyway, there’s no handwriting since it's printed, see?” She handed it to Rick.

“Hey Beth, I notice your yellow shoes.” His eyebrows raised past his hairline. “Why does this kid have a foot fetish?”

“Rick!” Courtney scolded.

“Sounds like Bowin.”

Yolanda scoffed at the Isaac comment. “As if Isaac had the balls.”

“To you, maybe.” Beth took the letter back when she realized Rick wouldn't appreciate it. “To me, it’s kinda sweet?” She flashed her friends a shy smile. “They always have something to say about what I’m wearing.”

“So they’re watching you,” Rick deadpanned. “Not creepy at all.”

Her face fell. “You think it’s creepy? Like ISA creepy?”

“Rick!” This time it was Yolanda. Courtney swatted his arm.

“Hey!”

Yolanda veered Rick off to the side, speaking in a hushed tone. “Believe me, you and I both know the guys here can be horrible, but this all seems very PG. I don’t see anything wrong with it, and neither does Courtney. Can we not ruin this for Beth?”

Rick pursed his lips, but Yolanda crossed her arms until he gave in.

~.~

One letter turned into two, and then three. Rick leaned against the metal row of lockers as Beth tried to catch the fluttering paper before it touched the dirty floor.

“More mystery mail?”

“Second one today, I didn’t get one yesterday, I was wondering if they forgot.” She tucked it in her pocket and went for her lunch bag.

“You’re not going to read it?”

“I thought you weren’t interested.”

Rick straightened his back. “No no, I’m interested! I’m very interested.”

“You just want to make fun of what they said.”

“No!” Though he was lying and Beth knew it.

They walked to the cafeteria, Yolanda and Court were already eating their lunches.

“C’mon,” Rick pestered the girls. He leaned his arms on the table conspiratorially. “Don’t we all want to hear what Beth’s secret lover has to say today?”

“I don’t have a secret lover,” she protested, but the girls got excited at the news of Beth getting locker mail twice and Rick leaned back in his plastic chair, satisfied.

“Secret admirer, then.”

Beth shot him another look of exasperation, but he merely raised his eyebrows at her.

“What,” he countered. “Is that not what it is?”

“Um, yeah,” she scooted in her chair, pressing the letter down and smoothing it out, refusing to look up at any of them, embarrassed. “We can call them that. Aw! They said I’m pretty!” Beth squinted at the paper. “Oh, they spelled it wrong.”

As much as he found Beth’s notes weird as hell, he got a rise out of watching her stammer and flush at all the attention. Courtney’s usually the one to flail around with massive blushing and her awkward high pitched voice when confronted about Cameron. In all honesty, hearing Courtney gush about Cameron without either of them making real moves on each other got tiring. Yolanda never looked like she wanted to talk about a love life for herself ever again, so Beth’s bright eyes reading out loud her dumb letters were new. He’d never seen her so eager to get to her locker. She’d drag him out of their class together to make a beeline for it. Really, it was cute. Maybe that’s why Rick couldn’t stop teasing her.

~.~

Later that week, the group sat together at lunch as usual. Courtney’s hair would not stay up in the messy bun she’d been trying and failing to pull off. She kept wrapping a hair elastic around the ball of blonde curls. Rick watched as she huffed out an annoyed breath at the fifth time it flopped over the front of her face.

“You need a mirror,” Rick pipped in unnecessarily. He smirked when she glared at him.

“I give up!” Courtney reached across the lunch table to grab Yolanda’s wrist when she gave up for the sixth time. “Help?”

Yolanda laughed, scooting her chair over and said, “I’ll just give you a braid.”

“Oh!” Beth jumped in her seat as if she just remembered something. “My letter today said something really nice about my hair!” She unzipped her school bag to bring it out. Yolanda peered over at it while she continued to fix Courtney’s mess. She read it out loud for them.

“That’s not even that great,” Rick pointed out when Beth finished. “They like your hair. So what? Your hair always looks great, there’s no effort involved on their part.”

Beth frowned at her letter. “Really?”

“It’s superficial, don’t you think? They don’t say anything about why they like you as a person.”

“Yeah,” Courtney cut in. “Probably because they don’t know her that well? Cut them some slack?”

“I don’t need to cut anyone any slack.”

Yolanda took a bite out of her apple. “If you liked someone, what would you do?” She batted her eyelashes at him as she chewed on her snack, clearly expecting a lame answer.

“I don’t like anyone.”

Yolanda shared a look with Courtney. Courtney would do that a lot with Mike and Beth would do that a lot with himself but when Yolanda did that with Courtney, Rick always felt a bit paranoid.

“Is that illegal or something?” Rick muttered, stabbing his fork into his food.

“No,” Yolanda replied, dragging out the syllable carefully. “But let's say hypothetically that you did, would your answer be the same?”

Now Beth was waiting intently for his answer as well.

Rick pushed his plastic tray away, no longer hungry. “If I liked someone I’d let them know… like a normal person.”

Courtney stifled a laugh that irked him. Her ice blue painted nails covered her mouth to half hide whatever joke she had within.

Yolanda tugged at one of her stray curls as a warning. “Court.”

“What now?” Rick groused.

Courtney leaned forward, gripping the edges of the table. “Would you actually?”

“No offense Court, but if I liked a girl, I wouldn’t run off to tell you about it.”

Now Courtney really did laugh, but Rick was dead serious. If he liked someone, he wouldn’t make it overcomplicated. If it were someone that could actually like him back, he’d just be honest with them. No frilly notes or secret rendez-vous.

He pushed Beth’s little love letter across the table. Beth took it wordlessly, mouth pressed in a careful line, eyes inquisitive.

Not that Rick had much time to think about what he’d do if he did like anyone. There wasn’t much time for Rick to develop feelings other than the deep-rooted anger and hatred that brewed for years over the conditions of his life.

Rick shook his head at her. This wasn’t anything complicated. If he were the one secretly crushing on Beth, he’d tell her. He said as much to the girls when they pestered him some more. “It’s not that hard.”

~.~

Beth got new letters every day for the next week. It became routine for her to read them during their lunch period. The girls pushed their chairs closer together to scrutinize the text, eyes peeled for anyone they might think to be the secret admirer. Rick played along half-heartedly, though mostly ate his lunch suppressing eyerolls.

“That top looks great on you. Also, why did you take off your rainbow necklace? It's cute.”

“Hmm,” said Yolanda. “Maybe it’s a girl.”

Rick scraped his plastic fork against the paper plate on his lunch tray. “Maybe they should stop staring at Beth’s shirt.”

“I don’t mind,” Beth said, looking up at him.

Rick scraped the styrofoam plate again. These letters weren’t amusing anymore.

~.~

Beth approached him that day after training. She drummed her fingers against the green cloth of her cape along her arms, craning her neck up to look at him as he raked through his upswept hair. They were in the loft of the Pit Stop where they’d dumped their bags. Beth was on the couch, in no hurry to change into fresh clothes because she hadn’t sweat through hers the way he had. Chuck was still offline, so she had been cautioned to stay a few paces behind the others for protection. She usually chose to stick by Rick.

Rick shook out his aching fingers. His hood was hanging low over his shoulders and the heaviness of his suit weighed after the effects of his tapered strength.

“What?” he asked after several moments, acutely aware that she just stood there, staring.

“Is there anything you’re not suspicious of? Sometimes you just have to trust people.”

Rick sighed, turning around. He thought this was about the training or the sweat or the way his hair stuck up like a cartoon and he didn’t have enough gel to smooth it back down, but Beth clearly wanted to revisit their conversation from lunch. He’d rather not. “If this is about the letters—”

“It is. What’s your deal with them, really? Even my mom knows! She thinks it’s funny! I’m having fun!” She grinned widely and threw out her hands to back up her words. Like he needed to see her laugh off the fact someone was following her around the school without coming forward about it to prove it wasn’t something to be reasonably concerned about.

Rick sat down beside her on the couch, taking a moment to articulate his phrasing. He didn’t want Beth to bristle at his tone or words. He’d made the mistake enough, seen the hurt written on her face way too many times. She could handle his heat, but it always left Rick feeling shitty to realize she needed to guard herself around him. Steel herself to get offended. He needed to stop offending her, Beth was quite frankly the kindest person Rick knew. This was why Rick felt strongly about the twenty-seven ways this secret admirer situation emerged red flags. “Don’t you want to know who they’re from?”

Beth shrugged. “It’d be nice.”

“Would you date them if they revealed themselves?”

“Um.” Beth flushed. “Maybe? I don’t know. I’m not planning any weddings but I’ve thought about it, I guess.” She side-eyed him. “Are you going all big brother on me now?”

Rick almost said yes, but bit his tongue at the last second, making a face. It didn’t feel quite right. He opened his mouth instead to retort about protecting the team. Beth accepted it well enough, wrapping her arms around his middle to thank him for bothering enough to care. Rick stiffened at her hug, thrown off by the carefree way she clung to him. He placed his hand on her back and she pushed her head further against his shirt.

“I don’t want you upset with me.”

Her words stabbed at his gut. “I’m not,” he said, surprised and dismayed. Of course she’d perceive it that way even after he tried. “I’m not, Beth. Though I guess you’re right, trusting people isn’t my thing.”

“I know, I didn’t mean to be so defensive about it.” She looked up at him and removed her cowl. Her hair sprung out high, decompressed from the tight, restraining fabric. “It’s just that I wish when a note makes me smile...You’d smile back at me.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. Beth crossed her legs, eyes and hands now at the clasp of her vintage cape. Her hair expanded, reclaiming its crown over her head. It bloomed in front of him. Not just the hair, her wisdom and hope and trust to share that so candidly with him.

“I’ll try?”

A tiny pleased smile began as her thumb looped through the hook. “You will?”

“Yes,” Rick said.

The green of the cape flashed in front of them. Only a trace of that smile remained once it was neatly folded on her lap. “Thank you.”

~.~

Rick tried.

It was like now that Rick gave her his disgruntled blessing of the elusive secret admirer, Beth no longer capped the word count on her inner novel of thoughts about it. She’d speak freely without checking back or worrying that Rick would make any comments and Rick had pretty much shut up about it to her face.

This was her thing, and it made her happy. Why did it matter what Rick thought about it anyway?

Though it did matter, exactly because of how happy those typed letters made her. It wasn’t wrong that Beth saw the best in people or found cheerfulness in all uncertain things. Rick was glad for it, honestly. That persistence in her wrestled with his own stubbornness— somehow it evened each other out. Beth’s drive blazed a fire that refused to be stomped out. Rick liked that drive in her. He appreciated it, even, just as much as it sometimes drove him insane. He didn’t want to be the one to smother that flame— Not him, or anyone else.

~.~

Rick didn’t realize he was intentionally hanging around Beth’s locker to scout out her secret admirer until he caught them in the act.

He straightened up from his slouched position against the wall across the drama room, taking in the uneven dirty blond haircut and letterman jacket worn by the person in question.

At first, Rick figured the guy was at the wrong locker. He stood there rummaging into his gym bag for something. But then he produced a familiar folded paper and Rick realized this was the guy. Beth’s guy. It got very real. Beth had a guy. This guy wanted Beth. Liked her. He liked her and wrote stupid letters every day with things in it that actually made her want to like him back. And he had freckles and looked pretty short, and would probably make her laugh and would offer her his jacket to show her off to the dicks on the football team.

Rick’s eyes narrowed, seizing him up. That was right, the guys on the football team were dicks. Beth’s secret admirer was friends with them?

She wouldn’t take that well.

He looked new. Young, even. Not any of the faces he’d cataloged that tormented Yolanda over the last year and a half. Should he follow him?

Rick lurked.

The kid glanced around nervously, letter slotted in the hinges for the locker. How many days had it been? Two and a half weeks? How was this guy still skittish for sneaking around the school to send love letters to a girl? Wouldn’t he know one of these days he’d get caught?

Alright, Rick had two options. He could turn around and keep this to himself. Never say a word to anyone and let this guy and Beth work out whatever they have and just.... watch.

Or he could walk up there right now and get information. What the hell is your deal? Do you have a foot fetish? Are you another supervillain freak? How did you meet Beth? Why are your notes so uninspired? Do you even know her? Are you embarrassed that you’re into her? Why do you care?

Rick's legs marched him over, having made up his mind.

“Hey!” It came out harsher than he intended by the reaction of the football player. He yelped, backing up against the locker and widening his eyes at Rick.

“It’s not what it looks like, I swear!” This poor kid’s voice cracked.

Rick squinted at him. “Who the hell are you?”

“Huh?”

“Your name. Parents? Date of birth. Alien status?”

The kid didn’t say anything. Rick sighed, already regretting it but knowing he’d have to in order to speed this along. He slammed his fist against the nearby locker, cornering him. The kid looked properly terrified. At least it was something to know those Rick Harris rumors were still thriving. “Well?”

“Joe! Joseph Kindersef. Son of Harold and Shoan Kindersef. August 9th, 2006. Um, Non-alien?”

“Sounds like something an alien would say.”

“I swear I’m not an alien! I’m just a freshman!”

“If I back off, are you gonna run?”

“I’m on the football team!” he yelled out as if that question was undignified.

Rick rolled his eyes. “You’re fourteen years old. I don’t care what team you’re on. Are you gonna run?”

“No.”

Rick relented, pulling back to put some room between them. “So, you’re the one writing to Beth for the last few weeks?”

“Yes, but—”

Rick pulled a face. “She’s a bit old for you, don’t you think?”

“Maybe, but—”

“Beth really likes the letters, okay? She doesn’t need someone that’s too much of a coward to come up and talk to her. So pick it up and do something meaningful or leave her alone.”

Joseph squeaked. “I can’t.”

“Okay so—She really likes yellow and cute shit so try sticky notes to include—“ Rick backtracked and paused. That didn’t sound normal. “What? You can’t? Yes, you can. You just have to find the guts to tell her who you are and ask her out so she can finally meet you so she can decide if you’re worth a—”

“No!” Joe cut Rick off. “I can’t leave her alone!”

Rick’s stomach sank. Joe heaved, eyes blown back wide as he grimaced as if waiting to get yelled at again.

But Rick lost the wind in his rant, lowering his voice to a shocked whisper. “What do you mean? You don’t…want to be Beth’s boyfriend?”

“No! I don’t really know her! I don’t get what the big deal is!”

Rick nearly slammed him back against the metal row. “Then why are you leading her on?”

“Oh my god!” He weaseled out of Rick’s grip, hands up in surrender. “I swear, I can explain! Just don’t beat me up, I get enough of that from the team!” He dropped his gym bag and kicked it, yanking off his letterman jacket. “God, I’m sick of this!”

Rick was at a loss for words. He clenched his jaw, keeping his fuming to a minimum to give Joe a chance. Not that he deserved one, in Rick’s honest opinion, but Beth probably would’ve wanted to at least hear his case before Rick undoubtedly scared her only potential prospect of a boyfriend away with a piss stain in his pants.

He furrowed his brows. “Sick of what?”

“This!” Joe gestured at the floor. “Blue Valley High! The goddamn team!”

It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. The thought of it all made Rick sick to his stomach. Of course, in a twisted way it all made perfect sense. There was no villain here, only two victims. Raze the newbie recruit on the team and mercilessly bully the girl that raises her hand one too many times in class all at once. Force Joe to do the dirty work and laugh at Beth’s disappointment when her non-existent secret admirer gets shoved in her face.

Wonderful. Great plan for a group of football meatheads that barely even grieved Henry Jr’s death. Rick hated this school so much.

“Can’t you just stop?”

“No!” Joe insisted. “I can’t, I would’ve if I could!”

“What are they doing to you?”

Rick knew the answer wasn’t going to be pleasant. He crossed his arms, eyebrows raised as he stared up at the ceiling while Joe lamented over the football hierarchy in disarray, wanting to make it past waterboy dweeb status, razing punishments incorporating the abandoned construction porta potty beyond the field parking lot, and the daily checks on Joe the team did to ensure he’s following their crazy rules.

“You know what I wanna say?” Rick told the guy when his sob story was over. “I wanna say that’s your problem.” Because after this and his last encounter with Sportsmaster Rick was very close to never watching any organized game in America ever again.

“It is my problem.”

“Actually, it’s not.” Rick scowled. “You’ve entangled Beth Chapel into this, so you’ve made it my problem.”

Joe stared at him. Rick muttered under his breath, dragging a hand over his face. For some reason he pictured Courtney. If she were here right now with him, Rick could perfectly imagine what she’d say: This was part of what it meant to be a superhero. You are a superhero now.

Rick knew this, theoretically, but thinking about that word in association to himself still felt beyond stupid. Stupid, but so painfully accurate by the way a feeling ate at his insides to help this pathetic freshman. Not just because of Beth. Rick had a magical hourglass and a skintight suit and belonged to a secret crime-fighting team. But it wasn’t just about crime, it was about injustice. And this fits that bill to a tee.

He flapped his hand at Joe before he could change his mind. “Go. I’ll take care of it.”

“Huh?”

“You don’t have to do this anymore.”

“But they check at lunch every day for the letters and there are still two and a half weeks left in the month—”

“I know!” Rick groaned just thinking about all the ways this was going to ruin his entire schedule. The sneaking and evasion. The random class cutting he’d have to pull off inconveniently now that Yolanda and Pat have drilled it into Rick that he needed to get a decent pass...

Joe stepped away, looking over his shoulder at the deserted hallway, unable to believe his newfound freedom. “You need to make it sound like you care or else they’ll get suspicious,” he stressed.

“I get it.” Rick shooed him away. “Trust me. I get it.”

The anxious red splotches all over Joe’s face faded away. He sniffed, wiping his nose with the sleeve of his varsity jacket. “You really want to help me?”

“Just tell me what I need to do to make this work.”

He pulled out his dad’s notebook from his bag as Joe ranted about the nonsensical expectations the football team had of him, and what they had planned for Beth via public embarrassment by the end of the month. His dad’s handwriting blurred past as he clicked the top of his ballpoint to start on a fresh page, jotting it all down. He ended up with over a page and a half. A page is more than he thought he’d need. It was excessive and tedious and stupid enough to put an end to today. He wouldn't, though, end it today. Because of one thing Rick knew for certain. He was going to one-up the Stockholm secret admirer deal Joe had going on. Two weeks of nice deeds weren’t completely out of his reach.

~.~

Rick stared at the blank word document in front of him, tucked into the furthest computer monitor desk at the very corner of the library. Sneaking in here was easy, though it was stressful enough to make Rick’s hands sweat. It was dumb, nobody questioned a student at the library over lunch. The tenth graders came in anxious packs to prepare for their PSATs, and the juniors freaked out over college pamphlets at the communal tables. Nobody would care that Rick Harris was hunched over a keyboard, glancing down at his lap to refer to an original letter for help.

Beth didn’t even notice Rick swiped a letter from her. Her locker door swung open while she chatted about the science homework and then the muffins she planned on making and then the recipe Barbara sent to her phone that she pinned on her Pinterest board. That Pinterest board was very important, something she’d curated since elementary school after her mom accidentally forgot to include a lunch for Beth, exhausted by the first surgery she’d operated on as the new head surgeon at Blue Valley Medical Centre. This was all new information Rick only learned from their walk to get her lunch box, so Beth’s talkativeness did have its advantages some days. Rick reached over and plucked a folded letter from the pristine metal basket right over her head to stuff in his back pocket. Even if she were ever tall enough to catch that, the muffin recipe had too many steps for her to list to ever let her take her eyes off her phone.

Rick stood firm in his belief that Joe’s letters were creepy and lame, regardless of how the creepy and lameness parts were now halfway excusable under Joe’s duress and whatever. Still, he couldn’t deny he needed one in his possession to study. At least as an example for formatting one correctly if he wanted to pull this off; the font and size had to be exactly the same. And, most importantly, the letter provided a base of comparison to work from to make the letters going forward less weird.

Rick knew Beth better. He could do so much better. And he should, anyway. There’s no harm done. He’s going to have to tell Beth at the end of the month what exactly happened to her secret admirer, so she’ll know Rick became the author somewhere along the line. He’d never be caught dead authoring notes that made it sound like he had a foot fetish or some other weirdness. And if Beth likes the letters more, Joe won’t get as much shit either.

So why wasn’t this working?

Hey, Beth.

Rick stared at the screen. His eyes were dry, he needed to blink. A Hey, Beth wasn’t going to get anyone anywhere, and this letter had to be slotted through that locker rust a good half hour before the class that went into lunch.

I just wanted to let you know how kind you are. I saw you today give away your extra hair elastic to the other girl in the hallway—

No.

Beth,

Your laugh is out of this world.

Rick slammed his palm against the backspace button, the stiff keyboard jam startled the senior girl half-napping over her notes beside him. He deleted the word document altogether and started over. Nobody needed to see that. That sentence came out of nowhere. Forget that it was bad and sounded like Hallmark garbage, reading the words on the computer mortified him. Maybe it wasn’t out of limit to find Joe and force him here to do the actual writing himself. At least as a draft for Rick to work with. No wonder Joe’s letters came out awkward and stilted. But where would he even find Joe and was the answer something Rick even wanted to find out?

Rick didn’t like Beth like this. How was he going to write to make it seem like it could be implied that he did? This was fucking hard.

“Since when do you study?”

Rick crumpled Joe’s letter into his fist. He minimized the tab for the Word document. Yolanda’s braids swept over the built-in camera of Rick’s computer monitor, peering down at him with an eyebrow raised.

“Since today.” He clicked on the school browser to type in one of the chemistry learning sites he went bleary-eyed scrolling through last semester late at night.

“When’s the test?”

He shrugged. Her braids swung over his screen again. Rick shot her an exasperated high brow, flicking them away.

Yolanda shook her head at him and took the next seat. The binders she pulled out for her math assignment told Rick she wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon. Fine. Rick put the letter on hold. It wasn’t something he wanted to rush anyway.

~.~

Beth,

Your laugh is special. Because you can make anything sound great, and find laughter in everything. It’s what you do and who you are. I wouldn’t change that about you, ever.

Rick skipped the last ten minutes of class to get to Beth’s locker while the hallway was still empty. In slipped the letter. Out went his breath.

They were just words. Once he was able to wrap his head around that fact it got a lot easier. They were just words. Nice words. For Beth. It didn’t really matter if they were poetic or fancy. They were genuine, though, because Rick wasn’t going to lie on top of everything. But they weren’t in the sense Rick felt anything romantic for her. If Beth and the girls read it and felt otherwise, it was only because they were under a preconceived notion. One Rick would explain away when it is all over.

Above all, he was sparing her any humiliation by lifting her up and giving some nice compliments. It was a win-win situation. Once Rick was able to digest that, it got a lot easier to justify the emotional connection he teased out of himself to work the right sentiment he needed and had written down.

~.~

The problem was, sometimes letters didn’t cut it. Rick didn’t always have the right words. It was because he knew how Beth’s face brightened up when he wrote something right. She’d let out a breath that was almost a sigh, hugging the letter close. It would put her in a mood nothing could deter for the rest of the day. It’s what Rick noticed two weeks ago when these started, but it was all the better now, admittedly, when they came from him. She’d show them to her mom over FaceTime at lunch, to Barbara and Pat. Beth shared her secret admirer letter with anyone that had an extra second to spare.

When Rick missed the mark, that was too obvious. Yolanda and Court never seemed to pick up the difference, and Beth never appeared dissatisfied, but Rick knew it wasn’t what she deserved.

He’d tear out pages in his notebook before and after classes Rick took without her, practicing what he’ll type up by the time he gets to the school library. The pencil in his hand would tap against the paper as he ignored the lesson, thinking about how to best word how much it meant to him to see her turn around and flash him one of those breathless grins without giving himself away. He’d shred the paper after, stuffing it in the trash. The best parts Rick kept memorized to reuse the next day.

It took another three more neutral letters for Rick to change tactics. Instead of stressing over ways to tell Beth things he didn’t mean without revealing his identity, he found a way to work around keeping the secret admirer ploy alive while cutting out the amount of time he spent failing at writing. Small things he could afford like her favourite chocolate bars when he filled his car with gas at the station, or cheap bracelets from the dollar store to add when he wasn’t confident that he wrote enough.

He kneeled down in the wet grass by the bike rack behind the school on a Tuesday, weaving in the red and yellow roses he plucked from a nice garden a block down Main street through the handlebars of Beth’s teal bike. Beth was the type of girl to press flowers in books. She’d find the roses and would smell them and then keep them with the intention of saving them forever.

When he managed to get the stem properly wrapped around her handlebars, he realized Beth forgot to lock in her bike properly. He fixed it, then leaned back, appraising his work.

He froze when he felt a warm breath against his neck.

“I didn’t know you were a part of the garden club.”

Rick dropped his hands to his sides, gritting his teeth through a polite nod at Isaac Bowin, who was peering over the bike rack in his pristine band clothes. “I’m not.”

“I see.” He scratched his nose. “That’s Beth’s bike.”

Rick eyed him. “I know.”

“That’s a nice gesture. I didn’t know you liked her.”

“She’s my best friend.” Rick stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants. “It’s not like that.”

Isaac shrugged. “It looks like that.”

“Okay,” he replied lightly, rolling his eyes. Rick knew he was saving a high school freshman from being bullied by substituting his required secret admirer quotas because of his newfound moral superhero standards, but conversing with Isaac Bowin was something Rick hadn’t yet tolerated the patience for. He slipped his bag and walked around the side of the school building to go through the back. “Bye.”

Later that afternoon, Rick got tackled by Beth. He tensed as he always did when someone got a hold of him from behind, though he released the tension immediately when he looked up and saw her.

“I got flowers!” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders from his seat at their shared sixth-period class.

“Did you?” He replied, measuring his tone.

“Roses! They were on my bike. I wasn’t sure if I locked it properly this morning so I got a hall pass in geography and went to check, and they were there!”

“Wow,” he said. “That’s pretty thoughtful, right? Do you like them?”

“Are you kidding? The KitKat was great but the last time I ever got flowers was like, my fourth grade spelling bee from my mom!” Beth moved her hands from his back to slide into the seat beside him. “They’re so pretty. I love them!”

Rick glanced at her empty desk. She pulled out her school bag and pencil case. “So where are they?”

“They’re safe.” She hauled out the large math textbook and flipped to the middle, revealing the two roses, freshly pressed in. “I want to keep them forever.”

He knew it. Rick suppressed his grin. “Cool.”

~.~

“... You warm my heart, Beth.” Beth paused, taking it in. She looked dizzy. “Oh my goodness. This is a lot.”

“Stop. That’s stupidly cute.” Yolanda groaned as she ran a hand over her face as if the sweetness pained her.

“You’ve gotta write them back!” Courtney urged, taking a swig of juice.

Beth wrinkled her nose. “I dunno.”

“What! Why not?”

“I don’t want to scare them off?” Beth took her eyes off the letter at last, raising her head to meet Rick’s eyes. She straightened her back immediately. “Why are you smiling like that?”

In spite of himself, it grew bigger. “Like what?”

She didn’t reply for a moment. Her eyes squinted and she tilted her head as if to study him. “I can’t explain,” she said at last. “It’s just different.”

Yolanda and Courtney stopped talking to watch him too. Rick felt his face heat up at all of their attention. “Shut up. I’m being supportive,” he mumbled. “It’s what you wanted.”

~.~

The thing with Yolanda was that she didn’t fall for bullshit. Rick should’ve known. Books against the table with a slam, she leveled Rick a serious look of incredulity in their next class. “Who are you and what did you do to my best friend Rick Tyler?”

He stuck a hand in his pocket. Still grinning. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Says every suspicious clone, ever.”

“I’m not a clone.”

“Then what are you, sick?” She poked his cheek at the stretched corners of his mouth. “You’ve smiled more in two days than I’ve ever seen you smile in three years and in art class you were zoned out completely.” Rick batted her hand away when she clapped a whole palm over his forehead.

“I don’t have a fever.”

“You’ve got something .”

“I don’t,” he insisted again. “I’m fine.”

“Well I’m not an idiot,” Yolanda settled on as class started. “But whatever is going on, keep at it. It’s a good look on you.”

~.~

Three reasons why I’d date Beth Chapel

I’d be dating the smartest girl in school

I could share the homemade food she brings for lunch

I’d see one of those perfect smiles & it would be just for me

~.~

Three reasons why Beth Chapel should date me

I’d let her sit shotgun in my car

She could talk to me all day about whatever she’d like and I’ll listen to it all

She can stop wearing fuzzy sweaters to classes without heaters because I’d give her one of my jackets so she’ll stay warm

I actually really like her

“Ah shit,” Rick whispered harshly to himself at the computer monitor in the library. He buried his head in his hands, putting the computer to sleep. It was supposed to be generic. Nice enough that Beth would feel touched but not personalized enough that it could directly trace back to Rick. It was his ‘66 he was thinking about in the first sentence. Her effect on his mood was when she placed her arm on his during an imploring talk in the second. And the way Rick knew exactly which jacket he’d like to see her swallowed in with the pooling cuffs rolled up six times to reach her wrists for the third. And now that it was out in that 12 point font, Rick didn’t even want to delete it.

“Shit. Shit. Shit. I"m a fucking idiot.”

He whacked the side of the iMac too hard to wake up the monitor and printed the thing before he could incriminate himself more by adding extra lines. The heat that crawled up his face was sign enough that this was bad, but he’d felt that same sickly warm feeling drop in his stomach sometime before his brain kicked in to realize what he’d done. He was supposed to be doing a favour for his best friend to not humiliate her unjustly by being her pseudo secret admirer.

Not actually become Beth’s secret admirer.

The next morning, Rick waited until Beth raised her hand for a hall pass during their class before lunch. Their teacher handed over the laminated card for Beth to go to the bathroom. Rick counted five seconds then leaned over and dragged her backpack from the dusty classroom floor to his side.

She started keeping the letters she liked the most in the pocket folder of her agenda. Rick pulled them out, unfolding the papers as he read them over, eyes scanning over what he’d been writing to her, trying to find the moment in which his feelings for her morphed into something more. Rick felt stupid, reading back.

He never wanted to lie to Beth, so he hadn’t.

He couldn’t lie to himself either. This started before meeting Joseph. This started before the letters. Hell, it might’ve even started before the JSA ever stopped Project New America.

A part of Rick wanted Beth all along.

~.~

That evening, Rick locked himself in his bedroom and wrote a long and frankly terribly written letter to get his feelings off his chest. Staying up all night to perfect it, he overslept halfway through the morning. He drove to school late and worried over how to get through the day. His entire schedule was thrown off and he needed to both find a way to get his letter in and survive seeing Beth that afternoon. Bad turned to worse when teachers chased after him to pile on detentions for skipping class after he’d just started to improve his attendance.

If he wanted to make this work he was going to need support. He needed Court.

The only time Rick found Courtney alone was during dodgeball in gym class. They were somehow the only ones left on their team. Courtney used handsprings and cartwheels to avoid the red rubber balls as though her gym mark should be the deciding factor of her Stargirl training success. Rick didn’t take it as seriously, but that’s exactly why he was still winning. He launched the ball to the other side, hitting Cameron Mahkent square in the face.

“Court, get Jenny out, and then we can free the rest.”

“Good plan.”

Rick picked up another that ricocheted off the wall, missing both targets. “Hey, you know Beth’s letters?”

“Yeah?” Courtney hit Jenny, who yelped in her expensive tennis skirt, manicured hands protecting her face even though she got her hip instead.

“They’re me.” Rick caught a ball and everyone came hollering back into the game. Courtney gaped at him, motionless in front of the red line. Rick tried to warn her when another ball came flying, but it bonked the side of her curly hair before Rick could push her out of the way, and then another ball assaulted Rick from the other side, disqualifying them both.

Rick explained it all once they got to the bench. The important parts, at least, without any of the messy stuff. Joe’s razing and the awkward excuses to use the library computer every day.

Courtney grinned so wide. “Shut up!”

Rick regretted telling her immediately. She shook his arm like she wanted to make a protein shake out of it. “Shut up! Stop! Are you kidding me? That’s so sweet!” She slapped her hands to her cheeks. “Oh my god. Oh my god! That’s why you’re smiling so much! You like her!” She gasped. “You love her?!”

“Woah,” said Rick, grabbing her wrist to keep her from bouncing off the gym walls. If he wasn’t careful she’d text Pat this for his advice or something which would be horrifying. “I didn’t say anything like that.”

Courtney rolled her eyes, undeterred. “Okay okay okay but you totally are into her. Like a lot!!! A lot a lot, oh my god, Rick this is such big news! You’re falling for Beth!”

“Oh my god,” Rick muttered to himself, wanting to disappear. “Court, if I say yes will you please be quiet?”

Courtney squealed, dancing in her seat on the bench. “You didn’t deny it!”

“Okay calm down.”

“Why are you telling me? Are you going to confess? Do you need help?”

“I need you to print out her letter for today and get it in her locker. I don’t have the time.”

Court clapped her hands and squealed. “Yes! Deal! Done!”

~.~

“You know what?” Beth layered on an extra woolly sweater over her already thick-fabric shirt. Just by looking at it Rick knew it was expensive and set off some type of fashion pattern-texture dichotomy scheme. Though, what mattered was how warm it made her after shivering all throughout their homeroom period. What mattered was how she clutched at her sleeves now, creating friction to sweep out the cold that seeped into her bones. The way she held herself in front of him and how she’d feel if Rick hugged her like that soft-spun sweater instead. She pulled a sticky note out of her school bag’s front pocket and stuck it to her locker door then stepped away from it, nodding along for Rick to follow her down to their first class. “You’re right.”

“I’m right?” For his credit, Rick was cold too. The school heater conked out over the weekend and the weather was abnormally cold, even for their chilly Spring Nebraska. He shoved a hand in his pocket so he wouldn’t feel the joint pain settling into his bruised knuckles.

“You are.”

“About what?”

Beth half-spun on her heel, facing Rick in the thick of the school crowd. “My heart is in this. I need to know who my secret admirer is.”

The immediate nausea Rick got from that sentence nearly stopped him in his tracks. He couldn’t stop though, it would be suspicious and then Beth would know and then Rick very might well be sick. So he jerkily forced one foot in front of the other and swallowed the lump down his throat. “You...do?”

“We always find my letter after our fourth-period class right before lunch. So they have to be sending it out before then, right? If we both subsequently skip our third-period classes respectfully--”

“How does one skip class ‘respectfully?’” Rick used air quotes around the last word.

Beth elbowed his side lightly. “When a straight-A student like myself has love on the line!”

“ I’m not a straight-A.”

“Yeah, but you’ll be with me so I’ve got you covered.” She linked her arm in his. “It’s a buddy system. I posted a sticky note on my locker for my secret admirer to visit this morning!”

Oh no. Which meant Courtney was going to find it soon and pressure him to tell Beth too. God, no.

“And you need me there...why?”

Beth furrowed her brows, fidgeting with her rainbow necklace. “I haven’t completely ignored what you said to me this whole time. I don’t know who it really is. What if I put myself out there and they show up only to hurt me?”

“Beth, they won’t.”

“But what if you were right and it was the ISA, and they were waiting for me to lure them into a trap to kidnap me because they discovered I’m Dr. Mid-Nite without Chuck?”

“Where was this support when I suggested this as an actual possibility four weeks ago and you all ignored it and called me an asshole?” He was teasing her, honestly, but it was wild to Rick he was finally hearing her address some of his previous legitimate concerns. What good was she doing bringing this up now if she already made up her mind?

“We didn’t!”

“Yolanda did!”

“Yolanda doesn’t use that word.”

“She doesn’t need to say it! You’ve seen her glare, right? Yolanda could glare at you and brand you “ asshole ” just with her eyeballs.”

“You are ridiculous.” Beth huffed out an indignant breath. “And I wasn’t ignoring it completely.” She tugged on his sleeve. “So you should come.”

“I swear you’re going to be fine by yourself. It’s just some person here that likes you. It’s not a criminal. No need to suit up.”

“I want you there.”

He wavered at her pleading face, her big eyes hopeful sucking him into dangerous territory. “Fine,” he relented, dooming himself. “I’ll come.”

~.~

Courtney did not know how the printer at the library worked because she never used the computers at the library because she never came to the school library. Like. Since she moved here. She banged her hand against the table when she got prompted for her Blue Valley High School student account password to access her printing credits. Was she supposed to pay for that? She didn’t know. She promised Rick to get his letter delivered and he was counting on her so there wasn’t any time for messing this up.

“It’s just your initials and the last 3 numbers of your student ID card number.”

A thousand butterflies let loose in her stomach at the tell-tale sound of her crush’s deep voice.

“Cameron!” she greeted with a nervous laugh. “Hi! What are you doing here?”

“It’s the library.”

“Right!” She smacked her head. “Dumb me, of course. You must be studying.”

“Actually, I have an oral presentation after lunch and need to reprint my speaking notes. I spilled paint on my cue cards this morning. What are you working on?”

“Oh!” Courtney laughed it off. “It’s not important. Thanks for the login info!”

“No problem. Maybe we can see each other later after my grief counseling?”

Courtney nearly knocked the magic mouse off the surface of the table. “I’d love that!”

“Awesome, I’ll text you?”

“Great!” She waved as he turned around and sat down at the next computer. Courtney pulled up the tab she had with the word document of Rick’s letter to Beth and fawned over it, imagining herself in Beth’s shoes with Cameron. She printed it out and ambled over to the printing center while it was still warm. According to the school clock, which was probably ten minutes fast if it were anything like the other clocks in her classrooms, she had twenty minutes to find Beth’s locker and get it in securely without being seen. Courtney packed her bag and folded the sheet in three like Beth had been getting since the beginning of March, sticking it between her teeth as she got that bag over her shoulders.

“Court.”

She twirled around at the tap on her shoulder, not expecting to find Cameron waiting for her with a grim look on his face. “Huh?” She removed the paper and crinkled her eyes at him. “Hey!”

“Hi,” Cameron said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “I think my essay got mixed up with your uh….letter…”

“What?” Courtney checked Rick’s letter in her hand. “No! This is um, uh it’s ‘ The Republic of Marino is a small country in the region of--’ oooooooh crap.”

Courtney snatched it from him, giving herself a papercut in the process as she swapped sheets, mind racing when she put two and two together. Oh no. Oh no oh no. The blood drained from her face.

“That’s not mine!” she yelped.

The librarian barked at them both from across the room as Cameron blinked at her with a complicated expression.

“I mean!” Courtney added in more quietly but equally harried, hissing at the stinging from her thumb. She sucked at the blood that trickled down her palm. “I printed it obviously! Because we were here and I was at the printer and you were at the printer and I wrote it!” She was going to get blood on Beth’s love letter and make her think that she’s being stalked by an ax murderer or The Gambler’s personal hitman. “These words aren’t from me ,” she stressed. “I didn’t say these things!”

Dang it, this was bad. He wasn’t going to draw her flowers anymore or cute stars passed in notes during their shared homeroom. She continued to ramble when Cameron didn’t say anything. “Actually!” She wiped her palm on her jeans and returned it. “It’s for you!”

Cameron maintained cool and collected when he pointed at the opening address, becoming amused. “It says ‘ Dear Beth ’”

“Does it!? Typo!”

“Look, I don’t blame you for developing a crush on a close friend. It happens, you don’t have to explain it to me.”

“But!”

Cameron backed away. “I’m gonna go.”

~.~

Rick let Beth drag him out of class so they could meet up with her secret admirer in the empty hallway at her locker knowing this wasn’t going to end well.

Beth tapped at the yellow sticky note on her locker that had the details of her rendezvous.

“What happens if he doesn’t show up?” Rick crossed his arms awkwardly when Beth turned around to look at him. “If they don’t show up.”

He should’ve noticed the second that he saw Beth that this had been her plan since she got out of bed. She was wearing a dress and tights that perfectly so matched her colour, it took a second glance to confirm it adhered to the no dress on skin school dress code.

Her hair had clips in them too, a moon clip that parted the left side of her afro in a way that let it drop slightly over her face like her mom’s weave. It was beautiful and she looked beautiful and Rick got stuck in those thoughts all over again when she slid down the lockers to wait, drawing up her knees.

“They will.” She patted on the dusty ground for him to sit.

“You’re not going to check your locker first?”

“You want me to?”

“Do you want to?” Rick countered.

Beth scrunched up her face at him. “I asked first.”

His face warmed and he finally sat down across from her. “Usually you rush to it, that's all.”

She stretched out her legs, pulling at the hem of her dress. “It’s not going to matter what was written in whatever they put in my locker when I get to see who they are. Meeting them in person will be more exciting.”

Bold words to say to her secret admirer, sitting right in front of her. Rick sighed and stretched out too. He drew up one leg, the other bent at the knee. “What if they’re really ugly?”

Beth rolled her eyes.

“Just asking. You can like someone’s sentiments but not their face.”

“I’m going to like their face,” she reassured him. “Even if I’ll have to learn to.”

“Okay,” Rick drawled. He was hoping if he extended the talk long enough, Beth would grow bored and give up. Just because the secret admirer won’t show up today doesn’t mean that they did so with ill-intent. Rick tried to remind Beth of this as they sat around alone. The secret admirer could’ve got swept up in a test in class or had an early dismissal. Beth wouldn’t know the difference. Rick wasn’t hurting her by playing along.

When an hour passed and Rick saw how determined she was to stick this through, the internal panic ramped up.

Of course, the thought came to him that he should come clean. It’s just that. That meant Rick would have to come clean . He hated that Courtney was right to laugh at him over this. It freaked him out to just blurt out the truth. It would take Beth by surprise. Rick hadn’t planned yet how he was going to wind the secret admirer thing down to prepare her about it all. He thought she’d get to read his letter today to gauge how she’d feel.

He stared up at the ceiling thinking through five hundred strategy plans to get out of this mess while untangling the secret as Beth played a game on her phone.

“Soooo,” Beth said some while later. “Are we going to be waiting another hour or…”

Rick jerked up, saucer-eyed and mouth agape. His brain short-circuited.

“Because we can take all the time you need, Rick.”

“You knew?” He banged his head against the metal behind him. She didn’t need a supercomputer to figure out Rick liked her before Rick figured out he liked her, did she? “Of course you knew,” he muttered to himself. The shock wore off as the embarrassment settled in, his face flushing as bright confirmation. A massive shot of adrenaline flooded through him, similar to the rush of his hourglass.

“I pieced it together a few days ago,” she admitted. “I don’t think you realize how much lighter you are now.” Beth picked herself up and crossed the hall to sit by his side. Her hand went to his right knee and she leaned forward. “Rick, it’s okay. It’s okay to like me.”

The words clogged up in Rick’s throat as she spoke softly, overwhelmed. He wanted to explain everything but it was complicated and delicate and if she’d only read his freakin letter trapped in that locker maybe he’d have a chance to get her to understand-

“Oh my god, you’re really nervous.” She lifted her hand up to give him room. “Rick, it’s just me. I like you too, I’m just a bit confused about how this all makes sense.”

“I didn’t know,” he managed out, stilted. “I really didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know what?”

“I’m not your real secret admirer.” Rick corrected himself. “I wasn’t your first.”

“Okay…”

“There were those weird letters at first. The random ones. And I didn’t understand why they got under my skin so much. But they did. So I found the guy who was making them and I-"

"Really," Beth deadpanned.

"I know, I know." Rick scowled. "I found out it was that they were being forced to.”

Sourness etched over her mouth as it pulled her lips thin together. “Oh.”

“And I wanted it to quit but by then it was involving the bullying of that other guy, not just you.” Rick sighed. “So I took over to help.”

“Rick.”

“I just didn’t want you to get crushed!” he told her, going into more detail about Joseph and the football team. “I was going to explain when it was all over what happened, and you were going to laugh it off and thank me and then I would’ve shrugged that off because it was whatever. It was the right thing to do.”

“But?”

Rick rolled his eyes at himself. “But I liked what I was doing too much for it to be normal.” He raised his head to give her a crooked smile. “I like you. ”

“You are so ridiculous,” she giggled out. She stood up and leisurely made her way to the locker. “So you have this important letter in here for me that you want me to read?” She toyed with her combination lock. “What’s in it?”

“Uh. A mess?”

“I’ll keep it for later then,” she decided and grabbed his hand. He stood up and followed her, hyper-aware of the way she led him away with her hand in his. “Come on, we have something we need to do.”

She brought him to the school library, which Rick did not understand. She sat him down at a macbook and darted in to kiss his cheek. Rick stuttered, lightheaded as she booted up his computer.

“Uh- What exactly are we doing?”

“Writing.” She tapped on his keyboard and moved his still hands over them with an exciting squeeze. “There are four more days left in the month and I don’t know about you but I’d really rather spend our free periods and after school with you on a date.”

"That is...a really good idea."

She glanced up from their screen to find Cameron watching them oddly.

Beth awkwardly waved.

“Why is he looking at us like that?”

“I don’t know. I don’t care.” Rick put his arm around her, ignoring everyone else. He leaned forward to steal her move, gently kissing away her curiosity.

Beth grinned and leaned her head against his shoulder as he typed lines and lines of compliments. “Then I don’t care either.”

#beth chapel #rick tyler #hournite #rick x beth #hournite week 21 #hournite week 2021 #secret admirer au #hournites fic

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bbhyeoliskooks · 4 years

Text

❀.’* 𝟕 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮 ❀.’*

Wasn’t spending Christmas Eve with your friends supposed to be special?

.’*/ (ㅇㅅㅇ❀)＼*’..’*/ (ㅇㅅㅇ❀)＼*’.

Pairing: Soobin x Reader (female)

Genre 4 cups of fluff ! And perhaps a cup of angst in there too !

Warnings: Jealousy, a toxic friend who does not care about your feelings, unedited towards the end hehe

(Awe, it’s been quite a while since I wrote for Soobders !! Wanted to do a cute thing for a confession, though it turned out a bit angsty with the jealousy :// but i promise the end is so so cute !! Girlie here snapped on this one, i hope you can see the improvement~~ The fact that I had to do research on this is quite... something.)

.’*/ (ㅇㅅㅇ❀)＼*’..’*/ (ㅇㅅㅇ❀)＼*’.

1. He steals glances at you.

Wasn’t spending Christmas Eve with your friends supposed to be special? Wasn’t it supposed to be warm and all with interesting gifts and sugary sweet smiles decorating the room? Yeonjun sincerely promised that upon inviting you that this specific one wouldn’t flop unlike the last where you felt the need to go. As of this Christmas Eve dinner with all of your friends, it simply didn’t feel like it. If any other feeling than emptiness, the strong monster of envy rattled against your ribs as your eyes dart to your hidden phone underneath the table.

Fingers swiping on one video, you come into contact with a cheesy title, “7 signs your crush likes you.” The creature of curiosity pulled strings in your head, and you clicked the video with a small grin painted on your lips. Memories of being a middle schooler flooded back into your head that you couldn’t help but smile because of it. The one that you decided to watch reminded you of the good old days where you’d play mash with Yeonjun and Soobin. They’d always believe they’d get together with their crush in the future as stated on the paper- and you couldn’t lie though; they were such adorable students back then before high school made them grow up with deep voices and long legs for nothing. Nostalgia was really one hell of a drug.

You were sadly snapped out of your trance when said former boy tugged on the sleeve of your stylish red coat.

“Hey, look,” Yeonjun murmured towards you. You glanced to what he was saying, turning your head over to the direction where he was looking at. When your eyes were met with Soobin’s, you sighed out a breath of relief. Thank gosh he made it. Gratefulness poured out of you as soon as your eyes dawned upon him.

Ah wait a second, Soobin really was here! Finally, you were able to wish him a few seasons greetings! Slowly getting up, you were planning to run up and throw him into one of your tight embraces until Yeonjun dragged you back down by the coat. You were going to yell at him to let you go since that boy can choose to be annoying as heck, but he begged you to stay with him. The needy glint in his eye told you to sit back down. Confusion washed over you in waves, yet once you looked at what he was gazing at, you needed to thank him for saving you to a close mistake.

Your delusions of being with that boy were crushed when you saw a chic girl linger behind him, holding his hand with a luminous ring on her index finger. Yeonjun’s breath hitched in his throat upon seeing her, and you felt sick to your stomach. She was the perfect embodiment of what people called Heather- a pretty smile and a charming aura whichever place she entered. Insecurities you tried your best to conceal inside rose back up again, and you felt the need to throw them up on the empty plate before you. Self doubt like these were the worst, especially when it could play a key role in losing the love of your life.

With that being said, it was safe to say that you hated her already.

It’s just... ugh, that girl gifted you with a weird gut feeling as if you’ve seen her before. Morals and views reminding you not to became a greedy monster, you knew you couldn’t hate her without evidence that she was a terrible person, but seriously, what else could that suffocating feeling be? Why did she seem so familiar to you with that long, platinum blonde hair dancing whenever she swayed and deep, indigo eyes who could capture about anybody there?

Platinum blonde hair... deep, indigo eyes.... a pretty face-

Wait a minute... isn’t she your old best friend from sophomore year?!

As if on cue, you watch as Soobin’s hands trail to the back of the same girl, feeling the world you imagined with your unrequited love to crash down on your weak shoulders, harshly and indefinitely.

A blaring advertisement pops up from your phone, warning you that what you were watching made a grand finish. A soft grunt of frustration left your lips. This night was going to be the worst one yet, you felt it resonate in your bones. And the endearing way he chuckles at whatever she says is enough. The video is stupid; you already have enough information to know that he doesn’t like you.

2. He flirts with other girls but when you aren’t around, he immediately stops.

The night was going... so-so.

At first, you planned to dip and make it up to Yeonjun later, but something in your heart urged you in place whenever you stole a glance at Soobin. Maybe it was the way he sent reassuring looks towards your direction, telling you that he’ll be right there later. Maybe it was the way his doe eyes twinkled if you chose to join in the conversation. Maybe it was how you knew deep down inside that no other girl could compare to you. You felt selfish because of these burdening feelings. It was as if fate was making fun of you, mocking you for falling for Soobin. You watched your old friend and Soobin flirt all dinner, so the last thing you wanted to do was eat.

Your attention instantly snaps to the other side of the table where your friend is grabbing a keen knife. Soobin offered to give his to you since there were none left in sight- perhaps a mistake from the waiter, but you declined with a tense jaw from gritting your teeth for too long. The food had already arrived, although you barely noticed due to the envy. Yeonjun ordered fancy steaks for all of you, and guilt seemed to swallow you up from how much you were visibly hesitant to dive into what the others were eating.

A strange, constrained grunt from your old friend snaps you from out of your thought bubbles. You hurriedly glanced in her direction, surely not disappointed at what she was pulling. You swore you almost burst into laughter at what foolery she was showing. Who knew someone could be this- this stupid?! No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t cut through the steak with the knife given to her, causing her a lot of embarrassment. The tips of her ears turned tomato red as she daintily pressed through the meat with all of her might.

Well, wasn’t this certainly a sight to see.

Unknowingly, the corners of your lips curl up into a smirk. Did she know how much of a fool she looked right now? She couldn’t be that stupid, you remembered how smart she called herself back in high school. What’s wrong with her that she couldn’t even cut a measly steak?

...oh my goodness, what’s wrong with you? Your hand flew up to slap yourself in the forehead, but fortunately no one saw. You were crazy, absolutely crazy. Did you deem yourself as a horrible person for thinking about their downfall? ...yes, but it doesn’t matter!

Soobin saw how much trouble she was going through and like a good person, smiled and lent a helping hand. Literally.

He gently placed his hand on top of theirs, guiding the knife so that it could pierce through the meat. She giggled at his kind efforts, having the audacity to move much closer to him by shuffling her chair. You covered your mouth with your hand so that you wouldn’t audibly gasp. Both you and Yeonjun share a knowing look towards each other after that, eyebrows furrowed and all.

Looking back down at your plate, you forced yourself to eat through the situation. But you weren’t able to at all. It seemed the repulsion at how flirty and good looking both of them were made your stomach do flips. Suddenly, the steak on your plate looked disgusting.

In no time, it seemed that all of the appetite you built up earlier somehow disappeared into thin air. You no longer felt like eating whenever your eyes took a look at that new cute “couple” over there. They could’ve been dating for a while now, and you had no clue, like you always did. It just wasn’t your business. You swam a little bit more into your memories with her. She knew you liked Soobin from long ago, and she still did this? Guess who has no intention to get in new touch with an old friend after this “warm, loving dinner” as stated from Yeonjun’s invitation.

Drawing a heavy sigh from your lips once more, your eyes steadily dart to the food on your plate again. In response, your stomach churned as if you were riding a heightened ferris wheel. The feeling of fear penetrated your throat, pulling out a lump you couldn’t control. You had no clue how you were going to finish so much of this Christmas dinner that you sincerely desired to throw up.

3. He gets protective whenever someone he doesn’t like comes near you.

“Hey, you good, Y/N? You’re basically picking at your plate and not eating any of it,” Yeonjun whispers over to you. You look up from the abandoned green veggies on your plate and plaster on a smile for him. Obviously he would be able to tell right away since he was one of your best friends, but that’s what you wanted him to see. Good thing you were close to him so that nobody would be able to hear what you were saying.

With a shrug of your shoulders you inch closer to him, whispering in his ear as well, “yes, I’m clearly doing fine here. It’s not like jealousy is literally eating me alive because he has a crush on my best friend who knows I like him.”

Yeonjun chuckled a little bit at this before punching your shoulder. “Cheer up, bun! I promise it’ll all be alright in the end. After all, I am one of Soobin’s friends who knows everything about him~~” You only smiled at his supposedly sweet gesture. His words were of course comforting, but it did as little as it could to ease your heart.

Placing your head on his shoulder with a timid frown on your face, you murmured a quick thank you to him. One way or another, you were going to have to pay back your debt to him even if he got you all red in the face. “Yeah, you definitely are, bun. You definitely are.”

Little did you know that Soobin was frowning at how you and Yeonjun suddenly went all buddy-buddy with each other before stuffing a few more pieces of bread into his mouth.

4. He gives you a nickname.

From the corner of your eye, you see Soobin shoot you a worried look. His lips are pursed together into a straight line which only makes you roll your eyes. So he was acting like he cared about you after ignoring you for a rat, huh...

“I can see that you’re not eating, buttercup? Is there something that’s bothering you... on Christmas Eve?” That boy did not just- the word buttercup was really not the word you wanted to fall out of his lips right now. He could’ve called you whatever, heck even your name although it wasn’t a serious situation. Buttercup was a cute nickname he gave to you when you first became friends. You tried to convince yourself that you absolutely hated what he called you, but the quick pace of your heart begged to differ.

Choi Soobin is not the boy you love. Choi Soobin is only your best friend! Choi Soobin does not like you! Choi.. Soobin is who you’ll always love, regardless. Your twisted mind kept tugging you back and forth so briskly that you wanted to throw up from all of those flutters. It was clear that insanity was stretching you as if you were a four year old’s putty judging from the sour expression on your face, but of course nobody seemed to notice.

Furrowing your tense eyebrows at him, all of the anger built up from tonight washed over your body like a dangerous tsunami.

“Aren’t you supposed to be courting my old friend right now? I thought you guys were going to be a couple judging from how stupid you two are acting, so don’t worry about lil’ ol’ buttercup me!,” you deadpan, gradually becoming enraged enough through the sentence to slam your poor phone onto the wooden table. It’s like you couldn’t control yourself anymore. Your face is furiously burning with anger at the sight of them holding hands, and you happen to sigh exasperatedly which makes all of the customers turn their heads from worry. Some of them were raising amused eyebrows at your attitude so much so, that you wanted to disappear from the face of the Earth.

Crap. You should’ve been watching what you said as to not cause a scene. Did it really matter though? You needed to let out your emotions one way or another! Yeonjun helps alleviate your overwhelming emotions by tightening the hold on your hand under the table but you simply couldn’t help it any longer. Why the hell did you have to have a crush on someone who was too oblivious for his own good? He shouldn’t be that dense! You swore that he was a wall; you couldn’t talk to him about what you felt because for sure, he wouldn’t understand.

And as always, Soobin nods his head nonchalantly at your words- causing the hope that he’d know about what you felt inside to eventually shrivel up and die.

5. He stares at you longingly whenever you aren’t looking.

“Woah, take a chill pill, Y/N,” the girl in front of you croaked out after sipping on a little bit of her special red wine.

You shoot a glare at her, and go back to eat what was expected of your steak- which was pretty much 75% of it left. That was the only thing you could be proud of to arise from this night since you didn’t want to throw up whenever you chose to speak. Speaking of which, there was no point in talking anymore when you knew that everyone would stare at you. Which reminds you. You should probably hide your face now since at least ten people are watching this scene go down. Upon realizing this, you shoo them away with your hands and a few of them awkwardly turned back as if they weren’t watching what happened. Yeonjun chuckles hysterically, shaking his arms around like a lunatic so that the attention would be shielded away from the table.

Under your breath, you mutter a few words lowkey wishing that she would hear. A few words couldn’t her, right? With someone who’s personality was bigger than their plastic lips, you were sure it wouldn’t hurt. “I bet he doesn’t even like you since you keep hogging him all night.”

Something told you she heard due to the sour expression written all over her face.

Immediately, the “kind girl” as Soobin called her started insulting you out of the blue once she comprehended your words. Deeper and stabbing into your heart, her voice was as civil as she could put it to be, but the comments she made were totally out of line. You wanted to respond back with something, however she kept interrupting you with that degrading voice.

“God, it’s like you’re trying so hard to stay with these two! Haven’t you gotten the memo that none of them like you? Who would’ve known that lil’ ol’ buttercup here would be such a slut when back in high school, was the prude of the school?”

You were going to say something- anything to retort back to her until she cut you off again. You really had no power compared to that witch at all, she only made you feel smaller as vulnerability surrounded you, overwhelming your thought process. Her words dripped venom while the anger rose in you similar to that as of a bread rising up under the influence of yeast. It was getting difficult by the minute not to slap her since Soobin was right there and easily unknowingly holding you back.

“After all, you don’t want to embarrass yourself like you do every day. I’m surprised your friendships stayed long enough from high school,” her eyes wandered to your reddening cheeks, feeling much satisfaction fill her for clearly hurting your feelings. “And with that ugly Christmas sweater too? Poor girl, I can see why Soobin would reject you even though I know for a fact you hadn’t even confessed your stupid feelings to him.”

Not a sound of Yeonjun’s endearing chuckles echoed beside you, not a clatter from Soobin’s fork crashed against his plate, and not even a customer’s murmuring voice filled the whole restaurant. All of you remained silent- even the staff and chefs to see what happened next, witnessing that of a melodrama. The only thing repeating in your head was... how could she have the audacity to do that in a public restaurant?

It was like she could see all of your insecurities, both inside and out. The boys couldn’t bring themselves to say anything in fear that it would only do more damage compared to their intentions. Soobin was just as shocked as you were that she would say that aloud where anybody could hear you. Yeonjun shut his mouth, not being able to protect you because he knew the girl would only keep him silent with menacing words. Basically, both of them were wimps who chose not to help you, and that hurt you the most.

As if she could read your mind, she laughed off all the attention towards your table. “Acting innocent now, are you? I’m not surprised. Just leave if you’re not going to let anything come out of that big, stupid mouth.”

That was the final straw.

6. He plays hard to get.

“I-I guess I’m not needed here, then.”

You get up from your spot next to Yeonjun, fumbling to grab your phone on the table. Your eyes are practically brimming with tears as you do your best to hide them with the sleeve of the ugly Christmas sweater she was talking about. Both Soobin and Yeonjun are yelling for you to come back, but you no longer have the pride to see the smirk on that insane woman’s face. If she was going to insult you just to raise herself up, then you could leave one night to save you the embarrassment. She just degraded you in front of everybody, and didn’t say an apology if not more, feel sorry for doing so.

You sprint over to the entrance with tears in your eyes, slamming the door against the brick wall of the building. The customers were gossiping about what just happened, but you didn’t care anymore. All of the emotions were pouring out of you while you pathetically let tears out like a love-struck fool. Now you certainly had no reason to stay, even if the boys were waiting back for you. Good thing nobody was there or else you would’ve gotten angry at them for the littlest of things. Kicking the pile of snow that built up over the events of the dinner, you could see that your frustration was barely restrained.

The crystal snowflakes did little to calm you down as some caught onto the tip of your nose. It had been a while since snow waltzed from up above on this very day, but you couldn’t care less.

A clear night sky is what you’re met with before you feel yourself plop onto the wooden bench. A disappointed sigh is undone from your lips due to the fact that Soobin or even Yeonjun hadn’t chased after you. You made a scene for one of the reasons one of them would chase after you so that one person, at least one would come over and give you some form of attention- unlike what happened all night! Of course you wanted Yeonjun to come so that you could rant what occupied your head, but you bothered him more than enough. He was always one to listen and somehow had a couple pieces of advice every time you asked him for a solution.

You felt your eyelashes flutter by themselves in the frosty air before forcing them shut. You were simply disappointed that the dinner was all wasted because of a stupid crush.

This Christmas Eve was supposed to be special with everyone there... if only your toxic friend chose not to stir up some trouble tonight. Why did Soobin have to invite her anyway? He didn’t know what she could do to sabotage anyone there, including you. For the time being though, you chastised yourself for being so stupid months before. It wasn’t the first time that she made a move on Soobin in order to anger you, but that’s for another day. Foolish enough, you thought back then that forgiving and forgetting would be good to salvage the remnants of the warm friendship you once had.

7. He makes it clear that he likes you.

Perhaps 15 minutes passed before you decided to go back inside and apologize to the boys for ruining the dinner with your temper tantrum. It would be so so so awkward with Soobin, considering that she screamed you liked him, but a little bit of acting would cover it up. Perhaps you were a good actor already! He was oblivious to those warm feelings you owned anyway, and maybe after leaving with Yeonjun you would tell him that none of the things she said was true. Apologies and kindness would be able to make up for it, they just had to. Of course you wouldn’t say sorry to that monster, but hey! It’s Christmas Eve and acting civil is the best thing to do in this situation.

Christmas Eve, and yet you were still disheartened nobody showed up.

Dropping your phone into your purse, you get up from your icy spot on the bench and reluctantly took a few steps to the entrance. The death ring of the jingling bell ceases you in place, and you gasp at the boy who was staring at you with soft eyes. They looked much warmer than earlier when you got the guts to yell at him, so you felt guilty for blaming all of your faults on the boy who was only worried for you.

Breathless, he dashed towards you- heels clicking against the pavement and gently intertwined both of your hands.

“Buttercup, I’m so sorry for what she said. Just please don’t cry. I can’t stand seeing you cry.” With the tip of his thumb, he delicately wiped what was left of your tear stains. Then rubbing both of your cheeks in an attempt to warm your face up, he stared down at you obviously worried.

Seeing how much he cared for you made you grin at his endearment. “Soobders, it’s not your fault! She said things that she shouldn’t have, but I know you guys wouldn’t believe it...” your voice trailed off when you glanced at him, afraid that he really did, “r-right?”

Raising an eyebrow, the tall boy seemed to grow taller in front of you, looming over you in disbelief. You gulped that weird lump in your throat that arose from crying earlier and tried to present yourself as not nervous. Surely, he had to believe you! There wasn’t enough preparation you could do to be rejected from a best friend... Scared and creeped out by how that monster remembered, you hoped that you wouldn’t have to tell them for the second time that you actually really liked him.

The way he remained tall in front of you begged to differ.

Bringing his face closer to yours, a deep frown was etched onto his lips each second he stared at your nervous features. You were grinning awkwardly at how close you two were, but he didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he was more focused on the fact that you couldn’t trust him even if he was one of your confidants. Suspicious, he pulled away at the last second when both of your noses were barely touching. “Something’s wrong with you, and you’re hiding it. You tell me everything and I want to know it, so... what’s on your mind tonight?”

Boy, was he persistent. That caused you to roll your eyes. Couldn’t he just act oblivious for this once? You would gladly get on your knees to beg for him not to barge in your business for the meantime. There’s no way you could confess without preparing first since it’d shatter you once the deed was done.

Unbeknownst to you, Soobin only found this gesture to be confusing since you’d never had an attitude once in front of him. He assumed something was seriously wrong because you tried not to let rude words from others affect you... His date back there must’ve hit a nerve, and done a good job at that. One thing he would do tonight was comfort you until both of you could go back to the dinner table together, plus scare off the woman if you allowed him.

“How about we go back to the table? I didn’t mean to cause a commotion.” Soobin shook his head slowly, his black bangs moving to cover his brown, chocolate eyes. “Tell me what’s wrong,” he presses on further while moving closer to you. It was unbearable- everything. From how near he was to feel his breath fan over your lips, from how his dark eyes urged you to tell him what was going on, to you holding your breath, not allowing to suck in a pocket of air for the pounding beat of your heart. You became flustered at how close he is and backed away into the pile of snow you saw earlier.

Stop, stop! You needed to keep composure!

“Like I said, you don’t have to worry about it. I just wanted to get some fresh air because I felt suffocated in that place where everyone was staring at us. I’m so sorry for making you guys feel embarrassed, this is all my fault.”

“But it isn’t your fault! I should’ve dug deeper into her intentions before inviting her over. You know fully well that nobody will replace you so please, buttercup? Tell me what’s bugging you,” he pleaded, “I know everything about you, but you’re hiding something and that’s making me go crazy.”

Well, that little- of course you had to hide it! Was he that dumb?!

“Are you serious?! You know everything about me?! She said that I liked you since I met you- and hell, that’s true! I just- I really really like you! You haven’t been seeing all the signs I send you, no matter how much I try. It’s clear to everyone that I like you, but you don’t know it- the only person I desperately want to know about how I feel! Something in me must’ve snapped when you flirted with them back there, and I couldn’t help myself! The jealousy just slammed me against the ground and-” before you could speak any longer, Soobin shushed you silent with his lips against yours softly.

It was a way to shut you up; you instantly stopped ranting as soon as he brought you in deeper with his intoxicating lips. He tasted as sweet as strawberries, encouraging you to relish in the feeling of finally having someone you pined for so long. Your words fell into his mouth as you kissed him back immediately, bringing him closer to your freezing arms. His chest pushed against yours until your back hit the cold brick walls.

Warm butterflies fluttered in your stomach, shooting out swirls of what you called fuzzies to run through your veins. It was finally what you waited for.

It’s love.

Soobin’s hand lingers to the one you placed on his chest, clutching it as if it was the last time. You chuckled at his eagerness, but that doesn’t mean either of you pulled away! Because seriously, you don’t have to watch a video to know that he likes you for the nth time. It’s the way that he giggles into the soft yet passionate kiss you both share that you finally know- after all this time, your crush really does like you.

.’*/ (ㅇㅅㅇ❀)＼*’..’*/ (ㅇㅅㅇ❀)＼*’.

Posted: 11/18/20- 1:08am

Tags:

@honeijun-writes !! honeibunch, i finished it after a while !! yayaya, thank you for waiting 🥺<33

#txt fluff #txt angst #txt reactions #txt oneshots #txt timestamps #soobin fluff #soobin angst #soobin ff #soobin oneshot #soobin timestamps #soobin imagines #soobin scenarios #txt scenarios

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spencers-renaissance · 4 years

Text

baby, you’re my new years’ eve

Summary: You and Emily are hosting a New Years’ Eve party for all of your friends, but she’s acting a little weird. You finally find out why when the clock strikes midnight.

Tags: fluff, nye fic, proposal, getting engaged, domesticity, romance, flirting, day in the life

Pairing: Emily x Reader

Word Count: 3.6k

Masterlist // Read on AO3

It’s almost 10am by the time you get back from your morning errands, laden with bags and a dusting of snow decorating your coat. You shrug out of your coat and scarf, peel off your gloves, and kick off your boots as you venture further into the house you share with your girlfriend, a warm safe haven from the frozen wind outside. All the Christmas lights the two of you had put up together a few weeks ago are turned on, and the warm and happy feeling settling in your chest only intensifies when you shoulder the kitchen door open to see Emily awake and drinking a cup of coffee at the table.

“You’re up,” you smile, knowing that Emily likes a lie-in on her days off, and she damn well deserves it, too.

“You’re back,” she echoes, a matching bright smile lighting up her face. She’s still in her pyjamas, a dressing gown thrown around her shoulders, and her hair has been let down from its bun, a slight curl to it after having slept with it up. She looks absolutely beautiful, naturally.

“I am.” You walk further into the room and put your bags down on the kitchen counter, beginning to unpack them. “I picked up some stuff for the party tonight, but I also got you breakfast.” You grab a plate from the cupboard and load it up with the pastries you’d bought from the local bakery, sold to you by the baker who knows both you and Emily by name.

“Oh,” she gasps in delight. “Have I told you lately I love you?” She reaches eagerly for the plate to place it on the table before reaching around for a kiss.

“You have,” you confirm, amused, “you tell me every day, Em.”

“Because it’s true,” she nods with wide eyes through a mouthful of almond croissant.

Laughing, you grab yourself a plate and a few pastries before joining Emily at the table. “Did you sleep alright?”

“Mm, it was a bit broken,” she admits, not quite meeting your eye for some reason. “But I made up for it with a little lie-in this morning.” Emily never sleeps badly at home. She’s always said that sleeping in her own bed with you wrapped around her is the best sleeping tablet she’s ever tried, but you don’t dwell on it too much.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” you say sympathetically. “You could always have a nap early this afternoon. Need to be in the best shape for partying the night away.”

“Yeah, I might do,” she says, looking back up at you. “If I start to feel tired I’ll try and sleep. Anyway, how did you sleep, Y/N?”

“Like a baby,” you smile. “Woke up early so I thought I’d beat the New Years’ Eve rush to buy up the rest of the snacks. Plus, pastries for breakfast… can’t beat that.”

“You definitely can’t,” Emily says, a smudge of icing on her lip. “Thank you for doing that, sweetheart.”

“Don’t worry about it,” you say, leaning over to wipe the icing off with your thumb, kissing her for good measure. “Icing,” you explain with a grin as you pull away.

“Ah,” she says knowingly, winking at you before leaning back in for another kiss. “Right, come on. Finish your breakfast and we’ll get on with the day.”

The rest of the morning is spent in the kitchen. You’d decided that as much of the food on offer at the New Years’ party the two of you had planned should be homemade as possible, which meant a fridge full of baked goods you’d already prepared but a short list of items that still needed to be made. It was a bit of an undertaking, but it kept you busy. Despite having known the rest of the BAU for years and having been fully incorporated into their family, you still get nervous before each gathering. Being surrounded by powerful, smart, successful FBI agents was always going to be intimidating, no matter how much you considered them your friends.

“Emily, please don’t stick your finger into the butter and then plunge it into the sugar,” you sigh, a little exasperated as your girlfriend shoves her greasy finger into her mouth for the third time.

“What?” she asks, pretending to be insulted. “It tastes good.”

“Yeah, it’s also not very hygienic,” you point out, rolling out the cookie dough.

“Oh, please, what’s a bit of my saliva when you kiss me everyday anyway?” she asks.

“Well, I might think that,” you reason, “but I’m not sure our guests will. Unless you’ve been running around kissing them, too?” You point your rolling pin at her accusatorily as you wait for her response.

“No!” she cries, kissing you in promise of her devotion. “I only have eyes for you, baby. By the way is it too early to have a glass of wine?”

You roll your eyes at that, trying unsuccessfully to stifle a fond laugh. “It’s 11am Emily,” you giggle. “What’s got into you this morning?”

“Nothing,” she says defensively. “I’m just… excited for the party later.”

“Hmm, okay,” you say dubiously, raising an amused eyebrow in her direction. “In that case, you get started on the samosas. Fry up the filling I prepared and roll out the pastry for me? Then all we need to do is put the chips in later on and set it all up.”

“Anything for you, baby,” she smiles, kissing your cheek before getting on with her assignment.

You work together with your ‘happy’ playlist playing over the kitchen speakers for the next hour and a bit to get all the food ready, and by the time the samosas are being fried, you’re both in desperate need of a sit down. “Right, let’s order something to eat and watch an episode or three of Parks and Rec before we need to get ready and set up, how does that sound?” Emily asks as you both begin the mammoth task of cleaning up the bombsite of a kitchen.

“I don’t know, Em, we have so much food in the fridge,” you say, worrying your lip at the decision.

“Yeah, but it’s all for the party tonight, you don’t want to eat it now,” she says, reaching for your hand and squeezing it comfortingly. “Come on, we’ll tidy up afterwards. I’ll order in some UberEats and we’ll relax for a little while. We deserve it after all this.”

“Okay,” you relent, offering her a grateful smile and letting yourself be guided to the sofa by Emily’s hand.

“You’ve done an amazing job at making all this food, sweetheart,” she says warmly, running a hand through your hair. “You should rest for a bit now so you can properly enjoy tonight, yeah?” She tucks a blanket around you and hands you the remote before she pulls out her phone to order you both some lunch.

Sandwiches eaten and two extra coffees polished off, you get started on setting up the house for the party. The leftover decorations from Christmas make the house bright and pretty enough, so it’s fairly easy to make the house look welcoming, but you still have to sort out the food and drink, move the furniture, and put away the valuables. Not to mention getting yourselves ready.

“Everyone’s arriving at 8, right babe?” Emily calls from the kitchen as you move the coffee table to the side in the living right.

“That’s right,” you call back. “But Spencer and Penelope will probably be here early.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Emily says, walking into the living room and leaning against the doorframe as you finish pushing the table aside to make the room more accessible.

“Does this look okay?” you ask, putting your hands on your hips as you survey your living room.

“It looks great, baby,” Emily reassures you, pushing off the door and pulling you into a side hug as you both look at the decorated room. “The Christmas tree is still up which makes the whole room look lovely, and the New Year banner is nice, too. It’s absolutely perfect for what we need it to do.”

“Okay,” you agree, turning to the side to press your face into her neck, kissing her briefly before pulling away again. “Let’s tidy away the expensive stuff and then go and get ready, yeah?”

“Y/N, there are like 15 people coming and nobody’s gonna get off their tits; we don’t really need to put this stuff away,” she promises, but it’s to no avail.

“Well, I’d rather be safe. Even tipsy people can do some damage,” you point out, putting Emily’s mother’s vase in the cabinet along with a few decorations from the mantle.

“Fair enough,” she agrees, heading into the kitchen to continue tidying up after your earlier cooking adventures. You join her a moment later and the two of you work quickly to do the washing up, tidy the counter, and put the dishwasher on. You’re soon looking at a spick and span kitchen, nearly party-ready, and you smile at your girlfriend in satisfaction. “Looks amazing, doesn’t it?” she smiles back at you.

“It does indeed,” you nod. “It’s only 4. You wanna sit down for a bit before getting ready?”

“Absolutely I do,” she says. “Wanna nap with me?”

“Please,” you sigh, grabbing her hand to lead her down to your bedroom. The two of you ditch the trousers and bury under the covers, setting a timer for an hour before promptly falling asleep.

“Want me to wash your hair?” Emily asks as you both stand under the hot jet of water. Your favourite part of moving in with Emily was definitely the shower; you’d moved from a flat with a from a tiny bath and shower combo unit to a beautiful house on the outskirts of DC with a large walk-in shower and the best water pressure you’d ever experienced; it was quite the upgrade.

“Only if I get to do yours afterwards,” you grin, leaning in for a rather wet and soapy kiss.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” she says, spinning you round and pouring a generous dollop of shampoo into her palm, lathering up your hair as she massages her fingers into your scalp in a delicious massage. You can’t help but lean into the touch, just as you always do with Emily, making her chuckle fondly. “Feel good?”

You just let out a happy moan in response, sighing as the water washes the shampoo away and Emily quickly applies some conditioner. “Your turn,” you say, doing the same for your girlfriend as she sighs appreciatively.

You both shave your legs and underarms quickly before finishing up in the shower and towelling off next to one another in the spacious bathroom. “Right, it’s 5.30,” you say, checking your phone while Emily wraps her hair up, “so we’ve got like… two hours, probably, until Pen and Spencer show up.”

“Plenty of time,” Emily says breezily, waving her hand in your direction as you open the bathroom window to air out the humidity.

“Still, better to be early rather than late,” you say pointedly, grabbing Emily’s hand and dragging her away from her perch by the radiator and into the bedroom.

She hums as she drops her towel and peruses her wardrobe. When she turns back around with the dress she plans on wearing, you don’t bother to hide your blatant appreciation. After all these years you’re still somehow blown away with how sexy Emily manages to be. “Naughty girl,” she gasps in mock admonishment. “We don’t have time for that. Your words not mine.”

“Life’s tough,” you sigh heavily, walking over and squeezing her ass lightly, taking great pleasure in making her jump as you pull out the dress you’d decided on earlier in the week. “What do you think?” you ask her.

“It will look absolutely gorgeous, Y/N,” she promises, kissing your cheek. She passes you your bathrobe and pulls her own on as you both head to your adjoining dressing tables to sort out your hair. “Straight or curly?”

“Hmm, straight, I think,” you reply, “you know I love your natural hair. I’m gonna go curly though, so we’ll compliment each other perfectly.”

You put on some music and get ready together in tandem, and it goes about as simply as it can when Emily’s involved. You only have three make-up brushes chucked at you and her desk isn’t a total disgrace by the time you’re finished, so you take it as a win. It’s just gone 7 by the time you’re both dressed up to the nines and ready for the party.

“You look… breathtaking,” Emily says dreamily as she drinks you in, kissing you gently so as not to smudge either of your lipsticks.

“Thanks, Em,” you say shyly. “You look absolutely beautiful, too.” She’s wearing a gorgeous full-length black dress with a deep v neck line and a slit in the right leg. She’s a vision next to your colourful outfit and bright makeup, always complementing one another in just the right ways.

“Right, well, if we both look amazing, it’s time to set out the food, isn’t it?” she asks, winking at you as she leads the way out to the kitchen, shutting and locking the door behind you to prevent any stray party guests from wandering in.

The next hour passes quickly and soon guests are spilling through the door, brightening the whole house with their chatter and laughter, getting started on the wine and party food. Emily is marginally quieter than usual, but you brush it up to her just being tired, especially when she’s roped into a conversation with Hotch and Rossi and immediately perks up.

The whole of the BAU team is here, along with your best friends and the few Couple Friends you and Emily had made over the last few years that made you both feel far too grown up and sophisticated. Your friends quickly mingle in with the rest of the guests, though, which was your biggest worry, so with that relief you let yourself relax and enjoy the party.

Spencer and Penelope snag you into a conversation, plying you with champagne and the samosas you’d made with Emily earlier until you properly let go and enjoy yourself. “Wait, Emily made these?” Spencer asks, slightly incredulous at the idea of his most chaotic friend being even somewhat capable in the kitchen.

“She was supervised, don’t worry,” you laugh, biting into one delicious samosa after another.

“I wish I could cook,” Spencer says as he accepts another one from Penelope’s proffered plate.

“Aw, I’ll teach you baby genius,” Penelope grins. “But I once watched you try and put a croissant in the toaster, so you may be a lost cause.”

“Hey, that was when I’d first joined the BAU,” Spencer protests. “It was the first time I had a salary and could afford such luxuries, you can’t blame me for not knowing what to do with it.” His defenses fall on deaf ears, though, as you and Penelope laugh loudly at his expense. “Derek will defend me,” he eventually mutters before running off to find his boyfriend.

You and Penelope chat easily for a while, introducing her to a few of your friends as you orbit around the downstairs of your house. Eventually, you cross paths with Emily again, who still looks a little tense and quiet. “Hey,” you say, catching her arm and subtly drawing her to the side. “Is everything okay, baby?”

“Yeah, of course,” she says, plastering on a smile you know is fake. “I’m fine, sweetheart. Just enjoy the party, okay? We’ll talk later.”

You can’t really enjoy the party when the back of your mind is continually worrying about your girlfriend, but you’re able to circle around the house a few more times, chatting with all of your guests as everyone tucks into the alcohol and food. Before you know it it’s nearing midnight and Emily’s in the corner of the kitchen having a serious-looking conversation with Hotch.

Tentatively approaching, you tap Emily on the shoulder. “Everyone’s gonna watch the ball drop in the living room,” you say. “You coming?” You try and smile as encouragingly as possible, taking her soft hand in yours.

“Yeah,” she says, looking a little flustered and you can see a little sheen of sweat on her forehead, “yeah, of course, baby. Let’s go.” She hands her glass of champagne to Hotch in a sort of weird gesture that has you furrowing her eyebrows, but nevertheless she grips your hand firmly and you swan into the living room which is already housing most of the guests, everyone chatting and laughing loudly. The sight of so many people you love and adore has you smiling warmly, and you press your arm up against Emily’s, resting your head on her shoulder as the 2 minute countdown begins.

“I love you so much, you know,” you whisper, just for her to hear in the loud, excited room. “I can’t wait to spend a whole other year together. I feel so lucky to have you.”

She moves her neck slightly causing you to lift your head and you’re met with a happy, excited smile, all traces of the nervous Emily that had been swanning around the party all night disappeared. “I feel even luckier to have you, sweetheart,” she murmurs. “You have no idea.”

You both lean in for a kiss which is quickly interrupted by Derek. “Bit early, ladies,” he calls across the room, “it’s not midnight yet.” He’s got Spencer curled up under his arm on the sofa, resting comfortably next to JJ and Penelope who have also cuddled up together. Hotch and Rossi are standing by the Christmas tree rolling their eyes fondly at their agents.

Emily responds with a purposeful middle finger and a well-practiced sneer, but Derek can’t reply because soon the room fills with a swell of noise as everyone starts to count down.

Everyone cheers as the new year is rung in, but as you turn to kiss Emily, you’re instead faced with her on one knee, offering an absolutely beautiful engagement ring. You gasp loudly, gaining everyone’s attention and everyone stops their celebration as a happy, expectant hush falls on the room, the TV’s celebration the only sound.

“Y/N, I can’t express how much I love you,” Emily starts, voice confident but you can hear the undercurrent of emotion written all over it. “All I want to do for the rest of my life is be with you. Ring in each new year with you, celebrate every Christmas with you, come home from every hard case to you, eat pastry for breakfast with you. You’re all I need to be happy, and you’d make me impossibly happier if you’d do me the honour of being my wife. So, Y/N, will you marry me?”

“Yes, oh my God,” you reply tearfully as soon as she’s finished, tears spilling down your face as she carefully pushes the ring onto your finger and stands up to hug you. Everyone around you is clapping and cheering and celebrating your love but your whole world is shrunk down to the two of you, Emily’s hands on your lower back, her ring on your finger, the press of her body up against yours.

Eventually though, you pull away and kiss her, turning to face your guests with the happiest smile on your face. Hotch is smiling proudly and all the events of the evening slip into place, so you turn to kiss Emily on the cheek fondly. Penelope is crying, naturally, as are most of your friends and everyone crowds round in excitement, congratulating the two of you.

When you finally get a bit of space later in the night, you ask Emily where she’d kept the ring all evening.

“In my bra,” she answers, grinning widely.

“God, how did I not guess that,” you smile fondly, rolling your eyes. You kiss her anyway, though, because she’s hot and you’re very much in love.

“I’m so fucking happy you said yes,” she whispers, keeping her head pressed closely to yours.

“Did you seriously think I would ever say anything else?” you ask, surprised that Emily could possibly think you’d say no.

“Well, I obviously had a feeling,” she admits. “But you can’t help but feel fearful of the tiny probability you’re wrong.”

“Well I didn’t,” you say happily, leaning forward slightly to kiss her softly on the nose.

“No, you didn’t,” Emily replies, gripping her hand. “I seriously love you so much, Y/N.”

“And I seriously love you so much, Emily,” you grin. “I can’t wait to call you my wife, but I’m dead happy with fiancée. That will definitely suffice for now.”

The guests slowly trickle out as the hours tick on, eager to leave the newly engaged couple to themselves. Penelope and Spencer make you promise to have a catch-up brunch in the next few weeks to which you eagerly agree, and Hotch and Rossi both congratulate you like they’re both you and Emily’s dads. Derek gives you both massive hugs and JJ follows up with much gentler hugs and congratulations.

“Tidy up in the morning?” you propose, making Emily’s eyebrows shoot up; you usually insist on tidying up there and then, but she quickly understands as you start to unzip your dress and walk backwards towards the bedroom.

“Tidy up in the morning, indeed,” she agrees, running after you.

“My fiancée,” you sigh happily as you enter your cosy bedroom, pausing to kiss Emily softly.

“Your fiancée,” Emily agrees with a wide grin gracing her lips, leading you to the bed as you both start off this next exciting chapter of your lives together in the most appropriate way you can imagine.

@strippersenseii @criminalmindsvibez

#criminal minds #my writing #criminal minds writing #criminal minds fic rec #emily prentiss x reader #emily prentiss x y/n #criminal minds reader-insert #emily prentiss #emily prentiss fluff #criminal minds fluff #emily prentiss x reader fic #emily prentiss x y/n fic

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dizzyingdaze · 3 years

Text

no seats | s.r

a scenario where you can't keep your mouth shut and steve rogers wouldn't want it any other way.

only warning is cursing

New York was somewhere you never thought you'd visit let alone live in, yet here you were. Clutching the bag of your friends coat as she shuffled her way into the busy cafe during lunch time, the worst time to be in any cafe in the city.

Women in pencil skirts exchanged pleasantries with men in dark suits, briefcases occasionally knocking off the guitar case lain against one of the long sofas a group of teenagers occupied.

The jazzy playlist was overtaken by the loud chatter of the customers, the scent of fresh toasted panini's and cinnamon buns intermingling with the raw coffee bean tones. It was chaos to be short if the screaming baby who knocked over their babysitters iced coffee, smack in the middle of the bustling building, was any indication.

Hearing a hefty sigh pass your side, a young worker grabbed a mop and placed down a wet floor sign, shooing anybody standing nearby away.

"Oh no, we're not going to get any seats I think," your friend Karolina said to you, eyeing the usual window seats taken filled up completely.

You signed in response as the line waddled forward, names being shouted out as you continued to eye all tables, eager to jump at any tables with packing bags and empty drinks.

"I'm going to shoot upstairs and check, get me a mocha?," She nodded her head in reply as you broke away from the impatient grumbles and weaved through the tables.

As you neared the end of the stairs, accidentally kicking an empty cup on the floor, you eyed a girl sitting by herself, nestled in the of the window sets. Her bag sat on one chair while an empty one sat across from her.

Eyes widening with an idea you began to walk towards her when a couple beat you there. An almost six foot boy placed his hands down on the table, garnering the attention of the lone girl.

"My girl and I need somewhere to sit and I see your cup is nearly empty. Mind moving? Thanks," He bared his teeth at her in an almost smile, the annoyed crease between his blonde brows giving him away.

His girlfriend seemed less than interested, typing out a message on her phone, only glancing up when the girl opened her mouth.

"Actually I'm waiting on somebody as I'm meant to be tutoring, I don't mind giving you one of the seats though?" She gave a watery smile, her hands beginning to slowly shake at his direct nature.

He downright glared at her response, leaning further into his hands until his face was an inch away from hers. "I was being courteous, now I'm annoyed. Move it,"

Her face flushed red at the embarrassment as his girlfriend began to giggle behind him, clearly used to his egotistical nature. Your own face flushed too but rather in anger, just who the fuck is this dick ordering around random girls?

What a huff you strode up to till you stood between the two, pushing him back with your hand you glared harshly at him as a "What the fuck?" escaped his lips.

'What the fuck yourself, who are you to tell this girl to move? Everybody here wants a seat to yet you don't seem them acting like a little child," You spat watching his neck go red at the confrontation, clearly not used to it.

He stumbled for a second finding words before shooting back "I can tell whoever I want to move especially if she's been sitting there with an empty coffee cup. I don't have to listen to any bitch trying to boss me around!" The cafe had gone quiet as he shouted out the last sentence, Karolina looking on surprised, the drinks held in her hand. She moved forward to pull you away from the scene but you didn't even budge.

"Oh I'm the bitch? That's rich coming from a dickhead picking on somebody smaller than him, tell me, do you always start throwing tantrums when you don't get what you want? Like a child?," Hearing you call him a child again seem to strike a chord in him.

His girlfriend moved to pull him back as his hand balled in a fist, Karolina whispered to you "Not again, let's go please," into your ear. But you both shared the same stubborn nature, refusing to move.

The tension rose as you just stared each other down, veins almost bulging, jaws clenched so tight they began to ache. The man pointed his finger right in your face, the thought of biting it ran through your mind. "You do not tell me what to do and I'm not a fucking child you hear me? You better learn to keep your sharp tongue to yourself and out of my goddamn affairs!" His attention shifted to the girl he had originally spoken to, her eyes beginning to tear up as he moved the finger from you to her.

Pushing him back again, outraged at the audacity he had to even speak to her again you pushed him back full force with both your hands, grounding your boots into the sticky floor. Taken aback he stumbled into his girlfriend and you swore you could see his pride take a physical hit.

Without missing a beat he rolled his shoulders and balled his fists and you did the same before two large figures stepped between you two.

"Easy there tough guy, hitting a dame the best way to win a fight you shouldn't have started?" The voice wasn't familiar but the metal fingers peeking out of the black denim jacket was, clutching the boys shoulder so hard he bent forward at it. "Let me go what the fuck-" He started before the stranger grabbed the back of his lettermen jacket and dragged him out of the shop through the back exit, the girlfriend shouting along with him as she followed them out.

The second man had bent down in front of the girl in the middle of this all, her shoulders shaking as the man whispered soothingly to her. You coughed awkwardly uncurling your fists, clocking all the eyes on you and your friend just deadpanned at you. "Don't you even try, why does your ass always have to get in the middle of other peoples business? I said, don't start!" She placed a finger over your lips as you obediently went quiet.

You could always explain later. You turned to face the man and the girl, to see how she was when you recognized who he really was. Light blue eyes stared into yours as you took in the broad shoulders and blonde hair peeking out from under his cap. You just blinked in surprise but said nothing, choosing to crouch in front of the girl who was no longer shaking.

"Are you alright?" She nodded, thanking you as she bent forward for a hug you gladly returned, albeit a bit quickly because there was so many people here. "I probably would have moved and most likely cried in the bathroom so you know, thanks for that," You grinned at her response, standing up as Karolina threw her free hand up.

"If you're not outside in the next five minutes i'm throwing your drink down the drain," She stalked out, blonde ponytail bouncing behind her as the onlookers resumed their previous activities, leaving you standing rather stiffly in front of Captain fucking America.

"I take it from your friend being annoyed, you do that thing a lot?" His lips curling up as you nodded shortly. "She's not actually annoyed at me, she'd be more annoyed if I let that twat continue to shout at her and do nothing," He chuckled at that, stuffing his hands into his jacket pocket as you stared at the door your friend left.

"Well don't let me hold you back but hey, Captain America approves of your social justicing! Or in the name of social justice? You get what I mean," His cheeks blushed a light pink as you giggled at his roundabout way of complimenting you.

"Yeah I'll say that next time it happens. Nice to know an Avenger approves! I'd better go..." You trailed off as he stepped to the side and sent a curt salute your way.

As he watched you saunter away Bucky, who re entered the shop from the entrance, clapped a hand on his shoulder, sighing lowly. "She reminds me of you in some weird, female way, hopefully she doesn't end up in back-alley brawls" He commented, Steve scoffed as they made their way back to the two seater in the corner of the cafe, drinks now a gross lukewarm temperature.

"Please, did you hear her? Her words alone could get a guy bleeding internally," The words slipped out and Bucky whistled at them. "Didn't know all it took was some curse words and authority to get you mushy. Yet, Natasha is a poster child for it and you couldn't care less," Bucky grimaced after sipping his hot chocolate, the once sweet warm mixture now cold and slimy on his tongue.

The other soldier slowly circled the rim of his latte, thinking of how fast you stood up to him, pointing your finger up in his face. "Nat sticks up to assholes 'cause it's her job but she did it for the sake of it. Excuse me, I am not mushy!" He sent a quick dig to his friends shin the offended's brows furrowed at the sharp pain.

"Oh yeah? You're wearing the same damn look you did when Peggy came into the pub all those nights ago. Bet you even tried to find her name on those coffee cups the blonde had," Rubbing the attacked body part, Bucky snidely remarked.

Steve said nothing in response, choosing to stare out the window next to him. He was right, your quickly scribbled name was engraved in his mind as was the white ford fiesta you had hopped in a few meters down from the cafe. Not that he was looking, of course, it was mere coincidence his eyes never seemed to leave your figure.

Mere coincidence, he thought to himself as Bucky rolled his eyes at his friends behaviour. He wondered what weird excuse Steve was going to give for the rest of the week or month it would take to run into you again.

#steve rogers #captain america #steve rogers x reader #captain america x reader #marvel imagine

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asa-sauce · 4 years

Text

those forgotten things

❀ haikyuu!! x (ukai’s kid!) reader

flavor: honey mustard

warnings: none!

a/n: hi, sorry for the long wait! if you're coming from my tiktok, thank you for the continued support! i don’t know who the specific love interest is going to be, so for now it’s basically the entire karasuno team x reader.

note: ukai is your adoptive father. and this takes place at very very end of season 1/very beginning of season 2. you are 16.

+ Your dad, Ukai Keishin, forgets his water bottle at the convenience store before practice. You decide to bring it to him... Big mistake.

The bell on the door announces your presence with a gentle chime, and the cool air coming from the ancient air conditioner hits your face. It's a heavenly relief from the sizzling heat, and you thank heaven for the store being so close to school.

"Hi dad! I'm home!" You call out, but no answer comes.

"Where is he?" Misaki asks, head bobbing up and out like a buoy. There's a prep in her voice now, like a child at an amusement park.

"He's probably in the back or something, I don't know." There's no one else in the store.

She sets her heavy, multi-key chained school bag next to the chair, and you notice that the normally happy face of the plush bunny keychain is smushed against the table leg, smile distorted into a frown.

She starts her jaunty browsing around the store, weaving in and out of each aisle. You do the same, not knowing what you're in the mood for, and meet her at the candies and gum.

"Seriously, Y/n, how do you not find your dad attractive?" The question catches you off guard, and you find yourself quickly scanning the front of the store for any customer that might have just walked in. Did she really just ask that?

You swivel around in a slow, dramatic way, giving her an incredulous look that just about asks that question. She looks at you with that casual—but all too serious—charm, as if she had simply asked what the weather is going to be like tomorrow.

"'Cause he's my dad." She rolls her eyes, dissatisfied with the answer, then juts her head forward just enough to add more emphasis on her next words.

"But he adopted you. You aren't blood-related."

You stare at her. She can't be completely serious, right?

You and Misaki met last year on the first day of school. Meeting her was like something out of an anime. The rambunctious airhead meets the quiet, down-to-earth girl who just can't say no to people.

She literally proclaimed your friendship to the world on that first day of school.

So this: her apparent infatuation for your dad, is very far out there, yes. Yet in retrospect, it's nothing beyond her character.

"Jeez, you're weird," you say, deciding to smile it off. You turn to grab a neon blue bag of chips from the shelf beside you. Misaki laughs, head thrown back, in a maniacal way, and disappears behind the aisle end. "Did you get your food yet?"

"Yeah." She's chosen a popsicle today, already unwrapping it while she continues to peruse the aisles more, just for fun. Her fingers drag along the underside of each plastic price tag, making a clackclackclackclackclak sound that's almost ominous.

"How much is it?" You ask, to which she tells you. You go over to the cash register and take out the appropriate change from your wallet, placing each bill and coin into the correct spaces. Even though you're a member of the family-owned store, a business is still a business, and the small ones like this especially need anything and everything they can get to thrive.

Misaki sits at the table for a few minutes, and you guess that she's waiting for your dad to come back out. She's slouched over her brightly lit cellphone screen, her thumbs continually pattering as she responds to all her messages.

It's awkward.

Even though you and Misaki have gotten pretty close since meeting each other, those uncomfortable silences still sometimes appear.

But then she begins talking about a boy she's been texting these past few weeks, mostly talking it out with herself then seeking your advice. You give simple reactions, and comment when she expects it. A simple 'he did not!' or 'ugh!' will satisfy her.

Of course it's not all that one-sided. She talks, you listen; you talk, she responds. And quite frankly, you don't mind it.

But then the silence emerges once again, until she lets out a big, audible, intentional sigh and stands up.

"Well, I gotta head home, my mom's getting fussy about something again." She shoves her phone in the side pocket of her bag, short hair whipping around as she hoists her bag over her shoulder.

"Okay, see you tomorrow, Misaki." You can feel the breath of relief beginning to grow inside your lungs as she collects her things and heads for the door.

"Yup. Tell your dad I said hello!"

"I will."

No you won't.

And with a final automated jingle of the door chime, she leaves. You wait until the white bunny keychain on her bag is no longer in view to release that breath of relief.

And then, you smile.

"Alright, dad! You can come out now!" you announce, your head tipped back towards the blue curtains. In a comical way, just the face of your father appears, with tufts of yellow hair sneaking out behind him. With his eyes wide he scans the room, side to side, searching for any trace of your friend.

"Is she gone?"

"Yeah, she is."

The rest of him appears then.

Ukai sits himself on the slanting, rickety stool behind the counter that is literally almost on its last legs, with his feet propped up. It's his way of "intimidating" all the "shitheads" that come through after school—is what he says.

You hop onto the counter, splitting open the chip bag. A puff of flavored air travels up into your nose.

"How was that English quiz today?" Ukai asks, catching a whiff as well while you pop the first chip into your mouth.

"Good. I got a 97." you reply after swallowing.

"That's my girl."

You hum in response, munching on another chip. Looking into the bag, you spot a wider, saltier chip that curls at one end. It takes up half the amount of chips, you realize as you take it. It should be a crime, you think, to fill up more than half of the bag with air.

"I'm gonna leave here a little earlier for practice tonight. A few of the boys wanted me to help them with a couple new combinations."

He swings his legs off the counter and sits up, mumbling something about wishing he had taken a nap before walking back into the house to change.

You go through the motions of unpacking your school bag, decideding to work on math first.

You spread your textbooks and papers out on the counter, an organized mess as you like to say, of calculus.

Your pencil moves rapidly across the page, the little flower charm on dangling back and forth with each squiggle.

Your dad leaves around ten minutes later, but not before giving you a quick kiss on the head. The sun is still high and proud, and has no intention to descend until an hour or more later.

It's your favorite time of day. The sun falls through the glass doors in a way that makes the entire world seem just a little more fanciful. It's usually quiet in the store, and after an entire day of constant conversations from you and those around, you can't help but yearn for these peaceful moments. It's entirely why you agreed to take over Ukai's shifts ever since he began coaching Karasuno's male volleyball team.

If anyone comes in at this hour though, they're likely to be a student from Karasuno, but in about five minutes the store's most frequent customer, Etsu, will stop by, and will no doubt be mewling for a meat bun.

You plop down on the seat behind the counter, taking a moment to your self to breathe. You tug at the base of your long ponytail, releasing your unruly hair from the confines of your hair tie. Although you aren't directly related to Ukai, over the years you've inherited parts of his look. One of those being your 'lion's mane' (as your grandmother calls it).

Ukai had adopted you when you were ten, but the six years you've known each other feel like sixteen. You don't remember much about your biological family, and for privacy reasons Ukai doesn't know any more than you do.

You have no harsh feelings towards them--no contempt or ill-wishes for leaving their own daughter. Of course, there are days when you wondered where they are, and what life might be like if they kept you.

Perhaps it is for the best, you always came to. Maybe it is meant to be this way, because at least the life you are living now with just your dad and grandparents is good. It's good—

You hear a dull chip as the lead snaps. It flies off to the side, leaving a small pencil marking etched into your paper. It's minor, but still an annoyance when deep in thought or concentration. Still, it's nothing that can't fixed with two pumps at the end of the pencil. You start over again, scribbling out the final numbers when familiar happy mewl grabs your attention. Before you can even look over, your cheeks lift into a smile.

"Hi, Etsu!"

It's a reaction that happens as soon as the sound reaches your ears. You set your pencil on your paper, math equations and theories slipping from your mind.

Etsu hops onto the counter, his blazing orange fur shimmering in the sunlight. Despite him being a stray, his fur is the softest thing on the planet. You hope he is a stray, because that's how you connected to him in the first place. Sometimes you wonder if he's had those long, quiet nights alone.

"You ready for a meat bun?" You say, sliding a hand back from his head to mid back. He anticipates your touch, always tilting his head up before you caress him again. The mewl he gives, so meek and mild, is what you understand to be a 'yes'.

And so you go over to the pork bun warmer and carefully pluck a bun from the middle shelf, trying your hardest not to touch the metal racks in between. There's still a little splotch of red on your hand from the last time you burned yourself.

The doughy flesh of the bun is warm under your fingertips, and droops slightly, heavy with pork. Steam escapes from every pore, and then, as you slice the bun open, it billows out.

The soft sounds of Estu enjoying his meal brings you a gratification that only comes on—again—during peaceful moments like these.

But as you watch him, you notice your dad's tall, black water bottle and cellphone sitting next to the rotary.

I should probably go and give it to him, you think, watching the bottle now instead of Etsu.

It's about four minutes walking distance from the store.

It wouldn't hurt.

"Nana! Dad left his water here. I'll be right back!"

You wait until you hear the warm, candied voice of your grandmother to leave the store. For a moment, a part of you misses the cool air conditioning.

****

As you enter the breezeway leading to the gym, you realize that you've never been here after school. There's a different vibe, you immediately notice; one that has your steps slowing.

You have never seen the boys your dad coaches. It's not like he forbade you from going to games; and it's not like didn't have any interest in the sport. It's just that you...never.. saw them practice.

You can hear the shoes squeaking and the ball slamming against the waxed floor. It's starts to sound like a horror movie soundtrack, in a weird way.

You peep your head in, carefully clutching the metal door frame.

Five boys, the ones your dad mentioned about earlier, are the first things to catch your eye. One of them, with hair as orange and fiery as Etsu's, is mid-air.

You spot your dad fifteen feet away to the left, arms crossed over one another, head tilted down and eyes wound up--his Focus Face, as you liked to call it. He's deep in his concentration, watching every move of the players on the court. You don't want to interrupt him, so you wait till one of the sides makes a point.

That point comes no sooner after you decide, and after it does, the boisterous cheers of the side closest to you fill the room. You take one step in, more confident, then another, till you're past the metal threshold.

"Dad?"

The man in question turns on instinct. He knows that voice. For fifteen years he's heard the sound of that word, the specific pitch and inflection. So he turns, void of any hesitation or forethought, only wondering why you're here a good few seconds after he sees your face.

Everyone else turns too. The word is so foreign in that environment it feels like slime against skin. The cheers stop. Even the ball stops rolling, and all eyes are on you.

"(Y/n)? What are you--" your father begins, still wide-eyed and surprised. They stay like that for only that moment, however, before returning to their sharp gaze. He turns to the boys, and says, "Excuse me for a second."

You meet him halfway as he walks towards you, neverminding the boys' stares. Haven't they ever seen a girl before? Wasn't that a girl standing right beside your dad?

"You forgot your water bottle," you half-whisper. The stares are getting to you, and you start to feel like you're being cooked alive. "I thought you might need it."

Behind him, a soft murmur lays low in the air. You're hyper-aware of it. What are they saying?

"Thanks, sugarplum." Your dad smiles, something that you know others rarely see, and takes the bottle.

You follow the same path back towards the doors, every now and then peaking glances back at the curious boys. They look kinda goofy, you think, just standing there like they had just witnessed a miracle, like the Lord Jesus Christ himself had come down from the heavens.

But as you turn the corner, a wall that wasn't there before blocks your path. It takes two seconds to register this, but in that first second, you're already colliding into it.

You stumble back, and so does the wall, giving you enough space to look up and see two eyes staring down at you. They're brown and wide with fear, as if had just broken an ancient artifact and was about to be executed.

A squeaky sorry tumbles from your lips at the same time he apologizes.

"Are you okay?" The wall--boy...man?--says. You're still in a daze, but lucid enough to give him a reassuring smile. You've seen him around before. You've never talked to him, but always feel bad that others perceived him as villainous or criminal. Deep down you he know has a kind soul... and a cute face.

"I'm fine! Don't worry about it."

"(Y/n)! You alright?" Your dad calls out from where he is, leaning over to see who you bumped into.

"Yeah! Everything's good!" You pip.

The wall in front of you shifts to the side, clearing the way for you to exit.

You walk with your head down all the way back home, afraid that anyone and everyone could see how red your face was.

God, that was embarrassing.

****

"Coach, was that your daughter?!" Tanaka says, almost teasingly. He's the first to break the silence, and has an apparent death wish.

Soft eyes go razor sharp again. No way was he going to let any one of those hormonal teenage boys near his precious daughter.

"Get back to work, Tanaka!" Ukai barks. All the color drains from Asahi's face, who is still standing by the doors.

"Wait, you mean... I just ran into your daughter?"

"It's okay, Asahi, don't worry about it."

"But...but..."

"Does she go to Karasuno?" Hinata asks over Asahi's blubbering, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"Yes, but don't you dare even think about--

"Is she a first year?"

"SHE'S A SECOND YEAR, FIRST YEAR, NOW GO GET READY FOR PRACTICE."

"Y-yes sir!"

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu x reader #hinata shoyo #ukai keishin #ukai x y/n #ukai x reader #tanaka ryuunosuke #asahi azumane #haikyuu fanfiction

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