#my inability to get these all to the same shade of pink

[harrywavycurly]

Could we get the engagement party or something with Harry and his now bff fiancé?? I love them😍

Hiii lovey!! I’m so glad you love them, I do too!! I’m give you a little something showing their engagement party! I hope you enjoy💖

-Find all things Lonely here✨

Summary: It’s your engagement party and Harry has to keep letting other people steal you away from him✨

“Do you mind if I say a few words?” You feel Harry’s hand give your knee a little squeeze as he leans over and whispers in your ear. You turn to look at him as you place your drink on the table that’s decorated with lovely shades of white and powder pink flowers with candles scattered all around. “I swear I’ll make it quick.” He adds with a smirk making you roll your eyes as you lean over and place a kiss to his cheek.

“You don’t know how to do anything quickly Harry.”

“Tonight is supposed to celebrate how much we love each other yet here you are being mean to me.” You laugh as Harry gives your knee another squeeze before removing it so he can grab his drink as you look around the table. Your eyes land on Niall who is looking at you with a grin on his face, he just gives you a reassuring nod as he takes a sip of his drink before he goes back to his conversation with Gemma who’s sat across from him.

You can’t help but smile and lean into Harry’s side as his arm drapes across the back of your chair as his lips find their way to the top of your head. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t nervous at first at the idea of having an engagement party, not really knowing how people would react when they heard the news that your longtime bestfriend had proposed not once but twice and that’s when you finally said yes. But Harry swore that the people who mean the most to the two of you would be supportive and as much as you hate to admit it, he was right. The proof being all the people sitting around you right now in the private patio bar of one of your favorite restaurants that’s been decorated with little hints of you and Harry tucked in between all the pink and white decor. One of your favorite little nods to your relationship being the fact the shade of pink used to decorate the tables is the exact same shade of pink as Harry’s suit he wore the first time he asked you to marry him in your backyard.

“Hello everyone.” You’re suddenly brought out of your thoughts by Harry’s voice coming from above you as you notice he’s now standing and has his drink in his hand. “I swore I’d make this quick.” He looks down at you and shoots you a wink making you shake your head as everyone just chuckles because they all know Harry and his inability to tell a story or make a toast quickly. “I just want to thank you all for coming tonight to help us celebrate starting the next chapter of our lives together and I know that to some this was a little bit of a shock while to others the only shocking thing was how long it took for us to get here.” You smile as he looks down and reaches for your hand so his can interlock his fingers with yours.

“It may have taken eleven years and two marriage proposals for us to end up here.” You look up at him as you try to blink back the tears that are wanting to form behind your eyes. “But the important thing is we’re here and I’ve never been happier so even if it took twenty years and five proposals that would be fine with me if it meant I’d still get to be standing here holding her hand in the end.” Harry looks down at you and gives your hand a firm squeeze as you swipe under your eyes with your free hand not able to stop a few tears from escaping as you listen to him speak. “I love you sweetheart. Thanks for agreeing to letting me love you for the rest of my life.” You hear a collection of sniffles and claps as he leans down and places a sweet kiss to your lips before he takes his seat.

“I’d like to say something as well.” You feel Harry bring your joined hands up to his lips as you turn your head and see Niall starting to stand up. “I’ve never seen two people so perfect for each other take so bloody long to realize it.” You hear Harry laugh as he rubs his thumb over your knuckles while Niall turns his body so he’s facing the two of you a little better. “But I’m happy you finally did and I mean I think you could’ve just asked her on a date or something Harry but I guess when you know you know right?” Niall’s voice is playful making everyone laugh as Harry just nods while you smile at one of your bestfriends who you know is nothing but happy for the two of you. “I love you both and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the two of you.” He holds up his drink and you reach to grab yours. “To the future Mr. and Mrs. Styles!” You take a sip of your drink as you feel Harry let go of your hand and wrap his arm around your shoulders pulling you into his side.

“Never going to get tired of hearing that.” His voice is a low whisper in your ear. “Future Mrs. Styles.” You feel him place his lips to the side of your head as you let out a sigh of content.

“Yeah well I still have time to change my mind and make you take my last name.”

“Always so sweet to me but you know I’d happily do that if it’s what you really wanted.”

“Really?”

“Whatever gets you down the aisle lovey.”

“Are you worried I’m not going to make it down the aisle?” You ask as you turn to look at him with a raised eyebrow to which he just shrugs as he takes a sip of his drink.

“I don’t know if I’m worried but-”

“Oh he’s terrified you’re going to change your mind.” Gemma’s teasing voice makes Harry roll his eyes as he takes another sip of his drink while you just give him a look that is your way of asking if she’s serious. “But I keep telling him that you wouldn’t have said yes if you didn’t actually want to.” You turn your attention away from Harry so you can face his sister who is kneeling beside your chair with a hand on your shoulder and a glass of wine in her other. “Because while my baby brother may be cute that doesn’t mean he can get you to do anything you don’t want to.” She leans over so she can shoot her brother a playful look making him just chuckle because of course she’s right, he hasn’t ever in all the years he’s known you been able to get you to do anything you don’t want to do no matter how pouty he makes his frown or how hard he bats his long eyelashes at you.

“That doesn’t stop him from trying though does it?” She asks causing you to chuckle while Harry lets out a small huff and you can feel his breath on your neck as he turns so he can look at his sister. “Do you mind buggering off so I can talk to my soon to be sister alone?” Her eyes are on Harry’s as she stands up and motions towards his seat making him sit up straight and shake his head in amazement that she’s actually asking him to get up.

“What? This is my engagement party Gem you can’t just make me leave my fiancé in the middle of it.”

“Harry you have the rest of your life to be sat next to her at dinner parties now get up off your rump and let me have your seat.”

“But I’m gonna-”

“I know you’ll miss her but mum actually wants to talk to you so just go-”

“She does not she’s busy talking to Niall and Amelia.”

“Fine if you won’t get up then I’ll just take her with me.” This makes Harry just roll his eyes at his sister as she looks down at you with a knowing smile, you reach to grab your drink and start to stand up but Harry is quick to place a hand on your shoulder stopping you.

“Make her cry and I’ll be forced to tell mum that you’re the one who broke her favorite Christmas plate we used to leave cookies on that she had to spend a whole weekend glueing back together last year.” His glare towards his sister is only half serious as he stands up after grabbing his drink off the table, Gemma just rolls her eyes at his sad excuse of a threat. You look up at him with a smile when you feel him give your shoulder a squeeze, he quickly leans down so his lips are right next to your ear. “I’ll miss you terribly my love.” You feel your cheeks get warm as you feel his lips place a quick kiss just below your ear before standing up.

“Thank you little brother.” Gemma says with a smile as she takes his seat next to you. “Now go stop Niall from talking mum’s ear off about Ireland and golf.”

“Yeah yeah I’m going I’m going.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too Gem.” You just sit and smile at the two of them, their bickering being something you’ve gotten used to over the years and sometimes you may think Harry takes it too far or Gemma says something that actually hurts her little brother’s feelings you know the two of them have an unmeasurable amount of love and respect for each other.

“How do you put up with that all the time? He’s so clingy.” You laugh and give her a casual shrug as you bring your drink to your lips. “You know when he told me he wanted to ask you to marry him I thought he was joking.” You take a sip of your drink as you look down the table and see Harry taking Gemma’s empty seat next to Anne who has a grin on her face as she places a hand on his cheek and gives it a little pat making Niall lean his head back with laughter. “I didn’t think he’d ever realize what had been standing in front of him this whole time.” You turn your attention back to her and see she’s also looking at Harry and Anne with a smile on her face.

“He’s always loved you I think?” You raise an eyebrow as she looks at you while you place your half empty drink on the table. “He told me something years ago and I’m not even sure he remembers saying it because it was after a few glasses of wine.” You watch her place her own drink down giving you a little smile as she reaches for your left hand. “He said he didn’t know how to not fall in love with you but he also didn’t want to know what it was like to be without you so he would happily push all of that to the side if it meant you sticking around.” While this information wasn’t new to you it still made you swallow the small lump that was forming in your throat at the thought of Harry just wanting you in his life so badly that he buried his feelings for you deep down for all these years.

“So of course when he finally realized you’ve always been it for him he does the most logical thing and asks you to marry him.” She lets out a breathy laugh as she looks at the ring on your finger. “Did he give you that lame excuse of he just didn’t want to be lonely and all that?” You just nod as you feel your eyes begin to fill with tears as she twirls the ring around on your finger. “He told me he was asking you because both of you are lonely and it would just make sense for you two to be together and honestly I was worried for him because while he might not have known at the time that his love for you wasn’t the kind you have for a friend but the kind you have for a soulmate of sorts. I knew how you felt about him. How you’ve always felt about him.” You feel her give your hand a squeeze as you look down the table at Harry who is already looking at you with a raised brow as he takes a sip of his drink.

“I wouldn’t have blamed you if you said no.” You turn your head to look back at her as she gives you a reassuring smile as you sniffle and wipe at your eyes with your free hand. “But thank you for saying yes.” Her voice is low and you can tell she’s also holding back her emotions as she leans over and places a little kiss to your cheek making you smile.

“She did tell me no.” Harry’s voice from behind you makes you jump a bit as Gemma just looks at you with a quirked brow. “Or she tried to at least but I convinced her to change her mind.” He adds as he leans down to place a kiss to the top of your head as Gemma lets go of your hand and reaches for her drink. “By the way mum wants to talk to you.” Gemma glares at her brother but he ignores it as his hands land on your shoulders so he can give them a gentle rub making you instantly relax under his touch.

“You’re such a brat.”

“I told you not to make her cry.” He says matter of factly while she gets up out of his seat still glaring at him. “Good luck sis.” Is all he says as she turns towards where Anne is sitting, this just earns him a quick flash of her middle finger making him chuckle as he gives your shoulders a squeeze. “How are you my darling?” He asks as you bring a hand up and place it over one of his that’s still gently rubbing your shoulders.

“For a party all about love I can’t seem to stop crying.” You joke as you run your thumb over Harry’s knuckles as you look up at him. He just smiles as he leans down and places a kiss to your forehead.

“Can I show you something?” You just nod as he releases his grip on your shoulders so you can stand up. “Have I told you how lovely you look tonight?” You smile as he holds a hand out for you to take as you maneuver around your empty chair.

“Only once or twice.” You answer as he leads you away from the table and over towards the back of the patio near the bar that was decorated the same way as the table you were just sat at. “You don’t look too bad yourself.” You give his hand a squeeze as you smile at a few people as you walk by them.

“Do you remember taking this?” Harry stops in front of a small table that’s set up with a candle and a vase full of white and pink flowers next to a picture in frame that has the year ‘2019’ painted on it in white. You let go of Harry’s hand so you can lean in to get a closer look at the photo and you instantly remember the exact moment it was taken making you laugh as you feel Harry’s arms wrap around your waist from behind as you stand up.

The photo is from when he hosted Saturday Night Live as well as performed as the musical guest. The two of you standing in his dressing room, him in his blue button up shirt and yellow pants with one arm wrapped around your shoulders while pointing at your skirt that was very similar to the shade of yellow as his pants, with his free hand. You had shown him the outfit you planned on wearing to the show weeks before hand so in the photo you have your arms crossed over your chest looking up at Harry with a fake annoyed glare while his face holds a giant grin as he looks straight at the camera.

“You’ve always loved to match with me haven’t you?” You feel Harry let out a soft chuckle as he places a kiss to the top of your head.

“Only when you let me.” He admits making you laugh as you turn around in his hold so you can wrap your arms around his neck. “Thanks for letting me catch up to you sweetheart.” He whispers as he leans down and rests his forehead against yours. “I love you.” You don’t even bother trying to fight the fresh wave of tears that start to form as you feel Harry’s arms tighten their hold around you.

“I love you too Harry.” Your voice is just barley above a whisper but you know he heard you because as soon as the words leave your mouth you feel his nose playfully bump yours before his lips are pressing against yours in a sweet kiss. Before he can pull away you pull him closer to deepen the kiss making him smile against your lips as you play with the hair at the back of his neck.

“You two are absolutely disgusting.” Harry reluctantly pulls away as Niall’s voice interrupts the moment you two were having. “Like I know this is your party and all but can’t you hold off on the snogging until it’s over?” Harry rolls his eyes as he stands up while you remove your arms from around his neck.

“Oh please as if I haven’t had to watch you and Amelia suck each other’s faces off at a few house parties?” Harry asks as he drops one of his arms from your waist so you can turn to face one of your bestfriend’s who is now glaring at Harry as he takes a sip of his beer.

“That’s different H that’s a house party. Everyone knows things get a bit wild at house parties.” You just laugh as you place a hand on Harry’s back and give him a gentle pat.

“Well this is our engagement party Niall so excuse me if we decide to get a bit wild at-”

“A bit wild? You call snogging in a back corner of a patio getting a bit wild? You’ve really gotten soft in your old age.”

“Old age? Mate you’re older than me.”

“Didn’t say I wasn’t I’m just saying you’re getting soft if this your new definition of getting wild.”

“The night is still young.”

“But you’re not.”

“You walk all the way over here with your bad knees just to call me old and soft?”

“No I came over here to steal my bestfriend away for a moment.” You put a hand over your mouth to hide your laugh as Harry lets out a groan as he looks from Niall down to you.

“Everyone is stealing you from me and it’s a bit rude.” Niall just rolls his eyes at Harry as you reach up on your tiptoes and place a kiss to his cheek. “Make it quick and if you make her cry-”

“Oh just go away already you lanky fu-”

“Niall James.” Your voice is harsh making both men turn to look at you, Niall’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink as he realizes he’s in trouble while Harry just leans down and gives you a quick kiss to your cheek before releasing his arm from around you.

“Good luck mate.” Is all Harry says as he walks past Niall who just rolls his eyes as you take a step towards him with your arms crossed over your chest.

“Niall Horan you were about to call my fiancé a lanky fuck at his own engagement party.” You watch Niall just shrug as he looks down at his feet briefly before looking back up at you.

“Well yeah but-”

“But nothing.” You uncross your arms and reach over and take the beer from his hands making him pout a bit as he watches you place it on the table that has the photo Harry brought you over to see.

“I’m sorry that was rude of me but I just wanted to get a moment with you that’s all.” You just nod giving him the okay to continue with whatever it is he wants to talk to you about. “You’re happy right? Like not the kind of happy you get when your favorite wine is on sale at the store or when the bakery down the way has your favorite flavor pie but like really happy?” His voice is full of genuine worry as he reaches for your hands so he can hold them while he looks into your eyes, you can’t help but smile at him because of course his main concern is your happiness.

“Niall-”

“Because if you’re not you know you just have to say the word and we can get out of here no questions asked.” You just shake your head and try not to let yourself laugh because you know he’s being serious.

“I’m happy.” Niall just gives you a questioning look as if he doesn’t fully believe you making you roll your eyes. “I really am happy.” You give him a reassuring smile making him just nod. “Harry makes me happy.” He just smiles as he leans down and places a kiss to the top of your head.

“Good because I’m already a child of an actual divorce so having to pick between you and Harry would be a little too hard on me.” You laugh as he lets go of your hands so he can pull you into a hug making you smile as you rest your head on his shoulder. “But you know I’d pick you.” He whispers in your ear before he gives you a little squeeze making you giggle.

“You about done getting handsy with my future wife or should I do other lap around the party?” Niall just rolls his eyes as you pull away from him so you can face Harry.

“Do another lap.” Niall answers as Harry grabs your hand and gently pulls you towards him making Niall laugh. “I love you two now don’t go back to snogging in the corner or anything too wild when I leave okay? Be proper adults and at least find a bathroom or something to do it in.” You laugh while Harry just glares at him as Niall reaches over and grabs his drink off the table before turning and heading back towards the party to take his seat next to Amelia.

“Why are we even friends with him?” Harry asks as you place your free hand on his chest.

“Because we love him and he loves us.” You state as you look up at him, he has a relaxed smile on his face when he looks down at you while he gives your hand a few gentle squeezes.

“How much longer until our wedding day?” You smile at the mention of your wedding day even though you’re not done planning everything and it’s still a mild source of anxiety when you let yourself think of all the little details still left to deal with you can’t help but get excited about the fact you’re really going to be Harry’s wife soon.

“Only like ten months.” Harry pouts at your answer making you laugh as you give his chest a reassuring pat as you reach up on the tips of your toes to place a sweet little kiss to his lips making his frown turn into a smile when you pull away.

“What’s ten months compared to the rest of our lives huh?” You want to roll your eyes at how cheesy his response is but you can’t, Harry’s always been a sap but he’s gone up a few levels of lovey sappiness since he proposed to you in his living room a month and a half ago.

“Exactly.”

[shytastemakerthing]

Hello hello! Can I request a romantic Twisted Wonderland matchup if matchups are open? My pronouns are she/her, my personality type is ISFP. I’m 154cm, I wear glasses, have medium length dark brown hair and eyes, I always have winged liner, and my style is generally hyperfeminine.

I'm quiet, reserved and introverted around strangers but witty, sarcastic, stubborn and kind of smug around those I’m comfortable with. I also ramble and infodump a lot too, especially about things I like (although I’m lowkey kinda insecure about how much I talk, I’ve been sheltered from having a social life in my youth so whenever there’s someone new to talk to I just yap away until they’re annoyed ;-;).

I am smart but at the same time a dumbass. I’m very dense (if you like me, you have to grab my shoulders and explicitly say “hey, I have a crush on you” cause I don’t catch social cues a lot of the time) and very affectionate with my friends. I often tease those I care about (with love ofc 💕).

As for things I enjoy, I like anime, video games, drawing, makeup, cosplay, and baking.

My only request is to NOT be matched any first or second years. Thank you in advance :)

Hello! Thank you so much for your patience while I start getting all of the requests going! It has been a very busy several weeks with the end of the semester rolling around.

On that note, I do hope that you like your match-up and if there is anything else you would like to see, feel free and let me know!

Enjoy!

Tw: None

I match you with.........

Idia Shroud

Even with being limited to the third years, he stood out the most when I read over your request. Lilia was rather close, but in the end, Idia Shroud, Mr. gloomy himself, is our winner!

There is a chance that you could have met him over one of the games that the both of you shared (much like how he met Lilia, despite not knowing that it was Lilia), as there was really no way to be able to meet him over wise. The man never leaves his room and the moment that he catches word that Ortho is bringing someone over, that door is getting slammed shut and there is no way that it is opening.

Now, after encountering each other in the real world, and though it was a little hard actually getting used to your company, there is a chance that he got used to you a lot faster than he would anyone else given how similar the both of you are both in actions and hobbies.

Speaking of these hobbies and likes of yours, the fastest way to get his hair to burn that lovely shade of pink is to do one of your famous cosplays of a recent character he is really into

Really-

It's a game at this point

See how fast you can get his hair pink

When it came to a confession, he literally did it over a game. Knowing your lack of social cues and his inability to actually articulate the words he wants to say in such a fashion without fumbling like a buffoon (and he really did not want to use his tablet for something like this)

Look, he went all out on this, cause he actually developed a game just for this moment. A limited play that could only be done once, and yes, he was terrified about how you would react

Thankfully, he had absolutely nothing to worry about

Literally, how did he manage this?

He does not know but he will not complain

You get first hand experience about how smug this man can be. All it takes is for him to get real into a gaming session with some of those online and our little ball of anxiety does a 180 on that personality... it's both funny and endearing

Just watch for when his hair starts burning orange, he would never forgive himself if you were hurt

Please infodump with this man, I beg of you. The both of you will just be going off for literal hours with this, but for the both of you, it is time well spent

Overall, his favorite part of the day, now, is having you in the room with him (he made you your own set up this man is so attached), and both of you are just spending time with one another. Please don't ever leave this man, he doesn't know what he would do with himself.

Thank you for your request!!

[daintyduck99]

 “you still wear that little bracelet i made you?” “it’s like my good luck charm..”  screams any Julie ship to me.

This is also for @invisibleraven, who asked for the exact same prompt!

Julie sits on her freshly made bed, patting the covers with a soft little smile.

If she squints, it looks exactly the same, adorned with a floral quilt from abuela and a battered pillow, plus the book she brought for security purposes, which honestly haven’t changed since she was a child (staving off boredom, the inability to sleep, or trouble making friends).

She never did need to crack it open back then, and she doubts she will now.

Though the cabin isn’t the one she used to stay in, it’s also incredibly similar, barring the artwork on the walls. Even the busted AC hasn’t changed, and she has to huff a laugh as she gathers her hair into a ponytail, hastily getting it off of her neck. She plucks at her thick camp t-shirt.

A trio of masculine voices floats through the nearest window as she forces it up.

“Dude, I don’t think this is our cabin.”

“It has to be! I know this place like the back of my hand!”

She smothers a giggle at the whuff of a hearty sigh before the third guy says, “Okay…”

And she gives them a cheeky grin when they waltz through the door.

“Unless your name is Kayla, I don’t think this is your cabin.”

Two of them stammer apologies, but the guy in the middle just gawks at her, slack-jawed.

A slap on the arm from the sleeveless guy to his left prompts the gawker to close his mouth, but his eyes are still big and bright and fixed on her.

They’re the second prettiest shade of green she’s ever seen.

He takes a tentative step into the room.

“Julie?”

She’s on her feet instinctively, racing toward him, and it all rushes back: the faint field of freckles blanketing his nose, his crooked grin and his bright, melodic laugh, his stories and his accent and the silly songs they’d make up. Feathery dark hair that he was always pushing out of his face and how pink he’d turned the one time he let her clip it back, studding it with equally pink butterflies, his ever-fidgeting hands.

Those pretty green eyes.

He folds her into his arms and she knows.

“Reggie!”

He graces her ears with that laugh she remembers so well, squeezing her tight.

"I can't believe—it's really you!"

"I can't believe you haven't introduced us to your hot friend yet," Sleeveless drawls.

The other guy snorts as she and Reggie sheepishly unravel. He's tall and blond, with piercing blue eyes.

"Okay, well, I'm Alex. And I assume that this isn't cabin fourteen."

Julie nods dazedly. "Opposite end."

Sleeveless clicks his tongue, turning to Reggie with a shit-eating grin.

"Before you say anything," Reggie rushes to say, "I just got everything flipped. And I didn't know Julie would be here! But technically—"

He flashes his wrist, and she nearly gasps.

A worn purple bracelet lives there, no longer too large but snug against his skin.

"That's my first wife, so show some respect."

She swallows, struck more sharply with nostalgia, the sheer sentimentality of it all.

"You still wear that little bracelet I made you?"

"Come on, Luke," Alex interrupts, half-dragging him out the door, "I'm going to prove that I know where you're supposed to be."

Their bickering tapers off. Reggie clears his throat, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah. I mean, I usually carry it on me instead. It's silly, but—it's like my good luck charm. All those summers—you really were my first, you know?"

Julie melts. She takes him by the hand.

She flips her suitcase open to show him the red bracelet sitting on the very top.

"Yeah. Trust me, I do."

As it turns out, she's his only wife, which everyone coos about when they make it official a few summers later.

[strawberrymllktea]

my first love? me - song dabin

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[enhalite]

WHAT KIND OF SOULMATE LINK DO YOU HAVE?

please reblog my work! tumblr’s algorithm works best that way :)

BANG CHAN

for you and chan, it’s always been being able to hear the music the other is singing inside your head. you’d lisren to unreleased tracks and tunes you tried finding on the internet for hours only to come up empty, and chan would spend sometimes hours at a time with the icarly theme song inside his head whilst trying to produce and — why is his soulmate singing icarly, of all things? he’ll give you points for original music taste, he guesses.

LEE MINHO

with minho, your link is more convenient when it comes to finding each other. every time you’re asleep at the same time, you meet each other in your dreams — it’s sometimes a dance studio, sometimes a lake with a bordering forest that swallows everything whole. you talk, and laugh, and you form a bond before even meeting. there’s one downside, though: you can’t purposefully meet each other. no exchanging contact numbers, or addresses, or making plan. just… fate.

SEO CHANGBIN

i think the link you have with changbin is really fun. each month, you get a new hint as to who your soulmate is written on the palm of your hand. it’s vague things: brown eyes, sharp features, music — it becomes a funny joke, within you and your friends, when at some point the hints turn into: brown hair, black hair, dirty blond, purple hair, blue hair. your favorite hint you’ve ever gotten is snorlax, and it became your favorite pokemon afterwards. it’s easy to brainstorm what changbin might be getting every month.

HWANG HYUNJIN

with hyunjin, it’s the inability to see color until you meet each other. everything is in black and white, and you hear of your friends who have already found their soulmates that the world is so beautiful in color; you just want to see it with your own eyes. it’s when you bump into a boy outside a coffee shop whilst rushing to get to the bus stop that color splashes before your eyes. everything turns vibrant shades of green, red — and just how is the sky so blue? the boy apologizes for ages despite the coffee spilled on his shirt, and his brown eyes and pink lips are kept in your memory like an oath even though you start seeing him every day.

HAN JISUNG

you and jisung have the same handwriting, and i’d like to imagine that both of you write a lot — he’s got his notebook full of song lyrics and ideas, and you’ve got a journal, or class notes, or just simple little reminders for the day. every curve of each letter, every size of a word, it perfectly aligns with the way the other writes. it’s a fun game once you two meet each other, writing words and seeing just how similar you two write ( even though you know you write exactly the same )

LEE FELIX

i believe with felix it would be more on the touchy side! there’s a birth mark made out of different sized freckles on each of you, showing where you touched each other for the first time. i’m being entirely self indulgent here and saying that with him, you kind of had a vent-to-a-stranger moment as he was very stressed and u found him at the edge of a breakdown around midnight. you wiped his tears with your hands, hence the freckles that decorate felix’s face. your palms are covered in freckles, too.

KIM SEUNGMIN

for seungmin, you get his initials on your wrist. the KSM is black and looks almost faded, as if it were an old tattoo. he has your initials on his own wrist, too. as he’s an idol, it’s common for him to cover his soulmark wrist with a watch, bracelets, or anything that fits what he’s wearing. it makes it tricky to find each other, especially because you wouldn’t consider your soulmate being an idol as a first thought.

YANG JEONGIN

you stop aging when you turn eighteen, and it’s your coming of age to meet your soulmate. you won’t know that person is your soulmate until you realize — wait, i’m growing older..? with jeongin, you get stuck at eighteen for a while, because it’s quite hard to get to know a boy like him. regardless, you manage to grow old together despite the hardships. love finds a way and all that.

enhypen ver

[urfavfandomles]

i saw a man so beautiful i started crying?

dazai osamu x gn! reader 

mention of suicide (as expected) 

--

You couldn’t breathe.

This is how you’re gonna die. A heart attack. Not being able to breathe. Not able to do anything, frozen at your spot in line in the cafe. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuck. This is the end of your life, and you won’t even be able to tell anyone you loved goodbye. And you’re positive your newspaper eulogy would be pathetic.

Why are you going to die?

Because you saw a man so beautiful tears clouded your gaze. You couldn’t tear your gaze away from him. He was a fucking angel. Dark hair, a bit messy. A straight nose carved out from God himself. Pretty, pale skin, which was covered on his neck and arms by bandages. Very fucking weird, but it didn’t even take away from how beautiful he was. His tall, lanky form, moving with a grace across the cafe. He hasn’t noticed you staring at him yet.

Your body works on autopilot. You walk back through the line, ignoring the grumbles of everyone you shove past. The closer you get, the more and more warm your face gets and the more tears fall from your eyes. You are sobbing in the middle of a busy cafe in Yokohama.

You finally reach him, and he finally glances at you. He flashes you a smile, that was so charming it hurt even more. His eyes widen a bit in response to your ugly crying, but you can’t even stop.

You sling your purse off your shoulder, and unzip it, shaking hands reaching inside. Your entire body was trembling. You grasp the 1040 yen that was in your purse and shove it towards him, looking into his eyes. He looks completely caught off-guard. He opens his mouth, most likely to ask you if you are okay, but you just shake your head at him and continue to offer him your money.

“You are the best looking person I have e-ever seen,” snot was running out your nose, “s-s-so I think you deserve this money, and I was going to buy my lunch with this but whatever.” Your voice is cracking, and your face is so flustered as you continue to stare at him. Your tears blur your vision. You couldn’t place why he was so beautiful to you. There was no way you’d ever meet someone with the same disposition as this man, and surely no one as handsome.

His expression morphs from one of surprise to something else, cheeks beginning to spread a gorgeous shade of pink, and dear God, how did you even manage to talk to this man? You were aware of how pathetic you probably looked, but a part of you really didn’t care because you saw the smile grow across his pretty lips, and it was as if he were an angel who had come to appear in your life to mock how embarrassing you are. People all around the two of you are beginning to whisper, and you can feel even more heat grow across your face. Your whole face was undoubtedly as red as the tomato soup you were going to purchase for your lunch before this man came through the door and changed your entire life.

Were you fucking insane? Probably. Were you mentally stable? Absolutely not, and this is something you had been working on in therapy. Inability to regulate your emotions, but none of that mattered. Should you pack your things in your apartment here and move to the other side of the world? Most likely.

You’re shocked as a cold hand brushes against yours, and you watch as the man, in a dramatic flourish, gets down on one knee. He holds your hand, and you should probably wipe the snot and tears away from your face, but you were frozen. There was nothing you could do while this man was near you.

“This is the best day of my life!” the man cried out, his voice a bit high-pitched from how genuinely happy he sounded. His eyes were full of light, as if he was the one who saw a holy being. “A beautiful, ethereal, otherworldly angel has chosen to talk to me first! Oh, goodness, nothing could be better than this!”

Your mouth opens and closes like a fish, and you’re now positive your soul is sliding out of your body as you watch as he guides your hand to cup his handsome face, his hand pressing yours against him. Oh god, he hasn’t let go. You’re sure you can die now, happy that a man this beautiful said this about you. You open your mouth to reply, when he beats you to it.

“Will you commit a double suicide with me?”

Wait -- what the FUCK?!

[buckleyblueyes]

Buddie, 2, 11, or 4 please! 🖤🤗

Sorry this took forever!! I used 2. "Is the room meant to be spinning?" and 4. "Dance with me."! This is tooth-rotting fluff, feat. tipsy clingy Eddie and I really hope you like it!

The summer sun is fading out into long shadows as a cool evening breeze blows through the vineyard. The string lights overhead twinkle to life, and the whole place seems magical. Really, the whole day has been magical. Buck bounces the two year old flower girl on his lap and watches Chimney twirling Maddie around on the outdoor dance floor. His heart swells with how happy his sister looks.

“Your mommy and daddy are married now,” Buck whispers to Jee-Yun.

“We married!” She giggles in response. She’s wearing a tulle dress in a soft pink shade that matches May’s bridesmaid dress, and Buck, Albert, and Hen’s ties.

His eyes shift from the happy couple and find Eddie, the way they always do in a crowd. He’s dancing with Christopher, of course, both of them laughing as they sway back and forth to the music. Eddie’s cheeks are red from the wine he’s had and he looks so light and carefree. It’s a good look on him: pleasantly buzzed, overwhelmingly happy, wearing a well tailored tux. Buck wants to see him like this again soon.

“Hey,” He looks back down at Jee. “You wanna be a flower girl again for me and Uncle Eddie?”

She beams up at him. “Yeah!”

“You can’t tell anyone yet,” he adds. “It’s a secret.”

She nods, gravely serious. “Secret!”

It’s then that Albert strides across the courtyard to them. “Quit hogging my niece.”

“Worried I’m her favorite?” Buck quips.

“Not possible.” Albert rolls his eyes and makes grabby hands for Jee-Yun.

“You wanna go with Uncle Albert?” Buck asks.

She nods, so Buck hands her off. Albert takes her onto the dancefloor and begins to spin and sway, much to her delight. Buck laughs and shakes his head, hoping Albert is prepared for her to ruin his tux. After a moment, he realizes he doesn’t need to keep sitting at the table now that he’s not watching Jee.

He makes his way over to Eddie and Chris, and taps Eddie on the shoulder. “May I cut in?”

Eddie grins, and moves to put a hand on Buck’s waist, to pull him in. But Buck shakes his head, smirking. “I meant with Chris.”

Christopher laughs at his dad’s disappointed frown. He looks so old in his crisp back suit, leaning on his new, taller royal blue crutches. He’s thirteen now, and normally that means he’s too cool to hang out with his dad and Buck, but he’s made an exception for tonight. After all, it’s Chimney and Maddie’s wedding, and everyone's a little punch-drunk on happiness and love, even the kids. He knows Eddie, terrified that Christopher is now a teenager, is glad for the days when he can hold onto Christopher’s childhood just a little longer.

Buck is, too.

Buck spins Chris around the dancefloor, gratified by the way he laughs. Christopher’s laugh has always been one of Buck’s favorite sounds. He grins in return, wishing he could capture this moment in a bottle and keep it forever.

“I think Dad wants to dance with you,” Chris says after a few minutes, glancing to where Eddie seems caught between fond and annoyed.

“Well, too bad, I’m playing favorites.” Buck winks.

Christopher rolls his eyes.

“Besides, Eddie can dance with me all he wants when we do this,” Buck says, without really thinking about it.

Christopher grins. “You and Dad are finally gonna get married?”

“Well,” Buck flushes. “We’ve been talking about it recently. All Maddie and Chimney’s wedding talk got in our heads, I think.”

“That makes sense.”

Buck swallows. “Would you be okay with that?”

“Duh.” And, God, he is such a teenager. “We’ve been a family for years. It’s about damn time we made it all official.”

“Language!” But Buck is too overjoyed to convincingly scold him. Christopher’s choice of words we and all haven’t gone unnoticed. It’s not the time for that conversation--the one about adoption and paperwork and lawyers--but it makes Buck’s heart full just the same to know Christopher is thinking about it, that it’s something he wants.

They dance back over towards Eddie, who steps forward and closes the rest of the distance between them himself.

“Buck,” Eddie must be closer to drunk than tipsy because he turns Buck’s name into an honest to God whine. “Dance with me.”

Buck rolls his eyes. “Sorry, kid, looks like my second favorite Diaz is demanding a turn.”

Christopher snorts. “I’m gonna go get more sparkling cider.”

Buck watches as Christopher crosses the dancefloor and heads to the drinks table before turning to Eddie, who is doing the same. The sky is dark now, the moon big and full overhead, and Eddie’s brown eyes shine in the starlight. A slow song begins to play, and Buck knows the universe doesn’t scream, but maybe it does give gentle nudges.

“May I have this dance?” He asks.

Eddie grins. “Finally.” Eddie’s hands find their way to Buck’s waist and pull him in. Buck leans into it, wrapping his arms around Eddie and beginning to sway. Eddie nestles his head on Buck’s shoulder, lips pressed against the crook of his neck.

“Tired?”

“Mmhmm,” Eddie answers, muffled by Buck’s skin.

“Jee-Yun wants to be our flower girl next,” he says softly, carding a hand through Eddie’s hair.

Eddie moves his head slightly, so he can speak properly. “You haven’t even proposed to me yet.”

“You want me to propose?”

Eddie’s wine reddened cheeks darken further. “I already proposed to someone once. I think it’s my turn to be wooed.”

Buck chuckles. “How drunk are you?”

“Not sure,” Eddie mumbles, lifting his head from Buck’s shoulder. “Is the room supposed to be spinning?”

“Oh boy.” Buck shakes his head. “We’re not even in a room, love.”

“Oh, damn.”

Buck hums fondly. “I think it’s time to say goodnight to Maddie and Chim.”

Buck finds his sister and his new brother-in-law sitting with Albert. Maddie is holding Jee-Yun, and she looks exhausted in the best possible way. He makes his goodnights and goodbyes for himself and his family, sends a wink Jee-Yun’s way, and then drags his partner and their son upstairs to their hotel room.

Buck wakes up the next morning to a text from Maddie that says: I can’t believe you stole my flower girl and one from Chimney: I think the inability to keep a secret must be genetic. He smiles softly, and looks over at Eddie, who is still fast asleep, the morning sun drenching him in golden light.

He responds to Maddie first: Help me plan the proposal?

[littlemissnoname13]

Wisps of Smoke (Draco Malfoy x Slytherin!Reader) - Part two

Summary: Draco and y/n find themselves drawn to an abandoned classroom every single night

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Slytherin!Reader

Warnings: excessive smoking, mature language, mature themes, smut, female receiving, 18+ reader discretion is advised.

A/n: a big thank you to everyone that read part one. I adore each and every one of you and your feedback sm <3

at this point, I am projecting my cigarette cravings onto Draco Malfoy. Sorry. (Smoking is injurious to health)

Word count: 3000

You can read part one over here

Friday

When your eyes opened the next morning, you found your thoughts to be littered with the kisses you shared with Malfoy.

And even if you’d somehow managed to forget the way he suckled, bit and murmured onto your skin, you had purple hickeys marking your neck to remind you. 

This was a mistake. 

Frantically wrapping your green and silver scarf around your neck, you made a run towards your Potions class but before you could even make it to class, you found yourself pulled into a small gap in the wall making your body go into an instantaneous fight or flight mode. 

“What in the actual fuc—”

You were silenced with a kiss on your lips once again. 

Draco pushed you further up against the wall and moved his lips desperately against yours—kissing your mouth senseless. 

“Do you just lurk around in the hallways waiting to sneak up on people?!” You asked in a breathless whisper as his lips made contact with the base of your neck again after he’d loosened your scarf. 

“Only sometimes.” He smirked. 

The wetness that seeped in through your panties and all the way down your inner thighs was a tell tale sign, warning you to stay away from the abandoned classroom that night. 

And you did just that.

Even if you had reached for your door that night, Adrian’s sudden arrival ensured that you stayed away. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday

It was nearly four in the morning and anyone with a hint of sanity inside of them would have been fast asleep—if they could sleep through the ear-splitting sound of thunder that is. 

It had been raining for three consecutive nights and the sky was as clamorous and angry as ever. 

Draco scoffed to himself at the sound of sleep.

The whole idea now seemed so foreign to him. It was like he had forgotten what a good night's sleep even felt like. 

With his fourth cigarette for the night lit up and between his lips, He leaned against the glass window waiting for you to walk in wearing your insanely soft night dress that he simply couldn’t stop thinking about. 

Why was he waiting for you? 

It wasn’t like you were obliged to come to that classroom every night. 

It wasn’t like both of you now had an unspoken agreement that you’d meet up in this murky classroom to talk, make out—maybe even shag. 

How ravishing you’d look with your slip dress slipped off into a pool at your feet.

He couldn’t help but imagine you seated on the windowsill with your legs parted. He’d eat you out all night if he could. Lick up long, slow, deliberate licks up your slit and place soft, airy kisses along your inner thighs. 

The images of you straddling him with your tits  bouncing up and down as he pumped into you refused to leave his mind, leaving him all hot, bothered and frenzied with lust. 

Draco forced himself to snap out of his vision and shook his head, restraining himself from reaching towards the buttons of his trousers.

The rain clouds had started to clear up a bit and the sky had slowly started to change colours with the darkest shade of black on the top of the sky trickling down into shades of lighter blue indicating the break of day. 

He wanted to give himself hell for waiting up all night for you for the second time that week—infuriated with the way you made him feel. 

He wanted you out of his system—You and your stupid silk slip dress. 

Your stupid stupid stupid slip dress. 

But before he could even manage to make an exit from the classroom, you pounced right into him with a thud. 

The way you collided with him resembled the collision of opposite magnetic poles—powerful and inevitable. 

"Took you long enough." Draco breathed, holding you tightly against him as he desperately ran his hands along your sides feeling the fabric of your silky nightdress.

"I tried to stay away. I tried so hard." You whispered, and he instantly placed his lips onto yours furrowing his brows as you fiercely kissed him back.

“But I just couldn’t help myself.” You mumbled between kisses as he lifted you up, causing you to wrap your legs around his torso as he carried you. 

“Good.” 

Both of you knew there would be implications to your actions but that seemed like a problem for future Draco and y/n. 

You let your head fall onto his shoulder and you moaned loudly when you felt him grip the exposed skin of your thigh—his fingertips and his ring dug deep into your skin making you hiss into the base of his neck from the sting of pleasure.

If he was going to go around leaving markings on your flesh, so would you. 

It was only fair. 

You went on ahead and sucked on his flesh as he carried you all the way to the window and sat you on the windowsill. 

Hastily tugging the straps of your nightie that had imprinted itself into his subconscious, he made the smooth fabric slide right off your body and into a pool on the floor. 

“Nothing underneath?” He chuckled gazing intently at your naked body making a pink flush appear on your face as you nodded closing your legs together and crossing your arms over your breasts. 

His vision just didn’t do justice to the sight in front of him. 

The sight you exposed, sitting timidly on the windowsill with rosy cheeks woke up something primal inside of him. 

You felt him kneel on the floor in front of you, parting your legs and gently moving your arms away from your body. 

“So fucking perfect.” Draco drew in a sharp breath before leaning in to capture your lips into his, brushing his hands over your shoulders, trailing all the way down your arms and back up again. “Don’t you dare cover yourself up.” 

There was an unusually strong taste of cigarettes fused into the flavor of what felt like mint and apples on his lips and you tried to extract every bit of it—running your tongue along his bottom lip earning a feral groan from him. 

He let his hands ghost around your breast—barely touching.

It wasn’t like he didn’t want to.

He did.

So fucking bad.

But he wanted confirmation from you.

He wanted to know if you wanted this as much as he did. A sign, a sigh, a moan, anything. 

“Draco.”  You murmured into the kiss with your hands yanking on his black button down—fumbling with the buttons. 

Never had he ever heard a sweeter sound. 

Actually scratch that, your moans were even sweeter as he massaged and kneaded your breasts, tugging and pulling onto your hardened nipples. 

“Oh, Draco.” 

His given name on your swollen lips sounded like an invitation he simply couldn’t resist— so fucking innocent and mischievous at the same time. 

The lower his kisses trailed, the more incoherent your speech got. 

Wet, open mouthed, starved kisses that started along your jaw and down your neck moved lower and lower until you felt like you had forgotten every other word that wasn’t “Draco.”  Or fuck.

You felt his hot breath on your hardened nipple as he swirled his tongue around it—catching the left one in his mouth. You grabbed a fistful of his blonde hair as he started to suck and your moans only encouraged him to suck harder. 

He wanted to worship every square inch of your body, on his knees in front of you  like you were his only deity —repeating his licks on both of your nipples, occasionally stopping to litter dark purple bruises around your chest. 

Draco paused and looked up at you with his silvery greys. 

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t picture this exact scene in this head a thousand times over. 

Sure, your complete inability to stay quiet made him livid. 

Sure, the way you walked around in translucent white tops, absolutely unaware of the one too many curious onlookers pissed him off. 

Sure, he’d thought about pushing Adrian Pucey off his broom. 

But the way you sat on that window sill with your legs spread out—wetness dripping down your legs and your pretty little cunt glistening was straight out of Draco’s deepest darkest fantasy.

You arched your back bucking your hips forward and he smirked at your silent pleas.

And when the tip of his tongue gently massaged your clit, it was like your entire body was set ablaze.

You’d never felt that way before and he was just getting started—making you let out a sound even you didn’t know you were capable of making.

 It was somewhere along the lines of a moan and a gasp. Maybe a combination of both. 

After a long, slow torturous lick up your folds, he looked up at you. 

“You taste..” another slow lick “so fucking good.” 

“Please—Drac..Fuck—” 

You lost it when he started to eat you out. It was as if he was starved for this. 

He kitten licked, kissed and nipped you like he’d been waiting for this very moment—this moment with you on the windowsill with his blonde head in between your legs, fingers bunching his hair, calling out only his name with a plethora of other swears. 

And you slowly understood. 

You understood the screams coming from whoever he was shagging the other night. 

There was nothing tentative or hesitant in the way he moved his tongue. 

He knew what he was doing, he knew what he wanted, he wanted you.

“Draco—” You moaned jutting your hips forward when his tongue made contact with just the right spot. “Fuck— god Draco yes right there—ah-.” 

“Right here?” He teased as he continued to lick. With his grey eyes focused on you—the way you bit your lips and rolled your eyes back in pleasure. 

He wanted to remember it, recall and replay it in his mind for hours on end. 

He didn’t care about the mellow and golden rays of sunlight pouring in through the window glass you had your back rested against. 

He didn’t care about any fucking body or any fucking thing. 

You let out another laboured gasp when you felt him push his finger inside you. One finger at first, allowing you to get used to the sensation. 

And then he put in a second finger, the cold metal of his ring making contact with your sensitive skin. 

There was a strange feeling inside of your stomach. It was pressure—kind of like a knot waiting to snap. 

It was delicious. 

It had you begging for more. 

You simply couldn’t think of anything or anyone else. 

Whatever he was doing with his fingers and tongue—you just wanted more. 

“Please Draco—don’t stop.” 

The sounds you were making made him want to bend you over, press you against the window and fuck you mercilessly, but there was a part of him that reminded him that you deserved more than that. 

You deserved more than just a quick little fuck in this classroom. 

He wanted to take you, make you his, make you cum over and over again and although he wasn’t sure he could do the former in that particular moment in time, he sure as hell could do the latter. 

His fingers and tongue moved in perfect coordination. Each taste accompanied by his fingers pumping in and out of you. 

Draco knew you were close. He could tell by the way you gripped onto his hair while you clenched around his fingers. 

“Let yourself go y/n.” He murmured. “Yes, that’s it—good girl.” 

You felt the tight knot in your lower abdomen snap at his words, and you felt overcome with pleasure that made your legs spasm and your toes curl. 

“Draco..I think I’m..ah—”

“That’s it y/n, be a good girl and cum on my mouth yeah?”

Your high felt like an ocean wave—sweeping, billowing and crashing all over your body. 

“You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to do that to you.” He looked up at you, accomplished as his lips twisted upwards and you looked down at him with a peachy kind of afterglow on your cheeks.

“And I wouldn’t mind doing that again.” 

~~~~~~~~~

Sunday

A four poster bed, a nightstand and a desk full of nothing but books stacked upon one another and an opulent looking rug on the floor. 

Of course, Malfoy had his own bedroom. 

You kept telling yourself that it was the softness of his pricey pillow, laden with his scent and his thousand thread-count sheets that made you want to spend the rest of eternity there.

It certainly had nothing to do with the fact that Draco kept grumbling in his sleep while pulling you closer to him every passing second or two.

It had nothing to do with how content you felt with your bare body pressed up against him.

He still had his shirt on, unbuttoned all the way allowing you to brush your fingertips against his toned abdomen.

You could tell it was already late evening by the way bare minimum light seeped into the lake and in through the windows.

You had spent the entire Sunday in his room, where he snogged you, ate you out and gave you orgasms upon orgasms.

He was adamant with the way he said “not yet.” every time you tried to unbuckle his pants. 

You sighed and allowed your lips to graze his forehead for the briefest of seconds before shimming free from his arms. 

After sliding your dress back on, you tiptoed to his dresser when you saw a pack of unopened cigarettes on it.

Blame it on mere curiosity but you slowly took a cancer stick out and placed it between your lips—right in the far corner just the way he did it and looked at yourself in the mirror. 

Your neck was marked in a trail of purple bruises and your hair looked like it had definitely seen better days than this.

 As messy as you looked, the reflection stared back at you looking content. 

"If you wanted a smoke, all you had to do was ask." 

The husky tone of his voice startled you. He was propped up on his elbows with his messy blonde hair covering most of his forehead making you weak in your knees.

Damn you Draco Lucius Malfoy. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Monday 

Both of you had showed up to your potions class late—your shirt buttoned all wrong and his blonde hair in a riot of knots and tangles. 

It was the result of an intense snog fest against a wall but nobody needed to know that. 

“That’s the wrong ingredient y/l/n.” Draco scoffed pretending like his tongue wasn’t in your mouth just a few minutes ago. 

Two can play at this game. 

“It is not.” You glared at him making poor Blaise next to you wish he could just shrivel away. 

“Is too.” 

“Is not.” 

“Is too.” 

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday 

“Oh and thank you very much for getting me into detention yesterday.” You said sarcastically while he quietly smoked his cigarette next to you. 

And thank you for making me fall apart by the mercy of your fingers at detention. 

You were seated on the same window sill but this time, you had clothes on—three whole layers of clothing actually. 

“Pleasure.” He chucked, exhaling.

With his exhale, wisps of smoke escaped his lips creating a veil around you two. 

The smell had started to get tolerable, familiar—pleasant even. 

It was strange how the human mind was conditioned into latching itself onto anything that brought it comfort. 

Where there was smoke there was Draco. 

It came as a fixed packaged deal and you didn’t feel the need to complain anymore. 

“So, does Pucey know what you’ve been up to these days or is he still as oblivious as ever?

“Adrian wouldn’t notice if I went missing for a week.” You shrugged.

“Then why are you with him?”

“As cliched as it sounds, its complicated.”

~~~~~~~

Wednesday

“I’m starting to believe I’m a terrible influence on you.” He muttered, raising only one of his eyebrows as he watched you pull out the lit up cigarette from his mouth. 

“Absolutely, without a doubt.” You confirmed, placing his cigarette between your lips attempting to inhale. 

The second you did, you were left a coughing, wheezing wreck—throat on fire, tears streaming down your cheek. 

You quickly drank the water he’d already conjured with a simple aguamenti charm and proceeded to smoke again. 

His heart felt the strange and inconvenient kind of ache seeing you make a mess out of yourself, struggling with the coughing. 

He’d also noticed how you put the cigarette on the far corner of your lip the way he did but he decided to not bring that up. 

“And why have you suddenly decided to take up smoking?” 

“I’ve grown quite fond of the taste.” You blurted involuntarily.

“Oh y/n.” He shook his head. He’d never seen you smoking so there was only one explanation and the explanation made him feel things he’d rather not.

“Cm’here.” 

His hands gently grasped into the hair on the nape of your neck as he pressed his lips on you. 

“Could have just said you wanted to kiss me.” He smirked against your lips. 

“Shut up.” You murmured back. “Just kiss me.”

~~~~~~~~~

Thursday

You always did feel bolder, livelier and happier towards the end of the week. 

Maybe it was the Fire whisky you two and brought to the classroom in his flask coursing through your veins but you felt brave. 

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to do.” You declared so courageously, taken aback by your own capability of sounding like a reckless Gryffindor. 

“And what would that be y/n?”

You pulled him by his green tie and brushed your lips on his for a fraction of a second before dropping down on your knees in front of where he was seated. 

“This.” 

To be continued....

~~~~~~~~~~

Part 3 teaser:

Draco watched with fascination as you tried to slip back into the remains of your silk slip dress.

“I’m sorry about your dress.”

“That’s okay.” You mumbled absently as you tried to get your dress to stay on your body.

“Here.” He said hesitantly before handing you his blazer. “Wear this.”

“Going back to my dorm with your blazer doesn’t seem like a good idea.” You chuckled as the fabric drowned you. “What am I going to tell Pansy?”

His lips quirked up into a faint smile.

“You’re not going to your dorm y/l/n.”

Part three is available here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Tag list: @maybesandohnos @justfangirlthingies @lieswithoutfairytales @dracomalfoys-wh0re @hannahhobnob @sycathorn-slush @mxl-foyrecs @daringvixon @linetteyde @imbadwithunsernames @dracoswhore007 @myunngi @goawayimreadingbeach @loxbbg @icedlattewithalmondmilk @paulina1998 

Thank you all for asking to be on my tag list for this story. I would give you all a blonde ferret if I could. (p.s. I was unable to tag the ones in bold for some reason. :’( )

[demonslayedher]

Thank you for taking the time to update your post of my previous ask when I asked about Kaigaku and the others! You’re so sweet, Buri-senpai~! Here’s something that has bothered me quite a bit. In the earlier scenes of the series, Urokodaki mentions that it’s rare for a black sword to appear. In the time span between Yoriichi and Tanjirou, how many black swords were there? Also, Haganezuka emphasizes on the possibility of a red sword appearing when Tanjirou receives his blade. 1/4

2/4 Does this mean the red of flame breathing swords (how common are each of the breathing styles anyway?) or the red of Yoriichi’s blade? If it’s the latter, that leads us to wonder how Haganezuka is aware of the piece of info. Perhaps his ancestors forged the sword for Yoriichi, but then wouldn’t he be aware that Yoriichi’s sword remained black unless he was in battle? And something I need clarification on, is Haganezuka actually good or bad at making swords? 3/4 He’s known to want perfection, but it seems like the head swordsmith chides him on his inability to make swords. Also, tangentially related, as it involves swords, I wonder how confused Mitsuri was when her sword turned pink. It wasn’t red to represent flame breathing, but it also wasn’t the correct shade of pink that represents flower breathing, if I’m understanding that correctly. 4/4 It’s canon that different colors represent different breathing styles and I’m having fun imagining a bright neon green sword appearing centuries ago, and all the swordsmen and swordsmiths being utterly confused.

Hey there again, Anon! Let's talk swords. Going to jump around this a bit to try to answer some questions more simply, and add analysis where there may be some gaps in the Corp's understanding of these mysterious blades that carry sunlight well into the night. Subheadings below the cut: Colors Common Breathing Styles Black Blades Haganezuka: Good or Bad Craftsman?

Colors: While some colors are considered more common for certain Breath types than others, there doesn't seem to be any one-to-one standard of one color corresponding to each Breath. Haganezuka and Urokodaki would have had no anticipation in seeing what color Tanjiro's turns if they figured it would be a standard Water Breath shade. Each color adjusts to the individual swordsman's attributes, and their physicality is often influenced by the Breath they have practiced, but no true Breath users are the same, even if they wind up producing the same or very similar colors.

What I wonder is in other cases of someone changing their Breath style (like Urokodaki has assured Tanjiro in his letters isn't all that uncommon), does their color stay the same? I'm inclined to think it generally does based on someone's core physicality, but I wouldn't be surprised if the shades and hues may change based on their own changing physicality if they get new blades in the future (for example, someone who had a light color when they got their first blade as a novice may get a blade with a deeper color later on if they've gotten a lot stronger). That's just my sense, though, based on how some colors are admired for what they may say about their user. (While we're on this topic, Gotouge stated in Volume 11's Q&A style Taisho Secrets that once a Nichirin blade changes color, it doesn't change again, so you wouldn't be able to change the color of someone's sword if you stole it. Also, please don't steal swords.)

As described here, Rengoku-san's blade is red, but it's not a light-emiting Red Blade. The difference is in the kanji used to described his blade in the fanbook, versus the kanji used for describing Red Blades. While Mitsuri might had anticipated a blade more similar in color to Rengoku-san's, I don't think there would had been anything problematic with her having a different color. To clarify on pinks, the first fanbook describes hers as "soft cherry blossom" and Kanao's as "light peach." Nothing is said about Kanae's for all we know it could had been anything from the same light peach to a rich lavender. (My own opinion is that the pink on Volume 14's color is way, way darker than "soft cherry blossom" so I'm curious how Ufotable might adapt it.) Since bright green is often associated with Sanemi and his sword has green accents (but his sword is described instead for its thorny pattern), I'm inclined to think a neon green user would had been a Wind Breath user, but it might had turned a few heads if it's especially bright, haha! Especially since that's an old Breath and back in the Sengoku era they probably would had been excited to see all the beautifully dramatic changes in color as swordsmen learned Breath technique, it was probably one that made everyone pause and say, "dang, we still have a lot to learn about our own Nichirin." Back in that day and age was also when a lot of those marked swordsmen were getting Red Blades, so the swordsmiths were probably beside themselves with glee over all the exciting new discoveries.

Common Breathing Styles We only know that Water Breath is one of the easiest to learn and therefore the most common (and there's typically always been a Water Pillar), and that Love Breathing and Beast Breathing are entirely unique. Otherwise, we don't know what Breath styles are more or less common. Flame (possibly formally called Fire? Who knows), Water, Wind, Rock, and Thunder all existed as sword forms before Yoriichi taught the Corp members Breath technique. Breath technique itself is a method of powering the body, and we see it applied as a method of powering the body for particular sword strikes. More advanced mastery leads to powering the body through everything from stopping poison to stopping a hemorrhage. While all the demon hunters of Yoriichi's era tried to pick up Sun Breathing, ultimately they all could only manage an imitation, which they wound up refining to match their own sword style. From those came many other Breath and sword form combinations. My guess is that there are probably other Flame, Rock, and Thunder Breath users out there in the current Corp, but it's easy to feel that there wouldn't be because we only see the most powerful users of these Breaths, and the Rengoku Clan seems to have a monopoly on being the Flame Pillars, and from generation to generation it seems they all consistently had someone powerful enough to due this (until Senjuro, who knows this illustrious history of Flame Pillars will end with him). Since Mitsuri learned this style, though, it doesn't see there's any rule against people outside the family learning it, it's just uncommon for anyone else to reach anything close to Pillar caliber. I'm also included to think that Rock Breathing is uncommon, as in the "What Breath Should You Study" quiz in the first fanbook, it's the most uncommon result. But also simply based on canon, it seems to require a very, very strong physicality in the first place, even if not Pillar-level. I'm included to think Thunder Breathing is the hardest of the traditional Breaths, which is why even people as talented as Kaigaku (really freaking talented to have impressed Kokushibo) and Zenitsu (that First Form, *chef's kiss*) had so much frustration in trying to master it. It doesn't seem there's been another Thunder Pillar ever since Kuwajima had to retire due to his leg injury when he was 35, and no one seems to find it strange to go so long without a Thunder Pillar. If there are other Thunder Breath users out there, they're probably about as impressive as Murata is with Water Breath. Doing their best, but just kinda... meh. I'll bet a lot of kids who might start with this Breath wind up quitting. The Cultivators might have lacked a mastery of it too, but can teach it well enough for a swordsman to get by on pure speed. For the off-shoot Breaths, we don't know if things like Sound or Snake or Mist are original, of if they've been longer established. There may be other Breaths as well, just no one of Pillar caliber. Kanae learned Flower Breathing from a Cultivator, and the Victory Tree was planted by the first Flower Breath user. Based purely on its size, my personal guess is that Flower Breathing has been around for about 100 years or so, so that means it's probably worked well for a lot of blithe Corp members. In the light novels Himejima made it a condition that Kanae and Shinobu go to different cultivators, so it's possible he saw the limitations in Shinobu's size and knew to send her to someone who could help her work around that, so Insect Breath may have been around a while before Shinobu came along and made improvements to the poisons. My guess is that Shinobu's previous Tsuguko may had been both Flower and Insect Breath users.

EDIT: Mist Breathing was established before Mui started using it. In Chapter 165, Kokushibo is familiar with it, but only has not encountered Muichiro's 7th form before. Also interesting, Kanamori makes swords for both Muichiro and Inosuke, both (supposedly) users of offshoots from Wind Breathing. Perhaps some swordsmiths have areas of specialization. Black Blades We don't know how many there have been. We only know of Yoriichi's and Tanjiro's, and it's possible these were the only ones. We if go back to when Yoriichi was teaching Breath technique, this would had been a time when everyone was excited by the new, deeper color changes in the blades, as well as their changes to beautiful light-emitting

Reds. (Coincidentally, this probably coincides with the Muromachi era, which is considered one of the best periods of sword craftsmanship, so the swordsmiths may also had been upping their game.) Yoriichi's black blade might only had been a footnote among all those notes of new sword colors, and since it turned Red when he was fighting, that probably would have left the deeper impact on people's recollection of him. Put a pin in this, though. In Chapter 9, Haganezuka, who has always heard of the illustrious Red Blades which probably haven't been witnessed in centuries, has his hopes up that this "Kakushaku-no-Ko" may be more likely to produce on, simply based on his natural physicality (and nothing to do with him being a Water Breath user). Urokodaki even seems to suspect the possibility in how he responds to Haganezuka. Since he chose a sun motif for the fox mask he made for Tanjiro, it's possible he was already aware there may be some auspicious influence on Tanjiro from his family history of working with fire. Haganezuka is visibly upset when he is let down. Tanjiro asks if black blades are inauspicious, and Urokodaki responds that it isn't exactly inauspicious, just unexpected, as you don't usually see those. He's very likely he's never seen one or known anyone who had them, just a vague awareness that they can exist. The opening of Chapter 10 expands on this in the narration. Black blades are "too unknown," there are "too few details" on them to say anything certain, but "it has been said that swordsmen with black blades can't get promoted." Rengoku-san also seems to have this notion of black blades. While Yoriichi may had been remembered more for his glowing Red Blade that appeared when he fought, he did possess a black blade, and it's worth remembering that he got kicked out of the demon hunters, and people were angry enough with him that some of them called for his suicide to atone. This may had been the start of the "users with black blades can't advance" saying, well before the ranking and Pillar system was put in place, as explained by Haganezuka in Chapter 129. Also, when Haganezuka presented that sword in Chapter 129, he and Tanjiro admired what a deeper black it is than Tanjiro's previous swords were. Haganezuka states that the previous user must had been very powerful. While I did have fun theorizing in this post that the sword might not had been Yoriichi's, I think this makes it pretty definite it that it was indeed Yoriichi's.

As for Yoriichi and his sword not being remembered in detail, the Rengoku family records speak more of him as a person and about his Sun Breathing abilities, the fact that his blade was black might not had even been mentioned. The glowing Red Blade might have, giving the Rengoku clan a good understanding that their simple red blades are not the same thing. What's noted more is the Mark.

Haganezuka: Good or Bad Craftsman? On the whole, I think he's good. I doubt anyone would take a chance at letting him produce swords if he wasn't. He's definitely a perfectionist and has a deep appreciation for what makes a good sword, so if he takes pride in his work, then we can assume it's good work. As for Tecchikawahara's statement in Chapter 101 about how it's not that Tanjiro was the problem for using his sword in a way that would break, but that it was Haganezuka's problem for having made something that would break in the first place, I think this is more of a character building moment than any statement about how Nichirin blades should not be able to break. They clearly do, even Pillars' blades have broken against strong opponents, or they use them with such force that the wear and tear shows, as Muichiro's former swordsmith Tetsuido could tell in the flashback in Chapter 119. Rather, Haganezuka has always had a pretty obsessive personality and been quick to fly into a temper. His parents couldn't deal with him, which was why Tecchikawahara raised him. Haganezuka, therefore, must had learned from the best. Tecchikawahara knows his own work is the best, his assessment of swords is the best, his craftsmanship is the best, and if anyone can make an unbreakable blade, it's probably him, and him alone. However, he's got an extreme personality of his own, and the standards he set for Haganezuka as a swordsmith were probably ridiculously high. A perfectionist son raised by even more of perfectionist parent probably made Haganezuka's inherent quirks even more extreme, and Tecchikawahara may had been blinded by his own expectations to see that influence he had. It's reasonable to think that maybe, somewhere deep down inside, Haganezuka and Tecchikawahara find something in each other that they can't find in others: a level of appreciation for swords to the finest detail, and the highest expectation of what Nichirin is capable of. It may also be reasonable to think that Haganezuka, even if he has zero self-awareness of this, is always striving for his adoptive father's approval. Maybe the reason Tecchikawahara pushes him so hard and is so dismissive of his swords that were broken is because he expects so much more out of someone who shares the same understanding of swords. He's probably harsh on all the swordsmiths, but especially on the talented ones.

[0risha]

@madamlindsay ordered : a side dish (megumi and broken youth by NICO touches the walls) with some carrots (fluff) and a can of soda (drabble).

Chef's note — omg I remember this song from naruto 😭 and yes you did it right, I promise.I really hope this fits with the song lol, I've been playing it all day.

3 0 0 follower event with @matsuzumi ( make sure to check Chef Kaze's blog for her other works)

"Sukuna's vessel." You turn to Maki. "Should I stay away from him?"

With a low chuckle, she shakes her head. "He's a good kid, you'll understand when you meet him." With a hum you turn your attention back to the blades of grass beneath you, still dewy with after rain.

To say you were nervous was an understatement, you weren't all that great when it came to meeting new people. Too overwhelmed with the want to give off a good impression.

"Don't be nervous. They're a nice group of kids, they'll make you feel right at home. Right, Toge?"

A silver haired boy –who you guessed had the inability to speak actual words due to his cursed ability– hums in confirmation. "Salmon."

"I want to be with you guys," you whisper.

Maki raises a colored brow in speculation. "Why's that?"

You fix your attention on a black and white animal who was too occupied with rolling in a patch of grass to pay attention to you three.

"I mean....you guys have a panda." You admit.

You watch as Maki's dark emerald hair moves swiftly when she lets out a loud laugh, her glasses sloping down on the bridge of her nose. "How can you say something so funny with a straight face?"

"Salmon."

"That was... funny? " You question as you spot four figures in the distance.

Maki's laughter dies down as she comes to a realization. "You're just like Megumi....otherworldy." You hum absentmindedly, not too sure what it was she was trying to say.

"Oi!" A loud voice breaks through your stupor. You squint your eyes to see what you believed to be Gojo Satoru. He was taller than you expected. In the same line of vision, you see three other figures who you guessed to be your future classmates.

Though what you did not expect to see when you stood, were two dogs no– wolves, bounding towards you.

With wide eyes, you stagger back slowly, not sure if they were actually heading towards you. Unfortunately, your suspicions are confirmed as the two very big animals claw at your uniform as you topple over.

A slimy, wet tongue no— two slimy, wet tongues find purchase on your cheeks. You breathe in and out slowly, eyes directed towards the sky as you laid back on the grass and took the assault.

Inadvertently, you couldn't hear a thing. You were sure there were probably chatters of surprise. But you didn't attempt to get up, the embarrassment weighing too heavily on your chest.

A second or two passes by before the licking stops. When it does, you blink out of your haze, a frown plastered on your face.

"Are you... uh- okay?" The two dogs are replaced with a face that hung over yours.

Absentmindedly, you whisper, "pretty."

Oh.

You scramble up with hot cheeks. "Uh... sorry?" You stutter. He was pretty. The sun's light caught the sparkle of his dark blue eyes and the long lashes that loomed above them. Your eyes flit down to see that his lips were a shade of rosy pink.

Trampling under your prior embarrassment, you look up to see his cheeks scarlet red. "I should... be the one to say sorry." He awkwardly bows. "They don't usually get that hyper."

With an awkward shuffle you search for the wolves but to no avail. "Where'd the wolves go?"

You take notice of how he kept averting his gaze from yours. Did you mess up that badly?

"They're my divine dogs, I can summon them at will." He affirms, face growing content. He must really love his dogs, you think.

"That's interesting," you declare, sitting back down on the grass. Your introduction to the rest of the first-years, long forgotten. "Can you bring them back?"

"Are yo–"

"It's fine, I wanna see them again." You wave.

With clasped hands, he does. Unfortunately, you find yourself in the same, prior predicament.

"I actually don't care anymore." You whisper to yourself, a smile growing on your lips. Blinking out of your crestfallen daze, you turn to your silent classmate.

"What's your name?"

"My name?" He points. Slowly, you nod your head. "Megumi." He states, choosing to situate himself right next to you.

"Oh."

He blinks at you in confusion.

Blearily, you shake your head. "Maki said that I was just like you." You ponder, nuzzling your cheek to the black hound's. Your eyes catch onto the three dots on its forehead.

"What do these mean?" You ask, shifting closer to Megumi's figure.

"It's a long explanation." He turns to face you, pretty eyes locked on yours. For a second he turns his attention back to his white hound, a ghost of a smile on his face as it nuzzles its nose into the palm of his hand.

"I wanna hear it."

Meanwhile, Gojo and Yuuji shuffle their feet with panned expressions. "W-what about us?"

"Can't believe he's gonna get a partner before me." Nobara grumbles, eyes creased in anger.

"I didn't actually expect... that." Maki blinks, propping her glasses up higher onto the bridge of her nose.

"Salmon."

[hansolmates]

(secret) lovers | m

summary; the (not) best friends 2 lovers spin-off where jungkook and you are trying to hide your relationship from his old best friend  pairing; jungkook x reader (f) genre/warnings; established relationship, jiyu is now an old friend and mc went to high school w them, weeb!koo, jk n mc be kinda stanky bc they’re only going to this party for the free booze, soft dom!mc, switch!koo, whiny koo, mc calls jk a slut, cockwarming, gets really soft n’loving at the end, heavy use of the pet name [redacted] i really think this couple is meant to be diabolically dumb together w/c; 2.7k a/n; this couple is really out here living rent free in my mind. jk, mc and jiyu really just are that thruple that i love to hate and hate to love. hope u enjoy this lil spin off! 

[series masterlist]

“You made it!” 

Jiyu flings her hands out, knocking both your heads with hers in the middle in a surprisingly strong hug. It’s a complete episode of déjà vu, from the way her body smells like the peach lotion she used after gym class to the shade of coral lipgloss. From the corner of your eye, you can see the caramel brunette’s tiny face is inching closer towards your ride, her head tucking in the crook of his neck. 

“Jiyu,” you beam. You’re the first to speak, the first to dip their toe in the water. “You look great!” 

“Thank you!” she pulls away, popping her hip against the doorway. The silky material of her coverup gleams in the sunlight, the silvery material showing off the silhouette of her bikini-clad body. Despite the fact that you’re the one who compliments Jiyu, her gaze floats over to the person next to you, “what a coincidence you two came at the same time and—oh my, and where are my manners! Come in, come in!” 

She moves away from the door, revealing an ornate lobby and two twin stairwells. You can’t help but light up at the beautiful crystal chandelier, flecks of pink and blue flickering in your eyes.  Further down the hallway you spot open glass doors that lead to a large backyard that overlooks the lake. Some people are already sitting by the dock, lounging about with drinks and happy smiles on their faces. 

“Actually,” Oh, he speaks. You think with a small smile on your face, side eyeing the man of the minute, “I forgot the rest of my luggage. We’ll meet you inside.” 

“Okay!” Jiyu smiles, “I’ll make you guys some drinks.” 

As soon as the door shuts, Jeon Jungkook, your boyfriend for three years blurts out, “She still has a crush on me.” 

You snort, taking off the duffle bag that’s hiding behind your back. Continuing to stand awkwardly at the front door, you prepare yourself to console your boyfriend’s worries. “She still has heart-eyes for you, Koo,” you tease, pinching his side. 

His eyes are big and swimming with guilt, “We should tell her.” 

“Oh, baby. We can’t break her heart this weekend.” 

“But love, it’s her birthday.” 

“Exactly,” you chirp, bumping your head against his arm, “can’t break her heart on her birthday.” 

Jiyu is an old high school friend. Class president, straight As, and even vied for prom queen. The only thing she wasn’t able to obtain throughout her high school years was Jeon Jungkook, the object of her affections. They were best friends in elementary school, eventually turning into distant friends as their interests changed and they got older. Yet, Jiyu still tried to insert herself into Jungkook’s life. Back in high school it was surely cute, the way she’d pine from the back of the room and place anonymous love letters in his locker, but Jungkook wasn’t interested and avoided any of her advances. Fast forward ten years later and it seems like old flames never die out. 

The meetups with Jiyu have been scarce since college and only in large groups. As former class president, she decided to hold a little reunion for her old friends, taking advantage of her stellar job benefits. A weekend in the woods, perfectly balmy and far away from the city. 

“I don’t wanna lie,” Jungkook nearly whines, pink lips warbling at your inability to budge. 

“Mm,” you hum, tracing the fingers across the seam of his back pocket. His boardshorts hide nothing, and you curl your fingers around the swell of his plump bum, “be good for me and tell a little white lie, will you?” 

Jeon Jungkook, former President of the Anime Club, prom king candidate and your favorite nerd in the entire world. 

A teeny tiny lie won’t hurt anyone. After all, you haven’t seen your high school buddies in literal years, and they wouldn’t dare bother to make a fuss about your relationship. In fact, they don’t know of your relationship with Jungkook. The two of you reconnected randomly, some spontaneous holiday party Kim Seokjin is always inclined to throw. You barely made eye contact the first two hours into it, not really wanting to go back to the hellhole that was your late teenage years. Nevertheless, by the end of the night the two of you couldn’t help yourself. 

As you look around the room with utmost confidence, the two of you have made the finest glow up by far. At first you wanted to keep the white lie to save face, you don’t owe anyone an explanation as to how you and the President of the Anime Club hooked up. However, you’re starting to enjoy the ruse. 

Jungkook’s sitting on the other side of the backyard, looking absolutely delicious as he sips on whatever fruity cocktail he created. Judging from yours, you have a feeling his drink probably consists of 95% orange juice and 5% alcohol. 

Jiyu and him are sitting in the large netted hammock, swinging lightly. Gravity is doing its thing, and Jiyu is practically laying on top of Jungkook’s lap, her body pooling to where his meets in the middle. As soon as his thigh touches hers, his eyes flicker to you in panic. He’s shirtless, only with a pair of mid-cut shorts to protect him. The skin that touches him probably burns. 

You wink and wave him away, assuring him it’s fine. Pretending to flip your hair, you turn back to the conversation you’ve been ignoring for the past five minutes. “Man, Jungkook’s so sexy,” Im Nayeon cooes, looking longingly at Jungkook’s form. 

“Jiyu’s so lucky,” Rina eggs on, taking another shot from the tray (a tray for herself, you might add.) 

“Do you think Jiyu’s gonna get some birthday sex tonight?” 

Nayeon snorts, covering her flared nostrils with her hand. That hand eventually loops around your thigh, eagerly pushing you two together by pressing on the meat of your bare skin. “If she’s lucky! Besides, we all know Jungkook had that big crush on you junior year!” 

Her pretty bunny teeth tease you, and you can’t help but smile back in return. “What do you mean, he really liked me?” you ask innocently. 

“Oh yeah! Drew so many little pictures of you in the margins. Little anime versions of you in his favorite outfits.” Of course, you know about Jungkook’s old crush on you. He’s mentioned it in passing, paired with an adorable blush on his cheeks. Hearing it from Nayeon, the shameless grin on her lips and the ease of champagne on her breath is much more entertaining. “Rina, do you remember when Jungkook set up her desk with rose petals and chocolate in a little heart? And then in the morning the janitor sweeped it up? He was so sad!” 

“Yes! I really felt for him,” Rina pouted. 

“Oh, poor baby,” you didn’t know that bit of information. You put a hand over your heart, watching as Jungkook shares a drink with his old friend Kim Mingyu. He looks so different, yet all the same since you’ve been acquaintances in high school. He carries his own weight now, an air of confidence that he’s finally reached over time.  

“Definitely not a baby anymore,” Rina scoffs. She clicks her tongue back to where Jungkook is seated. 

The sun is doing wonders for him, highlighting every crevice of where his biceps curl and twist as he lifts his hand in another drink. Their side of the lawn is doing a toast. For what, you don’t know. You do know however, that Jiyu is trying very hard to cheer right over Jungkook’s thighs, spilling some liquid over his knees. You smirk when Jiyu sends him an apologetic grin, dabbing a napkin up and across his thighs, far away from the wet spot. 

Jungkook, the poor guy, discreetly shoves her off. He brushes his hands and gets up, letting Jiyu fall back in the hammock all by herself. Avoiding the teasing gazes of his friends, he looks into the lake, hiding his blush. 

Still a baby, you think. Your baby. 

“Jiyu was practically sitting in your lap, baby boy,” you card your hand through his dark locks, fresh and shiny from the shower. The feeling is soothing to Jungkook’s scalp until you tug, arching his neck towards your lips and twisting, “did you like that,” you mumble into his Adam’s apple, “my little slut?” 

“N-no! Never, ohgodnever—” Jungkook is sweating, fat beads rolling down his hairline and glistening across his face. His fingers are practically phasing through your skin, the crescents of his fingernails sinking into the swell of your bottom. 

You clench around his dick, your soft folds urging Jungkook closer to his release. But he knows better not to move, and instead shudders from the ministrations, breaking apart from you to dip his head into your chest. His nose pokes at the bouncy flesh, nuzzling into your breast like the softest pillow. 

“Sh-shit, love,” he cries into your skin, “you feel so warm n’soft.” 

“You need to be quiet, baby,” you murmur, playing with the curls that hang around the nape of his neck, “unless—you want someone to hear? My little slut wants everyone to hear that I’m fucking you?” 

“Mm, no,” you grin at his honest reaction, and you can feel his neck heating up at the thought. Your fingers make their way, finally ending towards the apples of his cheeks. You squish lightly, loving the way his tanned skin puffs under your fingers. “I’m—ah—not a slut. I just really love you, only you. Really wanted to hold you in my lap today and show you off,” he whimpers at the unconscious clench of your folds, “just uh—slut for you, love.” 

You giggle, tightening your thighs around your boyfriend’s tiny waist. Your other hands trail down to the ridges of his abdomen, where you two are connected. You absolutely love the way your thighs wrap around his lean waist. 

Jiyu split the floors by girls and boys, as if you’re still in high school. It took forever for everyone to fall asleep, but you managed to sneak away with your bare feet slapping against the hardwood floor. Call yourself needy, but you couldn’t imagine yourself falling asleep with at least one good night kiss. Jungkook was ten steps ahead of you. Your boyfriend was already naked when you arrived, pumping his cock across the bed and getting himself ready for you. His eyes instantly zeroed in on you in his shirt, the black material hanging off your shoulder and begging to be pulled away by his teeth. 

“If I crawled in your lap today,” you murmur into his shoulder, “our whole secret would’ve been thrown out the window.” 

“I wouldn’t have minded, even if Jiyu got hurt,” Jungkook admits, running his hands up and down your back, “I wanna marry you, y’know.” 

You freeze in your ministrations, suddenly feeling the room go cold. Not in an unpleasant way, but the room freezes, the blue-white light of the moon igniting the seriousness in Jungkook’s gaze. You force yourself to stay on his lap, let his cock settle between your folds. The juices of your coupling are dripping down each other’s legs, cooling at your thighs and onto the white blankets. 

“You wanna marry me?” you echo, running your thumbs across his shiny lips. 

Of course, you’re at that age. Everyone around you is getting married, heck many people your age are already in the middle of creating a family, going on vacations to Disney and picnics in the playground. And yes, you also have thought about marrying Jungkook, he’s the only man you can picture marrying. Yet, hearing it out loud and from him only further fuels your desire to make these thoughts a reality. 

He kisses your thumbs, lips smushing against the pads. “Of course I do, love. You’re it for me.” 

You relinquish, slowly pulling yourself off of him. He’s still hard as you untack yourself, his member slapping against his belly button as he watches you in confusion. You make a show of fluffing up the pillows, arching your back and wiggling your ass as you make yourself comfortable to lay on your back. 

“Show me, baby,” you spread your legs for him, gesturing for him to come closer with a curl of your finger, “show me how much you want to marry me.” 

Jungkook smirks, hands immediately pumping with a squelching sound resulting from yours and his combined arousal. You love it when Jungkook takes the lead, just as much as you do. It makes you feel like a pillow princess, especially when you feel lovey sex is on the way. “Will you be quiet? Just like you tried to make me quiet?” he rasps, wrapping a hand around your waist to arch you up. 

“Depends on how good you are.” 

The head of his dick rubs against your clit, slapping lightly at the shiny skin. You both moan when he finally gives you what you both need. As soon as the tip of his dick sinks down, you feel like you’ve both hit home. It doesn’t take long for him to find his pace, naturally throwing your leg over his shoulder for added leverage. 

“Oh—fuck, baby,” you tug at his hair, pulling him in for a wet kiss. You don’t care that you’re slobbering all over him, the bed creaking and squeaking against his minstraitions. “I—uh, you feel so deep—yes!” 

“When we’re married I’ll fuck you every day like this, love,” he whispers between your lips, thrusting in a particularly sensitive spot that has you arching your back and pulling your chest to his, “I—ugh, I love you so much.” 

“Love you. Love youlovelove—ah! Kook, I’m—” 

The two of you don’t spare any time, the sun will eventually rise and you’ll be back to playing strangers. Jungkook pounds you into the mattress, nails you with enough cum for you to last the next day without having to sneak into each other’s room like horny teenagers. The roughness is smoothed out by love and bliss, eager at the thought of going home and anticipating a permanent life together. 

Five minutes later, you’re starting to feel a little too sticky. “Ohmygod—I need to fucking pee,” you pull yourself away from Jungkook’s sweaty body, palming around for your t-shirt.

“Just pee on the bed,” Jungkook grins. 

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you,” you make a face, “nasty.” 

“You like that I’m nasty.” 

“Yeah yeah.” 

With one last kiss, you skip away from his bedroom and close the door behind you. Unfortunately, as soon as you take five steps in the direction of the bathroom, somebody emerges from the shadows. 

“Holy shit, Jiyu,” you put a hand on your heart, eyes widening at her peeking in from the hallway. “You scared me.” 

“I’m so sorry,” she frowns, squinting her eyes to make you out in the dark. It’s easier to see her in her white slip, a thin chiffon material that barely covers her thighs. 

You don’t question why she’s out in the hallway in really pretty lingerie, or why she’s on the boy’s side of the house. So much for being discreet. Then again, there must be an ulterior motive for her if she’s already here, five feet away from Jungkook’s room. You wouldn’t have been caught if she hadn’t been so sneaky. (Well, not so sneaky. You got to him first.) You smell like sweat, arousal, and Jungkook. The shirt you’re wearing feels far too short and the cum in your panties feels tacky and gooey. You feel like a teenager being caught smoking. 

“Why?” Jiyu’s voice suddenly sounds as dark as the early morning, no sign of the sun. 

“Why what?” you answer, furrowing your brows at the sudden change in demeanor. 

“Why?” she hisses, eyes wide with pain and confusion, “why Jungkook?” 

You frown, not liking her attitude. Did she think it was a contest to who would fuck Jungkook first? Did she think she was being slick, sneaking away into a bedroom she has no business being in, even if he was single? You could laugh. So despite your height you steel yourself, looking at Jiyu straight in the eye. 

“Because Jungkook’s mine, and I’m marrying him.” 

As you pad down the hallway as fast as you can, you send Jungkook a quick text. 

[5:44AM] love: pack it up. Plan b go fake a fever we gotta go lol

[toomanythought]

A critique of the magic knight captain's outfits because that's the kind of mood I'm in.

1. Charlotte

I've decided that she has the best outfit of anyone here.

She's got several colors going on, but most of them are neutral so It's ok

Blue and silver with gold accents isn't really a color scheme you can go wrong with

Could use a little more armor, but overall a rather practical look

Could stand to loose the helmet but overall not bad

10/10 something I would wear

2. Dorothy

I'm loving the energy of the pink in this one.

Honestly very pretty aesthetic

Not a lot going on, pretty much only pink w/ some black and white accents (There are two different shades of pink but that's ok because they're in separate pieces and nothing else is going on)

The green on her hat really helps make the pink less overwhelming, a great choice

Minus points because those shorts look a little bit like underwear and her boots should probably be black.

9/10 wouldn't wear it but I'd recommend a friend

3. The Vermilions:

It's pretty much the exact same outfit but Mereoleona wears it so much better.

The red and orange is kind of a bad combo, and I thought it was basic knowledge that redheads should avoid wearing red

The blue does work to cut this a bit though, so it's not as overwhelming as it could be

Kinda iffy on the pink sash. It really should match the cape by outfit laws, but I think that would put too much red in the entire thing

Fuegoleon you're pretty but that outfit really isn't doing it for you. Minus points for the lack of titty window. In the future show more skin. 6/10

Like I said, it's basically the same outfit, but Mereoleona wears it with a very different energy and manages to make it look good. I get pirate queen vibes. 8.5/10

Overall 7/10; I might wear elements of it.

4. Rill

The clothing needs a different style/cut but the colors are decent.

His cape doesn't class with his hair, and he's got the light colors well balanced with the dark

He looks like he's outgrown his pants though

Like seriously

They're a bit too short to be wearing without boots

And at least wear some socks to cover it up

Gonna give him the benefit of the doubt and say he hit a growth spirt and Walter hasn't had time to let out the hems

Shoes make me think of Tinker belle

6/10 I like the colors but he really needs different pants, and maybe shoes

5. Yami

Surprisingly not the worst but I am not without criticism.

He's got an aesthetic going that allows him to get away with a bit

As an outfit it's ok, but there's a distinct lack of professionalism going on

Sir are you really going to wear nothing but a tank top 24/7?

Also the over pant thingies make it look like he's wet himself

I like the creativity with the squad robe. No one else wears it like that

His outfit was better when he was with the Grey Deer

Can' figure out what's up with those boots

5/10. I'd never recommend wearing it but it's got a practicality to it.

6. Nozel

My dude you're rich enough to afford a stylist.

We're not even talking about the hair at this point, there are so many things that need straightened out

The ocean/teal blue he's got going on does not work with the periwinkle.

Also what's up with the pant leg cut outs. I really fail to understand the practicality of them

Why are there sandals

We are fighting people

Please wear close toed shoes

Also feathers and fur? Get it together my dude

While we're at it the feathers are kinda ugly in arrangement

3/10 I feel like someone failed to successfully merge two different outfits together.

7. Kaiser

I don't have a lot to say. It's pretty bland.

Very shapeless and fluffy

I'm honestly getting hot just looking at it

Aside from the buttons + gloves and squad robe, there's not much going on

I don't have many critiques of the squad robe. It's purple and yellow. Nothing too horrible.

5/10. Very generic and boring. Don't like at all but it's hard to come up with concrete bad things

8. Jack

Sir do you understand the purpose of clothes

It looks like an armored outfit so you get practicality points

What is up with all the leather straps

They literally serve no purpose

Please put on a proper shirt that covers your midriff

The pants/shoes combo is kinda sketchy

He needs to have either the black or the green running all the way up

Bracelets?

2/10. It's just... ugly

9. William

Sir I know your life sucks but please learn how to dress yourself. Your squad wears the uniform too and you aren't doing them any favors.

Feathers and fluff. Are you a bird dude? Is that your magic? No. It's trees. I know you like birds but you don't need to look like one

Please don't get me started on the colors

For posterity's sake I will now list every color contained within this outfit:

White

Gold

Red

Dark Red

Tan? Light gold?

Dark blue

Lighter blue (but only in one place and it's not touching the dark blue)

Purple. Because this outfit needed some more pizzazz.

White

Black

Get some pink and green and you'll be representing all the squads with ease

The style and cut is actually pretty good but the colors are beyond horrid

He tells Julius that the mask is tacky and then continues to wear it

And also match the rest of his clothing to it

He should have kept the mask as a statement piece and kept the outfit as one or two colors.

Honestly a very in character outfit because it demonstrates his inability to choose a side

3/10 I guess. I like some things about it but there's just too much going on. Bad overall outfit. Needs help desperately. Ask Mimosa. I have a feeling she realized it was bad.

[outofsstyles]

WILDEST DREAMS

a/n: soo I’ve been working on this for a little while now and I’m very excited to share it with you al!! This piece is inspired by Taylor Swift’s music video for her song Wildest Dreams. If you’ve never seen the video, or don’t remember it really well, I recommend you watch it *after* reading the story so you don’t get it spoiled! If you’re interested then you can watch it by clicking *right here!!*

Word count:  17.2k                     Rated: M, mature           

You agree to help your friend on her film project and Harry is playing your love interest.

“You’ve been frowning a lot and haven’t said a single word in the past five minutes, what’s wrong?” You looked up to your quiet roommate sitting opposite to where you stood near the kitchen counter. 

A playlist you both had made months ago, meant only for cooking days, as Nia had instructed, played faintly in the background. You hummed along to the melody of a song you didn’t really know the name of, but had listened to it enough to mumble the lyrics, as you focused on cutting banana slices.

Nia was the one who brought up trying out a new fruit smoothie recipe she had found while scrolling around on Pinterest. She was pretty excited after coming home with the groceries, ready to start the process. Which is why seeing her sitting quietly as she glared at her phone was a big sign that something was wrong.

“I think Jordan is about to pull out on us,” she groaned loudly, locking her phone and throwing it on the counter, running her hands on her face, “I can’t believe this is happening a week before filming starts.”

“Oh, that’s not good news” you said, looking back at your friend’s defeated state in front of you as you threw the banana slices into the blender. “What happened?”

“He said he decided to go with his cousin to Ibiza.” Her arms muffled her voice as she lied on top of them, sighing once again, “this is the third one that leaves, I might as well just cancel the entire thing and fail this class.”

You rolled your eyes lightly at her, shaking your head as you listened to her dramatic reactions. Being her friend for as long as you have, you knew how stressed Nia got with a project, specially something she was passionate about. She was always too hard on herself, trying to push everything to be as perfect as possible, which is a good thing when you focused on the ultimate results. But she often tended to over-stress herself, and that’s what makes you worry.

With this one in particular, you could tell how excited she was from the day her teacher assigned it. She came back home and rambled for hours on end about making her first film. Which is why when she begged you to be part of it, and you couldn’t find it in your heart to say no. 

It was a small production after all, it just being Nia and her partner Evan, whom you have known had gotten close to her in the past months. She assured it would a rather simple concept, with only two characters. The trickiest part being the fact that they would film it out of town, in a camp house that belonged to Nia’s aunt. You had agreed to it to make her happy, and with her promise of buying you chocolate muffins. Most uni students, however, didn’t seem as keen to sacrifice a week of their spring break as you were.

“You’re being dramatic Nia,” you reassured, turning on the blender and cringing at the loud noise that took over the place. “Maybe they just read on the script that they would have to kiss me a couple of times and got too nervous about it,” you tried to humor, raising your voice a bit before turning the processor off. Nia looked back at you with a serious expression, making you scoff, “calm down, grumpy pants, I’m sure Evan knows someone who can do the role, stop worrying.”

“All I do is worry, you know that,” she sighed, standing up to walk towards the cabinets behind you. She selected two matching cups that she had gotten for your birthday, one had Elsa printed on it, and the other Anna. You smiled as she placed them on the counter, knowing you always thought matching friendship objects were silly, but Nia loved it, so you loved it too. She looked vaguely at the blender, letting her shoulder weight down.   “At least we have a banana smoothie.”

“And something else!” You said, jumping on your feet to get to the fridge and retrieved a tupperware. You held it in her direction and smiled, “leftover spaghetti from Joe’s!” you exclaimed, attempting to brighten her mood. She looked back at you, grabbing the container from your hands, as she tried to fight back a smile.

“Yes,  how could I forget the leftover spaghetti?”

**

As the days passed by, the both of you had gotten more stressed out. Nia was still worried about everything related to her film project. With the days passing by and no one to fill the other role on the script, she found herself on a daily cycle of stress breakdowns. 

Just two days after your former cast partner dropped out on the project to spend his week on the busy beaches of Ibiza, she had bought three different boxes of hair dyes. And as you helped her turn her hair into a light shade of pink, she cried about how everything seemed to go wrong in her life.

Meanwhile, you had been struggling to fight your procrastination tendencies and try to finish as much work as possible before spring break. A task that was showing itself to be extremely difficult, considering your mind seemed more focused on binge watching true crime shows on YouTube. 

The blank document stared back at you from your computer screen, as you wished that if you looked at it for long enough, the essay would somehow write itself. Writing a couple of words but soon deleting them and going back to an empty page, you signed. Why was it so difficult to introduce a topic? You took a sip of the hot drink on the sparkly Cinderella mug you had chosen for the day, another one of Nia’s Disney-related possessions. 

You frowned at the blank document, your failure to write a single paragraph still open in front of you. You heard a light knock on your bedroom door, but before you could even say anything, you spotted the already fading pink hair coming into the room. 

Nia walked in jumping excitedly, saying your name in little squeals and almost tripping down as she made her way to sit on your bed in front of you. Breathing out, she looked at you with a big smile and messy hair before blurting out.

“We’ve got you a husband!” you stared back at her, arching your eyebrows. You knew she was referring to the role on the film, but you still laughed off at her choice of phrasing. “Evan got someone, it’s like his old friend or something, said he trusts him not to drop out.”

“Well, fourth time’s a charm, I guess?” you smiled at her. 

“We’re planning a pizza night this Friday, so we can, you know, set the details and all that.” She properly lied down next to you, playing with the strings on the hem of your pajama shorts. “Also so you two can meet each other, of course, you’re going to be married for a week after all.”

“The way you say it seems like we’re actually doing it,”  You laughed, finally closing your computer, and moving down to face her. “We’re just playing characters, Nia.”

“I know, I know… You’re really no fun, aren’t you?” She moved her arm up to support her head and poked you with her free hand as you rolled your eyes at her. “Also, he seems pretty cute, Evan showed me his picture, maybe you two can hit off.”

“I’m sure he is,” you tried not to fall for her attempt on teasing you over someone you don’t even know. Sure, you’ll be playing love interests, but you’ve done this plenty of times before, back on your theatre days. Kissing someone on stage doesn’t mean you have feelings for them in real life, and you knew that pretty well. You sighed, looking down at her, not wanting to engage into this kind of topic.

“Anyway, should we celebrate your new cast member and my inability to write a single sentence about art history?” you changed the subject, trying to distract yourself from your own thoughts. “We could watch Devil Wears Prada and make caramel popcorn.”

Nia gasped dramatically, “these are the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard coming from those pretty lips of yours,”  jumping to her feet as she pulled you to stand with her. She then ran out of the room, screaming back, “I’ll get the blankets and you start with the popcorn!”

It’s been years since you’ve known Nia, but yet the dynamic between the two of you has never really changed. You’ve always considered yourself very lucky for having a friend like her in your life. From the day you met her in your English class, it was like seeing someone you had already known your entire life; it was always that easy to be with her. 

You two became inseparable from day one.

Looking back, it’s crazy for you to realize how well your high school plans with each other had turned out. Most people you know had those friends in school they only really talked to because they saw them five times a week. But as soon as graduation came by they parted their ways and became only good nostalgic memories for one another. With the two of you, everything just worked out. 

You both got into the university you wanted, ready to get matching art degrees. On your second year of college, you moved in together. And halfway through the course, Nia just dropped out to enroll on an eighteen months film school. And that’s when she met Nate. 

You always knew she was destined to be that kind of person who just has one great love in her life. Which was funny considering that anyone who spent over five minutes with her and Nate in the same room could swear they would never work together. They just were those kinds of couples who are the polar opposite of each other. 

Nia was a little social butterfly, who could start a conversation with anyone about anything. She could talk for hours with the old ladies at the grocery store about how the new brands of beans are just not as good as the ones not as well known. Or chat with the yoga moms about a new reality show that had premiered on Netflix. She loved experimenting on new things, trying out new recipes or mix distinct colors together on her clothes.

Nate, on the other hand, just wasn’t much of a talker at all. Since the start of their relationship, he often stops by at your apartment -wearing a different shade of grey every time - but it would be a lot to say that you two have had a conversation for longer than five minutes. He just mostly kept it to himself. 

They balanced each other, which is why they worked so well.

It would be a lie for you to say you didn’t think about having something like that for you. You thought maybe you just weren’t the kind of person to have one meaningful relationship in your life. And that was okay. You’d like to think you’re better off on your own, anyway. But now and then you wondered how it would be to fall asleep in someone’s arms every day.

But you tried your best to keep those thoughts locked away in the back of your head. You knew that for the most part love is not really meant to last, Nia was just part of the lucky few.

**

The atmosphere in your shared apartment was cozy, as you waited for Evan and his friend to arrive before you started the pizza hangout, as Nia called it. 

You both had spent the day tidying up the place, trying to decorate it a bit with some fairy lights and nice pillows you found in your room. It had been a long time since you had done any kind of social gathering in your home, and Nia wanted everything to be perfect. She even insisted on making the pizzas herself, which took most part of the afternoon, and a lot of bossing around on her part. 

By the time the food was in the oven and the only thing left to do was wait, her boyfriend joined the two of you. 

She was very talkative and bubbly, as she usually is, getting the wine bottles she selected for the evening and placing them on the counter as she chatted with him. It was nice seeing her back do being her usual self after such a stressful week. 

You got the right amount of glasses, placing them next to the bottles, as you hummed along to the Declan Mckenna’s voice playing in the background. You weren’t really paying attention to Nia’s babbles, catching a word or two as she rambled about some dolphin documentary she had to watch for one of her classes. Pouring out a glass for yourself, you looked over to Nate who had a puzzled look on his face, as he tried to make sense of whatever rant his girlfriend had going on. You took a sip of your wine, and laughed lightly at yourself at the contrast between the two of them, something you had always found very amusing to observe. But before you could go further into your thoughts, the sound of the buzzer took over the small apartment.

“They’re here!” Nia gushed, as she quickly made her way out of the kitchen to get the front door, yelling back at you to get the pizzas out of the oven.

“Yes, ma’am,” you teased after she left, earning a light chuckle from Nate. 

Making your way around the kitchen, you took out kitchen gloves that had figures of little chicks printed on them, giving one last check inside the oven to make sure everything was ready, before opening it and taking out the food. You could hear Nia greeting Evan excitedly in the background, as she rushed him and his friend to come inside. As their voices got closer, you turned your back to the entrance, concentrating on not burning yourself while you placed both pizzas on top of the counter.

“There’s our star!” You heard Evan’s loud voice taking over the kitchen space, making you look over your shoulder and laugh at him. 

You turned around while taking off the gloves, as he pulled you into a tight hug, the strong scent of his cologne invading your nostrils. He wasn’t much taller than you, making him being considered short for a man. But his presence in a room was always so loud and bright that he seem much bigger than he actually is. You pulled back and looked at him, suddenly feeling underdressed in your own home. His entire outfit was bright red, being consisted of a jean jacket and silk pants, his eyes matching with vibrant eyeshadow taking over his whole eyelids.

“It’s very nice to see you again Evan,”  you smiled at him, his hands still holding onto your shoulders as he looked warmly at you. “It’s been too long! You look fabulous!”

“Oh honey, you flatter me too much! It’s why I love coming here,” he scoffed playfully, coming to your side and wrapping one arm over your shoulder as he guided you. “But tonight is not about me, unfortunately. It’s about the two of you.”

As you finally moved your attention to the kitchen entrance, you realized another presence standing there. A man, who you assumed was Evan’s friend, already smirking down at you as both of you approached him. 

You suddenly felt nervous under his stare while you could hear Evan commenting on something you didn’t really pay attention to. You had been taken completely by surprise by the man standing in front of you. Sure, Nia had mentioned to you once or twice that he was good looking, but you were not expecting this. 

It was a weird feeling, being this affected by someone you had just met, but you would have to be blind not to notice. His face was beautiful, a sharp jawline contrasting his soft skin, his fingers poked at his bottom lip as he smirked, you could notice the hint of a dimple forming on his cheek. His hair was short, but still long enough to see the shape of slight curls forming in it, some locks falling charmingly against his forehead. But what hit you the most were his eyes, thanks to the dim lighting you couldn’t really tell if they were a shade of forest green or more of a hazel tone, but you could feel your cheeks warming up from the way he watched you as you got closer.

His shoulders were broad, as he was leaning against the entrance, the hand that wasn’t poking at his lip resting inside the pocket of his brown pair of trousers. He wore a blank white shirt, partly tucked in, underneath a beige cardigan. The sleeves had been rolled up to his elbows, making you notice the tattoos hugging the skin of his arms. You felt a curious wish to know how many more you could find under all the layers of clothing..

As you and Evan got closer, he moved from his leaning position to stand tall in front of you. The smile never leaving his lips, and his eyes still watching you closely.

“So, darling, meet Harry,” Evan spoke up, gesturing you towards his friend. “He’s a pest, but I’m sure you’ll get along just fine”

“Way to give a first impression, E,” Harry rolled his eyes at his friend’s teasing, before turning his attention back to you. He moved closer, embracing you into a side hug “S lovely to meet you-”

You quickly cleared your throat, afraid that your voice would give you away, before saying your name. The attempt didn’t really seem to work, as your words came out higher than you had intended. You could feel Nia’s gaze turning to you on the corner of your eye, but tried your best to ignore it. He repeated it, before shooting a smile in your direction, the sound of his deep voice and the way his lips circled around the words making the hairs behind your neck rise.

“Okay! So how about we move this party to the living room?” Nia’s voice broke into the atmosphere. “Everyone can get their wine glasses and make themselves comfortable while y/n and I finish arranging the pizzas.”

She shot you a knowing look, before moving to get the wine bottles and handing them to Nate. Everyone shifted to get their glasses and settle in the other room, leaving you and Nia alone. 

You moved to get the knives and looked at the pizzas standing on the counter in front of you, calculating how you could cut out even slices on each. You could see your friend from the corner of your eye leaning on the counter staring directly at you.

“You know you can’t fool me even for a second, miss,” she teased, you could hear the smirk on her voice.

“I’m not doing anything,” you murmured, still not looking in her direction. She scoffed, elbowing you lightly as she mimicked you, saying your name in a high-pitched voice. You shot her a dirty look before shushing her, afraid the guest in the other room could hear her teasing. “I didn’t sound like that!”

“Oh please! You should have seen how you looked at him!” She rolled her eyes at you, “thought you were gonna drop down on your knees right then and there!”

“Nia!” you screamed in a whisper, your cheeks warming up at her words as you pinched her, making her squeal. You quickly shot a look at the entrance to see if anyone might’ve heard her, but they seemed to be enrolled in their own conversation. “Let’s just get this done quickly before they suspect we’re in here for too long.”

“Okay, cheeky girl,” she bit her lip and moved to get a knife to cut one pizza, but still eyeing you with a slight smile, leaning in one last time, “but I told you he was cute.”

Eventually, the two of you finished sorting out the pizza slices and joined everyone in the living room. Nia then rushed to join her boyfriend on the loveseat, leaving the only spot available for you being between Harry and Evan on the couch. She shot you a teasing smile, but you tried your best to ignore it and focus on finishing the wine glass you had poured for yourself earlier.

“Okay, so I’m going to need everyone to eat the food and tell me how good it is,” Nia pointed out to the center table where the  pieces of pizza laid upon, “I’ve spent the entire afternoon on these babies, so eat up!”

“You know that I’ve helped you with them, right?” you added, squinting your eyes at her, “some credit wouldn’t hurt.”

“You only laid the toppings on the dough so they would look even,” she snapped back pointing a finger at you, “I did all the hard work, so shush it.”

But before anyone could move to get a slice, Evan was already stretching out his arms to stop you from moving. “Wait a second,” he spoke, “I feel like I’ve watched enough seasons of MasterChef to be the first one to judge.”

“I mean, you are the best critic I know,” Nia pointed, leaning in to get a slice and offering to Evan, “but again, I don’t really know any other critics.” She humored as he took the food, making a show of analyzing it.

Everyone waited expectantly as Evan bit into the pizza slice, keeping a straight face that didn’t reveal much of his opinions. Nia leaned in his direction, nervously biting her bottom lip as she waited for his final verdict.

“You have to be honest,” she warned, observing him, “but know that I can get my feelings hurt pretty easily.”

“I don’t mind that,” Evan finally said, straightening his posture as he looked back to Nia’s waiting eyes, “I’ll say that it’s not the best pizza I’ve ever had,” he announced, “but it works.”

“You know what, I take it,” everyone laughed lightly as Nia visibly released a breath she had been holding in, “It’s not a bad review for a first time.”

The hours went by quickly as you eased into a conversation with everyone. It was nights like this you missed the most when the stress of all the accumulative work weighted on your shoulders. Having a more of a cool night to hangout with a few friends, drinking some wine and chatting about whatever topic came to mind.

As time passed, you could tell Nia and Evan got more agitated, probably due to the amount of wine they had consumed without even realizing. They chatted excitingly about Midsommar, their voices raising a bit too loud. But every time you tried to shush them, jokingly reminding of the neighbors next door, they would soon forget about it again.  You watched them babble, giggling when they would get excited on a certain topic and start to trip over a few words. 

You also felt lighter because of the alcohol, not as much as them, but still enough so you could feel your chest warmer and your mind a bit dizzy. You still felt an annoying tingle at the pit of your stomach when you felt Harry’s eyes fixating on you when you spoke, or when your hands brushed as you reached for the bottle at the center table. It was silly, and it made you feel like a teenager being in the presence of an attractive boy for the first time.

When it all quiet down eventually, Nia had dragged Evan to her room so he could give an insight on how she could decorate it. It was something she would do now and then, give her room a big renovation so the change in the space could make her more motivated, or something like that. Sometimes, if she felt inspired enough, she would change around the living area or  even your own room - when you allowed her, of course. 

Nate was still sitting on the loveseat looking like he was about to fall asleep at any moment as he scrolled through his phone. He hadn’t spoken a lot during the night, which wasn’t unusual for him, but he still managed to chat for a bit. 

That left you and Harry alone sitting on the main couch, with one person less it left you enough space to cross your legs, making yourself more comfortable. He was sitting on his side, his back resting on the big pillows by the arm of the couch, his chest turned towards you.

You reached for the wine bottle at the center table, realizing there was just a bit left, enough for a last glass for the two of you. “Wanna help me finish it?”  You turned to him with the bottle in your hand. He had a smile resting on his lips, as he raised his glass toward you so you could pour the liquid into it. You could tell his eyes were a bit cloudy, but you knew none of you had had enough to be drunk.

“Thank you, love,” he said, the raspiness on his voice as he spoke the pet name making the hairs in the back of your neck rise. You poured yourself the rest of the wine left, emptying the bottle as you settled it back where you got it. “Should we make a toast?” 

“Sure,” you replied easily, smiling at him, “what should we toast for?”

He looked away, puckering his lips slightly as he made a puzzled expression, a hand scratching at his chin as if in deep thought. You giggled at his dramatics before he pointed his finger up, his face turning into a big smile. He raised his glass in your direction, as you did the same. “A toast for being husband and wife?”

You chuckled, clinking your glasses together, “that’s fair,” you said, “ ‘s why we’re here after all, isn’t it?” you joked, taking a sip of your drink before settling it down on your lap.

“Sure is,” he mimicked, rising his glass to his lips, a smirk still adorning them as he managed to not break eye contact. He took a small sip before settling his glass back on the table.  He scratched the tip of his nose slightly with the side of his finger, before he relaxed back on the couch. “So” he spoke up, bringing your attention to him, “E told me you’re an actual actress,” he raised his eyebrows at you, “made me a bit nervous, love.”

“That right there is a lie,” you chuckled, biting your lip and shaking your head. “I used to do theatre back in the day, haven’t done any acting for years though.”

“A theatre kid, huh?” He laughed as you rolled your eyes jokingly.

“I’m aware we have a poor reputation, yes,” you said,  “I reckon we deserve it, but we weren’t that bad, I promise.”

He giggled, making your heart skip a beat at the sound. His smile was something you could easily get used to, the way it formed crinkles in his eyes and the dimples deep on his cheeks. You had to stop yourself for staring too much, moving your gaze to the glass on your lap.

“People are too harsh on theatre kids,” he reassured, “I think it seems pretty fun — only time I did it was when I played Elvis when I was about five, I think.” He added, resting his arm against the couch, his hand just a few inches away from your shoulders. “Had the time o’my life though.”

“You got main character though, that’s impressive,” you expressed, raising a hand to poke at his side playfully. “Have you done anything since your big debut as the king?”

“Can’t say I have, no,” he chuckled, “guess this is my big comeback, maybe I’ll get a call from broadway soon.”

“I’m sure you will!” You giggled, taking another sip from the glass in your hand.

You found it easy to dive into a conversation with him. You were both giggly from the wine, but it still seemed like you could stay like this for hours on end,  just talking to each other. 

He told you he wasn’t planning on doing the film, considering he never really thought about acting. But when Evan asked him if he could be part of it, he saw how desperate he was to fill the role, so he agreed. It warmed your heart to hear how fondly he spoke about his friend, telling you how willing he was to help, even if it involved doing something out of his comfort zone.

You two bounded over your mutual wish to become teachers. You found out he was studying Literature, a choice that for him as an easy one, considering throughout his life he had always been an avid reader. He said no matter how harsh thing got, he always found an escape between books, you could tell how passionate he was about it as he spoke about his favorite reads.

Eventually, you could hear voices coming closer from Nia’s room, as they seemed to be gushing about the filming that was starting soon. 

As Evan came into the room, he made his way to the couch, placing his hand on Harry’s shoulders. “Honey, as much as I wish we could stay here ‘til dawn, I’m afraid we must get going.”

With his declaration, everyone moved around to gather the dishes splattered across the center table to put it all at the kitchen counter. After some insisting -mostly on Harry’s part- on helping with cleaning, you convinced them you two could handle the task just fine. And they were the guests, after all.

Finally, you said your goodbyes, pulling Evan on a small hug, assuring him you’d do your best to do his script justice.

And as you came to face Harry, he leaned into a hug, giving you a last kiss on the cheek, before telling you how lovely it had been to meet you.

**

You had woken up with your door opening abruptly, making you jump a bit from the sudden change in the peaceful atmosphere from your deep slumber. Before you could process the situation in hand, Nia was already pulling out the covers and spitting out words at a faster pace than you could comprehend in your mind state.

“Get up already! We are very late,” She urged as you lazily scratched at your eyes before sitting up to look at her. “Evan is going to kill us!” She cried out.

Your head pounded slightly, making you search for your water bottle previously prompted by yourself the night before, knowing you would need it in the morning. You reached for it in your nightstand, taking big gulps as you watched amusingly Nia run around your room picking random clothes and throwing it in a duffel bag you had just noticed.

Resting the bottle down on your lap, you yawned lightly, still in the process of waking up. “Calm down Ni,” you mumbled, “We still have time, we’re only leaving at like, two.”

She looked back at you as if you had just slapped her across the face, your shirt falling partly from her hand. “It’s already one,” she informed, making your eyes bulge as you reached to check on your phone, confirming as it read 1:16pm. “We don’t even have our bags packed AND we got a sink full of dishes to wash.”

The minutes after that were rushed, as you two did your best to get ready as fast as possible. Mentally slapping yourself for leaving everything for the last minute, but still managing to pack your bag in record speed.

But as time passed and the list of things to do was still far from over, Nia phoned Evan and let him know you would need a few more hours to be ready to leave. To say he wasn’t the happiest about the news was an understanding, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.

A couple hours later you were finally packed, and after a quick stop to shop for road trip snacks you were off on the road. 

You left much later than planned, and even if it wasn’t that much of a long drive, it was still 3 hours until you got there. The ride itself was mostly quiet, except from Lorde’s Melodrama playing softly in the background. You hummed along to the words, but apart from that there wasn’t a lot of talking between the two of you, all due to the limited amount of sleep you got from the previous night.

As you got closer, the scenery of open grass camps and blooming flowers at the peak of spring was a peaceful change of scene from the busy city streets you were used to. And when you finally got to the house, the sun was almost setting on the horizon. The sky being a satisfying mixture of blue and orange. There was a car already parked in, and as you got closer, you could see two figures sitting on the front stairs. 

Getting out of the car, you quickly made your way to where they stood. “Have you been waiting long?” Nia asked as you got closer to them. 

“Longer than I was planning to, I’ll say that,” Evan replied, taking off his sunglasses to greet you.

Harry came up from behind him, looking incredibly cozy wearing a knitted cream sweater. It took everything in you not to nuzzle on him as he met you with a quick embrace. You had to focus on keeping your breathing steady as you looked up at him when you parted. The sun coming from behind you doing wonders as it hit his face perfectly. His eyes were the prettiest shade of green as he smiled down at you before moving to greet  Nia.

“We’ve been here fo’ ten minutes, don’t listen to him,” he assured with a small laugh.

The house itself was much bigger than you expected, it wasn’t huge, by any means, but you had pictured a small cottage with barely any space for the four of you. The place, however, was big enough for you to have your privacy but still small enough to feel cozy and welcoming. 

You quickly found there were three rooms, and despite you arguing you didn’t mind sharing one with Nia, considering you two lived together, she still insisted that you and Harry had your own bedrooms. It was her way of thanking you for agreeing to help them.

After you got established in your respective room, you met everyone down at the kitchen. The place was loud with chatter as they played around while making dinner. Nia seemed to boss the boys around to cut the vegetables properly, as she concentrated on figuring out how to work the old stove. They laughed lightly as she cussed under her breath in frustration after another failed attempt. You watched quietly for a moment, before joining in to help her.

You finally turned the stove on with the help of a few matches you found laying on the counter, being able to cook with no more trouble. It was already getting late when you finished eating and gathered the dishes to lay them on the sink. Still, Nia insisted on watching one of the movies she had carefully selected on her extended collections of DvDs to bring with her. 

You decided to make yourself some tea while the rest of them moved around to arrange themselves for the movie night. After offering if anyone else wanted a cup as well, you were met with Harry’s warm smile as he accepted shyly.

Soon enough everyone settled down on the big couch to watch the movie. Evan took his place on one of the armchairs, while Harry opted to sit by the end of the couch, setting his legs on the footrest in front of him. As you walked in with your mugs, he gazed up at you, shooting a soft smile and muttering a quick ‘thank you’ as you handed him his drink.

He patted the spot next to him, indicating for you to sit, to which you happily obliged. 

“Wanna share?” he asked, holding up a blanket that lied at the arm of the couch. “There’s jus’ three of ‘em.”

“Sure,” you replied, moving to pull the blanket, so it was covering the two of you. You knew very well you could always get an extra one from one of the bedrooms, but you would never bring yourself to suggest it.

Finally, Nia entered the room with a small pack of m&m’s on one of her hands and the DvD case for ‘Love Actually’ on the other. She was quick to insert it on the player before settling down next to you. Pulling out the leftover blanket for herself, she lied down to rest her head comfortably on top of your legs.

It didn’t take long until she fell in deep slumber, cuddling up on your lap as soft snores left her lips. You pouted slightly down at her. The poor thing was exhausted from driving all the way, and the bad night of sleep the day before.

As the movie progressed, you could feel your eyelids getting heavier as well, the words coming from Keira Knightley’s mouth becoming more of a background noise as you fought to keep yourself awake. But before you could doze off, you felt Harry shifting slightly next to you. Suddenly feeling his arm hugging your shoulders, as he gently pulled you closer.

You moved your head to look at him but before you could say anything he shushed you softly and pulled you back in. “ ‘S fine, love,” he whispered, “can see that you’re tired.”

And with a half-woken mind and heavy eyelids you laid back on his shoulder and allowed yourself to snooze.

You woke up with him shifting again from under you, opening your eyes slowly to find the end credits rolling up the screen in front of you. You yawned lightly before sitting up, being careful not to wake a still-very-much-asleep Nia on your lap.

“Sorry,” you heard Harry say as you scratched at your eyes, “didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine,” you assured, your voice a bit raspy from your nap, “would have to happen, eventually.” You looked down at the unconscious girl lying on you, knowing you had to get her to bed so she could sleep properly. “We should wake her.”

“Want me to carry her to her room?” he asked.

“I think she’ll be okay,” you replied, gently calling her name so she could slowly wake up.

Surely, it didn’t take a lot of coaxing to get her eyelid to flutter open, as she lazily rose from her sleep.

You helped her to her room, afraid she’d trip down the stair in her hazy state of mind, still half asleep as she dragged her feet across the floor. 

As soon as she laid down in her bed, you made your way back to the kitchen to fix yourself a glass of water so you could go to sleep. 

It surprised you to find Harry still awake as you entered the space; he looked up at you from his position leaning on the counter with his phone in his hand. Quickly placing it in his back pocket as he saw you coming in, giving you a slight smile. “Thought you’d gone to bed.”

You reached for the cabinet Nia had pointed you to earlier where the cups were placed, picking one with little thought and closing it. “Just came here for a glass of water,” you spoke, moving the cup under the tap, “always have one next to my bed, y’know, in case I get thirsty and stuff.” You shook your head slightly, not wanting to ramble about the benefits of staying hydrated during the night just to make a conversation.

“Smart girl,” he joked, causing you to chuckle as you felt blush creeping out on your cheeks. You could see him coming closer to stand next to you from the corner of your eye, which didn’t help the tingly feeling forming at the pit of your stomach. “Excited fo’ tomorrow?” he asked, crossing his arms on top of the counter as he leaned next to you.

“Guess I am,” you answered, looking up at him and finding he was closer than you had realized. You smiled nervously as you met his eyes gazing down at you, before clearing your throat lightly. “What about you?”

“To be honest ‘m a bit nervous, love,” he confessed.

“Why’s that?” 

“I mean,” he started, his eyes still fixed on you, “ ‘s not every day I get to pretend ‘m married to a pretty girl like you.”

You could feel your heart skip a beat as he reached one of his hands to move a strand of your hair behind your ear. He kept his hand on your cheek just as his eyes seemed to gaze down at your lips, so subtly that it felt like you might’ve imagined it. 

The silence in the room was loud as you could almost hear your heartbeat pounding in your ears, as he leaned down just barely, getting closer to you. He looked down one more time at your lips, this time making sure you realized the unspoken question behind that action. You suddenly felt water pouring through your fingers, as the forgotten cup in your hand overflowed. This caused you to jump back a bit, quickly turning the tap off and resting the glass on the counter. 

“Oh my god,” you squeak, reaching out for a towel right next to the sink to dry your hand. “I’m sorry, that was-” you chuckled, glancing at Harry who seemed to watch you with an amused expression. “That was awkward, sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” He assured, picking the full glass and moving it in the counter so it was out of your reach. “ ‘t was actually quite cute,” he moved closer to you again, reaching his hand to hold at your jawline. 

You held back your breath as you felt his own hitting the top of your upper lip, your noses brushing slightly. 

“Been wanting to do this fo’ a bit now, love,” he spoke a bit above a whisper, his deep voice sending chills down your spine and making you grab at his sweater, ”would you let me?” his thumb caressed your cheek lovingly, “would you let me kiss you?”

You could feel your heart beating strongly against your rib cages, swallowing hard as you looked up at him. He was watching you closely, his dark emerald irises gazing down at you as your lips barely brushed. You nodded at him, trying to pull him closer.

“Use your words, darling,” he insisted, not budging from his position. “Wanna hear you say it.”

“Please, Harry I-” you moved your hand to grasp on his waist, “just —kiss me.”

Giving a satisfied hum, he finally leaned down, closing the space between the two of you. His hand remained stroking your cheek softly, as the other sneaked under your neck.

He moved his lips ever so slightly, his cupid bow founding its way above your inner lip, sucking on it gently. The kiss was teasingly slow, making you hyper aware of all of your senses. Your hands feeling the soft fabric of his sweater, grabbing at it as if asking for more. 

He moved the hand on your neck, pulling gently at your hair, making you angle your head up a bit. As his tongue poked to lick at your bottom lip, you opened your mouth, deepening the kiss.

You stayed like this for a while, pressed against the kitchen wall as you enjoyed the taste of each other. 

When you pulled back, he splattered a few kisses along your cheek, giving one last peck on your mouth before pulling back.

“As much as I don’t want to end this now,” he muttered, moving his hand, so they were both holding your cheeks, “We should get some sleep fo’ tomorrow.” 

“We should,” you agreed.

“We’ll get the chance to do this again,” he said, making you bite down a smile at the innuendo behind his words.

He gave you one last kiss before pulling away completely, reaching for the glass of water you had already forgotten about on the counter and handing it to you. 

You walked back to your rooms without saying a word, but still sharing glances and smiles along the way. And as you got to your respective rooms, you whispered quiet good nights before parting ways and closing the door behind you.

**

The days that followed were rushed, considering the filming had officially started. You two barely had the chance to be alone again, which was disappointing. But still you couldn’t find yourself time to miss the feel of having his soft lips against yours, considering the scenes you had with each other. What you did miss was being able to kiss him without it being written in a piece of paper, or having someone from outside tell you to. You missed the intimacy of feeling his tongue meet your own and having his hands pulling you close as you both craved for more. You missed the shared secret between just the two of you, that was knowing how it felt to have him all to yourself.

It was discomforting, earning for someone you barely even know. Jumping into a feeling you know there’s no way can end well. You both were playing characters. Lovers, yes, but it was all pretend. It didn’t help that he was so good at it. In front of the cameras he would be so loving that you often wondered how much of it was just part of the act. 

It was subtle things that made you think of it, like a glance across the room between takes. Him leaning close to you every time they called you to watch back something you had just recorded. Or when he sucked in your lip during a scene, so softly you could barely notice but still made your heart skip a beat.

But as much as it was nice to pretend that you two had some shared secret, you knew that the most likely scenario was that he was just doing his work and being friendly. So you tried your best to convince yourself that all of it was just your mind playing tricks, this way you could prevent yourself from inevitably getting hurt. That encounter in the kitchen was most likely his way of making things less awkward to when you inevitably would have to do it in front of a camera. That was it, nothing more. 

It seemed to have worked pretty well, you two had the chemistry Evan hoped for when he wrote his script. Nia kept teasing you with every given opportunity. You didn’t tell her about the late night kitchen situation, but you knew she could sense the ‘chemistry’ was not simply because you two were just that good at acting. No one was complaining though, considering everything was going so smoothly they suspected it could be wrapped up even earlier than expected.

Every time they would mention the possibility, you found yourself wishing deep down something would set you back on the schedule. You felt bad for it, and you never voice your inner thoughts, but you knew wrapping up early meant going home early, and you were getting a bit too comfortable getting to act all loved up on camera.

As if some kind of outer force had listened to your wishes, just as you were halfway throughout the week, mother nature seemed to be your biggest ally.

You had just woken up with the annoying tune of your alarm clock, one you had chosen for finding it soothing at first. But you soon found that those sounds are not meant to feel soothing at all, as it woke you from your deep slumber. You were quick to turn it off before rubbing your eyes softly and enjoying the warmth of your bed for a few more minutes. You could hear the gentle sounds of raindrops hitting your window, but barely paid any attention to it as you rose lazily, stretching your arms above your head.

Making your way down the stairs you first noticed Evan standing by the big window in the living room, looking out with a hand resting on his hip and the other one holding a mug. Behind him, in one of the armchairs, sat Harry, also drinking out of a mug as he read a book quietly. But as if he felt your presence as you got to the bottom of the staircase, he looked up, smiling at you as you made your way into the room.

“G’morning,” he spoke, alerting the man by the window of your presence as he turned around to look at you.

“Good morning,” you said back, before realizing the worried expression on Evan’s face, “is everything okay?”

“A disaster just happened, honey, look out the windows!”  he snapped, gesturing behind him where you could see the rain hitting the glass. The sky was dark with clouds, suggesting it was just the beginning of the storm that was to come. You looked back with a puzzled expression, knowing the weather was not the best, but as far as you remembered you had already shot all the scenes you needed outside. Evan rolled his eyes, “our natural light is gone, honey, it’s too dark to shoot!” he barked.

“Hey, no need to yell at her like tha’,” Harry looked back at his friend, attempting to calm him down, “ ‘s fine, we were early on schedule anyway, one day is not gonna delay it.”

He shot a look at Harry, his hand finding its way back on his waist as he let out a deep breath. “I’m sorry, this is just incredibly frustrating.”

You smiled at him to assure it was fine, knowing how much stress he was putting on because of this project. “Doesn’t Nia have one of those light things you were using the other day to make the scene brighter?” You suggested.

Evan sighed, “that’s a reflector, it just— well, reflects the light, we would need the sun for it to work, and seems like she’s not showing her face anytime soon,” he weightened his shoulders down, clearly feeling defeated. “I guess today is our off day — we should use it to pray for sunlight tomorrow, otherwise I’m pulling my hair off.”

When Nia woke up, you could tell she was not happy at all with the news that filming had to be cancelled for the time being. She spent the whole breakfast whining and crying about the poor weather. You tried your best to console her, but knowing your friend you knew her dramatics showed off when she worried about something. She tended to overthink every scenario that could go wrong, which did nothing to help the pressure she put on herself.

The day went on as eventless as it possibly could, the rain outside just seeming to get angrier as time passed by. You did your best to distract Nia from her own head, asking her about the recent documentaries she had watched, knowing she could go on tangents for hours. You talked about crime shows you have started before filming and shared different theories you had on them. You even listened to her deep analysis of trashy reality shows she loved to watch and always tried to drag you to get into it.

You talked and talked with no end, considering there wasn’t much else to do. Nia’s aunt hated computers and refused to install any kind of wifi, leaving you with a shitty connection that barely loaded a five-minute video.

As the evening came by, and the raindrops still hit angrily at the windows, you decided to watch another movie — this time it was Evan’s choice of Freaky Friday. 

You volunteered to grab the blankets from the cabinets on the second floor, while Nia excitedly announced she would make popcorn for everyone.

Quickly moving along the hallway, you made your way in front of the doors and opened them. You could hear footsteps coming up the stairs as you tiptoed to  reach the top shelf where the soft blanket you had used the first night lied on top of. 

“Need help?” You heard a voice approach, looking over your shoulder to find Harry walking towards you with an amused expression on his face. You nodded, chuckling as you quickly stepped out of the way to allow him to take your place. He reached up, easily retrieving the blanket and giving it to you.

“Thank you,” you muttered, looking up at him for a moment.

“No problem, darlin’,” he said, fetching two other blankets  before closing one door with a swing of his hip. You closed the other one with a small giggle. You started to quietly move along towards the staircase when he cleared his throat, causing you to look up at him. He kept his gaze down before speaking softly, “After the movie, think I’ll go back to my room a bit early,”  he looked at you for a moment, “ ‘f you want to join me.”

You stopped walking to look at him arching your eyebrows surprised, not expecting this kind of proposal at this moment. He stopped a step ahead of you, staring back with nervous eyes and shooting you a shy smile. “I’m not saying we have to do anything, I just-” he spluttered, “just wanted to be with you, without the camera and stuff.”

You smiled at him, “of course,” you voiced, “sounds nice.”

Shortly, you found yourself in the same position as the first day. Sharing a blanket with Harry, but this time Nia was wide awake next to you with a bucket of popcorn plopped on her lap. Some people would consider her to be the worst kind of person to watch movies with, considering she would always get too excited and comment on every scene she could. You had gotten so used to it with time, that it felt weird watching a movie without her voice interrupting a scene every five minutes.

It got hard to concentrate on this one in particular, and not because of Nia’s speaking over the lines, but the sudden feeling of Harry’s hand resting on your knee halfway through it. Your legs were crossed on top of the couch, making part of it rest slightly on top of his as he eased his thumb over your skin.

As time passed, he moved his hand up a bit, finding its final place on your inner thigh, causing goosebumps to arise on the back of your neck as he caressed it softly. You caught yourself holding your breath multiple times, something he was also probably aware of, considering the position of his arm on the side of your chest. 

The tension between you two was almost palpable as the end credits rolled up. At that point you had prompted yourself to lean your head on his shoulders. He grasped your skin slightly before removing his hand and motioning his position to get up, making you pull back from him.

“‘m going back to my room now,” he announced as he got up, shooting you a knowing look, “g’night.”

You stayed back for a few minutes so as not to look too suspicious, folding up the blanket you had used and scrolling through your phone for a bit. Not long after you excused yourself, climbing the stairs two steps at a time.

You found him in the hallway, leaning in on the wall right next to his door as he looked down on his phone. As he felt your presence he gazed up, grinning softly before bringing his finger above his lips as to warn you to stay quiet.

The two rushed inside his room, trying to be as quiet as possible, considering your friends downstairs could come up at any second. He closed the door behind him, looking right at you as he leaned back. His room was similar to yours, the difference being a few more clothes lying on top of the small couch standing at the corner. The curtains hanging on the big windows were pushed open, allowing the moonlight from the now-clear sky to illuminate the place. 

Your breath got caught in your throat as you stared back at him, meeting his dark irises. He started stepping closer to you until he could lean his forehead against yours. His hands found their way caressing your jawline, one of them going as far as to pulling lightly on the hair above your neck. You held your breath, gazing up at him as you waited for his next move.

He smiled lazily, brushing his nose against your softly before placing a peck to the corner of your lips. He was teasing you, his hand leaving your hair to find its way down your body, paying special attention to the side of your breast before placing itself holding your waist.

You swallowed dryly, feeling your heart speed up as you pulled him closer, wanting desperately to close the space between the two of you. Too scared that your voice would give out your desperation, you moved one of your hands to the back of his neck and pulled him in. He didn’t think twice before finally closing the space and allowing you to feel his lips against yours.

The kiss started slow, both of you still trying to figure it out how it was to taste each other like this. His lips were soft, moving teasingly as he sucked on your bottom lip. Your hand pulled his hair gently, causing him to whine into mouth, licking at your tongue as he deepened the kiss. The hand on your waist moved up, caressing the side of your breast softly as he tried to pull you in as close as possible.

He started easing you backwards, considering neither of you were willing to break the kiss to watch where you were going. You felt the mattress of his bed hitting the back of your knees. You allowed him to lay you into the bed, parting for a moment so you could move upwards, laying your head on the pillows. Shortly enough he joined you, placing his elbows on both sides of your head, not wasting any time before closing the space between your mouths again.

The two of you stayed like this for a while. Slowly kissing each other, as your arm found its way back behind his neck and one of his hand caressed your cheek. You could get used to this, with him being the only thing you could sense. His taste. His touch. His scent. 

He was all you could think about.

When you finally pulled back, you could see his red, puffy lips even with the limited amount of lighting going into the room. 

He looked into your eyes for a moment, “you look so pretty like this, darling,” he murmured, his voice just above a whisper, sending chills down your spine. “Could eat you up.” 

A small whimper left your mouth, as he dove back in to spread kissed along your cheek and down your throat. You bit hard into your lip and swallowed back a moan as he sucked in a spot right below your jawline. You could feel him grinding his hips down on your tights, making you aware of the growing bulge inside his sweats.

You placed your hand on his shoulders, pushing him gently and disconnecting him from your neck. He pulled back, looking back at you with a puzzled look. You kept pushing him until his shoulders hit the mattress, reverting the previous position you both were in, as you stranded his waist.

Looking down at him, you wanted so badly to discover his body, to make him feel good. So you took the same position he had on you. Placing your lips against his neck and running your tongue against it, sucking in his skin. You kept doing it as your hand smoothed down his body, finding the hem of his shirt and lifting it enough so you could scratch at his love handles. He gave you a small moan, a sound so delicious to hear you that made you want to swallow him whole. 

Both his hands found their place on your waist, pressing you down so you could feel his need between your tights. You quickly pulled your head from his neck, giving him a soft peck on the lips.

“Please, love, just-” he grunted, looking up at you with pleading eyes. “Just do something, please, I-“

His hands gripped tightly on your waist as you rolled your hips against him. Neither of you could contain your moans as you repeated the movement, even fully clothed his bulge rubbed deliciously against the place you needed it the most. 

You leaned down again, this time pushing his shirt up as you made your way down his body, splattering open-mouthed kisses along his warm chest. You paid a special mind to the tattoos you met along the way, sucking spots over the wings of a butterfly inked on his stomach. As you licked along the leaves of the ferns that adorned his love handles, you felt one of his hands tangling in your hair, his hips rising slightly as he whimpered.

“A bit impatient, you are,” you spoke, feeling his belly tighten as you placed a playful bite under his belly button, causing another moan to leave his lips.

“Darlin’, please,” he whined, “Just- fuck, just need you right now.”

You decided not to tease him for too long, considering you needed it just as much as he did. Finally, you moved down once more to place a kiss above the hard on over his pants. He lifted his head, watching your every move as his hand that was placed on your hair pushed some strands away from your forehead. You wrapped your hand around the hem of his sweats, rising your eyebrows at him as you felt he wasn’t wearing any underpants. The thought of having such easy access to him making you press your thighs together, feeling your wetness already damping your underwear 

Slowly, you bit your bottom lip, keeping your gaze focused on him as you moved his sweats down, he raised his hips as to help you out. Once his cock was fully out, you stared back down at it lying proudly against his stomach. You ran your fingers gently along his length, causing him to hold his breath, his abdomen tightening once more. He was definitely bigger than anyone you had ever been with, causing your mouth to water a bit and your thighs to press together once again at the thought of fully having him.

You could feel him peering down at you as you wrapped your hands around the base and applied the smallest amount of pressure. The precum was already escaping from the tip and sliding down the tiniest bit. 

Moving your head forward you looked back at his waiting eyes, spitting on top of the head as you moved your hand up caressing it. This time he gave you an actual moan, throwing his head back at the pillows behind him. 

Looking down at him, you didn’t know where to place your lips first, wanting to bite and lick every part of his body. Finally deciding on sucking a spot on his thigh, right next to where rested an ink of a tiger head.

You kept the movement of your hand, twisting it and applying more pressure eventually as you watched him shift around under you. He raised his hips slightly as he pleaded under his breath for more, his hand firmly on top of your head as the other was thrown above his own.

You moved your thumb to run across his slit, caressing the head with a flick of your wrist as you moved your mouth to place kisses at the base. At this point he became a moaning mess, throwing his arm over his mouth as to muffle the sounds while you licked up his shaft.

“God- fuck- such a good girl,” he moaned on his arm, moving it out of the way so he could look down at you. “Doing so good, you feel so good- shit.”

Smiling at him, you jerked him off a couple of times before resting your hand at the base so you could replace it with your mouth.

You licked around his head, giving it a small kiss before you moved down as far as you could go. He cried out, tightening his grip on your hair and moving his hips up to meet your movements as you sucked on him.

He was desperate to reach his climax, and you were desperate to see him cum undone under your touch. So you started speeding up, your mouth licking at his veins, your hand helping you as you moved it along his dick. He was cursing and moaning over you, pleading for you not to stop. You kept moving your hand as you licked at his head once more before detaching so you could look up at him with pleading eyes.

“Almost there?” you asked, having him nod frantically at you, “will you let me have a taste?”

That seemed to do it for him, as he pushed your head back down, making you attach your lips to his head as you felt him shoot his load inside your mouth. You milked him as he came down from his high, feeling his softness on your lips as you swallowed down.

You sat up and looked down at his hazy eyes while he calmed down with heavy breaths. He adjusted his sweats quickly before moving himself up to pull you in for a frantic kiss. “God, darling, you’re a dream,” he spoke between kisses, his hands gripping at your waist as he positioned you to lie on top of him, moving one of them under your shirt, pulling it up slowly.

You quickly placed your hand on top of his stopping him from going further as you detached from him. He furrowed his brows at you. “I should go back to my room,” you said, “got an early day tomorrow.”

He gave you a puzzled look, “but you still haven’t- “

“it’s okay,” you interrupted, moving to get up from his bed, suddenly feeling nervous under his gaze, “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Good night!”

You left his room before he could protest, wanting to slap yourself from running away like this. 

**

The next morning was thankfully much brighter than the one before, with sunlight shining through the windows at the earliest hours. You didn’t get a lot of sleep, tossing and turning around, replaying the previous night in your head. The thought of what could’ve happened if you had stayed imprinted itself in your mind. You started to overthink it. What did he even think of you? After running away like that? 

Your thoughts consumed you as you sat in of the stools in the kitchen by yourself, for the first time being the first to be awake. Your coffee running cold by the minute, as you frowned to yourself, taking a sip every so often.

It didn’t take long until you didn’t find yourself alone anymore, having Evan join you as he happily cheered about the nice weather. You nodded along to him, not really in the mood for talking as you anxiously poked at your nails.

It was when you walked towards the sink to wash your used mug that you saw Harry walking into the kitchen. His hair messy and his eyes sleepy, making you annoyed at how charming he managed to look even after just getting out of bed. 

He greeted you with a raspiness to his voice, his eyes lingering on you a moment too long as he smirked before moving to the cabinets. He stood next to you while you washed the dishes, grabbing himself a bowl while he worked on his breakfast.

Yours arms would brush every so often as you moved while doing your tasks, making you gaze at him. He kept a grin sitting on his face as he casually made a conversation with Evan, his dimple poking out the smallest bit, but still not looking back at you.

As soon as you were finished you left for your bedroom so you could get ready for the day, but not before sparing one last glance at Harry. This time his eyes were already trained on you as he chewed slowly his fruit salad. You felt your cheeks getting a bit warm from the eye contact, making you look down and leave the room with a speeding heart.

The work started early, as you ran around to keep up with the schedule after losing one day of productivity. 

Harry seemed to be in it for teasing you. His touches lingered longer than needed. His kisses were harsher, the need behind them being almost palpable. His gaze on you told you something you couldn’t really tell exactly what it was. Lust? Desire? You weren’t entirely sure, but every time you caught him watching you felt a warmth take over your face.

In one occasion, between takes, as Nia and Evan discussed the best position for the camera considering her broken tripod. You stood awkwardly waiting for their instructions as you played with the hem of your dress. You could feel him staring closely, looking up to find him with the same smirk he gave you in the morning. He looked quickly over your friends who were still trying to figure out the problem before leaning up close to you “Still haven’t let me have a taste, love,” he said quiet enough to that just you could hear, the words sending a chill down your spine and making your core twitch as you glanced back at him.

That same night, after you announced you’d tuck yourself in, just as you changed into your pajama shorts, you heard a soft knock on your door.  You opened up to see his darkened irises staring back at you as he quietly let himself in. And within a few minutes he found his place between your legs, your hand gripping tightly at his curls as you moaned into your pillow.

The  following day wasn’t much different, starting with a tight filming schedule that was coming to a close end. An exchanging of glances across the room and yearning touches with underlying motives behind them. Ending with you lurking into his room at the dark hours of the night, craving-filled touched and muffled moans.

**

The wrap up of the film was welcomed with a bittersweet feeling settling itself in the pit of your stomach. Knowing as much as you were glad everything had gone as smoothly as possible during this week, it was time to leave it all behind. 

You were nervous about how it would be with Harry after you got home. Was this the start of something that could potentially become a warm and beautiful feeling? Or was it just a lust-filled affair that would end as quickly as it had started? It made you anxious to think about it, not wanting to let go of it just yet.

Nia walked into the living room with two champagne bottles that had been brought up for this exact moment. The atmosphere was filled with chatter as everyone celebrated the end of the hard work. 

You were dressed in the fanciest clothes you had brought on your rushed-packed bag, which consisted itself in a black blouse and a loose pair of pants you stole from Nia’s wardrobe a couple weeks prior. But you once again could not compete with Evan’s sense of style, as he seemed right out of a cover with a hot pink turtleneck under a sparkly black dress that hung all the way to his feet.

But you still couldn’t keep your eyes off of him.

You watched as he laughed along at something that had been said, his eyes meeting yours for a moment before fixing on Nia as she offered to serve him the champagne she had just opened. 

He looked so good. 

Like you, he didn’t opt for a very glam look, wearing a simple graphic white tee with a rainbow printed on it, and a simple pair of checked trousers. But as plain as someone could argue it was, he still managed to look incredibly inviting, which made it harder for you not to latch yourself onto him.

You were coming into your sixth or seventh glass when it all died down. Your head was fuzzy, and you felt giggly as you cheered along with everyone about the successful week you had. Nia had already gone back to her room. She didn’t  drink as much considering she would have to drive early in the morning, wanting to leave most of the celebration for the premiere day. 

The glances stolen between you and Harry were getting more frequent, the longing in each other's eyes visible with the effect of the alcohol.

**

He had you pressed up against your bedroom door as he sucked in your bottom lip harshly. His hands gripped at your waist tightly, putting his weight against you.

You wrapped your hand around his neck as the other pulled at his shirt desperately with the need of having him close. You felt overwhelmed by him in the nicest way. Having his hips pressing against your own, making you open your tights slightly as you felt his arousal straining on his trousers.

You whimpered into his mouth at the feeling, suddenly needing him as close as possible. You could tell his desperation matched your own by the way his hand pressed on the side of your body and his mouth moved against you. His groans getting lost in your throat every time you tangled your fingers on his roots, pulling at it.

“You’re gonna kill me like this, baby,” he breathed out, his lips moving against your wanting ones, “so fuckin’beautiful.”

You tried to keep your shaky hands steady as they travelled down his chest, scratching as his tummy lightly under his shirt before you began pulling it up. He detached from you to quickly reach over his shoulders and pull it off completely.  He didn’t waste any time bringing his hand to unbutton your blouse, peppering kisses along your lips as he moved it down your shoulders, only to be met with your bare breasts underneath.

“Fuck me,” he groaned staring down at you, attaching your lips once again as he pulled you from the door as he fiddled with the zipper of your pants. You stumbled on each other's arms across the floor until you were met with the plush feeling of the bedcovers on the back of your thighs. 

You stepped out of your pants as they got loose around your waist and fell damply to the floor, allowing Harry to push you gently into the mattress. He quickly got rid of his own trousers, wasting no time before towering above you, connecting your mouths once again.

It was like no matter how close you were, it still wasn’t good enough to satisfy the craving you had. You still wanted more. Needed more. 

He was fully licking into you, his hands gripping your tights as he rolled his hips to meet yours. You moaned in unison at the feeling of your arousals meeting deliciously as he repeated the movement once more before parting your mouths so he could spread kisses along your neck.

“Harry,” you breathed out his name, dragging your nails along his back as you moved your hips up eagerly.

He moved his head from your neck o hover above yours, licking his lips teasingly as he looked down at you with dark eyes. He moved one of his hands to caress your cheek lovingly, as the other found your breast, his thumb grazing over your nipple. “Can I have a taste, baby?” he leaned his forehead against your, not breaking eye contact, “just a fo’a bit, then you can have me.”

You nodded frantically, brushing your nose against his. He gave you one last peck on the lips before moving down again to lick down at your skin. He pressed open-mouthed kisses at your chest, sucking harshly between your breasts.  His tongue moved along your belly, craving his finger into it playfully like you had done to him, making you squeal above him.

He finally settled down between your thighs, his hand gripping at them to keep it apart before moving teasingly slow to the hem of your underwear. Your breath got caught in your throat as you moved up to lean on your elbows, gazing at him, hyper-aware of his every move. 

He looked up, grinning like a devil, before moving his face down to nose gently at your mound. Pulling away, he pressed his hands on your sides, sliding your underwear off your legs as you helped him, raising your hips slightly.

You whimpered as you felt him kiss along your inner thigh, meeting your middle as licked you once. Your hips raised impatiently, making him smirk at you again before completely diving in.

You got lost in the pleasure as he licked his tongue into you, letting yourself fall back in the cushions behind your head. Your hand moved to grip at his hair tightly as he sucked in your clit, making you yelp and call out his name. His mouth was warm as his saliva mixed with your own wetness every time he licked into you.

Feeling your arousal pooling on your folds, you desperately needed to feel him as close as possible. Wanting every inch of him against you.

You pushed him from you, grabbing at his shoulder so he could move up to face you again. He didn’t protest, spattering quick kisses along the way before pressing his mouth against yours. The taste of champagne still lingering on your tongue mixed with your own taste on his as he licked into your mouth.

“y’taste so good, baby,” he groaned, parting from you as he moved to remove his briefs. The limited amount of light illuminated his face beautifully, making you able to notice the glistening of your juices down his chin. You felt your core twitch at the scene above you, desperate to have him fill you up.

“Please,” you urged him, grabbing at his hips to pull him down.

“Can I have you, darlin’?” His voice was raspy, as he looks down at you with hooded eyes, “‘d you let me?”

Your arousal blurred your mind, your grip on his waist tightened as you raised your hips impatiently, nodding along to his question.

“Have to hear you say it, love,” he spoke, leaning down to place kisses along your neck, “just say it, and you’ll have me.”

“You can have me, please, I-” you moaned desperately, babbling words without thinking, “I need you, please.”

He raised his head from your shoulders, giving you a quick peck before reaching down to guide his length between your folds. Your belly tensed as he rubbed his head against your clit, holding back your breath as he finally slid in you.

“Fuck, you’re wet,” he choked, pushing his hips all the way, allowing you to feel every inch of him fill you up. You breathed out a moan, reaching your hand on his back. “‘s this all fo’ me?”

You whined out a ‘yes’, rolling your hips as a way of urging him to move. 

His movements began slow, his cock rubbing heavenly against your walls, making you clench around him. You both moaned and whimpered as your lips brushed.

“Can feel me deep?” He asked, resting his forehead against yours as he pushed his dick all the way in. You nodded, yearning for him to start moving again. “Can feel me in y’belly?”

“H, please,” you begged, gripping your nails on his shoulder blades.”Want you.”

“y’have me,” he kissed you hard before moving again, rolling his hips as he picked up the pace.

 The air around you was hot as you threw your head back with the delicious feeling of him hitting the spot inside of you. He was addicting. The salty taste of his skin. The touch of his hands gripping on your sides. The smell of his cologne faintly mixed with sweat. The sound of his skin meeting yours. It made you earn for him in every possible way. 

You felt your wetness dripping out of you as he pulled your leg up to your chest, allowing him to effectively hit deeper spots. The new position made a cramp start to creep up on your thight, but you ignored it to focus on the way his hips met yours.

Time seemed to pass like a blur as you pleasured each other, but soon enough you felt your orgasm building up. His thrusts became more frequent and smooth as he felt you clench more around him.

“that’s it, baby - fuck,” he grunted, moving his hand down to flicker your clit, causing to arch your back, moaning loudly. “Wanna feel you come for me.”

His cross necklace dangled over you as he watched you closely. You kept your gaze locked on his as you felt the feeling deep in your tummy take over your entire body. A moan got stuck in your throat as you opened your mouth to an ‘O’ shape, digging your nails further on his shoulders as you reached your high.

**

Getting home, you soon realized that throughout the week you had been so lost in your feelings with Harry that you didn’t even think of asking him for his phone number. 

The month that followed passed by surprisingly quickly. During the first week you were swiftly thrown back again into your old reality of course essays and textbooks. You hadn’t heard a word from Harry, and the most frustrating part is that he seemed to have settled his place inside your thoughts. You tried asking about him to Nia once or twice again, but every time she seemed to come up with vague answers and change the subject, so you figured she had other things to worry about. 

It was a disappointing end, to say the least. Even knowing from the start that being let down was the most possible outcome, it didn’t hurt any less. You often wondered if it had been something you’d done that made him pull away, or if he just wasn’t in it from the start.

By the second week you had gotten a job at a tiny local cafe you used to go after class to study and eat cinnamon rolls. That’s when time starting to rush by, as you found yourself busy through most of your day. Nia was working more than you’ve ever seen her. You two barely talked as she spent most of her time with Evan or inside her room editing. And as the week at the camp house got further away, it started to almost seem like you had imagined all of it. 

Having a lot of distractions helped, but you never seemed to push the thought of a certain curly-haired boy completely away. Sometimes during a tedious lesson you would daydream about the feeling of his lips against yours. Or right before you fell asleep you would think about the taste of his skin, how strong his hand were gripping on your thighs. Maybe even at work. When there wasn’t a lot of movement, you could almost hear the sound of his voice.

It was aggravating, the effect he left on you. It got to a point where you got angry; sometimes at him but sometimes at yourself. He was the one who had gone after you, and yet he was the one who disappeared. But again, he didn’t really owe you anything, and that’s what’s frustrating. You were the one who allowed him; you knew from the start that you would get hurt but you still went for it, anyway.

As you got closer to the premiere night that was planned, you started to get anxious. You would catch yourself daydreaming more often, not being as focused as you were. You even started picking your nails again, which is a habit you thought you’d kick it a long time ago. But truth to be told, you were nervous.

The thought about seeing him again made your heart race. You wished that you could somehow find a way not to go. Maybe ask Nia if the two of you could have a private viewing. You had even thought about bribing her with making your mom’s brownie recipe. But you already knew the answer before you even suggested it. This was an important night for her, and you would be there to support it.

You were overthinking this. Was it going to be awkward when you met him? How would you even greet him? Would he kiss you? Would he ignore you? Should you ignore him? All the scenarios in your head made you want to throw up and run away.

**

When the two of you finally arrived, you were greeted by a cheerful Evan, who jokingly teased you for being late. As you got into his house, you found a bigger group than you expected. It seemed like you and Nia were the last ones to arrive, as there was around ten other people in there. Some of them you recognized from being Nia’s friends, others you had never seen, but none was the one you earned to see the most.

Evan guided you across the living room area, “I’ll show you the kitchen so you two can get some drinks,”  He held up his glass as he spoke. Gesturing to the entrance of the room, “We’ll start everything in around ten minutes, so get ready.”

As you entered the kitchen behind Nia, you could feel her stiffen her posture a bit, before looking back at you. You frowned lightly at her, confused by her behaviour, gazing inside the room and finding immediately a pair of green eyes already watching you. It made you think back to the first time you were in this exact position, except in your own kitchen. This time, however, he was the one to approach you.

He looked really good, which did nothing to help the butterflies flying relentlessly in your stomach. He was in all black, a buttoned up shirt with a few buttons open, exposing a bit of the skin on his chest where a silver necklace laid upon. You swallowed dryly at the sight of his hand running swiftly through his hair, with a ring hugging each one of his fingers. 

As he got close, he greeted Nia first, giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, before turning his attention back to you. He shot you a shy smile, before embracing you into a hug. You didn’t really know if it was your mind playing tricks but you felt him a bit hesitant as he greeted you and placed a kiss on your cheek. Pulling away, he cleared his throat, running his hand again through his hair, he almost seemed… nervous?

“‘S nice seeing you again,” he mumbled, “this uhm… ‘s my girlfriend, Jess.”

You could felt your heart drop with his words as you finally noticed a smiley girl coming to his side. 

She wasn’t much taller than you, her red hair pulled back in a perfect ponytail. She matched him with a small black dress that annoyingly hugged her body in all the right ways. You could barely register her greeting you, as you tried your best to keep a straight face to hide the shock that took over your body. You felt a heaviness at the pit of your stomach, a feeling so distressful that made you want to scream as an attempt to make it go away.

You didn’t pay a lot of attention as Nia made a conversation with the girl, knowing that’s what she did best. You kept your gaze directed to Harry, your eyes asking a million questions - you didn’t even think you wanted to know the answers to. But he kept his eyes locked on the floor, eventually looking up at the girl in his arms as she seemed to mention him. But never meeting your own.  Her hand was caressing his chest lovingly while his found their way on her waist, keeping her close.

“I think I’ll get something to drink,” you announced, realizing you might’ve interrupted the conversation as they stopped talking. You turned to Nia, “do you want something?”

She looked back at you with sorry eyes, “I should go with you,” she quickly turned back to the girl, “It was lovely meeting you, Jess.”

“Oh! Sure,” she smiled brightly at you two, her hand moving to rest on Harry’s chest, “we should go get our seats as well, right, babe?” 

You left the scene as quickly as you could, not wanting to hear any more of it. Looking at all the drink options on top of the counter, you tried to think which one could get you drunk enough to stop feeling hurt over someone you spent just a week with, but still sober enough so that you could pretend everything was fine. Before you realized, Nia was standing next to you, getting two plastic pink cups before she stared at you with guilty-filled eyes.

“I should’ve just told you about it,” she sighed, “I didn’t want to make you sad, but looking back it was probably best if you already knew.”

You turned your head to look at her, “so you knew it all along?” You swallowed the lump in your throat as you felt it close once again.

“Evan told me like a few days after we got back!” She rushed, “I don’t know if they were together while we were filming.”

You took a deep breath, knowing Nia was probably blaming herself for putting you into this situation. But you knew it wasn’t her fault, she would never purposely put you in this position if she knew about it before.

“You know what, it’s fine,” you tried your best to cover up the hurt and gave her a weak smile, “it’s not your fault Ni. It’s okay. I’m fine.”

She pulled you into a tight hug, “I’m sorry, bubba,” she said, “let’s get you something to drink so you can enjoy this party like the star you are!”

The two of you decided on the vodka mixed with watermelon juice, something you had never even thought of trying before but seemed to be ideal to handle the situation you found yourself in. You walked back to the living area, where people were already beginning to settle on the chairs. 

Following Nia, you prompted yourself on a seat at the edge closest to the door, opposite to where Harry sat with the girl. His girl. You thought bitterly, taking a big sip from your cup and cringing at the strong taste.

There was a speech you didn’t pay much attention to before they started the film, only giving a slight smile when you realized the mention of your name. 

Before you knew it, the lights were out and your face took over the screen. 

It was harder than you thought it would be.  Looking up at the scenes you had with Harry, knowing everything that happened behind the cameras. Knowing every touch and every kiss felt more than just playing a character. You knew the actual feeling of having him to yourself. But now staring at it right in front of you, it just left a sour taste in your mouth. 

You finished your drink barely ten minutes into the film, the feeling of your chest aching starting to become overwhelming as you watched your shared kiss on the big screen. You could feel your throat close once more, your eyes watering a bit.

“I’m gonna get some air,” you whispered to Nia sitting next to you, who gave you a sympathetic smile as you got up. You glimpsed quickly to Harry who had his eyes trained on you, the girl next to him leaning to whisper something in his ear.

You could feel the tears falling down stubbornly as you left the room. Standing in the hallway, you made the decision to turn to the front door instead of the back, not wanting to face anyone with reddish eyes.

You left the house, picking your phone with shaky hands as you managed to call a ride home, sighing in relief as your screen told you it was just about three minutes away.

You heard the door open behind you as stood on the sidewalk hugging yourself to get some warmth on the chilly night. You tried your best to swallow back your tears as you turned around, expecting to find Nia looking at you with pitiful eyes. 

To your surprise, the person standing there was Harry, looking like a deer caught in the headlights as he took in your tearful eyes. He spoke your name in a soft voice, causing you to look away.

“Don’t-” you interrupted, raising your hand at him, “I don’t wanna hear it.”

He frowned at you, not wanting to upset you more. “I’m sorry,” he hesitated, taking a step forward.

Your phone buzzed in your hand, as you watched your ride pulling in front of you. You looked back at him, “I’m sorry too,” you said before moving to enter the car. 

You spared him one last glance through the window as the driver pulled away.

[ibijau]

Price of wishes pt7 / on AO3

Lan Xichen meets his new relatives in the Cloud Recesses

Lan Xichen gazes upon the gates of the Cloud Recesses, and feels… 

Not scared, not quite, but nervous certainly. The more he travelled with Nie Huaisang and his brother's disciples, the more Lan Xichen became struck by how much the world has changed while he was clinging to his last believers and trying to survive. Towns are bigger, houses are more durable, people from different places mix, and they sell as common things items that he remembers being rare luxuries. 

The world has changed, and Lan Xichen is striving not to show how unsettled he feels. 

And then, there's this writing business. Out of every passing fashion that had to stick around… 

In spite of how he feels about this writing fad, Lan Xichen has been trying his best to learn. Trying isn’t succeeding. Lan Xichen can read some characters, and he knows certain texts thanks to Nie Huaisang’s efforts, but it simply isn’t enough to maintain the illusion of the person he is supposed to be.

Hopefully, Nie Huaisang’s other plan will work.

The Lan disciple guarding the gate is startled when he's told that the young master of his sect has returned, but by the time Lan Xichen asks that his uncle be warned he lost his jade token in an incident, that young man in white has already accepted his existence. It's not surprising, not when Lan Xichen has already convinced Nie Mingjue whose mind is much stronger, but it's still a relief. 

The Lan disciple dutifully sends a message to master Lan Qiren who arrives quite fast to the gate, followed closely by a boy whose features are eerily similar to Lan Xichen. He got that much right, it seems. 

Lan Xichen bows politely before the man who is now his uncle, the boy who he will call his brother for a full mortal lifetime, and smiles at both of them. He can feel for a moment their doubts about his presence, forming a stronger wall than Nie Mingjue’s did, but he only needs to absorb some of Nie Huaisang’s belief in him to make that wall crumble. It is not hard at all, and Lan Xichen can’t help but feel that those two are almost relieved by his intrusion in their lives.

It was the same with Nie Mingjue. He might act tough and stern, but he is young, not ten years older than Nie Huaisang. He’s also as desperate for company as his brother but in a position that forbids him from seeking out new friends. And now, as Lan Qiren caves into the invasion, Lan Xichen gets a flash of gratitude, because having a nearly fully adult nephew means someone he can rely on. Lan Qiren, like Nie Mingjue, is a lonely man, and shouldn’t be so resigned to it at such a young age.

“You weren’t supposed to be gone this long,” Lan Qiren scolds his nephew. “You should have been here a while ago to help prepare the arrival of the guest disciples. And what's this I hear about your token being lost?”

Nie Huaisang, unnoticed by nearly everyone, lets out a shaky breath.

“My apologies, shufu,” Lan Xichen says with another bow. “A few things came up while I was gone that delayed my return. In fact, I would like to speak to you about this immediately, if you have the time. Wangji as well, this will concern him. And… I think it might be good if Nie gongzi came as well.”

Lan Wangji, exactly as silent and austere as Nie Huaisang described him, stares at his brand new brother with emotionless eyes. When those eyes turn to Nie Huaisang though, they let a certain curiosity shine through, to which Nie Huaisang reacts by turning a little pink and averting his eyes. But no objection is made to Lan Xichen’s request, and they all retire to the house Lan Qiren shares with his nephew for a private conversation.

It is not an unpleasant place. Austere but elegant, as everything appears to be in the Cloud Recesses. One thing immediately attracts Lan Xichen’s attention: the number of books. This house alone appears to contain as many as all of Qinghe Nie’s library. This makes Nie Huaisang’s panic over Lan Xichen’s inability to read all the more understandable. If the entire sect is similar to Lan Qiren, then Lan Xichen’s meagre powers might not be enough to counter their surprise at a young master who cannot read fluently.

Tea is poured as refreshment for the travellers, and all four of them sit down. Lan Qiren allows his new nephew a moment to drink, then asks again about the delay in returning.

"The situation is this," Lan Xichen explains. "While I was away, something happened and I lost all my memories. I cannot be sure what it was exactly, but I do not appear to have any physical marks on me, nor did I detect anything that would indicate a curse. All I know for sure is that I barely knew who I was when this started."

His new relatives are startled at the news, especially Lan Wangji who glances at Nie Huaisang in a silent question, but with the slightest of push on Lan Xichen’s part they do not think of doubting that story.

"As I wandered, I stumbled upon the Unclean Realm where Nie Mingjue welcomed me and treated me as if we knew each other. I played along and didn't mention my predicament. I thought Nie Mingjue did not feel like an enemy, but I didn't know how much to trust my instincts. After a while, Nie Huaisang realised something was wrong, encouraged me to share my secret with him, and agreed to help me hide this for the time being. We both feared someone might try to take advantage, should my situation be revealed."

"A wise decision," Lan Qiren agreed, a severe expression on his face as he stroked his beard. "It is lucky you wandered into friendly territory, when others might have been less kind than the Nie." 

Meaning the Wen sect, Lan Xichen guesses. There's a feud of sorts between the Wens and the Nie, he understands, but really the whole cultivation world appears scared of them. 

"Our thanks to Nie gongzi for his help," Lan Qiren says. 

"Mn," Lan Wangji agrees, cramming a surprising amount of emotion in that single sound. Or maybe it is the way he's looking at Nie Huaisang, his pale eyes intense and sharp. 

Nie Huaisang blushes intensely and squirms a little, clearly uncomfortable with the attention, or perhaps with being praised over something that never happened. To rescue him from his discomfort, Lan Xichen promptly continues.

“The memory loss is actually rather severe,” he explained. “We are still figuring out what I can and cannot remember. While I was in Qinghe, I dared not say too much to Nie zongzhu, even after deciding he was friendly, because I couldn’t be sure of the extent of that friendship, and I knew I had to think of my sect’s safety. But after making me confess the truth on the way here, Nie gongzi has been of great help in figuring out just how much I have lost. He happened to have with him a number of texts concerning our rules and customs which he shared with me, though I must confess reading is not easy at this time. It causes me terrible headaches after even a very short while.”

Hearing this, Lan Qiren’s concern only grows, marking him to Lan Xichen as a far warmer person than Nie Huaisang prepared him for. Not that he blames his young friend for his judgement: it is not unexpected for a man to behave differently toward a student than he would with a relative, especially when the student is Nie Huaisang, who has made it clear that learning does not come easily to him.

Worried for this nephew he’d never met just half a shichen earlier, Lan Qiren quickly comes up with a plan.  First, he will go fetch a doctor to check Lan Xichen, since an external eye might detect more than he did himself. If they can identify what ails him, they might return him to normal. Should that fail (Lan Xichen will have to use his powers on the doctor as well, though he’s getting tired and might require a large offering from Nie Huaisang that night) they will need to keep the situation secret, for fear that certain people try to take advantage of the situation. In that case, Lan Qiren decides that his nephews will isolate themselves together for a few days, until the lectures for the guest disciples start, so that Lan Xichen can be reminded of the knowledge and behaviours expected of a young master of their sect.

Lan Wangji makes no objection to this plan. His only remark is to ask that Nie Huiasang stay with them until Lan Qiren returns with a doctor, so he can be further questioned about the present situation. Lan Qiren agrees, and leaves the boys alone.

As soon as they are just the three of them together, something shifts in Lan Wangji’s attitude. So far he hasn’t given the impression of a particularly expressive person, and yet Lan Xichen can instantly tell that his new brother is incredibly upset.

“Nie gongzi,” Lan Wangji says, his voice monotone and yet heavy with carefully refrained emotion. “Who is this person sitting with us?”

Nie Huaisang goes pale, as if he might faint, then turns a bright shade of red, before he starts laughing in a nervous manner.

“Ah, just as could be expected of you!” Nie Huaisang exclaims with a painful grin. “Lan gongzi is really something else! Anybody else could be fooled except you, I should have known!”

Lan Wangji makes no answer. Lan Xichen cannot tell if his new brother is aggravated or relieved that Nie Huaisang isn’t even trying to hide that something is wrong.

As for Lan Xichen himself, he feels too keenly the pain of disappointment. While Lan Wangji does appear to be a powerful young cultivator, and strong willed for his age, Nie Mingjue and Lan Qiren were still his superiors. The only reason he resisted where they gave in, Lan Xichen suspects, is because Nie Huaisang has more faith in Lan Wangji’s strength of spirit than in his, creating a weakness in his powers.

“Explain,” Lan Wangji demands, and Nie Huaisang obeys without hesitation.

Not only does he not hesitate, but Nie Huaisang appears sincerely relieved to share his secret as he retells the way he ran away, how he became lost and unknowingly made a deal with a god who then took human form.

Lan Wangji listens, glances over Lan Xichen, and frowns.

“He looks like me. Why?”

From being merely a little nervous, Nie Huaisang panics at the question with such intensity that it nearly makes Lan Xichen physically sick. For a torturous second there is no more belief sustaining him, replaced by a terror that cannot feed him. It doesn’t last longer than a heartbeat before Nie Huaisang pulls himself together and laughs awkwardly, but Lan Xichen is left shaken.

“Well, I ran away because I felt so lonely and unappreciated, right?” Nie Huaisang explains. “And I wanted to not feel alone. And so I thought of you, because I…”

He hesitates, his entire face flushed red. For the second time in just moments, Lan Xichen feels Nie Huaisang’s belief waver, replaced by a sentiment entirely directed toward Lan Wangji.

“I think of you as my best friend,” Nie Huaisang miserably lies, “so of course I wanted someone like you at my side.”

Hit by a sudden realisation, Lan Xichen stares at the young man who gave him a chance to live again. With parts of Nie Huaisang modelled after Lan Wangji, of course Lan Xichen knew already there had to be some attraction involved. But this isn’t mere attraction that he is witnessing. 

Instead, Nie Huaisang is in love with Lan Wangji.

That discovery alone is already painful. In their short time together Lan Xichen has become quite fond of Nie Huaisang and has seen nothing in him that could make him fear the ‘marriage’ part of their deal. To find that he has a rival, one of true flesh and blood, one who doesn’t need the world explained to him, who can read and write and do all those things that matter so much to Nie Huaisang, is like being stabbed in the guts.

But things only get worse when Lan Wangji, so impassible thus far, huffs ever so slightly at Nie Huaisang and smiles at him with all the warmth his nature allows him.

It might not be love yet, but fondness is a first step in that direction.

Meaning that Nie Huaisang might never have needed Lan Xichen and just didn't know it yet.

"Nie gongzi always makes things interesting," Lan Wangji placidly comments, which Nie Huaisang appears to take as criticism, while Lan Xichen suspects it to be a compliment. "I will allow this person to remain." 

"Really ? Wangji, that means lying!" 

"Hm. This person is meant to be my older brother, correct?" 

Nie Huaisang again panics, explains, apologises, but Lan Wangji's attention has shifted to his new brother. Under such a piercing gaze, Lan Xichen feels exposed, though he doesn't detect any bad feeling coming from Lan Wangji, only curiosity and a sharp flicker of hope. 

"He may stay," Lan Wangji repeats. "If he stays long, he will in some years announce that he steps down in my favour. Until then, this person may carry the title of heir." 

Silence falls for a long moment. Lan Xichen hasn't finished processing what this means (more effort, more lies, more pretending, all to fool not only this sect but also all others) when he notices that Lan Wangji is smiling again, while Nie Huaisang starts howling with laughter. 

"Wangji! Lan gongzi! No, wait, it's Lan er-gonzi now, right? Either way, who knew you had it in you to be crafty! Dumping your responsibilities on someone else like this… why, it sounds like something I would do!" 

"You are my friend," Lan Wangji soberly replies, though his eyes shine. "And a bad influence."

Nie Huaisang only laughs harder, joyful and free in a way Lan Xichen has never seen him. 

It might be good to look for new followers quickly, the god decides. Before this fountain of belief dries out as Nie Huaisang realises he already has everything he wished for, sending Lan Xichen back to the misery and despair of his old existence.

[bemusedlybespectacled]

I posted 2,082 times in 2021

80 posts created (4%)

2002 posts reblogged (96%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 25.0 posts.

I added 1,723 tags in 2021

#love me that's all i ask of queue - 1470 posts

#personal - 77 posts

#leverage - 38 posts

#someone get that man a dom - 25 posts

#history - 22 posts

#anonymous - 20 posts

#cackling - 19 posts

#leverage: redemption - 18 posts

#bb is a lawyer - 17 posts

#star trek tos - 17 posts

Longest Tag: 136 characters

#i had four teeth removed solely for aesthetic reasons when i was like twelve and no one was handwringing over my irreversible mutilation

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

on the flip side of “characters are not real people and so shouldn’t be held to the same standards we hold for actual humans,” real people aren’t characters whose traits are chosen by an omnipotent author. real people are people who are a unique constellation of traits, each of which is shared with millions of people.

the usual problem with a fictional character falling into a stereotype is that it’s their only characterization. the important thing about the damsel love interest is that she’s in danger and she’s in love with the protagonist, so we don’t need to know about her passion for stamp collecting if it isn’t plot-relevant; there’s no scene where we watch the evil terrorist check out the devil wears prada from his local library immediately before trying to murder the hero with ten other terrorists. and, typically, they are the only character of their kind: the only gay guy is the villainess’s sycophantic sidekick; the only black woman exists only for the heroine to have a best friend.

but humans, by dint of being human, are always three-dimensional, multi-faceted beings, and are always one out of millions of other people. having the only female character in your cast have no personality other than “liking pink” is trite and overdone; an actual human woman who likes pink is always going to be more complex than that.

if your complaints about someone’s actions, experiences, or inherent traits read like an editor complaining about overdone tropes or stereotypes, you aren’t actually making a valid critique, you are demonstrating a fundamental inability to discern truth from fiction. 

1973 notes • Posted 2021-11-15 04:57:05 GMT

#4

~hot take~ about a book that came out ten years ago but one of the biggest reasons 50 Shades of Grey fails as a fanfiction - not as a piece of writing, but as fanfiction specifically - is because it fundamentally misunderstands the central conflict throughout the Twilight novels and as a result makes Anastasia and Christian’s relationship even more incomprehensible and unhealthy than Bella and Edward’s. that conflict NOT being the Volturi or anything to do with other vampires, but the fact that Bella wants to be a vampire and Edward doesn’t want her to be a vampire. 

like, Bella doesn’t want to grow old, she’s been parentified by her parents, and she feels boring and ordinary, so eternal youth + superpowers seems pretty fucking cool to her. meanwhile Edward hates being a vampire and sees it as a burden, especially since part of being a vampire is the constant threat of accidentally injuring or killing his girlfriend. the tension is the push and pull between what Bella wants and what Edward wants, and it’s only resolved when she does actually become a vampire.

so if we assume that BDSM is the vampirism metaphor in the 50 Shades fics (namely, something dangerous but also sexy and alluring), then Anastasia should be completely gung-ho about the kinky shit and Christian should be wracked with guilt every time he even considers spanking someone. finding out Christian is kinky should make Ana realize that whatever feelings she’s had before has a NAME and OTHER PEOPLE and is NORMAL and that her secret kinky fantasies are validated, while Christian should be crying into his pillow at the idea that he’s corrupted poor innocent Ana with his perverted ways. 

what I’m saying here is that it not only makes the storyline way creepier, because BDSM - and a relationship with Christian, since the story explicitly says you can’t have one without the other - is something that Ana is afraid of instead of excited about, but also makes it WAY more boring. oh ho hum, “a sexy millionaire overcame my protests and had his sexy sexy way with me!” said every fucking Harlequin novel ever. groundbreaking.

tl;dr: the plot of 50 Shades should be “Ana discovers Fetlife on bing.com and they go back and forth on their kinky needs v. Christian’s guilt at potentially hurting his love until they split the difference and have Ana top”

2895 notes • Posted 2021-11-03 21:42:21 GMT

#3

one of these days I’m gonna get an expensive mic and Final Cut Pro and I’m going to do an extended Youtube series called “You Don’t Know How To Write Fanfiction” and it’s going to just be me tearing apart big-name writers and directors for having shit characterization and no idea how to write creative plots for existing franchises because they’ve never had to write a crossover or AU in their lives

3338 notes • Posted 2021-01-15 02:52:18 GMT

#2

the thing that bugs me the most about the censoring of the internet to please advertisers is like... tv shows aren’t having less sex and violence in them. movies aren’t having less sex and violence in them. HBO can do eight seasons of graphic murder and nudity and it’s the cultural phenomenon of the decade, but I can’t show a nipple on tumblr or talk about death on tiktok. it’s not that the internet is becoming “safer,” it’s just making these topics a privilege only for very rich people, and putting it behind a paywall for everyone else.

16355 notes • Posted 2021-11-28 15:57:39 GMT

#1

disney looked at the success of maleficent and thought audiences really wanted shot-for-shot live-action retellings of existing disney movies and/or villains with tragic backstories, when the success of maleficent really was down to two things:

a well-crafted version of sleeping beauty that was still recognizable as sleeping beauty, but with enough deviations that it felt like a new story, complete with worldbuilding/lore and a very sweet and realistic mother/daughter relationship between maleficent and aurora, and

sexy bird man

20851 notes • Posted 2021-05-28 04:50:15 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[stygianflood]

Like the Shoreline and the Sea (Ethan x F!MC)

Summary- Ethan is asked out on a date right after Miami in Book 1. Ethan’s PoV

Genre, rating, words- Angst, teen, 2k

Open Heart fanfic tropes- birthday, office.

March Challenge Day 13 prompt Someday; April Challenge Day 9 prompt Smell of the Rain 

A/N: nor’westers-  violent thunderstorms in northern plains of India, before the onslaught of monsoon.

Title inspired by Leonard Cohen’s Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye.

‘This will improve our understanding of adiposity and sarcopenia in this population, help identify thresholds predictive of metabolic risk, and ultimately prevent or ameliorate… ’

Better prevent than ameliorate.

‘...ameliorate the long-term impacts on health and…’ 

Twenty five years should be long enough.

Hers is a singsong voice, the warm, trilling kind. Mellow sun dances on the frills of her dress. The yellow one. 

The man at her side twirls her on the empty kerb. Dips and kisses her. Her laughter is all that is pure and golden.

A child follows them, embarrassed. She bends down to kiss him, and he is furious. 

The scene shifts.

The child is on the front porch, eyes set somewhere beyond the wild bergamot bushes. 

Tear tracks on pink cheeks mingle and dry with dust from his afternoon’s exploits. Something like a steely resolve troops in his eyes.

Ethan Ramsey has been staring at the same sentence for fifteen minutes now.

Whoever coined the term ‘nostalgia’ from the Homeric nostos and algos was speaking of anguish caused by an inability to return. But they failed to discern the inevitable tethering of reminiscence with habituality.

That is more or less the case with him. Louise Ramsey walked out on her husband, and eleven year old son some twenty five years ago right before his birthday. For a very long time now, home is not about apple crisps or kitchen gardens. 

About this time every year, a crevice in his mind he likes to call the amygdala dwells on the same days. 

Almost as a ritual. 

He is a scientist. A rationalist. And like every year, he reminds himself there is work to do.

Unless there’s a knock at the most unpleasant hour.

He never returns to the article. Never manages a come in. The distraction walks in, messy hair knotted with a pencil. Probably because she has lost another hair tie. 

He mustn’t be that aware. 

But she talks too much. 

‘Dr. Mukherjee.’ He sounds gruff. They’re supposed to be redrawing their boundaries, even if he is the only one making an effort. ‘I thought your shift ended-’

‘Two hours ago.’ Rigours of a sixteen hour shift mark her visage. Her smile is a little too conniving for his comfort. ‘I had work afterwards.’ 

She starts shuffling papers on his desk, permission be damned. He pinches the bridge of his nose, and manages an exasperated sigh. Since when have interns started walking into his office with… birthday cakes?

‘What do you think you’re- It’s not my-’

‘I heard rumours that Dr. Ramsey had to cancel a date.’ She sounds amused. He does not miss the split second glance she shoots his way before continuing. ‘On his birthday, too. Such a shame.’

He scoffs.

‘No one knows it’s my birthday.’

‘Oh, they do. They’re just too afraid to… ah, invoke the wrath of Dr. Ramsey.’

Of course, she is not one of them. She has absolutely no regard for the immutable drill he has observed for nearly four decades. And why must she, when her sole intent is to swivel the rusty axis of his life.

Ethan has never known the first shower of an Indian monsoon. It is sudden and torrential, just as it is feared and revered. It smells like summer, and mango blossoms. 

Ethan has never known one until this year.

‘I’m thirty seven, Rookie,’ He manages weakly. 

‘And I would’ve bought the candles accordingly if I knew that.’ 

The tealights she arranges look so much better, he thinks. The cake is a simple blue and white affair. Not the ones that have more icing than cake, he notes. Not the ones he disapproves of.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Terminator

‘I could’ve whipped something up without sugar,’ She rambles, suddenly starting to blush. ‘Or ordered one. But I only just came to know it’s your birthday. And there wasn’t a lot of-

‘Thank you, Apu.’ Tresses of warmth curl about his chest and the gravel of his voice.

Ethan has avoided birthday cakes for a decade now. Unless it’s Naveen’s birthday, he thinks with a pang.

In his time with Harper or his brief involvements in med-school, no one has ever convinced him to do birthdays. He checks himself. This is just an intern being kind.

But interns aren't kind to Dr. Ramsey, are they. 

She assures him the photos are not for social media. They settle on the couch, it’s his first birthday cake in over a decade. 

He is glad for an innocuous reason to look at her, laugh at jokes that in any other company would draw his scorn. She is oddly comforting. Unlike most interns who avoid his office at all costs, she moves about it as if she was meant to be here all along. 

He must have stalled birthdays worth twenty years only to spend it on a couch with her. 

The plates are disposable. It is nothing like the restaurants that come with his status, for there is an endearing simplicity about it. 

It almost feels like… home.

He steals occasional glances at her. It has been four agonisingly long days after their return from Miami. And for all his attempts to redraw their boundaries, it has been a non-return of sorts. 

Aparna drives him to distraction, flouts each and every one of his rules. Seeks him out in supply closets and muddled dreams. And every time he breaks her heart a little more, he finds himself floundering in his own squalor.

The German counterpart to the English ‘nostalgia’ is ‘sehnsucht’. Like ‘nostalgia’, it has the charm of what has been. But unlike it, it also has the enigma of what has never been. Miami will remain the swansong to an ideal that slipped through Ethan’s fingers. 

A surge of anguish ripples through him as he realises all of this is his for the asking, and he will have none of it. 

‘It wasn’t a date,’ He blurts out.

He wouldn’t tell her that if he wants her to move on. Not truly.

‘You don’t have to-’

‘She is Declan’s associate in Panacea. She suggested signing the contract with the Diagnostics Team over dinner tonight. So…  just business.’

Claudette Wilson is the most promising young face of Panacea, and Ethan needed less than a minute to know why. 

Sleek, dark hair styled at her nape played up her high cheekbones. The ruby of her pliant lips, almost risqué for a meeting such as this, always lingered a little longer on the rim of her coffee mug. Even the measured spoons of her laughter came with an all too enticing lilt.

Ethan has met the other type. Vacuous and synthetic. But the steely glint in her eyes came with a weighty intelligence. An unfaltering wit. And when a perfectly manicured hand brushed the contours of his cuff, he knew it was never meant to be just business. 

She was irresistible. And so was he.

That afternoon, the bitterness in his mouth had nothing to do with coffee. He learnt he would refuse Claudette even if her pay checks did not come from Panacea.

Aparna falls silent, almost as if discerning in his words everything he left unsaid.

They have run out of jokes and topics for a harmless chat. He is getting terribly comfortable with her again, he realises alarmed. And she is fidgeting with the ring on her finger.

She’s nervous too. He knows. He could define every twitch and turn of those fingers. 

Somewhere in their conversation they have edged so close that her knee juts into his thigh. The couch is surprisingly small for two people. Minutes pass, and despite himself, he does not want her to leave. 

His fingers rest on her flustered hands, it’s a deep-rooted reflex. Looking down, she weaves his hand in both of her own. Even as the adrenaline surging in his blood incites him to flee, the delirious part of him emerges stronger and more naive.

He thinks she is leaning in. Soaking up the mayhem in his eyes. The slight movement causes wisps of errant hair to slip from the messy bun. There’s new growth around her brows, a faded scar on her forehead. But it’s her eyes that still hold sway over him. 

They stroked him with a strange, silent awe on a balcony on the shores of the Atlantic.

She is nothing like interns that hover around him year after year. Sucking up for recommendations. Sometimes more. She can devour him, and just as easily cast him aside without batting an eye. 

And yet she is here. Snuggled in his office while her friends call it a night with cheap beer and rowdy escapades. 

But she is different tonight. The quiver in her eyes tentative, even wary.

His hand rises of its own accord, tucking strands of hair behind her ear. Inadvertently, it brushes her face, lingers a little longer against her cheek.

She caressed his face as the ocean crashed around him. It was like falling from the top of a precipice. Tumbling into the amorphous, a terrifying weightlessness. He waited.

‘It’s getting late.’

She smells like the hospital, muted shades of honeysuckle, and like herself. 

The cool breeze hummed a steady rhyme against the tumble of her midnight blue dress. Bits of the moon bounced off the dark curtain of her hair, plunging into her eyes. Ethan had never seen such fathomless eyes.

‘I should go.’ She leans into his palm, eyes fluttering close. 

‘You should.’ 

And then she caught him. It was the hollow of her neck. It was soft. Like the rest of her. 

Neither of them move today, silently imploring the other to charge. Or retreat. The battle drum in his chest is a dull ache. Throbbing and inconsolable.

The ridges of her collarbone bore traces of his ruin. Traces she covered every morning and stripped every night, like the rites of a godless liturgy.

His free hand is still laced in hers, the other drawing her face nearer. 

Her lips are inches from his own as he draws a languid finger across them. Her warm breath spills on his lips, warring and mingling with his own ragged ones. 

Her mouth was stained with wine. Numbing and inciting. He was battered, and bruised. Marooned at her side. And she was warm. So warm.

His hand traced the pummelling of her heart, kneading the softness of her chest. Her tongue jousted with his own as the ocean lapped at its shore. Tireless and persevering.

She was wild. Like her Gangetic nor’westers on a sultry afternoon. He was bewitched. She was doing something good to him.

Suddenly the air around them is ripped by the sound of his phone. 

It’s his father.

The two of them recoil to their own spaces, Ethan horrified that he let himself stray so far yet again. Silencing the still erring device, he faces Aparna bracing for another apology.

‘I know.’ 

Her smile is placid, all traces of vulnerability gone. He is vaguely aware of the gentle pressure on the hand still clasped in her own.

‘Happy Birthday, Ethan. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ 

She is gone before he can marshal his thoughts.

Ethan flops back into the couch, shivering and alone. The incandescent glow from the solitary lamp drenches the office in a soft, ethereal haze. She might not have been here at all but for the little things she scatters around him every time she forays into his life.

Today she leaves with him a caesura. It thwarts the cadence of a life he has been putting together since Miami.

After a minute, or perhaps a staggering nightmare, when he rises to pack the rest of the cake, he sees it. 

She must have forgotten her hair tie was in her pocket after all. 

It stares up at him from the floor, the silken, mute witness of his transgression. He gingerly picks it up, and turns it in his hand as though it houses some ancient sorcery. 

Laying it on his desk, he considers texting her. But scarcely does he scroll down to her name when he stops himself. And pockets it. 

Somewhere in the Atlantic, waves still crash upon the rocks, moistening, but never quite lingering. 

The waves are relentless. Someday, the rocks crumble into fine sand.

Thank you for reading this! Let me know if you’d want to be added or removed.