#of course everyone brings headphones with themselves on a ball Yeah

[stqrmvs]

*infects you with woke virus with my mind*

[sapiowoman28]

I can, I can't : Part 1 of 3

Pairing: Jaemin x female reader

Gener: best friends to lovers au, smut, fluff

Warning: mentions of sex, masturbation (Female)

Summary: Jaemin and Y/N are part of a group of best friends. One day, things change.....

They called themselves the dropouts. Brought up in good Catholic families, active within the Church community as kids, Catholic school education... the works. They then grew up and stopped going.

It wasn't some group thing were everyone agreed to stop going altogether at the same time. It was more like, one by one, they stopped going.

Jeno was the first to stop, at 15, after his parents got divorced. He became angry and withdrawn. By 16 he was mixing with the wrong crowd - think underaged drinking, partying, It was only after a close brush with the law that he - literally and figuratively - sobered up and decided to focus on healthier pursuits like education and sports. Thankfully too, the old Jeno that everyone knew and love came back.

Then were was Renjun. Renjun was always the one who wasn't really into religion anyway. He was more apt to believing in aliens and ghosts. His mother kept him going for as long as she could. By 18 he was out.

Haechan, as he got older, became a sporadic goer. After moving out on his own to live with the guys and Y/N in an apartment closer to campus, he stopped too.

Y/N? The older she grew, the more she learnt about the importance of gender equality. The more she embraced feminism, the more she found some church teachings hard to swallow.

All was left, of course, was Jaemin. Now Jaemin, he was still a "good boy", faithfully going to Church every Sunday. It wasn't that he was extremely religious. It was more that he had gone to Church every single week all his life. To not go one week felt odd and different.

The good thing was, nobody made fun of him or tried to stop him from going. Jeno even woke him up on Sunday mornings before he went for his 10km runs just so Jaemin would get to mass on time. (Mass is what Catholics call a church service.)

Y/N enjoyed hanging out with her friends. She was like one of the boys. It had always been like that since they were young. Everyone who knew Y/N knew she was not to be messed with. Not only was she capable of kicking anyone's balls, she also had four bros who would come after their ass too. In fact, guys who were interested in dating her would often try to get in good standing with the four guys so life would be easier for them. So it was hardly surprising that Y/N had never had her heart broken.

The problem was, Y/N was the one breaking hearts. Commitment wasn't her strongest suit, and more often than not she'd break off with whoever she was seeing with very trivial reasons, First she was dating Xiaojun. Then 7 months later she broke it off with him because apparently he "sucked at making out". The truth was, Xiaojun was good enough in bed but Y/N wanted to date the more exciting Yang Yang after meeting him at a frat party her gal friends dragged her to and making out with him. So Yang Yang it was. For a while she was happy. But then 10 months passed and Yang Yang was history. Now it seemed, was some guy called Lucas.

"Now, before you guys misunderstand, Lucas is not my boyfriend." Y/N declared over a pizza with Jaemin one Saturday night. "He's just... a friend..."

Jaemin raised his eyebrow. "You mean a friend with benefits? Cos based on what we have to hear every single Friday night, none of us think you guys are friends. Speaking of which.... Jeno wants me to talk to you."

"Let me guess, you lost rock paper scissors. Again. And that's why you're the one speaking to me."

"Well, we have house rules to follow..." Jaemin started, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

"Jeno and his stupid house rules." Y/N sighed. "What now? I can't bring Lucas home?"

"It's getting kind of weird for all of us...."

"You guys bring girls home all the time!" Y/N protested.

"I don't." Jaemin said. It was true.

"Jeno does. Haechan does. Even Renjun! Remember that weird Yoga chick he was seeing?"

"But they're not loud. Lucas sounds like he has a loudhailer in his throat and it's weird hearing him......we end up having to use headphones."

"I've tried asking him to tone it down. But he gets too excited when I blow him..." Y/N grinned as Jaemin covered his ears with his hands, not wanting to hear the details.

"Look, Jeno says he appreciates that YOU have gotten less loud since that time you were dating Yang Yang. But Lucas he's just.... too expressive. Can't you do it at his house or something? It's not the moaning as much as the dirty talk, you know?" Jaemin's voice was getting tinier and tinier.

"If Jeno has a problem, why can't he tell me himself?" I know it's not Haechan or Renjun who are complaining. Haechan's always gaming with his stupid headphones on and Renjun's always listening to music on his noise cancelling ones."

Jaemin sighed. "Don't put me in a tough spot, Y/N..."

He looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Fine. I'll speak to Lucas. But I'm only doing it cos of you, cos you good Catholic boy and virgin and all."

Jaemin rolled his eyes. "For the last time, Y/N, I'm not a virgin!"

Lucas took the news surprisingly well and he was happy to have her hang at his apartment instead. Which turned out to be a better thing, since his apartment was bigger and his housemates were never around. Y/N wondered why she insisted on making out at her apartment to begin with.

"I'm surprised Jeno was the one with the problem.." Lucas said after they had made out and she was snuggling in his arms.

"He has all these rules. The worst part is he makes Jaemin speak to me instead of telling me directly."

"It makes sense. You and Jaemin are close."

"I'm close to all four of them."

"No no no." Lucas said, "Each of them has a different thing with you."

"Explain, Mr Wong." she said, looking up at him.

"I think Jeno knows both of you have strong characters so he has Jaemin speak to you instead when there's an issue so you guys won't argue. He prefers to keep things light, so the most you're gonna get is Jeno making fun of you for having a thing for foriegn men."

"What about Haechan?"

"Haechan's your gaming bestie. You talk about gaming, and game together. But he'd kick the ass of anyone who gives you trouble."

"I think I'm least close to Renjun."

"I don't think it's that. It's more Renjun is kind of in his own world. He's like that with everyone. But he feels close to you guys."

Y/N was impressed.

"What about Jaemin?"

"Jaemin's like your total opposite. But you guys get each other. I like him. He's a good guy."

"Yeah he's a virgin." Y/N joked.

"He's a good looking guy! Heck, if I was a chick I'd go after him man!" Lucas said, his eyes expressive as always.

"Well, he's a good guy. I've never seen him bring a girl home."

"Come on man, when it comes to hormones, even good guys turn bad."

Lucas was driving her home when she got a call from Jaemin.

"Wassup?"

"Are you alone?" Jaemin asked. He sounded strange. "I need help."

"Are you ok?" Y/N asked. "I'm with Lucas. Where are you?"

"Oh. I'll call someone else..."

"Don't be an idiot, Jaemin. Where are you?"

"Hospital." he said. "Can you come? Just don't tell anyone anything. Not even Lucas."

She found him in a bad state at the hospital. Sitting in a daze, blood stains on his crumpled shirt. Y/N had never seen Jaemin look so small.

"Hey" she half whispered. He looked up.

"I can go now. I got an x-ray done. My nose is not broken. And it's finally stopped bleeding." he said. "I already collected my medicines. Mostly painkillers."

"What happened?" she asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." he said.

"Let's get home and get you out of these bloody clothes. And then you can tell me after you've had a good night's sleep."

"Can i sleep in your room tonight?" he asked. It was an unsual request. "I'm feeling quite shaken."

"Yeah. Sure. Let's do that."

It was 2am and he still couldn't sleep. She could feel him toss and turn next to her.

"Jae."

"Sorry."

"No, I can't sleep either."

He sat up.

"I need to get my ID card back. Can you follow me tomorrow?"

"Your ID card?"

"I was fooling around with a first year chick in her house. Her parents came back and caught us. Her dad took my ID away, said he was going to lodge a police report against me for tresspassing his house and taking advantage of his daughter. Well, that's after he beat me up."

Y/N sat up. This was interesting, she thought.

"She's 18?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"18 is legal you dumbass." she slapped her forehead.

"I thought it was 21.."

Y/N groaned. "I can't believe you're so stupid."

"But the trespassing thing?"

"They don't have a case Jae. I'm sure you can prove you were invited there. Even if she lies and said she didn't invite you. They can't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt."

"I'm so glad you're studying law."

"And Jaemin?"

"What?"

"It's illegal for him to detain your ID. YOU can report him."

"Oh. I didn't know that."

"Can you go sleep now that you know you're not actually in trouble?"

"Yes. Thanks Y/N." he said, turning to face the opposite side.

But Y/N couldn't sleep. Her mind was running a million miles a minute. Jaemin made out with someone. What was he like when making out? Was he gentle? Was he sweet like he always was to everyone? Was he a dom or sub? What did he do with the girl? Did he have fun?

Her own thoughts made her sick. Feeling a stir in her stomach made her sick. This was her best friend she was thinking of. She had to stop. Maybe she needed a shower.

Taking a towel with her to the bathroom, she shut the door, stripping quickly and getting under the hot jets of water. Damn it, Y/N, she scolded herself. Not Na Jaemin. What happened to your thing for Chinese guys?

She soaped herself trying to escape the mental picture of Jaemin, between the girl's thighs, lapping on her clit mercilessly, his eyes twinkling like they would whenever Jeno or Haechan said something witty. Suddenly, she was thinking of him between her legs, lapping at her core.

She brought her fingers to her clit, rubbing them from side to side. She leaned against the bathroom wall, moving more aggressively. She was wet. Biting her lip she pushed two fingers into her pussy, thrusting them in and out, the sound of the shower masking the wet noises as her fingers moved.

The muscles in her stomach were tightening. She could no longer hold back, thinking of Jaemin thrusting into her, looking at her with an intense gaze. She wanted him bad.

Slowly she came undone, as she moaned into her hands while cumming.

Suddenly, someone was knocking aggressively on the bathroom door. Y/N froze.

"I need to pee!" Haechan shrieked. "Hurry! I need to go back to my game!"

"Give me 2 minutes I'll be done." Y/N said, drying herself with her towel and getting dressed, mind still dazed from thinking about Jaemin. She knew their friendship was never going to be the same ever again.

She was just wondering how easy or hard it was going to be, to get Jaemin to join her on the other side.

[marvelmadam08]

Meanwhile, In Quarantine...

Part of 100 Days of Marvel

Prompt 7: Well which is it? I’m getting nervous. // Prompt 79: You just ignored rule one through five. // Prompt 39: We’re gonna die here. // Prompt 11: I remind myself murder, even attempted, is illegal.

A/N: I’m on day seven or nine (honestly I lost count) of my quarantine, and I am slowly loosing my mind. Then I thought ‘What would the Avengers do during this quarantine?

~~~~~

One Week Earlier

“Miss (Y/N), Mr. Stark is calling for a mandatory team meeting in the common area.” Friday announces to you, interrupting your workout

“Right now?” you huffed out

“Yes, he says it’s urgent.”

You were the last to show up, annoyed and sweaty. Nat seemed to be the only other one who looked as annoyed as you, with her hair wrapped in a towel. Bucky, Sam and Steve lounged on the couch, while Clint was sharpening his arrows. Wanda and Vision stood off to the side to themselves. Thor sat next to Peter, who was hunched over his homework and Bruce stood next to Tony by the muted television displaying the news.

“Everyone here?” Tony pointed to everyone “Good, well I’m not sure if you all heard about this whole ‘virus’ that’s going around.”

“The Coronavirus?” Steve asked

“That’s the one,” Bruce nods “there have been a few cases popping up throughout the city, as well as the country, and within the next few days the entire country is going to be on mandatory quarantine.”

“Quarantine?” Peter spoke up “Like we can’t leave the country?”

“No, as in you can’t leave your house. And that includes The Compound and Tower as well.”

The room erupted in numerous hisses of disagreement. 

“Half of us don’t even need to be in quarantine.” Nat stated loudly

“Yeah, stupid super soldiers.” you muttered

“That’s uncalled for.” Bucky gave you a stink eye 

“Doesn’t matter, we’re being order by the government and Fury to stay put.” Tony tells you all “Parker, I’m only gonna say this once, you to stay put. No school, no parties, no dates.”

“But here at The Compound would be more ideal, seeing as it’s away from the city.” Bruce adds softly

“So we’re stuck here?” Wanda asks “For how long?”

“Well they say the quarantine could last between two weeks to two months.”

“Well which is it? I’m getting nervous.” Sam unmuted the TV

‘....stores have already begun to run out of water, toilet paper, and even baby wipes...’

Day 1

You, Wanda and Laura (Clint’s wife) were organizing the last of the quarantine supplies. Clint couldn’t stomach the idea of not being with them during the whole pandemic, so he asked to bring them up until everything blew over.

“Okay so the kitchen is fully stocked, all the cleaning supplies are put away.” Wanda sighed “It’s kind of scary, how everyone is reacting out there.”

“Yeah, I had to wrestle some hand sanitizer from some grown woman wearing a face mask and rubber gloves.” Laura admits

“I wish I could’ve seen that, since you had Nate strapped to your chest.” 

“Speaking of, I should go check on him.” 

Just as Laura walked out, Steve, Bucky and Peter walked in with large pizzas in their hands.

“This is the last of take out for the next few weeks. Enjoy it while it lasts.” Steve tells us

Everyone swarmed for their chosen slices before gravitating towards the TV to get an update on the quarantine. You were instructed to stay inside, only to leave unless it was absolutely necessary, and then return back to respective homes. Keep your contact with other people down to a minimum, and overall to sanitize and wash often. 

“This is what I do on a regular basis.” Bucky scoffed

“Same.” Wanda and Nat chimed in

“This is gonna be so cool, like one big party.” Peter clapped

A few of the other groaned at Peter’s optimism.

“The kid is right,” Tony agreed “most times we’re on missions for weeks at a time. How is this any different?”

“He does make a point.” Vision nods “And surely there’s enough room for everyone to find their own thing.”

Day 4

You glared at Bucky, who was tapping his pen against his teeth, while trying to figure out the crossword puzzle in front of him. You were trying to do silent yoga, silent being the key word.

“Barnes, can you stop that?” you said through your teeth

“Stop what?” he paused

“Tapping the pen on your teeth.”

“It helps me think. Why aren’t you in the gym?”

“Because I can’t take Steve and Nat talking smack when they spar each other. And Sam is playing his music too loud, and his room is next to mine.”

“And it’s the tapping that bothers you?”

“Forget it.” you closed you eyes again and worked on tuning Bucky out

Tony hurried in, scanning around the room “Has anyone seen Parker? I can’t find him and neither can his aunt. (Y/L/N)?”

“Shh, doing silent yoga.” You hushed “And no, I haven’t.”

“He left.” Clint spoke from above the rest of you. There was a small whirling noise, and metal scrapping against more metal, then Clint and his daughter poked their head out from the vent above us.

“What do you mean he left?”

“He said something about building a death star.” The younger Barton, Lila, answered

“Friday, override and track the kid’s phone for me.” 

“Of course Mr. Stark.”

Tony turned his attention to the TV, tapping on his phone and started to call Peter over video. At this point you gave up on silent yoga and just laid out on the mat. Peter’s face popped up on the screen but he wasn’t looking at his phone 

“Trust me, they don’t even know I’m gone.” he told someone off screen 

“Hello Mister Parker.” Tony waves

“Mr. Stark!” He hurried to pick up his phone “Hey, hi... um that’s so funny I was just about to come down to the lab, from my room.... which is where I am.... right now.”

“Oh you’re in your room? Not at Ned’s place building legos?”

He paused “No? I just got so bored! And there were so many rules to just stay in.”

“There were six rules max, and you just ignored rule one through five!”

“Are you sure he’s not your kid?” you chuckled

Day 7

“Twenty-three bottles of pop on the wall.” Sam half sung, eyelids closed, while rocking Nate to sleep

Steve and Bucky were each cuddling a plush stuffed animal on the floor. Morgan ran back and forth between poking Steve with a wooden spoon and the spot where she had a pile of cookies waiting on a plate. And Lila and Cooper were on their phones, headphones in, and not paying attention to their surroundings.

“What the hell you guys?” Nat groaned

“Ooh Auntie Nat said a bad word.” Morgan giggled

“Hey Monster.”

“Auntie (Y/N)!” Morgan jumped over Bucky and ran over to climb up your side until she reached your shoulders. “Guess what, I got to have cookies and chicken nuggets, gummies and a bunch of soda.”

“Nat? (Y/N)?” Bucky lifted his head from the floor, a flattened gummy beard on the other side of his cheek “Please tell me the others are back too.”

“On the contrary, Clint and Tony wanted to know if you wouldn’t mind watching the kids a little while longer.” Nat went to relieve Sam from baby duty “Tony talked to the mayor and got her to extend the quarantine curfew for their double date night.”

The three men groaned, you swore you saw a tear in Steve’s eye.

“We’re gonna die here.” Sam curled into a ball 

“Why did we agree to babysit?” Steve spoke into the stuffed penguin he held 

“Nat, maybe we should help them out.” You held Morgan tightly while she flipped upside down from your shoulders “They’re only men.”

“When the Earth spins, how do we know when we’re upside down?” Morgan poked you in the back 

“Tell you what, clean up your mess, we’ll go get in our pj’s and then I’ll tell you.” you carefully set her back down on the floor, she ran off, picking up her toys and stray snacks 

“Coop, Lila, your homework better be done, because if I have to check myself-.” Nat started. 

They jumped up from their seats and rushed out the room, Steve looked up at you and Nat in awe, Nate fast asleep in her arms.

“How did you-”

“We have a way with kids, don’t take it personally.” 

“Done!” Morgan cheered before pulling at your arm “Can we get in our pj’s now?”

Nat chuckled “Let’s go princess, (Y/N) will meet us there. You can help me get Nate ready for bed.”

Morgan took Nat’s free hand and skipped along side her. You took the stuffed animals and blankets from the guys.

“How did four children manage to out-do two super soldiers and a former air force vet?” you asked

“They’re small, but stealthy.” Sam yawned “Morgan has been asking us that spinning Earth question for hours.”

“I tried to explain how the Earth rotates but she told me I was wrong.” Bucky added

“Oh, it’s a joke. How do you know when the Earth turned upside down?” you paused, waiting for one of them to guess the answer “Fall time.”

Day 12

“What is this called again?” Thor points to Peter’s phone screen

“Twitter.” 

“Twitter? Like the sound a bird makes? Oh and there’s a symbol of a bird there.” he laughed “Humans are so creative. Tell me Son of Stark, what is Twitter’s purpose?”

“Uh.... basically you just post whatever’s on your mind.” Peter handed over his phone to Thor “Sometimes people will like it, and retweet it, or leave a comment.”

“Please tell me you didn’t make Thor a Twitter page.” You spared a glance from your book

“He asked me to show him. What’s the worse that could happen?”

One Hour Later

“Who gave Thor a Twitter page?” Steve marched into the kitchen

You immediately point to Peter.

“He wanted to know about social media. I didn’t think it’d do any harm.” Peter blurted out

“What did he do?” You asked

“He keeps posting.” Steve scrolled through the tablet in his hand “Things like ’What is black twitter?’, ‘poptarts and coffee’, ‘Just noticed how Director Fury sounds like the freeze man in this Disney movie’, ‘Over heard Natasha and Wanda judging who had the best ass. Barnes or Rogers. Clearly it’s me’ He’s trending.”

“Steve it’s harmless fun, he’s excited to be apart of Midgard culture.” you dismissed “Or are you upset because you weren’t voted for the best bum?”

“You should see his latest, and most liked, tweet.” Steve handed the tablet to you with a smirk

“‘Pretty sure (Y/N) and Barnes are dating. How else do you explain their sexual tension?’ I’m gonna kill you Parker.” You went to grab Peter but Steve pulled you away at the last second

“You don’t mean that.” Peter started to back out of the kitchen “Do you?”

“Who gave Thor a Twitter?” Bucky spoke from the other room

“I can give you a ten second head start.” Steve warns Peter

Day 15

“I can’t take this anymore, no missions, no take out, I can’t even go get a freaking smoothie.” You paced from one end of your room to the other “I thought this thing was only suppose to be two weeks.”

“Well Tony said two weeks or two months.” Bucky lounged on your bed, playing with the rubic’s cube “Looks like it’s gonna be two months.”

“How are you staying calm?”

“I remind myself murder, even attempted, is illegal. Plus I’ve been in isolation most of my adult life, so this doesn’t seem so bad.”

“Right.” you said softly “Sorry.”

“For what?”

“I’m complaining about being stuck in here, for my health when you’ve had it way worse.”

“Hey,” he caught your hand and pulled you closer “Don’t apologize, I know you didn’t mean any harm. And you tend to get cabin fever when we go on long surveillance missions. These next few days are gonna fly by, trust me.”

He trailed his hands up and down your arms, traveling to your waist and under your shirt.

“Uh-huh Barnes, not again.” you pulled away slightly “Vision and Wanda almost caught us last time.”

“Because you weren’t quiet.” he kissed up your torso

“No, because you dragged me into a linen closet for wearing shorts.”        

Bucky gave you a small pout “I’m from the 1940′s doll, I fantasized about your calves when I first met you. And that we’re... is this considered dating or are we just messing around during the lock down?”

“I hope this means we’re dating.” you combed his hair back with your fingers “I’m not the kind of girl that you hump and dump.”

“Hump and what?”

You chuckled “Nevermind.” You straddled his waist, he gripped yours a little tighter “So Sergeant, you gonna take me on a date after this quarantine?”

“I’ll take you to Rome as long as you keep calling me ‘Sergeant’ doll.” he left soft kisses on your neck

“Mmm.” 

“(Y/N).” Steve knocked on your door “Have you seen Bucky? I’m looking for him.”

“Nope, haven’t seen him.” Bucky pulled your shirt over your head, and tried to add to the bite marks he left the other day, but Steve wasn’t letting up.

“You know where he might be?”

You rolled your eyes and made Bucky stop “Have you checked the garage?”

“Why would he be in the garage?”

“Steve, pal, can it wait?” Bucky shouted “I kinda got my hands full in here.”

“Oh.” You could only imagine how red Steve’s face was at that moment. 

“You are horrible James Barnes.” you giggled

“Sergeant.” he corrected you in a low growl

“Sergeant.” you brought your lips down to his, quickly fighting for dominance in the kiss. Bucky flipped you over, the bed squeaking under your shared weight

“Uh- should I go now?” Steve asked

[daisahi]

confidential ✧ koshi sugawara x reader ✧

Pairing: au!police koshi sugawara x f!reader 

Words: 2,167 

Summary: Doubts kept forming in your mind. Having a secret relationship wasn’t easy, yet now at this point you weren’t sure if it was worth it. 

Warning(s): violence, angst, fluff 

a/n: enjoy! <3 

---

You furrowed your eyebrows together as you peered over your computer to see your boyfriend...well secret boyfriend flirting with another coworker. What made it even weirder was the fact that it was a guy. 

There was a pit in your stomach, yet you knew that he didn’t swing that way. Now, of course, there wasn’t anything wrong with it, everyone had their own choice and deserve to be happy. But Sugawara definitely didn’t swing that way. 

Even though it was another man you felt your blood boiling about the fact he never did anything about it. An exasperated sigh escaped from you not knowing what to do anymore. This relationship was getting very complicated the moment a stranger flirts with one of you. The more you thought about it, there was a feeling of regret. As much as you liked him the idea still nagged at you at the back of your head. 

“Heads up, we have a case.” your coworker said, you didn’t pay any attention. You were too occupied at the fact that your boyfriend was flirting with someone else. 

“Hey!” a hand moved in front of your face making you come back to reality, “Sorry...what did you say?...” 

He squinted his eyes as he took a look good at you “You know...the more you say that nothing is wrong the more I don’t believe you.” 

“Psh...” you said picking up the folder “Of course! I said I’m fine you know Nishinoya.” 

The black-haired man shook his head “We may be coworkers...but we are friends first.” 

A sly smile spread on your face, “I know and I always will appreciate you.” you stood up and ruffled his hair making him groan. “Will you stop that?” 

He tried fixing his hair once more, “You always ruin my good hairdo.” 

“But you love it.” he smiled nodding, a giggle escape from you. Although the women around him thought it was weird he wasn’t going to deny it from you and let you enjoy your moment, anything to see you smile.

“Nishinoya, (y/l/n).” speaking of the devil, you turned your head to come face to face with a pair of hazel brown eyes. “Hey, Sugawara.” Nishinoya replied, “What’s up?” 

“Chief wants you in his office.” he nodded and looked at you, “Go...I’ll be fine,” you said trying to reassure him. “Can you find out more about the suspect while I’m gone?” 

“Sure. I’ll update you when you get back.” Nishinoya then left, it was just you and him now. 

“What was he talking about?” Sugawara asked, “Nothing...I should start that research before he gets back.” 

He held your forearm gently stopping you on your tracks. “What’s wrong?” 

You looked at him, “Should...” you began to say but bit your lip realizing it wasn’t the right moment...at least not here. “Nevermind.” 

“(y/n)...” he whispered looking into your (e/c) eyes. You died each time he said your name, it always made you feel weak. There was just something about it that you couldn’t quite explain. 

“I gotta go Koshi...” you replied softly and walked passed him. Tears began to form in your eyes. Sugawara was left confused as to what just happened, ‘had I done something wrong?’ he thought. 

When you got back to your desk you could feel a pair of eyes watching your every move. You put in your headphones and decided to block everything. All you wanted was some time alone, this was beginning to become too much. 

“Suga!” someone yelled, he didn’t turn around he was too concentrated on you at the moment. “Suga!” a hand shook his shoulder, Sugawara turned around. “Y-yeah?” 

“We need to go. They finally found the suspect we have been looking for.” he nodded and followed his partner breaking his focus off of you. 

“Calling all agents, are any agents available?” the radio sounded, you got up and answered it. Daichi and Asahi turned their heads to listen in, “Yes, is there a situation?” you asked “A suspect has gotten away! We need back up right away!” 

“We’re on our way,” you spoke and grabbed your gun along with other essentials. Both of your teammates followed your lead, you got into the vehicle and turned on the siren. 

Your blood was running like crazy through your veins. Sugawara, along with Tsukishima and Kageyama, were on a murder case. They had been looking into every single suspect for weeks without any rest. If the man got away this would mean they’d have to start all over again. 

The sound of sirens made your anxiety rise, red and blue lights flashed in the distance. You saw an ambulance standing there along with a cop car. As soon as the car stopped you got out ready with your gun. You held it out in front of you seeing no one near the ambulance or car. Both of them were seriously messed up as if they had gotten into an accident.

“Let’s split up...if we don’t find each other in 10 minutes call for back up,” Daichi said, you and Asahi nodded. “Be careful,” you whispered, with that, you went your separate ways. 

You ended up taking the middle route which had large shipping containers. ‘Remember to be careful...’ you thought to remind yourself. Your ears were focused on any sounds that could be heard. On the count of three, you went through the maze making sure to look back as well. 

As you went deeper into the maze you started to hear noises of someone getting hit along with grunt noises. You pointed your gun at the noise and stepped away from the blue container. 

The man was hitting Sugawara, Tsukishima was down on the floor bleeding. Your eyes widened seeing how much blood was on the floor, you looked around for Kageyama but there were no signs. You quickly messaged your other teammates about our location. 

“Don’t you dare touch another hair on him!” you yelled, the suspect punched Sugawara in the stomach. He coughed up blood, the man smirked looking at you as if you were some piece of meat. His eyes were burying themselves in you, it made you feel disgusted. 

“Well, would you look at that, finally a woman comes in. I thought that the myth of women not existing in the police force was true, guess I was wrong.” he slowly approached as to how a hunter would with his prey. 

“Back off you scumbag.” you threatened not moving backward, he chuckled looking at you “You have more balls than I thought you would.”

You looked back at Sugawara and Tsukishima, time was being wasted. “Bring it.” 

“Now what kind of a man would I be if I hurt such a beautiful lady,” he spoke. A chuckle escaped your lips “A man? You’re not even close to being one.” 

“Ouch.” he said “That hurt.” 

Not wasting any more time in talking you went towards him. You started to shoot at him and he kept dodging every single time. As you approached closer he managed to kick the gun out of your hand. You reciprocated with an undercut and hurt his jaw making him stagger back. 

He wiped the blood off of his lips, “Now you’re getting it.” with a full force he ran to you and speared your body into the container. A loud groan escaped from your throat, Sugawara’s eyes widened in horror. You arched your back feeling the sting crawling up your body. 

“(y/n)!” he yelled, you met his gaze and shook your head. “GO!” 

He tried getting up, limping to get to Tsukishima before it was too late. The man turned his head to see Sugawara going towards him. “Where are you going?” 

Bearing the pain you ran and jumped on his back covering his eyes. “Get the fuck off me!” he yelled. 

With the strength he had he flipped you over making your back land on the pavement. You heard a bone crack, making the pain even worse. He tried getting off of you but with no use, you used your power with punches and grappling his midsection with your feet. 

‘Remember when someone uses a power move, wrap your legs around their neck and try to cut out their circulation within a few minutes they’ll gain consciousness again. You have to keep on a stronghold.’ the advice your dad had given you came to mind. 

Quickly you wrapped your legs and twisted your body to the left. Thankfully all those squats paid off, the man began hitting your leg but never gave in. You kept squeezing has hard as you could. 

Finally, there was no movement, he out cold. Sugawara managed to get Tsukishima. You slowly got up biting your lip hard feeling the pain once again. You grabbed the guy's hands and handcuffed him. Walking over you ripped your blouse and wrapped it around the large cut your teammate had. 

“That should stop the bleeding for a while,” you spoke. Footsteps were then heard you quickly pointed your gun only to see Asahi and Daichi coming our way. You relaxed as Daichi helped you with the suspect. 

Sugawara looked at you with a worried look in his eyes, you waved him off as a way of telling him you were okay. 

A little afterward more cops showed up along with your chief. He talked to the police officers about what had occurred. The noises sounded distant to you, your mind was spinning apart from the impact you had gone through, you had thoughts running all over the place. You felt unsure what would happen between you and Sugawara. 

He felt the same way, he realized he had become distant and that’s something you truly don’t deserve. Even if he was the one who proposed the idea it was difficult to go through with it. 

Your chief gave you a thumbs up, you returned it with an aching smile. Sugawara looked at you seeing your tired expression written all over your face. You felt it. You knew he was staring at you. 

Slowly you turned your head to look at him, for a few seconds, there was love. The feeling of relief that you two were both okay and that your teammates would be too. 

The paramedics then lifted your gurney, his face was disappearing and soon your eyes slowly became heavy drawing a close to a tiring night. 

When you woke up, you felt refreshed. That was the best sleep you’ve ever gotten in weeks. You tried sitting up to stretch but immediately regretted it when you felt a slight pull on your back. 

“Ow ow ow ow...” you mumbled, “Be careful, you’re still injured despite all the medicine they’ve put in you.” 

“Suga?...” he gave you a sly smile, “Hey...” 

“What...are you doing here?...” you asked “I came by to see how you were doing. How are you feeling by the way?” he asked, your cheeks grew hot as he leaned in closer. 

“I-I’m fine.” you softly answered, “What about you?” 

“I’ll survive nothing majored actually. I was the lucky one...” he admitted “What about Tsukishima?! Is he okay?” 

He put his hands on top of your sensing your anxiety “He’s doing well. We managed to get him out of there on time. The doctors said he might have a slow recovery due to how much blood he lost but he’ll make it through. Kageyama is fine as well.” 

You sighed feeling grateful that they were okay. Suga suddenly cupped the right side of your face, he rested his forehead against yours gently. “I’m happy you’re okay...I was worried about you...” he whispered. 

He was being sincere, you could tell the way he spoke that he truly meant it. A tear slipped from your eye and rolled down your cheek. “Me too...” you admitted, “I thought he was going to kill you...” 

“What are we doing?...” he asked “I don’t know,” you answered knowing what he was referring to. “It was stupid of me...to chose to hide this relationship.” 

“Suga...” he pulled away but stayed close looking at you in the eyes “It's true, you are the most wonderful person I’ve ever met (y/n). I don’t want to hide something that means a lot to me...this is the first relationship where I wish to have you and stay right there through everything.” he held your hands in his calloused ones, covered in bandages and cuts.”I want you to know...that I want to stay by your side. No matter what...I don’t want to let go of this.” 

“Are you...sure?...” you spoke “What about what you said-” 

He shook his head, “The only way I can truly protect you...is by being by your side not away.” 

You wrapped your arms around his neck and buried your face into his warmth. “I love you Suga,” you whispered into his ear, he felt chills going down his spine with your warm breath. A smile lingered on his lips, his squeeze grew tighter. 

“I love you, (y/n).” 

[popcrone818]

The Other Swan Part 4

Skylah P.O.V

I had taken notice that Seth and Leah were part of the group in Jake’s garage earlier today and I realised they mustn’t be all bad if they were all like Seth and Jake. Seth even helped me clean up after dinner, much to the surprise of Sue. We talked quietly to each other as we washed and dried the dishes getting to know each other a bit more. I told him a bit about my life and friends in Arizona and he told me about his life living on the rez. He spoke highly of his dad; Harry and I could tell he still missed him. Must have been good to live with both parents. He told me all about his friends; Jake, Embry, Quil and Jared.

“You’ll meet them all soon, and I'm sure you will even love Emily. She’s my first cousin but she’s more like a second mother to me and the rest of the boys.” He placed a hand on my arm and lent back on the counter. I felt my body flinch away from his touch, we were having such a nice conversation before he had to touch me. I wiped my hands off on the tea towel.

“I'm sorry Seth, I'm getting a bit tired, ill see you around.” I could see the hurt in his eyes, and something made me reach out to touch his hand that he had sitting on the counter after he had taken it away from my arm. My touch was feather light, but I knew he felt it. I quickly took off upstairs where I changed and hid myself under the cover of my bed. Shortly after I heard the howl of a wolf and Bella bounded up the stairs and into my room.

“What happened? Seth said you completely froze and then ran away.” She asked placing a hand on the covers over my body.

“We were having such a great time, getting to know each other and stuff,” I pulled my head out of the covers and allowed her to sit on my bed beside me. “Then he touched me, it was light and I know he didn’t mean me any harm, but after the abuse I took from Zach I flinched, I don’t know why but it looked almost like it hurt him when I flinched. Its hard to explain. And now I've blown my only shot at having a friend my own age.” My body wracked with sobs, Bella didn’t even try to console me as she got up off my bed and walked out. She turned around before completely exiting my room though.

“You haven’t blown it Skye; it will all take time. Jake is coming tomorrow to take you to meet the rest of the boys.” She turned and left shutting my door.

That night my dreams were plagued with the day and months of what I had called a relationship with Zach, I woke up more times than I care to admit, sweating a breathing heavily. At around 4 am I pulled myself from my bed and padded over to the bay window overlooking the forest. I saw something move off to the left of my vision and I was strangely comforted but the mysterious presence. I knew Zach couldn’t come to hurt me here. I knew that if things went sour and he did find me Jake would do anything in his power to protect me.

I decided then that I wasn’t going to let my past define me. What happened to me back in Arizona should have never happened to a 15-year-old girl, but it did. I still have the rest of my life to be the person I was destined to be. Not all boys were Zach, but I also knew not all boys were as sweet as Seth. I promised myself I would no longer be defenceless. I had taken self defence while I was growing up, but when it all happened my life turned upside down. I had to become the girl I always knew I was but feared for I thought no one would like a head strong girl. That because that is what Zach had told me. Told me that I was worthless and that all I was good for was a trophy wife, an accessory. Not as my own person.

I straightened my back as I sifted through my overnight bag looking for something suitable to wear for the day. I pulled out my black leggings and a tight fitted sweater, and pulled them on before I grabbed my headphones and sneakers and raced out the front door. My run was good, it was refreshing, the beat of the music making sure I was keeping pace while my feet thudded on the ground in the forest. I found myself on the river bank by the Olympic Suites Inn on the Calawah river before I needed to take a breather and rest before heading back to Charlie’s. No doubt he and Bella would be up by now. The run back to Charlie’s was much faster and I felt like I was being followed the whole time.

I noticed that Jake’s two-tone pick up was parked in the driveway and realised I had been gone far longer than I thought I had. I walked in through the back door and was greeted to the scent of waffles.

“Good run?” Jake asked around his large stack of waffles piled high on his plate.

“Fantastic, couldn’t sleep, so I left earlier than normal, but I took a long run. All the way to the Calawah River.” I plopped down at the counter next to Jake and pulled two waffles from his stack. Charlie had already left for work, and Bella was still asleep, so I assumed Jake had let himself in and helped himself to the food. “So, what are we doing today?” I asked him as we both finished our food and washed up.

“I'm taking you onto the rez to meet the rest of the boys. And Emily.” I nod and race upstairs to have a short hot shower and pull on my ripped skinny jeans and loose blue sweater. It didn’t take Jake and I long to get to Sam Uley’s place. It was a small cottage on the out skirts of the rez, it was made of wood and was two stories. It had large windows from what I could see, and the house just screamed homey, I love it and I felt instantly at ease. I could hear howling laughter coming from within as I followed Jake onto the patio that stretched the perimeter of the house. Jake pushed open the large wooden door and let himself in like he owned the place. Must be a Jacob thing. I shrugged and followed him. The laughter died down when I walked in and all I could smell was freshly baked muffins. Everyone sitting around the large dinning table stopped to stare at me. I felt uncomfortable but remembered the promise that I had made myself this morning.

“Hi.” I waved shyly, just because I wasn’t going to let the past get me down anymore doesn’t mean I wasn’t still shy. Everyone went around and introduced themselves to me. Sitting at the table looking at me was Embry, Quil, Jared, Paul, Sam, Leah and lastly Seth. I felt myself smile slightly when my eyes landed on Seth, even though I had met him last night he still introduced himself.

“Hi I'm Emily, its so good to have another girl here, you have no idea how mad it can get around here sometimes.” She walked over to me and pulled me into a hug. I noticed the scars running down the right side of her face that drooped her mouth down slightly. I felt bad for her but she still looked beautiful.

“Were not that bad Emily!” I heard one of the boys protest as I watched Sam throw a muffin at his head.

“Quit it Embry, you know Emily love having other girls around.” Embry grumbled and bit into the muffin that he had caught after it hit him. I smiled shyly at Sam and sat down next to Seth who passed me a blueberry muffin before digging into his own. “So, there’s a bonfire tonight Skylah, thought you might want to come and sit in on some of the tribe’s stories and history. Its always a big thing with lots of food and stories, we even break out the marshmallows from time to time.” I looked over to see both Jake and Seth watching me closely as I nodded and swallowed my mouthful.

“Of course, I’d love to come.” Same nodded at Embry, Quil and Jake and they took off leaving me with Seth, Paul, Jared, Sam and Leah. Not long after Leah left too. Seth Paul and Jared moved to the lounge and started playing a shooting game leaving me with Sam and Emily. And soon even Sam left leaving a kiss to Emily’s mouth and disappearing.

“So, how are you liking Forks so far Skylah?” Emily asked me as she and I moved into the kitchen.

“Its not as bad as I once thought it may have been, but I still miss Arizona, although I'm not sure if I’ll be able to leave here. It just feels like something is holding me here I'm just not too sure what.” Emily nodded as she started to pull things out of the cupboard and fridge. I moved to help her, and she allowed me to do things while she flittered around the kitchen.

“Yeah I know what you mean, I'm originally from Portland and I was visiting Seth and Leah when I met Sam, put it this way; I never left, and I couldn’t be happier.” I nodded and helped her cook meals for tonight’s bonfire. Sue stopped by for a while to help Emily out as well and smiled fondly at me when she saw me. Once Embry, Quil and Jake came back, Paul and Jared left in their place. The boys started to rough house with Seth, and I watched closely in case it was to get out of hand. “Don’t worry this happens all the time. No one ever gets hurt I promise.” Emily told me placing a hand on my shoulder in comfort. I shook my head and looked away from the boys. All too soon the bonfire came around. Sam, Paul and Jared all made their presence known before all the boys went outside to start the fire. Billy Black showed up with Sue not too far behind. There were a few older members of the tribe that I didn’t know but I was sure I would meet them eventually and so I just help Emily bring out tray after tray of food for everyone.

I looked at how much food we had and wondered how many people were supposed to be showing up. Around the fire that the boys had lit were large logs of driftwood displayed around in a sort of circle around the fire. I could feel the heat of the fire from where I stood, a good couple yards away.

I felt Seth before I saw him, he walked up to me and his arm touched mine for a split second before he took a small step away from me.

“So, are you excited for tonight? Your first Quileute bonfire.” He bounced slightly on the balls of his feet. “To be honest with you this is my first one too. Mom would never let us come as kids. She has taken over dad’s spot on the council though and she thought it would be time we learnt our heritage.” I nodded at Seth and moved closer to him, it had gotten dark quickly and everyone had decided to get some food. I had noticed some other girls show up and they seemed to be paired off with the boys. Seth and I hung back as everyone else got their meals before us. As Seth and I sat down on a log together Jake showed up but this time he brought Bella as well. It was unknown to me why he would bring her, but I shrugged and continued to eat. Watching in amazement as the boys almost devoured the whole spread of food Emily and I had organised.

Jake called Seth over to him and Bella, I couldn’t hear the conversation they had but I watched as Jake pulled Seth into a headlock while Seth tried to get out of it.

Seth jogged back over to me where he sat down before Billy started with the council meeting. Or bonfire as I was told it was.

“The Quileute have been a small tribe from the beginning. And we’ve always had magic in our blood. We were great spirit warriors, shapeshifters that transformed to the powerful wolf. This enabled us to scare off our enemies and protect our tribe. One day our warriors came across a creature that looked like man but was hard like stone and cold as ice.” As Billy spoke images flashed through my mind how they would if I was reading a book. Playing out as if a movie was being played in my head.

 “Our warrior’s sharp teeth finally tore it apart, but only fire would completely destroy it. They lived in fear the cold man was not alone. They were right. She took her vengeance out on the village. Our elder chief, Taha Aki, was the only spirit warrior left to save the tribe after his son was killed. Taha Aki’s third wife would see that we would lose. The third wife was no magical being, no special powers but one. Courage. The third wife’s sacrifice distracted the cold woman long enough for Taha Aki to destroy her. She saved the tribe. Over time our enemies have disappeared, but one remains. The cold ones. Our magic awakens when they’re near and we sense it now, we feel the threat in our blood. Something terrible is coming and we must all be ready. All of us.” I listened to him intently, unaware that I had taken Seth’s hand and grasped it gently laying it in my lap. Seth turned his face to me and took a deep breath before swallowing.

 “Skylah, the legends are true. We are shapeshifters, me, Leah, Embry, Jared, Quil, Paul, Jake and Sam is our alpha. I'm telling you this because when I first met you, I imprinted on you. And all imprintees need to know about us and what we can do. The cold ones-.”

“Vampires?” I asked him interrupting as he placed his hand over my own. I flinched away from his touch and his warm brown eyes were filled with sorrow.

 “Yes vampires, we are werewolves, its why were so hot all the time. Its why we eat so much, its why everything about us seems a little off. Emily is Sam’s imprint, Kim is Jared’s, Quil has just imprinted on Emily’s niece Claire, and Paul has imprinted on jakes sister Rachel. You are my imprint.”

 “What does imprint mean?” I asked him as I stood up starting to back away from him. I noticed the hurt in his eyes.

 “that we are bound to that person for life, to be whatever they want us to be as a friend, a brother or a lover. We will do anything to protect our imprints. Technically it’s a soulmate but if you don’t want that with me, I will be anything you want me to be, even if it’s just a protector.”

 “Seth this is all too much for me. I don’t know what to say, I'm not even sure I believe you.” I held up my hands and took a few more steps away from Seth. I noticed that everyone’s eyes were now on Seth and I as I slowly backed away from him as he tried to reach out for me.

 “Skye, just listen to him, he’s telling the truth.” I heard Jake say in the background.

 “No! you don’t get to say anything either! You kept this from me as well!” I spun around on my heel and ran into the forest. I could feel one of the boys following me and I hoped it wasn’t Jake or Seth. They both lied to me.

I kept running until I tripped on tree root and fell catching myself with my hands scraping them up and then backing up until my head hit the tree I tripped on. I must have hit it harder than I thought, because the last thing I saw before blackness clouded my vision was a black, brown and grey wolf bounding over to me.

[danganronpa-21]

Happy birthday to Makoto and koichi!!!

Happy Birthday to the boys!! Sorry that this is so darn late, Wednesdays are my long days at school. Plus, one of my poor pups had ear surgery today! He’s doing okay, but he’s very drugged up and sleepy. Therefore, he needs a lot of attention. Got the cone of shame and everything.

But yeah, BIRTHDAY! Seiko made them t-shirts and everything. Let’s do some birthday headcanons, shall we?

Makoto’s Birthday — 2020:

February 5th, 2020 brings a seemingly typical day for Makoto at first. As it’s a Wednesday, he’s still expected to drag his butt into work. He doesn’t even get to sleep in! Kyoko claims that they can pretend to be late because of “morning sickness”, but he doesn’t think anyone will believe it. She’s in her seventh month of pregnancy with their first, and fully intends to go to work with him. She’s much too stubborn to take maternity leave until she has to. At the very least she talks him into skipping a breakfast at home, as he’d have to be the one to cook it anyway. He later discovers that by the time he gets there, Aoi’s already baked some muffins for him and dropped off a cup of coffee — just the way he likes it! If that weren’t enough, some of his students left him gifts. One of his favourites is a small succulent in a hand-painted pot, which he cheerfully places by his window.

He assumes that maybe this is going to be the extent of his special day, but he’s wrong. When he goes to do his paperwork, he discovers that almost all of it has been done already. His meetings have been cut in half, and all because his friends took over some of his work! He’s overwhelmed with love, and makes sure to shoot them some thank you messages. He then does the rest of the work that’s left over, which holds him for just enough until Kyoko comes bursting into his office. She’s planned a picnic for his lunch. They eat together in the school’s gardens, chatting and cuddling. Kyoko can’t help but tell her husband how grateful she is for him, and how excited she is to be carrying his child. Makoto can’t help but laugh and tell her how lucky he feels to be the subject of her love.

The rest of his school day is spent in meetings and popping in and out of classrooms to chat with the students. When work ends, his friends drag him out for dinner, and then to the karaoke bar. They spend the night drinking, singing, and laughing until the late hours of the morning. Makoto, Yasuhiro, and Byakuya are mid-way through a trio song of “Hakujitsu” when they realize they should probably head out... as Kyoko and Toko had started to nap in the corner. To settle things down a bit, they pop into Aoi’s café — where they have a sweet birthday cake waiting for Makoto. He gets a cheerful singing of happy birthday, and all kinds of love and hugs from the people around him. They even prepared in advance and brought their gifts for him to the café!

Byakuya just straight up gifts him cash. He insists that he doesn’t know what to buy someone so painfully average, but everyone knows it’s because Makoto nearly had a heart attack at last year’s birthday gift. He really wasn’t expecting to get a car for his twenty-fifth, so for his twenty-sixth... Byakuya plays it safe. Toko and Komaru choose to collaborate on an adventure manga for him, in which he is depicted as a valiant hero saving people from despair (and inevitably winning the heart of his pretty detective boss in the process). Aoi puts together a collection of CDs for him, with every song he’s ever sung along to on it. It’s really hard not to cry when they put it on and hear Sayaka’s voice playing through the speakers. Yasuhiro opts to gift him a couple of free fortune tellings, before also passing along a brand new hoodie. Hiro says that he figures if he knew one thing, it was that Makoto loves comfortable clothing. So he thought it would be fun to pass along something he knew Makoto would use. As for Kyoko, well, she goes super romantic on her gift. It’s a huge notebook, filled to the brim with photographs and journal entries of all of the adventures they ever had together. She’s even notably added passages from her personal journals, in which she first begins to cite her feelings for him. At the end of the book, he finds the words “... and I can’t wait to have even more adventures with you”. 

Below this, is the ultrasound photo of their daughter.

Koichi’s Birthday - 2037:

Koichi has never really been someone who likes too much birthday attention. Most of the time he’s content to spend it with his family. Growing up, he’d usually take the day off school. Kyoko would take the day off work, and they’d go around doing whatever he wanted to do until the rest of the family got back from work and school. 

This year, he chooses to go to school. Not because he really wants to, but because he has friends who are desperate to see him for his birthday! So his dad wakes up that morning for school as always, with the two of them wishing each other a mutual happy birthday. He gets to eat a happy breakfast with his family, who is sure to shower him with love and affection. It seems like none of them can stop talking about how old he’s getting! Even Seiko’s going on about it, as if she’s not getting older herself. 

When Koichi comes to school, his friends are sure to greet him with as much as they can manage. Tamiko, Natsumi, and Phoenix have decked out his desk in balloons and confetti. They’ve each placed a little wrapped gift for him on his desk, and Tamiko even went ahead and made him a birthday cupcake. The three of them (embarrassingly) sing a rendition of happy birthday in front of everyone, and the whole time, Phoenix is happily snapping pictures. 

Unfortunately, he does have to spend much of his day in class because it’s still a school day, but at least his friends make it fun. For lunch, they decide to sneak out and go to a local restaurant. Being a technical yakuza heiress, Natsumi covers all of lunch and tells everyone to order whatever they want. Naturally, the group stuffs themselves full of tasty food before returning back to school. They slip back in mostly undetected... well, if being noticed by Aoi but not chided is considered “mostly undetected”. 

After school ends, Koichi goes to meet his parents as always. He’s surprised to discover that his father has gone out to pick up their birthday cakes, and that he intends to meet them at a surprise location... Which his mother is taking them to. After picking up Seiko from school, Kyoko takes all of her kids to the local arcade. They’re told that they can play as many games as they want for [retty much as long as they want. The kids all decide to team up in an attempt to win a huge purple teddy bear, just for the fun of it. Seiko kicks everyone’s butts at whack-a-mole (including Makoto’s, when he shows up), Hope absolutely destroys at Dance Dance Revolution, Kyoko shoots a decent amount of hoops, Makoto is able to stop on just the right spot at the prize wheel multiple times, and Koichi has nothing but victory at the ski ball machine. They manage more tickets than they ever thought possible, and of course managed to nab the teddy bear. They decide it should be kept in Seiko’s room, given that she’s the kind of person who could probably find space for something like that.

When they return home, Hope and Seiko challenge their brother to play a quick game of basketball outside while Makoto prepares dinner. Being the most athletic of the three, naturally, Koichi beats his sisters into the ground. But they get a lot of good laughs out of it, and they end off the match with Hope having slung Koichi over her shoulder and walking him back into the house for dinner. Dinner is Oyakodon, paired alongside some homemade gyoza. Despite having had a big lunch, Koichi eats something like three helpings, which his family teases him about. “The older he gets, the more he eats! He’s gearing up for that big growth spurt!”

For dessert, they of course, have two birthday cakes. One of them is Makoto’s, and the other Koichi’s, and each of the boys gets their own rendition of happy birthday. Makoto’s birthday cake is a vanilla-flavoured cake, whereas Koichi’s is a strawberry ice cream cake. They take turns pretending to blow at each other’s candles, just to mess around. It makes for some great pictures. Everyone tries to have small slices of each cake, so they can enjoy it. The only people who get big pieces are of course, the birthday boys. And when cake is done, they follow it with presents. Being the younger one of the two, Koichi gets to go first.

From his parents, he gets a new video game. One that he’d been saving his allowance for for a long time, I might add. He’s ecstatic! He’s sure to thank his parents several times, especially considering that they’d complained about how pricey it was. Seiko’s birthday gift to him comes with a card she made herself, decorated with as many happy penguins as she could fit onto the page. They’re his absolute favourite animal, after all! The gift she ends up giving him is a set of different tea flavours for him to try -- most of them being far off from the kinds you can find in stores. She also throws in a little plushie penguin that Kyoko and Hope helped her sew. Truthfully, it’s not really pretty, but Koichi loves it. He promises to treasure it, before tearing into Hope’s gift. She’s managed to get him a brand new stack of novels, ones from authors she knows he admires. She confesses that she sort of raided his room to figure out which authors were his favourite. 

They watch Makoto open his gifts next. He receives about what you’d expect for a man his age. Hope gifts him a whole bunch of new yarn to knit with, as well as some of his favourite candy. Seiko gives him a clay sunflower she made at school in her art class, as sunflowers are his favourite flower. Koichi gifts him a set of headphones that have become popular in the past year or so, figuring he will make use of them while he’s working or trying to sleep. Kyoko gives her husband her gift in the form of kisses... as well as multiple picture frames that contain photos of their family. Notably, even the older pictures of his parents that she found are added. 

All in all, the boys have a great day.

[oh-styles]

Such Beautiful Things: I

Yes, I know, I am just as shocked as you are. 

It’s a bit shorter than what I would have hoped, but just stop complaining and enjoy what I give you. 

Indirect mention of cancer, anxiety and depression.

July 4th, 2016 London, UK

“Harry, for fucks sake…”

At first glance, all you can make out through the harsh glare of the sun peeking through his curtains is the silhouette of a bare bottom a mere few inches from your face, and the faint but budding marks etched across the skin that match your very own fingertips. You first feel the bed shift, and the hustled patters of his feet scampering across the floor with no sense of direction.

“Hey, babe,” his voice is lazy and drawn out, a clear indication to you he’s not been up any longer than you. “Do you have any idea where you threw my pants last night?” You can see him from the corner of your eye, standing stark naked in the middle of his bedroom with a look of complete bewilderment and cowlick standing erect in the middle of his head. “Got quite the arm.”

“Why do you assume it was me?” There’s nothing more you want right now than for this stupid boy to forget his trousers and go back to bed. You’re quite aware of his schedule, and he has no plans till the afternoon where he’d be joining his sister and her friends for lunch, so there is no rhyme or reason why he needs to be up at the crack of dawn for whatever fucking reason he’s mustered up in his mind.

“Well, I wasn’t the one trying to take them off in a hurry.” You can literally hear the smirk in his voice. “Quite impressive, if I can say. Never seen you work that fast before—”

“Please, for the love of God…just shut up.”

So fucking peppy in the morning.

There’s a silence in return, and you hope that maybe, just maybe, he’d decided to spare you the extremely vigorous morning glory that he somehow manages to be without his coffee, and even you can barely hold a conversation with someone before noon.

“Babe?”

“It’s your fucking house, you ballsack—go to your closet and get a new fucking pair if you’re—”

“Babe, I think you’re lying on them.” There’s a gentle poke to your exposed shoulder, and then a second, and by the third you’re flinging the blanket dramatically off your body, and for the second time this morning, you open your eyes to see him standing in front of you, and his soft penis only some mere inches from your face.

“You know I love nothing more than having your flaccid dick in my face first thing in the morning.”

“That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me at half seven.”

The man before you, the same man whose balls you had in your mouth only some hours ago, lifts his hands beneath your waist, gently picking you up before snatching his underwear, and plopping you back down on the sheets. There have been worse ways he has woken you up from before the sun has fully graced the horizon, like a beastly snore in the ear or an obnoxious fart, so you know you’re better off with the cards you’ve been given today.

“It’s time to wake up, buttercup – seize the day, and all that.”

“If you say one more word, I am going to seize your face in my fucking pillow—”

It’s a low, breathless chuckle and a grumble of something along the lines of, “Moody li’le thing in the morning,” but you’re caught off guard when a lump of naked flesh falls dramatically down onto the bed, stirring you beneath the sheets. “Gonna wake up for me, love? Gonna stop being a grumpy gills and open your eyes?” He has this way about him, a perfect mixture of just the right amount of compassion and a complete and utter nuisance, that when stirred together just right, is all the fortitude you need to not up and leave him in his bed before his morningwood begins to dig into your thigh. Sometimes you can overlook his obnoxiously jovial early morning glee fest, and it makes days like this that much more tolerable.

“Just another hour, please.” He might be having a nice, joyous afternoon spent with his sister, but your agenda had been worked around specifically for the events that laid ahead.

Events that might have already gone over his head.

“Harry, seriously—”

“Don’t want’ya taking the train—don’t know why you even want to anyway—”

“It’s the only place where I can just sit and think, okay?” You can feel his breath – very much morning breath -  hit the back of your ear, and you can almost see the grimace aching behind his eyes, because despite the conversation the two of you shared the night before, you were quick to dodge his attention by a simple rummage around his bedside table for a condom.

You might’ve distracted him last night, but you have his full, devoted attention now.

“You gonna try and stop me, hm? Smuggle me into your gym bag and take me to lunch with Gem and her gal pals?”

“If I have to, yeah.” He’s lying, and you know it; he might be able to place his opinion on somethings, but he has no right to prevent you from your actions…but all he asked from you was to bring some form of protection. “How about you get your pretty, little bum dressed, and I will make us breakf—”

“Eggs on toast?”

You see the small crinkle grace his cheek, and just like that any trace of early morning irritation had all but begun to fade away.

“Eggs on toast…and some apple slices and OJ.”  You feel his hands fall under the covers and begin to gently pull away from your very much still warm and comforted body. At the most he could at least have brought you a t-shirt to slip into.

“But I don’t like football” And just like that, he got you back.

*

It’s amazing what a pair of sunglasses and a face clean of makeup can do.

It’s really not that often you find yourself out in the public eye without much as a curious glance your way, but today, you’re feeling hopeful. You sit in the corner of the train with an iced coffee in one hand, and a random book you snatched from Harry’s bookshelf in the other; you believe if the content doesn’t grab your attention, at least no one might pay you a nosy glimpse.

You listen in to conversations as they come go, and a part of you begins to envy a piece of every stranger who you’ve not given more than a subtle, quick glance to. Every person sharing this car with you have been unknowingly blessed with normalcy; they don’t have to hide themselves in public to avoid unwanted attention. You envy your past self for taking such times for granted, and you begin to panic that maybe your shit disguise is only bringing more attention to yourself.

“Why is she wearing sunglasses—we’re underground?”

“Could she have that book any closer to her face?”

“Maybe it wouldn’t be so close to her face if she didn’t have those sodding sunglasses on.”

A part of you rolls your eyes at your own remark. You signed up for this, dumbass.

You hear nothing of the sort, but it doesn’t stop that part of you being self-conscious and weary of the possible inquiries. Maybe you should have let Harry drive you—why do you always deny anytime he tries to do something nice and out of his way for you? You’re so selfish.

You think back on breakfast, and how he kissed your cheek before you left, sneaking in a granola bar into your purse in case you got hungry on your ride back, and you feel your heart swell.

“Text me when you get there, okay? You know I worry about yeh.”

Maybe you should stop giving him reasons to worry about you.

I could walk around with a bodyguard strapped to my chest and he would still worry about me.

Then maybe you should invest in that bodyguard for when you travel by yourself in a place where you could easily get spotted?—

SHUT UP.

You sit back, pulling out your headphones from your purse—of course they’re tangled—and you let the passersby quickly fade out into the mellow strumming’s of Landslide. Your mom loves this song, and you quickly swallow away a knot in your throat when you remind yourself that will soon be past tense.

*

“Fourth of July shirt?” Gemma inquires, smirking through the camera lens of her phone as her brother, with a tightly knit perplexity to his brows, glances down at his shirt.

“What do you me—” Oh.

“Feeling festive for your half-American girlfriend or summat?”

“Summat like that.” Harry admires the stars that adorn his top, and flicks his eyes back up to his sister with a glint in his eyes. What had actually happened, was the top he was supposed to wear today, you had snubbed from his closet the day before, so once you left for the train station earlier that morning, Harry had snatched the first thing he could find from his wardrobe before running out the door. “She said she’ll be back for drinks tonight. Went to see her mum for the afternoon.”

Gemma knows, but she doesn’t pry. A part of her understands all too well these days, so she just lightly nods her head and leans over to grab a slice of pizza.

“Well, she’s always welcome, obviously. I know mum misses her… You two should try and come out for the weekend if you can.”

“Maybe, yeah. Been filming a lot so it’s tough… And she’s doing a lot of festivals this summer. Leeds and Reading here soon.” He shrugs his shoulders with a small pout. “Maybe next weekend. We can take the train up in the morning—that’s if she will even go on a train again after today.”

“Was it bad?” There was an unexplainable tone to her voice that knows the answer well before her brother dares to even say it.

He hums. “Texted me she thought everyone was staring at her.”

“Well, wouldn’t surprise me any! Put that girl on a train and she’s surprised people were staring at her?”

“I asked her if she wanted me to drive up and get her, but she said it was okay—didn’t want to come in between our time today.”

“You know I wouldn’t mind—”

“That’s what I told her, but she persisted. Like she always does. Always persisting.” He takes a quick swig of his drink and runs a hand through his newly chopped hair. “She said she’d call if she changed her mind, but I doubt she will. Just said it to get off the phone.”

“Don’t take it to heart. It’s hard, you know?”

He shares a knowing glance with his sister and gives her a stern nod. Losing someone you loved was hard, but losing a parent surpassed that, and Harry and Gemma were closer everyday to understanding.

It was an hour later when Harry excused himself from the table, and made a quick dart for the door that Gemma caught a quick flash in her brothers eyes that made her stomach sink. For the duration of their lunch, she forced her smiles and faked her laughs, clinging tight to her phone until she felt the buzz that sunk her heart deeper in her chest.

It’s stage 4.

Harry returned some time later, carefully scooting back into his chair and, despite the ache in his gut, he smiled widely at his companions, but Gemma couldn’t look passed the daunting, pained expression forcing to sit and subside in her brother’s eyes. The same expression that screamed that he was in just as much pain as you were in right now.

“Think she is going to stay with her tonight – catch the train tomorrow morning.” He forced a smile in Gemma’s direction, and reached back out to grab his pint. “Might call it an early night for myself.”

*

When you were smaller, and a scrape to the knee sent you to the floor in tears, there was one woman, who with a single kiss, could take every last bit of pain away. Now, not a single thing in the world could make this better. The pain resonated deep, pulling and tugging at every nerve, and every scratch and stretch and swig only made that little bit of pain rush deeper and deeper until there were mornings every inch of your body pulsed and radiated with such anguish and torment, that not even the sun shining or the birds singing or the small of fresh brewed coffee could pull you from bed.

The pain was different now, but it all felt the same in your skin.

You try to remember every detail now, like how her eyes change colors with the seasons, and how she loves the smell of fresh mown grass, and how she can sit outside for hours on a sunny day with a book and a glass of iced tea, and all would be content in her world. You remember how it feels to hold her hand, and how she falls asleep beside you as you hum along to the Jewel discography playing over her stereo. You remember how she cries when she listens to you sing, her eyes welled up with so much love you feel it’s impossible to feel such a thing.

You remember how warm she feels, and the smell of her perfume, and how she kisses your cheek four times before finally letting go.

You remember how she reminds you to text her when you get back home, just like Harry does. You remember how she watches you walk down the driveway and out of sight from her place in the window, and with every step you take you pray to God that isn’t the last time you see her alive.

But you remember to tell her you love her, and you feel the knot in your throat stumble over your words, because God forbid this be the last time she ever hears you say it.

You pray to God that if you ever bear a child, they never have to succumb to such pain.

*

Later that day, after you stumbled back up the stairs of your shared home and found yourself crawling back into your sheets, it’s Harry who gently wakes you to share you the current events filtering through every news article.

You didn’t bother with your sunglasses, and that was your first mistake, but such subtle details like that didn’t fall through your mind as you go on your train home that morning. You sat in your corner, book in hand, but stared blankly at the pages as you reminded yourself, again and again, that your time was running up. There was this internal clock ticking, counting down to the day, and whenever that was, the world would stop, all would halt, and you would lose the very last person that you had.

You glance up at Harry, but he tilts his phone closer to your view, and that’s when you see it.

You aren’t surprised, but the shot still makes you sick.

There you are sat, hunched over in your seat, with the palms of your hands placed overtop your face as you weep heavy heaves into the sleeves of your jacket. The snapshot reminds you of the photo that went viral of the bride on the tube in the exact same position as you are, and you nearly stop yourself from laughing.

“It’s because I forgot my sunglasses,” you croak, barely reading over the text that the uploader added. “Did you really wake me up to show me this?”

He stares back down at the image, studying your stance, and without saying another word, locks his phone.

You keep quiet over the topic; it all exhausts you, and as much as Harry wants to protect you and hold your hand through this, he is quietly going through the exact same thing, and you don’t want to add gas to the fire.

But your silence is nothing but a headache to him.

He goes to stand back up, brushing a hand through his hair, and casually walks around to the other end of the bed where he plops himself down beside you, and sidles closer to scoot you nearer.

“Harry, I’m fine, you don’t ha—”

“Shh, will you? Just want to love on you some.” You could lie all you want, and he would let you, but he isn’t going to waste a second of his life ever believing it. “I made some lunch if you’re hungry. I’ll bring you up something if you want to chill here today. That’s okay.”

He placed a soft kiss behind your ear and nuzzled up to your neck, and it’s just like that you remind yourself to remember this love, because some heavy, disastrous storms were approaching, and this was the love that was going to stick with you until the rainbow comes.

[londone-fog]

Friday, Never Hesitate- Reddie Soulmate AU

AO3 Link

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

The next day, his mother told him to swallow a new pill. Oblong, slightly pink in color. It was bitter on his tongue, and he didn’t like it. The back pain went away after a couple of days.

But his Mama told him to keep taking them.

He didn’t want to upset her.

Chapter Four- Tuesday

Eddie hated chemistry. He hated it with every fibre of his being. Richie didn’t exactly make it easy on him either. He sat next to him in class, tapping his fingers against the edge of his desk, the repetitive noises drilling into his skull. He simply couldn’t focus. The teacher kept on droning and droning, and Eddie felt like his brain was going to explode. He ran his finger around the outline of his inhaler in his pocket, trying in vain yet again to focus on this class. Eventually, he leaned over to Richie, teeth gritted.

“If you don’t stop tapping your desk, I’m gonna shove my foot up your ass.”

“That a promise?” Eddie groaned in frustration, drawing the attention of the teacher.

“Mr. Kasprak, may I help you with something?” he asked, tone condescending in every sense of the word.

“No Sir,” Eddie murmured, looking down into his lap. Embarrassment burned hot under his cheeks, anger at Richie swelling in his chest.

“Now, starting with tomorrow, be will be talking about soulmates and how chemistry can be applied to them. How it plays a part in soulmarks and everything.” The bell rang just as he finished his statement, and dread couldn’t help but build up in Eddie’s gut. He hated it anytime anyone in his class would bring up the subject of soulmates. But that seemed to be the only thing people wanted to talk about, the only thing songs on the radio sang about, the only thing that showed up on movies and TV.

It was just a reminder that, even at 17, Eddie still had no soulmark, and by extension, no soulmate.

Richie jogged up next to Eddie as he exited the classroom, grin in place and hands fiddling with the straps of his backpack.

“What’s got you in such a tizz, Eds? That was pretty damn funny, if I do say so myself.”

Eddie mumbled a response, thoroughly agitated. Richie’s demeanor changed a little, his bravado halting and assessing the situation. He leaned a bit closer to Eddie so only he can hear.

“Is your back bothering you?”

Of course it was. It always was these days. The dull itch from his childhood had begun to morph into a low burn as he grew older, aching and raw at all hours of the night and day.

“I guess. I just feel like shit.” Richie nodded, deep in thought.

“Let’s go to lunch, yeah? I know I could use a pick me up.” Eddie nodded, allowing himself to be led outside to Richie’s car.

Richie’s car was truly something to behold. Bright orange, paint peeling from being exposed to the sun for too long. The pair climbed into the rickety vehicle, Eddie trying to ignore the flaps of seat upholstery that had peeled up and now poked at his legs. He didn’t want to imagine the amount of people who’d owned this car before Riche, or even the type of people they had been. Richie started the car, engine coughing to life and radio blaring whichever cassette they’d been listening to this morning.

Richie loved cassettes, and records, and just music in general. Eddie had boxes upon boxes of tapes his friends had made him over the years. Bev sent them from Portland, and she came up to visit them on holidays and for some time during the summer, always bringing tapes for the members of the loser’s club. Mike had only ever made one, Ben had made a few offhandedly, Bill a few more. But most were from Richie. Slipped into lockers, mailboxes, thrown through open windows, tossed into laps.

Thought you might like this.

And Eddie listened to them diligently, drowning out his mother’s cries and day-time TV with the loud drum crashes and guitar solos that Richie loved so much. It was all a little too harsh, but it stopped Eddie from thinking too hard while his headphones slipped over his ears.

Richie carefully maneuvered out of the parking lot, obviously being more safety conscious for Eddie’s sake.

“So what’s got your goat? You seem like something’s bothering you.”

Eddie brings his knees to his chest, scuffed shoes resting on the dashboard. He balls his hands in the hem of his sweatshirt, running his thumb along the seam.

“I just hate it when they bring up soulmates in class. It doesn’t even have to do with anything. You don’t need another person to make you happy.”

Richie gave a concerned sort of smile.

“I know that, Eds. Trust me, if anyone even has a little understanding of what you mean, it’s me.”

Eddie nodded. Richie’s mark was still just barely a whisper of a thing. There had been a few nights that he’d crawled through Eddie’s window in tears, fearing for whoever his soulmate was.

“I just wish there was something I could do. I’m the outlier. The .1% left on a hand sanitizer bottle. I’m tired of it.”

“I know Spaghetti Head, but think of it this way. At least you won’t be one of those ninnies who thinks their soulmate is the one and only person they need. You have friends who care about you, and that lovely mother of yours.” Eddie refrained from commenting on that last part. “What more could a guy want?”

“To not be ostracized in front of my peers.” Eddie murmured tersely. Richie gave another anxious sort of smile, patting Eddie on the kneecap. For once, he seemed to be at a loss of what to say.

-

Eddie once again sat in class, trying his best not to drift off into a deep sleep. Sure enough, his teacher kept true to his word. The board was filled with the chemical application of soulmates, from how the marks showed up to how the attraction of soulmates was unlike normal attraction. Eddie’s notebook remained empty. He was either uninterested, or already knew what the teacher would say.

He looked over at Richie, who for once took diligent record of the teacher’s lecture. He glanced back at Eddie, giving him the OK symbol with his fingers and raising an eyebrow. Eddie gave a sideways thumbs up. Richie grinned at him, attempting to elicit a smile.

It didn’t quite work.

Eddie thought back to the day he told his mother he didn’t have a soulmark. He’d been about nine years old then, sitting at the dining room table across from her, silent.

“Mama,” he said, oh so quietly. “Why don’t I have a soulmark yet? Everyone else in my class has theirs. They have for a long time.”

She paused, a thousand emotions running over her face.

“Well, sweetheart, you might not have a soulmate.”

“Oh.” The bottom of Eddie’s stomach dropped out of his feet.

“It’ll be alright. You don’t need a soulmate. You have me. A mother is better than any soulmate you could ever find. Eat your brussels sprouts.”

“Yes Mama.”

That night, he’d slunk up to his room, trying hard to ignore the irritated skin between his shoulders. He didn’t cry, too wracked with sorrow to let even an iota escape him. In that moment, he wished desperately that Richie was his soulmate. He was rowdy and sometimes annoying, but he was always at Eddie’s side when he needed help. He stopped people bullying him. He would be soft and understanding when the situation called for just that. They were best friends.

Eddie looked at Richie now. He still sometimes wished for just that.

“Mr. Kaspbrak.” Eddie jolted in his seat, facing the front again. The teacher stood, arms crossed, eyebrows furrowed.

“Since you seem to know everything about this unit, would you mind telling us what exactly animoprophen is and what it does?”

Eddie burned hot, anger bubbling under his skin. But, the word was familiar. It was a drug, one sitting in his medicine cabinet at home. One he took every single day since he was seven.

“Animoprophen is a drug, sir. It helps ease back pain.”

“Only half right, Mr. Kaspbrak. It is a drug, but it isn’t for back pain. Not even close.”

Eddie’s fists balled themselves up, his frustration finally spilling over the edge.

“Excuse me, Mr. Green, I don’t think that’s right. I’ve taken that drug everyday since I was seven. I was prescribed it for back pain.”

“Will someone please tell Mr. Kaspbrak what exactly animoprophen is for?”

A girl in the back raised her hand.

“Animoprophen is a drug given to people with dead soulmates. It makes the mark go away so they are at less risk of depression.”

“Thank you, Cynthia. You must be confusing it with another drug, Edward.”

Eddie knew he wasn’t. People around the classroom did not make their chuckles and whispers a secret, talking behind hands and glancing his way. He could feel his airways closing, breathing growing rapid, fingers becoming numb with static.

The bell finally rang, releasing him from this absolute nightmare. He sprang from his seat, racing into the hallway. He needed to go home, he was going to be sick, he was going to die.

He took mighty puffs from his inhaler, one after another.

One.

Two.

Three.

He didn’t stop. Not even when he heard Richie calling to him from the hallway.

-

Eddie lay in bed that night, examining the pill bottle he’d palmed from the cabinet an hour ago. The light from his lamp shine through the yellowish plastic, turning the pink pills within a sort of orange color. His mom’s name was printed on the bottle. How had he never noticed before? All his other medicine had his name printed on the label. But not this one. Not this fucking one.

He’d run to the pharmacy immediately after chemistry, not waiting up for Richie to give him a ride. Panting, he slammed his palm flat against the counter, drawing the attention of the pharmacist.

“I need you to tell me something,” he said through gritted teeth.

“What’s wrong Eddie. Out of your inhaler?”

“No. I have a question about animoprophen.”

The color quickly drained out of the older man’s face.

“Yes, of course. What is it?”

“My mother told me that it was for back pain. Back pain I’ve had since I was seven. But I was just told in my class just now that it’s to get rid of soulmarks? Explain.”

The pharmacist swallowed, obviously nervous.

“Yes, they are for soulmarks. They’re prescribed to your mother.”

“What about the other medication? is it even real? Am I taking things I don’t need?”

A pregnant pause swelled before them.

“They’re all placebos. Sugar pills. They don’t affect you at all. Except the animoprophen.” The pharmacist then looked above Eddie’s head at someone entering the store. Eddie turned to see Richie standing there, breathing a little heavily.

“Thanks. For everything,” Eddie said, turning back to the man before him. His words were sharper than an obsidian scalpel. He waited a beat before pushing a small display of brochures to the floor and turning to meet Richie.

“Let’s go.”

Eddie hadn’t confronted his mother yet. Every time he thought he might be able to, he couldn’t. It was his mother. How could she?

A loud thud sounded against his window, followed by muffled cursing. Eddie looked out to see none other than Richie. He also noticed a small crack in his window from the rock Richie has thrown. He lifted the pane, looking at his best friend.

“You’re going to break my window one of these days, Trashmouth.”

“Only if you break my heart first,” he crooned in a sing-song voice. Eddie smirked before racing downstairs to let Richie in, not caring that his mother lay sleeping in her chair.

Once they are safe in Eddie’s room, Richie released a barrage of questions.

“Okay, what happened at the pharmacy? You ran out of class, and so I followed you, and I find you going all bad cop in the drug store. And the amino-whatever? What’s that all about?”

Eddie let the confusion wash over him, again picking up the plastic bottle and running his thumb over the label.

“Animoprophen. It’s a drug used to get rid of soulmarks after your soulmate dies.” He holds up the bottle. “This is prescribed to my mom. She’s been giving it to me since I was seven.” He pulls his inhaler out of his pocket, throwing it across his room in anger. “All my medication is bullshit, Richie. It was never real. She’s been lying to me for nearly ten years. Ten years! That’s more than half of my life!”

Richie didn’t say anything, just rubbed small circles between his shoulders. Eddie leaned into the touch, grateful for the comforting touch.

“What are you gonna do, Eddie?”

“I dunno. Being in the same house as her makes me feel sick. Thinking about everything makes me sick.” He pauses. “I think she’s the fault I never got my mark. I think that medicine stopped it from coming in. It’s her fault. I have a soul mate out there who I might never find, because of her.”

Eddie was a gutted fish, a shattered window, a knife cut, a tornado, a raindrop. Open. Changed. Irreparably broken.

He did not cry.

Richie reached over and wrapped him in a rare embrace, resting his chin on Eddie’s shoulder.

“I’m so sorry. I feel like I should do something, but I can’t. I haven’t felt this powerless since we fought It.”

He pulled away, placing Eddie’s hands in his. He traced the scar on his palm, running his thumb over the raised skin.

“Do you want to stay at my house tonight? My parents won’t be there,” Richie asked quietly, and Eddie though he could sense just a little shyness in his tone.

“I dunno. My ma…”

“She shouldn’t control you anymore. Not after what she did. If you want to go, let's go.”

Eddie nodded.

As they walked down the stairs, Eddie felt his life moving in slow motion. He didn’t avoid the third step. His mother stirred, demanding to know what Richie was doing there, where they were going. She tried to stop them, opening her mouth to yell.

“Mom, I know that you did,” he says plainly, placing the animoprophen in her hand. “I’m going to stay at Richie’s house tonight.”

And just like that, calm as the eye of a hurricane, he walked out the door towards Richie’s car.

ANNOUNCEMENT: So, my amazing friend, who’s read this fic from the start, is turning it into a comic! Please go check her out at @sekiims 

Taglist: @anniewdoodles