#once the spring semester starts up in two weeks it’s Over for me. just you wait and see

[corpsentry]

replying to ao2 comments from 2019. hope my old readers know i am not dead i just got a gf

[llilychen]

every time i hear enchanted i am transported back to april 2023 when i had my first big infatuation and i feel sick to my stomach

[mionemymind]

Chapter 1: Second to You

My Rival Series

Summary: “I hate Wanda Maximoff. I hate her face and the way she hides her freckles. I hate her smile and how perfect she laughs. I hate how smart she is and how she knows everything. I hate her.” Y/n complained. 

But how could she hate the girl that always took #1 in everything? How could she hate the girl that captivated her mind 24/7? How could she hate the girl she would willingly be #2 for?

Or the time where Y/n Y/l/n and Wanda Maximoff were academic rivals that fell for each other.

A/n: Gif credits to @aftertheglitterfades

Warnings: Rivals to Lovers, Obvious Feelings, Stubborn Reader, Cursing

Word Count: 4.1k

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 |

One Month - Spring Semester

“Please be a hundred - please be a hundred.” The brown eyed girl silently pleaded under her breath. Her hands were clenched together, easily covering her mouth. She couldn’t, actually wouldn’t, give her the satisfaction of seeing her nervous. 

With her dark brown hair, quick green eyes, and pretentious smile, Wanda Maximoff already had a lot going for her, something Y/n could easily list out. ‘So god forbid, please humble her for one moment’ Y/n thought to herself. 

Trying her best to not seem so obsessed, Y/n carefully studied Wanda’s reaction. While the rest of the class seemed upset over their grades, seeing Wanda’s smile among the crowd of frowns ticked something inside Y/n. ‘Oh please, not another 100.’ But there went that fucking cocky smile, one that brought Wanda’s dimples out, and Y/n knew the answer. 

Looking back at Professor Hathaway, the older woman gently smiled at Y/n as she handed her test backwards, careful to not expose her grade. Once she passed, Y/n slowly flipped it over, eyes squinted as if it would help lessen the blow. 

‘Oh god - a 99.’ Y/n tried to steel herself from any reaction. She knew Wanda would be looking at her like a hawk. Taking a peak past the paper, Y/n could easily spot those green eyes anywhere in a crowd. And just as Y/n expected, Wanda was looking. 

“Okay class, this week's test was better. We currently have a class average of 65. There were two outliers that have caused the average to bump up. For those that need help for next week, please feel free to reach out to see where we can improve. No homework due but please try to review the remarks I’ve made.” 

Everyone was quick to start packing up, especially those that barely scored a passing D. But for Y/n, she packed quickly to avoid Wanda. Hearing Wanda talk about another perfect score would only rile her up and considering she still had to study for the managerial accounting test, talking to Wanda was the last thing she wanted.

But Y/n never got what she wanted. When a classmate accidentally bumped into her backpack, causing the contents to spill, Y/n couldn’t help me internally curse at her luck. “I’m really sorry about that Y/n!” 

Y/n didn’t dare focus on the feeling of Wanda getting closer, she didn’t even need to see to know she was only a meter away. “It’s okay Katie. Just be careful next time.” The blonde meekly smiled as she walked off to her next lecture, leaving Y/n behind to pick her stuff up. 

Just as the final book was stuffed into her bag, Y/n rose up from the ground, ready to grab her test, but Wanda was quicker. Holding back her distaste, Y/n watched as Wanda’s smug smile grew seeing the 99 plastered right at the corner. 

“Better luck next time, Y/l/n,” Wanda proudly stated as she held up the perfect grade written on her test. Holding back her profanities, Y/n snatched her test and shoved it at the bottom of her backpack. “And messing up a simple year for Renoir’s paintings, my my, this is easy at this point.” 

Y/n slung her backpack and started to walk out of the lecture hall. Usually, no response and the sight of someone leaving would give a normal person the idea that they don’t want to talk. But Wanda wasn’t normal by any means. 

She walked at a similar fast pace beside Y/n, enjoying the silent treatment she was receiving. “Not gonna talk? Ya know, I could help you study in case you need it.” 

Y/n scoffed as they exited the humanities building. ‘The nerve.’ Y/n thought. 

It was a nice spring at Evergreen University. The weather was at a perfect 75 degrees. People were out on the lawn, enjoying themselves, hanging out with friends, having picnics, overall having a great time. But none of that was something Y/n hardly got to experience nowadays. 

For the majority of the first month of the spring semester, Y/n had either been stuck at her dorm, the library, or some other student’s dorm, helping them study. The luxury of having fun was something Y/n could hardly afford. Not when Wanda Maximoff was a constant reminder of your failure to beat her. 

“99 is still good, Maximoff, in case you forgot.” They passed by a couple of people that knew Wanda, but that didn’t deter the brunette at all. She waved at them with her perfect smile which irritated Y/n even more. 

“She speaks! Didn’t know you were settling for second place now. You must’ve lost your confidence. Afraid you can’t beat me?” Y/n grumbled something that Wanda couldn’t hear. 

With Y/n’s dorm hall getting closer, the brown eyed girl quickened her pace, hoping that Wanda would stop. “More like I don’t want to humble you. Princess might get hurt if I actually try my best.” 

Wanda feigned hurt, dramatically placing a hand on her chest. “Going for the ego jab? What will I ever do?” Wanda laughed, a laugh that came from her chest, one that was wholehearted, and god did Y/n hate it. “Takes more than that to hurt me.” 

Stopping right before the entrance, Y/n halted infront of Wanda, the two almost colliding.

“Oh yeah? Then-” 

“Y/n, can you help me with accounting?” Y/n turned around to her savior. It was one of her classmates from her managerial class. Her name was Holly. 

“Sure thing.” Unbeknownst to Y/n, Wanda rolled her eyes at the pathetic excuse. Holly was a smart girl, one that hardly needed to study. This was all just a lame excuse to hang out with Y/n, something Wanda easily saw through. 

Adjusting her backpack, Y/n walked towards Holly, holding the door open. Looking back at Wanda with a frown, Y/n remarked, “Next time, I won’t go easy.” 

Midway - Spring Semester

“Are you going to come with me to the party?” It was a Saturday night at Evergreen University. Parties were a typical thing especially since the campus had a large selection of greek life. 

However, today was not a typical Saturday. Midterms were finally over and the majority of campus was out for the night, trying to enjoy a little stress reliever. 

“Can’t Natty. I gotta study.” Y/n said hunched over a book. While Y/n did receive well above passing grades, none of them could compete with Wanda’s. It’s like no matter how much Y/n studied, there was always one small detail that would prevent her from being perfect.

“You’re always studying. Can’t you give me at least one night away from all of this.” Natasha looked around the room, Y/n’s side was filled to the brim with various books, journals, and papers. It was an academic mess. 

“You know I can’t.” Natasha sighed at Y/n’s response. She walked towards her bed, giving Y/n a tight hug. Having been roommates since freshman year, Natasha knew how Y/n was when it came to her academics. 

“At least I have senior year to try.” Y/n laughed, knowing that she’d never really go to a party. She had nothing against them, but the idea of pretending like you’re having fun was exhausting for her. 

“Text or call me if you need me to pick you up, okay? I’ll have my ringer on the highest volume.” Natasha grabbed her phone and keys, blowing a fake kiss to Y/n. 

“Thanks love. Stay up till 1:00 am for me? If I don’t text you by then, go to sleep. I’ll have a ride.” Y/n gave a thumbs up as Natasha left. 

Looking back at the time, it was only 10:00 pm. The dorms hardly muffled the loud music playing on the floor above. And knowing the RA on the floor, they’d simply dismiss it until 2:00 am. 

Shaking her head, Y/n grabbed the nearest bag and stuffed the essentials she needed. A night trip to the library wasn’t going to hurt. 

“Accounting can literally go fuck themselves,” Y/n uttered. She was currently tucked away in a far corner on the fourth level of the library. This place hardly had any students around and with midterms being over, not a single soul was in the library at this time, well besides Y/n. 

“I need a break.” Pushing the chair back, Y/n stretched her legs and arms out, releasing out a weird primal groan in the process. Tapping her phone screen, it was a quarter past twelve. Her body was stiff and desperately needed a walk. 

“How the hell am I so stiff?” Y/n cracked her neck, hands, and knuckles, a very bad habit she developed at a young age. 

Grabbing her wallet, Y/n walked away from her spot and traversed through the long aisles of books. She eyed a couple of interesting subjects on the way to the vending machine, saving them in her head the next time she needed a new book to read. 

It didn’t take long before she spotted the bright fluorescent machine. Eying the choices, there wasn’t much. To play it safe, she got a Pepsi and quickly started to drink it. 

‘I really need to start drinking more water.’ The thoughts on being healthy always came around this time, among other things. So to distract herself more, Y/n walked around the floor, hoping to do some exploring. 

She was hardly a couple of meters away when Y/n saw her. Asleep on top of her books and notes, mouth slightly parted, and slightly shivering was Wanda Maximoff. The sight caused Y/n’s breathing to hitch. The grip on the bottle tightened, feeling already irritated and Wanda hadn’t even said a word. 

Looking around for anyone nearby, Y/n grumbled knowing that no one else would be studying on a weekend this late at night, but of course the only two people on the campus that would be are herself and Wanda. 

Y/n wanted to leave, everything from her mind and body told her to walk away and act like you didn’t see her. But how could Y/n ignore the way Wanda’s body shivered from being under the a/c? How could she ignore the way her lips twitched from reacting to a dream? How could Y/n ever ignore her? 

Betraying all logic, Y/n walked to Wanda’s table. Although she wanted to wake her up, which would’ve been the nice thing to do, the large part of Y/n didn’t want Wanda to know she could be kind to her. 

They’ve been at this stupid ‘race’ or ‘competition’ since freshman year ever since they took the intro to biology together. A lot of the people in the class had struggled, especially those that were not pursuing a STEM major. So when the professor made a light comment that Wanda was always first place in the class and Y/n was second, something inside them changed. 

Maybe it was the way Y/n noticed how much Wanda thrived under praise or how she loved answering the professor’s questions. None of the characteristics really bothered Y/n at all and she certainly didn’t care to be second. But then more exams came and Wanda was always first and Y/n was always second. 

Next came the light taunting from her friends, saying Wanda has never been beaten academically that it started to rub you the wrong way. And then came the fateful day, where Wanda had come to Y/n after class ended and asked, “Do you want help with biology?” 

The question was supposed to be harmless, but it was the fact that Y/n was around with her friends who then started to chuckle and taunt the question. It felt embarrassing especially since she didn’t even suck at the subject. 

So with a sore ego and hurt pride, Y/n mumbled a no and walked away as her friends howled even more. Ever since then, the two have been at it. And by the looks of it, it was not going to stop. 

‘Just walk away and let her deal with it.’ The thoughts in her head were convincing. Wanda would eventually wake up and be fine. She would get up, go back to her dorm, and probably act like nothing happened. 

Turning back around, Y/n almost walked away but her heart couldn’t. Sleeping alone in this lonely part of the library was not something Y/n wanted for Wanda. Looking around the table, Y/n spotted Wanda’s phone past all the humanities notes. 

Grabbing it, Y/n was surprised to find that there was no passcode. ‘Maximoff, you really need to change that.’ 

Looking through her contacts, Y/n finally was able to find Pietro. Sending a quick ‘pick me up from the fourth floor of the library’ felt harmless. Especially since it sounded like something she would say. 

Placing the phone back in its original spot, Y/n felt satisfied enough to walk away. But Wanda just had to whimper in her sleep, still shivering from the cold. 

Y/n would never admit it outloud but she would have cursed Evergreen University for making their libraries so cold. Taking off her flannel, Y/n shook her head as she placed it on top of Wanda. She had plenty more in the closet, so losing one was not going to hurt. 

‘I fucking hate her.’ Y/n convinced herself as she finally walked away from Wanda. The brown eyed girl got back to her table. It was useless to continue to study. Wanda was all she could think about right now. 

Sighing, Y/n grabbed her phone. It was getting close to 12:30 and there was still no text from Natasha. Packing her stuff up, Y/n walked out the library at a slow place. Within a block away from the library, Pietro had jogged past Y/n, not even recognizing the girl with how dim the streetlights were. 

No one else witnessed this, and once again Y/n would never admit it, but she did smile knowing Wanda was going to be okay.

Pietro could hardly make his way through the library. If we’re being honest, he kind of forgot that this library was 24/7. After scrounging through the fourth floor, he finally found Wanda asleep at her study table.

Muttering curses under his breath, he walked to her, ignoring the flannel that covered her. ‘I didn't even take that long.’ He thought to himself. Pietro had only taken around 10-15 minutes to get to her. How did she manage to fall asleep? 

“Sestra.” Wanda woke up from the constant tugging on her shoulder. Grumbling a few incoherent words, she sat up, barely awake. Yawning into her hand, Pietro shook his head at the sight of Wanda. “You fell asleep studying, again?” 

Wanda shrugged her shoulders, too tired to even respond. “Let's get you back to your dorm.” 

As Pietro helped Wanda pack her stuff up, the brunette finally noticed the flannel on her shoulders. She snaked her arms through it, enjoying the warmth and comfort it provided. 

Too tired to think, Wanda followed Pietro out of the library and to her dorm hall. It didn’t take long for them to arrive. Thankfully, Wanda didn’t have a roommate, perks of having rich parents. 

Pietro had muttered a goodbye as he dropped Wanda’s bag near her desk. He flipped the lights off and closed the door. 

Wanda easily slipped under the covers, flannel still on. The cologne was distinct, something her body already knew who it belonged to. But having been too tired to think, Wanda simply thought it was Pietro’s flannel. 

But had she actually paid attention, she would’ve noticed the only person using this cologne was Y/n. Had she been paying attention, she would’ve noticed how much her body enjoyed having the flannel on. Had she been paying any attention, she would have noticed that the flannel was slightly too small to fit on Pietro. 

And if Wanda had a bit more energy, she would have noticed that her subconscious didn’t fight the feeling of Y/n. 

Almost a week has gone by since the library situation. Y/n was certain that Wanda had figured out her stunt. I mean the flannel had her initials written on the underside of the tag. But when Wanda walked into class, flannel surprisingly on, it shocked Y/n. 

‘Does she seriously not know?’ During the whole lecture, Y/n could not focus. All her undivided attention was on Wanda Maximoff. The way the flannel hung off her shoulders or the way she would purposely cover her hands with the sleeves. 

Every single detail was not left unnoticed. And as class ended, Wanda came over with her usual smug self. She made a comment or two, but Y/n hadn’t heard a single thing. Not when her flannel was still being worn by Wanda Maximoff. 

And by the looks of it, Wanda didn’t know. It literally took Natasha shoving Y/n for the brown eyed girl to even respond. “See ya, Maximoff.”

Y/n had panicked and blanked hard. She left in such a hurry that even Wanda was confused. 

“What’s up with her?” Wanda asked Natasha, but even she didn’t know. 

“Okay, this has been like the 10th time you’ve looked at her in this past conversation. What’s up with you?” If Y/n could, she would leave the country at the moment. Feeling so embarrassed, Y/n thought about denying Natasha’s comment, but god she was being so obvious about it. 

“I-,” Y/n sighed with her head in her hands. “I did something nice to someone I usually don’t do anything for.” 

Natasha hummed as she ate her banana. She carefully looked back and noticed Wanda talking with some of her friends out on the lawn. They were too far away to even notice the pair, but it didn’t hurt to be careful. 

“So you were nice to Maximoff? What’s the big deal?” It irritated Y/n that Natasha could be so nonchalant about everything. Couldn’t she clearly see why it was a big deal? 

“I guess…” Y/n looked over at Wanda once more. Her smile was radiant even if she was a little far away. And the way her body tilts back every time she laughs, Y/n could have sworn that she could hear it from her spot. Or maybe it was the way her mind remembered everything about Wanda. 

“It just made me think what if we were actually friends rather than…this.” Natasha could easily see this was a big deal to Y/n. However, their whole situation was rather odd. The banter and competition was just a children's game to her. No harm really came out of it. 

“Well I think there’s still time to make up. Why don’t you go over there and just try to talk to her?” Y/n scoffed at Natasha’s absurdity. 

“Yeah - over my dead body.” 

“We’re partners.” Y/n wasn’t dead but it certainly almost felt like she was as she choked on Wanda’s comment. Quickly gaining the attention of other classmates, Y/n waved them off and regained her composure. She wiped the water from her lips and stared at the piece of paper that Wanda shoved in her face. 

Team 7 - Y/n Y/l/n and Wanda Maximoff

“I told the professor that you and I could easily do this project alone, but he wasn’t having it. Apparently we need to improve our teamwork skills.” Y/n looked up and easily saw how displeased Wanda was. Using all her acting skills, Y/n did the same. 

Before Y/n could say anything, Wanda commented, “Just come over to my dorm after math club. It’s at Bourbon Hall. Dorm 321.” And just like that, Y/n easily forgot all about her kindness as Wanda walked away. 

The day was almost over. All Y/n had to do was enjoy another meeting at math club, be civil with Wanda, and then go to sleep. Although she didn’t necessarily want to do it in that order, duty called. 

Y/n was about to enter the room for math club until Lily stumbled in front of her with urgent eyes. “Hey Y/n, Dean Holloway wants to see you.”

“Do you know why?” The Dean never had random meetings with students. Generally, students would pop up to him with issues. Not the other way around.

Lily shook her head no with a small frown. “Sorry, he didn’t say.” Looking over the math club, Y/n could see that Wanda had already arrived. There was never an instance where Y/n wasn’t at a meeting, but knowing Wanda, she could handle it like a pro. 

“Okay, can you tell Wanda that I’ll be late and to start off without me?” Y/n adjusted her backpack.

“Sure thing, I’ll let her know.” Y/n gave Lily a small smile before walking away. 

Their banter was supposed to be a children's game, simple, harmless. Nothing was supposed to come out of it. But the look in Y/n’s eyes told a different story. Her thoughts flooded with insecurities as the conversation she had with the Dean replayed. 

“Thank you for coming at such short notice Y/n. I wanted to see you before your current meeting with math club.”

Y/n hadn’t gone back to attend math club. It meant seeing Wanda, the very last person she wanted to see at all. She knew that the brunette would already be pissed at her being late, but it was better to avoid that conversation entirely. 

“I’m going to cut to the chase since you’re a very busy student. By the board, new requirements have been added to your scholarship effective immediately.”

“What are they?” There was no letter or notice coming from the school about her scholarship so this must have been a very recent decision. The Dean was unable to look Y/n in the eye as he recalled the meeting. He looked stiff and strained, something that was easy to notice. 

“For the upcoming math club state competition, the school is requiring that you and your group must achieve first place. There is no tolerance for anything less than that.”

Y/n could remember the silence being deafening. She didn’t know what to say. The whole reason she was even at Evergreen University was due to her full ride. And for the board to randomly put that on the line felt so targeted. 

Y/n tried to beg for an explanation as to why the board decided this. Wasn’t she a great enough student? Regardless, Dean Holloway was useless. He couldn’t give her a single reason as to why they decided to implement this. Essentially making Y/n deal with it herself. 

For a minute, Y/n allowed herself to dream about first place. It felt plausible, but as her phone buzzed in her bed, reality came back. Right on the screen it said Wanda Maximoff. Not wanting to speak, Y/n let the phone ring until it hit voicemail. Before she could have her moment of peace, a harsh set of knocks were at her door. 

Figuring it was Natasha forgetting her key again, Y/n slowly got up. “Coming - coming.” Not bothering to check the peephole, Y/n opened the door, her eyes landed on her.

The girl who knew every answer to every question. The girl who hasn’t left Y/n’s mind since freshman year. The girl who was the reason she was second. 

“Not going to the meeting is one thing, but ditching our plans is another.” Wanda passed Y/n up, allowing herself to enter without permission. She sat down at Y/n’s desk, immediately spouting out ideas about their project. 

But as Y/n stared at Wanda, she couldn’t help but think, ‘You’re the reason I will never be first.’ 

And that made it real. It was no longer a children’s game. This was a competition. And Wanda Maximoff was going to have to lose. 

Chapter 2

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[supernovafics]

series masterlist | last part — next part

pairing: modern!college!steve harrington x fem!reader, bestfriend!eddie munson x fem!reader

word count: 2.5k words

warnings: explicit language, weed smoking, angst

summary: a conversation with eddie finally tells you everything that you need to know

quick a/n: i know this one is much shorter than usual but big things happen in this so enjoy<333

CHAPTER ELEVEN | ❝𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈❞

Spring Semester 2017

“Me and Chrissy broke up.” 

Eddie’s words didn’t feel entirely real at first. Mainly because they felt as if they were coming from absolutely nowhere. That made you think that maybe he was joking— which would’ve been a really weird joke if it was— but you could tell from his face that he wasn’t about to follow up with a lighthearted “just kidding.”

A quiet lingered between you two for a brief moment. The only thing that could be heard was the soft chatter of the other people in Frankie’s diner that morning and the waitresses moving about the small place. 

For some reason, once the words really processed in your head, you felt relieved and the tiniest bit happy. And then you immediately felt like the worst person in the world for feeling that way. You had never wanted them to break up, and you hadn’t been hoping for it either because you knew how happy Eddie was with her, so why were you now feeling relieved that they were over?

You started speaking in an attempt to forget about every fucked up thing you were feeling right then. “Oh, god, I’m so sorry. What happened?” 

He gave you a half-hearted shrug. “She said she’s been feeling “off” about things for the past few months, so she finally decided to end it last night.”

“Oh…” You didn’t really know how to respond to that because things had seemed perfectly normal between them. Maybe even more than normal because you remembered him mentioning that they were talking about moving in together for Junior year. “Were you feeling that way too?”

“Not at all,” Eddie answered with a shake of his head and hearing how sad he sounded made you feel even worse than you already felt. 

“Shit, I’m sorry, Eds. That sucks.”

His gaze shifted to his drink; a cup of coffee that you had also ordered, except you had put borderline too much sugar in yours. Another silence began to linger between you and him, and you couldn’t help but wonder if you were saying the right things at this moment. You weren’t sure, but you hoped so. 

It didn’t feel right to change the subject to something else— to talk about the end of finals week or the end of the semester itself because it actually felt pretty unimportant now. But, you were trying to think of something to say. 

“We should do something this summer,” You blurted out, breaking the quiet.

Eddie looked at you then, the same melancholic look on his face that was so foreign to you because he was usually always smiling or laughing or making a joke about something. It was this moment that made you feel so grateful for all the previous times that you’d ever gotten to see him happy. “Like what?”

“Like, I don’t know… Some sort of trip? A road trip, maybe?” You were suggesting the first things that came to your mind that didn’t sound too outlandish. “I’m not entirely sure, but I just refuse to let you spend the summer wallowing in sadness about this breakup.” 

He considered your words for a second and in that brief silence, you thought that maybe you’d been a bit too blunt. But then Eddie was responding to you and you knew that you said the right thing. “A road trip could be fun.” 

“Yes, exactly,” You smiled. “And I think that’s what you need right now.”

“Just you and me?”

“That was the initial thought, yeah,” You nodded. “I know Robin is going home for the summer, and same thing with Vickie too. But, I mean, if you wanna invite some of the band guys that’s fine.”

“No, just you and me is good,” Eddie smiled back, and after seeing him look so sad for the past few minutes, it felt like a breath of fresh air to see him look at least a little happier now. The breakup was a shitty situation— in Eddie’s eyes, shitty probably sounded like an understatement— but things didn’t have to stay that way. 

This road trip would be a good thing, a healing thing in more ways than one— a summer of him moving on and things going back to the way they were for you two. You were best friends after all, and you had a feeling that even he could admit that things had become somewhat different between the two of you for the past year and a half. He had Chrissy, and in more recent months, you’d become really close to Robin and Vickie. 

Now things would be back to just you and him for the time being, which was something that felt as if it hadn’t happened in forever. Before this moment in the diner, you remembered that the last time it was just you and him hanging out was three weeks ago in your single dorm room after his band had a gig at a local bar. 

You missed him, you were realizing now, you had missed him a lot. And it wasn’t the part of you that had feelings for him, which had been locked away in a metaphorical box and buried, that missed him— in this moment that was, for obvious reasons, the farthest thing from your mind. Instead, it was the part of you that just saw him as your best friend that had missed him like crazy, and you wondered if he’d been feeling the same way too.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

Spring Semester 2018

It was almost over. 

Weeks passed until the countdown went to single digits; eight to be exact. Eight days until you were going to Steve’s family wedding in Mexico, and then when you got back from that, you and him would be “broken up.”

It hadn’t worked— at least, still not yet. There was no sudden declaration of love from Eddie that you’d been expecting to happen, as per Steve’s thoughts, and the words didn’t fall from his lips in a much less dramatic way either. Little moments with Eddie, ones that felt like both nothing and everything, continued on and proceeded to confuse you just as much as they made you feel okay. 

Even this moment, sitting out on the metal steps of Eddie’s fire escape and smoking weed in the middle of a random Thursday, felt like a solid mix of everything and nothing.

“Isn’t it kind of weird?” He asked as he passed the joint back over to you. “You’ve barely been together a month.” 

“I mean it’s not really normal, but I don’t think it’s necessarily weird,” You said with a shrug as you took only a quick hit because you were already comfortably high. You weren’t entirely sure why Eddie was harping on this Mexico thing now when he’d known about it for the past two weeks at this point. “And it’s for a wedding, so it’s not like an actual vacation.”

He shrugged halfheartedly. “I know that we didn’t have any specific plans set for spring break, but I still just expected to spend it with you.”

“We still can spend most of it together. I leave after my last class that Friday and then I come back on Tuesday,” You told him, doing a basic explanation of the information that you had found out only a little over a week ago when you were slightly filled in on the itinerary. You and Steve would get there Friday, Saturday and Sunday would be filled with random “family” activities (that Steve promised he’d try his hardest to get you both out of), the actual wedding was on Monday, and the early morning flight Steve’s parents got for you on Tuesday was the same as Steve’s. “So, for most of the week, I’ll get to be here with you and everyone else.”

“I guess…” Eddie trailed off and it seemed as if he was going to say something more, but he didn’t.

If it wasn’t for the weed making your mind a bit cloudy and a lot less rational, you probably would’ve let the conversation end there and simply shifted it to something else. But, because of that, you couldn't. 

You nudged him lightly with your shoulder. “What are you thinking?”

He was quiet only for a second. “I think I finally get it.” 

Hearing him say that didn’t do anything to wash away any of your confusion. “Get what?”

“Okay, my head is moving in a ton of different directions right now, so bear with me here,” Eddie said and you simply nodded, having no idea where he was going with what he was saying. “When me and Chrissy were dating did you ever get jealous?”

You didn’t say anything at first, and you also didn’t say anything for the next few long moments. You let his question sit in the cool air because you couldn’t figure out how to respond to it. Your mind considered telling the truth, and it also considered simply telling some other lying excuse that you’d become so good at making up over the past few years.

More than anything, though, you wanted to know why he was asking that question in the first place and where the hell this conversation was even going. 

“I’m sorry,” Eddie abruptly said, pulling you out of your thoughts. “I know that was such a random question to ask.” 

“I don’t think I really get what you mean by it,” You finally spoke. That response was only a partial lie because you understood the question itself completely, but you really didn’t understand where it had come from.

“I don’t know. I just think that I’ve been feeling kinda jealous lately about you and Steve, so if you had ever felt the same way when I was dating Chrissy I get it completely now. I really miss you and I’ve missed moments like these when it’s just you and me, which have felt pretty rare lately,” He told you as he stubbed out what was left of the joint with his shoe and all you could do right then was look down at it. “And I know exactly how selfish that makes me sound, and I also know that I kind of have no right to feel that way because I did the same thing to you. But, yeah, I don’t know, that’s just how I’ve been feeling.”

It was a lot of information to process at once. At first, the only thing you were able to focus on was the fact that he was rambling, which felt surprising to you because he was never a rambler like you were. And then his rambled words were making sense in your head and you realized that maybe this was it. It wasn’t the blatant “profession of love” that you thought would suddenly happen one day over the past month, but it felt pretty close to it and you were finally willing to ask the question that would settle everything. 

This didn’t necessarily feel like a “now or never” type of moment, but you weren’t sure if you’d get an opening like this one in the next few days before the fake dating expiration date finally hit. And you also didn’t know if you would feel this way again, if you’d get this same tiny burst of courage that you had at this moment. 

“Do you think that means something else?” You were asking before your sudden confidence could wear off and you became left feeling nervous and overthinking everything once again. 

“Like what?”

“Like, you like me or something? More than just as a friend?” You couldn’t look at him as the questions fell from your lips— you couldn’t. Because you knew that this was it, whatever his answer was would tell you exactly what you had wanted to know and what you had endlessly wondered about for the past few years. Even when he and Chrissy were happily dating and your feelings for him were buried down and pushed far away, there was still the smallest part of you that wondered at times; hopelessly wondered. 

Whatever happened in this moment and whatever his answer ended up being, you’d be fine with it, you decided. You’d force yourself to be fine with it. Because there’d really be no other option. 

“No, no, of course not. We’re just friends, I know that,” Eddie answered with a shake of his head. There wasn’t a hint of hesitation or uncertainty in his answer. You could hear how honest he was being with you right then almost too clearly. “I honestly think that if something was gonna, or was supposed to happen, between us it would’ve happened already. I know that we’re just meant to be best friends.”

You simply stayed quiet as his words washed over you and you made yourself accept them exactly for what they were. 

You expected to feel devastated— you waited for the feeling to hit you, actually. But, it didn’t. 

Surprisingly, this indirect rejection wasn’t as horrible as you’d built it up in your head to be. Maybe it was the weed or maybe you were just in shock. But, either way, you were finally realizing that Eddie was so fucking right. 

He was your best friend and you now knew that that wasn’t going to change. You suddenly became so certain about it. 

“You’re right,” You finally said, your voice was soft and quiet, and you were kind of over talking but you still continued. “It would’ve happened already.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna try to break you and Steve up or something; he seems like a good boyfriend. I just miss my best friend sometimes. A lot of the time, actually,” Eddie told you. “But, I am glad that you’re happy with him.”

At this point, you considered just telling him everything. That Steve wasn’t really your boyfriend, that the entire thing had been some abrupt idea suggested on the sidewalk adjacent to a movie theater parking lot, that you’d been lying for the last month. Because all of it meant absolutely nothing now and it ended up being for nothing; just like a part of you had expected it would be.

Or maybe it had actually been the right thing to do because even though it didn’t give you the answer that you wanted, this stupid grand scheme did give you the answer that you needed to know. That was probably true, but you still quickly found yourself feeling a lot more embarrassed than you’d ever want to admit. Embarrassed for wanting to do this fake dating thing in the first place, and even more embarrassed for really believing that it could actually work.

You decided against using this moment to be honest with Eddie. Mainly because you just wanted the conversation to change entirely. So you shifted the subject and started talking about watching a movie on his couch and ordering in some food because you were starting to feel hungry. Eddie let the conversation change and agreed to get food, suggesting a burger place that was sort of close and was always good. 

You were pretty sure that you’d never want to tell him the truth about everything. Right then, all you wanted was for spring break to come and end so that what you and Steve were doing could be over and you could forget that any of it had ever happened in the first place. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

next part!

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[pretty-circa006]

Unhealthy Attachments pt.2

His Favorite Student

◀︎ previous part

Coach! Negan x Student! F! Reader

summary Negan becomes your safe space, but he can't keep you safe all of the time tags mentions of bullying/ bullying, second person pov, mild sexual thoughts, age gap as per usual lol, vague mentions of religion

wc 2.7k

*you are responsible for your own content consumption. if this is something you DO NOT like, simply DO NOT read or interact! :) *

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚⋆ ˚｡⋆ 

Those lunches with Coach Negan made your spring semester more bearable. Of course, the bullying didn’t stop or anything, but you could almost ignore it now that you had an escape. That 45 minutes in Negan’s office splitting a sandwich was the best part of your day, the only time you felt safe at school. You couldn’t deny that you were growing closer to the man. Through the conversations you shared during the short periods of time, the two of you grew closer, even though he’d never admit it. Your blossoming relationship with the handsome man gave you butterflies. Perhaps, it was because you were just happy to have a friend outside of the church for the first time in what felt like forever. 

“Hey, Coach,” you greeted upon entering his office. After the second week of your visits, you stopped knocking and just let yourself in and he didn’t seem to mind. You handed him a paper bag with his own sandwich, something you started doing recently to show him you were grateful for his kindness. You took your usual seat and started eating. 

"Lookin' forward to spring break, kid?" he asked, leaning back in his chair. You shrugged your shoulders. You didn't have anything to do but sit around and help out in the church all week. Even if you had any friends, your dad wouldn't let you go out with them. 

"No? What kinda fuckin' teenager doesn't look forward to spring break," he laughed. You rolled your eyes. 

"One whose only friend is a forty-something year old man," you deadpanned. He snorted, not because he thought your retort was funny, but because you thought he was your friend. 

"Look, kid, just because I let you eat in here does not make us friends. I am your goddamn teacher! This thing between us is purely professional." His words shouldn't have stung as much as they did. Everything he said was true, but a small part of you  hoped he wouldn't take his job so seriously and just be your friend. Seeing the happiness fizzle out of you because of his words stung, but Negan couldn't risk things going any further than this. He was already nicer to you than he was anyone else, which could cause room for suspicion of inappropriate activities. As much as he liked having you around, he liked having a job a tad more. 

 You didn't speak again and instead tore off bits of your sandwich and nibbled on them until the bell signaling the end of the lunch period rang. Negan watched as you cleaned up your trash and gathered your things. You lingered by the doorway, fiddling with the sleeves of that hideous sweater you had on. 

"Um, if you have time, maybe you can come for the church's service on Easter Sunday?"  

"Kid, you know I don't believe in that shit." 

"I know, but..." You didn't know how to tell him that you just wanted an excuse to see him during the break, because you knew you'd miss him, so you didn't.

"I understand," you said instead before leaving. 

...

 You didn't want to go to PE. The thought of seeing Negan again after that awkward lunch made your stomach churn. But you went anyway because you knew you'd be in a world of trouble if you didn't. 

"You're here early, miss me already, kid?" Negan said as he came out of his office wearing his bright, dimpled smile. You glared at him, angry at how he can be so normal after practically ripping your heart out then smushing it under his shoe. 

"Stop calling me that!" you snapped. 

"What's got your panties in a bunch?" he asked once he was standing before you, towering over you. His vulgar words set your face ablaze with heat. 

"C-coach, that is not how you speak to someone you have a professional relationship with!" You clutched your backpack straps and hurried to the locker room to change. Negan just shrugged his shoulders and went back to waiting for his other students to file in. 

 Negan never cared to take attendance, so when it seemed like most of the class was there, he started the class by blowing his whistle and getting everyone's attention. He didn't feel like orchestrating an activity that day, so he just just let the class have free time and play around the gym. Everyone broke out into their own groups. Some students shot hoops while others bounced a volleyball around in a circle, some played badminton or just sat around chatting with their friends. He was about to slink off to his office to get some work done, but then he saw you. You stood around looking clueless for a second before walking over to the group bouncing a volleyball in a circle. Every time you tried joined in, someone would move to close the circle, effectively pushing you out. You grabbed a racket to join in with the badminton group but when nobody hit the birdie your way, you put it back and sat down on the bench outside of his office. He wanted to leave you be, just moping like you usually did. But he felt drawn to you. He wanted to bring out the you that he saw in his office during lunch hour and block out everything that left you feeling empty. He had to keep a solid boundary between the two of you. Your attachment to him was already becoming unhealthy. But there’s nothing wrong with a teacher talking to his student. 

 You quickly wiped your tears then glanced up at the handsome man when he took a seat beside you. 

“You look fuckin’ depressed,” he cheerily observed. He immediately regretted his tone when he saw the harshness of your glare. 

“I’m fine,” you snapped. 

“Then why’re you cryin’?" He asked, sounding genuinely concerned this time. You looked up at him with sad, doe eyes, wanting to pour your heart out to him, like you would a friend. But Negan wasn’t your friend and he made that clear. 

“Just leave me alone!” You muttered. You were sick of Negan. He said one thing with his words, but did the complete opposite with his actions a minute later and it made your head spin. You stood up and started to leave, but his hand grabbed your wrist, gently enough for you to pull away, but firm enough so you wouldn’t just slip through his fingers. His touch sent tingles up your spine. You looked around to see if anyone saw then relaxed when you realized they didn’t. You snatched your hand back and sat down again, this time a little closer. 

“Look, ki-“ he stopped himself from saying ‘kid’ and used your name instead, causing warmth to blossom in your cheeks. Your name so flowed nicely from his mouth. 

“What do you want, coach?” You asked. 

“Jus’ came to keep ya company.” 

“Why? It’s not like we’re friends or anything,” you bit back. 

“That is correct. I am just a teacher checking on his goddamn student,” he said smugly. You looked down at the floor and blinked back tears. You didn’t need him rubbing salt in your freshly inflicted wound. 

“Hey,” he tilted your chin up with a bent finger, making you look at him, “We are not friends, but that does not mean that I do not care about you. I dislike you the least out of all my students, so I am going out of my goddamn way to make sure you are okay.” He wasn’t always the nicest, but when he needed to be, he sure was genuine. That was your favorite thing about him and it made you feel a little better. Even though this was his first time saying it, you always felt that he cared about you. 

“So, I’m your favorite student?” You teased, a smile returning to your previously sullen face. 

“That’s not what I said,” he deadpanned, but you could tell he was suppressing his own smile. You nudged him with your foot and he gently smiled at you. He patted your knee as he stood up. 

“Go do something with the rest of the period and stop sitting around like a damn bum.” 

 You walked back inside once you heard the bell ring. You spent the remaining 45 minutes of the period walking around the track outside. The cool and breezy air conditioning felt great against your sweaty body. Going for a stroll in the sweltering Virginia heat wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants wasn’t a bright idea in the slightest, but you didn’t want to lose your position of being Negan’s favorite by defying his request. You beelined to the locker room, eager to shower and get out of your sweaty clothes. You grabbed your original clothes from your locker and walked to the showers. At least tried to, but you were stopped by a crowd of girls. You tried to squeeze by, but they wouldn’t let you through. 

“Could I get by, please?” You asked politely, not wanting to start anything. 

“Are you fucking Coach Negan?” One girl blurted before being immediately reprimanded by her friends. Your eyes widened in shock as your face burned with embarrassment and anger from such a ludicrous accusation. 

“Wh-What?! No, why.. why would think that?” Your shock was real, but for some reason, you felt like you were lying. 

“Don’t lie. We saw the way he acted with you. How he was looking at you. How you look at him!” A different girl chimed in. You were at a loss for words. You floundered, unable to even think for the sake of forming a response. "Yeah. And we've seen you eating lunch with him, like, every day," the first girl concluded.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! That would- He wouldn- He’s m-my teacher!” You stammered. 

“Uh huh, just cut the act, Virgin Mary. No shame in trying to get a good grade.” The girls broke out in a chorus of laughter before pushing past you and leaving the showers. You wished you had some clever response or really any response at all, but you were dumbfounded. You set your things down on the bench before getting undressed and setting your dirty gym clothes aside. You hopped in the shower and let the warm water splash over you as your mind reeled.

  You couldn’t fathom why those girls, why anyone would think you and Negan would engage in pre-marital coitus. Or any form of physical intimacy. Sure, he was good looking and whenever he grazed or brushed against you, you felt all tingly inside. And you wouldn’t mind doing such things with the older man, even if, according to your father, you’d be damned to hell for all eternity. Your mind wandered to a place you fought so hard for it to not go. A place where you imagined how Negan’s large hands would feel all over your body, how your name would sound coming from his mouth as he whispered dirty things into your ear as he undressed you. You felt warm down there, a throbbing sensation that often happened when you thought of him for too long. You turned the handle, changing the water from hot to cold in order to ground yourself. You shouldn’t be having these thoughts, they were sinful and inappropriate. You turned off the water and wrapped yourself in your towel before stepping out of the shower. 

 Panic filled your chest when you saw the bench you left your stuff on was empty. This can’t be right,  you thought to yourself, rushing to the locker you had inside the locker room. Nothing. It felt like your heart stopped beating and it became hard to breathe. You were stuck here. You couldn’t leave the locker room in just your towel, that would be humiliating. And even if you did leave, you had no other spare clothes. 

“Hello?” You called out, hoping there was still a girl in here who would help you somehow. When no response came, you called out again. “Is there anyone in here?” Silence. You sat on the bench in nothing but your towel, not knowing what else to do and cried. Cried because you had no idea how to get out of this situation, cried because you resented yourself for letting people treat you this way, cried because it felt like the entire world was plotting against you. 

 On the two out of five days of the week you had PE, you had it as the last class of the day. After every class, without fail, you’d give Negan a little wave on your way out to say goodbye. It quickly became something he looked forward to, so when he didn’t see it in the crowd of students leaving, he grew concerned. At first he brushed it off, figuring you were still upset by what he told you at lunch. But when he saw your backpack on the floor as he was closing up the gym, he immediately knew something was wrong. He couldn’t believe he was actually about to do this as he walked toward the girl’s locker room. 

He called your name as he banged on the door. “You still in there?” He asked. “Yeah,” came your shaky reply. “Y’alright? Need me to come in there?” He asked apprehensively. “Yeah.” He walked all the way in, a hand over his eyes until you told him “You don’t have to cover your eyes, I’m decent.” He removed his hand and saw you sat on the bench in your towel, looking up at him with red, puffy eyes.

“It’s almost five o’clock, the hell are you still doing here?” If you hadn’t cried out all your tears earlier, you would have burst into tears once again. 

“My clothes are gone,” you admitted, ashamed. 

“What do you mean they’re ‘gone’?” He asked. You sighed, too exhausted to feel anything. “I got out the shower and my clothes were gone. Checked my locker and they’re not in there either,” you explained. He let out a disappointed sigh. For a split second, he found himself wanting to beat whoever did this to you into a bloody pulp, but he couldn’t go around beating up high schoolers. But he did sure as hell want to cuss them out, give him a piece of his mind, maybe an in school suspension too. He had never seen you look so helpless and defeated before. You’ve been down before, but now you just seemed like a weak shell of yourself. You couldn’t even look at him, and that’s what hurt the most. 

 Without another word, he pulled off his own crewneck sweatshirt. You happened to glance over at him as his t-shirt underneath rode up too, revealing his toned stomach. You quickly glanced away, once he got the sweatshirt off. He stood there in his white t-shirt and tossed the sweater at you. 

“Put this on. I’ll try to find some pants for you in the lost and found.” With that, he left and you hastily put on the garment. It was still warm with his body heat and smelled like him too, which was oddly comforting. After a minute or so, he came back and tossed you a pair of sweatpants. You looked at them suspiciously, not wanting to put on strange pants when you didn’t have any underwear. 

“They’re new. Had some spares in my office.” You put them on once he turned around then stood up. 

“Thank you,” you muttered. He had so much he wanted to say, so many questions he wanted to ask, but he left it alone, not wanting to upset you further. “Not a problem.” You stood there awkwardly and he did too. The unsaid words between you two were forming a thick cloud of tension that fogged the air. You opened your mouth to say something, but instead of words coming out, fresh, hot tears sprang to your eyes. Negan opened his arms for a hug because he could tell you needed one and gravity pulled you into them like a magnet and you just sobbed into his shirt much like you did all those weeks ago while he held you tightly and repeatedly whispered it’s alright. Negan tried to pull away after he felt that you calmed down enough, but you clung to him. 

"I missed the bus. My parents are gonna be so mad!" you whined. He sighed and patted your head. 

"I'll give you a ride home." 

next part ▶︎

[captainsophiestark]

Happy Ending

Luke Castellan x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2023!

Fandom: Percy Jackson

Day 22 Prompt: "Who takes care of you?"

Summary: What if Luke had come by to see Y/N, his pre-betrayal best friend and SO, instead of Annabeth between books 3 and 4?

Word Count: 4,189

Category: Angst, Fluff

A/N: I really loved the vibes of this post by @m4gp13 so this is very loosely inspired by it, even though the main body of the story doesn't have much to do with it lol

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I sighed, staring at the piles of boxes on the floor of my dorm room. The spring semester of my second year of college was just coming to a close, and I still had a lot to do to be ready for everything after it finished. I was moving into my own apartment for the summer, and needed to move from the dorm room to my new apartment. As soon as that was over, I'd planned a visit to Camp Half-Blood, the training camp for heroes I kept going back to, even though I was technically an adult.

I needed to pack everything in my dorm, move it to my apartment, and then be able to unpack everything I'd need for a few weeks visiting camp. This packing job would need to be strategically worthy of Athena.

I'd just barely managed to psych myself up to get started when a knock came at my door. I huffed a sigh, but I really didn't mind the distraction all that much.

"Coming!" I called. I glanced out the peep hole, then froze solid when I saw Luke Castellan staring back at me.

My heart stopped dead in my chest. I looked again and saw he had no monsters with him, at least not visibly, but I couldn't understand why he would come here without them.

Luke had been one of my closest friends in the world since we met as kids, on the run together from our mutually shitty families. We'd met first, then found Thalia and Annabeth after. Luke and I were the same age, and we'd been thick as thieves since day one, Hermes pun intended. As we'd gotten older, a small crush I'd had on Luke had grown massive, and luckily for me he'd returned my feelings. We'd been happily dating and in love ever since, until two summers ago, when he'd betrayed me and every single one of our friends and joined Kronos.

I'd barely talked to him since. We only had contact once and a while, and every time, it went the same way. I was hurt, he was apologetic but not willing to change any of his decisions. Me and the rest of Camp fought him and his monsters, and I tried not to fall apart at the loss of the love of my life.

The distraction provided by college had been a serious, serious relief.

But now, Luke was here. In the middle of space where I very intentionally avoided thinking about him, on my doorstep for whatever reason. And I had no idea what to do.

"Y/N? I know you're in there. I'm here under a flag of truce. I just want to talk."

Just like that, any desire to duck and hide crumbled. The rational part of my brain screamed at me that he could be lying, that this might just be a trap, but I ignored it. After everything we'd been through, if Luke said he wanted to talk, I wanted to hear him out.

I opened the door, and Luke's shoulders sagged with relief when he saw me. I wanted to dart forward and wrap him in a hug, something I hadn't been able to do in two years, but I held myself back. Luke shifted a little from foot to foot, looking incredibly awkward, so after a second's hesitation I stepped to the side.

"Would you like to come in?"

He gave me a suspicious look, like he thought it was a trap or a trick or something. My heart shattered in my chest. How had things gone this wrong, that we stood on opposite sides of the door as basically strangers?

"My house is a mess, because I'm in the middle of packing up to move, but... if you want to talk, Luke, I feel like the hallway isn't gonna be the best place to do it."

He gave me a curt nod, not quite meeting my eyes as he walked past me into my apartment. I glanced down the hallway, taking one last look to make sure we didn't have any lingering monsters, but things were deserted. I sighed and went back into my apartment, closing the door behind me.

I found Luke hovering in the space between the kitchen and the living room, surveying things with a strange look on his face. I moved toward him carefully, not getting too close in case I spooked him.

"Do you want some tea or something? I haven't packed my electric kettle yet-"

"I think tea might take longer than the five minutes I promised."

I turned to look at Luke, raising one eyebrow in challenge, a little bit of our old rapport back. He shifted his weight around and glanced towards the door, then met my eyes again.

"Luke... is some giant monster going to burst through my door in five minutes? Or an army of small monsters, or anything under that general monster-army umbrella?"

"What? No, no, there's... no. I'm here under a flag of truce. There's nothing coming to hurt you, and when I leave... I'll leave."

"Okay then," I said, deciding not to comment on just how shaken and pale Luke looked, at least not right now. "Then I'm giving you a pass on the five minutes. And electric kettles take like two seconds anyway, seriously. They're magical."

Luke huffed, shaking his head as an incredulous smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. My heart squeezed, but I made myself move towards the kitchen and act like things were normal.

"Take a seat, Luke. Or come pick your tea."

Luke took the second option, and my heart doubled its speed when I felt him hovering behind me, closer than we'd been in a long time if you didn't count combat. He leaned over my shoulder to point to the bag of black tea on my counter, and I nodded as I poured the hot water into our cups. I dropped two teabags in each of our drinks, then turned to Luke with a smile.

He stood a little more than a foot from me, and he took the cup from my hands carefully, like he didn't want this bubble of peace and normalcy to burst either. I stared into his beautiful, bright blue eyes, a smile growing on my face again despite myself. I'd missed this. A lot.

The moment lasted another few seconds, and then Luke cleared his throat and looked away. He took a tentative sip of his tea, then looked at me again, his face deadly serious.

"I don't know how to say this. I... I learned some things recently, about some plans I wasn't aware of before."

He paused and took another sip of his tea, and his hand shook a little as he brought the mug away from his lips. Shock coursed through my body as I realized Luke was scared.

"Kronos, he- he's going to use me. He's going to use me to take over the world. This summer... he's going to use me like a stepping stone, until he gets so much power he's unstoppable."

"Luke... what are you saying?"

His eyes had wandered to stare holes in the wall of my kitchen while he'd talked, but now they snapped back to me, wide and full of urgency.

"I'm saying I want to run away. I want us to run away, like the old days. Before... before he gets the chance to carry out his plan."

I stared at Luke for a few minutes, then shook my head, scoffing and pushing past him into the living room of my house. I paced a little, trying to make sense of what he'd just told me. What he'd just asked of me.

"Luke... I don't know what to say!" I finally admitted, completely honest as I turned back to him. He watched me, his expression guarded. "I don't... I don't think I can just run away. Not from the life I've managed to build, not from our friends still here and risking their lives!"

"So that's it, then?" he asked, taking a few steps forward, his tone angry. "Your answer's no?"

I huffed a laugh, staring at anything in the room except for Luke and trying to think. My brain was working a million miles an hour, but I still needed a little bit of time to think things through. But I wasn't sure I had time.

"Okay, Luke, can we sit down for a minute? Actually talk about this?" I said, taking slow steps towards him. I set my mug down on the nearest table, then reached out to gently rest my hands on his. A storm of emotions raged behind his eyes, but he didn't stop me or pull away. "This is a lot to take in all at once. Can we work through this together?"

His jaw worked like he was holding back some retort, but he let me pull him along towards the couch. Slowly, together, we sank down onto the cushions. I only pulled one hand back, and made sure our knees rested against each other, hoping it would do something to help keep Luke grounded.

"I don't want to run," I said simply, meeting his eyes. He opened his mouth, looking ready with an outburst again, but I continued before he could. "But Luke, think about it. Where are we gonna go that he doesn't find you, especially if he wants to? Monsters can sniff us out. We'd never, ever be able to live another day without looking over our shoulders."

Luke's shoulders sagged, and he shook his head miserably as he stared at the half-full mug in his hand.

"Then there's no hope."

"That's not what I said. And it's also not true." Luke scoffed, shooting me a look out of the corner of his eye. I looked right back. "If you don't want to follow through on what Kronos is asking of you, why not just come back with me? To Camp, to my somewhat normal life. I have an apartment with space for two. You could even enroll with me next semester, if you wanted to."

Luke shook his head. He pursed his lips as he raised his head to meet my eyes again.

"And let the Olympians continue exploiting us? Let them keep destroying people and lives because we don't matter to them?"

I huffed a sigh. "Look, I'm not their biggest fan either, but right now it seems like it's 'let Kronos kill you' or 'stop fighting the Olympians'."

Luke shook his head again, more energized this time, more angry. He stared at the wall ahead of us, the same hurt and bitterness I'd seen from him over the years burning in his eyes.

"It's just not right. There should be something we can do. Something that isn't Kronos, but isn't letting the Olympians win."

And just like that, a lightbulb went off in my head.

"Luke... what if there was a way we could do that?"

****************

That night, Luke and I stayed up until almost two in the morning brainstorming and working out the details of my plan. When we finally decided to get some sleep, he stayed with me, and curling up in the same tiny twin bed, falling asleep to the sound of his heartbeat, had me more at peace and ease than I had been in a long, long time.

The next morning, we finalized a few things over breakfast. Then, there was nothing left to do but put our plan into action.

Luke stayed in the apartment, tasked with keeping his head down and finishing packing for me, since I had other places I had to be. Namely, Camp Half-Blood. A little earlier than I'd talked about with Chiron, and hopefully, before the place was crawling with campers for the summer.

Thankfully, it didn't take me too long to get to Camp. I arrived a little after lunch and found the place expectedly deserted. From the top of the hill, I could see some of the year-rounders moving around the lake. I tried to keep them from noticing me as I headed straight for the Big House.

I paused just outside the front door to steel my nerves one last time, then marched inside. I found Chiron and Mr. D sitting together, apparently deep in conference. They both looked up when they noticed me, matching looks of surprise on their faces (although Chiron's had a noticeably happier edge to it).

"Y/N! We weren't expecting you for another few weeks-"

"I'm not staying for long. Something just came up that I needed to talk to you about right away. To both of you, actually, especially Mr. D."

He raised a bored eyebrow in my direction but otherwise didn't move. Chiron motioned to a chair at the table.

"By all means, please."

"That's alright, I think I'll stand," I said. I took a deep breath, squaring my shoulders and straightening my spine. I would not back down, wouldn't leave until I'd succeeded. Luke and I's future depended on it.

I took a moment to make very intentional, determined eye contact with Mr. D. His other eyebrow raised.

"I'm here to bargain for a pardon for Luke Castellan."

Silence. Both Chiron and Mr. D just stared at me for a few long moments, then turned to look at each other. Chiron looked concerned, but Mr. D burst out laughing.

"He's a traitor and an enemy of Olympus! This has all been very boring and ridiculous, and a waste of our time. Get out."

Mr. D's last word had a firey threat behind it, but I didn't flinch.

"You and the rest of the Olympians are perfectly aware what a threat Kronos presents. Everybody's getting scared, and they should be. He's got a plan for returning to his Titan form, the one he had before he was defeated the first time, before Zeus cut him apart and cast him into Tartarus. And it's a plan that he can definitely make succeed.

"Luke knows all about this plan. Obviously. And he's willing to defect and tell you all about it, so we can stop it before it happens. But you have to give him a complete pardon, sworn on the River Styx by Zeus."

Mr. D snorted again, this time raising from his chair and taking a few threatening steps towards me. I still didn't back down.

"Y/N, listen," Chiron interrupted, shuffling forward a little bit to stand partially in between me and Mr. D. "If you have information that could save Olympus and the camp-"

"Oh, I have some. Just like Chris Rodriguez had some. But Luke has all of it. And you're not getting any of it without giving him a pardon first."

"Or we could force it out of you before finding your little boyfriend and doing the same to him," said Mr. D, his tone light but his eyes blazing. Chiron started to step in again, but I spoke up before he got the chance.

"You haven't been able to find him this long, you won't be able to find him now. And anybody who knows anything about interrogations knows that torture just plain and simple doesn't work for getting information." Mr. D grunted, but we both knew I had him there. "Besides, if Luke gets his pardon, that means more than just getting all the information from Kronos' former right hand man. It also means that Kronos loses said right hand man, who's been organizing and leading a lot of the work so far."

Chiron and Mr. D shared a look, and I tried not to let it show just how much my heart was racing. For the first time since I'd walked in here, I actually felt a glimmer of hope that my plan might succeed. Chiron turned back to me, the worried look still on his face.

"Y/N... what makes you so confident that Luke wants to defect?"

"He sought me out," I answered simply, trying to dance around his location at least a bit. "He's realizing quickly just how bad Kronos would and could be, and he's scared. Terrified. He wants a way out, so when he found me, he asked me to run away with him. I suggested trying this plan first, mostly so I don't have to leave behind everyone else I love. But also because, this way, you might stand a chance against Kronos that you wouldn't have if we'd left without offering information."

The conversation continued for almost another hour, centered mostly around Mr. D making threats and, when I didn't back down, reminding me that I was trying to demand something of Zeus. He made plenty of good points, but I'd thought through all the ways this plan could go terribly, painfully wrong with Luke before I'd come here. I wasn't going to give in, for anything.

Finally, after restating my points and my argument a few times, Mr. D agreed to bring my request to Mount Olympus. I waited anxiously in the Big House with Chiron, whose brow remained deeply creased the entire time. I didn't engage, intentionally avoiding the conversation he looked like he wanted to have, but I saw him watching me out of the corner of my eye.

I started to get worried as the evening came, but finally, Mr. D reappeared. The first time he'd delivered his news, I honestly hadn't believed him. I asked him to repeat himself, which he rolled his eyes over, but the words were the same. Somehow, by some miracle, I'd managed to succeed.

Zeus was willing to give Luke his pardon in exchange for information and defecting.

I wasn't a complete idiot, so made sure the terms were clear when Mr. D brought me to Olympus to witness the oath. The words covered any retaliation, punishment, or harm that might come to Luke, and completely prevented it. Zeus spoke the words and the sky rumbled with lightning. I tried not to shake in relief or from the adrenaline dump as I bowed and promised he wouldn't regret his decision. Hermes shot me a grateful look on my way out, and I returned his nod. He'd been awful to Luke, but we were aligned in not wanting to see him dead, and I got the feeling Hermes had been helpful in pleading my case.

When we returned to the Big House, I headed for the door as quickly as possible, promising to bring Luke back with me in a week when I'd been planning to return anyway. I still had to move out and then move in to a new place again, and Luke had assured me that week of time wouldn't cost the war.

I raced back home, breaking almost every traffic law in the process, but I didn't care at all. I called out to Luke from the hallway, so he wouldn't be scared when I flung the door open, then rushed to wrap him in a giant hug. We sank to the floor together, crying in relief, and stayed like that for a long, long time.

The next week felt like a dream. Luke and I finished packing up my old apartment, then moved together into the new one, which we'd started calling 'ours'. We had to duck monsters a few times, and Luke was still in significant danger, but this time we were on the same side. As we settled into our new place on the last night before we were supposed to head back to camp, I quite literally couldn't have been happier.

It was a little strange returning to camp with Luke, but I quickly got over my own concerns when I saw how tense he was. I held his hand the whole way in, and thankfully, we'd still managed to get here before most of the summer campers. Luke and I sat shoulder to shoulder in the Big House while he told Mr. D and Chiron everything about Kronos and his operation. It took hours, and I could tell Luke struggled to get a lot of it out. But he did.

It had taken long enough that we decided to stay the night, even though I could see Luke clearly didn't want to. We stayed in the Big House, and the next morning, we finished the last of the intel-sharing before heading back home.

Chiron stopped Luke on the way out the door with a hand on his shoulder and said he was so happy to have Luke back. Luke just nodded, but I squeezed his hands as I noticed a single tear making its way down his cheek as we left.

"You know..." I said as we climbed in the car. I was driving, and Luke stared determinedly out the window. "Chiron's probably not the only one who'd be happy to have you back. There might be some apology tour type-stuff, but for the most part... I think you'd get a warm welcome home."

Luke just gave a noncommittal grunt, and I let it go. That was a bridge we could cross later.

For now, we still had one final part of our plan to put into action.

The reason Luke had joined Kronos in the first place was because he'd been neglected by his Olympic parent, especially since his mortal parent had been in such a bad place. He'd discovered the hard way that Kronos was no better alternative, but the fact remained that the gods used their mortal children at best, and at worst completely ignored them for their entire lives.

We needed to find a third option, some middle ground way to make things better. So, we decided to be the change we wanted to see.

As legal adults with a newly moved-in apartment that had a decent amount of space, we had the power to make our home a space for demigods who had nowhere else to go. If their immortal parents were neglecting them and things weren't good with their mortal parent either, they could come to us. For a little while, or to stay for good. We made our own little sanctuary, then shared it with all the kids like us who'd needed it.

Over time, the operation expanded, and we moved into a bigger apartment with more space. Thanks in part to Luke and I, Camp Half-Blood won the war, and we were able to do even more once Kronos stopped being a threat. What had started as not much more than a dream of doing good had turned into a loud, busy, happy house with people constantly coming and going.

Which is how we'd ended up in an alleyway talking to a scared teenager, after helping defeat a monster who'd been bearing down on him.

"Who takes care of you?" asked Luke, a sympathetic and understanding frown on his face as we stood a little ways from the kid. We didn't want to make him uncomfortable, but we'd gotten good at spotting the signs of a young Half-Blood in distress and helping them.

"I take care of myself," the kid spit. I tried not to glance at Luke.

"We used to do that, too," I said, moving a little closer to Luke. "We both ran away from home, survived on the streets, although I guess we really took care of each other."

"Now, we take care of people like you," Luke continued, right where I'd left off. "Do you know what you are?"

The kid hesitated, then half shook his head. He at least had some idea, then.

"You're a Half-Blood," I said. "Half mortal, half immortal Olympian god."

"...What?"

"Look, I know it's a lot to process," said Luke. "But the longer the three of us sit in this alley, the more likely it is another monster's gonna come and pick a fight."

We managed to get the kid up and moving, heading back for our apartment. On the way, we explained more about the Olympians, and told him about Camp Half-Blood.

"It's a good place to get training, and to meet other Half-Bloods like you," I said. "A place for heroes."

"It's only one option, though," Luke added. The kid nodded, looking a little overwhelmed but excited as we stopped outside our apartment door.

"And... what's the other option?"

Luke and I shared a smile, then he pushed open the door to our apartment.

Inside, we were immediately greeted with a wave of noise and excitement. We'd left Ethan Nakamura, one of the Half-Bloods Luke had met away from camp, in charge, and he'd been leading the rest of our group in basic combat lessons.

"What... what is this place?"

"A place for normal kids who need somebody to take care of them," Luke answered. "You'll still get training, since monsters will always be trying to kill you."

"But we won't ever ask anything of you, other than to do your own damn dishes," I said. "No dangerous quests, no tribute to the gods. Just our own little makeshift family going through life together."

Luke put his arm around me, pulling me into his side and kissing my temple as Ethan noticed our newcomer and waved him over to join in the fun. Luke and I stayed where we were, watching the bubble of happiness we'd made together with smiles on our faces. We'd gone through hell and back to get here, but as far as I was concerned, every moment of pain had been worth it for Luke and I's happy ending.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury

Percy Jackson Taglist: @valkyriepirate

[writingsbyzuzu]

the alchemy!

chapter one

summary: an introduction to you, reader and your college life before the spring semester of your sophomore year starts.

warnings: mentions of sexual happenings, you have a single dad (your mom is not in the picture), there is no meeting of hasan yet, reader has been on bad dates.

Your dad pulls up to the dorm parking lot, as you stretch out your arms, sighing. He turns to you. “Ready kiddo?” You nod, and the two of you exit the car. He opens the back door, grabbing your suitcase from the backseat, and the two of you walk up to the dorm doors.

You swipe your student keycard to unlock the front door, and the two of you shuffle down the dorm hallway, your dad carrying your suitcase, and you carrying with one arm tupperwares full of food. “When’s Blaire coming back?” your dad asks, as he pushes the elevator button.

“She said her flight gets in on Sunday, so we can hang out for a week before class starts,” you explain, the two of you entering the elevator. Your dad nods, and the two of you stand in silence, riding up to the fourth floor.

You exit the elevator, bumping into your RA. She gives you a quick hello, as she hurries to get to the lobby. You wish her good luck with the new move-in's, and you finally arrive at your room. Your door looks different, as your RA had changed the name stickers to have different theming for you and Blaire. You smile, and your dad scans it over. “Door looks nice.” You nod, and unlock your door.

The two of you enter, and you start to put the food away in the fridge, while your dad sets your suitcase on the bed. “Do you need any additional groceries?” he asks, watching you put away the food. You shake your head. “I mean we left my car here so if I need anything, I can just drive to the store.” He nods once more, and the two of you sit in silence. Your dad wasn’t much of a talker, but he was always a loving dad, and he was all you had in terms of parents.

And he remembered your friends’ names and your roommate, which was more than what some other dads could do, you think. “Want to get lunch then?” You stand up, shutting the fridge door. “Sounds good, pop. Mr. Oliver’s?” “Let’s do it.”

Mr. Oliver’s was probably the one place in town your dad had tried on his visits to your college town that he actually enjoyed, and you would hardly disagree. The two of you ordered your usual lunches at the counter, and slid into the booth. Your dad checks his phone, and seeing some messages, texts back to who you would assume are his clients, probably asking some menial questions about something or other. Feeling a little left out, you checked your phone as well, seeing a few messages.

cinderella🩵👱🏻‍♀️: did you check back into our room already? there’s no bugs are there???

murphy hall funky bunch, markus 🐝: yo, who’s home yet? I want to play smash and I don’t want to do it by myself

murphy hall funky bunch, janet 🧚🏼‍♀️: play smash by yourself, you’re a big boy

murphy hall funky bunch, markus 🐝: damn it, janet. fuck you

murphy hall funky bunch, kieran garcia🌚: watch it bee boy, that’s my job

You snort at the messages, before deciding to answer Blaire’s first.

you: I’m back! no bugs 🥳 lfg!! looking forward to studying again in our clean ass space

cinderella🩵👱🏻‍♀️: please promise me you won’t spend this semester bunkered down in our room again!

You roll your eyes, swiping out to open up your group chat and respond to Markus, but Blaire sends more texts, so you click on it.

cinderella🩵👱🏻‍♀️: there’s more to life than studying you know! I know it means a lot to you, but college is full of parties you’re missing out on. and boys.

cinderella🩵👱🏻‍♀️: speaking of boys, I have someone I want you to meet!

You audibly groan, remembering the last time Blaire had someone she “wanted you to meet”, and your dad looks at you quizzically. You look up at him wearily. “Roommate troubles,” is all you manage to say, and your dad gives you a nod of understanding. “It’ll be okay, kiddo,” he says, before sliding out of the booth and heading to the bathroom, giving you a pat on the shoulder. You look back down at the messages before beginning to type.

you: absolutely not, you are never setting me up with anyone ever again. remember daniel? he had a literal sex bucket list and each task was for a different woman to sleep with. he was literally telling me about his exploits with fucking a middle school principal on her desk! in the middle of cane’s! no ma’am.

cinderella🩵👱🏻‍♀️: he was nice regardless!! and it was a one time error, I will never do you that dirty again 😭🤚🏼 and no worries! I’m not setting you up with anyone

cinderella🩵👱🏻‍♀️: I have a boyfriend!!!

you: WHAT??? roomie has a man??? and she didn’t tell me??? give me deets. ASAP

She doesn’t respond, so you open the group chat, shooting a message that you’d back and free to hang in an hour or so. As you put away your phone, the waitress comes out with your burgers, and sets your chili fries in front of you. You thank her, as your dad comes back and settles into the booth. “Everything settled with Blaire?” “Yeah, I just misunderstood her.”

He nods, before taking a bite of his cheeseburger. In between bites, the two of you discuss the upcoming semester, the various science classes you’re taking, and your favorite org that you’re participating in. When your dad drops you off an hour later, you give him a hug and say your goodbyes, before swiping yourself in. You see through the glass door on your left the living room, where Markus is sitting alone watching tv. You enter, and he looks over and grins, before crushing you in a hug.

“How was your Christmas?” he asks, before plopping himself back down on the couch. “Good! I got a few new switch games. Now we don’t have to play Smash every single night,” you joke. Markus rolls his eyes. “We’re always going to play smash. It’s our cult.”

“Who else is home?”

“Kieran is at Walmart right now, he took Janet with him. Ellis is upstairs unpacking his suitcase. When’s…uh when is Blaire coming back?” He avoids eye contact with you when asking the question. “Markus, I love you like a brother. I don’t want to crush your dreams, but Blaire got a boyfriend.” His eyebrows shot up.

“Who is it??” “No clue. But I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time to get to know him considering how often her last boyfriend came over,” you groan. “I had to study at the library half the time when I wasn’t working at their front desk.”

Markus pats you awkwardly on the shoulder, his face showing upset, before pausing. He had liked Blaire for months. You felt bad for saying anything, but it had to be said. His face suddenly shifted to a smirk.

“Want to play smash?”

You laugh, before nodding.

The next few days blur, and after an excursion to the town square, your friends who were back all headed to their rooms to put away the leftovers from your lunch at a restaurant at the square. As you open your room, you see Blaire unpacking. She looks up and she grins at you.

“Hey roomie.”

You run over and give her a tight squeezed hug, and she reciprocates. “When did your flight get in??” you excitedly ask, pulling away to put your box in the fridge. “An hour ago, I figured you were out with Markus, Janet and all them.” You nod, before climbing onto your bed and sitting.

“So. You never told me about your new boyfriend…” You look at her expectantly.

Her expression turns to one of almost nervousness. She holds her sweater sleeve, fiddling with it. “His name is Ludwig…okay promise me you aren’t going to judge.”

You furrow your brows in concern and nod. “Okay. I promise.”

“He’s in a frat. Gamma Pi.” You withhold a groan. “I can see you judging.” You roll your eyes. “A frat guy? Seriously?”

“They’re not all bad. He’s a good guy, I promise. You just have to meet him.” She hits you with her best puppy eyes, and you have a moment of realization. “Oh no. Blaire, no. You have to be joking.”

“We’re going to the party tonight and you’re going to meet him. It won’t kill you to get out and meet new people!”

You fall backwards onto your bed before taking a pillow and screaming into it. It just might.

[reqxxyt]

pls write a part 2 for the ethan fic ahh!! its so good

secrets out

pairings: ethan e. x f!reader

summary: after a late night, you and ethan, whom you've used to hate, grow closer, feelings blossoming once again but you tell yourself you can't risk breaking the friendship for a silly thing like your heart leaping every time he passes your thoughts.

warning: rushed ending, cheesy asf, cussing, a bit anti-climactic, maybe a bit frustrating (??), mentions of alcohol consumption

masterlist requests are open (pls be patient)

[unedited] wc: 3.6k

part one.

_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

Laughter echoed through the empty halls, stumbling footsteps as the two messed around, freshman nostalgia coursing through their smiles. It didn’t matter that the two hadn’t talked in nearly two years, rounding the start of the spring semester, all that did was the energy radiating between the two. A strange rhythm of the steps mixed with the buzzing of smiles brought comfort to both parties. 

“C’mon, you seriously didn’t know?” Ethan finally got out through his fit of laughter, easiness in the flow of conversation. You shook your head fighting the urge to laugh again, you blamed the alcohol, ignoring the factor that by now the two of you had been sober, only taking a few sips a couple of hours ago. 

“No, why didn’t you say anything?” you asked, just having discovered that the mysterious guy you had been texting the past few weeks turned out to be the boy you unknowingly kept blushing over the past hour. It turned out to be pretty anti-climactic, so apologies for not including it, but to summarize:

“I remember when you called me drunk out of your mind, professing your love to me” he continued to laugh but yours quickly died down, smile faltering soon after. Before this, you two were talking about all favorable previous times but this one made you stop in your tracks.

“What?” you swore you could feel your heart drop, trying to think back to all the times in freshman year drunk but quickly ran to the result of 0 times. The laughter had stopped, Ethan looked confused and you looked nearly ready to faint. 

“You called me. We’ve been texting,” he said, looking hesitant now, but you only kept raking your thoughts, going through everything until it finally hit your brain, almost embarrassingly slow, must be the alcohol. 

“Holy shit it's you” you blurted out with wide eyes. Of course, it was him. Him. Ethan. The universe either hates you or loves you at times and you couldn’t decide which emotion it was at the moment, whether this was a good or bad thing, all you knew was that your head was banging and the world kept spinning around you. 

He blinked, realization hitting him “You didn’t know?”

“I thought you didn’t either?” you could pull out your phone right now and show him all the texts that implied he didn’t know about you either, completely forgetting that on the day of the drunk dial, he had interpreted your voice the second he picked up. 

“I thought you were playing around” The two of you now stood in the hallway, looking dumbfounded at each other. 

“Why would I do that?” you silently exclaim, it was midnight and you didn’t want to wake any grumpy students. 

Yeah, fun times. You speak of it like it was years ago and not 10 minutes ago, you two laughed it off because, of course, it was him. The mysterious guy spoke the same and had the same teasing tone he would reserve for you and you only, you could now practically look back at the texts and see Ethan’s smile through them. It was so obvious. And you decided then it was a good thing. 

“Maybe you aren’t the smartest person I know” The laughter quieted down once again and by this point, you were engulfed in his scent, distance no longer in the same room as you found your room number. You shoved him playfully at his tease, only a side of his smile curved upwards and you suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

The silence as you two were standing outside your door felt like the two of you were secluded from the world, just gazing at each other for quiet moments until your lips parting sent the two of you out of your world. You forgot how strange that was, it wasn’t a common nor rare thing that occurred; it was strange but not… weird. 

“Will I see you more often now?” his voice was soft, almost gentle, never breaking eye contact with you and you wondered how that was possible because when you went to reply, your eyes looked down, 

“Yeah, if you’re up for it” Your head couldn’t wrap around the idea that he wanted to continue to have a friendship and go back to the way things were before you completely shut him off. You looked back up at him and you swore that you never witnessed anyone's eyes twinkle, always found it ridiculous how eyes were described in that manner, but here you are seeing his eyes glisten under the dim lighting of the hallway, crinkle under the pressure of his smile.

“‘Course I am” The response was casual but you two knew the excitement boiling down from this. You nodded, a large smile threatening to spill but you contained yourself, as the two of you departed, shutting the door behind him before resting your back against it, really getting a chance to listen to your heart make its nostalgic rhythm. 

But you couldn’t ruin it. 

Not now, not when you’ve already established a friendship with him. So you dug your feelings deep and hoped they never resurfaced. 

Easier said than done y/n. 

— the next day

“Are you serious?” Isabella barged in once again. One of these days you’ll sneak out your apartment keys from her bags but knowing that it wouldn’t do anything for her to get them back you flopped your head back into pillows, ready for another deep slumber you were rudely taken out of. “Y/n, this isn’t funny. Get up”

“What?” your voice came out muffled and you swore you could feel drool pooling on the edge of your pillow, dry drool on your chin. You rubbed your eyes, discovering the excess mascara and you groaned remembering how you nearly passed out last night after being dropped off. 

Ethan. Memories of last night flashed back and you nearly let out a giggle right there and then as you turned to your back. 

“Why didn’t you mention Ethan walking you back to your apartment last night?” she hit you with a pillow, frustration growing bursting your bubble of giddiness and you groaned once again. 

“You were with Mark,” you said shortly, looking over at her to observe her reaction and she only scowled, acting as if it wasn’t an excuse. “You wouldn’t have seen my text until afterward and seeing how you’re here in last night's clothes at” You look at the clock “7:00, you just left his place”

Her blush resurfaces, shoving a pillow at you for the 3rd time. A question quickly settled in your half-asleep brain.

“How’d you find out anyway?” you sit up, finally taking in most of your surroundings, those involving scattered papers and clothes you kept telling yourself you’d eventually get to. Isabella, without saying anything, pulls out her phone to scatter the evidence and shows you the doorbell camera catching the two of you. Instantly, you could feel your face heat up, realizing just how fawned you appeared over him. 

“Ew is that what I looked like?” you cringed, never wanting that video to resurface, wondering how you even set it off. Your hair had become frizzy—stupid midnight humid air—, your makeup slightly smudged, much worse now but at least you weren’t in front of the boy you once liked. 

“Shut up, you look fine” Isabella stood up, her hand tightening around her phone. You can’t help but smile, memories resurfacing as you tumbled to her before you loudly gasped, remembering the knowledge you gained last night. 

“Isa Isa Isa Isa” You jumped out of bed, wide awake now, repeating her name and she only grew confused, able to tell your growing excitement and grew excited with you but wasn’t sure why. 

“What what what” Her smile grew and you suddenly calmed down, taking a deep breath. “You can’t leave me hanging, what?!”

“Ethan is the guy I’ve been texting,” you say, breathless now from all the jumping around like teenage girls. Isabella shrieked and you had to take a step back before she shoved you away, it was her way of showing excitement, “No, this is terrible” You shoved her lightly and she furrowed her brows now, growing confused. 

“If you don’t stop with your overthinking. He likes you! You like him, what’s the problem now?” she was frustrated now, and if you were being honest you were too but you promised yourself last night you wouldn’t risk hurting the friendship again. 

She waited for your response but you only shrunk, knowing how stupid it would sound. “I don’t want to…” you couldn’t finish your sentence, afraid if you put it out into the universe, it will only entice it to make it occur. 

But she understood, seeing your conflicted expression, whispering a simple “okay”, she was the last person to judge her overcomplicated relationship but she couldn’t help but still feel a pang of frustration for her friend. 

Not leaving her so easily on the subject of last night, you asked her how it went and her smile grew, going on to ramble about how well it went and you smiled with her, sharing excitement and forgetting about your complications of last night, even if was just for a few minutes. You two shared a rested day, using the excuse to clean up your room and settle back down after the day, reaching for your phone that held minimal notifications. 

(user) liked your most recent post. 

Mom: are you coming this weekend or next?

But one stood out among the others, a text from Etham –  having just changed his contact – asking if you were free next weekend. You briefly looked through your calendar in hopes you had nothing planned to have an excuse to hang out with him and luckily you didn’t, just minimal studying. 

I am, why?

Way to make me ask you directly, y/n. 

Do you want to hang out this weekend?

You find yourself smiling at the texts, feeling a certain flutter blossom before you clear your throat, attempting to regain composure. 

I would love to :) 

I’ll pick you up at 6 then

You shut off your phone after that, a smile slowly stretching out again. You felt like a teenager again talking to her first crush and you couldn’t decide whether or not you hated it but the smile remained minimal this time. 

The week went by, no spottings of Ethan, and you found yourself blaming the campus for its size. The two of you would constantly check in on each other for the most random things, however, finding any excuse to talk to one another, and by the end of the week, you accepted the way your heart leaped at the sound of his text arriving. But still, you told yourself you wouldn’t act on it. Not anytime soon at least.

Isa took the last bit and ran with it, still believing the two of you had a shot no matter the number of times you tried to shoot the idea down. 

“Where are you two going anyway?” she asks, staying over on Friday night. The two of you tried being roommates again sophomore year but it complicated the friendship, spewing over the stupidest things so while you two don’t live together anymore, she constantly stays over. 

You shrug, looking over your closet, sighing once more at the minimal options, “he’s so cruel, he said he wanted it to be a surprise”. Isa smiled at your frustration, finding it adorable how you kept insisting it wasn’t a date but treated it the same. 

“The worst” she mocked, a smile stitched to her features, you could see it even with your back turned to her simply by her tone. Isa no longer tried to argue that you two were undeniably attracted to each other but rather leaned back and began to treat it like a soap opera. 

You tilt your head, giving the closet another angle, hoping something will pop out like it was made for this non-date that is very much a friendly hangout. Definitely. You finally decided on an outfit, one that accommodated most temperatures, not expecting much out of tomorrow. 

6 in the afternoon the following day arrived quicker than you had wanted, still fixing up your hair before you heard a knock. Soft curses as you hurry to put on your shoes, grabbing your phone before you open the front door, letting out a breath. 

“I forgot how punctual you are,” you said and he chuckled, finding it comical how you thought that because everyone else experienced the complete opposite. You locked your door behind you and looked back at him, really analyzing his outfit in order to gather an idea of where he’ll be taking you. 

He wore his navy blue long-sleeve, usually reserved for practice, and black sweatpants. You can’t help but furrow your brows, confused, asking “Did you get back from practice?”

Not wanting to ruin the surprise and not exactly lying, he just nodded, “something like that” should’ve been the first sign but your half-dazed state from rushing on getting ready didn’t notice it. 

“Can I at least get a hint?” You ask, rubbing your palms against your jeans, realizing just how much lotion you had put on, definetly no other reason. He shook his head, not giving in and you sighed. 

“It isn’t a far walk, maybe a block,” he said and you ran through all the different places that could be, stumped at the knowledge. A side of his mouth quirked up, already guessing what your mind was running through, “Don’t start guessing, just let me lead” 

“Right, that helps,” you say sarcastically, rolling your eyes and he laughs, the sound echoing the hallway. He knew how much of a leader you were so allowing anyone to lead the way usually ended with you being anxious the entire time. A lack of trust did that. 

Yet, you allowed him to anyway, following his steps, your head not rushing at the ideas anymore, just trying to enjoy the moment as the field cleared, not as many students present, most having already left for spring break and you couldn’t help but feel your heart flutter from being secluded with him. You thought you had grown accustomed to it, all those times alone in the library finishing up the project or studying, but that seemed to deem itself impossible. 

Not long after, you two arrived and you only realized once Ethan stopped in his tracks. 

“The ice rink?” you ask, a quirk of an eyebrow, intrigued but confused and Ethan just turned to you, a smile that had you feeling a bit nervous, your stomach flipping. 

“You said you always wanted to learn” he grabbed your hand before you could argue and while you wanted to pull toward the opposite direction, the contact between the two of you had distracted you enough to follow him. 

“You remember that?” You ask, surprised at his memory from freshman year when he was talking about hockey and you shared your admiration for skating, saying how you wished you had learned when you were younger. You weren’t threatening to pull away anymore but that didn’t stop Ethan from keeping a hold of your hand, instead intertwining them and you felt your stomach erupt butterflies. 

“I remember everything you say” his simple words had you feeling warm all over, you were only glad he was the one in front and hadn’t turned to you for a while. You press your other hand to your cheeks, trying to cool them down which only works minimally while he is busy on getting the door unlocked. 

“Is this even allowed?” you can’t help but ask, the risk of getting caught still making you hesitant but he only tugged you inside and let go of your hand, swinging it back to your side. 

“Don't worry, I told them I was just going to practice by myself after the team's practice” he shrugged as if lying wasn’t such a terrible thing. You eyed him, giving in once more as I followed him. “I rented skates for you. Remember, I’ll be here. Don’t feel too scared and if you feel like you’ll fall either way, squat”

“Right” you nodded, your heart pounding as you sat on one of the chairs, tying your skates. He briefly checked them before giving you the thumbs up, entering the ice rink first. “Ethan, I don’t know if this is a”

“Don’t finish that thought, y/n. Trust me” he had his hand reached out to you, patiently waiting for you to take it and you looked down at the skates, praying to anyone who would hear that you wouldn’t end up in the emergency room over this. His voice turned gentle, “Hey. I got you, remember?”

Your eyes found his again, laying down your fears, and stepped on the ice with your hand on top of his. You tried taking your first step but nearly slipped, Ethan’s arm coming around your back, his hand burning a hole through your shirt, feeling his tight hold on your waist. 

He gave you a small smile “I got you” he repeated, his hand tightening around yours and you pulled yourself away from his waist hold, standing beside him now. “If you need to grip on the walls, don’t hesitate to, okay?”

You only nodded, feeling your face heat up as you looked down at the ice beneath your blades. Breathing in deeply, trying so hard to calm down the rapid rhythm of your heart. 

“Let’s start with marching,” he said softly and you looked at him, time standing still for a moment before his lips curved in that familiar comforting smile, his feet moved slowly, making smaller steps, accommodating for your own and you followed, at times losing your balance but the second you began to wobble, his hands found you, helping you steady yourself. 

The two of you made small conversation, still focused on your steps before they soon turned to small gliding, a smile stained on your face as you realized that you were skating. Not the best but you still were on ice without falling face-first. Ethan remained at your pace, small glides as his hand never left yours, feeling your nerves dissipate as his encouraging demeanor turned more of pride for your small achievements on the ice. 

He admired you for silent moments while you looked down, admiring how your legs moved at ease. His smile dropped a fraction, his heart thundering at how you looked, a cute smile on your features, imagining how he would do anything to keep it there. Under the rink lights, you were out of your comfort zone and he had never found you so beautiful. So outstanding, persistent, and determined. You could’ve stopped at any point when you fell the couple of times you did but instead, you stood back up and tried harder than before. 

“What is it?” your voice was soft, he shook his head, realizing just how long he had been staring at you for, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink and you’d be lying if you thought you didn’t notice. After all, he held the same effect on you. 

“It’s nothing” he brushed it off, instinctively loosening his hand from yours, excusing it as letting you glide on your own. Your hand balled into a fist while he stretched out before putting it in his pocket. Don’t say it. Don’t say it. “I don’t want to be your friend, y/n”

Your heart felt like it had stopped just then. Hearing those words nearly cracked your heart, you swore you heard it. “Oh… yeah. I get that” A frown tugged at your lips. Of course, he wouldn’t want to be friends with you. You had stupidly broken this friendship for the dumbest reason years ago, it would make sense how he wouldn’t forgive you for that. He stood a couple of feet from you now, silent as you said what you guessed would be your final words to him “I guess I’ll get going now”

“Y/n,” he said your name before you could even turn around and you stayed in your spot. “I didn’t mean I don’t want to be your friend. I meant I don’t want to just be your friend.”

You lost all words that you had practiced, telling him how you understood but instead, your lips parted and closed like a gaping fish. “What are you saying…” you asked but you knew damn well what he meant, you just refused to believe the idea that he’d like you as anything more than a friend. 

“I heard about how you… didn’t want to tell me how you felt because you thought somehow that it would ruin our chances of being friends again.” he stood now only a foot away, his jaw clenched, looking down at you. “You couldn’t have been more wrong.”

And if it wasn’t for him pulling you into a kiss that massacred all thoughts, you might’ve interrogated him about how he had found out. His hands cradled your face, while yours wrapped themselves slowly to his wrists, wanting to keep his touch where you swore they belonged. 

You never thought you’d be sharing a kiss in the middle of an ice rink with your freshman friend, that you promised yourself you’d never fall for. Easier said than done, y/n. Easier said than done. 

You later found out who exactly told him. Isa confessed and while you threatened to drop your friendship with her if she ever thought of doing that again, you told the story like it was engraved into your memories, secretly thanking her for the last couple of weeks. 

[goldengleams]

adam fantilli level 1000 clinger

“Fantilli, I have to go to class!” You groaned, trying to shove the boy off of you. He barely moved, only nestling his head further into your neck. You were both huddled under his comforter, trying to stay warm.

“No, stay here,” Adam said, his morning voice on full display. His brother, Luca, had already gotten up to go to his early class, so it was only the two of you in the small dorm room. Your room was a little bigger since you were a sophomore, but you somehow always ended up in Adam’s shared room.

“Adam,” you warned. Finally, Adam lifted his head a little to look you in the eyes. Whenever you said his first name, he knew you were serious.

“I love you, but I have to go to class,” you repeated and he shifted off of you so that you could climb out of his bed.

“Lunch today?” Adam asked, but he knew he didn’t have to. You both always went to your morning classes on Thursdays and met up for lunch, sometimes with his brother and other members of the Michigan hockey team.

You nodded, giving him a quick peck before you got ready for the day. Adam propped himself up in bed so he could watch you get ready, something he always did. He watched you in awe as you went through your morning routine. It had become pretty standard to sleep over on Wednesday nights after Adam had asked you to a month ago, so you had started bringing over clothes and your skincare.

You said goodbye to Adam before walking out and heading to your class, thinking about him on the way. Ever since you and Adam Fantilli had started dating, it felt like you were rarely apart. Prior to Adam, you had dated someone on the football team and practically swore off athletes after the way he had treated you. Adam was also younger than you, so he completely surprised you when he swept you off your feet. His bright eyes and even brighter smile had made every day better. After a semester long group project in the class you were in, he had finally asked you out, and you hadn’t looked back ever since.

Adam was the nicest guy you had ever met, and you didn’t just say that because he was your boyfriend. He always went out of his way to be there for you and support you as much as he could with his busy schedule.

Recently, Adam had expressed the idea of declaring for the NHL Early Entry Draft coming up in the Spring. You remembered feeling excited for him, but once he explained what would probably happen, you felt the air change. While you weren’t dwelling on the very real and very near future, you knew Adam was. The boy had become quite clingy in the past few weeks, and you were starting to get a little annoyed.

“She is still alive!” Your roommate, Jade, said when you sat down next to her in your marketing class. Your roommate had complained about your lack of girls’ nights, saying that all you did was spend time with Adam.

“You are so dramatic,” you rolled your eyes, pulling out your laptop.

“Y/N, I’ve barely seen you in a whole week! That hockey player has you tied down, girl,” she sassed back. “Can you please come home and sleep with me tonight? I’m getting lonely.”

You laughed, knowing your roommate hated the dark. She loved when you two talked at night and went over your days. “Yes, I’ll come back tonight. I was only over at Adam’s because he asked me to.”

She only hummed in response as the lecture began. While you tried to take notes, you couldn’t help but let your mind wander.

Last week, when you went over to the hockey house with Adam and his teammates, he had been a little overly touchy. You both didn’t mind PDA, but after a few drinks, Adam definitely couldn’t comprehend personal space.

“Babe, baby,” Adam had whined, clinging to your arm as you tried to go dance.

“Fantilli, let me go,” you chuckled. You had decided to take it easy, only having one drink so you could keep anyone else on their feet. Adam had not done the same.

“Stay here,” he pleaded. “Me and Luke are so much fun, so much fun, babe.”

Adam wrapped both arms around you then, trying to keep you standing with him in the kitchen. He wasn’t a jealous guy and he never cared who you were friends with, but something about letting you go off into the hockey house without him made him agitated.

“I bet, but I’m going to dance with Emma. I’ll be back soon,” you had kissed him and left, missing the looks that the boys at the kitchen counter were sharing.

And maybe last month, when you had a big test to study for, you let his clinginess get in the way of your success.

Adam knew you had to study, but he had begged you to let him come over to watch the newest episode of your favorite show. You had given in but told him he needed to leave after it was over.

“Y’know, if Jade’s not here, we could do whatever we want,” Adam had tried to convince you.

“Babe, I can’t,” you groaned. “This assignment is worth a big percentage of the final project.”

Adam, always a fan of procrastination, had practically begged you to let him stay with the promise that he would be quiet so you could study. You had tried to deflect his pleas, but after the fourth one, you gave in, letting him kiss you and pull your attention from your assignment. Long story short, Adam wasn’t quiet and you didn’t really study. A long night of cuddling and fun led to a bad grade for you.

Your next class passed by with the same thoughts swimming in your head. Soon enough, you were walking towards the student union to meet Adam and his teammates for lunch.

He wasn’t there when you arrived, but Luca and Rutger were sitting there already. You waved to them and walked over to sit next to them.

“I’m surprised to see you without your other half,” Rutger joked. You pulled out your phone to place your order, but couldn’t stop your thoughts.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you two are usually sucking face whenever possible,” Rutger said, laughing like he had said the funniest joke. “Adam is fucking whipped, Y/N, like you know when he-”

“He just means you and Adam are usually together, Y/N,” Luca cut in, giving you a reprieve from Rutger’s energy.

“Luca, we didn’t even have class together, I’m not always with Adam,” you laughed, a little uneasy. You and Adam weren’t always together. At least, you didn’t think so.

“Look, I love my little brother, but he can be a little…attached,” Luca said, trying to make you understand as he gestured in the air with his hands.

“Attached?”

“Like, 1,000 level clinger attached,” Luca admitted. “He had this stuffed animal he got as a baby and I swear he didn’t put that thing down for like, six years, Y/N.”

You let your head fall against the back of the tall booth behind you. Rutger had stopped caring about the conversation, airpods in his ears, but Luca was staring at you.

“I mean, maybe he’s not being that way with you, I don’t know, but he told me he felt like you were pulling away and I told him it was probably because he wasn’t giving you any space. I felt like I could see it on your face when Rutger opened his mouth, fucking idiot,” Luca laughed softly. Even though he hadn’t known you very long, you felt like he could always tell where you were at emotionally.

You sighed, letting out a breath you didn’t realize you had been holding in. “Is he gonna be mad if I say something?”

“No,” Luca assured, shaking his head. “He falls really hard, really fast. He probably doesn’t even realize he’s doing it.”

“Maybe,” you said. “He told me about the draft, so it’s probably because of that.”

“He’d rather know than not, I promise, Y/N,” Luca said, and to the side, you could see Adam walking up with Rutger’s sister.

Luca gave you a little nod and thumbs up which made you feel a little more confident in talking to Adam later.

True to your word, you slept in your own dorm bed that night. Jade was thrilled, and you two had a little girls’ night since your only Thursday class was in the afternoon.

You woke up alone as Jade had an earlier class. You turned your phone on and it dinged as soon as it fully awoke.

From: fantilli 💓

Do u wanna stay over tn? Luca’s out

You smiled a little, knowing Luca had probably done so for your sake. You quickly typed back your answer.

To: fantilli 💓

Sure, can’t wait!

I’ll bring chipotle 🌯

Adam gave your message a thumbs up and you went about your day, trying not to think about the conversation you would have that night. You had already told Adam that you weren’t worried about how your lives would change in the coming months, but you didn’t know how he was handling it all. It seemed like he was handling it by refusing to let anything close go.

Once you finished your day and got the two of you dinner, you drove back to campus to go over to Adam’s dorm room. You couldn’t find the words that you wanted to say to him. You knocked softly on the door to Adam’s room, assuming he was inside.

“Fantilli? It’s me,” you called. Quickly enough, Adam opened his door and a smile spread across his face. He pulled you into a hug and gave you a quick kiss.

His smile was infectious and soon you were smiling, too. The cold that you felt escaped your body and you could only see and feel his content warmth.

“Hey babe! Oh, it smells so good.”

He took the bag of food from your arms and you carefully set your backpack down. Luca’s side of the room was all cleaned and you sent a silent thank you to him from across campus.

“No Luca tonight?” You questioned, taking a seat at his desk.

“No, he’s over at Molly’s for the night,” he said absentmindedly, setting up your food so you two could eat.

“Molly McG?” You asked.

Adam gave you a distracted hum in response. “Yeah, they’ve had a thing for a while. We knew them before we came here, so.”

You rolled your eyes, everyone seemed to know everyone in the hockey world. The idea that everyone would soon know Adam made you nervous.

He handed you your food and patted the spot next to him on his bed, motioning for you to come sit next to him. He seemed completely at ease, not knowing the inner dialogue you were dealing with.

You both sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, watching a repeat on his laptop, before you paused the show to capture his attention.

“Oh, did you want to watch something else?” Adam asked innocently. You shook your head, already feeling bad for making things awkward.

“No, Adam,” you said quietly. “I wanted to talk to you.”

Adam slowly put his fork down and turned to look at you. His blue eyes were wide as he anticipated what you would say next.

“It’s nothing bad, I swear,” you assured. “I just wanted to check in with you.”

“Oh, yeah, for sure,” he said nervously, abandoning his food completely. You watched as he ran a hand through his hair.

“Are you okay? With everything coming up in the near future, I mean,” you trailed off. You didn’t need to spell it out for him, he knew what you meant.

Adam had a really good chance at being drafted within the top 10, maybe even top 5, news outlets were saying. You had read them all, of course. Whenever your mind drifted to Adam and you, you went online to see what the reality of his future would be.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he said, averting his eyes. It was one of his nervous tells and you knew it.

“Adam,” you moved closer to him so you could cup his face in your hands. “You can tell me anything.”

“You can’t understand it, Y/N. I can’t even understand it all,” he chuckled. “I’ve been dreaming of getting drafted and playing professional hockey since I was a little kid, it’s almost like there’s nothing left after it.”

A still silence fell between the two of you.

“It means I’m leaving everything I’ve ever known, Y/N,” he mumbled. “I’m scared.”

Those words broke your heart. Adam dropped his head to your shoulder and you could feel the fabric start to stick to your skin from dampness. You let him fall into you, trying to comfort him the best that you could. You thought of all of the times that Adam had been there for you, letting you rant to him whenever you needed it. Adam expressed his emotions different from you, bottling everything up and clinging for dear life.

“It’s gonna be the time of your life, Adam,” you assured, wiping his tears. “And everyone here will be cheering you on, babe, I know it.”

Adam gave you a watery smile and you swore your heart could’ve melted right then and there.

“And I want to stay together, if that’s what you want, too,” you said. Adam nodded rapidly before peppering kisses all over your face.

“I’m sorry for being so clingy, I just wasn’t sure how much time we had left,” Adam admitted in between kisses. “Luca gave me some relationship advice.”

You both laughed at that, glad Luca was playing both sides to help you out.

“It’s okay Fantilli, you can be my 1,000 level clinger any day,” you giggled.

The rest of the night, you and Adam cuddled and watched your favorite comfort movies. He knew you’d always be there for him, and you knew he’d always be there, maybe even attached at your hip.

_______________________________

Finally had 5 minutes since being back at college to post this, hope you like it!!! More requests will be done soon, trust 🤞🏽

[strwberri-milk]

Heyoo! Btw your posts r great and r the only things currently keeping me sane. Anyway, can we get headcannons of Kaeya as your seat mate that has a crush on you??

P.S.

Stay hydrated !!!

thank you for the compliment!! i started writing again bc i was losing my mind so im glad i can provide that comfort for others <3

From the first day of classes, Kaeya didn't seem to care much. You happened to sit next to him and he kindly moved his things over, offering you a slight smile when your eyes met. You went over the general icebreaker things with the professor and the rest of the class. It was then that he learned your name and favourite colour, for some reason keeping that in mind over the way the course would be weighted.

Considering that it was a bit of a smaller class it forced the two of you to interact more than in other classes he would typically have it meant he go to know you more. Sometimes you would finish your partnered assignments or discussions early, leaving a bit of an awkward silence he would keep scrambling to fill.

Sometimes he'd even bring you snacks or treats, claiming he grabbed too many on his way out and had to get rid of them before they melted. They were fancy ones too, ones you felt a little bad taking but he would insist, practically shoving them into your bag until you would just concede and take it. He was so nice you couldn't help it, paying him back with coffees or something else that he would insist he didn't need. Sometimes, he'd even say your smile was all he needed as payment, laughing at the way his flirty words got under your skin.

You thought that he was just trying to make a friend just for class, not really sure what would happen once the semester came to a close. He wasn't thinking about that right now though - all he could focus on was how antsy he would get if you weren't already in the room, eyes constantly drifting over to the door to see when you'll come through.

With this being the winter semester, it meant you were dressing for comfort, not fashion. You came to class in baggy hoodies and pants tucked into boots, Kaeya loving how cuddly you looked in them. He wanted to give you his sweaters, see how you'd look in them and then maybe take you out for hot cocoa. Or ice cream. You'd mentioned wanting some, much to his dismay at the sight of the weather outside. You always just looked so comfortable, and he wanted nothing more than to put you on his lap and spoil you with attention.

However, he forgot that shifting weather meant shifting wardrobes. You didn't fail to impress, Kaeya having to pick his jaw up off the floor the first time he saw you dressed for fashion, not comfort. He had to pay you a compliment, loving the way you averted his gaze shyly and stuttered a thanks.

He hates that he only sees you for a little over an hour at a time every couple of days, wishing that he had the courage to ask for your number. With the semester warming up that meant the arrival of the end of the year, and neither of you were taking the spring semester.

The last few weeks of the semester were him hyping himself to ask you out, glad that the final assignment gave him an excuse to get your number and see you more often. He would often lay in bed, trying to piece together the perfect words to ask you out. He was thinking of giving you a gift, or maybe calling you to ask you out like that but nothing seemed to work.

When the two of you worked on the assignment together he would constantly tease and flirt with you playfully, gauging your reaction to see if he could determine if you'd reject him. It seemed safe, but he could never be too sure, pretending he needed a lot more help than he actually did to keep your attention on him.

Time flew by and to his dismay, the end of the semester was among him. With the final project submitted that meant you two no longer had a functional reason to stay together. The last day of class was bittersweet for you, wishing you had the guts to ask him out as Kaeya agonized over what to tell you.

The class he normally had after this was cancelled as the prof finished early, meaning he was able to spend some more time with you before going home. You could sense that something was weighing on his mind but you had no idea how to prod, more focused on trying to figure out how to ask him if he'd be okay with you texting him despite no longer having class anymore.

When the two of you were about to part he finally managed to spit it out, holding your hand and asking you so sweetly if you could find the time to go out with him to celebrate the end of the semester, his treat. He reailsed a little too late that the invitation sounded too friendly, rectifying it by telling you he wanted to take you out to dinner and see where the two of you go. Kaeya looked so hopeful and truth be told this was the best way you could have imagined the semester ending so you nodded happily, practically skipping away as Kaeya grinned to himself.

[sxypigeon]

Lunch Interrupted - A Wenclair story

A/N: Is it too much to ask to have her new girlfriend to herself before announcing their relationship to the world?

Yes, it is.

Wednesday gets over herself much to Enid's amusement.

___

“Please tell me you didn’t actually- What am I saying?  Of course you did,” Bianca muttered to herself.  “You know it actually explains a few things.”

I wasn’t given the chance to ask what exactly the siren meant - I’d have to interrogate her later about how my childhood experience of being held captive and witnessing an aunt die by electrocution might have affected my young psyche.

“Hey, Enid!  Do you have a minute?”

Since returning to school, Enid has endured many new solicitations for her attention.  Ever the kind hearted monster, my wolf has been patient and kind to all . . . deserved or not.

“Sure.”  The werewolf leaned into Wednesday with a comforting, slightly-clawed hand on her shoulder as Enid stood and stepped over the bench seat.  The two steps she took from the table still allowed their conversation to be heard.

Many of these solicitors wouldn’t have given Enid the time of day six months ago, but feel entitled to her time now, as if they were doing her an honor by conversing with her.  The other werewolves are easily the worst offenders, both in number and entitlement.

Wednesday raised her gaze from her meal and met Yoko’s unimpressed look from across the table.  Both of them had similar feelings about Enid’s new found popularity.  They had a loose agreement, that Enid of course was unaware of, to cover for one another if either decided to follow up with any of the would be suitors. . . Yoko unfortunately insisted on light maiming only.    

“I was wondering if you had any plans for spring break,” the stocky, interloping wolf asked the blonde.  The confidence in his purposely lowered voice made Wednesday almost cringe.

I can’t see either of them, which I suppose is some relief.  I doubt I’d be able to remain seated otherwise.  The last time one of them dared to touch my beloved - well, Enid was adamant I take the violence down several notches in the future.

“I do actually-” Enid started to say brightly.

“My pack is hosting the jamboree this year!” he practically shouted over her.  “It’ll be a great way to network with the biggest clans . . . maybe even find a mate.”

At the beginning of the semester, I promised Enid I wouldn’t consciously act in a way that would put myself at risk of expulsion.  I have never wanted to break that promise more in my life.

Keeping her cool, as always, Enid kept her voice light.  “That sounds super fun, but I’m going to be spending the week with a friend.”

We haven’t exactly announced our relationship to the public.  Her- our friends know, but Enid has yet to post it to her blog at my request.  I know for a fact Pugsley follows her and I don’t plan on allowing my parents to know I have fallen victim to love’s nefarious clutches just yet.  I need time to mentally prepare myself for their inevitable onslaught of affection and knowing smirks from my mother.

His tone was dismissive, “But you can see your friends anytime, the jamboree only happens once a year!  You don’t want to miss out on a chance to-”

I have to tune the whining whelp out if I want to avoid violence.  That was the crux of the problem, I’ve always solved my problems offensively - physically or verbally and I’ve yet to find a suitable alternative.  Threats are my life blood and without them I feel lost.

Enid’s attempt to shake him off was starting to sound strained, “I appreciate the offer, really, but-”

This problem is my own making - if I’d just let go of my desire for privacy . . . The solution is laughably simple.  

Yoko, who looked on the verge of interrupting the wolves, shot Wednesday a look of warning as the seer suddenly stood and stepped up to roommate.

“Enid,” Wednesday cut in,  “I’ve forgotten something in our room and have to leave.”

“What?  Wends-”  Enid’s face was crestfallen, on the verge of distraught.

“I will make it up to you tonight, I promise.”  

Looking up into her dejected eyes is near agony.  I will absolutely keep that promise.

Before leaving, the seer reached up to cradle her wolf’s face between her hands, gently pulling her down just a bit into a kiss.

Enid’s gasp of surprise sends a jolt of confidence down my spine and is all the encouragement I need to pull her addictive body closer.  For a moment, I feel like growling, as if I’m the wolf staking her claim on her mate.  Enid’s hands tight on my hips are all the acceptance I crave.  

Behind us, I hear the vampire coughing violently, likely from Yoko inhaling her meal.  The rest of the lunchroom has gone quiet save for poorly concealed whispers, but the obnoxious mutt hounding Enid earlier has yet to move.

“Uh, the fuck?” he nearly demands with a hint of disgust.

If he refuses to take the hint, I have no qualms about continuing to prove my dominance over the self-important wolf.  Losing myself in Enid is dangerously easy.  It takes all of my self control not to let my hands wander from her flushed cheeks.

“Are you fucking serious right now?”

I feel Enid snicker into the kiss which has turned into a rather pleasant makeout session.  

“My dude,” Yoko says loud enough for most of the room to hear, “I think that’s your cue to leave.”

I let my hands slide down to either side of Enid’s neck as I nibble her bottom lip.  I’m fighting a smile and about to lose.

“Bitch,” he muttered as he stomped off.

Oh, I will be having a thorough discussion with him in the near future about manners and how to accept rejection gracefully.

Stepping away slowly, Wednesday faced her stunned but amused girlfriend.  “Until tonight, mi amor.”

Enid was nearly trembling with excitement as she rather obviously resisted the urge to pull Wednesday back into her arms.  “Okay.”

Truthfully, I’m not able to remain in the cafeteria much longer.  The feeling reminds me of the ceremony after the Poe Cup, so many people rudely staring.  

“OMG! Did that really just happen?” Enid stage-whispered to the table as Wednesday walked away.

Yes, my chromatic wolf and I have plans for you this evening.  May the torment of my family’s curse I endure ever leave you enthralled for I have no desire for relief. 

[charcoalhawk]

The haunting of Masters’ Mansion

This is a backup truce gift for @shadowofaghost5 , hope to bring you some (very) belated Christmas cheer!

Prompt: Vlad & Danny bonding (by annoying each other? did they have to work together for something and accidentally started enjoying it? is Vlad being nice for once and teaching Danny stuff? How they bond is entirely up to you!)

Warnings: none

“-and Frankie said I could stay with them and their partner for the holidays. I think we may go to one of our other friends' houses on Christmas Day, but that’s still up in the air pending how many of his family is coming home.”

“That’s awesome Jazz”, Danny smiles at his sister over FaceTime, “so I’ll see you probably during spring break? Assuming no, uh, pit stops?”

“Yeah, spring break. And no Danny, no pit stops. Enjoy your last semester and your extracurriculars, we can call and text as much as you need.”

“I don’t know, if the house is still being fumigated after the new year I may just have to hide in your dorm for a few days just to get some sleep.”

Apparently using unstable ectoplasm for years and building much of their own home had caused the building not to be strictly up to code, and while they’re not having to rebuild any existing structures, the city had insisted on doing a through investigation, and then announced that the house would need to be thoroughly fumigated for at least a month, amongst other problems.

They’d been able to book a hotel for the first few nights, but as it grew closer to Christmas his parents had been informed they would need to find other lodgings as their rooms had already been booked starting the next two days all the way through the new year.

Luckily a family friend was willing to host them over the holidays, as after a frantic search it seemed like most hotels had already been bought out or were charging truly outrageous prices for the holidays.

Unluckily for Danny his parents insisted he stay with them for the Holidays, even after both Tucker and Sam had promised that either of their parents wouldn’t mind hosting Danny for a few weeks.

So they had shuffled themselves into the Fenton RV, suitcases and presents pressing into Danny from every angle from where they’re all crammed indiscriminately.

It has only taken an hour for his parents to restart the argument they had put on hold last night. At this point after almost eighteen years Danny thought he could recite both sides of his parents "is Santa real" argument from memory. Danny knows he had been lucky before that his parents had only had small arguments since Mariah Carey had started haunting every radio station since October.

“You know mom and dad just wanted one more Christmas with you before you go off to college.”

“I know.” He chances a glance at the front of the RV where even now his parents are in furious debate, “but knowing them they’re just going to spend the whole time arguing or trying to make me pick a side.”

Jazz tries to smile on video call, but they’re far enough out in the countryside that his phone’s connection is getting really spotty.

“I know. I tried when I called them last week to get them to understand how doing this was only going to drive you away” Danny can’t help but scrunch his nose in distaste, “don’t look at me like that Danny, you’re almost an adult. We can have these kinds of conversations, but I don’t think it quite stuck like I wanted it to.”

Jazz gives him a sympathetic look before her picture abruptly flips, and now Danny is staring at a slightly worse for wear Bearbert Einstein. Jazz waives one of his arms and puts on her most obnoxious, silly voice.

“But both me and Jazz want to wish you a very good new year,” her hand shifts so it seems Bearbert is nodding his head, “and Jazz would like to kindly request that you don’t try and murder Vlad unless he tries to get you first!”

Danny chokes on a laugh as the camera switches back to Jazz’s now beaming smile, and soon they’re saying their goodbyes as Jazz rushes to finish packing.

Once the call ends and the low arguing of his parents is now the only sound in the RV, Danny allows himself to scowl.

That was the other unfortunate thing, turns out they would be staring with Vlad over the holidays.

The only thing worse than Christmas time, and trust him there is not much worse than the Fenton’s at Christmas, is having to share that time with Uncle Vlad.

Danny can see his future now, Vlad will take his mom’s side, which in turn will make his dad turn to him.

The only silver lining in all this, and trust him it is a very slim silver lining, is that over the past four years he and Vlad have a more steady truce in place and neither goes out of his way to intentionally maim or attack the other.

When they finally pull up to Vlad’s gaudy home, nothing immediately strikes Danny as out of place, but he notices that his parents seem unnerved about something and that immediately sets him on edge.

As they all clamor out of the RV his ghost sense tells him Vlad is lurking nearby. No one exits to help them get their bags but the door swings open dramatically before his dad can start pounding on the door.

“Jack! Glad to see that you are well.” Vlad places a very reluctant hand on his Dad’s shoulder, which is all the prompting Dad needs to sweep Vlad into a truly impressive bear hug.

Vlad’s smile is carefully pinned in place, as he allows the extended contact with Jack before sweeping down to RV, likely to offer to carry his mom’s bags.

“Madeline! How good to see you!” His mom carefully steps out of Vlad’s way while keeping her own smile carefully on.

“It’s good to see you too Vlad, we really can’t thank you enough for agreeing to host us on such short notice.”

He and Vlad share a careful nod as Dad leads them all into the foyer, and Danny can only hope with such a big house it can actually allow him some peace and quiet.

“Yeah V-man, thanks for letting us stay here while the house is being checked out. But I gotta say Vladdie,” his dad gestures around the opulent foyer, “where’s all your Christmas stuff?”

His mom takes a careful look around and her eyes widen as she realizes what her husband says is true.

“Oh now that you mentioned it dear, it is odd,” she turns more fully towards Vlad, genuine interest in her tone and not the carefully cultivated fake interest Danny knows she holds whenever he’s seen her interact with Vlad in recent years.

“While Santa Claus obviously isn’t real, the story of Saint Nick should still be celebrated, and of course a chance to give gifts to our loved ones.”

His parents share a glare, but it’s clear they’re too shaken by Vlad’s lack of decorations to devolve back into spirited debate.

“We can take the RV into town right now!” His Dad makes an abrupt about face and starts tugging Vlad along with him, “bet they still have some real trees for sale, only real way to celebrate is with a real tree!”

“Oh good idea Jack! Vlad can show us where he stores his other decor and while you two are gone Danny and I can set up the lights.”

“Oh nonsense, we should all get the tree together!”

“I guess you're right Jack, that is a very important Christmas tradition. Then do you know where the nearest tree farm is Vlad? I’m sure we could find one but I’m sure you have your preferences.”

Vlad starts to look increasingly uncomfortable as his parents gang up on him.

“C’mon Vladdie! If we leave now we should still have time to set up the Christmas tree!”

Just as his Dad is about to pull Vlad past the threshold of the house, Vlad seems to snap out of his stupor and easily shakes off his Dad’s hand, backing up further into the house like he thinks Dad will lunge at him to pull him into the RV.

“That won’t be necessary. While I wouldn’t begrudge your family its traditions, I have no interest in spending multiple hours putting up frivolous decorations that are only going to live in boxes most of the year.”

“Oh bah, I’ve seen you spend weeks decorating this place for whenever the Packers play!”

“I don’t care, I don’t celebrate Christmas.”

It feels like the entire house freezes.

“I don’t have any particularly strong feelings around winter and Christmas time, and so to me they are just another few weeks of the year. I only even remember them because every store and TV station is decorated in red and green from November until the new year.”

It’s silly, but Danny had never realized that you could just, do that. He knows Sam and her family celebrate Hanukkah, hell even ghosts have the Truce, but he’d kinda been under the impression that everyone did something for the winter holidays.

The next few minutes are filled with his parents arguing the joys of Christmas time, while Vlad seems to grow increasingly more bored as the minutes tick by.

At some point his parents seem to realize they won’t get through to Vlad by simply arguing their case, so his Dad declares they will go out and vows that by the time they leave Vlad will be filled with the Christmas spirit.

With the slam of the RV door his parents are gone, leaving Danny and Vlad standing awkwardly in the now empty foyer.

“Well, that was a waste of my time.”

As the shadow of the RV disappears around the corner, Danny suddenly has an idea.

“Ok frootloop I’ve got a deal for you.” Vlad raises a single brow, at least he’s curious. “Neither of us wants this place to become infested with Christmas, so we work together and make my Mom and Dad think your house is haunted by some Christmas hating spectr, and then they’ll be so focused on hunting down the ghost they won’t have time to bother either of us.”

“Are you suggesting we make up a ghost to haunt your parents Daniel? My, that’s something I would usually think of.”

“Oh don’t give yourself that much credit. I’ve already been basically haunting my parents for the last four years.”

As so, an alliance is born.

The next two weeks Danny finds out he and Vlad make a startlingly efficient pair at tracking down and vanishing any extra Christmas decor his parents try to smuggle in the house.

Danny knows his parents have kept all their presents in the RV for fear of this new ‘Christmas ghoul’ stealing them, and honestly Danny is having the time of his life. His parents are united for once in their Christmas opinions, and they’re so busy trying to hunt this imaginary ghost that they forget to try and get Danny on either of their sides.

Christmas Day still passes in a flurry of activity, but this year it’s his parents camping out by the chimney all night waiting for a ghost, or Santa, to come sneaking into the house. They end up sleeping most of the next day, and by the time new year hits Danny hasn’t heard his parents argue about Santa being real in almost a week.

And if his friends ever question the morality of the situation Vlad is such an easy target he won’t even deny it.

[blizzardfluffykpop]

Winter Break

Summary: Your parents' second honeymoon meant ruined winter break plans, but not for long.

Twoshot Pt. 2

Fluff, Non idol au, College Friends to Lovers au

Word Count: 2,122

Chan (Dino) X Reader 

Requested: can i request prompt 9 for svt lee chan please? with a gn reader:DDD

Prompt: 9. “Do you want to spend the holidays with me?” “You would do that?” 

A/n: There’s a smidge of sharing a bed au as well but it’s not as notable so I’ll just leave it here (This can be read with or without the second part!).

------

It’s been a brutal week. Your finals had their way with you. And you couldn’t wait to be home in your old bed. Of course, that’s when you get a call from your parents, telling you they needed to try a Christmas in Aruba for once instead of staying home. Your plans for a restful holiday go up in flames in a matter of moments. Deciding being with them was better than nothing. You asked if you could join them. But they disagreed, saying they needed to go on a second honeymoon alone. You were not okay with this decision. You just wanted your old bed and stuffed animals. And to be taken care of until the spring semester restarted. 

You go to the cafeteria to get your lunch and join up with your friends, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Chan. You hide your worries and munch on your food. At least you’ll be crying on a full stomach later. The three of them discuss their holiday plans, and you nod along until Chan asks, “What are you doing for the holidays?” You look up from your sandwich and shrug, “Probably watching mushy hallmark movies by myself.” Seungkwan groans, “That sounds sad!” Vernon asks, “I thought you were heading back home?” You sigh and shake your head, “No, they’re traveling the world on their second honeymoon, so I’m stuck here. Hooray!” You sarcastically say, and they nod, and you finish your sandwich. You listen as Seungkwan talks about how he has the first flight out to Paris this evening. And all the sights he's going to see, laughing every so often as you try to get your mind off the fact you were stuck here. 

After you finish lunch, you all head your separate ways when you hear footsteps catching up to you, “Hey, (Y/n)!” Chan calls, and you turn around and wait for him, “Yeah?” He smiles, “I have a great idea!” You gesture for him to go on, and he goes, “Do you want to spend the holidays with me?” It takes everything in you not to burst into tears as you go, “You would do that?” He nods, “Of course, I would! Nana keeps asking about you since your last visit with Seungkwan and Vernon.” You wrap your arms around him, “I would love to spend the holidays with you, Chan. Thank you. I can’t wait to see Grandma Lee!” He grins, “Me neither.” 

You guys spend the rest of your walk home until you part ways to your separate buildings. You text your mom about staying at the Lee’s for the holidays. She takes an hour to respond but tells you to enjoy yourself. You pack yourself a bag after Chan tells you he’s driving the two of you over tomorrow to stay the whole week there. You grin, you loved the Lees, but in particular, there was one Lee you liked the most. And it just happened to be the one who was taking you to his home. 

Maybe it started when you first met in your first year of college when you were both shyer kids getting to know each other. Or maybe, it was during your second year when you two drunkenly exchanged a kiss during spin the bottle, but nothing ever went further. You used to kick yourself for never saying that kiss meant more to you than just a turn in a game. Whatever it was, you knew you had it bad. But you were too nervous to tell him and scared to ruin your friendship. And now, the four of you are heading into your last year of college. And you still haven’t confessed your feelings. 

------

He picks you up, and you shove your bags into the back of his car. His playlist softly plays, and you can’t help but smile and lean back in your seat, knowing the ride ahead of you two was a bit longer. “Do you think Seungkwan is having the time of his life in Paris right now?” You ask as you’re reminded of Seungkwan’s plans, “I bet he wishes he was. He’s probably got pushed into the fountain by Jinseol or Sojeong.” You laugh, “I can believe that. What about Vernon?” He goes, “I think once he gets home, he’s going to lie on the couch and cuddle with his cats.” You grin, “Also plausible. I would too.” He nods before asking, “Are you comfortable staying the week? If not, after Christmas, I can take you back?” You shake your head, “And miss your dad’s and nana's cooking?!” He laughs, “You have me there.” It drifts back into a comfortable silence, and you let the stress and worries of college drift away. 

------

“Are your parents enjoying Aruba?”  You shrug, “Let me check.” You pull your phone out of your pocket to see a photo from your dad. Picturing them in front of a large palm tree, when Chan stops at a red light, you show him, “I guess they are.” You say softly, and he nods, “It’s okay if you’re not okay with them not taking you. You know?” You shake your head, “Yeah, I know. It didn’t feel great when they told me that at the last moment. That I’d be spending my first Christmas alone.” Before the light turns green, he grabs your hand and rubs soothing circles into your palm with his thumb as he continues to drive. 

You relax as he holds your hand and take in the moment. Your cheeks are tinted red, but you can blame it on the chill and not the fact that Chan is holding your hand. “Well, at least you’re not spending it alone now.” You nod, “Yeah, I get to spend it with my second favorite family.” He nods and continues comforting you for a few more lights before he pulls away to turn down his street. 

He parks in his driveway, and once he’s out, he goes, “Home, sweet home!” You laugh, “I guess so.” He grins over at you, “It’s a home sweet home for you too. At this moment.” You shrug and go, “Home sweet home!” And he unlocks the doors with a grin on his face and pulls your suitcases out. “Two for you, two for me.” You follow him into his house and get no further than the entrance before the rest of the Lees surround him. You smile as they wrap him up in affection, “I’m so glad your back!” His mom cries, and he hugs her tighter, “I’m glad I’m back too!” Before his grandma goes, “Did you bring (Y/n)?!” He grins, “Of course! I told you guys yesterday!” They push him out of the way, and he whines, “But I’m your son!” And the four of them surround you, “It’s good to see you again! We’ve missed you!” His dad cheers and Gun says, “Now, this holiday won’t be insufferable.” You laugh as Chan goes, “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean!” You exchange hugs with each of them before Grandma says that she’s living in the guest room now and that you’ll have to share Chan’s room. You gulp before nodding, “That’s fine.” No, it was not. Because not only were you staying in his room. You were staying with him in his room. 

“Are you good with sharing a bed, or would you like me to find the air mattress?” He asks when you both enter his room. And see his queen-sized mattress and decide it wouldn’t be awful, as long as you stay on your side and him on his. And take his room in, “I didn’t get to see your room last time we were here. It’s nice.” He smiles, “Thanks.” All the figurines, posters, and trinkets remind you of him as you shove your suitcase under your side of the bed. “Dinner will be ready in ten!” His mom calls, and you exchange a look, the prospect of food ridding you of all of your concerns. And race Chan into the dining room. 

“So, are you two excited for your senior year of college?” Chan readily agrees, “I am. They’re allowing us to teach dance classes next year, and I’m so ready for that!” His mom asks, “And you?” You grin, “I’m excited to graduate and get out there.” They nod. And Gun starts talking about his apprenticeship, and you all actively listen. 

You finish dinner, and the six of you call it an early night. You thought with the drive over and the filling meal. You would be able to knock out, but as you lay on your side of the bed, staring up at Chan’s ceiling, you highly doubt that you’ll be able to sleep tonight. You wish Chan to have good dreams before he turns off the light and knocks out cold. 

No matter what you do, you can't stop thinking about him holding your hand earlier and that he's just three feet away from you. After another 10 minutes of tossing and turning to get to sleep, you decide ‘fuck it’, and get up. And head downstairs and get yourself some water, hoping that’ll clear your thoughts enough to fall asleep. As you sit on the couch staring off into nothingness, Grandma comes down and asks, “What are you doing up, Honey?” You sigh, “I uh can’t sleep.” She nods and goes into the kitchen, “Would you like some tea to calm your nerves?” You agree and go into the kitchen and help her make it. 

You follow her into the dining room and take a sip of the warm tea. The tea eases your nerves when you set it back down, you make eye contact with her, and she goes, “I’m surprised you two haven't gotten together by now.” Your eyes widen at her words, “What uh makes you say that.” She laughs as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world, “You know, Honey, Chan likes you a lot. And not just as a friend, right?” You gulp, “This whole time?” She nods, “He talks about you all the time. And don’t act like you don’t have feelings either. I watched you last time you were here. Your eyes always lingered on him whenever he was near.” You look down into your mug as if that will help you escape the conversation, and she continues, “He looks that way at you too. He’s always talking about you to me.” You blush, “You really think he likes me like that?” She smirks, the classic Lee smirk, “Think, Honey? I know. Ask him tomorrow. I promise it’ll all go well.” You take a sip of your tea, “Really?” She nods, “I know that’s why you couldn't sleep tonight either. You’re surrounded by him there.” You agree, “Yeah.” And she pats your hand, “I want you two to be happy.” With that, she takes one last sip of her tea, bids you a good night, and heads back to her room. You sigh and finish up your tea, realizing she was right. 

------

The tea kicked in, and once you made it back into bed. The next thing you saw was the sunshine through the blinds. And you stretch before remembering what Chan's grandma said. You look to your side and see Chan waking up, “Hey,” you softly say, and he grins, “Hey.” You look down towards your hands, “I uh have something to tell you.” He tilts his head, “Oh, did Dad call for breakfast?” You shake your head, “No, um” His eyes grow big, and he interrupts, “Don’t tell me Nana snitched on me. I am so sorry. I didn’t want you to find out this way!” You shake your head with a laugh, “Don’t be. I like you too.” He gasps, “Really?” You nod, and he cheers and rolls over from his side, “I wish I would have told you before Grandma said something.” You shrug, “She made me realize it was now or never.” He sighs, “She’s good at that.” You agree and lay your head on his chest, “So what do we do now?” He grins, “How about we go out for coffee before anyone gets up? As a first date and then have breakfast back here?” You look over his shoulder at the clock to see it’s seven am. Any reasonable person would be in bed right now. “Yeah, why not?” 

You two sneak out, giggling like teenagers, and head to a cafe. Once you get back, you have breakfast with your boyfriend and his family. (Grandma was more than proud). And spend Christmas and the rest of the break together. Maybe your parents going on their second honeymoon was for the best.

[maryjanewagner]

I can do it

At my university, nothing is truly obligatory: no one checks your attendance, and no one forces you to write exams. You could, if you wished, skip every lecture and still take the exams, which is exactly what I did for my statistics exam. However, this freedom also allows for endless procrastination, which is also exactly what I indulged in over the past year.

I was quite active in two political student organizations and traveled through Europe. On one hand, I was lazy, and on the other, I eventually became insecure about my studies and exams. When not traveling, I struggled to wake up before noon, making it hard to participate in university events. Over time, I convinced myself that I was incompetent and unfit for university. My academic confidence plummeted, especially when it came to writing exams and papers. Ironically, when I did manage to attend seminars or tutorials, I often felt bored because I was usually the only one participating, which made me feel awkward and led me to skip classes even when I could have attended. This procrastination turned me into a student making no real progress, which only deepened my sense of failure.

When I lived in the US this year, I felt frustrated by my inability to proudly call myself a student of politics and law, simply because I was not actively participating in student life back home. This realization pushed me to change. Returning to Germany, with no friends and having distanced myself from those political groups, I was eager to show up, do the work, and fully participate in my classes.

And it worked rather well for the first month and a half... until my boyfriend, whom I had met in the US earlier this year, came to visit me here. When he arrived, we were on spring break, so we traveled around my state. But I let myself get too distracted. I overslept again, missed most of my courses and sports, and became self-conscious and unhappy once more. Then, I lost my new job, which felt like the final blow, confirming my fear that I couldn’t do it.

I had panic attacks before sleeping for several days two weeks ago. I was terrified that I couldn’t make it. I hadn’t shown up to uni for weeks and was convinced I wouldn’t be able to write the exams I couldn’t unregister from. My boyfriend had to calm me down and motivate me, convincing me that I could make it. I didn’t believe in myself, but I couldn’t bear the thought of wasting another semester. So, I sat down and studied, preparing the presentations and texts I needed to complete.

I caught myself. I reminded myself that there is nothing else I would rather be doing right now. I have everything I could wish for: studying politics and law, rowing, reading a lot, working at the theatre, and soon, at the cinema as well. I am physically healthy, have a wonderful boyfriend, and live with an elderly gentleman who brings me great joy. Most importantly, I have found my passion for university again.

So now, within 10 days, I have written three exams and given two presentations that I hadn’t even started studying for more than two weeks ago. And I believe I didn’t do badly. Especially in the statistics exam, I think I did quite well.

All this self-imposed shame and bullying over the last two months was pointless and completely unreasonable. Knowing this now makes me feel ashamed again. All the energy I put into shaming myself could have been used for reading and studying. My procrastination was rooted in overthinking and doubting my abilities.

What should I learn from this? I need to stop telling myself that I’m stupid. I should stop being afraid of failing and just do my best. In high school, my strength was believing in myself and not comparing myself to others. I need to reclaim that confidence.

Where did all my self-doubt come from? I believe social media played a significant role. It destroyed my life, wasted so much of my time, and led me to compare myself to others. When my Instagram was deactivated earlier this year, I was living my best life. When I stopped believing in myself, I re-downloaded it and fell back into mindless scrolling and comparing.

Now, having completed most of my exams and feeling proud to call myself a student of politics and law, I will deactivate it again. I’ve taken precautions to follow only those who inspire me and keep my feed clean. I believe I’m on a good track.

I have two exams left this week: the scientific methods II exam and the private law exam. The methods exam will be easy, but I am extremely afraid of the private law exam. I have five days left to study for private law, and three for methods. I will dedicate myself to studying in the coming days. James, the gentleman I live with, is away at physical therapy until Thursday, so my boyfriend and I have his spacious apartment to ourselves. I can just sit down and study without other responsibilities.

After next week, life will be easier. I will have to write three papers until, but I’ll have time until October. I’ll start my new job in a café and spend my summer working, reading, and writing. I’m looking forward to this. This week will be hard, but the promise of a better future keeps me going. In the best case, my boyfriend and I will go on a holiday together before his visa expires in mid-August.

[mirisss]

As the Seasons Change Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The one who was a Summer Dream

ATSC Masterlist

Summary: Throughout one’s life, you fall in love with many people, some will stay for a long time and some will be like a passing wind. As (Y/n) is cleaning to prepare to move, she finds some old pictures from when she was young and begins reminiscing on some old relationships she used to have. The memories, the laughs, the pain, they were all things she had to go through to find the love she has today. 

In this story, Woozi, Dk, and (Y/n) are the same age and Seungkwan is one year younger than them

(Y/n) is also shorter than all of them, ‘cause I am, and I don’t know how to write for tall people, 

Lee Jihoon x afab reader

Wordcount ≈ 7k

Warnings: food, sad, angst, breaking up, some self-doubt, (Y/n) being a bit shy/introverted, Joshua & Seungkwan being protective friends (they’re chill though), some terms of endearment, I think that’s it

Taglist: @jeonghansemotionalsupportsword, let me know if you want to be added

Who do you think (Y/n) ends up with in the end? 

Please reblog! 

Third person POV

It was a cold and rainy spring day when (Y/n) decided to go up to her loft to sort through the things up there to prepare for her move in a few weeks. Dressed in some sweatpants and a hoodie, she went up there, she didn’t think she’d find anything in particular. She hadn’t been up here since she moved into this apartment a few years ago. The woman began sorting through boxes, thinking of what was to come. She was moving out of her little apartment to move in with her boyfriend. After about an hour of looking through boxes (Y/n) had mostly gone through some old clothes and toys, some mugs and plates, a few lamps, and some other small things she had forgotten about. She went back down to get a bottle of water and then she went back up to the loft. “Let’s see, what’s in this box, it’s so small,” (Y/n) spoke out loud, as the next box in line was a small grey box that didn’t seem like it belonged amongst the other slightly worn-out cardboard boxes, it still looked new yet she could not remember what she had put in it. 

(Y/n) sat down on the floor, drank a sip of water from her bottle, and then dragged the box over to her. The box was surprisingly heavy for its small size. She opened the lid and once she saw what lay inside the box, she was very amazed. “I thought I had thrown these out,” The box was full of old pictures. Pictures of her family, her as a child, her old friends, some of her current friends, old pets, from old vacations, and some of her old boyfriends. A few tears crept into her eyes as she saw some of the photos. (Y/n) picked up a bunch of photos that were bundled together by a hair tie, the second she saw the boy in the first photo she knew who it was. Her first boyfriend, her first love. Lee Jihoon. 

~ Flashback in (Y/n)’s POV  ~

I met Jihoon during my first year of high school. My friends would often describe me as an extrovert because of the way I acted around them, for these moments I would have agreed with them, though the second I was alone I was totally an introvert. I had a hard time making friends, fortunately, in high school some of my friends went to the same school but we didn’t end up in the same class. Two weeks into the semester and our music teacher assigned a project, we were supposed to work on the project in pairs. When I heard pairs, I was ready to cry, I didn’t know anyone in this class, this project was going to suck. “As I said, the project is to be done in pairs, and these pairs have been pre-assigned by me,” My tears dried up in a second, the pairs are assigned, I didn’t have to try and find someone else who looked lonely. “I’ll read out the pairs now, I will also put this sheet up on the board over there in case anyone is sick or misses their name, once I’ve read this out you are free to leave to start working on the project,” Everyone just mumbled, most of the class was disappointed with the pairs being pre-assigned, but not me. Many names were read up and I waited and waited for mine. “Lee Jihoon and (L/n) (Y/n)” Lee Jihoon, I had heard his name before, he was like the star student in this class. Holy hell, I’ve been paired up with the star student, I am so getting an A on this project. Soon enough, all the names had been called out and everyone stood up to leave. The majority of the pairs had already found each other but I was feeling shy and kept pretending to pack up my things even though I finished after a few seconds. “Hey, you’re (Y/n), right?” I was startled but I looked up to find the somewhat familiar face of the star student. “Hi, yeah, I’m (Y/n). Your Jihoon, I presume?” “That’s right, the one and only,” He seemed so easy going and it made me feel a bit more comfortable around him. “So, (Y/n), where would you like to discuss our project? Here? In the hallway? During lunch? Or after classes?” “It doesn’t really matter, I don’t have any plans for lunch or for after school. Or for right now, for that matter. So, whatever is best for you is fine with me” Why was he kind of cute? His eyes crinkled into small moons as he smiled and I couldn’t help but smile back at him. “Then would after classes work? We could meet in room P201, I have it booked already,” “That would be perfect, my last class ends at 4 today, how about you?” “Mine ends at 3 so I’ll go and set some things up and you can come when you’re ready,” “Sounds great,” Just as I was ready to walk away, Jihoon stopped me and asked a question that had my heart racing. “Hey, can I have your number?” “Oh, yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” So we exchanged numbers and walked our separate ways to our next classes. Lunch rolled around and I met up with one of my friends, Joshua, to eat together. “Hey there pretty girl,” “Hey there pretty boy,” We both laughed at the bad joke, it was an inside joke from when we were children and an old lady had called us ‘pretty girl’ and ‘pretty boy’, the entire situation had us rolling on the floor laughing and ever since, we usually said hi that way. “So, how was class?” We stepped inside the cafeteria and looked for an empty table. “It was good, we’ve been assigned our first project and we’re doing it in pairs,” Joshua spun me around to face him before he put his hand on my forehead. “Are you sick? Should I call 911?” “What are you doing, stop it, people are staring,” “Well, you’re not crying, or in panic at this whole pairs thing, which isn’t like you, I mean you used to freak out even when you knew you and I or Wonwoo and you would pair up for everything in middle school,” “Oh, yeah. The pairs were pre-assigned and my partner isn’t half bad. He’s actually really nice and he’s like the star student so I’m going to learn a lot during this project,” Joshua pointed toward a table that was empty so we hurried over. “Wow, sounds nice. I’m still surprised that you’re not in a panic mood because you have to work with someone you don’t know. Who is he? Someone I know?” We both began eating as we continued our conversation. “I don’t know if you know him but his name is Lee Jihoon,” Joshua half choked on his food as he looked up at me in complete shock. “He’s like really popular, (Y/n). He has his own SoundCloud and he produces songs, he’s pretty much a professional already,” “Really?” “Yeah, remember the song that Seungkwan showed us a few days ago, the one you said you really liked?” “Um, yeah, the one called ‘Nice’ or something like that, right? The cute and fun one?” “Exactly, Lee Jihoon made that song. The lyrics, the instrumentals, everything. He even sings on it too,” “Wow, but I don’t believe seeing his name as the user who posted it?” “He uses a stage name, he goes by Woozi,” “So I’m basically working with a celebrity?” “I guess so. Anyway, did you hear about this really dumb thing Chan did yesterday?” And so our conversation shifted to focus on other things, namely, our weird friend group. 

A few hours later, it was finally time for me to head to room P201 to meet up with Jihoon. My last class ended a bit early as the teacher had some sort of meeting. On my way over to the project room I passed by one of the campus coffee shops and I stopped and pondered over if I should buy a coffee for myself and maybe one for Jihoon. After some discussion with myself, I decided to go for it, if Jihoon didn’t like the drink I got for him then I’d just have to drink it myself. I ordered two [insert coffee of choice], and then I jogged over to room P201 so that I made it on time. I knocked on the door and heard a faint ‘come in’, when I stepped inside I was really surprised. The project room looked as though it was a room in someone’s house, it was personalized with small gadgets, and it was like a full-blown studio. “Hi, sorry I’m a little late. I got some coffee, I hope you’re fine with [insert coffee of choice],” “Don’t worry about being, 3 minutes late, I wasn’t even aware of the time. And [insert coffee of choice], is perfect. Thank you! Let me know what I owe you for it,” “Oh, no, it’s on me. Music isn’t exactly my best subject so I might not be of much help for the project, so I hope the coffee will make up for it,” Jihoon just smiled and waved me over. “Don’t worry about it, maybe I can help you get better. It’s a pair project after all and we’re supposed to help each other. Here, sit down and we’ll get started,” I sat down beside him and from there he began sprouting with ideas for our project, he had around 15 different approaches to it, and if anyone else had explained them to me I wouldn’t have understood but Jihoon was so precise in his explanation that I could follow him without a problem. One hour later and we had already created an outline for our project. After that, we just sat there, talking. I didn’t ask him about ‘Woozi’ but I figured if we actually became friends, then he’d tell me on his own. 

We decided to meet up in room P201 the next day too after our classes. Once again, I brought two cups of coffee for us. To my surprise when I walked into the room, Jihoon was waiting for me with a bright smile, the one that made his eyes crinkle, and some snacks laying on the table. “I thought, if you bring the coffee then I’ll bring the snacks,” “Good idea, Ji. Here you go, an iced americano for the one and only, Lee Jihoon,” “So, I just made this beat for the project, what do you think about it?” Jihoon pressed play and a rhythmic beat filled the room, it was really good. I would have never thought of it myself, but it was really good. “Woah! Jihoon, that was amazing! It’s exactly what we need,” “Thanks! I’ll show you how I made it so that you too can answer any question we might get,” Jihoon pulled my chair closer to his and my breath was caught in my throat, how could he just do such a story-book action without a second thought? To say, I didn’t dream about that moment for a few weeks would be a lie. I think that was the day I began developing a crush on him. “Could you explain this part again? I’m sorry that I’m so slow at learning this,” “Don’t worry about it, (Y/n). Really. I don’t mind going through it over and over again, music has been a passion of mine all my life. My parents usually say that the first time I smiled was when I heard music and my first word was apparently music. I don’t know if I believe them but at this point, it seems likely. I’ve actually thought about maybe becoming a music teacher in the future if working as a producer doesn’t work out and now I just get to practice that with you. And I also get to spend extra time with you, which is nice,” He looked away, a bit shy after his little confession. “I like hanging out with you too. And, I think you’d make a great teacher, however, I feel bad for all your potential students,” “Why?” “There is no way you’re gonna fail at becoming a producer. Ji, you make amazing songs. I’ve only heard a hand full but they’re all so impressive,” “Thank you, (Y/n). Hey, would you want to do something sometime outside of working on the project? You know, like friends?” “I’d love to!” That weekend we went to the movies, ate dinner together, and went for a walk as the sun began setting. Autumn was here and the weather grew colder, soon the project would be over and it made me very sad. Thinking that possibly, once we’re finished with the project, I won’t see Jihoon anymore. I tried not to think too much about it and instead enjoy the moment, and live in the present, but it was hard. 

On Sunday, I hung out with Seungkwan. My best friend. “Boo, I don’t know what to do. I mean yeah, he asked me to hang out outside of the project, but what if it’s just a one-time thing?” Seungkwan looked over at me with a look that screamed, ‘bitch shut the hell up’. “Girl, you’re not going to know unless 1. you ask him about it. 2. you let the project period end and see what happens. I know you, I know how stuck in that head of yours you can get, but I don’t think you need to worry too much this time,”  If I had known back then what I know now, then maybe everything would be different. But that’s a story for another day. “Thank you, Boo. What would I do without you?” I cozied up closer to Seungkwan and he put his arm around my shoulders. We stayed like that for quite a while, I wasn’t ready to let go of my best friend, he was my comfort place. “Wallow in self-pity?” “Seungkwan!” “Sorry, you know I love you. Now, let’s put a smile on that face of yours,” He began tickling me until I couldn’t help but burst out in laughter. He was right, maybe I should stop thinking so much, and just let whatever happens happen. 

Monday rolled around, the same routine as always. Meeting up with Jihoon in P201 after classes, I brought coffee, and he brought the snacks. Tuesday was the same. Then came Wednesday. Presentation day. The final day of the project. This was it, perhaps the last day I would meet Jihoon. We met up outside the classroom, checking the final touches of the presentation, Jihoon was 100% aware of the fact that the project we had done was way above what was asked of us, I did not know that, so when everyone else presented simple topics I was flabbergasted. Jihoon and I were the last pair to present, thanks to Jihoon telling the teacher ahead of time that we had done something you might see someone studying music at college make. Some of our classmates made fun of us for being such nerds, while others were impressed and shocked at our project, especially with the song that Jihoon had made. It was like deja vu. Once class ended, I slowly packed up my things, waiting for everyone to leave, I watched most people leave in their pairs talking about how the presentation went when suddenly, a voice startled me. “Hey, great job, everything turned out great!” “OMG, Jihoon, you scared me,” “Sorry, didn’t think you’d be so lost in your thoughts,” “It’s okay, thanks by the way, but all the credit should go to you. I just bought coffee and watched you work on the project while you also had to hold lectures on what you were doing,” “Ya, I told you, I don’t mind holding lectures, and you did much more than just buy coffee. You were my muse, my inspiration, and I couldn’t have done it without you,” “You’re just flattering me now, but thanks,” Jihoon had his hand on my shoulder, a bit awkwardly, during these weeks of working with him on the project I learned that he wasn’t the biggest fan of physical touch. So receiving small touches like these, made my heart soar because they were rare and very special. “Could I join you for lunch today?” I did a double take, he wanted to eat lunch with me? “Yeah, I was planning on eating with my friend Wonwoo, I can cancel with him though, he can eat with one of our other friends,” “It’s okay if it wouldn’t be a burden for your friend I can just eat lunch with you and your friend, no need to cancel anything” “I think that will be fine. Just a heads up though, Wonwoo can be very quiet around new people, he’s quite a calm person in general,” “That’s fine, I’m usually quiet too unless we’re talking about music,” 

“Hey, Woo. This is Jihoon. The guy I worked with for my music project. Jihoon this is Wonwoo, my friend,” Wonwoo looked up from the book that lay on the table in front of him and looked over to Jihoon who stood beside me. “Hi,” “Hey,” the two boys spoke at the same time and then awkwardly chuckled. “I hope it’s okay that he eats with us,” “Yeah, sure. No problem, sit down,” And from there it was smooth sailing, the two boys got along well so lunch was very pleasant. 

A few weeks passed by and the two of us had only gotten closer. I almost always showed up in room P201 after classes to meet Jihoon and watch him work while I pretended to study. I kept up my tradition of buying coffee for the two of us, I never once showed up without two cups of coffee. Jihoon stepped up his game by making sure we not only had snacks in the room but also food. He knew that I would show up at 4.10 pm so he had prepared some cup ramen so that it would be ready at that time. This was very appreciated by me as I was usually quite hungry at that time. Jihoon might not have told me at the time but he really liked having me there, even if I just distracted him with my endless questions and chatter.  

I loved watching him as he wrote lyrics, tried out melodies, played instruments, or whatever else he did as he created his songs. One day, as I carefully opened the door I found Jihoon as well as another man that I had seen around school before but I didn’t really know him. The unknown guy turned to me with a kind smile, he was dressed like the typical bad boy, though so was Jihoon. From head to toe in only black, and let us not forget the obligatory leather jacket. I shyly waved to him before looking at Jihoon. “Mm, (Y/n), this is Seungcheol, but you might know him as Scoups. I showed you some of his songs the other weeks, the rapper. And Coups, this is (Y/n),” “Hey, (Y/n). Nice to meet you!” Even though he looked a bit intimidating, the second he truly smiled at me, he looked kind of like a child on Christmas morning. “Hi,” I was feeling shy around Seungcheol because I hadn’t met him before so I walked over to Jihoon and sat down trying to hide behind him. Jihoon leaned in and whispered to me, “It’s okay, Cheol is really nice, and he’s leaving in a few minutes, we just finished up a song we’re collaborating on,” He put his hand on mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. Jihoon said ‘a few minutes’ but it turned into 2 hours. After a few minutes, I began warming up to the bright and nice Seungcheol, he didn’t leave me out of the conversation and even asked what I thought of the song as they played it. Soon enough, it felt like I had known him for years. Later on, I found out that Jihoon had felt a little jealous that I got so close to Seungcheol because he was worried that I would like Seungcheol more than him. 

“Bye Coups, I’ll publish the song on Friday. Don’t forget to announce it like last time,” “I promise, I’ll announce it. Besides, Minghao already prepared the post and everything, he’s sort of like my manager or something. He does all that for me since I forgot that one time,” “That’s good, I have to write up a note or something so I remember thanking Hao for all he does,” “Yeah yeah, I forgot ONE time, one time. Anyway, bye Hoon, bye (Y/n)!” “Bye Seungcheol, be careful on your way home,” “Will be!” And so Seungcheol left. “I told you he was nice,” “Yeah, he was, really nice,” “But he’s not better than me,” I just laughed it off as he said that, not thinking much of it. Not long after that, we packed up to go home. I held his hand all the way through the empty corridors, it felt so natural to do it, Jihoon let me do it too, it was nice, I really, really, didn’t want to let go of it, but I had to. “Good night, (Y/n), I’ll see you tomorrow,” “Good night, Ji. See you tomorrow,” 

Winter was coming and the weather became colder and colder every day. The best thing was approaching too, Christmas and winter break. I was really looking forward to a break from school, though I was sad cause I didn’t think I’d be able to see Jihoon during the break but I was still excited about hanging out with my friends pretty much every day. 

The happiest day for me that year was the day of the first real snow, the snow that fell and actually stayed on the ground for days, not the one that just fell and disappeared before it even landed. It was the day that Jihoon asked me out on a date. I had just sat down on my chair in room P201 when Jihoon surprised me with a weird question. “Hey, have you ever thought anything about my height?” “What do you mean, Ji?” “Like, have you ever thought that I would be better if I was taller or thought I look like a child?” “Um, Ji, you are a child, I am too. But, no. I have never thought anything like that, Jihoon, you are so much more than your height, and if someone can’t see it then they’re stupid, blind, and everything else mean,” “Will you go on a date with me?” I dropped my cup of hot chocolate, fortunately on the floor and nothing got on any of the music equipment. “Omg, are you okay? Did you burn yourself?” Jihoon was fretting over my hands looking over them to see if I got any of the hot liquid on them. “What?” “Are you okay?” “No, or yes, but not what that, what as in what did you ask before that?” “Go on a date with me?” “You, Jihoon, Woozi, want to go on a date with me? (Y/n)? Me?” I looked at him dumbfounded, I couldn’t believe it. “Yes, (Y/n). I, Lee Jihoon, also known as Woozi, want to go on a date with you, (Y/n),” “Why? I mean I’m, me and you’re you” “I want to go on a date with you because you are you. I like you, (Y/n). I have since we first met,” “Really?” “Yes, really. Now, will you go on a date with me?” “Yes, yes I will,” “Okay, how about, the 13th, at 12, at this address?” Jihoon handed me a note with an address scribbled on it. “Alright!” I didn’t say long that day because I had to run him and tell Seungkwan that Jihoon had asked me out. 

Jihoon asked me out on the 9th of December, and we still did our usual tradition on the 10th, 11th, and 12th. Nothing changed. Truthfully, it had always felt like we were in a relationship except for the kissing I guess. I was really nervous on the morning of the 13th. The day of our first date. I had asked Seungkwan and Joshua to come over in the morning to help me pick an outfit and calm me down. “(Y/n), my baby has grown up, your first date, and I haven’t met the guy, how do I know he’s good to you?” “Shua, shut up! I’m not your baby, and Jihoon is really nice, he’s so sweet, talented, and good-looking,” “Mm, you could just be blinded by love, he might be a jerk,” “Wonwoo met him, and he approves, maybe I should have asked him to come instead of you too,” “YA! HOW DARE YOU SAY YOU PREFER WONWOO OVER ME!?!?!” “Boo, I never said I preferred Wonwoo over you, I just meant that maybe he would be more supportive,” The three of us laughed it off before Joshua dove into my closet and began pulling out shirts, jeans, dresses, and whatnot. “We’re just looking out for our princess. You know we care about you, but I’m sure Jihoon is a great guy and we’re happy for you,” Seungkwan hugged me before he too began looking through my clothes and discussing with Joshua what would look best on me. “Okay, so it’s chilly outside so we’re going with these jeans, and this sweater, with this coat, and finally, these shoes,” Joshua handed me a bundle of clothes and Seungkwan held a pair of sneakers in his hands. “You sure?” “Yes, now put it on, and if we need to do some changes we will, breath,” Seungkwan always knew what to do when I was panicking. It makes sense, we’ve been friends for as long as I can remember. “Okay,” I changed into the clothes in the bathroom and when I went back into my room the two boys looked over the outfit, then at each other, before they looked back at me and nodded their heads. “You look great!” “Thank you, Joshua,” “No problem, now come on, let’s go, or you’re going to be late for your first date,” “I’m scared,” “I know, but it’s okay. It’s the same Jihoon you’ve met almost every day since the middle of August. Nothing has changed, so just breathe, and remember, he’s the same Jihoon that you’ve gotten to know over these months,” Seungkwan gave me a gentle nudge as both he and Joshua smiled reassuringly at me. I don’t think I would have made it to the date, had it not been for Seungkwan and Joshua.

As I approached the building where the date was going to be, I couldn’t help but laugh. He remembered. As I stepped inside, I immediately found Jihoon standing a few meters inside, holding two cups of hot chocolate, for once dressed in something other than the color black, but most importantly, he had a nervous smile across his lips that just blossomed into a brighter happier smile as soon as he saw me. He was just as nervous as I was. “Hi, you look really pretty,” Jihoon handed me the cup as we now stood in front of each other inside a small and cozy bookshop. One I had mentioned on one of the first days of our project. Wonwoo had been there and it seemed so nice but I hadn’t been able to go yet. But here I was now, with Jihoon. “Thank you, you look really nice too,” “Come on, let’s go look through all the books,” I let out a happy glee as I grabbed Jihoon’s free hand with mine and dragged him along as I began sifting through books and telling him of my favorite ones.  We were in there for hours and once the shop was closing we went to a convenience store and bought some ramyun to eat. He really set my standards high, not because we did something fancy but because we did something that meant a lot, something that was special to us. Jihoon even walked me home and once we were outside my house, we stopped, looked at each other, then down to our interlocked hands, and finally back at each other. “Would you want to go on another date with me?” “Of course, I would, Ji. I’d love to,” “Great, ‘cause I meant it when I said I like you, really like you,” “I like you too,” “Would you be my girlfriend?” I was shocked that he asked me, right then and there, albeit, happy too. “Yes,” It almost felt like being proposed to, I know it isn’t nearly the same but for me at that time, it was better. 

The remaining days of the semester were spent the same way all other days had been spent by us. The only thing that changed was that we now shared our drinks, occasionally feeding each other a bite or two of our food or snacks, and we sometimes planted a cheek kiss on the other when they weren’t expecting it. We hadn’t had a kiss on the lips yet, neither one was ready for that step just yet, but that was okay. We didn’t need to rush that. I was ready to cry on the last day because I didn’t know if I could see Jihoon during the break. As I began packing up my things, I felt the tears forming, when suddenly, a gentle hand was placed on my shoulder. “Would you like to come over to my house tomorrow and eat dinner with me and my family?” My neck hurt from how quickly I twisted it to look at him. “You mean we can see each other during the break?” “Yeah. I mean, if you want to. We don’t have to,” “No, I would love to. I was worried that you would be too busy during the break,” “I’m not too busy for my girlfriend,” And just like that, he stole my heart once again. 

The dinner with his family was really nice. Even if I almost dropped every single bite of my food from being so nervous that I was shaking. His family was lovely and welcomed me with warm and open arms. During winter break, Jihoon got to meet Seungkwan and Joshua too, along with Wonwoo, though the two of them had already met. he also got to meet some of Seungkwan's closest friends, other than me, like Chan and Junhui. For once, Jihoon was really nervous. “I promise, they’re nice, they will probably just interrogate you a little,” “That’s what I’m worried about, what if they don’t like me?” “Hey, Wonwoo likes you, he’s already on your side. And honestly, he’s the hardest one to win over because he’s the most, how should I say this? Unbothered one? like he usually doesn’t care all that much about others. The two of us became friends because we both like reading books and we ended up hiding in the same spot to read books instead of playing with the other children. It took me a week to find out his name, I think he might have stuck around me because that way he wouldn’t have to get to know anyone else. But, he made an effort to get to know you, he doesn’t do that often, so you should feel special,” “Still, what if the others don’t like me?” “They’ll like you, Ji. Don’t worry. If it makes you feel better, then you can invite some of your friends too, like Seungcheol and Minghao,” “Yeah, maybe I’ll do that,”

Two days later, with only one day left until the next school semester was beginning, (Y/n) and her friends arranged a special friend lunch so that her friends could meet her boyfriend and vice versa. Also, now that Jihoon was inviting some of his friends too, (Y/n) could meet them and get to know them, Seungcheol, she already knew quite well though. Since that one day, he had hung out with her and Jihoon in P201 a couple of times so they had spoken quite a lot. (Y/n) had also met Minghao once, when he stopped by the ‘studio’ to give Jihoon a notebook that contained a bunch of song lyrics that Jihoon had written during the years, he had forgotten it at Minghao’s the night before after they had spent hours working on a project. (Y/n) and Minghao didn’t say much to each other that time though, mostly just a ‘hi,’. And lastly, Soonyoung, she had never met. Jihoon said that once she saw Soonyoung she would know who he is, he wasn’t wrong. Kwon Soonyoung is a well-known guy around school, known as Hoshi, a guy who loves tigers, dancing, and being loud. Jihoon was a bit anxious about meeting Seungkwan and Joshua, although he didn’t need to worry, the two took a quick liking to him and just hit it off. I guess maybe it was easier for guys, in my experience girls didn’t usually become friends so quickly. Chan and Jun also hit it off with Jihoon though Jun became closest with Minghao, and Chan with Soonyoung. Seungcheol and Wonwoo quickly bonded over both liking rapping. I was happy, and Jihoon was happy, even if Joshua threatened to haunt him forever if he ever even thought of hurting me and Seungkwan was staring at him with dagger eyes. 

Soon enough, winter was over. The snow began melting and the flowers of spring began blooming. Jihoon met my family, who loved him. Everything was perfect. We went on a lot of dates. Picnics, movie dates, convenience store dates, bookshop dates, him trying to teach me how to play an instrument, Jihoon singing his songs to me. Everything really was perfect. We still hadn’t kissed, but it felt like we didn’t need to yet. That kiss was going to be special, it was worth waiting for. Today, I regret not kissing him earlier. If only I had known then what I know now. Our first kiss was special. It really was. But for all the wrong reasons. 

Summer was creeping closer. Summer break was just days away, sure it might have been three weeks left, but high school freshman I saw it as only a few days. One warm and sunny late spring Thursday, Jihoon called me just a few minutes after I had gotten home. This was out of the ordinary. This was weird. “Hey, Ji,” “(Y/n). Can you meet me at the park close to the Choi Convenience store?” “Yeah, when? Ji, are you okay?” I could hear how strained his voice was, he was fighting to hold back tears. I knew exactly how someone who was choked up with tears sounded, it was familiar to me because I often felt that way. “As soon as you can, I’ll be there in 5, I’ll wait by the swings,” “Okay, I’m leaving now,” And so we hung up. Our first call since we became a couple that didn’t end with a ‘bye honey,’ or ‘take care, sweetie’. I put down my bag and ran out the door. I ran all the way to the park. Once I reached it I could barely breathe, my lungs were screaming, and everything hurt, but all I knew was that I needed to get to him. To my Jihoon. The second I saw him sitting on one of the swings, my heart broke. There were two rivers of tears running from his eyes, down his cheeks, and some even running down his neck. I had never seen him so broken before. “I hate my dad,” “Why, what happened?” “We have to move. He got some stupid job in [insert place very far away from where you live]. We’re moving, (Y/n),” I couldn’t stand. I fell to my knees. Partly due to my exhaustion from running all the way from home and partly because of what Jihoon just told me. Call me dramatic, but my first love just told me he was moving far away from me, I knew what it meant. We had to break up. We were too young for a long-distance relationship. It just wouldn’t work. “When?” “What?” “When? When are you moving?” By now, my own face matched his, with tears running all over my cheeks. “At the end of July,” “So we still have about two months?” Jihoon looked at me with sadness in his eyes, though I also found a drop of gratefulness swirling around in them. Gratefulness over him not having to explain that after two months, we would be over. “Yeah, two months,” “That’s okay, at least we have two more months,” “(Y/n),” Jihoon got down from the swing, he leaned on his knees in front of me while one of his hands caressed my cheek. “Jihoon,” He embraced me in a hug. He held onto me for a long time. And we just sat there, on the ground, crying, as we hugged each other as close as we could. We might have been children or young teenagers, but what we had was real. So it hurt, it really hurt, knowing we would even have a year together. It felt like someone was dying. And someone was. The me I had been with him. The me who had her first love. 

2 months. It might seem like a long time in some situations, while in others it feels like just 2 days. I spent every day with Jihoon. We tried to stay happy and do fun things without thinking of our doom’s day. July 31. That would be the end of us. Our last day. Some days, it worked and we could genuinely enjoy whatever we were doing, others, however, were spent by us hugging or holding hands in silence. We didn’t dare speak, afraid that if we spoke, we would wake up and find that it was just a dream that we were still together. The clock moves forward. Time goes on. Unfortunately. Too soon, July 31 rolled around. That morning, I woke up at 5 am to go over to Jihoon’s house which had been sold, to say goodbye. 

“Promise me that you’ll still be here when I come back,” Jihoon held my hands in his own. “I promise,” “Good. I want you to promise one more thing,” “What?” “Promise me, that you’ll move on. And that you’ll be happy,” “Jihoon, I don’t want to -” “Please, (Y/n). Promise me that. Please,” I felt my throat close up, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t speak, the tears that were falling from my eyes choked me up. I tried my best to answer him. “I, I-I, p-promise, I-I do,” I somewhat stuttered through it as I could barely breathe. “I love you, (Y/n)” And then he kissed me. Jihoon kissed me. Our first kiss. Our first and last kiss. “I love you too, Jihoon,” “Come on, Jihoon. We need to leave,” Jihoon looked behind him, toward his family who was getting inside the car, ready to take the love of my life away from me. “I love you, I always will,” He kissed me on the forehead before he let go of me and turned around to walk to the car, and out of my life. I watched them drive away, I felt a part of me die that day. Your first love always stays with you, they say. I didn’t think it would hurt this much. 

A few days later, Woozi uploaded a new song to his Soundcloud. I listened to it, letting my tears run freely. It was our story. Our song. He had given it the perfect name. “Right person, wrong time,”. As I heard the lyrics, my heart broke once again. “You were the one person who saw me for who I am, more than just the shell of me, though our time was short I know you are my soulmate. My first and forever love. The summer dream that I don’t want to wake up from,” 

[henrysteelsmurryme]

thank you, thank you (~3.1k words)

WARNINGS: smut, fellatio, more fellatio

: :

“My friends and I are thinking of going on a vacation.”

Harry looks at her. “During spring break? I thought we were all going down to Florida.”

She nods. “No, we still are. My friends just want to go somewhere for a week, or even a weekend. We’ll just skip our classes.” Harry gives her a look and she rolls her eyes. “Fuck off, I’m a second semester senior. You would know how that goes.”

He sighs. “Where are you thinking?”

She shrugs. “Maybe Florida again, but we’d go to Fort Lauderdale or something.”

He wrinkles his nose. “I went down there once during college. It was basically a giant frat party for a week straight.”

Eileen nods enthusiastically, a large smile on her face. “Doesn’t it sound like fun?”

“No.”

“Whatever.” She leans back in her seat. “We’re gonna decide soon.”

“Well, let me know, yeah?”

She smirks at him. “You gonna fund the whole trip?”

He shrugs. “If you want me to, honey. I don’t mind.”

She freezes. “Are you serious? I was just joking. We all have enough money to go.”

He nods. “I know, but I also don’t mind paying for it. I mean, it won’t affect my bank account as much as it’ll affect yours.”

She rolls her eyes.

A few days later, they're sat at the kitchen island. Harry is working on his laptop, and Eileen is shopping for swimsuits on hers.

“Everything’s so fucking expensive," she complains. "We found a condo. It’s in a sketchy area, but it’s close to the beach and the town.”

Harry sighs heavily. “Let me see.”

Eileen shows him the information on her laptop. Harry doesn’t look impressed.

He starts to shake his head. “No. No. You’re not staying there.” He stands up and heads to his office.

“Why not?” Eileen huffs and follows him. “Harry,” she whines. “Everything is so expensive there. We can’t afford anything nicer.”

Harry sits down in his leather chair, behind his huge desk. “Which is why I’m getting you guys a house.”

She freezes in the middle of his office. “A house? Right on the beach?”

Harry nods, typing quickly on his computer. “In an area where your chances of being murdered are nearly zero percent. I am not about to go down to Fort Lauderdale to identify my dead girlfriend because her and her friends couldn’t afford a nicer place.”

Eileen smiles brightly, strutting around the desk and standing behind him. She rests her hands on his shoulders, watching his computer as he looks for places. “I like that one.”

He snorts. “Because it’s pink. It only has two bedrooms.”

“So? We’ll share beds.”

“It has one bathroom.”

Eileen doesn’t respond for a moment. “Anyways, I like that one.”

The exterior is a pretty sky blue, with white shutters and pink flowers lining the house. Harry checks the features, and it includes four bedrooms and three baths.

“That sounds more like it.”

“And it’s right on the beach,” Harry points at the screen, “and, like, a ten minute walk from the town. It’s a gated community, a family community, so,” he turns and glares up at her, “no partying at the house. I’m not going down to bail you out of jail either.”

She sighs lightly, leaning down to kiss his forehead. “Okay, okay, jeez.” She wraps her arms loosely around her neck, hugging him. “Thank you, darling. I owe you one.”

Harry snorts, hitting Confirm on the screen.

She dips her head, her hands sliding down his chest as she kisses his neck. “You’re so good to me.”

Harry hums. “It’s because I love you, honey.”

Eileen tries to press her lips harder against his skin, but her large smile prevents her. “I love you more, darling,” she murmurs into his ear. Her hand slides further down, cupping his bulge. Harry’s breath hitches, and his head falls back on her shoulder. “Thank you so much.” Her hand squeezes.

Harry spins around just as she yanks the chair and she climbs into his lap, straddling his thighs. She cups his jaw and pulls him in for a bruising kiss. Her hand work quickly at undoing his pants, pulling his cock out.

Harry moans into her mouth, his hands sliding all over his body, like he can’t choose where to put them.

Eileen strokes him slowly, rubbing her thumb in little circles around his slit. Harry’s head falls back, exposing his neck to her. She dips down and sucks underneath his ear, quickening her pace.

Harry’s breathing heavily when he lifts his head back up. His hand rises up to the back of her head and he wraps her hair around his fist, pulling her head up. He looks at her for a moment, with her wet lips parted and her eyes blown out. He pulls her in for a kiss, licking into her mouth once before pulling away. He asks lowly, “Is this what you call a proper thank you?” He tuts. “I deserve more than your hand. On your knees, honey.”

Eileen’s jaw drops around a smile. Her tongue prods her cheek as she slowly descends onto the floor in front of him. She almost whines at the loss of friction between her legs. She was grinding against his thigh before, and now her center throbs for some contact, but is only met with air.

She thinks the quicker she gets him to come, the quicker she can come, so she goes to work immediately, wrapping her lips around his cock and sinking down. One hand fondles his balls, while the other works the lower half of his cock. She tries to make it as wet for him as possible, because he likes it like that, and especially so when there’s spit and cum dripping out of her mouth.

She pulls off and, while still jacking him off, says, “I want you to fuck my mouth.”

“Honey,” Harry groans. His hands are in her hair and they try to pull her mouth back over him, but she refuses. “You nearly throw up every time I do it.”

“I know,” she whines. “But it fits the mood.”

Harry lets out a breathless laugh, saying to himself, “Fits the mood. All right.” He sits up, gazing down at her softly. He cups her cheek, rubbing his thumb along the skin. “Tap out when it’s too much, okay?”

She nods quickly, sitting back on her heels and opening her mouth wide. Harry curses at the sight, his thumb slipping into her mouth. He whimpers when her eyes flutter shut and she sucks softly, hollowing her cheeks out.

He thrusts his thumb in and out a few times before he pulls it out. His hands grabs her hair as he guides her down on her cock. He lets out a strangled groan when he gently guides her down further, until his tip hits the back of her throat. 

He pulls her off and asks, “All right?”

She nods, and she wraps her lips around his cock again. She tries to relax her throat, and stays surprisingly still as Harry gently thrusts into her mouth. Her own moans and whimpers are muffled by his cock. She aches for some friction on her clit.

She only has to tap his thigh once before he’s yanking her off. She gasps for breath, tearing leaking out of her eyes, spit and precum connecting her mouth to the tip of his cock.

“Oh, god,” she says hoarsely, leaning forward and resting her head on his thigh, trying to catch her breath.

Harry leans down to the side and grabs the trash can. “Are you gonna throw up?”

She shakes her head against his thigh, her shoulders and back still heaving.

Harry shakes his head and smiles, laughing a bit. “That’s the best you’ve ever done.”

“I’m not done yet,” she says stubbornly, pouting up at him.

He nods, stroking her cheek. “Of course not, honey. Just take a breather.”

She decides to ignore his patronizing tone, and takes his advice. She focuses on breathing deeply, filling her lungs with the oxygen she was depraved from only minutes ago.

When she hears a groan, she whips her head up to find Harry’s hand lazily stroking himself, his head tipped back toward the ceiling. “Hey,” she says sharply, swatting his hand away and replacing it with her own. “That’s my job.”

Harry only sighs, and then he stands up. Eileen’s mouth opens as she gazes up at him. Something about him dressed in an expensive suit, standing tall over her does something to her. She reaches a hand down to her clit and she grinds against it, whimpering. “Fuck, this is so hot.”

Harry just hums, and his fingers weave into her hair, holding the strands back and she leans in and presses an open-mouth kiss to his shaft. She travels up his length, and spends a few extra moments on the tip, circling his head with her tongue.

“Fuck, honey, that’s so good.” Harry waits patiently, and when she leans back, one hand releases her hair to grip his cock. His other hand tightens in her hair, holding her in place as he slowly feeds his cock into her mouth. Eileen stretches her mouth and licks the underside, humming when Harry pushes in deeper.

Her own hands slide up the backs of his thighs and back down, then sliding up the fronts and holding the sides.

Carefully, Harry thrusts into her mouth, gaging her reaction. She really is hell bent on him coming down her throat. She usually would have given up ten minutes ago.

“Look so pretty, Eileen,” he mumbles, his words slurring together. He’s close. “So pretty with your lips around my cock.” His head drops back. “You’re taking me so well, honey.” He looks back down at her when he starts to thrust harder.

He grins proudly when she just takes it, looking up at him with glistening eyes. “Look at you,” he coos, brushing a tear off her cheek. “You’re such a good girl for me, aren’t you? I love you so much.”

Eileen can feel his thighs trembling, and can hear his breath growing shakier. She can’t see much with his head tilted up to the ceiling, but she can see his mouth is open, little pants falling out of those pretty lips.

She pinches his thigh and he looks back down, never averting his eyes from hers. “Gonna come, honey. Gonna make me come. You’re such a good girl. You’re doing so well.”

He thrusts erratically into her mouth, whimpering and moaning. “I–I’m coming, Eileen. Eileen, Ei–“ He throws his head back and shouts, his hips stilling, his cock deep in her throat.

Eileen sucks down the last drop of come, then carefully pulls off. She tries to catch her breath. Pride bubbles in her stomach at the accomplishment of having him fuck her throat until he comes. She says in-between breaths, “I’m gonna…” She waves a hand. “Work on my…gag reflex.”

He nods, collapsing to the floor with her. He pulls her in for a kiss. Both of them are out of breath, so the kiss is a little weak, a little slow, but he licks into her mouth and he sucks on her tongue until he feels like he could pass out.

“Now, what’s my thank you going to be?”

Harry pulls back, giving her a look. “What? You don’t get a thank you for a thank you.”

Eileen’s jaw drops. “That was the best I’ve ever done! I deserve some fellatio for that!”

Harry’s jaw clenches and he glares at her. “For the last fucking time, fellatio is sucking dick!”

“No, it’s not!” she replies slowly.

Harry huffs. “The word, is cunnilingus. You get fucking cunnilingus.”

Eileen wrinkles her nose. “That sounds like an STD.”

Harry sighs again, and then he pushes Eileen onto her back. Arousal and anticipation flutter in her stomach, but then Harry stands up and walks past her.

“Hey! Come back and fellate me!”

“You want fellatio so bad?” He looks over his shoulder and gives her a look that’s hard to read; Eileen thinks it’s challenging. “I’ll go get the strap."

A few minutes later, the rolls are swapped: Eileen is sat in the chair, and Harry is on his knees between her legs.

“You ever done this before, darling?”

“Of course I have, Eileen,” he replies snappily. “I’m not a virgin.”

Eileen gasps loudly. “Are you fucking kidding me? So you lied about your anal virginity!”

Harry takes a deep breath. “No, Eileen. I’ve sucked dick, but I’ve never had a dick up my ass before you.”

She gasps again. It’s irritating, at this point. “When?!”

“In college, honey. Didn’t you experiment a little bit?”

His tone is mocking and patronizing. Eileen doesn’t like it. “I don’t like your tone. Shut the fuck up and fellate me.”

Harry huffs, then he dips down and presses an open-mouthed kiss to the purple strap on. Then, he lifts his eyes and they meet with Eileen’s. She sucks in a shaky breath, and can feel her underwear pool at the sight.

Without breaking eye contact, Harry moves up the plastic cock, then licks a fat stripe over the tip. Eileen whimpers.

The corners of his lips quirk up. “Getting a little flustered…honey?”

Eileen huffs, and she reaches down to grab his hair at the back of his head. “You’re talking too much. It’s annoying.” The last thing she wants to do is hurt him, so she doesn’t shove him down. But he obediently opens his mouth wider and sinks down just a little bit, taking the tip into his mouth. His cheeks hollow as he sucks, lifting his head up and licking another fat stripe on the tip.

His eyes are glossed over, his cheeks are blushing a beautiful red, and he already looks so out of it.

Eileen’s head falls back on the chair. “I think you did a little more than experiment, darling.”

Harry smirks and hums, before sinking down on the purple cock.

God, each lick and suck goes straight to Eileen’s clit. She swears she can feel his mouth. Her underwear is soaking at this point. She wonders if she could come from this.

When Harry gags around the cock as he pushes himself down, only to leave two inches of the purple cock uncovered, Eileen thinks anything is possible.

She gasps, running her fingers through his hair to push it off his forehead. “Fuck, Harry. Oh, my God.” Her hips subconsciously roll towards his mouth, and Harry stops bobbing his head and lets her for a few moments.

Then he pulls off. “You gonna fuck my mouth then, or what?”

Eileen whimpers again at the sound of his voice. It’s hoarse, deeper than ever, and it’s so fucking hot. She wants to wreck his pretty throat.

Her hand moves to his cheek, gently cupping it before she starts to carefully thrust her hips up. After a few thrusts, Harry gets impatient.

He pulls off the toy. “I’m not a fucking virgin, Eileen. Fuck, my, mouth.”

God, he’s so fucking irritating. Eileen opens her eyes and gives the ceiling a deadpanned look before her hand returns to his hair. Her other hand grabs his chin and forces his mouth open. She tilts his head back, and stands up.

Harry understands why she looked so fucked out when he was above her. The look she’s giving him now isn’t gentle, nor is it sweet. She looks properly irritated. A spark of arousal erupts in his stomach and travels up his spine. He wants her to wreck his throat.

He sticks his tongue flat out just in time for her to ram the purple cock into his mouth. His hands reach up and grip her thighs, the skin bulging around his right grip.

He makes a little gagging noise every time her cock hits the back of his throat. It goes straight to Eileen’s clit.

God, she’s for sure going to come like this. Harry’s just taking it, letting her grab his hair and hold him in place as she uses him like a toy.

She lets out a moan when Harry’s eyes connect with hers. They’re teary and a little red, but he doesn’t tap out, even when the tears leak down his cheeks.

“So beautiful, Harry, fuck.” She throws her head back, thrusting erratically into his mouth.

When he lets out a particularly loud whine, she quickly looks down to find his eyes fluttering shut. She notices his body moving, and realizes he’s pulled his cock back out and is fucking into his hand.

Her hand grabs his chin again and she yanks him off her cock. A trail of spit connects his gaping mouth to the purple strap on. He gasps for breath, looking up at Eileen with wet eyes and an even wetter mouth.

“Did I say you could touch yourself?” she asks lowly, her grip tightening around his chin.

“Honey. Honey, please–“

His voice. It’s wrecked. It cracks as he begs for her approval.

Eileen aggressively swipes her thumb along his mouth. His tongue peeks out and gives it a sensual lick. His lips wrap around it for a small, sucking kiss.

“No.”

As usual, Eileen gets tired of the dominate character. It’s hot–so fucking hot when she takes control like this, but every single time, the act disappears before they even finish.

She whimpers, cupping his cheeks with both hands. Her thighs tremble. “Harry, darling, I love you so much. You’re gonna make me come, I swear.” She lets out another whimper. “Oh, God. Oh, Harry. I think I’m gonna–”

Eileen almost collapses, but just barely manages to hold herself up as she comes. Harry doesn’t even notice, too busy gagging around the purple cock as he comes all over his pants.

When Eileen pulls the cock out of his mouth, Harry follows, leaning forward and pressing his face against her thigh. Even as he’s gasping for breath, he lifts his head and sucks a kiss into the meaty part of her thigh.

“Did you just–”

“Did you seriously–”

Eileen is silent for a moment, then, “You came?”

Harry lifts his head and glares up at her. “Don’t act like I’m the only one.” To prove his point, he reaches up into her underwear and slides a single finger into her wet pussy. It clenches around his digit, and he pulls his finger out to shove it into his mouth.

“Yeah, but–you weren’t even touching yourself!”

He sends her another glare. “And I was actually sucking on your fucking clit. You came from me sucking on the strap on.”

She sputters for a moment. “It–it. It’s the context!”