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total-dxmure · 5 months

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✦ INVISIBLE STRING THEORY →【ELLIE WILLIAMS】→ CHAPTER TWO

pairings: modern!marine ellie x reader

summary: the marines didn’t ruin ellie. ellie ruined ellie. after being medically discharged she feels lost. being sent to live with joel is more of a last ditch effort to save her and less of a fun reunion for the father-daughter duo. jackson is worlds different than chicago, but the fresh air and sprawling countrysides are a welcome reprieve. ellie finds herself finding comfort in more than just the change in scenery though. after losing your girlfriend due to an accident you feel as though you’ll never find love again- but that was before meeting ellie williams. the two of you figure out that you have more in common than just the fact that she and your girlfriend were both marines though. tethered by some invisible string, the two of you meeting has to be fate. who would have known that you were the golden ticket to ellie’s recovery?

warnings: eventual smut! lots of tension building and mutual pining. ellie falls first and hard. small town girl meets a frightening, strong ex marine. TW: talk of panic attacks, ptsd episodes and death. come for the ellie smut and stay for the plot and fluff. (A/N: this chapter is just plot/character building. next chapter we're getting to the good stuff)

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The old farm truck rocked back and forth as you made your way up the all-too familiar dirt path, heading in the direction of the greenhouses. You’d already let the hens out to graze and feed and the last thing you had to do before dropping today’s produce off was check on the nurseries.

Johnny Cash’s southern twang hummed gently over the speakers, your well worn-in cassette tape having been the first thing you reached for this morning. The sun had risen just a few hours ago, and after a few cups of much needed coffee you were ready to go.

The caffeine had done the lord's work, having cleared your brain of any anxious background noise. You could actually function when you had tasks at hand. The second you slowed down though… well, that was a different story. You were trying hard not to imagine Abby sitting beside you in the beat-to-hell red pickup, her blonde braid tossed over her shoulder as she stuck her arm out of the window. You used to joke about her being part dog, what with her loving the wind on her face so much. You missed being able to reach out and wrap a stray strand of blonde hair around your finger, only giving it a soft tug when those blue eyes of hers looked at you with a little too much heat behind them.

So instead of looking at the empty passenger seat you busied yourself with turning up the volume, country music crackling over the shot, old speakers. You all but jumped out of the car the second you put the car in park, ready to get your hands dirty and your mind preoccupied.

You couldn’t remember how many times the two of you had snuck off to the greenhouse when your mother had gotten a little too overbearing back when she still lived in the main house with you. There wasn’t a single surface in the old rickety building that abby hadn’t fucked you on or vice versa.

You walked along the rows and rows of seedlings, looking for any sign of water rot or bug infestations. Everything was perfect, every stem and leaf a vibrant green. Tomatoes, all different kinds of summer squash, and beans of every variety; you had the gift of a green thumb. Your father was more than happy to sign his company over to you right before he passed. All five acres of his property belonged to you now, and with that every bit of responsibility had been placed upon your shoulders. You used to resent the fact that you were so young and in charge of so much. Now you were thankful for the constant work. Distractions. You hated seeing your dad’s life work being summed up as a mere distraction, but it was the only thing that got you out of bed in the morning.

Everyone in the family knew that your dad had wanted a boy when your mother’s pregnancy was first announced. It was a family business, the job having been passed down to him by his own father. Still, he had been ecstatic to show you the ropes. Rather than taking up dance or art like most other little girls your age, you spent your free time elbow deep in mud. You wore the bows and fussed over getting new outfits, but overalls were your daily uniform.

You wore a pair even today, your work boots tightly fastened to ward away any unwanted pecks from overprotective mother hens. Today was bound to be monotonous, as it always was. All you had to do was repot a few strawberry plants. Maybe if you were lucky a goat would find a hole in the gate and escape. At least it would give you something to worry about that wasn’t Abby related.

You slunk over towards the sinks, pumping soap into your dirt covered palm to wash off the dirt. You rubbed your hands together to begin lathering but froze when you realized your right hand felt bare. You brushed your thumb against your middle finger only to realize that it was just as you had feared.

Your ring. It wasn’t there.

White hot dread locked your limbs as you turned your hand over, the dainty opal missing from your middle finger. You blinked, hoping that you were just seeing things. You didn’t even turn off the sinks before racing back over to the repotting table, as if the promise ring had grown legs and would escape you. Your eyes frantically searched the table, pain shooting through your knees as you dropped down on all fours, pushing dirt and leaves aside to get a better vantage point. Nothing. It wasn’t there.

“Oh god. No! No, no, no.” You all but screamed, eyes filling with tears as you pulled yourself off.

You broke out into a nervous sweat, the blood rushing from your head. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening right now.

You didn’t care if you killed the plants, you ripped the strawberries up by their stems, shaking their roots out as you searched their new pots.

Every. Single. One.

Empty.

Abby had given you that ring just before her last deployment, promising that she would be giving you the real thing once she got back. Of course, she never did. It was single handedly the most important piece of jewelry that you had ever owned, even above your grandmother’s pearls and engagement ring. How could you be so reckless? Why hadn’t you thought to leave it in the car?

“Stupid! I’m so fucking stupid!” You screamed, tossing a clay pot on the ground in a fit of anger. It shattered behind you, exploding into a thousand tiny pieces.

You spent an hour sifting through dirt and untangling roots before you finally realized that it was a lost cause. The ring was gone. You’d wrecked the entire greenhouse in your frantic search and the strawberries were just as you expected: dead.

You slammed the door shut behind you, the old window panes shaking with the force. You had barely thrown yourself into the pickup before your body was wracked with full body sobs. White knuckling the steering wheel you leaned your head forward, completely unbothered as the horn blared.

How could you lose something so precious to you? It had been the last gift that you had ever received from Abby. The last. There was no possible way to replace something that was that special to you. Her hands had touched that ring. She’d been nervous to give it to you in the first place, anxious that two years hadn’t been enough time to give you something that sentimental. It was the meaning behind it that had you clutching at your chest, your fingernails digging into your shirt as if you could rip your heart straight out from between your ribs.

She was going to replace that ring once she got back. Give you the “real deal” once she was back home and able to have a ceremony.

But there would never be a ceremony. Never another ring. Never another Abby.

Never. Never. Never.

It felt like you were losing a piece of her, and with that came the revelation- the same one that you’ve already had a thousand times- that she was really gone. There would be no do-overs; no alternate universes where the two of you could be together. The reality of your situation sat heavy in your throat, clogging your airway.

The loss of Abby had eclipsed your heart completely, and darkness was all that was left.

You stayed in the car until your eyes had practically swelled shut and there were no more tears to shed.

The car ride back to her childhood home was completely silent, the only sound being the engine of Joel’s shiny new truck. She did her best to compliment him on the new purchase, but Ellie was sure that she didn’t sound even half as enthusiastic as she had hoped she would. She didn’t feel like being an actress today. Not when he already knew how bad she was doing. Joel had taken one look at her as she got off of the plane and frowned, grabbing her bags only after giving her a bone shattering side hug.

“Well I missed ya,” He finally spoke, causing her to jump in surprise. The sound of his baritone voice soothed her nerves over though. “I’ve really missed you annoyin’ the hell outta me at all hours of the day.”

Ellie cracked a small smile at that, leaning her head into the plush leather seat. The last time she saw Joel was when she had first been transferred to the Kindred Hospital back in Chicago, which was where she had rotted away for a full week. Her eye and face healed up quickly but her back was a different story. She’d been burned badly and had all of the nasty scars to prove it. He had stayed by her bedside for the entire week and had helped her to readjust to being back home in her apartment. The nearly debilitating pain was the only thing that had distracted her from the gravity of her situation back then.

Her therapist said it was normal to disassociate for long periods of time when the body and mind are put under so much stress. Ellie still felt like Ellie back then, but it was only because she didn’t have any real grasp on reality. It was just a few days after Joel left that she finally snapped out of it. She was one of the only five that survived. She was told that landmines were the cause of so many deaths in Iraq.

“It happens all the time out there. You didn’t know. It’s not your fault.”

She didn’t want her unit to just be another statistic. They weren’t just numbers. They were people who had loved ones at home. Loved ones that they had to leave for months and months on end. She couldn’t help but shoulder all of the blame. Ellie was the one that had led them out there in the first place. It was her fault, so why hadn’t she died right along with them? She would have considered herself lucky if she had lost her life right along with them. These were the people that she saw daily. Ellie had developed deep friendships with every member of her unit. She knew the details of all of their lives- the names of their children and loved ones back at home, what they wanted to do with their lives once they were dismissed- how could she not feel like someone had ripped her soul to shreds? How could she not constantly remind herself, every second of every goddamn day, that she was the reason.

She was a ghost. A mere shell of the person that she once was and she had no one to blame but herself.

“I didn’t know you liked me being annoying so much,” Still, she turned to Joel and cracked him a small smile. It was more for his sake and less for hers though. “I’ll make sure to turn it up a notch while I’m here.”

The older man grumbled, shaking his head slightly as he kept his eyes on the country roads in front of him. “That sounds like a threat.”

Ellie could tell that he was playing with her. They were professionals when it came to teasing each other, often to the point that people thought that they were seriously bickering. The short haired female let herself settle into the normalcy of the moment. He hadn’t mentioned anything about the accident or her mental state yet, so it was easy to pretend that things were still…okay.

So that’s exactly what she did. She began to pretend. Ellie allowed herself to be transported back in time. This was just another Tuesday. She’d get back home and sweet talk Joel into cooking her an after school snack. Then she’d go up to her room and procrastinate doing her homework so that she could reread one of her comics.

“Got anything good in here?” Ellie asked before opening up the center console. “I’m not gonna find anything nasty, am I?”

Joel’s lips pursed as he tried to fight off a smile. “Don’t go rifflin’ through my shit, kiddo.”

Her eyes snagged on a familiar purple book, and for the first time in a while something yawned to life in her chest. Joy.

“What do we have here?” She pulled out the book of puns, using it to fan herself before she cracked the bad boy open.

“Ah, don’t start.” He groaned.

She didn’t take the time to wonder why he had put the well loved book in his brand new truck. Instead of allowing herself to be overcome with endearment she flipped to a random page, her lips turning up in the first genuine smile she’d had in months.

“Where can you find a tiny coke?” She asked him, turning in her seat so that she could face him, tucking one of her converse-clad feet underneath her.

“Hey! Get your dirty shoes off of my new upholstery!” Joel reached over and gave her knee a slap.

Ellie reared back, holding the book of puns tight to her chest.

“Come on, try and guess.”

He groaned, rolling his eyes as he leaned his arm against the door.

“I don’t know… tiny town.”

Her nose wrinkled, an eyebrow quirking up at his half assed answer.

“Shitty guess, but alright.” She mumbled under her breath. “Mini-soda.”

“Hilarious.” He said sarcastically, turning onto the familiar drive.

“I think I saw you smile though.”She leaned over to give his cheek a poke, but he swiftly batted her hand away.

The truck’s all-terrain tires crunched over the gravel driveway, revealing the only real home she’d ever lived in. The house and yard looked exactly the same as it had whenever she was a teenager. She sighed out a breath of relief, not knowing how much well she would have handled any sort of severe change. Ellie opened the passenger side door before Joel had a chance to put the car in park, eager to settle in after the flight. She wanted to shower, and that surprised her a bit. A welcome surprise.

Maybe things would be better for her here.

“You didn’t turn my old room into some perverted sex dungeon while I was gone, did you?” She teased as she grabbed her tan duffel bag, easily tossing it over her shoulder as she bounded up the stairs.

He laughed as a response, following close behind her so that he could unlock the front door. She didn’t know why he even bothered. He lived in the middle of nowhere, and they rarely got visitors.

“I’ve got some guitars in there that are worth a fortune.” He’d told her the last time she’d asked.

It had been one of the few times that Ellie had snuck out of the house after curfew. She’d been unable to haul herself back into her second story window once she’d gotten back home and had been forced to sleep in the beat up old hatchback that he had bought her for her sixteenth birthday. Breakfast that morning had been… tense, to say the least.

“I didn’t touch your room… but I did get a dog, so make sure not to let her out.”

She paused at that, turning to look at him with wide eyes. There had been a strict “no animals” rule back when she lived with him. She never thought she’d see the day where Joel Miller would adopt a pet, let alone a dog.

“You got a dog?” She was still in disbelief and half expected him to fucking with her.

“Buckley is a good boy. He shits on the floor sometimes and barks all hours of morning though. It’s almost like having you home.” He teased, bumping his shoulder against hers so that he could shove his key into the lock.

The deadbolt clicked open, and low and behold there was a dog. He looked like some sort of lab mix, his pink tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth as he anxiously waited for his owner’s return. Ellie was too excited to come up with a witty response to Joel’s joke. She tossed her duffle down on the couch, quickly getting down on her knees so that she could pet the dog.

“He’s not much of a guard dog, is he?” He asked, closing the door behind him.

The second that Ellie’s hand tangled into his thick black fur he flopped down, eager for love. Ellie smirked, looking at Joel over her shoulder.

“I don’t know. He looks pretty ferocious to me.”

The sudden knock on the door had Ellie’s lips downturning, eyebrows pinching in confusion. She didn’t like the idea of company right now, and the last thing she wanted was to socialize with anyone. For a second she feared that he had called a doctor or therapist to come out to the house to see her. She wasn’t sure if she could take another “come to Jesus” meeting this week, and she was barely holding it together as is. Ellie put her hands on her knees, pushing herself up to stand before she nodded at the door.

“Company?” She simply asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Joel ignored her obvious distaste, wrenching the door open quickly before she could stop him. It sure as hell wasn’t Tommy. . . and Ellie doubted that most doctors wore overalls, even in Jackson. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon, the golden rays shone through the vast expanse of trees on the property, making it almost look like the world was on fire. The warm glow behind the beautiful stranger made her look ethereal almost, her eyes watery and cheeks flushed. At her feet was a cardboard box packed to the brim with fruits and vegetables. All at once Ellie became startlingly aware of the fact that she looked like absolute hammered shit. Her hair was a frizzy mess, her skin was paler than it had ever been before, and she was wearing an old NASA shirt and dingy sweatpants. If she noticed her disheveled appearance she didn’t show it.

The smile that she beamed in Joel’s direction didn’t quite reach her eyes, and a strange sense of understanding flickered in Ellie’s gaze as she took a few inquisitive steps forward. Ellie Williams knew what suffering was like; true suffering. Looking at her was like looking in a mirror, her well hidden misery plain as day to the auburn haired female.

“Sorry I’m so late, Mr Miller. My truck was giving me problems.” Her voice was beautiful. Melodic in a way that Ellie’s wasn’t.

Spring. . . this girl was spring incarnate.

And she was lying through her teeth.

She’d been crying. Ellie could tell. Still, Joel was already peeking his head out of the door, looking in the direction of where she had parked.

“I could take a look at it for you.” He was being dismissed with a small wave of your hand before he could even get the words fully out.

“That’s so nice of you, but I’ve got it cranking up again. It shouldn’t give me any more trouble today.” Her hair fell off of her shoulder as she leaned down to pick up the box.

Ellie moved forward without thinking, picking up the heavy box for the girl before her fingers could even grip the sides of the cardboard. “Here, let me get it.” She said, craning her neck up so that she could speak directly to the woman.

There wasn’t a single thing about you that Ellie found undesirable. In that moment she was completely certain that you were the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, even with the pain and memory that swirled behind your bright eyes. Their eyes locked, and much to Ellie’s embarrassment, she held her gaze. She watched her with the same sort of silent appreciation.

“-I think it would be good for her. What do you say?” Ellie hadn’t noticed that Joel had been talking the entire time.

The woman blinked a few times, tearing her eyes away from Ellie. “Huh? I’m sorry, do you mind repeating that?” She was nervously tucking a few strands of unruly hair behind her ear, shifting in place on the front porch.

“I was just saying that Ellie is going to be staying out here with me. I think working with you on the farm would be good for her. It would help her to get out of the house, and I know you’ve been pretty busy since it’s just you running things now.” Joel put a hand on Ellie’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. Supportive. Non-judgemental. He was reminding her what would be good for her mental state right now, and having something to do with her hands would certainly help to take her mind off of things.

“O-Oh!” The girl’s lips parted in shock, her eyes flickering between the two of them. “Yeah, I don’t see why not. I get a pretty early start though, so don’t feel obligated to wake up as early as I do.”

“I’ll wake up.” Ellie said quickly, nodding her head.

Her words held a tone of desperation and it had Joel’s head whipping around in her direction. He probably wasn’t expecting her to be so supportive of his last minute idea. She couldn’t be sure if it was because she genuinely wanted to get her mind off of things or if the farm girl’s looks had anything to do with her enthusiasm. Ellie couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt drawn to someone like this. Relationships were the last thing on her mind these days.

“Can you start tomorrow?” The other girl asked, shoving her hands into her front pockets.

Adorable. She was adorable. Ellie felt her breath hitch and all she could do was nod as an answer for your question.

“Alright. . . “She began to trail off, backing up a few steps on the porch. It seemed like you were in a bit of a hurry. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Tomorrow.” Ellie repeated back to her.

She leaned back, lifting the box higher up on her chest so that she could watch the woman get back into her mud stained pickup truck. She only took a step back when Joel started to close the door on her.

“So you’re actually fine with that? I didn’t think you would go for it, honestly.” Joel rubbed at his stubbled chin, flashing her a small smile of approval.

“There’s no way I want to be stuck in a house with your ass all hours of the day.” Ellie quipped, walking to the kitchen so that she could place the vegetables on the countertop.

“I think workin’ there would be good for the both of you. That poor girl has had an awful year. . . I think you’d be good for each other. She needs a friend.” Joel’s voice was somber as he followed her into the kitchen.

Ellie turned to face the older man, swallowing hard as he leaned against the doorway. He was being a bit cryptic. It seemed like he didn’t want to be the one to tell Ellie the girl’s business. Still, she was curious, and she didn’t want to be blind sided tomorrow just in case she wanted to talk about it. Ellie wasn’t usually nosey, but she had a strong urge to get to know her.

“What do you mean by that?” Ellie’s first guess was that she had to be going through some sort of divorce. Joel had mentioned the fact that she was on her own now, so coming to that conclusion was natural.

“No, nothin’ like that,” He cleared his throat before pushing off of the door frame, slowly beginning to unload the box's contents. “She lost her girlfriend and her father this year. She’s the kindest girl. . . you’d never know how much she’s sufferin’ based on how she acts.”

“Oh.” Ellie frowned, having realized that your mourning must be the reason for your sad, sad eyes. She understood how it felt to lose so many people so close together. Better than anyone, really.

“Oh.”

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love-that-we-were-in · 27 days

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betting on all three for us two

pairing: frat!luke castellan x reader summary: you think you like being a little more friendly and a little less competition with luke castellan this year. a sequel to this fic word count: 3.1k warnings: none

author's note: frat luke my dearly beloved loser son who studies pre-med this is for you you know who you are i love you

The fall semester comes at you faster than you’d like, this rapid change from a golden summer to the crisp air of being back on campus. You’re rooming with someone from an old anthropology elective you took, Silena finally moving into her sorority house. It should feel weirder, how everything has changed since spring break.

You take the opportunity to build new habits. Early runs, no caffeine after 2pm. Little things that make the day go a tiny bit faster, building blocks to fit around your class schedule. Silena schedules weekly lunches for the three of you and there’s this gravity to it all that you want to study.

It had been nice to be home for a few months. Your mom had missed having you there, being able to show you the new flowers she planted, how the lemon tree in the yard is twisting weirdly. Board games and family dinners and friends who never left your town. Being back home was resetting. Being back on campus was restarting.

Lee catches you as you leave the gym, offering to walk you to class if you’re heading in that direction. You smile, telling him that you have a late start and pretend he doesn’t frown when your phone buzzes. He mentions that he’s thinking of starting a study group for one of your classes and you tell him you’ll think about joining.

While he heads towards the main building, you make your way to the campus coffee shop - caught behind the early risers desperate for something to get them through their first lecture of the day.

“Can I get a flat white and an iced americano with caramel to go please?” You smile at the girl working the counter, stepping aside to glance at your watch.

You run through your schedule for today, ignoring the text that comes through. You know exactly what it says, the same thing every morning, and you don’t even bother to roll your eyes at this point.

“I can’t believe you ignored my text,” Luke says when you reach the courtyard between the library and the medical building. “Not even a flame emoji.”

You stop in front of him, drinking in the jeans and sweater combination he’s settled on today. It’s a really nice sweater, dark blue and a little baggy. You wonder how quickly he’d notice it going missing. Probably not as quickly as he’d notice the stupid hat he’s wearing go missing. His backpack leans against the bench, pristine.

“No one uses those except you,” you shake your head, handing him the iced drink. “What time does your lecture start?”

Luke tells you as if he really needs to. It’s this thing you’ve started doing since the semester began, acting like you don’t know his schedule as well as your own. As if the both of you haven’t fallen into this routine in just a few weeks. Like it’s not a highlight of your day.

Clarisse thinks it’s adorable. Chris thinks it’s hilarious. You think it’s nice to have someone to share your free time with, beyond whatever else you and Luke have. It had been a fear of yours, when Silena mentioned not sharing a dorm with you, that you would fall to the sidelines. That life would come with these new priorities for everyone and you would only be fourth or fifth on their lists, too cemented in the day-to-day that you’d be forgotten.

Morning coffee with Luke stops that fear.

“Did Silena tell you about the party on Friday?”

“I have a study group in the afternoon,” Luke says, swirling his plastic cup around so the ice clinks together. “If I do go, I’m showing up late.”

“Maybe I’ll keep my eye out for you there, Castellan.”

He laughs and it’s like summer again. There’s something insane about hearing Luke laugh like this, unbroken and loud, nothing like it had been over the phone while you were back home.

“You’ve got dinner with Silena and Clarisse tonight, right?” He asks, swinging his bag over one shoulder. You throw your empty cup into the trash can as you both start walking. “Is there any point in asking if you want to come round after?”

You knock his arm with your shoulder, laughing, and, instead of feigning hurt like usual, Luke just takes your hand in his, the skin a little colder than you expect. Gazing down at your linked hands, you bite your lip before sighing.

“If I’m home before eleven, I’ll consider it.”

Last year, when you first met him, you thought Luke only got that determined glint in his eyes when he was competing. That it was a sign of an unanticipated thrill. Since then, you’ve learnt that it’s not that at all. It’s this thing that ignites within him, determined and passionate and a little boyish.

You think it might be one of your favorite things about him.

“I will take that deal.”

You wish you could say you were a little drunk. At least that way you would have something to blame. As it stands, you’re stone cold sober, maybe a little tired from class but nothing that can really be blamed for the lack of weight your actions seem to have right now.

The only thing you can blame, and you will, is the boy next to you, completely engrossed in the movie playing. They’d been watching it when you arrived, all settled on the couches and you assume this is something they do regularly, and at any other time you might’ve called it cute.

Not tonight. Not when you walked in to the discovery that Luke wears glasses and you didn’t know about it. It was something you played off, making a joke and settling into the cushions beside him. In the time since, Chris has left for his date with Clarisse and Charlie has pulled out some work to go through in the corner of the room.

“What’s up?” Luke asks when he realizes you’ve hardly moved in ten minutes, barely even breathing. And it’s the worst possible thing he could do, glance down through the frames with that small smile you’ve gotten used to and curls loose.

“Nothing’s up,” you let your eyes trail back to the screen. “This is a very cute tradition you guys have going on.”

Charlie lets out a little laugh from across the room. You feel the way Luke exhales against the side of your face. You think you’re able to go back to pretending everything is normal, make a joke and enjoy the rest of the movie. The second you feel Luke’s fingertips on the skin of your knee, gentle and warm, you know you can’t.

“You’re swerving,” he whispers, throwing a quick glance at Charlie to see if he can hear but the other boy is engrossed in his work. “Talk to me.”

“It’s nothing,” you bite the inside of your cheek when he nods encouragingly, incredibly aware of the patterns he’s tracing on your skin. “I just think it’s interesting that you’d choose to wear a hat all the time when the glasses are right there.”

“What?”

His hand stills and you wait. You wait and you stare at the shape of his jaw and you chuckle when it finally clicks, his adam’s apple shifting as he swallows the conclusion down. “Are you saying you like my glasses?”

You don’t like how uneven this all feels. Whenever you’ve been with Luke so far, there’s been this mutual balance that you’ve grown used to. Even before now, back when you were locked in silly competitions, you did it on even footing, the expectation that everything meant nothing and you wouldn’t be affected.

This, the way Luke grins around the realization, hand moving to rest on your thigh, is different. It’s heavier. It’s a loss after a winning streak and you’re kind of obsessed with the way it could drag you down.

“I just think that hat is stupid.”

“Yeah, okay,” Luke nods and you know, even if he doesn’t do it outright, he’s laughing. He’s categorizing the information you’ve just given him, placing it where it belongs in his mind, and it’s going to bite you in the ass. “Tell me more.”

“Luke,” you mutter, gritting your teeth. His fingertips brush against the hem of your shorts and, when you glare at him for it, he just shrugs. You throw a glance over in Charlie’s direction. Still nothing. “Are you insane?”

He tilts his head like he’s considering the question carefully. If Charlie were to look over, you know he’d assume you were locked in a debate about something silly - a staple of you and Luke - and it wouldn’t matter. He wouldn’t know for a second that you were holding onto Luke’s wrist, his hand itching to move just a little to the left.

You sigh and the boy beside you raises an eyebrow. You both know that you’ve lost this round.

When you press your lips to his bicep as the film credits roll, warm even through the fabric of his shirt, you mumble, “I really like your glasses.”

You aren’t used to watching things from a crowd. You’re used to focusing on yourself, on your team - not watching from a distance, surrounded by people who are there purely for enjoyment. There’s no winning from the stands.

Luke doesn’t know you’re here. You’d sent him a text that morning wishing him luck, arranging to meet him when his debate was over. You hadn’t bothered to message him when your afternoon class got canceled, choosing instead to race across campus and find a seat in the dim auditorium they’re using.

There isn’t the crackle of energy you get from swimming, or from watching Luke during track sessions. It’s less intense, for sure, a balance between the fire you know exists within him when he’s competing and the confidence he has in his own intelligence. You’ve argued with Luke, stupid things that neither of you care to take too seriously, and this is just the next stage of that.

He’s got his glasses on, you note, when the debate gets underway. He’s wearing his lucky green polo, even if he’d never personally call it that, and he’s switched his smartwatch out for an analogue one. The cheap biro you’re used to seeing him use has been replaced by a fancy silver pen that he still taps against his thigh while thinking. He’s sitting straighter than usual, shoulders back.

It’s almost like meeting him for the first time, focused and confident and sharp at the edges.

You’re kind of obsessed with it.

An hour and a winning handshake later, you make your way through the small crowd leaving to find Luke in conversation with one of his teammates. She smiles as you wrap an arm around his waist from behind, the slight tension still lingering in his bones melting away when he realizes it’s you.

“What are you doing here?” He says, turning enough that he’s actually facing you now. The girl waves you both goodbye. “I thought you had class.”

“Professor Chase had to cancel. His daughter got sent home from school with a fever.”

Luke nods, pressing his lips to the top of your head quickly. “You didn’t have to come to my debate.”

In the few months you’ve known Luke, you’ve learnt more about him than you expected to. You know from summer that Connecticut means looking after his sick mother, that he’s hoping to introduce some new charity events to ksig, that he used to go to a summer camp growing up. You know that his dad never showed up for anything and that he sits in the stands of all of your swim meets regardless of whether it cuts into his study time or not.

More than all of that, you know that the way he’s gazing at you now, a cross between awe and something deeper, is going to drive you crazy one day. You hope he can read the same expression on your face.

“Thank you for coming,” he says when everyone is finally dismissed, an arm thrown across your shoulders as you make your way out of the building. You loop a finger around one of his, just because you want to. “It means a lot.”

“I told you I would,” and you had, months ago, staring at Luke’s bedroom ceiling, back when you were still caught in the casualness of it all. When Luke was just someone you pretended you weren’t trying to bump into at parties. You’d told him that you would show up for him if you ever got the chance. He’d rolled his eyes, throwing a blanket over you both and told you to go to sleep. He’d drifted off with his nose pressed against your neck. “I keep my word, Castellan.”

“I know.”

In the evening light of campus, you think it might mean something more. Buried under the timing and the bitter wind until it’s a promise only you and Luke could translate. Asking him about where he wants to go for dinner, you like that no one else could understand the depth of it.

+1.

Silena catches your attention as you enter the kitchen, grinning wildly and explaining her concept for tonight. Drew gave her permission to throw this week’s party, something themed and fun and it’s something she’s so proud of that you can’t help but grin back at her energy.

“Even Charlie came,” she tells you excitedly, handing you a drink. “I feel like tonight is going to be it.”

In all the years you’ve known her, she’s been counting down to it. You don’t exactly understand the fundamentals of what it is, if it’s a real thing or something she can just sense intrinsically. There have been moments where she’s thought of it before, mentioned it offhandedly before shaking her head - as if knowing she was wrong.

“What even is it?” You ask and, for the first time, she breathes deeply instead of shrugging it off.

“The beginning of the end,” she says and that doesn’t exactly explain anything. “Everything is about to change.”

You still don’t really get it, but she’s as confident in this as she is about her clothes, so you nod like you understand. She sends you away not long after that, turning her attention to the new group that’s just walked through the doorway, mentioning that you need to be in the basement in about an hour and you just accept your fate, moving into the next room and falling into conversation with Rachel.

Luke slips into the basement just as Silena starts yelling for everyone to do so, catching your eye across the room and waving. When you’re all instructed to sit down in a circle, you wonder exactly what Silena has planned for tonight. When she places a near empty bottle down in the center of you all, you laugh.

“Are we actually playing spin the bottle?” Chris asks, prompting a murmured chorus of agreement from everyone else in the room. Silena frowns at him.

“Wanna bet he ends up getting the most into it?” Luke whispers in your ear and you raise an eyebrow at him. “Loser has to buy the coffee tomorrow morning.”

“You’re on,” you bump your fist to his to seal the deal. “I think he’s gonna get bored by round 3.”

“Only boring people get bored of this game. It’s about drive.”

“It’s about power?” Luke lets out a laugh and Silena turns her glare to you. “Sorry.”

She starts to explain the rules of the game, as if you’re all twelve again, and you bite your lip harder with every comment Luke makes under his breath. It’s a little mean, a little stupid, and you wish you were fifteen again, playing a proper game of spin the bottle for the first time.

Nothing much happens for the first few rounds, Chris starting to grumble the longer the game goes on. Luke clicks his tongue when you point it out, cursing his best friend like this was the worst thing that could’ve happened to him.

Lee spins and it’s like cosmic interference when the bottle stops between you and Luke, the two of you glancing at each other and then back towards Lee.

“Should I spin it again?” Lee asks when no one says anything. Silena shakes her head and says, “You can choose or we can vote if that makes you more comfortable.”

“Please let us vote,” Chris shouts, animated and you narrow your eyes at him, ignoring the smug smile Luke gives you. “I’ll never ask you for anything ever again.”

Lee glances between you both again, at where your knee rests against Luke’s thigh and the beer you’ve been sharing for the past twenty minutes sits between you. “It might be better to vote.”

“Sure,” Silena smiles before silencing you all. “Everyone that wants Lee to kiss Luke, raise your hands.”

You raise your hand and Luke mumbles beside you, flicking your leg and you poke him in return. Anything to avoid kissing Lee Fletcher after two years of avoiding it.

“That is an overwhelming majority,” Silena says and you know, just by the way her eyes slide over to you, that she didn’t even bother to actually count. “Lee, you may now kiss Luke.”

There’s this moment where you think Lee is going to just leave but instead he stares at the boy next to you, the relaxed set to his jaw, the annoying baseball cap on his head, how he’s so unbothered by it all. You watch as something clicks in his mind, you really want to know what it is.

Whatever it was, it makes him grab the bottle again, ignoring Silena’s protests. It lands on the girl from Luke’s debate team and she straightens her back ever so slightly.

“Silena,” Lee says as he leans towards the girl. “I’m not going to kiss Luke or his girlfriend.”

“Damn straight,” Luke mumbles, grabbing your hand from your lap and holding it in his instead. It’s stupid and it really doesn’t matter to either of you, you know that, but there’s this way he says it - almost like it’s the worst thing he could’ve imagined - and it settles in your gut with the beer you’ve been drinking. “Me or my girlfriend.”

“I’d really like to meet her,” you say, laughing when he huffs and pulls his hat down on your head. When you push the visor up to see him properly, all rosy cheeks and compacted curls, you think you might have found it. Whatever it is.

Based on the way Luke’s nose scrunches and his eyes crinkle, you think he understands that too.

#luke castellan #luke castellan x reader #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo #luke castellan x you

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ifimdreaming · 4 months

Text

can i take you home?

luke hughes x reader || angst, fluff

request: “i like the idea of her best friend going to michigan/dating a former teammate of lukes so thats how luke and reader meet! i love angst and given that its lukes rookie year/she goes to college in another state, maybe they could be friends w benefits but both have strong feelings.”

author's note: i thought this request was so so cute so i kind of took it and ran. also kinda influenced by i miss you, im sorry by gracie abrams. this is also super long but i hope the ending is worth it. let me know if i should do more parts of this!

word count: 5.0k

Waking up to the sound of your best friend pounding on the guest bedroom door at 7am was not exactly the best way to start your day. But since you are staying the weekend in her student house that she shares with 5 other people, there are definitely unluckier ways you could have been awoken.

“Morning sleepy head!!! I'm so happy you're up!” your best friend Emma almost shouts as she barges in the room, after you very reluctantly told her she could come in. She immediately begins opening the curtains, and rummaging through her closet to find her outfit for the day.

In her haste she almost spills the two cups of coffee she had brought up from the kitchen as she sets them on the dresser beside the bed, her mug being almost completely empty anyway. You can tell by her enthusiasm and caffeine intake that she has been up for quite a long time before deciding to wake you up.

You groggily roll over and face away from the wide open curtains, not ready to face the day yet and really disappointed in yourself for choosing to drive up so late last night in the first place.

Of course you were happy to be able to visit your best friend, the two of you going to different schools making it incredibly hard to spend much time together anymore. But being back here brought back so many memories of the last time you visited. Both good and bad. And to be honest, all you could think about was him. From the very moment Emma invited you, he has been on your mind nonstop.

The way he made you feel so utterly adored when he brought you back to his room, how he spoke to you so gently and quietly the one morning when you were hungover, the time he spilled and called you ‘his’ while you were in bed together, and how much it seemed like it would last forever. It was all coming back so strongly.

“So, what are the plans for the day Little Miss Sunshine?” you sit up, reluctantly speaking your first words of the day after clearing your throat.

“Well! First I thought we'd go get bagels for breakfast from down the street, and then I think one of us may need a quick shower before we officially start our day…” Emma says with a hand on the side of her mouth, pretending to be saying a secret as she is side-eyeing you, and you just stare at her offendedly, “Aaand we are doing something tonight so maybe we should go shopping..” she says quickly and excitedly, clearly brushing past what exactly it is that we are doing tonight.

“Alright then.” you say as you check your phone for probably the 20th time in the 10 minutes you've been awake. And you can see Emma staring at you from the corner of your eye so you decide to throw your phone to the other side of the bed, getting up and ready to go. You knew she wasn't oblivious, but you did not want to acknowledge the look she was giving you right now, and honestly it did not seem necessary to bring anything up.

Besides, this weekend isn't even about him. Dylan's surprise birthday party is tomorrow and your best friend was so excited to be planning it with your help. She hadn't done anything this extravagant for her boyfriend before and she wanted everything to be absolutely perfect.

Obviously the last thing you would want to do is ruin this weekend for her, and your stupid feelings and non-relationship are included in that.

The walk to the bagel shop seemed awkwardly long as you were both not acknowledging the fact that your mind is very very distracted. It wasn't intentional. But feelings and places have such strong connections and the fact that things felt so unresolved was not helping. Everywhere you are here reminds you of him.

“How's your bagel?” Emma speaks up, finally breaking the silence on your walk home, thankfully giving you an opportunity to get out of your thoughts.

“Oh it's good! Thanks! I was super hungry…” you say, trying to muster up a believable enough reason for why you've been so off today.

You continue walking and shuffling your feet in silence and are about to return back to the house before Emma looks at you and sighs loudly.

So. Close. You are literally about to step onto the driveway of the house when she stops you.

“Ok can we just talk about it please? Because there is no way we are going to get through this entire weekend just ignoring it.” she says, stepping in front of you and blocking any sort of way for you to get out of this conversation.

“What are you talking about?” you say with a grumble and a sigh. Knowing she is going to get it out of you. Obviously she would.

“Luke.” Emma says deadpan, waiting for your response.

For some reason at this moment you wanted to cry just hearing his name. But you also wanted to yell. Your feelings were confusing and annoying and it upset you to even have to talk about it with someone, even though you knew you should.

“I don't know. I DON'T KNOW. I can't stop thinking about him, and everything is so confusing.” you whisper-yell at her in frustration.

It pained you to admit that you couldn't get him off your mind. You didn't realise how much you even liked him until having to admit that.

“He visited me during christmas… I mean, he did in the fall, but this time felt different.” You continue, “We slept together again. Everything felt like it was going so well…And now nothing.” you admit to her and wipe your face with your sleeves, angry at the tears that have fallen from your eyes.

“Has he called?” She asks warily.

“Once? Last week. It was short… but he sounded sad. He said he misses me. And he told me he really wanted to visit me. And I've texted him since then and no response.” you look down at your feet as you speak. It really shouldn't be this embarrassing to admit. It's not like you were in a relationship with him anyway.

“He's going to be here...tomorrow? I didn't know if you knew..” Emma says as she grabs your arm and slowly brings you close to her as you begin walking inside together and you nod your head in her direction.

You knew he would be here. Dylan is one of his best friends, obviously he isnt going to miss his 21st birthday. But with how things were currently going, it honestly made you wonder if Luke would even want you here. And what do his friends even know about you two? Has Luke said anything? So many questions are going through your head that it is almost making you dizzy.

The rest of the day is so much lighter after your earlier conversation. Emma is exponentially good at cheering people up, and maybe even to a fault, will always be on your side no matter what. But you appreciated it regardless.

You are currently finishing up putting on your makeup and getting ready to go out tonight, still very unaware of what the plan even is. But you didn't have much of a choice in the matter as Emma has picked out every aspect of your outfit tonight - down to the shoes, makeup, and jewellery.

Suddenly Emma gets a call from Dylan and runs into her bathroom to answer the phone, the music cutting out that was playing from her phone as she heads off, and silence filling the room.

You weren't intending to be eavesdropping, but you are able to hear muffled voices from the other side of the door and very hushed arguing that you couldn't quite make out. Making you curious as to what could possibly be going on tonight.

Emma saunters back into the room with hesitancy, her expression is scared and concerned at the same time as she is approaching you almost in slow-motion, saying nothing.

“What is it? Just spit it out.” you say, already knowing you are either about to hear the worst news of all time or the worst news of all time.

“Ok surprise! We're going out for sushi! Yay!” Emma says, obviously starting with the good news and you stay silent.

“And…Luke is coming out with us.” she continues, flinching at her own words as she plops herself on the bed across from you. You sit at her desk, makeup in hand, and cannot help but have an absolutely astonished look on your face.

Nothing is able to even leave your mouth as her words run through your mind again and again.

“I am so SO sorry.” She starts. “One of the guys accidentally told Dylan that Luke is in town and I didn’t want to ruin the surprise for tomorrow, so I told Dylan that Luke and I were trying to surprise him tonight for dinner. I didn't know what else to say. It was literally the first thing that came to my mind. I'm so sorry.” she continues, worried she has done irreparable damage on your friendship.

“You can kill me now.” Emma blurts out defeatedly, wanting to keep the surprise for tomorrow and not wanting all her efforts to be ruined the day before the party.

Obviously you love that girl, but very much did want to kill her in this moment.

“Does Luke know I'm going to be there?” you ask, brushing past everything else she has said.

“Dylan said he would tell him, yeah, but if you don't want to come please don't feel like you have to.” she says with a small smile, hoping you have some-what forgiven her.

“No, I'll still come.” you say quietly but matter-of-factly.

If Luke knew you were coming, it would be weird if you decided to stay home now because of it, and besides, what would you do here alone? Thinking of what he would be doing and wishing you could read his mind is all you can think of.

“OH? This is good! Ok! Dylan said he is picking us up in 20 minutes!” Emma states, suddenly very excitedly, hoping it will cheer you up to see that she is excited. And as you continue getting ready, nervous energy and anticipation fill your body.

Dylan shows up right on time, unfortunately for you, not giving you any extra time to sit and wallow in your feelings.

It was inevitable that you would be seeing Luke this weekend, but this quickly and under these conditions was not exactly ideal. You were hoping to at least be able to have a one-on-one conversation with him before being thrown into random get togethers where things have no chance but to be awkward.

The drive to dinner is surprisingly happy. Dylan seems so excited to be seeing his best friend again. He can't stop talking about the last time they saw each other and how long it has been. And Emma's laughter and giddy energy is helping you calm down and distract you just a little bit.

“The reservation is for 7pm so we might have to wait in the car for a few minutes.” Emma says, checking her phone as Dylan pulls up to the restaurant a bit early.

The dim lighting and intimate booths look extremely inviting as you peer inside the windows of the restaurant from the parking lot. You can't help but get distracted by watching people inside as Emma and Dylan talk from the front seats of the car and are cutely chatting to each other quietly.

“There's my boy!” Dylan yells out as he jumps out of the driver's seat, running up to give Luke a hug across the parking lot.

“Ready?” Emma looks back and asks you, reassuringly placing her hand on your knee and rubbing her thumb up and down a few times.

“Guess so…” you say with a fake smile as you grab your purse from beside you, and as you are about to leave the car, you see a tall figure standing right outside your door.

Only a little bit startled, you look up to see Luke as he opens your door for you and greets you with a tired smile. He is dressed nicely in black pants and a cream cable knit sweater, his hair curly and tousled up like always.

As you step out of the car he brings you into a tight hug, like he just couldn't wait to hold you again.

“I missed you…” Luke whispers so quietly into your ear that you almost couldn't hear him. He swiftly leaves a gentle kiss to the side of your head as he brings his hands just a bit lower down your back, “I’m sorry” he says quietly as he releases you.

As much as you want to reciprocate, you are so caught off guard by his words that you just stare up at him without a word.

“Alright let's go! I'm so hungry!” Dylan says, unaware of the tension, as he pats Luke's back and wraps an arm around him, walking in front of you and Emma and into the restaurant.

Emma is glancing at you as you walk together, waiting to hear from you what Luke said, but you decide to ignore it with a shrug and she looks away.

Dinner is filled with laughter and catching up with one another. Surprisingly it wasn't even half as awkward as you built it up to be. Dylan chatting away with Luke as you and Emma giggle across from each other about all the drama at your respective schools.

Having a couple of drinks throughout the night was definitely helping, but regardless of that, you felt good. Really good.

“Luke, how's the love life going for you? You got a girl in Jersey?” Dylan asks with a laugh as Emma had just bragged about her and Dylan going on 2 years of being together.

She shoots you a regretful look as she hits Dylan's side with her elbow, not as discreetly as she probably wanted to, and your face turns bright red.

Luke looks down at his lap and shakes his head with a chuckle, seemingly avoiding eye contact with you at all costs.

“No man, no girl in jersey.” Luke says lightly as he takes a drink of his beer before the two of you make eye contact and he glances down to your fidgety hands that are in your lap.

“My bad, my bad…” Dylan says with a laugh as he clears his throat and starts back to finishing the food on his plate, Emma quietly shushing her clueless boyfriend beside her.

Your nervous hands continue to pick at your cuticles and you look over to see Luke inching his hand closer beside yours on the booth bench. Looking up from your lap, you see him glancing back at you as he waits for your reaction before discreetly taking your hand in his under the table.

The feeling of his hand in yours is so comforting and familiar and immediately eases your anxiousness. But you still feel so conflicted.

Luke always knew how to comfort you and distract you from your thoughts when they were out of control. Especially during busy school semesters and many nights spent together with him keeping you company while you anxiously wrote papers and prepped for exams.

He seemed to be there for you when it felt like you had no one else. At least that's how it used to feel. Now things feel so complicated. Not knowing the status of your relationship surprisingly taking a much larger toll on your ability to act like friends than you would have ever thought.

“So! I've got the bill tonight guys. Happy birthday Dyl!” Emma blurts out as the waiter approaches the table, she leans over to give her boyfriend a loving kiss, comfortably filling the awkward silence that had just taken over the table not long before.

“Thank you baby! And hey! thanks guys for coming out tonight too.” Dylan smiles at the both of you as he lifts up his glass for a toast. You all clink your glasses, wishing him happy birthdays that follow big swigs of your almost empty alcoholic beverages.

Walking out of the restaurant, your mind fills with running thoughts. You wish you had spoken to Luke more tonight but it was hard to not make anything obvious. He seemed good, but still weirdly sad and you wanted to talk to him about it so badly. You wanted to talk to him about everything.

As you near Dylan's car you feel Luke's hand brush against yours and lightly hold your wrist, turning you around to face him.

“Can I take you home?” Luke shyly asks you as you all stand in the parking lot together. You mutter a “sure” under your breath with a nod, and he looks to Dylan and Emma for confirmation, both of them nodding in agreement before bringing you into tight hugs and saying goodbyes.

“Tell me everything that happens girly.” Emma runs back over to you and whispers into your ear as she hugs you goodbye once more, and all you can do is let out a small laugh in response to her teenage-esque behaviour.

After Dylan and Emma drive away, the short walk over to Luke’s car suddenly seems agonisingly long and your heart is racing in anticipation. Over anything else that happens tonight, you really wanted clarity. But of course, thoughts of the worst possible outcome ever sneak their way into your mind.

Luke opens the passenger side door for you and you climb into his car before he gently closes the door and walks to the other side. As he gets in, he begins to start the car before he looks over to you and pauses, the quiet becoming almost painful.

You didn't know what to say, and you didn't want to say the wrong thing. So, waiting for him to break the silence seemed to be your best bet.

“I know I should have thought of something to say…” He starts, and shuffles in his seat, slightly bending his right leg so he is facing you a little more.

“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stopped responding to you.” Luke continues, and you almost want to roll your eyes at his apology. It was so hard to be understanding when this felt like such a preventable situation on his part.

But you knew Luke. You knew when he was scared he got distant. You knew he was pulling back from you. You just didnt know why.

“Things have been so…weird…lately, and I just…I know I fucked up.” He confesses.

You didn't want to be reading between the lines anymore. You just wanted him to be honest with you about what he wants, and it frustrated you that he was being so vague.

“Luke, what do you want? Like, from me?” you ask innocently, but squint your eyes closed tightly as the words coming out of your mouth sound completely different from what you intended.

“Like, you told me we were friends. And obviously I was ok with that. But when you would visit me, we’d sleep together. And when you left it was like. I don't know…” you look down and pick at your fingers as you speak, looking up at him feeling like an almost impossible task.

“You told me you wanted to be friends.” Luke states, and gently grabs your hand. He holds it in his to stop you from destroying your fingers as you speak, which causes you to look up at him, thanking him silently, as he waits on your response.

“I said that because I knew how hard it would be for us to be so far away from each other.” you say strongly, feeling the sudden need to defend yourself.

“You know how important school is to me, and I know how important your career is to you. I don't want to distract you from what's important to you. I don't want to be the one that gets in the way of things, or be the reason why you're not as focused as you could be…as much as I want to be-” you begin to confess, but are quickly cut off.

“It's kinda too late for that…” Luke says with a chuckle as he tilts his head back against the headrest of his seat and looks out the front window, frustration still evidently seen on his face.

“What do you mean??” you ask, hoping he will elaborate a little more than he has been so far.

“You already distract me. I can't stop thinking about you. And it's obvious. In my game and everything too. Even Jack has noticed and he keeps asking me about you and I don't even know what to say. I can't shut him up. Cuz how am I supposed to tell him how I feel when I can't even tell you? Its actually really fuckin annoying.” he laughs as he explains, still looking ahead out the window instead of at you.

Luke has always sought to use humour and jokes in difficult situations, especially when it comes to his own feelings. He's clearly frustrated at himself and it hurts you to see him having such a hard time expressing himself.

“So why have you been so distant lately?! I’ve been really worried about you.” you say, suddenly feeling more confident in confronting him as he opens up to you.

“Cuz im scared im gonna fuck things up even more than I already have…” he says honestly as he turns his head to look at you again.

“I knew I should've said something from the moment we slept together the first time. I feel like I fucked up by keeping my mouth shut. It's been ruining my life to not just be honest with you.” he adds with a growl deep in his voice, anger at himself seeping through his words.

As he continues, you can't help but feel entranced by him in his current state, and suddenly you are very aware of how late at night it is becoming.

“It's my fault...” Luke says, and you desperately try to focus on his words and not his body.

But you can't help but think about how good his hands would feel on your body and how badly you want him to kiss you right here and now. You didn't care that you were still in the parking lot of a sushi restaurant. You didn't care that things were still so confusing and that this probably wasn't exactly the most ideal time to be feeling this way. You just felt like you needed him so badly.

“I've been treating you like shit lately. Regardless of us sleeping together, that should not change how I treat you. I've been a shitty friend to you, and I'm really really sorry.” he continues, and you are brought out of your trance.

His words hit you so hard. You both unknowingly made this relationship so complicated and weren't even aware of it. You knew Luke was not perfect, but for some reason you expected him to be able to read your mind, and vice versa. Even after being the one to say you should stay friends, you were silently upset that nothing was happening in the way you wanted.

“Luke, it's ok. Both of us have not been entirely honest with each other lately and it's made everything so… fucked up. We’re just… in a weird spot.” you say, hoping your words make any sense considering you zoned out for half of his apology.

“Can I just say that I want to be able to fix this?” Luke says as he places his hand on your thigh, his fingers mindlessly getting higher and higher as he rubs slowly back and forth. Trying his best to soothe you and unknowingly turning you on even more.

“It isn't just on you to fix.” you say as you place your hand softly over his, stopping his movement on your leg as to not let it overly distract you.

“Yes it is. I let you down. I fucked up by being so fucking…distant. I should've been more clear about what I want…that I want you..” Luke admits, giving into what he has wanted to say from the moment you got into the car together.

His eyes are fixed on yours and it makes your heart flutter in your chest. Hearing him so confidently confess how he is feeling after so long is such a relief. It makes you want to just tell him you love him right here and now.

“I know things are complicated…but, I really don't want to not have you in my life…” Luke adds as tears begin to well in his eyes, catching you both off guard.

“Oh Lukey.” you whisper as you hold his face in your hands, your heart melting at the sight of him.

Luke places his hands on your wrists, pulling them away from his face as he finally leans into you.

His lips hit yours with an intensity that you have never felt before from him. His hands move away from yours, and to the base of your neck, gently pulling you closer into him as he deepens the kiss.

Your eyes are glued shut as you are entranced by his lips finally being connected with yours as his tongue dances around in your mouth.

Needing to have your hands on him, you reach up to brush his face with your thumbs and then begin gently tugging at the curls at the nape of his neck, causing him to lustfully groan deep into your mouth. Your mind is filled with excitement and intensity as the moment grows in mutual desire.

“I needed you baby.” You say rushedly, disconnecting with him for only a moment.

Luke smiles against your lips as you connect again, and he places his left hand on your hip, massaging his fingers into your side. You lift yourself lightly onto the centre-console, desperate to be as close to him as you can get, and he lowers his hand just below your ass to help support you.

Although being in the close quarters of Luke's car while having such a monumental conversation about your relationship was not quite ideal, you were so thankful for it at this moment.

“I needed you too.” Luke says after coming up for air, and you just stare at him with a dizzy smile, your head reeling with arousal.

He pecks your lips a few times before lowering his head to your collarbone, gently kissing your neck and leaving red marks where he most definitely has before.

Your giggles fill the car as he continues expeditiously exploring your body, wanting to savour every moment of your presence and relishing in the way he is pleasing you.

Luke looks up at you with a smile before his eyebrows furrow and he is distracted by something behind you, causing you to whip your head around to look out your window, immensely alarmed at his expression.

Luke lightly lets go of you, allowing you to sit properly in your seat and as your eyes focus on the window, the sight of a kind-looking restaurant hostess tapping on the glass outside of your door almost sends you reeling into a panic.

Luke quickly reassures you with a laugh, placing his hand on your arm and starting the car before beginning to roll your window down for them to speak.

“I am so sorry if I startled you, but our restaurant has closed, which means we can no longer allow you to park here, as free parking ends at midnight.” the hostess explains politely while pointing to the sign posted on the brick wall just in front of Luke's car.

“Thanks Ma’am. We’re so s-sorry.” Luke pauses to hide his face, clearly hiding that he is about to break into laughter.

“We’ll leave right aw-” Luke laughs out, hardly able to finish his sentence before being sent into a fit of silent laughter.

“We’re so sorry. Have a good night!” you say more seriously, trying to make up for the completely unserious boy beside you.

“Goodnight guys!” the hostess says as she walks away, leaving you completely embarrassed and also scared half to death.

Luke continues dying of laughter and is hunched over the steering wheel as you punch his arm repeatedly to get his attention.

“That was awful! Why are you laughing so hard!” you say unimpressed, but still unable to hold back laughter of your own after seeing him look up at you with tears in his eyes.

“Fuck. I can't get over your face.” Luke says as he begins to come down a little, wiping the tears from his eyes. You just shake your head and begin to buckle your seatbelt, not taking any chances of having to be asked to leave once more.

“Fuck.” he says once more with a sigh, relaxing in his seat and looking over to you with a genuine smile before patting your thigh reassuringly.

You look to Luke expectantly and he stares back at you with a smirk before kissing your lips passionately, catching you off guard.

Your hands are drawn to his face as he nudges your chin with his, causing you to lean into him even further before he pulls away from you abruptly.

“Can I take you home?” Luke asks with lust in eyes as he brushes his thumb across your cheek, admiring every single feature on your face. His words having a different meaning to both of you than they have previously tonight.

“For real this time?? Because you know we cant sit in this parking lot any longer…” you say jokingly as Luke rolls his eyes at you and begins to put his seatbelt on.

“Yes, for real this time.” He retorts. His right hand eagerly finding yours as he interlocks your fingers with his, bringing your hand up to his lips to place a tender kiss before finally driving off.

#devils lb #nj devils #nhl #luke hughes #new jersey devils #jack hughes #hockey blurb #hockey imagine #luke hughes x reader #luke hughes fic #luke hughes fluff #luke hughes angst #luke hughes imagine #nhl blurb

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kaleldobrev · 8 months

Text

A Simple Misunderstanding

Pairing: Soldier Boy (Ben) x Fem!Reader

Summary: Hughie might of overheard something he probably shouldn't have between you and Ben

Word Count: 3.3k

Warnings: Cursing (9x), Fluff, Sexual Innuendos, Implied Drug Use, Soldier Boy (Yes, our macho man gets his own warning)

Authors Note: So, this has been sitting in my drafts for months and I've been going back and forth debating if I was going to post this or not. But once I gave the summary to @zepskies she said she was intrigued, so I said, "What the heck?" and now it's posted for your enjoyment | This is my first time writing for this universe so I hope I was able to do these characters justice | If you liked this, don’t forget to like & reblog. I really appreciate it! Feedback is always welcome ♡

It was the middle of the night and Hughie couldn’t sleep. Although him and The Boys were in a safe house in the middle of nowhere with no neighbors for miles, it surprised him how noisy everything could be. He had lived in New York City all his life; he was used to the noise. The bustling sounds of traffic, the occasional gunshot or stabbing, airplanes always flying overhead, or a supe destroying some vehicles while trying to catch a culprit. But the noises he heard were much different; it was the sounds of the crickets, droplets of water hitting an unwashed plate in the sink, and random incoherent whispering. The hustle and bustle of the city had become white noise to him.

Looking over at the clock it just struck 1:59am. He hadn’t been in bed long trying to sleep, only attempting to just a little past midnight. Since joining the group, it was unusual for him to actually get to bed at a normal time or even go to bed at all. He was used to going a day or two without sleep. Frenchie tempted him with some sort of drug to keep him going or an energy drink, MM would usually offer coffee which was the preferred method for Hughie. But at this point, the caffeine wasn’t working anymore, as he had started drinking it like water. Unhealthy for sure, but so was not sleeping for one, two, or three days straight.

This was the first time in a long time where everyone was actually sleeping, even Butcher. It was strange, because as long as Hughie had known him, he never once saw the man sleep. The closest he ever got was when he would get knocked out; but even then, that was kind of a rare occurrence.

Getting up from his bed he sat on the edge of it for a moment rubbing his face. He had wanted to stay in bed and keep trying to fall asleep, but he knew that there was no use. So he decided to implement a trick that he remembered his mother using when she couldn’t fall asleep or get back to sleep. When she had trouble falling asleep or getting back to sleep, she would do various things to occupy herself until she felt tired enough to try and sleep again. Her usual go-to’s were either reading in the living room or listening to Billy Joel quietly to herself. Once, Hughie remembered waking up in the middle of the night and had found her humming quietly to herself while she read a book in the living room. The only light came from a single table lamp next to her.

Leaving the bedroom he started making his way down the hall toward the living room where he decided to watch some TV. There would probably be nothing worth watching at this time; just infomercials about grills or some kind of cleaning agent that didn’t work. He really wasn’t picky about what he watched, he just wanted something to help him fall asleep.

As he walked down the hall, he heard faint whispering coming from one of the bedrooms. He thought that he had been the only one up - guess he was wrong. The room in which he heard the whispering coming from was Soldier Boy's room - something that he didn't find surprising in the slightest, as he was someone that actively fought sleep. "I've slept enough," he would say.

He started walking away, but didn't move far as he stopped dead in his tracks. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" That was your voice. What the Hell were you doing in his bedroom? And at this hour? Hughie thought to himself. He knew that the two of you were friends of some sort, as you were the only person that SB genuinely seemed to like and get along with, but for some reason, it didn't really occur to Hughie that you would be spending time with him this late into the night.

The next thing he heard was chuckling, chuckling from SB. "Trust me." The next sounds Hughie heard actually made his eyes go wide. It was the bedside drawer opening and closing just as quickly, the sound of some kind of plastic being opened, and then bed springs squeaking. The squeaking was so loud that he could only assume that it was the two of you moving in unison, not just one of you.

“Oh wow that’s…huge.” You commented, emphasizing the word ‘huge.’ Huge? Hughie thought. Gross.

Again, SB chuckled. “Never seen one so big Princess?” Princess?! Hughie was surprised he didn’t gag right then and there. Never did he ever want to hear SB say the word Princess, nor did he ever want to hear it in the context of it being used to describe you; his best friend since kindergarten.

“No, never.” You replied back, sounding as if you were embarrassed. “I mean, I’ve heard they can be that big but…” you trailed off.

So many emotions were taking over Hughie: but disgust was the main one. There were two things that his brain automatically came up with in this scenario. The first: barge into the room and stop you and Soldier Boy from having sex, the second: move far away as possible from the door and pretend this never happened. As much as he wanted to do the first option, he valued his life too much, didn't want to see Soldier Boy in all of his naked glory (once was enough when they were in Russia), nor did he want to be a cockblock for one of the oldest and most powerful supes in history. He knew, that being a cockblock would have been the very last thing he would do in life if he barged in. Option two it is, he thought to himself. With that decision, he never moved so quickly in his life.

The morning finally came and you were greeted by Ben having his arms wrapped around you and your head tucked underneath his chin. His embrace around you was tight, but not so tight that if you needed to move, you could (not that he would let you move any way, he was too comfortable). He's getting better at not crushing me when we cuddle, you couldn't help but think. The position the two of you were in was an intimate one, and it had become a somewhat regular occurrence over the past couple of weeks. It was something that you never thought would ever happen, especially when you first met him a few months ago.

Your relationship with Ben had drastically changed in the short amount of time that you had known him and took a complete 180. When you first met him, you were initially excited to meet him because you had watched all of his movies on repeat growing up as your father was a huge Soldier Boy fan - it was something the two of you had bonded over. But when you met him, he was far from how you envisioned him to be. He wasn't this all-American hero who stood up against injustice - he was a misogynistic racist asshole.

As time went on, Ben had somehow started to grow on you. Although there were still elements of him that radiated misogynism and racism, you gave him the benefit of the doubt when it came to certain things. How it wasn't entirely his fault, as he had spent 40 years essentially in isolation being tortured by the Russians; completely unaware of the massive changes that took place in the world. Once you had "remembered" that, and started spending more and more time with him, you had started to fall for him - and it happened relatively quick.

"Good morning." He said to you, his voice lazy as he kissed your bare shoulder.

"Good morning to you too." You replied back, pressing your back and ass closer into him.

"Your heart's beatin' a little fast there Princess." He smirked.

"It's just nice waking up like this, that's all." You said. "Well, you kissing my bare shoulder doesn't hurt either."

"You know, I can kiss other parts too." He said, keeping the smirk on his lips.

"Hmm, I know you can." You said, turning to face him. He leaned in and kissed you, a little surprised that he was the one that initiated. "Can I ask you something?"

You heard an annoyed sigh from him. "You're going to ask if I say no or not Sweetheart." He responded with his usual bluntness.

"Yeah you're right." You said. Ben couldn't help but slightly roll his eyes. "So my question," you began, turning to face him completely as you propped up your elbow on the pillow. "Why didn't you try and have sex with me last night?"

Ben looked at you with a mixture of confusion and amusement. "You're disappointed that I didn't try and fuck you?" He let out a small chuckle at your question.

"Honestly...Yeah. I mean, everyone was sleeping, and I know you want to. Plus, I barely had anything on." When you came to his room last night, you had purposely wore more revealing clothes in order to tempt him - a tank top and boy shorts.

"You wouldn't've been able to stay quiet." He began. "Although, it would have been fun to hear you attempting to be quiet and failing miserably." There was that smirk again.

"You don't know that." You said, your fingertips running up and down his bare arm.

"Y/N, trust me. You wouldn't have." His confidence was almost radiating arrogance.

"Is that a promise?" You asked. Your question more bold than you had intended it to sound.

"Oh, it most definitely is." He said. "I'll tell you what. We can test it out tonight." He leaned in, inches away from your face, moving a strand of lose hair that had fallen in front of your face.

"Promise?" You asked, your voice low, a little hesitant.

"I didn't stutter did I?"

"No Sir." You said, leaning in and kissing him again.

The smell of bacon, eggs, and pancakes filled the air, glasses of orange juice on the table. MM and Frenchie making breakfast for everyone while Kimiko helped to set the table. Butcher sat on the barstool on the island in the kitchen, every once in a while taking a sip of coffee and reading the paper. Hughie walked into the kitchen and took a seat next to Butcher, his face looked like he had seen a ghost. Putting down the last plate, Kimiko looked at Hughie and walked over to him, tapping him on the shoulder. He didn’t respond to her touch, which made her slightly frown with concern. Frenchie looked over at her and she signed something to him. “Petit Hughie, she wants to know what’s wrong.” Frenchie translated.

Hughie didn’t respond, he just sat there on the stool looking off into space. Frenchie waved his hand in front of Hughie’s face. “Petit Hughie?” Frenchie and MM exchanged looks, and Butcher put down the paper.

“Oi, lad.” He waved his hand in front of his face too. He looked over at MM and Frenchie. “I know what to do.” Without hesitation, Butcher slapped Hughie in the face, causing him to almost fall off the barstool.

Hughie started rubbing his cheek where Butcher had slapped him. "What the fuck was that for?"

"For being a creepy little shite and not saying anything when we're talkin' to ya." Butcher responded.

"I had uh, a rough night." Hughie said. He pointed at his cheek. "This isn't going to bruise is it?" He asked, Butcher rolled his eyes.

"Do you want me to make it bruise?" He asked, smirking.

"Good morning everyone!" You practically sang as you walked into the kitchen. Everyone besides Ben had been there, as he was still currently pre-occupied with taking a shower. Everyone was currently sitting at the dining room table, slowly taking bites of their breakfast. Every so often, they took glances at you before looking back down at their plate of food.

Sitting down at the table, you took your usual spot next to Hughie and gave him a quick smile, before taking your fork and started digging into your pancakes. "MM, Frenchie, did you guys make this?" You asked, already knowing the answer.

"Uh, yeah." MM responded, almost too quietly. It was a little strange to you how quietly he had responded, but at the same time, you didn't really think anything of it, as the last couple of days has been a little rough for everyone. Despite being in a safe house, you knew that MM was at least up some of the night making sure that all of you were actually safe. You weren't sure if it was because of the situation you all were in, his military background, his OCD, or a combination of the three.

After a few moments of silence Hughie finally spoke to you. "So, how did you uh, sleep?"

You took a sip of your orange juice before responding. "Pretty good actually. Best I've slept in quite a while." Which was true. "How about you?"

"Rough night." Hughie said, responding very quickly to your question, as if he already had his answered prepared.

You frowned at his answer. "I'm sorry. Nightmare? Couldn't sleep?"

"A little of both." He said.

"Do you want to talk about it?" You asked, genuinely wanting to know.

"Ye-" Before he could finish his sentence, Ben walked into the kitchen, freshly showered and wearing a t-shirt that you had gotten him about a week ago. Without saying a single word, Ben took his usual spot next to you and started digging into the plate of food in front of him.

You cleared your throat and looked at him, which caused him to look at you. "What?" He asked, a mouth full of pancakes.

"Isn't there something you'd like to say?" You asked.

"Christ on a cross..." He mumbled, before looking up. "Morning." He said, forcing a smile before looking down at his plate again. "Happy?" He mumbled just low enough for only you to hear.

You smiled at him. "Very." You whispered back.

"The things I fucking do for you." He mumbled.

Hughie stood up very abruptly, the utensils and plates shaking a bit. This abruptness had caused everyone to look at him (except for Ben, who didn't even seemed bothered in the slightest). "You know what, I'm just going to come out and say it." His voice confident.

"We know you're gay." Ben said, very nonchalantly, still not looking up. "It's uh, good for you." He looked up now, focusing his attention on Hughie. "Be proud or...whatever." He finished, flashing him a forced smile. Ben then turned toward his attention to you, looking for some kind of approval from you regarding what he just said. Trying to adjust to the modern age was hard for him, but he was thankful that you were there to help him navigate things.

"What? I-I'm not gay. For the last time, I'm with Annie." Hughie said, trying his best to defend himself.

"I've been told that's called a beard." Ben took another bite out of his pancakes, and your hand automatically went to his thigh, giving it a small squeeze. It was your way of basically telling him to stop talking. He looked at your hand before looking at you again. "What?"

You turned your attention to your friend. "Hughie, what did you want to say?"

"Okay. I'm just going to come out and say it. Ask it. Whatever!" His voice sounding insanely flustered. "Did you guys fuck last night?"

You felt your eyes go wide, your fingernails digging into Ben's pants. You didn't know what to say, you were speechless. "What's it to you?" Ben asked, not even seeming to be remotely fazed by Hughie's question.

"Because she's my friend." Hughie responded. He knew that his response wasn't good enough.

"Okay, and?" Ben gave him a confused look, unsure of what Hughie's point even was. "I'll repeat, what's it to you? Y/N doesn't ask every time you blow Butcher."

"Again, I'm not gay." Hughie said, his voice sounding defeated.

"Whatever. Point is, she doesn't fucking ask. So why are you asking?" You couldn't help but agree with Ben, who seemed to be very reasonable in his questioning for once.

Hughie looked at Ben and you, and then looked at the rest of the group - all of them staring at him, waiting for him to say something. "Because..." he tried to find the right words. "Because you two are the reason why I couldn't sleep last night!" You and Ben exchanged looks, not understanding. The two of you focused your attention on him. Before either you or Ben could say anything, Hughie started talking again. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" He looked at you. "Never seen one so big?" He looked at Ben. "You're even wearing his fucking shirt!" Hughie pointed to the shirt you were wearing.

You looked down at your shirt before looking at Hughie again. "I always wear Ben's shirts." You stated.

"No, you don't actually!" Hughie's voice was starting to sound so frantic now.

"She looks damn good in them though." Ben commented, taking yours and his empty plate to the sink.

"Hughie, I can assure you. Me and him didn't have sex last night." You said, really trying your best to reassure your friend, even though - to Ben's point - it wasn't remotely his business anyway.

"We will tonight though." Ben said, his voice calm as it has been throughout this entire exchange.

"They didn't need to know that." You pinched the bridge of your nose. You weren't embarrassed that Ben said that, but it was something that you didn't think he needed to add to the conversation.

"Sure they did. I mean, your friend here seems interested." Ben walked over back to the table, placing two mugs of coffee before sitting back down next to you again.

"For the love of..." You mumbled. "We smoked a blunt last night! There! Happy?" Your voice was the one that sounded frantic now, with a small hint of annoyance added.

"You guys...smoked...a blunt?" Hughie felt his cheeks heating up, embarrassed by this whole exchange now. "So you guys weren't talking about the size of his -"

"Hughie you better not finish that fucking sentence I swear to God." MM said, his voice sounding as if he had lost all of his patience already for the day, and it wasn't even nine in the morning yet.

“Ben and I were talking and I had mentioned that I’ve never smoked a blunt before, or have done any kind of drugs so he offered to let me try it. That’s it.” There was much more to the conversation, but you didn't feel like adding anything else. The rest of the gang didn't need to know that you and Ben were planning on going some place far away from New York when all was said and done.

"You never smoked a blunt before? I'm shocked." Butcher stated. "Swear you have." For as long as he had known you (which was quite a while now, as you joined The Boys about a year before Lamplighter had killed Mallory's grandkids), he could have sworn up and down that you were on some kind of drugs, but he never could put his finger on it. He thought about asking you of course, but he always decided against it.

"It's shocking I know." You shrugged. "I guess it's never appealed to me."

"Well it's a good thing you're with Mister Coke Head over here." Butcher said, adding a little chuckle at the end.

"Just because we're together doesn't mean I'm gonna start doing drugs with him Butcher." You defended.

"She'll be too busy doing other things." Ben smirked, before winking at you.

Tag List: @jackles010378 @zepskies If you want to be added to a tag list, let me know!

#soldier boy x reader #soldier boy x you #the boys #the boys imagine #the boys one shot #ben x you #ben x reader #reader insert #female reader #the boys amazon

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mandarinmoons · 3 months

Text

Summary: You have a very specific way you drink your coffee and Spencer surprises you with how he's able to recreate your masterpiece

Coffee is considered as a lifeline by many and you weren’t an exception. If you didn’t have your signature drink at your workstation every morning, trying to concentrate on the task at hand seemed pointless.

Your coworkers had taken notice how much your morning treat affected your productivity and some chuckled over it while some were concerned.

For instance, one morning you were running a bit late and because of that you didn’t have time to make your special concoction. Luckily enough Penelope Garcia is an angel walking among us and quickly strode to the kitchen in her high heels to try and make your morning. Although you were grateful for her generosity, you were a bit skeptical as you had a very specific way to make your drink.

As Penelope walked over to you some time later with a hot cup, she handed it over to you with a wide smile on her face. She watched as you took a sip and you put on a smile to show her your gratitude. Penelope walked back to her cave happily and when she was out of your sight you let out a small sigh. The coffee was a bit too creamy for your taste, but you couldn’t bear to tell it to Garcia as you saw how much trouble she went to try and please you. As for now you sucked it up and drank what you had in hand and remembered to set your alarm for five minutes earlier so you would have time to make your coffee next time.

The next morning as you arrived at work and hurried to the kitchen to gather up the ingredients for your morning brew. Your mood turned sour though as you realized the usual coffee you used was all out. You groaned as you closed the cabinet and put all the supplies back.

“Rough morning sweetheart?” Derek chuckled as he heard the displeased sound coming from your throat.

“You could say that again. We’re out of the coffee I use.”

“So? Just use another brand, there’s an open back right by the side.”

“Well, that’s the thing. I have a very specific way I drink my coffee and it has to be exactly right or else it’s just not good for me.”

“Ahh I see, you’re one of those “picky” types.”

“I’m not picky! I just… have a very specific taste.”

Derek chuckled and shook his head, “Keep telling yourself that baby.”

You rolled your eyes at Derek and a moment later Spencer walked into the kitchen, he furrowed his brows when he saw Derek’s smug smile and the annoyance written over your face.

“What’s going on?”

“Y/N here has to have their coffee made in a certain way or else they’re a grumpy little gremlin.”

“Oh shut up Derek, as if you don’t have a specific type of girl you go after.”

“Hey, I’m open to other options, not like you now,” Derek chuckled and walked back to his desk, leaving you and Spencer by yourselves.

“It’s not a bad thing you know.”

“What?”

“The coffee thing, it’s not a bad thing if you need something to be made a certain way.”

You smiled at the lanky man in front of you, “Thanks Spence.”

You walked past him and you felt a slight tug on your wrist, “Are you not going to have your coffee?”

“We’re out of my regular brew so, I guess not,” you shrugged and walked back to your desk. The morning fatigue was still having a heavy affect on you and you had no idea how you were going to finish that report Hotch had trusted you with. Still, you couldn’t let a little caffeine withdrawal ruin your whole morning and continued on with your day.

Nearly two hours later you still felt as sluggish as before. Although you had gotten through some of your work, it had taken you a little bit longer than usual and you tried not to curse over yourself too much for using the same exact words in your report over and over again. Time felt like it was standing still and your state wasn’t getting any better, it was hell.

When lunch time arrived you dragged yourself out of your chair and headed to the kitchen to try and find something from the fridge to bring you out of your zombie-like state and when you arrived at the door you were surprised by what you saw.

Spencer was hunched over by the counter and around him were all the things you use to make your specialty drink.

“Spencer what’re you doing?”

“I uhm, I noticed how down you were so I went to the store and got the coffee you drink. Well actually I went to three different places to finally find it but… uh yeah, I hope you like it,” Spencer’s cheeks had a rosy hue to them and he handed the mug to you. You took it in your hands and looked at it with big eyes before looking back at him.

“You know the way I make it?”

Spencer smiled and nodded, “I’ve seen you make it a few times and I think I’ve gotten the measurements down,” Spencer rubbed his neck and swallowed as he waited for you to take a sip.

When the coffee hit your tastebuds you were in shock, it tasted exactly how you’d make it.

“Spencer this is perfect, how did you do this?”

Spencer smiled and shrugged, “I don’t know, I have a good eye I guess.”

“Good eye? More like a psychic, this is crazy.”

Spencer laughed and watched as you chugged the beverage down to the last drop. It made him extremely happy to see how he was able to so easily please you and to know that all that it took was for him to go to a few different places to track down the one specific brand of coffee that had your heart was all worth it. Sure, to some people it may seem like a hassle to walk half way across town just in order to find something as silly as coffee beans, but that’s what you do for someone who you care about, and to Spencer, knowing that he was the reason why you were currently the happiest you had been in two days, that meant the world to him.

Taglist: @radioactiveinvisible @whoisspence @sreidisms @lanascinnamongirls @luvkatryna @iluvreid @notn4t

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You can find my masterlist here!

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biographydivider · 1 year

Text

Urgent Brother Business

A little gift for @somerandomdudelmao in return for their delightful Future AU, and for blessing us with Tiny Tello. I couldn’t get the image of him bossing gigantic, adult Leo around out of my head!

“So the Krang dogs were last spotted here,” April was saying, tapping at a map she’d laid out across the War Room table. “If we come around the perimeter this way, we should be able to use these ruins as cover to...”

She looked up from the carefully plotted attack plans at the ten recruits she’d assembled to go over strategy; none of which were even looking at the map. “Seriously, guys?” April huffed. “I don’t even have to turn around to see what y’all are gawking at...”

Behind her in the hallway, the Leader of the Resistance, The Greatest Ninja of All Time and the turtle who was meant to be leading this damn meeting was crawling across the floor, barely holding in a laugh as a tiny, furious green pancake led him about by the tails of his mask.

“Well,” April deadpanned, arms folded, “I’ve turned around, and I see. Master Leonardo, you wanna get involved, here?”

“Can’t, April,” Leo said, pointing down at the turtle tot, who was scowling through his custom, handmade glasses at the world around him. “I’m double-booked. Take it up with Donnie.”

Donnie - the recent victim of a severe bout of anti-aging that seemed to be going around the base of late - growled reedily and tugged on Leo’s mask tails.

“Oop, we’re off again. See you next time, Commander. Recruits.”

“The sooner Mikey works out how to change him back,” April sighed, turning back to her map, “the better. Okay, can we at least try to focus, please?”

Leo had been basically useless to the resistance since Donnie got babified; following him around and basically doing whatever his little brother (emphasis on little) wanted him to do. That or picking Donnie up and gently squeezing him around the middle, just to hear him squeak. It was so darn cute!

“Where are we going, bud?” Leo asked, as Donnie led him through the base, his face a mask of adorable determination. “You wanna go bath? S’at it? You wanna swim? Oh, we’re going to the kitchen? I can getcha a cookie, just don’t tell Raph...oh.”

They’d stopped just in front of the counter that held the battered, dinged but somehow miraculously still functional coffee machine. It was Donnie’s pride and joy - he’d rescued it from a decimated Starbucks a month or two back, painted a Genius Brand logo on it and had made it work on salvaged coffee beans, evaporated milk and a dream.

Tiny Donnie looked up at it expectantly.

“Uh, bud?” Leo said, getting to his feet and rubbing the back of his neck guiltily. “I don’t think I can get you a coffee right now. You’re just a little guy, and I don’t know what all that caffeine will do to your sensitive lil’ tum-tum.”

Donnie looked from the machine to Leo and, assuming he simply hadn’t made himself understood, jabbed a tiny finger in the direction of the machine.

“D. Coffee’s not a good idea right now.”

Donnie grumbled and pointed all the harder.

“Nuh-uh. No way.”

The turtle tot’s eyes widened in scandalised betrayal - then narrowed as he hissed out something that was obviously a very bad word in Baby-ese.

“Woah, woah, you watch your mouth, mister.” Leo bent down to scoop up his brother. “You need a time out, buddy. Away from all this --”

An entire arsenal of purple nimpo weaponry materialised around Donnie.

“...temptation,” Leo finished weakly. “Eeuough boy.”

“Okay,” April was saying back in the War Room, having finally - finally! - wrangled back the recruits’ attention. “So this next part’s important. Escape plan; this back alley is vital, everyone memorise the co-ordinates --”

BOOM BOOM BANG POW SCREECH POP BOOM BANG BANG BANG BANG

As one, the recruits snapped their attention to the doorway, just as Leo sprinted past, shrieking in terrified laughter as Donnie - somewhere in the haze of purple light and firepower that surrounded him - followed in hot pursuit.

“Donnie no, Donnie stop it I’m sorry, Donatello stand down I’m still your commanding officer--AAAAAGH!!!”

A soft, resonant boom, followed by a cloud of purple smoke. April deflated, finally admitting defeat and rolling up her map.

“Doesn’t matter. Just...don’t worry about it, guys.”

#cass apocalyptic series #rottmnt #rise leo #rise april #rise donnie #tiny tello

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happyhauntt · 2 months

Text

a lack of caffeine — spencer reid.

writing masterlist | askbox

─── summary: caffeine makes the world go 'round. that's something you and spencer can agree on.

─── pairing: spencer reid x autistic!medical examiner!reader.

─── warnings: fluff, reader is autistic & a mom, spencer's iq gets slashed to sixty when he talks to pretty girls and it's my favourite thing. no use of y/n. swearing. i really fucking struggled with this it's so boring. thank you to everyone who requested a part 2!

─── word count: 1.8k.

The call comes in at four in the morning.

The screen reads three missed calls by the time its incessant buzzing rouses you from your slumber, and you pull it out from beneath your pillow. Squinting at the sudden brightness of it, an unlisted number stares back at you as your phone keeps vibrating insistently in your grip.

When you finally wake up enough to realise it could be work, you answer it. Agent Hotchner's familiar voice is stern and low and only a little apologetic as he informs you that you're going to be required in the field for a new case, and you should be at the airfield within the hour.

There isn't enough time to ask any questions before the line clicks, and you're left blinking into the dim light of your bedroom as you try to gather your bearings.

Sleep itches at the corners of your eyes, all gritty and blurry, and though part of your mind recalls reading this little clause in the contract you’d signed, that constant availability takes on a whole new meaning when you work for the BAU, you still take a moment to fantasise about pushing Aaron Hotchner off a cliff.

You’re not a morning person. And you would argue that 4AM isn’t even the morning, it’s the middle of the night, and why can’t serial killers do their business during normal business hours?

A new case. Not your first case since joining the unit as their resident independent medical examiner, but the first where you would join the rest of the team in the field. The first where you'll be required to exert federal authority over county coroners, where you'll have to step on toes in order to get the job done.

You know they won't take too well to an outsider coming in and derailing their whole thing. You know you wouldn't. You used to be one of them, not that long ago.

Ah, shit. As the drowsiness begins to fade out of your body, a light panic trickles in. Your skin starts to buzz as if you put your finger into a live socket. You grip your phone so hard it leaves a mark on your palm.

It takes ten minutes to get ready, stumbling around your room and shoving clothes into a bag. You don't really care about matching socks, but you count out your underwear three times and hope you won't run out before the case is done. Do they have laundries you'll be able to use? Have the other members of the BAU ever encountered this problem? Should you pack your hair straightener or is it really going to matter?

When you've finally dragged a brush through your hair and dumped the last of your toiletries into a ziploc bag, a dull realisation strikes you.

Jackie.

Going toe-to-toe with a rabid raccoon might be more appealing than waking up your sister-in-law in the middle of the night, but you don't really have much choice. She has to know what's going on, she'll be in charge of your daughter for however long you'll be gone, and leaving a note on the kitchen counter feels like the wrong move to make in this instance.

Is there a protocol for this? A single-parent handbook you can check out at the library? This is something you really should've talked about when you got the job, you know that. You'd known it would require you to travel on occasion, often without prior notice, but it hadn't seemed like a big deal at the time. You'd brushed it under the rug, labelled it to be discussed later as if you and Jackie have ever actually sat down and done that.

A thousand things sit unsaid between you. That rug has got a little mountain under it by now, almost impossible to ignore. It’s really only a matter of time before you trip over it.

“Jackie. Jackie.”

Your sister-in-law grumbles when you sneak into her room and poke her, hard and repeatedly, until she threatens to bite you. The news of your leaving doesn't take her by surprise — exhaustion seems to dull the stung of it — and she promises to call twice a day, every day, before she buries her face back into the pillow and starts to snore like a lawnmower.

You hope she never, ever changes.

Pressing a kiss to your sleeping daughter's forehead is the last thing you do before you finally manage to drag yourself out of the apartment. A dull ache thuds in your chest, where your heart should be. She'd looked so peaceful, so sweet, and you can't recall a time since she was born that you'd been apart from her for longer than a day. Her bright, happy giggle and wide eyes flash through your mind.

As your car peels out of the parking garage, you feel distinctly like a piece of laundry someone hung out to dry and then forgot about.

The sun is just beginning to kiss the horizon as you pull up to the airfield. Long streaks of a pink-fingered dawn creep across the sky. You flash your identification at the security guard and pull up alongside the jet, scrambling to grab your bag from the passenger seat.

It doesn't surprise you that you're the last to arrive, but you'd hoped that wouldn't be the case.

The clock just strikes 5AM as you clatter up the steps, practically falling into the aircraft. Technically, you're on time, but it still feels like you're late for class and your teacher is about to put it on your permanent record. A kind-faced hostess greets you, offers to stow your bag, and you flash her a sheepish smile as you hand it over and pass through the curtains into the main cabin.

"Holy shit."

You can't help yourself. Every single member of the team turns to look at you, craning their necks to see exactly who they're dealing with, but you can't even bring yourself to care. "This is a jet. It's actually... a jet."

You blink at the open space as your jaw goes a little slack. Do you sound a little insane? Sure, and ordinarily you'd feel self-conscious with several pairs of unfamiliar eyes gawking at you, analysing your every movement as if it's their job to do so — and it actually is — but this honestly insane.

You had no idea the BAU had this kind of budget. Do they own the plane? Do they rent it? Is it publically funded by the taxpayer, and why can't they fly commercial? Like, you're not complaining at all, those leather seats look so comfortable, but why—?

An austere voice says your name once, twice, and you blink, looking up to find the furrowed brow of your boss frowning at you down the aisle.

"Take a seat, doctor, we're about to take off."

His tone leaves no room for argument. A flush rises in your cheeks, and you manage to stammer out an apology before throwing yourself into the nearest available seat, buckling your seatbelt.

"It's a good thing you're the M.E and not a profiler, sweetcheeks." One of the agents nearest to you leans across the aisle. A charming grin spreads over his face as he offers up his hand in greeting. "Derek Morgan."

"Oh, I know," you reply, shaking his hand firmly. "I, uh, looked you guys up after Dr. Reid paid a visit to the underworld and I didn't recognise him. Figured I should be a little more familiar with the other members of my team."

"The underworld?" A blonde woman you realise must be Agent Jareau gives you a friendly, if slightly confused, smile.

You shrug, suddenly a little embarrassed. Group settings have never been your thing. Too many people, too many unfamiliar eyes, far too many voices clashing together until it all becomes a sensory nightmare.

You much prefer your little lab, and one-on-one conversations, usually with the unlucky cadavers that find themselves on your slab. They never talk back.

"It's just what I call the morgue," you tell her. A loose bit of skin hangs off the edge of your nail, and you really, really want to pick at it. Fatigue hovers at the edge of your consciousness, and as the plane engines begin to roar, you find yourself wishing you’d made a coffee before leaving the apartment.

You would have been late, for sure, but life would feel worth living so, y’know. Swings and roundabouts.

"In Greek mythology, the underworld is where an individual goes after death. Early ideas suggest that someone’s essence, their psyche, is separated from their corpse at the point of death and transported to the underworld. Accounts differ on whether any judgement occurs, depending on which scholarship you’re citing." A familiar voice pipes up from the back of the plane and you glance over. The rich brown eyes looking back fill you with an odd warmth.

More at ease with a familiar face, you settle back in your seat and lift your hand in a lazy wave. "Good morning, Dr Reid. It's nice to see you when I'm not elbow-deep in someone's intestines."

Agent Jareau wrinkles her nose. "Now I'm really glad I didn't have time for breakfast."

Reid's ears turn bright pink and he looks away, stuttering out his reply. "It's good to see you too. Uh, well, not good, given the circumstances, since there's a serial killer on the loose, but good because—"

"We get the picture, Reid," Agent Hotchner cuts him off, and Reid turns his gaze back to the small window, a little flustered. Hotch looks, bizarrely, like he's trying not to smile. "Welcome to the team. We'll go over the case details once we're in the air."

“Is there coffee in the air?” There might be a murder mid-flight otherwise. Really, how do they function at this time in the morning? The plane judders as it rolls over the tarmac, heading for the runway. “Or tea, or soda, or— Honestly, I’ll take whatever. I just don’t want to fall asleep in a body cavity later on.”

Again.

Reid finds himself nodding, entirely against his will. There’s something about the peculiar medical examiner, something he can’t quite put his finger on, but it makes him want to keep talking. More than usual, at least.

He wonders if there’s duct tape on board. Or a parachute.

“There’s coffee,” he confirms. Is his voice a little high?

“Dr. Reid, I could kiss you—”

Oh, hell. Judging by the way Morgan has a hand pressed to his mouth, stifling an obscenely loud chuckle, Reid suspects he’s never going to hear the end of this.

#criminal minds #spencer reid #criminal minds fanfic #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid imagine #criminal minds imagine #* chapter update.

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strawberri-elixir · 5 months

Text

Sleepless nights

╰⇢ 17. Back pains

Warning: none 😋

note: little longer that usual ☝️tomorrow will probably be the last update for the next few days (I have the first part of my final exam on thursday so i’m cramming 🌝)

i’ll be gone forever the rest of the day to study 😔

"Okay! I guess it's just the three of us." You pushed through your front door, mentally cursing Maki for not being able to join you in your last minute cram sessions. Yes, she had good reason, but she also was the reason you felt a familiar heat creep up your face whenever you looked at your best friend.

Yuta heads straight for your room, flopping down onto your bed, letting out a big sigh into the mattress. “I’m not excited for this upcoming week.” He was obviously referring to your final exams.

“Me neither.” You took the opportunity to jump on top of him, a small groan coming out of the boy. “But I know we’ll do fine.”

“You’re going to actually break my back.” The dark haired boy shifted his head to look at you from the corner of his eye.

You weren’t given time to react when you felt a weight slump on top of you. Toge had made himself comfortable on top of you, and on top of Yuta. “This is actually kind of comfortable.” He mumbled.

“You two are heavy.” Yuta started shifting side to side, hoping to get at least one of you off of him.

“You love us anyways.” You let out a small laugh, latching yourself onto the boy under you, snaking your arms under him and holding him in place with your legs. “Toge hold on! He can’t get rid of us if we’re holding on!”

Following your command, you felt a pair of hands brush past your waist and cover your hands, holding onto Yuta. All you could hear was the soft chuckle coming from above you, and the loud groans from below you.

Soon enough, you felt yourself tilting to one side before eventually tipping over. Yuta had managed to successfully push himself up enough to topple the two of you off of him.

“Oof.” Toge let go and turned onto his back.

“Okay, study time.” Yuta pulled both of you up, leaving the room to carry all your backpacks to the kitchen. “Up you go.”

You let out a dramatic sigh of defeat, pushing yourself up and dragging your feet down the hall.

“I’m bored. And tired.” You groaned, throwing your head back. The three of you had been studying for god who knows how long, your backs were killing you, your wrists were cramping, and your vision was failing you. “You’re staying over right?” You look up in front of you where the two boys were looking at their screens.

“Yeah.” Yuta mumbled his response.

It was clear that all of you were done with studying, you have been revising non-stop since four in the afternoon. One glance at the clock and you could easily see you had passed the nine hour mark. The fact that all of you were able to remain focused was a mystery to you.

The only break you got was a short trip to the convenience store for more snacks and dinner on the way, but other than that, you were running on straight caffeine and the desire to get a good grade and shove it in your teachers face.

You let out a small yawn, staring at the course material in front of you, all the letters and numbers blurring together to make a big blob. It wasn’t much longer before your eyelids felt heavy and you decided to give them a break. Resting your head in your arms on the table, closing your eyes and letting the darkness consume you.

“Y/n’s asleep.” Toge nudged the boy next to him, nodding in your direction.

“I got it.” Yuta finally shut his laptop, removing his glasses before walking over to your side of the table, gently moving you into an easy position where he can pick you up. “Do you mind getting the bed ready?”

The platinum haired boy nodded, walking down the hallway towards your room where a bunch of things were messily scattered around your bed. He made quick work of everything (he just pushed most of it towards your closet), before fixing up your pillows as Yuta walked in with you on his back.

“We’ll both take the mattress.” He carefully lowered you onto your bed, tucking you in and making sure you were cozy.

“Mhm.” Toge nodded in agreement before taking his spot on the bed.

Yuta quickly followed, turning off the lights and settling down next to Toge, both of them silently looking up at the ceiling. “You’re a streamer right?” The dark haired boy spoke under his breath. “Toginu to be more specific. Correct?”

Toge snapped his head to the left, staring at the boy in disbelief. How did he find out? He’s never mentioned it before. “Are you one of those crazy stalkers?” Was the first thing that came to mind.

“Nah, just a casual fan I guess.” Yuta chuckled. “Y/n is a huge fan, but I’m sure you knew that.”

“Yeah…” He turned to look back up. “How’d you find out?”

The boy looked at him with a smirk. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. But don’t worry, nobody else knows.”

“Good…” Toge sighed. “That actually saves me the trouble of having to tell you, I promise you, I was going to. But I also felt like I owe it to Y/n. But you know, with my feelings, I couldn’t do it.”

“I get it, it’s fine.”

It felt like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders. Toge let out a sigh of relief, thankful he no longer had to worry about anything around his friend.

“Welp, I’m off to bed, night.” Yuta casually turned over, pulling the blanket over his shoulders.

“Night…” The boy responded. It wasn’t long before sleep consumed the both of them, feeling better than they did when they first stepped into your house.

Masterlist | Next

fun facts:

— you’re a HEAVY sleeper. once you’re out, there’s no hope to wake you up for the next few hours

— yuta found out that toge was a streamer by accident (toge left his phone to go to the washroom and got a twitter notification)

— yuta unironically gets back pains from his terrible sitting posture and the heavy ass backpack he carries from one end of the school to the other every day

taglist:

@sur-i-ki @aespaforlifersyall @camilo-uwu @butterflyqueen234 @shinsukeee @tanchosanke @meguemii @lees-chaotic-brain @you-always-made-me-blush @jayathelostdragon @chilichopsticks @polarbvnny

@instantmusico @sad-darksoul @hellyyy06 @rosieandthethorns @zellwa @iluv-ace @h3xi2g0n3 @morgyyyyyyy @bellaabee082 @koiir @g0rep1ty @k4romis @beaniedoodz @seventhcinema @macimcnaron @pumpkin6969 @wowowwin @neigee @someonethatisnobody @vndl-1 @yoyo-yui

@blehtotheblehtothebleh @c4ttheart @blogforblorboscreaming @creative1writings @tiredjxnna @mint129106 @mentallyunstablemanlover @anianurst @milesmorals @sleepytoges @azulsmermaidprincess @toges-cough-syrup @liveincans @jals-stuff @yievieslxt @yell-lemonade @inupibaldspot @hyssoplampflickers @lilysaltwater @ayxnxr @lovley212 @delightfuldragoncollection @strxkbylightning @saesofficialwife @izanaslvr-444 @defnotriri

Bold means i can’t tag you for some reason :[

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a-dumb-sarcastic-bisexual · 10 months

Text

Nimona headcanons cause I love this chaotic little family

I’ve seen a lot of people say Ambrosius is a morning person and Bal is a night owl

And I have to respectfully disagree

Will Bal pull some all-nighters in the lab? Absolutely

But this man is the most early bird coded character I’ve ever seen in my entire life

When he isn't fully invested in a project he can't stay up past 10 pm

He wakes up at 6 am refreshed and barely needs caffeine

I’ve also seen a lot of people say he’s a dedicated coffee drinker but something about this man screams “Coffee gives me migraines”

Ambrosius on the other hand

That’s an insomniac if I’ve ever seen one

He’ll get ready for bed around 9 and then stay up til 3 in the morning

Poor babe needs coffee in an IV

He used to wake up really early back in the institute cause he was forced to run a mile every minute he was late to class

And he’s a heavy sleeper so after the wall came down and he quit being a knight he wouldn't wake up before 1 pm even with Bals help

And Nimona is just as bad

Most nights Ambrosius will leave the room because he moves a lot when he can’t sleep and Bal is a light sleeper

He’ll sit in the living room watching tv while trying to sleep and most of the time Nimona will join him

Every once and a while Bal will find them laying on top of each other on the couch and will take them back to their respective beds

And if you’re wondering what their favorite show to watch together is it’s those house-flipping shows

But not for the reason you think

Most people watch those shows cause they think it’s inspiring

Ambrosius and Nimona talk about how terrible these people are at their jobs

They’ll go on hour-long rants about how these people are stripping the houses of everything that made them a home

(Ambrosius is a sentimental bitch and would be a maximalist after leaving the institute prove me wrong)

When Nimona is bored she’ll go into the city disguised as Bal or Ambrosius

And she’ll fool literally everyone it’s a pretty common occurrence for the boys to be at home and then they hear the other swearing like a damn sailor because there are already news articles about it

The only people she can’t fool are Bal and Ambrosius

Bal will shut them down almost immediately

They’ll walk over to Bal and won’t even get a word out before Bal says “Shift back Nim you’re freaking me out”

They always make a big deal out of being caught making big decorations like “I’m getting better and one day I’ll fool you”

And he’ll hum in agreement but he knows that it doesn’t matter how good he gets or how observant he is he’ll be able to fully copy every little detail

The details that Bal has spent the past decade and a half remembering

You know the little things like how he can’t say Bal or Nimona’s names without smiling even when he’s pissed

Or how he scrunches his nose when he laughs

Ambrosius always acts like Nimona tricked him

He’ll let them get comfortable in the character and then he’ll drop the bomb

Something small and inconspicuous like “Hey Nim do you want pizza for dinner?” and they’ll excitedly proclaim “Hell yeah pizza!”

It takes them a second to realize they’ve been played and when they do they never make a big deal about it

They normally just mumble a curse or two and walk away with their tail between their legs (literally)

The first time Nimona tried to trick Ambrosius was when he was having one of those days

You know the days when even breathing feels like a fucking battle

This was in a really awkward period too

Like right after Nimona and Ambrosius started trusting each other but right before they really started to get to know each other

But she knew the boys well enough to know if Bal came home to a sad Ambrosius then he’d be in a bad mood for the rest of the day

And she knows that the only thing that can cure a mopey Ambrosius is Bal

She walked into the room and started talking to Ambrosius and was kind of surprised and a little bit peeved about how well she was fooling him

Until he said “You can drop the act Nim I know it’s you”

They kind of just sat in that silence for a minute until Nimona said the first thing that came to her mind

“You want me to find my sax?”

Bal shouldn’t have been surprised to find Nimona disguised as him serenading Ambrosius with the worst freestyle jazz he’s ever heard (which is saying something)

He didn’t even say anything he just sat down and cuddled the love of his life while watching their kid try and play the sax while breakdancing

#nimona 2023 #nimona movie #nimona headcanon #nimona #ballister boldheart #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister x ambrosius #goldenheart #those dorks know each other better than they know themselves #I'm fully convinced Bal has spent days counting the freckles and beauty marks on Ambrosius' face #Cause they're sappy like that #Nimona isn't the best at comforting people #it's a real learning curve #especially cause these boys have a sadness that runs crazy deep #I'm sending all of these poor traumatized bubs to therapy #this is so long #I think it’s the longest post I’ve made in a while

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queen-of-reptiles · 4 months

Text

𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷

description: in which jenna clark realises she may be a little rough with her girlfriend

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jenna clark x female reader

disclaimer: this is all fiction! Do not take any of this seriously.

warnings: this is a short one! just fluff

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。

y/n slowly blinked her eyes open, the sun streaming through the thin curtains pushing her to wake up earlier than she would have preferred for her day off.

The girl sighed and pushed her arm out to touch her girlfriend only to feel an empty side of the bed. y/n sat up, a pout on her lips when she realised her girlfriend was not in the room.

Just as y/n went to move, the door to the bedroom opened and Jenna walked in with a tray in her hands and the small patter of feet echoed. y/n's and Jenna's miniature border collie Mollie jumping at the bed.

"Molls!" Jenna warns, the dog huffing as she moved back down the bed, her head flopping onto y/n's lap as she sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Hi fluff." y/n chuckled, running her hand over her head.

Jenna sild onto the bed carefully, bringing the tray down between them where their coffees sat and breakfasts, y/n smiled softly, leaning over to kiss her lover's cheek.

"Thank you baby." y/n sighed, Jenna sending her a bright smile.

"Of course, you've been working too hard, I always say it." Jenna hums.

y/n was in her final year of her solicitor exams and also worked part time in a law firm and in a cafe to help pay for it all. Once she completed her exams, she had a role lined up with a soliciting firm for estate and would be able to stop the cafe job.

However, as they got into the final term, y/n found herself studying late, running off caffeine and tears, frantic writing into early hours of the morning, a few hours of stressed sleep and then straight to work.

Jenna could see her lover burning herself out and didn't know how to stop it, so when they finally had a day off together the footballer made it her personal mission to cheer her lover up.

"I thought we would take Mollie for a W A L K, grab some shopping and bake and watch movies for the day?" Jenna asks her lover as they begin to eat and y/n smiles.

"That sounds lovely." y/n smiles, letting Mollie have a slither of bacon from her plate which the dog whined thankfully at.

The two ate in small talk and giggles before showering together in a similar way, ghosting touches and soft kisses as they washed and changed before moving to get their shoes on.

"Mollie!" y/n called out, the small dog arriving obediently at y/n's feet. "Do you want to go for a..." y/n begins but Mollie saw the lead in her hand and barked excitedly jumping at her playfully.

"I think she's figured it out babe." Jenna chuckled and y/n nodded, clipping her dog onto the lead before the two headed out into the crisp winter air.

y/n shivered slightly, bringing her scarf closer to her neck as she looked back at Jenna, rolling her eyes at the fact her lover just had a beanie and thin coat on.

Jenna always said she never got cold, maybe the fact she was used to playing in cold temperatures helped her, whatever it was, Jenna didn't often feel the cold.

The trio made their way into the park and y/n unclipped Mollie, Jenna throwing the tennis ball which made the dog race after it excitedly, y/n giggling at the dog who sprinted back and let the ball drop at her feet.

y/n smiled and leant down, stroking at the dog and cooing proudly at her, before she picked up the ball and threw it, pouting when it didn't go as far as Jenna's.

"What's that pout for?" Jenna cooed, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend.

"My throw didn't go as far as yours." y/n huffed and Jenna chuckled.

"Baby, I'm a professional athlete?" Jenna reminds and y/n shrugs, still relaxing in Jenna's arms.

"With your feet." y/n jokingly whined.

"I still need to be strong though baby. So I can fight off those other players." Jenna grins. "And so I can cheer up my pouting girlfriend." Jenna adds.

"How does being strong..." y/n begins but Jenna stops her by picking her up bridal style and spinning her. y/n laughs loudly arms clinging to Jenna's shoulders as the woman comes to a stop.

"What do you think Molls? Cheered up?" Jenna asks the dog who was watching her owners with a tilted head.

Mollie barks at them, before panting and y/n laughs as Jenna puts her down, picking up the ball only to throw it again, Mollie racing off excitedly.

"Cheered up?" Jenna asks, y/n wrapping her arms around the woman's shoulders as Jenna's arms snake around her waist and pull the girl closer to her.

"Mmm. Definitely." y/n grins, leaning up to peck at Jenna's lips twice.

Jenna grins at the affection, her hands squeezing y/n's waist tighter for a moment, the two enjoying their moment of peace as the cold breeze washed over them.

"You're it!" y/n suddenly yells, tapping Jenna and running from her, Mollie jumping around y/n excitedly as the girl grabs the tennis ball and sprints away, Mollie following.

"Get back here!" Jenna yells, y/n screeching as she sees the woman running toward her.

"Mollie come on." y/n giggles madly, her and the dog trying to make it away, however the dog had far more speed.

Two hands grab y/n's waist and she squeals, throwing the ball once again for the dog who bounces after it happily. Jenna grips her lover, exclaiming in victory as she spins her and holds her tightly.

"Jen! Jen!" y/n tries, as the woman stops, still holding y/n above the ground. "Jen, too hard!" y/n warns, tapping Jenna's arms and she gasps, releasing the girl who takes a deep breath in, wincing at her aching waist.

"Shit, sorry baby." Jenna sighs, cupping y/n's face.

"It's okay love, you just sometimes forget the strength you have." y/n wheezes out, smiling when Jenna peppers kisses around her face.

"You're shivering baby, lets head back now, yeah?" She asks, Mollie barking in agreement as the dog had started to shake slightly from the bite of winter.

"Okay." y/n smiles, pressing a kiss against Jenna's cheek as she clips Mollie back, the dog panting as she padded with her owners back home.

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y/n was changing her shirt into one of Jenna's jumpers which Jenna had happily taken off as she changed into a fresh one, y/n happily sniffing the clothing before Jenna gasped.

"Oh baby, I'm so sorry." Jenna says, moving forward, her hand shakily spreading across y/n's waist, where her handprint was already beginning to bruise into the skin.

y/n looked down, not even realising Jenna had her so tightly in the park and expected the bruise. Jenna had yet to touch the skin and y/n smiled softly.

"Jen, it's okay." y/n promises, Jenna looking at her with wide guilty eyes. "Hey, it's okay." y/n promises, pulling Jenna's hand to press against her bruise softly.

"I feel so bad." Jenna sighs stroking the skin slightly. "I shouldn't be so rough with you." She adds.

y/n sighs, pulling the jumper on as Jenna pulls her hand away from the bruise, letting y/n wrap her hands around y/n's shoulders as y/n wrapped hers around Jenna's waist.

"It's not the first mark you've left on me Clark and it won't be the last." y/n says to her, an eyebrow raising suggestively.

Jenna chuckles, knowing well what her lover was talking about and rolled her eyes, pressing a kiss to her forehead lovingly, a warmth spreading through her at the way y/n didn't care.

"Besides..." y/n begins, leaning up to whisper her next sentence in Jenna's ear. "I usually like it when you get rough, don't I?" She asks, before pressing a kiss underneath the lobe.

Jenna groans, as y/n leans back down and the player leans down, connecting their lips in a deep kiss, her tongue quickly twisting into y/n's mouth.

"Come on." y/n hums as she pulls from Jenna. "Let's go make some dinner." She adds innocently. She begins to walk to the door but Jenna grabs her arm and drags her back toward the bed.

"Dinner can wait - I want dessert first." Jenna hums as she drags y/n onto the bed.

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jennaclarkkk just posted on her close friends story

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#woso #woso x reader #woso x y/n #woso soccer #woso community #social media woso #jenna clark #jenna clark x y/n #jenna clark imagine #jenna clark x reader #liverpool wfc #liverpool women #liverpool football club #liverpool fc

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haespoir · 1 year

Text

everytime: jjh, mkl.

⨯ pairing: situationship!jaehyun, situationship!mark, reader

⨯ word count: 2.4k

⨯ summary: going back to jaehyun felt natural. a single call from him had you running back. but with enough encouragement, your friends are able to convince you to pursue other people. god, you hated dating in 2023. what the fuck was a situationship anyways?

⨯ warnings: jaehyun loses lol, mentions of drugs (weed) and alcohol, some suggestive content but that’s about it, gn!reader but i used good girl once bc i felt legally obligated im sorry.

⨯ playlist: breathin, ariana grande / everytime, ariana grande / feather, sabrina carpenter

⨯ extra content: texts between reader n mark, jaehyun pov, mark pov

⨯ a/n: i’m going to blame it on the copious amounts of caffeine in my system, so if you see any errors, please ignore it! i definitely have more in mind for this pair, so the chance of this becoming a mini series is possible. i just have adhd and i’m jobless atm so my attention is going everywhere

. . .

Somehow you’ve found yourself once again wrapped in Jaehyun’s embrace; the warmth of his body making you overheat under his blanket. It’s like he’s everywhere. You couldn’t escape his scent even if you wanted to. And it’s not like you wanted to anyways. It had been at least 3 months of whatever you and Jaehyun had going on. Was it friends with benefits? Were you guys exclusive? This was a question that neither of you could answer.

Though if you were cornered into answering it, you knew the answer would be one that only broke your heart. You were his; there wasn’t anyone that you wanted more than Jaehyun. But he was not yours. You knew that he flirted openly with the girls on campus. You had been blown off by him numerous times so he could spend his time with other girls all the time. As long as you were able to hold Jaehyun at night, in your little corner of the universe, you thought it would be okay.

However, that was not the case when his ex-girlfriend came back into the picture. It felt impossible to even get a grip on the male. Even if you knew you had spent the night with him, she would have him again by the time he woke up.

As quickly and quietly as you can, you untangle yourself from his sleeping form, ignoring the way he groans and tries to pull you back into his bed. Your resolve would crumble if he was able to get you back into that bed, and you knew this to be a fact. Once your clothes are back on, you feel the shame settle in your bones. How many times was this going to happen? Did you have any self-respect?

Too many times, by the way. It happened way too many times. The same damn thing. He wouldn’t contact you all day, not until he had the tiniest amount of weed in his system. And then your phone was blowing up.

“Where you are?”

“I need you.”

“I’d give it all just to kiss you right now.”

“Sorry, it won’t happen again. I’ll treat you better.”

“This time I won’t break your heart. I swear.”

How many excuses were you going to let slide by? Each time he did the same thing. It did happen again; he didn’t treat you better. He definitely broke your heart, each and every time. But this time it’s different, not because of Jaehyun though. You’re usually able to escape the apartment before any of his roommates wake up, not this time. This time Mark Lee is seated at the island, a donut and two coffees spread out in front of him. He gives you a shy smile, gesturing to the breakfast. “I got you a donut and coffee when I was out this morning.”

The gesture has your eyes glossy almost instantly, tears threatening to spill over. Jiwon would snort at your behavior. The bar was really in hell, wasn’t it? “Thanks. You didn’t have to,” you say quietly, standing next to his sitting figure.

“I wanted to.” And you can tell he’s being honest. It was no secret that Mark harbored a crush on you; and while you adored the male, you were so stupidly into Jaehyun that you didn’t have it in you to entertain Mark’s advances. You could break your own heart, but you sure as hell weren’t breaking his.

“You don’t have to stay; I know you usually don’t.” His words make you feel even more pathetic, even if you know he doesn’t mean any harm. You thought you were sneaky after leaving the next morning, but Mark knew. He always seemed to know.

So when you get home and Mark’s name lights up on your screen, you swear you won’t fall into Jaehyun’s trap again.

mark [8:30am]: home safe?

you [8:33am]: yea

you [8:33am]: thanks

mark [8:33am]: any time

“It’s like Dua Lipa said,” Jiwon says one night, “If you’re under him, you’re not getting over him.” Her words are met with a pillow to the face and a roll of your eyes, but you know she’s right. It had been 2 weeks, almost half a month, since the last time you had slept with Jaehyun. But practice makes perfect, and when you’re drunk, you have no business practicing anything.

So when you wake up in Jaehyun’s bed, it feels horrible. Even more so when Mark isn’t there with coffee and a sweet treat to make you feel better about your bad decision. And what a bad decision it was.

Because suddenly you’re stuck in the same trap again. Jaehyun’s got you in his sticky grasp, yet he’s always slipping through your fingers when you think you have him. It was unfair. Everyone around you told you this.

“He doesn’t care. Just drop him.”

But you cared.

“You deserve better.”

You didn’t want better; you wanted Jaehyun.

“Stop doing this to yourself.”

You couldn’t stop.

“I love you, but this has gone on way too long. I’m coming over, and we’re going out.”

Now this was something you could do. What was meant to be a girl’s night out, quickly turned into you nearly begging your friends to let Jaehyun to go. But fate seemed to be on the side of your girl’s tonight, Jaehyun’s voice blaring from the speakers on your phone as he tells you he can’t make it.

“Are you seriously not coming, Jae?” He can hear the irritation in your voice, and while he wishes he could say something that would soothe the flame that lights in your heart, he can’t. The sigh he lets out is all you need to hear before you’re spitting out quick profanities and ending the call.

Your friends are met with a blank stare; you were always so different when Jaehyun wasn’t there. It was like the male held your happiness in his hands, and they absolutely hated it. So many times they had sat you down and begged for you to end things with the male. You were on the back burner ever since his ex walked back into the picture, but when he called you high, you were crawling right back.

“You can’t keep going back to him,” Jiwon states, the only friend there brave enough to break the silence. “It’s getting ridiculous at this point. It’s the third time he’s flaked to hang out with her.”

It hurts so bad to know that it’s true. You had given the male multiple chances to hang out with you and your friends this week. And each time he let you down. With a small sigh, you slouch into the arms of your friends. If you couldn’t be in Jaehyun’s arms, this was the next best place to be.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Jiwon says, passing you a red solo cup that you assume is filled with some sort of concoction of soju and juice. “We’re going to pregame, and then when we get to the party, you’re finally giving Mark a chance.” The pointed look she gives you is one you know you can’t argue with. Even if there’s nothing more you’d rather do than lay in bed and wallow in your self-pity, you know your friends want the best for you. And so you do exactly as Jiwon says.

The second you arrive at the party, Mark’s arm is around your waist. It’s impossible to fight the permanent blush that dances across your cheeks at the way he treats you. He’s so sweet, so incredibly sweet that you feel the cavities forming after you’ve pressed multiple short kisses on his lips.

You’ve almost nearly forgotten your relationship with Jaehyun if you could even call it that. It’s not until you hear his laugh, his ex’s laugh echoing just as loud in your mind. Of course, he was here. It was Johnny’s party. He had to be here. He just couldn’t be here with you. It washes the sweetness of Mark out of your mouth, and suddenly you feel yourself on the brink of tears.

As if he can feel the tsunami of emotions you’re feeling, Mark presses another sweet kiss on the corner of your lips. “Breathe.” When you look up at him with glossy eyes, he gently squeezes your hip. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.” And for some reason, you trust everything he says. Which is why Jaehyun’s forced to watch as you slip out of the house, one of his best friend’s arms wrapped tightly around your waist.

And that’s how you find yourself propped up on the hood of Mark’s car in an empty parking lot, a large fry shared between the two of you. You had also gotten a large soda, but Mark had forfeited the drink to you quickly, happy to see you sobering up.

“I’m sorry, by the way,” you say, breaking the comfortable silence.

“What for?”

“For a lot,” you start, thinking about all the times you pretended to not notice the way Mark hovered around you, his eyes seemingly always on you. “But mainly for crying. Ruined the vibe, no?”

Mark laughs at your words, and it squeezes your heart. You had always loved his laugh; it was just so… Mark. You think to yourself that there was nothing you wouldn’t do to hear his laugh. “Don’t apologize. You know I’m always in your court.” There’s a boyish smile on his lips as he speaks, unable to look you in the eye.

You swear your heart is melting. He had always been like this. Firm in his attraction, but always too shy to make a move. So you make the move for him. After a series of brief kisses, the two of you settle down, and time seems to fly with Mark. You guys watch the sunrise from the hood of his car, a spare blanket from his trunk wrapped tightly around the two of you. You had talked for hours, about anything and everything. It felt so natural being with him, nothing like Jaehyun. When he drops you off at home, you’re pressing a soft kiss to his lips. One that leaves him chasing your lips for a second. And a third. He returns home with a promise that you’ll give him a chance, him and only him.

So you can’t blame him when he sends Jaehyun a cheeky text, the lyrics of the song you sang at the top of your lungs on the way home fresh on his mind.

mark [8:20am]: i’m so sorry for your loss bro

Jaehyun doesn’t understand the text for a while. When he doesn’t hear from you for the next two weeks, he thinks it’s just like before. You just need your space, and then you’ll come crawling back. Just like you always do. You understood Jaehyun better than anyone; you never left him for long. He loved that about you.

It’s Tuesday when he finally hears you again. Quickly, he rushes out of his room only to freeze in shock when he sees you under Mark’s arm on the couch. There was no fucking way you had left him for Mark Lee. You were his; you always had been. Mark fucking Lee had no right to have his arm slung over you like that. Not on the same couch where he had spent hours kissing you. “What is this?” he asks, doing his best to not explode on the spot.

“Huh,” you ask, turning to look at him, “that’s our leftovers. You can have some.” You act like he’s talking about the white boxes the two of you had left on the counter. You know that’s not what he means though. But Mark had taken you out on a date this morning, something Jaehyun had never done. The two of you usually went back to your place to avoid running into Jaehyun, but Jiwon had claimed ownership of the apartment for just one day. Something along the lines of the sight of you and Mark making her lovesick. You had rolled your eyes at her dramatics but granted her wish nonetheless.

“Good girl,” Mark whispers against your neck, pressing small kisses along the area. It was a message of encouragement only for your ears, and it was one that had heat spreading across your face. If there was one thing Mark asked of you when you first started talking, it was honesty. So you were honest. You had spent hours in his arms crying about how you loved Jaehyun, and how you felt so guilty towards him. And Mark did his best to comfort you. He always reminded you that he was there; he would teach you how to love him as you loved Jaehyun. Even better, he made sure you loved yourself.

You had no idea how it made Mark feel, seeing you blatantly disregard your past fling as if he meant nothing to you. While he felt bad for Jaehyun, he meant it when he said he felt sorry for Jaehyun’s loss. Being with you was everything that he imagined and more. His heart was full, and he wasn’t going to let Jaehyun rain on his parade.

“Yea, there’s a burger and some fries,” he says offhandedly, sliding off the couch and pulling you with him toward his room. “Enjoy.”

Once the two of you are behind his doors, you burst into a fit of giggles. Whatever confidence Mark had seemed to seep into you as you pulled him into your arms and onto his bed. “You know, he’s probably livid,” you say, carding your fingers through his hair.

“He has no right to be,” Mark scoffs, thinking about the numerous times he had seen you heartbroken over Jaehyun, “we’ll just call it his karma.”

“I feel bad though.”

He nips at the skin on your jaw, the grip he has on your waist tightening. “You’re seriously thinking about another man in my bed? Am I not good enough?” He shifts so that you’re under him, his arms caging you in.

The pout on your lips is absolutely adorable, and Mark swears it takes every fiber of his being to not devour you on the spot. “You know that’s not what I mean.”

“I’ll help you forget about him.” His body is on top of yours, his mouth busy on your neck once again.

“Promise?” your voice almost gives out on you when he begins to nip and lick at the tender skin.

“Promise, babe.”

#guys im losing my mind if i wasnt hyped on caffeine this would be longer #but i am already thinking about fwb jaemin LOL #im also scared of writing big pieces so like... babysteps #mark #jaehyun #nct fic #mark fic #jaehyun fic #mark fluff #mark angst #jaehyun angst #nct scenario #nct scenarios #nct 127 fic #nct dream fic #wtf do i tag idk

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total-dxmure · 1 year

Text

✦ MARLEY AND ME →【ELLIE WILLIAMS】→ CHAPTER ONE

pairing: modern!ellie williams x single mom!reader

summary: you’re a single mom just doing the best that she can to make ends meet. ellie can’t help but think that you're the kindest, most beautiful girl that she’s ever met. compared to taking care a little girl that's in her terrible twos, coming to terms with the fact that you’re a lesbian is a walk in the park. awkward first encounters, ellie’s broken gay-dar, and her overwhelming urge to take care of the care-giver. . . the road to domesticity is a long one, but it’s well worth the pining that it takes to get there.

warnings: hella SMUT! in future chapters, eventual substance use, no use of y/n (you have nicknames/petnames), the reader is marley’s biological mother, talk of coming to terms with ones sexuality, mention of a shitty baby daddy ( though there is no co-parenting between them), ellie is a total girl mom, lots and lots of fluff, ellie is an anxious dork in this fic, reader is broke but happy, ellie takes pride in being a provider, this is going to be a multi-part fic, ellie is an absolute simp for the reader since chapter one and will remain her #1 fan.

⬶ previous chapter | next chapter ⤅

Ellie counts the tiny bite sized pieces that you cut the pancakes into. You’re meticulous about it, taking your time despite the impatient look on the little girl’s face. She also notices the fact that all the woman has ordered for herself is a cup of coffee. No cream, just sugar and caffeine.

The auburn haired girl, from across the restaurant, is trying not to be too obvious about her staring. She’s trying to find any wrinkles on your face that might clue her in about your age, but she finds none. Ellie decides that you couldn’t be too much older than she is, and if you are, it was only by a few years.

She walks back up to your table, noting that you still haven’t called her back over to order any food for yourself. Every once in a while she’ll watch as you bring your fingers up to your plush lips to lick off syrup. She watches your mouth intently as you speak, noticing the endearing way your lips pull up at the corners. You smile when you talk, no matter what Ellie says to you. The waitress decides that she likes that. She likes that a lot.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything? The food here is really great, I promise.” Ellie offers, already reaching down into her black apron so that she can scribble something down.

Your smile falters, the slight switch of emotion not going unnoticed. The baby across the seat tries to say something, but the young waitress can’t make any sense of it. It just sounds like babble to her. You, however, understand what the little girl is saying right away. You must be able to speak the ancient language of “toddler”.

“Those aren’t flowers, baby. They’re ferns. Can you say ‘fern’?” Your tone shifts ever so slightly, your eyes dazzling with pride.

It’s the way that you look at the little girl sitting in the highchair that makes Ellie weak in the knees. She’s never been the biggest fan of kids, but the tiny butterfly clips that were fastened in her hair and her great, big eyes nearly has Ellie falling to her knees. In fact- she does. She crouches down and holds out her right arm, assuming that the baby was trying to point out something about her tattoo.

Warm, sticky little hands reach out and brush against her skin. Ellie’s lips are twitching up into a wide smile before she can school her features back into neutrality. You’re too busy admiring Ellie now that she’s practically in your lap to notice your daughter getting all grabby. You try to tell yourself that you feel for the woman since she’s showing your daughter affection, but her green eyes and freckled nose has your heart pounding harder than you deem as healthy.

Your daughter tries to sound out the word, and as quickly as your gaze had been snagged by the gorgeous girl in front of you, it was on your daughter just as fast. Your eyes widen, chest swelling with pride.

“That’s it, Marley! Say it again, baby.”

Ellie looks up at you from where she’s crouching, and suddenly her fitted black shirt feels a little too tight. She feels as though she might just burst right out of it, her chest expanding to make room for her swelling heart. This entire time she had thought that the little girl had to be your baby sister, what with your young looking face and the wrinkled band t-shirt you were sporting, but now she understood that the girl was your daughter.

Quickly the woman searched your finger for a ring, not wanting to be drooling over a married woman, but didn’t see one. Whatever guilt had just struck was gone in the blink of an eye, like a flash of lightning. Ellie was often teased by her friends and co-workers about her bad luck with women. Any girl that she’d ever had a crush on in the past was either straight, disinterested, or already seeing someone.

She’d be lying if she said that she had ever been in a proper relationship. Most of it was just short lived pining, immediately followed by devastating disappointment.

Ellie can’t help but wonder how it might feel to be on the receiving end of those beautiful, pride filled eyes of yours. They were beaming with admiration, so much so that Ellie could feel the warmth of it from where she stood. You were like the sun, and the pull towards you was gravitational.

The restaurant was dead, aside from you and a few regulars that she saw on a weekly basis. She didn’t feel as guilty as she should have for neglecting the other customers.

“How old is she?” You watched as the woman stood up, stretching her athletically built body from side to side, her muscles tired from a long day spent on her feet. She noted the way you watched her, filing it away somewhere in her brain so that she could go home and properly go through the “gay checklist” before she made a fool of herself by hitting on you.

“Two,” You replied with a smile. You completely melted as far as your daughter was concerned. “It’s almost like I blinked and all of a sudden she was up walking and talking. Right now we’re learning our colors and shapes.” You shrugged, picking the fork back up so that you could feed her another piece of pancake.

The little girl, that Ellie now knows is named Marley, eagerly opened her mouth.

Your daughter was the kind of little girl that could easily be plastered all over magazines. She looked like a doll. Really, if you were standing far enough away, you could mistake her for one. Babies were usually drooly faces and loud screams, but not Marley. No, she was a perfectly mannered and happy baby. With big doe eyes that matched yours and a wide, tiny toothed smile.

“Well you and your boyfriend must be proud. She’s gorgeous.” She knew it was normal, polite even, for people to gush over babies. She wasn’t lying for the sake of being nice though. Marley really was perfect.

Ellie instantly shut her mouth, so hard that her teeth audibly clacked together when she noticed the way that you winced.

She felt like shit about it, but a small stab of hope pierced clean through her heart. She was in college, and pining after a woman with a kid probably wasn’t something that she should busy herself with, but she couldn’t pull herself away from you. A simple “ready for the bill” would have sufficed as far as conversations went, but she wanted to know about you.

Because really, you were hands down the most beautiful girl that Ellie had ever seen. Your perfection didn’t stop there though. You were nice, and not just in a conversational sense. You were radiant in the way that you spoke to others. The second that you had sat down, you’d cracked a joke with the elderly man two tables down. You probably felt bad about him sitting all by himself. She’d seen you smile at every single one of her coworkers that had walked past you. You even seemed upset to bother her and ask Ellie if she could put your daughter’s juice in a cup with a lid. And here you were, talking to the waitress like you had known her for years.

No one, not even Joel, could fault Ellie for being dangerously attracted to you. Maybe it was the fact that you had such a nurturing aura about you, but Ellie couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to take care of you. She could tell by the light bags under your eyes, which you had skillfully tried to cover up with makeup, that you were a hard worker. Here you were, at a restaurant with a wide selection to choose from, only ordering food for your daughter. You were what Joel would call “a keeper”.

The inevitable moment of parting was coming though. Marley had devoured most of her flapjack, save for a few small bites that you were currently feeding her. That and your coffee mug was nearly empty. Ellie silently cursed herself for not filling it back up a few minutes ago. Maybe, if she had, you would have felt obligated to stay for a second longer. She reached into her pocket, placing the bill onto the table and taking a small step back.

“Here’s this, for whenever you’re ready. No rush.” Ellie held her hands up, taking another step back.

Much to her embarrassment, her hip banged against the side of the table that had been directly behind her. The wooden chair that had been underneath it scrapped loudly against the checkerboard tile, causing a few heads to turn and look at her. And of course, knowing her luck, you had seen and heard it all.

‘Smooth, Ellie.’ She thought wryly to herself, the taste in her mouth going sour.

She could feel heat reaching all the way up to her ears, and right when she was about to turn on her converse-clad heel and hide somewhere in the storage room, you pointed past her.

“I think that table needs a beating. How rude of it to trip you up like that.” You said, your brows playfully knit together in faux anger.

She audibly let out a breath of relief, unable to keep her face from sporting a smile. “Oh, I’m definitely taking it outside the second you leave. Wouldn’t want to beat it senseless in front of a child.”

Ellie thought that she had died and gone to heaven when you laughed at her miserable joke. Your eyes squinted at the corners, head thrown back slightly as your shoulders shook. Everything about you was hideously adorable. It should be illegal, actually.

“How courteous of you.” You teased, propping an elbow on the table so that you could rest your cheek against your hand. The look in your eyes screamed “play with me more”, and it took everything inside of Ellie not to back up into the table a second time.

Were you flirting with her? No. . . no way. You had a baby, which meant that a man had been involved at some point. Sure, lesbian couples had children all the time, but in most cases it was a long and arduous process. That and it was usually horrifically expensive. She couldn’t see you coughing up tens of thousands of dollars to conceive a child. Not when you were practically a child yourself.

“Well, you aren’t the first person to call me that.” Ellie decided to keep the teasing light hearted.

Ellie wasn’t exactly. . . subtle about the fact that she was gay. If the forearm tattoo of ferns and a moth wasn’t enough to clue people in, then her way of dress, posture, and demeanor surely tipped them in the right direction. You couldn’t think that you were play-flirting with a straight girl, that was for sure.

“Courteous? You? Who the hell told you that?” Her friend teased as he breezed past the both of you, a drink in either hand for the table in the far back.

Ellie clenched her teeth, turning her head so that she could give him a look. Jesse loved to publicly embarrass her it would seem. Not that she exactly needed someone to do that for her, not when she did it on the regular herself.

“Joel.” She snapped back, listing off the first person that came to mind. She instantly regretted it though, because Jesse only snickered as his reply. Did he really have to poke fun at her while she was talking to a girl? Knowing him and his antics he was probably doing it on purpose.

Ellie was left to fiddle her fingers, hoping that she could somehow recover for a second time within the span of a minute. God, she was totally blowing. . . whatever was happening between the two of you.

“Is Joel your boyfriend. . . ?” You asked, raising an eyebrow.

You didn’t look all that disappointed when you asked. It just seemed like you were trying to keep the conversation going for a little longer. Still, Ellie’s freckled nose wrinkled in disgust.

“Ew.” She said simply, her mouth moving before she had the time to really think about how to properly answer. She wasn’t exactly a people person, and she quickly paled as she realized that she might have come off as rude. She fumbled, holding both of her hands up, a stuttering mess as she wracked her brain for the right words to say.

Once again though, she didn’t seem to need saving. You were laughing at her instantaneous reaction, finding humor in her awkwardness.

You found her endearing. Genuine people were few and far in between, and Ellie seemed to be one in a million. You could tell that she was the type of person that didn’t sugar coat things; she called em’ as she saw em’.

“Okay, okay,” You said through giggles, shaking your head. “So he isn’t your boyfriend.”

“Not at all. Joel is. . . well- he’s Joel. I was in foster care for a while, but he adopted me when I was fourteen.” This conversation was always a mood killer. Once the ‘O’ bomb was dropped, people often treated her differently. They danced around like they were standing on eggshells and looked at her like she was something to be pitied. Yeah, she had been an orphan, but she hadn’t had the opportunity to meet either of her parents. There was no one to miss. She had Joel, and she felt like that was all she ever really needed.

It was just her and Joel. That was her normal, and it was more than enough for her. Though. . . she’d probably die if she admitted that out loud to him. His brain would probably explode if she got all sappy around him, anyway.

“Well he sounds great then. Fourteen is a tough age- I bet you were super angsty.”

Ellie should have known that you’d be different. There was no “I’m sorry’s” or the awkward “dead parent” conversation.

“Oh, I was the worst.” Ellie agreed, a smile lighting up her features when she made you laugh for a third time. God, she must be on a roll.

“Well, here’s this,” You placed a twenty dollar bill on top of the ten dollar check. “You can keep the rest. I’ve been chatting your head off. I feel kinda bad.” You admitted, grabbing your purse and the small backpack that seemed to be packed to the brim with a child’s necessities.

Ellie could feel her palms beginning to sweat, so she nervously wiped them on the thighs of her black, well worn jeans. Should she ask for your number? Or would you see that as her shamelessly hitting on you and act weird?

Being gay, especially in a place like Jackson, was tough. Every female that she tried to make friends with got weird after she asked for their contact information, and men often saw her as some sort of accessory. As if hanging around her would make them look more non judgemental. That and the fact that males automatically assumed that she held all of the unshared, age-old mysteries of girlhood, and that she would divulge all of them.

“Hey-” Before she could even ask though, you had already opened your mouth.

“Do you mind if I asked for your phone number? Or if you feel more comfortable, I can get your instagra-”

“Phone number is great.” She breathed quickly, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen from her apron so that she could hand them over to you.

She would have just given you her number, but she was scared that she might never hear from you again. This way, she could be the person that built up the courage to call first. And she would. . . after a glass of whiskey. . . or a few hits from her bong.

You smiled warmly up at her, scribbling down your number as well as your name before folding it up into a square so that she could shove it into her back pocket.

“Have a good day. Don’t forget to text me, alright?” You shot her one last smile before picking your daughter up out of her highchair and placing her down on the ground. The little girl’s tiny shoes slapped against the floor as she walked quickly beside you, your hand already reaching down to grab a tight hold of her small palm.

You were almost out the door, the bell chiming as it swung open, when Ellie shuffled awkwardly.

“Drive safe!” She called out while she knew that you could still hear her.

You shot her one more megawatt smile before disappearing from view.

“Drive safe.” Jesse imitated her voice from behind her, his arms crossed over his chest as he smirked down at the petite female.

“Do me a favor? Shut the fuck up.” Ellie gave his arm a light punch before walking back into the kitchen, praying that none of the cooks would give her a hard time about her very obviously flushed face.

why not to buy tlou2 remastered (please read).

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janeyseymour · 6 months

Text

At Arm's Length pt 2

A requested sequel, although this could *probably* be read on its own.

Part 1

WC: ~3k

Melissa Schemmenti was fond of exactly five people at her place of work- six if you counted the strange dynamic she had with the principal of the school. She cared about her beloved work wife Barbara, her three work children, and... and somehow you had wormed your way into her little group, all over a spilled cup of coffee (or two, but who’s counting?). But it wasn’t in the way that she cared for the kindergarten teacher, and it wasn’t in the way that you felt she had a protective maternal feeling for you. It was different. Not bad, but certainly different from the rest.

Friday night was a nice night with the redheaded teacher. She had wined and dined you, and if you were being honest, it was the best meal of your life. Growing up in center city Philadelphia, you didn’t much have the luxury of decadent food- and you sure as hell know you were lucky to have feasted on her cooking for even just one night. It definitely beat the meals you grew up eating, and there was no contest to be had in the sorry excuses for meals you could ‘cook’ for yourself with the little ingredients you had laying around your half decorated apartment. You’re not sure you would ever be able to afford to cook the way she does. You would need... years of cooking lessons.

You leave her place on a high- full from the delicious food, a little warm from the bottle of wine you had shared, and on cloud nine at the knowledge that the Melissa Schemmenti didn’t hate you in the slightest.

“So, you think I still hate ya?” the second grade teacher playfully pokes at you as you reach for the door.

“I-” you turn red.

“I don’t,” Melissa rolls her eyes. “Now get home safe, and let me know when you get home, yeah?”

You nod with a smile and yet another thank you as you quietly raise the tupperware container filled with leftovers. You leave a moment later, not realizing that she watches you the entire way to your car, making sure you get there safely. She has a bat in hand, ready to pulverize anybody who thinks they can mess with you or try to rob you of her delicious cooking.

When you relay to her that you made it home, she texts back, You’re in your apartment?

I’m in my complex, you reply, not quite ready to go into your apartment that doesn’t quite feel like a home.

Not good enough. Let me know when you’re in- door locked and everything.

When you do, she types back, Good. Don’t miss me too much.

And god, you don’t even know what to make of that text.

Monday morning comes just a bit too early for you. You wake up just a little too late to brew coffee at home, and you sigh. You were hoping to be at least somewhat caffeinated for the beginning of the week. Grabbing your ‘bland ass salad’ and the now empty and clean tupperware container gifted to you by a certain coworker, you get in your car and head to school.

For the first time upon entering the school, you don’t feel the need to peek into the break room before entering. You aren’t afraid to see that redheaded second grade teacher you used to nearly cower at. You just walk in, a smile on your face as you see the usual crew gathering around the television to watch the news. Everybody but Melissa turns to give you a silent wave before turning back around to the screen. You quietly place your lunch in the fridge, noting you won’t have to move anybody else’s food before making your way over to the coffee machine silently.

“Didn’t make any coffee this morning? Afraid you’d spill it all over ya again?” The redhead asks, eyes still glued to the screen. There’s a hint of mischief in her voice. You turn, not realizing that she even knew you were in the room. You shake your head silently, not wanting to interrupt the broadcast. You remembered what happened the last time you did that. You do not want a repeat of that event. “There’s some in the mug. I made it not five minutes ago. It’s yours if you want it.”

“Thanks,” you say shyly as you let the steam rise in your face. It just happens to be a coincidence that you both like your coffee the same way- no need to fix it at all. You go to leave the room, only to hear that low voice again.

“Come watch the news with us, smalls.” This was the second time the woman had spoken over Jim Gardner to talk to you.

Not wanting to be back on Melissa’s bad side, you quietly make your way over and take a place next to her and Barb. Slyly, you hand her tupperware back to her. She takes it with a smile and a small nudge to your ribs. Barb glances over, her eyebrow raising just a fraction of an inch, before directing her attention back to the news anchor they all loved.

When the news is over, Janine turns to you with a grin. “So... how was your weekend? Gregory and I missed you at Bone- the restaurant on Friday.”

“It was nice,” you say quietly. “Lowkey. I needed a quiet weekend after last week.” You unconsciously shift a bit closer to Melissa.

If Barbara notices the way your cheeks tint red or your subtle shift, she doesn’t mention it. She just looks at you with a smile. “I’m glad you had a nice weekend, Y/N. Are you ready for this week?”

“Now that I have some coffee,” you chuckle. “Alright, I have to reply to a few emails I got over the weekend, but I’ll see you all arou-”

“You better have lunch with us,” Melissa cuts you off. All eyes turn to her. “I mean... c’mon, hon. You’re one of us now.”

“I- I am?” you look around the group. Janine and Jacob are all grins and giving you thumbs up. Gregory is as unreadable as ever. Barbara has a knowing look on her face. And Melissa is looking at you like you’re an idiot.

“You think I’d give my Eagles shirt to just anyone? Or let anyone touch my coffee?” she rolls her eyes. “Yeah. You’re with us now. Don’t be dumb.”

You just barely let yourself smile, afraid of overreacting with the grin you want to let wash over your face. “Y-yeah. Okay. Yeah. I’ll- I’ll see you at lunch.”

As you leave, you hear Janine ask, “Hey, Melissa, where’d that tupperware come from?”

“Who’s askin’?” You hear her gravelly voice ask, and you can practically hear her staring down the shorter teacher. “Why you gotta know?”

You smile into the mug as you continue on down the hall.

Come lunch time, you’re almost excited to join the group again- even if it means Melissa will make fun of your lunch again. But then Zion didn’t have lunch again- just an empty lunch box-, and you have to go through the charade of making sure the lunch ladies made extra so he could have lunch without taking someone else’s. And by the time all of that is over, you only have twelve minutes left to try to enjoy your lunch before having to head outside for your dreaded recess duty.

You hear their conversation before they know you’re outside the door.

“Oh come on, Melissa,” Jacob laughs nervously. “You and I both know that your attitude towards her didn’t just flip overnight.”

“Well, we did have the weekend,” she bites back, and you can practically see the smirk on her face.

“You know what I mean!” he argues. “You hated her on Thursday, and now you’re inviting her to sit with you and Barb at lunch? You even have her salad ready for her?”

You silently pray the kindergarten teacher won’t let slip that you had gone over to Melissa’s for dinner on Friday. She doesn’t. Of course she doesn’t.

“Yeah, and if she doesn’t come down and eat it before lunch is over, I’m gonna go down to her room and shove it down her-”

You push the door open gently.

“There y’are,” the redhead says as she kicks out the seat next to her. “Where ya been?”

You sigh softly as you sit down next to her. “Making sure all my kids had a lunch to eat... Zion’s mom forgot to pack his lunch- again.”

Barbara gives a sad shake of the head. “She’s been doing that since I had him in Kindergarten. Next time, tell the lunch ladies to put it on my account.”

“N-no, I just paid for it,” you say quietly as you glance at your salad on the table. You don’t make any moves to eat it. “I have been. He needs to eat.”

“And so do you,” Melissa says pointedly as she juts her chin out towards your container.

“I’m not that hungry, and I won’t have time to finish it,” you mumble. You won’t admit that you’re craving her pasta, and you know your salad just won’t do the trick. “I have recess duty in-” you glance at your watch. “Seven minutes.”

You see the gears turning in the second grade teacher’s head. “Gimme a minute.” She stands from her place and heads out the door. You all hear the way her boots hit the tile as she makes her way down the hall.

You fiddle with your thumbs, just trying to pass the last few minutes of your lunch, when you feel like you’re being stared at. You look up. You are being stared at.

“What?” You ask, suddenly self-conscious of your appearance. You glance at Barb who has a knowing smile but again chooses to stay silent.

“You know Melissa is about to get you out of recess duty, right?” Janine asks.

Your brows knit in confusion, but before you can say anything, the woman in question struts in proudly.

“I got someone to cover your duty. Now eat,” she says pointedly as she heads for the coffee machine.

“You didn’t have to do that,” you say shyly. “But thank you.”

“You’ve never done that for me before,” Jacob pouts, clearly a little jealous of this strange soft spot Melissa has developed for you.

“Me either,” Janine pipes up. “Even after-”

“Or me,” Gregory speaks from next to Janine.

“Well, youse usually eat your lunch. We can’t have newbie going down like Janine did that day we had the power go out,” Melissa laughs it off. She looks in your direction again. “Dammit, Y/N. Eat your lunch, or I’ll have to make a ziti for naught.”

Sheepishly, you open your lunch and begin to eat slowly. “Thanks,” you say quietly as you cover your full mouth with your hand.

“Eh, don’t mention it.” She smiles proudly as she fixes two cups of coffee. She sets one down in front of you.

When you look at her curiously, she rolls her eyes. “Y’look like you need it. ‘N apparently, I know how you like it.” She winks at you jokingly.

You nearly choke on your lunch at her dirty innuendo.

“Finish up,” she sighs as she pushes her chair back into place. “I gotta go grab my little eagles and pray to God Aiden didn’t try to beat up on Omari again. I don't think I can handle another call home with that one.”

Slowly, the rest of the crew trickles out of the lunch room to get back to their students, and you’re left in peace to finish your lunch and coffee. You can't help the dorky grin that washes over your face as you head down the hall to pick up your kids and can hear her praising her students’ reading stamina.

The rest of the day is better- it isn’t a total drag. The rest of the week pretty much follows the same routine- Melissa makes you a cup of coffee in the morning even though you walk in with one- it gets thrown out so you can enjoy hers, you make sure your students are all being adequately fed, and you head down for your lunch with the group you’ve suddenly found yourself a part of.

On Thursday, you can’t help but feel a twinge of sadness knowing Melissa will be outside at recess and not sitting next to you to make fun of your lunch and the fact that your hair is still perfectly in place.

“Hey,” you greet the group, sans Melissa, as you head for the fridge for your lunch.

“It’s already out,” Barb chuckles and points to your newly designated spot. Glancing over, you see that your salad, a fork, and a freshly made cup of steaming hot coffee are waiting for you.

“Oh,” you blush as you make your way over. “Thanks.”

“Wasn’t me, dear,” the kindergarten teacher says knowingly. She looks around to make sure everyone else is in their own conversation before she’s leaning in and whispering, “It was that redhead that you suddenly have wrapped around your finger.”

Your blush only gets deeper, and you attempt to hide it behind a quick bite of food.

“She said somethin’ about how you’ll ‘make it up to her later’?” Barb questions quietly. “Is there something you two aren’t telling me?”

Your eyes go wide, and you shake your head. “I told her this morning I would help her with her bulletin board after school today, that’s all.”

She gives a low, “Mhmm,” before going back to her own lunch.

“I’m serious!” You laugh nervously. “I told her I would help her revamp her bulletin board!”

“Alright, sweetheart,” the veteran educator laughs. “I believe you.”

Lunch almost drags by without that loud laugh you love to hear when you accidentally mumble something under your breath and Melissa hears it.

Come the end of the day, you walk down the hall to go assist Melissa with her decorating. She’s standing there, as if she’s already been waiting for an hour.

“C’mon, kid,” she laughs as you saunter down. “I’m not gettin’ any younger over here.”

You pick up the pace with a chuckle and look over her materials. It definitely has potential, and you can’t deny the projects she’s choosing to showcase from her class are adorable.

She lets you take almost full control over her board, noting how your tongue just barely pokes out of the side of your mouth as you mount the background.

“What?” You nearly let a giggle slip. “I don’t want your background to have any wrinkles!”

“And I appreciate it, hon,” she laughs as she takes you in. “Where’d y’learn to decorate like this?”

You shrug. “I’ve always liked doin’ it, and seeing the kids’ smiles when they see their work on a nice board- it feels good.”

When it’s finished, you take a step back with a grin. Your neat hair is now tied up in one of the messiest buns she’s seen, and your shirt actually has wrinkles in it from the odd positions you had put your body in to ensure that her board was perfect. But in that moment, Melissa realizes, she’s smitten for you. She has no idea why she ever thought she could hate you- she had her eyes on you from the very beginning.

“I think that looks good enough,” you say humbly, but the dopey smile on your face tells her how proud you are of this.

“It looks perfect, hon,” she lays a gentle hand on your arm, giving it a squeeze.

Only then do you turn a deep shade of red.

“You blush a lot,” she notes as she takes the stapler out of your hand and sets it down. She doesn’t make any further moves away from you. You feel your ears starting to burn.

Nervously, you tuck a loose hair behind your ear. She’s close enough that you can really take in those sparkling green eyes of hers, and she’s yet to take her hand off your arm. You hope she can’t feel your heart practically beating out of your chest.

“Don’t worry,” she laughs quietly. “It’s cute.”

You don't quite know how to respond, but you can tell that she’s starting to lean in. Just a little more, and she would be-

“The hell are you two still doin’ here?” Mr. Johnson yells from the other side of the hallway, dragging the mop bucket behind him. Thankfully, you think, he’s too far away to realize the compromising position the two of you are in. “Get outta here so I can lock up!”

Begrudgingly, you pull away from her close proximity to call out to him, “Sorry, Mr. J! We were just workin’ on the bulletin board outside of Melissa’s room! We’ll be out in a few minutes!”

He huffs loudly enough for you to hear it, and you turn back to the redhead. “I guess that’s our cue to head out. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Or... you could come over for dinner again?”

“You already made me dinner in exchange for the-”

“Not as a transaction, ya goof. As a-” she bites her lip and takes a deep breath. “As a date.”

“R-really?” You ask shyly.

“Yeah, hon. As a date.”

“I- I’d like that.” You grin. “I’ve been craving your pasta since last Sunday when I ran out.”

“Then that’s what I’ll make. Hell, I might even let you attempt to make it with me,” she teases you.

“I’ll grab the wine and be over,” you grin.

As you leave, you feel Melissa’s hand on your back to guide you out. Neither of you have a clue that Mr. Johnson is watching with a small smile on his face. He knew exactly what was going down. Those halls told many stories, and somehow, Mr. Johnson was always a part of those stories- even if no one knew it.

#abbott elementary #abbott elementary fanfic #abbott elementary fanfiction #melissa schemmenti x you #melissa schemmenti #melissa schemmenti x reader #melissa schemmenti fanfic

336 notes · View notes

forever-rogue · 2 years

Note

tasm!peter with a girlfriend who has the same abilities as him but he doesn’t know it until she does something that gives it away!!!

AN | Ooh, I love this idea 🥰

Pairing | TASM!Peter Parker x Fem!Reader

Warnings | Language

Word Count | 3.1k

Masterlist | Main | Peter

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Peter had met you entirely by chance. He’d never believed in fate or things that weren’t able to be explained by quantifiable evidence. Despite the fact that he, you know, was bitten by a genetically modified spider that gave him superpowers. Even that he could chalk up to some level of science.

But meeting you? Meeting you had been entirely by fate, a mixture of being in the right time and place. That place happened to be the small hole-in-the-wall coffee shop that was by his apartment. You’d been there, grabbing your paper to-go cup and turning around, only to be met with the hard wall of flesh and muscle. Luckily he’d been quick and agile enough to grab your coffee and keep it from falling or splashing either of you.

You looked up at him with big, wide eyes, a sheepish little smile on your face as any logical thought ran right out of your ear, “hi.”

“Hi,” he grinned back, a flush of pastel pink coloring his cheeks and ears, “I believe this is yours.”

“Thank you,” you gratefully took the morning pick me up and clutched it tightly in your hand, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t hear you and wasn’t paying any attention. Glad one of us was.”

“‘s alright,” he promised, and you seemed to relax, “no harm no foul.”

“Yeah,” you agreed as you shuffled past him, shivers going down your spine as you brushed against him, “thanks again. Have a good day.”

“You too,” he held up his hand in a small little wave. But before you could actually leave, he gently grabbed your arm and stopped you, catching you both by surprise. He wasn’t normally so…forward, “what’s your name?”

Your smile grew even more breathtaking and Peter was sure he would pass out from the sheer magic of it. You whispered your name, just enough for him to hear; he liked it. It suited you perfectly. He couldn’t help but repeat back to you, testing it out on his tongue, “what’s yours, coffee boy?”

“Parker,” he stammered nervously, amazed by the effect you had on him. He groaned and shook his head lightly, “Peter. Peter Parker.”

“Well Peter Parker,” you offered him a dreamy little smile and his heart pitter-pattered in his chest, “it was nice to meet. Maybe I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, “see you around.”

You’d left with only a small wave and shy smile, disappearing into the crowd of people that had the same idea as both of you, needing a morning caffeine fix. Peter wasn’t sure what he was feeling, but it was a rush of emotion that he’d never experienced before.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Peter sat in bed and stared at the too bright screen of his phone. He was trying not to be a total creep, but he was feeling like…well - a total creep. Once he’d gotten home after a long day of work and his nighttime extracurriculars, Peter had hopped into bed and grabbed his phone, shamelessly searching your name on Instagram. Luckily for him, you weren’t hard to find. Unluckily for him, your account was private. All he had was your name, your handle, and a small picture of you standing in a flower field. Count none but the sunny hours your bio stated, along with simple sun and cloud emojis.

Oh yeah. Peter Parker liked you already. He spent the next thirty minutes in a vain attempt to try and find a public photo of you, but came up empty handed. He was both disappointed and relieved because he really needed to get himself in check. But…as he stared at your profile, looking at the big blue follow button, he debated with himself on whether or not to press it. Once you received the request would you even remember it was him? Would you be weirded out? Or even better, would you accept? Maybe you’d felt the same dizzying emotions he had upon your first encounter. Worse came to worst, you’d ignore the request and block him, and maybe even send him a scathing message telling him off.

He had to know.

He quickly pressed the follow button, watching as the request sent message popped up. Peter immediately closed the app and locked his phone, tossing it onto the other side of the bed. His stomach was in knots, and his mind was racing, but what was done was done. Now he had to wait.

But fortune seemed to favor the bold and Peter B. Parker that night. Because not even minutes after he’d sent his request, you’d not only accepted his request, but sent one in return to follow him. He didn’t even hesitate to accept. While he was contemplating between messaging you and looking at your photos, you sent him a message. It was so simple, so straightward, but so very bold of you: hello there coffee boy. Peter pumped his fist in the air as he quietly whooped at the sheer stroke of luck. Either you were extremely friendly with everyone or, and he hoped this was it, you actually liked him. He messaged back just as quickly, deciding not to bother around with any games: hello sunshine.

From there, the rest flowed as naturally as a wild river, blooming and blossoming like the most perfect of flowers. You’d wormed your way into Peter’s heart so quickly, so effortlessly, and made a home there that no one else could ever occupy. You were special; he knew that from the very start. Little did he know that he’d done the exact same to you. Peter was so much a part of your life that you couldn’t ever remember him not being there. It was like he had always just been your person, your Peter.

That’s why it killed you inside to be keeping such a huge secret from him.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

To be fair - you didn’t even really understand the full extent of your secret. All you knew was that you’d been on a tour near Oscorp one fall afternoon and had gotten bit by something. You hadn’t even seen what it was, and the bite never became infected or raised or anything suspicious. You’d chalked it up to some weird little bug and never thought more about it.

That was until you noticed the changes to your body. You’d never been particularly clumsy, but you were never as agile as you now were. And you were positive you’d never had that much strength and speed…and your senses were heightened, cuts and bruises healed way faster than they ever should have.

At first you were convinced that you were delusional; you’d lost your mind or were stuck in some kind of wild fever dream. But as time passed and life continued on normally sans your newfound…abilities, you realized that you were just as sane as you ever had been. But you’d never told anyone - after all, who were you supposed to tell that you were pretty sure you’d been bit by some kind of weird bug and you’d developed superhuman abilities? They’d have you committed before you could even finish explaining what was going on.

So you kept it all tucked away and hidden, invisible to anyone but you. There were times when you’d almost given yourself up, but had managed to quickly explain away whatever odd thing had happened. But there would only be so many slip-ups before someone noticed that something was off. And you weren’t too keen on finding out exactly how other people would respond.

But - that had left you wondering why you hadn’t heard Peter that fateful day when you’d met. Your hearing was extremely attuned, and you would have heard anyone else…but not him. It was odd, but you’d decided not to question it.

You loved Peter Parker and that was all that mattered.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Hi sweetheart,” Peter’s face lit up as he opened the door to his apartment to find you on the other side. You didn’t hesitate to press a kiss to his cheek as you wrapped your arms around him. He chuckled warmly as held you tightly, “good to see you too.”

“I missed you,” you murmured into the crook of his neck as he gently rubbed your back.

“You saw me yesterday,” the sentiment made his heart flutter as you flounced into the apartment and set your bag down. While your official relationship was still fairly new, it felt like you had been a fixture in his apartment and his life forever. You fit in so naturally, “can’t have missed me that much.”

“I always miss you when you’re not around Peter,” your eyes were wide and nervous, almost as though you weren’t sure if you’d crossed any boundaries with your little confession, “even if it’s only been a day.”

“Want to know a secret?” he asked softly as you nodded eagerly, “I miss you too when you’re not around.”

“Yeah?” and oh. How you melted under his expression, ochre eyes soft and glittering, looking at you as though you’d hung all the stars.

“Yeah,” he promised, his smile so saccharine and tender, “come on, wanna put on a movie while we figure out what to order for dinner?”

“Yes,” you nodded happily, “sounds perfect.”

Perfect. That’s how you would describe everything with Peter. It could be something as simple as a movie night with him and there was nothing you’d rather be doing.

This particular night, however, was the first night you’d be spending together at his place. He’d stayed at yours a few nights, but these things were still new to both of you. You liked his place; it was a warm and inviting space and felt very on brand for Peter.

At one point he’d excused himself to use the restroom, while you cleaned up the leftovers in the kitchen. You’d been sure that he’d come back out because you heard him clear as day, “am I being too pushy? Too much?”

“You aren’t at all Peter,” you found the fact that he still had moments of such shyness endearing. Turning around, you expected to find him standing there, but instead found nothing but the empty living room. Oh. He hadn’t been there at all.

After a moment of hesitation, Peter ducked back into the hallway looking at you with confusion on his pretty features, “what did you say?”

“I-I said you aren’t being pushy,” you said nervously as his eyes widened, “y-you asked me?”

“I didn’t ask you,” he raised an eyebrow and your heart dropped into your stomach, “I was talking to myself. Whispering to myself.”

Your mind was reeling as you tried to figure out how you were possibly going to explain your exemplary hearing. You opened and closed your mouth a few times before shrugging lightly, “you must not have been as quiet as you thought, Pete. I dunno.”

“No,” he knew he hadn’t been that loud, “you have extremely good hearing.”

“I guess I do,” you tried to play him off, but you knew Peter better than that. He was a man of science and he wouldn’t let something like this go, “it’s really nothing.”

“Hmm,” he nodded, scratching at his chin thoughtfully, “if you insist, sweetheart.”

“I do, Pete,” you teased, walking over to him and tenderly touching his face. Even up close, he was so ridiculously pretty, “it’s not like I’ve got some great secret to hide!”

If you only knew the truth.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was a cool fall afternoon that found the two of you at your apartment, baking lots of different kinds of cookies. It was a cozy day, filled with music from the record player flooding into the room and all sorts of delicious smells. The two of you flitted around each other, almost like dancing, in perfect sync.

It was all going well until you managed to slice the palm of your hand. You hissed as you dropped the knife and watched the blood flow freely from the cut and onto the counter.

“Shit,” your lips trembled with effort to keep from crying at the stinging pain. Peter was at your side in a moment, looking concerned at sight. You looked up at him with glistening eyes, trying not to panic.

“Oh baby,” he wrapped his fingers around your wrist and looked at the cut with a grimace, “it’ll be okay, sweetheart. Let me take care of it.”

“Okay,” you sniffled but he managed to remain calm and collected as he turned on the tap and ran it with cool water. He gingerly took your hand and ran it under the water, to lessen the flow of the blood and get everything cleaned up, “i-is it bad?”

“It’s pretty deep,” he confirmed, already making a plan in his mind to either take care of it himself, or take you to urgent care to get it stitched up, “I think you’re going to need stitches.”

“N-no,” you tried to pull your hand out of his grasp, but he was stronger, “it’ll be fine, Peter. I’ll just get it wrapped and it’ll heal.”

“I don’t think it’s going to heal properly without-”

“It’ll heal,” you insisted sharply, not meaning it to sound as harsh as it did, “I-I heal quickly.”

“But-”

“Peter,” you grabbed a clean cloth wrapped around your palm, “I swear. I know my body.”

He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, regarding you with a curious air. Ever since the bathroom accident, he’d become more hyper-aware of all the little things about you that were…different. Obviously, he was aware, very aware, of his own powers and abilities and if he didn’t know any better, you were in a similar boat.

“I’ll tell you why I get so many random bruises and cuts,” he spoke softly after a few beats of silence had passed, “if you tell me what’s up with you. The hearing, the speed-healing…all of it.”

“Peter,” his name was a soft sigh off your lips. The offer alone was tempting because you really were curious to know what happened to him when he showed up with mysterious cuts and bruises. It broke your heart to see him whenever he had some sort of injury, but they always seemed to go away without any sort of permanence.

“You can tell me anything, sweetheart. You know that,” he reached over and touched your face, brushing his thumb over your cheek.

“I know,” you nodded softly, “I want to tell you…really, I do. I just don’t want you…you’re going to think I sound crazy. I mean, it still sounds crazy to me.”

“I’ve dealt with plenty of crazy,” he smiled softly, “I doubt anything you could say or do would fall into the realm of crazy. Try me, sweetheart.”

“Okay,” you nodded, “but don’t laugh o-or whatever, promise?”

“I promise,” he agreed, crossing his fingers over his heart.

“Alright,” you swallowed thickly, “a while back I was…I don’t know….I guess bitten by something. It was just a small, you know, bite, but it never got infected or anything weird. So you know, I didn’t think anything of it. But then…these changes started to happen and I thought for sure I was losing my mind or whatever. But nothing ever…happened, nothing weird. But the weird things it did to me stayed. Like the hearing, and my vision got really good, better reflexes and the super fast healing too. That’s why I’m not worried about the cut - it’ll be helped soon.”

“Hmm,” he seemed so calm and relaxed that it caught you off guard. Why wasn’t he panicking? He studied intently but said nothing, only trailing his fingers gently down your arm.

“Y-you’re not…freaking out?”

“No,” he shook his head, his pretty eyes glinting in the soft light, “where were you when you were…bitten?”

“Umm,” you waved your hand around softly, “somewhere near Oscorp. I don’t remember exactly.”

“Do you know what it was?”

“No, I never saw it,” you confessed, “I just sort of assumed it was a weird bug.”

“Are you ready to hear my secret?” he asked softly and your eyes widened in curiosity as you nodded, “I’m Spider-Man.”

As soon as you heard the words, your mouth opened in surprise but he just remained there calmly. When he didn’t say anything you started to laugh; he had to be kidding, right? He had to be. But he wasn’t laughing - he just remained serious.

“Peter,” you shook your head in amusement, “Spider-Man? Really? Y-you’re joking! Right?”

“Nope,” the corner of his mouth ticked up in a small smile, “I mean it.”

“I-is that why…all the bruises and everything?” your disbelief turned to worry as you thought about all the terrible things that could happen to him, “oh Peter.”

“Relax, sweetheart,” his hand went to your neck as he gently stroked his thumb over your soft skin, “I’m okay. I’ll be okay. I’m Spider-Man, nothing’s gonna get me. Do you want to hear my theory on what happened to you?”

“Yes.”

“I think we might have been visited by a similar…friendly spider,” he raised an eyebrow at the surprised look on your face, “I was bitten by a spider at Oscorp. They had some…to put it simply, radioactive spiders. I wasn’t born with these abilities, and apparently neither were you.”

“No,” you couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. This didn’t happen to normal people - this stuff didn’t really happen period. And yet, here the two of you were, “holy fuck, Peter.”

“Yeah,” he shook his own head in amusement, “who would have thought, huh? I knew you were special - well, even before now. I…I love you, sweetheart.”

“I love you too, Peter,” you beamed at him, “hey - if you’re Spider-Man, does that make me…Spider-Girl? Spider-Woman? Wait, I don’t want to be a vigilante superhero…well, maybe? If you need a sidekick? What if-”

But he cut you off by pressing his lips to yours and kissing you softly and sweetly, leaving you breathless as he had a tendency to. When you pulled back, he smiled at you, and touched your cheek, “I love you, Spider-Girl.”

“I love you, Spider-Man,” you stole another few kisses from him, which left him practically melting into your touch.

“Have you ever tried wall climbing?”

“No…”

“Well, you’re in for a treat!”

#tasm!peter parker #tasm!peter parker x reader #tasm!peter parker x fem!reader #tasm!peter parker x you #tasm!peter imagine #tasm!peter one shot #peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker x fem!reader #peter parker x you #peter parker one shot #peter parker imagine #andrew garfield #andrew garfield x you

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bvidzsoo · 5 months

Text

Love Me Like A Rockstar (3)

Chapter 3: Itch

Author: bvidzsoo

Pairing: Song Mingi x female reader

Warning: use of the word "fuck"

Word count: 4,206

Summary: Love. You wanted none of it. You had already been heartbroken very badly once, you didn't wish to go through that ever again. But the Universe works in intricate ways and, somehow, you found yourself webbed up in a local rockstar's life, Song Mingi. He was everything you expected him to be, yet nothing like you imagined him he would be. What happens when you find mutual understanding and have heartful conversations? Will he be able to break down your walls? Will you be able to chase away his darkness?

A/N: Merry Christmas everyone, here's my present for you all. Excuse me if this chapter is a little confusing, although I hope it isn't, I tried hard to put her feelings into words and describe it accordingly. The taglist is open, so let me know if you're interested. Please listen to the song in the playlist (Itch) before or while reading! Thank you and I hope you enjoy! Your feedback is always very much appreciated!

Taglist: @orshii @or5i @lovely-red2 @juicy-red @scarfac3 @sunaswifes-blog @voicesinmyhead-rc @teez-the-time

⟨Series M.list ↭ Previous Chapter⟩

♫Playlist♫

『There's a rumbling

In my head

It's getting louder

Louder』

The weather hasn’t drastically improved nor gotten better even a little bit as the sky was grey and the wind blew harshly. Before my mother left for work she warned me to have an umbrella with myself today as it could start pouring at any given moment, and I listened to her. I swear to God that woman has some sort of supranatural sense as her predictions are always right. I didn’t have classes today, but I had to work on one of my assignment’s, and after realizing that if I were to stay at home I’d be laying in my bed all day, I dressed up in comfortable clothes and packed what I had to bring with myself before I headed to my university’s library.

The bus ride was quick as traffic has dispersed since the early hours of the morning, making it easier to get to my destination. After getting off the bus I headed to the closest coffee shop, knowing I would need some caffeine if I planned on not falling asleep at the library. It wouldn’t be the first time. Sometimes the quiet and warm ambience gets to me, and without meaning to, I fall asleep at the table instead of studying diligently. I didn’t plan on doing that today as I was nearing the deadline. I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but I didn’t deal well with stress and it was currently eating me up as I ran over on my phone of the assignment’s requirements while I entered the main building of my university. It was buzzing with life as everyone was busy doing something and I nodded at the familiar faces before beelining it for the stairs, headed to the top floor. The main building was an old one and it was rather cold inside at all times, the library being the only one actually heated up enough that you wouldn’t freeze during the winter. I sighed in content as I pushed open the big doors, warmth seeping into my bones instantly. It wasn’t too cold outside, but I forgot to wear a jacket today, and the tank top and hoodie I was wearing over it wasn’t keeping me warm enough. The library was quiet and the ceiling lights were dim inside, desk lamps turned on by the students having to study. I walked past the front desk and greeted the librarian quietly, trying to ignore the disapproving look she threw at my coffee in hand. I wouldn’t be using any books; I just needed a desk and chair to be able to do my homework. So, before she could ask me to leave or throw away my coffee, I turned around and speedwalked down the main lobby, headed towards the next room where the large tables were placed in four rows. It was the study room, basically.

I sighed and took a sip of my coffee, looking around for a secluded spot, away from prying eyes, as I slowly walked down the middle aisle, appreciating the sweet taste of my Caramel Macchiato. Nobody really paid me any mind and I was glad as I didn’t feel like striking up a conversation with anyone. I spotted an empty seat to the left at a table where not many sat, and decided to claim it as mine as I turned left, going down another row of table and chairs. One student threw me a nasty look as my tote bag accidentally crashed against their arm and I gave them a cheeky smile before continuing to walk, not exactly sorry for disturbing them. I took another sip of my coffee as with my other hand I placed my phone back inside my back pocket, and noticed someone kind of familiar. My eyes narrowed as I continued walking towards them as they sat in the way of my claimed spot. I didn’t mean to stare, but I couldn’t tell straight away who it was as their head hung low and shoulders were slouched as they were writing in a notebook. He had headphones over his ears and was bobbing his head to the rhythm of the music, and as I got closer, my steps slightly faltered. I stopped mid-sip as I realized who it was. Mingi remained oblivious to my surprised face as I quickly snapped out of it and quickly took off, whizzing past him and the long table he sat at, adamant on ignoring him and finally reaching my own seat. He hadn’t noticed me, after all, so I didn’t think he was aware that I was here too. My mouth pulled into a grimace as the thought of being at the same place as Mingi was rather inconvenient right now, I wasn’t in the mood to face him today. I didn’t feel like arguing or bickering, and if he were to approach me, I knew it was inevitable. I sighed as I reached my seat and allowed my bag to fall onto the table, creating a light bang. Someone from the other end of the table glanced at me, but quickly went back to their work.

I placed my coffee on the table and sat in my chair, opening my tote bag. I quickly emptied the bag of its contents, grateful that I haven’t forgotten anything at home. I placed my big sketchbook in front of me as I organized the rest of my things on the table. My smaller pencil case was placed next to my coffee, where my right hand was. Then, the bigger pencil case which contained all sorts of pens and pencils, was placed in the middle, just above my sketchbook. I placed the hard cover sketchbook, my personal one in which I always draw and consider my journal, to my left where it wouldn’t bother me as I worked. I placed the book on color theory I have brought with myself on top of my sketchbook and opened it, flipping through the pages, searching for the one I was supposed to read before starting my assignment. We were supposed to make an abstract drawing using acrylics. I sighed as I found the page and realized I had to read five before starting to draw. Five weren’t many pages, but it felt like I didn’t have the mental capacity to read. Seems like the coffee hadn’t kicked in yet. But I had to do it, so, after taking another sip of my coffee, I placed my elbow on the table and after placing my cheek in my palm, I started reading with a loud sigh. My eyes ran over the words lazily only half paying attention to them as I felt my phone buzz in my jean’s back pocket. I was itching to check the message, but I knew I wouldn’t do any studying if I was to check my phone right now.

As I was reading the third page, I heard firm footsteps stomping in my direction, but I didn’t look up. I have finally somehow found the power to concentrate on my task, and besides, I was in a library, it was probably another student headed to sit at the table I was sat at. After all, I have chosen this table because it had few people who could bother me. However, I soon became aware that the approaching person stopped right across me, and as I looked up confused, my mouth involuntarily dropped a little. The chair was already pulled back and before I could even complain, Mingi’s lean body dropped into the chair as he pulled it closer to the table. His things were gathered in his arms and he very loudly dropped them onto the table, creating the other student at the table to glare in his direction. For a second, I found myself speechless as I stared at a very casual looking Mingi. His black hair was pushed back, his forehead on display for the first time, and his eyes had no makeup as he blinked at me through his black glasses. I had no idea Mingi wears glasses? It was resting rather low on his tall nose and I snapped out of my staring as a lazy smirk appeared on his cherry-red lips.

“What are you doing?!” I whispered furiously, eyebrows furrowing as I placed my book on the table. Mingi’s smirk turned into a small smile.

“Catching up on some homework, and you?” Mingi’s answer made my eyebrows furrow even more. Did he seriously think I was interested in whatever he was here for?

“No!” My voice almost raised, but I was able to control it, “Here. With me—why did you come sit here?! The other table seemed perfectly fine to me—”

“Ah, so you have seen me.” Mingi seemed pleased with himself as he fished his phone out from underneath the three notebooks he had dumped on the table, “I just didn’t feel like sitting alone. Is that a problem?”

I opened my mouth to fire back a ‘yes’ at him, but found myself hesitating instead. I didn’t exactly understand his motives. He was sitting by himself up until now, who knows since when, so what changed now? Why did he want to sit with me all of a sudden? He was definitely only here to bother me.

“We’re not friends.” I raised my eyebrows at Mingi, voice sharp, “And you seemed pretty fine by yourself.”

Mingi just sighed and organized his notebooks, pushing two away from himself as he opened the other one. He grabbed his headphones from around his neck, but he didn’t lift them to his ear yet.

“Is it such a crime that I want to sit at the same table with you?” The defeat in Mingi’s voice took me off guard, and I gulped, jaw clenching as I avoided his disappointed gaze. What was he disappointed about? It’s not like we were friends. Did I say something wrong? And why should I care if I have hurt his feelings? I was only voicing the truth.

“I sat here because I want to be alone.” I threw him a sharp glare and Mingi’s lips turned into a thin line as he slid down in his chair. He wore a loose black t-shirt which reached below his elbows, jacket discarded on the chair next to his. He wore grey sweatpants too; it was the most casual I have seen him. Compared to how he would usually dress, this look gave him an aura of someone who you are safe with and radiates comfort. It was unusual compared to the always cocky, witty, and smirking Mingi. I didn’t know where to put him, it felt like he was vulnerable right now, almost showing a side of his I haven’t met yet. Could this be the real Mingi? Before I could start dwelling on such thing, I shook my head and the thought out of my mind.

“I won’t bother you.” Mingi tried to coerce me and I just sighed loudly and long, letting him know he was an inconvenience to me right now as I aggressively closed my book and pushed it aside. I knew enough about colors already, and I wasn’t in the mood to read anymore thanks to Mingi, who threw me off my sudden burst of motivation. I threw Mingi one last disapproving look before looking down and opening my sketchbook. I pulled my smaller pencil case closer to myself and opened that as well as I fished around for the black acrylic.

『There's a shaking

In my bones

It's getting stronger

Stronger』

I willed myself to ignore Mingi as I started tracing lines with the acrylic, shutting out every noise which could bother me as I sucked my lower lip between my teeth, wondering what I was drawing. Usually when I had an assignment, I had an idea of what the drawing would be about, but right now, I had no idea what I was doing and it didn’t feel nice. It made me feel like I was losing control, like I wasn’t myself. I grabbed the burgundy acrylic and darkened the right corner of the paper, fingers feeling oily from the tool I was using. I tried finding something in the lines, a vision, something which could give me guidance, but it was simply a mess and it caused me to feel defeated as I grabbed another color mindlessly, having stopped paying attention to the color combination. The one and only thing I should have paid attention to. But the drawing looked like nothing and my hand was moving faster as I traced lines and made circles on the paper, creating an amalgam of colors. The top of the drawing was dark and heavy, it made me feel mad and desperate the longer I looked at it. Then, the lower half of the drawing had the lighter colors, colors which felt like there was something good in the world, something worth living for. But the middle of the drawing remained blank and my hand halted as I became stuck. What was I supposed to do? Was I to connect the two worlds of whirling emotions? Was I to leave it blank because there were no existent roads leading the two together?

『There's a hunger

In my heart

It's full of promise

Promise』

And then I looked up, eyebrows drawn together as I felt numbness creep up into my chest, not finding a way out. I have forgotten Mingi was here, with me. And as our eyes connected, I realized he was here. And he was watching me. Lips slightly parted, his eyes seemed to hold a sincerity I have never seen in anyone else before, his eyebrows slightly raised. Suddenly, I felt breathless as his deep gaze kept me locked in, as he silenced my thoughts. I didn’t understand the look on his face, or what his eyes were trying to tell me, but suddenly my heart started beating so fast that I dropped the acrylic I had in my hand and gasped. Why was Mingi here? What did he want? Eyes turning into a glare, I looked down and furiously dug around in my pencil case, looking for the grey acrylic. I didn’t mean to do it, many times I don’t mean to do what I do, but my hand came crashing down against the table and then I was scrabbling at the blank space, creating a big nothing. A void. I paused for a second thinking that I have ruined the drawing and now I would have to start over, which was the smartest thing to do, probably. But for some reason, in the mess of scribble, I saw lines. Lines looking like paths, which were made to connect the top half and the bottom half of the drawing. I grabbed the yellow and purple acrylic and started tracing those lines, shading over the grey void, everything blending together seamlessly. My lips parted as an incredulous breath left my lips, confused at everything I was feeling at the moment. I did usually let my emotions pour into my drawings, but this was new. This was intense and it hasn’t happened before. I didn’t even understand it myself as I felt myself smile a little bit, almost as if my body felt relief, almost as if my heart became less heavy.

『There's an itch

Under my skin

It's under my skin

Under my skin』

The flipping of a page snapped me back to reality and I was once again aware that I was in the library and—Mingi was sitting right across me. And as I looked up, all previous feelings disappeared as my eyes fell on what held Mingi’s attention. My sketchbook. The one which was like my journal. I gasped, loudly,

“Stop.” I didn’t mean for my voice to be so loud, but several students turned our way as Mingi’s hand froze midair. The page he was about to flip fell back, and he looked up slowly, “I never gave you permission to look through that.”

Mingi held my fierce gaze for a second before he hummed, acting nonchalant, acting as if he hadn’t looked through something which was personal, something which contained my feelings and thoughts as I always doodle a few words in the right bottom of the page.

“My bad, I didn’t think it was personal,” My jaw clenched and before I could say anything, Mingi continued, “You’re quite good, did you know? You’re talented.”

I scoffed and looked around in disbelief before my eyes fell back on Mingi. He was smirking, looking way too amused at my annoyance, “Of course I’m good, Mingi. I’m more than just good. I’m the founder of the Fine Arts club at our university, I’m supposed to be the best student.”

“And are you?” Mingi raised an eyebrow and it made my blood boil even more. He was able to make my mood change way too easily, it pissed me off.

“I am.” I whisper-snapped and Mingi hummed again, acting as if it wasn’t a big deal. It was. I could never lack. I always had to deliver, and constantly had to prove myself that I was the best. Everyone had high expectations of me, but perhaps, it was myself who set the bar so high that I sometimes felt like I was crumbling, “Give it back.”

I swiftly leaned over the table and went to snatch the sketchbook back from Mingi, but he clumsily grabbed it and pulled it towards himself, out of my reach. The page he wanted to flip when I caught him was accidentally flipped and we looked down at it at the same time. My eyes widened in mortification and my heart dropped to my stomach as Mingi stared at his own eyes in my sketchbook. It was the first drawing I have made of them, it was somewhat scribbled over, but it was painfully obvious whose eyes it was. Hoping that he hadn’t recognized his own eyes, I quickly snatched the sketchbook back and slammed it shut, feeling a slight burn in my cheeks. That wasn’t good, I shouldn’t be blushing. And my heart also needs to calm down, I can feel my pulse in my neck. I looked up at Mingi through my lashes only to see him already staring at me. He looked incredibly surprised and confused at the same time, it was as if I was looking at a puppy, before his expression formed into something more detestable.

“Who’s eyes are those?” He whisper-asked with a glint in his sharp eyes, resting his chin in his palm as his ring-clad fingers tapped against his cheek rhythmically. His reaction was better than the one I was expecting, I thought he had figured it out, I could lie my way out of this.

“Someone’s.” I answered as I closed my other sketchbook too, needing to flee. There goes my strong and convincing answer. I was crying on the inside, emotionless on the outside.

“Mine?” My body froze and I slowly raised my gaze to look at Mingi, who was smirking and slowly pushing up his glass on the bridge of his nose. My jaw clenched as my heart started beating faster.

『'Cause I just wanna feel something real

'Cause I just wanna feel something』

“No, Yunho’s.” The words were out of my mouth before I could think. My jaw clenched as I mentally cursed myself. What are the chances Mingi knows Yunho, though? And I haven’t said his family name, it could be anyone. I didn’t wait to see Mingi’s reaction as I quickly started packing away everything, cursing myself for leaving my acrylics laying around on the table everywhere. My muscles were tense under Mingi’s watchful eyes and I bit my lower lip as I was finally able to shove everything inside my tote bag, I had zero intentions of organizing them nicely inside. I was just about to stand up when Mingi’s quiet, deep, voice reached my ears.

“By any chance—are you talking about Jeong Yunho?” The breath was knocked out of my chest as I gaped at Mingi with wide eyes, thoughts whirling fast in my mind. Mingi knows Yunho? How does he know him? What were the chances? I’m fucked.

“Uh, yeah.” I answered quietly before clearing my throat, not expecting Mingi’s eyes to suddenly light up and mouth to pull into the biggest smile I have ever seen on him.

“How do you know him?” He whispered in excitement, leaning forward in his seat. I cleared my throat in discomfort, stalling my answer as I scoffed quietly, trying to look nonchalant with my answer.

“We were sort of friends during highschool.” I answered, my voice void of any emotion as Mingi looked surprised.

“Really?” Mingi muttered before his confused expression morphed into that of an excited one once again, “He’s my best friend. We’ve been friends since childhood, it’s a bit surprising he never mentioned you—or have I forgotten? Yunho was always popular, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he mentioned you and I forgot, because I always had to keep up with all the new names and people. He was quite the charmer during highschool, wasn’t he? Did you know he’s gone to a different city to study?”

“Uh,” I blinked, trying to digest all the new information and Mingi’s change of character. I’ve never seen him so alive before, so excited, and happy like right now. It made me want to blame it on Yunho. He made people feel like this. Whoever had the luck of knowing him would be forever charmed, webbed up by his bright and warm personality. He could make you feel like you were the most special person on Earth, like you were the center of his life. Yunho was a very rare to find person, one you had the luck to meet only once in your lifetime. And if you were lucky enough, perhaps he’d keep you around long enough. Mingi seemed to be that lucky guy as he continued beaming at me, waiting for my answer. But all I could do was focus on the bitter feeling swirling inside my stomach and the quiver of my lips. I wasn’t good enough to keep Yunho around. I lacked what Yunho liked in a person, and yet, here Mingi was, being the epitome of everything Yunho liked. My throat closed in on me at a very sudden realization, I felt like I couldn’t breathe anymore, “Yeah, I did—I didn’t. I—I have to go.”

I didn’t wait to see Mingi’s reaction as I jumped out of my seat and grabbed the coffee mug, gripping it so hard I could’ve broken the carton. I had tunnel vision as I raced out of the library and down the marble stairs, breathing hard with tears in my eyes. I burst through the heavy doors of the main building and ran off, trying to find a somewhat secluded spot on the path as I doubled over, heaving for air.

Song Mingi. Jeong Yunho. I should have known. I should have realized so much sooner, I was such a fucking idiot. My lips quivered as all the memories came back: Yunho’s dashing smile and warm hand as we lay in each other’s arms, his voice low as he whispered about his day. Song Mingi’s name rolling off his tongue effortlessly, face content and eyes glazed over as he recounted everything about their day, about Mingi. He loved the warm breeze; he hated rainy days. He loved going out for walks, he hated staying cooped up in his room all day. He hated playing video games, yet he learned a few just for Yunho. He was allergic to pollen, but he bought his mother a bouquet of flower every Sunday. He was tall and lanky and insecure, so he started working out with Yunho. He hated his glasses because people thought he was a nerd, so he never wore them and his eyesight worsened. Song Mingi, who’s laughter was either silent or too loud, head always thrown back as his eyes turned into slits when he laughed. Song Mingi, who was insecure about his blemishes until Yunho called him the handsomest gal he’d ever seen. Song Mingi, who stopped painting his nails after he was bullied for it. And Mingi, who despite looking intimidating and cold was the sweetest and nicest person Yunho has ever met. There wasn’t a day when Yunho wouldn’t mention Mingi while we were dating, and the fact that Mingi couldn’t even remember if Yunho mentioned me or not, said a lot. It hurt. It felt like a knife was plunged deep inside my chest, twisting and ripping everything apart with its sharp blade. I am over Yunho; everything happened a long time ago. But it was proof, once again, that I have never been someone important in his life. He would never talk about me like he talked about Mingi. I would never mean the world to him…like Mingi meant to him.

『I just wanna love

I just wanna touch

I just wanna see

Something』

❱❱ Next chapter

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