#so for five hours a day we are in close proximity. i saw her on the first day and thought she was cute. we got to talking

[gaywarenn]

.

[jaegeraether]

Sunsets and footballers (Part 32)

Lucy Bronze x Reader (30)

Masterlist (other parts here)

YFN’s back hit the wall as she expelled several gasping breaths, the wave of relief flooding over her indicative of just how scared she was. Still, it was a surprise.

Lucy’s big green eyes behind her clear framed lenses were filled with worry. She crossed the room in a matter of steps, pulling the shower door open to see her little Australian backed into the corner of the shower with wide eyes, holding her toothbrush up like it would protect her somehow. It would have been comical if it weren’t for the fear.

“Little one..”

“L…Luce? What are you-”

She was cut off by Lucy enveloping her, her arms wrapping around her and pulling her head to rest on her favourite place, the little area where Lucy’s collarbone met her neck. Vanilla and bitter orange. Lucy was there and everything was okay. Lucy felt her grabbing at her clothes tightly, not wanting to let the footballer go and her heart broke feeling her body shaking.

“I didn’t mean to scare you… I didn’t think you’d be awake still,” she said softly into her hair.

“I thought it was…someone else.”

Now Lucy was even more worried. She pulled back just enough to look at her. “Who?”

“S..some photographer from the game in Crawley. He was taking photos and then he followed me here..”

Lucy saw red. She pulled away and began turning when YFN caught her. She looked back at her pleading eyes.

“Please don’t leave me.”

Just when Lucy thought her heart couldn’t break any more. She touched her cheek with her fingertips softly. “I need to make sure you’re safe. I’ll be a few minutes… stay here please, little one.”

Lucy was quick to check around the apartment, and outside. She’d noticed an idling car outside when she’d arrived in her uber, though it was now gone. She came back inside and locked the door as she found YFN exactly where she’d left her.

She leant up against the frame of the shower and looked at the woman who’d been the only thing on her mind for the past week. “It’s just us.”

She breathed another sigh of relief, still comfortable with her back in the corner and Lucy could sense the thoughts of her dad running through her mind. She tried to distract her.

“Is that my toothbrush?” She asked.

YFN looked down at the little blue toothbrush in her hand, not realising she was still gripping it tightly.

“Yes.. but I wasn’t using it..” She explained. “I just missed you.”

Lucy shook her head as if it would rid her of the amount of feelings she had for the women in front of her. God, the amount of love she had for her. It was a tingly, vulnerable, excitable feeling. One that always left her feeling simultaneously scared of its power and so happy she knew she’d do anything for her. This was that poetry love.

Lucy took a step forward and gently extracted the toothbrush from her hand and placed it back where it belonged. She returned and stood so close to her girlfriend that their bodies were touching in multiple places, and YFN had to look up to hold eye contact with her.

“We need to talk.” YFN whispered a little nervously, though Lucy didn’t know whether it was from the impending talk or their proximity.

“Yes, we do. But first.. let me make you a hot chocolate and get you calmed down, okay?”

She phrased it like a question when it wasn’t. Without waiting for a reply, she bent down and picked up her little Australian who almost gladly wrapped her legs around Lucy’s waist like a koala. She held her tightly as she walked them out to the living area and headed for the couch. YFN’s grip around Lucy tightened.

“I want to go where you go.”

She paused and stroked her back, diverting them to the kitchen where she placed her on the kitchen island. YFN couldn’t keep her eyes off of her, still unable to believe she was there with her. Wasn’t she just in Spain at a game five hours ago? Lucy looked tired from her day, her game, her flight. Her hair was in its typical messy bun after the game though she was now in track pants, slides with socks and a simple salmon colour shirt that she hadn’t seen before. As she turned around and opened the fridge, she couldn’t help but look at just how good her ass look in those pants.

Lucy groaned as she realised that – of course – there was no milk. She closed it and turned around to YFN who was staring at her as if waiting for her to realise, her lips pressed together holding a smile at bay but her dimples giving her away. She held up her phone.

“We can order some?”

Lucy sauntered back over, keeping that heavy eye contact until she was back in between her legs dangling from the edge. She put an arm back down on the counter, her hand finding a place on YFN’s outer thigh as she took her phone. YFN watched as Lucy was distracted ordering their drinks, looking at Lucy’s finer details. They were the things she missed. Her freckles, her Spanish tan, her dark brown hair she loved to dye, her goddamn jawline. She hesitated a second before she reached out and smoothed a few outlying strands of hair with her fingertips. Lucy leant into her touch, still typing on the phone and it were almost as if no time had passed. The natural chemistry between them was undeniable.

“We need to talk.” She said when Lucy was finished, removing her hand unwillingly.

Lucy placed her phone on the bench and turned back to her, finding those eyes again. “Yes, we do. Where’s your overnight bag? I didn’t see it in our bedroom.”

The fact that she said our bedroom didn’t go unnoticed by YFN, nor was it supposed to. She bit her lip.

“It's… in the other room.” She said quietly. Lucy didn’t even try to hide the look of hurt she felt, though she knew better than to question it given what they’d been through the last several days.

Lucy grabbed her knees, pulling her to the edge of the counter and encouraging her legs back around her waist as she picked her up and carried her to the couch where she almost unceremoniously dropped her.

“Stay.” She said, pointing at her. YFN did as she was told, folding her legs and leaning back into the corner of the couch. She watched as Lucy left to the spare room and then returned shortly later carrying her bag and toiletries with purpose to Lucy’s room. YFN smiled at that and bit by bit, her heart felt like it was mending, though she was fully aware that they still hadn’t spoken about the series of unfortunate events.

Lucy came back and kicked off her slides, taking up the opposite corner of the couch just far enough away that they couldn’t touch, even with her outstretched legs.

There was a long pause as they stared at each other with longing and nervousness. YFN decided to break the ice first.

“Hi, Luce.” YFN said softly, pulling a pillow to her chest so she’d feel the need to touch Lucy less.

Lucy smiled at that. “Hi, little one.” Her voice was tired and husky and still managing to make YFN’s heart jump.

“I miss you.”

Lucy let out a long sigh and it sounded almost like relief. “I miss you too.”

“I know I have no right-”

“You have every right.” Lucy cut off. “Every right. We are still together.”

They were still together. That was a good start. “We need to talk..”

Lucy sighed. “Yeah, we do. Can I start please?”

“Okay Luce.”

“Okay… let’s get the main thing out of the way. Ona and I are not together, and we never have been. Never been together, never slept together. She tried to kiss me once before I knew you, but I stopped her. She was drunk and I… wouldn’t have let her do it anyways. She eight years younger than me, little one. She’s going to be my successor as right back at Barca. I helped her move from United, I gave her a place to stay for a few weeks, and she’s been a really good friend to have in the city because I don’t speak much Spanish. I have Keira but… that’s not the same anymore, and it’s good to have other friends. Now, I know Ona likes me, and what I’m about to say is really selfish, okay?” She took a breath and shook her head like she was ashamed of herself. “It was a mutual split between Keira and I, you know that. I told you about us, but still, suddenly being single and alone in a foreign country was hard. We were together for years. And so I let myself enjoy Ona’s attention. It’s horrible, I know, but I did. I teased and flirted but I would never let it go further than that. And all of that stopped when I met you. Most of the photos you were sent are old and the new ones are just us being friends. I promise it’s nothing more than that and will never be.”

There was silence for a few seconds as YFN took this in. It was the best outcome for her, and she felt her heart healing itself a little more. As it did, she felt disappointed in herself. “Thanks for being so honest with me, Luce. I… I’m really sorry with how I handled all of this. I’m… really ashamed of myself.” She got a little teary and had to stop.

“No. Don’t. Please… I saw the photos, and I know what it looks like. I should have had this conversation with you before but everything between us happened so quick and we didn’t have time.. I was going to tell you when you got to Spain.” She paused. “And I don’t fully understand why you needed space, but I do at the same time. I need you to know that you can trust me, okay? Please.. I know it’s a risk for you, but I will never hurt you. I’d never do that. You’re too important to me… and besides, that’s not me. You know me. You’ve met my family, my friends. You know who I am.”

“Yeah..” She admitted, lips trembling. “I do.”

Lucy was right. She had introduced her to her family and friends. She’d let her in so close, how could she have ever believed otherwise?

Lucy continued. “I’m more than happy to limit my interactions with Ona-”

“No.” YFN replied tenaciously, wiping an ashamed tear away. “No, I don’t want you to do that, Luce. I’ll never make you do something like that to a friend.”

“Okay… regardless I’ll have a talk to her. But please.. don’t believe anything you’re sent.” She made sure their eyes had met. “There’s only you, now. You’re what I want.”

She wanted her. God, it felt like a Jane Austen or Shakespeare romance. YFN stretched a leg out and their feet touched like that night under the blankets hiding it from Jordan. Lucy wanted her. She wanted Lucy. Lucy was here.

“Do you still want me?”

YFN looked up from where they were touching, her eyes finding Lucy’s insecure ones. She responded without even needing to think about it. “I’ll always want you, Luce. I thought when you didn’t call that maybe things had changed for you.. but things haven’t changed for me. Not one bit.”

Relief flooded those green eyes. “About that.. I have an explanation for all of this. You see, my phone-”

A knock came at the door and YFN jumped more than she usually did, given the events of the night.

“It’s just the delivery..” Lucy assured and went to collect it. She came back inside and handed YFN her hot chocolate and a brown paper bag before retaking her position on the couch. She nodded to the bag as YFN was opening it.

“Banana bread and coconut bread. I’m assuming you haven’t had a chance to eat tonight like me. Choose one, and I’ll have the other.”

How did she get so lucky? She looked up at her girlfriend with an excited and thankful smile that made Lucy’s pupils dilate a little. “We share?”

“Okay, little one. But no more talking until we’ve finished.”

She broke half of each off and gave them to Lucy on the napkin that was in the bag. They were warm and hit the spot perfectly with the hot chocolate. She knew she’d be ready for bed soon after that.

Lucy finished first, of course. That woman was always hungry. She waited patiently for YFN, sipping on her hot chocolate and her eyes wandering over her like she was making up for lost time.

“Your phone?”

“Was stolen. By Kristie.”

YFN froze. She didn’t expect that. Kristie was in Spain?

“She’s been watching me train and went to my game. She stole my phone and then told security she’d give it back if she could meet me after the game, so I met her because I had no idea it was her until she was right in front of me. She said some nasty things-”

“What things?” YFN cut off. She couldn't help herself.

“That she sent you the photos. That you were using me for a job and a car and a home. That you don’t know me. Then… she gave me an ultimatum. If I wanted my phone back, I’d need to go on a date with her.”

A feeling of disgust, anger and jealousy built within her. She cleared the emotions from her throat.

“And what did you do?”

Lucy looked unapologetic. “I told her to keep my fucking phone. I booked a flight. Cancelled my phone. Told security to ban her and her friends. My new phone will arrive in Spain tomorrow or the next day.”

Her heart melted. Lucy just jumped on an international flight… to see her. “That’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me..” She admitted, knowing that Lucy now held those top two spots, the second being the keychain.

Lucy softened. “You’re more than worth it, my love.”

The lightbulb clicked. “That’s why you didn’t call..”

Lucy nodded. “That’s why I didn’t call. But this needed to be resolved, and I needed to see you, so I asked Alexia if I could leave early so I could pack and feed Narla before my flight.”

“What about training tomorrow?”

“Alexia is letting me start late. I’ll be on the first flight out..”

She looked at the time on the wall. 11:42pm. Lucy was leaving soon.

“Six more days..” Lucy reminded her, noticing where she was looking.

She nodded. Six more days and she’d be in Barcelona with her. Hopefully the next six days would be a lot less dramatic than the previous week.

“Your hand..” She said, looking at the bandage as Lucy took another sip.

“Ah.” She scratched the back of her head a little embarrassed. “I…snapped my iPad in half… when I saw photos of you and Leah.”

That’s right. “Leah is sorting it out, the company posted that because they didn’t know my name.”

“Could have written ‘friend’ instead.” She muttered jealously.

“Is that a little jealousy I hear?” YFN challenged.

Lucy sat up a little straighter. “Yes.” She admitted, forcing herself to accept that insecurity of hers.

YFN put her hot chocolate down and threw her pillow aside, moving along the couch until she was straddling Lucy’s hips. She took Lucy’s cup also and moved it away. She loved that she had the ability to take away Lucy’s capacity to speak. She just stared at her with slightly parted lips, pupils dilating further. She took Lucy’s bandaged hand and held it up to her cheek to appreciate the feel before she turned and kissed the palm. Lucy similarly reached a hand up, her thumb stroking ever so gently over the fading scar cutting YFN’s eyebrow. The complete opposite of the Lucy who had just unapologetically smashed her way through a football game, earning herself a yellow. Their little spell was broken by Lucy’s need to protect her.

“This will be the final piece of evidence needed for the restraining orders. I’ll have them finalised in the next day or so. Promise.”

Lucy’s hands found her hips as YFN’s hands cupped each side of the footballer’s neck.

“Thank you, Luce.”

“Now tell me about the photographer please.”

YFN explained about Mark at the charity event, his comments about Joe, and his photographer at the game. Lucy was angry.

“Who the fuck-”

“I don’t know, Luce.”

“Why the fuck-”

“It’s okay,” she whispered, trying to encourage her to calm a little. “Probably just a little competition. Also, he’s a bit of a misogynist so… there’s that.”

“Don’t be alone around him. I don’t want you alone at stadiums and definitely not in car parks. Make sure someone is always with you. I’ll find out who he is.”

“Okay, my love. Can you do me a favour please?”

“Anything.”

“Don’t push Ona away.” This caught Lucy off guard. “She’s your friend. I refuse to let any of your friendships be affected by me.”

Lucy slowly nodded. “I stopped giving her lifts to training...”

“Start again, please.”

Lucy knew she was right. “Okay,” she agreed. “And if she goes too far, I’ll talk to her.”

“Communication IS key.” She said cheekily.

“Speaking of... is there anything else we need to talk about?”

She thought a little before her cheeks turned a little red. “I..uh..may have asked Joe tonight for a company car.”

“You don’t like Miles?”

She remembered. “Well, I thought…”

Lucy understood, but it didn’t mean she was okay with it. “Cancel it, please. And I need you to accept that what’s mine is yours, okay? I will never regret giving you that keychain. The apartments and the car are yours to use anytime... you know that.”

She did know that. “Okay...” She said. She didn’t like backtracking but knew Joe wouldn’t mind.

“Anything else?”

“Dory’s going to go on a date with Leah.”

“Oh?!”

“I had a good chat to Leah at the event... she actually gave me some great advice about you, Luce... also she really loves Jordan. I spoke to her and she’s willing to let her talk so perhaps it’s less of a date and more of a ceasefire...”

“Leah’s my Captain but if she hurts her…”

“Oh – I sort of already threatened her, so that part is covered.”

Lucy was taken aback and grinned. There was nothing threatening about YFN besides her intelligence and sense of humour. “You’re incredible, you know that?”

She bit her lip. “It’s always a nice reminder.”

Lucy’s hand found the back of her head and pulled it towards her so she could gently kiss her way down that scar with kisses so tender, YFN could barely feel them. As she reached the bottom, her lips stayed on her skin and brushed down over her eyelid, her cheek, to find her lips. They kissed then, unable to help themselves any longer. Their hands held each other tightly as their lips moved together, tongues meeting each other with soft caresses. It wasn’t a sexual need, it was more of a slow and longing kiss, remembering what each other felt and tasted like. Lucy tasted like hot chocolate and coconut, her mouth moving exactly in the way YFN remembered.

YFN broke away first to regain her breath while Lucy’s lips trailed down her chin, her jaw, the side of her neck, down to the little oval between her collarbones and back up the other side.

“I missed you so much.” She admitted against her skin.

“I missed you more, Luce.” She almost moaned. “But right now, I need you to get some sleep.”

Lucy agreed, albeit a little grudgingly. They made their way to Lucy’s bathroom where they each took their respective toothbrushes and brushed their teeth. Lucy finally let herself chuckle when she grabbed her blue toothbrush, looking at YFN who scrunched up her nose and blushed. Did she really think she could defend herself with that?

“I need to shower, little one. I didn’t get a chance between the game and now..”

“Ah, I thought I could smell you.”

Lucy groaned and YFN chuckled, kissing her shoulder. “I’m kidding. Your perfume is all I can smell… I have a request before we sleep, though?”

Lucy looked down at her, eyes darkening and assuming. “Anything.”

“I saw you bully your way through that game, Luce. Your knee looks sore. Can I massage it before bed, please?”

Ah, she was wrong. Probably for the best, they were both incredibly tired but it didn’t stop their ability of both knowing what Lucy thought she was going to ask. “I’d like that..”

“Okay.” She kissed her shoulder again, with more lingering lips. “I’ll bring your clothes in.”

YFN left and found Lucy’s overnight bag dumped in the corner of the bedroom. She must have done that as she was scrambling to find YFN when she’d arrived. She got out her clothes for the night, her shirt, underwear, and shorts. Walking back into the bathroom, she was greeted with the sight of a gloriously naked Lucy Bronze under running water in the shower. She couldn’t help but freeze, and stare. Her body was just a collection of well-earned, bronze muscles from her calves to those thighs that stretched her shorts, her tight abs and V-line, those biceps she loved to hang onto, triceps, traps and lats that you could always see even with a shirt on. Lucy looked up from the soap she was lathering across her and grinned. YFN knew she couldn’t see clearly without her glasses, but she could still see her staring.

She bit her lip and blushed before finding some moisturiser in the bathroom cupboard, knowing that she needed to distract herself to stop her staring. She tried to not look at her after that and it was just a whole bunch of awkward.

“I…uh.. your clothes are right here. I’ll be in there.” She pointed out the door and heard Lucy’s chuckles as she left the room.

Not too long later the shower shut off and Lucy joined her in the bedroom, bringing a cloud of steam with her. To be honest, YFN didn’t know how Lucy wasn’t always followed with a cloud of steam, being as goddamned attractive as she was.

Lucy settled onto her regular side of the bed and leant up against the headboard. With the amount of tension, it would just take one of them to break and start ripping the other’s clothes off, however they both managed to restrain themselves. Tonight wasn’t about sex. Tonight was about love. Their relationship.

YFN worked Lucy’s sore leg just the way she liked and needed it. It was aggravated from the game and needed some release. Lucy groaned and her head leant back against the headboard, eyes closing. Even she didn’t realise how much she needed it. Only when YFN could feel Lucy’s leg start to ease up and become a little happier, did she finally stop.

The two were beyond tired and both climbed under the covers together, naturally taking up their positions wrapped around one another. Lucy gave her a long, lingering kiss on her forehead where her scar was as their body’s relaxed into each other.

“Luce?” YFN asked with a tired yawn.

“Little one?”

“I’m sorry about the airport…”

“It’s okay, love. I said it too soon. I won’t say it again until you’re ready, if you’d like?”

“No,” she said a little too quickly. “No, I really like it when you say it. I… it makes me feel loved.”

Lucy gave a happy hum into her ear. “Good. Because I love you, YFN. So much, you have no idea.” Then half-asleep she said, “Besides, I only said it because-”

She cut herself off, realising that her mouth had spoken before her asleep brain could stop her.

“Because what?”

Lucy sighed. Would she even remember the conversation? They were already basically asleep. She could hear it in her voice. “Because you said it first. In your sleep. You told me you loved me and I…I wanted to say it first.”

YFN was awake enough for that. She’d said it first? Really? Then why wasn’t she able to say it out loud?

She put her lips to Lucy’s throat, kissing that tender spot. “Thank you for telling me, Luce. I’ll get there soon… I’m not sure how long it’ll take but-”

“It’ll take as long as it takes, my love. I know how you feel about me. You tell me a lot when you sleep, anyways.”

YFN blushed and Lucy must have felt it because she chuckled.

“I already miss you.”

“Six days, little one. Come to me in six days.”

[storm-angel989]

Outside the office Part Two

Hi All! It seems my first post has garnered some interest- I am so excited! Here is part two- I hope y'all enjoy!

After that second night, I began to settle into their routine. Breakfast in the morning-  usually cooked by either Valentino or Vox. A morning workout using the gym in Velvette’s studio. Lunch was always chosen by Velvette- options were varied, but made and served by their housekeeping crew both in their work spaces and in our kitchen.  

I spent my afternoons either reading every book I could find, trying to answer my own questions about hell. When I wasn’t reading, I bounced between Velvette and Vox’s studios- performing any tasks they happened to have available. I wanted to learn about hell and its inner workings- what better way to do so than spending time in several of the most important offices?

More often than not, I went from lunch to floor number five. Velvette would spend hours talking about her designs and was happy to have a sounding board to bounce ideas off of. Most of the time she would stick me on the stage and try on different outfits. She claimed blonde hair and blue eyes were a money maker- and then quickly changed the subject when she saw how uncomfortable I was. 

Every night we had dinner out in public, followed by a night out at any one of Valentino’s clubs. It was more typical that all three of us went out, but occasional Velvette or Vox needed to bow out for a work event. I, however, was obligated to be out. It was safest, Vox told me, for me to be in close proximity to one of them at all times. So no, staying home was not an option. 

Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights were the exceptions to the routine. Valentino and Vox took turns cooking breakfast and dinner, though on occasion they agreed to order out. I offered to help only once and they both shooed me away. 

My first Wednesday in hell I found out that the movie night Vox mentioned was not, in fact, optional. 

I was settled in bed, propped up as I turned the page to start a new book when the blare of the surround sound stereo system shattered the silence of my bedroom. I jolted from my book, annoyance and frustration washing over me. What in all of hell's creation was going on? 

I ventured down the hall and found myself staring at a giant television screen that most certainly was not there when we had dinner two hours ago. 

“Hey! Come join us, it's movie night.” Vox waved me over. “Sit next to Val. Best seat in the house.”

“Glad you crawled out of your bedroom babe. Wine?” Valentino offered me a glass. 

Although it had unsettled me at first, I had come to realize over the past few days that nicknames from Valentino were simply par for the course. I accepted the cup and sat down next to him. On the couch across from me, Vox had Velvette nestled in his arms, half under a blanket. She looked more comfortable and relaxed than I had seen her since my arrival. 

“Blanket?” Valentino asked.

“Sure.”

He tugged one off the back of the couch and tossed it over us. I propped a pillow between the two of us and settled in as best I could as the screen turned a bright blue. 

“What exactly are we watching?” I asked. 

“A Night in the Woods with Angels.” Vox replied, giving Velvette a squeeze. “The scariest of all the horror movies.”

“Angels are not scary!’ I protested. 

Valentino reached across the pillows and gently swatted my arm, “Shush. It’s starting. Popcorn?” 

I took a handful from the bowl and watched as the scene unfolded. Horror was an understatement-the idea of depicting angels as evil creatures was laughable at best. That being said, more than once, I found myself jumping back until the pillow was on the floor and I was practically sitting on Valentino. 

“It’s just a movie princessa.” he said softly, his voice almost comforting. “It isn’t real.”

“I know it's not real.” I said defensively. “Angel’s don’t act like that.”

The screen roared and I jumped again. He gave me a sympathetic look and wrapped his arms around me. The sense of security that I felt my first two nights in hell washed over me. Against my better judgment, and without alcohol as an excuse, I settled against him and pulled the blanket over the two of us. The rest of the movie was spent pressed against him as I watched the teenage demons make poor decisions that eventually led to their demise. 

The lights around us grew brighter as soon as the movie ended. Vox stood up, Velvette passed out asleep in his arms. Wordlessly, he carried her off towards her room. 

I pushed the blankets off, grateful for there to be light. My heart still pounded in my chest from the final scene, and as soon as I stepped away from Valentino, the sense of unsettledness washed over me again. 

“That was fun princessa. We should do that again.” Valentino said lightly as he stood up and stretched. 

“Are there horror movies every week?” I asked, trying to shake myself back into reality. I pulled the blanket around my shoulders.

“No no, that was Velevtte’s choice. She wanted something to fall asleep to.” 

I stared at him. Fall asleep to? Did demons actually find this carnage…relaxing? 

 He burst out in laughter. “I’m joking, Princessa. She falls asleep during every movie.”  He turned away, amusement on his face. “Goodnight mi amor.”

“Goodnight Valentino.” I watched him make his way down the hallway, and heard his bedroom door close in the distance. 

Vox hadn’t remerged from Velvette’s room- at least not that I saw. I got up from the couch a few moments later and turned off the lights before heading to bed myself. Curled up in my bed with the nightstand lamp on, I wondered if angels were to demons what demons were to angels- evil, chaotic and merciless. 

[waywardxwords]

The Fix - Part Five

Summary: Everyone has a past, but yours seemed to haunt you. You've tried to move forward with a normal life, but the day comes when that's not possible anymore. When Sheriff Beau Arlen enters your life, you're certain he is going to judge you just like everyone else in town does. But something about Beau is different.

Warnings: Child abduction, language, gun descriptions

Word Count: ~2.4k

The ride to Beau’s trailer was mostly silent. As he pulled up the dirt drive, you took in your surroundings. This wasn’t really where you expected the Sheriff of the town to live; it was hardly a trailer—it looked more like a tin can, but it was quaint. The mountains behind were illuminated by the moonlight. Even in the darkness, you felt peace. 

“You live here?” You asked as he shifted the car into park. 

“Yes ma’am,” he sighed as he opened his door and you followed suit. “It’s not much, but then again, I don’t need much.” He smiled. In the glow of the moon, you saw his dimple again. 

“It’s quiet out here,” you chimed as you pulled your backpack from the floorboard and closed the car door behind you. You allowed him to lead the way as he walked to the steps that led to the trailer door. 

“It is,” he agreed. He pulled open the door and walked in, but held it open for you to assure it wouldn’t hit you on your way through. 

“Thanks,” a small smile pulled at your lips. 

Beau glanced around the small living area and pulled a hand down over his mouth with a sigh. “Alright, is there anywhere you can think Jackson may have took her?” He asked you as he pulled out a map from a drawer in his living room and opened it up on the table. 

“I gave the FBI all the locations earlier,” you said softly as you approached the kitchen table just beside him and glanced over the map. 

In your close proximity, your senses were overwhelmed with a woodsy cologne—it was something you had briefly noticed when he had pressed you up against the wall earlier, but your brain had been too distraught and overwhelmed to process. 

“There was a garage he used to own, and a storage unit. But I’m guessing they would have checked there, right?” You glanced at him. His face was pensive, deep in thought, as he grazed over the map in front of him. 

“One would hope,” he mumbled. You noticed how he chewed gently on his bottom lip, just like you did when you were focused on something. “Anywhere else? A camping spot or hiking trail? Anything that you can think of? Maybe somewhere you’ve been with him before, or some place you know he liked to go?”

You paused for a moment as you wracked your brain. Your eyes trailed over the map as you tried to think back to the days when you knew Jackson–the old Jackson. “There,” you said suddenly. “When I was pregnant with Bailey,” when things were good, you thought to yourself. “We’d camp up off that trail.” 

“That’s a good enough lead for me,” Beau stated as he folded the map to keep the trail in view. After, he started to gather items around his trailer—blankets, flashlights, matches. You watched him for a moment. 

“Are we…are you taking me there?” You asked blankly. You didn’t expect him to follow through with what you had hoped would be the plan. 

He paused his movements for only a moment, before he shook his head with a smile. “I’d love to not take you, but like you said earlier…you don’t seem to follow directions well,” he chuckled. “So I figure I either take you with me, or I go out alone, you venture to find your way by foot. But then you get lost in these mountains—which you don’t wanna do, by the way. Have you seen the coyotes and mountain lions?” He shuddered. “And then I’d be lookin’ for a little girl and her stubborn-as-hell mother.” 

A smile tugged at your lips. He was keeping his promise. You had rotated through so many emotions in the last twelve plus hours. You were exhausted and so desperate to find Bailey, your eyes blurred over with tears. 

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” he grumbled playfully as he finished packing the duffel bag. You took him by surprise when you threw your arms around his neck. But then you surprised both of you when your lips brushed against his stubbly cheek. 

You pulled back and tried to ignore the blush in your cheeks, but it was impossible to ignore how his cheeks mimicked yours. “Thank you,” you breathed. 

He cleared his throat. “Don’t thank me yet, darlin’,” he said gruffly. “We don’t know what we’re walking into.” 

You wiped at your eyes to rub the tears away with the back of your hand and nodded. “What can I do to help?”

He hesitated for a moment before he spoke again. “You ever shot a gun before?”

Your eyes widened and you shook your head back and forth. “I mean, when I was little my Dad always tried to get me to go hunting with him,” you tucked a fallen strand of hair behind your ear and looked at your feet. “I don’t like guns, Beau.”

“Listen, I get it. But I’m gonna need you to be able to defend yourself. That FBI agent was right, we don’t know if Jackson was working with anyone or if anybody else is out there lookin’ for Bailey right now,” he explained. “I’m gonna need you to get yourself comfortable real quick.”

He went to a gun cabinet and used a key from his pocket to unlock it. He glanced back at you and then looked at the row of weapons. After some contemplation, he picked up a smaller gun. He made sure to keep it pointed at the ground. 

“Beau, I really don’t wanna use that,” your throat felt dry. You had never felt comfortable with any kind of weapon. 

“And the goal is that you won’t have to,” he explained. “But I really need you to have something. I can’t send you in there blind and defenseless.”

“We’re wasting time, Bailey could be out there right now by herself…or worse,” you couldn’t let your mind go there. 

“I’m about to give you the quickest rundown in history,” he put the gun in his waistband. You caught the way his hip disappeared into a V down into his jeans. You gulped. 

He grabbed the duffel bag and pulled it over his shoulder, then grabbed the map and shoved it into his back pocket. 

“Grab your backpack,” he instructed before he made his way to the front door. You hurried behind him and down the steps to the truck as he locked up. You threw your backpack into his truck and waited for him. “Alright, let’s go over there quick.” He nodded towards the side of his trailer that was somewhat open land, but then disappeared into a cluster of trees into the mountain side. 

You followed, though somewhat hesitantly. He reached into his waistband once more and retrieved the firearm. 

“The safety’s on,” he said clearly as he held it out for you to take. You didn’t budge. “Come on, darlin’. I need you to work with me here.” You took a breath and reached out for the gun. 

It felt heavier in your hands than you thought it would, the metal sent a chill over your body. You shuddered. 

“It’s alright,” Beau eased as he placed his body behind you. You could feel his torso against your back, his mouth just above your ear. “Now, I want you to widen your stance a little bit. You want to be in constant control.” You moved your left foot out a bit. “Good, now hold it with both hands—like this.” He reached around from behind you and put his hands on yours. “I’m gonna turn off the safety,” he said slowly. “Just like this.” Your fingers followed along with his. 

“Beau, I don’t know…” your throat was dry, a mixture of the fear of holding a gun paired with the smell of his cologne and the way his body was pressed flush against yours. 

“You got this, darlin’,” he encouraged. “Now I want you to try to aim. Really focus on what your target is. There’s a Coke can on the tree stump up there. You see it?”

You nodded as you squinted to try to practice your aim. In the moonlight, you caught the shiny side of the soda can in your gaze.

“Now, when I tell you to, you’re gonna gently squeeze the trigger. It just takes a little push,” his voice was low and his breath warmed your ear. A shiver coursed through your body. “There’s gonna be a little kick back when it fires. It’s not a lot, but it can take you by surprise. I want you to keep your arms outstretched like this, okay?” You nodded again. “Alright, darlin’. When you’re ready—squeeze the trigger.” 

You did as he said as his arms stayed against yours to keep you steady. The sound of the discharge made you jump, but between Beau’s body and his hands pressed against yours, you didn’t jump too badly. As you opened your eyes, you saw you had missed your target. 

“It’s alright, you did good,” Beau cleared his throat as he stepped away from you. You realized you missed the warmth of his body once he moved away. 

“I missed it,” you sighed. 

“You closed your eyes, sweetheart,” he chuckled softly. “It’s alright. I really wanted you to feel it more than anything. I wasn’t going to send you guns blazing without actually firing one before.” He popped the safety on and holstered the weapon back in his jeans. “Let’s get a move on.” 

“That’s it? But I have no idea what I’m doing,” the nervousness crept through your voice. 

“It’s gonna be alright. I can assure you if we’re in real danger, your target’s probably gonna be a hell of a lot closer than that Coke can,” he gave you a reassuring smile and squeezed your shoulder. 

The both of you walked to his truck, Beau held your door open for you once again and closed it behind you. You couldn’t help but smile as you hoped you were just a few minutes away from seeing Bailey. 

Beau followed the map he had brought with him to get to the trail you had identified. While it was still dark out, the sun was just beginning to lift low in the sky and it sent out a dim orange glow over the mountain. 

“This is it,” you breathed as Beau slowed the truck. You didn’t see anything out of the ordinary and you felt your heart begin to sink down in your chest. 

“Alright, maybe he set up a camp off the trail, let’s walk around a bit,” it was as if Beau could read your mind. He shifted the truck into park and unbuckled his seat belt. You did the same. As you got out of the truck, you heard his voice again. “We gotta stay quiet, we don’t know if anyone else is here.” He reminded you. You nodded as he reached into the duffel and handed you a flashlight. Next was the weapon. “You remember? Safety’s on. Show me how to turn it off.” He watched your fingers as you fumbled with the gun. When it clicked, you knew you had succeeded. “There ya go.” Beau seemed proud. 

You mimicked his earlier action by tucking the gun in the waistband of your jeans and followed behind him as he started to walk. 

“Usually we’d set up a tent just down there,” you moved your flashlight to a spot off of the trail, tucked between rows of trees. “Should we split up?”

“Absolutely not,” he said firmly. He walked ahead, the sound of your boots crunching against tree branches and leaves sounded louder than it was. 

Just as you came to a clearing, you saw it—a tent. Your heart picked up speed in your chest and you felt the familiar feeling of tears blur your vision. 

“Beau…” you breathed. 

“Easy now, it might not even be her. We have no idea who’s in that tent,” he whispered back. He pulled his gun out of his waistband and nodded at you to do the same. You put the flashlight in your back pocket and drew the weapon Beau had given you. You couldn’t help the way it trembled as you walked. 

Beau approached first. You watched as he processed how to approach. “Excuse me for botherin’ you this early,” he cleared his throat. “I’m lookin’ for a way to get back to the trail, we’ve gotten lost.” He kept his gun low as he approached the front of the tent. 

There wasn’t any response, but you heard the fabric of the tent move slightly. Your heart was beating so hard, you felt like you could hear it in your ears. 

“Any chance you could direct us?” He asked again. 

There was another pause, and you thought you might go into cardiac arrest. But then you heard ever so softly, “…hello?” It was Bailey. 

Beau ripped the zipper to the tent down and Bailey screamed. You shined your flashlight into the tent, the light shaking as you trembled. 

She was alone. She was okay. “Bailey,” the sob fell from your mouth as you scrambled to get into the tent. 

“Mama!” Her cries matched yours as you reached her and clutched her to your chest. You pulled her body as tight as you could against yours and rocked gently back and forth. With your hand against the back of her head, you cried. 

“It’s alright, baby. I’ve got you,” you whispered through the tears. “You’re alright.”

You didn’t notice Beau step into the tent, but you felt his hand on your shoulder. Without another thought, your fingers gripped onto his jacket and pulled him towards you. He lost his balance a bit and tumbled down to your level. Tentatively, he brought his arms around both of you and held you tight. You felt his lips graze the top of your head. 

“You’re alright,” he repeated your words, but to you. “We got her back.” 

And for the first time since the afternoon before, you felt like everything was going to be okay.

A/N: Thank you for reading! I really struggled with this chapter for some reason, but I hope you liked it <3. Thank you for all of the likes, shares, comments & reblogs! I appreciate you all.

Also, I know literally nothing about guns--so the descriptions might be a bit off on how to actually use one. I contemplated scrapping this entire chapter and starting over, but I decided to leave it as is. Open to any and all feedback (it is appreciated!).

A preview of the next chapter:

Beau had called the FBI as he drove to the hospital. Everything had checked out—Bailey was unharmed. She was a little dehydrated, but otherwise, she was fine. She was scared and didn’t understand what had happened. You had assured her everything would be okay, but didn’t know how else to explain everything that had happened with her father. 

You sat in the back of Beau’s truck, your hands held tight to Bailey as you couldn’t bring yourself to let go. 

“Are you sure you aren’t hurt anywhere?” You asked her as your hands danced over her head, her arms. Your eyes moved over every inch of her to look for any injuries. 

“No, mama,” she said softly. “But I’m cold…and hungry.” 

Beau heard her words and cranked up the heat in the truck. You thanked him softly. He reached for the duffel again and leaned back to say, “There’s a granola bar in there and trail mix. Water, too. Make sure she’s hydrated.”

Series Masterlist Main Masterlist

Tag List: @jackles010378 @ladysparkles78 @zepskies @lacilou @lyarr24 @deans-spinster-witch @djs8891 @globetrotter28 @deans-baby-momma @k-slla @agentorange9595 @dragonfly92 @nancymcl @springsteeen @perpetualabsurdity @deanwinchestersgirl87 @mimi-luvzyu @jesllianaquilesrolonsworld @ultimatecin73 @spnfamily-j2 @impalaspixie @daughterofcain-67 @jasminewinter140 @stoneyggirl2 @rizlowwritessortof @marimarvelfan @jc-winchester @taylortot @thewritersaddictions @raisinggray @tabsluvsu

Want to join the Tag List? Click here!

[alexanicholsauthor]

One of the weirdest days ever…

My life is usually boring. I write, do my caregiver duties, and then fall back on some magazines, novels, manga, anime, movies, video games, or YouTube surfing. You know, the usual. I mostly stay inside these days (I’m basically one slap away from being a full-on hikikomori), as there isn’t much out there that’s interesting enough to make me venture out of my little safety bubble. Especially with all these shootings and crap going on.

Sometimes, however, I have to leave my bubble, so my Baby Squirrel and I hiss at the daylight and shakily make our way to wherever we have to go, quickly finish our business, then scuttle back to our lair as fast as our little furry feet can take us. Usually. Then there are some days that are so bizarre that they kind of make you glad you left the house for a change. Like the other day, when it seemed like there was so much weirdness building up and waiting to be released the second we left our bubble.

Our mission was simple: drop some packages off at the post office. Simple, right? Well…

There is a DART train we usually get on to go to Downtown Dallas that pretty much takes us straight to the post office, and it’s fairly close to where my baby squirrel lives. We began boarding the train, talking about what game we would play when we returned, when we stopped dead in our tracks as we saw a woman ¾ naked and peeing enthusiastically. In the train. She was on the other end of the boarding area about five feet away, so we could still board, but that didn’t stop her from peeing and stumbling about while she did so. The other passengers seemed to be ignoring her, though for the life of me, I have no idea how.

Several stops later some police officers came on the train and escorted her out, but not before she (for some reason) came wobbling towards me with wide eyes and a frightened look like I was going to save her or something. I wasn’t; I didn’t. The train reeked the entire rest of the way, which was a good half hour…

:shudder:

The only other interesting thing that happened on the train was this woman walking past me wearing a bandana that covered her entire head. Like, you couldn’t even see any of her forehead, face, or anything. It was all covered. I mean, I’m all for masking up in close proximity or around people of dubious hygiene and such – or if you have any sort of communicable disease – but the entire head? That was a first. I don’t even know how she could see through that motherfucker!

It only gets weirder, y’all…

So we finally got to the post office, right? Literally the first thing we hear is this old man arguing with the receptionist about taking his package, yelling at the top of his lungs that just because he has COVID doesn’t mean he can’t mail things out. He was completely unmasked, mind you, and the receptionist seemed about three seconds away from decking him.

The only words I really heard at first was that he had COVID, so I immediately took my baby squirrel and got far away from him. She, as a cancer survivor who isn’t entirely in the clear yet, does not need her compromised immune system exposed to someone walking around with COVID – especially someone with no mask on. So we waited, and I barely blinked as I watched this dude, but finally he took his package and left the building, obviously disgusted.

Some people just… I don’t know. The way they think just baffles me…

Anyway, fast forward through a myriad of tiny events to the end of the day, and just when I thought things couldn’t get any stranger, we decided to call it a night and go to bed. As we often do before sleeping, we turned on TikTok to entertain ourselves.

It was all fairly normal until we decided to watch one more video and then call it a night.

That video? You’re going to think I’m lying, but I’m honestly not: it was of a real-life pigeon body slamming a real-life kitten and then repeatedly wing-slapping it. All we could do was look at each other and nearly die from laughing.

It was the perfect punctuation for our bizarre day…

[jaeyunverse]

hide and seek

pairing: na jaemin x fem!reader

genres: fluff, angst, mild crack, mutual pining, best friends to lovers

wc: 5525

warnings: profanity, mc is not very good at expressing her feelings (lmk if i’ve missed smth!)

summary: a game of hide and seek with your cousins forces you and jaemin to camp out in a cramped space together. they say close proximity and darkness make people do things they usually don’t, and you’re no exception to this fact. after all, you do confess to him. ​

note: hii welcome to another episode of me reposting my old works LMFAO i’ve hit a bit of a block and i wanted to see if editing any of my drafts got me back into the flow of writing! i hope you guys enjoy this fic :D feedback is always appreciated <3 

masterlist

You hated babysitting your three five-year-old cousins.

You loved them with all your heart, but they were too loud, too bubbly, too messy, too energetic, and just too much in general. Nothing kept them interested for more than ten minutes and for some reason, they loved to torture you.

The moment you’d sit down to relax, they’d run up to you and start whining. They’d poop when you were eating, spill their food while you were showering and wipe their snotty faces with your clothes despite having a handkerchief pinned to the front of their shirts.

And God, they asked so many questions.

Why aren’t there any more dinosaurs? Why can’t I stay up as late as you do? Why can’t Peppa Pig come to my birthday? Why do we hide our private parts from other people? Why does mommy wear a diaper?

You had long given up on quenching their curiosity. It wasn’t like it was your job to tell them how babies were made anyway.

You would have never babysat kids if it weren’t for your aunt, Hajoon. You admired her and looked up to her. She was a divorcee and had raised her set of triplets, Jeonghoon, Jihoon and Junghoon, all on her own while completing her Ph.D. simultaneously.

She now worked in a law firm and kicked ass every day. You’d have done anything for her. Plus, it didn’t hurt that she was paying you tons. Considering the fact that you only looked after the triplets for a couple of hours after school, you definitely did not deserve the bank you made. No way in hell were you going to be an ungrateful bitch and complain.

“Oh, come on,” Shin Ryujin, one of your best friends, complained from the other side of the phone. “I thought you didn’t babysit on weekends.”

“Yeah, I know,” you replied, sighing. The kids were watching a movie in the living room while you were in the kitchen, making extra popcorn for them. “Aunt Hajoon had to go to court today, so I volunteered. It’s an important case.”  

“Well, why can’t she just enrol them in a nursery? Why do you have to take care of them all the time?” Ryujin demanded. “I’m sure the staff in a daycare is far more qualified to look after them.”

“Ryujin,” you whined. “I told you she’s way too protective of them. She’s a single, working mother, for God’s sake!”

You sandwiched your phone between your shoulder and ear, picking up the three bowls of popcorn you had just made. As you walked towards the triplets and handed the bowls over to them, Ryujin spoke up once again.

“What about your mother? Can’t she look after the kids for an hour?”

“My parents work on Saturday, Ryujin. You know that.” From your peripheral, you saw the boys shooing you away. You winced and smiled at them apologetically, leaving so that they could watch their movie without any disturbances.

“Y/N!” she cried. “Our group’s been planning to go to the new cafe for so long! You can’t just back out of something we decided over two weeks ago!”

“I’m sorry!” you exclaimed, utterly exasperated. This entire conversation was going nowhere. You just wanted to relax in your room while the triplets watched the movie and stayed out of your hair. “You guys go ahead without me. I promise I won’t ditch next time.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t believe you,” she muttered angrily.

“Yeah, well, I don’t care,” you snapped and cut the call. Why couldn’t she understand you were busy? That you were helping out a relative in a time of need. Was it so wrong of you to put your family first?

Shaking your head, you trudged to your room upstairs and collapsed on your bed. You sighed heavily and closed your eyes. Just ten minutes of silence and peace—that was all you wanted.

As it turned out, the universe hated you.

“Y/N!”

You groaned.

The door to your bedroom was thrown open, and Junghoon, Jihoon and Jeonghoon jumped on top of you with what sounded like a war cry. You doubled over in pain and pushed them off you as gently as you could.

“The movie’s over, Y/N!” Junghoon chirped and violently shook your shoulders. “Play with us!”

“What? Already?” you asked, voice wobbling because of how hard you were being swayed. You didn’t even have the energy to remove the death grip he had on you.

“Yep!” Jihoon replied with a wide smile. Junghoon finally let go of you and joined his brothers. “We’re bored and we want to play Hide and Seek with you.”

“Well, what about your popcorn?” You pushed yourself up and sat cross-legged on your bed, the three of them sitting the same way in front of you. “Finish it and then we can play.” 

That would give you at least five more minutes to rest and prepare yourself for the game.

The triplets were really, really good at Hide and Seek and had their own set of rules. The first person to be caught was to be punished and somehow, you were always the loser. You suspected foul play but let them off the hook because they got pissy when things didn’t go their way.

And pissy children are absolute pains in the ass.

“We’re not hungry anymore.” Jeonghoon made a sour face. “Popcorn is only tasty while watching a movie, and by the time you made it, the credits started playing. You’re too slow, Y/N.”

“Hey!” you protested and threw a pillow at his face. Jeonghoon dodged it easily, giggling. “I made popcorn when you told me to make popcorn! It’s not my fault you asked me to make it at the end of the movie.”

He pouted. “Whatever. Just play with us!” 

Grabbing your hand, he got off the bed and began tugging you along. Jihoon grabbed your other hand and pulled you as well while Junghoon pushed you from the back. 

You sighed.

You were about to make up another excuse and shoo them away when the doorbell rang. The triplets perked up at the same time and ran out of your room, wanting to see if it was their mother who had come to pick them up. You frowned, getting off your bed. It was just four in the evening and Aunt Hajoon wasn’t supposed to come until after dinner.

As you walked out of your room and down the stairs, you yelled, “Don’t open the door, guys! Wait for—”

You stopped in your tracks and let out a small laugh when you saw who was standing on your porch. Ryujin stood with a box of pastries in her hand and a wide smile on her face. The rest of your friend group—consisting of Jeno, Mark, Renjun, Jaemin, Donghyuck, Chenle, Jisung and Yeji—looked up at you from behind her.

Jeno waved at you with a cocky smile. “You didn’t come with us, so we came to you.”

“You guys missed me that much, huh?” you joked as you let them in your house, directing them towards the living room.

“I didn’t,” Jaemin replied nonchalantly. 

You rolled your eyes and said, “I wasn’t asking you.”

“Oh.” He raised an eyebrow and shoved both his hands into his denim pockets, staring down at you with mischievous eyes. “Maybe you should pick up a dictionary some time, Y/N. You see, the word ‘guys’ applies to the general public around you. And since I am the general public around you—”

“Yeah, I get it, Jaemin—” you waved him away— “You’re a smartass. Let’s move along.”

Said boy gave you a cheeky smile and plopped down on the couch, tugging your arm and making you sit next to him.  Mark took up the spot on your other side.

“Aw, man. The lovebirds are at it again,” Chenle groaned.

“We’re not lovebirds!” you exclaimed. At the same time Jaemin said, “And what about it?” 

You glared at him. He only shrugged, as if to say, What? I’m not lying.

You didn’t exactly not find Jaemin attractive, you just didn’t like admitting that you did. Plus, he was kind of annoying and commented on everything you did.

Like, a few days ago, the two of you had tagged along with Jeno and Yeji to an ice-cream parlour. The moment you had ordered a vanilla ice cream, Jaemin had remarked, “Oh, look at the coincidence. Your flavour’s the same as your personality—basic.”

You had smacked his shoulder and pinched his waist hard. He’d only grinned at you.

“Yeah,” Jisung snorted. “Keep telling that to yourself, Y/N.”

You were about to protest, but Junghoon cut you off from where he was seated. “Aren’t you going to introduce your group to us?”

Your eyes widened and you hastily said, “Right.” 

Pointing at each of your friends, you took their names. “Jeno, Yeji, Ryujin, Jisung, Chenle, Donghyuck, Mark, Renjun and Jaemin, meet my cousins—” you pointed at the boys— “Junghoon, Jihoon and Jeonghoon.”

“How do you have so many friends?” Jeonghoon asked you, visibly confused. “You don’t look like the type to have so many friends.”

You gasped and narrowed your eyes at him, completely offended. Renjun snorted and said to the triplets, “She isn’t. We took her in because we have a soft spot for loners.”  

“Shut up, Renjun,” you grumbled. “If anyone’s the loner over here, it’s you.”

“Says the girl who always skips our meets,” Yeji snickered. “You didn’t come to the movies last time because you claimed the season finale of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which, let me add, was available on OTT platforms to be viewed any time you wanted, was more important than us.”

“It was,” you deadpanned.

“Oh, I feel so loved and validated, Y/N.” Mark put a hand on his chest and looked at you with faux teary eyes. “Thank you for being there every time I needed you.”

You threw an arm around his neck and grinned. “You’re welcome.”

“So,” Jaemin interrupted loudly and brought his hands together. “Are we gonna eat those pastries or what?”

“But we wanted to play Hide and Seek,” Jihoon whined and stomped in place, crossing his hands over his chest. “I’m not hungry right now; I’m bored!”

“Yeah!” Junghoon and Jeonghoon seconded their brother at the same time. “We wanna play!”

You removed your hand from Mark’s shoulders and looked at your friends apologetically. “I’m so sorry, guys. I gotta play with them. You can carry on and eat at the cafe if you want. I heard the ambience is amazing.”

“We know, Y/N,” Donghyuck said, laughing. “We just came from there. We didn’t want to have another get together without you, so we got takeaway pastries for everyone in hopes of eating them here.” 

He got up, took a few steps towards where the triplets were sitting and dropped down on his knees. Smiling at them affectionately, he said, “There are pastries for you too. We can play before eating them if that’s what you want. Food is always tastier when you’re hungry.”

Your heart swelled, and your eyes suddenly welled up. How you’d lucked out and become friends with these amazing and considerate people, you had no idea. Subtly tipping your head backwards, you tried to push the tears back in.

“I guess I finally have a shot at winning the game, huh?”

You didn’t consider yourself rich, but your family definitely had enough money to be considered above the middle class.  

Your home was two storeys big with a huge attic at the top and a scary basement at the bottom. It consisted of seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, a gigantic living room, a spacious kitchen and a dumbwaiter.

The fact that your house was a lot like the one from Home Alone was an extra perk.

“So, how do we wanna do this?” you asked your cousins. “I don’t think just one person should become the seeker now that we have thirteen people playing. It’ll be fun to have a few more people searching.”

“I’m thinking the kids could search for us,” Ryujin piped up. She’d let herself into the kitchen a while back and had placed the large pastry box in your fridge. “None of us know the layout of your house very well, and it’ll probably take ages for us to find out where everyone’s hiding.”

“Yeah,” Jaemin added. “It could be kids versus adults.”

“We’re seventeen,” you pointed out.

“You’re seventeen,” he replied, flicking your forehead. “I’m eighteen.”

“Shut up. My birthday’s only a few weeks away. And don’t act so high and mighty; you’re barely a few months older,” you grumbled and grabbed his hand, shooting it down. It landed in your lap and stayed there, partially intertwined with your own. It felt so natural to hold Jaemin’s hand and have his warmth envelope you.

“What do we get if we win?” Junghoon asked. “We’ll search the house for a half-hour, and if we’re not able to find all of you by then, we’ll do what you want.”

Jeno frowned. “We don’t want anything from you. We’re just here to have fun—”

“Shut up, Jeno,” you interrupted him. Clearing your throat, you said to the triplets, “I’m gonna need you guys to listen to what I say and do what I tell you to do without any questions whenever you come over for the next month. I don’t want you to whine and cry and fight amongst yourselves. I want you to be well-behaved children.”

The three of them glanced at each other, some silent communication taking place between them. Finally, Jihoon nodded. “Fine. But if we win, you do The Dance in front of your friends.”

Your cheeks warmed as everyone looked at you with amused expressions and raised eyebrows. “Y/N,” Jisung drawled. “What is The Dance?”

“Nothing,” you squeaked. “I’m not gonna do The Dance. Ask for something else.”

“We don’t want anything else,” Jeonghoon countered with a wicked grin. “We want you to do The Dance. If you refuse, we’ll make your life a living hell.”

You paled. Children were evil, you realised. They were evil and they were very good at putting up facades of innocence. You bit your lip in contemplation and after a moment, sighed in defeat. You had a lot to gain if you managed to stay hidden. “Fine.”

All of them cheered. Jaemin whispered in your ear, “God, they’re so cunning and manipulative. Would have never thought five-year-olds could have those qualities.” 

You grunted in agreement, eyes throwing daggers at the siblings. “Tell me about it.”

You ripped your gaze away from them to look at Jaemin. What you didn’t realise was that his own face was turned towards yours, causing your lips to brush against his. 

Heat rushed to your cheeks.

You whipped your head the other way and let your unbound hair fall over your embarrassed face. Jaemin cleared his throat and untangled his hand from yours.

Fuck. You hadn’t realised you were still holding it. You closed your eyes shut as a pained expression flashed across your face. Great fucking job—

“I was thinking we could increase the difficulty level a bit,” Chenle suggested. 

You swallowed your sigh of relief, mentally thanking him for giving you something else to listen to and focus on. 

“You guys know the house very well, and that already gives you an advantage over us,” he said to the boys. “You could find us within ten minutes, much less thirty. But what if you had something to protect while you busted us. Something you’d need to keep an eye on so that we couldn’t destroy it.”

“Are you suggesting a game of Kick the Can?” Mark asked flatly.

“Is that what it’s called?” Chenle frowned. 

“Yes, Chenle,” Ryujin said and rolled her eyes. “We know you didn’t have a very outdoorsy childhood, but come on, everyone knows that game."

The boy offered nothing more than a shrug.

“Kick the Can sounds good!” Jihoon exclaimed. “We haven’t played in so long.” The other two agreed, practically jumping up and down in their seats.

And so it was decided. The kids would count to a hundred in the backyard, and the rest of you would scatter and hide in the house. The triplets weren’t allowed to stand guard by the can for more than a minute so that the teenagers could have a shot at winning the game.

If all of you were caught within thirty minutes, you’d have to do The Dance. If at least one of you managed to kick the can or remain out of sight for half an hour, Junghoon, Jihoon and Jeonghoon would have to give in to your demands.

Oh, it was going to be a fun game.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fu—

This was terrible. This was so, so terrible. You took it all back. Your friends were fucking traitors, and you were going to throttle them to death the moment you got your hands on them.

Those bitches hadn’t even waited to betray you. Five minutes into the game and half of them were caught. From where you were crouched near the attic window, you could practically see Hyuck casually walk out of the house with his hands in his pockets.

The triplets grinned and announced, “Donghyuck is caught!”

Donghyuck even had the audacity to look bored as he mocked disappointment. “Oh, no!” he faked, his voice dull and muffled because of the distance. “I’m caught! You better stay hidden, Y/N. You don’t wanna lose to five-year-olds and perform your Dance."

You cursed under your breath and looked away from the backyard. Bringing your knees to your chest, you buried your head in your hands.

You didn’t want to perform The Dance. It was simply embarrassing. Your friends already teased you a lot and you didn’t want to give them any more blackmail material. Shit, you should’ve made a condition and said no recording of any sort.

While you were busy wallowing in hate and despair, you failed to notice that the conversation between your busted friends had died down. Your eyes widened a moment too late—right as the door to the attic was thrown open, and light footsteps shuffled towards you.

Breath hitching in your throat, you pulled your ass up and made a beeline towards the dumbwaiter. You couldn’t afford to let yourself get caught, especially not since you were probably the only person who could save yourself.  

Keeping an eye on your surroundings and straining your ears to figure out where exactly your cousin was, you repeatedly pushed the lift button. You cringed when the dumbwaiter began moving, the gears on the other side of the door shifting and creating noise as it was pulled up.

“Jisung’s caught!” Junghoon yelled from somewhere in the house, drowning the dull thrum of the dumbwaiter. The footsteps stopped—then increased their pace. As if the person were running.

“Coming!” Jihoon yelled, his voice indicating he was far enough to not be able to realise the dumbwaiter was in use. He was likely standing near the door. “I’ll search the attic first.”

The moment he finished the sentence, the lift came to a stop. You exhaled, heart thundering in your chest. With your hands, you pushed one half of the wooden door downwards and the other one upwards.

Your eyes widened when you saw the dumbwaiter wasn’t empty. Inside sat a cross-legged Jaemin, confusion and terror plastered all over his face.                    

“This thing moves?!”

Your left hand was immediately on his mouth, the other one going behind his neck for support. You shot him a warning glance that told him to shut the fuck up.

“Jihoon is here,” you mouthed while he sat inside, almost paralyzed. Something shone in Jaemin’s eyes. Against your palm, you felt the corner of his lip tug upwards, and with a jolt, you realised what it was.

The motherfucker wanted to sell you out.

Pressing your hand harder against his mouth and leaning forward until your faces were but a few inches away, you gritted, “Don’t you fucking dare.”

Jaemin laughed under his breath, hot breath fanning your clammy palm. Maintaining eye contact with you and not looking away for even a second, he wrapped his fingers around your wrist. Dread settled in you.

He was strong. You were not. Despite your death grip, he’d be able to remove your hand from his lips in one swift movement.

No way were you going to lose your last shred of dignity in front of your friends, and no way were you going to be the laughing stock of the entire school when Chenle posted the video of you flapping your arms like a bird on YouTube.

You had to make a move. 

Now.

To hell with it, you thought to yourself and with all your might, pushed Jaemin further into the dumbwaiter. He let out a small sound of surprise (which was thankfully muffled because of your hand), clearly thrown off guard by your sudden strength.

You stepped in and flung one of your legs on the other side of Jaemin’s body. Hand still pressed against his mouth and your body straddling his, you pressed the basement button with your elbow. 

The dumbwaiter door closed shut.

“What are you doing?” he exclaimed once he got over the initial shock of having you sitting in his lap.

“What are you doing?” you snapped in an accusatory tone, finally removing your hand from his mouth. “You were about to give me away, and I didn’t have a choice! I couldn’t exactly kick you out of the dumbwaiter without making any noise and exposing myself, so doing this—” you gestured between the two of you— “was the next best thing!”

Despite the darkness, you saw Jaemin’s lips stretch in a lazy grin. “I can’t say I disagree. This is the best thing that’s happened to me this month.”

“It’s the third of April,” you pointed out.

“It’s exam season. It’s not going to get any better.”

You rolled your eyes. Jaemin frowned. “Why is this thing not moving back down? You pressed a button, right?”

“Yeah.” Your forehead creased in confusion. You glanced at the dimly lit red button. “I did. See?”

“Oh, God,” Jaemin groaned. “Don’t tell me we’re stuck in this wooden box. No offence to you, by the way,” he added. “Being stuck in here with you like this is a dream come true.”

You laughed and lightly punched his shoulder. “The lift is old so it stops working sometimes. No need to worry. Plus, you being stuck in here is beneficial to me. You won’t be able to escape and rat out my location to the kids anymore.”

“True,” Jaemin agreed, snorting.

Suddenly, you were aware of all your surroundings. The small box the two of you were crammed into, the darkness, the close proximity of your bodies and the silence that enveloped you.

Jaemin knew you liked him; that you were down bad for him the same way he was for you. Yet, he never asked you why you always rejected him. Why you never accompanied him for school dances and denied being attracted to him in front of everyone.

Jaemin gave you your space despite not knowing the reasons behind your actions. He played along when you pretended to be annoyed by him to hide your feelings. From whom, he didn’t know. Your entire friend group could tell you were attracted to each other.

You wished you could tell him that you were hiding your feelings from yourself. That you were scared of acknowledging the thing between the two of you. That confessing made people vulnerable and you didn’t want to be vulnerable.

You trusted Jaemin with your life, but it was the overall thought of laying yourself bare in front of someone that scared you. Being in a relationship makes people open to getting all kinds of hurt.

Maybe not wanting to take that risk made you a coward.

Growing up, you weren’t used to being told you were loved. Your parents were very reserved and didn’t express any emotions other than disappointment and anger. You had been raised in an atmosphere where talking about feelings was considered uncomfortable and unnecessary—a waste of time.

You didn’t know how to bring up certain topics, how to make sure people close to you knew how much they meant to you. How to tell people that you cared.

Jaemin didn’t mind being kept in the dark. He knew there was more to you than you let show, that there were some things that you couldn’t share with him. It hurt knowing you couldn’t tell him what was gnawing at you, but he was willing to wait for you. He was satisfied knowing the girl he had fallen for liked him back.

He knew that even though you didn’t verbalise your feelings, they existed.

Your daily bickering, the times you would lean into him without realising, the smile on your face when he would crack a joke and the playful roll of your eyes when he would exaggerate his feelings towards you—all of it was enough for Jaemin.

He knew you liked it when he teased you. That you didn’t mind when he expressed his feelings for you in front of everyone. That you actually found some sort of comfort when he did so.

Your relationship was weird and probably unhealthy. The lines in it were very blurred. You both may have been unhappy with it, but you had silently come to terms with it.

You were okay with it.

Until now.

As you sat in his lap in silence, both your hands on his shoulders and his arms wrapped around your waist to keep you in place, you realised you didn’t just want to be okay with your relationship.

You wanted to be happy. You wanted Jaemin to be happy. He deserved to be told he was loved and appreciated by you. He deserved to get back everything he gave you.

“Jaemin,” you quietly called. He hummed in response, waiting for you to continue. “Do you like me?”

It was a stupid, stupid question. But you wanted to be sure. You wanted to know one last time before you spoke your heart out.

He laughed. “Yeah, duh. Did you not hear me agreeing with Chenle when he called us lovebirds?”

When you didn’t reply, Jaemin’s amusement died. He cleared his throat and shifted under you, sitting up straighter. “Yeah, I like you, Y/N,” he repeated. His gut twisted with nervousness. He hoped the conversation was going where he thought it was going. “I like you very much.”

“I think—” you swallowed the lump in your throat, daring not to look at him. “I think I like you too.”

“Yeah?” he asked tentatively. “You like me too?”

“Yeah.” You nodded, toying with your fingers now. “Very much.”

Jaemin smiled his widest smile. He felt giddy inside. And happy. He felt so happy to have finally heard you say the words. “Would you look at that? Turns out not betraying the girl you like is a good thing.”

You laughed under your breath and leaned forward, resting your forehead on his shoulder. Jaemin wrapped his arms around you and pulled you closer.

You were so glad he hadn’t made a big deal out of it. Your confession hadn’t been grand. Heck, it was probably very lame, but it had taken a great deal of effort on your part to finally get it done. It felt like a weight was lifted off your shoulders.

Balling your fists against his chest, you buried your nose in the crook of his neck and breathed him in. “I’m stealing your soap.”

“Oh, come on,” he whined, his deep voice rumbling in your ear. “Was stealing my heart not enough for you?”

You laughed again. “Shut up.”

“You know,” Jaemin began, “all your laughing is going to finish off our oxygen.”

You moved away and stared at him with raised eyebrows. “I know I almost failed science last semester, but it doesn’t take an A grade to know that you’re bullshitting.”

“Am not!” he protested. “Laughing allows stale air to escape your lungs, thus allowing more oxygen to enter them. You’re going to suck all the oxygen and kill us today. I guess it’s partially my fault too. I mean, I am very funny, and people often find it hard to—”

You rolled your eyes and leaned forward, putting your forehead against his. Jaemin stopped talking. 

“Then,” you drawled, wrapping your arms around his neck. “Why don’t we stop breathing for some time to make the oxygen last longer? I hear kissing doesn’t allow people to breathe.”

“It actually does,” Jaemin remarked, clearly not picking up on the very obvious hint you had dropped. “If your noses are angled—”

“Shut up and kiss me, you stupid, fucking, utterly oblivious smartass.”

His lips were on yours immediately. With a jolt, you realised the fucker had been playing around with you. He wanted to hear the words from your lips, loud and clear. If it weren’t for the fact that he was an excellent kisser, you would’ve shoved him away and smacked him already.

Cupping your cheek with a hand, Jaemin deepened the kiss and pulled you closer by the waist. You raked your hands through his silky hair and opened your mouth to him. He shoved his tongue inside immediately, as if he was waiting for the moment you’d part your lips.

You’d never kissed anyone, so you could only sit on Jaemin’s lap and let him take complete control. His tongue explored every inch of your mouth, the hand he had around your waist trailing up and down your spine.

You shivered and hesitantly began to break the kiss. You needed more air. Jaemin nipped at your lower lip once before allowing you to move away.

“Tired already?” he chuckled. 

Panting, you shot him a look. “You have practice; I don’t.”

Jaemin looked mildly surprised for a moment. “What practice? You were my first kiss, Y/N.”

“You’re kidding,” you deadpanned. “That was too good to be a first kiss.”

Jaemin grinned at you smugly. “I guess I’m a natural then.” 

You rolled your eyes. “Right.”

A comfortable silence ensued after. You digested everything that had happened in the dumbwaiter. Where did your relationship with Jaemin stand now that you had finally confessed and kissed him? Was Jaemin your boyfriend now? Was this going too fast? Were you—

“Hey,” Jaemin called softly and touched your arm. You glanced up at him from under your lashes. “We don’t have to figure everything out right now. We can go slow, see where this newly acknowledged thing takes us. If that’s what you want,” he added.

You could have kissed him again for saying that. Instead, you settled for a grateful smile. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that very— HOLY MOTHERFUCKING GOD, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!”

Not being able to handle your and Jaemin’s weight for so long, the wooden floor of the dumbwaiter gave way beneath you. You began free-falling towards the ground along with him.

The fall ended not even a second after it began, the impact far lesser than you had imagined, even with Jaemin taking most of it. As you opened your eyes and glanced up at the shaft, you realised the dumbwaiter was not far from the ground at all.

Just a few feet at the most. You let out a sigh of relief. Jaemin groaned under you. “Ow, fuck. I can’t feel my goddamn legs. How long were you sitting on my lap,Y/N?”

You were about to reply when the shaft door opened beside you and Junghoon poked his head inside.

He grinned and yelled, “Jaemin and Y/N are caught! We win!”

Before you could stop him and call him out for cheating, he ran out of the basement, no doubt to inform his brothers about the good news. You heaved a sigh and collapsed on top of Jaemin again, resting your head on his chest.

“Aw,” he cooed and ruffled your hair. You grumbled and swatted his hand away. “Looks like you lost.”

“Nuh-uh.” You clicked your tongue and raised your head to look at him again. “I’m pretty sure I won. I confessed and kissed you today. God, I am on a roll!”

“Stop being so fucking adorable. I will fucking kiss you again and I will do it right here, in the dust, without giving a shit about hygiene.”

You shrugged. “I mean, who’s stopping you?”

“You’re disgusting.”

“Really? Is my excitement to kiss you disgusting?” 

Jaemin paused. “When you put it like that…” 

Grinning, you got off him and exited the dumbwaiter shaft. “Come on, lover boy. You don’t wanna miss The Dance, do you?”

He gave you a wicked smile and got up as well. Patting himself down to get rid of the dust sticking to his clothes, he nonchalantly said, “You’re going viral on TikTok today, Y/N.”

Fuck.

[skeletondeerart]

I have no idea on how to explain this but the reader sacrifices themselves for Aloy. just that go crazy with it hah <3

My Sun.

Aloy x Fem Reader | Word Count: 2690

It was a regular morning for Aloy and I, we had set out at the crack of dawn to hunt apex scrappers for parts of a new prototype spike thrower that I was working on. I haphazardly adjust my pack on my back as I try and keep in step with my lover as we trudged through the thick foliage of the Tenakth lowlands.

Aloy proceeded over a fallen log that spanned across an icy river below, she effortlessly made it across as she turned around and shot me a smile as she waved me onwards. Gripping the straps on my pack tightly I cautiously tiptoed my way through, yet halfway across my foot slipped on a patch of moss, I saw my world flip upside down as I closed my eyes, anticipating the icy depths. A startled noise slipped out of my throat I flailed desperately, yet a warm arm shot out and gripped onto one of my arms yanking me the rest of the way across.

A breathy laugh fell from Aloy’s lips as she pulled me into her chest, my ear touched her heart as I felt it erratically thumping in her chest. My face blossomed in embarrassment at my slip up and the close proximity we were currently in, no matter how long we have been together I can’t shake the flush from my cheeks.

“Thanks for saving my ass back there.” I chuckled as I grabbed fistfuls of her cape, trying to pull her closer to my form. With gentle hands, Aloy patted my back as she slowly parted with me giving me another gentle smile as she slipped her hand into mine now walking alongside me.

“Just don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself.” Aloy justified with a soft smile in my direction, my heart felt like it was set ablaze as I seemed to fall in love with her, even more, every single day. I couldn’t help the smile that grew as I gained a spring in my step and slowly swung our entwined hands as we walked.

We travelled like this for another half hour before I got this sinking feeling in my gut, it seemed like Aloy sensed it too as she pulled me against her and nocked an arrow into her bow. A twig crack was all it took for Aloy to draw her hand and call into the air, a commanding and threatening tone overtaking her.

“Come out with your hands raised or I fire!” Aloy shouted, the bite in her tone sending shivers down my spine, I slowly drew my spear in preparation for an ambush, I faced myself back-to-back to Aloy to eliminate blind spots and waited with bated breath for even the slightest indication of movement.

It was so sudden, not even the keenest of ears could have caught it, a single dart embedded itself into my neck where my armour didn’t quite reach, the effect was immediate. My world swayed as my breath hitched, the penetration of needle to skin and muscle, injecting a sedative substance straight into my bloodstream, within seconds my knees gave out and I gave out a meek call as my eyes rolled back into the depths of my skull.

“Aloy…”

My form dropped to the ground near lifeless as my bones became gelatine and all I could do was watch Aloy make erratic shots in the direction the dart came from; it was jarring compared to how strong her composure usually was faced with a threat. That’s also when Aloy staggered and dropped to the ground with a thud. I couldn’t bear to keep my eyes open as I began to slip into unconsciousness, the last thing my mind registered was heavily tattooed arms taking hold of my own and dragging me across the forest floor.

My body ached as I came back to consciousness, my mind throbbed as I peel myself from the jagged planks of the cell I was tossed into. My eyes came into focus as I took in the new environment. It was a small Tenakth camp, not any of the ones that Aloy or I have run across in the past. We were deep in the lowlands now, completely secluded, so much so that even the Sun’s rays did not dare reach here.

I was in my cell, bound by chains from a tree around five metres above the ground. My wrists chafe with the rope knotted around them, I halted with bated breath as I heard voices below us, afraid I would alert them that I was awake. That’s the moment my eyes caught Aloy. She was still unconscious and hanging in a cell to my right. The side of her face was bloody as if someone hit her to keep her pliant. My blood boiled as my teeth dug into my lower lip trying to stop myself from spiralling on what our captors did to her when I was out.

I felt around my person and confirmed that they had completely stripped us of our armour and weaponry. I shuffled across my cell to try and peek through the bars to see who we were up against.

“The redhead, yeah she’s the one they call the ‘saviour’. I reckon her head will be worth a pretty shard ay?” A man with a scar on his left cheek spoke, his mouth full of some sort of meat.

“I think the other chick was her partner, what do you think we should do with her? She’s not worth as much as the other one.”

“Leave her for the machines, or just kill her ass!” Another one with a missing eye chuckled as the other three members burst into laughter at the prospect of my demise. Bile rises into my mouth at the thought of getting shredded by machines or slowly bleeding out by my captors’ hands.

“Right let’s get on with it then, boss is waiting for them, bet he is gonna give us a fat raise with these ones.” The scarred one smiled, I could almost smell him from my cage.

As they all stood from the campfire I dropped back down and shut my eyes, I could feel the chain slackening as I was lowered to the ground. I stayed limp as I’m tossed into a wagon and withheld a grunt from escaping me at the impact. Soon after I feel Aloy land to my left, and a wheeze left her as she slowly comes to.

Her emerald eyes crack open yet quickly shut again at the sudden light, her gaze fell upon me as concern swirls within her irises.

‘Don’t move yet’ I mouth silently as I watch our captors disassemble the camp. A silent understanding bloomed between us, as our captor's backs were turned I ever so carefully inched my hand into Aloy’s, I gingerly take hold of her fingers, battered black and blue as we wait for their next move. As the Tenakth mount their chargers we lay lifelessly as the wagon began to move.

Twenty minutes pass as we arrive at an arena, my eyes widen in shock at all the Tenakth scream and shout in glee as an Utaru warrior fought a hoard of Clamberjaws. I watch the Utaru fall as severed limbs and blood sprayed into the sand, my breath hitching in my throat at the sight.

Soon after Aloy and I were kneeling before the ‘boss’ himself. A grizzled man covered head to foot in tribal tattoos and missing one of his arms. I was more aware of my bounds than ever, my skin inflamed and aggravated as I had struggled in the grips of our captors. I felt sick as I stare up at the man before me, I could sense Aloy seething from her place on my left as I felt her elbow bump against mine – a subtle way of comfort – I was scared beyond belief.

I didn’t want to die.

“My – my, what have we here? The Saviour of Meridian and her little girlfriend? Oh, what a treat! My customers will be pleased to witness this.” Our eyes widen in shock as the man whistled as he left the room, one of our captors then came up behind us and tried to strike Aloy, at that moment I sprung up and lunged at the man. My elbow connects directly to his temple sending him stumbling back. The commotion brought a hoard of Tenakth rushing to our location as the doors swung open and we were face to face with spears and blades.

My breath hitched in my throat as Aloy shoved me towards the open window.

“GO! I CAN HANDLE THIS” she commanded; this was an order. Yet I couldn’t leave her alone like this.

“NO! I JUST CAN’T LEAVE YOU HERE!” I retaliated as I gained my footing and moved into a defensive stance.

The Tenakth didn’t tolerate our talking as they charged forward, Aloy ducking and punching the oncoming waves of soldiers. I joined the fray as I incapacitated man after man. Yet we were slowly overwhelmed.

I was the first to drop as a blade dug into my stomach. Crimson leaked through the fabric of my shirt a yelp leaving my lips.

“(Y/n)!” Aloy cried as she knocked another Tenakth to his knees, yet she didn’t see the man sneak up behind her with his blade raised. My head shot up as I saw the scene unfold before me.

My body moved without even thinking.

I had sprung from the ground despite my aggravated wounds and collided with Aloy’s side knocking her out of the trajectory of the blade.

It was so sudden; my nerves were numb with adrenaline and shock as the blade pierced my back. The blade glid through flesh and bone. I strangled scream erupted through me as my spine gave way to the metal.

My eyes clouded with fear and agony as I collapse into a heap paralysed, my vision fell in and out as I watched Aloy incapacitate the rest of the men. I couldn’t comprehend the severity of my wounds; my mind was solely focused on Aloy’s well-being as blood seeped into the wooden floorboards. With a final hit the last of the men fell, it was the moment that Aloy really looked at my condition.

Her face contorted in a way I’ve never seen.

One of absolute dread.

Yet she tried to mask her emotions, putting on a comforting gaze as she drops to the ground beside me, I tried to push myself back up, but my limbs refused to move. Anxiety consumed me as I started to hyperventilate, yet this only caused me to lose blood faster and my ribs to ache terribly.

Aloy ripped her shirt into strips and balled them into my stomach to try and staunch the bleeding, I let out a bloodcurdling scream as the red-hot pain consumed my entire being. The fabric staunching the gaping hole, yet Aloy held strong and continued to press on the fabric despite her conscious screaming at her to ease my suffering. Without our focus’ we couldn’t contact the group at all, we were stranded and running out of time.

“I think I’m dying A…” I whimper, all I wanted right now is to wrap my arms around her, yet I couldn’t…

“No, no you’re not, you’re going to be fine.” Aloy's smile wobbled as she eased me into her lap.

“Please… don’t leave me here alone…” I gasp out as my tears only hindered my breathing more.

“Didn’t think of leaving you for a second pretty girl,” Aloy whispered as she raised her hand gingerly to wipe the tears away from my cheeks. I turned my head to rest my cheek further into her embrace, even if it caused a broken sob to escape me as my body flashed in agony at the trauma.

“I don’t wanna die. Not here. I wanna go home Aloy, I want to feel the Sun’s warmth.” I croaked as I gaze into Aloy’s shimmering eyes. She was my guardian angel, I’m so glad I can call her mine.

“Stop saying that, you're ok. You’re not dying on my watch. I promised to protect you and I don’t break my promises.” Aloy murmured into my blood-soaked hair. With gentle hands, she picked up my body as I bit down the scream of agony.

She knew exiting through the doors was suicide, so she carefully shifted us out the window, watching akin to a Stormbird for patrolling Tenakth. By some miracle we managed to escape without a hitch, Aloy had overridden a charger to get us out of the Clan lands faster.

It felt like I was walking on air… I felt like I was watching my body from an outside perspective. I felt so weak, so useless… so broken.

I was fading in and out of reality.

That’s when I felt it. The warm embrace of my lover and the Sun, yet I think Aloy’s arms are much warmer than the Sun’s anyway.

Because Aloy IS my Sun.

The gentle rays tickled my battered skin, soaking in its warmth as Aloy brings me closer, my pain was starting to ebb away. Yet that may be the adrenaline finally taking effect. My body was completely lax as my nerves were severed; I couldn’t completely understand what was going on anymore but as I looked up all I could do was focus on my lover.

From the way that her fiery locks flowed down her shoulders like lava, to the way her freckles shone in the sunlight.

She was truly my Guardian angel. My Sun.

“Aloy” I murmured as I pressed my forehead further into her chest. That got her attention, her head snapping in my direction as the charger continued along the path.

“Yes, my love?”

“Stop.”

“…what?” Aloy responded, her breath hitching in her throat.

“let’s enjoy the sunrise together, please my darling” I whisper as my voice began to fail me.

“We are almost back at the base. Zo can heal you; I promise that you’re going to be fine” Aloy croaks, her usually strong resolve wavering as she knew just as well as I did that I would not make it back to base.

Tears gathered in her eyes like dewdrops at dawn as she understood what my wish was.

With a tearful exhale, Aloy’s arms trembled yet remained sturdy as she carefully brought the charger to a halt and carried me to a cliffside that overlooked flowing meadows blooming with wildflowers.

It was a stunning view, hues of oranges, reds, pinks, and gold bloomed across the sky, it was like a painting as the Sun’s rays touched the souls of the weary.

Aloy gently rested me in a patch of wild daisies as she held me lovingly in her embrace. I soon turned away from the scenery and just gazed toward the person who accepted me for who I truly was. The person who was there for me when the rest of society deemed me a lost cause. The person who walked beside me for the worst times in my life… and the best, the one who cherished me behind closed doors.

Aloy was everything to me, and I was so blessed to have called her mine.

“I love you Aloy, I love you so… so much,” I whisper as my vision began to waver.

“I love you more, my dear. More than you will ever know.”

“I know…” I tearfully muttered with a delicate smile as I fell silent, never to open my eyes again.

Aloy caressed my cheeks as I fell into death's open arms.

Cries of anguish bubbled to the surface like a geyser, erupting in waves that shook her to the core. For the saviour has lost HER saviour. The Sun’s rays enveloped the couple, bringing a sense of comfort to the redhead.

“Wait for me, my love” Aloy tearfully whispered against my forehead as her gaze moved from my features to the new day.

[parkerslatte]

Stood Up

Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Warnings: allusions to sex

Word Count: 1.7k

Summary: Y/N is excited about her date and when the night rolls around, she gets stood up. She calls the one person she knows will make her night better.

MASTERLIST

Requests Open

***

Y/N walked through the doors to the BAU with a radiant smile on her face. Spencer was the first to notice and couldn’t help but smile himself as her smile was infectious. She waved at him as he placed her bag down on her desk. The excitement coursing through her veins was still there from the phone call she had received that morning. 

“What’s got you so happy?” Emily questioned. 

“Well, you know that guy I told you about.” Y/N said, sitting on top of her desk.

“Which one, the blonde or brunette?” Emily questioned, taking a sip from her drink.

“The blonde,” Y/N clarified and Emily nodded, “Well the two of us have been talking non stopover the last couple of days and he asked me on a date tonight.” 

“Where are you going?” Emily asked.

“I don’t know, this fancy restaurant,” Y/N answered, “So I have an excuse to wear that dress I bought when we went shopping.”

“Ooh, the sexy one?” Emily perked up.

Y/N clicked her fingers, “That’s the one.”

“Well, after the date, I need details.” Emily stated, sitting at her own desk.

“Obviously.” Y/N laughed. As she sat down at her own desk, Y/N arranged all of the work she needed to do for the day, not noticing the distraught looking genius sitting not too far away. 

***

Y/N had gotten to the restaurant a little earlier than she and her date had arranged. She was seated at the table he reserved and waited. Getting out her phone, she was greeted by a text from  Emily making her promise to tell her everything that happened. Y/N laughed slightly at the text before placing her phone to the side. 

Five minutes had passed and her date was going to show up any minute. Y/N was excited. She had been talking to him for the last couple of weeks and they really hit it off. It was the first date she had been on in a while as she was constantly pulled away on cases and the dates she had planned lost interest as she kept having to reschedule. 

Another five minutes had passed and a waitress had come up to her table asking if she wanted  a drink. Y/N refused, wanting to wait for her date. He was late but Y/N deduced that to traffic. After all, five minutes wasn’t a lot. She checked her phone and contemplated texting Emily but she knew that if she did, the two would get sucked into conversation and Y/N wouldn’t notice when her date would arrive. 

Ten minutes passed and Y/N was getting nervous. She hadn’t received a text from her date at all. She had to even check the name of the restaurant to make sure she was at the right one. Y/N still had hope that her date would show up but deep down she knew that he was never going to show up. Y/N flagged down the waitress that offered her a drink earlier and ordered one. Her date would have a lot of explaining to do if he turned up. 

Another ten minutes passed and Y/N knew that her date was a no show. He was half an hour late with no text. The people sitting in the restaurant offered he looks of sympathy to which Y/N ignored. Y/N would have preferred it if he texted her that he wanted to cancel the date, at least it would've been less humiliating than sitting in a restaurant on  her own for half an hour. 

Sighing, Y/N pulled out her phone. The night was still young as she was excited about tonight and she wasn’t going to let someone ruin it. Pressing down on one of her contacts, she raised the phone to her ear. It rang three times before there was an answer. 

“Hello?” Spencer’s voice sounded through the phone.

“Spence, hey.” Y/N said.

“Y/N, I thought you were on a date.” He questioned.

“Well, I thought I was too but apparently he had more important things to do. He stood me up.” Y/N sighed. 

“I’m sorry,” Spencer said, sounding genuine, “I know you were excited.”

“I was but now I know what he’s really like so I guess I dodged a bullet,” Y/N joked, “But I was phoning to ask you if you wanted to meet me here. I thought it would be fun and you don’t have to if you don’t want to, I’ll just ask-”

“I’d love to come and meet you.” Spencer cut off her rambling.

“Really?” Y/N said, suddenly lighting up, “That’s great. I’ll text you the address. It’s quite a fancy restaurant, so dress fancy.”

***

Y/N was sitting at her table for another fifteen minutes before Spencer came in through the door. As soon as she saw Spencer, she got up from the table and wrapped him in a tight hug. He wrapped his arms back around her pulling her close. Normally if someone tried to hug him, Spencer would recoil and offer them a wave and a smile instead. But when it came to Y/N, he would hug her forever if he could. 

When Y/N pulled away, Spencer saw the dress she was wearing. It was a simple black dress but it looked incredible on Y/N.

“You look beautiful.” Spencer mumbled. 

Y/N smiled, “Thank you Dr. Reid,” Y/N scanned Spencer’s body and his attire, “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

Spencer smiled at her before the two sat down at the table. Y/N’s smile didn’t once leave her face as she ordered what she wanted and Spencer watched her with a love struck expression on his face. 

“Thank you for coming, Spence,” Y/N said, reaching across the table and taking his hand, “I really appreciate it.”

“Of course,” Spencer said, gently holding her hand, “I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be.”

Y/N smiled back at him before her face fell slightly, “I’m just annoyed at my date, he didn’t even text me or anything. I would’ve felt less hurt if he just cancelled instead but he let me sit here for half an hour waiting.”

“You shouldn’t get caught up on him. He obviously doesn’t appreciate you for who you are. He missed out on going on a date with the most amazing woman ever.” Spencer said. 

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Y/N replied, looking down at the table.

“I would,” Spencer said, “You are the most incredible, strong and beautiful women ever, your date missed out big time.”

“Thanks Spence,” Y/N smiled, holding onto his hand a little tighter, “It’s just that no one had ever said that to me before.”

“Well they should,” Spencer said, “Because it’s true.”

Before Y/N could respond, the waitress came back with their food, ending the conversation. There was so much Y/N wanted to say but she guessed it had to wait until another time. 

***

After their meal, Y/N and Spencer walked arm in arm down the street. Spencer insisted on walking her home. No words were exchanged between the two, Y/N’s mind was replaying the conversation they had back at the restaurant. 

“Spencer?”

“Yeah?” He said, looking down at Y/N.

“Did you really mean those things? Back at the restaurant, how you said I was the most amazing woman ever?”

“I meant every word,” Spencer said without hesitation, “And you should hear it more often, you underestimate your value.”

Y/N stopped walking, causing Spencer to stop. He looked back at her confused before she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. 

“Thank you, you have no idea how much I needed to hear those words.” Y/N mumbled into his neck.

“Anytime.” Spencer replied. 

The two stayed like that for a few minutes, wrapped in each other’s embrace. They gently swayed from side to side. 

“Can I ask you a question?” Y/N questioned, pulling away from the hug to look Spencer in the eye.

“Anything.” Spencer mumbled, his breath gently fanning her face due to their close proximity. 

“Do you want to go out on an official date?” Y/N said, “I would class this one but we didn’t exactly plan it and it wasn’t typically where we would go and-”

Y/N was suddenly cut off by a pair of soft lips against her own. Spencer’s arms moved from Y/N’s waist to gently cup her face, pulling her in closer. Y/N gripped onto the front of his jacket pulling him closer toward her. The sensation of kissing Spencer was one Y/N had never experienced before. There was a lot of passion behind the kiss but there was a gentleness behind it as well. It caused Y/N’s heart to flutter. 

Spencer was the first to pull away, resting his forehead against hers, both of their eyes were shut, processing what had just happened. Y/N could still feel the ghost of Spencer’s lips on her own. 

“So…” Y/N started as the two had calmed down from the kiss, “I think that we should just class this as our first date.”

Spencer chuckled, “I agree.” He said before capturing her lips with his own once again. 

***

The following day at work, Y/N was working quietly at her desk when Emily suddenly appeared at her side.

“So, how was your date?” She questioned, “You didn’t tell me all the details.”

“It went…” Y/N locked eyes with Spencer from across the room, he was trying to hide his smile behind his coffee cup, “Well. It went well.”

“Well? Just well?” Emily questioned. 

“It went more than well actually, I scored a second date.” 

“Oh, look at you,” Emily teased, nudging her, “Anything else?”

Y/N looked at Spencer who was trying hard not to make it look obvious he was listening to the conversation, “Well he’s an amazing kisser and amazing at...well I’m not going to say it out loud since we are in the workplace but you get my gist.”

Y/N watched as Spencer nearly spat out his coffee, he started coughing. Emily turned her attention towards him, “You okay Reid?”

“Yeah, I’m perfectly fine.” He said nervously before leaving to go and find something to wipe up his spilt coffee.

“What’s up with him?” Emily questioned.

“I have no idea,” Y/N responded, repressing a smirk.

SPENCER REID TAGLIST

@spenxerslut @averyhotchner @drayshadow @reidemandweep @moviequeen51 @spencer-reid-am-i-right @ssavanessa22 @amurderofcrowsinatrenchcoat @mbjackie @jklemps @reformedmoneyshovel @nomajdetective @jesuisbenny @jooniehomie @spencerreid-187 @onyourfingertips @uhuhuh @rubyhi208-42

- add yourself HERE or message me to be added or removed :) -

- strike through couldn’t be tagged -

[angstama]

apple tree | chifuyu.m

pairing: chifuyu matsuno x reader

genre: angst, slow-burn, unrequited love, pining, fluff, chifuyu doesn’t love you that way :( 

warnings: as usual, heartbreak coming ahead <3

✧. in which you look back on the times that chifuyu had been the highlight and heartbreaker in your youth. 

you were five when you first met chifuyu matsuno under the big apple tree one summer day. 

head deep into bending the fragile weeds into a flower crown when a blonde haired boy with the prettiest ocean blue eyes approached you. “what are you doing?” he asked curiously, licking his already melting chocolate ice cream while looking at the imperfectly balanced flower that you had spent hours on crafting in your hands. “making a flower crown.” you answered simply, not even sparing the blonde haired boy a glance as you were too focused in tweaking the branches. 

“woah that’s awesome!” he beamed in excitement, plopping down next to you instantly and leaning in closer to take a look at it. “yeah i know right!” you smiled in triumph, finally looking up to see whoever was showing interest in your little hobby and behold, there sat chifuyu in a rainbow striped t-shirt with his legs crossed and eyes gleaming with interest.

 in all honesty, your flower crowns were horribly ugly, but in chifuyu’s eyes it was uniquely you. perhaps it was maybe because he hadn’t seen anyone making an actual flower crown before or perhaps maybe he was just feeling sorry for the girl who always sat alone under the big apple tree that never bloomed a single fruit all year round. whichever it was, you wished that it was the first. “teach me how to make one please!” he grabs your wrist, causing your cheeks to burn under the scorching hot sun and heart rate quickening though you were clueless as to why it happened being only at the age of five, so you decided that it was okay to have him around. 

strangely ever since then, you were never seen alone under the apple tree in the park again. 

you were nine when you first understood the concept of crushes, with the help of your best friend, chifuyu matsuno of course. 

“it’s when you want to share the biggest chicken drumlet with them dummy!” chifuyu explained, voice muffled from stuffing his face with fried chicken one after another. you weren’t sure how the two of you derived at the current topic, though you remember the last you checked, chifuyu was rambling on and on about the new girl in your class. “so, you’d share this with whoever you have a crush on?” you asked as you pointed towards the biggest drumstick that chifuyu had saved for the last, as always. 

he nodded impatiently, grabbing the very same drumstick and ready to devour it but only to come to a halt when the two of you locked eyes. “want some?” he offered, waving the fried chicken in front of you. “wh-what?” your words fumbled, taken aback by chifuyu’s sudden offer right after the whole sharing of the biggest chicken drumlet explanation he had just made. “you kept staring at it. do you want it?” he asked, with innocence laced in his voice, oblivious to the shade of red slowly making an appearance on your cheeks. you huffed, “am not!”. chifuyu only lets out a snort, “yeah sure,” he chuckles boyishly, leaning down to rest on your shoulders, causing your body to stiffen upon the sudden contact. that afternoon, for almost an entire hour you were forced to sit as straight as you could, afraid that something was going to erupt in your tummy again as you could feel the bubbling sensation that threatened to explode. 

you were thirteen when you finally realised that you, y/n l/n, wants to share the biggest drumstick with chifuyu matsuno. 

it was christmas eve and chifuyu had invited you over to his place for a dinner, claiming that his mother had threatened to throw his precious romance mangas away if he didn't invite you. 

you arrived at the matsuno’s household ten minutes earlier than stated with a tray of roasted potatoes held in your hands and beads of sweat running down your forehead despite the freezing cold temperature outside. for the eight years of friendship you had with chifuyu, you’ve never felt this nervous seeing him and his family. it’s the cold, you naively thought, when the door swung opened, revealing your best friend dressed in a maroon striped sweater with suspenders. his eyes widened, not expecting to really see you when he was just opening to check in an attempt to ease his mother’s sixth sense. “y/n? why didn’t you knock?” he gasped, gently tugging the tray on your hands into his as he looked at you in surprise. “well, i was gonna but you opened the door before i could!” you scoffed a white lie, wanting nothing but to cover up the fact that you had been standing outside because you couldn’t get your heart to calm down. 

“chifuyu why don’t you give y/n the gift you got for her now?” mrs matsuno chimed, elegance evident in her posture and movement when she lightly dabbed a napkin across her lips which made you wonder how is it possible that she's the mother of chifuyu when chifuyu shared not a single bit of her grace when it comes to eating. chifuyu pauses briefly, “give me a sec,” he nods before stuffing the roasted potato that was previously halfway into his mouth and standing up to jog over to his room. “he cleaned the house for two months for it.” mr matsuno chuckled as chifuyu jogs out again, this time with a paper bag held in his hand. 

“you better wear it everyday.” he sent you a playful wink, handing you the brown paper bag. you carefully unwrapped the ribbon that bounded the paper bag and pulling out an overly oversized hoodie enough to fit you through a lifetime. you noticed that it was same hoodie that chifuyu often wears except that yours was in the shade of emerald green, the colour that chifuyu had taken the effort to remember that you had once claimed as your colour when the two of you had a heated discussion on what colour represents yourselves. 

“wow! now we have a friendship hoodie!” you beamed in excitement, pulling the oversized hoodie over your sweater. “how do i look?” you asked, posing a few turns at chifuyu as he took a good look at you. “pretty.” he held a thumb up before stuffing another spoonful of pasta down. 

your lowered your gaze upon hearing the sudden compliment your best friend gave, opting to look at the last piece of roasted chicken that mrs matsuno had offered you earlier just now before chifuyu could lay his hands on it. your lips pursed, not entirely confident to do it but eventually picking up the piece of meat and placing it on chifuyu’s already dirtied plate from all the sauces he had mixed with his food. “thank you,” you mumbled, looking anywhere else but chifuyu’s burning gaze on you. 

the butterflies were taking flight soon and you on the other hand had no idea how to contain it. 

you were sixteen when chifuyu first broke your heart on the first day of the spring season, openly declaring in front of you and takemichi that he’ll be confessing to the pretty girl sitting in front of him during lunch time. 

her name is haru.

“no way! you’re kidding!” takemichi gaped, leaning in closer to chifuyu as the close proximity between the two of them wasn’t enough for him to hear chifuyu clearly. chifuyu crossed his arms, confidence evident in his posture, “of course not! i’ve already decided, there’s no going back!” 

“be sure not to scare her away!” you stuck your tongue out to which chifuyu rolled his eyes in response. “eh? you’re just jealous that no one’s confessing to you!”, wiggling his head in a playful manner as he brought an ‘L’ sign up to his forehead to further anguish you. you raised a middle finger, wanting nothing more than to end this conversation for you weren’t sure if you were able to contain the effect of your heart dropping six feet down. 

you knew chifuyu succeeded when he came running to you after school with the brightest smile you adored, a faint tint of blush coated on his cheeks. “guess i’m gonna see you lesser huh lover boy?” you chuckled softly, shoving your textbooks into your canvas bag as he swung himself onto your desk with a smug grin. “you’d wish huh don’t you? but no, you’ll still see me as often when i’m off from boyfriend duties,” he sang happily. perhaps maybe because it was chifuyu’s own words, you believed wholeheartedly that you were okay with being just his best friend and being supportive of his relationship. so you watched chifuyu’s love for haru bloomed into something more than just the typical puppy love you often watch on romcoms. 

in just a blink of an eye, two years had passed and the next thing you knew you were spending your birthday without your best friend for the second time in a row. “this sucks,” you grumbled, throwing your phone aside when the time struck midnight, announcing a new day had just arrived. chifuyu’s words were just empty affirmations when you realised that you barely ever saw your best friend. you weren't sure if the two of you were even best friends anymore. it felt more like he’s just a friend that you talk to occasionally now. you see, chifuyu is a loyal friend and that’s a widely known fact and that’s what made it even more heartbreaking for you because chifuyu always does just enough to keep your friendship alive and you had no reason to hate him for that. 

you rubbed your temples tiredly, wanting nothing more than to run your aching head into the wall when a packet of your favourite watermelon mints was thrown onto your desk. “rough night?”atsumu, your beloved table-mate asked smugly. “you don’t say,” you mumbled, rolling your eyes at the obvious as you impatiently tore the packet open. “he didn’t wish ya happy birthday did he?” the freshly bleached haired boy questioned. atsumu got his answer when you didn't sat in silence, opting to look out the window to distract yourself from the threatening tears prickling at the corner of your eyes. and god do love to test you when the scene of chifuyu leaning in to kiss haru on the lips ever so gently unfolds at your sight. oh how you wished that it was you who he’s kissing right now. 

chifuyu always does just enough to keep your friendship alive. 

it was already late into the night when you heard a knock outside your balcony. your breath hitched when you saw that it was chifuyu who had disturbed your little movie marathon alone after the events that had happened lately. “hey,” he breathed, a soft smile wearing on his lips to which you returned it with an awkward one, inviting him into your messy room. “oh we’re in our friendship hoodie!” he chuckles nervously. your eyes travelled on him, realising that indeed he’s wearing the same hoodie that you were currently wearing right now. “it’s late chi, what’s going on?” you sighed, tone coming off harsher than you intended to. chifuyu nods slowly, face soon replaced with an apologetic look. “i’m sorry for missing your birthday, i feel horrible really,” he begun. “ i know i haven’t been around lately, so i want to make it up to you.” 

your brows furrowed at chifuyu’s apology, you knew he was being so sincere so why did you feel even much more upset hearing it? “that’s it? you could’ve just done this in school tomorrow chifuyu.”you sighed, trying your hardest to mask the pettiness within you with a tired voice. “ i know i know, but i couldn’t sleep knowing that i left my best friend alone on her 18th birthday.” he looked at you hesitantly as you quietly pulled your duvet over your lap. “how about let’s go hiking and watch the sunrise this weekend? just the two of us. i know you’ve been wanting to do that.” 

you wished you weren’t in love with chifuyu so that you wouldn’t give in so easily. you wished you were petty enough to make a scene and just be angry at him but you couldn't so here you are right now, hiking up the trail with your hand in chifuyu’s as you helped him up the slope. “your stamina really sucks,” you retorted to which chifuyu huffed in response. “it’s not that my stamina sucks, it’s that this trail is literally ninety-eight percent high slopes,” he pouts. 

“well you could've chose not to show up.” 

“no! i want to do this with you. what are you talking about?” 

you only smiled at his little defence. “whatever,” you mumbled as you quickly dropped your grip on his and walking ahead of him in an attempt to hide your blush. “hey! wait for me!” 

it was near autumn when one day chifuyu appeared in the wee hours of the night with tears streaming down his cheeks when he fell into your arms and hugged you tightly. you found out that haru was moving away to the states with her family and had broken up with chifuyu, refusing to try out long distance relationship. 

so like any other best friend, you let chifuyu cry into your shoulders as you sat in silence that night, heart breaking at the torn state chifuyu was in. he truly loved her. 

you were twenty when chifuyu held your hands and asked you to be his. 

“chifuyu matsuno! where the hell are my batteries?” your voice echoed through your shared apartment, causing poor chifuyu to jump and drop the eggs he was previously holding in his hands on to the floor. it’s been almost two years since haru and chifuyu had broken up and you had spent a great deal of time trying to mend his broken heart though you knew that it would never be fully healed. she was his first love after all. 

the two of you had moved in to a small apartment close to your university as planned since young, officially becoming roommates. “fuck!my eggs!” chifuyu cried out loud as he frantically lets go of the spatula in his hands to grab a kitchen tower and clean up the pool of egg yolk and egg white on the marble floor. you groaned in annoyance when chifuyu doesn’t answer your question, slamming the tools drawer shut and making your way towards the kitchen. 

“i swear chi-” you paused when you saw chifuyu kneeling on the floor with his pink kitten design apron tied against his body, a pout clearly evident on his lips. “what ever happened?” your head tilted slightly, annoyance slowly decimating. “you screamed like a mad woman. that’s what happened.” he retorted. you rolled your eyes, grabbing another kitchen towel and joining chifuyu on the ground. “well if you didn’t misplace my batteries, i wouldn't be screaming.” 

“if you looked close enough, it’s literally on your study desk.” 

“it’s not!” 

“it is!” 

“it’s not!” you huffed, getting up and stomping over to your room to prove a point but your eyes widened, horrified by the pure sight of your batteries accompanies by a fresh pack with a sticky note attached on top of it. ‘you’re welcome <3′, it wrote. you slowly walked out of your room with your head hung low, doing the walk of shame. “say it,” chifuyu taunts as he skilfully tossed the omelette onto the plate and placing it in front of you. you scrunched your nose, lips pursing and taking a deep breath. “i’m sorry,” you mumbled quietly, fingers fumbling at the ends of your shirt. “ah-ah i can't hear you,” you hear him sing, a little too happy. obvious that he’s enjoying this. you sighed in defeat, clearing your throat loud enough. “i’m sorry,” you said it loudly this time. 

chifuyu lets out a laugh in satisfaction, throwing his head back while you on the other hand could only pout at his triumph. but that didn’t mean that your heart didn't swell up at the expression of happiness he has on his face right now. digging in at the breakfast that chifuyu had made for you which had now became a routine, you couldn't help but to feel small under chifuyu’s intense stare on you. “are you not gonna eat?” you raised your brow, eyeing the untouched omelette on his plate. chifuyu rests his chin on his palm, looking at you with a look of as if he had something to tell you. 

“i will.” he hummed before reaching out to grab your hands. your body stiffened, dumfounded at what’s currently happening. “you know, for the last two years, life was a little less painful thanks to you.” chifuyu confessed earnestly, “ i guess what i’m trying to say is that, you’re my end game y/n l/n. i don’t think i would've came this far if it wasn’t for you so i’m going to ask you this once,” he paused, intertwining his fingers in yours as he gazes into your eyes deeply, 

“will you be my girlfriend?” 

your relationship with chifuyu wasn’t a perfect one but the two of you always made it work somehow. which is why here you are sitting against your bed frame with luggages packed by the side wondering what exactly had gone wrong along the way? 

and you realised that you were never meant to be chifuyu’s end game. you were never meant to be his forever. 

“you think that i don’t fucking know that you were always looking at her instagram when you think i’m not around?” you screamed, body shaking from the exhaustion that’s taking a toll on you both physically and emotionally. “i don’t see how it’s wrong wanting to see how my friend is doing?” chifuyu snaps. 

you scoffed, crossing your arms as you looked away. “yeah. as if you don’t still say her name in your sleep. as if you don’t fucking mess up our favourite food, as if you didn’t tell takemichi that you wished i was haru!” this was the last straw for you. you were too exhausted to try anymore. haru was irreplaceable and you were just a temporary band aid for chifuyu. 

it was as if you had hit jack pot when your lover went silent. “i’ve loved you for so long chifuyu. but loving you hurts too much. i’m so tired of this.” you finally allowed yourself to break down, letting yourself go loose on the emotions you’ve suppressed for years as chifuyu could only watch in remorse for tearing you apart till this state. 

you finally understood why the apple tree never bloomed any apples.

you were twenty seven when you decided to leave chifuyu matsuno. fifteen years of friendship and seven years of being each other’s significant other. you finally walked away, planting one last final kiss on chifuyu’s lips and shutting the door on your ex-lover’s sleeping figure. 

[starsstruck]

strange phenomena; part one.

what happens when we meet again? you and harry have barely seen each other in almost a year. two ex-lovers find themselves in the same snowy town by strange chance, both looking for something they can’t seem to figure out. cafe run-ins, old love letters, and bittersweet nostalgia. 

pairing: harry x reader warnings: language, slight mention of sexual content words: 13.3k

series masterlist

an: thank you for being patient with me. this is just a little story from my little heart shaped brain. thank you to @sunflowers-styles​ for beta-ing and being supportive and the overall best 💌 i hope everyone enjoys and please do let me know what you think ! happy reading xoxo 💌

There was something unsettling about not having a schedule.

Your entire life, you had been told that you weren't supposed to  quit a job without having another one already lined up, and you had been able to keep up with that. Until now.

The impulse to leave the office that left you frustrated, tired, and overworked had been bubbling up inside of you for years, and it was only a mere couple months ago that you finally snapped.

Snapped, grabbed your things, and quite literally ran away. Call it a life crisis, maybe considered somewhere between a quarter and a mid, but there was something about simply leaving everything behind that took a temporary weight off your shoulders.

Which is how you ended up in a little town in eastern France, staring out the window of the café where you sat and watched the snowfall that had just picked up again.

There was an emptied mug on your side, crumbs of a delicious pastry sitting on a plate, and a blank page in your worn notebook. You had everything you needed to work: your favourite playlist softly playing in your ears so you wouldn’t get too distracted by conversations around you, not one but two notebooks filled with a year's worth of thoughts, and warm clothes that wouldn’t leave you with indents in your skin after sitting for too long.

But apparently that didn’t necessarily mean that you would be making much progress. 

Five days since you had gotten to Annecy. A friend of yours had moved out to the old tourist town a number of years ago after meeting her partner, and they were nice enough to let you stay with them. Five days of trying to work and still no progress.

You had daydreams of sitting down, words easily flowing as you would fill pages until the sun set. But it was only five days, a little leeway was okay, wasn’t it?

That idea of a bit of little leeway, however, was constantly being bullied by the big label of unemployed. You knew very well, soon the need for a job would be coming back and all those daydreams would have to go back on a hiatus.

But here on the fifth day, after picking at the crumbs of your long gone croissant, you decided to pack up your things and call it a day. That was the one thing you were able to do – tell yourself that today nothing would be done and that was okay, instead of spending the rest of the hours until midnight forcing yourself to do something.

So you buttoned up your wool coat, wrapped on your scarf and stepped out into the light snow to trudge back to your temporary housing.

Harry had seen you the second time you were there.

You were a creature of habit - just as he was apparently so - and you seemed to always return to the same café, the small but warm La buvette du marché, tucked away in the old town.

He nearly fell over his feet when he saw you sitting in the corner, earbuds in and eyebrows furrowed so deeply he could see the creases in your skin, even from the distance he stood away from you.

He left in a hurry, in a panic. He told himself that he had likely imagined it, maybe he was still jet-lagged, maybe his mind was tricking him, maybe it was some odd lucid dream during an afternoon nap.

But then he saw you again, on the fifth day as you packed up your things in a huff and hugged your coat tighter around your chest. You looked too wrapped up in your own thoughts to even notice anyone else around you, except for the quick smile that you shot to the older woman behind the counter before you were walking out into the darkening street.

Harry couldn’t help but slightly spiral a bit more. He tried to recall any mention from remaining mutual friends, or even acquaintances, about you coming here, but couldn’t remember. He even considered calling some, but decided against it in a quick grounding moment when he realized that it would seem far too odd.

Even more so, he couldn’t believe that you found yourself in the small town at the same time as him. In the same place. At the same time.

It was all too familiar.

He took that as a good sign.

The seventh day – now a week in – you were back at the café.

This time you had managed to scribble down some ideas. Last night you had barely slept, tossing and turning as you tried to force your brain to come up with something, anything.

Just as it always went, as you were falling asleep it seemed like you had an idea going but unconsciousness soon took over and you were left with bits and pieces to pick up.

Today, you hadn’t gotten something to eat right away and instead told yourself that once you got a good chunk of work done, you would treat yourself to something sweet and a little break.

Harry, by not so much of a coincidence, was also back.

He liked the small town of Annecy, winter was a bit of an off season no matter its proximity to the Alps, and it was lowkey enough to where he could easily keep a low profile and go as he pleased.

He walked over to the same café in the late afternoon, hoping that maybe maybe you would already be there. It was making him nervous. But maybe you wouldn’t be there, and that would stress him out even more because maybe this was all a dream?

But there you were, twirling a black pen between your fingertips as you subconsciously chewed at the inside of your lip. He could tell by the way your chin was slightly protruding, and the way your lips moved lightly. He almost hated himself for being able to notice such a thing.

This time, you were the one to look up at him.

And lucky for him, or maybe unlucky he wasn’t sure yet, he was already staring back at you.

He could see a flurry of thoughts filter through your eyes. Your eyebrows unknotted for a moment, before furrowing even tighter this time with your mouth slightly parting and then closing.

He tried to smile, finding himself shuffling closer to you as he tried to recall how to use his feet and his voice. Calming down just the slightest bit when you offered him a tiny wave, he took that as all he needed to keep walking the path that led to your table.

And then he was standing a mere few feet in front of you.

When you spoke, it made it all that more real for Harry.

Obviously, you were physically there in front of him, something he couldn’t have imagined happening to him now, but the quiet “hi” that escaped past your lips made blood rush to his ears.

He cleared his throat – he didn’t really need to, he just felt he could use the extra second – before repeating the greeting back to you. “Hey…”

You couldn’t break his gaze. Seeing – and hearing – the hesitation in him, you almost wanted to tell him to leave you alone and try and forget this had ever happened. Maybe leave for some place else.

But you really didn’t want to do that.

“What,” the word was a puff of air. He felt out of breath. “What are you doing here?”

What were you doing here?

“Working,” was all you said, wincing slightly at the way the statement sounded. You felt like your heart was about to explode, like all words seemed to escape you and that the floor was about to crack open and swallow you up.

He only stared at you.

You sat up straighter, lifting a hand from where it was resting on the table to motion to the empty chair across from you. “You can have a seat – if you’d like.”

It was like he was on a three second lag, staring at you for a moment too long before reacting to your words. With a quick nod, he sat himself down across from you, bag falling to the floor near where yours was. He kept his coat on.

“Nellie’s really letting you work from here?”

You didn’t miss the slight pettiness of his words.

Shaking your head, you decided to ignore it and instead rolled your lips into your mouth before glancing back up at him. “No, I uh – I quit.”

His eyebrows shot up so quickly, the sudden change in his expression nearly made you flinch. He quietly kept his eyes on you for a moment longer, as if you were about to tell him that you were joking.

“You did?” He finally said, and if you paid close attention, which of course you were, you could see a little quirk in his lips. “You really quit?”

Unable to help the small chuckle that left your mouth at his reaction, you felt the beginnings of a smile pulling at your lips. “Yeah,” you said softly. “I did.”

A smile was pulling at Harry’s mouth as well – you could tell that he was trying hard not to with the way his lips slightly pursed and he bit them together. But he couldn’t help it.

“Well,” he cleared his throat once more and leaned back in his chair, making himself more comfortable. “Good for you.”

Another silence came over the two of you. Your right hand was pinching the skin of your thigh through your trousers to ground yourself, to remind yourself that Harry was really sitting here in front of you. Out of anywhere he could be.

Everything about him was so familiar. You recognized his coat, the dark green that you knew was so warm to be wrapped up in. His hair looked longer since the last time he was in front of you, but it also sat slightly messy and unstyled over his head. He was nervously twisting the few rings on his fingers – most of his fingers were bare which was something you hadn’t seen in a while.

Even the way he watched you, his steady stare that seemed to speak to you without needing to say any words, left you to be speechless. 

Of course, you had thought about this moment over in your head countless times.

You fantasized about him showing up at your door, late at night and begging you to talk to him. You thought about running into him when you were out for errands, and would ignore him altogether. You thought about him calling you or what would happen if you called him, what you would talk about and everything he’d tell you. You had dreamt of everything that could possibly happen, but now you sat frozen.

“So uh,” Harry’s voice broke you out of your reverie. “If you quit, where aboust are you working now?”

You bit your lips together. “I’m not…working anywhere. Working for myself, I guess.”

He gave you a surprised look once more. “Writing?”

You only nodded, unable to help the smile that was building on your mouth. And Harry couldn’t help but mirror it.

He took a moment to take you in, closer this time. You were dressed warmly, a thick purple sweater hanging off your shoulders that hit fairly low on your hips, over loose black trousers. The lavender made you glow – he decided it was his new favourite colour on you.

You had a different pendant hanging off your neck, and he could see a second chain hidden beneath the collar of your sweater. A series of pens were in front of you, and he knew that you had been toying with them based on how they were haphazardly thrown over the tabletop. You kept slipping in your bottom lip between your teeth, something he couldn’t help but watch as every time it brought his attention back to your mouth.

He shouldn’t be thinking about your mouth.

“That’s great to hear,” he nodded after another moment too long in silence. “I mean, you know I’ve said this before so I’m not going to say it again but –” he cut himself off, already finding himself rambling. “It’s good. I’m glad that you’re doing it.”

You chuckled again, and he felt himself melt a bit deeper into the chair across from you. “I’ve really barely started but. Thank you, Harry.”

It was the first time he’d heard you say his name in so long. He liked hearing it, he missed hearing it.

“’Course,” was all he said. “I’m happy to hear that you’re writing.”

Another silence when you simply nodded.

“Why did you come here?” He spoke softly, the somewhat elephant in the room getting aired as you briefly averted his gaze.

“Wanted to get away,” you said honestly. “And Eloise offered for me to live with her for a bit, so it was an easy decision.”

“Easy,” he mused, repeating the word as he momentarily pulled at the sleeves of his sweater. “Taking some time to relax?”

“Something like that,” you paused, thinking of how to ask him the same thing. “How about you – are you passing through or…?”

He lightly shook his head, drumming his fingertips over his thigh. “I’m here for some time.”

“Oh,” you closed the notebook in front of you, leaning your forearm over it. You opened your mouth to say something else, but you seemed to not remember how to form words. He jumped back in.

“I’m here writing as well actually – or trying to.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Album?”

“Yeah,” he rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, leaning forward in the chair again to rest his forearms over the tabletop, similar position that you were sitting in as you both lent forward. “Been trying to get it done for far too long now.”

You remembered – you remembered in your last weeks together his frustration over his inability to be happy with what he was creating for his third album. You held your lips closed with your teeth for a moment, unsure of which thread to follow. He continued once again after you didn’t say anything.

“I’m here alone,” he paused. “Staying in a small place just outside of town.”

You couldn’t help the quiet scoff. “You’re never alone.”

He laughed to himself. “I am this time.”

You both felt like you were circling around the same thing. You were the first one to voice it. “So you decided to come… here. To Annecy.”

He looked at you dead in the eyes, as if challenging you. “Yeah, I did.”

Another silence fell, this one seeming to be heavier than all the other one’s combined.

“It was –” Harry finally broke the silence after what seemed like ten minutes. You wished your brain was working at the moment. “It’s really nice seeing you.”

You gave him a gentle smile. “You too.”

He tucked his feet under his chair, ready to push back from the table and stand. He was ready to leave the café, think about this moment every hour of the days to come until he managed to let it go. If that’s what you wanted.

But you didn’t.

“I’ll leave you to it. I don’t want to keep you from your work for too long,” he sounded nearly remorseful as he blindly reached for his bag at the floor, not wanting to look away from you.

“Wait –” you said way too quickly, but you didn’t care. “Stay – if you want.”

He paused every movement he was making, glancing up at you with a growing grin. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, familiar warm feeling spreading through your chest when his expression eased. “We barely caught up.”

Harry slowly leant back into the chair, nodding with a hint of a smile playing at his lips. “Okay – I’d like that.”

He unzipped his jacket then, resting it on the back of his chair and pushed the sleeves of his sweater up over his elbows. Leaning forward again, this time not to stand but to take a peek at the mug sitting in front of you.

“Did you want another?”

“Still working on this one,” you smiled in thanks, grabbing the cup with the lukewarm coffee to take a little sip.

Harry quickly had his own coffee in front of him, clutching the little mug in his hands as if it would act as some kind of buffer between the two of you.

“I hope you stormed out of that office,” he told you, after once more asking if you had seriously quit your job.

“Wasn’t that dramatic, unfortunately,” you laughed, also wishing that you had the guts to cause a scene and walk out of work. “I gave my notice, had a very civil last chat with Nellie and that was really it. Can’t really afford to burn any bridges.”

Harry didn’t want to comment too much on your recent unemployment, the emotionally exhausting nature of your previous job being a hot topic of conversation when the two of you had been together. He decided it was best to bring up at a later time, if he had the opportunity that is.

“What are you working on now, then?”

You mindlessly picked up a forgotten pen, twirling it between your index and middle finger a few times before letting it fall back down. “What I’ve always said I would.”

“Book?”

You shrugged, not wanting to think about the implications too much. “Something like that.” 

He wanted to ask you about it further, but you easily changed the subject. “How long have you been here then?” 

“Just over a week now,” he took another sip of his coffee. “And you?” 

“A week,” you tried your hardest to stop the way your lips started to curve upwards, at the fact that you had both come around the same time. He seemed to be thinking the same thing, as a little nervous chuckle escaped his mouth. “How is the album coming?” 

His laughter died down. “Not well,” he said honestly. “Nothing really since…” Nothing really since we were last together. 

You nodded, knowing what he was about to say. “Keeping myself busy - I was actually filming for a movie the last few months.” 

“I read that,” you nodded, not realizing you were admitting to slightly keeping up with what your ex was up to. 

Another silence came across the two of you when you both took big sips of your drinks, you finished off the rest of the now cold coffee that had completely lost its charm. 

“You look good,” your voice came out a little quieter. “Rested.” 

You swear you saw a little pink hit his cheeks. “Thank you,” he hummed in response, having a thousand compliments ready for you but none of them found their way past his lips. “Are you allowed to tell me I look good?”

It was a cheap shot, but he took it.

You paused, a small smile pulling at your mouth. “Friends can compliment each other, no?” 

Friends. 

“Of course,” he hid his expression behind the mug that he raised to his mouth. “In that case - you look good - incredible even.” 

He added the second part on a whim, still staring you down as you refused to break his gaze, never one to back down from a subtle staring contest. 

A small sliver of silence passed, before Harry cleared his throat. 

“I hope I’m not keeping you,” he murmured, watching your hands fiddle with the pens that rested more or less untouched on the surface of the table.

“You’re not,” you shook your head. “I’ve barely gotten anything done either way. If anything, I’m distracting you.”

Harry bit his lips together. He was never one to complain about how much you distracted him. “You’re always a welcomed distraction,” he leant his forearms further over the table. “Not so much progress here either.”

“I have a hard time believing that,” you laughed lightly when Harry raised his eyebrows, giving you an incredulous look. “You were constantly writing. Never met anyone with so many filled notebooks.”

“I guess but I – I couldn’t make anything out of it, you know? I don’t know if you remember,” he glanced up as you gave him a little nod. How could you forget about any moment spent together. 

“Still feel just as stuck.” His brows knotted, staring at the table for a few seconds before glancing back up at you. “Sorry, for unloading this on you.”

“No, no it’s okay,” you offered him a sympathetic smile. “It’s okay if it takes you a little longer – if it takes a few tries.”

He forgot how much comfort he could get from your smile. “Thank you,” he murmured. “Feels like I’ve exhausted everything – like there are no words left for me to write.”

You couldn’t help what you said next. You didn’t mean to make it about yourself, you didn’t mean to even say what you did. You simply could not help it.

“Ever write about me?”

Harry stared at you for a few seconds. “You seriously…” he trailed off, eyes slightly wide on you. You had an apology ready on the tip of your tongue when he spoke again. “Filled countless books about you.”

You knew he wrote to you, leaving you little love notes or poems in your home or hidden amongst your things for you to find. Sometimes romantic, sometimes a little more explicit. But for whatever reason, you never imagined him writing a song about you.

He kept speaking in your silence. “You can’t be that humble – you can’t believe that I would never even think about writing about you.”

You didn’t know what to say. “I guess …I don’t know.”

Maybe you had been more successful that you’d thought in pushing memories of him away.

“To be honest, I uh,” now he was the one finding himself at a loss of what to say. “I didn’t want to put out something that was so personally about you. Wanted to keep you to myself.”

He lifted his eyes from the table, meeting yours before quietly murmuring. “Still do.”

A thick silence settled this time. You watched every small twitch in his demeanor – the quick bite of his lip, the bob of his Adam’s apple, the way his eyes flicked around your face just as you were sure yours were doing right now.

And they were, he was analyzing you, making new notes of your every feature that he could see for the thousandth time. He finally broke the silence, his voice sounding so loud all of the sudden.

“Come see what I have written.”

It was less of a question. Whether showing you old writing was really the only intention of the invitation was lost on you - and on Harry as well -  but neither pondered on it too much.  

You hadn’t said anything right away, but he was already reaching back to grab his jacket that was resting over the back of the chair. Slowly, you mirrored his actions and quickly began to pack up the pens and journal that had sat untouched for a good part of an hour.

Once you both stood wrapped in your coats and scarfs, with bags pulled over your shoulders, he met your gaze once more. “You coming?”

“Yeah,” you offered him a tentative smile. You realized you were nervous. Sitting with him in a public café was one thing, but spending time with him alone? That was something completely different that you weren’t sure you were prepared for. “Are we walking?”

“If that’s alright,” Harry nodded. “Staying just up the hill.”

And then you were off, following him in the thickening coat of snow that covered the yet to be plowed streets. Walking side by side at a safe distance, the falling snow hit you from every angle as the wind seemed to be starting to pick up.

Hugging your arms around your chest, you walked in silence for most of the trip.

At one point you were trying to move out of the way for a group of young school kids that were walking by, speaking far too fast for you to catch any words of their french as they excitedly bounced through the snow. Your foot caught on a lift of the sidewalk that was buried under the snow, giving you a momentary loss of balance.

Harry, however, was quick to notice. He had his arm looping through yours before you even realized you were tripping, as he held you upright and close against his side.

He knew that you were watching him, he could feel your eyes burn into the side of his face but he kept his gaze forward. The small kink in his lips gave him away though, when instead of pulling away you cozied yourself a bit more into his side and kept your arm tightly looped with his.

The rest of the walk was spent like that as you both trudged up the hill, out of the hub of the old town and out to the residential area. He quietly led you to his temporary housing, pulling out his set of keys from the inner pocket of his jacket and undid the front door of the building.

Walking up only one flight of stairs, you were soon being ushered inside a nice little apartment that could only be described as a character home. It was neat and cozy, just eclectic enough with tiled kitchen walls and different patterned rugs.

It was exactly the kind of place you had stayed in last time you were here.

“Let me turn the heat up,” Harry muttered, as you both shook off the snow from your hats and hair, hanging up the dampened clothing before warming back up in the apartment.

“Something to drink?” He called from the wall where he was presumably adjusting the heat, as you curiously glanced around the space he was staying in.

“What’ve you got?”

You easily found the kitchen as it was right after the hall from the door. A couple cups sat in the sink but it was otherwise clean. Harry joined you, standing across from you as he went to grab something from the fridge.

“”Have some mulled wine ready to be heated,” he pulled out a thermos.

“That sounds good,” you spoke quietly as you watched him work around the kitchen, grabbing a saucepan to heat it up.

He seemed to be stalling – you supposed you were as well. You didn’t know what you were doing here with him. You saw two possible outcomes, maybe three, but you didn’t know which one you were the most okay with.

Harry felt as though he had either been far too quiet, or was rambling too much. He wanted to ask you everything and find out absolutely everything and anything that had been going on in your life in the past ten months. He needed to calm down.

He heated up the homemade spaced mix, adding in a generous amount of the red wine. After a little moment while you distracted yourself with texting Eloise, you saw him pour a generous amount into each mug before turning off the element on the stove.

He handed you one of the mugs – a painted yellow ceramic one – settling to lean back against the counter across from you while you gripped the handle of your cup. 

You lightly blew on the smoke billowing out from the top, holding the mug out to him in a quiet cheers before each taking a sip.

It was still too hot, but you both seemed to be stalling from whatever was about to unfold and you took any chance to distract yourself that you could. The drink had been a good idea, and was already warming you up – probably both by the liquor and the temperature of the beverage

“Good?” Harry broke the silence, after swallowing another sip of the drink. He had one hand resting over the ledge of the counter, elbow bent with a relaxed shoulder while the other hand held the mug. You wondered if he really was relaxed or just appeared to be – you seemed to be having a hard time reading him at the moment.

“Really good,” you nodded, occupying your mouth with the beverage as you found yourself at a loss of what to say at the moment. “Thank you.”

Conversation seemed to be flowing so nicely in the café, but now it was like you had no idea how to be around each other.

Harry was nervous. When he made the offer to show you the countless unseen songs about you, he hadn’t really thought it through. It had seemed like the right thing to say, and he really did want to share that with you, but things were just so … uncertain.

He could tell, by the way you kept one arm crossed around your front with the other’s arm elbow perched to keep the mug by your lips, you were uneasy. He didn’t want you to be that way, he wanted you to be nothing but comfortable with him.

“So where is that writing you were bragging about?” Your smooth voice broke him out of his daze, as he lifted his eyes back up to see you peering at him from behind the mug.

Rolling his lips in against his teeth, the corners of his lips perked up both at the way you were looking at him and to mask the slight pit of nerves that suddenly appeared. “Give me a sec’”

Leaving his mug with you in the kitchen, he made his way to one of his bags where he knew was packed a series of old notebooks – all taken with him for any kind of inspiration.

Flipping through them, unable to help the way he suddenly grew anxious over the idea of showing these to you. Especially out of the blue. Especially after this sudden reunion.

Deciding what to show you and what not to, he triple checked that he had grabbed the right book before making his way back over to you. He found you exactly where you were previously, mug in one hand with the other holding your phone, quickly typing something with just one thumb.

At the sound of his footsteps, you placed your phone down on the counter and glanced up at your ex. Finding his place across from you in the kitchen, he extended the notebook out towards you. It was clearly worn in, little scribbles of words across the leatherbound cover.

You recognized it. From being perched over his lap, tucked in his bag, next to him on the nightstand. You knew it. 

“This was from that winter – actually think I filled it the last time we were here.” His voice was low, nearly distant as he tried not to look at you.

He didn’t know why he was sharing this with you now – maybe he felt like he needed to prove something, maybe he just missed you.

Wordlessly, you grabbed the worn book from him and tentatively opened it in your palm. Glancing up at him, he was clearly nervous and doing his best not to watch you read his every thought about you.

His eyes were cast to the side, looking out the window as if watching the heavy snowfall. With his arms now crossed over his chest, the thick knit of the sweater he was wearing bunching under his arms, you realized he looked more than nervous, almost worried.

You wondered if this was all a terrible idea.

Having not realized that you were still watching the profile of his face, looking at the way his eyes flicked from the window and down to the untouched mug that sat still on the counter. He grabbed it in a hand, the soft clink of the rings he had on against the ceramic being the only sound in the room.

You were sure he could feel you watching him, so much confirmed when the next place his eyes moved to were your own. Neither of you spoke, instead watched each other closely from either side of the small kitchen.

His expression was practically unreadable to you, something that you didn’t encounter often. You briefly thought he was upset with you, before he muttered. “Going to make dinner, if you’d like to stick around for some.”

Slightly surprised by the offer, even though you realized that when he had invited you to trudge up the hill with him to read a few half finished songs that probably wasn’t the complete intention.

Nodding, you answered with a low “thank you,” as he turned his body around and left the kitchen, no doubt searching for something elsewhere and leaving you to read alone.

Finally flipping open the book to a random page, turning a few pages until it looked less like a mess of scribbles and you could pull out several coherent sentences.

You found a small date written at the top of the page, and realized that this had been right in the middle of your last vacation in Annecy together.

You had to read over every word three, four times, before your hands moved without thinking and you were flipping the page to find more. Laying the spine of the notebook down against the kitchen counter, you leant over above it, completely captivated.

It was all so overwhelmingly beautiful. You didn’t realize that a small puddle of tears was gathering on your waterline until you blinked, and a few of them escaped and slid over the tops of your cheeks. Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea.

It was everything you remembered about being with Harry. Everything you remembered about the last time you were together in the little French town. Every ‘I love you’, every stolen kiss, every touch and feeling shared. It had been the happiest you ever remembered being.

It took you months to forget, or maybe not forget but not think about. And in a flood of it all coming back, you couldn’t help the tears that seemed to come flooding out as well.

Shutting the notebook a bit too quickly, you remained in your hunched position as you sponged at your tears with the back of your hand, wiping them away the best you could. You hadn’t thought about the reality, that there was no possible way you’d be able to handle reading everything that Harry had to say about you.

“Done already?” Harry’s voice startled you, not having heard him rejoin you in the kitchen. You quickly blinked your eyes, knowing there was no possible way to hide the fact that you had been crying but you hoped it wasn’t too obvious.

“No, I –” you cleared your throat lightly, turning around to look at him. You didn’t know what to say to him.

You watched his eyes scan your face, expression softening slightly before offering you a small smile. You assumed the whites of your eyes were reddened, and the skin surrounding was damp and still shiny from the little spill of tears.

He didn’t ask you anything else, and instead grabbed a pot from where it sat cleaned next to the sink and brought it over to the stove. “Do you want to chop the vegetables?”

Nodding with a murmured agreement, he handed you what needed to be cut along with a cutting board and a knife. You were grateful that he glossed over the topic, and now you found yourself biting back a smile. Spending time with him in such a mundane way was comforting. He put on some music, a soft background song playing while you both started to cook in a smooth harmony.

Conversation was light. He asked how living with Eloise was, you asked how long he had been in town for.

It wasn’t until you were both sitting across from each other with steaming bowls of soup and warmed bread, each having poured a generous amount of wine into your glasses that conversation got a bit heavier.

It started when you asked if he had been out to the lake yet, even though the cold weather obviously meant swimming wasn’t much of an offer. 

It ended, however, with a heavy silence when you both started to recall the last trip to the lake. Nearly a full year ago now, it was the second day of March and your last weekend away in this undisturbed paradise. The air was still very much crisp and carried a winter bite, and on a barely warm night, the two of you had the terrible idea of taking a little night dip. 

After about thirty seconds in the cold water, you couldn’t bear it and had to step out into the even colder air. After shivering back to your rental, you had drawn a burning hot bath to enjoy together and both decided that you would come back during the summer months to fully benefit from the lake and hikes.

But then you weren’t together over the summer. 

Harry had immediately noticed your change in demeanor at the bittersweet reminder of the memory, silently cursing himself for bringing the conversation that way. He had hoped that it would maybe spark something in you, some kind or romantic nostalgia, but instead it seemed to just upset you. 

A crushing silence had fallen again, and at least you had dinner to distract yourself with. Harry instead decided to change the conversation again, asking if Eloise still had those two little grumpy cats, and if you were enjoying staying with them. 

You were lightheartedly laughing again by the time you were clearing the dishes, both the wine and Harry helping in the warm feeling under your skin. Your cheeks had been rounded with a smile and your mind a bit fuzzy, intoxicated not as much by the liquor but more so by the loving feeling around you. 

It was quiet when you came back to the rental outside of town, the tiles of the floor cold under your feet after you had peeled your socks off. The rain had only increased in your short trip out to the nearby Monoprix, picking up what you needed to make a nice hearty soup for dinner as well as a bottle of wine. 

After getting far too wet on the walk you had gone on during the afternoon, initially wanting to go hiking but the weather got in the way. Harry had stuck back while you grabbed your groceries and a fresh baguette as you had finished off the one you had during breakfast. 

Hanging up your damp coat and taking off your too itchy sweater, you called out Harry’s name after placing the groceries down on the counter of the little kitchenette. 

A faint reply was heard, as you followed the sound of his voice to the closed bathroom door. He told you to come in, and you were met with a warm steamy bathroom and your partner relaxing into the back of the tub. 

“Didn’t feel like a shower,” he murmured as you smiled down at him, eyeing over the bubbles that covered the surface of the water. 

“Hi,” you whispered, leaning down to press your lips to his in a quick greeting as he extended his neck out towards you. “It’s still dreadful out - you have the right idea taking a bath.” 

You sat down on the edge of the tub, feet flat on the tile of the washroom floor as your upper body twisted to gaze down at Harry. The weeks so far spent in the small French town were like taking a break from reality - time was still and you could spend all the time you wanted wrapped up in each other. 

“Missed you,” he murmured, wet hand raising from under the water to grab at your wrist. Pulling it towards him, he pressed a light kiss over your pulse point. You let your hand fall over his shoulder when he let go, when he instead decided he wanted to feel your lips on his again. 

You easily complied, bending lower once more to slot your mouth over his with a lingering touch as he sighed over you. “Lips are cold.” 

You chuckled an apology, shifting yourself closer to him as you still balanced on the ledge of the tub. Your hand wrapped around his neck, feeling the damp strands between your fingers as one of his hands grabbed a light hold of your arm.  He traced a pattern over your bare arm, before shifting his arm around to the small of your back. 

You remained like that for a moment, sharing sweet kisses laced with soft affirmations of affection, hands not wandering further from light grasps over each other’s bodies. 

Though at a sudden move, a not so light move, an unattractive squeal left your mouth when your boyfriend hooked a hand under your bent knees and gripped you firmly, pulling you over the edge of the tub and into the water with him. You giggled his name after recovering from the initial shock, the heat of the water a sharp contrast to the chill in your bones and the sudden movement had your head spinning just the slightest bit. 

You surprisingly didn’t mind all that much – in fact you didn’t mind at all. Wet clothes could be dried, and the way he held you so tightly and gazed down at you so lovingly you didn’t even realize that you were fully dressed in the bathtub. 

Harry held you tightly, your legs now resting over him with his arm still under your knees as you found your place in his lap.

“My clothes are all wet,” you bit your bottom lip down, eyes catching Harry’s with a gleam as you rested your cheek against his chest. You looped your arm tighter around him, easily supported against his frame. “Could’ve given me a little warning.” 

“Thought you liked spontaneity,” his mouth sought out yours again, this time landing a peck just over your cupid's bow. “And you just seemed so cold.” 

You laughed over him and he pulled you even closer, as the water seeped through your clothes. You lifted your upper body a bit, not minding the way your shirt clung to your body as you brought your other hand to graze along the top of his cheek. “Really missed you.” 

“Wasn’t gone that long,” you whispered. “Picked up some more bread - the woman at the bakery recognized me.” 

You could feel the hum from his chest before you heard it, as he stole another quick peck from your lips. “Becoming a true local, aren’t you?” 

“Guess I am,” you mindlessly trailed your fingertips over his features, tracing the curve of his lips as he spoke. 

There was a small pause, a quiet comfortable silence. “What d’you say we stay a little longer?” 

You didn’t really need to think about the offer that much. “How much longer?” 

Harry shrugged, although knowing you both had responsibilities that were eventually needed to go back to. “Maybe a few more weeks?” 

“I’d love that,” you pressed your lips to his, knowing that you’d eventually work out the details later. 

He muttered something against your mouth, something you couldn’t quite catch as he returned your kiss. His hands wandered under your shirt, quickly pulling the soaking material from your body and throwing it with a wet slap to the tiled floor. Another problem to be dealt with later. 

Your lips parted as his tongue grazed over yours, a soft hitting of teeth when you tried to reposition yourself over him. His lips slid down your chin and your jaw as you brought your legs to straddle him, the growing uncomfortable heavy corduroy of your pants needing to be the next thing to be taken off. 

A soft curse escaped your lips both at the feeling of your lover’s hands on you and at the cool air, when he tugged your bralette over your head and again threw it somewhere to be immediately forgotten. His hands cupped your breasts, warm and wet and pulling deliciously at your nipples while his mouth sucked over the sensitive skin of your neck. 

“Help me get outta these,” you whispered into the air, one of your hands fumbling with the button and zipper of your trousers while you held onto him for support. 

After much moving around – splashing water, and slipping over the smooth bottom of the tub –  the heavy material was tugged off your legs and thrown over the edge of the tub. Finally feeling his skin completely against yours, you repositioned yourself over his lap with a leg on either side of his as your mouths met.

You sank into his arms as he whimpered your name, holding you tightly around your hips. One of his hands wandered lower, brushing lightly over your underwear covered heat.

You were both incredibly hot - from the water and from the increasing tension - as you blindly grabbed at each other in quick desperation. 

Your hips pressed over his, while his lips were wandering over the damp exposed skin of your chest, and he moaned lowly against you, “love you close - love you everywhere.” 

He raised his swollen mouth from your skin, pressing his words over your mouth. “Gonna spend the rest of my life with you like this.”

“You should stay the night.”

You turned your head towards Harry from where you were carrying over the stack of dishes. “What?”

“Snow hasn’t stopped,” he motioned to the closed window. “And it's getting late. Better idea for you to stay tonight.”

You only stared at him with your mouth slightly parted as if to speak, but didn’t know what to say. You figured that you hadn’t really thought this through, and it wasn’t completely crazy that it was a better idea to wait out the night out here with Harry.

“Not stay the night stay the night,” he continued, easily noticing the little lift in your lips.

“So it was only ever about the writing then?” The teasing tone in your voice was evident, though Harry couldn’t help the way his heart skipped at the possibility of you wanting to be here with him just as much as he wanted you.

“I think it’s always good to hold out some hope.” He answered, watching your eyes linger on him for a moment longer before glancing away with a small chuckle.

“I know you’re right,” you hummed, turning on the tap to begin washing the small load that needed to be done.

“About holding out hope or staying over?”

Biting your bottom lip between your teeth, you watched him approach you from the corner of your eye before answering. “Both.”

He tried his best to hide his smile when he joined your side by the sink, each settling in without much discussion of you as the washer of the dishes and him as the dryer. “So you’ll stay?”

You didn’t think about it too much. “I might need a shower,” you started, keeping your eyes on the soapy water that you pulled a ladle out of. “And to borrow some things.” 

“Still have the same face cream,” his hip bumped yours – almost so lightly it could’ve just been him readjusting his feet. ”Welcome to anything you’d like, always are.” 

This time it was obvious that it was on purpose. Not so much of a bump but a nudge, a slow one as he leaned his body closer to yours and rested against you for a brief second. 

“I’ll hold you to that,” you said lightly as your agreement, trying not to think too much about sharing a bed with your ex.

The quiet that came when you worked through the dishes together didn’t last all that long before Harry asked.

“Been seeing anyone?”

You glanced at him briefly. A cheek was half lifted, the hints of a smirk forming on his lips as he eyed you.

“Why’re you asking?” You countered, the answer to the question obvious.

“Why do you think,” he let out a chuckle, although was unable to help but feel a little anxious at the answer to the question, especially in your silence.

“There was one,” you spoke slowly. “A friend set it up – a double date. Saw him one more time after and that was it.”

“That was it?” Harry repeated your words, clearly looking for more of an explanation.

“Haven’t seen him again,” you turned off the tap, wiping your hands on the dish cloth hanging off a hook before facing Harry. “And you?”

“Twice,” he said – if you were going to be honest so was he. “Different person each time.” 

“Busy boy,” you mused, trying not to wonder how long after you split it had been, or how recently. 

His smirk had died down, meeting your eyes earnestly. “Never saw either again. You're a hard one to get over.”

His words hit you hard in the chest, like a little stab of a knife deep and sharp. He had spoken lightly, but you didn’t miss the slight clipped tone of his voice. 

“Did anything… happen with the guy?” He asked immediately after, not giving you much of a chance to react to his confession.

You only bit your bottom lip down, holding your mouth shut. The soft lights from above seemed like they had dimmed, the space around you feeling smaller and more intimate.

He took your silence as the answer, a pit of jealousy building at the mere thought of someone else's hands on you. 

“Just a kiss,” you told him, barely able to recall the short end of date kiss shared between you and the man you hadn’t even thought about. “On the second date.”

Harry only hummed, arms crossing over his chest as he leant his hip against the counter. The dishes were nearly done and long forgotten by now.

“D’you wanna see him again?”

“Harry –”

“If you haven’t seen him since then it doesn’t sound that way,” he mused, cutting you off with his petty rambling. “Especially now that you’ve come here.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Wasn’t like what?” His tone was quiet, but as you looked up to see him again his eyes held something more, begging for your attention.

“I just wanted –” Stopping yourself, you couldn’t continue. I just wanted to stop thinking about you. Instead, you spoke a quiet “I don’t know.”

A heavy silence surrounded you for the millionth time that day. It had only been a few hours since you’d run into each other, since he’d invited you up and you’d easily agreed. You only looked away from him when his touch was felt over you, glancing down at the hand landing over yours on the counter, resting his palm over your knuckles.

His thumb softly brushed the skin. “Why did you come here?”

Harry couldn’t help but ask you again. He knew why he had come here, and he had a growing suspicion that you had come for the same reason – you were both just too stubborn to say anything.

“I told you, Eloise offered –”

“You could’ve gone anywhere though, I didn’t even know you were close with her.” Harry again, couldn’t help it.

You knew very well what he wanted to hear.

After a moment in silence, he spoke quietly and earnestly. “Did you miss us?”

You had to look away. You could feel his eyes burning into the side of your face, able to hear the heavy swallow in his throat before he spoke once more. “Did you miss me?”

You watched his hand lightly rest over yours, the way neither of you moved but once and a while there would be a small flinch or twitch of muscle as if the need to grab onto the other rested right below the surface.

“Of course I did,” his hand held yours a little tighter when you spoke. “We were good.”

“We were,” Harry repeated, quietly pondering on the past tense of the sentiment.

The decision to invite you up had been innocent at first, or so he wanted to tell himself that, but having you here with him was something he’d never thought to experience again. He asked you the same question once more. “Is that why you came here?”

Daring a few more steps towards you, the hand that was not over yours raised to brush its knuckles under your cheek, before grabbing a hold of your jaw. You were watching him closely, needing to swallow a thick gulp of air when he neared you.

Deciding not to answer him, as you both seemed to be aware of the true answer, you avoided the question entirely. “Is that why you came?”

You dropped your eyes down to his mouth when the corners of it quirked up, quickly looking back up to his eyes, almost hoping that he would avoid truly answering just as you had.

“It is, yeah.”

His earnestness shouldn’t have surprised you. You felt his words before you even processed them, momentarily reveling in your closeness. You were sure you were going to start crying again if he didn’t say anything else.

“Remember last time we were here,” Harry said, again quickly changing the subject. His hand that rested over yours moved up, sliding over the bare skin of your wrist before looping around to hold the counter behind you. Keeping himself impossibly close, he kept speaking at your nod. “Remember one of the first nights, in the park by the lake, the dancing, what was that called?”

“Bal musette,” you said without having to think about it all that much .

“Yeah,” his lips curved to a wider smile at the memory. “All the men wanted to dance with you.”

“They were all in their eighties,” you hummed, letting yourself lean into his touch over your cheek.

“Still,” he grinned. “We were good.”

You remembered the cool air, not quite spring yet but the ends of winter were apparent. Harry had held you close, he always did. It had been an evening of uncontrollable laughs, interlocked hands, and stumbling home in a rush. The late dinners, the indulgence in delicious chocolates, the walks by the lake; it was all too good. The entire time really, was a blissful month.

You knew it, you both knew it. Right now, neither of you could even remember what had led to a break up in the first place.

He was all around you, his arms keeping you in while the tip of his nose nudged your cheek and his face grew closer to yours. There was only a soft orange glow in the room, hitting off the top of his features in a way that drew you in. So close he became a blur to you, something you hadn’t experienced in nearly a year.

But it was when he tilted his chin down that you processed what he was about to do, that you let your head fall to the side in a quick move to avoid his kiss, only a brush of his cheek over your jaw being felt.

Harry let himself fall forward, his forehead landing on your shoulder as he let out a quiet chuckle into the crook of your neck. Neither of you moved from where you were, still standing pressed to one another with his chest pushing against yours and his arms on either side of you.

Moving your head back, you couldn’t help the breathless laugh that blew through your nose, not doubt tickling the skin of his neck.

“What was that,” you hummed quietly.

He tilted his head slightly, lips brushing over the skin of your neck. “Sorry,” he spoke, although he didn’t mean the apology all that much. He had wanted to kiss you; he still does. “Felt right.”

It was overwhelming, being close and personal with you once more. Harry moved his nose to the column of your neck, smelling the familiar comfort of the perfume that lingered on you.

“Felt right,” he repeated, voice muffled from his mouth resting over your neck. He didn’t miss the way you tilted your head again, this time not to avoid his touch but to allow more space along your neck as he pressed the lightest of touches onto the sensitive skin. “Didn’t it?”

He also didn’t miss the soft hitch in your throat, breath getting caught when he let his lips linger. Getting lost in you for a moment, when you lifted a hand to his shoulder, and wrapped your arm around him in a desire to keep him close. His lips pressed harder, parting to allow a quick lick of his tongue over the familiar skin. You sighed softly above him, feeling everything at once in a breathtaking moment.

But then you found your breath again, and spoke his name quietly before shifting away from him. “Harry –”

“I know-”

He sighed, a deep pull of air through his lungs when he pulled away from you. Just enough to meet your bewildered eyes, just enough that he could see every detail on your face without having them blur. “Let’s get to sleep, yeah?”

You only nodded, peering into his eyes as if it would help you read his mind. His gaze flickered away from yours, falling to the spot of floor between your feet before willing himself to move away from you. “We’ll feel better in the morning.”

You had no idea what he meant at all, but only watched him walk away from where he had just been. The quiet music that had still been playing was abruptly turned off, the lack of sound making the rapid beating of your heart that much louder. Taking a minute for yourself, you slowly followed him out of the kitchen.

“D’you mind if I shower?” Your voice sounded foreign to yourself, after an uncomfortable silence settled in the apartment.

“Go ahead,” his voice was distant, and you simply made your way to the washroom for a quick shower before likely not getting any sleep through the night.

Seeing the array of his toiletries laid out over the countertop was once more far too familiar, most of them being the same ones you had seen nearly everyday. Helping yourself to them since you were here for the night, you did your best to scrub off what makeup you had one before getting into the shower.

“Hey,” Harry’s voice suddenly invaded your senses, as he nudged the door open just as you were about to pull your sweater up over your head, hand stuck halfway up your chest.

Immediately dropping your hand back down as the knit fell back over your body, you saw Harry's eyes raise up to yours through the mirror. “Sorry,” he spoke quietly. “Just bringing you some clothes that you can sleep in.”

“Thank you,” you only looked at him through the mirror, watching as his eyes fell back down to where your hands were still holding your sweater by your hips.

Another moment too long passed with neither moving or saying anything, and just as you parted your lips to say anything, Harry cleared his throat. “I know, I know.”

He sighed, as if you had been about to scold him for lingering again and shut the bathroom door behind him, leaving you alone once more.

You showered as quickly as you could, washing your body and keeping your hair out of the water. You tried your best not to think about the way Harry’s eyes had slowly dragged over your body, even your sweater covered one. You tried not to think about the way he smelt the same, or the way his hands felt so good around you and the way he had wanted to kiss you. Or the way his lips felt so familiar over your neck, that if you hadn’t stopped him there might not be a wall separating the both of your right now. 

And it didn’t get better when you came around the corner dressed in his clothes, sweats bunching at your ankles and the crewneck looking warm around you. You shot him a nervous smile from where he was already in bed, placing your belongings next to the bag you had on the floor, before turning back to glance at Harry.

“Well come on in,” he smiled, trying not to let his gaze linger on you for too long and lifted the corner of the duvet up on the other side of the mattress. With the sleeves of the crewneck pulled over your palms, you tentatively slid in on the bed, trying your best to maintain as much distance as you possibly could.

Harry turned off his phone, placing it on the table next to him before leaning over to shut off the only source of light.

You rested on your side, daring to face Harry as you hugged the pillow under your cheek. “It was a nice surprise seeing you today,” you started, not wanting to go to sleep on an awkward note. 

He faced you when you spoke, mirroring your position from the other side of the mattress. “What are the odds that we both came back here,” he posed it less of a question, more as a quiet wondering. “Would never have thought -”

Humming in response, you didn’t know what the odds were really. Must have been pretty low, and the fact that you were both here and now found yourselves sharing a bed was not at all where you thought you’d end up when you got up this morning. 

He turned from his side to his back, looking away from you and instead chose to stare up at the ceiling. The urge to be close to you was strong, and it felt incredibly odd to not be near you as you both went to sleep together. 

“Goodnight,” you spoke quietly. You shuffled down the mattress and rested your head over the pillow. There was no way you were going to sleep tonight.

“’Night,” Harry hummed from the other side of the bed, lying just as stiff as you were.

You rolled onto your side with your back to the man you couldn’t believe you were sharing a bed with once more. You begged your mind to turn off, to let sleep take over your body so that it could be morning, and maybe everything would make sense in the morning.

But instead your mind wandered to every possible thought regarding Harry, and you rolled onto your back to stare at the ceiling. Trying your damn hardest not to pay attention to Harry’s breathing, or his own shuffles on the bed.

You didn’t know how long it had been, but you were starting to grow hot. Sticking a leg out from under the covers didn’t help much, and then you couldn’t stop thinking about it. You couldn’t stop thinking about Harry – about how you felt with him, about how he made you feel when you had been together. In and out of the bedroom.

Rolling onto your stomach for the thousandth time, hoping Harry was asleep so he hadn’t been hearing your constant shuffling, you squeezed your thighs together and cursed yourself for thinking what you were while lying in a bed with your ex. Wasn’t so much arousal, but just… neediness.

Not only could you not stop thinking about every touch you shared, the linger of his hands and his lips, but you couldn’t take your mind off of every single word you read in his old notebooks. It was haunting you nearly, an old ghost that was sitting on your chest and leaving you heavy hearted. 

It was when you rolled from your stomach to your back again with a quiet sigh, that Harry muttered against his pillow with a low voice, “stop movin’ around.”

Slightly embarrassed that he had obviously been awake the entire time as well, you rolled your head to the side to see him over the space of the middle of the mattress. “Sorry – can’t sleep.”

He did the same, turning his head so that your eyes could meet in the nearly completely dark room. “Me neither.”

You simply looked at each other for a moment, trying to let yourself relax enough so that you could eventually drift to sleep before Harry spoke again. “It feels odd, doesn’t it? Sleeping but not being close.”

You nodded, realizing he couldn’t really see your movement before speaking. “Yeah – I can’t relax.”

This time there was no pause between words. “Come here,” Harry said quickly.

“What?”

He shuffled closer to the middle, closer towards you. “Friends can cuddle, can’t they? Just – come here.”

You didn’t think too much of the offer..

You moved away from the very edge of the bed, closer to where Harry layed. He extended an arm out, wrapping it around your shoulders as you came closer and pulled you in to lay next to his chest. Tentatively raising your hand, you laid it flat over his chest before sliding it around him as you hugged him from the side.

It felt nice – normal even, being in his arms. He let out another sigh, murmuring a quiet “goodnight” before settling back down into the mattress.

You felt his hand fall lightly over your shoulder, fingertips brushing on the fabric of the borrowed jumper. You were hyper focused on your breathing, trying your best to steady it in a lame attempt of getting your heartbeat to calm down. But when you realized Harry’s heart was beating just as fast, you relaxed even more against him.

Sleep came slowly, but it eventually did come. At one point Harry moved positions, just the slightest bit, but just enough that he was able to push a leg against yours. Slowly moving your own legs, you let him rest his calf over yours with the small tangle of your legs. That was the last thing either of you remembered before falling asleep.

The morning held a bit more tension.

Harry woke up before you, and spent far too long contemplating on whether he should get up or not. So long, in fact, that you had woken up and made the decision for him. While he feigned being asleep, you quietly shuffled out from under the covers. 

Following the sound of your footsteps to the washroom, he heard the door close behind you and the quiet hum of the tap after a moment. He wondered if you would leave immediately.

Getting out of bed himself, he first went to go adjust the thermostat as the air was far too cold after being out of the cozy warmth of the bed, and went to go turn on the kettle.

You were by his side moments later, each sharing quiet “good mornings” while he tried not to stare at the way your eyelids still drooped down and the way you pulled the sleeves of his jumper over your hands.

He knew the offer of coffee would get you to stay for a cup, but by the way you had rushed back to the bathroom with your clothes from the day before told him that you weren’t planning on sticking around for too long.

By the time you reappeared by his side, you were dressed just as you had yesterday. He knew he’d find the clothes you’d borrowed folded over his bed. You seemed fresher faced than last time, even catching a whiff of his lavender scented moisturizer that you always used to borrow.

Biting his lips together to hide his smile at the fact you had in fact taken your liberties with his toiletries just as he’d offered, he quietly prepared you a cup of coffee while your attention was drawn down to your phone.

You mindlessly answered texts, none of them that urgent that they required your full attention as you still couldn’t help but pay close attention to Harry’s every move.

“Sleep okay?” He finally broke the silence.

You paused, needing to clear your throat before answering. “I did, yeah.” Only after he had invited you to lay peacefully in his arms. “You?”

“Did as well,” he hummed, filling the two mugs with the wonderful smelling coffee. “A lot better after you stopped moving around.”

“Sorry again,” you suddenly felt hot at his mention of your irritation – at the reminder of how incredibly needy you had gotten for him to even lay a hand over your own. Taking the mug of coffee as a welcomed distraction, you cupped it in two hands to bring it up to your mouth, blowing over the hot liquid.

He dropped the subject, though, as he mirrored your action and you both took a moment to let the coffee stall the inevitable goodbye that was about to be shared.

“What’re you up to today?” 

He thought it over for a second, not actually having planned all that much. “Need to grab a few things from the store, otherwise not a whole lot.” He thought aloud. “And you?” 

“Driving to Aix-les-Bains with Eloise, some store over there she wants to see.” You had just seen the text from your friend, deciding to not answer all the ones questioning what had happened with Harry. 

You both took big sips of the still too hot coffee. “No writing today?” 

“Not that I’ve been that successful,” you mumbled into the mug. 

“You’ll find it,” he affirmed. “I know you will.” 

Your chest warmed, not from the heat of the beverage but from the sincerity of his statement. You hid your face behind your mug, taking a nearly too big sip that you nearly choked on. 

“Thanks again, for letting me stay and for… everything.” You placed the mug by your side, the caffeine suddenly making you nauseous. The words you had read in his old notebook still haunted you. 

Harry realized that you were about to tell him that you were leaving, and a small bout of panic rose through his stomach. “Of course -” 

He watched, dumbfounded of what to say, as you walked from the kitchen to where you had left your belongings and started arranging them in your bag and put your phone into the pocket of your trousers. Harry couldn’t stop watching every small move you made.

His eyes followed you around the kitchen, mind racing to find anything to say to you anything that would at the very least have you coming back to see him.

“Can I see you again?” He suddenly blurted, voice louder than it had been before, making you stop in your movements and turn to face him.

Your mouth parted and for a moment he thought it was forming into a ‘yes’, but it never came. And he didn’t realize that it never came because his attention caught on something else. Something that had been hiding beneath the tight knit of your sweater yesterday, something that he had forced himself to forget about.

He moved without realizing, taking the two small steps needed to stand right next to you. Noticing his sudden action, you turned yourself so that your body faced his with a small crease of confusion forming between your brows.

He couldn’t help it. Reaching out to where the small locket rested below your collarbones, he caught your attention with the small tug of the chain.

Oh.

Remaining quiet, you watched his focus fall to the necklace that had never been taken off. His bottom lip fell with a quiet exclamation, one you couldn’t hear no matter how close you stood. He turned it over in his hand, briefly wondering whether it was too far to open the little locket.

“Couldn’t take it off.” You said, as he remained quiet due to his current fascination.

You both watched as he toyed with the light metal in his fingers. Grazing over the small flat pearl that graced the front of the pendant, seeing it just as he’d last remembered it.

He had once again found himself standing desperately close to you. If he had moved closer while looking at the jewelry, he wasn’t sure. But when he let it fall back against the light purple knit of your sweater to meet your gaze, he realized that he could see every twitch of your eyes when they moved to gaze up at him.

His hand didn’t fall far, landing with a light touch over your wrist just as he had the night before.

“Give me a shot.”

You tilted your chin up, his words settling in with a flip of your stomach. “You said it yourself – we were good.”

“I know,” was all you could muster, the clear confidence in his words making your heart beat a little harder.

“And I’m having a hard time remembering what went wrong,” a humourless laugh shook from his chest, as he kept his eyes focused on the little locket that had been gifted to you nearly a year ago. “And seeing you here, out of all places. I can’t be the only one.”

“I know,” you repeated, very aware of the intense emotion that had been clouding your mind in the past twelve hours. “You’re not the only one.”

He lifted your wrist that he held, gently placing your arm over his shoulder to move in closer to you. You didn’t object, sliding your palm over the crook of his neck. You were unable to help but take a quick look at his mouth, at his lips that hovered so close to yours.

“Give us a shot,” he whispered, breath hitting the inside of your wrist when he titled his chin towards your arm. His lips skimmed the skin, pressing feather light kisses over the inside of your wrist. With the same light pattern of kisses on the inside of your forearm, he moved his lips away to instead focus on your face.

Placing his hand under your jaw, a similar position that you held him in as he seemed to be moving ever so slowly. Tilting his jaw up towards you, he let his lips skim so slightly across your cheek, so light you nearly thought you had imagined it. Just as he had last night, his nose brushed over your own first while he took a moment to savour you.

Waiting for any sign of hesitation on your part, which never came, he let his lips slowly fall over the corner of your mouth. Wet trail of touches that moved away from your lips and instead over to your cheek, he took a moment to hold you against him.

He whispered something over your jaw, you couldn’t hear him. With your eyelids fluttered shut and your head spinning, all your focus was set on what his lips were doing rather than what they were saying.

This time it was you, who slid your hand to the back of his neck with a much firmer grip. It was you that led his mouth to capture yours.

It was just lips on lips at first, a quick kiss that lasted barely a second. You pulled away before he could even have a chance to react, a small smile curving at your lips when you glanced up at him.

His hand slid up your arm to hold a tight grip around your back, while the other circled to the back of your neck, thumb brushing over your skin in soft circles. He pulled you in again, both relaxing into the kiss as his lips eased over yours.

Kissing him was everything good you remembered. The way he gripped you tightly against him, the soft touch of his lips, the way your name was rolling off his tongue in a quiet incredulous breath. 

His mouth was warm, inviting, fitting so perfectly over yours as you tentatively parted your own lips to invite him in for more. Your free hand joined the other around his neck, letting his tongue graze against yours as you tasted each other for the first time in nearly a year. It was all the same – like no time had really passed at all.

Feeling his hand circle around your hip, holding you close as a quiet moan rumbled from deep in his chest. You couldn’t help the content sigh at the sound, completely melting into him. He was pressing tight against you, mouth completely capturing yours while your breathing mixed and lips dampened. 

Your chins hit awkwardly when you tilted your head to the side and he went to lightly suck over your bottom lip. Though you didn’t mind the slight sting of his chin knocking yours, in fact you found yourself welcoming everything about him. 

It wasn’t until you realized you were sharing heavy breaths, and when your lips had been growing more and more desperate for the other that you needed to separate for a quick deep breath of air. 

He breathed your name with a quiet smile tugging at the corners of his mouth that was easily heard in his voice. “We’re still good.” 

Your head was spinning. His head was spinning. Nothing seemed to be real, at the moment but at the same time everything seemed far too real. 

Just as he leant in again, searching for your lips once more, you slid your palm down from his shoulder to the center of his chest and pushed yourself back an inch. “Harry…”

You wanted to feel his mouth on yours again, you really did. You just couldn’t bear to think what would come of it – you couldn’t revisit all the pain that you had managed to push away. 

He shook his head, not believing you were about to turn him down again. Especially after that. He knew he shouldn’t be upset with you about it, he knew it was completely valid on your end but in this moment he felt like everything was coming crashing once more.

When he heard the quiet and pained tone in your voice, he bit his lip down – his lip that could still feel the whisper of yours – and shook his head in disbelief.

“We shouldn’t.” 

A sharp pain came from your chest as Harry seemed to deflate against you. “If you don’t –” he had to look away from your heavy eyes as he spoke. “You can’t kiss me like that and then push me away.” 

He was right - of course he was right - but you were so incredibly confused and couldn’t seem to process a single thing that you were feeling. “I’m sorry,” you whispered, neither of you moving. “I didn’t mean to…” you didn’t know what to say, because you really did want to kiss him. You still do. “I’m really sorry.” 

Harry shook his head. “Don’t be sorry –” he sighed, hands falling from your body.

When he didn’t say anything else, you slowly dragged your palm over your forehead, feeling the sudden tension of the situation manifest in a growing pain in your head. “We can’t keep living in the past.” 

He hated himself for the sliver of hope he felt when you said ‘we’. 

“We were so fucking good,” he knew he needed to stop entertaining the topic but he really couldn’t help it He knew you saw it too. “We were a team, we were solid. I just don’t know,” he cut himself off, running the back of his hand over his mouth.  “I don’t know.” 

A thick moment of silence passed – you couldn’t bear it. “It’s too…” you had to take a deep breath as you felt a sob build in your chest. “It’s too painful to go through this again, Harry – this has been the hardest year of my life I can’t –”

You need to cut yourself off, shoulders shaking as you kept your eyes glued to the floor. “I should go.”

[johnsamericano]

『 ‎ ‎لąҽհվմղ / ᎠҽӀմʂìօղ 』

warnings: mental illness implied, hallucinations, meds, aggressive jaehyun, implied sexual relations.

taglist: @nakamotocore @jisooapproved @la-ra-rumi @winwiniee @yijiujiujiu @nctlovesme

loveholic masterlist.

Lies.

That's what Jaehyun hated the most in the world, lies.

He hated the way you'd smile at him during class, only to pretend he wasn't even there as soon as you exited the room. It wasn't fair. He wanted to confront you, wanted to ask for an explanation for your uninterested attitude, but anytime he'd try, words got stuck in his throat, choking him uncomfortably.

Jaehyun wasn't sure when his interest in you began growing. He was never one to have secret crushes, so then, why you? What made you special enough for him to like you?

The answer came one lucky day when the professor paired you up together for a project. While people usually whined when being put in the same team with someone other than their friends, you seemed all but annoyed, smiling with your white, pearly teeth and waving at him as if he were your very best friend.

“Guess you’re stuck with me.” It was his first time speaking to you, beads of sweat collecting on his upper lip. “Jaehyun, right?”

He hated small talk almost as much as lies. Almost. But when it came to you, he could do it all day long if it meant listening to your delightful voice. All of his pent-up frustrations scattered as you started planning your schedule to work on the project. He’d only hum in approval, still too shy to speak to you.

“So tomorrow's okay with you?” Your head was tilted to the side, the tender skin of your neck looking awfully tempting. He pictured himself kissing it, having you struggle under his weight while he kissed it for hours on end. “Jae?” He was pulled out of the scenario his mind was working through by a gentle hand on his wrist.

There were no mirrors nearby, but the tips of his ears were surely tinted red by now. But most importantly, his pants were becoming uncomfortably tight in his crotch area. A touch from you was all his body needed to go insane.

“Sure.” You smiled, removing your hand from its previous spot. His skin itched for more contact, but he was too shy to initiate anything. “I need to go to the restroom.”

He rushed out of the classroom with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, pushing the fabric forward to conceal his growing boner. He relieved himself inside the small cubicle, his own heavy breathing muffled under the sound of a couple doing less than appropriate things inside the following stall. Would that be you and him one day? Probably, but not quite yet.

Your kindness had no limits. That's what Jaehyun thought when you sat down to have lunch with him, the guy who no one ever liked enough to hang out with.

“Why?” He asked on the second occasion you sit with him.

“Because I like you.”

You started hanging out more often not long after that. Even after you handed in your work, you were keen on staying by his side, and he had nothing to complain about. It was as if the universe was finally smiling at him, all the times you'd ignored him after class now long forgotten. He was happier, brighter than usual. He told his roommate, the closest friend he had, about you. He was happy for Jaehyun, of course, but a feeling in his gut told him something was off.

The night before your spring break started, you invited him to a frat party. He’d never been to one, he didn't like them. But you were so insisting that he had no other choice but to oblige. The entire house smelled like sweat, alcohol, and drugs, disgusting, he thought. However, it was all worth it when he finally got to see you, tucked inside a tight dress that showed the figure you'd so thoroughly hide in baggy shirts. He approached you, wanting to greet you, but one of your friends dragged you away. He didn't mind it, the night was still young and he'd have plenty of time to be with you.

Not even five minutes later, you reappeared by his side, giving him one of your signature eye smiles.

“Having fun, pretty boy?” A light blush crept up his face, settling at the tip of his ears. “Let’s dance.”

His hands were firmly gripping your hips as you rubbed your body on his, causing a more than an obvious problem in his pants. Before his brain could register the current events happening, your lips were on his. It all felt too sudden, yet, he enjoyed the way you'd nip at his lower lip. It sent him to frenzy.

“I’m so wet, Jae.” You mumbled seductively against his fleshy pillows. “Want you to make me feel good.”

You dragged him to the closest room, increasing under his adoring gaze. You were so beautiful, and all his. The promise of your union was sealed that night, as you fell asleep between his arms after three intense rounds of pure bliss.

“Jaehyun?” He felt someone shaking his shoulder, it was a male voice. His arms instinctively closed tighter around your naked body to hide it from whoever was calling him, only to realize it wasn't you who was between them, but a mere pillow. “Dude, get up.” It was his roommate Johnny, picking him up after he got a call from one of the frat members. “You got so wasted yesterday, let's go, I'll take you for food.”

Wasted? He hadn't drunk anything the previous night. Nonetheless, he left the house after dressing up. He tried calling you as they waited for their waffles to no avail.

“Jaehyun, I saw your pills today in the trash bin. Have you stopped taking them?” Johnny seemed truly concerned.

“I’m better now, John. For real.” The sincerity in his words put his roommate’s heart at ease. “I found someone, I like her a lot and it seems like she does as well.”

“Dude, that's awesome. We should hang out soon, I'll invite my girlfriend.” A double date, it felt like you and Jaehyun were finally official. But the question remained, why had you left the house early in the morning?

“Sure.”

Because you wouldn't pick up any of his calls, he had to wait until Monday to confront you. During breakfast, Johnny had crushed some of his pills and sneaked them into his eggs, you can never be too safe, he thought. And, oh boy was he right.

You were picking up your belongings from your locker, getting ready to go back home during the break.

“Hey.” He leaned against the closest wall, flashing you a dimpled smile.

“Oh, hey...Jay, right?” Was that a joke?

“Sure, whatever you want. So, my roommate wants to meet you, just let me know whenever you have time and I'll tell him. By the way...” He leaned in, lips brushing against the shell of your ears. Some curious eyes were looking at you, eager to know what was happening. “I really enjoyed that night, but it would've been better if I'd woken up with you between my arms.”

“Excuse me?” You backed away abruptly, escaping his proximity. “I think you're taking me for someone else.”

“What do you mean?”

Realization hit him like a truck. You were ignoring him yet again, but he wasn't gonna take it this time. He hated lies.

“Come with me.” He gripped your forearm, easily dragging you all the way to the janitor's closet. “You don't get to play dumb with me anymore. Stop fucking lying.” You looked like a scared little mouse about to be eaten by a cat.

“I-I’m sorry, but I'm not lying, the only time I've spoken to you was when we worked together. We haven't been in touch ever since.” Even in a situation like this, you still pretended to be kind.

“Lies.” His hands closed against your neck, slightly choking you. “I don't like them, so you better be good and tell me the truth before I do something we'll both regret.” Your eyes welled with tears as you begged for your life, his grip getting tighter with every second. “Come on, angel.”

“I’m sorry, I'm a liar!” Your air supply was running short and your only option was to say what he wanted to hear, even if it was just a lie. “Please!”

“That’s a good doll.” He let go of your bruised neck, letting you fall on your knees as you coughed. “Now, you better stop lying for your own good, are we clear?”

“Yes!” You choked out, unsure of what was happening at the moment.

“I’ll call you later, have your phone by your side.”

You had walked into a trap without even knowing it.

[pregnant-piggy]

Summer Games - one

Blaise Zabini x reader

masterlist

warnings: mentions of food, no pronouns used

A/N: because apparently I can’t write short fics anymore, i turned his idea into a short series! different from the last series, this one is fluffy and light-hearted. I hope you like it!

written for @omgrachwrites​ writing challenge with the prompts: ‘I can’t have this argument with you again.’ ‘But—’ ‘No, I’m done.’ and ‘Sorry… your hair was in your face… thought  I should move it so I could see you better.’

word count: 5.4k

Rain was pouring down from the skies outside, and had been all week. Dark grey heavens had been the ceiling to the world for seven days already and it didn’t seem like it would get any better anytime soon. For May the weather was dull and grim—the complete opposite of the year before when the sun had been out already in March.

Not that many seventh year students were outside anyway. With the exams approaching fast, most time beside classes was spent in the library or in the dark common rooms. To get the students outside after all, the school had decided that despite the rain all outside classes would continue.

Hence you were slipping and sliding over the soggy grass on your way back from Herbology to the castle for lunch, trying to keep up with Pansy who seemed to have less trouble than you. That, however, was not what was bothering you.

‘Come on, Pansy. You know it would be fun! It’s our final year, it’ll be nice!’

Pansy sighed as she caught your arm and pulled you back to your feet after you’d nearly slipped. Nevertheless there was a small smile on her face and you felt like doing a dance, had you not been standing so weakly on your feet.

‘Fine,’ she gave in and you cheered. ‘But good luck trying to convince the guys, if you mention “Summer Games” once more they’ll ignore you for the rest of the day.’

The Summer Games were the annual week-long festival in your grandparents’ hometown. You had been begging your friends to come along with you for years now, but they always found reasons  to not come—the most used one being ‘it’s stupid’. Every year when the end of the school year was approaching your friends would feel it coming and never intentionally brought up the subject of the summer vacation. However this year you wouldn’t just leave it there. You really wanted your friends to come and you wouldn’t take no for an answer.

‘I’ll just use my charming personality,’ you smirked as you followed Pansy to the big table in the Great Hall. ‘They can’t resist that.’

‘Well, Blaise for sure can’t.’

‘Shut up,’ you mumbled as you sat down next to Pansy and she shot you a sly grin.

You chatted with Pansy for a while as you waited for Draco and Blaise to return from their potions class. Meanwhile you tried to come up with ways to convince them, but when they finally arrived you hadn’t many more thoughts than before.

‘Merlin, I’m starving,’ Blaise grumbled as he slumped down on the bench and immediately reached for the food in front of him.

Draco took the seat next to him and shook his head disapprovingly. ‘You don’t know how much I’ve heard that in the past hour. He’s terrible.’

‘Not as annoying as y/n was trying to get me to come with them to their grandparents in the summer,’ Pansy sighed, spooning sugar into her tea.

‘Oh not this again,’ Draco whined and you shot him a mad look.

‘I’ll have you know that Pansy agreed with me actually,’ you said, triumphantly smiling at your friend. ‘So now all you have to do is stop being so stubborn and agree to come.’

‘Never,’ Draco swore, crossing his arms over his chest.

‘Draco, please! It will be fun! It’s our final school year; don’t you think we should do something together?’

‘I can’t have this argument with you again!’ Draco cried out exasperated, throwing his arms up in the air.

‘But—’

‘No, I’m done,’ Draco said and he raised his hand to stop you from talking.

You whimpered sadly and desperately turned to your other friend, who had been solely focused on his lunch and hadn’t joined in the argument. You put up puppy eyes and pouted your lips as you looked at Blaise. ‘Blaise?’

He looked up and you could have sworn something flickered in his eyes when he looked at you. Slowly he lowered his fork and turned from you to Draco and back to you. You were still pouting and Blaise chuckled at your face, making your cheeks burn.

‘Please, Blaise? You wouldn’t turn me down, would you?’ you asked sweetly and tilted your head to the side a little. Next to you, Pansy scoffed softly and you kicked her shin, causing her to hiss in pain.

Blaise stayed silent for a while as he contemplated what to say, but eventually he shot you a small smile and shrugged. ‘I guess it wouldn’t be too bad…’

/\/\/\

The sun was shining fiercely down on the roof of the bus shelter and the beams were even hotter through the glass. Trees were nowhere to be seen on the side of the road so shadow was a scarce thing.

Draco stood next to you and even though he had arrived ten minutes earlier, you still weren’t done laughing. In all the years that you had known Draco not once had you seen him in shorts, so when he had crossed the street to the bus shelter at first you hadn’t even recognised him. Then when you had noticed Draco’s face you had started to laugh so hard that your backpack had slipped from your shoulder and you had nearly fallen to your knees.

Draco was wearing black shorts and underneath stuck two very pale legs that you thought had never seen daylight before. But that wasn’t what was so bad about it; after all pale legs were just a natural thing. The bad thing about it was that above it Draco was wearing an orange, flower-patterned shirt that clashed terribly with his skin colour and on top of it all a bucket hat, something that surprised you Draco even had it, let alone wear it.

It was such a difference from the always neat Draco you knew that you hadn’t even heard his explanation over your laughter. And now he was scowling at you as you picked up your bag from the ground.

‘It’s hot, y/n,’ Draco tried. ‘You seriously don’t expect me to wear black pants in the summer, do you?’

‘Is this what you wear at home too? Does your dad dress this way as well?’ you snickered and sat down on the little bench in the bus shelter.

‘Oh, shut it,’ Draco said and he turned away from you.

Next to arrive was Blaise. You waved at him as he walked into the street and a big smile formed on his face when he recognised your figure. You blushed and quickly averted your eyes, but Draco had already seen it and he was laughing at you.

‘Did the other seniors enjoy the cruise as much as you?’ you shot back and Draco turned red, grumbling something as he turned away.

Blaise walked up to you and wrapped his arm around your shoulder—something he usually never did. Blood rushed to your head and you could only smile giddily while trying to not let your heart explode.

‘Am I the first one to arri—’ Blaise started but his eyes widened when he saw Draco in his orange shirt. ‘Wow, where’d you get that shirt? You look like an orange threw up on you.’

You chortled and slapped your hand over your mouth, while Draco looked angrily at his friend. Blaise’s chest moved up and down as he laughed and you felt his low chuckle in your bones. Before you could do anything embarrassing you disentangled from Blaise’s arm and looked into the street, seeing if Pansy was there to save you.

However it took another five minutes before Pansy arrived and in those five minutes you listened to Blaise coming up with more jokes about Draco’s shirt. You laughed when Blaise started to attack the bucket hat and when Pansy finally joined the group you were wiping the tears from your eyes. Blaise was looking at you with an exultant smile and you blushed, shaking your head lightly at the terrible jokes.

‘Oh Merlin, why are you wearing that, Draco?’ Pansy cried out as soon as she stood at the bus shelter. ‘Is that why we never get pictures of you in the summer?’

‘It’s a perfectly fine shirt!’ Draco scoffed. ‘Why aren’t we attacking Blaise on his green shirt?’

‘Because he looks good in it,’ you said without thinking, receiving two surprised stares from Pansy and Draco and a thankful smile from Blaise. ‘You don’t, Draco, like really not.’

‘Alright, alright,’ Draco said, throwing his hands up in defence. ‘I won’t wear this shirt anymore. Is that what you want?’

‘I’d rather you throw that shirt away, but alright,’ Pansy said and she took her bag as the bus arrived. ‘That will do for now.’

The four of you got on the bus with all your bags and you shot the driver an apologetic smile as Draco entered the bus swearing behind Pansy, trying to get back at her. You followed after him and pushed him in his back, forcing him further into the bus.

Pansy took place in a seat at the end of the bus and Draco quickly sat down next to her and started to talk to her, but you didn’t miss Pansy’s mischievous smile as you sat down and had to make place for Blaise. He sat down next to you with a sigh and placed his backpack on the ground at his feet.

You weren’t not used to sit next to Blaise or be in close proximity, but every time it happened you felt your heartbeat pick up and your cheeks get hotter. Sometimes you wished to go back to a time when that didn’t happen, though if you were honest you also liked the way Blaise made you feel. It was a dangerous game, but you enjoyed playing it.

‘How long to your grandparents?’ Blaise asked as he stared at the board above the exit of the bus that showed the route and the stops of the bus.

‘It’s one of the last stops,’ you said, leaning back in your seat. ‘If there isn’t too much traffic I think we’ll be there in two and a half, maybe three hours.’

‘Hmm,’ Blaise hummed and he took his backpack from the floor, unzipping it. ‘Good thing I brought these then.’ And he pulled out a box with your favourite cookies, shaking them in front of you.

‘Oh, Blaise you are amazing!’ you exclaimed and wrapped your arms around him. ‘Did you get these for me?’

Blaise chuckled as you let him go and opened the box. ‘Well, actually they’re for Draco, but then he decided to wear that ugly shirt.’

‘You know, just because I am not sitting next to you, doesn’t mean I don’t hear what you say,’ Draco said and you looked past Blaise to the angry blond.

‘I know,’ Blaise said drily and he gave you a cookie.

You spent the bus ride talking with Blaise and playing travel scrabble. Pansy had finally let go on Draco’s shirt and after a while he lost his grumpiness and joined Blaise to destroy you in the scrabble game. You shared sweets and stories; Draco told how he had applied for a job at the store that sold potions ingredients in Hogsmeade, Pansy had an elaborate story on how she had gotten into a fight with her sister because she had refused to help her with her homework and after your friends had begged, you told how you had seen Neville Longbottom throw up before he had had to give a speech at the graduation at the end of the school year.

‘Poor kid,’ Pansy said and she shook her head. ‘I hope he overcomes his insecurities. It is no life he lives.’

After almost two and a half hours, the bus drove off the main road into the green countryside of the town your grandparents lived in. The sun was setting lower in the sky and it shone through the window on your left, illuminating Blaise’s face with a golden light. He was leaning his head back and had his eyes closed. The sunlight lay as a feather light blanket over the features of his face.

You couldn’t look away. Entranced by the beauty of the boy next to you, you fell into a haze. Your surroundings disappeared into a blur of colours and soft sounds and all you could focus on was Blaise’s sun-kissed face. It costed all the strength in your body to not reach out and brush your fingers over his cheeks.

‘y/n?’

You shot up from your daze and shook your head. If you couldn’t keep yourself together this would be a difficult trip.

‘Aren’t we near our stop?’ Draco asked and you looked past Blaise at him.

Outside the plain meadows with cows and sheep had changed for the cobblestone roads. The bus was approaching a little village that was coming nearer with the minute. The first lonely farmhouses stood next to the road, with front yards full of blooming flowers and colourful curtains behind the windows.

The bus stopped before entering the village, where the streets were so narrow it wouldn’t fit. There was a little square where the vehicle made a turn to leave in the way it came later. With a shock the bus came to a halt and Blaise’s eyes fluttered open.

‘We’re here, sleepy head,’ you said and nudged him with your elbow.

Blaise shot you a sleepy smile and he got up from his seat. He took your and his bag from above the seats and as he had his hands above his head, his shirt lifted and you could see his stomach and a small part of the waistband of his boxers. Taking a deep breath, you averted your eyes and busied yourself with the fabric on the bus seats.

All packed with your bags you stepped from the bus onto the square at the beginning of the village your grandparents lived. A warm sense of familiarity washed over you at seeing the houses. You only came here once a year in the summer, but all the memories you had of the village were ones you were fond of. The old houses and little streets always made you feel welcome, no matter how long you had been away.

‘Let’s go,’ you said and took your bag on your shoulders. ‘They’re waiting for us.’

/\/\/\

Sunlight peaked through the crack between the curtains, lighting up the bedroom. Blaise groaned and he turned around in his bed, blocking out the light by pulling his pillow over his face. The darkness pleasantly fell over his face and he would have fallen asleep again had it not been for Malfoy.

In the bed next to him, Draco was whirling and kicking against his bedsheets. Blaise had shared a room with Draco for seven years so he was used to the sounds of the boy in the morning, but that was when they were at school. Blaise wasn’t so fond of getting woken this early by Draco in the summer.

‘Shut up, idiot,’ Blaise grumbled from under his pillow and Malfoy’s movements silenced.

‘I can’t help it,’ Draco shot back, his grumpy tone laced with sleep. ‘These sheets are so uncomfortable!’

He started to move again and Blaise let out a frustrated sigh. ‘Spoiled little brat you are,’ he muttered. ‘These sheets are fine.’

‘Ugh, I guess they are “fine” but I’m just used to silk,’ Draco went on, still not lying still. ‘You don’t think they have those here, do you?’

Blaise lifted his head from under his pillow and shot Draco an angry look. ‘No they don’t and don’t you dare ask for it. y/n’s grandparents are so nice to let us stay here and you won’t be an ungrateful guest. Didn’t your mommy teach you manners?’

‘Fine,’ Draco said and he rolled his eyes.

After that Draco stopped moving around so much and content Blaise dropped his head back on his mattress. He pulled his pillow back over his head again, but before he could even let it go, the door opened and you burst inside. Draco squealed and pulled the sheets up to his neck as if he had something to hide.

‘Draco, please,’ you snickered. ‘I’ve seen much more from you.’

It was as if the sun itself had entered the room now you were here and Blaise turned on his back, putting the pillow under his head. You were still laughing at Draco who was grumbling and trying to pull his pyjama shirt straight. With a sleepy smile on his face Blaise watched as you rolled your eyes at Draco and then turned to Blaise.

‘Come on, guys! Breakfast is waiting!’ you exclaimed and smiled at Blaise before you left the room.

When you were out of sight, Blaise’s smile faltered and he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Slowly and grunting he sat up in bed, stretching his arms over his head. The wooden floor squeaked under his feet as he got up and went to search for his clothes.

‘If I had known all those years that it just takes y/n to get you up in the morning…’ Draco started but a yawn interrupted his comment.

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Blaise muttered as he pulled his shirt over his head. Fully dressed he made his bed neatly and felt Draco’s eyes on him as he did. ‘What?’

‘Are you wearing green again because y/n said that you looked good in it yesterday?’ Draco asked, tilting his head to the side as he watched Blaise intently.

Blaise pulled the sheets over the bed and looked up at Draco. He was still sitting in bed, wearing his satin pyjamas and his hair was a mess. Chuckling Blaise walked to the door and before he disappeared he said: ‘It doesn’t matter what I wear, next to you I always look good.’

Your grandparents’ house wasn’t as big as the farmhouses the bus had passed, but it was still big enough for the company. Draco and Blaise slept in one bedroom and you and Pansy slept in the one next to it. Your grandparents had a room on the floor above so you weren’t of any trouble to them at night.

Your grandparents were very friendly people. Yesterday they had welcomed their grandchild lovingly and after you had introduced everyone they had welcomed Blaise, Pansy and Draco with just as much love. Dinner had been ready already and Blaise hadn’t known what was better; the food at Hogwarts or your grandparents’ food. During dinner Blaise had talked with your grandmother and he had learned that your craziness for the Summer Games wasn’t just you; it was the whole village.

‘Good morning!’ you cheered from the kitchen counter when Blaise entered the kitchen.

He smiled at you and sat down next to Pansy, who was wearing a sly grin as she looked at Blaise and then at you. He grimaced and shook his head. Apparently his little crush on you hadn’t gone completely unnoticed.

‘Coffee?’ you asked as you got to the table with a pitcher of coffee.

‘Yes, please,’ Blaise said and he pushed the mug near his plate to you.

You filled it and then placed the pitcher on the table. While you sat down, Blaise took a sip of his coffee and welcomed the warm liquid in his body. Slowly he felt himself waking more and more and he could actually appreciate waking up this early for once.

‘Where are your grandparents?’ Blaise asked over his coffee.

‘My grandfather is in the garden and grandma is part of the organisation of the festival so she’s at the fields already.’

A silence fell over the breakfast table and the three of you drank your coffee and tea quietly, letting the sleep fade from your system. After five minutes the floors squeaked and Draco entered the kitchen with a grumpy look on his face.

‘Oh dear Merlin, we’ve awoken the monster,’ Pansy mumbled as Draco sat down at the table. She filled Draco’s cup with coffee and pressed it in his hands. ‘Drink this, it’ll keep the demons at bay.’

Breakfast went on silently and only when you were putting away the dishes after, Draco had got over his grumpiness. Blaise was helping you cleaning out the table and stood with his back towards to table when Draco spoke his first words of the morning.

‘Why so early?’

Blaise placed the plates next to the sink and turned around to you. You shrugged and collected the empty coffee cups while you answered. ‘The festival doesn’t start until twelve, so I thought I’d show you the village. Was it too early?’

‘No, of course not,’ Blaise answered quickly before Draco could open his mouth and this one shot him an angry look. Blaise chuckled and took the cups from your hands, placing them next to the plates.

You shot him a grateful look and then turned around to Pansy and Draco who were still sitting at the table. ‘Go on then,’ you said. ‘Let’s get going!’

/\/\/\

Out in the fields around the village the festival of the Summer Games had been built. The meadows that belonged to the farmers and were used for their cows turned into quite the happening in the summer. For a week the whole village would slow down their work and put most of their attention in the Summer Games.

It was nearing noon when Blaise and his friends got to the fields. All around were little booths with products of the people in the village, such as jars of honey, paintings of the hills and handmade wooden ornaments. The stalls were decorated with colourful garlands around the edges and handwritten signs. During your tour through the village Blaise had wondered why it had been so quiet, but now it was clear that everyone had been at the fields already—all the booths were occupied by at least one person behind them, arranging the final things before the festival would start.

At the back of the meadow a small stage had been placed. It was just enough for a little band to perform on and indeed there stood two men and a woman next to the stage, talking to who seemed to be the stage-manager. In front of the stage space for a dancefloor had been created and behind that stood a couple picnic tables.

‘Welcome to the festival!’ you exclaimed and turned around to your three friends. ‘Signing up starts in a few minutes I think, so we have some time to look around.’

Blaise looked aside to Draco and was surprised to find his friend actually interested by everything around him. This all wasn’t very Draco, but he seemed to enjoy it.

‘What do we need to sign up for?’ Pansy asked, as she linked her arm with yours.

‘The Games are played in teams,’ you explained, walking towards one of the stands with Blaise and Draco trailing behind you. ‘You play the games in the next days as part of a team and earn points for winning. The team that has the most points at the end of the week wins.’

You led your friends to one of the nearby booths that sold cherries and all things made of that. On the other side of the table stood a man in his early fifties, wearing a straw hat over his red, sunburned face. A wide smile spread on his face when he saw you.

‘y/n! How great to see you!’ the man greeted you and you smiled at him. ‘How are you?’

‘It’s good to see you too, Hank,’ you said. ‘I’m great! We arrived yesterday evening and we’re staying for the whole week.’

Hank looked past you at Blaise, Draco and Pansy and through his smile Blaise could see a golden tooth.

‘You finally convinced them to come?’ Hank asked you and he leaned back.

Pansy raised her eyebrow at Blaise and Draco and turned to you. ‘You talk about us here?’

‘Of course,’ you said and turned to your friends. ‘Everyone here knows I’ve been trying to get you here for years now.’

‘Well, that doesn’t make us look good,’ Draco mumbled and he held his hand over his eyes as he looked out on the field, like he was searching for people that were commenting on him.

Hank either didn’t hear or ignored Draco’s comment and he brushed away a wasp from his cherry pastries. ‘So you’re done now at that… Scottish boarding school of yours?’

You laughed softly and as you answered, Blaise’s stomach started to growl loud enough for everyone, including Hank, to hear it. They turned to him and he shot an apologetic smile. ‘I’m sorry, can’t really help it.’

‘Don’t worry, boy,’ Hank said and reached for the plate with cherry pastries. ‘Take one on the house.’

Blaise wanted to decline out of courtesy but his stomach didn’t allow for him to be kind. He took a pastry of the plate and his friends followed after him. It was silent as you all took a bite, but after the first bite the silence was swapped for satisfied moans. The pastry was light and sweet, but a little sour from the cherries and Blaise swore it was one of the best things he had ever eaten.

‘This is amazing!’ Pansy moaned loudly and a passer-by shot her a weird look. She winked at them suggestively and they walked on quickly.

Blaise laughed at Pansy, but he couldn’t deny that he didn’t feel the same. The cherry pastries were a bit of heaven. He closed his eyes as he took another bite and when he opened them, he was met with your gaze. Immediately the blood rushed to his cheeks and he looked away.

‘Glad to know they are liked,’ Hank said. ‘My husband will be happy to hear that.’

From the stage something incomprehensible was said and you looked up. ‘Say hi to him from me!’ you said, while you made your way to the stage, waving at Hank behind you. ‘I’ll catch up with you later!’

Blaise followed you to the picnic tables near the stage and sat down next to you. His arm was pressed against yours as someone else sat next to him and he could feel his heart beating in his throat. He wasn’t a stranger from being close to you, but that didn’t mean that it did nothing to him. Every time he was touching you or sitting close to you his heart would leap and a strange sense of comfort washed over him.

Slowly the tables started to fill with people until there were no empty spaces left. It surprised Blaise to see how many people there were when the village hadn’t seemed that big at all. And it surprised him even more to see how many of those people knew you. Some came up to make a little chat and others just waved at you from their spot. You answered everyone with a big smile and Blaise grew happier the longer he looked at your smile.

Eventually you turned to your friends and explained what was going on. ‘It will start soon. The head of the organisation will shortly say something and then we have till six this evening to sign up for the teams.’

On the stage a tall, dark woman stepped behind the microphone and the chatter from the people at the picnic table fell silent. The woman tapped on the mike to make sure it worked and then said: ‘Hello and welcome to the fifty-sixth Summer Games!’

Blaise turned his head to you. ‘Fifty-sixth?’

‘Yeah, it’s been going for quite a while,’ you nodded and then a smile formed on your lips as you looked at Blaise.

‘What?’ he asked, afraid he had done something.

‘This year too has been organised by some of the greatest of our village,’ the woman on the stage went on, but the names were lost on Blaise as he watched you in anticipation.

‘It’s nothing,’ you chuckled softly. ‘You just—you got something on your cheek…’

Blaise’s hand immediately shot up to his cheek but he felt nothing. You were still looking at him and a cute giggle fell from your lips while Blaise attempted to clean his cheek.

‘Here, let me,’ you said and pushed Blaise’s hand away. You brought your hand closer to his cheek and cupped his jaw. Your fingers were light on his skin and once again that familiar feeling of comfort fell over Blaise.

Sooner than Blaise liked you pulled your hand back. On your finger was a dark red smudge from the cherry jam on the pastry. Blaise smiled sheepishly and shook his head a little embarrassed.

‘Thanks,’ he mumbled, feeling like his cheeks were on fire.

‘No problem,’ you said and you licked the jam off your finger without giving it a second thought before you turned back to the woman on stage.

‘Choose your team wisely,’ she said. ‘Tonight at seven we will announce the teams and tomorrow the first games will begin. For now I wish you a happy time at our festival!’

/\/\/\

There were four teams competing in the Summer Games. Each team had their own team captain, usually someone who had been playing in the Games for an extended period of time and knew how the games worked. For as long as you had been playing the Games you had been part of the Red Titans, a team led by Wyatt Holm, the town’s baker. Your team’s strongest opponents were the Sly Foxes. For the past ten years the point-difference between the Titans and the Foxes was minimal and it was always a neck-and-neck race. The rivalry between Wyatt and Alysia Gemeti, the Foxes’ team captain since three years, ran high during the week of the festival.

The other two teams were the Raging Angels and the Oiled Machines. You didn’t know where the names had come from, but they had been like that since the beginning and no one wanted to change them.

They had announced the teams an hour ago and you were walking back with your friends to your grandparents’ house. You and Pansy had signed up for the Red Titans, like you did every year, and you had figured the boys had too.

Only you had been wrong.

‘The Foxes?! Seriously?’ you cried incredulously. ‘You signed up for the Foxes? Why?’

Draco looked at you and shrugged like he didn’t really care. Blaise avoided your eyes as he was staring at his feet. You stared at your friends with faked anger. Although you had wanted all of you to be in the same team so you could play together, you guessed it wouldn’t be too bad to play against them. Plus, that would make winning even better.

‘It was Blaise’s idea really,’ Draco then said to which Blaise scowled.

‘No it wasn’t! You’re the one that blindly followed that girl!’

Curiosity got the better of you and you forgot to be angry for a moment. ‘What girl?’

Draco’s cheeks immediately changed colour and he looked away from you. He stammered something incomprehensible and started to walk a bit faster. You grabbed his arm and pulled him back, but Draco wouldn’t open his mouth again.

Pleadingly you looked at Blaise.

‘I didn’t catch her name but I guess she’s a little older than us. Light brown skin, dark hair and I wanna say dark eyes, but I’m not sure about that,’ Blaise said.

‘Alysia,’ you mumbled as you matched Blaise’s description with the picture of the Foxes’ team captain in your mind.

‘She was clearly interested in Blaise,’ Draco pointed out, his cheeks still red but seemingly more confident now.

‘Really?’ Pansy asked, shooting you a glare.

‘She wasn’t interested in me!’ Blaise shook his head. ‘She asked if we’d signed up for a team already. Then Draco started to stammer and turned red as a beet. He would’ve given her all his money if she’d asked.’

‘I would not!’ Draco cried out. ‘Now can we please change the subject?’

You chuckled at Draco’s exasperated face and looked past him at Blaise. He was watching you with a small smile and you felt butterflies erupting in your stomach. Quickly you turned away and stared at the pavement tiles under your feet.

‘So now we’re competing against each other?’ Pansy asked and you nodded. ‘That’s gonna be fun. We’re gonna demolish you guys.’

- - - - - - - 

taglist

general HP: @harry-pottery-barn​ @potters-heart​ @kingalrdy​ @missswriter​ @figlia--della--luna​@sexysirius​ @awritingtree​ @bi-andready-tocry​ @lilulo-12fanfiction​ @ananad1​ @treestarrrrrrrr​ @your-hispanichufflepuff​ @thefandomplace​ @theeicedamericano​ @girllety​ @moonstarrnghtsky @swearingsolemnly​ @weasleydream​ @secretsthathauntus​ @amixedwitch​ @izzyyy-1​ @gryffindorgirl​ @kitkatkl​ @catching-the-train-to-hogwarts​ @nyotamalfoy​​

MASTERLIST

[honeytae]

We’re never going to hear the end of this.

welcome back to another episode of kenna losing her shit over taehyung :) while imagining this scenario, i admittedly got very carried away. the word count is way higher than i anticipated and um..yeah i apologize in advance. when it comes to taehyung i just have zero self control and this is a great example. anyways, uh...if smut isn’t your thing, this might not be your cup of tea. otherwise, enjoy lol.

tags: @ahgasearmyfan, @hoseokayy

genre: smut

warnings: oral sex, sex without a condom (i cannot stress this enough: ALWAYS USE A CONDOM, THIS SHIT IS FICTION), semi-public sex? idk, i mean they can be heard but not seen, so...

word count: 6.5k (yeesh sorry)

Walking into the elevator of the lobby, you scoffed down at your phone as it vibrated in your hand, swiping your thumb across the screen and pressing it to your ear.

“I told you I was coming with the food, didn’t I? And what was that? Five minutes ago?” You asked into the phone immediately, Taehyung chuckling on the other end, goosebumps raising on your arms at the sound.

“Is the food what's delaying you? I miss you, fuck the food.” He groaned, making you laugh as you pressed the button displaying the digit of the floor of Taehyung’s studio with the pointer finger of your hand that was clutching the long awaited bag of food.

“Hey! I happen to be starving with a bag of Panda in my hand right now, I could eat everything before I get up there.” You threatened, the scent of the chicken and vegetables already tempting you as you tapped your foot impatiently at the elevator.

It’s the 21st century, and this is the quickest you can get up a floor?

“All I heard was Panda and that you’re here. Are you here?” He asked excitedly, jumping up from his chair and taking quick strides toward the door of the studio. 

“I’m getting off the elevator right now-”

It was then that you - saw more than heard - Taehyung bounding down the hall, jogging down the long corridor past the closed doors of offices as he made his way toward you. He had a wide smile on his face, eyes closed and his hair bouncing with each stride he took as he approached you. 

“Oh my god, Tae. You don’t even have shoes on.” You lightly scolded him, wrapping your arms around him as he did the same to you. You felt the stress from your day seep out of your body at his touch, his arms holding you to him in a hug as he kissed the side of your head.

“I missed you.” He pulled his head back to look at you, both of your heads tilting in accordance to each other as your lips met halfway.

Pulling back to lean his forehead against your own, he smiled as you jokingly crossed your eyes to keep them on him in the close proximity. 

“I really did miss you.” He insisted, holding you tight with his arms wrapped around your torso as he began walking you backward, presumably to the door of his studio. 

The walk was more of a waddle as he exaggerated his steps over to the side to avoid crushing your feet, guiding you backwards as you blindly followed his lead.

“So I’ve heard. May I remind you that we woke up together this morning?” You smiled at the memory of getting up and making breakfast with Taehyung, both of you trying to help each other prepare something edible before eventually giving up and driving to a nearby cafe. 

Neither of you could cook to save your lives, but at least you were able to make it a fun experience, both of you able to laugh at yourselves and your less than decent culinary skills.

“It wasn’t long enough. It’s never long enough with you.” He admitted softly, head diving down to rest his temple on your shoulder, tenderly kissing the side of your neck with a soft pucker of his lips. 

“Well, I’m here now. And I have Panda.” You repeated, causing the man to lift his face at the sudden memory of the food in your hand.

Holding the brown paper bag up between your faces, you giggled as Taehyung moaned at the scent wafting from it. He smiled, turning around with you still in his arms, backing himself toward the door as you finally reached the room.

You chuckled as Taehyung’s back collided with the locked door, having automatically shut when he had left the room running. He stubbornly rutted his back against the door in hopes that it would budge, sighing in disappointment when it didn’t.

“Code, Tae.” You reminded him, Taehyung’s head a mere few inches from the keypad as he smirked to himself.

“You know it.” He said smugly, laughing when you turned around to glare at him.

“I’m not supposed to-” 

“Just put it in, woman!”

You giggled at him, punching in the sequence of digits with your pointer finger until the beep of the door signified you could enter, Taehyung pushing back on it with his body to let you both enter the room. 

Pausing at the door once inside, he let your body go to allow you to slip your shoes off, no longer needing a reminder of his “no shoes” rule as you entered his workspace.

He wordlessly led you past the monitors on his desk, guiding you back to the sofa at the far end of the room before taking a seat, you doing the same beside him.

You quickly removed the takeout boxes from the bag, setting them out on the low table in front of you so that he could choose what he wanted. You thanked him as he handed you a pair of chopsticks, eagerly digging into the carton of fried rice with the utensils and letting out a satisfied hum.

“How are you doing here?” You asked, the question muffled with the amount of food in your mouth as Taehyung shrugged in response, grabbing the white box of chicken and shoveling a piece into his mouth as he moved his head from side to side in thought. 

“I’m alright. I was finishing up a song but then I got hungry and,” He nodded his head to point to the food, you smiling in response as you nodded at the recollection of his text message to you just over a half hour ago.

You continued talking about each other’s days so far, Taehyung scoffing at the stories about your asshole coworkers and you advising him on lyrics he wasn’t entirely sure about. 

When you were finished, you sat back with a sigh, Taehyung smiling at you before standing to clear the table of the empty boxes scattered on it. 

“Ugh, I’m stuffed now.” You groaned, crossing your arms over your stomach as you tipped your head back to rest on the cushions on the end of the couch. 

“Can you stay?” He asked with wide eyes, a pleading pout on his lips that spread to a wide smile when you nodded in confirmation. 

“If you want me to. I’m off work the rest of the day so,” You trailed off, Taehyung nodding eagerly as he watched you lean back on the sofa. 

You watched as he rounded the couch, standing at the back of it to look down at you as you reclined on the cushions.

“Stay with me.” He clutched your hands in his, jutting his bottom lip out in a pout as you chuckled at him. You smiled, caving immediately to your boyfriend’s puppy eyed look as you played with the rings on his fingers.

“I will. But you have to work. I don’t want to be distracting.” You reminded him, Taehyung nodding again as he prepared to head back to work. 

Watching as he walked back to his desk chair, neck craning side to side in order to stretch his burning muscles from his long periods of work, you sighed, relaxing back into the pillows behind you.

You smiled when the room became filled with the sounds of your boyfriend humming unrecognizable tunes, figuring that they were most likely new melodies he had composed in his days here. 

As he worked, you occupied yourself by picking up your phone and meaninglessly scrolling through your social media, satisfied with the clicking of Taehyung’s mouse on his desk in the otherwise silent room.

That feeling only lasted for a bit, though, as complete silence soon took over once again and you felt a slight blush rise to your cheeks as his eyes shifted back to you. 

After being with him for so long, you did not need to look over at him to know that his focus was now on you instead of the track laid out on the computer in front of him.

“You know, it’s odd. I have this weird suspicion that you’re not working over there.” You said without looking up from your phone, catching your boyfriend off guard as he chuckled breathily behind his hand. 

“I am, though. You’re my inspiration.” He defended himself, raising his brows in honesty as your fingers stopped scrolling down your screen. 

Your eyes shifted from the device in your hand to the man a couple of feet away from you, immediately melting under his loving gaze.

“I think I just drafted three albums worth of songs in my head. And every single one of them is about you.” He informed you, making tears blur your vision instantly at the sweet and honest words leaving his mouth. 

His body became less and less defined as your emotions took over, hearing Taehyung’s soft laugh before an audible coo left his mouth, his blurred figure quickly making its way over to you before he sat beside you on the couch again.

He didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around you, smiling adoringly at you as his other hand pulled your body into his. Small soothing phrases left his mouth as he pressed kisses against the side of your head, placing his forehead to your temple as he dropped more kisses against your wet cheek.

“Fuck, Tae. You can’t say sweet shit like that to me and expect me to keep it together.” You let out a watery laugh, sniffling as you buried your face into his chest, him easily welcoming the action with a hand securing the back of your head to his shirt.

“I love you.” You whimpered into his chest, picking your head up and placing your chin on his shirt to look up at him. You admired the soft smile on his face, eyes swirling with emotion that made you feel so loved. 

Slipping his hand underneath your chin, he smiled as you shifted yourself higher up on his body to connect your lips. The action was sweet, tender. His thumb gently swiped at your chin as he held you to him, turning you into a puddle at the simple touch.

“I love you so much.” He mumbled into your mouth, pressing gentle kisses to your bottom lip repeatedly until you held his jaw in place to kiss him deeper. 

Taehyung lowered his back to lay down on the sofa, you following him with your lips still connected. His hand went to the back of your thigh, squeezing the flesh appreciatively and grinding his pelvis up against yours.

You hummed in acknowledgement at the movement, pushing him up off of your body with a slight push of your palms to his chest. Smoothing the pad of your thumb over the tail of his eyebrow affectionately, you internally debated stopping now or continuing to inevitable activities if you didn’t.

“This was supposed to be an innocent visit.” You said breathlessly, looking into your boyfriend’s blown out pupils as he chuckled. The man looked off to the side in thought, tracing your bottom lip and swiping at the smooth skin with the pad of his thumb as he focused his attention back on you.

“When is it ever?” He smirked, making you roll your eyes before smashing your lips back onto his. Fuck it.

You buried your hands into his hair, holding him to you as your tongues met, your movements slow as you lost yourselves in each other. 

You relished in the hitch of breath in his throat when you trailed your hand down his chest and abdomen, fingers hooking underneath his sweater and grabbing the chunky fabric, lifting it up to his belly button before he seemed to get the hint. 

He sat up slightly to lift the clothing over his head, shifting his hips up against your crotch in the process and making you let out a sharp whine at the sudden friction between your legs.

Taehyung smirked at the noise, tossing his sweater to the ground before grabbing your hips with his now free hands and rolling them down against his growing bulge once again. 

“Fuck, Tae.” You collapsed against his chest, looping your arms around his neck and breathing heavily against the bare skin of his sternum as his hands greedily groped at your ass. 

He continued his actions, thrusting up into your hips occasionally as you moved on him and thoroughly enjoying the shocked gasps that came out of your mouth whenever he did so. 

His eyes stayed on you as your face contorted in overwhelmed pleasure, the sudden realization that you had way too much fabric hiding you from him momentarily bringing him back to earth.

“Take your shirt off.” He commanded breathily, the continued grinding motion of your hips together making him pant as you obliged him, sitting up and lifting your shirt up over your head. You were left in your bra and jeans as you set your upper half back down onto his chest, lips colliding once again as he swiped his tongue across your lip.

His hand lifted to squeeze your breast over the cup of your bra, the appreciative touch eliciting a low sound from the back of your throat as you pulled back, watching as his lust-blown pupils studied your body appreciatively.

His eyes followed your hand as it landed on his chest, your palm sliding down to the fabric of his pants as he subtly thrusted his crotch up toward your hand. 

You smiled at his silent ask, moving your hand down farther to rest over the bulge growing steadily underneath your touch.

“Can I?” You asked simply, Taehyung eagerly nodding at your insinuation, the thought of you doing anything riling him up even more as your hand momentarily left the spot. 

You shifted off of him and slid your body off the couch, landing with your knees on the ground and smiling slightly as you watchrd him hastily unbuttoning his pants.

You met his hands with the bunched fabric at his mid thigh with your own, quickly pushing them down his legs farther until they were gathered past his ankles.

You could clearly see the outline of his erection through his boxers, practically drooling at the image of the man in front of you.

His knees were spread to give you easy access, head relaxed against the back of the couch as his eyes followed your every move. His bottom lip was sucked into his mouth, anticipating what was to come as you pulled his underwear down his legs.

You didn’t hesitate to wrap your hand around his base, pumping up and down slowly to tease the man, knowing you’d succeeded when he scrunched his eyes and bucked his hips up in search for more. 

Tightening your hand around his shaft, you quickened your pace, Taehyung puffing his cheeks up in an inhale before breathing it out shakily. He began nodding vigorously, making you giggle slightly at the bobbling of his head as you continued pumping him in your hand.

“Fuck, yeah. Good.” He babbled, words slurred together and ending in a grunt as your lips gently kissed his sensitive tip.

His legs jolted under you when you flattened your tongue on the underside of his cock, licking a path up to the precum bubbling out at the top and humming at the familiar salty-sweet flavor of his arousal.

Taehyung buried his hands in your hair as you finally put your mouth on him, sucking at the head of his cock and delivering kitten licks to his tip that made his eyes roll back into his head. You basked in the sounds he made as you took more of his cock into your mouth, gasps and moans and praises falling from his lips as he watched you take more of him.

Sinking your mouth down to welcome him in farther, your cheeks hollowed to suck him tightly, Taehyung making incoherent noises that resembled curse words at the action. He subtly thrusted his hips up, making you cough at the sudden action, immediately snapping him out of his trance as he leaned up off of the sofa to check on you. 

“Shit, I’m sorry. You okay?” He asked in concern, hand coming to rest on the back of your head as waited for an answer to his question.

Instead of verbally answering him, you only began bobbing your head on him once again, taking more of him each time until the head of his cock nudged at the back of your throat.

His legs trembled at the sudden action, cursing before falling back onto the couch, having assured that you were perfectly fine and fucking fantastic at giving head.

“Fuck, I wanna see you.” He said desperately, sitting up slightly to push his fingers through your hair, pushing the strands out of your face for a better view.

His dark hooded eyes met yours as you looked up at him through your lashes, deep moans reverberating from his chest and filling the studio at the filthy image you’d just given him.

“God, you’re so hot. So good at this.” He praised you, eyes squinting shut as you continued sinking your mouth down the inches of his length. 

You smirked as you swallowed around him, effectively squeezing his dick with your throat and causing Taehyung to lose all composure as his eyes rolled back into his head. The strong reaction made you smirk, doing it a second time to achieve the ruined look on his face once again.

“Baby! Oh, sh-shit.” He gasped, fingers tugging at your hair and eliciting a moan from you. His jaw dropped further at the vibration, his head falling back so that he was facing the ceiling as he groaned loudly.

“I’m gonna cum, babe.” He warned you, you humming around him in response as you lifted your mouth up his length, bringing it back down and repeating the action with his increasingly loud moans spurring you on.

You could see his chest’s rising and falling quicken when you picked up your speed, moving faster on his cock to ensure he hit his high. The sight made you internally pat yourself on the back, proud that you could wreck him so easily.

“Ugh, god.” He groaned, blindly tracing his hands over his lap to find your own, your heart thudding harder against your chest at the sweet action.

Wordlessly, you detached your hands from his thighs, intercepting his own larger pair and locking your fingers together. Taehyung squeezed as he finished, his hot release shooting down your throat with a loud moan as he gently thrusted into the heat of your mouth.

You popped off of him with a grin, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand as Taehyung was left exhausted and breathless on the couch. His eyes were shut, desperately trying to recover as his thighs still slightly trembled with aftershocks from his orgasm.

“C’mere.” He bent his fingers to gesture you to come back up on the couch with him, you standing and kneeling on the sofa, immediately being pulled onto his lap with one of his arms locked around your waist. 

“You’re gonna drive me fucking crazy.” He chuckled, you giggling back at him before being cut off as his lips caught yours. 

You mewled as he sucked your bottom lip into his mouth, nibbling on it gently before pushing his tongue inside of your mouth. You let him explore freely, shuddering when his hot tongue swirled around your own.

He made his point clear that you were both not finished as he kissed you deeper, you kissing him back with just as much force as you held his jaw in your hands.

He made it especially clear when his warm palms traveled up your back, caressing the skin and hooking his finger underneath the back of your bra.

“I don’t know why this is still on.” He complained, shifting the clasps out of their hooks and pulling the straps down from your shoulders to your forearms.

You giggled as you straightened your back, pushing yourself off of his chest to sit up and let your bra fall to the ground, finally letting your breasts free from the constraint.

The sight of your breasts made a quiet moan rise out of Taehyung’s mouth, his hands grabbing at the flesh immediately and rubbing at your nipples with his thumbs. 

Leaning forward so his face was down at your chest, he opened his mouth to suck on the pink skin underneath his finger.

The action caused you to whine as you tucked your chin into your neck to watch him, arching your back and pushing your chest into his mouth in a subtle gesture for more.

With a proud smirk, Taehyung removed his hand and flattened his tongue against your nipple, taking it into his mouth and suckling at it diligently. 

Whimpering his name, your hand went to the back of his head, stationing his mouth on you as he closed his teeth on it in a gentle bite.

“Mmf, Tae.” You bit your lip, his actions causing more arousal to pool in your panties and most likely ruining the fabric as it was now undoubtedly soaked through.

Taehyung’s hand trailed down your side, resting on your ass and squeezing lightly before sliding you up his stomach, you letting a breathy moan escape as the move caused the seam of your jeans to press harder into your clit.

With your breasts swinging above his face, he could easily pick his head up to encase your other nipple into his mouth, tongue flicking at the hardened nub before sucking a bruise into the pink skin.

You absentmindedly began rocking your hips on his abdomen, moaning and tipping your head back at the friction as his mouth focused on your other breast.

Taehyung hummed as he noticed your movements on him, placing his hands on your hips to guide their rocking motion. You put your face down beside his head, turning toward him to bury your moans in his hair.

Unable to hold himself back anymore, he let his hands trail down your body, fingers desperately pushing at the waistline of your pants. He cursed when he remembered the jeans you’d worn when you walked in, fumbling his fingers around your waist in search of the buttons.

“Off, off, off.” He mumbled, popping the buttons of your jeans and tugging the zipper down as you chuckled at his hands desperately pushing the material down off of your hips.

You helped him push the denim down your legs, shoving them off your ankles with his assistance as his fingers tugged at the tight fabric. 

“Your ass looks so good in these, it’s almost a shame to take them off.” He chuckled to himself, breathing out a sigh of relief when your pants finally hit the ground. 

Reaching his hand between your legs, Taehyung hummed in approval at the dampness of your underwear, pressing his fingertips onto your clit through the fabric and effectively making you whimper as you dropped your head to his shoulder.

Instead of applying more pressure, all he did was keep his fingers there, unmoving and teasing you as he gave you nothing.

“Tae, m-more.” You whined pathetically, swiveling your hips to get more stimulation from the pads of his fingers. 

“What do you want, baby?” He asked teasingly, eyebrow arched cockily as he observed your flustered state. 

“I want your fingers. Or your mouth. Anything, just please.” You whimpered, thrusting your hips forcefully in another attempt for pleasure. 

Taehyung smirked then nodded, seemingly pleased with your begging as he maneuvered to lay flat on his back, pulling you with him to sit atop his hips. 

“Come up here.” He pulled at your arm, you furrowing your brows with a confused quirk of your lips but following his guidance anyway. 

You allowed him to position your hips above his face, slowly getting the idea of what he was doing, kneeling above his mouth as his hands kept you there. Your brows raised in curiosity as he smiled up at you, his fingers caressing the warm skin of your thighs soothingly. 

“What are you planning?” You asked with a chuckle, Taehyung laughing in response before tucking his hand underneath the side of your underwear, making you whine as he only kept his hand close to where you needed him most with no signs of moving.

A ripping sound suddenly filled the room, cool air hitting your crotch as you gasped at your boyfriend between your legs, his hand holding up the now torn fabric of your underwear.

“Taehyung!” You scolded in disbelief, jaw dropped as the man giggled beneath you. 

“They were in the way!” He laughed, you cracking a smile as you shook your head at him before looking at the ripped fabric in mourning. 

Turning his head to press his lips to the inside of your thigh, he trailed them up to your wet core, kissing you directly on your folds before glancing up at you once again.

“I’ll buy you new ones, baby. Promise.”

You didn’t even register his words as you only felt his breath ghost over your lower lips, head already spinning with the little amount of contact he had given you.

Taehyung noticed the way you bit your lip, your eyes fluttering shut as he continued to purposely breathe out of his mouth and onto the area between your legs. 

Hooking his arms underneath your thighs, he guided your hips down onto his mouth, holding you there as his tongue immediately dove between your folds, licking a straight line up from your entrance to your clit.

“Tae!” You cried out as he sucked the swollen bud into his mouth, gripping onto the back of the couch with one hand for any sense of balance as he withdrew his mouth from your clit, moving his thumb up to replace where his tongue had been circling the button as he placed his mouth at your wet entrance instead.

Keeping his thumb rubbing at your bundle of nerves, he dipped his tongue inside of your entrance, you shuddering at the feeling as Taehyung smirked underneath you.

You whined at the all too quick removal of his tongue from you, only to have your body jerk reflexively at the feeling of the tip of it tracing around the tight ring of muscles before inserting it once again with a satisfied groan rumbling from his chest.

You whimpered at the sudden feeling, the fire in the pit of your stomach building with each languid lick of his tongue into your entrance.

“Oh, god, not gonna last, baby.” You warned shakily, Taehyung holding your trembling legs to steady them as you felt a snapping in the bottom of your abdomen, Taehyung lapping up your release with flattened stripes of his tongue around your entrance. 

Opening your eyes once the dizzy feeling in your head had faded, you glanced down at him, almost whining at the vision of him licking his lips. His hair was disheveled, his eyes almost black with desire.

With trembling thighs and weak knees, you began scaling down his body, Taehyung assisting you with his hands gripping your sides as you slowly crawled back down his frame so that you were face to face. 

“Shit.” You exhaled in exhaustion, Taehyung tugging you down onto his body with ease as your weak limbs caved into his touch.

Resting your cheek against his in a moment of quiet, you both tried to even out your breathing, Taehyung’s palm massaging your spine soothingly as you came down from your orgasm.

Lovingly, you nuzzled the tip of your nose against his, him smiling at the action before pursing his lips out for a kiss. You eagerly leaned into his mouth, hand resting on his bare shoulder and thumb lightly caressing his collarbone.

“I love you.” You mumbled against his lips, him repeating the sentiment back to you with a soft smile as he leaned back in to kiss you slowly.

“You alright?” He asked softly, eyebrows raised in question as he studied your facial expression.

You nodded in response, assuring him with the small gesture and heaving a small sigh as your lungs began to take air in normal amounts.

“I’m tired but I wanna have sex.” You pouted, smiling at Taehyung’s loud laugh at your words as he pushed your hair back behind your ear. 

He hummed in mock thought, eyes traveling up to the ceiling before dramatically raising a hand, pointer finger extended as if to gesture he had gotten an idea.

“I can do all the work.” He proposed, dropping his hand and smiling when you nodded again, flipping your bodies over to trade positions so that he was hovering on top of you, his hair slightly falling into his eyes.

Without looking down, you could tell he was ready to go again, his hard length resting on your stomach as you lightly chuckled. Taehyung lowered himself to rest on his elbows, cocking his head at your laughter but smiling nonetheless.

“How are you always so ready?” You asked, letting him into your thoughts as he teasingly looked down between his legs.

“You hold a certain power over me.” He shrugged as he looked back up to you, you scoffing at his words as he giggled childishly.

“What? It’s true!” He defended himself, you shaking your head before shutting him up by putting your mouth back on his. 

His hand subtly traveled down your abdomen, feeling you up appreciatively before landing on the sensitive button between your legs. 

The circling motion of his thumb on your clit along with the way he let his tongue explore your mouth freely had your core throbbing once again, hand gripping his hair and sharp gasps catching in your throat at his finger rubbing you in the way he knew got you ready for him.

Your tongues entangled as you reached down to push his hand away, instead pushing his hips toward your own to signal that no more foreplay was going to be needed. 

You both let out heavy breaths as the movement caused his hips to instinctively push forward, his length situated between your folds. You pulled back from his lips with a desperate whine, thrusting your hips again and eliciting a groan from him when his head entered you at the slight move.

“God, Tae, just fuck me already.” You begged, a whine from the back of your throat as you rocked your hips into his length.

His eyes visibly darkened again at your words, the bright innocence in them only a few minutes ago now gone and replaced by a darkened and lustful look as he properly lined his tip up with your entrance.

You felt your mouth drop in a silent moan as he entered you, providing immediate relief to your hormones with the sudden pleasure between your legs.

“Hmmf.” He hummed, dropping his forehead to your shoulder as he buried himself to the hilt, kissing the skin at the crook of your neck as you breathed out his name. 

You admired him as he tipped his head back, sighs and grunts coming out of his mouth as he slowly thrusted in and out of you. His Adams apple bobbed in his throat as he craned his neck backward, digging his elbows into the mattress below him with the effort he used to rut into you.

You experimentally clenched your muscles around him, causing him to gasp sharply as his mouth popped open, his eyes shut and eyebrows furrowed at the unexpected tightening.

“Fuck, don’t do that.” He half-heartedly scolded you, dropping his forehead to your shoulder as he began sucking on the skin of your neck.

You giggled at his reaction, Taehyung smiling at the noise as his hips momentarily stilled inside of you. He picked his head up from where it’d been resting, his expression dopey as you cupped his chin with your hand. 

You swiped the pad of your thumb against the plush skin of his cheek, his eyes softening at the affectionate touch before leaning down to capture your lips in a tender kiss.

He began slowly grinding himself into you in place of his thrusts, making you cry out as his pubic bone applied pressure to your neglected clit. 

Unable to deny his desires anymore, he started thrusting once again, pushing his hips into yours with grunts escaping his mouth as a punctuation to each of his hips movements.

“Faster, baby.” You whined, Taehyung moaning at the words before snapping his hips into yours faster, holding himself up with his forearms as he began to pick up the pace of his thrusts into you. 

You felt your eyes roll back into your head at the increasing pleasure, biting onto his shoulder to stop yourself from screaming out as you felt another orgasm pending in the pit of your stomach. 

Your boyfriend sucked in a hiss through his teeth at the stinging on the skin of his shoulder clamped between your teeth, dropping a soothing kiss to your cheek as he continued the pace he’d found to work for you both.

You released his shoulder from your mouth when his arms suddenly hooked under your knees, dropping his hands back to the couch cushions as he allowed you to take, instinctively locking them around his waist. 

You couldn’t help but cry out as he found the special spot buried within you, Taehyung’s switch of positions obviously intentional as your sound made a look of pride appear on his face. 

You bit down on your lip in an attempt to keep your noises to a lower volume as he continued with his intentional thrusts, him groaning at the way you unintentionally tightened around him in reaction to the way he kept tapping the spot with the head of his cock.

Taehyung dropped his head to your collarbone as you clenched around him once again, this time feeling your muscles tighten and spasm uncontrollably around him as you approached your high. 

Letting out desperate whines and moans, you blindly reached for the back of his head, tangling your fingers in his hair and guiding him up to your lips.

Without a word of communication between you, he placed his finger between your legs, rubbing at your clit harshly as your gasps turned into whines in his mouth, your pleasure increasing rapidly at the simple touch he was giving you.

“Cum with me.” He panted, hips stilling as your entrance clamped around him, holding him in a vice grip as you finished, his warm release filling you soon after as you pressed your lips to his.

The studio went quiet as you both came down from your second orgasms, bodies completely spent as Taehyung pulled himself out of you and cuddled up to your side. 

You welcomed him with an extended arm, his hair dampened with sweat as he laid his head down on your shoulder, cheek pressed to your skin as he pressed a soft kiss to the spot. You folded your arm to put your fingers in his hair, scratching at his scalp and smiling at the content hum coming from his mouth.

Everything was calm and silent until the sound of fists rapidly knocking against the studio door interrupted your moment, both you and Taehyung picking your heads up from the couch in curiosity.

He sighed at the disruption, squeezing his eyes shut to gather any and all patience he could as the knocking persisted at the door.

“If we ignore them, maybe they’ll go away.” He said quietly, keeping his voice down to a low volume with a small smile playing on his lips as you chuckled along with him.

“Taehyung-ah!” 

You recognized the voice immediately to be your boyfriend’s older friend Seokjin, wondering what he was doing outside and simultaneously praying that he hadn’t heard anything that had been going on in the room during your visit.

“What?” Taehyung called back, eyebrows scrunched in confusion as he awaited some kind of clue as to why his friend was standing on the other side of his studio.

“Did you see that meme I sent you?” 

Taehyung pressed his lips in a firm line, deciding to go with it for the sole intention of getting his dear friend out of the moment he’d unknowingly interrupted.

“Oh, yeah! That was a good one.” He lied, fake amusement in his words as you giggled into his hair. His hand squeezed at your torso as he smiled at your noises, eyes squinted at the ceiling as he strained to hear if Seokjin was still standing outside.

“I know! Jungkook was laughing so hard, I’m surprised you didn’t hear him.”

Both yours and Taehyung’s eyebrows shot up at that, looking at each other in a paused moment of shock before your boyfriend uncomfortably cleared his throat. 

There was just something about Jin’s tone that suddenly indicated that he may not have been as clueless as you thought he was about the situation. 

And it didn’t help that you could practically hear the smug smile on his face.

“Oh, um, I might’ve heard.” Taehyung lied again, you covering your mouth with your palm as you were both embarrassed at yourselves and trying to disguise your chuckling at his obvious lies.

“Mhm. Him and I are grabbing some lunch, you coming with?” He asked, staring at the black door as he awaited the answer he knew he’d get. 

In a way, Seokjin wished he would come with them, because he’d be able to see him squirm as they teased him about banging one out in his workspace for everyone else to hear. But he was not surprised when his friend answered negatively from the other side of the door.

“Uh, no. I’m alright, hyung.” Taehyung replied, Seokjin humming an “mhm” before saying goodbye, the sound of his footsteps getting quieter with the squeaky pitch of his giggles as the distance between his body and the door got bigger. 

“Fuck, he totally knew.” You let go of the breath you’d been holding, Taehyung chuckling lightly as he nodded in agreement. 

“Yeah, he knew something was up.” He confirmed, knowing his bandmate long enough to be able to decipher that his tone had been one of teasing.

“We’re never going to hear the end of this.” You sighed, Taehyung biting back a grin as he nodded once again. 

Honestly, he knew he’d get teased by his friends later on, as Jin had a big mouth and surely the rest of the group already knew about whatever he’d heard from outside of the room. 

But he couldn’t find it in him to care as he looked over at your body lying next to his, completely lovestruck as he traced his palm over your stomach.  

You raised your eyebrows at the mischievous look on his face, leaning into him as his hand trailed around your body and pressed to your back to bring you closer to his warm and slightly sweaty skin.

“Wanna go again?” He asked, laughing when your jaw dropped, smacking his shoulder lightly as he continued giggling at your facial expression.

“Taehyung!”

[gryffindors-weasley]

To Love You

Ron Weasley x Fem!Reader

Summary: Ron has always been too shy to tell you how he feels, until he’s finally not.

Warnings: mentions of injury, mutual pining, fluff

There are five times Ron Weasley almost says ‘I love you’, and the one time he finally does.

The first time was at the Yule Ball. He had been thinking about it for a ridiculously long time, pestering Harry and Hermione on how to ask you, nearly pacing a hole in the already worn rug of the common room before plucking up the courage to finally do it. Of course Hermione's threats to ask you for him nudged him in the right direction, but that’s not the point. The point is, his heart nearly beat out of his chest upon seeing you in your dress, more so when you rushed down the stairs to greet him with a hug.

“Y-you look…beautiful,” he complimented with a nervous laugh, mentally kicking himself for stumbling over his words so awkwardly, hoping his feelings for you weren’t so completely obvious. Not to mention his cheeks and the tips of his ears burned with the flush of embarrassment.

“Thank you, Ron,” you smile, linking your arm with his.

An hour later, a slower song had come on and he’d managed to loosen up a bit from earlier. But the way you’d been standing so close, close enough for him to smell your shampoo, or the way your hand was in his as the two of you had swayed together had him wishing this date wasn’t platonic. The couples that had been dancing were beginning to dwindle as the night went on, but you remained in his arms. A soft smile was on your lips and every time you looked at him his heart rate would spike. He was thanking his lucky stars you couldn’t see his ears cause surely they were as red as the long locks that covered them.

The way you laughed as he twirled you, that bloody twirl McGonagall had made him do over and over, he swore he almost said those three words. But he bit it back as you rested your head on his chest, shoving it to the back of his mind because he couldn’t possibly be in love yet, right? That had to be preposterous.

The second time was the summer before 6th year. Neither of you could sleep and Ron found himself poking his head in Ginny’s room, whispering your name softly. When you lifted your head he motioned for you to follow him with a wave of his hand.

“Are you sure you even know how to drive this thing?” He laughed as he made an effort to close the door to his fathers car quietly. The car he was to never set foot in again without the presence of one of his parents.

“I can’t imagine I’d be any worse than you,” you snicker, a scoff leaving his lips but he couldn’t fight his smile.

But you were right, you were always right. Granted, he will admit it was a not so smooth take off but you ended up being a natural. You always made anything and everything look easy, as if you’d done it a million times before.

The two of you comically howled at the moon, his head stuck out the window as he did so, your laugh filling the air and melting his heart. Then he found himself staring, for heavens sake he couldn’t stop staring. The way the breeze weaves its way through your hair, the way the moonlight makes your face glow, or the way you stuck your hand out the window to feel the summer air. He swore he never saw anything more beautiful.

“What?” You laugh, pulling him out of his thoughts.

His cheeks reddened as he briefly averted his gaze with a soft laugh. You were back on the ground now, the sound of the engine no longer helping as silence filled the car. Then he looked at you again, your eyes sparkling in a way that only yours do. The words were on the very tip of his tongue, ready to spill his declaration of love to you. His heart was racing, the pounding beat seemingly in his ears as he opened his mouth to speak.

Then both your attention was pulled away as an angry Mrs. Weasley yelled her sons name.

The third time he almost told you was at Hogsmeade. He was watching you from a distance with Harry and Hermione, grumbling angrily as he glared at the sight. Your arm had been linked with Draco’s as you walked, having just come out of Honeydukes with a box of chocolates.

“Why would she come here with Malfoy?” He muttered through gritted teeth, fists clenched in his pockets. He didn’t understand how you were friends with him, and he didn’t understand why it made him quite this angry. But he was grateful he could blame color in his cheeks on the winter weather, though Hermione knew it was her poor friends temper.

“Maybe it’s because you didn’t ask her,” she suggested.

“We always go, Mione,” he grumbled.

Unbeknownst to him, it was not a date you were on. It wasn’t the first time Draco had taken you here or bought you something, you were his good friend. And quite honestly he was going above and beyond just to get under the redheads skin, he’s Draco after all. And he somehow knew about Ron’s feelings for you.

“Why don’t you just tell her you love her?” Harry asked, as if it were the most simple thing in the world.

“Shut up, Harry,” he groaned angrily, “I don’t love her.”

Except he did. He absolutely did and the way you smiled at the blonde made his stomach churn and twist in knots. He was two seconds away from storming up to you and declaring his feelings, but he thought better of it. Instead, he went off in the other direction, no longer wanting to be there.

The fourth time was after a quidditch match that landed him in the infirmary. After a bit of competition with Cormac, that may or may not have been to impress you, he took a fall that luckily wasn’t too high from the ground. It was quiet while Madame Pomfrey healed his broken leg good as new with a carefully crafted potion, but it all changed when you had showed up.

“Ronald Weasley, are you okay?” You panicked immediately, eyes bouncing over the scrape on his cheek and several others that littered his pale skin.

“I’m fine, Y/n/n,” he chuckled, earning a glare from you.

“It’s not funny, Ron. Any higher and you could be dead!” You looked like you were on the verge of tears as you stared down at him, his hand gently enveloped by yours and you closed your eyes. You took a deep breath to cool off before opening them again, his eyes on you.

“I guess my beginners luck had worn off,” he said with an airy laugh, prompting an eye roll from you that inevitably turned to a smile.

You brushed strands of red hair from his eyes before cupping his cheek with your free hand. The tips of his ears burned and his cheeks tinged pink at the action, the way your thumb was brushing back and forth along his cheek making him want to gush about how completely and utterly in love he was with you.

He scooted over and offered a smile, hoping you’d understand what he was getting at. You laid down next to him, cautious of his leg nevertheless but laying your head on his chest. You tried not to think about how hard his heart had been beating, had it been because of you?

“Y/n?”

“Hm.”

“I…” you hadn’t seen the conflicted look on his face, “I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Me too.”

The fifth time is at Bill and Fleur's wedding. You were a bit late with Ginny, Ron holding a half conversation with Harry because he just couldn’t focus. His eyes were on the tent entrance more than they were his best friend but at this point he didn’t care about being obvious. You were the missing piece, it didn’t feel as bright when you weren’t there. He couldn’t stop thinking about you really, you’d invaded his mind long ago and he couldn’t get you out of it, not that he wanted to. He wanted to hold you, he wanted to kiss you, he wanted to wake up with you every day for the rest of his life.

Somewhere between Harry’s muffled words and his own thoughts, you had walked in, the last little bit of attention he gave Harry vanishing and going to you. A soft smile pulled at the right corner of his mouth, widening to a toothy grin when your eyes landed on him. Harry had gone to join Ginny, and once Ron had stopped gawking at you he found some words to say.

“You look beautiful.” You smiled at his words, remembering the night he said them at the ball a few years prior. But he meant every word. Your hair was curled, framing your face perfectly. The color of your dress fit your skin tone so beautifully. And the way you looked at him, it was enough to knock the breath out of him, make his knees weak.

He’d waited an agonizing half hour as he watched you dance and converse with Luna because he’d been too shy to ask you to dance. His brothers certainly gave him grief for it when they found him gazing at you from across the room, to which he grumbled and glared at them, only tearing his eyes from you momentarily. Luna knew as well, not that Ron was discreet but she always was able to sense these kinds of things. So she pushed you off in the redheads direction.

Now you two were dancing, and he too was thinking of the Yule Ball as your hand was in his, head on his shoulder as you swayed about the dance floor slowly. The smell of your perfume flooded his senses, the sweet smell so distinctly you. “Y/n?”

He could’ve kicked himself for that, scrambling to think of an excuse or something else to say. But when you lifted your head to look at him, it didn’t matter. He could see every freckle that peppered across your nose and cheeks at the close proximity, your smile making his heart skip a beat. He only opened his mouth, closing it once more before resting his forehead against yours for a moment.

You knew what he was going to say, at least you hoped you did, feeling the stare of all your friends burning into the both of you. He was smiling when you turned your head, hand pressed to his chest as you pressed a kiss to his cheek. You rested your head back on his shoulder, his hand quickly finding yours again as he let his eyes fall closed.

The first time Ron Weasley says ‘I love you’, finally says it, it’s not exactly how he’d planned it to be. The two of you, amongst several other Hogwarts students had been helping to rebuild for the new year. The damage Bellatrix, as well as the entire battle, had caused left some parts nearly unrecognizable, but it had come a very long way since the beginning of summer. It wasn’t quite the Hogwarts you’ve all grown up with, but there was a newer, more improved school for young witches and wizards to call their home in years to come.

After the rebuilding had been finalized, the two of you, along with Harry, Hermione and Ginny had separated from the group to head down to the lake. It finally felt like you could breathe for the first time in months. Like the weight that had been pressing down on your shoulders was beginning to lighten some.

Harry and Ginny dipped their feet in the water, the couple enjoying their first bit of free time while they had it. Hermione had tucked herself against a tree with a book, another at her side in case she finished that one. Of course you had no doubt that she would.

You and Ron had a bit of distance between yourselves and the group, sitting amongst the slightly overgrown grass. He watched you fondly as you skipped rocks on the lake, his chin in his hand as his elbow rested against his knee. He squinted against the afternoon sun and the breeze blew his ginger hair in his eyes some, but he couldn’t tear his gaze from you even if he tried. It was something about the way the sun made you look golden, reflecting off your hair that had a couple wildflowers tucked within it. Or the way you smiled each time a rock successfully bounced off the water. There was something about you that was so entrancing, he could never quite put his finger on it. Maybe it was everything. It was definitely everything, he concluded.

“Why don’t you take a picture, Ronald? It just might last longer,” you laugh lightheartedly.

His face immediately flushes a light shade of pink as he averts his gazes momentarily. Those words were on the very tip of his tongue again. The words he could never manage to get farther than that very spot.

“I have a secret,” he manages, wringing his hands as he tries to control his pounding heart.

“Oh yeah?” You tuck your hair behind your ear as you wait for him with a smile.

“Yeah,” he laughs softly, tilting his head slightly as he looked at you. He watches as you lean back on your hands, looking up at the sky. He knows he can’t let the silence brew any longer or else he’d make a fool of himself. “I love you.”

The words were soft and a bit hesitant, his quiet admission causing you to turn your head with a furrow of your brows. “What?”

He swallowed thickly, sitting up a little straighter. “I love you.”

It’s more confident this time, a little louder. His cheeks surely burned brighter than moments ago. You smile softly and he feels himself relax at the simple gesture, and before he knows it your lips are on his. A feeling he’s so desperately longed for for an obscenely long time. He found himself missing it the moment you pulled away, though you hadn’t strayed too far as you rested your forehead on his.

“I love you, Ron Weasley,” you whisper, kissing him once more.

—

Tags: @iliveiloveiwrite @hairdye-enthusiast @snitches-at-dawn @kalimagik

[dimigex]

I Won’t Lie - Kakasaku

It’s finally done!! I started this piece years ago but never finished it. It’s the follow on to my story Distraction, but you don’t have to read that to understand it at all. 

Distraction, I Won’t Lie, Part One, Part Two, Epilogue 

Here’s the first part, the rest is linked above and also available on FF.

"So, have you put the moves on the Hokage yet," Ino questioned, applying black eyeliner with a practiced flip of her hand. Her aqua blue eyes stood out in sharp contrast, seeming larger than they had any right to.

Sakura groaned from the bed, falling back to cover her face. "I never intended to put the moves on him," she mumbled, hoping that Ino wouldn't be able to see the crimson flush of her cheeks. "And, it didn't work anyway. Kakashi doesn't know that I exist."

Ino jerked the pillow away and leveled her best friend with a stare. "He definitely knows that you exist, but you need to remind him that you're a woman now, not a little girl." Her gaze swept over Sakura from head to toe. "Why don't you put on something a little more interesting tonight?"

"What's wrong with what I have on?" Sakura frowned at her outfit. Okay, the leggings that she wore were more comfortable than provocative, and her mother would have approved of her shirt, but that didn't mean there was anything wrong with it. She always dressed like this when they went out. It wasn't her fault that Ino had more outfits than any other girl that Sakura knew, and an uncanny way of making everything look sexy.

"Nothing," Ino answered, with a smile curving her cherry-red lips. "As long as you want to die old and alone."

Sakura threw the remaining pillow at Ino's face, narrowly missing. "Shut up, Ino-pig," she grumbled, reverting to the insult that had become a friendly nickname over the past few years. Sakura tugged at her shirt for a moment, chewing her lip "If I agree, can you make it look like I'm not trying too hard?"

A grin split Ino's face. "Of course. We have to find just the right outfit to show off that body you worked so hard for."

Before Sakura could protest, the blond pulled her off of the bed and toward the closet. Nearly an hour later, Sakura examined her expression in the mirror, shocked at the illusion that Ino had created. Long lashes framed her green eyes, making them stand out against her pale skin. The faint dusting of freckles that Sakura usually hated had taken on a soft glow from the highlighter Ino used. Glossy lips completed the expression, in a shade lighter than Sakura ever thought she could pull off. Ino hadn't stopped there. She'd transformed Sakura's hair as well. The pale tresses piled on top of her head, falling in artful curls around her face.

Ino pulled Sakura from musing about how she looked like an entirely different person by tugging on the dress. The blond dragged the black fabric to the side, baring one shoulder. It draped Sakura's body, accentuating enough to suggest that she had more curves than she really did. Chuckling, Sakura pulled the fabric toward her knees. Ino slapped her hands away. "Stop that, it's supposed to be short."

"I can't wear this," Sakura complained even as she turned to admire herself from the side. It hugged her body in a way that none of her other outfits had.

Shaking her head, Ino walked over to the closet and tossed a pair of heels to Sakura. "You can, and you will. No one will be able to keep their eyes off you, especially not Kakashi."

Color flamed in Sakura's cheek, hidden somewhat by the makeup. "What if he isn't there?"

Ino's devious grin made Sakura nervous. "Then you'll go home with someone else. You look too damn good to go home alone tonight"

-------------------------------

When Ino and Sakura swept into the pub nearly half an hour late, dozens of heads swiveled in their direction. Ino linked an arm through Sakura's and pulled her into the room before she could back away in a fit of self-consciousness. Her gaze swept over the people gathered for Naruto's birthday, trying to ignore the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Kakashi wasn't there yet or not coming at all, everything they'd done had been a waste of time.

Forcing the hopelessness down, Sakura caught sight of an overbearing ball of sunshine cutting through the room. Naruto's grin probably had more to do with the atmosphere than alcohol, but she couldn't be sure. He threw an arm around Sakura's shoulder and pulled her into a side hug. "I was beginning to think nobody from my team was going to show up tonight."

When Naruto released Sakura, his blue eyes slipped lower than her neck. The blush on his whiskered cheeks was obvious even in the dim lighting. "You look nice tonight. I mean, not that you don't always look nice-" Sakura's laughter cut off the awkward exchange, and Naruto managed a nervous smile before rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't think Sasuke is going to make it tonight."

"Unfortunately, Sasuke's mission has him delayed outside the village." The proximity of Kakashi's voice made Sakura jump. When she turned, she realized that he stood just inside the doorway behind them. Their gazes locked, and Kakashi's eyes widened, perhaps only just now realizing that she'd been the one standing with Naruto. While pink hair was unusual in the village, a few girls had started imitating Sakura after the war. She hated it, but the element of surprise was nice.

Ino unwound her arm from Sakura's and moved away to speak to someone that Sakura didn't recognize. Completely oblivious of the tension of the moment, Naruto caught Kakashi with his other arm and pulled them both into a hug. Sakura felt the warmth of Kakashi's chest against her side. "I'm glad you two made it, at least."

Kakashi pulled away, chuckling in the back of his throat. "Of course I came, I have to keep an eye on you kids to make sure you don't get into any trouble."

"We aren't kids," Sakura grumbled, challenging Kakashi with a glare through her mascara lengthened lashes. "We're adults now."

"That's right, sensei. We don't have to listen to you anymore." Naruto laughed, giving Kakashi a cheeky grin.

Kakashi frowned, the barest movements of his mask. "I'm still Hokage, though."

"For now." Naruto's banter eased the conversation into playful jabs that allowed Sakura to stay silent. Kakashi hadn't even responded to her comment about being an adult now. Her heart sank lower in her chest.

As the men exchanged barbs, Ino reappeared from wherever she'd been. Grabbing Sakura's hand, she led them to the bar. "It's pointless," Sakura complained, leaning close so that the words would only be loud enough for Ino. "He'll always view me as a kid. I'd be better off chasing Sasuke."

"Absolutely not," Ino hissed, vehemence dripping from her voice as she raised a hand to order drinks. "Sasuke isn't even on the radar for you. Do not put yourself through that again."

Sakura nodded and toyed with the silver teardrop earring that Ino had loaned her. She knew that Sasuke was a bad idea. The boy had never acknowledged her, not really. And now, it was the same with Kakashi. At best Kakashi saw her as the child that he'd mentored years ago. At worst, the annoying girl that she'd been during those early days. She'd never change that.

"Let me tell you my secret, Forehead." Ino shoved a shot glass into Sakura's hand. "It just takes five seconds of insane courage to get whatever you want. That's it. Just five seconds of bravery, then the hard part is over. You either have the thing you want or you don't, but at least you'll know."

"Is that how you landed Sai?" Sakura asked, closing her grip around the glass of liquid courage without questioning what was inside it. The idea that Ino actually liked Sai and wanted to be with him when there were so many men that she could have had was something that Sakura had trouble wrapping her mind around.

Ino laughed and tucked a strand of hair behind one ear. "Yes, Sai. And, all the others."

Gossip suggested that Ino had worked her way through half of the eligible shinobi in the village. There was a great deal of truth to it. Ino had dated Shikamaru for a couple of weeks before the pair decided that friendship was less troublesome than a relationship. She and Kiba had been fireworks from the beginning, fighting almost constantly. Choji was too gentle, Lee too exhausting, Shino too quiet, and the list went on and on. Somehow, Ino landed on Sai and found that the man matched her surprisingly well. Sakura had already noticed the girl looking for him in the crowd.

"Drink," Ino commanded, nodding toward the alcohol. Sakura steeled her nerves and tipped the glass up. The liquid burned the entire way down, making her gasp for a breath. Ino clapped her on the back. "Good, now let's go and find someone to make him jealous over."

"Ino, no." Sakura pulled away from her best friend with a firm shake of her head. "It doesn't matter. It's just a silly crush."

The look on the blonde's face suggested that she didn't believe Sakura's excuse, but she didn't force it. Sakura let her gaze wander over the people brought together to celebrate Naruto's birthday. He had touched so many lives, and since the war, most people recognized that. Naruto had wanted to do something at Ichiraku, but the stand was too small for all their friends. They'd made arrangements for the celebration to be held here, but white bowls of ramen dotted most of the tables.

Kakashi drew Sakura's eyes like a beacon. He stood in the shadows beside Captain Yamato, heads close together as they spoke. It had surprised Sakura to learn that the men were old friends, especially since Kakashi held so many people at a distance. Sakura and Naruto had grown closer to him, of course, but there didn't seem to be many others. Tsunade and the other jonin perhaps, but the ease between Kakashi and Yamato spoke of actual friendship. Sakura felt a twinge of jealousy. Why couldn't it be that easy for her?

Ino leaned close, the scent of alcohol drifting from her lips. "You know, Yamato isn't bad looking either."

Sakura considered the words. While Yamato didn't hold the aura of mystery that Kakashi did, his easy smile and kind eyes made him attractive in his own way. Even so, no matter how much Sakura watched the pair, her eyes strayed to Kakashi. As she'd expected, he'd worn his uniform to the party. The sleeves of his black shirt were rolled up against the heat of the room, while his hands were tucked into the pockets of matching pants. Kakashi's mask remained in place, of course, but the headband that used to slant across half of his face was missing. Two charcoal eyes stared out at the room, silver hair falling into them.

"Oh, it's definitely just a little crush," Ino teased, pulling Sakura from her longing gaze. "Why don't you just go and talk to him? Ask him to dance or ask him back to your place. Just do something besides staring at him."

When Sakura started to protest, Ino rolled her eyes. "Come on, I've seen you kick ass so many times, but you're scared to talk to a boy? The worst thing he can do is turn you down. And, if that happens, it's his loss."

It isn't that easy, Sakura started to argue. Only, she knew that it was. She'd been pining after Kakashi for months, treasuring stupid, little moments that probably meant nothing: the way that his arms had curled around her on the training field, how his eyes lit up when he laughed at her joke about Tsunade trying to kill them both with reports, or the startle when her fingers had brushed his wrist. Those things made her wonder if there might be something more, but Kakashi was impossible to read. The sudden intake of breath when Sakura touched him could just have easily been discomfort as desire.

"I think I need another drink," Sakura declared, putting away the miserable thoughts for another day.

It didn't take long for the pleasant warmth of alcohol to loosen the tension that seemed permanently attached to Sakura's shoulders. She relaxed enough to dance a couple of turns with Naruto. He was far more awkward on the dance floor than any shinobi had the right to be. After two dances, Sakura begged off and pushed him toward Hinata. A few months ago, the girl had finally gotten brave enough to let Naruto know that she liked him. The pair was slowly turning into a couple, but the transition was painful to watch. They were both too shy for their own good.

Sakura stumbled back toward the bar, surprised to admit that she was having more fun than she'd thought she would, even if Kakashi ignored her. As she reached for her glass, Ino flashed a pleasant grin that warned Sakura that the girl was coming up with a plan that Sakura wasn't going to like. Without explaining anything, Ino linked their arms and dragged Sakura back into the crowd. Three steps into the walk, once she realized where they were going, Sakura tried to stop the inevitable. But, it was too late. Ino stopped beside Kakashi and Yamato.

The men looked up in surprise, their conversation stopping abruptly. Sakura felt Kakashi's gaze on her face for several heartbeats before it slid toward Ino's. With another signature grin, the blond moved into Yamato's personal space. "You sent my boyfriend on a mission just before the party, and now I have nobody to dance with. It seems only fair that you take his place." Ino held out a hand expectantly.

"Um-I-uh-it was unavoidable," Yamato stammered, a delicate pink blush tinting his cheeks. Sakura almost rolled her eyes. It was pathetic to watch how easily Ino turned him, or any man for that matter, into a stuttering mess simply by batting her eyelashes. She'd thought Yamato was better than that.

To Sakura's surprise, it was Kakashi who spoke next. "I think she has a solid case." Yamato gaped at the man, but Kakashi continued as if he hadn't seen it. "You deprived her of enjoying the evening; you should make up for it. Within reason, of course."

As the implication hit home, the pink on Yamato's cheeks deepened to crimson. Sakura struggled not to laugh at his expression. Ino cleared her throat, moving her hand closer. For a moment, Sakura wondered if Kakashi was going to have to push the man forward. Finally, Yamato dipped his head and took Ino's hand. Sakura couldn't stop her mirth as the pair disappeared onto the dance floor. "He's going to be furious with you later, you know that right?"

"It's good for him. Yamato is too shy." Kakashi leaned his shoulders against the wall, and for a moment Sakura couldn't take her eyes off of the smooth stretch of his body and the way his armor shifted with the movement. Half a second later, she realized that he'd said something. Deciding that it probably wasn't important, she nodded and he continued. "Of course, she doesn't mean anything by it, does she?"

Sakura shook her head, watching as Ino attempted to guide Yamato's hands toward her hips as she moved to the music. He kept moving them back to her waist, embarrassment obvious. Sakura chuckled under her breath. "No, she's quite taken with Sai actually."

"Our Sai?" Kakashi asked, eyebrows rising in surprise.

Sakura nodded, watching as Yamato finally relaxed into the dance and loosened up a bit. "She and Sai balance each other well, like Naruto and Hinata."

Kakashi followed Sakura's gaze toward the bar where Naruto and Hinata were talking. The blond leaned against the edge, telling some kind of story while the girl gazed up adoringly. Two years ago, she'd been too frightened and embarrassed to speak with him, and Naruto too stupid to realize why. With a little gentle prodding, they'd finally caught on.

Kakashi made a sound that might have been agreement in the back of his throat. "You're all pairing off these days, falling in love and getting married."

"Not all of us," Sakura grumbled. Frustration bled into her voice as she continued. "Some of us accepted the weight of duty instead."

A silver eyebrow arched skyward as Kakashi turned to face Sakura. A look of understanding crossed his features, but Sakura doubted that he realized she was talking about him as well. Undeniably handsome, Kakashi could have his pick of women in the village, but he remained alone. He had thrown himself into the role of hokage, even though he hated it. Sakura had done the same at the hospital, though she enjoyed her work for the most part. The two of them weren't as different as he seemed to think.

A stir went through the room. Naruto pushed away from the bar, his voice cutting through the din of music and conversation. "You made it!'

As much as Sakura wanted to continue admiring Kakashi, her attention drifted toward Naruto. He stood in the doorway, arms thrown around-Sakura's mind temporarily shorted out, taking several seconds to catch up with her eyes. Sasuke stood in the spill of light, Naruto's arms wrapped around his shoulders. Raven dark hair and equally black eyes swept through the crowd, taking in everyone and everything. His gaze slid over Sakura, then returned and lingered.

Despite everything, Sakura blushed under Sasuke's gaze. Beside her, Kakashi shifted away from the wall. A hand pressed almost imperceptibly against Sakura's lower back as Naruto approached, Sasuke trailing behind like a shadow. Sakura half turned toward Kakashi.

Naruto interrupted the pair before Sakura could get her thoughts in order. "Look guys, Sasuke made it back in time."

"So, he did," Kakashi answered for both of them, voice cool but not quite unfriendly. "Welcome back."

Sasuke turned, oozing arrogance as he inclined his head toward Kakashi. Dark eyes roved over Sakura a second time, an almost smile curling his lips. Even so, Sakura read the tension in his shoulders. Despite the years that had passed, Sasuke remained something of a pariah in the village. There were some groups who would never forgive or forget the time that he had spent trying to destroy the Leaf, despite Naruto's efforts to change their opinions. Sakura knew that Kakashi had helped save Sasuke from execution or life in prison, but the Hokage's intervention had ended there.

"Sasuke!" Ino appeared from nowhere, throwing her arms around Sasuke in a hug that the man shrunk away from. "Welcome back."

Sakura flashed her friend a thankful smile at the interruption. "You're looking well," Ino continued, pulling all of Sasuke's attention to herself by keeping her hands on his upper arms. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Maybe later," Sasuke answered, voice sounding strained as he shrugged away from Ino's touch. When she released him, the man turned and smiled. "Hello, Sakura."

Sakura couldn't remember how to draw a breath. A thick strand of black fell across Sasuke's eye, adding an air of mystery to his already captivating appearance. Warmth suffused her face when he moved closer, near enough to reach out and brush her cheek if he'd wanted. "Hi," she answered, toying with a silver bracelet circling one wrist.

Sasuke slid between Sakura and Kakashi, angling his body to face hers. "How have you been?"

"I've been doing well." Sakura's answer barely scratched the surface of everything that had happened in her life since the last time she saw Sasuke. She couldn't seem to remember a single event that she wanted to talk about. Yamato approached the small group and squeezed in beside Kakashi while running an appraising eye over Sasuke. He didn't acknowledge the Uchiha's presence. Instead, he leaned closer to Kakashi and whispered something in his ear.

Pulling her attention away from the exchange, Sakura realized that she'd been asked something. It would be rude not to keep talking to Sasuke, so she smiled. "How about you? How have you been?"

"I stay busy following up on leads," Sasuke answered, revealing nothing about his time outside of the village. Maybe he thought that Sakura wouldn't accept his reasons for leaving her behind, or maybe, he didn't care if she did.

After all, how could Sakura expect Sasuke to understand the hours of work that she poured into the hospital, sometimes losing a patient despite her best efforts? Would he care that she pushed herself in training as hard as she's ever done in case they went back to war? Sakura imagined Sasuke teasing her efforts to create orphanages in Konoha. Would he understand Sakura's version of sacrifice when it didn't align with his?

Sakura's eyes drifted back to her group of friends. Naruto stood beside Ino with a silly grin on his face, undoubtedly because Sakura and Sasuke were talking together. He still believed the two of them could make it work somehow. Yamato and Kakashi watched them both without seeming to do so. Sakura couldn't help but wonder if they deemed Sasuke as a security risk, even after all this time. Her gaze settled on the tension in Kakashi's jaw, wondering why he seemed on edge.

Kakashi understood the passion that drove Sakura to fight for those causes. Or, if not, he humored her. Sakura and Kakashi had worked hand in hand to train additional medical shinobi, create orphanages, and work through various issues at the hospital. She'd assumed that Kakashi wanted to see the same outcome that she did. Would Sasuke want that? Did it matter? He wouldn't be in the village long enough for it to make any difference.

Despite the way that things between them had changed, Sasuke still reduced Sakura to a lovesick teenager. It wasn't that her feelings had stayed the same, but Sakura had spent half of her life chasing after Sasuke. She couldn't shake the memory of nipping at his heels, of being willing to throw everything away if he'd only acknowledge her. As Sasuke spoke, Sakura's mind responded on autopilot, answering with soft laughs and smiles.

After several minutes, Ino caught Sakura's attention and half nodded toward Kakashi. He and Yamato had fallen silent, allowing the conversation to flow around them without interruption. Sakura raised her shoulders in a helpless shrug, silently asking what she was supposed to do about the situation. Ino frowned, then leaned in to speak. "So, Sasuke, did you know that Naruto and Hinata are dating?"

The question cut off the conversation. Surprise flitted across Sasuke's face as he looked over at Naruto. The blond's cheeks flamed crimson and he sputtered over his words "Well, Ino is dating Sai," he managed, red from his hairline to his chin.

Ino grinned, tossing her long hair over one shoulder with an air of dismissal. "You say that like it's a bad thing. Sai happens to be far more interesting than you'd anticipate. Not to mention adventurous."

The suggestive nature of Ino's comment made Naruto choke on his breath. His eyes bulged and Sakura couldn't help but laugh; he was still so innocent. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm. "Come on, it's definitely time for a drink."

Without waiting for an answer, Naruto pulled the Uchiha toward the barkeeper and further away from Ino's insinuations. Laughing, the girl watched them go. Then, she turned back to Yamato. "I thought you were going to dance with me? And, you," Ino studied Kakashi, "should dance with Sakura so she isn't left alone over here."

For all the nudging that Kakashi had done when Ino asked Yamato to dance, the man seemed less than enthused about taking his own advice. "It isn't befitting of the Hokage to indulge in-"

"Oh no you don't, senpai," Yamato interrupted, already pulling Kakashi away from the wall. "I did my duty, and now it's time for you to do yours. Off you go."

Yamato's brown eyes shone with an inordinate amount of amusement, and Sakura didn't know whether to be thankful that he was pushing Kakashi toward the dance floor, or embarrassed at being some type of twisted payback. Either way, the indecision lasted only a moment. Ino grabbed Yamato's hand and guided him toward the dancers, leaving Sakura alone with Kakashi on the edge of the room.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck as he turned to face Sakura. Embarrassment raised the temperature of the room several degrees until it felt impossible to draw a breath. "You don't have to dance with me," she murmured, trying not to sound as disappointed as she felt.

"Ino and Yamato would never let me hear the end of it if we didn't." Kakashi held out one hand, and Sakura slid hers into it. Her pulse pounded in her ears when he leaned closer. "Besides, we only have to dance long enough to get them off our backs."

Sakura didn't trust her voice to speak without breaking, so she nodded and followed Kakashi onto the dance floor. Music blared over the speakers, bass line making her heart pound in tempo. She drew a deep breath and looked into the eyes that had been hidden for so long. Even now, months later, Sakura hadn't gotten used to seeing more of Kakashi's face. She remembered the intensity of his gaze on the training field and the way that she'd wanted to pull him close and lose themselves in the storm.

Just five seconds of insane courage, Ino's voice whispered in the back of Sakura's mind. She could press her body against Kakashi's under the guise of dancing and admit that she wanted more than that. Butterflies the size of elephants trampled over Sakura's chest. If Kakashi rejected her, it would hurt, but she could mask the pain long enough to make it home. Then, she'd be free to deal with fallout. She had done the same thing over Sasuke nearly a year ago. But, if Sakura never took a chance and told Kakashi, she'd never know if there could have been anything between them.

Kakashi spoke, interrupting Sakura's momentum. "You look different tonight."

"Ino begged me to let her try something special for Naruto's party." Sakura chewed her lip, wondering if the words were technically a lie. She wanted to look more enticing as well, more like Ino and less like herself, in hopes that she'd capture Kakashi's attention.

The tempo of the music increased; Sakura allowed her body to follow. She felt the hem of her dress riding up her thigh and tugged it down with one hand. Kakashi followed the movement then snapped his eyes back to her face. He asked something, but the words were lost in the din of the crowd. When Sakura scrunched up her face in confusion, he leaned closer. "For Sasuke?"

For you, Sakura thought, holding the words tight between her lips. The accusation in Kakashi's tone surprised her. "I didn't know he'd be here."

Kakashi inclined his head at the words, expression unreadable. He rested his hands at Sakura's waist without a hint of familiarity or desire. Kakashi moved to the music, half a foot between their bodies. Sakura flashed back to the way his arms had wrapped around her like a glove on the training field. He moved on protective instinct, not to get close to me. The realization left a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Sakura surrendered to the rhythm of the music, turning to present her back to Kakashi's chest so she wouldn't have to meet his gaze. She closed her eyes, willing the ache in her heart to stop. This entire situation was so stupid. Ino was right about everything; Sakura needed to tell Kakashi how she felt so that she could pick up the pieces and move on. She had done it before, and she could do it again.

Fingers curled against Sakura's hips, the thin fabric of her dress hardly masking the feel of Kakashi's touch. Sakura wasn't sure if he pulled her back, or if she moved of her own accord, but she felt the warmth of his breath against her neck. She focused on the sensation, electricity rushing through her body. His damn flak vest separated Sakura from the heat of his chest, but she imagined that she could feel it anyway.

The song ended and the weight of Kakashi's hands fell away as if it had never been. Light pulsed around them as another song started. Sakura turned back to face Kakashi, drawing a shaky breath. "Do you think that dance met their requirements, or should we do another, just to be sure?"

Sakura's name left Kakashi's lips in a strangled sound. Whatever he'd been planning to say was lost when someone bumped hard into his back. He stumbled through the almost nonexistent space between them. Sakura heard an apology, but she couldn't match the voice to a face before her arms were full of Kakashi. She stumbled backward under his weight, tripped over her heels, and then they were falling. Vaguely, some panicked part of Sakura's mind wondered if she was about to give everyone in the room a free peep show.

Kakashi twisted in the air so that Sakura wouldn't be crushed beneath him. His left shoulder absorbed most of the impact half a second before she hit his chest. The air whooshed out of Kakashi's lungs in a soft hiss as their bodies pressed together. Exposure forgotten, Sakura felt his hands grip her, one near her shoulder and the other dangerously low on her back. They were close enough for their noses to brush, Kakashi's eyes wide. The charcoal tone wasn't as dark as Sakura had anticipated, but shot with silver through the iris. She noticed the outline of Kakashi's lips beneath his mask. Kami, it would be so simple to—

"Hokage-sama?" Genma's familiar voice cut across Sakura's thoughts. The man pushed through the crowd to reach Kakashi's side, undoubtedly on guard duty for the night. Sakura raised her head to glare at his poorly conceived timing.

Kakashi released Sakura like he'd been burned, hands coming to the floor instead as he pushed into a sitting position. She half fell into his lap from the sudden change of position. "I'm fine," he answered the unasked question. "I'm hardly old enough to get injured from falling down."

"Especially beneath a beautiful woman," Genma quipped, flashing his senbon-studded grin. Then, his leer slid toward the woman in question and his expression changed to something contemplative as he offered a hand. "Oh, hey, Sakura."

Sakura had no choice but to accept Genma's offered hand. Cheeks flushed with embarrassment, she let the tokujo pull her away from Kakashi. Belatedly, she remembered to adjust the slinky dress lower on her thighs and higher over her chest. Hopefully everything had happened so quickly that she didn't have any reason to be embarrassed. A small crowd gathered around them. Kakashi pushed through them as the music started back up; Sakura followed him to the edge of the room.

"You aren't hurt are you, Hokage-sama," Ino gushed as she hurried to the pair's side. Her brow creased with worry when Kakashi tried to wave her off. Sakura barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her best friend. The ploy was obvious.

"I'm fine," Kakashi grumbled, looking distinctively embarrassed by the attention. "I'm not made of glass."

"Still," Ino pressed, reaching out like she might touch Kakashi's arm. "You hit your shoulder hard when you fell. I saw it."

Sakura could see the wheels turning in Ino's mind. No, please, Ino, don't do this. Sakura's silent plea fell on deaf ears. Kakashi raised his arm to prove that he could, but Ino didn't drop the subject. "You should let Sakura take a look at it, just to make sure. I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

And, there it is, Sakura grumbled internally. Annoyance bled through Kakashi's embarrassment as he tried to wave the blonde's concerns away. Sakura interrupted the exchange before it could get out of hand. "Doesn't anyone care about me? I fell too."

"I could take a look at you," Genma offered with a cheeky grin from his position at Kakashi's shoulder. "In fact, it'd be my pleasure."

"No," Sakura and Kakashi answered in the same breath, dragging a knowing laugh from Genma. Kakashi looked almost as surprised as Sakura felt. Cheeks warming at the insinuation, she continued. "I don't need anyone to look at me, I am fine. But, shouldn't you be more worried about me?"

Genma chuckled in the back of his throat. "Because you're such a delicate little flower? I saw the damage you did to the training grounds the other night. I think I'd rather take my chances with Kakashi, to be honest."

"Probably for the best; she's stronger than you think." Sakura's stomach clenched at the unexpected praise from Sasuke. She hadn't noticed that he and Naruto had rejoined them in the chaos.

"Damn right she is," Ino answered, fighting to keep the attention on anything but Sasuke. Her eyes met Sakura's with silent pleading. While Sakura knew what Ino wanted, some things were easier said than done. Sasuke watched them with a smug satisfaction on his face that Sakura couldn't begin to understand as Ino continued. "What will Tsunade say if you leave Hokage-sama injured until tomorrow?"

Kakashi shook his head as Sakura groaned under her breath. She loved Ino, but sometimes the woman went a little overboard with her matchmaking. "Tsunade would say that it's nothing, and no more than I deserve if I can't keep my feet under me. But, if it'll put your mind at ease, I'll get it checked out."

"It would," Ino breathed out, her concern almost palpable. Sakura wondered why the woman didn't become an actress; she certainly had a knack for it. Ino pulled her forward. "There's no time like the present."

Kakashi cast a withering glance at Ino, then faced Sakura. For a moment, the rest of the room disappeared. Even the overwhelming presence of Sasuke shrank to insignificance. The sheepishness that Sakura had noticed earlier had evaporated, replaced by something darker in Kakashi's gaze. Though Sakura couldn't put her finger on it, the expression made chill bumps erupt on her arms. "Would you mind?"

It wasn't the first time that Sakura had healed Kakashi, not by a long shot. But, it was the first time that he'd asked. Sakura's heart did somersaults in her chest. "I don't mind," she breathed, forcing strength into her words. "But, not here. I need somewhere quieter, with better light."

Kakashi inclined his head as if the words made perfect sense. Naruto groaned, his voice turning whiny. "You're going to miss my party? This is the first time we've all been together in years."

"We won't be gone long," Kakashi assured the boy. "Just long enough to satisfy Sakura."

Ino choked on her laugh, eyes shining. Sakura's cheeks flamed crimson at the insinuation. Kakashi either didn't notice or didn't want to draw attention to it. He nodded toward the door. "Come on, let's get this over with, shall we?"

--------------------------

As she and Kakashi emerged from the pub, Sakura drew a breath of the chilly air. Naruto had been the only one to raise an objection to them leaving the party together, but Sakura felt the heat from a dozen gazes as they crossed the room. When they stepped into the street, Sakura's hand slipped out of Kakashi's, and neither made a move to retake it. He stared at the darkness, the stars above, and the benches by the door as they stood under the hazy light of the neon sign.

"I'm sorry that this took you away from the party," Kakashi began with a sigh. When his gaze turned to Sakura, it swept over her body in a way that suggested that he hadn't missed the tiniest facet of Ino's hard work. "You clearly wanted to be there."

"I can always go back later," Sakura answered, knowing that she wouldn't. She didn't want to face Sasuke or Ino after leaving with Kakashi, regardless of what happened next. Kakashi's shoulders seemed to tense at the response, but Sakura wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not. Undeniable nervousness settled in her gut.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "You don't really need to look at my shoulder. It's fine, but I needed an excuse to get out of there."

"I know," Sakura agreed. She would have realized if Kakashi was hurt, probably before he did. "But, I gave my word, so we should at least check it."

"Do you want to go to the hospital?" Kakashi moved down the street as he asked the question, forcing Sakura to follow on his heels. He didn't turn back when he continued. "Or, would my apartment be okay? It's closer."

Sakura's breath caught in her throat. She knew where Kakashi's apartment was, of course, but she'd never set foot inside of it. That he'd allow her into his world, even for a moment, stunned her. He continued walking, shoulders tight and hands stuffed into his pockets as he waited for an answer. "Your apartment is fine."

The silence gave Sakura unwanted time to think back over the night's events. She had seen appreciation in more than a few eyes when they noticed the changes that Ino had made, but she couldn't be sure that any of it had registered with Kakashi. He'd said she looked different, not better, not beautiful, just different. That word could mean a million things, or nothing at all. Ino was right though, if Sakura couldn't have Kakashi, she could always go home with someone else. Hell, even Sasuke had noticed and appreciated the extra effort in her appearance. There was only one problem, Sakura didn't want to go home with anyone else.

Sakura nearly walked into Kakashi's back when he stopped in front of her and nodded toward the steps leading up to his apartment. Though she knew it was entirely platonic, Sakura's heart pounded in her throat as she followed him higher. Kakashi unlocked the door, flicked the lights on, and pushed it wider. Sakura slid under his arm and into the room, taking in a million details at once.

Kakashi closed the door behind them and bent to remove his sandals. Sakura admired the smooth stretch of his body for a heartbeat longer than she should have. Tearing her eyes away, she rested one hand on the wall and bent down to unbuckle her heels. It felt good to be out of them, if it was only going to be for a few minutes.

"Does your shoulder hurt at all? They're notoriously fragile as far as joints go." When Kakashi didn't speak, Sakura opened her mouth to repeat the question, then had another idea. Five seconds of insane courage. She took two steps forward and reached for Kakashi's arm, the healing glow surrounding her hands.

When Sakura touched his shoulder, Kakashi startled and jerked away. 'I'm fine," he ground out. "You don't have to—"

"Your heart is pounding," Sakura responded in awe, letting her fingers fall away from his arm. The touch had been brief, but the spike in Kakashi's pulse was obvious.

Kakashi forced a harsh breath through his nose. "You're supposed to be checking my shoulder, not my heart."

Five seconds of insane courage. "Your shoulder," Sakura repeated, trying to think over the blood roaring in her ears. Just five seconds. She reached for the straps of Kakashi's flak vest.

[tatooedlaura-blog]

Fancy Paper Napkins

because doesn’t everybody eat their fancy meals with fancy paper napkins ...

Our Moments: Chapter 1: Five Words (post-Leonard Betts) Chapter 2: Sidebar Nonsense (post-Memento Mori) Chapter 3: Interim (floating somewhere around Unrequited) Chapter 4: Max 2.0 (post-Tempus Fugit/Max) Chapter 5: Shadowed Grey Eyes Chapter 6: The Warmest Thing I Own Chapter 7: Fancy Paper Napkins @today-in-fic

&&&&&&&&&&

He actually slept, his mind calm, until he heard her whispering in his ear, “what are you cooking and when will it be ready?”

Opening his eyes, he saw hers staring at him, awake and bright, “what?”

“I’m hungry and I saw the crockpot plugged in.”

He broke into a grin, more from her proximity than anything else and forcing himself not to look at her mouth, not to think of that kiss, “mushrooms. Garlicy, buttery mushrooms that have been slow cooking in the crockpot,” looking over her head at the clock, “for four hours.” Sitting up quickly, “shit. I have to go stir them.”

Rolling off the bed, he disappeared down the hall, Scully close behind, “they won’t burn.”

“I’ll feel better when I see for myself.” Finally in the kitchen, he opened the crockpot, stirred with the big spoon, and glad to see the mushrooms soft and unburned, offered Scully a taste. Refusing with an, ‘I’d like to wait for dinner,’ he nodded towards the fridge, “go grab the steak, would you?”

They ate like civilized people, at the kitchen table, forks, knives, fancy paper napkins …

… “I refuse to use cloth ones because they’re too damn hard to clean.”

… “Did I say anything?”

… “No.”

… “Then why are you arguing at me?”

and a bottle of not-so-cheap wine Mulder found in his travels through Scully’s cupboards.

“I shouldn’t drink this.”

“Will it lower your inhibitions? Will you sweep off the coffee table and dance on it if I wave a bunch of ones at you? Will you tell me all your secrets?”

She couldn’t keep her hand from shaking as she poured them both glasses, “mostly I’m thinking that it’ll make me fall asleep even early that I probably would have already.”

Ignoring the tremor, “as long as you stay awake enough for ice cream.”

“I will do my best.”

She made it through half the steak, a bowl of mushroom, and three spoons of mashed potatoes, before finally giving in, trading her plate for Mulder’s empty, who continued to eat without pause. Watching him, she had to smile, “thank you.”

“For finishing your food? No problem.”

Not able to articulate at that particular moment that she was actually thanking him for a thousand things at once, she simply agreed, wondering if he’d figure it out on his own, “yeah, I wouldn’t want it to go to waste.”

Giving her a grin, he finished her food, then stood, “give me ten minutes to do dishes and put everything away, then we’ll argue about movies.”

“Let me load the dishwasher, at least. You won’t do it right and I’ll just have to redo it when you’re not looking.” Standing as well, she bumped hips with him as she walked past, “save me the trouble.”

Twisting up his leg, he hit her on the butt with his stocking foot, “smartass.”

They finally settled on several movies but still sitting on the couch, facing a blank TV and a window with a sunset just beginning to tint the room pink, Mulder gently poked her in the side, “how’re you doing?”

Feeling the urge to move, to take advantage of feeling okay for the moment, “I think I’d like to go for a walk.”

Up immediately, he leaned in, kissing the tip of her nose, “any destination in mind?”

“Just … around.”

“Around it is.”

&&&&&&&&&

Warm enough to wander without jackets, they headed out her front door and turned left, bare arm brushing bare arm as they walked. They didn’t say much, commenting on scurrying squirrels here, a cute cat in the window there, Mulder catching a waywardly stumbling child tripping past, “geez, if I had known we were going to be experiencing a Norman Rockwell painting, I would have combed my hair and put on a clean shirt.”

Her laughter hit his ears like his favorite song and reaching over, he took her hand, never asking, never letting go as they circled and turned, ambled and veered. She didn’t argue, her thin, cool fingers enjoying his warmth.

But even on her best days lately, she gave in quicker than she’d have liked, 45 being the magic number of minutes she lasted until, “I think I’m ready for some ice cream.”

Giving her hand a squeeze, “ice cream it is. What kind should we start with?”

Discussion ensued and by the time they were in their pajamas, they’d settled on dark fudge and peanut butter swirl to begin with. Two spoons dove in, two spoons sampled, occasionally Scully would pull her loaded spoon out and looking at Mulder, found his mouth wide open, waiting expectantly.

And by God, she fed him.

The first time felt a little weird but by the third time he did it, she was laughing, “can you not feed yourself fast enough?”

“Nope.”

That was good enough for her.

Once the gorging finished, they’d had at least one spoonful out of each carton Mulder had bought, six in all, the flavors running the gambit and Scully full and happy and sleepy. “Are you going to be able to sleep with all that sugar in your system?”

Mulder grinned, chocolate rimming his lips, “if not, I’ll have a TV to keep me company while you drool all over your pillow.” A relieved sigh, one she didn’t know she was holding, escaped, and Mulder cocked his head, suddenly worried, “y’a’right?”?”

And deciding there was no reason not to tell him, “I think I was nervous you were going to go home tonight and,” another sigh, this one embarrassed, “it’s been a really nice day and if you went home, it would be over and,” slight wobbly smile appearing, “I don’t want it to be over just yet.”

Knowing something funny was in order, he raised an eyebrow in her direction, “is that some veiled attempt at asking me to move in here?”

Her smile steadied, “just go start the movie.”

&&&&&&&&&

Midnight rolled around and even though Scully had given in and gone to bed, Mulder was still awake and indeed watching TV, some cooking show he’d never admit to enjoying but enjoyed nonetheless. The sound was off and suddenly, the quiet of the darkened apartment was broken by Scully calling from the bedroom, “Mulder?”

It didn’t sound like a nightmare which, in his mind, could only mean she needed help. Jogging down the hall, he was in her doorway a second later, “yeah? You okay?”

Still laying down, she met his nervous gaze, her own a unique brand of terrified confusion, “am I still here?”

Immediately walking to the other side of the bed, he crawled under the covers, his hand meeting her cheek after she rolled over to face him, “yeah. You’re right here, in your bed.” When her terror didn’t fade, he continued, quieter, moving to meet her forehead with his, “you’re with me, in your apartment,” hand moving to the back of her neck, “whatever you dreamt wasn’t real.”

“It will be.” Feeling the bed shake as she hitched a silent sob, she managed a cracked whisper, “I don’t want to die.” Her fingers ran over his cheek, his ear, “I don’t want to go anywhere without you.”

The tear escaped before he could blink it away but he kept the others in, reservoir full but holding, “we’re gonna beat this. I guarantee it.”

She couldn’t bring herself to believe him anymore and she couldn’t keep up the lie at this hour, “you don’t know that.”

“But I choose to believe it.” Hand in her hair by now, he pulled her close enough that their noses were smushed together and eyelashes tangled, “I need to believe it.”

Maybe she could pretend a little more after all, “do you believe enough for both of us?”

“I believe enough for this whole damn world. You should know that by now.”

She could only nod against him, bringing their mouths to millimeter distances but refraining, crippling fear not a good enough reason to cross the line between them, “can you stay right here with me, tonight?”

He crossed it for them, a quick brush of lips, a quick nuzzle of noses, “I won’t move until you do.”

“I don’t want you to leave me alone.”

Both knew the translation of that:

I don’t want to die alone.

&&&&&&&&

The next morning, Scully opened her eyes to find Mulder still sharing her pillow, not touching anymore but close enough to have him blurry in front of her instead of clear. For five seconds, she forgot her world and felt warm fuzzies chasing through her, up and down her spine, settling low.

Then, reality set in with a resounding thud.

Pulling back, she sat up, turning quickly so he wouldn’t see the tears racing down her face. Neither could ignore the echoing sob, however and Mulder, already half-awake, sat up, confusion clearing in a heartbeat as he slid across the mattress, arm around her front, hugging her back to his chest. Kissing her neck and that hated, fucking scar, “we’re gonna win. I swear to God, we’re gonna win.”

And they cried together.