#some of the emergencies I recognised straight away

[thebumblecee]

I see a lot of critique for 9-1-1 and 9-1-1 Lone Star that is either “this is so unrealistic” or “this happened in XYZ show” well I get to be the nerd that tells you a lot of what happens in the show is based on real life events and fictionalised (like a lot of shows). So the same storylines come up again and again.

This nerd is going to make a list because real life really is stranger than fiction.

Lonestar

Things that actually happened in real life plus their Lonestar episode:

(Some of these are on IMDB so I’m using the direct quotes)

01x01 - Pilot: A manure factory fire that kills the original 126

Real life: The opening incident at the agricultural-products facility is based on the real-life ammonium nitrate explosion at West Fertilizer Company in West, TX, on April 17, 2013. Fifteen people died in the fire and explosion, including ten firefighters from the West Fire Department. (IMDb)

01x02 - Yee Haw: a man poisons sandwiches with mercury.

Real life:

01x03 - Texas Proud: someone gets trapped in a grain silo, sucking them down.

Real life:

01x04 - Act Of God: tornados in Texas

Real life: The tornadoes are based on the 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak that occurred on 27 May 1997 that resulted in 27 fatalities around Central Texas. (IMDb)

01x05 - Studs - fire in a bull semen factory

Real life: The explosion at the bull factory was inspired by a real-life event in Victoria, Australia. (IMDb)

01x 06 - Friends Like These - a dog alerts the 126 of its owners farm accident

Real life:

01 x 07 - Bum Steer - runaway bull causes havoc in a car dealership

Real life: (happened in Scotland lmao)

01 x08 - Monster Inside - a rattlesnake infestation in the basement of a house. The dementia storyline was too sad I’m not researching it. Son refuses to accept his mother has passed.

Real life: this one is self-explanatory and there was too many examples and now I’m getting adverts for anti snake traps. America you scare me. (Although I’m reading texas houses don’t have basements the more you know). The last one is a common motif in shows this Criminal Minds episode did it too and so did the film Psycho.

01 x 09 - Awakening - gender reveal party goes horribly wrong plus a caving disaster.

Real life: here is an article about gender reveal party accidents and here is the wiki about John Edward Jones’ tragic death in Nutty Putty Cave

01 x 10 - Austin, We Have A Problem - solar storm fries the electricals

Real life: In the year 1989 in Quebec, Canada, waves of energy called a coronal mass ejection or CME wreaked havoc on the power grid for 12 hours. These CME's are the result of an explosion on the surface of the sun which has released powerful bursts of electromagnetic energy into the solar system. (IMDb)

Season 2

[ratboyvince]

The Magnus Protocol - Glitch theory

In light of the current theory/assumption that in The Magnus Protocol, the audio glitches when the characters lie, I’ve been re listening!! And I’m going to be using this post and others to explore what this means for our beloved characters

The glitches aren’t on the transcript, sometimes there will be a direction like (uncertain) or (unconvincing), but thats the best i can do you for, otherwise you will have to take my word

First though, quick clarifications: what exactly is a lie in this context? - this is fairly obvious but i am including it for the avoidance of any doubt what i have gathered is that, in this theory we are assuming a lie is a character saying something they KNOW is not true in attempt to wilfully deceive someone

It is NOT:

A joke, or sarcasm

Believing something but being wrong

Finally, a lot of the lies i have so far are ones that are known to known to be untrue, what i will do is have a list of the blatant lies SO FAR to make my point, to work as support for the theory on this post then leave out any following ones to avoid making it excessively long.

The rest of them will be under the cut and more on a thread, sorted by episode. If i miss any, feel free to say!!

BLATANT LIES (theory support)

1.

Teddy: Colin was just saying how much of a BLAST he’s having (GLITCH) isn’t that right?

Lena: oh really.

Colin: Aye, sure (GLITCH)

Teddy: And how he’d love to take the after party to the Pub (GLITCH)

2.

Gwen: Sam? You okay?

Sam: um. Yeah. (GLITCH)

3.

Sam: cinnamon swirl. Please. (GLITCH)

4.

Gwen: Wait. Did you get me a coffee?

Sam: yeah. (GLITCH)

5.

Celia: Sorry, sorry, there was an emergency at home (GLITCH)

EPISODES 1-11 (where applicable) UNDER THE CUT

Episode 1

Teddy: Nahh, we’ll stay in touch, right?

Alice: Course…(GLITCH)

Alice either did not intend to keep in touch with Teddy, or genuinely just does not believe they will.

* saying she’ll miss him was NOT a lie, so it’s probably the latter

Episode 3

Sam: right, right i get it. Consider me *scared straight* (GLITCH)

He wasn’t taking Alice seriously, underestimating how serious it actually was (maybe even as light payback for her not taking him seriously)

Episode 5

Lena: I am certain that if he finds his current assignment unmanageable he can request assistance (GLITCH) or resign, of course…

She knows what the deal is with Central IT (whatever “the deal” may be), and just refuses to help. Maybe even sets up a little hostility between Lena and Colin?

Episode 7

Alice: listen, if you need to step out for some air-

Celia: no, I’m fine, really (GLITCH)

Celia was infact, not fine, probably because she recognised Chester’s voice as Jon “The Archivist” Sims himself and she’s freaked out

Episode 8

Gertrude: well I’m…sorry, but I don’t think gerry can help you. (GLITCH)

—

Gerry: -And then i left

Sam: and that’s all?

Gerry: Yeah I’m afraid so! (GLITCH)

Gertrude and Gerry know more than they’re letting on, and intentionally not sharing.

*Gerry not remembering most of it being true, means that while he’s probably leaving something out, there’s more he genuinely is lost on

Sam: I…may have given you a quick google

Celia: then…yeah. I’m doing a favour for Georgie. (GLITCH)

She Is Not Doing A Favour For Georgie - the research (teleportation, time travel, different universes) is more personal!

Episode 11

Sam: you keep glancing at the door

Alice: ah. It’s nothing (GLITCH)

—

Alice: it’ll be nothing! I’m just jumpy (GLITCH)

Alice is dismissing her anxiety following the trip to the institute.

Alice: “What have I told you about thinking?“

Sam: “Don’t.”

Alice: “That’s right.” (GLITCH)

Probably meaning that Alice is starting to doubt her own ideas, but is just pushing that uncertainty away because that’s what she does and she’s still more comfortable in ignorance, even if she doesn’t think it’s exactly RIGHT to ignore.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

the girl next door 20

Warnings: this fic will include elements, some dark, such as age gap, manipulation, chronic illness, noncon/dubcon, coercion, and other untagged triggers. Please take this into account before proceeding. It is up to curate your online consumption safely.

Summary: A new neighbour moves in and upends your already disarrayed life.

Author’s Note: Please feel free to leave some feedback, reblog, and jump into my asks. I’m always happy to discuss with you and riff on idea. As always, you are cherished and adored! Stay safe, be kind, and treat yourself.

This lewk but silverfox

Not long after you close yourself in your room you hear the front door close. The house is silent but not calm. While you want everything to just go back the way it was, being alone with your mom doesn’t promise you peace. She never takes it well when she doesn’t get her way. 

You have your table pulled up the bed, doodling random petals and stems, some connected and some not. The sunlight beams through the curtains and shines onto the paper as you scratch the graphite over it. You cup your chin as you bide your time, dreading the inevitable. You’ll have to face her again and you have a lot to atone for. 

The rustle of leaves is underlined by the darting whistle of some distant bird. Along the edge of your vision, you sense movement and peer over at the window, expecting a flutter of wings. Instead, you see a shadow looming in Steve’s window, just across the gap between your houses. You don’t recognise that man; it must be the friend he mentioned. 

You slide the table out and stand slowly, cautious as you try not to draw attention. The man has grey hair like Steve, he’s a little shorter by your measure, and built a bit broader. He turns to lean just beside the window and you carefully tug closed your curtain. You keep forgetting to do that although you can’t even remember opening it most times. 

The noise of your movement draws your name from the front room. You huff and face the door. It’s time. You emerge and go to find your mother on her recliner. She stares despondently at the ceiling. 

“Whatever you said to Steve...” she mutters. 

“I didn’t...” you can’t even finish the lie. You didn’t say anything but you also don’t know everything you did around Steve. 

“I don’t want to hear it. You reel it in,” she sits the chair up straight and winces at the jarring motion. “Whatever you’re up to, it stops now.” 

You look at the floor, “sorry, mom.” 

“Ugh, you’re useless, you know that? If you hadn’t been hanging around like some troll, he would’ve stayed,” she snarls. "If you weren't here, everything would be so much better."

“Mm, but I saw... his friend--” 

“Oh, shut up and go away,” she snaps and reclines again. “Tomorrow, he’s taking me out. Away from you. You can stay and clean up your mess.” 

You back away without another word. She’s only looking to argue. It will be good for her to get out. Somewhere that isn’t a hospital. And she’s right, this place could use another clean, and you could use the distraction. 

🏡

As promised, your mother leaves with Steve. That she’s ready to leave the house before noon is a feat on its own, not to mention how she woke up before you. Still, you made her coffee for her and reminded her about her medicine. Those parts went as usual. 

Alone, you feel lighter but not free. You sweep and mop and make sure all the dishes are done and away. You even make sure to use the old vacuum to clean up your mom’s recliners and the carpet in the front room. A spritz of freshener makes the air a little less stale. 

You finish around one and go back to your room. You take out your pencils and set to work on a new picture. No more amaryllis; you’ve moved on to morning glories. It’s so beautiful how they open with the sun.

You use your colour pencils, some of them so short you can’t even sharpen them, to give dimension the broad petals. You lose yourself in the task, fingertips a medley of hues as you switch between shades and blending stick. You have your forehead in your hand, your shoulders hunched, and your eyes laser focused.

It’s only your name that breaks your reverie. You blink and sit up, the ache setting into your knuckles as they have a moment to rest. You door is open. 

“Hey, sweetie,” Steve says, “we’re back.” 

“Oh,” is all you can utter. 

“Sorry to interrupt,” he has a hand on his hip. You wonder if he’s been there a while. “Not to intrude but... could I get a peek?” 

You stare at him for a moment, confused. Then look down at the page. It’s mostly done, you guess. Doesn’t matter, really. There’s worse things to judge you about. 

You set down the pencil and lift the book. He breaks the threshold of your room and crosses to look closer. He carefully puts his hand next to yours, silently asking permission to take it. You hand it over and he raises it closer to squint at the lines. 

“This is beautiful,” he remarks, “you should think about my offer. We could go out and find some good scenery,” He suggests as he continues to examine your work, “and you shouldn’t be all bent over like that. You can always use my studio if you need--” 

“I’m fine,” you shrug. 

“For now, but one day that’s catch up to you. Trust me,” she offers the book back to you. “So... do you only draw flowers?” 

You close the book and pack away the pencils. 

“Mostly,” you answer. 

“Wow, to be honest, I always found them challenging. No two flowers are alike, right? Every rose has different petals, every tulip a different number of stamens,” he says. “So how was your day?” 

“Is my mom here?” You asks, ignoring his question. 

“Yeah, she’s all tired out. She’s relaxing. Still early though,” he checks his watch, “you wanna come over for a swim?” 

You’re flumoxed by the pace of his conversation. The constant pivoting has you off-balance. You’re wholly unready for any of it. Those hours alone have left you in an odd daze. 

“Thanks, but uh, I don’t have a suit,” you say. 

“You don’t?” He clucks, “well that’s too bad. You could just wear some shorts and tank or whatever. No one around to see.” 

“It’s okay,” you rebuff again. “I’m still pretty tired.” 

“Oh, of course, sweetie, maybe another time. Did you take another pill? I know they really get to you.” 

“Erm, no.” 

“You’re going to, right? You need to be consistent, you know? To see if it works.” 

“Right, I know,” you murmur guiltily. You’d forgotten all about the boxes in the cupboard. 

“Now, I’m only looking out for you. I mean, you take care of your mother, make sure she takes her meds, but what about you? Who’s looking after you, sweetheart?” 

You hug yourself and stand. You untangle your arms from around you and push the table back to the corner. He might mean well but you’re just embarrassed. No one does care about you and you’re okay with that. You have to be, you can’t change it. 

“It was rhetorical,” he says, “sweetie, I’m going to look after you. I promise.” He’s pauses as if waiting for an answer, “haven’t I?” 

“Hmm,” you turn to him and push out your lower lip. 

“Haven’t I taken care of you?” He asks. 

You nod, “yes. Thank you...” 

“You and your mom, right? That’s how it’s gonna be. The three of us.” 

What he’s saying, the way he’s saying it, it’s making you uneasy. You tuck your lip under your teeth and let it pop back out. He tilts his head as his eye flicker eerily. 

“Well, I’m going to stay the night to keep an eye on mom. She’s having a bad day. She did a lot so... I’ll get started on dinner and you take your medicine, okay?” 

Your heart pounds in your ribcage. There’s something about his tone. He’s not asking, he’s telling. You look at him in your doorway, noting how he fills the whole thing. Thinking of how you couldn’t get past him or move him, even if you had the courage to try. You reach over to steady yourself with the table. 

“Sure,” you agree softly. 

“You’re not busy tomorrow?” He wonders. 

You blink and shake your head, “n... no?” 

“Good, we have a surprise for you,” he grins. “Big one.” 

“Al--alright,” you resist as shiver. 

“You should dress up nice, too. Maybe that cute little dress you got,” he taps on the doorframe and takes a step back, “I like that one.” 

He winks and spins on his heel, leaving you in a queasy silence. A surprise? What could he possibly mean? 

[wheeboo]

08:25pm | yoon jeonghan

SYNOPSIS. in which your fiancé comes back home tired after a meeting. PAIRING. yoon jeonghan x gn!reader GENRE. fluff, comfort, tiny bit suggestive, established relationship WARNINGS. kissing, terms of endearment (love, angel) WORD COUNT. 1.01k

notes: a jeonghan drabble because it's all i can write atm while struggling on this larger fic ;-; i'll try my best to have his meet cute out this upcoming week tho!! yes this is kinda inspired from that one scene in heartstopper because it was too cute

It's easy for Jeonghan to get burnt out.

The moment he steps out of his car, he already feels the yawn bubbling out of his system and into the cool, evening air. He had just gotten home from a two-timed post-poned meeting that seemed to have wasted more hours of his time than he expected. The information could have been sent in a simple email.

He feels the tired smile creep up his face upon walking up to the front door of your home, grabbing the jangling keys from his pocket and unlocking the door. Stepping inside, he lets out a sigh of relief to the familiar comfort of your home wrapping around him, letting his gaze roam around the dimly lit house to notice its quietness.

Jeonghan slips off his shoes and places them neatly by the entrance, his steps almost soundless as he walks through the space. The soft ambiance of warm lighting and the subtle scent of your favourite candles greet him, instantly dissipating away some remnants of exhaustion (by exhaustion, he means sitting in a stupid seat for four hours straight) from his long day.

As he trails inside your shared bedroom, he's drawn to the soft glow coming from the cracked bathroom door, the pale light spilling out onto the room. Intrigued, he quietly approaches the bathroom, brows knitting together in curiosity. He stops just outside the door, the corners of his lips curling upward as he recognises the source of the sound that has been humming gently in the air. Hearing your voice puts his heart to ease instantly.

Deciding not to interrupt you, he steps back into the bedroom and lets himself fall on the bed, sinking into the comfort of the mattress. He leans his back against the headboard, legs crossed together and takes a deep, contented breath. He closes his eyes for a moment as he waits patiently for you to emerge from the bathroom.

It takes no longer than ten minutes later for you to finally come out of the bathroom. His ears catch the soft creak of the bathroom door opening, and his eyes flutter open, a fond smile tugging at his lips as he watches you enter.

You're wrapped in a plush robe that Jeonghan had gifted you a few months back, your hair slightly damp from the shower. The soft glow from the bathroom lights still lingers on your skin, and Jeonghan swears you take his breath away each time he sees you. You look up, your eyes meeting his, and a delighted smile spreads across your face as you see him waiting there for you.

"Hey," You greet him quietly. "I didn't hear you come in."

"I didn't want to disturb you," he replies softly, gaze filled with warmth as he watches you move gracefully towards your vanity.

"You know I would've offered you to join me, right?" You say, and you can already sense the faint smirk etching across his features at your words.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that," Jeonghan chuckles amusedly. "But I thought I'd let you have your moment to unwind. Perhaps, next time though..."

You turn to face him as you reach for your skincare products, a playful glint in your eyes matching his. "I'll be looking forward to it."

As you go about your skincare routine, you catch Jeonghan up with your day, and he quietly listens to all the words falling from your mouth. Then you listen to him go on a bit of tangent about the meeting he had attended and how much he'd rather spent the four hours of listening to nonsense being with you instead. The thought makes you laugh𑁋he's burnt out from the meeting and burnt out from being away from you for too long.

Finishing up the remains of your skincare routine, you hardly notice Jeonghan rising up from the bed from behind. His arms come to encircle around your waist, landing a kiss at the exposed skin of your shoulder where the robe had ridden down. A soft sigh leaves your mouth as his lips brush against your skin, the touch sending a shiver down your spine. You feel his warm breath against your neck as he nuzzles closer, his arms pulling you snugly against his chest, fingers toying aimlessly with the tie to your robe.

You bring your hand to meet his, the engagement ring on his finger caressing against your palm.

"Hannie, love..." You mutter out. "What are you doing?"

That was enough for him to pull back from trailing his kisses up your neck. He rests his head on top of your shoulder as he takes a moment to admire your form in the mirror, before letting his eyes close.

"Mmh..." he sighs. "I'm just... recharging."

Your heart swells at his words, feeling the gentle rise and fall of his chest against your back as he holds you close, and you let yourself relax in his embrace as well. His lips find your neck again, leaving soft, feather-light kisses that send a tingling sensation through your skin.

As the quietness lingers, a low rumble suddenly emanates from Jeonghan's stomach. Both of you pause, a moment of surprise passing between before you burst into laughter. His ears turn a faint red as he chuckles sheepishly, arms around you tightening as if to shield himself from embarrassment.

"Well, once you've recharged a bit," You turn around to face him, your arms looping around his neck as his hands come to rest on your hips. "How about I treat you at the ramen place across the street?"

All he does is peer his fluttering eyes into yours, answering your question with a sweet kiss to your lips. It's soft and lingering, enough to leave you yearning for more, but you know that can happen later on. Your fingers gently cup his cheeks as you pull away from him.

"I'll take that as a... yes?" You whisper, fingers kneading the fabric of his shirt.

Jeonghan's lips curve upwards lovingly, letting his hands slide from your hips to your lower back as he holds you close. "Of course, my angel. Ramen sounds perfect."

taglist (open) ʚɞ @enhazen @haowrld @ylliris-hanniehae @icyminghao @slytherinshua @jeonride @lockburn-castle @vrnism @weird-bookworm @mhlsymlysn @ryuwonieebae

[feetinthewaves]

Don't breathe, that will disturb the sound - Vivianne Miedema

Summary :

You get annoyed with Vivianne because you can't tell her how you feel, little do you know the blonde feels the same.

Warnings :

Angst(?) with fluff towards the end. This has also not been proofread, I apologise 😔 🤞

Viv and Beth obviously aren't together for the sake of this fic.

Again, I am new to writing like this so feedback is appreciated and actually encouraged !! Thank you, happy reading !!

It was your birthday, and the girls had gone all out planning a party for you, hosting it at your house because it was "easy access for the birthday girl" but in reality you knew they just didn't want to have to deal with it at any of their houses. The party started at 8pm, given it was currently 6.30pm, you and Vivianne, your roommate, began getting yourselves and the house ready. The kitchen table was full of drinks and food for people to eat, a karaoke machine on display in the corner for Beth and Steph, just dance on the tv for Kyra and Leah, and most of the furniture pushed to the side to make room so no matter the state of sobriety, Jonas wasn't going to have to worry about injury.

You watched as Vivianne emerged from her room, sporting a white turtleneck, with black jeans. You couldn't help but stare at your best mate.

You and Viv had been friends ever since she joined arsenal in 2017, and over those 7 years your feelings for yoru best friend slowly began to evolve. And there. was nothing you could do to stop it.

"You're staring schatje," Her voice finally bringing you back around.

"Sorry," You apologised, barely above a whisper, so quiet the blonde hardly caught it at all. Either way the way you had been staring at her had left deep burgundy blush adoring her cheeks, but you were too caught up in your own embarrassment to notice.

You already gotten changed, opting for just a black skirt, tights, and a white button down. Everyone that night would notice the way Viv's eyes stayed glued to you, everyone but you.

The party was in full swing, music blaring over the speakers in your house, you'd had your fair share of dancing with the girls and decided to go and pour yourself another drink in the kitchen.

Thats when you saw her.

Viv.

Talking to some girl you recognised from the Man United squad, 'One of Lessi's friends' you thought to yourself, choosing to ignore them. Before you noticed the way Vivianne was laughing with her.

You broke.

Her laugh was like music to your ears, brightening the room, along with your mood when ever you heard it.

You wanted to be the one to make her laugh like that, the only one to make her laugh like that.

Viv noticed you, as you finally turned away and began making yourself another drink. Back turned to her, what she failed to notice where the tears slipping down your cheeks. You weren't even entirely sure why, but you were sure that you had to avoid Viv for the rest of the night, scared if you even looked into her eyes for 2 seconds you'd tell her everything about how you feel. As you hear her call out your name, you straighten your shoulders, turn around towards her, and walk straight past her.

The blonde grows upset.

Concerned.

Angry.

Of course she does.

She knows that you had heard her shout your name, and she can't quite understand why you had ignored her. Thats when she becomes conscious of the brunette next to hers hand on her thigh, pushing it off, wishing it was you. She begins her journey to find you through the crowd of people.

There you were, sat outside by yourself on the balcony, 'were you crying?' she thought. She was right, now noticing the tear tracks staining your face, removing the concealer from underneath your eyes. Her heart broke.

She'd done this.

And she didn't even understand how.

"Y/n?" she tried quietly, not wanting to startle you, "Y/n, what's wrong?"

You didn't answer her, you wanted to, you really did, but you knew you couldn't. You could waste 7 years of friendship over a silly little crush. But it wasn't a crush. No. You loved her. You really did. Could you tell her that? 'No.' you thought to yourself. She can't know.

"Y/n?" she quietly asked again, "please talk to me,"

Still no answer.

"Schatje?" she tried,

Finally, you looked up at her, straight into her blue eyes, instantly apologising.

"Sorry, god I am so sorry-" you manage to croak out before bursting into tears, the blonde instantly at your side holding you.

"Schatje, what's going on, please tell me, I can't fix this unless you tell me what I've done" she asked, a sense of pleading evident in her voice.

You began to cry harder, and she began to apologise, making you cry harder, she wasn't in the wrong, it was you.

"I'm sorry y/n. I promise, I didn't mean to ruin your evening, especially not on your birthday." panic filling her voice,

"You didn't ruin anything, you made this so much better, just by being here, I'm the one who should be sorry." you manage to sniffle out between tears, hiccuping as you do so, making the two of you find laughter even in a moment like this.

"Schatje, I'm not sure I quite understand, what's going on?" she pressed, annoyance prevalent in her voice this time, showing she wanted an answer and not for you to just start blaming yourself again.

"God Viv, don't you get it?" You began to shout, distancing yourself from the dutch girl by standing up. The atmosphere shifting suddenly, "I hated watching her, that girl, all over you, making you laugh." You're crying again now, you must look pathetic you think to yourself, "I want to be the one to make you laugh Viv. Me. I want that, to be, me. Is that too much to ask?" Your shouting by this point, certain everyone inside can hear you but you're past caring at this point, just wanting Viv to finally understand how you feel.

"Y/n/n?" she asks smirking, "What are you saying?" She knows full well what you mean, but she can't seem to believe that the girl she loves, would ever, feel the same way about her.

"I love you Viv I have done for years. And seeing you flirt with other girls and never notice me hurts okay. God Viv I get that you might not feel the same but wipe that smirk off your face because I thought you'd atleast have enough decency to not make fun of me-" She cuts you off. Kissing you. Your shocked at first, but you soon begin to kiss her back. Its slow and sweet, everything you'd ever imagined.

"Sorry, you wouldn't shut up and I couldn't have you thinking I was laughing at you." she explains after seeing the shock on your face. Shock is an understatement. You are completely dumbfounded at what just happened, Viv notices quite quickly, pulling you into her side with a giggle.

"Y/n/n. Schatje. Ik houd van je." she says quietly, her head dipping into your neck, whispering against your hair.

At that moment then, you are content, in the arms of the girl you love, the girl who loves you back. Your best friend and person.

[megalony]

He's Safe

This is an Eddie Diaz imagine requested by Anon, I hope you like it thank you for the detailed idea. I'm trying to get through all the Eddie requests in my inbox.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem@butlegendsneverdie@langdonzvoid@jennyggggrrr@rogmeddows@radiob-l-a-hblah@rogertaylorsbitontheside@chlobo6@rogertaylors-lipgloss@sj-thefanthefan@omgitsearly@luckytrashgooprebel@scarsout@deaky-with-a-c@killer-queen-ofrhye@bluutac@vousmemanqueez-blog@jonesyaddiction@milanosaurus@httpfandxms@saint-hardy@7-seas-of-fat-bottomed-girls@mrsalwayswritex @rogerina-owns-me  @hellsdragon@im-an-adult-ish@crazylittlethingg@allauraleigh@onceuponadetectivedemigod@ceres27@avyannadawn@noonenuts@sleepylunarwolf@coverupps@justagirlthatlovedtoread @musicistheway @missdreamofendless

911 Masterlist

Summary: Whilst on a trip to the park, (Y/n) encounters someone trying to lure away her son, Chris and she hurries to get him back. Suddenly, the park doesn't feel so safe anymore.

Enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A smile tugged at (Y/n)'s lips and she rolled her eyes playfully when she looked down. She could feel Christopher's hands pawing at her hips and reaching up to her arms, desperately trying to take the phone out of her hand and snatch it for himself.

He nudged his nose against her arm and whined, trying again to take the phone from her because he knew who was on the other end. "Dad, I've got to go soon and Chris wants to speak to you. Here, talk to grandad." (Y/n) lowered the phone down and let Chris paw at it, squealing brightly when he held it out and saw his grandad on Facetime.

He pulled out one of the dining room chairs and perched himself down, keeping both hands tightly held onto the phone that he pulled very close to his face so he could see the picture. He hadn't spoken to him since last week and he recognised his voice on the phone straight away. As soon as Chris realised who (Y/n) was talking to, he followed her around the house to try and get the phone from her.

It never mattered who was on the phone, it was usually Eddie and Chris always whined until he got the phone but when it was grandad who lived hundreds of miles away, Chris went mad for the phone.

"Pops, it's me!"

"I know, move the phone back so I can see my handsome young man," Andrew squinted at the screen until Chris finally relented and pulled it back so he was fully in view of the camera and not just his glasses. "There you are! You've grown, haven't you?"

"No," Chris started to laugh and moved his hand to bite down on his thumb as he slumped back in his chair.

"Are you looking after mummy for me?" He lowered his voice and moved his glasses so he could see his grandson a bit clearer. Before they made the big move down to LA, (Y/n) had spent over an hour teaching her dad how to use Facetime on his phone. She didn't want Chris to miss out seeing him or for her dad not to see her or Eddie and Chris.

"Yeah, we going to park, play on swings." Chris had already gotten his shoes on, he was just waiting for (Y/n) to pack her bag ready.

He tilted his head to the side and watched with a grin as (Y/n) slung her bag on her shoulder and walked towards him. She had packed his emergency EpiPen and some snacks for a picnic. (Y/n) always had a change of clothes for emergencies, a teddy and his noise-cancelling headphones in case he got too overwhelmed out in public.

"Ooh, the swings. Not as good as the swings here at Pop's house, eh? Is daddy going?" As soon as Chris started to walk- which was a bit later than normal as his motor skills were delayed- Andrew had gotten a play set in the garden. Two simple swings, a see-saw and a red slide, but it was like a jungle gym to Chris and he loved going to visit his grandad and playing in the garden with him for hours. They were very close.

"No daddy today,"

"No?"

"Eddie's at work dad, he's gotten a few extra shifts this month." (Y/n) leaned down and kissed the top of Chris's head, smiling at her dad on the screen who leaned closer as if it would zoom in the image on his phone.

"I feel like I haven't seen Edmundo in ages, is he alright?"

"Don't worry we're all fine, and don't call him that you know he doesn't like it," She rose her brow sternly at her dad who simply shrugged and grinned at Chris who was in fits of giggles.

He always called Eddie by his full name just because he knew it made Eddie feel like he was back at school and in Andrew's naturally deep voice, it made him feel like he was in trouble. They had a close bond, closer than what Eddie felt with his own father and therefore gaming and trickery was also blended in with their bond.

"We have to go now but I'll call you later, love you."

"Alright, you look after her for me young man, I love you both."

"Bye pops." Chris lifted the phone to hand it back to (Y/n) so she could wave and end the call. Grandad had always been something that was too hard for Chris to say and his delayed speech didn't help matters, but he had found it very easy to say pops. And that had stuck ever since Chris learned to talk. It wasn't easy finding birthday and Christmas cards that still said pops on them which was why (Y/n) tended to make a lot of the cards Chris sent to his grandad.

"Come on then, let's get going to the park."

(Y/n) wrapped an arm around Chris's shoulders a he slipped his hands into his crutches and they left the house. It was a long walk to the park even when Chris varied his speed and sometimes zoomed all the way there, but it was good exercise for him. And if he got too tired they caught the bus back and Chris loved to people-watch.

"We go see pops soon?" He tilted his head up, flashing his signature cheeky smile at his mum as they rounded the corner onto the next street.

"He's going to come down and visit us soon for the first time, you can show him your room."

They had taken a trip back to Texas two months ago to visit her dad, more specifically to give him the news in person that he was going to have another grandchild soon. (Y/n) couldn't tell him over the phone or Facetime, it was something she had to do in person like the first time when they had been expecting Chris. And it meant Chris could see him after six months away from him.

And it had already been agreed and in motion that Andrew was going to come down and stay with them at the end of the pregnancy so he could be there when his second grandchild was born. It meant Chris could show him the house and his room and his school and all the new places he had visited since moving down here.

"School, can show him school,"

"Course you can, he'll be so proud of you."

Leaning down, she wrapped her arms around Chris's shoulders and pressed a sloppy kiss to his cheek making him giggle. She stayed curved around him until they reached the park they always came to.

Chris liked this park the most because it had proper swings, ones that weren't lopsided or broken or had squeaking, rusty chains. And they had a big oval net swing that he loved to sit in and sway around on. (Y/n) always made sure that if they came to the park, they had the whole afternoon free because it was hard to get Chris to leave and it tired him out if they stayed for a while.

"What are we going on first?"

"Slide," Chris moved to the bench near the left of the play area and let his crutches drop down in front of it. It was a routine to always leave his crutches in the corner so he could meddle and trot around the park and then grab them when they were ready to leave.

(Y/n) followed him to the slide and kept one hand on his back as he climbed up the steps. They were thin and steep and (Y/n) didn't like to let him climb them alone in case he wobbled or slipped down. As soon as he slid down, he was clapping his hands and a bright, bubbly expression came to his face and he went for a second go.

This was the part (Y/n) loved, when Chris would start to gear up and get riddled with excitement for letting off his energy. He gained a lot of sensory feel from being at the park, especially the roundabout which had a small rainbow bench to sit on and it didn't go very fast because it was old. It was perfect for Chris so he didn't feel too sick or dizzy, a great amount of stimulation.

"Swing,"

It was clear by his voice that he was the tiniest bit annoyed that the big net swing was in use already. That was the one he wanted to go on, but the normal swings were free and they would do until Chris could get on the other one.

Reaching over when they got to the swings, (Y/n) hoisted him up onto the seat, making sure he was holding on tight before she started to push him. Chris did help a bit, he swung his legs around and leaned forward a lot to stim, but he was starting to get heavy now he was eight.

"Higher mummy!" Chris tilted his head back to try and look at (Y/n) and his grin widened when (Y/n) tugged the chain back before giving a bit more oomph into her push. If he could, Chris would swing higher and higher until he could touch the clouds and fly with the birds.

He loved it when he had both his dad and his grandad with him at the park because his grandad would stand in front of him and his dad would tilt him back and swing him higher. They would egg each other on and give (Y/n) a fright with how high they could get Chris to go. He knew his mum was a bit more cautious, but she always tried to get him higher and higher.

(Y/n) took a step to the left and caught her breath back, moving her left hand to her protruding stomach while she kept nudging Chris forwards every time he flew back near her. He was as high as she could get him now and he was stimming so much she barely had to push to keep the momentum going.

He started to nod his head back and forth and squealed happily after about five minutes of full-on swinging. But then he started to squeal and jump up and down on the seat until (Y/n) pulled on the chains and slowed him down before he fell off.

"Baby, what are-"

"Swing! Mummy swing," He jumped off as soon as she stopped the swing and she saw where he was heading.

The net swing was free and Chris was determined to get to it first. Even without his crutches, he was as fast as lightning, arms stretched out and legs kicking rapidly to reach the black and blue roped swing.

He grabbed it and leaned his tummy on the rope edge, laughing at his triumph although there were only two other parent and children here at the park.

"Alright baby, up we go."

Holding his hips, (Y/n) lifted him up and watched him shimmy into the middle and flop onto his bum. He slouched back, half sitting, half laying back and held onto the tough rope edge to keep steady like he always did.

The moment (Y/n) started to push the swing, Chris shuffled down and laid on his back with his knees bent up and his arms stretched out holding the rope. His mouth hung open in a wide grin and he stared up at the clouds overhead, watching how the colours and shapes changed as he moved. And every time the swing went forward, he caught a glimpse of his mum behind him, sticking her tongue out and pulling funny faces at him just to see him laugh.

(Y/n) could feel her arms starting to flag and her lungs burned from how long Chris had been sat in the swing. If he could, she knew he would stay here all day.

It was such a sensory feel for him to be swaying like this, feeling the breeze on his skin and the way his head felt woozy and tilted back and forth. His tummy rumbled up and down and he loved it, like he was going up and down hills on a bumpy car ride. He had been in the swing for ages by now and it was starting to get tiring for (Y/n).

"Sweetheart, let's go have our picnic now."

"No. Swing, mummy swing," Chris stayed laid down in the swing, even when (Y/n) let it naturally slow to a stop.

"I'm starting to get tired and the baby is getting hungry. I promise you can come back on this one before we leave."

He sat up with a grin and nodded, holding out his arms so she could pick him up and settle him down on his feet again. As long as he could have another turn later, he wouldn't make a fuss. (Y/n) only hoped she could get him off the swing later when it was time to leave. Eddie normally distracted him with something if he wouldn't be agreeable.

Last time they had all been at the park, Eddie pretended he got an important phone call and started to walk away. Chris soon hopped off the swing and followed after him to find out who he was talking to. Distracting was always the best way to go about getting Chris to finish a game or project or get ready to go home if he was in one of his stubborn moods.

Once he was on his feet, Chris pointed to the bench where his crutches were and started off to go sit down.

"Baby one second," (Y/n) turned back and leaned over to grab her bag that she had slumped down next to the swing pole. It had gotten hard pushing Chris, carrying the heavy shoulder bag and the six-month bump weighing down on her abdomen.

She grabbed the bag from the floor and quickly rummaged around to find the pack up box she'd stuffed in there earlier. She did remember the juice box didn't she?

Her fingers curled around the rectangle juice box and she smiled to herself; all Hell would break loose if she forgot that. But when her eyes lifted and she took a few steps in the direction of the bench, she frowned.

Where was Chris?

Her feet paused mid-walk and her hand tightened around the juice box as her eyes scanned round. He knew they were having their picnic now, why was he pushing his luck trying to go on another game before dinner? Her eyes immediately went to the slide, but it was empty. The roundabout was in use but Chris wasn't on it, nor was he waiting near it or approaching the man to ask him if he could also get on the roundabout.

Just as (Y/n) felt a cold hand curling around her heart and fear gripping her neck, her eyes set on the all too familiar mop of brown curls.

There he was, but who was he with?

He was leaving the park. A couple were standing on either side of him, a woman holding his hand and a man with his hand on Chris's back, both of them guiding him. Who the Hell were they? What did they think they were doing?

It wasn't anyone (Y/n) knew, none of her friends would just straight up walk Chris away from her, they weren't that cruel or stupid to panic her like that. And (Y/n) didn't have any family here in LA, the only family she had were Chris and her father and he was back in Texas. And most of Eddie's family, apart from his Abuela, were all in Texas too and that certainly wasn't Abuela guiding Chris away.

Someone was taking him.

"Christopher!" His name flew past her lips in a desperate shout, knowing he always answered answered or at least looked at her when she used his full name on him. And as she expected, his head turned to the right in her direction. He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't frowning or crying or pulling one of his unnerved faces either. His head tilted to the side and his lips pursed before he reached an arm out as if wanting to signal to her that he wanted to be with her, not whoever was talking to him.

(Y/n) set off in a run. Despite the burning in her lungs, the weight in her abdomen or the dread in her stomach that made her feel sick, she ran faster than she ever had. Her feet cut into the tarmac leaving indents in her wake and her heels scuffed against the grass when she left the tarmac park and aimed over the green for her boy.

They had noticed her, they started to walk quicker, trying to drag Chris along with them but he was now confused.

Panicked repetitions of 'mummy' and 'nope' left his lips, telling (Y/n) he was uneasy and starting to get distressed.

"Christopher! Stop!" A flurry of words past (Y/n)'s lips until she was screaming his name in a mix of 'get off' and 'fire'. It had always been drilled into (Y/n) that if she was in a bad situation and wanted bystander attention, she should shout something strange like fire because it attracted panic and attention whereas people sometimes ignored 'help'.

She wasn't sure what to do when she got close to them, did she grab Chris and pull back? Did she try and tackle the two of them down? Did she punch and kick and hit them to get them away from her precious son? What on Earth was she supposed to do in a situation like this?

She couldn't slow herself down when she reached their fast pace and all (Y/n) could manage to do was turn to her side and barell her shoulder into the woman's back, effectively knocking her down to her knees.

(Y/n) could feel stars forming in front of her eyes and her trembling arms baracaded around Chris and coiled him to her chest. His fingers dug into her arm and he leaned his head into her cleavage, pushing as close to her protruding stomach as he could manage. He went to jelly in his mother's arms and let her drag him two feet back until the man had no choice but to let go of Chris and take a cautious step away.

"What were you doing with my son? Who the Hell are you?!" Her shaking hand moved up to fist in Chris's curls and she kissed his forehead, swaynig unsteadily on her feet.

She could feel eyes watching them and a few murmurs started to get louder as bypassers noticed the scene unfolding.

"What were you doing?!" She almost screamed at them, shaking with fury despite feeling Chris dig his nails into her arm and whimper into her chest. She was frightening him, he didn't understand what was happening or why she was angry. Was she angry at him? Had he done something wrong? Why was everyone upset and confusing?

"Nothing, nothing."

"Who are you? You clearly wanted my son for something- For fuck's sake!" (Y/n) stomped her foot down like an angered child when the couple took off in a sprint across the green.

They tried to kidnap him. There was no other explanation for them hurrying away with him and then fleeing when (Y/n) caught up with them and demanded to know what they were up to. Why Chris? Why choose Chris of the few other children at the playground? Why try and take a child from his mother when he was clearly happy and safe? Why take a child with special needs? They had to know they wouldn't be able to look after him or know his needs and wants.

If they took him and gave him food with milk in he could have had an allergic reaction and if they didn't have his EpiPen he could of died.

They could have gotten so much further with him if (Y/n) didn't look up quickly enough. They could have passed through the bushes and got into a car and fled with him. (Y/n) might not have gotten him back.

"Mummy…?"

Everything started to spin until (Y/n) had no choice but to drop down onto her knees on the grass and steady herself on Chris.

Her hands moved to cup his face and she kissed his cheek before she smoothed her fingers over his skin, looking for any sign of injury or distress. They didn't have time to hurt him but they could have threatened him or frightened him in some way before she got to them.

"Baby are you alright? What were they doing, what did they say to you?" Her hands smoothed up and down his arms and over his chest at least three times until she was satisfied he wasn't hurt.

"They had choc cookie, gave me one." Chris reached out to point towards the cookie he dropped a few feet away when they rushed him to walk.

"They offered you cookies?"

"Hm, said go with them and get cookies… said they were friends. Why you crying?"

When Chris brushed his finger beneath her eye and rubbed away a tear, (Y/n) couldn't stop herself from bursting into tears. She wound her arms back around his waist and pulled him into her chest, repeatedly kissing his cheek to try and calm herself down.

"Baby, oh baby… we don't take stuff from strangers, you're not in trouble I promise, they just scared mummy. Some people aren't very nice, you just stay with me or daddy, whoever brings you out, you stay with them. Okay?"

Chris didn't have stranger awareness. He thought everyone he met could be a friend. He loved all the people at station 118, he thought of them all as family and friends and he was always saying hello to people in the street or asking people if he could pet their dogs. He didn't grasp that there were some people who weren't to be trusted, Chris gave trust willingly because it was the kind of loving heart he was.

"Miss, miss are you okay? We're on the phone to the police…"

(Y/n) looked over at a young couple who were stood a few feet away, pointing to their phone. They heard the commotion and dialled for the police to be safe, it certainly looked like a kidnapping in broad daylight.

"We're okay… they didn't hurt him. Thank you,"

She wasn't waiting around for the police. Not yet, not right now when Chris was unsettled and confused and she felt like she was going to be sick. (Y/n) wanted to go home. She wanted to be safe inside her own home with the doors locked and Chris within her sights.

She wanted Eddie.

She could go to the police station tomorrow and tell them what happened, but not right now.

"Come on baby, we're going home now."

"No, picnic and swings," Chris pointed over towards the park but (Y/n) could barely hear him over the blood pounding in her ears. They weren't staying, not for anything. (Y/n) wasn't staying here and risking those people coming back or seeing her and Chris and following them home. She was frightened beyond belief and she was going straight home.

"No baby, home now."

(Y/n) didn't wait for a response or Chris's confused reply, she hooked her arms around his middle and lifted him up off his feet. The sickness bubbling in her stomach died down a little when she felt her son's arms curl around her neck and his legs hooked around her hips. With her bump in the way, (Y/n) had to sit him lower down on her hip than normal and it meant Chris had one leg twitching and swinging against her bum but she didn't care.

His heavy weight was calming and soothing in her arms, it told her that he was okay and she hadn't lost him.

She kept her eyes on the floor to avoid the concerned gazes of the few other parents in the park who didn't seem to dare approach or ask what was going on. She balanced Chris on her hip and leaned down to grab his crutches before she set off in a brisk walk home.

After ten minutes, Chris started to become very heavy but (Y/n) didn't dare let him go just yet. She rubbed her hand up and down his back when he started to hum and nuzzle his face into her neck. He wanted to stim, he was clearly anxious but being cuddled and carried like this was calming him down at the same time.

By the time they reached home, (Y/n) felt like she was about to keel over and collapse. Her lungs were starved of oxygen, her mind was fuzzy and the rest of her body was aching. But she juggled her bag, Chris and his crutches as she stumbled into the house and bolted the door behind her.

Her arms went numb when she finally let Chris drop down to his feet and her back clicked horribly when she straightened up. She shouldn't have carried him all the way home or walked as fast as she did but even catching the bus didn't feel safe. All (Y/n) wanted was to be home safe and sound with her boy.

"Let's get your dinner sorted," She guided Chris into the living room and let him put on the tv while she got the picnic out of her bag. She set the box down with all his snacks and sandwiches in and got his juice box ready.

While she was there, (Y/n) took out the dinosaur toy she took out with her for an emergency and placed it next to him on the sofa.

(Y/n) let herself drop down into the armchair and she slumped down like she was about to slide down to the floor. Her trembling hands moved to cover her face and she took shallow breaths, forcing away the tears so she didn't upset or disturb Chris. She needed to call Eddie, she had to talk to him and tell him what had happened and hope that his voice would calm her down enough to get through the day until he came home tonight.

She could see Chris wasn't going to eat all of his lunch, he was picking and choosing what to nibble on when he usually ate everything in sections. Sandwich first, then fruit, then biscuits but he was diving in taking bites of everything and throwing them back down, half eaten and unfinished. He wasn't happy, he was unsettled and worried and (Y/n) couldn't do anything to make him feel better. She had ruined his routine and he couldn't understand why.

"Here, look, have some music for a while baby while I go tidy up. You can have a bubble bath soon and a pamper afternoon, how about that?"

It was a relief when he seemed to smile at the idea although he didn't say anything.

He stayed still and let (Y/n) find his dinosaur headphones and she slipped them over his ears and turned on his Ipod. In an instant Chris got up and grabbed his toy and started to shimmy and sway to the upbeat music blasting through his ears. Music was always a sure fire way to calm him down and make him feel better.

(Y/n) stood in the corner of the kitchen near the fridge and got her phone out, making sure she could still keep Chris within her sights.

"Ola mi amor, everything okay?"

"Can you talk for a minute?" (Y/n) knew he could hear the way her voice broke and she pressed her hand against her mouth to smother a cry. She didn't want Chris to hear and become panicked or for her to lose her control on the phone to Eddie and panic him at work. She shouldn't even be calling him right now but she had to before she went insane.

"Mi amor what's happened, are you alright?"

"We went to the park… I looked away for one minute, that was it just a minute I swear and, a- someone tried t-to take Chris."

"Take him? What do you mean take him, like grab him and run?" Eddie raked a hand through his hair as he felt his lungs shrivelling up. "Fuck! Where are you, is he alright? Baby, fuck talk to me baby-"

"They offered him cookies, he was confused, I- I shouted and t-they tried to leave with him. I got him, I grabbed him and they ran off. Eddie if I was two seconds later, I…" Tears burned down her face as another sob got stuck in her throat. It was frightening to think that two mere seconds could have lost her Chris. Two seconds later and (Y/n) would be having a whole other conversation with Eddie.

She would have been calling him, frantic and screaming that someone had snatched their son and she couldn't find him. An extra second or two would have lost Chris and he could have gotten hurt or traumatised.

"But you're both alright, aren't you?"

"We're okay, he's upset, he doesn't know why I brought him home early. I'm sorry if I've freaked you out but I couldn't, I needed to talk to you, I don't know what to do."

"Do you need me to come home, cos I can tell Cap and leave right now- I am, I'm coming home, fuck this. I'm leaving-" He didn't want to stay on shift now she had told him what happened. Eddie wanted to run home to his wife and son and make sure they were alright. He wanted them in his arms to reassure himself that Chris was truly okay and didn't feel upset about what he had gone through. And he wanted his wife pulled into his chest so he could calm her down.

"No, baby no don't leave. You don't have long left, don't, it's not an emergency. I swear he's fine, he might have a meltdown later, he's stimming like mad but he is okay."

(Y/n) could see the way Chris was stimming right now, he was becoming frantic with how he was waving his free hand out at his side and rocking back and forth so bad he was about to fall over. His other arm had his teddy pinned to his chest and his thumb in his mouth and every few seconds, he would lean forward and kick his leg out behind him in some odd mix between dancing and stimming.

She was sure at some point he was going to have a meltdown to release his confusion and backed up energy. But he was alright, Eddie didn't need to come home. He had picked up these extra shifts so when the baby came they would be alright with him taking some time off.

He didn't have to come home, he should stay while he could. In case they had any proper emergencies soon like the baby coming early or Chris having an accident or something going wrong at school.

She just needed to hear his voice.

***

"No dad I swear he's fine, I- dad Eddie's home now, he's here you can talk to him." (Y/n) held the phone against her ear and swiped her hand beneath her eyes to catch the fallen tears.

She had been on the phone with her dad for almost an hour now. At first, she tried not to tell him, he called right when Chris wasn't exactly settling for bed and she gave the phone to Chris. Her dad worked wonders reading a story over the phone and Chris fell asleep but as soon as he asked what was wrong, (Y/n) broke.

Nothing had worked calming her down for the rest of the day and Chris had had a meltdown after she came off the phone to Eddie and then refused to eat his tea. The only thing that settled him was being in the bath for over an hour, playing with his cups and bubble machine.

Eddie dropped his bag by the door, not bothering to kick his shoes off like he normally did as he bolted into the living room towards his wife. He barely had time to open his arms before (Y/n) attached herself to him like a vine. Her arm coiled around his lower chest and she buried her face in his chest as she held her other hand out to pass him the phone.

He glanced at the caller ID and curved his other arm around (Y/n)'s waist, leaning his cheek on top of her head as he squeezed her against him.

"Andrew, yeah it's me… I know, I've spoken to a Sergeant at the station today, she said we can make a statement tomorrow. Can I call you back?" Eddie rubbed his hand up and down (Y/n)'s back but he could feel how tightly her fingers were digging into his hips. And he didn't want to have this long conversation right now, not with the afternoon they had all had.

He had talked to Bobby as soon as he came off the phone with (Y/n) and he gave Eddie Athena's number. She had been very helpful and understanding and said she could come and talk to (Y/n) about a statement in the morning.

When he hung up the phone, Eddie tossed it on the sofa and curled his fingers into the back of (Y/n)'s hair, breathing softly against her forehead as he pulled her impossibly closer.

"Are you okay, how's he been?" He moved towards the sofa and sat down, pulling (Y/n) along with him so she was laid between his thighs. Her head rested on his shoulder and her arms stayed tight around his hips and her eyes fell closed, nuzzled into Eddie's neck.

"I think I scared him when I shouted after them, he didn't know why I was upset… Eddie, if I didn't look up in time-"

"Hey, you got him back that's all that matters. Athena's coming round in the morning to talk to us but for now, he's safe. You're both safe."

Eddie slouched back into the sofa and propped his heels up on the coffee table, managing a smile when (Y/n) shuffled round in his arms. She kept her head on his shoulder and her arms bound around his torso and lifted her legs up so they were laid out over his thigh. His right arm stayed curved around her waist, his hand on her stomach and his left hand moved to cup her face and pull her closer until he could kiss her temple.

He knew he wouldn't be sleeping tonight; he could feel the hour-long conversation he would be having with his father-in-law soon and he doubted (Y/n) would sleep well. And between that, Eddie wanted to go and check on Chris for a while and make sure he was sound asleep and alright. Sleep wasn't going to be their friend for a while now.

He managed to close his eyes after a while and tilt his head down so his nose and mouth were smothered in (Y/n)'s hair, breathing in her scent. His fingertips feathered up and down her side when he felt (Y/n)'s breaths start to even out and her body started to relax against him.

He tried to be slow and careful, not wanting to move (Y/n) as he reached into his pocket and got his phone out.

"Eddie," (Y/n) brushed her nose against his neck and kissed his shoulder, feeling like she was about to drop off to sleep and when she tried to open her eyes and see what he was doing on his phone, she couldn't keep her eyes open.

"Sh, go to sleep mi amor."

He kept his lips against her forehead and started to scroll down an app on his phone. Thinking about his impending phone call with Andrew made something spark in the back of Eddie's mind and he found himself scrolling over swing sets. He knew Chris favoured the swings he had at his grandad's house and the main reason they went to the park was for the swings.

They needed some swings in the back garden because one thing was certain; they weren't going to the park anymore.

[bukguhope]

BTS Hockey AU- Part One of an interconnected series about the members as hockey boys. (begins with Jk X reader and continues with made up characters)

Synopsis: Jungkook is a star right winger for your university which means only one thing- he’s popular. With popularity comes girls falling to his feet for a chance, but as fate would have it he falls (literally) at the feet of a certain someone who he can’t have. You: his captains younger sister and the one girl on campus who doesn’t want him. You don’t mess with hockey guys though or so you thought.

Jungkook x F.reader, brothers best friend, enemies to lovers (if you squint), forbidden-ish romance, pining, eventual light smut

wc: 18k

A/N: so sorry this is past the release date, life’s been crazy but normal uploads are returning <3

y/n pov

“get the fuck away from my sister before i rip your teeth out one by one” You roll your eyes, Namjoon was at it again. He was everyone’s beloved captain, best leader the team could ever ask for. But, he could get scary and by the look of the random guys face beside you at the campus bar- he had indeed have that scary look going on. The guy wasn’t even trying to pick you up, not even flirting in the slightest, he was trying to get a run down of a lecture he missed that week. Now, he had ran off and there was yet another guy that would never try to speak to you ever again. That particular list probably had every single guy on campus at this point

“he’s from my class you dick” Your brother doesn’t seemed fazed about this information, simply shrugging and raising a hand to flag down a bartender

“don’t care where he’s from, he was too close” Fist clenching and then releasing you stand from where you previously sat and moved to leave. You didn’t get too far, Namjoon reached out to hold onto your arm “where you going?”

“for fuck sake, get off my back! you’re my brother, not bodyguard” You shake his grip off and head straight for the exit. Any kind of fun for the night was ruined for you the moment him and his stupid team showed up to celebrate their first game and win of the season. It was obvious when they arrived, their loud voices echoed throughout the bar and everyone clapped and cheered.

The anger was radiating off you as you pushed open the doors and stomped right pass through the smoking area and off onto campus, in the direction of your dorm. It was growing dark by now, the wind picking up with each step so you cross your arms and hold them close to yourself. Some loud footsteps echo from a direction close by and your head whips around as you look around, but find no one. The nosies didn’t affect you, the campus was always busy with rushing people so it wasn’t unusual to hear random noises. The rustling bush coming up in front of you though? That, was weird. You halt in your tracks, watching as the leaves move around. Was there an animal in there? More like multiple having a fight by the looks of it by the way the bush was moving so fast. A poor cat maybe get picked on?

With that thought it mind you move in it’s direction, prepared to find some rabid animals attacking another. Suddenly, with not much space between yourself and the bush, a figure emerges- well more like falls out of it. A scream automatically releases from your throat as a body tumbles and lands with a hard thud, right at your feet. A voice grumbles out in pain and you look down at the figure as they move to lay on their back. . He looks up and a pair of big brown eyes meet your gaze from his position on the floor and you squint down at him. Oh, you recognise him

“Jungkook? from the hockey team?” He offers you a sheepish smile, not moving to get up from his position at your feet

“that would be me”

“why were you in a bush?” He nibbles on his bottom lip, still on the ground and not getting up. In fact, he connects his fingers and rests them on his chest as he looks up at you

“oh, no reason in particular” It was silent as you look at each other, awkwardness growing by the second. But as you thought, you came to a conclusion. You nod your head at your silent thoughts, lips pursing

“my brother made you follow me” You say it as a statement, not a question because you already knew that this was the case. Jungkook looked uncomfortable now and was still on the fucking floor “oh will you get up!” You huff, offering your hand out for him. He nods, hand gripping onto your forearm and he pushes himself to his feet. Jesus, he was tall, your neck craned upwards in order to keep eye contact “he may be be your captain but you don’t have to listen to every fucking thing he tells you to do” You step closer, Jungkook steps back “tell him he’s a dick and iam telling mum on him and don’t you ever follow me again” Your pointer finger was going crazy at this point, waving around in the poor boys face as he just looks down at you- silent. Stepping around him, you stalk off grumbling to yourself before you stop and turn. He was still stood there, not knowing what to do with himself “Jungkook!” His head whips to you, there was quite a bit of distance now so you had to shout a little “Are you okay?! That looked like it hurt when you fell?!” Your tone was still angry, despite the concerning questions and you notice a small smile on his lips

“yeah i’ve taken worse then that!” He shouts back and you nod once before turning and continuing the journey back to your dorm. Namjoon literally had zero boundaries, this wasn’t even the first time he’s had one of his friends follow you home. He’d excuse it, say it was for your safety. The entire year you’ve been here on campus you’ve had him breathing down your neck, fuck he’s been like this since you were kids. You never even speak about the time he caught a boy in your room, it was innocent just a study date but he hit the roof and that kid never spoke to you again. Mumbling curses at him, you pull your phone out and dial your mum

“sweetheart!” She picks up only after a few rings “how have you been?”

“you need to come and sort your son out” Your mum sighs down the line as you enter your dorm building and begin climbing the stairs

“what’s he done now?” You scoff, pulling your keys from your hoodie pocket as you get close to your floor

“he had me followed home again mum” She sighs again as you slide you key into your door

“leave with it me”

Jungkook’s pov

“fuck it’s my mum, she really did tell on me” His captain grumbles as he looks at the incoming call on his phone. He slides out from the table and walks off to answer to it

“so, you just fell out of a bush?” Hosoek, the teams left winger asks with a raised eyebrow as he takes a sip of his beer

“that’s what i said wasn’t it?” Jungkook grumbles, fiddling with the label on his bottle of water and ripping it off bit by bit

“why were you in one in the first place?” He looks up from the bottle to give Jimin, teams goalie an exasperated look

“i didn’t want her to think i was stalking her home or something, so i tried to stay hidden” He shrugs, ripping off a big chunk of label

“but that’s exactly what you were doing” Yoongi, left defensemen, deadpans. Jungkook couldn’t really refute that, because that was basically what he was doing. What was more concerning then him practically following you was that you hadn’t left his mind since he first looked up at you from the concrete floor. You were pretty, really fucking pretty. Sure, he knew who you were but never exactly met you properly given that you were Namjoons sister and he’d rather kill over then bring you up around his friends and teammates. It brings a little smirk to his face when he remembers you calling back to him, asking if he was okay.

“he made me do it once, swear she wanted to rip my balls off and feed them to some wild animals” Taehyung, right defensemen, chimes in with a light chuckle “oh fuck, hide me” His chuckling stopped immediately as he flew underneath the table, head bumping it momentarily and shaking the drinks perched on top of it

“saw Nina didn’t you?” Jin, co-captain, mumbles as his head whips around, looking for the girl in question and spots her coming through the door

“seriously dude, major man points deducted for hiding from your ex” Jungkook leans his head toward him under the table and Taehyung waves him off desperately as he stays planted on his knees. Jungkook spots Namjoon coming back to the table, disgruntled, angry look on his face. He sits down, legs sprawling before a yelp comes from beneath the table

“bro why the fuck are you down there?” Namjoon calls out to the man he just accidentally kicked and Taehyung only groans as a response

“Nina” The boys say in unison and Namjoon rolls his eyes

“should’ve guessed” The captain takes a big swig of his drink before placing it back down, a little roughly

“what’s the verdict from your mum?” Hoseok questions, taking a handful of peanuts from the bowl in the middle of the table before shoving them all into his mouth. Hockey players = endless appetite

“not allowed to get anyone to take y/n home anymore or iam not getting any christmas presents this year” The boys laugh as their captain pouts while he fiddles with his glass

“i wouldn’t say you getting people to follow her is ‘taking her home’” Taehyung calls out, still under the table

“you have no say, coward under the table” Namjoon calls out, the boys break out in laughter once again

y/n’s pov

“so he just fell out of a bush?” Lola, cheer captain and one of your best friend asks as you twirl a piece of her hair around a curler. It was game day so as normal you were helping her get ready as she sits in her cheer uniform

“i don’t think him falling was the main take away from the story” You release her hair and it bounces into a curl, you grab another and repeat the process

“yeah but, why was he in the bush in the first place?” Nina, co-captain of the cheer squad and your other best friend asks as she listens into the story while doing her eye-makeup next to you and Lola

“i don’t know, the point is Namjoon is still getting people to follow me around” Nina chuckles, tapping some excess eyeshadow off her brush

“and he just led there on the ground until you told him to get up?” Lola’s question makes you sigh, seriously they’re caught up on the wrong part of the story

“yes he was in a bush, yes he fell out of it and yes he led on the ground until i told him to get up but the point is, my brother is having me followed!” The girls laugh, you put your curler down before grabbing some hair spray

“i would not be able to survive someone being that protective” Nina mumbles, face close to a mirror as she blends some shadow onto her lid

“you’re telling me, this has been my entire life. him scaring people off, having me followed. he’s completely unhinged” You spray a couple coats over Lola’s hair, running your fingers through it as you do so

“i guess it’s coming from a place of love, even if it’s annoying” Lola smiles up at you, you offer a weak one back. You knew Namjoon loved you, knew he was just trying to protect you in his stupid way but he’s been pushing your boundaries for the past year

“well iam done letting him do whatever he wants, he needs to leave me alone and stop treating me like a child” Nina scoffs, you turn your head to her

“good luck with that, he’s relentless” She was right, no matter how many times you had your mum tell him off he still found his way to keep tabs over you. You frown as you place the hair spray back down as Lola fiddles with it until she’s satisfied

“you coming to the game tonight?” Nina asks, now coating her lashes with mascara

“i’ll come watch your routine but then iam going” It wasn’t that you didn’t like hockey, you did but seeing your brother would only annoy you right now and you’d rather not watch girls hitting on him afterwards, you’d not be staying for the game. Plus, all his friends pissed you off too. Not only was one of them your best friends ex, but they were popular and watching their egos inflate with all the female attention was infuriating. Hockey boys, no thank you.

~

As soon as the main cheer routine was done, you were on your feet and walking towards the exit. No need to stick around and watch the boys on campus spend more time bodying one another then actually playing hockey. It was all a show of ego with guys this age really, especially you’re brother and his friends. Pulling out your phone, you check through some apps before the sound of shoes slapping on the floor echoes throughout the hallway. Looking up you see a figure, a big one, sprinting in your direction. A figure you recognise, and it seems he does too because he slows and stops in front of you, breathing heavily

“y/n?” He pants, trying to catch his breath “you’re not staying for the game?” He almost has this, adorable pout on his lips as he asks. Adorable? No, you think to yourself- absolutely not adorable

“oh no, but good luck Jungkook” You side step, about to walk on but he steps to the side too so he’s back in front of you

“ah well, i just want to say sorry about the whole following you home situation” A small smile appears on your lips, he actually seems almost embarrassed with the little pink hue on his cheeks

“i know it was my brothers doing, don’t worry” Jungkook returns the smile, tips of his front teeth showing slightly

“well, i could’ve said no so- sorry again” You almost chuckle at him, he actually seemed nice. Not at all what you imagined someone your brother hung out with to be like

“again, no worries” Taking a peep at the phone in your hand, you notice the time “shouldn’t you be going on the ice in like, twenty minutes?” Jungkook’s eyes seemed to widen ever so slightly

“oh shit right, sorry again hope you stay for the game” He rushes out in a ramble, before taking off back into a sprint- shoes slapping onto the floor once again. You find yourself turning your head to watch him, his hair flying around as he runs off down the hallway. There’s a smile on your face. You catch yourself, frown, shake your head and turn before walking off.

Weird

Jungkook’s pov

His eyes dart to the right of the stadium- no y/n. He quickly diverts his line of sight to the left side- still no y/n. He thinks, then, a body is slamming into him. Jungkook flies backwards and lands with a hard thud onto the ice. The crowd watching gets loud as his body slammer skates around his body, before stopping harshly making ice shards fly over his face. Namjoon, in captain mode, is on him in a flash pushing the guys shoulder and away from him as Jungkook gets back up onto his feet

“stay focused man what the hell you doing?!” Taehyung yells out as he skates past him and to the guy Namjoon is currently being separated from by the ref. What was Jungkook doing? Right, looking for the captains beloved sister in the crowd. He really needed to get it together.

~

The teams cheers echo throughout the locker room as Jungkook enters last with his helmet in his hands. Despite the fall, he’s fine with no pain and they won the game - thank god.

“Jeon, a word” Everyone sets of into oohing as Namjoon motions for him to step back outside the locker room. Can’t he just let it slide? No, of course he couldn’t. “what happened out there? you let yourself get bodied man, you’re normally so focused out there” Jungkook shakes his head with a sigh, he can’t exactly tell him he was looking to see if his hot as fuck sister was sat in the crowd. He didn’t have a death wish

“it was just a momentary lapse in attention, won’t happen again” Namjoon didn’t seem satisfied with that answer, but it was the only one he’d be getting

“you were late too, don’t let it happen again” Is all he mutters before patting him on the back “well done though, great performance afterwards keep that up” Of course he’d compliment him afterwards, always the best in leading the the team with a firm yet fair hand

“thanks and it won’t happen again” He thanked whoever was looking over him for Namjoon not asking for a further explanation

“celebration party tonight!” Jungkook looks over his shoulder at Jimin shouting as he runs down the hallway, already changed with his gym bag in hand.

Around three hours later that party was in full swing, bodies pushed into one dorm with music blasting throughout the place. Jungkook wasn’t the biggest fan of these things, people seemed to forget boundaries when they’ve had a drink.

“you were so good out there tonight, you could seriously go pro” He had no idea what this girls name was but she had be talking for the past fifteen minutes about what, he had no idea. But, he wasn’t horrible and he tried to seem like he was interested at the very least. She was being nice after all but every so often she shifted closer to him and now she was basically pushed up against his side. Jungkook moved backwards, creating some space but she simply followed.

“that’s nice thanks, iam gonna get some air” He left no room for a response, he bolted and headed straight for the door and out into the night breeze. Breathing a sigh of relief, he takes a sip of his drink before heading to the bottom step on the building and sitting down. It was much quieter out here, no one to be seen and it felt like he could finally relax. He allowed his thoughts to take over, thinking about what that girl had said.

you could go pro

God he had heard that one too many times. His friends, his parents, literally anyone he had ever met. It was the immense pressure, to have so many people talk about his future. Sure, he was grateful they expected so much of him and yeah he loved hockey. But that wasn’t everything to him, hockey wasn’t everything. Huffing he ran his fingers through his hair, tugging lightly on a few strands in frustration

“rough night?” The sudden voice had him jumping in surprise, his drink flying in the air as his hands flew up in surprise. The contents of the drink spill behind him, the sound of the ice is loud as it hits the slabs of the steps

“jesus!” He stares at you, stunned and embarrassed as he grips the plastic cup so hard it crumples up into itself

“iam so sorry” You get out between a fit of heavy laughter while he tries to catch his breath. He watches as you climb up the first step before sitting beside him, your skirt sliding up ever so slightly to reveal a little more of your thighs- he looked away. “why you out here?” Good question, one he didn’t particularly have an answer for

“just, getting some air” You nod, and he can’t help but keep his eyes trained onto you. There was just something about you that gave him this comfortable feeling yet at the same time he was on edge, his heart was beating so damn hard

“how come you didn’t stay for the game?” Jungkook had been pondering about that ever since he stepped out onto the ice and kept looking around. It wasn’t a pro game, the crowd and arena was small so he could’ve easily spotted you if you were there

“not really my thing” You shrug the topic off which only makes him more curious “heard you won though, congratulations” A small smile appears on his face as he places his, now empty and crushed cup, down beside him

“don’t compliment your way out of my question” He notices the corner of your mouth tip upwards, a small smirk gracing your lips

“okay, honestly i don’t really get involved in my brothers life” Jungkook frowns, he assumed you two had a good relationship with how much Namjoon goes out of his way to protect you. Maybe he had it all wrong?

“he can be over the top huh?” You scoff lightheartedly at that understatement before replying

“oh he definitely can. it’s too much, iam my own person with boundaries which he doesn’t seem to understand” He felt that, his situation sure wasn’t the same as yours but he knew exactly what the feeling of people not understanding him felt like. And in that moment, with someone he barely knew, he wanted to tell you everything that laid heavy on his heart

“can i admit a secret to you?” You look over, slight shock etched over your face at the sudden change of conversation but once you nod your head, he goes right into it “i don’t want to go pro with hockey” He’s waiting for the surprise, the questions but- it never comes

“what do you want to do instead?” Now he’s the one shocked. You weren’t asking why he doesn’t want to go pro, just simply asking what he actually wanted to do instead. It was, refreshing

“i- don’t know” He sighs “all my life all anyone has ever said was that i was born for hockey, i appreciate it all i really do but- theres more to me then just hockey. everyone just expects that i’ll go pro, never anything else” Jungkook looks over, your listening so intently and he’s so relieved to get it off his chest. He’s held onto this for so long

“it’s okay that you don’t know what exactly you want to do forever. you’re only young and hockey’s allowed to stay a hobby, you don’t have to do it for any longer then you want to” Jungkook felt his chest lighten, you said it so simply as if it wasn’t a big deal if hockey wasn’t destined to be a forever job for him and it was just so nice to hear.

“yeah, you’re right” Is all he can muster up, he wants to say so much more but you don’t even know him so the emotional dumping might not be the best move

“iam always right” You chuckle, hand coming down onto his thigh. It was meant to be a friendly gesture, but there’s this instant connection, an instant feeling brewing up inside of Jungkook that all he can do his stare at your hand. The door at the top of the steps suddenly swings open and your hand disappears as you look behind you. It was a random student, stumbling out and down the stairs. He couldn’t seem to see one inch in front of him as he grips onto the wall. Suddenly, he’s thumping down the stairs in your direction so Jungkook wraps an arm behind you before he scoops you up into his side. Your eyes are still on the drunk guys and as he steps closer, you lift you ass from the step and plant yourself right onto Jungkooks lap. The random plows down the rest of the way before stumbling, looking up and squinting his eyes in the direction of you and him

“oh- J-jungkook? hey, you’re a b-beast at hockey. D-definitely going pro man” Then, he’s off and stumbling his way into the night. You watch as he disappears before turning your head to look at Jungkook, whose been staring at you ever since the guy was off the steps

“definitely going pro my ass” You mumble and he exhales through his nose before laughing, head flying downwards. His grip on you tightens without him releasing it, you arm still around his neck from when you climbed on him to escape getting trampled. You laugh along with him, head tipping backwards. When the laughter dies down he feels you slowly lifting yourself, he takes his hands of you as you finally move yourself off him “i better go find my friends”

“right” He can’t help but feel a little disappointed, he liked talking to you. There was no pressure, no expectations. “or we could go get some food?” Jungkook cringed at himself. You didn’t even know him very well, only as your overprotective brothers friend and teammate. Why on earth would you-

“okay” His thoughts came to a halt, he looked up at you from his sat position “where would be open at this time?”

“oh yeah, probably all closed by now” Jungkook mumbles, he didn’t even think about the time and how late it probably was

“wanna come to mine?” Silence ensued at your question, he simply stared up at you. He should say no, sure it was an innocent invite to eat but you were his captains sister after all. Would probably get his ass handed to him if he found out but as he thought about it, looking up at you looking just so fucking pretty, he stood to his feet. You were you own damn person, who was Namjoon to dictate who you hung with?

“yeah, sure” He finally gets out, chewing on his bottom lip momentarily as you smile up at him before backing off and walking away silently. Jungkook releases his lip, smiles and then follows

Y/n’s pov

You can’t help but wonder what the hell you were thinking when you decided to invite him back. Jungkook was practically a stranger and after one conversation you thought, hey why not bring him back home and eat? You needed a brain check. But you couldn’t stop thinking about his confession, the expectations on him, the pressure. If you could relate to and understand anything it was that. Namjoon had these wild expectations that you were precious enough to be protected, sheltered to anything that could be mildly upsetting. These things were apart of life, it’s how you would grow and learn but no- your brother believed you could be saved from it all.

“how you feel about some noodles?” You ask as you move into the kitchen, turning the lights on as Jungkook finished taking his shoes of.

“fine by me” He calls out as he follows you and you begin to gather everything you needed to start cooking while Jungkook sits himself at the kitchen island on a stool. “you a big reader huh?” Confused you turn to look at him, finding one of your books in his hands

“oh yeah, i love to read” You watch has he plays with the coloured tabs sticking out of the book and smile at his intrigued face before turning back to cooking

“the colours of the tabs mean anything?” He asks as you empty a packet into the water that filled a saucepan

“yeah they’re for different types of moments” You call out, not looking back as you add another packet before pushing around the noodles with a spoon

“what’s red for?” Jungkook mumbles out and you hear the movement of him open the book. With wide eyes you turn to catch his curious eyes and quickly move to him and rip the book from his hands

“oh, nothing important” You rush out, taking the book with you to the stove, placing it down onto the side when you hear him chuckle

“i saw it y/n, red means sex scenes huh?” God you wanted the ground to open up and swallow you whole. Out of all the colours, red was the one he chose to be curious about? “don’t be embarrassed” He laughs “most people watch porn, you read it. completely normal” You turn to face him and are met with a cheeky smile upon his face

“hey it’s not porn, it’s literature” Waving the spoon at him in the air, you defend yourself as he chuckles

“literature porn” You try and hide the smile creeping onto your lips but fail miserably, he just had this naturally talent of making you do that

“stop teasing, that’s not all the books about. it’s about the struggles of life, growing up and love” Turning your focus back to the noodles, you empty the flavour packets in before mixing it all together.

“hm, it’s about a guy that plays hockey too” You freeze, eyes fluttering over to where the book in question lays on the side. The covers got an illustration of a guy, in his hockey gear. Of course, the only hockey romance book you have is the one you left for out for the hockey player to find.

“he does” Is all you can reply, turning down the heat of the stove as the noodles are almost ready

“can i borrow it?” A little surprise runs through you, he wants to read it? Did he read often? You find yourself wanting the answer to that question and so many more. Why did you want to learn all about him? What he likes, what he doesn’t?

“you read?” You hear him stand, hear the footsteps coming towards you and then he’s right behind you. He was close, you could almost feel him against you

“don’t sound so surprised” Jungkook murmurs and you swear you could feel his breath on your neck. His hand comes up and brushes over the cover of the book, he almost had you caged against the kitchen side

“didn’t mean to be judgemental, take it, enjoy yourself” You we’re surprised how well you managed to get that sentence out, with him being so fucking close. Jungkook takes the book and slides it off the counter but doesn’t move away right then. He stands behind you, other hand touching your shoulder before he leans down to you ear

“thanks” His voice almost made you knees buckle but you stand firmly as he steps backwards and back to his seat. Exhaling lightly, you grab some bowls and dump out the food before taking both dishes to the table. He’s already opened the book and reading over the first page when you slide his portion to him then sitting opposite. Jungkook closes the book, places it down and slides the bowl closer to him before picking up the cutlery and taking a bite

“this great, thank you” You almost laugh but settle for a smile instead

“it’s just noodles” He looks over at you, a smile of his own on his lips

“and it tastes amazing” You do laugh at this before eating yourself. The pair of you eat quietly and you can’t help your thoughts, wondering why he was so nice and wanting to know everything about him. It was weird, you’d never gotten the chance to talk to many other people except Nina and Lola. Which you were fine with, but now you were suddenly getting to know him- Jungkook seemed unlike anyone you’ve ever met. You were instantly comfortable, not something that would come by easily with many people. It took no effort whatsoever for him to make you smile or laugh, it was just so easy to talk to him. Yet, you didn’t really know him at all.

“how did you start playing hockey?” Jungkook seemed shocked by the sudden question but you saw him think about it as he chewed

“my dad put me in classes, i was kinda bigger then most kids my age so i guess he assumed i’d be good at hockey” You nod, thinking about that answer

“and you enjoyed it?” He paused, food mid air as he thought and you waited for his response

“hm, yeah” You raise an eyebrow as he continues eating, looking over at him with curiosity

“that sounded not at all convincing” Jungkook smirked as he chewed, which only reassured you that your assumption was correct. He was wasn’t being completely truthful

“honestly, i don’t know. i was good at it, so thought it was natural to keep on playing. and i truly love being out there on the ice i do” You nod, that was understandable. Yet, why do something you didn’t really like only because you were good at it?

“is there anything you actually enjoy and do it for that reason? not just because you’re good at it?” You both had finished your food at this point, bowls pushed to the side as you continued the conversation

“i like art, being creative. fucking shit at it though” A laugh escaped you. He liked art, not entirely what you expected but something you could see him doing

“well, life is about the things you enjoy and if you like doing it that’s all that matters. doesn’t matter if you’re not the next monet” Jungkook crosses his arms and leans them in front of himself on the table, big smile on his face

“that’s very philosophical” A snort escapes you, he pretty much just read you like a book because that was the degree you were currently doing

“good thing iam taking philosophy then right?” His head tilts to the side and you can’t help but relate the action to something a cute puppy would do

“getting a philosophy degree? that must be interesting” He was right, it really was. Every class was fascinating to you, the conversations and debates that could sprout from them were always good

“yeah, i would love to teach it one day. feel like it’s such an under appreciated subject” You explain, standing to grab the dishes but Jungkook pulls his bowl away when you lean over to grab it

“you cooked, i’ll clean” With that, he took your bowl and headed over to the sink and turned the tap on letting the water get warm “so tell me more about philosophy” You turn your body in the stool to look at him while he cleans

“don’t ask to be nice, am sure it’s boring” He gives you a look over his shoulder before turning back around

“no, i asked because iam interested. now, please tell me” You let out a little chuckle before replying

“it’s just, i’ve never been academically inclined- iam not bad at it but i love the questions that can never actually be answered. i like to think about endless possibilities, i don’t know if that makes sense” You shrug even though he can’t see you

“makes perfect sense, the worlds problems aren’t always a simple yes or no. you just enjoy the journey of the conversation then the destination or a simple answer” He turns now, drying his hands as you look at him with a little disbelief “am i wrong?”

“nope, exactly right”

~

You had no idea what the time was, too busy laughing away the night with each story that Jungkook came up with. Sat next to him on your couch, both legs up in front you but tugged close to your chest to give Jungkook room and back against the arm rest, he finishes up his story. You could feel yourself getting a little tired, but tried hard not to show it. Jungkook was good a sharing stories and you were enjoying yourself too much to fall asleep

“please don’t tell her i told you, taehyung would kill me” Your laughing dies down, not surprised at the man in question actions

“oh i don’t have to, she saw him under that table by the way” Jungkook’s eyes widen before his head flys backwards in laughter. You pretty much had the same reaction as his when you received the text off her, saying she spotted her ex crouched under a table

“that’s fucking hilarious, definitely telling him that” He states, pulling his phone out of his hoodie pocket but not moving to do anything with it. “shit it’s four in the morning” Your mouth drops open in surprise, looking up at the clock hung behind your tv.

“thank god i have no classes tomorrow” You sigh in relief, dropping your head to the couch arm, put keeping your feet by your ass making sure they didn’t invade Jungkooks space

“you look uncomfortable, just put your legs out” You move your knees to hit the back of the sofa so you could see him clearly, a look of uncertainty on your face “come on it’s fine” His hands reach out, grabbing your legs and pulling them over his lap. The relief you felt was instant, sighing as you tilt your head fully back and close your eyes. Jungkook’s hands remain on your legs and you have to surprise a shiver when one slides over your knee to rest on your lower thigh “tired? i don’t mind heading back to mine, let you sleep”

“no it’s fine, i like hearing your stories tell another” You could hear the sleepiness in your voice but refused to succumb to it. Jungkook chuckles before he begins speaking, but at the sound of his voice- you find yourself drifting off without realising

Jungkook’s pov

A low groan escaped his throat, eyes still closed although he was waking up. Jungkook felt warmer then usual and tried to pull himself closer to that warmth. Then, that warmth moved and his eyebrows scrunched. Jungkook’s eyes finally open and he blinks several times before he realised that the unusual warmth, was you. His eyes widen, now fully awake as he looks around. He was still in your apartment, on your sofa, with you tucked against his chest. The movement was you turning over to face him and as he looked down, his hand was holding you tightly by your ass. Jungkook snatches his hand away, but with lack of space had no where else to put it except your lower back. His head drifted up over your head and to the clock on your wall, seeing it was eight on the morning he exhaled before placing his head back down softly to not wake you. Jungkook raked his brain, not remembering even falling asleep let alone laying down next to you. His body stilled when he felt you shift, body coming into his more tightly and head going into his neck. Your breath fanned his skin right below his ear making him inhale. A sudden and rapid knocking makes him jump

“y/n! hello, you awake!” His eyes widen upon hearing Namjoon call through the door. “y/n come on open up!” Your brother knocks again and when Jungkook looks down he sees your eyes opening, you look up at him and the pair of you stare at each other momentarily “i swear to god open the door you lazy bitch” Your eyes widen and you jump up and out of Jungkooks arms

“fuck does he know you stayed over?” Jungkook stands on his feet as you whisper under your breath at him

“i have no idea” His heart rate picked up, there’s no way Namjoon knew he was here- well he hoped not

“y/n! if you don’t answer the door iam telling mum you’re dead!” Jungkook would’ve laughed if his captain wasn’t the one shouting through the door to girl he just woke up cuddling- that girl being his fucking sister.

“ok, go upstairs my bedrooms the first door on the right” He practicality runs up the stairs as you head towards the front door. He rushes into your room and closes the door behind him just as he hears you open the door. The dorm wasn’t big, so he could clearly hear you two talking

“finally, swear you could sleep through a natural disaster”

“what do you want?” Jungkook laughs under his breath, the two of you were textbook siblings to say the least

“chill with the attitude, i came to apologise” He hears Namjoon walking further into the dorm and the door closing as he does so

“mum must’ve threatened you with something serious then” Jungkook could actually hear Namjoons huff from up the stairs

“no, iam being a decent brother”

“hell must’ve closed over or all those knocks from hockey have finally given you brain damage” Jungkooks hand flew to his mouth to hide the laugh that escape his throat

“still be smarter then you with the brain damage so zip it”

“i still haven’t heard the word sorry, worst apology of the century” Jungkook’s head falls and he smiles at the interaction

“fine! iam sorry, that my actions may not be seen as nice as they really are”

“no, try again” Namjoon huffs once more

“ok, i’ve had it pointed out to me that iam being too much. iam sorry, with us being far away from home i guess i’ve just felt it was my duty to protect you. I know now that it’s been annoying. there, happy now?” Jungkooks lips turned into a little smile, he knew how much Namjoon loved you and it was heart warming. Not many siblings were this close.

“hm, did mum give you a script? tell her iam impressed”

“you’re so impossible, i’ve apologised so iam leaving” There was the typical sibling behaviour

“bye!” You yell out as Jungkook here’s a door close and he deems it safe to leave. You turn to face him as he walks down the stairs and he offers a genuine smile before his attention turns to something else and he frowns

“my fucking shoes are still by the door” Your head whips to them, big combat boots that are clearly men’s

“don’t think he noticed thank fuck” There was a moment of silence before the pair of you just burst into laughter at the whole situation. Jungkook liked hearing you laugh and as he realised he did he also realised something else- he was truly fucked because he wanted to keep giving you reasons to laugh like that. Just so he could hear it “oh do you want my number?” You say bringing him out of his thoughts. He gives you a smile and nod and then you’re off to find your phone

Y/n’s pov

“fuck off, you woke up cuddling him?!” You glare at Nina, her volume threatening to gain everyone students in the cafes attention

“please do tell everyone within hearing distance” Lola laughs, seemingly enjoying the whole situation

“oh stop being dramatic, you spent the night with Jungkook then spooned with him. Tells us more details” God you hated this entire situation, Jungkook was Namjoon’s friend and team mate- if news about this got out you’d never hear the end of it

“there’s nothing to tell, we ate and accidentally fell asleep. then i had my fucking brother knocking down my door. get this, someone apparently got him to take account of his actions according to him. iam betting it’s my mum” Lola shifts in her seat and you look over to her, she gives a small smile before speaking

“well, at least he’s realising now and apologised. maybe you can live more peacefully” You wished for that to be the case

“we can only hope” You mutter before you reach down to pick up your bag “iam heading off to the library, got an essay to write before next week” The girls say their goodbyes to you and you head off into the library to start working. You spot a small empty table and decide to set up there but as soon as you pull your laptop out, a figure sits opposite you

“iam so glad you’re here, are you doing the essay for next week” It’s a guy from your class, Jinyoung. He normally sat at the back each time, normally behind you so he could lean forward and ask questions. Jinyoung was smart, but his attention span was awful so you always offered help when he needed it

“yeah thought i’d make a start, you need help?” He laughs as he pulls out his laptop

“help is an understatement” You chuckle yourself before getting your notebook out and sliding it over to him

“there’s notes in there, i know you struggle to listen during the lectures so take your time with them” He sighs before grabbing your hand in both of his

“you’re truly a life saver” He goes to take a look of the book when you feel a chair being pushed beside you, looking up your eyes widen when you see Jungkook before he sits down

“thought i saw you come in, i forgot that book at your place last night? the one i want to borrow” Your eyes widen, that could be taken in a completely wrong way but Jungkook doesn’t give you time to reply, looking across the table he asks “who’s this?” You give him a look before looking over at Jinyoung

“oh uh- Jungkook this Jinyoung. Jinyoung this is Jungkook” Your class mate smiles and nods as a greeting as the table falls silent for a moment

“nice to meet you man, thanks for the notes come over before you leave and i’ll give them back” Jinyoung stands then as you give him a confused look while he walks to another table with his things

“you two looked cozy” Your head whips to Jungkook, who’s much closer then you thought with his chair pushed right next to yours

“cozy?” Is all you could offer up, because honestly you don’t know how you two looked cozy while on opposite sides of the table

“yeah, he definitely likes you” Jungkook extends his arm behind you and rests it on the back of your chair while you continue to just stare at him

“hm, i don’t think so” You clear your throat at the feel of his arm against your shoulder blades

“well i do, can tell by the way he was looking at you” There was bite in his tone and it made you furrow your eyebrows at him

“yeah? how was he looking at me?” You turn your whole body is his direction, curious about this so called look from Jinyoung. Jungkook sighs, eyes drifting momentarily to your lips before back to your eyes. Then, he leans forward himself dropping his arm from the chair. His hand dances over your back before it drifts down your spine before coming to a stop just above your ass

“like he wanted to fuck you” He whispers out and you swear you could feel it in your core. Jungkook keeps his face inches from yours, his hand remains on your lower back and his touch ignites your whole body.

“he just wanted help with an essay” Your surprised with how well that sentence came out with how your body is reacting to him being this close. His lips slowly turn upwards before he slowly leans back but keeps his hand on you

“i highly doubt that sweetheart” God the nickname, it sounded too good coming out of his mouth. You curse yourself for liking it as much as you did

“is that why you came over? saving me from a good eye fucking?” You had no idea what you were saying that this point, were your flirting? Because it sure sounded like it. Jungkook eyes you slowly, his gaze going down before coming back up

“nothing about him eye fucking you is good” Only a power above could explain why this conversation was turning you on, because you definitely couldn’t

“and why’s that?” Your voice came out as a whisper, a gritty undertone to it. You had no idea why you anticipated his answer so much, desperate to know what he had to say next

“hey sorry to interrupt” Jinyoungs voice makes you jump slightly. You turn away from Jungkook to look up at your classmate “i took a picture of them so here’s your notebook. thanks again” He holds out your notes and you smile before taking it from him, very aware that Jungkook still hasn’t taken his hand off you

“oh no worries” Jinyoung smiles one last time before turning away and walking off. Awkwardly, you shove the notebook in your bag before doing the same with your laptop. You didn’t complete one bit of work, but with the thoughts of Jungkook now running through your mind there was no point in even trying to work

“i better get going” You mumble before standing, making Jungkooks hand fall from your back. Not looking his way you quickly walk towards the exit, asking yourself why on earth you liked having Jungkook that close. Liked having him touching you.

~

“Please come with us!” Lola tugs at your arm, practically begging you to get up

“no, i went to one last night that’s all my partying done for the year” You also ended up with a certain hockey player sleeping next you because you agreed to go to that party

“y/n you’re coming with us, not only will Lola need a wing woman i need emotional support for having to see my stupid ex” Ah, the never ending story of Taehyung and Nina. Not even breaking up can stop them from being apart of each other’s life’s

“i do not need a wing woman, but i do need you there. please?” You can never say no to these girls, it was becoming a problem

“ugh fine” They celebrate as you get up to get ready and in no longer then an hour, you were at some randoms dorm with music blasting in your ears. You had already lost Lola in the crowd, but she did text assuring you that she found a friend and was safe. The current form of entertainment was Nina, who had already ran into her ex

“what would it take to get you to transfer? iam fed up of seeing your bitch ass on campus” You had to laugh at her, she still clearly had some sort of feelings for him not that she’d admit it. Everyone on campus knew about them, and they all were waiting for them to either get back together… or kill each other. There was actually a betting pool going on for each of those outcomes, you had bet for them getting back together.

“if any of us should leave, it’s you darling” Your friend rolls her eyes so hard they might actually get stuck in her head. Before she can reply you tap her and shake your empty cup to say you’re going for a refill. She nods and immediately turns back to Taehyung

“your comebacks are almost as bad as the amount time you last in bed” You hear from her as you walk away to the kitchen, they’d probably be arguing for the remainder of the night. In their terms, that’s probably foreplay. Pushing past some people who linger in the kitchen, you finally get to the bottles on the island and look at the options in front of you. Spotting the vodka you pick it up and unscrew it before before placing a small amount in your cup- a hangover is not what you want tomorrow morning so a single shot it is

“i was hoping to see you” You whip your head over your shoulders, eyes meeting Jungkooks who looks down at you from behind

“and why’s that?” Turning away from him you screw the lid back onto the vodka before placing it back onto the counter and then reaching for the cola bottle

“because you still haven’t given me that book sweetheart” That nickname again, why did it make your core shake?

“why do you want it so badly?” A laugh escapes you as he moves to stand next to you while you fill the rest of your cup with the soft drink

“it looked so good and just maybe, i could get some tips from the pages you marked in red” Okay, this was definitely flirting. You weren’t too sure at the library but the way he was speaking to you, standing so close, he had to have been flirting. Screwing the cola back up, you place the bottle down before turning to face him. You brain ticked, suddenly wanting to play him at his own game. He was being so cocky and as that realisation hit you, all you wanted was to make him squirm

“how about we go back to my place then and get it for you? can get all the tips you want” You smile up at him and you see his face falter, his grin falling as you push yourself ever so slightly against his body.

“go back to yours?” Jungkook’s voice seemed a little shaky and you had to resist laughing as you look at him

“hm hm, we can go now” You watch as his pupils shake and his bottom lip catches between his teeth. This was so strange for you, never before had you acted like this with any guy. But for some reason, Jungkook just pulled this side of you out and you were enjoying every second of it

“are you serious?” His voice was suddenly raspy, eyes staring straight into yours with wonder

“yeah, you want the book right?” You step back then, tension dropping as you pick up your cup and take a sip while maintaining eye contact. Realisation hits him, an exhale of breath leaving him and a smirk rises on his lips

“i got played” A laugh breaks out from your throat, head going back before looking back at him “oh you find it funny? okay” You drink is taken from you and disregard on the side, you’re about to question before he wraps his around your waist making a noise of surprise leave you as he lifts you off your feet and over his shoulder

“what are you doing?” It comes out between laughter as people watch him carry you out of the kitchen, more heads turn to stare as he takes you out into the empty hallways of the dorm. “Jungkook!”

“teaching you a lesson is what iam doing” Another laugh tumbles out of you as he leaves the dorms and jogs down the building steps outside

“okay! iam sorry put me down” You feel his shoulder shakes as he laughs and stops in the middle of an alleyway before slowly lowering you off his shoulder. All laughter stops as you body slides down his front, his hands gripping at your waist holding you close. There’s no hint of humour on his face as he leans in as your feet finally hit the ground, your hands planted onto his the corners of his neck. Your breathing turns heavy when his lips ghost over yours, barely touching almost as if he was testing the waters. It was like a gravitational pull, without realising it you brushed your own lips back against his- your mouth stealing a quick breath from his mouth.

Then it happens, he firmly plants his lips against yours and a groan escapes his throat and gets captured in your mouth. The kiss was hard and fast, like neither of you would live if it wasn’t. Jungkook’s hands fly to the sides of your face, holding you against him as his tongue traces your bottom lip. With a moan you open you mouth allowing him access and his tongue immediately meets yours, it was messy and intense.

“fuck, you tatse so good” He mumbles against your lips before going right back in for another kiss and you can’t do anything but sigh into it. Then, a ringing phone breaks your attention and Jungkook whines against your lips “ignore it” He whispers out and god it was so tempting, but remembering your friends who were still at the party you just got carried out of- you pulled away and pulled the phone out of you pocket. You try and catch your breath before quickly answering the call

“Nina what’s up?” Your eyes widen when Jungkook dips his head into your neck and begins nipping and licking at it like his life depended on it

“y/n!” You could barely hear her over the music blasting into the phone, even if there wasn’t you’d still struggle with Jungkook going to town on your neck “are you still here?!” She was practically shouting down the phone and it took everything in you to keep a moan escaping when Jungkooks lips meet the spot just below your ear

“i uh, am outside” Your knees almost buckle when Jungkooks fingers begin fiddling with the button of your jeans, undoing it with ease

“you okay?!” A small sigh leaves your lips as he pulls your zipper down, his fingers dipping underneath your jeans “y/n! you good?!” Your eyes flutter closed as his fingers brush lightly over your covered clit, adding a little more pressure with each stroke

“y-yes am fine” You could barely hold a coherent thought as Jungkook stops momentarily before his thumb then presses down where his fingers were just brushing

“thank god i couldn’t find you, want me to come out?” His thumb begins circling your clit and your free hand comes up to grip his shoulder, your eyes fly open

“no!, no it’s okay stay at the party” Jungkook sucks at your neck and you almost let out a strangled noise at how good it feels

“ok, come back up soon Taes driving me crazy”

“yep will do, bye” You didn’t let her say anything as you quickly hang up and let a moan finally leave your throat “are you crazy?” It was half hearted, mainly because you already knew how fucking crazy he was from doing this on the middle of a god damn alleyway

“i told you not to answer” He mumbles against your neck before his thumb stops and you whine out which makes him chuckle. Jungkook’s head comes into view as he zips you back up along with doing up the button. The pair of you just stare at each other quietly, your heart pounding against your chest as you do so. What was it about him? He just had this way of making you lose complete control, yet you barely even knew him “there’s something about you, that just drives me fucking crazy” Well, at least he was in the same boat as you. You open your mouth to reply when voices flood from just outside the alleyway.

“please don’t leave, just talk to me” Your brothers voice makes you turn your head with wide eyes, Jungkook acts fast by taking you in his arms and turning you so you’re planted against his chest and all anyone can see if they look is his back

“i can’t Joon, you know i can’t” Is that, Lola? You tilt your head to look up at Jungkook and he gives you a confused look

“why? iam begging you please, there’s something between us you can’t deny that” Something between them? When in the fuck did your best friend have something with your brother?

“no i can’t, but what would y/n think? i can’t keep this from her anymore it’s killing me” Your heart burned, she sounded so upset. Did she really think she had to keep this from you? Sure, you were pissed at the audacity of Namjoon to scare of any guy when he himself was clearly interested in one of your best friends. But you’d never stop Lola from seeing him if she really liked him. You don’t hear anything more as their voices drift off, walking away together. Jungkook let’s you go and you take a step back

“well, didn’t see that coming” He says making you chuckle lightly. You definitely didn’t see it coming either.

Jungkooks pov

His mind was replaying the moment in the alleyway over and over on repeat as he stared at the wall of your dorm while you moved around the kitchen making hot chocolate. After you messaged your friends saying you were going home, he naturally just followed you back to your dorm making sure you got there safe. But you invited him in, and he wasn’t about to decline. Jungkook had no idea what he was doing by flirting with you for the past two days, all he knew was that he couldn’t help himself and now that he’s kissed you? He would never be able to forget you

“here, careful it’s hot” You pull him out of his head. Looking up at you his smiles, unable not to when his eyes meet yours. You were just so damn pretty how could he not?

“thank you” He takes the cup out of your hand and you place your own on the coffee table before sitting next to him on the sofa. Taking a sip, he places the cup next to yours before his phone rings out indicating he has a text. Pulling it out, he reads the notification

dad: hi son, you have any offers yet for pro training?”

A sigh makes its way out of him. It was probably early morning for his dad back home and of course the first thing he does is message him about hockey

“what’s wrong?” Jungkook wanted to pretend, say nothing was wrong and move on but for some reason he couldn’t. You know about his struggle with hockey, how he didn’t know whether it was something he actually wanted to do with the rest of his life. It comforted him to know there was someone who knew he had practically fallen out of love with the sport

“my dad, asking about hockey” You offer him a small knowing smile. What he liked so much was your lack of pity, your smile wasn’t overly sympathetic and you weren’t coddling him saying it would all be alright. You just listened and accepted his opinions

“do you think that you not wanting to do hockey professionally is less about not liking it and more about fear of failing?” The question shocks him, he hadn’t really thought that deeply into it. Jungkook loves it every time he steps onto the ice, thrives off it even. But as soon as the game is over, that feeling disappears and the thought of doing it forever scares him. He always assumed it meant he didn’t want to do it forever, but maybe there was another reason

“i never really thought about it like that” You nod, obviously thinking about something

“it’s just, when we talked about it last time you said you do love being out on the ice. but somehow you also don’t enjoy the thought of doing it professionally. maybe what’s taking away your enjoyment, is the thought of failing and disappointing people?” Jungkook remained silent, a gnawing feeling of realisation snaking up his chest. Were you right? It for sure made sense, why else would he love being on the ice but hate when people talked about him going pro?

“i think you might be right” You place a hand on his shoulder before moving it on his back, the action oddly comforting

“well i might not be, but it’s an explanation to explore. try not to over analyse yourself, just do what you love and everything will work out” Jungkook’s heart beats a little faster. You were just so understanding, so open to letting him ramble about himself.

“thank you y/n, for listening. seems it’s our thing to leave parties and have deep talks in your dorm” A laugh erupts from you and it makes him smile. It was weird, he’d only ever had a handful of conversations with you and yet, he’s opened up to you more then any of his friends. Jungkook knew his friends wouldn’t t judge him of course, but he’s never felt comfortable enough to open himself up. That was until you entered his life.

“anytime, well for the next week. once my roommates are back i don’t think they’d appreciate us coming back here every weekend after parties” He’d never even considered where your roommates were, well he never really thought of much else except you when you two are together

“seriously i really appreciate this. ever since i fell out of that fucking bush i knew there was something about you.” His chest ached at how vulnerable he was being, he’d never had this much of a crush on anyone. Never even had this much feelings for someone, it was scary but he’d be a fool to not admit it

“what the hell were you even doing in that bush?” Another round of laughs escape you and a pink tint ghosts over his cheeks at the embarrassing memory

“i didn’t wanna fucking creep you out! i can’t even believe Namjoon asked me to do that but hey, if it meant his sister getting home safe sure i didn’t mind. i tried to keep out of sight, which was why i was in the stupid fucking bush” His heart almost leaps from his chest when you look at him with the brightest smile on your face, for some reason he felt he’d do anything to have you always smile at him like that

“you’re a good guy you know? you just, i’ve never gotten close to someone as easy as i did with you” God were you tying to kill him? You were just so sweet, so welcoming and it made him go crazy

“fuck it” He grits out make you look confused before he reaches over and attaches his lips onto yours. You gasp in surprise and he uses it to his advantage, sliding his tongue into your mouth while pushing you to lay on your back. This kiss was softer then the previous one, slower too. He wanted to savour the feeling of your lips on his, memorise the feeling

“bedroom” You mutter against his lips and he almost shudders at the thought

“you sure?” He didnt want you to have any regrets, sure he wanted to fuck you until the sun came up and maybe then some. But he wasn’t about to not make sure it’s what you really wanted

“do i look like am not sure?” You roll your hips up into his and groan leaves him at the feeling. He leans down and plants a firm kiss on your lips before leans up and lifts you up. Wrapping your legs around him you lean back down to continue your kiss as he carries you into your room

Y/n’s pov

The constant buzzing filling the room made you groan as you wake up. Your eyes blink rapidly to adjust to the room before raising your hand blindly towards your desk trying to stop the noisy buzz of your phone.

“who the fuck is calling at the ass crack of dawn?” Your head whips to the boy led next to you, no shirt and messy hair. Jungkook turns to face you, eyes still closed as your hand finally comes into contact with the phone which has thankfully gone silent. Peeking at the screen, you sigh

“it’s nine, not exactly dawn” He groans in response making you laugh through an exhale. Jungkook’s arm lazily reaches over your waist and tugs you against him while his eyes remain shut.

“can we just agree to like, never leave this bed again?” Another chuckle leaves you as you tuck yourself closer into his side.

“hm if only i could, i need to see Lola” You needed answers. What exactly did she have with your brother and why, or how long, had she been hiding it?

“she’s definitely fucked Namjoon” Jungkook mumbles making you abruptly sit up

“hey! i would rather not discuss shit like that” He chuckles but slowly sits up next to you. A laugh escapes you at the sight of his hair stuck in all different directions

“what’s so funny?” Jungkook’s eyes are finally open, blink rapidly as he tries to wake up properly as he itches the back of his head

“nothing, you’re just cute” He gives you a confused smile as you get out of bed, just in your underwear still. You move to your closet, trying to find something to wear for the day “i might have some of Namjoons stuff from when he used to stay over if you need something to wear i’ll have a lo-” You stop mid sentence as you turn and notice Jungkook’s eyes trained downwards, in the direction of your ass “excuse me?” His eye flick upwards, lower lip between his teeth “typical man” You grumble but with a smile as your turn back to your closet

“pardon you but iam no typical man” His voice comes closer to you, his arms circling your bare waist from behind. The coldness of his touch makes you momentarily shiver “i know we’ve done this the wrong way around, but i really wanna take you out sometime” It was a little hard to focus on his words when his hands began to run along the top of your thighs before coming back up to your stomach

“iam sure that can be arranged”

-

Locating Lola seemed to suddenly be the most difficult task on earth. She wasn’t answering texts, or picking up your calls and even Nina was no help

“i haven’t seen her since last night” She mumbles, shoving a handful of crisps into her mouth at once. “and since we’re talking about last night, where did you end up running off to?” You shift uncomfortably on her bed at the question

“actually i, i spent the night with jungkook” Nina chokes on the crisps shoved in her mouth, coughing before reaching out for her water bottle and taking a sip as you silently watch her reaction

“jeon jungkook? right winger jungkook? taehyung’s friend jungkook? your BROTHERS friend jungkook?” Her voice goes up in pitch with each word and you struggle to come up with any sort of response “FUCKING HELL!”

“ok calm down with the dramatics” You huff before crossing your arms over your chest

“calm down? you fucked jungkook and you’re telling me to calm down? oh namjoon is gonna hit the ROOF” The mention of your brother reminds you of why you were at Nina’s place

“well on the subject of him… i think him and Lola are fucking” Nina’s jaw drops silently, eyes widening. “right, my thoughts exactly”

“you’ve fucked jungkook and Lola’s fucked your brother. what the fuck is happening?” You can only shrug, because you didn’t have any idea either

“i overheard them talking last night, about having something between them and hiding it from me. the irony is, i couldn’t give less of a fuck” You honestly didn’t. Lola would only be good for him and that’s why you were trying to find her- to tell her she can absolutely see Namjoon she didn’t have to hide it from you.

“oh my god” You turn to face Nina “what if she’s at his dorm?” Your blink as you think about it, she was definitely at his dorm how could you not have thought of that

“iam going” You stand but halt as Nina stands too. She gives you a look before speaking

“oh don’t think iam not coming with you, i wanna see everything”

Jungkook’s pov

“dibs on the first speech at your funeral” Jungkook glares at Taehyung from across the table. He should’ve known better then to think his friend would give him actual advice

“real funny” He deadpans and Tae shrugs, shoving a spoonful of pasta into his mouth

“i ain’t laughing, nor joking. namjoon is going to kill you” Tae gets out between chewing making Jungkook roll his eyes

“yeah well, he hasn’t got a leg to stand on” Taehyung pauses just before taking another bite of his food, then lowering the spoon back into his bowl

“and why is that?” Jungkook leans closer to his friend over the table, making sure no one in the campus cafe could hear him

“he might be sleeping with one of y/n’s friends” Taehyung’s jaw locks as he tightens his grip on his spoon

“which one?” He grits out through clenched teeth and Jungkook gives a small knowing smirk

“not Nina, you jealous dick” His friend visibly relaxes and wipes the anger off his face in the blink of an eye

“so not jealous, idiot” Jungkook just laughs, he so was but it would take a miracle to get him to admit it “i don’t know why you’re laughing, Namjoon is still gonna beat your ass”

“look, i like her. i like her so much Tae, she listens, she understands and we could have something so special- iam not letting an overprotective brother stop us from having that” His friends head tilts slightly, looking intensely at Jungkook for a few seconds before replying

“hold onto that Jungkook, hold real tight okay?” Jungkook’s brows furrow in confusion but nods his head. He will hold onto it, of course he would

“Jungkook” He smacks his knee against the table in the haste he stood up once he heard your voice. Jungkook hissed through his teeth as you smile up at him, Taehyung chuckles as making Jungkook shot him a glare before looking back at you “sorry to interrupt i just wanted to speak with you if you’re not busy?”

“of course you can, iam not busy” He hears his friend snort but he chose to ignore him

“thank you, i’ll wait outside” You give Tae a wave on your way out and he gives you a smile, Jungkook goes to follow before his friend speaks

“might aswell start practicing your bark now, seems as she’s walking you like a dog” Jungkook stops at his friends side before bending down to whisper

“i’ll get lessons from you, seems as Nina’s had you on all fours since you met her” Taehyung’s smile falls but he doesn’t deny it, just stays silent. Jungkook grins before standing straight and heading out of the cafe to see you leant against a wall nearby “you okay? what did you want to tell me?” You give him a half hearted smile before pushing off the wall

“i can’t find Lola or Namjoon and iam getting worried, does he have any hockey meetings or something he needs to be at today?” Jungkook thinks for a second. There’s no game until next week and training is tomorrow- in theory he should be completely free

“no, there’s nothing hockey related today. maybe he has some work for classes?” He could see the frustration on your face and wanted nothing more then to just solve everything for you but had no idea how to do that “hey it’s ok, iam sure he’s just off doing something i’ll call him”

“i already tried, none of them are picking up. i haven’t heard from either of them since last night what if something happened after they left that party?” He could sense it in your tone, you were one step away from bawling your eyes out.

“let’s not think like that okay? we’ll find them” Jungkook reaches out and pulls you into him, your arms immediately go around his waist has he holds tightly onto you. It stays like that for a little while before the ringing of you phone breaks up the silence. Sighing you pull away from his embrace and pull out your phone

“it’s my mum! maybe she’s heard from him” You answer the phone and Jungkook goes to go back inside to give you some privacy but he’s shocked as you reach out and grip his wrist, encouraging him to stay wordlessly. “he is? thank god tell him he’s fucking dead for going MIA on me mum, i swear to god iam gonna beat his ass” Jungkook chuckles and moves his hand to hold onto yours as you finish up your call. He loves the relationship you have with your family, he’s felt that way ever since he got close to Namjoon and seen how close you all are- quite the opposite of himself. He had been avoiding his Dad ever since the constant questions about hockey began

“is he okay?” Jungkook asks as you hang up the phone and turn to him

“yeah he’s back home, travelled all night apparently” That’s strange, with training on for tomorrow he’d never expect Namjoon to run off with no notice of possibly missing it “according to my mum he’s love sick, whatever that means”

“sounds like this thing with Lola is more serious then we thought” You give his hand a squeeze but say nothing.

“woah since when were you shacking up with Namjoons sister?” Jungkook’s head whips around to see Jimin

“i have a name” He laughs at Jimin’s flustered face at your response, he thinks this is probably the first words the pair of you have ever exchanged

“right, sorry” Jimin mutters as he takes a quick glance at the links hands of the the two of you before looking back up at Jungkook

“don’t worry about it, only kidding” You reply to Jimin before looking up to Jungkook “iam gonna go on the hunt for Lola but i’ll catch up with you later?”

“yeah sure and let me know when you find her okay?” You give him a smile and a nod before stepping away and walking off. When you out of sight, Jungkook turns to his fiend who his smirking at him

“you are so dead” Jungkook was getting tired of hearing that today

y/n’s pov

You were still on the hunt for Lola well into the evening and past it with it now being near midnight, it was truly like she had disappeared. All you wanted to do was find her and tell you knew and that you were absolutely fine with whatever was going on between her and Namjoon. You huff at the same voicemail you’ve heard all day and end the call

“still not picking up?” Nina questions and you shake your head before flopping onto your bed making her laugh at you “can you believe she has something going on with your brother? how did they even get close enough to fuck each other?” You friend wonders as she swipes another layer of nail varnish on her toe from her position next to you

“beats me, i didn’t even think they’ve ever had one conversation” Your phone starts to ring then and you flip the screen and immediately sit up “it’s her, it’s her”

“pick up! loud speaker please” You side eye Nina and she waves her hands at you, ushering you to hurry up so you do and click onto loud speaker

“Lola?” You hear an immediate sigh down the line before she starts speaking

“y/n, iam so sorry” It was obvious she had been crying and it broke your heart a little “i didnt want it to get this far, i promise i never wanted to go behind your back”

“Lola it’s okay! i promise iam not mad” It’s silent from her end for a couple seconds

“you’re not?” You almost laugh, this was incredibly dramatic

“no you idiot! iam more concerned that you’d actually want to spend time with my brother” She let’s out a chuckle down the line

“y/n, i love him”

“LOVE?!” You whip your head to Nina who has the utmost look of shock etched all over her face

“Nina?” Lola calls out and your friend leans closer to the phone

“hi baby!” A laugh makes its way out, you’d love these girls forever “look you get your ass back here, i want the full story. start to finish, no dirty detail left unsaid” Lola laughs loudly down the line then and you hear a sniffle to follow it

“iam sorry for running guys, i just got so scared you’d hate me. i’ll be back tomorrow, iam at my parents” You sigh in relief, thank god this whole situation has been sorted out

“we love you okay? see you tomorrow” You say with a smile

“i love you guys too” Everyone says their goodbyes and you look over to Nina before letting out a breath and once again flopping onto your back

“she loves him. i can’t believe this” Nina says as she continues to paint her nails “speaking of love, how’s your boyfriend?”

“he’s… not my boyfriend” Even you were shocked at how sad that sentence came out. With your whole brother drama, you never even stopped to process what was happening between you and Jungkook

“do you want him to be?” Did you? that was a good question. Somehow you’ve found yourself falling for a hockey player who is your brothers friend. And you had no idea what he even wanted.

“i like him, our conversations are easy and fun and there’s this weird connection but i don’t know what he wants i really don’t” Nina gives you a pointed look and you just stare right back her

“okay listen, i need you to give me the whole story. start to finish” You sigh and tell her everything, the secret conversations, the hangouts in your dorm, the sneaking off at parties, the sex- everything. At the end, your friend is silent for a moment as she processes. Nina screws up her (your) nail varnish and places it on the bedside table before she finally speaks. “am i sat where you fucked? please tell you changed the sheets”

“Nina! please i need advice” You whine out making her laugh before she slides closer to you

“y/n, it sounds like he’s head over heels for you. why else would he agree to sneak off with his captains sister? and that story about asking you stay for the game, i remember him being super distracted that game- he was looking around the crowd the whole time. how much you wanna bet he was looking for you?” Shaking your head you can’t help but disagree

“no we didn’t even know each other then, never even had a proper conversation” Nina rolls her eyes and scoffs

“please, why else would he say he hopes you stay for the game? iam telling you he’s had a crush this whole time” Did he? You shake your head at the thought, no he couldn’t have that’s impossible

“this is life, not a rom com Nina” She actually laughs at this, head thrown back before coming back to look at you

“it’s fine you’re in denial, i’ll be proven right in the end. he’s in love and i think you are too” You throw a look her way, silently telling her she was being ridiculous. Jungkook and you had only barely started whatever it was you two had, it was exciting and new- he definitely wasn’t in love or crushing on you the entire time. You open your mouth to word this but a loud knock on the front door echoes throughout the house “it’s half past midnight who the fuck is that?” You shrug at Nina and stand before a voice calls out

“y/n! are you home?!” Your friend immediately gets on her feet, widened eyes pointed in your direction

“oh my god is it that him?” She asks but you just blink at her, because that was definitely Jungkook calling through the door

Jungkook’s pov

He resisted the urge to knock a second time. Breathing a breath of relief when he notices the living room lights turn on and hears the door being unlocked. He’s even more relieved when he sees the sight of you upon opening the door

“Jungkook it’s so late, you okay?” His lips twitch upwards at the concern from you, heart beating slightly faster

“i came here to ask you that, you never called or anything i’ve been trying to get a hold of you” He tried so damn hard not to come here, worried he would come across as slightly deranged for coming here this late- but you weren’t replying to his texts or answering his calls, he couldn’t help coming over to check on you

“oh iam so sorry, i’ve been constantly calling Lola i didnt see anything from you” That would be why his calls wouldn’t go through, he thinks.

“don’t worry about it, i just wanted to check in. i’ll-uh head home” He goes to turn but you step through the doorway and hold onto his hoodie. The action makes his chest ache in the best way

“don’t be silly, come in” You basically pull him inside with the grip you have on his hoodie and the action ridiculously almost makes him hard. He takes an inhale to calm himself down. Once inside you close the door and head into the living room and maybe Tae was right because he follows right behind you wordlessly- no better then a dog. He laughs to himself at the thought. “have a seat” Jungkook does so immediately - yeah, definitely her little bitch. He chuckles to himself once again “something funny going in that head?” You ask, hands resting on the back of the sofa where he sits and he almost gets a little tongue tied looking up at you from this position.

“nope, nothing” He smiles up at you and you give him a look of suspicion but smile back at him. A sudden noise from upstairs make the both of you look in its direction and the thought of you having someone up there that late makes his jaw clench. He leans up to you, his knees digging into the couch as his face meets yours “you got company?” His hands rest on the outside of yours on the back of the couch, fingers digging into the fabric as he awaits your response

“i do” You whisper face leaning down, nose softly bumping into his as you do so. Jungkook’s surprised he doesn’t break the back of the sofa with how hard he was gripping it but you catch him off guard as you brush your lips against his in an almost kiss. A shaky exhale leaves him as he extends his head up in an attempt to get a proper kiss, forgetting about his jealously of whoever was making noise upstairs. However, before he can plant his lips onto yours you pull back ever so slightly making a deep groan leave his throat. “it’s Nina” You whisper before pushing off the sofa with a smile. God, your really did have him wrapped around your little finger and he was loving every second of it

“sorry, didn’t mean to intrude when you have company” He goes to sit back down properly but before he can your hands meet his checks and you lean down- pressing your lips against his. Jungkook immediately kisses back, hands reaching out to hold onto your waist. He subconsciously pulls you closer but the back of the sofa gets in the way making him groan at the fact he couldn’t feel your body on his. Jungkook feels you smile against his lips before you pull away and sigh escapes him “please come to my next game” Even he was surprised that came out of his mouth. He has no idea why it did, but he knew he was going to ask at some point

“hm sure, but just know i’ve never stayed for an entire game so if my brother sees me he’ll be suspicious” Jungkook almost rolled his eyes at this but held himself back. You move into the kitchen and he’s on his feet following you in a second

“y/n” You hum at him in response, back to him as you mess around with the kettle “y/n” He tries again and you turn to him this time as he eyes your from over the counter “be my girlfriend” Jungkook notices your eyes widen ever so slightly but he keeps his face straight.

“are you asking or telling?” You let out a little laugh, leaning against the kitchen side and god the way you looked right now made his heart beat so fast. Short bed shorts, baggy black cropped top and white shocks- he could genuinely stare at you forever in this moment

“both? whichever one will make you agree” This got a proper laugh at you and fuck was it becoming his favourite thing to ever hear

“jungkook, are you sure about this?” His eyebrows furrow, a look of confusion taking over his face making you sigh “we’ve slept together once, and we barely know each other” He scoffs at this before rounding the counter to stand in front of you and hold your forearms in his hands

“no one has ever made me feel as heard as you do. since that very first night where i fucking fell out of that bush i’ve thought of nothing and nobody but you” You take a sharp inhale but he continues “you’re the only one who brings this instant feeling of relief whenever i see you, even when iam completely relaxed i’ll see you and this just feeling of relief hits my fucking chest y/n. i would be the biggest fucking idiot if i didn’t even try to have you be my girlfriend. it doesn’t even matter if you say no right now, i will seek you out every damn time, no matter where iam or who iam with because i haven’t felt this way in fucking forever.” It’s pin-drop silent once he finishes, you blink rapidly a couple times as you stare up at him. His heart is beating faster then he ever thought it could, he swears you could probably hear it from where he stands

“you sound like you just stepped out of one of my fucking books” A chuckle mixed with an exhale leaves him at your response that breaks the silence “sorry, that was not the right thing to say after, that” This only makes him laugh more and you grip onto his forms arms to match his grip and shake him “okay stop laughing i have an appropriate response” Your tone was almost tantrum like and he bites onto his lower lip to try and fulfil your request “i think iam falling for you” His laughing stops immediately as he hears you, staring into your eyes

“really?” Jungkook’s chest aches at the slight thought this could be you playing a joke but tells himself you would never do that, he knows that

“yeah, you’ve been so sweet and open with me. you always just listen” You take a moment to sigh and he doesn’t like the sound of it “before we decide anything though, let’s go on a date? we haven’t even been on a proper one, can we do that? before we get too serious without thinking” It’s his turn to sigh then, he runs his hands down your arms before gripping onto your hands

“okay, i would love to. just be clear, iam ready, i know iam but if this is for you to be- then fine i’ll happily do it your way”

game day

Jungkook was in the locker room alone. He purposely came early to prepare, he was more nervous then normal. He knew you were going to be sat in the crowd today, you promised you would be. God, it was just a game of hockey he didn’t know why your presence had his hands borderline shaking. But you just had that effect on him, he couldn’t explain it. A groan wanted to escape him when he heard a bunch of voices coming from the hallway, it was the other boys you could hear them from a mile away

“ah you’re already here, why you ignoring our calls man?” He turns away from his locker to seen Jin leading the other guys in- Namjoon was missing though and he hated and he was a little relieved. He hadn’t seen him in a while, which he preferred knowing the little secret he had been keeping

“sorry, it’s on silent” He mumbles before turning back to his stuff and pretending to rummage through his things as if he was looking for something

“thought you were off having a secret meet up with your girlfriend” Taehyung teases and Jungkook rolls his eyes but doesn’t hate the way that sounds. You, his girlfriend. He could get used to that

“his girlfriend?! you have a girlfriend?” Hoseok almost screams and Jungkook tenses up, he loved his friends but they did not understand boundaries sometimes

“oh he has a girlfriend alright, how is Namjoons sisters Jungkook?” A dead silence appears in the locker room and Jungkook just knew they were all staring at his back

“someone wanna tell me why you’re asking Jungkook how my sister is?” Shit- he already knew who it was from the first word. Whipping around,he meets Namjoons gaze staring at him from the locker room door.

oh fuck

y/n’s pov

You were surprisingly nervous as you sat among other students, waiting for the game to start. The cheer team had finished they’re routine a little while ago so the game was set to start soon and your legs were bouncing rapidly as the rest of the crowd were chatting. Honestly, you had no idea why a simple game of hockey was filling you with anxiety. Maybe because you didn’t want to see Jungkook get thrown around, or maybe it was because you knew you’re brother would see you and have a million questions. A tap on the shoulder almost made you jump, you look behind you- where the stairs were for the audience.

“you’re needed, please” It was Taehyung, kitted out in his full gear making people stare at him and murmur among themselves as to why minutes before the game a player was among the crowd. You immediately stood up and followed him up the stairs and into the hallway

“what’s going on?” Tae throws a side glance your way before replying

“oh you’ll see, in fact you’ll probably hear them in a couple seconds” You scrunch your eyebrows in confusion but soon enough it became clear. Loud voices echoed through the hallways and two of them you could hear over the rest

“oh fuck” You grumble out and Taehyung had the nerve to chuckle at this situation as you approach the open locker room door

“my fucking sister?! really?” Namjoon was loud but weirdly didn’t sound too angry. Not nearly as mad as you thought he would be

“yeah your sister, who is her own person by the way! and this isn’t just some fucking hook up okay before you jump down my throat. iam fucking falling for that girl Joon and i will not let an overbearing brother keep me from that kind of happiness!” Your heart instantly warmed and ached. Jungkook was in a room full of his teammates, friends even and didn’t hesitate once to say such sweet words, you knew your exes would’ve never. Too concerned about what their ‘bros’ would say or think. Every damn day he gave you a reason to keep falling for him

“and does she feel the same?” Suddenly it was quiet and you felt so damn angry at yourself that Jungkook couldn’t answer that straight away. You wanted him to know how you felt, know that it was the exact same way he was feeling

“yeah, she does” At the sound of your own voice all heads turn to where you stand at the door, Taehyung stood behind you not knowing what to do with himself. You met Jungkook’s eyes straight away, heart hurting about how sweetly he smiled and beamed at you. Then, you turn to your brother “Namjoon, i have not interfered once when i found out you were going around behind my back to be with one of my best friends. i never have my entire life, for once you need to back off and give me the same courtesy” You turn back to Jungkook once your done and give him a smile before walking over to him, he surprised you when he instantly wraps his arms around you.

“look, they’re so fucking cute i can’t!” You laugh into Jungkook’s shoulder at Jins exclamation, as did everyone else. You pull away but his hand remains on your back

“guys you’re so dramatic i swear to god, iam happy for you!” The looks of everyone’s faces must have been something after Namjoons admission. It would’ve been funny if it wasn’t for the pure shock of the moment

“you are?” Even Jungkook sounded unsure “but you bombarded me with all the questions, it was about to be an argument?” Your brothers laughs making everyone give each other looks of confusion

“no it wasn’t, i was just excited i get loud when iam excited. i’ve been hoping you two would get together, why else do you think i’ve been chasing people away from her since she came here?” Your mouth falls open, well, everyone’s did

“bro, you’ve gotta explain yourself. what?” Yoongi had been sat down the whole time, watching everything unfold from the corner of the room

“ever since i met Jungkook i thought he’d be perfect for y/n. but my plan really went into motion when i asked him to walk her home, i knew if they even just had one conversation they’d hit it off. Knowing how stubborn she is, she’d probably not even go on a date with him if i set it up- so i did it that way. I had to keep guys away from her, otherwise they might never happen” It was silent for several moments, no one knew what to say. Suddenly, you burst out laughing, it was all your body was capable of doing with this information. This whole thing was ridiculous, you couldn’t even comprehend it

“you’re crazy, iam going back to my seat i can’t even have this conversation right now” Without thinking you turn to Jungkook, plant a kiss on his lips making him smile down at you, and leave the locker room- still laughing. You must’ve looked insane.

“y/n oh my god we heard Joon found out!” You look up from your chuckling to see Nina and Lola running towards you still in their cheer gear

“Lola i missed you, great routine by the way!” Pulling her into a hug she seems a little taken aback but returns the hug before pulling back

“sorry i haven’t caught up with you, been with- your brother actually” Lola seemed sheepish at her admission but you just smile at her, happy her and Namjoon had sorted everything out

“speaking of, what the fuck did he say?! did he go crazy?” Nina seemed frantic, waiting to hear your answer

“he um, is completely okay with it”

“huh?” Is the synchronised response from both girls and it made you start chuckling all over again

“yeah, he apparently supports it. wanted us together” Your friends say nothing while staring blankly at you, even they didn’t know how to react “yeah i dont know what to say either, iam gonna go sit down for the game, catch up afterwards?” They both agree and say their goodbyes before going back to the rest of the cheer squad to prepare for halftime

“jungkook get back here, warm ups start in one minute!” The voice of the school coach echoed down the halls and makes you turn around and see Jungkook in full gear running towards you. His hair bouncing making you smile.

“i haven’t got long but i wanted to see you before i go out there” He breathes out and you open your mouth to reply but get stopped

“Jungkook! warm ups!” He waves his had behind him, shaking off the coach making you laugh

“can you wait for me after the game?” His soft tone had your stomach bubbling with butterflies. How could he be so sweet?

“of course, i-”

“JUNGKOOK!” The coach was almost screeching at this point and you look past Jungkook to see the guy almost pacing with stress

“let’s talk after the game” You chuckle and Jungkook nods before bending down and planting a quick kiss on your lips. The action shocks you a little

“hey, you did it first” He points out before jogging backwards with a grin on his face before turning fully and running to his coach. Your lips twitch upwards before you full on smile.

Jungkook’s pov

Stepping off the ice his heart was thumping as adrenaline coursed through him. This was the first game in a while where he actually felt good after a game, like he could do this for the rest of his life. It had been a while since he felt like that and he knew the reason why. He was proud- because he saw your face light up at every good play he made, saw you smile, clap and shout when he scored. Jungkook couldn’t explain it, there was just something about you cheering for him that made him fall in love with the game all over again. He was moving rapidly in the locker room, trying to shower and change as quickly as he could

“woah calm down, got somewhere to be?” Hoseok questions just as Jungkook and finished zipping up his bag

“y/n’s waiting for me” He says quickly as he throws his bag over his shoulder

“woof woof, sit boy” Taehyung mocks with a smile and Jungkook whips his head over to him

“Nina teach you to bark like that Tae?” The boys smile flips into a frown and Jungkook gives him a big smile before leaving the room. He spots you a little further down the hallway, chatting away and his top lip twitches when he sees that guy from the library. He can’t even recall his name, he didn’t even want to remember it. Jungkook walks over and manages to catch what you’re saying without being seen

“he was so good right? I knew Jungkook was good at hockey but i’ve never seen it before! I mean come on, i understand why everyone says he can go pro if he wants to” His heart skips a beat, an overwhelming feeling of pride fills him as you finally spot him close by. Your full attention turns to him as you mutter a goodbye to, whatever his name was, and you smile widely at him before closing the distance “congratulations! you played amazingly i-” Your sentence is cut short when he pulls you in for a tight hug

“thank you” Is all Jungkook mutters as you return his hug. “for a long time i didn’t enjoy hockey anymore, nothing i did ever made me love it like i used to. but seeing you in the crowd, cheering - it makes me excited to get back out there just to see you smiling from the seats” He couldn’t help but to admit this to you, he just wanted to tell you every thought that ran through his head because lately everything single thought was about you

“Jungkook, that’s so sweet” You mutter as you pull away from the hug, keeping your hands resting on his arms while you take a moment to look at him before going to speak “look i know i said i wanted to do a date but-”

“but?” He can’t help but interrupt as his heart feels like it’s about to fall out. Had you changed your mind? Did he come on too strong? “iam sorry if i can on too strong that night, i just-”

“jungkook” You interrupt him this time and he notices a small smile on your lips which confuses yet calms him at the same time “i would still love the date, but i’ve been thinking about it and- i think i made a mistake when i didn’t answer you when you asked to be together. i was trying to be careful, thought it was fast but i’ve never felt this way before. i’d be stupid if i didn’t go for it, so if your question still stands- then yes, i would love to be with you jungkook” He’s stunned as he blinks at you in silence, heart beating rapidly against his chest.

“y/n i-”

“hey little sis!” Namjoon’s voice makes Jungkook jump momentarily as his captain comes up to the both of you “iam so glad you finally stayed for the game, although it wasn’t for me” He glances at Jungkook “obviously, but still happy” You throw an annoyed glance his way, clearly annoyed your brother and inserted himself in the middle of the conversation

“kind of in the middle of a conversation here joon” The older looks between the both of you before a big grin appears on his lips

“oh i see, apologies children i’ll let you get back to it” He makes no move to leave though, just stands there smiling while looking between Jungkook and you

“oh my god will you leave already?!” Jungkook finally breaks at this point and laughs at you shouting at Namjoon to leave, the previous shock leaving him. Your brother finally takes the hit and walks away, not before giving a little wave to annoy you further. Once he’s gone you finally turn back to Jungkook

“iam sorry” Jungkook’s laughter stops at this point as he looks at you again, smile bright on his face

“y/n, of course the question still stands and i’ll happily take you on a date” You smile up at him and he can’t help it, he leans down and gently places his lips on yours. His hands cup your face as the kiss deepens, your own come up to rest on your shoulders

“ohh a free show how kinky” The two of you separate quickly at the sound of Jimins voice, Jungkook glares at him as the boy walks past with a smile before leaving the two of you alone once again

“think they’re all heading to campus bar, we better go before they all get crazy with the celebrating” You say making Jungkook wrap an arm around your shoulder before the pair of you begin walking towards the exit. He feels you wrap your own arm around his waist making him smile “hey, now iam your boyfriend and all can i finally read that book?” Your laughter is loud and it makes his smile bigger

“you seriously won’t let go of that book huh?” You look up at him and Jungkook returns it

“nope, iam gonna study each and every page marked in red. could use the insight into what you enjoy sweetheart” The scoff you let out makes him chuckle as he pushes open the exit door with his spare hand and the pair of you begin to walk out

“this is never happening again, do you understand?!” Shouting prevents your reply. You and Jungkook half your walking as you both turn back towards the direction of the source of the yelling- just inside the exit you just came out of.

“isn’t that Nina?” Jungkook asks and you nod as a reply

“did i say i wanted it to darling?” A second voice is heard and you and Jungkook whip your heads to look at each other

“taehyung?” You both say at the same time. A moment of silence passes before the two of you laugh at the same time

“iam so winning the campus bet, they’re gonna get back together” Jungkook chuckles as the two of you turn away and continue walking

“shame, i bet on them killing each other” He mutters making you giggle

[casual-violinist-fangirl]

You are not Alone - 5,709 Words

Set after The Bad Batch Season 3, this fic takes place after the war is over and Omega returns home! She brings home some friends... and a secret.

This will be part of a series of works that covers Omega's time in the rebellion and all of the heart attacks she gives her family!

As always, the link to my AO3 is here and the link to my Bad Batch master list on Tumblr is here. I hope you enjoy!

--------

Crosshair rolled his eyes as he watched Hunter pace the short length of the living room once more.

“Wearing a hole in the floor isn’t going to bring her back quicker,” he commented, not unkindly. He knew how anxious Hunter was to see his daughter again after so long… kriff, he may have looked cool on the outside but on the inside his stomach was doing somersaults. Hunter scowled and sent his brother a sour look that told him everything he needed to know. 

Shut up.

Noted, thought Crosshair as he sighed and leaned back in his seat. No point in wasting time pacing when Omega was due to arrive in… an hour? He’d save his jitters until ten minutes before.

It had been an ordinary day on Pabu for the three brothers when they’d received the hologram. The transmission had beeped irritatingly, waking all three of them up; Hunter had practically sprinted to the machine, calling over his shoulder for the others as he recognised Omega’s call sign straight away. 

“Hey,” came the staticky voice of the young woman they had been waiting to hear from for weeks. Normally she was pretty good at keeping up with transmissions but an emergency operation had called her away. Something about rescuing a fellow pilot from Jabba the Hutt… 

Needless to say, Hunter hadn’t been best pleased when she’d revealed that to the group.

“Omega!” Hunter smiled warmly, though Crosshair knew that his kid would be able to see straight through the mask he was wearing. “How are you? Where’ve you been?”

There was no reply for a moment, and Wrecker frowned.

“Maybe the signal’s faulty?” he asked, only for Omega to shake her head. She was silent, but through the sound of static Crosshair just made out the sound of a sniffle.

“What’s wrong, Omega? Are you hurt?” Hunter had clearly heard it as well, and had Crosshair not wanted to ask the same questions, he would have rolled his eyes.

The woman shook her head, pony tail bobbing as she did so. “I’m not hurt,” she managed to croak out. She sniffed loudly and glanced down at herself. “Well I might be a little bruised but it’s okay. Rex sorted me out.”

So Omega had been with Rex? That soothed Hunter a little. Even though Rex was also ageing, the ex-sergeant trusted the man with his kid. He nodded, still clearly concerned and Crosshair sighed. What was making her cry then?

Wrecker seemed to share his sentiment. 

“What’s got ya crying then, kid?” he asked. “You good?” Wrecker’s hearing had deteriorated a bit over the years; the clone now wore a device to help him hear, though he still had a habit of speaking louder than possibly necessary.

Omega let out a watery laugh at that, and a shaky smile spread across her face. She drew in a shuddering breath before carrying on.

“It’s over. We won.” 

There was a moments silence before all of a sudden all three of the clones were cheering loudly. They had grinned and congratulated her. They’d never doubted her abilities of course, but it could be hard fighting in a battle that felt like it had no end in sight. 

“I’m coming home,” she continued, though there was a slight hesitation to her voice. Hunter raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate further. Something was clearly on her mind.

“Is it alright if I bring a couple of friends? They… need a break.”

No one asked questions about who Omega’s friends were, or why indeed they needed a break. Questions like that simply weren’t asked on Pabu. Everyone was welcome as long as they didn’t pose a threat to the peaceful lives of those that lived there.

It was agreed, Omega would arrive as soon as possible (one standard rotation) and she would be bringing two friends with her. Now all the others had to do was wait.

Simple.

Completely and utterly simple…

… or at least it should have been. Hunter was clearly having a hard time remembering to chill the kriff out. No one could blame him, Crosshair supposed. It wasn’t every day you daughter upped and left to join a rebellion. The ex-sergeant had suffered his fair share of near-heart attacks when he’d received comm messages from Omega declaring that she was going undercover and that no one should contact her unless absolutely necessary. The first time she had gone comm silent, Hunter had spent a week staring at his comm device, waiting for it to beep. He’d nearly cried when he’d finally heard her voice again.

Of course, there had also been the time Hunter had actually been summoned to Omega’s aid… he’d been there in a heartbeat, of course, but Crosshair had been the one to break up the argument that came when Omega wanted to re-join the rebellion. Hunter had refused to talk to his brother and kid the whole evening, but had crumbled in the morning when Omega had brought him his usually cup of caf with a watery, hopeful smile.

There had been nothing but short conversations every week or so since that time, which now that Crosshair thought about it, was nearly a year ago. It was high time Omega came home.

——

Wrecker bounded through the door of the hut, shocking Hunter and Crosshair; of the three of them, Wrecker had been the one to maintain most of his youthful energy… just not as much as he was displaying now. 

“She’s here!” he cried, and suddenly both of the other clones were on their feet. Injuries and ageing combined meant that both of them had slowed down a little, with Hunter now favouring one leg (and refusing to use a walking stick), and Crosshair having to slow his pace a little. 

Upon their arrival at the Archium, they were greeted by an achingly familiar ship… Omega’s ship. 

The ramp hissed open, and Hunter took the opportunity to observe the level of carbon scoring on the front. What had she been up to? He tried not to think about it as he heard footsteps heading towards the ship’s ramp; he stared hopefully, waiting for Omega to exit.

Then, suddenly she was there, hair a little longer, eyes a little more tired. Her bag was slung over one shoulder and she carried Lula under one arm whilst her other…

… bore a sling. 

Hunter moved towards the woman, a frown on his face as he went to examine her arm.

“What happened?” he asked, stooping a little to examine the sling. Omega rolled her eyes, a fond smile on her face.

“Hello to you too, buir,” she teased before wrapping in him a hug that forced him to stop looking at her bandaged arm. He sighed contentedly as they stood in her embrace. She was here! Injured and tired, but she was here.

Hunter finally felt as though he could breathe again. 

“Missed, you, ‘Mega,” he croaked out, his voice thick with emotion. The woman sniffled in response; she was clearly fighting back the tears as well.

She pulled back from the embrace before going to each of her brothers; Wrecker wrapped her in his arms and Hunter knew that if he was still able she’d be up in the air like she had been when she was little.

Then came Crosshair. She smiled at the ex-sniper before slinging her good arm around him. He hugged her back, muttering something about “definitely checking out her bandages later” under his breath. She rolled her eyes fondly as she pulled away.

“You sound just like buir,” she teased. Crosshair huffed, trying to look unimpressed.

“Oh, I’m much worse.” 

Omega let out a small huff of laughter at that. She turned back to the ramp of her ship, smiling as the patter of small feet could be heard.

“Auntie ‘Meg!” A little boy came barrelling down the ship’s ramp; he stopped short when he spotted the three old men looking at him, surprised. When Omega had said that she was bringing home friends… they hadn’t thought that one of them would be under the age of five.

“Hey, Jacen!” the young woman smiled and held out her good arm. The little boy, Jacen, ran over to her and into her embrace. Hunter blinked. This was Omega, his little girl, ruffling a little boy’s hair and being called ‘auntie?’ Suddenly the ex-sergeant felt his age as he absorbed the situation.

Omega glanced up at her family, a small laugh escaping her as she looked at their faces. The small child with her stared around at the clones, a look of curiosity on his face.

“Who’re these old men, Auntie ‘Meg?” he asked in a loud whisper that only made Omega laugh more. She put her arm around the little boy and nodded to each of them as she introduced them. “These, Jacen,” she started. “Are my buir and my brothers. This is Hunter, Crosshair and Wrecker.”

Jacen nodded, his mop of dark green hair bobbing as he did. “They helped your mum once, on her home planet. That’s how me and her met.”

The penny dropped as Hunter realised whose kid this was. He glanced back up a the ramp of Omega’s ship only to see Hera Syndulla herself; she looked worn out as she clambered down and towards the group. Upon seeing the three clones, she smiled warmly. Hunter hadn’t seen her since their time on Ryloth all of those years ago, and he couldn’t believe how much she’d grown… saying that, he still couldn’t believe how much Omega had grown and she’d done that in from of his very eyes.

“Hunter,” she greeted with a sly smile before she ruffling her son’s hair. “Thank you for having us.”

Hunter nodded. “Of course,” he responded, glancing at Omega, who was now tickling Jacen and making him squeal. “You’re welcome any time.”

Hera raised an eyebrow as she observed the clone, but said nothing. She simply greeted the rest of the family, thanking them all for their hospitality, before Omega stood to her full height once more.

“I’ll show you around,” she gushed. “You’ll love it here!”

——

That evening, the family sat down with Hera and Jacen, eating foods that had been prepared for Omega’s return. Hunter had noticed throughout the evening that there were times when Omega was about to take something from a plate, only for her to glance up at Hera as though asking a silent question. The Twi’lek would then either nod or shake her head. Occasionally his daughter would sigh and pout when her friend shook her head, which confused Hunter to no end. Was Hera controlling what Omega was eating? What was going on?

He didn’t get a great deal to ponder over his kid’s new habit though, because one Jacen Syndulla was chatting up a storm with his new-found friends. At one point, Hera had to ask him to actually stop talking so that the little boy could eat the food on his plate. It had made Wrecker chuckle, and Crosshair let out a small sigh of relief.

Hunter used the opportunity to turn his attention back to Omega; he’d overheard the young woman complaining that her boots were getting too small earlier, and Lyanna chiming in that it was completely normal for that to happen. Hunter tried to wrack his brain, confused as anything. Omega was an adult, there was no reason that her feet should be growing now. He should know, he was the one who’d had to buy her new boots what felt like every six months at one point. 

His little girl also looked even more tired than usual, but he chalked that up to the end of the war. Even so, Hera had been mothering her a bit; there had been multiple reminders to sit and relax for a while, only for those comments to be met with a scowl from Omega.

His kid still didn’t like being told what to do, but this dynamic between the pair of them still made no sense to him.

As the evening rolled on, Crosshair had produced a variety alcoholic drinks as well as a jug of fruit juice for Jacen to drink; it had definitely not been lost on Hunter when Omega opted to drink the juice instead of a fruity punch that she would normally drink with her family.

Not long after that Jacen had started to flag, prompting Hera to encourage him to say goodnight to his new friends.

Jacen pouted upon hearing the words “bed time.”

“But Auntie ‘Meg’s family still haven’t heard all of our stories!” he cried, saddened by the injustice of it all. The grown ups all chuckled lightly as Omega crouched down in front of the little boy.

“We can keep telling them tomorrow, kid,” she started with a smile. “Now, your mum told me you like twinkly lights… wanna see the ones in my old room? You and Hera can sleep there tonight.”

Jacen immediately perked up at the mention of the string of lights Wrecker had hung up years ago. Hunter smiled fondly as he remembered Omega’s face when she’d seen them; she’d cried a little because of how they reminded her of the Marauder.

Hera stood and snagged her friend’s good arm. 

“Omega, we couldn’t possibly take your bed,” she started. “Not when…” she trailed off and not for the first time that evening, Hunter’s stomach did a flip. He didn’t get much time to think about it when the other woman shook her head. She was determined. 

“You need somewhere to sleep,” she insisted. “Besides, you and Jacen won’t fit on the couch. I will.”

Hera crossed her arms, looking like she was about to fight Omega on the subject when Jacen took her hand with a pleading look on his face. 

“I wanna see the lights, mum!” he grinned, tugging on her arm. Hera sighed and nodded, bidding the family goodnight before going to put her son to bed.

She sent a look over her shoulder to Omega as she went. It was a questioning glance, but Omega waved her off, a nervous smile on her face.

Wrecker and Crosshair disappeared into the kitchen, bickering over who was going to clean up and who was going to dry. Hunter chuckled as he heard them go, sitting forward in his seat and pouring himself another drink. He had never been a huge drinker, knowing that the alcohol messed with his senses, but since the fall of Hemlock he didn’t mind having a drink with his family. He offered the jug of punch to Omega, knowing it was her favourite, but frowned when she shook her head.

“I’ve still got a cup,” she stated by way of explanation. That was a lie. Her ears were a little flushed and she bit her lip, a telltale sign that she was lying. She had always been an awful liar.

“You never took any in the first place,” he replied, not unkindly. “You okay, kid?” Her eyes widened, knowing she’d been caught. Omega curled up on the bench she was sat on, bringing her knees up to her chin like she had done when she was little. That did nothing to soothe Hunter, who was becoming more worried by the minute. He stood from his seat and slowly eased himself into a crouch in front of his daughter.

“I just want to help you, ad’ika,” he placed a gentle hand on her knee. “You’ve seemed off all day, what’s up?”

Omega’s eyes filled with tears and she blinked rapidly to try and be rid of them. 

“I…” she sniffled. “I don’t know what to do.”

All of a sudden it was like she was ten all over again. She surged forward and wrapped her arms around her buir’s neck. He returned the hug, never one to shy away from comforting his kid. 

“Whatever it is, ad’ika, we can fix it,” he’d meant for his words to be soothing but if anything Omega just cried more. “Whatever you need, we’ve got you,” he continued. “I’ve got you, Omega.”

For a while she said nothing and he just held her, running a gentle hand through her hair. His leg began to ache as it usually did when when he was in one position for too long, but he ignored it. Omega needed him to be there for her, and be there for her he would.

“I-I met someone,” she eventually stammered out, pulling away and wiping her eyes on the back of her sleeve. Hunter gently removed her hands and handed her a handkerchief; the woman snorted a little with laughter at the gesture. Her buir was becoming such an old man.

“Sh-she’s amazing, buir,” she continued. There was a tone to her voice that made Hunter smile. “Her name’s Tessa and she’s part of the rebellion too. She joined as a medic…” she trailed off, her cheeks a little flushed. “She helped me out with this.” She gestured to the arm in the sling.

Hunter’s smile grew as he listened to Omega speak about this woman. 

“I-I think I love her, Hunter,” the woman let out a nervous laugh before her smile broke and was replaced with more tears being held back. “But I kept a secret from her and now she wants us to ‘take a break’ whilst she thinks things over.”

The ex-sergeant frowned at this. What secret could Omega have kept that meant that Tessa wanted to think things over?

“What secret, ‘Megs?” he asked, wiping a stray tear from the woman’s cheek. She took a couple of shaky breaths before burying her face in Hunter’s neck once more. He was taken aback a little but held her nonetheless. If it was comfort that Omega needed, it was comfort he would give.

“It was stupid,” she started. “It was a stupid, stupid one night thing, before me and Tessa even knew each other…” A sob ripped through her again, and she tried to steady her breathing. 

She muttered something, just loud enough for Hunter to hear. His eyes widened and he took a shaky breath in.

“I see,” he replied, pulling away from the embrace a little. Omega wouldn’t look him in the eye, her cheeks tear stained and her eyes puffy. Sighing, Hunter pulled his kid back into a hug and pressed a gentle kiss to her hair. 

“You’re not mad?” she asked, her voice trembling with nerves. Hunter let out a short laugh, shaking his head. “I could never be mad at you, ad’ika,” he soothed. “Besides, it’s not like you’re a kid anymore. You’re an adult… and the war is over. This is probably the best time to be raising a kid.”

Omega nodded against his chest and slowly pulled away. Hunter smiled at her; he had so many questions running through his mind right now, but he knew that wasn’t what his little girl needed… his little girl who wasn’t so little anymore.

“You,” he said quietly, pressing his forehead against hers. “Are going to be an incredible mother.” Omega let out a watery laugh of disbelief, having not come to terms with the situation herself. 

“A mother…” she croaked out, her voice thick with emotion. “I’m not ready.”

Hunter pulled back from the embrace, slowly pushing himself into a standing position. He held out his hand to help Omega up, which she accepted. The sat next to each other on the bench she had been perched on before they wound up on the floor.

“You think I was ready to be a father?” he asked, a teasing tone in his voice. “You never complained once, even when I made every mistake under the kriffing sun.”

A small chuckle escaped his daughter. “I knew you just wanted what was best for me,” she replied, leaning into Hunter’s side. “You always tried to do what was best, even when it was nearly impossible.”

The ex-sergeant nodded and a thought occurred to him. 

“Cut always said that battling droids was nothing compared to raising a child…” he trailed off, deep in thought. “He was right, raising you was hard… we were always on the run, looking over our shoulders… trying to rescue you from Imperial scientists.” He wrapped an arm around her and shuffled a little closer.

“We relied on each other and our allies to help us. They helped us stay safe.. and raise you.” Hunter looked down at his kid. “You have us, Omega. We’re here to help you through this… even if we never did the baby stage with you.” 

She nodded, not responding verbally for a while and the pair sat in a content silence. Before long Crosshair and Wrecker emerged from the kitchen laughing about something but coming to a halt when they spotted Omega’s tear-stained face and Hunter’s arm wrapped around her. The latter glanced down, a questioning eyebrow raised. “You telling them now?” he asked, an encouraging smile on his face.

After a moments pause, Omega nodded, sighing. “It’s as good a time as any,” she replied. Crosshair and Wrecker glanced at each other, confused, before sitting down opposite the father and daughter to listen to what she had to say.

——

Safe to say, Omega hadn’t needed to worry about telling any of her family that she was pregnant. Wrecker was thrilled at the prospect of becoming a ba’vodu and had wrapped his sister in a massive hug. Crosshair had been more reserved in his response, mainly wanting to know how Omega was feeling; he had also asked if Tessa needed… talking to. His sister had shot him down quickly, making it clear that she was serious about the medic if she wanted to take her back.

“It’s a lot to consider,” she’d reasoned in a sad voice. “It’s not just me she’d be taking on…”

Satisfied for now, the ex-sniper backed off, giving his little sister a hug before sitting back in his seat and pulling a toothpick out of his pockets.

The family had turned in not long after that. Hunter had insisted that Omega take his bed despite her protests.

“Being cramped on the couch won’t help your arm,” he reasoned. “Besides, it’s not just you anymore.” His daughter had snorted and rolled her eyes at that, but relented. She had another six months of Hunter being somehow more protective… she’d better get used to it now. He’d helped her set up his bed and went to bid her goodnight; as he turned around she quietly called him back.

“Thank you, buir,” she whispered as the exhaustion began to settle in. He smiled softly. 

“Always, ad’ika,” he replied. He moved back into the room, gently pressing a kiss against her forehead where she lay in bed before moving away. As he left, he heard her mumble something sleepily that made his heart flutter.

“You’re gonna make a great ba’buir.”

There went his heart, flipping once more. He smiled warmly as Omega slipped into a deep sleep. He remembered years ago, when Hera had been pregnant with Jacen and the Batch had thought it was Omega who was pregnant… he’d freaked out. 

Now, he couldn’t bring himself to be as freaked out. Babies were new territory for all of them, but Hunter knew more than anything that he and his brothers would support Omega, no matter what. If she needed them, they’d be there.

————

(Three years Later)

The gentle sea breeze of Pabu wafted through the windows of the house, making Hunter smile and close his eyes. He sighed as he leaned back on the couch, but his attempts to relax were cut short when he picked up the sound of tiny footsteps running across the patio.

“Ba’buir!” The tiny voice of Mina echoed through the living room of the house, making Hunter laugh as he sat up. A small mop of blonde hair appeared in his vision as she toddled over to him.

“Ah, my favourite bu’ad,” he commented, pressing a kiss to her hair and making the little girl giggle. Of course she was his only grandchild, but if she smiled like that every time he said it, he’d happily keep saying it.

“Where’s mama?” he asked, picking up the toddler. A shy look crossed the child’s face and Hunter was taken aback at how much she looked like Omega.

A small shrug made Hunter laugh. Mina buried her face in Hunter’s chest, giggling a little.

“Are you hiding from mama?” he asked, only for Mina to nod and giggle more. In the distance, he could hear footsteps approaching, Omega’s footsteps. 

“Mina?” came a voice, a touch of concern laced through it. Pabu was a safe place, safe as could be, but Mina was a… curious little girl. It wasn’t beyond her to get into little scrapes when an adult’s back was turned for more than thirty seconds. 

“Quick!” Hunter whispered, smiling at his granddaughter’s grin. “Hide from mama!” 

Mina wriggled until she was wedged between Hunter and the back of the couch. She let out a quiet giggle before Omega walked into the room, looking a little flustered. Hunter plastered a fake look of concern on his face.

“You okay, ad’ika?” he asked, trying not to smile. Omega sighed, still looking worried. 

“Mina ran off at the market,” she worried her bottom lip. “Tessa’ll pull her hair out if I comm her to say she’s missing again so I kinda want to find her quickly…”

Hunter nodded, understanding. Tessa had appeared back in Omega’s life when Mina was about three months old. At first, the Batch had regarded her with scepticism; this woman had hurt Omega! After a while, though (a long while in Crosshair’s case) they had warmed to the medic. One particularly scary night when Mina had been ill, it had been Tessa who’d kept them all calm and in the loop. Watching how gentle the woman was with his daughter and granddaughter that night had won Hunter and his brothers over. She had been a permanent fixture in their family ever since…

… if only Omega would get over herself and propose to her. 

“Well I’ll help you look for her,” Hunter stated, sincerity in his voice. He slowly went to stand from the couch, smiling as Mina latched herself onto his back. All Omega had to do was look at him and she’d see the little girl peeping over his shoulder, arms wrapped around his neck.

Instead, Omega bounced up the stairs of the house, going to look in her old room; it was unofficially Mina’s now for when she came to visit her ba’buir and bavodu’e. She enjoyed sleepovers there, making cakes with Wrecker and giggling hysterically when Crosshair and Hunter told her stories about Omega. 

“She definitely didn’t come this way?” Omega called down the stairs. Hunter shifted his grip on Mina, and the little girl giggled. 

“No, can’t say I’ve seen her…” he trailed off. “She reminds me of you, ad’ika, always running off and getting into scrapes when you were little.”

Omega appeared back in the room, looking flustered; her eyes fixed on the small pair of arms latched around Hunter’s neck and she sighed. 

“You’re not funny, buir,” she chastised as she approached Hunter and her daughter. 

Mina stuck her head out from where she was on Hunter’s back and giggled. 

“Mama!” she cried happily. “I hiding with ba’buir.” Omega let out a small laugh as that, ruffling her daughter’s hair. 

“Oh yeah?” she asked, an eyebrow raised. “Well it seems as though your ba’buir is a bad influence.”

Hunter let out a mock gasp, pretending to be offended, but his smile gave him away. Mina wriggled in his grip and he placed her down on the floor, only for her to toddle away, dragging her own little Lula with her.

“She’s growing up fast,” Hunter commented, and a look of aching realisation hit Omega. She nodded, a small smile on her face.

“I just want her to stay this little forever, you know?” she stated, watching with a smile as Mina came back over and held her arms up for her mother. Omega swooped down and picked her up, placing her on her hip as Mina rested her head in the crook of her mama’s neck. 

“We thought that about you,” Hunter stated, his own small, sad smile on his face. “But we would never have met Mina if you’d stayed the little girl we met on Kamino…” he smirked, a teasing look on his face. “Though we wouldn’t mind not having to go through your teenage years again.”

Omega rolled her eyes at her buir. She knew he was right of course, her teenage years had not been… the easiest. Lots of pent up trauma had floated to the surface and had lead her to do things she’d rather not remember (including running away at one point, convinced that the Empire were after her again). She glanced down at her daughter and vowed there and then that she would never place Mina in that position. Not ever.

“Can we have cake?” came the small voice that startled both adults out of their trains of thought. Hunter laughed lightly, ruffling Mina’s hair.

“I reckon we might have some somewhere…” he trailed off, pretending to think in a way that made his bu’ad laugh. 

“Ba’buir’s being silly, mama!” she giggled, and Omega smiled a warm smile. “He does have cake!”

Hunter dropped the pretence, taking his granddaughter from her mother and walking towards the kitchen. The pair chattered contentedly as he went about getting the cake out for his family. Omega leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen, a fond smile on her face. It was memories like these that made her wish she’d taken up Tech’s habit of recording everything. She made herself a promise that she’d dig out her recorder later. These were the things that she wanted to remember forever.

————

(Twenty Five Years Later)

Mina crept towards the cave where she knew the ship was waiting to pick her up; she breathed in the see breeze of Pabu one last time and smiled. She was going to miss this place…

Once she reached the beach, just metres away from where she was meeting Poe, she froze as she spotted a familiar figure perched on a rock. The figure’s blonde-turning-grey hair fluttered in the wind as she watched the waves lapping against the sand.

“Mom…” Mina breathed as she wondered towards the figure. She should’ve known that she wouldn’t get away with creeping away.

“You can’t beat me at my own game,” Omega’s voice was a little rough with age and she looked up at her daughter. “I tried doing this when I was your age. Your ba’buir caught me trying to sneak off in the middle of the night… from this cave.”

Mina deadpanned when she realised that she really had just been trying to copy her mother’s actions. Omega stood from the rock she was sat on and approached the younger woman, a sad smile on her face.

“Let me guess,” she started, a resigned look on her face. “That Poe Dameron’s waiting for you in there?”

A nod confirmed Omega’s thoughts. Mina’s cheeks flushed a little; she’d been talking back and forth with Poe for the past few months and the pair had grown close… rebellion talk aside. 

“There are whispers of the Empire returning,” Mina explained. “Whispers of the Emperor coming back…” Omega’s head shot up at that, a look of petrified recognition in her eyes. She had tried to protect her daughter from her past, knowing that it was likely their blood possessed similar qualities, and if people were trying to bring the Emperor back… maybe they’d been successful. 

“You fought so hard for a universe where I could grow up and be safe… it’s only fair that I pick up that torch.”

All of a sudden, Omega knew exactly how Hunter had felt when she’d left him all those years ago. Her heart ached at the thought of her buir and brothers, long gone now, and how fiercely they’d fought for her safety. Her daughter was cut from the same cloth and as stubborn as anything… there would be no persuading to get her to turn around and go home now.

“You grew up, ad’ika…” she trailed off, bringing a hand to cup her little girl’s cheek. Before she could get too emotional, she wrapped Mina in a hug, holding her close and taking in everything she could.

When they pulled away from the hug, Mina had tears in her eyes but tried to blink them away. She went to walk into the cave and meet Poe, but was cut short by her name being called.

Omega was frantically trying to untie a piece of cord from her neck; Mina’s eyes widened as she took off the necklace that had belonged to Hunter, her ba’buir. Omega had cried for days when he’d died, clinging onto the necklace like it was a lifeline. He was buried with Crosshair, Echo and Wrecker now, finally at rest after living out the rest of his life on the peaceful island.

“Mom…” she trailed off as Omega held out the necklace to her daughter. “That belonged to ba’buir, I couldn’t…”

“Take it,” her mother smiled, but it was watery. “I wanted to pass it on to you when you were ready… I just never realised it would creep up on me.”

Mina sniffed and wrapped her mom in one final hug. 

“I’m gonna miss you, but I’ll be back,” she reassured as she squeezed Omega tightly. “I promise you, I will.” 

Omega pulled away and nodded towards the cave. “Off you go…” she trailed off. “If you need me, I’ll be there.”

Mina smiled back at her mother, giving her a small salute as she waled towards the cave. Omega looked a little taken aback for a moment, but returned the salute with a grin on her face. 

Yeah, she’d be there if her daughter needed her, but she knew that Mina had her family watching over her as well. That thought was comforting. 

She’ll be fine.

[suzannahnatters]

And here are my reactions to Love Like the Galaxy: episodes 13-27, in which a cdrama does some absolutely terrific things I've never seen before which make me incredibly happy. This is also beneath the cut because I got very excited!

Tremendously diverted by how little this whole entire arrow through the chest is bothering our hero, one would think he'd broken a nail

Ling Buyi: I will tear apart this whole empire and everyone in my way to find out who is smuggling imperial weapons to rebels

also Ling Buyi: I am determined that only the very deepest love will ever induce me to marry

NN scolds a whole hospital full of sacking victims into drinking their medicine because how dare they lie around in pain and trauma when their loved ones died to keep them alive and it's another writing decision I'm not very fond of

the emperor is a gossipy old woman, he's discovered the secret of Murder General's heart in two minutes of screen time, I fondly look forward to episodes' worth of behind-the-scenes matchmaking

ahaha we have entered the "Niao Niao finally gets a boyfriend, and Murder General stares at the two of them sadly from a distance" section

he's just bowing himself out so silently, without ever saying a word - because he only wants to marry for love, so if NN doesn't want him, he doesn't want her

Marry the sweet boy, Niao Niao. He's not very bright, but the only baggage he's got is from the cake shop.

oh my, Niao Niao's boyfriend is sending her terrible mother snacks in an attempt to soften her heart, what a darling

I'm dead, not only does Murder General literally have a Niao Niao Memorabilia Hoard but he leaves it in his carriage for her to see while she's being given a lift in the rain askajdalfah

Niao Niao has dinner with with her three suitors and her aunt's ex and it's every bit as wildly uncomfortable as it sounds

also the Smug Scholar is here just to cause drama and wooow these are some epic sour grapes

It's a bit jarring how cavalierly everybody at this dinner dismisses the orphan girl in the backstory. The best thing I can say is that she fails to recognise one of the emerging themes of the show, that a woman shouldn't let love consume her entire life.

Murder General's family is straight out of Shakespeare - heartrendingly mad mother, moustache-twirlingly-evil estranged father.

meanwhile, over the Jane Austen side of the plot, Niao Niao's parents break the news to her that Murder General must be hopelessly in love with her. is this the worst way to find out or what

This whole mother-daughter relationship is so real it's triggering memories of a bad family situation I was familiar with around 5-10 years ago. Just…NN's mother not trusting her an inch, wanting to micromanage her life, despite all the ways that NN has bloomed away from her. Too painfully real.

Part of the reason this story feels SO Jane Austen is the way it focuses on the small domestic dramas of families, women, and marriage, with a keen eye to humour and satire. There's Murder General's political subplot too, but it's kept compartmentalised away from the main plot.

I…I think Murder General might be a darling, actually? when he's not mowing down the emperor's enemies in an overly dramatic manner or quietly and visibly pining, he is salving his broken heart by trying to make sure NN has everything she wants in life

and this is another place where this show neatly sidesteps a common pitfall - instead of HIM decided what's good for NN and then making sure she gets it despite her own wishes, he's allowing HER to decide and then silently providing her with everything she needs to make it a success.

I'm honestly astounded that this show is managing to make the typical strong, silent, commanding male lead…actually make sense as the endgame love interest, even in the presence of someone as charming and well adjusted (and devoted to snacks!) as Luo Yao. I honestly hadn't shipped them until this stretch of the show but now I'm beginning to.

He even credits her with "suppressing the mountain bandits" when he was the one who swooped in and saved her just as she was about to lose her siege T_T I'm sorry I have something in my eye

what WHAT WHATTTTT

having been informed of General Ling's feelings by her parents, is her maid now proposing to her on his behalf???????? wild

oh………he just wanted to know her hopes and dreams

Luo Yao has learned from Niao Niao how to fight for what he wants and it makes me so happy that this show is committing to these themes because the last big cdrama I watched was all about punishing the free-spirited heroine for wanting a life of her own

I feel hopelessly confused about all this arms smuggling subplot and backstory tbh

"don't be afraid, I'm here" asjkg love a good callback

also: good for you, He Zhaojun. good for you

It was also very satisfying seeing Bad Mum and our girl getting to fight together for once, but it's clearly only a temporary case of interests aligning and not a genuine change of heart for the former. I continue to enjoy the nuanced writing here.

Smug Scholar cracks me up. every interaction he has with our girl is like: NN: you make me feel sick SS preening yes I have that effect on a lot of women

Murder General telling NN that he's convinced that whatever decision she makes will be the right one!!!! and then for the first time she breaks down saying she's tired of always being the unlucky one - she's been fighting not to show any vulnerability and she's finally showing herself - to HIM eee

again: I'm ASTONISHED the show is making me believe he's the best choice for her given the presence of darling little snack boy but it is. She hasn't shown any vulnerability to Snacks. As for Murder General, he's been bleeding vulnerability everywhere silently for 21 eps.

"Everyone talks to me about righteousness and being fully considerate. But who will be fully considerate to me?" Snacks is a sweetie and he's doing really well, but the show is doing a terrific job of showing that for all his baggage, Murder General understands & supports her far more deeply.

I was wondering how the engagement with Snacks was going to end, & I have a lot of thoughts. On one hand, I really hate that after all the stuff about the importance of being able to fight for yourself, NN convinces LY to give her up & marry a girl who's already mistreated him, for the greater good

Snacks is absolutely correct here - none of the people telling him to marry He Zhaozhang can live the rest of his life for him. While NN always does prioritise the state above family, I hate that she is now putting it above somebody else's future happiness, AFTER teaching him to fight for himself.

It feels a bit hypocritical of NN, tbh, and like it muddles the themes of the show a bit. Also, it would be one thing if Snacks marrying HZ was to avert a future catastrophe, but the He family is already heroically dead and Snacks is being asked to self-immolate on their pyre. So unfair.

That said, I'm still appreciative of a lot about this. While I don't like that Snacks is deprived of agency here, you don't often see a drama heroine making this decision, & it's done without any of the "break his heart to save him" nonsense you'd usually see at this point.

We are also shown that although Snacks is giving in to marry HZ, he still has the lessons he's learned from NN about fighting for himself & plans to use them to make his life more bearable. And NN, though kinder & more respectful than HZ, never did truly love him.

I had my money on NN being the one to bow out all along, but I wish the show wasn't trying to make a virtue out of her self-righteous statism. I would love to see NN in the future realising that being able to let LY go like this, was a sign that she didn't truly love him. I hope!

In any case, I'm glad the show leaves us with real hope that Snacks is going to be a better, happier man for having known our girl.

"no need to worry about Miss Cheng's marriage. I'll be responsible for that" the SOUND I made

A LITTLE BOYFRIEND FOR YANG YANG, YESSSS

someone needed to come along and rescue our girl from Murder General's rescue just there, 1 out of 5 stars would not ask for a rescue again

does the man have fingertips made out of Velcro

the emperor is dying to matchmake Niao Niao and Murder General and tbh I feel his frustration, we have entered the "it's been eighty-five years" section of Waiting For The Cdrama Leads To Kiss (Or At Least Confess)

ahahahahahahahahahaha Murder General just blithely announces to all the princes that on account of the cancellation of NN's previous engagement he is going to marry her now and she goes into a coughing fit, hilarious

thing is, I don't think he actually means to be domineering here, I think he reckons the entire city in general and Niao Niao in particular must know about his intentions towards her, so why beat around the bush??? it's not like it's a secret or anything?

!!!! we have a proposal?!?!?!

and her mum is like NO NO NO oh die in a fire, woman

oh wow. oh wow. it's a trainwreck. oh my goodness.

"I had no idea I was so wonderful in your eyes" screaming crying throwing up

the fact that nearly their entire courtship has had to play out in public, carried by family members and households, until finally this proposal scene happens in the royal hall itself during a banquet, is just one more of the absolutely wonderful ways this is SO Austen-esque

I'm dying for these two to have a proper conversation in private but instead they've got to checks notes attend her ex-fiance's wedding together OOOOOOHH

This scene between He Zhaojun and NN is so good. I didn't expect such growth and change for this character based on her introduction. And she's absolutely right - a marriage to someone kind and gentle is far better than to someone elegant, but cruel

The writers making this point feels pretty unusual given a very usual sort of cdrama hero. But if course murder general is, as NN points out, cruel only to his enemies. Or is she in for some surprises? WE SHALL SEE

He certainly has no chill when it comes to using his more powerful position to protect her socially lollll

He's been protecting her so often it's beginning to deprive her of agency and I'm really hoping the story doesn't overlook this in the second half.

OH YES "he's standing up for you! Are you not happy" no, no she is not I AM BLESSED

I can't believe it they're finally having a chance to talk in private and it's ALL ABOUT THIS STUFF

NN just calling him out for his thoughtless use of power

Yessssss we've moved past the point where she can fight catty girls, she's fighting him now, AHHHHHHHH. so good

"let's eat together. No need to feel awkward. I am easy to get along with" amazing "hello fellow kids" energy

OH NO HE'S TRYING TO TELL A JOKE ABORT ABORT

Murder General, who has got straight As on everything in his life to date, getting an F in Intimate Family Dinners and thinking he's done splendidly is really…amazing

I see now how NN's conflict with her mother was setting up her conflict with Murder General - both want to run their families with dictatorial military discipline, and NN, who has had more than enough of it coming from her mother, definitely doesn't want it from a husband. NN I'm barracking for you

SCREAMING

Murder General has now taken over Niao Niao's household to train them so that his beloved will be strong and ready for anything. How bad is it? it's so bad that even Perfect Cousin Yang Yang no longer wants to be an obedient female anymore

the soundtrack for this drama seriously cracks me up sometimes. Most of the time it's lush, romantic classical strings and flutes. Then, BANG - 80's guitar + synths, or…jazz clarinet????

"I'm not used to discussing everything with someone yet" aw he does want to learn better!

"You represent only oppression in my life…I don't need you to take care of me and my family so much" I cannot beLIEVE this show is letting someone say this out loud. Amazing

Cannot believe she just sent him away like that. And of course he went because he only wants someone who loves him. And I think that's the one character detail that makes this man capable of change - he doesn't know how to relate to people outside hierarchy, but he WANTS it

I really, really like that the show doesn't try to gaslight NN that she's making a fuss out of nothing - her parents encourage her to compromise the life she truly wants, but even they aren't bad enough to tell her that this IS the life she wants.

And I also love that BOTH of them are shown reflecting on where they might be going wrong and why they might be better off yielding to the other person - not just NN.

It's delightfully reminiscent of Lizzie and Darcy getting a reality check in tandem after his first proposal. SO AUSTEN.

With episode 27 I've officially finished "season 1" of Love Like the Galaxy and am right around halfway through - and this show is fulfilling my wildest dreams of cdramas justifying tropes, letting the heroine have agency, and overtly calling out the hero's unthinking use of power to control, protect, and smother the heroine. All in a sparkling Jane-Austen-flavoured comedy of manners about a little gremlin girl whose greatest strength is fighting for herself when nobody else will, and a strong, silent murder general who has resolved only to marry for ~~ LOVE ~~

It's so good, if the second half continues to be this good it'll be a solid 10 for me. MORE TO COME.

[idontknowreallywhy]

Resurface 17 - Redraw

Previous bits

Writing art is not my forte but Virg doesn’t have access to a piano right now so he insisted. I hereby blame any clumsy wording / inaccuracies on this being Scott’s POV so… yeah it’s the flyboy’s fault.

💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚

It had been a little over 48 hours since Scott had last been in the same room as Virgil. While at one end of the feed a brother was happily chatting away to his invisible-to-everyone-else best friend, the unseen brother at the other huddled on the couch, curled protectively around his tablet lifeline and was politely rebuffing anyone who hovered with offers of irrelevancies like sustenance and reassurance. And company.

He felt bad about that. He had a nasty suspicion John was berating himself for revealing those details about the past and at some point very soon Scott was going to need to fix it. But it wasn’t now. The rest of them needed to concentrate on Virgil anyway.

Speaking of which…

Virgil had got fidgety and was stretching his arms behind his head in an achingly familiar way. Gordon, who was on duty again, was heavy-napping on one of the other beds and didn’t stir. The squid had taken the brunt of his brother’s care upon himself and he needed the sleep and so this was fine. Kayo and John were distracting Alan. Scott was keeping watch and could raise the alarm if the patient got out of bed. He didn’t though, merely shuffled his pillows around a while before appearing to notice the sketch pad and new set of pencils that had been left on his bedside table at his big brother’s insistence. Scott felt a little rush of justification as Virgil seized the pad and opened it to a fresh page, tapping his chin thoughtfully with the end of a pencil.

Scott watched as his brother began to sketch some light sweeping strokes across the page. The tension in Virgil’s expression melted away and Scott felt a little of himself beginning to thaw too.

After a few minutes, the artist laid the pad down beside him while he reached over to to select a different grade of pencil from the tin. Even upside down Scott recognised the sketch as the beginnings of one of Virgil’s many sky backgrounds - rays of sun peaking through soft clouds, the hint of a light wind mysteriously depicted through graphite on white. So many things could emerge next - a cityscape, a portrait, a whale leaping from the ocean… It could be an abstract of a solar eclipse or a detailed study of one of their ships. Perhaps a flock of birds over a silhouetted volcanic island. Whatever his eventual intention, Virgil so often began with the sky and everything else followed.

He picked the sketchbook up again and proceeded to add something smaller and more detailed. Scott entertained a hope that it might end up being Two and One flying home side by side - had three of those displayed in his suite - one watercolour, one acrylic, one mixed media collage and he was more than happy to add a pencil version too if Virgil allowed it. The eyebrows of intense concentration had been deployed and Scott had begun to smile at the familiarity of this when the merely concentrating look hardened into something else.

Virgil started to add much heavier lines, the knuckles of his right hand white as he held the book steady and the left almost a blur as he dug the pencil in hard and dragged it rapidly to and fro across the page. Scott wondered how the paper could possibly withstand such a ferocious onslaught of carbon - he half expected it to catch fire if his brother didn’t gouge a hole straight through it first.

Scott watched in helpless dismay as his the look of distress on his brother’s face deepened and was on the point of calling Gordon to wake him when Virgil seemed to run out of steam and slumped back into the pillows, sketchpad clutched to his chest. He closed his eyes and took a couple of breaths before propping himself up again and gazing at what he had drawn. He didn’t move at all for several minutes. Scott unconsciously leaned sideways as if he could change the angle of the security camera to see what it was then swore to himself. This was wrong. He should just be able to go and ask… he always asked and Virg always showed him… maybe somewhat shyly but he’d always show him. He didn’t dare defy Grandma, not when he was so clueless about all of this, but his gut told him she was wrong - Scott should be there by Virgil’s side.

This was wrong. She was wrong.

He had to try again.

He stood and started towards the stairs to go and reason with her when another movement from the screen caught his attention. Without removing his eyes from the sketch pad, Virgil leaned over to the bedside table and patted around until his fingers closed over a large eraser. He spun it in his fingers for a few moments then appeared to remove something then added some small detail, his expression intense but unreadable, even to the brother who knew him best.

Some small noise must have alerted Gordon who suddenly flung himself on to the bed and enveloped Virgil in a hug.

The sketchpad slipped to the floor and Scott slowly sat back down again.

💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙

[kitkatsudon]

A brief foray into the military ranks of TKEM characters…

It’s no secret that our favourite boys from the Kingdom of Corea have a history in the military - but apart from Gon being bottom of his class in the Naval Academy (as confirmed by Choi Gitae in Ep4), what else do we know? As with every tiny detail that sparks my interest in this show, I took it upon myself to find out, and gave myself a headache in the process. Let’s have a look, shall we?

Lee Jihun:

I’m starting with him because he’s the only one I could find a concrete answer for, thanks to him being from a universe very similar to ours. Though we only see him very briefly in Ep16, from that short scene we can glean a little bit of information about what he was doing:

To find his rank, one needs only to look at his epaulettes. You can see that his are black, with three gold stripes: two thick ones, with a thin stripe in the middle. This identifies his rank as follows:

He’s a Soryeong, which is the equivalent rank to a Lieutenant Commander.

However, what I find perhaps more interesting for Jihun is this badge he’s wearing:

Though it’s blurry when you zoom in, I’m pretty sure it’s this one:

You heard it here first, folks. Lee Jihun is a Navy SEAL. They didn’t have to include this detail - you’d probably have to be quite familiar with the military to recognise it straight away, and I doubt that even most Korean fans would be able to recognise it, because I can tell you for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to recognise the equivalent for my own country. Someone on the production team decided this, and I want to give them a big kiss on the mouth, because now it’s confirmed that the sweet little Jihun we saw grew up to be totally badass after his abusive father passed away. I sincerely hope that it was a good life that led him to joining this branch of the military, and not some combination of horrible factors that pushed him into joining one of the most intense and dangerous branches… hm. I’m not going to dwell on that, actually. You can all make your own conclusions here.

Now… to the Kingdom. *sigh.* This is where things start to get more vague and confusing. I’m going to start with ranks first, and then go onto what they were doing as one big section because, spoiler alert, I haven’t got any sort of concrete idea.

Lee Gon:

His rank is easiest to determine, because Choi Gitae says it explicitly when they met at his father’s funeral in Ep4. I cross-referenced this with the closed-caption Korean subtitles, and everything adds up nicely: though he’s the Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces in the Kingdom, thanks to his position as the monarch, while he was actually serving, he rose to the rank of Daewi, or Lieutenant - the highest rank of the junior officers - before leaving the navy.

Jo Yeong:

When we see Yeong in his navy uniform in Ep6, this is what we can see:

Once again, that same pattern emerges on his epaulettes of two thick stripes surrounding a thin stripe - he’s a Soryeong, a Lieutenant Commander. This means that Yeong ranked one rank higher than Gon before he left the navy, which is something that brings me quite a lot of joy.

However, something I like even more than that is Yeong’s current title, as the leader of the Royal Guard. We all know him and love him as Captain Jo, but in Korean he’s referred to as 조영 대장 - Jo Yeong Daejang. This is what Gon calls him in the iconic “Are you having fun, Captain Jo?” and you can also see that title of Daejang on his character page on the official TKEM website. On WordReference, this is what happens if I search for 대장:

Ignoring the results about other things, it doesn’t seem to mean “Captain” explicitly, it’s more like a general kind of leader title. His rank isn’t necessarily “Captain,” it’s whatever Daejang is equivalent to. So… how good is a Daejang? Looking at the South Korean armed forces, in the army, air force, and marine corps, Daejang is equivalent to General, and in the navy, Daejang is equivalent to Admiral. To put this into context a little better, the only rank in the South Korean navy higher than Daejang is Wonsu, and this rank only exists on paper and has never been given to any officer of the South Korean armed forces. To achieve this rank of Wonsu, you’re appointed from the rank of Daejang when you have “distinguished achievements.”

In conclusion: Yeong has an incredibly high rank in the armed forces, second only really to Gon himself, assuming no one from the Kingdom has ever been appointed the rank of Wonsu either. However… there’s a first time for everything, and though I’m only speculating and of course could never say anything for sure, if anyone was going to get those distinguished achievements needed to be a Wonsu, it would be our Jo Yeong Daejang.

Choi Gitae:

I’m including him briefly because I have a bone to pick with the subtitles. In English, he’s Captain Choi. In Korean, Gon refers to him as Hamjang, which, as far as I can tell, doesn’t exist in the South Korean navy of our universe. In the Korean subtitles in Ep4, he’s named as 최 소령, Choi Soryeong, and he’s just… he’s not that. Let’s take a look at some pictures:

The epaulettes on the first picture and the star badge on the second tell us that his rank should be this:

He’s a Junjang, equivalent to a Rear Admiral (lower half). Not a Captain, and not a Lieutenant Commander. As for the Hamjang/Junjang disparity, I’m going to suggest that Hamjang is the Kingdom of Corea’s equivalent to the Republic’s Junjang.

So, what was everyone doing in the navy?

The only clue we have is a badge:

This is from Yeong’s uniform, but in Ep6 Choi Gitae was wearing the same, and Gon was wearing a gold version of it. However, for the life of me, I can’t seem to figure out what it is! The design seems to be that of a ship sailing through the waters, but that just gives ✨navy✨ in a general sense. Browsing google images, I’ve noticed the same golden badge that Gon wears on other high ranking members of the South Korean navy, so maybe it signifies a high rank? Or maybe it just means that the wearer is in the navy? I don’t know! I can’t work it out! What it tells us at least is, if Yeong isn’t wearing a “specialised” badge like Jihun… it’s unlikely that he served in any kind of special forces… which I feel is a piece of information that might break some hearts in the fandom as their headcanons shatter into pieces. I’m disappointed too, because when I saw Yeong’s badge without paying attention to any of the other characters, I thought that the two shapes on the sides looked a little like submariner dolphins, so I’ve spent half a year or so thinking that’s what Yeong did in the navy, before I realised that Gon and Choi Gitae had the exact same badge.

So, if anyone has been bothered enough to read this far and also happens to be a Korean military buff, I would love you forever if you could tell me exactly what this badge means, and whether it gives us any indication of what Yeong or Gon or anyone else was doing in the navy. However, maybe it’s good that it’s unclear, because that leaves fic writers plenty of room to wonder about what Gon and Yeong were doing in the military - whether they were doing different things, strengthening their bond as best bros doing the same thing, and if you’re on the same side of this fandom as me, whether they were repressing some big feelings at seeing each other in their military uniforms, or whether they were engaging in certain activities that are maybe stereotypical of sailors cooped together on the same boat without women to spend their nights with… there’s plenty of room for interpretation :D

[thewindowsystem]

Woooooo psychiatry hot take time!!!

I'm just gonna say it, I'm pro (educated) self diagnosis atleast to a degree, although my reasons don't apply to all places in the world so keep that in mind.

I come from a country with a massive issue with a lack of medical professionals ESPECIALLY in my city, it's not uncommon to find hospitals that are dangerously understaffed, the only hospital in my city of almost one million people has one emergency unit with typically only around 9 people and the wait times for urgent care on the LEAST busy days are 9-10 hours if you're lucky. And for any kind of medical problem physical or mental even if you have money for something like specialised care you will still most likely have to go a two day drive just to find someone who isn't fully booked. People are dying because of this crisis even those on disability insurance and nothing is really being done about it.

I was born sick and have been going through this medical system my entire life, and another issue I have noticed due to that is incredibly wide spread because in my country especially, doctors are basically being taught they shouldn't believe afab people who are looking for help. It is to a point where 1 third of the afab people who have managed to finally get a booking in with a doctor, some travelling for litteral days just for some kind of help have been dismissed or straight up turned away due to sexism. The likely hood of being turned away increases significantly if you are POC.

People often forget that diagnosis isn't an end goal, it's not just a label for the sake of a label, it's a tool. A tool to help you navigate and approach recovery. And yes the ideal situation is to have a good doctor who can help you navigate that process but unfortunately that's not the case for all of us. Through educated self diagnosis (often through years of constant study) as a afab POC I managed to accurately and safely self medicate for pretty much all of my current diagnosed conditions on average 5 years before I managed to get a doctor to even CONSIDER checking. (The only acception to this is ADHD because I was like 7 when I got that diagnosis)

I'm sick of seeing people getting lectured for trying to help their selves in the time being because currently medical care isn't available to them. I hate the idea that you shouldn't even try digging into your mental health problems or even recognise they exist until you get the magical approval of a medical professional because speaking from experience those ideas HELD ME BACK in my recovery because I thought that researching my issues automatically made me a faker and when I did finally get a psychologist and they asked if I already had an idea of what the issue was I refused to give them any of my own extensive work I had done myself that could have sped up my diagnostic process tenfold. Even though the effects of self medicating have been incredibly beneficial to my recovery previously

Obviously you need to approach it safely and carefully, you definitely shouldn't try and speak for or over people who are clinically diagnosed etc but I feel like the idea that self diagnosis is inherently harmful 100% of the time is flawed and although yes you will undeniably get things wrong while trying to self medicate so do the actual medical professionals themselves! It's apart of the process and I do recognise how beneficial having a professional to help you is (and if you have the option to do that you definitely should) but I feel like it's rather damaging to brush off those who don't have access too those recourses and simply insist they just deal with it.

Honestly self diagnosis and self medicating saved my life by not only giving me something to hold on and work on while waiting to get medical care but it is the entire reason why I am clinically diagnosed today

Obviously this isn't a data filled analysis on the effects of self diagnosis this is just my opinion mainly rooted from my own life experience so don't take it as some factual information piece please. I might make a continuation to this if anyone has any questions about my thoughts on the topic.

[lady-rose-moon]

please, can you do CNC x loki smut. don't do it if you not comfortable enough, thank you, love

You'll learn to love me

A/N: my mind was whirring for this so I hope you enjoy it!

Warnings: CNC, knife play, kidnapping, wait and see for the rest!

A trip to the market was on your agenda today. You had planned to go down into the market to pick up a few things to prepare dinner tonight for yourself. It had been a while since you had treated yourself so you thought it would be a lovely change, to have a grand meal cooked and to enjoy it on your own by candlelight. Pulling on a simple green dress, leggings and a cardigan with leather boots, you headed out the door and down to the market.

You passed by many different stalls set up for trade and you smiled as you passed them, grinning as people welcomed you and blessed you to have a good day. You danced with the little girls that passed you by, scolded the boys who tried to gang up and bully a girl for wanting to play with them using a sword and you just enjoyed being among the citizens of your small town.

You smiled as you passed stall after stall, looking for ingredients for your dinner. You bought a few vegetables from a farmer and smiled politely as he nodded to you before you were walking on.

As the day reached noon, you decided to stop off at the baking stall to grab you and your beloved some treats. You bought some brownies, muffins and also some bread before you moved on. You relented easily though and picked out a brownie, lifting it to your lips before someone bumped into you.

"Hey!" you called out into the crowd as the cloaked man disappeared into the masses of people. Shrugging, you lifted the brownie back to your lips and took a large bite out of it before placing it back in the bag to finish later.

You didn't get much further before the world started to spin and you had to get out of the sunlight. Finding an alley, you leaned against a wall to catch your breath as your body started to feel numb. You decided that it was time to get to your house if you were starting to feel this tired but you found that your body wouldn't listen to you.

Everything felt so heavy and your head was so dizzy that you couldn't think straight. Before you knew it, you were falling forwards, completely unconscious. Luckily, you felt someone catch you before you could hit your head. Unluckily, you didn't know that and didn't feel yourself being whisked away in a flurry of magic.

Cold awakened you from your sleep and you instinctively tried to reach up to rub your eyes but your arms would not move from above you. Odd, you pondered silently, body shuddering from the cold, I didn't fall asleep here, did I?

"You're finally awake," came a voice from the darkness and you opened your eyes slowly to see someone emerging from the shadows. A sense of fear washed over you as you recognised his face, he was the guy that attacked New York! "I had thought you would sleep forever, lazy bitch."

"Where am I?" you snarled, glaring at the God as he approached you. he chuckled and cupped your chin but you forced your head to the side to avoid his grip, "answer me, coward!"

Loki chuckled and grabbed your chin more forcefully this time, forcing you to look into his brilliant emerald eyes. His lips curled into a snarl as he glared at you, "you do not get to ask such questions. Your king has not allowed it."

"My King?" you spot, terror and rage building inside of you, "I have no King, you disgusting scum!"

Loki chuckled and reared his hand back before slapping you across the cheek, "you do not address your King as such. You need to be punished."

With a click, the shackles holding your hands in place disappeared and you took your chance. You sprinted past the God, tracing every wall to try and find a door but your heart sunk when you found none. You were trapped in here, no doors, no windows, no way of escape. You pressed your back to the wall as you watched Loki approach, horror painted all over your face.

"Now, pet, where did you think you were going?" Loki purred, his rich voice floating through your ears.

Out of the corner of your eyes, you spotted a knife sitting on the edge of a table. You could try to slit his throat and escape, digging might do but what would happen if you couldn't? You'd be stuck here with his dead body for eternity. Still, you took the chance and grabbed the knife, lunging at the God with all of your might only to fall through him as he dissolved in a glow of green.

Dumbfounded, you looked around in horror before you choked back a gasp when a dagger was pressed up against your throat and Loki's body was pressed against your back. "Try that again, pet, go on, I dare you," Loki snarled, the dagger pressing harder into your throat and you felt a faint trickle of blood when he retracted it slowly.

Gasping for breath, you turned to face him with your hand over your neck, "are you crazy?! You could have killed me!!"

"But you asked for it, pet, you are the one that attacked me first," Loki retorted easily, looking down at his black nails before looking at you with a brow raised, the dagger being passed through every finger on his other hand without him looking. "Now that you seem to be past your disobedience, pet, I need to punish you."

In the next moment, your dress was stripped from you along with every other item of clothing. You covered yourself quickly but green shackles formed around your wrists and spread them out to the sides as more shackles kept your ankles in place. Your eyes widened in fear as you glared at him, "let me out of these shackles, monster, what if your brother hears of this!?"

Whack!

You froze in shock as your breasts erupted in pain but soon it melted into sinful pleasure. Your eyes darted back to Loki, who was now holding a flogger, and your eyes widened in realisation. "Where am I?" you tried again, your hands trembling in the shackles, "where. Am. I?!"

Loki tilted his head and a sharp grin raised on his lips before he whacked the flogger against your breasts again and you shrieked but he knew the secret pleasure. Oh, he could smell it! You didn't want to admit it but you were tempted, you were getting aroused.

"Monster, am I?" Loki cooed, stepping back and coming back with a chain in his hand. He walked close to you and smirked as your eyes met his in terror, "why don't we test that?"

When Loki pulled back, you felt tightness on your nipples and looked down to see that he had clamped your nipples. Loki chuckled and brought a finger under the chain, curling it around the chain before tugging. The shriek that erupted from your lips was music to his ears.

"Such a slut," Loki smirked, tugging again and watching you whimper in pain, "such a dirty slut, getting turned on by your kidnapper. What's going on in your mind, pet? Do you want my cock too?"

You shook your head, trying to display how much you didn't want that but he only hummed and walked closer to you, cupping your dripping core and whispering 'liar' into your ear as he sunk two fingers inside you, making you cry out and shake your head more.

"You're so wet for me, pet," Loki smirked as his fingers trusted in and out of you, listening to your pleading pants and whines, "such a dirty slut. Who in their right mind would get off from being fingered by a psychopath?"

Loki's teasing made tears form in your eyes as you tried to fight the shackles and tried to push him out of you. Instead, Loki smirked and curled his fingers, hitting that best spot inside you and you cried out, your orgasm washing over you in a powerful wave. Dazed, you whined and tried to push yourself away from him desperately.

Loki retracted his fingers from your cunt and smirked as he made you watch him suck your juices off his fingers, "you taste so sweet, pet," the God teased as you sobbed and hung your head.

"You...you won't get away with this," you spat, sneering at him as he merely smirked at you, "the Avengers will come find me."

Loki laughed and walked around you, the flogger appearing in his hand again and he slapped your arse five times, watching you whine and cry every time, "the Avengers will not come for someone like you. Just one person out of seven billion, you are worthless to them! So you will be here with me, as my pet."

You glared at him and snarled, "I will never be your pet, monster."

Smirking, Loki grabbed your chin and tilted his head, his pale skin shifting to that of a rich azure, his emerald eyes shifting to enticing ruby red and you felt your legs ache as his clothes disappeared alongside the shift. He was bare for you and you couldn't help but stare at his impressive cock.

"You're staring, pet," Loki teased with a sinister grin, his fingers hooking the clamps on your breasts and tugging again, his cock twitching when you whined and moaned, "you're such a slut, moaning for more from a monster."

"St-stop..." you tried, tears forming in the corner of your eyes as you stared up at him, "please..."

Loki chuckled and green surrounded you, changing your position so you were up against the wall, your hands shackled above you with your arse on display for the Jötun. The God hummed and slapped the flogger against your arse again.

"Count, and thank your King," Loki snarled, bringing down the flogger again and at your silence, the chain connecting the clamps on your nipples was pulled downwards, making you whine and sob, "count, bitch."

Whack! "Thank you, my king!" you gasped, tears streaming down your cheeks even as your pussy got wetter and wetter.

Whack! "Th-thank you, my King!"

Whack, whack, whack! "Th-tha-thank you, Loki," you moaned, screaming when the chain was pulled down further. Realising your mistake, you sobbed, "'m sorry, my King, 'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, slut," Loki snarled, "for that, I am going to put you through the worst torture. You deserve this."

You whined as Loki's magic gleamed between your legs and a buzzing started over your clit and you moaned in pleasure, biting your lip as the vibrator started to stimulate your clit in the way that you needed. Another shimmer and your back was to the wall, your arms chained above your head and your legs spread apart and shackled to the floor.

Loki stepped away from him, his hands glowing a deep emerald before he looked at you victoriously, "I will be back in a few hours, pet, a Prince of Asgard has much to do."

You watched him shimmer away and you whined, looking around your prison.

~~~~~~~

Three hours. That bastard had left this vibrator on your clit for three hours and had even taken away your ability to cum. Every time you were about to roll over the edge into bliss, the sensation would just ebb away on its own and you sobbed, wishing for just one orgasm.

The familiar sound of Loki's shoes clicked on the stones and your head weakly lifted up to glare at him. Smugly, he took your chin into his hand and tilted his head, "what do you say, pet?"

"I'm sorry, my King, I'm sorry for addressing you incorrectly. Forgive my rudeness," you responded meekly, staring up at him, "please let me go."

Loki chuckled and shook his head, "no."

Your legs became unbound as Loki stepped between them, wrapping them around his waist and keeping them there with his magic as he got rid of all of his clothes and forced his cock inside you, moaning as you screamed in pain, the buzz of the vibrator not helping in the slightest.

You felt so full of him, you shook your head and tried to kick your legs as he started to thrust into you. You started to whine and cry until you were magically turned around, your legs still wrapped around Loki's waist as he thrust into you but your torso was now held against him too with the smooth metal of a dagger pressed to your neck.

Stunned, you immediately stopped crying to stare down at Loki's hand holding the dagger to your neck. He fucked into you at a ruthless pace, his cock hitting all the best places in your cunt as he moaned and threw his head back, bliss consuming him while completely disregarding your pleasure.

The blade to your neck was steady even with Loki's erratic pace and you cried out, feeling another orgasm approaching but you supposed that Loki would keep it from you. Instead, Loki ripped the vibrator from your clit and he started to circle it roughly, his thrusts matching the pace of his fingers as he groaned behind you.

"Cum, slut, cum for me and scream my name," Loki demanded, the dagger digging into your neck more as he got closer to the edge and you whined in pain, the dagger retracting minutely at that.

Your orgasm ripped through you, feeling like you were struck by lightning as your body twitched and convulsed, your walls pulsing around his cock making Loki moan and release inside you, resting his head between your shoulder blades.

As you came down, you realised that your legs were no longer wrapped around Loki and your wrists had a balm rubbed into them to stop the soreness.

"Loki..." you whispered softly and the God looked up at you from rubbing a balm into your sore pussy and legs. You smiled and ran a hand through his hair, "I love you..."

Doubt filled Loki's eyes as he stood, cupping your cheek and resting his forehead on yours, "are you sure? I didn't mean to hurt you, if I did..."

"You didn't..." you whispered softly and smirked up at him, "next time, you pretend to be the clueless mortal."

"There's a next time?" Loki smirked and you nodded, squealing when he picked you up, conjured clothing onto you and dissolved the illusion of the dungeon before walking through the door from the spare room in his chambers to the couches by the fire.

Usually, you would rest between Loki's legs by the fire but this time, he laid you down on the couch and rested his head on your stomach, his arms wrapped around one of your legs as you both watched the fire.

"Thank you for trying this," you whispered, your fingers twirling through his hair, "I actually liked that side of you."

"NEVER mention my brother during our acts again," Loki muttered, a laugh bubbling in his chest.

~~~~~~~~

𝕿𝖆𝖌𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙

@lokisgoodgirl

@lokisninerealms

@evelyn-kingsley

@slpnbty2001

@jennyggggrrr

@hahaha12123445

[tracybirds]

I can't sleep so I did the sensible thing and gave my problems to John <3 Acting as my Fab Five Feb entry for John with the prompt "clock". Thank you @gumnut-logic for running the event as always <3

---

The villa stood silent, the light of the full moon streaming silver through glass and sending dark shadows creeping up the walls. Virgil didn’t bother to turn on the lights as he stole through the hallways, weaving a familiar path to the kitchen.

This was his favourite, the time after his family drifted into their bedrooms; Grandma first, Gordon not far after. One by one, everyone made their excuses and slipped away to their rooms until only Virgil remained, the stillness seeping deep into his bones as he slowly took apart the day and relaxed into the peaceful night.

Tonight, he’d been in his studio and had missed saying goodnight to everyone. He nodded in approval, noting the vacated desk and the neatly stacked tablets that told him Scott had indeed gone to bed. Virgil wasn’t far off either, having emerged purely to steal some tea from John’s stash as a final night-time ritual.

A soft, warm glow flowed up the stairs, breaking through the cold light of the moon that had begun its slow descent in the western sky. Virgil’s eyes slid back to the tidy desk with a frown, and crept quietly down the stairs, already thinking through the reasons Scott might be having trouble sleeping.

He paused three steps from the bottom as the kitchen scene became clear.

It was John who sat at the breakfast bar, robe loosely wrapped around him and his feet bare as he bent over a battered textbook. Virgil glanced at the oven clock, noting it had only been six hours since John had descended from Thunderbird Five and certainly not enough time for the sleep he desperately needed.

Drawing nearer, Virgil noted that he recognised not only the book, but the equations John was scrawling across the page as well. He’d taken the same course, albeit in a university across the country, but first year physics was first year physics, and child’s play to John.

Again, he couldn’t find a reason to explain John’s status.

He would need to ask.

“Hey,” he said quietly.

John jumped violently, dropping his pencil and swearing as he slipped off the stool to pick it up.

“What do you want?” he grumbled.

Virgil knew there was no anger in the question, but he held up his hands in an effort to placate him all the same.

“Just here for tea, I promise.”

John grunted and went back to the old problem sets.

“The rooibos is running low, don’t use it up.”

“Chamomile okay?”

John nodded, already distracted and mind back on the numbers.

Virgil said nothing as he bustled around the kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil and gradually drown out the scratch of pencil on paper.

He sat next to John and slid over a second mug without a word.

“Thanks,” said John.

Virgil sipped the tea and bent over to read the scrawling numbers.

“Is there a reason for the sudden drive to do old electrostatics problems at three in the morning?”

“No.”

The answer was short, spat out from between gritted teeth and Virgil raised an eyebrow.

“I thought you went straight to bed.”

“I did.”

“But you couldn’t sleep?”

“Obviously.”

Virgil sighed and gently nudged his brother’s shoulder.

“You hadn’t mentioned your insomnia getting bad again.”

“It’s not.”

Virgil only stared at him until John relented, putting down his pencil and sliding the textbook to the side.

“It’s not insomnia,” he said, irritation colouring his voice. “I’ve already slept.”

“Five hours?”

“Three.”

Virgil clicked his tongue, unable to hide his disapproval.

“I didn’t say it was ideal,” John snapped at him.

“Is there something on your mind?”

“No more than usual.”

“So that’s a yes?”

“It’s not… it’s fine,” said John firmly. “Really, Virgil, I promise I was fully intending to sleep the full eight hours. I just… didn’t.”

He scrubbed a hand over his eyes, the dark smudge under than contrasting with his pale skin.

“It’s not insomnia, it’s a routine adjustment,” he said wearily. “Like jetlag or something. It’ll pass. I just couldn’t lie there doing nothing.”

His eyes slid away from Virgil, staring at some unknown quantity.

Virgil knew all too well what it was to have a mind that wouldn’t rest, having dealt with his own bouts of sleep issues when he was younger. He and John had swapped tips at university, both for better sleep and for handling life that wouldn’t stop just because you weren’t well-rested. Virgil had become an expert at the former, learning how to cultivate a sleep routine and embrace his status as a night owl. John had developed an affinity for the latter.

Virgil frowned.

He didn’t know exactly how much sleep John was getting these days, the biomarkers unable to distinguish between true sleep and the long periods of night spent lying awake and staring up at the ceiling or out across the stars.

But with the moon shining bright and the clouds meandering across the sky, the stars weren’t as easy to see and his brother had retreated to the soothing world of numbers instead.

“What made you come out here?” Virgil asked.

John shrugged.

“Remembered something you told me once. Not to fight for sleep, but to get up and do something until you grew tired.” He gestured at the small notebook. “Here’s something.”

He looked up at Virgil, uncertainty shining in his eyes.

“And I knew you were probably still awake.”

Virgil smiled.

“Happy to be company, you know that.”

Yeah,” said John, “I do.”

He yawned widely and Virgil chuckled.

“Ready to try for a second round?”

“Guess so,” said John.

He slipped off the stool, leaving the writing materials and the textbook open on the kitchen counter.

“Good night,” he said, bumping shoulders with Virgil. “See you tomorrow.”

Virgil knew he’d be up again before long, rising with the sun in only a couple of hours, but any sleep was good sleep for John, so he didn’t push.

“Night J.”

[finniestoncrane]

Finnie ILU congrats on your follower milestone 💓 you absolutely deserve it! I am constantly in awe of your talent and ability to conistently put out such amazing content. May I please request a lil 500 word somethin with 🐧😤🤍 please? Specifically The Batman Oz. Thank you 💜💜💜

Inadequate

farrell!penguin x female!reader/jealousy ty so much ;-; ily and i appreciate you and omg but uh...oop this made me think of the deleted scene and my heart hurt a lot! 💜 minors DNI!! 🔞 500 words, cw: so much angst, made daddy oz sad, i am sorry requests are closed • kofi link • minors DNI • tag: finnie500

A tense moment, pausing before you knocked on the door to the office of Oswald Cobblepot, your boss at the Iceberg Lounge, notorious kingpin in Gotham’s underworld, an ex-flame from a brief and really, non-existent fling. You took a deep breath in, trying not to think of the possible, although admittedly exaggeratedly negative, reasons you thought he had called you in for.

Two knocks, swift, purposeful, but still quieter than they needed to be. He heard though, and called you in.

“Come in, sweetheart.”

Walking in, you were greeted by the top of his head, his face buried in some paperwork on the desk as he gestured his hand, without looking up, showing you to the seat in front of him. Taking your position, back up straight, trying to stabilise your breaths, you waited until he was ready to speak, but he sat in silence for a few minutes longer.

You didn’t mean to be nosy, but you couldn’t help but wonder what he was looking at so intensely. A quick peek revealed that it was your employee records. On top of the pile, your latest request for time off. Confused, you decided to speak first, out of turn.

“Mister Cobblepot, is there someth-”

“I’ve been good to you, huh?”

The question knocked you back. Professionally? Personally? You couldn’t tell what he meant. And in the stunned silence, mouth open and moving, no sounds coming out, he finally looked up at you.

“Vacation time. Emergency contact updated to…who is this guy?”

“He’s who I’m going with…my boy-”

He shook his head, putting his hand up to stop you, pressing his fingers to his temples, then rubbing the bridge of his nose between his furrowed brows.

“This is how I find out, kid? What? You ain’t got the decency to come and say it to my face? Who do you think approves this shit?”

“Oswald, I swear to you, I thought this was something that middle-management would deal with. I never realised…it was difficult to…”

“You’re busy, you ain’t got time for a relationship, you can’t see yourself with someone right now.”

You recognised the words as your own, thrown back into your face.

“So what is it then? Because that was only two months ago. What’s changed?”

His tone was condescending, a self-satisfied, but deeply hurt, smile spread over his scarred face as he waited for your answer.

“It wasn’t like that…you’re just…it was…”

“What, am I not good enough for you?”

“Oswald…I-”

His large hands were up again, both of them, pushing the air, pushing you away.

“Save your breath, kid. You can go, I’ll approve this. No hard feelings, huh?”

That was easier than you expected. But as you stood, turning to walk to the door, he grabbed your forearm and held you back.

“Oswald…”

“You remember this moment, when it all inevitably comes crashing down. I’m good enough, sweetheart. I’m better than good. Remember that.”

You left without another word, breathing out finally when the door was closed behind you. The silhouette of Oswald in the window panel, elbows on his desk, head in his hands.

[m0use123]

"Guys, Asami ! I'm back"! Korra yelled as she ran across the park, to their usual hang out spot by the duck pond.

The group of teenagers all looked up at the sounds of that all to familiar voice.

"Korra"! Five sets of voices called at once.They all stood and staired open mouthed at their friend.

"What happened"? Bolin asked in amazement, "you were kinda chubby before you left and now ...... ".

"You're ripped"? Wu supplied, rushing over and hugging his friend.

"Oh, well. Yeah. You kinda do alot of running in military school", Korra blushed, rubbing the back of her neck.

"I'll say, great to have you back Kor" Mako smiled and hugged her tightly. "Are those abs I can feel"? He teased her.

Blushing like mad, Korra lifted her t-shirt slightly to show a well defined 8 pack that had certainly not been there before the teen had left.

"Those clothes are massive on you Kor, we'll have to go on an emergency shopping trip", Opal told her sternly.

"Sure Opy, that'll be fun" Korra told her with a half hearted smile.

"You're a terrible liar" Opal told her, pulling the younger girl into a bone crushing hug.

Once the huddle moved back, Korra came face to face with the one person who had kept her going for months of mountain top runs at 4 o'clock in the morning.

"Hey Sami" Korra said quietly as the two were drawn together magneticly.

"Hey Korra" Asami all but whispered as they stepped closer and closer to one another.

"Kiss. Kiss. Kiss" Bolin chanted.

Opal hit him, but soon "awww'd" when the two kissed.

"Finally" Mako muttered and his boyfriend just shush'd him.

- - - - - -

"Finally alone" Korra mumbled into Asami's long black hair as the two snuggled together on a sun lounger next to Asami's swimming pool.

Asami giggled and crawled further up her girlfriend's body and pecked her on the lips. "We've been apart all school year baby, I'm sure you could've waited a bit longer, you didn't have to kick our friends out".

Korra chuckled and wrapped her arms around Asami's bikini clad body.

"Easy for you to say Sams. The thought of your soft kisses is all that kept me going on those winter marches".

Asami paused, she nuzzled into her girlfriend's neck and said softly, "I'm sorry you were sent away because of me".

"Asami. What are you talking about"? Korra questioned her, glancing down from her comfortable position.

"It was all my fault you got into that fight. That's the reason you were expelled and sent away to that military academy".

"Wow, wow, wow. Sami, baby calm down. It wasn't your fault. I punched Amon of my own free will, you didn't MAKE me do anything.

"But"?

"But nothing Asami, it was my own fault, I messed up, not you. Now. I only have the summer to make you feel as loved as humanly possible, and I for one, don't intend to miss a single moment of it".

- - - - - -

The young couple kissed, hugged and held hands right up to the first day of September.

- - - - -

It was starting to drizzle as Korra stood in her full military school uniform on the station platform, surrounded by her friends and girlfriend.

With her military green kit bag positioned securely on her shoulder Korra gave her friends each a strong one armed hug.

"Do you have to go"? Asami asked softly into Korra's dress uniform.

"I don't want to baby, but I have no choice, please, don't make this harder than it has to be".

- - - - - -

"Attention"! Captain Kuvira Beifong yelled to her troops.

Korra scrambled off her top bunk and landed with a thud on the hard wooden dormitory floor. Lining up, and standing ram rode straight with her troop, along the bases on their bunk beds.

"Avatar, commander Bumi's office, on the double".

Korra marched double time out of the dormitory and up to the headmasters office.

She knocked and waited.

"Enter".

Korra gulped and opened the door, she caught a glimpse of the office, before her vision was obscuried by a maine of black hair.

"Asami"? Korra asked quietly, she could recognised that perfume anywhere.

"I've pulled some strings, your coming home baby, your coming home".

Korra's face broke into her first true smile in weeks.

"Thankyou Asami, Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou".

~ Fin ~