#that sounds a bit like a tomorrow project. possibly even a sunday project

[xleeleeboox]

oh my god i just kissed you

Robin Buckley x fem!reader

Warnings: the physical descriptions I said to express how emotions feel to me (don’t ask), anxiety, nervous, love/pining, a kiss :)

2.27k words

—---------------

      Robin was not good with girls, whether she liked them or not. Whether she tried to flirt with them or not. More often than not, she didn’t flirt. She was always worried that a girl she flirted with would be weirded out. Until she met you. She knew instantly that she was going to be head over heels for you by the end of the semester. 

      She was right. Only it wasn’t the end of the semester and it was two weeks later. In fact, you intrigued her so much that she asked the teacher what your name was and whatever, even though she already knew all of that. 

      “Well, she’s a very nice girl, I will say. She has stayed after class to help me clean up from other students. She has even offered to take notes for people that have been absent.” Mrs. Cassidy told her that day. Robin knew you weren’t new, but she never really saw you around school much. But that’s probably because Robin has always been wrapped up in Tammy Thompson or Vickie. And even though she had a massive crush on those girls, they didn’t really compare to you. 

      You were so nice to Robin, even if you didn’t need to talk to her for any particular reason. You always said good morning, but it wasn’t to her, it was to the room when you walked in in the morning. So every day she waited, sat near the doorway, for you to come in with a smile and say good morning to nobody in particular. Sometimes you would say something else that nobody else except for like two people caught. And when they responded you said “thank you ___” pointedly. 

      Her favorite was when you said her name. The way you say it is no different than how anyone else says it. Well actually, others probably used her name when they were annoyed with her, you said it just because. And she liked that. 

      One time, you even called her Rob, you apologized but she just sat there blushing like a fool, stuttering out an “I don’t mind” to you. Then you would turn around and before she knew it, the class was ending, and she had to wait until the weekend passed to see you again. Or so she thought. 

      Mrs. Cassidy was assigning a partner project to everyone and you had to get it done by sometime next week, but everyone got to pick their partners. Robin wanted to pick you because she wanted to spend time with you, but she also didn’t want to embarrass herself like she did so often. However, when you turned around in your chair to ask her to be your partner, she almost died a little inside. 

      “Hey Robin.” You grab her attention with a sweet smile. “Do you want to be my partner?” You asked innocently. Her mind went elsewhere, as she began wondering if you could have possibly liked girls too. You said something that sounded jumbled, she didn;t catch it because she was stuck in her thoughts not really paying attention.

      “Hm?” She hums, face heating up a little bit. 

      “Do you want to be my partner? For the project I mean. I’m free this weekend if you would like to meet up to get started. If we get together Saturday and Sunday we could probably get this whole thing done and leave the rest of the week for the inevitable pile of homework we’re gonna have with other classes.” You explain. Luckily she understood 99% of it. 

      “Uh, yeah yeah that sounds good. W-where, uh, do you wanna meet up?” Robin stutters out. 

      “Well I could go over to your house, or I guess you could come over to mine? Or a library or something?” You offer. 

      “Your house is fine, if that’s okay with you?” Robin replied. 

      “Well duh silly, I wouldn’t have offered. My house it is. Tomorrow afternoon at 2? I’ve got something to do earlier, but I’ll be available after that. ” Robin nodded. To be honest she was desperate to see what your room looked like. And getting to spend the weekend with you? Her heart feels like it’s going to explode. But then it drops. She gets off work at 4, and she needs a ride. 

~

      “Steve, you don’t understand! This is Y/N we’re talking about! I really like her and I finally get to spend time with her. I mean I know it’s studying but we can still get to know each other. Please Steve please?” She begs him. Steve gives her an unconvincing look.

      “What if…” She was desperately trying to find an idea to convince Steve to cover the rest of her shift and give her a ride. She thought of one thing, she didn’t like it, but it would definitely work. 

      “What if I ask her out?” 

      “Deal.” Steve agrees immediately. 

      “Steve! You didn’t even consider it!” Robin shouts. 

      “Just find out if she likes girls and ask her out! It’s not hard Robin, you’re just… panicky.” Robin scoffs at this but accepts the deal. 

~

      The next day comes and Robin is counting down the minutes, staring at the clock. She gathers her things and hops in the car with Steve, heading over to your house. Oh god, she was going to meet you outside of school, see your house, you room. Robin’s heart speeds up a little more and more the closer she gets to your home. 

      Steve pulls up the car and he shouts something about ‘not chickening out’ and she hurriedly makes her way to your door, knocking. You open it up rather quickly, like you were waiting for her. She gives you a shy smile, turns around and shoos Steve away. You open the door wider for her to come in, rushing up to your room, eager to get started. Really, you were just eager to be with her. 

      When Robin got into your room, she noticed how freezing it was. She shrugs her shoulder in her jacket for friction to maybe get a little warm without you noticing, but she doesn’t say anything. You sat on the floor on a pillow and got out whatever notes binder you had for that class. 

~

      Hours passed of studying, reading, planning. But all of it was awkward small talk. Every moment, Robin was worried about about saying something stupid. But she wanted to get to know you. Her eyes would kind of scan everywhere, taking note of what was there. You had like three blankets, still had stuffed animals. Your closet door is closed but a mirror and hanger is on it, a bunch of necklaces hanging on the hooks. She picks out a necklace with her eyes, one she has seen you wear at school all the time. It became one of her favorites that you wear. 

      Robin noticed perfumes, makeup, books, pencils and stuff laying around. She noticed the pictures on your walls of your friends. Who were you friends with? Nancy. You had a picture of Nancy in the newspaper room with Fred in the background, telling you to knock it off. You were funny in class, making comments here and there, a little outgoing. 

      Her head snapped back to you and she felt your warm hand press against her knee. Your touch was very warm, your hands could have been that warm. Could they? She asked you  “What?” 

      “Are you getting cold? I know it can get pretty chilly in here.” You joke. Robin awkwardly laughs. The next thing she says has her overthinking it. 

      “Yeah, jeez I wonder how it feels in the winter time.” God she wanted to hit herself in the forehead. But you laughed. 

      And you responded to her. “Oh my gosh I know, I have lots of sweaters and blankets. I have been trying to find a space heater for my room but it’s hard to do.” You joke back to her. Okay, good. You shoot up, making your way over to your closet, turning a couple of small lights on in the meantime, giving the room a golden yellow glow. You pull out a golden yellow sweater with red, royal blue, and white buttons on it. They were all mismatched buttons and a couple even had little polka dots on them. 

      “Here, you can wear this in the meantime.” You draped it over her shoulders, and placed your hands on both of them for just a moment, then pulled the rest of her hair out from underneath the sweater. This sent her body into a shiver that she attempted to hide. “Plus it matches your outfit. And it’s my favorite sweater.” You say that last sentence quietly, still smiling. Robin’s heart was now beating really fast because it made her feel all warm inside when you said that to her. 

      “T-thanks. Yeah, I’ve noticed you wearing this sweater a lot. I mean not like I’m watching you or whatever, it’s just not a common color for a sweater.” She lets out a dry chuckle, convinced she’s making you uncomfortable. 

      “No, I’ve noticed you looking at me. I don’t really mind though.” You little out the tiniest chuckle, nudging your arm against her body. You continued, “I was actually kind of excited that we got to pick our own partners, and that you agreed to be with me.” You give your head a quick small shake, as if you were flicking away your own thoughts with your head. “I mean, be my partner for the project.” You smiled. 

      “No, I’m glad you asked, I didn’t want to have to work with anyone else. Like, because I know they wouldn’t try very much to do the work. I’d have to end up doing most of it.” She rambled out. Are you flirting with her? No way. Then you’d be gay? Then you’d be gay. If Robin could think a smile, she’d be doing it. 

      “Yeah,” You scooted closer, Robin’s body just about burst up in flames as the side of your body pressed against hers. Leaning back on your hands. “I was really hoping to get to know you better. I mean you seem cool, you know.” You say, but not like a question. Your cheeks are pink now. 

      “Yeah yeah.” She thought of telling you how pretty she thought you looked, how nice you always are. How your jokes are the highlight of her day. How she has this favorite necklace you wear, it looks kind of old, a sterling silver pendant with a stamped image of it of a four leaf clover. 

      You sat back up, crossing your legs and leaning forward, straight ahead. Robin straightened up too, sitting upwards now, facing the same wall you are looking at. She looks at you looking at your fingernails as she pretends to flip through a page in her notebook. 

      You look over at her, a certain look where your eyes flit up and down from her body to her face. Like you were checking her out, or trying to make a move. Robin’s thoughts stopped and her body felt a little tingly for a second. 

      “Yeah I always thought you were… cute, goofy.” You shyly say, leaning a little closer to her face. 

      “You think I’m goofy?” She asks jokingly, furrowing her eyebrows. 

      “Yeah, and cute.” Robin’s heart skips a beat, or speeds up, she can’t tell anymore. 

      “I think you’re pretty.” She whispers, subconsciously getting closer to you, looking down at your lips in a trance.

“Thank you.” You whispered, looking down at her lips, then to her eyes.

      Then it happens. Your lips are on hers and she is actually kissing you back. Robin even lifts a hand and places it on your knee. Her chest is feeling warm at this kiss, the feel of your lips, soft and a little sticky because of your leftover lipgloss. You bring your hand up to the side of her face, turning your head a little, pushing into her and getting a better angle. You pull away with a gentle smacking sound. Robin is still in a trance and she shakes her head and her eyes widen and mouth falls further open. 

      “Oh my god I just kissed you.” She gasps out, panicking. Getting ready to work herself up, you see and stop her. 

      “Robin no, I kissed you. And I liked it.” You say with a tiny ‘hmp’ and smile. “Is that okay? That I kissed you? I just kinda thought that you liked me because of all the time you stare at me, but instead of hating me, you're nice. So I guess I just thought you did like me.” You explain the sudden kiss shyly. 

      Robin cuts in quickly, “No no no no I liked it, I really liked it. And I do like you. I just didn’t know if you liked me, or girls. I didn’t want to do anything. But I’m glad you kissed me.” She rushed that last sentence out quickly. 

      “Okay good.” You let out a breathy laugh. You two sat with each other in silence on the floor of the chilly room with the golden yellow lighting. Moments of quietness pass as Robin speaks up, at a whisper. 

      “So, would you maybe… I dunno… go on a date with me sometime?” She asks shyly. 

      You nod with a big smile. Biting your bottom lip. “I’d like that very much, Robin.” She looks at you with a shy smile and pink cheeks, looking down at her lap. She finally asked you out. Now Steve won’t pester her about you. 

-----------------

[peachcitt]

for anyone wondering packing went okay but now i have to face the mortifying ordeal of unpacking

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Portrait of a Dangerous Man🎨2

Warnings: (series) non-consent sex and rape; slow creep; cucking; (this chapter) nothing as yet.

This is dark!mob!Clark Kent x reader and explicit. 18+ only.  Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Synopsis: Your dream of having your work hung in an art show comes true but your first buyer is not all he seems to be.

Note: Thank you for your positive response to this one! I hope you enjoy what I have in store.

Thanks to everyone for reading and thanks in advance for all your feedback. :)

I really hope you enjoy. 💋

<3 As usual, I’d appreciate if you let me know what you think with a like or reblog or reply or an ask! Love ya!

Your Spotify list of redundant tracks flowed through the apartment as you sat typing at your small desk in the corner of the front room. The boxy space was as oppressive as any office space, another reason for your voluntary work at the gallery. Vanessa let you in the studio to paint. Without the privilege, you wouldn’t have the space for your easel.

You stretched your fingers and rubbed your eyes. You felt dizzy from staring at the screen, even with night mode on. The work was monotonous and made you restless. You wanted a pencil or brush in hand, a canvas before you, not this blaring laptop. You yawned and took a sip of your lukewarm water.

Your phone vibrated from across the room and you checked the time. Your lunch started soon but no one was really keeping track. As long as you got your assignments done, it didn’t matter when you chewed on toast and disassociated.

You got up and grabbed your phone from the corner table and leaned against the arm of the couch. You remembered how Marcus woke up there and grumbled as he lifted his head in pain. You couldn’t really feel bad for him going into work hungover. He embarrassed you and it didn’t quite sink in until after Clark left you to stare down at your drunk boyfriend.

An unknown number showed on your screen and you answered tentatively, ready to hang up at the first sales pitch. Your name came from the speaker and you recognized the deep voice in an instant. It took you back to the night before and the canvas hung on the wall.

“I hope I’m not disturbing you,” Clark said, “I only just had the paintings hung and I thought… well, I thought you might like to come see them in their new home.”

“Um…” you chewed your thumb, uncertain how to respond.

“Sorry, I know I can be a bit… to the point,” he laughed at himself, “how are you?”

“I’m good, just… taking a break.”

“You working?”

“Yeah, but I work from home,” you said as you touched the side of your neck, “I could… I could come see them but it might be a while before--”

“When are you finished work?” he asked bluntly.

“Four but I… maybe another day.”

“I don’t mean to be pushy but I did have something else to speak with you about,” he said, “a commission, like I mentioned.”

“Oh?”

“I kinda wanna get it started sooner than later, it will probably be pretty time-consuming,” he explained and you heard a clink and a soft sip, “I don’t wanna get into details on the phone but I promise, you will be compensated nicely.”

“You can’t wait until tomorrow?” you wondered.

“I suppose I can but it’d have to be during the day,” he responded, “why don’t you take some time to figure it out and get back to me by two? You can text me through this number.”

“Erm, sure,” you said uneasily, “I’m sorry, it’s just… very sudden, I don’t--”

“You can bring the boyfriend,” he said casually, “if you like.”

“He won’t be… home,” you said carefully, “I’ll let you know. Thank you.”

“I look forward to hearing from you,” he replied, “have a good day.”

“You, too,” you said and the line died.

You put your phone down and took a moment. Good things rarely happened to you. You struggled so long it was hard to think that might change. The skeptic in you told you there was something behind it all. That it couldn’t possibly be your art.

You went back to your computer and sighed as you waved away the screensaver with your mouse. The blinking cursor made you want to believe it was your big break.

🎨

You texted Clark at one and at four, you were in an Uber. Marcus drove his car to work and you stuck to buses and the underground when you could. The address was at least an hour out, the house among those estates on the edge of the city reserved for the upper echelon. You’d only ever seen the sprawling yards on your way to the next town.

When the car finally turned up the drive and you passed beyond a low brick wall, you felt entirely out of your depth. You tipped the Uber but didn’t feel too bad with the check from Vanessa sitting soundly in your account. You clutched the strap of your bag and walked along the curve of the brick work towards the stairs.

“Hey,” you stopped as Clark called to you, your ankle still tender from the night before.

You glanced over as he came out of the large garage and peeled off a pair of leather gloves. He smiled as he tucked them into his jacket pocket. You watched him and played with the clasp on your bag.

“Just got back from a drive,” he said, “I almost got carried away. I’m glad you made it.”

“Yeah, no problem,” you replied.

“Well, come on, let me show you around,” he waved behind you towards the front doors, “we’ll go on a tour and then we can talk details.”

“Wow,” you uttered mindlessly as you climbed the stairs to the door but kept the weight on your uninjured ankle, “this place is huge.”

“My contractor went a little crazy,” he scoffed, “but I can’t complain.”

He led you through the doors and directed you to the left. In the front room, your work was hung along the opposite wall, arranged in a way that drew the eye to them. You stepped closer and peered up at your work with a hint of awe. They looked even better in a place like that.

“I had my interior designer make the final call on where to hang them,” he explained, “I hope you don’t mind, I gave her your details. She said she had clients who might be interested in your work.”

“Really?” you breathed, “that’s… too nice.”

“Oh yeah? One day, you’ll be sick of rich pricks like me,” he grinned, “I’ll show you the pool, that’s usually the main attraction.”

“Sounds good,” you said as you followed but he paused and watched your stunted gait.

“I forgot, we can go slow,” he offered, “how’s the ankle?”

“I’ll make do,” you affirmed as you neared him, “just need to get my steps in.”

🎨

As you finished the tour of the second floor, you slowed along the long hall and admired the work of artists you only ever saw in museums. You couldn’t help but be enamoured by the historic blots of paint. You almost forgot where you were as you leaned in to read the initials beneath the pastel flowers.

“So,” Clark’s voice brought you back, you almost blanked him out entirely in your mind, “I think you might have noticed the empty space above the fireplace in the front room. I was hoping you could fill it.”

“Oh?” you looked at him and smiled nervously, “did you have something in mind? A landscape or--”

“Well, your portraits are great. I like the old world style. I was hoping you might do one of… me,” he suggested, “I know, it’s vain but why not?”

“I mean, yeah, I could do that,” you said.

“I’ll pay hourly plus materials,” he continued, “three hundred an hour.”

You almost choked at the number. You blinked and swallowed through your surprise.

“Even a small portrait would take at least twelve hours,” you warned, “are you sure?”

“I know it’s a lot of time for you, so… I was thinking, if you have to miss work, I’ll factor it into your rate. I would really like to get the project started as soon as we can,” he put his hand on his hip as he looked down at you, “the only thing I need from you is a list of materials. I’ll have them waiting for you here.”

“Here?”

“Well, yeah, I figure it makes most sense,” he turned his palm out.

“Hmm, sure, I prefer my own brushes but… you know I can just buy the stuff myself--”

“Ah, no, I want it to be perfect. You send me a list and I’ll have my assistant go out and get it all ready,” he assured, “How does Sunday sound?”

“Sunday?” you blanched. That was two days away.

“Like I said, Marcus is more than welcome to come with you,” he offered, “I’d hate to keep you from him too long.”

“I guess Sunday works,” you squeaked, “I’ll talk to Marcus.”

“Great,” he said coolly, “well, that’s business. How about a drink to seal the deal?”

“I don’t know, I should probably get back,” you fiddled with your bag against your hip.

“One drink won’t hurt,” he said, “go on, call the boyfriend and let him know you won’t be much longer.”

“I… thanks,” you murmured.

“You’re humble for an artist,” he joked as he sidled by you, “once you grow an ego, you’ll be unstoppable.” He neared the stairs as you turned to watch him, “I’ll be at the bar, waiting. You like gin?”

“Sure,” you answered as you pulled out your phone, “I’ll see you down there.”

🎨

When you told Marcus about your new side gig, he was even more excited than you. You were anxious and slightly hesitant. You hated to jump in feet first and risk losing more than a few tubes of paint. What if the work wasn’t good enough?

Marcus was more than willing to come with you when you told him about the size of the place. He knew by the area that it was extravagant. You sat in the passenger seat with the most expensive bottle of wine you’d ever bought cradled between your legs. You hated to show up empty handed after all of Clark’s generosity.

Marcus got lost and went down the wrong driveway before you righted your course. As you drove up, you were once more overcome from the rich rosebuds and sparkling fountain at the centre of the mosaic. You gripped the neck of the bottle and got out as Marcus whistled in awe.

“You weren’t kidding. This place is fucking nuts,” he swore, “I should’ve worn the tux from my brother’s wedding.”

“Please, Marcus,” you rolled your eyes, “let’s both try not to break anything.”

“You’re the clumsy one,” he chirped, “shit, you’re so lucky. You get to hang out here and paint all day? God, I wish I had an ounce of artistic talent. I’d trade it for code in a minute.”

You climbed the steps and clanged the large knocker on the right door. You waited a moment before an answer came and Clark appeared on the other side and beckoned you inside. He smiled as he shook Marcus’ hand.

“Thanks for joining us,” he said, “I would’ve felt awful stealing your girlfriend on the weekend like this.”

“Are you kidding me? She said you had a pool and I snuck the swim shorts into the backseat,” Marcus chuckled and you nudged him with your elbow.

“See?” Clark arched a brow, “the pool is always the seller.”

“Here,” you said as you held out the bottle of red, “for everything you’ve done and welcoming us into your home.”

“Ohhh,” he took the bottle and looked over the label, “I got a spot for this right behind the bar. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, I brought my brushes,” you patted the canvas bag on your shoulder.

“Mmm, yeah, well, I’ll just put this away and we’ll give Marcus the grand tour. Then I’ll get you situated,” he assured and rushed off.

He returned and pointed Marcus through to the front room, “you’ll see, just over here,” he directed him to your paintings.

“Oh, wow, babe,” Marcus marveled at the hung portraits, “you really did it.”

You smiled bashfully and Clark peeked over at you and winked. You squirmed as your cheeks burned and you turned away as he beckoned Marcus past the mantle.

“It’s a big place,” Clark said, “I’d like to get you started before noon.”

Clark led you along the same path as days before and slowed as you came back to the top of the stairs. He turned back and clapped his hands together.

“Marcus, if you wanna hop in the pool, we’re gonna start just in there,” he pointed to the one door you hadn’t looked through, “that’s the studio.”

“What about you?” Marcus asked.

“Well, I’ll be a part of the process so I’m afraid I will be just as busy but if you need anything, Nina, she has a crooked nose and mean mouth but don’t let her fool you, she’ll get you whatever you need,” he said, “just don’t track in water from the pool or she’ll string you up.”

“Oh, well, that doesn’t sound too bad. Some alone time in the sun and a pool,” Marcus grinned, “I really couldn’t ask for anything else… except you, babe.”

“Sure,” you scoffed, “go, have fun.”

Marcus kissed you quickly and thanked Clark again before he excitedly barreled down the steps. You scratched your neck as you looked back to your host, and you guessed, your new boss.

“I’m sorry about him. He can be such a kid sometimes,” you said.

“Nah, it’s fine,” he waved it off, “so, you ready to see your workspace? I kinda wanted it to be a surprise. Also, a bit last minute so it’s not perfect… yet.”

“Uh, yeah,” you answered, “can’t wait.”

He motioned you over to the tall dusty rose doors and hooked his fingers in the slotted handles. He slid them open and revealed an airy room with a tall ceiling and long windows. An easel stood facing the sun streaked glass, an immense canvas bigger than yourself, bigger than him, propped up on it. There was a ladder nearby and the table was set with a rainbow of paints and a large pallet.

Your lips parted as you neared the easel and stared up at the canvas, “you were right, it’s gonna be a lot of work.”

“I hope it’s not too much,” he said, “but you name your price. We’ll make it work.”

“No, no, I think for what you’re paying, I’ll do just fine,” you put your bag down daintily on the table, “so, uh, a portrait, I guess that means…”

Your voice trailed off as he went to the upholstered chair across the room, at an angle so you could see him from your vantage. Behind it, hung a velvet curtain to add to the scene and a bust on a pedestal. It felt surreal, like a dream.

You turned and pulled out the brushes, “I think you’ll get more tired than me, just sitting there.”

“I’ll make it through,” he assured as he sat, “is there anyway you’d like me to sit? Chin up, or…”

“Hmmm,” you turned to look at him, “I think… if you just put your shoulders back and… did you want a profile or--”

“I was thinking front-facing,” he stared at you steadily, unflinching as his eyes stuck to you, “just like this.”

“Perfect,” you said nervously and looked back to the table. 

There was water to rinse your brushes, rags, pencils, blending sticks; everything you needed and more. You took a pencil from the bunch and pulled over the ladder. You climbed up and looked over at Clark as he sat stoic and still. He looked picturesque in real life, you expected paint would only lend to his figure.

His eyes met yours and you turned to start tracing the basic shapes onto the canvas. You had to stop and steady your hand as you did. His gaze made it hard not to tremble.

[nashibirne]

Gimme Shelter - 7

Here it is, the last chapter of Gimme Shelter. It took me a while to write it, I kinda had a hard time to let Kat and Henry go... I'm going to miss them. I hope you like the ending I chose for these two. If so, please let me know by leaving a comment, reblog or like. Feedback is much appreciated. 💜

Pairing: Henry Cavill x OFC (Kat Spencer)

Words: ~ 4.5 k

Summary: Henry has to deal with a personal crisis and he finds shelter with his old rugby mate Sam and his sister Kat. She used to be Henry’s best friend a very long time ago. Will they be able to become friends again or maybe even more? Chapter 7: An important conversation, a celebration and lots of love.

You can find the previous chapters and my other fics on my masterlist!

Warnings: RPF, mention of mental health issues, smut, sex (p in v), vanilla, unprotected sex, nsfw, 18+, fluff

UNBETA'ED! English is not my mother tongue, so expect bad grammar, wrong spelling, chaotic punctuation and clumsy language. All mistakes are mine…

I got a little help with a certain paragraph, thank you so much @sillyrabbit81 for your advice and your support. Love ya 💕

Credits: Pics for the moodboard from Pinterest. Face claims: Kat = Jennifer Connelly

Disclaimer: I don’t know the real Henry Cavill or anyone who's related to him in any way, this is pure fiction and a lot of wishful thinking.

Tag list (let me know if you want to be added or removed)

@lunedelorient @inlovewithhisblueeyes @willkatfanfromasia @hell1129-blog @mis-lil-red @agniavateira @kebabgirl67 @omgkatinka @legendarywizarddetective @summersong69 @taebfada @xxxkatxo @artandotherdelights @notabronte @littlefreya @luclittlepond @eldarwen333 @meowpurrbooks @marantha @liliumdream @enchantedbytomandhenry @greensleeves888 @witcherfan @margauxmargaux07 @radaofrivia @m07belzen @a-little-counter-esperanto @starstruckkittyangel @mary-ann84 @sillyrabbit81 @emelinelovesjc @wheretheriversrunintothesea @lam0ureuxq @kingliam2019

Let the grand finale begin....

***********

"There's no need to be nervous, Kat."

Henry gave her a smile before taking a sip of his coffee.

They were sitting at their gate, waiting to board the plane that was going to fly them to Jersey.

"I know", Kat sighed, shaking her head slowly, "but I still am. I haven't seen your family in years, there will be so many people I don't know…"

"And they will love you. Look, Kitty, today is gonna be relaxed. You'll meet my parents, my brothers and their families and that's it. Just a casual dinner. Tomorrow there will be the celebration and I promise you it's gonna be great. My folks know how to party," he winked at her with a grin, "and on Sunday everyone except for my parents will be gone and we have a whole week to relax and just enjoy the island and our time together. Okay?"

"Okay," she smiled at him and took a bite of the muffin she had bought at one of the airport cafes, "I'll try to relax. Just distract me, tell me something... anything."

"That's the text for Instagram. The open letter to my fans and followers."

"Well, actually there's really something I want to talk to you about", Henry said reluctantly. He grabbed his phone and opened his google docs. "I need your opinion on this." He gave her his mobile.

Kat saw that the display showed a long text. "What's that?"

"I see," Kat chewed on her lip, looking him in the eyes, "and you want me to proofread it?"

"I want to know what you think about it."

"Alright. Let's see."

She stared at the words on the screen with a beating heart. Henry had been working on this statement quite a while now and she knew it would include his plans for the future. They had talked about different scenarios but she didn't know what he'd finally decided to do with his life and his work. She was curious but at the same time she was scared because many of these scenarios meant that he was going to leave St. Ives and her life. She took a deep breath and started to read.

The statement was deep and of unabashed openness. The way Henry described what he had gone through in the past year was very touching and she had to fight back tears several times. Relief flooded her when she read that he was asking his fans to give him a little more time to reorientate and that he intended to remain in the background for a little longer, stating that he was very happy at the sanctuary he had found and that good friends had given him shelter. What left her completely amazed was the last paragraph.

"Kal is going to take over your Instagram?"

Henry grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah. For a while. I think it's a good solution. I'm going to post pictures of him with captions that let people know what I'm doing without giving up my privacy until I'm ready to return and face the public again. It's my way of letting my fans be a part of my life although I'm not really present. I want to share what I'm up to but not the way I used to do it. I want to do more than promotion and I want to be more than a thirst trap, Kitty."

"You're much more than that, Hen", she took his hands in hers, looking at him with a frown, "so much more."

He gave her a grateful smile.

"I know that but many people don't and that's my own fault. The way I've presented myself on social media was very one-sided in the last year and it will be interesting to find out how many of my 17 Mio followers still like me when all they'll get to see in the next weeks is my dog. The ones that remain are the ones that count and in the future I want them to see who I am and what's important to me. I have picked three topics I want to concentrate on. First: conversation and protection of species in cooperation with Durrell. Second: mental health, focusing on problems men often face. I want to found a charitable trust that helps and supports men with mental health issues and that raises awareness of that topic. Thirdly: Fitness, because it's such an important part of my life. I want to show how good moving can make you feel but I also want to show the risks of overdoing it and that even very fit people can still have body issues and how I deal with these issues myself."

"First of all I think the statement you want to post is great. It's so sincere and you open up so much... It's a risk because you expose yourself but I think people will appreciate your honesty and I'm sure many can identify with what you've been through. And your plans sound fantastic, Henry. I know how important these topics are to you and you're going to be a great ambassador for all of this because it's authentic. This is you, people will notice and appreciate that." She couldn't help but give him a spontaneous hug. "God, Henry, I'm so happy for you."

Henry let out a sigh and shrugged, looking at Kat with an expression full of doubt and insecurity.

"What do you think?"

He hugged her back, pulling her into a tight embrace. "That's such a relief, Kat. I was worried it might sound stupid."

"Not a bit! It sounds perfect. But what about work? Do you already know where to go with your job?"

He took a deep breath.

"Yes. I want to return to filming but I want to leave my comfort zone a bit and try to get different kinds of roles. I'll have to talk to my agent and hope that he can find some interesting projects for me. I also thought about going on the stage again. Back to the roots, maybe I will find a theater that is willing to give me a chance. But that's just an idea, I'm open to anything. I just know for sure that I love my job. I want to be an actor and I'm ready to work again."

"And you will work again. I'm sure. Are you going to tell your family about your plans?"

"Sure. It will be a great relief for them to see that I'm back on track."

"Of course. It's a relief for me too."

"I know…"

They were interrupted by the announcement that boarding was about to start and so they got on the plane, heading to Jersey with a pretty good feeling.

****

36 hours later Kat was still feeling pretty good. The garden party was in full swing and she really enjoyed the jolly atmosphere, the food, the drinks and most of all Henry's company. His family had given her a very warm welcome and so she had a very good time. The garden was beautifully decorated and lit by countless torches, candles and chinese lanterns. A local band was playing cover songs on a little stage and a clown was entertaining the children.

It was almost midnight when Henry turned to her with a smile.

"Time for the big surprise."

"Can't wait. You've been such a mystery-monger lately."

"I know, but you'll soon know why."

"Well, you want to surprise your mum. Isn't that the reason?" Kat was visibly confused and Henry gave her one of his perfectly imperfect winks.

"My mum and...you. Maybe?"

He went away with a grin and left Kat with a beating heart. What kind of surprise could he possibly have for her? On his mother's birthday? She smoothened out her plain black dress with a nervous gesture before she followed Henry with her eyes, her arms resting on the cocktail table right in front of the stage. When he grabbed the microphone, Kat assumed he wanted to hold a speech, maybe telling his family and friends about his future plans but when he turned to the band leader for a whispered exchange she knew there was more to it. Henry nodded at each of the band members and Kat could tell he was nervous by his body language.

"Hello everyone," his deep voice echoed through the speakers, "I'm sorry to interrupt, I know everyone is having a great time and don't worry, I'm not going to bore you with a speech, but I still have prepared a little something. A surprise."

He flashed a bright smile at his mother, ignoring the teasing cheers and whistles coming from his brothers.

"Mum, I racked my brain over a special present for weeks. What would make you happy? What would surprise you? Eventually I had this idea I knew you'd love but that really got me out of my comfort zone. I worked hard on it and I hope you and everybody else will like the result." Henry cleared his throat with a sheepish smile.

"Come on man, spill it." That was Henry's younger brother Charlie and Kat couldn't help but chuckle when his older brother Simon joined in.

"Yeah, Hen, the suspense is killing us."

Henry shook his head, laughing and Marianne Cavill shushed her sons with an amused smile.

"Okay, well... I'm going to sing for you."

"Oh please, spare us. You can't sing." Charlie again, he'd always been a cheeky guy and obviously he hadn't changed a bit. Henry laughed out loud, pointing his finger at Charles.

"Right, brother, that's why I took lessons. I spent many, many hours at our neighbour's who is a vocal coach. Kat is my witness."

All eyes turned on her now and she couldn't give them much more than a shrug, a nod and a smile to confirm his words. She wasn't able to say anything, but her mind was racing. He had been taking singing lessons with Mel, who had been a music teacher and vocal coach before her marriage. The revelation hit her hard and unexpected, flooding her with relief and a hint of shame. She had been so suspicious all this time without a reason. Nothing had been going on between Hen and Mel, nothing inappropriate, nothing intimate. He had been telling the truth.

Henry's voice interrupted her thoughts and she took a deep breath, turning her attention to what was happening on stage.

The band started to play and Kat immediately recognized the song, Green, Green Grass of Home, and when Henry began to sing she was completely captivated by his full, warm and dark voice. He did great up there and it didn't take people long to pull out lighters and smartphones to wave them in the air to the slow rhythm of the song, creating a sea of lights that illuminated the garden.

"Well...I better get started before I chicken out and change my mind." He nodded at the band with a grateful smile.

"We only had the chance to rehearse two times so please be lenient with me. Thanks guys for playing along and allowing me to take over... Anyway, I've prepared three songs. Enjoy."

Kat looked at Mrs Cavill, no, at Marianne -it still felt strange to call her by her first name- and she was beaming, tears of pride and joy sparkling in her eyes. Kat was incredibly happy and proud too, it just felt so good to see Henry perform, completely at ease with himself, confident and charming as ever.

The next song seemed to be some kind of family hymn. After only a few lines of Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline everybody was singing along, even the kids, and Kat joined in, soaking up the jolly atmosphere and the good mood that was so infectious. Henry obviously had a great time too. He was smiling all over his face and it made Kat glad to see him so relaxed and happy. Before he began singing the last song, he spoke softly into the microphone.

"The next one is for everyone who's in love. Grab your loved ones and get on the dancefloor, it's time for slow-dancing", and after a little pause he added, "this one's for you, Kat."

I know that you've been hurt before

He looked her straight in the eyes and his words sent shivers down her spine. She noticed the curious glances people gave her and she knew she was blushing but she did her best to pretend to be cool, calm and collected, taking a sip of her red wine. When the music set in, Kat easily recognized the song. It was a slow version -Henry's version- of a Curtis Stigers song and she already loved it after the first few words. She knew the lyrics by heart and thinking about them awoke the butterflies in her belly.

Happy couples filled the dancefloor looking lovingly at each other, dancing slowly to the music. Henry's full voice was perfect for the song and he kept looking at Kat. Their eyes were locked and to her it felt like no one else was around, like Henry was singing just for her.

But that won't happen anymore, no no

Just give your heart to me

And I'll guard it with my life

I don't know what I'd do

Baby, without you

His words found their way right into her heart and for the first time in 22 years she felt ready to finally let go of the past, to completely trust him again, to believe him and to forgive him.

You're all that matters to me

The ground that you walk

The air that you breathe

Someday you'll discover

I don't want no other, believe me

You're all that matters, baby

All that matters to me

She realized that a teardrop was rolling down her cheek and she wiped it away hastily. Concern was showing in Henry's eyes when he saw that she was crying but the smile she gave him showed him it was a tear of joy and relief flooded him. He couldn't wait to finish the song now, couldn't wait to dance with Kat, to hold her in his arms.

Loud applause followed his performance, accompanied by calls for an encore that he declined politely with a shy smile. Henry made sure to tell the band to continue with some ballads and after receiving some very tight hugs and kisses from his extremely happy and proud mother he finally joined Kat at their table.

"Fancy a dance?" He offered her his hand with a charming smirk.

She nodded and took his hand, following him to the dance floor where he pulled her close. They swayed slowly to "You Are The Sunshine of my life" for a while without saying anything, content with just looking at each other, before Kat broke the silence.

"You were great up there."

"You liked it?"

"I loved it, Hen. You have a wonderful voice. Mel seems to be a good coach." Kat gave him a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, she is. Once she'd realized that I wasn't interested in more than singing lessons she was very professional and pretty strict."

Henry grinned at her, gently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was supposed to be a surprise and I wanted you to trust me." He shrugged, giving her a tender smile.

"And I didn't. I let you down. I was such an idiot, Henry. I should have believed you, I am so sor…"

"No, Kitty, please... don't apologize, okay?" He looked at her with a frown, seriousness showing in his eyes. "You had every right to be mistrustful, I understand that. Just tell me that you think you will be able to trust me again some day."

"I already do. I…"

They bumped into another couple and it wasn't the first time. The dance floor was crowded and everyone was keen on congratulating Henry on his performance. It felt like every single party guest was watching them.

"Wanna leave?"

"Yes," Kat nodded with a smile.

****

"It's so peaceful, isn't it?"

"It is. It's beautiful." Kat squeezed Henry's hand before resting her head against his shoulder. They were walking down the beach along the dark shore, that was romantically enlightened by a bright full moon hand, in hand. The sea was calm, just giving off its soothing sounds and a cool breeze that made Kat shiver. Henry took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Thanks", Kat said with a smile, "not only for the jacket but for bringing me here and for this wonderful night."

"Did you enjoy the party?"

"Of course, it was so much fun and I loved your performance. Especially the third song."

Henry stopped walking and turned to her, taking both of her hands in his, looking her deep in the eyes.

"Every single word was true, Kat. I meant it. I'd never hurt you again. You're really all that matters to me. I know you find it hard to believe me, but…"

"I believe you," Kat cut in, "I felt it. I feel it now."

Henry stared at her. "You do?"

"Fuck, yes, I do!" Kat threw her head back, laughing out loud, feeling incredibly happy and light-hearted all of the sudden. "And I feel the same, Hen. Exactly the same."

She cupped his face with her hands and did what she had been longing to do for so long. She kissed him. It was a gentle kiss, almost shy and when Henry felt her mouth on his, her soft lips united with his, skin on skin, no tongue, just tenderness and love, he was beyond happy and savoured every single second.

When Kat pulled away reluctantly he rested his forehead against hers taking a deep breath.

"I feel like 17 again", he whispered.

Kat laughed softly at his words. "So do I. It feels great."

The next kiss started off just like the previous one, innocent and sweet, but when Henry pulled Kat close to deepen the kiss all the bottled-up sexual tension and energy, all the suppressed passion and desire of more than 20 years erupted and they started to make out hungrily, starving for love and intimacy. After a while things really heated up and Henry was the one to put the brakes on when Kat started to fumble with his fly.

"If you don't want me to take you right here we better take it to the bedroom, Kitty", Henry sighed, his voice thick with arousal and desire.

"Well, I've never done it on the beach…", Kat smirked, biting her lower lip.

"Seriously? Here?" Henry took a look around checking if the coast was clear.

"I was joking, Hen. I hate having sand in every pore." Kat nudged him with a grin. "Just take me home."

They made it to the cottage in record time and started to undress each other right in the little hallway, kissing and fumbling like teenagers. While Kat was unzipping Henry's trousers, he was unsuccessfully trying to open her bra.

"Front clasp, Hen", Kat explained to him breathlessly.

"Fuck", Henry chuckled, "I swear I'm not gonna be that clueless once I'll have you naked."

"Good," she answered with a lewd smile, stripping off her bra when he'd finally managed to open it, standing in front of him in just her panties.

"God, you're beautiful, Kitty." Henry let his eyes wander all over her body while stepping out of his pants. He took off his socks and now he was facing her naked too, except for his briefs.

"You don't look so bad yourself, pop."

She grabbed him by the hem of his underwear, pulling him close for another kiss. Kat gasped when he lifted her up effortlessly, wrapping her legs around his waist, feeling his hard-on pressing against her wet panties. She moaned into his mouth when he moved his hips, dry humping her teasingly. Henry carried Kat to his bedroom and laid her down on the bed. He stripped off her pants before he did the same with his and when they finally were both naked he climbed on top of her, looking her deep in the eyes, before kissing her again. It was a long, slow kiss and Kat let her fingers run over his back till they reached his butt. She squeezed his ass and pulled him close, sighing with lust when Henry started to kiss her tits and to suck her nipples. She reached between her legs and grabbed his dick that was pretty impressive, giving it a few strokes that made him moan loudly.

"Fuck, Kat...I need you…I need to feel you...now."

She brought the tip of his cock to her entrance, bucking her hips, inviting him in.

"Take me. I'm yours, Henry."

"Are you on birth control?"

"I am, don't worry. Just go for it. Please."

Her words weren't more than a hoarse whisper but Henry heard them crystal clear. He moaned again when he realized that it was finally going to happen. He was about to make love to Kat and it was like a dream come true. A hot, sexy, wet dream and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He penetrated Kat slowly, gently, enjoying the moment that marked the beginning of their first time.

"God, Hen…", Kat moaned softly as he stretched her pussy, kneading his ass and lifting her hips to meet him halfway, "you feel great."

"I love you, Henry," she whispered before she came with a loud moan. She arched her back and Henry felt the shiver that ran through her body and the contraction of her pussy that tightened around his cock. The feelings that flooded him were more than Henry could take and he cried her name out loud when he got off, releasing an enormous amount of cum and the thought of filling her up like this made him thrust into her cunt hard and deep one last time. "Fuck...Kitty." He collapsed on top of her, gasping and panting, holding her tight, pressing a kiss on her lips. Henry looked her in the eyes with a loving smile.

He started to move slowly once he filled her completely, looking her in the eyes. It was impossible to turn back time. He wasn't her first, she wasn't his first but he still intended to make their first time together feel special, he didn't want to fuck her mindless, he wanted to make tender love to her. He thrusted a little faster and deeper now and Kat followed his rhythm, her gaze resting on his face. They shared another sensual kiss, moving in sync for a wonderful long time, prolonging the intimate moment as much as possible, enjoying the sensation of closeness, their bodies and souls connected.

Henry's moans got louder, turning into raspy grunts which was a great turn on for Kat, who was a panting mess. Breathing heavily she was getting closer to cumming with every thrust that hit her cervix, with every stroke, brushing against her g-spot, with his lower body pressing and rubbing against her clit. She watched Henry, who had his head bent back now, eyes half closed, his upper body propped up on his elbows that were placed left and right of her torso. She wrapped her legs around him, making him go even deeper before she grabbed his head and pulled him in for a sweet kiss. They locked eyes and his gaze was full of tenderness, his pupils tinted black and filled with lust.

"I love you too, Kat."

A few minutes later they were lying side by side, holding hands, their faces turned to each other.

"We should have done that 22 years ago."

Henry grinned at Kat, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

"I doubt it would have been so good. Teenage Kat was very self-conscious and a little prude and I guess teenage Henry wasn't a pro at handling this weapon right from the start." Kat touched his dick and gave him a teasing wink that made Henry chuckle.

"Right. We've come a long way. It just feels like we've wasted so much time...all these years."

"We can't change that, Hen", Kat said, "but we can make the most of the time that's still to come. Let's just be happy together from now on. Let's spend as much time together as possible, let's have lots and lots of fucking great sex, let's have fun, let's share our joys and sorrows, let's share our lives."

****

Epilogue

Two years later.

Kat sat at her desk in her office with a happy smile on her face. Mr. Darcy was sleeping on her lap and she held a letter in her hands. Bringing it close to her nose she took a deep breath, smelling Henry's scent, his tangy, musky cologne. It was a habit they had established in the last years. Whenever Henry and Kat were separated for more than a few days they sent each other love letters. Handwritten in ink, the exclusive, handmade writing paper perfumed with their odours, the lines filled with their love. The letters usually weren't long, most of the time they shared just short poems or simply a few sentences about how their days had been without each other. It was their old fashioned way of showing their affection and of staying in touch in addition to their conversations via phone or facetime.

"A letter from daddy", Kat whispered, stroking her round belly tenderly. Eight weeks to go until they would welcome their first child and a little more than half a year until their wedding. "Let's see what it's saying."

Kat opened the letter carefully and pulled out the thick paper to unfold it.

"My darling Kitty,

Only three days to go until I finally can take you in my arms again. I can't wait to kiss your lips and your belly to greet you and our little bean. I don't have much time, you know how tight my schedule is, but I needed to write down this poem for you. It would make a great wedding vow, don't you think? Just read it and let me know how you feel about it when I'm back.

"Mouthful Of Forevers

I am not the first person you loved. You are not the first person I looked at with a mouthful of forevers. We have both known loss like the sharp edges of a knife. We have both lived with lips more scar tissue than skin.

Our love came unannounced in the middle of the night. Our love came when we’d given up on asking love to come. I think that has to be part of its miracle. This is how we heal.

I will kiss you like forgiveness. You will hold me like I’m hope. Our arms will bandage and we will press promises between us like flowers in a book.

I will write sonnets to the salt of sweat on your skin. I will write novels to the scar of your nose. I will write a dictionary of all the words I have used trying to describe the way it feels to have finally, finally found you.

And I will not be afraid of your scars. I know sometimes it’s still hard to let me see you in all your cracked perfection, but please know: whether it’s the days you burn more brilliant than the sun or the nights you collapse into my lap your body broken into a thousand questions, you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

I will love you when you are a still day. I will love you when you are a hurricane."

Isn't it perfect for us?

by Clementine von Radics

I love you!

Forever yours,

Henry"

***********

The End

[flyingkiki]

I Secretly Enjoy Trashy Books

Oh, boy, oh boy. Because I promised you a #TimRae 2021 Year of Smut and Steam, here is this hot piece of something.

ENJOY! *fans self*

Raven liked buying trashy books. And she was the least bit embarrassed over her dirty reading choices when Tim Drake-Wayne caught her leaning over a pile of trashy books that simply reeked of trash at an art festival in Star City.

~

Raven wasn’t sure if she spotted Tim Drake-Wayne at the art festival in Star City until she did a double take and watched the man bend over some fancy cutlery embellished with shiny stones and copper wires a couple of stalls down. Casually dressed in a pair of dark grey chino shorts and a white band shirt with a worn Gotham Knights baseball hat, Raven assumed he tried to blend into the summer festival crowd. She watched him push his Rey-Ban’s up his nose and wondered if that was even possible, given how popular the man really was as CEO of Wayne Enterprises. The stall owner talked to Tim with gusto, shoving some sparkly spoons under his nose, and Raven was sure the old man seemed to recognize Tim.

“You gonna buy that lady?”

Raven blinked and turned back to the elderly woman selling old photographs from 1920. “Oh, yeah.” Raven breathed and looked down at the selection of old photos of women dressed in fur and slinky dresses in her hand. She had no particular knowledge in photography, but the old black and white photographs were pretty to look at. Picking two photographs of an attractive couple dressed glamorously for a party, and a mysterious woman in a fur coat, she showed them to the lady with a small smile. “Here,” she said and handed over her money to the woman.

After stuffing the two photographs into a small manila envelope the woman handed to, Raven looked back to the cutlery stall and wondered if Tim Drake was still there, getting sidled into buying forks he may never be able to use. Much as she had expected, Tim was already gone. Probably off inspecting other embellished kitchenware, if that seemed to have become his thing.

“Thanks,” Raven smiled at the woman and ducked out of her tent. She immediately regretted that decision and internally groaned as the blazing summer sun beat down her back. Star City was hot and muggy. It was wrong for her to wear dark blue today – no matter if it was a crop top. The material was accumulating heat and sticking to her back. She could feel her ponytail stick to her neck. Ugh.

Despite the blistering heat, the festival was alive with live music blasting from the center of Star City Central Park. The park was filled with a good number of people, visiting stalls and tents that sold books, paintings, knickknacks, and a wide array of food. While Jump had a similar art festival annually, she discovered a few years back that Star City had a far more well curated festival. There were a couple of painters from whom she’d get buy small paintings from. At night it turns into a music festival, which on occasion Raven would attend.

Heading over to one of the bookstands, Raven idly browsed through some old and beaten copies novels. Raven snorted as the selection seem to lean more on the trashy romance novels as pictures of barely clothed women and men’s hips draped in starchy white blankets looked up at her. She quickly discovered that the selection was largely all about raunchy romance, she mentally shrugged and picked one. A book was a book, no matter how trashy it was. Starfire would love this anyway. The burly man on the book cover, who of course looked like Fabio, had a woman dressed in a windswept lace dress draped over his muscular arm. Raven scrunched her nose in amusement.

“How much for this book?” she held up the image of Fabio to the elderly stall keeper. She wasn’t sure what the book was about, but a trashy sex book was a trashy sex book.

“A dollar,” the man told her and pointed at the sign over their heads.

Raven returned his amused smile and nodded. “Right,” she said and momentarily dropped the book back on the pile that screamed of sex and trash. As she fished through her bag to pull out her wallet, another person came up to the stall. Raven immediately recognized the aura and pointedly ignored the amusement that rolled off of him.

Handing over a dollar to the stall owner, she smiled softly. “Here you go, thanks!”

“I didn’t know you were into these, Rachel,” teased Tim, as he snatched the book from the pile before she could get it back. He led her out of the stall and threw her an amused grin.

“‘Love blossoms in the storm. Young, innocent, Violet is the secret in releasing the kingdom from a decade-long draught. Prince Rolf, the lord of thunder, has every intention to bring Violet to their nuptial bed. Their passion of love and hate releases a storm so violent, that brings life back to the kingdom’,” Tim read aloud and his brows furrowed. “That makes no sense.”

Raven rolled her eyes and snagged her book out of Tim’s hands. She ignored the amused chuckle and that familiar press of emotions and roughly shoved the book into her messenger bag. “When do trashy novels make sense?”

Tim stuffed his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “I’m just worried over poor Violet. Sounds like the makings of a Stockholm Syndrome,”

Raven made a face as they walked through past stalls. “At the expense of bringing rain back to the kingdom,” she added.

“I wonder how they’ll bring back rain from the nuptial bead,” Tim laughed, as they rounded the corner and entered an area filled with stalls of paintings for sale.

Raven snorted as she idly looked at some of the contemporary paintings on display. “I’ll let you know once Kori and I are done reading it,”

“Don’t hold back on the sordid details,” said Tim, as they bent over a painting of a square orange. Raven threw him an amused look, eyes twinkling. There it was, that familiar press of curious emotions as she watched him grin down at a painting of a shoe. “Sure,” Raven’s lips quirked. “I’ll tell you all of Prince Rolf’s deeds of deflowering young virgins,”

Tim snorted very gracefully. They moved on to the next stall and Raven threw him a curious glance. “What brings you to Star City?”

“I had a meeting at Queen Consolidated this morning. Working on a merger for a biotech project,” Tim explained. He held up a small painting of a sad green unicorn and showed it to Raven. “Thought I’d check this out and forget all the science and money talk for a bit,”

Raven took the painting out of his hands and returned it to the table of other oddly colored animals while shaking her head in amusement. “Don’t you have a report to write or something?”

“I live to inflict pain on myself and write out the report and proposal at the last minute tomorrow morning,” Tim chuckled. He shrugged when Raven sent him an incredulous look. “There’s not much to write about. I sent Bruce and Lucius an email before I got here,” he said while following Raven towards a new stall. “What brings you to Star City?”

Raven eyed an abstract painting curiously. Red, green, and yellow paint splattered all over a black canvas. “I come here every year,” she replied. “Dick knows I take a leave for a couple of days for this. The art festival here is much better than the one we have in Jump,”

“So this is your…”

“Second day,” supplied Raven. “I’m going back to Jump on Sunday. I like the music festival at night. I usually buy one or two paintings here too,”

“And some very raunchy novels,” Tim grinned.

“Hah!” Raven wrinkled her nose in a way that Tim thought was adorable. “Especially those,”

Tim looked around the stalls, trying to find any painting that was interesting. “Is there anything you are particularly looking for?”

Raven shrugged. “Not really,” she replied. Walking up to a stall that sold flower paintings, she spotted a painting of a white calla lily against a black and purple background. Engaging in quick small talk with the stall owner and discovering the young woman painted the work, Raven was set in buying the painting. “I’d like to buy this,”

Tim watched as Raven continued talking to the stall owner, Nora, and proceeded to pay for the painting. As the artist handed over the canvas, he stepped up to Raven and easily took the medium-sized canvas from Nora. “I got it,” he said, throwing a quick smile at Raven.

“Oh, thanks,” Raven thanked Tim. Nodding at the artist, she smiled at the woman and offered her thanks. Walking up to Tim, she quickly shot him a curious look. “I could take that from you if it’s too much of a bother,”

Tim gently tucked the medium-sized canvas under his arm and nodded for them to continue walking. “It’s no big deal,” he waived her off.

They continued walking around the park while idly talking about the festival and teasing each other every so often. As the Teen Titans quickly outgrew their Teen moniker and became the Titans, Raven and the rest of the team had taken on larger missions with the Justice League and other teams. She had worked and met with Tim and the rest of the Bat family on several occasions, Dick and Kori’s wedding most recently. Raven had quickly learned that Tim was quite easy to talk to, extremely smart, and kindhearted. His emotions were tumultuous just as any other of the Bats, but this was something Raven had gotten used to. They easily settled into conversations. She did admit, that his soft press of emotions against her were surprising, something she was unsure of still how to settle with – but she was not complaining. It was nice.

“You know as much as I like going around the festival and checking out weird art, I’m getting really thirsty,” Tim threw her an amused look. “Also very sweaty, Star City’s heat is unforgiving,”

Raven wrinkled her nose, suddenly all too aware of how she felt and looked. Pushing her sweaty black hair away from her neck, she nodded. “There’s a café out of this exit we could get something cold to drink and get out of the heat for a bit,” she said, pointing towards the exit up ahead.

“Lead the way,” Tim followed the small Titan out of the park.

They settled in a small café just around the corner, tucked away from the bustle of festival goers. Sighing loudly in relief as they entered the air conditioned café, they made quick work of ordering drinks.

“WHY are you did you order hot coffee, didn’t you just say that it was too hot outside?!” Raven sent Tim a bewildered look as they settled into one corner of the café. Tim laughed as he gingerly set her painting on a steel chair across of them. He settled down next to her around the small wooden table.

Tim shrugged and tugged at the collar of his shirt, trying to circulate some air. “Force of habit,” he said and stretched a bit, muscles still sore from last night’s patrol and work out this morning. After the waitress dropped off their drinks and cake to share, Tim pulled off his sunglasses and rubbed some sweat off his face. “Ugh,”

Raven carefully pressed the large glass of unsweetened cold green tea against her cheek and sighed softly. Tim titled his head towards her and watched her in mild amusement as she leaned over their small table and pressed the cold drink against her cheek. He silently mused how different this Raven was from the 16-year-old he met years ago. His gaze followed the trickle of condensation that slipped down her cheek and neck, before quickly looking back up at her blissful expression. A brief thought crossed his mind before blinking and stowing it away. “Better?”

Raven lazily cracked open her eyes and eyed him mildly. “Much,” she breathed before straightening and taking a sip through her metal straw.

“I didn’t know you were into art,” Tim said and leaning back into his seat, stretching his legs a bit. Settling for some small talk, he eyed the painting before curiously turning to Raven. “Any particular style you like?”

Raven made an absent noise in the back of her throat and shrugged. “I enjoy collecting art from local artists. I like supporting their work, I think it’s important we support local artists in their craft,” she replied. Propping her chin on her right hand, she cast her new painting a quick glance. “I’m not well versed with paintings, but I like modernism and impressionism. Surrealism and expressionism too. I honestly just enjoy the pieces, no matter the style.”

Tim nodded and hummed in acknowledgement. “Bruce has a lot of impressionist paintings back at the manor. Most of them from his parents and grandparents,” he said. “Gotham Museum keeps a big collection of Monet paintings. You should check those out if you haven’t yet,”

There it was again, that pleasant press of emotions that made Raven smile just lightly. She tilted her head in acknowledgement and smiled at him. “Sure. I’ve never been to the Gotham Museum,”

“Let me know when you’re in town. I could take you there,”

Raven snorted playfully. “Aren’t you too busy running Wayne Enterprises?”

“Nah,” Tim waived her off and fiddled with his coffee mug. “I could make time for you.”

There was a soft pause between them and Raven looked up at Tim, tilting her head in slight wonder and taking in his warm emotions. She blinked and the corner of her lips raised into a smile as she caught his gaze. They shared a smile. “Okay then.”

Ignoring the warmth that spread through him, Tim hastily took a sip of his hot coffee to keep himself (and his wandering thoughts) busy. Wincing slightly at the scalding liquid, he nodded towards Raven’s new painting. “Why’d you pick that?”

“Calla Lilies are my favorite flowers,” replied Raven and fiddled with the cold metal straw.

“Oh?”

Raven shrugged in response and absently tapped the crude drawing of a dick on the table. “Yeah. When I was younger, my mother brought some to Azarath once when she went on a quick trip to Earth. I liked them. We did not have calla lilies on Azarath,” she explained.

“They mean purity and innocence, I learned,” continued Raven. She quirked her lips a little at the irony. “And apparently they mean death too.” She hummed absently and shot him an amused glance. “Seems pretty appropriate flower to have as a favorite, all things considering.” She straightened in her seat and titled her head. “And it symbolizes fertility too,”

Tim made an amused sound in the back of his throat and squinted at the painting. “Well, it does look like…”

“A vagina?”

He was going to say a heart. But yeah, she was right. It did look like a vagina. Tim released a breathy laugh and smiled, ignoring the pleasant warm feeling that spread in his chest. Leaning back and catching his breath, he stared at the painting with a mixture of confusion and amusement. He shot Raven a torn look. “I cannot un-see this now.”

Raven shrugged. “Well it’s true,”

She felt Tim’s amused emotions and she offered him a small smile. She was about to continue when soft guitar music filled the air. Their attention shifted to the small stage in the corner of the café and a singer with a guitar appeared on stage. An upbeat guitar song filled the café and everyone’s attention shifted towards the stage. Sharing a brief glance, they both turned their attention the musician.

The café grew just a little dimmer as the upbeat song filled the air, something about happiness and summer heat, and Raven could feel the relaxed emotions of the crowd. Getting comfortable after some relief from the heat, she leaned back into her seat. Stealing a quick glance at Tim, she felt his content aura. They settled into a comfortable silence, listening to the musician up on stage. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Tim relax – a rather rare sight. Dick had previously told her he had been worrying over Tim working himself to the bone with cases and work as CEO at WE. Raven did notice his driven work ethic the times the Titans had to work on cases in Gotham. Tim was a slave-driver on himself.

Midway into the third (or fourth, Raven wasn’t really keeping track) song, a young boy sidled up to their table carrying a bunch of paper flowers. She noticed the boy earlier moving from table to table when they entered the café. “Hey mister!” he called their attention. Tim turned to the boy curiously.

The boy held up a bunch of his colorful paper flowers – roses, carnations, daisies – a few lopsided, but still intricately made. “You want to buy your girlfriend some flowers?”

Raven blinked and colored immediately. She leaned forward and tried to waive her hand in dismissal. “We’re not –”

“Yeah, sure,” Tim smoothly cut her off and leaned towards the boy. Ignoring her bewildered expression, he fished out his wallet from his pocket. “How much are they, buddy?”

“Three bucks each,”

“Great,” Tim pulled out a 20 and handed it to the boy. The boy raised the bunch of flowers towards Tim, who pulled out the lopsided yellow rose, a pink dahlia, and the green daisy. “Keep the change,” he waived off the boy as he tried to fish for change in his pocket.

The boy, who looked around 12 years old, blinked and stared at Tim in awe. “Really mister?” at Tim’s nod, he beamed. “Thank you, mister!” he gasped before scampering away towards another table.

“Here,” Tim handed the three flowers to Raven, who accepted them with a surprised look on her face. “They’re a bit wonky but I figured it’d be better we got these since I doubt others might be interested in buying them from him,”

Of course he had to do something nice. Something warm spread through her chest and Raven fought off a blush. She absently fiddled with a paper leaf. “You didn’t correct him,” she said with an accusing tone.

Tim shrugged his shoulder absently. He gave her an amused grin. “I’m pretty sure he did not recognize me. He’s definitely too young to be a gossip column writer. I doubt he knows what TMZ is,” he teased. He eyed the flowers briefly before looking at her curiously. “Do you like them?”

She felt the familiar warm press of his emotions. Leaning into his space just a little bit, Raven offered a him a small pleased smile. “Thank you, boyfriend.”

Tim laughed, eyes bright and amused at her teasing. Raven enjoyed how his emotions pressed into her. “You’re welcome, girlfriend.”

They stayed at the café for another few hours, enjoying the music and talking about random interests. When the sun was slowly setting and the heat was not as unforgiving as before, they left the market and returned to the fair for another quick look around the place.

Raven ended up buying one more painting, a small scene of pink cherry blossoms, claiming that Kori would like it.

“Where are you staying?” asked Tim after Raven paid for her latest painting and they were mindlessly walking past booths. It was getting dark and he was getting hungry, perhaps it was a good idea to drop off all her things. “Do you want to grab something to eat?”

Raven blinked, mildly aware that she was hungry. But with the paintings they were carrying, it didn’t seem like a good idea to grab anything at the fair. “I’m at the Grand just by the West exit of the park. I can drop the paintings off,” she said and raised her free hand to grab the painting Tim was holding.

“C’mon, I’ll walk you. It’s no big deal,” Tim waived her off and started walking towards the west exit. “I saw a Thai restaurant close by, we could go there after we drop off your humongous shopping haul,”

“Hey,” Raven frowned at Tim. “My shopping is not humongous,”

“You bought two paintings, Rachel,” Tim teased. “I think you were about to buy another too,”

“I was not,”

Tim grinned. “I saw you eyeing that small painting of a teacup,” He eyed her curiously. “How are you even going home with this many paintings?”

“I have my ways,” Raven rolled her eyes.

Tim knew what she meant and just chuckled. They made it to the hotel and politely declined help from hotel staff. Raven stole a curious glance at Tim as they entered the elevator and she swiped her room card on the sensor and pressed her floor number. She silently thought what a surprise this day turned out to be.

They made it to her floor and reached her room with little distractions. Opening the door for them, Raven switched on the lights.

“Come on in,” Raven said, throwing an amused smile at him before depositing the small painting, her paper flowers, and her bag on the large TV console table. Toeing off her shoes, she sighed in relief and padded towards the balcony to open it.

“Fancy hotel,” Tim commented after placing the large calla lily painting on the other end of the table. He idly walked around, taking in the large hotel room with the modern furnishings and the dim lights. He watched Raven pull aside the curtains of the large balcony glass doors and open the doors to allow a comfortable breeze to slip into the room.

“It’s the least I can do to get a good vacation from living with boys for all these years,” replied Raven as she moved onto the balcony and leaned on the railing to look down.

“That bad?” Tim chuckled and joined Raven on the balcony. He stood next to her and his eyes widened at the sprawling sight of the park down below them. “Oh wow, that’s an excellent view,” he commented. “You got a better view than my place,”

Raven blinked, surprised. She imagined he’d have a far better place than hers. “Where are you staying?”

“We have a WE apartment a block away from here,” Tim supplied. He pointed towards the other end of the park. “Right by the business center,” he shrugged his shoulders absently. “I get a good view of the business district, nothing as nice as this. I’ll probably book a stay here the next time I have to come by,”

“Do you always travel for work?” Raven asked curiously. She always wondered how Bruce and Tim balanced their day jobs and vigilante life. Richard was largely hands off from the business and kept most of his time either at the tower or helping out the local police force.

Tim placed his elbows on the railing and leaned forward a bit, enjoying the warm summer breeze they were getting. He stared at the lights and movements pensively down below. “Once in a while. It’s usually for large business acquisitions or other boring stuff,” he shrugged. “CEO work has me more at the office these days,”

“I was always curious how you guys get to balance your work at WE and your,” Raven paused and tried to find the right words. She titled her head and smiled up at him in amusement. “Night job?”

Tim chuckled. “A lot of coffee, no sleep, and painkillers?”

Raven made a face and snorted. “Sounds terrible,”

He shrugged. After years of living this kind of lifestyle and working as CEO since he was a teenager, Tim didn’t really mind as much anymore. “It isn’t as bad as it sounds. There are days off, though rare and in between,”

“Like now?”

She felt that familiar soft press of emotions again as the mood shifted ever so slightly just as a warm breeze settled on them. She watched Tim smile softly as he continued to stare at the people down below. “Yeah,” he said softly. Tilting his head in her direction he offered her a warm smile. “How do you spend your day at the Tower?”

Raven hummed and looked thoughtful. “Nothing really as exciting as business mergers,” she said and she could see Tim out of the corner of her eyes slowly in amusement. She leaned over the balcony railing and watched the busy festival below. “I don’t think there’s a lot going on for Rachel Roth outside of work,” she made a face. “I read most of the time,”

“Raunchy novels?” Tim teased, grinning at her and leaning into her space just a little bit.

Raven chuckled. “Especially those,” her blue eyes danced. “I help Victor with some upgrades on our vehicles. I’ve become very good at fixing rocket boosters and particle beams,” she said. “Also, I can change oil,” she said teasingly. “Let me know if you need your oil changed,”

Tim laughs. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“There’s really nothing else. I go to festivals like these once in a while, or a café,” she said.

“Didn’t you finish college recently?” Tim asked curiously. At her surprised look, he continued. “Dick mentioned you finished a history degree?”

“History and Literature,” supplied Raven, surprised that Tim even knew this. “I finished last year. Took classes at Jump University, but did most of the coursework online, because crime fighting keeps tight schedule,”

“Sounds pretty amazing to me,” Tim said with an impressed note in his voice. “Juggling school and ‘work’ is tough,”

Raven hummed in agreement. Looking down she watched lights blink from the festival and distant music fill the air. “Looks like the music festival is starting,”

Tim looked down briefly before turning to Raven. “Did you want to go back down? You said you liked the music festival,”

Raven ignored how nice it felt that Tim actually paid attention to what she said earlier. Her chest warmed and she nodded. “Sure,” she said. “Maybe grab something at the Thai place first though, I’m hungry,”

Tim laughed and followed her back into the room. He watched her close the balcony door. “I was hoping you’d say that. I’m famished,”

They wound up sharing a large order of pad Thai, some tom yum, and sticky rice. Tim discovered Raven had a sweet tooth after ordering a Thai milk tea to go just before they headed to the outdoor music area. The crowd wasn’t all to large but seemed very much alive and into the music from the indie rock band up on stage, with people cheering, dancing, and jumping up and down in time with the music. The two of them shuffled through the crowd, barely hearing each other over the loud bass and guitar riffs. With her free hand, Raven grabbed Tim’s wrist and steered them towards the side of the crowd, close enough to the stage but with some distance from the thick center of the audience.

Tim stared at the stage, unable to recognize the music or the group of men with full beards and tie-dye shirts on stage. The music was fun, with a rocky edge to it, though he barely could hear the lyrics over the loud bass. The crowd did not seem to mind as everyone cheered and danced to the music. Awkwardly stuffing his hands into his pockets, Tim glanced at Raven and grinned as she bobbed her head to the music and lightly swayed to the beat. A smile played on her lips and Tim watched as the lights of the large LED screens reflected on her face and made her eyes sparkle. He ignored how his chest fluttered at the sight.

“Do you even understand what they’re singing?” Tim asked, raising voice over the loud inaudible singing. He had to lean into her, drawing closer just so she could hear him. There was a loud guitar riff and people screamed in delight. Tim watched as Raven laughed and turned her face to him, unfazed at the close proximity, her eyes bright in amusement. Tim felt his breath catch.

“No!” Raven replied and bounced on her heels. Her milk tea sloshed dangerously in her plastic cup and some spilled over her hand. She took a careful sip and looked at him, still swaying to some random song. “Does it matter?”

“Well, yeah?” Tim laughed, delighted to see this side of her. He watched her glance over his shoulder, taking in the happy crowd close to them. He shuffled closer as some concert goers brushed past him. Tim watched as Raven glanced at him, lips curling into a small smile before turning back to the stage and lightly swaying to the music, her dark hair flying behind her back. Tim released soft chuckle and turned to the stage, silently surprised at Raven’s interest in loud music.

The band shifted to some kind of chanting and clapping, to which the crowd replied in gusto. Tim thought the band was rather eclectic and awkwardly clapping along, lest he looked out of place. Raven stood in front of him, lightly swaying and clumsily slapping her wrist to the beat while juggling her half-empty milk tea cup. Tim thought this was definitely a sight and he grinned, finally getting just a little bit into the music.

They stayed like that, swaying and bouncing to the music. Raven occasionally raised her hands clumsily when the rest of the crowd did too. Tim laughed and joined when she turned to him to do the same. At a particular upbeat song, which again, they barely understood, the crowd went wild and everyone was jumping and dancing.

“C’mon!” she yelled, tugging Tim’s arm and bouncing on her heels. He laughed and quickly joined her. They could figure out the actual lyrics to the songs later.

He glanced at Raven, drinking in her amused face and the bounce in her movements. She caught his gaze and they shared a long smile, both caught in the moment. As the music shifted to another song, Raven squeezed his hand and slowly let go, she kept close this time, gently pressing into Tim’s side and swaying to the music. Instinctively, Tim placed his hand on her shoulder and stole a glance at her, watching as the corners of her lips quirked into another smile. Turning back to the stage, Tim felt that familiar flutter in his chest and smiled.

“Opfh!”

Someone accidently bumped into Raven’s side and they barely registered who it was and what exactly happened. Raven jumped as some of the milk tea spilled out of the cup and slid down her side. “Ugh,” she breathed, and tried to swipe some off he shorts and her crop top.

Tim steadied her, watching her shake off some tea from her hand. “You good?” he asked, keeping close to her ear.

Raven looked up, briefly surprised at the close proximity, before offering him a small smile and nodding. “Yeah, just sticky,” she said.

They stayed at the concert until it ended at a little before midnight. They joined the crowd as they trickled out of the concert arena. Raven laughed as Tim commented that his knees were starting to hurt from all the bouncing around. (“Getting old Mr. Wayne?” Raven teased.)

“Did you like the concert?” Raven asked as they left the concert area. They passed a garbage can and she dropped her empty milk tea cup in it.

Tim leaned in and teasingly grinned at her. “I’m sorry, what was that? The deafening bass guitar busted my hearing,” he said, raising his voice just a little bit.

Raven rolled her eyes and nudged him away with her shoulder. “Okay, I honestly did not understand a thing too,” she said, voice still a little bit raised from the deafening music earlier.

Brushing his sweaty hair out of his face, Tim glanced at her. “It was fun. I honestly cannot remember the last time I ever went to a concert that did not require formalwear,” he said and beamed as Raven laughed. “I didn’t know you liked concerts, let alone bands with terrible sound engineering,”

Raven laughed and rolled her eyes at the jab at the band. They stopped at traffic light as they headed back to her hotel. “Kori loves them. I tag along with some of the girls. I’m honestly surprised that I actually enjoy going to some,” she said. She glanced at the red stoplight before turning to a curious Tim. “After the whole ordeal with my father, it’s nice to indulge in emotions once in a while. Though, it’ll be a while before I’ll ever go to a crowded place again,” she added.

Tim nodded in understanding. This also explained her open emotions. He silently wondered if he could see this side more of her – he would love to see more of this open side of her. The light switched to green. As they approached her hotel, they lightly discussed the band’s songs and blindly tried to guess the lyrics.

“I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure the song did not go ‘flying turtled ‘yo back,’” Tim laughed as they stopped in front of the hotel’s entrance.

Dark blue eyes danced in delight. “Well, I could be wrong. But it definitely did,” Raven said.

“I’ll make sure to be on the lookout for this song on the radio then,” Tim teased.

They shared a smile, staring at each other momentarily before realizing that they had made it to their stop. Tim inhaled softly, awkwardly wondering if this was already goodbye. He wondered if there would be other chances to see Raven again.

“I had a fun today,” Tim said finally and offered Raven a gentle smile. Shuffling slightly in his spot, Tim thought perhaps they could go see each other again, maybe in Gotham? Or in Jump? The drive to Jump wasn’t all too bad.

“Yeah, me too. I had fun,” Raven breathed, suddenly flustered and just a tiny bit breathless. Her body was still buzzing from the high of a good time spent together, and somewhere in the warmth and high, she enjoyed Tim’s presence. She felt that familiar press of emotions from him, lingering around her. A thrill ran down her spine. Catching his long stare, she smiled. “Thanks for today, Tim,”

Tim returned her smile and nodded. “Yeah,” he breathed. Admittedly, Tim did not want this night to end. Because, there were so many discoveries and revelations – and he definitely wanted to know more about her. But perhaps at another time. “Well, good night. I’ll see you again?”

An open invitation. Her stomach fluttered and she nodded. “Yeah,” she breathed. Swallowing, she briefly glanced at the hotel’s entrance before turning back to Tim. She blinked and threw caution in to the window, heart suddenly in her throat and a tingle ran down her spine. “Actually, do you want to come up?”

Tim raised his eyebrows in surprise and watched Raven shift under his gaze, a tentative smile playing on her lips. He blinked and swallowed at the open invitation and what it held. A nervous jolt ran through his body as he thought of the possibilities and he quickly dismissed the images that came to mind. Inhaling softly and ignoring how breathless he felt suddenly, Tim smiled gently down at her. “Yeah,” he said. “Sure.”

Raven wordlessly nodded, her smile growing just a fraction, before ducking her head and leading the way into the hotel. Tim followed her into the hotel, silently crossing the lobby with her and joining her in the elevator. The elevator ride was filled with a heavy silence and Raven silently wondered if she felt her own nerves and Tim’s as she heard her heart beat loudly in her chest.

Their heavy silence was broken by the loud automatic lock of her hotel room door as it closed behind Tim. At the noise, Raven glanced at Tim, who in turn curiously looked back at her. As the silence settled again over them, Raven’s lips quirked into an amused smile. Funny how an afternoon of long conversations led to this moment of silence. Sensing her amusement over the situation, Tim offered a gentle smile in return.

“Do you want something to drink?” Raven asked, tearing away from Tim’s gaze as she suddenly grew warm again. She blinked and turned towards the mini fridge, wondering if there was anything to drink at all. Not really waiting for a reply, she pulled open the black fridge and grabbed one of the water bottles. Turning around, she noticed that Tim had silently crept up to her and was standing next to her. “Here,” she said and quickly pressed the cold bottle into his hands. Fingers brushed against her hand and she blinked at the contact.

“Thanks,” Tim chuckled and gratefully took the drink, at least it kept him preoccupied for a little bit. After taking a few gulps of water, Tim recapped his water bottle and watched as Raven pulled off her shoes and socks. Leaning against the console table, he watched Raven move around the room.

“So,” Tim breathed after Raven had neatly placed her shoes and socks into one corner of the room. She glanced at him as she walked towards the other end of the console and deposited her phone on the surface. “What are you plans tomorrow?”

Raven shrugged. “There’s supposed to be a pottery station tomorrow, I think I’ll do that tomorrow. Maybe buy a few ceramics for Kori and Jinx,” Her lips quirked teasingly and her eyes danced in the low light of her room. “Preferably something shaped like a dick for Jinx,”

Tim laughed, enjoying her teasing. “Good luck with that,”

“You’re going to miss out on the ceramic dicks,” Raven teased, crossing her arms and leaning into the table to face Tim.

“Ah,” Tim breathed and shook his head in mock disappointment. Moving away from his spot, he shuffled closer to Raven and grinned at her as the tension seemed to lift. “I think I’m good with what I have,” he blinked and immediately backpedaled once his brain caught up with his mouth. “I mean –”

Raven released a bark of laughter she had been holding and Tim felt heat rise to his face. He watched her snort ungracefully and Tim chuckled sheepishly in response. His laughter slowly died down as he watched Raven grin at him in total amusement, her eyes bright, and her nose scrunched up in that familiar way if she found something ridiculous.

“You’re weird, Tim Drake-Wayne,” Raven breathed as her chuckles subsided and she felt her cheeks hurt from all the laughter and smiling she had done today. When was the last time she actually thoroughly enjoyed someone’s company like this? She wondered as something achingly pleasant stirred within her.

“Hah,” Tim released a breathy chuckle. Stealing a quick glance at her, Tim surveyed her room and took in her how neatly she kept everything. His gaze briefly landed on her neatly made bed and he ignored how his heart leaped as he remembered where they were.

Turning back to Raven, he caught her staring at him in an expression he could not quite place. He swallowed thickly. “Could I see you again?” Tim asked tentatively, voice dropping just a little bit at the question. He watched Raven’s eyes widen in response.

“Tomorrow?” she asked a little breathlessly. The moment shifted. She felt it, that low press of flirting and desire, emotions she was not all quite too sure if they were his or her own. She shifted under Tim’s long stare and felt herself take a deep breath, as her body seemed to react all on its own.

Tim hummed and tilted his head to the right light, studying Raven under the pale light of her decorative lamp in the room. “I have a board meeting tomorrow,” he explained. Not one to wait any longer, Tim took a step towards her, and slowly crowded into her space. A thrill ran down his spine as he realized just how tiny Raven was she craned her head to look at him. “I was thinking some other day? For dinner? The museum? Or maybe coffee?” he paused and quirked his lips. “Milk tea?”

Raven was aware of the little space they now shared and she could see his gaze drop to her lips and back to her eyes. “Yeah,” she said and nodded. “I’d like that,”

“Great,” Tim breathed and drank in the pleased expression that crossed her face. “I,” he briefly stumbled and very tentatively touched her hand that rested on the table next to them. He stared into Raven’s blue eyes that seemed to darken under the light. Her fingers twitched as his calloused fingertips ran over the rings on her fingers. “I like you, you’re pretty amazing, Raven,”

“Oh,” Raven breathed and somewhere in the middle of his confession and where his fingers ran over an old scar on the back of her hand, she felt her body react and her breath catch in her throat. His fingers stilled on her wrist and Raven vaguely registered the little space between them and the warm press of his emotions into her. “How long?”

Tim’s finger wrapped around her wrist and she felt his index finger ran along the thin silver bracelets she wore. She watched him shrug absently, his expression turning light. “Since the mission in Peru,” he said, lips tugging in amusement.

“Two years ago?” she asked and she watched him nod. Or was it three? She wasn’t all too sure anymore as her mind slowly refused to work as she grew increasingly distracted by her own warm emotions, desires, and the little ministrations of his fingers against the inside of her wrist. She vaguely remembered the long conversations they shared in briefing rooms, the linger stares, and the stray smiles. Her chest tightened and stared up at Tim as he waited for her reaction.

She wasn’t all too sure what happened next – if she pulled him in or if Tim pulled her in. But she was sure that Tim’s fingers were dangerous as they teasingly slipped up and down the of her arm, sending shivers down her spine and stocking a heat low in her abdomen. She sighed into his lips, as long fingers curled into the nape of her neck and tilted her head in such a way he could better drink the soft whimpers that escaped her lips.

She felt him push her into the table behind her, the sharp edge digging into her back and drawing a soft gasp from her. Tim eagerly chased her soft gasps with long kisses, tongue swiping against her own and teeth sinking into her bottom lip. She could barely hear their heavy breathing and soft whimpers as her heart beat loudly in her ears.

Her fingers sunk into Tim’s shoulders, curling into the soft material of his shirt and pressing into hard muscle. Raven gasped as warm hands pressed into her bare waist, fingertips stroking old scars and pushing under her crop top. His fingers were a confusing mix of feathery and strong as they danced over scars, she faintly wondered what else his talented fingers could do.

Tim released her lips and pressed a soft huff of laughter into her cheek, as his hand pressed into the dip of her waist. “So sticky,” he chuckled into her cheek and Raven became vaguely aware of the sensation of sticky milk tea on her skin.

“Shut up,” Raven mumbled and she felt his lips spread into a languid smile against her cheeks. Clumsily reaching up and pressing herself against Tim’s solid body, her fingers curled around his neck and shifted his face to press their noses together. “Less complaining, more kissing,”

And kiss he did. As Tim greedily drank her whimpers, Raven was sure she was drowning. She felt teeth sink into her bottom lip, drawing out a long gasp from her and her fingertips clumsily slipped from his neck and caught in the collar of his shirt. She felt the low rumble in his chest as Tim groaned and pressed into her.

Unable to bare the sharp edge of the table press into her back anymore, Raven unsteadily tried to lift herself onto the table. Catching her movement, Tim grabbed her hips and pushed her onto the table, promptly filling the space between her legs. Pitching forward, Tim kissed her neck with teeth dragging slowly across her pulse point. Raven groaned in response, body arching into Tim and her fingers slipping into his hair. Tim hummed as she tugged his hair.

In the haze of her mind, she vaguely felt rough hands slip under her crop top and slide over her ribs, dragging the material up with them. Tim pulled away from her neck and Raven felt herself melt under his gaze as his dark eyes started at her, searching for a reaction. She watched his eyes drop briefly to her chest; his hands stopped on the sides of her chest and pooled her shirt with them – the beginnings of her black bra teasingly peeking out below her shirt. Tim swallowed thickly and looked up, gaging her response.

“Is this okay?” he whispered, his breath fanning teasingly over her face. Tim was sure his whole body was on fire, desperately seeking more of Raven. The little gasps and whispers of his name were driving him crazy and he was desperate for more. His fingers teasingly slipped under her bra, waiting for her reply.

Raven took in his hooded gaze and flushed cheeks. Her fingers curled into his shoulders, digging into muscle. Vaguely feeling the heat building inside of her, Raven inhaled sharply and nodded, thighs pressing into his hips. “Yes,” she whimpered.

Tim released an unsteady breath and he felt heat pool low in his abdomen at her breathy response. Pitching forward, he kissed her roughly before pulling away and made quick work on her clothes.

His hands were swift as they worked off her shirt and her bra, and Raven gasped as rough hands dragged agonizingly slow down her chest, slipping over her nipples, and sliding down her stomach. Her back arched, she desperately gasped for a deep breath as she leaned heavily against the wall behind her. Tim’s hands were addicting, fingers longer and gentle, yet rough and powerful at the same time. She whimpered as hands stopped at her waist and fingers dug into hot flesh.

Opening her eyes, Raven watched Tim stare openly at her. She sat there, bare and open and Tim seemed to drink in her nakedness – his gaze greedily drinking in her form. Her back arched as his hands made another slow and agonizing trek up her body. It was like she was on display and Tim took his careful time in cataloguing every bump, ridge and scar under the dim lights of her room. Raven felt deliciously exposed under his gaze as he studied every last inch of her. She hummed as fingers slipped over the swell of her breasts before feathering over perk nipples, and sliding over her collarbones and around her neck.

Raven was addicting, Tim thought. She was everything and more, he realized as he watched transfixed at her heady gaze on his hands as they travelled up her body and slipped over her breasts. He felt his cock ache at her soft whimper and he vowed that her whispers were like music he had been craving for.

Tim pulled her upright and Raven sank into him for another long kiss, groaning as fingers danced down her back and counted ever bump of her spine. Blindly sliding her hands down his sides, Raven slipped her hands under his shirt and made quick work to remove it from his body. Tim drew away from her, breathless as he pulled his shirt over his head and his hands dropped to the tops of her thighs to give them a moment to breathe.

Raven stared transfixed at Tim, drinking in the broad muscle and watching it contract with each movement. God it was a sin to look this beautiful, she thought as her fingers slipped over his sides and she listened to his sharp intake of breath. The old bullet wound scar in his right oblique contracted as her fingers pressed into the defined dips of muscles.

“Raven,” Tim breathed into her neck as she continued her careful ministration of memorizing every scar and muscle. Raven’s fingers left a trail of fire as they danced over his abs. Fuck. Tim breathed into her neck and felt her hips roll into his.

He caught her lips in another delirious kiss and Raven whimpered at the hot contact of hard muscle against her chest. She sank to him, trying desperately to feed the growing hunger within her. She could hear her breathy gasps and moans. His fingers slipped down her ribs and teased her old scars on her waist. As teeth greedily sank into her bottom lip, Raven was sure she was going to explode.

“Bed,” she whimpered, feebly pushing against his shoulders and gasping for breath. “Please,” she whimpered and her hips rocked into his clumsily. She heard Tim growl and pull away from her to allow her to get off the table. Raven stumbled off the table with her feet landing on the floor unsteadily, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders for support. Tim caught her, pressing a lingering kiss to her cheek and guiding her towards the large hotel bed.

Raven released a breathy laugh as they tumbled into bed, Tim’s weight pressing deliciously into her. She felt the low rumble of Tim’s chuckle against her chest, and she smiled as she relished the feeling of being wrapped up and held tight. Fingers danced up her ribcage and over the swell of her breast, before slipping under her chin and pressing her face up for another heady kiss. She arched her body into Tim’s, groaning at the needy press of emotions.

After another strong nip to her lower lip, Tim pulled away and stared at her breathless face. Grinning languidly, he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her flushed cheeks. “You taste like Thai milk tea,” he mumbled with a soft teasing lilt into her ear.

Raven laughed, chest light and her arms wrapped around his broad shoulders. Tilting her head to offer better access to her neck, she felt him chuckle and press feathery kisses down her neck. Her breathing hitched as Tim’s lips slowly worked their way down, nibbling at the curve of her neck and slipping down to her collar bone and to the swell of her breasts. Raven gasped and slid her fingers into Tim’s hair as his tongue flicked her nipple before eagerly sucking and nibbling the pebbled peak. After a few sharp breaths, Tim switched to the other breast and Raven felt like her body was burning.

“You’re beautiful, Raven,” breathed Tim as he pulled away and hovered over her, his dark gaze sweeping over her writhing form. Tim was sure the sight of Raven pressed into white bedsheets, black hair flayed, body flushed, and completely on display to him would forever be etched in his memory. He watched her take in a shuddering breath as she looked up at him, blushing in response.

With how on fire her body was, Raven barely felt the heat that rushed to her cheeks. Releasing a soft huff, she watched Tim grin at her. Rolling her eyes playfully, Raven tugged Tim back to her for a languid kiss. She sighed at the welcome press of his weight and she felt his hips press into hers, drawing out a soft moan at the telltale press of his erection against her hip.

Raven shifted her hips against Tim’s, enjoying the hard friction and the whisper of relief that came with it. Tim groaned in response and rolled his hips into hers. Tim’s fingers slid down her stomach and hooked teasingly into the waistband of her shorts. His knuckles pressed into her abdomen and he pressed his thumb against the button of her shorts.

“Is this okay?” he mumbled into the crook of her neck. He pressed a kiss to her neck as he waited for a reply.

Unable to find her voice at this point, Raven whimpered softly and nodded. She released a breathy sigh and closed her eyes as fingers were fast at work on her shorts and underwear and slipping them down her trembling legs. She breathed unsteadily at the cool brush of air against her hot, wet center.

“Ah,” Raven gasped, back arching off the bed as fingers slid over her and her legs obediently spread open. Long nibble fingers stroked and probed her, Tim’s lips brushing gently against her cheek, coaxing long breathy moans from her. She felt his own hum and groan as Tim continued with his thorough ministrations.

The whole world seemed to melt away as Tim greedily drank in her gloriously naked sight. Tim inhaled sharply as he watched her eyes roll back as he spread her wide to him and brushed her clit with his fingers. His cock twitched painfully as she whispered his name with every quick stroke.

Heat pooled low in her abdomen and she rolled her hips into his hand as one finger slowly slipped into her. Raven moaned as she felt his long heated stare over her body, as if memorizing every reaction and storing it to memory. She burned under his gaze. “Tim,” she gasped, thighs spreading wider in invitation. Heat was consuming her.

One finger became two and Raven was sure she was going to burst into flames. She whimpered and her fingers curled into Tim’s shoulder trying to anchor herself. Tim pressed a kiss to her flushed cheeks, murmuring her name into her heated skin.

“Please,” her voice cracked embarrassingly and her right hand blindly reached down, clumsily hooking into the waistband of Tim’s shorts. Her knuckles pressed into hard abdomen and she felt the muscle contract.

She felt the low rumble of a groan in Tim’s chest and they shifted, bodies pressing together in a hurried motion. The material of Tim’s short’s rough against her thigh with every desperate little thrust she tried to make. They kissed once more, rough and languid, and Raven released a shuddering breath into Tim’s lips as she felt his fingers slip out of her. She whimpered as slick fingers pressed into her hips to pin her body down.

His shorts and underwear disappeared soon thereafter. Raven inhaled sharply as she watched Tim kneel in between her spread legs, his form large with muscles glistening and scars prominent as a thin sheen of sweat covered his body. His bright blue eyes roamed her body, eagerly drinking her in.

Tim was burning for release and he was dead set in making it as pleasurable for Raven as it was for him – and more. Tim loomed over her, his left hand dropping to her thigh to anchor himself as his gaze traveled from her dripping core to her face. He gave himself a few strokes as he consumed the sight of her spread legs and writhing hips.

Raven watched Tim give himself a few powerful strokes. Raven’s breath hitched at the movement, tearing her eyes away from his hand and the way his cock pressed into his abdomen to look up at his face. Tim’s lips quirked as he caught her stare.

Tim leaned into her and kissed her long and hard. Raven thought his kissed were that of a thirsty man, as he eagerly drank her breathy sighs and milked her for more with the feathery touch of his fingers dancing over her ribs and waist. She felt the hot press of his erection against her thigh and she instinctively rolled her hips into him, purring at the delicious feel of hot silky cock sliding against her inner thigh. Her legs spread wider for him, accommodating his hips in between her legs and she whispered his name in pleasure as he pressed his body harder into her.

Tim hummed and pressed his hips into her. He pulled his lips away from hers with a shuddering breath as he felt his cock brush against her wet center. Fuck.

“Raven,” Tim released a throaty groan as he felt Raven roll her hips against him again. He heard her whimper in response. He felt a whispered ‘please’ against his cheek and Tim groaned. Leaning back, he took his erection and lined himself up to her center. His body hummed in eager anticipation and he watched Raven writhe below him. He sunk in.

Raven saw blinding hot white wrap around her as her eyes sharply pressed closed and her back arched off the bed. She gasped loudly as Tim stretched her wide in the most delicious way possible. She felt his restrain as he hovered above her, arms on either side of her head quivering, as he slowly sunk deeper into her – stretching her wide and filling her. Her body burned and she moaned loudly as he finally, finally, filled her to the hilt and sunk his hips into her and pressed his face into her neck, groaning loudly into her ear in sheer pleasure. She was so full and hot – Raven was sure she was going to explode.

Tim whispered her name breathlessly into her skin, still delirious at the hot feel of pure Raven around him. His cock throbbed as he sought for more. Dragging his teeth over her pulse point, he slowly pulled out of her, earning a soft gasp from her lips, and sunk back into her. Tim cursed at the delicious friction and prayed that he would last as heat slowly flooded his veins with each stroke of his hips into her.

Raven gasped and her fingers sunk into Tim’s upper back as they found rhythm that stoked the fire that was settling lower and lower into her. She dragged her nails down his back as she released a strangled groan just as Tim filled her to the hilt, hips snapping loudly against hers. Tim cursed loudly into her neck as each push sent another shock of blinding pleasure through him, each press and stroke more powerful and addicting than the last. He could feel her tighten around him, his cock eagerly stroking her hot core.

They picked up their pace and Raven eagerly pushed her body up to meet his every thrust, stoking that burning fire within her. She moaned loudly as Tim adjusted her hips and dragged her right leg over his hips, hitting her just the right way.

“Fuck,” Raven cried and rolled her head back in pleasure as Tim rocked into her at a pace that had her racing towards the edge of a cliff. Her leg tightened around Tim’s hips and she dug her nails into his back as his hips snapped into her.

The sounds Raven was making were driving Tim wild. He hitched her leg higher up his hips, sinking his cock deeper into her and making her sing. He groaned as he felt her flutter around him, and he was stunned at how loud and responsive Raven could be. Tim desperately wanted to hear her more.

Life around them disappeared as the sound of flesh hitting flesh and their breathy moans filled the room. Their thrusts became more frantic as the build of fire burned their nerves. Tim growled and sunk into her, hips snapping into Raven and his fingers quickly sliding between them as she mewled in pleasure. He pressed his thumb against her clit and rubbed the sensitive nub. He watched mesmerized as Raven gasped, her mouth dropping open and her back arching off the bed as she released a loud strangled cry.

Raven cried out his name as she flew off the cliff and into oblivion. The whole world disappeared into a burst of bright light and her body soared. Her thighs quivered around Tim, thrusting frantically into him as his cock continued to stroke her, guiding her through a blinding high. She pressed herself into him, gasping his name like a mantra and her hips snapped wildly into him, as she felt his own release barrel into her. She felt his muscles contract as her fingers slipped over his slick skin and he continued to thrust into her, stroking a delicious hot fire as they rode off the edge. Tim shuddered as hot jolts of pleasure ran down his spine and he sank his teeth into her neck to muffle his groans.

Tim released a shuddering breath and pressed himself into Raven, careful not to crush her. Pressing his face into her neck, he breathed in the scent of lavender and sweat and listened to her unsteady breaths. Raven wrapped her arms around his shoulders, as she felt Tim’s loud heart beat against her own frantically beating heart. Her senses were slowly coming back, as the sweat and smell of the world around them slowly creeped back into her mind.

Raven opened her eyes and turned her head to watch Tim’s face. Catching her gaze, Tim gave her a breathless smile and clumsily pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. He slowly pulled back, pulling himself out of her. Raven shuddered at the sensation and sighed softly at the loss. Tim rolled over onto his back into the space next to her and sighed loudly. He quickly grabbed her and pulled her towards him. Raven immediately curled into his side, legs tangling into his and her arm draping over his chest. Tim tucked her under his arm, pressing her closer and allowing them both to catch their breaths and bask in the aftermath of the moment.

When the world finally fully came back to them, Raven inhaled deeply and tilted her head towards Tim’s face just to catch him staring at her intently. Tim reached out and gently brushed some sweaty strands of hair away from her face, the gentle action made her chest warm and her lips curled into a soft smile.

“Hey,” Tim breathed, his hand sliding down her chin and his thumb feathering over her lower lip.

“Hi,” Raven whispered. Her chest fluttered at the warm emotions that seemed to wrap around them. She knew that they had to talk about what just happened, perhaps once she could think properly. For now, she would enjoy the way Tim’s fingers danced over her shoulder and traced imaginary patterns into her skin. For now, she won’t overthink this and just bask in the moment, relish the confessions spoken earlier, and drink in every minute of tonight and the promise of tomorrow. They would talk, soon.

~

Raven woke up to loud knocking at the hotel room door. She groaned and pulled her face from her pillow as the feeling of tiredness and sore muscles kicked in. She was sleepy and exhausted – they had stayed up most of the night up until dawn before exhaustion finally kicked in and knocked them out. She turned to the empty space next to her, she could still smell hints of cedarwood waft from the pillow and tickle her nose. She faintly remembered rustling of bedsheets and clothes, and the gentle press of a kiss into her bare shoulder blade that morning.

The door knocked again, ‘Room Service!’, and Raven sighed. Ignoring the pang of disappointment of waking up alone, she hauled her naked body out of bed. Her muscles ached, a reminder of everything that happened. She grabbed one of the spare bathrobes from the bathroom and quickly attempted to to fix her hair to hide all evidence of her long night of debauchery.

The door knocked again and Raven frowned at the persistence. “Coming!” she called. Making sure her robe was secure, lest she wanted to flash the poor hotel staff, she marched towards the door and promptly opened the door. She stared in surprise at the hotel staff and the trolley in front of her.

“Good Morning, Ms. Roth. Breakfast time!” chirped the hotel staff, a young woman. Not really waiting for Raven’s response, she pushed the trolley into Raven’s room, set up the trolley next to the balcony, and made a few adjustments on the trolley. “Enjoy!” she said and disappeared out of Raven’s room as quickly as she came. The door locked behind her.

Raven blinked, utterly confused at the sight of a rather lavish breakfast trolley with silver serving covers and large pot of tea. Her gaze settle on the beautiful bouquet of flowers set in the center of the trolley – calla lilies. Her earlier disappointment dissipated and Raven found herself smiling at the bunch of white calla lilies. She felt her stomach flip and chest flutter at the sight of the flowers and she gingerly touched one of the silky petals. Noticing the small white envelope with her name on it. Picking it up, she pulled out a simple white card. Raven smiled.

“See you soon.

- T.”

[mymoonagedaydream]

Only the Good Die Young (Part 1)

Summary: Coming home from college for the summer, you expected your days to be spent reading in your bedroom and sitting through tense to family dinners- but an old acquaintance had something else in mind for you

Pairing: Biker!Bucky x y/n

Word Count: 2.8k

Warnings: Language, strong anti-religious sentiment throughout, harmful relationship with parents, irresponsible motorcycle healthy and safety measures, smoking

Author's Note: Something a bit different, why the hell not. This story is based around lyrics from Billy Joel's 'Only the Good Die Young'. What a man.

---

'Y/n! You look… healthy.' 

Those were your mother's first words as you walked through the door of your family home. Not saying how pleased she was to see you or asking how your flight was, but commenting on how you looked with her typical passive-aggressive euphemisms.

This was going to be a long summer. 

Initially you were adamant about staying at your dorm, even on your own. All you wanted was peace and space. Then your parents threatened to cut you off if you didn't come home, so here you were. 

You traipsed upstairs. Approaching your bedroom, you saw the bolt haphazardly screwed to the outside of the door. Your father had installed it when you were twelve, after he caught you watching ‘ungodly’ TV shows in the living room at midnight- Doctor Who. 

Your room had been redecorated. It looked fucking dreadful. You glanced up at the wall and a little bit of sick shot up to the back of your mouth when you saw a ‘live, laugh, love’ sticker plastered up there. 

A long, long summer.

---

Your first errand was grocery shopping. Wandering around the store, you grabbed everything on the list and headed to the checkout. Through the front window you saw billows of smoke blowing past, but you couldn’t quite see where they were coming from. 

As you stepped outside, you looked over to see a pretty big group of guys in leather jackets, most of them with cigarettes on the go. They were gathered around the corner of the building, the one you had to walk past to get home. You kept your head down, gripping your grocery bags tight and passing them as quickly as possible, when you heard one of them pipe up. 

'Well holy shit. Y/n?'

You turned towards the voice. James Barnes. 

The two of you went to high school together but, apart from the occasional stilted conversation and reluctant group project, you’d never really developed any sort of relationship. Besides, he always hung out with people your mother didn't approve of. 

And he was what, now? In a motorcycle gang? Figures. 

'Hi James. Good to see you.' You mumbled, breaking stride momentarily. His friends seemed to find that funny. 

'People call me Bucky now.' 

Nodding feebly, you gave him a polite smile before moving off again. You noticed that your face felt warm and your stomach was involuntarily tensing. Sure, he was much more handsome and charismatic than you remembered, but you had no idea why being in his presence was making you this nervous. You heard approaching footsteps and in a second he was by your side, walking next to you.

'You moving back to town?'

'No, just visiting for the summer.'

‘Are your parents still religious nut-jobs?'

You stopped and snapped your head round, in complete shock at the brazenness of his questioning.

'I'll take that as a yes.’ Without taking his eyes off you he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, placed one between his lips and lit it. ‘Guessing you won't be having much fun this summer then.'

'Probably not your kind of fun.' 

He smirked and stepped towards you. ‘Man, you Catholic girls start much too late.’

‘I don’t think I asked for your opinion, James.’ It came out much softer than you anticipated, barely a mumble. Not the kind of back-off-or-else warning you were aiming for. He was really getting under your skin.

'You didn’t, but I’ll give you another.’  

You raised an eyebrow, watching him blow a cloud of smoke out over your head and chuckle at your expression. Against your better judgement, you waited for him to carry on.

‘I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.' He stepped closer again, bringing his lips close to your ear, and whispered. 'Cause the sinners are much more fun.'

---

You dropped the shopping on the counter. The whole way home you hadn’t been able to get James Barnes out of your head, hadn’t been able to stop picturing his smirk or imagining his warm breath tickling your ear. 

You wanted to know more about him, and if anyone had information it'd be your mother. She knew everything about everyone in this godforsaken town. Sitting down for dinner, you seized your opportunity.

'I saw James Barnes at the grocery store today.'

She abruptly dropped her knife and it hit her plate with a sharp clang, making you jump.

'You stay away from that boy.' She punctuated the words by pointing her fork at you. 'He's trouble. Him and his gang.'

You hated the way she spoke to you sometimes, like you were a child. You were in your twenties for fuck’s sake. 

'He seemed nice enough.'

‘That’s how it starts.’ Your father piped up. ‘Before you know it he’s got you hooked on drugs, living in a trailer, pregnant with his deviant child.’ 

And that was the end of that conversation. 

Being away, you’d almost forgotten how messed up your parents were. It was terrifying to think that you used to be just as bad. They had you completely brainwashed before you left for college and, even now, some of their intrusive religious dogma still lingered in your subconscious. 

---

Sunday. The priest was droning on about something but you weren’t concentrating, his dull voice just sounded like a janky old extractor fan whirring behind the altar. You stood, sat, stood, kneeled, sat along with everyone else like sheep being herded, singing and praying whenever prompted. This, every Sunday for ten weeks, was going to be torture.

An hour or so into the service, you felt yourself nodding off. Your shoulders relaxed and your head felt too heavy to be held up by your neck but, just as your eyes started to close, something startled you. Startled the whole congregation. The droning from the altar stopped and heads turned towards the door, where the disturbance was coming from. 

It sounded like a shuddering motorbike engine. Then another joined. In a couple of seconds the entire church was filled with an echoing cacophony of backfiring engines. 

Someone at the back stood up and ran to the door. There was some shouting and laughing, but the noise eventually moved away, fading into the distance. Looking around, you saw a sea of indignant and sour faces. The tension hovering in the air was palpable.

‘And that,’ your mother hissed through clenched teeth, ‘is why you don’t go near James Barnes and his friends.’

You had to suck in your cheeks to smother your laughter, nodding insincerely at her words. James’ voice echoed in your head…

The sinners are much more fun.

---

A couple days later, one of your old friends invited you to a house party- or ‘board game night’ as you told your parents. Parties were usually a little out of your comfort zone, but you’d do anything to get out of their house for an evening. 

Wandering from room to room, you checked if there was anyone else there you recognised. Nope. You skulked to the kitchen and opened a can of diet coke. 

There was a hard tap on your shoulder and you turned to see James Barnes’ wide smile.

‘Hey there.’

‘Hi James.’ You muttered, taking a sip of your drink. ‘I heard your little stunt outside the church last week. You make a habit of that?’

‘Nope. Just thought it’d be nice to welcome you home.’ 

Interesting. That whole thing was for you? Your stomach started to flutter with excitement despite part of your brain screaming that he was probably just mocking you, flirting with you for a bet. To save any potential embarrassment, you went on the defensive. 

‘Gee, thanks. Are you and your friends always that obnoxious James?’

‘Ah y’know.’ He leant against the counter, folding his arms, still grinning at you. ‘We might be laughing a bit too loud, but that never hurt no one.’

You raised an eyebrow, feigning disinterest and doing everything you could to keep a lid on how excited his deep chuckles were making you. He bit his lip and your heart felt like it was going to leap out of your chest. 

‘And call me Bucky.’ He pushed himself off the counter, disappearing into the crowd.

Hours passed and you eventually realised that you weren’t really having a great time. Everyone around you was borderline hammered but you knew if your parents got a whiff of alcohol you’d be locked inside all summer, so you were stone-cold. 

You snuck out the back door, swiftly sliding it shut. Focusing more on what was happening behind you than in front, you managed to unceremoniously trample over someone’s feet. 

James, of course it was. Brilliant. 

He was leant against the wall, finishing off a cigarette. Chuckling, he held out the pack to you, but you shook your head. 

‘Leaving so soon?’ He grunted.

‘Yeah, not really my scene.’

‘Same here. Want to go somewhere else?’ Your heart stuttered at his question. You struggled to form a reply, gazing at him wide-eyed. He smirked and looked away. 'It’s alright, I know the deal. Your mother told you all I could give you was a reputation, right?'

You couldn’t hold back your excited smile anymore and his eyes lit up when he saw it. Shrugging faintly, your mind scurried around trying to find something witty and attractive to say. He dropped his cigarette butt and crushed it under his boot before slowly approaching you. Stopping a couple inches away, he smirked down at your dazed expression.

‘Come out with me tomorrow.’

---

You told your mother that you were having a day at the local library. You weren’t necessarily lying- you had no idea what Bucky had in mind, so anything was a possibility. 

He was waiting by the monument in the town centre, like he’d said yesterday. 

‘So,’ you said, prompting him to turn towards you and smile, ‘what are we doing?’

He held his elbow out and you snaked your hand through it. 

‘You’ll see.’

Much to your surprise, he took you to the fair. You wandered around, hand enclosed in his, talking and laughing for hours. He bought you a hot dog and spent ages trying to win you a stuffed giraffe, but his aim wasn’t great. You couldn’t hold back your laughter after he missed for the fourth time, so he picked you up, swung you around and shouted that he was going to sell you to the carnival. 

When both of you were tired and full, he walked you to the park, pulling you down next to him on a bench and wrapping his arm tight around your waist.

‘Thanks Bucky.’ You said faintly.

‘For what?’

‘Didn’t think I’d be having much fun this summer, but I had a really nice time.’

He smirked and scooched even closer to you, his firm thigh pressed against yours and his thumb gently stroking your hip. There was a comfortable silence for a few seconds before he muttered to himself.

‘It ain’t right.’

‘What?’

He sighed, brushing his chin against your hair. ‘Your parents. Catholics, man- they just built you a temple and locked you away. You’ve barely lived.’

‘It’s not all bad.’ You whispered, relaxing your head against his shoulder and angling your face up towards his. 

‘Maybe.’ Adjusting himself, he turned towards you and put his free hand under your chin. ‘But that stained-glass never really lets in the sun.’

He pressed his lips against yours. Your stomach flipped. His hand moved from your chin to cradle the side of your neck and his thumb brushed softly across your cheek. He pressed towards you more firmly, sliding his tongue along your lips. He tasted like cigarettes and candy floss. Your knees tensed and your thighs started shaking. He must’ve noticed, because you felt a deep chuckle vibrating into your mouth, but that only made it worse. You melted into him, just about steadying yourself by gripping the lapels of his jacket. 

He pulled away, letting your head fall into the crook of his neck, keeping a tight grip on your waist. 

‘Not bad for a church girl.’

---

‘What is this?!’ Your mother burst into your room, looking horrified and holding her phone out in front of her.

You squinted at the screen, it was a photo. You and Bucky holding hands at the fair. Shit.

‘Where did you get that?’ You muttered.

‘Angela sent it to me. She saw you there, with him.’

You stood from your bed, ready to plead with her. ‘Look, he’s a nice guy, he’s-’ 

‘He is a criminal. And if you think you’re seeing him again, you’re wrong.’ She turned and started to storm away. 

You felt anger bubbling inside, nothing like you’d ever felt before. Everything Bucky had said, his anger at your parents- he was right. You’d thought about it before, of course you had, but all you’d ever felt was a kind of defeated acceptance. Now, you were pissed.  

‘I am not a fucking child.’ You screamed.

She jerked to a stop. Slowly twisting round, you saw her face was filled with venom. ‘We’ll speak again when you’re ready to apologise.’ She hissed, slamming your door behind her. You heard it lock.

Wow, that felt good. Really good. You flopped down onto your bed. Your head was spinning but you were grinning to yourself, still half in disbelief. You’d never stood up to her like that before and you were starting to regret not doing it sooner. 

Your phone started buzzing- Bucky.

‘Hi.’ You sighed into it.

‘Come to the window.’

Your gaze darted to the far end of your room and you fumbled off your bed. After briefly scanning the skyline, your eyes flickered down to the backyard lawn. Bucky was standing underneath your window, holding his phone to his ear, beaming up at you.

‘Came to ask if you wanted to come out, figured I probably shouldn’t knock on the front door.’

‘So you break into the garden?’ You chuckled.

He shrugged and flung his free arm out. ‘It’s romantic.’

‘Sure is.’ You grinned down at him before remembering where you were. ‘I can’t Buck. One of my mother’s friends saw us together yesterday. I’m locked in.’

‘Man, you’re living with psychopaths.’ You nodded and gave him a disheartened smile. ‘Look, I know they’re your parents, but you really don’t owe them anything. Especially after everything they’ve done.’

His words echoed around in your head, slowly becoming more convincing as you considered them. Before you could respond, the light from the room below you switched on and Bucky was immediately illuminated with bright yellow light. Without missing a beat, he sprinted towards the fence and vaulted into next door’s garden. You heard a breathy ‘I’ll see you soon babe’ through the phone before he hung up.  

Your father ran out of the back door, pretty quickly deciding not to give chase. He looked up at you with anger in his eyes but you didn’t waver. You were already locked in your room for the foreseeable future, what else could he possibly do?

---

He could force you to clean all the floors in the house on your hands and knees, apparently. Scrubbing for hours and hours with him watching over you like a hawk. Your parents had pretty swiftly gone from strict but harmless religious zealots to borderline prison wardens. As soon as he left the room, you pulled your phone out and hammered out a message to Bucky. 

Will you come get me? I need out.

You stared at your screen, willing him to reply before your father came back. After what felt like ages, it finally buzzed.

On my way. Pack a bag.

You jumped up from the floor and sprinted up the stairs to your room, grabbing handfuls of whatever you could reach and shoving it into your backpack. You heard your father scurrying around on the ground floor before stomping up the stairs, shouting your name. Before he made it to your room, the faint rumble of a motorbike engine started in the distance and your heart jumped.

Running into the hallway, you pushed past your father without even looking up at him and scrambled down the stairs. You pulled the front door open and a wall of fresh air hit you, allowing you to take your first clean, deep breath of the day. Since you woke up all you’d been doing was huffing floor-cleaning chemicals.

Bucky came round the corner on his bike and you almost felt like bursting into tears. Waves of relief passed through every muscle in your body and you ran down the front steps to meet him.

You leapt on to the back of his bike, still in your pyjamas, and wrapped your arms around his waist as tight as you could. It felt like you were running entirely on adrenaline. Your parents were screaming your name behind you, but they were quickly drowned out by the roaring of the motorbike coming back to life. 

‘Shit, I’m not exactly dressed for a ride.’ You mumbled into his ear through your heavy breaths. ‘Don’t even have a helmet.’

You felt him vibrate with laughter as he gunned the engine and sped away.

‘Ah, don’t worry, you’ll be fine darlin.’ He raised his arm and flipped off your parents. ‘Only the good die young.’

---

Part Two

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[peaches-writes]

how to appease your asian aunties ch. 3 - spring break

* icym: this was prev. a guide to social gatherings but i changed the title bc i still think i’m funny that way

description: in the immortal words of blood-related aunts and aunts you’re not even related to but forced to call your aunt at reunion parties, “do you have a boyfriend?”  member: jisung / han  genre: fluff, fake dating au, implied rich kids au, eventual childhood / best friends to lovers au, college au, implied fem reader (but i still used they/them pronouns)  word count: 5.4k chapter warning: food, a conversation calling out toxic asian family culture oops note: i’m not confident with this one bc i had to re-write this two times (?) with diff. plot directions + srsly idk what happened here what was the point am i ok + i didn’t post this accidentally this time !!!! 

ch. 1 // ch. 2 //  series masterlist

After seeing you and Jisung interact during your trip to the mall, your mom has started loving this new idea of you dating one of her close friends’ sons so much that she has not-so-discreetly started conspiring with Mrs. Han in order to see the two of you together as much as possible. From invitations for snacks and drinks at one’s house every day after school to whole-day activities on the weekends (usually to the mall or the cinema), it didn’t take long before you and your own best friend put two and two together and conclude that your respective moms have somewhat developed an auntie type of obsession over your fake relationship. 

This idea that your moms would love you and Jisung together so much to this extent initially flew past your head when you started this fake relationship last Christmas. You were only thinking of casually fake dating your best friend, after all; such arrangement ideally confined only in social gatherings where invasive relatives and family friends ask about your love life endlessly. You genuinely did not expect that that Jisung would start tagging along to you and your parents’ Sunday movie dates and side with your dad every time you disagree on your selected movie’s ending; or that you would not be parting ways with Jisung after school anymore when you reach your house and he has to drive another block to get to his.

But for the most part, you’ve decided as the weeks fly by with this new added twist in your everyday, it’s fun and, even at times, cute. Though Mrs. Han dotes on you more now, like you’re her own child, and your mom is starting to be more talkative around Jisung since they now have you to talk about, you still get to eat snacks either your mom or Mrs. Han made, hog the extraordinarily fast wifi at Jisung’s house, and get free movie tickets and shopping bags from when you’re going out with the other’s family on the weekends. Plus, it’s made your workaholic mom come home earlier just to see you and Jisung lounging in your living room and Mrs. Han’s worries lessen now that Jisung’s busy with something else that isn’t academics or whatever it is he does with his Bumble and Tinder apps. 

At times, it’s tiring having to hang out with your best friend under the guise of a couple, especially when you didn’t really plan for it to be this way, but you can’t deny that there are perks to it. 

So, you wait more patiently for Jisung every day after your classes now even when he usually takes a lot of detours to see his friends before driving over to you on the other side of campus. You still hang out with your friends, Ryujin and Chaeryeong, after classes, of course, but you part ways with them just a little bit earlier now to anticipate Jisung’s Convertible pulling up in front of your building and unnecessarily yelling at you to get in even when he’s the one awfully late. 

Because if you were to choose between your other best friends and a free expensive snacks, you’d always choose the latter without fail. 

“You know,” Chaeryeong comments next to you on this particular Friday, stretching her legs down to the steps below you three while you scroll through your phone and Ryujin naps on your shoulder with her earphones still plugged in. “if I didn’t know that you’re ditching us earlier for free fake dating food, I would’ve thought that you and squirrel boy were seriously dating.” 

“You always think we’re dating either way.” You roll your eyes, not even sparing a glance at the smug grin on her features. “Anyway, aren’t you happy we’re ‘dating’ now? It’s what you’ve always hoped for but, you know, fake.” 

Only then do you turn to Chaeryeong over your shoulder, also scrolling through her social media on her phone. She meets your gaze after with a scrunched up nose and furrowed eyebrows. “Hm,” She pretends to contemplate, placing her index finger up to her chin. “I don’t know. I think I’ll have to wait until someone caves and you actually develop feelings for each other—like in books!” 

“Seriously?” You deadpan with pursed lips, only making her laugh. “Of all things you could bring up.”

Chaeryeong shrugs in response with a knowing smile, chuckling when your expression doesn’t change. “You never know!” She replies in her defense, laughing all the way. “You did say after break that you’re just going to fake date if there’s an event but it’s Spring Break tomorrow already and you’ve been fake dating every day since classes started again.” 

“Sounds like a romantic trope to me.” She comments last teasingly before you can even interject, swiftly dodging your hand when you reach up to try and smack her. Literature majors, really. 

“For one, I don’t want to date Jisung, I’ve seen enough of him my whole life for that and I don’t think I’m in the mood to date in general. And besides, we’re only a ‘couple’ at home when someone’s mom is watching.” You counter as you retract your free hand back to your side, alternating your gaze between her and your other hand with your phone. Jisung’s last message is that of him informing you that he’s making a quick stop at the International Relations department today to hand Hyunjin his books ten minutes ago. Knowing him, if he didn’t get lost or got distracted by a kiosk selling coffee, he’s probably on his way now. “And you know I love free stuff, it just happens to come only if I hang out with Jisung these days.” 

“So what happens when you ‘break up’? And I don’t mean the cute perks from the aunties.” Chaeryeong asks next, leaning back on her propped elbows now that the stairs going up to your college building have started to cool down from being exposed to the sun the entire day. “I mean, it’s back to normal for us as your friends—I do miss not having to remind my parents that you’re a couple now—but your moms are going to think it’s weird that you suddenly broke up and went back to being friends like nothing happened.” 

“I already told you and everyone else, we’ll think about that when it happens.” You shrug both at her and the nagging thought in your mind that she has a point.   

“And when exactly will that happen?” She prods on, smiling smugly at knowing that you and Jisung never talked about this certain part of your current predicament clearly. “‘Dating until everyone doesn’t think of Jisung as a fuckboy or when aunties stop offering blind dates’ sounds vague to me.”

You see Chaeryeong’s smile grow bigger when you don’t answer immediately, accidentally letting time pass until Jisung’s gray Convertible pulls up steps below you with an obnoxious honk. 

“Y/N, my mom bought gelato today!” Jisung yells at you from his roofless car, his radio blasting Bermuda Triangle at an embarrassingly loud volume. “Let’s go!” 

You then quickly shake Ryujin awake in response, gently moving her to Chaeryeong’s legs when her eyes open, before standing up and waving goodbye at your two friends. “Like I said, I’ll let you know when it happens.” You hurriedly conclude your conversation with Chaeryeong with a triumphant smile, making her roll her eyes. “See you after the break!” 

Chaeryeong only shakes her head in disbelief, easily letting you go from her interrogation with a wave goodbye. “You be careful now, hm? Have fun with your ice cream, then!” 

You chuckle as you run down the stairs, waving your hand up for her as you move away without sparing a last glance. “Don’t worry, I’ll take pictures!” At this, you open the front passenger seat to Jisung’s car and smoothly slide in, haphazardly discarding your backpack next to his at the back before closing the door next to you. “Hey, ugly. Glad you didn’t get lost on campus.”

“Speak for yourself, ugly.” Jisung teases back, shifting the car’s gear back to ‘Drive.’ “How was your day? You three look so bored out of your mind there.”

"Better now that we’re going to eat ice cream at home.” You put your seatbelt on as Jisung now drives the car home, reaching over to the radio in between the two of you after and lowering the volume. “Classes were tiring as usual. What flavors did auntie get, by the way?”

Jisung almost makes the wrong turn with your choice of words, quickly gathering his thoughts and shaking his head. “Fu—u-um, Ferrero, strawberry, and mint choco, that’s what she texted me.” He shrugs, making the correct turn to the nearest campus gate this time. 

From the corner of his eyes, you nod with a hum as you sink back in your seat, completely missing the way you unconsciously caught him off-guard even with the screech of the car tires. “Oh, cool—no pun intended there.” You chuckle to yourself, leaning to the opposite side now to watch the college buildings pass by. “We’re watching The Conjuring 2, right?”

“Yeah.” Jisung scoffs, brushing off what remains of his sudden nervous feeling with the comment. “Tch, cool.” 

Like every Wednesday and Friday that Mrs. Han prepares you after school snacks and drinks, you and Jisung go through tubs of ice cream and tumblers of water while a horror film is projected on the television of the Han’s ground floor living room. Mrs. Han, who has her office day off on Fridays, would occasionally drop by and either ask if the two of you need anything or comment on her distaste for horror under her breath. 

“Oh, oh, dear.” She clutches her pearls dramatically, much like her son would, as she passes by for the sixth time to go to the kitchen and catches another glimpse of The Conjuring in the process. She then turns to you and Jisung after to calm her nerves, catching you still sprawled across the sofa with your legs lazily piled on top of Jisung’s.

Of course she’s seen you in the same position before in the few times you came over as one of Jisung’s friends but the sight now seems different under the guise that you and her son are a couple. Typical mom. 

“Hi, auntie!” You greet her when you catch her from the corner of your eye also for the sixth time, waving your empty spoon in greeting with one hand while the other blindly reaches for Jisung’s laptop on the coffee table to pause the movie. Jisung hides his face under a throw pillow at this, already having enough of his mom snooping around for today and you giving her the time of day. Since when did you get comfy with his mom, anyway? “Do you need anything?”

Mrs. Han immediately shakes her head with a dismissive wave and smile. “Ah, nothing, I was just checking up on you two!” She clarifies again. “Do you need anything? Extra pillows? More water?” 

You shake your head politely, holding up the water tumblers on your other side reassuringly. “We’re good but thank you!” 

At this, Mrs. Han clasps her hands together in satisfaction. “Alright, if you need anything, I’ll be in the kitchen, then!” She concludes, taking a step back from the door frame. “You’re staying for dinner, right, Y/N?” 

You glance over at Jisung, prying the throw pillow away from his face enough to see him shaking his head and making you feign a teasing frown for his mom. “You don’t want me to stay over dinner, babe?” You taunt with a smile, chuckling when he pushes the pillow back onto his face. Turning to Mrs. Han, you add, “I think Sung doesn’t want me staying for dinner, auntie, but I’ll gladly stay over if you want me to; anyway, my parents are coming home late today.” 

“What? Oh, he’s just being shy!” Mrs. Han dismisses with another wave of her hand. “Please do stay for dinner. I’ll text your mom for you too.” 

“Alright, if you say so.” You nod, giving her your sweetest smile now. “Thank you so much!”  

With that, Mrs. Han then bids you goodbye and proceeds to the kitchen. When the sound of her stilettos fades outside the living room, Jisung removes the throw pillow in front of his face with a groan, scooting closer to you until his shoulders bumped into yours. “My mom, seriously.” He then smacks you on the shoulder with the throw pillow as you press ‘play’ on his laptop again. “Ya, are you seriously dining with us tonight?” 

You kick his legs under yours in response. “I think it’s cute, it’s not like she caught us doing something weird.” You shrug in his mom’s defense. “And yes, I’m staying over because your mom is clearly cooking tonight and I can’t say no to an offer and free food.” 

“I’ll have to get back at you when we’re back at your house on Monday.” He counters back, shamelessly dipping his spoon on the mint chocolate ice cream in your hands. As he bites on the small chocolate drops on the ice cream, a thought then crosses his mind and he asks, “Wait, are we still hanging out on Spring Break?” 

You turn to him, swatting his hand belatedly before taking a big chunk of his strawberry ice cream. “I don’t know, my mom hasn’t mentioned anything and I don’t think my parents have any plans of going on vacation this break.” You answer truthfully before eating the spoonful of ice cream. “What about auntie?” 

“Nothing from her too.” He shakes his head. “Though we’re definitely going on vacation this Break—my dad really wants to check out the new Jeju hotel.” 

“When are you coming home?” 

“Friday night, I think? We leave on Sunday.” He answers, taking a sip of water now that the taste of ice cream is now making his mouth feel sticky. He takes note of how you used the same word again, recovering quicker this time before he could even choke. “So we’re definitely not hanging out on those days.” 

You hum against another spoonful of ice cream, this time from the Ferrero ice cream in the small gap between the two of you. “I mean, it’d be nice to be away from you for once—we’ve literally been joined to the hip after classes and most weekends since the New Year—but that would mean no free food which would be a shame; I really like your mom’s cooking.” 

“Ouch, I didn’t know you don’t like spending more time with me just for me.” He clutches his chest dramatically, hugging the throw pillow again. “I thought you’d like this since I was away for a year.” 

“We barely hung out before you even left.” You chuckle in amusement, grabbing the pillow from him again and this time lazily discarding it to the other end of the sofa. “I already thought you’re annoying the rare times we hung out before. Now, you’re just the bane of my existence.” 

Next to you, Jisung laughs along belatedly, holding his ice cream tub away when you try and take another spoonful of strawberry from him. “Yeah but I’m the bane of your existence that you’re ‘dating’ in front of the aunties for free stuff and them leaving you alone.” He points out, giving in to you after when you almost topple over the Ferrero ice cream and handing you his strawberry ice cream. “So you can’t really complain.” 

You roll your eyes as you exchange tubs of ice cream. In front of you, a jump scare goes unnoticed as you pay more attention to Jisung anticipating what your next words would be. “I’m grateful,” You clarify in a mumble as you chew on the ice cream. “But you’re still annoying as hell.” 

“Not like you’re any better.” He rolls his eyes with another playful laugh, shifting in his seat. “Yeah, I think we shouldn’t hang out on Spring Break: we’re going to ‘break up’ if we keep meeting too much at this point.” 

This time, it’s you who gets another thought at this comment. Shifting in your seat as well so you’re now facing Jisung, you ask in a change of topic, “Right, I meant to ask: when exactly are we ‘breaking up’?” You raise an eyebrow at him when his eyes widen in confusion. “It’s just that Chaeryeong and I were talking about it a while back and it had me thinking.”

“Hm? I thought we’ll do it a little after Chan and Miyoung’s wedding.” He shrugs nonchalantly. “There aren’t many events after that and I’m sure the aunties won’t bother you for a while since you’ll start working.” 

“And if they do?” You ask back curiously. “Starting work at your own parents’ company while going through a ‘break-up’ doesn’t exactly guarantee a free pass from blind dates—remember the last time Yeji had a relationship the aunties knew about?” 

“Right, that was quite chaotic.” Jisung replies, keeping his spoon in his mouth now instead of eating more ice cream as the unexpected question actually catches him off-guard. “But, I don’t know. I guess we can keep going a little longer after the wedding, until the aunties have someone else to bother or, you know—if you end up liking someone else.” 

You then catch Jisung’s eyes light up at this idea and you hear him quickly add, “Hey, how about that?” He then removes the spoon from his mouth, placing his ice cream down in between the two of you. “You don’t have to worry about your elders and we don’t have to fake date anymore.” 

“Actual dating?” You furrow your eyebrows. Jisung nods at this. “You know how I feel about that. I don’t think I want that for myself right now given the changes that are going to happen after we graduate.” You wave your hands around now, setting your ice cream and spoon down before sinking back in your seat. “And I especially don’t want that just for the sake of getting people to mind their own business; it’d be like giving in to the pressure in a way.” 

You glance over at Jisung to see him nodding thoughtfully now, an unfamiliar look crossing his features before he meets your gaze and comments, “Okay, that’s fair—but we both know it’d be too troublesome to fake date for a long time.” He then sighs, sinking into his own spot and leveling with your gaze.

Suddenly, you feel a shift in the air around you as Jisung sets his ice cream down on his other side. “Aish, don’t you just wish you can talk back to older people?”

“Yeah.” You nod in agreement this time, pursing your lips. The air suddenly felt sincere now, a bit comical since the people keep screaming on the television in front of you but, for some reason, you don’t feel like laughing because Jisung isn’t despite obviously having the same thoughts. “I mean, we all know that the talks about dating and career and everything else are often in good-nature but a lot of times they’re just invasive and a bit rude.” 

When Jisung doesn’t reply as quickly, you nudge his shoulder and add, “I especially think of the time you told some of the parents during Yeji’s birthday about your plans to study in Malaysia and how negatively they received it because they think you won’t graduate on time and that you should just finish college quickly and work.” Jisung’s eyes widen in surprise this time. “They don’t know how hard you work in your studies or how you really wanted to go abroad and explore and I really wanted to scold them for it.” 

“Y-You still remember that?” He asks in disbelief, earning him a casual nod from you. 

“Of course,” You confirm, your free hand unconsciously balling into fists on your lap at the memory. “I’ve never wanted to yell at my mom’s friends until that point even when you tried laughing it off so I’m glad you proved them wrong when you came back during Christmas and impressed them when they asked about it again.” 

You see Jisung chuckle under his breath shyly, tearing his gaze at you for a moment. “You mentioned that night that you were annoyed. I never knew you were this annoyed.” He muses out loud. “Thanks.” 

“Thinking about it now, I feel a bit bad,” You point out after, heaving a frustrated sigh. “You’re keeping up with fake dating me even though it just started as a little joke last Christmas to protect me in a way but I couldn’t stand up to you two years ago.” 

Looking up at Jisung, he grins at you reassuringly and shakes his head, effectively easing the atmosphere back into being more lighthearted. “No, it’s okay.” He dismisses your frown. “Just knowing what you really thought then is fine already.” 

“And,” He shifts in his seat after, transferring the tubs of ice cream in between the two of you now to his other side so he can scoot closer. “I get free food every other day from your mom because we’re ‘dating’ so it’s nothing, really.” 

You scoff when he breaks out into laughter. “Right, of course.” You deadpan before breaking out into genuine laughs yourself. “What was I even thinking, talking about sincere things with you?” 

The two of you laugh for a while, even more when Jisung pretends to complain that you just 'wasted’ the last act of the movie talking about ‘mushy stuff.’ 

“Stop complaining, dummy,” You smack his elbow, sitting up properly now as the credits begin to roll. “you entertained my rants instead of stopping me so it’s your fault too.” 

“Because you brought up something of mine from two years ago!” He protests before moving away to gather all your scattered snacks to the coffee table, laughing in disbelief all throughout. “I had to respond or it’d be rude!” 

You only roll your eyes at him, making the two of you laugh even harder. You then lean back on the sofa, stretching your hands above your head and removing your legs off of Jisung while he disconnects his laptop from the television and closes both electronic gadgets. 

Turning to you, after, you see his laughs turn into a small sincere smile once again. “But seriously,” He says, glancing back at you from his shoulder. “Thanks.” 

“For?” You prod him teasingly, earning you a groan of frustration from him. 

“For almost getting mad at the elders?” He jokes back with a raised eyebrow before going back to being sincere again. “Nah, for being understanding with me and my choices.” 

“Of course,” You reply casually. “even if we joke around a lot, you’re one of my best friends—well, as if I had a choice in that, you know me too well and too long.”     

“Way to ruin the moment.” He frowns at you in feigned disappointment, making you chuckle, until another thought crosses his mind. “And, Y/N?” 

“Hm?” You look up expectantly at him. 

“We have to break up some time after the wedding but I’ll still try and protect you,” He clears his throat awkwardly. “from the ‘rude’ and ‘invasive’ comments after, I mean. You should do whatever you want to do freely and date seriously when you want, not when older people pressure you into it.” 

At this, your gaze softens at him visibly, even more when he doesn’t make other hints that he’s joking. “Thank you.” You mumble, just loud enough for only him to hear when you see Mrs. Han pass by the hallway again. “You should too, you know, do whatever you want and date whenever you want to.”

Jisung opens his mouth to speak but, behind him, you catch a glimpse of Mrs. Han suddenly returning to the hallway and stopping by the living room entrance again, waving at you and unintentionally cutting her son off. “Y/N, Sungie, dinner’s ready!” She informs you before Jisung could even get a single syllable out, making him purse his lips in annoyance with his face hidden from his own mom’s view. “Y/N, I already texted your mom, by the way, and she said it’s fine that you stay over for dinner.” 

You turn to the side and nod at Mrs. Han, chuckling when you see Jisung hiding his hands on his lap and exaggeratedly curling his fingers up in frustration. “Thank you, auntie! We’ll be right there!” You assure her, smiling up at her until she disappears back to the opposite direction of the kitchen. 

Turning back to Jisung, you swat his finger tips back into relaxing with a laugh. “Guess we have to go back to adhering to the system and fake dating for now, though.” You conclude with a giggle, standing up from the sofa and fixing your clothes. “What were you going to say before your mom barged in?” 

After a moment of silent contemplating, Jisung ends up shaking his head and following you, gathering the tubs of ice cream in his hands. “It was nothing.” 

“Really?” You ask, elbowing him gently before picking up your water tumblers from the sofa. “Come on, tell me.”

“It’s nothing, seriously.” Jisung assures you with a laugh, walking ahead of you out of the living room and turning around to see you catch up. “Come on, leech, dinner time.” 

You bump his shoulder with a laugh when you manage to catch up with him, “Shut up, you’re also a leech.” 

“But not on this day, you’re in my house.” He corrects. 

Dinner with the Hans regrettably passes too soon even with all of Mrs. Han’s questions on your school life and post-college plans; and Mr. Han bringing up embarrassing and, at times, even exaggerated stories from when you and Jisung were children. When Mr. Han is suddenly forced to retreat back into his home office to attend to a minor emergency (hastily bidding you and Jisung goodnight) and Mrs. Han managed to win in your argument over you helping her and the house helpers to do the dishes, the old grandfather clock at the house entrance strikes quarter to 9 PM which prompts Jisung to offer you company in walking back home. 

“Yes, how thoughtful of you, Sungie! Do walk Y/N home!” His mom comments with a proud grin as she shoos you out of the kitchen. “I’ll see you after Spring Break, Y/N, okay?” 

You nod, giving her one last side hug, careful of the dish washing liquid bubbling up on her pink gloves. “Have fun on your trip to Jeju, auntie!” 

“I’d ask you to come along if it didn’t turn out so last minute, I did mention it on New Year” She jokes, much to Jisung’s horrified face. “Oh, Sungie, what’s that look for? Don’t you want Y/N to go on a trip with us next time?” 

You giggle nervously, pulling away from the hug after and taking a step back to Jisung’s side. “Maybe next time, auntie? I have lots of deadlines this break, anyway.”

“Ya!” Jisung hisses at you discreetly, pouting again that you’re entertaining his mom’s antics. You only elbow him in response. 

In front of you, Mrs. Han seriously contemplates on the idea before waving her drier glove. “Yes, it is quite last-minute right now since we leave on Monday.” She smiles fondly. “Next time, it is, then!” 

“Okay, that’s enough planning for a future trip!” Jisung quickly interjects before you can humor his mom longer, placing an arm over your shoulder and turning you around to face the open door leading outside. “It’s getting late and I have to walk back here on my own after!” 

You wave back at Mrs. Han, laughing when she rolls her eyes at her son before bidding you one last goodnight. “Goodnight, auntie!” 

With that, Jisung gently pushes you into a run out of his house, haphazardly closing the door behind him and directing you across the front lawn, to their gates, then, finally, to the dimly-lit streets of your subdivision. You’re only pulled to a stop when Jisung almost pushes you to a car parked on the house across his, making you laugh. 

“Ya, we didn’t have to run out so fast!” You protest, clutching your stomach with one hand while the other hits his side. “My stomach hurts.” 

“You keep entertaining my mom’s ideas!” He playfully whines back in between tired pants, catching his breath quickly before throwing an arm over your shoulder. “If you’ll keep going like this, you might actually become best friends!” 

You scoff, keeping his arm on your shoulder anyway as the two of you now walk to the direction of your house. “Watch your words, Han Jisung, or it might actually happen.” You warn him teasingly, adjusting your backpack on your shoulder. “Besides, I was just doing what you were doing on New Year—how did you call it?—’earning points.’” 

“I also told you then that my mom already likes you so much,” He pouts, easily pulling you flush against him when a lone car passes by. Instinctively, he then moves you to his other side so he’s walking closer to the road. “You’re just going to be more annoying at this point.” 

“Well, I like your mom, too, so I’m going to be extra annoying from now on,” You grin mischievously. “maybe until we ‘break up’ then everything’s going to be awkward for a while.” 

Glancing over at Jisung from your side, you see him genuinely frown momentarily before sighing in feigned defeat. “Fine, do whatever you want.” 

You want to ask him about the sudden frown but you end up shrugging it off as you cross the street to get to the right turn at the intersection. With the new direction you’re walking into, Jisung shifts you to his other side again. 

“You know, it’s not like some car’s going to crash into us,” You move to his other side anyway and swiftly dodging another offer of him slinging his arm over your shoulder. “We’re inside the village? Where the speed limit is 20 kph?” 

Jisung scoffs, dropping his arm back to his side “Your house is on your side of the street, dumbass, that’s why I moved you there.” And, as if on cue, you see your own house slowly coming into view among the towering gates and trees. “That little heart-to-heart talk we had must be getting to you, huh?” 

“As if.” You elbow his side in retaliation, your backpack hitting his back slightly in the process which only fuels his teasing more. 

“Aren’t you glad I’m here to walk you home?” He asks with a grin, just as you reach your gates. “Imagine if you got lost when we’re literally a block apart.” 

“I hope the dog next door escapes and chases you back home,” You groan, walking a few steps ahead to open the smaller entrance on your gate with your key. 

Behind you, Jisung only laughs, unfazed, before walking over to your side again and extending his arms out for a hug. “Okay, sorry,” He grins halfheartedly. “Come here, goodbye hug.”  

You raise an eyebrow at him, swinging your gate open with one hand and stepping one foot on the other side. “What do you mean? My mom’s inside.” 

“Yeah, but I haven’t hugged you alone in a while.” He points out while tilting his head sideways, earning him a genuine look of confusion from you. 

“Ya, it’s not like we don’t hug platonically before all this.” He adds with a shaky snicker before pouting. “I’m going to get s—”

“Okay, fine.” You scoff with a small smile, stepping outside again to hug him. “Look who’s getting all mushy now.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” He shakes his head against your neck, reluctantly pulling away from you after a while. Rubbing the nape of his neck bashfully, he adds, “It’s just that—everything’s been a bit different now since I got home.”  

“It’s mostly your fault—”   

“—I know and I don’t regret it,” He interjects quickly, wiping the smug smile of your face. “since I’m doing it to get you away from creepy guys but it’s just us now and I sort of...miss being casual.” 

Your frown tugs upwards into a sincere smile as you lean back against the gates. “We are casual. It’s just that people are looking now.” 

“Can we hang out sometime?” He suggests with hopeful eyes. “just us, like old times.”

“You call it old times like it wasn’t just two years ago,” You point out, chuckling now. “But—sure.”

Jisung nods with a big grin now, excitedly shifting his weight on his feet. “So, see you after the Break?” 

“Buy me something nice from Jeju then we can talk.” You conclude, stepping inside now completely. “Night, Sungie.” 

“Hm, goodnight.” 

When you accompany one of the Han’s family drivers to fetch Jisung and his parents at Incheon International Airport exactly a week later, you only expected to see the box of imported chocolate snacks Jisung promised to buy you as the only unfamiliar thing that you’ll see, maybe even an entirely new carrier with Mrs. Han’s vacation haul if she did actually spent more time shopping than working. 

What you genuinely did not expect, upon finally spotting your best friend and his parents waiting for you at crowded Seattle’s Best, is him holding more than just your box of chocolates. 

“Hey?” You wave at Jisung in confusion as you stop right in front of him. To your right, you catch a glimpse of the family driver, Mr. Yoo, greeting Mr. and Mrs. Han on the next table before obligingly taking their luggage cart. “Who’s this little angel?” 

Only then do you notice the two other unfamiliar people with Jisung’s parents, eyeing you curiously and whispering to Mrs. Han, probably to ask who you are.

Jisung waves his hand at you once before transferring the same hand over the nape of his neck, “Y-Yeah, um, this is—”    

But before he could even finish and maybe even explain, the little girl on his lap shifts in her place and jumps to stand in front of you. “Hello!” She grins sweetly in slightly broken Korean, waving one hand at you while the other clutches Jisung’s bear plushie. “I’m Kitty!”

“Oh, hi, Kitty!” You bend your knees slightly to level with her gaze hidden behind round eyeglasses, briefly sparing a glance at Jisung after and raising an eyebrow at him before smiling again at the little girl. “I’m Y/N, it’s nice to meet you!” 

“It’s nice to...m-meet you!” She politely returns the gesture, hugging Jisung’s bear plushie shyly after and making your heart skip a beat. “Will you also live with us?” 

“At home?” Your furrow your eyebrows deeply now, standing up properly and turning to Jisung who you then belatedly notice has stood up as well and slung his backpack and Kitty’s over his shoulder. “Sung?” 

Jisung stands next to Kitty and places a hand behind her back, clearing his throat awkwardly. “Kitty’s going to live with us for a while.” 

ch. 4 // series masterlist

tags: @t-toodumbtocare​ @sandaigdigan-reads​ @pwarkhans​ @ruellelix​ @malai-barfi​ @mahalau​ @milkywayfelix @qweens-stuff @tenclouds​ @crscendoforsung​ @verobibble

[youreacowgirllikeme]

Hi love! 💓 💓 can you pls write a fic of Chris and y/n meeting in at Yale (where they don’t like each other at all) she being too sensitive and him being too cocky but he secretly liked her the whole time. Never got along or anything. Then they meet again years later in the city, and become friends and fall in love. But with smutty included. Love your lawyer fics ❤️😩😩 so pls make this happen 🙏🏻

Time Will Tell: Part One

note: Hiii, I decided to split this request (which I love btw) into two parts, the second one will drop either Sunday or Monday :) this part is more background story/buildup, hope you enjoy!

words: 3k

warnings: swearing, a bit of angst (??)

“That’s the final one.” Your father grunted as he put down the last huge box on the floor of your dorm room.

“Thank you so much, dad, you’re my hero.” you said, hugging both of your parents tight.

“We’re really proud of you, Y/N. You are going to do so amazing.” You mother whispered, her voice heavy with emotion.

“Thank you so much, guys. I love you. Please give me a call when you get home.” You replied before embracing them one last time, and off they were.

You sighed happily, looking around the room that was going to be your home for the next four years. You were finally a pre-law student at Yale, a dream come true. You gazed out of the window overlooking the campus, beyond exited about all the things to come.

+++

“Alright, settle down.” The voice of your professor sounded over the chatter of your fellow classmates.

You quickly stopped talking with your newfound friend next to you and shifted your attention to the front of the class. It was your very first lecture, and you were almost giddy with excitement about the prospect of learning so much new stuff.

The professor had already started talking, reading out the book list for this semester when suddenly, the door slammed open, and a young man burst into the classroom. He was clearly out of breath, but still grinned at the professor.

“My apologies, Sir.”

His voice was cocky, and you felt an instant burst of dislike at the way he carried himself. He was handsome, tall and broad shouldered with a head full of curls and a winning smile. But it was obvious that he knew just how good he looked, everything about him gave you the impression of another rich, arrogant brat. Yale campus was full of them.

“Just see that it won’t happen again, Mr-?” The professor murmured, clearly displeased.

“It’s Cuomo, Sir.” The guy replied, still grinning, before slumping into the seat next to you.

Cuomo. That rang a bell. You would eat your hat if he hadn’t something to do with the New York Governor, he certainly looked like a politician’s son. You knew you were being slightly prejudiced, but your intuition about those kinds of guys had never betrayed you so far.

As if he could read your mind, the guy in question turned his head to look at you.

"Hi Sweetheart, what’s up? I’m Chris. “

Without even looking up from your notes, you replied.

"If that’s your way of flirting, it sucks. I’m Y/N and not your sweetheart, by the way. How about you pay attention to the lecture now before you get into even more trouble.” It maybe came out more vicious than intended, but you didn’t want this guy to think you would swoon over him just because he had a pretty face.

He just chuckled but turned back to the board.

You were fascinated by the topic of the lecture, eagerly listening and taking notes, the irritating young man next to you long forgotten. When your professor announced that you had to do a group assignment until next week, you promptly turned around to your friend, silently signaling that you wanted to form a pair.

But when the professor started to read out a list of names, your plans were crushed.

"And next we have Ms. Y/L/N and Mr. Cuomo.“

"Oh, you can’t be serious.” you murmured under your breath, when someone poked your arm. You turned around and stared right into Cuomos smug face.

“Looks like you and I are having a date after all, sweetheart.”

Well Fuck.

+++

“Ok, we’re going to do it your way, but just because you’re annoying the hell out of me, and I want this to be over as quick as possible.” You groaned, scribbling something onto the paper in front of you.

Not that you would ever admit to it, but working with Chris went better than expected. Yes, he was cocky and arrogant to no ends, but apparently, he wasn’t only in Yale because of his family name. You bickered about almost every decision, but his ideas for the project were actually pretty good and once you got over his stupid jokes and constant unpunctuality, his company was bearable.

“I’m so glad you’re finally acknowledging my genius. My next suggestion is, once we’re finished here, how about you and I grab dinner somewhere together. You look like you’re in serious need of some fun.” He said, winking at you.

The nerve of the guy.

“You think my idea of a good time is going out with you? Wow, you‘re really full of yourself, Cuomo.”

A weird expression flashed over his face, but before you could name it, he was back to his usual smug grin.

“Your loss, sweetheart.”

+++

You got a good grade on your assignment, but we’re still relieved when the professor paired you up with someone else for the next one.

Outside of class, you rarely saw Chris, mainly because you were parts of different crowds. He had joined a fraternity and the football team, and you often spotted him hanging around with the other frat boys on campus.

To you, they were all cut from the same cloth, spoiled, rich boys who’s only concerns were the next party or if they could graduate in time to take over their daddy’s firm. Those were the kind of people you were trying to stay away from.

+++

It was the final party of freshmen year at the frat house, and you had a blast. There was good music and a lot of alcohol, you were glad your friends had managed to drag you along. The frat boys were there as well, obviously, but you paid them no attention while you danced and enjoyed yourself.

After the third round of shots, you were starting to feel slightly dizzy. Apologizing to your friends, you went outside to get some fresh air. In the garden behind the frat house, the dizziness got even worse, and you had to lean against a wall to steady yourself.

“Everything alright?” someone asked from behind you. It was Chris.

“Sure, Cuomo.” You replied, your voice already slurred. “Just had one or two shots to much.”

“You certainly had more than that.” he spoke, getting closer with a slightly worried look on his face.

“Jesus, you look smashed, Y/L/N. Maybe it’s better to go home?”

“Yeah, I probably should get going.” You agreed, feeling incredibly fuzzy by now, and as you tried to walk, you almost fell over your own feet.

“No way you’ll make it to your dorm on your own. I’ll take you.”

You were too drunk to argue with him, so you just murmured something in agreement and leaned a bit against Chris’s huge frame.

“You have so many muscles.” you whispered, but he still heard you and laughed.

“Oh my god, you’re totally wasted, you’re gonna regret this so much tomorrow. Come on, let’s get you home.”

Luckily, the way to your hall wasn’t that long. Chris steadied you with and arm around your shoulder, almost dragging you up the stairs when you finally arrived.

You fumbled with the keys to your room, so he just took them from you to unlock the door.

“Here we are.” Chris announced, softly sitting you down on the edge of your bed. “Sleep, I’ll tell your friends that you’re home safe.”

With a groan, you sunk back into the pillows, closing your eyes.

Chris was still standing in front of your bed, as if he was unsure if he could leave you alone like that.

“You know,” he quietly spoke. “When I was asking you out, at the beginning of the year, I was kind of serious about that, I-…Y/N?”

But you had already fallen asleep, slightly snoring into your pillow.

Sighting, Chris ran his hand through his hair and gave you one last confused look before he left, softly closing the door behind him.

+++

Lucky for you, the next day was the first day of summer break. You were mortified about acting like an idiot in front of Chris Cuomo, but at least you didn’t have to face him for several weeks.

When the new semester started, the two of you saw each other in classes again, but he never brought the incident up. Instead, he went right back to being his insufferable, arrogant self, taunting you at every chance he got.

Your current class mainly consisted of discussions about the latest political and judicial affairs, and Chris and you ripped each other apart at every chance you got.

“You’re living in a dreamland, Y/L/N.” Chris drawled. “Face the facts, those tax increases for the top five percent or whatever it is you are suggesting, they won’t work. It would actually just hurt our economy, not that you understand anything about that. Also, your poker face is terrible” He pointed right at you, and a few of your classmates chuckled.

You almost lost your last drop of patience there and then.

“I am not sure what’s worse, Cuomo, the bullshit coming out of your mouth or your stupid-“

The professor interrupted you, ending the discussion before things could get really ugly.

+++

“I hate his guts.” You growled, taking an aggressive bite of your bagel. You were having lunch with two of your friends between lessons, and Chris Cuomo was a frequently brought up topic in your conversations.

“You certainly talk about him often enough to really make me doubt that.” One of your friends snickered, and the other one added. “You know that he watches you sometimes, right?”

“Bullshit, he hates me.”

“Yes, Y/N, I’m sure he looks at you with those big, blue, dreamy eyes because he despises you so much.”

“You have to admit, he is stupidly hot.” You friend sighted, “He’s so tall, and that face.”

You rolled your eyes at them. “Sure, he’s not exactly ugly, but his personality is. I’m praying we won’t have any more classes together next year or I might really punch him in the face one day.”

+++

Much to your chagrin, fate wasn’t on your side. Junior year rolled along, and again you had several classes with Chris. And as if that wasn’t enough, he started dating a girl you sometimes hung out with and became a regular guest at parties you and your friends were going to.

So not only were you almost killing each other every day in class, you bickered with him in the evenings as well, about every topic from beer brands to foreign policy. And still, when he ended your conversations to get back to his girlfriend, you always got a small sting of something that felt a lot like jealousy.

Since your friends had revealed to you that he was watching you from time to time, you had started to feel a bit restless around him. Somehow, he was able to get under your skin like no one else did, irritating you to a point where some days all you could think about was his stupid face.

Even if it was just to argue and fight, for some reason, you always gravitated to each other.

+++

“That’s it, I’m not listening to any more of your shit.” you shouted. Your latest argument had continued even after class has finished, and by now, you were walking through the hallways almost yelling at each other. People were already staring, and you had enough.

“The truth is hard to swallow, isn’t it?”Chris replied, his usually cool demeanor had dropped and by now he was just as angry as you were.

“The truth is, I’m sick of this and I’m sick of you. We’ve been at each other’s throats for years now. You won’t convince me of anything and vice versa. I have better things to do than fight with you every day. Just leave me alone from now on, please.”your voice has gotten quieter with each sentence, and before you could display too much emotion, you turned around and left Chris standing in the middle of the hallway, a perplexed expression on his face.

This was the right decision, you thought. This guy meant nothing but trouble, and your infuriating relationship had to stop, you had your finals to focus on.

+++

The end of year parties always were a huge thing on campus, but this one was different for you. This was it, Senior year was over, there would be no coming back to Yale in the fall. Nostalgia and relief about the finished finals made you and your friends celebrate like it was your last night ever and beer and liquor were flowing.

You had received your acceptance letter from Georgetown Law some days before, and the opportunity to continue your education in Washington DC was another reason for you to party.

At some point though, the amount of drunk people was starting to become a bit too much for you, and you decided to retreat to the garden for a moment of quiet. As you walked around a couple of trees, you spotted a lonely figure sitting on a bench in the dark.

“Cuomo?” you asked, a bit staggered. Usually, the guy was the life of every party. What was he doing out here all alone?

As if he had read your thoughts, he spoke up. “I was just trying to get some last moments out here, were leaving campus in two days and this always was my favorite spot.”

Who was this guy, and what had he done to the menace you attended class with?

You hadn’t seen that much of him the past months, not after your last argument, but the memories of your numerous encounters were still very present in your head. You had thought about him more often than you’d care to admit.

“I wouldn’t have taken you for a nature guy, Cuomo.” you replied “Unless you’d count the lawn on the football field.”

“That’s because you don’t know me, Y/N.” his voice was oddly cold as he looked at you, his eyes almost appearing black in the dark. You tried to ignore how handsome he looked and focused on your dislike for him instead.

“Oh, I know enough. You have shown me everything I need to know about you over the course of the last four years.” You snapped, the alcohol in your system was making your emotions run high.

Chris got up from the bench to plant himself right in front of you. He towered over you and you had to crane your neck to look up at him.

The air between you was bristling with tension, he stood so close to you that your bodies were almost touching.

“Why, because I actually challenged you, delivered some real arguments against you? Until you chickened out?” He shot back, his voice growing louder, his fists clenched at his sides. “Don’t you want to become a lawyer? Better learn to deal with that if you want to survive in court, that’s not a place for soft, overly sensitive people like you.”

“Are you kidding me, you condescending asshole? You don’t have the slightest clue about the life of ordinary people! You’re living in your little Chris Cuomo bubble where everything is perfect and there’s nothing daddy can’t take care of and call me sensitive? I’m thrilled to see how you will be able to handle yourself out in the real world.”you were yelling as well by now, just lashing out to hurt him the way he had hurt you with what he said.

“Don’t act like you fucking know anything about me.“ He shouted, his face clenched in a mask of fury. He opened his mouth to continue, but you spoke first, your voice flat now.

“You’re right. I don’t know you at all.” With that, you turned around and left the garden, running back to your dorm before anyone could see your tears. He would always be the same asshole, and you were mad at yourself for ever believing anything else.

+++

“Christopher Charles Cuomo.”

The crowd around you cheered, whistles and shouts erupting all over the place. Chris climbed the stage, looking unusually serious in his black robe and cap. He took his diploma, shook hands with the dean, and then turned around with the most brilliant smile on his face. He looked carefree, and happy, and when he raised his hand to wave at the crowd, your whole class hollered for him.

“He is so incredibly hot.” Some girl swooned behind you, and you just rolled your eyes, trying to suppress the little stab of sadness you still felt about how you parted ways with him two nights ago.

But when you looked up to the stage again, he was gone, and in that moment you realized that it was very unlikely that you would see Chris Cuomo ever again.

[bastardtetsu]

critical thinking | ch③

pairing: kuroo tetsuro x gn!reader

genre: college au, enemies to lovers, tsundere!reader, slow burn

wc: 2.3k

warnings: swearing, being a theatre major

※ mlist | ① ② ● ④

there is no greater hell than finals week as a college theatre major.

and this year, on top of juries to prep for, studio scenes & dance combos to rehearse, essays to write, exams to study for, and rehearsals to attend for the show you’re in, your chemistry teacher decided to assign a final project in addition to the final exam. rejoice.

it was enough trying to study for the written final while staying on top of all your other assignments and obligations - you’d busted your ass so hard leading up to the exam that you hardly had time to think about the project until a week before its due date. and even when you do start thinking about it, you barely understand what you’re supposed to be doing, much less have the time or energy to try and figure it out.

you end up texting kuroo in desperation and make him agree to meet up with you for an extra tutoring session, however, due to your extra-chaotic schedule this week, the only time you’re both able to meet up is after your all-day rehearsal the sunday night before the project is due.

it’s better than nothing, you suppose.

still, you don’t fully realize the consequences of your choices until you’re exhausted on your way back from your second consecutive day of 12-hour tech rehearsals - a pretty standard tech week schedule in the professional theatre world, but not very convenient for a college student during finals.

needless to say, you’re dead tired. the last thing you want is to fry your brain even further with chemistry & kuroo’s smart mouth, but at this point you have no choice.

as you approach him in the library, you notice he’s dressed way more casually than usual. this shouldn’t come as a shock, seeing that it’s 11pm on a sunday, but the way his t-shirt and sweatpants accentuate his figure is actually insulting. somehow the way the fabric stretches around his pecs makes his chest look even broader, and christ you were not expecting his arms to be THAT toned.

NOPE. now is not the time, you remind yourself. you have a project due in ten hours. you can feel a headache coming on as your stress levels rise again.

“evening,” he greets you with a smile.

“hey,” you respond shortly as you set your stuff down, “thanks for meeting with me this late.”

“of course,” he replies, “anything for my favorite student.”

“…are you being sarcastic?”

“no.”

“i’m your favorite?” you question skeptically. “jesus, who else are you tutoring…”

“well I didn’t say you were my best student—“

“cool, i’m gonna stop you there.”

he just giggles. asshole.

you let out a fatigued sigh as you plop down in your chair. this feels like your first moment of rest all day, but in reality it’s just the start of the most difficult battle of them all. you attempt to gather up the remnants of your brainpower, silently praying that kuroo will decide to behave himself.

“you don’t seem like you’re in the mood for chemistry tonight.”

some prayers must go unanswered.

“yeah, i’ve had a long day,” you reply unenthusiastically, “so i’d really like to get this done as quickly as possible.”

“really? that’s gonna be difficult in your condition,” he jeers.

“well i don’t have much choice, do i?” you snap back a bit too aggressively.

“guess not,” he shrugs nonchalantly, leaning back in his chair with his hands resting behind his head. what is with this attitude? is he really just being a dick right now? and WHY do his arms look so god damn tasty??

you can already feel your sanity slipping away as you try to will yourself to focus on anything that’s not kuroo’s juicy biceps flexing through the fabric of his t-shirt. or his chest. or the little strip of exposed skin that’s appeared just below the hem of his shirt - fuck.

focus, you instruct yourself. your brain, however, is already giving out, the stress of not just the day, but the whole week finally catching up to you. the possibility of having something passable to turn in by tomorrow morning seems further and further away.

“look,” you sigh, leveling with him, “we both know i’m awful at chem—“

“really??”

“shut up,” you cut him off quickly, “and i’ve had a long ass week dealing with all this other shit on my plate and i’m really fucking tired and i just want to get a good grade on this so i can graduate, so can you please, PLEASE just—“

“if you’re gonna ask me to do the assignment for you, I already did it.”

a pause.

“wait. what do you mean-“

“i did the assignment for you. project’s done.”

“um,” you stutter, dumbfounded. “excuse me?”

“what, you thought i was gonna let you do it yourself? after you procrastinated it til the literal night before?” he says with an especially wide grin, “it would be irresponsible for me as a tutor if I let my student do so poorly! granted, she’s really bad at this—“

“ok shut up,” you cut him off. your mind is swirling with a mixture of shock, gratitude, and rage as you process his words. “when did you—“

“this week. after you texted me.”

“what?” you cry, “why are we even meeting up then?”

“i dunno,” he responds with a coy smirk, “it would’ve been rude to cancel.”

the swell of gratitude in your chest is overtaken by the growing wave of rage.

“so you decided to waste *more* of my time,” you state pointedly, “when you literally have enough to do an entire final project just for funsies. cool.”

“hey, show a little more gratitude,” he whines, quirking an eyebrow in annoyance, “you’re the one who left it til the last minute.”

“i’m the one?” you shoot back, “you still think i’m just procrastinating because i’m lazy??”

“look, i know finals are demanding—“

“no, I don’t think you do know,” you cut him off, now fuming. “you want a rundown of my week? i can give it to you.” you list off all the assignments you had to turn in, all the finals you had to prep for - both written and performance, all the meetings with scene partners and voice teachers and rehearsal pianists you had to arrange, all the hours you had to spend in rehearsal, including the 12-hour tech day you just came from. kuroo just sits there, taking in your words. when you finish, you let out an exhausted sigh, “so if you’d like to tell me when the fuck i was supposed to work on this stupid project, be my guest. i’d love to hear it.”

this might be the first time you’ve seen kuroo look shocked. for once he doesn’t seem to know what to say. is that a trace of guilt in his eyes too?

“i—“ just as he’s about to speak, he is cut off by an unholy sound coming from your stomach. you both sit there frozen for a second.

“um… when was the last time you ate?” he asks, cautiously breaking the silence.

“uhh,” you think back, “like 3pm.”

“okay, well it’s past 11 now,” he says, “and you need to eat. get your stuff, let’s go.”

“huh? go where?”

“to get food,” he states simply, “i’m driving, come on.”

“kuroo,” you protest, “i’m not gonna make you drive me—“

“you’re not making me,” he interrupts, “i’m making you. let’s go.”

you let out a sigh of defeat and grab your bag. with the rage beginning to melt away, that swell of gratitude begins to stir in your chest again. it’s still weird when he’s kind to you, but you’re starting to mind less.

—

you hadn’t realized how hungry you truly were until the smell of oil and salt hits you.

after grabbing your food from the drive thru, kuroo pulls around and finds a spot in the near-empty parking lot. you waste no time scarfing down your food, which he even insisted on paying for. whatever, it’s just mcdonald’s, you think. but still, the gesture is nice.

“you didn’t have to do this you know.”

“i think i did,” he says, jokingly referring to how hard you were just stuffing your face.

“funny,” you respond sarcastically, “but seriously.”

“it’s no big deal,” he says, looking away slightly. is he blushing? you can’t tell in the dark. “anyway, i figured i owed you one for making you stress about the project.”

you can’t believe your ears - is he actually apologizing?

“yeah, you really let me suffer all week, asshole,” you respond teasingly.

“i didn’t know it was that bad, alright,” he says, slightly defensive. a brief pause, and then, “sorry.”

you can hear the remorse in his voice - he means it. the corners of your mouth twitch upward.

“thank you,” you say gently, “that means a lot.”

his gaze darts back over to you. you’ve never seen his eyes look nervous before, yet somehow his stare still feels piercing.

“you’re gonna have to buy me a lot more nuggets before i fully forgive you though,” you joke, breaking out your own devilish smirk. he chuckles too, relieved.

“how many are we talking?”

“as many as i want.”

“fine,” he relents, “guess you’ll have to hang out with me more then, if i’m gonna be buying you all these nuggets.”

“whatever, i’m immune to your bullshit by now.”

“oya~? you’re starting to like me, y/n??”

“is that what the fuck i said?”

“no, but it’s what you meant,” he responds with a smirk.

“and how would you know?”

“‘cause i’m a genius,” he says, reaching over to swipe a fry from your lap. you halfheartedly swat at him.

“sure, keep telling yourself that.”

your banter feels natural now, strangely comfortable. for some reason it actually feels good talking to him. he did do something really nice for you tonight after all, despite your continued bickering. no matter how much you insult him he always has something to say back. but as much as it pisses you off, you’re not sure what you’d do if he ever stopped.

—

as kuroo drives you back to your place for the night, your mind begins turning over the events of this evening. in the time since you’d met up with him (which somehow feels longer than the literal 12 hours of rehearsal you were in earlier), you’d not only found out that the final project you’d been so stressed about had been taken care of, but you also hung out with him for the first time outside of tutoring. and he was nice to you. it’s a lot to process.

it’s not like you aren’t used to spending time alone with kuroo - like you told him, you’re immune to his bullshit by now - but this feels different somehow. it’s more peaceful, maybe even comforting. you figure it’s probably because of the rollercoaster of a day you just had, not to mention how unusual it is for him to treat you like this.

“why are you being so nice to me?” you finally ask him, turning to steal a glance at his side profile in the dim glow of the streetlamps.

“huh?? i needed to make sure my student got their nutrients!” he replies, as if it was obvious.

“what nutrients? you took me to mcdonald’s.”

“okay fair,” he says, “but nothing else was open!”

“sure, but you didn’t need to take me anywhere,” you protest, “much less spend money on me.”

“maybe i’ll just cook for you next time then,” he smiles.

“next time!?” you squawk, “what, are you trying to get into my pants??” the words leave your mouth before you fully have time to process them, but either way, you aren’t expecting the sudden silence that falls over him.

a flash of anxiety darts through your mind, but it only lasts for a second before he laughs quitely, almost to himself.

“not if you don’t want me to,” he mutters.

your breath catches. is he joking?? your heart feels like it’s in your throat. he’s definitely joking.

“what are you cooking?” is the only thought you can manage to put to words.

another pause.

“um. probably fish.”

“EW, WHAT THE FUCK?”

“what???” he gripes, “you could use more docosahexaenoic acid!!!”

“you are such a freak.” you’re relieved that the subject has changed, even though his earlier response is still circling your mind.

“okay but can you tell me the chemical formula for docosahex—“

“no, you are not bringing chemistry into this car, absolutely not. i already took my final.”

“what about the molar mass—“

“NO.”

—

you arrive back at your place not long after. kuroo’s comment is still eating away at the back your mind, but you don’t say anything as you gather your belongings. it was a cop-out response, and he was probably joking anyway.

“thanks for everything,” you say gingerly, “the project, and the food, and the ride, and the help with the semester, all that.”

“anytime, princess,” he replies with his signature smirk. usually that kind of response would trigger a jolt of annoyance in you, but this time it feels different. maybe because now you’re actually grateful to him.

in fact, you’re very grateful, and you feel like you should be expressing it more, but you’re not sure how. plus you’re too embarrassed, and have way too much pride. so instead you wish him goodnight and head towards your front door.

he waits to drive off until you’re all the way inside.

you think about him a little differently after that.

a/n: why is he so obsessed with docosahexdhfafdjh acid.... making me have to google how to spell that shit smh. anyways thank you for all the love on this fic so far!! if u actually enjoy this self-indulgent fantasy of mine know that i love & appreciate u to the ends of the earth ;-;

[samtheflamingomain]

thanks, it's the mania

I'm pretty sure I'm hypomanic right now. I'm bipolar; most people know the 2 extremes of those poles, severe depression and abject psychosis. Mania is below psychosis, hypomania is like Mania Lite, then there's "mixed states" where you have symptoms of both depression and mania at the same time. Anyway.

I like to make birthday/xmas presents for the very few close people in my life. I'm talking painstaking realistic portraits of a dog from the background of a friend's FB profile because she hasn't posted any other pics of her.

My best friend in the world, Connor, who lives in Toronto (2h away) and I see maybe 3-4 times a year, was coming home for labour day.

I've had some shit going on that meant I had delayed the main present I was making for him until this week, thinking labour day was next weekend.

Then, Thursday night, I realized I was wrong, and Connor would be here at noon Sunday. I had to make a decision: bite the bullet and forget about the gift, or bite the bigger bullet and spend the next 72 hours putting in insane amounts of work for a project that might not even come out very good.

I decided I really wanted this to get made, and for him to see it before I don't see him again till Christmas.

Sorry for waiting so long for the reveal. It's a card game. Hope it was worth the build-up.

I've made games before - card, board and video. I'm good at it, and it's a very satisfying result to play a game with a friend that you personally made.

So when all my roommates played a game called Gloom last week, I knew I loved the concept but hated the execution. I could do it better, and change it up enough to make it an entirely new game. It's called Casting Call. It's pretty hard to explain but I'll try.

Basically your job is to "write" a reality show. You're dealt 5 "cast members" and use "drama cards" to construct their stories throughout the show. Play the "lost an ally" card on Jane for minus strategy and luck points. But the thing is that in order to play that card, you need to tell the story of how she lost that ally, and if any other cards/stories have been played on her, it all has to flow together.

Anyway, I've never undertaken such a huge project with so little time, and I had to work 5 hours today. I knew as soon as I sat down to crunch this fucker out by Sunday that I needed to Optimize The Machinery.

I wrote macros and shortcuts for programs to make writing, printing, cutting and sealing 85 cards across 5 categories as seamless as possible. I started at 9pm Thursday, and buy 9pm Friday with 4 hours of sleep, I was so close to being done.

I had neglected a lot of tasks so I took 3 hours to do that, relax a bit, and then suddenly remember I'm missing 15 cards. So I worked from 12pm to 3am to make those. I finally went to sleep at 4am Friday with nothing left to do except the packaging/box and to write out the rules. I could do that in a few hours after work.

Well, I overslept, barely made it to work on time and had some chores to do when I got home. When I started working, I was already exhausted, but I knew I wouldn't be likely to get much if any sleep again that night.

Then Connor said that the trains weren't running that day and he'd come visit next weekend instead and I almost collapsed from relief.

I know it sounds completely insane to do what I did. For a fuckin card game.

But it's really, really good, and I loved every minute of making it, and I know it would've been worth it to see Connor laugh at the funny cards and appreciate the subtle inside jokes we have.

It's not like he could take the game home and play it with anyone else but me and maybe our friend Casey if we explained some of the references. But I've made him another game, and whenever he visits he always brings it to play with me.

I don't own many board games myself, because they're expensive and I don't have a lot of friends, and the friends I do have to play board games with "just don't get" Cards Against Humanity. We play mostly Catan-like games and Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit which is over in 5 minutes because every one of us knows every single answer.

But Connor loves every game I've made him play. He was so resistant to Trivial Pursuit for years until he played it, loved it, and proceeded to kick my ass at it for the past decade.

I was relieved to hear he was postponing his trip, but honestly, I would've stayed up all night tonight to finish it, and it would've been worth it.

Not sure why I wanted to write about this; it's just not really something I can tell people. When my coworker asked why I was so tired today I couldn't exactly tell her this essay of a reason, and saying "I worked 20 hours straight on making a card game that only one other person on the planet would enjoy playing with me". I said I didn't sleep well.

I get to have a normal night's sleep tonight and do some other shit tomorrow, but then I'll be back to finishing it up. Looking forward to that dopamine hitting when I open the box to my new game.

Stay Greater.

[neednothavehappenedtobetrue]

(Hello I have typed everything else that is in this post and now I am putting a parenthetical at the top. this post is very long, so you don’t have to read it, and if you do read it, you don’t have to Experience Concern, I’m usually fine and probably will be, but! If you do read it, and you do experience concern, would you mind telling me? Normally I do not require that, and I do not actually require that you read this long post, but if you do, it might be helpful to tell me)

(Also I can’t do cuts on mobile, so, sorry) (aha I am on desktop now and have added a cut, though this post is now from the past)

So! the good news:

-every homework I have ever had is done! all of it! the two classes I needed to finish after Big Cascading Extensive Sickness are fully completed! I have taken five classes of my grad program which is eight regular classes and then a semester where you do your thesis, so like ten classes altogether! Halfway there! Woo!

-I do not acquire more classes until not tomorrow but next Monday after that, so I have a week with some downtime in it! in which to do ADLs and write and listen to podcasts!

-my health situation has been back-and-forth this past… time period, but today I do not feel sick, nauseous, panicky, brain-stuck or sad!!! I will gladly take the current Mood Situation over any of those, and double-especially over nausea!!!

now for the part that’s not a complaint but also not not a complaint

-so I still cannot lately focus for shit until the very last minute where I realize there will be immediate bad consequences of not doing the thing right exactly now

-(this is an intermittent Mood Disorder problem for me, we are tweaking my meds, I am not going to be experiencing this brain forever)

-the final project was originally due Monday, and then “Sunday if possible” and then “can you turn it in Saturday night so I can grade it early Sunday?”

-it was not his fault about the moved deadline he is expecting a big hurricane and wanted to get it done pre-power-outage and the registrar would have been a big stickler for anything after Monday

-I figured that anything before 6:AM Sunday counted for these purposes, as he seemed unlikely to be doing grading any earlier than that

-I spaced out very badly most of Saturday

-I opened my laptop around 10PM

-my brain refused to let me do literally anything until like 1AM, at which point the assignment was due sometime between “an hour ago” and “five hours from now”

-then I unlocked the ability to focus for about five to fifteen minute increments at random a few times an hour

-it turns out that “literally after the assignment is due by the most generous definition, it’s already late and can only get later, someone is this minute waiting for you,” the point at which I regain my normal ability to just like, sit down, do a thing, and then have it be done.

-I worked pretty much straight through 7-noon, proofread, formatted, attached the document to an email with some made up personal problems in it

-not because I’m not having real life problems, I just didn’t want to explain the real ones

-turned it in at 12:35

-G submitted my final grade to the registrar already and will email me final comments post-hurricane

-if he secretly hates me he still gave me an A in the class, so who cares.

-the assignment took somewhere around 8 hours of focus work, most of which I did in the six and a half hours after it was (again, by the most generous estimate) definitely due and already late

-I guess it’s good to know I can Enter The Zone if I place enough consequences on myself

-I miss The Zone, it used to be comparatively much easier for me to go there

-I very much do hope the meds adjustment fixes my brain a bit, and soon

-I just did a casual assessment of my feelings about things and got “unusually limited emotions, somewhat flat inside,” about it, so I’m jotting that down.

-I don’t remember how I’ve been feeling, exactly, but I do remember telling my therapist that I’ve been feeling a bit flat lately, so that does check out!

-alex, if you were doing homework for fourteen hours, when did you sleep last?

-first of all, I was doing homework for eight hours, interspersed with six hours of genuinely nothing, I truly don’t even know

-that’s not even a terrible ratio for lately, there were entire calendar days last week where I had a brain for about two decent hours out of twenty-four

-there has been a lot of Mindless Scrolling lately, but also yesterday I put my phone away and genuinely did not even glance at anything but schoolwork on the computer

-what did I do for six hours? my guy, I truly do not know

-that wasn’t the question, was it? I’m kidding, I remember the question, it was about sleeping

-I slept from around 6-9PM last night, for some reason, and then haven’t since! lately I’ve been very nocturnal as much as I’ve been anything, so I am trying to reset my sleep schedule by going to bed, very tired, around 9PM tonight.

-assuming I will feel tired later, not sure body sensations are things I still experience very often, including tiredness.

-I’ve been very verbose today, and my voice on the phone sounded a bit manic earlier, so maybe that’s a thing, but in a distant and far away way, even that.

-huh. I feel like that would be concerning if I was closer to normal today. might edit this post a bit and then share it with my therapist.

-hey Alex, if you’re not doing any body feelings, what have you eaten and drank lately?

-more than nothing, technically

-I mean what are you, a cop?

[cherry-ber]

Too drunk to fuck (pt 4)

Part 1 | Previous

Inevitably, after random small talks with the boys, your phone rang and when you finally picked it up, you had five missed calls from your parents, and you had to get back home. You said goodbye to the tipsy boys, and promised to hang out with them again soon. Mark gave you his gloves, because suddenly the night became cold, and you both rode back to your place, he'd look back at you every red light, since the wind was making you tremble in cold, he'd laugh nervously every time you put your hands on his pockets to keep them warm.

Upon arriving, you knew your dad was probably waiting in the living room for you, so you didn't let him get close to the front door, and just as you were kissing him goodbye, both your parents opened the door to you holding hands.

“Are you children coming in?” your mom asked, not a hint of her being angry at all, but judging by the time you arrived, you knew she was beyond displeased.

Mark was about to decline, but your dad gave him the look.

“Son, come on in, it's late and you don't want to drive that thing without chatting with us, do you?” That thing, of course, reminded him of his old Harley. Your mom had a thing for bikers, and apparently you did too. Probably, a little bit intimidated by your father, Mark agreed to having a cup of coffee with you inside.

At first it was embarrassing and uncomfortable, because you knew what your parents wanted to hear about your relationship with Mark, but unfortunately there was nothing between you two, and what was actually going on would piss them off, after telling them that those hours that you spent making out, you were in the taking a special Science course. But things got smooth quickly, after your dad learned all the things he had in common with Mark, and after skipping the fact that you were tipsy all the time you were talking, obviously none of you told them you were drinking and smoking an hour away from home.

“I hate to be that kind of dad, Mark, but I have to know, since I don't want my daughter coming at 1 a.m every night, what kind of relationship do you children have?”

You noticed Mark's jaw tightened, his hands also tensed, and he held his breath for a second that felt like hours.

“He's just a good friend, dad, Jaemin couldn't bring me home earlier since he was helping a friend with his car, it ran out of gas, and since it was getting cold, he offered me a lift” You intervened, knowing that you didn't want to hear whatever Mark was planning to reply. You knew you were a good liar, but this one came out so smoothly and naturally that for a moment, Mark himself believed it.

“I see... Is Jaemin the moron that picked you up and didn't bother to say hi?” you nodded “is that your boyfriend?” you shook your head no “that's great, he's banned, I don't want you driving around in that car with him” Mark let out a giggle “then you children should go to sleep”

You stood up, ready to say goodbye but your mom finally talked again after staring at you suspiciously.

“What are you doing? It's late. Mark, bring your bike inside the garage and you can sleep in the couch”

Your parents were always very nice with your friends, but you didn't want that with Mark, you didn't want them to think about him that way, because you knew that it was only about time before he left you.

“I really shouldn't, I don't want to abuse your hospitality”

“Come on, love, it's late, you can stay with Y/N in the living, it could be dangerous outside”

It didn't take long for him to say yes, so you had to stay with him in the couch. You decided you were both sleeping in the floor, so you built a fort and laid next to each other.

“You know, Y/N I never thought you were so much of a liar”

“Huh?”

“Jaemin? Helping someone with their car?”

“Oh, right. Don't be loud, I don't really want them to know it was a lie”

“I mean yeah, but I am impressed... Have you ever lied to me?”

In the dark, you could barely distinguish him from his shadow, he was playing with his hands and breathing slowly, you couldn't see his face but you knew that he was smiling.

“We never speak, how could I ever lie to you, hum?”

Silence. You thought maybe he fell asleep, after all, it was really late.

“Right”

It was your turn to stay quiet. You didn't intend to make him feel bad, in case that was what happened, and this was your chance to get closer to him. I mean, you were sleeping together, how much closer could you get anyway.

“I am indeed a good liar” you started and heard him turn around, so you proceeded “I am also very sensitive, I cry often for the dumbest reasons. I like to be alone, but I crave human interaction sometimes. I don't like the smell of cigarettes, but I've been smoking for a while and of course my parents don't know, don't even ask. I also like to cook, I'm pretty good, I would say”

“Is any of that a lie?”

“Yes. Guess which one.”

He took his time, humming for some minutes

“You don't like to be alone. If you did, you would've never accepted to meet me after class”

“That's wrong. All of those are lies, but I am in fact a good cook”

He laughed and placed his hand on your hip bone

“Let me tell you something, I used to think you were incredibly gorgeous, but upon meeting you, I know now that you are also smart, and funny and I just want to how is it possible that you are so charming”

It was a blessing that it was so dark, because you didn't want him seeing you blushing the way you did.

“What is that supposed to mean anyway?”

You heard sounds coming up from your parents room, and you realized that of course they were trying to listen

“It means we should sleep, it's very late” he turned around again, his back facing you, and you immediately missed his hands on you.

“Goodnight, Mark”

He said nothing, and after some minutes you felt asleep, he noticed you did when your breath became deeper. He turned to face you. In the dark he couldn't really see your face, but he imagined your closed eyes and your nose slightly pink from the heat your body was creating. He imagined caressing your cheek, cupping your face with his hands, playing with your hair and making you laugh when he was kissing all over your face, but he didn't, he didn't even move a finger, he stayed away, and told himself it was better that way.

In the morning, you forgot where you were, and panicked when you saw Mark's face slightly covered by a blanket. He looked adorable, and you resisted the urge to hug him.

You were thankful you woke up early and immediately went to wash your face and brush your teeth, you went to the kitchen and made pancakes.

You were loud enough to wake him up, so he went looking for you and couldn't help but smile when he saw you.

“How are you up so early?” he scared you but you didn't jump when you heard his voice

“I was hungry��

You ate your breakfast and he told you he should leave already, but you didn't want him to.

“I'll see you tomorrow after class, I swear”

He took his jacket, and went to the garage. You saw him riding away, and you wondered if you made any progress with him.

Sunday, 8:36 a.m, Na Jaemin: “Are you coming with us today?”

Sunday, 8:37 a.m: “where?”

“actually, don't tell me, I don't I'd be able to go”

Sunday, 8:37 a.m, Na Jaemin: “Well we're not taking Mark, but Jeno and I are going somewhere, I thought maybe you'd like to join us”

“«somewhere» means his place, I'm helping him organize his room, he's messy.”

“No drinks or drugs I swear”

“Well unless you want to”

Sunday, 8:39 a.m: “mmmmm k, pick me up in like three hours pls”

Sunday, 8:39 a.m, Na Jaemin: “Will do. See you xox😘”

Sunday 8:40 a.m : “🤢🤢”

Next

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

A.N: Okay I love this song so much, maybe you can't tell but that's somehow the way Mark feels about Y/N. Talking that, have you been listening to the songs I add? I got a message saying they were and they liked them, that's why I keep attaching them lmao, I hope you don't mind it.

I wanted to thank you again for your feedback and for taking the time to message me or reply or ask, and to like and reblog this, too.

I'm thinking about a new project, involving a horror story and any other nct member, I'm thinking Hyuck or Chenle because I adore them but if you had any suggestions / requests, I'd be happy to read them.

Anyway, I wanted to upload this earlier but of course I didn't, I'm sorry about, I'll work on a schedule for you to know when I'll update if that's easier uwu

[loreleywrites]

The Gateshead Engine

If you bought the itch.io game bundle for racial justice and inequality a month ago, one of the games it contains is a single-player ttrpg called The Gateshead Engine by Adam Roy (Follow the link to buy and play yourself!)

The basis of the game is simple: It is Victorian England, and you have been commissioned to built a steampunk mech. You flip cards from a tarot deck to give you situations for your diary entries, and you can finish...basically whenever you want.

I enjoyed it greatly, and wanted to publicly share my game. Content warning for a bit of body horror and minor surgical stuff at the end? It’s not like, explicit though. Anyway, I haven’t stretched my horror muscles in a while, and I love how this game started vs where it ended. Hope y’all enjoy!

Starting Questions:

—Who are you, and why did you agree to build the Engine?

I am Loreley Weisel, German thermodynamicist on the brink of bankruptcy. Europe is corrupt, and my will careens towards destruction.

—Who is your patron, and what, if anything, do you know about them? Why did they tell you they wanted the Engine?

My patron is an English aristocrat, Thomas Boroughshire III. All I know is that he has deep pockets and a fascination for thermophysics. He wants my Engine as a mechanical marvel, a party trick for a boy with too many years behind him.

—What is your community like? What do they value and what do they fear?

The community is wealthy. Large estates line a well-kept road. Dogs are bred. Horses are shoed. Foxes are hunted. Gardens beg for release from their clipped restraints. The air itself is made of brick. They value stability, power (or the projection of it), and greed.

—What will the Engine do when it’s completed, and what will it change? (This may shift during play; for now, decide what you think the answer is when you agree to build the Engine.)

My Engine is a herald of death. The aristocracy will be beaten into submission, and England will follow France in the march towards the guillotine.

My Engine:

Diary:

Monday, April 26, 1880—

I do not belong here, in this kingdom, in this estate, in this…garage. Hope’s Paradise is far from the largest house in this community, and His Highness can barely provide enough space for me to work. He does not respect me, nor does his staff. Dinners will be cold on nights I work late. There will be no hot water when I go to draw a bath. They do not want me here.

Fitting enough; I do not wish to dwell here any longer than I have to.

The neighbors are no better. Squire Duncannon of Blah Blah Blah invites me to speak German whenever he harasses me with what he calls conversation, but refuses to use the tongue himself. His wife has never uttered a word beyond her scowl. When I pass by Covington Place, the children stop and watch, twittering among themselves. I wonder what the Duke and Duchess have told them about me. I would not know, for I have never been allowed inside their gates.

England will burn, and this wretched grove of greed will be the tinder.

Wednesday, April 28, 1880—

That godforsaken child has entered my workshop again. Grease smeared all across the floor. Handprints of coal dust cover every box and bench. Every fire hazard should come at the cost of a finger. The little brat will have nubs by week’s end.

Friday, April 30, 1880—

Saturday, May 1

A song. Melancholic, but strong. Thunderous, but ephemeral.

How many hours have slipped by tonight? Dream grips my mind like a starving urchin with hardtack. Maybe these gears and pipes are singing me a lullaby.

Oh for heaven’s sake it’s half two. To sleep with me.

Tuesday, May 4, 1880—

Fucking Third of Family horseshit-brained fool. Every thief with deep pockets thinks themselves a scientist just because they bought opium from one once. I know how to build my Engine. Fuck off with this talk about gas compression. My math is sound, and changing one element means redesigning the entire boiler system.

His Highness has been placated with some minor aesthetic downgrades that better cater to his asinine tastes. For now.

Wednesday, May 5, 1880—

Fucking Third of Family horseshit-brained fool. If it weren’t for the coal dust handprints, I’d think he was the child ransacking my workshop with relentless fervor. Instead, he has simply decided to rearrange my supplies to the garage entrance. My ankle will heal in a few days, but I cannot work on my Engine until it mends. Time is money, and he has more money than I have time.

Sunday, May 9, 1880—

The ankle works.

Monday, May 10, 1880—

His Highness invited his dearest, most important friends to dine in his atrociously cultivated garden. The Wells boy snuck off and found me in my workshop. I have never met another child like him. His curiosity is insatiable, and he knows more about thermodynamics than most learned men I’ve met.

He asked me a question I could not answer: “If this machine is meant for war, how can you fight a navy with it?”

I suppose this will be a larger problem when the revolution hatches from England and threatens the mainland. For now, I must keep focused on this single-minded task. If we make it that far, I will find an answer.

…Perhaps I am naïve and misguided.

Wednesday, May 12, 1880—

The entire community has decided to roll their porcine asses to the south of France for holiday. Such a shame I contracted a bit of a cough and elected to stay here to recover. The travel would have been much too hard on my delicate frame.

Two weeks of uninterrupted work begins tonight.

Friday, May 14, 1880—

For. Fuck’s. Sake.

Her Highness fainted at the pier moments before they were to board a ferry across the Channel. Feared she had come down with the same pestilence I had contracted. Now the entire extended Boroughshire rabble is returning posthaste.

The quiet? Gone. Their need for attention? Only I can sate it. My Engine? Still incomplete, and will be for some time.

If I drown myself in enough whiskey, the mystery of my death should keep their tiny minds occupied for at least a week.

I intend to refill my lamps and work as long as I can tonight. May their arrival home tomorrow wake me at noon for all I care.

Saturday, May 15, 1880—

I was awoken at nine in the morning. Forty minutes of unrestful rest.

Tuesday, May 17 18, 1880—

Knocked the fucking lamp looking for my pen. Lucky I didn’t burn this entire estate to ash.

…Perhaps unlucky.

He even haunts my dreams, touching my Engine and reducing it to rust at the moment that should have been my victory. What Hell of idiocy have I gotten myself into? Fucking aristocrats standing in the way of their own downfall by sheer incompetence. Back to sleep with me.

Tuesday, May 18, 1880 (again)—

I’ve read a number of fascinating papers that I received in the mail today. While I admit I know little of the burgeoning field of electrical engineering, the work being done in the States is fascinating. I intend to take a short trip into London to seek more research (And get a right stein of beer; this house and its occupants are worthless.)

Friday, May 21, 1880 (London)—

I have been granted access to ~~Royal~~ archives. Despite my distaste for locking knowledge away from the public, I am nonetheless grateful for this opportunity. All the kingdom’s brightest minds (what few there are) have recorded years of research on every possible thread of science.

Galvanic principles are fascinating to me. To think, all these thousands of years, we have had electricity inside us! Thoughts percolate, but I do not yet know to what end.

I shall return to the cursed Golden Land in the countryside tomorrow. Between my notes and a few papers, I have been allowed to abscond with, I am reinvigorated with hope for my work.

Saturday, May 22, 1880—

I should extricate and boil every last one of their tongues!

The entire community’s patriarchs were waiting in the living room of Hope’s Paradise (Clearly not my hope.)  Word got out of my project, and every cock-waggling primitive decided that this was a matter that required ending their holiday early. While their offspring splash in the Mediterranean, their sagging eyes are now fixed on that fucking garage.

I don’t know who is merely curious, who else feels inadequate enough to lie about their scientific credentials, or who wants to break my Engine merely because I’m a woman. Too many men in my workshop. Had I less restraint, an axe may have been all I needed to solve this annoyance.

Hopefully the dullards bore sooner than later. I may need to beat Mr. Duncannon with a German dictionary regardless.

Tuesday, June 8, 1880—

Between the constant need to shun nosy men from my workshop and the actual work itself, I have not had the constitution to keep my diary.

But today…ah, today! The control platform appears to be totally functional! I have toiled too long to have failure spring from my fingertips. Rotational velocities are stable, cranks and gears are greased and mobile, the Gatling guns are…gatling.

For the first time since I began my work here, I feel like I have accomplished something great. The aristocracy’s days are numbered.

Monday, June 14, 1880—

Work continues to sap my focus. Boiler…not cooperating. I fear I will lose all the work I’ve done on it due to some unforeseen flaw. A redesign at this stage would be costly, but so would continuing with a faulty boiler. Either way, I’m taking tomorrow off from work to clear my head.

Thursday, June 17, 1880—

Time off has proved productive. I finally finished reading the documents on loan from the ~~Royal~~ archives, and there is a fascinating bit of research by a man by the name of Frankenstein. His work on galvanic sciences from earlier this century are far beyond anything I’ve found from English archives in the last decade. This even only seems to be his initial work; perhaps I can track down his true masterpieces of intellect. Maybe I don’t even need to redesign a boiler…

One blight on my day over lunch: that coal-handed bastard child has returned. I think it’s Constance.

Wednesday, Jun 23, 1880—

The Andersons down the way lost one of their bitches last night. She was a beautiful hound, but her memory will live on in my diary. I wanted some hands-on experience with Frankenstein’s work, so I was able to procure the corpse for a small fee (to His Highness who is paying my bills).

Wondrous! Such are the things I learned. A body, made of muscle, controlled by electricity. I suspect I may need to seek out an anatomist or some other scholar of the biological sciences to continue this research.

My mind is alight with so many ideas…

Wednesday, June 30, 1880—

June ends and takes the boiler with it. My Engine shall have a grand new design. Thomas has been placated by promises of surprise. “The most groundbreaking work in thermodynamics!” I lied. His is a mind easily led astray by spectacle.

Sunday, July 4, 1880—

Constable came round today. Mr. Duncannon hasn’t been seen in three days. He left for an important business meeting in Paris, but missed his boat. Coach is missing too. It’s all very curious. I did everything I could to keep that sniveling pig out of my workshop. Given the way his nose recoiled into his skull, it seems the stench of grease and ozone was enough.

In more academic news, I received notice that more of Victor Frankenstein’s research papers are being released from an archive in Switzerland. I should have them by week’s end. My excitement radiates like the sun.

Friday, July 9, 1880—

Wolfgang. Heinrich. Fuchs.

At my forsaken door. With my forsaken research papers.

How the fuck did he find out I was working on galvanism? Who is he still connected to? Which one of my friends betrayed me (besides him)?

He was in this fucking house asking me fucking questions about my fucking work. Fuck him. He better not stick around. After what he took from me…fuck.

Tuesday, July 13, 1880—

Chaos reigns.

Wolfgang has shacked up with the Andersons. He swings by almost daily. When I’m not actually busy, I try to look it.

Constance has gotten her hands into the coal again (I haven’t disposed of it for appearance’s sake.)

The Duncannons are planning a funeral for…whatever his name was. I don’t think I ever bothered to remember anything about him other than when he would finally leave this hellish corner of England.

Thomas has been migrating in and out of Hope’s Paradise. Something about a trade deal in India. It sounds very important for a man who makes riches off the backs of foreigners.

I could use a big stein at a small biergarten.

Sunday, July 18, 1880—

Widow Duncannon speaks! Her first words spoken to me in the months I’ve resided her are accusations that I have something to do with the death of her husband and his driver. Utter nonsense. The police found the driver at the bottom of a pint in a pub last week. The way gossip echoes around these families, however, I won’t be surprised if they begin to turn on me.

My work must accelerate.

Thursday, July 22nd, 1880—

Widow Duncannon, Duchess Byron. Mrs. Boroughshire. All the Andersons. None of them will speak to me. They glare if they see me, so I try to keep to my room and my workshop as much as possible. I’m lucky Her Highness is so subservient to Thomas. This house would be unbearable if she had any willpower over it.

Tuesday, July 27, 1880—

Celebrations are in order! I have poured over work by Golgi, Frankenstein, and Schwann. Every guide I could find on electrical engineering. Trial after trial, failure after failure. And yet…

And yet.

It’s not that I have hope my Engine will work, it’s that I have knowledge that it will. My designs are so clear to me. My protypes are all working as planned. The path to revolution has been laid out before me. Now it is up to me to walk it.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the end.

Wednesday, July 28, 1880—

Coal hands. Inside my workshop. Inside. My. Workshop. And this time, ha! This time, I have a culprit.

I made it very clear to Constance that she will not be loitering in my laboratory anymore.

Saturday, August 7, 1880—

What have I become?

Why did I begin building my Engine? Something about a war? Who can say. Time marchers onward. My Engine will march with time. Every experiment has made it clearer to me that I have stumbled upon the greatest discovery of this era.

No one celebrates with me. Not Thomas. Not Her Highness. Not Constance, nor the boys, Timothy and Franklin. Even Wolfgang is silent (at last).

The neighbors have stopped visiting. I wave when I pass them by, but they just sneer and hurry past. Finally, I can work in peace and silence. Finally my genius can become reality. Finally all of Europe will know what Loreley Weisel is capable of.

I have become the herald of great change, a conduit of the very building blocks of existence.

Tuesday, August 10, 1880—

A toast to the Duke and Duchess! May their patronage live forever in my greatest work! Soon I hope to bring the Andersons into this project as well.

Wednesday, August 18, 1880—

The Engine lives! The support of this community has been invaluable as the final construction has occurred. Everyone has poured their hearts into my work, and it’s truly a masterpiece that could not have been built alone.

My galvanic calibrations have been finalized. My circuits have been tested. It is nearing time for me to put all of myself into my work. I will see success.

Saturday, August 21, 1880—

The loneliness is getting to me. Not even the dogs bark anymore. I talk to my Engine, but its flesh is silent.

Monday, August 23, 1880—

The constable returned. With six policemen. He had questions about His Highness and the Duke and Duchess and Widow Duncannon. I told him the truth: I could help him find them.

I cooperated.

I have a surplus.

Wednesday, August 25, 1880—

Why shouldn’t I? It worked for them. Shouldn’t it work for me? All the principles are the same. They’re muscle. I’m muscle. They’re electric. I’m electric. Why shouldn’t I be in control?

Thursday, August 26, 1880—

Wolfgang, that bastard! He said he knew everything that I had been up to. That is outrageous! He knows nothing!

I have destroyed my room in rage. Fucking Fuchs! What does he think he knows? Who has he told? I should have killed him. Why didn’t I kill him? He doesn’t deserve it. He doesn’t deserve my creation. He covets it. He wants it for himself. I know it. He got me kicked out of university, he got me run out of Germany. He is jealous. Jealous! He knows I’m better. He knows I’m smarter. He wants what I have, my Engine, my child. He can’t have it. He can’t. He won’t. Where did he go? Fucking Wolfgang I will fucking kill him. He knows nothing. He’s bluffing. He just wants my success. My genius. He is nothing. He will be nothing. Nothing. Nothing. He nothing. Nothing. nothing nothing nothing noth

Sunday, August 29, 1880—

This will be the final entry to my diary. The morning air is heavy with the musk of summer. It’s strange to me how calm I am given what I am about to do.

My Engine has come so far from its days as a sketch on a piece of parchment. Veins of red pulse behind the metal. Sinew, steel, and lightning working in harmony. Every stitch and every suture as perfect as the one before it. So many died for its creation, and so many more will die when I am finished today.

I expected my hand to shake more as I inked the incision lines across my skin. I expected my mind to be foggier as I tried to remember every nerve that would need work. Even the pain I am about to endure has not shaken my resolve.

I am uncertain what the scientific community will think of my work. Of the sacrifices I made. But I have proven a radical truth: All the money in the world does not stop one from being built from the same parts as another. And that’s all we are: Animals with organs and muscles and electricity surging through us. If machines can harness that energy, why can’t we? If new machines can be invented, why not new humans?

All I can hope for now is that my composure holds through the entire procedure. Once I am integrated into my Engine, I will command a mind and body unseen by man. Unparalleled by any of God’s creation. Magnificent in its genius. My genius.

Today I will change humanity forever.

[isitgintimeyet]

Road To The Aisles

AO3

Previous

Thanks for sticking with this story. Hope you enjoy.

Thanks to @mo-nighean-rouge @happytoobserve @wickedgoodbooks for the support

Chapter 15: An Ominous Objective

“It is a long way off, sir" 

"From what Jane?"

"From England and from Thornfield: and ___"

"Well?"

"From you, sir”

Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre

Jamie glared at the stationary traffic in front of him. Driving through Glasgow city centre at five on a Friday afternoon was definitely not on his list of favourite things to be doing. He loosened his tie and undid the top two buttons of his shirt. What he really wanted to be doing right now involved a glass of wine, a shower and a naked Claire. Actually, no, he corrected himself. What he really wanted was playtime with William and then, once the lad was asleep in his cot, the wine, shower and naked Claire.

The journey across the city to pick William up was a total pain, but at least Jamie knew it would be coming to an end once William started nursery. It was fortunate that the nursery he and Geneva had selected was midway between their respective homes. Jamie felt that was more by luck than judgement. Geneva would never have deliberately considered making it easier for him in any way. And if he hadn’t been contributing half towards fees, he doubted he would have had any input at all into nursery selection.

This ‘midway’ nursery had ticked all the boxes on Geneva’s extensive checklist and she had been suitably impressed by the calibre of the cars at pick up time. Jamie had been more concerned with the calibre of the nursery staff that would be caring for his son, but the nursery scored highly on all fronts.

As the red brake lights on the cars in front disappeared, Jamie crept forward, grinding to a halt after a couple of yards. He sighed loudly. Geneva was a stickler for good timekeeping, and if this traffic continued, he would be late and undoubtedly earn a ‘talking to’ on parental commitment. Still, it was worth any amount of ‘Geneva-isms’ to be able to spend time with his son.

He considered their plans for this weekend. Friday night was obviously taken care of (playtime, wine, shower, naked Claire). As Claire was working on Sunday, Jamie planned to take William swimming for the first time. He smiled at the thought of the cute swimming nappy, covered with brightly coloured fish, in the chest of drawers at home ready for his son. He hadn’t quite figured out the logistics of getting a five month old baby dry and dressed at the same time as getting himself dry and dressed, but assumed there were facilities at the swimming pool to cope with that.

Finally, the traffic started moving and Jamie pulled up outside Geneva’s house with three minutes to spare. Feeling slightly wrinkled and sweaty, he rang the doorbell.

“Hello, James.”

The sight of Louisa Dunsany caught Jamie off-guard.

“Louisa,” Jamie greeted her politely. “I didna realise ye were up here visiting.”

She looked him up and down, making him feel self-conscious about any possible sweat patches on his shirt. He pushed that thought from his mind. He was here to collect his son, not to be judged by the boy’s disagreeable grandmother.

“There’s no reason why you would know that. Geneva doesn’t have to notify you of her social calendar.”

Louisa stepped aside to allow Jamie into the hallway before leading him into the living room.

“Actually,” Louisa carried on talking over her shoulder. “I’m here to help Geneva out. She’s not here today, so I’ve been taking care of my grandson.”

Jamie rushed across the room to where William sat in his little seat. He quickly scooped him up and held him tightly, blowing loud raspberries against his son’s soft cheeks. William chuckled and grabbed a fistful of his father’s curls.

Louisa sniffed. “So that’s where he’s learnt that trick from, is it?”

There was no humour in her voice.

Jamie paid no attention and carried on entertaining William.

“She’s flown down to Manchester for the day,” Louisa spoke without prompting. “To discuss an exciting opportunity for her, moving forward.”

Jamie suddenly stopped tickling the baby and gave Louisa his full attention.

“What do ye mean?”

“Oh, may be nothing. We’ll just have to wait and see. I’ll go and fetch William’s cardigan. We don’t want him catching a chill.”

No amount of questioning on Jamie’s part could make Louisa provide any more information. He tried repeatedly as they headed to the front door but, for once, Louisa was as silent as the grave.

He drove slowly home, trying to focus on the road while William babbled and cooed in the back of the car. Louisa’s comment kept circling in his mind which, he supposed, had been her intention -- to turn a potentially innocent activity of Geneva’s into something for Jamie to worry and fret about. Which she has managed successfully, he told himself and tried to push those thoughts away and concentrate on his ongoing project of teaching William to say ‘dada’.

***********

Claire was waiting as he came into the house carrying William in his car seat.

“Any luck?” She asked, kissing the baby’s forehead.

“Nah, I kept repeating it but he wasna willing tae give it a go.”

“You know, when he does actually start saying ‘dada’, he won’t be referencing you, it’s just a sound.”

“Nah, ye’re wrong there, Sassenach. He kens his da and he’ll soon be calling fer me by name.”

Claire rolled her eyes and tutted. “Alright. Have it your way.”

Jamie deposited the car seat on the floor of the living room as Claire knelt and began undoing the straps securing William. Jamie settled himself on the sofa and watched for a moment, her face lighting up as William smiled contentedly at her, his fingers pulling at her lips. Laughing, she caught them in her mouth, pretending to eat them to the baby’s delight. Jamie’s stomach lurched, if anything should happen to change this arrangement...

“That bloody woman…” he blurted out.

“Geneva?”

“Nah, her bloody mother. She likes tae try and twist the knife whenever she can. She informed me today that she was minding William as Geneva had gone tae Manchester for an ‘exciting opportunity for her future’. What if it’s a job? What if Geneva’s planning tae move tae Manchester?”

Jamie stood up and began pacing.

“What if she’s trying tae take ma son away?” His voice grew louder and more agitated.  “I canna have that. He canna be 4 hours away from me.”

William’s eyes opened wide in shock at the unfamiliar cadence in his father’s voice and he suddenly let out a heartrending wail. Claire picked him up and rocked him, gently rubbing his back until his sobs subsided.

“Hush, hush,” she whispered in his ear. “It’s ok. Your Da didn’t mean to scare you.”

She glared at Jamie. “Jamie, voice, please.”

Jamie crouched next to Claire and stroked William’s head. “Sorry, lad. I dinna mean tae scare ye, it’s jes’... Claire, I couldna bear it.”

Holding William in one arm, Claire reached over to Jamie, pulling him onto the carpet next to her. She leant against his chest.

“James Fraser, that isn’t going to happen… for many reasons.”

Claire shifted William, his warm, chubby body nestled between herself and Jamie. She batted the baby’s hand gently away from her mouth as she tried to carry on talking.

“First of all, this is Louisa, who will say anything to try and get a reaction from you. For all you know, Geneva could have gone to Manchester to meet a friend. Second of all, Geneva will be back at work in a couple of weeks. Perhaps she had to go down to meet with a client. Thirdly, even if it is a new job there’s such a thing as remote working and...”

“And?” Jamie prompted.

“And I think we talk to John, get his advice… talk to Ned.”

“So ye do think she’s planning tae leave?” Jamie pulled his son closer to him.

“Noooo, well, we don’t really know, but it does no harm in being prepared. In the hospital, we have plans for major incidents -- evacuations, that type of thing. We never have to use them, but they’re there just in case. Consider it like that. Why not invite John around tomorrow for coffee and we can talk it through?”

“Aye, happen ye’re right. I’ll give John a call when William’s asleep.” Jamie paused for a moment and watched his son, now tugging on Claire’s hair. “She wouldna be so cruel, would she?”

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

With William fast asleep in his cot, Jamie poured himself a glass of wine and sat down to make some phone calls.

The first call went directly through to voicemail. “Geneva, it’s Jamie. Call me back please… urgently.”

Claire came to sit beside him. “She may think there’s a problem with William from that message.”

“Let her worry, she’s made me do enough of that over this past year.” Jamie pulled a face then looked across at Claire. “Ok, ok. I’ll send her a text tae say William is fine.”

Jamie put the phone onto speaker for the next call.

“John, Hello. How ye doing, man?”

“Hi, John.”

“Hello, Jamie, Claire. I’m not doing too bad, thanks. Bit achy after our gym session last night, though. You up for another round? I thought you had William this weekend.”

“Aye, we do. Nah, it’s no’ about the gym. Are ye around fer coffee and a chat tomorrow morning? We may have a bit of a problem.”

“I’m free for coffee but let me guess… Geneva?”

“However did ye ken?” Jamie gave a humourless laugh and grimaced. “Aye, we think Geneva went fer a job interview in Manchester. What if she wants tae move away? Tae Manchester? She canna take ma son away, there must be laws, something we can do.”

“Jamie, don’t panic.” John’s voice was calm, reassuring. “There are things you can do. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but you’re right to find out the options early.”

“Lessons learnt, John… lessons learnt. Well, thanks for that. See ye tomorrow, about ten, aye?”

“Bye Jamie, Claire. I will be expecting those good croissants, by the way.”

The phone call ended, Jamie breathed a huge sigh.

Claire could still feel the tension in Jamie’s body, the muscles clenched tightly. She ran her fingers over the hard lines of his shoulders and neck, her hands seeking out the knots caused by Louisa’s intimations. Jamie groaned in pleasure as her thumbs massaged a particularly tender spot.

Her hands stopped their movements. “Listen. Why don’t you go and have a long, hot shower? Let the water get rid of all that tension.”

Jamie didn’t really need any time to think about this suggestion. His plans for the evening, originally scuppered by Louisa, now seemed to be falling back into place - he’d had a fun evening with his son, there was a glass of wine in his hand, he was about to take a long, hot shower. There was just one part of the plan missing.

He reached over his shoulder and grabbed Claire’s hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

“There’s jes’ one more thing I need fer the shower…”

“What’s that?”

“A naked lady in there with me… ye ken anyone who can oblige?”

“You go upstairs. I’m sure I know someone who’s willing to help out.”

Jamie turned and kissed Claire’s mouth. A kiss, tender at first but building in passion and intensity. She pulled away.

“Go on, get the shower running. I’ll be up to join you.”

At the doorway, Jamie hesitated.

“Dinna be too long, Sassenach. Ye dinna want me tae start without ye.”

[ofcloudsandstars]

Weekly Celestial Forecast  ✨

13th-19th of Jan Posting this a bit late (this previous week was wild who could blame me?) But we have another wonderful celestial week ahead! This week brings us a lot of time to process the previous week and clear what's no longer needed. Try to plan some clearing-out days and time for self reflection cause this week will be able to help you a lot! The shocking planet of surprises, Uranus will have a lot of action this week (probably showing out before Aquarius season!) so expect plenty of surprises both good and bad.

Note: I post these for a witches group in London so the time zone is GMT/UTC and the weeks begin on Monday and ends on Sunday. 

13th

Sun (Capricorn) conjunct Pluto (Capricorn) Venus enters Pisces moon void of course 12:41pm until 1:06pm Moon in Virgo

Energy: After the intense transit of Pluto, Saturn and Mercury in conjunct yesterday, the sun and pluto in conjunction could bring light to what doesn't suit your needs anymore or any hidden secrets and underlying tensions that could either be the evidence to your former obstacles or the key to your release. This is a great time to get to the bottom of any serious difficulties in any relationships, whether there are manipulative behaviors or any self-destructive habits or obsessions you might have. Complex relationship dynamics may become clarified for you and other underlying power dynamics can come to light. In case you are faced with something dramatic or a sudden 'end' to something, it can be a great opportunity to start from the ground up. With the previous conjunction from the day before this is a good time to start clean from structures that no longer serve you. This is the time to address any dark and shady areas of your life from your own personal shadows to the manipulative and toxic behaviors of those around you. Additionally this transit between the Sun and Pluto is great to eliminate any unnecessary relations, addictions or physical clutter/mess in your life. With the moon transiting into Virgo in the afternoon, the mood of the day may shift to dramatic emotions (maybe even fueled by the need to change or heightened by exposed secrets) to planning and 'taking out the trash'. Moon in Virgo urges us to re-organize and rethink plans. Emotional satisfaction comes from solving problems and making order out of confusion and ironing out any smaller issues. The short period when the moon is void of course will be an excellent time of reflection before the moon makes it's way into Virgo. Though the last two transits might sound a bit work-load heavy, the day may be softened with lovely Venus entering Pisces! Venus is exalted in Pisces which means it's energy is in heightened harmony in the sign. Pisces is a gentle, loving, artistic and emotional sign so be ready for a long venusian-month (venusian-month in the idea that Venus takes a month to transit a sign unless it goes retrograde) of pure tenderness and love having no bounds. If you want to get more into art then this is a great phase to begin your projects. Do you want to practice more self love and go on dates? This is a great time. This is also a nice time to attempt dating again, though keep in mind with the tricky sign of Pisces, it likes to create illusion which is something to consider as you might not recognize the red flags while dating. However, as I've mentioned, it's great for art and creativity! So maybe just focus on getting that out. Recommended Magic: Clearing and warding, divination and scrying (to reveal truths), shadow work, planning for the future, cleansing the home, cleansing the self, acts of self love, channeling shadow work into art ______________

14th

moon in virgo

Energy: In case the past couple of days gave you A LOT to think about, no worries. Today the moon will be in Virgo and that's the only interesting transit influencing us. It would be a great day to lay down plans for the future and de-clutter your life. It would also be a great day for self emotional reflection and finally taking on nagging tasks that have been weighing on the back of your consciousness forever. Recommended Magic: Cleansing and Warding, visualizing, creating a mood board, taking on tasks, using hematite to help channel focus and determination to smooth out tasks. _________

15th

Venus (Pisces) sextile Uranus (Taurus) Moon void of course 11:12am 2:43pm Moon enters libra

Energy: Today is a great day to hook up or get laid!!! With Venus sextile Uranus, the two energies flow which create a day full of new fun and exciting pleasures, chance encounters of cool and shiny people making a brief cameo in your life and the chance to really get the motivation to start something artistic or creative (which is especially fantastic if you're experiencing a creative block). Be wary though not to fall into long-term fantasies with someone you just met (I can relate to the 'imagining our marriage and future babies' daydream with my natal venus in Scorpio), though Venus is in the sign of Pisces which likes to fly off in endless fantasies of love; the encounters or new instant-attractions you might find now are fleeting. There is a potential for long term relationships to bud from meeting someone today but that's only if the two parties are seeking an unconventional love or do not like to be tied down or committed in any way. Therefore it's a great day to find a new friends with benefits or open relationship but not something too committed. With the moon entering Libra in the afternoon it'll be a perfect time for love spell magic to try to attract the perfect no-strings-attach partner or find a creative muse to partner in a fun short-term project. Venus flowing with Uranus (along with the moon in Libra) will bring a phase of a lot of pleasureful surprises and sudden yet exciting partnerships. Recommended Magic: Road opening magic for creativity or intimate non-committal relationships, attraction magic, glamours, money magic, channeling creative energy, experimenting with art, making luck charms _____________

16th

Mercury enters Aquarius

Moon conjunct Juno in Libra

Energy: This next mercurial cycle will bring open-mindedness, tendency for new ideas and epiphanies and hidden truths raising to the surface. Our minds will be open to new experiences, seek out new mental stimulation and subjects such as technology, science and mysteries will have more appeal to us. Pairing with Venus in Pisces we may find a new appeal in loving and supporting our communities. Especially with the global trajectories following the climate crisis we may feel in this month-long cycle that it's time to come together and help each other. With the moon still in Libra today, partnership and community may be amplified with this transit. Recommended Magic: Free-writing (especially to voice new ideas), tech magic, volunteering or getting involved with the community in anyway possible. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  In the early morning of the 17th, the Moon and Juno will be conjunct in Libra at 20 degrees (2AM GMT- if you are in East Coast US this will be at a more accessible time at 9PM on the 16th. West coast it will be at 6pm on the 16th) which is a nice moment to do love Magic if you want to aim to stay up late/leave a spell in the windowsill for the moonlight to charge or create a spell ingredient for later use such as a Crystal elixir (place a quartz or non-water soluable/non-toxic crystal into a bowl of water and let it sit out in the moonlight. Preserve the water with a few drops of alcohol. The idea is that the water holds the vibrational energy of the crystal/moonlight/intention etc so you can use it as an ingredient in many things from bath potions to adding it in perfumes for an energetic boost. If you wish to consume it, make sure that the ratio of alcohol to water is correct to make sure it is well preserved cause water does go bad). _____________

17th

Moon void of course at 11:58am Moon in Scorpio at 5:20pm Last Quarter Moon

Energy: With the moon in Scorpio we will feel a rush of intense emotions. It's a fantastic day for shadow work and cutting out what's no longer serving you. With the moon moving into Scorpio in the early eve and entering it's final quarter phase it's a great night for banishing magic. Time to cleanse the home and cut toxic ties loose to clear way for the new lunar cycle! Reflect on some things that were not working out for you in Capricorn season or this lunar cycle and think about shedding that away to make room for the new. Aquarius season seems to bring a lot of potential for growth and exploration so make sure to not let anything hold you back! Recommended Magic: Banishing, Cleansing, shadow work, journaling, hex breaking, hexing (tomorrow's transit is an easy transit for the universe to find ways for the hex to be delivered to your target). _____________

18th

Mercury (Aquarius) square Uranus (Taurus)

Energy: Prepare for sudden surprises (of the semi unwelcomed kind) that could either bring upset and sudden change to your daily routine or could be use for positive excitement and thrill in it's change. The square aspect describes energy that either manifests in strong tension or release of cathartic energy. With Mercury squaring Uranus today may be a day you might receive shocking news, experience something unexpected which forces you to change plans, experience miscommunications which can lead to arguments or on a positive note you can also manifest original ideas and breakthroughs. With the addition of the moon in Scorpio, deep secrets could be suddenly revealed which could cause further upsetting surprises. This transit is a bit stressful and the normal tempo of life tends to speed up and you might feel an unsettling feeling of having to catch up. Try to avoid making plans, making spontaneous decisions, filling out detailed paperwork or anything that requires a lot of responsibility and attention to detail. Take any chance to postpone important meetings or appointments.  Today is the kind of day where your car could break down, a printer will jam at the last moment, friends could cancel important plans, trains are delayed etc. Remaining flexible and open-minded is key to dealing with any unexpected events. Recommended Magic: Protective spells, protective glamours, divining (pull some cards to see what surprises await you in order to be prepared for them), preparing a calming tea like peppermint or catmint tea to get through the day. Meditate later to 528Hz binural beats to help find positive new ideas. ______________

19th

Moon void of course at 8:21PM Moon in Sagittarius at 9:41pm

Energy: The mood may feel like a good wrap up towards the end of the week of all of the mess that the last quarter moon in Scorpio could have dug up. Today would be a good day to process it all and seek some self-reflection. The moon will go into Void of Course at 8:21PM (GMT) wrapping up the Scorpio lunar transit then enter into Sagittarius nearly an hour later. During the void of course would be a great time to reflect before the Moon starts a new Lunar Chapter in Sagittarius which will bring a more optimistic and upbeat mood. With the moon in Sagittarius we are ready to pursue a new vision, details don't matter as much and new experiences will satisfy a deep emotional need. Along with Mercury in Aquarius, this can create cravings for spontaneity and a sudden wanderlust desire. Recommended Magic: Journaling, reflecting on what you'd like to bring into the new cycle (The New Moon is coming up in a few days along with Aquarius Season), a journey into the woods or a nature walk.

[heythrrdelilah]

Pie Lady (Dean x Reader, Holiday)

Request: anonymous asked: For the holiday prompts, I'd like "-You’re a local baker that your love interest comes to every day just to see you. You wonder why this random person eats so many sweets so quickly." with Dean please and thank you! Maybe the reader specializes in pies that would fit better 😁

A/N: of course! I honestly was thinking pie with Dean on that one too. Great minds think alike!  Also,  a reminder to everyone,  you can request an already requested prompt with a different lead because it changes for each person. This is a perfect example of that,  thank you. 💕 Dean can really put down some pie. Meanwhile, I make brownies for everyone but get sugar sickness just looking at them haha. I hope you enjoy! How are you liking the aesthetic gifs? Personally i’m obsessed with aesthetics and food aesthetics at that (i have a whole insta based on short stories based on aesthetics and a weheartit haha ) 

Word Count:  1,418

Warnings/tags: Fluff, hallmark level cheese (a reoccurring theme this season), flirtatiousness, annoyed Sam, possibly a sugar overdose

Pairing: Dean x Reader,  Sam is mentioned. 

The smell of pumpkin-filled your nostrils the minute you walked into your bakery. You and your best friend had owned this tiny shop downtown for almost a year now and you were thriving. The Millenials loved your take on different sweets. Your best friend, Miley,  had no specialty,  however you specialized in pies. Sure,  you could bake other treats just as well,  but you enjoyed experimenting with pie most. 

You placed your bag on the desk in the back,  walked into the kitchen and threw on your apron. Miley, had her hair tossed in a blonde bun, was mixing a sauce intensely on the stove with her whisk. Her sleeves were pulled halfway up her arm. It was no shock to you that she had arrived earlier than you, as this happens more often than not. You enjoyed getting at least seven hours of sleep every night, while Miley barely slept. “Finally making those pumpkin pie rolls, huh?” You asked, walking up behind her. It was six in the morning, which meant that the people on their way to their jobs were soon to come in for their morning baked goods. This meant you had 50 salted-caramel muffins to make. They have been a big hit from the beginning of the season. “Listen, I know there are already pumpkin spice, cinnamon rolls, but there is a difference between pumpkin spice and pumpkin pie rolls. Believe me. I’m making 15 before we open to test them out. Only 13 people will get them and see how they do. The last two are for us,” She beamed, putting the whisk down. She pulled the oven open and precisely placed the glaze on top of the delicious smelling pumpkin rolls before closing the doors again. You began making your muffins and moved on to a batch of pecan-caramel pies. 

All of the projects were finished just in time for opening. Just as expected, when you unlocked the glass door, there were a good amount of people waiting in the cold air. You held the door open for them, kindly welcoming them in, before running to the counter to take orders.You took orders quickly, feeling a bit relieved on the last person currently in line. Usually, the store went through rushes but was slow the majority of the day. The man stood before you, a green jacket, grey shirt underneath, with blue jeans and workers boots. The t-shirt was tight against his pecks, leaving you a little flustered that you even noticed. His facial features were chiseled and made your heart skip a beat for a slight second.  He smiled warmly at you before looking around the glass displays. “Pecan Carmel? I’ll have one,” He smiled up at you, pulling out a wallet. “One slice, anything else?” He scrunched his thin brows at you, tilting his head in confusion before shaking it, “No… one pie. Maybe a coffee too. That's all.” He smiled, wiping his card after you rang the order up. You moved behind the display and pulled out the pie, placing it in a catering tin. You poured the coffee and motioned to the tables, “Here is your pie, darlin’, along with your coffee. The forks and coffee necessities are on the tables as well.” Where had the southern accent come from? Sure, you were around southern accents all day, but it wasn’t like you. Hopefully, he hadn’t noticed. “Actually, One more thing, if you don’t mind. What’s your name?” His eyes twinkled in the sunlight coming from the side of the building. “(Y/N). Yours?” He introduced himself as Dean before sitting at the table with his food. 

That would be the last time you saw Dean for that day. 

The next morning was like any other, you came in, got to work, and stood at the register, rotating with Miley. Her pumpkin rolls were a hit yesterday and people were begging for more. So this morning, you helped her bake those, and then your blueberry-ginger-lemon pie before handling the morning rush. Dean showed up today, he must have been new in town. “Dean? Right?” You asked, smiling up at him. He nodded, “(Y/N), nice to see you again. I noticed Caramelized-pecan was not a menu item today, what kind of pie do you have for me?” He smirked over the counter. You nod once, smiling then walking over to the display. “I have blueberry lemon ginger,” You motioned. His brows raised, “you come up with these recipes?” He asked, watching you place a whole pie into the box. He was basically drooling, which was a compliment for you. “Yup. Lemon Ginger Blueberry pie was already a flavor but I add a glaze and my own measurements and recipe to the flavor. I hope you enjoy it,” You smiled as he dropped a 20 dollar bill into the tip jar after paying. It was an extremely expensive tip for the 15 dollar pie. You reached your hand in to return it, when you saw a rolled-up paper there. Dean was sitting at the same table he had yesterday before you could have a chance to return the tip. You opened the paper. “Keep it. Call me, (y/n)?” Miley’s voice laughed from behind your shoulder. You slightly kicked your foot at her as if telling her to shut up. “The tall glass of hot over there?” She nudged her head slightly to Dean. You nodded, blushing before going back to the kitchen. You began baking a chocolate cranberry pie for the dinner rush. 

The next day, you decided to make an extra pie just in case Dean showed up again, so you wouldn’t be a pie short. Who eats that much pie in the morning and still looks like… well… that? You weren’t complaining though. It just meant every day you could see Dean. You decided eggnog pie was the best option for today. Something unique. You walked up to the counter, taking everyone's orders and sure enough, Dean was standing there in line, with someone today. The other man he was with was tall and had his face stuck in a newspaper. Maybe this extra pie would still manage to make the count off with a new guy. “Hello gorgeous,” Dean placed an elbow on the counter in a smooth, flirtatious manner. The taller man rolled his eyes, “I’m sorry about my brother.” So the mystery was solved. Brothers. You shook your head at the tall guy, “I’m not. I figured you would be coming so I made an extra pie just for you. On the house. Well, not technically because you paid for it with your tip yesterday. Way too generous by the way.” Dean smirked at you and the taller brother walked away, sitting at a table. “Well, you might just be my dream woman,” He smirks as you place a pie into the usual cardboard. You blush and push the box towards him. “Is that why you have come in here every day?” You were only joking, but his slight change in posture seemed to say you hit the truth. “Yes, actually. Also, my love for pie, which yours are the best i’ve ever had. I mean, did you see the number?” He tilted the empty tip jar slightly, smirking at the sight of its emptiness. “Looks like you have. Well, look, I’m in town for a short time. I travel for work. We will probably be here a while so… i want to get to know you,” He smiled a dorky but cute smile. You looked up to the ceiling as if you even had to think about getting to know someone This good looking and charming. “Well, we close the bakery on Sundays, so tomorrow i’m free,” You finally responded cheekily. You searched his expression for any clue on what he was about to say. 

“Sounds great. If you bring pie i might just have to marry you,” He laughed. You spent a while talking to him out front, finding out he is a detective, travels with his brother/partner. He sounded like a dream. You two seemed to get along well, a great way to spend a winter. This is the loneliest time of the year for you. Seeing all of the couples walking in, talking about whose house they'll go to for Christmas, where they put that favorite ornament, or what gifts they’ll get their significant others, you knew that you just met this guy,  but at least you won't feel as lonely.

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