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seospicybin · 4 months

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TOO HOT TO HANDLE.

PART I

Seungmin x reader. (s)

Too Hot To Handle Masterlist

Synopsis:��You and Seungmin become contestants in a reality dating show, Too Hot To Handle. (14,6k words)

Author's note: Not much of Seungmin in this part but hope you enjoy it nonetheless :)

YOU: I like my men how I like my drinks, I need to have five of them [laughs] I'm a flirt, even when I'm not flirting, they think I am [bites lips] I hate small talk [groans] I don't want anything serious with anyone. If I wake up in the morning and they're not there, that's great [blows kisses]

The weather is good and you're feeling good, when the staff says it's your time to enter the villa, you're ready to go.

The hair and makeup are on point, and the white bikini you're wearing compliments your features and complexion, all of that wouldn't stand out without confidence so you put your best foot forward and walk in confident strides.

Not forgetting to put on your best smile knowing so many pairs of eyes are looking at you as you step into the scene and walk faster as you get excited to meet all of them.

"Hello, hello," you enthusiastically greet and waving your hands at them.

"You guys are so beautiful!" You compliment, hiding your insecurities with a flustered smile.

Once you get close enough, you make a brief eye contact with everyone and start hugging around, introducing yourself to them.

"Oh my God, the eyes," you exclaim as you notice a pair of mesmerizing light brown eyes on a guy.

You're genuinely attracted to those eyes that you can't stop staring at him.

"You have such beautiful eyes," you blurt out without thinking.

He shyly laughs at your indirect compliment, "Thank you!"

You carefully remove the strand of hair caught between your lips before speaking, "What's your name?"

"Elliott," he answers with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Elliott," you say, offering your hand for a high-five since you already hugged him.

You join the other table, wanting to get to know everyone and get behind a man with a tall figure and long hair like Jesus.

"Oh, my Lord!" You playfully gasp.

The other two people laughing at your pun and when you join them, you can see that he has facial hair too.

"Come and join my disciples," He says.

"Wow. Am I in the right show?" You jokingly say, taking the champagne flute he hands you.

The Jesus twin brother pours the bubbly wine into your glass and puts the bottle back into the bucket of ice.

"I'm Vale," he tells you his name.

"Vale?" You pronounce his name wrong.

"It's short from Valentino," he explains.

"Oh! Vale!" You gasp, finally pronouncing his name right this time.

"I'm Italian," he informs you while tucking a hair behind his ear.

You take a small sip of your wine and smile, "I didn't know Jesus is Italian," you joke again.

He bursts into laughter and you try not to laugh or you'd spit your drink which is not the kind of first impression you plan to make on anyone.

"Oh, look!" You exclaim as you catch another guest arriving at the villa.

She's taking everyone's attention with her beautiful wavy, brown hair that looks and beautiful, rosy cheeks, walking with such elegance like a goddess emerging from the sea.

When she comes your way, you can see the adorable freckles on her nose and you just can't help but say, "Oh, you're such a babe!"

She smiles at your words and leans in for a hug, "Devon!"

"Devon, the babe, got it," you repeat and introduce yourself back.

You're not the only one who's swooned by her English charms, you can see everyone is just as excited to get to know her.

While Louisa is making a toast at the other table, you see the last male guest coming with his shirt flying open, showcasing his sculpted abs.

You're not the type that's crazy about muscles. However, when you see them on someone and they have them in the perfect places, you get a little loopy in the head.

"Blake," he introduces himself to you.

And Blake... oh, not only does he have those muscles in the perfect places, he has this gorgeous brown skin and the plus point is he has tattoos. He sure is driving the girls into a frenzy, meanwhile the boys, they're not that impressed with it.

"They're so hot," A girl next to you whispers and if your memory serves you right, her name is Adriana.

You lowly squeal in response and mutter through your gritted teeth, "I'm drooling."

Now that everyone is here, Vale takes the unopened bottle of wine and pops it open, spraying it at everyone to inaugurate the show.

YOU: [Rubs hands together] Let's get it started!

There are so many hot options in this villa.

There is Elliott's mesmerizing eyes, Vale's sexy hair, Jeff's tattoos, Tom's big biceps and then there's Blake's body.

God! Blake's body is just so hot, you bet it'll sizzle when you lick it.

"Ooo... sexy!" Adriana gasps as she pushes open the door to the bedroom.

There are ten guests but there are only six beds, well, that's a math problem anyone can easily solve.

"It doesn't make much sound," Tom says after testing the bed by rocking it.

A few laugh at that but you're too busy eyeing the guy you want, throwing flirty glances at Blake as he sits on the end of the bed.

You're very much aware that you're not the only girl having the hots for Blake, you see that Devon has her eyes on him too, well, you're not afraid of a little competition anyway.

After the tour of the villa, the girls are gathering in the dressing room to talk about... well, boys.

"Who do you fancy?" Lili asks, playing with a make-up brush.

"I like Jeff," Adriana is the first one to share her pick out of the sexy bunch.

"Going for the bad boy, huh?" Issa teases, twirling her curls around her index finger.

"What about you, sexy mami?" Adriana asks Devon who happens to sitting next to her.

"Blake," she shortly answers

So your guess is true that Devon is indeed going for Blake and it only means one thing: It's game on.

"He's hot, yeah," Lili approves Devon's pick.

Issa grabs your hand and gently shakes it, sending your bracelets clinking against each other, "How about you?"

Well, you have a man in mind but nothing is permanent yet and there's a lot of time to get to know everyone.

"I don't know," You bend against the vanity table and let Issa play with your hair.

"I don't want to limit myself to just flirting with one guy," you add with a laugh.

The girls are both applauding and chuckling at your honest answer. You realize that you can be competitive when you want to but let's hope it doesn't come to you getting your claws out for a man.

YOU: I don't know what I want yet so I can't rule anyone out right now [giggles]

The shimmering water of the Caribbean Sea is such a delightful sight, you take a long sigh as you take it all in that you'll be living here for the next 30 days.

Everyone else is either chilling by the pool or starting to mingle with each other or both.

You see Devon is closing in on Blake and it doesn't bother you much, you'll have your chance. You remind yourself that it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Someone comes up to you and joins you in the gazebo, it's the guy with the mesmerizing eyes, Elliott.

"Drinks?" He offers, holding up the drinks in his hands at you.

"Yes, please," you answer, scooting to the side to make some space on the sofa for him.

He hands you one of the drinks to you before sitting down, you both take a little sip of the sugary sweet cocktails.

"This is cute," you comment, stirring the drink with the small umbrella.

"Like you," Elliott teases with a flirty smile.

You giggle in reaction to his words, "You think I'm cute?"

Elliott licks his lips after sipping his drink, "Yeah."

Pulling a trick out of the book, you tilt your head to the side and flutter your eyelids a little.

"And I think you're cute too," you sweetly say, then clink your glass with his.

You have another sip of the cocktail and scrunch your nose when you taste the sour of the lime on the rim of the glass. You catch Elliott staring at you and knowing that he just got caught, he may as well ask, "So, do you fancy anyone?"

With your head still tilted, you do a little look away before looking at him right in the eyes, "Oh, wow, that's a tough question," you pretend to think hard.

Elliott is confidently staring right back into your eyes as he asks another question, "Anyone you want?"

You let out a low chuckle and answer, "I think it's too early to say."

"That's a good answer," he mutters.

Elliott is not taking his eyes away from yours even for a second, his stare is so intense that it makes you nervous. An awkward chuckle escapes your mouth, "Your eyes..."

You look down at your drink and put all of your focus on it instead, "They're making me nervous," you continue.

Elliott triumphantly smiles knowing that his eyes are doing a great job, "I'm just trying to shoot my shot here," he coyly says with a sexy smirk.

You nod and tuck your hair behind your ear, "I understand. You want what you want."

"Mm-hm," he immediately agrees with what you said.

"What I want is right here," he continues, clinking his glass against yours.

Elliott is, physically wise, not your type but he's confident, he has that good chat and he knows how to keep the conversation going.

As the saying goes if at first you don't succeed, then go for your second choice and Elliott would make a great second choice.

YOU: Well, if Blake is not going to acknowledge the fact that I'm here then I'm just going to give Elliott a chance.

It's loud in the dressing room as everyone comes up with guesses on what actually would happen tonight at the first party of Party In Paradise.

They prepare costumes for everyone to wear for the first party in the villa. The boys are dressed as pirates while the girls are dressed as mermaids and you choose the one adorned with sapphire blue sequins that resemble mermaid scales.

The beach is decorated with properties according to the theme and the drinks are ready so is the music, they're blasting upbeat songs through big speakers.

Everyone is looking hot, they're dancing and drinking, having the time of their life, it indeed feels like a party in paradise.

The good time comes to a halt as Issa initiates a game but it's actually what the staff briefed her earlier about.

"We're going to play X marks the spot," Issa says.

She then pulls lipstick out of the side of the sofa and uses it to make two crosses on each one of her breasts, "These are my best features so you can lick them, bite them, grab them, or even kiss the person if you want," she explains the game.

It's a simple game, with or without marking the spot, everyone knows where to touch or kiss. Issa then walks to the center and stands in front of everyone.

"So who wants a piece of me?" She cutely says while shaking her shoulders.

As everyone is about to hype Issa, Jeff dashes towards her and buries his head between her mounds, rubbing the red lipstick all over his face then plants a hard kiss on her lips. He then returns to his seat, leaving Issa standing there in bewilderment.

Everyone is either excited for their turn or to finally have the chance to make physical contact with the person they're interested in, including you.

You can't tell which one you're more excited for, taking your turn or making a move on someone.

It seems like it's the latter for Devon as Blake is drawing small crosses on his six-pack abs. He raises his hands and puts them behind him, letting anyone come to him.

"Come and get some," he says with a devilish smirk that takes his attractiveness to the next level.

Devon not only puts her claws on him but also sinks her teeth deep into Blake's neck, letting everyone know that it's her territory.

Well, Devon can piss on Blake too if she wants and you'll let her have him, for now.

Jeff whistles as Adriana marks both of her buttcheeks with the red lipstick while the others are howling like animals in heat.

"Whoa!" Lili grabs at your forearm in reaction to Tom licking her buttcheeks as Adriana slightly bends over.

"Oh, my God!" You gasp as they continue with a slobbering kiss, sending the red lips rubbing on each other's faces.

She then walks back to her seat and plops down next to you, panting while wiping the skin around her mouth with her fingers.

When it's finally your turn, you get so excited that you can't seem to function normally. You can't stop grinning as you walk to the center, carrying the lipsticks Adriana gave to you.

It's time to get some action so you give them no excuses to miss out on you. With the red lipsticks, you draw an X on your inner thigh, your breasts, and the last one, excessively putting the lipsticks all over your lips.

"Let's go, boys!" You say with a hand gesture, daring them to come.

As expected, Elliott is the first one to come out to play. He walks up to you with a sly grin plastered his face and he stops right in front of you, dropping to his knees to kiss your inner thigh.

His soft lips tickle you as he drags them down your thigh and you can't help but giggle. The trail of kisses stops when he reaches your ankle and he finally lets go of your leg.

Elliott gets up and immediately pulls you close, capturing your lips in a deep kiss. The way he eagerly lathers your lips, you can tell how much he wanted it, craved it and it's low-key arousing you.

You gasp for air when he lets go of the kiss and you hurriedly cover your mouth with your hand, nonplussed.

Before you can fully recover from Elliott's kiss, Blake walks up to you and holds you by the waist as he plants his mouth right on the X you drew on your breast.

He licks the red lipstick off your skin and does not waste another second to crash his mouth against your mouth, kissing you so hard.

You open your mouth to catch a breath, but he uses it as an opportunity to put his hot tongue into you, kissing you deeper, tasting you more.

You can hear everyone cheering and hooting as they watch Blake let go of the kiss with a triumphant smile on his face.

"Don't make me compete with you, man!" Elliott jokingly says with his mouth still tainted red from the lipstick.

To say the kiss was good would be an understatement, it was phenomenal, you get a little disoriented as you walk back to your seat.

YOU: I just knew he wouldn't be able to resist me [Coyly shrugs]

It's a good thing that you have some drink left in your cup as you need it to help you calm down from the madness you were in a while ago. You feel hot and bothered, finding yourself fanning your face from Blake's kiss.

The host of the show finally comes and leads the show, walking so carefully with her heels in the sand.

"Hello, party people!" She begins with a bright smile.

Everyone answers with a cheery howl, louder than the sounds of the crashing waves in the background.

"Are you having a good time?"

"Yeah!" Everyone replies in unison.

"Are you ready to have some more good time?" The host asks, fanning her hand close to her ear to hear everyone's answer.

"Yeah!"

"You know what? I think I know exactly what this party needs," the host says with a kittenish smile.

The fun keeps doubling as the night gets late and it gets everyone hyped for what's to come.

"We have invited a guest to the villa!" She announces with a playful whoop at the end of the sentence.

Your first thought is that they'll bring another guest into the villa but it's a party in paradise which means more people, the merrier.

"This one guest is very special and can change anything," The host hinted with a cryptic smile.

That piques everyone's interest and they're starting to randomly shout names of famous people, trying to guess and manifesting it at once.

"Are you ready to welcome our world-famous guest?" The host asks, also giving out another hint which makes a few of them believe it's a celebrity.

"Yes!" Everyone answers, getting impatient to find out who the new guest is.

You don't want to get your hopes up but it would be nice to party with a celebrity, whoever it is, you're ready to have some fun.

"Give our new guest a warm welcome!"

All of the lights are suddenly off and then a spotlight shines on the curtain behind our seats, you've been thinking that it's just part of the decoration but now everyone's eyes are on it, looking at it with so much anticipation.

"No way!" You gasp in a mix of nerves and excitement.

Adriana just can't stop squealing next to you, holding your hand by the wrist.

It's been a minute now and the curtain is still not open, you feel like fainting with this much anticipation inside you. A while later, smoke starts coming out as the curtain finally opens in one quick pull.

Then there's that melodic chime that you heard somewhere before.

YOU: [Groans] Why? [Throws head to the back] Why?

You look around and everyone is just as flabbergasted, as in shock as you are at the reveal of the true intentions of this show. All of you have been tricked into thinking that it's a Party In Paradise when it's actually Too Hot To Handle.

As if the sight of the cone is not enough, Lili turns her head at you and meekly says, "We're in Too Hot To Handle."

Now that she says it out loud, you realize that it's real and you can feel that you're already dreading it.

She rubs her temples and says again, "This is Too Hot To Handle."

Oh, no. This is real. You are in Too Hot To Handle.

"As you can see, this is no longer Party In Paradise," The cone begins talking.

"But it's so convincing, the crew got Party In Paradise shirts and everything," Adriana complain as if that would help her get out of this.

"This is Too Hot To Handle."

"Shit... fuck..." you quietly mutter as you rub your temples in stress.

"You have been specially selected because all of you are having meaningless flings over genuine relationships," Lana continues.

Wish you could deny it but you feel called out instead, if that's the case, then you guess, this is your karma.

"Not wrong at all," Elliott agrees with Lana's statement with a stupid grin.

"Since your arrival, I have been gathering data on your wild behavior but from now on, you must adhere to my retreat rules."

YOU: Hmm... my coochie is going on lockdown, isn't it? [Sighs]

"No kissing."

But that's exactly your plan which is to kiss everyone.

"No heavy petting."

The more you hear it, the harder for you to process it in your head and whether you can do it or not.

"No sex."

And that's it. You can't do it, it's impossible. You'll be staying with a bunch of attractive people in a villa on an exotic island and told not to make physical contact with them.

"And no self-gratification," Lana announces the last rule.

Which is the hardest one for you to accept. It's your own body and you can do anything to it? It doesn't make sense.

"That's crazy!" Blake reacts with his eyes widening in disbelief.

Despite the complaints, Lana continues with her announcement, "As part of your social development, I have allocated a prize of $200,000."

Hearing that much money on the line, you suddenly have a change of mind that maybe it's possible to keep your hands to yourself for 200 grand.

Among the cheering of excitement at the sum of prize money, Jeff makes a bold remark.

"We surely can spend some of it," Jeff sounds excited to spend it more than to win it.

"No, man. Don't mess it up!" Tom warns him while shaking his head in disbelief.

"Just a couple of grand," Jeff innocently says.

"I'm a college student. I need it," Tom says, putting some sense into him.

Jeff indirectly says that he doesn't mind spending some of the money only supporting the fact that it's not going to be easy and your optimism deflates right away.

Another problem is you don't have that much trust in yourself that you'll be able to keep it yourself.

"Welcome to your long, hard, sexless summer," Lana concludes.

YOU: It's going to be hard but... since when do I follow the rules? [Smirks]

The morning starts rough.

You wake up as soon as the lights are on, dragging yourself out of the duvet, and sit on the bed only to look Devon and Blake on the bed right across from yours.

Lili wakes up not long after you and sitting on the bed, lowly muttering, "I am so horny."

Hearing that almost causes you to choke on your water as you sip it from a water tumbler.

It's like she triggers the cone by mentioning the word 'horny', the cone lights up and chimes.

"Good morning!"

You groan as the truth that you're in a sex retreat hasn't fully sunk in yet.

"You may find this retreat challenging but I am always here to help," Lana offers some comfort on a gloomy, sex-deprived morning.

"And we ask for sex, Lana," Adriana says with a sleepy, depressive smile.

Tom who sleeps with Adriana on the next bed, turns to see Blake and asks, "Are you sure nothing happened last night?"

You act nonchalant but at the same time, stay quiet to hear his answer.

He coyly shrugs and rubs his eyes as he answers, "No."

"I notice the smug," Adriana teases Devon.

She shakes her head in response, "Nothing happens, I swear."

That doesn't quite put you at ease.

There's a big chance that they did break the rules but act like they didn't and if they did break the rules, then you don't want to waste your time pursuing Blake.

However, as you gather all of your hair and tie it into a messy ponytail, you catch Blake looking at you with a faint smile on his face.

YOU: I'm still going for Blake but if he's still not showing any signs that he's interested well... I may have to put my focus on someone else.

Last night was just as rough.

Everyone was still coping with the grand reveal and just couldn't wait to end the day, choosing their beds where they felt like it. Lili offered to share the bed with you since she doesn’t want to partner up with anyone just yet and you didn’t have problems sleeping with anyone.

But the other reason was that Blake had chosen to sleep with Devon.

Of course, you’re not going to be so adamant about your choice of man but what you can’t help is being tenacious, you have to always get what you want, and you don’t want to know what would happen if you don’t get it.

Since you took the first turn for the daily interview, you get to start your day late. You’re going down to the beach to do some exercises with Vale sitting cross-legged on the yoga mat not far away from you, meditating.

That’s the kind of vibe you got when you first met him that despite his perfect figure and built body, he’s a spiritual person, he’s the type who seeks ‘that’ connection. Unlike you, Vale fits right into this show and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he won it too.

“Hey, come and join me,” He says to you as you take a break from working.

You stop sucking your water tumbler and ask, “You want me to meditate with you?”

“Yeah,” he shortly says.

You quickly wipe your sweat with a towel and sit on the yoga mat he laid out for you next to him. You follow the way he sits, crossing your legs together and putting your hands on your knees, then intently listen to his instructions for the rest of the session.

It works wonderfully and helps you take your mind off things. Once you both got back to the villa, he playfully asks if you want to shower together.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” You tell him as you splash some water on your face in the sink.

As you continue washing your face, you catch the reflection in the mirror as he stands behind you with the towel hanging low around his hips you can see his pelvic bones.

“It’s not against the rules,” Vale simply says, half-laughing.

“Yes, but…” You suddenly forget what you’re about to say and turn around only to find him dropping his towel before he walks into the shower stall.

Your hands fly to cover your face but continue to see through the cracks between your fingers, “Okay, now all I can think about is naked Jesus,” you jokingly say.

Vale laughs as he catches what you said even though he’s inside the shower stall, laughing as he runs his hands to wash his golden tan skin. You leave the bathroom before you change your mind and join him in the shower.

YOU: Can’t believe I got to see naked Jesus [Laughs]

In the dressing room, you’re getting your make-up done and going to dry your hair next. You check for your appearance in the full-length mirror, making sure the bikini looks flattering on you when you hear someone coming from the hallway that connects here with the bedroom.

“Hey,” You don’t want to make it obvious that you’re glad to see him but you’re glad to see him.

“Hey,” Blake says back, grinning when he realizes that it’s you.

He stops on his track just checking you out, his eyes traveling up and down your body, “Been looking for you,” he says.

You know better not to fall on such words, “Oh, really?”

“Yeah,” he shortly says with a grin that is both hot and sweet. He then goes to his closet on the opposite wall and takes out a bucket hat, putting it on to show it to you.

“How do we think?” He asks.

You close your closet door and rest your hand against it, “Cute.”

He switches the bucket hat with a cap and puts it on while also making a dramatic pose for you, “How about now?”

It’s hard to look at his face when his abs keep distracting you and you chuckle at how he spreads his arms out, “Try putting it on backward,” you suggest.

Blake follows your suggestion, turning the cap without taking it off, and strikes another pose for you, “Yeah?”

You were right about the hat, he looks hot with his cap on backward, and just like he heard what you’re thinking, Blake spins around on his feet and almost stumbles as he gets back on his feet.

“I know I’m hot but try not to kiss me, okay?” he says.

Well, you can try not to but that doesn’t mean you won’t do it. You shake your head and suck air through your teeth, “Can’t promise you,” you playfully say.

“Come here, give me a hug,” Blake says, holding his hand out at you.

You take it only for him to pull you close and hug you, burying his head in your neck to catch your scent, “How are you doing?”

You giggle as he rubs his nose in your neck and you get to put your hands on him, feeling his warm skin under your touch, “Good. You?”

Instead of answering, Blake draws you closer, molding his body to you to feel your whole body against him, and lowers his hands to your hips. You don’t mind though, he’s so big and you like how he envelops you whole.

You hear his overwhelmed sigh before he plants a kiss on your neck, “Damn! You smell so good,” he mutters.

“Well, I showered,” you respond with a witty answer.

“I should try that,” he responds with an even wittier answer.

Blake closes the door of his closet and heads for the door, “See you around.”

“See you around,” you say back with a flirty smile.

YOU: I know Blake and I haven’t talked much but there’s something there and I can’t wait to explore that.

It feels like it was a while ago that you get ready for the day and now the day has turned to night.

You have to change out of your bikini and into a dress, getting help from Adriana to tie the straps on your back. The girls are busy putting on make-up and looking their best to attract whoever they fancy, including you.

It’s not that hard to know that Blake indeed feels something for you, you sense it in the kiss he gave you during the game yesterday and the way he hugged you this morning, or the way he secretly gives you the eyes even though he’s sitting right next to Devon right now.

People can run their mouths all they want but their bodies can’t lie. You can’t fake a physical attraction.

You join Vale sitting on the lounger next to him with a glass of wine in hand, “Cute shirt!” You compliment his colorful printed shirt.

“Thank you,” Vale responds with a bright smile.

You get comfortable and take a small sip of your wine before asking something you’ve been curious to find out, “My sweet Jesus, do you find anyone you fancy in here?”

Vale scratches his beard as he thinks of an answer, “Honestly… no, not yet.”

Vale is gorgeous and hot, you vibe well with him and he’s earnest which tells you that he’s someone that you can trust. Despite all of those qualities, he’s not quite the type you’re looking for and you believe, it’s vice versa.

“What’s your type?”

“I don’t have such things. I think I never limit myself to a certain type of person. It’s whoever attracts me,” he replies and his words carry some wisdom in them.

To put it simply, he’s not attracted to anyone and therefore, it confirms your assumptions about him.

Vale brushes his long hair to the back, sending a few strands falling over his face, “How about you? Who do you fancy?”

You put your glass of wine down and turn your head around for the person you’re looking for, finding him talking to Tom by the firepit.

“For now, it’s Blake,” you answer.

“How about Elliott?” He asks, tucking his hair behind his ear.

“Elliott is... he is cute and all but I like Blake,” you answer, hinting that Blake is your priority.

Vale cranes his neck to see Blake and then slumps back down on his lounger, “It seems like Devon got him on a leash,” he says.

“Yeah,” you say while chuckling.

You turn your head to see Devon putting her leg over Blake’s lap, “but that’s not going to stop me though,” you add.

Vale cracks a laugh, “I like that,” he says.

“Right? I don’t see any rings on it so...” You decide not to finish your words and have a sip of your drink instead.

Talking about Blake gets you thinking to start making a move, separating him from Devon is going to be the hardest part so you decide to take a moment to refresh yourself before executing your plan.

“I’m going to powder my nose,” you excuse yourself as get up from the lounger.

Vale doesn’t reply but helps you by handing you your glass. As you start walking away though, he shouts, “Hey, you’re beautiful!”

You look over your shoulder and blow a kiss at him, “I know.”

YOU: From what I see is that Vale is looking for someone he can instantly connect with and I hope he finds it.

The heels you’re wearing are starting to irritate you, you switch into a comfortable pair of wedges sandals and then take your make-up pouch with you to the bathroom.

You take a tube of lip gloss and put on a layer over your lips while leaning close to the mirror. You smack your lips together and check if there’s anything you can fix, deciding that a little more blush won’t hurt.

As you’re about to apply it to your cheek, you immediately stop moving as you see someone come into the bathroom.

“Hey, gorgeous!” Devon sweetly says.

From how enthusiastic she sounds, you’re sure the intention isn’t as sweet as her greeting. You put down everything you’re holding and turn around.

“Hey, babe,” you greet back with less enthusiasm than her.

Devon sits on the edge of the bathtub and starts brushing wavy hair with her fingers, “How are you?”

You rest your hands on the surface of the sink and lean against it, “I’m good. You?”

“Good,” she shortly replies.

She plays with her nails and a while later, looks at you, “I love the dress,” she says.

It seems like the compliment is an effort to try to soften you for whatever trick she has up on her sleeve, you put on a smile for her and mutter, “Thank you.”

A moment passes just you and Devon looking at each other and the silence that hangs in the space in between only adds animosity in the room.

“I have something to tell you,” Devon finally reveals her true intentions on why she came here.

You keep your smile on and slightly tilt your head to the side, “Yes.”

Devon bites her lips and fiddles with her bangles around her dainty wrist, “I know you’ve been like... eyeing Blake,” she begins.

“Yes,” you immediately reply, showing her that you don’t mind making it an open competition with her for it.

“I want to be honest with you and I hope you understand that I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings,” she says with a smile, in contrast to her words, she looks rather enjoying it.

“Blake and I,” she pauses to keep you on your toes.

Devon then flips her hair to the back and continues, “We kissed.”

The thing that you fear the most has happened and you don’t want to give Devon the satisfaction, you calmly cross your arms in front of you and nod.

“Okay,” you say with a plain tone.

“Oh, my God! I’m sorry,” Devon says, being dramatic for the two of you.

She comes and gives you a hug which she thinks would cheer you up. You reluctantly accept it even though you know she’s pitying you.

“I just want to tell you that,” she says as she pulls away from the hug.

Devon indirectly tells you that she comes here just to break your spirit and you don’t know how to respond to that. You actually know how to respond to that but you know you’re better than that.

Once Devon left the bathroom, you turn back around to face the mirror again and lowly mutter, “What the actual fuck?”

YOU: How thoughtful of Devon on letting me know about their kiss but girl, what the fuck?

It seems like Lana is not going to announce any rule breaks tonight. She’s more likely to collect the rule breaks for now and will eventually turn up with the receipt.

You don’t know how you feel about it but you enjoy seeing the sheer disappointment on Devon’s face that she didn’t get the chance to brag about her kiss with Blake.

Talking about Blake, you reckon you should move on but how can you forget Blake in one night?

It’s impossible, not when you’ll always see him walking around the villa looking so fine and tempting. As you get on your bed, you catch him looking at you and slyly smiling at you.

You don’t want to fall back into it but the bad girl in you tells you to not shut him down completely so you decide to put on a thin smile in return.

That should be enough to tell him that you’re not pleased.

You look away and see your bed partner with her arms flexed as she’s braiding her dark hair. You notice that her arm muscles are so defined and it should be from hours spent in the gym working on them.

Curious, your hand reaches for her shoulder and lowers it to feel her lats, “Lil, how much do you lift?”

She’s tying the end of her hair with a scrunchie then looks over her shoulder, “About 140 to 156,” she answers.

“Girl!” You gasp in shock.

Looking at her lean figure and your hard guess at her body weight, she must be advanced in weightlifting.

You allow yourself to feel the muscles on her arms, from her trapezius muscle down to her bicep, “Remind me not to work with you,” you jokingly say.

Tom enters the room carrying a water tumbler in his hand, he stops right in the middle of the room and looks at everyone.

“Did anyone break any rules today?” He asks.

It’s useless to ask, no one is going to say anything unless the situation pressures them to talk. For instance, Blake is shaking his head as Tom is seeking his answer.

“Be good you two!” Tom says to both Blake and Devon, making a gesture that his eyes will always be on them.

Well, good luck with that because they already did break the rules and succeeded in lying right to his face.

“Goodnight, everyone,” Adriana says, blowing kisses around the room right before the lights are out.

Tom was wrong to fear that these people would break rules during the day. What Tom should be afraid of is what these people do in the dark.

YOU: What cuddles? I got to feel my bed partner’s muscles in my sleep [laughs]

In the morning, Jesus comes to your bed.

The bed quakes as Vale dives right into the space between you and Lili.

“Morning, beautiful!” Vale says, getting comfortable as he puts his hand over your waist.

“Morning,” you sleepily reply, groping around with your eyes closed to touch him.

“Your skin is so soft,” Lili says.

You turn your head to see Lili rubbing Vale’s back. Wanting to prove Lili’s words, you follow suit and rub your hand down his shoulder.

“It feels like a foreplay now,” Vale mumbles with his head buried in your pillow.

You continue your day with a quick workout and a meditating session with Vale. After that, you decide to skip the shower and put on a swimsuit, taking a few laps in the swimming pool.

Maybe it’s because you have someone to avoid that you keep yourself busy, but when you look at the time, it’s barely noon.

As you take a break from swimming and use the opportunity to enjoy the view of the sea shimmering under the morning sun, you hear a splash. You notice someone joins you in the pool and he swims right at you.

“Hey, morning,” Elliott softly greets.

You put all of your wet hair to the back and smile, “Morning!”

“How are you?” He asks, wiping the beads of water gathering under his chin.

“Alright, I guess,” You honestly answer.

You turn to the side to face him while keeping one hand resting on the edge of the pool, “You?”

“I’m great,” he replies with enthusiasm that matches his answer.

The sun hits right on his eyes, making them brighter yet fiercer and they’re just as good as weapons now. You can only hope Elliott knows how to use them.

“Uhm...” Elliott seems to have something to say but hesitates to do so, “I know you have your eyes on Blake.”

Welp, it’s that obvious? You nod since there’s no use in denying it.

“Do you... still have your eyes on him or...?”

So Elliott wants to know if you have given up on pursuing Blake and you can safely assume that he hopes to slide right into his spot.

“I already made him aware that I kind of fancy him but I’m not getting anything back so... I don’t know,” You honestly answer, you feel pity for yourself as you say those out loud.

“Mmm-hmm...” Elliott bobs his head as he takes your answer.

The water trickles down his face as he pushes his wet hair to the back, “And who is your second option?”

Your assumption is true, Elliott is looking for a way to get into you and you appreciate that he didn’t come on to you and make it one big chase. He’s so easy and laid-back, and you like that.

“You,” You answer.

A sweet smile rises on his face and expresses his happiness with a cute shout, “Yay!”

It’s not even a phony answer, if there’s anyone else you want to try to make a connection with, it’s him.

“I haven’t got the chance to ask you about our kiss,” he says, taking a step closer to you.

It’s getting dangerous now that he wants to talk about the kiss in this proximity where you can see that his eyes are green in this light.

“What do you think about it?”

“About our kiss?”

He nods as the smile has been replaced with a grin, “Yes.”

You recall the moment when he kissed you during the game, “That was very cute.”

He suddenly lets out a chuckle and scratches his head. Is he flustered or nervous? You have no idea.

“How much do you think a kiss costs?” He suddenly asks.

Oh. You sense trouble right away but you’ve been craving for a little something. A kiss will suffice, you reckon.

Elliott is intensely staring into your eyes as you consider his idea, grinning at the 50% chance that you’d say yes to it.

“Fuck...” You curse as you let out a sigh.

You try to get yourself out of it by averting your focus elsewhere, fixing your bikini, and reminding yourself of Lana and her stupid rules. However, when your eyes meet again, your mind is set right away.

It; ‘s like your bodies are drawn to each other, Elliott and you come at each other at the same time and kiss. Maybe it’s because both of you are relaxed and there’s no one else watching, the kiss feels much nicer than the one you shared before.

Elliott puts the right amount of everything, the lips, the tongue, and even the teeth, you like how he kisses you, hungry yet gentle.

You hear nothing but the smooching sounds of both of your lips lathering each other and your bodies moving in the water.

“Your kiss is just so good,” Elliott says as he takes a step back from you.

And just like that, you break the rules for the first time in the retreat.

YOU: I was bored. I wanted to make Blake jealous and Elliott, I have a soft spot for him so... yeah, I kissed him.

There’s just something about doing the things that you shouldn’t and doing it anyway, the rush, the thrill of it... it makes you feel so alive.

Now that you’ve got a taste of it, you want more.

Just like Jeff said, we have so many cookies in the jar, 200 grand of them to be exact, and eating one or two more cookies should be fine.

The next question is who do you want to have the cookies with?

Elliott is the easy choice, he’s cool, he’s so easy-going, he’s following the vibe but that’s also the problem, he’s easy and you don’t want easy.

If we’re talking about Blake... oh, yes, he’s not easy, not when Devon is keeping him on a short, tight leash and that tells you enough that she’s not confident about him.

You steal a few glances at her as she’s doing her makeup on the other side of the vanity table from you, looking at her and seeing how pretty she is, there’s no reason for her to be that insecure.

Or maybe you’re that threatening to her? Well, that thought amused you so much.

“Pick one for me!” Adriana says, showing you two different colors of lipsticks in her hands to help her choose one.

“Uhm...” you take a closer look at the color.

Adriana has gorgeous full lips so you choose one with a deep berry color that would suit her better, “This!”

You watch as she’s about to apply it on her lips when the cone in the room lights up and chimes, startling everyone in their seats.

“Ah!” Adriana squeals in surprise.

“Hello, girls!” Lana greets.

“Hello, Lana,” You put down everything you’re holding, getting nervous that it’s about time for Lana to announce the rule breaks.

“I have given the chance for Blake to go on a date with one of you,” Lana announces.

Oh? Is it finally your chance to test the water and see if Blake is on board? You look around to see if anyone is also anticipating this but Devon is the only one looking a little fidgety on her seat.

“Blake has chosen...”

The real question is: is Blake ballsy enough to break away from Devon’s leash? It’s time to find out.

“... Devon.”

YOU: Un-fucking-believeable!

Devon is smiling from ear to ear after hearing Blake has chosen her for the date.

You believe Blake is playing it safe by choosing Devon, oh, well, it’s his loss, not yours. You continue with getting ready for the night with the rest of the girls.

You check yourself in the mirror and like what you see, especially the dress that enhances the curves on your body.

“What a waste of an outfit!” You mutter, allowing yourself to feel upset about not getting chosen.

Someone puts her arm around you and says, “Oh! We look so hot!”

You look at both of you and Adriana’s reflections in the mirror and suddenly gain your confidence back. Since when you’re not dressing for other people, you’re dressing for yourself.

Everyone is hanging out in the firepit. You’re sharing the small sofa with Vale and Lili is taking the other end, talking to Adriana and Tom with drinks in hands.

It only takes a couple of days for everyone to get used to each other and you guess it’s because everyone shares the same vibe, everyone simply wants to have fun and they don’t let Lana’s rules stop them from doing it.

Unfortunately, you get called to the interview room and do your duty as a TV show contestant, telling the camera about everything to its tiniest details.

That’s what they need for the TV, something juicy, and the juicier the better.

You promise to keep yourself as genuine as possible and only tell the truth, not fabricating any of it. Not going to lie, you feel tempted at times but you realize that one day, you’ll be out of here and you don’t want to regret something you said or did in the show.

You bump into Elliott on your way out as it’s his turn next and you squeeze his hand as you walk past each other.

“Have fun in there!” You playfully say.

Instead of going back to the firepit, you make a turn to the bedroom, wanting to take a moment for yourself to unwind. You take your shoes off once you get to your bed and take a hearty sip of water.

It’s not life if you always get what you want. Blake enters the room not long after you, his shirt is undone and you guess he must’ve just come back from his date with Devon.

What is it with him with his shirt flies open though? You have a hot body, yes, you get it.

Anyway, you want to ignore him but he smiles the second he spots you.

“Hello,” he softly says.

You put on a small smile and greet back, “Hey.”

You cap your water tumbler and put it on your bedside table, “Back from your date, huh?”

Instead of answering, Blake comes at you and does not stop until his body crashes against yours, taking you with him as he topples on your bed.

You’re giggling as he pins you under and then you gently push him away to sit on your bed. You don’t want to give it to him east, not after he chose someone else over you.

“So, how was the date?” You casually ask while fixing the straps of your dress.

Blake sits next to you, leaning back with his hands propped against the mattress, “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know what I want,” he vaguely says.

Well, that’s what he gets for keeping his options way too open. Then Blake turns his head at you then continues, “But I know who I want.”

You get it that he’s hinting at you from the way he raises his eyebrow and slyly smiles at you. But you play dumb instead, wanting to hear him saying it out loud.

“And it’s Devon?” You say.

He dramatically closes his eyes and lets out a low sigh, “It’s you.”

You pretend to be surprised to hear it, “Oh, it’s me?”

Blake nods and smiles, he rubs his hand down his abs, trying to make you look at it.

“What do you think?”

You’re sure he’s talking about what he just said, not the abs, and honestly, it sounds not that convincing.

“I don’t know what to feel about it. You just came back from a date with someone else,” you point out the only way that gets in the way of trusting his words.

Blake drags his hand on the bed until he finds your hand and holds it, “I know I have something going on but I wish we did talk more, get to know you more.”

You don’t know what he’s going with it but giving him a chance to explain himself.

“But just know... Just know that I feel something for you,” he says.

It should be a triumphant moment, knowing that the guy you like is liking you back but you feel conflicted instead.

Blake inhales air and then stares into your eyes, “I want you to know that,” he concludes with his thumb gently rubbing the back of your hand.

You want to give him one more chance to prove himself, to prove that he’ll act exactly like what he said to you.

You nod and smile, “Alright.”

But for now, you want to take his words as they are, that it’s simply him telling you what he’s feeling.

YOU: There’s something about him that’s calling for you and you kind of want to answer that.

As if Lana is aware that the two of you are alone which means there's a big chance of rule-breaking, the cone in the room chimes, making you jolt on your bed.

"Please gather everyone in the cabana," Lana orders.

You're clutching your chest as you walk to the cabana, knowing that it's the time: Lana is going to announce the rule breaks.

The plan is you'll sit there and not going to say anything, and you're aware of how flawed that plan is.

A moment after everyone assembled in the cabana, the cone chimes and lights up as she sits in the middle of the round, glass table.

"Good evening, everyone," Lana starts.

"Hello, Lana!" A few replies in a not-so-enthusiastic tone.

Before Lana talks further, you glance at Elliott and he catches you looking, the anxiety is also drawn on his face.

"The rules of my retreat have already been broken," Lana drops the truth right away.

"Oh, no!" Lili exclaims with her eyes going side to side.

Tom looks upset already with his clasped hands pushed close to his mouth.

"Wow!" he comments with a plain tone.

He takes a deep breath and finally be the one who confronts everyone, "Is there anybody that wants to come clean?"

YOU: I broke the rules but I'm not telling anyone shit.

You try to avoid looking in Tom's direction but it's hard when he's sitting right across from yours so you look the other away only to catch Elliott looking at you.

Elliott seems not to know how to put on a good poker face, he keeps grinning but the kind that only makes him appear guilty.

Adriana is the first to spot it, "Elliott?"

Elliott lets out a nervous chuckle, "Nah. Not me."

He gives it away as he can't stop grinning and as soon as he glances your way, you subtly give him a head shake, telling him not to say anything. Then you continue to act dumb, playing with your hair like it has nothing to do with you.

"I'm going to come clean," someone says.

All heads are turned to see that it's coming from Jeff and they all seem to see this one coming.

"It was me who initiated it, we had a moment—"

Jeff's explanation gets cut off as Lili interrupts and asks, "Who's we?"

Jeff licks his lips and slowly turns his head toward you, and then you see his eyes flick toward Issa, "Issa and I," he answers.

Issa gets flustered, smiling that everyone now knows who Jeff got it on with. Not that it's a secret but she looks smitten, they're showing a big potential to become an established couple in this retreat.

"This kiss has cost the group $3,000," Lana announces.

It's like taking a shot, hearing how much money lost to a kiss is that bitter aftertaste. But that's not the worst of it yet, you know that the rule breaks don't stop there.

"They were not the only ones to break the rules."

There you go, you mutter in your head and gulp air that people would start digging deeper to find out whoever cost them another $3,000.

"What? No!" Vale says, scanning everyone to spot any guilty faces.

You continue your dumb act, playing with your hair, brushing it with your fingers even though it's looking good. Your luck runs out as Tom notices the error in your behavior.

"You're good? It wasn't you, right?" Tom asks.

It would be nice if he just shot you with a real bullet and you would have died on the spot, that way you don't have to deal with his question anymore.

You put on a calm face, staying quiet and not intending to say anything. You notice Elliott is looking at you and eventually, people connect the dots together.

"Oh, no, you guys kissed!" Adriana says, being the first to figure it out.

The truth is out, all that is left to do is own up to it.

"I did want to tell you guys but I..." you give up on trying to justify your act.

"I'm sorry," you sincerely say.

Elliott looks at everyone and apologizes as well, "We are sorry. We really are," he earnestly says.

"The kiss has cost the group $3,000."

You cringe at the amount of money you spent for a kiss and even though it's not your money, it's still kind of stings.

"Expensive kiss, that one," Vale comments while scratching his facial hair.

"I think that'll be it," Adriana says, or more like hoping that that was just it, no more rule breaks.

Lana hears her and she doesn't intend to stop until everyone committed their crimes.

"That is not all," she says, "There was one more breach of the rules."

Your eyes dart toward Devon and Blake who sit next to each other at the end of the long sofa, it must be the one kiss she bragged to you about.

"Are you kidding me?" Tom reacts with a fed-up tone.

Devon looks at Blake but he seems to want to keep his mouth shut. You're not a lip reader but it's not hard to read what Devon said as she fixes her dress, "Shit."

The tension keeps building as everyone waits for the last confession Lana needs so she can calculate the damage and come up with the bill.

A moment passes and Devon seems to be uncomfortable keeping it to herself any longer, "We should tell them," she says to Blake.

Everyone is exclaiming and yelling at them all at once while Blake is sitting there, taking it all in. Once everyone calms down, he coyly admits everything, "We kissed. I'm sorry."

"These rule breaks have cost the group $6,000," Lana announces.

Tom's mouth hung open, "You kissed twice?"

Blake licks his lips and then nods.

"What the—" Vale doesn't even finish his words, he reclines on his sofa instead and looks up.

You know the one kiss they did and that's thanks to Devon's thoughtfulness, but the other one, you wonder when they did that.

"It was yesterday," Devon says.

"And the other one?" Tom asks.

"On the date earlier," Devon answers.

Wait... so Blake went on that date and kissed Devon, then he came back and told you that you're the one he wants. What the fuck?

YOU: I am so annoyed right now.

And you're not the only one.

Even though she's just a talking robot, you can tell that Lana is not pleased with these rule breaks. You can hear it from the way she informs the current prize money.

"The prize fund now stands at $188,000."

"What's done is done, guys," Blake coyly says, and somehow, that only pisses you more.

"In the first 24 hours, most of you have already broken the rules."

Tom looks at the people sitting on the long sofa, "Do you hear that, guys?"

"You have left me with no choice. From this point forward, all fines will be doubled," Lana delivers shocking news.

Tom's eyes widen like he's seeing his nightmare turn into a reality. He claps his hands together and leans back, "That's just great!"

Everyone is too stunned by the news that no one is saying anything. While you just can't wait to end the day already.

"Goodbye," Lana ends with a grim greeting.

Lana is indeed pissed and she deserved to be. You even pissed at what you did but what pissed you more than losing than losing $12,000 in one night is Blake.

Fucking Blake won't get away with it.

YOU: So Blake is that kind of player... oh, how typical! How boring! [Rolls eyes]

The boys are grouping on the terrace instead of going inside to get ready for bedtime so you follow the girls to the dressing room and it’s just perfect.

Telling Devon about what you know face to face, you doubt that she’ll believe you for it, she’d likely think that you’re trying to ruin things for her. This way, with the girls gathered together, you know they’ll support you and see the true intention behind it.

You need to pick your time right, you don’t want to interrupt in the middle of them complaining about the rules and the money, especially when you’re responsible for the $3,000 deduction.

“I mean… I’m trying to be respectful to Lana but some men are worth it,” Devin says while undoing her hair bun.

She pauses to correct her statement, “Not all, but some,” she emphasizes.

The other girls are busy wiping their makeup clean and half-heartedly listening to what Devon is saying and only reacting with short answers.

“Blake and I, we might be able to build something genuine,” Devon says.

Hearing that gets your blood boiling and you can’t keep biting your tongue, you let out a sigh and look at Devon, “You know what, Devon?”

Suddenly, everyone stops everything they’re doing and they probably know that there’s this slight hostility between you and Devon, you wouldn’t be surprised if they think you’re going to fight her.

Now that you have everyone’s attention, you start telling everyone what you know is true. You take a shallow breath before talking, “After he came back from that date, he went to the bedroom and I happened to be there. I asked him about the date and he was like “wish we did talk more, get to know each other more”.”

Lili lets her hair fall and gasps, “No!”

You keep going while constantly reminding yourself to keep calm, “And he held my hand telling me I’m the one he wants right after he came back from the date,” you tell Devon right at her face.

There’s no joy in telling her that she got played, you feel bad for her because you know how shitty that feels.

“That’s muggy,” Issa comments.

“I think he’s trying to have his cake and eat it too,” Adriana says, gripping the hairbrush in her hand.

You look at Devon and she’s in utter shock, you hate to ruin her picture-perfect of what she and Blake could be, but you need her to know and what she’s going to do with the truth is up to her.

“And I’m saying this, as woman to woman, I don’t want you to be that girl who falls for his bullshit,” You conclude.

It turns quiet in the room and everyone seems to give Devon the space to process this, they continue what they’re doing and doing it quietly.

After a moment, Lili tells Devon, “Maybe you should explore other options.”

Devon leans on the table and says, “I think I will.”

YOU: Oh, Blake, just know that you fucked it up and you deserve everything that comes to you.

“The fuck?” Vale blurts out.

Vale is that one person you feel like you can come and talk about everything with, out of everyone, you trust him the most. You come to his bed to tell him everything about what’s going down between you, Devon, and Blake.

He quickly lowers his voice since Blake is lying on his bed, “And what did Devon say?”

You shrug, “I don’t know.”

“If she’s smart then she knows better not to…” his words trail off as he puts his hands behind his head as he rests his back against the headboard.

“That’s right,” you agree, kicking your feet in the air as you lay on your stomach.

He plays with his beard as he looks at you, “Then how about your plan?”

You’re so busy being upset about the Blake situation that you don’t think about it until he asks you, you realize you are just as single as he is now.

“Oh, fuck,” you blink your eyes in slight shock.

Vale laughs looking at your reaction, he sees the direness in your eyes, “Is there… uh, anyone else that you like?”

You secretly look around the room to look for your second choice but you witness Devon’s dramatic entrance, she turns her head at Blake and cryptically smiles at him before walking past their shared bed.

Everyone feels the tension in the room as Devon goes to Elliott’s bed and gets on it, witnessing the drama unfolding in real time.

You slowly turn your head back to Vale and say, “Well, there goes my second choice.”

YOU: Why did she have to take Elliott too? Ugh!

This morning, when you come to the bathroom to shower, you find Tom there, counting the condoms inside the little tray next to the sink.

You burst out laughing at the sight, "Having a busy morning I see," you playfully say.

Tom briefly looks at you and puts the condoms back into the tray, "There are eight of them and it's got to stay at eight," he says.

Tom couldn't possibly think that not using condoms doesn't mean that everyone is not rulebreaking. But you have to admit that he's dedicated to his role as the sex officer in the villa.

In the afternoon, you join Adriana sunbathing in the firepit, sharing the sofa.

"I can't believe that I'm about to say this..." you sigh while looking up at the sky with your eyes closed.

Adriana puts her hands on her sides, also looking up with eyes closed, "What?"

"I miss sex so much," you sigh.

Adriana softly sighs then a while later says, "Same."

You gently elbow her side, "At least, you have a man on your bed," you say.

"Yes but he doesn't want to do anything," she grumbles, reminding you that his partner is Lana's top student.

Being single means you have nothing to do with the situation, you want to rule break but have no one to do it with. Meanwhile having a man and not wanting to do anything, is much, much worse.

"Like I need something to happen!" Adriana says with an annoyed sigh.

You suddenly feel bad for Adriana but you also can't help yourself from laughing and she eventually laughs along with you.

When the day gets too hot for a sunbathe, you decide that it's time to cool down. Slowly, you get into the pool and sit on the edge, facing the view of the sea with the blue sky looking like something you see on a postcard.

Someone is swimming and apparently, whoever that is coming your way. You wait until he emerges from the water and sees Blake.

What a way to ruin your good day!

Blake brushes his dark hair to the back and wipes the beads of water around his eyes, he smiles as he fixes his eyes on you, then stands next to you.

"What are you up to?"

You remind yourself that you're a grown woman who can handle someone like him gracefully even though he doesn't deserve it.

"Just admiring the beautiful view," you calmly answer.

He looks at the view and sighs, "Yeah, it's beautiful just like you."

You feel like gagging but resist the urge to, "Thank you," you say with a thin smile.

There are two reasons why Blake is talking to you right now. One is the possibility that Devon confronted him about last night's situation and told him that she heard everything from you. If reason one is true then it's reason number two, he's going for his second option and unfortunately, it's you.

"I think it's about time we have this conversation. I want to see where's your head at," he says.

It's not the words, it's the way he casually talks to you and completely ignores the fact that he played you and Devon.

But remember, gracefully.

"To be honest, I did think you're the hottest person in here when I first glanced at you and I feel this sexual energy whenever you're looking into my eyes," you say.

Blake is grinning as he looks at you, liking what you're saying about him, "I'm open to see where this takes us," he says.

It seems like Devon dumped him and it's reason number two after all.

You shyly smile and say, "I do like you."

You tip your head to the side and continue talking, "But I want to know that I'm forming a connection here and not because I'm available by default."

The glints in his eyes dim as if someone flips the switch off the second he hears what you said.

"I see the other couples and they have this sort of trust in each other. It makes me want to trust the person I'm with," you lay it out as gently as possible.

Because how can you trust him after what he did? Even if you give him the chance, you're not sure that Blake is capable of change.

"For now, I want to be a bit more free, and figure out what I want while also getting to know everyone," you conclude, rejecting him in the nicest way possible.

Blake takes a moment to process your answer and you give him just the space. A while later, he nods and wipes the beads of water on his chin.

"I guess, it is what it is," he coyly says.

You see, this is not the first time you're facing a player like him. In the past, you gave that person a chance thinking that you could change him but it only ended up hurting you and you surely don't want to go through that again.

YOU: I think it's about time I get a little bit more careful in choosing people that I want to be with.

Days have passed and you can see that couples start forming in the villa.

Jeff has been going strong with Issa ever since that first rule break. Tom, despite being Lana's loyal follower, is having something going on with Adriana. Last but not least, Devon is smitten by Elliott, it's proven by two rule breaks they admitted last night.

And you, you'd better off alone than having to be with Blake. He was hot until he showed his true colors.

"I thought I was going to be the first to rule break," Vale says as you apply sunblock on his back.

"I didn't think that I would be the one missing all the actions," he continues with a crisp laugh.

You add more sunblock for his lower back and lather in on his tattooed skin. You're dry-humping his back once you're done applying sunblock.

"You are getting some actions right now," you jokingly say.

You both laugh and that's how you survive these past few days. Vale has been a very reliable friend, he's trustworthy and earnest, you talk about everything with him because he likes having these kinds of deep talk.

"You know what we need?" You ask Vale then sip your water.

Vale ties his long hair into a messy bun, "What?"

"We need new meat in the villa," you say, pushing the sunglasses you wear up the bridge of your nose.

Vale nods in agreement, then his hand reaches for the cone sitting on the small round table next to him.

"Lana, I know you'll be my main girl but we need new meat in the villa," he pleads while seductively stroking her cone-shaped body.

"I think that should be considered as a rule break," you joke.

Ask and you shall receive, Lana says.

She makes everyone come to the cabana in the afternoon and you share the sofa with Issa, waiting for the cone to chime in anticipation.

"Hello, everyone," Lana greets.

"Hi, Lana!"

You feel at ease knowing that she wouldn't call you out for rulebreaking but you're ready for some drama today.

"I have observed some early signs that connections may be starting to form. Therefore, I am sending two people on a romantic date," Lana announces.

She's going to send the couples on a date? And what about you? Is it really Lana when she delivers good news?

"I'm hoping it's us," Issa says to Jeff.

Everyone is already hyped for the date when Lana is not done talking yet.

"So that I can put your current connections to the test, these dates will be with two new arrivals."

Now that's the Lana you know. You look at the couples and their expressions change into panic ones.

"Did she say new arrivals?" Adriana asks with her eyes almost popping out of her sockets.

YOU: Damn! Lana woke up and chose to fuck shit up.

"I have allowed the new dates to choose who they would like to take on a date."

It's kind of unfair that the new guests are only allowed to choose from the coupled-up guests but Lana is brewing some drama in the villa and you're here for it.

"They're coming in hot and heavy, ready to fuck everybody," you comment, provoking the nervous couples.

From the other end of the sofa, Vale is holding in his laughter, he knows what you're doing to the others.

"The first new arrival is... Seungmin."

"I like the name," Lili says.

Everyone tries to guess what he'd look like from just his name but you notice that Tom is looking so nervous, realizing that Adriana could get chosen for the date.

"Seungmin has chosen... Adriana."

It seems like what Tom fears the most has just become reality. Tom and Adriana exchange a look that only they know what they mean.

Lana continues with the announcement of the second guest, "The second new arrival is... Cara."

You can't pass the chance to provoke them more, "Cara sounds like she's ready to get wild," you innocently mutter.

Now it's the girls' turn to get nervous, you see that Devon is looking displeased, maybe it's the previous incident haunting her.

"Cara has chosen... Elliott."

It really is not a good day to be either Tom or Devon, their luck will eventually run out but they didn't know that it'd be today.

"Adriana and Elliott, It's time for you to get ready for your dates," Lana orders.

They leave the cabana to get ready for their dates with the new arrivals and you envy them, you want to go on a date too.

Jealousy aside, you're excited for the new guests, especially this Seungmin guy.

YOU: Girl, I can't wait to see how the night turns out!

It's embarrassing that everyone in the dressing room witnessed you tripping over your heeled shoes and falling on your butt.

Lili is too late to catch you, she offers her hand to help you get up but you lie down on the floor instead, laughing in embarrassment.

"Are you drunk?" Tom jokingly asks.

You shake your head and sigh, "No, I'm just so horny," you joke back.

The boys and the girls are going their separate ways. You follow the flow, walking to the firepit with the other girls and sitting prettily on the sofa, waiting for the ones going on dates to return.

The one who has been losing her sanity the longer her man going on the date is Devon. She's been rambling and grumbling like a fussy child.

"If he did something, I'll know right away," Devon mutters.

You don't know who she's talking to but since you're sitting close to her, you feel obliged to respond to it.

"Yep," you say, validating her.

Devon shouldn't be scared whether anyone knows because Lana will know and she knows everything.

The first one coming back from their date is Adriana and the new guest, Seungmin, linking their arms together as they enter the firepit.

"Oh, here they come," Lili tells everyone of their arrival.

All of the girls' heads are turned to see them.

Your curiosity about this Seungmin guy is finally answered. Tall, with broad shoulders, his dark hair is pushed to the back with a few strands hanging over his forehead and the faint moonlight casts a shadow over his face, defining his masculine features of sharp jaws and high cheekbones.

And when he smiles, you see those facial features turn soft all at once.

YOU: Oh, my God! This guy, Seungmin, is cute [Smiles]

"If Elliott walks in holding their arms like that, I'm going to cry," Devon sadly mutters.

You're about to say something to comfort her but Lili goes ahead, asking Adriana and Seungmin about the date.

"How was it? How was the date?"

Adriana briefly looks at him and answers it for both of them, "It was nice, romantic even."

"Oh?" You blurt out, sensing that Adriana may switch beds tonight.

"Lana gave him a free pass to kiss but we didn't, I told him about Tom," Adriana says.

Adriana and Tom have been with each other since day one, they're a couple with great restraint so you're glad that Adriana is not tempted to explore more options.

Meanwhile, Devon is starting to look a little green after hearing that the new arrivals are given a free pass to kiss during their dates.

Issa spots the other has returned from the date and blurts out, "Oh, no they hold hands."

Devon's head snaps to the back, looking at where the boys are gathered on the terrace.

She turns her head back and her mouth curls downward. You immediately scoot closer to offer your shoulder, rubbing her back as she starts crying.

You turn your head to see Elliott introducing the new girl to the boys and he's looking all bright and smiley.

"Not going to lie, that's kind of sus," you say.

You didn't even mean to put salt on Devon's wound, you just don't expect Elliott to be that kind of guy, you know, the Blake kind.

Everyone eventually gathers in the firepit and Elliott proceeds with his duty to introduce the new girl to everyone.

Cara is Italian and your eyes dart toward Vale, that this girl can be his type. In response to that, Vale is eyeing Seungmin, hinting that you have one for you too.

This eventful night turns out to be a good one.

Adriana and Tom are still sharing the bed and thankfully, so are Devon and Elliott. You're relieved that Elliott turns out to be not the kind of guy.

The new guests have to voluntarily sleep on the available spots, Cara shares the bed with Blake while Seungmin shares the bed with Vale.

You're meant to look at Vale but Seungmin happens to be there and since he catches your eyes, you may as well smile and flirt with your eyes.

You don't know what you feel about him yet but you hope that he's not the Blake kind.

YOU: Not everyone forgetting that new guests also mean new temptations [laughs]

"No one is breaking the rules, right?" Tom says the moment the lights are on.

Everyone is not having it but no one is saying anything as they're sleepy and struggling to open their eyes. You quickly sip water to refresh yourself and not skipping the chance to take a jab a Tom.

"The next rule break is going to be Adriana's self-gratification," you say with a grin.

Adriana lets out a dry chuckle and holds all of her hair to the side, "Might be. Don't leave me alone in a room," she says.

Lana chimes in for the usual morning greeting, welcoming the new guests, and ends it with a satirical message.

"Enjoy your day of celibacy!"

Since the boys are taking over the open gym at the beach, you skip working out and go for a swim with Lili. You take a few laps and have a chat with her.

In the cabana, you see that Devon is talking to the new girl, Cara.

"Should we get in there and intervene?" Lili asks.

"No," you immediately answer.

You blow water out of your nose and wipe it away, "But get ready, just in case."

In the other part of the villa, you spot the new guy, Seungmin heading down to the beach in a plain white t-shirt and black swimming trunks.

"Cute guy. 11 o'clock," you lowly mutter.

Lili clocks him right away, she's lowering her head until her chin dips in the water.

"You think he's cute?"

"Duh!" You react with a dramatic eye roll.

Lili chuckles and stacks her hands on the edge of the pool, "Is he your type though?"

Seungmin is indeed cute but truthfully, he's not the type that you usually go for, someone with a bit of an edge to them. You feel some sort of attraction toward him but it's not enough to pull you in.

"On papers? No," you honestly answer.

"Have you talked to him?"

"Not yet," you reply.

You look at Lili and wonder why she asks you all of that when she should be calculating her chance with him.

"Are you going to talk to him?" You ask her back.

Lili purses her mouth as she thinks of an answer, "Maybe. I will," she answers.

There's not much thing happens during the day and somehow, you feel excited for the night.

You put on a black dress, a red lipstick, and before you go out of the door, you take a look at yourself in the mirror, you look ravishing.

It's kind of sad though that you did all that only to sit by the firepit all alone and it's messing a little with your good mood.

It would be perfect for anyone to come and save your day but what do you—

"Hi, how are you?"

You look up and see Seungmin, he looks taller as he's standing over you, "Hi, I'm good."

"May I sit?" He politely asks.

"Please," you scoot a little to the side to make space for him even though the sofa could fit five people.

Seungmin sits next to you, spreading his legs open a little, and rests his hand on his knee. You notice that he has quite big pairs of hands and evident veins on the back of them.

"I came here wanting to talk to you, get to know you," he casually says as if he didn't just tell you right away what his true intentions are.

But you dig that, you like his confidence and the way he's looking at you right now like you're the only girl existing on earth.

"Tell me something about yourself," he says.

"I didn't know I was interviewing for a job," you joke with a laugh.

He laughs and it's the quiet kind, but you see that he's enjoying your joke.

"I'm a videographer," you tell him a piece about yourself.

"Is it the same as a filmmaker?" He curiously asks.

"Not really. Videographers film their own material, we work with cameras, shoot them ourselves, and edit them. It's uh... a lot to explain," you stop yourself before it gets too boring.

"It's not just beauty on the outside, huh?" He coyly says as if he didn't just compliment you and make you flustered.

"Of course not," you cheekily say with a grin.

"Yeah, I noticed," he agrees.

Your cheeks are heating and your body somehow turns to face him, answering his body language all the while his eyes are not straying away from yours, not even for a second.

"How about you?" You ask, trying to keep the conversation going.

"I'm an athlete. A baseball player," he answers.

"Oh, wow!" You didn't mean to make it sound that surprised.

Oh, it's even more embarrassing than the time you fell in the dressing room. You keep yourself together and quickly say something to explain your reaction.

"That explains the uh... broad shoulders," you say.

Your eyes unknowingly flick down at his hand again and your mouth gets ahead of your brain, "And the veiny hands."

Seungmin softly chuckles, he holds his hands out at you and lets you look at them as you please.

"You like them?"

You shyly laugh and skip on answering, barely functioning as his eyes are gazing into yours again.

YOU: He has this beautiful smile. He has these beautiful eyes, I am being swept away by his charm [Smiles]

Seungmin doesn't have eyes like Elliott's, they're brown yet they have the power to slowly pull you under.

You were so wrong to think that there's not enough attraction to pull you in because Seungmin is not only pulling you in, he asks you to come drown in his warm brown eyes.

Other than that, his eyes have the power to make you say your thoughts out loud.

"You have such beautiful eyes," you say, unconsciously leaning closer to look into his eyes.

"Oh, they're dilating," you gasp, seeing the black in the middle of the brown becomes larger.

Seungmin softly smiles hearing your innocent, almost too naive talks.

"You know your pupils dilate when you see someone you're attracted to," he says.

"Really?"

He nods with the scintillating smile still on his face.

"Does that mean you're attracted to me?" You ask with a mix of shy and seductive smiles.

"Yes, I am, I'm attracted," he confidently confirms.

You finally find the kind of guy Seungmin belongs in. Seungmin is the kind of guy that should come with a warning sign, he looks cute and harmless but a layer is under that, he's a lethal man who knows what he wants and gets it.

"I want to get to know you," he says.

"Me too," you say back.

"I want to get to know you more because I see that you have more beautiful things inside you," he adds.

Not going to lie, that's the sweetest thing you ever heard a guy say to you in a long time. You don't want to overanalyze it, you want to simply accept them as they are. Also, you can see that Seungmin meant every word he said.

"Would you let me?" He asks, tilting his head to the side as he maintains eye contact with you.

"Yes. I'd love that," you tell him.

The smile on Seungmin's face grows wider and it looks incredibly cute on him like he couldn't get cuter than this. His hand reaches for yours and holds it by the fingers.

"How do you feel about sharing a bed?"

No offense to Lili but you've been craving having a man on your bed so you nod at him.

The stare gets intense as he gets closer, leaving a few inches of space between your faces.

"Then how do you feel about sharing a kiss?"

The more you look into his eyes, the more compliant you are to his wishes. It's not like you don't want to kiss him, only that you wish you could do more than kisses.

But a kiss... it should be enough for now.

"I'd love that too," you answer.

Seungmin puts his hand under your chin, gently grabbing at it to bring you closer to him and slowly, he plants his lips on you.

No, it's not because you haven't kissed in the last few days, it's him, Seungmin got you completely charmed that you find yourself returning his kiss with the same eagerness.

"Oh, my God!" You gasp in awe once you break the kiss.

Seungmin is only smiling in response, he knows that you feel it too. The matching energy, the surge of excitement, the sexual tension, the electrifying chemistry, you both feel them all.

"I got your lipsticks all over me, aren't I?" He asks.

"Yes," you hurriedly help him wipe it off clean from around his mouth and nose.

And just like that, you broke another rule only this time you're not doing it out of boredom or avenging someone.

You broke the rules with Seungmin because he feels right.

YOU: Oh, we were just so in the moment that we forgot about the rules. Was it worth it though? Yes. Six thousand times yes.

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yoonivy · 18 days

Text

gold rush; part 1.

modern!aemond targaryen x fem!reader

genre. romantic comedy — inspired by 10 things i hate about you and also another movie (can you guess which one? :) ) , college/university au, eventual smut, enemies to lovers (kinda??? their relationship is complicated to explain LOL)

In all the 8 years you’ve known Aemond Targaryen, he has not spoken more than 8 words to you. In total. So why is he starting now?

warnings. aegon + viserys + ramsay being besties. oc is a bit cringe but at least she is free :’) !!

word count. 8k+

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07

---

The days are growing chillier. The leaves on the trees are still a brilliant array of reds, oranges, and yellows; but they are starting to fall on the ground, baring the branches for the upcoming winter season.

This means that the weekly outdoor picnic at the University’s quad that you and your friends always make time for is probably going to end soon, so Sansa Stark insists for one more before the inevitable happens.

“Winter is Coming,” Sansa states with a heavy sigh and a shiver after you all helped her lay out the pastel gingham blanket on the ground that you are all sitting on now.

Meera Reed makes a face at her, snorting in disbelief. “Did you just quote your family’s motto at us? Really Sansa?”

Sansa glares her way while she starts to take the lunch she had prepared out of her favorite wicker picnic basket. She huffs before insisting, “Well it is. Winter is coming .”

“Oh, it already is coming,” Margaery Tyrell smirks, already pouring out the pre-made mimosas into four mugs. “It came plenty last night…”

“Marg!”

“What?” Margaery pouts at Sansa’s outcry of her name, feigning innocence. “I’m just saying… Stark men have quite a set of heavy b—“

“No, no,” Meera is the one to cut her off now, her palm held up to stop Margaery from finishing. “I need my appetite to eat these delicious katsu sandwiches!”

Meanwhile, Sansa is ruffling up Margaery’s perfect blowout, ordering the brunette to stop saying disgusting things about her brother, Robb, in front of her.

As you watch them, you laugh with your mouth around the rim of your mug, the taste of alcoholic, bubbly orange juice sweet on your tongue. Your friends are all ridiculous, but you love them. And perhaps, you are just as ridiculous as them. “Sansa… Is your Uncle Benjen visiting any time soon?”

“I don’t know…” Sansa eyes you suspiciously. “Why…? ”

“Cause…” There’s already a stupid smirk lifting your lips that Sansa takes a deep inhale to prepare herself. “I wanna test out Marg’s theory about Stark men and their heavy—“

You are tackled onto your back by the fiery redhead; and luckily for the both of you, you had already drunk all the mimosa in your mug before she did so. You are laughing and shrieking as Sansa shakes you by the shoulders playfully, with Meera hollering in the back and Margaery exclaiming, “Yes! That’s my girl! Daddy Benjen is so fit!”

It must have been a strange sight to see. Four women in their early twenties having a picnic in the middle of autumn, all screaming and all toppled on top of each other on the quad of the Seven Kingdom’s most prestigious post-secondary school, Vale University.

No one would dare approach that mess — unless they are brave.

Or stupid.

When a dark shadow casts over you and your friends, and someone clears their throat noisily, that is when you all pause mid-laughter to glance up at the newcomer.

Your eyes widen comically when you are faced with gorgeously long platinum silver hair; the tiniest waist made with an expensive belted black cotton trench coat; a striking violet eye; and the most disgruntled expression you’ve ever seen in your life.

Of course all that was none other than Aemond Targaryen.

So in conclusion — brave and stupid.

All four of you quickly straightened up in embarrassment but his eye was solely on you.

“Can I talk to you?” Aemond asks, head cocking to a tree nearby.

Dumbfounded, you nod slowly and stand up just as slow. But while you are in the process of doing so, he is already walking away. Shrugging at the confused looks of your friends, you jog after him.

In all honesty, you have no freaking idea why he is pulling you aside either.

When the two of you make it beside the willow tree, he turns towards you. The sourness in his face doesn’t change, and you wonder why he is even talking to you because he clearly doesn’t want to be.

In all the 8 years you’ve known Aemond Targaryen, he has not spoken more than 8 words to you. In total .

So why now?

That is when the panic start to rise in your chest, because there is only one reason he would even sought you out —

“Aemond, is your fath—“

“Are you going to the party—“

You both stop abruptly after speaking over the other.

Now you are thoroughly confused.

With your head tilting to the side, you repeat the little you heard him say, “The party?”

At the dumb look on your face, the tips of his ears start burning red. Aemond grimaces, then glares to the side as he answers, “Yeah, the Tyrell party tomorrow night. Are you invited?”

Your brows draw even closer together, staring at Aemond like he grew another head. “I mean, yeah… Margaery is one of my best friends…” Aemond then grunts in remembrance at the girl he just saw you with not even 5 seconds ago. He is still not even looking at you, so you pull at your sweater paws from the feeling of discomfort. “I’m not going though.”

Finally, his eye is on you. “Why not?”

You shrug. “I’m not really in a partying mood… Besides, all my friends have people they’re interested in that are going so I’m probably going to be the weird seventh wheel…”

What in the Seven Hells?!

You make a face at your own oversharing. Why did you just confess your loser status to Aemond Targaryen of all people? Why would he even care—

“Then come with me.”

Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?!?!

When you realize you exclaimed that out loud and not just in your head, you slap a hand over your mouth.

His scowl makes you explain yourself in a hurry, “Sorry! It’s just we’ve never really hung out before or, like, even had a conversation until this one, so I’m a bit… confused?”

Aemond presses his pink pout together, inhaling sharply. Then he stares at you in a way that pins you to the spot, your breath catching. “You’re right…” he frowns as he trails off. “We’ve known each other for so long and yet we’ve never made an effort to become friends—“

You’ve never made an effort, I’ve at least tried, you wanted to say, but you bite your tongue and let him keep going.

“So I’d like to take you to the party to change that. Ramsay’s band is playing so it should be a… fun night.”

He says all that in the aloof yet cocksure air of his but you’re convinced that he is not even convinced himself.

Because why would being in any 10-feet vicinity close to Ramsay Bolton be any fun? Also he said he’d “like” to take you to the party and yet he looks like he is being held at gunpoint to talk to you.

Someone is definitely putting him up to this.

To put Aemond out of his misery (and to satisfy the sniper surely aiming at his head) you say, “I’ll, um… think about it then?”

Aemond hums as an answer; sounding not quite satisfied but letting it be.

And you thought that would be it. Like he’ll be like well, I tried! — shrugs shoulders and flippantly throws his hands up — oh well! but just as you say your soft goodbye and begin to walk away, Aemond calls your name.

Wait a second — he knows your name???

You balk, once again staring at him wide-eyed. This time he ignores the look, or at least doesn’t react to it outwardly, and says, “You have my number, right?”

I literally didn’t even know you even knew my name, you almost answer, but instead you went with a simple, “No.”

He lets out a discontented hmm… like somehow that was your fault. He then fishes his phone out of his pocket and then hands it to you. On the screen is the new contact section.

He didn’t even need to say anything, his domineering stare was enough for you to promptly type in your information on his phone.

When you hand it back, his thumb swiftly moves on the screen. A second later, you felt the familiar vibration of a new text in the back pocket of your jeans.

“Text me if you’re coming, I’ll pick you up,” is all Aemond says before he is already walking away and up the hill of the quad to the path leading to one of the university’s libraries.

You watch his retreating back for a minute before finally heading back to your friends.

“What was that?!” Margaery is the first of your friends to ask, but you can tell they are all piqued with interest and confusion. They know that you and Aemond go way back yet don’t have a semblance of a proper history, and that he has never sought you out like that before.

So as you stare at the text that Aemond sent you:

I hope you’ll come to the party. It’ll be nice if you do.

All you can tell your friends is:

“I honestly don’t even know.”

As soon as your last class for the day was let out at 6 PM, you book it to the nearest bus stop and luckily make it just as soon as the bus pulls up.

You would think for a busy and populated university campus, the public transportation schedule would be better. But alas, most of the students that attend Vale U are trust fund babies and have the most expensive cars and/or drivers that take them anywhere they want to go.

Not you though. You pretty much live paycheque to paycheque. Although you are lucky enough to have only one job that could sustain your living expenses.

That is where you are heading now, your part-time job at one of the homes in the #3 Wealthiest Neighborhoods of all of Westeros according to Baelish Times.

The gated neighborhood of Eyrie Heights sits on the tallest cliff in the region of the Vale. Of course since it is the home of many famous celebrities and important political figures, the nearest bus stop to the front gates of the community is a 45 minutes walk away — you make that trek back and forth at least four days every week.

You’re used to it so it’s not so bad, and the security guards at the gates are super friendly and would always drive you to your final destination in their golf cart. Today was no different, and you are dropped off at one of the many mansions in the neighborhood belonging to the governing family of the Vale, the Arryn’s.

“Thanks Grenn!” You call out after hopping off the cart and waving goodbye to your ride.

“No problem!” He waves back with a wide grin. “Say hey to Mr. T for me!”

You give him a thumbs up before turning your heels to walk up the stone pathway leading to the ivory mansion fit for a king.

It definitely is one of the most gorgeously built homes you’ve ever seen. It is an older mansion but properly maintained with the prettiest front garden and perfect shrubbery. The white bricked walls are paired with dark navy blue shingle roofing, which looks lovely during the hotter months but gorgeous when everything is blanketed with white snow. What does it for you though is the huge oval arched windows and the balconies on the second and third floors with the pillars — it was what caught your wide eyes when you first saw it eight years ago when your mother held your hand and dragged you up the same pathway you are currently walking on. Although it is an Arryn family mansion, the man living there now is the widower of an Arryn woman and he is the one you are caring for.

After you climb up the three tiers of stoned steps with the dragon statue water fountain in the center, you pick up the packages and letters at the front door that he received the past two days you haven’t checked up on him before unlocking the door with your set of keys and stepping inside.

“Viserys?” You shout out, locking the door behind you. From somewhere still on the ground floor, you hear the one you are calling for respond back, In here!

With the packages and a hefty bag you’ve pulled out from a closet near the front door, you head to where you assume ‘in here’ is.

You end up at one of the rooms in the back of the mansion. It does not even surprise you that this is where you find your patient/friend in the huge home — it is the room he is often in if he is not in his master bedroom or kitchen. The conservatory is as beautiful as every part of the house, but anyone can tell it’s the most loved. With its high windowed ceiling and the windowed walls, the brilliant sun can be clearly seen setting on purple and pink skies. But you knew that and luxurious furnishing wasn’t the reason why Viserys Targaryen favored that room so much — for every other room has the same luxury feel to it — but it is because this room is where him and his first wife would always spend time together during the first few years of their marriage before they moved back to Viserys’ ancestral home in King’s Landing.

“This room is also the only one we were allowed to spend time in while I was courting her,” you remember Viserys recalling to you and your mother one time with a hearty chuckle. He then pointed outside, where the pool is. “Her father would grill out there, pretending it’s for lunch or dinner. But he was really just keeping a close eye on me to not do anything unsavory. Aemma was always so embarrassed because she said her father didn’t even like barbecue ribs that much. ”

With a smile at that memory of his memory, looking towards the many picture frames in the room that hold weathered photos of the ethereal looking woman who still held the heart of a man even 25 years after her death.

You turn to watch that man now, hunched over beside a big and long table in the middle of the room occupied fully by miniature statues and structures to resemble the once glorious city of the now ruined Old Valyria.

Viserys is so consumed with whittling away at a block of soapstone that he did not even notice that you were already in the room.

While putting down his packages and letters on a side table near the door, you call his name again. He turns to you with a bit of a jolt, before his lips spread into a soft smile. “Sorry, my dear… I’ve just been so focused because my hands are being very agreeable today.”

You laugh, nodding in understanding while walking to where he is sitting.

“How was the commute here?” Viserys asks while you pull out what you needed in the heavy bag you put down on the ground.

You shrug nonchalantly as you wrap the blood pressure band around his arm. “Awful like always, but I’ll live.”

The balding platinum haired man frowns at that. “I really wished you’d let me hire a chauffeur for you.”

You chuckle, writing down his numbers on your phone’s notes app and moving on to test his blood sugar level. “And I told you, I spend way too much on my monthly bus pass for you to do that. Besides, I like taking public transportation—“ Viserys gives you a look. “… Sometimes.”

Once you have all of Viserys’ numbers for the day and nothing concerning pops up, you text everything to his primary nurse who visits him once a week, Samwell Tarly.

As you get a text back from Sam -– “Thank you, ____! 😀” — Visery slowly sits up and asks, “A little game of Cyvasse for old time sakes?”

You groan and frown deeply in a way that definitely shows your age of twenty-two, but you follow him anyway to the table in one of the corners of the room with the Cyvasse game on top.

Not even ten minutes later, Viserys sighs heavily as he watches you make another wrong move. Honestly, you’ve tried plenty of times to understand this board game but it is just lost on you. At this point, you are just moving pieces you think are the ugliest so they can be taken off the board quicker.

“When is your family visiting?” Visersy asks while taking out another one of your pawns, only four of your pieces left on the board versus his fifteen. “Your father is the only one that gives me a challenge in this game and I miss that — well, your father and my younger brother.”

You shrug, moving a piece that he just knocks over a second later. Honestly, he can be playing the game just as bad as you and you would be none the wiser. “Probably not anytime soon. Autumn is the busiest season at Ironrath with the ironwood and all.”

Viserys hums, winning the game. Then he looks straight at you. “You know, your mother called yesterday–”

“Ugh…” your head falls dramatically, already knowing what he is probably going to say next.

“She said you haven’t been picking up her calls and barely answering her messages.”

Yup, there it is.

You stand up, walking over to the table where you dropped off the packages and pick it up to bring to him.

“It’s not that I’ve been avoiding her. I’ve just been so busy – with classes, extracurriculars, this job…” you tell him as you hand him a package decorated with silver star stickers from his daughter Helaena at King’s Landing, a postcard from Dorne from his grandsons’ Jace and Luke who are vacationing there at the moment, and a letter from Otto Hightower — his father-in-law from his second marriage. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to call her tonight.”

“Is this job too much on top of all of your studies?” Viserys asks, full of concern. “Because—“

“No, it’s not this job,” you reassure him. “I’m just shit at time management. Sansa’s helping me out with that though.”

“Well I hope you are at least taking time for yourself. Your youth should be spent having fun and not being stressed about the future.”

Easier said than done, you think but you let him know instead, “My friends and I had a picnic today. That was fun! And—” Hold on, you just remembered something, “ I … actually got invited to a party tomorrow night… by Aemond.”

At the mention of his son, Viserys’ head tilts in confusion. “Aemond…? I didn’t know you two were friends.”

You scoff out a chuckle. “We’re not… That’s what’s weird about it.”

Viserys hums in thought for a while then smiles at you. “I think you should go to the party with him!”

You make a face and he chuckles, encouraging further, “I’m being serious! My son needs a good influence like you in his life… and under that cold exterior, I know my boy is as sweet as can be. Just give him a chance!”

Sweet is the last word you would use to describe Aemond Targaryen. Maybe agreeable would have been more suitable. But you know how much Viserys loves his family – as distant as they all may be from him – so you just let it go with a sigh.

And like you told his son earlier, you tell him the same with a tight smile, “… I’ll think about it…”

Turns out, you didn’t even need to think about it.

No. No thinking was involved.

Not when you are basically kidnapped out of your apartment. As soon as you get home from the library, you are being grabbed around the waist hauled up and out of your modest and tiny living space.

“How dare you ! You are supposed to be on my team! Team Always Stay At Home Like Gremlins!” You seethe furiously at your best friend and roommate, Jon Snow, who has a hold of your feet to stop you from kicking the man who has you on his shoulder.

“I know ! I’m sorry, but… Margaery told me to…” Jon says with a weary and apologetic smile. “And plus… Sansa’s going to the party.”

“She’s your cousin, you weirdo !” You bite back at him, and from over your shoulder you can see he is just blushing profusely, unperturbed by the accusation you threw at him. Under you, Theon Greyjoy is laughing so hard in that annoying way of his, so you warn him, “Don’t even get me started with you, buddy.”

He shuts his mouth rather quickly after that.

You are hauled into the car waiting at the front of the apartment, and when you settle in as comfortably as you could after getting tossed into the backseat by Theon, you are faced with Robb and Meera peering back at you from the front seats.

“Where’s Sansa and Marg?” You ask once the car pulls away, sandwiched between Jon and Theon.

“Oh, you know… taking a million hours to get ready,” Robb says as he turns right on a street that the robotic lady navigating him tells him to turn at — heading to Loras Tyrell’s penthouse.

You gesture down at your own outfit — a cream oversized Vale U hoodie and loose blue jeans. “And I didn’t get the same courtesy because…?”

You are not even going to mention your unstyled hair and lack of makeup.

Meera playfully rolls her eyes. “You look great… like always.”

You stick your tongue out at her while grabbing your phone out of your pocket.

To Aemond — Heeeeey! I’m coming to the party! You don’t need to pick me up, I have a ride and I’m already on my way there! — see you soon 😃 !

Then before you have a chance to put it away, you notice the little message typing bubble pop up and you wait for a few seconds, and then…

Your mouth gapes open in offense.

The asshole leaves you on read.

“Maybe he got distracted with something,” of course it’s Jon trying to reason and be practical about the whole situation, always trying to give people the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes it just sounds like he is playing devil’s advocate — like this time, since it involves Aemond “The Ice Prince” Targaryen. “Didn’t you say he was typing something before he didn’t respond at all?”

“I think he is just a right royal prick,” Robb states, which makes the girl he has his arms around giggle.

All your friends are stuffed into an elevator now heading up to the party at Margaery’s brother’s place. And instead of being excited for the night since Loras usually throws the best parties, you’re just pissed off, staring at the read receipt you’ve gotten more than 20 minutes ago.

“Thank you, Robb!” You appreciate that you at least have someone on your side on this.

“Watch though, as soon as we step inside, he’ll be a blubbering mess and he’ll tell you he couldn’t respond because the ____ ____ actually messaged him back,” Margaery predicts, somewhat jokingly.

“Now that I can’t ever see happening in a million years!” Theon snickers. “Do you see what she’s wearing?”

Gasping, you slap his arm. “You said I looked fine, you dick!”

“Meera said you looked fine, I didn’t say nor agree with anything!”

With your friends laughing at yours and Theon’s shenanigans and just when you were about to hit him again, the door of the elevator opens to the sound of smooth R&B.

“Is that…?” You trail off, listening closely when you step out the elevator. Once you recognize the artist singing live for the party guests, you hit Theon’s arm multiple times out of excitement. “GREY WORM?!”

You ignore Theon’s whining and pouting about how you are hurting him (you weren’t, he’s just being dramatic) to squeal with Sansa – who also loves the up and coming vocalist just as much as you do.

Sansa links her arm around yours and the two of you set off to the huge living area to join the crowd dancing and singing along with Grey Worm.

Margaery and Robb find the two of you later in the middle of the dancefloor, still dancing and singing your lungs out. They bring with them four little cups, and after toasting with your friends, you knock back your first shot for the night — and definitely not the last.

After Grey Worm plays his last encore song for the night, you boo lightheartedly with the crowd making the handsome Astapori laugh, promising he’ll be back in the Vale soon for a proper concert. When he steps off the “stage” (which was just a 6 inch platform) he kisses the most gorgeous woman you’ve ever seen and you almost want to boo seriously because how are you supposed to compete with that?!

You pout with Sansa, both your dreams dashed in an instant. As the DJ returns to her booth, the room is shaken with the loud bass of HEATED by Beyoncé – the most popular artist in all six continents of the world – you turn to Margaery to ask, “Why was Grey Worm the opening act and Ramsay’s dark-sided heavy metal band the main one for the night?”

Margaery sighs and rolls her eyes, “Well, Renly just signed Ramsay’s band to his label so my brother wanted to be the ever supportive boyfriend… I told him to switch it around but when he asked Ramsay, the manchild threw a fit…”

“Of course he did,” Sansa says, shaking her head in mild disbelief.

“Let’s stop talking about the prick and have some fun before he inevitably goes on that stage, yeah?” Robb suggests, and you all agree with him, deciding not to let Ramsay ruin your night. Maybe later, when he does start his set, you can all just head to the outdoor balcony with the pool and mini bar.

You stay dancing with your friends until the song ends before you part with them to grab yourself another drink. You were also incredibly hot, so once you were out of the crowd, you pull off your hoodie, now only wearing a white tank top – very Olivia Rodrigo chic. You toss the hoodie onto one of the couches, knowing no one here will ever steal Vale U merch (and if someone does, it’s whatever) and then you head to the bar. You take another shot while you order a peach bellini and as you wait for your drink to be made, your eyes scan the room. The party is in full swing now and there has to be more than fifty people in this room alone, so there must be plenty more in other areas of the penthouse. Just as you get your drink, you notice someone from the corner of your eyes standing against the wall by a loveseat pretty close to you.

The guy who left you on read, Aemond Targaryen.

You suppose you weren’t pissed off anymore (and perhaps Jon was right that he got distracted by something) so you decide you should at least say hi. With your drink in hand, you walk to him and you have to admit… He is looking pretty good tonight. The black silk button up shirt he has on fits so nicely against his body and it is tucked into an equally as tight leather pants that left no room to the imagination. You might have drooled a little, you’re not even going to lie.

As you approach him, his eye lands on you, taking in you in a way that makes you feel like he is devouring you whole. His mouth parts slightly while his thumb starts to skim across the rim of the glass cup of whiskey on ice he is holding. Maybe it’s the shots you’ve taken, or maybe Meera was right — maybe you do look good.

You were so distracted by how handsome he looks that you didn’t even notice the company he is with until it was too late.

“Well, well… Isn’t this a nice surprise, angel eyes?” Is what you hear when you are about to say hello to Aemond. As you grimace at the sound of his voice, Aemond looks between you and the man sitting on the couch he is beside.

Ramsay takes away the arm he has around the girl who is sitting with him to put both his elbows on his knees and clasps his hands together, leaning forward to regard you closer.

“Finally ready to make nice again, sweetheart?” Ramsay asks you, that infuriating smirk on his lips.

“You two know each other?!” Aegon Targaryen — Aemond’s older brother by three years — questions like he cannot believe it to be true. You wish it wasn’t true. But sadly, it is. You went on five dates with the scumbag just last year.

“No,” you tut out at the same time Ramsay replies, “She’s my ex.”

“Ex?!” you scoff out with a laugh. “We went on, like, five dates, my dude.”

Ramsay gasps mockingly, grabbing onto his chest. “Oh sweetheart, how you wound my fragile heart. I thought what we had was special!”

You roll your eyes, but decide not to give him the satisfaction of another reply from you. So you turn to Aemond instead, throwing him a very expectant smile but you are met with a carefully neutral expression. You falter slightly under his stare, licking your lips and then pressing it together before you tell him, “Hey, uh, sorry I didn’t come here with you. I got pretty much held hostage by my friends as soon as I got home from school.”

Aemond nods slowly with a throaty hum. “It’s fine.”

Feeling several eyes on you, you mirror the bob of his head as you wait for him to say something — anything — else.

“Are you… having fun?” You ask, breaking first.

Eye still on you, Aemond shrugs nonchalantly. But after a couple of seconds, he turns his head away, looking to the side as he takes a sip of his drink, then keeps his stare at the dancing crowd as if you weren’t even standing in front of him.

You let out a humorless chuckle, trying not to feel rejected.

“Okay, then… Great talk,” you murmur, then you promptly walk away before you humiliate yourself any further.

What is his deal ?

First he invites you to this stupid party, then he leaves you on read, and now he makes you a fool in front of all his friends…

Honestly… It’s on you for expecting anything different.

Once you turn to leave, Aemond is quick to watch you walk away with an indecipherable look on his face. Never once taking his eye off you until you eventually blend into the crowd.

“Was that her?” Vis asks — a distant cousin of Aemond’s, with the same name as his dad (a Targaryen thing; after the 10th generation they just became less and less creative and started reusing the same 10 names). “Is that the girl?”

“Yesss , it issss!” Aegon answers in a sing-song, slurring his words from the many shots and bottles of beer he has downed already.

“The girl?” Ramsay questions, frowning in confusion. Meanwhile, Vis grimaces in disgust, muttering something rude about your outfit.

“The girl Aemond needs to trick into falling in love with him,” Aegon supplies, walking over to his younger brother to wrap his arm around the taller man. With his hand grasping tight on Aemond, Aegon shakes him and sharply hisses in his ear, “And you’re already fucking it up, little brother.”

With a scowl, Aemond jerks aggressively, successful with getting his brother off of him with a shrug of his shoulder and an elbow into Aegon’s stomach.

“Ooooh , ___ is the girl?” Ramsay exclaims, blue eyes lighting up with excitement at the remembrance of what they had all talked about about a week ago. “You should have told me earlier, and I wouldn’t have said all that… Now, I just reminded her of all the good times we had together–” Winking at Aemond, he finishes with, “It’s going to be tougher for you now, little Aemond.”

Aemond scoffs, eyes rolling off to the side.

Vis’ younger sister, Dany, turns to Ramsay, her thick and pretty brows drawing together in confusion. “Isn’t that the girl that blocked you on all her social media accounts?”

“Yeah,” Ramsay’s head rolls slowly from one side to the other as if saying ‘what of it?’. “Because she was so madly in love with me and was so distraught to find out she wasn’t the only girl I was dating at the time…”

At that, Aemond decides it’s time to tune Ramsay’s annoying ass out. He huffs out, finishing his drink to leave his group of… people he hangs out with, to get another at the bar.

He feels someone following behind him, but they don’t make themselves known until they are both standing by the bar.

“You’re acting like a bigger asshole than you usually are tonight,” Alys Rivers tells Aemond without any prompting after they order their drinks. Just as he was about to roll his eye for the hundredth time that evening, Alys shakes her head and holds a finger up, “ Don’t roll your eye at me… You know I’m right.”

Aemond sighs and says nothing because she is right, and so he sips on his drink instead as soon as it is slid towards him.

Alys turns her whole body towards him, direct and headstrong like always when she tells him, “How do you expect her to fall in love with you even just a little bit if you treat her like that?”

Aemond holds her gaze for only a few seconds before it drops down to the clinking of melting ice in the cup he had placed on the bar table. “This is the stupidest plan I’ve ever agreed to be a part of.”

The only person that he actually likes in his so-called friend group lets out a short chuckle, reminding him, “I’m pretty sure I told you that when Aegon first mentioned it.”

Aemond lets out a dissatisfied hum, bringing his glass up to his mouth to take another swallow.

“You know you can just… not do it. Leave the poor girl alone.”

Aemond frowns. “I’m already in it.”

Alys snorts at that. “Barely.”

Then Aemond goes quiet, deep in thought. Because once again, Alys is right. He can just back out, let Aegon do this stupid plan. Why should he waste his time on this? Waste his time with you?

But then again… He doesn’t trust his brother to do anything right. So in the end, it has to be him.

“I have to do it,” he says in a way that leaves no room for doubt. “You know what’s at stake, Alys.”

At that, Alys sighs heavily and nods in relent. “Right. Of course…” Then she offers him an encouraging smile. “At least we now know it won’t be that hard for her to fall for you… She did date Ramsay after all…”

Aemond lets out a combination of a snort and a chuckle, tipping his glass towards Alys. “You’re right.”

Her small smile spreads into a bigger one, eyes rolling teasingly. “I’m always right, Aemond. You should know that by now,” then as she clinks her glass against his, she adds, “And I have one more prediction with this idiotic plan of yours.”

Leaning on the elbow he has rested on the table, Aemond tips his head to the side and decides to humor her with a question, “And what’s that?”

With a secretive smirk, Alys brings her wine glass up to her dark red lips and says before taking a sip, “You’re going to accidentally fall for her first.”

And for the first time in forever, Aemond actually lets out an uncharacteristically loud laugh, gazing incredulously at his friend like she has gone crazy.

Because that will never, ever happen. Not in a million years.

Much to your surprise, it is Gendry Baratheon who pulls you out of your sour mood with his silly jokes and cute flirty comments.

When he asks you to dance, you glance discreetly to Sansa for permission but she is too busy canoodling with her cousin , so you look towards the next best option — Robb. The oldest Stark sibling gives you a thumbs up. Their younger sister, Arya, dated the hot architecture major but dumped him before she dropped out of uni just the previous year to travel the world and learn from experience instead of books.

You’re glad for his approval, because as you grind your hips against Gendry’s with his hands tight on your waist, you realize how much you are a sucker for pretty boys with dark hair and light eyes. That’s probably the only reason you swiped right on Ramsay.

“You know, I’ve been wanting to talk to you for a while…” Gendry simmers, the pupils in his bright blue eyes blown with desire, pressing himself even firmer against you. Very firm indeed.

“Yeah?” You smirk with an adorable tilt of your head, threading your fingers into the hair on the nape of his neck, bringing his face down closer to yours. “And why didn’t you?”

His long dark lashes flatter, eyes roaming your face as he murmurs somewhat absentmindedly, “You really don’t know how intimidatingly gorgeous you are, do you…?”

After a gleeful giggle, you let out a soft sigh as you lean in at the same time, wanting to close the distance between your lips. But just when your mouth is about to touch Gendry’s chapped yet alluring lips, you are being yanked away from him rather harshly with a hand that had just clasped around your elbow. At the rather disorienting motion of the pull, you end up smacking face first into the chest of the person who is the culprit of the rude interruption.

The guy smells so goddamn good that you almost melt into him, until you remember why your nose is pressed onto him in the first place —

“What the heck?!” You cry out, prying yourself away from the person to glare at them. What you find is Aemond staring down at you before he glances over at the man behind you.

“It’s a bit of a bastard move to try and stick your tongue down the throat of someone else’s date, don’t you think, Baratheon?”

Both yours and Gendry’s mouth drop at Aemond’s accusatory statement.

DATE?! WHAT IS THIS SCUMBAG ON ABOUT?!

“Sorry, man… I honestly didn’t know you two were a thing…” Gendry apologizes to Aemond, then looks at you longingly before he walks away, muttering under his breath, “Seven Hells, I need another drink.”

“Wait, Gen …” you trail off when he glances at you in a way that makes you falter, shaking his head with a heavy sigh of disappointment – which you think might not be because he thinks you’re taken but because he expected better of you to not cheat on your boyfriend . You want to stop him and tell him it wasn’t true because it’s not!

“No… come back…” You cry out pathetically, reaching out dramatically but he is already too far gone. You deflate, wallowing in your sadness for a couple more seconds until your ire strikes and you glower at the reason you did not end the night with making out with one of the hottest guys at the party.

In the middle of the dancefloor, Aemond stands stiff rod straight with his hands clasped together behind his back, a shit-eating grin lifting his lips.

Bitch, you declare in your mind.

Your arms are wildly moving when you ask him incredulously, “What the hell was that?” Then quieter, you harshly whisper, “Why did you tell him I was your date?!”

“I invited you to this party, didn’t I?” Aemond questions, head cocking.

“Yeah…?”

“And you texted me you’re coming…” “You mean the text you ig–”

“So then that means you’re my date,” Aemond declares as if it’s that simple, cutting you off rudely. Then his hand clutches over his heart, pouting mockingly. “and you’ve hurt my feelings terribly by dancing with another guy.”

You might not be as sober as you thought because instead of remaining pissed off, you are actually kinda… impressed . This is the most personality you have ever seen Aemond have. A bit vindictive, sure, but at least he is not all emo sad sulking boy like you previously thought he was just.

Though… unlucky for him… you can be quite a menace yourself. And you still haven’t forgiven him for leaving you on read, making you look dumb in front of his friends, and now cockblocking you from getting a hot piece of ass— Oh boy… You are heated all over again.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Aemond,” you say with poutiest of pouts (the one you use whenever you want something to go your way. And it usually works, just ask Jon and all the times he went out to the 24 hours convenience store a few streets down at two in the morning to grab whatever you wanted) then you mirror him, grabbing at your heart.

Aemond’s eye flicker down from your begrudgingly cute face to where your hand lands, taking a sharp inhale as you squeeze your boob, before meeting your eyes again with his own wide, looking so confused at your sudden 180 — and also, why are you fondling yourself?!

“How will I ever make it up to you?”

But you give him no chance to answer because you all of the sudden perk up, clapping your hands together as you exclaim, “I know! Since you wanted to dance with me so badly—“ you titter out a quite evil-sounding giggle, “— then we’re gonna dance, baby !”

Aemond frowns, shaking his head minutely, “I didn’t—“

But you’re already dancing — and quite horribly as well. Where was the rhythm you had when you were grinding with the Baratheon bastard? Aemond wonders while watching your every uncoordinated move with an unimpressed hmm.

Little does he know, you’re dancing this bad on purpose. You can dance — maybe not as well as Meera but you can keep a rhythm. For Aemond though — your sweet, sweet date who is always so prim, proper and collected — oh how embarrassed he will be to be seen with someone who is not as perfect as him. Someone who can’t help but make a fool of herself and in turn, him , for being tied to her.

With your fists pressing against your chest and your elbows out, you start to shake your arms back and forth. You’re actually surprised Aemond is able to hold eye contact with you… Maybe you’re not doing enough? So you suppose you need to turn it up a notch.

And as if the DJ is your partner in crime, the next song she plays is absolutely perfect.

I can lick it, I can ride it while you slippin’ and slidin’..

You start with something easy, dipping your hips side to side, enough to be sensual and then—

I can do all them little tricks…

BAM!

The sprinkler! You even make the sound effect, clicking your tongue against the roof of your mouth to sound out the tcktcktcktck as you wave your arm above your head in a jerking motion.

And keep the dick up inside it…

You jump, landing on your feet wide apart with bent and spread knees, smacking the top of your thighs loudly. Aemond’s face remains completely unfazed even though there is an audience starting to surround the two of you now. But your gaze only on each other.

You can smack it, you can grip it…

You straighten up, turning around swiftly, slapping your butt next as you look over your shoulder at Aemond with a wink. You hear people hoot and holler — sounding a lot like Theon and Margaery.

You can go down and kiss it…

Grinning at your friend’s encouragement, you drop down—

All the way to the floor, laying on your front on the ground to wave your whole body, doing the worm so impressively and backwards instead of forward that the whole crowd cheers so loudly.

You hop up just as fast onto your feet, looking down at yourself and find you were lucky enough to not have a drip of gross wetness on you from all the drinks sloshed onto the floor throughout the night. Now that’s a miracle.

And every time he leave me ‘lone, he always tell me he miss it…

After shrugging to yourself, you make eye contact with Aemond again, stepping towards him with a sultry smirk, your fingers trailing on his body as you make your way around him, stopping behind him to breathily sing into his ear the next part…

He want a F-F-R-EEeeEee-A-K…

You suppress the giggle when you feel him shiver. Probably out of disgust and mortification — and you couldn’t be more proud of yourself.

You move again, to complete your circling around him, finally almost in front of him again—

F-F-R-Eee—-

“—EEP!”

That was you, bleeting louder than the music, all because you were suddenly grabbed by the waist and dipped down low by none other than Aemond Targaryen.

The crowd goes wild, thinking that what is happening in front of them is a risqué kiss between the Ice Prince and the weird dancing girl. But it is not that all, because what Aemond’s pretty long hair has hidden from view of prying eyes is not a stolen kiss, but it’s his burning gaze on you as he growls a little too ferally, “You think you’re real cute, don’t you, love?”

As he impressively keeps the two of you in that position, his arm solidly around your waist and his other hand cupping the back of your head so gently, you can’t help but really look at him for the first time in your life. It’s hard to deny it, but he really is so easy on the eye. The slope of his nose is enviously perfect, his violet eye the brightest and most vibrant out of all his family, and…

Though he did not move one inch during your dance for him, Aemond is breathing quite as heavily as you are. The puff of his hot breath on your mouth has you looking down, and his eye follows where you look.

Aemond’s lips… They look so soft and the shape of them so sharp at the edges… You kind of want a feel of them against yours. Just to see…

His tongue peeks out, wetting his mouth, and you blink slow in rapt attention. Once he is done, you flutter your lashes, glancing back up to meet his gaze from beneath them.

He is too undeniably pretty, it’s unfair!

If Aemond is moving closer towards you, you don’t notice. Your nerves are getting the better of you, all thoughts have gone out the window.

And that is why you so suddenly blurt out with a crooked smile, “So… ya like jazz?”

Aemond’s features twist into one of confusion before he starts to laugh as he pulls the both of you up to stand. The crowd has disappeared, onto the next big thing — a fight that broke out in the kitchen. But you and Aemond stay, with also a few stragglers still dancing.

You burn with embarrassment. This is Jon’s fault! He’s the one who suggested to watch The Bee Movie last night. And you know what’s also his fault? The reason you were born in the first place! If his mom — your god mother Lyanna, and also your mom’s best friend — hadn’t gotten knocked up by her summer fling, your mother wouldn’t have begged your dad to start a family so quickly because they’ve always wanted to have their kids grow up together.

While you make threats at Jon Snow in your head — promising he will rue the day he was born — Aemond is still laughing, telling you, “You’re absolutely ridiculous.”

You take a chance to glance sideways at him….

The smile that lights up Aemond’s face is so gorgeous and glorious that your mouth parts in awe and your heartbeat starts to race.

As you continue to openly stare now, it dawns on you that this is the first you’ve seen Aemond with such a genuine smile. The others were either snarky smirks or put on to appease whoever he was speaking to.

You can’t believe he has been hiding this from the world.

“Wow… You should smile more often,” you murmur without really thinking about it. “It looks nice on you.”

His face flattens as soon as the words leave you, pink blushing his cheeks and his ears as he swiftly turns on his heels to walk away. You don’t allow him to get far, grabbing onto his hand to pull him back towards you, whining out with laughter, “Noooo … don’t be embarrassed! I’ll shut up!”

After heaving the most exhausted sigh you’ve ever heard, Aemond turns back around to face you. You flutter your lashes at him to seem innocent, an overly optimistic smile rounding your cheeks adorably.

“Do you want to dance?” You ask him. “Like, for real this time?”

While he eyes you warily, Aemond finds himself nodding slowly. At his acceptance, you let out a goblin like giggle of heh heh heh while you take his other hand, both of his in both of yours.

You start to move, encouraging him to do so too with the bobbing of your head in time with the beat of the music. Clearing his throat, Aemond begins to move as well… And you don’t know how but… He makes the simplest move of swaying side to side look so… painful.

“Oh, okay, wow…” You mutter, head tilting while looking down at his feet. “… Not the best footwork…”

“I thought you said you’ll shut up?” Aemond snaps with a fierce glare your way. You manage to suppress another laugh, tightly pressing your lips together to motion a pretend zipper closing across the seam of it with your fingers before lacing your hand with his again.

You spend the next half hour teaching him how to dance. It wasn’t particularly successful, but at least you had fun!

You think Aemond did too.

He smiled and laughed more times than you can count with both your hands.

And like you told him earlier, it looks nice on him.

Aemond drives you home before Ramsay’s band starts their set. Not because you didn’t want to watch them (which you didn’t, but that’s besides the point) but because the worm you did actually hurt your back a little, the pain didn’t start until later.

So as you lay in your bed, you make a note to yourself: never do the worm again.

Scratch that.

Never do the worm again drunk.

Come on! You can’t completely forego a classic!

Growing more tired, you check your phone one last time. Shooting your friends messages to get home safe and also to Jon — please pick me up some pain killers 🥺.

Then for some reason the last message conversation you open up is the one with the newest contact on your phone.

It’s barely a conversation , you think to yourself as you stare at the glaring read receipt. And yet that doesn’t stop you from double texting.

To Aemond — I had fun with you tonight ☺️

You turn to your side just as the all too familiar ‘…’ bubble from his side of the conversation pops up. You frown at your phone; waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and…

Your eyes light up, grinning wide with an overjoyed giggle.

Because Aemond didn’t leave you hanging this time. Not at all.

From Aemond — I had fun with you as well. — Have a good night. — Rest well and take a Poppyvil for your back. — If it gets worse tomorrow, let me know.

You send him back an ‘I will 🤠’ before you begin to drift off to sleep, your phone pressed to your chest and a smile on your face put on there by the last person you would ever expect to — Aemond Targaryen.

untitled playlist 🎵 nothing else i could do · ella jane

author’s note: i hope you guys enjoy the first part of this story :)!! i’m so so excited for the rest!! the song that will be at the end of every chapter (or maybe scattered throughout the fic, i’m not sure yet lol) is a song that the oc puts in a playlist that she unknowingly makes with aemond in mind hehe.

let me know what you think!! feedback keeps us writers motivated :)!!

#aemond targaryen x reader #aemond x reader #aemond smut #aemond targaryen smut #hotd imagine #hotd smut #aemond targaryen #hotd

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emo-batboy · 1 year

Note

thoughts on battinson with his like seven kids and they have to suffer through everyone wanting to fuck him cause have you seen him??

Alright so this response kinda works in a competely separate realm of canon than what I usually post. I’m gonna preface that right now, but BOY do I have thoughts :D

So when I think of Battinson and his (non)accidental orphan acquisition, I see Battinson as being on a much more even playing field emotionally than most other iterations. He’s not really as stoic and put-together, so having kids (especially multiple) would cause a LOT more chaos and drama. So in this case, I like to think that it happens at a very rapid rate. (Again, I’m saying this because this require straying from the film’s canon to a much larger degree than I usually do.) SO by the time he’s 32, he has an 11yo Dick, a 9yo Jason, and an 8yo Tim. And they probably grow with him much like teen parents do with their kids. He’s not as authoritative as most parents. Instead, he starts out as like half older brother, half dad, then graduates to the roll of batdad after his whole vengeance era.

THAT ALL BEING SAID!! BECAUSE THEY’RE SO MUCH OLDER AND BRUCE IS YOUNGER, THEY DEAL WITH A LOOOOTTTTTT OF CREEPY LADIES TRYING GO GET WITH THEIR DAD. (AND THEY ARE VERY. SMART. FOR THEIR AGE)

Dick, older brother and the leader of the “Save Dad and Our Childhood Innocence” brigade teaches the three everything there is to know. He is the most experienced with these awful public events like galas and charity auctions, so he is in control.

And it is SO much easier to get the creepy suitors to back off when they work as a team

Dick talks everyone’s ears off. He’s the golden boy (getting perfect grades and gold medals in his school’s gymnastics team) so he EASILY gets away with distracting people

Dick will insert himself into adult conversations all the time, and Bruce always lets him, which allows Jason and Tim to wreak havoc on whatever target they chose.

Whenever it isn’t too obvious or it’s late enough in the night, Jason will fake a cold or a headache sometimes (he’s prone to falling sick) and Bruce will insist that he take his kid home and tuck him into bed himself, very fatherly

Tim uses his Youngest Child points to woo the nicer ones and direct them away from Bruce, but it doesn’t usually works on the gold diggers (and thank god because Tim HATES acting cute) so he’ll use it on Bruce instead

When those three plans don’t work, the three gremlins start getting Creative TM

Jason, taking a swig from some wine glass and proceeding to spray it all over Vicky Vale’s white dress: “This isn’t grape juice!”

Tim, resident iPad kid and (despite popular belief) The Most Evil of the Three, sees some lady touching his batdad so he finds her phone number on an online directory and prank calls her every time she gets too close

Suitor: “Your father is very handsome.” Dick: “My father’s dead :(” “…” “Oh wait, you mean Bruce! Yeah, he’s nice.”

One lady starts hanging off of Bruce, but he needs to run off to say hello to an investor. Jason appears from nowhere in his dapper little tux and the lady just says, “So uhh, you like the Wiggles, right?” Jason: “Nope! Have you ever read Crime and Punishment? :)”

Dick “accidentally” slaps some obnoxious guests with his wild hand gestures “Oh no! I’m so sorry :(( Let me get you an ice pack” and pulls them away while the other two hide their laughter

One of the ladies who is WAY too comfortable and forward when flirting with Bruce is forced to sit down with Tim and he goes in head first “what are you doing with my dad?” “oh you know what adults do, honey. Messing around, having fun” and he’s like “well My dad doesn’t look interested” “of course he is! who knows? Maybe we’ll hit it off and make another one of you one day” which gives Tim intense psychic damage, but he’s a horrible little brat so he doesn’t give up. He hits her with the innocent doe eyes and asks in the cutest fucking voice “Where do babies come from?” she BOOKS IT (they never see her again)

Anyway, to answer your question: they are little terrors. and Bruce knows they’re little terrors, but he doesn’t care because he hates the creepy attention even more than they do, but this way it comes with a show :D

#battinson #bruce wayne #batman #the batman 2022 #the batman #batman 2022 #batdad #batfamily #dick grayson #jason todd #tim drake #dc universe #you get ‘em kids

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simple-dark-eyes · 10 months

Text

*Mexican!Yuu, going to Savanaclaw after putting up the ramshackle for collateral. Leona basically called them dumb for making a deal with Azul.*

Yuu: *pulling out the chancla* I'm going full Mexican on your bitch ass!¡Mas te vale que nos des un pinche cuarto! ¡Si no, horita te tumbo los pinche ojos güey!

Leona: Someone tell me what they're saying! I don't speak Taco Bell!

Ruggie: *hysterically laughing despite also not knowing what was said*

Leona: What the fuck are they saying?!

Ruggie: *wheezing, practically dying from laughter*

#twisted wonderland #leona kingscholar #ruggie bucchi #mexican yuu #hispanic yuu #disney twisted wonderland #twst incorrect quotes #twisted wonderland x yuu #night raven college #grim is having flashbacks to all the times he climbed on the counters without washing his paws #source: tiktok #writing and speaking spanish is very different...#twst #latino yuu

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narislvr · 5 months

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˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ Ahhh, Thank you so much for requesting and of course! ♡ Valeria would definitely be the type to tease reader saying stuff along the lines of "told you they were, demonios," but would offer her support and comfort regardless because she simply loves you that much. This may be a tad bit rushed but I hope you enjoy! <3

── p.s : I accidentally deleted the original post I was gonna use to respond to the ask thus why it's posted like this-

req by: @cerise-on-top

Your hair was damp against Valeria’s stomach as she gently combed through it with her calloused fingers. Her touch was slow and tender, leaving on your scalp a lulling sensation as you continued your rant about your day's events.

“It was ten minutes, Vale! Ten!”

You look up momentarily from where your head was resting on her lap only to find her already looking down at you with a mocking, yet loving, grin on her lips. “That’s why you don’t leave children unattended, Linda. You of all people should know that,” She taunts, poking the tip of your nose with her free hand in amusement as your eyes narrowed at her actions. Of course, she knew you weren’t at fault, but she couldnt help the lighthearted laughter that rumbled through her as you swatted her finger from your face.

"I didn't leave them unattended, I simply let them play in their centers while I finished the screening tests for the last three kids.. I didn't think that they'd be able to drop the whole paint bottle tray on the floor the one second I'm not looking up!" You groan, hands coming up to rub at your temples as you recalled the memory.

With holiday break only being a week away, first semester screening tests were being done to make sure that the kids were learning the things necessary before the end of the year, and so far nothing had gone wrong. Usually while you performed these mini tests, you had your TA keep an eye on the kids in the room whilst you sat with your small group in one of the corner tables, but she was out sick and you still needed to get this last group done so you were responsible for keeping track of everything at once.

You definitely had this under control.

The kids were usually relatively calm and would tend to stay in their play area's while you were busy unless they needed help with anything but that was normal. And yeah, they could be a bit loud, but it was never anything so bad that you would have to turn your attention away from your task.

You definitely this under control. you had forgotten that they had had a sweet treat for snack time only a few moments prior.

Everything was going well, perfect even, until you heard the loud sound of heavy plastic hitting the floor and the yelps and giggles from the children in the corner of the room.

"Of course the first thing I did was make sure everyone was okay, but Vale, the paint was everywhere! Juan had paint all over his pants and shoes and thought I was mad so he ran away and left paint all over the rest of the floor. I told the kids to just leave it while I tried to make sure Juan knew I wasn't mad, but they decided they'd try and help clean it up and really only got more paint on themselves," You sighed, carefully switching your position from resting on her lap to laying against her side, head resting against her chest as she gently wrapped her arm around your waist.

There was a light grimace on her face as she thought about your story. She already wasn't fond of kids, thinking of them as nothing more than literal demons, inconveniences, leaving chaos with everything they touched, so the thought of running behind children covered in paint only served as further deterance from ever wanting kids. "No entiendo cómo le haces, I would've been fired the moment I heard the thing fall down. Probably way before then" She mumbles, earning a small laugh from you as you look up at her and send her a playful disaproving look. She only shakes her head, a hint of a grin on her lips as she raises a brow and meets your gaze, "Que te ries, eh? We both know I would've gone off on all of them. Apenas si tengo la paciencia to deal with grown ass men, imagine me with a group of 18 chamacos. You're doing God's work, Linda."

She presses a kiss against your temple, her fingers gently tapping a lazy rhythm against your stomach as you close your eyes and smile to yourself. You knew Valeria probably had a stressful day herself, it being noticeable due to the heavy bags beneath her eyes and the way she seemed want nothing less but to close her eyes and slip into some much needed slumber, but she still made time to listen to you. Your days were nothing compared to hers, and even if she wasn't the most outwardly affectionate with words, she still never failed to let you know she cared. That you were loved, heard.

"Maybe I should bring you with me to work next time my partner doesn't come in. Would definitely make my day easier" You murmur against her chest, a cheeky tone in your tired voice as you burry yourself closer to her. You hear her scoff and you chuckle once more, not having to raise your head to know there was a look of horror on her face at your suggestion.

"Ya mejor vete a dórmir, you're talking nonsense, chula," She exhales, feign annoyance in her voice as she rests her head over yours, holding you close.

"Was just a thought. You should consider it sometime."

A moment of silence.

"Vale?"

"Hm?"

"I love you."

"I know."

"You're not gonna say it back?"

"You know I love you. More than anything. Even if you do still smell like paint."

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ translations:

── Linda: "Pretty"

── No entiendo cómo le haces: "I don't know how you do it"

── Que te ries: "what are you laughing at?"

── Apenas si tengo la paciencia: "I barely have the patience"

── Chamacos: "Children"

── Ya mejor vete a dormir: "Go to sleep instead"

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suzukiblu · 6 months

Note

Oh shit, or weird Kryptonian bonding rituals for WIP wednesday, if you'd rather do that

Clark’s lost count of how many rounds of tag they’ve played when he hears one of the few things that would distract him from Superboy right now, which is Lois yelling for him from the roof of the Daily Planet.

“CLARK!” she bellows, and his head snaps towards her reflexively. Superboy has just tackled him again and is hanging off his back, and Clark takes half a moment to grab onto the arm he has around his neck, then tears off full-speed towards the Planet. Superboy yelps in surprise, then bursts into laughter and clings tighter to him.

“This isn’t how you play!” he protests laughingly, though he doesn’t make any actual attempts to escape, and Clark jerks to a stop in the air just above Lois and Jimmy, who are both standing on the roof of the Planet with both their own lunch boxes and his own. They don’t look like they’re in trouble, but he doesn’t know why else Lois would be yelling so loudly for him.

He hopes Vicki Vale isn’t back. Vicki Vale being back would not be a good time.

“Is everything okay?” Clark asks worriedly as Superboy peers over his shoulder at Lois and Jimmy, looking curious.

“Cl–Superman, what are you doing?!” Lois demands. Jimmy just looks bewildered, for some reason. “You’ve spent the past hour flying all over the city with some kid who looks just like you and you let Cat Grant scoop me on it?!”

“Oh,” Clark realizes, and winces. He definitely should’ve told Lois he had a kid before taking said kid off to play where cell phones and security cameras could pick it up. “Sorry, Lois. This is Superboy. He’s my kid. Superboy, this is Lois Lane and this is Jimmy Olsen. They’re my best friends. Um, well–Jimmy’s my best friend, Lois is more, um . . .”

“Do you have a girlfriend, Dad?” Superboy asks, perking up all the more curiously.

“‘DAD’?!” Lois sputters, dropping her lunchbox.

“. . . I immediately miss being in charge of Flamebird,” Jimmy mutters feelingly. “Can I hack the account to post about this, do you think? Is that a thing that I can do?”

#eleutheria-has-won #wip: weird kryptonian bonding rituals

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theres-whump-in-that-nebula · 1 year

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Ok but the tit-for-tat nature of doing good deeds in relation to bad deeds that Mrs. DeShamble has basically describes my sense of morality, ngl

#the vale of laughter #I’ve gotten past the worst parts… hopefully #It’s been twenty-three pages without a slur. Please stay that way #I guess I’ll do book updates; but I won’t read or engage with any other posts

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fairysluna · 1 year

Text

what should've been.

Aegon has always been in love with his loyal childhood companion, so when King Viserys proposed a betrothal between them, he's absolutely blissful with the idea, although his happiness wouldn't last long.

MASTERLIST | Epilogue

PAIRING — Aegon II Targaryen x Arryn!Reader.

TAGS/TW — friends to lovers, fluff, angst, death by illness, grief, cursing, teenage!aegon at the beginning, mentions of infertility, 'i hate everyone but you' trope.

AUTHOR'S NOTE — (2nd repost) small context, Aegon was named heir and reader is daughter of Lord Arryn who in this story is Maester of Law in the Small Council. this was a request, and ngl i loved this even tho it broke my heart... pls enjoy!!🤍

WORD COUNT — 7.6k

FEEDBACK, SHARES AND COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!!

Aegon's head was on her lap.

The girl was leaning back on the Weirwood tree while Aegon was listening to her reading. The book on her hand was about the Andals, and she looked genuinely interested in the lecture while Aegon couldn’t help but to follow the movement her lips did with every word she pronounced. It was hypnotizing, as if they were begging to be kissed by him.

While one of her hands was holding the old book, the other one was on his hair, stroking the strands of it with such delicacy and care that Aegon would have fallen asleep right there, but he forced his eyes to be open only to stare at her, and the flower that he had left in her hair a few minutes ago.

"... The Vale of Arryn is where is located the purest Andals' blood as it was the first place they reach in their arrival to Westeros, and where their invasion started-"

"So you are a pureblood then?" Aegon asked, teasingly interrupting her lecture. "I'm a pureblood too."

"Pureblood?" She repeated, closing the book and leaving it on the side. "What are you, a wolf?"

"I'm a dragon, love." He sat up and leaned forward, getting closer to her face. “The blood of Old Valyria runs in my veins, and the blood of the Andals runs in yours, perhaps we should mix them and make beautiful pureblood children." He teased her, moving his eyebrows up and down in a suggestive manner.

Lady Arryn laughed loudly at his antics, pushing him away by putting her hand against his chest. Aegon just smiled at her reaction, being mesmerized by the sound of her laughter. Her cheeks soon started blushing thanks to his shameless comment and he enjoyed the view, loving how she would get flustered whenever he said those kinds of things.

“I thought you did not wish for children.” She remembered him.

“Oh, I definitely don’t.” He shook his head, “But perhaps the process of making them would allow us to have some fun.”

The girl slapped the Prince’s arm, and he dropped his mouth, offended by the gesture.

“Aegon!” She scolded him.

“You just slapped the arm of the heir!” He jokingly said, “I can cut your hands for it.”

"Why would you say such a foolish thing?" She spoke between chuckles.

"It's not a 'foolish thing', it's a proposal." He clarified, "You will be my wife someday, I’m telling you."

"You're too confident." She claimed, "Due to your queer family customs, you will probably get married to Helaena."

His smile vanished almost immediately. His horror face was such a sight; his eyes widened and his eyebrows frowned exaggeratedly while his upper lip curled up. It was a hilarious scene that had the Lady chuckling quietly.

"Don't speak too loud, the Gods might hear you." He warned. "You are giving them ideas to punish me."

"You should stop giving them reasons to punish you."

"I don't do that!" He said offended. The girl stared at him with a serious semblance. Aegon smirked, "What? Does loving you so deeply be considered a sin?"

He leaned forward once again, this time he managed to kiss her cheek. The girl looked down, trying to hide her embarrassed face. No matter how many times Aegon would make those comments towards her, no matter how many times he would kiss her not-so-far from her lips; she just could not stop reacting that way. It is as if her body was trying to publicly show her feelings towards the Prince.

“You are a fool, Aegon.” She whispered, feeling his closeness. “Now, step back before someone sees us.”

“Why?” He looked around, and then looked back at her. “There’s no one here and I’m comfortable.”

“My honor would be doubted if they see you this close to me.” She explained with a subtle smile, “Step back, now.”

“But I love admiring your beauty from this angle.” He muttered, getting closer and closer.

“Aegon…” She pledged, feeling her heart beating faster.

“If you wouldn’t want it, you would stop me.”

She could feel his breathing crashing against her lips, she could sense the waves of the sound of his sweet voice; she was weak, she was panting as soon as she realized that just one push would be enough to feel his lips against hers for the first time; just a tiny push, but she didn’t have the guts to do it, she was too scared.

His hand fell on her soft cheek, Aegon felt the warmth of it and smirked. Her eyes were glistening and he knew for sure that his were too. He was so close to her that he was able to smell the scent of her hair, so sweet and delicious.

“I want to kiss you.” He said, brushing his lips against hers.

“Do it-”

“Prince Aegon.” Said a male voice behind them, interrupting the moment abruptly. Suddenly all the magic was gone.

The Lady pushed him away once more, this time it took him by surprise making him roll over until he laid on his back against the grass. He cleared his throat and composed himself quickly before looking at Ser Criston, who was curiously staring at the both of them. The poor girl was so flustered that she could not even look the guard in the face; she looked at the book in her hands instead.

“Lady Arryn.” He greeted, “The Queen wants to see you both.”

“Both?” She repeated, scandalized. “Why?”

“I’m afraid I’m only a messenger, my Lady.” Ser Criston replied, while offering his hand to her so she could stand up without problem.

“I was going to do that!” Aegon complained, but Ser Criston ignored him.

The both teens walked behind the guard with the white cloak in silence. Aegon would purposely brush his hand against hers only to make her smile; she would look at him with accomplice eyes in return for his silly action.

Once they arrived at the Council Room, Queen Alicent, King Viserys and Lord Arryn were waiting for them. Ser Criston bowed swiftly before going to a corner of the room. The three adults were showing serious semblances that put the teens into distress, unsure of what they would say.

“My King.” Lady Arryn said, bowing. “My Queen.” She repeated the action, and then she went to her father to whom she greeted with a soft kiss on his cheek.

“Why are we here?” Aegon asked.

“We have some important news we would like to share with you both.” King Viserys explained. “Please, be seated.”

They listened obediently, sitting right next to each other. Lady Arryn’s leg was jumping out of nervousness, thinking that someone might have seen all those times when Aegon tried to kiss her and she didn’t push him back, or that some maid could have started a rumor that put her honor in disgrace. She was tormenting herself with her ideas, getting more anxious by the second. Aegon noticed it, and he placed his hand over hers in order to calm her down a little. It worked.

“We all know how close you have been during your entire childhood and even now.” The King explained, “We also know that House Arryn has been loyal to our House since the days of Aegon the Conqueror, which is something I am truly grateful for.”

“We had a conversation during a Small Council meeting about your future as King.” Alicent spoke to his son, “And we have decided that it is time for you to marry with a good and decent Lady that could provide you with an heir.”

“And we have chosen you, Lady Arryn.” Viserys announced. The girl looked over the table to find her father smiling pleasantly, “Your father has just given us his blessing in this union and we are already getting the preparations for the wedding.”

“You’ll be married in a fortnight.” Said the Queen with a kind smile. “I hope this union makes you both equally happy.”

The girl could’t react at first, it felt like a dream. She has been in love with Aegon since she learned what it truly means to love someone; that thin, platinum haired boy has stolen her heart since they first met, and now she was getting married to him. To her Aegon.

Aegon was also so thrilled about the news that an incredulous smile formed on his face as soon as he heard the news. He looked at his mother and mouthed a subtle ‘thank you’ which made her smile. He was not used to getting what he wanted. He never did, actually. But this, the fact that he would get to spend the rest of his life with the girl he was deeply in love with, was more than enough for him.

He started to thank the Gods too for listening to his pledges, for giving him a chance to be happy. His heart was beating fast, and he didn’t know if it was because of the excitement or because he felt the eyes of his beloved on his face. He turned around and saw her softened haze and her sweet smile, it was impossible to ignore it.

“I told you.” Aegon said, “You will be my wife.”

Their wedding was beautiful. Lady Arryn wore a beautiful white gown with golden embroidery with the shape of pansies; her favorite flowers. Aegon's eyes were lost with her beauty that day, he could not believe his luck. Seeing her walking down the aisle with her father on her right arm and enormous bright smile on her face was enough for him to realize that he had everything he had ever dreamt of.

They were still too young to understand what marriage and forever truly mean, but they were excited to learn about those things together.

Aegon could not be separated from his wife during the whole night; he could not stop kissing her in front of everyone, for she was finally his. His sneaky hands were touching her body everytime they would go and dance in the middle of the whole; Alicent would send warning stares at her oldest son,but he would just ignore them, he was way too happy to even care about what she might say about his attitude. Besides, she was already his wife.

He forbade the bedding ceremony, claiming that the only man who deserves to see Lady Arryn naked is him. When the night arrived, she was too shy and nervous while Aegon was almost jumping with excitement. It was her first time, but not Aegon’s, and yet he felt as if he had never felt pleasure before, for there was no sensation in the world that could’ve been compared with what he felt once he saw her naked for the first time.

He was soft and caring, touching her with such delicacy that even he surprised himself with it. She was so soft, so beautiful and mesmerizing. Aegon saw himself as the luckiest man in the entire world because he would get to spend the rest of his life contemplating the beautiful woman he has as his wife.

Four years passed after their wedding night, and both were living through their twentieth name-day. Their love was still present, as strong as it ever was. Aegon was still smiling as a teenage boy everytime she would enter the room, and she would still blush when he whispered unholy comments in her ear. They were living in a paradise made only for them.

However, they hadn’t been able to conceive an heir yet.

At first, both of them were not enchanted with the idea of having a child, there was no rush either. King Viserys was still healthy, there was no war, no threats that might put their lives in danger, so they just decided to wait. Lady Arryn would drink her moontea in the mornings after spending the night together and wait until her time of the month would arrive.

Then, she started to show herself a bit more open about it, after she met her nephews and nieces on a trip to the Eyrie. Aegon and her were married for two and a half years when she started to have desires for motherhood, but she knew that even though she felt ready, Aegon did not feel the same. The pressure of inheriting the crown was too much already, too many responsibilities that would not let him live as freely as he wants; having a child would add another duty in his long list.

“Don’t hate me for it.” Aegon begged after explaining himself to her. “All I’m asking for is a few more years. We’ve been doing fine on our own, we can keep doing it for a couple years more.”

Lady Arryn looked at him with her haze softened, caressing his cheeks with her thumb in sweet movements that would relax his body. His eyes were looking down at her with worry, scared that she might get angry at him for not giving her what she wanted; but she only nodded, accepting his deal with a subtle smile.

“How could I ever hate you, my love?” She spoke softly. “I will wait, there’s no reason to hurry.” She shrugged, downplaying the matter. “Besides, we are both still young.”

“Are you sure you’re not mad at me?” He asked, insecureness was heard in his voice.

She cupped his chubby cheeks and brought him closer to her so she could kiss his lips in a tender way. Her lips were moving softly and slowly against his, while his hands positioned themselves on the curve of her hips.

“There is no reason to be mad, my love.” She clarified after she leaned back. “This family will also be yours. We both must be ready to start it, not just me.”

And that is what they did.

They were avoiding the constant questions of the Lords and Ladies that would grow curious by the absence of a child after three years of marriage. Aegon would not listen to those comments, but he would realize her reactions towards them; she would put on the fakest smile he had ever seen, and just shrug with a saddened look on her eyes. Even though Aegon did not worry about it, he eventually did.

In one of their trips to the Eyrie, Aegon saw his lady wife playing with her nephews while her nieces braided her hair. Her smile was so genuine and big that made him whole. He noticed how happy she was whenever she was around those children, and then he realized that his wife has always been so attentive, kind and loving towards him, she never pushed him to do something he did not want to do, not even when she wanted it so bad.

That is when he decided that it was time. He wanted to make her happy, to make himself worthy of her love, so he told her that he was ready. He wanted to give her a child.

However, the Gods did not seem to be so pleased with the idea, because after months of trying —and they definitely were trying—, she would not get pregnant.

Lady Arryn was starting to lose hope, feeling guilty about the situation. She married the King’s heir in order to give him an heir, and she was miserably failing in her duty as wife. Aegon consoled her one night when he found her crying beside the bed. Her eyes were closed, she was kneeling and her hands were intertwined; she was praying to the Mother.

“My love…” Aegon spoke up once he got into the room.

The girl looked up, her teary eyes were enough to break his heart. Her cheeks were glistening with the tears that had previously fallen down her face. Once she saw her beloved husband, she started crying loudly; he immediately kneeled beside her and hugged her tightly, comforting her in her pain.

“I’m so sorry, Aegon.” She whined in his ear. “I’ve tried, I swear it. I’ve been praying to the Mother but she refuses to listen.”

“Sh, sh.” He said while brushing her hair with his fingers. Hearing her voice so broken made him tear up too. He couldn’t handle seeing her in that way. “No need to apologize, my love. This is not your fault.”

“My womb is useless.” She said. “I haven’t been able to give you an heir. It is my duty and I couldn’t fulfill it.”

“Nonsense.” He whispered softly, cleaning the tears on her face and looking at her with a loving haze. “The Maester says we just need to keep trying.”

“He’s been saying it for months, Aegon.” Lady Arryn whined. “Nothing happens yet.”

“We just need to be patient.” Aegon tried to cheer her up. “Besides, it’s not like we are not enjoying the process, is it?”

She tried to smile, but she just couldn’t. The sorrow on her heart was too big, the thought of letting Aegon down was tortuous, heart breaking even. He had been such a loving and good husband, he deserved to be a good father too.

“I’ve failed you.” She whispered. “I’m so sorry, my love.”

“Don’t you ever say that again, y/n.” He warned. “You have never failed me. Never. Not even when I was a foolish boy.” He cupped her face and left a soft kiss on her lips. “You’ve made me the luckiest man alive, and I love you.”

“I love you too.” She managed to say between sobs and sighs.

“You were praying now, right?” She nodded. “This is what we are going to do; we, together, are going to pray to the Mother, we are going to pledge a little of her compassion, and we are going to try again.” He held her hands, left soft kisses in them before positioning in a prayer position. “Go on, love.”

Her shaky voice was heard around the room while she started to sing the Mother’s hymn. Aegon closed his eyes and started to pledge. He was not a full believer, he would just pretend to be praying when his mother blesses the table before eating; but now he meant it. He put his whole heart out, offering the Gods thousands of things in exchange for a child for his beloved wife.

Six full moons later, there was still no positive outcome, and even though the Maester had given her hundreds of teas and infusions to make her more fertile, the results were the same. So Aegon decided to send her to the Vale in order to spend time with the small children of her brothers, thinking that the trip would cheer her up a bit, after so many months of not having good news. Aegon had to stay on King’s Landing in order to attend the Council Meetings, his father was starting to get older.

Lady Arryn was away for at least a month when she decided to come back in the arms of his beloved, who would escape in Sunfyre’s back to see her at least once a week. He just couldn’t stay away from her for so long.

When she arrived back in the Capital, Aegon ran into the main entrance with a big smile that soon faded away once he set his eyes on her. He had flown to see her a week ago, and she looked completely different from who he was looking at now. She could barely get out of the carriage by herself, and she fainted when she put her feet on the ground.

Aegon yelled in despair, asking for a Maester while he carried his wife all the way towards the room they shared. He was scared. Her face was paler, there were purple circles around her eyes and her skin was burning. He didn’t know what was going on with her, a few days ago she was just fine.

The Maester was quick enough to wake her up, but the fever was already putting signs of illness on her tired face. Aegon asked the old man a million times about the health of his wife, concerned, desperate and scared. Of course he didn’t have the answers to it yet.

“Is it a babe?” Aegon asked hurryingly. “Is she- is she finally pregnant?”

“My Prince, these are not symptoms of a healthy pregnancy.” The Maester informed, “I’m afraid I should send some letters to the Citadel in order to find out.”

“Well, then fucking do that!” He screamed in his face. “Why are you still waiting?!”

“Aegon…” A soft voice was heard, the man turned around to see his wife waking up and trying to stand up. “Aegon, my love.”

“It’s okay, I’m here.” He rushed to her side and soon grabbed her shaky hand. “What happened? Tell me, what do you feel?”

A maid walked towards her with a wet cloth and a bowl filled with cold water. Aegon grabbed those things and started to clean her face, trying to make the fever go away.

“We stopped to eat in a canteen on the way here.” She informed him, “The food was delicious.”

“Was it?” Aegon asked with a small smile on his lips, she nodded. “How are you feeling?” He asked.

“A bit tired.” She said, “And thirsty.”

Aegon hurried to the nightstand and grabbed a cup to fill it with fresh and cold water. He helped her drink it, lifting her chin with two of his fingers and pouring the water inside her mouth.

“I guess we won’t be able to try for a baby tonight.” She lamented, jokingly. That made him chuckle.

“We can do that tomorrow night, there’s no hurry.” He leaned to kiss her forehead, feeling how sweaty and hot was her skin. “You must rest now.”

“Will you stay by my side?” She asked, closing her eyes once again.

“I will always, my love.”

He did as promised and never left her side. He was there, on a chair by her bed the entire day and the night that followed it. The maids would try to convince him to go and eat something, they promised him that she was in good hands, but he refused. He would not leave her, not like this.

Her father went to see her, Lord Arryn stroked her hair for a while before saying goodbye as he must travel to Essos in the name of the crown. He thought it wasn’t something serious, he thought that she would be fine within days, but Aegon knew that wasn’t the case. He knew from the beginning that something was wrong.

Alicent went to see her daughter in law, and she brought food for her son. He received it, thanked her for it, but he did not eat it. He was not hungry, he was not tired; he was worried. He had never seen anyone in that state, and something inside of him was telling him it was not normal.

The next day she woke up first. Her head was aching and her body was covered in chills making her shiver with the cold wind. Aegon’s hand was wrapped around hers, and she squeezed it three times to wake him up too. The silver haired man opened his eyes tiredly and soon a groan came out of his throat for the backache that was produced by the uncomfortable and hard chair. He stopped complaining as soon as he saw his wife’s eyes staring at him.

He yawned before giving her a sweet smile, kissing her hand and then her forehead. Her skin was still burning.

“Good morrow, my sun.” He greeted her, “Did you sleep well?”

“I did.” Her voice sounded weak, but Aegon tried to ignore that. “Did you?”

“I didn’t.” He answered annoyed, “This is a fucking castle, how can it not have comfortable chairs around?”

She laugh weakly.

“You still have a fever, don’t you?” Aegon asked.

“I do, and I’m cold.” She complained.

“I know, my love.” He replied, “But the Maester says it’s not good to put so many blankets on you, your fever can go worse.”

“And what about my husband’s arms?” She asked teasingly. Aegon just smiled, “Did the Maester forbid that too?”

Aegon took his shirt out of his body and made his way on top of the thin white bed sheet that was covering the shivering body of his beloved. She quickly cuddled under his arms, and hid her face on his chest, feeling the familiar warmth. Aegon did not care about how sweaty her body was, he just cared about making her feel comfortable and safe. She fell asleep once again; the fever was consuming her body.

The Maester walked in a few minutes before and almost choked when he saw the scene. A scandalized grin took over his wrinkled face and looked at them with horror.

“Oh, no, my Prince!” He said, pulling Aegon’s arm and forcing him to get out of the bed.

“What the fuck you think you’re doing?” He raised his voice, Lady Arryn woke up.

“My Prince, you should not be this close to you wife, she-”

“She’s my fucking wife, what did you expect?” He angrily protested.

“My Prince, whatever illness the Princess has, we are not sure whether it is contagious or not. We cannot put your health at risk.”

Aegon was about to yell again, his face was red with anger because the Maester had woken up his wife. His hands were turned into fists, ready to punch him in the face, but the sweet voice of his beloved spoke first.

“I’m sorry, Maester Orwyle.” She said lightly, “It was my suggestion, not the Prince’s.”

The Maester walked towards her and she tried to sit up but her arms were too frail to hold her weight, so she fell back onto the mattress. Aegon frowned, but she gave him a smile of reassurance.

“You still have a fever, Princess.” The Maester pointed out. “How is your body behaving? Have you got any chill sensation? Cold, shivers, or a headache perhaps?”

“All of them.” She answered with one breath.

The man took a weird looking tool and put it against her chest. He put his ear on it and asked everyone to be quiet. His eyes soon narrowed with worry, but he tried to downplay the situation by hiding his face from the Prince’s intense haze. His attempt failed.

“What?” Aegon asked harshly, “What happened, why would you make that face?”

“My Prince-”

“What is going on?” He insisted, “Fucking answer me!”

“The heartbeats sound a bit weak.” He explained, “Too slow and too soft for someone for her age.”

“Well, then fucking do something about it!”

“I’m going to prepare an infusion of herbs for the Princess, that might do well.” He said before leaving the room.

The two of them stayed alone in the room once again, Lady Arryn looked at her husband and stretched her arm so he could grab her hand. He did, and he kissed it, sitting on the uncomfortable chair beside the bed.

“Don’t be so mean to him, my love.” She said, “He is trying to help.”

“He’s the Grand Maester, if he cannot do his job then we must find another one that can.” She stared at him with a scolding gesture, Aegon sighed, rolling his eyes. “I want the best for you, if I have to travel all over the world to find something to make you feel better, then I will.”

“I’m going to be fine.” She assured him, “In a week I’ll be out of this bed and we can start trying for a child again.”

“Don’t stress your mind thinking about it.” He told her, shaking his head. “We’ve talked about this before; there’s no hurry.”

“But-”

“No ‘but’, my sun.” He interrupted her, “We need to focus on your health first.”

And she nodded, giving an end to the conversation.

Aegon wished to say his wife was getting better, but it was not the case at all. Everyday it seemed as if someone was sucking the life out of her body. She lost a lot of weight, Aegon was able to see her ribs marked on her chest; she barely ate anything, she did not have an appetite to satisfy. Everyday she would speak less too, and her voice would get breathy as if she was getting exhausted by just saying some words. Aegon then stopped making her answer, she would just nod, refuse or smile at him. It was better that way.

She didn’t have the strength to sit up either, so Aegon had to give her water with the help of a dropper. She would complain every time she swallowed, which alarmed him even more.

When Aegon thought he was going through the worst, a terrible thing happened. He was ranting about the Maester and how he hasn’t found a solution to her illness even though it has been days since she was in that state. He was furious, spitting words of rage and nuisance while his wife just looked at him with tired glossy eyes.

And then she started to cough.

At first, he did not pay too much attention to it, thinking that it was just that; a simple cough. But then, the white bed sheets were stained with small drops of blood. Aegon jumped out of the chair and helped her sit up while desperately calling for Maester Orwyle. She did not stop coughing, it was like she was choking on her own blood.

Aegon’s eyes widened in terror, and an exasperating sensation took over his body when he saw that no one was coming to help her. Where the fuck was everyone? He thought, while he was on the verge of tears. He almost ripped his throat apart while screaming and demanding the presence of the Maester, who minutes later walked inside the room and quickly approached the Princess who had just stopped coughing.

She had her eyes closed, and it seemed as if she was in pain with every breath she took.

The Maester gave her milk of the puppy just so she could stop complaining about the tortuous pain her weakened body was suffering, and once he was ready to leave Aegon grabbed his arm with a firm grip, his eyes were teary and filled with rage.

“What is going on with her?” He demanded an answer, his voice shaking. “Answer me!”

“We don’t know what is going on with her, my Prince.” He stuttered, “We have never seen a case like this before. The Citadel-”

“I don’t give a fuck about the Citadel.” Aegon spat, “You need to tell me what is wrong with her, why is she not getting better? It’s been days!”

“I’ve tried every method I know.” He confessed, “It seemed as if her body is rejecting everything. I’m not sure if she will make it.”

“What the fuck are you saying?”

“My Prince, your lady wife state is alarming…” He spoke with care, as if she was walking between dragons. “She could not survive-”

Aegon grabbed him by his collar, making him gasp out of the impression. His nostrils expanded and he was breathing fast and hard, he was fuming.

“If my wife dies, you will die too.” He threatened him, “You must save her, I don’t care what you have to do, but you will save her.”

The old man left quickly, and again it was just him and his dying wife. Aegon felt tears running down his face. He hated seeing her like this, so weak and sick. He would see her eyes for glimpses of time, he would take the opportunity to see them whenever she would open them, and it was enough for him to notice how they were not as shiny as they usually were; they were drained, with so little life.

Alicent arrived in her room a few hours later, she saw his son grabbing her hand and the dried tears in his eyes. She walked closer to him and caressed his back in a motherly touch that made him shiver.

“What did the Maester say?” She asked worried.

“He doesn’t know what is going on.” Aegon replied with a shaky voice, proof that he had been crying. “He is an incompetent. How the fuck is he even a Maester if he doesn’t know how to heal people?”

“He’s trying his best.” Alicent consoled him, “He had sent multiple letters to the Citadel already, the answers might take too long to arrive.”

“But I need it now.” He muttered. “She is sick now, look at her!” He scalped, making Alicent flinch. “She is burning! The fever is killing her!”

“It is not, my child.” She said, in a failed attempt to calm him down. “Y/n will be fine… you just have to pray for her health and wellbeing. You won’t even notice and she’ll be healthy again.”

Then, Aegon broke. He stood up from his chair beside the bed and went to hug his mother, hiding his head on the crook of her neck and leaving traces of tears all over her green dress. Alicent hugged him back, stroking his hair and whispering words of consolation.

“I’m scared.” He confessed, whispering. “I can’t lose her, mother. I cannot live without her.”

“You will not lose her.” She said, “She will be fine.”

“She’s not getting better.” He pulled away and looked at his mother. “The Maester even told me, she is too weak already.”

“I’ve seen people living through worse and surviving.”

“You didn’t see what I saw.” He shook his head, “She was coughing blood, mother. Blood!” His lower lip trembled, making his voice sound unsteady. “She’s dying.”

Alicent held his hands, “We should pray together, wouldn’t you like that? Y/n is devoted to the Seven, perhaps this is what she would want.”

Aegon nodded and his mother gave a sweet kiss on his forehead before going at the end of the bed and grabbing their hands. He gave a glance to his wife, she was sleeping soundly, covered with the bedsheets and her hair was spreaded on her pillow. Aegon whined once he saw her poor state, and soon he forced himself to close his eyes and pray with his mother.

He begged them. He asked them to return her health in exchange for everything he had. He offered his title; he never wanted it in the first place, he offered his dragon; he could live without him but not without his wife, he even offered his own life because he knew hers was more worthy than his. She did not deserve to die so young, she was always so full of life, always smiling and laughing, so kind and thoughtful. If someone deserved to die it was him, not her; so he begged the gods to take him instead.

When the next morning came, he woke up in the same chair as always, covered in the same blanket and holding the same hand, but something was different. He could feel it.

He squeezed her hand three times as usual to wake her up, but she did not squeeze it back. Aegon frowned and tried again; the outcome was the same. He tried not to panic or have an early reaction, so she stood up and quickly sat on the bed, right beside her.

“My love?” He said softly, “My love, is time to wake up.” Aegon softly shook her body, yet there was no answer. “Please, my love, let me see those beautiful eyes. Wake up.”

Nothing. Not even a sigh.

Aegon grew desperate by the second and the tears soon started to gather in his eyes, knowing the meaning of this. He never gave up, he was still calling her and moving her body begging for her to react.

“Y/n, please, wake up.” He pledged once again, sobbing, “I need you to wake up, I need you, please! Please!”

His hand went to her hair to caress it, and he felt the coldness of her forehead. All these past days, her skin was burning, but now it was as cold as ice. Aegon widened his eyes and his hands cupped her face.

“No, no, no.” He muttered, sniffing and whimpering. “Please, don’t. Don’t leave, my love. Please wake up.” His tears fell on her pale face, and he sob loudly. “Y/n, my love, please!” He started to yell, “Don’t do this to me! Wake up!”

His shouting started to concern the guard outside the room, he entered and saw Aegon crying on top of his dead wife’s body, holding her head and stroking her hair while he was uncontrollably sobbing. The guard saw what was happening and he was quick to call the Queen and the Maester, who appeared in the room within minutes.

Alicent gasped once he saw the heartbreaking scene, and soon she started to cry too. Aegon was now holding her body while his face was buried on her chest. He never stopped crying and begging her to wake up. Soft ‘please’ were heard, he was whimpering pledged to her and the Gods, but neither seemed to listen.

“My Prince-”

“Don’t touch her!” He shouted at the Maester once he tried to put his hands on her. “Don’t you fucking dare!”

“Aegon,” Alicent walked towards him, rubbing his back and trying to not sound as if she was crying. “The Maester needs to do his job, please-”

“He killed her!” He accused him, “I will put your fucking useless head on a spike, you idiot cunt!”

“Aegon, that’s enough.” Alicent warned him, “You must let her go, please, my child.”

A group of Silent Sisters entered the room and Aegon’s whole body froze. The ladies started to walk towards the bed while Alicent was pulling him away from it. He started squirming under his mother’s arms, not wanting to be separated from his beloved.

Soon, two guards entered the room and grabbed his arms, forcing him to leave his wife.

“No! No!” He started to move harshly, trying to be set free. “Please, don’t take her! Please! Mother, please!”

“I’m so sorry, my child.” His mother answered.

Aegon saw how her face was covered with the white sheet, and how the Silent Sisters grabbed her body and took her out of the room, he was still fighting against the strong grips that were holding him back.

“Let me go! Please!” He begged again.

Once the Silent Sister left and the bed was empty, the guards let him go. He felt onto his knees, seeing the shape of his wife still marked on the mattress they used to share and the tears came back. His mother stood by his side, and he hugged her hips gripping the gown of her dress and moaning out of pain.

He lost her, the love of his life was gone and there was no one to blame. The Stranger looked back at him with a mocking face and took his wife, leaving him completely alone.

Hours later he found himself staring at her body being wrapped in bandages in order to realize the funeral. He had one bottle filled with wine in his hand, and a piece of bread in the other. He was stumbling because he was already drunk. The Silent Sisters were working, and Aegon was lost in his own grief, looking at the corpse of his wife.

He did not care if she was not a Targaryen, her funeral will be under the Old Valyrian traditions.

“Aegon, you should not be here.”

Aegon did not answer, he did not even bother to look at his mother who just arrived on his side.

“It’s bad luck to see the face of the dead, we cannot be here.” She warned.

He scoffed, taking a large sip from his bottle and then taking a bite from the piece of bread in his hand. He shrugged as if he did not care. And in some way, he didn’t.

“I don’t give a shit.” He muttered, “They have already taken everything from me. They may as well take me if they are merciful enough.”

“Don’t say those things.” Alicent said. She turned around to not look at the corpse anymore, facing his child whose eyes seemed to be stuck on her wife’s body. “Y/n would not like you to die.”

“And what do you know?” He asked mockingly, “You knew nothing about her. None of you did!”

“Aegon, please be quiet. The Gods-”

“Fuck the Gods.”

“Aegon!” She scolded him.

“No, no. Fuck them.” He spat furiously, his eyes were a mixture of sadness and anger. “I begged them, mother. Me and y/n begged them for their mercy.” He started crying again, “When we wanted a child, we begged every fucking night to the Mother, to have a little of compassion towards us and give us the child that we deserved- that she deserved!” He sniffed, looking now at his mother. “Then I begged all of them for her life. And none of them heard me, none of them did!”

“My child…” She tried to hug him, but he took a step back.

“They made me believe that I was safe.” He muttered, “They made me meet her, love her and marry her. They gave me this happiness just so they can steal it away!”

He laughed, a bitter laugh that made Alicent sink in her place. Aegon took the last sip from his cup and threw the bottle away, not caring about the uproarious sound it would make once it fell onto the ground. Then, he turned to his mother once again.

“I couldn’t-” He sighed, trying not to cry. “I couldn’t even give her a child.” He scoffed, “It was all she ever wanted and I couldn’t give it to her.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Aegon.” She tried to console him once again.

“I have nothing left from her.” He said bitterly, “Not even a child that would help me to remember her face. Nothing at all.”

He threw the piece of bread in his hand on the floor, and he left for the gardens; the place where they were always gathered during their youth.

Aegon saw everything with nostalgic eyes filled with tears. His head was aching, his throat too. He had a watery nose thanks to the tears and his heart was feeling shattered. He looked around, finding the tree where they always used to read, the benches where Aegon used to sit down while Lady Arryn would braid his hair. Although the flowers were his breaking point.

He walked close to the small mauve pansies that she always loved. He would always steal one and put her on her hair every time they came to the gardens. She would blush and laugh nervously for the gesture, but he always ended up receiving a small kiss on his cheek for it. That’s why he always did it.

He took one and looked at it with attention, remembering the same petals on her white wedding gown during the happiest day in his life.

He couldn’t help but cry at the memory.

The day of the funeral Aegon did not speak with anyone. Lord Arryn and his other sons —y/n’s brothers— arrived within a week, and then everything was ready for the ceremony.

Sunfyre was in the hills, waiting for the signal of his rider to set fire on the wrapped body. They were all expecting for Aegon to give a speech, to say something about the wife he claimed to love so deeply, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He was too broke, too lost in his grief.

He had a small mauve pansy in his hand, Aemond had told him that it represented the lost love which gave a whole different meaning to it. Aegon heard the speech of his father in law, who was devastated for not taking her illness seriously and leaving her without his company on her last days. Aegon could hear the guilt in his voice, and he would be grateful that at least he was with her during her last breath.

When the time arrived, everyone went silent. Aegon had to pronounce the word, but instead he walked toward the body and stood beside them, letting himself cry in agony for his suffering. Minutes passed and he found himself staring at it for too long.

He took the flower and left it where her ear was supposed to be. This time, however, he did not feel her soft lips against his cheek.

“I will always love you, my sun.” He whispered before walking back to where the rest of the people were.

Aegon stood beside his mother, who rubbed his back in the instant he was close. He took a deep breath and saw the body one last time. He tried to imagine a life without her, without her smile and laughter, without her rosy cheeks and nervous muttering. He couldn’t. A life without her seemed almost impossible.

He imagined a future with her instead, and a thousand pictures would come to his mind. Her raising a child that would be as beautiful as her, her dancing with him on their children's name day, her having long conversations at night with him. He thought so easily about those things because that was what should’ve been; a long life by her side.

But now he was standing in front of everybody, crying and sighing with an agonizing pain on his chest. His voice refused to come out in the first two tries, but on the third, he cleared his throat and accepted his miserable future, without the woman he so deeply loved.

He took a deep breath, and finally said,

“Dracarys.”

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