#this is exactly what i said when i thought wed get a mechanic job like a year ago

[noahlivingston]

I'm still holding out hope that the artists can make summonable companions in fli. like how cool would it be to be able to craft a painting or a statue or something and then be able to pop it out during a battle and have it come to life and fight. or auto gather materials while you're running around doing other things.

[chaiiitime]

It Happened One Summer Night

Summary : It was meant to be straight-forward, right? Catch a ride with Daniel Ricciardo to her sister's wedding, try not to kill each other, say thank you when they get there and never have to see each other again. Fate, however, loves to play games.

Pairing : Daniel Ricciardo x OC!Fem

Word Count : 3,800

Masterlist | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Chapter 2

OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD

Adriana could hear the blood pounding in her ears, her heart working hard to escape her ribcage.  They were both breathing hard, but hers were choppier than Daniel.

Daniel wrestled with his seatbelt, leaning across the console to switch off the engine.  She was on the verge of hyperventilation and hadn't realised the car was still running.

Dear God, she had run over something.

Daniel got out, rounding the front and bending down to look at whatever damage she had caused.  She knew she had to follow him, but she didn't have the heart to see whatever poor innocent animal she had run over splattered all over the car's bumper.  She slowly climbed out, the hot tarmac burning the sole of her bare feet. The breath she was holding left her in a whoosh when she saw no blood or gore over the front of the car. Daniel was lying belly-flat on the ground, as he tried to dislodge something from underneath the car.

"What is it?" she asked with trepidation.

Daniel grunted as he grappled with whatever it was. He looked up at her, squinting against the dying sun. "It's a branch. A pretty big one. I'm trying to get it out, but it's stuck." 

He gave it a few more tugs and he finally felt something give. Hell yeah. He pulled the branch out and held it out for Adriana to see.

It wasn't just a pretty big one, it was huge, and Adriana hadn't seen it because she had been too busy arguing with Daniel.

Daniel tossed the branch to the side of the road, lying down once again to check the floor of the car.  "Well, it looks like we are not going anywhere. The branch ripped a pipe or something and there's an oil leak."

"Can't you fix it?" Daniel looked at her confused. "Well, you're an F1 driver. Aren't cars kind of part of your job?"

Daniel tried to hold back his sigh of exasperation. The lady sure had her ideas about whatever she thought an F1 driver was all about. 

"I just drive the car, I'm not a mechanic. If I knew how to repair the car, I would have done it already." Or even better, he thought inwardly, he would have built himself a fast car instead of spending a big part of his career in slow cars.

"What are we going to do now?" Her voice was anguished.

Daniel knew he shouldn't take any perverse pleasure in seeing the distressed look on her face, but he was, even if he was as much stranded as her.

"Get in the car." He motioned to her. "I'll try to push it to the side as much as I can while you steer."

~

ROUND AND ROUND, DANIEL reminded himself as he rubbed his thumb against his index finger.

The constant circular motion had been his self-soothing mechanism ever since he was a hyper anxiety-prone kid. It was his way of calming himself down, to not give in to his anxious tendencies and bite his nails. He also didn't want to show Adriana he was anything other than cool and composed.

The setting sun had turned the sky orange, and even the remaining colour was quickly dissipating. In the last hour since they'd realised that there was no network signal, they'd considered every single option — from trying to repair the car themselves to maybe walking to the nearest civilisation. They had no idea how far the nearest town was — because of said no network — and their last option of hitching a ride hadn't exactly panned out yet. The few cars that had passed them on the highway so far hadn't bothered to stop.

He was sitting on the cooling hood now. Adriana was sitting sideways in the passenger seat, her feet dangling out of the open door. She looked far from the well-put person that had walked out of the airport this afternoon. Her blouse was rumpled and there was a streak of grease running down her skirt from when she had tried to look under the car earlier.

Daniel cleared his throat. "What comment were you referring to earlier?"

They'd been sitting in tense silence.  Might as well use the opportunity to clear the air.

Adriana lifted her head from where she was lolling on the headrest. "Don't pretend like you don't remember what I was referring to."

Daniel tipped his head back and pushed out a grunt of frustration. He tried to loosen the tendons in his neck. He didn't think his neck had ever felt this tired even after his toughest race as it did now from the stress of the last few hours. 

"Adriana —" Her name sounded so foreign in his Australian twang, his tongue wrapping around the vowels to give a slight inflection at the end. "I'm really trying here. I'm not being an asshole. I'm asking honestly so that I can apologise."

Adriana looked up at him.  There was a look of vulnerability lurking in her eyes that Daniel had not expected. She looked back down, her hair covering her face as she rubbed at the grease streak on her skirt. 

Her voice sounded a bit rough when she finally spoke. 

"It was George's birthday party. George and you, you guys were in the kitchen getting beers or something. Anyway, George asked if you would be interested in dating me and you said —” The rubbing got more frantic, as if she could make the grease streak disappear. "And you said that —" Daniel could see her throat work convulsively, as if she was holding back tears. "You said that I was so cold — colder than a witch’s tits was what you said actually — that your balls would freeze up if you tried touching me.”

Dan felt his face flush hot. That sticky sickly feeling inside of him was hot shame as he faintly recalled that conversation. 

He truly was an asshole. 

"Adriana, I —“ 

He remembered that one time in high school when he got suspended for scratching something he shouldn't have on that girl’s locker and how disappointed his mom had been in him. But he wasn't a kid anymore, he didn't need his mom to tell him off to know he'd done something bad. He shouldn't have said that, whether Adriana had overhead him or not, whether she’d been rude to him or not. 

He got down from the hood, ready to get down on his knees if that was what it would take for her to forgive him. "Adriana, I’m sorry." She looked intent to avoid his gaze, staring straight ahead at an invisible point beyond his shoulder. "I, I ... " 

God, words were hard when you were a world class idiot.

All of a sudden, Adriana got up. Did his rambling apology have an effect already? But no, she was staring, almost excitedly, at something behind him.

"Is that a —" 

Daniel turned around. Yep, that was indeed a truck. A good old-fashioned one at that, all dusty, its red paint faded with the sun.

Adriana rushed past him, waving frantically to get the driver's attention. Daniel sighed as he followed after her. 

She didn't have to wave so frantically to get the driver's attention, he thought moodily. That tight skirt she was wearing would have been enough to stop traffic.

The truck came to a trundling stop before them. The driver was an old man, his wispy white hair peeking out from under the beret he was wearing. His sun-beaten face creased into a smile as he looked down at Adriana.

"Hola, Senor." The Spanish rolled off Adriana's tongue. She pointed to Daniel and their car as she appeared to explain their situation. The man nodded along, leaning out of his window to look at their car before speaking. Dan could only assume whatever the old man said was positive because Adriana had a wide grin on her face as she profusely thanked him. 

"Gracias. Muchas gracias."

She turned excitedly towards Daniel. "He says he lives in a small village not too far from here.

He can take us there for the night, and tomorrow he can have the village mechanic come get the car for repairs."

Daniel cleared his throat as he stepped closer to her. "Are we sure we can trust this man?" he asked in a lower voice.

Adriana rolled her eyes at him. "Look at him," She gave the man a little smile and wave as she gritted her teeth at Dan. "He's harmless. Anyway, at this point, I am so desperate I would get in a car with the dodgiest of men if that means I get to reach my little sister's wedding in time.”

"Fine, Fine" Daniel held up his hands. "I was just being cautious.”

~

DANIEL AND SENOR GONZALEZ HAD MANAGED to secure their suitcases with rope in the bed of the truck. Now, Adriana was faced with another problem. She stared at the driver's cabin, wondering how she was going to get up there – her pencil skirt didn't allow for the kind of movement that would allow her to vault herself up there.

"Come on," Adriana could feel the heat of his body as Daniel came up behind her. "I'll give you a boost. Just grab on to the door handle once I lift you up." 

She didn't have the time to process what was happening before Daniel was placing his hands on her hips. His hands moved down, curving around her bottom to lift her up.

Adriana flushed hot.  A million butterflies erupted in her belly – Daniel Ricciardo had his hands on her ass. His beautiful veiny hands with the rose tattoo and the discrete "3" inked there. She felt his hands flex. A slight squeeze of her ass.  Was it a trick of her mind? It was definitely a trick of her mind because why would Daniel Ricciardo be squeezing her ass? She landed quite inelegantly on the seat, her skirt riding up as she slid across the bench to the middle seat, giving Daniel an eyeful as he hoisted himself up.

The cabin was much smaller than both of them had anticipated. They sat flushed against each other, their knees touching. Daniel sat very still, careful not to make any movements. The tiniest of movements, as he had discovered, and his arm would brush against the underside of her breast. He sat, staring straight ahead, not daring to look at the smooth golden expanse of skin exposed by her hitched-up skirt. Not daring to take too deep of a breath because he could smell her, even over the old leather smell of the cabin — something citrusy and sharp, softened with hints of floral.

The palms of his hands tingled from where he’d touched her. It had taken a lot of self-control to not draw her closer to him as he had lifted her up. To not let his hands linger for longer than needed. To not mould his hands over her curves.

Fuck, he needed a cold shower. Maybe a reality check as well, because the last thing he needed right now was to start something with Adriana freaking Montero Mundt.

~

THEY CAME TO A STOP IN front of a small house. Adriana peered out but couldn't make out much of anything in the dark. She felt slightly disoriented — it had gotten completely dark once they got in the truck, so she couldn't tell which way they had been driving all this time. It felt like they had been on the road for hours when at most, it must have been only a little bit more than an hour. She didn't refuse the hand Daniel offered her to get down – the strain of the trip was finally catching up to her and she felt like she would keel over if she didn't get into bed soon.

Senor Gonzalez — or Miguel as he had said to call him — ambled across his gravel driveway to his front door, beckoning them to follow him. He had talked almost non-stop since he had picked them up, with Adriana sometimes acting as translator for Daniel. He'd told them about his little village by the sea, how it was the place with the best seafood in all of Spain, how it was protected by the sea on one side and the Pyrenees Mountains on the other — all in all, Adriana had realised, they could have done much worse as a place for an overnight pitstop.

"Cayetana!" Miguel bellowed as he hung his beret on a hook by the door.

"Si, si," A woman appeared in the doorway. She had grey hair, carefully braided. Her small frame was wrapped in a floral housecoat and she looked ready to turn in for the night.

"Caye, mi amor," Miguel walked over to his wife, placing a hand on her shoulder. "This is Adriana and Daniel. Their car broke down on the highway. We can spare a room for them for the night, si?" He explained in Spanish.

Cayetana pushed her glasses up her nose as she looked at them. Great, she was going to throw them out because they looked a bit worse for wear, Adriana thought. Well, not Daniel — he still looked his suave self. She, on the other hand, looked like she had been through the wringer.

"Ah! Claro que si! Si!" She exclaimed as she gestured for them to follow her.

They went up a narrow staircase, with Daniel juggling both their suitcases — he had shooed her away when she had tried to take hers. Cayetana showed them to a small room at the end of the hallway. 

Clean bed linens, she explained. She bustled around, handing them clean towels, showing them how to turn on the faucet in the ensuite. All through this, Adriana tried to tell her that Daniel and her were not a couple and that they would need separate rooms, but every time she tried to interject, she was met with a torrent of rapid-fire Spanish that even she had trouble keeping up with.

Then, Miguel and Cayetana were wishing her and Daniel goodnight, leaving her alone with Daniel in the small room with the lone bed.

Daniel was looking at her with something close to indignation on his face. "You didn't tell them we need separate rooms!" He whisper-shouted as soon as the door closed behind their hosts.

"I tried!" Adriana lifted her shoulders in defence. "She just wouldn't stop talking to listen to me!"

"Well —" Daniel walked over to the right-side of the bed, placing his phone and wallet on the bedside table there, "I'm not sleeping on the ground or in that sorry excuse of an armchair to protect your chastity or whatever it is they call it."

"Oh, how gentlemanly of you." Adriana was still stood in the same spot, her hands on her hips as she watched him get comfortable. He kicked off his shoes and before she could tell him off, he bent down and carefully placed them to the side.

He opened his suitcase, turning back to look at her as he riffled through his things. "Nah yeah, I'm not fucking up my neck just for me to the play the gentleman for you."

Adriana bristled at the way he said it — did he mean that he would have done the gentlemanly thing for any other woman but her? He looked pretty unbothered by their sleeping arrangements all while she was on the verge of combusting at the thought of sharing that small bed with him.

"What's that?" Adriana asked perplexed as she watched him open the case he had just removed from his suitcase.

"What do you mean what's that?" He looked at her as if the answer should be obvious. "It's my custom-made travel pillow." He said as he moved the pillow on the bed aside for his special one. "I told you, I need to take care of my neck." 

Adriana watched incredulously as he carefully fluffed up the pillow. 

"Also, could you please open the window behind you a bit? I can't sleep unless the room is in the twenty degrees."

"Of course, my lord!" She bowed mockingly. "Do you want me to also check if they haven't left a pea under the mattress?" She made a dramatic gesture towards the bed, blinking up at Daniel in an exaggeratedly slow manner. "We wouldn't want anything to mar your highness' delicate skin, after all.”

“Haha.” He said dryly. “You’ve got jokes.” 

It was pretty funny, but there was no way he was going to tell her that. 

“You know —“ he said as he slowly walked backwards, snagging a clean towel and throwing it over his shoulder. “You should check on that pea while I take a shower.” Then, he was hurrying to the ensuite, smirking at the sound of indignation she made.

That man was so childish. What did she care if he showered first? She fumed as she picked up the pillow Daniel had discarded and placed it in the middle of the bed. There, that was what the heroine did in the movies, right? Build a pillow wall to protect herself from the hero’s advances?

Satisfied with her brilliance, Adriana started settling in. She hung up the garment bag with her maid of honour dress in the small wardrobe, unpacked her toiletries and nightclothes. Thank God, she’d packed her modest pyjamas — not like she usually wore sexy stuff to bed anyway. She was shooting a text off to Carmen when the door opened.

Finally. 

“I hope you didn’t fin —“ The words died on her lips. Daniel was standing in the doorway — completely bare chested.

He was vigorously drying his curls with one towel and had another slung loosely around his hips. It sat so low, exposing his Adonis belt that Adriana feared one tug, and the towel would come loose. She could tell he had barely dried himself coming out of the shower, because she could see the sheen of moisture on his golden skin. She watched in fascination as a droplet of water coursed down from the base of his neck, over the ridges of his abs to get lost in his happy trail. The soft hair there swirled around his navel to disappear into the unexplored underneath his towel.

“Left you some hot water.” He was smirking as he looped his towel around his neck.

Oh God, his neck. His big beautiful neck.

Don’t show him you’re flustered. Adriana cleared her throat, carefully averting her eyes from all that male exquisiteness in front of her. “Thank you.” She said as she gathered her things, making sure she kept a safe distance from him on her way to the bathroom.  She closed the door quietly behind her and leaned against it. 

She needed a cold shower — or maybe to douse herself in some holy water. 

~

DANIEL LAID DOWN on the bed.

For some reason, the pillow he had discarded was in the middle. He kicked it to the foot of the bed and settled down more comfortably, propping his arms behind his head. He smiled slightly as he remembered the way Adriana had checked him out coming out of the shower — she thought she had been inconspicuous about it, but he’d seen the self-conscious way she had touched her throat, the blush on her face.

He could hear the water running in the bathroom. He imagined the water running over her curves. The water droplets glistening on her skin. Those slim hands slathering the soap all over her body. 

Calm down, he reminded himself. So what if the attraction between them was mutual? He was not going to do anything about it. She hated his guts and he had already offended her once. He wasn’t going to do it again by making a move on her. Just then, the door opened and Adriana came out, fumbling with the light switch to the bathroom.  She was wearing a striped pajama set.

Very proper. Very sexy.

The steam from the shower had brought out the curls in her hair, a few ringlets framing her face rather enticingly. She looked soft, fuckable.

Adriana skirted the bed, her eyes quickly darting to where Daniel was sprawled out. Thank god he’d gotten dressed, even if the sweats and T-shirt he was wearing did nothing to hide the hard lines of his body, the soft material of the old sweats cupping that part of him just so, leaving nothing to the imagination.

She was mad at herself for being attracted to him because she knew if she got involved with him, it would only end in heartbreak for her and she didn’t think she could handle having her heart broken twice. 

She frowned when she saw her pillow wall had somehow ended at the foot of the bed. Wordlessly, she picked it up and placed it back. 

Daniel was looking at her quizzically, one of his eyebrows quirked in question. She mirrored his expression, lifting one of her eyebrows in challenge. She had to hide her smile of triumph when he shrugged, seemingly accepting not to question why she wanted to have a pillow between them. 

She got in bed, pulling the covers up to her chin.

They both laid in the dark, their breaths falling into sync in the silence. Adriana willed herself to sleep, but even with the pillow between them, she could feel the heat from Daniel’s body. She wanted to burrow into his warmth, but all the things they’ve said stood between them. 

Daniel was bone-tired, he knew he had to sleep, but just like how it was after a bad race, his mind kept replaying that moment – Adriana sitting so forlorn in the car, looking hurt. Colder than a witch’s tits. He was truly an idiot.

He knew from her carefully measured breathing that she was still awake. He could feel the same tension he felt in his body radiating from hers. 

“I’m sorry.” He said softly into the silence.

His only indication that Adriana had heard him was the slight hitch in her breathing.

“I shouldn’t have said that. I’m not going to hide behind any excuses and pretend I am not blameless.” He shifted on his side, his eyes roving on her face. Even in the dark, he could make out the beauty mark near her upper lip. “Will you forgive me?”

They stayed suspended for a moment, Daniel’s breath fanning the hair at her temple. 

Adriana’s heart stuttered. How could she tell him that her supposed animosity against him was her self-defence mechanism to protect her heart from him? That deep down, she knew it would be so easy to fall in love with him and in the end, she would be the one with the broken heart while he would leave unscathed? 

Without answering, she turned on her side, giving him her back and shielding herself from his eyes. Daniel didn’t move for a moment. Then, Adriana felt the bed shift as he turned on his other side with a sigh. After a few minutes, she heard his breathing becoming deeper and slower — he’d fallen asleep. 

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[ohanny]

i finally got to sit down and enjoy so here is cutie pie 2 you episode 3 reaction/recap mess :'D

ok i just typed it into youtube search bar and i saw the 3/4 thumbnail of nuer and syn and am screaming already so that's great

zee's hands are large and i am not sure what i should do with this information

kuea exactly how big of a dumb dumb do you feel like right now?welcome to being an adult, where you can have both marriage and a career wow

i am so glad lian is so chill like yes king, communicate, explain to this dumb dumb we are out of high school (also i am glad this is like a 4 episode arc because you know if this was a full 12 episode season this drama would have been milked for hours)

zee's jawline makes me feel things and stuff

kuea is an adorable baby though, practicing his stage presence

lian and yi ahahahaha

WHEN ARE WE GETTING TAEKWONDO MASTER KON DIAO PLS

bitches do love a good montage. i am bitches.

will these two ever get any cooking done on these counters

oh they are actually planning a barbie dream wedding together. this is such character development. but nooo, is kon diao out of a job now? YOU DID GREAT SWEETIE

lian is working double time being both a dad and a daddy, someone give this man a raise

kuea: i am saving myself for marriage

lian: while i respect your decision, i will make it very difficult

that is going to be one cold shower

whoever swoops max's hair like that also needs a raise

diao: we are so early we're lucky the employees got here first

yi: lian commented on me being late once so now i have the neurotic need to add all potential events from a mechanical breakdown to car sex into the estimated travel time

diao: why are u like this?

diao: i'm just a babyyyy

yi: when did i ever scold you

diao: *whips out a receipt so long you'd think we're watching one of those extreme coupon-ing shows*

wayyyy to change a subject yi

to be fair, if he said my name in the "nong diao" tone i would marry his scolding (hot) ass and red flag trust myself to change this man for the better over time

still holding onto a hope of a grey's anatomy wedding switcheroo :')

diao lowkey pissed about the most unromantic proposal ever

i am not looking at poppy's thighs i swear

when has foei ever been okay lol

the way i thought kuea was wearing taylor swift "blank space" merch for a second there hahahaha

lmfao these two literally have zero clue about what is going on in their own wedding

lian: yi will be here soon

yi: has been there for 5 hours at this point

diao you smol boba ball alskdlaaslkdfj

syn has a cute pout and bangs that tickle his eyeballs and i will literally physically fight anyone who says one bad word against him. i don't care he's fictional. he is my precious.

literally everyone at this wedding:

foei knows he done fucked up and oh my god, diao officially pulls the best disgusted faces in this show. mention mustard yellow and he looks like you killed his dog.

OH MY GOD DID THEY REALLY JUST PUT NUER AND SYN AT A KID'S TABLE IN THE BACKGROUND?! THE INJUSTICE!

look at these boys actually participating in planning their own wedding the day before

lian: fix this or you are fired

kuea: babe <3

foei: i love how my financial security is a joke to you all

NUER AND FLOWERS pls it is a crime this couple gets no attention because obviously they be coupling better than anyone

WHY IS DIAO AIR SWIMMING OUT OF THE SHOT WHAT IS GOING ON AHAHAHA

nuer and syn making up excuses to ditch their friends as if they would notice if they suddenly disappeared at this point ◔_◔

i love how yi is just like that's it, i don't want to be sober anymore

OOOH so they didn't just wanna fuck this is a bachelor party, yes yes, i get it now :D

kuea surprised his best friends showed up at his wedding like did you actually invite anyone?!?! how?!?!?!

nuer: i am healed

syn: and i am honest lalalalalala

are you even besties (derogatory) if you don't do synchronized wine sipping at an abandoned pool on the eve of a wedding and express your emotions in the most businesslike manner ever?

again, i do not have eyes and thus am incapable of noticing max's thighs

EVEN THEIR TOES ARE ANGLED IN A PERFECT MIRROR IMAGE

lian: i am the happiest man on the planet right now

yi: lol let me try and change that

THEY FLUFFED MAX AND GAVE HIM STUBBLE :)))))

oh yi you need therapy

not nuer and syn and their evening prayers and a pillow wall because of course there is only one bed and no blankets because why would there be

me: you know he can't just kiss it better every time

diao: shhh

ooooh, early season one confident gay nuer making a bold comeback

biting my first, screaming, crying.... you have no idea how excited i am about tutor and yim having their own series

YIM LOOK AT YOU *jumps out the window*

damn nuer, you and your... lessons ˙ᵕ˙

so when is their show dropping anygays? asking for a friend.

STOP INTERRUPTING THEM FOR COMEDIC EFFECT YOU COWARDS

ooooooh just casually stargazing here, by the ocean, on a blanket nailed down with lit candles as one does, like a sexy fire hazard

yes, lian is making this waiting for our wedding thing very hard

also zee is like a schrödinger's twink or something because give that man a polo and he looks like a stiff wind could knock him over but have him take his shirt off and suddenly it is laundry day helloooooooo

how on earth can all these people unbutton shirts one handed like what is this skill and on which level of gay do i unlock it???

lian: can i play with you instead?

kuea: hiaaa

gravity: oops ◔w◔

as someone who has done it on a beach let me tell you no amount of blanket will protect you from sand. anakin skywalker hated it for fucking REASON so for once i am going to say keep those pants on, it is not worth it

yes. you do not want a chafed raw booty crack for your actual wedding night.

okay i said you can have a marriage and a career but if i had zee promising to make me the happiest person in the world i would straight up forget cosmic-exo hahahahaha

oh. my. god. they will be in the rain. wet.

... WAIT A FUCKING SECOND.

WEREN'T WE SUPPOSED TO SEE PERTH IN THIS?

DID I HALLUCINATE THE TEASER AT THE END OF THE LAST EPISODE?

SHOW PERTH YOU COWARDS!

[chateautae]

maybe i do | kth. I

➵ summary :  maybe you love each other, maybe you don’t. when a deal between your fathers leaves you forcefully wedding kim taehyung, arguably seoul’s most powerful CEO, you’re prepared for a loveless marriage of eternal regret and unhappiness. but maybe, it doesn’t turn out that way after all.

↳  part of the high-class series!

➵ pairing : taehyung x reader

➵ genre :  arranged marriage!au, ceo!tae, s2l!au, eventual smut, fluff, angst 

➵ rating : 18+

➵ word count : 11k

➵ warnings : swearing, alcohol consumption, anxiety, lots of feels about marriage, a stupid ex (reader’s), mentions of bad sexual experiences with ex (there’s consent, just bad sex that makes the reader feel shitty), does ceo tae count as a warning? 

➵ a/n: hello my first fic of my favourite trope arranged marriage, AND with kim taehyung?? yes pls !! this will be a series and I’ll be actively working on it so you don’t have to wait too long for chapters, i hope you can follow this series with me <33

chapter one : “my forever’s falling down”  

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“Another one, Father? I thought I told you my secretary would be handling marriage profiles from now on. Stop concerning yourself with who I marry.” 

“But I do, son. Trust me, I know this girl, she’s the daughter of a trusted friend and I think she’s a good match.” 

“Father, everyone you choose for me I dislike and it’s distracting me from my work. I don’t need this right now.” 

“She’s different, Taehyung. I personally know her and I’m certain you won’t say no.” 

“And why is that?” 

“There’s something about her you won’t refuse, son, you’ll notice it when you meet her.” 

“I don’t want to meet her, Father. Like I said, I need to work.” 

“I just knew you’d act this way. Want to know something, son? I’ve made her part of a business deal, you can’t back out of this.”

“What? You made her part of a business deal?! Why would you-”

“Because you wouldn’t have given her a chance otherwise, you haven’t been giving anyone a chance since I’ve been setting up potential partners for you and I’m sick of it. You said you were open to an arranged marriage, where’s that attitude now?”

“Because, Father, I have a company to run and that’s-”

“No. I will not allow you to reduce your life to just this company. There are far more enjoyable things in life than a business.”

“But Father-”

“No, Taehyung. One thing you need to learn is balance. If you don’t give anyone or anything a chance you will live a lonely life behind your desk. Even in this cutthroat world of business where you can lose money or be betrayed by anyone at any moment, the most painful thing to suffer is loneliness, and I won’t let you live in this world alone.”

“Dad-”

“You will meet this girl, Taehyung, end of discussion.” 

“Dad! I told you I want nothing to do with your company, how could you let me get dragged into this?!” 

“Y/N-ie, I know you value the life you have without any of my help, but let me help just this once, especially with finding a husband. I’m being offered the deal of a lifetime and I can’t refuse, he just happens to be part of it. I need this for the company, please.”

“But Dad, I don’t even know him. And if he’s the CEO of some rich company he’s probably an asshole, I’m not doing this.” 

“Y/N-ie, trust me, I know his son. He’s a sincere, hard-working man, I promise.”

“Yeah, right. Even if that’s the case, I still don’t know him, let alone love him, Dad. How can you make me marry someone I don’t love?”

“Because you can learn to love him. There are no rules concerning the way two people should fall in love, love doesn’t always need to come first.”

“But Dad-”

“My daughter, I have not asked you for many things in my life, but this is one thing I must ask of you. Please, just meet him, don’t say no without even trying.”

“Dad, I don’t know-”

“Please, Y.N, do it for me. If not for the company or money, please do it for me.”

And here you were, fidgeting with the tips of your nails, tuning in and out of the present world and overthinking every aspect of your life that somehow lead you to this moment. Sitting on a Leather Italia couch in what was described to be Mr. Kim’s study; listening to your father’s incessant, albeit wholesome chatter next to you with your future in-laws across. 

And next to them was their suave, unreadable son sitting in a relaxed manner, flipping his attention between your fathers’ conversation and anything else in the room.

You on the other hand, were utterly high strung due to the fact that your father failed to mention your future fiancé’s identity until 30 minutes before arriving here, having done a quick search in the car to unveil who he exactly was.

And that’s when it hit you. You weren’t marrying just anyone, you were getting married to Kim Taehyung. The infamous CEO of Kim Enterprises—Korea’s largest software development and manufacturing company, rivaling to be one of the largest in the world. He was part of Seoul’s most prestigious circle of businessmen, having made multiple Forbes international lists of Most Successful, Youngest, Richest, and is even one of Korea’s most eligible bachelors, not just Seoul.

If this wasn’t already taking you out, then it was definitely the fact that his photos through a measly Google search did him absolutely, utterly and completely no justice. They simply could never capture the truth of just how handsome Kim Taehyung was in real life. You couldn’t deny it, he wasn’t just good-looking, he was stunning, gorgeous, seemed as though God had created the universe, heaven and hell in 6 days and left the 7th just to create him. 

He was like a work of art, worthy of being placed in the finest of museums and left untouched, unsodden by the ugliness of humanity. It made you feel extremely inferior to him in an instant. It was sickening, he was sickening, intoxicating, and quite frankly, intimidating.

It was his look, his undivided stare when he eventually settled his sight on you. It didn’t matter his dark hair that landed and perfectly curled above his eyes, the way he occasionally licked his plush lips or how his long, tall legs spread out before him, it was his look that made you want to turn tail and run.  

It seemed to reach into your soul, peer straight through whatever façade, walls or defense mechanisms you could spend years building only to have his simple look tear it down in minutes. He was alluring, captivating, left you wanting to cower into whatever hole you could dig yourself into or discover all the secrets he hid behind those enchanting eyes.

Kim Taehyung was many things you couldn’t quite wrap your head around, though you assessed your priorities and decided they didn’t just include him, but mainly the significance of the current meeting taking place right now. 

It wasn’t a mere one-time business deal to discuss a project, it was a meeting that entailed the partnership of both your family companies and would define the next however many years of your life. More specifically, spending it with the exact same man that looked at you without a single readable expression on his face. 

You distracted yourself by trying to observe as many useless things as you could, flitting around the room many times before suddenly glancing at Taehyung’s index finger coming up to rest against his lips.

You zeroed your vision in more. 

Is that a cut on his finger?

“Jae-in, of course! This is just as important to me as it is to you, your son is a remarkable CEO, and I’m sure he’ll make an amazing husband.” 

“Aish, Namhyun, you flatter me too much. My son may be handsome, though your daughter is even more beautiful. I’m very sure she will make a wonderful wife.”

“Yes, Namhyun, your daughter is absolutely gorgeous! Just as gorgeous as her mother. I know she wasn’t able to make it, though may I ask where your wife is tonight?” 

“Ah, unfortunately, she’s out of the country. Though I was hoping my presence would be enough to fill in for her, am I doing a bad job?” 

Laughter erupted from the parents in the room, meanwhile, Taehyung couldn’t help but notice the way you immediately winced at the mention of your mother. Something he definitely wouldn’t miss with the way he found himself examining your every move. 

It was habitual to him, something born out of his roots in business, only for the purpose of calculating and reading people like an open book. 

He knew you’d also become victim to that habit, though oddly enough, he found himself quite interested in observing you. He had already figured you out; you hated business, there was a clear disconnection between yourself and your father’s company and you reeked of a sense of independence that funnily contradicted the antsy way you bounced your leg. 

Your way of speech, however, mannerisms, gestures, your look; it was all professional enough you clearly have some sort of background in business. You seemed like an heiress to Taehyung, which you were, though you oddly had no interest in business?   

All these details piqued his interest, curious of just who you exactly were, but he was mainly intrigued by the mysterious claim his father made upon mentioning you for the first time. 

‘There’s something about her you won’t refuse.’

That had raked Taehyung’s brain consistently for the past hour now, crossing his legs loosely and his arms folded over his chest, contemplating over and over again as he looked at you, what’s so damn special about her? 

‘You’ll notice it when you meet her,’ the words rang in his ears.

That was the driving force behind his calculation, observation, near inability to take his eyes off of you as he learned new things nearly every minute and led him closer to understanding his father.  

He could tell you were an anxious person, though hid it behind a persona of false confidence. You had a tendency to stick close to your father despite observing you don’t rely on him for much of anything, even less your mother. The softness behind your every movement despite being from a business background where you should be harsh, rigid, rough around the edges, and yet you seemed entirely different.

Taehyung then realized how inherently dissimilar you were to many of the other women he met. They were all relatively of the same cut and look. Cold, sharp, cunning. All women of pure business; daughters, granddaughters or straight CEOs of wealthy companies, simply interested in marriage as a deal or an advantage rather than a commitment. 

And there was absolutely nothing wrong with that. Taehyung was a man of business himself, married to his work, his home behind a desk and the company the only thought occupying his mind 24/7.

But with you, you were interesting, unlike the others and it made him curious.

Taehyung also couldn’t help but notice you were...pretty. You weren’t too overly sexy nor too innocent, you were pretty. There was an elegance to your looks, features like your hair and eyes complementing you as a whole, and he couldn’t miss that you felt oddly...warm.

Taehyung found himself beginning to understand his father’s original viewpoint, considering the possibility he could’ve been correct. 

You just seemed different. 

“Ah, that seems to be everything. Exact details about the wedding have already been put in place by us.”

“Yes! We’ve been waiting for our TaeTae to get married for so long. We’ve had plans for months now and we can finally move forward with them! You and Y/N don’t need to worry about anything!” 

“Mom, did you really just call me that in front of my future fiancé?” 

“Oh, let it go, son. It won't be long before she calls you that, too!” 

Taehyung could only playfully roll his eyes at his overly excited mother, you scrunching your nose at the embarrassment.

“That’s incredibly generous of you, Mr. and Mrs. Kim, though my conscience is not one to let such things go. My family should contribute to the wedding in some way. Y/N and I would be happy to do so.”

“Why don’t we discuss that outside? I believe we should give the future couple some time alone, shall we?” 

You and Taehyung exchanged a quick look before standing up and respectively addressing either’s parents, Taehyung shutting the door behind them once they exited and having turned to look at you, an awkward silence piercing the air. 

There it was again, his look. It was irrefutably the one reason you avoided eye contact with him, you felt he would swallow you up if you shared even 5 seconds between each other.

“So...” Taehyung suddenly broke the ice, eyeing you.

“So...” 

“Marriage, huh?” 

“Yeah, marriage. Never done that one before.” If there wasn’t a time you vehemently hated yourself, then it was undoubtedly now. You internally facepalmed at your dumb comment, adding a laugh at the end in embarrassment only to look away. 

“Uh..yeah.” Taehyung laughed awkwardly. “Me neither, if you didn’t already know.” He tucked his hands into his pockets and looked away, you fidgeting by the couches everyone previously occupied. 

A beat of silence passed as you both exchanged looks between objects in the room and each other, either of you pursing your lips or blowing light raspberries to cut the awkwardness. 

“I wanted to ask you something.” 

“Hm?” You turned towards him, lips just a pout as your doe-eyes awaited him. 

Taehyung didn’t miss that at all. 

“Um, your mother. I apologize if this is intrusive of me, though I couldn’t help but notice I’ve never actually met her. May I ask where she is?” 

You let out a dry chuckle before answering, another detail that didn’t slip Taehyung’s attention. “Trust me, Taehyung, one thing you’ll never have to worry about during this entire ordeal is my mother. She should be the last thing on your mind.” You assured him with what he could tell was your fakest smile, distracting him from the realization you’d said his name for the first time.

“Are you sure? I’ll be meeting her at the wedding so-”

“You won’t. I don’t think you will. Even if she does make it, it takes very little to impress her, just be yourself and she’ll love you.” You stated with a sense of finality, as though the topic should be dropped. 

“Be myself? I’m one of the best businessmen in Korea. It’s my job to get people to like me, easy stuff.” He casually gloated. 

“You don’t only have to be a businessman to do that,” you paused and looked at him, “you can just be Kim Taehyung, too.” You spoke nonchalantly, eyes lingering with his for longer than 5 seconds and he, in fact, had not swallowed you yet. 

Taehyung instantly furrowed his eyebrows, taken aback as if your suggestion was something outlandish, absurd, maybe even offending.

Nobody has ever said such a thing to him, not throughout the entirety of his life. 

Taehyung tried his best to recover, searching for another topic of conversation before he was cut off by your rather soft voice, he noticed. 

“Oh, I wanted to give you this.” You stepped towards him, reaching into your purse and retrieving something Taehyung couldn’t quite see. You strided over and extended your hand, Taehyung finding himself even more confused.

“A bandage?” 

“Mhm. For the cut on your finger. You should probably clean it and apply something before putting this on.” You stated nonchalantly once again, offering him a small smile whilst holding out the bandage. 

“Uh...” Taehyung started but couldn’t complete his sentence, lost on how you even observed something as small as his cut and spoke of treating it like it was an actual injury.  

After his struggle to form a sentence, you grew bold enough to gently remove his hand from his pocket and place the bandage in his palm, looking back up at him. You shared a momentary look with his chocolate eyes, instantly scrambling after realizing your hand was still in his.

He has really big hands. 

“We should um...probably go.” You avoided his eyes, stepping aside quickly to pull the door open.

Taehyung’s mind felt displaced, eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the fact that someone had actually left him with nothing to say, an extremely rare occurrence in his book.

He was even more displaced looking at the measly wrapper in his hand, then at the cut on the side of his finger, playing through the last 5 minutes of what just happened.

He scoffed to himself.

‘There’s something about her you won’t refuse.’

It had been 3 weeks since that meeting, not having seen Taehyung once as you wasted your time enjoying single life luxuries before you prepared for one of marriage.

It still felt odd to say such a thing, marriage, because it didn’t even feel like one, or a real one at that. It was forced, fake, a pressured one out of convenience. It felt more like a deal, something Taehyung and yourself had to settle for in order to keep your parents’ minds at ease.

That thought racked your brain all those 3 weeks; Taehyung had to settle for you, he didn’t choose you, just as much as you settled for him and didn’t choose him either. You both had ultimately agreed to the marriage only in an effort to optimize your parents’ happiness, not your own.

You had no clue how he felt, a mystery as much as the Bermuda Triangle, knowing he most certainly had a grand pick of women to choose from and you were most definitely his worst option.

You knew you were suddenly dumped on him, leaving him no choice in the matter as you learned your marriage entailed a beneficial business deal between your fathers’ companies, and Taehyung couldn’t really refuse you with so much on the line.

You had already felt inferior to Taehyung since the moment you met him, though your insecurities seeped further into the crevices of your doubtful mind the more you thought over that sad fact, contemplating a married life with him. In your opinion you were pretty much undesirable to him, Taehyung probably kicking himself knowing he had to unwillingly call you his wife for the rest of his life. 

You just knew you weren’t good enough for him, you would never measure up no matter how hard you’d try and that utterly terrified you. You were confident and independent when it came to yourself, though wedding a near perfect being regarded as one of Seoul’s finest in terms of a CEO and a man? 

Confidence be damned, this dude was intimidating. 

These were the feelings that swarmed your head as you sulked at your over-the-top engagement party, set up in a prestigious buildings’ gorgeous 37th floor riddled with baroque styling and embellishments, classical music gracing some of Seoul’s wealthiest patrons as their flutes clinked and snobby chatter filled the hall. 

It was all extremely high-status, reeking of upper class supremacy and quite frankly, it made you want to throw up.

You distracted yourself by bringing any and all types of alcohol to your lips, trying to focus on anything but your daunting thoughts.

The entire night you hadn’t talked to Taehyung, both of you having been too occupied with the numerous amounts of people meeting and congratulating you. This became a genuine nuisance as you’d mentioned before, this marriage was of convenience, one that brought families and companies together merrily and constituted hundreds of people attending your engagement party you didn’t really know.

Your friends were excited, over-the-moon you bagged a man like Taehyung and chastised you for not having told them about your engagement to him earlier. Your relatives similarly scolded you, pinching your cheeks and praising Taehyung like he was a God while they scrunched their noses at you for concealing him.

How could I tell you when I didn’t even know myself?, you thought.

It was funny they praised your ‘choice’ of a fiancé, positive nobody was saying the same to Taehyung without at least lying. The public only knew of you as your father’s daughter, never having seen you due to your vehement absence from anything remotely related to his company, and much of the business world in general. 

You weren’t part of that world, a world of greed and money-driven lunatics. It just wasn't you. It never suited you, left you with a bad taste in your mouth you constantly grimaced at and thought maybe you were the insane one for not understanding its flavour. As you grew older, however, you came to realize it simply wasn’t the path meant for you, someone who valued the independence and achievement of earning something for yourself, by yourself.

Ever since the inception of that principal, your young teenage self resolved you didn’t want to rely on your father’s wealth, especially not his influence or power to achieve your own place in life.

Your father had worked determinedly hard for years in order to stand as high he does now, warranting your acute admiration for your role model of a father, his now successful architecture business landing him a few buildings part of the Seoul skyline.

And after finally achieving his dream, it suddenly morphed into your own aspiration. His hard work drove you to want your own design part of Seoul’s breathtaking scenery as well, by means of your own effort, your own hard work. You didn’t want your father’s help. It felt wrong, like you were cheating if you used him to gain your place and so you condemned your life to one that separated yours and his. 

So you lived, worked and earned money without any of his influence.

You worked for an average architecture company where you felt comfortable, happy that you were away from the suffocating high-status business of your family. And although your detachment left your identity a mystery to many, your situation on the other hand was an extremely infamous one.

‘The-runaway-heiress’, was your staple trademark. The judgmental comments about your choice of life and the insults it warranted were never-ending, subjected to that criticism all your life.

There was no doubt Taehyung was hearing all of that, people probably warning him to step out of the marriage before it was too late. You weren’t like Taehyung, who was perfect, desirable, someone everyone either wanted or wanted to be. It left you glad and quite frankly, proud to be wedding a man of such caliber and incredibility, though left you wondering why in God’s name he would ever agree to marry someone like you; average, average and well, average.

“That’s your 5th shot, Y/N, slow the fuck down.” Your best friend Hana’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts, snatching the shot glass from your grasp. “It wouldn’t be cool if you were trashed at your own party, dummy.” 

Her sudden appearance brought a smile to your face. “I know, I just don’t feel well.” You sighed by the counter of the bar, seated atop a stool as you circled an empty shot glass mindlessly. 

“I get you, there’s like, hundreds of people here and you’re probably hearing a lot of different shit.” Hana appealed to you, having read your emotions like an open book. “Speaking of people, I wanted to ask, what’s up with Taehyung and his stare?”

You stifled a snort, looking at Hana’s incredulous face. “It’s just a habit of his. He stares at everyone.”

“Okay... sure, but I didn’t mean everyone, I meant you.” Hana emphasized, comically pointing.

You furrowed your eyebrows at her, arm leaning against the bar’s counter as you questioned, “What do you mean?”

“He doesn’t really stop staring at you, which is kinda weird. Unless you like that, I don’t judge people’s kinks.” Hana mockingly held her hands up in surrender, gauging a reaction out of you. 

You instantly grimaced, “It’s not a kink, Hana. Nice joke by the way, wanna sign up for SNL with that one?”

“I’m serious! I’ve been catching him just looking at you and I don’t know if it’s weird or hot.” Hana informed as you became more puzzled, her becoming oddly excited, “Awh, maybe he’s concerned with how much you keep drinking! That’s so romantic.” She chimed, looking off into the distance dreamily.

“Shut the fuck up, he wouldn’t do that.” You smacked her arm, snatching your shot glass back from her. “Besides, you’re one of the rare people who knows this marriage is fake, you know he doesn’t care.”

“Jheez, way to kill romance?” Hana rolled her eyes, smacking your arm in rebuttal before continuing. “I’m serious, though. This may be fake but he really does keep looking at you, and I don’t know what it means.” Hana speculated, contorting her lips as if in thought.

“It means nothing, Hana. You’re just seeing things.”

“Then why has he been staring at you depressed by the bar for the last half an hour?”

You nearly spit out your drink, “What?”

“Are you clueless or just dumb? He’s been talking to someone for 30 minutes but most of the time he’s been looking at you, and he still is, how haven’t you noticed?”

You creased your eyebrows in surprise as you slowly lowered your shot glass. You turned away from Hana to scan the small crowds of people mingling, eating, drinking in the hall.

You searched the room, drink still in hand until your eyes caught tall, dark and handsome in his finely pressed suit, casually standing with a drink in his hand by a table speaking to someone. You nearly jumped when your eyes locked with Taehyung’s, every cell in your body caught off guard.

What made your heart specifically race was the way he didn’t even look away from you. He held your gaze, casually conversing with the person in front of him, eyeing you until he finally cracked a small smirk before turning back to his companion.

Your eyebrows practically shot up to the sky.

“See, weird or hot? Am I even allowed to say hot?” Hana blurted as she reveled in your reaction. “And you really thought I was joking. You don’t believe anything I say, I could tell you the world’s ending and you wouldn’t believe me. I could tell you aliens finally invaded the planet and you wouldn’t believe me until the green motherfuckers knocked on your door themselves and-”

“Hana, shut the fuck up.” You cut her off abruptly and made a face at her. “Why did you even come here?”

“Grumpy, aren’t we?” She flashed you a sarcastic look before sighing. “Your dad wanted me to find you. You and Taehyung have to meet someone important, so you should stop drinking like an alcoholic, dumbass.” Hana informed hastily as she grabbed the shot glass from you and downed it herself.

“Your dad’s by the entrance, go before he gets mad!” She shooed you away, pushing you up until you whisper-yelled and smacked at her to let you go. 

You began stepping towards the entrance, smoothing over your dress and this was the moment you realized you may have drank a little too much. You were quick to reprimand yourself, cursing your unprofessional behavior as your inner equilibrium became slightly woozy, senses drowning out a bit, every sound hazed over with a buzz in your veins.

You sucked in a breath to pull yourself together, knowing your dad valued this person enough you and Taehyung had to meet them together. 

Taehyung.

You decided to glance in his direction, lips pursing seeing he wasn’t in his previous spot. You chose to ignore it, walking along until you felt a looming presence behind you, almost having time to acknowledge it before a hand suddenly touched the small of your back. 

“Looking for me?”

You nearly squealed, jumping with a hand ready to punish before calming down at the sight of Taehyung, sighing with relief. “Jheez, could you use my name? I thought you were a stranger.” 

“Well, hello to you too.” Taehyung quipped sarcastically. “And why would a stranger touch your back? Of course it’d be the only man in this room marrying you.” Taehyung narrowly eyed you, scrutinizing your reaction with his hand still pressed to you.

“People do a lot of whatever the hell they want, Taehyung.” You responded turning away from him, heels clacking as you continued to pace towards where your father stood. “W-why’d you do that, anyway?” 

Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows. “Because we’re engaged?”

“It’s not real, though.”

“It’s as real as it gets.” Taehyung finalized, making it a statement to smile at everyone you passed, to which you realized just how many pairs of eyes glued themselves to you. “This may not feel like a real marriage to us, but to the rest of the world it is.” 

He then suddenly leaned himself down to your height and lowered his tone, breath just ghosting your ear. “Y/N, we have to make this seem real, it’s the only way we’ll survive.” Taehyung was the closest he’s ever been to you, and the deep baritone of his voice as he called your name did absolutely nothing but manifest butterflies in your chest. 

Why was his voice so deep?

You shook the thought out of your head, ultimately choosing not to say anything because he was in fact, correct. You grinned widely continuing to mask the truth of your arrangements, leaning into him more as you settled for his hand on your back.

You’d noticed it before, but his hand felt particularly large against you now that he was so close. You glanced at his other hand resting by his side, impressed by how masculine they appeared; long fingers with running veins and a roughness to them, sculpted so well you were sure they deserved to be referred to as art. It tickled your giddy side for a second when they seemed to perfectly contrast your more feminine and smaller hands. 

It was kinda cute. 

You neglected your thoughts once you neared your father, warm-heartedly conversing with a well-dressed man you just about recognized. 

“Ah, there you both are!” Your father cheered, reaching out his arm so he could envelop you in a side-hug, returning Taehyung’s bow and addressment.  

“Dad, I heard you wanted us to meet someone?” You perked up in a superficial tone, at least attempting to act as though everything was fine and dandy in your life; maybe owing it to the alcohol to endure all the falsehoods.

“Yes, Y/N-ie, I wanted you to meet Mr. Won. Chang-in, my lovely daughter and whom I guess you already know, her fiancé and CEO of Kim Enterprises, Kim Taehyung.” Your father proudly presented you both.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Won, Kim Taehyung.” Taehyung was the first to address the man, extending his hand and bowing as he greeted him. You were almost taken aback by how polite he could be, the way his charming smile graced his features and attractively displayed his perfect teeth. His manner of speech and etiquette were all refined with a high degree of professionalism as well, internally gawking at his duality.  

Wasn’t he acting all entitled with you just now? 

“Nice to meet you as well!” You collected yourself and cheered, a little baffled as to why Taehyung still rested his hand against your back. “I’m hoping my father has only said good things.” You earned a laugh from the group, Mr. Won responding by receiving your hand with a firm shake. 

“Ah, Namhyun, you forgot to mention how beautiful your daughter has grown, and your future son-in-law has me jealous! What a handsome and accomplished young man, the perfect match, the two of them.” Mr. Won praised you both kindly.

You and Taehyung both smiled and thanked him humbly, feeling some heat collect in your cheeks upon Mr. Won’s words. You two? The perfect match? Unless he believes a rock and a Greek statue belong together, then he’s absolutely correct. 

Other than that, you chest swarms with butterflies thinking you’re now referred to as ‘two’. 

Taehyung for some odd reason encircles the curve of your waist suddenly, pulling you closer to him. You last minute sputter at the intimate action before leaning into him, one arm nervously encasing his torso as the other rests against his chest. 

You feel him tense underneath you. 

“Aish, you’re such a flatterer. Y/N-ie, do you remember Mr. Won? My friend from university? You haven’t seen him in a while.” Your father rested a hand on your shoulder, trying to jog your memory. 

“Oh, you mean Mr. Won from SNU?” You suddenly remembered, looking to your father for confirmation. 

“Yes, so you do remember!” 

“Of course I do, how could I forget!” You smiled brightly and returned your gaze to the familiar man. “Mr. Won used to sneak me ice cream when you wouldn’t let me have any, Dad.” You scolded him with a playful jab to his arm, inviting more laughter. “I apologize for not recognizing you right away, it’s been a long time, Mr. Won, forgive me.” You solemnly apologized, Mr. Won giving you a look of understanding. 

“Ah, forget it, Y/N. Don’t worry about it, although since it’s been a long time I hope you remember my son? He should be here somewhere..” Mr. Won trailed as his eyes fished over the grand hall, scanning around. 

“Your son..” You repeated to yourself, realizing there was a familiar connection itching at your mind, he was your age actually-

Wait. 

Oh God, not him. 

Anything but him. 

You felt raw panic seep into the spaces between your ribs, your chest filling with a constricting feeling of anxiety you couldn't shake off. Your heart picked up speed and the alcohol coursing through your veins didn’t help your judgement or memory at all, mind fogged over with the poison we dare call alcohol.  

You felt stupid, so utterly stupid. How could you forget Mr. Won and who his Godforsaken son was? 

You felt an anxiety attack riddling you, shifting your weight on your feet as you tried to bite back your uneven breathing. You just couldn’t see this man, especially in a situation where you were standing next to your husband-to-be. 

Taehyung wasn’t so invested in the conversation before him, mindlessly nodding along before he felt you physically freeze next to him, his glance to the side confirming your pale look, watching as your panicked eyes faltered to the floor and revealed... fear? 

He registered your odd shifting and your failed attempts at plastering a smile, confused if you knew this guy and if you did, why were you freaking out so much?

Were you in love with him or something? 

The thought minutely bugged him until he watched you turn straight up uncomfortable, horrified when Mr. Won called out his son’s name. 

“Kiseok-ah! Come here!” 

You stopped breathing when you heard the name, eyes going wide as you avoided eye contact with anyone in the group, but caught Taehyung’s undivided attention. He grew curious when Kiseok sauntered over to the group, your hand on his chest suddenly squeezing his suit as the mysterious man greeted everyone respectfully.

Taehyung watched as his intrigued eyes locked on you, eyebrows perking up amusedly as his lips curved into a smile Taehyung honestly couldn’t admit to liking. 

“Y/N? Wow, long time no see. It’s been what, a year?” The man Kiseok called out happily, like there was absolutely no problem occurring here but as Taehyung felt your hand clutch onto his suit, lips just about quivering before you forced a smile, he knew there was most certainly a problem. 

“Yeah.” Your voice was weak, small, and Taehyung found himself wondering how a courageous person like you was all of a sudden cowering. 

He’d heard it all night, all the accounts of your other life away from the business world. He wasn’t going to lie, he heard a multitude of opinions concerning you, many of which including either looking down on you or telling Taehyung there’s many other, more powerful women in business he could’ve been marrying instead. 

But Taehyung didn’t care for their opinions, he found you the most powerful woman he could ever marry, and agreed to do so because of that very prospect. Sure, you were estranged from the business scene and practically abandoned any role you’d play in your father’s company in order to pursue your own personal aspirations, but if anything, Taehyung found it highly commendable. 

Taehyung knew it took guts to do what you did, a bold and daring act that no other heir or future heir of a wealthy company could ever think of doing, including himself. 

What he found to appreciate most was your unwillingness to give in, where you had to have heard all the back-handed and snobby comments, yet you still held your head up high, remained rooted and adamant in keeping your current way of life. It instantly signaled to him you were courageous, fearless, unable to be stopped in your tracks.

So when he watched you become smaller and smaller the more you stood in the vicinity of this Kiseok, he knew something was sincerely wrong. 

“Ah yes, it’s been quite some time. Why don’t we step away from you three? You could do some catching up.” Your father urged as he motioned Mr. Won to step away with him. You lightly addressed them only to have your hands neglect Taehyung entirely and start fidgeting, attempting to calm your nerves as the alcohol inebriated your system and magnified your anxiety by tenfold. 

“Ah, yes, Kim Taehyung, CEO of Kim Enterprises. I’ve been meaning to meet you.” Kiseok extended his hand as his voice irked you with every syllable, trying your best to seem like absolutely nothing was wrong. 

Taehyung reached out his hand in response uneagerly, giving a small shake while wondering why you let him go. “That’s news to me, nice to meet you.” Taehyung responded, already feeling an intense aura of discomfort and tension between you both, sensing he was missing out on something that seemed 6 ft deep. 

“Likewise. Y/N..” Kiseok suddenly turned towards you, making you wince. You painted on your smile as you lifted your vision. “Kiseok.” 

“How’ve you been?” 

“Better than ever. You?” 

“Marvelous, just wondering what your life’s looked like since I haven’t been in it.”

“I believe I said better than ever, didn’t I?”

Kiseok scoffed unamused, “So a year, huh? In all that time you suddenly found yourself a fiancé, and Kim Taehyung at that?” Kiseok seemed to be making light-hearted conversation to anyone outside of your group, though you knew deep down the hostility behind his words.

“Yeah, I did. It just happened.” You shrugged, gaining the confidence to counter him. “And you? Plan on putting a ring on any of your girls? Maybe the 5th or 7th one you liked?” You sarcastically questioned, furrowing your brows in mock contemplation. 

“No, you know I’ve always had my eye on one girl when it came to marriage.” Kiseok eyed you knowingly, purposefully, like he was trying to make it obvious.

You snorted and glared at him, “If I remember correctly, your attitude said otherwise.” hatred began boiling under your skin. You felt yourself growing angrier by the second, memories between you two coming back in flashes. You didn’t even realize you were shaking until Taehyung’s hand suddenly entangled with yours, pulling you towards him almost defensively. 

You were surprised, looking at your connected hands and back up at Taehyung. He returned your look, peering down at you as he smiled warmly, affectionately. 

“I’m sorry, Kisook? Was it? My future wife and I have plans for tonight. May you excuse us?” Taehyung didn’t even let Kiseok respond before he was pulling you away, in complete shock at his first lack of manners you’d ever seen. You were only left to watch Taehyung as he lead you along, gaining the timely opportunity to realize he was taller than Kiseok, and in fact significantly taller than you. 

Taehyung was a large man in general, you noticed. His shoulders looked broad from behind, accentuated by the fit of his suit which also emphasized the expanse of his chest, tastefully exposing his sculpted neck. His legs were long, proportioned perfectly in accordance with the rest of his model-like figure, which was ideally fit and contained just the right amount of muscle. 

Dear God, you took your time with this one. 

You didn’t even realize Taehyung had pulled you into a secluded hallway or that you were ogling him when he suddenly stopped, turning in your direction and snapping you out of a near fever dream. 

Yeah, alcohol was not a good idea tonight. 

“Who the fuck was that?” 

“What?”

“That douche, who was that?” Taehyung inquired slightly pissed, in need of the asshole’s identity after watching whatever shitshow he didn’t pay for. 

“Nobody, Taehyung, he shouldn’t concern you.” You looked away from him, pouting in a way that made Taehyung momentarily notice the plush of your lips. 

Again?, was all he could think, first, your mother, and now this guy? Just how many people did you have bad connections with and he needed to ignore? 

Why were there so many intricate pieces to you? 

“Are you kidding me? He concerns me now, your mother I can understand but this guy? Nothing to me. I could step on him.” Taehyung proclaimed confidently and stood up broader, conviction written all over his face.

You couldn’t help but giggle at his remark, resembling the thought you had earlier. “I was just thinking, you’re a lot taller than him.” 

Taehyung couldn’t help but bite back a smile, watching you giggle like a shy high schooler and his ears gladly welcomed the soft sound. “Damn straight I am.” He adjusted the jacket of his suit suavely. It was then he remembered what his other hand was doing; still holding yours. 

His eyes suddenly gleamed with mischief. 

He squeezed your hand a little tighter and yanked you towards him, bodies just centimeters apart as you crashed into him, all up in each other’s personal space.

Your eyes widened in complete surprise. 

 “So you were thinking about me, huh?” Taehyung teased with a stupidly lowered tone, a smug grin decorating his face. 

You ignored the electricity shooting through you, rolling your eyes and playfully sneering at him. “Shut up, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see you’re taller.” You forced space between you two and tried snatching your hand from him, but his grip transformed into an iron lock. 

“Says the one who was thinking about me.” 

“Taehyung, shut-” You almost huffed out but as soon as you stepped away, your copious consumption of alcohol suddenly attacked you all at once, vertigo making you lose your balance until Taehyung reached out to steady you. 

“Jheez, did you have to drink tonight?” Taehyung chastised you as you fell into him, head spinning with disorientation and growing flimsier by the second. “You’re probably a lightweight at your size.”

“I am not a lightweight. You don’t even know how much I drank, it was a lot.” You bit back in rebuttal, hooking onto his taut forearms as he supported you. 

“But I did see.” He voiced barely above a whisper, causing you to snap your vision up at him incredulously. “What?” 

“Nothing, it shouldn’t concern you.” Taehyung mocked, though still tried to fix you onto your own footing.  

You didn’t even get to scrutinize him further when you felt another round of dizziness plague you, balance faltering again. Taehyung huffed out and finally flanked you on his side, arm encasing your shoulders as he adjusted you. “Okay Miss I’m-Not-A-Lightweight, you should eat something.” He fit you beside him, beginning to walk you towards the main hall. 

Taehyung in this moment didn’t understand what he was doing, utterly clueless as to what was fueling his actions. He was uncertain why he found himself.. caring? He didn’t even know you, yet he couldn’t help but become a little concerned when he watched you down drinks like it was New Year’s Eve. 

How can all that alcohol fit into one tiny person?

What was he even thinking when he dragged you away from that Kisuk guy? Why did he feel like protecting you all of a sudden? A near sense of possessiveness? He wasn’t even your real husband. 

It started giving Taehyung a headache. This was all strange, a foreign concept he wasn’t familiar with and he didn’t know if it was the result of his considerate personality or only manifested solely because of you.

The same way Taehyung dealt with his inner turmoil, you dealt with yours; you were always so adamant on independence though ironically found yourself leaning on Taehyung.

Oddly, you let him carefully guide you back into the hall with no protests. 

It was the day of the wedding. 

You wish you could recall your emotions throughout the day, certain there would be at least a sliver of a positive one. Though as you remained unmoving, nearly catatonic, unresponsive to your surroundings, you knew there wouldn’t be a single happy memory in the tsunami of sorrow that attacked you today. 

Emotions of grief plagued consistently as you realized the loss of everything you valued most in your life. Your happiness, your freedom, your ability to choose. The stripping of all those bundled into an stifling wad in your chest that left you in a perpetual state of wanting to cry.

The sting in your heart when you realized your mother didn’t bother to come, the excruciating smile you forced onto your features when Taehyung’s mother delicately placed the veil atop your head, the secret tears you shed after adorning your body with a wedding dress you didn’t even choose; it all left you internalizing feelings of utter agony. 

And none of it was your real choice. 

Even the flowers at the wedding weren’t your favourite. 

This day was horrifying. You couldn’t believe you prided yourself on your independence, refusing to give in despite numerous challenges and never taking a word of what anyone said to you. Even when someone begged you to change or come back to your old life, you always chose for yourself. You never allowed someone to push you around, seldom coerced into anything solely based on the wishes of another. 

Yet here you were, standing just before the grand doors of a wedding you never asked for, having easily followed every word of your father’s and sacrificed your deepest principles in order to make him happy, to appease and live up to his expectations that weren’t your own. 

It was utterly frightening, appalling. As if you had lost the one true commendable feature of the intricate character you were, suddenly lost the acclamation of others even if they didn’t know the true nature of your marriage. 

But what disgusted you the most was truly, that you had lost respect for yourself. 

These grim thoughts were the ones that attached themselves to you as you hesitantly hooked your arm with your father’s. You used every ounce of strength to not flee, to remain here, to still walk down that isle with your head held high like you always have despite abandoning every foundation of the character you’d spent years working on.  

You didn’t care that your eyes watered, masking them with the facade of happy tears from the blushing bride. You didn’t care when your father looked incredibly concerned and wondered what was so wrong, you didn’t care how sorrowful you may have appeared to anyone at this ironically glamorous event. 

Though what you did care for was that you couldn’t hold your head up as you walked down the isle, vision fixated on the ground as your tears betrayed you, spilling out at the traumatizing feeling of not being able to stand tall like you always did, something stripping you of your self-reassurance, your strength, your confidence.  

It all spelled the requiem of your soul as you reached the end, dwelling in the impossibility this was happening to you until you felt the touch of Taehyung’s fingertips, guiding you up the stairs. It was then confirmed to you this was in fact real, part of your new reality you had no choice but to accept. 

You suddenly felt eternal gratitude for the veil that now covered your face, hiding the tears you cried at mourning the loss of everything you worked for.

While the priest’s words were read, you didn’t exchange a single look with Taehyung, knowing you’d only want to evaporate into the air, to run away at light speed or have someone in a turn-of-events suddenly take your life, just so you didn't have to face the humility of giving up the life you’d spent blood, sweat and tears building if you looked him in the eye. 

You felt the weight of your unknown future crushing you, pushing you towards the precipice as you gripped Taehyung’s hands harder to ground yourself. 

You were to rely on Taehyung, to share a bond with him you had never spent time cultivating, expected to live a life next to him while never being able to truly understand him, know him, love him. The natural process of falling in love now tainted with the coercion of a pressurized marriage, losing the opportunity to achieve any true sense of love. You’d never experience finding the one anymore, your soulmate, the other end of your red string of fate. 

That realization made your tears spill harder, disconnecting your hand from Taehyung’s to prevent your choked sobs becoming audible, holding your palm against your quivering lips. 

To anyone beyond you and Taehyung, it would look as though you were crying tears of happiness, joyously weeping at your matrimony with the love of your life, though as Taehyung felt the shaking of your hands, your refusal to meet his gaze as you reluctantly walked down the isle, the agonizing pain he could see through the sheer of your veil, he knew you were far from happy. 

He couldn’t help but purse his lips together tightly, knowing you were probably swallowing insurmountable torment down your throat because of this marriage, and tears pricked at his own eyes finding himself able to relate. 

He wasn’t just upset for you or himself, it was the entire situation, quite frankly the fucking world. The fact that the universe planned this as your destiny, his destiny, that the happiness of your parents and two companies came at the expense of both yours and his.

He knew you didn’t hate him, that he wasn’t the reason just as much as you weren’t the reason either, it was the arbitrary nature of the arrangement. That whatever version of true love and happily ever after you and Taehyung had separately dreamed of, it could never come to life. 

Even if the company meant everything to Taehyung, his CEO position more important than whatever position he’d play as some husband, seldom having time to consider love and relationships, he still harboured the same wants and desires any human would. A partner, a companion he truly loved with whom he’d start a family eventually, create a life for them and himself defined by love and comfort.

Though Taehyung only knew now you would both die with your decision-making capabilities robbed of you, bound to each other forcibly without the ardor of real love. 

Taehyung’s every thought was proven correct when the two of you exchanged your vows in near strangled chokes and shaky tones, appearing as happy emotions to the guests of the wedding though only you two knowledgeable of each other’s suffering. 

Your vision finally met Taehyung’s once you heard the rawness in his voice, your miserable emotions doubling when you registered he was just in the same pain as you. It was in that moment the priest’s words became audible and rang loud in both your ears, suddenly grounding you two to earth and reminding you of your reality. 

“You may kiss the bride.”

Both of your eyes grievously locked for a moment of horrified realization; that you were seconds away from going through with this, throwing each other’s lives away for the utilitarian benefit, abandoning any sense of choice in whom you both would spend a lifetime with.

Taehyung swallowed thickly as he removed your veil, feeling his eyes fill with tears again when he laid them upon your utterly devastated, tear-stained face. You were using every nerve in your body to stop yourself from sobbing and caving into the ominous thought of fleeing the ceremony.  

Taehyung’s sight wondered to your lips as they still quivered, nearly swollen red at the intensity in which you bit them, awaiting the kiss you were certain would be filled with frustration and hatred, hatred for the mud you were dragging him through, hatred for pressuring him into suddenly valuing something more than his work and his company, to suddenly become a husband to you. 

Though as he watched the terror flashing through your eyes, tears watering your lash line, he knew he could never feel anything so ardently negative towards you, remembering exactly what he was stripping you of. 

The life you built on your own, defying any and everyone’s expectations of yourself, cursing your heir status to hell, your strength, your independence. Now? Your life was bound to his, bound to one where you were obliged to sacrifice yourself for your father’s company and the upper class cesspool you’d spent so long trying to run away from. 

So as Taehyung began closing the gap between you two, nearing your shaking figure, he resolved he wouldn’t make this hard. He would try, try to accept that his life now entailed you, would try to work towards the balance his father insisted he needed, try to understand that you were now part of his priorities and could never simply ignore you.  

He glided his thumbs against the back of your hands that held his pacifyingly, leaning down until he was just inches from your lips as you squeezed your eyes shut. He unexpectedly spoke quietly, meaningfully, seconds away from sealing the deal of an uncertain future, though, remained certain of this one thing. 

“I’ll take care of you, Y/N, I promise.” And he kissed you in a single breath, no haste, no pressure, only the gentle touch of his lips as they met yours, soft and light. 

Maybe Taehyung didn’t know the exact feelings behind his promise, but he knew the meaning; that no matter the arrangement, the non-existent feelings, the loss of choice, he would at least take care of you like any husband would, a good husband.  

He at least owed you that.  

You were left shocked at the nature of his kiss, Taehyung’s warm lips connecting with yours tenderly. You were convinced the tears you saw in his eyes were enough to assert he hated this, frustrated he had to sell his soul, wishing to only rush the kiss so he could call it a day and ignore you for the rest of his life. 

Though what you never expected was the promise he made, or the way he kissed you with such intimacy you found yourself melting into his touch, reciprocating. He kissed you like you were fragile, locking your lips in a way that solidified his promise, as if out of all the empty vows you spoke today, this was the one, true vow he would keep. His lips felt plush against yours, catching his mouth just a little more before the bittersweet disconnection. 

You and Taehyung exchanged a poignant look, small smiles decorating both your faces with a mutual understanding swimming in your eyes as you gripped each other’s hands. You let his promise permeate the air between you two, finding solace in his words as the applause of everyone attending the ceremony filled the hall.   

Maybe it was the warm way Taehyung always pressed his hand to the small of your back when you spoke to others the whole night, maybe the way he veered you away from excessive amounts of alcohol with a light-hearted scolding considering that last time you drank, or maybe even the way he gently held you during your first dance..

Maybe it was all these considerate, kinds act that made you view Taehyung in a less negative light and rather a favourable one, that maybe he wouldn’t be the asshole CEO you’d first accused him of being.  

You would also be an idiot to not mention how completely and utterly handsome he was, looks carved by the Greeks themselves, quite possibly the hottest, most attractive man you’ve ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on. 

And maybe all that accumulated into your assured opinion that when it came to consummating your marriage with Taehyung, you’d have no qualms or worries whatsoever. You would be absolutely willing, ready to take the night on and maybe even have some fun for yourself with whom you could tell was a really, really nice guy.

Though as Taehyung walked calmly in front of you towards your hotel suite, reaching into his suit pocket for the card key he’d retrieved at the front desk to swipe against the lock, your chest clogged with a crushing feeling of anxiety you couldn’t subdue. 

These weren’t the same nerves of maybe being not pretty enough, body insecurities or fear of what to expect from Taehyung, no, these nerves came from the utter panic of having to experience sex with another man.

Especially since your last partner. 

It always started with your permission, that wasn’t the issue, Though what left you afraid, so utterly frightened with the thought of spending a night with a man like this came from the treatment you received from that partner. 

Safe to say, you weren’t treated kindly. Far from that, actually, you were treated as though you had no needs or were a means of simple use. Your last partner was the opposite of giving, he was selfish, self-absorbed and only concerned himself with his own pleasure, going on and on only until he was satisfied and neglected you in every sense of the word, sometimes even refusing to listen to you if you protested. 

To make matters worse, he wasn’t faithful. 

You knew he slept around, a lot, it was the number one reason you never agreed to actually date him, never make things official. 

But the reason you would end up sleeping with him was because of the most perfectly imperfect concept among the human race; love. You believed every time with him was a new chance to make that love real, that it was the genuine manifestation of your feelings for one another, thinking maybe he wasn’t the asshole he always portrayed himself as and could man up enough to love you unconditionally. 

And he completely reeled you in, made you fall in love too quickly and made you believe he was capable of love. This grew exponentially when you were often described as ‘the different one’, the one he always came back to, that you were special. You clung onto those words as much as you could, convinced each time you were in fact the one for him, that maybe one day, he’d wake up and abandon his fuckboy lifestyle and mature.

But everyday that went by, every promise that was never fulfilled, every word that wasn’t met with an action, and especially after every hook up that resulted in nothing new, you began to understand you were everyone’s favourite role in a Shakespearean play. 

The fool. 

You were a joke to believe anything he said, the most naive person on earth to think you were any different from the others, when every night simply ended in rough fucks, virtually no orgasm and miniscule aftercare.

It left you essentially scarred, traumatized that every man in the world was built like this. It didn’t help that whenever you look back, many of your ex partners were of the same cut, the same trope of assholes that don’t seem as bad but end up being exactly so. 

It was what made you swallow thickly as Taehyung opened the door to the suite, holding it open as he moved aside to let you enter first. You walked forward and unintentionally brushed against him, realizing how much smaller you were in comparison to him all over again. 

He towered over you, and it made you more nervous. 

You looked up at him momentarily and quietly thanked him as you stepped inside, setting your sights on the large, king sized bed situated on one side of the room, a lounging area with couches to the other side which lead to a bathroom. Seoul’s breathtaking skyline was visible in the dark of the night through wall-to-ceiling windows opposite to you, covered by flowy, sheer curtains. 

You took a deep breath, trying to remind yourself Taehyung was not the same. Not all men are the same, you can’t inflict the mistakes and wrongdoings of one man onto another, categorize them into one kind. You wanted to think this way, and you knew it was the humane way to think. 

But as the memories of those heart-aching nights filled your head, the empty words, the lack of care or concern, the neglect, the feelings of pure abandonment and use only caused your heart to beat profusely in your chest, clutching onto the neckline of your dress to breathe. 

What if Taehyung really was no different?

It then suddenly hit you you didn’t know him. All you knew of Taehyung was that he was a fiercely successful business man, sitting atop Seoul’s most prestigious with Godly looks and a stare that could kill a man. You remembered your initial feelings about him; his stare in fact intimidated you, quite frankly all of him intimidated you, he was the epitome of perfection and you were far from that very notion. It left you thinking you didn’t measure up, and that he could view you in a dissimilar light than you viewed him; an unfavorable one. 

He could simply not want you, but is forced to.  

You’d observed his kind behavior and actions over the odd two days you met him, though that was exactly the inculpatory factor; you had only met him twice. You didn’t know what he would be like alone, when it was just the two of you, when there weren’t eyes scrutinizing him and cameras snapping shots of his every move. 

You didn’t know how he would be like in the bedroom, either. 

Your mind raced as you conflicted with yourself, trying to understand that Taehyung could be different, though apprehensive with the miniscule knowledge you actually had of him. 

You discerned after that last asshole of a partner you needed the love and care of a real partner, someone who would tend to your needs, adore you in the midst of their actions, be a giver and not just a receiver.  

And you didn’t know if Taehyung would be that partner. 

“Y/N...” Taehyung called out to you rather softly as he removed his suit jacket, the rustling of the cloth signaling he had indeed done so. His footsteps were hard to miss, the soles of his shoes sounding against the hardwood floor as he neared your lonesome figure standing in the middle of the room. 

Your breathing quickened with nearly every step he took, attempting to resolve the civil war you were battling within. You were trying to convince yourself Taehyung would be a nice man, a nice husband; though couldn’t help but feel deflated by the fact it was all mainly coerced out of him.

Your thoughts overwhelmed you as Taehyung finally stood behind you, mere inches from your back as he watched you from behind, unbeknownst of any feelings or thoughts currently riddling you.

He hesitated, though gently placed his hand against your bare arm, the sudden warmth of his hand against your skin causing you to flinch. He peered down at your smaller self squarely focusing in front of you, anticipating your response. He grew slightly soft when you tentatively looked over your shoulders, clearly teary-eyed. 

Taehyung couldn’t miss how scared you seemed, and he his heart inexplicably stung at the thought you were afraid of him. 

“We don’t have to do this.” Taehyung’s voice was low and resembled warm honey, reverberating in a way that made you ease up. 

You worked towards a stable voice. “W-we don’t?” 

“No, we don’t” His voice held no disappointment, only the intention of seemingly wanting to assure you, firm and oddly comforting. 

“I’m sorry, Taehyung. I’m really sorry.” It was hard to keep your tone leveled, clutching your hand over your mouth as you swallowed your emotions. 

“Don’t be sorry, there’s nothing for you to apologize for.” 

You strangely felt the desire to hold his hand that rested against you, though you ignored the urge and simply stepped out of his touch, clutching your chest tightly in an effort to cower away from him. But it was here you suddenly remembered that he kissed you, and the way he did so. 

It made your cheeks fill with a rosy blush. 

“Do you mean that?” You’d finally turned to meet his eyes, his face only visible by the moonlight illuminating the room. He seemed to have retracted his hand and stood with both tucked in his pockets, relaxed. 

This became the first time you noticed just how ravishing he looked tonight. 

His dark hair was slicked back loosely and left enough pieces to fall as a comma, graciously exposing his forehead, his Tom Ford suit attractively hugged his model-like body, watch and accessories accentuating his expensive look. 

His features were casted over by soft lighting, somehow adding to his beauty as the glow made him appear... less intimidating, dare you say warm or inviting. 

His expression was funnily enough, one that you could actually read. He held no contempt, no impatience or anger, only a hint of consideration as his calm eyes looked at you. His face may have been predominantly blank, void of a smile, though certainty held a form of reassurance.  

“Of course I do, why would I do anything with an unwilling person?”

You scoffed lightly, “Not a lot of people would say that.” Your eyes faltered from Taehyung’s and clutched yourself tighter, expression completely telling of trauma.

Taehyung instantly picked up on it, eyebrows slightly furrowing at your words though softening once registering their weight. He felt an overwhelming sense of apology take him, thinking of his next sentence before his mind oddly flashed back to the night of the engagement party.

“Y/N, did Kiseok..?” Taehyung trailed hesitantly. 

You winced at his line of thinking, “No, no...not what you’re thinking,” you immediately denied. “Just, shitty experiences.”

“Shitty, as in...?”

“As in only seeking self-satisfaction, neglect, lies, infidelity. Can we go to sleep?” You deflected with a heavy sigh and a hand at your temple, the day’s events catching up to you.

Taehyung nodded in agreement, “Yeah, sleep. We both need that.” His eyes then landed on the bed, registering even if it were large enough you two could sleep apart, he still opted for caution. 

“Um.. you can take the bed, by the way. I’ll sleep on the couch-”

“No, don’t do that.” You replied quickly. “I can’t sleep on a king-sized bed all by myself, it’s huge.” You side-eyed the massive mattress and laughed a little, lightening the heavy aura casted over the room. 

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to be uncomf-”

“Don’t worry, Taehyung. You don’t make me feel uncomfortable.” You smiled at him lightly and received a small one from him, both your eyes mirroring the same sense of understanding you exchanged at the altar. 

“I’ll let you wash up first, your overnight bag should be in the bathroom closet.” Taehyung informed, pointing towards the direction of your things. 

“Thank you.” You voiced with an amount of warmth that made Taehyung want to genuinely smile, though crushed the weird urge and nodded agreeably instead.

You began walking away from him until a nuisance suddenly occurred to you, cursing yourself as you came to a full stop. “Um, Taehyung.. I forgot but could you..?” You angled your back towards him to call out to the ribbons tying the back of your dress, knowing you would’ve taken 20 years just to untie your bodice yourself. 

The fact that you weren’t looking directly at Taehyung made him feel relieved, glad he wouldn’t embarrass himself with the his eyes slightly widened. He was quick to reprimand himself, it’s just a woman’s dress, why the hell are you shocked? 

Taehyung swallowed dryly before replying, “Uh, yeah I’ll--I’ll do that.” He walked towards you sparingly and positioned himself behind you.

He’d noticed it before, but you were relatively small compared to him in size and it continued to poke at his brain, maybe even momentarily think it was cute. 

Cute? When have I ever found a girl cute?

Taehyung exhaled before his hands carefully made for the silk ribbons, his tentative fingers fiddling with the ties until he eventually began loosening each one. He started unlooping your bodice, breathing out considerably when each loop began exposing your back inch by inch.  

Taehyung’s sweet, hot breath fanned your skin, tensing each time as your every nerve went haywire feeling just how close he was. His slender fingers brushed against your bare skin here and there, making heat collect in your face.

You grew even hotter when your kiss with him suddenly crept back into your mind, unknowing of the reason why excitement and electricity shot throughout your body because of it. The way his soft, full lips met yours, mouthed at you tastefully repeated in your head, making you extremely nervous at how much a measly kiss from him was occupying your mind; it was just a kiss. 

Taehyung found himself tensing by the intimacy of the moment, remembering the way he so boldly kissed you. He found that he liked the plush of your lips, the way he had to bend down to your smaller height to lock lips; and it made him feel strange. 

How the hell was he taking interest in something other than his work? No, this isn’t interest, Taehyung thought, and would spend however long denying it. 

He’d finished the task throughout all his thinking, unrealizing of how proximal he was to you. He oddly hated that the moment was over, coming back down to Earth.

“There you go.” He cleared his voice and stepped away from you. 

You held your bodice up against your chest, realizing Taehyung had a full-access view of your back and you grew 10x hotter. You gulped at the thought before hastily turning around to thank him, quickly disappearing into the bathroom for a moment of reprieve. 

You shut the door and instantly breathed out a breath you didn’t remember holding, looking at your hot mess of a face in the mirror trying to cool down, reliving the last 10 minutes of what just happened. 

You took a deep breath. 

Maybe Taehyung is different after all. 

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[thevampiresiren]

Gone Too Soon

Leon S. Kennedy x Reader

Genre: ANGST, Fluff, Smut

Word Count: 3.5k

Summary: You and Leon end up having a miscarriage and he heavily blames himself. Now he wants to try again.

WARNINGS: miscarriage, cursing, alochol as a coping mechanism, depression, self doubt, oral sex (m&f), fingering, vaginal sex, unprotected sex (stay safe my friends!)

A/N: I know this is a VERY touchy subject. I personally have never had a miscarriage but I know someone who has so this may not be 100% accurate. Also this is my first time writing smut so sorry if it sucks😅

Lennox is pronounced Len (rhymes with pen) nox (Nyx like the makeup brand or Nick's)

Leon never really wanted to have kids. With your all's job and the world that everyone was living in with B.O.W.s and death knocking on the door, the last thing he ever wanted was bringing another life into it. So when you first told him you were pregnant, it didn't settle well with him. Leon didn't see himself as the parenting type and the thought of something happening to you or the baby terrified him. But now that you both had accepted it and you were now 7 weeks pregnant, Leon couldn't be happier. He was always rubbing and littering your lower belly with kisses, telling it how much he loved the little being growing inside of you.

"I hope we have a girl." Leon said while you two were laying in bed. His right hand was gently rubbing your belly while he had his left arm around you, pulling you to his chest.

"As long as they have your blue eyes, I don't care what we have." You said smiling moving a strand of your husband's blonde hair out of his face. Even though he was only in his black sweatpants, you couldn't help but think of how handsome he was. Leon rolled his eyes smiling, kissing you and your belly goodnight.

A few hours later you rolled out of bed to head to the bathroom. You had thought that your bladder was just full and the pressure was just from having to relive yourself. When Leon awoke from you screaming his name, he thought someone had come in and attacked you. He jumped out of bed and sprinted for the bathroom door busting it open.

"Babe! What's wro-." Leon stood to doorway of the bathroom and found you laying on the floor with your hands and disheveled h/c locks covering your face and crying your eyes out. You had removed your sleep pants and underwear and he tried his best to look away from them and what was on them. He sat on the floor beside you and pulled you in his lap; your head on his bear chest as you sobbed while your hands were in fists. He rubbed your back trying to soothe you and trying to ignore the aching pain in his heart. After a few minutes your cries of pain turned into faint sobs.

"We need to go to the hospital, Sweetheart. We need to see what's going on" Leon said just above a whisper. He knew in his mind exactly what happened. You both did, but he needed to make sure you yourself was actually okay physically.

*****

It had been ten months since you and Leon had lost the baby. To say Leon was depressed was an understatement. At the beginning of the loss he stayed strong for your sake. Always telling you it wasn't your fault, you didn't disappoint him, and that he loved you more than anything else in the world. But he was so focused on you and your grieving, that he never got to properly grieve himself. He started drowning himself in alcohol again to numb the pain and became more aggressive towards Claire and Chris. Tonight was no different when you got a call at 8pm from Claire.

"Y/N... Its Leon... He's been drinking too much and he's refusing to head home." She said in a sad voice. Your heart sank at the thought of Leon drowning himself in alcohol instead of coming to you.

"I'll be right there, Claire. Can you and your brother keep an eye on him for me until I get there?"

"Of course."

You grabbed your jacket and car keys and headed out to where Claire said Leon was.

When you parked the car outside of the bar, you saw Claire standing outside of it. She walked over to you after you got out of the car and pulled you into a tight hug.

"Are you doing okay? I haven't seen you since..." Claire cut herself off not wanting to cross any lines.

"I'm doing the best I can. I just want to get Leon back to the house though and get some sleep." Claire nodded and the two of you headed into the building. When you entered you caught Chris with his hand on Leon's arm, trying to force his attention causing Leon to shove him away forcefully.

"WILL YOU JUST FUCKING LEAVE, REDFIELD."

"NOT UNTIL YOU GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND HEAD BACK HOME TO YOUR WIFE."

"GUYS!" Claire shouted, forcing the two to look over at her and Leon's eyes to focus on your form standing beside her. You walked over to stand beside Leon, causing Chris to move out of way and stand beside Claire. You placed your hand on top of his shoulder, looking into his broken eyes.

"Babe, I-"

"Not now, Leon." You softly said cutting him off. "Please, just come home." Your voice shaking. It took him a few moments but he gave a slight nod before picking up his leather jacket and heading towards the exit. You looked other at Chris and he gave you a sad smile while Claire told you to call her if you needed anything.

The drive back home was silent between the two of you. You focused on driving while Leon looked back and forth between the outside window and his lap, the alcohol slowly wearing off. When you arrived back your place, you hopped into the shower to de-stress yourself. When you walked back into the living room, you saw Leon sitting on the couch, eyes shut, hand on a glass of whiskey that was sitting on his thigh. You walked over to the sit beside him and wrapped your arms around his waist, your head on his chest. You felt Leon relax to your touch as he let out a deep sigh.

"Leon... We need to talk about this."

Leon went to bring the glass of alcohol up to his lips, but your hand on top of the glass and staled his movements. He looked down into your e/c eyes before pulling away and placing the glass on the coffee table.

"I'm so fucking sorry... Its my fault we lost the baby." Leon said looking down to the floor trying to hold back his tears.

"What the hell are you-"

"I didn't want kids. I never wanted kids. And I was so upset when I first found you were pregnant and blamed myself for not being careful enough." He said looking into your eyes facing you. "But then I got so fucking happy. I started loving the idea of seeing the first sonogram, hearing the heartbeat, feeling the kicks in your belly, you being called "mommy", and having another reason to keep this shithole we call the world safe." You noticed his voice started shaking more and tears were on the verge of escaping his now dull blue eyes. You weren't going to speak just yet, no matter how hard you wanted to cry. He needed to get everything out. Leon looked down at your wedding ring, and held onto your hand like his life depended on it.

"I thought three years ago when we got married that having you as my wife was the best feeling in the world and losing you would kill me. But us having a family was best feeling in the world and it was taken away from me because I was too selfish and scared in the beginning. And I want kids now but I'm terrified of them being taken away from me like this again." he said allowing his tears finally fall.

You wrapped your arms around his shaking form and laid down in the couch, situation yourself so he could lay his head on your chest. You gently ran your fingers through his soft golden locks to soothe him, letting your tears fall as well.

"Leon... this is not your fault and its absolutely NOT the world punishing you. You were scared and didn't know what to do. Hell, I was terrified." You lifted up his face to have him focus on you, gently stroking his stubbley cheek with your thumb.

"But you can NOT blame yourself for this. I love you too fucking much to see you fight yourself and think that world is punishing you for being scared." Your were crying in full force now. Leon gently grabbed the back of your neck, placing a gentle and loving kiss on your lips. You kissed him back smiling. Leon slowly pulled away, letting your noses still touch.

"I love you too, Angel." He said smiling, running his finger through your soft h/c locks. He paused for a moment, thinking about you, your lives, and everything that you both had been through. He looked into your e/c eyes with his loving blue ones.

"I want us to try again. I want a baby. Please, Sweetheart?"

Your heart swelled at the words coming from him. You've been wanting to try again over the last month, but were terrified of the outcome. But more than that you were willing to risk it all to have a family with the love of your life. With a giant smile on your face you said "Yes, Leon.".

That was all he needed to hear before he captured your lips in a deep passionate kiss. You wrapped your arms around his neck while he pulled closer to his body. Leon’s tongue gently licked your lips for an entrance that you happily allowed, making you quietly moan and sent shivers down your spine. His started slowing lifting your t-shirt up to caress your breasts and removed your bra while kissing down your neck leaving gentle bite marks. You let out a sigh  and pushed Leon's jacket off of him, making him discard it somewhere on the floor. Leon wrapped your legs around his waist and picked you up to head to the bedroom. He gently laid you down on the bed and hovered over you smiling.

"Aww, no couch sex this time?" You joked pouting your lips. Leon chuckled and peck your lips. He leaned back and removed his shirt revealing his toned body. You felt yourself getting more hot by the looking at the man above you who you loved for than life its self . As you scanned his body you noticed in his tight jeans that he was just as excited as you were. You reached your hands out to his waist to undo his belt when his hands gently grabbed your wrists. Leon looked down at you with his now dark navy blue lust and love filled eyes before placing your hands down to your sides.

"Not yet, Sweetheart." He said in a sultry voice causing your arousal to heighten. Leon removed your jeans in one swift motion. You look down at him as he place his large calloused hands on waist line of your panties, slowly pulling them off. The cool air caused you too shiver as it met your hot wet folds. You let out a quiet moan as he began kissing your inner thigh.

"Fuck. your soaking, Babe." Leon said while collecting your wetness.

"Leon... Please" you moaned. He smiled and gave your clit a gentle kiss before giving your heat the attention your body had been craving. His slow licks over your folds and feeling of facial hair rubbing against you set a fire inside of you. You felt your stomach begin to tighten when he began licking circles on your sensitive bud. Leon pushed your thighs up and further apart, giving him better access to suck on your clit and folds. A loud moan left your lips at the feeling and you tugged on his silky blonde locks. Leon moaned at the sting on his scalp, lavishing in the feeling and taste of your juices. He slowly inserted his index and in middle fingers into your wet cavern, rubbing that sensitive spot inside of you.

"Fuuck, Leon." You moaned bucking your hips against his tongue and fingers. Your walls tighten around his fingers, signaling that you were close to your high. Leon moved his fingers faster, making your back lift off the bed and toes curl. Your orgasm took over your body, leaving you breathless. Your body shook and your juices soaking the sheets. Leon removed his fingers from inside you to lick off the mess on them and rubbed your thighs. He gently kissed your lips, allowing you to taste your release.

"You good, baby?" He said smirking while resting his forehead against yours. Catching your breath, you smiled.

"Better than good. But I think its only fair if I pay you back." You said smirking. Leon sat on his knees and allowed your hands removed his belt. With his help you removed his jeans and boxer briefs. His hard dick hit right below his belly button, the tip an angry red with a little bit of precum making your mouth drool. You positioned yourself so that you were sat up a little but still laying down and he was above you. You placed your hands around him and gently started stroking then up and down. Leon took a deep breath as you ran you thumb over his sensitive head before slowly taking him into your mouth. His length was hot and heavy on your tongue and the taste of his precum only turned you on more. You swirled your tongue around his tip and gently kissed it before kissing up from his pelvis to his faint happy trail while you continued to stroke him.

"God, you're going to be the end of me." Leon moaned out, looking into your e/c while gently stroking your cheek. Your smirked and popped him back into your mouth. You bobbed your head up and down while stroking what couldn't fit into your mouth. Leon gently pulled you away kissed your lips, making you lay back down. You looked up at him confused.

"Not tonight, Babygirl.". He said before he slowly slid himself inside of you, kissing your forehead. You let out a soft moan at the feeling of him stretching your tight walls.

"Fuck..." Leon groaned at how tight you were. He moved his hips at a slow but deep pace while nipping at your neck collar bone. You wrapped your arms around his neck, bringing him as close to you as physically possible so your bodies were flushed against each other. He slowly started picking up his pace, lifting your legs around his waist so he could hit the spot inside you that made you see stars. Your body felt like it was in fire, your nails digging into his back. Your walls hugged him like a vice, showing that you were close, making him moan into your neck.

"I love you." He whispered, his ocean eyes staring in yours with your foreheads and noses touching.

"I lo- love you too, Leon. So much." You said as you felt almost reaching your high. Leon placed his thumb on clit, tracing circles around. You moaned loudly, Leon kissing you passionately as you came hard. As you felt yourself come undone, your second orgasm much more intense than the first; you felt Leon cum inside of you. The warmth of his seed soothing your aching walls, he gently pulled away from the kiss. He rubbed his nose against yours while gently rubbing your sides with him still inside of you as he began softening. Both of you held each other close, trying to catch your breathes. After a few minutes, Leon slowly pulled himself out of you, both of you whimpering as you missed the feeling of each other. He pulled you close, laying your head on top of his chest and wrapping the covers over the both of you.

"You okay?" Leon asked tired while stroking your cheek. You moved a strand of his disheveled hair out of his face.

"I've never been better." You said with a tired smile, bringing him into a gentle kiss. "I love you, Leon." You said.

Leon smiled, pulling you closer to him.

"I love you more.".

****

"The files for the new job are in the manila envelope over there." You said pointing to the kitchen island.

"Another? I just came back from one." Leon said as he walked over to you.

"Yeah, but apparently were working on this one together." You said shrugging your shoulders.

Leon sat down at the island and opened the envelope and saw some papers and another white envelope. Leon looked over the papers and saw that one was actually a blood test from the doctor's and one thing stood out to him

Y/N  Kennedy:

Pregnancy Test- Positive

Leon stared at the words in front of him for a moment in awe. He jumped from where he was sitting, knocking the bar stool over, and ran over to you gently placing his hands on your belly.

"You're pregnant?!  How far along are you?!" Leon asked excited.

You laughed at how he was basically acting like a kid getting the best Christmas present he could have gotten.

"Yup. I'm 10 weeks and the baby is as healthy as they can be."

Leon picked you up in his strong arms and gently twirled you around kissing you.

"You still have another thing to open, Kennedy." You said when he set you down, handing him the little envelope.

Leon looked at you and opened it. In the envelope were sonogram pictures. Leon felt tears fall down his face as he looked at the pictures. The pictures that symbolized your loved for each other. The little creation that was made out of the of you. Leon slightly jumped as he felt you wrapped your arms about his waist from beside him and kiss his chest; he instinctively wrapped his left arm around your shoulder pulling you close.

"So, Mr. Kennedy. Are you ready to complete this mission with me?" You said looking up and smiling.

Leon set the sonogram down before wiping the tears from his face. He gently kissed your lips "Always, Mrs. Kennedy.".

****Epilogue****

Leon stepped through the front door of the house barley getting his shoes off before he heard the thumping of little feet.

"DADDY! I MISSED YOU." Your three-year-old daughter came running towards Leon and jumped into his arms.

Leon smiled at the girl with cute freckles and moved a strand of her h/c hair out of her face, gently kissing her forehead.

"Hi Princess, I missed you too. Where's Mommy?" He asked.

"I'm in here." You called from your shared bedroom.

"C'mon Daddy!" Your daughter said, as her gorgeous bright blue eyes she got from her father sparkled.

"Lennox, why don't you go grab a book for Daddy to read to you for bed?" you said.

"Okay, Mommy!" Lennox ran as fast as her little legs could take her into her bedroom to grab her book. Leon smiled at you. You were in one of his shirts and a pair of his boxers that you had been wearing to bed as of late

 “I missed my girls" Leon said while wrapping his arms around your waist, his hands landing on the small bump of your stomach. "He giving you a hard time?" He ask as he kissed your shoulder and laid his head on the crook of your neck. Leon could tell you were exhausted by how you relaxed immediately in his arms.

"Yeah, I haven't been able to keep anything down all day. Nyx was never this terrible when I was pregnant with her. He's going to be a stubborn pain in the ass like you". You said smiling causing Leon to laugh. He gently turned you around and kneeled down so he was at eye level with your belly and placed a gentle hand on it.

"Listen here little buddy. Give your mom a break okay? She's amazing and loves you very much. But she can't handle too us or she'll lose her shit." He gently spoke. You both felt a little kick from inside, almost like the little one was responding to you making you both laugh.

"Good, I'm glad we're on the same page kiddo." Leon said while kissing your stomach.

"I GOT IT!!" Lennox announced as she came back into the bedroom. Leon picked her up and carefully threw her over his shoulder making her laugh hysterically as he carried her into her room. You followed them into Lennox’s room and smiled as Leon kneeled down next to her bed and began tickling and giving her kisses. Once your daughter was asleep, the two of headed to bed yourselves. You laid down beside your husband and he began rubbing your belly again.

“'Not father material my ass" you said chuckling.

Leon rolled his eyes smiling before kissing your forehead. “I wouldn’t have this any other way.” He said looking into your eyes.

“Me either. I love you Leon Scott Kennedy.”

“I love you more Y/N Kennedy."

[isolemnlyswearpevensie]

Hot Chocolate in the Summer | Sirius Black x Reader

Warnings: None 

Era: Marauders era (Graduated)

Word Count: 1k

Summary: On a brisk summer evening, Y/N and Sirius reminisce about their past 

Request: A Sirius black x reader when you and Sirius get married and/or have a child together right after Hogwarts

A/N: First Harry Potter imagine on this blog! Yay! I hope you enjoy <3

Masterlist | read on ao3

Being a young father wasn’t what Sirius imagined when he thought about his life plan. Y/N wasn’t either if he was being completely honest. He always imagined himself a young bachelor who would charm bartenders out of free drinks or ride around his motorcycle until dawn with no hesitation. That all shifted when he met the love of his life during his fifth year. 

Sirius didn’t pay attention to people outside of his house, or, really, anyone outside of his close circle of friends. His friends were his world, and other relationships outside of the circle were jeopardizing. A new clique member could throw off the dynamic, and if worst comes to worst, break up the tight bonds they had. Sirius was not about to let that happen because he was dating some silly girl. 

In Herbology, debatably Sirius’ least favorite class, he was paired up with Y/N for a project. He had been partnered with James originally, but they goofed off in class, broke four pots, and lost the privilege to even look at each other. Y/N was the best in the class and was very well behaved, so naturally, Sirius was stuck with her. 

He thought she was shallow at first; just a know-it-all that would boss him around and get under his skin. But, as they worked together, he discovered that she was the exact opposite of that. She was sweet, funny, sarcastic, and most of all, smart. Y/N was muggleborn, yet she came to Hogwarts knowing more about the school than Sirius did. How she knew, Sirius didn’t know, but it was still impressive. Not to mention, they shared a ton of the same interests. Y/N’s father was an auto mechanic and when he showed her his bike for the first time, she knew the exact model. I helped Dad work on one of these last summer, she explained. 

The real test before asking her out, though, was how James reacted to her. James was the end-all-be-all opinion. Y/N had the boy wrapped around her finger within three minutes of meeting him. Sirius asked her to Hogsmede right then and there.

Their wedding had been quaint; only friends and Y/N’s immediate family. The meadow they chose to get married in was bustling with life, whether that was clovers and dandelions, or bumblebees and wildflowers. A nearby stream could be heard from the reception, as could frogs, and lightning bugs lit up the venue when it got dark. It was simple, fresh, and beautiful. Y/N had a gorgeous, flowing dress and a flower bouquet of sunflowers and red roses. Sirius wore a red bowtie. It was the perfect wedding to start a perfect marriage. 

Except, it wasn’t perfect. Six months after their wedding, the couple had discovered that Y/N was pregnant. The two had spoken about kids previously, but they had decided to wait many years until they started a family. They had plans to travel, to see the world, and be happy-go-lucky young adults. After many evenings of discussing what to do, the happy couple decided to be the best, most badass parents a kid could have. Not long after Sirius and Y/N, James and Lily announced that they would also be having a child. That meant the new additions to the marauders would have a built-in best friend, and that made the couples happy. While the timing wasn’t the best, due to the war, at least they weren’t alone. 

On May 15th, 1980, Y/N gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Ellie Marlene Black. She looked exactly like Sirius, with hints of Y/N. It was love at first sight for Sirius and when Y/N saw him hold her for the first time, she knew that Ellie would be daddy’s little girl. 

~

“Who knew it got cold at night,” Y/N said one summer evening as she rocked her daughter. Her and her husband were standing on their porch watching the sunset; Sirius sat comfortably in a chair with his legs spread out while Y/N paced. Ellie wasn’t falling asleep. Instead, she tugged at Y/N’s hair. 

“Well, it tends to do that every day, love,” Sirius answered, sipping on a beer and watching his girls with an amused look on his face. 

“I didn’t ask for sass, mister.” Y/N continued to bounce the one-and-then-some-year-old. 

“Ah, come on, darling. Give it up, she’s not going down.”

“Gid id up! Daddy!” Ellie reached her grubby fists towards Sirius. Sirius scooped her up and blew a raspberry on her tummy. 

“Yeah, that’s right! Give it up, Mama!” Sirius situated Ellie on his hip and kissed her cheek. 

It was interesting seeing him interact with Ellie. Here Sirius was, barely 21 with long hair, a leather jacket, piercings, and tattoos, holding a toddler that absolutely adored him. The contrast was insane. It was especially odd seeing them together when Y/N visited him at work. Sirius was an apprentice at a magical tattoo parlor in Diagon Alley, so it was always fun watching the customers’ reaction to Ellie’s precious deminer. 

“I’m going to go make us a treat, babe.” Y/N calls, opening their screendoor and walking back into their kitchen. Sirius hummed in response. A few minutes later, Y/N returns with two mugs of hot chocolate. 

“Baby, it’s the middle of August.” Ellie’s head was starting to droop and her thumb was in her mouth. 

“Yeah, so? It’s cold outside. Do you want it or not?” Y/N’s smiled ear to ear. 

“I never said I didn’t want it,” Sirius remarked back, taking the cocoa from his wife and taking a sip. The warm liquid warmed his body and left him feeling a little groggy. He stared lovingly at his wife. How did he get so lucky?

“You’re so beautiful, my love.” Sirius comments, taking a sip of the cocoa again. “You’re such a good mom, too. Ellie adores you. I adore you.”

This made Y/N flush a deep red. No matter how many times he compliments her, she still feels like the nervous school girl who was paired to do a project with him. How far they’ve come since then.

“You’re the amazing one. You work two jobs to support us...I can’t even imagine how hard that is. And the Order is so dangerous-”

“It’s all worth it to see the my two girls so happy.” Ellie was now asleep on Sirius’ chest. Her thumb was placed in her mouth and her body was limp. 

“I love you, Sirius.”

“I love you even more, my love.”

[dameferre]

can we see a snippet from the "penpals!" courferre one :0

of course! i will warn you this will. most likely never see the light of day BUT it’s based off of ‘the year of secret assignments’ by jaclyn moriarty, a... kind of ridiculous book i bought at a charity shop at like. age 10? or something

basically these three sets of teenagers are assigned pen pals at a neighboring school, and hijinks ensue, with one set of penpals giving each other secret assignments (hence the title), the other set of penpals being a girl who writes to a guy who uses a fake name (that plotline ends horribly, it would not have done so in my fic lmao)

one finally one set of penpals (a boy and a girl) decide to start having practice dates, so the guy can hone his skills and ask out a girl he likes, and the girl can critique his form, and... i mean i think we all know how this goes.

anyway, it’s half in letter format, half actual writing the story. here’s a snip! (under the cut because i. couldn’t help myself)

Official Assessment of the Second Meeting By Chance executed by The Lord of Flowers, Combeferre, henceforth referred to as the Subject, as reviewed by Courfeyrac the Ravishing, henceforth referred to as The Operative.

NOTES

When the Operative (and Guest) approached, the Subject smiled very nicely. It was a sort of surprised, warm smile that lit up his face. Did the Subject practice his ‘oh I was hoping to see you and I’m so glad I have’ smile in the mirror?

The Subject did a very good job of consoling the Guest, and as it turns out, the Subject’s height is not as offensive as previously thought, as he holds an umbrella perfectly.

The Subject was much more relaxed this time, and funny, and his hair fluffed a little in the humidity which was adorable. He had a great way of explaining things to the Operative without being patronising, and teased admirably. The Operative spent a good 80% of the walk laughing, but upon writing report can’t remember a specific instance of hilarity. The Subject should have more memorable jokes next time.

Overall, great work Combeferre. You’ll have Feuilly falling over himself to get to you in no time.

Yours,

Courfeyrac the Ravishing

--

Courfeyrac,

You seem to be losing your touch; that last review lacked the mildly insulting bluntness I’ve grown so accustomed to. Does this mean we’re becoming friends?

Anyway, I’m now, as you would say, ‘balls-deep in tech week’ and halfway through my descent into the deepest pit of hell. The entire production is an original script written by a friend of mine, named Jehan Prouvaire, who decided to rewrite the final scene this weekend. They’re my friend, have been for years, but even I wanted to murder them slowly. The cast is hard at work trying to learn the scene, while I had to stay late last night redoing all the cues.

The worst part of it is, the new ending is fucking fantastic, so we can’t even stay mad at them.

It’s exhausting. Literally exhausting; I got three hours of sleep last night.

Anyway, I’m writing this as a way of avoiding calculus homework. Not that I wouldn’t write to you if I didn’t have calculus homework, but it is harder to just ramble on about my life now that we’ve met in person. I don’t think I ever would have told you about Feuilly if we had met before we started writing. There was something in the anonymity that made it easier, like writing into a diary. I hope you don’t take this as an insult- what I mean to say is that now that I know you, I want you to like me. And by extension, I want you to know a lot less about exactly how lame I am.

Anyway, I wanted to say I won’t be able to make a meeting by chance this week, though I know telling you that ruins some of the fun. If I’m around next week, which is really looking less and less likely every time an actor misplaces a prop or mic pack and I am forced, once again, to weigh the pros and cons of murder, I’d be happy to accidentally run into you on my way home from school.

Side note- Avi(my brother) comes home next week, which lines up nicely with Mom’s birthday and means he’ll be able to see the show. It’ll be nice to have him back. I think you’d like him; he’s the attractive one in the family, and the extrovert. He’s also a mechanical engineer who medal-ed in track when he was my age. Basically, he got all the good genes, but he’s too nice to admit it.

Anyway, calculus beckons.

See you on the other side, Combeferre

p.s. Only you would practice a smile. Mine was genuine, I swear.

--

My Dearest Combeferre,

FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE STARTS TOMORROW HELL YEAH

I mean, yes, technically the other guys on my team have been practicing for two weeks but I have sadly been out of commission. BUT NOT ANYMORE BABY THE BITCH IS BACK

This will help distract me from the pain and yearning as I wait a whole week to see you again. I’ll be wistfully wandering the moors before Saturday, mark my words.

I’m also fascinated by the idea of a brother who’s you, but more attractive. Does it hurt to look at him directly? Do strangers fall in love on the spot? Is he officially considered a menace to society because he’s caused traffic accidents and ruined weddings by walking past at the wrong moment?

Someone should put a stop to him before things get out of control! No man should wield such power.

The idea that you, of gorgeous cheekbones, perfect hair, jawline, and eyes and face in general, notorious multi-tasker, valedictorian and walking encyclopedia, not to mention polyglot, could think someone else got the good genes means either you are humble to the point of actively lying to yourself or your brother is a minor deity.

Courfeyrac, I can hear you saying, flattery really isn’t necessary.

But it is! Enjolras, who I’ve mentioned before and is my best friend in the whole world, is gorgeous to the point of being inconvenient to look at. I’m a notorious flirt, I know this, and I’m good at it, but we’re not even in the same league when it comes to making people question their sexualities. He walks into a room and you can see half the people inside mentally decide they’re bi-curious. He’s also a raving lunatic and antagonistic asshole, which he openly accepts and takes pride in, but try to tell him he’s attractive and he looks at you like you’ve just suggested he’s got wings or a tail. So what I’m trying to say, I think, is that I’m used to people not realising how good looking they are. And bludgeoning them with compliments is my way of dealing with this.

Anyway. Getting sidetracked.

I’m flattered you use me as a method of procrastination! I’m gonna make myself a button that says ‘more interesting than calculus’ and wear it with pride. Also, is writing to pen pals not mandatory at the Academy? We’re given a half hour block during the study period. When we first started, Enjolras said the whole thing was “infantile and outdated and a waste of time”, but at this very moment he is on page six (6) of his latest aggressive correspondence to his mystery R, even though I saw what R sent him last time and it was, I shit you not, an envelope that was empty except for a tiny (approx. 3 centimeters long) rubber chicken. For context, the one before was a thorough analysis of wage inequality written entirely in pig latin.

I hope one day I meet this person, even if immediately afterwards they steal my kidney or turn me into a newt or whatever minor trickster gods do these days to pass the time when they’re not torturing my best friend.

Anyway, gotta go, stay sane, don’t kill anyone unless you really have to, and if so lemme know and I’ll help you get rid of the body. I know a guy.

Courfeyrac

p.s. I already like you, idiot.

[dwellordream]

A Six of Crows Review: Joost and Inej I

This marks the beginning of my review of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Before I go any further, I want to provide context for my experience/knowledge of the book and its fandom. Six of Crows was published in 2015 when I was 16. I picked it up in a bookstore and read the first few chapters idly while shopping, before putting it back down.

At the time, my dislike of what I’d read was probably primarily fueled by the realization that it was by the same author as Shadow and Bone, which I had tried to read a few years before and disliked, and because at the time I was aging out of the YA genre in general and had very little patience for many of its familiar tropes.

In recent years, Six of Crows and its companion and predecessor series, the Grisha Trilogy, have become one of the most popular YA series online. The avid fan response and promotion of it on social media no doubt led to the Netflix series being greenlit and it is obviously trending at present due to the success of the series. With all that in mind, I’ve decided to try Six of Crows again and see for myself what all the hype is about.

Some more caveats: I am 22 years old. I am aware Six of Crows is YA literature intended for a middle and high school audience. I will not be holding it to the standards I would hold an adult grade fantasy book, in terms of prose, themes, or content. I am aware that I am not necessarily the target audience for the book and these reviews are in no way intended to shame or disparage anyone who enjoys the book.

Criticism is a healthy part of any fandom and does not necessarily constitute hate. I will likely critique elements of the book in my write up. That does not mean I have a personal vendetta against the author, publishers, or the TV show. Please do not take this as a personal attack if you’ve enjoyed the book. This is just intended to promote discussion and to gather my own thoughts.

If you follow me, I am tagging this as ‘in review’ so you know what to block if you don’t want to see my posts on your dash. I will be going through 1-2 chapters per weekend. This weekend I will be looking at the prologue, aka Joost, and the first Inej chapter.

Jumping into things, here is Joost:

The prologue is our introduction to Ketterdam, the setting of Six of Crows. It’s been a very long time since I read Shadow and Bone and so all I really know is that Ketterdam is a city in an island known as Kerch, based off the map. The major countries or kingdoms of the mainland to the east appear to be Fjerda, Ravka, and Shu Han, though it is unclear how they differ from one another at this point.

Ketterdam through Joost’s eyes is a sinister and dreary place, a city under a grimy night sky and full of dangers. Joost works as a hired guard for a very wealthy man named Hoede, who keeps grishas, powerful magic users, as indentured servants. Joost is infatuated with one of them, Anya, a healer, though he knows she is not likely to return his affections and furthermore cannot wed without the permission of her owner. We also learn that grishas are at risk for being kidnapped and sold by slavers due to their value. However, the indentured servant system of Ketterdam thus far doesn’t seem to be much better than slavery, given how little freedom the grisha have.

Overall, the prologue is supposed to give us a sense for the setting of Ketterdam and interest us in the main hook of the novel, which seems to be a mysterious substance that grisha can ingest to heighten their powers for the benefit of their masters, though it has the risks of making them uncontrollable. How well is this done?

Through Joost’s perspective we can glean several things; Ketterdam is a dirty city with rampant income inequality, full of crime and corruption. Magic is an established system within Ketterdam, but the magic users do not seem to be at the type of the hierarchy despite their powers, which suggests they are a minority to the extent of which they can still be controlled by the elite class of non magic users, if they have enough money and power.

It is also very obvious through the references in the prologue that Ketterdam is heavily based off the Netherlands during the Golden Age, which was Amsterdam’s (Ketterdam… Amsterdam… not subtle) economic and cultural boom during the 17th century, aka the 1600s. Notably the world’s first stock exchange began in Amsterdam in 1602, and it was a major port and trading hub for the Dutch East and Dutch West India Companies.

It is not clear if Ketterdam is also intended to be a 1600s-esque society, timeline wise, but we know that rifles are common place and there is a thriving merchant class who rule as opposed to old aristocracy, which seems to indicate a Renaissance style setting, as well as the urban environment in general. (That said, from the advertisements for the Netflix show, they seem to have updated it to a more Victorian-era 1800s society, in terms of fashion and general aesthetics).

Overall, the prologue does its job. It gives us a vague idea of what Ketterdam is like, how the society is structured, and who holds the power. It also ends on a suspenseful cliffhanger, leaving Joost’s fate unclear. Where it falls flat is that I think a little more time could have been spent fleshing out Joost as a narrator, even if this is his only showing in the book.

His internal monologue comes across as a bit dry and mechanical, as if the author is aware he is just a means to an end to start the book off with a bang, and he quickly turns into a walking camera (just there to report events to the reader, with no internal input from him), for the second half of the prologue, as we switch to just watching Anya and Hoede through his eyes. That said, it’s not a major problem, as Joost is clearly not intended to be a main character, and his narration still effectively conveys what is happening and sets the dark tone of the novel.

What I would have liked to see from the prologue is perhaps the POV of Anya herself, or the small child she is being forced to experiment on, as that might have been a more compelling and immerse introduction to Ketterdam and its dangers rather than the fairly bland and neutral Joost, who doesn’t really feel like a character so much as a bland stand-in for the reader. If we were put in the shoes of Anya, suddenly called upon by her power hungry employer to participate in this unethical test, or in the shoes of the small boy caught up in the middle of this, it might have been both more thrilling to read and given a more gritty sense of what it’s like to be on the lowest rungs of Ketterdam’s society, at the mercy of the most powerful.

Moving onto Inej, we run into some similar problems. After Inej’s first chapter, I couldn’t tell you a single thing about her, other than that she was an acrobat as a child, that she is part of the street gang known as the Dregs, and that she intensely values loyalty. This isn’t a problem, per say, but while that’s all good to know, it doesn’t give me any sense of Inej’s actual personality, which doesn’t exactly bode well. Like Joost, she comes across more as a walking camera and occasional tourist guide as opposed to a human character with her own worries, hopes, and fears.

I think this may become a recurring problem with Bardugo’s writing - ie all tell, no show. Inej is good at telling things. She tells us where we are as we follow her to the location of a stand-off between rival gangs, she tells us that Kaz, their leader ‘doesn’t need a reason’, though she never exactly explains what that means other than that he is widely feared, she tells us that she is very fond of her knives.

But in terms of writing, we shouldn’t have to be force fed all this information via her internal monologue, which, again, entirely cuts out once the action picks up, just like Joost’s. While I don’t need her thoughts on every threat or gunshot, it would be nice to feel as if she hadn’t just vanished from the story completely as soon as the dialogue starts.

We also meet Kaz and Jesper, though I couldn’t tell you much about them utter than that Inej clearly admires, even venerates Kaz as an accomplished intimidator and chess master, and that Jesper is clearly the joker of the group.

It also feels incredibly weird that this parley between gangs in happening in front of the city’s stock exchange. Inej tells us this is because the Exchange is one of the few remaining neutral territories, but it’s also heavily guarded, which means every time a gang wants to parley, they have to pay out the cash to bribe all the guards to very pointedly ignore a meeting between rambunctious and trigger happy street gangsters on their literal doorstep.

I understand why Bardugo chose this location, wanting to contrast the violence of the gang members with the economic injustice that the Exchange and its merchant rulers represents, but it just seems a bit silly. They couldn’t meet at the docks? In an alley way? This is like picturing the American Mafia hosting a public meeting at the New York Stock Exchange with a bunch of cops twiddling their thumbs nearby.

The foreshadowing that Bollinger is the traitor (‘I’m not going to bet on my own death’) also seems very heavy handed and a little much, but I’ll let it slide.

It’s also not really clear while Inej is present at this meeting in the first place. Kaz commands her to keep watch from above, but he has also put a contingency plan in place that doesn’t even involve her, having bought out some of Geels’ men from under him. Why put Inej looking down from above if you’re not involving her in this plan? Her only role seems to be to watch, and she doesn’t even have a gun she could play sniper with. It just seems like a hamfisted way of getting Inej out of the danger zone so the author can have her as a passive spectator to the violence that follows.

This is my main problem with this chapter. It’s supposed to introduce us to Inej, but really, it’s introducing us to Kaz. Which is fine, but as he also has a POV in this book, it seems a bit lame that her own chapter is completely overtaken by showing off A. his smarts and B. how dangerous he is, despite being dismissed as a young ‘cripple’ by the likes of Geels.

Geels is also… not a greatly done villain. I get that he’s supposed to be small fry and is just a precursor to much more threatening opponents, but his every line of dialogue feels designed to show off how cool and Machiavellian Kaz is in comparison. He doesn’t seem like an actual hardened criminal who has underestimated his opponent, but a somewhat cheesy cartoon thug who unironically says things like “How are you going to wriggle your way out of this one?” with his full chest. The effect is comical, and not in a good way.

This chapter also shows off Kaz’s sadistic side in full display, which is probably one of the only interesting things about it, though it would be nice if we got any input at all from Inej on this… instead she completely vanishes from her own narration, to the point where she might as well not be present at all. Kaz has no qualms about tracking down his enemies’ weakness, such as lovers and family, and threatening them.

But the open horror and shock Geels reacts with seems incongruent, as if Kaz were the first up and coming gangster to actually consider threatening someone’s family or girlfriend. That seems pretty par for the course for violent criminals trying to claim territory and unnerve their rivals, yet Inej and Geels himself react as if no one had ever thought of sinking to the level of ‘do what I want or I’ll kill your loved ones’ until Kaz invented it. It just feels a bit silly and on the nose.

Really, my overarching issue with this chapter is that it’s not about Inej at all, it’s just an introduction to the Kaz Brekker fan club. I don’t automatically hate Kaz as a character, but his introduction is heavyhanded and comes at the cost of any establishing character moments for Inej. The most we get out of her is her brief pangs of sympathy for Bollinger despite his treachery, and her brief reference to her childhood. Maybe future Inej chapters will totally change this, but right now, it’s not a great sign of what’s to come.

I can think of about a hundred things Inej could have done or said this chapter to develop or establish her personality at all, but all we got was her briefly holding a knife to someone, and her briefly saying a prayer for Bollinger. I think it would have worked much better had this plan to catch Geels with his pants down been Inej’s invention or at least worked out between her and Kaz, rather than her just there to play lookout and admire how cool Kaz is.

Or at the very least, we could have seen the scene referenced where she searches the crime scene of the assassination, instead of that getting two lines and an entire chapter being devoted to what boils down to a pissing contest over which gangs gets rights to a certain neighborhood.

Next week, we will look at Kaz I.

[melchron]

Nightmare Time Episode 2 Thoughts

But first, my brain right after it ended:

No no no NO NO NOPE

Idc what Nick says this isn't canon

THIS WAS SO GOOD

AAAAAHHHH

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

*nervous laughter*

Occasional squeals for every emotion

Me texting my mom it traumatized me

Me scrolling through tumblr up until right before I started typing this

I LOVE THIS

I HATE THIS

I'M CONFUSED

WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED

Ok thoughts now:

MARIAH AND ROBERT DUET!!!

Rob in a turtleneck had me concerned for a second

They sound amazing

These are the cutest vows

HIDGENS IS OFFICIATING? Wait that means he's legally a wedding officiant. Why is he a wedding officiant? What made him want to do this?

TED SHUT UP

BILL IS THERE

Is MIAH someone's friend or relative? I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHO!

So we have Emma droid and Paul clone know huh. I feel so bad for real Emma. Wait does she know Jane is dead? OH NO DROID TOOK HER PHONE WHEN TOM CALLED SO PROBABLY NOT! SHE REALLY SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN GUATEMALA!

Paul where did your brain cells go? Emma told you there is someone else out there that looks exactly like her and she stole the life of. I know she said other girl died but you didn't even consider the possibility? It took you seeing them together for you to get it. Paul I love you but you stupid.

Good job to the citizens of Hatchetfield for making sure real Emma was ok. Good job respecting women.

EMMA WHY ARE YOU SELLING YOUR DNA?!??! THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO MAKE MONEY SWEETIE!

OMG PAUL CALLED EMMA PET NAMES

Dang they are getting so much use out of Lauren's ring. Devin's video, Konk's proposal, and now this.

I now know that Dylan owns a beanie that says Daddy on it. Idk what to do with this information.

Lauren Lopez is an amazing actress! How do you play two characters that are essentially the same and also interact with each other and have it be this amazing?!?!? It makes no sense.

ALSO Jon did such a good job! Paul loved Emma so much and Jon made me believe it.

I believe 23 loves Emma just as much as 22 did.

Are they only cloning Paul? It seems weird to just choose him. Maybe others are getting cloned too. What if we have multiple Ted's because of time travel but we also had others that were clones!

Why did they continue to make clones? What was wrong with the first 22?

DROID EMMA CARES ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT I LOVE HER

Kim's voice is so angelic

Nick, Matt, can you please stop making me like Ted?

Ted is a jerk and a creep but he doesn't deserve all this

SPANKOVSKY

HIDGENS AND CHAD IS CONFIRMED

BILL HAS A NEW GIRLFRIEND!??!?!! I'M SO HAPPY FOR HIM!!! SYLVIA SEEMS NICE! I HOPE ALICE LIKES HER!! BILL DESERVES TO BE HAPPY WITH SOMEONE!!

So Ted is a jerk as a defense mechanism? Ted I'm sorry you got hurt but this isn't it. What you need is help. Go to therapy.

Ted really considers Paul to be his best friend huh. Well know I feel bad that he wasn't invited.

Omg he looked to happy during his blackout dream. Why do I like this? Why do I like happy Ted?

JEFF'S VOICE OMG THAT IS TERRIFYING

Really random but I wish my school made Rubik's Cubes

And Paul asked him to be a pal! Don't play with his feelings like that Paul! Say that if you really mean it!

So in the future everyone is a android? WAIT Emma droid said she was from the future. How did she get to the past? Did future ccrp teach her how to use the office as a time machine?

Lol Robert's face when he's calling security. He's not even mouthing words

JEFF WITH THE VOICE FILTER IS TERRIFYING!!

Lol Robert and Jaime using their phones as laser guns. And Jaime's is barely showing up because of the green screen.

TED DON'T BEAT UP COLLEGE KIDS 15 YEARS YOUNGER THAN YOU!! HE LOOKED SO HAPPY AND SWEET TOO! GREAT TED YOU JUST RUINED HIS LIFE AND NOW HE WANTS TO KILL YOU!

Ted why don't you just tell your younger self what to do? Remember, you didn't travel back into your younger self. You're the same as how you came. Meaning that all Jenny will see is so gross pedo man trying to hit on her.

Jenny calling him Teddy is so cute

Ted is an idiot. Of course she doesn't want some horny jerk. Expect better of your friend. Also don't grab people when they're trying to get away from you. Especially not GIRLS 15 YEARS YOUNGER THAN YOU!!

Jenny deserves better. We just met her and she's Spiderman-ing.

STOP MAKING MY FAVES TED!!! Homeless man was sweet man who deserves the world that I would give my bank account to. You know what screw it. I like Ted know. There I said it. I LIKE TED! I simultaneously want to hug him and get a restraining order on him. Nick, Matt, Joey, you're all buttheads and I love you.

This- this doll isn't cute. Like you made these available to buy I would still get one but I don't like him. Tinky can stay far away from me.

Ted is such a good friend trying to warn Paul about his droid gf. PAUL GIVE HIM SPARE CHANGE!! I KNOW YOU HAVE IT!

AND THEN THEY KILL HIM!!!! TED GETS MURDERED BY SOMEONE HE CONSIDERED HIS BEST FRIEND!!!! JUST EXPLAIN TO HOMELESS MAN THAT YOU'RE COOL WITH YOUR DROID WIFE, MAKE HIM PROMISE NOT TO TELL, GIVE HIM SPARE CHANGE (not as a bribe), AND MOVE ON

Joey is absolutely amazing!! He made me like Ted. TED!!! Of all the characters! Also those quick changes. Just amazing!!! Gosh these guys are so friggin talented.

MATT DAHAN IS AMAZING!!! I WAS FEELING ALL THE FEELS AND THEN MUSIC WAS ALWAYS PERFECT!! I HEARD THE SHOW ME YOUR HANDS THEME GO OFF!!!

Matt and Nick I swear looked up every au trope and decided the weirdest ones to mix together. And I have no idea how but it works.

AND THEN IT ENDS ON A SONG ABOUT PEANUTS!!??!? NOT NOW I'M EMOTIONAL!! ALSO PRETTY SURE THIS IS THE FIRST JOEY AND LAUREN DUET SINCE GRANGER DANGER!! AND PEANUTS CAN TALK NOW!!??! SCREW THIS!! SCREW HATCHETFIELD I'M DONE!! LITERALLY ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN I CAN'T!!! MY BRAIN WILL DIE IF YOU KEEP THIS UP!!!

[themrsdeanwinchester]

Two Souls - Part 2

Firstly, I am so sorry this has taken me so long to post. Work was super crazy and I was so tired I couldn’t write. I know Christmas is over, I had hoped to have this out on Christmas Eve! I hope you enjoy it though! I will be posting Part 3 soon! Here is Part 1 if you haven’t read it yet.

Pairing: Dean x female reader

Warnings: Drinking, fluffyish, a little PG?

Word Count: 1,282

Series Summary: Dean starts a job working as a mechanic as a locally owned auto shop. The owner’s daughter, who works at the shop, makes Dean’s heart ache from the moment he sets eyes on her. But, does she feel the same way? What will her dad think? When her life starts crumbling, is it Dean who will be there for her and help her pick up the pieces?

I would love feedback, please :) Also, please send me a message/ask if you’d like to be added to my tag list.

The next night, Dean pulled up in front of Y/N’s house. He cut the engine and took a deep breath. He exhaled and looked up at her house as the porch light flickered on. 

Y/N had heard Dean’s car from inside and quickly, without really even thinking about it, clicked on her porch light. She rolled her eyes at herself realizing that her impulse reaction probably made it seem to Dean that she was waiting by the door, watching out the window for his car. Which was exactly what she had been doing but he didn’t need to know that.

The knock at her door made her jump. She breathed in deep through her nose and let the air out in a short huff. She put her hand on the door knob, and twisted it open. Dean smiled at her, she could almost swear his teeth sparkled when he did. How could it be that a man she’d known for only three months felt so familiar? How was it possible that she had such strong feelings for him already and they hadn’t even gone on a date yet? The thought crossed her mind that perhaps she was reaching, desperately searching for someone so her dad could see her with someone, so he could be there for her wedding before…

“You look beautiful.” Dean’s compliment snapped her out of her thoughts. She was wearing the Y/F/C scarf he had bought her, dark wash jeans, and a black coat.

“Thank you,” she said, looking down at her toes. She felt her cheeks getting hot.

In the Impala, Dean had Led Zeppelin playing since he knew she loved him as much as he did. He had it turned down low, so it was almost barely audible over the engine’s purr.

“I hope you don’t mind but, my brother and his girlfriend will be there tonight. I thought it might be nice to introduce you to them,” Dean said. He saw Y/N’s eyes widen a bit, the thought of meeting Dean’s brother and his girlfriend made her nervous but only because she wanted to make a good impression on them. “If that’s okay. If not, no big deal… I -“

“I’d love to meet them,” Y/N answered, a smile spreading across her face.

Dean returned her smile. “Okay, great.”

Dean parked the car down the block from the Christmas Farmer’s Market. It was being held in the middle of town, taking up a few blocks. Vendors lined the streets, a small stage set up for musicians to rotate sets was set up in the middle. 

Dean and Y/N walked hand in hand through the Christmas Farmer’s Market, stopping to look at a few booths. They finally came across what they had been looking for - a vendor with spiked cider. They both got one and they were a little stronger than they’d expected.

Y/N grimaced as she took a sip of her’s. “Oh, wow. That is strong.” She giggled, pressing the back of her hand against her lips.

Dean nodded, squeezing his eyes shut as he took his first gulp.

“Dean!” A man shouted. Y/N and Dean turned and a very tall man waved at them. He was holding a woman’s hand as he approached them.

“Y/N, this is my brother, Sam, and his girlfriend Eileen,” Dean introduced them.

Sam extended his hand to you. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Y/N. Dean has told me a lot about you,” Sam said through a big smile.

“Oh? Well, I hope it was all good things,” Y/N laughed. “It’s very nice to meet you, too, Sam.”

“This is my girlfriend, Eileen.” Sam’s girlfriend stepped forward.

“Hi,” she said, also shaking Y/N’s hand. “Very nice to meet you.”

“Yes, you, too. I’m really glad we were all able to meet up!” Y/N said. “Have you guys tried this spiked cider? It’s um… strong.”

Sam and Eileen shared a glance and Eileen giggled, grabbing Sam’s arm and resting her head on it.

“Yeah, uh, we already had some. We suggest sticking with one each. We each had two and, well, we’re trying to sober up a little,” Sam explained.

The four all laughed and decided to stick together throughout the night. They grabbed some food and sat at the tables that had been set up by the old movie theater. Its neon lights shown down, casting a pink glow over them.

By the end of the night, everyone was pink cheeked, both from the cold and the spiked ciders. Sam and Dean had stopped, Sam after his two and Dean after his one. But Eileen and Y/N had gotten a couple more, probably against better their better judgement. The night had turned into a double date, the girls whispering at the end of their table, the boys asking them what was going on and only getting giggles in return. Eileen showed Y/N a few basic ASL signs, ones she hadn’t shown Sam and Dean, giving the two girls a bit of a way to keep secrets between themselves. Y/N and Eileen got along very well and had agreed they needed to hang out again, all of them. They had decided maybe a movie night at Sam and Dean’s some time soon.

“I really like Sam and Eileen,” Y/N said as she unlocked her front door. “They’re so cute together.”

Y/N pushed the door open, hanging her scarf and coat on the hooks by the door. She gestured for Dean to give her his jacket and he did. He watched as she hung it next to hers, noted how good even their jackets looked side by side. He smirked to himself and shook his head. They were jackets. But he couldn’t help feeling like he was right where he was supposed to be.

“Do you want anything? A beer?” Y/N was standing in her kitchen, illuminated only by the light from her open fridge.

“No, I’d better not. I need to drive home,” Dean answered, leaning against the door frame of the kitchen.

“Or,” Y/N started. She walked over to Dean, flicking on the kitchen light. “You could stay the night?” She asked quietly. 

Dean sucked a breath in between his teeth. He wanted to stay. He wanted to stay so badly. He wanted nothing more than to whisk her off her feet and into her bedroom, to cuddle close to her on this cold night, and breathe in the sweet smell of her shampoo as she slept in his arms. 

“I didn’t bring an overnight bag,” Dean answered. 

Y/N nodded her head. “Yeah… well, some other time?”

“Absolutely,” Dean said through a smile.

On her porch, Dean kissed her goodnight. He kissed her. One hand in her hair, the other on the small over her back, he mouth slightly parted, testing his luck. And she obliged.

Back in her house, Y/N realized that she was not just desperately trying to find a relationship, no, not at all. Her feelings for Dean were very real. Though happy her thoughts from earlier were proved wrong, she also wished she had met Dean earlier, much earlier because her dad didn’t have much time. She hadn’t told Dean that her dad was sick, she didn’t know how to tell him. What if it scared him away? Who would want to be with a girl that was keeping a secret, at her dad’s wishes, a secret that would absolutely wreck her when the time came?

Dean would want to be with her, regardless of her secret, but she just didn’t know that yet.

Taglist: @akshi8278, @notan-applepielife, @mynightmaresstuff, @vicmc624, @smokeychu, @supernatural-bellawinchester

[cafeinthemoon]

The Leaves of Her Garden - Chapter IX

Title: The Leaves of Her Garden

Genre: Fanfiction

Pairing: Madara Uchiha x reader

Rating: Mature

Word count: 2778

Chapter (s): 9/?

Warning(s): none just two girls talking important stuff 😳

Read the previous chapters here: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Interlude, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8

Symbols: 🌙 | ➕ | ▶▶

Sachiko Uchiha

When the day of the wedding finally came, you woke up before the sun.

Your eyes opened in the dark and searched around the room, almost without realizing what they were doing ; what they were looking for, you didn’t know. Maybe some part of you wanted to make sure you were alone. You thought it was becoming a habit of yours, wanting to check for your privacy: being among people whose eyes could see everything, you would only gain if you acted careful. Was it going to be this way, or even worse, when you started to share a room with their leader? You preferred not to wonder.

When you found nothing but the shadows, you sighed and turned on the bed, trying to go back to sleep.

You never knew how much time passed, if hours or instants, but it felt like some minutes between the moment when you closed your eyes and when you felt a hand shaking your shoulder and the voice of Ayane calling your name. You opened your eyes again and saw her by your side. By the noises you’ve heard around the room, you knew Aiko was there too, doing her work as the practical woman she was. You sat on the futon and saw the bathroom’s door was opened, and she was close to the bath tub, pouring hot water in it.

- Today you are not allowed to go outside, y/n-sama – Ayane explained when you moved the sheets away – You have to well rested and ready before the evening.

You went to the bathroom to wash your face and greeted Aiko with good morning. When you came back, Ayane she stretched her hands and grabbed a tray from the small table.

- Here, have your breakfast. We have much to work to do, and I was sent to take care of your appearance, while my grandmother will be responsible for the cleaning.

You left after finishing the breakfast and went back to the bathroom, where Aiko was waiting for you. You took off your night gown and stepped into the bath tub; now the water was no longer hot, but warm and gentle while touching your skin. Soon the woman started to work. She washed your hair with some lotion with a scent of flowers, then used a soap to clean your skin. You two kept silent, first because there was not much to talk about, second because you still weren’t used to have someone running you a bath like that: after your first day there, you took care of this yourself, as you always did in your life.

When you left the bathroom, Ayane had your clothing, hair pins and make up for you. Aiko went back to the bathroom to reorganize everything there and take out the bath water. After that, she left. Ayane said she was not coming back so soon, and started helping you with the dress.

You noticed that she has been quieter, more serious than usual since the day of the incident with the man. During your walks in the garden, you found yourself wanting to question her about it, but you didn’t have the courage to do it, as if you sensed that you would be invading her privacy if you did.

But on this day, you yourself were overwhelmed with the even ts that awaited you. That day your life was going to change permanently. You would no longer be just a girl, a guest in that house: you would be a married woman, the Uchiha leader’s wife, among all his possessions a living one. You were going to live a life that has been prepared for another person, for that was the only chance you were given to survive. You still found it hard to believe in such circumstances. Your burden felt so heavy that you desperately needed to talk to someone.

Ayane just tightened the fabric stripe of the kimono around your waist when you spoke to her.

- May I ask you a question?

Her hands stopped when she heard that.

- Of course, y/n-sama.

- That man who was arguing with you and Aiko… who was he?

She took a moment to reply. It was clear that if she could avoid the subject forever, she would do it. You felt bad for it, but now it was too late to take back your question.

- That man – she swallowed – Is my brother-in-law.

You couldn’t help turning your neck to the side with this new information.

- So you are married, Ayane? You never told me that.

- Actually, I am a widow – she explained – My husband fought beside Madara-sama in the last war. He was there when everything was finally over. But unfortunately, he was sent on a mission right after that… and never came back.

Her voice became a harsh whisper on this last sentence. You felt a lump in your throat.

- I am so sorry for you… I would never ask if I knew – and in a delicate attempt to guide the conversation to the path you wanted, – So, that was his brother- in-law, but he doesn’t get along with you and your grandmother. Why not? Was he against your marriage with his brother?

Ayane asked you to kneel, for she was going to do your hair. You did it, and she imitated you move, continuing her story:

- Well, it didn’t happen exactly like that – she grabbed a brush and started to comb your semi wet hair; she separated it in sections and started to brush the ends of the first one – At first, we all used to get along. He, his brother and I were known to each other since we were little. Our parents and my grandmother were good friends, so were we. Our relationship changed when we grew up and he found out that his brother and I were in love. You see, he fell for me and never overcame the rejection. He maintained the relationship with his brother even after our marriage, but he never talked to me again. After my husband’s death, he started to disturb me and my grandmother, giving room to his frustration.

Ayane didn’t say anything more before she finished the combing work. Maybe she was afraid that the subject could make her shake her hands and interfere in her work. Now she doing your hair up with the pins.

- He had no permission to be there that day. I do not know what kind of excuse he told the guards or if he secretly entered here – she approached you and her tone became a whisper – Because in case you do not know, he’s a shinobi too, which makes him perfectly capable of doing something like this, but the thing is that he should not have entered this part of the house.

You turned to Ayane and saw that the incident left in her a deeper impression than she was willing to show. Though her problems were of a different nature than yours, you recognized that sort of reaction; you used to notice it in yourself. It led you to hide part of your being and to keep away from other humans; it even made you try and lie to Madara. It was not the defense mechanism you wanted to keep, but it was the one you had, and whether you liked it or not, you survived because of it. But you were alone in this world, without a home and family and a job to maintain your basic needs; Ayane had all of this. You wanted to remind her of that.

Without waiting for her to continue the story, you took her hands in yours.

- Ayane, listen to me. I do not know what kind of things you and Aiko had to endure because of this man, but Madara-sama said that it will not happen again – you squeezed her hands a little – I do not know him as long as you two, but I can say I trust his word. And even if anything else comes to happen, I will be there for you, just like I did the other day. I have been through many things until I was brought to this house – you smiled – So that now t here are not many things in this world I am afraid of.

Soon you saw tears brightening her eyes, and she started to sob.

- Thank you, y/n-sama. Thank you so much…

Your response to that was to hug the girl.

- Everything will be fine for us, Ayane. I have to believe that, otherwise I would not be here.

A minute passed and she interrupted the hug, wiping out her tears and forcing a smile to lighten the energy of the room.

- Well, now I need to do your make up! This is the most complex task after the clothing, but it is as important as the other one, for your face will be the first thing you will show to everyone… And to your future husband. He wants to make sure you will be the focus of all the people’s attentions, of course, but his attentions are to be your priority.

- I see – you laughed; then you remembered something that has been in the back of your mind for a while, and you felt your face burning – Ayane…

- Yes? – she was separating the painting and the brushes.

- I just said that there are not many things in this world that scares me…

- Hm?

- Well… There is one.

- Really? – she grabbed a brush already soaked in white paint and turned to you – And what is it?

You prayed that the white make up would be enough to cover your blushing after what you said to her.

- Well. How can I explain that… – then in a whisper you poured it out at once – Ayane. I cannot stop thinking about the wedding night. Actually, I am scared of it! You see, I never… I do not know what to do! But you were married once, you have some experience, so… what can you say to me about it? You must have some advice, right?

At first, Ayane opened her mouth and blushed, but then she laughed. Maybe the fact that you trusted her to the point of asking about those matters was funny to her.

She started explaining while doing your make up.

- Well, the first thing I can tell you is that no one has their first night the same way – the brush spreading the paint tickled your cheeks, but you stood still – And whether you love the other person and has known them for a long time or if it is an arranged marriage and you just met your betrothed a few days ago, it might be strange. It is sort of unpredictable, you understand? However, in the case of an arranged marriage like yours, things can get a bit… complicated.

- Oh… really? – you started to worry – How so?

She shrugged.

- Well, y/n-sama, you’ve met Madara-sama a few days ago, but I am sure that you’ve already noticed how… intense he is – it was clear that she was being cautious with her words – Since he is a man of authority, I recommend you to let him take the first step. He certainly expects this. This is how things work with men like him. Besides, even if he didn’t question you directly about this, he probably knows you are an inexperienced woman. Madara-sama is very observing.

You remembered the kiss and nodded to confirm.

- Yes, he asked me some questions when we talked. He did ask if I have ever been touched. I didn’t know what to answer, but he seemed to understand it as a yes. It was a strange conversation, indeed. It was like he was asking questions for which he already had answers.

Ayane nodded.

- He was probably analyzing your reactions when such matters are brought to a conversation with you. I cannot tell exactly what he had in mind, but I believe that Madara-sama was planning to use what he would learn from you to find out the best way to… behave with you when the time comes. Now, about the... practical aspects, the least he will expect from you is compliance, and that you do your best to reciprocate his touches.

You considered her explanation in silence.

- It makes sense. But...

- What’ s the matter, y/n-sama?

- Well, you just told me what Madara-sama will probably do, but I am still worried about what I should do. If he touches me, how should I react? If he says something, what should I reply? What is my part in this?

Finally, Ayane seemed to understand what was bothering you. She put the brush aside, as well as her talking soaked in traditionalism.

- Y/n-sama, what I can say is that our bodies have their own ways to show us the answers, and each answer can be discovered when the right body part is properly stimulated. You will probably react spontaneously to Madara-sama’s actions towards you. It certainly means that the whole thing will not be as sudden as you’re imagining. First, your body will be… prepared for this. And once it is prepared, it will know what to do.

You were starting to understand what she was trying to explain. You remembered the first kiss Madara gave you and how unpredictable was your reaction, and yet you were there as if you knew what to do.

However, there was another thing you were worried about.

- And what if he does something I do not like or approve? Or if he tells me to do something and I cannot do it, for I do not know how to do it? What if he… hurts me?

Ayane took your hands in hers. Her tone was changed now.

- Do not be silent. Just speak. If Madara-sama listened to you that day when you defended us from my brother-in-law, a man he knows well and does not have much sympathy for, he will listen to you now. Knowing our leader as I do, I can say he has some soft spot for you already. So , if something is not feeling right or well to you, do not hesitate to speak – she held your hands a little tighter – Whatever the case, y/n-sama, me and my grandmother will be here to take care of you.

You smiled and felt your eyes becoming full, but no tear rolled down to undo the unfinished makeup. Ayane suddenly seemed to remember something; she grabbed a small bottle with unknown content from the small table and brought it to you.

- Speaking of these things, it is time, y/n-sama. Please, take this – she offered the content to you.

You took the bottle with a suspicious look.

- What is it?

- Well, it is something you have to take now, I mean, before the wedding night – and in a delicate whisper – You know, Madara-sama doesn’t want to have you expecting. At least for now.

***

The fabric of your kimono was soft, but the tight grip of its stripe around your waist was making hard for you to breathe, and even walk. Fortunately for you, Ayane was there to help you. You could feel your hair being pulled by the pins she put in it, and the main ornament never felt so heavy since you’ve left the room. You listened to your own steps thanks to the wood clogs you were wearing.

Everything was so silent, yet so tense it was like all the voices you’ve heard in your life were screaming at your ears.

You only realized you’ve reached the place where the ceremony was going to happen when Ayane released your arm and nodded, a gesture indicating that you would have to go on all by yourself. It made sense: the bride was you and you alone; the choice of being there was also yours. Whatever the things that were waiting for you after that, they would be nothing but the consequences of it.

Respecting the limits imposed by your clothing, you took a deep breath and took the first step toward your place, making your best to remember all the lessons Madara taught you and trying not to feel the eyes of the Uchiha, the Todoroki representatives and all the other people who were surely watching you. Once they reached you, you were no longer y/n. You were not even Sachiko Todoroki now.

You were Sachiko Uchiha.

[thepandamightwrite]

Jessa Wedding

Word count: 1.7k (this turned out a lot longer than I expected)

Fluff   or    Angst

Stuff to know: A suggen is the person that escorts a shadowhunter to their fiance during the wedding. More info here (You have to scroll down to the wedding part)

Anyway, hope y’all enjoy this cause it was super fun to write! 💕

“Is this really necessary?” asked Jem. “Oh yes, absolutely,” responded Magnus. He was really taking the wedding seriously, as were all the other Shadowhunters. Alec, Jace, Simon, Julien and Emma had accompanied him to the shop where they were getting Jem’s gear specially tailored. He felt it was highly excessive of course, he didn’t really care what he wore as long as he actually got to marry Tessa this time. However, Magnus adamantly refused to listen to any protests and took it upon himself to manage Jem’s wardrobe. “Have you decided who’s gonna be your Suggen for the wedding?” asked Emma. She was incredibly excited for the celebration, and she had nominated herself as the chief wedding planner, a job she took quite seriously. “Ummm what’s a Suggen,” inquired Simon, who wasn’t quite familiar with Shadowhunter weddings yet. “The person that escorts the bride or groom down the aisle, which is a huge honor,” responded Jace, sounding like he was reciting from the Codex. “So, what are you going to do,” asked Alec. Unfortunately, Jem didn’t have an answer for him, after all, the only person he would want to escort him to Tessa had died years ago. A few months ago, he would never have even imagined that he’d be able to get married, and if it ever did happen, he would want Will to be there. Sadly, that was unlikely to happen, so Jem had to pick someone else. Unfortunately, there weren’t many people that he was close with that were still alive. There was Magnus, Emma, and perhaps Jace, although none of them seemed right. “Voila,” Magnus exclaimed. The group gathered and nodded approvingly at the outfit. Even Jem managed a grin through his increasing worry.

“Achooo,” exclaimed Isabelle as the werewolf escorting the tulips out passed her by. “Oh dear, I’m terribly sorry about this,” apologized Tessa, as she had been all afternoon. She had entrusted Ragnor to arrange for some nice flowers, and of course he’d picked the one kind Isabelle was severely allergic to. “Oh don’t worry about it Tessa,” she responded breezily, although her nose was red and her eyes watery due to the constant sneezing. “I’m just excited you’re getting married to Jem, for real this time,” Isabelle squealed before a bout of sneezes overtook her. “Yeah,” chimed Clary, who was festooning the trees with lights. Tessa still couldn’t believe that she was getting married, again, next week. It was almost like a dream, she thought people only got to be with the love of their life once, if they were lucky. She, on the other hand, was able to marry them both. Her heart suddenly ached for her first husband, Will, whom she missed dearly. She had shared everything with him, when he was alive, and she couldn’t have imagined it any other way. It felt wrong somehow, that her wedding with Jem, something she knew Will would be thrilled about, was the one thing she would never tell him. “Tessa!” called Isabelle. “You’ve picked your Suggen, right?” “No, I actually haven’t,” she responded, slightly fatigued with the whole business. “What?! The wedding is tomorrow! You have to decide soon!” exclaimed Clary from the other end of the garden. “Yes, I know, I know,” Tessa sighed. “It’s just that a Suggen has to be someone that is incredibly special to you, and the only person I can think of is no longer alive.” Both the girls looked over at Tessa with sad eyes. “I’m sure Will knows you’re getting married, wherever he is, and he’s going to be ecstatic about it, don’t worry,” consoled Clary. “Yes, you’re right,” Tessa conceded. “I’ll just have to come up with someone else, maybe Magnus….”

Clary, Isabelle, Emma, Jace, Alec and Magnus huddled behind a tree, trying to desperately shield the pentagram from passerby. “I still can’t believe we’re doing this,” sighed Alec. “Dude, face it, this isn’t even close to the craziest thing we’ve done, am I right?” retorted Jace. “That’s true,” acknowledged Clary with the soft smile she reserved just for her boyfriend. “However, we haven’t exactly tried to bring back the dead.” “We’re not bringing back the dead, just conjuring a ghost. They’re not the same thing,” clarified Magnus, looking up from the spellbook briefly. “Alright, it’s showtime,” he said with a wicked grin.”

Jem couldn’t get his jacket on for some reason. His hands were shaking like butterflies and he lost all his usual dexterity that he’d developed over years of violin playing. “Let me help you with that fy nghariad,” offered a familiar voice. Jem whirled around at the sound of the person he hadn’t heard in a hundred years. He leaned against the doorframe, his mused ink-black hair falling into those familiar piercing blue eyes. “Will,” Jem whispered in disbelief. “How are you even here?” He asked, still unable to comprehend what he saw before him. “Magnus summoned me from the afterlife, yanked me out of an argument with Gabriel too. It was a good one actually, I was definitely winning it, you see-” Will was cut off by Jem running up and swallowing him in the most consuming hug he’d ever been given. They both murmured senseless words of reassurance to each other in hopes of processing the strangeness of it all. They whispered of the day Will won the bet that bound them as parabatai. They hummed of the day they defeated Mortmain. They mumbled of James, Lucie, Charlotte, Henry, Gabriel, Gideon, Sophie and Cecily. They whispered of their friendship and the love that extended through death. And most of all, they muttered of Tessa and the all consuming feelings they both shared for her. And- “ACK!” Will shrieked followed by a string of Welsh curses that would make any sailor whistle with appreciation. He glared down at Church who looked up at Will, his eyes flashing with recognition and mischief. Jem couldn’t help but giggle as he realized the best solution to his and Tessa’s Suggon dilemma.

Tessa stared at her reflection in her mirror. It was her wedding day. She really ought to be more excited, but she couldn’t help but miss the gaze of a certain pair of blue eyes. And then, as if she had summoned him with her thoughts alone, a familiar figure appeared next to her reflection. “Tessa, fy nghariad, oh how I’ve missed you.” She gasped, unable to believe her eyes and ears at the person standing behind her. “Will, how on earth did you get here?” “Well, the door was unlocked so I turned the handle and stepped inside, I’m sure you’re aware of how the mechanism works,” he retorted with his trademark sarcastic drawl. Tessa let out a sob and flung herself into his translucent arms, which were still somehow solid and familiar against her. His hands absentmindedly stroked her back as he murmured,“Tess, my Tessa, you know I’d never miss you and Jem’s wedding for the world for not even death can keep us apart.” Tessa gasped in shock. “Oh no! The wedding! It’s starting now! But I haven’t even picked a Suggen!” Tessa exclaimed in a panic. “What are you talking about my dear, I’m right here,” said Will with a crooked grin.

“Where are they? Jem and Tessa should’ve been here 20 minutes ago,” said Simon, his voice jittery with nerves and his eyes glancing around furtively. “I’m not sure. It’s not like them to be late to anything, much less their own wedding,” mused Isabelle. Out of the group, only Magnus seemed to be at ease, laughing at something Ragnor was saying. Suddenly, Jem appeared and started walking towards the altar. Jace observed with a curious look on his face, after all, no one appeared to be escorting Jem. As he neared their seats however, they noticed the Suggen at his feet. “Church?!?!” Emma sputtered in disbelief. Jem turned and looked at them with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “Why yes, he’s one of my closest companions and we’ve been through thick and thin together, so why not?” Jace, Clary, and Isabelle started giggling uncontrollably and soon everyone was joining in. However, Alec was staring incredulously at Jem and soon asked, “What about the ghost we summoned?!?!” Jem looked over his shoulder and grinned. “You’ll see.”

Tessa looked over at Will and was reassured to find his eyes as bright and supportive as they had been when he was alive. He squeezed her hand tightly and they started walking towards her fiance. It was almost poetic really, her deceased husband guiding her toward his parabatai, the only other person whom he trusted to love Tessa. As she walked towards him, Jem ran his eyes over her adoringly and she saw the look of recognition in his eyes when he took in her dress. After all, it was almost identical to the one she’d worn when they slayed Benedict Lightwood, which was her original wedding gown. It felt like time slowed down as she and Will floated towards the person that completed their love triangle (and the cat they hated) and out of the 3 of them, there wasn’t a dry eye in sight. When Tessa went to stand next to Jem, she noticed the strange markings on his gear jacket. Since neither of them were full shadowhunters, they had to adapt the wedding traditions to suit their needs. In his case, what would normally be golden runes on his jacket became motifs of the clockwork angel that had protected her so many centuries ago. “Because I too will never let any harm come to you,” murmured Jem when he noticed Tessa’s expression. 

After reciting their elegant vows that they’d carefully crafted for the occasion, Jem and Tessa finally exchanged rings and kissed, sealing their marriage forever. Will stood smiling off to the side, next to his archnemesis, Church, who was scowling disapprovingly at him. He was absolutely ecstatic, after all, here were two of the most important people in his life committing to a life of joy and togetherness. Although he wasn’t a particularly sentimental person, Will’s vision was warped and swimming through a lens of joyous tears. At last, the ceremony was over and everyone was dancing slowly to the lulling piano music fondly extracted from the delicate instrument by a very handsome blond man. He must be a Herondale, Will thought. After all, that self assured attitude and the love in his eyes when he saw a particularly striking red headed lady could only come from somewhere. Suddenly, two familiar hands clasped at each of his shoulders. Will turned, looked at the loves of his life who looked as content as he’d ever seen them. Wordlessly, they all clasped hands and headed off to be alone.