#to really milk the angst on both sides

[valley-of-the-lost]

A Seven Unfortunate Lifetimes/Love You Seven Times Feylin AU where Feylin fight the hand of SJM trying to keep them apart over the course of several lifetimes

[writingoddess1125]

The old men of One Piece finding out they have a child with you. Pt. 2

Due to popular demand I have a part two for you guys!

Shanks, Buggy, Mihawk xFemreader

Healthy Mix of Angst and Fluff

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Part 1 <- -> Part 3

Buggy

The crew was quick to follow orders, Cabaji grabbing you as others grabbed your sons. Dragging you from the restaurant you called a home and out onto the streets, screamed fill the air as the village was being ripped apart. Your boys crying out in fear as the crew harshly brought you onto the ship you once were apart of.

You yelped as you were thrown into Buggy's room. Your boys being tossed in as well, you quickly grabbed Dee and Bee and brought them to your chest. Running your hands through their hair as they sobbed against you, shaking like a leaf and terrified.

"Ssshh it's okay my loves it's okay" you whisper trying to soothe them, holding them tightly to try and ward away the bad dream. After a few hours they finally fell asleep, You carefully rolling up and placing them on Buggy's large bed. It wouldn't be best to let them sleep in your arms since they were fairly large and when asleep could kick and roll. You couldn't risk injury if you were going to escape with the twins.

You tucked them into the big stripped bed and sighed- Surrounded by more of this circus shit made them look way more like Buggy then you cared to admit. Smoothing Dee and Bee wild blue locks with your hand you sighed heavily. Trying to come up with a plan to escape- but the plotting was short lived as the bedroom door opened.

Buggy stared at you and then glanced at the boys as they slept soundly in his bed. He was holding a large tray and set it down on the side table, meeting your eyes as he picked up a fork and took a bite from each both and even a bite of the bread, before taking a seat clearly wanting to show it was safe to eat and feed the children. You looked at the food it was 3 healthy servings of pasta with fresh bread and 3 drinks, 2 milks and a ale. You looked at him in question but you didn't dare voice anything. Instead gently shaking the twins awake-

"Eh? Mom?..." Dee mumbled as he rubbed his sleepy eyes. "Dinner is here" You say calmly, holding a bowl out to Dee who gently took it in his tiny hands before waking up Bee with a bit more force and doing the same. Splitting the bread in half and giving each half to your sons to make sure they had full bellies.

You ate your own food, Watching as the twins hungrily ate there like they hadn't had a meal before, havjng to make sure they didnt mess up the nice bed. However you kept glancing back at Buggy, feeling his eyes on you.

He sat across the room stull, watching you closely as you wiped their faces clean with your dress and handing them their drinks and even taking your own ale and sipping it. You saw Bee wat hibg Buggy closely, the two staring at each other silently.

"What are you looking at Old Man?-" Bee snapped as he glared at Buggy. You snapping your finger quickly at him.

"Attitude-" You hissed in warning. However heard a shuffle to see Buggy snorting a laugh and turning away to giggle-

"Damn these really are my Kids- I was at least 90% sure before but now it's 100%!" He laughed, actually Wiping the tears from his face.

"Mom what is he talking about?" Dee questioned first, raising a brow at the Clown in their room.

"Yeah and whats with hi-" You smacked your hand over your sons mouth. Knowing that the following question would lead to a fight you didn't have the strength for.

"Boys this is your father... Buggy the Clown. He's a Pirate Captian"

"Our Dads a clown-" Bee deadpanned as his face looked at you in what can only be described as confused horror. You sighing mentally by this, as Dee stared at Buggy suspiciously.

"How do we know?-" Dee started, But Buggy pulled the hat from his head and bandana to show his blue locks that were identical to their.

"Our Dads a Clown!?" Bee said again this time

"I'm a porate clown-" Buggy shot back as he frowned at the boy. The two locking in gaze of equal stubbornness and attitude.

Dee started to say"Is that why you took us?" But was cut off gloriously by Bee"If you're our dad then you suck! Why did you grab mom by her hair and make her cry!" He proclaimed, Jumping up on the bed and pointing to Buggy angrily. You urging the boy to sit down, But Buggy's gaze softened.

"I apologize- I didn't see it was her or else I would have never raided you town. Instead just picked you three up to take with me" He admitted calmly. The seemed to take the wind from Bee's sails as he sat back down- You also surprised to hear Buggy apologize or be so vulnerable.

"I want to have you three here with me and be apart of my children's life" Buggy started as he stared at you- You started to protest but he held up a hand.

"60 Days, that's all I ask. If in 60 days you don't want me in their lives I'll drop you and the boys off at a Marine Base with some berry. Enough to be comforble for the rest of your lives"

It was a good deal- a damn good deal. It's not like you had a berry to your name or a place to return to. That and he genuinely seemed interested in the boys, you gave a defeated sigh.

"Alright... 60 days- then we will talk from there" Buggy smiled at hearing you agreeing to this. Excitement shining in his eyes as he jumped up from his seat.

"Perfect! You all rest here. I'll leave and bring some supplies for you all" Buggy said calmly as he stood up and quickly left, a grin plastered on his face as he left you.

You should have known that Buggy was planning something. For the next 3 days it was like he turned the ship into a child's dream. There was suddently a absurd about of toys, sweets, every game imaginable too seemed to have suddently appeared. Buggy all to happy to shower the twins in anything they asked for, played any game they wanted.

You inwardly sighed as you watched the twins start to warm up to Buggy, More like clinging to him. Bee seemingly the most interested in him while Dee seemed to just love sailing. Having to be coaxed down from the crows nest were he would hide all day. At the mess hall however is were they fit in the best- It was like Buggy had cloned himself the two perfect best friends, aka himself.

Dee had taken to keeping his hair up due to his time in the crows nest and also had become more confident- pushing his brother back whenever he messed with him a bit too much- As for Bee it was like Buggy 2.0- Loud, flashy and ready to find trouble. It had been only 3 days but so much had changed, Currently it being evening dinner time.

Sitting next to Buggy in the mess hall, who had made it a habit of keeping you close you glared as your son then Buggy who was just laugjing "Benny (Y/L/N) get your monkey ass here right now!" You yelled as you saw your son running down the tables of the mess hall. Singing a made of sea shanty that the rest of the freaks were actually drinking and singing along to.

"Let the boy have some fun (Y/N)! It's not like he's hurting anyone- Besides what's the worse that can happen! Stop with the snooty attitude" Buggy proclaimed with a laugh, you saw Dee get a mischievous look in his eye before slipping under the table. You give a sarcastic smile, knowing your twins all too well.

"Fine then, I won't be snooty for the next hour whatever they damage you gotta clean" You proposes with a smile. He laughed and nodded.

"Deal! Finally now we can have some fu-"

And like a symphony of madness all hell broke lose. Dee had popped put from under the table and grabbed Bee's foot nid step. The singing child falling into a massive bowl of mashed potatos which managed to spray everywhere- coating all the people at the table in potatos and the floor which made a few Crewmates who had been walking slip and slam into tables flinging more food and creating more mess paired with a hunk of cake landing right in Buggy's face. Wiping the frosting as he watched the two boys make a run from the mess hall cackling like two Imps.

"Boys!!" He yelled, trying to wipe more of the pink frosting from his face. You smiled and handed him a napkin.

"Have fun Captian!~" You said with a grin and patted his shoulder as Buggy sat there red faced and glaring at you half heartedly. As if taking your cue, you got up and left. Giggling as you hear Buggy snap at some crewmates to grab something to help clean the mess.

Deciding to take the time for yourself you went to the main deck. Leaning against the rails as you watched the dark waves of the ocean and the setting sun. You couldn't lie and say you didn't miss the ocean, or the time to yourself. You stood there watching as the sun set and plunged the ship into darkness, the lanterns of the ship turning on as well as the ship seemed to be sailing in darkness.

"Enjoying your free time?" A deep voice snapped you from your thoughts. Seeing Buggy walking towards you, his face washed of makeup and hair in a ponytail. Having clearly just bathed after getting the mess hall cleaned.

"Yeah, I forgot how nice it is being on this ship.. How are the boys?" Buggy smiled at hearing you enjoying yourself before shrugging.

"Got them washed up and put them to bed.....They seem to like me" He boated, seemingly proud he had formed such a strong bond.

"That they do" You reply. Watching as he put his hands in his pockets a bit awkwardly, that tough Captian Facade crumbling a bit under his own anxiety.

"(Y/N) Why did you leave?... Was it me? Were you ashamed of me or-" He started, the back of his hand brushing against his nose as the enxiety slammed into his chest.

"What?.. No that's not why I left Buggy- I was scared. How the hell was I suppose to go through pregnancy on a ship? Hell the labor?! That was 36 hours to give birth to both of them!" Buggy winced at the thought, you leaned against the railing and stared at him.

"It was the fact that I couldn't predict how you would react and no idea how to raise a baby here. So in a village with at least some stability seemed like the best option- Even if it ment having to do it alone"

You admit, Buggy messing with his gloved hands. Sadness bleeding through his gaze as he sighed.

"I suppose- I can see your point... but I would have put everything on hold if I knew-" Buggy admitted, before rubbing the back of his head a bit hesitantly.

"You know- We only got 60 days and I've been wanting to take a vacation. Drop off the crew maybe for a bit and I know this really nice island" Buggy said casually. Your eyebrows raising at hearing this- He wanted to stop pirating just for you and the twins?

"What?-" You started but he cut you off quickly. "I mean it would only be a little bit of course- unless something urged me to stay a bit longer. However I think being on the open ocean can be damaging for super long term- I mean the meals can cause scurvy and who knows what else" He quickly justified, even at this distance you could see his ears turning red. You couldn't help but giggle at this, which caught his attention quickly.

"I'd like that Buggy.. But I don't want to take you away from what you love" you say, Watching Buggy take a hesitant step towards you.

"Who knows... 60 days can quickly turn into eternity.. if you want it to.. and i lost what i loved once- Ill never let that happen again" He said locking eyes with you which made you smile brighter.

Shanks

It had been 3 weeks since Shanks arrived- and it had been one journey, The man clearly loved to be a father. Willing to do anything for Vivian, her having the powerful pirate wrapped around her little finger and not even knowing it.

Shanks having let his crew take the time for essentially a vacation on his dime while ge stayed in your guestroom. Excited every morning to wake up and play with his daughter. He bought her so many toys, a chest full of pretty dresses, a giant stuffed monkey and a play wood sword since she had been so interest in his.

She had even taken to tying her favorite green ribbon on his sword since "It looks pretty" and he didn't have the will power to take it off. So for the most part, it had been complete and total bliss.

It was early morning when you heard some loud Noises coming from the kitchen area of your home- Getting up from bed and put on your robe and walked to see what all the noise was.

You stood in the kitchen with a raised eyebrow, the only word fitting this situation was- Hilarious. There sat Shanks, sat on the floor with his back leanes against the oven holding a old muffin. His eyes were covered in a thick layer of green glittery eyeshadow (from your makeup bag) hot red lipstick that was sneered on other parts of his face. Some bows randomly scattered in his red hair. His coat that usually covered his missing arm dropped over your daughter who was still in her baby blue tight gown and she was dragging behind her as she adding things to the spread on the floor. A bag of sugar, some water, a scattering of teabags and whatever had been in the fridge- including half eaten sandwiches and cupcakes which Shanks was currently chewing on.

"Starlight, I don't think there is anyway you can make the wate- I mean tea any sweeter" He said calmly, Watching Vi try to pour more sugar into her little China set with her chubby hands. Shanks cringing a bit at this as she poured him a cup and handed it to him.

"See! Now it's perfect!" She chimed and giggled loudly. He gave a smile as he set aside his muffin and sipped the tea, trying to suppress the cringe from the unholy amount of sugar that was mixed with water and a hint of a poor teabag.

"It's delicious Baby Girl- Fantastic" He choked out, working through a smile as he forced himself to take another sip. You couldn't help bit to laugh, which brought the attention of both Red Heads.

"Mommy!" Vivian chimed loudly running towards you still wearing Shank's cloak and you scooped her up carefully.

"I must say Shanks, you look fabulous" You said with a smile. Shanks Grinning up at you as he sat on the floor.

"I always thought I'd look good in green" He said, Gesturing to the sloppy eyeshadow. Rolling himself up to his feet as he smiled down at you.

"By the way are you ready for today?" You raised a brow-

"Oh boy what do you have planned?" Shanks only gave a wide smile before grabbing a box from the kitchen table and holding up a lovely yellow sundress for you and a similar one for Vivian.

"Fun day out!"

Shanks hadnt beem kidding about a fun day, staring with a lovely resturant on the island, sailing, having in a meadow and then time out at the park the sun started to set. Shanks held Vivian who was passed out against him, walking back to your home. The two of you talking about the time you two where together in the past.

"Thank you (Y/N).." He said softly, Smiling as he watched the sun set and the two of you walked up hill.

"For what?" He smiled brightly at you "Making me the happiest man in the world" You couldn't help but blush at hearing this. Looking away bashfully as you came up to your home, Seeing a man standing there a bit awkwardly.

"Yasopp! Glad you stopped by, This is (Y/N) and my darling daughter Vivian. She's asleep right now but I'm sure she'd love to meet ya"

Shank smiled brightly at seeing his fellow crewmate. However the look on Yasopp face said otherwise.

"Its lovely to meet you (Y/N)... but Captian- we have to talk.." He said softly, Shanks frowning at the tone he gave before gently passing Vivian to you.

"I'll be in a sec" He said, nodding you quickly head inside to get Vivian ready for bed. Yasopp and him talked outside, Shanks looked angry. Staring at the letter and running his hand through his hair clearly stressed. You finished cleaning Vivians face and got her in her PJs, tuckering her in for the night. In the hallway you could hear the should of bottles shifting, turning to see Shanks in the kitchen grabbing the bottle of whiskey you kept on the top shelf- his face twisted in anger as he plopped on the couch.

"You have to leave.. don't you-" You finally blurted out, watching him open the bottle with his teeth and take a sip. His eyes shiny with unshed tears, he nodded soberly as he took a hard swig of the drink.

"Shanks you can't finally meet her and just leave her life-" You stressed, anger bubbling in your chest as you stared at him. He sat slunched in the chair a swirling of different emotions in his eyes.

"They need my help.. and I can't risk it (Y/N).... I can't risk them finding out about you and Vi... they would kill you both" He whispered, shock slamming into you. Your eyes drifting to Vivian's room were she laid sleeping.

"...How long will you be gone" You whispered finally, sitting down on your sofa sadly.

"I don't know..." He whispered, defeat written on his face. Holding the bottle out to you, which you took and started to sip before passing it back.

"When do you leave?" Shanks took another heavy swig of the drink and held it out to you. "Tomorrow morning..." You nod at this- Taking another sip of the whiskey.

"...I-Is she going to hate me?" Shanks whispered, Looking up at were he knew Vi was. You shook your head "She doesn't have it in her heart to hate.." You said softly. He nodded at this and messed with the ribbon she tied on his sword, staring at it hard.

"I love her (Y/N).... so much it hurts.." His voice cracked. But he instead stood up, taking a heavy breath.

"I'm going to get some sleep... you should as well" He said softly, Turning and walking back to the guest room. Leaving you alone with the whiskey bottle, as you put it back in its rightful place. You could have sworn you heard hushed sobs... but left them be and went to cry in your own bed as well.

In the morning, the nice breakfast was made. Shanks feeding Vivian her oatmeal and letting her talk his ear off, you knew he needed this moment. Needed to have this with her. Once breakfast was finishes the three of you started the walk to the docks, Vivian holding Shanks hand as they talked about the pretty ocean.

Walking to the docks he saw the ship being loaded up, Vivian staring in awe at the massive vessel and giggled at the sight of all the men who stared at her and gave friendly waves. Shanks taking a deep breath to look at you both. Hurt shining in his eyes as he swallowed a hard lump in his throat. Kneeling down he looked at Vivian, his hand cupping her chubby cheek as he took a shaky breath holding back tears clearly. "Princess, I've got to go for a while.."

"But why?... you just got here?"

"I know baby girl- But, see there is this trouble maker- His name is Luffy. Think of him as your big brother, he needs my help.. And I don't want to put you and your Mommy in danger while I go get him. So I have to leave-"

He said, Biting his bottom lip for a second as he let a few tears roll down his cheek. Reaching into his pocket and pulling out a solid gold coin- it was quite large and he carefully handed it to Vivian. Her little fingers holding the big coin and touching the detailed design thay decorated it, his Jolly Roger.

"But I promise I'll be back.. but until I do- you have to keep this with you. It's special, it will protect you from Pirates- And when I come back, and I promise I will. I'll trade you that coin for your ribbon back okay?"

He said softly, watching Vivian smile up at him at the promise.

"Okay Daddy.." She said softly before jumping and hugging around his neck. He held her tightly, wrapping his arm around her as if he didn't want to let go.

"Captian-" Yassop said softly, Shanks nodding and carefully standing up. Handing Vivian to you a bit reluctantly, Vivian own eyes starting to water. You held her close as tears rolled down your own cheeks. Shanks leaning in and kissing the tears on your face and one gingerly on your lips.

"I'll see you two again, I swear" He said softly, Stepping back as he followed after his crew. The crew somber like their Captian as he boarded, yelling out commands to set sail. Looking back as the ship began to leave the harbor, Waving at the two of you. Vivian waving back gently as tears rolled down her chubby cheeks clutching the coin close to her chest.

You and Vivian standing on the docks as you watched the ship sail and disapear over the horizon. You sniffles and wiped your eyes of the tears you didn't know had still been running down your cheeks.

Your daughter looking at you and wiping your tears, giving you a smile just like Shanks "Don't worry Mommy.. Daddy said he'd be back"

Mihawk

You stood in your tiny kitchen, rubbing your temple as the days situation settled on your bones. Your son standing next to you chopping vegetables silently, Clearly ignoring the elephant in the room.

"Alucare- Do you want to-"

"No" He cut you off quickly, quickly cutting down on a carrot like it had wronged him. You sighed at this setting the kettle on the stove to start a pot of tea. Knowing damn well what was coming- right on cue there was a knock to the door.

Turning you went to let in the Warlord, he looked like a kicked puppy. Awkwardly standing there at your door with his hat removed, his eyes glancing up at you hesitantly.

"(Y/N)..." He said softly, surprising you that he had even remembered your name. He stepped to the side, inviting him into your home and guiding him to your dining room were he took a seat at the kitchen table.

You took a seat as well, Alucare not turning from preparing the vegetables. A awkward silence following the trio as there was only the sound of chopping.

"Mihawk.. It's been a while" You finally speak, the Warlord nodding in agreement. Silence falling over you two again.

"Oh for God's sake. Alucare sit down please, we are going to get this out" You said, Hearing the shuffle of your son moving from his spot and sitting next to you. You couldn't help but stare in awe- The two sitting across from each other made it seem like they were looking at some odd mirror, they looked almost identical except for the age and minor changes.

"Mihawk this is Alucare, your son. As we can clearly can see. Alucare this is your father Dracule Mihawk"

You introduce, swallowing thickly as the two continued to stare at each other. Silence falling again over you all, Mihawk sighed and rubbed his temple. Turning his eyes away from this odd sort of staring contest.

"Alucare.. That's a good name.. How old are you?" Mihawk asked, staring at his child for a moment before Alucare looked away.

"I'm 16..." He said softly, Mihawk nodding at this before his eyes landed on you.

"How come you didn't tell me- I would have been here, helped you. I have a home and more" He asked, his eyebrows betraying him in pure confusion and he frowned. You sighed and rubbed the back of your neck.

"I was scared- How would it look like if some random person claimed to have some famed Warlords child.." You mumbled, still embarrassed by the whole ordeal. "Besides it wasn't even until after are alleyway escapades that I understood who you were-"

"I see..." Mihawk sighed as he stared at Alucare again, who seemed to grow a bit uncomforble at the direction of this conversation.

"Alucare do you wish to ask something of your father?-" You encouraged. Wanting to create a olive branch between the two.

"What is there me to ask? It's not like it's a secret that we are related or his reputation. The only thing I would wonder is how you found out about us-" Alucare said a bit dismissively, you felt genuine surprise at this. He had never shown anyone disrespect before until now-

"There were rumors of you that traveled to a Marine Base I was at- how a child looked like the famed Mihawk... eyes and all" Mihawk clarified. Alucare only rolling his matching yellow eyes at this, standing up from his seat.

"I'll be dismissing myself. Thanks for the talk" He said calmly, walking out the back door and slamming it shut behind him. You sighed and looked to Mihawk

"Hes normally not like that, I don't know what to say" You admit. But the Warlord just stood up with a understanding nod.

"Hes angry... that I understood.. I'll return" He said before following out the back door as well.

Standing by the grove of trees next to the house Alucare let the cool blade of the knives brush over his fingers, sighing as he quickly released the blade at lightning speed at the carved target on the old tree hitting bulls eye. Alucare walking to retrieve the lone blade and repeat the process.

"Impressive shot-" The deep voice only belonging to Mihawk sounded behind the teen. Alucare glancing back at the man as he resumed his position and went back to throwing his blade.

"Thanks I suppose-" Alucare mumbled as he continued to task. Mihawk sighing softly as he glanced at the sky.

"What is the true reason you resent me- One that you don't wish to express with your mother around" He finally asked, staring at the sky. Alucare faltering in his movements for a moment, keeping the blade in his hands for a moment.

"If you had been anyone else she wouldn't have had to suffer so much-" He admitted, his eyes showing a deep sadness as he sighed "I saw the way they looked at her, despite her smiling and ignoring it.. how she acted as a human shield for me. Because we share blood- How she would sit on the bed after working day and night to put that home over our head... how tired she was and then emotionally carying the brunt of people looking at her in either pity, fear otlr disgust for my sake"

He admitted, throwing the blade once again watching the blade stick deeply into the tree the handle being the only thing that showed. Mihawk quietly listened and clenched his hands.

"I understand... if I had known I would have protected her... I would have protected you- Nothing I can say can make up for 16 years of hardship... but I do apologize" Mihawk said, bowing his head gently.

Alucare looked at him silently for a moment. Looking away for a moment and went to grab the blade.

"...How do you sharpen a blade-" Alucare asked, In his own way accepting Mihawk apology and extending a form of communication. Mihawk gave a hint of a smile on his lips as he stepped forward.

"I can show you-"

Tag List-

For all the people who requested Pt. 2

@lunanight1021 @lolavegas20 @cuteastrash @thatcharmingmushroom @marsilis @thesadvampire @amecchii @zaphira-san @matronofthevoid @mothmans-left-nipple

[halcyone-of-the-sea]

I’ve read a variation of soft and rough König and I’ve enjoyed both but I’d love to see your take on his character.

I can’t deny I have a preference for soft König. I think his size is a major concern, especially if his partner is on the smaller side, which leads me to believe he’d prolong the inevitable and the pining and anticipation would be off the charts on his end. But maybe his SO thinks he’s not as interested as she initially thought.

Add in the fact that he’s gone for long periods of time in which there is little or no communication and perhaps she considers moving on. The ol’ miscommunication trope if you will, with a happy ending. Thanks!

Overflow the Stars

Pairing: König x F!Reader

Synopsis: One more abandoned date night later, you're left wondering if the man you're infatuated with is really interested in you at all.

Word Count: 5.8k

Warnings: Angst, feelings of insecurity, body issues, allusions to König's past w. bullying & his anxiety, size difference, fluff, soft!König, happy ending

A/N: This is my apology to the German-speaking people out there - I think I butchered your language (feel free to correct me). I'm so sorry lmfao. But, Anon, this request was adorable to write, hope you enjoy it!

*I do not give others permission to translate and/or re-publish my works on this or any other platform*

You wanted to say you were surprised when he didn't show up – really, you did – but in the back of your mind, you already knew he wouldn’t. It was hard not to feel disappointed when you swirled your tiny cup of Franziskaner tensely, watching the whipped cream sink away into the concoction of dark espresso and milk; calling attention to the same feeling in your chest.

König had a strange habit as of late, and with a delicate furrow in your brow and perhaps even a smidge of sadness in your eyes, you wondered what you had done wrong. Why had he been avoiding you so…violently? While you wouldn’t have called yourself perfect by any means, nothing you had done over the course of your meetings was strange or downright embarrassing. 

You admitted that the man had never been the type to run away from something, and sighed as you brought the cup to your lips and sipped. Caffeine sits on your tongue along with a bitter revelation as the rain begins to pick up in velocity outside. The small and quiet café where you’re spending your afternoon is warm and unburdened by the weather. 

Do you think…he’s even interested in me anymore? The sharp thought brings a pang to your chest, fingers over the warm cup flinching back as if struck with lightning. O-or he doesn’t like being around me?

Your relationship was still new, very new, and if you were asked you would say it wasn’t even dating yet. König hadn’t asked you to be his girlfriend. 

But it had still been going well.

“Or so I thought,” you take a breath, watching the fog on the window as the streets of Vienna are rapidly being emptied of tourists and locals alike. Your shoulders are painfully tight.

Aggressive rainfall like this into the cold seasons was unusual, but it wasn’t like mother nature cared about the whims of anyone but herself. It’ll freeze overnight, leaving a bitter chill that puffs from breaths and a shaky few steps out the door across hardened ice. You’d probably go out – alone – for a walk in the morning to clear your head, or try, at any rate.

Lately, all you could think about was the bear of a man that was supposed to be sitting in the empty seat ahead of you. The cursed wooden chair burns your eyes; its dark wood and red cushion stab your vision over and over until you’re sure you’ll bleed tears instead of water. 

He was supposed to be here.

Taking another shaky sip of your drink, one that König had recommended to you himself a few dates ago, the brief moments of warmth it brings to your bones does little to satisfy you. You doubted anything short of a hulking figure trying to stick their knees under the small table could do just that.

The giant man you called your possible future boyfriend was avoiding you, and your subconscious was breaking itself to try and understand why. As if that gracious plea had been heard above the glossiness of your eyes and the gentle hum of the café workers who shuffle about, the phone in your pocket jumps. 

You don’t want to admit how fast your hand snapped to your thigh, sneaking under the layers to draw out black metal. A single link to König when he was overseas or out of sight that you were told was unwise to use. He was rarely able to answer you, but for what it was worth, he always tried to call back later. 

Even if recently, it had been a brief state of events. 

“I-I can’t talk right now–”

“Forgive me–”

Your lips thin.

Pulling the phone out, you immediately look at the contact, though you already know the message before you read it. The sunken whipped cream finally falls under deep chocolate-colored waves.

“Sorry, Bӓrchen, I’m stuck in the building for the day! I swear I’ll make it up to you for missing–” You don’t bother reading the rest, thumb already scrolling upward to see the numerous times other excuses have been made. 

His parents were needing some help moving furniture, he was drowning in post-operation reports, or simply just too tired. You weren't stupid. But every time you had stuffed down your pride and responded cheerfully, dressed to the nines and standing in your living room while your fingers shook over the keys.

Holding back tears. 

It would hurt less if he’d just tell you to your face what you were thinking. Maybe all of this was just… 

Your thoughts trail off. 

But that didn’t make sense – König was never malicious!

Placing down the phone, you leave him on read, feeling the pitying eyes of the baristas burning into your skin like a brand. They knew as well as you did that he wasn’t showing up.

When he calls sometime later, you shut the device off completely. Staring out the window at the dimming light, you lean your head into the glass and try not to cry as you watch couples rushing for cover from the rain; laughing and holding the other close. 

The empty chair stays motionless in the corner of your eye.

—

The first time you met König, you were left gaping at the sheer size of him. 

Towering over ninety percent of the other patrons in the art shop, he had looked down at the package of charcoal pencils in his large, scarred, hands. Turning them over to read the description on the back like an expert with delicate eyelashes that you’d kill for. 

You yourself had been cast in his shadow quite by accident, looking along expansive shelves for a sketchbook – your friend had gotten into a watercolor phase lately, and what better to give her than a birthday present she could actually use? The only problem was that you had no idea what was considered good quality or not, but had a strange suspicion the man beside you did. But what a happy accident it all turned out to be.

König had a black surgical mask on, but the milky-white scar that ran up his right eyebrow and disappeared into his auburn hairline was still starkly visible. Expressive dark eyes blink down at his object from a surprising height. Between picking up multiple books, running your fingers over the paper and whatnot, you can’t help but stare at the pure strength the man emanates. Compared to you, he was utterly gargantuan in both mass and height. A bear and a bee, you thought with a stifled giggle.

He blatantly appeared to know more about this stuff than you did as he placed the charcoal pack down and picked up another.  

“Erm,” you begin, and his head snaps down to yours immediately, head of hair falling into gentle curls near the ears. He had looked partially surprised to hear you speak to him, and his eyes had flickered around instinctually. But it was only the two of you in the aisle. “I’m sorry to bother you, Sir, but you seem to know a helluva lot more than me about art supplies.” Your voice was cautious, and you were afraid you’d seem rude for disturbing him, but all he did was stare and wait for you to finish speaking. Feet every so often shifting, or his hands twitching as if he never was able to stay still; he blinks a few times like a rabbit. “Any suggestions for watercolor?” A small laugh meets the air as you move your hand to show off the wall of possible options for paper. “I’m not much of an artist, but my friend’s birthday is coming up – thought I’d get her something she’d actually use this year. She wasn't too enthralled with the plant I got her for her twenty-third. Killed the thing in a week.” 

A nervous chuckle is softly met and your face heated as his own did. There’s a moment of a clearing throat before the man nods carefully, and the sparse freckles over his forehead shift. His biceps flex.

“O-of course, Ma’am,” his accent is quite strong, and you like the guttural raspiness of his tone. “I prefer Saunders Waterford, though I don’t manage to use it often. Better, eh, was ist das Wort?” He stumbles for a moment over the proper descriptor. “Beständig. Durable.”

A tilt of his head later, and you’re beaming, picking up the large pad with careful fingers, testing the weight in your palms as one would an apple. 

“Wonderful! It looks like I owe you one, eh?” Looking back up, you watch his eyes widen as you notice him blatantly staring. Face crinkling into a shy display of heat and curiosity, he slightly moves back, a large hand going to scratch at the base of his neck as his sweatshirt bunches. 

Chest tight, you stick out a hand and offer your name with a smile. It was only customary, but the action was pure instinct more than thought-out. All the while restraining a shiver, his limb encompasses yours so completely and radiates a large amount of heat.

“A pleasure,” your voice wavers, but it’s not so much nervousness as it is genuine intrigue. For a man so blessed with the tall gene, he really had a considerate hold – barely squeezing your skin in fear it would break. 

The action makes your chest squeeze.

“Ah, guten tag,” he utters, nodding with a firm shake, though his eyelashes caress his cheeks as his eyes rove away, “König.” 

A bit awkward, isn’t he? You have to ask yourself. Not that it was a bad thing – in fact, you found the nervous tensing of his thighs to be cute, along with that red tinge that was over his pale ears. So very opposite of how you expected him to act.

That was when you noticed the dog tags, as well, though you found no purpose to say anything. But everything about this man had caught your attention as a large billboard would, and the comparison has you practically bending in laughter. He probably could be a billboard with a build like that. No doubt he’d catch a lot of attention.

You tilt your head and release his hand, nodding to König’s charcoal pencils. 

“I bet you can make some killer drawings with those things, huh?” The beast twists them in his hand and turns down to stare at the supplies as if he’d forgotten they’d been there at all. “You draw often?”

“Ja,” his eyes brighten, and the crinkling of his eyes tells you that a small smile pulls at his lips. “Whenever I’m able. I,” König pauses before his shoulders move in a soft movement akin to a shrug. “I…find it calming.” 

Your ribs move in reaction to an interested sound. 

A bear that likes to draw.

“You’re better than me, I’d just get frustrated if something doesn’t look right.” A deep laugh echoes off the shelves before a lapsing silence settles like a bird’s wings. Overcome by a sudden urge to speak, yet having no other words to say, König’s voice meets your ears before you can find something to say.

It’s slow, the tone, bathed in hesitation and even a smidgen of armor; like the outcome of your response was already measured and taken as null compared to the giant’s own thoughts.

“I…don’t suppose I could show you some if you’d be interested.” At your widening lids, his twitching hands come up to his sides, eyes blinking rapidly as a vermilion hue blossoms like a flower over his visible skin. Dark eyes like broken obsidian pay more attention to your shoes than your face.

“N-not, eh, scheiße, I only meant I–” Watching him stutter was similar to what a high schooler would do when he was called out during an assembly. Though, your giggle makes him clear his throat and pause with a stiffening spreading to his legs. His body seems to deflate, taking your reverence for his soft inward nature as making fun or at worse, a blatant rejection. The delicate makeup of his psyche was on display, though you didn’t know. “I’m…I’m sorry, Ma’am–”

“I’d love to see your artwork, König,” you begin, pulling the watercolor pad closer to your body instinctually, cheeks hot. The man perks up, and you can see his heart hammering through his clothes when his eyes blaze with light. “How about I give you my number and I’ll text you a day I’m free and we can work something out? A local café or library sound good?”

“I…yes, that sounds wonderful.”

—

You throw your soaked coat on the hook as you shut the door, hating how the frigid rainwater had wetted your hair, though still holding it as a blessing. At least no one could see the tear tracks as you walked back to your apartment. 

Kicking off heavy boots and peeling the slick layers of fabric from your chest with a sloping sound, you flick on the lights with a shaking finger and a sniffle. Wet footprints are left over the rugs and hardwood as the phantom shuffles over them, beelining to the bathroom to strip. 

Your mind was preoccupied as you slipped out of heavy fabric, the pile already on the floor creating a large puddle that you threw a towel on and left as it was. 

“He…he’d tell me if he didn’t like me anymore, right?” Whispering, the broken words meet air as you toss on a large shirt – the hem meeting your knees as a pair of thick sweatpants follow. 

Quite the look for someone who was having an internal battle. Your friends would say you looked like you were minutes away from grabbing a tub of ice cream and sobbing over a rom-com. The quick-witted part of you confessed that the idea wasn’t even that bad if you threw in a glass of beer. Preferably the shitty kind so you could complain about it and distract yourself.

“Get it together…” You would not cry over a guy that hadn’t even asked you out officially, but with that familiar sting in the back of your eyes, you hissed that König wasn’t just any guy.

You’d really liked him, and for what it was worth, your heart would have exploded if he had asked you out. 

He was kind – respectful. Utterly adorable when he was speaking so passionately about his artwork and his parents who he held on a larger-than-life pedestal. König’s heart was just as big as his body, that gorgeous, bear-like body, and…oh, you’d wished he would like you just as much as you liked him. 

Before you could stop the wave of hopelessness, the tears were already dribbling down your face, and the dark apartment was echoing with the barely-there sobs that hit the walls.

—

When you hadn’t answered him in the next two hours and his calls were going to voicemail, König was hit with a train’s worth of worry. Feet tapping faster than unusual and eyes were finicky as they passed over documents.

Although his contract with KorTac wasn’t exactly like his own had been in the military, the hyper-vigilance was still ingrained bones-deep. The Austrian man held his personal relationships tightly – and if someone wasn’t answering him, the anxiety reserved for large, uncontrollable, crowds reared its ugly head. König wasn’t sure when it had happened, but you had entered that loyal group consisting of his parents and a few work friends in an incredibly small amount of time. 

He really should have bit the bullet and gone out with you today, the man acknowledged as he slipped out of his office and tried once more to get in contact with you. König watched the icon of your smiling face go straight to the familiar voice that in any other circumstance, he would have wanted to listen another moment too.

“...Thanks for calling! I’m not able to speak with you right now, but go ahead and leave a message–”

“Come on, Bӓrchen.” König lightly growls, hanging up and stuffing the infernal device into his cargo pant’s side pocket. 

His usually hidden face was twisted up with worry, so commonly lit with bloodlust on Ops now left in a state of unknown. It was stupid to think like this, but how could he not? In such a small amount of time, you’d made him fall for you like a bird does the sky; that thin line between falling and flying caught underwing. 

That was why he’d been making excuses, you see. 

You were so…good…that he’d been worried about the way he carried himself; second-guessed small actions like a hand on the small of your back in public, or a comment about how nice you looked. 

Did she take that the wrong way?

Why did I tell her that?

I hope she doesn’t think that I’m rude…

You were messing with his mind with every turn, but it wasn’t even all that, either. His size also played a part. Your form was so small as it trailed beside him on walks through the city – it fit in the clutch of his arm easily. 

König was just scared he might break you, he’s never had to be…gentle so often before. It was against everything he’d been taught in the last decade or so.

Pushing open the front door of the KorTac: Private Military Contractor building, the man pushes on with a frown over his scarred lips and a drawn-in expression. He hadn’t even noticed he’d forgotten his surgical mask in his office, along with a jacket, and braved the volatile winds and slapping rain in a slight jog, an athletic shirt tight across his chest. 

By the time he’d reached your apartment building, his hair was dark and stuck to his skin, slight puffs of breath escaping his lips and wracking shivers along his spine. König ascended the stairs in double steps, agile as his heart pounded. 

Being ex-military left him with an undeniable state of readiness.

With heavy knuckles and panting breath, his hand quickly rasps against the door, and after a second of no sound, he does it again. 

“Bӓrchen, it’s me. Are you there?” König’s shoulders are set, ready to batter the door down at the barest hint of something wrong. He calls your name but like a voice on the wind, there’s no answer. Not even a shadow under the barrier, a whiff of your shampoo.

Grunting, strained eyes going grim, the man’s hand encompasses the handle, arm and body going parallel to the wood. His hips tense, feet grinding over the floor as they set. But the nearly missed footsteps that his ears twitched at gives him pause. 

After a few moments of intense listening, his body stone-stiff and eyes spaced out, there’s a clicking of a lock. 

König moves back swiftly, hands going to rest at his sides, and when your face graces his vision, a large weight is lifted. Until he realizes that your eyes are red-rimmed. His lids go startlingly wide, fingers coming up to curl into themselves near his middle, but you speak before he does.

With a hatred for interrupting others, König keeps his lips sealed and watches with a concerned once-over and nervous lungs.

Your hand is clenched over the door frame, the muscle of your tongue licking at your lips as beads of water fall from your locks. 

“What are you doing here, König?” With a voice more hoarse and dry than a desert. The man itches at the side of his hawk nose, hesitant about what he sees. 

You’d never been like this before – always so happy. 

“I…” He trails off quietly, seeing your eyes unwilling to meet his own. “Are you…alright?” 

The Austrian’s fingers jerk when you laugh, and a surprised blink later he’s coming closer to check on you, hand almost outstretched before he sees the size difference and thinks better of it. He just taps on your cheek instead, delicately, like a hit from a flower. 

“Sweet one? Please tell me what is wrong. You weren’t answering your phone.” He wants to beg for you to look at him, plead. “It made me worry for you. Why did you not respond?” 

“So you want me to respond when you’re obviously bailing on me for what,” you pull back, disappearing partially behind the door. König watches with a still body as your arms go to wrap around your waist, dread creeping up his throat. “The third time? Fourth? I guess I’ve lost count.” 

The man’s lips go thin, eyes crinkling as an expression of pure self-hatred takes hold. He had stupidly hoped you wouldn’t notice that. When times got tough for him in the past – whether with the schoolyard bullies or an operation on wrong, avoidance was usually his best tactic; it was one he had fallen back into time and time again without fail. But he’d never told you that. 

And now he looked like a proper Arschloch. 

But you’re not done yet. When you leave the door open and disappear inside the dark apartment, König follows after like a lost puppy, water still dripping from his strong chin and stuck in his stubble. Cursing himself out in his head. 

“Ach, du Depp, jetzt hast du‘s getan. Die eine gute Sache ruiniert, die du hattest, oder...?" He mutters, slipping out of his boots and frantically looking after you as your form goes to the couch. König closes the front door and stays in the foyer, fingers twiddling and mouth opening and closing. 

You hadn’t even looked at him yet, and you’d barely seen him without a mask on. 

The Tv was on, playing some show that he’d never seen and he doubted you were watching. Your body plops to the couch with a shrieking of springs and bouncing of pillows. A small huff escapes your lips, though you speak no more. 

König clears his throat again, a nasty nervous habit along with the fidgeting, as he takes a few steps forward. The finger of his right hand goes to spread through his hair, pushing the strands back like a red wave and unintentionally slicking them to his skull. The clicking of his jaw reverberates in his ears as he resets it, picking at the palate scar under his left nostril. 

He opens his mouth to speak but closes it fitfully and already his face is reddening. König looks away from you for a moment, breathing before shuffling over like a guilty child would on drowned socks. He places one leg on the floor and kneels down in front of you so he can better look into your creased face. 

“Bӓrchen,” he liked calling you that – little bear – because the comparison was enough to make him smile every time it passed his lips. It was such an endearing term that it became difficult to look past the blatant harm he could inflict on you if he wasn’t careful. While his size made him perfect for the field, home life was, well, let's just say he could easily force his way through a crowd. Not that he would, of course. But at any rate, that was what you were to him – a little bear. “I…I have to confess to you that I have been avoiding you, yes? That much has been,” a stiff breath is taken in. “Obvious.” 

Your head turns to the side, knees brushing his own as you hold your hands in your lap. Behind König the show continues to play, spreading a silver light over the living room and the continuous droning of voices.  

Not knowing whether it would be frowned upon or not, and with a steadying breath for confidence, the man loops a cold finger under your chin; bringing you back to him and finally setting your glossy eyes ahead. 

He sees you blink in surprise when you find him maskless, and a faint smile flicks over his lips when your expression goes shy. Cautious like a bird.

“It was of no fault of your own, Sweetling, I ask that you believe me. I’ll try to explain the best I can, Ja? If you’ll let me, though, I know that I don’t deserve it.”

“If you don’t like me anymore, you can just say it…Stop dragging me on, please.” His heart stops, mouth still partially open before a sharp breath is sucked in. “I don’t know if I can take that anymore.” The pang in his chest hurts immensely, like taking an arrow and peeling back skin. You look at him so hopelessly, broken beyond belief as though a piece of you was being ripped out.

“W-why do you say that?” König tries to desperately stop the wetness of your tears from falling, shaking his head and cupping both of your cheeks, rubbing at the flesh in agony. “No, no, no, Dear One. That’s not what it is at all, I beg of you to listen.” In the fever, he switches between his native tongue and English, fingers shaking though not from the drenched clothes. “Meine Schöne, oh, meine Schöne. Bitte hör auf zu weinen.“

He takes quick breaths and finds in himself that he would do anything to stop you from crying – take a bullet, run a marathon, or learn to fly. Name it, any of it. Anything to wipe away the sadness that lives in your expression as if it even belonged there in the first place

“Do not cry over me, please, I-I,” König’s tongue trips over itself, but he persists, a similar burn in the back of his nose. “I…You scare me, Bӓrchen,” that gets your attention, creased eyes and a loose jaw going to give him full observation. 

What?! Your expression screams.

Face on fire, the Austrian continues with intense eyes, dark obsidian awash with pure light that reflects stars. Overflowing with anxious tears that he refuses to let fall. 

He can’t lose you. No, no, not you. You were the best thing to happen to him in a long time. Damn him – damn his own consciousness that’s more of a betrayer than Brutus. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go… 

“...What?” Your voice wavers, nose twitching so adorably that the man is momentarily stunned. 

“I am afraid of you, my Dear. Utterly and wholly.” König sucks down a breath, now the one unable to continue the stare-off. His foot shifts. “I am afraid of what you do to me. Your smile, Gott, your smile. A-and the way you speak, how you react so honestly to my paintings like you care with all of your heart.” He laughs wetly when you smile dimly, continuing as he caresses your skin. “Everything down to your very bones is like…like…” König’s words fumble, because comparing you to something earthly was impossible to him. 

“Ever since I met you in that art store, I cannot string together words with any semblance of meaning when I am around you. Bӓrchen, you have entrapped my mind, and I am afraid.”

He watches you breathe in slowly, tears no longer falling, though the evidence still haunts him. The man’s chest lets go of a tightly wound knot, the anvil on the other side just narrowly missing his heart as the sweat on his brow evaporates.

“A-and,” König sighs, shaking his head and moving his hands to tightly hold your own in your lap. How could he explain the last part of this dilemma? He bluntly states, “you’re small.”

A brief moment of silence bleeds like a wound, long and slow, until a tiny snort echoes. Full-blown laughter emanates not even a second later, and he watches your body heave forward and slot itself with your nose in his shoulder. König’s blush stains all the way down his neck, but minuscule giggles also fall from him in retaliation to yours. His great arms wrap themselves around your waist, dragging you slightly closer as he breathes deeply. 

Your scent pulls him under like a ship at the water, riding great waves with sea beasts under the waves guiding the vessel along its course. 

“Everyone’s small compared to you.” Your mumbling in his shoulder makes his grip tighten, side-eyeing your visage as his head tilts down. “Not my fault you got every gene that made you sprout like a damn tree.”

With your lips caressing his neck, he blinks softly down at you, amused, as his breath mingles with your hair. He lets you speak, getting it all off your chest and feeling stupid for how he had been avoiding this.

“You’re afraid because you’re so big, then? That you might hurt me?” 

“Ja.” Your hands circle around his shoulders, and with a sigh that leaves the man short of breath, you shimmy back and face him, fingers playing with the base of his neck; pulling at tiny hairs. 

“Don’t you think being worried about that means something? And, c’mon,” you smile lightly to him, and he watches closely, fingers moving along your spine. “With how conscious you are of your body, it’s hard to imagine anything ever happening.”

Hands grasp his neck, and with a bobbing Adam’s apple, König yields to your pull, angling his head to you as your back straightens. Watching with awe; your silhouette bathed in silver light and eyes fatigued, though never more beautiful. You’re beaming.

“I’ve never felt safer than when I’m with you, okay? So stop worrying about it, you big dope – and stop ditching me!” The Austrian’s dark eyes are fastly moved from one spot on your face to another, cataloging every bump and pore to memory. 

He’d never been this close to you before, though he’d fantasized about it. And what you were telling him…it’s like his body deflates with relief, and a genuine, boyish, smile blossoms. 

“Safe? W-with me, Bӓrchen? Oh-oh, my…” A kiss suddenly hits his forehead, and if you continued doing things like this, he was sure he’d explode. His body was vibrating with pure bashfulness; it was so odd to be complimented and doted on by someone that wasn’t his close family. For someone to reassure him of his flawed concerns. 

She feels safe with me. 

How could he tell you how happy that made him to hear aloud?

“Hey,” hands cup his jaw, and his spaced-out eyes snap back to you instantly, blinking away the rose-colored fog. You shake his head back and forth until he’s chuckling, like a kid again, and his grip catches your wrists to make you stop. Your breath fans over his blazing cheeks like a wind sent from Zephyrus himself, and the sticking clothes to his body matter little. “No more leaving me hanging, okay? I miss you, König. I want to be around you.” 

The eyes that travel down his scarred and freckled face leave him slightly self-conscious, but as if sensing this, your lips curve. Before he could utter a grunt of surprise, your kiss had connected with the scar on his forehead, as well as the palate. Just brushing the top of his lips as his large nose poked your cheek. 

“Mein Gott.” König gasps, eyes fluttering shut when you pull back and a grin slashes your face. A whisper meets the room.

“Thank you for showing me your handsome face, mein Schöner, I’ve been wondering what you looked like.” Shyly scanning his features, the redhead lets your fingers trace his flesh, shivers left in their wake, and a soft sigh. 

If he opens his eyes, he’s afraid he’d start crying. So he lets you touch his scarlet flesh, nearly the same shade as his hair, though the auburn is more deep-set. Shivering every time you lay another press of your lips to a blemish; more addictive than drugs. 

“You’re going to kill me,” König pleads, “but if this is punishment for causing you pain, I will gladly bear it.”

“Sly.” You smirk, pressing one more peck to his nose, and pulling back. He grumbles in his throat before his eyes peel open slowly; pupils blown wide and mouth parted. “Are you alive down there?”

“Barely. Perhaps I’ll need another kiss to tell, yes?” 

“You’re horrible.” Looking at his clothes, your eyes suddenly go grim. Like you’d just noticed the state of him now that he was kneeling in front of you and struck by your beauty. “And shivering.” You huff. “Why didn’t you start by saying you were soaked to the bone, König?” 

He looks to the ground, and you try to shuffle past and grab him a towel, but his arms trap you. You find yourself in a chest faster than you can blink, hands splayed over a pec that jerks as you’re lifted up. 

König hears you squeak and laughs, throwing you up into a bridal-style hold easily. Laughing chest-deep, you curl under his chin and quickly comment, “what are you doing?!” 

“Hush, Bӓrchen,” the man squishes you closer, “I’ll find a towel, don’t strain yourself.” 

You direct him to the bathroom after he sets you on your bed, hearing the pounding of rain outside as he sneaks off. 

The room smells of your shampoo, and König takes a pastel towel from the wrack after half-closing the door, slapping it to his head and violently rubbing it back and forth. Lost in his elevated thoughts and happy demeanor, the knock on the wood is almost missed. He’s just about to take off his shirt and wring it out when he blinks at the sound. 

“König – I’ve got some spare clothes, but I doubt they’ll fit you well enough.” An amused twitch of his lips later, he’s opening the door to your soft face, staring down at it. Standing shyly, your eyes crease; head tilting. “Sleepover?”

The man looks at the pile of fabric and nods kindly, a lofty feeling in his bones.

“Yes, please. They’re perfect, vielen Dank.” It isn’t long before he’s coming back out, a shirt that barely fits over his wide chest and a pair of sweats clinging to his hips. But he didn’t mind. 

They smelled like you, and thus, he smelled like you. König quickly found out that drawing wasn’t the only thing that could calm him. 

An embarrassed smile and a sheen of giddiness never leave his face.

He slides into bed with you, and you quickly latch under his arm, limbs tangling with his own as his fingers twitch over the width of the base of your shoulder blades. An easy expulsion of air leaves him as your weight settles, back curving to the make of the mattress. 

The words leave him in the delicate silence; water hitting the window and during the exploration of souls. Cheeks hot and heart hammering. 

“Sei mein?” Be mine? 

He feels your grin, nose nuzzling his flesh like it was the perfect pillow, and his heart speeds like a shooting star.

“Mein Herz war immer deins. Ja.” My heart was always yours. Yes. 

He stays awake for a long while, listening to your breathing and staring at the ceiling, running knuckles over your spine and staying silent. 

Smiling.  

[xcherricutie]

🏵️ independent together 🏵️

[Lucifer Morningstar x Reader]

[Part One] [Part Two] [Part Three] [Part Four]

[Word Count - 5.5k]

[Tags: Fluff, bit of angst sprinkled in, bit of Adam x Reader sprinkled in too, songfic, two songs this time!!]

[Notes: This is the last part, I don't wanna milk it lol. I put two songs in this part, mostly because I really wanted to give Adam a song. Also, yes, this part is, like, triple the size of the others, sorry to those who don't like long one shots. I got way more love for these than I thought I would, so thank you to everyone, it was so much fun. I literally was getting at least a hundred notifications a day lol, thanks again for all the love]

[Additional note: take a shot every time you read "independent together". I love the song, but HOLY SHIT are the lyrics repetitive, it was so hard to write in a way that flowed easily]

“Hey, bitch, you alright in there?” 

You ignored the voice on the other side of the door. You didn’t dare crawl out of the safe space that was your blankets. The thought that he might be standing on the other side made your gut twist in fear, even if you knew that wasn’t the case. You didn’t dare risk it, even if you knew there was no way Adam and Lucifer would be standing side by side outside your room. 

Adam grumbled in annoyance at the lack of a response. Charlie had begged him to come check on you after you disappeared into your room days ago. You refused to open the door for anyone, not even Charlie, and the only person she thought could convince you to open up was Adam. He didn’t see the point in bothering, saying that they should just leave you be to mope, but Charlie insisted. So, here he was, against his will, checking on you. 

As the silence drawled on, Adam rolled his eyes, grabbing your door handle and giving it a twist. It was locked, but locked doors meant little in Hell, applying just a tad bit more strength to twist it open. The door gave in, opening to reveal your bedroom. 

You heard the door creaking open, shooting up out of your blankets. Glaring at your intruder, you're curled into the blankets, completely wrapped up in the only thing keeping you safe from Adam. Even though you knew he was completely harmless, you still didn’t feel comfortable being in the presence of anybody at all, not right now. Not after what you’d witnessed in Lucifer’s room. 

“So, the fuck is up?” Adam asked as he threw himself down onto your bed, the bed creaking loudly from the sudden addition. He laid on his side, leaning his cheek on the palm of his hand, his masked eyes looking over at you curiously. He couldn’t deny that he too wondered what had suddenly got into you. You were fine the night they drank together. “You’ve been holed up in here for days, the bitch is starting to get worried.” 

By “bitch”, you knew he meant Charlie. You knew she was worried; she had been coming up to check on you the last four days you had been isolated in your room. You would give her a short reply, saying you just weren’t feeling well, but you’d never open the door for her. Well, she’d certainly be able to come in now that Adam had broken the lock on your door. You’d have to ask Alastor to fix it, which you were not excited about. 

“I’m fine,” You rolled your eyes in annoyance, turning to lay on your side and hide your face from Adam’s view. “I told Charlie I just wasn’t feeling well. Tell her not to worry, I’ll get over it soon.” 

“Tell her yourself, bitch, get out of bed,” Adam said, laying on his back as he casually examined his nails, which had now turned into claws since his second death. You growled in annoyance, kicking him in the side, earning a pained cry from him. “What the fuck is your problem!? Being a little fuckin’ rude, aren’t ya? Even after I came up here to check on your ungrateful ass!” 

“Maybe don’t break into people’s rooms, Adam!” You shouted, sitting up and glaring down at him. Adam huffed, crossing his arms as he sat up. He practically eclipsed you in size, especially as his wings ruffled in annoyance. 

“What’s your deal? You were fine the other night, are you just pissy with me? Did I do something to piss you off?” He asked. You looked at him in surprise, eyes wide. 

You didn’t think about it until now, but that’s probably how it appeared to Adam and the others. You had spent another long night of drinking with Adam, only to suddenly close off the entire world, including Adam, with no explanation. You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose as you shook your head. “No, it wasn’t you, you didn’t do anything. It was...” 

You paused, unsure if it was the right idea to tell Adam of all people what had happened. When Adam leaned in curiously, a brow raised, you decided it was too late to back out of telling him now. “It was Lucifer. He was... I found him singing, about me, about us...” 

Adam looked down at you, confusion written across his face. “Singing about you? That’s fucking weird. He sounds totally into you, fucking gross.” 

You winced at his harsh words, though you didn’t disagree. Lucifer was missing you; he had sung all about how much he missed you, how much it hurt him to see you again. You found it somewhat pathetic that he was hurting, when he was the one who abandoned you. It was his fault he was missing you. 

Your anger revitalized, you clenched your fists as you huffed. “I know. It’s honestly pathetic; he’s the one who cheated! He shouldn’t be surprised I’m not going back to him.” 

“Woah, wait, what?” Adam grabbed your shoulders, looking down at you in pure shock. It took you a minute to process why he was so surprised, when it occurred to you that Adam didn’t know. It had completely slipped your mind that you hadn’t told anyone the actual connection you had with Lucifer. As far as everyone else knew, you two just used to be close friends. Nobody knew you were actually married. 

Your throat dried at the realization, tripping over words as you tried to come up with an explanation. Adam immediately saw through your lies, gripping your shoulders tighter, demanding the truth. You chuckled nervously, leaning away from him, although unable to escape his grip. 

“We, ah... Lucifer and I were actually married before everything happened. He cheated on me and left me for Lilith...” You spoke, hoping and praying to anyone that would listen that this didn’t get back to Charlie. You should have known Adam better though. He was going to make this a huge deal. 

“No fucking way,” Adam released you, placing a hand on his head as he came to terms with the bombshell information. “No fucking way. This is perfect.” 

You raised a brow in confusion, wanting to question him, but you had no time to voice your thoughts as you were ripped out of your bed. You yelped in surprise as Adam squeezed your wrists, bending over to have his face directly in front of yours. 

“Let’s make him super fucking jealous,” Adam grinned from ear to ear, his mask visibly glitching with excitement. He could finally get back at Lucifer, take his revenge for stealing both of his wives. “Come on, it’s fucking genius. Little man stole both our lives from each other! He stole my wives, and cheated on you with them! So, wouldn’t it just be so perfect that we just happen to get a little too close, fuck around, and make him super jealous? It’d be the perfect revenge, and hey, you’ll get to dick around a little too with the Dickmaster.” 

You cringed at the title he chose for himself, pulling back from him, but not strong enough to escape his grip. “I don’t know, Adam. I’m not into you like that. And I don’t want to catch Lucifer’s attention any more than I already have.” 

“Come on, babe, everyone’s into me like that,” Adam scoffed, pulling you to him by the waist. “Let’s just give it a try! He likes to sing about you, huh? I wonder how much he’d like it if I sung about you.” 

“W-Wait, Adam—” 

Before you could resist any harder, Adam whisked you away, throwing you over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes as he flew back to the main hall, where everyone sat about in the lobby. You went limp against him, knowing there was little use in fighting the stubborn demon, a small chuckle escaping your lips. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have a little fun with the situation, as messed up as it was. 

“Oh! Adam!” 

You heard Charlie’s voice as Adam came to a stop in the center of the lobby. He set you down on your feet, turning to Charlie with a smirk. “Got the bitch out, no need to thank me, I know I’m the best.” 

“Right...” Charlie gave him a forced smile. She turned her eyes onto you, about to ask you a question, when Adam spoke back up, ripping Charlie’s attention away and back onto him. 

“So, listen, CharChar,” Adam smirked as his particular use of the nickname caught a certain Devil’s attention. “I just came up with a sick ass way to thank you for letting me freeload off you while I’m down here. Seeing as how you guys all love a sappy fucking song, I decided, why not have the First Man put on a little show? I’ve got the voice, I’m the best at what I do, it’d be the fucking best.” 

Charlie’s eyes visibly lit up with excitement, Adam’s words surprising the other residents as well. The entire time Adam had been staying at the hotel, he refused to do anything for anyone, and especially refused to thank Charlie for allowing him to stay. Charlie had assumed his sudden change had occurred because of you, giggling excitedly at the thought. Finally, she was seeing some progress. Or so she thought. 

“That’d be great! When would you like to do it?” Charlie asked, beaming up at him. 

“Right fuckin’ now,” Adam smirked, grabbing her wrist. Charlie yelped in surprise as Adam dragged her toward the lobby steps, leading her toward the roof of the hotel. 

With that, Adam had set up a very impromptu concert. You had tried to tell him that it was too much for a little bit of messing with Lucifer, but Adam was dead set on doing it. You didn’t even understand what a concert had to do with making Lucifer jealous because, as far as you knew, you weren’t even joining Adam in his little surprise concert. Adam didn’t tell you anything, just that he was going to have a little fun with the song. 

Charlie had materialized a small stage on the roof of the hotel, the hotel’s bright lights lighting up the stage brilliantly. She was nearly bursting at the seams with excitement, so much so that Vaggie was having to calm her down somewhat. You looked at Charlie with a brow slightly raised, almost concerned for the woman, before your gaze drifted onto a person standing in the back. Lucifer. 

You knew he was only up here because Adam had led Charlie up here. Lucifer didn’t trust Adam a single bit, barely letting the demon out of his sight sometimes. In fact, the only times where Lucifer wasn’t watching Adam like a hawk was when Adam was with you. The thought made you frown, huffing as you walked up to the stage where Adam stood, tuning his angelic guitar. 

“Hey, Adam,” You called out, trying to get his attention without earning others’ unwanted attention. Adam looked down at you, before smirking and walking up to the edge of stage you leaned against. 

“Wassup, babe?” He asked, sitting down. You hummed, your finger pressing into the wood of the makeshift stage, pulling at one of the jagged chips. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea? It’s going a little far just to make Lucifer jealous...” You muttered. Adam scoffed, his eyes rolling heavily enough to be seen even through his digital mask. 

“Come on, this is our revenge! This is our way of getting back at that midget for fucking our relationships up. He’s a little cheater and a wife stealing asshole. Let’s just have fun with this!” Adam exclaimed, grinning widely, baring his fangs. 

Before you could reply, Adam stood up, pulling his guitar up to rest on his shoulder. His movements as he walked to the center of the stage caught the attention of the little audience, everyone’s eyes landing on him. You huffed, stepping back to stand next to Charlie as Adam spoke up. 

“You guys ready to have your fuckin’ panties blown off by my sick skills!?” Adam yelled, getting excited himself. Not only had it been a long time since he got to play any music, but it was all to fuck with Lucifer. This was the best kind of music. “Let’s do this shit!” 

Adam strummed the strings of his guitar, making an almost bursting sound, before easing into a slow tune. You looked up at him in surprise, not aware that he could make any music that wasn’t just loud noise and screaming. It sounded shockingly good, almost like he planned this, and you knew he hadn’t. 

“Nothing is holding you back now,” Adam began, his voice soft, and lacking any of the curses he usually threw around. He looked down at you, winking and blowing a kiss, causing your face to warm up as you chuckled nervously. “No one can push you around.” 

“What do you wanna do? You’re the master of you,” Adam stepped closer to the edge of the stage, his eyes trained completely on you. He reached his hand out to you, surprising you as you hesitantly took it. “And isn’t the thought enough to lift you off of the ground?” 

Adam yanked you up off the ground, pulling a squeal out of you as he threw you into the air. A pair of wings sprouted from your back, the lights of the hotel and the city shining all around as you floated high above everything. Looking down at Adam, he gave you a large grin and a thumbs up, making you giggle. 

“Nothing,” You sang along, a grin spreading across your face. “Is holding me back now. No one can push me around.” 

Landing next to Adam, you looked up to the taller demon with a beam, your lips tugged upward into a smile. “What do I wanna be? I’m the master of me, and isn’t the thought enough to lift me off of the ground?” 

Your wings flapped in sync with Adam’s as you both lifted off the stage, mimicking each other’s smiles. Adam took the lead, leaning into you as he sang. 

“We could be independent together, independent together, we can fly,” Adam leaned his back against yours, your wings pressed together, moving together as one. “Independent together, independent together,” 

You looked up to Adam with wide, awestruck eyes, your genuine smile a sight to see. Adam had been the only one to make you smile like that in a long, long time, and he knew it. It made something within him flutter to life, something he hadn’t felt in a just as long time. Genuine happiness. He truly enjoyed singing with you. 

“Independent together, you and I,” Adam shot you a smile, making you giggle as you pulled away from his back. 

Adam looked back to you in surprise, his eyes widening as two more pairs of wings sprouted from your back. A halo formed above your head, its form in the shape of a crown on your head. Its white coloration immediately drew attention as your hair fluffed out, much like that of a seraphim. Your bright blue eyes shone brightly, matching the new pairs of eyes that dotted your body and wings, your clawed hand reaching out to Adam. 

Adam looked up at you in shock, no doubt unaware of what status you had been as an angel. You giggled as he hesitantly took your hand, momentarily awestruck by your transformation. He quickly recovered though as he pulled you to him, holding your angelic form against his own demonic body. 

“High above an endless sea,” Adam’s face leaned in closer, his breath fanning your face. You smiled up at him, leaning into his hold, letting him guide you. “No one brought us here but me. Every step and every choice...” 

His body turned, squeezing your hand as he pulled you along. Backs pressed together; you fell downward back to the stage. “It’s my fault, it’s my thought, it’s my words, it’s my voice,” 

Landing on the stage with an explosion of light, you let out a giggle as you used your own angelic magic to summon a matching bass to play along with Adam. Adam’s face visibly lit up as you began singing and playing along, your voice taking on a more angelic sound. 

“Independent together, independent together, if we try,” 

You and Adam leaned in, your smiles lighting up the stage as you sang together, perfectly in sync. “Independent together, independent together, independent together, you and I,” 

You had completely forgotten the whole point of this impromptu concert at this point. You forgot that there was an audience, that the rest of the world surrounded you. In the bright lights of the city and hotel, you could only see Adam before you, his face progressively getting closer. 

“Independent together, independent together, we can fly,” Your six wings spread out, your eyes glowing with exhilaration. You didn’t notice just how few inches apart your face was from Adam’s, nor did you see just how that affected the Devil that caused this whole concert to begin with. 

“Independent together, independent together,” Your hand reached out to Adam, your palm pressing against his masked face as you looked into his eyes. He could have sworn you were looking straight through his mask and into his eyes with how you were holding eye contact, getting lost in each other’s eyes. “Independent together, you and I,” 

Your wings slowed to a stop as you and Adam landed. You leaned your forehead against his, surprised as he returned the gesture full heartedly, nearly leaning into you as the song slowed to a stop. 

“Independent together, you and I...” 

You looked up to Adam in both surprise and excitement. Adam held the same exact expression, as if surprised by how carried away they had gotten. Laughter bubbled from within you as the bass you held disappeared, jumping into Adam’s arms with a squeal. Adam chuckled as he held you up, spinning around, before setting you down. 

“That was fucking awesome, babe!” Adam exclaimed, throwing his arms up in exaggeration. You chuckled at his reaction, before remembering that you had an audience. You turned your attention to see their reactions, your eyes widening. 

Tears streamed down Lucifer’s face as he stood in the very front of the small crowd. He looked up to you with a desperate, almost pleading look. Charlie called out to him with a worried tone, snapping him out of his daze as he roughly rubbed his sleeve across his face, whipping around and storming off without a single word. 

“Dad, wait! What’s wrong!?” Charlie yelled, watching as he slammed the door behind him, disappearing into the hotel. A loud burst of laughter caught her attention as she turned around to see Adam completely doubled over, struggling to contain himself and breathe. 

“D-Did you see his fucking face? We broke him,” Adam stuttered through his laughter, wiping away a fake tear from his mask. He stood up straight, turning to see your reaction, his laughter coming to an abrupt halt as he saw the distraught look on your face. 

“Wait a minute,” Charlie held her hands up, shaking her head in disbelief as she approached the stage you and Adam stood atop. “You mean you did that on purpose? What the fuck is wrong with you?” 

“Come on,” Adam groaned in annoyance, jumping down onto the floor before Charlie. “We were just messing around. We wanted to get a little revenge for Luci ruining our relationships.” 

“What?” Charlie’s brows furrowed in confusion, turning her attention to you as you stepped down from the stage, your angelic form disappearing in a flash of gold. “What is he talking about? What relationship?” 

You stilled at Charlie’s words. It seemed your hesitation caught the others’ attention, Charlie leaning in closer as she glared down at you. You growled in annoyance, turning your irritation on Adam. “Come on! They weren’t supposed to know!” 

“Oh, shit, my bad,” Adam held up his hands defensively, stepping back from you. Your attention was shifted back to Charlie as she urged an explanation from you, making you sigh in frustration. 

“Ch-Charlie, there was a reason I never said anything. I didn’t want to get in between you and your family, even if Lucifer and Lilith are split up. I didn’t want you to be mad at Lucifer, I—” 

“What are you saying?” Charlie cut you off, confusion written across her face. She didn’t understand. She didn’t want to understand, but she was already beginning to get somewhat of an idea. She knew what Lucifer did to you, abandoning you in the garden and running away with Lilith. But she didn’t even imagine that there was a whole other layer to it. She didn’t want it to be. 

“Charlie... Your dad and I were married,” You spoke softly, as if scared your words might harm her, scar her. She loved her father deeply and held him up on a high pedestal. She would often talk about how her parents met, and how she loved their love story, even if they were split up. You couldn’t bear to ruin that image, even if you were mad at Lucifer. 

Charlie’s eyes widened as she froze up. It almost felt as though her heart came to a halt in her chest, stilling the blood in her body. “Wh-What?” 

“I kept it a secret because I didn’t want to ruin the image of Lucifer that you have. Please don’t be mad at him, I—” 

“How could I not be mad!?” Charlie exclaimed. You looked up at her in surprise, your eyes going wide. You didn’t think you’d ever heard Charlie yell in the time you had spent in Hell. You almost didn’t think she was capable of getting genuinely angry. 

“All my life, I thought mom and dad had a perfect relationship,” Charlie paced back and forth, pulling her hair by the roots, something that had become a habit in times of stress. “Even when mom left, dad still stayed loyal, he wore her ring, he didn’t try to move on. I-I can’t believe he would do that! He’s such a fucking asshole!” 

“Babe, calm down...” Vaggie tried to plant Charlie in place, placing her hands on Charlie’s chest to keep her from pacing. Charlie growled in annoyance, sidestepping Vaggie as she continued to walk her anger off. 

“And you! How could you stay quiet about this?” Charlie looked down at you with a pleading look. “I deserved to know what kind of a man my dad is. I should have known what he did to you, what he...” 

Charlie trailed off, hiding her face in her hands. Her body shook slightly, the telling sign of the turmoil that lay just beneath the surface. Your heart broke at the sight of Charlie struggling to keep herself together, stepping toward her as you gently grabbed her wrists. 

Pulling her hands away to reveal her sorrowful face that had been soaked in tears, you gave her a soft smile, your thumbs caressing the palms of her hands to try and calm her. Charlie had been the only person aside from Adam to be friendly to you, the only demon down here that truly cared for you. You couldn’t stand to see her breaking down, not over something that was between you and Lucifer. 

“Charlie, despite what Lucifer did to me, he’s still a good person. He’s spent the last ten thousand years trying to make up for what he’s done, to make up for his past mistakes. I don’t want you to be mad at him, not when he’s putting so much effort into making a change,” You dropped Charlie’s hands to move to her shoulders, giving them a reassuring squeeze. “Besides, isn’t the whole point of the hotel to atone and become a better person?” 

Charlie’s eyes seemed to widen at that, as if remembering her whole mission with the hotel. A soft chuckle bubbled within her, lifting her hand to wipe away the stray tears that remained. “Yeah, you’re right.” 

Charlie pulled you into a hug, momentarily surprising you before you returned it in full, holding her tightly. You felt her sigh shakily against you, releasing the remainders of her stress, before pulling away with a renewed smile. 

“You know, if you keep making progress like this, you’ll be redeemed in no time,” She said, making you chuckle. But your laughter died down as you turned your attention back to the door that Lucifer had stormed through not too long ago. 

“Maybe you should go check on him,” You said, gesturing toward the door. Charlie’s eyes followed your own, a soft hum on her lips as she mulled over it. She couldn’t help but still be slightly upset over the reveal of her father’s infidelity, having to remind herself that the whole point of her mission was to forgive those who did wrong. 

She looked down at you with a smile, holding her hand out for you to take. “Could you come with me?” 

You looked up to her, bright blue eyes going wide. You weren’t entirely sure you were ready to talk yet, still afraid that you might give in to your emotions and give him another chance. You were still afraid that he would take advantage of your weak emotional state and hurt you again. 

But the look Charlie gave you promised that she wouldn’t allow her father to hurt you, never again. So, despite your better judgement, you trusted her, placing your hand, and your emotional security, in her own. 

Leading you back into the hotel, you and Charlie went out to search for Lucifer. Finding his bedroom to be empty, the two of you made your way down into the lobby, surprised to find him just about to leave. Charlie called out to him, surprising him as he whipped around, a forced smile on his face. 

“Ah, Charlie! I was just about to head out, I—” 

Lucifer cut himself off upon seeing you beside Charlie. The forced smile immediately dipped into a frown, but he stayed in place as you and Charlie approached. He wanted more than anything to disappear from the world and never been seen again, especially as he felt your cold blue eyes meet his own. 

“Dad, there’s something we should talk about,” Charlie began, before taking a deep breath and looking at you. “Something you should talk about.” 

You looked up to her nervously, your heart thundering in your chest, especially as Charlie released your hand and stepped back, leaving you to stand alone before Lucifer. Your gaze landed on his eyes, bright red irises that you had always found alluring. You opened your mouth to say something, Lucifer doing the same, but nothing came out, no words were spoken. You could only look away, casting your stare onto the floor. 

Charlie seemed to notice the thick, tense air between you two, sighing deeply. A small smile pulled at her lips as her soft voice filled the lobby, catching the attention of you both. “Why don’t you talk to each other?” 

Charlie stepped toward you, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder and back, pushing you toward Lucifer. Both yours and Lucifer’s eyes widened at the sudden close proximity as Charlie continued. “Why don’t you talk to each other? Just give it a try,” 

Charlie grabbed her father’s hand, Lucifer’s eyes stuck glued to yours, giving you an almost fearful look. He jumped in his skin as he felt Charlie place his hand in yours, the touch of your corrupted angelic skin the exact same as he always remembered. “Why don’t you talk about what happened? I know you’re trying to avoid it, but I don’t know why,” 

“You might not believe it,” Charlie gave you a reassuring smile as she stepped back, leaving you in the presence of Lucifer. You glanced at the hand where you were connected with him, unable to help the heat that rushed to your cheeks, or the tears that began to well in your eyes. “You might not believe it, but you got a lot in common, you really do,” 

“You both love me, and I love both of you...” 

Lucifer sighed, his hand squeezing yours gently, taking in the way your soft palm felt under his thumb. He looked away, taking in a shaky breath as he forced his voice to work for him. “Look, if I were you, I’d hate me too.” 

“I don’t hate you...” You muttered, keeping your gaze on the floor as you held back your tears. Your throat squeezed tightly, trying to keep everything tightly wound up inside you, trying to hold yourself together. 

“Why not?” Lucifer looked up to you with wide eyes, as if begging you to hate him. Because it’d be easier for him to come to terms with you hating him, than for him to accept that you’ve moved on and don’t care anymore. “Y-You should hate me, you should want me dead,” 

You looked up to him in surprise, a stray tear escaping your eyes as you chuckled, your cheeks crinkling slightly. “I guess this place is just rubbing off on me. I got so tired of being mad, I just couldn’t bring myself to fight you anymore. I would rather just forgive you and move on.” 

“B-But—” Lucifer cut himself off, tears brimming in his eyes. He deserved to be hated, he was the most hated being in existence. It simply wasn’t fair, he hated that you forgave him before he forgave himself. He couldn’t forgive himself. He would never be able to. 

His eyes widened as he felt your hand on his cheek, wiping away the tears that he hadn’t realized escaped. He looked up to you in shock, trying to understand what was going through your head, why you were doing the things you did, the things that made him miss you even more. 

“If you wanted to, we could move on together. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust you again, but I trust Charlie, and I know she won’t let me get hurt here,” You chuckled softly, looking over at Charlie with a smile, before turning your attention back to Lucifer as you stepped closer to him. “You’ve raised a wonderful person, Lucifer. She’s the entire reason why I can forgive you. She’s the reason why I want to move on with you.” 

Lucifer stared up into your angelic eyes, his body shaking as tears streamed down his face. He squeezed his eyes shut, crashing into your arms as he held you like his life depended on it. “More than anything,” 

He looked up to you, his eyes glimmering in the lights of the hotel, his lips pulling into a soft smile. “I’d love it more than anything.” 

You giggled, grabbing hold of his hands, pulling him to a slow dance. Lucifer was practically beaming at you now, his tears streaming freely down his face as he chuckled, following along. 

Charlie couldn’t help the smile that graced her face, watching the scene before her unfold as she continued to sing, wiping away the tears that had fallen from her eyes as well. “I know you both need it, I know you both need it,” 

“Someone who knows what you’re going through,” 

Your laughter filled the room as Lucifer spun you around, the sound making his heart flutter. A chuckle escaped his lips, before he too was laughing, getting lost in the sounds of your joy. A sound he’d missed for far longer than he realized. 

“You might not believe it, you might not believe it, but you got a lot in common, you really do,” 

Your feet slowed to a stop as you looked down into Lucifer’s eyes, your hands moving to cup his cheeks. You leaned in, resting your forehead against his own, strands of your hair tickling his face. You felt him wrap his arms around your neck, his breath fanning your face as he sighed. 

“You both love me, and I love both of you...” 

“You have no idea how much I missed this,” Lucifer said, looking into your bright blue eyes. You smiled, moving to pull him into a hug. 

“You have no idea how much I missed you,” You muttered against his shoulder, basking in his presence. Perhaps this was the happy ending you had waited so long to get. It wasn’t perfect, but nothing was. Not even angels were perfect, as you had found out. But now, you wouldn’t have things any other way. Because now, you were finally happy. You could start anew, with the new friends you’ve made, with Lucifer. You were finally ready to let him back in. 

“You both love me, and I love both of you...”

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

@christineblood, @jellyedkazoo, @sirenetheblogger, @charliesicedcoffee

[reiluvr]

Suguru's Morning Routine

hello! this is a new account, just cause i wanted to start somewhere new! requests are open and im still working on everything so...

i'll eventually make a masterlist, once i've posted at least 5 works or so.

this is pretty much 100% fluff even though i'm a hardcore angst girl. just starting off easy. uhhh there's suggestive words but no smut.

just suguru being head over heels for you and toru <3

It's the way Suguru has his alarms set for at least half an hour before the other two ring. He's so used to this routine that he doesn't even really need the alarm, his eyes already open and hands reaching for his phone to turn the alarm off in case it wakes you two up. He turns his body, a smile subconsciously falling onto his face as he observes the mess of your hair. He gently brushes a few strands away from your mouth, fingers tracing your features as he grins.

Once his ten minutes of admiring you are up, his body shifts, neck craning to admire Satoru on your other end. His heart flutters as he watches the constant rise and fall of Satoru's chest, finding solace in watching the "honored one" look so mundane. His smile only widens further as his eyes trail down to observe how your legs entangle with Satoru's, Suguru being the only somewhat normal sleeper. In the quiet of the room, a small giggle escapes him as he thinks back to the beginning of the relationship, how hard it had been to get a good amount of sleep between Satoru's limbs stretching across the entire bed and you're constant mumbling. Now it's only one of his countless favorite things about his two partners.

He alternates between both of you, waiting until the sun has fully risen to quietly get out of bed, humming a soft tune as he turns on the coffee maker, already pulling out countless items from the refrigerator. It was honestly a blessing that Satoru was loaded, because not only did he eat for a family of ten, all three people in the house had very different tastes, leading to grocery weekends being quite hectic. He places three cups on the counter, practically adding only a few drops off coffee to the first one as he drowns it in creamer and sugar cubes. He moves to the second, not even trying to fight the smile as he notices the small paw prints on the side of the mug. He had gotten accustomed to finding cat themed items all around the house once you had moved in. It had been a nightmare listening to Satoru whine constantly about how "those stupid cats mean more than we do, right?" He adds two sugar cubes to the cat themed cup, pouring the coffee and topping it off with whatever nut based milk they had bought that week. By the time he turns to the last cup, Satoru's poptarts have popped out the toaster, so he quickly places them on a plate while he heats up a pan to prepare his own eggs. He quickly pours coffee in his own cup, not bothering with sugar or cream as he takes a few sips, mixing granola into some strawberry yogurt. By the time breakfast is ready, he can already hear Satoru's soft whines from the bedroom, the man already having found something to complain about. He places the poptarts on one end of the desk, placing the granola in the middle, and the eggs on the other end. No one spoke about it, but everyone knew they had an assigned seat.

He takes his coffee with him, leaning against the door frame of their bedroom as he watches. Satoru seems to be clawing at the bedsheets, one hand digging into the bed as the other is wrapped tightly around the bedframe. You stand there, hair a mess and clothes all ruffled, clearly just having gotten up, with one of Satoru's ankle in you hands, desperately trying to pull him out of bed. Suguru rolls his eyes, you'd think after years of living together, they'd be over this dramatic scene every morning. He sighs, placing his cup on the dresser as he shuffles behind you, hands wrapping around your waist as you drop Satoru's leg in surprise.

"For once, could you two just wake up normally?"

He has to suppress his smile as he hears your own frustrated complaints, already talking his ear off first thing in the morning.

"I woke up and he was literally laying on me! So I push him off and he start whining and crying, you know how he is, he's all like "you don't love me" and "I'll just go die, I guess". And then! Suguru, you're not gonna believe this, actually, you will, cause Satoru still acts like he's 16. He pulls me back with him as he's like, "Hey ma". MA? WHY IS HE TRYING TO HAVE SEX FIRST THING IN THE MORNING??-"

Suguru does the only thing that he knows will shut you up, pressing his lips against your own as he silences you, Satoru cackling in the back as you push Suguru away, already on another rant about how you're living with two men who are horny 24/7. Of course, you're just kidding, already back in Suguru's hold a few minutes later, both of you just swaying in place while waiting for Satoru to finish washing his face. (He has a 24 step skin care routine.)

The three of you finally settle into your places, both you and Satoru digging into the prepared breakfast in front of you. Suguru sighs happily, watching as a bit of yogurt sticks to your nose, Satoru pointing it out. He watches as Satoru throws his head back in laughter as you try to wipe it off, only smudging it more. He holds back to urge to tell Satoru not to speak with his mouth full. He watches as you rub your nose red, somehow still missing the smudge. He watches as Satoru finally reaches over, using the edge of his sweater's sleeve, it's Suguru's sweater but he's already accepted he's never getting it back, to gently rub your face, getting rid of the mark. By the time he takes a bite of his own eggs, they're cold. He just smiles and continues eating, a cold breakfast being a small price to pay for enjoying his morning with his favorite people.

[owliellder]

Two's A Crowd

College Bully! Leon Kennedy x fem! Reader

MDNI 18+

(Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5)

Description: College is proving to be a lot harder than you imagined. You cannot fail this math class. So when you've tried everything else, a well-known student is recommended to you by your professor for tutoring lessons, not really leaving you with much of a choice but to work with him.

Warnings: Not proofread, No Use of Y/N, Dub-Con, Unprotected Sex, Bullying, Yelling, Cursing

Tags: College AU, Bully! Leon, Shy! Reader, both are in their early 20's, Leon is Rude AF in the beginning, Loss of Virginity, Oral Sex, Fingering, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Additional Tags to be Added

Author's Note: Slightly shorter chapter since I got stuck watching the last two episodes of Fionna and Cake, but I hope y'all like where I'm steering this. Pick up what I'm putting down, eh??

Cross-posted onto AO3

Chapter 2:

“This is insane. You’re not even trying.” 

Leon’s cruel comments had been endless since you showed up today. He was already irritated that you even showed to begin with, now he’s just taking all his frustrations out on you. The guy isn’t even passive aggressive, he’s just aggressive. “I showed you the formula like.. five times already.”

“I don’t need you to patronize me, please.” You asked with a meek voice, bringing your hands up to cover your face for a couple seconds before placing them down on either side of the new math assignment sitting in front of you. You understood his impatience though, you were even starting to grow impatient with yourself, having been stuck on the third question for over thirty minutes now. Leon stressed the fact that you got one hour only with him and you’d basically wasted half that time bouncing from the formula he’d written down to the question itself.

The formula was helpful, but this question included more numbers than you knew what to do with. The main issue was knowing which numbers went where in the formula and you wanted to know why they went where they did, but Leon was only giving you the formula and nothing else. One vague explanation and then he was right back on his phone.

You had a glimmer of hope for the frat boy sitting in front of you. Had, being the keyword here. One study session in and you were already starting to accept defeat. “Can you explain it to me again?” You tapped your pencil on the table nervously, keeping your eyes glued to your paper to avoid the obvious glare you’d receive from him.

The sound of his phone slamming down on the table accompanied with a groan made you grip onto your pencil tighter, now holding it still as he pulled the paper away from you. “Do I have to hold your hand, too? What’s so hard to understand about this?” He reached over, yanking your pencil from your hand so he could scribble out the first few steps to the problem. Afterwards, he tossed both the paper and pencil back over to you, tapping his finger down on the work he wrote down before circling it once. “Need anything else? A warm bottle of milk? Want me to read you a bedtime story?”

He leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms with a sigh after picking his phone back up. “You’ve got fifteen more minutes.” The fuck’s his problem? 

Letting out a small sigh of your own, you silently picked up the pencil and looked down at what he’d written. Surprisingly, it did help you make more sense of the rest of the assignment sheet, figuring out the placement of the numbers by using where Leon had put them. Soon, the assignment sheet was finished and you had him look it over.

“Is it-.. Is it good?” You watched Leon carefully, studying his face for any sort of emotion other than annoyance. You unfortunately didn’t find it, but his muttered “good” made you smile, taking your own turn studying your work once he handed it back. Not tossed or thrown, handed back.

He took in a sharp breath through his nose before standing up, focus still trained on his phone. There was only a few minutes left in the hour, so you guess he took your understanding of the material as his leave. “Can we.. uh.. study again on Monday?” His hand paused on the door handle at your question, looking back at you from over his shoulder with his lips pulled tight as he gave you a glare. “You just love taking up my time, don’t you?”

“Wait, is that-” The slam of the door cut you off, leaving you to watch him saunter off through the large window in the door. Your shoulders slumped and you turned back to give your math assignment one last look before stuffing it into your backpack. At least with this new understanding, you’d be able to hopefully do the next few assignments. Mr. Lebovic was kind enough to let you redo your past fails, meaning all you’re doing is slowly climbing your way back up to a better grade with make-up work.

You held out for Leon, constantly giving him the benefit of the doubt with each study session following the first. You did your absolute best to remain passive with him, but each session was filled with crude, nasty, hate-filled comments directed at you, so it was only a matter of time until you started throwing your own comments back at him. By the beginning of November, studying had been put on the back burner whenever you two met up, assignments left abandoned in favor of fleshing out full blown arguments. He always won since you’d never really had a loud voice to defend yourself and his favorite go-to was low blow insults, somehow always managing to sniff out your insecurities.

Leon’s pattern was always one step forward, ten steps back with you. He would help and then spend the rest of your hour together nitpicking your every attempt to learn. He hated you and it was driving you mad. It was impossible to learn anything like this.

You’d grown a sour mood leading up to your trek to the library for one of your regular study sessions, a scowl settling on your face. You decided hours ago that getting dressed wasn’t an option today, you just didn’t weren’t in the mood, so instead you threw on a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants to mind the brisk chill that had rolled in at the end of October. 

The walk to the main building was dull; most of the leaves on the trees around campus had long since browned and fallen off, the grass was dead and crunchy, and it almost felt like it would start snowing anytime now with how quickly the cold had come. The feel in the air made you tired, it made you miss home. The weather made you long for the warmth a home-cooked meal provided, but you had to wait, and that wait was only contributing to your already piss poor mood.

Making your way into the library and into the reserved study room, you didn’t even notice Leon’s smile until he asked you to pull out your most recent assignment. It immediately put you off because it wasn't like his normal cocky smile or smirk, no, this one was oddly genuine. Soft, even.

“Can I see it?” He asked, smile widening slightly as he gestured towards your backpack. Even his tone was softer than usual. “Uh…” You weren’t quite sure how to react, not really processing his words as you tried to figure out whether he’s setting a trap or not.

“Your assignment. Can I see it?” Leon clarified, his arms resting crossed on the table as he glanced down to your bag and then back up at you. That was also weirding you out; the eye contact. Normally he only ever met your gaze when he was intimidating you with a deep glare and it wasn’t ever this long. He was making a point to look at you now.

Without saying a word, you unzipped your bag and pulled out a couple papers, only looking away from him twice to make sure you were getting the right ones. You made sure to hold eye contact with him, eyebrows furrowed as you searched for any insincerity. 

You’d grown rigid with his kind behavior, even more so when he thanked you and took the papers from you. Questioning him was your top priority right now, though your mouth refused to work with your brain, causing you to stutter out a simple “..what?” Leon only hummed, tilting his head a bit as he looked down at your work, following the tip of his pen as it trailed down the paper. 

“What-..” You repeated, swallowing dryly before finally getting the full “What’re you doing?” out. He seemed genuinely confused at your question, looking up to give you a puzzled look. “Hm? Whaddya mean what am I doing? I’m looking over your work.” He looked back down at your paper, clearing his throat quietly.

“No, you’re being nice. Why are you being nice?” You were quick to shoot back to try and draw his attention back to you. “If this is a joke, I’m not gonna fall for it.”

Leon sighed and dropped the pen down onto the paper to rest his crossed arms on the table again. “Why are you asking so many questions? It’s not a big deal.”

Not a big deal?! “Not a big deal?! You’ve argued with me every other day for the past three weeks!” Your hands balled up into fists on your lap, completely baffled by the dismissiveness of his complete 180° in demeanor. “I-” You stopped yourself, taking a moment to breathe. This was.. actually a nice change of pace now that you think about it. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth?

He gave you his normal annoyed look at your sudden pause, seemingly waiting on you to finish talking. “You..?” Shaking your head a bit, you let out a soft laugh and waved your hand. “Nevermind, uh.. yeah, nevermind…”

“Ooookay, well, you did good on this one so you can turn it in.” Leon held up the first paper before sliding it across the table to you, then picking up the second paper. “But this one needs a bit of work. I circled the questions that need to be redone, not gonna tell you what’s wrong with them, though.” You watched as he slid the other paper to you with your own smile now forming. Pulling out a pencil, you started to relax for the first time around this guy, bringing your attention down to the circled questions.

Your study session has never been more productive. He was being helpful; answering your questions, talking you through each step, giving you smiles and the occasional thumbs up. You’re not sure what changed or why, but you definitely weren’t complaining. When Leon wasn’t acting like someone shoved a stick up his ass, he was actually pretty handsome. You’d mentally recognized his good looks when you first met him, yet his demeanor as a whole masked those good looks entirely.

There was no way he could throw anymore surprises at you, but you stood corrected when he walked over to you at the end of your session, stopping you from walking out. “Listen, I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting. I don’t want to be mean to you, it’s just…” He paused to laugh to himself, looking down at the ground with an almost bashful expression. “I’m only tutoring because it’s a big part of my grade in my class, so..” Not a complete lie on his part.

“Oh. Oh, it's.. it’s fine.” You didn’t want him to revert back to his old style, so you chose to just dismiss it. His attitude did make sense, you wouldn’t want to tutor random people for a grade. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks. Uh.. oh, here-” Leon opened and held the study room door open for you, giving you a small wave as you walked out, which you returned. That was a nice mood booster, not being degraded and demeaned every time you see the one person who’s supposed to help you. 

Your friends had their own opinions about the experience after you described it to them. You’d been relaying every bit of info relating to your study sessions from the past three weeks to them, a second and third opinion was good to have for such an odd trade.

“I don’t trust it. Plain and simple.” Sky placed their hands down on their thighs with an audible slap. They didn’t seem impressed by Leon’s sudden chivalry, and to your disappointment, neither did Ella when you looked over from Sky to her. She just looked back at you with a shrug. “Sorry. I’m gonna have to take Sky’s side on this. There’s just something off about that.”

You sighed in defeat, turning your head around to look out the window in the dorm room. It was nice that Sky and Ella shared a dorm, you can’t discuss stuff like this in your own dorm in case your roommate decided to randomly appear. “Yeah…”

Ella scooted closer to you on the bed and pulled you back so your head was resting in her lap. “I know you got your hopes up, but please be careful. I don’t wanna see you get hurt because some pretty boy decided it would be fun to manipulate you.” You groaned, covering your face with your arms. Nothing even happened and you’re already feeling embarrassed.

“It’s okay if you like him, he is kinda cute.” Ella giggled and moved one of your arms to poke your cheek. “But just remember that the guy’s got a bit of a reputation for being a major douche.”

Sky, sitting over on their bed, pointed at Ella in agreement. “Emphasis on major douche.” They smiled and leaned back, their head plopping onto their pillows. “It was just one instance of him being sweet, after all. Who’s to say he won’t revert back to being an asshole by Wednesday?”

“I know, I get it.” You swatted Ella’s hand away and sat back upright. Even if he was putting up a front, it was still nice to get some real help with your math without being insulted. Everyone deserves a second chance and he seemed honest enough when he told you why he’d been so rude, so why not try again with him? Start fresh, maybe you’ll get to make an unlikely friend out of this popular frat boy.

A bit of a far fetched idea, considering the vast differences between you and Leon, but anything like that is worth another try. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

tags:

@kayotee4 @k-fallingstar @bobastayhigh @mi-zer-y @chasingkennedy @l30nva @espressonerd @jjouki @5tarx @bunnybreadloaves @whoisgami @cyanscribe @c4b3r1a @darichvep @mmmangel @kingtacocat @klee-iii @baby--vera @dakiniii @kenma-izhu @aliidarling @leonsmamacita

(a few of your blogs won't show up but i tried)

[writing-in-the-impala]

Secret Smokes (Part 10)

Pairing: Teacher! Remus Lupin x Reader

Series Summary: When the reader bumps into the new DADA professor on the bridge in Hogwarts she begins to build a friendship with him all thanks to their shared feeling of not belonging and love for muggle cigarettes. Their friendship blooms while they both fight internal battles deciding what is wrong and what is right leading to a lot of fluff, angst, flirting and a rollercoaster of emotions.

Warnings: Swearing, smoking, drinking, teacher-student relationship, angst, jealousy, fluff, smut.

Word Count: 2960

A/N: A lovely human asked me today if this fic is over and I thought damn I got to update quick before I lose all my readers. Hope 2024 is treating you all well, here's to the first post of the year!

 | SERIES MASTER LIST (All chapters) |

Previous Chapter, Part 10, Next Chapter

You opened your eyes scanning the room you're in, first you saw the curtains shut. Clothes neatly pilled on the side, a messy stack of books and parchment. Then you turned around and saw the back of Remus's head as he slept peacefully. Thoughts of guilt, lust and memories flooded your head. You began to think whether he regrets last night, was it just a drunk mistake, what do you say to him when he wakes up. You felt him move and turn towards you, on his face a gentle smile. "Morning dear, how'd you sleep?" He asked and kissed your forehead.

"Really well, you?" He scooped you closer with his arms to his chest.

"Let's ignore the conversation we have to have now and just savour this moment." He whispered while cuddling close to you.

"I like that idea." You replied breathing in his smell. Your heart felt full and you felt so comfortable like this was the place you were waiting to be your whole life, and he didn't seem to regret it but rather welcome it.

"Now dear would you like some coffee? Breakfast?" He asked softly not letting you go.

"What a gentleman." You joked in return.

"I try my best." He said with a wink before kissing the top of your head and standing up, he put on a T-shirt and his trousers from last night. "I'll start making the coffee, rest as long as you want."

You lay there in naked confusion and bliss, you were happy but you were confused. You had no idea how you will face him in class after waking up in his bed. You got out of bed putting on yesterdays clothes and grabbing one of Remus's sweaters for warmth before making your way down to the kitchen. The room smelt of coffee, Remus looked younger for a moment with messy hair and wearing no socks on the cold floor as he made coffee. He turned around with a smile. "Good morning, nice jumper." He said with a wink. He winked a lot you noted, maybe he was just as nervous as you right now. "Do you like it with milk or black?" He asked.

"Splash of milk please, no sugar." You confirmed and he followed your instructions and handed it to you. "Perfect thank you."

"Care to join me on the roof for a smoke and coffee? Then we can think of breakfast plans." He said walking towards the stair case and you followed. You sat down side by side on two chairs, it was cold but you didn't mind. "You know this has always been my guilty pleasure, coffee and a cig the morning after, I thought it made me cool." He admitted looking out onto London.

"It makes you look cold, I'm not sure if cool is the right word." You said and he laughed lightly to response, shaking his head.

"It used to calm my nerves because I wasn't sure what to do with a girl in the morning after, how guys are meant to act, so I figured out to start my mornings with a smoke and conversation, not that this is a common occurrence."

"What you don't sleep with your students often?" you joked to ease your discomfort about this whole situation.

"I don't sleep with anyone often, especially students."

"Why?"

"Because they're my students and I have somewhat of a professional-" You interrupted him by saying "No I mean why don't you sleep with people often."

"Y/N you know what I am."

"So?"

"So, being around me, close to me is not only dangerous but also a burden to a persons life. Therefore I've found it's better to focus on solitude and not burden anyone else who I may possibly care for. Y/N I am not a man I am-" You once again cut in to stop Remus Lupin from his usual self-loathing pit. "I'm hungry."

He quickly checked his watch "We could go to a bakery about 5 minutes away they should be open, we can grab some pastries if you'd like."

"What time is it?" You asked in fear.

"Half past nine, why do you need to be somewhere?" He asked with a slight painful tang behind his voice.

"The Weasleys, I was meant to be staying there. I need to go before they all wake up." You said leaving your coffee and heading down to Remus's bedroom, Remus followed you down.

"I'm sure you'll be okay, just tell them you fell asleep on the sofa." He tried to calm you as you put on your jacket and gathered your belongings.

"No, I'll never hear the end of this. Molly will kill me." You said in panic.

"Y/N you're an adult they'll understand, just stay finish your coffee, I can write to Molly that you are here." He said placing a hand on your shoulder to calm you.

"I'm sorry Remus I don't want to run like this but I have to, I don't want to try and explain why I'm here in the morning. Happy new year." You simply said to him as his face dropped into a frown.

"Happy New Year." He said quietly and you apparated to the Weasleys house. You didn't know that you left Remus with a feeling of enormous guilt, he felt like he used the opportunity of you drunk to sleep with you and now you regretted it. He was reminded of your age by the way you rushed home, you may be eighteen but you still sometimes behaved like someone's daughter and that made Remus feel uneasy about perusing you, especially when you have to rush home the morning after. Rush home to a friend of his. The guilt ate him alive as he cleaned the coffee that you didn't finished and put out your half-smoked cigarette. In that moment he made a decision, he messed up, he got close to you and kissed you because he couldn't control himself and based on how you ran out the house you obviously regretted everything.

You on the other hand felt guilty for leaving, Remus treated you nicer than anyone else you've ever slept with, he made you coffee, he cared, it filled your heart with warmth, you knew you'll have to apologise for how you left. You slowly walked through the house up to the spare room you were staying in when you bumped into Percy who was going to the bathroom. He gave you a quick look up and down in a judgmental way and didn't even say hi, then as you passed the twins' room they opened the door with big grins. "Nice jumper." They both said at once. You looked down and saw you left in Remus's jumper.

"Shit." You took it off in that very moment in panic. "Don't tell anyone." You warned them.

"Our lips are sealed." They said in unison. "Although we will high five him next time we see him." Fred shrugged.

"Don't you dare Weasley." You warned.

"So how was sleeping with our dear professor?" George asked.

"Was it everything you dreamed of?" Fred added.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Was it at least good?" Fred pushed.

"The best I've ever had. And he made me coffee in the morning and hugged me and kissed me." You felt like you were melting just thinking about it.

"The best?" Fred repeated.

"Who knew prof would be so good." George added.

"Let's not talk about it, I actually have to sit in his class after this." You felt a bit sick at the idea, that was the end of that conversation. You quickly went to take a shower and change. After that you wrote a letter to Remus apologising about leaving so soon and thanking him for the coffee. He didn't reply. You sent him another three letters over the next few days making sure he's okay however he didn't reply. So you got the message, and he did regret it, he was just being nice to you in the morning because he was a good person. You were nervous to go back to Hogwarts but you decided you won't let New Years stop you. You came back a week before term, and you thought it may be good to bump into Remus before term starts to talk. You went to the bridge but he didn't, you knocked on his office but no one answered, you even tried to find him using the map but it was like he was always waking away from you.

You finally saw him on the first day of term, he was sitting eating breakfast in the great hall with all the teachers. You received and owl and it was from him but he didn't look up at you at all.  The letter read:

"Welcome back to the new term miss L/N.

As previously agreed our tutoring continues to prepare you for you exams.

- Professor R.J.Lupin"

You looked up at him but he didn't look at you.

In his lesson that day you sat nervously in your seat, you were sitting next to Sebastian as you and Percy weren't on talking terms after New Years. "Are you okay?" Sebastian whispered watching you move around in your seat nervously waiting for Lupin to arrive to the classroom.

"Just nervous about exams." You explained to him, he put a hand on your leg to steady it. "It's okay you'll do great, I've got some calming fraught if you want it though." He said and you nodded. He slipped  you the potion and you drank it, you didn't realise that around the time Sebastian put his hand on your leg Remus was walking in the classroom and watching the whole interaction. "Better?" Sebastian asked and you nodded in response. "Thank you." You said and he gave you a smile before moving his hand from your leg as you had stopped shaking from stress. Remus cleared his throat as he stood at the front of the classroom. "Welcome back I hope you've all had a good new year," Remus said, looking at you intensely during the last three words. You instantly felt hot however because of the position you didn't feel worried instead slightly turned on as you looked back at him, after a moment of eye contact he ripped his eyes away.

"Now I'm sure you're all nervous, but I will get you as prepared for your exams as possible all I ask is for you to listen and pay attention and that way I can help you." He continued, his eyes kept catching yours as if he couldn't look away and you were now enjoying the attention as all stress had left your body. However the closer to the end of the lesson it got the more the potion started to wear off and you could no longer look Lupin in the eye, he noticed the change in you and was very confused, he simply couldn't read you, he knew you took a potion however he wasn't sure what you took, he suspected it was calming draught but he had to ask you in your tutoring session if you show up. You considered skipping it but you knew you had to speak to Remus sooner or later and you didn't want to fail your exams because of him.

You lightly knocked on his office door filled with a bit of anxiety, he was sitting marking papers when you came in and he smiled gently at you but you could see he was on edge just like you. "Good afternoon Miss L/N. I hope you had a good Christmas." He greeted you and it filled you with anger that he was just pretending nothing happened.

"Can we talk?" You asked quietly sitting down on a chair near the front.

"Is it about your studies?"

"Obviously not." You snarked and he sighed pulling up a chair opposite you.

"We shouldn't, it's my responsibility to prepare you for your exams and" he began before you interrupted with a simple. "Remus." He loosened his tie and sighed.

"I'm really sorry Y/N. I'm really sorry for what I did, I should've been the responsible adult, I'm your teacher for fuck sake." He began and he looked visibly upset.

"Do you regret it?" You asked gently.

"Obviously, I shouldn't have put you in that situation. I pushed myself onto you, I knew my feelings for you I shouldn't have spoken to you at all if I was drinking."

"But I wanted to kiss you."

"Y/N I'm your teacher." He said as a matter of fact.

"So I don't care do you? Answer honestly."

"No." He shook his head and swallowed hard.

"Would you want to kiss me again?" He did say anything he just looked at your lips. "Answer honestly Remus." You added and he shook his head.

"Then do it." His eyes didn't leave your lips for a moment and then he made eye contact with you and he simply said "I can't."

"Why?" You asked him pleading.

"Because I am falling incredibly hard for you, and all I'm going to do is hurt you. Because I am your teacher. Because I can't offer you anything much more than a tea and a great music taste and an awful lot of knowledge on books."

"I don't care, you made me feel special, you make me feel loved."  You continued to beg.

"Don't lie to me I saw how you ran out the house." He said with a angry and annoyed tone.

"I wrote to you three time to apologies, and you ignored every single letter." You said feeling like you're about to cry.

"You did?" His complexion changed suddenly.

"Yes. But I got the message that you rather ignore all this happened."

"Y/N, I wanted to make you coffee, take care of you and then talk to you like an adult about what this means for our lives here, but you ran out and the only letter I received was this from Percy." He said pulling out a letter that was crumbled up in his pocket, the address was Hogwarts, of course, all your letters went to the cottage but he didn't go there he came straight to the castle it all clicked.

"Why did Percy write to you?" You asked softly and he just handed you the letter to read.

"Dear professor Lupin,

As head boy I urge to remind you that you are our professor within and outside school grounds. And I believe you don't need to be reminded of school rules, especially for a man with your condition losing this job may be disastrous.

Happy new year, P. Weasley Head boy of Gryffindor"

"That prick." You said quietly and looked up at Remus. "I promise I didn't tell him anything."

"How would he know?" Remus asked he looked like you betrayed him.

"Your jumper," you began and Remus have you a puzzled look. "I came home in it the morning after and Percy saw me, he gave me a look of hate, we haven't talked since." You answered honestly. "Remus I'm sorry about this, can you ignore it and can we have this conversation based on our own opinions." You said and Remus sighed.

"No matter what I am your teacher and we've crossed a line."

"How do you expect me to focus in your lessons after what you've done to me professor?"

"Fuck you calling me professor like it doesn't turn you on." He said looking away and taking a deep shaky breath. "Can I kiss you one last time dear?" He asked and you nodded. And he leaned over the desk to kiss you slowly, the kiss was desperate and slow, as if he was savouring the moment, he put a hand on your cheek and tucked your hair behind your ear just like he did that first morning.

"Don't make it the last." You said as soon as he pulled away.

"Dear, as soon as you realise I'm just a broke man who's been cursed since childhood the sooner you'll realise you don't want me, so many men will be able to offer you the world, I won't."

"I hate you, I hate that you won't even give yourself a chance to be happy." You said feeling like you're about to cry.

"Y/N I'm trying to protect you." He pleaded.

"Or maybe you're just trying to protect yourself from feeling any good emotion in your life?" You said standing up. "Maybe you don't realise you're hurting me by not even trying, by leading me on."

"I'm sorry Y/N, I truly don't know what I'm doing, I wish I was, let's leave this conversation for another day let's start working on revision."

"Remus how am I meant to sit here and listen to you teach me while all I can think about is wether you like me just for sex, wether it's because you get turned on by fucking your student, wether you're just lonely and I'm convenient or wether an ounce of you actually cares about me."

"Y/N, if you want to have this conversation with me you need to act your age not frantically shout your thoughts at me like a school girl." He said harshly his mood becoming a lot more authoritarian.

"I am a school girl! I hate you Remus Lupin, I hate how you treat me, I hate you for making me feel like I mattered for you to just change your mind when it's convenient. I hate Percy for that letter. But I really hate you." You said pushing the tears away from your eyes.

"I'm not surprised, I hate me too." He said looking down at the desk and then he went silent.

"No Remus. I didn't mean-" You began realising your emotions got the better of you, truly you were scared about how much you liked him, how dependent you were becoming on him, how life wasn't the same without him.

"You've said enough. Goodbye." Remus said turning around and walking upstairs to his office without a single turn back to face you. And that was the last time you saw Remus Lupin that week, the next lesson you had with Lupin was taken over by Snape, and even your tutoring was now with McGonagall. Lupin returned on Friday evening, you saw him in the great hall during dinner, that's when you received and owl from him which was rare during dinner...

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[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook

𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 | Part 7

You just have to trust him one last time.

Tags/Warnings: Game Designer!Jungkook, Brat Tamer!Jungkook, kinda himbo!Jungkook, Non Idol AU, established relationship, Angst, minor injury, emotional kook, some lore [Tags will be different for every part!]

Length: 1k Words

There is no taglist for this fic.

Collab with @euphoricfilter ! 💜

-> Masterlist

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Back home, he’s pacing.

He’s broken a plate in the sink while doing the dishes, cut his hand a little because of it, and he doesn’t know where you’ve put the first aid kit. And he also doesn’t want to text you and ask you because if he’s annoying you then he’s only gonna make it worse for himself to get on your good side again, and you’ll also scold him for being clumsy again.

So he just puts a random bandaid on his hand, and moves to vacuum the floors.

His plan is to have all the chores done by the time you get home, so that your mood will be good and he can work on falling into your favor again. He hopes that you’ll just stay over at your friend's for one night, that you’ll text him soon to ask him to pick you up- so that he can show you that the time of torture is over now, all of his work sent out and work email and phone now on vacation mode. He’s all yours again-

And he’s just waiting for you to be his again as well.

You’ve not really talked to him besides a morning game of battleships while he was eating bland cereal (because the milk tasted weird and he didn’t know if it was bad or not- and you weren’t there to ask), and that’s fine. Well it’s not really fine, but he accepts it as maybe your way to get back at him. And it’s a relatively small price to pay, considering the shit he’s pulled you through- just as long as you return to him.

He’s tripping over the cable of the old vacuum and almost falls face first onto the floor, just to catch himself on the edge of a table, causing the cable to tighten and pull the plug out of the socket. And in an odd way, the sudden silence makes him feel like he’s drowning. Usually, especially on a day like this, you’d both be running around the house to see who can get their shoes on first just to not be the one who’s gonna pay for the food you’re about to get. Or you’d both be still tangled in the sheets in bed, still drowsy from sleep and the exhaustion from your usual indulgence in love prior to falling asleep. Or you’d have some music on while folding laundry, jumping around in nothing but panties and another stolen shirt of his.

But you’re not here. What if that’s how it’s going to be from now on? Forever?

He’s biting his lip to prevent himself from becoming emotional again as he sits down in his office, opening the drawer underneath. Your present is still in there, safely tucked away in a fancy little box, and he just hopes that you can understand why he went through this with you the way he did. Growing up, he’s always been fed with this obsession of success, that if he’s not the one doing the sole work himself, then he’s not allowed to call his success his own. With a father in a law firm, a brother running a multi-million worth business, and a mother that owns several restaurants, he’s basically always been the black sheep.

Tattooed, pierced, designing his stupid games all day, and with no very impressive wealth to show for himself, he doesn’t have the best relationship with his family, if any at all. So he just became a husk, and accepted any form of love he could get- fucking around until he met you-

Someone who didn’t care. Someone who liked him just the way he was, with all his flaws and odd habits and frustrating traits. You challenge him, you’re not treating him like a stupid failure, you make sure he knows his worth despite the big gap between him and his brother for example. And maybe that’s what made him so attached to you over the course of time- he just can’t imagine a life without you anymore, because especially now, he notices how much he needs you.

And it’s not about the chores, or about the fact that you constantly save him from food poisoning- it’s your presence.

“Urgh!” He yells out, hands on his face as he presses the heels of his palms against his eyes.

“What’re you yelling for?” Your voice rings out, and he immediately slams the drawer shut, movement of his body stiffening up so quit that he crashes his knee into the underside of the desk, shaking everything on it, as he hisses but gets up anyways, limping towards you to pull you close. “Kook-“ you mumble muffled against his shoulder, but he just sways you around from left to right, head buried in the crook of your neck.

“Welcome home-“ he rambles, moving to kiss your cheeks before he freezes, wide eyed. “-fuck I should’ve asked if I could kiss you right? Shit babe I’m sorry-“ he rants, and you roll your eyes, running your hand through his slightly greasy hair.

“Its fine. Why’s the vacuum thrown around like a murder victim though?” You ask, detaching yourself from him as you move to pick it up and roll up the cord of it.

“I..wanted to do the chores before you came home. Which by the way-“ he says, following you around like a lost puppy. “-why didn’t you ask me to pick you up? It’s cold outside..” he whines, and you shrug.

“Gave me some time to think.” You say, and at that, he tenses up. “Jungkook.. I..” you sigh, before you turn around to face him. “I still don’t know why you’ve been like this and it really hurt me-“

“I can tell you now!” He rushes out. “Like, not all of it but most of it- enough of it, I promise!” He presses.

“I don’t want you to make up shit. If you don’t like me like that anymore-“ you begin, but he shakes his head, frantically pulls you closer to hug you.

“Don’t ever think like that. I love you, I really do..” he mumbles against the top of your head. “And I’ll prove it to you, promise.” He urges.

“How?” You meekly ask, unable to resist snaking your arms around his torso as well.

“Just trust me one last time.” He whispers, and it sends a chill down your spine just how serious he sounds.

“I promise it’ll be worth it.”

[radioactiveparker]

The Breakfast Club - Eddie Munson X F!Cheerleader!Reader

Part Two - Low Tolerance For Dehydration

Chapter Summary - We begin to learn the truth about why these kids are the way they are. (A retelling of The Breakfast Club, written and directed by John Hughes.)

Chapter Warnings - Characters are all 18+ / Strong Language / Illusions to Abuse/ Abusive Relationship / Dysfunctional Families / Kleptomania / References to Religious Beliefs / Sexual References / Drug References / Stereotyping / Angst

Word Count - 7.2k

(Series Masterlist) (Masterlist)

(Part One)

-----

Saturday.

October 25th, 1984.

Hawkins High Library.

10:30am.

~~~~~

After that rather thrilling event courtesy of Eddie Munson and Principal Higgins, the next two hours went on forever.

The grinding of gears, the hum of the electric motor, and the movement of the clock's hands invaded the silence. The second hand made a rapid clicking sound. You counted each one. At twenty-second intervals, the minute hand squeaked. The clock sounds became the percussion for a lullaby that almost lulled you to sleep.

Eddie remained seated next to you, spending the better part of an hour sulking that he had just wrecked the rest of his winter. The rest of the time, he spent scratching markings into the table with his car keys (which you immediately told him to stop out of annoyance. He ignored you, of course) and counting all the pictures he can see in the medullary rays of the wood. In his mind, he connected the lines and dots. Before his eyes, they formed the crude outline of a shapely woman with her legs rudely spread apart. He used the notebook paper to cover it up. He did not want to spend the next five and a half hours with a boner he couldn't get rid of. Especially one given to him by something as ridiculous as an imaginary table lady.

Steve was lazily picking off the fuzz of a tennis ball that he found in the lost and found box behind the front desk, piling it up in a small illuminous heap. The bald patches reminded him of principal Higgin's round, balding head. He picked at it harder, really digging his fingernails into the stringy felt like it had personally offended him.

Nancy was trying to write her paper. Normally, the undisturbed silence would be prime time to work on an essay, but she began staring off into space, her mind wondering. All she had managed to write was a title 'Who Am I?', her name, the date, and the time. Each time she would bring herself back to reality, she would check her watch, then erase the time and write the new one. 

Robin was hunched over, hidden in her hair as she scribbled over her cherry red converse. She wrote whatever came to mind; her name, milk duds, a drawing of the top half of a naked woman, a copy of her fingerprint. She kept going until the red had almost disappeared.

You rested your head in your palms, eyes looking up as you counted the tiles on the ceiling. You got to thirty eight when Eddie nudged you. You opened your mouth to scold him for making you lose count, when he slid a sheet of paper over to you. He'd drawn a tic-tac-toe grid and placed an X in the centre square. You grabbed a pencil and drew a circle in the top right corner, deciding to keep him entertained before he starts causing more trouble. He smiled cutely when you slid the paper back to him. 

The two of you played until both sides looked like a gingham tea towel. Much to your distaste, you lost 38 - 43. Eddie pulled tongues as the victor and you decided then to never play tic-tac-toe with Eddie again; you didn't want his head getting bigger than it already was.

The library door swung open and Principal Higgins stood with a scowling face.

"All right. Who has to go to the rest room?"

All hands shot up. 

Higgins gave a single nod, signalling that everyone could get out of their seats. You groaned in relief when your spine cracked, though you still had pins and needles in your left foot and your butt was numb from sitting on it for too long. The Principal lead you all down the hall to the restrooms, where he unlocked them with a jingling of keys.

"Two minutes for the boys. Three minutes for the girls." He stared at his watch like he was already starting the count down.

"How come they get an extra minute?" Eddie complained, pointing at the group of girl who all had their arms crossed, looking at him like the answer was obvious.

"Try and remember your biology, Munson." Principal Higgins rolled his eyes, still staring at his watch.

"Oh, right. Does that mean Harrington gets another minute?"

Annoyed, Steve pushed through into the bathroom. Eddie followed behind, laughing manically. 

The two of them rarely used the schools restroom, even for Eddie who was kind of a slob, they were too disgusting. Students only ever really used them to hide when skipping classes. The walls were covered in graffiti and a few of the tiles were cracked, and there was always something on the floor that made the bottom of their shoes sticky. They didn't even want to try to guess what it was. Steve stood in front of the urinal and unzipped his jeans. Eddie hopped onto the countertop and fished through his hair to retrieve the cigarette from behind his ear.

"You want one?"

Steve took a peek behind him. "Oh yeah, ten of 'em please. I need to prove I'm a man."

"Whatever man." That was the last time Eddie would offer Steve anything ever again.

He fumbled in his pocket, took out a lighter and lit his cigarette.

Meanwhile, the state of the girls bathroom wasn't much better. The floors were less sticky, but there was always tissue all over the place, and a funny smell in the air.

"Is this a drag, or what?" You looked at your tired eyes in the reflection and started complaining about them to the girls. 

Nancy rummaged through her purse, pulling out perfume bottles, make-up, compacts, brushes; an incredible amount of things that she probably didn't need. Nancy very helpfully let you borrow the make-up out of her bag. You were looking as good as new in no time.

"You want one?" Robin pulled out a pack of spearmint gum and stuck one in her mouth.

You looked at her repulsed. "Robin, you can't eat in the bathroom. What if you get VD of the mouth or something!"

She paused like she hadn't thought about that. She quickly walked to the sink and washed her hands. She grabbed a paper towel to dry them and then used it to open the door. She held the door open with her foot, wadded up the paper towel and made a three pointer into the waste bin. A shot that even Steve would find impressive, even if she did surprise herself making it in the first place. She didn't show that though. 

"You're into washing your hands, but you eat inches away from a live toilet?" 

She gave you an offended glare her, and left the bathroom, letting the door close on you and Nancy. You turned to Nancy and gave her a look that said 'I'm not crazy for thinking that am I?'. 

"I mean that was a little disgusting, but you could have worded it a bit nicer."

She walked out, leaving you wondering whose side she was on.

"I didn't mean to upset you." You called after Robin. "I was just reacting to something I thought was seriously weird. I mean, I'll listen if you needed some one to talk to about it." 

Robin didn't give you the time of day, just rolled her eyes to herself. She didn't appreciate the way you worded your apology; like she was the one with the problem.

"Let's go. Shake it off!" Higgins called into the boys bathroom.

Even with the extra minute you were given, the girls still managed to be done before the boys. Eddie opened the door, smelling strongly of tobacco.

"Where's Harrington?"

"Drowned." Eddie said bluntly.

The Principal crossed to the door and peaked his head in. "Alright, Harrington, c'mon. Lets go!"

Steve made a few final adjustments to his hair, raking his fingers through it to position his chestnut curls perfectly on his head. Principal Higgins dragged him out before he could finish.

~~~~~

11:30am

~~~~~

You laid across three chairs as some sort of make shift bed and tucked your coat underneath your head for a pillow. You had planned to take a nap, but Nancy had decided to sharpen her pencil. The winding and grinding of the sharpener grated your ears. She knew she was making a lot of noise, but she couldn't seem to get a good point on her pencil. She took it out of the sharpener, blew the dust from the tip, and examined it before shoving it back in. She had three quarters left of her pencil.

Steve had a straight leg on the front table and reached over to touch his toes, stretching his hamstring. How he did it in those jeans was beyond you. His little grunts of effort and heavy breaths as he switched legs annoyed you almost as much as Nancy's sharpening. Robin was in her same seat, picking at her black, chipped nails in her lap and chewing her gum loudly out of spite. How you had gone from sitting in hours of silence, to a sudden ruckus when you wanted to sleep was just your luck. 

Eddie had chosen to sit in front of you on the table, ripping out pages of textbooks from the history section. 

Nancy winced at each tear. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, Princess? I'm vandalising public property." He said it like it was obvious, loudly ripping another page to emphasise his point. "You get off on being stupid, or something?"

"You're such a waste."

Eddie placed the book gently on the table, giving it a few taps for good measure. He sat up straight, hands on his knees like a teachers pet. He nodded sarcastically in agreement. "You're absolutely right. It's wrong to destroy literature. It's such fun."

He jumped down off the desk, kicking up loose pages as he stalked over to his next victim: the card files. He pulls out the entire draw completely and lugged it back over to his spot on the desk. The unexpected slam of it on the table startled you, and you sat up with a huff. There was no way you were getting sleep any time soon.

Nancy scoffed as he began yanking the catalogue cards out and putting them back in a random order, creating a horrible mess for someone to sort out later. She continued to grind the sharpener.

"Big deal." You mocked her, she and the sharpener were really starting to get on your nerves. "It's not like there's anything better to do."

Eddie was impressed. He turned to you. "You grounded tonight?" 

His question threw you off, but you knew there was definitely more to it. "No, why?"

He looked surprised that you weren't, but he didn't know that your parents weren't even aware you were here in the first place. "Reefer Rick is throwing a Halloween party down by Lover's Lake tonight. Wanna come?"

Apparently, all it took was a few games of tic-tac-toe to get into Eddie's good books. There was a part of you that wanted to go. It was another excuse to get away from your parents, but you didn't want to imagine the shit you would get from Carol if she found out you had gone to a party with Eddie 'The Freak' Munson. Then Billy crept back into your mind. Your blood went cold at the thought. You knew he wasn't here, but you expected him to come charging through the doors any second now. You had to make sure he knew you weren't interested in Eddie. You didn't want another repeat of this morning.

"Why would I want to go to that crackhead's place? I'll probably catch a disease."

Eddie looked a little disappointed and a little offended that you had insulted his friend, but he hid it well. So why did you feel kind of bad?

You looked up at him with big eyes. "I mean, my mom doesn't like me going to parties anyway."

"What about your dad?"

"If I do what my mom doesn't want me to it's because my dad says it's okay.  And if I do what my dad doesn't want me to it's because my mom says it's okay. It's like this whole big monster deal. It lasts forever and it's a total drag. It's like any minute: divorce." You hated talking about your parents, but I felt good to get off your chest. Carol and Tommy never cared to ask.

"Who do you like better?"

"Huh?"

"You like your old man better than your mom?"

"They're both screwed." You sighed. You didn't like where this conversation was headed anymore. Nancy had stopped sharpening her pencil and you could feel everyone listening in.

"If you had to pick?"

"I don't know. I mean, they must have loved each other at some point, but I guess I wasn't around for that part. So I don't think any of them really care about me either. They just use me as ammunition in their little wars."

"HA!" Your response had provoked a laugh from Robin. A laugh that let you know she thought you deserved it. She was more offended by that comment in the bathroom than you had thought.

"You're just feeling sorry for yourself." Steve added, shaking out his legs.

You didn't find it very fair that they were ganging up on you all of a sudden. "If I didn't, nobody else would."

"Oh, you're breaking my heart." But Steve didn't sound sincere at all. You weren't enjoying this side of Steve one bit. And it was all because of Billy. 

"Do you get along with your parents?" Eddie sided with you.

"If I say, yes, I'm a real idiot, right?"

"I think you're an idiot anyway. But if you say you get along with your parents, you'll be a liar, too."

"You know something, I've just about had it with you. If we weren't in school, man, I'd wail all over you. They'd have to pick you up with tweezers."

Eddie didn't seem fazed. Eddie got threats like this all the time, it wasn't anything he hadn't already heard before. 

"I don't really get along with my parents." Nancy piped up, trying to get the boys attention away from each other so there wasn't a brawl in the middle of the library.

"Yeah right, you're every parent's wet dream."

"That's the problem." She paused, you saw her eyes glaze over then looked at you. "I don't think my parents ever loved each other either."

Everyone was silent, looking at her like they were waiting for her to burst into tears. She regretted bring it up.

"They must have married for some reason?" Steve asked. Whether it was because he was being nosey, or he was concerned for her, you couldn't tell.

"My mom was younger. My dad was older, but he had a cushy job, money, came from a good family. So they bought a nice house at the end of the cul-de-sac and started their nuclear family."

"Screw that."

"Yeah, screw that."

"I could see you not liking them for making you wear those kind of clothes, but, shit, what else would you be doing if you weren't busy making yourself a better citizen?" Eddie clearly hadn't read the room.

"Why do you have to insult everybody?" Eddie was really pushing Steve's limits. You noticed it happened especially when it came to Nancy.

"I'm being honest, asshole. I'd expect you to know the difference." He said it like he had had a similar argument with Steve in the past.

Nancy raised her middle finger at him. 

"Whoa, obscene gestures from such a pristine girl."

"I'm not that pristine." Nancy argued, though she regretted it almost immediately.

She cleared her throat and make her way back to her seat. 

"Are you a virgin?" She caught Steve's eye, they shared a look, but Eddie missed it. "I'll bet you a million dollars that you are."

"Would you take that bet, Robin?"

"Not really."

"That's the last time I call you 'Robin', Buckley."

He continued. "Have you ever been felt up? Over the bra, under the blouse, shoes off...hoping to God your parents don't walk in?" 

Nancy was getting upset. "Do you want me to puke?"

"Over the panties, no bra, blouse unbuttoned, Calvin's in a ball on the front seat past eleven on a school night?"

You squeezed your thighs together. His voice was deep and masculine, sending you off into an alluring day dream. You found yourself in the back seat of a car, a strong man towering over you, rough hands caressing your soft skin. He takes off your bra, exposing your breasts to the cold air of the night, nipples hardening. He's groping them, kissing them, loving on them. Your moaning and he's trailing his lips lower. Your hands thread themselves in his brown, wavy hair. He's pulling your panties down with his teeth, looking up at you with those big brown eyes of his. And suddenly you were in the back of his van, pulling off his patched, demin jacket until he's leaning over you completely naked. He put his lips to your ear, whispering --

"Hey, why don't you leave her alone!" Steve breaks you out of your imagination.

"You gonna make me?"

"Yeah."

"You and whose army?"

"Just me and five of my fingers. I hit you. You hitting floor. Anytime you're ready."

Eddie realised that Steve was being serious, but doesn't believe he is quite capable of making good on his threat. 

"Yeah? You want a black eye to go with that split lip? You couldn't fight Billy Hargrove, what makes you think you can beat me?"

Your chest tightened at his name and your eyes darted to the door. They stayed shut. It calmed you a little, but your heart was still beating against your ribcage. You placed a hand there in case it burst out. You wondered how Eddie knew about the fight at the party, you hadn't seen him there. But then again, word travels fast around Hawkins High. Your breathing became heavy. All this arguing was making you dizzy. You could do without a repeat of last Thursday.

"Try me."

"Eddie." You pleaded him not to retaliate, swallowing down your pride for a second of peace.

He looked at you, and suddenly Eddie was not in the mood to fight Steve. The fear in your eyes scared him a little. You were serious about them not fighting. But luckily for you, Eddie knew when to stop. Besides, there were ladies present, and he was a gentleman.

To some extent.

 "Whatever man, I'm not getting into this with you."

"Why not?"

"Why not?" He paused. He wasn't going to tell Steve he did it for you. "'Cause I'd kill you. It's real simple, you'd die and your fucking parents would sue me and It'd be a big mess and I don't care enough about you to bother. So drop it."

"Chicken."

"You know, you should see a doctor. I think those steroids are frying your brain."

Steve just laughed him off, believing that he had scared Eddie into yielding and he was just giving one last dig to preserve his pride. Eddie looked a Nancy, but she was already staring at him. 

"What is it that makes you act like such a fool?"

"I'm not getting enough vitamin B."

Steve fumed. He wanted his fist to connect with that smartass mouth of his. "Let's end this right now. You don't talk to her...you don't look at her and you don't even think about her! You understand me?"

"I'm trying to help her." He said it like it was as plain as a pikestaff.

"Help me?" Nancy was insulted. "Why don't you work on yourself?"

"I did. I finished last Tuesday. Now I'm working on the rest of the world." He pointed at Steve, who looked about ready to swing. "I could help you, big boy."

"Spare me."

"I can help a lot of people, all they have to do is ask nicely."

"I'll kill you." Steve threatened with a clenched fist.

Eddie looked unmoved. He heard threats like that at least five times a day. "Well, I should just let you and everyone else who wants to kill me fight for the privilege."

There was a rumbling from beyond the library door. In a flurry of panic, everyone got themselves into position, acting like they hadn't moved an inch away from their seats. Eddie sat next to you again, accidently kicking your foot under the table. You kicked it back in annoyance. He did it again, only on purpose this time. 'What a child' you thought. You put your coat on the back of your chair and sat up straight, expecting Principal Higgins to come storming in.

Everybody visibly relaxed when Carl, the janitor, came rumbling in with his music playing quietly from his radio, dragging his cart behind him. He had a face you didn't quite know how to take; he looked friendly enough, but could turn at the snap of your fingers. He was skinny and stood at a height of 5"8, with a limp of a man who worked hard for his living. He smiled everyone, but the only one who seems the acknowledge him was Robin. She returned the smile and gave him a small wave, in hopes of being nice but not letting the others see. He went into the librarians office and grabbed the waste basket.

"Hey Sweetheart, your dad's here." 

You gave him an unamused smile and kicked his shin under the desk once more.

Carl came out of the office and dumped the basket on his cart. He left his cart in the main library and walked down the pathway to grab another trash bin at the back of the room. 

"Hey, Carl?"

Carl paused in surprise that any student here, with the exception of Robin, would talk to him. He turned around, but Eddie still remained facing the front, putting his back to him. 

"How does one become a janitor."

Everyone supressed a giggle, even Steve despite his dislike for Eddie. Only Robin remained silent. She didn't find it very funny.

"You want to become a janitor?" Carl raised an eyebrow.

"No I just wanna know how one becomes a janitor because Steve here, is very interested in perusing a career in the custodial arts."

Steve stopped laughing at that. Carl scratched his head. He knew that they were making fun of him. But Carl wasn't one someone should mess with. He turned off his radio, pulled off his rubber gloves and shoved them in his back pocket.

"You guys think I'm just a lowly janitor. Some fucking untouchable peasant. Maybe so, but following a broom around after shitheads like you for five years, I've learned a few things. I read your notes, I go through your letters. I listen to your conversations. I am the eyes and ears of this institution. I know where you are now and I know where you'll be in the future."

Everyone exchanged worried looks as Carl moved to tower in front of Eddie. "You got ten years, max. Drugs. Rundown trailer in West Texas. Whore wife takes the baby, you shoot a fatal dose. Probable? Maybe not. Possible? Think so."

He turned to you. "You get married to a guy with lots of material success. Corporate position. Big bucks. Black Jag. You have three kids, nobody gives a shit. You get divorced and have a big fuckin' heart attack at thirty-eight, thirty-nine."

Steve was next. "District sales manager for a golf club manufacturer. Shitty little compact company car, twenty-two five a year and a wife as big as a boxcar."

Finally, Nancy. "Six face-lifts and two boob jobs by forty and a husband with more girlfriends than anniversaries."

He stepped back and put on his gloves. The stunned reaction on everybody's faces made him smile. "But I'm just a janitor." He shrugged.

And with that, he grabbed his cart, wheeled it around and headed out. He paused at the door and looked at the clock. 

"By the way, that thing's twenty minutes slow." He winked as he left and everybody groaned. 

~~~~~

12:30pm

~~~~~

Everybody was bored out of their skulls after the shock of Carl's speech had worn off. You took the time to think about what he had said. He had tried to put a downer on you, but the life he had predicted for you sounded like paradise, compared to now. Even if you did only have twenty years left to live. As crazy as it sounded, it gave you a bit of hope. There was a chance that you could work up the courage to leave Billy and meet someone nice, or at least wealthy. You had never given any thought about having kids, especially not with Billy, but now, maybe you could see yourself with a kid. You'd want a boy, and he'd look just like his father; Curly brown hair, big russet eyes, and a toothy smile. What would you name him? Would you name him after his father? Maybe Michael, or Christopher, James. Edward? You liked that name. 

Your eyes flashed to the door as it opened. Principal Higgins strolled in with a frown of his face, even though no one had done anything to upset him yet.

Yet.

"Thirty minutes for lunch." He declared.

"Excuse me Sir, I think the cafeteria would be a more suitable place to eat lunch."

"I don't care what you think, Harrington." 

Steve sunk back into his seat.

"Uh, Dick?" Eddie cleared his throat. "Sorry, Richard. Will milk be made available to us? Someone like Steve could choke to death on a dry sandwich."

"I have a low tolerance for dehydration, Sir." Robin added.

"I've seen her dehydrated, Sir." Steve sat up again. "It's pretty gross."

You wondered if that was true, or if he was just playing along. The things he said about her, you wondered if they knew each other. Probably not, you brushed off the thought. They were on complete opposite ends of the spectrum, there was no way they knew each other.

Principal Higgins scowled.

Eddie stood and raised his hands like he was trying to calm a wild animal. "Relax, I'll get it."

"Ah,ah,ah. Grab some wood there, Munson. You think I was born yesterday? You don't fool me for one minute. I'm not having you roaming these halls."

Eddie plopped back into his seat with a defeated sigh. It was worth a shot.

"You." He pointed at Steve. 

He eyed up the other students, skipping over Eddie as he decided who else was most suitable to leave. You sank into your seat. You did not fancy having some alone time with Steve. Steve stared directly at the Principal before darting his eyes to the right where Nancy was sat, signalling for him to pick her. She sat up to make herself more evident. 

Higgins ignored them and pointed a finger at you. "And you. There's a soft drinks machine in the faculty lunch room."

You broke into a cold sweat. This was going to be the most awkward ten minutes of your life. Either Steve was just going to pretend you didn't exist, or he was going to absolutely grill you. You hoped for the former. 

As you reluctantly got out of your seat, Steve held out a hand to the others for money. Nancy took out a change purse from her bag and handed him fifty cents. Robin does the same with the loose change in her jeans pocket. Eddie fished through his coat pockets. He found some assorted change, crumpled gum wrappers, some loose tobacco and a screw. He handed it all to Steve. 

Steve made his way out, not even looking to see if you're following him. You do, of course, but you lagged behind him, not feeling particularly comfortable being alone with him. You counted your steps as you walked, fiddling with the delicate chain around your neck. It was a simple design: just your name written with gold, cursive lettering. But it was the only jewellery you never took off. Your parents had bought it for you when you had started cheerleading at eight years old. It was a reminder of when life was much more simple, when you believed that your parents actually loved each other, that they loved you. 

A minute passed and you already couldn't stand the silence. You dreaded it, but you knew this would probably be the only opportunity you would get to hash out your grievances.

"Why do you hate me?" A forward start, but at least it's a start.

"You know why."

"Look, what Billy did wasn't my fault --"

"Of course it is. If you hadn't been there in the first place he wouldn't've showed up."

"Hey, I didn't even tell him I was going to that stupid party. He was there anyway. If you hadn't come over and butted into our argument, maybe you wouldn't have that split lip."

"My parties aren't stupid."

"Is that seriously all you took from that?"

"No..." He paused. After hearing your side of the story, he was beginning to feel like a fool. "What were you guys even arguing about?"

You sighed. "Billy and I had plans to go to this drive in movie theatre. I don't think he wanted to watch a movie though, I think he was just hoping to get lucky." The two of you had stopped walking. Steve looked at you intently, encouraging you to carry on. You shifted on your feet. "If I'm being completely honest I didn't really want to go, but then Carol asked me to go to your party and I took it as an excuse not to go with Billy. I knew he would be angry if I cancelled our plans last minute, so I told him I was sick. Biggest fucking mistake of my life."

"So you went to the party and Billy caught you out in your lie."

"Yeah. Turns out one of his friends had asked him to go but he'd declined 'cause we were going on a date. He accepted the offer once I'd cancelled our plans."

Steve started walking again. You followed next to him this time. "I know Billy is a bit of a shitbag, but why didn't you want to go on your date? I mean, it seemed like a good time."

There was no such thing as a 'good time' with Billy. He had his moments, sure, but he was as cranky as a wet hen. Time with him was like trying to swim with rocks on your back. He sucked all the fun out of everything until you started drowning. You didn't tell Steve that though. 

"I just wasn't in the mood to be around him, is all." You brushed him off. "But he's bringing it up all the time, and were arguing all of the time. Even in school."

"Is that why you're here today?"

His question made you pause. He stopped a couple of steps ahead of you and turned around when he saw you weren't next to him anymore. You played it off like you were itching your leg and jogged up to him. The two of you made it to the teacher's lounge. 

The first thing you noticed was that it was very brown. The floor and ceiling had the same white speckled tile that ran throughout the entire school, but everything else was just ... brown. Brown wallpaper, brown leather sofas, brown table, brown countertop. Even the fridge was brown. The vending machine was in the far corner.

"Why are you here?" You asked Steve, hoping he hadn't realised that you hadn't answered his question. 

"Me? I'm here because my father and my coach don't want me to blow my ride." He started feeding the change into the machine. "They think my intensity's for shit. You see, I have a different set of standards. I get treated different because Coach thinks I'm a star. So does my old man. But you know what? I don't care. I'm not a star because I want to be a star, I'm a star because I got good legs and reflexes. I'm like a racehorse. That's about how involved I am in what's happening to me."

You nodded, but you had a suspicion that that wasn't the whole truth. "Yeah, so why are you really here?"

Steve was annoyed that he hadn't managed to persuade you. "Forget it."

You studied the set of lockers on the other side of the room. You walked over to them out of curiosity, trying your luck with one of the doors. To your surprise it opened. 

Steve caught you out of the corner of his eye. "You really shouldn't be doing that."

Inside lay a set of keys attached to a green Hawkins High lanyard, a pack of cigarettes, a 'thank you teacher' mug, and a Prince's Purple Rain album on vinyl. Steve came up behind you, looking inside and letting the soda cans thunk loudly at the bottom of the vending machine.  

"This is a teacher's stuff?" He asked surprised.

"Yeah. Does this mean that they're actually human?" You laughed together for the first time.

Daringly, you pocketed the pack of cigarettes in your cardigan pocket and took the record. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. No, put them back." 

"C'mon Steve, when are you ever going into the teacher's lounge again? Besides, it'll give us something to do while were stuck in that god damned library."

You shut the locker door and brushed past him. You gathered up the soda cans, giving Steve his share to carry and made your way back to the library.

"It was pretty strange looking at teacher's personal shit, huh?" You said, examining the purple record sleeve.

Steve shrugged, he'd seen stranger things. "I went over to Coach's house for dinner once during the summer. It was really weird to see how he lives."

He paused, anticipating a question, but you just looked at him to carry on.

"His wife was fat. And one of his kids was in a wheelchair. It was kinda sad. He was a nice kid."

"If he invites you over to his house, why does he shit on you?" 

"He and my old man are working to get me a scholarship. It's not an economic issue. Scholarships make the newspaper. They think I have a shot at a full ride. They think I deserve a Big Ten school."

You simply nodded and walked through the library doors. The others were gathered in the corner by the comfy chairs. Eddie was holding a book opened to a page displaying a man with elephantitus to the nuts like he was reading children a bedtime story.

"How do you suppose he rides a bike?"

The clattering of soda cans on the table drew their attention away. They all walked over to grab a can. Before the others could take one, Eddie reached out and shook one furiously.

You look at him like he was crazy. Perhaps he was. "That's going to spray all over you."

"Not necessarily."

He put the drink back with the others and moved the cans around so than no one would know which was was shook up. 

"You're such a dingus." Robin bravely took a can first.

Everyone else followed before taking their seats and pulling out their lunches. You simply took out an apple, loosing your appetite after seeing a man with elephantitus to the nuts. You noticed Eddie didn't have any lunch as he surveyed everyone else's. 

"Where's your lunch?"

"You're wearing it." He winked. 

You curled your lip in disgust, but felt about as red as your apple. 

"You're nauseating." Nancy complained, opening her lunch.

"Look who's talking. You don't care what you put in your mouth." He eyed Nancy's lunch like she had just shown him a plate full of snails. "What is that?"

"Sushi."

"Sushi?"

"Rice, raw fish, and seaweed."

"You wont accept a guys tongue in your mouth, but you'll eat that?"

She scoffed impatiently. "Can I eat?"

"I don't know, give it a try."

The room went silent as everybody watched Steve pull out his lunch from a large brown grocery bag; three sandwiches, a family-sized bag of chips, an apple, a banana, a bag of cookies and a carton of milk.

"Are you really going to eat all that?" Robin asked in shock.

"No, I'm only going to eat half."

"What are you going to do with the other half?"

"Shoving it up Eddie's ass."

How charming. He reached for his can and everybody shrunk away, thinking it might explode. He cracked the tab. 

Nothing happened.

Robin took out a sandwich covered in saran wrap. She unwrapped it and pulled the bread apart, starting to work on it like a mad scientist. She tossed the meat away, blindly whipping it to the side. It slapped on the wall and stuck there. She reached into her sweater pocket and pulled out a bag of chocolate M&M's. She tore the bag open and dumped all of it on the buttered bread. Out of her coat pocket she pulled out a little baggie filled with Captain crunch cereal and sprinkled it over the M&M's. She closed the mess of a sandwich and took a huge bite. She noticed that everyone was watching her. 

"You are bizarre." Eddie thought Steve's lunch was bad.

She reached for her Pepsi to wash it all down. She put it to her mouth and popped it. The soda sprayed cleanly into her mouth. 

After the fizz was gone, she smirked at Eddie. "Nice try, dingus."

"What do you have?" He turned to you, watching take a bite into your apple.

You handed your bag over to him, rather than speaking with a full mouth. He started pulling things out. He pulled out a sandwich, a thermos of soup, which he opened and give a big whiff, and a bottle of water.

"Well Sweetheart, this is a very nutritious lunch. All the food groups are represented. Did your mom marry Mr. Rodgers?"

Eddie stood so he was front and centre of the room, all eyes on him. 

"This is my impression of life at our darling Sweetheart's house." He gestured to you and your face flushed.

"Hello, dear. I'm home from the coalmine." Eddie impersonated your father.

Eddie quickly played your mother. "Oh, hello, sweetie pie. Dinner's almost ready. I'm serving stuffing instead of potatoes." 

"My favourite!" 

His voice turned high and shrill, playing you. "Hi, Dad! Yippee, you're home! I danced in a skimpy skirt in front of hundreds of people today. I went to church and I wrote Grandma a letter. Now can I have a pen pal?"

"Dear, isn't our daughter swell?" 

Quiet and motherly. "Yes Dear, isn't life swell?" 

Eddie mimed your mother kissing your father, then father kissing mother, and then your father punching your mother in the face. Suddenly it was not so funny anymore. 

Your eyes were wet. You hated how much that hurt. It wasn't his words that hurt you, it was how much you wished it were true. 

You bravely stood up. "No, it's more like --"

"Dad? Is it okay if I shoot heroin?"

You lowered your voice, playing your father. You held an imaginary newspaper in your hands, not taking your eyes off it and pretending that you weren't paying attention. "If it'll make you happy, pumpkin." 

You extended your fingers and blew on them, doing your mother and her fresh nail polish. "What are you talking about, Frank?! How's she going to wear her Sunday dress with holes in her arms? We are going to church aren't we?

"It's okay. Never mind. I won't be a junkie." You said sadly.

"Now, just wait a minute. If you want to be a junkie--" 

"I'm not going to be the only woman at the congregation with a junkie daughter. Now what about church?" Your mother said.

"Go by yourself!" Said your father.

"With pleasure! I'm taking Y/N." 

"Over my dead body!"

"I love her more than you do!"

"Go to hell!"

Everyone looks at you with a hint of sympathy. Even Eddie.

"Do you wish they'd get a divorce?" He asked.

"No."

"Why not?" 

"I'd have to live with one or the other. And I don't know which one is worse." You laughed, but there was no humour behind it.

"Whose next?" Eddie ask, like he didn't already know he was going to single out Steve. Eddie pointed at him. "You're next."

"Yeah, no thanks."

"You an orphan?"

"I don't need to dump on my parents. Especially when they're not here to defend themselves." Eddie gave him a look like he was being chicken.

"What about your family?" Steve asked Eddie. He wanted him to have a taste of his own medicine.

"Mine? Real simple, pal."

He climbed onto the table, really setting the stage and getting himself into character. His eyelids lowered and his body moved clumsily, like he was drunk. "Stupid, worthless, no good, goddamn freeloading, son of a bitch, big mouth, know-it-all, asshole, jerk!"

He stands up straight, crossing his arms and raising the pitch of his voice. "You forgot ugly, lazy and disrespectful." His mother said.

"Shut up bitch!" He smacked the air, hitting his invisible mother. He yelled it so loud you were worried Higgins was about to storm through the door.

As his father, he threw a punch. Eddie dramatically dropped from the table and fell to the ground. He stood up, brushed himself off and took a bow. The show was over. 

"Then they make me work to pay off the dentist for the teeth he busts."

"Is that for real?" Nancy looks like she's going to start crying for him. 

"You wanna come over some time?"

She didn't want to believe that something like that could happen to anyone. Even someone as vexing as Eddie. Nancy decided then to never complain about her parents again.

"That's part of your image. I don't believe a word." Steve brushed him off. His re-enactment hadn't moved him at all. 

You wondered if he was right. You had been so truthful about yours, you would feel ashamed if he had lied about his.

Eddie actually looked hurt. "You don't believe it, huh?" 

He whipped off his red shirt and pulled up the sleeve of his black t-shirt. He shoved his arm in Steve's face, displaying a grotesque purple scar. Steve recoiled away from it, but Eddie forced him to look at it. You subtly tugged at the sleeve of your cardigan. You could feel the bruises of Billy's fingers purpling on your wrist.

"You believe that? It's about the size of a cigar." Eddie spoke through gritted teeth. "That's what you get in my house when you spill paint in the garage."

Eddie was breathless with anger. His muscles were tensed up so tightly he thought he was going to give himself a full-body cramp. He needed something to calm himself down. Luckily, he knew just the thing.

~~~~~

<<<Previous // Next>>>

~~~~~

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[springalwayscomes]

To love and pamper: Together

Read to Love and Pamper here

Plot: You’re on the edge. Do the dishes, warm the milk, change diapers, cook lunch, try to get some sleep in between and start all over again; it’s taking you every part of yourself to try and be flawless in raising your daughter. Jungkook is here by your side though; why can’t you just lean on him?

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: Angst, fluff, Established Relationship, Parenthood

Wordcount: 3.7k

Content Warning: swearing

Author’s Note: Hello! They are back🥺 I loved writing To love and pamper so much that I had to write a part two. Take this as a gift for our Bangtan’s 10 years!💜 I hope everyone of you is staying healthy and happy these days.

The gif is not mine, it belongs to @jung-koook.

Let me know if you want to be part of my taglist so I can tag you when my new works come out!

Early mornings with Jungkook taste like strawberries, extremely sweet. Maybe it’s the way he holds you unconsciously in his sleep, or the way his hot breath delicately hits your face, but it makes you never want to leave. The soft glow coming from the dim light on your nightstand is long gone, the rays of the sun coming from the window slowly took up over the darkness during the night, they touch Jungkook’s features gently, careful as if not to wake him up.

His lips parted, eyes shut and cheeks full, soft snoring. You kicked him tonight, just enough to make him stop snoring too loudly for you to sleep, for at least a bit. It helped until he started again. You wonder why when you have to get up he suddenly starts to snore less, as if to play with you. It makes you want to dive right back between the sheets before you even got out.

You sigh, looking over at Baram. They say that things will be getting better in a bit, that it will be easier, you just have to get used to it. You love her, totally, wholeheartedly, with all of you. But sometimes it just gets unbearable. This is new to you, the both of you. Jungkook is doing better, even though there are still times when he breaks down. It happens to you too, but usually you don’t let yourself slip too much. It’s just that you’re scared; she’s so tiny, so fragile and vulnerable, so defenceless and you have to teach her how to face the world, you have to protect her and lead her through it all, when even you yourself still kind of don’t know how to.

Jungkook’s arms squeeze you tighter, as if he heard your thoughts. It makes you smile, your heart calming for a bit. He still has his eyes closed, his brows furrowed and lips pouting.

«Don’t go» he murmurs, voice low and sleepy. He nuzzles his nose into your neck, sending shivers to your spine as his hair tickle your skin. Your hand reaches them, playing with the strands, his lips leave pecks, soft ones that hold an incredible amount of love, too much even, for this early hours of the day.

It’s comforting, to feel his warmth around you and his hands on your body.

«I have to clean up» you’re not really prone to leave the bed either, but you still try to.

«I can do it later» he whines, holding you tighter. His fingers caress your back, kisses getting down on your shoulder. His hair are disheveled and you know that yours are too, all over the place.

«You have rehearsals,» you let out «and Baram is going to wake up in a bit and I won’t be ready»

«What time is it?» his grumpy voice sends a weird shiver down your spine. You glance at your phone on the nightstand, eyes narrowing to protect themselves from the light of the screen.

«Seven and ten» you let him know. Though it doesn’t look like the new information is going to change anything for Jungkook.

«Please, wanna cuddle» he pleads, eyes shut, his digits digging into your skin.

«Kook, I don’t have time for it. It’s the only time I can do things without having to check on Baram, when she’ll wake up I won’t be able to-»

«You’re so noisy» he complains. You let out a huff, trying to get out of his grasp.

«Kook, let go. You can sleep more, just let me go» If only his arms weren’t so strong you wouldn’t have any problems.

«Not gonna» he mumbles. You sigh annoyed.

«Then don’t, but let me go anyway!»

You didn’t mean to, but you raise your voice a little too much. It echoes in the room and you pray every single god that was ever worshipped tha-

Baram breaks out in a cry, loud and angry, incredibly so. For a moment, you still. Suddenly getting up doesn’t feel so electrifying anymore. You force yourself to do it, though. Leave the warm sheets and the soft mattress, sit up and-

«I’ll take her» Jungkook stops you with a hand on your back, a second later he’s already up and standing beside her cradle.

You watch him bend down and narrow his eyes at her, cheeks stained with the lines of the fabric of his pillow and face totally sleepy. He cooes at her, taking her in his arms as carefully as he possibly can. He lulls her a little as he makes his way back to your bed, Baram still crying desperately in his hold.

You sigh and lift the covers.

«Where are you going?» his big eyes skim over your body, upper half covered in one of his shirts, definitely too big for you, legs displayed only for him to see.

«Getting her paci and the diapers» you announce. Jungkook shakes his head.

«She just needs her pacifier, she didn’t poo»

«She will soon!» you tell back. Jungkook huffs, letting you do your thing. This is not the right moment to pick up a fight, even if it’s a little one. With Baram in his arms, his top priority has to be her. So he lulls her, sings a bit at her and wipes her unstopping tears with his thumb, only that finger taking up more than half of her face.

You come back in a minute, pacifier in your hands and a new pack of diapers in the other, wipes blocked between your chest and the inside of your arm. As soon as the pacifier goes into her mouth all of her worries fade away, too distracted with the new element in her mouth. You watch her features soften, face from angry red going back to a pure sweet pink; and so does your heart. With seeing her easing, seeing her stop her cries. It might be the hardest thing you’ve ever done, but god, do you love her. It’s in moments like this that you realise how lucky you are, when you see her calm down and realise that yes, you’ve got this, at least for now.

Jungkook let’s out a heavy breath, still lulling her from time to time. He gets up slowly and does the same as he walks, afraid that even the slightest hint of movement will disturb your 4 months old baby. He walks in circles, arms swinging from side to side gently and eyes never leaving her face. They look like out of a fairytale, out of a movie. It makes your stomach twist and turn with love, suddenly overwhelmed to the point that a smile graces your features. You watch from afar, his dark locks have become too long to not get in the way of his eyesight, hanging down as he looks at the same eyes as his, closed in a silent sleep. You can’t see his expression because of the strands of his hair, but his smile is contagious. Every time he looks at her, god, the world makes sense. Finally. And to believe that such a beautiful creature, a fragile little soul that still has to go a long way, was made by you and him; that thought renders him breathless all the time.

He walks back to her cradle, carefully laying her down and back under the covers. You let out a sigh of relief and head out of the bedroom, straight to your kitchen. There are so many things to do that you lost count. It’s not like your kitchen is one of those where there’s dirt on the floor and too many piles of dishes in the sink, but it’s not exactly clean either; with Baram waking up every two to three hours of the night your sleep schedule has become a nightmare, both yours and Jungkook. You start to do something, then feel the need to rest, take a nap and go back to do what you were doing, but things like making lunch and dinner or do the laundry, things you cannot actually postpone, take over most of the day. And then there’s work, Jungkook’s and yours. Your schedules have been remade and remade several times to help yourselves with your daughter, but even with all your efforts you always end up extremely tired. Jungkook has rehearsals on his own most of the time, the times he chooses usually don’t fit with the others because of their schedule, so they end up meeting once a week to rehears all together. He still has to go to the outside meetings, wether it is an interview, a new project or a shoot; not all the time, but a great number. It doesn’t happen every day, but three to four days of the week he’s working. You’re okay with it, after all he can’t just say no to his job, you wouldn’t want him to, you know he loves it.

It’s the same for you, after all. Its just that you’re not required to be in a studio to work, at least not one like his. You have one at home, your paintings and the smell of clay filling both the space and the air. So your days go by, busy and stressful but full with love and adoration for your little one.

«What are you doing?» Jungkook is standing at the kitchen door, hair disheveled and eyes still not used to the light of the morning. You didn’t hear him coming out.

«The dishes» you say. He gulps, lips pouty and hands aching to hold you.

«Please come back to bed» he pleads still from the doorway. With how you sigh though, his ministrations seem to change, steps shortening the distance between you and him. He stops behind you, arms on their way to your waist before you block him with your next words.

«I don’t have time to lose, Jungkook»

«You consider it a loss of time to spend some time with me?» He’s annoyed. You can hear it in his voice, how sharp it sounds.

«You know I don’t mean it that way» you shake your head, grabbing another dish from the sink.

«Do you?» his question makes you turn. Eyes gazing at him, his face scrunched up as he’s thinking hard on something. Brows furrowed and lips pouty again, eyes focused in yours.

«It’s been what, two weeks since we last cuddled? Or when we went out together? When I come to bed most of the nights you’re already asleep and-»

«Cause I’m tired?»

«Yes, I am too Y/N»

«Great, welcome to the team» your answer makes him grimace, but it gets worse when you add: «What do you want me to do, spend the only free time I have laying on the bed and doing nothing?»

Jungkook suddenly feels like a cold jet of water is getting sprayed on him. Cheeks burning and blood hot, both angry and hurt. Something deep inside him stings, burns and bends, twisting in all the ways as it tries to break and come out unfiltered.

«Are dishes more important than us? Really?» Your eyebrows raise up.

«When did I ever said that?»

«You’re doing it now» he scoffs.

«Is it so hard for you to relax, just a bit?»

«I’m not! I’m just saying that this is the only moment I have to just-»

«It’s the only moment we’re together too!» he raises his voice a bit, eyebrows furrowed and eyes glassy, lips pouty. He gulps harshly.

«We’re always busy, is it so hard to just spend some time together?» his voice is trembling, as if he’s on the verge of breaking. It stops your breath, a big tight knot fills up all the space in your throat, your hands drying themselves on your trousers.

«We do it, Jungkook» your voice softens as you let out your words. They make Jungkook’s head shake slowly, he lowers his gaze and fixes it on the ground.

«I just miss you» he whispers. The hurt is clear in his voice, shoulders dropping. You feel your heart tighten, fingertips aching to caress his soft cheeks just at looking at him like this.

«Kook, I’m sorry…» you breathe out, guilt taking over you.

Jungkook hates this. Hates that you don’t spend together as much time as you used to; he knew it was about to happen with the birth of Baram, but still he hates it anyway. He doesn’t blame it on her, because why would he, he could never even if he tried to. But still, he hates it. He misses it, craves for your touch, craves for your caresses, your warmth around him, the feeling of having you close not just in a sexual way but in whatever way possible. He misses spending evenings on the sofa under the covers, soft and sweet kisses layered on each other’s skin in silence and between low giggles, as if they were meant just for the two of you, a little secret fuelling love to your hearts.

«I… I miss you» Jungkook sighs, low and barely hearable, shoulders down and eyes on the ground. Your heart sinks deeper into your chest, heavy and sad at the look on his face. You feel your throat tightening, your eyes sting. You don’t want him to feel abandoned or not important enough, never. But there’s just- too much. Too much things to take care of, too many things to do and to look after, too much effort to try and anticipate the next move, to take care of everything, to be careful about being wrong, that you’re just-

«I know baby, and I’m sorry» you nod, «but I don’t know how to- I’m- I’m just-» your voice trembles and suddenly you’re crying. Crying in sobs, like a little baby, like Baram would.

Jungkook’s arms wrap around you, instantly and so tight it makes you tremble with vulnerability. It’s like a second instinct, to kiss your hair as his fingers dig into your back, careful and pampering.

«I’m sorry» you hiccup, your tears wetting his shirt. You feel so bad for making him feel like this. You spent your time trying to keep everything under control, everything in check and always ready, anticipating every move and every cry, trying to be ready in every condition and situation, you didn’t think-

«It’s okay» he whispers, another kiss lays on your head, «I’m sorry- I’m so sorry baby» he snuffles, shaking his head. His eyes burn, his lips move desperately in pouts, trying to hold back the tears, eyes shut. God, he’s so inconsiderate. So fucking inconsiderate and selfish. You gave birth to another human. You are tired. You’re trying your best. You’re stressed. Trying to have everything under control. And he’s here, complaining about you not cuddling him.

«I’m so sorry, please don’t cry» he snuffles again, voice shaky.

«I’m- I care so much about- y-you» you sob, nuzzling into him. Jungkook wants to drown himself in your tears. His heart swells and shrinks at the same time.

«I know, I know» he shakes his head.

«I should’ve- been more considerate, you- you-» you hold him tighter.

«No, you’re right,» you mumble against his shirt «I was just- so- I feel like I have to be careful of everything and I’m- I’m burning out»

Jungkook knows. He can see it, every time that you anticipate your next moves or the ones of your baby, every time that you let go he can see it that you’re not fully relaxed, that you’re on the edge. But he is here too, he is part of this too. And it makes him feel bad that you don’t rely on him just as half as you rely on yourself. He is your man, your person, your lover and you shouldn’t be the only one burdened; even if he is too, he doesn’t want you to think that you have to hold it all together.

«Rely on me» he snuffles.

«I do it already»

«You don’t do it enough» he lays a kiss on your forehead, and you feel wetness on your skin. He must’ve lost his battle with the tears and gave up at some point. When you raise your glance his eyes are puffy, red with tears and oh, so incredibly deep. It’s like looking at two ponds, so clear and majestic that for a second you lose your focus. His dimples show up as he gulps, trying to gain back his sobriety, cheeks wet.

«Stop holding it all in» Jungkook sniffs and his lips twitch, his voice is shaking and you can feel your heart being wrapped tightly by a fist and being desperately squeezed.

«Let- let it out, you- let it out on m- me» he’s on the verge of breaking, holding back the new tears as they pool into his eyes.

«Ple- please» and so he does. He sobs, and you lose it too. Seeing him so fragile, broken, something snaps inside of you.

«I- I hate not being ab-able to take it away from yo-u» he sobs, lips trembling, fingers digging into your back.

«We chose this to- together» he hiccups, his nose digs into your neck, runny and wet.

«You are- you’re the most- important thing. You and Ba- Baram. I’m part of this too, just- why can’t you let go? I… I- give me some weight»

«I can do it- I know I can but- you won’t let me. Baby, I love you- I-»

You’ve never seen Jungkook so broken. You’ve seen him cry, many times actually, but like this, never. You hate it. All the pain, all the tears, you wish you could take them from him and make them yours, make it all go away. You squeeze him so tight you’re afraid you will leave him breathless, fingers digging into his skin and lips on his neck, kissing away the problems. Then, you realise. And god, it makes you want to slap yourself in the face.

He must be feeling like this. Just the same as you do. It’s unbearable to see him hurting and not being able to do anything about it, but that’s what you’ve been doing all this time too. You wanted to do your best and ended up trying but left him out, only focusing on Baram most of the times.

«I love you so much- that… I don’t know , sometimes when- I feel like I will explode when I look at you, I- I love you that much. Baram is our- our daughter and we’re a family and I’m- I just want to be a good dad-»

«You are, Jungkook» you whisper.

«You are, baby. I’m so sorry, I was-» you shiver and his hands dig deeper into your back.

«I was just on the edge cause I’m not used to this. It’s still all new and I- I just wanted it all to be perfect and I tried so hard that- I lost sight of us. I was so focused, I-»

«It’s not just us» he murmurs on your neck

«It’s you too. I hate seeing you like this, cause- I know you and when I tell you to- when I tell you to relax I don’t do it just for us, I know you need it too. Your brain has to stop working and- you have to know that there’s someone going through this with you»

«Like- earlier, why can’t you just lay down and relax? I know- know that Baram is a lot to handle and she need attention but- you need it too. You need to take care of yourself cause I- I would be…» his hiccups get muffled by your neck, and you feel his lips tremble on your skin. He lays a kiss on it, shaking and shivering.

«I would be lost without you. Totally- lost. Please. Just- I will wash the dishes, fuck the dishes. If they stay there, what? So what? I want us to be fine, I want you to feel supported and support me but if you don’t let me, I- I can’t»

«Please, just… let me help. It hurts, it hurts a lot not to be able to be of any help to my family. Love, I-»

«I’m sorry» you whisper again, tears wetting your cheeks. You cut him out, and you didn’t even realise it. You wanted to be the best for your daughter and ended up only counting on yourself and making him feel useless most of the times.

«I promise you, I promise I will try my best- to let go. I’m- I’m not doing the dishes, fuck the dishes» you hear him laugh lightly, a deep kiss layered down again on your skin.

«I didn’t realise what I was doing. I was just scared. She’s so fragile and little and I was so afraid of doing something wrong. I was selfish, I-»

«You weren’t. You were just scared» he kisses you again.

«We’re together» he whispers. You nod, face hiding in the crook of his neck.

«We’re together» you smile. You wipe your nose with the sleeve of your shirt, trying to hold back another hiccup.

«It’s alright now, ssh…» Jungkook holds you tighter, body against yours practically glued together. It doesn’t make you feel spaceless though, it makes you breathe. For the first time in months, you feel like you’re breathing again. Even with your runny nose and the tears on Jungkook’s cheeks, the both of you feel light now.

«I love you so much baby, you don’t even know» he whispers.

«I think I know» you kiss his shoulder. Jungkook smiles, his head leaving the the space of your neck and his starry eyes looking straight into yours. They’re still wet, but the tears have stopped coming out. A bit red, puffy from both the sleep and your cry.

«Come to bed? Until she wakes up. When she does-» he hiccups, «I’ll warm her milk and change her diaper. And the dishes, I’ll do the dishes and you can lay down a bit more? Do you want me to fill up the bathtub? We can take a bath when she falls asleep again»

«Love, breathe» you chuckle, looking at him and his endless rant. You look at him, and god, how lucky you are. That he loves you, and you love him. That he’s yours, you’re so happy he’s yours.

«Yes, that would be perfect» you smile.

Jungkook gulps, cheekbones raising and eyes filling with warmth and affection.

«Let’s go. I want to cuddle for at least two minutes. Do you think she will let us?»

Taglist: @p-i-e-d-p-i-p-e-r

[jinnie-ret]

atlantis

han jisung x reader | end of the world au

genre: angst, humour(?), fluff

content warnings: swearing, suggestive jokes, natural disaster, death

word count: 5.8k

summary: their fate lies in the hands of a prophecy that could save their lives.

HAN JISUNG MASTERLIST

MAIN MASTERLIST

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Welcome back to the 1 o'clock news. We wish we had a more hopeful message today today but the waters are rising, electricity is compromised and people are already dying. We ask you to remain vigilant, take care of yourselves and stay close to your loved ones. The record high tidal waves are en route to South Korea and our beautiful city Seoul and people are saying we could be living in what will be the new Atlantis. It is estimated we have 10 hours left but-"

"Too depressing," Y/N sighed as she flicked through channels. She already knew they didn't have much time left, so waiting and hoping for a news report to tell them the opposite was only hurting her soul even more. There was no time to say goodbye to loved ones, having to prioritise using their remaining electricity towards kitchen appliances to make sure they could eat, their mobiles having already run out of charge and they didn't have a landline.

Oh yeah, they.

Y/N lived with her best friend Jisung in an apartment for the last couple of years, and those years held some of her favourite moments and memories and to think those could all be washed away in the events of the end of the world... it wasn't a nice feeling, not at all. She constantly felt sick to her stomach knowing the impending doom they'd have to face.

"There is a prophecy! It could be one or two of you out there that could save the world!" a whimsical looking man with thick lens glasses perched upon his nose spoke into the camera.

"Oh they're talking nonsense!" Y/N exclaimed, sitting up to grab the TV control again and switch the channel just as Jisung ran in with a bowl of cereal.

"No, no, no, leave it on!" he spoke through a mouthful of cornflakes as he jumped onto the sofa next to her, some milk spilling over but neither of them cared. Trivial issues like that didn't matter anymore.

"Ji, there's no point now anyways, the picture is staticy and the audio is all-" Y/N rolled her eyes before Jisung muffled her mouth with his hand to shut her up, and they both listened to the crazy man on the TV.

"One thing will unlock survival. The key is in a place where many people have come and gone. It lies in a enclosed area that only the bravest can enter. Only those who are worthy can wield it's power and open the gate that knows all, that all know."

"A key?! What could that mean?" Jisung sat forwards intrigued, finally removing his hand from Y/N's mouth who shoved him away from her.

"The prophecy didn't say that we specifically had to find it..." Y/N stood up, taking Jisung's finished bowl of cereal into the kitchen and placing it in the sink.

"Come on, if we can really do something to help, we've got to try," Jisung followed her into the kitchen, tugging her away from the sink to make sure her attention was on him. He bent ever so slightly to make sure she was looking right at him.

"Ji, I don't know about this..." Y/N's seemingly bored and nonchalant manner had quickly reverted to her nervous side.

"And if I'm gonna do this with anyone I'd want it to be you!" Jisung grabbed her arms now, hoping she'd brush away her worries for just once and do this with him, for him, for them.

"Aw Jisung... I can already feel my heart melting," Y/N in fact did brush away her worries, at face value at least, and grinned sarcastically at her best friend. She skipped away from him, gliding gracefully with her hand on her heart before jumping and flopping onto the sofa.

"Gosh, I've melted the Ice Caps! That's the last thing we need with the world flooding..." Jisung dramatically gasped, grabbing a piece of paper with a pen and whacking it on Y/N's head as he sat next to her. She of course, did retaliate with slap on the leg.

"Jisung, shut up."

It almost felt like an endless cycle. Hope, worry, denial, repeat. Y/N hated broadcasts like the one they had just listened to. Anyone would be a fool to actually listen to the words of a so called prophecy and even think of attempting to save the world.

"Right we need to think... enclosed area, only the bravest can enter?" Jisung hummed, tapping the pen against his chin before scribbling down the jist of what had been said on TV.

And that was her fool right there. She loved him for it though.

"Jisung, come on," Y/N sighed, going to grab the notebook away from him but he held it tightly to his chest, wiggling in his seat to face her and sit closer.

"No you come on, work with me here, think, please," Jisung stood his ground firmly, brows furrowed in what could only be described as a pleading, Puss-in-Boots-like expression.

"Fine, fine... It's probably that club down town, what's it called? HooBAEs? No one would dare enter there, awful place, wouldn't mind if it got completely flooded," Y/N thought out loud stretching out and resting her legs on Jisung's lap, who didn't react apart from resting his notes on her calves without batting an eyelid.

"Yeah yeah! That place is horrible, probably is at least halfway ruined by now," he nodded in thought, scribbling down the name of the club.

"Halfway? It was dreadful from the start, remember that time someone pissed onto the floor in the middle of the night," Y/N reminded Jisung of the unfortunate time thet decided to go out on a Saturday night. Never again. They both felt like they much preferred a night in anyways watching crappy movies and making fun of the storylines.

"Oh yeah that was grim..." Jisung nodded, wrinkling his nose just thinking of it.

"Yeah horrible..." Y/N trailed off.

"Y/Nnie you've driven us off topic again."

"No I haven't!"

"What, you think we should try HooBAEs? We'll probably get a disease I don't wanna even think about if we go there..." Jisung shuddered, wishing his best friend never suggested the idea. The end of the world couldn't rely on a key being hidden in such a dodgy establishment, could it?

"Remember the prophecy, Ji, only brave people would go there. As much as I hate to say it, we should go there. We've ventured there before, why not now?" Y/N lifted herself up from the sofa and grabbed the keys to her apartment, stuffing it into the pocket of her hoodie.

"Not the worst idea... might need to put our wellies on though, the water is filling up," Jisung waved her over to stand beside him and observe the outside. She didn't even notice him move towards the tall glass windows of the apartment, but it was the smart thing to do, considering how high the water had already risen.

"Actually, we might need a boat," Y/N breathed out in sudden realisation as she joined his side. The water had risen to around half the height of your average door, from what she tell by squinting at the buildings across the road.

"Shit, you're right," Jisung groaned, hitting his head against her shoulder. Y/N patted his head sympathetically as they both prepared themselves, physically and mentally, to try and save the world.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The pair of courageous best friends were quite the sight to see. As luck would have it, there was a leisure equipment shop across the road, having all sorts of things they could steal because no one was going to work their job when the building was half flooded and when they knew it would soon be the end for everyone. Fortunately, the canoes were quite near the front of the shop, and they, well, Y/N, hauled it off of the rack that was still standing somehow. Jisung was too distracted by the idea of getting an inflatable pool.

"Jisung we don't need a pool! Just jump out this canoe if you want to swim!" you had huffed as you dragged the canoe towards the door as you waded through the water.

"I didn't wanna swim! I wanted to just float around," Jisung moped, doing a weird awkward jog through the murky water trying to catch up to you. The one where the force of the water weighs your legs down so you have to almost jump out slightly each time you take a step.

Once you both made it out of the shop you both clambered into the boat, Jisung taking the back and you sitting at the front. There were of course a few failed attempts of rowing down the road, neither of them having used an oar before. Did it tip over? Yes, it did. But that was because they both started rowing on the same side.

Eventually they did arrive along the top of the street of the notoriously grim club, HooBAEs.

"How do we park a canoe, shit," Y/N wobbled as she stood up, confronted with an odd dilemma she never thought she would be.

"Girl... never mind," Jisung side eyed her in pure disbelief before grabbing her to sit down, it was like she was trying to be a gondolier.

Jisung achieved their goal of not losing their transport, and helped Y/N out after he caught his own balance. He couldn't control the blood from rushing to his cheeks when she didn't let go of his hand, and she even readjusted the grip she held on his hand as they walked inside the club venue.

"Why would there even be a key here? A special key in a prophecy here? Plus it's not exactly an enclosed area..." Jisung gagged at the stench of the place. Bar stools were floating around, turned onto their backs like many people were the last time they both went on a night out here. Guess the pros are of the world ending is that the slippery floor means nothing now that the water is up to just underneath their waists. Wood from the pillars and bar had rotted, splinters of the material floating around in what now looked like a grotty swamp of cheap furniture. And that wasn't the only thing that was floating around.

"Is that a condom?" Y/N shrieked at the plastic floating towards them both, tugging Jisung back, her feet colliding with old music equipment that had long ago blown it's fuse.

"Focus on the issue at hand, Y/N!" Jisung chastised her, yet still allowing her to pull him back with her, not wanting to let go of her hand. Oh, he was so whipped. It was something about the way she matched his energy perfectly, his twin flame, you could say. She never failed to put a smile on his face, those plump lips that he wish he could just-

"Ew it's a used one! Quick, go! Move, Ji!" Y/N squealed in disgust and tugged his hand harder, essentially breaking him out of his thoughts. And with that they left the decrepid place, relieved at the same time.

Being the gentleman he was, Jisung helped her back into the canoe first, and as they rowed away, he gasped in excitement and suddenly started rocking the boat.

"Dude stop this isn't the time for messing around! I don't wanna fall in again," Y/N exclaimed, letting out small murmurs of discomfort and annoyance as she tried to stay sat down.

"Y/Nnie I know it! I know where it could be!" Jisung shouted feeling elated, having his lightbulb moment.

"Enlighten me, oof-" Y/N's voice wobbled as her body did too, before she ended up falling backwards into his lap, the boy automatically latching onto her shoulders to try and stabilise her but they were both already red as tomatoes.

"Umm sorry I-" Jisung stuttered, not knowing whether to let go of Y/N because realistically he wished that such an interaction would never be awkward between them and that he had confessed how he truly felt a long time ago.

"It's fine just umm tell me where you're thinking so we can steer this ship!" Y/N cringed as she spoke through a strained smile, taking her original spot once again. She tried to forget that just happened, because she never thought it would. She never imagined that her heart would race at the sight of his smile, blush from his teasing words or that her nights would be filled with thoughts of what would happen if they ever were a 'thing'. But here they were.

"Please don't say that again."

"Yeah you're right, it was ummm... yeah."

"I mean, I saw where you were going with it but it just didn't really hit-"

"Ok fine! Just tell me where you think the key is! I'm very embarrassed now!" Y/N stammered, staring straight ahead as her hands gripped the sides of the 'ship' as she wished she could rewind and never say what she did. If her thoughts were gonna take her down the route of a 'thing' ever blossoming between them, she could watch that sapling die right in front of her very eyes.

"That big house, on the outskirts of town..." Jisung trailed off, not quite remembering the name of the mansion he was imagining.

"Oddinary House?" Y/N offered weakly, now feeling composed enough to turn back around. As she did so she made sure the oars were resting in place.

"Yes that's the place! All you hear about that place are horror stories!" Jisung nodded enthusiastically when Y/N's words sparked his memory.

"And you think you're brave enough to go there?" she laughed, looking off to the side.

"Hey, this is for the prophecy! We could save this place! This city! Our friends!" Jisung insisted, desperation apparent as he shifted to look right into Y/N's eyes, the jostling causing water to ripple around them.

"Ji... Is it worth it for the prophecy?" Y/N sighed, her minds going off in all different directions, wondering if it was worth it.

"Yes! A chance at life! We need to do this, Y/Nnie," Jisung did his best to convince her, feeling her turmoil and lessening hope as the moments went by, especially when she turned back around to avoid him from seeing the tears that blurred her vision.

"Isn't it all pointless anyways..." she mumbled.

"It's not when I'm with you," Jisung hugged her from behind for a moment, and oddly it felt natural, far less awkward than before. "Now, come on, let's go, or shall I say-"

"If you say let's row then I am tipping over this boat," Y/N chuckled as she sniffed, wiping away her tears.

"Noted. I will not speak in fear of drowning," Jisung spoke robotically, the two of them laughing once more afterwards as they grabbed the oars once more.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

It was a treacherous journey you could say, venturing to the outskirts of the city, but it wasn't hard to see the old worn-down mansion which practically had a storm cloud hovering above it. Oddinary House, in all it's glory.

"What a glorious shithole," Jisung whistled out, eyes trialing across the rotting wood that was barely keeping the place together. It was a surprise his voice was even normal, considering the volumes that the impromptu karaoke session reached between the two of them.

"I know right," Y/N nodded along, squinting when she thought she saw someone floating in the water. They both rowed closer to the entrance of the house, gaining a closer look at the body. "Oh my god!" she gasped, "they're dead!"

"Damn, this place is fucked," Jisung's jaw hung open, even further when the body spoke back to him.

"Isn't it just?"

Jisung and Y/N both yelled out in shock at the person/creature that they thought was dead, suddenly speaking to them with an enticing melodic voice. They should have realised sooner than the swishing back and forth as they floated in the water couldn't have been achieved by a dead person.

"Wait... Oh my... it's the sexy scary siren! The stories were right!" Y/N put two and two together, remembering all the stories she had been told about who lived at the abandoned mansion and she figured out that this was the siren that many had spoken about. His alluring puppy dog eyes and gorgeous smile were just added bonuses to his hypnotising voice.

"Sexy?"

"Sexy..."

Jisung and the siren met eyes as they both spoke aloud at the same time, one of them sounding jealous and the other quite smug.

"Umm, right... Do you have a key?" Jisung abruptly asked, not wanting to waste any time.

"Don't just ask him!" Y/N turned away from the siren and whacked Jisung on the arm, scolding him.

"Well what am I supposed to do?!"

"I don't know introduce ourselves?!"

The siren chuckled as he watched the two humans in the canoe bicker. The back and forth instantly made him think of an old married couple playfully arguing yet they also had this radiant aura around them that could only be seen when they're together.

"Ummm, I'm Y/N and this is my best friend Jisung, please don't kill us, haha," Y/N falsely grinned feeling nervous even though her brain felt comfortable enough to blurt out earlier that she thought the siren in front of her was sexy.

"I'm Seungmin," the siren purred out, pausing in his floating to swim up to the canoe and rest his head against the edge of it. "Now, what's this about a key?" he inquired curiously.

"Did you not see the news?" Jisung huffed, not wanting to go through the prophecy anymore times than Y/N had already made him repeat it, just so that she could 'engrave it into her brain'.

"You really think we get signal out here? And in this climate? Bless your heart," Seungmin patronised Jisung, flicking water up in his face and making the boy squeeze his nose as some droplets has arrived up his nostrils. Incredibly salty water. That made it sting more.

Just then, a beautiful voice broke out, but no, it did not belong to the siren that was right in front of them, no. This voice, was female, and it was coming from above. Looking up at the stained windows of the second floor, and not in a pretty vibrant and colourful way, a figure almost glided down the corridor. They moved slowly, almost allowing for their voice to break out, becoming louder especially when they saw Jisung and Y/N.

"Oh gosh, you really had to set her off... We just got her to keep quiet!" Seungmin exclaims annoyed, a frown taking over his face as he pushes away from the canoe.

"Oh shit is that a banshee?" Y/N gasped, thinking about the newer rumours that had recently come of Oddinary House.

"No she must be the sexy siren you were saying about bestie," Jisung tried craning his neck to get a better look at who was catching his eye.

"No we already established that was me, obviously," Seungmin shouts back at them, before heading round to the other side of the mansion, swimming his way gracefully to the back garden.

"Ugh, Ji, you're getting distracted again," Y/N huffs as she whacks him.

"Hey that was you before!" Jisung folds his arms.

"Blah blah blah, come in, let's head inside," Y/N directs him as they row their boat inside the front doors, arriving into what looked like a reception room. Haggard, is what this place was.

"Hey! Umm, we're looking for a key!" Han dumbly called out.

"Dude ssshh, they could eat us or something," Y/N said feeling paranoid, wrapping her arms around one of Jisung's.

"Nothing will eat us," Jisung rolled his eyes fondly, letting her cling onto him still.

"I could eat you."

Shit. How accurate were these stories? How accurate were they to know that there was also a werewolf living at this mansion?! In fact, said werewolf was currently sat on the staircase, distastefully flicking water out of his fur.

"Please don't," Y/N gasped.

"Please do," Jisung gasped.

Everyone froze, looking back and forth between each other with confusion. You couldn't make this up, what was happening, it was just that bizarre.

"Ji, that's literally a werewolf," Y/N reminded him, pulling away from him as she stared up the creature who was smirking right back at them, one leg folded over the other, a certain smugness about him with his sharp features illuminated by a yellow light.

"Yeah but he's kindaaaa..." Jisung trailed off, scanning the figure.

"Hmm, yeah, I can see it to be fair," Y/N agreed after a few moments.

The werewolf cleared his throat after a few more starry eyes gazes were directed towards him, "if you're looking for a key, you need to find a gate to open."

"Duh! That's why we're looking for a key? Why is bro so cryptic," Han sighed in disappointment, could have been the perfect companion if it wasn't for his obvious remarks.

"Shut up he's helping us," Y/N reprimanded her best friend before trying to read the true thoughts and emotions behind the eyes of the being sat before them. "A gate... hold on, hold on, you know where this key is, don't you! You're gonna send us on a wild goose chase when we could be saving the world?!"

"Oh, haha, aw, how sweet, you think you can save the world? Well in that case... Head upstairs, might wanna avoid the banshee she's been a bit umm, stressed recently you could say... And then find the cyborg, his name is CB97. We used to have him downstairs but you know, water and electrics don't really-"

"Right thanks!" Han rushes past Minho and cuts him off, wading through the water and going up the other set of stairs. "Come on Y/N!"

Y/N really wished she taught him some manners. She had heard from some of his friends that he was a bit of a dick during his younger teen years but when she first met him he was sweet as pie. Well, until they got comfortable with each other and with roasting each other.

"Sorry about him, he's a bit... excitable," Y/N sheepishly walks past the werewolf, doing a weird wave and not turning her back in fear he'd suddenly turn and eat her up.

The pair were wary as they walked the floors upstairs, flinching at every sound until a door opening on its own terrified them.

"Ahhhh!!!"

"Ahhhh!"

"Stop screaming!!!"

"You stop screaming!!"

"Ji, shut up, look he's there, the cyborg," Y/N points to the hunched figure in the corner of the dimly lit room. He was hooked up to some generators, but more importantly, there was a clear box as part of his make, where a human's abs would normally be. And what was inside of that clear box? A golden, shiny key.

"Yes! We found it!!! Oh my gosh we're gonna save the world!" Y/N cheered as she and Jisung jumped up and down in each others arms, hugging tightly and pulling away to stare into each others eyes for a moment.

Jisung was the first to pull away

"Hey umm, Mr Cyborg, Mr CB... my 97 bro... Umm, where do we need to unlock this key?" Jisung waves his hand in front of the barely glowing blue eyes of the machine. After composing herself, Y/N stepped up next to him, also trying to get the cyborg to respond to them.

But it was no luck. The generators sparked as drops of water fell from the ceiling and caused a fuse, making CB97 the cyborg fully shut down, head hanging forwards.

"No, no, shit!" Y/N swore, tapping on the back of the cyborg with such vigor it was like someone was trying to fix an old television.

"Great that was real helpful... Now what are we going to do?!" Jisung stomped his foot, pacing back and forth with his hands on his head.

"Wait, give me a sec," Y/N rolled up her sleeves, ready to bust open the small door on the cyborg's body to retrieve the key. She slowly grabbed it, focusing all her strength on it til it opened all too easy and she went flying backwards and hit the floor with a loud groan.

"Shit, you ok Y/Nnie?" Jisung helped her up, rubbing her head gently and she responded with a nod.

"I'm fine, more than fine actually, I'm great. Look, the key, it's there Jisung!" Y/N dragged him back over to the shut down robot and grabbed the key, sliding it into her pocket and zipping it securely.

"We're actually going to do this... we're going to save the world!" Jisung gasped in disbelief.

They headed back down the corridors, walking down one flight of stairs and passing by a man with fangs peeking out from underneath his upper lip.

"Oh, by the way, your robot man friend went all sleepy mode on us," Y/N casually said, continuing to walk down the stairs alongside he best friend.

"What?!" the man yelled incredulously before morphing into a bat and zooming off upstairs, not before bumping into an old bear statue.

"Eh, not our problem," Jisung rested his hand on Y/N's back as he steered them outside, back to where their canoe was.

Oh how both of them wished that they'd be successful in saving the world, so they could tell the stories of entering the mansion to future generations, to their own kids- wait scrap that last idea, it's not like they'd ever end up together anyways.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Now it was time to trek back into the city. The sun was setting, casting a peachy glow across the faces of the pair. It seemed so scenic, only for it to smell horrendous. Jisung has convinced them to take a 'detour' because he 'knew a shortcut'. He didn't know a shortcut. And because of the route change they were both now forced to deal with the stench of the contents of the city's sewers flooding into the water around them. The putrid eggy smell consumed their lungs, and Y/N was sure she'd never breathe again.

"Smells like you after taco night-" Y/N plugged her nose with one hand as she laughed.

"Oi, Trouble, shut it!" Jisung kicked her bum lightly, trying not to laugh too.

Y/N loved being able to push his buttons, thus gaining her the nickname 'Trouble'. Jisung didn't use it all the time, but on the occasions he did it made her heart swoon. She knew she was getting under his skin and there was something so gratifying about him recognising that when he did use the nickname.

"You shouldn't have made them so spicy," Han pouted after a moment, mind still stuck there whilst Y/N had drifted to her nightly routine, despite it being closer to 6pm.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"I just can't think of where this gate is meant to be," Y/N groaned, looking up at the sky. Her arms were beginning to ache from rowing so Jisung insisted he'd take over to let her rest a bit.

"What did it say again?" Jisung stopped rowing, letting the canoe float.

"Oh come on! You told me I was silly for wanting to remember it off by heart!" Y/N knocked her head against Jisung's leg in protest, causing him to hold her head still as he looked down at her form laying down in the canoe.

"Y/Nnie, just tell me, yeah?" Jisung smiled through gritted teeth.

"Ugh fine, remember, it said a gate that knows all, that all know," Y/N reminded him.

"I just don't get how we're meant to figure that out, out of all the gates in the city how-"

"Jisung we're idiots," Y/N cut him off.

"Speak for yourself!" he huffed. The light in the day would soon be gone and there would be less chance of them completing their goal.

"Nope we're in this together. We're idiots. The city hall? That literally has a big gate and plus no one would really dare to enter there!! The place that knows all, that we all know! It's got to be that right?! All the official governing bodies go there, us common people could never just waltz in." Y/N scrambles up, rambling excitedly as her guess made more and more sense. Jisung had to help her to adjust her balance, and not just because of clumsy self trying to stand in the boat, but because of the waves seemed to be getting harder to handle. Only this morning it had been calmer and as the day went on the ripples turned to smaller waves that would rock the boat. And now they were straight up aggressive.

"But now we can," Jisung dangled the key in his hands.

"Hell yeah!" Y/N cheered with a newfound energy and she grabbed her set of oars.

It wasn't long until they made their way round to the city hall, going round the back of the historic building and finding the tall golden gates guarding an endless flight of stairs. It was said to have led down to an old pipe system that ran underneath the hall and the whole city.

"I wish I thought of this earlier, should have paid more attention in geography," Jisung shook his head regretfully.

"Right, who's going to swim down? Because I'll do this Jisung, I don't mind," Y/N turned to her best friend, gripping his hands tightly with promises exchanged between. The water had now risen further on their journey and if it rose anymore their boat would simply tip over the gates.

"No, I can't just let you do that!" Jisung exclaimed, frowning at the thought of the girl he loved going to do this on her own. It wouldn't feel fair.

"We need someone up here to keep watch of things!" Y/N tried to grab her hands out of Jisung's hold, who was now holding on tighter than ever not wanting to spend a moment without her.

"Watch what? Our city drown even more?!" Jisung cried out exasperatedly.

"No way," Y/N's heart dropped.

"Umm yes way, it's been like that forever!" Jisung grumbled, searching through Y/N's gaze to try and figure out what had really made her feel taken aback.

"No, look!" Y/N's eyes welled up in fear, pure utter fear.

There was a colossal tidal wave heading towards the city, already plummeting through several buildings in the distance and driving them down into the ground, destruction it's friend. Flocks of birds flew high in the sky, squawking as they retreated in fear. If only they were birds who could leave so easily. There only chance was this prophecy, it had to work.

"Oh shit," Y/N was frozen as she shouted loudly.

"Look, we've not got time, we do this together ok, I don't care what happens," Jisung grabbed Y/N's face between his hands, thumbs stroking over the tops.of her cheekbones as he tried to get her to focus.

"What if it doesn't work? This stupid prophecy?! We've got a key but what do we even-" Y/N trembled in Jisung's arms.

"No, no, no, sshh it's ok, Y/N. I got you, yeah? Come on, we need to do this now, ok?" Jisung stood up shakily on the canoe, pulling Y/N up with him.

"Together?" Y/N's voice cracked.

"Yes, we go down, now, at least we've tried," Jisung rested his forehead against hers, before they both jump into the murky waters with an all mighty splash.

It was lucky Jisung had a tight grip on the key as the pair of them rose above the water, took in a deep breath, and with one look to each other they nodded and swam down to the keyhole of the gate together. With all luck, this prophecy would be right. Maybe they'd be able to unlock the gates, allowed the water to flood down into the city's old pipes system and drain it all, so that they'd have at least one chance of survival.

Y/N helped Jisung stay down in the water to try and unlock the gate, as there was nothing to cling onto. He lodged the key into the hole and twisted it to the left, once, twice, thrice. He pushed the gates forwards and they shared a look of success, before it soon turned to dread.

They were expecting an empty staircase, for the water to flood down, but to their horror the pipes system itself has already been overwhelmed with flooding.

In that moment the huge tidal wave that had been hurtling towards the city hit where they were, and they were sucked down into the pipes system from the sheer force of the wave hitting on impact. The current hit them ferociously, dragging the two of them further and further down. There was nowhere to turn to, nowhere to run.

Jisung and Y/N we're freaking out, flailing in the water and trying to swim upwards for air but it was no use. The place was filled to the brim with water and by the time they tried swimming back up the endless amount of stairs, water would start to enter their lungs.

In fact, it already was.

The two heroes gripped onto each other as bubbles appeared in the water in front of them and the oxygen left their body. They were running out of time, something that seemed so precious until their world was doomed. Doomed from the very start. The prophecy lied.

Jisung grabbed Y/N's hands startling her out of her freak out and he rested both of them against his heart. She cried, adding her salty tears to the water they were submerged in, wishing this wasn't how it had to end. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't they have more time to confess? Why couldn't they have had more time to tell each other how they truly felt?!

He moved his hands to her face, holding her so delicately once more, and she, him. More bubbles were appearing but if they were going to share their last breath, they knew how they'd want to lose it. Jisung pressed his lips against Y/N's, something he should have done a long time ago. Their eyes closed when their lips met, and when they pulled away, they held onto each other tightly, love and despair in both of their longing stares saying 'we tried'.

And they did try. They tried so hard to save a world that was dying, leading to their own fated departures from the Earth. The world was destined to end but they were destined to be together, no matter what was thrown at them.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

tagged: @skz-streamer @kiraisastay @hannahhbahng @kpopmenace143 @sakufilms @kai-lee08 @arloo00 @dunno-wut-to-do @splat00z @cheesemonky @his-angell @turtledove824 @2minstan @royal-shinigami @yangbbokari @skzoologist

[lillsisamarshmallow]

Rainy days, mysterious notes, and wet apologies (8)

Summary: Y/n forms closer bonds with her hybrid roommates, sometimes a bit too close, the mysterious notes the Y/n keeps receiving are making her hope that it’s just a prank and Y/n gets an apology from someone.

Word count: 6.3k

Warnings: Threats, angst, illusion to criminal acts, Let me know if I missed any!

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Why is it so damn hot?!

I sat up so I could see my bed and figure out why I was so hot, glancing to my left I quickly ripped back the blankets expecting it to just be tangled up, but what I saw was far from that. Lying beside me was Hoseok, his orange fox ears flattened on his head, he groaned before shuffling around a bit and reaching for the blankets without opening his eyes, he pulled them back up to his head so you would only be able to see his hair and ears.

What on earth is he doing here!

I pulled the blankets back down away from him again hoping that my mind was playing tricks with me, and it wasn’t really Hoseok in my bed, he let out an annoyed sigh before sitting up, his hair was messy and sticking out all over the place, he barely opened his eyes as he faced towards me.

"Will you stop that? I'm trying to sleep."

"W-What are you doing in my bed?" I said to him still a little freaked out.

"We told you there was no room on the couch, and you said you would give us your bed if there was enough room, and there is." He explained as he kept patting the bed looking for the blankets which I kept moving slightly further away from him.

"That’s not what I meant! I meant that you - wait, we? -"

"Will you two be quiet and stop moving? Some of us want to keep sleeping." Said a tired voice, I glanced to where the voice came from, I let out a scream as I saw another person in my bed.

Why is everyone in my bed!

At the end of the bed, lying sideways was another bunch of blankets, this one had black cat ears sticking out the top along with black hair, the sound of someone shushing me filled my ears as I turned back to Hoseok. He had his finger to his lips indicating me to be quiet, he slowly moved his finger over to my lips before grabbing the blankets and lying back down.

"I- "

Hoseok’s hand shot up, covering my mouth again stopping me from talking. "No more talking, Y/n." He said sleepily and then put his arm back down and into the blankets. He shuffled a bit more before stilling, I could still see the slight rise and fall under the blanket from his breathing. I turned to look back at Yoongi, he had slightly shifted, but seemed as though he had gone straight back to sleep.

What the...

I didn't want to wake the boys again, they clearly wanted to sleep, and they obviously needed it, I slowly slid out from under the covers and tried to neaten up my side of the bed before rounding and headed into the bathroom to wash up. When I came back out both boys were still sleeping in the bed, the blankets were tossed and messy, but they seemed comfortable, so I crept out and closed the door trying not to disturb them. Walking into the kitchen I saw most of the other boys sitting around doing their own thing, it was mid-morning, so most of them were awake, opening the fridge I grabbed out some milk to make cereal, as I was choosing which flavour I heard knocking at the front door, the boys must have heard it too as their conversations died down and their attention was now focused on the door.

As I made my way to the door some of the boys followed behind, they seemed to be a bit on edge, but followed me none the less, curios as to who was here since I never mentioned anyone coming over, I unlocked the door pulling it open, on the other side, stood Jiyoon.

"Hey Y/n, I just came to- " Her words seemed to fall short as I saw her glance behind me, her gazed lingered at the boys behind me while I scratched my brain trying to remember why she was here.

"Oh crap, Yeah, I'll go get it. I totally forgot you were coming by.” I confessed to her, I had forgotten that she was coming over to pick up the ointment I borrowed and her food processor, she let me borrow it a few weeks ago for a recipe, since I don't have my own. I opened the door wider for her to come in, she seemed hesitant, but followed me anyways, I turned the corner and began digging through the cupboard trying to get out the appliance which I pushed to the back along with all the other unused containers, lugging out the large object, I plopped it onto the bench and turned to Jiyoon.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't even introduce you guys. Jiyoon this is Jungkook, Jimin and Seokjin, they're staying with me until the storm passes." I explained to her feeling a bit guilty.

"O-oh, uh, nice to meet you… guys." She said as she reached for the processor, her eyes seemed to wander around until she looked towards the couch clearly noticing the other two boys, Taehyung and Namjoon, who were watching the interaction from afar, the boys seemed to nod at her greeting before she made her way back to the door. "Thanks Y/n."

I smiled letting her know she was welcome, and just like that as fast as she got here, she was gone, so I went back to making my cereal and eating at the table, Jimin came over to sit with me and shortly after Jungkook came to sit down too. It didn't take long before it was time for us to head out so the maintenance could come and fix the sink, it took some time to wake up the two men occupying my bed and after some whining, pleading and making a deal, which they definitely came out on top of, we eventually all got out the door and headed for the elevator. 

Once the doors opened, I stepped out looking around before spotting some seating over by a window, I made my way over with all the boys following behind me. I saw a few people glance our way, but I paid them no mind, we made it over to the seats and everyone sat down in their own chairs that were situated around a small coffee table.

"Okay, maintenance said that it would take an hour or two, so we'll be here for a bit." I smiled at the boys. "They have a small library and cafe if we get hungry and I bought some card games if you want." I placed the deck of uno cards on the table and went searching through my bag again getting out my phone and notepad just in case, the small coffee table had various magazines and what looked to be a biography, which Namjoon had picked up and started reading.

Yoongi sat to the left of me and Namjoon to my right, Jungkook and Jimin sat opposite me and they seemed to look a bit awkward and kept looking over to me, deciding to ignore their antics I instead looked around the lobby, I could see Yeonjun over at the service desk area chatting with Soobin another worker, they seemed to notice me and sent a small wave, looking over to the entrance, coming in wet from the outside rain was Jessi, her long hair was clinging to her skin as she quickly grabbed a towel from a cart, she looked around and met eyes with smile giving a polite smile, although far away I could still see the confusion that was on her face as she looked over our way before looking away.

I turned again, but this time someone was in the way, Yoongi, he still looked just as tired as when I woke him up before, he seemed to relax more, but still kept his eyes barely open, his hair was a bit messy so I reached forward, leaning on my chair, using my finger I swept away a chunk of hair from his face and tucked it back so it wouldn’t bother him, I noticed some fur on his black cat ears that was sticking out, like someone brushed it the wrong way, I moved my hand further up and ran it over the uneven fur a few times before it started to match in better with the rest before smiling at my handy work and bringing my hand back down to my lap.

Yoongi turned to face me, he seemed a bit shocked, but I didn’t give him time to say anything as I turned around to look out the window.

Most of the boys fell into their own conversations and thankfully time was passing fast, my chair was closest to the window, so I spent my time watching the rain and plants. The rain was torrential now, heavy and nonstop, the clouds were so dark that everything had dark shadows over it. But the week was almost ending so this was the last stretch before it started to slow down, I watched as the water droplets landed and slid down the leaves of the plants outside, seeing the droplets race down the window to reach the end at the bottom.

"Y/n, can we go to the cafe?"

I turned around to face the boys again, I smiled and nodded my head before scooping up my belongings and swinging my bag over my shoulder, I waited for the others to stand up and then started heading towards the cafe.

Along the way I spotted Yeonjun again as he made his way over to us. "Hey Y/n, what's up? Everything okay? I don’t see you down here much." He said, stopping in front of me.

"Hey, maintenance is fixing some things in my apartment, so I figured we would go to the cafe." I said to him, I saw him look behind me confused, but smiling politely. "Oh, these are my friends, they all are staying with me for a little while." I explained, giving a quick introduction to each person.

"Well, I have to get back to work, so I'll see you around. It was nice to meet you guys!" Yeonjun said as he hastily made his way back to the front desk. We continued on our way to the cafe, a few people here and there gave a polite wave, except for the couple who lived under me, who just so happened to be sitting at the café entrance, Jangho and Eun, they seemed to glare at us all as we passed by.

Sheesh

 Finally, we got inside the cafe and took a seat at a booth, everyone got a menu, and we began looking through them. "Order whatever you guys would like. I think I'm going to get this one." I told them, pointing to what I was interested in and showing to Jungkook who had raced Jimin to sit next to me, he nodded as he looked over the rest of the menu.

I was sitting across from Hoseok, and Taehyung sat next to his right, followed by Yoongi then Namjoon. On my side of the booth Seokjin sat across from Namjoon, followed by Jimin and then came Jungkook who was next to me, thankfully they had booth for 8 people. Once everyone knew what they wanted me and Jungkook went up to the register where the staff took our orders, I felt bad that we had such a large order as I could see her struggling to get everything down on the computer and repeat it back to us, in the end we made sure we had everything and gave her our table number then went back to the booth.

It took a while for the food to come out but when it did, we all dug in, my food was great and looking around the table it seemed that most of the boys liked theirs as well. I quickly grabbed out my notepad flipping a few pages to find the right one before scribbling down some of the things we had ordered.

"What are you doing?" I looked over to see Taehyung and Hoseok looking back at me, Hoseok had his face stuff with food and his cheeks puffed out, he looked just like a chipmunk, their gaze lowered looking at the note pad under my hand.

"Oh, well, I need more ideas for the menu at the cafe, so when I find things that I like, I write them down, so I can research them and see if they'd work for the new menu." I said smiling before looking down to finish the name of the dish.

"What do you need a new menu for?” Yoongi asked. “What’s wrong with the old one?”

“Oh, there’s nothing wrong, but every few months we try and switch it up, try new things, see what popular, and what isn’t.”

I continued to explain to them how a new menu works like an experiment, we see what people like and we keep it on the menu, whatever isn’t selling we’ll we take off the menu, We spent the rest for the time we had at the café talking, I’m sure the staff were annoyed that we didn’t leave, but it wasn’t against the rules or anything, a friend of mine Giselle, had spotted us at some point came over to say hello, we hadn’t seen each other in a while so it was nice to catch up.

We left the café and began walking back to the room, maintenance rang to let me know that they had finished, and we could go back up, the seven hybrids behind me never seemed to fail to catch everyone attention, as I felt many eyes on us during the trip back, everyone got in the elevator, and we pressed the level we needed to go to.

“Hey, Y/n.”

 I turned to my side to see Chaeryeong standing there looking at me. “Hey, Chaeryeong, how are you? All this rain? You must be loving it!”

“It’s so calming and I get to spend more time catching up on my shows.” She laughed, we chatted for a bit, and I introduced the boys behind me, Chaeryeong seemed hesitant to greet them, but did none the less, soon enough we got to our level, saying goodbye, we headed back to the apartment.

As soon as we got into the apartment everyone seemed to lay down because they were exhausted from being out and about and from socialising, I checked on the new tap, checking it out and making sure it works before getting started on dinner.

I didn’t tell Seokjin I was cooking this time as I wanted him to rest, since they got here he has been helping around the clock, cleaning, cooking, he even made sure the couch beds were neat. I used some left-over kimchi that my mum had gifted me and some other ingredients to make kimchi stew with and a side of rice, it had been a while since I made a nice hot meal that wasn’t something quick and easy to get me through the night and to the next day. I plated up the food which ended using almost all of my dishes, meaning that I’d probably be up late washing them all, and started placing it on the table in front of the seats, leaving two on the other side for myself and whoever chose to stand up due to the lack of seats.

It didn’t take long for the boys to notice the food was being put out and they all came out from the rooms and areas and began to sit down at the table, all the boys sat down except for Namjoon who stood up as he usually did, once everyone was here, I started eating my food.

I looked up to notice that no one else was eating, they were just kind of looking down at their plates. “Is everything okay? Do you guys not like Kimchi stew? I-I can make something else!” I said suddenly, getting nervous that they didn’t like it, different meals raced through my head, but as I turned to go get something else, someone finally said something.

“No, it’s okay Y/n. It’s just…” Seokjin trailed off stopping his sentence not knowing what to say next and looking around the table.

“This is the first hot home cooked meal that we’ve had in a long time.” Yoongi finished for him, I turned to look at him, he seemed sad, but almost happy at the same time, the room seemed to fall into an odd silence as no one knew what to say next.

“Oh… I see. Well, I hope it’s good then!” I said trying to cheer up the mood, I saw a few smiles break out among all their faces. “Please, eat! I haven’t made any in a while so hopefully it’s as good as I remember.” I said, as I then continued to eat my own food, it took few seconds, but eventually everyone else started eating too.

“Y/n! This is delicious!”

“It’s amazing!”

“Mmmhhff!” The boys gushed at the food which made me blush, I thanked them for the compliments as we all fell into a conversation, laughing and giggling, telling jokes and old stories, it was like the tension from before was completely gone, despite only knowing them for the past few weeks it felt like I had known them all for years. My heart swelled as we all talked over each other, the sound filling the room, I could see the pure happiness on their faces, full of food, but still screaming at each other, and their big smiles, except of one person, Namjoon looked uncomfortable, troubled, almost sad in a way, as though he was fighting a war behind his brown eyes, not truly knowing where he stood on his own battle ground, he put on a fake smile when everyone started laughing and kept his head down eating his food.

Is he alright?

I reached my hand out towards his shoulder, he looked up at me from his slouched position, but just as I was about to ask him, I heard a knock at the door.

Who could that be?

I excused myself from the table and headed over to the door trying to be quick so I could get back, I flicked the lock and pull the door open, but no one was there, I poked my head out and looked left then right, a small glimpse of hair swishing past the corner, too far to make out a colour, but other than that there was no one in sight. It must have been more teens playing games or something by knocking and running, so I stepped back and closed the door.

As the door closed a gush of air from underneath pushed into the hallway, I heard a sound and felt something touch my feet, so I looked down only to find a piece of paper.

That's odd.

I bent down and picked it up carefully, it was a plain piece of paper, regular size, but it was folded in half, hesitantly, I pulled open the paper to see what was inside. Cut up letters from a magazine jumbled around the centre of the paper forming words, there were still some traces of glue around the edges and some of the letters stuck up at their corners.

‘Get those filthy animals out of here!’

What?

My eyes scanned over the paper, over and over again, trying to make sense of the words.

Why would someone leave a note like this?

Surely this is a joke, right?

My hands started shaking slightly as I became lost in my thoughts until someone yelled out to me asking if everything was okay. I couldn't let the boys see this letter, so I quickly scrunched it up and stuffed it into my pocket, turning back and making my way to the table.

Surely that’s just a joke, right?

The note plagued my thoughts for the rest of the night, but I tried my best to still have fun and enjoy the night with the boys, most of them seemed to head to bed around the same time, so after we all said our goodnights, I retreated back into my own room to try and get some sleep.

‘Get those filthy animals out of here!’

‘Get out! They don’t belong here!’

‘Freaks! Take them back to the pound.’

The words kept repeating over and over in my head.

‘Get those filthy animals out of here!’

‘Get out! They don’t belong here!’

‘Freaks! Take them back to the pound.’

Over the past 2 days I had received two more notes, one for each day that passed, so far the boys hadn’t seen them, but it got pretty close when Namjoon was over near the door, I was able to convince him that they were just bills and I had it covered, though he didn’t seem very pleased when I took the letters off him.

I couldn’t let the boys see these notes, even though their just pranks by some teens, they’d still hurt them. I double checked that all three notes were securely hidden in the top drawer, at the back and under my tissues, I took them out and counted three pieces on folded up paper, I let out a sigh knowing that they were all their and they were safe from their eyes before putting them back in their hiding space and closing the drawer.

I hope they’re just bad jokes from selfish teens. Surely no one would say that stuff seriously, right?

They can’t find out about those.

I sighed as I removed the blankets from over me trying not to disturb the fox and cat hybrids who I had become a custom to in the morning, and slid out from the comfy bed, the sky was looking lighter today, but was still full of clouds. Emerging from my room I spotted a sleepy looking Jungkook sitting on the couch along with a sleeping Namjoon, I saw Seokjin in the kitchen, and I could hear Taehyung and Jimin in the room.

“Morning guys.” I yawned waving at Seokjin as I made my way to the couch sitting down near Jungkook, who seemed to perk up at my entrance and started to move closer to me before Jimin came running out of the room and straight over to us throwing himself half on the couch and half on me, I groaned as the impact came and forced the air out my lungs making me cough a few times before calming down and slightly giggling in my tired state.

Jimin stayed still for a bit, trying to ensure his place before he eventually turned so he was lying on his back with his head resting on my lap, a large cheeky grin adored his features and a couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“Morning Jimin.” I said as I subconsciously moved my hand up to his hair and slightly started to play with it.

“Morning Y/n.” Jimin said as he closed his eyes relaxing. “Did you sleep well?” He asked, as I kept running my fingers through his hair, I looked over to Jungkook who had seemed to deflate, using my spare hand I reached out for his arm and dragged him closer to both me and Jimin.

“I slept well, Hoseok kept moving all night, so I kept waking up.” Both boys seemed to let out an understanding hum which lead me to assume that Hoseok constant twisting and turning last night was normal.

I heard some groaning and we all looked to the other half of the couch, Namjoon groaned again before moving his blanket and getting up off the couch, he seemed to stop for a second and looked at us before he continued on his way to the kitchen.

“You’re my pillow now, Y/n.” Jimin sighed as he turned and moved his hands up to his face before snuggling into my leg. I smiled and giggled at his antics before softly chatting to Jungkook, not wanting to wake up Jimin.

It didn’t take long for Jimin to drift off to sleep, so he must have been quite tired, I kept trying to move my hands away from his hair, but he would wake up and drag my hand right back to where it was, eventually Jimin seemed to be in a deep enough sleep that my movements didn’t bother him, taking advantage of the situation I held up his head before swiftly sliding off the couch and placing his head on Jungkook lap who had agreed to let him rest so I could get up.

I walked over to the kitchen and got myself a cup of water from the new sink, I drank the water while looking out the window, the many plants of the balcony caught my attention, and I decided that id should tend to them.

I slid open the balcony door and squeeze outside with the plants, it didn’t take long for me to get started, I was moving the plants so they would be in the sun when the rain stopped as well as just some general pruning and cleaning up. I was halfway through moving one of the heavier plants when someone decided to come and join me.

I didn’t even have to see his face to know who it was, although I’m sure if I had I would have been quite concerned, the dark grey, large tail, swaying steadily behind him, the tips littered with lighter greys and some white spiked fur. He didn’t say anything at first, there was a bit of awkward silence before he reached down and grabbed hold on the large pot plant I had and moved it across to the other side of the balcony.

“Thanks.” I said as I finally looked up at him, his dark hair and ears were right above me, but his eyes were focused elsewhere, like he was avoiding this confrontation, but when he finally looked at me I began to grow confused and slightly concerned. “Namjoon? What’s wrong? Did you break the sink again?” I asked him as I remembered seeing him head into the kitchen this morning, I began to stand up, but he put his hand out signalling me not to, so I hesitantly lowered myself back down.

“N-no, it’s nothing like that, don’t worry. It’s just…” Namjoon seemed to fall short of his words. “Can I talk to you?”

“Uhm, y-yeah, of course. Here.” I said, pulling out the chairs for us to sit. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Uhh- well, it’s just-” Namjoon kept stumbling over his words, but I assured him that what ever it was that it was okay and to just take his time. “How I treated you back at the alley, that was horrible, and how I’ve been treating you, it isn’t right and it isn’t me, I was just trying to protect myself and my pack, and keep us all from getting hurt again, but you’ve been nothing but nice to us, giving us food, taking care of us, offering your home for us to stay in so we wouldn’t get sick from the rain. No one has ever been that nice to us- to me, and I guess I just didn’t know if it was true, no one just helps someone for free, there’s always a catch, always a dept owed…”

Namjoon trailed off before getting back to what he was saying.

“…I tried to find out what it was, what you wanted from us in return, workers, bait, punching bags, …” Namjoon didn’t finish what he was going to say, but I knew what he meant, my heart was aching for him and how scared he had been, thinking that I was going to hurt him. I could see how he kept looking down and away from me, in the corner of my eye, for just a split second I caught sight on something dropping down from his face. I reached my hand out and held on to his, squeezing it, letting him know that he didn’t have to keep talking about that.

 “I couldn’t accept that someone like you would want to help someone like us out of the kindness of your heart, someone like me. I was blinded by my own negative thoughts into thinking that no one would ever want to help someone like me.” Namjoon finally looked up at me, looking into my eyes as he kept talking. “But I see now that you aren’t this horrible person who is going to hurt us, they all love you, I can see it, the way Jungkook lets you touch his ears, the way Tae lets you watch him paint, Jimin is pretty much attached to you, Yoongi lets you wake him up, whenever I tried he would almost bite my hand off, Hobi lets his guard down around you, and Jin loves your cooking. You’ve gone out of your way to help us so much and I don’t know how I could ever repay you. I guess what I’m trying to tell you is. I’m sorry, Y/n, for all the horrible things I did, I hurt you, physically, emotionally, I destroyed your home and yet you still chose to keep helping. I’m sorry, I hope you can accept this a-and I hope we can maybe start over?” Namjoon finally finished his rant like speech, he kept looking into my eyes after he finished speaking, he wasn’t crying, but he had wet streaks down his face, I was completely speechless at everything he had said.

I felt a shift in Namjoon, I guess I was too slow to respond as he began to stand up. “I-it’s fine, I don’t expect you to forgive me, I’ll get out of your way once the rain is gone, o-or I can go now-“ Before Namjoon could finish anymore of what he was saying I quickly stood up with him and wrapped my arms around him and brought him down closer to me, I could fell his wet tears that were once pooling out of his eyes and running down his face, now colliding with my neck and shoulder as a few strays kept falling.

“Namjoon, it’s okay, I don’t know what happened to you guys before I found you all, but whatever it was that made you feel this way wasn’t good. I want to help you all and the only thing I want in return is just your company, but even if you didn’t want my company I’d still help you guys. You don’t owe me anything and you don’t have to leave either.” A few on my own tears were now making their way down my face, thankfully we were outside so the other boys couldn’t see or hear anything. “Having you and your pack around, these have been the best days I’ve had in years, and I wouldn’t trade if for anything, no matter what you think, you are worthy of this, my help and kindness and everyone else’s, your worthy Namjoon and I want to keep helping you. I accept your apology.

Namjoon gripped onto the back on my shirt tighter as he kept mumbling in coherent words, I ran my hand up and down his back, letting him know that everything was okay, I had never seen him so broken. I pulled back from Namjoon and held his hand in mine, I smiled at him, and he returned it, he quickly brought his hands up and rubbed them up and down his face.

I hadn’t notice before, but since Namjoon had come outside the rain had been steadily getting heavier, it wasn’t pouring and on the balcony not a lot of the rain got to us, but we were both wet from the rain, figuring that we were already wet I decided that we could just continue to sit out here for a little while, but not too long as I didn’t want us to get sick, we could both calm down and I could finish up what I was doing with the plants, we both sat back down on the floor so I could continue with the plants with Namjoon’s help, a nice relaxing activity.

It was awkward at first, eventually we fell into conversation and started to get to know each other, Namjoon was telling me about when they had all met and how hard it was for them in that alley, I didn’t want to pry too much so I didn’t ask too many questions and just let him talk about what he was comfortable with. In turn Namjoon asked me about the café and how it came to be, I told him that I had always loved baking and had been doing it for years, I also wanted my own independency from my parents and their often times controlling habits, they were fully supportive of my decision, though for the first few years they had preferred that I worked for them instead.

As we were pruning the plants and removing some of the dead leaves, the door opened up, looking up I saw Seokjin peering out. “Hey, Y/n, can I use the kitchen to cook something?” He asked from halfway behind the door.

“Yeah, of course you can, no need to ask!” I said smiling back at him whilst doing hand gestures, Seokjin nodded his head before retreating back inside the apartment. We had peace and quiet for about 10 more minutes before Jimin came knocking on the door.

“Y/n.” He whined, dragging out my name.

“Hmm?” I hummed in response as I was in the middle of snipping off a dying piece from one of the plants as I looked up at him over at the door. “What’s up?”

“Let’s watch a movie, hyung is almost done cooking.” He said perking up and excited, I laughed and nodded my head before picking up all the green scraps, I stood up and waited for Namjoon to join me before we headed inside.

Jimin must have already told the other boys as most of them were already seated somewhere in the lounge, I dumped the waste into the correct recycling before heading into my bedroom to change out of my clothes and wipe down my face, they had both gotten wet and dirty whilst being outside.

I slipped off my dirty clothes and put on a large jumper, making sure to put the others in the washing basket.

I’ll have to do some washing soon, I think we all are running out of clean clothes.

I came out from my room and headed straight for the kitchen because whatever Seokjin was making it smelt amazing, I peered around him to try and see what was cooking, but he must have notice me as he moved slightly so I couldn’t see. “It’s a surprise.” He said before mixing whatever was in the pot.

I made my way over to where most of the other boys were, taking a seat between Hoseok and Namjoon, the younger ones had brought out a bunch of their blankets and pillows and where now sitting on the ground in front of me, Yoongi was sitting next to Hoseok and there was enough room beside Namjoon for Seokjin to sit when he was done in the kitchen.

It didn’t take long before we all had our plates of food, it smelt delicious and looked great too, I took the first bite.

“Seokjin! This is amazing!” I gushed as I took another bite, I had never had this dish prepared this way and everything about it was perfect to me, Seokjin replied to my praise and said, ‘thank you’.

“I didn’t know you could cook this well!” I said surprised, I knew Seokjin cooked a few times while he was here, but those were just basic dishes.

“I can cook more often if you’d like, I don’t mind.” He smiled back at me from behind Namjoon, who had sunk into the couch so me and Seokjin could see each other better.

“Cook as much as you’d like, this is so good!” I yelled, stuffing my face with more. “Youf have to ghive me recipe, for the cafe” I did my best, but it came out kind of muffled. “I would be honoured.” Seokjin said, we hastily fell into a conversation about how he had prepared the dish in such little time and how he changed a few things from traditional recipes.

I need my note pad!

“When will they stop talking about how to measure flour?”

“We want to watch the movie, c’mon! Talk about secret ingredients later!”

“Let’s talk about it tomorrow Seokjin.”

“Jin”

“Huh?”

“You can call me Jin.”

I smiled at Jin before laughing at the other members antics, I grabbed the remote and we began to search for the movie, thankfully some of the boys already had something in mind so it didn’t take too long to choose one.

We spent all night watching movies and all sitting in the lounge together, hearing all the boys laugh and yell, even Namjoon, made my heart swell with happiness and joy as I watched them all have fun together as a pack, carefree and safe, with me. We didn’t go to bed until late that night, too busy talking about one of the movies we had watch were a woman is in an arranged marriage with this mafia, crazy unrealistic. Me, Yoongi, and Hoseok said our goodnights and we went into my room, Hoseok on his side, all snuggled up, I slipped into my side and Yoongi laid across the bed down the bottom.

That was the best night sleep I had ever had, quiet, peaceful, comfy, good memories that I would never forget.

Until I woke up

“Y/nnn!”

A/n: Hello! Chapter 8 is here and on time for the most part, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and enjoyed it too, I had to rush most of it over the weekend, but I hope it came out alright. I felt so bad when I was writing Namjoon’s little speech, and I was trying to hint at the backstories without giving it away. This is the longest chapter I’ve written (6.3k words! Not including the A/n or info parts) and I want to know if you guys prefer these longer chapters (5k-6k) like this one and chapter 7 or if you’d prefer the shorter chapters (2k-3k long), the shorter ones are quicker and sometimes easier to write and the longer one take me a lot longer to write, but I’m usually able to include more things that would be cut out of the shorter ones, I enjoy writing both, but I wanted to know what you would prefer. I hope everyone has a great day or night & Thankyou all for reading! 💜

[jebewonmorelike]

Charisma Boss Employee

wc: 3.5k (oh no guys, i'm only getting worse) pronouns: none used; n/a warnings: some angst; some fluff! this is a powerful one. some swears, mention of an ill mother, ricky's dad is mean :( but it's just a story! i'm sure ricky's real dad is very nice lol summary: when richboy!ricky crashes his car, his dad takes away his credit card and forces him to get a part time job at the diner-- and reader is the unlucky employee tasked with training him ~masterlist~ ♡ ~kofi (no pressure at all)~ CELEBRATORY FIC FOR RICKY TOP 9! This is an epic you guys. I think you'll really love it! For some reason, Ricky inspires some great plot lines for me. And I just love richboy!Ricky he's such a doll.

Ricky was not having a good day. In fact, Ricky was having a no good, very bad day and he was not about to be pleasant to the worker training him to make a vanilla milkshake.

“So you’ll pour the milk in with the ice, screw the lid on and shake the container,” you explain, handing the tall blonde boy next to you the carton of milk.

He takes it reluctantly, measuring the 10 oz. without much care and screwing the lid on.

“Make sure that it’s—,” you start to warn, but he’s already shaking the container…

And it’s contents has already flown out from the loose lid and drenched the both of you.

He winces, an exhale of an embarrassed laugh escaping his lips.

“Maybe if you took the sunglasses off, you would’ve been able to see that you hadn’t tightened the lid all the way,” you say annoyedly.

He shakes his head quickly. “I can’t take them off.”

But being covered in a mess that this stupid rich kid made has not positively impacted your level of patience for his ridiculousness, so you reach up and snatch the sunglasses off of his face.

“Hey! Give them back!” He protests as you run around to the other side of the counter with them, quickly closing the bar top on the counter so he can’t follow you. You watch as he attempts to open the passageway in the counter, but lucky for you he wasn't paying attention when you had shown him where the latch is.

"Please," he begs now, looking around frantically as he places his large hand above his eyes to seemingly block the view of his face. "Please, I don't want anyone to see me here."

You snort. "People see me here every day and I have yet to die of embarrassment."

"Yeah, well, I'm not like you," Ricky remarks snidely, sinking down below the counter to hide from customers.

How had this happened to you? You clocked in this afternoon with a pretty good attitude: this was the eighth-to-last shift you'd have to work before finally having saved enough money to buy the little red Kia Rio from the used car dealership down the road.

But that good attitude was suddenly shattered when you saw your boss standing in the kitchen with an older, professional-looking man in a suit and a tall, blonde boy wearing Prada sunglasses indoors. You weren't quite sure what was happening yet, but you felt a sinking feeling in your gut nevertheless.

"(Y/N), you're late," your boss said as you walked towards the little gathering in the kitchen.

Your brow furrowed in confusion. "What? No, I'm not; my shift doesn't start until--."

"This is the building owner, Mr. Shen," your boss introduced, cutting you off. "And this is his son, Ricky."

Your eyes widened, nodding out of respect and smiling politely at Mr. Shen. "It's nice to meet you."

"Sure," Mr. Shen replied flippantly. "Quanrui, say hello."

"Hello," Ricky greeted reluctantly, looking back down at his phone screen. You studied him for a moment, taking note of the dyed blonde hair, the Rolex on his lithe wrist, and the thin, delicate tattoo running down his neck behind one ear. The best way you could think to describe him was... punchable.

"You're going to be training Mr. Shen's son for the next few days," your boss announced. "Like I told you about last week."

"What!? You didn't tell me that--."

Mr. Shen cut you off abruptly. "As Tom here probably told you--."

"It's Tim," your boss corrected quietly.

"My son crashed his car last week on a midnight joyride around the city," Mr. Shen continued, glaring at Ricky, whose eyes were still glued to his phone. "So, as punishment, I've taken away all his credit cards and I've asked Tom if he could give him a little job here for a bit until he's learned his lesson."

"It's actually...," your boss laughed much too cheerily before he continued, "It's actually Tim, sir, but whatever you prefer is fine. Our shift manager, (Y/N) here, is so grateful to get the opportunity to train your very capable, and might I add handsome, son. Isn't that right, (Y/N)?"

"Well--."

"Exactly! Go grab an apron and a pair of ears for Ricky," Tim ordered you, as you ran to the corner of the room to grab the supplies.

"Ears?" Ricky asked suddenly, finally looking up from his phone.

"Oh... Yes, ears! The Hungry Dog Diner-- all of the waitstaff wear dog-eared headbands," Tim explained enthusiastically as you walked back over and handed Ricky the uniform pieces.

"Why did I invest in this business again?" Mr. Shen asked in an alarmingly genuine tone.

You watched as Ricky flipped the ears over in his hands, horrified. "Dad, do I really have to wear this?"

"Son... You are a terrible student, you can't take direction, and you have no work ethic. I'm not sure if you possess any skills at all," Mr. Shen announced harshly. "No other business is going to hire you except the ones that I own, so just make it easy on us all and put the ears on, Quanrui."

You had to work quite hard to keep your eyes from widening at Mr. Shen's rather stiff criticism of his son, especially in front of strangers. You couldn't help but wonder what he said when no one else was present. Ricky solemnly placed the dog ears over his perfectly-coiffed blonde hair, the loop of the apron finding its way around his neck.

In that moment, if he wasn't so positively punchable-looking, you might've almost felt sorry for him.

"Excellent!" Tim exclaimed, clapping his hands together in the midst of the looming awkward silence. "(Y/N), why don't you show Ricky the milkshake machine? That would be a great spot for that handsome face to be seen by customers!"

Ricky audibly groaned as you led him out of the kitchen to the front countertop area.

~

And now, here you are. Covered in ice and milk, holding Ricky's sunglasses and allowing the implications of the sentence, "Well, I'm not like you," to sink in.

"Bastard," you say.

Ricky's wide eyes appear from behind the counter as he sits up on his knees to peak out at you. "What did you just say?"

"You rat bastard," you repeat, staring him directly in the eye. "You're not like me? Then why are we both wearing this stupid apron and these ridiculous dog ears, huh? Why are we both working this annoying ass part-time job? Why are we both covered in milkshake ingredients?"

You're surprised when Ricky doesn't retaliate, just stares back at you in shock.

"I actually think we have a lot in common right now. The only difference being that, for the next six hours, I'm in charge. So you're gonna take off these sunglasses and make every flavor of milkshake absolutely perfectly, or I am going to fire you!"

Ricky blinks, tilting his head to one side curiously. "Would you really fire me?"

You stare back at him wordlessly, confused by his lack of anger.

"Even though my dad would probably sue you or frame you for some petty crime or something?"

Ricky stands up from behind the counter, nodding appreciatively. "That's kind of badass."

He takes your apparent inability to speak or move as an opportunity to grab his sunglasses from your hand. "I'm gonna get all of this milk off of me. I'll be right back-- and I'll put these away in my bag."

After another moment of temporary paralysis, you run to the customers' bathrooms and clean yourself up. When you make your way back to the counter, you watch as Ricky very diligently measures 10 oz. of milk into the shaker cup.

~

"Okay! Time to head out, Ricky," you call from the kitchen, panicking slightly when you're met with silence. "Ricky?"

You run from the kitchen to the countertop area quickly, just in time to see Ricky holding all of the quarters from the cash register in his hand and counting them with his fingers (and then recounting them when he loses track of the total).

You have to admit... He looks pretty cute like this.

Ricky had been a pretty decent employee for the rest of the day. He mastered a few milkshake flavors, he seated customers in booths, and you'd even let him close the register after proper demonstration. Quite honestly, he was nowhere near as incompetent as his father had made him out to be.

Not only that, but you'd found he was fairly easy to get along with when he wasn't being a spoiled brat.

Tip-toeing your way over to him, you lightly smack his upper arm. "Boo!"

"NO!" He shouts in defeat. "I ALMOST HAD IT THAT TIME!"

You can't help but laugh, holding out your hand for him to pour the quarters into. You count them in less than ten seconds and drop them back in the drawer.

"Whoah," Ricky says, shaking his head as you finish counting the rest of the coins. "I really don't have any skills, do I?"

"Stop that," you say, entering the final totals into the register and closing it down. "It's not easy. You'll get better with practice. Besides, I watched you do a bunch of things today that I would say required skills."

"Oh," he replies, clearly not expecting your kindness. "Thanks."

You smile. "Same time tomorrow?"

"TOMORROW!?" He exclaims, hanging his head sadly. "But we were just here today."

You chuckle. "Welcome to the working world, Ricky."

~

"Here you go, one strawberry and one cookie dough milkshake for the two runway models on lunch break," Ricky says, placing the drinks on the counter. The two girls giggle, cheersing and placing the paper straws in their mouths.

This week had gone quite differently than you'd expected. It seemed as if word had gotten out that a rich, handsome young man had started working the counter at Hungry Dog's and groups of girls had flocked to the diner the past few days to get a milkshake from Ricky.

Though very wary of being seen on his first day, Ricky was now eating up the positive attention. He didn't even seem to mind wearing the dog ears. He conversed easily with the customers, tastefully flirting even with the regular group of elderly women that came in for lunch every Thursday. He was a natural.

And you hate to admit it, but... it's irking you a bit. You'd been Ricky's go-to pal the first few days and you enjoyed joking back and forth with him. He'd shared a lot about his life with you, in the way that coworkers often do. He'd talked about school, his friends, and even his dad and you liked having these conversations with him. Everyone else that worked here before him had been so boring. But now every girl in the city was coming to the diner for a milkshake and vying for his attention.

Maybe you should have let him keep his sunglasses on after all...

"(Y/N)!" He calls, grinning. You put your rag down on the table you're cleaning and make your way over to the counter. "I'm sorry, I don't remember the recipe for the peanut butter chocolate milkshake."

"That's okay," you say, grabbing a glass and opening the cooler. You point to the peanut butter sauce, chocolate chips, and the peanut butter cups. "Three tablespoons of this, a quarter cup of these, and a good handful of these, too."

"He has such big hands though," the girl at the counter admires.

"Uh..." You look down at Ricky's hands by his sides. "Yeah, I guess. I hope you really like peanut butter cups."

He frowns when you meet his gaze. You start to walk back to the table you were cleaning when you hear Ricky again. "(Y/N)?"

You turn to face him, noticing he still looks kind of upset.

"Chocolate ice cream?" He asks quietly.

"Chocolate ice cream," you confirm, giving him a half-hearted smile as you resume your buswork.

~

"What is the meaning of this?"

Your eyes dart to find the origin of the sound, spotting Mr. Shen standing angrily in the doorway with your boss on his heels. "Quanrui, what on Earth is going on?"

Ricky blinks back anxiously at his father. "I'm--... I'm working?"

"No you're not! You're surrounded by girls," Mr. Shen replies, walking towards his son.

"Well, they are paying customers," Tim responds softly, scurrying behind Mr. Shen as the girls on the barstools at the counter get up and leave hurriedly. You walk over to the countertop area cautiously.

"This is supposed to be a punishment. Where is that worker who trained you?" Ricky's father demands.

You clear your throat and step out from behind him. "I'm here."

"What exactly have you been doing? He's supposed to be miserable! I mean, for god's sake, he's making a milkshake and he's smiling. Smiling!" Mr. Shen exclaims, a stern finger pointing at you. "That's not right."

You swallow, maintaining an even temper. "Is a frown more suited for milkshake-making?"

From the corner of your eye, you see Ricky's eyes widen a concerned amount.

"On Sunday, you said Ricky had no skills. You basically called him useless in front of people he'd never met before. And I thought, at first, that maybe you were right; an irresponsible rich kid cruising through life and he'd be a pain in my ass. But, honestly... He's been great. He can take direction, follow a recipe, clean a table-- hell, he can almost count change!"

"Well, I can count change, I just--."

"And his most notable skill: charisma. I mean, we haven't made money like this in years! There's been people flying in and out of here all week just to look at Ricky. I've overheard him talking to customers for the past few days and he's just really great with people," you say, not backing down.

"That doesn't make any sense! He barely says two words to me," Mr. Shen rebuts.

You want to hold your tongue, but, with everything going on in your life... you just can't. "Maybe you should think about why that is."

If people could explode from anger, Mr. Shen would be in pieces by now. "Is this true, Ricky?"

You look up at Ricky, hoping that maybe he could find it in him to stand up for himself-- especially after you'd just done the heavy-lifting for him.

But he's not looking at you. He's not looking at anyone. He's just staring at the floor.

Mr. Shen is frightening now as his voice comes out so coolly, "Tom, fire this worker at once."

Tim looks at you uncertainly. You're his best employee. But you know the chances of Tim sticking up for you are slim to none. You've fought this battle alone-- and for what?

"Just go," Tim says, mouthing an I'm sorry after.

So you go. You're running back into the kitchen, taking off your apron and throwing your stupid dog ears onto the floor. You're so upset that you don't hear footsteps approaching behind you as you walk towards the back door.

"(Y/N)!" Ricky calls, hand finding your shoulder. You turn around on your heels to face him.

"What?" You spit. "What could you possibly want? Huh?"

"I--... I wanted to see if you're okay."

"Okay? I just lost my job... for defending you, of all people! I must be crazy," you say, shaking your head in disbelief at your own actions.

Ricky's brows furrow in defense, his eyes a bit sad like they had been earlier. "Well, it's not like I made you do that."

"No, you didn't," you say, nodding as you understand the error in judgment you've made. "So, I guess I'll just get going."

"Oh, come on!" Ricky exclaims, not letting go of your shoulder. "You're telling me you liked working here all this time? You're way smarter than me-- shouldn't you be trying to go back to school?"

"My mom is sick." The words escape your mouth before you can swallow them back down as you watch the shock contort Ricky's face. "I was working here to save up money for a car so I could stay at the hospital even after the buses stop running."

He stares back at you; the silence, deafening.

"Good luck, Ricky," you say finally, pushing the back door open and stepping out into the warm, afternoon air.

~

Come to the diner, I need you to calculate our expenses for the month

You fired me.

I knowwwwww. I said I was sorry! But I really need your help. And I know you'd hate for this diner you've spent so many pathetic years of your life working at to close down :(

You are not helping your case.

I'm sorry, please just come as soon as you can

Fine.

So, here you are again thanks to Tim's text. Walking through the back door of Hungry Dog's Diner like you do every day. But something's off when you step inside. When you realize you can't hear any noise, you look around concernedly for a body-- any body would do to ease your anxiety.

Just then, Ricky walks into the kitchen. He smiles timidly.

"Hi," he greets, a little awkward wave accompanying the word.

"Hi," you return, unamusedly.

"Tim's out here," he says, walking out of the kitchen as you reluctantly follow. You walk past the counter and out towards the booths, Tim waving at you from one in the back.

But as you walk past the glass doors, you see something in the parking lot that has you frozen in your tracks.

There, in the parking lot of Hungry Dog's Diner, is the little red Kia Rio from the used car dealership down the road.

"Go look at it," Ricky says behind you, gently pushing you forward.

You run out through the doors and stare at it in awe before remembering who brought you out here to see it in the first place.

Turning around slowly, your eyes meet Ricky's. His bottom lip is between his teeth as he chews it in nervous anticipation. You step up to him, silent before smacking his chest with your hand, hard.

"Ow!" He yelps, rubbing the spot that you hit.

"What's wrong with you?"

"You hit me," he complains with a pout.

"Your dad gave you your credit card back, huh? You think you can just buy something for me and your dad can pay it off and all will be forgiven?" You accuse, tears quickly welling up in your eyes from frustration.

“No! No, no, it’s—… it’s not like that! I swear,” he claims, sincere eyes boring into yours. “I bought it with my own savings. It was... It was almost everything I had.”

You stare back at him wide-eyed for a few moments and then hit him again. “WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU!?”

“OW!” He yelps louder, rubbing his chest once more.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” you say, a mixture of emotions now flooding your senses. “That’s—… It’s—… You didn’t have to do that.”

It hits you now— a wave of immense, conflicting gratitude and embarrassment. You’re suddenly wailing quite cartoonishly, tears running out of you so quickly you’re afraid you might form a puddle.

"I'm just really sorry. I should have defended you... and I should've stood up for myself, too. You've been really nice to me this whole week and I can't imagine I was always particularly easy to deal with," Ricky apologizes, swallowing hard before continuing. "You really need this and it's my fault you weren't able to get it on your own. I was actually gonna by myself a new car with the money, but... what would I have been using it for?"

"How did you know this is the one I wanted?"

He laughs. "Tim said you showed everyone that walked through the doors a picture of it at least once."

You smile sheepishly, before uncertainty causes you to sigh. "Still, Ricky, this--."

"Maybe you can just drive me to work from now on," he suggests, a shy smile now gracing his lips. "And we'll call it even."

"To work?" You ask, tilting your head.

He smiles. "Yeah. You're rehired. Duh. I, uh... I finally talked to my dad about everything. And I told him I would be really lost at Hungry Dog's Diner without you."

You smile, a blush creeping onto your cheeks. "I'll repay you for this. I promise."

"Go ahead, get in!" Ricky says with a laugh, reaching in his back pocket and tossing you the key. You run to the driver's side and fling open the door, hopping inside and turning on the car. Ricky gets in the passenger side and looks around appreciatively.

"Not a McLaren, but it's got charm," he says, nodding.

"I love it," you reply, grinning at him. "I really love it. Thank you."

"You know, I might need a ride other places once in a while, too, like... out to dinner?"

"Why would I drive you to go out to dinner?" You ask, obliviously.

He blinks back at you, waiting for you to comprehend.

"Oh!" You gasp, ears burning as you bask in the heat of his gaze. "Oh, um... I guess, yeah. Yeah, I could probably... I could probably drive you to dinner. And then eat dinner with you."

"Good," he says happily, grinning at you as he leans back in the car seat, flipping his sunglasses down over his eyes. "But since I'm actually broke now, you're paying."

[j0elmill3r]

No Alarms & No Surprises

Pairing - Joel Miller x Young!Daughter!Reader, Sarah Miller x sister!reader

Summary - An insight into your last normal day on earth, and your sister's last day on earth entirely.

Warnings - Some angst, swearing, mentions of Sarah's death, violence, reader has hinted ADHD so make of that what you will, Joel has one moment of being a bit of an asshole

A/N - Thanks for the request anon! I made the reader about 5/6 for this one, as always feedback, likes, and reblogs are always appreciated - and I just want to thank everyone for the love on the end of all things!

Word Count - 4.1k oopsie...I got carried away

Request - Anonymous asked:

Hii! Could I request a Joel Miller x Young Daughter!reader about the day the Outbreak happened? It can be angsty, is can be anything you're comfortable writing really! ❤️

--

You groaned and rubbed your eyes are you felt arms wrap around you and lift you out of your bed, rubbing your eyes at the sudden flashes of light from the sun that was streaming into your room.

"Good morning, baby girl," Joel said softly, smiling as you opened your eyes and looked up at him. You were his youngest, Sarah's half-sister, even though she didn't like to call you a 'half' sister. As much as you were a bit unexpected, it didn't mean that you weren't loved by your dad, sister, and uncle Tommy, even though Joel found it hilarious when you unintentionally bullied his younger brother.

"Morning daddy," You replied, rubbing your eyes of sleep and stretching in your dad’s arms, then settling and resting your head on his shoulder. "Happy birthday." You told him sleepily. Joel smiled as he kissed the side of your head, taking you downstairs to where your older sister stood in the kitchen. She turned to face your dad, a slight pout of frustration on her face as she rummaged through the kitchen cupboards.

"Where's the pancake mix?" She asked him, watching as your face lit up at the mention of your favourite breakfast foods.

"I want pancakes!" You cheered excitedly, tugging on your dad’s t-shirt, which unaware to the both of you, he was wearing inside out. Joel suddenly remembered Sarah's addition to the week’s grocery list and sighed.

"Oh, was I?" Sarah arched her eyebrow at him, an unimpressed look on her face. "Yeah, I was, sorry." Joel apologised sheepishly, trying to avoid the hard gaze of his oldest daughter. Sarah sighed and pouted at her dad.

"I was gonna make you birthday pancakes," She said, the same pout on her face. You frowned, did this mean you wouldn't be getting any pancakes?! Joel smiled at her as he set you on the kitchen counter to pour himself his coffee.

"You know, I don't really like pancakes," He told Sarah, watching as she shrugged her shoulders and giggled.

"I know, they were for mine and y/n's benefit," She said, handing you a glass of orange juice, then one to Joel, who furrowed his brows at the offering. "For vitamin C," Sarah told him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "So how old are you today?" She asked. When you thought about it, you didn't really know how old your dad was.

"36," He answered, your jaw falling in shock. "What?" Joel asked you, pushing your jaw back up gently to close your mouth.

"That's so many, daddy!" You yelled, making Sarah laugh at just how old you thought your dad was.

"He's gonna need to wear diapers soon," Sarah nudged your side, laughing as your giggled at your sister’s joke. Joel shook his head and smiled, the sounds made his heart happy, his two baby girls laughing, even at his own expense.

"Who's to say I already don't?" He jokingly asked. You screwed your face up and put your spoon down, dropping it into the bowl of milk in front of you.

"I'm not hungry anymore," You said, looking at your dad. Sarah finished her breakfast and put yours and her dishes in the sink, taking your hand and bringing you upstairs to help you get ready for school. "I drew daddy this picture for his birthday." You said, proudly showing the picture you had used your good crayons on making a present for your dad. Sarah took it from you gently and inspected it.

"Wow, this is so good!" She told you, watching as your face lit up at the praise. "I'm sure he'll love it, but when I come to get you from school, we need to get the bus somewhere to get something for dad, but you can't tell him, okay?" You nodded in understanding, making the motion to zip your lips and throw away the key. She smiled at your innocent gesture and got everything you needed for the day into your backpack.

"Y/n! Sarah! Let’s go, we're gonna be late!" You ran down the stairs at your dad’s call while Sarah got money and his watch, planning to get it fixed for his birthday. Joel bent down to pick you up, slinging your small backpack over his shoulder. "Where's Sarah, baby?" He asked you. Oh no. You didn't know to lie to your dad. He always said lying was bad! Joel noticed the slight look of terror in your eyes, luckily enough, Sarah came downstairs, saving you from needing to lie to your dad. "Where were you?" He asked Sarah.

"Bathroom," She told him nonchalantly, following Joel and Tommy out the front door and watching as her dad locked the front door. Joel went over to his truck and started to strap you into your car seat.

"Hey, neighbour!" The voice caught Sarah off guard, only for her to realise that it was that of their next-door neighbour, Danny Adler. He was feeding his mother-in-law by hand, Sarah trying not to stare with a sense of unease in her stomach.

"Oh, hi," Sarah replied, a smile on her face as she gave a small wave. You struggled in your car seat, your childish curiosity getting the better of you - you wanted to see who your sister was talking to.

"Uh, Connie was askin' after you and the little one, since you girls haven't been over in a while," Danny said, giving you a small wave from the backseat of your dad’s truck. Joel went over to Sarah, having finished strapping you into the car.

"Go on, make 'em happy," He encouraged Sarah, who reluctantly sighed and turned back to the neighbours.

"Oh, we could come by after school? But, just for, like, a little bit?" She offered. Sarah really didn't want to drag you into it, but she wasn't going through that alone, that would make it 100x more insufferable. You had stopped listening to the conversation your sister was having and turned your attention to your uncle Tommy, who had put a cigarette in his mouth. You furrowed your brows and started pouting, crossing your arms over your chest.

"Hey," You said, getting a hum in response from your uncle Tommy. "Put that away, daddy doesn't like people smokin' around me 'cause I'm asamatic," Tommy tried not to laugh at your pronunciation of 'Asthmatic', he just shook his head at you - Your 5-year-old self, however, did not appreciate his tone and actions. "Bitch." You said, in the most innocent tone you could. Tommy's jaw dropped, looking over at Joel as he in Sarah got into the truck.

"What?" Joel asked his younger brother.

"Your child just called me a bitch, Joel,"  Joel chuckled as he looked back at you, with the most angelic smile your little face could muster. He sighed as he started driving.

"That's my girl."

-

You held your sister’s hand as you stepped onto the bus, hopping up onto the seat beside her and resting your head on her arm.

"How was school?" She asked you with a smile, looking down at you. You shrugged and played with your hands.

"This boy started acting funny today, he was chasin' me and makin' funny noises," You told your sister, sounding frightened from the day’s events. "Tried to bite me too." You confessed to her. Sarah didn't actually know what to say. She knew that some kids were feral, but this was a different level of feral.

"Did he bite you?" She questioned, sighing in relief when you shook your head. "Good," Sarah said. You sat on your knees and looked out of the window, watching as a full fleet of police cars whizzed by, sirens blaring. You sat back down and cuddled into your sister, once again feeling frightened by the noises and once more mulling over what had happened earlier. Sarah stood up and once again held your hand, waiting for you to get off of your seat. "Y/n?" She got your attention, watching as you snapped out of your apparent trance. You hopped off of the seat and got off the bus with Sarah, crossing the street over to a store -Lone Star Watch & Jewellery. You waited outside, Sarah didn't want you wandering around, it would be her luck that you would accidentally break something expensive. It wasn't long before more police cars went rushing by, sirens sounding once again, and it didn't take long for Sarah to come running out of the store, holding your dad's fixed watch in her hands. You got the bus back to your neighbourhood, where you were forced to spend time with your next-door neighbours. You didn't pay much mind to what your sister was doing with Connie, you were too fascinated with their dog, Mercy. You watched Nana in her wheelchair, making a strange noise and twitching in her wheelchair. Sarah came into the living room where you were sitting.

"Sarah?" You looked up at your older sister as she looked through the DVD shelf. She hummed in response, still scanning over the shelf. "Why is nana makin' that funny noise?" You asked her, looking back at Nana as she continued to make the same noise.

"I don't think she's making a funny noise, maybe it's just Mercy," Sarah said, trying to settle you a bit. She knew you tended to get upset and overwhelmed pretty easily, and as much as she loved you, Sarah wasn't particularly in the mood to deal with one of your meltdowns right now - the day had been stressful enough. You took it and sat back down beside Mercy, petting her as she started to whine at nana.

Okay, maybe you couldn't take it anymore. You went to the kitchen, your eyes filled with tears as you found Sarah.

"Sarah, I wanna go to home now," You said, sniffling as you rubbed your eyes. Although it was one of your meltdowns, Sarah was happy to have an excuse to leave now.

"Okay, we should probably go, thanks Mrs Adler," Sarah said, grabbing both of your backpacks and leading you out of the house as you cried. "Come on Y/N, it's okay," Sarah assured you, unlocking the front door of your house and leading you in. You were still fully sobbing as she struggled before lifting you up to try and comfort you. You started playing with your hair to give you something to focus on, sometimes if you focused too much on breathing you would stop and wouldn't know what to do, which then sent you into an asthma attack. "There, it's okay." She gently told you as you stopped crying, calming down to just sniffles. Sarah sat down on the couch with you, turning the TV on for something to keep your attention until your dad came home - She knew there was a high chance she'd get scolded for not putting you to bed, but hey, she wanted to stay on your good side. Noticing you had fallen asleep, Sarah grabbed her magazine and turned the TV over to the news.

"...No comment today from the Austin Police Department regarding a rash of violent incidents across the city, some suggesting a new street drug may be to blame. More on that when we return with Manuela Sanchez reporting live from..." Hearing the door unlock, Sarah turned the TV over once again so you wouldn't hear any of that when you woke up.

"You locked the door for once, good job," Joel said to Sarah, watching as she put her magazine down. "You know what time it is?" Joel questioned her as he lifted you to sit on his lap, you falling forward on lying on his chest.

"10" She replied, trying to divert the attention onto him being home an hour later than he said he'd be.

"Yeah, 2 hours past someone's bedtime," He scolded her gently, knowing he wasn't entirely perfect in the night wrong doings. "And I know, I'm sorry. They gave us the wrong size for the headers. That doesn't mean anything to ya. I'm sorry." He apologised, mostly to Sarah, since you were too busy sleeping, drooling onto his shirt.

"Where's the cake?" Sarah questioned him, letting out a sigh as she saw the expression on her dad's face. "Come on, man." She said exasperatedly.

"I'll get one tomorrow after I drop Y/N off at school," He assured her, waiting to see if you would respond to your name if you were faking being asleep, but he assumed that due to you staying completely still, that you were out cold.

"Promise, or you won't get your present," She threatened him gently, he turned to her and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You got me a present?" He asked her waitingly. She furrowed her eyebrows at him angrily and shook her head.

"Promise." She said forcefully, Joel sighed. "Okay, I swear." He promised her, watching as she leant over to grab a box and a piece of paper. "Y/N drew you this, she wanted to give it to you but she's obviously a bit busy," Sarah said, handing him the drawing you had been working on. Joel inspected the drawing and smiled, it was of the three of you, drawn on your favourite red paper. He folded it up and inserted the drawing into his shirt pocket, wanting to keep it close. Sarah then handed him the box, and he let out a quiet gasp upon realising what was in the box - his favourite watch.

"Wow," He said, stunned at the gift, holding it to his ear to confirm the ticking he was hearing. Sarah smiled.

"I got it fixed for you," She said proudly. She watched as he started putting the watch on, the question then springing to mind - "Where did you get the money for this?" He asked her.

"I sell hard drugs and use Y/N as my runner," She joked, Joel simply laughed and shook his head. Sarah then surprised him with his favourite movie - Viper 2. It was then that Joel decided to put you to bed, carrying you up to your room and changing you into your pyjamas. You stirred slightly; "Daddy?" Joel kneeled down beside your bed, pushing your hair away from your face.

"Hey, baby girl," He said softly, smiling as you turned onto your side to face him.

"Did you have a good birthday?" You asked him sleepily, Joel smiled and nodded, thinking of the drawing you had gifted him.

"The best, baby," He assured you, he knew you probably weren't worrying, but he knew how you got sometimes. "Okay, goodnight, baby girl, I love you," He kissed the top of your head and tucked you in.

"Love you too daddy," You told him back. He flicked your nightlight on and left your door slightly ajar, should you have needed him.

-

Sarah hadn't meant to leave you behind.

Everything happened so quickly, she just didn't know what to do, she didn't think it would have escalated like this. She knew Joel was angry at her, how could he not be, she'd left her baby sister alone in the house - Much less a house beside one full of those infected people.  Joel might as well have rolled out the car, giving Tommy no time to stop the car before he was running into the house, batting off the infected Adlers as he ran to his house, stopping in his tracks when hearing a clicking noise coming from upstairs.

His heart dropped.

Slowly, he crept up the stairs, trying to listen to the clicking sound to source its origins. Coming to the top of the stairs, he saw Connie Adler in your room, almost searching you out. Joel saw you curled up in your closet, making eye contact with you, he held a finger to his lips, signalling for you to be quiet. He quietly advanced towards Connie, swiftly killing her with a wrench to the head, her body dropping to the floor of your room. Joel almost took your closet doors off of their hinges with the strength he used to get you out, you immediately clung to him, your body shaking with sobs.

"Daddy," You cried out, holding on to him as he once again ran out of the house and into the truck, not bothering to put you into your car seat.

"It's okay baby, I'm here, I've got you, daddy's here," Joel assured you, trying to get you to quieten down. He knew it was no good, that you were likely overwhelmed by the loud sounds of the helicopters and fighter jets, the light and sound created by fires and explosions, it was too much for your brain to process all at once in such a short space of time. Sarah sat in the back, now sheepish and feeling guilty.

"I-I thought you wasn't comin' back," You cried, breaking your older sisters heart - You thought that they had left you there, abandoned you there to die. "What's happenin’ daddy?" You asked him. Joel didn't have time to reply to you before you started to hyperventilate, unable to catch your breath.

"Y/N? Shit," Joel didn't know if he had an inhaler in the truck. Sarah scrambled around to look for one as best as she could in the dark. "Hey, look at me baby, it's okay, hold daddy's hand." Joel held and squeezed your hand, seeing the panic in your eyes made his heart break. Fortunately, Sarah had found your inhaler tucked in one of the compartments of your car seat and handed it to Joel, who quickly helped you out of your asthma attack. You coughed and sputtered for a bit before calming down, becoming sleepy again. As Tommy drove down the road, he began to slow down at the site of a family, a mother, father and their little girl. "Tommy, what are you doing?" Joel asked.

"They have a kid, Joel," Tommy said quietly, looking down at you, dozing off on your dad’s lap.

"And? We got two." Joel deadpanned. For a while, you had fallen asleep, able to block out what was going on around you, and Joel was once thankful for your constant sleepiness.

It was only when the truck crashed that you had woken up.

You started screaming and crying. There was so much going on. People eating other people. Fire. People screaming out for help. You wanted to get up to try and find your dad, but your foot was caught under something heavy. Joel panicked as he looked around for you, he woke up and you were gone from his grasp.

"Where is she?!" He yelled at Tommy, he knew it was illogical since Tommy would have no clue where you were, but he needed someone to yell at it, and it wouldn't have been fair to do that to Sarah.

"Listen, I'll go look for Y/N, you take Sarah and try and find some help," Tommy offered the best plan he could think of at that moment. Joel mulled it over and then nodded, watching as his brother set off to find you.

"Y/N!?" It was your uncle Tommy.

"Uncle Tommy help!" You cried out, you didn't care if he wasn't your dad, he was the closest thing you were getting right now. Tommy was able to find you but struggled to lift your foot out of what it was caught under, but upon doing so, he knew you wouldn't be able to walk on it. "Where's daddy?" You asked him as he put your legs through his backpack straps, then pulled it up so he was carrying you on his back hands-free.

"He's with Sarah, they're okay honey," He promised you. "You keep your head on my shoulder, you hear? Do not look up at any time, okay?" You nodded and sniffled, hiding your face in your uncle Tommy's shoulder. You knew this was a bad dream, this couldn't be real. You had school tomorrow, it was your turn to talk about your dad's job. Your uncle Tommy headed towards the river where he said he'd meet your dad and Sarah, you didn't look up when you heard any of those scary people near you, listening to what your uncle Tommy had told you to do.

When you got to the river, you were initially excited to see your dad and sister again, but then Tommy got angry, which made you uneasy. He saw the gun pointed at his older brother and oldest niece and quickly fired at the soldier. The soldier’s gun fires a stray bullet, and Joel and Sarah both roll down the hill, Tommy running after them with you still strapped to his back. Getting to the bottom of the hill, your uncle unstrapped you and handed you to your dad, who held you tightly, scared that if he let you go, he'd lose you again.

"Her foot's pretty fucked, I wouldn't put her down," Tommy advised his brother, who nodded. You were crying again, but just happy to be back with your dad, you wanted to go home now. "Joel, oh my god." Joel turned around to Sarah, who was panickedly clutching at her bleeding stomach, and in a moment of panic towards his oldest, Joel dropped you.

Right on your foot.

You screamed out in pain, Tommy immediately running over to you to pick you up and try to console you. He knew Joel was panicking, but he had hurt you - badly. As Joel comforted a dying Sarah, you finally took notice of your sister’s state.

"Sarah!" You cried out, trying to wriggle away from your uncle, who moved you so you couldn't see what was going on, you didn't need to see your sister’s final moments. Tommy rubbed your back to try and soothe you, but it did nothing. Joel held a now lifeless Sarah and had a sudden remembrance of his youngest, who was screaming and crying her lungs out. Joel took you from Tommy and held you, unable to find the words to tell you about what had just happened, and what was going to happen in the future - He hoped you wouldn't ask.

Because he wouldn't know what to tell you.

--

Your dad sat you in the bath of the farmhouse you had stumbled across, 4 days into getting away from Texas. Joel could tell it had all taken its toll on you, you weren't as talkative or active anymore, opting just to sit outside and pick flowers you think your sister would have liked - Oh, how you missed her. Joel could tell that you fully understood she was gone, even though he wished that you didn't. He and Tommy had managed to create a makeshift cast and brace for your foot, but you still couldn't walk on it, needing to be carried by either your dad or your uncle. As much as he hated knowing it, Joel knew that this global catastrophe would take your childhood from you, but he'd be damned if he let it take your life from you like it did your sisters. He washed your hair down with water, to which you didn't react.

"I want out now daddy," You told him quietly. Joel lifted you out and dried you off, changing you back into the pyjamas that you had been wearing since that night. Tommy had gone out on a supply run to try and get you some clothes since you had been complaining that you were cold. There were only two bedrooms in the farmhouse, so you had to share one of the beds and rooms with your dad, which didn't really bother you. Joel carried you to the room and laid you down on the bed, tucking you in, and placing your inhaler on the nightstand, just in case the dust of the place triggered your asthma.

"Okay, I love you, baby girl," Joel told you. He didn't know if he would get much of a response from you, he didn't get much out of you recently other than the bare minimum. He waited a couple of seconds before getting up from the bed and letting you get some sleep.

"Love you too daddy" He heard quietly. A small smile came to his face. At least you were getting there.

[crappymixtape]

come back to me • part two

PART ONE HERE • PART THREE HERE // after steve gets his heart broken by nancy, tommy dares him to try something different as a rebound, someone who isn’t his type at all, and at first he’s doing it to prove a point, but when the upside down gets involved he realizes just how he really feels • 18+ | ( 6k – violence / upside down, lots of angst, some fluff, enemies to lovers-ish, steve x reader, king!steve x reader ) REQUEST @carinacassiopeiae → king!steve, reformed!king steve x reader

C O M E B A C K T O M E • P T . 2 🎶 i don't mind falling in love with you - milk.

“I don’t wanna hear it,” Steve said, lips firmed in a line as the curly haired boy in the passenger seat gave him a look.

“What? It’s not my fault!” Dustin protested, a hand clasped to his chest.

“Oh, it’s absolutely your fault. In fact, all of you little shitheads are guilty,” glancing at himself in the rearview mirror Steve tried to get his hair to lay flat, but the cowlick in the back kept flipping out like a middle finger at 7:43am. He swore under his breath before turning back to Dustin, “I’m gonna be late for class. So Thursday? You better be at your place by 4 or your ass can start walking to the arcade.”

The younger boy’s mouth fell open, scoffing, so offended, “Uncalled for. And mean.”

“S’what you get for not being able to drive,” Steve shoved his door open and piled out, Dustin following close behind.

“Yeah, well. Once I can you’re gonna miss me!”

“Hah! Not a chance. 4 o’clock, Henderson. Not a minute later or you can get cozy with your stupid bike,” Steve shot, pointing a finger at Dustin as they parted ways, and the younger boy replied by flipping him off. Both hands. “Oh, real mature!”

“Kiss my ass!”

Grumbling, Steve let the boy have the last word and half-jogged across the quad toward the side entrance to the school where Tommy was waiting for him.

Carol was tucked in against the freckle-faced boy, mouth twisted in a grimace and Steve felt his stomach drop. The last people he wanted to see.

“The hell are you doing with that dweeb?” Tommy snarked, jerking his head back at where Dustin had gone into the computer lab.

“Just gave him a ride,” Steve lied because no one would believe him about Dart, hell sometimes even he didn’t believe himself, “His mom gave me twenty bucks.”

“Oh yeah? Well, you can just give that to me now,” Tommy shouldered into Steve, reaching a hand out and mock-grabbing at his wallet, “Its Wednesday! I don’t see you makin’ any moves yet.”

“Shut up, Tommy,” Steve shoved him off and Tommy just started laughing. Shaking his head and clicking his tongue at him.

“What? Where’s your cute little sign, Stevie boy? Tick tock!”

“I said shut up!” Steve turned and got in Tommy’s face, eyes flickering with a challenge. King Steve shit and Tommy’s grin pulled up wickedly.

“Whoa, touchy this morning. You on your period?”

“I’m gonna ask tonight.”

“Whatever you say, Harrington. You got two days left,” Tommy murmured, giving Carol a squeeze at his side and she giggled as he wiggled his eyebrows teasingly.

“Two days, King Steve,” Carol purred, a more subtle taunt, but somehow worse than Tommy and Steve jammed his tongue into his cheek, staring them both down.

He hadn’t exactly planned on jumping the question on you today, in fact he didn’t have a plan at all, but studying had gone well the last two nights. Much better than he’d expected it to and you told him he could come by again after school if he needed it, but now he was feeling nervous. Anxious. Unsure. You were being so nice to him, helping him and not asking for anything in return and here he was playing some game. Like all the assholes you said you hated and he couldn’t help the pang of guilt that squeezed tight in his chest.

“C’mon, we’re gonna be late,” Steve muttered, shoving past them and into the school. Class couldn’t be over soon enough.

“Scoot over.”

“What? I’m not even that close to you, there’s plenty of–”

“You’re on my side, just–” you reached a hand out to shove at Steve’s thigh, trying but failing to move him off the edge of your cushion and he only settled in further. “Seriously, Harrington?”

“Just ask the next question. C’mon, I got it,” he waved a hand at you and the notecards stacked in a pile on the side table. It earned him an eye roll and a sigh.

“You’re impossible,” you grumbled, tucking yourself as far away from him as you could and grabbed one of the flash cards, fixing him with a glare.

It was now the third day he’d come over after school to study and even though you’d told him on Monday that you needed to stop at seven he somehow managed to hang around. Weaseled his way into your room as you picked out notes on your guitar, lounging lazily on your bed while you sat in the window playing.

You almost told him you wanted to be alone, almost made him go home, but it was nice. Playing with someone else around. Nice to have someone to talk to, to laugh with, and god. The way he looked at you, eyes all brown sugar and honey, you couldn’t say no.

Especially when he told you how he liked the sound. How well you played and it didn’t seem like a ploy, wasn’t a ruse, he meant it. He actually sat and listened quietly and smiled, tapping his fingers along with the notes and it made your stomach flip over. Made you feel silly.

Because he was a jock. An asshole. King Steve. He wasn’t supposed to be all sweet and encouraging and teasing you and giving you looks like he did. Right? Right?

And now it was Wednesday and Steve Harrington sitting in your living room felt kind of normal and he was funny. Smug, but kept up with your banter and actually answered a few questions correctly for once and you wondered when it would all end. When would it all come crashing down around you? King Steve jumping out from behind the curtain with some shitty comment loaded and at the ready.

You felt your guard still up, not letting him in completely, but he was wearing you down and it scared you. What you wanted. What the feelings stirring in your chest meant. Especially when he was sitting so close and…

“When did the Revolutionary War start?” your eyes flicked up to look over at him as he picked at a loose thread on the arm of the couch.

“Uh–” he tilted his head back against the cushion and screwed his face up in thought, tongue flicking out across his lips, working through it. “April something? 1774?” he turned to you, brows lifted in hopes he got it right, but your smirk told him no and he groaned, “Jesus, can we take a break?”

“Oh, now you want a break? C’mon, 1775! That’s so easy!”

“Yeah, for you maybe! Not everyone’s a genius, genius,” he teased and you huffed a laugh. Damn him.

“Poor baby,” you snarked, nudging his knee with yours and he grumbled under his breath enough that you took pity on him. “Fine, break. I need to play a little bit anyway,” tossing the notecards back onto the table you stood from the couch and stretched, cut-off sweater lifting just high enough that the dip of your lower back peeked out and Steve couldn’t help looking.

You were right there and shit, you were cute, and his cheeks grew warm, flushed and pink, and for once in his life he didn’t know what to do.

Usually he’d reach over and grab Nancy, pulling her down into the couch with him or dig his fingers into her waist, reaching and wanting more, but this was different. You weren’t Nancy or Tammy Thompson or Allie Parker. You were different, but then he heard Tommy. Taunting. Laughing. Smirking.

I got a proposition for you. Little game, huh? I dare you to get a freak to catch feelings for you. You’re losing your grip on shit, King Steve.

He had to ask. Tonight. No, he hadn’t planned on it, but he could already see Tommy waiting for him in the quad. Arms crossed and a stupid smirk on his face. Ready to dig into him and give him shit and tell him he was a pussy. That he’d lost it over a bet and Steve already felt fed up. Anxious. Frustrated. But then he looked at you again and the anger in his chest stuttered. Would he hurt you just for the clout?

“Uh, can I stay? If it’s okay with you?” he choked out realizing he was still staring. Clearing his throat he dragged his eyes away from you and stood from his spot on the couch.

“Again?” fell out in surprise and your cheeks turned pink as his face shifted, apologetic and a little startled, and it made your stomach flip over.

“S-sorry, I can go–”

“No! No, it’s okay. I just–” you pulled your bottom lip between your teeth, trying to pick your words, “–its just funny. Steve Harrington wanting to hang out.”

His lips tugged up into a lopsided smile, brows pinched together in mild confusion, “Why is that funny?”

“Are you joking?”

“No?”

Standing just a few steps apart you laughed. You couldn’t help it. It was incredulous and amused and bewildered and he tried to laugh with you, but clearly wasn’t getting it.

“Steve, look at us. Carol throws fries at me at lunch,” it might’ve been a little too deadpan, but you didn’t shy away from it and he just stood there for a minute letting your words settle in the space between you before looking down at his feet.

Steve.

The first time you’d said his actual name. Not Harrington. Not dingus. Not genius. Not idiot. How was he supposed to do this? Make you fall for something that wasn’t real? It was easier when you were at school and not sat close on the couch. Easier when he didn’t know you. Easier when he hadn’t been in your room, but now…

“Yeah, she sucks.”

You snorted and covered your mouth, waiting for him to take it back, but he didn’t and you let your hand fall away. “She sucks so much,” you said, braver, and he looked over at you with a grin.

“A real piece of work.”

“Oh my god, Harrington. I’m telling,” you teased and the air grew lighter as you traced the steps to the stairs, Steve following behind you still grinning and laughing.

“Okay, but you’re gonna have to avenge me after Tommy kicks my ass.”

“Kicks your ass?”

“Yeah, you know, come to find out I’m actually shit at a fist fight. Everyone else: 2. Steve: 0.”

“Did you just talk about yourself in the third person?” you half-laughed, crinkling up your nose and looking over your shoulder at him as you reached the landing and he played it off so easy.

“Yeah and?”

“You’re a weirdo Steve Harrington.”

“Been called worse, princess.”

“Shut up.”

It was dark in your room when you reached the doorway, Steve hovering over your shoulder waiting for you to go in. As you clicked on the lamp everything was washed in gold, warm and hazy, and things fell together like they had the last two nights.

You went in first to grab your guitar. Steve followed suit and kicked his shoes off before taking up his now usual spot. Flat on his back in the middle of your bed, eyes wandering the band posters on your ceiling while you perched yourself on the window seat.

The silence between the notes you played had been uncomfortable at first and you’d felt the need to fill it with stupid conversation, but now only two days later it was easy. Or easier. Especially as Steve kicked his feet off the end of your mattress while he read one of your Thrasher magazines and you smiled a little at the thought of it.

Were you friends?

Plucking out a few chords you hummed along with it and scribbled a few more lyrics down in your tattered notebook. Steve looked up over the edge of his magazine, but didn’t say anything and you tried to ignore it, tried to keep playing, but you could feel him. Still looking.

“Can I help you?” you glanced up at him through your lashes and quirked a brow, a bit unimpressed but tolerant and he grinned.

“No, just sounds nice,” he replied, voice all sugary sweet and you narrowed your eyes at him.

“It’s hard to focus when you’re staring,” you pushed, setting your pen down and he raised his brows in mock surprise.

“Sorry, I’ll just–” Steve held up his magazine and tucked back into it and you shook your head, taking up your pen, but a few minutes later he was looking. Again.

This time you put your guitar aside and tilted your head, lips twisted half in thought and half in a scowl. “What?” you prodded, but this time he softened and you felt your stomach flip over. You wished you hadn’t asked.

“So listen,” he started, setting the magazine down and you instinctively tucked your knees into your chest, his tone making you feel all kinds of things. Anxious, anticipation, excitement? Worry. “You don’t seem like the type to go to football games or dances and all that, but–”

“Oh no. No,” you cut him off, feet hitting the floor as you abruptly stood from the window seat, “Absolutely not. Don’t finish that question.”

“Oh, c’mon princess! You don’t even know what I’m gonna–”

“And god I hate that. Don’t call me princess.”

Steve was standing now too, socked feet almost toe to toe with your bare ones as he crowded into you and you could smell fresh laundry. Mint gum. Cedar like the tree outside your window and boy. Your head felt hazy and you swallowed thick, kept your eyes on his, chin tilted up in defiance as he grinned down at you just a little.

“Why? Just go with me. To homecoming,” there, it was out now and as he looked down at you, you made a noise somewhere between a groan and a sigh.

“No, I hate that shit. It’s just a bunch of jocks parading around and slapping each other on the ass for a couple of hours before everyone crams into the gym to grind on each other,” you muttered, still a touch defensive, but softening the longer he looked at you.

“Okay, so maybe we watch a little of the game and then we can ditch. Do whatever you want,” he offered, still so close to you and you felt yourself giving in.

“Do you really want to take me?” you asked and his grin cracked, thoughts of Tommy and the bet swept out the window with the look in your eyes and he stuttered over his words.

“Y-yeah, course. W-why would I ask you if I didn’t?”

“Because. You’ve lived right there your whole life and you’ve never once said hi to me,” you pointed a finger through your curtains over to his room next door, “C’mon, Harrington. Why are you here?”

Steve’s heart was racing. He knew why he was here originally. Knew he wanted to shut Tommy up. Knew he didn’t want to admit he was losing his grip on shit. Didn’t want to be perceived as weak or whipped. Like the break up with Nancy didn’t matter, but it did. And he was hurt and he was losing his grip, but when he was with you it didn’t suck so bad and he could be himself and you laughed at his dumb jokes. Held him to his to shit and didn’t shy away and god, he liked you.

“Okay, fine. I’ve been an asshole, but can’t I change? Can’t I want to hang out with you? What’s so wrong with that?” and with those words he knew he was done playing the game, he meant what he’d said and the sudden confession felt freeing. Terrifying, but like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he felt his heart thudding hard against his chest. Waiting for you.

You didn’t say anything for a moment, eyes searching his, looking for the punch line and waiting for the gotcha! moment, but it didn’t come and you bit the inside of your cheek. Trying to ground yourself. Trying to be realistic, but he was making it so damn hard.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” you finally said, voice soft and low, reluctantly letting your chin dip back down. “I just–”

“You just what? C’mon. Come with me. Please?”

A no bubbled up in your chest almost immediately for preservation, survivor’s instinct, and it was like he sensed it. Lifting his hand to your cheek he tucked a stray lock of hair behind your ear and as his fingers brushed against your skin you felt the embers in your chest flicker, cracking and snapping into flames. Breath hitching in your throat you took a small step back, enough to gather yourself, and looked back up at him with a small scowl.

“Fine, but I’m not staying past kickoff. And I want pizza. And ice cream. Two scoops,” you demanded and it pulled a grin from him, all smug and shit and you shook your head trying to fight off a smile of your own. “Wipe that stupid thing off your face,” you grumbled and he laughed.

“No, don’t think I will. Think I’ll keep it. People tell me I’ve got a nice smile.”

“That’s not a smile, Harrington. That’s a certified shit-eating grin and it doesn’t become you.”

“Oh yeah? Well you should try it more often, I like when you smile,” he shot back and it caught you off guard and your lips parted, trying to find words but at a loss.

I like it when you smile. I like it.

Taking another step back you curled back up on the window bench, Steve looking at you like he could do it all day, and you felt your cheeks flush. “Thanks,” came out soft, tentative, and he smiled. One that pulled up at the corner of his lips ever so gently, crinkled in the corners of his eyes, so fucking fond and sweet and he shook his head.

“You’re welcome.”

Steve had stayed late and somewhere around eleven you forgot about your guitar and instead took up a spot next to him on your mattress. Thigh to thigh and shoulder to shoulder. Talking about school. About college. About how neither of you wanted to go because what a waste of money and maybe working at Family Video or the mall wasn’t that bad.

You told him your parents were gone a lot and it was mostly just you and your sister. Fighting over clothes and eating cereal for dinner and he’d laughed. Commiserated with you because his parents were never home and it had its perks. Staying up as late as he wanted, eating pizza all the time, no one bugging him about his grades. He’d told you to come swim in his heated pool sometime because it was like a giant hot tub this time of year and you’d blushed at the thought of him in swim trunks.

Finally he left a little after midnight, eyes heavy and reluctant, and you wondered what it would be like to fall asleep next to him. What it would be like to wake up next to him. And when you opened your eyes the next morning you saw the Thrasher magazine he’d thumbed through sitting just under your pillow.

Most nights you didn’t dream, but last night. Oh last night. You’d dreamt of Steve. And that smile. The one that made your stomach flip over. The one that made you feel dizzy. Wrapped itself around you soft and warm like summer and oh my god he’d asked you to Homecoming.

Well. To kickoff and then pizza and ice cream and you’d agreed, but what was happening? You couldn’t deny the feelings that were flickering under the surface. The ones that only happened when you had a stupid crush, and they were made even worse by the fact that it was Steve.

Steve Harrington.

King Steve.

It all felt like a joke, but he’d been so sincere standing there in your room, glowing in the soft light from your lamp and maybe you’d been too hasty. Too caught up in how it made you feel and as you rolled over to look out the window you thought maybe you should cancel. Tell him you weren’t feeling well. Find Eddie on Friday instead and go smoke out under the bleachers and make fun of all the cheerleaders, but as you turned your cheek into your pillow you caught fresh laundry. Spearmint. Cedar and Steve and dammit. Who were you kidding, you couldn’t cancel.

You left the house way earlier than usual to avoid having to see him, the maroon BMW still sitting in his driveway. It wasn’t like you to shy away from anyone, but this was all so new. Uncharted. Untouched and unknown and maybe if you saw him again alone something bad would happen. He’d realize he’d fucked up and take it all back. So you’d wait until first period science and it’d be better. Right?

“Tommy,” Carol was practically whining, sitting in Tommy’s lap with his head tucked into her neck and he huffed a laugh against her skin pulling a breathless giggle from her.

Wrong. Not better.

Paired up into groups of four you were all crowded around the square desks with beakers and vials of liquids and materials for an experiment and of course your group had landed you with Steve. And Tommy and Carol.

“Seriously?” you muttered under your breath, putting a hand up to your face between you and the disgusting display of PDA happening across the table.

“Sorry,” Steve had muttered under his breath to you, sheepish and shying away from it just as much as you were. He knew he’d been just as bad with Nancy and watching it now made him feel like an idiot.

He’d tried to help a little, but Tommy kept distracting him and surprise. You were carrying the majority of the work. Taking all the notes, prepping everything Mr. Nelson had set out for the experiment, even wrote down the stupid equation used to find the correct amounts of elements, but no one cared.

You felt yourself growing irritated. At tweedle dee and tweedle dum for sucking face in class. At Steve for not helping you and as the bunson burner flickered under your beaker full of liquid, you watched Steve’s friends through the glass.

“You like that? Huh, babe? Wanna skip seventh period? Meet me in the bathroom?” Tommy grinned into Carol’s mouth and you make an overly noisy gagging sound.

Turning to look at you, Tommy caught your gaze through the beaker and smirked. His freckled cheeks pulling up with it as he chewed on his gum.

“What? You jealous?” he teased, voice edging on mean, “Bet you’d be a wild one if you loosened up.”

“C’mon, man,” Steve’s tone was short, clipped and irritated. He’d been sitting quiet the whole time, tolerating and ignoring it all, but when Tommy turned to you something in him snapped. Cheeks flushed and embarrassed at his friends he threw a pencil across the table and it only made Tommy grin wider.

“In your fucking dreams, Hagan. What, is Carol too boring for you?” you shot, wanting to slap the look off his face as heat crept up your chest and the shock on Carol’s face was worth it.

Tommy’s smirk fell a bit as he watched you, eyes narrowing as he considered what he wanted to say. No one challenged him like that, not even Steve who was grinning down at the table. You were quick and shit. He loved it, but Tommy didn’t.

“Nah, we’re good here, but I bet Harrington’d show you a good time. Maybe after Homecoming, you’re going together right?” Tommy snarked, licking along his lips, waiting for Steve to take the bait.

Your eyes pulled away from Tommy to look at Steve, quick wit and sharp words stolen away from you by the way your stomach lurched.

The punchline you’d been waiting for.

“Christ,” Steve hissed, face flushed like you’d never seen before and he nearly jumped across the table to smack a hand over the other boy’s mouth. He gave Tommy a look. A warning. Shut up. But it only pushed the other boy to go further.

“Seriously, I got a twenty in my wallet. C’mon Stevie boy, show her how it’s done–“

“Can you tell Nelson I went to the nurse? M’not feeling very good all of a sudden,” you didn’t let Tommy finish and glared at Steve, throat tightening as you tried to push down the emotion welling up in your chest.

You shoved yourself away from the table a little too harshly and the glass beaker clattered against its metal stand as you grabbed your things and headed for the door.

“Awh, c’mon! I’m only teasing, sweetheart!” Tommy mock-pleaded, snickering between his words as Carol watched amused and smug from the safety of his lap.

Steve opened his mouth to tell him to shut up, defend you even, but it didn’t matter anymore. You were already gone.

“God, Tommy. You’re such an asshole,” Steve snatched his binder from the table and hurried out the door after you.

You could hear Steve’s shoes slapping against the hallway tile behind you, trying to catch up, but you didn’t slow down. Heart hammering in your chest you tried to suck in deep breaths, tried to calm yourself down, but god you were angry.

“Hey! Just wait!” and Steve’s hand caught yours, hitching your steps and spinning you around to look up at him.

“What?” you hissed, flinging his hand off of yours and hurt flickered in his eyes for a second.

“I just–”

“You just what?” you said again, just as firm, just as plain, waiting for him to cook up some excuse and his lips parted but nothing came out. “I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. You’re just as bad as he is,” you pointed back down the hall to Tommy. To Carol. All cut from the same fucking cloth. You turned to walk away and Steve grabbed your hand again.

“Please,” he said voice edging on pleading and you spun around, walking right up to him so that your shoes were almost toe-to-toe.

“Twenty bucks? This was all a joke, right? Is that what I am to you? A joke?”

“No! No, I like hanging out with you now that–” but Steve caught his slip up and swallowed the rest of his words, watching as your cheeks burned bright under the bad florescent lighting.

“Now? What the hell does that mean?”

“Well–I just mean that, y-you know, we weren’t really friends before and–”

“God,” you choked out, willing the tears away that were stinging at the corners of your eyes, “Save it, Harrington. Good luck on your stupid test.”

And you didn’t wait, didn’t give him another chance to defend himself, so damn frustrated with yourself for trusting him. For letting him into your room. Letting him listen to you play your guitar and oh my god. For helping him.

Slamming your hands into the cold metal push bar of the exit door you ran out through the quad and slipped in the gravel between the gym and computer lab. Sweater catching on the brick as you slid down the wall to the floor, you buried your head in your hands. Hiding. Trying your best to undo all the delusions you’d dreamed up about Steve being different.

Because no. Steve Harrington was an asshole. Nothing had changed and you were a fool for believing it could.

Somehow you made it through the rest of the day. Passed a pop quiz in math and ate your lunch alone the bathroom. Steve wasn’t in any of your other classes until seventh period, Click’s class, and when you slammed your locker shut you looked down the hallway to see him walking up from the opposite direction.

He looked wrecked. Like he’d been punched and when his eyes met yours you scowled. A deep pinch between your brows, hoping he felt just how angry you were and he couldn’t hold your gaze. Glancing away for a minute confirmed that he was a coward and you took some solace in it, but decided you didn’t want to go to class. You hadn’t missed one yet this year and Click could deal.

You didn’t have a car and as you walked across the parking lot a rumble of thunder growled in the distance. Fantastic. A walk home in the rain sounded great.

Tugging your coat around your frame you felt the air shift, a drop in temperature, and it was slow at first. Little drops here and there. Pattering soft against the pavement as you hurried between the cars, but they got bigger and bigger until another clap of thunder cracked the sky in two and then it poured.

Almost halfway home and you were soaked. Shoes squelching with each step you took. Rain dripping off the hood of your coat and onto your face where it mingled with the tears streaming down your cheeks. Cars sped by you on the road, tires kicking up water as they went loud and wet and you almost didn’t hear one slowing down over the rain until a horn honked.

“Hey! Are you crazy? Get in!”

Squeezing your eyes shut you stopped, rain still dumping down on you and the voice called again.

“C’mon! Please?”

It wasn’t too much further, but it was so damn cold. The rain didn’t show any sign of stopping and you weren’t an idiot, so against your better judgement you turned and hurried back the short distance to the maroon BMW idling on the side of the road and climbed into the passenger seat.

The loud smack of rain on the road was sliced in two as you shut your door, leaving you and the boy in the driver’s seat in silence.

You didn’t look at Steve, instead tangling your hands in your hair to wring out the water onto your lap, but you could see him stealing glances out of the corner of your eye. If you opened your mouth you knew you’d say things you’d regret, knew you’d be too mean with it, so you bit your lips in between your teeth and stared at the tiny grooves and patterns on the dash.

“Silent treatment? Seriously?” Steve finally asked, voice low. Miserable and unsure and it pulled your eyes up to look at him.

He was a sight. Hair stuck wet and messy across his forehead, probably from running out after you into the rain. Drips of water beading along his lashes, the tip of his nose, the line of his jaw. Still so damn pretty even when he was a wreck and the anger in your chest flickered at the how your thoughts betrayed you.

“Yeah. Seriously,” you said matter-of-factly, holding his gaze, making sure he saw just how hurt you were and he loosed a heavy sigh.

“I’m really sorry,” he tried, turning so he could see you a little better and god he did look sorry. You’d honestly never seen anyone look more sorry in your life, but Tommy’s stupid laugh echoed in your head and you screwed your eyes shut.

“That doesn’t fix it, Harrington,” came out wobbly and you swallowed the lump in your throat, pushing yourself forward, he needed to hear it. “You think you’re untouchable, like you run shit, and maybe you do right now, but tell me its worth it. Is it worth it?”

His face shifted, pained, his eyes dropping to the center console as he ran a hand through his wet hair. It wasn’t. He knew it wasn’t as soon as he saw Tommy that morning. Knew it wasn’t when you’d said yes to going out with him. He thought maybe he knew it all along, but couldn't admit it.

“No,” he finally managed, shaking his head, “No. It’s not and I’m really sorry.” When he looked back up at you, you felt like he sucker punched you. Either he was a fantastic actor or he’d meant what he’d just said. No doubt about it and you roughed your hands over your face.

“Please just drive me home,” you said quietly, leaning your head against the window all fogged up from the moisture and wet clinging to your bodies.

“Yeah. Okay,” he agreed and pulled back onto the main road, still stealing glances at you. Checking to see if you were alright. If you needed anything. If you’d listened to him.

He weaved through the puddles in the road, lightening rippling across the sky ahead of you through the windshield and he didn’t push. Didn’t make you talk. Didn’t want answers right away and instead settled into the quiet.

You wished you could go back to how it was before. Go back to seeing Steve in his room across the side yard from yours throwing a tennis ball against he wall. Back to him floating in his pool while you read your book, safely tucked away in your room. Back to walking past him in the hallway at school and saying nothing, but you knew you couldn’t now. Knew things had changed and you wondered at it. What would it be now?

Looking out the window you realized you’d missed the turn at the hospital down your road and were off toward the Steel Mill now.

“Harrington, this isn’t our street,” you grumbled, fixing him with a look as he pulled off into a driveway you didn’t recognize and threw the BMW into park.

“I know, I know. I just gotta check something really quick. I promise, like, five minutes and then I’ll take you home. Okay?” he gave you an apologetic look, a real one and you groaned, but relented. Shaking your head and leaning back against the window.

“Whatever, just hurry up,” you muttered and he nodded.

“I promise,” he said again before popping the trunk and hopping out of the car into the rain.

You didn’t know whose house this was, but you’d recognized Barb’s place on the way and there was a bike tossed against the garage that you knew you’d seen before. The curly-haired kid with the walkie talkie?

Catching Steve in the rearview mirror you saw him grab something from the trunk before slamming it shut and as he ran up the walk a flash of lightening caught silver. Lit up what it was he had held tight in his hands.

The bat. Full of nails. And when he wrenched the front door open you caught strings of Christmas lights, but it wasn’t even Thanksgiving yet. What the hell was going on?

Crawling over into the driver’s seat you unrolled the window, feeling a little braver, a little bolder, and strained your ears to see if you could hear anything. Hear why the hell Steve Harrington needed a bat full of nails or why someone put Christmas lights up this early and for a minute it was quiet. Normal. Not unusual.

Until you saw it.

The colored lights in the windows started to flicker erratically. Flashing and blinking and stuttering against the paned glass and your brow furrowed. Power outage? But then a high pitched screech pierced the air and you jumped in your seat. Not human. Not animal. Something else and goosebumps trailed up your arms. And then a yell, this one human, and your stomach lurched.

“Oh shit! Oh shit, oh shit!”

Steve.

“Jesus, gimme the bat! The bat!”

You didn’t know what was going on, but something was horribly wrong and mad him or not, fuck if you were gonna sit around and wait. Fingers wet and slipping against he handle on the car door you flung it open and sprinted through the mud and the rain toward the house.

He might’ve been an asshole, but said it himself, Steve Harrington was shit in a fist fight and lucky for him you had a hell of a swing.

crappymixtape™ • steve harrington masterlist // stranger things masterlist

[kairoot]

❝ 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭 ❞ | nrk.

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞 : enemies to lovers, high school au, fluff, comedy, maybe a bit of angst (idk)

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 : harsh jokes probably, niki and his friends being kinda mean, light cursing, name calling

𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 : by @keiipopped

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 : dancer!niki x dancer!fem!reader ft. heeseung, sunghoon, yunjin, hanni & kyujin

author’s note: context for one of the insults in here: this is when kyujin had her red hair. just so you guys don’t get confused as to why niki’s calling her ‘redhead’ 😭 kind of inspired by charli xcx’s ‘constant repeat’ ?? idk it kinda gives me enemies to lovers type vibe in some of the lyrics.

the manifesto outfits for 4Z

SS ➜ high school dancers niki and y/n can’t stand eachother. then again.. they love each other. then why is niki always being so mean? y/n’s dance group, 4Z and niki’s group, PRDX go into the school’s dance competition , battling against each other to be the face of the school’s best dance team.

—

“so, when are you gonna tell him?” hanni asked y/n as they walked side by side, carrying their lunch trays. kyujin walked on the other side of y/n, already snacking on her meal.

“hanni, how many times do I have to tell you? I don’t like him.” y/n replied, shaking her head. hanni had been going on and on about the school’s best dancer, riki, but everyone called him niki. or so he said he was the best but Y/n thought otherwise. half of the school was 4Z fan-based and the other was for PRDX.

hanni swore y/n had a crush on the boy but Y/n always denied. even though they always bumped heads, y/n did have feelings for him. she could never admit that to her team, though.

“i don’t know, n/n. you seem to give him heart eyes everytime he looks your way.” Kyujin spoke, apple still in her mouth. Y/n slightly shoved her jokingly, “what are you talking about, Kyu?” she asked rhetorically.

the three continued to walk to their table, finding the dance group’s leader, Yunjin. she greeted them as they sat down and began talking about the upcoming dance competition.

“so, have we figured out outfits for The Manifesto?” Kyujin questioned the leader.

“well, i was thinking like orange at first to go with the theme but I heard that’s what the 3 idiots are wearing.” Yunjin rolled her eyes, referring to Niki and his members, Heeseung and Sunghoon. they were both older but stuck to him like minions.

“so, maybe black? i know it’s common but some leather would be cool.” the leader suggested. the group looked at each other, trying to decide whether it was a good idea or not.

“the principal said nothing inappropriate or revealing, though..” Hanni commented. “yeah, but we’re not wearing lingerie, Hanni. just a subtle leather bottom is fine.” Yunjin scoffed jokingly.

by then, Y/n was in her own world, taking small bites of her food. she looked over to where Niki’s table was, watching all of the boys chunk milk cartons at eachother, the girls lining up at their table to giggle at their antics.

niki sat at the lunch table, laughing at his friend’s foolish behavior. his tray was discarded to the side, nothing but an apple there. he went to grab it, but caught Y/n’s eyes instead. she didn’t even realize she was staring until the boy sent a wink her way, flashing his signature smile.

she quickly averted her gaze, blinking extra hard to knock herself out of the trance she was in. the group continued to discuss their plans for the competition, agreeing and disagreeing with certain things.

“well i’m stuffed so.. Y/n, you coming?” Kyujin asked, tilting her head towards the cafeteria’s garbage pail. the other girl nodded, getting up to leave with her friend. they said their goodbyes to Yunjin; Hanni heading to her next class.

the two students walked side by side, chatting up a storm before a taller male stepped in front of them.

“let me clean this for you.” it was Niki who had offered to empty Y/n’s tray. his hand gripped the edge of it as if he had really been insisting on cleaning the tray for her.

Kyujin’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked the older male up and down. “i don’t think she wants to-“

“yo, shut it, redhead. i wasn’t asking you.” Niki snapped at her, turning back to Y/n. her expression mirrored the one that Kyujin still wore on her face.

“nah, she’s right. i’m good-“

“really, l/n. let me do it.” he shifted the tray towards him, attempting to yank it away from her. Y/n did the same thing, pulling the tray back in her direction.

“No.”

“why not?” he smirked playfully, the tray jerking back in his direction. It seemed like a game of ‘tug-of-war’ at that point. Niki was enjoying it, though.

“give it back, Nishimura.” y/n struggled to pull it this time as Niki held the lunch tray against his tall frame, y/n coming closer to him with each pull.

“wow, i’ve really got you in my embrace now, huh?” he giggled, enjoying the contact with his enemy.

“niki, seriously, give it back-“ y/n’s complaints came to a halt as red sauce splattered on her uniform top, some against her cheek. everyone in the lunchroom stopped what they were doing to see the mess. niki’s hand had let go of the tray mid-tug.

a series of chuckles came from the left side of Y/n. it was Heeseung and Sunghoon, snickering at the incident. y/n felt heat rush to her face as all eyes were on her. some others joining in with the giggles.

“seriously, Nishimura, what the hell?!” Kyujin shouted, grabbing Y/n by the arm; rushing out of the cafeteria. Y/n pushed passed Niki as he tried to call for her.

the trays were long forgotten.

y/n felt tears prick her eyes as the anger inside her brewed. Kyujin walked her to the locker rooms, silently cursing at herself for not stopping the boy.

“it’s alright, kyu. i promise.” Y/n chuckled as they walked into the changing room. she walked to her locker, finding the soft pair of sweatpants and t-shirt she packed.

“you say that but i really should have stopped him. i don’t know how i didn’t see that coming, i’m sorry.” she patted y/n’s arm, walking towards the door.

the other girl smiled, waving off Kyujin’s apology, continuing to tell her it was fine. Y/n changed into her clothes while they chatted for a bit until Kyujin had to leave.

“meet me in the gym, alright? we still need to work on our part in the routine.” the redhead said before leaving the locker room.

walking towards the gym like Kyujin told her, Y/n stopped at the door as she heard music already booming through the speakers. she quickly ran through the big doors, her conscious telling her that she was late.

she fumbled to get into the gym, only to find three sleeveless guys moving around the squeaky floor, cackling with each other. before any of them could see her, she backed out through the doors.

she scrambled to pull her phone out, leaning against the wall while finding Kyujin’s contact.

“hello?” her voice rang on the other line. Y/n planted a hand against her forehead, face palming at the girl’s carefree tone. “kyu! I thought you told me to meet you in the gym?” she whisper yelled.

“i did! but that cute guy that I told you about.. he wanted to know if I needed any help with studying.” Y/n could hear her smile through the phone. “why do you sound like you just saw a ghost?”

“only because I did, but worse. It was Niki. he was with Thing 1 and Thing 2.” Y/n scoffed, readjusting her tee. Kyujin responded with the same sound, rolling her eyes.

“how in the hell did those idiots get there before us? you know what, don’t worry. I’ll be there soon.” she grumbled into the speaker.

as the girls finished their conversation, Niki came out of the gym, neck covered in sweat. He looked around, catching a glimpse of Y/n against the wall.

“yo, l/n,” he smiled, walking up to her. her eyes widened as she looked up from her phone, attempting to turn away from the boy. he brought his hand up to catch her wrist, pulling her back towards him. “you following me, dummy?”

she snatched her wrist from his grasp, scrunching her face up in disgust. “yeah, right.”

he flashed his smile again, playfully shoving her arm. “why else would you be here, then?”

“we were gonna use the gym, but it turns out the three musketeers ended up here before us.” she snorted. niki scoffed at the nickname she gave him and his friends. he ran a hand through his wet hair, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

“what? the fab four couldn’t find anywhere to practice their 3-step routine?” he pouted, mockingly. y/n tried to hide the offended look on her face as she began to push past the boy.

“wait,” niki giggled a bit, pulling her back gently. she’d be lying if she said she didn’t get butterflies from how close they were.

“how about we share the gym? one half is PRDX and the other half is.. your team.” he shrugged as if it was the best idea ever. y/n’s eyebrows raised in disbelief.

“my team and your team in the same space? i don’t think so.” she shook her head.

“why not? we’ll practically be in the same space for The Manifesto. though, you guys won’t last that long.” he snickered a bit causing y/n to land a harsh punch against his arm.

“see? this isn’t gonna work. especially not with your buddies.” y/n grumbled.

yunjin, hanni, and kyujin stood on one side of the gym, arms crossed. y/n stood next to them, awkwardly.

“well, i’ll be damned. niki, this was your idea?” sunghoon chuckled, pointing towards the girls. heeseung shook his head as he took a sip of water, laughing with the other boy.

niki shrugged, “yeah, i mean, i don’t see a problem with it.”

“really? you don’t see the problem? or is that cause your ‘n/n’ is here?” sunghoon tilted his head. niki bit back a smile as y/n’s eyes widened in embarrassment.

yunjin rolled her eyes, becoming impatient. “whatever, can we just get the speaker?”

heeseung and sunghoon stared at each other, a laugh erupting from both of them.

“we should call them banzai and ed. they’re always laughing.” hanni whispered to kyujin causing her to snort a bit too loud. sunghoon shot her a glare, making her roll her eyes.

“alright, dumbos. we’re gonna do our routine first and then you all can practice your 1-2 step, yeah?” sunghoon shrugged, smiling as he grabbed his phone to start the music.

motley crew by post malone blared through the gym’s speakers as the girls took their seats in the bleachers. two of them talked while the two others watched. y/n was definitely watching niki a little too hard.

“gosh, snap out of your trance, y/n.” hanni giggled, elbowing the girl softly. y/n scoffed at her, shoving her back. she waved off hanni’s joke, still watching niki.

he was a really great dancer. he had a lot of flow in his body. the way he was able to make his moves so clear.

some time into the routine, y/n didn’t even realize that she had began to like niki more and more. he would look her way a few times, smiling or nodding his head towards her. she felt herself look away in embarrassment or roll her eyes at him each time.

“okay, fab four. your turn.” sunghoon breathed heavily, patting a towel against his neck. yunjin connected her phone to the bluetooth, setting it down on the floor as a marker.

the girls grouped together to slide the huge closet mirror over to their side, setting it in front of the bleachers. niki, sunghoon, and heeseung sat on the other side.

they stretched a bit before getting into place before the song could start. their song was constant repeat by charli xcx, which yunjin had been begging them to do.

y/n was too into the music to notice that niki was watching her. his head slightly bopped to the music, squinting his eyes a bit. even sunghoon caught himself watching how charismatic all of them were.

[ I hate inserting these in my writings now but a huge time skip because I haven’t written in a long time so there’s 0 creativity here and I’m not sure what they should do in the gym other than niki watching and flirting with reader from afar I’m so sorry you guys 😭 ]

everyone scrambled around the dressing room, putting on the last of their accessories. they bumped into each other, mumbling to themselves about items they’ve misplaced.

“okay, out of this place in like 3 minutes, people. we’ve seriously gotta go.” one of the mc’s, haeun peeked her head into the room, causing the girls to rush towards the door.

“before we go, i just wanna say that we will beat the little paradoxes, okay guys?” Kyujin said breathing hard. she seemed to be getting a bit nervous, which is definitely not what the group needed in that moment.

yunjin nodded her head, blonde hair bouncing. “yeah, Kyu, totally. let’s go.”

they stepped into the crowded gymnasium, the lights low and purple, students scattered everywhere. everyone still trying to get into the bleachers before the competition started.

“well, this is what we’ve all been waiting for, right, haeun?” changmin said. he was the second mc for the night, him and haeun would be keeping score and narrating the whole event.

the girls walked hand in hand to their spot behind the stage as the mcs continued their chat. they all waited until the long introduction was over and when they would start calling the groups out.

of course, PRDX was first. the girls still sat in the back, calming their nerves. y/n heard the routine song, only imagining what niki looked like on the stage.

y/n walked to the side, watching from behind the curtain. once again, she fell in love with niki’s flow. with the way he moved. in one of the moves, he turned to face the back where y/n was, which made her move back behind the curtain.

the crowd went wild for the group. they absolutely loved PRDX. but of course it was mostly girl screams that were heard.

“oh my gosh, they’re not even that good. like seriously.” kyujin folded her arms, shaking her head.

“yeah, but you’ve gotta admit. they’ve got some type of charisma to them.” yunjin mumbled, peeking outside the curtain beside y/n. they all stared at the leader in confusion.

“well, that was a sudden change..” hanni snorted.

soon enough, it was time for the girls to go on. they put in two songs for their routine. y/n caught niki’s eye as she stood in place, waiting for the music to start. he smiled, slightly cheering for them. this confused the girl but she focused back on her performance.

around the second song, the girls jumped down from the stage, surprising everyone. the crowd got louder, everyone ‘wowing’ and ‘woahing’.

by now, they were in the middle of a crowd dancing with the spot light all over them. literally and figuratively. they were making their way towards their rivals, rubbing their victory in their faces.

the boys scoffed, one of them folding their arms. niki was kind of into it, laughing at the act.

the girls didn’t stop though. y/n came to the front, really showing off in front of them. she had a point to prove. that her team really could win. that they were the best dancers.

sunghoon glared at her the whole time, never taking his eyes off of her. he couldn’t stand the smug look on the girl’s face and the fact that his friend was actually enjoying it.

once again, y/n got to into the music, not really aware of her surroundings. her members had let her have a solo, really making her shine.

before she could even make the winning move, liquid had been thrown at her, causing her to slip.

“yo, sunghoon, what the hell?!” niki shouted. more people came off the bleachers to see the second incident y/n had been caught in.

“okay, no need to be a fcking jerk, sunghoon!” yunjin shoved him, her members pulling her away. he stood there, brushing off his jacket as if he hadn’t done anything.

y/n winced at the pain in her ankle and back. niki had ran over to help her but she quickly denied.

“no, i think you and your team have did enough.” she grumbled out. he ignored her complaints, picking her up and wrapping one of her arms around him.

he walked her to the dressing room, sitting her on the big red couch,“i’ll be back with some ice, alright?”

the girl nodded, kicking her shoe off and sliding her foot up to the cushion.

he walked back to where the drinks were, grabbing a cup and filling it with ice. he saw sunghoon walking out through the gym doors, a scowl on his face.

he shook his head, bringing the ice back to the room.

y/n had thrown her gloves and vest to the side, her eyes closed.

“you sleep already, dummy?” he chuckled, sitting next to her legs, placing her injured foot in his lap.

“yeah, i wish.” she snorted. he looked at her for a minute, admiring her features. now probably wasn’t the best moment, but…

“you’re really pretty.” he looked down at her ankle, carefully placing the cup of ice on it. y/n’s heart skipped a beat as her eyes popped open.

“what?”

“i said you’re really pretty.”

she scoffed, “and out of all times, you wanna tell me this now? nishimura, you and your members have caused us hell and you wanna call me pretty?-“

“shut up, i’m trying to confess my love to you.” he smiled a bit, readjusting his position so he was facing her.

“i know i haven’t always been the nicest person. teasing you ‘n stuff. but i really like you y/n, i do. this sounds so corny out loud but it’s the truth.”

she sat up a bit, looking around. was this a dream? after all that head bumping and teasing each other, niki actually liked her?

“so, you mean to tell me that.. you were only mean.. ‘cause you liked me?” she questioned. she wanted to make sure she had this right, it was all so sudden.

“well, not at first, but yeah.” he shrugged, smiling. she shoved him a bit, looking down and mirroring his expression.

she looked back up at him, “do you really mean it? you’re not being stupid this time? you’re not recording this so you can send it to heeseung and sunghoon for some giggles?”

“y/n,” niki rolled his eyes, smile still plastered on his face. “no. i really do like you. and you’re really talented, i like that.”

she smiled once more, heat rushing to her face. it was silent for a bit until she spoke up again.

“so..?”

“so?” niki took the ice off of her ankle, placing on the floor. he turned to her again, attempting to read what she was thinking.

her smile widened, “how are we gonna tell our teams?”

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author’s note : kei bb, im so sorry, this was so bad 😭😭 as you can see, im not in the habit of writing long things rn, i haven’t did it in so long.