#yes there is a rainbow in the top right corner

[trippingtranspansartistical]

Getting spooky up in here. Jason Todd lost a bet to one of his brothers and is now getting pissed off at anyone who asks him 'why'. As if him going around like this is perfectly normal. I like to think it was Dick who came up with something he knew Jason would try but couldn't do. Told Damian who'd bet him because Jason always accepts challenges from Damian. And Tim who came up with a fitting seasonal punishment.

Jason is very mad at them all but he'll get his revenge soon enough just has to finish patrol.

[abyssruler]

roses are red, violets are blue, lynette is so done with the two of you

lyney x gn!reader

lynette thinks fontaine’s worst kept secret isn’t how neuvillette wears blue underwear or how the hydro archon loves a good drama, no, fontaine’s worst kept secret is lyney’s massive crush on you and how everyone and their grandmother know except you.

comedy, pining lyney, lynette being so done

Lyney’s frowning.

Most people would find it an odd expression on him, used to having him direct dazzling smiles and playful laughter their way. But Lynette isn’t just anyone, and the sight of Lyney frowning is hardly a rare phenomenon within the privacy of their household.

Freminet’s usually Lyney’s choice of victim for whatever nonsense he’s managed to build himself up in that head of his, but Freminet’s busy doing errands and Lynette is unfortunately the only person within vicinity that Lyney trusts with his secret—which isn’t even a secret by this point, people have been making bets on how long it would take you to realize that Lyney’s been pining over you since forever.

Case in point: Lyney frowning over two identical flowers. She doesn’t need to be a mind reader to know that her brother is having a midlife crisis over which flower to give you.

Lynette thinks he should just man up and confess. Preferably within the next week or so, otherwise she’d lose her bet.

“Lynette, which one is more eye-catching, the crimson one,” he holds up the flower in his right hand, then he raises the other one, “or the maroon one?”

Lynette gives him the deadest stare she can muster. “They’re the same color.”

“Oh, sister, have you no taste?” Lyney tuts, pouting at her for a moment before returning to that constipated look as he squinted at the ‘crimson’ and ‘maroon’ flowers. Talk about being delusional.

“(Y/N)’s not gonna care whether the rose is crimson or maroon or red,” she tells him. You’d probably accept a dead flower if it came from Lyney, with that starry-eyed look you always got whenever he so much as glances your way. Lynette’s not one to judge other people’s taste too harshly, but she does wonder what you see in her overdramatic and annoying brother.

Ah, well. They do say love makes people blind. Hopefully not literally though, Lynette’s not looking forward to performing shows alone because Lyney got blinded by his love for you—though if you asked Lynette, she’d tell you it wasn’t love so much as obsession. Only someone insane would spend hours picking out flowers and calling them ‘maroon’ and ‘crimson’. It’s just red.

Lynette squints at him. “And since when were you interested in the meaning of flowers?”

“Well, I suppose you could say I like to dabble in other pursuits.” Lyney gives her a cheeky grin.

“Right…” He’s clearly losing his mind.

“Red roses symbolize true love, though rainbow roses in particular pertain to passion, and…” He trails off, eyes blinking in astonishment. She can practically see the lightbulb appearing on top of his head.

With a flick of his wrists, the ‘crimson’ and ‘maroon’ roses disappear. Lynette watches him warily, wondering what kind of outlandish idea has formed in that head of his.

But he doesn’t elaborate more, only shoots a wink at her and says, “I’ve got a great idea.”

✧

His great idea, as it turns out, is to corner you in an alleyway and make it rain rainbow roses around you as he asked you out on a date, all while Lynette is crouched on the roof, dumping sacks of rainbow roses and vindictively hoping one of them stabs Lyney in the eye. No such luck.

You, as the ever-crazy romantic that you are, are awestruck and amazed by what he’s done instead of weirded out like how a normal person would be. With an eager smile and a twinkle in your eye, you accept the rose in Lyney’s hand and say yes when he asks you to meet him for dinner tomorrow. Lynette wants to barf, but settles for dumping another sack of flowers on top of the two of you.

And if she uses a little bit of anemo to direct a few petals to Lyney’s face? Well, you removing a petal sticking to his cheek and having your fingers linger there for a few moments wasn’t part of the plan (the plan being: embarrass her brother by having him choke on a petal while he’s speaking), but she can’t entirely begrudge the result. Not when Lyney looks like he’s about to have a meltdown with just one touch from you. Good blackmail material right there.

Lynette’s happy that the two of you have finally gotten your heads off your asses and are actually going on a date. Though mostly she’s happy about the amount of mora heading her way soon.

She’ll have to thank Freminet for telling her about the bet about you and Lyney. Maybe she can start a new bet on when the two of you are getting married—probably soon, if the lovestruck look on Lyney’s face is anything to go by. She hopes he won’t be crazy enough to propose on the second date, because you’d certainly be crazy enough to accept if he did.

Oh, well. Lynette will put a bet on one month just in case.

[waitingonher]

because i love you — [hoo boys headcanons]

summary: your "thing" with the hoo boys!

author's note: in honor of the pjo series coming out today,,have this rlly rlly short draft from earlier this year! xoxo

percy jackson — doodling on him

“give me your hand.”

“yes ma’am.”

minutes pass as you doodle gods know what onto percy’s hand. you always resort to this whenever the camp head counselor's meeting begins late—which seems to be every meeting—and giving percy "tattoos" certainly kills time. last meeting, you drew a can of beans and the time before that, was a bouquet of tulips. so honestly his guess being a pair of socks this time isn’t too far of a reach.

“okay, done,” you release his hand, a proud smile gracing your features, “cute right?”

he quirks a brow upon seeing the drawing, “is that…” percy turns his head to the side, gaining better perspective, “is that a flying fish?” 

“wow, you’re good,” you say, giving him a nod of approval, “although, last time you did say that my can of beans looked like a roll of toilet paper…” 

your boyfriend throws his hands in the air, “in my defense, you used a shitty pen so it was hard to tell.” 

“whatever.” 

jason grace — sewing your initials on his clothes

“hi love,” jason says, plopping down beside you on the couch. you give him a bright smile as he places a gentle kiss on your head, “almost done?” 

nodding proudly, you hold up his pair of jeans to show him your work: your initials sewn onto a corner of his back pocket, “yup, just finished actually! what do you think of the color? i think you bought the thread for me on our second date. but i totally forgot i had it until i went digging in my supply box.” 

a grin plasters itself on jason’s face as he nods his head in realization, “i knew the color seemed familiar. i remember wondering why a tiny spool of thread was so expensive. but it’s perfect, i love it,” he kisses your cheek, “all my friends are gonna be so jealous that they don’t have their girlfriends’ initials sewn onto their clothes.” 

you laugh as you imagine jason vehemently bragging about his jeans to all his friends, “tell them i’m charging $50 if they want me to do theirs,” you wink. 

“we’d make more than the stolls’ and their smuggling business if we did that,” he laughs, admiring your work once more. who knew that having your initials on his pants would have such an affect on him, “also, can you do my sweaters and my other jeans?"

you raise a brow, "i might have to start charging you at this point."

leo valdez — impromptu fashion shows

“wow!” you clap enthusiastically, “your outfit even puts paris fashion week outfits to shame!” yes, because a rainbow checkered crop top with a humongous green tutu and a pink boa paired with insanely skinny stilettos beats any and all high fashion runway outfits, “now, leo valdez, can you give us a few words about your new clothing line? and possibly a bit about what it’s like to be so amazingly talented?” you inquire, raising an invisible microphone to his mouth. 

leo oh-so humbly bows and rises with a proud grin, “thank you, thank you, but i honestly must give all credit towards my beautiful muse, y/n, she’s the inspiration behind my new line. and about being so talented, it really is such hard work to be this naturally gifted.”

“ooh, do tell about this ‘y/n.’ i’ve never heard of her but she does sound absolutely gorgeous!” you exclaim, keeping up with the act. 

your boyfriend nods firmly, “oh yes, she’s very, very, very beautiful,” adding a playful wink, “but i must say, she has the worst morning breath i’ve ever encountered!” 

your smile drops and you squint your eyes, “i’m going to choke you with that stupid ugly boa if you don’t take that back right now.” 

“uh ma’am,” leo backs up nervously, clutching his boa, “i’m going to have to call security if you threaten me again.” 

"i'm seriously going to kill you."

[privitivium]

subbot/top douma hcs ♡

w amab domtop/bot highermoon demon reader;; cw/c, dubcon, nc touching, overstimulation, rough sex in general, fucking him with phallic shaped objects, feminization

ㅡhanging around douma in his domain as mere companions who have similar interests as you see it! being older than him, yet douma higher in rank. he considers you to be quite the fellow. actually enjoying his company? how refreshing! and even making friends with his followers he devours? nearly adorable! douma should invite you to his territory more often - even though you show up without invitation.

ㅡyou enjoyed his little quips and found him funny as a whole; douma's apathetic personality with that agonizingly sweet tone of voice. it was simply just hilarious to you - how could you not want to be around something that makes you laugh? douma, he has not yet realized this that you find him to be a joke. that you... envy him in a way. it's surprising that you don't stink of your emotions, of jealousy and humor.

ㅡhe, douma, is a possessive man.. you hanging out with his followers - ignoring him so cruelly after he invites you to see him? and he sees you playing games with their kids and being too touchy with their mothers? this feeling inside his body... it was gutwrenching. he couldnt help but be so possessive of you, a fellow demon that was on par with his strength and could easily surpass him... you just kept coming around and being so friendly... he just enjoys your company so much and just wants to eat these delicious young women with you but you're ignoring him in favor of his followers :( ㅡ( that he soon disposes of )

( and he tries to dom you but it doesnt work out well. )

ㅡafter witnessing the sight of you so blatantly inhaling a womans' scent as she was trying to explain something to you while weaving weeds into a design, he decides he has the strength to subdue you, he's sure. he knows you know that he knows what you're doing - trying to delibrately make him jealous?!!!! ( he is delusional ) he doesn't want to destroy his domain. the forest outside of it, sure... to lead you out and fuck you stupid on his dick he abuses at the thought of you - the women and men were fruitless and couldn't compare; eaten afterwards. as though a female mantis...

ㅡdouma cornering you in his after you come to find him in one of the beautiful rooms; water littered with lilipads. grunting as you lay back, licking your teeth as you sprawl out over his chair whilst douma observes the pond - seemingly in thought which you are not to bother with. before douma was questioning you with "what do you think youre doing with my loyal followers?" relatively serious... how curious. what could he be indirectly accusing you of-? "nothing too out of the ordinary." as in, not eating them. shrugging off his tone and stench of mild agitation and blinking your eyes at the rainbow eyed man numbly -

-douma... being stone-faced. before he was right in front of you. his golden fan slicing along your neck - spraying him with blood; regenerating in a blink of an eye; "be careful... this is a beautiful place. you wish to destory it?" it was a moment before he began - a fight between demons? a spar, as you saw it. being so careful not to damage his admittedly beautiful room, him taking advatange of your position and so cruelly raining down hell just because he was a little jealous. jealous... as his cock throbs, bulge disgustingly prominent in his hakama pants at the thought of subduing you and making you his plaything - ( he'd boast about it to the others. )

ㅡand, moving behind him in a flash. your thick arms wrap around his waist - catching him off guard as your breath ghosts along the shell of his ear and hand worming inbetween his legs... he can't help but whimper. yes, yes please. please do something about it, youre the one who gave it to him you disgusting bastard.

ㅡdouma being such a pathetic fucking mess. following you around like a dog outside of his domain just to feel you... so clingy. he's an embarrassment. and you tell him this, but all it does is make him giggle and attach himself to your side and dig his nails into your skin to give you pain before you get upset enough to fuck him like the stupid whore he is against a tree near his domain. like.. ew you want your followers to hear? youre so fucking gross. i cant believe you're higher rank. youre absolutely horrible. and all it does is make him cum quicker. his walls clamping down on your thick cock and trying to suck you in,,, like,,, love him. he deserves it, are you kidding??

ㅡor even riding him. feeling his girthy cock twitch inside you; your hands buried in his hair, at his scalp, and tugging on his beautiful platinum blond hair as you fuck yourself on him. even going as far as ripping thick chunks out as a show of strength and berating him for cumming inside you so quickly - you're a fucking mess douma, get your shit together you fucking freak. it gets him so fucking weird when you actually hurt him. throwing him around like a fucking ragdoll - biting him, leaving a gorey mess of him to which he can just regenerate and be as good as new.

ㅡhim cornering you in your own territory. its only fair as you often infiltrate his without his permission, right? making a show of exploring the village you resided so comfortably in, before you were shoving him away. leaving a mark that quickly heals - something he couldnt quite control but wished he could so that he could wear your bites and bruises so proudly. you had taken a liking to making him repeatedly cum over and over even if he's shrunken. fingering him, rubbing against his prostate and hurriedly jerking at his growing cock and relishing in the way he squirms and cried that it hurts but jerked into your hands -

ㅡfucking him from behind in a chokehold bro. please. or even pulling on his hair like a leash to fuck onto you in doggy. kissing his cheeks and telling him that hes so fucking beautiful - he actually feels love for you. he can never let you go - you were never leaving him. his gummy walls clamping down on your cock and making you hiss in his ear. he relishes in the sound and pushes into you - groaning so high-pitched - so girlishly, that you immediately make fun of him for it...

ㅡmaking him ride you,,, facing each other. noting the way his meaty pecs seem to move fluidly. and... mocking the way his pecs bounce as he methodically moves up and down like a whore starved for cock. fucking gross, do those work or not? insinuating if he lactated or not. and my goodness he wishes he did. whimpering and leaning backwards to give you more space to work with - yes, abuse my tits like the horrible demon i am, my inferior. you, being an overall jackass as your lips attach to his perky pink nipple, hungrily nibbling and sucking and languidly stroking his cock - thoughtfully - as he grinds himself onto your prick with want.

ㅡnoting that he has a liking to being embarrassed. abusing that like. making him play with himself in front of you; looking unimpressed as he shoves a ribbed toy and even the neck of a bottle up his ass while tearfully looking at you, nearly pleading you to touch him while he weakly strokes his cock with his free hand - sloppily. instead of making a show like he usually would, the confident gloating bastard... he was a damn mess. shoving his disgusting body away - telling him he's so damn gross and you couldnt possibly stick your dick in a hole in which you had no idea he put up there. then him fake crying, crocodile tears pouring down his cheeks... rainbow eyes pulling you in - and now you just have to make him feel better. choking the life out of him while fucking him so aggressively from behind - something he begs pitifully for. please please please please-

he so purty

[charliemwrites]

Yes yes, I know. Part 9 for Charmed Slasher is coming out soon, I promise.

BUT! I had this Thought and just had to do it real quick!

(CW for violent imagery and actual violence)

Simon's been watching you for weeks.

You're such a sweet, quiet thing. Shy. Happy to let your coworkers lead conversations, chiming in only when directly addressed. You smile like sun peeking through clouds, slow and beaming, prying through darkness.

And they way you peer up through your eyelashes, the corners of your mouth tipping up. Oh, oh... he wants to ruin you.

Thinks of you while he strokes himself in bed, looking up at him through those thick lashes. Sticking together with unshed tears as you choke on his cock. That quietly pleased smile when he purrs that you're doing so well, almost halfway there...

It's becoming a distraction, this preoccupation with you. So many others just let their eyes slide over you, but not Simon. No, he sees you.

That you shred your bottom lip bloody when you're deep in thought. You wrinkle your nose and squeeze your eyes shut when you're trying not to sneeze. Always burn your mouth on your first sip of coffee.

He watches you in your home. The way you curl up with your favorite blanket, leaned up against the arm of the couch. A perfect open space for him to share with you. He memorizes your routines and imagines slotting himself into your life.

He shouldn't. That's not going to stop him.

Price has been staring at him hard when he thinks Simon won't notice. Gaz has been jumpier; the recruits whispering more fervently. They can sense him slipping; too many missions. Too much bloodshed. It's soaked past clothes and skin, muscle and marrow. His soul, if he has one, must be drenched crimson.

He needs an anchor to keep him from floating adrift in this sea of blood.

He's found you. So precious. So delicate. He couldn't let himself be too rough with you; you'd break so easily. Oh, his hands itch to break you down piece by piece like his favorite gun. Gut you and clean you out, only to put you back together again with his own hands, his initials stamped into you.

There's no salvation for someone like him, but you're all the Paradise he needs.

And then you go and do such a stupid, silly thing.

You go on a date. Look like something he wants to stain in your clingy jeans and low-cut top. Hair done just so. He wants to see it sweaty and tangled after burying his fingers in it; his vision goes red at the thought of anyone else getting that honor.

But no... no. It's not your fault, really. You don't know any better. But you will. You will very, very soon.

Simon watches your date greet you outside, slip an arm around your waist like it belongs there. Like you belong to anyone but Simon. The only things that saves the man from a bloody end right there is that you gently extricate yourself to go inside.

He seethes on the sidewalk across the street, fingers twitching for his Ka-Bar. The images of his initials on your perfect skin is burned behind his eyelids, and afterimage superimposing itself over his vision.

It's time you knew who you belong to.

--

Your father always said you have a temper like the Devil. Didn’t understand what he meant as a sunshine six-year-old, giggling after butterflies and munching on cheese sticks. Your parents’ pride and joy, their first and only babygirl.

You understood later, though, standing at the broken window and watching a pool of blood spread and spread and spread….. like leaving a marker tip on the page too long.

You’re Old Testament wrathful, fire and brimstone, churning beneath a lake of oil and ink. Pitch black, iridescent rainbow on the surface, too thick to realize what roils beneath until one misstep breaks that molecular tension—

Rage will boil up in your stomach, scorch your chest. Burns acidic in your throat and stains your teeth on venom. You don’t drown in anger, you wade into it until you float.

Not to say that you’re an angry person. You’re not. Not much to bother being angry about, by your estimate. Disappointed, resigned, annoyed, exasperated - sure. But the raw fury that sharpens your teeth and claws? It’s an energy expenditure your mind hardly ever feels the need to spark.

But there are some things…

“C’mon don’t be a fucking prude.” He’s drunk. He’s drunk and pushy and you feel your ribs expand, expand, expand…

“You fuckin’ owe me something.”

You show a little too much canine as you reply. “Because you bought me a couple drinks I didn’t ask for?”

“Fuckin’ spoiled bitch. Wha’ else d’you want, huh? Fuckin’ money?”

He pushes you. Your shoulders bump the alley wall behind you. The sky is so so dark above, no clouds, no moon. Even next to trash, the stink of that awful whiskey burns your nose.

You think of broken windows and blooms of blood.

“Just fuckin’ get on your knees.”

“No.”

“The fuck do you jus’ - it wasn’t a fuckin’—”

“No.”

His face twists, ugly and red (not the right shade of red) puffing up like a particularly loud bird.

“C’mere, you little—“

It’s nothing, nothing at all. A sidestep and a full-body shove. Your timing is perfect. You didn’t touch your second drink when your nail polish turned black.

Your “date” however, is wobbly and uncoordinated, you lean forwards on the balls of your feet in anticipation. Watch him bounce off the brick, stumble over a couple overfilled bags, and crack his temple on the metal corner of the dumpster.

You tilt your head as he collapses in a pathetic heap, barely conscious. Make a point to roll him over onto his back. The last sky he’ll ever see with any luck. You lean your foot into his stomach, watch him turn pale and then green. He’s not going to be able to roll over before all that drink comes up.

Satisfied, you step back as you brush brick dust and dirt from your pants and sleeves. Movement at the head of the alley catches your attention, but by the time you look, the disturbance is gone. Likely someone just passing by. You don’t care if you're wrong.

Below you, the man - you never bothered to actually remember his name - gurgles and starts to rasp wetly. The fury ebbs, a tide dragging out with bloody foam at the edge. You let out a slow, satisfied sigh and navigate to the alley's entrance.

You've barely stepped from the shadows of the buildings when there's a sharp pinch in your neck. The world goes black in seconds.

[tamapalace]

Bandai Introduces the Tamagotchi Connection with a 20th Anniversary Global Re-Release

The moment we’ve been waiting for is finally here! Bandai has officially announced the re-release of the Tamagotchi Connection with a 20th anniversary device! That’s right, can you believe it has been 20 years? We’re BEYOND ECSTATIC, and Bandai did NOT disappoint!

Physically the design of the Tamagotchi Connection 20th anniversary looks like a Tamagotchi Connection V3 with the iconic antenna, but it’s clear that Bandai has put together this model to give us a taste of what the Tamagotchi Connection was like! We’re not entirely sure on the programming, but it looks like it will take characteristics from the Keitai and Tamagotchi Connection V3.

The re-release of the Tamagotchi Connection for the 20th anniversary features unique programming that includes over 50 characters, 10 mini games, and 150 items! Your favorite characters will be back and raisable, and of course you can connect them together!

Lets talk packaging, reminiscent of the Tamagotchi Original packaging, the Tamagotchi Connection 20th anniversary ditches the early 2000’s plastic packaging in favor of a more eco friendly paper packaging with. Brand new Tamagotchi logo, and yes look at the beautiful Connection graphics on the packaging! Colors of packaging include blue stripes that faces into white.How cute are Mametchi and Memetchi in the upper left-hand corner?

The back of the packaging is super cute as it details the functionality of the Tamagotchi Connection which includes detailing the growth chart, samples some characters and some mini games, along with items. The packaging also mentions that there is a password for the item on the side flap inside the box, so perhaps we’re going to get some new passwords?

The packaging does call out that we will be able to shop for new items directly on the Tamagotchi, so the shop has returned. You’ll earn those Gotchi Points and then purchase some new items to spoil your Tamagotchi!

Unpack your CR2032 batteries, because the Tamagotchi Connection 20th anniversary is powered by the same batteries you know and love. The packaging also calls out that programming is in both English and Japanese. Perhaps it’ll ask which language on boot, which would make the most sense, similar to the Tamagotchi Uni.

Let’s talk shells! Bandai is releasing the initial Tamagotchi Connection 20th anniversary wave with 6 shells. Two of which are returning from 2006, these include Bubbles and Ice Cream. The new shells include Clear Retro which features a clear translucent shell and cute retro like graphics in white, orange, purple, and green around the display along with pink buttons. Then you’ve got Rainbow Sky which is so cute and features a shell completely painted in a red, yellow, green, and blue rainbow along with some clouds and hearts, purple buttons and the top of the antenna is blue.

Lastly, Bandai has brought back the True Friends pack, how creative is that? These two graffiti shells are unique as they are excuse to the true friends two pack, one is a blue graffiti shell, the other is a pink graffiti shell. They both feature Tamagotchi characters include Mametchi, Kuchipatchi, Memetchi, and Mimitchi.

There will be four shells exclusive to Japan that are all reminiscent of shells released in the 2000’s! That includes the iconic melon soda!

The Bubbles shell includes a password to download soda, the Ice cream shell includes a password to download ice cream, the Rainbow Sky shell includes a password to download an umbrella, the Clear Retro shell includes a password to download a waffle, and the True Friends Blue Graffiti and Pink Graffiti True Friends pack incudes a password to download a pencil!

All of the shells include the new logo to match the packaging of the Tamagotchi Connection 20th anniversary.

It is important to note that the wallpaper behind the screen on these will be a bit different from one another. Both Bubbles and Ice Cream uses the numbered background featured on the Tamagotchi Connection V1, whereas the new shells have backgrounds that are unique to their shells. That’s an awesome attention to detail.

Another thing to call out is that the chain on these devices is the same as the Tamagotchi Original, or Tamagotchi Connexion in Europe. This model does not feature the same chain as the Tamagotchi Connection with the chainlink design and ring.

Pricing! The Tamagotchi Connection is priced at $29.99, and the Tamagotchi Connection True Friends pack is priced at $57.99. This is a global release and preorders are already open on Amazon with an official release date of July 9th, 2024. Japan will be releasing them a bit later on August 3rd, 2024! It’s about to be an AMAZING SUMMER! The Tamagotchi Connection is already the  Amazon #1 Best Seller in Toys & Games before it was even officially announced by Bandai! Don’t call it a comeback, call it a takeover.

[ohmytyong]

spin the bottle

part of @rrxnjun 's "the crush chronicles" collab

PAIRING: childhood friend!donghyuck x female!reader (side pairing: friend!yangyang x friend!karina)

GENRE: college au, childhood friends to lovers, fluff, slightly angsty, coming-of-age, mc and hyuck grow apart and then become friends (or lovers!!) again, best friend!yangyang, best friend!karina, xiaojun and giselle are mentioned a couple times

WARNINGS: mentions of food, explicit language, alcohol consumption, mentions and use of drugs, smoking, vomiting, use of pet names (barely lol), probably a bit too fluffy at the end, the side couple is lowkey more interesting than the main couple (oops), super cliché plot line, not proofread (please let me know if i missed anything)

WC: 21,2 k (oops lol)

‣[PLAYLIST]: amusement park by baekhyun, can i call you tonight? by dayglow, on the way by nct dream, fallingforyou by the 1975

SUMMARY: you knew you loved lee donghyuck ever since you met him, when the two of you were little kids. you had become best friends and were practically inseparable. until one day, donghyuck had to leave town and he also had to leave you. however, your feelings for him only grew stronger and stronger and you knew you had to confess to him when you met him again in college. but all this time, you kept suppressing them and you were always left wondering one thing; if he ever loved you back.

A/N: wow i can't believe it's finally here!! i've spent months working on this fic and i can say i'm very proud for actually finishing it. thank you everyone for being excited for it and especially thanks to @rrxnjun and the collab call for giving me the basis for developing this idea <3 enjoy reading this fic and don't forget to give me feedback, it helps me a lot<33

read on wattpad / ao3

You were five years old when you first fell in love. Or at least you thought you did. You could never know what falling in love meant at such a young age. But that’s how you want to describe it. Because your feelings for him could not be compared to how you felt about other boys. He could not be compared to other boys. That’s why you fell in love with him. But he didn’t fall in love with you. Or if he did, he never showed it.

Loud cheerful screams were the sound echoing in your ears, mixed with the soothing dreamy music coming from the merry-go-round ahead of you. The gate in front of you seemed ginormous in comparison to your small body. Rainbow fairy lights were climbing up the sides of the gate, confetti glued in between each one of them. White balloons were tied to the top and bottom corners of the pillars, leading up to the bright red and gold sign at the top which read ‘Welcome to Dreamland’.

Your eyes were roaming around the place, looking up to the sky and then left and right to the amusement park your mum took you. Soft awes and chuckles left your lips every time you spotted something new. Everything seemed magical in your eyes, the music and the colors transporting your little brain to different dimensions; this was indeed dreamland.

You stopped in front of the merry-go-round and inspected it. The blue, gold and white horses were moving up and down to the rhythm of the music, kids were riding them with cheerful smiles on their faces. You wanted to go there too. You looked at your mother to ask her to get on the merry-go-round. You opened your mouth when-

“Y/n! Y/n!” a cheery voice was calling your name. You stopped to look towards the direction of the sound, only to spot your best friend. “Yangyang!”

You let go of your mother’s hand and sprinted towards him, capturing him into a tight hug. “Wanna go to the horses?” you asked him eagerly.

“Yes! Let’s go” he agreed and your mothers helped you get on the merry-go-round. After all, it was your favorite.

You and Yangyang went on almost every ride of the amusement park. You loved bumper cars, you went on the ferris wheel with your mothers and went on almost twenty rounds on the kids’ roller coaster. You even tried to catch a teddy bear at the claw machines, but you couldn’t get the chance to do so.

After hours of trying all of the amusement park rides, your little stomach started growling and the smell of food everywhere around you only triggered your hunger more. You passed by the food canteens, smelling and taking in all the delicious scents. "What should I choose?" you thought. Just then, you spotted a stand with something strange looking; it was multi-colored fluff on sticks. Cotton candy. You had never seen it before, so you had to try it.

“Mum! I want to try this! It looks like clouds! I want the pink one!”

Your mum agreed and bought you and Yangyang one stick of cotton candy each, while his mum bought you drinks.

You went over to the tables to sit and eat your cotton candy. You sat down on a chair and took a bite. You didn’t know what to expect, but the sugary flavor definitely met those expectations.

“Wow, it tastes so pink! And it feels like the clouds! It's so fluffy!” your mother laughed at your excitement and agreed.

Yangyang was eating his cotton candy too, but he suddenly grabbed your hand and dragged you down the chair. “Let’s go for a walk. Mum, can we go for a walk?” he turned to ask his mother.

His mum shrugged. “Okay, but not too far from here, I want to see you” she said and we left, grinning.

Obviously, you didn’t listen to her. You liked the freedom you had at that moment, so you went strolling through the entire amusement park.

You and Yangyang were holding each other’s hand so that neither of you run away and got lost. Your other hands were holding the cotton candy. You felt so small among the other people and the huge amusement park rides, but you liked it. You felt at ease.

Yangyang let go of your hand and started skipped in front of you. “In the count of three I’ll start running and you will chase after me to catch me!” he said leaving you still.

“No! Yangyang, I can’t run fast!”

Yangyang didn’t listen to you. He smirked instead and started counting. “One, Two. Three!”

“Wait!” you yelled, but he had already run away.

You sighed and started running through the crowd too. You could still spot him in between other people, but you couldn’t run that fast and stumbled when taking longer steps.

Yangyang stopped and turned back to look at you. He smiled and yelled. “Come on, you’re almost there!” and resumed running.

You were breathing heavily, your feet were feeling sore, and you couldn’t move with ease through the crowd. You took a deep breath and gathered all your energy to run as fast as you could. Your only focus was to catch your friend Yangyang, who was now walking backwards looking at you with a smug expression. You had blocked out your surroundings entirely and didn’t notice that another boy was running too. And he was running towards your direction.

Yangyang was now standing, waiting for you to catch him. “I got you!” you shouted before you let out a scream and fell on the ground. The other boy was running fast too, which ended in him bumping into you. Both of you and the other boy fell down on your butts, the cotton candy you were holding was now smashed and dropped on the ground too.

“No! My fluff!” you frowned, tears already forming in the corners of your eyes.

Yangyang was shocked to see you fall. He came over to you to help you get up, smoothening your dress. “Are you okay Y/n? I’m sorry, I didn’t want to get you hurt” he was the one that sounded more hurt.

“It’s okay Yangyang” you reassured him. “But my fluff fell too! I wanted to eat it!” you whined.

Yangyang hugged you. “Don’t worry, we’ll buy a new one."

The other boy steadily stood up by himself. “I’m sorry, I was running too. I didn’t see you.” The boy said, his head lowered.

Neither you or Yangyang responded, so he lifted his head slowly to look at you. “I can buy you cotton candy if you’d like. Sorry” he apologized again.

But you couldn’t speak now either. He looked at you with sorrow eyes, plump lips forming a pout. You took a moment to really look at him. His skin was darker than yours, he was slightly taller than you, his bowl-cut covered his eyebrows, moles on his cheek and neck.

You didn’t know why, but you felt your stomach clench. You cleared your throat and spoke. “Don’t be sorry, I was running too.”

The boy nodded. “My name is Donghyuck. What’s yours?” he asked.

“I’m Y/n and this is my friend Yangyang” you pointed at your friend beside you and he flashed a bright smile to the other boy, Donghyuck.

Donghyuck smiled too and you felt your stomach clench again. “Do you guys want to be friends?” he asked and both you and Yangyang nodded. “Yes let’s be friends! Do you wanna go ride the bumper cars?” Yangyang said and grabbed both yours and Donghyuck's hands.

That’s the first memory you had of him. The first time you saw him, and the first time you've ever felt this weird clenching feeling in your stomach. This was a memory you would always cherish and always remember dearly. But you weren't really sure if he held this memory as close to his heart as you did.

Beep. Pause. Beep

Why isn’t he picking up the phone? You had called Yangyang three times already. Where is he?

You put your phone in your pocket and grabbed the books you needed for your next class from your locker. As you locked it, an arm linked with yours and dragged you to the corridor.

“Are you ready for this new semester? I heard new students transferred to our department, they might be hot” your best friend Jimin was smirking, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Yeah they might be, but I have a class now and Yangyang isn’t here, I can’t cover up for him on the first day!” you complained.

“Oh come on Y/n, you know how he is. He probably slept in, he’ll be here, don’t worry” she said and you nodded.

You were walking towards your class, greeting a few of your old colleagues on the way. It was your third year of college already, but it still felt like your first day.

You and Jimin parted ways and went to your respective classes. You agreed to meet up later for coffee and lunch, after classes ended.

The amphitheater was almost full; you managed to spot an empty seat at the back of the room and hurried to sit there before someone else took that seat.

You sat down and placed the books on top of the desk. You checked your phone again and saw that Yangyang had now texted you.

[Yangles]

slept in. don’t save me a seat

ttyl :)

Typical Yangyang. You sighed and put your phone aside as the lecture was about to start.

For the next two hours, you couldn’t concentrate on the lecture because of the group of friends chatting behind you. If you were honest, their conversation was a lot more interesting than the lecture.

The girls behind you kept talking about the new students at the computer engineering department. You heard comments such as “oh he is so hot” and “they looked at me and winked”. Oh Jimin is gonna love the tea.

The lecture finally ended and you headed towards the coffee shop in which Jimin asked you to meet her. You sent her a text to let her know you’re on your way. As you were typing the text, suddenly an arm slung around your shoulder. So you let out a loud-ass scream. 

“Guess who’s here!” Yangyang exclaimed, a wide grin plastered across his face, eyes bright, his loud voice a bit too close to your ear. If you ever become deaf, it’s all his fault.

“Oh good morning to you too Yangyang, I’m fine thanks and you?” you said ironically and he rolled his eyes at your comment.

“Cut the ironies bestie, I met Donghyuck earlier” he said and your feet froze and stayed glued right where you were standing.

But you haven’t seen him in years. He moved out of town when you were fifteen, right before high school, because his parents found a better job. He had promised both you and Yangyang that he would call and maybe even visit you whenever he could. And he kept his promise for a while, but after things got tougher with school, his phone calls and occasional visits stopped.

Your stomach clenched. You gulped and removed Yangyang’s arm from your shoulder. “what do you mean Donghyuck is here?”

“I mean that Donghyuck is here” he said, rolling his eyes again, but his tone was serious. “He transferred to the computer engineering department. I came across him on campus and met his friends too. Real cool guys. He asked me about you too.”

“He did?” you regret speaking, because you didn’t expect your voice to come out that shaky.

“Um yeah, why wouldn’t he? He wants us to meet and hang out, just like the good old days. Are you free now?” 

“No, I’m actually meeting Jimin for coffee now. I was texting her before you scared the shit out of me” you said.

Yangyang laughed. “Okay, I’ll see you later then. I’ll tell Hyuck you said hi” he squeezed your cheek and left.

But you were still standing frozen, trying to comprehend what Yangyang just told you. Donghyuck is back. He is back and you couldn’t wait to see him again. So he does remember you. There must be a reason why he didn’t contact you all these years. People’s lives change, right? Does he still look as pretty as he did back then? Does he still care about you as he did back then? All these questions started forming one after the other in your head, but you couldn’t distract yourself from the clenching feeling in your stomach. In fact, these exact questions were to blame for causing you this feeling. 

You were ten years old when you fell in love again. Not that you ever fell out of love. But at least now you were sure about your feelings. It wasn’t something you had made up; it was rather a confirmation that you had loved him ever since the day you saw him.

You had went to the park with Yangyang and Donghyuck. The three of you decided to do sports in the park; Yangyang took his skateboard with him and Yangyang took his bike. You, however, didn’t take anything with you; you didn’t know how to skate and you certainly didn’t know how to ride a bike. You just wanted to tag along because you had fun spending time with your friends.

But Donghyuck had offered to help you learn how to ride a bike. Yangyang bursted out laughing so hard when Donghyuck said that. “I tried to teach her how to skate once and let me tell you, I wouldn’t even think about teaching her how to ride a bike” Yangyang said.

Yangyang always found his way to make fun of you. He didn’t do it in order to be mean; it was anything but that. He liked teasing you because you would get annoyed and then he would apologize because he felt bad. “I didn’t mean it Y/n” he would say. “I know” you always responded.

But that day Donghyuck was present in this conversation. What you didn’t expect was for him to stand up for you. “Well, in her defense Yangyang” he started “skating is too hard. It needs patience both by the skater and the student. The bike is a bit easier to handle. I think Y/n can do it”.

Every time Donghyuck spoke about you, your stomach clenched. You didn’t know what it was about him that made you feel this way. Was it his eyes? His smile? His honey skin? His soft voice? His kindness and humor? The way he treated you? You didn’t know.

Yangyang agreed with Donghyuck. “You’re right, I didn’t mean what I said. Just so you know. I think you can do this Y/n” he said, his smile fading.

“Don’t apologize Yangles, I know you didn’t mean it” you said and his signature grin appeared on his face again.

You eventually learned how to ride a bike. Donghyuck helped you every time; he taught you how to keep your balance, held you every time you were about to fall and did it every day until you were finally able to do it on your own.

One day he asked you to go to the park to ride your bikes together. Yangyang said he couldn’t come because he felt sick. So it was just you and Donghyuck.

You always felt such comfort with him. He reminded you of a warm summer day in nature. His pure gaze felt like the sun rays hitting your skin, his plump lips seemed to be as soft as the cotton fields, his laugh livelier than the chirping birds. He was comfort himself.

That day the two of you went biking, you couldn’t help but smile at the way you felt. You felt free, independent, powerful. The world surrounding you was in a haze, the only sight you could see was him, the only sound you could hear was his voice.

But sometimes it felt nice not hearing his voice. It meant that he was at peace, and you were too. You had left your bikes standing against a tree and the two of you sat down on the grassy ground to just stare at the sunset. You both loved the sunset.

Donghyuck’s arm was resting on your lower back, his head leaning towards yours, which was resting on his shoulder. Sometimes, when you sat in a position like this, you would try to match your breathing with his. If you were to be honest, you would admit that it was quite hard.

Donghyuck’s gaze was set on the colorful sea of clouds ahead of him, You did the same. He didn’t turn to look at you when he spoke up. “You know, Y/n, at moments like this, I realise how much I enjoy spending time with you. You are truly the best friend I could ever have. I would never leave you, okay?”

The words he uttered at this exact moment confirmed that you sure loved him. More than just a friend. But you could never open up to him about this. He could never know. Not when he wasn’t feeling the same. Not when he didn’t keep his promise.

Jimin was sitting at a coffee table near the window, sipping from a white plastic cup while texting on her phone. You skipped towards her and sat down on the chair opposite from hers. “Donghyuck is here”.

She put down both her cup and her phone and looked at you with furrowed eyebrows. “What? Don’t tell me he’s one of the transfer students” she said. 

“Well, apparently he is” you said. “Yangyang told me. They’ve already met. Plus, he asked about me”.

Jimin’s bottom lip dropped down to her jaw. “What?” she said again. “Okay, when are we meeting him? I need to have a word with him”.

You laughed at her reaction. “Stop it Jimin, I’m over him now. It’s been years since I had a crush on him.” you said.

“I don’t believe you. You can’t trick me with that. I won’t fall for it.” she said, her tone serious. “I know you dated and all, but you always compared everyone to Donghyuck. You expect me to believe that you moved on?”

You rolled your eyes and sighed. “Whatever” you said.

The two of you paused for a moment before Jimin spoke up. “Do you think he got even hotter?”

You laughed at her comment and playfully slapped her forearm. “Stop it Jimin!”. She was now laughing too. “I don’t know, okay? He might be.” you said.

“Do you want to see him?” Jimin asked you and your eyes shifted down to your lap.

You seriously didn’t know. A part of you wanted to see him, talk to him, hug him and feel him again, ask him about his life and interests, spend time with him. But a part of you was scared; scared that if you saw him, you would fall in love with him again.

“My guess is that you do. Come on, I missed him a bit too” Jimin said and you chuckled. “Now, how about we get you some coffee and you tell me about your day, hm?” Jimin asked and you nodded in agreement.

The next day Yangyang insisted on picking you up from your dorm and driving you to your classes. He felt bad he missed the first day of the semester so he decided to make up for standing you up by driving you to class. You grabbed your phone to text him and let him know that you were ready but he beat you to it. He was already parked outside the dorm complex waiting for you in his car.

You opened the door from the passenger’s side and got inside the car. “Hey” you greeted him and he did the same, flashing you his signature wide grin.

“Don’t make plans for later. We’re going out tonight. You, me and Donghyuck” he said after he turned on the engine.

 The mention of this specific name took you aback. You muttered a small “okay” and you hoped he heard you the first time so you wouldn’t have to repeat it. “Should I tell Jimin to tag along? She said she would like to hang out all together too” you asked.

Yangyang shrugged. “Yeah sure, I haven’t seen her in a while. Hyuck would love to see her too” he said.

You thanked him for agreeing to invite Jimin and smiled at him. But you couldn’t ignore the clenching feeling that appeared again in your stomach.

Your thoughts carried you away and you didn’t realize you had already arrived at campus. Yangyang parked the car and both of you exited it. You exchanged a short conversation of “see you later” and “text me for any news” and went to your respective classes.

The day went by in a flash. It was already afternoon and you were in your dorm with Jimin, your closet wide open, clothes scattered all over the bed.

You let out a frustrated sigh. “I officially don’t have any clothes” you whined.

“No, you do,” Jimin said, “you’re just nervous. And I don’t even know the reason why, I thought you were over Donghyuck, right?”

“Jimin please, you’re making this even harder!” you whined again.

Jimin got up from the chair and stood in front of your closet. She searched through the racks and the drawers for a while until she stopped and put an outfit on your bed. “Here,” she said, “get dressed. And do it quickly. We’re gonna be late”.

You complied and took the clothes to get dressed. It’s just a meet up with old friends. Nothing to be stressed about. You didn’t have a crush on Donghyuck anymore either. You were probably nervous, or rather excited, because you hadn’t seen him in a long time. Yeah, that’s probably why.

You were supposed to meet Yangyang and Donghyuck at the local diner. Yangyang promised to be there earlier so that you and Jimin wouldn’t have to be the ones to wait for them. You weren’t sure whether you should believe him or not; every time he promises to be early, there’s only gonna appear something on his way to make him late.

Jimin offered to drive the two of you to the diner that you were supposed to meet your friends at. You’ve been to this diner before, you’re going out with your best friends, just a normal night out. But why is your heart beating so hard? Why does it feel like it’s about to rip your chest apart and fly out of your body?

Jimin parked the car in the diner’s parking lot. You spotted Yangyang’s car in the parking lot too, two figures standing beside it. It must be them. It must be him.

“Hello? Are you listening to me?” Jimin waved her hand in front of your face and you quickly snapped out of your thoughts. “I see them, let’s go” she said and exited the car.

You imitate her movements and get out of the car too. Jimin noticed your uneasiness, so she linked her arm with yours and walked with you towards the boys.

Yangyang and Donghyuck seemed to have a conversation about something and didn’t realize you were right there, standing in front of them. “We’re here” Jimin spoke up and the two boys turned their bodies to look at us.

Your gaze immediately fell on the boy that made your heart beat and break at the same time. Black leather jacket hanging from his shoulders, black skinny jeans and boots covering his long legs, comma-styled black hair exposing his forehead. You locked eyes with him, his chocolate ones piercing through yours, plump lips sliding upwards to a wide smile. You swear you saw sparkles in his eyes for a second. Only your heart knew the answer.

“Y/n” Donghyuck breathed out and you returned his smile, before you threw yourself on him and embraced him tightly.

He started laughing. “I missed you so much” he said in your ear and you were thankful he wasn’t able to see your face because your cheeks were almost on fire. “Cute, but I wish I could say the same bitch-ass” you laughed too.

“Oh shut up, you haven’t seen me in years and this is the treatment I get?”.Of course he clapped back. Typical Donghyuck. And right there and then, it felt as if not a single day had passed.

You hugged him tightly. You forgot how comfortable he felt. He had rested his chin in the crook of your neck and you stood on the tips of your toes to do the same. He had definitely grown a bit taller since the last time you saw him. You took a moment to remember his scent, to feel his touch, to hear his voice. And then the clenching feeling was there again.

Yangyang cleared his throat. “Um, we’re here too, you know” he trailed off. You and Donghyuck broke the hug and Donghyuck motioned Yangyang and Jimin to join you in a group hug. Your cheekbones hurt because you were smiling so hard. Your heart fluttered. You were happy.

Yangyang was the first one to break off the hug because he started whining and said he was hungry, so he went inside the diner and invited us in. Donghyuck followed shortly after him, leaving you and Jimin behind. Jimin turned at you and mouthed “girl he’s so hot” and went inside the diner. Typical Jimin, you thought.

Time seemed to have stopped and felt like you were trapped in a loop. Spending time with your favorite people, laughing, talking, reminiscing about the past while making plans for the future. You only stopped the conversations when you had to take a bite from your food or take a sip from your drink. Yangyang didn’t seem to be bothered by that though. 

“So,” Donghyuck started and you shifted your gaze to your drink “are you still dating that guy Y/n?”

Oh he was talking to you. You looked up at him, confused. “Who? Dejun? Well, no, we broke up, like, so long ago” you said.

“Yeah he yeeted his way out to be a model in China or something, honestly who even cares? I almost forgot about him” Yangyang said after he emptied his glass of beer.

Donghyuck chuckled at Yangyang’s remark and went back to eating his food. Jimin kicked you under the table and when you looked at her side, she was smirking.

“Well Yangyang, how about you tell us about your relationship, hm?” you asked him and he choked on his food. He started coughing and Donghyuck patted him on his back to help him breathe.

“Let's not talk about it bestie, okay? I know I fucked up” he said after he caught his breath.

“Why what happened? Donghyuck asked, intrigued.

Jimin was the one who spoke this time. “He's supposed to be dating this girl but he never texts her, calls her or takes her out. Basically he never wants to spend time with her. I seriously don’t know why she hasn’t broken up with him yet”.

Yangyang lowered his eyes. “It’s not like I don’t wanna see her,” he muttered, “but I may or may not have lost feelings and I kinda don’t know how to tell her”.

“Maybe if you weren’t such a coward you would confront her and stop playing with her. It’s that easy you know. Whether you love or don’t love someone anymore, you should tell them before it’s too late” you told him.

“Sounds brave coming from you, Y/n” his response caught you off guard. You threw a piercing glare at him and before you opened your mouth to speak, Jimin spoke over you. “Maybe we should change the topic, what do you think?” she said.

You and Yangyang exchanged a look and focused your attention on your food. Donghyuck chuckled at the interaction between you and your best friend, but he didn’t say anything. 

The rest of the night went on smoothly and you soon forgot about the tension between you and Yangyang from earlier. He was right though. You should consider your own advice sometimes. Why can’t you tell Donghyuck you like him? Why didn’t you tell him when you had the chance to do so? Your feelings for him began to resurface and it was just the first time you saw him after years. You couldn’t let yourself make the same mistake again.

The entire night you and Donghyuck kept throwing hidden glances at each other. You caught him staring at you multiple times and if you were honest with yourself, you did stare at him too. You couldn’t ignore the fact that he looked beautiful. He had always been beautiful.

Your mind, however, was focused on something else, something you wanted to have an answer to. Why did he stop reaching out for you when he left? You needed to know the reason why. He must have had a reason. You tried to push this thought aside and allowed yourself to have a good time. I’ll ask him another time, you thought.

You were fifteen years old when you had your first kiss. And it was none other than Lee Donghyuck himself who stole it from you. Part of you believed that the reason you were so attached to him even now was because of that day; he gave you your first kiss. But a part of you knew that the kiss was the incident that tied everything together.

Donghyuck announced one day that the company his parents worked in was moving their main offices to a different town, so they had to move away from this place. The same day, you announced to your friend Jimin that you had your first heartbreak. Of course you were going to miss him. A lot. Yangyang was sad too that day. Jimin didn’t know him well enough, but she still felt sad when Donghyuck told you all.

The day before Donghyuck and his family would move away, Yangyang had an idea; to throw a goodbye party for Donghyuck. Donghyuck disagreed and said that a normal hangout with all of us would be just fine, but Yangyang insisted on throwing a party at his place. It will still be just the four of us but a little bit fancier, he had said.

So eventually everyone agreed. The previous day, you and Yangyang went to the shops to buy snacks and some decorations. You were walking around the convenience store aisles when Yangyang finally admitted to his ulterior motives.

“So, Y/n, here’s what we’re gonna do. For the party. I think we should play games but in a more adult way, if you know what I mean” he smirked and wiggled his eyebrows.

You looked at him confused and urged him to continue. “So we’ll play spin the bottle. And before you protest, no we’re not gonna drink anything with alcohol in it because we’re gonna get caught, but it’s gonna be a good excuse for me to kiss Jimin and for you to kiss Donghyuck”.

You stopped walking with a bag of chips in your hands and turned to him. “Are you out of your mind? This cannot happen, ever!” you whisper-shouted at him.

“Oh come on Y/n, don’t be such a party pooper. We both win in the end so what’s the matter?” he whined.

You thought for a few seconds. “They might be uncomfortable and turn down your offer. We want to have fun, remember? Plus, I don’t think Jimin likes you back and Donghyuck certainly doesn’t like me back either” you said and put that bag of chips you were holding into the shopping cart.

“Okay, Jimin might not like me back but I am completely, utterly, absolutely sure that Hyuck likes you” Yangyang said but you ignored him.

As if the odds were against you that day, Jimin and Donghyuck agreed on Yangyang’s suggestion. Jimin wasn’t that fond of the idea of playing spin the bottle at first, but eventually the boys convinced her and she said yes. You had no other choice but to agree too.

You wanted to kiss Donghyuck. You really did. But not in a forced scenario and definitely not in front of Yangyang. You wouldn’t bear his annoying ass teasing you about it for the rest of your life. But this could be my chance to finally confess to him, you thought. But even if you did, nothing would change. He would still leave town the next morning.

Yangyang grabbed the glass of cola you emptied earlier and put it on the ground. You gathered up sitting on the ground too. You looked at Jimin and she smiled at you. “Don’t think about it too much Y/n, it’s just a game”. It wasn’t just a game to you.

Yangyang was the first one to spin the bottle. The empty cola bottle spun for a few seconds, four sets of eyes staring at it with laser rays coming out of them. The bottle started gradually spinning less quickly, until it took three, two, one seconds before it stopped and became still; the top part of the bottle was pointing at Jimin and the bottom part was at Yangyang’s side. “Oh my god Jimin has to kiss you bro” Donghyuck said, smiling.

“This game is bullshit, I don’t wanna do it” Jimin said and crossed her arms. Jimin’s words made Yangyang’s lips drop down to a frown.

“Come on Jimin, it’s just a game, you said it yourself” Donghyuck said. Jimin sighed and leaned towards Yangyang. “Fine, come here then you bitch” she said before she grabbed Yangyan’s jaw and kissed him on the lips. You and Donghyuck stayed still, watching them. Jimin only went in to peck Yangyang, but he went all the way in and kissed her properly. Jimin was quick to react and pulled away from him.. “Ew, don’t do that! We agreed on just a kiss not a full on makeout session. Jeez Yangyang” she said and sat back down at her side.

Yangyang tried to hide the sulk on his face. “I tried to taste your chapstick more, you bitch, but it turns out it tastes awful. What the fuck is this taste?” Yangyang said and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

“It's vanilla” Jimin said. Yangyang loved vanilla.

The game continued for a couple of rounds and every single time, as if it was its fate, the bottle landed on Jimin and Yangyang. Jimin had already had enough with kissing Yangyang just once, so she suggested that they avoid the kissing part and just hug instead. This went on and on and on until the bottle spun again, going round and round and round until it stopped in three, two, one. But this time, the bottle’s ends were pointing towards two different directions. The bottom part on you, the top part on Donghyuck.

You gulped and looked at him. He seemed calm, relaxed. For him, it was just a game. Sitting there at that moment, looking right into his deep brown eyes, you regretted agreeing to play this game. And you made a mental note to slap Yangyang after all of this was over.

“Now this is getting interesting” Yangyang whispered just loud enough for you to hear him and went over to Jimin's side to sit beside her and watch.

Donghyuck licked his lips and leaned over towards you. You hoped he wouldn't be able to listen to the drumming sounds of your heart or see the embarrassingly vibrant red color on your cheeks. You just went along with it. It’s just a game, right?

Donghyuck was standing a bit too close to you, probably the closest the two of you have been physically. Or rather, the most intimate you’ve been together. He lowered his head to meet your eye level, and came closer to your face just enough so that his lips were grazing over your ear. “Don’t be nervous, it’s just for fun” he whispered to you. Suddenly, this wasn’t just fun anymore.

Donghyuck pulled away from your ear and was now staring deep into your eyes, his face almost attached to yours. He looked at you for a couple of seconds before he gave you a reassuring nod. You didn’t have the energy to say anything, so you gave him a nod too, signaling him that you were fine.

Before you could even process what was about to happen, Donghyuck leaned in and kissed you. Plump lips captured yours in a soft dancing motion, their taste perfectly resembling a mix of the pizza and cola he had earlier. Shock waves run throughout your entire body, as he moved his hand to the back of your neck to support you.

You allowed yourself to fall entirely into him, eyes closed and lips moving along the rhythm he created. A few seconds felt like hours, his homely yet unfamiliar touch making your stomach clench and your face heat up in love.

And then he stopped. Donghyuck pulled back and flashed the brightest smile you had ever seen painted on his beautiful face. He licked his lips and you laughed awkwardly, looking down at your lap to avoid his piercing gaze. Your heart was still beating rapidly. You could taste his lips on your lips, you could feel the touch of his hand in the back of your neck, you could hear the sound of his beating heart, you could sense his cool breath fanning your burning face. Donghyuck had stopped kissing you, but the sensation of his kiss was still present in your entire body. You just had your first kiss, and at the same time, you had your first kiss with Donghyuck.

“Gosh you were kissing for ages. Like, get a room, or something” Yangyang said and went back to sit on the side of the room he was previously sitting in. Jimin threw you a playful wink secretly from the boys. You knew what it meant. We need to talk later type of wink.

It was getting late and Donghyuck’s parents called him to go back home. He needed to leave sooner than the rest of you because he still hadn’t packed all of his things. You greeted him one last time before he walked out the door to leave.

As the door closed, you felt your heart sink down the deepest ocean, a piece of it shattering, tears welling up in the corners of your eyes, dryness in your throat. You missed him already. It had been just a couple of seconds since he walked out the door and your heart to go out that door with him too.

A tear streamed down your cheek.So this was it. A second tear followed shortly after the first one. Then another one. And another one. Soon enough a pool of tears was running down your face and it hadn’t occurred to you that you were going to miss him that much. 

But as if a lightning bolt struck you, you quickly wiped your tears with the palm of your hands, stormed out the door and ran after Donghyuck.

“Donghyuck!” you yelled and he stopped to look back at you. You were lucky he heard your voice, he hadn’t walked that far though, you were quick to react and follow after him, just so you could spend some more time with him. You and him.  “Do you mind if I walk you home?” you asked him and he nodded.

You skipped a bit so that you could walk beside him. You started walking alongside Donghyuck, taking a few seconds to catch your breath until it came back to its normal rate. “So, when are we gonna see you again?” you asked him. He left a low chuckle and shook his head.

“I honestly don’t know, Y/n” he said. Another piece of your heart shattered.

Donghyuck noticed your saddened expression and took your hand in his. "Hey, look at me” he said. You stopped and turned towards him, taking in the details of his face. His chocolate eyes were gleaming under the moonlight, the moles on his dark cheek reminded you of the stars in the night sky.

“I will not forget you. Ever. Always remember that. I will try my best to call you as much as I can, all of you. You guys are my best friends, I could never leave you. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, it won’t be that easy for me to visit you often. but I promise to make up for all the time that we will lose. Especially for you. But I can’t be sure when that will be.”

A tear slipped down your cheek again and he wiped it away with his thumb. Why is he being like this all of a sudden?

Your voice wasn’t strong enough at that moment for you to speak, so you opened your arms to embrace him instead. And he hugged you back so tightly you thought your body would be merged with his. He buried his head at the crook of your neck and you stayed there for a while, feeling the presence of your bodies on each other. Not a single word was said, yet you felt so comfortable and safe in his arms.

That night you had helped him pack his things. You stayed in his room afterwards, talking, laughing, crying. God you were going to miss him. That day, you thought for the first time ever that maybe your feelings were reciprocated. But he said nothing about it. So you didn’t say anything either.

But you wanted to. It felt like all the words were stuck in your throat and there was something blocking them from coming out. I like you Donghyuck, I like you a lot. It was that easy. But for some reason, you couldn’t say it out loud. Maybe you didn’t want to. Maybe you were too scared of rejection. Or maybe you were afraid of losing a friend.

You and Donghyuck were sitting at the stairs of his porch, next to each other, facing the stars of the night sky. You didn’t want to go home. You couldn’t. You wanted to stay there longer, kiss him again, talk to him about anything and then kiss him again.

When you stood up to leave, he hugged you one last time, stroking your hair lightly. He spoke in a low voice in your ear. “I’ll be back. Don’t forget me”.

How could I ever forget you Donghyuck?

The day after you met Donghyuck at the diner, he texted you and asked to hang out later after your classes. You would be lying to yourself if you said that you didn’t screech like a schoolgirl the moment you saw his text message on your phone when you woke up.

Of course you agreed to meet him. At that moment, you didn’t feel nervous, at all,  but as time passed your stomach was clenching more and more.

Jimin wouldn’t stop nudging you about it the entire day. She wanted to meet up for lunch because she was dying to talk about this ever since you came back home last night. “The first thing he did in the morning was to ask you to hang out later? Yeah, sounds like a date to me” she said.

You rolled your eyes at her. “It's not a date, drop it. He just wants us to hang out, that’s it” you said.

“Are you sure that you want to just hang out though?” she asked you.

You thought for a second. “Well, no, but I won't try to do anything more than that” you said.

“Whatever,” Jimin said “you have to tell him sometime though, you know that right? And you also have to admit to yourself that you never really got over him, so now that he’s here you have to make your move. You had your chance once and you lost it. So don’t lose it again now”.

You sighed. “What if he doesn’t feel the same” you said.

“Who gives a fuck?” Jimin said “If he doesn’t feel the same, you will close this chapter and begin a new one. There are other fish in the sea too, you know”

Yeah but it’s not the same, you whispered to yourself. Jimin didn’t hear you.

As soon as you came back to your dorm, you went straight to searching through your closet for an outfit to wear later, when your phone chimed.

[Hyuck]

meet me at the park in about hour

[Hyuck]

bring your bike too

You were staring at your phone screen until it turned off. Oh he’s such a little bitch, you thought.

You put on comfortable clothes and running shoes, and decided to ride your bike on the way to the park. The sun was beginning to set; orange and pink hues painted the sky, a light chilly breeze combing through your hair. The park was still lively, little kids were playing with each other, old couples were going for walks, some students were studying under the trees.

You hadn’t been to the park since the day Donghyuck left. Yangyang wanted to go skating there from time to time, but every time he asked you to keep him company, you turned down his offer. Then, he started filling his time with dating girls and you started spending more time with Jimin, so the park wasn’t your go-to place to hang out anymore.

You saw Donghyuck leaning against a tree, foot resting on top of the bike’s pedal, same black leather jacket as the day before, a bucket hat hiding his pretty features. He was scrolling through his phone as you approached him.

“Hey” you said and his head shot up, turning off his phone and placing it in his pocket. “Y/n, hi” he said and smiled. You smiled back at him. He looked beautiful when he smiled.

“So, you still like the park, I see” you said. He nodded and hopped on his bike. “I do. So come on, let’s go for a ride. I think we have to catch up on a lot of things. And I promised to make up for all the time we lost. So, let’s go” he said and started riding his bike.

You followed shortly after him until you were now biking beside him. So he does remember his promise, you thought. You smiled to yourself and pushed your thoughts to the back of your mind. You wanted to enjoy your time with him, just like the old times.

You spent hours biking and talking about anything. Donghyuck told you stories from his high school years, the friends he met on the way, how he changed his college major and decided to come back here to study computer engineering.

“A part of me wanted this change because I missed this town, you know? I have so many memories here, I was kinda attached to this place. All I needed was a valid reason to come back, and I found one, so here I am.” he said.

You couldn’t help but bring the same questions to your mind, so you gathered all of your strength and asked him. “Then why didn’t you visit us at all? Or even call us back? You did at first and then you stopped. Why?”

Donghyuck pulled the breaks of his bike and rested his feet on the ground to stop the bike from moving. You mimicked his actions and stood there searching his features for an answer. He cleared his throat and turned to look at you. You couldn’t see his face clearly because the bucket hat was casting a shadow over his features.

“Honestly, I don’t really know. I didn’t want to stop contacting you, but I don’t know why I did it.” He paused for a few moments. He drew in a breath and started again. “You know what, I think I know, but I can’t tell you now. Maybe some other time, okay?” he said.

You were left confused, but decided not to question him any further. Instead, you nodded and smiled at him. He would tell you when he was ready to do so.

The sky was getting darker and darker and both your stomachs growled in hunger. Donghyuck suggested that you buy takeout and sit under at the park to stargaze. You left your bikes leaning against a random tree and put your jackets on the ground to sit on them.

The sky looked beautiful. The stars and the moon were shining brightly, contrasting with the pitch black background of the sky. Donghyuck was staring at the sky when he spoke up “I remember how much you liked watching the sky when you were younger. You were always watching the stars closely and we made bets on which one would fall first.”

You chuckled at the memory. “And you always lost. Every. Single. Time. Seriously, you have no intuition at all. You had won one time and bragged about it forever” you said and he laughed.

He turned his head to face you. He had taken off his hat too, his black hair was falling over his eyes. “You were just lucky all the other times. Don’t flatter yourself” he said.

You sat there and ate your food in silence. Comfortable silence. The only sound that was heard was the singing of the cicadas in the trees and occasionally your munching on the food.

Everything felt at ease again. You and Donghyuck, sitting beside each other, enjoying each other’s company, not having to utter a single word. You were smiling at yourself, it really felt as if not a single day had passed.

Donghyuck looked back at the sky and took a sip from his drink before he addressed you. “You really improved. Biking, I mean. I remember you were still struggling when I left” he said.

“Thanks, I still rode my bike to school so that I could get used to it more. Thank you for teaching me by the way. I don’t think I ever thanked you properly” you said.

“It's no problem” he said and sipped from his drink again.

He opened his mouth to speak again, changing the subject now. “So, why did you break up with that guy? Dejun, was it?” he asked.

Why is he so curious about that? “Oh, there were many reasons actually. He wasn’t a bad guy, he was really cool and I liked him a lot. It’s just that we got kinda bored of each other, I guess? And he also graduated from high school a year earlier than me so then he had to go back to China for college.”

Donghyuck nodded. “I see” he paused and asked again. “How was he like?”

“Why do you even bother so much? He is old news now, anyway” you said. But now you were curious about Donghyuck too. “Tell me about you, did you date anyone in high school?”

You don’t know why but you got anxious waiting for his answer. He shrugged. “Yeah but nothing serious. Just casual things, you know?” he said and you hummed in agreement.

The night went on and you talked more. You and Donghyuck agreed to hang out at the park every day after your classes, like you used to. That’s what he suggested. You couldn’t say no; of course you wanted to spend time with him.

And that’s what you did. You grew closer again, maybe even closer than you used to be. You enjoyed biking and stargazing in the park a lot. It had become your thing; an activity that the two of you shared with each other, an excuse to get away from everyone and everything and make up for all the memories you could have had.

There were quite a few moments when you wanted to look Donghyuck in the eyes and tell him I like you dumbass. But every single time you backed away from doing it. You were too scared that these harmless words would end up destroying everything you had built with him.

So you waited. You waited for the right time to bring it up. You were having the time of your life alongside a dear person that you’ve loved and appreciated your entire life. You were not ready to take the risk and possibly lose him. So you never said a word. Because he didn’t say any words either.

“Why does Donghyuck keep asking me about Dejun? What is so interesting about him? If he wants to find out more about him, he should be the one to date him” the frustration in your voice made a couple of people turn their heads from the tables next to yours.

Jimin took a fork bite of her carrot cake. “Girl, you must be joking” she said, munching on the piece of cake. “He asks about him because, guess what, he is jealous! J-e-a-l-o-u-s. Got it? Why are you so stupid, gosh! The man has clearly fallen for you and you are so oblivious of it!”.

“I mean why would he be jealous? Dejun and I broke up so long ago” you muttered to yourself.

Jimin heard that and, obviously, she wouldn’t leave it at that. “This is what happens when you like someone. Donghyuck keeps asking you about your ex boyfriend because he wants to make sure he’s in the clear to make a move.”

You sighed. “Is this why you keep asking Yangyang if he broke up with his girlfriend? Look, Jimin, I love you, but I don’t think Hyuck likes me. As a friend, yes. But nothing more than that.”

Jimin gulped down a glass full of water. “Okay, whatever floats your boat, Y/n” she said and took another fork bite of her cake. “So, did Yangyang tell you? A frat guy he knows is hosting a party this weekend, wanna go?” she asked you.

“Come on Jiminie, you know I don’t really do parties” you whined.

Jimin rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t expecting a different answer. But we’re definitely going. There’s gonna be hot boys, good music and lots of alcohol. I heard Donghyuck is going too”.

“Well, he didn’t mention any party” you defended him. “He didn’t mention any party yet” Jimin corrected you. “He's gonna bring it up any second. I bet you can’t say no to him, you care too much about his feelings but you never care about mine” Jimin sulked.

You mentally slapped her only because you couldn’t bear to slap her for real. “I will go to the party because you want us to go, not because Donghyuck will supposedly be there. You know I always come along with you in everything. We come as a package, remember? Now, don’t sulk and eat your cake, we have to think about our outfits” you said. She was your best friend after all, it was the least you could do.

Jimin’s face lit up and her lips curved upwards, stretching all the way to her ears. Before she could open her mouth to speak, you cut her off. “But you have to promise me that you won’t get drunk, okay?” you said and lifted your pinky.

She linked her pinky finger with yours and nodded in agreement. “I don’t exactly promise it, but I’ll try my best” she said.

Donghyuck indeed mentioned the party later that day when you went out at the park with him. “I don’t really wanna go either Y/n, but all my friends are gonna be there. And now that you’re gonna be there too, I can’t be the only one missing out from all the fun” he said.

Donghyuck has had his fun share with parties during high school. He told you so one night at the park. He would sneak out the house and go to parties during weekends, but one night, or rather morning, he went home super drunk and threw up all over the front door rug. He claimed that this happened because of a dare his friends made him do and that he didn’t intend to drink as much as he did. After that, he avoided parties like the plague. It’s not that his parents never allowed him to go again; he could easily sneak out his window. He was smart enough to realize that parties were simply not good for him.

“I wanted to fit in with them, you know?” Donghyuck said “I got used to it eventually and I actually kinda liked it, but now I don’t really enjoy such things”.

That’s one of the many reasons you liked Donghyuck so much. His honesty. He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind about things that bothered him, or simply voice out his thoughts. So why wasn’t he doing it with his feelings too? Was it so hard for him too? Did he actually like you, like Jimin said? Or maybe you just wanted to believe that he did. If he really did, he would probably have said it by now.

But his actions spoke louder than his words. You couldn’t help but think about the way he looked at you under the night sky when you were staring at the stars but he was staring back at you. Or when he wiped your strawberry milk stains from the corners of your lips and his fingers stayed there brushing your lips a little longer than they should be. Or when he held you close to him among big crowds so that he wouldn’t lose you from his sight. Or when he would let you rest your head on his chest while he was stroking your hair so that you could fall asleep faster.

You swear you had heard him whisper something to you once, but when you asked him to repeat it he waved it off. Were you that desperate for his attention? Maybe. But maybe both of you were fools, afraid to let their heart be free because of the painful possibility that it might break.

You and Jimin were standing in front of the frat house door, the loud music blasting through the speakers behind the wall created a throbbing base sound in your ears, your heart beat in sync with the beat of the song that was playing from inside that house.

“Do we knock or...” Jimin trailed off before the door slid wide open and a tipsy young man stood by it. “Welcome ladies, come on in” he said. You and Jimin looked at each other for confirmation before hesitantly taking a step forward. The young man stepped aside so that you could get through the door.

The place was dark, the only source of light being the neon special effects lighting coming from the DJ set. The rooms were packed with people, some of them already drunk, some of them dancing all over each other, the mixed odor of sweat, alcohol and weed making you dizzy. At that exact moment you reminded yourself that this was why you didn’t like parties.

You and Jimin stood there, eyes wandering all over the room, trying to take in the scenery in front of you. “Damn, this is so cool” Jimin breathed out.

The guy who opened the door a few seconds ago was nowhere to be seen. A girl was walking with her sunglasses on, when she bumped into Jimin and spilled a bit of her drink on the ground, a drop of it landing on Jimin’s shoe. A “sorry” was barely audible on top of the loud music and Jimin stood there looking at her shoe in disgust.

“I guess it’s not that cool” she said and grabbed your hand. “Let’s go get ourselves some drinks.”

You walked towards the kitchen which was a bit brighter compared to the other rooms. Bottles of different types of alcohol were lined up on the kitchen counter. Juice boxes, ice and plastic red cups were placed on the kitchen table. A group of boys were refilling their cups with their alcohol of choice, while a couple was making out up against the wall next to the fridge.

Jimin’s disgusted expression from earlier appeared again. You decided to ignore your surroundings and went over to the kitchen counter to grab a drink for you and Jimin.

“Where’s Yangyang?” Jimin asked

“I honestly have no idea. He said he’d text me once he gets here, but I’m a bit surprised he didn’t arrive earlier than us. He doesn’t miss on such things” you said and Jimin nodded.

“And Donghyuck?” she asked again

You put the bottle of alcohol down and grabbed a box of grapefruit juice. You shrugged. “ No idea either.”

Jimin smirked at your answer, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she took her cup and guided you out of the kitchen towards the living room. “Come on, let’s dance” she said.

The music was blasting into your eardrums and your body caught the rhythm of the music, adjusting its muscles to move along to it. It wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be. Your body was swaying to the fast-paced song that the DJ was playing when you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket.

[Hyuck]

where are you?

[Hyuck]

can’t see you

You lifted your head to look around the crowded living room in hopes of finding Donghyuck. It didn’t take you long before you could spot him among the crowd, though. You could never miss him anywhere, he always stood out in your eyes. Your gaze caught his, and his lips curved a bit when he saw you.

He tried to squeeze between the people dancing in the living room in order to get to your place. “What are you looking at?” Jimin asked you when she noticed that something bothered you.

You didn’t have time to answer her, because Donghyuck grabbed your arm to smoothly turn your body around and shift your attention to him. You felt a lump in your throat, your breath trapped inside your lungs. There he stood, messy hair falling onto his eyes, black graphic shirt and jeans, a Cuban link around his neck and matching rings on his fingers contrasting with the dark colors of his outfit. He looked gorgeous.

He flashed you a smile, raising his voice so that you could hear him. “Hi” he said. He simply said hi. Yet a group of butterflies started dancing in your stomach. You said it back.

Jimin got the message and leaned in your ear. “I think I saw some girls I know from one of my classes. I’d better leave you two” she said and turned on her heel to leave.

Donghyuck waved Jimin off and grabbed your hand. He then bent a bit lower and leaned in your ear. “Should we go somewhere quieter?” he asked you, his low voice vibrating in your ear. You could only nod.

Donghyuck walked in the front and you followed behind him, still holding his hand. He led you outside the house, towards the back yard. Plastic cups were scattered all over the grassy ground, two girls passed out beside some bushes, a guy sipping alcohol from a glass bottle and dancing on his own. Yeah, parties were weird.

You felt weirded out and uncomfortable at the sight and Donghyuck sensed it. He squeezed your hand and you looked up at him. He nodded to the large swing beside the barbecue stand and motioned you to go and sit there.

You sat down on the swing and Donghyuck copied your movement. He leaned his body towards the back so that it touched the back of the swing and with a swift motion, he pushed his feet on the ground and the swing started moving. You lifted your feet off the ground and let Donghyuck rock the swing smoothly.

You sat in silence for a moment, that comfortable silence that only existed when you were with Donghyuck, which was interrupted by his honey voice. “I don’t like parties” he simply said.

You turned to look at him but he was staring into the void in front of him. “ I have bad memories when it comes to parties” he said.

You didn’t speak. You didn’t want to. You always let him open up to you without interrupting his stream of thoughts.

Donghyuck drew in a sharp breath. “Remember that story I told you about that party? That one when I went home the next day and threw up all over the door? Yeah that one. I couldn’t bear going to something like this again when the last time I did, I didn’t even do it for myself. Did you know that I started drinking so that kids at my new school thought I was cool? That’s how I ended up spilling my guts all over my mother’s rug.”

He turned to look at you. “Pretty disgusting, huh?” he chuckled.

You chuckled too. You lowered your gaze to your feet. “Then why did you come here tonight?” you asked him.

“I don’t know” he said without even thinking about his answer. “I guess I came for my friends again.“ He paused for a second and spoke again “And I guess I also came to see you, mostly” he trailed off.

You stilled at his words and you thanked yourself for staring at your shoes and not looking at him, because he would be able to see the embarrassingly bright red color of your cheeks.

“But you see me everyday. We hang out all the time” you said.

“I know” he said. That’s all he said. What was that even supposed to mean?

Before you could speak, Donghyuck got up from the swing and extended his arm in front of you. “Come on, let's get out of here. This party sucks, we both hate it, so why waste our time? Let’s leave. Me and you.” he said.

You looked up at him. “Hyuck,” you trailed off “as much as I hate this party and as much as I want to leave with you, I promised Jimin to keep her company” you really hated that you had to say this.

“Jimin has found other people to hang out with, she’ll be fine, I know it.” Donghyuck said, a glimpse of hope in the tone of his voice.

That glimpse vanished when you rejected his offer for the second time, the corners of his mouth dropping to a frown. “I’m sorry Hyuck, I can’t” you said.

Donghyuck nodded to himself and put his hands inside his pockets. He cleared his throat but his voice still came out a bit raspy and low. “It’s okay, I get it.”

Your heart shuttered upon seeing him like this. You really didn’t want to make him feel bad, but you had also promised Jimin to be there for her since she wanted this so much. And you couldn’t let yourself break that promise, even though it was actually a bit trivial. Because in all honesty, Jimin would really be fine.

But also a small part of you was too flustered to spend time alone with Donghyuck at that moment. You felt as if you weren’t capable of controlling your emotions; your feelings kept growing stronger and stronger, and his presence alone was enough to make you feel overwhelmed with love.

The back door opened and someone came running through it. “Donghyuck, dude!” a guy you didn’t quite recognize yelled and came to grab Donghyuck by his arm. “You’re missing out on all the fuuuun my dude, come in back insideeee we’re gonna get fucking wasted!” the guy was yelling and patting Donghyuck on the back of his neck while dragging him inside the frat house.

Donghyuck said something you didn’t quite catch, and he tried to let go of the guy’s hold on him, but he failed to do so. The guy had already taken him to the back door and inside the house.

The door closed shut behind them and you left sitting on the swing by yourself, rocking it slightly with your feet. You shivered under the cool evening breeze and wrapped your arms around your body to shield yourself from the cold.

You didn’t want to go back inside. You promised Jimin to keep her company, but a frat party was the last place you wanted to be at, at that time. You grabbed your phone and, speaking of the devil, a few texts from Jimin appeared on your screen.

[Jiminie]

spotted yangyang. pretty sure he took a girl to a room

[Jiminie]

doesn’t he a gf?

You sighed reading Jimin’s texts. You really had to have a talk with Yangyang. And Jimin, for that matter. At least you knew that he was safe and that you probably won’t have to take care of him like a baby after you leave the party.

[you]

let him be, we’ll kick his ass tomorrow

[you]

where are you?

The text you wrote was delivered for the next 15 minutes. Jimin hadn’t read your message. All of a sudden, your hands became sweaty and your chest felt heavy as if a rock had fallen onto it.

Why didn’t she text me back?

Worry started welling up inside you and you rushed inside the house looking for your best friend. The music had got louder, the crowd was bigger, the smell of alcohol and weed more prominent. You went running up and down the stairs, kicking open every single door you found on your way.

Still, Jimin was nowhere to be found.

You stood at the edge of the stairway for a second to catch your breath. You opened your phone to call her and started walking towards the bathroom, the last room you didn’t check.

The phone was beeping in your ear, but Jimin didn’t pick up. You exhaled sharply and opened the bathroom door, still holding the phone in your ear. The sweat on your palms and the rock on your chest magically disappeared when you saw Jimin kneeling in front of the toilet with an arm holding her hair back out of her face.

A sigh of relief escaped your lips and you stopped the phone call. “Thank god you’re safe. I was so freaked out you bitch” you said and crouched down beside her. “Are you okay?” you asked her.

Jimin nodded and let her hair fall down her shoulders. She wiped her lips with the back of her palm before she spoke. “I’m okay. I had a bit too much alcohol and I threw up. But I feel better now. Sorry for making you worried” she said.

You opened your arms and she fell into your embrace. You stroked her head lightly, as you could feel her warm tears wetting the fabric of your shirt on your shoulder. She promised not to drink too much, but your gut somehow knew you’d better stay there at the party because something like this would be inevitable. “It's okay Jiminie, I was the one who left you alone, I promised to keep you company” you said.

She pulled back from the hug. “I guess we both broke each other’s promise” she chuckled and you did the same.

Jimin sniffled and wiped her already dry tears. “Why are you alone? Where is Donghyuck?” she asked you.

“We were sitting outside but then a random guy came and dragged him back inside. He seemed pretty wasted” you replied.

Jimin’s eyes widened and she stood up abruptly. “Oh no, oh no no no” she said.

You stood up too. “What? Jimin, what's wrong?” you asked her curiously.

“If it's the guy I think it is, then Donghyuck might be stupid drunk right now, or even worse, under the influence. We need to find him. Now” she said and ran out the bathroom and down the stairs, skipping a couple of steps while doing so.

You followed right after her, the rock falling on your chest again. You hated parties. This was final. Things like this are unavoidable in parties, and you hated the fact that your friends had to go through shit every single time.

The music wasn’t as loud as earlier and the living room didn’t feel as crowded. Most of the people were gathered outside in the backyard, or were already passed out on the beds or the floors of the bedrooms.

You and Jimin spotted a group of people gathered in a circle in the middle of the living room. Everybody was sitting on the carpeted floor, bottles of alcohol scattered everywhere around them. You noticed that a guy was holding a blunt and kept rotating it to every person gathered in that circle. Oh no. 

Their voices were mixed in with the music coming from the DJ set, so all you could see was their mouths moving without saying anything meaningful. The smoke of the blunt made the living room foggy and your lungs were struggling to work properly in between the crowded room.

The stinging sensation in your eyes caused by the smoke and flashing lights made your eyes watery and you could not tell apart any face in the crowd, except for Jimin who was standing next to you.

“What the fuck is going on in here?” Jimin whispered.

You rubbed your eyes in order to clear your vision without even caring if this would ruin your makeup. The faces on the people sitting on the floor became clearer, and it didn’t take you long before you spotted the familiar chocolate eyes looking drowsy, honey fingers placing the blunt in between soft plump lips.

A girl passed Donghyuck the blunt and he took a long and slow drag from it, exhaling the smoke into the thick air creating smoke rings. He then gave the blunt to the person next to him and he leaned back supporting his body with his elbows.

Donghyuck was wasted. Whatever that guy did to him in such a little time got to him immediately. His chocolate eyes were drowned in a pool of red, his hair looking messier than before and his clothes were all wrinkled.

You stood there frozen looking at him. If you had tried to keep him away from that guy, he wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. He had told you that he was pressured by other people to do stuff he didn’t want to do, but was he that naive to let this happen to himself once again? How many times has that even happened before? 

Your thoughts had carried you away, your vision was blurry again and your ears had blocked away all the sounds. An arm slung around your shoulders and you jolted up at the sudden touch.

“Where have you been bestie? You came rrright at the perfect time. We’re playing spin the bottle” Yangnyang said drowsily, his eyes painted in the same red shade as Donghyuck’s.

“Oh you’re here too, come on, sit down” he said to Jimin and dragged us both to the circle on the floor. He used both his arms and his full force to sit us down next to each other, and then he got up to sit across from us where he was previously sitting.

The girl to your left offered you the blunt but you rejected it without a second thought. Everyone was either stupid high or stupid drunk, some of them were both. You were suffocating. You felt like a total stranger there, even the existence of your own body was making you anxious.

You turned to Jimin on your right. “We need to go home” you mouthed and she kept nodding to herself constantly.

Your eyes roamed around the small circle, trying to find a way to get up and leave. But before you could do that, the chocolate pair of eyes that was now drowned in deep red, locked in with yours. A sense of déjà vu ran through your entire body, shivering under his gaze. This cannot happen again.

Jimin took your hand in hers and squeezed it tightly. She was uncomfortable and so were you. You tried to get up and leave, but the girl next to you dragged you back down.

A guy gulped down an entire bottle of alcohol before he put it down in the middle of the circle. You didn’t even bother to look at what type of alcohol it was.

Yangyang moved in closer to the middle and grabbed the bottle. “Alright, I'll go first!” he shouted and with a swift motion, he spun the bottle fast.

The bottle was spinning at a rapid speed until it came to a stop, its two ends pointing on two people you didn’t know. Apparently, you were the only one who didn’t know them because everyone else was super excited for their kiss. Or at least they were too high to understand what they were doing.

The bottle spun again. And again. And again. You lost count of how many rounds you were in, the same way your eyes were lost in Donghyuck’s. You kept him under your gaze, watching his every move and trying to justify the way he was acting. You had never seen him like this, so out of himself. What happened to the boy you saw a couple hours ago? The boy you knew ever since you were five? It felt as if he had almost lost whatever it was that made him different from the others. Right now, he looked like every other frat boy in that house.

But he didn’t really look at you. In fact, his mind seemed to be roaming around, not really paying attention to any of his surroundings except for when someone would pass him the blunt.

The bottle kept spinning and almost everyone had kissed someone else at this point. Yangyang took his fair share of the game as he kept on kissing a different girl in almost every single round.

Jimin squeezed your hand again and you realized how uncomfortable she might have felt. This time, you wouldn’t let any of the others stop you from leaving. Your friend wasn’t feeling well, but so were you. So you let go of Jimin’s hand and stood up, ready to leave.

As if fate was against you, you heard a burst of cheers and whistles coming from everyone gathered in the room. You regretted not leaving sooner, because the one end of the bottle was pointing at your side. And the other end was pointing at Donghyuck.

Cold sweat ran down your temples and a tight knot appeared in your stomach. This can’t be. You froze there standing still, staring at the bottle on your feet. You lifted your gaze from your feet to meet Donghyuck’s, who was staring back at you with a smug expression painting his face. From the corner of your eye, you could spot Yangyang grinning like a madman, his entire dentition on full display.

As if he did it on purpose, Donghyuck took a long drag of the blunt before standing up too so that his eyes leveled yours. The smugness on his face never left his features, his drowsy red eyes pouring into yours.

He slowly walked towards you, stopping right in front of your standing figure. His face was now way too close to yours. You could smell the alcohol and God knows what else on his breath, the heat of his body radiating to yours.

Donghyuck parted his lips and your breath got caught in your throat. His body somehow got even closer to yours. He tilted his head to the side and leaned against your ear. His hot breath was fanning over your ear, his lips softly grazing your skin. With a voice hoarse and low, he spoke loud enough for you to barely hear him. “Don’t worry sweetheart, we’ve done this before.”

You hadn’t even noticed which end of the bottle was pointing at you, but Donghyuck took the initiative himself and smacked his plump lips onto yours. His touch caught you off guard. You were standing there doing nothing, while Donghyuck placed both of his hands on the sides of your neck, his lips moving aggressively yet smoothly on top of yours.

You waited for him to pull away so that you could leave the party as soon as possible, but his intentions seemed to be different. He bit on your bottom lip in an attempt to part your lips so that you could kiss him back. You hated to admit it to yourself but it definitely worked. You parted your mouth just enough and moved your lips in sync with his smooth plump ones, the taste of alcohol from his lips transfering to yours.

The knot on your stomach kept on tightening more and more with each second passing. Your pulse rate had reached an infinite number of beats per minute and you were sure that your legs would not be able to hold you for much longer.

As if Donghyuck read your mind, he pulled away after leaving a last soft peck on your lips, removing his hands from the sides of your neck. He pulled back smirking at you as you were still standing frozen, your lips still feeling numb and swollen.. 

You had blocked away everyone else that was around you. You couldn’t hear anything of what they were saying. Your brain was still trying to comprehend what had just happened.

With a quick snap back to reality, you grabbed Jimin’s hand and turned your back to everyone else, storming off through the door of the frat house.

The night of the party you slept over at Jimin’s dorm. As soon as you exited the frat house, you went straight to Jimin’s car and you offered to drive since Jimin wasn’t in the right place to drive. She was still feeling unwell after she threw up all the alcohol she had consumed previously the same night, so you wanted to make sure she would be fine. But honestly, you weren’t feeling well either, and it wasn’t because you had drank.

Your mind kept replaying the moment Donghyuck kissed you like a video on loop. You were suddenly fifteen again, playing a silly game of spin the bottle with your friends where you happened to kiss your silly little crush. But now it happened again. And it wasn’t a silly game or a silly crush anymore.

Why was Donghyuck so complicating? All those times you hung out together, you never noticed him having any romantic intentions towards you. Everything he did or said was purely in the terms of friendship. But the way he approached you, touched you and kissed you at the party told you otherwise. Were you that blind not to notice his intentions?

You tried to excuse his behavior, saying that he was high or drunk and didn’t know what he was doing. Which is not necessarily a lie. It wasn’t his fault that he got peer pressured into drinking and behaving like one of the frat boys. He is the complete opposite of a troublemaker and ill-intended person; no wonder people found it so easy to talk him into things. 

Plus, it was only just a game. He sure didn’t think of it as something much of a big deal, so why would you give it so much importance? 

You mentally slapped yourself for thinking like this, because Jimin, who was already fast asleep, would yell at you for excusing Donghyuck’s behavior. He’s not a kid, he’s a grown-up, he knows what he’s doing, she would say. You had to wait until the morning to hear her scolding. The thing is, she wouldn’t be completely wrong about this.

During the thunderstorm of thoughts pouring inside your brain, a bold lightning struck in between. What if you confessed to him? Your heart couldn’t bear hiding what it felt for any longer. At that moment, you didn’t care if it would ruin your relationship with Donghyuck. He has acted recklessly enough quite a few times now, so you were allowed to be reckless for once too. He had to know how you felt, because this is what would make you feel at ease with yourself. He can’t find it so easy to kiss you in a drunk game and not feel anything either. After the spark that lit up with the touch of your lips and the butterflies that danced around the knot in your stomach, you knew you had to tell him. But the problem was that you didn’t know how to do it. 

For the meantime, you had curled up in Jimin’s bed hugging yourself tightly, crying your eyes out until sweet sleep brushed over them and closed them shut.

The morning of the next day you and Jimin went out to grab breakfast together. She was still feeling a bit weird because of last night’s events, but she said that a plate of chocolate chip pancakes would cure her hangover.

You were fiddling with your fork, scraping it at the surface of the plate, a screeching noise coming from it. Jimin visibly shivered at the sound and you stopped it.

“So,” Jimin began, swallowing a big piece of the pancakes, “wanna talk about last night?” she asked.

You put your fork down and sat back, crossing your arms. “I don’t think there’s anything to talk about. Everything is so confusing” you answered.

“Um, that’s exactly why we need to talk about it” Jimin said. She drank a full glass of water and then set it down on the table with a thud. It was so loud, you thought that the table might have broken.

“Donghyuck literally kissed you and we’re gonna completely ignore that? Come on Y/n, we cannot pretend it didn’t happen. Well, at least you cannot pretend it didn’t happen” Jimin said.

“Drop it Jimin, he was drunk, or high, or whatever.”

“No he was not. Well he was, but not that much. He knew what he was doing. Look, Y/n, Donghyuck has been a great friend to you and I know how much you love him for that. But when it comes to the romantic part of your relationship, he’s been nothing but an ass.”

You sighed and didn’t say anything in return. Jimin was right. He really was an ass when it came to romantic relationships. But you couldn’t ignore your feelings. You knew the way you felt when he touched you, when he leaned close to your ear and whispered to you, when his lips danced with yours.

The question is, did he feel the same?

You broke the silence by speaking up. “I think I’m gonna confess to him” you said.

Jimin almost choked on her food. She started coughing and you immediately got up and patted her on her back to prevent any accidents. You filled in her glass with water and helped her drink a bit.

“You what?!” Jimin practically screamed and you were thankful that the restaurant was not full that morning.

“I thought about it last night and I can’t keep suppressing my feelings, But I don’t know how to do it and I still think that Donghyuck might not like me back, hell, he only sees my as a friend, but at the same time I felt it when he kissed me, it felt different than the first time he did it back at that goodbye party before high school and God I hate parties becau-“

“Hey hey hey! Calm down bestie” Jimin interrupted you. You were panting, trying to catch your breath. You didn’t realize you went on an auto-rant mode until after Jimin spoke.

“It’s okay, I know it’s hard to do it. But if you finally feel confident enough to tell him, you should do it. We’ll think of a way to do that, together.” Jimin reassured you and you nodded to yourself.

Speaking of the devil, your phone screen lit up and a ting sound echoed in the room. You picked it up, only to see a text from Donghyuck.

[Hyuck]

see you at the park later?

You sighed again and made a mental note to text him back in a minute when you would have calmed down from your previous outbreak.

You really had to tell him, and you had to do it soon.

Despite your initial denial, you agreed to meet Donghyuck later that day at the park, at your usual spot. You were contemplating whether to meet him or not, because even though you wanted to confess, your anxiety and fear of a bad outcome got the best of you. 

You didn’t mind if you got rejected. You really didn’t care at all. At that moment, you just wanted to get it out of your chest. A few weeks ago, you would be dreading the possibility of Donghyuck rejecting your feelings and ruining your friendship. But right now you had none of that in mind.

You rode your bike on the way to the park in order to clear your mind with some fresh air. The sun had almost set and the park was becoming emptier. You spotted Donghyuck sitting on the ground with his back resting on a tree trunk. He had rode there on his bike too.

You went up to him and he only noticed your presence until after you sat down beside him. He turned his head to your side and he flushed you one of his precious bright smiles, the one that always made your heart skip a bit.

You didn’t want to lie to yourself, but your confidence from earlier magically vanished the moment you saw his face.

“How have you been? It was a mess last night” you spoke first and his smile dropped at the sound of your voice, his plump lips forming a soft frown, eyes falling down to his lap.

“Don’t remind me of that” Donghyuck said. He paused for a second before he spoke again. “I actually wanted to apologize for that. For whatever happened. I clearly didn’t mean anything I did or said, so if I did anything bad or weird, don’t tell me. I don’t wanna know. I promised myself I wouldn’t get carried away, but guess what! I did nothing but that. I’m sorry.”

You waited for him to finish with what he wanted to say before you said anything else. You went closer to him and rubbed his back in sympathy.

It took you a while to take in everything he said. What did he mean by “I didn’t mean anything I said or did”? Did he regret kissing you? Didn’t he feel the same spark, the same tingle, the same knot in his stomach?

You tried to push these thoughts away and focus on your feelings. It was time you put your feelings first, or rather, yourself. Your heart was beating out of your chest, blood rushing into your cheeks, as you gathered all your confidence and courage before you spoke up.

“Donghyuck?” you said in a soft, quiet voice, barely above a whisper. Donghyuck lifted his head, his chocolate eyes diving deep into yours, his skin glimmering under the moonlight like frozen honey.

That’s when your voice got stuck in your throat, and you stood there staring at him and he was staring back at you. “Wanna go on a ride with our bikes? To clear our minds?” you said.

He nodded and his plump lips curved upwards, his eyes creasing a bit on the sides. This is not what you wanted to say, but at least you said something.

You wanted to say so much more. So many things occupied the back of your head, you wanted to scream at him for giving you all these mixed signals, you wanted to scold him for acting so immature, you wanted to hug him and tell him that he’s too good for this world, you wanted to feel his touch and warmth on your body. But you did nothing for it.

You had to think of a way to confess to him without having to say any words. Otherwise, you would fuck up. Or you wouldn’t be able to do it at all, and you would be left with the burden upon your chest.

In the meantime, you were reminded how beautiful you felt every time you were with him. You relaxed, you laughed, you cried, you smiled, you frowned, you were stressed and then you were not. There was only one boy in all the world that could wake up every single emotion inside you and that boy was none other than Lee Donghyuck.

You still quite couldn’t put your finger on what it was that made him so different from the other boys. Maybe the fact that he was just a guy, like everyone else, but he seemed so gorgeous in your eyes. Maybe it was because you knew him in a way no one else did. That’s why you felt the need to share your feelings with him, because no matter what, you somehow knew that he would always love you back, even as just a friend. 

You were still mad at him for acting this way. But you could not completely ignore the person you knew because of one reckless incident. You knew Donghyuck very well, and you knew that he was better than this. You weren’t in the right mood to confront him after seeing how bad he felt with himself, so you chose to put whatever happened at the party towards the back of your head for a while and enjoy your time with him.

There is always the right time for everything.

“Aeri broke up with me” Yangyang announced, with a frown on his face that could reach the floor.

“She did? Yeah, I’m not surprised. You shouldn’t be either” you said.

“But why?” Yangyang whined.

“Are you serious right now?” Jimin spoke up “You literally hook up with every other girl, plus, you never gave her any attention! And you have the audacity to cry about it.”

You were walking on campus, heading towards your respective classes. It had been two days since the frat party, and Yangyang’s girlfriend found out about his doings and she finally snapped.

Donghyuck caught up to you and joined the conversation. “Oof, I found you guys, I was looking for you everywhere. Wait what happened?” he asked as soon as he noticed Yangyang’s frown in his expression.

“Aeri happened” you said.

“Who's Aeri?” Donghyuck asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Jimin was the one to speak up this time. “Yangyang’s girlfriend. Well, now ex-girlfriend. It took her a bit long to come to her senses but I’m happy she finally did.” She turned to Yangyang and slapped him in the back of his head. “See, you never even mentioned her name, you idiot! You’re gross, honestly” Jimin said with a disgusted expression.

Donghyuck smiled slightly at Jimin’s comment, but none of them saw him but you. Was it just your idea or did he look extra fine today?

Jimin walked to your side and linked her arm with yours. “Now if you will excuse us boys, we have to talk about girl things, mhm?” Jimin said and dragged you away from them, leaving them walking behind you.

“So, I thought of the perfect idea” Jimin whispered, lowering her head.

“About what?” you asked.

“You will make a quiz and send it to him” Jimin said. You stopped at your track to take in what she just said. “What?”

“You want to confess to Donghyuck, right? So I did some research and came across this quiz that you supposedly send to your crush and then they have to respond and send it back to you I guess. What do you think?” Jimin said.

“It sounds childish. Yeah I don’t think it will work” you said.

“But why? Let’s give it a try. Please” Jimin whined and you couldn’t do anything but agree with her. “Okay, listen. I’ll see what I’ll do. If I feel confident enough to send it to him then we’re good, otherwise we’ll have to think of something else” you said.

Jimin screeched and hugged you tightly. “Thank you thank you thank you! Oh my god, I really think it will work. Plus, it’s not gonna be a face to face confession so don’t be nervous about it. You got this. I’ll meet you later after classes to work on it. Love you bestie!” Jimin said and ran off to her class, leaving you walking on your own in the campus.

Maybe her idea wasn’t that bad after all. This couldn’t go too wrong, right?

Later that day you met Jimin at your favorite café. You found her sitting at your usual table, scrolling on her phone.

Yangyang decided to tag along this time too. You bumped into him on your way out of campus and invited him for coffee too. You didn’t tell Jimin about it, but you were sure she wouldn’t mind.

You sat down next to her, and Yangyang went for the seat on the other side of the table, taking out his phone.

“Let’s start, take out your laptop” Jimin said and you did so. You opened an empty form sheet and stared at the cursor appearing and disappearing on the screen. “Well, how do I start?” you asked.

Jimin took the lead and turned the laptop to her side so that she could type on the keyboard easier. “So, we'll start with his name. Write something like, ‘Hi Donghyuck, if you’re receiving this it’s because I have a big fat crush on you and I don’t know how to tell you-‘”

“Shhhh,” you interrupted her “don’t say his name” you whisper shouted.

Yangyang raised his head from his phone screen and joined the conversation. “Don’t worry about it bestie, it’s not as if we don’t know about it. It’s so obvious that you like Hyuck to the point it hurts my eyes every time I see you looking at him. Can’t you be more discreet about it? What the fuck are you two even doing by the way?”

You were left speechless and kept blinking, staring at Yangyang. Of course he would figure it out, he’s been your best friend since you were literally babies. You shouldn’t be surprised by this.

“We’re making a confession quiz to help Y/n tell Donghyuck that she likes him. I saw it online and apparently it works wonders” Jimin said.

Yangyang stayed silent for a few seconds before he started laughing hysterically. You and Jimin looked at each other and then back at Yangyang, waiting for him to stop with his laughing outburst. 

You waited until he finally caught his breath, wiping a tear that slipped from the corner of his eye with his finger. “You guys are seriously so funny” he said.

“What's so funny about it, Yangyang? Hm?” Jimin asked him.

“I just find it such a stupid idea. Don’t you think it’s a bit childish? It won’t work” he said.

“That's what I thought too, but I’m gonna give it a try” you said.

“Okay, whatever” Yangyang said and went back to scrolling on his phone.

“Don’t give him any notice, Y/n. Let’s move on” Jimin said and started typing on the keyboard.

“So, we'll start with questions such as ‘Did you know that I liked you?’ and ‘If yes, then how did you know?’ and then ‘Do you like me back?’ and stuff” Jimin spoke while typing at the same time.

“Wait Jimin, don’t you think these are a bit too straightforward?” you asked. Jimin stopped typing and looked at you dead in the eye. “Are you kidding me? This is how a confession works, hello?” Jimin answered, full of irony. Through the corner of your eye, you saw Yangyang scoffing.

“Okay so next,” Jimin started typing again “you need to ask him the important stuff, which is what he thinks of you. And that includes what his first impression of you was, how attractive he finds you and how much he likes your personality.”

“How about we ask him something like ‘Is this awkward?’ because trust me, it probably is” you were the one who suggested a question this time.

Jimin wasn’t entirely sure if you were joking or not, be she agreed and typed it after the previous one. “Now, let’s end it with a precious moment between the two of you. One that he remembers, it might be anything” Jimin said.

She typed fast, her fingers running on top of the keyboard. Her eyes never left the screen, following the letters without even peaking at the keyboard to see what she was typing. She then pressed the enter key with all her strength and sat back on her chair. “And we’re done. It’s sent” she said.

The moment she said that the quiz was sent, you started trembling. You didn’t feel nervous up until that point. What if everything went downhill after this? It’s just a stupid quiz, you thought. Sure, the quiz was stupid, but your crush wasn’t. You were worried that once Dongyuck sees the quiz, he’ll start seeing you differently. You were only hoping that this differently didn’t mean negative, because if it did, your entire relationship with him would change. And you didn’t want to lose such an important person in your life over a not-so-stupid crush.

You didn’t see Donghyuck on campus the next day. You were sure about it because ever since Jimin sent him the confession quiz, he hasn’t left your mind. You kept looking for him everywhere but not because you wanted to see him. It was rather the opposite. You knew that if you saw his face after knowing that you had confessed to him, you wouldn’t be able to utter a single word. You avoided him.

You had to thank him, though, for making your job easier. Not a single sight of him on campus for the entire day. Good news.

But the bad news was that he didn’t text you throughout the day at all, which was odd. He would usually ask to meet at the park, or just text you about not anything of importance. But there was no sign of him that day.

A lot of thoughts formed in your mind at the same time. In the worst case scenario, there was something wrong with him. In the best case scenario, he felt way too awkward because of the confession quiz and he didn’t want to do anything with you. You couldn’t explain how this was the best case scenario, but you were worried sick about him. So you hoped for the latter.

You didn’t want to text him or call him though. You wanted to avoid him, right? Your current behavior didn’t match the confidence you had a couple days ago. It felt like you were more intimate with him now, you had exposed a piece of your inner self and you were scared that your actions would make him feel uncomfortable.

Yet, you decided to give him time. You wanted to wait for his response. Whatever it would be. You thought that your confession would help you ease your mind, but you’ve been thinking about him even more now. What if he didn’t feel the same? Of course, you would respect his feelings. You can’t force people to like you, or love you. But deep down, you knew it would hurt. You would still continue to love him even if he didn’t love you back. You cannot turn on and off feelings like a light switch. Loving him took a long time and getting over him would take even longer. You didn’t want to get over him. You probably couldn’t. So you wanted to keep loving him and hoped that maybe, there was a slight chance that he would love you back.

However, you didn’t see Donghyuck on campus the day after that either. But this time, you didn’t know if it was because you were avoiding him or because he just didn’t come to any of his classes.

Worry washed over you when neither Yangyang or Jimin had heard of him. “I thought he would be talking with you” Yangyang told you. Yeah, you thought the same thing.

After your classes ended for the day, you decided to go by his dorm and see him in person. You still felt like avoiding him but you didn’t have another choice at this point. You wanted to see him.

You put on your earphones and let the music keep you company while walking. Your heart rate was slowly increasing with each step you took, but you couldn’t explain if it was because you felt anxious or because your heart followed the beat of the music.

After listening to a couple of songs, you found yourself standing right outside Donghyuck’s dorm door. Taking off your earphones, you stood there still, waiting. You raised your arm hesitantly, knuckles touching the wooden surface of the door. You slightly pulled your hand away from the door and then your knuckles touched the door again.

Knock. Knock.

You drew a step back, arm falling to your side. And you waited.

One, two, three, four, five, si-

Donghyuck appeared behind the door, wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a t-shirt, hair messy and eyes droopy.

“Hi, um, sorry d-did I wake you up?” you said.

“Um, no it’s fine, uh, is there something wrong?” Donghyuck said, rubbing his eye with his fingers.

And then you noticed the flush color painting his cheeks and the way he kept his eyes on the ground, not trying to maintain eye contact.

“I was just worried, you know? We haven’t seen you in two days and I just wanted to see if you-“

“I’m fine Y/n, there’s nothing to worry about, now please, I was in the middle of something so, uh, I’ll see you later, bye” Donghyuck interrupted you and closed the door right in your face, without even sparing you a glance.

What was this all about? Why was he acting like this?

You blinked away the tears that were forming in the corners of your eyes and walked away.

“Girl, you’re not the one avoiding him, he’s the one avoiding you!” Jimin said, munching on a cheeseburger. 

She swallowed her bite and spoke again. “What I think is, he’s in love with you too, but he’s an even bigger coward than I thought he was. I believe he got so flustered by the quiz we sent him, but don’t worry, he’ll come to his senses sooner or later.”

You rested your head on your palm and sighed heavily. “I don’t know Jiminie, his behavior is so confusing lately. I kinda regret sending him that quiz”.

“Uh oh, don’t say that again. You confessed and well done for that, so now it’s up to him to decide how the relationship between you two will go. Don’t blame yourself for how a man thinks. You never know what goes on inside those pea sized brains of theirs” Jimin said.

“So you say that he’s ignoring me because he likes me back?” you asked, a question which was addressed more to yourself.

“That's exactly what I’m saying,” Jimin said. “I mean, he couldn’t even look at you and his cheeks were all blushy and stuff? Girl, do we see the same things? Because this clearly shows he has lost his shit over you.”

You remained silent for a while, leaving Jimin to eat her cheeseburger in peace and allowing yourself to sort all of your thoughts that were scrambled inside your mind. Maybe she was right. Again. Her intuition regarding people’s feelings and behaviors is remarkable. She always left you wondering how she could be so good at reading other people.

You thought you were good at it too, until this boy named Lee Donghyuck came into your life. It wasn't that hard to understand him as a little boy, but now that you’re all adults, it seems like he has built walls around his heart and it’s not easy to read him anymore. The problem was that you didn’t know why he did this. He used to allow himself to be open and vulnerable with you. At least you thought so.

Now you are left wondering what’s in his mind and what is it that makes him act this way. Was the quiz that awkward? Did he see you in a different way now?

Questions like this kept messing with you and you wished you could unsend that quiz if it were to prevent this outcome. But you decided to give him a little bit more time. You were friends after all, right? Friends always come back to each other, no matter what. Right?

The next couple of days Donghyuck had been ignoring you still. Jimin said there was no point in feeling sad about it and that he would just snap one moment and realize what an asshole he was.

You hadn’t told Yangyang about any of that. He had mentioned the quiz once, asking you something like how you made it and what you wrote exactly, but nothing more specific about Donghyuck. So you decided to let it go, he wouldn’t understand anyway.

You were sitting at the park alone, leaning against a tree while watching the sun slowly hiding behind the hill, waiting for the moon to rise and take its place in the sky. The cheerful screams of little kids were gradually fading away and the park was becoming quieter, the only sound interrupting the silence from time to time was the barking of dogs.

You felt peaceful. You found a moment in time to have for yourself, a small escape from all of last week’s dramatic events. You breathed in the fresh air, you let your body relax and your mind roam around the scenery of nature in front of you.

This inner serenity didn’t last long though. Your phone chimed in your pocket and the screen lit up, the intense brightness hurting your eyes due to the contrast with the now darker sky.

You lowered the brightness in order to take a better look at the text on your screen. You squinted your eyes a bit further, this time not because of the brightness.

[Hyuck]

i really need to talk to you

it’s important

you know where to find me

i’m at your favorite place

You kept rereading Donghyuck’s texts over and over. So he ignores me for days and now all of a sudden he wants us to meet and he puzzles me with a riddle? What the hell?

You turned off your phone and stared blankly in front of you, trying to think of what place Donghyuck was talking about. You didn’t even care about what he wanted to tell you. You had to find him first.

The gears inside your brain got to work, spinning quickly and digging through your memories to help you find the answer. But you were already in your favorite place. The park. At least it was your favorite at the moment. So if he were at the park, where could he be? You would be able to see him by now.

The gears in your brain suddenly stopped moving and the light bulb shone brightly above your head. You knew exactly where he was. And it wasn’t the park. You grabbed your things quickly and rushed out of the park, heading towards the place you could never imagine that you’ll ever see again.

You had been walking for only ten minutes and your legs were hurting and started feeling wobbly. The one time you actually needed your bike, you didn’t have it. A sigh left your lips and you continued walking, looking at your phone from time to time in case Donghyuck texted you something else or called you.

You could tell that you were almost there by the red and gold lighting attacking your eyes, contrasting with the darkness of your surroundings. You squinted your eyes as a reaction to the sudden appearance of light, walking towards the source of red and gold. The smell of butter popcorn lured you in and that’s how you knew you were at the exact place you needed to be.

You stood under the bright sign, the same white balloons climbing up the pillars on each side of the gate, confetti sprinkled and glued in between them, fairy lights trailing upwards to the glowing sign. ‘Welcome to Dreamland’.

You stood in awe. You never thought you would visit this place again. It's been years since the last time you visited the amusement park and it felt strange yet so familiar sitting there, looking at the place that felt like your childhood home.

Your eyes were roaming around and you just stood still, not moving a single step further. For a moment, you had forgotten the reason why you were there in the first place.

The scent of the familiar cologne was roaming in the air, snapping you out of your thoughts. Donghyuck cleared his throat and you turned around to face him.

He looked beautiful. The lights of the amusement park were reflecting in his eyes, his hair fell softly covering his forehead, his plump lips curved upwards to a smile.

You noticed that he held his arms behind his back, but you didn’t question it. You just stared right into his eyes, just like he stared into yours. “Hi” he said, his voice blurred among the music and random screams from little kids running around the amusement park.

“Hi” you greeted him back, and then both of you remained silent, looking at each other. Your eyes started stinging from keeping them open for a long time, so you lowered your gaze to your feet.

Donghyuck sensed the awkwardness and cleared his throat again before he spoke up. “I’m sorry, Y/n” he said.

Your head jolted up at the sound of his honey voice and your gaze locked in with his. You parted your lips to speak, but he beat you to it. “I’m sorry. I know my behavior was shit. I was an asshole. I was ignoring you when I shouldn’t. I’m surprised that you came to see me after the way I treated you. So thank you" he said.

You didn’t want to speak. You didn’t have the courage to do so, but you also didn’t know what to tell him. Instead, you waited for him to continue talking.

Donghyuck’s gaze shifted from your eyes to other places around him and he pursed his lips. “You know, I received that quiz you sent me” he trailed off.

You gulped at the mention of the quiz and suddenly your heartbeat picked up a pace so fast that was probably beyond human.

“I didn’t-” Donghyuck started, “I didn’t send it back to you because I wanted to answer it now, with you here” he said.

You found yourself incapable of speaking at that moment. You simply nodded and diverted your gaze back to your feet.

“Please look at me Y/n” Donghyuck said and you froze, slowly lifting your head to see him looking directly at you. You could tell he was nervous by the way he inhaled sharply and the soft red color that painted his cheeks.

“I didn’t know you felt this way about me,” he started, “so when I saw that quiz I was so troubled. Maybe you were obvious with it, maybe not, but what’s certain is that I was too nervous around you to even notice anything.”

You tried to process his words and come to a conclusion. Everything that came out of his mouth didn’t make sense to you. Why would he be nervous around me?

Donghyuck gulped and continued. “Do you remember how we met?” he asked, but the question was mostly addressed to himself rather than you. You smiled at the memory. How could you forget such a pretty boy?

“It was here, this exact place. We were both running, we bumped into each other, fell down and then dropped your cotton candy” he said and started laughing. You did the same.

“And then we became friends. Inseparable friends. You have always been the sweetest friend I’ve ever had. You are kind, funny, you make me feel comfortable, you’re always there for me even though I behave so shitty sometimes” he said.

“And you’re so beautiful. I find myself staring at you when you’re looking away and I just ask myself how can a person be this beautiful” he said, his voice getting gradually quieter, just a little bit louder than a whisper.

“Do you know why I stopped contacting you when I left?” Donghyuck asked, this time the question addressed to you.

You cleared your throat before speaking, voice barely audible. “No.” It was the first time you spoke after greeting him.

Donghyuck shifted a bit, balancing his weight on one leg. “Because I liked you so much I couldn’t bear talking to you, knowing that I wasn’t able to see you, touch you and tell you how much I missed you” he said. “I thought that maybe, if I didn’t talk to you again, maybe it would hurt less than it did.”

You felt your lips drying, eyes widening upon hearing these words. This can’t be real. Yes, you wanted him to like you back, but you never expected it to be true. Even if you believed in a slight chance that he might like you back, it never occurred to you that it might actually be true.

“Hyuck, what are you talking about?” you asked him, not believing a single word he was saying.

“I’m talking about how much I like you, Y/n. Fuck, I might even be in love with you. I don’t know, I always get this weird feeling around you and I can’t get it to stop! I keep thinking about you and how I want to be able to kiss you without finding excuses with these stupid spin the bottle games! I like you so fucking much Y/n, I don’t know how to act.”

You stood still, frozen. So this is really happening, you thought. All this time you were worried about your feelings for Donghyuck when he was feeling the exact same way towards you. Your heart fluttered to the sound of his confession and you felt like smiling so hard until your cheeks hurt.

“Please say something Y/n” Donghyuck whispered. You didn’t say anything though. You didn’t have to. Instead, you took a couple steps further and stood right in front of him, placing your hands on each side of his neck, smacking your lips onto his.

He responded immediately, parting his lips slightly to kiss you back. He removed one arm from behind his back to cup your cheek with his hand and he kissed you gently and genuinely.

The knot in your stomach was untied, releasing the butterflies it had been holding in for so long. Donghyuck’s plump lips moved in sync with yours, his soft touch on your cheek sending streaks of warmth down your entire body.

You slowly pulled back to catch your breath, looking at him in his eyes, both of you smiling as hard as ever. “Of course I like you too, dumbass. I’ve liked you ever since I met you.” You said and Donghyuck smiled even harder than before, if it was even possible.

You removed your hands from his neck, dropping them to your side. “What is behind your back?” you asked him eagerly.

Donghyuck dropped his hand from your cheek too and brought his other arm from behind his back, only to reveal a stick of fluffy pink cotton candy.

Your eyes widened at the sight. It was the last thing you expected to see.

“You know, I promised to buy you one because I had dropped it when we bumped into each other, but I never had the chance to do that, so...” Dongyuck said and you slammed your body into his arms, grinning hard and laughing.

You squeezed him tightly and he returned your embrace, wrapping his arms around your waist, his head finding its way to rest in the crook of your neck.

“I think I love you, Donghyuck” you softly said in his ear.

Donghyuck’s grip on you tightened more and he breathed in. “Y/n, I know I love you” he said, just loud enough so that you and only you could hear him.

Donghyuck pulled back slightly so that he could see your face. He was still holding you tightly, as if he physically couldn’t let you go. As you were lost in the pool of honey in his eyes, he spoke with a low voice. “Do you think you’ll finally be able to beat me in bumper cars?” he said.

You laughed at his question and his smile grew wider to the sound. “No, you’re too slow. I actually pity you” you said.

Donghyuck poked the inside on his cheek with his tongue and raised his eyebrow at your answer. “Oh yeah? Let’s find out, bitchass” he said and linked his fingers with yours to guide you to the amusement park.

Just like that, your heart was full. It was right at the place it needed to be from the very beginning. It was finally home.

The doorbell chimed behind you and a chill breeze entered the inside of the diner for a brief second. You didn’t have to turn your head to realize that a group of high school kids entered the diner, their voices were too loud and annoying. You rolled your eyes and popped a french fry into your mouth.

It’s been about two weeks since you and Donghyuck made it official. You agreed to start a relationship that very night you confessed to each other outside the amusement park. Donghyuck only agreed to go out with you if he won three consecutive races at the bumper cars ride. Turns out you ended up crashing his car in every single round, but Donghyuck kept on saying that he didn’t really mean what he said and kissed you into agreeing to go on another date with him.

You were happy. Ever since you started dating, you found yourself enjoying the time you spent with Donghyuck even more than you did before. It’s not that many things changed, it was mostly the same things you used to do. The only difference was that neither of you was afraid to express their true feelings anymore.

You and Donghyuck were sitting next to each other at the diner booth. Donghyuck had his arm wrapped around your shoulder, while he used his other arm to grab french fries from the bowl on your table. You agreed to buy just one bowl of french fries to ease your appetite before you ordered your actual meals.

Donghyuck was talking to you about the drive-in cinema that will start working again next week. He said that they would be playing one of his favorite movies, so he practically begged you to go with him and treat it as a date as well.

“What are you guys talking about?” you heard Jimin’s voice and you looked up to see that she had just arrived with Yangyang standing there next to her. 

“Oh hey guys, we didn’t hear you entering. I was telling Y/n about the drive-in, it’ll be open again next week. Wanna go-wait-” Donghyuck started saying, but he cut himself off when he noticed that Yangyang was holding Jimin’s hand.

“Dude what?” Donghyuck asked again and you sat there staring at your friends with eyes wide open. Jimin and Yangyang were grinning at your and Donghyuck’s reactions, before they went to sit on the booth opposite of yours.

“Yup, it is exactly what you think it is. Now, what were you saying about the drive-in?” Yangyang casually joined in the conversation without addressing the matter that clearly needed to be addressed.

“Jimin, why didn’t you tell me about this? How long have you guys been going out?” you said smiling at your friends.

“Not that long, just a few days after you guys. See, I was going to tell you about it Y/n, but Yangyang thought it would be funnier if we just showed up one random day like this and let you guys figure it out on your own” Jimin said and Yangyang kissed her forehead before wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

“Yeah, turns out that stupid quiz you girls thought of works wonders” Yangyang said and popped one french fry that he stole from the bowl.

“Wait, Yangyang, you were the one to send Jimin the quiz? Oh how the tables turn” you said and he waved you off.

You weren’t even the slightest bit surprised that Yangyang and Jimin were dating now. Honestly, it was quite obvious that there was something going on between them, but both of them were way too stubborn to admit it. Was it that way with you and Donghyuck too?

The four of you spent time at the diner that night. The feeling of being carefree and relaxed around your friends reminded you of the time you used to spend all together back in high school. It really felt as if you never lost touch with one another, everything was back to normal. Except this time, your heart felt at ease too.

It was getting quite late and the diner was almost empty now. The four of you didn’t really have the heart to check the time and make a move to get up and leave, you were having way too much time to just call it a night.

You had now ordered a second round of drinks, non-alcoholic though because none of you was really that good at staying sober. Instead, you just stuck with fizzy drinks and sodas.

Yangyang emptied out his second bottle of coke before he slammed it on the table. He licked his lips and sighed. “Wow, this was a good one” he said. But this wasn’t the only thing he had in mind. You could tell by the smugness of his expression.

Yangyang smirked and then lifted his head to flash one of his signature wide grins. “I don’t wanna go home yet, guys. So, who’s up for a game of spin the bottle?” he asked.

Jimin kicked his leg under the table, Donghyuck sat up and smacked him in the head and you stretched your arm to pinch his nose. The four of you burst out laughing, thinking about how things would have turned out if it wasn’t for Yangyang’s stupid ideas.

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[lalacliffthorne]

🕯midnights🕯

Azriel x Reader

part I part II

summary: for once, Azriel isn't the only one with fucked up sleeping habits

notes: okay I can't, this is cute.

______________________________________________________________

“Shouldn't you be in bed?”

I jumped, whirling around as a series of curses slipped from my lips, and Azriel cracked a grin, my heart skipping into my throat for an entirely different reason than being startled when the shadow of a crease formed in his cheeks.

For the past two weeks, I had been staying at the townhouse. My apartment in the Rainbow was currently inhabitable since my upstairs neighbour accidentally flooded not just her own place but half the building with a bath, and Mor hadn't even hesitated before relocating me to the guest room on the top floor of the townhouse. It came with her waffles in the morning, an Illyrian General that gave hugs instead of greetings which ripped you off your feet, a mattress so soft I contemplated stealing it, and another Illyrian warrior that seemed to have the same fucked up sleeping schedule as me.

“Shouldn't you be in bed?”, I grumbled, glaring at Azriel in a way that probably looked as half hearted as it felt, and the shadowsinger's gaze dragged over my face, one corner of his lips curving into a light smirk. His gaze tracked down, over the shirt that barely reached the middle of my thighs, and suddenly, my cheeks felt warm.

Clearing my throat, I sent him a crooked smile.

“Did I wake you?”

Azriel's eyes moved back up to my face, deep and piercing as always. Then he raised a brow lightly, and his low, deep voice was like a soft stroke down my spine when he said: “Looking for a book?”

My gaze flickered over him, his tousled hair and eyes, deep like melted caramel before nodding lightly.

He hadn't answered my question, but I didn't push.

Turning around, I slipped the book in my hand back onto the shelf. I had picked it out two nights ago, another time I had run into the Spymaster in the silent house in the dead of the night.

It had become a sort of strange nightly routine over the past two weeks. No matter how late or early, if I was looking for a book or browsing the kitchen cabinets for something to sate a nightly craving.

The first night, I had nearly gotten a heartattack when I had ransacked Mor's stash of hidden pastries and turned around to find the tall, looming figure of the shadowsinger in the doorway. My small squeak had caused Azriel to crunch his brows, his usual unreadable mask slipping and turning into an almost comically confused expression about why I was clutching my chest.

Then I had thrown an empty wrapper at his head and his lips had quirked.

Now, it made me jump less and less to turn around only to find the Spymaster a few feet away like he had stepped out of the shadows that surrounded him day and night.  

Something warm brushed against my back, tearing me out of my thoughts, and when I looked over my shoulder quickly, something skipped high into my throat.

Azriel had reached past me, a wave of his scent washing over me as he slipped the book from his hand to its rightful place on the shelf. His breath brushed over my hair, and suddenly, something was fluttering in my chest.

Azriel threw me a look, and I was almost sure to see his lips curve just barely in amusement. Then he raised a brow.

“How was it?”

I needed one second to realise he was referring to the book; one second that made the curve of his lips deepen into a barely there smirk. Then I blinked.

“Oh. Awful.”

Azriel squinted, almost looking like he was suppressing the urge to smile. “Awful?”

“Yes.” Turning back around, I grumbled under my breath: “Bawled my eyes out at the end. It was fucking heartwrenching.”

Azriel made a deep sound that almost sounded like a suppressed chuckle, and something skipped high into my throat at the crease forming in his cheek.

Taking a step back, he moved past me, and my eyes got caught on his back. My breath hitched a little as my eyes darted over the muscles shifting under his smooth skin past his folded wings and the tattoos raking up his neck.

Blinking, I quickly turned my gaze away and looked back ahead, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear as I tipped back my head to consider the shelves, letting my gaze flicker over the spines, looking for anything that piqueed my interest.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Azriel throw me a look as I began to move along the shelves towards him, ducking my head a bit to catch a glimpse at the lower rows before stepping around his wings, placing my hands on his sides to squeeze past him.

Azriel's muscles shifted, and his body tensed and grew deadly still under my touch.

My heart leapt into my throat, and my eyes darted up, only to find his head turned to look down at me. His eyes were piercing, and quickly, I pulled my hands back, my nose scrunching a little when I smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry. Habit.“ Throwing him a lopsided grin, I tipped my head back to look up the shelves again, trying to ignore the heat in my cheeks.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Azriel's gaze flicker over my face, narrowing in, his amber eyes dark in the night. He looked a little like he was debating something. Then he blinked and moved, his scent washed over me, and my heart got caught in my throat when his chest lightly pressed into my shoulder.

My eyes shot up to his face as my chest expanded, my breath faltering as they widened. But Azriel wasn't looking at me, instead reaching past my head to pull a book from high up the shelves. Carefully blowing off some dust, he scrunched his nose lightly like he was trying to hold in a sneeze and handed me the book.

“Here.”

My breath hitched as I reached out slowly, and something warm started spreading in my chest, growing and fluttering more with every second as Azriel's piercing, steady gaze moved over my face and I realised he wasn't moving away.

Staring up at him, I blinked, and my heart skipped a little as a cheeky smile spread over my face.

“Please tell me it has a happy ending; I'm not sure I can handle any more heartbreak after the last one –“

Azriel huffed, but his lips curved, and my heart did a light flip when he nudged the book into my arms, arching a brow silently.

I grumbled under my breath, something fluttering against my ribs when I took the book and Azriel's warm, rough fingers brushed against mine. For another moment, his eyes pierced my face, deep and dark and looking strangely close to twinkling, then Azriel raised his head again, tipping it back lightly to consider the shelves. My breath hitched when my eyes flickered over his profile. His straight nose, those annoyingly perfect cheekbones, the sharp jaw and the curve of his throat –

I blinked when his arm brushed against my back and quickly turned my eyes away, pulling the first book from the shelves my eyes landed on and handing it to him.

Slowly, Azriel took it from my grasp, a strand of dark hair draping over his forehead as he raised a brow at me and tipped his head down to consider it.

Apparently, he was content with my choice, because one corner of his lips tipped upwards.

“Alright, let's go; my feet are getting cold,”, I mumbled the last part, quickly slipping past him. I swore I heard a soft, deep chuckle, and when I looked over my shoulder, the shadowsinger followed after me.

Making my way up the stairs, Azriel's steps soundless behind me, I slowed a little when I reached the floor with Cassian's room. There was a strange noise coming from his door at the end of the hall, pulling my attention away from the silent Illyrian behind me and the way I could feel his warmth even though he was not touching me. The sounds were slightly muffled but –

I blinked before stilling. I could feel Azriel slowly move onto the last step behind me, his shadows whispering as they gently nudged my ankles.

For another second, I listened, my lips parting slowly in disbelief. Then I whispered: “Is that Cass?”

My hushed voice was so incredulous, it sounded amusing even to my own ears as I turned a little to look back, and my heart skipped when Azriel propped an arm onto the banister, one corner of his lips turning upwards. For once, we were almost on eye level, with him leaning against the stair railing, slightly hunched forward, his iris tinkling a little when he just raised a brow.

“Oh - my Gods; no wonder none of you want to sleep on the same floor as him!” I could feel my lips rise until I was beaming widely, my voice still barely above a whisper, and Azriel huffed, his chest brushing against my shoulder and making my breath stumble when he shifted his weight a little and threw his brother's door a look, mumbling: “We'd have to sleep in the basement to not hear him. It sometimes sounds like he's sawing through my floor.”

I barely smothered a giggle, quickly hiding my quiet laughter behind my book as my shoulders shook, and Azriel stared at me, his dark eyes twinkling as Cassian's muffled snores echoed through the quiet hall.

“Wait.” My laughter faded a little, and I looked at him, still smiling broadly as I widened my eyes. “How can you read with him snoring like that? Or sleep?”, I added in a disbelieving whisper, and Azriel actually smirked.

The sight of deep creases and his teeth flashing left my heart staggering.

“It's not always this bad. It's only in spring, when the pollen get carried here. Means his nose gets clogged up.” His quiet voice barely carried, strangely intimate in the silent house. His eyes looked like molten honey in the soft lights, slowly tracking over my face.

“Gods.” I listened to the deep, rhythmical snores coming from Cassian's room, then I breathed a soft giggle and shook my head.

For a moment, I hesitated, feeling my heart beat steadily against my ribs. Then I looked over my shoulder, my gaze finding Azriel's as I sent him a crooked smile.

“If you want, you can come up to the guest room with me. I don't think you can hear him from there. Then you don't have to,”, I felt a light grin push onto my face, “deal with that.”

Azriel's lips curved up as his eyes moved over my face, and for a second, I expected him to decline. Then he blinked.

“If you can handle the distraction.”

His slow, deep voice needed a second to register. Then I blinked and looked up at him, and my lips parted softly when I saw the barely detectable twinkle in his eyes as he arched a dark brow.

My breath hitched, and suddenly, something started fluttering against my ribs, growing stronger every second as slowly, very slowly, a wide beaming smile took over my face as I stared at him in awe. Then I blinked, my grin growing as I raised my brows.

“You know, I think you've been around for Rhys too long; that was so him,”, I narrowed my eyes, “are you sure you're okay, do I need to check if you are, because –“

With a soft snort, Azriel moved up the last step, and my breath hitched when he slipped a hand over my mouth to muffle my words.

The flutter in my chest got caught in my throat, my heart did a double flip before stopping, and I was sure Azriel had to feel the way my whole body froze when his chest pressed into my back and he started to push me towards the next flight of stairs.

Oh, this had been a bad idea.

I was so screwed.

_________________________________________________

part II

[youryurigoddess]

Maggie’s pendants and good omens

Yes, you’ve read it right. This post is going to deal with some literal good omens, not just title drop! But first things first, let’s take a closer look at the topic of this analysis.

A toucan

The top necklace is a lovely design involving a crowned toucan — believed to be a messenger of gods able to travel between the spiritual and the physical world, often associated with rain and rainbow (a Christian symbol of divine love, grace, and mercy, a reminder of the covenant between God and humanity to spare the latter from future trials like the Flood) — encircled by a gold band (a symbol of infinity, eternal love and promise) spun by a small butterfly (a symbol of transformation, hope, and rebirth). All three symbols combined seem to deliver a divine message of hope for rebirth, possibly resurrection, and the eternal life. Very fitting in the context of the Second Coming.

The fact that toucans were revered by the native South Americans as rainbringers strengthens the symbolic meaning of another type of bird we can spot on Maggie’s clothes in the very first episode, as her character introduction — a swallow. Swallows flying low are also believed to be harbingers of rain and bad weather. If you see one close to Earth or a building, it means that there’s a storm — or a certain biblical tempest — on the horizon.

In Ancient Greece and Rome swallows were representing Aphrodite, goddess of love. In Christianity they were considered to be of God and symbolized hope, awakening, and revival of life as messengers of spring and protectors from winter colds. Also helped Jesus on the Cross — according to a Christian legend, a group of swallows was supposed to take out the thorns from the Crown of Thorns and alleviate His Passion on the Cross. Humans banding together in the name of good have been a big theme in the series ever since The Them made an appearance, and from what we already know about the unpublished Good Omens sequel, we can assume that Jesus is going to take the spotlight in the upcoming season.

Maggie definitely attracts sudden inexplicable weather changes, like a thunderstorm with weirdly localized lightning strikes or a sudden downpour. And we’re still waiting for some vavooming (and the following happy ending) to happen in S3.

A heart with an eye

Now, the more nuanced clue hidden in the bottom necklace. I know that some of us were trying to tackle the concept of Maggie’s eye in a heart pendant suggesting her Masonic connotations, but this symbol (or the Eye of Providence in general) isn’t strictly Masonic, it isn’t even limited only to Judeo-Christian art. And while it is used a lot in Christian iconography, we should focus on a very specific example of it already referenced in the show.

Buckle up, we’re making a parachute dive into S1.

It seems like our old friend, Agnes Nutter, still has our backs.

Prophecy 4020:

Let the wheel of fate turne, let harts enjoin, there are othere fyres than mine; when the whirl wynd whirls, reach oute one to another.

If you look closely at the bottom right corner of this frame, you will see that as an illustration for the above prophecy the production team chose a 1611 engraving titled The Minde should have a fixed Eye On Objects, that are plac’d on High first found in Gabriel Rollenhagen’s Nucleus emblematum selectissimorum.

In 1635 it was published in A Collection of Emblemes, Ancient and Moderne Quickened With Metrical Illustrations, both Morall and Divine, Etc by George Wither with the accompanying hymn:

A Heart, which bore the figure of an Eye

Wide open to the Sunne; by some, was us'd,

When in an Emblem, they would signifie

A Minde, which on Celestiall Matters mus'd:

Implying, by the same, that there is nought

Which in this lower Orbe, our Eyes can see,

So fit an Object for a manly thought,

As those things, which in Heav'n above us be.

God, gave Mankinde (above all other Creatures)

A lovely Forme, and upward-looking Eye,

(Among the rest of his peculiar Features)

That he might lift his Countenance on high:

And (having view'd the Beauty, which appeares

Within the outward Sights circumference)

That he might elevate above the Sphæres,

The piercing Eye, of his Intelligence.

Then, higher, and still higher strive to raise

His Contemplations Eyes, till they ascend

To gaine a glimpse of those eternall Rayes,

To which all undepraved Spirits tend.

For, 'tis the proper nature of the Minde

(Till fleshly Thoughts corrupt it) to despise

Those Lusts whereto the Body stands inclin'd;

And labour alwayes, upward to arise.

Some, therefore, thought those Goblins which appeare

To haunt old Graves and Tombes, are Soules of such,

Who to these loathsome places doomed were,

Because, they doted on the Flesh too much.

But, sure we are, well-minded Men shall goe

To live above, when others bide below.

And hey, guess what 4020, i.e., the number of the prophecy, symbolizes in Strong’s Concordance? Periergazomai, a Greek word meaning “to waste one's labor about something” — to meddle, going beyond proper boundaries (where a person doesn't belong); to fixate on what others are doing, instead of doing what the person himself is supposed to do.

It appears only once in the Bible:

2 Thessalonians 3:11: We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.

To make things slightly more interesting, in the Hebrew version of Strong’s Concordance 4020 has another meaning — migbaloth, meaning “twisted things, i.e. cords”. Which doesn’t make much sense until we read the actual passage:

Exodus 28:24 and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; and you shall attach the corded chains to the settings.

And compare it to the most recent post on the topic published directly by Word of God:

What if all these clues didn’t apply to Maggie and Nina, but Aziraphale and Crowley instead? What if Maggie served as a messenger — consciously or not — just like the toucan, delivering the prophecy to those who need it most?

“When the tempest comes and darkness and great storms, and the dead will leave their graves and walk the Earth once more and there will be great lamentations for the end is near, don’t lose hope, hold hands and look up.”

Basically what Aziraphale and Crowley already did when they performed the 25 Lazarii miracle, only with no interference from Gabriel this time around.

And, if both Strong’s Concordance and Maggie’s personal addition to her second pendant are to be believed, with a wedding band somehow involved in the process.

[watchmegetobsessed]

CHILDISH

A/N: this turned out less halloween-y than i planned, but i think its still cute hehe

WORD COUNT: 1.5k

SUMMARY: It was supposed to be a perfect, cozy fall weekend. Right until you doubt whether you're the perfect fit for your older, successful boyfriend.

MASTERLIST | SUPPORT ME!

There’s a pep in your steps as you walk out of the elevator on the top floor of Harry’s office building, carrying the lunch you made him and you’re dropping off for him now. You’re excited for tonight and this weekend, because it’s gonna be the perfect fall weekend. You’re having a cozy movie night tonight, watching Nightmare Before Christmas and Coco while eating caramel apples and popcorn, drinking hot chocolate and tomorrow you’re going to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins that you’ll carve later in the afternoon. It’s literally what every girl dreams of at the end of October and Harry is a partner in all of it even though you would have never guessed he’s the kind of man to do these things when you first met him years ago.

You know your way around the office well by now so when the two assistants sitting behind their desk spot you, none of them question who you are.

“Mr. Styles is in a meeting,” Riley says as you approach them.

“I know. I’m just dropping this off for him. Can you give it to him when he’s done? I made him lunch,” you smile bashfully as you set the bag with the containers in it onto the desk. You even put a cute little sticky note on top.

Can’t wait for tonight, hurry home to me! Bone appetite! Love you! Xx

You love the pun and you know Harry will too.

“Of course,” Riley nods with a smile.

“Alright. Thank you, have a nice day,” you smile back as you turn around and head back towards the elevator. You sink your hands into the deep pockets of your wool coat and wind the candy you showed in there, wanting to give it to Harry too, so you start walking back to the assistant, but before you could turn the corner you hear them talking.

“I know! This is so silly,” Riley laughs.

“Silly? More like ridiculous. Her boyfriend is the CEO and she is bringing him lunch with sticky notes,” the other assistant, Tina snorts.

“I never understood how he could date a woman like her. No, not even woman, she is a girl.”

“Have you seen her in that oversized jumper?”

“The rainbow colored one?”

“Yes! It’s hideous! I wouldn’t even dress my toddler in it. Harry is a billionaire, I don’t know how he puts up with her childishness.”

You chew on your bottom lip so harshly, it almost starts bleeding. Their words hurt and turning around you rush back to the elevator so you can leave as fast as possible.

It sends you down a spiral. Are you really that childish? You always knew Harry and you come from different worlds, but you thought they clash perfectly. He is a CEO, insanely successful, lives in a penthouse and is thirty-six years old while you just turned twenty-six. You were an art teacher until you switched, so now you design book covers, but you still teach a few classes in a private school, because you like the kids so much. You lived in a one bedroom apartment before moving in with Harry, which was the size of the bedroom you now share with him. You don’t wear designer clothes, you love thrift shopping and you tend to DIY anything and everything.

As you arrive back home, walking into the penthouse you take a look around. You still remember how it looked when you moved in two years ago, very clean and modern, like the cover of an architecture magazine. But now you see your own touch everywhere.

Colorful candles spattered on every possible surface, chunky blankets covering the grey couch along with a bunch of pillows, you’ve put up fall decoration here and there, making the place cozier and more like home instead of leaving it so sterile. Harry never said he finds your things childish, not even your extreme amount of funky mugs or your plants, all in different pots or random art you hung at every possible empty spot in the place. They are far from his taste, but these little things make the penthouse homey.

Or at least they did until now.

As you look around you only see how childish and ridiculous all this stuff looks in the expensive penthouse that was once Harry’s modern home. What if he hates all of them? If he finds them hideous, but he just doesn’t want to hurt your feelings.

He is a decade older than you, a serious businessman and you’re making him watch Coco tonight and you have plans to go to a pumpkin patch tomorrow. How could you think these were the things he wanted to do?

“Your girlfriend dropped this off for you, Sir.” Riley places the bag on Harry’s desk when he returns into his office and he would have known it was from you even if she didn’t tell him. It’s in that bag with the polka dots all over that you love to use so much. It brings a smile to his lips and then he finds the sticky note. His smile grows from ear to ear.

“Thank you. I’ll be leaving early tonight, I have plans. You guys can leave around three too, if you want,” he tells her to which she nods before striding out of the room.

He can’t wait to spend the evening with you, curled up on the couch, watching the movies you chose. There’s nothing he would rather be doing on a Friday evening.

Wanting to get home as soon as possible, he really does leave early, texting you on his way home. You usually text him right back with a bunch of emojis, but this time you just send a simple okay and it concerns him. Something happened. He knows it.

“Babe! I’m home!” he calls out upon walking into the penthouse, looking for you and he notices that something is off right away.

Most of the candles are gone. And there’s only one blanket left on the couch. The pillows? Gone too.

“Y/N?” he calls out again and that’s when you walk out of the bedroom, dressed in a simple black dress. It looks great on you, but he knows you wouldn’t wear it, not at least without a fun jacket or mismatched jewelry.

“Hey!” you attempt to smile at him as you kiss him on the lips shortly.

“You’re so dressed up,” he hums.

“Yeah, um… I thought that maybe we could ditch the movie night and go out for dinner. I reserved a table at that sushi restaurant you like.”

“You want to ditch movie night? But I thought… what about Coco? It’s your favorite!”

“I’ve seen it a million times already,” you shrug. “And for tomorrow, maybe we could go to the spa and—“

“Alright, wait, slow down,” he cuts you off. “Sushi instead of movie night? Spa instead of pumpkin patch? What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” you play innocent, but he can see right through you.

“Don’t lie to me. Something surely happened and I don’t like what it did to you. You’re not… you’re not yourself. And where are the candles and blankets?”

“Y-You noticed them? I was just… I cleaned up a bit…”

“No, you didn’t clean, you put away most of your stuff, it almost looks like it was before.”

“Because…! They didn’t belong here, it’s better this way. Don’t you think?” you sigh, moving away from him to keep yourself together, but he pulls you back and taking your chin between his thumb and index finger, he makes you look at him.

“Baby, talk to me. What happened?” Your lips wobble as you shake your head, but you know he won’t leave you alone until you tell him. “Tell me what happened, I don’t like seeing you sad,” he softly pleads.

“I’m childish,” you say in a whisper.

“What?”

“I’m… ridiculous and childish. You should… You should be dating someone more mature.”

“Where is this all coming from?” he asks in disbelief. You’re hesitant to answer, but you can’t hold it back any longer.

“I dropped your lunch off today and I heard the assistants talk about me. They said that I’m childish and basically we’re not compatible. And… Maybe they are right.”

“No, they are not!” he answers straight away.

“Have you looked around? I moved in and brought all this… random stuff and messed up your modern and expensive home.”

“No, you made it into our home. I loved every little thing you brought with you!”

“You did?”

“Of course! This place didn’t even feel like home until you moved in. You brought so much light and joy, I love the blankets and pillows, all the candles and anything that reminds me of you.”

You open your mouth to say something, but no words come out. You’re in awe and most importantly, in love.

“And they make the place homey, but you make it my home. You’re my home, Y/N.”

“I’m gonna cry,” you announce as the first tears roll down your cheeks. Harry just chuckles and kisses your forehead before pulling your head to his chest.

“Let’s find those blankets and candles, change into some comfortable clothes and get a head start on that movie night, hm?”

“Okay,” you nod after a hiccup. Taking your face in his hands he wipes your cheeks before kissing you softly on the lips.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed and buy me a coffee if you want to support me!

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

I would have typed it out but didn't want to risk it being filled up before I finished typing ^^;

The Arcana HCs: When MC hides their natural hair color

~ @fox-daddy thanks for the request friend! I hope I do it justice ^.^ ~

-- for background: MC is insecure about their hair color and covers it up with dye. Due to unforseen circumstances, the potion they need for it runs out of stock and their roots start to grow out! How do the M6 respond? --

Julian

He's surprised, but he's not that surprised

Like yeah, it turns out that you have a different hair color! You learn something new every day!

But you're a magician, right? You're telling him that you don't just close your eyes and mumble something mysterious and then your hair goes "poof!" and it's the color you want it to be?

Assumes it's just a preference thing until you tell him that it's because you're insecure about it

Might ask for a strand of your hair so he can put it under a microscope and study how the stuff you uses changes its properties. Compliments both shades the whole time

Might also try creating his own hair-coloring concoction to tide you over until you can get your usual stuff again

You caught him grinding dried beetles, Nevivon salts, and charcoal together at three AM and applying it to his copious chest hair to test its effectiveness

Has to be told not to tell other people about your hair color

Occasionally asks if he can peek at your roots to remember what the other color is

Asra

Oh, they already knew

In fact, he was the one who remembered the stuff you used to keep around the shop and connected the dots when you came back looking the same except for your hair color

And they were the one who told you that it was an old habit of yours and left it up to you to decide if you wanted to keep it up

Yes, he helped you apply it the first time (and still loves to participate if you invite him)

Yes, they took that as their cue to try out plenty of colors on their own hair

He had the wildest neon tips for a while

Muriel's still getting over the heart attack he had, waking up to see his childhood friend crashing at the hut with glowing rainbow streaks randomly clumped through their curls (and eyebrows! It was creepy!)

When you run out of your supply, he's quick to cast a glamor over it to help with the anxiety before running through his own magic books to see if there's anything useful to try

They like both hair colors on you, but their favorite is the one that makes you comfortable in your own skin

Nadia

She thought she could see a hint of roots here and there, but she never really pursued it because there were more interesting things to talk to you about

So when those roots started growing out to the point that they were very noticeable, she was a bit surprised

Are you changing things up? Are you dying your roots to introduce a new color, or are you growing out an old one?

Would you like any wardrobe additions to complement it?

You don't really need to tell her that you're insecure about it, she's very tuned in to your needs and it only takes a comment or two from her for her to recognize your reaction and change course

Immediately sets up some kind of appointment to get your hair to its normal color while you wait for the stuff you usually use to become available again

Briefly considers dying her own hair and quickly decides against it

Will make back up plans in case this happens again, and does bring up potentially experimenting with other colors as well, if it's just the original color that you dislike

Maybe a nice, deep purple to match hers ...?

Muriel

He already knew and didn't mention it

Seriously, do you know how tall he is? The first glimpse he gets of people is the tops of their heads. You'd have to be dying your hair multiple times a week to hide roots from him

That aside, he's more observant than he lets on. He's seen the stuff you use to color it tucked in the corner of the hut

And he's never brought it up, because if anybody knows what it's like to be insecure about parts of your body that you can't help, it's him. You don't know how quickly he'd shrink if he could

So when you run out, and the roots start to show (from your perspective), and you keep waiting for him to comment on it ...

He doesn't

Not until you bring it up at least. He's just going to assume that you decided to grow it out or stop hiding it

If you do address the elephant in the room, he'll just tell you that he doesn't really care

At least, not about the color. He cares if you're happy, obviously, all the colors look good on you -

Aaand all that mushy talk is all it takes for his face to go up in flames and for him to go for a quick walk to cool down

Portia

She didn't figure out that you were dying your hair because she saw your roots, sweetie, she figured it out as soon as she had the chance to help you wash it

What, you think an expert handmaiden like her doesn't know treated hair when she sees it? Do you know what kind of extensive training she did to help milady with her luscious locks?

She's also completely oblivious to people being insecure about their looks. Especially you. You always look great

So she doesn't even think twice before pointing your roots out to you as soon as they start to show! She's never seen you let this happen before, what's up with that?

Are you trying something new? She can help!

You're insecure about your hair color? What?? Why???

... yeah, she won't force you to talk about it, but if there's any kind of backstory or explanation she will ask you to spill the tea

She'll also pull out all of her own hair care know-how and cobble something together to dye your hair the color you prefer until you get your usual stuff again

Surprised that you don't just magic it to look however you want

Lucio

It took him longer than you expected, to be honest

You already had a few close calls on longer trips, where bathing options were limited to the streams you passed by with whatever toiletries you had packed

And you know he's his own bisexual version of *extra* when it comes to his appearance

His eyeliner application routine is meticulous, finnicky, and a daily source of frustration when he inevitably slips up

This doesn't translate onto you, though, because you're his wonderful, gracious, super cool MC who makes life exciting and new again. He's not paying attention to your roots!

Until they really start to grow out, and he has a mini meltdown about it

You mean to tell him. That you have been regularly setting aside time to pay attention to your physical appearance with something as exciting as hair dye. And you didn't think to invite him?!?

Yeah he doesn't have opinions about the color or a bunch of curiosity about why you dye your hair, he's just mad you left him out

Let him back in, please. The dogs need highlights on their tails

[junkdrawerfics]

First Day (of School)

Previous

Summary: On your first day of school, you run into Jasper again. What follows, is a class of passed notes, a little bit of teasing, and a lot of introspection by both parties.

Words: 2052

Note: Consider this more as a set up for future chapters. I worry I got into Jasper's thoughts too much, but I hope you guys enjoy it regardless.

---

Forks High.

There are a lot of things you expected for your first day -

Overwhelming attention from swarms of teens who haven’t seen a new face in years. Getting lost in the halls and being just a little bit late to all your classes. A subpar lunch.

What you didn’t expect was to walk into your first class and bump into a certain Jasper Hale.

Literally. And it’s like running into a brick wall.

“Ow!” You wince, hand flying to your nose.

It throbs lightly as you look up, wondering if you maybe just embarrassed yourself in front of the entire class by walking into the doorway. Instead of the wall, though, your eyes trace up a chest to a familiar pale face topped with hair that looks more sandy than golden in this light.

“Jasper?” You blink, eyes wide as they meet his golden ones - golden?

You could have sworn they were dark brown…

“Miss (L/n).” Jasper smiles tightly, looking far too composed for someone who was just barrelled into. It’s like he barely felt it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you again.”

“Are you- hi! Are you okay?” You flutter around uselessly, not sure if you should be worried or excited. “I didn’t mean to run into, I’m sorry! I was just so worried about being late, and I saw the number on the door, and-”

“No need to apologize when no harm’s done,” he hums, voice touched with amusement. “Though the bell is about to ring, so if you would like to not be late…”

“Oh!” You hastily duck around him into the room, heat flushing your face at the sound of his low chuckle followed by the bell ringing.

You toss him a glare, with no real bite of course since your face is about three times redder than an apple, and Jasper just smirks, settling down at his desk. With an empty seat next to him, you notice. 

“Miss (L/n)?”

You whip your attention over to the teacher, an older looking man with thick, round glasses. Slapping on your brightest smile, you hand him the slip from the front office while chiming a quick, “Yes! (Y/n) (L/n), it’s nice to meet you, Mister Berty.”

He looks at you over his spectacles, lips pinching against a smile, which bodes well for you, “You may take whatever seat you’d like. Assuming you’re okay, of course? No injuries from your bump with Mister Hale?”

Oh goodness.

The class erupts in muffled giggles.

It takes everything in you to not dart right back out of the class, “No, sir, I’m alright.”

“Very good. It is nice to meet you Miss (L/n).”

With that, you scurry over to the first open seat you see, which just happens to be the one next to Jasper. In the back of your mind, you wonder why it’s open, but the thought disappears as quickly as it occurs.

You can feel the blond’s eyes on you as you clumsily shuffle through your bag, pulling out your books, pens, and the massive set of rainbow highlighters you just bought. Jasper perks a brow, the corners of his lips twitching in amusement. The tips of your ears go warm.

“Don’t make fun of me,” you grumble, quiet enough that only he can hear.

His face goes serious, though you can still see a teasing glint in his eyes, “I would never, darlin’.”

Your pulse skyrockets.

Darling?

You stare at him, eyes wide, but Jasper simply leans back into his chair, turning his attention to the teacher. A grin plays on his lips, like he’s trying to keep a straight face but can’t quite. 

He’s teasing you. And it’s working.

Heart racing a mile a minute, you try your hardest to hide how flustered you feel by turning back to your books. It’s a different kind of flustered from when you first came in, something more fluttery and cliche. Like butterflies, you think and shake your head. Now that’s really like a teen romance novel. Maybe you’ve been reading too many of them.

Lucky for you, your brief moment of distraction doesn’t seem to do much harm. The teacher is still going over the syllabus, listing off the countless number of books you’ll eventually read. Romeo and Juliet, Frankenstein, all the basics, as if you haven’t read them already. 

You scribble them down anyways, in glittery gold ink no less. Like his eyes. It’s strange. You really did think they were brown, black even. Maybe it’s the fluorescent light…though that doesn’t make sense.

You jump when something cold brushes the back of your hand, eyes darting up from where your fingers have frozen in the middle of a word. Jasper is closer - when did he get so close? - and he raises a brow at you, glancing between the pen and you.

Your brow furrows. What?

As if sensing your confusion, he taps the pen, hand opening as if asking permission to take it - oh. You offer it to him without a second thought, watching with growing curiosity as he writes something on the corner of your notebook.

When he pulls away, the first thing you notice is that his handwriting is strangely charming, and not just because of the glitter. It's cursive, delicate and confident. It almost looks like the writing on all those old documents you see in history class. Not the kind of handwriting you expect from a guy.

A second later, your brain actually processes the writing, and you can’t stop a small smile from pulling at your lips.

‘How is the unlucky beast?’

The kitten, you assume. Of course he’d remember the little, angry furball.

You swipe the pen back and jot down a response.

‘I took him to the vet and he’ll be okay. He’s living in luxury now.’

The pen switches back.

‘You’ll be keeping him?’

You nod.

‘Have you given him a name?’

‘Spoons’

Jasper snorts.

A few eyes turn your way and you duck your head to hide your grin. There’s something so satisfying about getting a boy to laugh.

Jasper shakes his head fondly as he writes his next response. 

‘Very clever, darling’

‘Thank you’

The rest of the class passes by like that. A few notes here and there, between your actual class notes. You learn that he has a sister and three other adoptive siblings. He prefers to read in his free time and likes the color red; he had a somewhat cryptic smile when he wrote that one.

Despite everything you learn, though, there’s still something quite mystifying about Jasper Hale. Between his handwriting, the way he talks and acts, there’s just something strangely old about him. And his eyes. You really could have sworn they were darker. Black even. So why do they look so different now?

The curiosity dims as soon as it sparks, like a candle being blown out, and the bell rings before you can really question it. You frown. Has it really been an hour? Maybe you were having too much fun talking with Jasper.

You hastily tuck all your stuff back into your bag, fumbling a little as people sweep past you. They’re all in a rush to get to their next class, and you really should be too,  but you’ve never really been good at the whole “fast” thing. You like to say it’s by choice.

When you finally pop up from your chair, it’s a bit of a shock to find Jasper waiting right there for you. Almost protectively standing beside you. Heat rushes to your cheeks when you meet his gaze. Very close.

“You didn’t have to wait for me,” you squeak, stepping back only to stumble a bit over your chair.

Jasper easily catches you, brow furrowing, “Careful. We don’t want any blood on the first day now do we?”

“Nope, definitely not.” You let out a breathy laugh. “I’ve never been good with blood. Or pain. My mom says I might as well be made of glass from how easily I get hurt.”

Jasper looks suddenly uncomfortable, his touch disappearing as he takes a step back. You feel the distance like a chasm, but don’t say a word. It’s weird to feel like that with someone you barely know, even if they are someone as intriguing as the man in front of you. You’re not sure you like the feeling.

“What d’you have next?” The blond asks, seeming to return to normal as you step out into the hall.

You pull out the crumpled schedule in your pocket, smoothing it out as best you can to try and read it. Honestly, you memorized it a few days ago, but it’s nice to have something to do with your hands.

“U.S. History in building 3.” You look back up to him. “Where’s that?” 

“I’ll show you there.”

You shake your head, “You know, they don’t make guys like you anymore, Jasper Hale.”

Something flashes through his eyes, surprise maybe, but he hides it quickly behind amusement, “I’ll take that as a compliment, Miss (L/n).”

“No! Yah, I mean it that way, as a compliment,” you sputter, hands flapping a bit which makes him smirk, “I just meant that you’ve been exceptionally nice to me! I don’t know why, since you barely know me, and I’m not complaining! I just, I appreciate it, is all. I wasn’t expecting to make a friend so fast. I was pretty worried about it, actually.”

Jasper resists the urge to chuckle. He can practically hear the blood rushing to your face, turning your cheeks an adorable shade of pink. If he hadn’t drunk his fill the night before, he might not have found it so adorable. If Alice hadn’t seen a vision of you running into his first class, he wouldn’t be so in control.

He knows what would happen if he didn’t control himself, after all. Memories of Bella’s surprise party linger in his mind, a flicker of shame still burning in his chest. He’s changed a lot since then, though. He’s had to.

He can never lose control like that again. Not with you

Not you, whose feelings are a complete mess, but a mess he feels quite enamored with. You’re naive and scattered and bashful, and your emotions reflect it. If he lost control, if he were to break the trust you’ve already given him, a trust he feels he hasn’t earned, he’d never forgive himself.

And having a friend sounds…nice. He may have his adoptive siblings, but it’s tiring to be surrounded by such concern and wariness all the time. You’re a breath of fresh air to his dead lungs. 

Though your quickly rising curiosity is alarming.

Another reason for him to stay close, he convinces himself. He can monitor your curiosity, down play it, even if doing so earlier left a bad taste in his mouth. Yet, he’ll do it again if it means staying here longer.

That’s what he’ll pitch to his family. Edward will go for it. He’s anxious to stay with Bella. And it’s only gotten worse since Jasper’s day in the woods with you. Despite Alice’s reassurance, they all seem to be on edge about him befriending a human.

Maybe it’s justified. Maybe he’s being too reckless. He’s so used to needing a plan, a strategy for everything. But it’s like all of that falls away when he’s with you. For the first time in what feels like decades, he can finally relax.

As you reach your classroom, the bell rings. You jump, your good mood dissipating a little at the thought of leaving Jasper’s side. Resigning yourself with a soft goodbye, you go to step through the doorway, only to be stopped by his hand circling your arm gently. You glance back, eyes wide.

“You know,” he drawls, tone teasing, “They don’t make women like yourself anymore either, darlin’. And I mean that as a compliment.”

Watching you light up fills him with a strange sense of satisfaction. Your joy is so pure, so warm, it leaves him buzzing as you whisper a quiet ‘thank you’ and duck into the room. 

Lucky or unlucky, he still can’t decide. The one thing he does know, this is the best first day of school he’s ever had.

---

Next

Should I edit down the ending? Is it too much or too serious? Did you guys find it to be too out of character? Would love to know what you think.

[chaosgremlinmunson]

Rocker Stevie

Might be part one.

Diane: So let's set the scene, it's 1988, you're newly 21. You are top of the charts bubblegum pop princess Stevie Hendrix. You're married to top selling actor Tommy Hagan known for his action films and beach body. You just won two Grammys that year, and then, what happened?

Stevie: So, like you said. I was newly 21, I married my highschool sweetheart who'd reached stardom right alongside me as an actor instead of in music, which, honestly Diane, thank God for that. The man has no idea how to hold a tune, he'd likely make a dying cat sound like a siren. Laugh No, really! It's that bad! Anyway, I was fresh off my latest tour for Rainbows and Leather and came home to see my darling husband. I was so excited I'd been missing him, you know. Well, I walked into the house and what did I find? My husband, in bed butt naked with my Best friend and his personal assistant at my behest, Carol Perkins. To tell you the fallout from that was anything less than apocalyptic would be selling it short.

Diane: So after the absolutely dramatic divorce, you decided to change genres? Why Rock?

Stevie: Rock spoke to my soul, I wrote ‘I wanna ghost myself’ one night drunk on apple spritzers with my sister Robin, and her best friend Eddie. They'd been in my corner from the start, but Eddie and I always nipped at each other about our music tastes, then that night he picked up his guitar and started playing and ‘I wanna ghost myself' just flowed out. I was laid out on the floor by the ending between lighter and tears, and just felt so free. So like myself. And that was it, Stevie hung up her rainbows and sunshine and embraced her chaos and revenge.

Diane: So where did the lyrics 'think I'll take my heart and throw it off a cliff, yeah I have a feeling that it won't be missed” come from?

Stevie: You have to understand, I was devastated by what Tommy did. I had only ever been with him to that point in my life, he'd made me believe he was the only one for me. That without him my life would feel meaningless because up to that point every moment together he showered me in affection and praise. He was the ideal husband on the surface, and then I found out he'd been having an affair with Carol for literal years. Everyone knew except for me, and I was crushed. ‘Think I'll take my heart and throw it off a cliff’ was me almost literally saying my heart is broken and I don't want to feel anymore. I became wild and lost myself to the music. Eddie wrapped me in leather and lace and asked me to be the front woman for his band. I was shocked, because honestly was I going to make it delving into a whole new genre? I'd already come to the end of my contract with Upside Down records, so I wasn't concerned about what my team thought. However, my fan base? Would they still love me the same, would I make it? I was scared, and then we had our first show. It was small, and it was a test for me to see if I could do this. The world caught fire for me that night, and I never looked back.

Diane: So let's fast forward, finally Devil's Prey became a household name, and Stevie Hendrix was a sensation. What happened the night of the music awards, in your own words.

Stevie: So, for years I'd gone by Stevie Hendrix so no one would know who I was. It was mid set for ‘Bulletproof’ and as I turned the lights cut out and a picture lit up the screen. It was a photo of me on my wedding day, my eyes crossed out and ‘Stefania Harrington the Whore’ written across my body as I stood between Tommy, his old friend Billy, and Jason Carver. I screamed, and looked back at the audience just as Eddie tackled me to the ground and a shot whipped past my head.

Diane: So Eddie Munson saved you that day?

Stevie: Yes, he did. He held me while I sobbed in the green room. I never knew someone could be so hateful just because my songs brought what they'd done to light, but there I was running for my life while the security detail searched for the gunman. Eddie was furious, he held onto me and told me we were going to my place with his security, to pack up my things and come to his. See, Eddie lived in a damn near impenetrable home, there was no way anyone could get to me there. Of course I wanted to fight him on it, but I'm just a girl at the end of the day, and Eddie Munson has an energy you just don't fight when it's directed at you.

Diane: So you moved in that night?

Stevie: Yes. Eddie was my shadow for days, I barely could use the restroom without him following me around. It was aggravating at times, but I saw how scared he was when he wasn't in the spot he could see me.

Diane: He was traumatized.

Stevie: He was traumatized and he was ready to follow me to hell if he needed just to make sure I was safe. I never knew what love was until I was met with the force of Eddie Munson’s protection. He woke my dead heart up again, and I was doomed from the start.

Diane: So eventually the agents you had investigating the shooting found out who shot that gun, and who hired him.

Stevie: I need a minute before we talk about this. Let me just grab a water and ask Eddie to come sit with me.

Diane: Take your time.

Stevie and Eddie walk back in, they're holding hands and Eddie is murmuring to Stevie who's looking like she may just pass out from nerves. She squeezes Eddie's hand and takes a seat, Eddie sits beside her his fingers laced with hers.

Stevie: Okay, I'm ready. Breathes in deeply So Jim Hopper was the head agent on the investigative team. He had become something like a father figure to Robin and I over the years after my parents’ accident. When Jim came into Eddie's house his face was drawn, and I knew then that the people who had attacked me knew me. He sat me down and told me as gently as possible that Tommy had asked Billy to do the job. He was furious at my songs, and apparently the fan base put two and two together and his career began to tank. People were boycotting his movies. I didn't know, I swear, I just wanted my freedom and an outlet for all my pain. I deserve to have that without someone threatening me, you know? Tommy had hired Jason who was in tech support to upload the photo in the middle of our set. It was this whole plot. Make me pay in the most public way possible.

Eddie: I wanted to rip them apart. Stevie was distraught, she is such a good person. And if I could take her pain away I would, happily.

Stevie: I know you would, but you going to prison wouldn't have helped me. I need you here Eddie.

Eddie: I'm not leaving, not ever.

Stevie: So the trial came and went. They'd found loads of evidence in Tommy's apartment, through the baking records, phone records. I mean they pretty much wrote out in neon lights that they planned to kill me. Laughs incredulously All because Tommy couldn't handle the consequences of being a shitty husband?

Eddie: He never deserved you, Stevie.

Stevie: blushes and ducks her head Oh hush you big sap.

Diane: So the bad guys are caught, you're safe now, what does the future hold for Stevie Hendrix?

Stevie: More Rock and Roll obviously, but therapy to deal with the trauma. Mandatory family nights. Just things to help me feel back to myself.

Eddie: Hopefully a wedding soon, too. That is if you say yes. Eddie Munson sank to one knee reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ring. Stevie stared at him, her eyes glassy before grabbing him by his curls and kissing him, she giggled a yes, and he slipped the ring on her finger. She said yes!

Stevie: I said yes. I love you Eddie Munson.

Diane: I'm so happy for you both!

Eddie: I love you Stevie Hendrix, I can't wait to be Mr. Hendrix!

Diane: Well, It was lovely sitting with you for this interview. Thank you for agreeing to be on my show, and I can't wait to see the wedding photos one day.

Stevie: See the photos? Diane, you're invited to the wedding!

Diane: Oh wow! I'd be honored.

Stevie and Eddie stood and walked off the stage where Robin stood, her face lit in a blinding grin, she embraced her sister letting out a laugh and they both turned to wave to Diane who smiled and waved back. The show was over, but Stevie’s life was only just beginning.

[roosterscockpit]

His Little Girl | Bradley Bradshaw x reader P. 2

Click here to see the master list

First, I want to start off by saying thank you so much everyone for your support! It warms my heart and means the world to me that you are all enjoying the story so far. These past couple of days have been filled with so much love from all of you. I can't thank you enough. I hope you all enjoy this next part. I love you all 🥺🥰

P.s. I have pinned the post where you'll be able to find all of the parts as they get posted! I hope that will help navigate the story!

A/n: This is still another introduction. The juiciness is right around the corner bestiesss 😉

word count: 2k

Warnings: cursing, just a whole lotta love in this part

Please don't take my work, I will find you.

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

Present.

Y/n: “Leia! Come and eat lunch now!” You called over to your daughter as she was playing Mario Kart with Bri. 

Leia: “Okay wait! I just wanna kick auntie’s butt on rainbow road!” She said while slapping Bri’s controller.

Y/n: “okay but this is the last one then you have to come and eat.” You smiled as you placed her favorite snack on the table. 

Leia: “HOLY SHIT!” She stood up really getting into the game.

Y/n: “LEIA! Language!” You shook your head. “She most definitely has her father’s mouth.” You thought to yourself.

Leia: “Sorry!” She slapped Bri’s controller one more time and it fell on the floor. “YES! I WIN!”

Bri: “Well that’s not fair!” She threw her body back onto the couch in disbelief. “That’s cheating Lei.” 

Leia stuck her tongue out at Bri and then laughed in her face. They were always so competitive when it came to playing video games together. 

Y/n: “Okay children, calm down. Leia, come and eat now.”

Leia ran over and her eyes widened. Her big toothless smile, from her losing her two front top teeth, when she saw her favorite snack. “You made me toasted PB&J!” It was her favorite. She always wanted to have it for snack time but you always encouraged your daughter to try something new. But today you let her have her favorite because it was her big day. 

She sunk right into it. “Mmmm.” She said with a big smile. “Thank you, momma!”

You gave her a kiss on her head and a pat. “You’re welcome, sweetheart.” 

Bri sat at the counter and looked around, “Wow, no lunch for me, y/n?” She shook her head, “My babysitting service isn’t free you know!” 

You rolled your eyes at her and went into the pantry. You looked around and found some gronola bars. You grabbed one and came back to throw it across the counter to her. “Bon Appétit.” 

Her jaw dropped, “A little harsh, sheesh.” She sassily ripped open the packaging and bit the hell out of it. You laughed at her. “There is some left overs from dinner last night. Help yourself to them.”

You walked around the corner and gave her a hug, “Thank you for watching her.” You squished her and kissed her quickly on the cheek.

“Finally, I get some respect around here.” She patted your arm that was wrapped around her. “Anytime girl.” She smiled at you. “Now go!”

You looked at your watch and saw the time. “Well, I’ve got to head into work. I will see you tonight for your dinner party! I love you, baby! Happy birthday.” You said smiling at your daughter and giving her a big hug squishing her and giving her another kiss. 

Leia: “Okay! That’s enough mom! I love you too.” She said annoyingly. 

You laughed and gave her another kiss. 

You were out the door on your way to the Hard Deck. You didn’t really have to work, you just wanted to make sure everything was ready for Leia’s birthday. It had to be perfect. Ever since you had found out you were pregnant, you kept it a secret from everyone. The only ones that ever knew you were pregnant were Bri and her boyfriend, Billy. They were Leia’s god parents. 

A couple of weeks ago, you finally opened up to others. First you called Penny and then Mav. Mav was so happy for you, he was so excited about meeting her. He let you know he was going to be coming to San Diego for work in a month’s time when you had told him. He wasn’t sure when he would be there, but when he got into town he would let you know immediately.

 Penny couldn’t have been more excited. You could practically hear her jumping up and down when you told her you have a daughter. You mentioned to her that Leia’s birthday was coming up at the end of the month. She wanted more than anything to have a private party for her at the Hard Deck. 

You pulled into the parking lot of the Hard Deck with some party decorations. The parking lot was empty so you parked right up front by the front doors. You texted Penny to let her know you were there with the party decorations. She texted to let you know she was on the way out to let you in. 

She came to the doors and opened them with open arms and gave you a big hug. When you got there Penny already started to get everything ready. She was so happy to see you. She was showing you how she decorated the back deck by the beach. The big balloons, signs, decorations she put up for your daughter. It was so thoughtful of her. You gave her a big hug. She didn’t have to do any of this. She literally bought stuff and decorated for you. 

“You didn’t have to do this! Oh my gosh Penny!” You looked at her and covered your mouth. “I brought stuff as well!” You were about to cry.

“Oh, Y/n! I had to! I wanted to help make your little girl’s day special.” She put her arm over your shoulder.

You looked at her and hugged her, “I will pay you back! This is way too much!”

She pulled back from your hug, “Noooooo! No need! please!” You shook your head, you knew you were going to pay her back. “Im paying you, I'm leaving it in the tip jar when you’re not looking.” You laughed. 

Penny: “Oh my gosh, you’re crazy! I’m hiding it tonight.” She looked at you in awe. Then changed the subject, “I can’t believe you have a little girl, y/n! She has to be perfect like you!” She said smiling at you and rubbing your arm.

Y/n: “She is perfect, she’s everything I could have wished for.” You smiled at the thought of your little toothless girl. 

Penny looked out to the ocean. “So does she look like you, or her dad?”

Did I mention… even though, you told them about you having a kid you didn’t disclose who her dad was… “God, she looks so much like her dad. Mannerisms and all. Just like him.” You sighed. “I think the only thing she has from me is she’s so smart.” You started laughing.

Penny patted you on the back and laughed with you. “I'm sure of that.” 

You looked around. “So where is Mav? Is he going to come?”

Penny looked at you and half smiled. “I haven’t seen Pete in forever, y/n.”

You hugged her and let out a sigh. “Im sorry.”

Penny hugged you back and rubbed your back. “Like father, like son.” She chuckled.

You pulled back and smiled at her.

She patted your back again and led you back into the bar. “Let’s get this place ready for your little girl!”

You went to your car and started to bring in the decorations you had bought. There is no such thing as too many decorations. The two of you continued to decorate and rearrange the back deck. It was perfect and was finished just in time. The last thing you both had to do was bring the heaters to the back in case it were to get chillier through out the night. Although it was the middle of summer so you doubted it would be. Right as you two started to bring the heaters back you could hear Penny in disbelief. 

Penny: “Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.” 

You turned and your jaw hit the floor, eyes wide. There was absolutely no way timing was this good. You felt a wave of happiness wash over you. You did a small jog into the bar with a big smile on your face. 

Penny: “Pete.”

Mav was sitting at the bar shocked to see her. “Penny?”

You came in to help with some of the tension. “Hey Mav!”

His eyes lit up. “Y/n! Oh my gosh! Its so good to see you both!”

Penny: “What on earth are you doing back here?”

Mav: “Well..” He stopped. 

You could sense the tension radiating in the room. You interrupted. “Hey Mav, do you think you could help me drag some heaters to the back deck?”

Penny looked at you and mouthed “Thank you.” She went back to getting everything ready for the nightly rush. Anything to get her away from Mav for a couple of minutes while her mind was processing why he was sitting at her bar.

You smiled back and winked at her. You turned away and started to head for the back deck.

Mav: “Yea of course! I’ll catch up with you in a bit Penny.” He said as he pointed to the back deck and smiled at her. She was cleaning a glass and shaking her head at him with her eyes narrowed at him.

Mav caught up with you and helped you bring the big outside heaters to the back deck where your daughter’s party was all set up. 

Mav: “Oh wow! Is this for Leia?” He said while looking around at all the star wars decorations. “Leia… Like star wars.” He chuckled.

Y/n: “She really wanted to dress up as Princess Leia for this birthday party.” You shook your head and smiled. 

Mav: “Revenge of the Sixth.” He laughed. “That’s very clever.” He looked at you and wrapped and arm around your shoulder. 

Y/n: “I’m glad you’re here! So that means you can come by, right? Meet Leia?” You smiled.

Mav: “Oh I wouldn’t miss that for the world, y/n! I came with the right timing.” He smiled at you. “I need to go get her a gift, so I will be back later on.” He gave you a kiss on your head. Before he went, he turned to you, “But do I have to dress up?”

You laughed, “Party starts at 6! Come as you are Captain. I’ll see you then!” You gave him a wave and he waved back. 

You went back into the bar and sat at a stool. 

Penny: “So is he going to come back?” She said smiling and cleaning a couple of bottles off the counter.

Y/n: “Yes he is, so be nice.” You gave her a devilish look and laughed. “But I should probably head home and get ready for tonight. Thank you so much again!” You said as you rested your arms onto the bar and then rested your chin on your arm.

Penny came around the bar and gave you a big hug. “I’d do anything for you girls, y/n! I’ll see you tonight!” 

You went to close the back doors before you left so the public crowd wouldn’t go to the back deck where your daughter’s party was set up. Once you finished you waved bye to a now busy Penny. You walked out of the Hard Deck, got into your Jeep and pulled out of the parking lot to head home to get ready for Leia’s birthday dinner/party. You were so excited you got to celebrate your favorite human’s birthday this year with more people that felt like family to you. That and Leia will meet more people who would also become family to her.  

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

See you in the next part, besties! ❤️ Tag list is closed 😞 but thank you for everything! I'm grateful for each and everyone of you. rom the bottom of my heart, thank you soooo much !

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[michaellangdonswhore]

001

warnings: nothing besides major season 4 spoilers.

description: both your and peter's powers are suppressed by a chip put into you. luckily, peter found a way to fix that.

word count: 6.8k

_____________________________________________

Y/N wakes up in her dull room. No pictures, no color; nothing. Just a security camera in the top corner, watching her every move.

Y/N had been an orderly at Hawkins Laboratory for over a decade. She had spent most of her life there; all of her childhood there. She's working in the very place that has robbed her of her life, her happiness, her family, her everything.

The only thing; the only person that they haven't taken away from her yet was Peter, and she was anxiously waiting for the day they would. She doesn't want it to happen; she dreads it. However, she knows eventually the day will come when their relationship is discovered and Dr. Brenner tears them apart.

She had known Peter for most of her life. She still remembers the day when he first arrived at the lab, when he forcefully was brought in after the death of his family. He never really fully explained that night to Y/N. She knows mostly everything about him, besides what had happened that night.

He doesn't like to talk about it. He says that it's between him and Dr. Brenner.

"You can tell him, but you can't tell me?"

"You don't want to know. You'd be horrified if you found out."

He was right; in his mind. He thinks that he's a monster, and knows that he is one. He just can't stand the idea of Y/N knowing what he did and what he's capable of doing.

"It's okay. You can tell me," She'd always reassure him. "I won't think anything different of you."

"Oh, but you will."

"Peter, everyone like us has slip-ups. Everyone like us causes things that we don't mean to cause."

The difference is; that Peter meant to cause it. And because of that, he can never reveal to Y/N what he did. She would never look at him the same.

She makes her way to the Rainbow Room and sees Peter.

They don't talk much out in the open. Everything they do and say is mostly behind closed doors.

He looks at her, chuckles, and then looks away.

011 then walks into the room.

She had been there since she was a baby. She couldn't speak very well; not like the others, but then again she was different than the others. Peter had made note of that.

"Look who finally decided to join us," Peter says, taking closer steps to 011. "Someone's a sleepyhead this morning."

Peter had taken a liking to 011. Y/N was confused as to why, but Peter claims she reminded him of himself. He was protective over her; treated her as if she was his child.

"I'm sorry," 011 says. "Am I in trouble?"

"Trouble? No," Peter shakes his head. "No, why do you think that? You're just missing out on all the fun. Training starts any minute."

"Okay." 011 looks down.

"Hey," Peter says. "There's nothing to be nervous about. You're going to do great today. I just know it."

Y/N's heart melts around Peter. She loves how caring and supportive he is. She loves the way he treats 011 and loves the way he treats herself.

Dr. Brenner then walks in.

"Good morning, children."

"Good morning, papa." They all say in unison, gathering in a line.

"How are we feeling today?"

"Good, papa."

"Good. Number Twelve?" Brenner turns around. "Will you be so kind and open the door?"

"Yes, papa." 012 nods.

"Please, follow me," Brenner says as 012 opens the door. The children follow him out and close the door behind them. Peter then opens it and smiles at Y/N.

"After you." He says.

Y/N blushes and walks past Peter, him shortly following behind.

Dr. Brenner leads them all into one of the training rooms. There's a circle of lightbulbs awaiting the kids. Y/N and Peter stand on each side of them.

002 is the first to go, performing excellently as usual.

"Very good, twelve," Brenner says, handing him a candy piece. "Very good. Now..."

Brenner faces the children.

"Which brave soul would like to follow that?" He questions. "Hm?"

The children raise their hands, repeating "me" over and over again. 011 stays silent, looking at the floor.

"Eleven?" Brenner questions.

Hesitently, 011 follows his request. She sits down in the chair as Peter gets the equiptment. He sets her up, watching himself carefully.

"Remember to stay focused," Peter says. "Find the energy. Feel it."

He gives her a light smile and walks back.

011 attempts, but fails. No flicker, no light, nothing. The other kids snicker at her.

She's panting, whimpering.

"Why does he waste so much time with her?" 002 whispers.

"Hey," Peter interjects, walking behind him. "Quiet."

Brenner kneels down next to 011. There are tears rolling down her cheeks. Y/N looks away from her, feeling terrible. She knows what it's like to have other kids laughing, but doesn't know how to help.

"They're laughing," Brenner whispers to her. "At you. They think you're weak. Show them, Eleven. Show them."

011 tries again, and this time, one of the lights begins to flicker.

"Good," Brenner puts his hand on 011's shoulder. "Now make it move."

The light flickers more, but then it goes out.

011 shuts her eyes, disappointed and embarrassed.

"Waste of time," 002 snickers, shaking his head.

The rest of the children give it a go, mostly performing better than 011 did, but Peter knows that she's capable of more.

They are dismissed, and Y/N heads back to her room, followed by Peter quietly. She shuts the door, but he stops her, poking his head in.

"Peter, what are you doing?" Y/N questions. She looks at the camera in the hallway, and then at the one back in her room. "You can't be here right now."

Peter chuckles and walks into her room.

"Security isn't watching right now," Peter tells her. Y/N sighs of relief. "I wanted to be with you. Alone."

He pulls her in by her waist and kisses her. She melts into the kiss, as she always does. She cups his cheeks, pushing her body into him. He chuckles.

"Someone's eager." He hums.

"Keep kissing me," She says.

"I'm afraid I can't." Peter sighs. "I'm needed in the Rainbow Room. I just thought that I'd stop by."

Y/N's face is bright red. Peter gives her a kiss on the forehead and turns to leave, but she grabs his hand.

"Be careful. Please."

"I will."

"I don't mean you leaving." She says. "I mean with Eleven."

Peter looks at her, puzzled.

"Explain."

"You know that Brenner doesn't like it when we get close to them," Y/N says. She knows how malicious Brenner's punishments are. "I don't want you getting hurt."

"He won't hurt me, Y/N." He cups her cheek. "I'm happy you're looking out for me, though."

"Please. Please just promise me you won't get too close." She begs him.

Y/N doesn't know what's going through Peter's mind. She doesn't know what he's planning, what he's doing for himself. For them. He plans to end his and Y/N's suffering from this prison; this hellhole.

He kisses her cheek, then leaves a trail of kisses down her neck.

"Goodbye, Y/N. I'll be back tonight."

And with that, he's gone.

The next morning, Y/N and Peter were stationed in the Rainbow Room.

011 was playing with one of the games alone. She seemed frustrated; huffing every time the block hit one of the numbers.

Peter looks at Y/N and smiles, then walks over to 011.

"Which number are you aiming for?" Peter asks her.

"Three." 011 responds.

Y/N tilts her head and watches Peter take a seat beside 011 and begin talking.

"You know, sometimes it's helpful to take a step away for a moment," Peter says. "Let the mind clear.

011 tries again but fails.

"Determined, aren't we?" Peter questions. "You know..."

That's when Peter's voice gets low; low to the point where Y/N couldn't make out what he was saying. It was at times like this that Y/N wish she had her powers, so she could listen in to the conversation.

Y/N watches Peter take the circular block from 011's hand, and place it on the number 1. Although Y/N couldn't hear, she immediately knew what Peter was telling her; and this pissed her off. She had just told him not to get too close. And now he's telling her about 001? About himself?

She watches 011 and Peter both look up at the security camera in the corner. Peter then leans into 011's ear, whispering something to her.

The two of them talk more, and Y/N notices 011 begin to get angry.

What else is he saying to her?

The door then opens, and Y/N jumps.

"Good morning, children." Brenner says, entering the room.

Peter and 011 stand up and Brenner shoots them a look.

"Good morning, papa," The children say, forming themselves in a line.

"I've got something very special planned for you today." Brenner puts his hands on his hips and looks at all of them. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, papa." They all say.

Y/N looks at 011, who looks like she's about to break down. Then, she looks back at Peter who's smiling.

"Good. Seventeen, would you open the door?" Brenner asks.

"Yes, papa," 017 says as he opens the door.

"Off you go," Brenner shoos the children along. They all walk out, but Brenner looks back at Peter, giving him a daring look.

The doors close, and Y/N and Peter are left alone.

"What did you tell her?" Y/N asks, storming up to him.

"Nothing that she shouldn't know."

"Peter!" Y/N snaps. "I just told you. Last night. Don't get too close. Brenner, he... he gave you a look. I don't know what you're trying to do, but he's onto you."

Peter moves his hand to Y/N's neck, tracing circles before touching the chip in her neck.

"Do you ever wish for your powers back, Y/N?" He questions.

Y/N huffs.

"Occasionally." She admits. "Is that what you're trying to do? You think Eleven can bring our powers back?"

"I know that she can..."

"Peter, she's a kid," Y/N says.

"And she's in this prison. We're in this prison, Y/N. It's time we get out. It's time she gets out."

Y/N looks up at the camera.

"C'mon." She sighs. "Brenner is waiting for us."

She turns to leave, but Peter grabs her hand.

"Trust me." He says.

"You must have a death wish, Peter." Y/N shakes her head. "There's no way for us to get out."

And with that, Y/N leaves the room. Peter follows behind her as they make their way to the training room.

Brenner draws two circles across from each other on the floor.

"Today we are going to play a game," He explains to the children. "The rules of the game are quite simple. Stay in your circle. If you leave your circle, you lose. The last person standing in their circle will get to spend an extra hour of free time in the Rainbow Room. Now, even though we are going to be competing against one another..."

"Two. Six." He continues. "I don't want you to approach this any differently than one of our tests."

Y/N and Peter blindfolded the two of them. Peter looks up at Y/N and smiles, but she just looks back down.

She's not sure how she's feeling right now. Peter is trying to get their powers back, but at what cost?

"If you allow anger or emotion to invade your thoughts, you will fail," Brenner says, standing directly in front of 011. "I promise. Do you understand?"

"Yes, papa."

"Good."

Brenner moves in between Y/N and Peter.

"Begin."

002 clutches his fist while 006 raises his arm.

006 moves back a little, staying in the circle, but 002 stays put. Then, 006 shoots back into the wall with his nose dripping with blood.

"Very good, Two," Brenner says. "Number Six? Please, take a seat by the door."

006 does this, disappointingly.

"Five!" Brenner calls out.

005 and 002 duel, but 002 wins again.

The other children attempt, but 002 keeps winning each time. Once they lose, they each take a seat by the door.

"Eleven," Brenner says.

Nervously, 011 walks in the circle. Peter blindfolds her and then whispers in her ear, however, it is loud enough.

"Good luck."

Brenner looks at Peter, which Y/N takes note of.

"Begin."

Y/N has a bad feeling; a feeling that Brenner is going to do something to Peter, and she doesn't know how to stop it. She had warned Peter not to get too close, and that's exactly what he's doing.

002 and 011 are sweating and panting. There is blood dripping down 002's nose.

011 moves back but stays put in the circle. Her nose then begins to drip. The other children look at each other.

Peter is smiling. He looks at Y/N, who's lost in thought.

Deep down, Y/N knows that if 011 wins this, something bad is going to happen to Peter and there is nothing that Y/N can do to stop it.

If only she still had her powers with her... then she could help him.

011 then screams, raising her arm and sending 002 right into the mirror, cracking it. They both take off their blindfolds and look at each other shocked.

"Well, well," Brenner says. "It looks like we have a new winner."

Brenner glances at Peter again who is smiling to himself.

Y/N's heart sinks. The children leave, and Y/N waits to leave with Peter, but Brenner stays put.

"Y/N, will you be so kind as to lead Eleven to the Rainbow Room?" Brenner asks. "After that, you will have your break."

"Yes, Dr. Brenner." Y/N nods but looks back at Peter. She knows something is going to happen, so she tries to get him out of it. "Would Peter like to help me?"

Her voice is shaky.

"No, no," Brenner says. "I would like to have a chat with Mr. Ballard."

"But..." Y/N tries to come up with something. "He-"

"Y/N." Brenner sternly says. "Leave us."

Peter looks at her and gives her a soft smile.

"Leave us," Peter repeats Brenner's words.

Y/N nods and leaves, taking 011 to the Rainbow Room.

Their walk is silent until Y/N decides to break it.

"How'd you do that, Eleven?" Y/N asks as they walk. 011 looks up at Y/N, glaring. "Yeah, I get it. You don't have to tell me."

They continue walking.

"A memory." 011 says after a moment. "Of mother."

Y/N stops walking. 011 looks behind her.

That's what Peter told her. About her mother.

"Papa hasn't told me the truth." 011 continues.

Y/N's breath is shaky. If Dr. Brenner ever found out about what Peter has been saying to 011, he'd kill him.

011 continues walking and Y/N follows her.

"So... you remember?" Y/N asks. 011 nods her head. "He told you about One... didn't he?"

011 turns around and looks at her, but stays silent. She ignores Y/N's question and makes her way toward the Rainbow Room. Y/N sighs and gives up. She doesn't know how Peter had got 011 to warm up to him; she seems so cold.

Y/N walks back to her room and stays there for a little. There's nothing she really can do except read and draw. Then, she hears screaming.

Peter.

She already knows it's him. She doesn't even have to recognize the voice.

She opens her door to peek through and sees Peter being forcefully dragged away by two security guards, followed by Dr. Brenner.

Y/N knew it. She knew this would happen to him. And she warned him about it, too. She knew the consequences. She watches them take Peter into a room, and her instincts make her follow them. She looks through the glass to see Peter being tased repeatedly. Y/N cringes at the sight.

If only she had her powers; she could help him.

That's when 011 appears next to her, looking through the glass, too. Y/N panics. She grabs 011 and takes her behind one of the walls.

011 is struggling against her, but Y/N puts a finger to her mouth.

"Quiet. Unless you want both of us to end up like him." Y/N says sternly. 011 continues to struggle. "Hey! Listen to me... I'm trying to help you."

011 calms down and glares and Y/N, whose heart is beating so hard that they both can hear it.

"Stay here." Y/N orders. 011 nods and Y/N makes her way back to the door.

They're still torturing him and Y/N can't take it. She rushes back to 011, who is gone.

"Fuck!" Y/N snaps. She turns around after hearing the door open and rushes behind the wall again. She peaks her head out to see Peter being dragged away. After they're gone, she heads to the Rainbow Room, only to see 002 and his friends come out, laughing.

"Two!" Y/N shouts. "What were you doing in the Rainbow Room?"

002 chuckles with the rest of his friends.

"Are you going to answer my question?" Y/N asks. "Or are you gonna stand there like a mute idiot?"

Y/N doesn't have time for 002's finatics. She's angry. She wants her powers back. She wants to help Peter and wants him to be okay.

"We were just..."

"What?" Y/N interrupts. The children stay silent and Y/N rolls her eyes, pushing past them. "Eleven!"

She enters the Rainbow Room to see 011 standing alone. It looks like she had been crying.

"Eleven," Y/N walks up to her and kneels beside her. "Hey, what's wrong?"

011 shakes her head.

"He'll be okay," Y/N puts her hand on 011's shoulder. "I know that was hard to watch, but he'll be okay."

"My head hurts." 011 says. "I'm dizzy."

Y/N's confused. She doesn't know why 011's head would hurt but then puts the pieces together. She looks at the doors to the Rainbow Room, and then back at 011.

"Did they hurt you?" She asks. "Is that why your head hurts, Eleven?"

011 hesitates.

"Don't tell Papa."

"Eleven, I have to," Y/N says. "You may have a concussion."

"Don't tell Papa!" 011 begins to yell. "Don't tell Papa!"

"Okay! Okay..." Y/N contemplates what to do. She doesn't want to see Dr. Brenner at all; not after seeing what he just put Peter through, but 011 is clearly hurt. "We'll tell him you fell, okay? Just a slip."

011 nods her head.

"C'mon, El. Let's get you to a doctor," Y/N says, picking 011 up.

El.

011 liked that.

Y/N takes her to the infirmary and tells the Doctor that 011 had a fall and hit her head. Y/N stays there with her while she gets checked out, and she was right. 011 had a concussion.

She spends the night in the infirmary, and Y/N stays there with her.

Then, there's a knock at the door.

Y/N gets up to open it and sees Peter. She gasps and hugs him tightly. He winces because of the bruising he's received.

"Sorry," Y/N says.

"What happened to her?"

Y/N looks at 011 and then back at Peter.

"You can't tell Brenner," Y/N says,

Peter nods.

"I think that 002 and some of the other children messed with her. He was probably upset over what happened earlier today. I was watching you... in there..."

She sighs.

"And then I saw him and the others come out of the Rainbow Room. Where Eleven was. They were laughing. I went in and saw her crying and she complained of a headache." Y/N explained. "She said not to tell Brenner. I think they threatened her."

Peter seemed angry as if he knew it would happen.

"Peter..." Y/N says. "What else did they do to you?"

"A few beatings. Nothing that hasn't happened before." He tells her, looking at 011 who is sleeping. "Never mind me. Eleven is more important."

"Equally important." Y/N corrects. "I get why you like her. You're so alike."

Peter chuckles.

"You told her about you, didn't you?" Y/N asks.

"Not exactly," Peter explains. "I told her that she reminded me of One. That I knew One. Not that I am One."

Y/N looks back at 011.

"I want my powers back," Y/N tells him. "Brenner robbed us. He stole from us. I want them back for us."

Peter smiles.

"Good girl. You've finally come to your senses."

The next morning, Brenner comes to visit 011. Y/N spent the night there with her, making sure that no one came back to hurt her.

"Any more headaches?" Brenner asked, shining a light in her eyes. "Nausea this morning?"

011 shakes her head.

"How about your memory?" Brenner questions. "Can you remember what happened now?"

011 shakes her head again. Brenner turns around to look at Y/N.

"She said she fell." Y/N lies. Brenner turns back to 011.

"Perhaps someone else can help fill in the gaps. Yes?"

011 is shaking.

Brenner takes her into the training room and Y/N follows them. She sees Peter standing with his head down. He doesn't even look at her.

"Good morning, children."

"Good morning, Papa."

"Today's lesson is going to be about rules," Brenner explains. "For some of you, this may seem redundant. For others, it appears a refresher is required. Eleven, please step forward."

She obeys.

"Last night, your sister Eleven suffered a concussion during her alone time in the Rainbow Room. Now, she claims to not have a memory of what happened." Brenner says. "But injuries of this nature don't simply happen. Someone did this. Someone in this room. Now, who's going to tell me what happened?"

The children all stay silent, but 002 speaks up,

"She must've fallen," He pitches with his friends laughing beside him.

"Fallen?" Brenner questions.

"You've seen her, Papa." 002 continues. "She's clumsy. Stupid."

Him and his friend laugh.

"Eleven, you may step back," Brenner tells her. "Number Two, please step forward."

002 does as he's told.

"Collar him." Brenner orders. Y/N and Peter look at each other, knowing what's about to happen. Brenner takes off his jacket and is handed a device. "Thank you."

He steps to 002.

"You think because you demonstrate some talent that you're somehow immune to the rules, is that it?" Brenner questions.

"No, Papa." 002 says.

He's shaking; crying.

"That the rules don't apply to you in the same way that they apply to your brothers and sisters?"

"No, Papa."

"Then why did you attack Eleven?"

"Did she tell you that?"

"Are you asking the questions or am I? Did you attack Eleven?"

"If she told you that then... then she's lying!"

Brenner plays with the device and 002 begins to panic.

"Papa, please, you have to believe me!" 002 begs. "Papa, please, she's lying!"

Brenner presses a button and 002 screams in agony. He falls to the ground in pain and Y/N looks away from the scene.

"Now, shall we try again?"

He plays with the device some more.

"What happened?"

"It was an accident..." 002 cries. Brenner presses the button again and 002 falls back down, shaking. The other children started to cry. Peter and Y/N look at each other again.

Brenner then stops torturing 002, who's on the floor in pain. The other children; even Peter and Y/N, were horrified with what they had witnessed.

"Bring him to the infirmary for recovery," Brenner says, turning to Peter and Y/N. "The rest of you to the Rainbow Room. I hope today's lesson has gotten through to all of you."

The children scurry out of the room quickly. 011 stays for a breif moment, looking at 002 on the ground, but then quickly leaves as soon as he looks at her. Peter and Y/N pick him up from off the ground and carry him to the infirmary.

He wipes out as soon as he's placed on the bed. Peter turns to Y/N.

"He's going to try to kill her," Peter says.

"Eleven?" Y/N questions. "Why?"

"They think she told Brenner," he explains. "He'll allow it to happen, too. He wants it to happen."

"Why? Why would he want that to happen?"

"Because she scares him. And he knows he can't control her. He knows she's like us."

Y/N's silent. She looks at 002, who is fast asleep.

"What do we do?" She asks Peter.

"Leave it to me. I'm going to get her out of here." Peter tells her.

"And what about you? Brenner will know it's you who helped her." Y/N says. "Peter, I can't keep watching you get hurt."

"Never mind me." Peter chuckles lightly. "It'll all be okay. Do you trust me?"

"It's not you who I don't trust, Peter. You know that."

"Answer my question, Y/N," He says, lifting her chin. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Good." Peter smiles. "Meet me at the exit around five. Don't be late. We're going to help her, and she's going to help us."

Y/N looks at Peter, puzzled. He chuckles at her expression and then walks out. She doesn't know what his plan is... but she trusts him. She trusts him with her life.

So, she meets him at the exit around five.

"What are we doing here, Peter?" She asks.

"Shh." He puts a finger to his lips. "We're waiting for Eleven, and we don't want to get caught now, do we?"

"No." Y/N shakes her head. "We don't."

"Right." Peter nods.

Y/N gasps as she hears footsteps coming down the stairs, so Peter grabs her and puts his hand over her mouth. He drags her to a corner so they could hide from whoever was coming, but it turned out to be 011.

She's walking and looking around.

Peter takes Y/N's hand and reveals themselves, but 011 doesn't notice them until she backs up into Peter.

"Quiet," Peter whispers. He and Y/N begin to walk away, but he turns to face 011. "Follow us."

He leads 011 to a tunnel and removes the gate blocking it off.

"Now, it's going to be a bit scary in here, but this, this will lead you out beyond the lab fence into the woods," Peter explains to her.

011 turns her head, looking at Y/N and Peter.

"You're too big." 011 points out.

Peter takes 011's hands.

"We're not going with you, Eleven." He tells her. "I meant what I said when I called this place a prison. Everyone here is a prisoner, not just you. Not just your brothers and sisters, but the guards, too, the nurses. Y/N. Me."

Peter takes a deep breath.

"Here."

He moves his hair to show 011 the chip inside of his neck. He moves 011's hands to it.

"Can you feel it?" He asks. "Y/N has one, too. Your papa calls it Soteria. It weakens us. It tracks us. Even if there was a way out for us, he'd still find us. And if he finds us, he will find you."

011 stays silent for a moment.

"What if I make it go away?" She asks.

Y/N had finally put the pieces together.

011 would bring their powers back.

"You helped me. I help you." She continues.

Peter smiles and stands up. He undoes his belt and hands it to Y/N.

"This is going to hurt. Bite down on it." He tells her. Y/N nods and takes the belt from Peter's hands.

She sits on the floor, moves her hair out of the way, and bites down hard.

011 raises her hand and an immense amount of pain strikes through Y/N. Quickly, the chip flies out of her neck. She stands up and grabs it, examining it. The chip had been in her neck for years, and she couldn't believe that she had finally gotten her powers back.

She hands the belt to Peter.

"Your turn." She says before kissing him on the cheek. "Good luck."

He smiles and then sits, biting on the belt. 011 removes the chip from his neck and he stands. He walks over to Y/N and looks at the bloodied chip. He picks it up to look at it closer.

"Who knew something so small could cause so much trouble?" He scoffs. He then turns to 011. "Thank you."

011 nods with blood dripping down her nose. She wipes it, and that's when the door slams open.

"Stop!" Guards yell.

"Run!" Y/N demands. She grabs 011's hand and the three of them start running. They hurry into the hallway, only to be cornered by the guards.

"Hey!" One yells. "Where do you think you're going?"

They turn on a taser and Y/N inhales sharply, in fear.

"Against the wall! All three of you, now!"

"No." Peter smiles, grabbing Y/N's hand. "You don't have to fear them Y/N. Not anymore."

"Take them." The guard says to the other.

They begin to walk over, and that's when Peter turns around and lifts his hand, sending the guards behind them into the wall. Y/N follows his lead and does the same to the ones in front of them, sending one into the air and the other into the wall. The last one stands in fear, backing up.

Peter tilts his head, snapping the guard's neck.

011 looks at the two of them in shock.

"Come," Peter says, leading the two of them into a closet. "Both of you. Wait here. Don't move. I'm going to find us a way out."

"Peter, you can't do this alone," Y/N grabs him. "Let me help you."

"You can help by staying with Eleven. Make sure she stays safe."

"Wait." 011 interrupts. "How did you-"

"Like I said," Peter says. "We're alike. You and I."

He rolls up his sleeve.

001.

011 gasps and takes his wrist. He smiles and then leaves, going to find them a way out.

"And you?" 011 asks.

Y/N looks at her.

"I was first," Y/N explains. "I wasn't given a number. He thought I was the only one... until he found Peter."

Y/N and 011 wait for Peter until they hear the alarm go off. They both have the same instinct to hurry out of the closet and to find Peter. Y/N hears a noise from one of the dead guards walkees and picks it up. She turns up the volume and hears screaming. Her eyes widen and she grabs 011's hand.

"We need to find Peter." She says, racing through the halls.

The two of them see blood everywhere and look into one of the rooms. 010 is on the floor and so is Dr. Brenner. They hear more screaming and turn around to see an orderly dead on the floor with a pool of blood around him.

They look into the other rooms to find the other children dead. Their limbs were snapped. They continued running through the halls to find more orderlies and guards dead on the floor. There was blood everywhere. They run into the Rainbow Room, finding more dead children with their limbs snapped and eyes popped out.

Y/N looks in front of her.

002 is floating. His eyes are in the back of his hand and he's struggling against...

"Peter!" Y/N screams.

002 falls to the ground. Peter doesn't even turn to face them.

"I asked you to wait."

011 runs to leave, opening the door, but Peter turns around and slams it shut. 011 is yelling, struggling to get the door open.

"Peter, stop!" Y/N cries.

Peter moves towards her and she can hardly recognize him. Blood covers his shirt and face. His eyes were full of hatred.

011 stands closely behind Y/N.

He lifts Y/N's chin.

"Why do you cry, Y/N?" He asks. "After everything this place has done to you? To us? Hm?"

"Peter... what did you do?"

Y/N is shaking.

"You'll understand. Eventually." He says, cupping her cheek. 011 is grabbing onto Y/N, hiding behind her. "Oh, I know you're just scared right now. I was scared once, too."

He wipes a tear from Y/N's cheek.

"Peter." Y/N begins to collect herself. "What did you do?"

She's speaking more sternly to him.

"You've always wanted to know what happened, didn't you?" Peter questions. "How I ended up here. Why I've never told you. Do you want to know now, hm?"

Y/N stays silent. She doesn't know where this is all coming from. She doesn't know where her lover has gone.

"I didn't fit in with the other children," Peter begins. "Something was wrong with me. All the teachers and doctors said I was... broken."

"Peter..."

"My parents thought a change of scenery, a fresh start in Hawkins, might just cure me," He continues. "It was absurd. As if the world would be any different here. But then, to my surprise, our new home provided discovery and a newfound sense of purpose. I found a nest of black widows hiding in the vent. Most people fear spiders, but you've always known I've had a thing for them, didn't you."

Y/N stays put. She doesn't respond. She let another tear fall down her cheek.

"They are... the most important of all predators. They immobilize and feed on the weak, bringing balance and order to our unstable ecosystem. But the human world was disrupting this harmony. You see, Y/N, humans are a unique type of pest, multiplying and poisoning our world, all while enforcing a structure of their own. A deeply unnatural structure. Where others saw order, I saw a straitjacket. A cruel, oppressive world dictated by made up rules."

He begins to raise his voice.

"Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades. Each life a faded, lesser copy than the one before. Wake up, eat, work, sleep, reproduce and die!" He yells. "Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for it all to be over. All while performing in a silly, terrible play, day after day. I could not do that. I could not close off my mind and join in the madness. I could not pretend. And I realized, I didn't have to."

He continues.

"As I practiced I realized I could do more than I possibly imagined. I could reach into others, into their minds, their memories. I became an explorer."

"Peter... what happened?" Y/N repeats. "What did you do?"

"I saw my parents as they truly were. To the world, they presented themselves as good, normal people, but like everything else in this world, it was all a lie. A terrible lie." His voice gets louder. "They had done things, Y/N. Such awful things. I showed them who they really were. I held up a mirror. My naive father believed it was a demon cursing them for their sins. But my mother somehow knew; knew it was I holding up that mirror. And she despised me for it."

011 holds Y/N tighter.

"She called a doctor, an expert. She wanted him to lock me away, to fix me, even though it wasn't I who was broken. It was them. And so she left me with no choice." He explained. "No choice but to act. To break free. Which each life I took, I grew stronger. More powerful. They were becoming a part of me. But I was still a child. And I did not yet know my limits. And it nearly killed me. My father was arrested, blamed for the death of my sister and my mother just as I had planned. But I was far from free. I woke up from my coma only to find myself placed in the care of a doctor, the very doctor who I'd planned to escape."

"Dr. Brenner." Y/N finishes for him. He chuckles.

"Papa." He hisses. "But the truth... he wanted more of you. More of me. The truth is... he did not want to study us. He wanted control of us. When Papa finally realized he could not control us, that's when he began to recreate us. You remember this, don't you? When he robbed us of our powers? Hm?"

Y/N slightly nods, and then Peter grabs her face and she gasps, strruggling against him.

"However..." He continues. "I am so glad I met you, my love. We can do extraordinary things."

Y/N's eyes shift to the dead children on the ground.

"They're not gone, Y/N. They're still with me." Peter says, pointing to his head. "In here."

"You tricked me..." Y/N says. "You tricked us!"

"Tricked you?" Peter scoffs. "No, I saved you! You- we; we were prisoners here. We are better than they are."

He grabs Y/N, pulling her closer to him.

"Come with me, Y/N." He kisses her hands. "Come with me, and we'll be free. You. Me. And Eleven. Imagine what we can do together. We could reshape the world, remake it however we see fit. Join me. Please."

"Peter..." Y/N shakes her head. "I can't. No."

"No?" Peter questions.

011 raises her hand, sending Peter flying back; slamming him against the mirror and onto the ground.

"Peter!" Y/N cries, running over to him.

No matter what he's done; no matter how much of a monster he is...

Y/N could never stop loving him.

She kneels down.

"Peter, please. Stop this... whatever you're talking about." Y/N begs. "We could build a new life together. You, me, and El."

Peter stands up, ignoring her. He glares at 011. They both move towards each other and then raise their arms. The lights begin to flicker.

"Stop!" Y/N screams. "Both of you, stop!"

They don't listen.

"Peter, she's a child!" Y/N yells, rushing over to him and grabbing him. He stops fighting 011 and waves his hand, sending Y/N flying back, knocking her into the wall.

He had never wanted to hurt her; never meant to hurt her, but he is unfocused...

He turns back to 011 and continues.

011 moves back, but eventually finds her ground, but then Peter sends her flying back. He moves his head, moving her across the floor. Y/N begins to gain her awareness again but is too hurt to stand.

Peter then lifts 011 up in the air. She's crying; struggling,

"It wasn't supposed to end like this..."

Suddenly, Peter is knocked back. He looks up, only to see Y/N standing with blood dripping down her nose. There are tears in her eyes, but he cannot seem to come back to reality.

Y/N's angry. Angry that her Peter tricked her. Tricked 011.

She's angry that her Peter dared to hurt her.

She lifts up her arm, sending him flying through the mirror and moving him up against the wall.

He's struggling but manages to get in a sentence.

"What are you going to do, darling?" He questions. "You don't have the guts."

"Watch me."

A hole begins to form in his chest. She's overpowering him completely and he's screaming in pain.

"Stop!" He yells. "Stop it!"

Y/N is too far gone. There's blood dripping from her nose, her ears, her eyes. And before she knows it, Peter is gone. Gone to the unknown.

Y/N sinks to the ground and begins to sob into her hands.

"Oh, god. What have I done?" She cries.

011 comes up behind her and puts her hand on Y/N's shoulder.

That's when Brenner comes in.

"What have you done?" He questions, looking at the two of them. "What... have you done?"

[ohmytyong]

spin the bottle [teaser]

part of @rrxnjun 's "the crush chronicles" collab

PAIRING: childhood friend!donghyuck x female!reader

GENRE: college au, childhood friends to lovers, fluff, slightly angsty, coming-of-age, mc and hyuck grow apart and then become friends (or lovers!!) again, best friend!yangyang, the teaser is a past memory of the mc

TEASER WARNINGS: mentions of food

WC: tba (TEASER WC: 1,3k)

‣[PLAYLIST]: tba

SUMMARY: you knew you loved lee donghyuck ever since you met him, when the two of you were little kids. you had become best friends and were practically inseparable. until one day, donghyuck had to leave town and he also had to leave you. however, your feelings for him only grew stronger and stronger and you knew you had to confess to him when you met him again in college. but all this time, you kept suppressing them and you were always left wondering one thing; if he ever loved you back.

A/N: this is my first ever full fic and also my first ever collab !! i'm super excited about this and hopefully it turns out as good as i wanted it to <3

wanna be notified when i post the full fic? join the taglist here | click here to join my general taglist

You were five years old when you first fell in love. Or at least you thought you did. You could never know what falling in love meant at such a young age. But that’s how you want to describe it. Because your feelings for him could not be compared to how you felt about other boys. He could not be compared to other boys. That’s why you fell in love with him. But he didn’t fall in love with you. Or if he did, he never showed it.

Loud cheerful screams were the sound echoing in your ears, mixed with the soothing dreamy music coming from the merry-go-round ahead of you. The gate in front of you seemed ginormous in comparison to your small body. Rainbow fairy lights were climbing up the sides of the gate, confetti glued in between each one of them. White balloons were tied to the top and bottom corners of the pillars, leading up to the bright red and gold sign at the top which read “Welcome to Dreamland”.

Your eyes were roaming around the place, looking up to the sky and then left and right to the amusement park your mum took you. Soft awes and chuckles left your lips every time you spotted something new. Everything seemed magical in your eyes, the music and the colors transporting your little brain to different dimensions; this was indeed dreamland.

You stopped in front of the merry-go-round and inspected it. The blue, gold and white horses were moving up and down to the rhythm of the music, kids were riding them with cheerful smiles on their faces. You wanted to go there too. You looked at your mother to ask her to get on the merry-go-round. You opened your mouth when-

“Y/n! Y/n!” a cheery voice was calling your name. You stopped to look towards the direction of the sound, only to spot your best friend. “Yangyang!”

You let go of your mother’s hand and sprinted towards him, capturing him into a tight hug. “Wanna go to the horses?” you asked him eagerly.

“Yes! Let’s go” he agreed and your mothers helped you get on the merry-go-round. After all, it was your favorite.

You and Yangyang went on almost every ride of the amusement park. You loved bumper cars, you went on the ferris wheel with your mothers and went on almost twenty rounds on the kids’ roller coaster. You even tried to catch a teddy bear at the claw machines, but you couldn’t get the chance to do so.

After hours of trying all of the amusement park rides, your little stomach started growling and the smell of food everywhere around you only triggered your hunger more. You passed by the food canteens, smelling and taking in all the delicious scents. "What should I choose?" you thought. Just then, you spotted a stand with something strange looking; it was multi-colored fluff on sticks. Cotton candy. You had never seen it before, so you had to try it.

“Mum! I want to try this! It looks like clouds! I want the pink one!”

Your mum agreed and bought you and Yangyang one stick of cotton candy each, while his mum bought you drinks.

You went over to the tables to sit and eat your cotton candy. You sat down on a chair and took a bite. You didn’t know what to expect, but the sugary flavor definitely met those expectations.

“Wow, it tastes so pink! And it feels like the clouds! It's so fluffy!” your mother laughed at your excitement and agreed.

Yangyang was eating his cotton candy too, but he suddenly grabbed your hand and dragged you down the chair. “Let’s go for a walk. Mum, can we go for a walk?” he turned to ask his mother.

His mum shrugged. “Okay, but not too far from here, I want to see you” she said and we left, grinning.

Obviously, you didn’t listen to her. You liked the freedom you had at that moment, so you went strolling through the entire amusement park.

You and Yangyang were holding each other’s hand so that neither of you run away and got lost. Your other hands were holding the cotton candy. You felt so small among the other people and the huge amusement park rides, but you liked it. You felt at ease.

Yangyang let go of your hand and started skipped in front of you. “In the count of three I’ll start running and you will chase after me to catch me!” he said leaving you still.

“No! Yangyang, I can’t run fast!”

Yangyang didn’t listen to you. He smirked instead and started counting. “One, Two. Three!”

“Wait!” you yelled, but he had already run away.

You sighed and started running through the crowd too. You could still spot him in between other people, but you couldn’t run that fast and stumbled when taking longer steps.

Yangyang stopped and turned back to look at you. He smiled and yelled. “Come on, you’re almost there!” and resumed running.

You were breathing heavily, your feet were feeling sore, and you couldn’t move with ease through the crowd. You took a deep breath and gathered all your energy to run as fast as you could. Your only focus was to catch your friend Yangyang, who was now walking backwards looking at you with a smug expression. You had blocked out your surroundings entirely and didn’t notice that another boy was running too. And he was running towards your direction.

Yangyang was now standing, waiting for you to catch him. “I got you!” you shouted before you let out a scream and fell on the ground. The other boy was running fast too, which ended in him bumping into you. Both of you and the other boy fell down on your butts, the cotton candy you were holding was now smashed and dropped on the ground too.

“No! My fluff!” you frowned, tears already forming in the corners of your eyes.

Yangyang was shocked to see you fall. He came over to you to help you get up, smoothening your dress. “Are you okay Y/n? I’m sorry, I didn’t want to get you hurt” he was the one that sounded more hurt.

“It’s okay Yangyang” you reassured him. “But my fluff fell too! I wanted to eat it!” you whined.

Yangyang hugged you. “Don’t worry, we’ll buy a new one."

The other boy steadily stood up by himself. “I’m sorry, I was running too. I didn’t see you.” The boy said, his head lowered.

Neither you or Yangyang responded, so he lifted his head slowly to look at you. “I can buy you cotton candy if you’d like. Sorry” he apologized again.

But you couldn’t speak now either. He looked at you with sorrow eyes, plump lips forming a pout. You took a moment to really look at him. His skin was darker than yours, he was slightly taller than you, his bowl-cut covered his eyebrows, moles on his cheek and neck.

You didn’t know why, but you felt your stomach clench. You cleared your throat and spoke. “Don’t be sorry, I was running too.”

The boy nodded. “My name is Donghyuck. What’s yours?” he asked.

“I’m Y/n and this is my friend Yangyang” you pointed at your friend beside you and he flashed a bright smile to the other boy, Donghyuck.

Donghyuck smiled too and you felt your stomach clench again. “Do you guys want to be friends?” he asked and both you and Yangyang nodded. “Yes let’s be friends! Do you wanna go ride the bumper cars?” Yangyang said and grabbed both yours and Donghyuck's hands.

That’s the first memory you had of him. The first time you saw him, and the first time you've ever felt this weird clenching feeling in your stomach. This was a memory you would always cherish and always remember dearly. But you weren't really sure if he held this memory as close to his heart as you did.

* .♡ *:･ﾟ✧ ⋆ ࣪.* ࣪.⋆

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