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britany1997 · 2 months

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Fate Yields For No One

Chapter Four

Were you wondering what the boys were doing while reader and Maria were bonding at the video store those two weeks? Wonder no more! Here’s what they were up to lol

I strongly recommend going back to at least read chapter 3 before reading this one, as some of the scenes will be the same, but from Paul’s perspective:)

Poly Lost Boys x Max’s Daughter Reader

FYFNO Masterlist

California, 1986

Paul’s eyes widened as he realized who you were to him. You wished you could have stopped the word that fell from his lips.

“Mine.”

Paul stared at you, his eyes raking up and down, taking you in. God you were beautiful, the others would love you. As his shock wore off, Paul felt a giddy feeling bubbling in his chest.

He had a million questions to ask you. Your favorite food, your favorite color, your favorite band. Paul had to know anything and everything. (Even if you liked Tiffany or something, he could get over it…eventually.)

As your lips parted, Paul prepared himself to be enchanted by whatever honeyed words you’d speak to him. He reached forward to caress your cheek.

Instead of leaning into the touch as he’d expected you to, you recoiled. His brow furrowed.

“Oh my god I totally forgot I have to go stock things in the back, so nice to meet you, bye!” He heard you blurt out before you moved away from him.

There were few times in Paul’s life when he was actually rendered speechless. This was one of them.

Paul’s brow furrowed, “what?” He whispered as he moved to stand in front of the desk’s swinging door you’d been headed for. Surely he’d misunderstood (wouldn’t be the first time), you had to at least talk this out.

He watched your face twist into a glare, “you’re in my way…” you bit out at him.

Paul’s confusion turned to frustration. “What?!” He repeated, “but we’re…I mean we-” he stumbled over his words, desperate and utterly flabbergasted.

“I know what we are,” you told him, “and I don’t care. So can you please move aside so I can do my job?”

Paul’s jaw dropped.

You…didn’t want him? Didn’t want a mate? Someone who’d love you unconditionally for eternity? Who’d do anything for you? God what was wrong with you?

He stumbled a bit as you pushed past him. “Hey!” He called after you, his ego more bruised than it’d ever been.

“This isn’t over you know,” he promised, resolved to win your heart, even if he had to recruit some…reinforcements.

You scoffed, oblivious to Paul’s plotting. “Seems like it is,” you replied before slipping into the back of the video store.

“What the fuck just happened,” Paul murmured to himself as he rubbed his forehead.

Maria whistled “tough break Paulie.” She bumped him with her hip before she went back to returning DVDs.

Paul scoffed. She didn’t know the half of it. “I gotta go Maria,” he muttered, stalking off with his tail between his legs.

She snickered softly as she watched him go.

Paul shook his head, he was gonna be in for one long conversation when he got back to the cave.

Paul slunk across the boardwalk, hands in his pockets, as he made his way back to his bike.

His head nodded along to the beat of the music playing over the speakers. Paul started to tap out a four count on his thigh as he walked and hummed.

“Are you going to that bonfire Friday?” “I dunno, is Jason gonna be there?” “Ugh, probably” Paul huffed a laugh as he eavesdropped on the vapid boardwalk talk.

A bonfire on Friday did sound fun though. Should he and the guys throw a party? Who would they even invite? Maria? Maria, who worked at the video store with his new mate. He sighed. What a mess.

As he walked, his mind wandered to her pretty face. He wished she would have let him touch her. She looked so soft. He just wanted to hold her. He could be gentle!

He huffed.

Didn’t she realize he was hers? Didn’t she know he’d do anything for her? He’d be anything she needed? He’d probably even cut his hair for her if she asked. As long as she let him hold a memorial service after.

She was pretty, and soft (probably), witty and fiery, and she was right there at the video shop and she didn’t even want him. How fucked was that.

Paul frowned as he finally reached his bike, looking back over his shoulder in the shop’s direction. It’d been a while since he’d felt that hollow longing feeling of being alone.

But he wasn’t alone, not anymore. And whatever had happened back there, he and his boys were gonna fix it, he knew they would.

Paul revved his engine with renewed determination. ‘Just wait pretty girl,’ he thought, ‘cause we’re comin back for ya’

When Paul arrived at the cave, each of the boys were too immersed in their own activities to notice.

On the couch, Dwayne was two-hundred and twelve pages into his thirty-first reread of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and from the way Dwayne was hunched over the book, quite literally on the edge of his seat with his brow furrowed, Paul could tell it was just starting to get good.

Though Paul could barely think over the harsh whirring sound of Marko’s sewing machine. He’d been occupied with making patch-work vests and skirts lately to expand his wardrobe. And while Paul appreciated having some extra pieces around he could borrow, after weeks of hyper fixated, non-stop sewing, the sound was worse than nails on a chalkboard.

David’s constant foot tapping didn’t help either. He was perched in his wheelchair throne, seemingly reviewing some ancient documents. By the way he was squinting and underlying, it seemed to be pretty important stuff.

But none of this was as important as what Paul had to tell them. He cleared his throat pointedly.

The whirring of the sewing machine slowed before coming to a stop, Dwayne looked up from his book expectantly, and a little annoyed, David continued his work, ignoring Paul entirely. “I’m calling a meeting,” Paul stated confidently.

“You don’t have the authority to call a meeting,” David said without looking up from his papers, “only Dwayne and I do.”

Paul wondered if he could explode David with his mind if he tried hard enough. How would he know if he never tried?

“Well it’s an emergency,” Paul gritted.

David met Paul’s frustration with a mocking pout. “Dealer’s out of the good stuff again Paulie? Tragic.” He turned back to his papers.

Dwayne seemed to sense Paul’s desperation, “what’s wrong Paul?” he asked.

“I have another mate,” he said hesitantly, “which means that you guys probably do to.”

David stilled at the same time Marko gasped, the curly haired vampires lips curling up into a bright smile.

“What are they like? Are they nice? Are they funny? Are they hot?” The shorter vamp bombarded Paul with questions, making him cringe.

Dwayne frowned, “Paul…” he began gently, “why aren’t they here with you?”

A broken look crossed Paul’s face, “she…doesn’t want me.”

Marko’s excitement was extinguished as he came to Paul’s side, lacing their fingers together. Dwayne softened, quietly reflecting on Paul’s words. David frowned.

“What do you mean she doesn’t want you?” he narrowed his eyes.

“Exactly what I said dude,” Paul strained, “she said she didn’t care!”

David leaned back, unconvinced. “Tell us exactly what happened, start to finish.”

Paul nodded and painfully recounted every moment from the excitement of meeting you, to the pain of watching you leave as he picked up his jaw from the floor.

David stroked his chin, “are you sure she’s a vampire? Human mates are rare, but they’re not unheard of,” he mused.

Paul scoffed, “duh she’s a vampire! She said, ‘I know what we are, and I don’t care.’ How would she know we were mates if she wasn’t a vampire?” He threw his hands up in frustration.

“Did she say, ‘I know what we are,’ or did she say, ‘I know what you are,’” Dwayne chimed in.

Paul scratched his head, what did she say? He’d been talking about what they were, but had she? He couldn’t quite remember. “She could have been saying ‘I know what you are,’” he decided.

David’s hands clapped together, “so she’s human, but she knows we’re vampires, or at least that you are Paul. Unsurprising, you and Marko have the combined subtlety of an airhorn at the opera,” Paul rolled his eyes. “That’s an easy enough fix,” David reasoned.

“Makes more sense too,” Marko added. “If she ran off, it was probably because she was scared. If I was a human I wouldn’t wanna fuck around with us to get bit either.”

“Why don’t we give her some time,” Dwayne suggested, “prove we’re not going to rush into the video store and drag her out to hurt her or anything. We could give her some space to calm down from her confrontation with Paul, and then we can all go meet her together.”

The boys nodded slowly, considering Dwayne’s plan.

“And,” Dwayne added, “if she’s human, we all need to be on our absolutely best behavior,” he shot a pointed glance at David.

David rolled his eyes, “I’d teach her to be on her best behavior,” he mumbled.

Dwayne sighed. “Let’s just give it two weeks, then we’ll go check in on her,” he paused his voice taking on a gentle tone once more, “I think we could all take some time to cool off.”

Paul tensed at that last part, but he knew Dwayne was right. You were a human and you didn’t understand. You couldn’t! They’d have to show you, go slow, ease you into things, be gentle…you were basically made of glass after all.

He sighed, ‘two weeks,’ he thought, ‘I can do two weeks.’

He could not do two weeks.

Not gracefully at least.

By the end of those two weeks, Paul was practically feral. The second the Sun began to fade into the horizon, Paul was awake and attempting to drag David out of the cave.

As eager to meet you as they were, the boys had grown tired of Paul’s impatience.

Dwayne’s evenings consistently began and ended with “has it been two weeks yet?” The dark haired vampire had come so close to just buying Paul a damn calendar.

Marko had had to stick to Paul like glue to stop him from wandering off to the video store every night. On two unfortunate occasions, Marko AND David had to drag him back to the cave to stop him was barging in to talk to you. Paul was like a dog with a bone when he wanted something, and he wanted you bad.

But Dwayne has assured him last night that today was the day, and Paul was chomping at the bit. “Let’s go,” he groaned, annoyed and excited.

“Paul.” Dwayne chastised.

“Dwayne.” Paul mocked.

“Paul,” it was too early for this shit. “I know you want to see her, we all do,” Dwayne reminded him. “But I think we should wait until closing.”

“What?!” Paul huffed, “I’ve been waiting two weeks! Now we gotta wait longer? No way man!”

“Paul listen,” David groaned, “we can’t have a long, intensive conversation with her about vampire mates with random human customers running around, get it? It’s a private conversation.”

Marko nodded in agreement, “it’s doesn’t seem fair to drop all of that on her while she’s still at work either,” he added, “it’s better if we get ‘er as she’s leaving.”

Paul rolled his eyes, “whatever, I bet Fishy’s on my side.” He grumbled as he stalked off to his room.

“You think we should invest in one of those backpack leashes for him?” Marko asked, only half joking.

David scoffed a laugh, “don’t tempt me.”

When closing time finally came, Paul’s eagerness had wavered. What if they explained everything and you still weren’t on board? Humans had tons of reasons to fear vampires after all, you might want nothing to do with them.

He shuddered at the thought.

He looked to his left to see Marko biting his thumb, equally nervous.

“A human mate,” he muttered under his breath, “what are the odds.”

David rolled his eyes, “if she’s a human I can use my thrall, why are you idiots so worried.”

Paul and Marko shot him dirty looks, but Dwayne placed a hand on his shoulder. As tough as David liked to pretend to be sometimes, Dwayne knew he was nervous too.

“No use waiting any longer,” the dark haired vampire reasoned, “c’mon.”

Dwayne lead the way, pushing the door to the video store open and letting the bell ring softly as the other boys filed in behind him.

The vampires maneuvered to the desk together, passing through aisles they’d walked through a million times over.

The silence was deafening as the boys’ thoughts whirled with what they’d say to you. How they’d explain the significance of vampire mates to a mere human.

Dwayne sighed, they probably had nothing to worry about. Even as a human, there’d still be a pull for you. And he could work with a pull, no matter how small.

He’d show you, he decided. Show you how amazing it could be to be cared for, to be protected. He’d treat you like a princess, he’d worship you if you let him.

God you must be his if he was already thinking this way. The tug at his heart grew stronger and strongernwith every step. If you only knew the effect you had on him, on them all. If you only knew you could have him wrapped around your finger.

When the boys finally reached the front desk, Dwayne’s musings were shattered by the vision of your tongue down Maria’s throat.

He watched as David’s jaw dropped when he was met with the sight of one of your hands tangled in Maria’s curly locks, the other caressing her hip.

He’d felt it, and by the looks of it, David and Marko had too. You were theirs, but you were tangled in Maria’s embrace.

The boys were too stunned to speak.

Until Paul abruptly broke the silence with a resounding “what the fuck.”

FYFNO Taglist❤️:

(Let me know if you’d like to be added to my list for this fic, or to my main list)

@6lostgirl6 @misslavenderlady @ghoulgeousimmaculate @crustyboypix @anna1306 @arenpath @arbesa-mind @bookworm551 @chiefdirector @dwaynedelight @dwaynesluscioushair @sad-ghost-of-garbage @its-freaking-bats @kurt-nightcrawler @ria-coolgirl @solobagginses @vampirefilmlover @vxarak @mickkmaiden333 @bitchyexpertprincess @lostboys1987girl @f4iryfxies @bloodywickedvamp @softchonk @walmart-cereal @warrior-616 @katerinaval @memphiscity69 @rynsfandomsfun @fraudfrog @ghostedghostie @welcome-to-the-hole @people-are-strange-87 @blenna3967 @drascilla @jezabella8 @gothamslostboy @charlottieellis @ilikechocolatemilkh @simplyreading96 @mad-is-sad @justaspeachy @pookiesnatcher @jamie-poopoo @buzzybee-26 @cocopuffs1450 @sarcastic-sourwolf @kristel1990 @the-lonely-abyss @mihawksdemoness

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fisheshavegill · 2 months

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-- Crazy Rich Asians. PT. II

「 ✦ CRA ✦ 」

sunghoon fanfic! fem reader!

"It's not the men in your life that counts, it's the life in your men."

2k | disclaimer : quotations at the start may or may not have to do something with the whole story (could be an add on)

Read Crazy Rich Asians PT. I

no proof read | word vomit

indented text are just my personal descriptions <3

－ i got some lines from books ive read and movies ive watched! + the title of my fanfic doesn't mean the plot is mostly from the actual movie / book!

──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

. “ if it is real, it must by definition prove to be eternal?. “ .

– random flashback |. 📍 California

The waitress arrives, sets down all of our orders and disappears.

I took out my fork as I swirled it in my pasta

“Carbonara?” I offered him before eating it.

Sunghoon shakes his head

“Because it’s dairy?”

“No… I just prefer pesto”

“Hmm. Impressive” “Very.....you” I say

A distinct ringing sound emanating from his pocket. As the phone rings a few more times before Sunghoon finally takes it out of his pocket and looks at the screen

“One second” he roses from his seat

I watched him walked away, his phone pressed to his ear.

I looked at him through the window while I was sipping my tea.

After a while the door bell rings, he came back again putting his phone to the pocket of his jacket.

“So”, “How was your day?” He questions as he sits on the table, pouring water to his cup

“Lame”

“Uhm” he hesitates to say

“my mom's gonna have a birthday party” he says out of nowhere, avoids looking at me while taking the silver utensils on the clothed table. "I planned it"

“I invited a lot of guests.” “All of my relatives and cousins know about it” He stops speed talking as he takes his first bite of steak.

“And you” he weakly points me with his fork.

I didn’t say anything as I take another sip of my tea

“Her birthday actually was yesterday, nothing so sleek about it and everyone was busy”

“It will be held on Friday...in Korea” he added

“That’s nice”

“So…. did you greet her?”

“No..” I say

“Why not?”

“I have been busy with stuffs”

“Like what?”

I did not know what to say.

"Look, I booked a flight for us" He broke the silence with hands clenched together

I take another sip of my tea

He sighs and leans into the table his voice was very low.

“Ann, I understand that this entire situation has been extremely difficult for you. It has been for me too. I know that you have been trying to avoid my mom, but I want to remind you that avoiding her forever may not be the best solution.

Perhaps we can work together to find a way to face her again and move forward in a positive direction. What do you think?"

He whispered “Please just go for me" he held your hand as he rubs his thumb through your fingers.

“Please.”

Current time . the continuation of part 1

－exact 5 minutes after emergency left

Sunghoon's

His eyes were glued to the pages of a book that he had abandoned for weeks.

Sitting on the couch in the same room, while you were in bed. The silk pajamas draped his body comfortably as he sat partially facing the bed you were lying on.

The soft rustling of the pages turning was the only sound that filled the room

| Sunghoon had always remained true to his passion for reading books. His love for literature dates to when he was just five years old. On his birthday, his father gifted him a classic Spiderman comic. Since that fateful day, he has devoured countless books of all genres, from classic literature to modern-day thrillers. |

After a moment, he closed the book and placed it carefully on the see-through glass table in front of him. He leaned back on the couch, his head supported by the soft cushion, and looked up at the ceiling.

He reached up to his face and removed the eyeglasses he had been wearing to help him read the book. The dim light in the room provided by the single lamp on the desk beside the bed had made it necessary for him to wear them while reading.

As he rubs his eyes, his phone gets a ring from someone.

Mom

His eyes showed a bit of frustration as he hesitates to accept the call. But eventually does.

“Hi son.” A female voice muttered through the call.

“Good evening mom” he replies.

“How are you?” “How’s business?”

“Im Good” “Business? its he-“

“Uhm" – with a hinge of hesitation.

"If you are currently facing anything, please know that I am here to help you in any way possible. I am right beside you to offer my support, okay?"

The female voice assured him in a serious tone completely ignoring the fact she cut him off.

"At the moment, there is nothing that is causing me any trouble or concern mom."

“oh... dont be so gullible” His mom says.

"I appreciate your kind gesture of checking in on me. It's reassuring to know that you care." - The silence between them dissipated for a while.

“Well, I guess if there's nothing to state about anything, I will be going”,

the female mutters, closing the gap of silence in the call.

"Goodnight"

she added as the call ended.

He runs his fingers through his hair as he deeply sighs. the head maid must had informed his mom about the state of the house and all the things that had been happening inside of it every day. All the things that were meant to be a secret, especially anything that revolves at the happenings in the house were all revealed to his arrogant mother. "

He couldn't help but wonder what else his mother knew and what her intentions were. He decided to step outside to clear his head. The swimming pool area was the perfect spot, with its beautiful bushes of flowers and serene atmosphere. As he took a deep breath, he sits frantically at the side of the pool lounger, tapping the fine fabricated mattress hovering it.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a single cigarette, carefully placing it between his lips. With a flick of his lighter, a small flame appears, and he brings the flame to the end of the cigarette, inhaling deeply as it ignites.

You thought he promised to you that he’ll never engage in smoking again?? No. It seems that the weight of his problems and struggles had become too much to bear, causing him to break that promise.

. 01/01 00:05 AM

“Hoon are you there?”

Some laughter in the background and loud fireworks.

“I’m so sorry, I completely forgot. But I’m leaving now! Okay? Just wait there! Should only take me thirty minutes. I know, I feel really bad. Please don’t be mad. Call me back, okay?

As he hit the play button for the umpteenth time, a smile slowly spread across my face.

The old voicemail you left him on New Year's was like a time capsule, transporting him back to his days as a college student in bustling New York City.

How he remembered how much he had struggled studying with the constant, thunderous sounds of fireworks, which had filled him with a sense of unease The night progresses, the wind outside grew stronger and more forceful. Sunghoon could feel the gusts of wind through the bushes, causing it to billow fiercely.

The room was just as spacious as the one you both shared, but it was in a much better condition. The other bedroom would be undergoing maintenance tomorrow due to the extensive damage caused by the glass shatters on the floor and the tears on the wall

As he finishes his regular night routine he decided to just snooze it off. He carefully adjusted the blanket to cover you up entirely as he gently moved your hair strands aside that covered your face. Planting a soft kiss in your cheek before closing the lamp

morning - ur pov

As I woke up from the rays of sun hitting my eyes, I couldn’t help but feel a hinge of headache as I stood up from the bed. I looked around, everything seemed so foreign and unfamiliar.

I raised my hand to my head and began to scratch my scalp. I let out a drawn-out yawn. Standing about two meters away from the door, I suddenly heard a faint, muffled sound. It was difficult to make out at first, but as the voice grew closer, the words became clearer.

In a black suit and his phone pressed to his ear. And there he was, standing right in front of you. As he notices me wide awake, his expression mirrored your own shock and surprise. A deafening silence filled the room as he stared at you, unsure of what to say or do.

After a moment, he politely excused himself from the call, putting it on hold

"Good morning." I say

Sunghoon smiled and nodded in response. There was some awkward silence in the room "Well…...I think you still hate me" Sunghoon says as he starts finding something in one of the wooden drawers beside the door.

He let out a deep sigh and looked at me with a pout as he kissed my forehead, placing both hands on my shoulders. "I'm so sorry, darling," he said, trying to explain himself. - "Things have been hectic ever since I left for my business trip, and I haven't had a chance to reach out to anyone since that day." As he spoke, he began planting hundreds of kisses on my face.

Does he think I can forgive him easily? - "I have to go work again..” "I wont leave you for another 2 weeks". he said, brushing his hand through my cheeks. "I don't want to see you angry."

I watched as he leaned in to peck my lips, a smile creeping onto his face. He grabbed his jacket and car keys from the glass table and kissed me one last time before heading towards the door. "I love you so so much," he said with a smile as he waved goodbye against the door.

Despite his words, I couldn't shake off the feeling of anger towards him.

I stood on the balcony, only seconds after he had left the room.I watched as he made his way to the car, his jacket draped over his left arm and car keys in his right hand. Just before he got into the car, his gaze locked onto mine. "I promise I'll make it up to you," he shouted over the distance, blowing me a kiss. - - -

During that day, he went back to the house a with shopping bags intended to be as an apology gift

He squats to my level as he laces my hand with his

" I want to apologize... "

" I want to apologize for not being there for you throughout your struggles.. Two weeks may seem like a short period of time, but it could have been an eternity for you.

My absence may have caused you some type of agony???, I am truly sorry. I hope that you can forgive me"

As he finished speaking, he looked into the my eyes and kissed my hand.

I stared back at him for a while, trying to see whether he was truly remorseful. After a moment of silence, I cling closer to him without saying a word. He pats my back.

“The night before your business trip” “You still remember it. Right?” I say

He sighs “What were you scared of?” “I couldn’t seem to ponder it the whole conversation”

“Yeah. Forget about that” shrugging it off

why? just why did I feel like I had to be on guard on everything?

Latter that evening I received a message notification

message:

Don’t you wanna let him know about it? You can’t hide it forever.

" Hoon, Did you get any certain messages or emails today? " I say as he happened to enter the room

Of course

Did you happen to see it?

"Just event invitations and messages from Cass and my mom. What about it?" as he looks into the wooden drawers.

Nothing. I sighed in relief

At this moment, it doesn't seem appropriate for him or even everyone to be informed about it. It is likely that he will discover it in due course??, but currently, I feel like the timing isn't right. I'll just hide it?

I don't know.

to be continued

authors note (DONT COME FOR ME YALL :) )

Hi there! I just wanted to address something with you guys....

I know that some of you might be wondering why did it take me so long to post the part 2 of CRA , and I wanted to clarify that it's not because I'm slacking off or anything like that. In fact, I'm really busy at the moment with other things going on in my life. I just wanted to let you know that even though it might take me a bit longer to post this series from time to time, that doesn't mean that I'm going to stop altogether or that I won't be back. I appreciate your support and understanding during this busy period, and I hope to be able to share more with you soon!

#park sunghoon #sunghoon #enhypen imagines #enha x reader #enhypen #enha #enha fluff #fisheshavegill #female writers #author #enhypen scenarios #enhypen fanfiction #fanfic #alternate universe #hoonie #enhypen series

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eyelessfaces · 2 years

Text

me? jealous?

eddie munson x reader

summary: just eddie being a jealous and possessive bf <3

warnings: jealousy and possessiveness ofc, sexual innuendos if you squint REALLY really hard

tags: established relationship, gender neutral reader

word count: 0.9k

reblogs and feedback are appreciated!! comments motivate me a lot <3

As surprising as it was when you thought and talked about it, Eddie really couldn't tell what had made him fall in love with you. Most people would know almost immediately when asked about what had made it all clear for them. Eddie... Eddie just didn't. And it wasn't because you weren't special or there wasn't anything outstanding about you or anything else. Oh no, on the contrary. There were just so many things to put on the list, he didn't even know where to start. The man was so head over heels he couldn't think straight. He was pretty sure that if he didn't pass this year and finally graduate it would be your fault. By proxy. Because you were in his thoughts 24/7.

So when another student was shamelessly flirting with you of course his knuckles were white from the pressure of his clenched fist. From the other side of the corridor, Eddie couldn't figure out what the guy was telling you but his posture told it all; elbow on the locker right next to your face, sly smirk showing his perfect white teeth, and oh, the famous hand running through his hair to gently slick it back.

As if wasn't enough to piss Eddie off, this guy happened to be one of the popular ones and in the basketball team. It was almost fate for him to be his nemesis.

It didn't take long for Eddie to reach you. His already short patience had ran out pretty quickly. He came behind you and put an hand to your hip, making you jump, before standing besides you and sliding his hand up to your shoulder, wrapping his arm around you in a protective way.

"Shit, you scared me" you whispered turning to him.

He shot you a small smile, trying to assert the confidence he was pretty sure he didn't have but he knew he needed. "Sorry babe, didn't mean to." he said planting a quick kiss to the top of your head. For no other reason than to show you were his. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked, eyes darting to the man, knowing damn well he was interrupting something.

"No" you quickly blurted out.

"Yes." the other boy quickly followed before eyeing Eddie up and down. Eddie did the same, but with more visible disgust showing on his face.

"Oh really?" Eddie asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. You could feel his grip on your shoulder tighten.

"Yes really!" the popular boy said mimicking Eddie's tone, what you knew would get on his nerves. And you knew it did when you could clearly see the muscles of his jaw tense.

You sighed softly, not knowing how to get out of this situation safely. You knew Eddie was quick to get riled up, so you put your hand in his jeans back pocket as you knew your touch and proximity was one of the few things that helped him calm down. Even if right now it was his ass. He closed his eyes at the feeling of your touch against his ass and you did your best to hide your smile before he spoke again.

"So what was I interrupting?" he asked tilting his head to the side.

"I was just wondering if they wanted to come to my party after friday's match. It's no big deal" the boy said raising his eyebrows.

Eddie did the same before frowning almost immediately.

"Ah I see, but I'm afraid we already have something planned for friday, sadly" Eddie affirmed confidently, nodding slowly.

You frowned and turned to look at him. "Rea-" you couldn't even finish your question and felt a tight squeeze on your shoulder, bringing you back to your senses. "Oh yeah of course. Gig. With his band. On friday night. Yeah..." you lied, hoping it was convincing.

"Oh" the boy sighed with a disappointed face. "Alright. Next time maybe" he said smiling at you.

You smiled back in return and the boy turned and walked away.

You repressed a laugh and turned to Eddie.

"What was that?" you asked crossing your arms looking up at him.

"What?" he asked trying to act oblivious.

"Oh nothing I'm just sensing some jealousy" you said grinning at him.

He chuckled and shook his head frantically.

"Me? Jealous?" he asked pointing at himself. He looked away, avoiding eye contact. "That's ridiculous"

You laughed and nodded. "That may be ridiculous but I don't recall you ever mentioning having something planned on friday. But that may just be me" you said holding your hands up in the air.

He smiled at you and took your hand in his. "Totally ridiculous. Gig with my band, you said it yourself" he said before gently bringing your hand to his mouth to gently kiss your knuckles. "Or we could spend the night at my trailer and cuddle watching some slashers, where it would be an appropriate place for you to put an hand to my ass huh" he said cocking an eyebrow at you.

You laughed and playfully hit his side before burying your face into his chest, wrapping your arms around him. "I love you, you idiot" you murmured between kisses on his cheek.

He softly smiled and kissed your forehead. "I love you too sweetheart" he whispered against your skin as he tried to figure out what had made him fall in love with you, but quickly gave up when he came to the conclusion that it was just your whole being that did the magic.

---

reblogs and feedback are appreciated!! comments motivate me a lot <3

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #stranger things #stranger things x reader #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson x gender neutral reader #eddie munson x gn!reader #eddie munson fluff #stranger things 4 #eddie munson blurb #stranger things imagine

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blackroseguzzi · 1 month

Text

FATE part 6

summery: Colin reminds himself of the reasons he knew you were the girl for him while also becoming increasingly stressed over this case.

Colin’s POV

I parked my cruiser in back of the station, letting it idle as thoughts ran through my head. I was now the lead investigator on Erin’s case now that Mare was on leave, and I don’t want to fuck this up. I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel, my body wanted to turn out of the lot and just keeping driving away from this town, just like she had. This case. Fuck, The situation in yet I tangled myself in yet again with her. I knew by Friday this week that my heart was going to be blasted into a million pieces but maybe I was a glutton for punishment. She’s addicting, I am so drawn to her as if she’s a magnetic field. I had always been sucked into her vortex since the first time I ran into her at that coffee shop. She was always effortlessly beautiful, especially the way her eyes squinted up when she smiled. My mind slowly drifts to a memory of her in the days I knew I was going to marry her.

My alarm had gone off, I had to work that whole weekend and snuck in just a few hours of sleep. I remember the way the sunlight cast over her body that lay tangled in our sheets. I had come home that evening to her unpacking her work bag on the counter, her hair in that messy bun I loved so much. I had snuck into the kitchen and wrapped my arms around her waist, feeling her jolt into awareness of my body now pressed against her back.

“What are you doing home this early?” She turned around, pressing her hands on either side of my face, bringing it down for a quick peck on the lips. Her soft lips always plagued my nightmares after she left. Those kisses lingered on my lips as I woke up and realized that she wasn’t there, that she didn’t love me anymore.

“I pulled a few strings, and I got an interview set up in the mornin’ with a witness. So I got out at a decent hour, but I gotta be outta the house early in the mornin tomorrow.”

Her face fell, knowing we wouldn’t get to spend some time together before another work week resurfaced. I hated that she missed me, even thought I wasn’t gone. I realized after she left that I asked her to be extremely patient when it came to my work hours. She never complained due to the nature of the work I did, but her face usually had the hint of disappointment in it when I explained how many hours I’d have to clock in each week.

“Hey, I’ll make it up to you. I have a few days off for Christmas. Okay?” I sprinkled more kisses on her cheek and felt her wrap her hands around my body and sigh.  “We have forever together, I know you’re working hard to find that missing kid.” I hated that you turned away in that moment, returning to getting your things out of the overnight bag and organized.

Your voice rang through the kitchen as I started to loosen the tie on my shirt, ready to unwind. “What do you want for dinner?”

“You know, Pizza sounds great but I have this craving. It’s been on my mind all frrrrreakkkinggg week.”

You had turned to me, your eyebrows pointed together quizzically.

“And what might that craving be, Mr. Zabel?”

“Well, Ms. Y/l/n, Its something I daydream about often. Spread out on the kitchen table, ready for me to savor every last bite.”

Her eyes wandered across my face, and as our eyes met, I knew she had caught on to the kind of craving I was looking to fulfill.

“Oh, you daydream about this craving often, huh?” A little teasing grin emerged from her face.

I smirked and let out a small chuckle as she started to undo the buttons of my dress shirt.

“Yeah, now we’re cookin’ with fire baby,” I growled, reaching down to cup her ass in those black buttery soft yoga pants I loved her in. The first kiss tasted like candy, and just got more and more delicious as they came. I could feel the heat in between her legs as she pushed me into our dining room with her hips as our tongues still danced together.

“Shit,” She breathed out as I felt her fumble slightly as I tugged at her sweatshirt. We broke apart so I could peel it over her head, making her bun flip to the other side of her head, and stray hairs falling around her forehead. Nobody ever looked that good in a messy bun.

I let out a small moan as her hands worked quickly to unhook her lace pink bra. Her breasts tumbled out of the cups with ease, and my hands couldn’t contain themselves. I reached up to her chest and feverishly messaged, and delicately twirled her nipples. When she bit my lip, man that’s when it was all over.

“You always crave dessert before dinner?” She whispered in that low raspy voice I only ever heard in the bedroom.  As my hands worked her chest and my mouth occupied the crook of her neck, I could feel that ache in my groin when she started to tug away my belt and unbutton my pants.

She watched as I pulled my pants down, left in boxers. I started to pull my undershirt off when I heard her giggle at the fact my socks had in fact not matched.

I smiled at her, and she pushed a large pile of her papers off the dining table and onto the floor in a hurry.

“I’m going to fucking ravish you, baby.”

She shook her head as she pushed me away from her playfully.

“No sweetie, I get the first taste,” She moved my body as if I was a puppet, placing me laying down on the dining room table - bare assed with my cock straight up waiting for you.

I loved watching her give me head, the way her eyes rolled in the back of her head and her hands gripping my thighs. I let out a deep moan, letting her know the pleasure was going to be short lived if she keeps on using her tongue that way.

She licks the full length of my penis before climbing up on the table, straddling me from above. I pulled my hands to cup her ass again, squeezing her thick soft cheeks as she kisses me. “My turn,” I whispered as we quickly and gracefully rolled into switched positions on the table. Her perfect body now laying down, legs spread as if inviting me in. I felt her breath hitch as I guided myself inside of her. Fuck I will never forget that feeling. That tight squeeze, wet and so fucking warm. I whispered that I loved her, loved her body, loved everything about her as I thrusted my dick inside of her. She was not a quiet girl, but she was reserved and laid back for the most part, but man in the bedroom she was an animal. It surprised me at first, and then once I realized it was exactly what I needed that addiction was intoxicating. I don’t think any girl could ever make me feel half as good as she did.

Her quiet voice pulled me from my drunken pleasure, “I’m gonna cum, Colin.” Her hands found mine and we slowed our intensity. I loved the way her neck and face flushed a perfect pink color as we edged ourselves to completion.

“That’s it baby,” I whispered in between thick breaths as she road out her orgasm- just watching her face scrunch with pleasure pushed me over the edge and I spilled myself inside of her. God, I was done for. She was my forever, it was Fate that brought is together the same coffee spot the day we met.

I closed my eyes, reliving that memory a small smile on my lips when suddenly a knock was at my window.

“We gotta talk Zabel, “ Mare’s harsh voice was muffled by the car window between us.

I turned off the car, taking a deep breath before opening the door.

I was surprised to see her here after getting kicked off the case for some reason I wasn’t able to have as knowledge. “What‘a going on? I thought you were on leave?” I questioned her. Her permanent frown was deeper than normal today. It gave me a slight anxious feeling.

“Why are you talkin’ with Deacon Mark?”

Of course she was here to talk the case, but I knew the shit I’d be in if I continued to let her in on what was going on in the investigation.

“I’d love to chat but this doesn’t really concern you anymore, Mare. we got it handled. Promise.” I placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her nerves, but she shrugged it off.

“ No, it concerns me because I need to find out if there’s a connection with Erin’s case and Katy’s.”

Her tough exterior was something I wasn’t used to. She had only shown me a softer side once or twice, but learning a bit about her past I understand why the guard was ALWAYS up.

“Look, Mare…”

“Shove it, Zabel. You’re talkin’ to a fucking reporter but ya won’t talk to me?”

I gave her a confused look, not understand why she would bring that up- but something was fishy.

“Wait how did you know I was investigating Deacon Mark?”

Mare signed, running a hand through her hair in frustration.

“An unknown source saw ya talking.” She replied.

I wanted to push it further but I had work to do and she was making me late. I know she wanted information but i just couldn’t risk it.

“Sorry Mare, you’re not on the Case.” I started to walk away when I heard a mumbled out of her.

It sounded a lot like “ Well have fun on your date tonight.” But I didn’t want to push it, because there was no way she knew I was going to dinner with you tonight, or was there?

#evan peters #evan peters fanfic #evan peters imagine #evan peters x y/n #evan peters x reader #colin zabel mare of easttown #colin zabel smut #colin zabel #colin zabel x you #colin zabel x reader #colin zabel fanfiction #Colin #colin zabel mare of east town #mare of easttown

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bearbirth · 5 months

Note

For the build a birth 0: 🤰(male but we dont havw the male.pregnant emoji aa) 4️⃣🚗👖🧠

I had always had a bit of a chubby belly.

Unfortunately this fact led to this fateful night. I didn’t think I could get pregnant as I had been told I was infertile years ago by some bullshit doctor. I hadn’t seemed to notice my belly getting slightly larger over the months. It hasn’t popped however.

The last few days I’ve been having some issues with cramps. I had thought maybe it had been something I ate. Oh how wrong I was. I could never have foreseen having four babies inside of me all this time.

It’s a Friday and I’m driving back to visit my family for the weekend. I’ve been in some pain all day but I’ve pulled through even when a tums didn’t help. I breathe out as another cramp rocks my body and I shift forward in an attempt to alleviate my discomfort.

“ohhhhh….”

I let out a groan. The pain has been getting worse. I put a hand on my belly and rub it, trying to sooth the pain. I grip the wheel tighter. The pain subsides again and I sit back with a sigh.

“Fuck…. Ohhh god another….”

The next cramp comes so soon. I strain a little, feeling the urge to push. I just assume I have to use the bathroom. I’ll need to find a rest stop quick. The pain peeks then dies down again. But once more it starts up after just a few breaths.

“OH GOD!!! HHRGGGG!”

I cant stop myself. I’m pushing the head down my birth canal. I’m panting hard as I lift my ass up a little when the pressure suddenly intensifies. How could a man be pregnant without knowing?

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH…! OH IM ABOUT TO POOP!!”

I cry out in pain as something nestled behind my entrance. I grip the wheel, sobbing as I push hard. With a scream and another push the head gushes out of me and into my jeans. I scream again, is that a baby?! Oh god it’s baby! I’m giving birth! The head turns and the baby rushes out of me and into my tight pants with a gush. I yank the wheel and pull over. I unzip my pants and shakily draw out the baby who has already started to cry.

“W-What…?”

I stare at it in shock, but I don’t have time to think. Suddenly I scream, there’s another. I place the first baby in the seat next to me and I sit back, my legs on the dash board. I sob as I try to pull my pants down a little but I’m having to push.

“NO I CANT BE PREGNANT!! OH IT HURTS SO BAD!!” My legs shake as I try to get the baby out faster. Suddenly the head shoots out then the shoulders and body. But as soon as it’s out I’m pushing once more. I grip the seat. I don’t have time to get the first baby out of my pants. The next baby is smaller and has already started to crown.

“AGGGREREGGGG AAAAAAH!!!! GET OUT OF ME!!!!!” I screech as the baby slips out into my pants next to its sibling. Finally I’m done… or so I think. I lower my legs and get the baby’s out. There’s a little twinge of a contraction but I ignore it. I call 911, and as I’m explaining what happened I have to push.

“Yes I’m on the side of the road, I- OHHH OH GOD THERES ANOTHER BABY!! OH PLEASE PLEASE HELP I CANT DO IT AGA-AAHHHHH AHHHHH!! OH IT BURNS!!”

I scream down the phone. The baby forces its way down me. I half stand up, pulling my pants down just as the baby crowns. It shoved my boxers down as it moves out painfully.

“ITS HHUUUUUUUUUGGEEEEE! ITS COMING OUTTTT OF MEEEEEE!”

Suddenly the baby pops half out. I’m sobbing with the baby half in me when the ambulance finally reaches us. They watch me give birth again as they pull open my door.

#birth kink #clothing birth #public birth #labor kink #giving birth #car birth #mpreg

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cissyenthusiast010155 · 1 year

Text

Pomegranate Lips Ch 4: Tipping Point ~Sub!Larissa Weems xFem Fallen Angel!Reader

Part 4 of Pomegrante Lips!! Larissa and Reader falling for each other slowly… The sexual tension finally snaps between the two… Part 5 to include smut 😏

Link to Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3

Mommy…Master List

Requests & Prompt-List

Warnings: NSFW, angst, implied smut, teasing, nudity, etc.

Enjoy (:

After that latest and fateful coffee meeting, Larissa had become determined to not let you break her any more than you already had.

She was determined to not give in.

But her plan immediately crumbled the second you started to ignore her.

It was all part of your own plan…

Since that fateful day in the cafe with Larissa’s unraveling, you gave Larissa no mind, avoiding her in the halls, not speaking at meetings, not teasing her in her office. And sure enough, you chipped away Larissa’s resilience bit by bit.

You could feel the longing glances she gave you as you turned your head in the other direction. Her face dropping slightly when you didn’t stay after a staff meeting to chat her up.

Had she done something wrong?

Larissa couldn’t stand it anymore, the not knowing. One minute, she had been your entire view, and the next, she doesn’t even exist to you?? Larissa’s thoughts spiraled for days over this, until a Friday night when she had so much paperwork to go through but couldn’t touch any of it…

Because of you…

You wouldn’t leave her mind.

You were invading it in fact.

She shut her laptop rather hard with a groan falling from her lips.

She had to confront you.

And the thought made her shudder and go weak in the knees.

But she had to. She couldn’t take it anymore.

With a sigh, Larissa got up from her chair and left her office to head to your classroom. She knocked on your door, her hand shaking and her breathing already uneven.

“Come in…” you purred.

You could sense that it was Larissa…

Larissa entered and closed the door behind her.

“We need to talk.” She firmly stated.

You quirked your brow, finally looking up at the tall blonde, and putting your work down.

“Oh?”

“Yes. Do you have a moment?” she matter of factly asked.

“Yes. What is it?” You said, still remaining in your distanced play, while waiting for Larissa to crack.

Larissa took a deep breath.

“What we are doing needs to stop. It’s highly innapropriate and is affecting our job performances. I think it’s best if it comes to an end.” She stated.

She played her cards, now it was your turn…

“Oh is that so…?” You taunted, getting up from your chair and coming around the your desk so that you were only mere inches away from Larissa.

Larissa froze as you entered her space, her mind short circuiting.

“So you have no want to be my good girl…?” You taunted, purring in her ear.

Your words sent shivers down Larissa’s spine.

“No, you obviously have no interest, and you’ve made that quite clear…” Larissa gritted out, a tear threatening to spill, a sudden anger overtaking the blonde for all the times you’d ignored her.

You circled the blonde slowly as she spoke, stopping in front of her and cupping her chin to direct her eyes to yours.

“You’re that desperate, aren’t you…?” you purred, “If my good girl wants my attention, all she has to do is ask… But, according to you, this needs to end…” you tutted, throwing her own words back at her.

You began to retract, when Larissa grabbed your arm, “No wait!” She whimpered, “I’m sorry. I want this. I want you. Please. I wanna see you.” she pleaded.

You chuckled and hummed in delight, “Already begging… such a good girl…”

God, that nickname made Larissa go feral…

You then began to strip slowly in front of the blonde, until you were completely nude in front of her. (Well almost).

“No, I wanna see all of you…” Larissa whispered, coming over to you and running one hand over your curves while the other fidgeted with your glasses.

“You… You wouldn’t like what you would see…”

This shocked Larissa. For once, you sounded unsure and insecure.

So in response, Larissa began undressing herself, until she was just as nude as you were. A light smirk graced your lips at her stunning curves.

Larissa then embraced your hands, “Please, I want to see all of you…”

You bit your lip and looked up at the blonde, “Follow me.” You breathed out.

~~~

Part 5 with smut is here 😏

Larissa Weems Masterlist

Tag list @wierdpersonononelikes @principal-weems09 @sapphicobsesssion @xx-state-of-mind-xx @constantanxiety @poorwritingandstalecoffee @thoroughly--confused @walkethisway @gaydonutdino @yourfavoriteweirdo19 @justcallmelittleone @gwendolinechristieiscute @larissaweemsgf @enchantressb @magicalprofessorpastacash @ness029 @larissa-weems-chokehold @keepcalmandlistentoit @bxtrflyr @wifeymaterialsstuff @a-queen-and-her-throne

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mechaknight-98 · 20 days

Text

Gathering CEDH Edition: Mana Confluence

Author's note: insert funny self-deprecating joke here to appeal to the audience

"Hey, Um Hiro can I ask your advice on something," Connor asked me stuttering.

"You're asking your youngest friend for advice. Well, then you must be desperate. I am not judging let's see how I can hopefully help," I respond.

"Well it's about Yunjin..." Connor begins

"Oh yeah that reminds me, did you get my photocards signed," I asked hopeful.

"Yeah," Connor said as he handed me the cards signed by Le Sserafim's ridiculously popular it girl Chaewon.

"Oh sick you used the metallic Sharpies and everything," I smiled

"Yeah, she loved that they were Pokemon cards too," Connor replied.

I smiled but quickly remembered why he approached me.

"While I'd love to marvel at these. I do believe you had a question friend," I reply.

"Oh yeah, it's about Yunjin...I think I have a crush on her," Connor replies and my eyes go wide.

After Connor's fated Gathering with Giselle of Aespa or as she liked to be called by him Aeri. their relationship blossomed significantly. Both Professionally and Personally, which is why Connor found himself sitting with her in the general room of SM Entertainment. They had recruited Connor to do some filming with them after a very strong recommendation from Karina. Which is why Connor is in South Korea instead of New York right now. Connor was discussing various scenes for an upcoming music video for the group with the leader who had taken an interest in Connor. While Connor sits with Karina discussing various aspects of filming she breaks the flow of conversation to take a detour into something more personal.

“Okay Infinite sounds good, but I have something to ask,” Karina says to Connor, when she uses Connor's discord tag Connor knew it was serious/ or personal.

“ Karina we have been through this you can call me Connor in real life, but yeah what’s up?” Connor says and asks in return.

“It’s about Giselle. She has been in distress recently due to some comments on social media.” Connor scratched his head. Mean comments were par the course for any person in the public eye. Seeing his skepticism, and with Karina being the great leader she handed him a phone with some of the comments. he read them and watched in terror as they went from a little nippy to downright vile. he winced

“See. Someone who isn’t a part of this or her leader needs to talk to her. Maybe a close friend” Karina suggested confidently

he sighs, “I am not good at these types of things. I am much better suited to hyping her up.” is his follow-up. Karina holds firm

“Sorry, but you are the oldest you have to take responsibility. Also hyping her up is probably what she needs right now.” Karina says with a sly smile. So he sucks it up.

Later in the day after completing his shoot for Le Sserafim, he heads back to the SM building. On his way out of Yunjin, the Le Sserafim vocalist approaches him. Her bright hair billowing as she saunters over, “Hey Jen. Connor says to her.”

“Hey, Connor! how’s my fellow American?” Yunjin aka Jenifer asked

“Oh, you know getting busy living before I get busy dying,” Connor responds

“Good, good. Oh by the way we should like hang out. You seem cool enough and I need someone who isn’t a part of all this (She gestures around herself.).Plus I don’t often get the chance to interact with Americans out here so it’s great to see more.” Jen says. Connor laughs

“Jennifer, I am Korean as well … you remember that right? Also, are you asking me out? Because it sounds like it.” Connor teases while raising an eyebrow.

Jen laughs and says, “Yeah I know Who knows maybe.” He responds in kind and goes on his way. He arrives in time just before Aespa leaves for the end of the day. The girls look exhausted, especially Giselle who looks miserable. When Giselle sees Connor her eyes brighten.

“Friday Night Magic?” Giselle asks hopeful

Connor nods and Winter sighs relieved. “Ugh, you have no idea how annoying she’s been about it. Please take her. Maybe beat her again.” laughs ring out from all present.

“I don’t know she’s gotten a lot better.” Connor quips

“Only because you throw the most insane things at me,” Giselle said.

“You’re lucky you’re playing against me and not my friend Dexter.” Connor chides. Aeri looks at Connor with surprise.

“Oh and what does he play, and why haven’t I?” Aeri inquired

“Some evil and powerful stuff( Mostly in Temur Connor doesn't mention this but I am because it will be relevant later). Also to answer your second question…he doesn’t like coming out of his zone, but we may be able to coax him out later as he also likes K-pop as well.” Connor explains and replies.

Connor laughs as the duo gets into his car. He is careful to appear extra staff like today because one of the comments read “Who is that Dumb looking redhead? Is that her boyfriend.” (Connor has vibrant red hair…again will be relevant later). When they get into the car Connor is silent for a moment as the comments he saw earlier rush through his head along with Karina’s charge to him. He could see Giselle fidgeting with various parts of her bag while she got in.

“Yo Aeri. Are you okay? I saw some comments the other day that were less than on your recent comeback and wanted to check in to make sure you are doing alright.” Connor asks casually

Giselle sighed. “Can we not talk about it?” She asked. Connor nods. he knows from experience that this can’t end well but he lets it go for the time being. He wanted Aeri to be comfortable. He knows what it was like to have a well-meaning friend pry into your life. He sends a reassuring smile at Aeri and drives to the shop.

When They arrive Aeri smiles weakly, the Talk about her, Her weight her personality finally cracks her and she breaks. before entering Aeri looks at Connor with a serious face. “I can’t do this Connor. Can we do something else tonight?” He nods giving a thumbs up to his friend. She smiles sincerely this time. He takes her to a K-BBQ place that He wants to try. She is elated (I get it food is the easiest way to ease the soul.) to get into said Korean BBQ place. Surprise, surprise guess who’s waiting there is Jen and her unnie Sakura. Sakura is the first to notice Connor. Her eyes are always scanning and when she sees him, she squints, and then her eyes go wide and she smiles. “Oh Oppa come on over,” Sakura says giddily. Connor smiles and walks over with Aeri. Sakura shakes Yunjin who still hasn’t noticed Connor yet Letting her know their table is ready.

“Hey, Jen. Hey Kkura.” Connor says pleasantly. Jen turns around and her eyes go wide

“Ah, what?” she yells excitedly. Connor waves and Aeri smiles.

“Ah, you just couldn’t stay away from me.” Jen teases. Connor goes to introduce Aeri but Jen says “Dude we already know Aeri.” he nods and sits with them.

“you guys came just in time. It was originally supposed to be all five of us but Eunchae, Kazuha, and Chaewon unnie bailed on us.” Jen said as Aeri and Connor nodded and sat with them. Jen looked at Connor with just the happiest smile and brightest eyes, she turned to Aeri and said to her, “Hey Giselle Unnie. You look great today, but if I remember correctly I thought you were supposed to be hanging out with Connor tonight..alone.” Connor notices that Jen is not giving him his proper honorific which is weird since she is doing it for everyone else. he wonders if that’s personal like he has done something to upset her.

“Oh well it’s just a lot going on you know?” before Aeri could continue the waitress came to the table with menus. While Aeri and Jen talk Connor chats to Sakura and informs her of what’s going on discretely.

She looks at him and then Aeri with wide eyes full of concern. After he finishes she says to him, “Oh don’t worry about it I’ll talk to her.

Connor nods his head and says “Now don’t mention anything directly just try to make her feel comfortable.” Sakura puts her index finger to his lips.

“Allow me to work my magic,” Sakura says politely. Connor shrugs.

“Ah, what are you two whispering about?” Jen says suspicious of the two.

“Oh, Oppa and I were just discussing how amazing Giselle’s performances have been. She has been improving so much.” he nods excitedly eager to get the heat off himself. Both Aeri and Jen look at Connor confused. When the waitress rearrives at the table they order. Connor orders with Jen and Aeri with Sakura. He moves after ordering in his seat as he sits across from Sakura who looks around his neck area. “Hey oppa what’s that.” he noticed she was pointing toward his Gingaman tattoo on the right side of his collar that was slightly sticking out. he moves your shirt collar to show Sakura. Sakura looks at it for a moment… Aeri begins to chuckle.

“is that the starbeast sword?” she says between chuckles. Connor nods, and her chuckles grow to full laughs

“I knew I recognized it,” Sakura says with a smile. The two Japanese ladies begin to converse in the original tongue while Connor and Jen look at each other. they both roll their eyes when they hear the word American come from the two of them. Connor turns to Jen but she is watching the two girls talk with interest. so He sat “alone”, waiting for the opportunity to speak again. After about ten minutes of order, Aeri speaks to you, “Hey Connor why didn’t you make a Korvold paper deck?”

Connor looks at Aeri confused and answers, “I do have a paper Rocco Caberetti Caterer CEDH deck.”

Now Aeri looked confused asking, “Then how come I have never seen you play it?”

he claps your hands together, and responds “Well It has a lot more bite than Narset Enlightened Exile.” Aeri looks at him confused still.

“What do you mean by more bite?” She asked. This makes Connor realize even for all of her excellent English skills some things don’t translate. Connor tried to figure out how to translate until Jen came to your rescue.

“He means it’s stronger than his other one (she turns to Connor) that is right?” she answers and asks.

Connor’s reply is a simple nod. “in this context I mean it’s less fun to play against, and more geared towards stronger player’s play.” He fully clarifies. Everyone nods to his point, except Sakura who looks at Connor with interest.

Sakura turns to Aeri and asks“ Rocco that name sounds familiar. What’s that from?” Aeri explains to her how they both play Magic The Gathering, and as soon as she says Magic her eyes go wide, and she turns to him. “Oh, Oh, I play that… I played (Sakura snaps her fingers twice for recollection)…

“Arena?” Connor Suggests. Sakura nods

On the phone… yeah I taught Yujin, Yena, and Hyewon. Yujin is good and still plays. She would always complain about someone playing against Rocco. I stopped playing because they kept updating the game too fast but I guess she never did.” You look at Sakura confused, and point to Yunjin (Jen) who also looks at her confused.

“OH YUJin-ah, not YUNjin-ah.” Sakura clarifies and this brings alacrity to everyone present except Connor who forgot about Izone for a moment.

“Wait how do you know Yujin,” Connor asks Everyone looks at him for a moment. It still doesn’t click. A few minutes pass and then he remembers. “Oh right, you used to be in a group together. I completely forgot. Hmm, that’s weird considering how much my roommate loves Izone. He is the one who got me into Magic the Gathering. I got him into K-pop.” Connor says. Everyone present begins to laugh.

Sakura looks at Connor intrigued, “Oh what’s your roommate’s name?”

“Oh Dexter but I call him Dex for short. We also have this crazy guy who's like our little brother named...” Connor answers.

"Hiro is the name you were about to say right," Sakura asks. Connor nods

"Yeah, Chaewon mentioned him and how she signed some K-pop cards for you that were Pokemon cards," Sakura explained. Yunjin's eyes went wide

"Oh so that's who got the Chaewon cards," She replied. Sakura nodded

Aeri snaps her fingers in recognition of the names. After that the food arrives and The group eats and converses about various boring topics I won’t go through the tedium of repeating here. (I am trying to keep this somewhat engaging after all). Afterwards, they finish up Connor pays for the meal. (Like a boss)

“Thanks, Oppa,” Sakura says to Connor and he gives her a thumbs up as he leaves with Aeri.

When they arrive at Aespa’s dorm she smiles and says, “Thank you, Connor. I appreciate it.”

He says “No worries“ as he's going to leave before though can Aeri grabs him.

“Hey Oppa what do you do when you think you’re not good enough?” Aeri asks Connor pleading.

Connor considers her words, he doesn’t often falter for confidence (Like the previously mentioned boss he is). So he has to think for a moment and then respond. “As much as I want to say just be yourself I can’t bring myself to. It boils down to not listening to critiques that aren't genuine. For example, Hiro is always critiquing my work, but it comes not from a place of tearing others down but to refine them. Those I listen to. I don't listen to insincere critiques like "Why did you use that actress she's a fat pig. Those are insults and we don't listen to them. Eventually, you'll get better. besides didn't you have the least amount of training of your group? I wouldn't worry about the criticisms too much,” Aeri looks at Him and smiles.

“Okay, I will keep that in mind.” She says as she smiles and leaves. He drives his little blue rental back to his hotel to get ready to fly back home.

Two weeks later Connor’s back to work filming with Le Sserafim for promotions in the States. The staff and the girls for the most part are kind and gentle people. Connor enjoys working with them. As he is finishing up for day 1 Jen corners him along with Sakura. “Hey, you’re pretty good at Magic right?” Jen asks. Connor nods. “Good then can you teach us? Giselle has been trying to get us to learn because she wants people she can play with besides Yujin, and Sakura doesn’t remember how to play.” Connor strokes his chin.

“That’s a lot of work. Like a lot of work.” He explains.

The girls smile at him and Jen says, “Well then it’s good we are going to be together for a few weeks.” Connor sighs.

“Okay then, but if we do this… we are doing it my way. Do you understand?” Connor asserts.

Both Kkura and Jen nod.

“Okay well then first things first set aside 250$ each. I want you both to be able to build both fun and functional decks so I need you to do that. I also want you both, if you haven’t already download mtg Arena and just play with what they give you. This will be the easiest way to teach the basics and give you both a net of general play styles you enjoy. Please for the love of God Almighty do not spend any money on the app. You are both too inexperienced to know what’s worth purchasing and will not have fun in the long haul. please don’t be like me. Dexter tried to warn me but I didn’t listen. Also, I feel like I should mention this check out Dice Try’s YouTube channel and watch the videos on shards and wedges it will give you all a very clear view of what each one is about, and potentially what you align with,” Connor says before both nodded and leave for the day. After that Connor finished packing up all of his cameras, and other film gear and went home.

When he got home he got a discord call from Scorpion-love-00. “Hey Connor I need your help. We need a third for our commander game.” Connor (who hates 3-player games) sighs and responds

“Skippy you know how I feel about three-player games.”

Scorpion responds, “I know but we just need a third to change up gameplay, at least for tonight.” this turns out to be untrue as for the next two weeks you are playing arch-enemy against Scorpion and her new friend Ujinnie… Sometimes there’s a random 4th that joins. Who’s good but also kind of non-verbal (It’s me…I am that person, but I haven’t officially met Aeri, or Yujin yet, but spoilers it’s me… the narrator. Or it's another character you will meet later who plays Esper shenanigans) Connor tries not to be annoyed as his off time is becoming dominated by mtg. Eventually, he ropes his roommate; Dexter, who was a magic savant in his eyes.

this makes the experience more fun for everyone involved. Your friend hit it off with Giselle, and Ujinnie when she can play as well. Which was funny because were at each other’s throats at first. This would lead to one of the later “game nights” when Connor invites Dex, and me to Help with filming. Which brings us back to the present.

"So you like Yunjin...what about Aeri," I ask inquisitively

"Aeri and I get along great but it feels like she's my sister at times," Connor replies. I nod

"Well my take is that you figure out your feelings first, but I am also aware that honestly, you may just be in love with Yunjin," I reply. Connor nods and then says, Also thank you for helping me film fearless Kura when the girls come out here," Connor said. I looked at him blinked thrice and replied

"What do you mean help?"

"You are going to help with deck building and filming of course," Connor replied. I blinked again trying to process the insane information being thrown my way. I a rando would be helping Megastar Sakura Miyawaki film Magic the gathering content.

"Um Okay sure," I reply as I give Connor a thumbs up

A few days later we all arrived at the film location. As we set up with their decks the Fimmies + Giselle approached us surprised. “Oh, Connor Oppa who is this?” Sakura asked as she approached.

“Oh, this is Dexter. My friend who is a director and also a camera guy. He is good at mtg, and the other is Hiro...We don't know his real name just his social media handle. He is also really good at MTG super versatile as a player as well. We were playing together against Aeri and this girl named Ujinnie Yesterday and it was late so I figured they could help me today.” Connor clarified

Dexter and I looked up when we heard our names called before quickly going back to work.

“Wait is he the one who goes by Stealth Dragon Daihouzan?” Aeri asked pointing at Dexter

Connor shakes his head. I raise my hand, "No that's me," I reply to them. Connor looks at me surprised

"why didn't you say anything," Connor asked.

"I didn't think anything of it. I just play the game, and you guys were almost always online when I wanted to play," I replied shocked I was playing with my friend and two K-pop stars.

“Oh Yunjin ah ask him your question," Sakura replies Connor feels a pang of Jealousy as he watches Jen smile as she goes up to me. while Dexter and I on the other hand are focused on setting up the set.

“Oh, so your Daihouzan... Can I call you something shorter," Jen asks. I nod and reply "Hiro" Jen smiles at this point I notice Connor's sour look (His poker face was good I just knew how to read him specifically) I have heard a lot about you.”Jen exclaims

I nod and respond skeptically, “That's potentially worrying, but ah what the heck, how can I help you?”

“So I love typal decks and Aeri says you’re scary good at building them”

I cringe as Dexter looks at Yunjin hesitantly (we both dislike the term typal for various reasons), and then we look at Connor for guidance. Connor gives the thumbs up, and I respond, “What creature typer were you thinking and how do you want to play it?”

“I want an aggressive angel deck in white red black,” Yunjin responds. I sigh exasperatedly and die a little on the inside before he responds. Connor knew what I was about to recommend and he knew how much I hated to do so.

“Then you’re probably going to want to run Kaalia of the Vast,” I say dejectedly. Connor knows that was hard for him because I hated Kaalia so to see him suggest that for Jen made Connor laugh uncontrollably Envy fading into the back of his mind.

Jen was confused “What’s wrong with Kaalia?” She asked noticing the shift in atmosphere between her friend and his buddies.

“Nothing I just have a personal vendetta since my friend whom, I first played a lot against played her a lot, and well I was not a fan. She is wildly powerful but also super obnoxious,” I responded

Aeri's eyes narrowed at me looked at me and replied “You have a weird idea of obnoxious. I complained so much about your Omnath locus of creation deck,( Aeri doesn’t explain this but for those who are curious it’s The 4 color nonblack one, and one of my signature decks)” Connor watches as Dexter laughs, as he finishes setting up to face Kkura.

“Well to be fair I also did beat up on her because she was playing Yuriko, but the reason she is probably more upset is that she may be an enfranchised player, but she isn't entrenched,” Dexter responds. Connor looks at Dexter disappointed knowing the ensuing conversation that would follow.

“Listen just because you run free mana spells, lotuses, and og duals does not make you a better player,” Connor says to Dexter

“No, what makes me a better player is that I no-life this game. Same with Hiro,” Dexter responded which caused a laugh from all present Except Jen. Jen looked at him with surprise.

“No-life the game?” she said with her near trademarked confused face.

“Oh, Yunjin-ah he just means that mtg is the only game he plays,” Sakura responded

“That and Hunt Showdown.” Dexter clarifies. He lifts his sleeve to show his tattoo from the mentioned game.

"I play Warframe, and Monster Hunter," I interject

“Oh, that’s cool. so the two of you must be good,” Jen responds.

Dexter and I laugh knowing being "really good" is relative

Connor smiles as he looks at his friends getting along so well together. after finishing up chatting with the Fimmies Connor, Dexter, and I went to finish getting ready for the shoot. the shoot proceeds smoothly, and after the shoot; Connor, Dexter, Jen, Aeri, Kkura, and I go to hang out.

“So we saved our 250$ Connor,” Jen says to Connor after the shoot. Dexter and I begin to laugh in his seat while Connor is driving. He sighs knowing the two of them are going to have to help them learn the game in earnest.

“Hey before you do this. have you two thought of turning this in content? like YouTube videos. I know Sakura has her YouTube channel and this could be a funny episode.” Dexter suggested absent-minded Sakura looked at the Native Alaskan/Russian and her eyes widened.

Two weeks days later Jen, Aeri, Connor, Dexter, Sakura, and I were all on the set of Sakura’s YouTube (Fearless Kkura, which will become the interchangeable name for her now) channel which today happened to be a Studio that Dexter and Connor found. Dexter is acting as an assistant director for the episode, but also helping Kkura learn her deck. We all had input in construction. I was in charge of making playable mana bases because I never falter in those. Kkura is a bit distracted looking at Dexter’s shirt. It was Godzilla Vs. Great Ape Vegeta. “Okay so after you get a good mill chain going you’re going to want to start reanimating your big threats,” he said with a relaxed smile. Connor knows that Dexter loves Le Sserafim Sakura was his bias (Mine as you probably assumed is Chaewon) so he is trying his best here to not fanboy. Despite his worries, Connor sees he’s doing well. He’s relaxed. Jen and Aeri sneak up behind him.

“They have really good chemistry, Just like us,” Aeri says. Connor turns around surprised to see his two friends leaning against each other as they watch Dexter and Sakura discuss plans.

“Yeah, Kkura unnie likes his vibe,” Jen said with a bit of a laugh.

“Yeah, Dexter is a good guy,” Connor says.

“Oh, that reminds me. How’d you meet him Oppa?” Aeri asks. Connor notices Jen’s confused look at Aeri as she walks back to the table. Again he wonders if you did something to annoy Jen causing her issue with the honorifics.

“Oh that’s easy we are roommates in college and now kinda permanently. He also helped me get through some really bad times by being like an older brother to me,” he responded

“Oh, how old is he?” Aeri asks.

“he’s Eunbi's age,” Connor replied

“Oh wow, I guess he is an Oppa too. It’s so weird he and Kkura unnie feel younger.” Giselle states

"Wait how old is Hiro then," Yunjin asks. I happened to be walking by doing set up and casually said

"I am a month and 13 days older than Kkura," as I spoke I moved other cameras to where they needed to go. Yunjin smiled

"Thanks, oppa," Yunjin said. I gave her a thumbs-up as I continued on my way

“Well I don’t know Kkura that well but I do know Dexter, and that stems from his immense sincerity. Out of all of the players I know who play MTG, I have only seen two that embody a wedge and he is one of them. He plays a lot of simic x color decks but he is Naya boy through and through in terms of mentality and temperament.” Connor explains

Aeri laughs, “You know I see that. He is so focused and meticulous but also extremely kind-hearted and empathetic.”

“Also and you didn’t hear this from me, his best deck is not Maelstrom Wanderer but his Zaccama deck that's the real killer. That deck is nasty to play against.” Connor adds

“Oh really that’s surprising I would have figured it would have been Maelstrom based on Yujin’s complaints.” Aeri jokes

"Nope! Gishath has all of his crazy cards," I said as I walked past again

"Like what," Aeri asked

"Og duals, fast mana, and free spells," Connor explained

As I walked by again Yunjin grabbed me. "Stand still, will ya," she teased

"What's up," I asked

"No we just want you here as you're our friend too now," Aeri replied. My eyes went wide and my throat became dry.

"So you play green black blue right?" Aeri asked and I nod

"You helped with Kkura's deck right," Yunjin asked I nodded again

"What would be your pointers for helping us against Kkura's Kess dissident Mage deck," they both asked. I shrugged and replied.

"Most of your all's decks are commander-centric. so consistently removing said commander is going to be your best bet." the girls nodded and then turned to Connor

"So what about you guys' decks since you guys haven't shown us what y'all are playing," Yunjin said

"Wait we are playing? I thought the decks we built were just meant to be alternates," Connor and I asked

Aeri looked at Yunjin who just realized she spoiled the surprise.

"Yeah you guys are playing this episode," Aeri explained annoyed, "It was supposed to be a surprise but I guess the cat is out of the bag now," I nodded and took a step back then at Connor. a billion thoughts raced through my head but instead of worrying about them I just locked in on work. Yunjin dragged me off to have me help her get microphoned and Giselle dragged Connor with her

Connor and Giselle watch Dexter, Sakura, Yunjin and I all interact. "Crazy group we have," she said. Connor nods

"Yeah crazy to think it's been almost two months since we became friends," Connor states

"Yeah you're the older brother I always wanted," Aeri says. Connor winces a little before saying,

"Thanks" Connor replies

"Wait did I say something wrong," Giselle asked

"No I just didn't know what we were and this I guess is confirmation," Connor replies taking a page out of my book and scratching his head.

"Dude...Yunjin has your heart. I see the way you look at her. You should go for her. She is so smitten with you and would love it," Aeri says.

A huge wave of relief washes over Connor as he looks at Yunjin who is currently teasing me over the signed Chaewon card on my phone case

"Wait Hiro do you have a crush on Chaewon unnie," Yunjin says teasingly

I scowl at her and consider my response carefully, " I think all of you are super talented and I love all of Le Sserafim equally besides Eunchae, and that's only because I feel weird saying I love a minor," Yunjin laughs

"You're so silly. You and Chaewon will hit it off so well," Yunjin says

"Wait really," I say excited my mask slipping.

"So you do like her," Yunjin said victoriously. I sighed and nodded.

"No worries. I think she'll like you too. Now where did you get this card of Chaewon, and do they make one for all of us," Yunjin asked me. I nodded and replied

"Yeah there's this guy on Instagram who makes the cards, They're super cool. I can get one for all of you guys," I reply

"Oh that would be so cool," Yunjin says as we finish getting microphoned. Giselle and Connor laugh as they watch my stumbling and go over to a similar scene playing between Sakura and Dexter.

“So I hear you are a Wizone. Who was your bias?” Kkura asked Dexter intently

“Eunbi-noona I love her personality,” Dexter says flatly trying again not to Fanboy too hard

Sakura groans, “Really? Ugh”

“Wait wait wait. Aren’t you going to ask my Le Sserafim Bias?” Dexter responded realizing he made a mistake.

“Oh let me guess Chaewon?” Kura asks dejected

“While I do think she is cute, nope. It’s Sakura Miyawaki. Maybe you’ve heard of her.” Dexter said teasingly. Sakura began to blush and then lightly hit Dexter’s shoulder.

“We’ll talk after filming,” she said with a glare.

Before the episode started Dexter gave everyone super nice alter/proxies made by the online artist “Atomic Ashes”, but it was then revealed that we would also be in the episode him and he froze. he quickly recovered and got set up next to Kkura.

The Episode starts as we are rushed off the screen.

"Welcome to Fearless Kkura, and today I have some new faces," Sakura says in perfect Korean (I am told it's perfect by Connor who comments on how good it is.)

as Kkura mentions the new faces we are ushered back on screen, along with Yunjin and Aeri

"For those who don't know you all introduce yourself and what we are doing today," Sakura says. Dexter and Connor freeze I don't

"Hi, my name is Hiro these are my partners Dexter and Connor and together we are the Collective called DECOHI Productions. we make short films and other small productions, but I forget what brings us here today maybe Connor can help us out,"

Connor has now thawed and steps up, "Yeah We are here to help Sakura, Giselle, and Yunjin learn Commander, a subsection of Magic The Gathering,"

Dexter now finally calmed builds off of Connor, "Yeah we all helped them build decks and choose their commanders but before that, we have to teach them the basics, and maybe a few tips and tricks so stay tuned," he replies. We step back to the applause of Jen, Kkura, and Aeri.

"Wow great intro," Sakura said "Now let's get into it," she added. The cameras stopped as we moved to another set where there were seats and the other producers and directors asked us to sit.

The cameras start rolling and I lock in again.

"So what are the basics of Magic The Gathering Dexter," Sakura asks

"Well, Kkura the first thing you need to know is that Magic is a game of resources. everything is scare and limited,"

"Until it's infinite," I interject cooly,

"Huh," Yunjin asked confused

"Long story we'll get to that later, Now Connor please tell the lovely ladies about the game basics...Lands that is," I say

Connor and Dexter instantly know what I am doing and start riffing off of me from then on, "Well Magic has 8 card Types as of right now; Battle, Lands, Enchantments, artifacts, Soceries, instants, creatures, and planeswalkers. For commander, you may only have one of each card with a few exceptions. Basic Lands being the first. I think Hiro is best suited to explain the exceptions as he plays to many of the exceptions of MTG," Connor said

I looked at Connor surprised, "What's that supposed to mean," I say

Connor smiles trying to rile me up as he says, "It means you're a cheater,"

"But it's in the rules," I reply

Dexter smugly adds, "Doesn't make it fair,"

"Fair is relative, but I digress. In magic, there is a resource called mana. The easiest way to get it is to play cards like basic lands which tap for one mana usually. These can be played once a turn and tap for one of the 5 colors of Magic," I answer

"Oh this game has colors what are they," Aeri asks

"Oh green white blue black red," I reply, "Each color focuses on something different, and can be attributed to a virtue or vice,"

"Well now you gotta explain which is which," Yunjin said

"Green is Growth and Gluttony. White is Order or Inflexibility. Blue is change/Condescension. Black is Sacrifice or Pride. Red is passion and wrath. These colors can be combined with others to further their in-game strengths or shore up their weakness. the most common for commanders being two or three-color. Connor, Dexter, and I prefer three colors as they are the most consistent and most well-rounded the game has to offer."

"Oh really," Kkura asks, and the three of us nod.

"Well what have you built for us and what are your color combinations," Kkura asks.

"Well, I am blue red White, or nicknamed Jeskai. Jeskai is cunning and calculating but also warm and kind. except on the battlefield so enjoy it now friends because when we enter the field of battle I will crush all my enemies." Connor monologued

Dexter waved humbly and replied, " Red Green white is my combo. it's known for a lot of creature-based value. I like creatures so the combo works for me."

"Oh wow of course you two leave me with the hard job...(I turn to the camera.) Red players" I scoff which gets a laugh out of Kura and Aeri.

"For Sakura, we built a recursion-heavy Kess dissident mage deck that uses the colors Blue, Black Red, and hopes to utilize its graveyard as a second hand to push to an insurmountable advantage. This color combo is commonly known as Grixis. Next, we have Giselle on a White black Green (Abzan) Anafenza of the foremost deck. its goal is to keep the other players honest by limiting the amount of crazy shenanigans they can do. Lastly, we have hot girl Jen with an absolutely hot deck of Dragons and Angels helmed by Kaalia of the vast, red white black deck that seeks to cheat big beefy creatures into play to beat her opponents into submission." I relayed before taking a breath.

Eventually, Sakura asked the Magic words, "What are you playing Hiro?"

"Oh just the best color Combination," I reply.

#kpop fanfic #fanfic #edh #mtg commander #le sserafim yunjin #aespa giselle #miyawaki sakura #aespa kpop

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daechwitatamic · 1 year

Text

I. Your Wild-Running Heart || KNJ

(banner by @/itaeewon)

Title: My Feet to Follow, and My Heart to Hold (Masterpost)

Rating: NSFW - minors dni

Genre: college!au, roomie!au, angst, s2l, the absolute slowest of burns

Pairing: Namjoon x female reader, unrequited Taehyung x reader

Beta'd by @/kookstempo, @/casuallyimagining, and @/toikiii - thank you endlessly!

Summary: You know a lot about the many types of love thanks to Kim Taehyung. You love him as the only person you see as “family”, you love him as your very best friend, and you love him as the beautiful, funny man he’s become. But when a twist of fate during your senior year has you rooming with his good friend Kim Namjoon, you just might find that you have plenty left to learn about love.

Lesson One: there are such things as a right way and a wrong way to love and to be loved.

When your roommate bails last-second and leaves you completely in a bind for the new school year, your best friend Taehyung mentions that his friend Namjoon needs a place off-campus, too.

Section Warnings: language

WC: 7k

The world is mine: blue hill, still silver lake, Broad field, bright flower, and the long white road A gateless garden, and an open path: My feet to follow, and my heart to hold. - Journey | Edna St. Vincent Millay

Friday August 28

“Please, no,” you beg. “Please tell me this is a joke. I can’t live with a man. Do you know what men are like?”

Taehyung, quite a specimen of man last time you checked, cocks an eyebrow at you. “Y/N,” he says flatly. “You’re doing it again.”

It meaning being dramatic, and you resent that implication.

You whine, shuffling your feet unhappily. “But Tae,” you say - okay, you whine. “If my roommate is a guy, then I have to wear a bra in the apartment, like, all the time.”

“Oh my god,” he says, throwing his hands in the air, completely over you. “Do you want my help or not? What are your other options right now?”

How nice of him to ask.

You’d been so excited to lease an apartment off-campus for your final year of university, even more excited to share it with a girl in your writing program named Penny. You hadn’t thought twice about putting the lease in only your own name, but when Penny texted you - the audacity of her to not even call - to say she wasn’t going to return in the fall after all, you were stuck with the responsibility.

So, since Taehyung asked, your options are this: pay the entire rent by yourself (impossible), or find a roommate, fast.

“Namjoon’s a really good friend of mine,” Taehyung tries again. “I am personally vouching for him that he’s not a weirdo or a creep. His building flooded and he’s in a bind - just like you. He’s nice, he’s smart, and he’s normal.”

“What about clean?” you prod.

Taehyung shrugs. “Cleaner than me.”

You sigh. You know Taehyung is right - you need someone quickly, and at this rate you’re bound to only find creeps. At least this guy - even though he’s a guy, which is your main issue - has been vetted.

“You’re not very clean,” you tell your best friend.

He grins at you, guilty as charged.

“Could we talk first?” you suggest, nerves churning. “Like, can I meet him?”

Taehyung narrows his eyes at you. “Did you think I was going to drop the key off at his place and say ‘okay, have fun!’?”

“Maybe!” you cry, feeling a little hysterical.

Taehyung rolls his eyes at you. “Want me to see if he can swing by the place tomorrow?”

The plan for the next day was originally for you two to load up your car through the morning, grab lunch somewhere, and then start moving your stuff into the apartment after you ate.

“Yeah,” you answered. “That actually sounds like a good plan. Then he can see the apartment, too. And you’ll be there with me.”

“Actually a good plan,” Taehyung parrots with a scoff. “Please.”

After your lunch date, Taehyung drops you back home so you can finish packing. You’d packed a lot already - all of your big pieces of furniture were there already, your bedroom now just a mess of random piles of clothing and your bare mattress on the ground. A lot of what you still had were things you knew you’d need to use again during the days you were starting to pack - toiletries, electronics, that kind of thing. With a sigh, you turn on some music and start pulling hangers out of your closet.

You think about your situation as you work. You’re disappointed about Penny - you’ve lost a roommate and a good friend, somehow. You’re nervous about meeting Taehyung’s friend Namjoon. You’re somehow both excited for and dreading the academic year starting - your final year, complete with a senior thesis course you’ll have to pass in June. And you’re excited for the apartment - your first one that isn’t an on-campus dorm.

No campus security knocking on the doors, no RA going through your fridge for forbidden liquor bottles, no shared hallway bathrooms. With your own bedroom in the apartment, you’re guaranteed a space that is just yours, a sanctuary where you can have the quiet you crave and aesthetic you want, your own four walls that are completely your own.

Taehyung’s apartment, which he shares with two friends, isn’t far from your new one - walking distance, actually. He’d offered you his couch there when Penny first bailed. But even if you took his offer, you’d be charged for breaking your lease, and you’d still have to find something more permanent - which would mean another security deposit, not to mention rent. As long as you kept the optimism that you’d successfully secure and keep a roommate, staying was the cheaper option.

You won’t talk about how you wish Taehyung would offer more than his couch.

You won’t talk about how when he’d said, “You know, you could stay with me,” in that deep, comforting voice of his, your heart had run wild.

Then he’d continued, “That couch isn’t too bad to sleep on, I’ve done it before. And the guys wouldn’t mind. Then you’d have time to find something new, maybe something you can afford alone?”

And your wild-running heart had stuttered, stumbled, caught its footing, stood still.

You can’t even get mad at him. He’s trying to help. It’s not his fault - at all - that he doesn’t know that your imagination leapt off a cliff at his words, was already picturing snuggling in his bed, those strong arms tight around your middle, was already picturing waking up to his sleepy smile.

You don’t pretend for even a second that it’s anyone’s fault but your own.

Around ten pm your Aunt Lin comes and knocks on your open door, looking down at the scene before her: you, sitting cross-legged on your bedroom floor, surrounded by half-closed boxes, miscellaneous items strewn around the floor around you, clothing piled up like mountains around you.

“You don’t look very ready,” she remarks.

“That’s helpful, thank you,” you say.

Lin has raised you ever since you lost your grandmother, who had taken care of you before that. Your grandmother and Lin are the only parental figures you can really remember, but Lin’s technically only ten years your senior and has always felt more like a big sister than a mother. You can’t fault her for it; she was still quite young when she took over raising you. She certainly didn’t have to take you in, but she had, and she’d done her best.

Lin chuckles. “Why isn’t Taehyung here helping?”

You roll your eyes. “He’s my friend, not my servant. He’s helping me move all this in tomorrow, that’s plenty.”

Lin shrugs, already disinterested. “Okay,” she says lightly. “Well, I wanted to say good luck with the move, and good luck with school this year. Let me know if you need anything.”

You look up from your packing and take in her appearance. She’s in scrubs, a huge thermos of coffee in her hand. She’s got work tonight, then, and won’t be here in the morning when Taehyung picks you up. You should have figured.

“Thanks,” you say.

She shifts, looking down the hall instead of at you, suddenly. Lin’s not great with emotions; it’s where you get it from.

“Okay,” she says. “I’ll see you for winter break? If not before?”

“Yeah,” you say. “Yeah. Definitely by then.”

She nods, tells you goodbye, and heads down the hallway. You hear the front door close, and you’re alone with your boxes. That’s about as mushy as it gets with Lin.

[11:44 PM] Tae Bear 🧸: what time tmrw?

[11:45 PM] You: you drive the car, you tell me

[11:51 PM] Tae Bear 🧸: 10?

[11:54 PM] You: you think that’s enough time to pack up the car and drive there before lunch?

[11:58 PM] Tae Bear 🧸: 🙄 this is why i asked YOU what time

[12:01 AM] Tae Bear 🧸: 😤

[12:02 AM] You: 9:30

[12:03 AM] You: and bring me iced coffee 🤗 plsssss???

[12:06 AM] Tae Bear 🧸: 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

[12:08 AM] You: love u tete

[12:11 AM] Tae Bear 🧸: yeah yeah love you too

You press the top of your phone into your forehead, closing your eyes. Letting yourself pretend, for just a second, that he could mean it the way you do.

Saturday August 29

Taehyung shows up in the morning - at ten, not nine-thirty, but he has an iced coffee for you in his car, so you let him live.

It takes you over an hour to load up the car, the boxes and suitcases and garbage bags squished together, shoved impossibly tight, the world’s most desperate game of tetris. Taehyung declares it impossible no less than five times, bemoaning that he’ll have to make the hour drive a second time in order to fit all of your shit.

In the end, you make it happen. It just takes a little determination.

The drive to your university is around an hour, depending on traffic. You and Taehyung both don big, goofy aviators and blast music as you sail down the highway, the backseat loaded floor to ceiling. The car is so stuffed, you even have boxes between your feet and on your lap.

The sun shines brightly down on you as you and Taehyung sing and groove your way through the drive, and you feel… so content, so sure that this is right, that you’re meant to be next to him, like this, forever. Like everything in the universe just clicked together to give you the perfect snapshot of how things are meant to be.

What if you said it? What if you told him?

Sometimes, moments like now, you just can’t fathom how he doesn’t feel it too.

But you know better. You know he doesn’t - doesn’t want to. Something deep inside you tells you to tread carefully with this best friend of yours. Something instinctual tells you that the dysfunctional friendship you’ve crafted together is a Jenga tower and if you so much as nudge the wrong brick, it’s all coming down.

You eat lunch at a table out in front of a cafe, people watching and basking in the sunlight. It’s the last, trickling days of August, but today’s breezy and cooler. It’ll warm up again before fall comes in full force, you’re sure, but you appreciate the reprieve from the scorching heat, since you’re about to spend several hours hauling boxes up a stairwell.

After lunch, Taehyung drives to your new neighborhood and finds a street-parking spot close to the front entrance of the tall, brick building.

“Okay,” he says. “Now the fun part.”

You giggle. “Have I told you yet that I appreciate you?”

“Elaborate, please,” he says, which is so typical for him. He looks over at you, sunglasses low on his nose.

You roll your eyes, but you’re smiling. “I appreciate you helping me move in. I appreciate you driving me. I appreciate the afternoon you’re about to spend carrying boxes and shit.”

“You’re forgetting something,” he tells you sagely.

You want to whack him in the belly for being so obnoxious, but you can’t risk him dumping all your stuff on the sidewalk and fucking off to let you deal with the stairs on your own.

“I appreciate you finding me a roommate so I don’t have to sleep on your couch,” you add.

“There we go.” Satisfied, he unbuckles, and you both get out and examine the backseat for whichever Tetris piece seems like it could be removed easiest. Arms full of boxes, you make your way up the steps to the little lobby that houses a wall of mail slots, and then up a second set of stairs to your second-floor apartment.

You set down the box you were carrying and dig out the key, opening the door to your new home.

You really do love this apartment. Through the open space - past the kitchen and through the living room - sunlight streams in through the large front windows that overlook the city block below. You can already see in your mind where you’ll put plants on low tables, or hanging from the ceiling.

You had done the big stuff days ago, with both Lin and Taehyung’s help; Lin had rented a little moving van and you’d loaded up the big furniture. From Lin’s house, you’d taken your bedframe and boxspring, leaving just the mattress in your old bedroom at Lin’s house. You’d also loaded up your low dresser, a nightstand, and two bookshelves. You’d gotten a few pieces from a local repurposing store - a desk to work at and a little swiveling chair to go with it. Your final splurge was an expensive mattress; the one in the store had felt like damn clouds. It was set to be delivered sometime this afternoon.

You’re already looking forward to going to sleep later.

You and Taehyung try to just put boxes where they’re meant to go. Two boxes end up in your bathroom, another two in the kitchen. You split the books between your bedroom and the living room, where a lone bookshelf is the only current piece of furniture. You heave bags of clothes and linens into your closet, determined to deal with them later.

The mattress delivery goes smoothly, the truck arriving as you and Taehyung are about halfway done unloading the car. You leave the building’s front door and your apartment door propped open and both teams do their thing: the delivery guys carrying the mattress up the steps, you and Taehyung behind them with garbage bags full of your clothes or boxes of books.

“You,” Taehyung pants, “have way too much stuff.”

You grin sheepishly, as in the other room your new mattress is removed from its plastic wrap and placed atop your awaiting boxspring. You’re itching to dig out your linens and make the bed; that’s always what makes a room feel ready to you, even back when you were just setting up a little dorm. Once the bed was made, everything else slowly fell into place.

Once the delivery truck rolls away, you throw yourself bodily onto the mattress, letting out a series of happy groans as you let the pillowy goodness envelop you.

“Taehyung,” you call tantalizingly. “Come feel it.”

You hear him drop a box in the living room with an audible oof - it must have been more books - and then he comes into your new bedroom and flops sideways across the bed next to you, the mattress jumping and settling again under his weight.

“Wow,” he says, rolling on his back and then turning to look at you, his legs bending to touch the floor. “This is nice. Let’s trade, I’ll bring mine over.”

“Nope,” you say, smiling. “I bought this one with my hard-earned summer money. It’s just for me.”

“Yeah,” he says, voice wry, “for you and your guests.”

Now you do whack him in the belly. He grunts, hands covering the spot, then lays still again.

“That wasn’t nice,” he comments mildly. “No hitting.”

“What guests?” you pout. “I haven’t had a guest since–”

“Ah, spare me the Great Drought of 2022 story,” he begs. He sits up, reaching into his pocket. As his hand retracts, you realize his phone is buzzing with an incoming call.

“Bro,” he says as a greeting, and then listens. “Yeah, we’re here now. That’s fine. Sounds good. Okay.”

He taps to hang up and looks at you. “Namjoon is almost here. That’s fine, right?”

“I was right here,” you huff. “Yes, it’s fine, but you literally could have asked me.”

Taehyung ignores you. “There’s one more box. I’ll go get it, and then I’ll stay while you meet with Joon, and then I’m gonna go, okay?”

“Oh,” you say, heart sinking a little bit. You’d kind of hoped he’d stick around, just hang out and goof off while you unpacked boxes and organized your stuff. “Sure.”

He reads you like a book; he always does.

“Don’t pout,” he says, and there’s something apologetic in his tone. “I just have to do some stuff today. And I really need to shower, this got me all sweaty.”

Well, you don’t need that mental image. Luckily, you’re saved from yourself by a knock at the front door. This strikes you as so polite, because not only is Namjoon going to literally live here, but also because the door is still propped wide open.

You sit up, fixing your hair from where you laid on it. Taehyung has already made his way through the living room and is giving a one-handed bro-hug to the guy at the door. You make your way over, heart thumping.

You notice a few things right away. He’s tall - taller than Taehyung, and you don’t see that often. His eyes are absolutely striking - there’s sharpness to them, something that makes you want to see the world how he does, something that makes you want to keep looking, something that makes you curious about how he’d see you.

When he smiles, each cheek dimples, the perfect size for the pad of your index finger. He’s all in browns except for a pair of light-wash jeans. He’s got a dark brown beanie tugged low on his head, and even his thin, wire-frame glasses seem to be chosen for the vibe above all else.

“Hi,” you say, sounding a little shy even to your own ears. Taehyung moves out of the way and you reach to shake Namjoon’s hand. “I’m Y/N. It’s nice to meet you. Taehyung promised me you’re normal.”

The guy lets out one big laugh, surprised. “He told me the same,” he says conspiratorially, “but really, that’s such a subjective thing.”

Taehyung rolls his eyes, and you step back to let Namjoon in, preparing to show him around.

“Kitchen and living room are here,” you say unnecessarily, since he can see for himself. “Your bedroom would be on this side.” You push open the door and Namjoon sticks his head in. The room is completely bare, the empty closet door standing open.

“You get your own bathroom,” Taehyung points out. Namjoon nods appreciatively, still looking silently back and forth across the room that would be his as soon as you pass him a key.

“Is it okay?” you ask, suddenly feeling nervous. If this guy backs out, you’ll be back at square one, and now with less time to solve the problem.

“Oh,” he says, as if remembering he should communicate. “Yeah! It’s great.” He turns and peers at the living room, which is empty but for your lone bookshelf and several boxes of books, unopened.

“I have some stuff we can put here, if you want?” he asks, his tone a little uncertain. “Specifically, I have a couch and coffee table, plus a TV and a console to put it on. It should all fit.”

“That would be great,” you say enthusiastically. “I was already stressing out about saving up enough for a couch.”

He nods easily, looking around the room thoughtfully. Taehyung has wandered over to the large windows and is looking up at the tree that stands right outside, the branches waving lightly in the afternoon breeze. With the sunlight coming in, he looks like a painting.

“I have a rug, too,” Namjoon muses. “Would you be interested in that?”

“Definitely,” you tell him, tearing your eyes away from Taehyung’s back. There’s something knowing in Namjoon’s face as he watches you, and you flush, feeling weirdly caught.

“Okay,” he says, “I’ll bring it. What about kitchen stuff?”

“I don’t have a ton,” you admit, pointing to the two boxes - not very big ones - that you’ve left on the kitchen counter. “If you’ve got more, that’s probably good. I don’t cook that often, to be honest. I’m not very good at it.”

Namjoon smiles at you, leaning over a little like he’s letting you in on a secret. “I can barely boil water,” he admits. “So you’re all good.”

You stand together as you discuss how you’ll be splitting the monthly costs for the utilities, not to mention the high-speed wifi that’s getting set up in two days. That leaves you to work out the rent, what day it’s due and how you want to handle paying it. In the end, you decide that he’ll electronically pay you, and you’ll pay the landlord, since it’s your name on the lease. He pays you right there on the spot, and you pass him the key that was meant for Penny.

“Is it okay if I start moving my things tomorrow?” he asks you.

You shrug. “This place is yours now, too,” you say easily. “You can honestly do what you want.”

“Okay,” he says. “I’ll probably start in the morning then?”

“I can’t promise I’ll be up,” you laugh, “but don’t let that stop you!”

“Should we…” he pauses, adjusts his glasses. “Should we exchange numbers?”

Taehyung makes a face you know well; it’s the face he makes when he wants to laugh or make fun of something, and he’s doing the Good Person Thing by keeping the thought to himself, but he wants to make sure you know by his face that he is holding it in. He wants credit for doing the Good Person Thing.

You honestly hate him sometimes. It’s the only thing keeping you from tipping straight into insanity. Sometimes, I really hate Taehyung.

“Yes, we probably should,” you say, because someone in this room needs to act like they aren’t twelve years old, and it’s not going to be Kim Taehyung, apparently.

You do, and then Namjoon tells you both goodbye, making his way back out to the hallway and down the steps. You can hear his footsteps fall away into nothing.

Taehyung looks at you, smiles angelically. “See?” he says. “I told you he was nice.”

He reaches for his keys on your kitchen counter. You frown, detecting his imminent departure.

“Will you come over tomorrow?” you ask, a little pitifully.

He considers this, and nods. “For dinner?” he suggests.

“Yeah,” you say. “We still won’t have wifi yet. We’ll be bored.”

“Only boring people get bored,” Taehyung says sagely, holding up one finger like a wizened philosopher. Then he comes to hug you goodbye, pulling you into a sweet embrace. You want to live there, in the spot between his arms.

Once he’s gone, you look around your new home. Alone, you decide to put on music and start tackling boxes. You start in the bathroom, finding towels so you’ll be able to shower in the morning, unpacking all your toiletries, setting up your toothbrush just so. You do the kitchen second; the sun sets outside as you find places for your battered pots and pans.

You stop for dinner, getting take-out from a place nearby that delivers. Then you dive back in, setting up your bedroom. It feels cozy already, once the bed is made and you’ve plugged in your little lamps. Calmer, you start folding clothes to put into dresser drawers. At one point you wander out of your room to get some water and you freeze in your bedroom doorway, struck by how lonely it feels.

The rest of the apartment is lit only by the yellow glow coming from your bedroom, plus the thin, white light that filters in from the streetlight below the living room windows. You hurry into the kitchen and turn on the light over the sink, which vanishes some of the bad feeling for you. You pour your glass of water and lean heavily on the counter, looking out at your empty living room, and the dark doorway of Namjoon’s untouched room. You wish Taehyung had come back over, or that some of your university friends had moved back into the area sooner.

You rinse your glass and head back into your room, ready to distract yourself with more unpacking until you’re tired enough to sleep.

Sunday August 30

Bumps and crashes wake you in the morning. It takes you a few minutes to figure out where you are - ah, the cloud bed, in your new room. The morning sunlight is strong; apparently the windows on the front of the apartment face the east. You make a mental note to shop for some good blackout curtains, and check your phone. Not much waiting for you - Lin texted around 1 am asking if you got settled okay, probably while she was on a quick break. You answer her, check your socials, and then lay back, just looking around.

You got a lot done yesterday, but you still have more unpacking to do. It also occurs to you that not only is there no coffee waiting for you in the kitchen, there’s no food of any kind in the whole place, unless you count your container of leftover takeout from last night.

You shower and get dressed, figuring it's best to stay out of the way - you can hear the grunts and huffs and loud bumps that indicate Namjoon’s got some friends helping him move things in. But eventually, the growling in your stomach and your body’s clamoring for caffeine send you out into the living room.

The low entertainment center is in place across the room from you, a flatscreen tv situated on top. There are now two stools tucked beneath the breakfast bar in the kitchen, and a pretty, wooden coffee table sits in the center of the living room.

There’s a guy on the floor surrounded by furniture pieces, a screwdriver, and a packet of instructions in his hands. You can hear a lot of shouting, bumping, and cursing floating in from the stairwell down the hall.

“Hey,” the guy on the floor says. “You’re Y/N? I’m Namjoon’s friend, Yoongi.”

“Hi,” you say, a little bewildered. “What are you… building?”

He sighs, squinting at the paper in his hand. “It’s supposed to be a bookshelf. Eventually.”

You’re about to respond to this when the noise from outside the open door gets infinitely louder. You see Namjoon’s expansive back as he shuffles backwards through the doorway, one end of a faded, grey couch in his hands.

“Okay, you have to turn,” he coaches whoever is on the other side.

The couch makes it through the door, and you’re surprised to see that you know the other person carrying the couch. He’s one of Taehyung’s best friends, and you’ve hung out together as a group plenty of times over the last three years.

“JayKay!” you call happily. “Welcome to my house!”

He laughs, nose scrunching with delight. “Y/N,” he crows. “Where should I put the couch?”

“Across from the tv,” Namjoon answers for you, sounding a little breathless. They shuffle through the room, and you notice for the first time that they’ve already put the rug in place, covering most of the warped, wooden floor of the living room. The couch settles over top of it, and Namjoon slides the coffee table to a more centered position.

One more guy comes through your doorway, carrying a nightstand and a lamp. He’s got quite possibly the widest shoulders you’ve ever seen. He disappears into Namjoon’s bedroom, and you hear the quiet thump as he sets the nightstand down in there.

“Wow,” you say. “You’ve got a whole moving crew.”

“Notice who’s not here helping,” Jungkook grumbles.

You smile to yourself. If you know him at all, you’ll guess Taehyung isn’t even out of bed yet.

“In his defense,” you say, and Jungkook snorts, as if it’s so typical that you’d defend Taehyung, which… it might be, “he did a lot for me yesterday. We had his car packed with my stuff.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jungkook mutters and turns to - presumably - get more stuff from downstairs.

“You have a lot left?” you ask Namjoon, who seems to be catching his breath for a minute, perched on the arm of the couch. “I’d offer to help, but I was just about to go get groceries - there’s very literally no food here.”

“We’re about done with the heavier stuff,” he says, looking at the open door, like he’ll find an inventory there that he can reference. “But still plenty of assembling left.”

“Hooray,” Yoongi deadpans from the floor, holding the instruction packet up in the air like a different angle will help him decipher the directions.

You find your little foldable cart and make your way to the grocery store a few blocks away. By the time you’re done scouring the aisles, you’ve loaded the cart to the top and still have to carry some of the bags. But at least now you’ll have food to eat, things to drink besides tap water.

Getting up the stairs with your groceries sucks, but you make it, panting like crazy as you finally unlock the front door and let yourself in.

You’re greeted with silence; it’s clear the guys are all gone. The living room looks completely different than twenty-four hours ago. The couch and table look great, and it seems like Yoongi’s bookshelf is mostly complete - it’s upright, just missing a few shelves near the top. You set the groceries down in the kitchen next to three unopened boxes - it seems like Namjoon’s gameplan was the same as yours yesterday: get the boxes into the appropriate rooms, do the rest later.

You peek into his bedroom - he’s left the door all the way open, which feels nice, like he trusts you, and you make a mental note that you should probably do the same. You notice that it looks like the furniture is all in place there, too. It doesn’t differ much from yours, actually. The bedframe is put together, the boxspring and mattress leaning against the far wall. He’s also got a tall chest of drawers, a wicker hamper, and in the corner, a desk. Namjoon’s furniture is a lot more modern looking than yours, sleek and matching. You bet he didn’t get half of his from the thrift store.

You put the groceries away and make yourself a small lunch, eating it on the couch in the quiet of the apartment. You’ve got about twenty-four hours to go until there’s wifi and you can stream shows when you’re home alone. You’re just cleaning up your lunch when you hear a key in the lock, and then the cacophony of boys’ voices as they reenter the apartment.

“-far superior, I’m telling you,” Jungkook is saying emphatically. The smell of greasy burgers and fries hits you in the kitchen along with the sound of his voice.

“I hear what you’re saying, and I respect your opinion,” a flat voice responds that you think might belong to Yoongi. “It’s just that you’re wrong.”

“Hey,” Namjoon says, noticing you standing in the kitchen. The guys pass through, heading into the living room, Jungkook already digging in the bag. They surround the coffee table, handing out burgers and fries, filling the room with delicious smells and noisy chatter.

You take this opportunity to head back into your room, sitting on your bedroom floor and opening one of your boxes of books, starting to put them on the small shelf beneath your window. You pop in your airpods and turn on music, losing yourself in the monotonous movement of digging out a new book, then turning to place it on the shelf. Rinse, and repeat.

When you finish, you move into your closet. You put your little wire shoe rack back together and locate your box of shoes, lining them up neatly. Then, you tackle another garbage bag full of clothes that go on hangers, flapping each shirt or dress to relieve it of wrinkles before hanging it up. After that, you find a box of miscellaneous dresser items - jewelry boxes, perfume bottles, headbands - and put those where you want them, too.

By the time you decide you need to sit down and take a break, it’s nearly evening, the light outside reaching that golden hour. You really do love the natural lighting in this place.

You take out your airpods and set them to charge, listening carefully. You’ve had your bedroom door open this whole time, but the guys had left you alone and you’d minded your own business. Now, the apartment is filled with silence again. They must be gone.

You text Taehyung for the first time that day, which strikes you as weird. He must have been busy today, too. It’s odd for you two to make it until almost dinner without speaking.

“Dinner?” you text, and then wander out into the living room.

“Hey,” a voice says from near the floor, and you practically leap out of your skin. You startle so violently that your phone slips from your hands and clatters to the floor.

“Holy crap,” you breathe when you realize Namjoon is sitting on the floor next to his newly assembled bookshelf, an open box of books before him. He seems to be sorting them into piles before putting any on the shelf.

“Sorry,” he says, eyes wide. “I didn’t mean to--”

“No, you’re fine,” you assure him. “I’m just… a jumpy person. You’ll get used to it.”

You watch him sort books for a minute, then eye your own empty bookshelf, your boxes still closed on the ground next to it. You decide if it’s Bookshelf Hours, you might as well, right? You set your phone on the coffee table and settle in, opening your first box and starting to place books on the bottommost shelf.

“So,” you say, because it feels weird to be sitting four feet from your new roommate and not speaking, “Taehyung said you’re a grad student at the university?”

Namjoon nods wordlessly, eyes on the books he’s sorting. “Yep,” he says finally. “And you’re a senior?”

“Mhm,” you confirm.

After that scintillating conversation, you both lapse into silence as you work. You continue like that for some time - long enough to reach the middle shelf - before you realize you hear your phone buzzing on the table. You stretch to reach for it, missing how Namjoon glances sideways at you, at how an inch of your stomach is revealed as you lean over.

“Hi,” you say, pressing the phone to your ear.

“Took you long enough to answer,” Taehyung gripes.

“Sorry,” you say. “We were putting books away.”

Taehyung’s silence is just one beat too long. “We, huh?”

You laugh, once. “I mean? That’s what each of us is doing? So? Yeah?” From his spot a few feet away, Namjoon glances over his shoulder, frowning slightly.

“Anyway,” you say, “dinner? Do you want to come over?”

“Yes,” he says decisively. “Order us something and I’ll head over?”

“Sure,” you say, already hanging up. You don’t need to ask what he wants; no matter where you order from, you know what he likes.

“Do you want to order with us?” you ask Namjoon mildly as you scroll through the local delivery app. “I was thinking pizza.”

“Yeah,” Namjoon says slowly, like he was deep in thought and has to process what you’d said to him. “That would be nice. Thanks.”

The place you’d order from back when you lived in the dorms is actually closer to this apartment than campus, which is the most beautiful, serendipitous thing that’s ever happened in your life. You place the order for delivery and continue putting your books away. Once all the books are on shelves, you’re essentially done - finally, after two days - unpacking.

This gives you exactly one whole day to relax before you have to start going to classes again.

Taehyung arrives before the pizza, knocking on the door in a silly rhythm. You pound back on your side of the door, echoing his rhythm, before opening it, greeting him with a big smile. You’d missed him; of course you had.

“Wow,” he says, genuinely impressed, as he peers around you. “It looks so much different in here.”

“Right?” you ask, filled with joy. Taehyung pokes his head into the kitchen, which is arguably the least “ready” room, as aside from putting your things into drawers and cupboards, neither you nor Namjoon had really done much to it. No hand-towels hanging by the sink, no magnets on the fridge, even the counters were empty, save for the two sets of keys resting there. Taehyung adds his own to the key pile and moves into the living room, which is much more impressive.

“Hey, man,” Namjoon says from the floor. It seems like he’s done sorting his books into piles and has started actually putting them on shelves now. “Looks good, right?”

“It does,” Taehyung answers from the doorway of Namjoon’s room, where he's peeking nosily. “The guys helped you?”

“Everyone except you and Jimin,” Namjoon says innocently.

Taehyung smiles guiltily. “I helped Y/N the entire day before, just the two of us,” he argues. “And what about Hobi? He’s on--”

“--on vacation with his parents,” Namjoon finishes agreeably, “so he’s off the hook. Where was Jimin?”

“Where do you think Jimin was?” Taehyung scoffs, reaching down and touching the rug absently.

“Sleeping,” you and Namjoon say at the same time, both of your voices wry. You smile at him, and he looks away.

The pizza arrives and you all sit around the coffee table to eat. Conversation flows better with Taehyung in the mix; he talks so much, it almost doesn’t matter if anyone else does.

“I was thinking of making a list of things we need for the apartment that wouldn’t necessarily belong to either of us - cleaning supplies, stuff like that,” Namjoon says to you. “I thought I could buy it and we could split the cost?”

“Buy the cheap stuff,” Taehyung advises. “Y/N’s summer money is gonna go fast, especially the way she orders out instead of cooking.”

“Thank you, Taehyung,” you say flatly, shooting him a look. “I start work in like two days. I can handle it.”

After the pizza’s done, Namjoon goes back to working on his bookshelf, obviously wanting to clear the floorspace of his book piles sooner rather than later. You and Taehyung sprawl across the couch opposite each other, his feet resting near your elbow, both of you on your phones.

You stay like that until nearly midnight, talking occasionally but mostly just happily coexisting in your own little bubbles. At some point, Namjoon finishes the bookshelf and wanders into his bedroom, pausing to look at you two on the couch before disappearing. He pushes his door almost shut, leaving it open a few inches. You hear the subtle sounds of music playing from behind the door, but not loud enough to discern what it is.

Taehyung hugs you before leaving, and you snuggle into the embrace, body exhausted from the moving process. He rests his chin on top of your head, swaying you around a little bit.

“Thanks for helping me,” you murmur into his chest. Sometimes the only time you can get Taehyung to be serious for a conversation is when you’re like this; in each other’s arms, your walls come down - in his case, deflecting with humor and sarcasm, brushing off everything like it’s a big joke. In yours, saying what you really mean, and not a more delicate version of it.

“You’re welcome,” he answers, squeezing you a little. “I’m glad everything worked out. It really does look good in here. And I think you guys will get along.”

Once he leaves, you deadbolt the front door and head to the kitchen to wash the plates and cups you’d used for pizza. Behind you, you hear the squeak of door hinges, and Namjoon pads into the kitchen behind you. He pauses, scanning the cupboards.

“I don’t remember which one I put my cups in,” he laughs a little, and then starts opening each one until he finds what he needs. Once he has a glass, he rummages in the fridge, taking out a juice carton and filling his glass about halfway. You finish washing the last plate and turn the water off, rummaging through a drawer for a dish towel to dry everything.

“So…” Namjoon says between sips of juice. “You two are pretty close, huh?”

“Yeah,” you say, shrugging easily. “He’s my best friend.”

Namjoon hums, nods, purses his lips thoughtfully. If you knew him better, you’d push - ask him what that face means, or why he’d asked in the first place.

But, you don’t need to. You know already. You’re used to being interrogated by others about your relationship with Taehyung. Sometimes people are trying to see if you’re a threat in their quest to worm their way into Taehyung’s heart (or pants) - and in your own weird way, you kind of are, at least for the former.

Taehyung definitely sleeps around, but he’s surprisingly tight-lipped with you about it. You’re not sure if he’s sparing you, or he’s actually just a gentleman. Could go either way. But when Taehyung considers dating someone - rare, to say the least - he always has you vet them first. You never like any of them, surprise surprise.

You’re used to girls approaching you in bathrooms, sometimes aggressively, sometimes meekly, to ask if Taehyung’s your boyfriend. You’ve had girls come apologize, saying they “didn’t know about you”. Once you’d had a girl nearly shove you down a staircase for talking to “her man”, but luckily, said man was walking next to you and helped shut the whole thing down. (You two had had a serious talk after that one about communicating with his partners about his relationship status. Things have never gone that far again, to date.)

Less frequently, you’ll get asked about Taehyung by guys who are interested in you, who are trying to figure out how much of a lost cause it is. That one’s a little trickier. How do you tell the cute guy at the coffee shop that no, you’re not dating Taehyung, but you are secretly so in love with him that it really isn’t worth their time?

Anyway, usually you just tell guys that you’re not dating Taehyung but that you’re not interested in dating anyone. It usually does the trick. It’s not that far from the truth, either.

That leaves the last category of people who ask about you two, and this is where you feel Namjoon falls: the people who watch your weird, boundary-pushing friendship and are just genuinely curious how it could possibly work.

And you get it, you really do. You know how this looks from the outside. Hell, you’re sure that from the outside it’s fairly obvious how gone you are for him. Is it just as obvious to the outside that he sees you more like a sister than anything datable?

Probably.

You’ve had friends ask you what keeps you around. You always say the same thing - regardless of your feelings for him, he’s also your absolute best friend.

Your friendship is precious to you, sacred. It sometimes feels like the only thing you have, in a life where you generally don’t have much. Your family is Lin - that’s it, end of the road. Your girlfriends are nice, but Penny was the closest you had and she’s across the country now. You only have Taehyung. And what you have with him, as special as it is, it’s also precarious.

If you lose him, it isn’t just that you’ll lose him - and trust, that would be devastating - it’s also that you would be deeply alone.

Finished with the dishes, you bid Namjoon goodnight and head back into your room for the night, planning to change into pajamas and wait for Taehyung to text you that he made it home safely, wait for Taehyung to text you goodnight. Namjoon murmurs goodnight, but you feel his calculating gaze on your back until you close your door softly behind you.

Next ->

Thank you so much for reading! I started writing this in August, it feels amazing to finally postttttt. Please consider some type of feedback - I'd love to hear anything you want to share! Section II will post on Friday, January 27th - hope to see you there!

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cocrante · 1 month

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I Start Over With You

[SOLANGELO FANFIC]

summary: After the great battle against the forces of Gaea, Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter had formed a long-lasting alliance. Everything had gone well, and everyone was ready to start anew. This included Nico, who, after confessing his feelings to Percy, was prepared to open a new chapter in his life—perhaps the happiest one the Fates had ever written.

note: the chapters will be updated every Wednesday. If you want to read upcoming chapters of the fanfiction in advance, I invite you to follow me on Patreon. Subscribing is not necessary, these chapters will be added for free on the platform on Mondays and Fridays. Following me there is just a kind and free gesture to support my work c:

Reblogs are highly appreciated c:

[CHAPTER 14]

THE CAMP JUPITER WAS JUST AS HE HAD LEFT IT, with the only difference being the new temples being erected, following the architectural patterns indicated by Annabeth. The Roman camp couldn't look better. It still bustled with nature spirits, lares, and fauns trotting through the camp's streets, occasionally hindering a hero in training. Some demigods strolled through the paths, discussing the upcoming war games. Others stopped and pointed at Nico, wondering why he had returned. With all eyes on him, he headed towards where Reyna was waiting.

The hall was bright, the tiles reflecting the sunlight, and the marble columns giving the building a regal appearance. Sitting there, waiting for his arrival, was Bellona's daughter, his adventure companion and trusted friend. She stood up, walking towards him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Welcome back to camp, Nico" Reyna greeted, leading him outside. "I found a decent place in the city, and you can come to camp whenever you want" she said, heading towards the Roman city that mimicked the style of the Italian Rome, with its warm and round colors, making it almost feel like being on the same European peninsula.

Bellona's daughter told him - during the journey - that things at the camp had improved since the new agreement with the Greeks. She had received messages from Camp Half-Blood that summer, announcing that in the fall they would receive visits, so combat techniques could merge along with culture and lifestyles. "It wasn't easy" the girl explained. "Many are tied to the Mos Maiorum, the senate itself started by saying it was sheer madness" she sighed. "But even they cannot go against the will of our gods" Nico nodded, understanding the difficulty of accepting something different. He had been through it himself, and only the gods knew how long it would take for others to accept him as a camp member.

"But enough about the camp" Reyna said, noticing a certain silence from her friend. "It's been a while since we talked, besides that conversation the other day"

"I've been busy" he briefly recounted the past few weeks at Camp Half-Blood, mentioning something about Apollo's son, avoiding telling her about the Capture the Flag game and especially the kiss on the hill. The girl didn't make a sound, just let him tell, noting a slight and thinly veiled smile every time he mentioned Apollo's son. "He's a good friend" he concluded, letting out an imperceptible sigh.

"Just a good friend?" she dared to ask, as she had seen well beyond the tough exterior that protected him.

The boy took some time before responding. "Well, yes" he confirmed, though not entirely convinced. Reyna simply pursed her lips, not asking him more about that boy. If he wanted to tell her, he would, she thought. "Okay" she said, stopping in front of a building. "First floor. Your school is just a block away, you can't miss it. I've also taken the liberty of getting your books"

Nico was truly speechless; he hadn't imagined she had done him such a big favor. "Thank you, Reyna" he looked at her with deep gratitude.

"Don't mention it! For anything, you know where to find me" she handed him the keys, giving him a final pat before returning to the Roman camp.

Nico twirled the keys between his fingers, anxious and terrified to go in. He opened the door, dragging his suitcases behind him, climbing up to the first floor. There, he entered the comfortable apartment Reyna had found for him. It was a bright and warm room, the walls painted in a matte yellow and divided in half by charming Roman motifs. It seemed completely the opposite of his gloomy cabin.

Having found the bedroom, he unpacked his belongings there, hiding the box he had taken from camp in a drawer. He put away all his clothes, the few that he had, in the wardrobe, and having emptied the suitcase, he flopped onto the bed with a sigh. He didn't stay there for long because as soon as he touched the mattress, someone rang the doorbell, forcing him to go and answer. It was a real joy when he realized it was his sister, who had just knew about his arrival at camp. The two greeted each other warmly; Hazel had been missed more than anyone. Along with her was her boyfriend, the son of Mars, who seemed to have grown a couple of inches during those weeks.

Frank gave him a pat on the shoulder, quite happy to see him again. They had never really talked, but he was still part of Hazel's family, and that was enough for Frank to like him.

The son of Hades invited them both into the still-empty apartment, making them comfortable in the living room. He had a lot to tell his sister about those weeks at Camp Half-Blood, avoiding dwelling too much on Will and what had happened before arriving in New Rome. He also told her about Jason, who seemed to have completely rebuilt his life. "I'm really happy about that" exclaimed Hazel.

"Piper is such a good girl, those two make a beautiful couple" she told him, with Frank nodding in agreement.

"How's Percy?" asked Frank. The son of Hades just shrugged.

"Well, at least he hasn't gotten into any new trouble" he then told them about the absurd climbing wall challenge, of Jason being determined to win and not faint every two seconds.

The three spent the afternoon together, inviting Nico to join them for a bite to eat. The son of Hades agreed willingly, following them outside the building.

There were still many things Nico wanted to tell his sister, all carrying the same name. However, it was difficult to talk about them with Frank around.

They mostly talked about the Roman camp and how it had evolved in such a short time, telling him the same things Reyna had hinted at earlier: some problems that had arisen at the beginning, the decision to build more temples dedicated to minor and almost forgotten deities. "You should have attended the council" sighed Hazel, squeezing Frank's hand. "The Senate didn't want to hear any reason. According to them, we had to continue with our traditions" she briefly recounted what had happened after their return to camp.

"Some demigods thought the same, obviously" explained Frank. "Centuries of tradition thrown out the window" he grimaced.

"But even they had to bow to the will of the gods" Nico guessed. The son of Mars nodded.

"Thanks to the gods, they opened their eyes, our societies cannot survive if we don't collaborate. This was evident even this summer" added the boy, getting a nod of approval from Nico.

Frank began to speak freely, monopolizing the conversation a bit. He cared deeply about New Rome now that he had become praetor, telling them about the boring Roman bureaucracy that Jason had mentioned that morning, the holes to fill, the people to meet, all the supervision needed during the construction of the temples. "We could rely on Annabeth, she's a real architect!" exclaimed the boy.

The conversation gradually dwindled with the setting sun, coloring the green hills and the tips of the tallest buildings. Under that light, the city of New Rome seemed like a replica of the authentic Rome. "See you around" said Frank, bidding farewell with a nod.

"Of course" replied Nico, finally managing to spend five minutes alone with his sister, who had not missed the agitation and urgency to talk only with her. She was really good at reading body language. "Let's talk about what you forgot to tell me tomorrow, okay?" the girl smiled kindly, speaking near Nico's ear, who simply nodded and thanked her.

She walked away, the smile on her face leaving him in the driveway, which was slowly darkening.

The son of Hades returned to his apartment, finally lying down on the bed he had longed for all day. His mind was strangely empty, yet so full of thoughts that he didn't exactly know which ones to grasp.

He ran a hand over his face, forcing himself to get up, put on pajamas, and set the alarm for the next day. It was while turning the red hand that the air seemed to fold on itself, gathering the light like many small tiles, then opening into a window of light. On the other side, there was a brightly lit bedroom, although it was clearly night outside. The walls were covered with band posters, along with some photos and concert tickets now weathered with time. At the center of that window made of light was the boy who had been at the center of his thoughts all day.

"Hey!" Will was radiant as usual, but his smile faded when he noticed that Nico might be getting ready for bed. "Did I disturb you?" he hurried to say, regretful for not being able to call him earlier. Nico shook his head, placing the alarm clock on the nightstand.

"No, it's fine" he replied, unable to hide a certain embarrassment.

"Okay—" he tried to smile, but it was clear that something was wrong. All day, Will had berated himself for giving him that cheek kiss; he shouldn't have done it. Who knows what Nico thought now. "So, school starts tomorrow, huh?" he said the first thing that came to mind, even if it was rather mundane and predictable. Nico sighed, still not believing that he would really be picking up paper and pen again. "Yeah" he replied. "I'm kind of nervous" he hinted at a smile, sitting on the bed.

"It's normal" Will tried to cheer him up. "At least you won't have the fear of being expelled eight times" he joked, tilting his lips sideways. Nico stared at him, realizing that for the entire time, that was the first time he had looked him in the eyes.

"Then I guess they'll be more prepared for hyperactivity and dyslexia issues there" the boy continued. Nico struggled to imagine Will with such problems—at camp, he seemed like such a normal guy that Nico often forgot that, like most demigods, he suffered from hyperactivity and dyslexia. Life in mortal schools was often challenging.

"Do you start tomorrow too?" Nico asked then, breaking his silence.

"Yeah" Will sighed. "If it weren't for my friends, it would be a torture" It wasn't the first time he had said that, even during the days spent together at camp, Will always talked about his school and how heavy the schedules were, thankfully lightened by his two friends he had made during the past year. "Did you already get the list of extracurricular activities?" he asked, just to liven up the conversation. "It arrived yesterday, mom already signed me up for that music course. May she be blessed, I wouldn't know what to do without her" he said, unable to hold back a clear laugh. Nico thought about how it must be to have a mother; the only memory he had of his was of a faded smile, and maybe it wasn't even real. At that thought, he became saddened.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Will asked, concerned to see that dark expression.

Nico simply shook his head, coming out of his thoughts. "Nothing" he lied, trying to look at something other than Will's blue eyes. "Just tired, I guess" he said, trying to convince him with that excuse. Apollo's son tried to believe it, without delving too much into the details. "When does the course start?" he asked the next moment.

"Next week, while auditions for the choir are this Friday" he replied, and at that thought, he immediately became enthusiastic.

"A smile will be enough to get you in" Nico weakly smiled, imagining him auditioning for the school choir.

"Do you think so?" Will laughed.

"I think so" Nico answered so seriously that Will didn't know if he was really joking or being serious. He decided to take it as a joke.

The two continued to talk for a while, avoiding touching on the "hill kiss" topic. It seemed that both were fine with it, yet they couldn't deny to themselves that after that morning, a kind of strange tension had arisen. Will would have liked to explain, give him a reason for what he had done, yet something prevented him, perhaps the current situation. He thought that maybe it would be more appropriate to talk to him about it in person. Yes, he would do that when he returned to camp. However, he had not taken one thing into consideration:—"Remember during the game in the woods?" Nico suddenly reminded him, wanting to get that thought out of his mind that had been buzzing around all day. Will swallowed, hoping he hadn't heard it. "Yes" he replied, torturing his lips.

"You were about to tell me something" Nico continued, hoping he could talk to him about it now. Apollo's son nodded; he didn't want to tell him like this, via a message, but actually, at that moment, there was no one who could interrupt them. Will parted his lips, ready to tell him the truth. "Well, the thing is that..." he stammered, trying to find the right words, and as he struggled, the message was slowly dissolving.

"You'll tell me tomorrow" Nico hurried to say.

"Goodnight, Nico," he said just as quickly, before the window of light disappeared, leaving the son of darkness in the shadows.

"Goodnight, Will"

[CONTENTS]

1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16

#🖇️ : fanfiction #i start over with you ☀️☠️#solangelo #will solace #nico di angelo #riordanverse #percy jackson #pjo #pjo fanfiction #camp halfblood

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mangoisms · 1 year

Text

i'll be the dangerous ledge (you be the parachute)

━ chapter two: out of my depth at this altitude | read chapter one | read chapter three

━ pairing: tim drake x f!reader

━ word count: 4.4k

━ warnings: none

━ masterlist

━ a/n: this fic is supposed to be updated once a week on fridays but the reception has been so nice, i couldn't help myself from posting a bonus chapter before then. as a treat. also... would anyone be interested in a tag list for this fic? let me know, and enjoy!

You joked about it but, really, Tim Drake is a quick study. Not that doing your laundry is that hard to begin with — well, if you have no idea where to start, it is, but once you know the basics, it’s all fairly self-explanatory. You get to ask about the fabric softener when you two go back to put your clothes in the dryer and he mutters something about them feeling weird afterward, which you valiantly try not to laugh at. By the way, he sighs at you, you are not successful.

But after that? Well… that’s kind of it and you step off the elevator at one in the morning with a basket full of warm and freshly-folded clothes, feeling a tad disappointed that it’s all over with.

But then Tim says, “See you next weekend,” and the feeling disappears quickly.

Fate, you quickly learn, also seems to be looking out for you.

The next day at noon, you’re waiting to head downstairs, eyes narrowed on your compact mirror as you roll on a darkly tinted lip balm. The elevator doors open, but you’re distracted with the lip balm, so you don’t notice who else is in there. Not until Tim calls your name, surprising you so much your hand jerks and a light smear of the tinted lip balm shines on your cheek.

He sputters a laugh. “Sorry!”

“This is payback for all my jokes, then, is it,” you say, stepping in and, seeing the button for the ground floor pushed, start digging through your tote bag for the small pack of makeup wipes you usually carry with you.

“It’s not,” Tim says, smiling. “The jokes were a fair tradeoff for you teaching me the ways of laundry.”

You nod sagely. “Indeed.”

He chuckles. “Where are you off to?”

“Grocery shopping,” you say, cleaning off the streak on your cheek, then making sure you didn’t smudge anything else around your lips. “You?”

“Same, actually. Well, just for the detergent. Speaking of, you know, I realized sometime last night I never got the brand from you. They turned out pretty good.”

“Like your butler did it?”

“I never should’ve told you that.”

You laugh, putting away your makeup wipes, the mirror, and the tube of lip balm.

You realize, then, that Tim is dressed in something other than sweats and a t-shirt — which is an excellent look, definitely, but he’s in his outside clothes, in jeans and a thick jacket much like you are to fight off the early February cold.

He looks like a model, to be honest. You spy the brand of his jacket. Patagonia. A Patagonia model, then. Jeez. Patagonia’s expensive. But to him, it’s probably nothing. You managed to thrift yourself a slightly worn Columbia parka which has served you well against several years of bitter Gotham winters.

He tucks his hands in his pockets, cornflower blue eyes trained on the red numbers that tick by for each floor you pass. His side-profile is disturbingly perfect. So not fair.

“Where do you do your shopping, then, if you don’t mind me asking?” he asks, glancing at you and making you look away.

“Stalking me?”

“That’s why I said if you don’t mind me asking. So, we didn’t have to do that.”

You laugh. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I figure a… mostly high-profile figure like yourself can’t be in the business of being creepy. Reputation and all that. Though I suppose you could pay people off. Or call a hit on them.”

But while the other notable rich families of the city have all kinds of skeletons in the closet, the Wayne’s don’t. Mostly. No whispered rumors of them paying off sexual harassment rumors or other morally reprehensible shit.

“Oh, please. And what’s this about mostly high-profile figure?” He almost looks offended but you spy a playfulness to him, so it’s more of a mock offense than anything. Like he doesn’t actually care. He probably doesn’t.

But still, you go along, smiling apologetically as you shrug.

“Weeell… it’s not like I recognized your face.”

“Some do.”

“But I did recognize your name. So. Mostly high-profile. See, if you were, say, Lex Luthor —” he wrinkles his nose in deep disgust and you choke out a laugh “— then yeah, I’d recognize you immediately.”

“Fair enough. And also, please don’t ever compare me to him again.”

“What, you don’t like him?”

“Do you?”

“Fair point, fair point. Anyway,” you chuckle, “I’m going to ShopRite.”

“The one off Schnapp Ave?”

“That’s the one.”

“Oh. Me, too. Are you in the parking garage?”

You snort. “No. I bike. Not great for bulk shopping but what can you do?”

He pauses, seeming to think hard. You raise an eyebrow as the doors open and the two of you step out, heading for the lobby.

“I could — I mean, since we’re going to the same place…” he gestures a little awkwardly; it’s not the request itself that trips him up, you think, it’s something else — probably not trying to come off creepy. “I could give you a ride?”

“A ride, huh?”

Tim spreads his palms. “I’m not trying to kidnap you or something, I swear.”

“But a would-be kidnapper would say that, would he not?”

“I don’t know,” he says, awkwardness easing out for vague amusement. “I think a would-be kidnapper would be, well, better at this whole thing. Like not taking you out from the main entrance.”

“Think about that a lot, do you?”

“Text a friend where you’re going,” he says, smiling. “And let me give you a ride so you can bulk up on your groceries without worrying about getting it back here.”

“You drive a hard bargain.”

But of course you’re going to say yes. You consider yourself a fairly good judge of character.

There is much to be said about Tim Drake.

As mentioned before, the adopted son of billionaire Bruce Wayne; his parents — you shamelessly looked it up last night — used to own Drake Industries, a company that specialized in medical equipment and supplies before it eventually closed down. Both of them passed away, his mother first when he was younger, then his father later; Bruce Wayne adopted him in his teens.

He had a brief stint as figurehead CEO of Wayne Enterprises when he was seventeen, was also apparently engaged to Tamara Fox, the daughter of the current WE CEO, Lucius Fox, and also had an assassination attempt on him. This is followed up with being, like, regularly held hostage for ransom.

A lot of drama, basically, but not much about him himself.

You expected — and you’ll admit this — a much haughtier persona than the one you are currently encountering. After all, he could have taken offense at your teasing about the laundry and refused your help. But he let it happen — not hesitating to add his own jokes at his expense, too.

And here he is now, offering you a free ride and free use of his car’s trunk for your grocery shopping pleasure.

Maybe you are about to be kidnapped.

But at least it was in the name of bulk shopping.

He scratches his head. “I also have a Costco membership if that sways you?”

You’re practically in love.

“You know the way to a woman’s heart,” you sigh dramatically.

“Free trunk space and Costco?”

“Free trunk space and Costco.”

You text your brother for good measure, though.

It’s not serious. Mostly, it’s you having your fun.

i’m going grocery shopping with tim drake. if i don’t text you back by five, call the cops

WHAT

WHAT???

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!

You just smile and put your phone away.

You have nothing to worry about.

Well, you knew that but over the course of the day, as you first hit Costco and buy toilet paper, paper towels, detergent, and other groceries in bulk, then you go to ShopRite to get the rest of the stuff, you realize Tim is actually… a lot of fun.

He has this snark to him that comes out in the most unexpected moments and you would be lying through your teeth if you said you didn’t like how it keeps you on your toes.

Plus… it’s fun to grocery shop with someone else. Maybe that sounds weird but… you don’t know. You like the companionship.

(And that, of course, could be the gnarled loneliness inside of you finally being soothed away in the company of a person who doesn’t have to be here with you, yet is.)

The sun is setting when you two get back to the apartments. The parking garage is adjacent to the building and they have little carts people can use to take up their groceries more quickly.

“I mean,” Tim starts, easily lifting the case of water bottles from the trunk and dropping it into the cart. “At the risk of sounding creepy again, I don’t mind helping you take this stuff up.”

“In that case, I owe you.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it.”

“Aw, come on. You let me monopolize your trunk, your Costco membership, and your time.”

“Believe me, I didn’t have anything planned for today. This is a much better use of my time.”

You don’t know how to handle that. Which is why you insist.

“You know the Indian place on Cameron? On me.”

“They do have good biryani,” he muses. “Alright. Why not.”

You manage to haul everything into two carts. He only got the detergent, which he says he’ll just take upstairs with him after.

You dig out your keys on the elevator ride up, the two of you deciding on what to order.

“Just leave the carts near the door,” you say when you get to your apartment. “And take off your shoes, too, please.”

“Sure.”

You unlock the door, belatedly realizing you did not prepare your place for guests but you are assuaged by the reminder that you’d cleaned last night like you always do, so, there’s that.

Your apartment is an open floor plan, with the kitchen immediately to your left and then the living room to the right. Your bedroom and bathroom are off to the side of that.

You scan everything quickly as you kick off your shoes. Your coffee table is the only thing not quite suited for visitors, with your laptop and graded papers scattered over it. Right, that reminds you, you need to finish those for this week and get the grades inputted…

“Nice socks.”

“Huh?” You blink, turning and spying an amused look on Tim’s face. Your eyes flicker to your socked feet in the next second, barely remembering you had put on a pair of black socks with a pattern of the Flash’s symbol on them.

You grin proudly, looking back at him. “Thank you. I think he’s pretty cool. Well, I think most of them are cool…”

“League supporters are hard to come by these days.”

You roll your eyes. “I know. But I don’t care for the government’s posturing about what they should and shouldn’t do. They’ve saved the world, like, a bunch of times. They should be grateful.”

“Hard to accept they need the help.”

“Yeah, then they go pouring my tax dollars into the military when it can go literally anywhere else. Jerks.”

Tim takes off his shoes and sets them aside while you shut the door behind you. He stands up, taking in your apartment with clear curiosity.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” you say, gesturing to it. By now, more than six months after moving in, you’ve made it your home. Picture frames on the walls, a few choice paintings, some old drawings from when you worked at Gotham Elementary right after graduating. Decorating the TV stand and various surfaces are little figurines and pieces of pottery you’ve made. You do pottery classes twice a month at the rec center in Chinatown. You’ve been doing it since you graduated three years ago.

His eyes spy your twenty-gallon tank against the wall, behind the couch and beside the bookshelves.

“Reptiles?” he guesses, squinting to get a better look.

You smile, stepping forward and beckoning him with you.

“No, they’re hermit crabs. I needed some pets like me.”

He snorts, then bends forward to peer inside. A thick layer of substrate covers the bottom. You have two ponds of freshwater and saltwater on opposite sides of the tank, a handful of sanitized shells scattered about, moss pits, a little holder suctioned to the glass with a fish net attached to it so the crabs can climb into it, and then various fake plants and pieces of driftwood and hollowed logs.

“This is their crabitat,” you inform him. You point to a crab with a pink shell mottled with brown, currently climbing the fishnet. “That’s Sid.” Then to another crab with a tan shell speckled with red moving into a hollow log. “That’s Diego.” And finally, a crab with a darker shell, with black spots chilling by a plant. “And that’s Manny.”

You both are bent forward, peering into the crabitat. Tim scrunches up his face and looks at you. “Did you… name them after the characters from Ice Age?”

You grin widely at him. “Yes.”

He laughs. He laughs for a while, actually, enough so that you start to feel a tad embarrassed.

“Hey!”

“No, no, no, I’m not making fun of you,” he quickly says, a little breathless, cornflower blue eyes bright with mirth. “I just… Talk about a blast to the past. I think the last time I saw those movies I was a kid.”

“Well, see how it makes an impact? You remembered their names.”

“True,” he says, chuckling. “Haven’t they come out with a bunch of movies since?”

“Mm, yeah, and they’re okay, except for the most recent one. That one is just a total mess because a handful of the actors didn’t come back for it. And also they tried some new animation and it looks so bad.”

“Kids probably don’t notice that,” he points out teasingly.

“Well, they should pay their respects to the original movies! All my childhood media was enjoyable for me and sometimes for my parents, too, because they always had adult jokes in it. Like in Spongebob. Or the earlier seasons, anyway.”

“I was never allowed to watch that,” he admits.

“Ugh, you aren’t the first person to tell me that. Some of my old college friends said their parents didn’t let them watch it because it would ‘kill their brain cells.’ You know what’s not just killing brain cells but indoctrinating them, too, these days? Paw Patrol.”

Tim lets out another loud laugh.

“I don’t watch it, either, okay! I just watch Spongebob sometimes and I guess it thinks I’m a child so it plays, you know, commercials geared towards kids and god, the amount of Paw Patrol commercials I get is so annoying.”

“I’m surprised you lean toward it,” he says, the two of you going over to the carts. “Since you’re a teacher’s aide.”

“Well, that’s the good thing about middle schoolers. They’re out there watching TV and movies that they probably shouldn’t be watching, so that’s not what I’m hearing about.”

“I’m not sure I’ve heard the words ‘good’ and ‘middle schoolers’ in a sentence before.”

You snort, then feel bad immediately. Your kids are good. Annoying sometimes, sure, but they’re kids. Everyone is annoying every now and then. Plus…

“I wasn’t too keen about being saddled with the six graders, either,” you admit. “But I’ll tell you what Ms. C — the teacher I help — told me. Maybe the reason middle schoolers are so… not fun to be around is because they can tell their teachers and practically every other adult in their life doesn’t want to be around them, either.”

He tilts his head. “Fair point. But also — puberty.”

“There is also the puberty,” you agree.

Tim chuckles and the two of you get to unpacking the groceries. You tell him he doesn’t have to — seriously — but he simply says he might as well help out. Of course, the process is made doubly longer by the fact that he has no idea where anything goes and you have to point him in the right direction but just like earlier, you don’t mind.

After, he pulls on his shoes, grabs the container of detergent he bought, and tells you he’ll take the carts back downstairs and put his stuff away, then come back.

You let him go and call in the order to the restaurant, then feed your crabs and collapse onto your couch. Your weekends are usually for resting your abused feet, since during the week, you are moving and standing constantly, but you don’t mind today’s aches, knowing it was accompanied with… one of the best days you’ve ever had in a long while.

With that, you decide to let your brother know there is no need to call the cops.

hi i made it unscathed

haha just kidding today was so fun

i went to costco!!! my tp is stocked for Days

Hello????

hello

Don’t do that. What on earth are you doing hanging out with Tim freakin Drake?

I don’t think that’s his middle name. Isn’t it jackson?

You can faintly recall that from when you unashamedly googled him last night.

A knock on your door. You heave yourself from the couch and open it. Tim steps inside.

“Hey, what’s your middle name?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Jackson. Do you want to know my mom’s maiden name, too? Maybe the street I was born on?”

You grin, going to sit back down. “I don’t know. I mean, if you’re offering.”

He shakes his head at you, then hesitates. You gesture to the couch. “Make yourself at home, seriously. After today, we’re practically BFFs.”

“Should I be worried about you?”

You wave a hand. “That’s just the crippling loneliness, don’t worry about it.”

“You’re…” He shakes his head again and sits down. You have the TV on, one of the various streaming services you shamelessly leech off your brother for pulled up. The page for Ice Age is there, too, waiting for you to hit play.

“You said you didn’t have anything else to do and I took that to heart.”

“I can see that,” Tim says dryly, but the quirk of his lips belies the tone.

You glance back at your phone where your previous text is. You snort.

“Your middle name really is Jackson?”

“Yes…” he says warily. “Why?”

“You have three first names.”

He lets out a choked laugh. “You’re the worst.”

You giggle and pick up the remote, pressing play. “Sorry!”

“Whatever. I do all this…”

“Hey!”

He grins and glances at the kitchen. “You mind if I grab a green tea?”

“Only if you grab one for me, too.”

He stands. “I guess. Even though you’re bullying me.”

“I’m sorry, you just make it so easy.”

Tim rolls his eyes good-naturedly at you and crosses to your kitchen, opening the fridge.

“There’s ice in the freezer since they’re not cold yet. And the cups are in the cabinet to the left.”

“Got it, thanks.”

You take a second to watch him shut the fridge, then step to the side to open the cabinet, pulling out two glasses. You’re crazy for thinking it, you know, but you don’t… terribly mind the sight of Tim in your kitchen. You really don’t.

It’s a good thing you two are friends, then.

Wait.

You are friends, right?

“Hey, Tim?”

“Yeah?”

“Are we friends now?”

Maybe it’s elementary to ask but… communication is important and all that. You would hate to think of you two as friends only to later realize he thinks you two are just… you don’t know, acquaintances?

He turns, smiling faintly. “And here I thought my offer to let you use my trunk and Costco membership said that clearly.”

“I didn’t want to assume!”

“I don’t just let anyone do those things, you know. Not strangers. Only for friends and strange girls who judge me for not knowing how to do my laundry and make fun of my name.”

“I am buying you dinner.”

“Do you buy dinner for strange guys who don’t know how to do their laundry?”

“No,” you admit. It really does say it, the fact that you even let him inside your place. Let him commandeer your kitchen for green tea, too.

Your face warms and you look away. “Alright! I’m just making sure, okay…”

“Yes,” he says, and when you glance at him, he’s smiling at you. “We’re friends.”

The butterflies in your belly go a little crazy at that. You have to look away again.

“Cool,” you mutter.

He chuckles and turns back to pour out the drinks.

You split your attention between him and your phone. He doesn’t stand in front of the counter but allows the glasses with the ice to be in plain view. For your sake, you’re sure.

we’re friends. just discussed it. i made a friend!!!

…….. He’s TIM DRAKE

so?

Jesus christ

Tim returns with a now-cold glass of green tea, ice clattering around inside, and you hit play on the movie. Your dinner arrives shortly after. You were right, of course, in that the very first Ice Age movie is more than a little amusing even for adults. Especially for adults.

“What other movies do you like, then?” he asks.

“Hmm. I’m partial to Mamma Mia. I like ABBA. And Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried. You know, I almost named the boys, um, Sam, Harry, and Bill.”

He blinks at you.

“You know, the — the guys! The baby daddies!”

A slow shake of the head.

“You’ve never seen Mamma Mia?”

“I’ve seen… The Devil Wears Prada?”

You pause, raising an eyebrow. 2000s dramas don’t seem to fit him but honestly you’ve never actually seen the movie, so maybe it’s different from what you think.

“I’ve never seen that one.”

He gives you a look, saying See? You, too.

“Alright,” you say, grinning. “You have to see Mamma Mia and I have to see The Devil Wears Prada.”

“We could just do it now,” he says, glancing at the TV, where the credits for Ice Age are rolling. The second movie, Ice Age: The Meltdown, is being advertised as the next movie you should watch.

“Which one? I think we should watch Mamma Mia.”

“Well, I think —” he stops as something vibrates. You think it’s your phone initially but then he slips his out of his pocket. It’s already nine. He grimaces. “I think we’ll have to make that decision another time.”

“Hey, no worries. I’ve taken up enough of your time. I should probably be getting ready for bed, too.”

Though, the good thing about Gotham Pointe being a newly-opened and very funded charter school is that, in a move to distinguish itself from the other charter schools in the city, school starts at nine instead of seven-thirty. It was a point that they wanted to move the starting time later, in an effort to heed the countless research that kids were better off starting their school days later rather than earlier. It still ends at four like the other ones, too.

But you have to be there at eight. Which is still a better alternative than anything else, of course.

He types something into his phone, lips pursed, then stands, collecting the trash from dinner and putting it back into the bag.

“You don’t have to —”

“Least I can do,” he says, tying off the bag, your coffee table now clear of trash. Your laptop and stack of… shit, not graded papers sits in the corner. You still have to do that. Damn. Oh, well. This was too much fun.

“So,” he starts, lips pursed, thinking quickly as he runs a hand through his hair. “I’ll take a raincheck. I’m thinking you can host for Mamma Mia and it’s only fair if I host for The Devil Wears Prada?”

“Oh, you mean —?”

“If you’re comfortable with it,” he quickly says. “If not, we can do it here. I just, I don’t know. Want it to be fair so I’m not always hogging your space.”

I don’t mind, you want to say.

You don’t.

Instead, you smile and shrug. “You haven’t kidnapped or killed me yet, so, sure, I’d like that.”

“Well, you see, I need to build trust first.”

“Ohhh, of course, of course. Makes sense.”

He grins at you and picks up the bag. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah. Have a goodnight.”

You sit up to pull your laptop and the papers to you, picking up your blue glitter pen. The kids tease you about it but you think they secretly like it.

“Oh, wait,” he says, straightening after pulling on his shoes.

“What?”

“Your number,” he says, shaking his head. “I was about to leave when I realized I don’t have your number and you don’t have mine.”

You stand, picking up your phone. “I completely forgot, too. Here.”

You pass off your phone and squash down any hesitancy in him handling it, with the yellowed clear case and a couple cracks in your screen protector. Then you gingerly accept his, sleek and new, the display bright and flowing smoothly as you type in your phone number.

“Please don’t leak my number to the press,” is what he says when he passes his phone back to you.

You laugh. “I promise on my Justice League sock collection.”

“Now, that’s serious.”

You back away, giving him a two-fingered salute like you did last night. “I’d never betray them.”

He smiles, bids you one last goodnight, then steps out. You lock the door behind him.

Then you step away, staring at it for a moment, a silly grin full of giddiness growing on your lips.

You look back at your phone, then burst out laughing when you see how he did his contact.

First Name: Timothy Jackson

Last Name: Drake

A poke at you for that comment about his name, you’re certain.

Not like it matters, anyway.

You are far too pleased to have his name in your phone.

Not because he is Timothy Jackson Drake, twenty-three-years-old and one of Gotham’s most eligible bachelors, but because he is Tim, your friend who can’t handle spicy foods but eats it, anyway, who likes The Devil Wears Prada, and who has so much more about him that you cannot wait to find out.

Your friend.

What a thought.

reblogs are appreciated!

#red robin #dc comics #tim drake x reader #tim drake x you #tim drake x y/n #dc comics x reader #red robin x you #red robin x reader #red robin x y/n #tim drake imagine #dc comics imagine #batfam x you #batfamily x reader #batfam x reader

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iamthecatwhotypes · 1 month

Text

the letter (bts)

It started with an unsigned letter...

💘Pairing: Fem!OC x Yongbok/Secret Admirer | Sincerely AU 📚Genre: Sincerely... AU (m.list) | Romantic Angst 🔞Rating: 18+ ⌨Word Count: 4.4k ✋🏽Warnings: Unhealthy relationship (edging on neglect; quick to anger) 🗣Summary: Jinju's birthday started out rough... but a curious letter from a secret admirer gives her new hope. The problem is, which of her friends has a crush on her? 💌A/N: Hi! I'm new, but have been lurking for a while. I've had this idea in my head for a while and wanted to give this a try. If you have any constructive criticism or anything you want to say about this, please feel free to reach out. I'd love to hear from you! 😁If you want to read on AO3, you can! 🥰 I know a lot of people prefer to read a whole story when it's done. If you want me to tag you when this series is finished, let me know and I'll tag you when the finale drops.

There was something in the air that Friday night.

It felt… maybe a bit romantic, really. The sky had faded to a soft blue with fluffy clouds bathed in pastel pinks and oranges while the horizon was aglow in dazzling gold. Chasing after the cotton candy clouds from the east was a storm the color of spilled ink. They sprinted along the sky, gobbling up the half moon that hung low and bright.

Rainy nights were my favorite. I was convinced they washed away all the negativity of the day or week and left me with a clean slate.

Maybe it’ll sound a little crazy or overdramatic, but it felt like there was something fated in the crisp breeze that whipped through my hair. It felt like I was on the precipice of something exciting and new starting.

I loved the way it seemed like everyone around me was so happy while being bathed in the soft glow of the street lights that were flipping on one street at a time.

I loved nights like this. They made me think of home when I was young. I'd sit with my mom and brother and watch the lightning until either the storm ended, or I fell asleep.

In my moment of nostalgia, I looked around for my boyfriend, Yongbok, hoping to wrap my hands around his arm and walk tucked up against him, but saw him already so far ahead of me that he was almost to the restaurant we were going to meet our friends at.

I paused for a moment, my shoulders slumping against the sudden brunt of disappointment. My jaw went slack as my heart slid down my ribs into my gut and dissolved in its bath of acid.

Why was he so far ahead? He almost always walked with me. I mean, yeah, he was a much faster walker than I was, but he had a bit of height on me and naturally had a longer stride.

I blamed my outfit. I didn’t often wear skirts or heeled sandals. Even though the long champagne colored skirt I wore had a slit up to the middle of my leg, I felt awkward walking in it. It felt almost alien to dress this feminine. The bag I had brought was bulkier than I was used to as well.

I guess I felt a bit like a puppy that had yet to grow into its paws.

Despite all of that, he should have been walking beside me like a proper boyfriend would.

Although… we have been going through sort of a rough patch, I guess. We’d made plans to go out tonight to celebrate my birthday months ago. Maybe he felt like if he didn’t show up tonight, then all our friends would know we were having problems and he didn’t want them to notice.

I hoped that meant he still wanted to try and work things out with me.

I heaved a sigh and hurried after him, nearly breaking into a sprint in order to meet him at the door. He held it open with his foot and tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

A small part of me was worried he'd started to be embarrassed by me. I had gained a bit of weight since I stopped doing my normal dance classes. I didn't think it had been a lot, but I had caught him looking at my tummy a couple of times.

Maybe he was just excited for everything that we had planned to do tonight.

I felt myself get excited at the idea he'd gotten me something nice.

Maybe he was going to finally propose and was just nervous.

Why would he be nervous though? It wasn't like I would say no!

I smiled up at him sheepishly when I lowered my head and slipped past him and into the restaurant.

I loved this restaurant. The walls were black and the lights that hung overhead were low. It smelled of meat and fish and spices.

It reminded me of how my family's house had smelled when I was a child and my grandmother was cooking.

I looked around, plastering a smile on my face and searching for my friends.

I spotted Namjoon’s freshly dyed purple hair in a far corner and grabbed Yongbok's wrist, pulling him along with me as I navigated towards the group, my smile full and authentic now.

Yongbok pulled his hand from mine and skirted past me, almost bumping into a waitress with a tray full of sushi, gimbap, and a delightful smelling udon.

She gasped and steadied the tray with her free hand, her mouth agape as I waved her on, apologizing quietly for his rudeness.

Why was he acting like this? He was being so rude and embarrassing!

I scowled at him and walked over to the table, forcing the smile to grace my face again as almost everyone looked over at me.

I could almost feel the judgement in their eyes as Jimin pulled a chair out for me and pushed it in as I sat while everyone at the table wished me a happy birthday. I smiled shyly at them and bowed my head several times in gratitude while holding my hands together in thanks.

Even though it should have been Yongbok seating me, I thanked Jimin anyway.

He was always a gentleman.

I looked at Yongbok and sighed again when I saw him already deep in conversation with Jungkook who had just started getting a full sleeve of tattoos and, of course, Yongbok was curious about it. He’d wanted to get tattoos for a while now and Jungkook had been the only one in our friend group brave enough to start.

The tattoos I could see on his knuckles were hard to read in the quick moment I looked at, but they looked crisp enough to look decent.

“Look at you!” My best friend, Chaeyoung leaned close to whisper into my ear as she took my bag and admired it for a moment before hanging it from a hook under the table I didn’t know existed. “I bet Yongbok is just itching to get his hands on you tonight!”

She hid her giggle with her long, slender hand. I did my best to laugh along with her to avoid suspicion. It’d been such a long time since Yongbok had touched me… since he’d hugged me… I thought I would probably erupt with joy as soon as he even so much as held my hand.

“Well, you look stunning.” Chaeyoung continued sincerely before letting her eyes gaze at the candles flickering in the center of the table. She went far away for a moment. “I probably shouldn’t say this, but I am a little jealous you have a boyfriend on your birthday. Mine was so lonely.”

I looked her over and scoffed. She was always so elegant with her high cheekbones, small forehead, and full hips that swung like a pendulum when she walked. She was everything I considered to be perfect. I couldn’t understand why she was still single. “You’ll find the right guy soon!”

“I hope so.” Her shoulders slumped enough for her collarbone to peek out from under the sleeveless black cocktail dress she wore.

I nudged her with my arm and leaned close, glancing around the table quickly to see who was watching us. “Have you told… you know… how you feel?”

Her eyes flicked up to the man who sat quietly on the other side of the table, between Jungkook and Namjoon, staring at a glass of water that was sitting in a pool of its own condensation. She shook her head and pulled her waist length black hair behind her ear. “No. If he likes me, he needs to approach me.”

“What if he’s shy?”

She gave a nonchalant shrug and took a sip of her red wine, the glint of the candles catching her long, almond nails painted in a nude shade. She thought carefully for a moment and met my eyes. “I think he likes someone. He’s been acting differently recently.”

I nudged her again as a pair of waitresses came around, setting steaming bowls of clear soup in front of us and taking our entree orders. “It could be you.”

She offered me a smile. “I hope so.”

We giggled together before beginning to eat our soups.

I looked around the table at everyone laughing together and sat back with a smile.

I hadn't known anyone when I moved to Seoul as a teenager. It was only once I had met Yongbok that anyone at this table came into my life.

My life had become so rich and full with everything everyone brought to share with me.

I couldn't imagine my life without them.

“So… Jinju….” Jimin rubbed his hands on his trousers and looked over at me with a smile. I met his gaze and raised a brow, waiting for him to continue, watching as he ran a hand through his thick blond hair and cleared his throat. He shifted his weight and turned towards me. “What… um… what are we doing afterwards? I think it's been kept a surprise from us when, really, we should have been the ones to surprise you.”

I laughed as he ran his tongue across his bottom lip, his eyes roving my face.

His sudden attention on me was a little confusing for me. Jimin had always been kind, but I had written it off as him being polite to his friend's girlfriend.

I couldn't lie though, it was nice to have a man talk to me so kindly.

Yongbok looked up at us too. His large eyes narrowed suspiciously while going from Jimin to me and back again.

That was odd.

Was he jealous or had he just forgotten our plans? I couldn't be sure.

I came back to myself and put on my friendliest smile while laying my hands on the wood table.

“But I love surprising you all! I hope you don't mind.”

I dipped my head shyly. I hoped I hadn't inadvertently caused offense. I really didn't think anyone would mind. I had never been a fan of birthdays and really just wanted the attention to be off of me.

Jimin chuckled and ran a hand down the black blazer he wore, waving the other to dispel my worry. He softened his hand and offered a gentle smile. “Of course not.

“I thought that since we were so close to Lotte World, that we could go there after we eat and do a scavenger hunt. I have a little gift for the winner.” I had gifts hidden away in my purse for everyone though, but I wasn’t going to admit that now.

“It’s raining now though, my dear.” Yongbok interjected, his deep voice tinged with a gravelly undertone, hinting that I was being ridiculous. He used the endearment to try and soften his tone.

“I…,” I didn’t have much time to respond before Taehyung piped up, his eyes still on his glass.

“I drove.” He pushed his white linen napkin along the edge of the glass before looking up at me first then quickly around the table and back to his glass again. He swallowed hard and shrugged a shoulder as the weight of the collective stare went to him. “I can’t fit everyone, but….”

He let his words fall away, thankfully saved by the waitresses and a pair of runners who came up to our table and laid our meals out before us.

I couldn’t help but notice Yongbok glower at him for a moment before whipping open his napkin and laying it over his lap.

What was wrong with him?

I glanced at Chaeyoung to see if maybe I was overreacting, but she was watching me worriedly as she plucked up a piece of beef.

I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but I knew it was hollow. I couldn’t lie to her very well.

We fell into eating a bit quieter than before.

I appreciated Taehyung stepping up to help keep my birthday perfect. At some point in time, without me even realizing, he and Jimin had become my friends too… genuinely.

I didn’t know what I had done to earn that, but I was very grateful.

The world felt a little smaller and less scary with them in it.

Eventually, we finished our meals and looked outside to see the rain had become so heavy that the street was practically empty save for a few stragglers who were drenched and huddled into their jackets and wincing against the elements.

Jungkook was the first to speak, always quick and eager to help in any way he could. “I think we should take Jinju to the zoo tomorrow. Or… maybe the aquarium.”

Namjoon nodded, pointing at him as he clasped his hands together and rested his elbows on the table. “Namdaemun would be cool too.”

“Oh… the Seosomun Museum is close to there.” Jimin chirped, glancing at me as he crossed his legs and sat back in his chair. “We could make a day of it if we wanted to.”

“Oh!” Chaeyoung cried out and leaned forward, her brow pinched and her eyes narrowed. “We could go to Sky Pizza!” She turned to me and put her hand on my arm. “That’s Bong Joon-Ho’s restaurant in Parasite!”

“We’re taking a tour of Seoul tomorrow.” Yoongi suddenly spoke with a breathy, deep laugh. “We may as well go to the National Park Mountain Museum.”

“Where is that?” Chaeyoung pulled her phone from her purse and tapped the name into her map app then looked up with wide eyes. “Bro! That’s so far away!”

Namjoon smiled until his eyes were half moons and shook Yoongi’s hand. “I see you’re getting out more.”

“That’s almost in Gyeonggi! That’s like an hour away!”

I was about to say that I loved getting out of the city, but Yoongi spoke again, waving his hand, his pinky slightly curved.

“Jinju, what would you like to do tomorrow?”

Everyone’s eyes shifted over to me and it was suddenly hard to breathe. I blinked rapidly and felt my mouth grow dry as my jaw went slack.

I couldn’t choose the museum Yoongi had suggested even though it sounded wonderful. Chaeyoung would be too miserable travelling that far. I made a note to go there later on my own. I sat up straight with a bright smile, watching subconsciously as almost everyone mirrored my movement. “I think we should go to the aquarium, Seosomun Museum, and Sky Pizza. If that’s okay?”

I looked over at Chaeyoung as she wrapped her arms around mine with a giggle. “That’s gonna be so fun!”

“Let’s see if it’s still raining tomorrow.” Yongbok’s voice was drowned out by Taehyung and Jimin offering to drive all of us, which made him roll his eyes.

Part of me felt bad for him to be ignored. I knew he hated it, but maybe the others were ignoring him since he was in such a foul mood.

I tried to compensate for him by being the brighter one.

“I’m really excited. It’ll be nice to do some new things.” I smiled at no one in particular.

My eyes flicked to Yongbok as he clinked his shot glass together with Jungkook’s and threw his drink back. I hadn’t even realized the grapefruit soju on the table. Yongbok locked eyes with me and pointed at me with a grin on his full lips then poured himself another shot. He raised it towards me, waiting for a moment for our bewildered friends to quickly follow suit when they realized there was going to be an impromptu toast.

“Here’s to our beautiful Jinju on her birthday.” Yongbok smiled and gave a chuckle, the mood brightening for a moment as our friends broke into a smile and parroted him before he continued, interrupting a few of them. “May we all be so accommodating.”

I thought I heard a hint of sourness to his tone that the others seemed to gloss over.

I smiled and bowed my head in thanks to my friends before a crack of thunder shook the building and made the lights flicker. We jumped and looked to see if the building had been hit.

“I think that's our signal to go.” Namjoon finished off his beer and stood with the rest of the table following suit quickly. We followed him to the counter to pay.

“Thank you all for such a lovely evening.” I bowed to the group at the large double doors that were painted black with an ornate design painted gold in the center of both of them. “It was good to see you all again and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!”

I gladly accepted a hug from Chaeyoung, Jimin and Taehyung then shook hands with Namjoon and Jimin. Yoongi and Jungkook both gave me a small bow before looking out the windows as a flash of lightning illuminated the sky for a moment.

“I'll drive you home, Namjoon.” Taehyung patted the man on his shoulder as Jungkook fished his keys from the pocket of his black trousers and Yoongi pulled his black blazer over his tight black turtleneck.

“You two walked, right?” Jimin turned to us, raising his brow as Yongbok nodded, a sense of disappointment seeming to wash over him as his shoulders drooped a little. “I'll drive you home.”

I stepped up to him with a smile and held my hands demurely before me. “Thank you for your help, Jimin. Yongbok and I appreciate it very much.”

The tips of his ears grew red as he tipped his head away with a smile and ran his hand through his hair again as Yoongi swung the door open for us, his hand up to shield himself from the rain.

“Thank you!” I put my hand on his shoulder as I brushed past him, my skirt quickly becoming plastered to my thighs as the rain threatened to drench me entirely. He nodded and gave the fastest smile I had ever seen before looking away.

Yongbok put his hand on my waist, pulling me close and guiding me quickly to Jimin’s car. He pulled away and sat in the front, leaving me to start to slip in the back before remembering I didn't have my purse.

“I forgot my bag!” I stood despite Yongbok's grunt of disgust and shielded my eyes with my hand as a waitress came out with my bag. I took it from her with a bow. “Thank you!”

“Jinju! Get in the car!” Yongbok yelled through the window at me as I opened the door and dropped inside, thankful for the quickly heated interior.

“Sorry.”

“It’s…”

“Next time be more mindful.” Yongbok barked over Jimin, glowering at me from his spot as I sank into the back of my seat with wide eyes. “You're ruining the interior.”

My jaw went slack.

I was so confused.

He’d never berated me in front of other people before, let alone his closest friends.

I don’t think he’s even ever raised his voice to me before. Why was he being so cruel? And on my birthday too.

It made my heart drop as I lowered my head while Jimin stared at him, his playful, sweet eyes now dark and hard.

He moved his jaw from side to side before taking a deep breath and holding his hand up, palm down, trying to diffuse the situation. “Let’s not let a little rain ruin tonight. This car’s been through much worse than this.” He laughed, bringing me, at least, a little lightness and I relaxed. “I was getting the car washed one time and forgot to roll my window up until I was being sprayed in my ear.”

“Bro… you did what?” Yongbok stared in confusion at Jimin as he covered his face with his hands and laughed.

Perhaps it was mean of me, but it was nice to see him be humbled after being rude to me.

“Yeah, I drove home with all the windows down to try and dry it out.” Jimin sighed and looked back at me when I covered my mouth as I giggled. “But anyway, don’t even worry about it. You’re fine, I’m not mad.”

I smiled and looked up at him through my lashes. “Thank you, Jimin.”

Jimin tried to get a conversation going, but with Yongbok’s mood, the short trip to our apartment felt like an eternity.

Jimin pulled up to the curb and put the car into park, twisting in his seat and reaching back to smile at me. “Happy birthday, Jinju. I’m sorry it rained, but hopefully tomorrow will be better.”

“I'm sure it will be. Thank you again for coming out with us and driving us home.”

Yongbok was out of the car and opening my door suddenly, his voice . “Remember your purse this time.”

I tried to smile but my lips refused to pretend.

I grabbed my purse and stepped out of the car, waving to Jimin before hurrying to catch up with Yongbok who was practically at the door of our building already.

“What's wrong with you?” I glared up at him, watching as he threw his hands up and walked away. He went through the door to the stairs and let it slam behind him.

I stood staring after him.

What happened? What had I done?

All I wanted to do was cry.

I felt my chin tremble and remembered that my clothes were still wet. Even if my heart was breaking, I had to go take care of myself.

I went to the elevator and trudged my way to our door and tapped in the code. I slipped inside and stepped out of my shoes, holding my purse to my chest.

It only took a moment for me to hear him playing a video game loud enough that I was sure our neighbors would hear the woman screaming alongside the gunfire.

I felt so completely defeated. This wasn’t how I planned on my birthday going.

I had been so hopeful that today we would play nice and maybe it would start feeling like we were a couple again.

I wiped my eyes and went to the closet, dropping my bag into its place in the corner of my side. I went into the bathroom and began to draw a hot bath with a healthy scoop of lavender epsom salt.

I sank into the hot water carefully and sighed as I laid my head against the pillow, completely encased in the water.

I stared up at the ceiling and sighed.

What was I supposed to do? Was there anything I could do to save the relationship?

It was just a rough patch. All couples go through rough patches. I did love him. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. I didn’t want to just throw it away without trying.

The next morning as we were rushing to get out the door to meet with Jimin and the others he had picked up, I remembered at the last moment that I had forgotten my wallet inside my purse. When I grabbed it and yanked it free from my bag, a sloppily folded piece of paper fell to my feet.

What was this?

I crouched down and picked it up, tipping my head as I unfolded it, thinking it was a receipt.

Hello darling,

The words met me in a neat hand.

I drew a deep breath and glanced over my shoulder. It wasn’t Yongbok’s handwriting. Even when he did his best handwriting, this was remarkably different.

I continued to read it, grateful for the brevity of it.

I know I shouldn’t be writing this to you, but I feel that if I don’t do something to give me freedom from you, I’ll go mad. So, here’s the truth: I’ve liked you for a long time and wish you all the happiness and love in your life. You deserve the best life and to be treated like a queen. You inspire me to be a better man and I thank you for that. Although I don’t think you’ll ever know who I am, I am grateful to have you in my life.

My mind raced and my heart thundered.

Someone had… what? A crush? On me?

Who could this be? Why did they choose now to tell me? When had they put this in my bag? Had it been there for long and I just hadn’t noticed it?

No. It had to have been from last night since it was on top of my wallet.

I blinked several times as Yongbok called for me.

Someone from last night had a crush on me. One of my friends felt something for me.

Had they sensed things hadn’t been well between Yongbok and I and was aligning himself up to be my next beau?

Who was it?

I was going to end it there and wish you all the best, but my soul won’t let me sleep without saying the deepest secret I have. I know you’re taken and I am sorry to drop this in your lap now, but please forgive a poor, heartsick man because I do wish you were mine. Will I give this to you? I know I shouldn’t, but the thought that maybe, just maybe, one day it could happen, is to strong to resist. We’ll see what happens, I guess. But, for now, I am happy to have you as a friend. Take care. Eat well. Sleep well. Study well. You are loved.

It ended there without any mark of the sender.

I swallowed hard and felt my eyes prick with warm tears. I trembled as I brushed them away and stuffed the letter into my everyday bag.

I should have thrown it away. I should have been loyal to Yongbok, especially if I wanted to keep our relationship alive.

Why did I keep it?

I brushed past Yongbok, staring at his thin, well-shaped jawline and cool eyes and went out to Jimin’s car that was idling by the curb.

I looked up at the fluffy white clouds in the brilliant blue sky.

Someone who loved me was looking at those same clouds.

What a strange and wonderful thought.

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mrsaguapapi · 1 year

Text

Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8 Ch 9

Chapter 10

Ocean Breeze

The Vibe:

Ariana Grande - needy (Audio)

The sounds of the ocean water meeting at the shore brought me to a complete and total zen. My eyes were closed and my breathing matched the moving air; my hair was being pulled away with each gust of wind. My mind, body, and soul were in synch with the surrounding earth breathing as one. It was nice.

"Peaceful here is it not?" I open my eyes and see a woman sitting next to me; she was effortlessly beautiful. I recognized her voice but just couldn't place where.

"Yes, it is." I look away into the ocean, "Why am I here?"

"Why are any of us here hmm?"

"I don't know" I laugh

"Well there's your answer" She laughs

"Am I dreaming?"

"You are" she smiles

"Who are you? I'm certain we haven't met before, but your voice is familiar."

"I am a friend." she smiles "I have spoken to you before"

She's the voice that brought me here.

"You're Namors mother." she nods her head in agreement, "Don't take this the wrong way because I find you very pleasant, but why'd you bring me here?"

"I was just a guide, you brought you here. A very powerful witch; with a lost soul and a broken heart"

"Ouch. I thought we were friends?" I can't help but laugh at her nonchalant remark, "Both true statements, but what does that have to do with me bringing myself here, I don't understand?"

"Lost souls and broken hearts, two of the most potent ingredients to power a spell.. well that, and hatred." She pauses "You called for love; your twin flame"

My twin flame? Is she talking about Namor?

"I didn't cast a spell looking for love. I think I'd remember that."

"Your witch friend didn't remember taking over that town. Grief ways down the soul, you underestimate your power child."

"So I brought myself out here for what? for Namor?"

"Two lost souls, two heavy hearts. Fate has her ways."

I don't know what to say so I just nod my head and look back to the ocean. We sat there in silence just enjoying each other's presence; she had a calming energy about herself that brought me comfort. I start swaying my hand in the sand and sigh, "Suppose I should wake up now. I'll be sure to tell Namor you said hello." I smile and with a blink of an eye, I awake.

Looking around I see I'm on a stretcher in Shuri's lab; the room was silent except for the occasional beeping and buzzing from various machines. I look to my left and see Namor resting his head on the stretcher and holding my hand; I squeeze his hand and brush the side of his face effectively waking him up.

"You're awake," he says.

"I am"

"How are you feeling?"

I slowly sit up, "I'm fine, a little groggy."

Namor stands in front of me pulling me into a hug and rubbing my hair, "Do you feel better?"

"A little. Not as anxious. Is Peter okay?"

"He's fine, I told him I'd stay with you while he got some sleep."

"Griot, what time is it?" I ask Shuri's AI.

"It's a quarter after 11 miss"

Did I sleep that long?

"Thank you, Griot." I look up at Namor, "I've got to go check on Peter, you need to go home too. I'm sure your people miss you."

"I do need to go home. I haven't been away from my people this long in some time, but if you need me, I can stay. Just say the word, I can be easily convinced"

"I'm okay" I chuckle "Seriously go, they need you."

He nods his head, "at least let me walk you back to Peter."

"That can be arranged" I smile at him.

We took the scenic route back and held hands as we walked silently. When we made it to Peter's door Namor hugged me for a long time.

"When will I see you again?" He asks without letting him go

"I'm free Friday after 5 pm. I can meet you at your temple...maybe I can take you back to my place?" I ask.

That should be a good time for me to tell him about his mom

"That sounds perfect Ki'ichpan" He kisses me on the forehead, "I'm afraid if I kiss you the way I want to, I won't leave. So that will have to do for now." I look at him unable to hide my smile. Namor firmly grabs my chin holding me in place, "Behave while I'm gone" He smirks at me and walks away.

I open the door and walk straight to Peter's room. He was laying in bed on top of the covers with a pillow over his head sound asleep. I go to the opposite side of the bed and crawl under the covers beside him. This makes me think of when he and May first took me in, I was too afraid to sleep alone so I rotated sleeping with him and May for the better part of a year.

God, I'm still so tired.

I peek my head under his pillow and whisper to him, "Peter"

"Hmm" he grunts half sleep

"Can I sleep with you?" I ask

"Mhmm. When did you get here? Are okay?" He mumbles out

"I'm fine, we'll talk details in the morning. Let's just sleep." He nods and rolls over falling back asleep; I follow him not that long after.

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

I filled Peter in on everything in the morning and eventually Shuri before we left. Both had similar reactions, having such scientific minds, it was hard for them to view my ghostly visions as nothing more than dreams, But they trust and support me and my decisions. Ramonda kindly had my mother's books packed up so I can study them at home.

Now back in our apartment, I sit in bed surrounded by my notes and books, reading them one by one and taking in as much information as I can. Most of the books are written in Wakandan, But there is a couple written in what looks like ancient Egyptian Sanskrit for which I'm proficient, but not a master.

Time for reinforcements

I pull out my phone and call my favorite moon boys.

"Hey Millie," Marc answers, "What's up?"

"Heya Marc, not much, I'm actually calling for Steven. I need his brain."

"His brain IS my brain" Marc chuckles

"Can you read ancient Egyptian?"

"No..."

"That's what I thought, put the man on the phone please." I laugh

"Alright, alright," I hear Marc breathe in and exhale, "Hey Millie, how can I help?" It was Steven.

"Hey bunny, got any time possibly tonight or tomorrow for me so I can pop in with some books for you to translate for me?" I ask

"Of course, can we do tonight? We may have made plans with Layla tomorrow"

"Tonight works hows 8 your time?"

"Works for us" Steven happily responds

"Perfect! You need to fill me in later about Layla. Also, can you bring bird daddy? I have a feeling we may need his insight."

"I will as long as you don't call him that, like ever again," Steven says disgusted

"No promises," I laugh "See ya soon, byeeeee" I obnoxiously say and hang up.

One step closer

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shadowqueen402 · 11 months

Text

Lora Learns Everything (A Prim And Proper Problems fic)

This is another Prim And Proper Problems fic! But Lora is going to make her debut appearance in it! Anyways, enjoy! This takes place after Prim is arrested. Lora also learns of my oc's history.

"Yikes," Lora said as she sat with Aria, Kaylo, Trisha Jane, Rebecca, and Mei at the Sweet Shoppe. She had recently learned about the existence of Madame Prim as well as all of the things that she had done. "I honestly had no idea that such a horrible woman exists! Brainwashing a bunch of innocent girls and even go so far as to brainwash her own daughter!?"

"She wasn't just going to brainwash girls into becoming perfect," Trisha Jane said. "She planned on turning everyone perfect."

"She used her students to frame me and Yuri so that way, she would take us to her school," Kaylo said, scowling at the memory. "It was terrible. The rules were so strict as well the dress code. A month later, we were released. But we no longer acted the same."

"When I heard that Kaylo and Yuri had been sent to a boarding school that nobody knew about, it brought back…terrible memories," Aria said, looking at her vanilla milkshake with a frown.

"What happened?" Lora asked.

Aria sighed. "I wasn't always a resident in Timeville. I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. My parents met Madame Prim when they were both in high school as she and her family had moved from Paris. Prim immediately became obsessed with my father to the point that she wanted to marry him. She would even view any girl that developed a crush on him as "pests" that were in the way of hers and my father's "fated love", according to my mother."

"And I thought she couldn't get anymore creepy than she is," Rebecca said, upon hearing this.

"Well, one Friday afternoon, Prim discovered that my father had entered a committed relationship with my mother after accepting her confession," Aria continued. "She did not take this well at all and became so enraged that she went too far. One of the drastic measures that Prim took involved kidnapping my parents and holding them hostage into her basement. They both managed to escape from that madwoman, despite how terrified they were. And on the day they got married, Prim crashed their wedding."

"That's awful," Mei said. "How…How did Prim find out about your existence?" She looked at Aria with genuine concern.

"I-I think I'm better off not knowing." Aria shivered. "What I do know was that, three days after I was born, my parents came home with me from the hospital only to discover that their mailbox was stuffed with lots of mail. Inside were love letters addressed to my father, nasty threats addressed to my mother, and flyers that advertised a boarding school that was dedicated for girls to learn how to be perfect."

"That woman is nothing but a psycho who can't take no for answer!" Lora declared.

"Psycho is an understatement," Aria agreed. "Once I entered childhood, I took notice of how my mother would stiffen whenever the mailman came to deliver mail. I would even take notice of my father ripping up papers and discarding them. But back then, I had no clue on what was actually going on."

"Considering that Prim was constantly sending those flyers and letters to your parents, can you blame them?" Kaylo asked. "She was basically harassing them!"

Aria sipped her vanilla milkshake. "It doesn't stop there. When I turned twelve years old, my mother and I were welcoming our father home after he returned from Afghanistan. The reunion was interrupted by loud banging on the door. When my mother answered it, that was when I first met her; Madame Prim. She allowed herself into the house I grew up in and then revealed what her intentions were. It turned out that she wanted me to go to her school. My parents immediately refused to send me there as they did not trust Prim one bit. But when she tried to bribe my parents a large sum of money, they kicked her out."

"She's also tracked down "imperfect" girls around the world," Trisha Jane explained to Lora. "We even found a bunch of restraining orders into her office."

"Did your parents file a restraining order, Aria?" Lora asked. "I hope they did…"

"Thankfully, they did," Aria said. "The day after Prim was kicked out of our home, my mother pulled me aside to tell me that I must avoid Prim at all costs. If I were to see her and neither of my parents were home, I'd have to get inside the house immediately, lock the doors, and hide out of sight from Prim. For one whole year, that was what I did. I would stay absolutely silent whenever I heard loud knocking and Prim's voice in a faux-polite tone trying to lure me out. After I graduated from Edinburgh Junior Academy, my parents and I left the house and never returned. For a while, we stayed at a hotel until my parents could find another house for us to live in. A month later, my parents bought a nice house in Timeville, got a restraining order against Prim, and we soon moved in. Up until what had happened to Kaylo and Yuri, we were finally safe and sound."

"Wow, thank god that you and your parents were able to get out of there," Mei said. "Just out of curiosity, did you happen to know what happened to Prim after you moved here?"

"Up until the day that Prim came here? Not much, I'm afraid." Aria said. "The most I've ever heard was that she either went back to France or moved to Ireland. According to my father, none of his friends that he went to high school with ever heard from her again." She sipped the last bit of her milkshake. "I've faced such tragedy in my life such as losing my husband. But nobody has ever made me look over my shoulder constantly the same way that Prim did…"

Lora remained silent, taking this all in. Odds are, Prim either went back to France or moved to Ireland in order to search for "imperfect" girls…

…But what did Prim plan to do to Aria if she had succeeded in taking her to that boarding school?

Kaylo belongs to @kayssweetdreams

Trisha Jane belongs to @lovelyteng

Rebecca belongs to @thehyperrequiem

Mei belongs to @sundove88

Lora belongs to @alex-frostwalker

Aria belongs to me.

#balan wonderworld #fanfic #ocs

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wxywardsun · 1 year

Note

Hey Hun! So my bday was Friday, I turned 37 (I'm old 😂) and I was wondering if you could write something with Beau Arlen surprising the Reader? Like she wasn't expecting it at all, just fluffy goodness! ✌️💜

[Well,let me say Happy Birthday to you!! I Hope your birthday day was amazing!! 🥹🫶 This request is so sweet,y’all already know I’m a sucker for fluff! Let’s get started shall we?]

Imagine Beau Surprising You On Your Birthday…

God,I know he’s probably so sappy when it comes to celebrating birthdays,like he has it written on his calendar with little balloon drawings around the date and everything.

Your entire day runs like usual,you get a bunch of hugs and cards and “happy birthday’s!” from Jenny and Cassie and the rest of the crew.

But something’s a little off and you immediately pick up on it.

Beau isn’t there that day and when you ask Jenny about where he is,she says she’s just filling in for him but only for today.

You shrug it off and continue doing what you need to do for the day until that fated hour hits where you finally get to clock out for the evening.

Even after the long day you’re still beaming and you can’t wait to get home and relax.

The moment you open the door to your home your eyes go wide at the most beautiful display you’ve ever seen.

Beau is there,smiling and rosy cheeked holding two wine glasses and a fancy bottle of champagne. There’s candles set around the living room and dining room,and the table is set with a nice dinner spread. Everything looks absolutely delicious!

Beau can’t wait to greet you so he pulls you in for the tightest hug ever and says “Happy Birthday,Honey! Like the display? I got a lil help from Cassie with the setup cause you know I had to make it extra special for ya.”

You can’t even form words,this is so sweet! You’ll thank Cassie for her help later but now? How about dinner with a charming sheriff.

Everything tastes incredible! Beau admits he practically made everything by himself and you find yourself shocked at how talented he is. You tell him how good everything is and he pulls out the famous “Aw cmon now hun,you know we don’t blush down in Texas..”

You laugh at the obvious lie as he reaches and pops the bottle of champagne,face practically tomato red as he pours generously into each glass. A glass in each of your hands he stands with you and says “to another year..to us!” The smile on his face as the glasses clink together makes your heart swell.

Just before you think this night couldn’t get any better,Beau gestures to the couch in the living room. “Hey,we could sit and relax on the couch if you want. See what’s on the tv,maybe watch a movie?” With a quick “of course!” You’re both on the couch enjoying each others company.

The champagne almost gone,and the night almost done,you lift your head up and Beau asks “what’s up?” You don’t even hesitate before pressing a gentle kiss against his cheek,green eyes widening at the sudden gesture of affection.

Smile a mile wide you thank him for making your birthday a truly special one before leaning your head against his shoulder. Truly you couldn’t thank him enough. This birthday was perfect.

His sigh is almost breathless sounding as he laughs. He glides his thumb over the top of your hand. “Anything for you sweetheart. Now I’ll have to make next years birthday even bigger than this one.”

You smile at the thought of spending another birthday with Beau. Birthdays are fun,but they’re even better with him. And you wouldn’t have it any other way.

#Ari’s Writing #big sky #big sky fanfiction #Beau Arlen #beau arlen x reader #beau arlen x y/n #beau arlen x you #big sky headcanons #Beau is literally a Texan heartthrob #fluff headcanons : big sky edition #Beau is crushing HARD and so is the reader #who’ll make the first move? only time will tell #Two really close friends who are also pining for each other BAD share birthday dinner #gooood just kiss already #like you can cut the tension with a knife

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syiviolet · 2 years

Text

Staying Up Late w/ Narancia

This was for a friend who kins Narancia, and I love this boy. The prompt my friend wanted was simple and fun enough to execute so here it is! Enjoy my impulsive writing.

2.9k Words

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Staying Up Late w/ Narancia

Today was a Friday night, or- would it be Saturday morning?

Well, whatever the day was it didn’t change the fact of how pretty it was outside. The sky was a frightening dark colour, so much so that you could barely make out the faint wisps of clouds in the sky. You wanted to run your hands across the sky. Almost like the sky would become a liquid if you so much as laid a finger on it. You hardly knew the reason why you were looking at the sky through your window all by your lonesome. That was until you remembered.

That’s right, today was a Friday.

Fridays were usually the day you and a very energetic boy would stay up until one of you passed out, or one of you got so sick from the number of snacks you ate. Despite it being the fateful day, it was different this time around.

You had gone on a pretty taxing mission with Narancia earlier that evening because your stands worked the best for the mission. While you’ve gone on missions with him before, this one took a toll on Narancia especially. He had somehow managed to convince himself that you getting injured was his fault due to his lack of awareness. Adding on that you should’ve gone with Bucciarati or Fugo instead.

Even trying to comfort him through the drive back to the house your team shared wasn’t enough to get him out of his funk. You tried telling him that Giorno could fix the wound in a jiffy and there’d be no issue, but that didn’t stop him from insisting he’d get stronger. Eventually, night rolled around, and your usual ‘Stay up late because we don’t work very hard on the weekends’, became a solo act. Although, that part was unintentional.

You had meant to go to bed after receiving no response after knocking on Narancia’s door but your body had other plans. You had to think of ways to cheer him up, yet the only thing you could think of was what you were doing right now: staying up. You glanced over to the alarm clock to which it read 3:22 AM. Any sane person would be asleep by now, and yet you wanted to knock on his door one more time.

Giving into the urge, you stood up, walked out of your room and across the hall over to Narancia’s room. You raised your fist making contact with the door.

1 second

2 seconds

3 seconds

A few more silent seconds later you begrudgingly sighed and began your retreat to your room. Up until you heard the door behind you open. You whirled around to see a sleepy Narancia. He had plaid pyjama pants on with a black tank top. He rubbed his tired eyes to see you standing there in your own sleep attire.

“Y/n?” He called after your retreating figure. “What are you doing up so late?”

“Uh, well, couldn’t sleep I guess?” You laughed sheepishly.

He gave you a confused look which then became a deadpanned one. “You couldn’t sleep, so you woke me up?”

“Not exactly, I came to see if you were still up for staying up?” Technically it was a gamble to see if he was asleep or not, but you didn’t tell him that.

Hearing that made his eyes light up. “Why didn’t you ask me earlier?” He laughed brightly, and his eyes closed as he did so.

You scratched your head while you looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, “You were upset the whole way back! How was I supposed to know if you were still up for our all-nighter?”

He continued to laugh, and from your perspective, it looked like he was gonna collapse and wake up the whole house in the process. He wiped away a tear, “So you woke me up at 3 AM to ask if I still wanted to stay up?”

“It’s a yes or no question, Nara!”

Only after his laughing fit did he respond with a smile and a yes. Now you two were in your room, in a haphazard bedroom fort watching Fist of the North Star. It was his favourite show and the amount you two had watched it was uncountable.

“What would you do if the world was like this?” Narancia asked, breaking both of your captivated silences.

You turned to him, “You mean if the world went to shit and basically all of our necessities were taken away because of a war?”

He nodded and hummed mindlessly.

“If I’m being honest, I probably wouldn’t even continue to try and live after some time,” You said, turning back to the screen.

“What? You really wouldn’t try to do anything?” It was Narancia’s turn to face you. He had a pout on his face like he was disappointed with your answer.

“No, that’s not what I mean,” You clarified, laying down. “I’d try to live, but surviving isn’t really living. I’d rather give up.”

Narancia brought his knees up to his chest, turning to the TV once more. “You kind of have a point there…”

“What about you, Nara?”

“What about me?”

Flipping onto your stomach you stared at him with tired eyes. You and him were hardly paying any attention to the show you two had watched millions of times. “What would you do in a world like that?”

He was stumped and started rubbing the imaginary hair on his chin. Until he chimed up like a lightbulb went off in his head. “I’d use Aerosmith to survive obviously! What kind of dumb question is that!”

You laughed at his certainty, “And without Aerosmith?”

His once happy expression changed into cold hard confusion. Every time he was going to answer it was like he hit another roadblock in his thought to which you laughed at.

“Maybe we rely on our stands too much?” You brought up.

Your gaze met each other’s and you both grinned. “Nah, no way we do,” You both said simultaneously.

You two went back to watching the show- watching the events play out. You enjoyed watching things with Narancia. He always liked putting his own comical input. Sometimes the input wouldn’t make sense to which you’d ask things and engage in his thoughts. Other times he just sat silent. Friday’s were truly a treasure.

A not-so-quiet rumble erupted from one of your stomachs. You could only assume it was Narancia’s. After your mission, you guys returned to dinner being made- courtesy of your Capo. The poor boy didn’t even eat it but instead grabbed a bag of chips and slammed his room door.

“Dammit, I knew only eating a bag of lame potato chips wasn’t enough,” He thought out loud.

“You thought it would be?”

“Man, whatever!” Narancia exclaimed. “Let’s go make something, Y/n!”

You arched a brow at the suggestion. “And get scolded by Fugo? Sorry bro, but you are SOL.” You weren’t exactly wrong. Every time the two of you wanted some snacks this late, Fugo would somehow catch one of you. It felt like he was always on the lookout for you two.

He pouted. His big purple eyes were staring you down like a puppy. “Y/n! Aren’t you hungry too?”

“Not really. I actually ate dinner.”

The boy clasped your hands, giving you the most extensive (yet fake) pleading look. “C’mon! Do it for your best bud, please! I’m starving over here!”

“No,” You responded.

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes-” You grumbled and glared at him. “Okay, fine. What do you want to make?”

He grinned brightly, “Pizza Margherita!”

You deadpan, “At 4:34?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?!” He yelled defensively.

“Nothing, nothing,” You began to crawl out of your fort and paused the anime. Narancia soon followed suit. You both looked at each other like you had to pull off the biggest stealth mission of your life.

The way the house was built wasn’t the most convenient for nights like these. The stairs just had to be next to Fugo’s room and they liked to creek on certain steps. Fugo was a light sleeper too, making your mission even harder. You also had to be cautious of the rooms that were downstairs. Giorno and Trish’s rooms were down there and Mista’s room was right across from theirs, but he was a heavy sleeper so it should be alright.

You tiptoed down the stairs like you were going to step on a grenade. Finally making it to the kitchen, you and Narancia were giggling like two 7-year-olds who had just played a harmless prank on someone.

“Alright,” You began, “Do you even know how to make pizza?”

He looked at you with a fake offended expression, “Of course! What kind of Italian doesn’t know how to make a pizza?”

“You’d be surprised.”

He leaned on the counter, “Don’t we need dough, sauce and toppings?”

“We need to make the dough first, dummy,” You said, opening the pantry and looking for ingredients for the dough.

“Well, since you’re such a know-it-all, how do you make dough?” Narancia questioned, jumping off the counter and next to you.

“Easy. Flour, salt, and yeast.”

“That’s it?”

“Didn’t you say every Italian knows how to make pizza?” You asked before setting the ingredients you listed on the countertop.

“Yeah, I was just making sure you knew that! Also, don’t we need two flours?” The boy asked.

You looked at him, “Two? How come?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know, something about the flour being specifically for pizza. Something Fugo said.”

“Well, we only have one bag of all-purpose flour, so we gotta make do.”

“So how do we start?” He asked.

Pondering your answer you looked at the ingredient sitting in front of you. You had all the things to make the dough, but it would also take time to rise. Knowing your and Narancia’s patience, waiting for some dough to rise was not going to happen.

“We’re going to have to use the store-bought dough,” You groaned out of slight frustration.

“Ew, why?” He asked.

“Do you really want to wait one to three hours for the dough to rise? It’ll be morning by then and everyone will be awake,” You reasoned.

He looked at you in surprise, “Three hours for some stupid dough to rise?!”

“Yup, I’m not sure about the exact science behind it but it’s just the way it is,” You sighed.

He groaned, going to the fridge and taking the store-bought dough out onto the counter; it was like he could read your mind.

“Great,” You said, taking the can and opening it. It made a loud popping sound and you just had to hope that it wouldn’t wake up the people downstairs.

“Really, Y/n? You couldn’t have opened that quieter?” Narancia asked as he looked around.

You rolled your eyes, “I don’t think you could’ve opened it any quieter. If anything, you’d probably wake up the whole house!”

“Whatever! What’s the next step?”

“Sauce and then toppings.”

Pizza was supposed to be a relatively easy meal to make. Or, that’s what you’d think. The experience itself wasn’t terrible, it just involved a lot of other factors. Shaping the dough could’ve been much easier if Narancia hadn’t grabbed a rolling pin. He was swinging it around like a sword in the dark kitchen and accidentally whacked you in the face. You were carrying the flour you had originally brought out, but Narancia’s act caused you to drop it, leaving a mess on the floor. Your nose immediately started to bleed onto the floor while you laughed and cussed the boy out. When you guys opened the sauce jar, Narancia had somehow dropped it on the floor causing it to splatter everywhere. The jar made a huge thud and you could’ve sworn you heard a door open.

While adding the toppings, you kept catching Narancia sneak-in bites of the toppings. He’d stuff his face with cheese, making him look like a hamster. You struggled to open a bag of pepperoni so Narancia tried to take over only for the bag to explode and all of the pepperonis spilt everywhere. You even had a tiny disagreement about putting mushrooms on the pizza. Leading you to cut yourself with the knife you were cutting the mushrooms with.

You two even had a blunder with the oven. The damn thing was beeping so loud that you flinched each time you pressed a button on it. Before putting it in the oven, Narancia nearly dropped the whole thing. All in all, the process could’ve been better, but the experience was a genuine one.

At the end of it, both of you are somehow alive and didn’t wake a single person up. You and Narancia looked at each other’s faces that had some remnants of flour and sauce on them and let out boisterous laughs.

“You look like a freakin’ idiot, dude!” Narancia cackled while pointing at you.

“I look like an idiot? You look even worse! That flour really did not do your hair justice,” You laughed with him.

You looked out to the kitchen, finally processing the mess. “We’re dead meat in the morning,” You sighed before giggling again.

“For sure, but who cares right now? I’m beat!” Narancia said before plopping down onto the couch.

A little while longer and the oven was nearing the end of its timer. You rushed to it and stopped it, not wanting it to blare loudly. You let out a sigh of relief before opening the oven door to be met with the aroma of pizza. Putting the hot pan that carried steaming pizza onto the stove made you want to jump for joy.

You heard Narancia’s hurried footsteps come from behind to look at the creation you two had formed. The pizza was gorgeous, to you, it felt like it was glistening and a holy yellow light was over it. It had fresh mozzarella cheese that you could already feel the cheese pull when you cut into it. In addition, there was pepperoni on your half of the pizza and mushrooms on Narancia’s. To top it off, there was basil for some greenery.

Narancia’s hand made firm contact with yours resulting in a solid high-five. It was an understatement to say you two were proud of yourselves. Making pizza with all of those mishaps all in the dark without waking anyone up no less.

“Quick! Let’s take this bad boy upstairs. I’m starving!” Narancia said, hastily rubbing his hands together.

You nodded, “Right, all of that work makes my stomach rumble.”

You groaned. You just wanted to eat pizza, but the messy kitchen had your mind racing. “Let’s just deal with it in the morning. It's 5:43 already. Bucciarati could be up at any moment.”

“Alright, let’s go!” He shrugged, not wanting to clean up anyway he was just fine with postponing it.

He ran up to your room with the pizza with you in tow. You both took a slice from your respective halves, eating it and giving each other another high five. When you and Narancia finished the pizza, you were automatically tired, like all the ruckus hit you all at once. With the anime playing and illuminating both of your faces, you lay down on one of your pillows with your blanket. Narancia did the same. You soon felt your eyes grow heavy and your body goes lax as you fell asleep after a long bizarre night.

———————

A little Omake

Bucciarati didn’t necessarily enjoy waking up early. It took some preparation to wake up at 5, 6, or 7 if he got lucky. Bucciarati loves his gang. Some may even say he loves them more than his own life, and he does. He loves his family. His famiglia.

Although Bucciarati loves his famiglia, he didn’t necessarily love walking into a kitchen that looked like it went through hell and back. There was flour on the counters, cabinets and even the fridge. Pepperoni everywhere, mushrooms too. He could’ve sworn he saw blood.

And while a normally neat man such as Bucciarati came into a dirty kitchen, he wasn’t angry. No, he could never be mad at his friends. He would just have to give them a light scolding is all, and that’s what he was going upstairs to do.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out who ran a hurricane through the kitchen. It was obvious that it was the two most mischievous people in the small gang. Bucciarati carefully twisted your room door to see a sight that made his heart melt.

You and Narancia were cuddling in what looked like a fallen fort. The blankets added extra weight to your bodies, but judging by how you didn’t wake up, Bucciarati could only guess both of you went to sleep late. You had your face in your pillow with an arm draped over Narancia. Narancia had some drool come down his face as he snored loudly.

You two looked like dumb siblings who had just finished doing dumb things. Bucciarati could never ruin such a moment especially when both of you were obviously exhausted. So, instead of interrupting your guy’s sleep, he carefully closed the door without a sound and retreated downstairs to clean the mess himself.

Leaving two dummies to sleep by their pizza plates.

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