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#a whole year early is 32%
gaeasun · 1 year
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Navy Seals train for about 2 1/2 years. Clone troopers train their whole lives, and say if they start physical training at 7/14 that’s 3 years.
What I’m saying is we should take the competence of any trooper and multiply it by at least five.
Even the most standard trooper is equal to any elite operative. I’m talking about Captain America and Winter Soldier rolled into one. They’re so accurate it’s terrifying. They can sprint like it’s the Olympics and barely be winded. They can and do tear droids apart with their bare hands. For fun.
ARC troopers? One man army, able to keep up with the Jedi. The Padawans all check and double check if they have the Force because they can’t even do that. When all is lost send in an ARC and they will win 1000:1 odds. The originals have to be kept in storage because the Kaminoans look at them and remember what fear feels like. They can take any weapon and find a way to level a city with it. The only limit an ARC has is numbers.
And Marshall Commanders. Legends. Death. Fox’s armor is red with blood mixed with the sand of the Geonosis and painted with a promise of vengeance. Cody’s armor is the rising sun of his victory, glorious and inevitable. If Neyo knows someones name, he also knows what they’re going to eat tommorow. They say Bacara simply can’t be killed.
Anyways. Just. Any and all the clone troopers pushing every limit.
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wizardnuke · 2 years
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laying on the floor. jester is so young. it's all a coming of age story for her she's so young and they were all tired and scared at the end but she's so young and she stepped into that circle and asked her question and had years taken from her. she didn't know. ough
#deucey is in his 100s and then the others are all in the 23-35 zone except for jester who is. maybe 21#I feel like there's a gap between jester/beau and the rest of them tho veth is what 26? 27?#we Just Don't Know about yasha or molly#fjord never brings it up but I've always seen him as late 20s/early 30s given life experience and the way he holds himself#caleb is confirmed 32/33? but like. he has zee severe disadvantage of missing 11 whole entire years#I think sooo much abt what they've all been thru and how prepared/unprepared they were for everything#caleb cannot catch a fucking break. he hasnt had the chance to exist without Fear literally since he was like 14 maybe#jessie is so young.. she was 20/21 and then she was 25/26 same age as veth#it's not a lot it could've been worse but I keep thinking abt the discussion abt tief lifespans and everyone assuring her that she's still#got plenty of time left. if that had happened literally anyone else it would've been no biggie except maybe for caleb#beau would have been lowkey thrilled I think. so much of her story is abt having agency and being older would help her with that#but jester is young and that's integral to her character she's figuring things out and exploring the world#I feel like I'm Dying#deucey would have been so chill about it#fjord and yasha would've shrugged it off#veth probably would have freaked out and then she would have made cougar/milf jokes for the rest of the campaign#caleb absolutely would have been fucked up about it#jessie and caleb they're so young. like caleb's 32 but he's never had a really chance to just live. and jester's just. so young#I'm losing my mind#jdkfjfkfkf if essek had been with them they literally wouldn't have been able to figure out what happened#this man and his 700 yr lifespan he would've been like eh. I'm a dead man walking anyway#cue 'awwww essek'
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tamberella · 2 months
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Congratulations on your author debut, I'm so excited for your book!! 😇💕
Would you consider talking about the whole process of becoming a book illustrator /children's book author?
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!! And I'd be happy to share the process!
It all started for me with my 3dTotal artbook. 3dTotal is a small publisher in the UK, and they mainly focus on collections of artists' work. They use Kickstarter to fund each book, and my agent (the amazing Seth Fishman at Gernert) discovered me through the Kickstarter for my artbook Windows to Worlds!
He asked if I had any interest in working on graphic novels or picture books, and I had already been thinking about picture books! He found me my first picture book project with Penguin Workshop, Mother of Sharks, written by the awesome Melissa Cristina Márquez, which came out last year!
While I was working on Mother of Sharks, I was also talking with him about developing The Bakery Dragon, based of course on this painting, which was (and is) one of my proudest artistic moments.
For a little background on the painting, I painted it right after a really challenging couple of months medically - I was dealing with medical complications from my chronic illness for about 6 months, and I wasn't able to finish a single painting the whole time, I was just too exhausted from hospital visits and being in pain. That painting was the first piece I was able to actually complete (both emotionally and literally) in about half a year. So it always held a really special place in my heart, and I really wanted to keep living in that little world. I think there's something in it that is very special to me, about being outside in the cold, seeing warmth and love through a glass barrier, and wanting desperately to reach it.
With Seth's guidance, over a couple months, I developed a pitch for it. The script developed slowly alongside the designs for characters, locations, etc.
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(Early version of Ember above! He has changed a bit!)
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I thought I had already read a lot of picture books, I've always loved them, but I read hundreds and hundreds during this process. There is something uniquely fun and challenging about telling a complete narrative in 48 pages (which is already a long picture book, many are 32!) My book also pulls some elements from comics, such as speech bubbles, which I found to be incredible assets for humor and character development.
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My pitch included designs, some early example spreads, and a rough script with story beats and jokes! My agent took it out into the world, and the publisher we ended up going forward with was Knopf, an imprint of Penguin Random House! I absolutely love the Knopf team and the beautiful books they put out! My editor, Katherine Harrison, really understood what I wanted to accomplish and has been so incredibly helpful in her guidance!
And from there... through rewrites, dialog adjustments, and lots and lots of drawings, it became a book! I'm happy to answer questions about the process! I'll leave you guys with a little preview from the interior of the book! (And of course you can pre-order it here, gotta learn the author skill of always including that link haha!)
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saintjosie · 10 months
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hey, do you have any advice for girls worried about transitioning when they aren't like 19? anything really cool HRT did for you?
It sucks that sometimes trans people feel like it's "too late" when they're only 25! And obviously, you're gorgeous not to mention really kind and smart, so I'd love to hear your perspective :)
it is never too late to transition.
i’m 32 now and transitioned when i was 29 in the middle of lockdown in 2020. it’s been over three years now and i’m the happiest i’ve ever been.
and the thing is, i wasn’t ready to transition until i was 29. i knew i was trans ever since i was a young kid even if i didn’t have the words to describe it until i was 21. but i knew and i just wasn’t ready.
and in the time that it took me to be ready, i learned a lot of really important things that make me the woman i am today.
i went to therapy and learned how not to be ashamed of my gender identity and who i am. and that in turn helped me be as outspoken as i am about how important it is to have radical self love in a world that tells us that we aren’t worth loving. and that’s something that i really needed and something that i share because i know so many people like me need to hear.
i think a lot of people who haven’t transitioned yet are focused on what happens in early transition. things like your body changing and learning how to present the way you want. and yeah, thinking about and worrying about those things is such an important part of early transition.
but the whole reason that it’s important is because it’s during those moments, when you face your doubts, that growth happens. you learn how to be more comfortable in your skin as you affirm your gender. and the more you affirm that part of yourself, you realize that even though things aren’t perfect, that maybe you don’t look exactly how you wanted to, you still feel good about yourself.
and that is why we transition.
it’s almost impossible to conceive actually being happy when you’re so worried about the process of getting there. but take it from people like me, who’ve been through that process later in life (and people who have transitioned even later) the wait is absolutely worth it 🙂
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sweetlittlegingy · 1 year
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Sweet Nothings
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☑︎ Next Chapter | Sweet Nothings Masterlist
☑︎ Pairing: Jake Seresin x Y/n Seresin (Mitchell)
☑︎ Word Count: 5.3 k
☑︎ Warnings: Infertility, IVF, Adoption, Dad!Jake, Teacher/Mom!Reader, Kindergarteners, Y/n mom is a bitch
☑︎ A/n: I'm so excited to share this one with you guys, and I hope you love it just as much as I do.
☑︎ Library (Follow for updates! I no longer have a taglist.)
You can’t seem to stop the shake in your leg while you sit on the bed, and as your hands run across the comforter you pick off a stray piece of lent. Your eyes dart back to the bathroom door, and the pregnancy test that sits on the counter waiting. The little pink and white stick is a hard contrast against the marble countertop, and you can’t help but glare at it.
It had been 4 weeks since your last treatment, and while the doctors said you would get a positive or negative test by the second week, you couldn’t help but wait. As if the extra two weeks would make the embryo take and you would finally be pregnant.
You and Jake had been trying to have a baby for, four years. Just after your one-year anniversary, you both decided that you were ready and that having a little one running around was the next step. You had been 26 and Jake was 28, it felt like the perfect time. Jake was doing amazing in his career and has been permanently stationed at Top Gun. While you had just been hired on as the kindergarten teacher at Bay Park Elementary. Everything was falling into place, just like you had both planned.
Though after the first year and a half with no success naturally, your OBGYN suggested IVF. She had told you that due to your irregular ovulation pattern you would have trouble the natural way and that IVF would fix everything. That was two and a half years ago, and you were now on your third treatment. Each of the past two ended in failure, and with the third result waiting in the bathroom, you didn’t know if you really wanted to check.
Jake had gotten up this morning for an early run, while you enjoyed the fact that it was Saturday, and you could sleep in for a little bit. Though the need to pee came only moments after Jake was out of the house and now you couldn’t go back to sleep. In the five-minute time span, you were supposed to wait, you had made the bed, eaten breakfast, and started a load of laundry. The recommended five minutes quickly turned into twenty and now you were silently sitting and staring from afar.
You knew that Jake would be home soon, his run usually took thirty to forty- five minutes depending on which route he took, and you didn’t need him walking in on you. You hadn’t told him that you were going to take a pregnancy test, and he never pushed you to. Jake had been wonderful through the whole ordeal, helping with the medication injects that “boosted” your ovulation and he had never missed an appointment. And yes, while your father might have been in charge of the Dagger Squad, he didn’t give Jake any special treatment… Well, not a lot and Jake always made sure to figure out his days. Plus, it helped that the IVF hospital was on base, at the San Diego Naval Medical Center. Yet another plus of being married into the military, your insurance offers reduced fees for IVF. It was still expensive, but cheap enough that you had been able to save for each treatment.
Though the grim outlook was the fact that usually after your third treatment, doctors suggested looking into other options. That was another reason you were avoiding the test, you didn’t think you could mentally or physically go through another round of IVF, even with added ideas.
The last four years had been a continuous loop of your body failing you and Jake. He never said it, God he would never. Jake treated you amazingly, but the small nagging voice in the back of your head played the words on repeat. You were a failure as a woman.
You glance at your watch once more, 7:32 am, Jake would be back anytime. It was now or never. You reluctantly push yourself from the comfort of your mattress and quite literally drag your feet to the bathroom. The tile floor has a shiver running up your spine and you silently curse the cooling weather.
It’s sitting upside down on the counter and you just stare at it for a moment. Hands twisting in anxiety as you slowly spin your wedding ring around your finger. The white stick sits there taunting you, begging you to look.
“Fuck it.”
Your hand snatches the test and flips it over before you can rethink the decision. Your fingers shake as you lift it, eyes zeroing in on the clear window where two pink little lines are supposed to be. A harsh breath leaves your chest, and you bite on your bottom lip to stop it from quivering. Your hands are working on autopilot, grabbing the test and wrapping it in toilet roll before tossing it in the small garbage can. You couldn’t look at the single line anymore. You had seen the exact same test results more times than you could count in the last four years and didn’t need to stare at it to know the answer.
Once again, your body had failed you.
Your hands gently brush across the side of your legs, before reaching forward to wash your hands. You dry them quickly, before glancing in the mirror and the small tear resting on your cheek has you releasing a harsh laugh. Your eyes fall shut as you suck your teeth in annoyance, before wiping the tear away and taking another deep calming breath. If it could work for your 5-year-olds, it could work for you.
“It’s fine.”
Your grasp the counter and roll back on your heels, then lean forward releasing another harsh breath. It wasn’t like your heart felt like it was breaking, nope defiantly not that feeling. Your hands harshly smack against the granite counter, and the palm of your hand stung. Though the pain is welcomed, anything that would distract from the ever-growing crack in your heart.
You hear the front door open and shut before Jake is calling out to you. You can hear his shoes padding along the hardwood floors, and you hate when another tear falls from you. You didn’t want to do this to Jake again. He never signed up for this, he wasn’t the broken one.
“Baby?”
“Yeah?”
Your voice cracks and you grit your teeth in frustration. You can feel Jake’s gaze through the mirror, though you really don’t feel like looking. Not when you feel like an utter failure. Your nose sniffles slightly and your hands against the counter tighten, turning your knuckles white.
Your eyes raise to look at Jake through the mirror, though before you can look at him you catch sight of your face. Tear stricken and the harsh gasp you were working so hard to hold in falls. Your chin immediately falls back into your chest as a sob breaks from your lips, and before you know it Jake’s grasping onto you. He’s dripping in sweat, but you could care less, and you fall into his chest as he rocks you. One hand traces up and down your spine, while the other weaves in your hair to hold you as you sob. Every breath is followed by a harsh sob, and you can’t stop the words as they release.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry”
“No, baby. No.”
Jake’s hold on you tightens, as he lays kiss after kiss across the top of your head. You pull away slowly and the hand in your hair comes to rest against your cheek. His thumb rubs small circles and a shuttered breath has you fighting against the way your lips beg to tremble.
“It was negative.”
You watch as a forced smile tugs at his lips and the small tear that traces down his cheek, has you reaching a hand up to brush it away. Your thumb moves over the stubble on his cheek and you give him a small smile, that surely looks like a grimace.
“I love you.”
His words break your heart because it was one thing that you always knew, no matter what Jake would always love you. Even when you feel like he shouldn’t. You gently push up on your toes and place a soft kiss on his lips. It’s short and sweet, but just what you both needed. You settle back on your feet, while Jake cradles your face in both hands and places a kiss on your brow.
“I love you,” Another small unsteady breath falls, “and even though you say you don’t need it. I am s–” Jake’s hand stills your trembling lip as another onset of tears falls. “I am so sorry, that I can’t … I can’t give you a baby.”
The words all but leave your chest before you crumble to the floor as Jake grasps onto your shaking form. His arms wrap around you to pull you into his chest, as sweet nothings are whispered into your hair and you once again, wait for the tears to dry.
“Daniel, wait for your mom to cross the road.”
You were on pick-up duty this week and while the older kids were wonderful at waiting inside the school grounds for their parents, your 20 little ones always seemed to slip passed the gate. You wave back to Mrs. Johnson as she takes hold of Daniel's hand. A sigh leaves your body as you glance around and find the school yard nearly empty. 8 of your kids rode the bus and that was the 10th pick-up of the day, now you just had to wait for the twin's foster mother.
The cool wind of the November day cresses your body and causes you to shiver. You might have lived in San Diego, but that didn’t stop the recent set of lower-than-75-degree days you had been having. A sudden grip on your pant leg is followed by what you could only describe as a mini human heater and as you glance down your eyes meet a pair of icy blue ones belonging to one-half of the twins.
“Hi Gray, where’s sissy?” Your hand gently strokes through his sandy blonde hair, to push back the stray pieces that fall over his forehead.
“Laine went back inside. She was cold and I told her that she couldn’t go whifout you, but she not listen.”
A small shutter racks through his chest, and you have to hold your tongue when you see his evident lack of a jacket. Their foster parents weren’t exactly your favorite people, and you had learned firsthand that they were only keeping the twins for the cheque at the end of each month.
It was at the beginning of the school year, not even the second week in and you noticed immediately that the twins were only rotating through 3 sets of clothes. You had gone to visit Mrs. Adam’s, the school's Head Teacher, and she had explained the situation.
It was their 12th foster home in the last 5 years, and while you found them to be perfect little angels, sometimes crazy, but still angels others did not. You had tried to reach out to their foster parents, but after a phone call that ended in you crying, you didn’t bother with them anymore. You had tried to leave it alone; it wasn’t your place to pry, and you knew that the kids were physically safe.
That answer came from Madelaine, she was a talkative five-year-old that honestly reminded you of Jake, and most days she would chat with you about different things she had learned, mostly in concern to the ocean and its sea life. Though one day, out of nowhere she had come to sit with you and Grayson on the playground bench during recess and told you, “He likes you cause you are nice and warm. Plus, you don’t push us like Mr. Meanie's face did.” It had stunned you for a moment, while Laine wasn’t affected by the words, little Gray had gone ridged at your side and clasped onto your hand. You had questioned her and found out that it was one of the other 12 foster homes. You didn’t push for specifics, not wanting to upset either of them, though Laine had told you that they only got in trouble when Gray did something wrong.
“He doesn’t mean to. Sometimes his eyeballs just go funny.”
Your gaze moved between the two of them, a questioning look on your face, before asking Gray to explain. That was how you had figured out he needed glasses, lucky the school provided testing, and not even two days after the test, you had him in a little pair of wire-framed glasses. You had him pick them out the day he had the testing, and without a second thought, you bought them.
You buying them things had become a regular occurrence. While the kids didn’t know it was you giving them clothes, Mrs. Adams made sure that they had whatever you gave her. Though now looking at Grayson you curse yourself for not thinking of “winter” coats before and mentally add it to the list to pick up when you and Jake are next at the mall.
“Come on my darling, let’s go find Miss Madelaine.”
Gray unwinds from your tan pant leg, before grasping your hand and tugging you forward. You glance behind you, up and down the road to check if their car is anywhere in sight, and find an empty street. You and Grayson make your way back into the school, stopping to ask Ms. Reynolds to call their foster parents, before heading down to your classroom.
“Did you know when a plane goes like this,” The hand not holding yours reached up and turns over, with his palm facing up. “it’s called in– inverturd”
You glance down at the little boy as he slightly adjusts the glasses on his face while waiting for your reply.
“Inverted, Gray. With an ‘e’”
You found out recently that while at home the kids either watched tv or played on a shared tablet, from an anonymous individual this last month. The twins weren’t allowed to go outside, and the pair barely had any toys, which left them to learn all sorts of things.
You learned early on in the school year that the Gray loved planes and watched an array of war movies. While Laine loved the ocean and watched the discovery channel quite religiously. The fact that they were watching movies and shows not explicitly meant for children had your gut twisting, but they had told you that the house didn’t have children’s channels. So, the next best option was military films and shark week, Laine’s favorite. That had come directly from Laine after she explained that they were learning at least unlike other kids, she was the bona fide sassy one of the pair.
Your classroom comes into view, the fall-decorated door stands ajar and Madelaine sits at your desk eating a pack of gummies. She has both hers and Gray's backpacks sitting on the floor, while she hums along to the music coming from the Alexa on your desk.
“Good job bringing Ms. CeeCee, Gray.” You glance down at the small boy still grasping your hand, his eyes remain on his sister though a big smile spreads across his face. Laine wiggles another bag of gummies at Gray, and he drops your hand, quick to grab the snack from his sister.
“Miss Laine, what do you think you’re doing in here?” You try to appear stern though a smile breaks across your face as she gives you a toothless grin. Her middle bottom tooth had fallen out just last week, and it made her smile all the more cute.
“I was cold, and Janice wasn’t coming anyway. She never does.” The small grimace she gives you makes your heartache.
“I know, but I’m here and we can do some crafts while waiting. Ms. Reynolds in the office is trying to call her.”
You glance up at the clock and see that it's nearing 5 pm. You glance back to the twins and find Grayson meticulously gluing things to his paper in a pattern. While Madelaine has used every color of feather you have, on a crown that now rests on her head. You didn’t mind staying after with the kids, what was frustrating was the lack of care that their “parent” was displaying.
“I’m just going to go see if Ms. Reynolds has heard anything, you two be good while I’m gone.”
Gray only nods in reply as his tongue peeks out between his lips in concentration. Laine gives you a cheeky smile, followed by a ‘mkay.’ Your shoes click against the tile floors, and you wave to Mrs. Rogers, the 5th-grade teacher, that’s shutting off lights for the night.
The office isn’t far from your room, and you find a frustrated Mrs. Adams that’s sitting and talking with Ms. Reynolds. They glance at you at the sound of you knocking on the door frame, and you already know the answer.
Jake had gotten off a little early, the team had run drills all morning and then Jake was stuck doing paperwork. He was more than happy when he finished that last of the paperwork at 4:30 and decided to leave early.
He slips in the truck, though before he can head out there’s a knock against his window. Jake glances over, before rolling down the window for Mav. Jake had been surprised when he got called back for the Dagger Squad and even more surprised to find out that his father-in-law was in charge. You had been married for just over a year when Jake got called back to Top Gun and you both couldn’t have been happier to come back.
“Have you talked to Y/n yet?”
The older man sighs while leaning up against the truck, he grabs the ball cap from his head while running his hand through his hair. He was clearly stressed about something, and it had to have occurred in the last 4 hours because Maverick had been perfectly fine this morning.
“No, I was just about to call her about dinner. What’s up?” Jake questions slightly confused.
“She must be ignoring Lanell. The woman’s called me twice today, wanting to know about the last round of treatment.”
A harsh sigh leaves Jake at the mention of your mother. Lanell was an interesting woman, to say the least, and your relationship was almost nonexistent. She had a habit of putting you down, and during the last treatment, she had said some unforgivable things about your lacking ability.
“Y/n blocked her and she’s lucky that’s all that happened.”
Mav’s brow furors slightly in question and leans farther into Jake’s truck.
“Lanell told Y/n that unless she got pregnant, she was a failure as a woman.” Jake’s head slightly shakes, still astounded by what your mother had said. “I don’t hit women, but by God, I wanted to lay her out.”
Mav slowly blinks at Jake, before dropping his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. A harsh laugh falls from the man, followed by a deep breath before he’s looking back at a less-than-happy Jake.
“Every time she calls me, I regret having a child with her. Why couldn’t I have just been smart from the beginning and had Y/n with Penny.”
Another laugh falls from Jake, as he shakes his head in agreement. With a nod, Mav is pushing off Jake’s door and tells him that he will handle your mother.
The drive home isn’t long, and the chill of the day is crisp and exactly the type of weather Jake loved. Living in California didn’t exactly mean that there was a fall and having days like these made Jake miss the cool weather.
Pulling into your drive, Jake notices your missing car and reaches for his phone to call you. Even when Jake got off early, if it was after 4:30 you were usually home before him. There had been times in the past, but they were few and far between.
The buzzing causes the whole table to shake and has both of the kids looking up from their current art projects. Their eyes bounce from the phone and back to one another. Madelaine is reaching for it before Grayson can stop her, as a teasing smile followed by a giggle erupts from her.
“You shouldn’t touch Ms. CeeCee’s phone, that’s not nice.”
“It’s not nice to ignore phone call’s either.”
Gray falls silent at the comment, before glaring at his sister and going back to his beads. Laine does a small dance in her chair in victory, before pushing the green answer button.
“Hello.”
“Ummm, Hi”
“Who’s this.”
Grayson glances back at his sister and then to the door, in hopes that you’ll show up and take the phone from Laine. He didn’t want to get in trouble and would be completely fine with letting his sister take the fall for this.
“I’m Jake, where is Mrs. Seresin?”
“I’m Madelaine. Ms. CeeCee went to the office, but you can talk to me.”
A laugh echoes through the phone and a wide grin breaks across Laine’s face. Gray looks up when he hears the quiet laugh and finds his sissy with her tongue out at him. His own tongue pokes out at her before he gets up to move closer to the phone. Laine notices Gray’s sudden interest and brings the phone down to set it on the tabletop. The twins silently look at the phone’s call screen before Gray finds the speaker button and Jake’s voice echoes through the room.
“Mr. Jake, my bubba is here too. Gray, say hi.” She nudges at the boy’s shoulder, who only looks at her before shaking his head. “It’s not nice to ignore people Gray. How would you feel if Mr. Jake ignored us?”
A smile breaks across Jake’s face at the young girl, though makes sure he doesn’t laugh and waits for Grayson to speak.
“Hi.” His voice is small and it’s only a little peep from him, but Jake’s heart aches at the sound of the pair together.
Before Jake can say anything else, he hears a high-pitched squeal followed by your laughter and the shuffle of the phone.
“Darlin?”
His voice is still on loudspeaker, the echo gives it away and his question is followed by two separate voices saying ‘yes?’ One is clearly your voice, while the other is undeniably the cheeky little spitfire that had been holding a full conversation with him. A full laugh falls from Jake and he can’t help but smile at how adorable both kids were, even if Grayson didn’t talk much. Jake just knew the pair of them were adorable, trouble, but adorable.
“Not the little darlin’, Ms. CeeCee Darlin’.”
You can hear the giggling of the pair before you even reach the door of your classroom, though you hadn’t expected to hear Jake’s voice ringing through the classroom. You walk in trying to be as quiet as possible, not wanting to interrupt the twins. Their art projects sit abandoned, while Laine sits up on her knees in a chair, leaning over your phone with the biggest smile on her face. Gray stands at her side, leaning against the table but looking between the phone and Laine before a small ‘hi’ is mumbled from his lips.
They are completely consumed with the conversation with Jake, which gives you the perfect distraction, so you can sneak up on them. You slowly walk across the room, making sure to avoid anything that would make noise. As you get next to them you almost laugh at how consumed they are, though you're quick to reach out and tickle them both on their sides. Gray only jumps as a small squeak is released, while Laine jumps full-on and releases a scream. Both kids spin around, their own hands coming out to tickle at you now and making you laugh.
Jake’s laugh is followed by him calling for you, though you weren’t prepared for Madelaine to answer as well. Gray silently laughs at your hip, while Laine wears a shameless smile that only grows when you shake your head. Your hand tracks through her long dirty blonde hair, it was a few shades darker than Grayson’s, though their eyes were the exact same shade of blue. You take the phone from the table and gently tell the kids to begin putting their crafts away, while you talk with Mr. Jake.
“Hi, honey.”
“Hey, darlin’. You got the phone back from the twin terrors?”
His voice is teasing, and you can’t help the smile that crosses your lips as you watch them clean up. You listen to Jake and hum in answer to his question about dinner, though your main focus stays on the twins as they work in tandem perfectly together. You agree to pick up something on the way home, and that you shouldn’t be too late.
“Darlin’ did you hear me?”
The words pull your attention back to the phone call that you were still on.
“I’m sorry honey, I was just watching the twins clean up and get ready to go.” Your voice is soft and holds a longing that makes your and Jake’s hearts ache.
“They stayed late today, is everything okay?”
Jake knew bits about their story, though you tried hard not to bring your work home with you. The both of you already had so much going on that consumed your thoughts daily, that worrying about the twins more than you already did, would lead to disaster.
“Yeah, I will explain when I get home. I’m going to get them ready to go though, I love you.”  
“I love you, darlin’. Drive safe, I’ll see you soon.”
You take a deep breath as you hang up, clearing your mind of the silent longing that the wish the twins were yours. That they were going home with you to Jake, in a warm loving home that always put them first. Though the thought only creates room for heartbreak and so you push it to the back of your mind as you get ready to leave.
You watch as Janice gets the twins in the car, though she doesn’t bother with helping them buckle, and a deep anger blooms in your chest. Though it’s eased as you see both kids get the latches in place, and a smile crosses your face when they wave to you with small smiles.
Your smile stays in place until the car disappears down the street, then it falls, and you wrap your arms around yourself as you make your way to your car. The cool air plays no part in how your heart clenches and the small squeeze you give yourself before getting in the car to head home.
The drive home was fast, given that it was late enough that the rush had already passed. The stop at the Italian place was even quicker and luckily easy, given that Jake had called your order in and you just had to pick it up. Your hip pushes against the car door causing it to close, as you hold the takeout in one hand and your school bag in the other.
A small smile graces your lips as you see the front door open, and Jake already has his hand out to take part in your load. He is quick to grab the steaming Italian food, but you reach up and pull him into a sweet kiss before he can pull away. The food and school bag sit in your hands completely forgotten, as Jake places a kiss on the top of your head as you rest against his chest.
He gives your hip a tiny squeeze before he pulls away to lead you into the kitchen. You drop your bag in the hall and kick off your shoes before following Jake. He’s already got the table set and you place a kiss on his cheek in thanks, as he places the different containers from the Italian place out.
The slow tune of Bing Crosby floats through the kitchen and you smile as Jake slowly hums along to the track. You skirt around each other, and after five years of marriage, you know each other like the back of your hand and work flawlessly together. A laugh falls from your lips as Jake’s arms wrap around your waist and turn you in his arms to dance along to the old vinyl.
“How’s my best girl doing?”
The words are spoken against your hair, and you hum as he spins you out, before bringing you back in his arms.
“I’m good.” Your words ring out though there’s a hitch in your words that has Jake waiting for you to continue while he sways you. “I just don’t understand. They don’t care about them; how can you just forget about picking up your children.” A small sniffle comes from you that has Jake pulling you back, and as his hand settles on your cheek your lips twist in annoyance. “She didn’t even check to make sure they were buckled.”
Tears gather in your eyes as Jake’s lips brush against your brow, and you can’t stop them as they start falling. His hand tracks across your face and sweeps the hair from your eyes to tuck it gently behind your ear. He watches you in silence, with a frown marring his face at the words.
Jake knew how much having a child meant to you, it meant just as much to him, but seeing you so heartbroken over it was almost worse than the actual fact. You had mentioned the twins to Jake before, though you never went fully in-depth. Even without you telling him every small detail concerning their life, Jake knew how much they meant to you.
Hell, Jake knew that you had started buying them clothes, after finding a bag marked ‘twins’ in your car. After that, he may or may not, have gone out and got them a few things. Including the tablet that they so dearly loved. Jake had given the pile of items to Mrs. Adams one day and asked her not to tell you. The elderly woman only smiled at him and gave him a wink, before taking the items. Jake didn’t even know the children and yet he felt a connection with them. Having the call today only confirmed that they were absolutely perfect, hell raisers, but perfect.
You shuffle in Jake's hold and brush the stray tears from your face, while you lean back against the counter. You pull Jake with you and wrap your arms around his waist easily, silently toying with the band of his sweatpants.
“How is it fair that they get to have children and they don’t even care. Meanwhile, we try and try, and it never happens.” Another broken sob, “I would love them so much. I do love them so much, but they aren’t ours and they’re never going to be ours.”
The final words are no more than a whisper from your lips, but Jake hears them perfectly. The food on the table is easily forgotten as Jake pulls your whimpering form into his hold, in the only way that he knows how to comfort you. It wasn’t a problem that Jake could just fix and the harsh truth, that only time would tell, was not something he would ever get used to.
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roosterforme · 8 months
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The Curveball Part 11 | Bob Floyd x OC
Summary: While Bob is away, Molly struggles with the silence around her. And Bob can't seem to sleep without her soft, sweet body curled up next to his. But when he mistakes someone else's interest in him for kindness, Bob could risk losing everything he loves.
Warnings: Angst, fluff, swears, pregnancy, smut, 18+
Length: 6500 words
Pairing: Robert "Bob" Floyd x Female OC (this story accompanies Batting Practice!)
Check my masterlist for more! The Curveball masterlist
Thank you to @mak-32 and @teacupsandtopgun for the beautiful banners!
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Molly was ridiculous. Truly pitiful. She knew it. She could admit it. She was an adult who had lived on her own for many years, but she had become so attached to Bob, she could barely handle the silence of being alone now. 
The silence when Bob was here? Well that silence was delightful. It meant he was reading a book or contemplating something. It meant she had asked him a question and he was still gathering his thoughts. But the silence without Bob was actually unbearable. 
She found herself making excuses to visit her sister. Or even just call her. One night she called Bradley and pretended she was very interested in the Phillies score so she had someone to talk to about something. She was sure Bradley knew the real reason for her phone call, but bless his heart for talking to her for thirty minutes anyway. 
The calls from Bob were so sporadic and sudden, she kept her phone on her at work. One time she had to sneak away to the supply closet to talk to him, but it had been worth it as she stood there surrounded by antiseptic wipes and sterile syringes. 
"Mo," he sighed. "I can't stand this, Honey. I can't get any sleep without you next to me."
That call had been brief, but she made sure he knew she missed him and his particular brand of silence. And his cock.
Because that was the other thing. The pregnancy hormones were outrageous. The only two things she seemed to want to do were cry and orgasm. She found herself crying all the time. Like even in the middle of Costco when she saw a brand of cheese called Floyd Farms. But it was really hard to cum without Bob. She and her toys weren't as patient and sexy as he was. 
On the Monday of her anatomy ultrasound appointment, Molly cried in the car on her way to the medical complex. And she was still crying when her sister arrived to join her for the appointment. "I'm sorry," Molly said, wiping her eyes. "I shouldn't have asked you to leave work early. I could have done this by myself."
But her sister wrapped her up in a tight hug. "Do you think I'm not excited to find out if I'm getting a niece or a nephew? Please, I'd choose this over work any day of the week!"
Molly nodded as her sister led her inside. She was used to this kind of medical setting, but it was always weird being the patient and not the nurse. So she held her arm out to have blood drawn even though she could have done a better job herself, and she sat quietly while the nurse explained things she already knew. And her sister was with her the whole time, holding her hand. 
It's not like she wasn't grateful, because she was. But she whispered, "I miss Bob," when the ultrasound technician was washing her hands. Molly rubbed her hands along her round belly and looked at her sister. "I love you so much, but I wish Bob was here."
"I know," she replied with a small smile. "I wish I could swap places with him for the day. How hard could it be to navigate a Super Hornet and interpret radar imagining while trying not to barf?"
Molly laughed, already feeling better as they got started. And when it was time to find out the sex of the baby, Molly's sister made the tech pause for a minute until she was sure she was getting a video on her phone. 
"Okay, I'm ready," she said, giving a thumbs up, and then Molly smiled for the phone camera.
"Miss you, Bob. Or should I say, Daddy. Ready to find out if you're going to have a son or a daughter?"
Then she nodded to the tech who brought the images up on the monitor, and as soon as she said, "It's a boy," Molly felt like everything made perfect sense. She just lounged there on the table while her sister freaked out and nearly dropped her phone. But all Molly could picture was a tiny version of Bob with glasses, immaculate manners, and tidy hair. Yes, it made sense. 
"Calm down, or I'll name him Everett!" she told her sister as a big smile broke out on her face. It felt nice for her to be the calm one right now as her sister cried into the camera, gushing about having a nephew. 
But now it was almost midnight, and Molly was waiting up, expecting a call from Bob. She had promised him she'd email him as soon as she found out what they were having, but she held off, knowing this call was supposed to be happening. Just as she was dozing off on the couch with an opened bag of gummy bears on her chest, her phone started ringing. 
It was a FaceTime call. "Bob?!" she practically screamed when she answered it. And then his handsome face was there, bathed in sunlight. 
"Honey! Did you have your appointment today?" His eyes were eager, examining Molly's face as she smiled at him. 
"Yes, I did, Cowboy Bob."
His eyes went slightly wider, and Molly could read the anticipation there. "Well?" he asked, pressing his lips together. 
She didn't want to make him wait any longer. "We're having a boy."
His eyes welled with tears as he bumped his glasses up onto his forehead and wiped at his eyes. "A boy?" he asked softly. "Molly, really? A boy?"
"Were you hoping for a girl?" she asked with a grin. There was no way Bob would survive having a daughter like Molly, if that's what would have ended up happening. 
"Not really," he replied, openly crying. "It didn't really matter. But now that I know it's a boy, I just-" He shook his head for a few seconds. "I just can't wait, Mo."
She popped a gummy bear into her mouth as her baby boy kicked her in the spleen. "How's your deployment, Daddy? I must say, it's a real treat getting to see your sexy face right now."
Bob smiled and adjusted his glasses, looking around at wherever he was standing. "It's boring. And I can't sleep at all. I've been up at night just thinking about you and our son. I miss sleeping with you. Wrapping my arms around you. I miss our bedroom. I know it's silly."
"It's not!" she insisted, sitting up a little straighter. "I miss the way you smell and your voice and the taste of your cum."
"Mo," he groaned in a warning tone. 
"What?" she whined. "I do! And I miss the way you'd put your hands on my bump."
He looked at her reverently. "I love you. Both of you. But I need to go get ready to get up in the air, okay?"
Well now she felt like she was going to cry for sure. "You'll call me again soon?"
"The first moment I'm allowed to, I'll call you again, Mo."
-----------------------
Bob was a week into his deployment when he gave up and left his bunk in the middle of the night. His roommate didn't snore, so sleeping shouldn't have been an issue, but without Molly's warmth next to him, it just wasn't happening. The lounge had decent coffee, and it was quiet. There was a shelf lined with books. He'd go there and see if it made him sleepy. 
When he walked in wearing his gray sweatpants and an old gym shirt, he felt eyes on him right away. He turned to his left to see a woman around his age look up from her book to smile at him. "Hi," she whispered, and he knew she must have been talking to him. There was nobody else around. 
"Hi." Bob returned her smile and went to investigate the bookshelf. Didn't they know he wasn't going to want to read about US naval history right now? He ran his fingers along all the spines until he found a well worn mystery novel. That might hit the spot. 
So he settled down on the chair across from the woman, and when he opened the book, she said, "I read that one last week."
"Oh," he replied, glancing at the cover again before meeting her eyes. "Any good?"
She just shrugged and said, "Passable. But almost everything else in here is the history of the navy part seven thousand, or something equivalent." 
Bob laughed and leaned across the table. "I'm Bob. Bob Floyd," he said, extending his hand. 
"Annamarie Clarke. It's nice to meet you, Bob."
He nodded and had every intention of just opening the book on his lap, but when Annamarie asked him what he was doing awake at two in the morning ship time, he ended up setting the book aside. She was nice and soft spoken and kind of mousy. She was the type of woman he would have asked out before he met Molly. But right now she was just someone who was willing to talk to him, and maybe that was exactly what he needed. 
"This is my first deployment in about a year," he told her after a few minutes of talking. "And I wasn't expecting it. Which is silly, I know. But... I have a lot going on at home."
"Sounds heavy," she replied with a soft smile. "Wanna talk about it?"
Bob leaned back in his chair and pictured Molly and her bump and her silver barbells and her smile. He wanted to tell Annamarie everything, because he knew it would feel good to talk about Molly and the baby. But it also felt too sacred in a way, so he just simply said, "Maybe another time." And then he cleared his throat and asked her why she was awake so late.
Her voice was oddly soothing to him as she told him about her home in Virginia. They compared the Pacific Fleet to the Atlantic Fleet. She made Bob laugh so many times, he lost count. He finally felt himself yawning, and he stood the same time she did. 
In another time, he would have thought she was sweet. He would have been a stuttering, blushing mess in her presence. She would have either laughed at him or thought he was adorable. He might have asked her to hang out again. But he had Molly now, and there was no going back from that. He didn't blush and stutter like he used to, especially not around another woman. The only one who could bring that out in him was his girlfriend when she was whispering in his ear about something she wanted to do to him. She was the only sweet thing he wanted in his life.
So he told Annamarie goodnight as they paused in the doorway together, and he intended for that to be it.
But she squeezed his hand gently and said, "Maybe I'll see you again, Bob." And then he turned one way down the hallway, and she turned the other.
------------------------
Molly was trying to straighten up the condo on her day off, but the smell of the bleach cleaner in the bathroom was making her gag. She hadn't been eating well, and this morning she hadn't eaten at all. Making food after her shift at the hospital was way too much work. If she didn't have time to stop at her sister and Bradley's place, then she just munched on whatever snacks she could find.
When her phone vibrated in the pocket of her sweatpants, she was sitting on the floor outside the bathroom trying to force herself to go back in there. "Shit," she gasped when she saw that Bob's mom was calling her. 
She cleared her throat and answered with a simple, "Hi!" Then she felt like an idiot until she heard the friendly voice on the other end of the call.
"Molly! Are you home, sweetheart?"
"Yes!" she answered, still too chipper for her liking. She cleared her throat again. "Just trying to clean the bathroom and make lunch."
"Well don't. Rachel and I are about to head to the city to see you. I'm sure you must be exhausted after work every day, and I made dozens of meals that can go in the freezer so you don't have to make lunch, okay?"
"Okay," Molly said before pressing her lips together to keep from crying. She was being mommed. She missed being mommed. She loved it when her sister mommed her, but this was just as good. 
"And don't open any cleaning supplies. I'll do that when I get there."
Now a tear really did leak down her cheek. "Too late. It's making me nauseous."
"We're in the car now. Crack open a window in a different room, and we'll see you soon."
Three hours later, Molly was eating a homemade meal while Rachel talked a mile a minute. The condo was spotlessly clean, and Bob's mom was taking the trash out to the dumpster. 
"I want to say thank you again, but I'm afraid I'll start crying," Molly whispered when Rachel took her empty plate to the dishwasher. 
"Nah, you already thanked us a dozen times. My mom wants to help. I mean, so do I. It's hard when Bob is deployed, but it must be miserable for you. Being pregnant on top of everything."
Molly nodded and twisted her fingers together, trying to keep her voice calm. "I miss him so much, it physically hurts. Like sometimes it's hard to breathe. And it's too quiet here without him."
Rachel smiled sympathetically. "Bob doesn't make much noise though."
Molly licked her lips and closed her eyes. "He's quiet. So when he decides to talk about something, it's always worth listening to. And he's been the sweetest man in the world, especially since I told him I was pregnant."
Rachel kind of shrugged. "Listen, I know this isn't the 1800s, but are you and Bob going to get married?"
Molly's eyes went wide. "I-" She slammed her mouth shut, unsure about what she wanted to say here. 
But Rachel continued on, undeterred. "It's just that, Bob seems like the type who'd want that. And I'm not trying to call him a prude or anything, but he's pretty conservative when it comes to his personal life. I just thought he would have taken you to the store to get a ring the same day." She seemed to rethink what she had just said. "I'm sorry, I'm overstepping. I'm just surprised you're not married to my baby brother right now."
Molly kept thinking about it. There were times when Bob promised her forever where she really thought about marrying him. She already knew he'd be so good at being a husband, but marriage seemed like something else Molly would probably just fail at over time. But that wildflower meadow filled her mind again. Bob holding their son surrounded by daisies, poppies and violets. Bob sneezing but insisting he was fine. Okay, yes. She wanted it. 
But then Bob's mom walked back in, and Molly started to wonder why Bob hadn't asked her to pick out a ring by now. Maybe his family was wrong, and he wasn't completely sold on her. Sure, she'd told him she didn't want to get married yet, but now she was surprised he hadn't insisted that's what he wanted to do. And he hadn't brought it up again. 
--------------------------
"So where do you live, Bob? I know you're stationed out of Top Gun. Do you live in Coronado?" Annamarie asked, playing with the loose ends of her hair. It was the second night Bob had ventured to the lounge, and she was there again. He tried to fall asleep for the past few nights without leaving his bed, and he'd been mostly successful, but he'd finished his book and came to pick a new one. He was surprised to see her when he walked in, and he wondered if she had been here every night. 
"How well do you know San Diego?" he asked, thinking about his condo. Thinking about all of Molly's stuff everywhere in their condo. "I live in Hillcrest."
"I know it well enough," she replied with a soft smile, leaning a little closer to him. "And Top Gun is just impressive. You must have some amazing credentials under your belt."
He shrugged. "I'm just a weapons systems officer," he muttered. "I'm actually a little out of my wheelhouse, because the pilot I'm used to flying with isn't here. It's been a bit of an adjustment. And I'm missing my place back in Hillcrest. A lot. I'm still having such a hard time sleeping here."
She trailed her fingers down along her neck and asked, "What's your place like?"
"Oh, I have a condo. I bought it two years ago. It felt huge at first, but my girlfriend moved in a few months ago. Now I might have to sell it."
Her expression fell and her shoulders sagged. "You have a girlfriend?" she asked, her tone flat as she pouted. But her pout didn't light him up inside the way Molly's did. It didn't really phase him at all.
"Yeah. Molly. She's something else," he said with a laugh. "We're going to have a son. He's due in March."
"Oh," she said, nodding slightly. "That's great, congratulations."
"I think the reason I can't sleep is because I miss her so much," Bob said quietly, looking at his hands. "She's a spitfire. Honestly, she's a bit of a handful. But I'm just so used to her now. Even though she's wild." Bob closed his mouth. He'd lost himself there thinking about her. 
Annamarie was quiet for a few seconds before she asked, "You trust her?"
"Yes," Bob said right away as he met her eyes. He did. He trusted Molly. Even though she said she didn't want to get married to him. Even though sometimes she shied away from the topic of forever. 
"Even though she's wild?" she asked, echoing his words with an edge of sarcasm.
He thought about how Molly's face lit up when she saw him. And the way she'd call his name through a crowd of people, seemingly delighted to be with him. Bob was sure she was only wild for him now. 
Annamarie must have mistaken his silence for hesitation. "Do you think you'll ask her to marry you?" she asked, leaning closer across the small table.
Bob would have asked already, but Molly had shut that idea down cold. "I don't know that she'd say yes."
She touched his hand again. "Then maybe she's not the one for you."
-----------------------------
Molly thought she was doing alright. She was having a pretty good day. Nothing to be concerned about over here. Nope. She wasn't missing Bob to the point of devastation. Not at all. Just a completely normal day where she went to work and came home only to get changed and hear a knock on the door while she was on the verge of tears.
"Coming!" she called out, stretching her back where she was starting to feel really sore. If she could just stop thinking about Bob all the time, then maybe the ache would go away. 
As she reached for the knob, she hoped it was Phoenix. She'd been stopping over randomly, but she usually texted first. But when she saw a kid who couldn't have been older than eighteen standing there holding a bouquet of gas station flowers, she erupted into tears. 
"Uh, are you Molly?" he asked, holding the flowers out and looking a little concerned.
"Yes," she said, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands.
"Then these are for you. From some guy named Bob."
She held them in her hands like they were the most delicate and beautiful things in the world. "How did he do this?" she marvelled, taking in the sight of each bloom through her tears. 
The kid shrugged. "He gave me a hundred bucks a few weeks ago to make sure I brought them here today." And then he walked away, leaving Molly to kick the door closed before reading the card that was tucked between two stems.
Molly, 
It's been exactly six months since the first time I told you I love you. And I have loved you every day since then. I can't be there in person, but I wanted to make sure you knew I was thinking about you. I'll get you more gas station flowers as soon as I get home. I love you so much.
Bob
She went to the bedroom and threw some random things in a tote bag. Then she made sure everything was turned off before she locked the door behind her. Molly's hands were shaking as she drove through familiar neighborhoods until she pulled up in front of her sister's house. It was late now, and she was sure Ev would be in bed. So she texted and called her sister's phone. When she got no response, and she knew she couldn't stand the isolating silence for one more minute, she got out of the car and let herself in the front door. 
Her hands were shaking, and she realized she had been holding the flowers continuously since that kid gave them to her. She looked around the dimly lit living room, and a second later, everything was illuminated. Bradley was standing at the top of the steps in his boxer shorts, holding a baseball bat like he was a power hitter. 
"I'm sorry. It's just me," she said pitifully. He looked even more relieved and even more annoyed as he lowered the bat. Molly supposed it was a nice sentiment about her brother-in-law that he was ready to take someone's head off before he'd let anything happen to his family. 
He grunted and turned back to the bedroom, and Molly could hear him say, "Your sister's here." A minute later, Molly was enveloped in a mom hug.
"I can't," Molly whispered. "I can't stay there alone another night. I hate being away from Bob. You know what he did? He got the guy from the gas station to deliver the flowers to me today, because it's the six month anniversary of the first time he said he loved me."
"Oh, Molly," her sister whispered, kissing her forehead. 
"He set this shit up before he left!" she wailed. "I don't even know what he's doing today, because I haven't talked to him in a week. A week! And now I interrupted you having sex, and I can tell Bradley's mad at me."
"He's not mad at you, Molly. He just thought you were a burglar or something."
"I'm sorry," she moaned, holding the flowers tight as her sister rested a hand on her belly.
"Stop apologizing. You can stay with us until Bob gets back." 
Molly tried to shake her head, but she was led upstairs. She wasn't exactly sure what her sister and Bradley said to each other, but a moment later, Bradley kissed her on the forehead before he went down the hallway alone.
"Come on," her sister coaxed, and Molly climbed into bed with her. "You've been alone for too long. It's not good for you."
Molly dozed off to the sound of her sister's voice and soft breathing, clutching one gas station flower as she fell into the best sleep she'd had since Bob left. 
---------------------------------
Bob was anxious to FaceTime with Molly. It had been two weeks since he heard her voice. Now it was a few days after Halloween, and he managed to log into his email for long enough that he saw a photo of her with her sister, Bradley, and Everett, standing in front of an enormous inflatable pumpkin. They looked like they were dressed as a ragtag baseball team. He scrolled down in his email to find more photos of Molly. 
It appeared that she was no longer staying at the condo, which had him really concerned. But then he saw a photo of how big her baby bump had gotten. And then there was a photo of her and Everett wearing 3-D glasses and making faces. And then there was a photo of Molly completely naked and pleasuring herself. 
Bob nearly dropped his phone on the metal grating of the midship deck. She was going to be the death of him. If he didn't die from lack of sleep, he would die falling overboard after his phone. Either way, it would be mostly her fault, because he couldn't stop thinking about her. His body was aching for her hands to touch him. When the wind blew, it felt like her fingers in his hair, and for a second his heart leapt. 
He was lovesick. That had to be it. He never thought this was a real ailment before, but even his heart seemed to be beating to the rhythm of her name. He could picture her when he closed his eyes. He simply missed her to the point of sickness.
And the baby. Bob missed cradling her belly in his hands until he felt a kick. He missed the way Molly would walk around talking to the unborn child about her day at work, as if it was an adult. He missed the ultrasound photos that he's put in chronological order on the refrigerator. He thought up baby names all day long. He had two countdowns going: one to the day he could see Molly again, and one to the due date in March. 
He jumped when he felt a hand on his back. "There you are." He turned to see Annamarie looking him up and down. "You look nice in your flight suit." 
Bob swallowed hard. He nearly forgot he was about to fly a mission. He wondered briefly if Annamarie had come out here to find him. "Thanks," he murmured, suddenly sick to his stomach over the thought of how many times Annamarie had touched him. It was innocuous. She knew about Molly and the baby. And Bob was just Bob. Nothing special. She'd provided him some comfort late at night when he was too lonely to go to sleep. That was all. 
But, sometimes she looked at him like she wanted to keep touching him. And he should have said something by now, but it would have been embarrassing. He was misreading the cues. He was just overly sensitive without Molly here to accept all of his love and feelings. 
He loaded into the Super Hornet and got to work. This is why he was here. This is what he was good at. This mission should exhaust his brain enough for him to fall asleep.
But when he landed back on deck as the sun was setting, he knew he didn't stand a chance. His mind drifted, wondering where his girlfriend was. Wondering if the baby was okay. He was only fooling himself when he thought he'd be able to sleep. So he finished reading another book from the lounge and decided to return it. There were only a handful of nights left now. He'd make this his last visit to the lounge.
When he walked in, it was just Annamarie as usual. He was going to put the book away and tell her goodnight. He was going to tell her he didn't want her to touch him, and he was going to say goodnight. But then she met him halfway, and her hands were warm on his chest through his undershirt. And her lips met his, somehow soothing him and making everything worse at the same time. 
Bob jumped back instantly. "No," he gasped. "No. I was supposed to tell you not to touch me. Why did you do that?"
She took a step closer to him as he wiped at his lips with his fingertips. "I think there's definitely something here," she whispered, gesturing between their bodies. "Right?"
"No," he gasped again, ready to cry now. He looked down at the gray sweatpants Molly got for him and his undershirt which was a little stretched out from her wearing it over the bump last month. "You're going to ruin everything."
Now Annamarie rolled her eyes. "Why did you keep coming here to see me if you didn't want to take this back to one of our bunks?"
Bob was going to throw up. This sort of thing had never happened to him, and he wasn't even remotely prepared for it. "That's the farthest thing from my mind, Annamarie. You must know by now that I'm absolutely dying to get back home to my Molly and the baby. I'm lonely for them."
"It was worth a try," she whispered bitterly. "You're sweet. You're too good for her."
As she walked out of the lounge, Bob cradled his face in his hands. What was he going to do? If Molly wouldn't hear him out and accept his apology, what the hell was he supposed to do?
---------------------------
Molly got into, well, a lot of bad habits while she stayed with her sister and Bradley. She ate all the Halloween candy. She accidentally got Everett asking for a pet. She didn't clean up after she did arts and crafts with her nephew. But perhaps the worst habit was the fact that she would sneak across the hallway and slide into Ev's bed for about a half hour each night after Bradley and her sister went to their room. 
"Hi, Aunt Molly," Ev whispered, lifting up the covers so she could climb in next to him. "Uncle Bob comes back tomorrow. Are you excited?"
She kissed his cheek and squeezed him as tight as she could with her belly in the way. "Ev, I'm so excited! I can't wait! I can't wait!" She was trying to be quiet, but she was overjoyed. The only contact she had with him in the last ten days was an eight paragraph email gushing about how much he loved her and wanted to be with her forever. She received it last night and read it so many times, it felt like she was floating on a cloud. 
"I missed Uncle Bob, too," Everett said. "I'm happy he'll be back in time to come to my adoption day."
God, this kid was so excited to be officially related to Bradley, it was almost comical. "At least someone thinks he's cool," she muttered. But she didn't mean it. Bradley had welcomed her here as much as her sister had. In his own way. Even his teasing had nothing behind it anymore. She had worn him down. He not only loved her now, he also liked her.
"Ev? Do you think I'll be a good mom?" she asked softly, holding her breath for his answer. Kids were so honest, there was a chance this might hurt.
"You already are," he said through a yawn.
She rubbed her belly and asked, "What do you mean?"
Ev snuggled in a little more against her. "You always take care of me and love me. You like, do the same stuff my mom does, but actually in a funner way. And you were there before my dad got here. You already do all the mom stuff."
Molly cried herself to sleep in a twin bed with her nephew, but her heart was full. And the next morning, she was up and ready to go before anyone else. 
"What the hell is happening?" Bradley asked when he walked into the kitchen to see Molly making breakfast. "Is this the Twilight Zone?"
She rolled her eyes. "If it was the Twilight Zone, I wouldn't tell you it was. And besides, everything would be in black and white."
"You're so annoying," he said, patting her on the head as he went to pour some coffee. "You're finally leaving today, right? Back to being Bob's problem instead of mine?"
"Har, har, har," she said, flipping some pancakes that looked slightly inedible. "You should be thanking me right now. How many times did I take Everett out so you could fuck my sister?" she asked, glaring at him. "Hmm?"
"Yeah," he conceded with a grin. "That was pretty nice of you."
"I'll send you my Amazon wish list. My birthday is in a few weeks."
He shook his head and walked away, but not even the turd-in-law could dampen her mood. Her body was thrumming, just knowing she'd have Bob's cock in her before the end of the day. And the baby was kicking like he knew he'd get to hear his dad again soon.
But being back on the dock again later that morning made her more anxious than she anticipated. She could remember the sick feeling inside when she said goodbye to Bob. She needed to touch him right now. He would take all of the icky feelings away. And then he'd make her feel so good. 
She was wearing a little dress that showed off her bump. Her makeup looked perfect. She'd switched the silver barbells for the ones with the glasses charms. The plan was to take Bob home, suck his dick as many times as he wanted, fuck him in their bed, and then take him to her sister's for dinner. The perfect day. She was about to have the perfect day. 
But then she saw him. And oh, he looked terrible. Suddenly that eight paragraph email was pressing down on her like a weight. Like a warning. Like an ending instead of a beginning. 
"Bob?" she called out, shuffling forward to meet him. He didn't look happy. Why wasn't he happy? There was a woman glaring at Molly from the other side of the ramp like she wanted to physically hurt her. And Bob looked upset. "Bob?"
"Molly," he sighed, his face looking devastated. But she needed him, so she cautiously wrapped her arms around his neck. "Mo, Honey." His face was buried against her neck, and finally she felt whole again.
"We missed you so much," she whispered, kissing his jaw and raking her fingers through his hair. "Bobby, I love you."
He was crying. 
"What's wrong?" she asked, pulling away from him and holding his face in her hands. His pretty greenish-blue eyes met hers, and she waited for him to speak. Because this was the silence she could deal with. She could probably deal with anything now that he was here. 
"Molly, I love you more than anything," he said, letting his big hand rest softly on her bump. "I don't want anything or anyone besides the three of us." His voice was shaking as he cried. 
"You're scaring me, Bob. What is going on?" she demanded, brushing his hair back from his forehead. 
"A woman kissed me a few days ago."
Molly gasped as her stomach lurched. "Who? Why?"
"Another officer," he said miserably, and Molly knew she was going to be sick. "I couldn't sleep at all, because I missed you so much. She was kind to me. Or that's what I thought. All I did was talk about you and the baby. I didn't think I was encouraging her."
Molly squeezed her eyes shut tight as tears leaked out. That's why the woman was glaring at her. "Are you leaving me?"
"Mo!" he gasped so loudly that her eyes snapped open. His hands were on her back, pulling her closer until there was no room between them. "Never! I told you I want forever. I want forever!"
"I don't understand," she said. He was acting like he didn't want to let her go, like he was afraid she was the one who was going to run away. 
He kissed her forehead over and over before he said, "She was making me uncomfortable after a while. I was getting ready to tell her. And then she kissed me. And it meant nothing to me, Molly. Nothing. I just want you."
"Did you kiss her back?" she asked, needing to know.
"Of course not," he swore.
"And it was just one kiss?"
"It only lasted a second," he said. "Then I reminded her that I'm in love with you."
Molly sighed deeply. "She made you feel uncomfortable?"
"Not at first. But later on, yes. Nothing like this has ever happened to me. Women don't do this kind of thing to guys like me."
"Guys like you?" she asked softly. "You mean perfect men? Bob, you're exactly the kind of guy this sort of thing happens to, because you're the kind of guy every girl wants."
He was breathing deeply, pressing more kisses to her forehead. "Molly. Can you forgive me? Please tell me you can forgive me for not saying something to her sooner. Or I won't be able to live with myself." 
She examined his face. He looked distraught and sick. The dark circles under his eyes let her know he was telling the truth about not getting enough sleep. He was holding onto her so tight, it almost hurt. But it was so obvious that he was telling her the truth. It was plain to see that this was eating him up inside. 
"I can forgive you."
Molly ran her fingers along his cheeks, wiping away his tears and kissing his lips softly. He chased her for another kiss and another. Bob devoured her and made her feel whole again. "I can't lose you. Ever," he whispered against her lips. "You're the love of my life."
"Bob," she gasped before kissing him silly. She kind of hoped that the other woman was watching, but she kind of didn't care at all. She didn't belong here with them. She didn't belong where Molly was.
"You know, I think maybe the gray sweatpants were too powerful," Molly mused as she wrapped her arms around him. "You really have no idea how attractive you are, do you?"
Bob just shrugged. "It doesn't matter. There's only you."
She kissed him as she wrapped her hands around his biceps. He was husband material. She knew that. She'd known it all along. "That's very flattering, Coach Cute Glasses." 
"It's the truth." His lips found hers again, and Molly let herself enjoy the feel of him. But then he said, "Molly, it might help if I was wearing a wedding band in the future."
"Oh," she gasped. It was like he could read her mind. But she wasn't fully prepared for another overwhelming conversation right now, so she laced her fingers with his and led him to her car. 
"Will you let me spend the rest of the day showing you how much I missed you, Honey?" 
"You better."
-------------------------------
Baby boy Floyd! The next chapter may be the last one! Thanks to @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls and everyone who bugged me to make Molly and Bob a thing
PART 12
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@theamuz
@thedroneranger
@cherrycola27
@katiedid-3
@bradshawsbitch
@je-suis-prest-rachel
@callsign-magnolia
@t-nd-rfoot
@wkndwlff
@eddiemunsonreader
@wintercap89
@the-fever-of-mankind
@yanna-banana
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@daisydont-lie
@sappy-seresin
@birdy-bat-writes
@cutelittlefakejourneys
@cottagecori
@fandom-princess-forevermore
@sotalife
@novastories
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@rileyanntoinette
@mannsachds
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@greatszu
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mrs-monaghan · 8 months
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Can you show me jungkook being the best boyfriend ever
What tf kinda difficult question is this??? JK is an amazing fucking boyfriend. He shows up. This👏🏾 motherfucker 👏🏾shows👏🏾 up👏🏾 He puts the standard so high, making it look like we are all getting treated by our partners like garbage. This dude loves Jimin so much and has always been there for him in so many ways big and small and you want me to pick one moment?
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Oh. Unless u didn't mean just one moment in which case forget all that 😁😁😁 here. Have this Jimtiddie as an apology
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Tweet
Off the top of my head my dear anon;
Exhibit a) Dieting
So once upon a time, I'm sure we all know the story of how JK got Jimin to stop dieting unhealthily.
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(Thanks @sarah2711)
Exhibit b) The live they did after their UN speeches.
V is the one who starts the whole thing by making fun of Jimin apologising after he made his mistake during his speech. (I already talk about JK being there for Jimin here) Other members chime in and at first Jimin is laughing with them. But then at some point he stops laughing, just sits there as they continue to make fun of him. Then he starts chewing on his nails which alot of the time is a sign of nerves
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And he absolutely shrinks in on himself. Of course JK notices immediately and that's when he tells the members to cut it out. He tells them how they should be making Jimin feel better. Not making fun of him. Immediately all the members, at the same time, backtrack. They start praising Jimin and saying how they get it.
The whole thing is too long to clip but it all starts at 12:32 here
youtube
Because we don't talk about Yoonmin 😏 we have to note that all of them made fun of Jimin but JK only spoke up after Suga said this
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🤭🤭
P.s RM also said something but the members only changed their tune after JK did. I have always found this moment so sweet. JK was being protective of his baby here of course. Which goes hand in hand with this post. JK just wasn't having it and I love to see it.
When Jimin was explaining himself,
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JK was quietly listening. He didn't say anything until Jimin said this
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And we all know JK doesn't like when Jimin is being self deprecating. So it tracks that he comfortingly says;
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That, right there anon, was JK showing up like the amazing boyfriend he is.
Bonus with the Jimin jealous moment here. And yes, thats exactly what it was.
More instances of JK being protective of his bf by Kanmom here
Exhibit c) SEVEN
Yes. Seven. The summer song of the year. Love to watch it. Love to hear it. So, I think we can all agree its a sex song. Period. That's what it is. It's a proper love making song. A topic we love to discuss on this side of tumblr.... but, have we stopped for a second to explore the romantic side of SEVEN?
So we established SEVEN is basically satellite Jeon in a nutshell. Which that alone is quite big. Always wanting to be with your person, next to your person no matter what. But JK chasing after his love interest from beginning to end till she gives in shows;
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He would do anything for the one he loves. He would walk through fire. Through storms. Go anywhere... if it means its for the one he loves. He is devoted, he is all in. Deeper than the ocean. And this is basically what this post is all about, really. JK's devotion for Jimin. Deeper than the God damn ocean.
Then we have this part
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For those who dont know what that means by now, I'll give u a few seconds to go look up the meaning on Google. In the meantime the rest of us will enjoy this cute clip of satellite Jeon who started quite early
Oh you're back! Yes. We can proceed. 😁😁
So what we have discovered is that JK is a generous lover... a considerate lover... Puts his partner first. JK is a "it's okay baby, you can tend to me later, this is about you" kind of guy. He is the "I won't come until you've cum" type of dude.
In other words, his lover is the priority.
Now.
Jikook don't have an only fans so we haven't seen this in action and there4 have no way of knowing that JK is like this in the bedroom. BUT, considering the fact that he prioritises Jimin all the time, we have seen this happen, I dont see why we can't assume this part of him extends to the bedroom too! Right? Like, its gotta be the case.
JK would rather loose provided Jimin wins.
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JK always prefering to walk slightly behind Jimin
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JK would rather miss out on the last dish and let Jimin have it. (And we know this is huge coz mans loves his food)
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Just to give 3 examples that show JK when it comes to Jimin... well, u know. Jimin comes first. Literally and figuratively 😏 So I'm gonna go ahead and politely insist 😂 that the same happens during Sevening. Mkay? Glad we agree 😁😁
Exhibit d) JK always looking to praise Jimin.
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(Thanks @tarheelthings)
Jimin made the group ramen (his specialty) and as u can see JK was already telling him how perfect it tastes and yet he hadn't even tasted it yet. Even editors noticed 😂😂
Bv 1 finale no one praises Jimin's santa and he laments as much.
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We know our Mimi loves to be complimented and praised; absolutely feeds off of that shit. And JK knows this which is why he immediately tells Jimin "yours is the best" Jimin is so happy to hear this, cheeses so hard that even the editors notice.
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Gosh... he was so happy 🥺🥺 Jimin has a praise kink and JK is great at fulfilling this. Aaah. Shit. Now I'm wondering if this extends to the bedroom 🤔 I'm pretty sure it does 🙈🙈🙈
Okay ✋🏽 let's stop thinking about JK calling Jimin a good boy and move on, yes?
Btw, RM too recognises that Jimin loves to be praised and u will see him come through too. But JK is always faster so... 😁😁
Then we have ITS when JK tasted Jimin's food, once again, high praises.
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And then when when Jimin says
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JK replied "I know."
Something about this moment drives home to me the fact that Jimin doesn't cook well, at home. JK does. But we already knew this from Jin ("Jungkook is Jimin's chef")
On the topic of praises, when other members try to make fun of Jimin JK will quickly make sure Jimin knows he doesn't feel the same way. This and exhibit b are like sisters. They can go hand in hand 😆
So Bon Voyage season 1 Jimin was cooking for Jin. As soon as Jimin placed the plate on the table JK did not once take his eyes off of it.
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And, this was after JK kept going to keep an eye on Jimin cooking even though they weren't team mates or nothing. I'm telling y'all, Jimin sits pretty at home while JK does all the cooking. Anyway, when Jin tastes the food he says;
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But the way he says it, its like he's taking the piss. It wasn't complimentary. So JK of course went;
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And he couldn't get to that dish fast enough
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And he devoured the rest of it
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While the rest, mind you, are still making fun of Jimin/his dish. But JK didn't give a shit. His baby had made that plate and by God he was going to enjoy every second of it.
Once again, to me, this cements my theory that JK doesn't get to eat Jimin's food often. He gets way too excited when Jimin cooks, can't wait to taste his food, etc etc.
Which brings us to our next example where one time Jimin brought the entire group cucumber drinks and they hated it. Jhope goes on to explain just how much they hated the flavor.
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There is a chorus of all the members agreeing with Jhope and even Jimin accepts that the cucumber drinks were terrible. But low and behold, look what the boyfriend had to say about it
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Timestamp 4:12 so u can see for yourselves just how much everyone hated those drinks.
(Thanks @tarheelthings and @chicknbunny13)
Look, in JK's eyes, Jimin can do no wrong, okay? To JK, Jimin is perfect and that's that. End of story: No further questions. This behaviour is what I was talking about on my whipped post here.
Exhibit e) When JK checks on Jimin.
I don't gotta show many examples of this we've all seen it. JK always craning his neck over members to see what Jimin is up to. He always likes to know where Jimin is, what he's doing, which imo is amazing boyfriend behavior if ask me.
A moment I've never seen talked about anywhere from BV 1; JK comes into the RV to check on Jimin who's sleeping.
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I know he came to check on Jimin because he walks in, takes a peak, then walks back out. Almost like he had confirmed Jimin was okay and now he could go about his business.
Tell me thats not the sweetest, cutest thing ever!
I've just uploaded 31 images n a video. I don't think tumblr likes me enough to allow me to do more so let's stop here. I hope your Jungkook praise kink has been fulfilled. It was my pleasure.😁😁
He really is a good man. The best. And Jimin deserves nothing less 😍😍😍
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kamotecue · 8 months
Text
number one rule┆彡 c. nevin
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pairing: courtney nevin x reader
summary: y/n raso always had her number one rule, to never date her sister’s teammate, however that all changed when australia’s #2 catches her eyes.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
“you’re here.” hayley said, as you put your phone back into your pocket, giving your older sister a soft smile.
“i am, i didn’t want to miss the bronze match.” she gave you a soft smile and nodded.
“glad your here, how’s college?” you shrugged, it was an absolute terror, but you managed.
“it’s fine, been busy with the biology assignments. but it’s worth it, i suppose.”
“college football, then?” hayley asked, as you gave her a wince, making her have this questioning look.
“i’ve torn my acl a few weeks back, currently in the process of rehab.” you said, as hayley’s eyes furrowed.
“it’s the first time i’m hearing this.” you gave her a nod.
“i’ve told our parents to not tell you, i’m out for this year’s season.” hayley gave you a hug, as you returned it. she knew what it was like for an athlete to tore their acl, it was torture as they’d be sitting out for months.
you spent the whole morning catching up with your family as you were mostly in the states busy to maintain your school scholarship. hayley was first to leave, giving your parents tight hugs before giving you one.
“cheer loudly for us, kiddo.” as you nodded, she gave you a smile before exiting the cafe. you went through different shops, carefully selecting a gift for your sister.
you watched as the gift got wrapped, thanking the worker as she handed it to you. you gave her a smile before leaving the shop, putting the bag in your backpack for double keeping.
you headed to the stadium afterwards, taking a seat in the family and friends isle. they were against sweden, a team you looked forward to as they had great players.
you kept your eyes on the field, analyzing the starting eleven from both teams which made you wonder.
“busy as always.” your mother said, as she chuckled. you looked at her with furrowed eyebrows, as you hummed.
“you always analyze the line-up, and see how they would play.” she continued as you laughed knowing that she was extremely correct.
it was a whole blur at this point, you watched as frido had scored a goal as it was deemed as a penalty after the pressure from polkinghorne.
the little shove between asllani and gorry had you amused, but at the same time concerned. in the early minutes of the second half, you watched as mary fowler tapped the ball in scoring it at the top right corner.
you cheered from your seat, as the crowd went wild. it was an equalizer, all you needed was for one more point. however, in the 62nd minute you watched as asllani, sweden’s captain hit the shot from just outside the box, as arnold couldn’t get enough to keep it out.
the game ended with 2-1, you watched as hayley sat down on the pitch. the way the swedish team celebrated, while the matildas looked so flabbergasted and dejected at the same time.
you approached the pitch as you felt hayley give you a tight hug, you knew she had tears in her eyes.
“you did well, haz. although it isn’t what you expected, finishing 4th out of 32 teams is a great accomplishment for the team.” you said, as hayley just shook her head.
you gazed at one of her teammates who set their eyes on you. it was their #5, courtney nevin someone you’ve heard about through your sister who’d talk about her teammates.
she furrowed her eyebrows, probably the fact that she’s never saw you before.
“listen to me, haz. you’ve already made a great accomplishment for the country, i know you wanted to win, but you’re also a winner despite the loss today. you played your best, however sweden was the better team today. besides, since when does a raso quit? i thought we never give up.” you said as hayley laughed, gently punching your arm as you jokingly winced.
“let’s meet the team, yeah?” hayley asked as you shrugged.
“you only know gorry, kyra and cha cha.” hayley said as you snickered.
“well, introduce me to them then? they might be my future teammates after all.” you said, winking at the last part.
you hopped over the barrier, landing on your good leg as you approached the team with a smile.
“oh, look it’s little raso.” katrina said, as you laughed at her joke.
“hi, mini” you said, towering over her to which she softly pushed you. but you ended up bumping into a certain person who landed on the ground.
“sorry about that.” you said, which a cheeky grin. courtney gave you a soft smile, before looking at you in the eyes.
“i’m courtney” she held her hand out as you accepted it, pulling her up from the ground.
“i’m y/n raso.” you said, and that’s how one of the best love stories existed. katrina claims that she should be some credits in creating the couple.
[can i just say that this was long overdue?]
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jamdoughnutmagician · 4 months
Text
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New Year's Eve Kisses.
Steve Harrington x Reader (Fluff)
Just a short and fluffy NYE drabble with Steve, heavily based on this scene from Friends
Posting this a little early but whatever 🤷‍♀️
Word Count:668
Masterlist / Steve Harrington Masterlist.
The party is in full swing with everyone gathered in Steve’s house for a new year’s eve celebration. There’s banners, decorations and food and drink aplenty as all the party-goers stand around chatting in their groups.
“Yes! ‘87 baby! It’s finally going to be my year, Harrington. I can feel it!” Eddie beams brightly, his wide smile stretching across his face.
“Good luck, man.” Steve cheered back, clapping a hand on his shoulder. 
“We’re both happy for you, Ed.” you smile at your friend, although you wish you could share his enthusiasm about the new year drawing to a close.
You and Steve had been only dating for a few months, and Eddie was the only one who knew about you two. An unfortunate moment where he accidentally caught you both making out in a dark corner in The Hideout one time. Truth be told, Eddie didn’t think too much about it until he saw you leave the bar hand-in-hand with a matching pair of smiles on either of your faces.
Eddie noticed how your smile didn’t fully reach your eyes, and a worry set it’s place in his chest.
“Hey, what’s the matter?”  
“We wanted to kiss at midnight, but nobody else is going to, so we can’t either.” you explain with a sad tone in your voice.
“Don’t worry about that, sweetheart.” Eddie says with a nod. “Just let your old pal Eddie sort it all out.” he tells you all too confidently. 
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Eddie makes his way over to Robin where she is already enthusiastically beginning to countdown the seconds until midnight.
“33! 32! 31-” 
“-Hey Rob-” Eddie interrupts. “Who are you kissing at midnight, huh? Chrissy or Nancy?”
“What?” she replies in confusion.
“You gotta kiss somebody. You’re gay, so you’re not gonna kiss Steve.” Eddie explains further.
“So who’s going to kiss Steve?” 
“Y/N is.”
“Really?” She smirks, cocking her head to the side.
“Look, who would you rather have kiss Steve, me or y/n Eddie says with a quirked eyebrow.
“Oh definitely Y/n.” she decides all too quickly. “I suppose I’ll kiss Chrissy.”
“That’s great!” he smiles at her, with a pat on her shoulder before moving his way around the party.
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“Hey Chrissy!” Eddie shouts over to her above the music. “Robin’s going to kiss you at midnight!”
“Oh okay! Sounds good!” her cheeks flush pink at the idea of kissing that cute girl from the school’s band that she’d had a secret crush on for a while.
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“Nance! Nance!” Eddie shouts, getting her attention as he makes his way towards her. “I’m going to kiss you at midnight, okay?”
“What?” she shakes her head, her dark curls bouncing as she does.
“Everybody’s kissing someone, so I’m going to kiss you. Plus you can’t kiss Steve, you two have that whole weird history going on.”
“And?” she shakes her head once more, as if she wasn’t quite following what Eddie was putting forward.
“Besides, Jonathan’s not here, so who would you rather have kiss you, me or Robin?”  Eddie asks, with a confident nod of his head.
“Robin’s lovely, but I just don’t swing that way.” She confesses.
“Great.” Eddie smiles.
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The countdown to midnight draws closer and closer as everyone gathers by the television in Steve’s living room.
“3! 2! 1! Happy New Year!!” Everyone cheers, as they hug and peck the lips of their respective New years eve partners.
You wind your arms around Steve’s neck to bring him closer as his hands find their home on your hips, giving you a gentle and reassuring squeeze.
 Steve leans in close to you, his lips softly brushing against yours in a sweet kiss. 
“Happy New Year, Honey.”
“Happy New Year, Stevie.” you smile back at him, your eyes sparkling with love for the boy in front of you.
You couldn’t be more happy to have your Stevie in your life, and sharing a kiss with him at midnight was the perfect way to ring in the new year.
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@itsfreakingbats @penguinsandpotterheads @xxhellfirebunnyxx @onegirlmanytales @reidsbtch @willowsgrl @mrsjellymunson
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lavenderbang · 8 months
Text
Drunk-Dazed
 Vampire! Park Sunghoon x reader
genre(s): vampire au!, non-idol au!, Sunghoon is also your tutor, mystery (not really cause dramatic irony), fluff, horror, Jake is your best friend cause I’m a simp, also feat. the rest of enhypen, mainly Heesung and Jungwon tho
Warning(s): blood/gore, swearing (obviously), biting (OBVIOUSLY), and probably crime (if you consider killing a classmate and drinking their blood a crime)
W.C: 17.2k (Sheesh this is long...)
Summary: When a fellow classmate was found dead on the soccer field with all the blood drained from them and two pierce marks in their neck, you took it upon yourself as president of the paranormal club to find the vampire. 
A/N: Y’all, when I say I am OBSESSED with Drunk-Dazed! That song literally made me an Engene overnight and honestly I can’t stop thinking about writing this fic. I don’t usually like monster stuff, but watching the MV (which is here) really inspired me. Also I love Park Sunghoon with my whole heart... anyways, Enjoy!
A/N 2: If you couldn’t tell from the previous author note and the title, this has been sitting in my drafts since the Drunk-Dazed MV dropped. It’s clearly been a long time since then, but I’m now finally posting this fic under a random spurt of inspo. I hope you enjoy it cause I love this fic (its my baby) and its been two and a half years in the making!
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he’s so ethereal
“uhhh, you’re late dude,” You scoff at Jake, “Slept through your alarm?” Your best friend doesn’t respond, and only then you realize how serious he looked; Jake’s face was pale, and he seemed to fumble with his bag as he sat down beside you in his usual seat for biology. His eyes were darting all over the place before finally landing on you; you grabbed onto his hands to stop it from shaking.
“Hey, you okay?” You ask, frowning at your usually cheerful friend, “what happened?”
“I went out to the field this morning to get a bit of early practice...” He starts off, licking his lips nervously before continuing, “When I got there, there was someone laying out in the middle of the field....”
“who?” You ask but are soon interrupted by the chairman of your school and the chief of police coming into the classroom. Jake immediately looks at his shoes, not wanting to look at the two men at the front.
“Good morning everyone,” The chairman greets in a serious tone, “I have some grim news to share with you all. Now I’m deciding to share this with you because you are all young adults and deserve transparency on the situation.”
“Whats going on Jake?” You whispered to your friend, who was trembling in his seat.
“This morning at 7:32 am, were were alerted by a student that there was a body found at the soccer field.” The chairman stated solemnly. The amount of tension in your classroom was suffocating, “by 7:46, we had identified that the victim was a student by the name of Lee Geonu.”
The mood quickly turned from tense to absolute shock; You couldn’t believe that Geonu, the guy that asked you to borrow a pencil just last Tuesday was now dead. It didn’t make any sense whatsoever; its not like you were friends, but Geonu was a good guy, healthy too. 
“I know this is frightening and disturbing news, but we will only take a few more moments of your time.” The chairman turned to the chief of police and continued, “I will now turn it over to police chief Kim to bring up what’s important.”
“Thank you sir,” The police chief nodded before looking down at the document in his hands, “Now upon inspection, it seems that your classmate was found with two distinct holes in the middle of his neck on the left side, as well as a very low blood volume. As of now, we are unaware of where his blood went, but we suspect it sank into the ground.”
You feel Jake’s hand tighten in yours, eyes brimming with tears from the traumatic experience. You squeeze his hand to comfort your friend, feeling sorry that he had see something so horrific.
“Now, we think time of death occurred at around 10:00-12:00 last night,” The police chief continued, before looking up at your class, “If any of you have any information as to what happened or anything you might know about the victim that is relevant to our investigation, please don’t hesitate to come to us.”
The room was silent for a moment, aside from a few sniffles in the back along with the anxious tapping of someones shoes on the floor.
“Lastly, I’m sorry to all of you for your loss.” Chief Kim smiled sympathetically, “I want you all to know you are safe and any information you can give us can help us find whoever did this to Geonu and give him justice.”
And with that being said, the two men exited the room, leaving a atmosphere of despair and melancholy over all of your classmates. You turned to Jake, patting his shoulder gently. He sniffled, blinking back tears. As hard as it was, your teacher put you all to work on a simple worksheet, hoping that it could take your guy’s mind off the current news.
~~~
“It was weird... The holes were small, no bigger than half a centimeter.” Jake explained quietly, whispering to you as you sat down at your lunch table, only to be followed by your friends Jungwon and Heesung.
“How far apart?” You asked cautiously. You still felt worried talking about this topic with Jake, as he seemed pretty shaken up yesterday morning. Since then he seemed okay, as it was a pretty big school and he didn’t know Geonu that well, having no classes with the guy.
“Maybe an inch, inch and a half?” Jake explained, opening his bottle of ice tea to take a sip.
“Strange...” Jungwon responded before teasing shoving your shoulder with a smile, “Maybe it was a vampire, right (Y/N)?” This made the boys chuckle, obviously amused to poke fun at you and your paranormal beliefs.
“That’s what I was thinking...” You responded staring at your sandwich, deep in thought. The laughter died and the boys all looked at you confused.
“Are you serious (Y/N)..?” Heesung asked, furrowing his eyebrows at you.
“Of course,” You replied, looking up at the oldest with a frown, “What else could it be?”
“Something real? Like a human maybe..?” Jake suggested, clearly concerned with your thought process.
“That doesn’t make any sense! Who kills a guy with two small holes in the neck and drains almost all of his blood from his body?” You leaned forward, picking at your food before sighing, “Besides, you guys are in the Paranormal Activities Club too, so why don’t you believe it could be a vampire?”
“Honestly, talking about ghosts and monsters and stuff during our PAC meetings is fun,” Jungwon started off before brushing his hand through his hair and sighing, “But it was never that serious. Not like ‘I think a vampire murdered our classmate’ type of club.”
“But don’t you believe in the paranormal? isn’t that the whole point of PAC?” You asked, seriousness dripping from your tone, “I just think it’s our duty to discover if this was actually a vampire-related incident or not.”
The boys looked at you like you had three heads, letting the silence be word enough that they thought you were insane.
“I mean, if its not, then no harm no foul...” You sighed, crossing your arms across your chest passively, “But it if it, that means we have a vampire on the loose and we need to find out who it is, as the closest thing to experts this school has.”
“I mean, it could be kinda fun to look for clues and stuff...” Jungwon smiled softly.
“We’d be like the Mystery Gang from Scooby-doo!” Jake beamed, suddenly interested in the idea of investigation.
“I guess we technically have to have other club activities besides chatting to count for credit..” Heesung agreed, shaking his head at the thought of actually agreeing to a vampire hunt.
“So PAC investigation to find the vampire?” You smirked, feeling excited to maybe see a real live monster.
“Yeah it’ll be fun!” Jake finalized, taking a bite of the apple he had pulled out of his bag sometime while having this conversation, “Lets meet back at the school tonight to look for evidence.”
“No can do actually...” You interrupted, shocking your friends at the odd change in attitude of inspiring them to do this and then suddenly bailing.
“What the heck (Y/N)!?” Jungwon huffed, throwing his hands up dramatically, “Why can’t you come?”
“I’ve got Calculus tutoring tonight.” You stated simply, “but you guys can go look for clues without me tonight and you can report back at tomorrow’s PAC meeting.”
“You have a tutor?” Heesung asked, “who?” You turn in your chair and point across the lunch room to a pretty boy sitting at one of the corner tables, headphones in and doing homework.
“Park Sunghoon.” You answered simply, “We go to the campus library every Tuesday and Thursday. One day he helps me with Calc and the other day I help him with Bio.”
“He’s in our biology class?” Jake asked shocked, scratching his head sheepishly, “I didn’t even notice him...”
‘Yeah he’s pretty shy, but nice enough.” You nodded and stuffed sandwich in your face before continuing with a mouth full of bread, “I don’t think he likes me very much though.”
“I wonder why...” Heesung cringes, watching bits of sandwich squish in your mouth as you talk with it full. Before you look away, Sunghoon looks up and around the room, only to catch your gaze. He blinks a couple of times before politely nodding at you. Feeling embarrassed you got caught looking, you whipped around and faced your friends again, feeling the burning sensation crawl up your neck. Of course, this appeared as the perfect opportunity for the boys to make fun of you; but you didn’t mind, as it was nice to see some cheer from the gloomy atmosphere that was hanging around recently.
~~~
Bzzt!
You looked down at your phone to see that you had gotten a message.
Sunghoon: hey, do you mind meeting me at the front of the school for our session?
You tilt you head in confusion, but nonetheless type out a response before packing up your things you had set up for your session.
(Y/N): sure, I’ll be right there :)
Quickly making your way to the front, you see Sunghoon standing there, expression blank and scrolling through his phone. Once he sees you, He puts it away and approaches where you stand.
“Hey (Y/N) I’m sorry about this, but do you mind if I teach you somewhere else today?” He asked, worry and urgency evident in the shakiness of his voice.
“I mean, I guess,” You respond jokingly, smiling to hopefully put the boy at ease, “I would have loved it you let me know BEFORE I set all my stuff out though.”
“I know and I’m sorry about that,” Sunghoon apologized, walking out of the building with you following, “My coach changed my practice to earlier so I had to make adjustments...”
“So where are we going?” You asked, walking beside your tutor fumbling with the zipper on your binder.
“My apartment, if that’s okay.” He replied, not looking away from where his eyes focused ahead, “since my practice is earlier, I’l be saving time by not having to travel home to grab my things before going to the rink.”
“Sounds good to me...” You agreed before falling silent. You felt a weird sensation bubble up in your stomach that you had never seemed to feel before. Maybe nervousness because you’ve never been to Sunghoon’s home, but why would you be nervous about something like that?
Silence filled the air as you walked onward. The sun was starting to set, setting a warm orange glow over the environment as you walked; Even in this light, Sunghoon looked pale; his eyes looking down at his feet as his dark hair swept across his forehead with ever step. Somehow you had never noticed until now, but Sunghoon had a mole right on the edge of the bridge of his nose. You though it suited him, even though you rarely talked about things other then your respective subjects.
“So” You cleared your throat, wanting to break the silence and overall your sudden appreciation for your tutor, “You play a sport? you said your coach moved practice...”
“Ah, yeah!” Sunghoon responded with a smile, turning to look at you for the first time since leaving the school, “I do figure skating” (A/N: I had to, I love ice prince Sunghoon). You nodded, finding it surprising that out of all the sports, he picked something elegant and precise as figure skating.
“Really? That’s cool!” You praised, excited to get to know more about him, “how often do you practice?”
“every weekday,” He answered, “usually after we have our session I go home and grab all my gear and head to the rink, but for some reason my coach moved practice ahead by an hour.”
“Damn coaches, Huh?” You joked, “Always ruining a perfectly good schedule. Not that I would know, as I don’t do a sport...”
“Oh yeah, you have your own club, right?” Sunghoon recalled, making a right turn as you continued to his house, “What’s it called again..?”
“Paranormal Activities Club.” You explained, “We usually shorten it to PAC because it’s a bit wordy...”
“Catch any ghosts?” Sunghoon asked smiling cheekily.
“We don’t catch ghosts, we talk about them.” You said before cracking a smile, “Behind their back of course, like we’re in middle school” Sunghoon laughed at your silly joke, warmth radiating from deep in his chest. For some reason, it felt good to make the boy laugh; maybe it was because he was so reserved that you were happy to see him ease up a bit with you.
You arrived at Sunghoon’s apartment within about ten minutes. As you stepped in, you noticed the simplicity of it; white walls, a glass coffee table, and a bookshelf off to the right. To the left, there was a small corner kitchen and a hallway that you assumed lead to the bathroom and Sunghoon’s bedroom. The only thing to note was the furniture; a expensive looking maroon love-seat that was perpendicular with the coffee table and a deep red, velvety sofa pushed up under the window. 
“You can set your things down here and we can get started.” Sunghoon motioned to the coffee table before going into the kitchen, “want anything?”
“a glass of water would be nice,” You respond politely before setting your binder on the table. You looked at the sofa, before ultimately deciding to sit on the floor in front of it, feeling the furniture looked to expensive to touch. Sunghoon returns, placing the glass on a coaster and then on the table.
“Thank you.” You accepted the glass shyly, feeling a sense of awkwardness being in the private of his home.
“Why are you on the floor..?” Sunghoon chuckled lightly before sitting on the sofa, “there’s a sofa right behind you... I mean if your more comfortable on the floor we can sit there-”
“No I’ll move!” You exclaimed, getting up and sitting beside Sunghoon on the velvet cushions, “It just that your furniture looks so expensive...”
“Really?” He scrunched up his nose before opening his textbook and flipping through it to find the assignment, “I found these at a garage sale for like $100. Some little old Victorian lady was selling them. They’re really nice, but it’s really hard to get stains out of them...”
“Oh, I see.” You nodded, feeling the fabric under your fingertips before grabbing your pencil, “So should we get started?” Sunghoon hummed in response and you began the homework you were supposed to finish for tomorrow. 
After a bit, things went back to normal and you didn’t feel as weird or awkward; it was like every other Tuesday in the library. It wasn’t long before the sun set, and you were packing up your things to go home.
“Thank you so much for accommodating my schedule today.” Sunghoon thanked, holding his door open for you.
“No problem! It was a nice change of scenery.” You said brightly, trying to be polite about the abrupt change of plans, “Have a nice night Sunghoon; see you Thursday!” You went down to the lobby and messaged Jake, hoping that the boys actually went to the soccer field to look for evidence while you were busy.
(Y/N): [dropped 1 location]
(Y/N): hey, pick me up cause its dark and there is a vampire on the loose?
Butt-head~: Of course, your highness. It’s not like I was just about to get into the shower or anything after being out in a field for an hour...
Attached to that message was a GIF of a dirty servant from that one medieval show doing a full bow. you rolled your eyes at Jake’s sarcasm.
(Y/N): if you’re busy, I’ll just walk home alone
Butt-head~: Don’t you dare
Butt-head~: I’m literally already in my car omw
Chuckling to yourself you sit down in the lobby and do what any person would do to pass the time; scroll through memes. It isn’t long before you get another text from Jake saying he’s outside. You hurry out and hop in the passenger side of his old red car.
“Hello your highness, I hope this chariot is to your standards.” He teased in a fake posh British accent, which wasn’t far from his usual accent.
“Well, there could have been a harp or trumpets playing when I entered, but this’ll have to do,” you sighed before smiling at your silly friend. 
He suddenly turned on a loud, heavy bass song and drove in the direction of your house. You both jammed out for a bit, rolling down the windows and screaming out the lyrics at the top of your lungs. Eventually Jake turned down the music in exchange to chat with you.
“So me and Jungwon went out to the field and-” Jake started before you screeched out and stopped him.
“Don’t tell me!” You hushed, almost reaching out to put your hands over Jake’s mouth, “Wait until the meeting tomorrow!”
“I just thought you’d want to know about-” Jake started again but you shouted out to avoid hearing about what the boys found. Jake sighed and shut his mouth, clearly not going to be able to tell you about the investigation.
“Wait, where was Heesung?” You asked, quirking your eyebrows becasue you were cofused on why he wouldn’t show.
“He said he had something important to do instead.” Jake responded flatly.
“What’s more important than vampires?” You huffed.
“I know, this is the most important thing in our lives right now.”
“Exactly! This is serious stuff he was missing.”
The two of you were silent for a moment, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Though, you soon broke the silence.
“i’m sorry I wasn’t there...” You apologized, fiddling with your things and feeling a bit bad, “I failed as a president today...”
“Dude, don’t worry about it! Your trustworthy vice-prez worked very hard in your place.” Jake complimented himself and jabbed a thumb at his chest; you giggled at his antics, glad he wasn’t upset with you.
“So how was tutor session with pretty boy? I’m sure you got lots of calculus done.” Jake teased, poking your shoulder.
“As a matter of fact, we did get a lot of calculus done,” You rolled your eyes and pushed his hand away before continuing, “Besides the awkwardness of me being in his house for the first time...”
“Finally seeing pretty boy’s house? Or were you too busy kissing him to see?” Jake teased yet again, followed by gross, wet kissing sounds. You give the boy a hardy slap to the shoulder before chuckling at his antics.
“That’s the second time you called Sunghoon pretty.” You joked before cracking a big smile, “You know, if you’re so jealous of me, I could introduce you two so maybe you could kiss him.” You then copy the kissing sounds Jake made moments before only to earn a laugh and a shove. 
“Thank you for the offer, but I’ll pass.” Jake finally said and pulled up in front of your house, “Anyways, here’s your castle Your Highness.” You jumped out of Jake’s old car, collecting your things. You said a sincere thank you and waved goodbye before scurrying inside to eat and then sleep. Besides, you had a big day tomorrow filled with excitement from vampire hunting.
---------------
“Alright as all of the members of The Paranormal Activities Club have arrived, as president I officially begin this meeting.” You sat down after saying your opening speech and look at the three boys in front of you. PAC always met in room 300, so you pushed four desks together to make a meeting table. The lights were usually off as well, with only a couple of flashlights and a single candle lighting your meetings; but since there was more serious stuff to discuss this meeting, you opted to keeping the lights on.
“Now, to start off this very formal PAC Meeting, I have something to go over before we talk about the findings from last night.” You said before turning to Heesung and pouting, “Where were you? I though you were all good for the soccer field last night...”
“I thought these two knuckleheads could handle it without me,” Heesung points at Jungwon and Jake before continuing, “So I went to the public library to see if I could dig up any similar instances of killings in the same manner. I just wanted to see if there was a history of a murderer or serial killer that murdered in this way, but no luck..”
“That’s because it was a vampire, not a serial killer but whatever...” You responded passive-aggressively before smiling, “But thank you for double checking, I appreciate the work you’re putting into this.” Heesung simply gives a thumbs up and looks to the other two boys.
“Alright, so now that that’s settled,” You sated, turning to the other boys as well, “Lets go over what our investigation brought to light.”
Jake stood up and walked to the white board where there were a couple of magnets. He pulled them all off the white board and turned to you all.
“Jungwon, You have the evidence right?” He asked. Jungwon dug around in his backpack before pulling out a file-folder and scurrying up to where Jake was standing. They first began by placing random photos of the scene on the white-board, including a blurry selfie of the two of them and a picture of the sun reflected on the school windows. Jake cleared his throat, trying to appear as professional as possible.
“I will now account what happened when we arrived.”
-
“Ow, I think that’s the seventh mosquito bite!” Jungwon groaned and slapped his arm. 
The boys trudged through the surrounding trees by the field. The area where Geonu’s body was found was roped off with police tape so Jake had opted to start looking in the surrounding area instead. 
“Quit complaining, we are supposed to look for evidence of a vampire.” Jake scolded before shuffling around in the bushes.
“This is stupid.There’s no way it was a vampire.” Jungwon huffed before sifting through a pile of dead leaves, “(Y/N)’s bonkers. I can’t believe I agreed to this...”
“Maybe, but it would mean a lot to her if we just looked anyways.” Jake reasoned, pushing through-
-
“Do you really need to be telling me all this? Especially the part where you guys basically say I’m nuts?” You frown before being shushed by Jake, who continues on.
-
“Hey there’s a footprint here in the mud!” Jake pointed out before turning to Jungwon, “It could be our vampire.”
“Or a random person going through the bushes.” Jungwon huffed.
“Just give me the camera Jungwon.”
“Fine...”
-
Jake places the photo of the footprint on the white board, securing it with a magnet.
“From my deduction skills, it is around a size 7 males shoe.” Jake confirms, “I’ll be studying the tread to see what kind of shoe it is.”
“Okay sounds good.” You praised, nodding to Jungwon, “Continue on with what happened.”
-
“What exactly are we looking for that the police wouldn’t have already found?” Jungwon sighed, climbing out of the treeline onto the red gravel track that separated the woods from the field.
“Paranormal stuff.” Jake answered vaguely, walking down the path closer to where the body laid just yesterday.
 He felt a strange sense of dread looking at the police tape, remembering the graphic scene all to well. It had etched itself into his head, not letting him get a wink of sleep the night before.
“Like... this?” Jungwon asked nervously. He held up a single silver ring, holding it up to the sky to get a better look at it.
-
Jungwon pulled the ring out of the folder; he had it in a zip-lock bag, almost afraid to touch it. Jake gave him a magnet, to which he hung the bag on whiteboard beside the footprint photo.
“What is that on it..?” You asked, leaning closer to get a better look at the ring. you could see that almost three-quarters of the outside of the ring was stained with some sort of black liquid.
“It looks burned in...” Heesung suggested, squinting to see the small piece of jewelry.
“Hey, I’m not done with the evidence yet!” Jake interrupted, trying to keep your attention, “Can we please stay focused?”
-
“Do you think we should go in there?” Jungwon asked, standing right on the edge of the police tape, “I feel like at that point, we would be tampering with actual police evidence...” 
Jake fiddled with the bright yellow tape, allowing it to slide in between his fingers, assessing the option of what they should do. He looked to the spot where Geonu had been, trying his best to recall every detail he could when he discovered him. Blanking on what happened, he turned away from the tape and went back onto the path.
“I think it’s best if we go home. The photos are good and the there’s that ring you found too.” Jake decided, turning to walk to the direction of the front gate. In all honesty, he just couldn’t bring himself to got to that spot in the grass; but he couldn’t just say that to Jungwon.
“Sounds good to me, I wanna take a shower, the bush was gross.” Jungwon said, jogging to catch up to Jake. the boys walked to the entrance of the school.
“Wait! I want to get a picture!” Jungwon insisted, pulling out his camera to get a photo of the reflected sunset on the windows. Jake waited, leaning against the gate of the school and gazing at the building.
-
“This doesn’t seem very relevant to our investigation...” You chimed in before Jake groaned and rolled his eyes.
“Oh my God! Can you just listen? I was literally getting to the relevant part...” He scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest, “Don’t interrupt, Stink-ass.”
“Sorry.” you responded, promising yourself not to interrupt again until the boys were finished.
-
The school was big and made of brick and glass; but something else was catching Jake’s attention.
“Hey, that flock of crows is trying to get into the dumpster over there!” He chuckled, before jogging over to the dumpster that was on the edge of the parking lot left of the building.
“dude, its actually called a murder of crows.” Jungwon corrected, earning a ‘whatever’ from Jake, who seemed much more interested in what was attracting the crows to the dumpster. After getting a nice photo, Jungwon came over too, curiosity getting the better of him.
“It’s whatever’s in this drug store bag...” Jake deduced, pointing at the thin, white, plastic bag tied tightly on the top of the trash.
“What do you think is in there..?” Jungwon asked, voice barely above a whisper. He seemed concerned, mostly due to the big, dark spot covering the bottom of the bag.
“I guess there is only one way to find out.” Jake gulped before grabbing the bag by the handles with one finger and dropping it to the cement, “I mean, if we really want to open it...”
“What would the Mystery Gang do?” Jungwon asked, half-joking/half-seriously.
“I think they would open it.”
“Okay so lets open it then”
“You open it. I don’t want to touch it...”
“Me neither! Besides, you already touched it!”
“Yeah, so it’s your turn.”
“How about we rock paper scissors for who has to open it?”
“That sounds fair.”
-
“This is what we found in the bag, and in all honesty, I don’t feel like I should even have it because its like... actual evidence...” Jake grimaced and opened his backpack to reveal a brown paper bag.
 He rustled in it before bringing out what was inside and pinning it to the white board. The room was silent as you stared at the item, feeling a sickness bubble up into your stomach.
Pinned to the whiteboard was an over-sized, white, male’s dress shirt; all around the neckline and dripping down, soaking into the chest area was dried, brown blood that had obviously been applied wet. The cuffs of the sleeves going up the arms was also covered in the dried liquid, tainting the pure white fabric.
“What...” You begin, not really knowing what you were going to say. What you even could say.
“We have to give that to the police.” Heesung stated frantically, like it was obvious, “That’s serious piece of evidence for their investigation and we shouldn’t have that.” The rest of you didn’t respond, earning a scoff from the eldest.
“You don’t think we should keep it, right?” He asked, clearing accentuating his tone to signify how stupid he thought that idea was.
“No, I don’t think we should keep it!” You exclaimed matter-of-factly, approaching the shirt and gently touching the hem of it, “But we could get as much information we need from it...”
“You’re joking right?!” Jungwon cried, clearly disturbed.
“Look at where the... blood is.” You pointed out, having a hard time actually say the word, “If it wasn’t a vampire and was just some guy, there wouldn’t be a focus of blood on the highest part of the shirt. We need all the clues we can to find out who our secret vampire is and this shirt has some.”
“I mean, we would only have it for a little longer and then after we get all the information we can from it, we give it in, right?” Jake supported, sitting down at the makeshift table to get away from the shirt. Heesung turned to you, worry and sincerity flooding his eyes.
“(Y/N), I don’t know how comfortable I am with this...” He warned, grabbing hold of your arm, “I really think we should give this in as soon as possible, along with everything else the boys found...”
“We will.” You answered firmly, holding Heesung’s grip on your arm with the opposite hand, “Just after we get the clues we need from everything.”
“How about a vote?” Jake suggested, “All in favor of keeping the evidence for a little longer and then giving it to the police after we are done?” Jake raised his hand, followed by you raising yours. 
“All in favor of giving it to the police right after this vote?” Heesung countered and raised his hand. The three of you then looked to the youngest boy who had not voted for either.
“Jungwon?” You asked, and he looked at you and you could see the inner conflict he was going through in his head.
“We give it back as soon as we are done..?” Jungwon asked hesitantly, playing with the cuffs of his jacket nervously.
“As soon as we finish documenting all the information we need.” You reassured, “Not a minute longer than needed.” Jungwon nodded along to your words, hummed and bit his bottom lip out of habit. He tapped his foot, deep in thought before finally nodding again.
“Okay, but only if we don’t touch it without gloves or something so we don’t wreck the police evidence...” Jungwon finally decided, to which you quickly agreed to his terms.
“I guess it can’t be helped,” Heesung sighed, brushing his hair back to release his stress, “but just for the record, I’m not touching any of that and this is a bad idea...”
“Noted.” Jake finalized before standing and making his way to the door, “I’m going to sneak to the biology lab to get some gloves and tweezers to start looking for clues, you guys should start photographing the things we are giving to the police.”
With tasks assigned you all got to work in documenting any clues you felt could lead you to the identity of the vampire.
--------------
(figure) skater boy: Hey, do you mind if we are at my house again today for our session? Coach switched practice for the next two weeks...
You immediately switch directions, walking towards the front as opposed to the library where you were planning on meeting Sunghoon until he messaged you. you typed out a quick reply that consisted of the absolute poetry of ‘k’.
As you approached the lobby, you saw Sunghoon standing by the door, except he was taking to someone today. It was a guy that you had occasionally seen your tutor with, but you had never actually spoken to him before. The stranger met your gaze and smiled as you walked up to the duo.
“I hope I’m not interrupting.” You said politely, turning your attention to Sunghoon with a smile.
“Not at all, (Y/N).” He reassured, before motioning to the stranger, “ Have you met my friend Jay?” 
“I have not.” You confirm, reaching your hand out to shake the other man’s hand, “I’m (Y/N), I tutor your friend.”
“Jay. I’m friends with your tutor.” Jay joked, taking your hand and shaking it. Feeling nervous, you look at the floor before finding the perfect thing to say to be less awkward.
“Woah! I love your boots! They look really cool.” You gushed, not taking your gaze off Jay’s feet. He was wearing a pair of combat boots that went up to his mid calf, and they looked to be made of an expensive material with shiny silver buckles on them.
“Hey thanks!” He chuckled in response, tilting his foot to model them, “I ordered them custom made because I thought they’d look cooler with my own personal touch, y’know?” You hummed in response, before feeling a tug at your sleeve, gaining your attention.
“We should get going if we are going to finish the biology assignment.” Sunghoon urged then turning to his friend and smiling, “See you! I’ll message you after practice.” Jay nodded in agreement before sending you off with a ‘nice to meet you’.
You begin the walk to Sunghoon’s place in silence before you decide to break it like you did yesterday.
“Jay seems nice.” You stated simply, hoping talking about his friend would help Sunghoon open up more, “How long have you been friends?”
“A couple of years now.” Sunghoon responded before smirking to himself, “You like him?”
“Sure, he seems pretty chill.” You said, given that you only had about a minute to interact with the guy.
“He’s a good guy.” Sunghoon finalized, looking out into the distance seemingly in thought, “He’s the kind of guy to have your back no matter what.” You hummed in response, falling silent as you walked towards Sunghoon’s apartment. 
Maybe it was the fact that you were going to his house, but you felt that maybe you’d become a bit closer with the introverted boy. Maybe he at least didn’t dislike you, but you were certain he didn’t like you. But maybe that could change, just given a bit more time.
You were pulled out of your thoughts due to Sunghoon roughly grabbing your arm and pulling you to the left, just narrowly avoiding walking into the busy street. You stumbled a bit, catching your balance on Sunghoon’s shoulder.
“Watch where you’re going!” He huffed, clearly anxious, “Gosh, I thought maybe you didn’t know we had to turn here, but I didn’t expect you to try to walk into traffic.”
“Sorry, I was totally zoned out,” You apologized, letting your grip loosen from his shoulder. You both continued to walk, but he didn’t let go of your arm. For some reason you felt a warm feeling bubble up in your chest from the contact, “Thanks for yanking me to safety though.”
“Did I pull you too hard? Sorry about that, I was just worried.”
“Don’t worry about it, you were just helping me not get hit by a car.”
“Pay more attention next time. You must have been thinking about something important to zone out that badly...”
You blushed, realizing that you were in fact, thinking about Sunghoon and if he was your friend or not.
“Oh? You’re blushing. You must have been thinking about something embarrassing.” Sunghoon teased, finally letting go of you. You surprisingly felt disappointed in this action, “Maybe it was your boyfriend..?” You turned to him, confusion and embarrassment flooding your features.
“Boyfriend? I know you’re not talking about me...” You joked, looking at the sidewalk beneath your feet as you trudged along. It was Sunghoon’s turn to be confused and he tilted his head and stared at you.
“Aren’t you dating someone?” He asked to which you shook your head no; you could feel the shame of this conversation burn up from the base of your neck.
“What about the guy that picked you up on Tuesday that you always hang out with?” Sunghoon questioned you, to which you burst out laughing from the misunderstanding.
“Jake?” You spat between a fit of laughter, “No way! He’s a really good friend that’s all.” It was Sunghoon’s turn to be mortified, his ears turning red as his eyes darted anywhere but you.
“Ahhhh! I’m sorry for jumping to conclusion, you guys just seemed really close at school and the he picked you up and I just assumed and-” He rambled before you cut him off.
“It’s okay. I understand why people might think that,” You assured before smiling to yourself, “He’s my Jay.”
“Your Jay?” Sunghoon asked, finally able to turn and look at you. You catch his gaze and give him a soft smile.
“The best kind of friend that would do anything for you.” You explained simply, “My Jay.” Sunghoon seemed to understand your comparison, smirking to himself because of the cute analogy.
Soon, you make it to Sunghoon’s apartment and begin your biology work. You immediately sat on the sofa this time, not fumbling with the floor; this time, you were conscious of how close he sat beside you, the warmth of his body radiating on your side. It made you anxious suddenly, having him this close to you. You were self-conscious of everything, like how your breath smelled or the way your hair laid. This feeling was one that you couldn’t seem to shake, no matter how hard you tried to focus on teaching Sunghoon about DNA; it was driving you bonkers
“Can I use your bathroom?” You asked, bouncing your knee nervously. He nodded and motioned to the door on the left before continuing working on the question you were on. You quickly shuffled into the bathroom and locked the door behind you, taking a deep breath. You washed your hands and looked up to fix you hair in the mirror.
Only, there wasn’t a mirror there. It was just a blank wall in front of the sink.
You frowned, blinking a couple of times to make sure you weren’t just seeing things. When you finally reached out and touched the wall you finally confirmed you weren’t crazy and there really was just no bathroom mirror.
Drying your hands and heading back to the living room, you debated bringing up the bathroom mirror. Maybe he just broke it and hadn’t bought a replacement yet?
Thinking that it was no big deal, you dropped it and decided to focus on the task at hand. Sunghoon had finished the problem you were on before you left and had moved on to the next one. The whole mirror situation had shaken you from whatever you felt earlier and you were finally able to focus on biology; so much in fact that you finished the assignment early.
“You can stay a bit longer... If you want.” Sunghoon offered, biting his bottom lip and leaning forward on the sofa, “If you’ve got stuff to do, I understand too.”
“I can stay for a bit.” You agreed, putting all of your things in a neat pile by the door before taking a seat on the opposite end of the sofa as Sunghoon, “Besides, I was supposed to be here teaching anyways. And it’s not like I have a ‘boyfriend’ dying to see me.” Sunghoon buried his head in his hands and groaned, making you giggle from the successful teasing.
“I’m so sorry about that, honestly.” He apologized again before cracking an shy grin, “I just though since you spent time with him and you’re...” He trailed off shaking his head from the thought, ears turning a nice shade of pink.
“Oh wow, was Sunghoon going to say something nice to me?” You gasped, placing your hand on your chest dramatically, “Could it be that, THE Park Sunghoon doesn’t hate his biology tutor?”
“Of course I don’t hate you, I assumed we were friends!” He exclaimed.
“Friends? If we were friends, I would have known more about you.” You countered.
“Like what?”
“How about the fact that I just learned you live in an apartment, have old antique couches, and that you figure skate less than a week ago, yet I’ve tutored you all year.”
“Okay that’s fair.”
“And how about the fact that we don’t hang out other than tutoring? Not very friend-like...”
“Okay I get your point. But maybe we should.”
“Should what?”
“Hang out.”
Sunghoon shifted his weight, turning to you before saying something you never expected in a million years.
“I have a competition this weekend, do you maybe want to come watch?” Sunghoon asked, smiling sweetly at you. You taken-aback for a moment, thinking you misheard the boy in front of you. He really wanted to see you outside of tutoring?
“I.. uhh.” You stammered, blinking a couple of times before grinning up at him, “Sure. I’d love to come and cheer you on.”
“Cool. And don’t worry, Jay’ll be there too!” Sunghoon reassured you, “So that way, you wont be all alone when I’m on the ice.” 
You replied with a small ‘cool’, feeling like your soul left your body. All this time, you were worried the guy didn’t like you when it turns out that he thought you guys were friends the whole time. It made you feel good that he actually wanted to see you, a sense of pride burning in your chest.
“Well, I better get ready for practice...” Sunghoon said, subtly hinting in it being your time to leave. You caught his drift and stood, making your way to the door and picking up all your gathered things.
“I better text Jake to come get me.” You responded from the door, slipping your bag over your shoulder.
“Does he usually drive you home from our sessions?” Sunghoon asked, leaning his back against the kitchen counter, seemingly like he was about to prepare food right after you left.
“He didn’t,” You replied, shifting from foot to foot, “but since you live far from me and.... well... there was that guy Geonu a couple days ago so you can never be too careful.”
You see Sunghoon visibly stiffen at the mention of Geonu. His smile falters for a fraction of a second before he approaches you at the door. He helps you with your things and opens it for you.
“It was a terrible thing that happened to him.” Sunghoon said weakly, voice barely above a whisper as he holds the door for you, “I hope whatever monster did that to him pays for what they did.” 
You walk out into the hallway before turning back to face Sunghoon, Feeling a strange sense of dread leaving the apartment. He was smiling, but you could tell it was fake. Why...
“Stay safe (Y/N).” Sunghoon warned before waving, “Have a good night. I’ll text you about my competition later tonight!” You waved back, turning away from his door and walking down the hall to the elevator. Once in the small, confined box, you shook away that sense of dread.
“Get in loser.” Jake called to you from the red hunk of trash he called is car. Hopping in, you quickly did up your seat-belt and Jake was off.
“So, how was tutoring with pretty boy?” Jake asked in a sing-song voice. Ever since he found out about your tutor, he teased you relentlessly, calling him ‘pretty boy’ and saying some obscene remarks about how much “””work””” you guys do.
“Good.” You stated simply before grinning to yourself, “He invited me to watch his figure skating competition this weekend.”
“What! That’s totally a date!” Jake exclaimed, pushing your shoulder over and over, “(Y/N)’s got a date, (Y/N)’s got a date~”
“Shut up! It’s not a date, dumb-ass.” You pushed Jake back, shaking your head, “His friend Jay is going too, so it’s just a friend thing because we are friends.”
“Pretty boy has a friend?” Jake asked, seemingly confused, “I thought he was a loner; Shy boy style...”
“Of course he has a friend,” You scoffed, rolling your eyes a Jake, “For your information, I met him today and complimented his really cool custom boots.” Jake seemed interested in that comment, perking up at the mention of shoes.
“That reminds me! I went searching online for the treads of our vampire’s shoes.” Jake informed you, quickly catching your attention, “But I couldn’t find anything that looked remotely close to the footprint.”
“Really?” You asked before humming in response, thinking about what to do, “Maybe you haven’t looked for the right brand?”
“There doesn’t seem to be any brand like our vampire’s shoes, but I’ll keep searching.” Jake sighed, “So far, all of the major brands were busts because they have their own distinct styles.” You tried to remember back to the photo of the footprint, thinking about if there were any distinct marking on the tread. But to no avail, your brain couldn’t produce an image of value.
“That’s really odd...” You said flatly, deep in thought, but turn to your friend with a sympathetic look in your eyes, “But I appreciate all the work you’re doing to find the evidence.”
Jake let out a small, defeated ‘thanks’ before slowing to a stop. You get out of his car (not without an awkward, sitting down car hug) and scurry inside your house, waving frantically to your friend as he pulled away.
---------------
“Did you hear the news? Apparently there was another attack down by 42 St.” Jungwon exclaimed, catching your attention from the sudden news, “They didn’t die, but the victim was hospitalized and is in serious condition...”
You had gathered in the lunch room at your usual table; it was just you and Jungwon for the moment as Heesung was busy doing a make-up exam in History.
“Hey, pretty boy lives pretty close to there!” Jake revealed, returning from a bathroom break with a bag of chips and an ice tea. He sits beside you and fiddles with the plastic bag.
“Who?” Jungwon asked, tilting his head like a puppy out of confusion.
“Sunghoon.” You replied before chewing your cuticle anxiously.
“Yes?” a voice from behind you asked, causing you and Jake to whip around to reveal the man himself. He was standing with Jay and another boy you hadn’t met before.
“Oh, we were just talking about the attack that was on the news.” Jungwon explained, glancing between you and your friend tutor. Jay stiffened, looking like he’d just seen a ghost while Sunghoon glanced between his friends.
“I heard about that,” The other boy said; he had a cute face and raven black hair that gave him a mature aura despite his adorable features, “It was only a block from your house, right Hoonie?” The group was silent, but you watched as Jay shifted his weight from foot to foot. 
“Yeah, it’s pretty close...” Sunghoon confirmed. He seemed slightly awkward, but you guessed it was because he probably wasn’t used to all the attention being on him. Jay seemed much more uncomfortable though, looking anywhere but your table. He chewed on his bottom lip before swinging his arm around Sunghoon’s shoulder.
“We should get going.” He urged, before smiling politely to you, “See you at the competition tomorrow (Y/N).” You nodded and grinned at Jay, noticing his strange behavior.
“Stay safe, Sunghoon.” You warned, earning you a soft smile from your tutor.
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” He replied before the boys were off, going to sit in the corner table where Sunghoon usually was found. You turned back to your friends and they looked at you expectantly.
“Please tell me I’m not the only one who thought they looked uncomfortable...” Jungwon said, eyes darting back and forth between you and Jake.
“No, they were definitely uncomfortable.” Jake said and turned to you, “What was with that Jay guy? He looked like he wanted to sprint out of here as soon as we brought the vampire subject up...”
“I don’t know.” You frowned, glancing over to their table where they seemed to be back to normal, joking and laughing, “When I first met him he seemed pretty chill but he was super on edge the whole time he was here...” Your table fell silent, cogs turning in your brain that you weren’t sure you wanted turning. Your thought process was interrupted by Heesung sliding into the chair next to Jungwon.
“Hey nerds, I just failed that History test.” Heesung said nonchalantly before switching his demeanor upon noticing your serious moods, “What’s up? You all look like you saw a ghost!”
“Hey (Y/N), you said Jay had custom boots,” Jake asked slowly, hinting at exactly what you were thinking. You nodded looking between the boys, “do you think the treads would be custom too..?”
“We think we just met our suspect for the vampire incident.” Jungwon revealed, causing the lingering tension to suffocate your group and fill your stomach with worry.
-----------------
“You know the plan right?” Heesung asked, leaning forward from the backseat of Jake’s car.
 It was 2:00 on a Saturday and you were just outside the rink in Jake’s car with the boys; you were supposed to be going to the rink to support Sunghoon but because of the groups suspicions, you take it upon yourself as president of the PAC to do some spy work on the suspected vampire Jay. 
“Of course I know the plan.” You rolled you eyes, going to open the door to get out before a flurry of ‘aye’s came from the three boys in the red car with you.
“We should go over it again once more to be sure.” Jungwon suggested, agreement coming from the other two boys. You sighed, but retraced your hand from the door handle
“Okay so you need to get his shoe size and look for burn marks from the silver ring.” Jake re-iterated for what seemed like the tenth time.
“A confession would also be useful,” Heesung stated, “But those first two things would be most important.”
“Also, check the tread to see if the shoe is actually the one we’re looking for.” Jungwon added.
“And make sure you bring up the attacks and see how he reacts.” Jake pipped in.
“and-”
“Guys,” You interrupted, clearly annoyed at how they don’t think you already know all that, “I’ve got it.”
“This is really important (Y/N), don’t let the club down.” Heesung said and grabbed your shoulder reassuringly. You nodded to your group, trying your hardest to exude confidence before opening the door and stepping out.
“Oh yeah, one last thing,” Jake called out to you before you shut the door, grinning from ear to ear, “Have fun cheering on pretty boy.” You shouted that you would before hurrying into the rink, wanting to see Sunghoon before his turn.
Ever since he said he’d text you about the competition, you had began to text back and forth nonstop. You were really starting to enjoy his company and for some reason, you couldn’t help but smile whenever you’d get a notification from him. That’s why the whole thing with Jay was so hard...
You didn’t want to jeopardize the relationship you had with Sunghoon because his best friend was allegedly a vampire. As much as you hated to admit, you really were starting to like Sunghoon and you wanted to become even closer friends with him; and you were pretty sure straight up accusing Jay of murder would not bode well for your relationship with Sunghoon....
As you entered the skating rink, you first felt a blast of coolness from the low temperatures. The second thing you felt was excitement because you could see Sunghoon tying up his skates on one of the benches across the arena. Even from across the room, you noted how beautiful he looked and you finally understood why Jake’s nickname for him was ‘pretty boy’. He wore tight fitted black pants that accentuated his long legs and a rich, red coloured shirt that made him look like a prince. 
Tearing your eyes from Sunghoon, you scanned the crowd to find Jay; you see him sitting with the boy from yesterday and yet another unknown guy in one of the very front rows. How many other friends did Sunghoon have?
You scurry over to them, before poking Jay in the shoulder.
“Is this seat taken?” You asked with a smile, causing all the boys to turn and look at you. Jay smiled and scooted over, making room for you between him and the cute boy from yesterday.
“Hey (Y/N).” He greeted as you sat down, “Glad you could make it.”
“He’s on the ice now!” The newest boy pointed out, watching as his friend got onto the ice to warm up.
“Oh yeah, you must not know these two knuckleheads,” Jay said casually, getting the attention of the two boys he was accompanying, “Don’t be shy, fellas.” 
“I’m Ni-ki.” The newest boy greeted shyly. If it was possible, he seemed even more shy than Sunghoon, eyes meeting yours for a moment before looking back out at the ice.
“My name’s Sunoo!” The cute boy from yesterday sing-songed, grabbing your hand and shaking it excitedly, “So you’re the (Y/N) Sunghoon won’t shut up about?” Jay shoved his overly excited friend for revealing that Sunghoon talked about you. You felt your cheeks heat up at the thought of Sunghoon gushing about you to his friends like a schoolgirl, but tried your best to act cool about it and like you definitely didn’t care.
Speaking of Sunghoon, there was a knock on the plexi-glass that got your attention; He stood on the ice, adorning the biggest smile you think you’ve ever seen on him. You got up and walked towards him, followed by the three other boys.
“You made it!” Sunghoon cheered, although his voice was muffled through the layer of glass between you two.
“Well, I was pretty busy, but I managed to squeeze this into my schedule.” You teased, checking your nails for the dramatic effect. The boy on the ice just chuckled at your teasing, the sound causing you to smile.
“Thanks for coming, I really appreciate it.” He thanked you sincerely.
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it.” You said sweetly before cracking a goofy grin, “It’ll be nice to see you do something besides fail at biology.”
“Good luck out there buddy!” Jay encouraged, giving his friend a fist-bump through the glass.
“I’m sure you’ll be great.” Ni-ki assured, nodding at the boy on the ice before retreating to his seat.
“We’ll be cheering you on Hoonie!” Sunoo exclaimed, making a fist before returning to his seat as well. Sunghoon waved as he skated back to the bench to prepare for his turn, which would be happening in less that five minutes.
“After you.” You gesture for Jay to go first, swaying your hands dramatically towards the isle.
“Thank you.” He bowed, before going to his seat. You are then reminded of the task at hand, and you make a mental note to ask Jay some of the questions you prepared, trying your best to come off as natural. You sat back down in your spot between him and Sunoo.
“So, how have you been?” you asked nonchalantly, “Busy week?”
“Not really.” Jay answered simply, “Mostly schoolwork and then hanging with these dudes. You?”
“Well, just tutoring and managing my club.” You said, grinning sweetly at the boy.
“You have a club?” Sunoo gasped, before pouting, “I wish I had my own club...”
“What kind of club is it?” Jay asked, seemingly interested in what you had to say.
“It’s called the Paranormal Activities Club. PAC for short. We meet every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at around 4:00” You explained, glancing at Jay as you continues, “We talk about all sorts of paranormal stuff like ghosts, werewolves, demons... vampires...” Jay shifts in his seat at the mention of monsters, and you of course take notice of this.
“That’s really cool.” Ni-ki admitted, smirking at you before looking away.
“Yeah... cool.” Jay agreed, a hesitance slightly present in his tone.
“Do you believe in anything like that, Jay?” You asked, relaxing your demeanor and trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible.
“Me?” He said and cleared his throat, “Not really. It’s possible, but super unlikely...” You hummed in response, taking note of how he copied your stance by relaxing his back and opening his legs a bit more to seem comfortable. He wouldn’t meet your gaze though.
Interesting...
Just as you were about to say something else, The announcer came over the loud speaker and announced that it was time for the next skater to go and Sunghoon skated out to the center of the rink and stood in front of the judges. He bowed before doing a half a lap and gliding the other half with his arms spread, greeting the crowd. You clapped along with everyone else, making a mental note to put the whole vampire situation on pause and focus on Sunghoon.
He returned to the center where he waited; the music began. It was a a soft piano track and it filled the rink with the sweet melody. Sunghoon then began to skate and you could swear you felt all the air leave your lungs. 
As he glided, Sunghoon twisted and turn on his blades, spreading his arms like a delicate swan. As the song grew to a peak, He dug one of his blades into the ice and used it seemingly as a launchpad, jumping and spinning in the air like gravity didn’t effect him. As the song continued, he swiveled on one of his feet before jumping and spinning again; your eyes followed him, in awe at how beautiful and graceful he moved around on the ice. He then spun in one spot, long leg outstretched at a perfect 90 degree angle before transitioning into holding  his blade and creating a ring with his body, all while continuing his turns. You watched, almost in a trance as he moved along with the symphony, skating right by the crowd and right past the judges before launching into another jump. As the song came to a close, Sunghoon got into his finishing stance, which was his arms outstretched forward and sliding on one knee towards the judges, a 5-star smile on his face. You can feel your heart pounding in your chest from his performance, taking a moment to calm down before applauding your tutor friend. (Did I watch a ton of vids on Sunghoon skating today? Yes.)
“He did fantastic.” You whisper breathlessly to Jay, who stands and starts to holler at his friend.
“He did.” Jay responded, showing a sense of pride for his best friend. The boys yell words of encouragement to Sunghoon as he bows to the judges and then to the crowd. You catch his gaze and feel a certain swell in your chest when he smiles just a bit brighter at you.
~~~
“You were gliding across the ice like ‘swooooshh’ and then you jumped up and spun like ‘trrrrt’!” Ni-ki gushed, rotating his finger as you were standing by the dressing room to congratulate Sunghoon. He looked even more beautiful up close, handsome features glowing in the place he’s most comfortable.
“You were awesome Hoonie!” Sunoo agreed, smiling so bright his eyes basically disappeared in his eye smiles.
“Thank you guys, really.” Sunghoon said out of breath, brushing his sweaty locks off his forehead, “I’m glad you all came to cheer for me.”
“Of course,” Jay scoffed, “What kind of friends don’t support their friend?”
“You should have seen (Y/N) watch you,” Sunoo exposed, moving aside to make room for you to talk to Sunghoon comfortably, “She couldn’t take her eyes off of you, and stared like this.” He then did an over-dramatized of you, eyes sparkling and jaw open so wide you thought he was trying to eat an invisible cheeseburger. You felt your face heat up out of embarrassment before Jay shoves Sunoo to get him to quit.
“For the record, I did not watch you like that.” You corrected, before grinning and holding out your hand for a high-five, “But you were really cool.” Sunghoon’s already flush cheeks reddened at your comment before letting out a small ‘thank you’ and lightly high-fiving you. When your hand touched Sunghoon’s, you felt a jolt of electricity and it made you giddy.
“Should we go out for pizza or something? To celebrate?” Ni-ki suggested, earning a murmur of agreements from the group. Sunghoon mentioned he had to go change and you were secretly upset by this. Just because you were friends didn’t mean you couldn’t think he was attractive right? He looked so good in that costume, the tight-fitting pants and loose shirt that left only a little to the imagination. You ogled his exposed collarbones for a moment more as he was talking to Jay about if he’d place; Although you had just now notice something that was there.
Right above his right collarbone, there seemed to be a small burn-mark that was previously covered with makeup but now was visible due to Sunghoon’s sweat. It wasn’t very big, but it looked like it was in a starburst shape and you wondered what could have caused it. Maybe a cooking accident with oil?
The ice price disappeared in the change room and you and the rest of the boys waited out front in the lobby. When Sunghoon did emerge from the change room, you all wasted no time and began to make your way to the closest pizza joint. You walked beside Jay, watching the other two boys tease Sunghoon in-front of you.
“So...” You said, trying to fill the silence; You didn’t know how to transition in to vampire talk so effortlessly. It was a weird topic to bring up out of the blue and you didn’t know how to ask Jay about his shoes without seeming like you had a foot fetish.
“Yeah..?” Jay asked before chuckling, “You okay? You look a little on edge; something on your mind perhaps?” Perfect.
“Well, its a little late and there have been a few attacks recently...” You said wearily, stealing glaces at the boy beside you.
“Oh yeah, there have been.” Jay gulped, brushing his hair out of his eyes, “But you’ll be okay if you stay close to us.”
“Me and my club suspect its a vampire.” You stated bluntly, wanting to see how Jay would react; he stiffens, but overall keeps a good composure.
“Really?” He chuckled dryly, “That’s interesting.”
“I know you don’t believe in that kind of stuff though.”
“yeah...”
“But we are pretty serious about it. We are just trying to find out who the vampire is.”
“Do you have a suspect?”
“yeah.” You answered and turned to him, pausing before speaking slowly, “We actually do have one...”
Jay stared at you, panic concealed in his glossed over eyes. Before he could speak, the boys lead you into the restaurant.You drop the conversation as you enter the building. You all squish into a corner booth and Ni-ki orders a pizza for all of you to share.
“what’s wrong Jay? you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Sunoo asked concerned, placing his hand on his friends shoulder.
“Nothing’s wrong.” Jay said flatly, glancing at you before smiling, “I just can’t wait to eat.”
“Dude, I’m so hungry!” Ni-ki sighed, patting his stomach for emphasis.
“I’m not actually, so I think I’ll just hang out.” Sunghoon revealed, grinning softly. You were pressed next to him in the booth and for some reason you felt nervous.
 It must have been the vampire thing. 
Definitely.
Why else would you be nervous?
“What?” Sunoo exclaimed, “How could you not be hungry? You’ve exercised all day!”
“Not sure, but I’m good on the food.” Sunghoon explained, “I think I’ll just get an ice tea.”
Just then the pizza arrived and you all (besides Sunghoon) began eating. Lots of fun was had and you swear you felt like you were with your own friend group. The boys made you laugh and you felt pretty comfortable around them, even though you had just met Ni-ki and Sunoo today.
Not long after, it was dark and you and the boys had finished the pizza and it was time for you to go home; You still hadn’t gotten any information about Jay’s shoes or a confession about vampire activities. But you had an idea to maybe reveal some information, though you didn’t really want to do it...
As you guys stood up from the table, you “accidentally” knocked over Sunghoon’s half-drunken ice tea all over your shoes, drenching your feet and the surrounding carpet with the sticky drink.
“Ahhh!” You whined, feeling the coldness of the drink seeping into your socks. The boys reacted as quick as possible, picking up the glass and informing a waitress about the accident. You guys left the restaurant, embarrassed; You sat outside on the pavement, wringing your socks out, giggling about how silly the situation was. Now was the time to really get the information you need.
“What am I gonna do about walking home?” You sighed before looking at Jay playfully, “Maybe Jay will let me borrow his super cool boots! What size are they anyways?” 
Jay chuckled and looked down at his shoes before shaking his head at you.
“No way man! I don’t trust you with my babies.” Jay joked, “besides, they are a men’s size 7, so I doubt you would be able to fit into them.” That was the same size as the print at the scene...
“I know, I’m just kidding.” You chuckled, trying to hide the thought process going on in your head, “I’ll just wear these gross sneakers home!” As you began to put your shoes on, your vision is suddenly covered by a figure crouching down in front of you. 
“Hop on.” Sunghoon urged, looking over his shoulder with a smile, “You can’t live that far from here right?” You replied with a small ‘are you sure?’, to which Sunghoon nodded yes. You picked up your shoes with one hand before wrapping your arms and legs around the ice-prince. He stood up and adjusted you on his back, placing his hands around your thighs to support your body. You felt yourself become nervous, yet excited from the close contact, bringing heat to your face from these feelings. 
“See you boys tomorrow!” Sunghoon called out to the boys as you and Sunghoon prepared to leave. Ni-ki and Sunoo waved before starting their trek in the opposite direction, bickering back and forth. Jay lingered for a moment longer, feeling a sense of anxiety bubble up in his chest. Were you close to finding out about...? He didn’t like the idea of you and Sunghoon being alone, but he trusted his friend.
“You two be careful okay?” Jay said very carefully, eyes glued to his friend, “I’ll see you tomorrow Sunghoon.” And with that, he turned to leave and quickly followed after the other two boys. You tried to get a look at the bottom of his shoes, but you couldn’t see them very well in the dark and in the distance. 
You had let Sunghoon know where you lived and the two of you were off. For a bit, the only thing that could be heard was Sunghoon’s feet against the pavement and the beating of your heart in your ears. You found comfort in the smell of his cologne and the occasional street light as Sunghoon held you close.
“Hey, you didn’t have to carry me home...” You hummed, feeling slightly guilty about making Sunghoon carry you.
“Oh, my bad. I’ll just leave you here then.” He teased, loosening his grip on you. You squealed and clung onto his shoulders and let out a flurry of “no”s. He chuckled at your reaction before shifting his grip on you to hold you closer to him. You wrapped your arms around the boy tighter, burying your face in his shoulder. It was silent again, but only for a moment before you mumbled a quiet thank you; Sunghoon hummed in response, focusing on the warmth of you against his back and the thousand thoughts stirring in his head.
“Hey (Y/N), I have to ask you something.” He finally said; You had almost fell asleep on his back, focusing only on the sounds of his breathing. His statement intrigued you, causing you to perk up off of his shoulder.
“What’s up?” You said gently, tightening your grip.
“Say you had a really good friend...” He started out, voice low and serious, “and you found out they did something really bad, but it was an accident” You frowned, getting a sudden sense of dread. You suddenly felt how cold it was outside in the dark.
“What would you do?” He finally asked, “Would you stay friends with them?”
You were quiet for a minute, thinking of how to respond to this question. You had just passed the last streetlamp on the road you were walking so it was almost pitch black except for a few stars. The night atmosphere brought in a thick tension that made you feel nervous about the subject matter of Sunghoon’s question.
“I mean, I guess it really depends on what the bad thing is.” You stated, before continuing on, “But it was an accident and if I knew they were a good person, I guess I might stay friends.” Sunghoon nodded, thinking about your answer and breathing out weakly.
“Why? Did your friend do something really bad?” You asked suddenly, Jay popping into your mind. Sunghoon’s pace quickened a bit and you could feel his heart in his chest going crazy. He seemed anxious and you though about what that could mean. He adjusted his grip on you before clearing his throat.
“Nope. I was just wondering what you’d say.” He said flatly, seemingly more confident than before. You blinked a couple times, surprised by his sudden change of tone.
“Oh okay...” You replied nonchalantly, looking up to the sky and sighing, “I mean, if you did something bad on accident, I’d still be your friend because you’re a really great guy.” You didn’t even realize what you said until it came out of your mouth. You felt you face heat up and Sunghoon let out a hearty chuckle that made you even more flustered.
“Thanks I guess.” He said through giggles, Before chewing the skin on his bottom lip and responding back, “I think you’re a really great girl too.”
“Thanks” you can’t help but squeak, making you mentally want to punch yourself. There’s suddenly tension again, but for a different reason this time. Sunghoon’s grip on your legs is softer now and you notice his thumb beginning to mindlessly draw shape on your thighs. You held his broad shoulders tighter and you could feel him take a shaky breath as yours tickled the side of his neck.
But before the tension got too thick, you had arrived at your place. Sunghoon took you to the front door and let you down off of him before turning around to face you. His cheeks were red, but you were sure it wasn’t from the cold. 
“Thanks again for taking me home.” You said, feeling like your stomach was going to explode.
“Its no problem.” Sunghoon assured you, rubbing the back on his neck to get the goosebumps to go away.
“It’s pretty late, do you want me to call you a cab?”
“No I’m alright, but thanks for the offer.”
“Are you sure? I’d hate for something to happen.”
“I’m sure.”
Sunghoon bowed his head to you, bidding you a farewell. You felt your body move towards him and before you could even think to stop yourself, you did the unthinkable.
You leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek, right on the corner of his mouth and you swore you must have looked just as surprised as Sunghoon did; His eyes were wide and he looked as if he was frozen in time.
“I- uhmmmm....” You stammered before saying the stupidest thing in the universe, “Good job skating today. Goodnight!”
 Sunghoon blinked a couple of times, finally seeming to wake up.
“Uh- Thanks!” He exclaimed, clearly flustered, before turning to leave you door. He had his hand on his face where you kissed as he waved back at you with the other when he realized he needed to say goodbye, “I- uhh, Goodnight (Y/N)!” 
It was official, you wanted to die.
--------------------
“Jake, did you even listen to the rest of the story?” You huffed, embarrassed at your friends relentless teasing.
“If you didn’t want me to make fun of you,” Jake explained through fits of laughter, “You should have left the part where you awkwardly kissed pretty boy out of the story!”
You shoved Jake into room 300 because he was about to miss the turn into the classroom (and for your own personal gratification). Heesung and Jungwon were already there, putting the desks together to create your meeting table. Upon noticing your entrance they both greeted you and Jake before gazing at the cackling vice-president of PAC.
“What’s so funny?” Jungwon asked, pulling out all of the evidence photos from his backpack. Jake sighed, wiping a tear away and finally able to catch his breath.
“I mean, you should ask (Y/N).” He chuckled, “I’m sure she’s dying to explain.” You rolled your eyes, trying to fight your body from heating up.
“Nothing new, Jake just bullying me.” You shook your head and took your seat at the head of the table. After setting up the rest of the evidence, the boys sat down too and you officially started the meeting.
“Alright, so here’s what I got to find out about our suspect.” You said and went up to the whiteboard. You picked up a black dry erase marker and wrote Jay’s name before underlining it.
“First, when we were at the rink, I mentioned our club and asked if he believed in paranormal things and he said no, but with hesitation.” You said and wrote down a summary of what you said, “Then, when I mentioned the attacks, he got really antsy, especially after I mentioned that we were investigating for a vampire.”
“So no confession I presume?” Heesung asked, jotting notes down as you went along to keep your encounter documented after club was over and you had to erase the board.
“No, but he was very defensive any time I brought the vampire stuff up.” You explained and the boys nodded.
“And the other boys, you said they were named Sunoo and Ni-ki..?” Jungwon asked and you hummed in response, “Did they do anything suspicious?”
“Not a thing.” You said simply, “Sunoo seemed more worried about the attacks than I did. And Ni-ki was a bit more focused on pizza and figure skating than engaging in conversation.”
“However,” You continued before writing your thoughts on the board, “I have reason to believe Sunghoon knows about Jay being a vampire.”
“You do?” Heesung said, shocked at your accusation, “Why?”
“Well, I wanted to get more information about Jay’s boots, but I couldn’t bring up shoes without seeming weird so long story short, I dumped ice tea on my sneakers and Sunghoon took me home.” You said before writing a side note, “Oh and for your information, Jay’s shoe size is a 7 in men’s,  but I couldn’t get a good look at the treads.”
“Okay, that useful information.” Jungwon said and jotted that down, “But continue.”
“Anyways, He had asked me if I would stay friends with someone if they did something really bad, but I knew it was on accident.” You explained, writing the point form of that conversation on the board, “So I suspect he knows about Jay and doesn’t know what to do, stay friends or turn him in.”
“I mean, that is an oddly specific question.” Jungwon agreed, furrowing his eyebrows in thought, “Why would you ask someone that unless you specifically have an experience to go by.”
“Anything else happen?” Heesung asked, looking at you expectantly.
“Yeah (Y/N), anything else happen?” Jake, who had been quiet this whole time asked, eyes fluttering and a grin on his face. You groaned, pinching the bridge of your nose.
“Relevant to the investigation, no.” You said before sighing, “But I also gave Sunghoon a really awkward kiss on the cheek, but that’s irreverent.”
The room went up in a flurry, and you could have swore you wouldn’t have gotten a bigger reaction if you said you had found Jay to be the vampire. All the boys were talking at once and it was so loud, you almost didn’t hear a knock at the door. You shushed them before going to the door and opening it to reveal the man you were just talking about.
“Uh, hi...” Sunghoon greeted shyly. The rest of the boys peered over your shoulder to eavesdrop on the conversation until Sunghoon met their gaze, to which they looked anywhere but the doorway. You’re gaze dropped, not being able to his face, feeling the heat of nervousness and embarrassment creep up your neck.
“Hey, what’s up?” You asked, suddenly aware of all of the writing you had on  the whiteboard; You pulled the door a bit closer, blocking most of the room.
“I just wanted to uhh.... I wanted to talk to you about something.” Sunghoon mumbled, clearly nervous. The boys let out a loud ‘oooOooOoOOoO’ from behind you and you reminded yourself to hit them later. You rolled your eyes feeling bad for how your friends were being.
“Sure, let’s just go out into the hallway.” You said and closed the door behind you. It was quite out there and you finally had the courage to bring your gaze back up to his face. Your eyes settled on the spot where you had kissed him a couple nights ago and you couldn’t help the butterflies from fluttering around in your stomach.
“Before you say anything,” You sighed, trying your best to hide your embarrassment, “I’m sorry about Saturday night. I totally don’t even know what I was thinking doing that and-”
“Oh please don’t apologize!” Sunghoon interrupted frantically, before clearing this throat and fiddling with an envelope; You hadn’t even noticed he was holding it until now.
“I mean, I don’t mind you kissing me like that...” He said timidly, smirking to himself before holding the envelope out for you to take. You do take it, feeling the red wax seal on the front, “I wanted to give you that. But please don’t read it yet!”
“Alright, I’ll wait to read it.” You agreed and gripped the paper tightly, “Is that all..?”
“Well, I was also wondering if you want to come over later today?” He asked, biting his bottom lip; your eyes were trained to his mouth, but instead of his lips, you were focused on his pointed canine teeth; how cute that he had little “fangs”!
“Yeah, I’d love to, but as a date..?” You asked timidly, rocking back and forth on your feet. Sunghoon blinked and gazed at the ground, ears red.
“If you want it to be, I’d like that too...” He said and you nodded, feeling like your heart was about to explode, “So I guess just be in the lobby of my apartment by 8 and bring the letter. Please don’t read it until then.”
“I promise.” You agreed again, smiling like an idiot, “I guess I’ll see you later.”
Sunghoon said goodbye and gave you a kiss, much like you did to him a few nights ago; Only this time, his lips attached to your mouth for a moment and you felt like you could die happy. Except he tasted oddly metallic, but you were too excited to care. He waved goodbye and scurried down the hallway and disappeared from your sight.
You go back into the classroom and are met with three pairs of eyes on you. You stared at the boys and they stared back in silence.
“So are we gonna talk about pretty boy asking you out or..?” Jake finally said and you scoffed, approaching them.
“Let’s just get back to work on things that matter!” You huffed, but couldn’t stop the grin from gracing your features.
~~~
Ice Prince: you’re almost here?
You text back a reply and quickly close your phone. Jake glanced at you before patting your shoulder reassuringly while keeping is focus on the road.
“Hey, everything will be fine.” He said and smiled, “I mean, I think you’ll probably spill water all over his floor and probably trip in the elevator, but I guess he’s into girls like that.”
“Oh god, don’t jinx me.” You groaned, pulling down the flip-up mirror in Jake’s car to check your makeup one last time. You take a tube of lip-chap out of your bag and apply another layer, worried about your lips being crusty. Jake chuckled and parked in front of Sunghoon’s building, flipping the mirror up and startling you in the process.
“You look great, dude.” He said simply and gives you a lopsided grin, “Just breathe and be yourself and everything will go great.” You take a deep breath in and thank Jake before giving him a hug.
“Hey, when you tell me all about it later, make sure to leave out all the kissing parts.” He teased, grimacing as you got out of the car, “I don’t need to hear about you and pretty boy swapping spit.”
“If I knew you’d be so jealous of me, I would have set you two up instead.” You grinned and walked towards the front door, thanking Jake for the ride before entering the lobby.
(Y/N): I’m here!
Ice Prince: Be right there to see you :)
Ice Prince: Did you bring the letter?
After reading the last message, you texted back a quick ‘yes’. Just then, the elevator doors opened to reveal Sunghoon, who beamed when he saw you. He looked almost as ethereal as when he was on the ice (almost).
He had his hair parted in the middle and a simple, over-sized white dress shirt tucked into his black jeans. The shirt felt somewhat familiar, but you couldn’t place where you’d seen one like that...
“Hey.” He said, shakiness evident in his voice, “You look so beautiful...”
“Oh thanks.” You replied, trying to hide your nervousness, “I think you look beautiful- I! Uhhhh mean handsome! You look really handsome...”
You mentally facepalmed yourself, but it must have been showing in your features because Sunghoon laughed, releasing all the tension in the room. After all, this was your calculus tutor and a friend you were with. He lead you into the elevator. Sunghoon lived on one of the top floors on his apartment complex, so you'd be in there for a minute; Sunghoon took the time to try and ease his nerves, staring at the doors and humming a soft tune.
You glanced in the mirror in the elevator, wanting to make sure your hair was perfect. And that’s when you saw it; more accurately, didn’t see it...
You were alone in the reflection.
Feeling like your eyes were deceiving you, you turned back to see Sunghoon standing there, humming away without a care in the world. You turned back to the mirror and saw that he wasn’t in the mirror. You felt your stomach drop as everything clicked together.
No mirrors in his house, the burn on his collarbone, not eating after the competition, his question that night, the metallic taste of his lips, and that stupid shirt...
“Come on (Y/N),” Sunghoon beckoned from the hallway; you hadn’t realized the doors opened and he was waiting for you. Sunghoon smiled and your eyes snapped to his sharp canines you had noticed earlier today, “Sorry, was I interrupting your daydream?”
“Not at all.” You said nervously, leaving the elevator and following Sunghoon to his place. You had to fight the urge to run away from him and not let him be alone with you in his apartment; he could be trapping you and every instinct was screaming run.
But you were curious about him. If he really was... then as the president of PAC, you needed to know. 
“Hey (Y/N), you don’t have to be afraid.” He whispered, facing his door and opening it. He held his door open to you and softly grinned, which filled you with comfort, “Its just me.”
You entered his apartment and everything looked like it had the last time you were here. It had felt like ages ago now.
You sat on the couch, feeling surprisingly calm; But you always had felt pretty calm around Sunghoon (up until recently when you started getting butterflies because of your feelings), so it made sense.
“Do you want anything?” He called from the kitchen casually, like he does when you study here. He was looking in the fridge, as if he didn’t notice the change in your behavior.
“No, I’m alright.” You hummed, sitting with your hands in you lap; the atmosphere was thick, and you watched as Sunghoon closed the fridge and approached the couch and sat beside you, “So, what do you have planned?”
“First things first, I want to address that letter I gave you,” He said and looked at your bag that was still around your shoulder; You moved it and went to take the letter out of it, shuffling around in the bag, “And then maybe we can go out somewhere or watch a movie or whatever you want.”
“Sounds good, I have it right here.” You said, still looking for it in your bag. You ducked your head to look in your bag for it, surprised you hadn’t felt it yet, but you couldn’t see it in there, “It should be in here... somewhere...”
Sunghoon watched as you start taking things out of your bag until it was empty; no letter.
“I could have sworn I brought it!” You huffed, frustrated and embarrassed you forgot the one thing you needed, “I’m so sorry. but maybe you can just tell me what it said..?”
“ahhh of course this would happen...” Sunghoon sighed, chuckling to himself, looking at the velvet cushion of the couch, “I can’t believe I have to grow the courage to actually say it, but you needed to know.”
“Maybe you don’t have to say it.” you grabbed his hands, causing him to look you in the eyes. There was a suddenly tension, and you could feel yourself growing meeker by the second, “Maybe I already know...”
Sunghoon was so close you could feel the heat radiating from his body. His eyes hid something you couldn’t read, but his expression laid stone cold. He licked his lips before responding to you, eyes not leaving yours.
“What do you know?” His voice was low, barely above a whisper.
“What you are.” You said breathlessly with your last ounce of courage. Sunghoon’s eyes flickered, leaning away from you and looking out the window. He pulls his hands from yours, placing them in his own lap.
“It was the elevator right?” He asked, continuing before you could answer, “I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if you figured out my little secret sooner, you being the president of the vampire hunting club and all.” 
It was silent for a moment; Sunghoon still couldn’t meet your gaze, looking out the window into the lit city streets while you couldn’t stop looking at him. He was still beautiful as ever, and your eyes wandered to the mole on the bridge of his nose. You remember walking home with him that day an finally noticing it; You thought it made him look so much prettier.
He was still the same man as he was that day.
“What happened with Geonu?” You asked tentatively, leaning closer to Sunghoon to look out the window too.
“I had it all written down in the letter, but I can tell you about it because I owe you at least that much.” He said, his voice sounding weak and tired.
-
God he was so hungry. 
He was off to buy some beef to curb the cravings (Sunghoon eats it raw), but the market he went to was closed until the next morning.
But it didn’t help that he was hungry now and as time went on, his willpower was dwindling. As Sunghoon walked down the streets, hoping some fresh air would help with the intense burning in his stomach, before a familiar voice called out to him.
“Hey Sunghoon, Why are you out so late?” Jay called, jogging to catch up with Sunghoon. Jay was known to enjoy late night shenanigans, so it was no surprise to Sunghoon why he was out at night. But the smell of Jay’s sweat was killing him in ways he couldn’t explain to his friend.
“Wanted to go for a walk.” He answered flatly, trying to control his rampant desires. He kept walking, trying to get away from Jay, but his friend wouldn’t leave him alone.
“Hey dude, wait up! You don’t look so good...” Jay said, concern laced in his voice, “I’m gonna take you home okay, you need to rest up.”
As Jay reached out to touch Sunghoon, it was the last straw. Sunghoon grabbed his friend by the arm and yanked him, causing Jay to stumble to the ground in the adjacent alleyway, trying to process what was happening. Sunghoon lunged onto Jay, holding him down.
“Sunghoon get off of me!” Jay shouted, struggling to get out of the vice like grip Sunghoon had placed on his wrists. He saw the pure predatory look in his friend’s eyes and the growing of his teeth; The sight was something that would never leave Jay’s head.
“Sunghoon snap out of it!” Jay yelled, finally being able to throw Sunghoon off of his body. Sunghoon immediately made some distance between the two and burst into tears, laying on the pavement clutching his stomach.
“I’m sorry Jay...” Sunghoon cried, regaining the littlest bit of composure, “I’m.. It... It hurts so bad, Jay.”
“Hey it’s okay...” Jay said through heavy breaths, still trying to process what was going on and that this was real, “You should just go home and try to feel better okay?”
But just then, another figure appeared in mouth of the alleyway; Geonu.
He was studying late that night, stopping at the convenient store for some late night snacks. He was on his way back to the library when he hears shouting and fighting in the alleyway. And like any other person, he went to see what was going on and if he was able to help.
“Hey what’s going on? I heard shouting and fighting...” He explained, gazing at the two boys on the ground before approaching them. He stuck his hand out to Sunghoon, who was closer of the two to help him to his feet when the boy lashed out Geonu, digging his fingernails into his forearm and wailing.
Geonu pulled his arm away, crying out in pain and shuffling away from Sunghoon, holding onto the deep gash on his arm that was oozing blood. Once Sunghoon caught scent of it, his last bit of control was gone.
He lunged at Geonu, but he was quicker, stumbling to his feet and running in the direction of the school with Sunghoon in pursuit.
“Sunghoon! Wait!” Jay shouted, running after his friend to get him away from Geonu. He watched as they were heading through the front gate in the direction of the soccer feild.
Jay ran to the woods, hoping to cut off the duo; Suddenly there was a scream of anguish, sounding like Jay’s dear friend. He ran faster, emerging from the bush to see the two boys lying on the field.
Sunghoon had Geonu on his back, holding Sunghoon with his palms firmly on his chest. However, Geonu was wearing a silver ring that was burning into Sunghoon’s flesh near Sunghoon’s collarbone, which made the boy cry out. He ripped the hand from his shoulder before twisting the silver ring off Geonu’s finger and throwing it out at the track.
Sunghoon then fiercely lunged towards his neck, sinking his fangs into the center of his throat. Geonu’s screeched out in agony but it was already done. He weakly pushed on the boy above him, trying to get him off as he grew weaker.
Sunghoon sucked and chewed at the open wounds on Geonu, feeling the burning pain in his stomach subside. He held Geonu firmly until he ceased to move.
Jay watched in horror, his head spinning. He felt like he was in a dream as he watched his closest friend turn into a vampire and kill someone. Sunghoon unlatched from Geonu, realizing what he had done. He scurried away from Geonu’s body as fast as he could before wiping the copious amounts of blood from his mouth and chin area. He gazed at the red on his hands, feeling sick.
Sunghoon let out a pained scream, sitting on his knees as he let out sobs. Jay, shaken by his friends reaction, tried to approach the boy. Sunghoon looked at him,tears in his eyes.
“I-” Sunghoon choked, “God what have I done?”
Jay stared at his friend with wide eyes, kneeling on the grass.
“I’m a monster Jay.” Sunghoon wailed, shaking and crying, “I didn’t mean for this to happen... I was just so hungry and- and I killed him Jay. I couldn’t-” He broke into heavy sobs, pulling at his hair with red spit dropping onto his knees.
“Its... It’s okay.” Jay reassured, not exactly knowing what to do, went to his friend and wrapped his arm around him to sooth him, “You’re okay...”
“I’m a Vampire Jay, but I try my best to not hurt humans.” Sunghoon sniffled, wiping his face with the back of his hand before trembling, “But I did... I killed him and I don’t know what to do... There so much red.”
Without a word, Jay took off his jacket, before reaching for the buttons on Sunghoon’s dress shirt. He didn’t know what he just saw, but Sunghoon is his best friend and whatever killed Geonu wasn’t the Sunghoon who was in front of him now. So he helped his friend rid himself of the red on his shirt before tying it up in the bag Geonu had gotten from the convenient store and wrapping his jacket around Sunghoon.
He walked his friend to his house, where he cleaned him up and put him to sleep on his bed, watching over him as he slept, trying to get the nightmarish images from this night out of his head.
-
“What I did...” Sunghoon sighed finally turning to look at you with a serious face. Tears were brimming the edges of his eyes before he swallowed, “It’s unforgivable. I’m gonna have to live with the fact that I’m a monster forever.”
You stared back blankly, not sure of what you felt. Nothing felt real at this moment; you should be horrified, angry, or even a bit stressed, however you felt surprisingly calm. You resisted the urge to reach out and touch him, not knowing how he would react.
Sunghoon sight and looked back out the window, a weak smile.
“Y’know, I don’t blame you if you want to run away,” He said nodding slowly before swallowing, “I just wanted you to know the truth and I felt that it was the only good thing to do. I totally understand if you-”
“Stop.” You interrupted, causing Sunghoon to turn to you. Before your brain registered what you were doing, you leaned in and kissed Sunghoon, hands coming up to wrap around his neck. He was shocked, but quickly kissed you back cupping your face with his hands. You broke free and he blinked expectantly a couple of times.
“Listen, I don’t know what I think, cause this is a lot to process,” You started to explain, playing nervously with the hair on his nape. You looked at Sunghoon’s face; His soft lips, his pretty eyes and his pretty features, reminding you of who was in front of you. And with that, you made up your mind
“But, I don’t hate you, and I don’t want to leave.”  You said firmly, “You aren’t a monster; you’re Sunghoon, the dork who figure skates, who studies with me every Tuesday and Thursday. You’re the guy who carried me home when my shoes were gross and the guy who my friends tease me about liking. This doesn’t change anything. You’re still you and I love you the way you are. So I’m not going anywhere.”
Sunghoon held your face, thumbs caressing your cheeks before he leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on you lips. It was quick but sweet. He whispered a ‘thank you’, finally able to relax a bit. 
You wanted nothing more than to kiss him again, so you did, leaning in and kissing him deeply. You felt dizzy, but the only thing you knew was you never wanted to stop kissing Sunghoon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“As president of the PAC, I officially begin this meeting. We have a few things on the agenda today.” You said simply, sitting down in your spot, breathing out a heavy sigh, “To start, I have an update for all of you about our vampire.”
You thought all night about what you were to do with the information that Sunghoon is a vampire. You had explained everything to him; about how you were looking for a vampire and how you had suspected his friend was the perp and not Sunghoon himself. and after much deliberation (and Sunghoon’s permission), you thought the best course of action would be to tell your friends the truth. it would be impossible to lie to them when you were so invested in-
“Is it that your boyfriend is a vampire?” Jake asked, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. You looked at him in shock, flabbergasted on how Jake came to the conclusion. Before you had the chance to speak, he nonchalantly tossed an envelope- the one Sunghoon had given to you - on the desks.
“You left this in my car when I dropped you off for your date.” Jake explained.
“So, you opened it and read it..?” you asked; Jake silently shrugged and you shook your head at him in disappointment.
“Anyways, the point is, he admits it in the letter.” Jake said simply, glancing to Heeseung and Jungwon, who looked between you and the letter, “I texted the boys about it while you were on your date.”
“And?” You asked, looking between all the boys, “What do you want to do with that information..?”
“What do you want to do, (Y/N)?” Jungwon asked, “I’m sure you have your feelings invested on what happens next?”
You took a deep breath and slumped back in your chair, “I mean, I think Sunghoon a good guy. I’ve known him for a while and obviously now that were dating, I believe it even more. I know the most logical thing is to turn him into the authorities... but truthfully I’m not sure if I can. But if you all want to, that’s your choice.”
The boys were silent before Heeseung cleared his throat.
“well, we have already talked about the next course of action.” Heeseung began, speaking gently as if you’d spook. Jake hummed, gaze soft as he watched your uneasiness rise. He swallowed before speaking, “I don’t know Sunghoon as well, but he seems nice. and he makes you happy. And I think everything will be okay if we just leave it at that.”
You felt a wave of relief wash over you as you watch Jake’s expression relax; it was as if he was just as nervous about the decision as you were.
“There was a lot of logic talk with it,” Jungwon explained, lacing his fingers together and placing his hands on the desk, “realistically, the police probably wouldn’t even believe us if we did explain everything to them, so there would be no point.”
“And we also thought it would be a cool opportunity to talk to someone who is paranormal.” Heeseung added, with a shrug and a smirk, “y’know, for more club activities.”
“Yeah! (Y/N), do you think you could get Sunghoon to come and we could interview him for our records?” Jake asked, almost jumping out of his seat because he was so excited. you chuckled at your friends, who not only seemed to be making the best out of this situation, but also who just genuienly seemed interested in supporting you and Sunghoon.
“Funny you ask,” You laughed, standing from your chair. You made your way to the door, “Because the second order of business is that we have a few new members joining out club today and I was waiting to introduce them.”
You open the door to reveal Sunghoon and Jay, who awkwardly wave at your friends.
“Sorry for the wait, you guys can go sit down at our makeshift meeting table.” You explained, watching as Sunghoon smiled at you before he leaned in a placed a kiss onto your cheek.
“Hey, uhm..” Jay began awkwardly, walking over to and pointing at the whiteboard, “Why does it say “Evidence Jay is a Vampire” on your board..?”
“Oh uhm, don’t mind that.” Jungwon squeaks sheepishly, going over to the board and quickly erasing it.
“Hey, what’s so wrong with that?” Sunghoon teased, wrapping his arm around you and nudging his friend with his other. The group let out a flurries of chuckles.
“Hey Sunghoon, come sit over here.” Jake gestures to the seat beside him, grinning wildly at your boyfriend, “I have so many questions to ask you!”
You watched as the boys settled in nicely; Jungwon was showing some of the ‘research’ of vampire Jay to human Jay, while Jake and Heeseung brought out notepads and began to ask Sunghoon about some of his habits. You couldn’t help the undeniable feeling your heart swell at the thoughts of what the future might hold. 
______________________
A/N: ITS FINALLY DONE!!! I know this writing quality probably isn’t good (it is from years ago), but I loved this concept too much and put too much work into this fic just to scrap it. I hope you enjoyed it and if not, stayed tuned for something better !!!
169 notes · View notes
zahri-melitor · 11 days
Note
How old are the bats supposed to be?
During which period? There are variations depending on what time period you're reading.
Pre-Crisis? As at COIE, characters are roughly these ages:
Bruce is in his early 30s
Barbara is in her mid 20s
Dick is 19 or just 20 (depends which side of Crisis you put NTT18)
Jason is 13ish years old
Post-Crisis? (1986-2011) This is the clearest and most consistent period, with regular markers of the progress of time. As at Flashpoint, characters are about these ages:-
Bruce is probably 42
Barbara is in her mid-late 20s
Helena B. is in her mid-late 20s
Kate Kane is in her mid-late 20s (at MOST. Her timeline doesn't make sense otherwise)
If JPV was alive, he'd be 25ish
Dick is about 24-25
Cass is 20 years old
Jason is 19 years old
Steph is 18 years old
Tim is 17 years old and probably about to turn 18
Damian is 10 years old
(the middle kids' ages are all based on Tim being close to a birthday. Cass is 6 months older than Jason, Jason's birthday is a month after Tim's. If Tim's a long way from a birthday, Cass may still be 19)
Then we get the New 52 (2011-2016) and everyone's ages are indeterminate but young! This is my best approximation from not enough age markers and the entire period being about a year in-universe.
Bruce is somewhere between 28-32 (deep sigh)
Kate Kane is probably about 28 years old (it depends on how old Bruce is and how old he was when his parents died; she's younger than he is but not by much)
Julia Pennyworth is in her mid 20s
Barbara is 22-23 years old
Dick is 22 years old
Jason is 20-21 years old, and definitely 21 by the end of the period (SIGH)
Luke Fox is about 20 years old
Tim is 16 years old
Cass is an indeterminate teenage age, probably 16-17
Steph is 16 years old
Harper is 16-17 years old
Duke is, you guessed it, 16ish years old
Damian is 10-11 years old
This is why I don't like New 52 ages.
As of Rebirth (2016 to date), the timeline gets about 10-12 years reinserted in it and some sanity in terms of ages and age gaps starts to re-emerge (though it's clumpy and there's a lot of varying indications). At present characters are approximately these ages:-
Bruce is in his mid 40s
Kate Kane sure is An Age. She's probably about 28-30, unless she's in her late 30s/early 40s (look. Kate's age makes absolutely no sense. Do not look at it too closely. Her timeline is not coherent matched against anyone else's, given the requirement she was kicked out of West Point)
Barbara is probably around 30ish
Dick is about 28-30 years old
Jason is probably about 23-25 years old depending on timeline and writing.
Luke Fox? I haven't sussed out what they've done to all the Fox Kid Ages again in the wake of John Ridley's retcons. He appears to be in his 20s right now.
Cass is supposed to be 23-24 years old but may be written anywhere down to 16.
Steph is somewhere between 19-22, depending on if the writers remember she's not 16 today
Tim is probably anywhere between 18/19 (practical lower limit) and 21 years old
Duke is probably still around 17-19 years old
Damian is 14.
This whole section is messy as the only definite age we have at the moment is Damian being 14. It's mostly assumed that ages have returned to the Post-Crisis gaps, except where noted otherwise (Tim probably lost 1-2 years in his age gap to Damian as of Rebirth, as he is definitely 16 years old at the start of Rebirth. Jason seems to have kept a extra year or few in his gap to Tim, rather than it being 2 years)
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burntheedges-updates · 9 months
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Over Again - main post & chapter list
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This is my updates-only blog! Follow me at @burntheedges
Joel Miller x f!reader
summary: you fell in love with Joel Miller in Austin, Texas, in 2001, but you thought you lost him and your whole family in 2003 when the world turned upside down. now it's 2024, and you find the surprise of your life waiting for you in Jackson, Wyoming.
or, five times you and Joel fell deeper in love, on both sides of the apocalypse (and one time you did something about it)
18+ minors DNI
key themes: alternating timeline (2000-2003 / 2023-2024), 90s/00s country and latin music and dancing, romance, family vibes series tags/warnings: fluff, flirting, banter, romance, light angst (plus the angst of thinking the other person is dead for 20 years, aka the TLOU norm), pet names (darlin’, baby, honey, pretty girl), small age difference (reader is 26, Joel is 32/almost 33 when they meet in 2000), no use of y/n, teacher!reader (with vague details), smut (I'll update specific warnings for each chapter, but just FYI for later chapters: Joel calls reader a good girl, neck grabbing (no breath play), a bit of manhandling and spitting, a lot of sex) (feel free to dm any specific questions) a/n about reader: I've paid a lot of attention to how the reader is described in this fic. I've avoided skin color, hair type, body shape/size descriptions, and even clothing (except for one or two spots where you are specifically wearing jeans and boots). You are vaguely shorter than Joel. He does not run his fingers through your hair, and you feel the blood rush to your face or your face heat, but you don't turn red or pink. Please tell me if you notice anything I missed - I want this to be as inclusive as possible. a/n: this is the first fic I've written in almost 20 years. this man, I swear. wordcount: 42.6k
This fic is completely finished and posted! Chapter links under the cut.
Read it on ao3
Bonus: Mix CD (plot related) & series playlist, with headcanons: here.
Chapter List
Five times you and Joel fell deeper in love…
Chapter 1 - Meet Cute - Jackson, Early Winter 2023 | Austin, Summer 2000
Chapter 2 - Breaking the Ice - Jackson, Spring 2024 | Austin, Spring 2001
Chapter 3 - Dinner - Jackson, Spring 2024 | Austin, Spring 2001
Chapter 4 - First Date - Jackson, Spring 2024 | Austin, Spring 2001
Chapter 5 - Staying Over - Boston, September 26, 2003 | Jackson, Spring 2024
… and one time you did something about it.
Epilogue: Together - Austin, December 2002 | Jackson, Early Fall 2024
Outtakes and Snippets
Canned Heat (Austin, October, 2001)
Preview/sneak peeks: fic preview | ch 2 | ch 3 | ch 4 | ch 5
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enzenwriting · 1 year
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the feeling when
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Summary: Joining an already debuted group, you find yourself at the centre of attention, controversy and a series of unfortunate chaotic events every time a certain pup boy is in the sight. But Jake Sim can’t seem to stop following you?!
Pairing: Idol Enhypen!Jake (Sim Jaeyun) x Idol fem! reader (feat. enhypen+ le sserafim + other idols)
Tags: stranger to lovers, enemies to friends, friends to lover, kinda slowburn, jealousy, idols!, slice of life, angst, fluff
Warning: probably alot of cursing, dry humour, stalking in later chapter, alot of typo and no proof read writing.
Status: new- ongoing
upload schedule: once/twice a week during weekend!
taglist: open!
Disclaimer: Please remember that this is a work of fiction! Any idols (and activity) written and mentioned in this story/AU is not to be associated with the real idols. All images used in this AU are not mine! All images are accessed through the internet (google, pinterest, instagram, twitter and tumblr!)
Author’s note / AN: i kinda really enjoyed writing adore you! (The whole idolxidol) and I got nice feedbacks so I’m back with another!🫶
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00 y/n home wrecker / ain’t no dispatch
01 criminal
02 welcome y/n!
03 for shit and giggles
04 fearless gang
05 koala guy?
06 this is mcdonald drive thru
07 yeri-fication
08 stand up! sit down!
09 early downfall
10 JAKE OUT
11 omg by newjeans
12 just unknow it duh
13 always bball time
14 maybe he is the problem
15 delusion and silly thoughts
16 oovoo javer sim jake 1.6k words!
16.5 bark lee
17 divorce lawyer 4 u
18 two pretty best friend
19 a runner a track star
19.5 n in nct stands for nosy
20 🛫Australia 🛬Canada
21 it’s been 21 years
22 important question
23 gaslight manboss mainslayer
24 adopt! don’t shop!
25 chivalry my ass
26 hey dumb dumb
27 end game kinda meh
28 withdrawals
29 jungwon (derogatory)
30 silence is NOT a vibe
31 JAIL (literally )
32 GYATT!!
33 Jake’s drip
TBA
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burntheedges · 7 months
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Over Again - main post & chapter list
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note: I'm moving things to a new blog! I set up a full blog instead of a side blog, so please follow me here. The old blog is now @burntheedges-updates.
Joel Miller x f!reader
summary: you fell in love with Joel Miller in Austin, Texas, in 2001, but you thought you lost him and your whole family in 2003 when the world turned upside down. now it's 2024, and you find the surprise of your life waiting for you in Jackson, Wyoming.
or, five times you and Joel fell deeper in love, on both sides of the apocalypse (and one time you did something about it)
18+ minors DNI
key themes: alternating timeline (2000-2003 / 2023-2024), 90s/00s country and latin music and dancing, romance, family vibes series tags/warnings: fluff, flirting, banter, romance, light angst (plus the angst of thinking the other person is dead for 20 years, aka the TLOU norm), pet names (darlin’, baby, honey, pretty girl), small age difference (reader is 26, Joel is 32/almost 33 when they meet in 2000), no use of y/n, teacher!reader (with vague details), smut (I'll update specific warnings for each chapter, but just FYI for later chapters: Joel calls reader a good girl, neck grabbing (no breath play), a bit of manhandling and spitting, a lot of sex) (feel free to dm any specific questions) a/n about reader: I've paid a lot of attention to how the reader is described in this fic. I've avoided skin color, hair type, body shape/size descriptions, and even clothing (except for one or two spots where you are specifically wearing jeans and boots). You are vaguely shorter than Joel. He does not run his fingers through your hair, and you feel the blood rush to your face or your face heat, but you don't turn red or pink. Please tell me if you notice anything I missed - I want this to be as inclusive as possible. a/n: this is the first fic I've written in almost 20 years. this man, I swear. wordcount: 42.6k
This fic is completely finished and posted! Chapter links under the cut.
Read it on ao3
Bonus: Mix CD (plot related) & series playlist, with headcanons: here.
Chapter List
Five times you and Joel fell deeper in love…
Chapter 1 - Meet Cute - Jackson, Early Winter 2023 | Austin, Summer 2000
Chapter 2 - Breaking the Ice - Jackson, Spring 2024 | Austin, Spring 2001
Chapter 3 - Dinner - Jackson, Spring 2024 | Austin, Spring 2001
Chapter 4 - First Date - Jackson, Spring 2024 | Austin, Spring 2001
Chapter 5 - Staying Over - Boston, September 26, 2003 | Jackson, Spring 2024
… and one time you did something about it.
Epilogue: Together - Austin, December 2002 | Jackson, Early Fall 2024
Outtakes and Snippets
Canned Heat (Austin, October, 2001)
Preview/sneak peeks: fic preview | ch 2 | ch 3 | ch 4 | ch 5
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spinji · 3 months
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How old is AFO and OFA
[Mile long post incoming]
Long story short this is a theory/headcanon/thought exercise to keep my brain busy while I'm bored at work. I wanted to figure out a more precise estimate for how old All for One is since his birth is essentially the earliest moment of quirk society emerging and so his life spans the entire timeline of this story which I find interesting. And then the whole thing spiraled into a full One for All timeline of headcanons, so enjoy that.
To start though, it would be easy to guess that he's 120-and-some-change because of Garaki. Mic claimed Garaki would be about 120 (and we're just assuming he's exactly right instead of guesstimating for the sake of things) and Garaki confirms that his quirk allows him to live longer than a regular human lifespan, and when they met, All for One was given a copy so he could also live absurdly long. But I want to try a more exact method to ensure that his generations of adversaries could have actually reasonably worked time-wise. So, we can use Garaki's age to check our work but, reasonably, All for One should fall somewhere in the 120-140 range.
Right off the bat, we do have a frustrating lack of information regarding ages and time passing but there are a few things we can establish. Firstly, we know AFO and Yoichi are twins, so when determining age we can start both AFO individually and the OFA users as a collective at the same point. Secondly, Yoichi and AFO are shown to be the first people to have developed a quirk in the way we see in current time. There were vaguely quirk like mutations in people before that (like with their mother) but quirks as we know them are presented to us as originating from these two twins.
I bring this up because while Yoichi, Kudou, and Bruce are all in the same vague realm of "adult" at the same point in time, Yoichi has to be the oldest of the three. Even if it is only by a few years, Yoichi and AFO preceed any characters with a quirk. And while we're on the topic of Kudou and Bruce, we can safely say Kudou is the older one of the duo. He's confirmed to be the head leader of the resistance group against AFO and Bruce is second in command, so, frankly it would just be bizarre if Bruce was older in age but lower in rank. That being said, I don't think their difference in age would be significant.
Exact ages is where things get vague and headcanon-y. There isn't really any hard evidence I can point to other than "that sounds about right" and "I guess they look about that age" in an animation style that is notorious for just slapping a, borderline arbitrary, age on any design regardless of logic. So, rather than trying to justify it too much, my personal choices for their ages are, at Yoichi's time of death, Yoichi is 32, Kudou is 28, and Bruce is 27. At this point in the story AFO has been amassing power and followers for a while now, long enough for a resistance force to rise up against him but not long enough that he's considered it more than a nuisance for other people to handle until now. Early thirties seems pretty reasonable, possibly a bit too young but this man has also been killing people since he was 0.
For Kudou and Bruce I aimed for the older side of military age. Old enough to lead an operation like this but still young enough that AFO's rise to power was during most of their lifetime. Also, there's the issue of the age ceiling. Thanks to Shinomori (who I will get to), users 2 through 7 cannot have lived to be over 40 years old. That is a hard, non-negotiable cap on their ages as the strain of OFA alongside a different biological quirk drastically shortens a person's natural lifespan.
Anyway, back to AFO's age. If Yoichi dies at 32, this would also make him 32 (duh) and given the climate of the world at this point, I think Kudou lasted the shortest with OFA, personally. He receives the quirk immediately upon Yoichi's death after getting his blood in his mouth (Yoichi probably thought of him in his dying moments aww) and likely a week or two later is when Kudou and Bruce find out about it. The chapter frames Kudou finding out Yoichi carried on into him at the same time AFO has the same epiphany so, generously?? I give Kudou a year. Max.
All for One is now filled with seething hatred for Kudou specifically after Yoichi's death, so everything has been put on the back burner so he can both take the quirk from Kudou to get his "possession" back (ew) and to kill Kudou along with everyone he ever knew, loved, spoke to, looked at, or had any genetic lineage with. Even for a guy this powerful that is going to take a bit. A year gives AFO time to find information and strike down the entire resistance and time for Kudou and Bruce to think of a counter strategy and gain an understanding for how OFA works. So, Bruce takes the quirk at 28, Kudou dies at 29, and All for One kills him at 33.
After Kudou's death is a very big blank spot where I need to unfortunately just blindly headcanon again, so bare with me. Kudou and Bruce's plan was for Bruce to take the quirk and slip away from the massacre of the resistance to build OFA stronger and come back to finish the job. I believe that Bruce met Shinomori while he was lying low. Judging by the one image we have of Bruce confronting AFO, he did seemingly attempt to rally people together to defeat him, which would have taken a bit longer than when Kudou was leading an established resistance, since he didn't already have people under him. But he clearly thought to pass the quirk on again as a backup in case he lost, which is why he chose Shinomori to take it. With time needed to plan this attack and also get AFO's sights off him, I'd give it about five years between AFO's fight with Kudou and his fight with Bruce. It's estabished that Shinomori takes the quirk at 22 so, Bruce dies at 33, and All for One kills him at 39.
Shinomori is actually a very clear-cut piece of the timeline. He takes the quirk at 22 and dies at 40, having passed the quirk to the next user shortly before that because he realized his health was rapidly declining. He keeps the quirk for a total of 18 years, making All for One 57 at the time of his death. Judging by how the flashback panels are structured, AFO has received Garaki's quirk by this point.
Also, we have reached the point where every following user of OFA has been a professional hero, so I think it's safe to assume that each link in the chain met through either being colleagues or possibly through a sidekick internship. I doubt All Might was the first one to think of scouting hero students for successors. I'm going to assume that users 5, 6, and 7 were somewhere in the 16-24 range when they received the quirk for that very reason.
Moving on though, Banjo is the next user. I do think Banjo knew Shinomori for a somewhat significant time before his death. Banjo clearly knows about Shinomori's reclusive nature in some level of detail based on how they interact as vestiges and while it is possible for the already deceased OFA users to peer into the thoughts and memories of the current user, it doesn't appear to be the same retroactively, unless it's something the vestiges want to show the current user. All this to say I came to conclusion that Banjo was already likely a pro hero when he recieved the quirk from Shinomori. Shinomori realized what was happening and reached out to one of the few trusted friends he had to carry on the burden because he knew he could handle it. So I'm going to peg Banjo at being about 22 when he took the power as well. Old enough to be experienced as a pro with enough time to have actually met Shinomori before he died. Just like all the others, Banjo died to All for One after being trapped under rubble and gave the power to En just before he croaked. Given his bordering-on-middle-aged appearance, I'm going to put forward Banjo dying at 37 and All for One killing him at 72.
En also has very little information on him but since we only have speculation to work with, might as well stop apologizing for it. En appears to be significantly younger than Banjo, so I suspect he was an internship student to Banjo while he was a pro. Putting En at 17 when he recieved the power is both enough time for them to meet and get to know each other with En having to take the mantle from him sooner than either of them anticipated. En's appearance is still quite young, but he was confirmed to be a pro hero for a time, so he didn't have as short a run as Kudou. Nana was also already some level of hero (whether student or pro is unclear) at the time she recieved the power. Rather than mentor and student I believe they were fledgling colleagues, since Gran Torino fills the role as Nana's older pro mentor. All of this makes me vaguely place En dying at 25 and All for One killing him at 80.
I already mentioned Nana potentially being colleagues with En as their way of meeting. I still think she may have been younger than him at the time but not significantly so. En is another user that is shown passing on the power while at death's door and the following panel that shows Nana accepting it doesn't make her look significantly younger than how she does in any given scene in the series. So I don't think she was a child when she took the quirk but I'm going to set my guess at 20. But! While Nana is another character without a listed age, surprisingly, we can figure it out a good guess with actual evidence this time. Her son Kotaro, grandson Tomura, and pupil All Might all have stated, confirmed ages that we can use to make a feasible timeline for Nana.
Currently, All Might is 57 and Tomura is 21, meaning All Might was 36 when Tomura was born. Kotaro was killed at 32, when Tomura was 5, making him 27 when Yagi was 36. Nana died when All Might was in his last year at UA, making him 18, meaning Kotaro was 9 at the time. Nana gave All Might OFA when he was in middle school, judging by his uniform, so we'll assume he was 14 and Kotaro was 5. When Nana and All Might first meet, Nana states that her family is all dead, in a cold and distant manner. But that wouldn't be true if Kotaro was still in her life. This would mean that she met Yagi after the death of her husband and after Kotaro was sent away. And I'd wager to bet it was very soon after. Assuming Nana gave birth to Kotaro at around 25 years old (perfectly reasonable) then she would have passed the quirk to All Might at 30 and died at 34 after having the quirk for 14 years, making All for One 94 at the time of the transfer.
From here things get a lot less speculative. All Might is listed as 55 at the beginning of the manga, adding on Izuku's last year of middle school and first year of high school puts him at 57. We already established he received the quirk at 14, meaning he held the power for 42 years + 1 year quirkless before All for One was finally killed at the grand age of 136. Which would mean that quirks have existed for just shy of one and a half centuries now and we fit comfortably inside our estimate goal!
Now, I'm one of those bad at math gays so if you have other thoughts on this, feel free to speak up. And you're more than welcome to adopt these age headcanons if you want. Later.
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allmoshnobrain · 10 months
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𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫
✧・゚: *✧・゚:*    *:・゚✧*:・゚✧
chapter list:
✧ part 01 | early daze: (01), (02), (03), (04), (05), (06), (07), (08), (09), (10), (11), (12), (13), (14), (15)
✧ part 02 | honeymoon heartbreak: (16), (17), (18), (19), (20), (21), (22), (23), (24), (25), (26), (27)
✧ final part | california: (28), (29), (30), (31), (32), (33), (34), (35)
✧ epilogue: (aftermath), (darkness), (light), (forgiven), (lust), (holy)
extra chapters:
✧ love me in the morning: Dave comforts Nore while she deals with period pains. smut, fluff. set between parts 16 and 17.
ao3 link | fic's playlist | bonus content/fic lore
Eleanore (better known as Nore) was only 18 years old when she moved out of her house. She chose to live with her cousin, Cliff, in the same house where his band was staying - and got involved with all of them much more than she had ever expected to get involved with someone...
✦ warnings and tags (for the whole fic): oc is cliff's cousin, +18, slice of life, drinking, smoking, fluff, 1983/84 metallica, dave mustaine x oc, james hetfield x oc, love triangle, angst, smut, mxf sex (explicit), violence, implied/referenced alcohol abuse/alcoholism, past alcohol abuse/alcoholism, alcohol abuse/alcoholism, drug use, recreational drug use, consensual sex
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