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lightlycareless · 5 months

Note

Okay but.. what if Satoru is her ex and now she is with Naoya because she was cheated on👉👈

IS THIS FOR THE HIGHSCHOOL AU? CAUSE IF IT IS I LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU FOR FEEDING MY ADDICTION.

Anyways, this add a whole new layer of complexity to Y/N and Naoya's relationship. I was toying with the idea of Y/N already having a boyfriend, or more like a crush, but tHIS omg....

So I rewrote this like 3-4 times, and at first I was like I don’t want to be angsty, but then I thought well, if Y/N was cheated on then it can’t be anything but angsty, because it’s a huge breach of trust, you know?

And thus, everything else occurred. I think I might've gotten carried away and I'm not sure if this is what you wanted.... but hey, it's what came to me :') I hope you like it nonetheless!

warnings: mentions of cheating, people being jerks, insecurities, that kind of stuff. it's sad at first, but I like to think it gets sweet at the end.

Let’s set up the bases: the one that would take the first step in terms of seeking a relationship with the other would be Naoya—since cheating was involved, Satoru is/must’ve been a jerk (well, he is known for being insufferable, but still)

Once that’s set…

The first time you stepped into Naoya’s life would be through the sprouting rumors of Satoru’s “love life.”

Nothing that he’d be able to keep a secret due to his popularity, if anything many thought it was surprising this hadn’t come out far earlier, but now that it was out, many of his “admirers” could do nothing but gossip about it. Amongst them, Naoya.

Naoya wasn’t necessarily the same type of admirer as the others—not… that infatuated. But he still wanted to be around him, since he considered Satoru to be on the same level as him, the same… social circle, per say. And because he thought himself to be somewhat remotely similar, he also needed to keep up with whatever he did.

So, when he heard that he used to a have a girlfriend, it was… well, shocking to say the least. And not because anyone thought he couldn’t get a partner, of course not, but rather, because he actually settled down for once.

And because that meant Satoru had gotten a girlfriend first before him, and that was… upsetting, to say the least.

But pushing that aside, he quickly became determined in finding out who was the “lucky” girl that managed to capture Satoru’s attention, enough for him to consider her for a formal relationship, and of course, why it ended.

Because of Satoru’s reputation, and the fact that he was single yet again, many began to assume that the reason why they broke up was because she didn’t “satisfy” him adequately.

That she was probably “boring” or couldn’t comply with his “extravagant” lifestyle. The girls sure were having the time of their life imagining how they’d be better suited for him, essentially allowing him a life of debauchery, while the boys were more inclined into meeting the one that managed to “catch” him.

Thus, Naoya’s search for Satoru’s ex-girlfriend begins.

He has a notion, something to begin with: for sure pretty, because let’s be real, Naoya doesn’t know anyone that would date someone they didn’t consider absolutely stunning. She just must be.

From there, someone that matches his prestige, meaning, rich; unless he decided to go a completely different route and choose someone a bit more… humble, but he doesn’t think so. Naoya knows how the game goes, old money must be preserved, and others outside of that social circle tended to not blend in, so he doesn’t believe Satoru would’ve bothered.

But anyways, Naoya would find soon enough; all that he needed to do is ask around, maybe even nag Satoru a bit so he’d tell himself… to confirm the horrible image she had thanks to the sour opinions’ others began to have of his ex-girlfriend, Naoya intending to do the same once uncovering her identity…

Until he finally saw her.

She’d been right under his nose all this time, a somewhat quiet yet giddy girl from another class, one year younger than him, who’d occasionally be teased by his seniors for the sole reason of being “overprotected” by her siblings, also students at the school, or were anyway, one of them already graduated.

A girl named Y/N, whom upon getting a better look at her… found her to be incredibly cute.

And the vivid contrast of what he believed.

He couldn’t believe it.

Naoya truly couldn’t believe his eyes. He always thought that if Satoru had broken up with her was because she… well, because she was a bit mundane, right? That had to be. There was no synergy, no good reason for him to stick around…

But the reality had been so much different. You—you were someone that he could only consider captivating given the way he couldn’t get his eyes off you. And because he always considered himself to be somewhat in Satoru’s level, meaning that they’d have similar tastes and what not…

Naoya couldn’t fathom why he’d ever leave you.

For what little he’d seen of you, Naoya could easily disclose you were someone alluring.

So, Naoya decides to go forward with his plan, in the sense of approaching you to get to know you better. However, with a small change: not to divulge on you negatively, but rather, because he genuinely wants to do so…

And the surprise he receives is far bigger than he could’ve ever imagined; he hoped to find (yet again) something that would make you unlikeable, something to justify Satoru’s decision, maybe an annoying mannerism, a nasty habit, or just— anything, really.

But all that he finds… is things that pull him further and further into you. And soon, not only did he find you likeable, but also, wishing for something more… intimate between the two.

Starting by wanting to spend most, if not all, of his time with you. Getting to hear your voice talking about no particular topic—and it didn’t matter how, either. It could be a phone call, or in person—he just wanted to be the focus of your attention.

Or getting to see your face too. To see so first thing in the morning, or last thing at night, sounds amazing to him. Seek you out at soon as his classes are done, eat lunch together, (maybe even let you feed him? No, at least not in public) or do homework together. Since he’s already taken your classes, he’s more than happy to help you out, if it meant you’d praise him as sweetly as you’ve always done.

The thought is enough to make him blush—and with this, it’s clear that Naoya wants you to be his, and solely his.

Even if his skepticism about Satoru and his decision to dump you went on, it didn’t matter.

You were incredible, you are incredible. The girl of his dreams…. And if Satoru couldn’t see that, then he was a fool!

It was set then, he’d make you his girlfriend, treat you like no other has, and the two will be happy together, hopefully forever!

Or so… that’s what he wished would happen. Because his plans would only come to a screeching halt when you’d reject his sentiments, with a saddened face that more than portraying sorrow, displayed disappointment, gently shaking your head as you murmur.

“I’m sorry, but… I can’t”

And so, that’s how Naoya’s dreams would come to cease, with an abrupt rejection that left him hollow, voice of a heart, as he saw you further and further walking away from him, until you were no longer there, absent for the coming days.

But even when he was given more than enough reason to no longer seek you, Naoya couldn’t keep his mind off you. And every second of the day, whether at school or at home, all that he kept wondering was why you’d rejected him.

Why had you taken such a decision, and without even looking like you were considering it?

Had it been something he’d done? Did someone tell you something unsavory about him? If that’s the case, he can fix that. He can easily explain whatever it was, deal with whoever had done such a thing, so you’d talk to him again!

But… more than devastated by your rejection, he was deeply, incredibly infuriated.

Because rejection wasn’t something that Naoya took easily. For someone as egocentric as him, this was not something he could ever overcome as an unfortunate but common occurrence and just move on.

And with the previous notions he had of you through Satoru’s “friends” … those sentiments just grew bigger and bigger.

Thus, it wouldn’t take long before he approached you once more, but this time, with intentions of demanding to know why you had rejected him in the first place—all with a look on his face that made you flinch, never thinking him capable of such… harsh reaction.

But even after being suitably spooked, and consistently insisted on by Naoya, you eventually respond, at least with what you could muster so as to not appear any more vulnerable with him.

“Because I don’t want to.” You murmur, looking down to the floor. Naoya frowns.

“There must be a reason. There must be an actual reason as to why you don’t want to—it can’t be just because of that.”

“It is.” You reiterate. “That’s all.”

“I don’t believe it.” He insists. “You always have something to say! Now you’re telling me you don’t?”

You frown, if his actions weren’t hurtful enough, his words now offended you.

“If you’re going to keep making fun of me, you can leave”

“Keep?” he asks. “What do you mean keep? If anything, you’d be the one making fun of me!”

“Don’t act like you don’t know… it’s the whole reason why you’re here, isn’t?” you say, now looking up to him and revealing the now sorrowful look of your reddening, watery eyes. Naoya is slightly taken aback by the sight, his heart slightly twinging with pain. “To make a fool of me again, right?”

“Where did you even get that ide—"

“Just answer one question—just one” You interrupt, voice trembling before swallowing, as if to ease the nerves growing inside you. “Are you friends with Satoru?”

He blinks, taken aback by your query, but he does not answer.

“Answer me, Naoya!” You challenged “Do you get along with him, yes or no?!”

…

“Yes.”

“I fucking knew it.” You breathe, clenching your hands. “I knew it—I knew it.”

“What are you—”

“Drop the act, Naoya! I’ve seen right through you!”

“What act? What are you—what are you even talking about, Y/N?”

“What all his friends do!” you gasp. “What they’ve been doing the moment they found out I used to date Satoru!”

“What do they… do…?” Naoya murmurs slowly. “What does that even have to do with my feelings for—”

“It has to do everything.” You gasp. “It has to do with everything!”

You thought you’d be able to get away from the horrible experience your rupture with Satoru had brought you; those nasty, dark sentiments that completely engulfed your heart, leaving you nothing but a shell of the person you were, if not worse.

All because Satoru had committed the worst transgression he could’ve done at that moment, something so horrible and painful for someone as young and naïve as you:

He cheated on you.

When it happened, it felt as if your heart was being pierced with a thousand needles, twisted and pulled apart, before breaking up in a thousand pieces, settling in your chest to constantly inundate your mind, before drowning your voice with nothing but cries and tears.

And no matter how much you tried to move past this painful incident, think about anything else, your mind always brought you back to the horrible sight of Satoru being in the arms of someone else—and each time it just hurt worse.

Because after all was said and done, you truly cared for him. Far than just care for him, genuinely thought him to be your… other half, the love of your life. The man you’d end up marrying in the future!

Could you be blamed? He was your first serious relationship, and he had been the one to make a move at first… believing it was the start of your own love story, just as you’ve seen repeated over and over in the world around you.

But it wasn’t, and now, you’re here, left behind, in solitude, to pick up the pieces of your broken heart.

Your family would try to comfort you by telling you that this was just a one-time incident, that it was not your fault as you began to believe, that this was his decision, his fault, and that there was nothing wrong with you. Nothing at all.

Reaffirming that love still exists, even though it seemed almost impossible to think of at that moment, because after all, you had your mom and dad as an example—and most importantly, that pain will pass, you just have to give it time.

And perhaps because they insisted so much, or because you were always the hopeless romantic, you ended up trying your best to move on to a new day, think that the future had something better planned for you, that this was only a small stumble on the way, nothing more…

So, you began. One day at a time, surrounding yourself with your friends and family, people that had your wellbeing in mind; And it seemed to work, you began to feel a bit better, start expecting a better outcome for the coming days…

Until you met someone that began to show interest in you, far more than just a friend that is, and seemed to demonstrate so with his actions. He was charming, to say the least, funny, got along with everyone else, but was also very attentive to you, always making you feel special.

You didn’t want to think much of it at first, the scars in your heart reminding you to do so… but your poor heart began to think that maybe your parents were right in saying that “someone better always comes along.” That first comes the storm, and then… peace.

At last, it was finally your turn. It was finally the moment to meet the love of your life, the one that would make the rest of your days whole, and stop feeling lonely, as you’ve always felt.

Only to be proved wrong when you went on searching through his phone by accident after hearing it ring and ring, and he was away.

You thought it an emergency, the only reason why you’d ever do such thing… but the moment you did, you damned ever considering it such, for why he was being pestered over the phone wasn’t because his family needed him, or maybe some overdue project his teammates desperately needed to finish—it’s because he was disclosing all that he was doing with you with someone else, with a group… and making fun of it.

No—not making fun of the things he was doing.

Making fun of you.

Of the apparently silly ways you’d react, the stupid things you liked—but most importantly, wondering why Satoru ever considered you to be his girlfriend, when it was obvious with this past evidence, that you were nothing of the like. If anything, you got cheated on because you deserved it.

Because a boring girl like you probably deserved it.

And this shattered whatever was left of your poor heart, further secluding yourself from those outside of your social circle, quick to interject anyone that you’d sense had other intentions with you, hoping to save yourself from the pain—

Until Naoya came along.

There was something about him that immediately caught your attention, something you’ve never felt before, not even those jerks that attempted to befriend you—maybe it was his unusual hair color, the cool piercings on his ear, or simply because you found him handsome—that you couldn’t keep your eyes off him for too long. A fascination that worsened when you began to know him.

At first you thought he approached you because he noticed you staring at him, which caused you to be very, very tense when he began walking over to you; but thankfully, it didn’t seem to be nothing of the like, instead, he apparently just wanted you to help him move something from the nearby classroom onto another, and any other things that might pop up on the way.

It was slow, the way Naoya would interact with you when doing so, almost as if hesitant; but it wouldn’t take long before he became a bit more assertive with his actions, to the point where you decided to ignore your warnings and begin to open up to him, sharing the things you liked, and finding out that the two harbored many similarities than what you initially perceived… certainly far bigger than what you had with those that had come before.

With Naoya, he didn’t seem to judge you—didn’t look at you as if you’d grown a second head or was simply following your lead to pursue dubious intentions. No. He was listening to you and was sharing his own with an interest you couldn’t consider anything less than genuine.

You didn’t want to admit it easily, didn’t want to betray your hard-set motivation in keeping away… but there was something about Naoya that made it impossible, and while debating whether to pursue this feeling or not, you decided to rely on your friends for advice—albeit deep inside, you were looking for their blessing.

But instead of receiving the words you wanted to hear, those pushing you to follow your heart, you got a crude, cold reality check that quickly reminded you that your heartache had yet to end, and if anything, Satoru’s friends had just gotten more creative.

Satoru had no direct correlation with what was happening to you, for during your time is when you came to realize that someone with his status and power was bound attract lots of attention, and certainly… followers, whom ready to dissect every little aspect of his life—you included.

But was it really that hard to tell them to stop? To leave you alone? That even when you were the one that ended things, he was the one that wronged you, thus, you’ve already gone through enough?

Of course, that was something that fate wouldn’t grant you so easily, if ever. To be constantly reminded of a mistake you did in your youth, for now, in the shape of the young man standing before you.

“I know the game; I’ve been a player for far too long.” You say. “And I don’t want to keep going at it if all I’m going to be is a loser.”

There’s a sadness in your voice that immediately deepens the growing pain in Naoya’s heart, and soon, all the anger and disappointment he had towards you is quickly discarded, replaced by worry.

Just… what happened between the two?

“What happened Y/N?” he begins. “What happened with you and Satoru?”

“Don’t act like you don’t—” you begin to snap.

“I don’t” Naoya interjects, shaking his head. “I really, genuinely don’t know.”

And whether by the look of his eye, or the softness in his voice, you take it as him being honest. Maybe your personal life wasn’t as divulged as you thought it was.

Well, he ought to know now or later, so why not cut the chase?

This might as well be your moment to set the record straight, if it even mattered at that point.

“Satoru cheated on me” you begin, having to say so out loud still makes your heart clench, especially since the last time you ever uttered those words when was the wound was still fresh. “I… found him with someone else one day, when he was supposed to be doing something else…

I broke up with him soon after that and kept my distance, for my sake. But then, someone started to spread rumors about what happened, twisting the story to their liking, but always portraying me as the bad one. The one that deserved to be cheated on, because the “great Gojo Satoru” could never do wrong. And if he did, it’s because of a very valid reason.”

“What?” Naoya breathes, blinking as if that were to pull him back to reality.

Did he hear you right?

All this time, you— you were the one that—

“What do you mean cheated—”

“You didn’t strike me as someone who wouldn’t know what that means.” You frown.

“No, I know what cheating is.” He responds. “What I can’t believe is—”

“That he dated me? Yes, I know. I’ve heard it a thousand times befo—"

“No. That’s not it.” Naoya shakes his head. “I can’t believe that he—"

That he cheated on you.

That Satoru would cheat with the most perfect, beautiful, funny, supportive, caring girl he’s ever met in his life? Do that to the girl Naoya has been unknowingly dreaming of for all his life, and now had the pleasure of meeting?

How could someone so vile as Satoru not understand the blessings you represented?

Well, that was a bit hypocritical of Naoya to say at first, since he too was a very difficult person at times… careless to the privileges his status had brought, even more with the people around him.

But now that he met you, he could finally see the error in his way. The… fault in the ideology he carried.

Because he could never find himself, not anymore, harming the one person he’d ever felt such strong feelings for.

Now he knew why mothers were so overprotective of their children, why partners would go above and beyond to ensure that the other is safe, loved, protected…

He never felt that sentiment before, never understood why people were so… sappy, cringy with others.

Until he met you.

Until he met you, did he understand why they’d do so in the first place, and it felt almost silly that he ever thought otherwise, when now all that he wants to do is be with you, give you the whole world, bring you down the stars, if it meant you’d be happy again.

And to think he even justified the nasty things people were saying about you.

He’s even ashamed to have ever belonged to their side.

“My feelings for you are true.” Is what Naoya would come to say. “Since the moment I saw you, I’ve always felt this… attraction to you; but when I finally got to know you better, the person you truly are, is when I knew that what I felt for you was much more than finding you pretty.”

“Naoya—” you sob, tears now falling down your cheeks, raising your hands to wipe them equally fast as they began to appear. “That’s not—Don’t take me for a fool—!”

“If you don’t believe me.” He begins, taking a step closer to you and attempting to grab one of your hands, you swat him away. “Then let me prove it to you.”

“I don’t want you to do any—”

“However long it takes, whatever I need to do” he insists, finally taking hold of your wrist. “I’ll show you how much you mean to me.”

Naoya then carefully raises one of his hands to your face, gently swiping away one of your tears as you remained there, speechless, but sad. He didn’t know where this uncharacteristic softness came from — certainly never have done so in his life with anyone else— only that it felt right to do so.

And you… you wouldn’t have allowed such thing if you didn’t harbor any kind of sentiments from him to begin with, his words giving you hope for something you’ve long thought lost… but because you were in such emotional turmoil of disbelief, you didn’t find it in yourself to make a decision at that moment, or allowing him to be near you like this, opting to free yourself out of Naoya’s grasp, quickly turning around and leaving him on the spot.

It was undeniable that you didn’t expect him to go through with his words, initially believing them to be nothing but a joke, something to get you to lower your guard, and if he did, it wouldn’t last beyond a few days….

But Naoya would soon prove himself to be a man of his word when the 8th day came along and had gifted you for the consecutive time your favorite brand of mochi, the one you recalled telling him one time, if you ever did—to the point were you had to give some away because you didn’t believe you’d ever get to finish them!

Followed by a plushie of your favorite videogame, each day a different one, any that he could find, enough to fill boxes and boxes with them, making you consider opening your own store and reselling them…

Culminating in buying you the newest release of said franchise, which you’ve been saving up for weeks now, spending nothing of your allowance just for a chance to get it, but now that Naoya had taken care of that, what were you going to do with that money?

Well, whatever it was that you thought, Naoya would find out eventually, and take care of it, moving you back to the start.

But while these actions were… alluring by their own, they were nothing compared to what he did last.

Naoya would be underestimating his feelings if he didn’t voice just how infuriated he truly was to hear that first, Satoru had cheated on you, and secondly, that his so called “friends” had been pestering you about it—no, not pestering you, tormenting you. Picking at you as if you were the novelty hobby, the prime instigator, when it had been the other way around, and you were only smart to call quits!

He couldn’t see the same people he used to involve himself with without feeling disdain for them, especially those he knew had only gone above and beyond to make a miserable, laughingstock out of you.

And as the always determined man to take matter into his own hands, it didn’t take long for you to se the consequences of it.

It’s what finally pushed you to talk to him, after all.

“Y/N, good morning.” He says, a soft smile on his face upon seeing you approach him. Like a lost puppy, he couldn’t help himself from beaming with excitement when seeing your familiar, cute, adorable face looking at him after days of silence. “How are you—”

“…You had something to do with that, didn’t you?” you ask, straight to the point. Your bluntness surprised Naoya, but he can’t say he wasn’t expecting this at one point, hoped it would, really.

“With what?” He asks, there were many things he had planned for you, but he didn’t want to be the one to reveal them. Naoya wished to keep the element of surprise for as long as possible.

“You know exactly what. It’s… with them” and Naoya does his best to grin proudly.

“Did something happen?” he asks instead, feigning ignorance.

No.

Nothing bad, at least; completely unexpected… yet welcomed, because it gave you both things your heart always wanted, but never voiced in fear of being hurt.

“… the ones that made fun of me, they… apologized to me.” You begin, the first of your closures.

And it was only obvious that they would, for as soon as Naoya found out the responsible ones of your growing pain, he made sure to find them and give them a hard-earned lesson through… unconventional matters, nothing that could be traced to him, of course.

You could only guess what it had been due to the frightened look on their faces when they sought your forgiveness, as well as the bruises on their arms…

Which you didn’t necessarily agree with, but at the same time, you couldn’t deny the obvious: the impact that Naoya’s actions have caused on your life, starting from his appearance to his insistence, and now, this.

“Really?” He asks. “That’s good, it’s the bare minimum…”

“I don’t need to be a detective to know you had something to do with it” You respond, and he just shrugs, still putting up the ignorant act. But if anything, that just gave away his involvement.

“But… why?”

You knew the answer, but perhaps you needed to hear it with your own ears.

The second of your closures.

“I told you, didn’t I?” he responds. “I wanted to show you how much you truly mean to me…”

Before looking away, cheeks red upon noticing your intent stare at him, instead of running away.

“But, I mean—yeah, what they did was wrong. As I said, it’s the bare minimum!” he coughs. “You didn’t deserve to be treated like that, not when you weren’t the one at fault.”

And at the culmination of his words, his actions, and now, your feelings—you can’t help but cry, tears falling down your cheeks as you let out a quiet sob.

But your tears weren’t of sadness, or disappointment, no. They were far from that.

They were of happiness, for the realization that you finally obtained what you’ve longed for in your life, what your heart always dreamed of since the moment you had conscience: to find the man that would do anything for you; prove you such… cherish you….

“I’m—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—cry.” You’d say, laughing nervously as you do your best to wipe away the falling tears. “It’s the 2nd time you’ve seen me do this, and we’re not even that close—”

“What difference does it make, if you’re going to be my girlfriend either way?” He attempts to joke, lighten up the mood so as to get you to stop crying, but when you don’t respond is when he notes he might’ve greatly miscalculated the moment, feeling nothing but a jerk. “I—forget what I said, I shouldn’t—

“I…I’ll have to think about it.” You begin softly through sniffles. “It all depends on where we go on our first date.”

His heart soars for you.

“I know a place that might push you into considering it.” He teases, and for the first time, of many to come, he makes you blush.

“…We shall see, then.” You chuckle, continuing to wipe some of the tears off your face, until Naoya wins you to it by swiping them with his thumb. The gesture, alongside his closeness, further flusters you, but makes you feel good, nonetheless.

If being with him means you’d get this kind of attention, this kind of care, and the promise that your feelings will be reciprocated….

Then you wouldn’t mind giving love a second chance.

#ask #naoya zenin #naoya zen'in #naoya x reader #naoya zenin x reader #naoya zenin x you #jjk naoya #naoya zen'in x reader #jjk x reader #jjk fluff #jjk x you #prompt series: jujutsu kaisen

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softdoctorreid · 2 years

Text

shaping up | reid x reader

summary: overhearing someone describe him as having a ‘dad bod’ has spencer feeling self-conscious. you decide to surprise him with some news about just how fitting the term is.

• fem!reader

+++ +++ +++

It had been a long case. While it wasn’t too far from home and everybody lived this time, Spencer was exhausted and tired of motel life. All he wanted was to get back to you and return to the domestic bliss of your life together. It was almost harder when the Bureau sent them somewhere that was just far away enough to warrant not traveling back each night - knowing that you were just within driving distance but he couldn’t see you. So when the case closed and the only thing standing between him and an overdue reunion with his wife was wrapping up at the local police station, he was happy to take on any task to get on the road as soon as possible.

While he raced through the station turning in paperwork and signing off on documents, he overheard JJ trying to placate some of the reporters gathered in the lobby. Though she was a profiler now, she still knew the magic words for getting the media to disappear. There were two younger reporters, giggling and glancing back at the table where the team was dismantling the bulletin board.

“Sorry, I just can’t keep all the names straight. Who was the agent at the arrest again? The one with the dad bod?” one of them asked.

“Do you mean Simmons?” JJ asked, turning to point.

The reporter shook her head. “No, he’s totally jacked - I mean the one with the sweater and curly hair?”

“Ohh. I see, that would be Dr. Reid.” This time JJ pointed at him, and the reporters murmured in agreement. He puzzled over it the whole ride back to Quantico. How could they mean him? Simmons was the only member of the team who was a father. But the reporters had seemed so certain. It didn’t make any sense. Determined to solve the mystery, he made a point to walk out with JJ.

“I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop,” he explained. “But I overheard you talking with the reporters earlier. Can I ask you – what did they mean when they said I had a… dad bod?”

Jennifer smiled sympathetically at him, the look she often had when he asked something he knew must be obvious to everyone else. “Just a way people are describing a certain body type. It’s based on the way guys with kids tend to stop working out and get a little soft. But don’t worry, it’s not a bad thing,” she added, patting his arm. “According to the internet, dad bods are all the rage right now.”

To Spencer, it sure felt like a bad thing. After all, he wasn’t a dad. What excuse did he have to fall out of shape? Not that he’d ever particularly been in shape, the only physical activity he didn’t completely abhor was the kind that involved you, a private place, and ample foreplay. And he knew he’d gotten a little softer in recent months, but it felt weird to have it pointed out, especially by two strangers.

Simmons was a father, but he looked like he could do one-handed push-ups with every one of his kids on his back. Morgan didn’t lose his trademark abs after Hank’s birth. And then there was him, childless and yet the first one to be pointed out as “soft” without having any reason to be. The thought followed him like a cloud, and by the time he got home his mood was completely dampened.

You noticed the second he walked in the door. “I thought you told me everyone lived this time,” you said.

He tilted his head, confused. “Yeah. They did.”

“Then what’s got you looking so grumpy?” you asked, tracing the tip of your finger over the distinct frown he wore.

He started to dissent but you cut him off with a pointed look that told him it was a lost cause to lie. Clearly years of being around profilers was rubbing off on you. “It was just something this reporter said.”

You pulled him down to sit on the couch. “About the case?”

“No, about… about me. About how I have a dad bod.” He hated how silly it sounded to say out loud.

A soft laugh escaped your lips before you caught yourself, trying to fight a smile. “And here I thought you didn’t know pop culture.”

Embarrassed, he busied himself with taking off his tie. “I don’t. I mean, I didn’t know that. But JJ explained it to me. It just made me feel weird, being described that way. I know I’m not exactly in shape, but I guess I didn’t expect other people to notice.” Spencer hadn’t counted on anyone else paying attention to the fit of his trousers or the way his sweaters clung to his body now that he’d filled out. Or at least he’d hoped his self-consciousness was unfounded, that his awareness of the ways his body had changed since Millburn didn’t extend to those around him. But if that wasn’t the case, maybe he needed to cut back on morning donut runs, or eliminate the sugar from his coffee. Anything to avoid being labeled the way he had been.

You set a hand on his thigh, unfazed by his self-deprication. “Well, from what I hear, a dad bod is pretty hot,” you purred.

Spencer pulled away from your touch, crossing his arms over his middle. “Is it?” he asked, not intending the edge that crept into his voice. “Because to me, it just sounds like a nicer way to say I’ve let myself go! I mean, what does that say about me when I don’t even have the excuse of being busy taking care of a kid or being a dad?”

He expected you to have some carefully crafted response at the ready, or at least some sweet nothings of validation, but you just shook your head, smiling. “Oh, babe. You’re that upset about this?”

Clearly he was. How had you gone from reading his expression so easily to acting surprised by what he told you? Annoyed by your lack of understanding, he just huffed a sigh. To his surprise, you stood up from the couch and walked to the kitchen. “Wait, where are you going?” he asked.

“To try and turn that frown upside down.” You returned with a brown paper bag in hand, setting it on the coffee table before sitting down next to him. “I know you’re not feeling great about it right now, but that dad bod of yours is going to be pretty useful.”

This vague hedging wasn’t your usual reaction to his discomfort, and he didn’t understand why you were so upbeat about this. “How, exactly?”

Your eyes softened, the corners of your mouth tugging upwards as you fought back a grin. “Spence,” you said, as though it was so obvious. “How do you think? When you’re a dad.” He bit his lip, puzzling over your words. They just didn’t make sense - he wasn’t a dad, that was the point. But you just raised your eyebrows, nodding slowly, waiting for it to sink in. “Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?”

What you were trying to… wait. Spencer froze, not even daring to blink. “You don’t mean–?”

“Yeah,” you said, the grin shining through in full. “Yeah, I do. Look in the bag.”

His gaze fell on the paper bag beside you, and he couldn’t even breathe for a moment, hands shaking as he grabbed it. It was like the whole world went quiet as he reached inside and withdrew a copy of Goodnight Moon. The book opened easily, and there tucked amidst the pages was a pregnancy test. With two lines. Pregnant.

When he looked back at you, he couldn’t even manage to form words. “I was going to surprise you with it tomorrow,” you told him. “But I felt like you needed something good right about now. So, see? You were just shaping up for your new role. You’ve always been ahead of the curve,” you laughed.

When he tried to laugh with you, it came out as a half-sob, tears springing to his eyes. “I’m going to be a dad?” he asked.

“You are.” Now you were starting to cry, too. “You’re gonna be the best dad.”

“Oh my god,” he said, pulling you into his arms in the tightest of hugs as the happiness overtook him completely. “We’re going to have a baby! Thank you. Thank you.” Becoming a father had long been a dream of his, one he so badly wanted to realize with you. And now that dream was finally coming true, the love of his life carrying his child, turning the Reid household into a family of three.

“Do you feel better now?” you asked him, wiping the tears from his cheeks.

He just nodded, answering in the form of a kiss. “Much, much better,” he said, when he finally pulled away. “Nothing else matters. I’m so happy, Y/N. This is the best news ever. I love you, I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” you giggled. “You’re gonna be putting that body to good use, you know. I’ll want to cuddle with you all the time. And they say skin-to-skin contact is important for newborns.”

“It is. Kangaroo care, as some specialists call it, is shown to help infants regulate their heartbeat, breathing and body temperature, as well as facilitating parent-child bonding and reducing crying.”

“See? You’re already an expert.” You inched closer to him on the couch, resting one hand on his waist, your thumb stroking over his tummy. “And I meant it when I said dad bods are hot. I mean, right now, Spence? I look at you and all I see is a DILF. You know what that one means, right?”

Spencer’s breath caught. “Yes,” he said carefully. “Yes, I do.”

“And?”

“And,” he said, caressing your cheek, his eyes roaming over your body. “I could never say no to that.”

+++

tell me what you think here!

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid #dad bod spence #we were really robbed of dad!spencer

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oddballwriter · 8 months

Text

Triplets?!

Summary: A dumb thought I had and decided to write.

Warnings: There isn't anything that I can think of other than just a misunderstanding that leads to something funny

Author’s Snip: This was just a silly little post that I had come to mind when I heard the one MBMbam clip where its a person talking about how they call their male friends their "boys" and a drive thru worker thinks that the person is a parent, also a little bit of Reba McEntire's I'm a Survivor "A single mom who works two jobs who loves her kids and never stops" meme. This whole thing is kind of just a writing shit post.

Notes: This isn't proof read

I’ll shut up now. Enjoy! And don’t be afraid to request.

It was an inside joke. With yourself.

As a joke you would call your Marc, Steven, and Jake your triplets even though they were your boyfriends. It was kind of like when a mom says "I have two children, three if you want to include my husband.". It wasn't meant to be mean. It was just a light hearted joke since they can sometimes be everywhere and your sense of domestically can be hectic.

Speaking of domestic things, you were currently grocery shopping but line was painfully long and slow for whatever reason. It wasn't all bad though. There was this nice lady named Cathy behind you, and you two had started having a full conversation after she made small talk about how long the line was. She was an older woman, maybe in her mid to late forties. You had offered to switch spots in line since she had more in her cart than you but she said she didn't mind and that you should be quicker either way. You could tell she was a mom just by the looks of her and how she was acting. She wasn't exactly mothering you but she was talking like how most moms talk to younger people compared to her.

Your conversations topic had just changed to something else when your phone rang. It was Steven.

"Oh, one of my triplets." you mumble under your voice before answering. The call wasn't much. He just called to ask if everything's alright since you've been out for longer than you said you would and some other things before you ended the call with an "I love you, bye.".

"Wow. Three of them? Huh?" Cathy smiled. You looked at her confused for a moment before realizing that she might have heard your mumble.

"That must be chaos." she said. "I have issues wrangling my kids and they're all different ages!" she adds with a laugh. You just nod along, but she still goes on with the new subject.

"How old are they?" Cathy asked, to which you respond with "Thirteen." since that seemed like a reasonable age for a 'kid' to have a phone. "Oh my gosh! Three of them and they're teenagers?" she pitied. "At such a young age like you too. Sweetheart, you deserve a metal." Cathy praised. "It's not that bad." you say as you try and go along with this accidental act you placed on yourself, "Only one of them is a troublemaker. The other two... well they stay inside at least." you joke, mostly for yourself.

Cathy had actually become very chatty and mostly took up the subject. She talked about how her eldest, Kimberly, was sixteen and that she was starting to talk to boys and stay out. Her second eldest, Noah, was starting to have an attitude with her. The middle, Jackie, was having issues in getting along in the classroom and during recess. And her toddler, Marie, was leaning manners and "That's going as good as you think it is." as Cathy put it.

You wanted to stop her so that you could leave but she was just so nice, and sounded like she needed to vent out some stress, so you let her go on while the casher checked out both you and her carts. Cathy did give you the note that her husband was also involved in the kids too but since she's a stay at home she was the frontline.

You felt a bit sad when you had to leave and head home. You didn't know if you'd meet Cathy ever again but you already missed her and said your goodbyes to her, with her of course saying "And best of luck with your triplets.".

When you got home Steven was there to help take in the bags but at a certain point when you locked eyes and laughed he asked what was up.

"There's a forty-something year old woman named Cathy somewhere in town and she thinks I'm a parent with teenage triplets." you confess.

#moon knight x reader #moon knight #moonknight #moonknight x reader #steven grant x reader #jake lockley x reader #marc spector x reader

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chahnniesroom · 8 months

Text

tenderness | chapter 8: all fall down

[noun] /ˈtendərnəs/

1. the quality of being gentle, kind, or loving

2. the feeling of pain, aching, or soreness

pairing: bang chan x female reader

summary: in a world where soulmates are rare and precious, you don’t know why the universe has decided to give you one. you never could have imagined that they would be an idol, and one that you worked with at that, or the challenges that would arise from your bond.

chapter word count: 4.1k

chapter warnings: injury, blood, sasaeng fans

a/n: i am not a doctor and i did minimal research on anything medical related

previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter | read it on ao3

Over the past few years, Chan has grown relatively used to large crowds. At concerts and events, he’s excited to have the chance to see so many faces and hear their cheers. So when their security team warns them that the airport is much busier than usual and to take extra care about sticking together, he takes it in stride and doesn’t think too much of it. The group is in varying states of tiredness and everyone just wants to get home. Airport crowds are a nuisance, but nothing new.

They file out of the plane and line up before they reach the public area. Seungmin is leading the way, Chan is last as usual, and Jisung is sandwiched between Changbin and Minho near the back. A few staff pad the front and back of the line while security surrounds the whole group.

The second that the doors open, they’re subjected to the roar of the crowd that gets even louder when they spot them. Even with headphones in, Chan blanches at the sudden increase in noise and is thankful that his mask probably covered most of his reaction. It seems that the amount of people that usually greet them at the airport has more than doubled and they’re all desperate for an interaction. It's a cacophony of fans calling out their names, love declarations, and screams that make it hard to think.

Ahead of him, the kids are urged forward, but he can barely see them through the bright pops of camera flashes and the sea of bodies pushing at them. The bodyguard closest to Chan rests a hand on his shoulder casually, but his grip is like steel, both guiding him and making sure that they don’t get separated.

Y/n must also be subjected to the ebb and flow of the crowd as she runs straight into Chan at one point, sparking the Charge between them momentarily. Chan looks back to make sure that she’s okay, but she just gestures for him to keep going, anything she might be trying to say being drowned out by the screams and hidden by the mask that she’s wearing. Knowing that he's definitely being filmed, Chan keeps his head down and swallows his concern. The last thing he wants is rumours that might involve Y/n or put any sort of extra attention on her.

The crowd reaches a fever pitch, and multiple cries for Jisung prompts Chan to look up again to search for him. When he finally manages to spot him, it becomes clear that he’s being helped up from the ground. Chan can’t tell if it’s a result of stumbling from poor visibility or an overzealous push from fans, but he attempts to tamp down the simmering anger that he feels building in his gut. He hates that he can't be there to protect Jisung and calm him down. Regardless of the reason that he fell, this wouldn't have happened if they were given more space. They're grateful for their fans, but this is too much.

They need to get out of here and now.

The screaming is deafening now and seems to be coming from all directions. He thinks he can hear security yelling directions, but it’s hard to decipher what they’re saying and who they’re saying it to. With the increased noise comes more pressure as people jockey for a closer position, mercilessly jostling other bodies out of the way. Chan tries to ignore it all, solely focused on getting everyone into the vans waiting for them and making sure they’re unharmed.

The crowd surges forward and they're finally given the space that they need to reach the doors and spill out onto the outdoor concourse. From there it's only a short distance to where a manager is shepherding them into the idling vans.

They had lined up based on dorms, so Changbin basically hauls Jisung into the van with Hyunjin, while Minho ushers all of the younger members into their vehicle with no time wasted trying to organise further.

Chan collapses into his seat and everyone in the van seems to let out a sigh of relief the second that the door closes, sealing them away from the frenzy and most of the noise. There's a brief moment to double check that all the members are present before they pull away from the curb.

Chan twists around to confirm there are no injuries. Other than some bruises and scratches on their arms, they're all relatively unharmed, but definitely rattled. Their fans are generally well behaved and respectful of personal space, so this type of encounter is unsettling, but a good reminder to stay vigilant. They're lucky that things didn't escalate to a point where somebody got seriously hurt, but that might not be the case next time. Chan makes a mental note to request some sort of increased security or additional protective measures to guarantee the safety of the members and all the fans.

Normally, they would spread out in the van to give each other as much space as possible, but today, Jisung stays practically squished between Hyunjin and Changbin who have their arms wrapped around him and are trying their best to soothe him.

Knowing there’s nothing he can do from where he’s sitting, Chan opts for pulling out his phone and shooting Y/n a quick text. He wasn’t able to catch a glimpse of her after he noticed Jisung fell and has no clue how much she did or didn’t see. He doesn’t want her worrying about their safety.

[5:17 pm - sent]

Sorry that was more chaotic than usual haha

Wasn’t expecting so many people to be there...

We’re all fine even if it looked crazy...

Hope everything is okay on your side and see you at the dorms later

He keeps the messages succinct, knowing that Y/n likely won’t have a chance to read his texts until later. Just like with their regular schedules, the staff are all brought back to the company and sometimes she gets held back to finish something or go out for food or drinks. He’s hoping that the crowds died down after they left to make it easier to haul all the luggage and equipment away.

He taps out another message to Minho to reassure him that everyone with him is physically okay, just unnerved and receives a similar response. They agree to all go to the 3RACHA+Hyunjin dorms instead of splitting up, sensing that everyone would feel a bit better if they stuck together for the time being. Relieved, he drops his phone into his backpack and settles into his seat. Without the rush of adrenaline from the airport and the high from the concerts, he can feel how exhausted his body is. It's worse than usual, a bone deep tiredness that doesn’t feel like it’ll be improved no matter how much he sleeps.

It’s the Charge, or lack thereof, he realises. The past few days have been such a blur of travelling and concerts that he hadn’t noticed that he’s barely spent any time with Y/n. He resolves to make up for it this week. They have a bit of a break before the next leg of their tour continues and while Chan has a lot that he wants to finish during that period, he can afford to set aside a few extra hours for Charging. Although he knows that he can probably power through with this level of energy- he’s done it in the past- he feels guilty thinking that it would mean Y/n has to do the same.

When they make it back to the dorms, he calls dibs on the shower, intent on burrowing into his bed the second that he’s cleaned off all the airplane grime. He feels significantly better after washing up and changing into clean clothes, so he wanders towards the kitchen to try to eat something as he waits for Y/n to get back. The second that he enters the living room, all conversations cut off and the members turn to look at him with grave expressions.

Immediately, he’s on edge again and all the tension from earlier is back.

“Is everything okay?” he asks cautiously. It’s clear that Jisung, Felix, and Jeongin are crying and the rest of the members are suspiciously teary-eyed, other than Minho who just looks murderous. “Did something happen?”

He sits beside Felix, who’s on the couch closest to him and puts an arm around him. Felix instantly inches closer, buries his face into Chan’s neck, and starts sobbing freely, tears soaking into the front of Chan’s shirt and making him panic more. Chan surreptitiously pats him down, searching for some sort of injury, but finds nothing. It makes him feel better and worse at the same time.

“We- Yonghwan called-” Changbin finally says. The words come out roughly, like it had been a struggle to get them out. “He said-” The tears that he’s been holding back finally come out and he can’t finish his sentence, wiping at his face roughly.

“What?” Chan demands, when nobody continues Changbin’s explanation. He hates this feeling of being in the dark, he wants to know what has made everyone this upset and what he can do to fix it.

“It’s Y/n.” Felix’s voice is rough and even deeper than usual from crying, Chan can feel it against his skin more than he can hear it. “Hyung…”

Chan didn’t think that his stomach could feel worse, but it seems to twist into a tighter knot at Felix’s words. On autopilot, he continues to rub Felix’s back, but his hands are now feeling weak and he’s glad that he’s already sitting. It takes a couple of deep breaths, but eventually Felix is able to calm down enough to speak again.

“Hyung… Y/n- There was a sasaeng… At the airport.”

Everything seems to stop.

His mind, which was previously racing, can’t seem to process anything anymore and the next few moments feel like a dream or, more accurately, a nightmare. Felix is crying earnestly again and Chan vaguely thinks that he should be too, but instead he’s numb, detached from his emotions, unmoored. He’s aware of someone grabbing his bag and putting it into his hands, helping him into his shoes, and leading him into the lobby of their building, but it feels like his mind is no longer connected to his body. He doesn’t even remember when he put on the beanie or mask that he’s currently wearing.

He desperately wants this to be a nightmare, that someone will shake him awake and he’ll find out that he accidentally fell asleep the second he got home.

He’s jolted back to reality by a voice calling his name. It’s Felix, who is also holding onto both his shoulders. He’s stopped crying as hard, but unshed tears still glitter in his eyes and there are teartracks running down his face. It’s clear that he’s trying hard to keep himself together for Chan’s sake.

“Hyung, the car is here. Are you going to be okay going by yourself?”

“Yes,” he hears himself say. His voice sounds strange, void of emotion. He knows that he has to be okay, that really, there’s no choice because the chance of being recognised would be much higher if he goes with anyone other than staff. He has to be okay, for Y/n.

“Okay. Yonghwan-hyung is going to take you to the hospital.”

“Okay.” Chan starts to walk away.

“Hyung,” Felix calls out, voice still hoarse with emotion. “Promise me you won’t go on Twitter?”

“What? Why? I-”

“Just promise. Okay?”

“I promise.”

But it festers inside of him, not knowing what’s going on, not really. Yonghwan has barely spoken, other than a couple words to guide him into the car and reassure him that they were going to get to the hospital as fast as possible.

After 20 minutes of being stuck in traffic, Chan takes out his phone and unlocks it. It’s clogged with notifications from various staff members, but they’re from half an hour ago and are ambiguous, just telling him to call different people. He swipes everything away without replying and opens up Naver with the intention to look up how far away they are from the hospital. Before he can get that far, he’s distracted by the trending search terms.

‘Stray Kids,’ ‘Incheon Airport,’ and ‘Sasaeng’ are all in the top 10. His finger hovers over each one for a moment, before locking his phone. He doesn’t know if he wants to read an impersonal or speculative article that might overdramatise what happened.

He only lasts another minute before he reaches for his phone again. Even though he can still hear Felix’s voice warning him to avoid it, he can’t help but open the Twitter app. It’s probably going to be worse than reading articles, but it’s killing him to have so little information.

He needs to know what happened.

His Twitter timeline is pandemonium. There’s a mixture of tweets that can be separated into three different categories. The first are ones demanding that videos and photos be taken down, that post links to accounts calling that they be blocked, and warnings to avoid retweeting information. They’re mostly vague and the replies are littered with people asking what happened. Chan scours through them briefly, but all questions are met with ‘DM me’ or something similar.

The second is a set of hashtags trending, #thankyouskijigi, #prayforskijigii, that talk about how grateful they are that Y/n was there to protect Chan and general well-wishes for a quick recovery. This only heightens Chan’s anxiety. He’s not sure why he’s being named specifically, but nothing he can think of is good. Either way, it feels wrong to see that Y/n is being praised for being injured instead of Chan.

The last is what Chan is really searching for. Any photos or videos that he can find of the incident. He has to sift through a number of deleted posts and broken links. There’s a few that are easy to find, but they were clearly taken in the midst of the chaos and the blurriness means that it’s hard to see any details.

There’s an awful clip that Chan somehow manages to find. He’s thankful that he records his screen while watching it because when he clicks to see the replies, the video has already been either deleted by the poster or removed by Twitter. Whoever is filming it has unsteady hands, but they’re close enough that you can still see everything. Y/n is lying curled up on the ground clutching her stomach, the sasaeng nowhere in sight. Chan still can’t tell what kind of injury Y/n has, until she props herself up a bit more and peels back the baggy sweatshirt that she’s wearing to expose her abdomen more.

It looks bad. There’s blood and there’s lots of it.

The light-coloured shirt she’s wearing underneath makes the blood that’s seeping into it obvious in a way that the dark hoodie concealed. The splotch is alarmingly large and seems to be expanding every second even with Y/n’s hand pressed tightly against where the wound must be. It spills onto the floor now that the hoodie isn’t soaking it up anymore. The second that the injury is revealed, the crowd panics. Half the people recoil, while the other half rush forward.

The filmer is one of the latter, dropping their phone to their side so that you can’t see anything, but not stopping the recording. At first, Chan doesn’t think there’s anything else to the video. The audio keeps peaking, overwhelmed by the screaming, but in the last few seconds, he can suddenly make out Y/n’s voice. It’s surprisingly stable, though tight with pain.

“-please send medical services to Incheon Airport? At the terminal 2 arrival hall. There’s a young female who has been stabbed.” There’s a series of pauses and moments where Y/n continues to talk. She's obviously answering questions by the person on the other end of the phone. "I'm- she's conscious, yes… Yes, lucid… In the abdomen… Two times…”

The video ends abruptly and Chan’s left staring at his own face reflecting against his phone’s dark screen.

He feels sick.

He feels nothing.

He-

He closes the video and searches for another.

Pictures, videos, accounts from people who were at the airport, he saves everything. He continues frantically combing through as many links and tweets that he can, especially if they have descriptions of the sasaeng or capture her face clearly.

The best- or maybe the worst, based on the way that it makes Chan’s stomach drop- video is a livestream that somehow hasn’t been deleted or edited yet. It was taken by a fan who seems to be on a stepladder or something that provides them some extra height although if they’re further away. The video is an hour long, but Chan scans through the first section that’s from before they had arrived and starts to play when he first sees Seungmin appear.

This new angle makes it obvious how intentional everything was. There’s a distinct moment when the crowd that’s offscreen shifts, likely reacting to Jisung’s fall, and a corresponding ripple through the rest of the crowd. Chan remembers that, the sudden push as everyone wanted to see what was happening and a renewed effort from the security team to get them outside.

There’s a brief second when there’s a gap between the security team that’s just barely big enough for the sasaeng to slip through unnoticed. The first time he watches the video, he almost misses it. She heads directly towards Chan, partially aided by the general movement of the crowd, and it sends shivers down his back to know how close she was to him without him knowing. With nondescript clothes, a lack of a camera, and a mask covering the lower half of her face, she almost blends into the rest of the staff members.

Before she can reach Chan, she’s intercepted by Y/n who looks like she’s aware of the sasaeng’s presence based on the purposeful step that positions her right in between the sasaeng and Chan. The sasaeng has no time to react and the two of them crash into each other and tumble to the ground.

After that, the video gets too shaky to see what’s happening and cuts off before showing anything else.

“Chan-ssi!” Yonghwan’s voice takes Chan’s attention away from his phone. When he looks up, he can see that the car is idling at the side entrance of the hospital that he normally uses. “Did you hear me?”

“Uhm.”

“Just go in and talk to the reception, tell them you’re looking for Y/n-ssi. They’ll take you to her. I have to go park the car and then I’ll join you.”

—

The person that helps Chan at the front desk seems to be familiar with Y/n's case right when he mentions her name. Her posture straightens and she checks Chan's ID to confirm that he's her soulmate before leading him away, pressing buttons on a pager as she does so. She walks briskly and stops in front of a closed door, sliding it open and motioning for him to enter before heading towards the nurses' station.

Chan steps into the room and when he sees Y/n, it feels like he’s been punched in the gut. He physically recoils, shoulder hitting the door frame as he takes a step back.

She looks so small, in the middle of the bed, hooked up to a number of IV’s, other tubes, and monitoring equipment. Her face is pale, more so than usual, and her eyes are closed.

For one awful moment, all Chan can think is that she looks dead.

He slowly approaches Y/n’s side and gingerly rests his hand on her exposed arm, mindful of all the tubes and cords that she’s connected to. The Charge has never felt so reassuring, a steady transfer of energy that reminds Chan that she’s still alive. The nurse excuses herself, but Chan barely notices, too focused on Y/n and the constant drone of the heart rate monitor.

He startles when the doctor enters the room.

“Ah, you are Y/n-nim’s soulmate?” he asks. When Chan confirms, he brightens. “Perfect! Before anything, let’s get you up on the bed with her so that you can Charge properly.”

The doctor helps Chan manoeuvre himself so that he’s curled around Y/n. He shrugs off his hoodie so that he’s just left with his t-shirt and shorts to match Y/n so that they can have as much direct contact as possible. Chan knows he usually runs hotter than most people, but Y/n’s skin is colder than usual, even with the warmth of the Charge between them.

Yonghwan appears partway through the doctor’s explanation of Y/n’s injuries which is probably for the better because other than confirming that she’s stable for now, he hasn’t been able to concentrate. Instead, he holds onto Y/n’s hand, the one that doesn’t have an IV line in it, and intertwines their fingers. He’s always marvelled at the size difference between their hands.

The moment Y/n's heartbeat picks up from the steady rhythm that Chan has now gotten used to, his seems to do the same. It’s close to sunrise, but Chan hasn’t even come close to falling asleep. The time has somehow both inched by, stretched out like pulling taffy, and passed in the blink of an eye. Embarrassingly, he didn’t even notice when the doctor, then later Yonghwan, left the room. Only realising when he noticed the lights dimming automatically when visiting hours ended.

He’s alternated between doom scrolling on social media, texting the group chat since most of the boys are still awake as well, and waiting for any sort of updates from Yonghwan or JYPE. He’s restless, but has done his best to barely move, not wanting to disturb Y/n or any of the equipment she’s hooked up to.

She comes to slowly and Chan feels like he can barely breathe, chest tight with anticipation of her regaining consciousness. Her eyes flutter open and she squints, even though the lights have been dimmed almost all the way down.

He helps incline the bed slightly, lets her have the tiniest sip of water, just enough to wet her mouth, then gives her a little bit more once he knows she won't choke.

He can tell the second she's awake enough to recognise his presence. Her eyes widen and her heart rate speeds up. She tries to lever herself up, but Chan presses a hand onto her shoulder, keeping herself in place. She tries to put a hand on his arm and her eyes scan his form.

"Stay still, you're hurt," he chides gently when she makes a questioning noise.

"Chan?” she gets out.

“Yes, it’s me.”

“You’re safe?”

Chan doesn't know if he wants to laugh or cry at her concern. She's on some strong drugs and is still recovering from anaesthesia, it's obvious from the slight haze in her eyes, her sluggish movements, and the difficulty she seems to have putting words to her thoughts. Yet her first thoughts are about him.

"Yes, I'm safe. The rest of the boys are safe. They’re all at home," he reassures her. She doesn't seem to believe him, reaching for him again agitatedly.

“Were you hurt?”

“Y/n, it’s okay. Everything is okay, I’m not hurt.” Chan takes Y/n’s hand in his again, pressing it against his chest so that she can feel his heartbeat. “Can you feel that? You protected me."

At that Y/n finally calms, settling back against her pillow. Before he can say anything else, she’s already drifted off again. With his free hand, Chan smooths out the hairs that frame her face and she subconsciously leans into his touch. Unable to help himself, he presses a careful kiss to her forehead.

He stares at her peaceful looking face, a mixture of guilt, fear, and worry churning in his stomach. He can’t believe that he was so close to losing her and he knows that he’ll do everything in his power to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.

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multifunctionalnitroglycerin · 4 months

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The Locked Tomb Series- Alecto Theory

Brace yourselves this is 3000 words of me connecting dots that aren't even there.

First things first, this post is an amalgam of various brilliant theories I have seen posted on Tumblr, so if anything feels familiar, that will be the main reason. I am just going to present my own take on this, and hopefully add something new to what we already have.

The subjects of today’s conspiracy theory are Alecto and Anastasia -and Cassiopeia in part, the vow to Anastasia’s bloodline and what could very possible be, Dios Apate MAJOR.

So let’s start with what we have from the books, and feel free to correct me or add sth I might have forgotten.

Anastasia and Samael are the only ones of the original Lyctor batch, that didn’t complete the Lyctorhood process, thanks to - in no small part – John, and/or possibly Alecto. (“I am sorry about Samael”). Which could mean that Alecto was somehow involved in the whole process going wrong, and thus she feels responsible for Samael’s death, or that she was close enough with Anastasia and Samael, that she herself felt Samael’s loss, or she felt for Anastasia’s grief. (I like to believe that they did have a tentative friendship even before the vow thing happened.)

Anastasia is also the only one of the Lyctors we know, so far, to have had children. Which is an important bit on its own, (Can full Lyctors, have children? If so, are they different from other children, necromantic or not? Is there a reason that in spite of biological capability- if it exists-the other Lyctors have chosen not to have children? Even with Augustine’s and Mercymorn’s plan we see that in the end Gideon is conceived with Wake’s material – John is a whole different story as far as Lyctorhood goes so he doesn’t count.)

Back to our discussion though, Anastasia’s bloodline was so important to the Ninth House that it has been preserved for 10.000 years. We do not really get a clear picture on whether the Reverend Family knows why the continuation of the bloodline is important, Harrow certainly doesn’t, but it was so deeply ingrained to them that Anastasia’s bloodline must remain intact, that they effectively committed genocide, dooming the House’s future, in order to produce one more direct descendant of the Saint that wasn’t.

We do get a hint, a rather big one, on why the preservation of Anastasia’s blood is so important, in Nona’s Epilogue. Alecto states that Harrow is “the blood of the tombkeeper” after kissing her and drawing blood. What did she taste on Harrow’s blood I wonder? And how did she recognize the taste, as the taste of Anastasia’s line? Did the vow she initially made to Anastasia herself involve them drawing blood? Did it bind them to one another, so deeply that they ingrained themselves into each other on a molecular level?

To add to this, young Harrow, young desolate Harrow, who had had enough with her life and was prepared to die, young Harrow who opened the Tomb for that express purpose, loves Alecto from sight. And decides to keep living for her. And there is something exceedingly weird to just how much Harrow loves Alecto. Alecto is probably the most attractive person Harow lay her eyes upon to that day, true, but this instant infatuation, and its persistence throughout the years has something more to it, don’t you think? As Gideon points out, both to herself and to Ianthe, Harrow’s heart belongs to the dead cold body in the Tomb. And said cold dead body in the Tomb, recognizes Harrow from sight when she wakes “Alecto recalled her, for it was a face once dreamed in Alecto’s dream.”

And this line begs the question. Could Alecto dream, in the tomb? If so, how? And what did she dream of? Did she dream of Harrow? Why did she dream of Harrow if that is the case? Or did she dream of Anastasia, and the resemblance is that great? On the other hand, if this refers to Harrow first opening the Tomb, and looking at Alecto, does that mean that she was in some form conscious throughout that stasis? Does this mean that she could have heard and felt Anastasia while they were both locked in the Tomb, for however long the other woman lived?

(The scene where Nona describes the feeling of Anastasia's hands in the water and feeling safe. I am going to cry.)

I do have an interesting theory about Alecto’s “dreams” but we’ll get there in a bit.

Something else that is fishy, is that the Ninth, is the House of the Sewn Tongue. It sounds a bit like too much flesh magic for a bone magic house to specialize in, right? The cure to the Sewn Tongue on the other hand? Removing the mandible and all that? That sounds like a Bone Magic solution to a flesh magic problem. And I wonder if the fact that the Ninth House’s emblem is the Jawless skull, insinuates that the Ninth is not so much a house where many secrets are kept – though this is undoubtedly true, as the Ninth is known as the House of secrets by the other houses – as much that in the Ninth, all secrets are revealed. Where the sewn tongue is healed, and the truth comes to light. And I’d like to point out that it sounds a bit like foreshadowing, and a promise. Anastasia has been betrayed by John and sworn to secrecy, and then locked in the Tomb to die and take his secrets with her. I feel like the jawless skull acts as a constant reminder, that even with the sewn tongue, all curses can be broken, and all secrets will eventually come to light. And it feels like a promise to John, that her House, the house of secrets and unspoken truths, will be the one to rid of the sewn tongue and bring the truth he so fears forward. And this aligns a tad too well with the Sixth’s mantra, Six for the truth, over solace in lies.

And you know what else fits here, in this concordance of the Sixth and Ninth Houses? Cassiopeia and Anastasia’s friendship. Their alliance if you will. We know they both worked closely together trying to figure out the perfect Lyctorhood process, and it is possible that Anastasia made her attempt a bit before Cassiopeia. The exact same attempt, that performed in perfect conditions ended in failure, with John ultimately killing Samael.

We also know that Cassiopeia left contingency plans in place, should the emperor become a hindrance to the empire. And from what we have seen of Cassiopeia in the books, it is safe to assume that she is driven, determined, exceedingly intelligent, perceptive, logical, and excellent at planning. She is also the one to point out John’s less than favorable qualities pre-Resurrection such as his interest in taking vengeance on those that wronged him being bigger in his interest to save lives.

So, we have, Cassiopeia and her logic driven, truth seeking brilliance, and Anastasia, the thorough, overly methodical researcher. We have them both working on perfect Lyctorhood, and we have them both, in one way or another, being betrayed by John. Chances are, that they were the first post Resurrection to notice John’s flaws, the first to concoct a plan against him. But contrary to Cytherea, Mercy and Augustine, they are more subtle than those cannonball attempts. No, I believe they planned. And they planned long term, and together. Cassiopeia left her House a note, left them instructions, she was preparing them for when John would become a liability. And then an aforementioned amount of time later, Anastasia is asked to design the tomb.

We do not really know anything about Alecto’s relationships with the other lyctors apart from the fact that most found her revolting, a “monster” in Mercy’s words. So here is a thought, perhaps Anastasia, the one of the original Eight to never ascend, perhaps the one whose failure Alecto was involved in – “I am sorry about Samael” – finds kinship in John’s unnerving pet, his undead “cavalier”, the one he betrayed first, the soul of earth. Perhaps they even became friends. Perhaps she and Cassiopeia realize the extend of what John has done and realize that Alecto is the key to undoing it. When John refuses to kill Alecto to appease the others, the plan fully forms.

So, they construct the tomb. And Cassiopeia is well-known for building mechanisms within houses, so maybe her and Anastasia create secret passages, and mechanisms with extra access to the tomb that would be independent of John sneaking in, or whatever he planned to do with that blood-ward. And hear me out, we know that Cassiopeia stayed 7 minutes in the river before being torn apart by the resurrection beast – at Mercymorn’s account at least, not sure how reliable of a narrator she is. But what happened during those seven minutes? Paul says he thinks he knows how to get to the Locked Tomb via the River. So, the river and the Tomb are connected. What did Cassiopeia do, I wonder? (Here I’d like to say that my other theory is that she did eventually die, or rather was consumed by Varun the eater, much like Judith Deuteros was. The RB burned through her in what, a couple months? How long would a Lyctor last? Perhaps that was the reason that Varun didn’t resurface until 100 years after Cassiopeia’s presumed death. She could have been alive and slowly wasting away, while still making failsafe within failsafe until she lost her sense of self and eventually wasted away)

To recap until now, the first part of my theory is that Anastasia and Cassiopeia dissatisfied with the world John had made and the truth he had served them, probably worked together to find the truth. And they worked together from the shadows, to create a plan, a long-term plan, with which they could bring John down if the need ever arose, and undo what he had done. And Anastasia’s bloodline and their secrets are really bloody important to that plan. (Also, some nice symbolism about the Ninth being about secrets revealed, rather than secrets kept, and that functioning as a bit of foreshadowing.)

Now into the second part of my theory. Anastasia’s bloodline is so important because she has bound her bloodline to Alecto. And I think this happened in the premise of the Vow Alecto has made to her, or they have made to each other. This might be part of the initial vow, of which we know nothing about, apart from the fact that Alecto pledged herself to Anastasia, and that it is important enough that she pledges herself to Harrow, or a failsafe within it. A failsafe to ensure that should Alecto wake after Anastasia has passed, she will not be fooled by any imposters, or anything else John might have planned. Or perhaps, a failsafe to ensure that even if John changes his mind and finds a way to rid of the body within the tomb, to “kill” Alecto, she will not be completely gone, she will keep existing within Anastasia’s line, thus ensuring that the plan for John’s demise can still be enacted and that the soul of the earth will not be dead.

That plays really hard in the Alecto is within Harrow from the beginning theory. And I will explain. I believe I saw something that looked like this in Twitter by lesbian_mothman, but I do not really remember so I apologize if all this has been said before.

In all the dream chapters with John, we relive memories from just before and after the resurrection, and John talks to Harrow as if she is Alecto “You always say that Harrowhark” as a response to “I still love you.” Or when Varun recognizes the Earth’s soul “green thing” within Nona in the car chase scene, or when Judith regaining consciousness asks “Harrowhark?” and Nona replies, “No, and I never was.” So that begs the question of how much of Harrow is Harrow, how much is Alecto and how much are the 200 souls within her? (And there was a crowd of dead children there. They were striving loudly against living children on the far-off shore of the tomb. CHILLS)

In Nona we learn that Palamedes and Camila on the one hand and Pyrrha on the other have two different theories about who Nona is. The Sixth believe that she is an amalgam of Gideon and Harrow, and Pyrrha believes she is Alecto, golden eyes and all. And I am more inclined to believe that it is indeed Alecto, or at least a part of her, that resides within Harrow, and took the wheel when both Harrow and Gideon were gone. Think abt it. Gideon is back in her body, and we have no idea what the hell happened to Harrow, only that she doesn’t have the wheel, and Nona acts nothing like Harrow or Gideon did. It’s like she is learning how to be human for the first time. She learns how to love and be loved for the first time. So with no soul to govern the body, the part of Alecto within Harrow takes the wheel.

And then there is the candle metaphor in NtN. Alecto’s soul is the candle passed from one necromantic heir of the Ninth to the other.

So long story short, part of the vow, if not all of it, is that part of Alecto will always live within Anastasia’s descendants, so long as they are necromancers. And here comes the part of Alecto’s dreams. Because if indeed she lives within the souls of Anastasia’s necromantic descendants, does she see through their eyes? Does she feel through their hearts? Does she dream of their lives, while locked in the Tomb, while a part of her lives in them? Is she conscious within them? Or does the whole thing act like a cavalier- lyctor sort of connection, where she cannot take the wheel unless the other soul in the body Is gone?

Part of her soul is bound to Anastasia’s line, and they are bound to her, and over the course of 10.000 years do they spill over? Alecto to Anastasia’s descendants and they to Alecto. Was this part of the plan to have a failsafe within Anastasia’s line in case something happened to the body in the Tomb? Was it a promise Anastasia made to Alecto, to give her a chance to live, to be human, through the lives of her own descendants?

All in all, I guess I could some it up in a few concise points.

Cassiopeia and Anastasia worked closely together, they were friends and allies and saw in John, the unfulfilled promises he made, and all the faults he tried to cover with rewriting his own version of history.

They decide to make a plan, a long term one, a detailed one, for when John is more a liability than it is worth. And thus, Cassiopeia creates the mechanisms in the Sixth and leaves the protocols for the rest to find. Truth over solace in lies.

Meanwhile Anastasia attempts to ascend, and John kills Samael. Alecto might be consciously or unconsciously involved and harbors guilt over Samael’s death.

Anastasia probably befriends Alecto or finds kinship with this strange being that is the soul of a planet that no longer is.

The planning continues and John after being asked to kill Alecto decides to lock her in the Tomb instead and has Anastasia design it. He later asks her to stay in the tomb and guard Alecto. (Antigone style)

Anastasia designs the tomb, probably with Cassiopeia’s help, probably with a few hidden mechanisms of its own and or a secret pathway through the river, an extra way out.

At some point, Anastasia sires a line, and she makes her vow with Alecto.

The vow probably is in regards of bounding Alecto to Anastasia’s line so long as there are necromantic heirs. A part of Alecto is constantly alive within each descendant of Anastasia’s.

It might work a bit like the lyctoral process, because Alecto only takes the wheel when there is no Harrow and no Gideon in Nona’s body, aka when there doesn’t seem to be another soul guiding it.

Alecto dreams. Whether she dreams of herself within the tomb and that’s how she recognizes Harrow on sight – from the memory of Harrow first unlocking the Tomb – or her dreams are glimpses of the lives Anastasia’s descendants lead I don’t know.

Alecto is thus bound to Anastasia’s line by blood. She recognizes Harrow by her blood, tasting either Anastasia, or the part of herself residing within it, when she kisses her. It also ensures that the line is intact the vow is intact and it’s not a pretender trying to fool her.

Anastasia and Cassiopeia planned to bring John down by opening the tomb when the time was right and leaving her to Alecto’s (and the RB’S???) mercy. There is still a lot left to be explored.

The tomb is to remain closed until the time has come God has to die. We can all see how that can be misinterpreted to > if the tomb opens God will die. And instead of a promise to be fulfilled it becomes a terrible terrible thing, that will spell everyone’s doom.

The freaking skull of the ninth is a threat, a foreshadow and a promise. The Ninth was a house that should have died with Anastasia in the tomb. But it didn’t. It continued existing its bloodline unbroken for 10.000 years. Nine for the tomb and all that was lost. The Ninth is predominantly I feel a house of mourning – the whole nuns, all black, and skull makeup thing. But it is also a house of secrets. It is a house represented by the cure to even the tightest secret held. So the Ninth, the house that should never have been the house that should have died with its secrets in the tomb of its inception, is the one that will break the sewn tongue, and reveal all the secrets, bringing the truth to light.

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prettyyoungandbored · 8 months

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Babydoll - Johnny Knoxville

Pairing: Johnny Knoxville x Fem! Reader

Same characters from ‘Be Careful’ and ‘I Wanna Marry You’

Author’s Note: Eventually I will find the energy to write about their Vegas wedding. Eventually. If you guys have any ideas, let me know.

NOT MY GIF

“Are you having fun?”

Y/N looked up from her glass to see Johnny standing there, beer in hand. Her stomach twisted as excitement tingled throughout her body. She had been at this bar Bam had picked out for nearly two hours and had yet to have some one on one time with Johnny, which was the only reason she went.

Or at least that’s how Holly was able to persuade her to go.

“I can make that happen easily because he’s definitely into you,” Holly remarked. “He calls you Babydoll.”

Y/N shrugged. “It’s just a nickname. He has one for everyone.” She paused. “Although he does call me that quite a lot.”

Holly threw her hands up. “Ok, fine. But you do notice that he doesn’t subject you to the same bullshit he subjects everyone else to, right?”

“I’m not in the cast.”

“You’ve seen him involve production people!” She smirked. “I actually suggested you do a stunt and he shot me down immediately. Said there’s no way in hell he’d ever let you get yourself involved like that.”

“He’s just being nice. Plus, I’m not exactly a daredevil like you all.”

That’s when Holly got on her knees. “Y/N, I’m begging you. Please come to the bar.”

Y/N shook her head, a big smile on her face. “Alright, get your ass off the floor. I’ll meet you guys there.”

She saw Holly talk to Johnny when she walked in. She waved at them, Johnny giving her a small smile when she passed by.

And then she spent the next hour with Holly, Bam, and Ryan, occasionally turning her head to watch Johnny play pool.

“Sure am,” she responded, her lips slightly curving.

He scrunched his nose, head shaking. “I don’t believe you, Babydoll.”

She didn’t know if it was the alcohol in her system or the fact she, but she blurted out, “Why do you call me that?”

“Call you what? ‘Babydoll’?” He shrugged and put the beer bottle to his lips. “Just a nickname.”

He took a swig of his beer and then paused. “Wait, do you not like it? Am I offending you?” The sincerity and concern in his tone was sweet.

She laughed, waving her hand. “It’s fine.

“Good. Besides, I only reserve that nickname for you.”

He gave her wink, which nearly made her melt in the chair. Instead, her reaction was just to roll her eyes. “You mean to tell me I’m the only woman you call ‘Babydoll’?”

“Yup. Swear to God.”

“Then what do you call the woman you pursue at other bars?”

He didn’t flinch, his smirk still intact. If anything, he looked even more amused than before. “Either ‘honey’ or ‘baby.’ Depends on the woman. But don’t worry, I haven’t used those names in quite a long time.”

“Two months isn’t that long.”

He put a hand on his chest. “Ouch, Babydoll!”

“Oh, c’mon now Johnny! I’m not shaming you! I’m just saying.”

He leaned against the bar. “How do you know it’s been two months?”

“That’s how long we’ve been shooting,” she replied.

He shook his head. “Well, you’re wrong. It’s actually been six months.”

“Poor you.”

“Yeah it’s been difficult,” he laughed. “But what about you? You must be picking up guys left and right.”

Her eyes widened. “Me? Absolutely not! I mean, I used to but, uh….” Her voice trailed off. “It’s been a while for me.”

“Six months for you too?”

“Two years actually.”

His mouth dropped. “Really?”

“Really.” She tapped on the rim of her glass. “After awhile it stopped being fun so I decided to focus on me and my work.”

He nodded, impressed. “Good for you, Babydoll.”

She hummed. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything. Shoot.”

“I need you to level with me here because it’s been bothering me for the last couple of weeks. When you call me ‘Babydoll,” are you flirting with me?”

Johnny’s grin widening, signaling to her that she might have made this worse somehow. She exhaled sharply, feeling the heat of embarrassment in her face.

“Yeah, ok, I’m leaving,” she said, standing up from the chair.

“No, hey, wait.”

She turned to see Johnny’s hand holding on to hers. Her eyes glanced up at him to find him staring at her once again with complete sincerity.

“You’re really askin’ me that? Has that really not been obvious the entire time?”

She stopped fighting to hide her smile as heart beat picked up it’s pace.

“Well are you gonna do something about it?” she asked.

Johnny pulled her face to his, his lips devouring hers. The second their lips touched, she felt the electricity, the high, and the energy all at once. And yet, she also felt a comfort she’d never experienced in her years of kissing. If a kiss were ever to make sense to a person, this one did to her. It was as if all her years of kissing had led up to this moment.

A moment in which it felt the world was theirs and theirs only.

They pulled away, his breath on hers. She opened her eyes to find his dark brown eyes looking into her, almost in disbelief in what just happened.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting you to do that,”’ she said, hoping maybe his disbelief would settle into relief.

And it did, before that damn smirk returned to his face.

“Oh, Babydoll, I’m gonna show you what else I’ve been wanting to do with you.”

======================================

She woke up tangled in heavy sheets. She looked over to see Johnny lying on his back, fast asleep.

To say the night before had been exhilarating was putting it rather lightly. At least to her.

Then, out of nowhere it hit her. That damn pang in her chest that reminded her of why she stopped sleeping around. She had grown attached.

But none of those nights felt like last night and you’re not the woman you used to be she tried to rationalize to herself.

And while her heart agreed, her head told her it was time for her to run as fast as could.

She pulled the covers off and knelt down on the floor, grabbing her underwear and shirt first. She slid on the underwear and threw her shirt over her head.

As she leaned down to pick her jeans, she heard a voice grumble, “What’re you doing?”

She looked over to see Johnny awake and rubbing his face.

“I didn’t want to overstay my welcome.”

“Impossible. Come back to bed.”

“But-.”

“I promise I’ll buy you breakfast from that diner you like.”

She stopped. “How do you know about that?”

“I’ll tell you if you come back to bed.”

She sighed and crawled back into bed. Johnny smiled as he threw an arm around her, nestling his nose against hers.

“Too early to be up,” he whispered. “Also, Holly told me you like it there.”

She exhaled as she prepared herself for the worst. “Look, I like you, but I’m not into the whole friends with benefits thing. I’m sorry if that ruins everything, but I can’t do it, especially not with you.”

Much to her surprise, he chuckled. “We’re not gonna be friends with benefits.”

“Then what-.”

“You and I are gonna go on a date. Tonight. I’m gonna take you to this place I think you’ll like and we’ll see what happens from there, but I have a good feeling we’re gonna go on another and then some more after that.”

Her heart burst at the thought. Still, she kept her excitement to herself and just smiled at him. “Is that so?”

“I know so.”

She licked her lips and nodded. “Then that works with me.”

He pecked her lips before pulling her closer to him.

“Why didn’t you say anything to me before?” she asked.

“Why didn’t you?” he countered playfully.

“Because, look at you. You’re smart, courageous, handsome, and the kind of guy every woman wants.”

The way his smile softened had her wondering if maybe she’d said something wrong.

“And here I was, afraid you’d see that you’re too good for me,” he said.

She laughed. “Trust me, I’m not.”

“Well, I happen to disagree so we’re just gonna leave it at that.”

He pecked her lips and closed his eyes. She pulled back her lips.

“Johnny?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want me to call you Johnny or by your real name?”

He opened his eyes. “How’d you know Johnny’s not my real name?”

“I was in charge of your paperwork and I saw your real name. Philip John, right?”

He nodded. “Or P.J. for short.”

“P.J.?”

He smiled, licking his lips, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody say that name as sweet as you.”

She beamed. “Then it’s settled. I’ll call you P.J. and you can call me Y/N or Babydoll.”

“You got it, Babydoll.”

#johnny knoxville #johnny knoxville x reader #jackass #jackass fanfic

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the-other-art-blog · 4 months

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Richard Gunningworth: *ignores Sophie for years, barely acknowledges her existence, makes her feel unloved, gets married without considering Sophie, does nothing to defend her against his wife’s abuse, doesn’t take the proper measures to secure her future if he dies*

The Bton fandom: “I think Sophie’s father really loved her. He must have been in love with her mother. Yes! It was forbidden love! Poor baby, he ignored Sophie because it was too painful to see her.”

Violet: *loses the love of her life when she was 8 months pregnant, suffers depression, has a traumatic birth, suffers post-partum depression, recovers and dedicates her life to raise her children and makes sure her children live a HEA*

The Bton Fandom: “what a horrible mother, she should have been there for Anthony. She’s an absent mother! She’s the worst.”

Make it make sense.

If Violet would have died and Edmund would have crumbled, everyone would have made excuses for him. Stop acting as if Anthony raised those children alone. Violet was depressed for a while, but then SHE raised them. And before Edmund died, they were loving and involved parents.

People forget too easily all the damage Richard did to Sophie.

Let's just recap all the shitty things he did in the book.

He abused his power as a wealthy heir to take advantage of a poor maid.

He left said maid alone, even when he knew there was a possibility of getting her pregnant. And yes, we don't know why she left, but if he cared he would have done something.

He let Sophie live with him because he had to. The book is clear in that he is not happy about her arrival and decides to treat her as a ward. Now, yes, this technically gave Sophie many opprtunities, but he only did it to safe his reputation. He made her pay for his mistakes.

He abandoned her in the country while he spent most of the year in London doing who knows what. Sophie grew up completely alone, except the servants. She had no friends ebcause everyone knew she was an illegitimate child.

When he is in the country, he barely spent time with her. Although I believe he asked for reports from the governess and knew she could be an accomplished woman.

He married Araminta without ever considering Sophie. If he cared about Sophie, he would have mentioned her to Araminta before proposing to her. No loving father would have made any decision without making sure that his new wife treated his daughter with respect. In fact, Araminta was treated as a fool here too, cause she deserved to know. As horrible as she was, she deserved to know Sophie existed, and the fact that Richard didn't think it important to tell her shows how privileged and horrible he was.He was a very wealthy earl, he could have had anyone. He was only 36 years old and if Sophie looked like him, he should have been handsome.

When he presented to the whole staff, he totally forgot about Sophie. He wasn't even planning on making a formal presentation!!! That scene breaks my heart cause Sophie beams when he tells her he didn’t see her. Like how despicable you have to be to make her feel like she’s forgetable and more insignificant than a scullery maid. Let’s not pretend that this messed up with Sophie’s self-esteem.

He didn’t take measures to protect Sophie’s dowry. He left her money... and then what? There were no further instructions on what to do with her. Did he plan to arrange a marriage? How could he have trusted Sophie’s only opportunity for a good life to a woman who hated her?!?!?!?! An ambitious woman who only cared about money and status.

He was aware of Araminta’s treatment towards Sophie and he allowed it. As horrible as Araminta was, the only reason why that woman came near Sophie was Richard. And Sophie knew it.

I know the dowry was extremely important to Sophie, and it does prove that he acknowledge her existence and his responsibility. But honestly, it wasn’t enough. Even if he was already thinking about a future for Sophie where he dies, he could have been more specific in the will. Or, he could have left instructions to his lawyer. What if Sophie didn’t find a husband? Could she have gotten access to the money? I do believe he would have searched for a decent man, but I don’t think he planned a HEA for Sophie, merely a man willing to overlook her illegitimacy. I don’t think they would have had contact once Sophie got married.

And frankly, the fact that people tend to brush off his conduct and abuse and just focus on Araminta pisses me off. Men really can get away with everything.

NEGLECT IS ABUSE!!!!!!

Richard made Sophie carry all the weight of his crimes. He went on being an earl in London and being wealthy and influential. Sophie couldn’t have done anything, she was just a child. The servants didn’t have the power to defend her either. And then Benedict came and he tried to do the same. He wanted her to carry with all the shame of being a mistress while he continued with his life. But this time Sophie could say no and forced Benedict to make sacrifices.

#bridgerton #benophie #richard gunningworth #sophie beckett #benedict bridgerton #violet bridgerton #araminta reiling #feels good to let this out

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soubi122 · 11 months

Text

How Long? - Part 5

Warning! Manipulation, mentions of pregnancy, thoughts of baby trapping, fear, angst, anxiety, possessive Ran.

Three more chapters left!

Last Flight

Sitting on the cold floor reminded you of how much you hated this feeling. The feeling of falling, the feeling of fear, panic and helplessness. “Pack your things…” Ran repeated his words with less enmity. It was supposed to be a relief but he made you feel just the opposite. You didn’t know whether or not he’d lose it again.

Packing a carry-on with the essentials, you bid your home a silent farewell, not sure if you’d even make it back alive. This was the one place you thought no one would find you. On the complete opposite end of the country, in a small town and away from the city - you were free. Free to live your life quietly and peacefully, away from the blood, turf wars, drugs and sleazy men and women. It was a good two and half years.

The drive to the hotel was quiet, as much as the scene was to die for, you couldn't help but feel anxious. Ran kept his hand on your thigh, almost as if he was afraid that you’d jump out of the car at any moment. A little paranoid, no?

When you arrived at the hotel, you could see the woman at the front desk straighten up and unbutton the top two buttons of her blouse. She had no idea what this man was capable of. Her pretty smile dropped when she saw you come up from behind Ran. “Welcome back sir. Did you find what you were looking for?” She asked while fluttering her expensive lashes. He waved her off and proceeded to call the elevator. Ran didn’t even look in her direction and it made the woman pout. If only he could have been like this to all the women when he was taken. Perhaps you should have let her take him, he might have actually proven you right - once a cheater always a cheater.

Opening the door to his room, you were met with an abundance of papers and maps. This looked like the room of a serial killer or a conspiracy theorist. He proceeded to throw away all the scattered materials and packed his belongings. While waiting, you built up the courage to speak. “Ran, I will book a hotel when we land.” You say with hopes of him understanding. “No, it’s safer if you stay with me.” He said without even looking at you, he was adamant about not letting you go. “I think it’s best not to draw any attention, I don’t want anyone to start investigating and potentially endanger Bonten.” It was a valid argument, with Bonten being under constant surveillance and with you being dead, it made sense to stay away temporarily. “I don’t care, you’re not-” He began to protest but you cut him off with two reasons that made his blood run cold. “I’m dead, remember? Besides, Mikey will really kill me if Bonten gets involved in my murder investigation.” Shit, you were right. You were always right. With a heavy sigh, Ran drooped his shoulders in defeat. “Promise me you’ll let me stay somewhere else.” It was hard to say yes to that question. He wanted to keep you with him, what if you decide to run away again? What if someone recognizes you? However, you evaded him and everyone else for 3 years - you must already know how to avoid detection. “I promise.”

After checking out of the hotel and dropping off the rental, you and Ran were waiting at the airport for the flight to commence boarding. Many couples strolled by, many were on their honeymoon or returning from a family vacation and had kids with them. Seeing and hearing how these couples interacted with each other, it made you nauseous. Especially while sitting next to the man that single handedly destroyed your life. This could have been you and Ran if he wouldn’t have cheated on you. The thought of having a child with him broke your heart. Biting back the tears in your eyes, you looked down at your cell phone, pretending to have gotten a notification or some sort. You knew what life was like with him, but how would have it been if he stayed loyal, would you be raising a child now or would you be the wife of a man who has several mistresses? The thoughts were eating away at you and Ran could tell that you were beginning to fidget in your seat.

“Now boarding flight 757 to Tokyo. Now boarding flight 757 to Tokyo - Narita Airport.” The woman on the intercom said. Thank goodness - you couldn’t stand a second more of this awkward silence between you and Ran. The flight was about 3 hours long, luckily Ran had gotten decent seats but oh how the gods love to fuck with you. A couple with a baby was seated in front of you, the baby looked to be about 1 year old and their chubby little cheeks made your heart melt. They were considered a lap passenger so the baby was in the couples’ arms at all times. You could tell that they were first time parents.

The plane was in the air and your journey back to Tokyo began. During the flight, you remained quiet and avoided any conversation with Ran or the flight attendants. Mid flight the baby began to cry, however, the mom was not there. The flight attendant returned to inform the father that the wife was in the bathroom pumping. You could kind of see the panic in the father’s face as they weren’t used to having the baby cry. He would turn around and look back to see if the mother was coming back but she was still pumping in the bathroom. The neighboring passengers were getting a little irate about the baby’s continuous cries.

“Remind me to get first class tickets next time.” Ran mumbled under his breath, he too was getting annoyed. Of course, those who have never dealt with children will have zero patience with them or anybody else. Seeing how he would grip his thighs or message his temples - he was slowly losing it. As someone who had friends that were nursing, you knew pumping could take 15-20 minutes. Just as Ran was about to open his mouth, you stood up and crossed over him, surprising him - just what the hell were you doing?

Lightly tapping on the man’s shoulder you asked if he needed any help with the baby. “Oh, she’s just hungry - her mother should be back shortly.” He said sheepishly, but you could see the pink blush on his face from being flustered and embarrassed. He didn’t know what to do. The baby’s sudden wailing made the father even more flustered. “May I?” You asked and extended your arms for the baby. The man handed the baby over to you, you positioned the baby against your chest and had their little head rest on your shoulder. Softly patting the baby’s thigh and setting them - the sound of your heartbeat and rhythmic movements helped to calm the baby down. The soothing patting went in sync with your heartbeat. It’s all about the angle and rhythm - “T-Thank you so much. ” The father said and smiled. It was the first time he'd seen someone other than his wife put the baby to sleep.

The movements and patting was also soothing to you. For a moment, you forgot where you were and who was by you. Ran's eyes never left you, he saw how you handled the baby so gently and just how powerful a woman could be in moments like this. The smile on your face was warm and delicate like the morning sun. That baby in your arms was lucky to be held against your chest, to be held in the arms of a loving and beautiful woman.

Warmth began to blossom inside of his chest. Seeing you like this, with a child in your arms… It made him want to plant his seed, let it take root and grow in your womb. He knew you'd nurture and care for it, a beautiful little boy or girl would be born out of love. They'd be surrounded by two loving parents and uncles who would treat them like one of their own. Ran was starting to imagine how you'd be while decorating a nursery with a swollen belly and a smile on your face. A real smile…

"Umm…excuse me." The sound of the mother's voice snapped both you and Ran out of your little bubbles. "Oh, I'm sorry - it just looked like he really needed help." You say softly. Once the mother handed over the pump and bottles to her husband, you began to hand over the child to her. "Here's your little one back." She smiled and thanked you for helping them. You excused yourself and took your seat next to Ran. The flight attendant came over to thank you for stepping in and also to thank you on behalf of the other passengers. It doesn’t really take much to be kind.

Ran slowly tried to reach out to hold your hand but was reminded of the very hands that were wrapped around your neck. He stopped himself midway before you could notice. The solemn look on your face made him regret his actions. If things didn't pan out the way they did, perhaps you'd be leaning against his shoulder and touching your belly - signaling that it was time. He truly wanted to be happy with you. Perhaps there was a way to keep you here with him, permanently...

The flight continued in silence between you two. Once the plane landed and passengers were allowed to exit, the couple turned around and thanked you once more. The baby made cooing noises and smiled, she looked happy. Such innocence and bliss - it made you subconsciously rub your belly. This didn't go unnoticed by Ran. Maybe there was a chance to change your futures after all. Just maybe he can try to smooth things over with you after you meet up with everyone, they might just welcome you with open arms and - wait…that’s not how they’d react. Reality hit him square in the face, you faked your death and went into hiding with help of Bonten’s leader. Traitors were subjected to severe punishment. Negotiating the terms of punishment will be his priority. He will still try his best to make this work, you said you loved him after all, right? Did you really mean it?

Stepping foot back into Tokyo was hard. You’d grown used to the quiet and sounds of the ocean, it was much more soothing than the sound of cars, trains and people. Putting on a face mask, you hid your face from the crowds - remember, you're dead after all.

You and Ran made your way through security and headed to the parking lot where his car was. When the garage attendant greeted him, he paused for a brief moment, blinking and taking a second look at you. “What space is my car parked in?” Ran asked with a curt tone, the fact that someone else was staring at you made him rather irate. “Oh, space 13 sir.” The attendant bowed and handed the keys over. Ran took the keys and didn't even say thank you as he walked away, you bowed to thank the man and followed Ran. "You're in a pissy mood…" You pointing out the obvious wasn't needed.

As he drove down the highway, you began checking for hotels that had availability, you didn't want to stay in the same living space with Ran. "Can you drop me off at this hotel? I want to rest before meeting everyone." For a moment everything went silent, you were a fool to think that he would let you stay somewhere else. "You're not staying at a hotel, you're coming home with me…" He chuckles and places a hand on your thigh. This was not part of the agreement. "You said-" You began to protest when he cut you off. "I can't let my wife stay somewhere else when she has a perfectly good home to come to." What the hell did he just call you? "I'm not your wife, Ran." You corrected him, you never signed papers or said 'I do' to each other, he had no right to call you that. He squeezed your thigh a little, his fingertips were starting to dig into your skin and make you flinch.

"Please, just stay with me…" The importunate tone made you uneasy. Ran was beginning to crack. Sighing in defeat, you nodded your head and muttered an 'ok'. He was quick to put a smile back on his face. It was rather naive of you to expect him to keep his promise. It was hard not to think of all the things that took place in the city you once called home. You wondered if home was going to look the same or if he changed everything. Did he keep your things, throw them out, sell them or give them away to his playthings? There was no use in thinking about it, it’s been 3 years. His tears and sincerity hinted at him truly regretting his actions. “Ran…I need you to be honest with me.” You begin to say as you stare out the window. He hummed in response. “Do you truly love me or do you hate the fact that you lost me? That you were not the one to end things? Or that I didn’t bend to your will?” The question made him slow down the car, just enough to drag out the drive home. Why the sudden bombardment of questions?

The harsh questions swirled around his head like a maelstrom. Was it his ego that was bruised and not his heart? No…he loved you, he truly loved you. Ran remained silent, he didn’t know what to say in order for you to believe him. His silence spoke volumes to you, you knew he was struggling to find the answer. “Can I show you when we get home?” He said while keeping his eyes on the road. If he’d turn around to face you, he knew he’d stop the car to claim you. Perhaps Ran had a fetish for your love, regardless of his actions - you pushed him out of your life and he came right back for you. When you spotted the building that you once called home, it made a knot in your stomach - you hoped to never see this place again.

Parking his car in the underground parking lot, he cut the engine and turned to look at you. He could see that your hands were trembling, this place brought back bitter memories and he was the cause of them all. “Let’s go, my love.” Ran said with a sickening warm tone and exited the car. Once he closed the door, you inhaled deeply, pausing for five seconds and exhaling, preparing yourself for what awaited you.

Taking the elevator to the top floor, you felt your knees almost give out. The scent of hydraulic oil made you nauseous, there is nothing quite like home, huh? The sound of the elevator dinging made your heart beat faster. You were getting closer and closer to the hell hole you were living in while he did his deeds. Each step taken felt like your feet were in quicksand, your legs felt heavy and struggled to keep up with Ran’s long legs.

Once Ran opened the door, the faint smell of tobacco and sandalwood perforated your nostrils. You were surprised he kept it clean, since you were the one to pick up after him and clean the house - he’s never done housework before. Walking in, you take a look around and notice that he’s changed everything. The walls were painted, the furniture was different, the dining table was gone and even his dishes were different. “It um, looks so different.” You whisper and set your things down by the entrance. “Rindou tried his best.” He said while scratching the back of his neck.

When you were gone, Rindou threw all your things out against Ran’s orders. He couldn’t handle seeing his older brother lose himself over a dead woman that he claimed he felt nothing for when he was out cheating. Rindou hired interior designers to renovate Ran’s home. However, he was unsuccessful with renovating the master bed and bath. The interior designers were threatened with a pistol to their temples if they even walked into those rooms. Aniki…you need to fucking let it go. Rindou would say it over and over again, but Ran refused.

This didn’t feel like home and you were glad, it was a stranger’s home afterall. “I shouldn’t be here.” You say and take a step back but Ran wrapped his arms around your waist from behind. “Come on, let’s rest and then we can go see everyone else.” He whispered in your ear. It gave you chills, this felt like a trap.

“Ran, please…I can’t.” You whimpered and felt the tears well in your eyes. Trepidation began to rattle your nerves. Everything began to get blurry as your heart pounded in your chest. He began to guide you to his bedroom while still holding you from behind. When he opened the door and your eyes scanned the room, you felt a pang in your chest. The bedroom remained the same. Your once shared bed, the dressers, nightstands and photos remained the same as the day you left. “Welcome home, (Y/N).”

END

Tags:

@rinrinfoxy @mor-pheus @no-signal @namelessnikki2 @gabi-moureira @spookys-s @slvtmeow @jinii-desu @mmmaaannnsssiii @3xchooo @kokotakeomi @no-name-jack @barriesandcrem @reidsmexyconverse @waterfallsdown @1980losersliveinme @gabytodd @simp4ren @fffsksixj @whatsonthemirror @jcrml @reiners-milkbiddies @unr-u-1y @bakugosgf2005 @whoisneth @bluephoenix908 @asmosslut @laurenzitaa @uniqueeggtoast @arlertsbaby

#tokyo revengers #tokyorevengers #ran haitani #bonten ran #bonten ran haitani #angst #ran angst #ran haitani angst #haitani ran #haitani ran angst #angst fanfic #tokyo revengers angst #how long #fanfic #tokyo revegeners fanfic #how long part 5 #almost over

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avatarmerida · 11 months

Text

Til You Make It

Okay so this was something I wanted to have finished for Valentines Day (and it shows) but then idk I just didn’t. But I wanted to finish it and at some point it became way longer than a drabble but I don’t have enough to do like a full multi chapter story so here’s some corny huntlow fake dating that’s king for no reason. Idk how I feel about it but maybe it’s just because I’ve been staring at it too long. Okay byyyyyeeee.

----

“...and then you pick truth or dare and we keep going back and forth like that,” Gus finished explaining the rules of the game. The boys had such a fun time sharing a room in the human realm they decided to have a sleepover and Gus was walking Hunter through the difference between sharing a room and sleeping over. The main difference was the games you played, according to Gus.

“Okay so I guess… truth?” Hunter said tentatively as they sat on the ground in front of Gus’ bed, their new matching Cosmic Frontier sleeping bags laid neatly beneath them.

“Okaaay,” Gus sang with a mischievous grin. “Tell me a secret…”

“Oh, well I don’t think we have any secrets anymore, I mean after everything that’s happened I think you must know most-.”

“... about Willow.” Gus finished, raising his eyebrow.

“Why would I know one of Willow’s secrets?” Hunter stuttered nervously. “A-and even if I did, I would never divulge one without her permission. Why would you-.”

“I’m preeeetty sure you have at least one secret involving Willow,” Gus cut him off as he reached for his juice box sitting on the nightstand. By now, Hunter’s massive crush on their friend was old news but Gus knew Hunter was making some progress, but getting him to open up about it presented its challenges. He thought this was the perfect game to get the ball rolling or at least see where the ball was. “But if you would rather do a dare…”

“No! No, it’s fine.” Hunter said, taking a deep breath. “There actually… is something I’ve been wanting to talk about. But everything stays confidential, right?”

“I’ll take the solemn vow of secrecy that Avery pledged to O’Bailey.” Gus said with a serious face that put Hunter at ease, knowing the severity of the oath.

“Okay,” Hunter took another deep breath as he fiddled with his thumbs. “Right before… everything happened, I sent Willow a message…”

“Okaaay?” Said Gus, prompting him to continue. “What about?”

“I uh, well… we had been messaging a lot and I… really liked talking to her and she asked if I could push up my next day off so we could hang out and I said I might be able to after the Day of Unity and I said maybe we could even… goonadate.”

“What?!” Gus exclaimed, spitting out his juice. “Are you serious?!”

“That was before I knew what the Day of Unity really was!” Hunter sputtered.

“I know that!” Said Gus, saving his mouth with a napkin. “I’m talking about you asking Willow out! Dude, that’s huge!”

“I know!” Hunter exclaimed, reaching for a pillow to scream into. “I nearly threw my scroll across the room afterwards. I-I don't know what came over me I just… said it! I didn’t really know what it meant! Darius joked about it, about me asking her on a date and so I just asked him what that meant and he said it was two people who liked each other spending time together alone and I… liked how it sounded. I didn’t really know about the romantic part until after but even then I… I think I still would’ve asked.”

“Hmm, I bet you would have,” Gus said with a smirk. “But, wait, why haven’t you guys gone on one?” Gus gave a little gasp. “Did she say no?”

“She never replied,” sighed Hunter. “Granted, it was late and she did mention she was tired so she might’ve fallen asleep. But then ya, know alot of stuff happened and then when I saw you guys at Hexside, I didn’t have my scroll to see if she saw it or responded. I mean, there was really no good time to bring it up! And I thought she didn’t bring it up because… maybe she did say no.”

“Well you have your scroll now! Did she ever reply?”

“Not to that message,” said Hunter, pulling it up and scrolling through a sea of messages. “After that it's mostly ‘are you okay?’ And ‘why are there scouts at the Owl House?’ She changed the subject, probably to let me down easy.”

“Or because she was worried about your safety?” Gus offered, knowing that was the real answer. “If we wanna know if she got it, we gotta ask her!”

Hunter’s eyes widened in panic. “No! There’s too many variables! What if she was gonna say no? What if she never saw it but would’ve said no? What if she said yes but she’s changed her mind? What if-?”

“What if she said ‘sure, when?’ but it never sent and she thinks that you left her on read?” Gus countered and Hunter gasped at the very notion.

“I would never!” He hissed. “Willow knows that! She knows… doesn’t she?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” said Gus.

“But… what if I waited too long and she lost interest or never had interest and I’ll just make her uncomfortable if I talk about it-.”

“Dude, stop.” Gus said firmly, cutting him off before he totally spiraled. “Even if Willow doesn’t like you that way, she’s still your friend and cares about you. She would never try to make you feel bad about having feelings.”

“You’re right Gus,” Hunter sighed, looking fondly at the profile picture of Willow smiling brightly back at him. “I should just come clean and express my feelings more directly.”

“Exactly!”

“In a handwritten note!” Hunter declared with flair.

“That’s… a start.”

---

So Hunter drafted his love note.

And then it turned into more of a novel, so he revised it so it wasn’t so overwhelming and got it down to a respectable page and a half. He carried it with him everywhere, waiting for the right moment. He had selected a simple light green envelope and doodled tiny flowers in the corners, as though he was worried the elegant way he wrote her name on the front in bold gold ink wasn’t clue enough that it was meant for her.

He needed to ensure there was no confusion about whether or not she saw it.

---

“Guys, guys guys!” said Hunter in a panicky tone as he rushed to the lunch table with Gus and Willow sat and had just been wondering where he was. He quickly sat down beside Willow and lowered his voice as though he was on the run, his hazel eyes overrun with guilt. “I did something bad.”

“Cool! What?” asked Willow, in the middle of opening a pudding cup.

“Well, I was on my way here and I ran into Boscha-

“Ew.” said Willow, naturally.

“And she… asked me out.” Hunter winced before proceeding to explain as fast as he could. “And of course I said no but she wouldn’t drop it until I gave her a good reason so I panicked and I sort of lied and said that you’re my girlfriend so she’d leave me alone.”

“Oh.” Willow said as Hunter examined her face for the disapproval he assumed his confession would warrant, but she seemed more focused on the stubborn top of her pudding. “So what’s the bad thing you did?”

“I-I lied!” Hunter said, as though she had not heard.

“Yeah, to Boscha.” Willow shrugged, saying the name like it left a bad taste in her mouth.

“But I lied about you!”

“Yeah, to Boscha,” Willow repeated again with a small laugh. “Hunter, I know better than anyone how persistent Boscha can be. If lying about me being your girlfriend gets her to leave you alone, I’m more than fine with it.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Willow assured him, finally opening the cup and placing the pudding in front of him before turning to open her own. She knew he was always running late to lunch because he had a habit of staying after class to ask follow up questions and the run in with Boscha had only delayed him more.

“Oh, okay…”

“Ya know, I’m surprised Boscha would ask you out,” chuckled Willow before fully hearing how her words could be taken. Her eyes widened in a slight panic and she raised her hands as she tried to explain. “Not that I don’t understand wanting to date you! No, it’s just that I’m surprised Boscha could see how amazing you are! She doesn’t normally have such great taste. I mean uh, well you know what I mean.”

“Heh, yeah,” said Hunter, sipping the drink Gus had brought him as he tried not to think too much into what she said. Not that I don’t understand wanting to date you…

“Okay, I get not wanting to date Boscha but why did you say you were dating Willow?” asked Gus.

“Well who else was I supposed to say?”

“Literally anyone else?” said Gus, fully aware that Willow was often already on Hunter’s mind and it was most likely the result of a reflex or wishful thinking. “Or like, don’t give her a name? You could’ve said she went to a different school or something. Even if Boscha did respect boundaries, you know how she treats Willow. She’ll probably try and break you up just to hurt her.”

“Hmmm maybe not,” said Willow, a thought forming behind her eyes.

“What do you mean?” asked Gus.

“Well, she might try to break us up,” started Willow. “Ooor she might be too embarrassed for anyone to know that Hunter would rather go out with half-a-witch Willow over her.”

“I mean, I guess that’s not a lie,” Hunter reasoned. “Except for the half-a-witch part.” He reached over and placed his hand over hers and looked seriously into her eyes. “Please don’t call yourself that.”

Willow’s eyes fluttered from his hand on hers up to his face, looking at her with total sincerity, his value of her outweighing any nerves that could accompany the action. She felt like a butterfly was loose in her chest, flying rapidly around in her ribcage.

“Ya know, I bet if she saw you holding my hand she would lose her mind,” said Willow with a mischievous grin, loving both parts of the sentence.

“Oh! Uh, well yeah … I guess?” stuttered Hunter, not sure if he should remove his hand or not. “I mean, that’s not why I-.”

“I mean, if I’m gonna be your fake girlfriend then it’s gonna look convincing,” Willow decided, instantly onboard. “We should probably hold hands alot more, especially if we just started dating; we’ll have to be even more obnoxious than Amity and Luz.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Well, let’s find out,” said Willow slyly, turning her hand over to lace her fingers with Hunter’s. She continued to eat her lunch as though this multitasking was second nature. “Oh yeah, Boscha would hate this.”

“Haha yeah,” Hunter laughed nervously, unable to fully process what was happening but knowing it felt very nice. He put his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his other hand as he admired their connected hands as he tried to convincingly convey a teenager in love. “She’d totally hate this.” he sighed with a dopey grin. .

“You know I’d do anything for you, right?” Willow smiled. “And if sticking it to Boscha is a part of helping you, well how could I say no?”

“Are you sure? I mean, I know it wasn’t the smartest thing to-.”

“Nah, it’s fine.” Willow insisted. “It’s kinda perfect actually, she was being a pest yesterday about how I didn’t have a date for Bleeding Hearts Day. It’s really none of her business but it’ll be kind of nice getting to see her face when it turns out that I do.”

“Oh, right.”

“It kind of sounds like fun, actually, like an undercover mission. We can meet after school to plan our fake relationship, sound good?”

“S-sure, yeah.”

“Well, I gotta go check on my bulbs before next period to make sure they’re adjusting to their new soil, but wanna walk to class together, boyfriend?” She said the term in such an overly sweet way, Hunter thought his teeth might fall out. She said it the same way she would say his name when she thought he was keeping a secret that she knew she could work it out of him with very little effort. Was it because they shared a secret now or did she know something else was up? Either way, he wanted to hear her say it over and over again.

“Oh, uh y-yeah of course!” He chuckled nervously. “We can uh hold hands too I guess…” he sheepishly sipped his drink and Willow just giggled, knowing he had not intended to get himself into this situation and felt out of place not being prepared. But luckily her mind was racing with solutions.

“You betcha,” she confirmed, rising from the table and giving him a playful wink. “I’ll meet you by your locker?”

“I’ll be there!” he said with enthusiasm, waving to Willow as she walked away keeping his eyes on her until she left the cafeteria entirely. “Oh Titan I’ve made things worse.” Hunter groaned into his hands once he knew Willow was out of earshot.

“Sooo what happened to giving her the note?” Gus asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.“Isn’t this like skipping a few steps?”

“I-I don’t know! It all happened so fast!” Hunter mumbled. “I was about to put the note in Willow’s locker when Boscha walked by and took it from me! She saw Willow’s name on the front and went to rip it up and hen I asked her not to, she read it. She read it in this ugly high pitched voice and threatened to tell everyone and I… panicked.”

“What did the note say exactly?”

Hunter’s face turned a bright shade of crimson, having intended for the note to remain personal and having it exposed once already today was a lot. “It… just said that I liked her and I wanted to see if she wanted to see a professional flyer derby game with me for Bleeding Hearts Day.” Hunter summarized, the real note had been hard enough to condense as he wanted to make sure he covered all his bases and thoroughly expressed his feelings.

“Aww, Willow would love that!”

“Right?! Then Bocha tried to turn it into something bad like I should be embarrassed about liking her but I’m not. But she could tell I was embarrassed about something and so she threatened to tell everyone and I didn’t want Willow to find out from her so… I said that she was already my girlfriend. I mean, Luz and Amity send each other notes like that all the time so it’s believable, right?”

“So Boscha didn’t really ask you out?”

“No.” Hunter buried face in his hands and groaned. “Ugh, and I lied to Willow too! But I didn’t know how to explain to Willow why I lied to Boscha without telling her everything and now…”

“Now you get to show Willow what a great boyfriend you’d be.” Gus finished.

“What?”

“I mean, maybe you didn’t totally blow it,” Gus continued. “I mean, Willow didn’t seem upset about people thinking she was your girlfriend. Maybe that’s a good thing?”

“But it’s pulling her into my lie!” Hunter said. “Relationships shouldn’t be based on lies!”

“I mean, you tried pulling her into a coven and she still likes you,” Gus pointed out, as he continued to chew. “Fake it til you make it, right?”

“Right,” said Hunter with a small, uneasy smile. “Fake it til you make it.”

—-

“Hey boyfriend.” Willow smiled as she turned the corner to see Hunter gathering his books. Hearing her refer to him like that made his knees feel weak. It sounded so natural.

“Hey g-girlfriend,” he said, trying to summon the same confidence she had. But the word felt almost forbidden. But very nice. “H-how are your plants?”

“They’re great!” She exclaimed. “Thanks for asking, what a sweet attentive boyfriend I have.”

Hunter blushed, he had always asked her about her plants.

“So Luz, Amity, and I are practically rom com experts,” said Willow proudly. “That, plus being around the two of them nonstop, makes me confident that I have the expertise to ensure that we can be a very convincing couple.”

“I mean, we would only have to be a couple around Bocha right? And we aren’t around Boscha that much so you don’t have to put yourself out for me.”

“Nonsense!” Willow insisted. “You’re still getting used to things but I know how high school works. Word travels fast, everyone is looking for gossip. We can’t risk the mission crumbling due to carelessness.” Her voice dived into a serious whisper that lured Hunter down to hear her better, her tone covered him in a sense of urgency as though this truly was the mission of a lifetime. “There are eyes everywhere.”

“Of course, Captain,” he said with a serious nod, his voice low and gravely which sent a chill down Willow’s spine.

“I won’t lie, there may be challenges,” said Willow embracing the theatrics of the moment. “After last time, Boscha will be looking for any reason to try and prove that I-.”

“‘Last time?’” Hunter asked. “What do you mean ‘last time?’”

He knew he wasn’t referring to their scuffle at New Hexside. He knew Willow’s history with Bosha was complicated, but had he done something to worsen it?

“Okay, listen it’s not a big deal,” Willow began in a forced tone that suggested it definitely was. “But last year ago before Luz even got here, there was someone in a few of my classes that I kind of had a crush on,” she fiddled with her braid as she cleared her throat. “I thought they were really nice and cute but I was shy so I didn’t really have the confidence to talk to them. So I wrote a note to tell them how I felt and put it in their locker. A few days later they wrote me back and they… asked me to go to Grom.”

“And you said yes?”

Willow nodded. “I was really excited, I had never been asked out on a date before,” she recalled. “I even saved up to buy a new dress. And my dads were maybe even more excited than me, they were gonna take hundreds of pictures, and they waited with me for them to come pick me up like they said they would. And we waited, and waited, and waited. But they never showed up.”

“Did something happen to them?”

“When I asked them about it at school the next day…they just laughed. They laughed like it was the most ridiculous joke they had ever heard, going to a dance with me. Turns out, it was. They were never gonna show up for me because they had never really asked me. The note was from Boscha.”

“No!”

Willow took a deep breath, it had been awhile since she had shared this story. “Yeah. She had somehow found out about the note and sent the fake one as a prank so I’d either show up and be humiliated or miss the dance all together. Kind of a win-win for her.”

“Willow, that’s awful.” said Hunter, feeling as though he was about to cry, sorry he was causing her to relive the painful memory. He wondered if Boscha had been planning to repeat herself when she caught Hunter trying to leave Willow his note. He shuddered at the idea of her getting a note like that thinking it was from him. His galdertone ached at the idea that she could've gotten his note and thought it was written as a cruel joke.

“So it took me awhile to trust myself when I started liking someone, and even longer to believe that someone could ever like me like that.” said Willow.

“Willow I'm so sorry that happened to you, that’s just… you don’t… Oh, I’m sorry I got you involved in this,” said Hunter. “I-I don’t know why I did, I mean I knew how Boscha treated you, I should've known she’d find a way to try and-.”

“Hunter, it’s fine really,” Willow assured him. “I know I still let Boscha get under my skin sometimes, but I know this time is nothing like that. Plus I’d hate for her to try and do something like that to you. We’re not doing this to prove anything to her, it’s to keep her away from you. But if she found out that we were pretending… she’d be unbearable.”

“I mean she’s already unbearable,” Hunter scoffed.

“I won’t argue with you there,” said Willow with a light chuckle.

“So… have you liked anyone… since then?” Hunter tried to ask naturally.

“Um… maybe?” A subtle blush crept onto her face and she hoped he didn't notice. He thought he imagined it. “There is… someone I kind of…”

“There is?” Hunter's heart plummeted as his eyes widened in horror. “Oh my Titan, there’s someone you like and now I’ve roped you into dating me and now they’ll think you’re taken! Willow, I’m so sorry! If you wanna break up with me I can always see if-.”

“No! No, no it’s okay,” Willow insisted. “I think they’d understand. It’s fine, I promise.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely,” she said sweetly. “I’m fairly certain that pretending to date you will not hurt my chances with him.”

“Okay,” Hunter sighed, confused and relieved. His mind raced with who this person would be, this lucky, mysterious, and apparently very secure person who Willow had her eye on. He didn’t ask more questions, not wanting to pry and not wanting to increase the creeping feeling of jealousy lurking in his chest.

“Ya know, this will be my first Bleeding Hearts day with someone, even if it’s not totally legit,” mused Willow. “It’s still exciting though. It’ll be nice to spend it with someone I care about.”

“Yeah?” Hunter asked, unable to process that she had referred to him as someone special without air quotes or sarcasm. She really was looking forward to spending time with him on the most romantic day on the Isles? He had to make it worth her sacrifice. Luckily, he had the perfect day planned for months. “Well then, if you’re not doing anything already I was thinking we could go to a pro flyer derby match together.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Really? I would love- wait, do you mean the match on Bleeding Hearts day between the Sirens and the Harpies?”

“Yeah! I-if that’s okay….” Hunter started, pulling the tickets out of his pocket where he had been keeping them safe. “I actually already got us pretty good seats, so if you-.”

“Hunter!” Willow exclaimed, taking them carefully from him to admire them. “Are you serious? How did you ever… I mean this is so… I don’t even know what to say! This is so amazing I could just kiss you!”

“Hehehe uh well I guess technically you could…” he said quietly as he scratched his face. Willow was too engrossed in the tickets for Hunter to tell if she had heard him. “But I uh, got them as a thank you. For, ya know, being my… girlfriend.”

Willow smiled as she wrapped him in a tight hug, burying her face in his chest as she lifted him off the ground. “So that does that mean… you wanna go?” he strained to ask as she squeezed him tighter. She laughed as she gently put him back on his feet, taking delight in the red mesmerized look on his face.

“Of course! What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t?” She giggled, only slightly embarrassed at her impulse.She knew it was for show, but truthfully she couldn’t imagine a better evening than yelling in the crowd beside Hunter. How had Boscha managed to accidentally arrange one of the most perfect nights of her life? She was finally good for something, it seemed.

---

Pretending to date Hunter was unsurprisingly easy.

They spent the day adjusting their routine to that of a couple, and it turns out they needed to adjust very little.

They already went out of their way to walk to class together, so now they walked closer and linked pinkies as they walked.

When he dropped her off at her class, she always sent him away with an enthusiastic farwell, now she blew him a kiss before he left.

During study hall he sent her paragraphs worth of ideas for pet names. Terms of endearment tailor made for Willow that she couldn’t help but feel he thought of way too quickly, as though he already had them handy.

Such little things that made the biggest difference

During their time in the human realm, they would create little backstories for themselves to help them blend in and get adjusted to things. It was something silly they did to take their mind off the uncertainty of things and help the time pass, but now it was just a silly thing they did for reasons they couldn’t explain. Willow knew plenty of couples weren’t overly affectionate and they didn’t need to go so deep undercover, but she was willing to commit to the bit as much as he was. It was another thing they would do back in human realm, see who would break first or who would be the first to have nothing new to add. But this was one time Willow was hoping for a draw.

All through class she watched the clock, so eager to see him again and add another detail to their story. Her favorite part was when the bit reached a point where it felt like an elaborate inside joke that blurred the lines between fact and fiction. Hunter was always the best at creating with her. Sometimes it took him awhile to find the character, but if his Golden Guard days taught him anything it was how to adapt.

---

At the end of their first day “together”, any guilt Hunter harbored had vanished with Willow's collection of ideas suggesting she really was excited for this plan. If only asking her for real could be this simple. As they walked to the Owl House for their usual Friday hang chatting as they always did, they did so hand in hand only to remember halfway there that since they were out of school they didn’t technically need to be. But neither said this aloud. They were both convinced the other was simply dedicated to the ruse.

“... and I thought we could go official on penstagram but we have to do matching profile pictures first,” continued Willow. “I thought we could do one where we’re each doing like half a heart with our hands so when the ‘in a relationship’ update happens they’ll be next to each other and it’ll look so cute.”

Hunter had made it clear that he was fine with whatever Willow was comfortable with and he assumed that meant they would hold hands in the hallway for a couple of weeks (which was more than enough to make his head spin) but she was fine with everyone on the Isles thinking they were romantically involved. He knew Boshca didn’t have so much influence that the effort was necessary, but he convinced himself that Willow was simply covering all their bases.

It was for the bit.

As they reached the front door, Hooty was absent from his usual spot which signaled to Willow and Hunter that the weekend festivities were in full swing. Willow went to open the door with her free hand when suddenly a thought struck her and she turned to her co conspirator with a look of concern.

“Hunter, you did tell Luz we were only pretending to be dating, right?”

“I didn’t tell her anything,” he said, having not seen Luz since this morning when she saw them off before heading to her school in the human realm. “Only Gus knows that we’re pretending. I haven’t even talked to her since this morning, I don’t even know how she would know.”

“Oh Titan.” Willow said, the color draining from her face. “I think we might be in trouble.”

“Why would you say that?” Hunter asked as he opened the door for Willow and the answer to his question presented itself as they were instantly ambushed by the force that was Hooty. The bird tube wrapped them into a tight hug, crying about how excited he was for them as Hunter and Willow saw he was not alone in his sentiment.

“Congratulations to the happy couple!” Luz exclaimed as Hooty loosened his grip on them so she could toss confetti in their faces.

“Oh, that’s why.” Hunter whispered to Willow as they both regulated their breathing after being stuck in Hooty’s grip. All they could do now was smile awkwardly as they both took in the display Luz had prepared. A “congratulations” sign hung behind Luz in the doorway, the letters decorated in pink, purple and blue and then pink, yellow and blue. They had set up Eda’s old projector and a slideshow of pictures of Willow and Hunter played on what appeared to be a loop. There were a decent amount. It was just the kind of celebration a new couple would really appreciate.

If only they were a real couple.

It also happened to include nearly everyone from school, so correcting Luz right away wasn’t an option.

“Wow this is so… uh, you guys really shouldn’t have,” said Willow as she took it all in. She didn’t dislike it, no that wasn’t it. Hunter tried to place her tone, thinking that by the redness in her cheeks she might be embarrassed. If he didn’t know any better he might think she was… committing to the bit. That’s all it was.

But he couldn’t help but feel as though everyone had been expecting this celebration to take place sooner or later.

“Are you kidding? It’s not everyday your best friend starts dating your brother!” said Luz as she pulled them both into a hug,and they looked at each other nervously behind her back. She leaned back to offer them both a wide smile, practically jumping out of her skin as Amity joined her.

“Yeah! It’ll be nice to go on double dates!”

“Oh man, if I had known your crush didn’t go away, I would’ve set this up months ago!” added Luz.

Their eyes widened simultaneously, each thinking Luz was referring to them only, unaware how mutual the feeling was. They spoke at the same time, hoping to move on before she revealed too much.

“Oh! Well you know we don’t have to-.”

“Actually, we were thinking that-.”

“Hey there lovebirds!” Gus said, rushing in to save the day. “Why don’t you come to the kitchen and get some pizza?”

“Yes! Yes, of course!” said Hunter, happy for the save as he took Willow’s hand before following Gus back. “My girlfriend loves pizza!”

“Awh, look at them,” sighed Luz, resting her head on Amity’s shoulder. “He knows that she loves pizza.”

Once in the kitchen, sure no one was listening in, Hunter turned to Gus in a panic but the younger boy simply offered him a calm, knowing look.

“Gus, why didn’t you tell them we were just pretending?” whispered Hunter.

“I didn’t have time!” he said. “I showed up and Luz told me before I could even say hello!”

“Well who told Luz?” asked Willow.

“Who didn’t tell Luz?” laughed Gus. “Someone saw you two holding hands and one thing led to another and by the time I got here Luz had already talked to half the school. I didn’t wanna blow your cover so I went with it. I just assumed you two were just doing another bit like we used to do all the time.”

“Gus, this isn’t like trying to convince the lady at the flower shop that Willow used to be an actual willow tree and that’s why she can make the plants grow,” said Hunter. “This is serious!”

“Hunter, it’ll be fine,” assured Willow, placing her hand on his shoulder. “We can always explain things to her after, we just need to do some extra pretending tonight. If it’s too hard, we can always leave early.”

Hunter wasn’t worried about it being too hard, he was worried about it being too easy. He was worried Luz would let it slip exactly why it was too easy for him. Luz had honed in on his crush early on, maybe even before he was aware of it, and it stood to reason that she believed Willow was also aware of it now. How do you tell someone your girlfriend doesn’t know about your crush on her?

“Right,” he said, grateful for Willow’s support. They had been through worse, through deadlier and more dire things, surely they could survive a night of awkwardness.

Surely they could survive the flyer derby team’s stream of questions as Willow convinced them they kept it secret as to avoid drama on the team.

Surely they could survive everyone at the party mentioning how they knew it all along.

Surely they could survive the video Luz had somehow made (dare they assume she had it prepared in advance?) to summarize their relationship becoming official. As they sat on the coach, watching every picture he and Willow had ever taken together move along the screen while a song neither of them had ever heard played softly in the background. From the corner of his eye he watched Willow watch as the screen zoom in on a group photo where he was standing beside her looking at her with a faint blush as she pulled him into frame, her hand tight on his waist.

Her finger twirled her braid as he failed to read her expression for how she was feeling. He didn’t want to feel overwhelmed if she wasn’t. With the other bits, he always followed her lead. But the difference was that he had been the one to rope them into this one. And it wasn’t something they were doing to fool a stranger they would only see for five minutes, this was basically everyone they knew.

But she didn’t seem to mind.

She actually really seemed to like it.

“Don’t worry I made you copy to show your dads when you tell them.” Said Luz as the presentation came to an end, proud of her work. “I mean, unless you’ve already told them.”

“Well, we-.”

“Oh, they must’ve,” interrupted Amity. “I know how strict they are about this type of thing, there’s no way Hunter would ask Willow out without their blessing.”

“Oh, actually-.”

“That’s right!” Hunter interrupted this time. “I did ask them! And they said… no!”

“They said no?” Amity asked, surprised.

“What?” said Luz and Gus together.

“Wait, did you- I mean, yes! That’s right!” Said Willow, catching on. “He asked them and they said no but we are dating anyway! So it’s a secret!”

“Yeah! We are secretly dating!” Confirmed Hunter. “So we should not mention it to them. Because of the secret aspect of it.”

“Oh, yeah of course.” Said Amity .

“Yeah, we won’t say anything.” promised Luz.

“Good, because we-.”

“Why did they say no?” Amity asked.

“Huh?”

“I mean, it’s kind of odd, right?” She went on, stroking her chin. “I mean, they seem like they really like Hunter and they always tease you about him being your boyfriend, so what changed?”

“Uh…” Willow thought nervously, having not told Hunter about all the time her dads had “accidentally” referred to him as her boyfriend when his name came up (which was honestly quite often). “They caught us… kissing?”

“Kissing?! You two have kissed already and neither of you told me???” Luz exclaimed. “How long have you been going out that you’re already kissing?”

“Uh, well…” Hunter tried to start, starting to sweat. He and Willow had established a fairly thorough cover story, but they had never discussed this. Even hypothetical, Hunter knew he couldn’t muster the courage to bring it up to Willow. But now it was all he could think about. Between imagining that and trying to create a story in which it could believably happen, Hunter felt as though he was about to malfunction.

“Two weeks ago,” said Willow calmly.

“What?!” Luz exclaimed.

“What? I mean, yeah! We kissed two weeks ago!” said Hunter with a nervous laugh.

“Well? C’mon! Do we not get a story?”

“Um it uh was… a day-.” started Hunter.

“It was after our match against Glandus, it had gone into double overtime so it was late and Hunter was walking me home like he always does,” started Willow, to a room of “awhs” and “how sweet.” “But we were still taking our time, talking about the game and then all of a sudden, clouds start forming and we realize it’s gonna rain. We’re almost to my house so Hunter picks me up and uses his teleportation to rush me to the door before a drop can hit me. So then we’re standing on my porch and he’s standing really close so the rain won’t hit him and he just looks so cute… I dunno, I guess it was the adrenaline or something but I just pulled him down and kissed him.”

“Awh, that’s so sweet,” said Luz, brushing a tear away. “A first kiss in the boiling rain? It’s like something out of a book.”

“Yeah,” said Hunter, looking over at Willow. He remembered that day. It wasn’t something Willow invented to help sell their lie. They had gone into overtime and he had walked her home and he had rushed her onto her porch before the rain statered, But in reality, they had lingered there. He remembered their faces inches from each other, close enough to feel her breath on his face. She had been close enough that pulling him down would’ve been easy. And he thought about it, he did. Or at least, he knew this was the kind of moment where that kind of thing happened. They stood in silence for a few moments and he told himself later that it was because they wanted to make sure they were safely out of the rain. But truthfully he forgot about the rain, he could only focus on the lingering face paint clinging to the sides of Willow’s glasses and how he was close enough to see it so clearly. How he was close enough to…

But her dads had opened the door and welcomed the pair inside for a celebratory dinner before that possibility could be explored

That was the only thing she changed.

She didn’t need to pick that moment, she could have invented something totally new and Hunter would've gone along with it. But the fact that she did… well Hunter didn’t know what that meant. She would often sneak little jokes into their larger ones, but was this a joke within a joke or a reimagining?

“Yeah,” said Hunter, his voice soft and dreamy, transported to Willow’s improved version of the day. “That’s… that’s what happened.”

“So uh, actually we’d better get going,” said Willow, sitting up as she sensed Hunter was growing overstimulated. “Ever since then, they’ve been really strict about my curfew. And I know Hunter has a potions essay to work on.”

“Oh okay!” said Luz as she wrapped them both in a tight hug. “But I will be texting you a million follow up questions. You too, Hunter.”

“Cool, sure,” said Hunter, knowing that meant he and Willow would be on a video call making sure their answers lined up. He hated to think that he was enjoying inconveniencing her so much.

“Now go walk your girlfriend to the door, I bet you wanna kiss her goodnight,” teased Luz and everyone in the room let out an ohhhh

“Haha! You bet!” Said Hunter with forced enthusiasm, his voice cracking ever so slightly as he felt the room get hotter. “Willow! Let me walk you outside and we can kiss like we always do!”

Willow smiled in spite of herself and followed Hunter outside, waving goodbye to her friends as to keep up appearances. She couldn’t help but take a little delight in how nervous Hunter was. She always really liked that part of the bit.

“How are we gonna convince them we’re out here kissing?” Hunter whispered on the verge of a panic attack as the door shut behind them (luckily Hooty promised them privacy). “I can see Luz peeping through the curtains.

“Like this,” said Willow calmly, placing her hands on either side of his face and pulling him down close to her. As she did, she sneakily placed her thumbs over his lips and placed her lips against her thumbs, a nearly invisible barrier to the nosey on lookers inside

It was fake and staged but Hunter couldn’t help the way his heart raced, still being so close to her. He knew he had to sell his end but he didn’t know how to look like someone who was casual about kissing Willow Park. So he did the only thing he could think of and kept his arms at his sides, lest they do the wrong thing. He didn’t know if this was right, but he knew he wouldn’t know what was right so that made it right, right?

She closed her eyes and so he did too. He heard her hum and his lips formed a smile against her thumbs as their noses brushed against each other.

When she pulled away she gave him a small wink and patted his cheek to signify it had worked. It really had. No one at the party could deny that he was head over heels for Willow Park. Absolutely no one.

“Oh, okay,” he said, not knowing what to say but feeling like he should say something. “Uh… thanks.”

“Sure, yeah,” she said, trying to remain composed. There was no reason not to be, nothing had happened. “Anytime.”

It was just like that day on her porch.

“Why do you bring Willow flowers everyday?” Gus asked

“I don’t bring her flowers every day,” corrected Hunter as he handed Willow a small bouquet. “I mostly bring her seeds and clippings so she can grow her own flowers.”

“But why?”

“Because Willow loves plants? It’s kinda her whole thing? Well, that and-.”

“No I mean, why do you bring Willow flowers if you’re not actually dating?” Asked Gus.

“Because if I was really dating Willow I would try and bring her flowers everyday,” said Hunter simply and Willow hid her blush in the collection of red and yellow flowers Hunter had brought her.

“You mean if you were dating anyone, right?”

“Well not just anyone,” Hunter corrected him again. “Not everyone can handle the responsibility of plant care like Willow can.”

“But what if you were dating someone who wasn’t good with plants?” asked Gus.

Hunter looked at Gus like that was the most ridiculous question he had ever heard. “Why would I do that?”

Willow just giggled as she grabbed her books and held her flowers close to her chest to go add them to her garden in the greenhouse before class. As she walked away, she blew Hunter an over the top kiss as had become their tradition. He reached out his arm and pretended to reach for it as though it had nearly flown over his head before finally catching it and putting it in his breast pocket for safe keeping. Willow giggled as she turned the corner and Hunter wore a very convincing dopey grin as his eyes lingered on her until she completely left his sight.

“I know you’re trying to play it off as part of your ‘fake dating’ bit or whatever, but you always give Willow flowers before school and no one even sees you do it,” said Gus.

“I mean I… I guess I just need to thank her for doing this,” he admitted. “I mean, it started out as lying to Boscha but I’ve been lying to her too! And I know it’s wrong but I’ve really liked spending time with her and it’s easier this way for some reason? And I’ve tried telling her, I really have, but everytime I try she adds something to the story and I just… I think I’m in too deep.”

“Hmm, it’s almost like she enjoys being your girlfriend,” said Gus as he closed his locker. “Go figure.”

---

Hunter sat on the end of the couch, his back against the armrest as his arm rested around Willow’s shoulder as she leaned against him with her knees tucked to the side as she showed him a video on her scroll as they waited for Gus to started the movie .The scene was very cozy, very natural.

Very unnecessary.

“You guys don’t have to do that, ya know.” said Gus, walking in and promptly sitting down on the ground in front of the couch, placing the popcorn on the coffee table. “I’m in on your little ruse, remember?”

“We know it’s just… an easier way to sit?” said Hunter as Willow let out a bright, airy giggle. “I mean, there’s not a lot of room so…”

“Uh-huh,” said Gus, looking next to them where two full cushions remained unoccupied. “Sure.”

“Plus, it’s like being undercover,” offered Hunter. “You need to be prepared, you never know who could be watching.”

“In my house?” Gus asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

“Yeah Gus we’re undercover,” said Willow, making herself even more comfortable at his side, resting her head on his shoulder as though that was where it was always meant to be. “Besides, we’re gonna break up soon.”

“Oh, really?” Gus asked skeptically, rolling his eyes as paused the opening of the movie, wondering when his third wheeling would become official.

“Yes, really,” said Willow smugly, reaching behind her to grab the notebook off the end table. “We’ve been brainstorming.”

“Sure, that’s totally what you were doing,” he said, his sarcasm loud and clear. “So then, what do you have so far?”

“Okay, well…” Willow hesitated to start. “Here’s the thing…”

“It’s empty, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s empty,” said Willow, sitting back against Hunter’s arm. “We just… can’t think of a reason to break up.”

“Not a believable one, at least,” added Hunter. “We want it to be mutual so it won’t be suspicious when everyone thinks we’re just friends again. I mean well, not ‘again’ cause we always were, like the whole time, heh.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, as though it was a real problem. “So we tried to think of something less personal. Like, not something about one of us but maybe because we’re too busy and don’t have time for a relationship.”

“But then we thought, that might not make sense since we do spend a lot of time together,” Hunter continued. “We still play flyer derby together and we’re in some classes together. Not to mention we have movie night with you every week…”

“I mean, it doesn’t have to be a big or flashy reason,” Gus offered, knowing they didn’t really try very hard. “You can just say you're better as friends. People shouldn’t question that.”

Except they definitely would, because Hunter would definitely still have a crush on Willow. He would still look at her with the same dopey grin, the same wide eyes, and the same rose colored flush in his cheeks. He knew he would because nothing about her had changed, she was still so wonderful and funny and smart and brave and beautiful. Titan, if anything this whole thing has made him like her more. And he didn’t mind still feeling this way, as confusing as it was, but he worried that his infatuation would make their story unconvincing. They would claim it was mutual and there were no lingering feelings, but now all eyes would be on them to see if it were true and there his feelings would be: lingering.

And he worried people would somehow find a way to make Willow the bad guy. He knew Boscha was grasping at straws trying to ruin Willow’s reputation, and being a heartbreaker might be the straw she needed. He would deny she had broken his heart, but when it came down to it he didn’t think he could convincingly state he did not still have feelings for her.

And that might be enough to make things weird.

“I mean, we should at least stay together until Bleeding Hearts day,” said Willow. “We can figure out something after that.”

“Okay, I stand like this?” Hunter asked.

“Yeah, and then you prop your elbow against the locker like this,” instructed Willow, guiding him into position. “And like you can put your other hand on your hip or something and then I’ll stand against my locker…” Willow carefully put herself between Hunter and the locker so she was looking up at him. “And there! Just like the movie poster.”

“So this is flirting? Standing like this?”

“Well, standing and talking technically,” said Willow. “But if we stand like this, everyone can tell just by looking at us that that’s what we’re doing. Like a real couple.”

“Okay,” said Hunter, starting to understand. “Do we have to say anything in particular?” “I dunno, maybe you can try and say something funny?” Willow suggested coyly as she twirled the end of her braid around her finger. “Oh, and twirling my hair will also let them know we’re flirting too.”

“Okay okay,” said Hunter. “But should it be funny like clever funny? Or something more low brow? A pun? Or maybe one of those door jokes?”

“Hmm, we can always just pretend you said something funny and I’ll do a fake laugh,” said Willow.

“Wait, am I not funny?” he said with a fake scoff.

“I didn’t say that,” she said with a chuckle as she flicked his hair noodle.”You can be very funny.”

“That doesn’t sound like you think I’m funny,” he teased, absentmindedly leaning down closer to her.

“You are funny,” she insisted, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. “When you’re not trying to be.”

“When am I not trying?” he said, his voice carrying a certain twinkle in it.

“I dunno,” she said, wrinkling her nose at him. For some reason she felt bubbly, seeing Hunter pretend to act as though he was in disbelief. She felt like laughing now but tried to suppress it. Hunter noticed.

“You’re laughing right now!” he declared victoriously.

“I am not!” she denied, trying to hide her smile.

“Yes you are!” he said, adopting a chuckle of his own. “I know what your laugh sounds like, Captain!”

“Well, maybe I’m-.”

“You guys know Boscha’s been out of school all week with the common mold, right?” Gus asked, breaking the trance the pair had reentered with ease and had forgotten he was there.

Hunter offered him a quizzical look. “So?”

“Huh, no wonder things have been so peaceful around here,” Willow realized.

“Yeah, so without her around there’s no reason for you two to keep up this little act of yours,” Gus pointed out and Willow and Hunter realized they hadn't noticed Boscha’s absence because at some point they had stopped checking for her all together.

“Hmm, I guess you’re right…” said Willow slowly, wishing he wasn’t. “But, I mean, the common mold usually lasts a week so she’ll be back soon.”

“Yeah,” Hunter agreed. “Plus, she might have spies reporting back to her while she’s out.”

“Spies?” Gus said, unconvinced with a rise of his eyebrow. “Really?”

“I mean, that does sound like Boscha,” said Willow. “Having…spies.” She knew it sounded silly. She knew what Boscha was capable of, but even that was a stretch. Hunter stopped leaning against the locker and stood up straight, trying to read Willow’s expression.

“Congrats on being voted cutest couple!” Skara squeaked in delight as she bounced at them from seeming nowhere.

“What?” they exclaimed in unison.

“Awh!” Skara gushed. “You two are so in sync! So cute!”

“Skara, what do you mean-.”

“Just look!” she said happily, handing them a piece of paper. “It’s just a mock up, but that’s what it’s gonna be in the year book! I wanted to be the first to tell you, ya know in case you wanted to use a different picture or something.”

Willow looked down at the photo Skara had chosen. It was a photo of them after a flyer derby match, the photo captured Willow tackling him in a hug to celebrate their victory as Hunter caught her in his arms and spun her around, wearing a wide smile to match hers. They were looking at each other, totally unaware a photo was even being taken. He remembered that day, he could hear their laughter echoing as he spun her too quickly and they had fallen onto the ground right after the moment the photo was taken. He vividly remembered the smell of grass, the way the setting sun rested in her hair, and the way the sound of her laughter made his heart skip a beat. The picture was taken well before they had started “dating” and yet…

“It’s perfect Skara,” said Willow, her tone much different from what it was mere moments ago. He wondered why they stopped flirting if it was meant to convince people they were together. He had been enjoying himself and now he felt guilty. His cowardice had made this whole thing spiral out of control, and now their lie was to be preserved forever. In the back of his mind he remembered that Willow liked someone else. They were supposed to break up once everyone was convinced. How had they gotten so off task? How could he let Willow keep bailing him out in such a major way?

As Skara ran back to the classroom, an unsettling silence floated between the pair. Had it been any other story, any other bit, they would’ve come clean by now, right?

They knew this. Gus had gone out of his way to remind them and they brushed it off. But now, it was hard to deny it was a harmless but. It was a pretty big commitment for someone you weren’t committed to.

Willow had done all that for him and he couldn’t even be honest with her. He at least owed her that much.

“Wow,” Willow chuckled nervously, trying to fill the silence. “That’s uh, that’s a pretty big honor.”

“Yeah,” Hunter agreed, searching his mind for how to word what he really needed to say.

“I’m sure Amity will have something to say about it,” Willow chuckled lightly. “Since she and Luz have been together longer. But Luz doesn’t even technically go here, and I don’t think anyone would-.”

“I don’t wanna lie anymore.”

She looked up to see Hunter’s face flushed, his fists balled at his sides as though it took all of his strength to bring out that sentence. Willow had to admit, it was not what she was expecting to hear. It was not what she was hoping to hear.

“Oh.” was all she could manage to say. She didn’t need to ask what he meant. She could ask why, but she didn’t think she was up to it. “Um, okay.”

The bell screamed as Willow tried to process the whiplash that had just occurred. She could tell Hunter had more to say, but she felt as thought she had lost the ability to hear as static echoed in her mind. She was sure she said something about having to get to class, but she felt as though she was outside her body watching a blurry reenactment of a scene as her feet carried her away. They had joked about breaking up, because it was a joke. Because there was nothing really to break up. But then, why did it feel so real?

---

A few days went by and Willow and Hunter didn’t speak. He wasn’t waiting by her locker after class and miss practice after school. She assumed he needed space or assumed he assumed she needed it, but either way it was there. She knew the mature thing was to discuss the next steps, the story they would tell she had gotten so used to their new routine she had never prepared herself for its end. She thought he felt the same way.

“Well well well, if it isn’t Hexside’s most famous half-a-witch.” came a shrill voice Willow hadn’t heard in weeks interrupting her thoughts. She tried to ignore her, she knew that’s what was best. But of course, her timing was impeccable.

“Where’s your loser boyfriend?” sneered Boscha, following her victim down the hall, having much lost time to make up for. “Oh let me guess, he finally dumped you right? He realized what a loser you really were and decided to cut his losses?”

Unbeknownst to Willow, Hunter was hiding nearby working up the courage to greet her by her locker to try and explain himself. He had tried writing another note, but this time would read from it instead of trying to get it to carry more than it should by itself. But he heard Boscha beat him to the location and any nervousness left his body and was promptly replaced by fury. He knew Willow could handle herself, but he knew his lie added fuel to the fire that were her words.

“It’s really none of your business, Boscha.”

“I’m right though, aren’t I? I knew there was no way someone like you could convince anyone to date them. What, did he lose a bet or something?”

Willow kept walking. Hunter wanted to scream. Boshca knew it wasn’t true and Willow was smarter than Bocha, surely she knew it too right? Surely she knew.

“Didn’t you learn your lesson last time, half-a-witch?” snickers Boscha. “The only way someone would ever date you would be as part of a joke. No doubt he got sick of having to see you everyday and realized-.”

Before he knew what he was doing, Hunter teleported beside Willow who looked surprised to see him. Before she could greet him or question him or say much of anything, he placed his hand on the side of her face and pulled her close to him as she had done that day after the party.

But with one tiny major difference.

Willow quickly got over her surprise and leaned into the accidental kiss, dropping the books in her arm to the ground as she elected to rest her hands on Hunter’s chest, clinging to his shirt collar. He held her face in his hands like it was something delicate as their noses nestled beside each other like puzzle pieces meant to be like that. Willow did not need to rise to her tip toes to kiss him better as he leaned down to be closer to her and her foot popped in the air as his hold on her grew more secure. His lips were dry but surprisingly gentle as they found a comfortable placement against hers. Emotions of surprise and hesitation melted away as they had no place in a moment like this.

At some point during all of this, Bocha had left. Her grumbles and rude comments had gone unheard by the pair, far too engrossed in each other to consider there was anything else in the world worth caring about.

Somehow Hunter managed to stop himself in the middle of what felt like a familiar yet impossible dream. He pulled back to see Willow’s eyes closed and her face flushed as reality caught up with him and prevented him from savoring the moment further. “Oh no, I didn’t do the thing.”

“Really? I think you kinda did.” Willow giggled, looking at him with dreamy eyes, feeling like her chest was a fire bee hive as she allowed Hunter to be her balance, leaning forward happily to be caught any way he intended to catch her.

“No I mean the thing with my thumbs so I wouldn’t… so we wouldn’t…”

“But we did.” She said plainly, averting her gaze and playing with a loose thread on his uniform by his shoulder, she couldn’t bring herself to leave the bubble just yet. “Is that… okay?”

“I mean I… I don’t mind but I know that we’re technically broken up I think and that we were never even… I’m sorry,” he cast his eyes to the ground, and removed his hands from her face. “I-I just heard Boscha saying those awful things to you and I-I don’t know what came over me.”

“Don’t be sorry,” said Willow quickly, turning his face back to her to see his eyes. “For any of it. You just… got caught up in the moment. I’m sure I would’ve done the same thing.”

“Really?” Hunter squeaked and Willow nodded, her hand still resting on his check. “The uh… the exact same thing?”

Willow bit her lip as she moved her hand from his face to the back of his neck. Her other hand still had a steady hold of his collar and she planned to bring him back down to her to answer him without words but before she summoned the courage to do so, a loud gruff voice broke through their bubble as it flooded the hallway.

“Hey you two! Did you not hear the bell?” The voice demanded. They hadn’t, there were more important things holding their attention. So of course they didn’t know there was no one else left in the hallway.

Except a very grumpy teacher who did not find lateness romantic.

“You’re late to class! Detention, both of you!”

---

“Willow, I… I owe you an apology.” Hunter said as they sat beside each other in detention, whispering as to not wake the teacher at the front of the classroom.

“Hunter, it’s okay,” she whispered back. “It’s not the first time I’ve gotten detention.”

“No, not about that,” replied Hunter. “Well, yes about that too actually but I mean when I said I didn’t wanna lie anymore, I meant I didn’t want to lie to you anymore.”

“What? How were you-?”

He took a deep breath. “Okay, the truth is, I did run into Boscha that day,” he said quickly, trying to keep his voice steady. “But she didn’t ask me out… she caught me trying to ask you out.”

“What?”

“I was trying to put this in your locker,” he began, taking out the carefully folded note from his pocket and handing it to her. He had kept it, hoping there would be a right time for it. Hopefully this was it. “Because I didn’t know how else to do it and I thought it would be easier but she caught me and read it and threatened to tell everyone and I asked her not to because I didn’t want-

“People to know?”

“-you to think it wasn’t true,” he finished. “I-I thought if you heard that I liked you from Boscha, you’d never believe it since she’s always lying. And I didn’t wanna mess it up again so I panicked and that’s when I told her-.”

“Wait, ‘again?’” Willow repeated, confused. “What do you mean ‘again?’ When did you- oh! Do you mean your… wait.”

Her eyes told Hunter she knew exactly what he was referring to. He held his breath. “You did get it.”

“I did,” she said with a smile finding the answer to her question in his wide eyes. “I just… well, your autocorrect was always doing weird things and I didn’t want to assume… I mean not that I didn’t want to assume but I…”

She had hoped.

“But it doesn’t matter,” he sighed. “I shouldn’t have let this go on as king as it did, I’ve caused you so much trouble. You can keep the tickets, you can take Gus. I just… hope you’re not too mad and that maybe eventually we can-.”

“Hunter, when exactly did the thing with Boscha happen?”

“Um about three weeks ago?”

“And you bought the flyer derby tickets for us to make it look like we were dating?”

“Well, I mean I knew you’d been wanting to go so I thought it would be a fun way to say thanks for being a great girlfriend.”

That was technically not a lie. He truly had been hoping he could say that by the time the event rolled around.

“But I guess what I’m asking is, when you bought the tickets you bought them with the intention of us going to the game as a date for Bleeding Hearts Day, right?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Hunter… the date on these tickets says they were purchased months ago.” Willow said with a smile.

“Well, it’s your favorite team playing their biggest rival so tickets we’re gonna sell out pretty quick and I wanted to make sure we got good seats so once it was announced I-.”

“But… you couldn’t have known months in advance that we would pretend to be dating when the game was happening,” Willow pointed out, a deep blush covering her face.

“You… you knew?”

“Kinda? I mean, I knew a little bit,” she admitted. “I didn’t actually know what I knew but I… uh, anyway.” She cleared her throat as she tried to steady her voice. “What I do know is, I’ve really liked getting to be your girlfriend.”

“Oh uh, good. I’m glad I… just wanted to make sure you were uh…”

“I also know that I don’t wanna lie anymore either,” she said softly, inching her chair closer to his.

“Oh, yeah of course I mean I understand if you just want to-.”

She placed her hand atop his on the table, effortlessly lacing their fingers together. “So let’s stop lying.”

He looked down at their hands in awe. A part of him wanted to make an excuse, to link it to their ruse. But a louder, kinder voice in his mind told him to squeeze her hand back. That so many words weren’t needed right now, to stop complicating it. Questions rolled around his brain trying to make him doubt this was what it was but he pushed them back, but then one slipped through the cracks.

“But what about… the other person you like?” He asked sheepishly. “Don’t you… I mean, aren’t they…?”

Willow looked at him with playful eyes as she bit her lip and Hunter felt like the smartest and stupidest person in the world.

And also the luckiest.

“Oh.” He said, understanding her look and not questioning it. His face was red and he knew it but didn’t care. He tried to summon the coolness he was convinced he had when they were only pretending. “Don’t you uh, wanna read the note first?”

“How about you summarize it for me?” She smiled.

“Okay uh…” he tried to pick his favorite metaphor when he realized he was doing it again. She didn’t mind that he was complicated and careful in fact she liked it. She liked him. And she was waiting for him. “Willow, would you wanna… go on a date… with me?”

“I’d love to Hunter,” she said softly, and he felt as though he heart was melting and exploding at the same time. “Lucky for you, I happen to have two great seats for a flyer derby game this weekend.”

“Wow, what’re the odds?” He chuckled, over the moon to find them back in their rhythm as he rested his head on his hand, admiring the scene finally presented in reality.

“Ya know, this means you’ll have to actually ask for my dads blessing for real then right?”

Hunter beamed, his face envied the suns brightness at her response. “I’ll go as soon as we’re out of here,” he assured, his heart racing at securing her blessing to ask for his blessing.

“Great, so you can explain to them why I got detention today,” she said, with a wink. Hunter laughed before realizing Willow was in detention because she had gotten caught kissing him. Not exactly the first impression Hunter was hoping to present as a suitor.

Maybe he’d ask her dads after their first date, just in case.

#huntlow #huntlow fanfiction #winter toh #toh #the owl house #willow park #hunter toh

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mknae-jongho · 7 months

Text

Ride my face

Dom Mafia!San x Queen sub!reader (Reader name: Aurora) Kai’s name is mentioned in this story.

Word count: i don’t think it matters atp.

Warning(s): Manhandling, breeding, spit play, name calling, choking, etc etc. MDNI(read at your own risk!!) n word is involved | sorry for any word mistakes

*San pov*

“Well… well…well,” I place my gun on my rival’s knee. “Looks like the mouse is finally caught.”

“I didn’t have anything to do with it i swear!! I swear on my life.” Kai said. I looked at my babygirl before asking her, “where did he touch you??”

She replied back, “On my waist.” I looked back at him. “I didn’t touch you. Your lying son of a BITCH!!”

That made me hot. “Aurora back up a little for me love.” I saw her on the corner of my eye getting closer and i saw her pulled out a gun and a knife.

“I’m a queen san, i know what to do.”

BANG

“AHHH!!” He had blood dripping out of him onto the floor from his waist where he touched her at. I looked at her walking towards her. “You think you can handle this?” Getting closer leaving no space between us.

“There’s a lot of things that you don’t know i can handle. Watch and see san.” She walked away back towards his rival. “Let’s play baby.” I said to myself following her.

Putting my gun back onto my hip, I gripped his hair pulling his head back. “Call her a bitch again,” I began punching him til i saw blood. “SAY IT AGAIN, I DARE YOU.”

“Kill me, i will always have someone to follow behind my footsteps! This ain’t over.” he spat on my face & i looked at Aurora’s face expression. I can tell she’s getting worked up by how she moving.

*Your pov*

“This will be over, don’t you think san,” He nodded his head. “Should i tell him or should you?” He grinned before saying, “You got it baby.”

“Thank you, Now, Kai your the last one alive sooo.” I laughed cocking my gun.

“What do you mean?” He chuckled softly getting a little shooking up.

“Your little gang are already dead love, i mean,” i got closer to him grabbing his face harshly pulling him towards me. “Had to save the best for last right.”

He spat in my face, “Fuck you Aurora or whatever your name is.” I leaned up getting pissed wiping his spit off and San must have noticed.

“Did his just spat on you?” he sped walked to you pulling out his gun getting pissed as well.

“Yes he did, San i’m bout to kill this nigga!” I pushed san away pointing my gun at kai.

“That was a tad bit disrespectful dont you think san.” I looked at san.

“Yes very.”

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

“Clean this up.” I looked at san before saying, “Who?” i looked at him like he stupid

“You.” He said laughing.

“A hehe hell, boy hell nawl, we got guards and shit for a reason tell them to come get this shit.” I walked out the basement.

“I’m just playing baby.” You heard san yelling.

“Guards clean this.” Was the last thing you heard san say before going to take a shower.

I was currently laying in bed smoking me a blunt as San was down stairs talking with seonghwa and the rest of boys. When i get high i get horny so i decided to send san a couple of nude videos.

*attachment*

I sent him one where i was spitting out of my mouth as it dribbled down my chin onto my boobs.

ding*

“Why did you send this when their beside me??” ~san

“Cause i’m horny san i need you.” ~you

“You could’ve told me instead of sending nudes, i love them but don’t send them when i’m with them, they could’ve saw!” ~san

“Okay i don’t give af, you gonna fuck me or not?” ~you

“Are you getting smart?” ~san

“Nawl. I’m just saying.” ~you

“I’m just saying too, don’t get smart.”~san

“Man i didnt so come a fuck me. pls:(.” ~you

“Yeah whateva.” ~san

“San enough with the bs i’m horny.” ~you

“Okay wait. I’ll be up there ina minute.” ~san

“Okay!!”~ you

“Aurora open the door.”san trying to come in twisting the door knob.

“open it , it’s not lock san.” Face palming yourself

He quickly open the door and saw you were already on the bed in your lingerie. “Up. Come here.” He said swiftly taking off his belt. You walked towards him seductively til he pulled your wrist and turned you so that your back is faced his chest. He wrapped the belt around both your wrist and tightened it.

“On your knees.” You did what he said as he unbuttoned his black leather pants and pulled his underwear down at the same time. He was so hard that his cock was dripping with precum. “See what you did to me, now suck me off like a good girl.” He rubbed you cheek gently. “Yes sir.”

You kitty licked his tip swallowing his precum as you hear him groan quietly. “ You like that baby? Does it feel good?” You took him all in as his long cock hit the back of your throat . “Fuck babygirl,” he started moving faster holding your chin and your head to keep you in place. “you’re making me feel so good.”

Having san fucking your throat was all you wanted, being a mafia king and queen is stressful and you have to be careful especially since san is talking about wanting a baby. “Fuck i’m gonna cum,” San murmured in a shaky voice, he pulled out of your mouth which lead you to be confused. “I want to cum inside of you, let me breed you, cum deep into you til my cum is dripping from your pretty cunt.”

“Cum inside of me as much as you want san,” You pushed him onto the bed and swaddled his waist. “I’m all yours.” He pulled you down so that you’re chest to chest as he placed his hands on your waist with a tight squeeze. “You don’t know what you do to me princess,” You both made eye contact until his eyes wandered down to your lips. His face got closer to your til your lips were connected as it continued on to a heated make out.

“Are you ready for me?” He lifted up your waist moving one of his hands down to rub his tip on your entrance. “Put it in me san.” Whining as you felt like you were about to explode from being so tensed up. “Yes madam.” He entered you in a fast and harsh thrust giving you no time to adjust. “So tight baby girl,” He groans softly. “I can fuck you all day.” Speeding up his pace your slowly losing your mind.

“Sannnn,” looking up at you loving your pleasured face as you moan his name. “Fuck sannie, i’m gonna cum.” He slowed down is paced pulling out of you. “Whyyyyyy?? I was close san.” he slide down the bed a little to get in the right position. “Ride my face.” He pulled you by your waist to bring you towards his face. You moved up to put both of your legs of each side of his face.

“Sit on my face and let me make you feel good.” He grabbed both of your thighs to pull you down on his face as he began to eat. “Mmmh.” You gripped his locs tightly looking down to see him already look at you. He sped up his pace lick after lick making you roll your eyes to the back of your head. “Feels good?? Huh??” He murmured giving you a hard spank on your ass. “Yesss san.” Sliding his tongue inside of your aunt did it for you. Your legs began to tremble as your close to the end.

“Cum for me, i know your close baby.” He put his hand on your back laying you forwards to slip in a finger hitting the right spot. “Right there?? Does it feel good right there??” He slowly slipped in another finger twirling them around moving them in and out at a fast pace before beginning to suck your clit, matching the same pace as his fingers.

“I’m cuming san, i’m fucking close san i’m gonna burst!!” you yelled as you felt your stomach tighten and a burning pleasure on your clit letting you know your gonna cum any second. “Cum for me, squirting on daddy face, let me taste you.” His words were all you needed to get off edge.

He sped up his fingers as you clenched around them when suddenly, “Fuck baby girl, that’s right cum on my face.” You came, his paced slowed down as he helped you ride out your high before you slowly removed yourself from his face, laying down beside him.

“10 sec break to collect yourself.” He told you before hovering above you slowly rubbing your inner thighs. Nodding your head, he began to count down.

“10…….9……….8……..7…….6……5……..4…….3…….2……1” He slowly entered you bottoming you out. “Put your legs on my shoulder.” Doing what he told you, he adjusted himself so that you can feel that he’s deeper inside of you. He began to move at a slow but hard pace wanting to take his time with you so that you feel every inch of him.

“Sannn.” Opening your eyes to look at him. “hmm?” He stared at you intensely running chills down your spine. “f-faster p-p-please.” After asking nicely san responded quickly by doin what you’ve asked. “You enjoyed what you did? You’re such a horny whore you’ve forgotten huh?” Pulling out of you he turned you around til your on all fours.

He entered back inside you with more raged in his thrust leaving you a moaning mess. “What are you talking about san?” He gave you a hard spank. “You’ve decided to send nudes while i was around the boys,” Another hard spank landed. “Why?” Spank. “Huh, why?” He sped up his pace and you couldn’t take it.

“Wait sannnn!” You put your hand back trying to disconnect your bodies but sadly it didn’t work. He grabbed both your hands holding them tightly with one hand and spanking you with the other. “Don’t push me off, take it like a good girl!” He used his free hand to rub your clit. “You thought i forgot what you did. I been told you i don’t like when you do that and you still did it. You wanted this right, so take what the fuck i give you like the good slut you are!”

“Ahhh,” You put you head down into the sheets to block your moans but soon later was pulled back up by a pulled on your hair. “Let daddy hear you, let me hear my princess.” He moaned loudly as he twitched inside of you hinting that he’s close. “Fuck baby, cum with me!” He rubbed your clit faster as you began to clench around his cock. “I’m close san, FUCKK!!” You said as your legs began to shake harshly. “i’m about the cum baby, cum wit daddy.” A few hard thrust later he shot his load deep inside you as his pace slowed down riding out the both of you high.

He pulled out and let you out of his grip as you fall onto the bed right after. He gave you a couple more hard spanks on your ass before laying right beside you. “Felt good?” he asked as he placed kisses on your neck leaving marks. “Yes, it felt amazing.” you chuckled softly slowly dosing off.

“Don’t fall asleep baby girl, the party had just begun.”

uhh ohh…

Sorry for not posting i’ve been a little busy..🥹I had this in my drafts and i’m just now finishing this story up.🙂

#ateez smut #ateez choi san smut #ateez imagines #choi san #choi san scenarios #choi san smut #ateez san #choi san fanfic #choi san fic

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shiorimakibawrites · 2 months

Text

Idea: A Brand New Ending (Kin)

This is my rough notes for this fic. Subject to change. Any suggestions or input you would like to contribute are welcome.

Probably spoilers for Kin

(tagging @bellaxgiornata and any other Kin fic writers out there)

Pairing: Michael Kinsella x Reader

Title comes a quote of uncertain origin: No one can go back and make a brand new start, but anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

You are half-Irish on your mother’s side.

When you were young, your parents died suddenly. You were taken in by your aunt and uncle who lived in Dublin, a couple houses down from Michael and his family.

AUNT and UNCLE can’t have kids and treat you like their own daughter.

Uncertain if your aunt and uncle are involved in the Kinsella criminal organization or not.

You are at least one year below Michael in school and develop a crush on the older boy. These feelings are returned and eventually you start dating. At some point, you give your virginity to Michael.

Something breaks you apart –

(1) AUNT and UNCLE either don’t approve of your relationship with Michael and/or having sex outside of marriage, and decided to move away to keep you away from this boy and his bad influence – maybe there was a pregnancy scare or an actual pregnancy but you ended up miscarrying.

(2) They find out about Bren’s disgusting habits toward young girls – maybe he molests you – and UNCLE and AUNT move away from Dublin to protect you from Bren (doesn’t trust the police in this matter for whatever reason – either they are criminals too or just thinks Bren has connections that would get him off).

Has sporadic contact with Michael afterward but the timing never seems right.

He is either having an affair with his brother’s wife or has gotten married to WIFE and has a little girl or is in prison for accidentally killing his wife.

You try to move on but your romantic relationships are all disasters in some way. Some better (perfectly nice guy but you are hilariously incompatible) than others (at least one was abusive)

Sometime during Season 1, you run into Michael again. One thing leads to another. In the morning, you are naked in his bed. Part of you wants to stay but something important comes up and you must dash off

Maybe AUNT or UNCLE has an emergency – become very ill or fell and broke their hip or had a stroke or a heart attack. Something very serious that eats up your attention for a while.

When you start getting sick, you think its stress. It’s not. Either by condom failure or birth control failure, you find yourself pregnant (again?). You know Michael is the father – you haven’t had sex with anyone else in over a year.

You try to tell Michael but ended up intercepted by Amanda. Who acts like herself and convinces you don’t really mean anything to Michael (“He just got out of prison. He’d fuck anyone.”) and certainly doesn’t want anything to do with child you are carrying.

Maybe its stress or hormone or anxiety or your self-esteem being in the toilet but you believe her lies and return home in tears.

You refuse to tell AUNT or UNCLE who the father is but all or most of the pregnancy but they eventually learn it.

Michael finds out when

(1) AUNT or UNCLE goes down to Dublin themselves to tell Michael off for his treatment of their niece. Michael is understandably confused, then gobsmacked.

(2) AUNT or UNCLE has some kind of relationship with Birdie and complains to her.

Maybe Birdie saw your conversation with Amanda – close enough to know she said something that had you running away in tears but not close enough to hear what was said. Maybe tried asking Amanda about it but obviously not cooperative, might be self-righteous about running off the interloper (you).

Not sure if he finds when you are still pregnant or shortly after giving birth to the twins. Yes, twins – a boy and a girl.

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slashersteve · 2 years

Text

Let's Kiss

pairing: Steve Harrington/Female Reader

summary: It might be the end of the world, and you're for some reason worried about having never been kissed. Steve decides to change that.

warnings/extra tags: friends kissing tm, friends making out tm, reader spirals for a second here, gets a little heated but this isnt my nsfw blog, cursing, beta read, edited by me and autocorrect babey

note: forgive me for writing slowly :') i wanted to experiment with writing more kissing scenes and decided it was a perfect time for you to kiss steve till you were stupid. Thanks for reading and enjoy <3

✧ ✧ ✧

For the third time in your life, it felt like the end of the world, but unlike those times, this time felt as if it actually might be. And you were…not okay if you were being honest. Everyone who was piled into this stolen Winnebago that Eddie Munson hot-wired was not okay, but they seemed to be holding it together better than you.

When Steve Harrington drove into an open field so that you guys could properly prepare for your battle with Vecna, who was also known as Henry Creel, but also 001, you thought the fresh air would be just what you needed. You were wrong though when you thought of Vecna though, as the guy had shown Nancy some big, big plans of his that had to do with opening up a massive gate in the middle of Hawkins.

In response, you and everyone else here had big plans too, some that involved baiting him with a still cursed Max while the rest of you venture into the Upside Down to try and kill him before his plan could come to fruition. Honestly, it was a good plan, especially with Nancy basically leading all of you, and you couldn’t poke many holes into it…except for one…or some.

What if he didn’t take the bait with Max? What if Dustin and Eddie’s plan to distract the bats didn’t work? What if you step on a vine and alert the guy? And what if he literally knows everything you’re planning at this exact second and you’re all walking into a trap?

You don’t usually freak out like this, in fact, you had once prided yourself in your ability to be calm and collected in nearly every situation, but there must be something in the air right now or Vecna/Henry/One somehow got into your head or something because you were on the verge of a whole panic attack. Even Robin was more calm than you were (or at least appeared so).

“Preparation is key,” Nancy had said when going over your plan again when you questioned if it would actually work. And she was right, the first time you were in the Upside Down it was by chance (or force as the bruises around Steve’s neck still gave you uncomfortable chills and dread), but this time you’re going to be practically armed with all the shit you just bought at that angry hick store Eddie suggested while Max baits Vecna.

God, the thought of anything going wrong made your chest hurt, and you wanted to vomit all over the grass next to Nancy and Max’s feet as she sawed off the barrel of the shotgun.

“I’m- I’m going to go and change,” you said quickly before that could happen. They both glanced at you, and Nancy told you that was fine all the while it looked like Max could see right through you.

“She looks like she’s about to bail or something,” Max said, watching you make a beeline toward the Winnebago where Steve and Robin were currently sitting outside of.

Nancy hummed as she returned her focus on the felony she was committing and said, “I’m sure she’s fine.”

You didn’t say so much as a word when you went into the Winnebago and closed it, making Steve and Robin glance at one another before Robin was continuing to make their Molotov bombs with kerosene and empty alcohol bottles.

Steve’s eyes lingered on the shut door a little longer, noticing your odd demeanor, before reluctantly turning his attention back to the Molotov bombs as well.

It was in the Winnebago when things took a turn for the worse for you.

You had just finished changing out of your tattered clothing from your first trip in the Upside Down, and now wore the exact same camouflage shirt Steve was wearing and some new pants. You started to spiral, essentially, your thoughts coming at you fast and all at once, thoughts about what could potentially happen and go wrong, about possibly getting killed, which led you to think about a lot of the things you hadn’t done yet.

You wanted to graduate and attend the college you were already accepted to, then graduate from there, and maybe find a significant other there or something to at least experience that. It was just insane to you that you experienced what it’s like to breathe in the air of another dimension before anything inherently romantic.

It made you wonder if your life would ever be…just normal.

That was when the door was being opened and Steve was walking in without any regard to look specifically for you. When his eyes landed on you, they suddenly squeezed shut and he said, “Shit! Sorry! Were you changing? I’ll just-“ he blindly stepped backwards, knocking into the back of the passenger seat.

"It's okay! I'm done anyways," you told him, and he opened only one eye slowly before opening both.

"Still, I should've knocked," he laughed awkwardly as he stepped back into the Winnebago and said, "Molotov's are done, Eddie and Dustin's spears and shields are made, Nancy committed a felony...I say we're almost ready."

"Oh," you said a bit shakily, "So soon?"

He nodded, and said, "Yup, we should probably leave soon if we want to make it at sundown."

You dropped your eyes for a second, and forced the nervous exhale from coming out as everyone was on as much edge as you were about everything, and you didn't need to burden any of them with your doubt.

"Are...you ready?" Steve asked suddenly, and you glanced up at him.

"I-" you shut your lips to gulp nervously, then opened them again to say, "I...don't know..."

His eyes looked thoughtful as they stared at you, and he nodded, "Yeah...me either to be honest." He laughed weakly as he leaned on the side and crossed his arms.

You looked up and kept your gaze on him this time as he sighed deeply, "Just talked with Robin, and she thinks it might not work out for us..."

Your heart dropped, "Oh."

"But...she also said that we're crazy, and that...if we don't try and stop him then who will," he licked his dry lips for a second, "And she's right. Whatever happens...we win..or lose...at least we tried."

It was a bitter thought, to think that even if you go in prepared and ready for battle things can still go south. You needed to sit down immediately, and once you did on the couch in the back, you dropped your head in your hands at the thought of the endless possibilities.

"Is this what our lives have been leading up to?" you asked suddenly, voice quivering, "Battling a sadistic clock obsessed guy with powers like El and bad skin who snaps people's bones because he wants to open a giant gate to take over the world? What ever happened to normal lives, you know? Why hasn't our only problems been oh am I going to pass this physics exam or oh my god is he going to call me back? You know normal problems that normal people experience?"

You were rambling in a similar manner like Robin might, and it caught Steve off guard as you hardly ever did anything like that while Robin does it often.

Also, you already looked and sounded like you were defeated before the final battle even began, and Steve disliked that a lot.

"Hey, hey, we beat this guy? Then we'll have those normal problems," Steve tried to comfort you, "If this guy is really the big threat, and we manage to put him down, that'll be the end of everything...hopefully."

You moaned dreadfully, completely ignoring Steve, "There's just so much I should be experiencing, I don't understand why I experienced what it's like to climb up into a ceiling and fall out of the other side before I experience, I don't know, a first date? A first kiss? I know that stuff's not super important but still, it would be nice."

Steve tried to speak, but you were continuing on, your thoughts venturing to other matters besides yourself and it was making him even more concerned with your current state.

"And it's not even just me, like those kids out there? They're so young, one of them is literally cursed, like what the hell is up with that? It’s so fucked up!"

You were continuing to ramble and asking rhetorical question after rhetorical question that Steve had to actually go over to sit next to you and grasp your shoulders to make you stop and look at him.

"Hey!" he said, slightly shaking you as your eyes met, "All this is not helping anybody, especially yourself. I think the same things sometimes, and I wish I had some kind of explanation for you, but I don't even know it."

You stared blankly at him, and he sucked in a tight breath and continued to say, "What I do know is that we really don't have normal lives, and you know, at this point we just kind of have to to live with that-"

"But-"

"I also know," he cut you off, "That if we're going to go down there and try to put an end to this then we need to be prepared and level-headed you know? So...just...tell me what I can do to make you feel better."

His final request was odd to you, as you didn't know what he could do. He could tell you everything was going to be alright, but you'd know it was probably going to be a lie to try and calm you down. Steve knew as much as you did, and it sucked for a moment because you were expecting him to know more. Still, the question did make your heart swell up because of how genuinely nice he was, just being here with you and talking to you, wanting to make you feel better.

You instead took in a deep breath, trying to calm down the pacing of your heart stemmed from your blast of anxiety, and now the typical feeling you get when around the guy as you said, "You...you don't have to do anything. I'm sorry...you're right, tonight could be the end of the world, we're all nervous, but I'm the only stupid one ranting about never having kissed anyone."

You rolled your eyes at your own stupidity, and turned away from Steve to look at the ground.

Beside you, Steve shifted in his spot, and said "You don't have to apologize...I just almost lost you there for a moment."

You laughed weakly, but didn't reply.

Steve looked at you thoughtfully, and cleared his throat gently before saying, "For the record...I don't think you being worried about things like a first kiss is stupid."

"Yes it is Steve," you replied immediately, "In the face of the end of the world? Yeah...it's stupid."

"Well, I don't know, they're probably thinking about things like that too..." Steve trailed off, "Just because you're the only one voicing it doesn't make it stupid."

You pressed your lips together, and shrugged weakly at him in response as you leaned back on the couch now, the top of your head smacking lightly against the back window.

You weren't looking at Steve, because if you were, you probably would've caught a shift in his gaze that meant an idea was coming about, whether it was good or bad, you wouldn't have known until he said it.

And after a few seconds of silence, he did tell you, except you refused to believe you heard him right.

"What?" you asked, wanting him to repeat it so you don’t look silly.

He coughed into his hand nervously and said, "I could kiss you right now...you know...give you a sense of...normal or something...or to like…cross that off your list."

Steve wasn't looking at you as he repeated himself, which was just as well, because you felt your cheeks heat up and your jaw slightly drop. Not sure if he was just teasing you or something, you muttered, "Normal...normal friends don't kiss each other, Steve."

He laughed breathlessly, and ran his hand over his mouth for a moment before replying, "Friends do help each other though...also pretty sure we established we're not normal."

Now that made you laugh, not a weak or breathless one like before, but a genuine one and you said, "Yeah...that's definitely true.”

He was looking at you now, brown eyes staring right into yours and you saw then that he was serious about it, serious about kissing you and letting you experience at least that before tonight.

It wasn't like you hadn't thought about it before, if that warm feeling he always gave you when he was around, even now, said anything. You've thought about it even before you were friends, when he was a stupid jerk in high school who never looked twice at you but still made you weak in the knees.

After getting to know him more, you wanted to do more than just kiss the guy. You wanted to go on dates with him, hold his hand, make him laugh...all those romantic like things you've only seen in the movies. Would kissing him right now, in a moment like this, be a good move?

At your silence, Steve began to move to stand as he was saying, "God yeah, you're right it's not normal. I'm sorry I offered and made it weird."

Your hand was flying upward to capture his wrist gently, and when your eyes met, your thoughts went away as you realized you had made your answer already. You gave him a single nod, and then said, "Let's kiss."

His gaze remained on yours then, his expression softening slightly as he waited a few seconds before settling back down in the space next to you.

The atmosphere changed drastically then, the color within the Winnebago a pretty golden shade, bouncing off of Steve's face and his brown eyes as they bore into yours. You never really noticed how soft of a brown color his eyes were, maybe because you’ve never been this close enough to see them.

His next question had tore you out of your mesmerized gaze, asking you in a soft, quiet voice you never heard him speak in if you were sure it’s what you wanted.

You nodded, and said in a breathless voice, "Yes I'm sure."

Your heart was beating out of your chest, this time for the reason that any second now you were going to be kissing Steve Harrington, the once King of Hawkins High, and now one of your closest friends. You were nervous, and you were scared, but no more than you were scared about what might happen tonight.

He was just so close to you though, instead of the usual cologne he wore that drove you mad, he smelled like the earth and the pungent smell of the kerosene they used to create molotovs. It really proved that it wasn't just his cologne that drove you mad, it was simply him.

It was him just being here and this close that’s what made you this way, what was making you forget for a second that the end of the world was hours away. Your breath had even hitched and he gently reached upward to cup your cheek, a gesture that made you feel more heat spread across your face and chest.

His eyes flickered to your lips then as he began to move in, and you tensed up as you felt his lips gently graze over your own before they pressed fully against yours.

Though it was just a peck, just two lips touching, you practically melted in your seat when you felt his slightly chapped lips on yours. Your eyes even fluttered shut for a second, and any doubt of this being a bad idea faded at once as you returned the kiss.

When he leaned away from you after a few seconds, you opened your eyes to meet him and he asked with a small smile on the lips that were just on yours, "How was that?"

You were practically breathless as you replied something incoherent, and Steve tilted his head curiously at you, not understanding what you had said, and to be fair you didn’t know either. Your eyes fell back onto his lips, instead wondering if they were tingling like yours currently were, and wondering if he too felt the fire that he ignited in your chest by that simple kiss.

Steve had noticed your eyes had flickered back to his lips, and he exhaled deeply, and moved his hand underneath your chin to make you meet his gaze again. You blinked almost dreamily up at him, and he asked you in that same sweet, soft voice that would be added to your favorite things about him… "Want to do it again?"

Oh, how fast you said yes.

He didn't hesitate after your answer, pressing his lips fully onto yours to quite frankly give you another best first kiss of your life that you were sure nobody could beat even if they tried.

His experienced lips moved against your inexperienced ones, taking control and taking your breath away all at once. His lips were slow and steady on yours, gently sliding along yours and it was you who tilted your head gently in order to deepen it just a little more.

Steve's hand had moved from your chin, rather moving to the back of your head as he exhaled for a moment right onto your lips, and he asked, “Is this okay?” in reference to how quickly heated this kiss was becoming. You responded to him by leaning back in, and he chuckled as you recaptured his lips onto yours.

You didn't know what you were doing, since you've made it clear you've never kissed anyone, let alone like this, but it felt like you were doing something right as you tried to return his kiss with the same intensity as him especially when he hummed against you, his lips slightly vibrating on yours and pulled you impossibly closer to him.

When you felt the swipe of his tongue on your bottom lip, it sort of brought you back to yourself for a moment and he was leaning away again, his cheeks were a blush pink color and he said, “Fuck I’m sorry. We agreed on a kiss, and I’m trying to stick my tongue down your throat.”

He laughed awkwardly at his own words, and you could only sit there and stare at him all starry eyed, your prior concerns with the end of the world all but gone for even just a few seconds and you replied, “I…I don’t mind.”

Now you felt like the awkward one when he just stared at you, except you didn’t notice that his eyes were just as starry as yours, and then, the soft brown of his eyes shifted and darkened at your response and you were kissing again, picking off right where you left off.

Your lips parted and you felt him slip his tongue inside of your mouth, now really drinking you up and your hands flew upward to his sides, sliding them underneath his jacket and you felt him shudder against your hands as they touched his firm back above his shirt that matched yours.

The honest truth was you weren’t thinking about what this may imply, with how good Steve was kissing you and how intoxicated you both were quickly becoming on each other. It didn’t occur to you that Steve has probably been wanting to kiss you like this for a while now.

With your arms around him, you pulled him almost on top of you, your head smacking back against the window again as his tongue explored your mouth and all your worries just floated away as your mind was becoming fuzzy on him and the feeling he was bringing out of you.

“Steve,” you mumbled his name with a voice that was even unrecognizable to you, and it only urged him further, drinking up the next murmur of his name and you dragged your nails into his back (being wearing of his bandage) now feeling a sort of heat settling in the pit of your stomach as he practically devoured you in this Winnebago.

There was no telling where this might’ve gone, or how far either of you would’ve let it go, as Eddie was entering the Winnebago with a slam of the door saying, “Hey! So we’re- holy shit-”

The rest of his sentence was cut off at the sight of the position you and Steve were currently in. He had come in so fast and unexpectedly that neither you or Steve pulled apart quick enough so Eddie saw, well, everything, especially Steve nearly on top of you and his tongue in your mouth.

All you really could do was pull your lips apart from each other and look at the metalhead with similar, wide eyes.

“Uh…yes?” you asked awkwardly after a few seconds of silence, feeling your cheeks heat up with embarrassment rather than whatever Steve had been making you feel.

Eddie stared at the both of you for a second longer before he cleared his throat and said, “Yeah, some of us need this to change in, so if you want to make out- there’s an entire field out there,” he gestured around almost dramatically, and you blinked a few times, “Right yeah, so I’ll give you guys a moment.”

Neither you and Steve could properly respond to him as he was out of the vehicle in record time and you could hear some mumbling after the door shut and then Dustin saying quite loudly, “What? No, they’re not together- wait- what?”

A harsher wave of embarrassment came over you this time, realizing what had just happened between you and Steve, how heated it had gotten from a single peck to Steve’s tongue in your mouth and you pulling him on top of you. Your eyes trailed back to meet Steve as he leaned away from you, and your hands were falling to your lap. You wanted to say something, anything, but all that came out was a flustered breath at the loss of warmth you felt underneath his jacket.

Thankfully, Steve spoke for you, and he asked after an awkward, light cough, “Are you uh- feeling better now?”

You sat up more, flashing your eyes toward him before you looked down at your lap, noticing you were twiddling your thumbs nervously and all you could do was nod. Steve’s eyes stayed resting on yours, and before you knew it, he put his hand over yours.

Your eyes lifted to meet him again, and you could see there was a small, almost shy smile on his lips before he said, “I think I want to take you out on your first date too, if we end up saving the world.”

Your heart skipped a beat at that, and asked stupidly, “As like…a friend thing?”

He chuckled at your response, and shook his head, “No…no not like a friend thing at all…to be honest what just happened…if it wasn’t clear that wasn’t a friend thing either, I’ve been wanting to do that forever.”

His cheeks were still flushed, and his voice was still soft and low, only wanting you to hear him. And the way he was looking at you? His eyes were so intense, so adoring. Has he always looked at you like this and you just never noticed?

You stayed staring at him with a soft, surprised gaze, genuinely taken back by all this, and you decided right then and there that you were going to kill Vecna/Henry/One just to go on this date with Steve and maybe kiss him like you just had until you couldn’t breathe anymore and without interruption.

#my titles are the worst i am SO sorry i can never match just hold me </3 #this might be one of the final imagines as i wanna focus on cant cheat fate #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington #stranger things #stranger things imagine #stranger things fanfic #reader insert #female reader #lys writes again

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vivalas-vega · 1 year

Text

move on / part three

the next part is here !!!! as always pls lmk what you think!

move on / jake ‘hangman’ seresin x reader / part three

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word count: 3.4k

warnings: angst, language, that's abt it

“Will you stop being such a baby?” you asked, trying to stifle your giggles as you turned your head to look at Rooster in all his pouty glory. You’d just beaten him for the third time at pool before he decided to call it quits and give his battered and bruised ego a break to sulk in one of the booths. You’d followed behind shortly after, not wanting to get involved as Coyote and Phoenix went head-to-head, their insults still clearly heard even a dozen feet away. Rooster slung his arm over the back of the booth and shot you a look of disdain.

“I’m not being a baby, I’m just saying you have an unfair advantage.”

“The fact that I’ve been playing pool longer than you have is not an unfair advantage, it’s just a fact of life,” you shrugged, enjoying his misery and the free drink the skills you’ve been honing for years earned you.

“Regardless, I’m never playing you again.”

“Scared, Chicken?” you teased, nudging his knee with yours and you felt a pair of eyes on you but you were trying to ignore it the best you could.

“Me? Scared? In your dreams,” he replied and you just shook your head and laughed. Things had been going a lot better than you had anticipated they would, you were terrified Jake’s sudden return would completely unravel all the progress you had made over the last few months but it didn’t. All of Rooster’s help, advice and support had stuck with you and kept you strong, and you were committed to coexisting as colleagues. You hadn’t yet plucked up the courage to ask Jake why he had left, as with most things recently Rooster had been right when he said you wouldn’t feel settled until you knew the reason but you just weren’t ready to go there yet and reopen the wound when it was still so fresh.

“Keep telling yourself that, Chicken,” you chuckled, resting a hand on his knee and keeping it there, “how did that date go last night?”

He shrugged, “don’t think she’s the one but she’s fun to hang out with, don’t think either one of us are looking for anything serious.”

You hummed, “sounds like a promising mutually beneficial not-relationship,” you joked.

“Could be, no immediate red flags which is a good sign,” he replied.

“Any yellow flags?” you asked and he laughed.

“She reached for the check even though I’m the one that asked her out.”

“Classic move, reach for the check even though you know your date is paying. It’s just considerate, I’d say a very light green flag.” Phoenix made eye contact with you as she set her pool cue to the side and you squeezed Rooster’s knee before getting up to join her in the restroom.

“How are you doing?” she asked, attempting to be nonchalant but she was about as subtle as a hand grenade.

“I’m good, Phe, surprisingly good.” She nodded at this, leaning over the sink to tame some hairs that had escaped her bun. How she didn’t immediately pull it out after changing into her civvies was beyond you as you fussed with your own hair before heading back out into the noisy bar where you approached the pool table and caught a conversation you knew you weren’t supposed to.

“Come on man, dick move asking me that, you know I don’t want to be involved.”

“It’s just a question, Coyote.”

“A loaded question. You weren’t here man, shit got really dark there for a minute and we were all scared. Rooster stepped up, shifted his life around to be there for her day and night and got her to open up when no one else could. You don’t get to ask questions about Rooster and Birdy, and you don’t get to have an opinion.” Coyote said with a sigh and your brows furrowed in confusion.

“They seem really close is all I’m saying, I didn’t mean anything by it.” Jake said and you pieced together what he must have asked… something along the lines of you and Rooster being an item. You weren’t sure what you were feeling at first, not sure how you should react to him asking such a question as Phoenix cleared her throat next to you and guilt quickly passed over Jake’s features as he noticed the two of you.

“Birdy-” you just held a hand up to silence him before deciding to walk outside, desperate for a breath of fresh air.

“Are you shitting me, Bagman?” You could hear Phoenix chastising as the door swung shut behind you and as you took those first few steps out into the sand you felt anger start to bubble, pushing to the surface and welling your eyes with tears. You inhaled deeply, trying to remember one of those breathing exercises Rooster had taught you but it wasn’t doing much to help at this moment. You felt the atmosphere change around you and this only made you angrier, the fact that your body was still so in tune with him that you needed no visual or auditory confirmation of the fact that he was there… you just knew.

“Birdy, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-” he started but was cut off as you turned around to face him.

“Didn’t mean what? You didn’t mean to ask Coyote if Rooster and I were dating? As if that’s any of your business? It was an accident and it just slipped out of your mouth?” you asked, everything you’d been telling yourself about keeping calm and cordial in his presence flying out the window.

“I didn’t mean anything by it, I just… wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing some crucial piece of information.” he replied, and you felt sick to your stomach looking at him. He looked guilty, remorseful even and you hated it. The first time you saw him on base after his return you had a brief conversation with him about boundaries, about keeping any interactions related to work and letting him know you hoped he got invited to team hangouts because he was apart of the team but that you wanted to keep your distance in social settings and he’d respected that. The last few weeks he’d stayed out of your way and been mindful of each and every boundary you’d set and it was beginning to infuriate you. You knew this was irrational, knew if he hadn’t respected those boundaries you’d be just as furious and Rooster’s words rang in your ears. You can’t be around him without getting to the bottom of it.

“Crucial information? Nothing about my personal life is crucial to you anymore, Jake.” you shot back and he just nodded his head solemnly.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and you thought he looked truly pathetic right now, something that was such a foreign look for him. Usually so cocky and arrogant now looking like a kicked puppy.

“God, stop saying that!” you shouted, letting yourself feel the anger and not sparing him any of it. “Stop fucking apologizing, I am so tired of it, I don’t care that you’re sorry.”

He nodded again, “Birdy, I didn’t mean to upset you, I want us to be able to be around each other without this happening.”

“Then tell me why.” you said, willing the tears threatening to spill over to stay right where they were. “I can’t be around you and not know, and it’s not fair that I don’t know.”

“It won’t… it won’t change anything-”

“I deserve to know. I deserve to know why you carried me home, fucked me, and told me you loved me only to leave in the middle of the night with no warning. Because people don’t do that, Jake! They don’t move in with someone, they don’t talk about white picket fences and engagement rings and golden retrievers to disappear like it all meant nothing. I need to know.” You couldn’t fight the emotion any longer, letting the tears flow freely down your face and Jake’s natural instinct was to close the distance between you and wipe them away but he wasn’t allowed to do that anymore and he grimaced at that realization.

“I loved you too much.”

“Excuse me?” You swore you felt your heart stop in your chest before lurching into a dead sprint, hammering against your ribcage, pulsing through every limb of your body.

“I got scared. I-I loved you too much, too deeply and it scared the hell out of me, Birdy. All the talk of white picket fences and engagement rings and golden retrievers, it… it hit me all at once, you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me and I wasn’t ready for that realization.”

“Are you kidding me? All of this, all the heartbreak and the confusion because you got scared? What the fuck is wrong with you?” you shouted, and you winced at your own voice, trying to keep your reactions measured but it was no use.

“I know, it was wrong, I handled everything wrong. Laying there that night with you sleeping so peacefully in my arms it all hit me and I got overwhelmed. I thought if I left it wouldn’t hurt either one of us as badly as it would when I inevitably fucked it up some other way.”

“So, ruin something on the off-chance you might have ruined it later? That makes a hell of a lot of sense, Jake,” you scoffed and wiped at the ever-falling tears on your cheeks.

“I did everything wrong, I fucked up, Birdy and I’m so sorry. If I could change everything I would, you have no idea how many times I go back to that night and wish I could have chosen any other option.” He wiped at his own falling tears now and the sight broke your heart but you refused to let yourself acknowledge that.

“I do know, Jake, because I did the same goddamn thing, only in my version it wasn’t wishing I could change my decision, it was wondering what the hell I did to make you leave. God, I have spent the last year of my life wracked with guilt and grief trying to figure out where it all went wrong, what I did or said that made you run away only to find out it was fear? Cowardice? Over something that is normal in relationships? It’s not supposed to be easy deciding to spend your life with someone but you talk about it, Jake, you don’t pack a bag and disappear.”

“I know that now, I made a mistake.”

“A mistake is a parking ticket. You know what, Jake, you don’t get to make decisions for me! You don’t get to decide what is the easier heartbreak for me to deal with, and you don’t get to decide to abandon me in the middle of the night because you’re afraid.”

“I’m sorry, Birdy. I wish I could take it all back, I wish I had just talked to you about it because then maybe we’d be back in the bar right now kicking Coyote and Phoenix's asses and maybe you’d have a rock on your finger and maybe we’d be telling everyone we need to get going so we can take the dog for a walk, you have no idea how badly I want all of that. I don’t know why I was scared in the first place because there is nothing that could ever be better than a life with you,” he pleaded and it sent a new wave of tears cascading down your face. You wanted all of that too, more than anything but how could you have it now? How could you take that monumental step backwards after everything that has happened in the last year? You couldn’t.

“I wanted that too, Jake, but what am I supposed to think? I hate even giving you this much credit but you ruined me. I couldn’t eat, sleep, or think straight. Rooster was the one who pulled me out, if it wasn’t for him I’d still be in that dark place so while we’re at it maybe lose some of the jealousy towards him and replace it with gratitude. I’m finally okay, finally somewhat happy again and now what? You told me you’re sorry and you wish you hadn’t done it and we’re supposed to pick up where we left off?”

“I meant what I said the night I came back, I’m under no impression you’d ever get back together with me.” he said, his features laced with pain and guilt.

“So why tell me you still want that? As if I don’t? I want nothing more than that rock on my finger and to be planning a stupid wedding with you and arguing with your nosy sisters about dresses and flower arrangements, and asking Mav to walk me down the aisle. That was my dream. You by my side on the ground and in the air, but that dream disappeared the day you did.” He took a step forward as you said this, closing the distance between you and you let him. Every fiber of your being was telling you to take a step back, telling you that tripping and falling into the waves was better than allowing his warmth to radiate throughout your body and pull you in the way it always did.

“Do you still love me?” he asked, his voice low as one of his hands caught your own and your eyes fell shut at the feeling, the first contact you’d shared since that fateful night all those months ago.

“Jake…” you whispered and his forehead rested against your own.

“Just… I know it’s unfair and wrong of me to be asking but just tell me that much.”

“It doesn’t change anything. I can’t go back and you can’t undo what you did.” You shook your head slightly and he raised his hands to cup your face.

“Do you still love me?” You didn’t trust your words, looking up into those green eyes, usually so bright and clear now stormy and filled with worry, so you just nodded, sighing and leaning into his touch as he stroked your tears away with his thumbs. “So let me fix this, let me try, Birdy, please.”

“There’s nothing to fix, Jake.”

“So what’s the harm in letting me try?” he asked and you just stared up at him.

“Always so stubborn,” you softly laughed.

“Birdy, you’re it for me. I was an idiot and I did everything wrong, I messed up the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I know that… just, please let me try to fix this? Let me prove to you that I’m here for the long haul.”

“I guess I can’t really stop you,” you sighed and the ghost of a smile tugged at his lips.

“I’ll take it.” He dropped his hands and moved with you as you began walking back towards the bar, somehow feeling lighter than you had in months but still plagued with the same heartbreak and uncertainty.

“This doesn’t change anything, Jake. Knowing your reason doesn’t change how I feel and it doesn’t change our dynamic,” you said as you approached the door and he just nodded as he opened it for you.

“I know, but I’m going to do my damndest to change your mind.” Walking in you ignored everyone’s curious looks and grabbed your coat and purse from behind the bar where Penny always let you stash it.

“That looked intense out there,” she commented, handing you a glass of water.

“Always is with him,” you sighed and your eyes widened as you saw Jake approaching Rooster, “oh for the love of god.” you muttered, but Penny put a hand on your shoulder to stop you from intervening.

“Just wait,” she said and you both listened in.

“Look man, I’m sorry for what I insinuated earlier, it wasn’t cool. I wasn’t in the loop on what went down when I was gone, I didn’t realize what you did for her… even if it was more than that it’s not my business. I just wanted to say thank you.”

“Didn’t do it for you.” Rooster replied and you smiled softly at the interaction before rounding the bar to approach.

“I know… I just wanted you to know I’m grateful for what you did, and uh… just get her home safe, yeah?” He brought a hand up to the back of his neck, clearly growing uncomfortable with the amount of vulnerability he’d expressed in the last half hour and Rooster just nodded.

“Always do,” he grabbed your jacket from your hands and gave you a once over, “you ready?”

“Thanks for not hitting him,” you said as soon as you stepped back into the cool night air.

“Really wanted to, Birdy,” he sighed and you laughed.

“I know, thank you for fighting the urge.”

“What the hell happened? Because that man has literally almost killed me on several occasions and that was the first time he’s ever been that humble.” And so you told him, filled him in on every detail on the car ride over and continued as you got ready for bed, and he listened, taking in every word.

“I just, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do with any of it. Of course I understand his reason but it doesn’t really justify the actions. If he’d disappeared for like, three days maybe but a whole year?”

“I don’t really think you’re supposed to do anything, Birdy. You said your piece and he said his, the question is do you want him to follow through on fixing it?” he asked as you settled into bed.

“I don’t know. I mean, what would that even look like?” you asked, turning on your side to look at him. “And… just go with me for a second here, if he does fix it and miraculously everything goes back to normal then what? We just get back together like it never happened? Isn’t that just a huge step backwards for me?”

“Depends on how you look at it. If you feel he truly has changed and made up for his past mistakes then maybe it’s a step forward, do you feel like you could ever trust him again?”

“That’s the thing. No matter what he does to try and fix this I don’t know if the trust will ever be there again, he left once when things were fine, who’s to say what he would do when things get hard?”

“The fact that we’re even having this conversation in this depth leads me to believe you do want him to fix it.” he pointed out.

You sighed, “I don’t know what I want.”

“And that’s fine, you don’t need to know right now, you don’t even need to know a month from now. Just don’t let him reel you back in, not yet at least. He was right about one thing he said tonight, there is nothing that could ever be better than a life with you. If he wants it he has to earn it, and once you feel like he has then you can make a decision.”

“Hey, when all our aviation careers are over you should look into being a relationship therapist, it suits you.” you teased and he just rolled his eyes.

“I’m only like this when I’m in bed with you, it would be highly unethical to conduct all my therapy sessions that way.” he laughed.

“Find me any straight woman that would be upset at the fact that she gets to spend an hour in bed with you.”

“Speaking of, I didn’t even ask if you wanted me to stay tonight.” he said, suddenly looking down at the way he was completely tucked into your bed and you giggled.

“I don’t even really need you to stay tonight.” you said, giving him a deadpan look before the two of you were sent into another fit of laughter.

“I went into autopilot,” he said through his laughs before making a move to get up.

“I didn’t say you had to leave,” you said, tugging him back down and he just shook his head as he pulled you in.

“The oh-so-tough Birdy, what would people say if they knew you were just the biggest cuddle bug?”

“That is between you, me, and this bed. If you ever tell anyone I will shoot you out of the sky and you know I can.” you all but mumbled as you sank into his warmth and let sleep tug at the corners of your mind.

“Mmhm, sure.”

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