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mangasimpqueen69 · 10 months

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Mailroom Crush! JJK x reader

University AU! Yuta Okkotsu x AFAB! Reader

Content warnings! none. cute fluff! slightly angsty. heavy kissing. implied smut if you squint. All characters are of age. MINORS and AGELESS DNI

This is a AU! where reader and Yuta are assigned the same job at university, and feelings begin to blossom. This is my first fic so please be kind! This will get a smutty part 2 maybe! Any creative criticism is welcome! reblogs and hearts are wonderful! Thank you so much for reading!

Ever since you had both been assigned to the mailroom for Work Study at university, you’ve had a crush on each other. He was calf deep into a mail bag sorting out things when you entered, skin golden and smooth like honey, fresh spritzed with a sweet vanilla perfume, and curly hair done up in two space buns, a few pieces haphazardly framing your face due to the humidity outside. It was early Autumn, and while things had been rather cool in the mailroom thanks to the air conditioning, you’d have thought your co worker had been running on a treadmill this whole time. You stand in the doorway before knocking.

“Hey there! Just making sure I’m in the right place! You’re Yuta, right?” you greet chipperly.

So engrossed in his work, Yuta seemed to slightly jump at the sound of your voice. He dropped whatever mail he was hanging onto and looked in your direction, a smile forming on his features.

“Oh! Hi there… um yeah that would be me!” He responded in an exhale, carefully stepping over any strewn about packages or letters. As he came closer, you could see a small twinkle in his eyes. You also notice the slight blush on his cheeks but chalk it up to how hard he seemed to be working before you arrived. There was no doubt about how attractive he was. You guessed him to be just under 6 feet tall, deep sapphire eyes and lustrous dark hair, coming down to frame his face, hitting just at his cheekbones, though it being a little disheveled at the moment.

You introduced yourself and let him know you were also assigned here from the university. All your schooling was paid for through scholarships, so the work study was just a way for some extra income throughout the year, plus it worked around your class schedule. Formal introductions out of the way, he offers to show you around, though the space isn’t huge, and show you how things were done. You follow him around, listening intently. It was a simple enough job, sort mail and packages as they come in; mail goes into the slot matching the dorm building name and room number and packages get sorted by dorm building and sent next door for dispersal. Yuta showed you a few times how things were done, then offered that you give it a try. It was an easy job all things considered, memorizing what mailbox slots matched what dorm building was probably the hardest part. You helped him finish out the mail bag he was working on when you first arrived, and as soon as the bag was empty, the clock hit 5:45 pm.

“Hey fifteen minutes to spare, we did pretty good!” He beamed at you. You returned the smile, blushing a bit. “Let’s go get some dinner, my treat for a good first day!” He offered, you both got up and exited, Yuta locked the mailroom up.

“What ya in the mood for?” Yuta asked. “Honestly, Taco Bell sounds great right now.” You laughed. “Taco Bell it is then! And we can just walk, since it’s only half a block from campus. I could eat a whole party box myself.” He relented. You laughed in agreement. The walk was nice. The Autumn air had cooled a bit, and the sky was clear, apart from a few stray clouds.

Once arriving at the fast-food joint, you both ordered and Yuta insisting on paying, even though you had cash in hand. The two of you made small talk as you waited for your order number to be called, Yuta telling you about his major and what he hoped to get out of his degree, and him shyly admitting he was an artist as a hobby. He mostly did pen or pencil drawings but created digital art from time to time on request. You asked if one day he wouldn’t mind letting you view some of his work when he felt comfortable, and he agreed. He questioned you for the same info, wanting to know about what you were studying and if you had any hobbies. You shared that you were a writer but didn’t want to disclose about what most of your content was.

He’d probably think I’m some kind of pervert if he found out I wrote romance/smut. You thought to yourself.

“Oh, c’mon I’m sure it’s great! What kind of stuff do you write?” he teased. Before you opened your mouth to protest more, the woman working the counter called your order number and you breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s us!” you smile, and practically jump from your seat before Yuta can say anything else. Coming back with the food, you both dig in.

On the walk back to the university, both of you enjoyed the other’s company. You shared silly dad jokes, talked about video games, what shows you enjoyed, your favorite TikTok’s and whatever else came to mind. Things went on like this for weeks. You two worked, laughed and talked together. On days you would finish up early, you would get dinner somewhere nearby. You became fast friends.

After about a month and a half of working together, the mailroom ran like a well-oiled machine. You both had found an ebb and flow to which you both could enjoy talking, even flirting heavily with one another more often than not. The ‘just a second too long’ glances and ‘accidental touches’ had been exciting for both of you, though neither would admit their crush on the other. Your work was not spared quality either, as tasks were accomplished early and with ease. As the semester wore on and as wonderful as things were, an incessant hiccup had started to appear. Her name was Isabella, though she would insist Yuta call her ‘Bella.’

Isabella would always visit the mailroom under the guise of picking up her orders, even though she knew that she was supposed to pick up the packages that were too big for the dorm mailboxes at the office around the corner. If you were the one who came to the counter, she always wanted to see Yuta, and if you happened to not be on shift with Yuta, she would just bound off without a word. She wasn’t ever necessarily rude, but it was too obvious she wanted Yuta to be with her. Yuta was always kind to her at the window, talking as much as he could, and would always politely excuse himself back to his work when he needed to. The way she would say goodbye to him was so sickly sweet, it almost gave you a toothache. She was a pretty girl, but you secretly hoped Yuta was not into her like that, though you were too shy to admit your own feelings as well. He never seemed to outright flirt with her, but it was anyone’s guess as to how he felt about her on the inside.

This was the fourth time in three weeks Isabella had come to the mailroom. Yuta was scheduled to work, but one of the extracurriculars he was a part of with the school was traveling today and was granted the day off. You were prepared to hear the same long shrill of Yuta’s name from her lips that you had sworn you’d heard a thousand times at this point, and you sidle up to the counter, leaning against it to rest. You beat her to the punch. “Bella, Yuta’s not in today.” You sigh, taking a moment to think of how much better today would be if he was. Your mood would be much cheerier, not that you didn’t like your other coworkers, it was just always the most enjoyable with him by your side. His eyes would light up at the realization of the awful punchline you just finished a joke with. You would be able to make him double over in laughter and see his flawless smile. Isabella’s voice snapped you back to the present.

“Nope, sorry, only Yuta can call me that. Speaking of, where is that gorgeous thing?” She questions, trying to lean her head into the mail room as if you were hiding him away. “He had a trip with a school club or something.” You said through gritted teeth. You didn’t like how she talked about him when he wasn’t here. Yes, Yuta was very attractive, anyone with eyes could see that, but he was so much more than that. Isabella only seemed to want him as arm candy. She only talked about his outer appearance and didn’t seem to care about much else.

She huffed a bit, then looked at you a little more intensely than was necessary. “I like him a lot you know.” She started. “Yes, everyone knows.” Both you and your coworker responded in tandem, having to resist the urge to roll your eyes. You laughed at the absurdness of the situation. “He is single right?” She asked. The temptation to lie was inexplicably strong. As much as you wanted to tell her he was with you, it wouldn’t be right. You had tried so many times to get the words to come out, but you always swallowed them back down, shamefully embarrassed. You and he were friends. You were too scared to ruin it with a relationship. “As far as I know.” You groaned, just wishing Isabella would leave. “Good, I plan on asking him out soon. Wouldn’t want anything in the way of that, would we?” She smiled sinisterly before heading off down the hall. Your thoughts begin to race at the realization that you may not have much time to confess before Isabella makes her move.

Once you are home for the evening, you call your best friend for some advice, and as much as part of your brain wanted to just hear them say not to worry about it, they laid everything out crystal clear. “Look,” your best friend started through the phone. “From what you tell me about him, how you talk about him, and the pictures you post on snap and send me of you guys hanging out and having fun, you like him, and he likes you! I don’t think I’ve seen you this happy since we went to the beach for my birthday last year.” You agree. “You know I love you, but you have got to have courage here. The bottom line is, if you don’t say something, someone will come along and scoop him up before you get your chance. Don’t miss the opportunity to be happy.” You thank them and hang up, saying it is late and you want to get some sleep.

Another month and a half of the semester practically flew by. Both You and Yuta had been doing well in classes and were able to even help each other out with projects on occasion. The University was closing for Fall break in about two weeks, and you had to admit you’d be a little bummed about not seeing Yuta for a little while. Working with him several days out of the week had always made even the worst day a lot better for you. Isabella had been doing her twice a week visits, each time Yuta answering as kind and courteous at ever.

You had heard through a few coworkers that Isabella would try to make her move today, and you still were not ready. You had been so in your head and back and forth, that you couldn’t keep track of everything. You see her come into view of the mailroom window, and your heart drops. You try to look as busy as possible, pretending you don’t see her so that she won’t see you looking so defeated. Tears threaten to leak from your eyes, and you decide you are not going to cry here. You quickly wipe away any tears and gather yourself together enough so that you can excuse yourself to the bathroom. Looking up, toward Yuta, you can see Isabella reach her hand out to hold his, and you swallow hard, forcing back any tears. Your face was red in embarrassment, sadness, and frustration.

“Hey Yuta, I’m gonna go to the bathroom, be right back.” You say, your voice coming out almost unrecognizable. He breaks the conversation from Isabella to voice concern over if you are doing okay, seeing as you sounded like you were on the verge of crying, but by the time he looks in your direction, you’ve already exited through the side door.

Through tears you search for an empty room, not really wanting to cry in the bathroom either, on the high probability Isabella decides to follow you in there to gloat about her new relationship. You test a janitor utility room door to find it unlocked, and quickly close yourself in. It was crowded with mops and brooms, light bulbs, replacement rolls of toilet paper, and several trash cans, but there was enough room for you. You moved some things around and found a perch on a sturdy stack of boxes. You sit in the dimly lit room, just letting the tears flow for a bit. You wrestled back and forth with your feelings. Maybe it was wishful thinking that someone like Yuta could want someone like me. We were never meant to be more than friends. He just deserves better. The negative thoughts came in quick succession, making you cry again after you had just dried up your tears.

While you never outright said anything to Yuta, it was not exactly a secret to the rest of the mailroom staff that you liked him. People put two and two together pretty easily. Whenever anyone brought up the two of you dating, you both played things very coy, assuring people you were just friends. Everyone always had the same reaction. They would laugh and say, “Friends, yeah okay, not with the way you two flirt.” and smile at us all suggestively. Both of your faces would turn red in response, and you would both just laugh it off. Surely with as often as Isabella visited, she knew of your crush. What did I ever do to fucking Isabella? You thought aloud. When the tears finally stopped, and you felt like you had returned somewhat to normal, you headed back to the mailroom. You we not sure how long you had been gone, and Yuta made no mention of it when you did return. You both finished your shift and went home for the day. Yuta tried to text you, asking if something was wrong, but you ignored it. Yuta decided it was best not to push it. After a few days, things between the two of you were back to normal.

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Today was the last day the mail room was open, and it was only for half the day, so you were both wrapped up with work by 3:00pm. Most of the other staff and students had already gone home, as classes had also been let go early, while some professors opted to not have class at all.

“Whew! I don’t think I’ve ever moved that quick in my life!” You exclaimed, wiping the nonexistent sweat from your forehead. The mailroom wasn’t actually busy, you just knew Yuta loved it when you were all theatrical about everyday life. His wonderful laugh greeted your ears. “Don’t know how we survived!” He responded cheekily. “I say we treat ourselves to some Starbucks, the one down the block is open until 8 I think.” You offered. “And this time, I’m paying for you, Yuta.” You narrowed your eyes playfully, daring him to protest. He scoffed but played along. You both make your way outside once the mailroom is locked up.

I’ve got to do it today. You thought, hyping yourself up to ask Yuta about Isabella. While she had not been coming around for the last bit before break, you assumed it was because she was dating Yuta, and had been seeing him outside of school. You were thankful for that at least, as seeing her with him would hurt you more than you ever wanted to admit out loud. It was probably rude to not be asking about his relationship, as he is one of your best friends, but you weren’t sure you had the mental strength to handle it. You were slowly working over getting over him, but it was harder than you had initially thought.

Once settled at Starbucks with your drinks in hand, you turn to head back to campus so you can both get your cars and head home. On the walk back, you fell into your same old rhythm, as if nothing had ever been wrong. Between laughter and talking, you could have sworn you seen Yuta eye your lips a few times and steal glances at your cleavage too. Your top wasn’t too revealing, but the V-cut of the neckline showed off just enough to be enticing. Your thoughts drifted to how his lips would feel on yours, his talking becoming slightly muffled in your ears. His lips were slightly plump, especially his bottom lip. They were a cherry blossom shade of pink, slightly bitten, as he would often chew on them when he was thinking of what to say. You wanted to feel them, on your lips, cheeks, neck, chest, anywhere. It wasn’t right to fantasize about him, but you wanted him so badly. It was almost criminal how much you wished for him to be yours.

“Anyway, that’s how I ended up with a big scar on my left shoulder.” Is what he was saying once you zoned back into reality. You look over at him. Your heart must have taken over in this instant, because your brain sure wasn’t in charge when you spoke next.

“Oh, hey Yuta, you saving some whip cream for later?” You laugh, motioning for him to wipe his mouth. You knew there wasn’t anything there, but you just had to know what his lips felt like, even if it couldn’t be from a kiss.

“Geez that embarrassing,” he laughs nervously, swiping at the corner of his mouth, feeling for the invisible bit of cream.

You smile at him. “Here let me.” You say, lightly placing your fingers along his cheek, and using your thumb to swipe across his lips.

They felt just as you suspected, dreamily soft.

Yuta swallowed the breath that had caught in his throat at your touch. “O-oh, uhm thank you.” He said, his cheeks turning a shade of cotton candy pink. You thought it was impossible for him to be any cuter than this. Just as the thought crossed your mind, you felt ashamed.

He is taken, what am I doing?

“So, are you going home for break or?” You asked Yuta. “Oh no, I’m staying home. Actually, I’m about twenty minutes from here. My cousin has a place he isn’t using right now since he is overseas volunteering with some organization he’s a part of. He told me I could stay there since rent is already paid for the year. All I got to do is pay the utilities and keep it clean.” He says nonchalantly, as if it were normal to be that lucky.

“That’s pretty sweet actually.” You reply, wishing you had the same luck.

“I have an off-campus apartment too, but unfortunately, I have to pay utilities and rent. My roommate makes it a bit less lonely when she is actually there. I usually only go home for the Summer.” You emphasize the ‘and’ to be dramatic, earning a laugh from Yuta. You make it to campus and turn to say bye to Yuta. He interrupts you midway.

“Well, let me at least walk you to your car, wherever it is parked. You look like you know how to take care of yourself, but I wouldn’t feel right letting you walk alone.” Yuta offers.

“Ahh, I see I have a true gentleman in my company. Should I call you Mr. Okkotsu?” You tease him. He looks at you as if he is mulling it over, and you can’t help but snicker at him. “Yes, you can walk me to my car, thanks for offering.” You smile. Not your boyfriend! You must remind yourself.

-----------------------------------in the parking garage--------------------------------------

“This is me!” You say, leaning back against the front door of your car to face Yuta. He is lagging a bit behind you but smiling at you, rubbing the back of his neck as if he is nervous. “Today was fun…” He begins, meeting your eyes. “I’m glad you got placed in the mail room, your jokes and talking with you makes things much better.” As he is talking, he is closing the bit of distance between your bodies.

“Well thanks! I’m glad my corny jokes work on somebody. You are wonderful to talk to also. Thanks for putting up with me the whole semester.” You respond sheepishly, unable to look him in the eyes. With only a few steps between the both of you, you take a second to remember what you wanted to say, your heart beating faster, breath quickening. Neither of you saying a word. You take a deep breath to steady your nerves, and to hopefully stave off any tears. “Yuta, I meant to say this sooner but congrats on you and Isa…” Your statement is cut short by Yuta reaching out and cupping your cheek as you did to him earlier that day. You could feel his hand tremble just slightly. His eyes seemed to twinkle in the low lighting of the garage. You meet his gaze; his cheeks dusted that same shade of cotton candy pink.

“You just have something right...." He leans in, his lips ghosting across your own. He seemed almost afraid, too nervous to go in for a full-on kiss. It was sweet and chaste. You had no idea a human was capable of being this gentle. “There.” He finishes, a small smile forming on his lips. “Oh...wow.” you mumbled, not realizing you were holding your breath until he pulled away and you exhaled. Your body was instantly too hot, and you are unable to look Yuta in the eyes anymore. It was too intense a feeling.

“I am so, so sorry.” He begins to apologize profusely, thinking he had upset you. You halted him immediately. “No need to be sorry Yuta. That was absurdly sweet.” You reassure him, reaching out to lightly squeeze his bicep. You take a mental note of how much muscle he was hiding under his lean frame. “Wait, are you not dating Isabella?” You question, the dreamy moment being broken. “No. I mean she did ask me out, but I let her down as easy as I could.” He takes a second to pause, biting his bottom lip, as he always does, “Wait, is that why you left all upset that one day in the mailroom when she was at the counter?” he asks, remembering how any time he tried to bring it up, you shut him down saying it was nothing. You look at the ground, sort of embarrassed. “Yes, she let it be well known that she liked you, and that day was when she was supposed to ask you out, and I liked you so much it just hurt.” You confess, fidgeting with the hem of your shirt.

“Look,” Yuta began, lifting your chin to meet his gaze. “Isabella is pretty, but she’s just not for me. I’d much rather have you.” He smiles. You can’t help the bit of a laugh that comes out. “That was so corny.” You smile at him, doing your best to hide the fact that your heart is doing summersaults in your chest. “Well, I learned from the best.” He muses. “Corny or not, that doesn’t make it any less true.” He confesses wistfully. “The relief that washes over you is immense.

He likes you! All this time you were worried, and it was you he wanted! Let’s make up for lost time then! Your inner monologue excitedly rambles.

“In that case, allow me to reciprocate.” You say, smirking.

You pulled him back toward you with his forearm in your grip and rested your bodyweight on your car. Once his body was flush with yours, you draped your arms over his neck and looked into his eyes. “I’m going to kiss you back now, is that okay?” You asked him to make sure he was still into this. “Yes please.” he responded, barely above a whisper, as if he was trying not to get the two of you caught.

Why is he so shy now? You wonder.

You lean up a bit on your toes to kiss his forehead, then went in for a kiss on the lips. Unlike his barely-there kiss, you wanted to give him a bit more. You pressed your lips to his, darting your tongue out to lick at his plush bottom lip. At that, he melted into the kiss and your body a bit more, as if asking you to do it again.

Who were you to deny this sweet man? Especially now that he wanted to be yours.

You grant his wish, and this time he parts his mouth slightly so that you can nibble on his bottom lip. He hums in approval, and you can feel his body heat as he presses into you. He smelled of Sandalwood and citrus, and you felt intoxicated by it. You take the initiative to take a finger and tilt his head to the side, where you would have access to kiss up his jaw to his earlobe. The whole time, Yuta’s hands are roaming your sides, lightly squeezing your waist, then traveling back up to rest on the tops of your shoulders, not yet daring to wander to your chest, though if you had to guess, he had been craving to feel your breasts.

Your heightened state of arousal emboldens you enough to whisper into his ear. “I can feel how much you want me.”

It was true. His erection had been pressing into you for a bit, and it was by no means unimpressive. His jeans made it a bit difficult to tell as far as length went, but you knew he was on the thicker side. Even nastier thoughts flooded your mind, as your cell phone began to buzz, interrupting the moment. “Ignore it.” Yuta mumbled, dipping his head to kiss your neck. You had thought about doing just that. This dream turned reality was too good to let slip by. No sooner had the buzzing stopped, your phone started dinging. Once, twice… four times, and then the buzzing again. You sighed. “Yuta, I have to check.” He gave you a chaste kiss to the forehead before moving back to give you room. Checking your phone, you roll your eyes in response.

“My roommate needs me home.” You relent. Yuta just smiles. “Okay, text me when you get home, so I know you are safe, okay?” “Don’t I always?” You tease him. You get in your car and start it up, as he steps back and waves goodbye. You are starting to back out when you see him run back up to your window. You just laugh and roll it down. “Yes?” You ask sweetly.

So, just to be clear, we’re dating now, right?” He asks.

You giggle at him. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.” Maybe I’ll invite him over next time my roomie is out. Your brain reels with the fun you two will have now that you are finally together.

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maurypovichofficial2 · 8 months

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wow we once had a fight in like 2014 in 1d fandom because you were pro-israel and thought harry being besties with a bunch of zionists who donate to anti-palestine causes was cool, and you called me a hairy ugly dyke who hated harry just because he was a man sjshfjshf and then you blocked me and i truly never thought of you again.

anyway one of your posts ended up on my dash thanks to the "like by someone you follow" feature, and i was like hmmm i know that url and i discovered you had a new account and you were now a gay he/him instead of a homophobic straight girl. wild how time flies huh

honey you got the wrong one lmao! first of all I would never say that to anyone those words in that order isn't even in my vernacular EVEN when I'm angry EVEN back in 2014. I also have NEVER blocked anyone on tumblr dot com so yeah lol! There were other gays in that fandom during that time but this ain't my resume at all.

#Harry was also never my fave so that also doesn’t track

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thedcvilherself · 8 months

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it didn’t take much convincing for her to agree to his perverted ways when he presented himself as the only person in her life who cared for her. on her first day at his house when she had decided to take a swim in the lake, fitz decided to block her parents’ number from her phone to make it seem like they had forgotten about her the second she was shipped off to stay with him. when in fact her parents called him every day asking why she wouldn’t take their calls, having it go straight to voice mail. he told them she was upset with them for making her stay with him. he had given them the advice of giving her some space to cool off. it had been all too perfect. with them miles away from her friends and family, he was able to isolate her completely. “that’s good, baby. that’s exactly what you need to feel. completely full.” he caressed her stomach, smiling at the fact she even looked full. her tummy full of his cum. he couldn’t help but feel proud at knowing he did that. he took her virginity and he will make sure she felt full of his cum every day. a satisfied groan escaped his lips as she covered him with kisses. his hands cupping her perky tits. “can’t wait for these to get fuller when you have my baby in your belly. wouldn’t you like that honey?”

marley was still young, with no clear idea of who she was or who she wanted to be, let alone where she belonged. it was as if now that high school was over, she had been dropped into a maze and left spinning in circles with no sense of direction, until the moment her grandfather had shown up and lovingly led her down a path. it was a path not only with meaning and purpose but one she wouldn’t have to walk alone, him at her side, guiding her the whole way. “i do, grandpa. i feel so full. i’ve never felt anything like this before.” in some ways, it’s uncomfortable, a fullness that her body says needs to be expelled, in search of relief it couldn’t quite find - but she was willing to take it for his praise, to make him happy, to make him proud. consolation for her suffering is found in him; the way her bodies able to relax into his, the scent of his cologne strong in her nostrils, overwhelming her senses, the sounds of satisfaction that radiate through her entire being. it’s practically without thought when her fingers work to undo the top few buttons of his shirt, hands tracing the newly exposed skin as her mouth worked gently downwards, a desperation to worship every inch she could access. though it doesn’t take long before there’s a distracted giggle sounding from her lips, rumbling against his chest as he grasps at her breasts. “do you think they’ll get bigger?” the brunette sits up straighter, her hands covering his own, urging him to play with her even as her features fall. “do you think i’ll look okay? once i finally get pregnant?”

#[ marley ; threads ]#[ marley & fitzgerald ; threads ]#[ devouredher ; threads ]#[ devouredher ; thread 003 ]

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seijorhi · 3 years

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Choke.

another soulmate au nobody asked for :)

Akaashi Keiji x female reader x Bokuto Koutarou

TW dub-con, implied future non-con

It wasn’t a good day to begin with.

You’re late, rushing through the busy campus hallways to make it to an exam that quite frankly you’re at least 70% sure you’re going to fail, mostly because instead of cramming last night you’d been… otherwise occupied with your boyfriend.

And you really, really just want this whole thing to just be over with already.

With your nose stuck in your textbook, frantically pouring over your notes right up until the very last second, it’s hardly a surprise that you don’t see the two of them rushing down the hallway in the opposite direction until you’re quite literally colliding with the taller of the pair – the broad shouldered one.

Your notes go flying, the last of your coffee too and for one split second, you’re pretty positive that you’re gonna end up flat on your ass with a little more than some bruised pride. But just as you’re about to hit the ground, not one but two hands reach for you, catch you, and the very second they do, you feel it:

A flash of guilt and momentary alarm, embarrassment, you think, and chagrin, each emotion hitting you like a sledgehammer, overwhelming you, one after the other in a dizzying blur that’s distinctly other, and then–

Shock.

Dawning surprise.

A rush of something warm, adoring, a happiness so bright and blinding that it makes you physically jerk backwards, almost slamming your head against the wall in the process. And two pairs of eyes – one a deep, luminous gold, the other a cool, gunmetal blue – stare at you in wide eyed wonder a split millisecond before you wrench yourself free, gasping.

The moment their grip falters, the torrent stops. You can breathe.

Blessed silence, save for the pounding of your heartbeat in your ears. Everything fades out around you – the students and lecturers alike bustling through the busy hallway, the humming drone of chatter that’s nearly deafening. Nothing exists but the three of you; caught in your little bubble.

And it’s dread, you think, that seeps through your blood as you stare at them.

They’re both handsome, albeit in their own ways. The taller of the two – the one who’d almost barrelled you over – looks like he could probably bench press you without breaking a sweat. His shirt isn’t exactly clinging to him, but you can see the hints of well defined muscles beneath, and the size of his biceps alone are enough to make your heart skip a beat and your mouth dry up a little. With rippling muscles, spiky black and silver hair, a strong jawline and those round, golden eyes, he looks like a modern day adonis.

His friend might’ve been shorter, his build leaner, but with his softer features, pretty eyes and dark hair, you think he’s perhaps the prettiest man you’ve ever laid eyes on. From the fineness of his nose to the gentle curve of his lips and his long, dark sweeping eyelashes, he reminds you of those white marble statues you’ve seen before in museums and art galleries– a beauty so divine, so perfect – so devastating – that it steals your breath a little.

And they’re both watching you, frozen entirely. Smiling in breathless delight, as if they can’t quite believe it either.

Soulmates.

You’ve spent your whole life wondering what it would be like, experiencing somebody else’s emotions. Studies have been done and countless books and articles written about the bond between soulmates; the intimacy of sharing emotions through touch, but nobody really knows why or how it happens.

And for some, it’s a subtle thing. A suggestion, a whisper against their own consciousness, easily brushed aside. Others feel it stronger.

For you, it was like drowning. Choking under the sudden, intense barrage of feelings that weren’t yours. Maybe it’s because there’s two of them – and that much at least you’re sure of. You don’t have the words to explain it, but they’d felt separate somehow, distinctive from one another – kind of like fingerprints, you suppose.

There’s no denying the bond, no denying that they’re both your soulmates, and all you can think of is that you don’t want it. Not here, not now. Not them.

The dark haired one seems to realise quicker than his friend that you’re not reacting how you’re supposed to, you’re just standing there, rigid and tense, gaping at them. And the slight smile that graced his perfect lips starts to waver, his brows drawing together when finally his friend cottons on.

He reaches for you, the beginnings of a pout taking shape on his face, and you move without even thinking, jerking out of reach with a sharp breath. His hand hangs outstretched for a beat too long, a noise like a kicked puppy leaving his lips as he realises that you’re flinching away from him; away from your soulmate. He looks heartbroken, and he’s yet to utter a single word.

You don’t give him a chance. You’re not some cold, unfeeling beast; there’s a twinge in your heart, a heaviness that’s far too close to guilt settling in your stomach, but you just can’t. And with shaking hands you bend over and hastily grab up your things, forcing yourself not to meet their confused, hurt stares when you right yourself.

“I– I’m sorry,” you murmur, and before either one of them can try to stop you, you disappear into the crowd, racing for your exam.

—

The lights are on when you make it back home, the familiar, comforting scent of home cooked food filling your apartment.

“Hey, babe,” your boyfriend calls out as you wearily drop your purse by the door and kick out of your shoes. His back’s to you, attention fixed on the simmering saucepan on the stovetop, but he glances over his shoulder as he continues, “How’d your exam go?”

And you can’t help it, you burst into tears.

Painful, heaving sobs that might’ve had you collapsing onto the floor if he hadn’t swept across the room to snatch you up into his arms. “That bad, huh?” Kuguri jokes, but the words sound hollow.

“I found them,” you mutter into his chest, and the way he stiffens, his grip tightening for just a moment has your heart breaking all over again.

Kuguri doesn’t say much as he leads you to the couch, he just lets you talk. It’s almost worse, you think, the way he doesn’t react.

Because you both knew this was coming at some point. For months you’ve tried to convince yourself that you could feel him when you were together.

You felt his love when he held you, right?

Happy when he was happy?

But you’d known, both of you, that as much as you wished it otherwise, he wasn’t your soulmate, and you weren’t his. And whether it was today or six months down the line, this was always going to happen.

“You don’t have to…” you trail off, searching his eyes desperately for anything other than the gentle resignation lingering there. “I love you.”

He smiles at that, cups your cheek in his hand and brushes away the stray tear that spills. “I know you do, but–” it’s not enough. “They’re your soulmates. Don’t you think they deserve a chance to make you happy?”

He’s gone when you wake the next morning.

—

In a university of thousands, a sprawling city campus, you honestly believe that in spite of everything, you probably won’t see them again. They don’t know your name, or what you study, you don’t live in the dorms like some of the other students; the chances of just randomly bumping into them again are slim, soulmates or no.

Of course, there are facebook groups and pages set up to reconnect lost soulmates, but you’d have to actually want to find them to try something like that.

(Part of you wonders whether they’ve tried)

The universe has a sense of humour, it seems, because when your paths cross next, it’s not at uni, it’s at the little corner store a few blocks down from your apartment.

At 2am in the morning.

And you’re staring intently at the freezer, mentally weighing up exactly what kind of ice cream you need to sate your craving when you hear the sharp intake of breath behind you.

“Holy crap, you’re here.”

It’s stupid, you think, the way your stomach flutters when you turn to find him staring in wide eyed wonder; the taller one, with the spiky hair and those impossibly wide, honey eyes.

He’s smiling, his entire face lit up like a christmas tree at the sight of you. As if you hadn’t run off without so much as an acknowledgement the last time you’d met. As if seeing you here, looking like shit – makeup free and dressed in your old favourite sweats – is the absolute best thing that could have happened.

And when your cheeks grow hot, you’re not entirely sure if it’s embarrassment over the way you look, the fact that he’s caught you buying ice cream that you fully intend to let melt just a little bit before polishing off at two in the morning, or if it’s shame over how badly you’d reacted the last time you’d seen him.

But if he notices your inner turmoil, he doesn’t show it, grinning widely as he calls back over his shoulder, “Akaashi!”

You still haven’t uttered a peep, haven’t moved. Just like last time you’re caught feeling like a kid with their hand stuck in the cookie jar as your other soulmate rounds the corner, his attention fixed on the ingredients list of the rice cracker snacks in his hands, a basket full of groceries tucked into the crook of his elbow.

“Bokuto, I was just around the corner, there’s no need to shout.”

Pretty steel blue eyes flicker up for a split second, then quickly do a double take as he realises that it’s you – his errant soulmate, standing struck dumb, here of all places. “Oh.”

Oh.

Akaashi eyes you for a moment, and you watch as his throat bobs unsteadily, but just as with Bokuto, he can’t seem to help the smile that creeps across his face. It’s softer than his friend’s, not so blinding but warm nonetheless. Genuine. There’s no animosity there, and it should put you at ease – they don’t seem to blame you, at least.

It should, but it doesn’t.

Even now, there’s a little voice in your head urging you to forget your late night cravings, turn tail and run. Nevermind that they’d likely just follow you, much less that you’d look like an absolute fucking idiot, fleeing from your soulmates who so far have done nothing wrong.

It’s not supposed to be this awkward, right? It’s not supposed to be difficult, but even when they’re smiling at you, there’s a tension that digs its claws into you and refuses to relent. Your heart thumps unevenly, like a scared little bunny caught in a trap and the wolves are circling.

If it’s normal, then your parents and every other soulmated pair you’ve ever met certainly kept it to themselves. Maybe it’s the guilt, you think. Maybe you’re just being overdramatic. They’re your soulmates, right? They probably just want to talk, to get to know you, and right now you’re the one being standoffish and rude.

It occurs to you then that you still haven’t spoken, and they’re both staring at you somewhat expectantly. You really are fucking this up, aren’t you?

“H-hi,” you manage to muster, forcing yourself to smile back. Tiny and timidly, perhaps, but it’s a smile.

It seems to work, because Bokuto positively beams at you and Akaashi sets down his basket to slide in closer, a pleased little hum escaping his throat.

Aside from the faint sound of the radio playing in the background and the cashier casually flicking through a magazine up at the register, the store is quiet. It’s just the three of you, except this time there really is no running off and disappearing into the crowd. Which is fine, you need to face them sooner or later, right?

Give them a chance?

Otherwise everything else, all that heartbreak and the lonely nights since will have been all for nothing. So you swallow tightly, take a soft, steadying breath, and press on.

“I, um… I’m sorry about last time. You know with… everything,” you finish lamely, mentally cringing at the sheer awkwardness of it. “I had an exam.”

But again, your soulmates don’t seem to take it personally, the darker haired one (Akaashi, your brain helpfully supplies) nodding slightly.

“It’s okay. You’re here now.” He has a nice voice, calming and smooth, and though the words seem to carry a different weight you find yourself nodding along with him. You can do this, you can make an effort.

This is fine.

You swallow again, tongue darting out to wet your lips, “I’m Y/N,” you introduce, clutching just a little bit tighter at the handles of your own shopping basket.

You don’t extend a hand, nor try to go in for a hug, but standing there rigidly feels wrong too. They’re strangers, yes, but they’re also not, and you don’t quite know how to act around somebody like that, somebody you’re supposedly fated for but know nothing about. All you know is that the last time they touched you, it was too much. It hurt. And even as you catch sight of the slightly disheartened expression on Bokuto’s face, you’re hesitant to put yourself through it again.

“It’s pretty,” Akaashi compliments, and there’s a faint dusting of pink on his cheeks as he says it. “Suits you.”

Your own probably aren’t much better, with the blood that rushes to your face. You drop your gaze a little, nibbling on your bottom lip, “O-oh, uh… thank you.”

When you glance back up to Bokuto, you find him staring at you again, not with the same hurt expression as before, but something akin to wonder. He seems speechless, in awe of your flustered state, and you wonder how he can bounce that quickly from emotion to emotion without giving himself whiplash. But it seems like your attention is just the thing he needs to pull himself out of it, because he closes his gaping mouth and grins again.

“Y/N,” he repeats, like he’s testing it out, rolling your name over his tongue. “You probably heard, but I’m Bokuto– you can call me Koutarou, though.”

There’s a beat of silence, and he’s quick to add, “And that’s Akaashi.”

“Keiji,” Akaashi corrects, shooting you another gentle smile.

First names. It makes sense, you suppose, but the familiarity of it all still doesn’t sit quite right with you. But now that introductions are out of the way, you don't have a clue what you’re supposed to say now - ‘so, soulmates; crazy, huh?’ doesn’t exactly feel appropriate, given the circumstances.

You’re distinctly aware that it’s the middle of the night and you’re at a convenience store and while this might not be the worst time to run into your soulmates again, it’s not far off.

Maybe that’s not a bad thing, though, because at least it kind of gives you an out. Shifting your weight from one foot to another, you clear your throat, “I hope you guys don’t think I’m being rude or anything, but it is kinda late…” you trail off, hoping they’ll pick up what you’re putting down.

And while Bokuto’s brow furrows, Akaashi at least has the decency to look a little abashed. “Yeah, no, of course. We’re just so… we’re glad we ran into you again.”

Your cheeks heat again, and to save yourself from having to meet their gazes head on, you quickly spin around, open the freezer door and grab the first pint ice cream that you see. “I just came for this,” you laugh, fighting back a wince at how hollow and fake it all sounds.

“Here,” Bokuto says, and before you can react he’s snatching it from your grip (thankfully keeping his hand from brushing against yours) and places it atop the basket in Akaashi’s arms. “Our treat.”

He beams at you, and you’re honestly too stunned to reply. You don’t really want him paying for it, but if it gets you out of this awkward encounter any quicker, you’ll swallow down your protests and let it go.

And so you trail meekly after the two of them as they head to the cashier, and when Akaashi passes you the bag you’re so careful to avoid his touch, a fact he notes with the slightest of frowns, but he doesn’t comment on it.

“It’s late,” he says instead as the three of you exit into the brisk night air. And then those gunmetal eyes are on you, studying you for a moment. You realise what he’s about to say the moment he opens his mouth again, “Can we walk you home? Or to the bus stop at least?”

Your stomach lurches at the thought of it, of two veritable strangers knowing where you live, but–

He’s not wrong, exactly. It is late, and in hindsight it was probably stupid for you to have come out at this time of the night alone in the first place, whether it was a safe neighbourhood or not. And they’re not strangers, they’re your soulmates.

You have to try.

So you nod. ‘It’s just down the road,” you murmur, but as the two of them fall into step either side of you, sharing a distinctly satisfied look between themselves, you think that it wouldn’t have mattered how far it was. They would have walked with you anywhere.

Yet their expressions of mild surprise (disappointment, maybe?) when you stop them less than five minutes later in front of your apartment block almost makes you laugh. “This is me.”

Bokuto eyes the building for just a moment before his attention returns to you. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

Lie, that little voice inside your head urges, but you force yourself to ignore it. You have to try. “Uh, not much, I guess…”

Even as you say the words, your hands tighten on your bag, twisting nervously – a sign they either don’t read or wilfully ignore as Bokuto brightens up once again.

“Awesome! Wanna swing by ours to chill for a little bit?”

Like a date, you think as your gaze flickers between the two. Yet Akaashi’s watching you just as intently, those dark eyes far more inscrutable than Bokuto’s, which doesn’t help ease the uncomfortable feeling sitting in the pit of your stomach. There’s really no reason for you to say no, no polite way for you to turn them down. They’re your soulmates, you’re supposed to want this. “Um…”

“Or we can come here, if you want? Or head into the city and do something there, maybe go see a movie or something? Whatever you’d prefer.”

“No!” the words slip from your tongue before you can stop them, the idea of the two of them in your apartment, your home just feels like… too much. “No,” you repeat again, quieter, forcing your features to soften into a hesitant smile. “Your place is good.”

That way you can leave if it all gets to be too much. It’s just a casual hang out. It’ll be fine.

Both of them seem to relax at your agreement, and you quickly take out your phone to grab Akaashi’s number – sending him a message so he has your number too.

“Perfect,” he says, his voice a purr that sends a ripple of something running down your spine. “I’ll text you the address in the morning.”

You smile at both of them, thanking them again for the ice cream and for walking back with you, even if it was only a few hundred metres. And you think you’re in the clear as you start walking up the steps, trying to balance your keys, your phone and your bags when the sound of your name being called makes you turn around.

Bokuto’s there, a step behind you, and before you can even so much as blink he’s grabbing at your hand, tugging you forward and kissing you.

Just like last time, it’s instantaneous and overwhelming. You feel it all – his giddy excitement, the stirrings of something deeper, less innocent as he cradles your body to his.

And the love.

Oh god. It’s not mere affection, not some fleeting, superficial thing. It pours over you in unrelenting waves, crushing you under the force of it – you can’t even feel his tongue moving against yours, or the way he sucks on your bottom lip, groaning quietly.

You can’t breathe, can’t think. It’s too much, too much, too strong, too sudden, you can’t BREATHE.

Your trembling hands finds his shoulders, and as your head spins, nausea churning in your gut you don’t waste a second, shoving him away from you with enough force that he actually stumbles back a little.

Though you’ll admit it’s probably more from shock than any strength you actually possess.

And you don’t dare look to Akaashi as tears fill your eyes, a heaving gasp leaving your lips. Bokuto’s eyes are wide, his mouth agape; he looks confused more than horrified as you stumble back, almost tripping over the last step.

“D-don’t touch me,” you gasp, “please.”

There’s pain in his eyes as your tears well up and spill over and you choke back another sob, but you don’t give him a chance to say anything else. Limbs trembling, you force yourself upright, clutching at the keys in your fist as you skitter towards the door.

You hear one of them, Akaashi you think, calling out your name, but you don’t pause, don’t look back – throwing open the lobby door and slamming it shut behind you.

And your heart pounds as you climb the steps two at a time, and it’s only once you're in the safety of your own apartment, with the door shut and firmly locked that you allow yourself to breathe. You realise distantly that at some point – probably on the steps outside – you dropped the ice cream they’d bought for you, but you can’t find it within yourself to care. The first time you realise was an accident, they had no way of knowing you were their soulmate, much less how you’d react when they’d touched you. But that–

That wasn’t right.

It wasn’t normal.

Those feelings, that love, you’ve never experienced anything like it, and yet it’s left you feeling filthy; tainted. Scared. It was too much; boundless and abundant, the kind of love that devours and chokes, selfishly strangling everything in its environment to thrive. Overpowering and solely directed at you. How was it supposed to do anything but terrify you. And how can he possibly believe that he loves you like that already?

Soulmates or not, you don’t know him!

This– this whole thing is wrong.

You can’t stop yourself from checking the locks on your apartment another three times before you slip under the covers of your bed, trying to will sleep to find you.

On the nightstand beside you, your phone vibrates, but you refuse to check it, knowing full well that it’s them.

It doesn’t stop.

And with every new notification your blood pressure climbs, and there’s a part of you that’s telling you you have no reason to be reacting like this – whatever happened on those steps, it’s not like they’re going to hurt you.

It was an accident, a misunderstanding.

But they’re still blowing your phone up with notifications and they know where you live and no matter what you tell yourself, you can’t seem to quell the disquiet that eats away at you.

And it’s a cruel thing to do, you know it is, but you don’t know what else to do as you finally give in, swiping your phone up and searching for his contact. The phone rings once, twice, three times and there’s a sinking feeling in your chest when you realise he’s not going to pick up–

“Hello?” Kuguri’s voice is groggy, heavy with sleep and you can almost picture him, sitting up in bed, wiping the sleep from his eyes, running a hand through his messy bed hair. “Fuck, do you know what time it is, Y/N? Why’re you calling me so late?”

There’s a pause, pregnant and heavy, and the only sound that leaves you is the soft hitch in your breath.

“Is everything okay?” he asks, quieter this time, an edge of worry in his tone.

You haven’t spoken to him in weeks, since he’d left without a word and broke your heart, but he’s the only one you want to talk to right now.

“I-I’m sorry for calling,” you begin, sniffling back your tears. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

—

When you drag yourself out of bed only a few short hours later, your body’s still crying out for a little more sleep, but you can’t afford to indulge.

Like you’d planned, you send the message first thing, ignoring the flood of unread texts above – both from Akaashi and an unknown number you can only assume is Bokuto’s.

I’m sorry about last night, just need some space.

You have nothing to be sorry for – even if it wasn’t for the frankly unsettling emotions you’d felt, Bokuto’d still kissed you without your permission. But Kuguri said it was better that way – they were less likely to freak out and panic or whatever. You hadn’t questioned it too much, it didn’t really matter what you said so long as they knew you didn’t want them anywhere near you… at least until you figured this whole thing out. And you trusted Kuguri on this.

God knows why he’d even answered your call in the first place, but you’re impossibly glad that he did. Gladder still that he hadn’t hung up on you the moment he’d realised why you were calling.

You scoff down a quick breakfast, before hopping into the shower. The scalding water’s a welcome relief, waking you up more than your coffee had and allowing you the space to think.

Kuguri’s got errands to run this morning, but he’d said you were welcome to stop by his place anytime. He’d insisted on it actually, telling you in no uncertain terms to pack an overnight bag.

‘Look, I’m probably being an overprotective asshole, alright, but I don’t want you there by yourself, so either you come here or I’m coming over there.’

And the thought that you’d need somebody there to protect you, that either one of your soulmates would do anything–

But it’s not so much about them, you think, but you. You’d been a mess when you’d called him, and despite how everything had gone down, Kuguri still cared about you – you can’t just turn those feelings off overnight – is it any wonder that you’d worried him?

Distantly, you register your phone going off a few more times as you busy yourself in washing your hair. You assume it’s Kuguri checking up on you, making sure that you’re alright – you pay it no mind, humming quietly as you reach for your conditioner.

And by the time you slip from your bathroom, wrapped in a big, fluffy towel it’s probably closer to mid-morning than you’d like. You don’t bother blow drying your hair or putting on makeup, instead heading to your room to get dressed and grab some clothes to take to Kuguri’s.

Except there’s a knocking at the door that stops you in your tracks.

You hadn’t heard the buzzer for the building’s main door go off, which meant that it was probably just your landlord stopping by, or one of your neighbours. You know the little girl who lives in the apartment next to yours likes to bake with her dad and sometimes drops off freshly made cookies and treats, so you hastily throw on enough clothes to pass as decent.

“Coming,” you sing out, racing across the room to reach the door.

Except when you throw it open, it’s not one of your neighbours standing out in your hallway, nor is it your elderly landlord.

Akaashi and Bokuto crowd the empty space; Bokuto grinning widely, Akaashi’s dark eyes fixed on yours.

“You weren’t answering your phone,” he murmurs, a faint frown tugging at his features as studies your face. “We were worried about you.”

And there’s so many things wrong with the fact that they’re here; least of all being how the hell they got into the building to begin with, but you can’t afford to think of any of that. You simply need to get them out of here without causing a fuss. Now.

They’re still your soulmates, you remind yourself as your heart rate picks up. They won’t do anything to hurt you.

“I-I told you I needed space, please go,” you mutter, clutching so tightly at the edge of the door that your knuckles turn white. “Please,” you beg again when neither of them make a move to leave.

“I told you, ‘Kaashi,” Bokuto says, his smile slipping in favour of a wounded pout, “She’s afraid of us. Her soulmates.”

And you don’t know what compels you to shake your head instead of just slamming the door in their faces, “N-no, I just–”

“She’s just skittish,” Akaashi interrupts, cutting you off mid-sentence. “Overwhelmed – this is all new to her. It’s okay, princess,” he says, addressing you this time with a teasing little smirk, “We’ll be gentle, okay? We’re going to take good care of you.”

It’s the final blow to your tentative politeness. As panic sinks its teeth into you, you skitter backwards, scrambling to shut the front door before they can get in–

Bokuto’s faster. They both are.

Stronger, too.

#yandere haikyuu #yandere bokuto x reader #yandere akaashi x reader #yandere bokuto kotaro x reader #yandere akaashi keiji x reader #yandere bokuto koutarou #yandere akaashi keiji #tw dub con #tw implied noncon #soulmate au

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alreadyblondenow · 3 years

Text

Two is better than one

Pairing: Lifeguard!Mark Lee x female!reader

Genre: SMUT, FLUFF

WC: 2,857k

Warnings: unprotected sex, couch sex, quickie, swearing, mentions of making out, this drabble is very light smut and fluffy HEHE

A/N: NOT PROOFREAD. I’ll fix it once I have time. Please let me be, I just want to write something fluffy for Mark to take away all my stress. For Neo Smut Collective’s Sunny Side.

———

There’s this one guy in school that your friends have been telling you to date during summer vacation because you’re the only single gal in your circle of friends. Of course that’s completely fine, but whenever your friends has double dates and they wanted you to come, you simply turn them down because you don’t want to be a burden during their date.

“And that’s why we’ve been telling you to date Mark, give him a chance, he’s a nice dude. Not to mention very good looking,” Your friend whines while she scans the clothes on the rack.

“I know what he looks like and I know that he’s nice,” you giggle at what your friend said, “but we don’t know if he wants to date. What if he’s perfectly fine with being single too? Seriously you guys, you’re wasting your time. I’m fine with being single,”

“Oh honey you can’t fool us. Admit it, you don’t want to date Mark because you want him to earn it, and not because we set you up with him” she smirked.

If you’re being honest, what she said was partly true. Partly. It’s true that yes, you wanted him to make the first move and actually like you first before you go on a date with him. And what you said earlier about being happy while you’re single is also true.

And the reason why you wanted him to like you first is because there’s no doubt that you will like him back. He’s Mark Lee. The guy is basically perfect and you knew already that falling for him is not going to be hard. He’s cool, funny, loud and you heard that he’s actually nice with everyone and not in a flirty way.

Given that you’re single and you’re used to do things alone, on a perfectly good day and nice weather, you decided to get some sun at the beach alone. With your juice on the side and a book on your hand, this day is going to be perfect you thought.

But while you were admiring the beach while siping on your drink, you saw a familiar figure sitting on the lifeguard chair which immediately made you remove your sunglasses so you could have a good look at him and to confirm your own judgement if you were right. And yes, you were right. It’s Mark Lee. Guarding the beach with no shirt on and just wearing his beach shorts... looking so hot and handsome with his shades on while smiling back to you.

Wait-

Just when you realized that he caught you looking at him, you feel so jumpy and nervous for no reason and you avoided him immediately. Going back to reading your book, just reading and not actually understanding a word. But when you saw him come down from that tall chair and saw him heading towards you, you suddenly got up and gathered your stuff with panic movements.

“Is she avoiding me?” Mark murmured to himself while walking towards you. “Wait! Look behind you-“ he shouted and tried warning you about the waiter carrying a tray of cold beverages. But too late because you already bumped on him and spilled different kinds of juices on your swimsuit.

“Don’t worry about it I’ll pay for it” he said to you while wrapping a towel around you and keeping you close to him. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up”

And just like that, without further discussions, you found yourself in Mark’s arms. Heading over their backdoor and you, entering his house for the first time. Everything happened so fast that you didn’t have time to refuse his offer of getting you cleaned up. He brought you straight to his cozy room, preparing the bathroom for you and telling you that if you need anything else just call him.

“Uhm... Mark?” You shout from the bathroom.

“Yeah? You need something?”

“My clothes are ruined and wet because of the juice-“

“Right, uhm... Gotcha! I-I’ll leave the clothes on the floor, okay” and off he goes to his closet to look for something that you could wear. Mark was all jumpy and nervous as he heads to the bathroom door and leave the clothes on the floor. This was all his fault, if he didn’t startled you by running towards you at the beach, you would’ve stayed in your comfort under the sun and the accident wouldn’t happen.

“I’ll pay for the damage and I’ll make sure to bring your clothes back immediately”

“No, don’t worry about it. Uhm... the restaurant, we own it. So don’t worry about it” he said nervously. Smiling so big in front of you. “So you know my name, huh? Why’d you ran off like that earlier?”

“Hmm. To be honest I got shy. And it’s so stupid, now I’m humiliated” you put your on your face and let out an awkward laugh, Mark did too but you notice that he can’t stop looking at you. That’s when you noticed that he has a pretty big head, beautiful eyes and sharp cheekbones. In other words, you’ve never appreciated his handsome features quite this close.

At the end of the day, Mark walked you home and you had a good talk with him. Taking it as a chance for apologizing to him for whenever you don’t show up during planned double dates. Turns out he never showed up too. Does that means he’s not interested with dating? Or with you in general?

A week after that unforgettable interaction with Mark, you found yourself looking at the neatly folded sweatpants and hoodie in front of you while thinking long and hard if you’re going to message Mark first and let him know that you’re going to his house to bring back the clothes... but it looks like you’re flirting with him already and you don’t like that... “fuck it” you murmured and head to their house just because you knew you’d have to return his clothes eventually. And just when you were a couple of blocks away, he came from behind and tickled you on your waist. Making you jolt and turn around with quick and sharp movements. He giggled and greeted you with a handsome smile, surprised that he even looked dashing with a shirt on.

“No lifeguard duty?” you asked, returning his big smiles with awkward ones.

“Just finished, that’s why you have no choice but to hang out with me” he said confidently like you two have been friends for a long time already.

Funny how just a week ago, you and your friend were debating whether you should give Mark a chance to take you out but you still refused because you wanted him to make the first move first. And now as you two hang out together in their house, watched the sunset by the beach with a couple of beers on the side, you can see that you’ve been missing quite a lot.

“So you’re saying that you’ve been waiting for me all this time?” he said out of nowhere while eating a pizza crust. You’re now in their kitchen, eating pizza and having more beers with him. Getting a little too friendlier than earlier.

“Not really waiting. I wasn’t expecting anything, but off topic...You’re cuter than I expected you to be” and just as the words came out from your mouth, you don’t know where the bravery came from. This must be the alcohol’s doing, you thought. You tried to avert your focus on other things like munching a few chips and finishing your beer in one down. Thinking of a better escape for this awkward situation that you started but before you come down from the kitchen counter, he confidently went in between your legs and came closer to you. So close that you can smell each other’s breath and smell the sweet flavor of the alcohol... but Mark wanted more than smelling you.

He wanted to taste your lips, and so he did.

Tongue swiping on your lips the moment his touched yours. Letting him dominate the kiss while he reaches for your arms and make you embrace him. He smiled and put the kiss to a halt.

“How’s that for my first move?” He smirked and placed another sweet kiss on your lips. And the next thing you know you and Mark are exchanging kisses nonstop until you reached their living and continue what you’re doing on their soft couch. Sitting comfortably on Mark’s lap, legs on both sides, while your hands are all over him.

“Take these off, let’s have some fun” he whispered while tugging your shorts. Completely aware that he’s brave and confident like this because of the alcohol push.

“Oh Mark Lee, you’ve been challenging me lately huh”

And it only takes a few seconds for you and Mark to get naked from waist down and go back to your previous position. Oh you wanted to feed your lust and look at his cock just for a few seconds but you need him already.

“Parents will be home soon, fuck-“ he informed you while you put his cock inside you slowly. Breathing heavily when you finally moved your hips slowly, then fast. You watch him furrow his brows, rest his arm on his head and watch you move with lidded eyes as you fuck him good. “Faster” he requested, grabbing your clothed boobs and kissing your neck that immediately put you both on edge.

With fast movements and sweet moans, soon Mark cant handle it anymore and grabbed you by the waist so fast that you didn’t even saw it coming, pulled out his cock from inside of you and pumped it while you kiss him during his orgasm. Not giving a fuck if his cum stains on their couch.

“I was planning to ask you on a date. Sorry this happened earlier than expected. I promise to try and stop myself from luring you to having sex with me. I promise” he apologized and looked at your swollen lips from kissing, tracing it gently and letting out a satisfied sigh as he tries so hard to not look down and look at your pussy.

“It’s fine with me Mark. But y-yeah. You’re right. We should do this the right way” you shyly admitted. Getting up from his lap and making yourself decent again. Why do you feel like you’re having great regrets?

After that night you and Mark did not see each other for a few weeks again. Well, mainly because you’re avoiding him and whenever you remember about the sex and how good it felt... it just feels wrong at the same time and you don’t know why you feel this way.

“Are you really not going to give Mark a chance?” your friend once again nags you about Mark. Maybe Mark kept what happened between you two and did not tell it to his friends.

“Uhm. I seriously don’t know” you answered weakly.

“Well, I hope you won’t get mad because we tricked you. He’s going to the park with us tonight”

But right before you get mad and whine about the situation, Mark and his friends appeared. And immediately forcing you two to stand beside each other.

The park was packed and busy with people wearing big smiles the whole night. You wanted to smile too and laugh loudly whenever Mark tries to make you laugh or even make a decent conversation but you’re afraid that your friends will get the wrong idea.

Good thing, Mark knew that you’re not comfortable right now especially that your friends are around. He also knew that what happened between you two completely ruined everything already, and he admits that he fucked up.

“Want to go somewhere else?”

He whispered beside you while your friends are riding the roller coaster and you and Mark are on bag duty. You wanted to say ‘yes’ of course, and you will use this time to apologize to him privately and explain what you’re really feeling.

Coming up with different excuses, you and Mark left the park and your friends separately and eventually meet him at the beach near their house. When you arrived at their house, surprisingly he set up mini picnic just for you, ordered pizza and made sure you two drink non-alcoholic beverages tonight to avoid what happened last week.

“This is not our first date. Not yet. But this is my way of apologizing for what happened. I’m sorry,”

“You did nothing wrong. I should be the one apologizing. It’s not right that I left you hanging just because my regrets got into me. I’m sorry”

After apologizing and talking about random stuff that comes out of your mouths, Mark finally had the guts to ask you something serious. Something that he has been thinking the moment his lips crashed on yours for the first time.

Firstly he admitted that he liked you. A lot. And that didn’t surprised you already because you found out with the way he kiss and hold you during the day you had sex. But what surprised you is that, you don’t feel the same way towards him even though he’s perfect.

“Honestly I was expecting myself to fall in love with you easily. But turns out you can’t really force your feelings” you said. Careful with your words so you won’t hurt him but you don’t have a choice.

“But do you want to give it a try? Give us a try?”

“I’ll think about it” you answered honestly. Because truth be told you don’t want to give him false hope.

And after a night full of truths and honesty, you and Mark remained close friends and promised each other that you will be honest with your feelings for him no matter what happens. As part of being friends, you visit Mark at the beach whenever he has lifeguard duties and wait until his shift is over to hang out or whenever it’s raining and his parents are away, you and Mark stay in their living room and watch Netflix while enjoying the weather together with his fluffy blanket covering your entire bodies.

Being single is not a problem to you, you are perfectly happy and contented with your self love and you believe that having a boyfriend will not make much of a difference in your life. And you also believe that Mark, a genuine and very lovable person, deserves someone who will shower him with love. You just can’t see yourself doing it with him.

But with almost a month of hanging out everyday, you grew fond of him that sometimes you unconsciously hug him and became unexpectedly sweet. Like that time at the beach, while watching the sun go down. You rested your chin at the top of his shoulder and decided to play with his black soft locks. Massaging his scalp while you admire him closely. Even Mark was shocked to the core when he realized that you are incredibly close. After that moment, you saw him as someone who can add up to your happiness. You’re now confident that Mark can double the happiness that you have in your heart now. Love is not easy. Loving someone is never a walk in the park. But being loved by someone like Mark, is not an opportunity that knocks on your door everyday.

Tonight is stargazing night and as usual he let you have his blanket, now your favorite blanket. It was a very tiring day for him and he accidentally fell asleep next to you. A thin mattress on the sand is not that comfortable but he will trade any comfortable bed in the world as long as you’re beside him while he rests. When he opened his eyes, the beach was blue and the sun was just about to come up. He noticed that you’re shivering, so he decided not to share with the blanket with you and give it to you completely instead.

“No, we can share. Come here” you murmured when you feel him move aside. So to keep him beside you, you wrapped your one arm around his waist and hugged him tightly. “This is better” you said, and in that very moment, even though the beach was still dark, you witness him blush and smile from ear to ear. Showing those sharp cheekbones and returning the tight hug.

“Mark,”

“Hm? Still cold?” he asked while keeping you warm using his hand, rubbing it on your shoulders.

“Not at all. But I decided to give us a try”

He let out a satisfied sigh and became instantly clingy and giggly, “Finally,”

And you were right. Mark made you happier than you could have ever imagine. But even though that he won your heart already, for Mark, he still thinks that you can leave him so easily. One mistake, one fuck up and he can ruin everything that he’s building right now. That’s why while making you happy everyday, he’s working on keeping you forever by showing you that he can love you even more each day. Showing you that two is better than one and you don’t have to experience love alone

353 notes · View notes

tavvattales · 3 years

Note

hihi! was wondering if i could request a fluff where reader is singing/humming to themselves and [character] overhears? with bennett, xiao and childe <3 ty!! <33

Yesss! I love this so much 🥰 Here you are, I hope you like it and thanks so much for your patience 😊

If you can, please listen to Thomas Bergersen's song Promise from his album Illusions. It fits perfectly with this request 🥰

---------------------------------------

GENSHIN IMPACT Character x gn reader fluff stories~♡♡

Scenario: Your beautiful voice

Characters: Bennett, Xiao, and Childe/Tartaglia(Seperate)

Pairings: Bennett x gn reader, Xiao x gn reader, Childe x gn reader

Warnings: Mentions of anxiety/sleepless nights, minor swearing

SFW------> Click down below for some massive fluff

Bennett:

● This guy absolutely loves the sound of your voice. When you soothe him after a long day with just your voice he wishes he could just hear you speak forever. The way you praise him and tell him how proud you are of him makes his heart melt every time. It's no wonder that when he hears you sing for the first time he hopes the moment would never end.

You had your fair share of bad luck in the past, but this took the cake. The Adventures guild asked you to check out some hidden ruins that were discovered that were said to be haunted. You somehow managed to get yourself trapped inside the old decrepit ruins while investigating the supposedly haunted remains when the ceiling above you collapsed, blocking your path.

You heaved a frustrated sigh, "I wish I didn't decide to go off on my own. ." You mutter, plopping down on one of the rocks that had fallen from the ceiling. Thank the Archons you didn't get seriously hurt, "Bennett's company would be nice right about now," you said with a frown. Thankfully being a skilled adventurer, you had packed enough supplies to last a while, at least until somebody realized you were missing. After all, these rocks were far too heavy for you to lift on your own.

A sudden shiver crept up your spine, making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. You wrap your arms around yourself, trying to keep yourself somewhat calm, "Right. . Supposedly haunted, they said. This is fine. Yep, " you grumble. You could swear you felt eyes all around you. The only thing that helped you calm down was to sing softly, so taking a deep breath you start singing.

Bennett on the other hand was getting worried as it was getting late and you always managed to come back before it got too late. He wished he could have gone with you, but he was tied up with another commission that he just barely managed to complete. He was starting to get restless and decided to make his way over to the guild to ask where you had gone off to.

Upon getting an answer Bennett ran as fast as his legs could carry him to come find you and didn't stop until he reached your destination. Sweat plastered his face, his silver hair clinging about. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath, his emerald eyes washed with worry. That's when he heard a soft, faint singing. Bennett's heart fluttered as he recognized that it was you.

Your singing voice danced in the old ruins, painting the air with a sense of gentleness. It seemed to calm the restless spirits as the feeling of anxiety washed away. Your voice grew louder, but still kept the same graceful, velvety tone. Bennett paused for a moment, his heart pounding as he listened to your beautiful voice. He knew he had to come get you, but he couldn't help but linger just a moment longer so he could take in you gentle voice.

This was a rare treat indeed for him. You only ever sing when you're by yourself. He considers himself super lucky in this moment.

Bennett x gn reader END

-----------------------------------------------

Xiao:

● When Xiao heard your voice for the first time it was when you were speaking to Verr Goldet about renting a room at the Wangshu Inn. You voice caught his attention because it was so soft spoken. It made his heart flutter in ways it never did before. He wanted to get to know you, but never knew how to approach you so he stayed hidden and out of sight. When he heard you sing for the first time, he felt a tug in his heart.

You shot awake, your chest heaved as you tried to calm your breathing. Sheets soaked and sweat running down your temples, you were drenched. Another nightmare about your past you were desperately trying to run from taunted you as it lingered in your mind. You took slow, staggered breaths, trying to slow your pounding heart. The moon was high in the sky as it peeked through your window letting you know the moon wasn't even close to setting.

"Damn it," you let out a shaking breath, wiping the hair from your face. Once you steady your breathing you slip out of your bed and head towards the sink to wash the tiredness and sweat from your face. The water was cool, refreshing, as it washed away your worries. You changed into clean sleeping garments as you toss your sweat covered ones into a hamper in the corner of your room.

Debating on going back to sleep you ultimately decide against it, instead you decide to relax out on the balcony. Your room was on the highest floor of the Inn overlooking almost all of Liyue. It was absolutely breathtaking. You lean over the balcony rails, taking in your surroundings. The moon danced across your features, casting beautiful shadows across your face. You take in a breath of the crisp night air before you start singing.

You sang of your past, sorrowful, yet everything about it was beautiful. Your voice was soft, tears bubbling at the sides of your glimmering eyes as you felt the music in you flow. Little did you know someone was watching you silently and with care.

Xiao was perched on his usual spot on the roof also taking in the scenery before he noticed you. He watched as the moonlight enveloped you beautifully. Xiao's golden gaze shimmered, his deep forest green hair blowing gently in the night time breeze as he sucked in a breath for a moment, "Hmm. .?" He muttered, pulling his knee towards his chest as he leaned his head against it, his other leg dangling from the roof.

He closed his eyes, listening carefully to your sorrowful song. The sound of your voice caught his heart and how he longed to comfort you, to touch you, hold you in his arms where you would be safe and sound from the past you so long to run from. Xiao swore from this moment forward that he would protect you.

You heard rumors of an Adeptus living at the Inn and you hoped one day you would meet him. Tonight, though, all he wanted was to listen to you.

Xiao x gn reader END

----------------------------------------------------

Childe:

● He really lives up to his alias. You both always find yourself playfully bantering back and forth. He pushes your buttons because he loves the way you react and vice versa. The playful tone in your voice drives him crazy, but in all the best ways. When he hears you sing for the first time it was after a really long day. It calmed him down instantly.

Childe came home groggily and clearly overworked. There were bags under his tired sapphire eyes, his red hair disheveled, "Y/N, I'm home," he calls for you. You were in the kitchen preparing supper, a savory smell lingering in the air. You came out if the kitchen to greet him excitedly, an apron tied snuggly around your waist. The sight of you excited to greet him made him smile as he pulled you into a deep hug, "Mm, I missed you so much, sweetheart. Today was brutal, " he vented, kissing the top of your head.

"You look exhausted. I'm sorry, honey. I wish they wouldn't over work you so much. . ." You pout, worried for the wellbeing of your lover, reaching up to fix strands of his messy hair before placing a small kiss to his cheek, "Get comfortable while I set the table. Dinner is just about ready, " you instructed, pulling away from his warm embrace, pulling him along to the kitchen table to get him situated.

You quickly set the table and serve dinner. The both of you enjoying a delicious meal while he talked about his day. You gaze at him lovingly, reaching out to grasp his hand as the two of you ate. After dinner Childe attempts to clean up the dishes before you abruptly stop him, "Nu uh. You go take a nice long soak in the tub and rest up. You've done enough for the day. I'll clean up, okay?"

"Awh, my darling is so caring," He chuckles and swiftly steals a soft, but warm kiss. You lean into it, standing on your tip toes, your face flushed pink before pulling away, "I'll meet you in the bedroom then." He whispers in your ear teasingly.

You give him a playful shove in response, "Yes, now go on." You feel the heat rising across your face as you try to calm your beating heart. You take your time cleaning up so he could have more time to relax in the tub. Finishing up, you untie your apron and hang it up. All you wanted to do was lay down and hold the love of your life so you make your way to the bedroom.

Childe is already slowly dozing off as he looks up at you from the bed, his sleepy gaze following your graceful movements towards the bed. You softly plop down next to him, "You'll catch a cold that way, you know," you said, picking up the towel that was on the dresser. You reached over to him to pat his hair dry, but he wraps his arms around your waist, catching you off guard.

He pushes you close to him, your face flushed, "Let me just hold you like this, please?" He looked down at you, pleadingly. How could you say no? You snuggle gently into his chest, breathing in his scent, his arms resting on the curve of your back. He was so sleepy, you wanted to lull him into happy dreams, so with a soft gentle voice you started to sing.

You sang an old Snezhnayan lullaby, your voice sweet, like honey. His eyes widened, then softened with surprise. Your gentle way of singing was the most beautiful thing he's ever heard. He squeezes you a little tighter, his eyes heavy. You reached up to gently stoke his cheek as he drifted to sleep, happy that he was able to hear you sing, knowing he was going to have the best dreams tonight.

He hopes that you'll sing for him again and he'll be waiting patiently for that day.

Childe x gn reader END

--------------------

THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING! I had SOOO much fun writing this piece. Enjoy~ ♡♡

448 notes · View notes

lovelybarnes · 3 years

Text

nicknames- p. parker

pairings: peter parker x reader, platonic!natasha romanoff x reader, platonic!mj x reader, platonic!tony stark x reader, platonic!wanda maximoff x reader, mentions of other avengers warnings: cringey nicknames, a crappy ending, i kind of hate this?? about: tiktok trend “calling boyfriend increasingly weirder nicknames

you’re sitting on your bed, lazily running your fingers through peter curled locks, his head lying on your lap while he fiddles with his phone. mj is looking at you in disgust, and you ignore her as you flip through movies, asking ned what he thinks. he smiles, raising an eyebrow, “well, you know what i’m always up to watching-”

“we’re not watching star wars,” mj says flatly, shaking her head. she looks to the television for a second, squinting, “just put on that one,” she says, pointing to a random movie. “really? you want to watch heathers?” you ask, surprised, “i’ve been trying to get you to watch that for weeks.” mj shrugs, and from his place on your thighs, peter sighs, nuzzling his cheek against the material of your skirt. “i’m good with it, angel. are you, ned?”

“sure, betty’s actually-”

“god, you guys are so gross,” mj states in distaste, staring at you murmuring something to peter, his brown eyes gazing at you in - her opinion, disgusting- adoration. both your eyes snap to her, eyebrows furrowing in confusion, “what are you talking about?” you ask. mj rolls her eyes, raising her finger and pointing it at you and your boyfriend. “i get that you’re in love with each other and all that, believe me, i know, but can you cool it for one second? it’s like having sex in affection.”

you tilted your head slightly in confusion, glancing down at peter for a second, silently agreeing on not responding.

“yeah, well, i think i’m going to get some snacks before we watch the movie,” peter declared, kissing your covered thigh before standing. you smoothed out your skirt, and ned jumped to his feet, “ooh, can i come with? i’ve been wanting to see more of this place since i got here.”

peter nods, waiting for ned before he walks out.

you get off your bed to sit down next to mj, leaning your head on her shoulder and closing your eyes. you can hear the sounds of tiktok playing on her phone, and her finger prods at your rib.

“this is so stupid, it kind of reminds me of you and peter,” you open your eyes to see a video playing, one of the couples you see commonly on your for you page blocked by light pink letters that read: calling my boyfriend progressively weirder nicknames.

you scoff softly, wrapping your fingers around her phone as you watch the tiktok, “our nicknames for each other are not weird,” you defend, and mj shrugs, taking her phone back. “if you say so.”

“i do,” you respond, but the lingering memory of the trend sits in the front of your mind throughout the whole movie.

by the next day, you’ve binge watched so many tiktoks featuring the trend that you can’t find any more. you’re obsessed, to put it simply, and you’re going to take advantage of the fact that you have a boyfriend as sweet as peter parker.

he’s distracted when you begin to record, playing around with one of the daggers that attach to our suit. “snookums, be careful with that,” you comment, noting the flash of confusion that passes through his face. “i... i am, sugar plum,” he replies awkwardly, and you bite back a laugh. he puts the weapon down, and you pause the video, deciding to hold off the next nickname for later so peter doesn’t get too suspicious.

assassins really do seem to overthink things, huh?

your next opportunity comes when you’re setting up the table. neither wanda or sam ask questions when they see you hurriedly begin to film, trying to hold your phone up discreetly when peter walks in. “hey, booboo bear, can you hand me a fork?” you ask, making an effort to not laugh. you go on as if nothing happened, ignoring the look wanda and sam share. “honeypot?” you say when peter hasn’t said anything, and he blinks, grabbing a fork and giving it to you. you decide to dial it down, and smile at him, “thanks, honey.”

finally, my training is paying off, you think offhandedly, choosing to disregard the various missions they’ve helped you on.

when peter leaves, bewildered, you pause the video again, and wanda smacks your shoulder. you look at her with wide eyes, “ow! what was that for?”

“what the hell was that? booboo bear? honeypot?- god, you kids get weirder every day,” sam complains. you roll your eyes, “it’s a trend. i’m filming a tiktok.”

wanda’s eyes light up at your words, and she grabs your phone absentmindedly, simply holding it. “oh my god, is it that nickname trend? i’ve been seeing it everywhere! can i come with you when you do it to him?”

you nod, knowing about wanda’s recent obsession with couple tiktoks. “sure, if you think you can get past me calling him weird things.”

“you should just call him objects. save us both the embarrassment and make him more confused,” sam cut in, biting a piece of bacon you didn’t want to know the origin of. “objects? what do you mean?”

“like cup. or bacon. just don’t call him disgusting shit like sugarpot-”

“honey pot,” wanda corrects, and you chuckle softly, “i’ll see.”

wanda and you are watching a movie when you hear his voice in the hallway, and you immediately pull your phone out, wanda brushing aside the film in favor of you and your boyfriend.

he grinned at you when he came in, “hi, gorgeous,” he greeted, pecking your lips. “hey, jellybean.”

wanda snorted at the look on his face that you didn’t see, too busy being falsely invested in the movie.

peter sits down next to you, scratching his ear slowly. you go on as normal, snuggling into him when he puts his arm around you, and it’s just enough for peter to forget how strange you’d been acting.

a few hours later, you were on facetime with mj, telling her about what you were doing. “and he hasn’t told you anything?” she asks, a look in her eyes that lets you know what she’s thinking.

“no, i’m really surprised,” you reply, trying to remember a point where he had actually told you something about it. mj shrugs on the small screen, and you groan, “dammit, this means you were right-”

“i’m always right,” she says simply, and you sigh, unable to deny it. “i know,” you murmur dejectedly, but you perk up when you hear peter’s steps. “oh, oh, watch this.” after rotating your computer to let mj watch, you begin to record, walking over to your door and prepared to only say hello (peter isn’t supposed to be in your room during his training hours, because apparently you were too distracting).

“hi, lampshade!” you greet peter, and he smiles softly at you, not yet processing your words as he walks over to give you a kiss. “hi, princess, wait, did you just call me a-”

“tony’s coming, i’ll see you later, pete,” you rush, pushing him away and closing the door. you turn to hear mj’s laughter, “did you just call him a lampshade?”

you bite your lip, “i can’t think of anything cheesier than boo boo bear that won’t make me throw up. the video also said weirder not things that make me and everyone around me want to throw up.” “you called him boo boo bear? gross.” “i know. not my finest moment,” you mumble, watching the video you have. “i think i have enough time left on this thing to do two more.”

“what are you going to call him next? scissors?” she’s just kidding, but you’re going to use that.

tony has the displeasure of being with you the next time you do it, and he stares at you like you’re insane (you don’t blame him) after you greet peter by calling him cabbage patch.

“hey... barbie doll,” he responds after a beat, and you stifle a laugh.

he pauses for a second, gaping at the object in his hand, and you stop recording, biting back a smirk to concentrate on fixing your suit.

tony’s eyes are still not off of you, and he snatches the screwdriver from your hand, “did you just call the kid a cabbage patch?”

you take the tool back with slanted eyes, “tiktok,” you say simply, and tony groans, “stupid app.”

the last time you decide to do it is when most of the avengers are gone, the only ones there being natasha and clint.

you’re in the kitchen with nat, clint in the living room, lounging around. your phone is already set up, and when you know peter is close by, you call for him.

“scissors!” you yell, and natasha stares at you. “scissors! scissors!” you sing loudly, and by then, clint’s attention has been stolen from the show, instead settling on you. “why the hell are you screaming scissors?” natasha demanded, and you shrugged, feigning innocence, “i’m calling peter. scissors!”

“do you want sci-”

you shush clint, watching as peter runs in with scissors. you look at him in confusion, “why do you have- don’t run with scissors-”

“you needed scissors-”

you laugh, “no, i was calling you-”

you’re cut off by the sound of the finished video replaying on your phone, and peter turns at the recorded sound of your voices; his eyebrows scrunch as he remembers the conversation it’s playing. “that’s the- the nickname trend thing! is that what you were doing? i thought you were acting weird!”

you hum, laughing softly and turn off your phone, choosing to edit it later.

“you don’t actually think i’d call you snookums or boo boo bear, do you? i’m a respected avenger, pete-” “you never know!”

385 notes · View notes

justletmeplayminecraft · 3 years

Note

Etho hurt/comfort fic pretty please? 👉👈👀💚

some etho hurt/comfort coming right up!

featuring: etho has made smarter decisions than this, set in s7 during the end of season stat poker, sometimes your friends just have to tell you you're an idiot

warnings: injury caused by falling, broken rib, pushing self too far/ignoring injuries, some light drinking

It's a stupid misstep.

Etho's foot lands on empty air and the next thing he knows, he's falling. His hands struggle for his water bucket, the one he knows should be just there, but isn't. There's not enough time to twist, or to soften his landing. He barely gets his arms up to protect his head before he's slamming into the ground. The air is forced out of him with a crack that reverberates through his very bones. His next breath comes out as a low hiss, a few ticks passing as his brain tries to catch up with what just happened.

That's when the pain kicks in.

If Etho weren't already lying facedown in the dirt, he would be now.

Air feels forced into his body, stabbing through his chest and back. It's all he can do to groan, and that hurts too. His face pressed into his arms, fingers unconsciously pulling at his hair. His grip tightens with another gasp for air, struggling to take a full breath. He must've dealt with worse than this in the past, he's an experienced player! Being on Hermitcraft with all of its luxuries is making him soft.

Speaking of Hermitcraft.

He wants to groan when he realises he's supposed to meet the others for Stat Poker soon. Thankfully, he convinces himself not to, because as he's learnt: groaning hurts. Not that there's much that doesn't hurt right now. He should back out of the meet up. He doesn't even want to try standing right now, for crying out loud. But it was Tango, and Etho knows the guy needs the break. He can't just bail on him now. With a deep breath, Etho manages to haul onto his side. Every breath comes out as a quick and shallow puff, sending shooting pains through him. Trying to breathe in any deeper than a gasp gives him the urge to curl into a small ball and become one with the dirt.

But, he can't let Tango down. It'll be a good time hanging out together. He just needs to grab a health potion, and maybe tomorrow he can take it easy. Easy enough, anyway.

With a hissed breath, he finally gets his hands flat on the ground and pushes up. His nails dig into the dirt and he already knows it'll be a nightmare to clean out later. When he forces his eyes open, he finds he's managed to sit upright. Great. That's progress. He tries to sigh, but the breath cuts off into a hiss of pain he bites his tongue to bury. Alright, no groaning or sighing then. He can work with that.

Finding a stair block in his inventory, he throws it down to use as a support. His chest feels like it's trying to suffocate him, but he's able to push to his feet. He leans on the block to catch his breath. Health potion, then stat poker.

Pain flares through his chest as he stands upright, his eyes squeezing shut. He thinks he'll walk to the shopping district.

"Etho, sweet face!" Keralis's call greets him as Etho pushes the gate open. Etho smiles, trying to catch his breath from the walk over. It's hard when anything deeper than a shallow breath feels a bit like knives prickling into his lungs. The potion hasn't helped as much as he wanted it to, but he can make it through this. It's just hanging out with friends, what could go wrong?

"Hey, K." He nods his head in greeting. Tango and Bdubs turn at the sound of his voice. Tango is the first to bounce away from the bar, holding a glass out for him.

"Glad you could make it, dude! Take a seat, get comfortable. We're just getting snacks." Etho looks into the glass, swirling the deep red liquid. "It's just berry juice," Tango is quick to tell him. "Made specially for you. The rest of us, however-" He clinks his glass against Keralis's on the way back to the bar, throwing a wink Etho's way. Etho rolls his eyes, not wanting to risk the affectionate laugh in his throat. It looks like Bdubs and Keralis have already claimed the seats closest to the button. He lowers himself into a chair across the table carefully, not wanting to make a sudden drop. Once he's down safely, with only a minimal jolt of pain, he relaxes. He sinks back against the chair, tugging his mask down to take a sip of juice. It's fresh, fruity on his tongue. He smiles, forcing the pain out of his mind.

Bdubs strides over, a bowl held in his palm as he bows.

"Your snacks, wonderful patrons." Keralis near dives onto his seat so he can pick some of the honey-glazed nuts from the top. It's a close thing, but somehow Bdubs keeps the bowl steady.

"Keralis! Those are for all of us!" Tango calls, sitting beside Etho with a refilled glass and another bowl.

"I've only taken some!" Keralis protests. "Besides, I've gotta have lots now before Bubbles eats them all!"

"Will not!" Bdubs cries, hands on his hips. Etho snorts, regretting it immediately. At least his mask hides most of his grimace. They're too busy squabbling over the bowl to notice.

"Now, now, children. Let's save the fights for the actual game." Tango smirks as he unpockets his diamonds, holding them in the air. Etho can't help but smile at the dramatics, the way the evening sun glints through the blue. "Are we all ready?"

"Oh no, we're just sitting around this table for no reason," Bdubs says, before throwing his hands up. "Yes, of course we're ready!"

"Might wanna keep that anger in check 'til after you've lost all your diamonds, Bdubs." The words are difficult to get out, but Etho works his way through them. Keeping his voice around its usual talking volume doesn't hurt too bad.

"Oh, I hope you get none of them." Bdubs leans across the table, dark eyes meeting Etho's. Etho smirks.

"So you admit you'll lose them, then?" He teases. Bdubs huffs, sitting back with crossed arms.

"This is unfair. You're ganging up on me already."

Keralis laughs, "Well, you can press the button first. Does that make it fair?"

"Oh, more than fair! I like pressing buttons."

"You sure do," Tango mutters, disguising it with a sip of wine. Etho puffs out a breath, more punched than he intended. Ugh, why do they have to be so damn funny? This is making his job ten times harder. "Etho?" Tango calls, "You okay? Don't often see you making that face."

Etho tries an encouraging smile, crinkling his eyes above the mask, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a bit of a slip earlier." It's technically not a lie.

"You sure you're going to be okay?" Bdubs asks.

"Yeah, sure. A hang out with friends has never hurt anyone, right?"

"On this server..." Keralis points out, looking between Bdubs and Tango.

"Hey, we're plenty safe!" Tango argues.

"No, no, I think Keralis has a point with this one," Etho shoots back. Bdubs huffs, slapping the first card face down on the table.

"Gentlemen!" He calls their attention. "Let's begin."

So far, Etho's lost a lot of diamonds. Adding in the light system was a stroke of genius that is ruining him. He leans on the table, watching Bdubs finish his second glass. Meanwhile, Etho's barely finished his first glass of juice. Tango holds the next card between his fingers before flipping it dramatically.

"Distance climbed," Etho reads, Tango repeating it soon after. As the discussion breaks out about what exactly that entails, Etho tries to consider his options. He knows his statistics aren't the highest on the server. He splits his time between worlds and that's to his detriment here. Though if he could use his stats from his single-player world... Oh, that would be great.

"Etho, you in?" Bdubs asks, focusing his attention back on the match. Etho looks at the pot. Ten diamonds. That's not too bad.

"I know I'm going to lose this one, but I am nicknamed 'Ladders', so I feel like I have to do it just to see..." His voice trails off as the breathlessness sets in, lungs aching with the strain of his small breaths. He might have to call it soon if this gets much worse, but he can keep going.

"Etho," Bdubs says, leaning across the table. "Out of all these years who has ever called you 'ladders'?"

Tango laughs, and Etho's about to reply when Tango hits his back. Etho doesn't hear Tango's words, too occupied by the feeling of every nerve in his chest setting aflame. He falls forward, with chesty coughs that only hurt more but he can't seem to stop. This is going to kill him. Every gasp feels like a desperate attempt to get oxygen, shivering in agony.

When he manages to blink his eyes open, he can make out blurry shapes moving around him. Something cool slides down his face, hitting his mask until it's pulled down. He makes a weak noise of protest. He doesn't think it's any different from his noises of pain. A hand cards through his hair, something pressed to his lips. He can taste the zing of a health potion and drinks as eagerly as he can.

With the help of the potion, he forces himself to take small breaths. It still hurts. It still hurts a lot. But at least now he can focus on the mortifying situation he's put himself in instead.

"Etho?" Bdubs' voice rings clear now. Etho holds up a shaky hand.

"Gimme- give a minute." He leans on the edge of the table, focusing on taking small breaths. He's not sure how long he's in that position for, until the pain subsides enough for him to dare move again.

"Etho? How are you feeling, sweetface?" Etho looks up to give Keralis a smile, realising his eyes are still filled with tears. He goes to dry his eyes, and Bdubs is quick to press a tissue into his hand.

"Thanks," he mutters. He can see Keralis properly now. Nice. "I'm- yeah. I'm okay now. Didn't think that would happen."

"Yeah," Etho doesn't need to turn to see Tango's disapproving look. "What was that, dude? You nearly keeled over in front of us!" Ugh, he nearly did, didn't he?

"Fell earlier," he murmurs, sticking to half-truths. "Must've landed harder than I thought."

"What hurts?" Bdubs asks. He's standing on his toes, ready to jump back into action. It gives Etho a little smile.

"My chest, mostly. Breathing's pretty hard."

Bdubs hums thoughtfully, "Think you can get back to your own base?" Etho blinks, looking at the half-finished game around them.

"But- the- We're not finished!"

"You're hurt, sweetface! We're not going to continue without you."

"Yeah, it's no fun playing if somebody is gonna cough their guts out." Tango moves his hand towards him before hesitating and thinking better of it. Etho is both thankful and longing for the touch.

"I made it over here," Etho concedes, "I should be fine to get back."

"Good!" Bdubs claps his hands. "Because I don't want to call Doc or Xisuma." Etho cringes at the thought.

"Oh, don't do that to me. I'd never live it down."

"X wouldn't let you leave your base," Tango replies, snickering.

"That's my nickname!"

"Have you seen Doc when he goes all mother hen?" Etho protests, quickly remembering to lower his voice. "And then he just bullies you afterwards!" Bdubs snorts

"I'm not calling him! You're fine, princess."

Bdubs pats Keralis's back, "We can both call Etho a princess, it's okay."

The trio insist on walking him home. He doesn't engage much in the conversation, too occupied with breathing and walking at the same time. At one point he ends up leaning on Keralis, because Bdubs is too short, and Tango too skinny. He smirks during the subsequent argument that plays out, closing his eyes and letting Keralis guide his movements. Before he knows it, they're approaching his base. Keralis doesn't let go of him until they've found his bedroom.

"There you go. One comfortable bed," Tango says, patting the covers. Keralis helps Etho sit down, Etho gritting his teeth whilst he gets situated.

"And no leaving it, sir!" Keralis says, back to his dramatic movements now Etho isn't attached to his side. "Bedrest for you."

"Ugh," Etho leans his head against the wall behind him. "That's no fun."

"I think you've had enough fun for today!" Tango decides. "I'm going to grab some potions, make sure you don't need to go anywhere." Etho nods, too tired to thank him. Keralis pets through Etho's hair, Bdubs lightly patting Etho's thigh.

"There you go, you big baby," Bdubs teases, his voice soft with affection. "Get some sleep. It'll be good for you." Etho forces an eye open.

"Isn't sleeping your job?" He whispers. Bdubs scoffs, shaking out Etho's pillows. Keralis, however, laughs loudly. His fingers move to scratching Etho's scalp. That is definitely pulling him to sleep. He has to fight back a yawn.

"Come on, down, down," Keralis encourages. With a bit of help, they settle him against the pillows. His jacket is eased off, head sinking into softness.

"He looks cosy," Tango comments as he returns. Etho hears glass clink as potion bottles are set down near his head.

"Shush, we're trying to make him go to sleep," Bdubs whispers. Etho smiles.

"I'm not sleepin' yet," he mumbles.

"You should be." Is Bdubs' reply. Etho shakes his head, pleased when Keralis's hand returns to petting it.

"We'll be here when you wake up," Keralis tells him.

"Yeah," Tango agrees. "We've just moved our hang out to your base now." Etho opens his eyes, watching as Tango pulls chairs over. Keralis is sitting on his bedside table, and smiles at him when he notices Etho looking.

"You heal up good now, okay? We want a nice and healthy Etho." Etho nods, closing his eyes again.

"Yeah, I'll give it a shot." He gets another scritch as a reward. It's not long until there's laughter as the three strike up a conversation about something inane. His chest still feels like he was kicked by a horse, but at least he's in good company.

Maybe getting injured was worth it, after all.

... Nah.

#hc #ask #anonymous #my writing #etho #tango #keralis #bdubs #injury #not completely happy with this one but its making it hard to work on other stuff so. here it is jkhfd

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aereres · 3 years

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Loving You Is Easier Than I Had Expected - Matthew Tkachuk | Rock Band AU

Summary: Being one of the most popular rock band’s personal assistant was never easy: between rushing through traffic, running around, and listening to music, Chordback was part of Deborah Miller’s day-to-day life. As if her schedule wasn’t already busy enough, the band’s drummer - Matthew Tkachuk - stumbles into her life like a tornado, unexpectedly turning her world upside down.

A/N: Oh. My. God. This fic has truly become my baby. No Joke. I’ve worked on this for almost a month and I’m so proud of what it came out to be. Hope you enjoy it!

Word Count: 18,4k (damn)

Warnings: swearing (lots of it), anxiety, fighting, cockiness (also lots of it), drinking and partying, physical fights, wounds, blood, perverts, bad relationships with families, angst, mostly fluff

Chordback needed her. More than anything.

The thought made its way into Deborah’s head as she watched the band sluggishly walk around their shared penthouse, bags under their eyes as they scrambled for their luggage and important belongings. They moved without a care in the world, as if their schedule wasn’t packed with things to do, and she didn’t need to be a genius to realize that they had partied too hard the previous night.

“Move out of the way,” Noah muttered Johnny’s way, pushing past him with his suitcase in hand. “Deb, when’s the flight?”

“The flight isn’t the problem,” she stated, holding back a sigh as Elias came out of the bathroom with toothpaste still painting the side of his lips. “There’s a reason why you decided to fly privately,”

“Then why are we rushing?” Johnny said matter-of-factly, shaking his head sassily while he closed his own bass case.

“Because you have places to be after the flight,” the only woman in the house finally let her sigh out, pushing past the men to clean the white remnants off of Elias’ face, ignoring the smug smirk on his face. “Where’s Matthew, now?”

“Chucky!”

The room fell silent for a moment as she prayed - for anyone up there - that Matthew hadn’t fallen back asleep just when they needed to leave. His frame pushed past the threshold of his bedroom soon after his name was called, his signature drumsticks in hand as a relieved sigh left Deborah’s parted lips when their eyes met.

His phone was pressed to his ear, eyes far too awake for the early morning hour that made her wonder if he had gone to sleep the night before or just stayed up until sunset rolled around. His eyebrows were furrowed, the look she saw just so often painting wrinkles on his forehead as he stayed in silence.

“Taryn, I don’t have time for this right now. I’ll call you later,” the words were rushed, his voice dark and sporting a tip of annoyance before he pressed the red button on the screen. The phone was discarded in the back pocket of his jeans a second later, his eyes finding Deborah’s and making her realize she had been staring, pushing her back into action.

“Are we ready?” She asked, loud enough for everyone to hear. All she got as responses were a few grumbles, followed by the familiar sounds of the luggage the band carried around way too often moving through the penthouse.

The ride to the airport was spent in silence, a few moans and groans leaving the guys’ lips whenever something would be too loud or, in general, too exaggerated. Going through security was just as boring, with Deborah being able to share just a few hushed words with Jean - the band’s manager - before Elias or Noah would shut the two of them down.

“I told them not to drink too much,” Jean muttered under her breath, taking a look at the way Johnny’s eyes had closed. “God, is this what being a mother feels like?”

The older woman looked exasperated as she frantically walked around the boarding area, restraining herself from giving the tired men another lecture about partying like animals and how it affects their public image.

With her arms folded over her chest, Debby watched over the guys slightly older than her. She was still wondering why Matthew was carrying himself better than the rest of his friends, but it was the look on his face that truly left her curious.

His gaze was fixated on his phone, fingers tapping quickly as the wrinkles on his forehead stayed in their place. She was staring. Again. Frustrated with her own self, Deborah turned around to face the floor-to-ceiling windows of the airport, the early sun illuminating the world before your eyes.

She felt peaceful, mind clearing from the stress of the morning right before the flight attendants led her and the band towards the private jet. The luxury of its insides were nothing new to the personal assistant, and it was the same for the inappropriate glances the captain had been sending her way ever since she had started the job.

Noah dropped on one of the leather seats, eyes closing as he shut the world out, Johnny following his actions. Elias and Matthew settled in the seats opposite them, giving Deborah a clear view of the drummer’s features even from your position in the far back.

“We should get there on time,” Jean sighed, gracefully settling down next to the young woman just as the captain started to walk away. His eyes met Deborah’s one last time, a chill running up her spine when he sent her an unwanted wink, as he always used to.

To say she felt uncomfortable was an understatement.

With her heart beating loudly against her chest, she let her fingers play with the bottom of her shirt, eyes trained in front of herself. That man needs to take a hint, was all Deborah could think, so focused on blocking out the rest of the world she didn’t even notice Matthew’s eyes on her.

He had been glancing her way curiously ever since he’d noticed her body stiffen, right when she had walked inside the plane and greeted the conductor. Her demeanor had changed, and he wanted to know why.

He stayed in his seat, though. He watched from the distance, let his eyes trail over her features until she relaxed and hoped she wouldn’t notice. Because that’s what he’s always done: admire her from far away.

-----

“Listen, why can’t you just shut the fuck up and get in there?” Noah hissed, the heated conversation between him and Elias taking place inside the control room of the studio in New York. “You’ve argued about this track ever since I put it down- thank you, sweetheart,”

He grabbed the coffee Deborah handed him with a thankful smile, the flirty nickname not even impressing her anymore as she silently sat down on the closest couch.

“Dude, this track doesn’t represent us!” Elias said, pushing his sheet music around angrily before citing the words of the song. “Oh, why can’t I have you, sweet love of mine? Are you joking, Noah?! These lyrics are pop bullshit. New album is not gonna work if we write shit like this,”

The lead blew out a heavy sigh, fists turning into balls at his sides as his eyes closed. “Actually, you know what? I need to get some air,” was all Elias mumbled, pushing past his best friend with nothing but anger painting his features. Deborah was about to run after him to make sure everything was okay, but Noah’s hand dismissed her attempt.

“Let him go, he needs to cool off,”

The singer didn’t seem too pleased with his friend’s shenanigans, turning to face the empty booth in front of his eyes as another sigh turned his body stiff. Fights had occurred before: Deborah wasn’t new to arguments about where the group was going to eat, or even fights because of girls; but things had started to become too tense, too complicated between the four men.

“Chucky, your turn,” Noah mumbled, snapping the only woman in the room out of her trance to see Matthew walk past her, drumsticks in hand.

He was silent as he sat down in front of the drum set, pushing the pair of headphones over his nest of curls. His tattooed arms were in full display as he gave Noah a thumbs up, a cocky smile painting his lips. Matthew was the living description of a rock star, and Debby couldn’t keep her eyes off of him.

The drummer’s eyes closed as the music started playing in his ears, his drumsticks making a quick turn between his fingers before he began doing what he loved the most. Watching him play had Deborah mesmerized: the way he attentively looked in front of himself to catch Noah’s reactions, or just the movements of his hands as he gave his everything into the performance, even if his only audience were her and Noah.

Deborah was lost in his gaze, his light, stormy eyes making her heart skip a beat. The sounds coming from him came to a halt before she knew it, a satisfied smirk coating his lips as he waited for Noah’s judgment.

It was silent for a few seconds, heavy breathing coming from the singer as he revived the moment and the melody in his head. “Jesus, Matt,” he breathed into the speaker, trying to muffle the shock in his features by batting his eyelids. “You got it perfect on the first time, damn,”

Matthew’s smirk grew bigger, taking its usual cocky mark as he stood up and finally noticed the assistant. When he strutted back inside the control room to grab his belongings, he snickered at her mesmerized gaze.

“Close your mouth before you catch flies, honey,” was all he said, cocking his brow as his smug smile still sat on his lips. The remark had Deborah’s face turn into a scowl, his cocky words engraving themselves in her mind as he walked away.

She bit her lip as she turned back around to face Noah, trying to push Matthew and his cockiness out of her head, with no success. The lead, on the other hand, looked in distress: he was hunched over the console, clearly in his own head as silence engulfed the two of them in a stressful hug.

“Tell me you know how to play the guitar,” he mumbled, rubbing his tired eyes as he turned around to face Deborah. “Or at least how to book a place for us in a bar, tonight,”

“I can do the latter,” she sighed, knowing that Noah’s plans to finish the song would need to involve a night out, alcohol, and girls willing to drool all over Elias’ charm.

“And please, come out with us, Deb,” he continued. “Jean doesn’t want things to go too wild, so we might need you to keep us on track,”

She held back a sigh. Her plans for a relaxing night at the hotel had been crushed. Again. Though a night by herself looked way better than a packed club, Deborah’s job was calling, and she couldn’t refuse.

“Alright, I’ll be there,” she said, taking her phone out of her bag to start the search for the night’s location. “I’ll text you the details,”

“Drinks are on us,”

Debby’s ears felt like they were going to bleed soon, and the headache was making her head throb so hard she was hoping not to faint in the middle of the most popular club in New York.

The VIP area was everything she had expected it to be: leather couches that probably cost more than her apartment back in Calgary, enough drinks to make an army drunk, and the entire female population of the city. What could she say? It was Chordback worthy.

Elias’ cheeks were tinted a dark shade of red, eyes gleaming even in the darkness of the club as he held two blondes close to his body. The smirk Deborah knew so well was painting his lips - the one he reserved for flirting purposes only - as she watched him charm another set of girls in his hotel bed.

He was the second oldest in the band, but it hadn’t taken the assistant years to realize his maturity level wasn’t what every girl on the internet expected it to be. Clad in his tight, pitch-black skinny jeans and shirt - not exactly what people would expect a rock star to dress like -, he knew how to attract girls.

Noah had tried to convince him to record his guitar solo the moment their drinks were placed in front of them, but he had ended up with no success when the guitarist had left the table mid-conversation to go dance. The lead’s patience was running low, and Debby was sure his night wasn’t going to turn out as good as he had thought it would.

If that wasn’t enough, she felt stared at. Everywhere she went, a pair of eyes was following her. Debby would turn around to find scowls coloring the groupies’ faces, their orbs giving her disgusted once-overs whenever she’d go as far as to grasp Noah’s arm to avoid falling over, or even lean close enough to ask where Matthew had gone. She had never liked being the center of attention, hence why she had decided to work behind the scenes.

By the time midnight hit, though, she had had enough. The day had been tiring, the club was anything but enjoyable, and the glaring had gone from bearable to annoyingly uncomfortable. Almost stomping her way towards the couch, Debby’s arms folded over her own chest as she stood before Matthew Tkachuk’s relaxed body.

“Okay, I’m done with this bullshit,” she yelled loudly enough to be heard over the thumping bass of the music. “Do I have something on my face?”

Matthew’s smirk paired with his arched eyebrows did its job at making the younger girl feel embarrassed. In some ways, it sent her back to the days in high school, where the popular girls only needed one of their disgusted glances to make her shut herr mouth and feel embarrassed.

Deborah ignored his expression, waiting for a response as a girl sat next to him - so close she was almost straddling his lap. “No? Why would you think that?”

“Because everyone is staring at me as if I have shit smeared all over my face,”

The words snatched a chuckle out of his system, tongue wetting his lips as he gave Debby’s body a once-over. “They think you’re a new one. One of them,”

Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to unravel his riddle, but nothing seemed to make sense in her mind. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“They think you’re a new groupie, that you’re stealing their place,”

“I’m not a fucking groupie,” she said, confusion clear in her features as she watched him sling his arm over the girl at his side. “I’ve been your PA for two years now!”

All Matthew did was shrug, smirking as he watched the look of annoyance spread over the personal assistant’s face. She was done. She wanted to leave the busy club behind with all the nasty glares and go back to the hotel to sleep.

Skimming past sweaty bodies, she reached Noah’s side after a few minutes. She had expected him to be having fun, but his features were still sporting a bothered scowl. “Noah!”

His attention snapped towards her in a second, his eyes boring into Deborah’s as he waited for her to speak up. “I’m heading to the hotel, I can’t stand this club anymore,”

A small nod was all she got in response, her eyes falling among the crowd to see Johnny making out with a smaller brunette, his hair sticking all over the place. Glancing towards the side of the room, she found Elias sitting on the couch, enjoying the sloppy kisses being spread all over his neck by the two blondes from earlier. Matthew, on the other hand, was still sitting on the couch - this time without his companion - his light orbs focused on Noah and their assistant.

“Can you please keep an eye on the rest of the guys?” She asked Noah, looking up at him as she waited for his response. He gave you a curt nod. “And don’t stay out too late,”

She left the club soon after, strutting out of the packed room with relief. Debby still felt eyes on herself, but not the ones of the rabid fans that had hated her since the moment she had stepped inside the room. Matthew’s eyes.

They watched her walk away, ignoring the pair of manicured hands touching his arm to catch his attention. He had been the reason why everyone was looking at her, and it wasn’t hard to tell. Yet, she was oblivious.

They had thought Deborah was a groupie because of the way he looked at her, because what his eyes held whenever he’d let himself glance her way wasn’t just curiosity. It was fondness, hunger, a cocktail of emotions that he had been trying to avoid for his own sake.

But, that time, he had lost at his own game.

“What the hell were you thinking?!”

Jean’s voice was sharp, so shrill it sent bolts of pain through Deborah’s temples. She had watched the scene unfold in front of your eyes, starting with the unexpected awakening in the middle of the night, ending with all the band members getting lectured by their agent.

The woman in her forties looked like she was about to tug her dark hair off of her scalp, an angry look on her face as she looked at the men sitting in front of her. “Jean, calm down. It was just a fight,”

“Don’t tell me to calm down, boy!” Jean pointed her finger sharply at his face, nostrils flaring. “Just a fight, Elias?! It’s all over the internet!”

Guilt washed over Debby as she took in Noah’s beat-up face, including his cut lip and purplish left eye; Matthew, next to him, wasn’t doing any better. She was supposed to be there, to keep an eye on the guys.

Jean had woken her up in a rush an hour after coming back to the hotel, mumbling under her breath as she dragged Deborah to her personal room. Chordback was already sitting on the edge of her bed, their eyes cast on the floor as the assistant noticed their bruises and cuts.

“I hate to say this, Elias, but you’ve been causing problems for the past month,” Jean sighed, rubbing her forehead with the palm of her hand as her tired eyes focused on the landscape out of the hotel’s window. “First the schedule, then Noah’s song, now whatever happened at the club,”

She let another sigh slip past her lips before her voice took a gentler tone. “John, what happened?”

There was a beat before the bass player spoke, and Deborah took a moment to examine his face. He was by far the one that hadn’t been affected by the fight, at all. “I- uh… I don’t know,”

The assistant had to refrain from holding back a sigh herself, her tense body language catching Elias’ eye. “Why are we the only ones getting lectured? Deborah was supposed to stay with us,”

“This is not about Debby,” Jean stated harshly, sending him a glare. “She wasn’t getting paid to follow you at the club, and she had every right to leave when she felt like it. John, keep going,”

“I said I don’t know anything,”

“Matthew?”

The curly-haired man sighed, his head lifting upwards just then to let his eyes meet the wall briefly. “I was talking with a girl, people started yelling, and I heard Elias talking shit about Noah’s song”

Deborah’s stomach filled with an unknown feeling when he mentioned a girl, sending her head in a spiral to ask herself what the hell was she experiencing. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

“And I just couldn’t take it,” Matthew stopped, his fingers ghosting over the cuts on his knuckles. “Man, that’s a heartfelt song and you went around to talk shit about it to strangers,”

Elias kept his mouth shut, jaw clenching as his friend continued talking. “Noah and Johnny also came in, but just in time to separate us,”

“Then what happened to your face, Noah?” Jean asked, concern evident in her voice.

“I- uh… I was seeing red,” Matthew mumbled, silence filling the room soon after the words left his mouth. Deborah was left to look at a desperate Jean - clearly close to having a mental breakdown - and hope things would get better by the time morning would roll in.

Her mind, though, couldn’t focus on anything but Matthew. He looked beaten up, both physically and mentally; he looked like he was holding so much on his shoulders, so much pressure she wanted to relieve him of.

“Matthew, John,” Jean sighed, looking behind his shoulders at the two men briefly. “You can go get some sleep. You too, Debby,”

She had never shuffled out of a room that quickly in her entire life, the tension being so overwhelming she needed a breath of fresh air. Johnny and Matthew were silent as they stepped out of the room, a physical and emotional distance separating them as they parted ways.

The moment was awkward, Matthew turning around just in time to see his friend shut the door of his room behind himself, a sigh leaving his lips. His eyes met Deborah’s for a quick second, a wave of shame flowing through them.

In some way, she felt like part of that shame was directed at herself too: his snarky, cocky words were still impressed in her mind, but she could see his regret. She wished her heartbeat hadn’t started picking up, but looking in his eyes, she couldn’t help it.

He was asking for forgiveness, and who was she to not give it to him? He was the only person she couldn’t stop thinking about day and night, anyway, for some reason.

“Come with me,” Deborah whispered, her voice shallower than she had thought it would be as her hand caught his. He didn’t ask questions when she opened her room’s door, he didn’t speak a word as she led him towards the en-suite bathroom, and he didn’t run away when she made him sit on the edge of the bathtub.

More silence settled between the two of them as Debby grabbed the first-aid kit the hotel supplied, wetting a cotton ball with disinfectant before letting her hand grab Matthew’s again.

There was a soft hiss when she first let the material touch his bloody skin, his jaw clenching as he closed his eyes. “I feel like a monster,”

His words made the woman’s heart clench, her stomach turning into jelly. “You’re not a monster, Matthew,”

“I hit my best friend because I couldn’t hold myself back,” he breathed out, voice unexpectedly shaky as he kept his gaze on the tile floor. “I’m a monster,”

Deborah sighed, letting her fingers grasp his chin so he could lift his head up. Their eyes met as she prepared another cotton ball, ready to clean the cut on his bottom lip as they let silence fill the room.

Cradling his head in her hands, Debby took a few minutes to wipe some dried blood off his skin. Matthew was tired, she could tell from the way his eyes were struggling to stay open, but regret was keeping him up, keeping his brain active.

She let herself gaze at him for a small moment before patting his shoulder. “Get some sleep, Matt,” she whispered. “Really,”

He nodded gingerly, following her towards her door. “Thank you, Deb,”

“Don’t worry about it,”

He took a moment to admire her, letting one of his hands gently push a strand of stray hair out of her face. Her body heated up, heart rate quickening as she watched him leave silently, a small smile on his lips.

In a trance, Deborah went back to bed, sleep not on her agenda anymore. Her mind kept repeating the moment she had had with Matthew, every single second of it, and it felt new, unexpected.

Matthew Tkachuk was making her feel things she had never felt before, and everything was so unknown to her.

That night, Deborah struggled to fall back asleep.

-----

“You’re gonna catch a cold,”

The evening air was making Deborah’s hair flow around herself, her eyes focusing on the sunset before turning around to meet Matthew’s. A small smile formed on her lips, her arms folding over her chest. “Nah, my body won’t betray me like that,”

The chuckle that left his lips was enough to push the butterflies in her stomach back to life. His body reached Debby’s side as he focused too on the setting sun disappearing behind the New York skyscrapers.

“Truly the best time of the day,” she mumbled under her breath. “Sunsets are just so beautiful,”

Matthew sent a quick glance her way. “But the night,” was all he said, voice holding a tone of fondness as he looked in front of himself. “The night is just so beautiful,”

“The night is lonely,” the assistant pointed.

“The night is peaceful,” he corrected her, the smile on his lips so tender it made her melt. “Everyone goes to sleep at night, and it gives you time to think,”

There was a beat of silence as she took in his words, heart racing as she unconsciously scooted closer to him. The question was risky. It rushed through Deborah’s lips, and her eyes almost closed in fear of rejection. “What do you think about? At night, I mean,”

“I think about good memories,” his answer was quick, no sign of discomfort on his face. “About my childhood, or people I miss,”

He glanced her way with a smile on his lips, the air from the top of the building making his curls move slightly. “And what do you think about? At night, I mean,”

“Life, I guess,”

There was a nod from his side, his eyes turning back to focus on the landscape as another round of silence filled the distance between the two of them. Deborah’s mind started to think about his words, pushing her away from reality as she tried to keep herself at bait. You weren’t his type, and what about Taryn?

The identity of Taryn was still unknown to the girl, but something was telling her she was eventually going to find out. She was so into her own world that she barely registered the soft material of Matthew’s leather jacket slipping onto her shoulders, his eyes glancing her way.

His body leaned against the railing of the terrace, slipping unbelievably closer to hers as the two of them admired each other. “God, Deborah,” he whispered, letting one of his hands graze over her cheekbone. Her heart was beating out of her chest so loudly she feared he could hear it, his palm slowly cupping her cheek as he let his eyes admire her. “I wish I could have met you earlier,”

His lips were extremely close to Debby’s, so close she barely even paid attention to what he had said. As the words registered, she opened her mouth to ask for an explanation, but the ringing of his phone interrupted the moment.

His eyelids shut in annoyance as he slipped the device out of his back pocket, answering as soon as he could. “I’ll be down in a sec,”

He was off the railing before he even ended the call, leaving Deborah on her own on the terrace of the building that hosted Chordback’s recording label. He turned around just when she called his name, voice strained by the sudden end of just what had been about to happen.

“Your jacket, Matt,” she pointed, starting to shrug it off just so she could hand it back to him. His hand rose in the air, putting her movements to a halt.

“Keep it,” he said, smiling gingerly before opening the door to head back inside the warmth of the building. “It looks better on you anyway,”

-----

“I wanna do it again,” Johnny said from the booth, looking at Noah as he strummed lightly his bass. “I fucked up the last part,”

From her spot on the smallest - and most uncomfortable - couch she had ever seen, Deborah watched Noah nod his head, pressing a few buttons on the console. The bass player’s head started bobbing when the music started filling his headphones, eyes almost closing as he started playing his melody.

Her tired eyes fell down on her phone, the brightness of its screen almost making her curse out. It was well past midnight, and Deborah’s day had been more than busy: the boys had to record a podcast episode with a famous producer, and she hadn’t even had a moment to settle down at the studio before a call from Jean pushed her up on her feet and around New York.

Her head was pounding, but she wasn’t allowed to leave the studio until the band decided to finish their session and go back to the hotel, so she sat in silence next to Matthew. He was silent too, glancing in front of himself as the faint sound of Johnny’s bass sent him in a trance.

As Debby’s eyes struggled to stay open, she stretched her back, holding back a moan when she felt just how tense her muscles were. Her movements snapped Matt out of his daydreaming, his orbs finding hers in the dimly lit studio as she settled back into her initial place.

“You okay?” He asked, voice uncharacteristically soft as he kept his gaze trained on the assistant.

“Just tired,” was all she said, pushing out a sigh as she folded her arms over her chest. Who turned on the AC, for fuck’s sake?

“Johnny prefers working in the cold,” Matthew murmured, almost reading her thoughts. “You want me to turn off the AC?”

Deborah shook her head, trying to hide a veil of shock at his unexpected words, kindness spilling out of them like a fountain. “No, no. It’s fine, don’t worry,”

Though she had been trying as hard as she could to keep herself awake, her body found itself scooting closer to Matthew’s, his warmth making her eyelids finally close. Debby’s head dropped to his shoulder, finally letting her relax for the first time of the day. A content sigh left her lips.

Matthew’s heart was beating out of his chest, emotions he had felt just once making him shiver. One of his arms wrapped itself around the girl’s waist, holding her close and hoping the moment would never end.

She was so close, so soft in his hold he never wanted to let go.

So he closed his eyes, putting his world to a stop just so he could hold her for a little more, just so he could imagine what it would feel like to be hers.

He was woken up after what felt like hours, Noah’s smirk being the first thing he saw after the midnight nap. Deborah’s head was on his chest, eyes closed and a relaxed smile painting her lips as she peacefully slept.

“And then I’m the obvious one,” Noah joked, referring to all the chirps he had gotten for always looking smitten, when he liked someone. “Should I be waiting for a love song from you?”

“Shut the fuck up, man,” Matthew hissed, a smile forming on his lips even after the chirps. “What time is it?”

“One a.m.”

“Damn,” Matthew sighed, rubbing his eyes before looking down at Debby again. “I’ll wake her up. Just wait outside for us,”

“Don’t fuck on the couch,” Noah joked, making Matthew roll his eyes. The lead shut the door behind him and Johnny, leaving Deborah and the man able to make her heart skip a beat on their own.

Matt took a moment to admire her peaceful state, one of his calloused hands cupping her cheek before pushing a strand of hair out of her face. The movements had Deborah stirring, her eyes slowly opening just to see - and feel - Matthew close to her.

With her cheeks burning, she pushed herself off of him, an awkward chuckle leaving her parted lips. “I’m, uh- I’m sorry,” Debby stuttered, running a hand through her hair. “How long was I out for?”

“An hour, maybe?”

She looked down at her phone to check the time, nodding her head when she saw the digits at the top of the screen. “Everyone is done?”

“They’re waiting outside,” he said, voice tender as he watched her rise to her feet. With a nod, Deborah grabbed her purse and let her eyes meet with his. She didn’t know what to say, so the two of them were left in silence before she muttered something and left the room in a rush, heart beating quickly against her rib cage.

By the time Debby reached the rest of the group outside - Elias still missing in action -, she was faced with grins. Nobody talked, though, and by the time she shut the hotel door behind herself, she was a nervous mess.

What the fuck had just happened?

-----

The last morning in New York was sunny. Deborah’s sunglasses barely could do their job as she sat between the band on the outside of the overpriced café they loved. The slight breeze was bringing the first few hints of summer in the busy air of the city, and the woman enjoyed her last moment in the Big Apple by taking a sip of the warm drink sitting in front of her.

It was the first time Chordback actually sat down together after the fight between Noah and Elias, and it felt refreshing. Johnny and Matthew - who was sitting beside her - were talking, just like the old times, and Elias was taking a moment to admire the city. Noah, on the other hand, wasn’t paying much attention to his background: his eyes were focused on his phone, a smile that Debby could only refer to as smitten painting his lips.

“So, what are the plans for the day, hun?” Elias caught the assistant’s attention, the pet name making her chuckle.

“Hun? Oh my God,” she giggled, pushing the conversation behind herself before opening her mouth again. “We gotta catch the flight back to Calgary and then you’re free,”

A whistle came from Johnny, happy chuckles filling their surroundings. “A day off? Wow,”

“No partying, though,” Deborah warned, pointing a finger Elias’ way, who shrugged innocently. The moment was short-lived, being interrupted by a younger fan asking for a picture. The guys all put on a smile, rising to their feet and getting in position. Noah took more time than necessary to put down his phone, but eventually joined his friends and greeted the girl, who looked like she was about to faint.

By the time the photo was taken, the girl was running off to her family holding back happy tears. The band members sat back in their places to finish their breakfast, silence thickening at the table.

Deborah’s eyes met Matthew’s, remembering what had happened during the band’s last studio session, her cheeks heating up. There hadn’t been any moments where the two of them could discuss not only the cuddling, but also the time when she had helped him clean his wounds up after the fight at the club, and Debby was feeling torn.

She didn’t know why, but in some way she didn’t want to discuss the events. She thought it was ridiculous that she couldn’t figure out what she was feeling, what Matthew was doing to her. Debby couldn’t figure out her own feelings, and figuring his out was more difficult than she had expected.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the devil himself, pushing her back to reality with his voice. “Hanifin, what the hell are you doing with that phone?” Matt teased, his signature smirk painting his lips.

“I, uh-” the lead stuttered, finally putting his device on top of the table as he looked up at the assistant and his friends. “I was just sending a text,”

“Just one?” Johnny chirped, chuckling when Noah’s cheeks turned a dark shade of red. “I think he’s hiding something from us, guys,”

“I sent the demo of ‘As Long As I’m With You’ to the person it’s written about,”

There was a beat of silence as Elias, Matthew, and Johnny all took in their lead’s words. “‘As Long As I’m With You’ as in the song we fought over?” Elias asked, voice filled with surprise as he waited for a response. Noah just nodded, biting back a smile as his eyes met with Matthew’s.

“Chucky knew,” he mumbled. “That’s why he punched you in the face when you talked shit about it,”

“Oh! That’s what he meant with ‘heartfelt’,” Elias laughed, shaking his head before breathing out a guilty sigh. “I’m sorry, man. Should have just kept my mouth shut,”

“I told you, it’s fine,” Noah said, his eyes glancing down towards his phone when the screen lit up, the guys finally finishing their breakfast.

“What’s her name, man?”

“Aleena,” just the mention of her name made the lead smile. “She’s back in Calgary,”

“And you didn’t tell us?!” Matt exclaimed, dramatically holding a hand to his chest. “This one hurts, man,”

“Did she like it?” Elias asked.

“The demo? She loved it,” Noah chuckled, cheeks turning uncharacteristically red. He gulped down his coffee, eyes glancing Deborah’s way as he stood up. “Ready to go?”

And by the time they reached the airport, the band was back as if the fights, bickering, and internal annoyance hadn’t happened. She had always been surprised at how strong their bond actually was that she found herself hurting when the thoughts of them possibly separating even crossed her mind.

The wait at the gate was not as long as the one from weeks prior, the private plane already waiting for everyone by the time they had gone through security. Deborah had to repress a groan when she realized the pilot was going to greet her, just like every time.

His dark eyes were on her before she could even walk inside the aircraft, the edges of his mouth turning upwards into a creepy smirk as he shook Johnny’s hand. It felt like a routine: Debby would greet the two kind flight assistants, share a knowing look with them before sticking her hand out to shake the pilot’s. The wink he sent her way wasn’t new, and neither was his hand squeezing her waist before he walked back to his seat.

Her eyes portrayed the usual emptiness they always did after entering the plane, and Matthew was quick to notice. That time, though, he knew why she turned the world off as soon as they’d board. He had been guessing Deborah was afraid of heights, or that flying made her sick, but he would have never guessed it was because of the pilot.

He elbowed Noah without even thinking, his eyes still glancing the assistant’s way as his best friend hissed. “What the fuck, Chucky?!”

“We need to talk,”

Noah sent Matthew a confused glare, eyebrows scrunched together as he followed the drummer’s gaze. He looked at Deborah, then back at his bandmate with a look of confusion still coloring his face. “Well, talk, then,”

“Later,” Matthew mumbled. “We’ll talk when we land, this needs to stay private,”

Noah nodded his head, trying to ignore his friend’s weird manners before pushing his earbuds back in. Matthew, on the other hand, stared at the girl a few seats away. Anger made his skin boil as he thought about the man that had harassed her. If the fucker hadn’t been driving the plane she was on, he would have already been dead.

The newfound protectiveness sent a thrill of shock through his spine, but he ignored it. Deborah didn’t deserve it, and the man was going to regret every single glance he had sent her way. You don’t mess with a Tkachuk, Matthew thought. The man was going to pay.

-----

The city of Calgary held something Deborah couldn’t quite place. In her eyes, it looked like home.

Home, though, was back in Arizona - the complete opposite of what Calgary is. With the hot sun burning your shoulders almost the entire year and the endless summers, Arizona was the place Debby went back to just for her family. She had always preferred the cold, after all.

Thanksgiving was around the corner, the Canadian air was starting to thicken with the winter cold, and home was calling. And she was single, again. It wasn’t because of her parents - they truly knew she was one to put work before anything else -, but rather the rest of her family.

Deborah had grown up knowing that her father’s side of the family was ruthless when it came to getting back home alone, and it had been bothering her ever since she had first moved out. The snarky remarks coming from her aunt and her husband had always been following Deborah around the walls of her childhood home and, no matter how hard she tried to push them away, she just couldn’t.

And, God. She hated it so much.

In some way, it made the woman want to spend the holiday on her own, away from the prying eyes of her relatives and away from the stress they caused. But she loved her family too much, and leaving them behind wasn’t an option.

When Deborah walked inside the band’s penthouse, she was met with unexpected silence. The entry hall was tidy, the guys’ respective coats hanging one next to the other; the kitchen was clean, plates and cups stored in their designated cupboard; the living room, on the other hand, wasn’t empty.

Matthew was sitting on one of the two couches, a notepad in his hands as he looked out of the window. His eyes were glancing at the gray clouds painting the sky, covering the first few rays of sunlight of the morning.

“Good morning,”

Her voice seemed to shake him out of his trance, body snapping around to meet her eyes as she slowly pushed her coat down her shoulders. “‘Morning, D,”

“Where are the guys?”

“Still sleeping,” Matthew mumbled, watching Debby’s every move as she let her purse sit on one of the kitchen stools. She made her way towards the couch, sitting down next to him as she tried to ignore the tension rising between the two of them, just like it always did.

The trip to New York had seemed to make a big difference in what their friendship - if you could even call it that - was, even if anything barely happened. Seeing him play, falling asleep on his shoulder, taking care of him after the fight - in some way, it all made a difference, and Debby was sure Matthew could tell, too.

That night she had fallen asleep in the car and he carried her to her hotel room? The tea he had brought her that one morning when she was feeling sick? And the talk. The sunset talk.

He didn’t seem to notice the way her heart beat for him and him only, he was so oblivious it made Deborah frustrated.

“How are you doing?” He asked, the soft thud of his notepad hitting the floor making the assistant bat her eyelashes and bringing her back to reality.

“I’m okay,” she admitted, running a hand through her hair as her eyes focused on him. “Just thinking about Thanksgiving,”

He chuckled. “You going back home?”

“I mean, I probably should head back to Arizona,” she sighed, shaking her head before opening her mouth again. “I’m just not ready to have the ‘oh, why can’t a pretty girl like you find a good man to marry?’ talk again,”

“Oh, God,” the man in front of her chuckled. “Been there,”

“What about you? Are you going home?”

There was a beat before his voice darkened, eyes glazing with something Deborah couldn’t quite place as his hand toyed with the hem of his shirt. “No,”

He let his answer linger in the air, the penthouse turning silent again as he stared ahead of himself. From Debby’s spot next to him, it seemed like he was in his thoughts, his lips pushed in a straight line as he let the emptiness of the house hit the two of them.

Another beat. “My family and I are not too close,”

“Oh,” she murmured, eyebrows furrowing as she let her eyes focus on something else other than his face. He looked saddened, in some kind of way, but mainly pissed. “So, uh- spending it with anyone special?”

“Oh no,” his tense jaw slowly turned back to normal as he repressed a chuckle. “I’m single,”

Then who the hell was Taryn?

He seemed to catch on to Deborah’s confused gaze, an eyebrow cocking as he looked at her. “What?”

“Nothing,” her cheeks heated up, embarrassment making her heartbeat quicken as shee looked at her fingers. The look on his face spurred the woman on, her voice becoming shallow as she spoke. “I just- I heard you talking to a girl named Taryn, so I just kind of assumed-”

His laughter interrupted her, waking up the mass of butterflies in her stomach just when his head lulled back against the couch’s headrest. “Oh my God,” he laughed, holding his stomach before looking back at her. “Taryn is my sister,”

“Oh,”

Deborah erupted in a fit of laughter too, shaking her head before letting it lean against his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, I don’t even know why I thought that,”

“Don’t worry,” he chuckled. “Some groupies went as far as to call her to tell her to leave me alone,”

The confession made her eyebrows scrunch. Girls did that to him?

Silence settled back between the two of them as Debby’s eyes focused on the city starting to wake up outside the window. The thought that crossed her mind felt wrong from the moment she even tried to phrase it. But there’s nothing worse than spending Thanksgiving on your own, was all her heart could say.

She glanced quickly at Matthew, who was scribbling something on his notepad. The light redness painting his cheeks had her heart clenching with longing, her hands tingling, begging to run through his messy curls. He was truly breathtaking, Deborah couldn’t get enough of him.

“Come to Arizona with me,” the words were rushed, unexpected. They had her surprised when they left her own mouth, and Matthew’s shock was evident as he turned his head around to glance her way.

“I-”

“Spending Thanksgiving on your own fucking sucks,” Debby pointed out. “And I won’t let you experience that on my watch,”

He laughed, shaking his head before letting their eyes meet. “I don’t want to intrude,”

“You would never intrude,” the woman said, voice gentle as she restrained herself from cradling his cheek. “And my mom has been begging to meet you guys ever since I started working for you,”

That confession made a laugh ripple out of his lips, the sound making her body feel alive. “So? Yes or no?”

There was a moment where he let his gaze meet Debby’s, his fondness hugging her warmly as she momentarily forgot how to speak.

“Only if the tickets are on me,”

She frowned jokingly, biting her lip to hide a smile before speaking. “We’re set,”

-----

“Oh my God, I missed you so much,” Deborah’s mother wept as she left her arms around her daughter’s frame, the crispy wind of Thanksgiving Eve making the afternoon air unexpectedly chilly. “I told you, you should come home more often,”

Debby chuckled at her comment, pushing herself away from her mother to introduce Matthew - her boss and her date. She was fucked. “Mom, this is Matthew. He’s the drummer of the band I work for,”

“It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Miller. Thank you for having me,”

From the smile on her mother’s lips, Deborah knew she was sold. The older woman had never been one for tattoos, but Debby had caught her admiring Matthew’s full sleeves from the moment he had crossed her vision; he had helped his date carry her luggage, and she was sure her mom had also noticed that, hence why she was smiling at him as if he had just proposed to her only daughter.

“Come in already, guys. Grandma has just arrived, too,” she mumbled, waving a hand in the air as a signal for the two to get inside.

“Grandma?”

The sight of her sitting on the couch, eyes focused on knitting made Deborah almost tear up. Grandma was home. Her voice shook the elder out of her trance, her body slowly rising to its feet to embrace Deborah in a longing hug. “Oh, Peaches,” the nickname still held all the memories from her childhood, and her arms circling the assistant made her feel at peace. “I missed you,”

“I missed you, too, grandma,” Debby sniffled, pulling away to introduce Matt to her, too. Her grandmother’s eyes were curious as they scanned him, probably blocking out her granddaughter’s introduction to focus on him instead.

“Where are you from, son?” Her phrase - especially the name she gave Matthew, who was almost twice her height - had the youngest woman in the household repressing a giggle. Matthew, on the other hand, grew quite nervous.

“I was uh- born in Arizona, but grew up in St. Louis,”

The grandmother gave a curt nod, sitting back down on the couch and motioning for Debby to sit down next to her. Her mother joined the room with quick steps, her hand finding Matthew’s shoulder to push his eyes off of the woman that stole his breath away every passing day.

“Deb, I figured Matthew could stay in the basement? Would it be okay?”

The man in question nodded, a smile forming on his lips as he thanked Debby’s mother. He was led towards the stairs before she knew it, a reassuring smile being sent her way before she was left on her own with her grandma.

“He seems nice,” the older woman mumbled, eyes still focused on the hat she was making. “You said he plays the drums?”

“Yes, he’s great,”

There was a beat of silence before she looked up at her granddaughter, eyebrows wiggling jokingly. “You together?”

Deborah’s cheeks heated up, her head shaking quickly soon after as her eyes focused on her lap. There wasn’t a response from her grandmother, who silently went back to her previous tasks and letting her think.

What the hell were the two of them even doing?! Matthew was practically her boss, if something went wrong, she’d probably get fired, for God’s sake. Deborah’s life was literally walking on a thread: one wrong decision and she would be done.

No more working for Chordback, no more traveling with the band. No more Matt.

And she couldn’t let that happen. Her heart was beating for the drummer, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Whatever was going to happen during the holidays, she was hoping it wasn’t going to end everything between her and Matt before it even started. She wasn’t going to let that happen.

She felt like her happy ending might have been closer than she had thought.

The morning after Matthew and Deborah’s arrival was busier than the latter had expected. The loud noises coming from the kitchen woke her up from her deep, peaceful slumber, and by the time she made it downstairs, the house was in full swing.

Her mother and grandma were zooming around the family home, rushing around with pots and pans, not a care in the world when it came to waking up the rest of the household. Her father, on the other hand, was sitting at the kitchen island, a comical look of exasperation painting wrinkles on his face.

The stairs leading towards the basement weren’t empty either: a quite shocked - and still sleepy - Matt stood right on the last step, watching the net of nerves Deborah’s family had created unfold in front of his eyes.

“Well, good-fucking-morning,” the woman giggled, turning around just in time to catch him chuckle, his body clad in an old band tee and a pair of plaid pants she had never seen him wear. His arm lifted itself up in the air, hand signaling her to come closer before he could wrap the limb around her body, his relaxing scent filling her nostrils.

“Good morning,” he hummed, voice still hoarse after the multiple hours of sleep. “Looks pretty chaotic in here,”

“And you haven’t seen Christmas,” Debby giggled, the sound of his laughter making her heart skip a beat. “Dad’s having breakfast, I’m sure he won’t mind if we join,”

The curls on top of Matthew’s head bobbed along with his nod as he followed her towards the main source of sound - and chaos - in the household. Deborah translated her father’s grumble into what she could only guess was a ‘good morning’, and took it upon herself to make coffee for her and Matt.

Debby longingly watched him talk to her father as she waited for the warm beverage to get ready, realizing that with each day passing, she was falling for him even more. It was a shock to her, if she had to be honest. She was falling deeply in love with someone she hadn’t even shared a kiss with, but God, she was more than smitten.

The beeping of the coffee machine shocked her out of your lovesick trance, Deborah’s eyelashes batting a few times before she grabbed their mugs and headed towards the island.

“Yeah, the Oilers are definitely having a good season,” Matthew agreed to whatever her father had said. “Leafs have been doing pretty well too,”

“You’re right, son,”

“What are you talking about?” Debby asked, a smile on her lips as she sat next to Matthew.

“Hockey,” her father said, tipping his head back to finish his dark coffee. “Matthew told me his brother plays for the Senators,”

The girl’s eyes widened, searching for Matthew’s face. “Really?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled, eyes not moving from his coffee until he changed the conversation, leaving her utterly in the dark about his family situation. Deborah thought it was funny that just a few minutes prior, she was thinking she was falling in love with the man sitting beside her, when in reality she knew just a few things about his life. “So, uh- should I wear anything specific today?”

“Just something slightly elegant, mom doesn’t care too much,” she said, smiling when he nodded his head.

“Should I wear a tie?”

“Oh, God,”

“Hey, I brought one with me just in case!” He said, a hint of joking in his tone as he sipped on his coffee. “Ties are cool,”

“I’ve never seen you wear one in your life, Matt,” Deborah giggled. “And I’ve been working with you for two years,”

“Maybe I wear them in my free time, how could you know that?”

She laughed, shaking her head as the world came to a halt around them. It was just her and Matthew, joking in the kitchen at half-past-eight in the morning, voices still hoarse as they sipped on their coffee. Debby’s brain could only think that, maybe, she could get used to it.

By the time dinner rolled around, she felt nervous. She watched herself twirl one last time in front of her mirror, the flowered dress she was wearing moving with her as she breathed out a sigh.

Another Thanksgiving. Debby was secretly hoping it would be better than all the other holidays, and something in her was telling her it was going to be the best Thanksgiving of her life. Because Matthew came along.

Closing her childhood bedroom door behind herself, Deborah heard the familiar voices of her relatives coming from the first floor, her aunt’s shrill tone standing taller than the rest.

“And who’s the new addition to the family?”

Debby’s eyes widened, a muttered curse leaving her lips as she sprinted down the stairs, all the attention being lifted onto her when she almost fell face first in the middle of the living room.

“Debs! Happy Thanksgiving!”

The greetings were all quickly sent her way, followed by hugs and small talk as she greeted the new guests. Deborah’s aunt, though, didn’t take long before going back to Matthew, a mischievous look on her face as she gave him a once-over.

“Back to you, darling. New addition to the family? We haven’t met yet,”

“I’m Matthew,” Debby’s - well... - date said, a charming smile that would be able to make millions of girls swoon painting his lips. Your aunt’s hand moved in the air, spurring his presentation on in an embarrassing way. “I’m uh- I’m Deborah’s boyfriend,”

The silence that filled the room only highlighted the assistant’s shock even more. Matthew Tkachuk literally had told her entire family he was her boyfriend. What the actual fuck.

“Oh my God! And you weren’t gonna tell me, Debs?!”

Her aunt pulled her in a bone crushing hug, hopefully not noticing the panic evident on her features. “Finally! I thought you were going to stay single forever!”

Deborah pushed out a fake giggle, looking up at Matthew with confusion in her eyes. What she got in return was a wink, the smile on her fake-boyfriend’s lips spurring her to keep the act going.

“Dinner is served, everyone!”

Debby had to refrain herself from pushing out a sigh of relief, her hand lacing with Matthew’s as she tapped her mother’s shoulder. “I gotta talk to Matt, we will be back in a second, I swear,”

Without waiting for a response, Deborah pushed past the people surrounding them before reaching the closest bathroom, locking the door behind the two of them. “Matthew, what the hell are we doing?”

The chuckle that left his lips made her eyebrows furrow, arms wrapping over her chest. “This is no joke! Now my entire family thinks we’re together!”

“Let’s just act like we are, then,” he pointed, shoulders shrugging as he let his fingertips play with the edge of her dress. “You look beautiful, by the way,”

Ignoring the way her cheeks heated up and her heart started racing, Debby pushed him down to sit on the edge of the bathtub. “God, why did you do that?”

“You said you didn’t wanna face the usual nosy questions, I helped with that,” Matthew smirked, his hands inching higher until they ended up holding her waist. “All we need to do is act as if we’re in love, and that’s not hard,”

Normally, Deborah wouldn’t have paid much attention to his last remark, seeing how easy it had been for Noah to fake a relationship for PR once, but his tone held something. She couldn’t quite place it, but it made it sound like the words had a deeper meaning. On the other hand, he was right: acting like she was in love with him would be easier than expected, because she looked at him as if he hung the stars in the sky, and she couldn’t deny it.

Deborah smiled at the genius in front of her, though, taking one last look at his glacial eyes before letting their hands slip together.

“I knew you were trouble, Matthew Tkachuk,” but God, she loved him for it.

Dinner went better than expected, and for the first time in years, Thanksgiving brought a smile to Deborah’s lips. Was it because Matthew was by her side? She didn’t know. What she did know, though, was how good his arms around her felt, how addicting his lips on her cheek and temple were.

By the time her relatives left her house, Deborah was still buzzing. She had drunk a glass of wine, but she wasn’t buzzed on alcohol. She was buzzed on Matthew’s attention.

The two of them stood by her parents as they waved her aunt’s white car goodbye, his strong arm wrapped around her waist as he smiled oh so tenderly.

“Dad and I are heading to sleep,” Deborah’s mother mumbled. “We can take care of the dishes tomorrow morning,”

“Alright,” was all the daughter said. “I’ll be upstairs in a few,”

Matthew wished her mother goodnight, tugging Debby along inside the household as soon as the older woman reached the top of the stairs. His eyes filled with their familiar glimmer Debby knew too well, a smile forming on her lips as he twirled her in his arms. “We should get into acting,”

“Totally,” she giggled, her arms wrapping themselves around his neck as their eyes stayed in contact. “We slayed it,”

“I knew we would,” he admitted, head so close to hers his breath fanned over her nose. “Loving you is easier than I had expected, Deborah,”

The words were unexpected, but they engraved themselves in the woman’s mind as soon as her brain recepted them. The butterflies in her stomach were making every single muscle in her body tingle, and when one of Matthew’s hands cupped her cheek, Deborah feared her legs would give up on her.

His scent invaded her senses the second he came closer, his lips ghosting over hers as the newfound moment became sweet, tender. “Can I kiss you?”

The sudden ring of his phone snatched them out of their trance, Deborah’s lungs inhaling sharply after what felt like hours. The two of them separated, her cheeks feeling warmer than normal as she watched him look at the screen with what she could only call annoyance.

The device was vibrating in his hand, but he looked like he was contemplating on whether picking up the call or not. The screen read ‘Dad’, and the grimace on his face was what made Debby’s heart clench.

“You should take it,” the words left her mouth before she could even stop them.

“I probably should,” was all he mumbled, sending her a quick look before letting his eyes focus back on the device. Just as he swiped right, Debby pushed herself to the tip of her toes, pressing a swift, lingering kiss on his cheek.

“Goodnight, Matthew,”

As she made her way up the stairs and towards her room, Deborah let her cold fingertips graze the spot where his hand had rested, right on her cheek. She felt like a teenager in love again, a frustrated one, though.

Though they had almost had their first kiss together twice, something had always been in the way. First Noah, then Matthew’s father. Why was everyone keeping her from kissing him?

She wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him again and let their lips meet, but the universe had been thinking otherwise for what felt like ages. As Debby sat on her bed - still too happy to give up on all the newfound emotions -, she wondered what his lips would taste like, what it would feel like to be his.

After another moment of thinking, she forgot about everyone and everything and rushed down the stairs. The first floor was empty, but the lights in the basement were still casting shade over the stairs, inviting her to step closer.

As she rushed down that smaller flight of stairs too, Debby wondered if it was the right time to do it. To finally live her life a little. She swung the door open, Matthew’s light eyes rushing up from his dark phone screen to her face, a look of shock evident in them.

He sprung to his feet and caught her right before she could fall in his arms. She took a second to wrap her arms around his neck, letting their lips meet in the sweetest kiss she’d ever experienced.

His lips felt softer than clouds, so gentle against hers she thought she could faint; his arms - tight around her waist - were keeping Deborah close to his body, their warmth familiar. Everything about the moment was perfect, from the way their bodies fit together, to the way she started to struggle for breath.

They parted ways just when they couldn’t take it anymore, their foreheads meeting tenderly as they caught their breaths. “Wow,” the breathed exclamation made Debby giggle, Matthew’s plush lips painting with a smile as he admired her. “That was-”

“That was fucking awesome,” she finished his line, giggling at how childish she sounded. With a shake of her head, she let herself untangle from him, her body missing his warmth. “I uh- I probably should go to sleep,”

Deborah’s gaze was stuck on her feet, rising to meet his eyes just when his thumb and pointer finger lifted up her chin. There was a second before he leaned down to give the woman one last sweet kiss, his lips tenderly moving against hers before parting again.

“Good night, Debby,”

Deborah wrapped her cardigan tighter around herself as she leaned on the railing of the balcony overlooking her garden, watching the sunset longingly. The silence surrounding her was peaceful, and she felt relaxed, happy to be free for one last day.

“You’re gonna catch a cold, again,”

Debby turned around to face Matthew with a smile on her lips, jokingly rolling her eyes as he wrapped an arm around her. “I’m pretty sure colds don’t work like that,”

He chuckled, turning around to face the setting sun too. A feeling of déjà vu sent shivers down the woman’s spine, even if she knew that it wasn’t just a sensation: her and Matthew had experienced the sunset together before, it wasn’t just a feeling.

“Thank you for letting me come along,” he mumbled, a hand soothingly playing with her hair as he looked at the sky. “Your family is great,”

His words held a small hint of sadness, so subtle yet present enough to let Debby catch onto it. A part of her wanted to know what caused this sadness every time someone’s family was mentioned, the other wanted to let him take his time, talk about it whenever he was ready.

She had never been too patient in her entire life: as a kid, she’d stay awake during Christmas Eve’s night just to wake up as soon as the sun rose to open presents; as a teenager, she felt frustrated whenever she’d have to wait months to see her favorite artists in concerts. It was something she had always hated, but was never able to control.

For Matthew, though, Deborah was willing to wait.

“You know, I haven’t really had a Thanksgiving like this ever since I was sixteen,” he admitted, voice taking a gravelly tone as he avoided her eyes. “Ever since uh- the band grew famous, I guess,”

Debby watched his features take a bitter tone as he kept his gaze focused on the orange landscape. “You don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t feel like it, Matt,”

“Someone needs to know,” he sighed, shrugging gingerly before glancing her way. “The guys know I’m not close with my family, but they don’t know why. I trust you, and I want you to know,”

Panic set Deborah’s body on fire as she realized she was the first person to know about his family situation. He trusted her.

“My dad played hockey professionally for almost twenty years, it was in my blood to follow after his footsteps,” he started, interrupting her inner panicked conversation. “I was on skates before I could even walk, had a stick in my hand before I learned how to write, skated behind a puck before I even made friends. He thought it was in my blood.

“But, fuck, when I first saw a drum set at the age of five and heard my first rock song a few days later, I couldn’t care less about hockey and what my dad wanted. I started playing at a friend’s house: his sister owned a drum kit and let me use it twice a week, and music made me happy in a way hockey couldn’t,” Matthew admitted. “I played behind everyone’s backs just so they wouldn’t get disappointed in me. I’d go to hockey practice and work my ass off to make my father happy, then I’d get on my bike and ride to my friend’s neighborhood to play the drums.

“I took music during High School, and my teacher saw me play. He wanted me to join the school’s band, but I needed my parents’ signatures for that, and I didn’t want them to know. Eventually, he accidentally told them I should have pursued my dreams and that night was a fucking mess,” he sighed. “My mom, she- she didn’t mind, she was proud of me. She was happy I was doing what I really wanted to do, even if it was behind their backs. My dad, on the other hand, was pissed that his firstborn son wasn’t following his father’s footsteps. He had never been one for music,”

Debby let one of her hands slip into his, squeezing his palm gently to send him a non-verbal message of comfort. He was safe to speak, with her. “You know, I was his pride and joy growing up. He saw me playing ever since I was a child, and when he lost all hope in me when he learned about me playing the drums, it hurt. He loves my brother and sister because they do what he did, my brother even plays professionally like his old man. I was the disappointment of the family, in his eyes.

“I barely even remember how Chordback got together, but we got famous quickly, and I moved out as soon as possible. I wanted to enjoy my life without being under his disappointed glares, you know?” He sighed, shaking his head slightly. “Now I barely go home, and my mom hates it,”

There was a moment of silence as Deborah took in his story, shock filling her body as she breathed out shakily. “Matthew, I’m so sorry-”

“Don’t be,” he chuckled, shrugging as he let his eyes meet hers. “Mine isn’t a sob story,”

“So, he called?” She asked, remembering Matthew’s father had called a few nights prior.

“He wished me a happy Thanksgiving. Mumbled the usual bullshit about the fact that they miss me, that I should go home to at least see my mother,” he sighed. “Same stuff Taryn said over the phone a few months ago,”

Debby bit her lip, watching his tense body as he ran a hand through his hair. She didn’t know what to say. She had never expected him to have a story like that: he always looked fine, not a worry in his eyes as he went along with the flow. Yet, so much was hidden behind the barrier that kept the world away from his fragile heart.

Debby did the only thing that seemed to make sense in her mind, which was wrap him in a hug. He didn’t reciprocate the embrace for a second, but when his arms wrapped around her waist and his head dropped to the crook of her neck, she knew he needed it.

He needed someone to stabilize him for a second, to silently tell him everything was going to be alright, even if he felt like life was not okay.

She held him until he let go of her, because she remembered her grandma’s words: you never know how much someone needs a hug, so don’t let go until they do.

And by the time the two of them went back to watch the sunset, the future looked clearer.

-----

Life went back in full swing the moment Debby set foot in Calgary, Matthew by her side. Her phone rang with a call from Jean when the two of them went to pick up their bags at the airport, and the overwhelming nerves that came with working in the music industry made their way back in her system.

Days went by before she knew it, her head living in a limbo where all that mattered was her job. And Matthew.

Thanksgiving night couldn’t leave Debby’s head, and she didn’t want it to. She found herself thinking about it at night, alone in her cold bed as she begged for some rest, but her mind always thought otherwise.

Seeing Matt at work wasn’t easy either: her hands tingled, wanting to touch him; her lips begged to be kissed again, and she couldn’t just take it anymore. Staying away from him was what she was bound to do with her job, but all she wanted was to be his.

But it almost seemed like he didn’t reciprocate the feeling. There was distance, a lack of communication that was needed between the two of them. How could she figure out what the two of them were, if he didn’t talk to her? That was what Debby kept asking herself.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar hand on her shoulder, Noah’s eyes the first thing Deborah saw after daydreaming. “We’re boarding,”

“Alright,” she nodded her head, inhaling sharply before rolling her suitcase behind herself. The band was headed to New York again, and her and Jean were coming along for the ride, as per usual.

Growing up, traveling was something Debby had always wished to do, especially when she had reached her teen years. Taking the opportunity to become Chordback’s PA meant that she would have been traveling non-stop, and she had been ecstatic when she landed the job.

Looking back at it, Deborah’s happiness was still there, and saying she loved her job was an understatement. Did she wish for a break every once in a while - even from traveling? Yes, but the music industry never went to sleep.

Debby followed the band towards the plane, her eyes focusing on the sunny sky until the back of a familiar hand ghosted over hers. She looked up to see Matthew’s side profile, a trail of warmth filling her chest when his skin brushed hers, the sleeves of their coats hiding the motions from everyone else surrounding them.

Shivers rushed down her spine as the cold wind pushed her hair out of her face and, eventually, Matthew left her side, her high hopes of seeing any kind of emotion from him slowly lowering. Debby walked up the few small stairs that led inside the jet, shock stopping her right on the last step.

The woman that was greeting the team was smiling widely, her brunette hair pulled into a tight bun as she sported the sharpest uniform Debby had ever seen. She looked beautiful, confidence spilling out of her body as she shook the personal assistant’s hand.

“I’ll be your new pilot,”

A smile broke out on Deborah’s face, so wide she was scared it might get stuck there. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,”

By the time she reached her spot next to Jean, she felt quite confused, though. Why had the pilot been fired? Debby was sure nobody had caught onto the way he had been acting with her and how uncomfortable he had her feeling, so why was he gone?

Jean seemed to read her mind. “Matthew fired the old pilot right before Thanksgiving,” she whispered as she touched up her signature red lipstick. “He said the guy was a perv to the flight assistants,”

Deborah nodded her head along, eyes meeting with Matthew’s. She knew he had been listening to her conversation with Jean all along by the smug look on his face. “Yeah Jean, I also beat him up. Just thought you should know,”

The lipstick in her hand almost fell to the floor, a smudge of red painting the corner of her mouth as her eyes widened. “You what?!”

“I gave him his last paycheck to make him keep his mouth shut, don’t worry,”

“Matthew, that’s even worse!” She screeched, hands shaking as she searched through her purse to find her phone. “Oh my God-”

“The guy deserved it, Jean,” Matthew continued, voice becoming serious. “He was harassing the assistants and- and Deborah,”

The attention inside the plane shifted towards the woman in question, her heart beating out of her chest as an infinite amount of questions rushed through her mind. How did he notice? Had it been that obvious?

“Debby, is it true?” Jean said in a whisper, shock evident in her voice as her eyes stayed on the assistant’s features.

“I-I mean,” she stuttered, shrugging slightly. “It wasn’t anything too big, but it sure was creepy,”

“You could have told me sooner,” the manager said, her warm hand resting on Deborah’s forearm in a reassuring manner. “I would have tried to fire him as soon as possible,”

Debby gave her another shrug before shutting up, not wanting to discuss the matter any further. She felt embarrassed enough to let a man do that to her and not react, but when Matthew - the man she had more than a crush on - found out about the entire situation? She had never been more embarrassed.

She popped her earbuds in and watched the land fly past her from her window, hoping that everyone would forget about the matter by the time they landed. It wasn’t the case, though.

It was almost night by the time the band arrived in New York, to say Debby was more than tired to reciprocate the kind smiles coming from the hotel clerks was an understatement. Her room card was handed to her after just a few minutes, and the thought of crashing on a bed almost had her yawning.

Matthew walked past her, sending a small smile her way before the doors of his elevator closed. She had been successful at blocking any thought regarding the flight, but the questions still kept her curious, even in her tired state.

Deborah headed towards her room, catching one last glimpse of the drummer disappearing behind her neighboring door. She blew out a sigh, getting inside her room and letting her suitcase fall to the floor, ready to slip into comfortable clothing and get in bed.

With the covers up to her chin, though, her eyes just couldn’t close. Debby found herself staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city still awake at the ungodly hour, just like her.

As pathetic as it sounded, she wanted nothing more than to know how Matthew had found out, or even why he had taken it upon himself to fire the pilot. Why had he been so selfless?

The questions kept her awake, and all she wanted was just to sleep. She knew, though, that her body wouldn’t rest until her mind shut down, too.

She pushed the covers away, slipping a pair of slippers on and leaving the room sluggishly, eyes tired. As Deborah stopped in front of Matthew’s door, she felt suddenly awake. Nerves started to make her anxious, and she had to push herself to knock before she could rush back to her room with her tail between her legs.

There was a second before the door opened, Matthew looking quite tired too as he ran a hand through his messy hair. “Deb?”

“How did you find out?”

From the look on his face, Debby knew she didn’t need to elaborate her words, to explain what she really wanted to know.

“Come in,” was all he mumbled, opening the door wider for her. She followed his instruction, entering the room that looked the exact copy of hers before sitting down on the corner of his bed.

There was a moment of silence as he stood in front of her, tattooed arms folding over his chest as he bit his bottom lip. For a second, Deborah’s body lit up on fire, craving to feel his lips pressing against hers. She came back to reality and cooled down when she remembered why she was in his room. She needed answers.

“I uh- I noticed you always disassociated when we boarded the plane,” Matthew started, the look on his face turning serious when his eyes met with hers. “And at first I thought you were just scared of heights or something, but it didn’t make any sense,

“Then the other week I boarded the plane behind you and that motherfucker started hitting on you,” his voice became darker, a hint of protectiveness in his tone Debby had never found before making her hands tremble. “And it was clear you weren’t reciprocating,”

“You didn’t need to do that for me, you know?”

“I wanted to,” he admitted. “I couldn’t stand seeing you like that. I have a sister, and I wouldn’t be able to be at peace with myself if I knew something like that was happening to her and didn’t do anything to keep her safe, and same applies to you,”

Deborah tried not to acknowledge the warmth inside her chest as her eyes fell to her lap, a sigh leaving her lips. “It wasn’t worth it, Matthew. If people find out you hurt him, there will be chaos,”

“Everything I do for you is worth it, Debby,” he whispered, pushing her chin upwards so their eyes could meet, his orbs laced with fondness. “Even if it means I’ll have to punch a perv and ruin my career. Why can’t you understand that?”

The woman shook her head, repressing a small smile before sighing again.

“I need you to be safe, Deborah,” he whispered, voice as tender as a cloud as he spoke to her. “I wouldn’t forgive myself if something happened to you without me even noticing,”

The words had tears well up in her eyes, but she fought the urge to let them streak down her face. Nobody had ever cared that much about her, and she felt full of something she couldn’t quite place. Love? Fondness?

“Promise me you’ll stay safe,” he asked, voice shallow as he cupped her cheek.

“I promise,”

His body inched closer to hers, the only thing separating the two of them being a thin layer of air. His lips fell on Deborah’s after a second, sweetly carefree as she got lost in his scent, his presence.

He was kissing her. She felt more than confused from all the times she felt like he had been avoiding her, but he was kissing her, and she ignored any red flag she could have possibly thought about.

Debby wished to never let go, but her body reminded her that she was more than tired by making her legs give out on her, her embarrassed laugh ending the kiss. “I’m uh- I’m exhausted from today, I should probably go to sleep,”

Matthew nodded, a silent smile painting his slightly swollen lips as he pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Of course you will,”

-----

Tomorrow was quite eventful, though. Deborah woke up late, the sound of her alarm not being loud enough to wake her from her deep slumber; she stumbled around her room to get dressed up, sending a quick text to the band to tell them she was going to be late to breakfast, receiving a string of messages explaining they were going to wait for her.

When she left her room, Debby was still half asleep. She registered the voices of the guys, and she registered Matthew’s soft smile, but she went on autopilot when she followed the boys towards the breakfast spot.

Her rough, real awakening happened in front of the café, where an unfamiliar girl was waiting for them - or, at least, Noah. She was tall, hair a beautiful shade of blond as a breathtaking smile painted her lips, directed to Noah and Noah only. It looked like she only had eyes for him, and from the way the lead didn’t shy away from her attention, Debby realized who she really was. Aleena.

There was a brief moment where they hugged, sharing a laugh as Noah bent down to press a kiss on her cheek before turning around to face Deborah and the rest of the band. As the assistant looked around in pure shock, she noticed that Johnny, Matthew and Elias all shared her same expression.

“Guys, this is Aleena,” Noah said, holding back laughter at the looks on their faces. “She’ll be joining us for breakfast, I hope this isn’t a problem,”

“Uh, no! Not at all!” Debby exclaimed, pushing herself out of her trance to shake the girl’s hand. “I’m Deborah, the band’s personal assistant,”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Aleena said, a gentle smile on her lips. The few minutes that followed the encounter were spent with introductions, a thin layer of shock still coating the air as everyone got inside the café to place their orders.

“Damn,” Matthew whispered from behind Debby, chuckling as they queued behind other people. “I wasn’t expecting him to introduce her this soon,”

“Me neither,” the assistant admitted, looking at him with a smile. “She’s nice, though,”

He nodded, agreeing with her as she moved forward, repeating her order in her head. “You think they’re going public?” Deborah asked, checking her phone for the time before looking back up, waiting for an answer.

“I think Jean is in the dark about this as much as we were,” Matt mumbled, letting his hands rest on her shoulders subconsciously, her heart skipping a beat at his touch. “So I think he has to tell her first,”

Debby nodded her head, a smile forming on her lips when she came face-to-face with the barista. She placed her order calmly, reaching for her wallet when the moment to pay arrived.

“I’ve got it,”

Matthew placed his order and paid for the both of them, not even giving the assistant enough time to fight and pay for her own stuff. “Well, thank you, then,” she said, jokingly rolling her eyes as they grabbed their drink and headed for their table, the drummer sitting next to her after a few seconds.

He had talked to her, paid for her drink, touched her shoulder. At that point, Debby was asking herself where they really were standing. There were moments when she felt like a stranger to him, when he barely even sent a smile her way; other times - mostly behind closed doors -, it felt like she was his, but just when it was needed, not always.

The empty table became quite crowded after everyone sat down with their breakfast. “So, new album and tour this year, boys,” Elias smirked, taking a sip of his coffee. “Missed that shit,”

“Album drops in a month, so you’ve still got some time to put some final touches,” Deborah pointed out. “Then tour is in a couple of months,”

A few nods came from around the table, her eyes settling on Aleena as she silently sipped on what Deborah could only guess was a latte. “Are you coming along, Aleena?”

The new addition seemed to be shocked by Debby’s question, almost choking on her drink as she opened her mouth to speak. “I uh- we haven’t really talked about it, yet,” she said, looking up at Noah with so much admiration it made the assistant’s heart clench.

Debby nodded, smiling her way before sipping her drink, a hint of jealousy of what the couple had sending shivers down her spine. Breakfast went faster than she had expected as she found herself talking to Noah’s girlfriend with the group and enjoying her company, and by the time they left the place, Deborah was sad to leave Aleena behind.

The band needed to get to the studio to discuss the upcoming release and tour, though, and the group and Aleena had to part ways.

“I think we should celebrate,” Elias pointed out, leaning on his chair with his arm behind his head. “Have a few drinks, go to a club,”

“We haven’t even released the news, Elias,” Jean sighed, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Why not, though? We could just have a party before everything gets released, just us,”

Jean spit out a laugh at the ‘just us’, making the guitarist scowl jokingly. “Back to the album. It’s done, then?”

“Almost,” Noah corrected. “We could pull an all-nighter tonight and just finish it,”

Matthew nodded, followed by Johnny and Elias. Everything seemed to be on board, and Deborah felt happy. The band was back to normal: the fights had come to a halt, they were about to release their newest - and best, by far - album, and they were going on tour again.

One thing was holding back her happiness, though, and it was confusion.

What the hell was happening with Matthew?

The walk from the café to the studio had been enough to send her in a spiral of thoughts, finally realizing that what was going on between the two of them wasn’t quite right. For some reason, she wanted nothing more but to know where she stood in his life, if she mattered or if she was just another groupie.

Bitterness filled her mouth as she found him staring, embarrassment making her feel numb. It had taken her so long to realize that he was playing a game, and she felt stupid.

Debby lifted herself up from her chair, grabbing her purse. “I’ll head out to take a breather,”

And when he didn’t even spare her a glance, she knew she needed to figure out what was really happening between the two of them.

Deborah wasn’t another fucking groupie, that she was sure of.

“Alright, we’re almost done, guys,” Noah mumbled, eyes cast on the laptop sitting in front of him as Johnny stood behind him, arms folded over his chest.

“Final touches?” Elias popped from the bathroom, still drying his hands with a paper towel.

“Yeah,” Matt murmured. The drummer was sitting on the couch right in front of Deborah’s, a look she couldn’t quite read painting his features.

The all-nighter the guys had pulled had been going on for hours, and she was quite tired. The moon was peeking over a thick set of curtains, wishing to get her attention by painting a white streak inside the studio. Her head was pounding, but she wanted to assist to the start of Chordback’s new era. Sleep wasn’t on her schedule, at least until the band finally was done.

The late hour was taking a toll on everyone, but even through their almost bloodshot eyes, Debby could tell the guys were more awake than they had ever been. The air felt exciting, and she felt like she had nothing to lose.

“And we’re done,”

Noah’s words had the entire room in silence, even the rustling of the wind outside came to a halt when he spoke. Debby’s heart raced, a smile forming on her lips as she looked up at the lead, nothing but respect in her eyes.

“Holy fucking shit-” Elias whisper-yelled, running a hand through his messy hair before breaking the silence with a shocked laugh. “Holy shit-”

“We’re done!” Johnny exclaimed, his voice louder than his bandmate’s.

“Fuck yes,” Matthew smirked, throwing a fist in the air in celebration before pulling Noah in a hug. “We did it, man,”

Deborah congratulated the boys, hugging each one of them like a proud little sister before she got to Matthew, her heart clenching. Where the hell did she stand? “Good job, Matt,” she smiled awkwardly, leaning in to give him a quick side hug.

“Deb-”

“Should we pop a bottle open?” Elias asked, his frame hunched over the minibar. When he rose back to his full height, he was holding a bottle of champagne, his familiar smirk keeping the left corner of his mouth up.

“Hell yes!” Noah chuckled, looking around to find some flutes only to find himself helpless: there weren’t glasses to celebrate with. Debby didn’t need him to even send a glance her way, her hands already gathering her stuff.

“Debby, can we-”

“I’ll go get someone for you,” she said to the lead, slinging her purse over her shoulder. “I was heading out anyway,”

“Already? Darling, this is the best part and you’re leaving,” Elias said, voice holding the flirty tone that she knew he couldn’t even control.

“I’m sure we can celebrate when the dates will be released,” Deborah winked his way, opening the door and stopping right before she could walk inside the fancy hallway. She turned around, facing all of them before pointing a finger their way. “Don’t do anything stupid,”

“Yes, ma’am,” was the only answer she could hear as she stepped out of the room, reaching the closest desk where Maria - the kind receptionist she grew to be friends with - was smiling, not a trace of tiredness in her dark eyes.

“Maria, can you please send some flutes to Chordback’s studio?” She asked, slipping her coat on just as some footsteps started to sound behind her. “They just finished their album,”

“Of course. Heading out?”

“Yes,” she sighed, stopping in her tracks just when she heard a familiar voice calling her name.

“Deborah, wait,”

Matthew was rushing down the hallway, hair stuck in an unusual nest as he sported a confused look. Another sigh left Debby’s lips, her eyelids closing as she turned around to face him. “What, Matthew?”

“What’s up with you? Did I do something wrong?”

“What do you mean what’s up with me?”

“You’ve been acting weird, today,” he pointed out. “You were okay this morning, and then you gave me the cold shoulder the entire day. Really, what the hell have I done?”

“What the fuck are we doing, Matt?”

His eyebrows furrowed as he received a question, instead of an answer. His mouth opened but closed again, only to leave the woman with silence. She took it upon herself to keep the conversation going. “Because our points of view are clearly not the same,”

“What are you talking about, sweetheart?”

The pet name made Deborah flinch, her heart doing a forbidden cartwheel as she cursed herself for even feeling that way during an argument. “I’m talking about the fact that we kissed on Thanksgiving, you protected me from that fucking asshole of a pilot, asked me to promise to be safe, and I still don’t know whether you want this to happen or not!” The words came out louder than she had expected, but she didn’t care. She was exasperated and she needed to know. “And, for God’s sake, don’t call me sweetheart,”

Deborah was faced with another moment of silence, Matthew’s face taking an expression she couldn’t quite read. She had never heard silence that loud, and his lack of words was enough to answer every single question of hers.

“I don’t have time for your silence, I’m heading out,” Debby spat out, clutching her bag closer before muttering her next words. “I’ll see you tomorrow,”

When she had first thought about confronting Matthew, she thought it wasn’t going to affect her. But by the time she left the tall skyscraper, remembering the conversation the two of them had had on its top at sunset, she couldn’t tell if the wetness on her face was formed by the rain or the tears.

She felt empty, even if the argument was for the best. She had done nothing to deserve to get played by a man like Matthew - rich, with nothing to lose - and she knew her worth. But God, did it hurt.

Deborah’s hopes had been over the roof from the start, but he had just led her on, like men like him do with groupies. He needed to figure out what he felt and where he wanted things to go, because she already knew where she stood about that.

Noah and Aleena were happy, so happy. They looked like they were fitted perfectly for each other. Naively, she had thought she and Matthew could have been the same.

But clearly, a happy ending in her love life still wasn’t planned.

-----

“Okay, so Rolling Stones interview on the fifth?” She asked Jean, eyes stuck on her laptop as she scrolled through Chordback’s schedule. “The day after the album release? Wow,”

“Yeah, they were begging us to be the first ones to get an interview,” Jean sighed, sipping on her coffee before looking down at her own papers. “Then we have a few more interviews,”

“And all the radio interviews during-”

“Flowers for Deborah?”

The words had the assistant frowning in confusion, her eyes turning up to see a delivery man standing on the doorway of the meeting room. He held a large bouquet of flowers, the composition looking lovely even from the distance.

Debby rose from her chair with uncertainty clear in her features, grabbing the bouquet from his larger hands. “You sure it’s for Deborah? I haven’t received flowers ever since graduation,”

The man chuckled, the smile not quite reaching his eyes as he checked his watch, probably in a rush. “100% sure. Have a nice day, ma’am,”

He was out of eyesight before she could even thank him - or ask him to check again -, her eyes focusing on the gift in her hands as the room filled with silence. Who the hell could have sent her flowers? A small whistle brought the woman back to reality, making her turn around to face Jean. “Secret admirer?”

Was it her ex? “I didn’t even know I had one,”

Deborah’s fingers caressed the delicate petals until something sharp came in contact with her skin. The small piece of paper was looking up at her as if it was begging to be read, her heart hammering as she let her fingertips graze over it.

I know this isn’t much, but it is the start. - M

“Oh my God,” she muttered under your breath, sighing loudly. Matthew?

And he didn’t lie in the note: with each and every passing day, gifts were waiting for Debby at her hotel door, at the recording label, even in her bathroom. She had received multiple bouquets of flowers, a cute tote bag she had seen on a specific Etsy store and mumbled about for weeks, skincare products she still was missing, and what the hell?

Every single present was paired with a message written in Matthew’s chicken scratch, his words meaningful even through paper, and what the fuck was happening?!

Jean would strangle out a laugh every time she’d see a new gift waiting for Deborah, muttering about the fact that not even her ex-husband was as passionate about forgiveness after cheating as Matthew was. Though she looked completely fine on the outside, Debby didn’t know how to feel.

In some ways, she felt childish for even arguing with him: he was a busy man, he didn’t have time for relationships. At the same time, though, she felt like she deserved more than to be played like a game, like she was nothing more than a stranger to him.

Certainly, getting spoiled by the man she almost yelled at really didn’t help with making Deborah feel like what she did was right, especially since it looked like he was trying his everything to get one last chance.

“Are you ever going to forgive this poor secret admirer?” Jean asked, eyes not even leaving her paper as Debby sat in front of her, miserably looking at the pins she had just received. The pastel-colored items she had liked on Instagram just a few days prior felt cold in the assistant’s hands, and it wasn’t the first time she’d started questioning her life choices. “He looks like he’s desperately trying to win you back,”

“And he is,” Deborah sighed, burying her face in her hands before looking up at the ceiling. “I feel like it was stupid of me to start a fight, you know?”

“Why don’t you just talk to him, then?” In some ways, the assistant was thankful Jean didn’t know Matthew was the main character of the conversation.

“Because I’m scared he’ll hate me,”

The woman laughed loudly, making Deborah turn as small as an ant right in front of her. “Open your eyes, will you, girl? The man is whipped. A man who doesn’t know a woman’s worth wouldn’t chase or wait for her,”

Her words engraved themselves in Debby’s mind, their truth so candid she couldn’t even question it. She remembered what her grandma had told her after her first big heartbreak: there’s plenty of fish in the sea, but Deborah knew her gran’s advice wouldn’t apply with Matthew’s situation.

“I just- I don’t know what to do,”

“Has he been good to you? Has he treated you well?” Jean asked, her eyes boring into Debby’s when she nodded her head. “Then don’t think and do whatever your heart tells you to do,”

The assistant watched her for a swift second, lifting herself up from her chair and grabbing her purse. “I’m heading off,”

“Use protection!” Jean yelled behind her, a laugh leaving her lips before she mumbled under her breath. “God, when did I start being so poetic?”

With her heart hammering against her rib cage, Debby rushed through the busy streets of New York, meeting Matthew being the only thought on her mind. To her luck, the hotel the band was staying in was not too far away from their studio, and by the time she opened her room door to get rid of her coat, she wasn’t too exhausted.

She was confused, though. Sitting right under her feet was a piece of paper, the writing so familiar. She grabbed it from the floor, skimming through the words before realization struck her like lightning.

It was a song.

Matthew had written her a song.

Tears welled up in Deborah’s eyes as she read, hands shaking as she bit her lip. She couldn’t let him go.

It was a love song, the words so gentle and heart-clenching. Admiration, love, and passion were spilling out of them in waves Deborah wasn’t ready to let go of yet, so she read it another time. And then another, and another, and another.

She walked out of the room with tears streaming down her face - not caring if other guests saw her in the meantime - still holding the notebook page in her hand. As she faced his door, something inside her seemed to turn on: nervousness.

What if he wasn’t at the hotel? What if her silence had made him give up?

All her questions got an answer when Matthew opened the door, a tired look on his face. His hair was a mess, and he didn’t look like his normal self, like Matthew.

“Deborah?”

“You wrote me a song?”

The drummer sighed, opening the door wider to let the woman in. “I uh- I started writing it a few months ago, when everything started, you know-”

His room was dark, but Debby could make out his half-packed suitcase, his clothes sitting messily all over the floor. The thought made its way in her head, but it seemed so out of character for Matthew that she couldn’t even believe it was real. The whole conversation about the song dropped. “You- are you leaving?”

“I have no reason to stay here,” he sighed, running a hand through his tousled hair before slightly cleaning up. “Album is done, and we have a few weeks before our first interview. Also, I kind of grasped the two of us are actually done, so I really didn’t have a purpose here,”

His lonely words had Deborah’s heart clenching, her smaller hand clutching his as she turned around to face him. “I love you,” she breathed out shakily, the three-worded sentence she had been thinking about for months finally slipping out of her parted lips. “I love you so much, and I fucked up,”

Matthew looked shocked as he took in her words, eyes slowly widening. “Deb-”

“I know it’s too soon, you don’t have to say it back, but I felt like you should have known,” she said, breathing out a sigh of relief as a weight she didn’t know she was holding was pushed off her shoulders. “You’re a busy man, relationships probably aren’t what you want at the moment, and it wasn’t my place to get pissed off,”

“I love you, Deborah,” he admitted. “I wasn’t kidding when I said that loving you was easier than I had expected,”

Another set of tears had her eyes burning, her hand intertwining with his as she looked up at him. “I’ve never been good with words, or emotions, and that’s why there was miscommunication between us,”

“Fuck-” Deborah closed her eyes, guilt rushing through her. “I’m fucking awful, this is all my fault,”

“Hey, it was bound to happen, at some point. To be honest, I probably should have made it clear that I loved you a long time ago, I don’t know what was holding me back,” Matthew said, gently cradling her face. “But we’re here now, and we’re fine,”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, emotions spilling from her words as she watched him through her teary gaze. “I’m so sorry,”

“I don’t want you to be,” he murmured back, letting his thumbs brush a few tears away. There was a beat as his warm breath fanned over her features, her eyes focusing on his stormy ones as silence settled between them. She was in his arms, the two of them were okay. “Debby?”

“Hm?”

“I want the world to know how much you mean to me,” he whispered in her ear, his voice sending shivers down her spine. “I want to make you mine,”

“Say the words, Matt,” Deborah murmured, arms wrapping around his neck as her lips ghosted his. “Say the words and I’ll be yours,”

There was a beat, a long one, before Matthew let his lips brush hers in a gentle - but desperate - kiss. The drummer’s hands were everywhere as the two of them kissed, not a worry in the world as her back hit the soft comforter of the room’s bed.

“Be mine, Deborah,” Matthew breathed out when his lips left hers, his orbs maintaining eye contact. “I’ll find a way to give you my world,”

She bit her lip, smiling as she watched the man in front of her - the man she loved - offer her his love with just the power of his words.

“You already do, Matt,” Debby whispered, bringing him closer to press another kiss to his slightly-swollen lips. “I’m yours,”

-----

“Why the fuck am I nervous? I’m not even going on stage,” Deborah mumbled, words coming out rushed as she stood outside the green room with Aleena, her friend’s laughter filling her ears.

“They’ve been doing this for years, hun. They’re probably not even nervous themselves,” Noah’s girlfriend said, voice gentle as her arm wrapped around Debby’s. “And we both know they’re going to kill it,”

“That’s true,” the personal assistant nodded her head, taking a sip of her water just as the door of the room opened, Chordback coming out looking as mesmerizing as ever. They were a mess of tattoos and pearly white smiles, ready to take on the first stage of the tour and make the crowd go wild.

Noah, in his old-school-love fashion, wrapped Aleena in his arms, owning a little squeal as he lifted her off the floor. “Put me down, idiot!”

Elias and Johnny, too busy talking to each other about their improvised solos, didn’t even glance Deborah’s way, heading towards the stage by following the staff. Matthew, on the other hand, took a moment to let his eyes focus on his girl.

“You look beautiful,” he said, voice low as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Debby’s sundress clung to her body the way she knew he loved, and the smile on his face was enough to make the butterflies in her stomach start their never-ending dance.

“You don’t look too bad yourself,” she giggled, taking his hand and leading him towards the side of the stage, where everyone was standing. The other band that was opening the concert was still going strong, the crowd enjoying the background music as they waited for Chordback to start their tour with a bang.

The last few notes of a song she had heard many times before owned claps and screams from the public, a few whistles also shaking the arena. Debby stood next to Aleena as she smiled, the feeling of hearing the public again making the assistant’s legs almost give up on her.

She had started her job when the band was already almost at the end of their second tour, and it had been a chaotic way to start her first job in the music industry. She hadn’t been able to get to know the band members, and she hadn’t been able to enjoy even a bit of traveling.

That time, though, it was different. She was there as Chordback’s personal assistant, but also as Matthew’s girlfriend. The experience itself was going to be new, unexpected.

“Good luck,” she told Matt just as the opening band started to leave the stage. Debby leaned up on the tip of her toes, pressing a kiss to his lips.

“I don’t need that,” he smirked, winking down at her before kissing her again, this time passionately. “I already have my lucky charm with me,”

Deborah shook her head, pushing out a giggle as he backed off, tugging the drumsticks from his back pocket. “Cheesy, Matthew,”

“What do you expect from me?”

As the stage grew dark, the band entered the stage, filling their designed spots just as a few yells and cheers filled the air. The first sound came from Matthew’s drumsticks, and the place lit up as the opening song started, the song that had brought the newest album to the top of the charts: Aleena’s song.

Matthew smiled Deborah’s way gingerly as he started to play, her heart skipping a beat. As she watched him play, she couldn’t exactly tell why all the fondness inside her body seemed to come out just then. It felt strange.

Though after a few moments of wondering, she realized what it really was. Proudness. Deborah was proud of the little kid that snuck out of the house to practice the drums in a house five blocks away, she was proud of the teenager that followed his dreams even when his father was disappointed in him. She was proud of Matthew and the man he had become.

She was proud of him, and she loved him, more than she loved herself.

Matthew was her home, her safe place. He was a part of the life she was hoping to bring along in the future, and he was the person she wanted to wake up next to every morning.

Back at her childhood home during Thanksgiving, he had said that loving her was easier than he had expected.

He hadn’t realized, though, that loving him was the easiest part of Deborah’s life. A part that she was willing to carry with her for the rest of her life.

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