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#and it's in talking to dan that she starts to let herself make plans for her life based on who she is and what she actually wants to be

justanamesstuff · 5 months

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Chapter 2

Seasons

Matty Healy x f!reader

A/N: I'm really enjoying this process with this fic...I've written it a few years ago so it means a lot to me acknowledging how much i grew since then in a lot of senses. Anyyyway, I hope you like it! Please let me know whatever you think about it (always with respect please and thank uu) ♥♥

Warnings: just fluff and a bit of mixed feelings, typos.

Word count: 2.8 K

Masterlist Taglist

< chapter 1

1 month later, Ireland

The alarm went off startling Y/n out of her dreams.

The girl groaned, closing her eyes tight before reopening them. Her sight settled on the ceiling of her temporal bedroom. Y/n’s mind was foggy with sleep and heavy thoughts.

At the same time she went through the schedule for the day, Y/n rubbed the middle of her chest feeling a subtle and yet intense feeling. She felt like she was going against the flow of everything. Like her destination was east, although everyone was taking the opposite way. Y/n asked herself multiple times during that past month if she was doing the right thing.

The contradiction was born out of a mix of feelings. Y/n had very deep and dark feelings on her heart, but on the other hand Ireland was making her happy, the time away from Matty and the guys was helping more than she expected it.

Y/n hadn’t spoken with the boys since she left the studio/house. During the first days, she continued talking with George. But all conversations died quickly since she was getting ready to leave, and he was busy producing and recording the new album.

Y/n adored her work as a PA for actors around all type of sets. For the new job she was meant to help Lily, who was a sweet soul and luckily around the same age as he, so they got along rather fast once they landed on Ireland.

The girl rubbed her face trying to get rid of the heavy feeling. Running around the set drowned her energy completely, physically and mentally speaking. At night, Y/n ate fighting with the fatigue overpowering her body. Even though her work drained her she loved it, she wouldn’t change it for anything else and for the time being it was a life saviour as well. Y/n was deeply exhausted but profoundly grateful for everything.

Only one thing shadowed her happiness: her dreams with Matty. He was constantly there, reminding Y/n he still existed no matter how hard she tried to avoid the man. Maybe that was why she started to work harder and harder trying to fell every night into even deeper REM states in which Matty couldn’t reach her.

‘I’ll get through this’, Y/n repeated as a mantra getting up from her bed.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

On set, Ireland

Y/n was going through Lily’s schedule on her phone making sure everything was right and on time. The girl was a good worker but the main reason that day circled around the fact that it was Friday, and she had a plane to take, Y/n wanted to be out of set on time.

She was texting the assistant to the director when the actress spoke for the first time in half hour taking the PA out of her work rush.

“So, what are you doing for Christmas break?” Lily asked Y/n who didn’t take her eyes off the screen.

“I’m going home. Why?” Y/n expressed, still not making eye contact.

“Like…home home? Or just home?” Lily insisted, finally making her friend look up.

She told Lily a resume of her life, not a detailed one though. “Home home doesn’t feel like home any more and I much prefer to spend the holidays with the guys than with Uncle Dan and his family to be honest.” Y/n answered. “I’m going to Manchester.”

“Oh, right. He is- “

“No, he’s in LA from what I’ve heard.” Y/n explained rapidly. Yes, she told Lily a little about Matty.

“Amazing.”

“Why you ask?”

“Because the whole cast is planning on going out during the weekend but…anyway, you’re leaving us.” Lily pulling a sad face.

“I’m not part of the cast..so you’re not going to miss me.” Y/n joked back.

“Oh, shut up! You’re part of the gang!” Lily protested. “Well, yeah, we’re planning on getting super drunk, and you know who asked if you were coming…” Y/n instantly blushed.

“You’re bluffing You’re lying” she moved uncomfortably in her seat.

“‘m not” Lily smile widened. “You can ask Lee- “ who was another of the actors. “He was there too. We were running some lines before a scene, and your boy- “

“He’s not my boy.” y/n whined.

“Yeah, sure!” Lily scuffed. “As I was saying, we were discussing the plans and Tom asked about you.”

“Did he really?” Y/n looked at her friend, really willing to know.

“Oh yes, he was very interested.”

“Maybe he wanted to know because if I go he’ll skip it.” Y/n thought out loud.

Lily looked at her in disbelieve. “Shut up, the boy is whipped for you!”

“Shhh!” Y/n took a quick glance at the door and out of the small window of the trailer. “Someone could hear you… and besides that’s not true.” Y/n shushed her.

“You’re impossible, you know right?”

“I know.” Lily’s friend smiled proudly.

“No, but really…do you know he fancies you? Yes?” Lily seriously asked.

“Do you know he treats me as a friend?” Y/n fought back.

“Y/n!”

“Lily!”

“Would you stop being so negative for a minute, please?”

“Mmmm, let me think about that” Y/n faked doing so. “No, but seriously, he’s a friend!” she looked down because Y/n could feel her entire face just turned red as her blood pressure picked up a little, and she didn’t want Lily to notice that.

“Oh, yeah, I totally believe you! The guy always finds a way to be around you and… please I don’t mean to underestimate your work, love…but he doesn’t have to be around you on set and yet…” Lily reasoned with Y/n.

“Okay, he likes to hang out with me.” Y/n partially admitted. “I can agree with that. Although…that doesn’t mean he fancies me.”

“Yes, but he only does that with you, Y/n/n.” Lily grinned. “Not even with me, we’re the main characters! We’re around each other the entire day almost.”

“But you hang out more with Fionn and Lola. Maybe that’s why.” Y/n said while she fidgeted with her fingers.

“Maybe, still- “

“See? Your conspiracy theory is all wrong.” Y/n tried to end the conversation. She stood up searching for the tea bags.

“It’s not. You’re choosing to avoid the truth!” Lily exposed Y/n hitting a nerve.

Y/n knew she tended to avoid dealing with her feelings. Specially the ones about love and romantic relationships. One thing was acknowledged it for herself although another galaxy was to admit them out loud at the same time she was –kinda– pushed to put herself again out there and give her heart to someone else. A little dramatic? Maybe. Even though, Y/n knew more than anyone the fact that it was a lot to handle.

Tom was a very nice guy, who came into her life and gave her a friendship so sweet and easy. He didn’t ask too much of her, he didn’t hurt her fragile heart since the first day they met. The contrast with Matty was massive. Wrong too. Y/n knew she shouldn’t compare them, but her heart couldn’t help herself.

Y/n was sure of what she told Lily. Tom was charming with everyone, he was a kind soul. Possibly one or two times he gave her reasons to think otherwise, but Y/n was afraid so she denied everything.

“Earth to Y/n!” Lily snapped her out of her head and internal dialogue. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry. I’m not choosing anything. Didn’t he have a girlfriend?” Y/n asked Lily.

“It wasn’t that formal…I don’t really know what happened but I think she left him or he- I don’t know, not important.” Lily moved her hands in the air.

“Like a month ago they appeared in the tabloids- “

“Oh, oh, someone was paying attention, ha?” Lily mocked her.

“Shut up, I wasn’t- I just- I stumbled upon it on the internet.” quickly Y/n tried explaining.

“Oh, yeah, I totally believe you!” Lily rolled her eyes gaining a weird expression from Y/n which in consequence made her friend laugh hard. Both of them started laughing uncontrollably.

The laughs were very loud, even the people walking by the trailers could hear them. In fact, the boy standing at the door smiled watching them, just before he interrupted.

“What is so funny?” Tom grinned wide.

“Talking about the devil.” Lily muttered low and quickly, so only Y/n could hear it.

“Hi, Tom.” Y/n greeted him avoiding Lily’s comment.

“Yeah, hi, Tommy.”

“What were you doing?”

“I was running lines and Y/n working, nothing fun.” Lily told him.

“Oh, good good.” he replied, leaning on the door frame.

Lily took a look at Tom and then Y/n, quickly making a decision. She took her phone, and said, “Well, I’ll leave you guys. Fionn wants to run lines together for the next scene.” Y/n arched an eyebrow knowing she didn’t have a scene with Fionn and very well knowing what Lily was planning.

“Okay…” Y/n said suspicious. “Remember to stay inside the big building at 17 pm, okay?” Y/n remind her.

“Yeah, yeah.” Lily dismissed her.

“And keep your phone close!”

“Yes, mom!” Lily joked making her way out.

Once Y/n’s friend was out of view, she urged Tom to get inside the warm trailer.

“Do you have more scenes today?” Y/n asked him, as Tom took Lily’s seat.

“Luckily, no, I just finished.” he shared.

“So, what are you doing here? If I were you, I would be in bed or something.”

“Yeah, good idea. I- I just…” Tom’s face turned a bit red, while he moved uncomfortable on his place. “I wanted to see you before you left.” Y/n’s heart melt a little. Tom kept gifting her those cute comments, and no matter the state of her heart he managed to make her a mess every time.

“I’m only leaving for a couple of days.” Y/n played with the strings of her hoodie. She didn’t really know what to say.

“Yeah, I know, I know…but we’ll miss you.” he said looking down.

Y/n tried to slightly change the subject, “Lily told me the whole gang is planning on going out this weekend.”

“Yes, it’s going to be boring without you.” Tom stated without skipping a beat. Y/n laughed a little.

“Oh, yeah! I’m the soul of the party! Sorry to leave you guys.” Y/n joked.

“Excuse me?! We are. Do you remember the last party?” Tom inquired. Part of the tension surrounding the pair broke, making them feel more comfortable with each other.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t remember any party. We never ever stayed up all night sitting at a table, talking about books and movies like two proper geeks and end up falling asleep in the same place.” Y/n said with a big smile adoring her face, making Tom laugh.

“Good thing you don’t remember, because I do!”

Y/n chuckled, “It was a good night though.”

“Yeah, I really enjoy it. The nap was fantastic.”

“Yeah, totally.”

“So, y/n- “ he started to ask.

“Yes, Tommy?”

“Why do you always manage to make that horrible nickname rarely cute?”

“It’s my hidden superpower.”

Tom rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I was wondering if maybe- “

“Aja..“

“I was wondering if… when you returned…you wanted to go on a date with me.” Tom’s proposal threw her back a little. Tom did notice her hesitation so he added, “only if you want- it’s totally fine if you don’t-“

Y/n cut him, “Tom!”

“Yeah?” he looked directly into her eyes.

Those gorgeous blue eyes drowned her and without thinking too much, y/n answered, “I would love to go out with you.”

“Really?”

“Do you have second thoughts?” She lifted her eyebrow, emphasising her question.

“No, no. I just- Never mind. Then, awesome! We can choose where and when next time you’re here, yeah?” Tom said, visibly smiling.

“Awesome.” she returned the happy feeling, keeping her head empty of doubts and thoughts. Y/n, for once, was feeling excited and happy.

After that they continued talking about everything and nothing for a couple of minutes, then duty called. Y/n had to make sure Lily shot her lasts scenes for the day and Tom had nothing more to do there if Y/n was busy. They said goodbye with a short but cute hug, making her feel a couple of things.

Until the end of her shift, Y/n’s head was occupied with happiness and work. She needed to finish the day and catch the plane home.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Returning home to Manchester, England

After finishing with everything on set, Y/n went to the Airbnb she was sharing with Lily. Y/n picked a couple of her belongings, she didn’t want to pack too many things for only a week in Manchester, just the necessary.

The flight was good, she already had messaged George all the details about what time the plane was meant to take off and land. G promised to pick her up from the airport and drive her home.

Y/n could feel the stress from the day, from the month as well. Even though she was happy and all, Y/n worked her butt off. That’s why minutes after the plane took off, she fell asleep. She woke up with the flight attendant letting her know that they had arrived.

A couple of minutes after the bureaucracy and all, Y/n managed to find George. They greeted each other with a big hug. They didn’t have seen each other since she left the house during the last bit of quarantine.

“You’re back, you’re back!” George rounded her, lifting her body slightly up the floor. He couldn’t contain his excitement.

“Someone missed me, ha?” Y/n said out of breath.

“Of course! I thought I was never going to see you again!” George let her feet touch the floor, resting his cheek on the top of Y/n’s head.

“You’re such a div.” Y/n accused him, laughing.

Y/n pushed a bit back, looking up at G.

“You just realized that?” he huffed, as they started to walk to the car. Y/n couldn’t avoid thinking of the last time she was at the same doors, but with someone else. She quickly stopped her head and returned her attention to her friend.

George ranted about a new track he had been working on with the boys, the mess he found when he returned to the house, etc. Y/n stayed in silence, loving the moment with her best friend. Listening was nice for her, his voice never failed to calm her head in a very strange way.

Y/n realized driving around that George was taking the road to the boy’s house. So she interrupted his talking, “ G, I’m not staying at your house tonight.”

“But, M-“ he started to say.

The drummer’s friend interrupted again, “I know, I just need to go home tonight. I need my own bed, ya?”

G thought for a second after accepting, “Fine!” He totally understood what she meant. “Fine! But..promised me the first thing you would do tomorrow is going to the house, okay?” Y/n’s chest got warm noticing G referenced the house as her own too.

“Yeah, dad.”

“Good girl!” George petted Y/n’s head jokingly, making her laugh. He was happy to see her smile more again.

The blond boy left her not without making her promise again. She already thought about going there before he told her, but anyway she repeated the promise.

………………………………………………………..

After a hug and a sweet goodbye beside another promise of visiting the boys the next morning, Y/n was so tired that the moment her head fell on her pillows she drifted again.

The next morning, Y/n moved around her flat content to be there and due to not remember any dream with Matty in a long time.

After a quick breakfast at 10 am, Y/n started the short trip to the boy’s house. On her way, Y/n texted George and the boy said he was out, but he would be home soon. It wasn’t a problem since Y/n had a key.

Y/n opened the front door at the same time someone started to walk down the stairs. She had her sight fixed on the bag of pastries she picked for the boy, but she could hear the steps.

Thinking the person was Ross, John or Adam –who was spending more time around since quarantine was over—, she said, “Who’s the sleeping beauty coming down?” finally looking up.

“Hi, Y/n.” a shirtless Matty greeted her. Y/n froze in place.

*******************

Taglist: @hollybrislen @sinarainbows @eaglestar31 @sugarkane1001

Chapter 3 >

#matty healy x reader #matty healy x you #matty healy x y/n #matty x y/n #matty x you #matty x reader #matty healy fic #matty healy fanfiction #george daniel #matty angst #matty fluff #friend to lovers #seasons #matty the 1975

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moxxiejoestar · 11 months

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book of thoth the god of knowledge (10/?)

To see the future like fortune teller with Crystal ball

After Daniela went to Dan's universe one day, she once again failed at her goal of eating every opposite of her friends, defeated, she went back to her universe, but behind her, was one of her usual target, Liam, she was following her, as she knew there was an opposite of herself in her universe, who, she wants to meet, a male vulpix who probably wores similar clothes to her's, so, after a travel between universes and such, she arrived at her destination, even tho a bit lost she did knew the place, as it wasn't too changed, hidding from Daniela and waiting until she went away, Liam went ahead on her search, however, the search didn't result in anything, it seemed he wasn't around atm, now that she knew that, it was dangerous that she stayed, so she went back to were the portal was, to her suprise on the way back, the one she was looking for showed up and grabbed her, making sure she couldn't move, the guy was quite strong, showing huge muscles, she knew there was no chance of escaping, but tried to relax as it wasn't clear what his intentions were, "Who are you?, and why do you look like me???", Liam giggled and tried talking with him, "Im Liam, or~ you of another universe, whats your name?", he looked surprised and couldn't help but look at her confused, "Liam??!!, But if you are me, you should be the one who has a different name!" , To which, she responded: "I~ know, but its fine, it confuses those who meet me for the first time, its a male name but doesn't really mean i can't have it?, no need to think much about it, right?", he seemed calm, but also quite annoyed, and instead of letting her go, he decided it would be best to fix the mistake that was bothering him, not her, but the misuse of his name.

"Well then, Liam, I think its really, really dumb you have my name, you already know why, even Daniela's clone has a name that fits him, so i'll do you a favor and fix it for you!.", And with that, he quickly grabbed her feet and started eating her, more than doing it for fun, he had a plan, but it required a stomach full of literally himself, each swallow took her deeper inside, while she kicked and struggled, with no luck, he seemed used to prey trying to escape, her fur coated in saliva was the least of her problems, having been eaten feet first, it was hard being able to move, once her chest was inside, all she could do is push with her hands on the sides of the maw to try and get out, only for them to slip and end up in the back of the strong throat that quickly was pulling her in, not long after, her head was all that is left, one last effort to get out was made: "Um~ im guessing you don't want to talk about this?, maybe there is another... ", *GULP*, Thats all she got in responce, sending her to the stomach of the vulpix, unable to move she slid down and joined the rest of her body in the round stomach, which didn't last long as it got really, really tight around her as he let out a huge belch, afterwards all he said to her was: "I have a better idea, Hurry up and Warm the stomach already, so you add to me and become someone who uses the name correctly!!", And with that he didn't digesting her, she knew that he wasn't gonna let her go, or want to talk more about this, no other option was given, she isn't dumb however, as she ate a reviver seed beforehand, but it would have been better if this hadn't happened.

The soft, tight walls of the stomach she was in, did allow her to move at all, only struggle as the stomach keeps warmer more and more, it seemed that this guy wasn't just strong in looks, but had a ton of experience as a pred, enough to cuddle anyone really, really fast, he was happy with her not digesting already, but waited patiently as he knew it wouldn't be long, Liam felt tired, and watched as her feet and legs kicked gentle, she was already falling asleep and she didn't want that to happen, seems her trip would end in a way she didn't expected, or wanted, even if not worried about her destiny as fat on him, she was more disappointed than anything that her male version wasn't as nice as she wanted him to be, as time went on, she kept warm, and in less than 30 minutes, the bulges in the outside that looked exactly like her, turned into a round, soft gut, which was only inside with warm and soft remains, Male Liam smiled, and was happy with his hunt, "I ate myself, isn't that fun?, i like her more this way", he thought to himself while rubbing the remaining pudge, walking away to have some rest after soft vore his big meal of the day~

This is Moxxie joestar & this is what thoth & boingo told me this future so beware of it & stay tuned folks!

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t0o-m4ny-f4nd0ms · 2 years

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Okay some it’s been twenty-four hours officially since I’ve seen the power of the doctor. Here are my thoughts;

GOOD;

• GODDAMN THAT SHIT WAS GOOD - from a plot perspective, a lot of callbacks to classic era, honestly made me wanna get britbox and watch classic who like the hype I felt seeing the past doctors - if I had actually watched their eras I would’ve shat myself even more

• SACHA FUCKING DHAWAN - someone give this man a fucking Oscar HOLY SHIT. He stole the show - he really did !!

• The VISUALS WILL AHHEIEHRIEJE ISTG NO OTHER ERA WILL HAVE BETTER SFX than this era! I will DIE ON THAT HILL

• YAZ - EVERYTHING ABOUT YAZ 😍 this is why she is top tier companion material my friends. BRIDAL CARRIES THE DOCTOR, SAVES THE FUCKING DAY, TAKES NO CREDIT FOR IT, FLYS THE TARDIS WITH HER NOTES, CAN READ GALLIFREYAN (apparently), STANDS UP TO THE MASTER, BECOMES THE DOCTOR IN HER OWN RIGHT, and is SO BRAVE when saying goodbye

• the actual regeneration - her little speech, her last sunrise, “tag, youre it” FUCK ME THATS SUCH A THIRTEEN THING TO SAY 😭 she was just so at peace with her fate, she knew it was time and she just accepted it

• THE companion support group situation at the end, and how they left a seat for Sarah Jane. That was beautiful

BAD;

• Idk if it was just me but it didn’t seem like Jodies doctor was given a lot to do? Like she gets taken away, gets forced into regeneration, degenerates into herself, gets rid of the daleks and the cybermen with her team, gets shot by a laser and then actually regenerates ?

• Obviously we already know how I feel about Jodie regenerating into David and the “what, what, what” - didn’t love it at all but it is what it is, moving on

• I don’t really understand what the point of having Vinder back was ? Kinda just felt like they wanted to bring Jacob back bc they like him? Same with Graham - like nice to see him, but him and Yaz barely acknowledged each other? Same with him and the doctor?

CONFLICTED;

• Companion endings - Dan leaving? Made sense but felt out of place and sort of rushed?

• The thasmin of it all - LOOK, I could make a WHOLE other post about this. One the one hand, we got quite a lot, like seeing that they’re equals, them always having each other’s back and wanting the other safe, soft touches, actions of love, acts of service, “[the Doctor] is loved”, “my doctor”, and “I’ve loved being with you Yaz”. That was their version of I love you and it was beautiful.

Their goodbye scene was HEARTBREAKING. Genuinely I’ve never heard more beautiful words said between two people who love each other and know it’s time to let each other go. The doctor saying “you know what this means right?” Shows that they’ve already talked about this, this conversation has been had off screen and we weren’t meant to be a part of it: it was something between them. Their plan was one last trip to end on a good note and idk I just, loved it. I will forever tear up watching that scene.

There could’ve been much more done, it felt VERY RUSHED towards the end. One the one hand, I’m not feeling that optimistic hopeful approach that was setup to be felt for Yaz’s ending. She’s jusy back on earth, and will probably work for UNIT and continue to save the earth. ONE THE OTHER HAND, it’s such a full circle moment bc when she started, she had just met someone who lost the love of their life but decided that the best way to grieve was find comfort in others. That’s exactly what she’s doing. She’s just lost the doctor and now, she’s found a group of people who have gone through exactly what she has gone through, and they’re getting through it together.

The lack of a kiss again I feel conflicted. I was convinced they were going to and was kinda mad they didn’t but then I sat and thought about it and I’m almost glad that they didn’t. It would’ve hurt them both too much, “it felt cruel, to be shown something I couldn’t have anymore. It felt like I’d rather not have know” pretty much sums that up I think. ALSO they did share a cheek kiss, bc Yaz kisses the doctor on the cheek when she bridal carries her 😌

Yaz being alive means that there’s a high possibility of her coming back, and I hope they definitely bring Jodie back as well in future.

————

That’s not even all of it but that’s all my brain can do right now, what did everyone else think?

#thasmin #doctor who #thirteenth doctor #yasmin khan #doctorwho #thirteen x yaz #yaz x thirteen #jodie whittaker #mandip gill #centenary special #chris chibnall #the centenary special #the power of the doctor #tpotd #chibnall era

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sociallyawkwardseal · 6 months

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I have an idea for a fanfiction

Maybe one where Ashlyn and Taylor talk (which could happen during the last episode that came out) where Ash feels guilty for what happened and thinks that Taylor blames her, but Taylor doesn't think that way about her and tries to calm her down (apparently Ashlyn is capable of having a panic attack or starting to hyperventilate when she gets desperate)

It would be interesting...

Yeah, seeing Ashlyn so overwhelmed with how much she had been holding back--and bawling her eyes out of it was. Something to me. I think Tyler helped her out a lot, but I think she still feels pretty bad, especially considering some of what we saw in episode 58.

I'm saying this takes place kind of between them all leaving the hospital/after Tyler wakes up and is in his hospital bed and before everyone actually gets to Jessica and Daniel's place; probably around 5am or 6am? They probably tried to stay at the hospital as long as possible, though.

Words: 858

Ashlyn clicked her seat belt to release it, shifting as it wound back up and fell into its original place. She watched her parents climb out of the car first—both of them talking quietly, stretching their backs as the cool night’s air hit them.

“Are you two coming?” Mike asked, resting his arm on the top of the car. He leaned in, making eye contact first with Ashlyn, and then Taylor. “It’s fine if you need a minute, but I want to let Dan and Jess know we’re here.”

Ashlyn barely nodded, her throat tightening around the sob threatening to climb out once again. “We’re good—we might. Need a few minutes, though.”

Taylor, hands clenching around the corner of her seat, glanced over at Ashlyn without turning her head. It took everything in her to hold herself still, to keep from sobbing. She was used to being the one to comfort others, but now, she couldn’t even comfort herself. She could only do her best to swallow her emotions as best she could.

“Take as much time as you need. Just turn off the car and bring the keys when you come in, alright?” Emma nodded, closing her door. “We’ll let everyone else know where you two are—”

“But text us if you need something. Anything. Alright?”

“We will. Thanks…” Ashlyn leaned back further in her seat as Mike closed the door; she watched the two of them walk to the front door, wait for it to open, and then disappear into the cold, practically white light emanating from inside.

The two stayed quiet for a moment, the overhead lights fading out and eventually dimming entirely to leave them in the dark. Once the two had settled into the silence, Ashlyn called out. “Taylor…?”

When she raised her head to meet Ashlyn’s eyes, Ashlyn looked away; she felt her throat tighten again at the barely-visible sight of tears brimming the corners of Taylor’s eyes, how her mouth struggled to stay in a tight line, trying not to waver with another round of tears.

How would you say this? Ashlyn’s fingertips dug into the sleeve of her jacket, her arms tightening around herself. Though the jeep wasn’t cold, she couldn’t help but shiver just a little bit. Ever since we met, you’ve been the one reassuring everyone. Comforting them. But how do I even start to say I’m sorry to you? How do I even start to help you here?

She knew what she could offer in the phantom dimension; she could make plans, she could try to protect them—though, it wasn’t like she’s had the best track record with that so far, she could… Do something. More than what she knew how to do here.

“I’m sorry.” Ashlyn’s voice, as strangled as it was, found it’s way out. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say,” She held her sleeve more tightly with one hand, the other pushing up her cheek to wipe the fresh tears onto her sleeve before her fingers found themselves tangled in her frazzled, somehow-still-braided hair. “If I turned the jeep around, we all would have—I didn’t want to lose Tyler, I didn’t want anything to happen to any of you, I—you have every right to blame me, and—”

“Ash,” Taylor’s voice, trembling just as much as her hand that now held onto part of Ashlyn’s palm and her wrist, caused Ashlyn’s wide eyes to snap back to meet hers. “I don’t blame you.”

She sounds so hoarse. Ashlyn silently added, her rapid breathing now frozen as she slowly squeezed her fingers against Taylor’s hand. I shouldn’t be bothering you with this. You shouldn't be comforting me. What am I doing?

She continued, her voice wavering as she slowly pulled Ashlyn’s hand further away from her hair and Ashlyn closer, into a light hug. “I know. I know you didn’t want anything to happen to us. Any of us…” She left enough room in the hug for Ashlyn to move away—if she wanted to, if she felt trapped or overwhelmed—but slowly buried her face in her shoulder.

She was holding it together as much as she could.

Both of them were.

Ashlyn nodded, mimicking Taylor’s action and burying her face in her white sweatshirt as she moved both of her own arms around her. She held onto her a little more tightly than Taylor had initially held onto her, her fingers clutching the back of her shirt.

“I’m here for you.” Ashlyn whispered, feeling Taylor shiver against her. She knew that she was trembling, too. “I’m here…”

“Here for you, too.” Taylor murmured, tightening her arms around Ashlyn. She sniffled, pressing her face harder against her shoulder.

Ashlyn squeezed her arms around Taylor briefly, something she had seen her do with Logan, Ben, Tyler, and Aiden countless times before, and exhaled shakily. “Yeah, I know. Don’t worry about me, though. Just. We’ve all got you…”

She could feel Taylor’s stomach tense, her arms tightening more around Ashlyn as she fought back her tears. “Th. Thanks.” Taylor mumbled, a choked-back sob following after. “Thanks, Ash…”

#not on ao3 #my fanfics #2023 #requests

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asmutwriter · 1 year

Text

Welcome to the Freak Show (Part 22)

Eddie x Reader

WORD COUNT: 2868

From beginning / Previous / Next / Master List

WARNINGS: Season 4 spoilers, swearing, hickeys, making out, implied sex, blood (cuts herself by accident), blood tasting, anxiety

DISCLAIMERS

- This is fiction. Please always talk to your partner before doing anything and make sure they are ok with what you are doing beforehand

You wake up. Looking over to see Eddie and Laura curled up together. You quietly get up. Going and grabbing your work clothes. You turn away from the couple, changing as quietly as you can. Turning back round you go over and grab a bowl of cereal. Laura coughs slightly. You smile and wave at her. She waves back. Standing up and grabbing her shirt and jeans. You politely look away as she also gets ready for work. You both have a silent bond over your breakfast. Somehow you have a great conversation considering neither of you say a word. But you do a lot of hand gestures and improvised sign language. A voice breaks the silence “Are my two favourite girls having a conversation without me?”

“You’re awake”

“Hey baby”

“Hey” he stretches, making his speak slightly slurred. He sits up. Grabbing his shirt from the floor and placing it on. “Ready for work?” you both nod. Heading to the car. You get in the back. Going to work you get in. Going and starting serving customers.

A few hours pass. Eddie walks over to you during your lunch break. “Hey. I’m going to Laura’s tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow morning if that’s ok?” you nod “Again I’ll drop you off home first” you smile at him

“Such a gentlemen. Now you go get your... you know. Fun time” he laughs.

After work he drops you off at home. Waving goodbye to them both you go over to the phone in your house. Dialling in the number “Hey this is Phil”

“Hey umm this is Elizabeth. I was wondering if Dan was there”

“One sec” you hear him yelling out.

“Hey Elizabeth”

“Hey. I was wondering what you were doing this evening?”

“I was going to stay home and drink with the guys. Why?” you chuckle slightly

“My plans for tonight changed and I’m free. I was wondering if you’d want to meet but I get your busy with the boys”

“No. No no no. Shit. We can meet” you hear whispering on the other end. “So the guys have said that if you’d like you can come over. Phil says he has a beer spare for you” you chuckle

“Don’t mind me crashing your boys evening?”

“No. I mean it’s me, Phil, other Dan, Olivia and Emma. They’re my roommates”

“Oh cool. Still ok me crashing your evening?”

“Of course!” you chuckle “I’ll pick you up. Give me 20 minutes”

It’s been four hours. You got picked up and were now on your 2nd beer of the night. All of Dan’s roommates are lovely. You get on well with Emma. Both chatting and drinking. But they all end up saying goodnight when it get to 1am. Leaving you and Dan in the living room. He sits next to you. Taking a sip of his beer. You turn to face him, arm leaning on the back of the sofa “Thanks for letting me crash your night” he chuckles

“It’s ok. I’m glad you had a good time” you nod. He rests a hand on your thigh. Squeezing it slightly. You smile, leaning forward and kissing him quickly. Going back in for a more long and heated kiss. He smiles, placing both hands on your hips as you make out. You both pull away for air. Before you can regain it he leans and kisses your neck. Sucking harshly onto it you let out a small moan. He smiles. Continuing to lick and suck on your neck. He pulls away, running his finger over your now bruising skin. You tilt you head, fluttering your eyes shut. “So beautiful” you smile at the compliment. Feeling him kiss you again. His hand goes to your side “Do you want to come up to my room...?” you nod. Maybe a bit too enthusiastically. He chuckles. Kissing you quickly before standing up and pulling you up with him.

The next morning you wake up to him next to you. His eyes shut as he’s sleeping. You reach down and grab your shirt. Placing it over your body. As well as your trousers. He turns to face you “Your leaving?” he mumbles. You lie back down

“No. I was just getting dressed” he smiles, his hand going and tracing the hem of your shirt

“Think you should stay naked” you chuckle.

“I do need to go though” you smile at him. Kissing him quickly before standing up. He leans and grabs his trousers and shirt

“I’ll give you a ride” you nod and smile at him. Going to his car you drive back to yours. “I’ll give you a ring, yeah?” you nod

“I’d like that” you smile at him. Getting out of the car and going over to your house. You wave goodbye to him before opening the door. You grab a towel, heading over to the showers. You get back and see that within the 20 minute shower you had Eddie got home as your car is parked next to your house. You go inside. “Hey” you smile at him.

“Oh hey. Nice shower?” you nod, your towel wrapped around your hair. He furrows his brows “Did you have someone over?”

“No. Why?”

“You have a hickey” he points to the mark on your neck. You feel your cheeks redden as you cover it with your hand “I assume you didn’t do it yourself”

“Shit...” he laughs “A couple of days ago I met this guy called Dan. Went round his and drunk with him and his roommates last night” he nods slowly.

“You going to meet him again?”

“Yeah but I’m waiting for him to ring me this time. Don’t want to seem desperate” he chuckles but nods. “When are you next seeing Laura?”

“This weekend” he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. You raise an eyebrow at him

“Ok what is it?”

“So this weekend is our 4 month anniversary. We are going to go away for the weekend together... Leaving early Friday and coming back late Sunday” you nod slightly. “Will you be ok?”

“Yeah. Yeah of course” he nods. You smile slightly at him as you remove the towel from your hair, hanging it up on a peg to let it dry “You’ll have a really good time. Just try not to miss me to much” he laughs, wrapping you up in a hug “Ew physical affection” you mock him as you also hug him. He rests his cheek on the top of your head. He takes your face with his hands, kissing your forehead “Where are you going for it?”

“Somewhere along the coast. Going to have a beach holiday” he grins at you “hopefully see some sharks”

“Please don’t get eaten by a shark”

“But that’s my plan. Have an amazing time away, then get bitten by a shark. Then come back here with shark powers”

“Shark powers?”

“Yeah! I don’t know what they’d be but I image breathing underwater. That’d be cool” you laugh

“Just make sure it isn’t a hammer head shark. You’ll be coming back here with a wonky head otherwise”

“Like this?” he pulls a funny face causing you to laugh more “Are you mocking my face?” you nod, covering your mouth as you laugh. He makes his face go back to normal. “So childish” he jokes at you, you lightly hit his shoulder. “Ooh be careful. Strong woman like you could break a small boy like me in half with those muscles”

“Ahh yes because I am very muscly” he nods, grinning at you. “So I’ve had a song in my head and I’m not saying I blame you but you did show the film to me”

“Oh god what is it?”

“’How do you solve a problem like Maria? Doodaleedo’” you laugh at his outbreak of singing.

“It’s a great song and a great film!”

“I mean... It’s a good song and good film, great might be pushing it”

“You love it really” he rolls his eyes but smiles at you.

A couple of days pass. It’s the Thursday before Eddie leaves for the weekend. You’re both sat on your bed watching a film. You’re plates from dinner discarded on the floor and you’re cutting the ends off of strawberries. One for you, one for him. You get so distracted and engrossed in the film you don’t pay much attention to what you’re doing. Until you feel a sharp pain “Shit” you gasp out. Accidently cutting your thumb. You instinctively place it in your mouth to try and sooth the pain. He glances over at you as you pull it from your mouth. A small line of blood appears.

“You ok?” his voice trails off as he notices the redness

“Yeah I’m just being an idiot” he nods. His eyes watching your thumb. “Are you-?” before you can say anything else he very slowly takes your hand. He brings yours thumb to his mouth, placing it onto his tongue. Letting out a sinful moan as he tastes the metallic fluid. You don’t say anything. You can’t. Your body is suddenly met with an overwhelming amount of joy as he sucks on your thumb. You shut your eyes and let out a small moan. You other hand wanting to hold onto something it finds his knee. Gripping onto it. He stops after a few minutes. Releasing your thumb with a popping noise. He kisses the palm of your hand. You open your eyes and look at him.

“Fuck... Fuck!” he looks at you. His hand going to his mouth, in shock of what he just did. “I am so sorry... I-I don’t know why I did that” your brain still feeling hazy, to filled with euphoria to process what happened. You shake your head, moving your eyes to look at him. He brings his hand up to your face, gently stroking the bone underneath your eye. You move into his hand, looking down at your thumb.

“Its...” you hold your hand up, showing him the now healed skin.

“What the fuck...” he mutters to himself. You furrow your eyebrows. Grabbing the knife you very gently push it into your finger tip. Wincing at the pain as you break the skin. You hold your hand up to him

“Only if you’re comfortable with it” he doesn’t need telling twice to wrap his lips around your digit. Your hand gripping onto the knife to try and hold back a moan as you feel his tongue go over your sore finger. He pulls away, both of you looking at your hand in awe as the wound has disappeared. He keeps a hold of your hand. Gently brushing over where the wound was before he meets your eyes

“What... What happened?”

“I don’t know... You have superpowers I guess?”

“But how” he looks at your hand, confused. His eyes lighting up as he places his hand over his scar on his neck. “The upside down... fuck”

“Elaborate please?”

“I think” he runs a hand through his hair “I think when I came back. When I got bitten. I think I got some... powers. Healing others wounds must be it”

“What? Like a vampire?”

“Yeah... I guess like a vampire”

“Do you think you can turn into a bat and all that shit? Or is that too cliché” he shrugs

“I have noticed that my senses are better. I can walk over to the showers at night with no light” you nod. Leaning over you turn off the light in your room. Throwing a blanket over the TV to eliminate all light. Thankfully it had gotten dark outside so the room soon became very dark.

“Experiment” you lift your hands up “How many fingers am I holding up?”

“None”

“Now?”

“Four. Three on your left, one on your right”

“Now”

“Nine. Four on your left, five on your right”

“Touch my hands” you hold your hand above your head, the other placing behind your body. With no hesitation he grabs both of your hands. Bringing them to the front. “Holy shit” you lean over and turn the lights back on. “What other things do vampires do?”

“Umm shapeshifting?”

“Turn into a bat then” he laughs before he scrunches his eyes. Clenching his fists together and holding his breath before he shakes his head. “What about telepathy? Tell me what I’m thinking”

“Oh wow my friend has superhuman powers” you laugh but shake your head

“I mean technically yes but also no. What word am I thinking of?” he leans forward slightly. His eyes locked with yours.

“Lord... no! Yes! No! Cord. Something ‘ord’” you nod

“Sword”

“Fuck really?” he smiles as you nod “Shit. Shit I’m a vampire”

“You can still go outside and you’ve survived without needing to taste human blood so that’s good. You may not be a vampire as sorts. More like a necro creature. There are several kinds of undead creatures, vampire is just one of them”

“Did you really just get ‘necro from your daily vocabulary?”

“Yeah, and?”

“God you’re a nerd” you rolls your eyes

“Hypocrite” he chuckles, lying down on the bed

“I should sleep though. I may be an undead, sorry, a necro. But I still need my beauty sleep” he shouts his eyes and pulls the blanket up near him “Goodnight” you chuckle, leaning over and turning the TV off before the light. Then lying next to him

“Goodnight”

He leaves early the next morning. Saying goodbye to you before Laura picks him up. Thankfully you had shifts over the next couple of days so the absence of him wouldn’t be as noticeable then if you had to stay at home. You knew Eddie was staying at Laura’s on Sunday night, going in for work on Monday and coming back to yours Monday night. Monday morning came about, you got ready for work. Had a quick shower, breakfast and then headed off. You smile at Laura when you bump into her at work. “How was your weekend?” she looks at you, eyes you up and down and then walks off. You furrow your brows but before you can go and question her you hear a familiar voice in your ear

“Boo” he speaks. You turn around, Eddie smiling at you as you hug each other

“How was your weekend?”

“Oh it was amazing. We drank, ate, and swam. It was luxurious” you smile. Him telling you about it as you serve customers. “I hope you don’t mind if Laura comes back and stay the night tonight? Her parents are a bit pissed with her at the moment”

“Why?”

“They didn’t know we were going away this weekend and only found out yesterday”

“Oh. Yeah, of course she can stay. She’s always welcome” he smiles at you. Nudging you slightly before going and taking a tables order.

After work you all go back to yours. Watching a film together before you make yourself comfy on your sofa. The couple staying on the bed. You all settle down. Falling asleep you suddenly get woken up by Laura. “Liz. Liz help” you come to, her eyes filled with panic. “He’s done this before but normally wakes up when I shake him. He’s really deep in this dream though and he seems... scared” you look over. Eddie curled up, eyes furrowed and a soft whimper leaving his scared frame. You sit up, going over and kneeling down by the bed. Gently placing your hand over his, squeezing it softly

“Eddie. Eddie it’s ok. You’re ok” one hand goes and starts to stroke his hair. Softly speaking to him as a way to bring him back to reality. He jumps awake, sitting up and looking at you as he moves away from your touch. Fear in his eyes as they scan yours “It’s me. It’s just me” you hold a hand out to him “you’re safe. I promise” he takes your hand in his. Pulling you up onto the bed and hugging you tightly. Hiding his face in the crook of your neck as he grips your hand. Your free arm going round him and hugging him tightly “I’ve got you” you stay like this for about 15 minutes. Hearing his breath get steadier.

“Thank you...” you hear him whisper. You squeeze his hand, gently stroking his hair. You motion for Laura to come and sit next to you as you go to leave. He grabs your shirt, eyes looking into yours “No... No. Stay” you nod, moving over slightly so Eddie is in the middle of you and Laura. Squishing you against the wall. The whole time he grips onto your hand, facing you as he keeps scanning your face. A hand comes onto his arm as he lies on his side, a free hand coming and resting on top of his girlfriends.

“We’ve got you” he half smiles at you. Bringing your hand up as he gently brushes his lips against the back of it. Shutting his eyes and letting sleep take over once again. You don’t sleep for the rest of the night, watching over him to help him if he has another nightmare.

TAGS

@karma2223 @fknemily @sammararaven @munson-fixation

#eddie munson #eddie munson smut #eddie smut #eddie x reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x reader smut #eddie munson fluff #smut #fluff #stranger things #stranger things smut #stranger things eddie munson #stranger things eddie #stranger things eddie smut #stranger things fluff #stranger things eddie fluff #joseph quinn

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moonlightchn · 7 months

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The fox is giggling, smiling, flowers in her hand and her phone with a small speaker in her handbag as she knocks on the Alpha’s door. Jangmi had spent the day putting the final touches on her plans for Chan’s birthday, having messaged him earlier in the day and asked if he could make time for her tonight — the night before his birthday and the whole day. Getting him to take time off has gotten easier with time but she only uses her pleading for special occasions so it doesn’t lose its touch.

“Happy early birthday!” Jangmi cheers when Chan opens the door, holding out the flowers, lightly sprayed with her own perfume so that even if she’s not there, they’ll hold onto her smell for a few days and give Chan a smile — or so she hopes. “Are you ready?” She is basically bouncing up and down, trying so hard to not squeal at the plan she has and if the wolf knows her as well as she thinks he does then he’ll know that she’s gone above and beyond for this day. “I hope you don’t mind, I’ve made sure that the start of your birthday is with me! Everyone else can have you after I’m done.”

Maybe it’s not the best time to be stuck in a car for a few hours, their scents intertwining and making her knee bounce as she keeps herself focused, Jangmi looks as the city flies by before they make it out into the more quieter parts of the city, where they can see the stars and not be disturbed by the city life they are constantly surrounded by.

“Alpha,” Jangmi chews her lip, looking at him and watching as he concentrates, “what’s your favourite food?” She asks, wanting to order it since it can be delivered to where they are. “Tonight is about you! I know… it’s not really something you’re used to but you’ve always taken care of me, you always are there and are the best person in my life — don’t tell Nini, but you have been there for me through so much and I… well, I wanted to give back.” It’s clear she’s nervous, whatever she has planned, it’s clear that it makes her nervous because it’s all for him. Just like everything he’s given her has shown how much he cares about her, she wants this night to show him how much he’s cared for. How much he’s loved.

They managed to make it to the location that Jangmi had given Chan, arriving just as dusk starts to fall and the stars start to shine. The light pollution not reaching this far out and showing them twinkling above, Jangmi smiles brightly as she grabs the blanket she had grabbed earlier and lays it on the ground before pulling Chan along to have him sit down. “Food is coming, company is here and your present will soon be presented!” The hybrid is practically vibrating as she sits with him, cuddling in and pointing to the stars, “oh!” She says, eyes widening as a shooting star appears in the sky. “Make a wish!” She knew the stars were going to be pretty tonight, having read something about a celestial event but she didn’t expect to be lucky to see a shooting star.

She’s talking fast, heart racing, scent a mix of everything she’s feeling but once they get there, talking a little and the food arriving, Jangmi starts to settle, starts to get more in the headspace for what she’s going to do for her Alpha, her best friend — her knight in shining armour.

Once the clock hits 12, her alarm ringing to alert her to it being midnight. “Happy birthday Alpha!” She smiles, climbing onto his lap and wrapping around him in the biggest hug he may have ever had, staying like that for a short while before giving him a kiss. “Okay! Time for your present.” Jangmi giggles as she kisses him once more, wiggling and squirming out of his tight hold so she can run to his car so she can turn the headlights on and lighten up her stage.

Putting her speaker and phone on the hood, the hybrid takes off the hoodie she was wearing and letting her hair down, Jangmi lets the song start and building up her confidence, she begins. She has been practicing this for a good month now, any chance she could, Jangmi had choreographed and practiced a dance to a song that she thought he might enjoy. A song she loved and thought it represented the soft tender love that Chan is capable of making someone feel. She knows he’s hidden a lot, opting to care for her rather than letting her care for him too but she hopes he knows that he’s deserving of love too. Especially on a day like his birthday, that’s something she wants him to know; she might not be his forever but she’s okay with being his present.

#jangmi 🦊 baby #submissions~

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griffin-wood · 1 year

Text

lil trinkets and new beginnings. daniel and nelly.

prompt: charming (@ockissweek )!

a/n: another late entry for ockiss sobs, but this time ty @sosolenoo for lending Nelly again for this <3 I hope you enjoy this and I did her justice hehe.

"So, are you ready for the opening of the new store today?" Leo asked, with the drumstick sticking out of his ear.

"It's another store, what's different about it?" Daniel smiles as he dusted the newer release records in front.

"I'm just checking on you, like I always do. Remember the first store?" Leo wiggles his eyebrows, as Dan sighs at the reminder.

"You won't let this go right."

"I won't, brother's scout lil Dan." Leo smiles before taking his drumsticks as he drumming against the empty shelves.

"I hope you won't scare my customers off today Leo."

"Well, it's not me if I don't." He winks before checking the time.

"I have to go, say hello to Nelly for me. And I'll be back just right after the opening alright?"

"I will, and you should." Daniel says, as he waves Leo off.

As soon as Leo disappears from his view, a blonde clad human appears.

"good morning sunshine." Daniel greeted her happily, as Nelly steps in the store.

"Good morning, and happy opening!" She says excitedly, as Dan leans forward to place a kiss on her cheek.

"So, how's everything going ?"

"Leo came by to help, and he said hi by the way. But, I think we're done. Opening starts in a few, wanna stick by today?"

Nelly looks around, she's been giving him and Leo some design ideas as the way to make this store feels more homey than before.

"Well, the first appointment is done for the day. And, the other one apparently got cancelled. So, I'll stick by the whole day." Nelly says with a wide grin, as Dan smiles back.

He looks at his watch, and says.

"It's opening time."

"Okay, that's a pretty sweet opening." Leo says as the final customer left the store, after buying some classics from them. Leo has been a good promoter too, as Nelly helps with the register while Dan, himself talksand chats up with the customers.

"We did it!" Dan begins to jump and pull Leo and Nelly both into an embrace. His child like spirit makes both of them smile, before pulling away.

"I knew you could, and thank you as well Nelly for being there for my brother here."

"Of course, it was fun to see it happen with how much we have planned."

Leo smiles, before excusing himself to get back home. It's been a long day for the three of them, yet Daniel and Nelly decide to stay over for the closing.

Nelly founds herself fiddling with the records, searching some of her favorites. She turn around at the sound of the door, where Daniel just brought take-out for them both. Something they've been doing since they are together. A routine that they didn't break, and enjoyed.

"I got us something very good."

"It does smell wonderful, I'll pop up the music and we'll eat."

"Thank you sunshine." He says as they both set up to eat, and talk about how today's events went.

And after they done, they continue to dust up the rest of the records. Only, for Daniel to called Nelly out.

"Hey, look at what I found!"

She raises an eyebrow at the particular record in hand. Her mouth leave a surprised gasp at the record he was holding. It's one of their self-creation records. Self-creation which includes experimentation of the couple record.

"I thought it was lost among the other destroyed records." The surprised tone couldn't be missed.

"I...me to actually. But, after cleaning the old store with Leo the other day. I found it hidden within a box of my dad's old kept records, and I've been listening to it." He says smiling as he rereads the back of the record cover.

'These tunes were the best combination of happiness,joyous occasion of love for both nelly and daniel' - the rolling stone. He quoted and unquote it, as Nelly smiles remembering how they plan on what will the rolling stone would say about their taste of music. It's a mixed of everything surprising them both from time to time, but she still couldn't believe it still hasn't been lost in time.

"I remember that, I was wondering about this the other day. Where did it go, and here you are holding it." She glances over the record in his hands, before he turns to look at her.

"Hey, I think you should hold onto it this time. It's something apart of me and apart of you too. Plus, you've been helpful along this whole process. You deserve a good momento for it all." He grins her way, as she held onto it. Smiling despite it was a bit dusty, she'll manage it.

She place the records down, and pull him by the collar. Her lips meeting his, as his hands were on the side of her face, cupping it. The kiss lasted just for a moment, as they both pull away.

"What did I do to deserve that sunshine?"

"Well." She didn't say it, because he already knows. He ticks all the criteria off her list, charming, kind, sweet, everything good in him.

"You're you."

He lets out a laugh, before smiling back nodding in thanks to her.

"Now, let's listen to this. it's fun to walk onto memory lane together. Shall we?"

"We shall, lets do it."

They both end the day together, by reminiscing over the tunes that brings them together. Something they once created together, and with how stronger they are.

"You, me and music. A match made in heaven." He says, as the first song begins to play filling their ears with nostalgia once again.

The end.

#alya writes #x: daniel x nelly #oc: daniel lim #oc kiss week #BETTER LATE THAN NEVER W3E

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agorejessstone · 2 years

Text

Remembering Duskwood Part Two

EPISODE 1 -10 SPOILERS

Poor Jessy. Even in her grief over the man she loved, or at the very least, her best friend’s betrayal, she’d been attempting to reach me non-stop. I’d avoided them, every single one of them since Hannah’s rescue. It wasn’t like I planned on NEVER talking to them again, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it right now. I can’t say I felt stupid, because I knew who Richy was, and I know, deep down inside, he thought he was doing the right thing. His methods weren’t perfect, but I don’t think he could have foreseen Amy’s suicide or that Dan would shoot him.

Poor Dan. He must feel horrible about shooting him. I’d take to the grave that he’d foiled Richy’s escape plan, resulting in his death. He had enough on his plate, just like the others. Part of me wishes that Richy had been able to fake his escape with Hannah, that our last conversation didn’t feel so much like his final “Adios”. Pain grips my chest as I remember the last stupid joke he made, bleeding out on the mine floor. Defeated, with nowhere to run. A coward’s way out.

I did that a lot. Jumping between emotions, trying to sort through my feelings. I was angry, but primarily at myself. None of it made sense, but part of me knew that it didn’t have to. Not everything in life makes perfect sense, but right now, I wish something, anything at all, seemed right in the world. The only part that felt wholesome and good, was reuniting Hannah with Thomas. Hannah with Lilly. Hannah with her friends, but even then, the group would never be whole again. Now without Richy.

Phil had called several times since his release. Desperate to thank me for proving his innocence and to testify in court, but what did I know? Without Michael’s body, we have no solid proof either way. I don’t think Phil is capable of murder, not for something as silly as the bar, and Michael did seemingly hand it over willingly before the forest “swallowed him whole” as Alan put it. At this point, however, nothing would surprise me. If Richy could kidnap one of his friends, anything was possible. Absolutely anything.

Speaking of Alan, he’s requested informally that I come and speak with him, the offer of coffee still on the table, as his men work to recover Richy’s remains from the mine. I’d avoided his phone calls well. I needed time; time to breathe, to feel, to sort myself out, to grieve. How was it possible to fall in love with so many people in such a short amount of time? How was it possible that I’d lose them just as quickly?

Over and over, I asked myself the same questions, and quite frankly, it felt like I was going insane. I was worried about Jake. Where the hell could he be? Hannah had messaged, that she saw someone escaping the forest. Was that Jake? It had to have been, right? I watched the stream. I saw Richy light the fire and the tunnel cave-in. He couldn’t have made it out and Hannah saw only one person run through those woods.

Should I take the words of someone who’s hallucinations started this thing? If she felt so damn guilty, why not just go to the police? Tell the truth? You could have saved so many lives, Hannah. Why? Michael may not have disappeared. Amy wouldn’t have killed herself. Richy wouldn’t have had to die with such pain in his heart. Clearly, I’d have to work on forgiving her because right now, I was angry with her, child or not at the time.

God, Richy. I loved that boy, and I still couldn’t believe it. I was thankful, in the end, that he was still Richy. He’d not hurt anyone, really. Amy was already dead when he found her after all. Sure, kidnapping Hannah wasn’t the BEST idea, but I’m sure he at least TRIED to keep her comfortable. Richy faked his death and hurt me in the process, but he wasn’t a murderer. Part of me felt a little better knowing that.

Unless I never heard from Jake again.

Would anything have changed if I’d gone to the mine by myself? I don’t think he’d have killed me, but maybe he’d have let me talk some sense into him. Maybe Jake wouldn’t have been tracked by the FBI.

I wanted to stop him, but I couldn’t get through to him. His final words were a confession to Jessy. He needed her to hear it from him, but then why couldn’t he see her denial as a ray of hope. It should have been clear that his friends would eventually forgive him. They cared about him. After all the forgiveness and understanding I gave him in his final moments, if he took Jake out with him, I’d never forgive him.

As I suspected, I didn’t get much sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I’d see Richy’s face, behind that stupid mask, or Jake engulfed in flames. Three days after Hannah’s rescue, I’m still avoiding my phone. I read the messages but did not reply. I can’t bring myself to, not yet. I reach for it hoping to see something from Jake.

Nothing but there is a message from Jessy.

“They’ve found remains in the mine, as well as evidence, but most was lost in the fire. They’re pretty sure it’s Richy, but they’re running dental records to be sure. Won’t you come to Duskwood? I could really use my best friend right now.”

The phone falls from my hands and hits the floor with a thud. I grip my hair in my hands, and sink to my knees, screaming as loud as my lungs will allow. What little strength I had left me, as I sob uncontrollably. The world around me sways violently making my stomach churn.

Try as I might to deny it, I was hoping that Richy survived. I wanted to see that smirk of his one last time. I needed to tell him how stupid he was. I wanted a chance to forgive him, properly. Richy was dead. I had to believe that because the alternative was worse. Far worse. Just the thought caused me to scream louder, and pull harder, as a fog settled in over my vision. If it wasn’t Richy if it turned out to be anyone but Richy that would mean it would have to be….

Jake.

As if all the air had been sucked from the room, I struggled to breathe, panic consuming me as everything went black. The last thing I remember; is the sound of the front door bursting open, and a pair of combat boots rushing towards me. If I was lucky, I’d never wake up, because being awake, stuck in my head with all these thoughts, was worse than any nightmare I’d had. Far worse.

CONTINUE TO PART THREE

#duskwood #duskwood everbyte #iamjake #jakexmc #duskwood mwaf #philxmc #duskwood fanfiction #duskwood game #duskwood fandom #duskwood jake #duskwood jake x mc #duskwood mc #duskwood final episode #mwaf

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vroomvroommbtch · 2 years

Text

So it goes: Chapter 19 - MI x fem!OC

Masterlist

Summary: Maggie used to love Christmas, until she didn’t.

Pairing: Michael Italiano x fem!OC

Warnings: Oh, the sadness and the angst, swearing like always and Dan being a sunshine for a minute.

Word count: 4.9k

A/N: Yeah, we’re still in sad mood over here. You can send me your insults in the comments. But hey guuuyss! First, sorry if the editing its shitty, posting from my phone makes weird stuff in here but I’ll check it tomorrow from my laptop to see if it looks decent. This one is not long, but its all about sadness. Even with that I hope you enjoy it anyway and let me know what you think? You think Maggie is gonna call Michael? They’ll put their shit together? Maggie will join them on the trips? Talk to me 👀 Thanks for the likes and the love, kids. Okay now enjoy and see ya next time ✌🏻

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Chapter 19 - ‘Tis the damn season.

If someone would have told Maggie a year early that she was going to be living such a nightmare, she would have said it was impossible. She would have said that it was impossible that she and Michael would have taken a break, especially knowing how much they loved each other. It was absurd to think about them not being together specially during Christmas. That couldn’t happen. Not to them. Never to them. It was ridiculous to think about them not being together, but it happened. It happened and felt as if the universe was trying to keep Maggie away from Michael; it was succeeding incredibly well. It happened and God, how it was hurting.

Maggie had months to prepare for not seeing Michael there. From the moment the news came about Australians being able to get back into the country, there was no doubt that was gonna happen. She was the first one who told Michael to get on a plane and go as soon as he could. She was the one who finally convinced him when he was doubting for one second in what to do because the Irish girls couldn’t go and Daniel wasn’t planning to leave his pregnant girlfriend for more than one week and just because of work. Maggie was the one who lied right there on his face during every single FaceTime or call, promising she was gonna be fine.

She knew convincing Michael was the right thing to do, but she was far from fine.

For the first time since they started to see each other, there was no green package under the tree. There was no sneaky Merry Christmas kiss. No snuggling sitting on his lap complaining about how much she ate and asking Michael why the hell did he let her do it all while she was trying in vain to not fall asleep on his arms. There was not gonna be waking up on Christmas morning and spending the whole day wrapped in a blanket and his arms or Michael’s cheesy speech of him not needing anything as a gift because he already got what he wanted and it was tiny and beautiful and right there by his side. Every single time Maggie realized about another thing that wasn’t gonna happen that year, it was like another knife was buried in her chest and at some point it was just hard to breathe.

That’s how Christmas went from being one of her favorite days of the year to being like her new personal torture and nightmare. She hated every single thing about it, from the decorations to the joyful atmosphere, and she couldn’t deny that she was counting the minutes to start the new year for once and for all.

Her whole family was happy to be reunited and celebrating. Everyone was happy because a new baby was coming to their family in less than two months and there was Maggie, trying to not get drunk. She was trying to not drown her pain in wine because she didn’t want to ruin everyone’s Christmas eve, but it was hard. She tried to put on a brave face and smile, but it was almost impossible. It was so hard that more than once she had to excuse herself and disappeared into the bathroom or her room to wash her face or simply breathe because everything was too much. She knew she was supposed to be happy because in a couple of weeks she was going to become an aunt, but everything still felt under a big gray cloud.

Nobody tried to cheer her up because they knew it was impossible. She was broken to the point of no return, and there was no use trying to say some words to make it better. All they did was give her a hug, a kiss or a hand-squeeze to make her feel she wasn’t alone because she wasn’t, but the one she wanted wasn’t around. She knew everyone really meant well, but for some reason it made her feel even more alone in the middle of a room full of people.

Maggie didn’t get to see Michael after that November afternoon in her apartment. They spent the whole day and night together, but the next morning she woke up with a note in his pillow. The little white paper was waiting for her when she opened her eyes, but there was no Michael. The realization hit her when she called out his name and the only thing there was absolute silence. She slept by his side, and it was the best night of sleep she had in months, but there was no morning kiss and no raspy ‘M’ning, sweetheart’. After that, Maggie was back to square one with feeling like nothing but absolutely broken, and the hole she felt in her chest just became bigger. What made it worse was the fact that she couldn’t go to the last races of the season, so they couldn’t see each other. She blew her sick days and her vacation days a long time ago, so there was no way to escape and not even her dad could save or help her at the office. Esmé dropping a no-so subtle ‘He looks sad’ when Maggie called to know how everything was in Saudi Arabia didn’t make her feel better, and weeks later she wasn’t feeling good at all. The only thing that was actually comforting her was that at least Michael was in Perth waiting to see his family again. It comforted Maggie, at least for a second, but then she looked around her at the table, and she wanted to run away from there.

She loved them, it was her family, and she loved them with everything in her heart. She was ready to kill and die for them, but the sight of all the happy couples around her made her feel like the air was being kicked out of her body again and again. She was surrounded by couples who loved each other so much that it felt out of a fairytale, and there she was, forcing a smile on her face to not ruin everyone’s night even more. It was nobody’s fault but her own, so nobody said a thing when she got up again, disappearing in the bathroom for the fifth time in the last five hours.

What Maggie wasn’t expecting was to find Daniel waiting for her outside the bathroom. He was leaning with his back against one of the walls of the hallways of the apartment, waiting for her with a worried expression on his face, but he didn’t say a thing. Maggie wanted to say she was fine. She wanted to lie and repeat it again, because maybe then it would become a reality, but Daniel didn’t let her speak. Maggie didn’t ask a thing when he grabbed her arm and dragged her carefully to the door of the master room, making her wait outside as he went in.

Maggie was expecting to receive another speech trying to cheer her up, but she also knew Daniel. Sometimes they both were so similar it was scary. If they were pissed or down, there was no much use in comforting or cheesy words; they just wanted to disappear from the world for the rest of the day and then try to start from scratch the next morning. On the real bad race days, Maggie was normally the one telling Michael to not go to Daniel with the inspirational quotes when what they really needed to do was pick their stuff, and get the hell out whatever bloody paddock they were in so they could go for a beer and call it a day. She was usually the one telling Jas exactly the same thing followed by a ‘Your man needs you and a beer, so let’s go’. Daniel was normally the one telling the same stuff to Michael when Maggie was down. Daniel was also the one who always just went to give her a hug and a kiss on the head instead of saying how everything was going to be fine, so she had really no idea why they were there.

She had no idea, but then she saw it coming when Daniel walked out of the room hiding something with one hand behind his back. “You're gonna hate me for this, but he left this for you. He said you should read the note first” Daniel explained, giving Maggie a little green bag with a golden ribbon. “I don’t even know what’s in there and I told him he should give it to you in person, but he put this ridiculous lovesick-kicked and wet puppy face and I couldn’t say no. He’s a cunt, but I’m gonna be a dad and I’m just an excited happy ball of love and I really couldn’t say no. Besides, I can’t blame him, I’d do the same if something like this happened to me and my J” he finished with a little shrug of his shoulders.

Something like that could never happen to them, basically because Jas and Daniel were like the same person divided in two. They loved each other so much that it was impossible to keep them apart for more than a couple of days. It has been like that since the beginning. Blake always said it was ridiculous, their parents said it was magical, and Maggie thought it was pretty awesome too. That was exactly what she always wanted. It was exactly what Maggie thought she finally got, but then everything went down.

She had to take a really deep breath before she grabbed the little bag from Daniel’s hand. She had to take a deep breath to try absolutely in vain to stay calm and be able to talk despite the knot in her throat and even like that it was completely hard to do it. “You're always an excited ball of love, now it’s just bigger. And you’re gonna be the best and coolest dad in the world, Danny. Just like you’re the coolest brother. That baby girl is really lucky to have you as her dad” Maggie smiled shortly, twisting the string of the little bag between her index finger as she looked up at Daniel.

“C’mere” he said, opening his arms and going straight to hug her, and Maggie couldn’t say no to that. “You know I love you, right?” Daniel asked, to which Maggie nodded a couple times as an answer. “Good. Now go open that and call us if you need us”

Daniel sent her off with one last squeeze and a kiss on her head before he disappeared from the hallway. The first thing Maggie could think about was going to her room, but when she closed the door, she realized maybe it was a very bad idea. She hasn’t been there in months and the last time Michael was there with her. The last time they were together and she used to love that room at Daniel and Jas’ place because it was her little space with Michael in Ireland, but now she just hated it. All the memories of them were in that room, and all she wanted to see in that room was him, but there were too many reasons for why she couldn’t have her wish.

Once she was on her own, Maggie left the bag over the bed and looked at it for five minutes straight, too scared to open it and see what was inside. She was somehow scared to open it, but curiosity was killing her. What was also killing her was her own brain, yelling because Michael sent her a gift. He managed to make it happen for her even when he was away. Of course she got him something, just like she did on his birthday, but the gift was waiting inside her closet at her place, and he left hers in good hands so she would have it right on time. It was as if Michael knew that Maggie was going to need to see a green package that day, and God, she did.

It took her those good, long five minutes to finally have the courage to grab that little bag and open it. Inside there was a green envelope and a squared green velvet box with a golden M on the top of it. It was exactly like the golden necklace Michael gave her the previous Christmas. It was like the M that was still hanging from her neck because she couldn’t take it off. She swore to never take it off, and she was going to keep the promise no matter what.

Just like Daniel told her, Maggie grabbed the green envelope and saw her name written down on it. She could feel the tears blurring her vision the second she saw his handwriting. She didn’t want a small bag and a little piece of paper; she wanted Michael and telling him how much she loved him. She wanted to hug him and fall asleep in his arms while sitting on his lap. She wanted to tell him and that she didn’t need any gifs because she had him and that was everything she needed and wanted. She wanted him back, but all she had was a small box and a note. Maggie had to take a few deep breaths before she could even focus on the words because everything hurt, but it became even worse when she started to read the note.

‘Hey Mags. I guess you weren’t expecting to see this, but I didn’t want you to spend Christmas without you having a present from me. I couldn’t let you spend Christmas without a green package, so here you have it.

When I was thinking about what to get you, I remembered there was a time you told me about the plays and musicals you did when you were younger. God bless your mom, she had all of them recorded, but the only one who you didn’t let me watch was the one where you were half of it on your own on stage. More than once you told me you didn’t like how you looked, but just once you told me you felt like you were too similar to the main character and how the last thing you wanted was to end up like her. I didn’t want to bother you and insist, so instead I decided to watch the movie.

Let me tell you a couple things about it, Maggie: You’re nothing like Cathy. How could you be like her when you can’t be late, not even if you tried? But all jokes aside, baby, you’ve nothing of her, and Dublin is not Ohio. But more importantly, I want you to know we’re not gonna end up as Jamie and Cathy. We’re not gonna end up apart and you’re not gonna end up alone. I’d never let that happen. The only thing you have in common with her is that you also need time, and it's fine. The last thing I want is for us to be apart, but you need time and that’s what I can give you right now. That’s what gave me the first idea for the gift, but don’t open it just yet.

The second thing is that when the lyrics said ‘I don’t know how anybody survives in this life without someone like you’, I’m pretty sure they were talking about how I feel about you. That’s exactly what I think every single time I see you, but I don’t even know the answer to that. I don’t even remember how life was before you and I’m not sure if I wanna remember at all. Looking back at that time, even the paddocks were boring without you.

You also told me back in London that your aunt Mimi explained to you how we were incompatible. She said it wasn’t an easy match. She said it was going to be difficult to relate to each other because we are like water and oil. You told me, she explained, we’re like the night and the day, like the moon and the sun. She also said it was in the stars for us to not match and that you can’t rewrite what’s written there.

A wise woman said the moon and the sun might be different, but they need each other. She said that the moon and the sun need each other to make the most amazing eclipses. She said the moon depends upon the sun because it does not possess its own light. Another wiser and stunning woman told me one night after too many glasses of wine ‘Fuck astrology, you might not rewrite the stars but you can lay down and watch them shine with your favorite person by your side’. That’s exactly what I wanna do with you. I wanna prove them wrong. I wanna show everyone that astrology knows nothing about you and me because when I said ‘Fuck the rest’ I really mean it. I wanna show everyone that we’re not Cathy and Jamie and lay down anywhere you want to see the stars together.

That’s what got me the second idea for the gift, because with it I want you to know and remember I need you as much as the moon needs the sun. Maybe looking at it in your hand will help you remember it every single hour. Besides, if the stars have always helped people find their way home, they can help us too. I really wanna believe they’ll help us.

I hope you’re having a beautiful day because that’s what you deserve. Just don’t drink too much and don’t eat until your stomach hurts, okay? Don’t do it because I won’t be there to carry you around when your stomach hurts. Just think we’ll be doing it in no time.

Merry Christmas, sweetheart. I miss you, I love you, and I hope I get to see you soon. Now you can open the box.

Your Mike.”

Maggie spent five minutes trying to find the courage to read the note, but then she had to spend another ten to recover from it. She still had no idea what was inside the small green box, but if it had been empty, it would have been the same for her. It would have been the absolute same for her if Michael had sent just the note. It would have broken her heart in the same way it already did. Maggie took with her shaking hands the small box, and she held it against her heart as she breathed as deeply as possible. She thought just her hands were shaking, but then she realized it was her entire body, the one trembling like a leaf in the middle of a hurricane.

It became worse when she finally opened the box.

Inside it there was a watch. It was all golden, and it was absolutely beautiful and simple. It was the perfect size and she loved it, but the inside of it was the breathtaking part. It was all blue and sprinkled with something glittery that looked like diamond powder; it had some small white stars, but it also had a silver half-moon and a golden sun, both made of quartz. It was beautiful and perfect, but Maggie couldn’t stop thinking about what it really meant. Michael was giving her time in every sense of the way. He took the idea from one of her favorite movies and musicals and mixed it up with their little secret promise and turned it all into a perfect gift.

Just when Maggie took the watch carefully out of the box was when she saw the inscription. A little ‘Fuck the rest’ was engraved right there in the back, hiding from the rest of the world, and just for her to see it. It took no time for her to put it on her left wrist. It took her no time to hug herself, placing the watch right against her chest and over her heart. Maggie felt like she was breaking up in pieces and nobody was going to be able to put her together so she had to hold on there. She needed to hold on because the only person who was able to put her back together again and again was hours away on another continent. He was the only one able to do it, no matter how small the pieces were, no matter how long it took to put them together and no matter how many times it happened. Michael never really cared how complicated it was to do it; he just did it.

She wanted to call him. She wanted to tell him how much she missed him. She wanted to ask him to go back, but Maggie didn’t do it. She couldn’t ruin his Christmas morning with his family after two years of not seeing them. She couldn’t ruin the rest of his trip. All she did was lay down on bed and hug the pillow that used to be his, all while she though that what she probably hated the most about that room was how his pillow didn’t smell like him. The smell of his cologne mixed with the lavender spray was long gone and it felt weird. It felt absolutely out of place and it just made Maggie finally tear up.

Maggie stayed there for what it felt like forever, but she knew it wasn’t more than some minutes. It was enough to almost make her fall asleep out of exhaustion and sadness, but what called her attention was the door opening. She didn’t have to turn around to know the person coming in was the one who could help her keep the piece together for some extra time. She knew for the sound of the steps that Jas was the one there, but Maggie didn’t even move to talk. “You should go back there, J. Right now I’m not a really good company” Maggie whispered, hugging the pillow closer to her chest.

When Maggie felt Jas' hand stroke her back, it just made her cry even more. She was ruining everything and making everyone worry when they should have been enjoying the night. But the worst part was how she was making Jas worry when the last thing she needed was to get stressed. Jas was eight months pregnant, due in a month or so and she was dealing with high pressure issues because of the pregnancy, and still trying to make peace with the fact that they couldn’t have their baby in Perth as they wanted, so she didn’t need more preoccupations in her life.

“I will go, but in a minute. Right now I just wanna be with my baby sister. Dan gave you the present, didn’t he?” she asked, and to answer Maggie just moved her left arm backwards to show her sister the golden piece on her arm. “Michael watched ‘The Last Five Years'?” Jas wondered, holding her sister’s arm as she looked at the watch, clearly recognizing what the present meant.

“He did, and on his own” Maggie nodded, as she answered softly. She still couldn’t believe that in the middle of his insanely busy life, Michael spent time watching that movie because of her. He watched one of her favorite musicals just because he could, which meant more to Maggie than he could ever imagine.

“He really gave you time. What a guy. And it's absolutely beautiful. Also, the incredibly good thing is that he ain’t a douchebag like Jaime” Jas joked, but there was no answer from her younger sister. "Mike really wanted to be here today, y’know? He feels awful for not being with you today. Did you call him?” she wondered, but Maggie just shook her head to answer. “I know how hard it can be to talk with the zones and how it doesn’t help at all, but you should call him, Maggie”

Maggie knew she should call him. It was the right thing to do, but Maggie had dozens of reasons why she didn’t want to do it at that moment. She didn’t trust herself at all; she knew the second she heard his voice her whole world was gonna fall apart, and he didn’t need that at all. He didn’t need her crying and begging to please come back to her because it felt like she couldn’t breathe when he wasn’t around. She couldn’t say any of that, so she didn’t want to call that night. What she also didn’t want to do was to admit the reason why she didn’t want to call Michael, so she went with the silliest and easiest excuse. “I don’t wanna bother him”

“Margaret, we’re talking about Michael. Your Michael. There’s no way you could ever bother anyone, but especially not him. He misses you too, ciaróg” Jas affirmed, and she sounded so damn sure that Maggie knew Michael and her sister should have spoken about it no long ago. “When was the last time you talked to him?”

“Earlier. We texted when it was midnight in Perth. But I just didn’t wanna wake him up. It’s Christmas and its early; maybe he’s still asleep” Maggie insisted, cleaning the reminder of tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.

“You think Michael is asleep? Really? It’s morning in Perth, Maggie. When did you see Michael sleeping in?” Jas asked, stroking her sister’s hair. Maggie could hear the smile on Jas’ face because she was right about Michael not sleeping in. Michael wasn’t that kind of guy, loving his mornings, workouts and breakfast too much to let them go. But just as Maggie could hear the smile that Jas had, she could also hear it disappear after the last question. The ‘When did you see Michael sleeping in?’ had a really simple answer and they both knew it. Michael only slept in when he had a free day, but just when Maggie was around. Sometimes it wasn’t even sleeping in; sometimes it was just staying in bed a little longer because he didn’t have the heart to wake Maggie up because it was too early and she looked too comfortable. Sometimes it was just snuggling up in bed because Maggie didn’t want him to go because she was warm and comfortable. Whatever the reason was, Michael was always giving in because of Maggie. They all knew about it, so Jas knew right away that she had made the absolute wrong question. “Wanna go do something one of these days? Just you and me? On a normal day, I would have told you ‘Let’s go to Paris’ but it's a complicated circumstance” Jas proposed, trying to change the topic, even if just for a minute.

“Besides, Danny would follow us if we left to Paris without him” Maggie stated as she turned around to finally face her sister. And for the look on Jas’ face when her sister looked at her, Maggie looked as bad as she felt.

“Exactly” Jas nodded, knowing that Daniel wouldn’t move away from her side for more than a couple hours, especially when the season was over and they were in the middle of the winter break. It was incredible difficult for them to be apart in normal circumstances; it was worse now that Jas was pregnant and it ended up being a nightmare for both of them when Jas couldn’t travel for the last couple of races, but a couple of hours wouldn’t hurt anyone. “But we can go do something just us. A sisters’ day. It's been a while since we did it the last time. We can do some shopping and get lunch, maybe some facials and all. Girls' day all around. What do you say?”

“Sounds nice. I could use a haircut” Maggie shrugged, looking at her hair that was way longer than how she normally used it.

“We can do that too” Jas smiled sweetly, stroking Maggie’s cheek. “Hey, what I told you about you coming with us next year, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. I would love to but I don’t want you to feel pressured to say yes or answer right away, y’know?”

The big proposal in question was Jas asking Maggie to travel with them all year to help them out with Olivia. With the crazy schedule, the constant travel and everything that came with Daniel’s work, they knew they were going to need help. During the weekends and when Maggie wasn’t around, Jas was a big part of the time alone and it was fine with her. She always used that time to work and she stayed in the garage during practices, qualis and races, but now things were going to be different. Daniel didn’t want Jas to be alone, especially not with their newborn baby and there was no one better to keep her company than Maggie. They knew perfectly fine Maggie was gonna have to be absent from work, but they offered to pay Maggie even if she rejected every single time. If she accepted, she wasn’t going to do it for the money, it was for love to her family. The only problem was the terrible timing and the whole situation with Michael, so that’s why Maggie was still considering it.

“I’ll think about it and I’ll tell you something. I promise I’ll figure it out in time” Maggie smiled sadly, reaching to grab her sister’s hand. “I’ll figure it out”

“It's gonna be alright, ciaróg. You’ll see. Everything will turn out just fine. You deserve nothing but happiness, so that’s exactly what you’ll get,” Jas promised, kissing Maggie's knuckles as she squeezed her hand.

And Maggie didn’t say a thing because there was nothing she wanted more than to believe in what Jas said, but she knew things weren’t going to be fine, not for a long while.

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Taglist

@jamminvroomvroom @starlightoctavia @dr3lover

#michael italiano #michael italiano imagine #michael italiano fic #formula 1 #formula 1 imagine #formula 1 fic #f1 #f1 imagine #f1 fic #formula one #formula one imagine #formula one fic #so it goes fic

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reds-ramblings · 2 years

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This was written a few days ago before episode 10 was released. However, after a certain point on Friday, I was so anxious for the release that I couldn't focus long enough to do my final read-through to edit out any mistakes. Now that I have finished the episode I am finally posting.

Apple Doesn't Fall Far - Part 11

Jake's P.O.V.

"I'm sorry, Jay. I wasn't thinking about Gracie." Lily says.

"Obviously!" I scoff.

As Lily walks away I turn my attention back to MC.

"Thank you." She says quietly.

"I didn't do it for you I did it for Grace."

"I know but still." She says.

As I turn to walk away I hear Dan apologizing to her for Lily's behavior. I need to find Gracie and make sure she's ok. When Lily started yelling I told her to go play with the other kids. I walk into the house and see all the kids in the living room playing video games. I motion for Gracie to come to me and she does.

"I'm sorry about that Gracie." I tell her.

"Who was that and why was she being so mean to mom?" She asks.

"That's your other aunt Lily. She and your mom have never really had a great relationship. Let's just say it started on the wrong foot. So it's going to take her a little more time to warm up to the idea of your mom being around again."

"Oh," She looks down at the ground and shifts nervously. "Does she hate me because of what mom did?"

"No, she doesn't hate you at all. You're not responsible for any of the decisions either of us has made. I hope you won't hold her comments earlier against her either. She tends to act without thinking."

"Ok." She says and goes back to playing video games.

After making sure Gracie was ok I decided I needed to take some time to compose myself before going back outside. After hiding in my room for a while I walk back outside to see everyone drinking and having a good time around the fire. I grab a drink and sit down between Lily and Jessy, across the fire from MC, far enough away that she can't hear me. I lean over to Lily.

"I know it's hard but we have a kid together and being a part of her life means at least being Civil with MC so please try to play nice." I whisper to her.

"Yeah, I know. All the anger from back then suddenly rushed back to me the moment I saw her and I just couldn't stop myself." She says.

"Yeah tell me about it. I completely blew up the first time I saw her on campus. Thank god Gracie had gone back to her dorm."

"I talked to her for a minute. She seems like a nice kid. She didn't seem to be mad at me for my outburst earlier." Lily says.

I see Hannah coming out of the house and I get up to grab another drink.

"I spent some time with your mini-me." She says coming over to get a drink herself.

"She's amazing isn't she?" I ask.

"She does seem petty great but her mother's pretty great too you know." She says.

"Yeah if you say so."

"So what about you two? Any plans of getting back together?" She asks making me roll my eyes.

"We were never together in the first place. It was just a one-night stand." I say trying to sound convincing.

"Yeah ok." She snorts. "Tell that to someone that didn't watch you almost drive yourself crazy for three years looking for her. Jake, you loved her and I know those kinds of feelings don't just go away."

"Hannah I'm incapable of having those feelings."

"Yeah yeah, that's what you said before you met her the first time too and we all watched you fall head over heels for her." She laughs. "I think if you're honest with yourself you're still in love with her."

"No, Hannah it's not going to happen so don't get your hopes up." I tell her as we walk back over to the group and sit down.

After several hours the last of the group had gone home and it's just MC and I. She tells me goodnight before getting up and going inside. I put out the fire and make my way into the house. I find it hard to focus on my walking and stumble a bit. Damn, it usually takes a lot more than that before I feel it. I start down the hall towards my room when I see Marabella coming out of the bathroom. As she goes to walk by me I grab her arm and force her to look at me. I'm not sure if it's the alcohol or what but the second our eyes meet I forget everything I was going to say. Fuck it, maybe Hannah was right. Maybe I do still love her. At that thought, I can't help but push her up against the wall and kiss her but to my surprise, she pushes me away.

"Oh come on, don't act like you don't want to kiss me." I mumble.

"What I want and what is right are two different things." She says back.

"What's so wrong. You said you weren't seeing anybody."

"No, I haven't been with anyone since that night. That's not the reason." She says.

I lean in close to her. "From what I remember you hadn't been with anyone before that either. I'm glad to know I'm the only one." While still holding her against the wall I lean down and start kissing down her neck. She lets out a sigh and gives in just for a moment before pushing me away again.

"It's not like it's anything we haven't done before." I tease. She slaps me and I back away surprised.

"You've had too much to drink and I'm not in the mood for this shit." She says as she pushes past me to her room.

***

I walk into the kitchen and see Marabella sitting at the table drinking coffee.

"Hey." I say walking over to the coffee pot to fix myself a cup.

"Hey."

"About last night, I wanted to apologize for my behavior. I'm truly sorry. I wasn't thi-" I start and she cuts me off.

"It's fine. I've already forgotten it happened." She says.

Seeing how unphased she is I can't help but wonder if she ever had feelings for me at all. "Did you ever truly love me? I ask.

"Why, does it even matter at this point? It's not like it's going to change anything." She says looking up from her coffee.

"No, but I would like to know if your feelings were real or if you were just playing me." I turn to face her and lean back against the counter.

"I could ask you the same thing." She shrugs.

"I'll tell you if you tell me." I say as I cross my arms over my chest.

"Yes, everything was real for me. I truly fell in love with you back then. I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you. When I promised to run away with you I meant it. I never wanted to break that promise then those two pink lines showed up and... well, my life changed in an instant and what I wanted didn't matter anymore. I had a kid to protect and neither of us were important at that moment, she was." She looks up and we lock eyes. At that moment, I can tell she's being truthful.

"I understand why you did what you did. Hell, if I had known you were pregnant I would have probably insisted you do exactly that. Understanding what you did and knowing you did the right thing doesn't make it any easier for me. It doesn't suddenly make me trust you or love you. It doesn't magically bring those feelings back. When you left that day I didn't just lose you. When you disappeared you took my whole heart with you; you took every shred of trust I had left. When you disappeared you took away every hope I had for the future. When you left it broke me. I am incapable of having those feelings again but damn it MC I would be lying if I said I didn't feel something, I'm just not sure what. I'm afraid as I spend more time with you those feelings will just continue to grow and then I'll lose you, again. I can't go through that, not again. My heart can't take losing you a second time." I confess. I'm not sure if getting that off my chest makes me feel better or worse.

"You know, Jake, I never stopped loving you. That's the reason I haven't been with anyone since. At first, I couldn't even look at another man without feeling like I was betraying you. Then as Gracie started to get older I was constantly reminded of you. Every time I looked at her face I saw the man I loved so much. I just couldn't bring myself to be with anyone else because I knew it could never live up to what I felt with you. Being here with you is hell because my heart wants nothing more than for us to pick up where we left off 13 years ago but my head knows no matter what I do that can never happen. We can never go back to that." She sighs.

"MC, I just can't." I say.

"I know. So, where does all this leave us now?" She asks.

"I don't know."

Hearing her say those things should make me feel happy or angry or something but instead, it just confuses me even more.

#duskwood #duskwood jake #duskwood fanfiction #duskwood game #duskwood everbyte #duskwoodfanfic #iamjake #jake duskwood #jake x mc #duskwood jake x mc #duskwood community #Apple Doesn't Fall Far

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actuallylisteningtolyrics · 10 months

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Iscariot

"Until now, I knew this of myself." Right from the start, I'd say I'm too confused. Knew what? I think since songs often lack a greater context and have few methods of conveying context, it's extremely important to establish clear context right from the beginning.

The rest of the first verse tracks for me. The poetic irony that the person who told you not to be so trusting, was the one that betrayed you. As if he were trying to save you from himself.

With this "that's" section... I'm not really clear on what "that" is. My best guess is for Jesus to lose his faith.

I think it's a strong premise for a song. Biblical betrayal.

Dreams

Does a good job of not confusing me which I consider a serious accomplishment.

It's a song about a girl having feelings but keeping them to herself because for whatever reason, she can't be with this person. And she talks about how hard it is because she's so in love.

Wow, I would--very much like to be in love myself!

Paranoia Purple

A song about paranoia, with a clever color spin although I don't feel it's fully realized.

I'm not sure what "color in as many lines" means. My best guess is it's a coloring book metaphor, meaning he'll do the work of coloring things in and doubling as adding color that isn't purple.

Otherwise, it's a great song about how paranoia can make you sabotage something that's going well. And once a fuckin' gain, wish I had love!

It's a compelling and emotional premise.

While I think I can write about things outside of my experience, it'll definitely be easiest to tap into things you're personally feeling.

"How could I forget about you now." Not sure what this is conveying. I suppose a sort of disbelief that she let him go.

Polaroid Solution

This appears to be using a very specific metaphor which would be cute for people who understand polaroid cameras but for me, I'm lost as heck.

As a song in general, it's making a lot of references to specific things that I need context to understand. References can be very alienating.

In general, it's a very academic song about how technology distracts from understanding the self. It's like a crossword puzzle or a research project as a song. I'm not into it.

Maureen

It seems to be a very similar song to Dreams in terms of being about someone who has strong feelings for another person that can't be realized.

More specifically, it's about someone who's just fed up about hearing about his crush's sexual exploits because it's painful and he feels lonely. And boy, do I find that relatable.

This is what I feel a song should be. A strong premise with understandable lyrics. Maybe the one thing I'd add is story progression.

Bad Kids

A very simple party song about partying, calling attention to being cool. Doesn't feel too redundant because it builds onto the concept in a simple way.

It's maybe overly simple but I'd much rather that than overly confusing.

Don't Change Your Plans

I feel like I analyzed these lyrics before but I don't remember.

It's a song about someone who needs to move on with his life, and he's telling the girl he left behind not to build her life around him.

He has a wandering spirit but doesn't appear to fully understand it or have a healthy way of handling it.

See, these are lyrics done right. They're clear and simple but also provocative.

Whatsername

Already did this many times before so I can reap the benefits of knowing the lyrics. Glorious.

You Can Make Me Free

A simple song about how someone can generate wondrous possibilities for someone. I know exactly what it's about.

It's worth pointing out that I like when lyrics don't repeat themselves.

Keep An Eye On Dan

A mother and a father who are separated, and the mother's simultaneously worried that he'll hurt both her and their son. She still has feelings for him but something bad happened in the past.

A clever premise! A great song.

Carol Brown

This is the right way to do comedy. Actually good music, clever jokes, quirky.

Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)

A simple song about partying on a Saturday. Who wouldn't like this. With some fun details about the night.

"Best friend floats at the bottom of a glass" is a little confusing but I imagine he means his reflection.

Undertow

I have no fucking idea what these abstract-ass lyrics are supposed to mean.

Via the chorus, it seems like being so passionate about love that you shout it from the streets and hurt yourself.

Run Away With Me

A great, sweet love song. Ungh!

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the-chicken-or-the-banana · 3 years

Text

andreil and goodbye kisses (pt. 8) ft. wymack (+ a bonus)

part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 || i'm actually feeling kinda sad that this is the last part but also my brain can't come up with more ideas lmao

wymack stands by the fact that he doesn't get paid enough to deal with andrew and neil's shit (both as separate idiots and together)

but he does care for all his foxes, despite all the... difficulties that surround them

and honestly? one of the biggest struggles he faces is how absolutely thick-headed and oblivious the foxes can be regarding andrew and neil's relationship

truly, the heart-eyes neil constantly gave andrew were so obvious, he's not sure how everyone missed them before

but because he's so observant, he doesn't fail to notice how the older foxes keep giving strange looks to neil whenever he leaves andrew's side now

wymack doesn't get in the way of his foxes' personal lives. but if they start causing disturbances on the court, it's his job as coach to get to the bottom of these issues

(okay, maybe he and dan catch up on the so-called "drama" in the team every few weeks but it's for completely exy-related business. ahem. of course)

one day, wymack corners neil and lets him know that he and dan were to meet in his office after practice to talk through some logistics for the winter banquet

neil agrees, and practice goes smoothly (or, as smoothly as it can go with the foxes)

but after practice is... interesting

wymack swears he had no ulterior motives planned with the meeting; it really was supposed to be a genuine discussion

but the outcome of it was certainly unexpected

he and dan both know to wait for neil, that he doesn't like changing in front of anyone

so they wait. and wait. and wait.

it gets to the point where it's nearly 45 minutes after practice and surely neil should be done at this point, no?

wymack gets up, fully prepared to break down the door to make sure neil is okay when suddenly it slams open

neil tumbles out hand-in-hand with andrew, with matching flushed faces and ruffled hair

wymack sighs

dan outright snorts, and neil's head jerks up and his eyes widen when he notices dan and wymack

but before he can say anything, dan stands up and grins at andrew

"fucking neil again, huh?"

neil chokes on a cough and wymack turns to dan with a groan when he notices the mischievous glint in her eye, almost like that was an... inside joke?

with minyard?

wymack is very confused

andrew just scowls at dan. "i will knife you and make it look like an accident"

neil is still recovering from his coughing bout, so wymack turns back to the stabby midget ready to reprimand him

"i'm not scared of you anymore, remember andrew?" dan's eyes are still bright as she tries not to laugh

"shut up, both of you" wymack interrupts their weird jokes conversation whatever gruffly. "neil, do you remember why we're here?"

"huh? OH. oh shit. drew, i'm supposed to be talking with them about some winter banquet stuff"

andrew considers this. "how long?" wymack tells him about an hour, and andrew nods and turns to neil. "i'll stay"

neil just rolls his eyes. "you have a paper due tomorrow that you haven't even started yet. go do that, i'll be fine"

wymack sighs. he's been doing a lot of that lately. "minyard, go finish your homework or i swear to god, i'll make you run three marathons next week"

andrew glares but mutters out a "fine." he goes to leave but neil tugs him back by the wrist

neil then proceeds to kiss andrew on the nose and gives him the most bashful smile wymack has ever seen on the kid's face

neil's happy. it's a christmas miracle! and it's not even christmas yet!

and that kiss... really, it was the last thing he expected out of neil and andrew but he's happy at how comfortable they've grown around each other

and okay, it was a little adorable

(not that he'd ever say that to their faces, of course)

andrew ends up stumbling out of the court with the reddest face wymack's seen as neil turns back to him and dan

"right" he says sheepishly. "banquet?"

BONUS:

abby doesn't believe it when david tells her about the nose kiss

she knows that neil has a heart of gold, she knows that andrew has so much capacity to feel

but a nose kiss? she doesn't think andrew would agree to that

so when her older foxes come over one night after a tiring, but successful, game, she decides she needs to see this for herself

after a hearty dinner, all the kids are sitting in the living room, with andrew and neil talking quietly in the back corner of the room.

perfect.

"neil!" abby calls, and everyone in the room quiets to look at her. "sweetheart, could you help me bring out the dessert?"

nicky immediately jumps up from beside her, saying how he could help if she needed it

"no no, it's alright, i was hoping to talk to neil, if that's okay? it might take a little while"

neil looks extremely worried at this and abby almost feels guilty.

almost

he glances at andrew and then he leans down so quickly that abby nearly misses it

neil kisses andrew on the nose.

abby barely notices andrew's bright blush, nor does she register neil moving towards her

she just feels so proud of her foxes for coming so far in a world that keeps trying to beat them down

it's a sentimental moment, which is completely ruined by kevin's woop and nicky's yell of glee

"YES BITCH THEY DID IT THEY DID THE KISS GIVE ME YOUR MONEY ALLISON"

"fuck you hemmick. fuck you"

neil looks at them wildly. "you guys were betting on us? i didn't think you would..."

matt sighs and slings an arm around his friend. "oh neil, do you still really think that low of us? we bet on everything"

JSKHKKSJ OK IT'S FINALLY DONE i already miss this series but it has been a fun time :) my asks are always open if y'all have anything specific you want me to write !

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alluringjae · 3 years

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au cours de l’été - jjh

⤑ translation: over the summer

⤑ summary: this is a story of an exhausted painter who needed a breather from the hectic city life. so aside from moving to the countryside, the needed air in your lungs also came in the form of a person. this summer meant for pure relaxation, perhaps your heart may dive into him too.

⤑ pairing: jaehyun x female reader

⤑ word count: 15.2k (so much for saying that i’ll be writing shorter stories)

⤑ genre: fluff, romance, smut | author!jaehyun, painter!reader, strangers to lovers!au, 50s-60s!au, summer love in france!au

⤑ warnings: me inserting some french phrases because I want to practice (feel free to correct me if I made mistakes, i’ll appreciate them), fictional interpretations of real-life people, explicit language, jaehyun being such a romantic pls im in tears, mentions and scenes of burnout (the worst)

⤑ author’s note: this was an idea that just came to me after pinterest kept recommending me poetic beauty/try again jaehyun, so here we are! i intended to write less than 5k words but sometimes plans don’t go as planned once you really invest in the story yet i’m really happy how this turned out!

the romantic exhilaration in my bones are off the charts because this is jaehyun we’re talking about lol enjoy!

⤑ masterlist

⤑ leave me some feedback, constructive criticism, or hellos!

3 juin 1957

The city life overstimulated your entire system, losing your brainpower and inspiration. Another exhibition that’ll feature your works with other influential painters was happening at the end of the year, and you had nothing prepared so far. You’ve crashed to the deep end of creative fatigue.

So you needed to get away again; somewhere quieter and surrounded by nature.

That’s why you ended up in the countryside down south, somewhere within Provence. It’s purely just for the summer, but extensions were okay as long you get back at least a month before the show. Filing that leave of absence at the studio you worked at was worth it.

You rented an apartment overlooking the marketplace, where the heart of the village was. After arranging things from your boxes and luggage the entire day, you found out that you lacked in the food department.

So the succeeding day, the entire morning was spent on grocery shopping downstairs then stocking them inside your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. Right after changing out of your pajamas into a flowy floral dress and sandals, you decided to bike to the bakery that locals suggested. A must-go place for newcomers, they all raved.

“Café des Étoiles Perdues.” (Café of Lost Stars.)

The clear chimes of the bell resounded through the small, cottage-like lobby as you entered inside. An old woman, whom you assumed was the owner, welcomed you openly.

“Oh la la, vous êtes belle! Vous vous appelez (Y/N), la nouvelle venue, n'est-ce pas?” (Oh la la, you’re beautiful. Your name is (Y/N), the newcomer, right?)

She complimented, making you shyly mutter your answer. Wiping off the flour from her apron, she introduced herself kindly.

“Je m’appelle Camille. Mes spécialités sont les macarons pisctaches et des croissants avec des amandes. Autre chose que tu aimes?” (I’m Camille. My specialties are the pistachio macarons and croissants with almonds. Is there anything else you like?)

“J'aime tout ce que vous suggères, Madame.” (I’d like anything that you suggest, Madame.)

A younger man, who went by Jaemin, was a part-timer barista who asked for your coffee order. As he directed you to the best seat of the café, which was outside overlooking the garden of blooming sunflowers, you pulled out your sketch pad so you could capture this dreamy view. It was nothing like you’ve ever seen in your life.

You’ve decided on a theme already for your exhibit thanks to your conversations with locals yesterday, which was related to freedom. After being chained to cities for so-called better living and financial standards, it’s actually how your inspiration to create squeezed the life out of you like a lemon. Although it was fun at first to see those tourist spots, it eventually got tiring.

Another matchstick to graze intensity through your bones was what you prayed for.

While you’re engaged in a rough sketch of the scenery, the dandy presence of a young man entered the café with his books. White shirt, red trousers with a matching beret, he sported freckles on his pale face. Despite visiting his favorite café numerously, Camille was overjoyed to see him and his serene smiles.

“Jaehyun! What brings you here?”

“Bonjour, Madame! I’m starving for your croissants because I ran out back home.”

“Not to worry! I’ll pack up some so you’re on your way.” She lightened him up like one of her kids, taking one of the bigger paper bags.

“No rush though, Madame. I’ll be reading and working here for a bit here.” Jaehyun affirmed, bringing it out his wallet and called out for Jaemin.

“Un café crème, s’il vous plait.” (One cup of cappuccino, please.)

Jaehyun’s usual chair was by the large window, overseeing the wide garden planted by the citizens of the village way before he was born. It was places like this he missed after moving to the city for his education and work’s sake.

That’s the thing when you’re coming from a rich family; you don’t have much of say with what your parents order you to do. However, his recent request to stay in his childhood home (or mansion) again was fulfilled because he couldn’t search for what he needed in the cities anymore.

Jaehyun was a sucker for romance; an old romantic others would say. A lot of women mistook his kindness as flirting on many occasions, but ironically he just wasn’t looking for anyone yet.

Starting as a novelist in the said genre based on real-life stories of people he met in Paris, Barcelona, London, and more, his stories were popular hits especially to young adults who aspire to find love one day.

However, traveling to the known places no longer felt fun as he got older. The stories he gathered were very similar, just in different languages. It took an enthusiastic dinner with his family, specifically his only older sister Krystal retelling fond stories from their younger years to get the idea of moving back for a bit. So consumed with the city life, he wanted to see things from another perspective.

What was the difference between a love story formed in the countryside than in the city?

It’s been a month since he arrived, but he didn’t hurry himself to do his research. He’s been reading books in his family library, revisiting monumental places, exploring around the village, and reconnecting with old friends as if he never left.

Readjusting to his former life would make writing easier when he’s motivated enough to do it again. Besides, his books were profiting well enough to his taste; good enough for the next 10 years according to his personal accountant, Kim Jungwoo.

Jaehyun resumed reading this book his mother recommended him before he left. Entitled “Réessaye”, which was about a young man who reunites with his childhood sweetheart after his arranged marriage failed. After what she put her through, he’s hesitant whether to try again or let her go.

Jaehyun enjoyed reading books with realistic outlooks on love because he found them more meaningful, enlightening how exactly it makes you feel and do. Even if he enjoyed reading sappy, fairytale-like stories from time to time, he always returned to the real ones as they only displayed the truth.

That love isn’t always rainbows and sunshine, but something that can also break you especially if you go after the wrong person. This kind of mindset was how he toiled on his stories, which gained him a status outside of his unavoidable labels such as “the only striking son of the Jeong family” or “Valentine Boy”.

He diligently browsed through the climax, where the main male character confessed all his constrained emotions to his sweetheart. But it was until Jaemin pressed the bag of croissants in front of his face after placing down his childhood friend’s drink to disturb his peace.

“Reading again?” He taunted, snatching his book away and throwing the bag on Jaehyun’s lap. “When are you writing that book already? Everyone is practically dying for you to release something new again!”

Jaehyun flatly shook his head, drinking his coffee quietly. It’s not the first time anyone asked (or pressured) him about his next release, and it’s the last thing he wanted to think about. “Not in the mood right now, Jaemin. Now off to work before Madame Camille scolds you again.”

“You’re just stalling because you have nothing to write, don’t you?” Jaemin cunningly expressed, raising a brow. He’s known to catch onto the people’s bs easily; the last person you’d want to say your secrets too and Jaehyun realized too late. Though lucky for him, Jaemin shut the topic down right away so he wouldn’t pop a vein.

“Sais-tu de la nouvelle venue dans le village, d'ailleurs?” (Do you know about the newcomer in the village, by the way?)

“Une nouvelle venue?” (A newcomer?)

Being stuck at his mansion recently, news about village affairs were now late to him. Jaemin’s finger discreetly pointed outside the window, pertaining to a young woman sat outside painting her view in front of her.

That would be you, shading all the flowers in bright colors.

Seeing a new face amazed Jaehyun, especially when she was almost someone right out of a book. In a neat bun with white daisies printed in her dress, she crossed her legs whilst continuing her movements. She bit her lower lip, frustrated over an accidental smudge she made and trying to fix it by blending it with another color. When she accomplished it, she swapped brushes. A thinner one, to outline the shapes of the flower. Her lips curved to a smile after finishing another one perfectly with the rest.

“Jaehyun?”

Jaemin snapped his fingers to his distracted friend, zoning out the window. Still something he hasn’t stop doing, he pondered. With a final snap, Jaehyun broke away from falling hard from his abstract. Jaemin calculated the problem so quickly, analyzing his friend breezily like his medical school requirements.

“Elle est splendide, n'est-ce pas?” (She’s gorgeous, right?)

“Elle ressemble à une personne décente.” (She looks like a decent person.)

Jaehyun pushed it aside, flipping back to the page where he stopped reading. Before Jaemin responded, the door chimed open again to alarm him that a new customer came in. He excused himself to his friend, warning him that this wasn’t the last time he’ll talk about the newcomer too.

Jaehyun nodded along, not taking his friend’s cheeky words so seriously. However, the final result you attempted to create tickled his curiosity, so he slyly peeked from his book to the window.

You’ve freed your hair down, victorious to have started your collection this early in your break. A fantastic start, you let the paint dry first and munch on the croissant that served as your reward. However, you ‘re quick to notice a manly figure glancing through the window. From the side, his brown eyes appeared lively even if his entire face was hidden by the book.

Réessaye by Mark Lee; he must be a romantic. Every person in your studio read it, excluding yourself. Painfully beautiful, they’d summarize it.

Daring to meet more people, you locked eye contact with him. He didn’t expect it, almost flipping from his chair. Bashfully, you waved him a hello to somewhat break the ice. However, it broke his composure, and suddenly, he scurried off with his things from the café.

Now, you got quite worried. You checked your tiny mirror if he saw anything unpleasant with you, but you’d say you look relatively fine. Oh, maybe you could redeem yourself the next time you saw him. After bidding goodbye to Camille and Jaemin, the latter chased after you when you prepared yourself on your bike.

“By any chance, did you say hi to a guy with brown eyes and a red beret?”

“Well, more like I waved at him, then he zoomed out. Did I do something wrong?” You questioned with concern, putting your hands on the handles.

“That’s my friend, who’s quite reserved with strangers. I’m sorry on his behalf.”

“Nah, it’s fine.” You brushed it off politely. “See you again soon, Jaemin!”

Peddling away, letting the cool breeze fan you, your mind reverted its thoughts to that strange man. Maybe you’ll give it some time; you had a lot of it.

“Shucks, he was pretty cute.”

12 juin 1957

The world must really be on your side with these good decisions because you crossed paths with the strange man again in the café a week later. But instead of running away, he asked nicely if he could sit across your free chair in front of your table outside. It was a Saturday, and the place was packed.

“Joignez-moi, s’il vous plait.” (Join me, please.)

You insisted, giving yourself time to subtly observe his physique a lot more. Freckles dotted under his eyes like a constellation, bushy eyebrows, pink cheeks to match his pale complexion, and wearing a fuzzy knit sweater that meshed well with his green beret. He had some sort of necklace too; there was a heart pendant.

“Vous êtes une artiste.” (You’re an artist.) The small wooden palette of paint beside your small sketch pad was exposed, finding it as a great icebreaker.

“Une peintre, spécifiquement. Franchement, les visuels ici sont trés captivants qu'à Paris.” (A painter, to be specific. Frankly, the visuals here are more captivating than in Paris.)

“Je suis d’accord,” (I agree,) Jaehyun leaned against his chair, taking a better look at you with the remaining light from the descending sun.

“Oh, vous êtes comme moi. J’habite à Paris aussi.” (Oh, you’re like me. I live in Paris too.)

“Bon, je suis née à Londres. Puis, j’ai déménagé où je voulais en Europe depuis j'avais 18 ans. Mais oui, j’habite définitivement à Paris maintenant.” (Well, I was born in London then moved wherever I wanted in Europe for inspiration since I was 18. But yes, I live permanently in Paris now.)

You clarified, beginning to enjoy his comforting company. Initiating conversations with people you’re not acquainted with wasn’t in your range of skills, though he didn’t have an intimidating vibe. He looked too youthful to act like that.

“Je m’appelle (Y/N), d'ailleurs.” (I’m (Y/N), by the way.) You stuck out your hand as a sign of respect, which he enthusiastically obliged.

“Salut, (Y/N). Je m’appelle Jaehyun.” [Hi, (Y/N). I’m Jaehyun.]

He kissed it in a gentleman fashion, applying the manners he’s been taught since he was a child. Should you have been flustered, but no. It’s been a long time since anyone greeted you like that, specifically back home.

Throughout your talk, you learned more about who he was, his job, and what his life in the countryside is like. He was an author of romance novels, yet you’ve never heard about him prior. Heavily prioritizing your work, you don’t keep up with the new releases or trends at all. Though after mentioning his last name, it piqued your interest.

“Jeong? As in the business, Jeong Tea Inc.?”

“Correct.”

His family was one of the most affluent families in Parisian society. Old money immigrants from South Korea, they brought their tea business to France and it boomed successfully. You’re quite sure you’ve seen his parents in past exhibits, but never did you approach them because you were a rookie then. But he reassured you that it was fine, and to just treat him like you’d treat your friends. Plus, it came to your knowledge that he was the same age as you too.

He opened up how this village was where he lived his childhood, so he asked his parents if he could hand over their mansion for a while for rest. It then shocked both of you at how identical your reasons were for staying in the countryside.

“I’m burnt out from the city, so I’m trying to regain my spirit here hopefully. Besides, I needed a change of scenery after living there for 3 years. My longest stay yet outside of London!”

“I need new ideas for my books. The cities don’t charm me anymore, so I returned here for peace and quiet. Maybe let these ideas come to me rather than me going after them.”

From a bigger lens, people would conclude your interaction as a sight of two artists who passionately talk about their art. But to you, you’d interpret it as two relaxed, young adults in their twenties who simply wanted to run away from the pressures of their art and enjoy the summer as every young adult should.

Not cooped up in the studio or office, but innocently waltzing around with your youth while it’s still there.

début de juillet 1957

“Dépêche-toi, (Y/N)!” [Hurry up, (Y/N)!]

Jaehyun yelled at your open balcony from downstairs, parking his mini car beside your bike. He planned on taking you somewhere a little farther this time; to absolutely feel like one of the locals.

The countryside urged you to wear more dresses and flat shoes, so you took out a turquoise dress with a white scarf to wrap on top of your head. Like your relaxed fit, your mindset too was calm. Upon meeting him, he wore his round spectacles with a red knit sweater over a white turtleneck long-sleeved top. His fingers were adorned with silver rings, then around his neck was a thin black ribbon. He curled some of his hair again, a style you really liked of his.

You can’t lie, but this man could pull any trend or style and still look extra pretty.

Out of all the locals you’ve befriended in your stay, Jaehyun was always your companion. He took you to varying places that those locals don’t visit nor tourists acknowledge in their reviews for the past few weeks. For someone who hasn’t been in the village for a long time, his memory didn’t disappoint. His childhood was only filled with cheerful moments.

Today, he was taking you to a peaceful district of shops in the farther part of the village. It’s where he’d buy sweets, journals, and accessories with his mother, Krystal, and one of his housemaids every other weekend.

All the stores there were currently bombarded with blooming flowers along their alley, bringing more enticement to those who were roaming around. There was so much life here; the head waiter of one restaurant smiling at every passing customer, one florist handing a free flower to anyone who asks, and a young lady showcasing her jewelry collection to a bunch of women who looked like tourists.

“Cette librairie vendent des livres enveloppés dans du papier. Ma mère m'a offerte l'un d'eux pour mon anniversaire tous les ans comme une surprise.” (This bookstore sells books wrapped in paper. My mother gifted me one of them on my birthday every year as a surprise.)

He trained his attention at a rustic shop with open wooden windows giving a glimpse of their shelves.

“Avez-vous fini les lisant?” (Have you finished reading them?)

“Du début à la fin.” (From cover to cover.)

He took you to this rooftop restaurant overlooking the entire plaza. Since he didn’t arrange a reservation yet didn’t get rejected, he must know the owner. Especially how a lot of the staff gave casual hellos and high fives.

Speaking of the owner, he walked out of his kitchen to introduce himself to you. He went by the name Moon Taeil, another one of Jaehyun’s childhood friends whom he used to play at his house whenever his parents came along.

Gobbling up in the appetizing food Taeil prepared beforehand, Jaehyun brought up your painting exhibition again. He loved hearing artists talk about their works, wanting to know more about their driven mindset and what their imagination is like. After all, it does vary for everyone.

“So far,” You poked your fork through the chicken, taking a bite of it. “I’ve produced 3 paintings. The garden of flowers outside Café des Étoiles Perdues, the kids playing hopscotch in the alley, and the peach tree outside your house.”

“Woah, you’re on a roll.” Jaehyun clapped across you, pouring you another glass of water. He recalled the nights you ranted not having any clue what to do for the exhibit. Then after taking you to more places, he’s rewarded to see you be creatively active again. “How many artworks do you left to make?”

“Around 3-4 left. I have ideas already, but I’m still brainstorming.” You internally rejoiced, loving how much progress you’ve made. “How about you, Jaehyun? How’s your progress?”

Unlike you, Jaehyun still felt stuck. Although he did find couples around the village, none of them intrigued him as much as his past stories. But he won’t give up easily; that’s not in his work ethic.

“Still searching, but I’ll get there.”

Recently, you got ahold of some of Jaehyun’s books from him personally since they weren’t sold in the village. You wanted to understand how he became so well known outside the labels people put him under. Reading his first novel entitled “Des Papillons” (Butterflies), it was about a couple separated during World War II without contact or knowledge about their well-being. Yet whenever they saw butterflies on the day they parted, they took it as a sign that the other was alive wherever they were.

You’re always hanging on the cliff when the scenes revert back and forth to the main male lead getting stuck in intense war scenarios, rooting for him to get out alive each time. In the end, it took 7 years before they were reunited and wed.

Jaehyun had a wonderful way with his words and descriptions, managing to enwrap you in as if you’re also a character in the book. Like how you rooted for that male lead, you’re rooting for him to find his spark again.

Following this uplifting conversation, Jaehyun finally took to your greatly anticipated spot. It was the main viewpoint of Gordes, one of the most beautiful hilltop villages in the country. The sunset was about to hit, and the lights from the city across you slowly turned on like a bunch of dominos.

As you marveled at its aesthetics, Jaehyun leaned against the hood of his car. He sensed how in awe you were, more than you ever were in the city he assumed. So used to the city that being surrounded with nature became foreign to you.

He took out his polaroid camera from his trunk and captured a photo of you from behind. The shutter sounds were obvious, turning your back at the commotion. Jaehyun fanned the freshly printed photo to dry, giving a mischievous smile.

“What can I say? While you’re fawning over the view, mine was more enamoring.”

Although Jaehyun felt overwhelmed the first time he locked eyes with you, he can’t resist the power of his developing feelings for you. The more time he took you around, the more his heart found different details about you to admire. After listening to all those love stories in the past, the people he spoke to shared how there will be some distinct moment where your heart decides who they’re longing for.

That exact view of you by the cliff, he already knew.

He’s infatuated by you.

“Tu es très ringard, Jaehyun.” (You’re so cheesy, Jaehyun.) You scoffed sassily, with a hand on your waist.

“Un gentleman ne ment jamais, (Y/N). Allez, il fait nuit maintenant.” [A gentleman never lies, (Y/N). Come on, it’s night already.]

He cleverly responded, grabbing his car keys from his pocket. The trip back to the village was energizing, putting down the roof of his car to relish the chill breeze of the night weather. You even raised your arms in the air, losing your scarf even from the speed Jaehyun went at!

The two of you belted along to the songs on the radio when the fields were the only ones surrounding you, no neighbors to shout at your rambunctiousness.

The late-night hours drew by so quickly almost like dinner with more of Jaehyun’s friends didn’t happen. Arriving at the front doors of your apartment complex, Jaehyun raced over to your side to open your door. Always maintained proper observation of manners, you appreciated that side of him. Rarely anyone in Paris that you’ve encountered treated you that way because you were a foreigner.

“Bonsoir, (Y/N).” [Goodnight, (Y/N).]

“Bonsoir, Jaehyun. Quand est-ce que je te revois?” (Goodnight, Jaehyun. When can I see you again?)

“Demain et après-demain. Appelle-moi quand tu es libre.” (Tomorrow, and the day after that. Just give me a call when you’re free.)

With a short wave, you entered your building and marched up to the stairs. A good day only meant being tired to the core, ready to crash and fall in your soft bed. Opening your wide windows to let more of the cool breeze in, your eyes easily caught Jaehyun’s classy car still there. As for the owner, he didn’t move an inch from his leaning position.

“Rentre à la maison, Jaehyun! C’est tard!” (Go home, Jaehyun! It’s late!) You shrieked, peeking side to side to make sure none of the neighbors scold you.

Jaehyun laughed wholeheartedly, not budging at all. “La nuit ne fait que commencer, ma chérie.” (The night has just begun, my darling.)

“Comment tu m'as appelé?” (What did you call me?)

Either your ears were fooling you or he addressed you by a divine pet name. The gasp you swallowed, as your entire body tingled with exhilaration. Your mind would simply disregard it like his former teasing words, but your heart begged to differ.

Rather than responding with words, Jaehyun’s voice serenaded you with a wondrous song, C’est Si Bon by Eartha Kitt, that played on the radio earlier. Out of the blue, a random guitar accompaniment followed his baritone vocals.

“En voyant notre mine ravie,”

Against the railing of your wired balcony, your body shifted forward to watch him better.

“Les passants dans la rue, nous envient,”

Your hand perched on your cheek, admiring his talent.

“C'est si bon de guetter dans ses yeux,”

It was like a lullaby, and here you were drowning in its peacefulness. Sensing the passion he gives off in his singing, your heart couldn’t refrain the strings inside from being swayed and tugged.

This was your moment of realization: that you too were smitten.

“Un espoir merveilleux, qui donne le frisson…”

À la mi-juillet de 1957

“Hello, nature!” You greeted brightly as your legs raced the huge garden in his manor. It was the first time he invited you over, too lazy to go out of the city. His social battery needed a recharge for the weekend, so a picnic within his home would do the trick. Additionally, it was an excuse to bring you over after the numerous times you’ve begged him to.

Jaehyun merely shook his head, enjoying the rush of childlike fun in your veins while you squealed and grazed your hands through the flowers.

He carried a wooden basket full of treats his family maids cooked, taking his time to venture through the rows of flowers. They were growing healthily and phenomenally these days, sometimes riding his bike to personally water them since he became busy with writing again. Lately, he found inspiration again, and so he wrote day and night to set them free.

“Voila!” You yanked out a sunflower, sniffing it a little. “Come on, Jaehyun! Pick up a few for our lunch!”

He followed your order, picking out some he found ideal. But just for fun, he put down the basket and carried you from behind out of the blue. You tried kicking him away, but his muscular arms can’t compete with your soft ones.

“What are you doing?”

“You said to pick up a flower, so I did. The prettiest of them all.”

His flirtatious words were never serious, yet you took it as a compliment. That’s how high your confidence is. Only we define our own worth, not others. The two of you chatted more about your lives until the first rain of the season poured down, chilling down from the raging heat. None of you had an umbrella; the weather was too unpredictable.

Deciding to just run for it, he gave you the wooden basket to protect yourself whilst he used the blanket you’ve sat on. Running with laughter to return to his mansion in the muddy dirt, the cool drops shivered your figure yet felt fantastic.

If you were in the city, you’d panic because it’d mess your appearance and your boss would be infuriated by your unprofessionalism. But in the countryside, it didn’t matter at all. The condition of the rain wasn’t budging to improve, getting stronger by the minute. His entire house even lost power, his housemaids having to bring candles to his bedroom and your assigned one once night dawned.

It was hopeless to return home for you, plus it’s dangerous to drive in in the dark, narrow streets too. Jaehyun handed you some of his fresh clothes so you’d be free from flinching from cold dress sticking to your body.

“Get dressed and some sleep, (Y/N).”

Nodding, you excused yourself to find the bathroom. You’d assume it’d be easy, but this was your first time in his house; a mansion even. Doors from left to right, long corridors that seemed never-ending, no maids were within the vicinity whom you can ask for guidance.

Resorting to return to Jaehyun’s chamber for help, you were taken aback by what your eyes laid on. In front of his full mirror, he discarded his now-dried shirt. Even with the dim lighting, you could make out that he was fit by the transparent view of his abdomen. Peeping like this was wrong, yet you couldn’t turn away just yet. The heat in your cheeks was inevitable, finding composure in such an unholy sight.

Though a gear in you suddenly twisted; a gear that straightened your nerves. You’re taking a bold move on the chessboard of your feelings. Wholly opening his bedroom door again, you leisurely sauntered inside without warning.

“Oh, (Y/N)! Ne peux pas trouver la salle de bain?” (Oh, (Y/N)! Can’t find the bathroom?)

Unbothered as he stood shirtless, you on the other hand silently dropped his clothes on the floor. Holding intense eye contact, your fingers graciously unzipped the side of your dress. Inch by inch, the tension built up like the strong tiny flames lit on the candles around you two. Joining the pile of clothes, all that remained were your white lace undergarments. Unplanned for the get-go, it’s the ideal set for your earlier outfit at the picnic.

“Je me suis perdue, mais je pense avoir trouvé quelque chose de mieux.” (I got lost, but I think I found something better.)

Your fingers grazed your arm up to your collarbones, faking your naivety. From your lust-filled stare, the glint in Jaehyun’s eyes darkened. He gulped at the revealing sight of you, brushing his hair back to restrain himself.

None of you could utter a single word, only the vivacious rain being the only sounds ringing around you. Thus, you allowed your actions to pursue precisely what you desired to do.

Taking baby steps towards him to test the waters, he met you right in the center and closed the leftover space. His hands cradled your face, whilst yours clung to his chest. His lips tasted like red wine, watching him pour in a glass for himself earlier. He did offer, yet you declined.

Your tongue darted his lower lip, gaining access after. Sensing the edge of his bed, you plopped yourself down the cushion. His knee urged your legs to widen, letting his body slide in. From your face, his fingers lowered to the back of your bra, snapping the clasps open.

“It takes skill to accomplish that in one try, Jaehyun.”

“I lived in Paris too, ma chérie. You out of all people would understand and have the experience.”

His palms massaged your freed breasts, throwing your head back even more to his pillows as his lips ravaged down from your stomach until the fabric of your not-so pure panties.

“Call me that again, please.”

“Ma chérie, seras-tu mienne?” (My darling, will you be mine?) He kissed and licked the tiny ribbon in front repeatedly, where your now-swollen clit laid. It electrified your bones, pulling on to his ruffled hair.

“Tu peux m'avoir.” (You can have me.)

Sex in the form of one-night stands were all you’ve invested; upcoming artists like you weren’t capable to maintain long-term relationships. Les plans à trois even if you’re extra freaky or drunk from the afterparties of your events. All that these occurrences had in common were not seeing those men ever again after sneaking out of their apartments in the morning.

This time, it’s different.

When they said that doing the deed with someone you’re romantically entangled with was more special, they didn’t bluff. You could plan bits of your life, but it can sometimes change aspects of it when you least expect it. Sometimes for the best or the worst, but right now, it went beyond your expectations.

It’s rewarding that the man you’ve slowly fallen for within your stay returned your affections.

Around late 3 am that night, your brain jolted with artistic ideas that awoken your sonorous rest. There are no hopes of sleeping them off because they tend to bother you for hours until you do something about it. But you’re already so cozy having Jaehyun’s arms around you, skin to skin under the duvet. His lips daunted right above your forehead, recalling his endless kisses there that helped you fall asleep.

Well, these ideas don’t work themselves unless you do. Untangling him tactfully, you stepped out of the blanket and wore one of his long white shirts he gave you earlier before pulling out your sketchpad and palette of oil paints.

Luckily, there was still one available candle to use as the rest have melted indefinitely. You slid the matchstick again to the sand surface, boring a flame from the friction which you placed on top of the wick.

All your ideas that night leaned towards one thing, or person rather: Jaehyun.

You spent a few minutes retracing how he vividly looked at the picnic, leaning back from the chair of his work desk. His outfit of a turquoise turtleneck underneath a white button-top with trousers matching the said turtleneck looked good together, how his ears tingled red after you complimented his newfound inspiration for his book, and the prominent veins in his arms when he rolled his sleeves due to the heat.

The thin brush you held defined the shape of his face, then paying attention to the messy strands of his hair. Stroking in a circular way to outline his eyelids, a hoarse grunt disturbed the peaceful silence.

“Get back in bed, ma chérie.” His eyes drowsily opened, lying on his side. The moment he no longer felt your warmth, he worried something happened. Instead, you’re working late at night after quite a rough yet romantic night.

“Shush,” You shunned him down with your index finger. “Give me a few more minutes.”

“Perhaps, are you painting me?” He hunched from the covers. “Your eyes looking back and forth would never lie to me, would they?”

“Maybe…” You teased, batting your eyes at him without any risky intentions. Or not?

He deeply chuckled, sluggishly removing himself under the covers. In his pure nudity, he advanced himself towards you. You shrieked, covering yourself with your free hand.

“Jaehyun, stay back! I told you I’ll be there soon!”

Not listening, he carried your bridal style, making you drop your precious palette to the fur rug. Laying you carefully, he popped each button open. By the sight of his cock hardening again, you knew you were in for another round with him.

“Wet again, ma chérie? Oh, this will be fun.”

Fin de juillet 1957

So this kind of summer romance concept that everyone fantasized about… it became your present.

Together you’d stroll in the smaller streets and immerse yourselves in the unique culture of the village. Whenever anyone saw you together, holding hands, biking, or what-not, they’d praise in the name of love for bringing you both together. A romance like yours in the countryside was a lively sight.

Remember how extensions were a possibility if your search for inspiration wasn’t found? Well, it’s not a question that you’d make one, except inspiration found you instead. And he had one arm around you as he slow danced with you in the open grounds of the village, listening to the live band covering song classics.

In particular, Chet Baker. He was Jaehyun’s favorite artist at the moment.

There was an ongoing week-long festival dedicated to summer, giving more plants their bloom and spreading gratitude to the hardworking people. Especially the students, off on their break.

The faint radiance from the post lights as Jaehyun swayed you around, making you laugh as he tried to mumble the lyrics of the song. All those glasses of wine he tried earlier with you from the bartender offering it for free had its effects, and you weren’t off the hook from them either.

Blisters started to form from your ankles, adjusting to the new pair of heels Jaehyun gave (or insisted to buy) you a while ago after staring at them like lasers. You’ve always provided things for yourself that being spoiled by someone else felt weird to you.

“If there’s anything you want me to buy for you, just tell me.”

“How can I buy you if you’re already mine?”

His smooth talk often made you punch his shoulder, but it’s just a mechanism to hide the exhilaration.

Under each other’s spells in your dance, you laid your head on Jaehyun’s chest. Feeling the strong beat of his heart, you were reminded of how much life he’s filled with. And you became a part of it, in the same way he crossed yours.

Jaehyun’s lips sank to the top of your head, pecking it affectionately. The first-ever summer where he wasn’t stuck at his desk working or drinking his life away with his rich friends in their Parisian homes, it couldn’t get better than this.

“Oiii! Flirtez ailleurs!” (Oiii! Flirt somewhere else!) The distinct voice of Jaemin, handing out pastries to passersby, shouted at the both of you, making you flip your middle finger at him.

“Trouve une copine d’abord, d’accord?!” (Find a girlfriend first, alright?!) You shouted back jokingly, almost falling due to the ache of your feet. Your immodest behavior was censored by Jaehyun’s large palms, not wanting the kids around to see it. Whispering closely to your ear,

“Tu es ivre. Laisse-moi te ramener chez toi.” (You’re drunk. Let me take you home.)

You changed back into your sandals as Jaehyun led you through the different alleys. Your vision was too hazy to navigate, so he had one arm wrapped around your shoulders. The weather grew cold too, shivering your bones so he draped you in his blazer.

“Wait,” You stopped, making him do the same. But before he could ask for your reason, your hands yanked him by his suspenders and your legs walked backward to reach the brick wall. Standing in his 5’11 glory, you were overpowered.

Yet your lips captured his effortlessly, raising to your toes to press yourself closer to him. He moved fast, one arm hugging your waist while the other hoisted your leg up. Tangling around his waist, the urge to move your hips against his crotch couldn’t be contained any longer.

Everyone was probably still out at this time or sleeping. The sloppy sounds you’ve produced were beyond suitable for any audience. Not to mention, the nasty words Jaehyun’s pretty mouth spoke in your ears desired you to fall to your knees.

“Not afraid of getting caught, ma chérie? You want me to ruin you right here, right now?”

“God, Jaehyun,” Your hands tugged his belt forward, the friction it gave to your core twitched the naughty side out of you. “Do it, please.”

The idea of public sex thrilled your mind into overdrive, yet you’ve never done it. In Paris, a city where several people started to know your name, you didn’t need a scandal to be plastered in your resume yet.

Jaehyun himself included, and still opted not to give it to you.

“Another time, ma chérie. Your apartment, now.”

The moment you unlocked your apartment door, Jaehyun was far from gentle like in the mansion. Ripping you out of your frilly dress didn’t take long, so was unbuttoning his trousers down to the floor.

On your knees, his hand gave you a makeshift ponytail as your tongue flicked the slit of his cock. Then slowly taking him inch by inch on your mouth, you’d let out a loud pop when you needed to breathe. Your hands fondling his balls, he groaned from the edge of your bed and tightened his hold on you. Tears formulated in your eyes as you got to swallow him whole, uncontrollably bobbing your head.

He felt like putty when he released, your throat taking the salty base. You hastily unhooked your bra in front of him when suddenly, his hand flicked on the fabric of your panties, cueing you to stop your motion.

“Keep them on when you ride me.”

Straddling on his lap, his head laid against the headboard of his bed. His arms roaming around your back to stabilize you, your fingers pushed your panties to the side as you pushed yourself down his protected length. Your moans became shaky. Up and down, you bounced while bracing on his shoulders.

Against his ear, your moans were harmonious. His hips moved against your beat, hitting your g-spot like the sexual ace he is. His thumb rubbing your clit, you shuttered your eyes at the impending high approaching you like a bus.

“I’m close.” You choked out, the overstimulation overwhelming your nerves.

“Fuck, me too.” He grunted, slapping your butt that made you shriek.

Soon enough, everything hit you both all at once. The knot snapped, and so did your body falling on his chest after a single scream. Panting, Jaehyun pecked on your temple as his cock softened up. Once you returned to your senses, you lifted yourself from his length, laying bare beside him.

His eyes started to fall, but before they did, he muttered huskily. “Je t’aime, (Y/N).”

It was the first time he’s said those words in the way they meant, and he’s more than certain that it’s what he felt with you. Sure, it started as mutual infatuation, but now, it can’t leave. Not on his watch.

Love was a concept unfamiliar to you, but Jaehyun slowly taught you what it was and how it felt like. Books and films may give sneak peeks, but to personally give and receive it back was made possible by him.

From this moment on, you could conclude that yes, you reciprocated it.

“Je t’aime aussi, Jaehyun.”

16 octobre 1957

Autumn made its way to the countryside.

The leaves switched into red-brown shades, the weather in the south was warmer, and the wine harvest was highly anticipated. Jaehyun’s camera was a common item in your outings, taking as many photos as he could so the two of you had something to look back on.

Planned and candid, his range was wide. These were moments that proved that your youth was as happy as you wished it to be. You wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

Painting in his mansion was a regular thing, having new canvases prepared at his patio. There were so many items that amused you there like you could base your entire collection on his home. It’s not like Jaehyun could argue; it meant more time with you whenever you came over.

“Jaehyun, if you smudge paint on me, so help me Go-” He refused to listen to your “threats”, smearing black paint on your cheek.

“You were saying?” He cockily pestered, showcasing his paint-filled fingers. You dipped one of your brushes into the new paint and chased after him without hesitation. The entire evening became a paint war, a laugh fit even after seeing your reflections in the mirror. But before you could clean yourself, Jaehyun’s camera was by your face and he pressed the button.

“Still breathtaking.”

But the middle of the season arrived, that’s where your planned extension you’ve reached its end. The exhibit was next month, getting calls from your boss regarding your return and the paintings you’ll present. You informed her that you already had them mailed to your studio way back, so there’s nothing much to worry about.

All your bags were packed in the private car Jaehyun rented. Here, you’re bidding your goodbyes to every friend you’ve made outside the doors of your apartment complex, saving your last words with Jaehyun.

The night before, he stayed over and helped you pack your last items in luggage bags. He even brought extra clothes for you so you wouldn’t work extra. You’ve talked it out the whole evening through what happens next to ease your worries. In your bed, he opened the wide windows and pulled you under the sheets.

“Write to me.”

“Call me when you’re free, or whenever you feel like it.”

Leaning against the railing of the stairs, watched the sorrow in your face over this parting. He sensed how bittersweet everything was, but he wouldn’t change anything about it. He’s positive that your story won’t end here, not right now.

Sauntering to him, you sighed whilst taking your bag he held the whole time from him. His touch was tighter as the two of you hugged tenderly, nuzzling his head on your shoulder. The scent of his citrus cologne that implanted in your brain felt comforting, despite the uncertainty of everything between you.

You hinted a minty taste from the menthol candies from his home as his lips brushed yours, colliding it timely. He waited when everyone left, relishing these last seconds.

Stepping inside the vehicle, you waved your summer love farewell one more time before the driver hit the pedal. Your eyes couldn’t stray away from looking back, the distance between him and your former apartment widening. Only when he was no longer in the frame, you shifted your focus back in front.

Your fingers fiddled with the charm bracelet he gifted you from the market. It was custom-made by a jeweler who was great friends with his mother in his younger years. There were two pendants chained on it: a paintbrush and the sun.

“A paintbrush to remind you of your passion, and the sun to remind you of the summer we first met.”

The man was like one of his romance books, in human form. He knew how to catch your breath effortlessly.

Your stay, for now, may have concluded, but there was always next summer. And the ones after that. The village felt like a second home, one you can’t neglect like the other places you’ve lived. Then having Jaehyun here, the more reasons to return.

Undoubtedly the best vacation you’ve ever been in your adult years, one that didn’t sacrifice for your art so you could compete with other artists. The weight on your chest poofed into thin air, and you felt ready for what the next steps as a painter were.

Appreciating the greenery you passed by, you peeked over the side mirror of the car only to find Jaehyun quickly biking in your direction.

Now, what was he up to?

You instantly requested the driver to slow down his pace, rolling down the window of the car. Not caring about the strong winds, “You fool, what are you doing?!”

Although he trusted your last words, he had the greed to see your face again. It would be a long time until he’ll see you in person again. So he pedaled as fast he could to still reach you. Oh, the things you do when you’re in love.

“Mon cœur bat la chamade pour toi, (Y/N)!” [My heart beats loudly for you, (Y/N)!]

You giggled at his silliness, throwing out flying kisses.

“Je reviendrai bientôt, Jaehyun!” (I’ll come back soon, Jaehyun!)

21 octobre 1957

Only your friends at the studio gave you a warm welcome back, receiving comments like “get back to work” from your first encounter with your boss. Popping a champagne glass open after work hours on the rooftop of your studio, they interrogated you with all the questions they could think of.

“So this village in Provence…. was it beautiful as the tourists said?” Ten, who moved from his home in Thailand to Paris at a young age, expressed his curiosity whilst leaning against the railing overlooking the Eiffel Tower.

“Beautiful is an understatement, Ten. I miss it dearly!” You heaved a sigh, twirling your glass.

“So this inspiration you were looking for…” Amélie, your dear friend since your university days, created some tension as she prolonged her last word. Playfulness twinkled in her eyes, crossing her legs. “Was a person involved by any chance?”

For a moment, your throat almost gagged on the sizzling alcohol going down.

“What do you mean?” You acted clueless, pouring your now empty glass with more booze. But the moment Ten gave you the troublesome look coordinating with Amélie, you already knew you wouldn’t hear the end of it. These two were such gossips in and out of the studio.

Ten took the seat across you on the table and leaked all his pent-up information.

“So you know Seo Youngho, the only son of the Seo family. Rich, socialite, a total hotshot… yeah, all that jazz.” He dived in, seeing you nod over knowing that man. Someone in the past you’ve slept with, but that’s another story. “Well, Amelie and I attended one of his parties at his large penthouse. He had his usual crowd there; Kim Doyoung, Lee Taeyong, Nakamoto Yuta, and Lee Minhyung. But fun fact: there’s another member in that friend group who doesn’t go to these kinds of events.”

“Here’s where it gets interesting,” Amélie excitedly took off like the pipelette (chatterbox) she is. “Youngho, who was talking to us for a bit, asked where you’ve run off. Poor him, he must’ve missed you in his bed but anyway! We told him that you went down south somewhere in Provence for a break. Oddly enough, he mentioned how the mentioned member moved back there for the same reason.”

Ten and Amélie gave each other another frisky look, merely to piss you off. So predictable of them.

“Get to the point please!” You screeched.

“Jeong Jaehyun, ever heard of him?” Amélie imitated your tone of voice. “I mean, you should since you made a whole painting of him.”

“H-How,” Speechless, that’s what you were. Ten went on a fit of giggles, signaling the build-up of his intoxication.

“Youngho visited the studio to find a specific painting for his home, and we helped him in choosing. Then when your deliveries of paintings arrived that day and were unwrapped, the look on his face when he saw Jaehyun’s painting was priceless. Things started to add up, especially when he told us that he called up Jaehyun prior, he said that Jaehyun was seeing a girl during his stay there.”

“A young, burnt-out painter from Paris, to be specific.”

They’ve put you on the edge of the cliff, and it was too close to call it a coincidence. Of all things to be revealed, this had to be the first.

“Well, I was waiting for another time to tell you guys about him though.”

Their gasps of joy could give you guys a noise complaint by the neighbors, telling all about your escapades of him and you. During it, the more you missed seeing him daily either on his bike or his car. It was stuck in your routine, but now it’s reverted to your old one.

Could the next summer come any faster?

14 février 1958

Perhaps your newest collection at the Louvre was your most successful one yet.

Entitled “Inspirez, Expirez” (Breathe In, Breathe Out), your sceneries during your stay in the village varied. An old couple slow dancing under the night sky, and the quiet district of shops Jaehyun took you, those were some of your last additions.

A multitude of positive reviews on the newspapers and art magazines came in, commending on taking on a fresher, brighter outlook for a change whilst finding your spark again. As fulfilling it was, what you longed the most was the one responsible for it.

Lately, it’s been tough to contact him. His maids always answered the calls, informing you that he was busy with work or family matters. It’s so rare for him to act like this. Whatever it was, it wasn’t grand or serious hopefully.

Back to your collection, tonight was the last night of it. Just in time for Valentine’s day, where numerous socialite lovers embarked on this event, but you’re more fixated that it was also Jaehyun’s birthday. A boy full of love born on the day dedicated for it, things made more sense. In case, you’ve sent your birthday wishes to him through letter and passing the message to one of his maids. Even on his special day, he hasn’t reached out to you.

But to momentarily forget about that, there was a closing ceremony held for this exhibit with the other artists involved, and it was your turn to give your final remarks. More esteemed socialites and journalists were present, which didn’t halt your nerves the slightest. You were a professional after all, holding pride in your craft as you stood in front of the microphone wearing your new favorite custom-made gown.

There are perks when you have close friends in the fashion industry, specifically Kim “Key” Kibum from the House of Key. After defending him from a disrespectful client when you were picking up a dress for your boss during your internship years, not only did you earn his respect, but an invite to his shows and first claiming of new items from his collections. Dining in expensive restaurants in the metro was a plus, catching up on your lives. Sometimes calling each other out for your sexcapades too.

Speaking of him, he was in the crowd that night, ordering every photographer to take photos of your gorgeous self in one of his dresses. Or in your opinion, bribing some by how he stuffed a few thick stacks of Euro bills down their pockets.

Only one of it ever made. A dark green satin v-neck off-the-shoulder gown, where diamonds adorned your neck and ears and white stilettos kept your perfect balance. Also courtesy of Key.

Because it’s the winter season, he gifted you a limited edition white fur coat every socialite tried getting their hands on. Your hair was styled in a bun, emphasizing your dark tinted lips from this new lipstick Amelie insisted you buy.

Most people would get the first impression that you were one of the socialites, a child from one of the affluent families even. But you were a lot more remarkable than that, having inborn talent in the arts that you specialized over your youth and rising to the top without any parental help.

“Thank you to everyone for their endless support towards the magnificent collections of each artist present. As for mine, I am grateful to rechannel my creative side by taking a break. Rather than romanticizing overworking our bones to the core, there’s nothing wrong with taking a step back from the pressure. Being alive is a blessing, realizing further how our youth won’t stay with us forever. Being away from the boisterous cities, I found relaxation in the countryside of Provence.”

Your lips quirked into a grin as every single memory during that time reeled in your head like a movie. “The beauty of Provence cannot be simply put in words. The muses I’ve encountered were more than lovely, especially the man behind the Poetic Rose. With that, I sincerely thank everyone from my bottom of my heart and I hope to continue to support me in the years to come.”

The applause roared once you stepped down the platform, shaking hands with every esteemed guest with more gratitude as they praised you. These days, socializing with them was a lot easier. You’ve even taken more initiative to greet people first before they do, conversing with them easily about anything.

Key definitely noticed that as you toured him around your section, holding his nth glass of wine for the night.

“You, Madame (Y/N), transformed into a social butterfly.” He nudged your shoulder, smirking once he got a better view of his favorite painting from you. “I guess that’s the thing when you’re in love.”

“I beg your pardon?”

With this free hand, he motioned it up and down at the painting in front of you. “The Poetic Rose is none other than the youngest son of the Jeong family, whom I’ve met through his older sister, Krystal.”

“Am I really the only one who doesn’t know him?!” You stressed, jokingly. Key was elated to capture you in his trap, the changes of your personality too evident in his eyes. Figuring it out that it was love took a while, but being acquainted with Krystal, she’s the one who told him that her younger brother was in love with a painter in Provence. Do the math.

“I’ve met him through his older sister, one of my highly favored clients. He’s not much of a socialite like her, so I don’t really blame you for that.”

Searching for a waiter to refill your wine glasses, a surprise emerged the both of you.

“Madame Krystal, you’re absolutely stunning.” Key complimented her, giving the engaged heiress of Jeong Tea Inc. kisses on the cheek as respect. Her recent engagement to Kim Donghyun, her childhood sweetheart and also the heir of Kim Couture, was the talk of the town.

They arrived at the event together, drawing the attention of everyone in the room earlier. Now, he was speaking to a few influential socialites he made a deal with this week about the art collections present.

“Key, you never fail to look fantastic,” She remarked positively, poking his necktie before placing her undivided attention on you. “So you must be (Y/N) (Y/L/N). You’re beyond bewildering in that gown.”

“Flattered to hear that, Madame Krystal. Such a pleasure to meet you.”

The three of you chatted as if you were the only people there. From art, passion, and love, pride filled in your chest when you toured your collection. It was like walking down memory lane for her, adding out how she used to climb the peach tree with her younger brother during their childhood. Once her eyes laid on Poetic Rose, she took her time admiring it.

“My younger brother grew up well. That’s all I could ever hope for as his only older sister.” She paused, noticing how silent you became when you stared at the painting along with her. She observed the passion lit in your eyes, yet there was longing behind it by the way your lips pouted briefly. “You must really love him, do you?”

“I do, truly. After meeting him, not only was I boosted with so much ideas, but my heart embraced him for what and who he is in this universe.” You professed confidently, earning an approving smile from Krystal.

“If that’s how you feel, why not tell him that yourself?”

Her fingers gestured you to turn around. Stood in a grey suit with his brown hair slicked back, it was like seeing a completely new person. A handsome one though. His fashion in the countryside heavily differed from his fashion in the cities. So sophisticated and refined, he looked like a prince straight out of a fairytale.

Your fairytale.

“Jaehyun.”

It’s like everything stopped once he sprinted towards you, pulling you off your feet for a snug hug. Your arms threw themselves on his neck by instinct, not wasting a single second in his grasp. Your nose inhaled the woody scent of his cologne, something more formal than his usual fruity scent.

The smell of aftershave in his jaw couldn’t go ignored either, assuming that he must have had plans to go out tonight. Nonetheless, you squealed as if you were back in Provence, giggling at his boldness. Once he put you down, neither of you could get your hands off each other.

“What are you doing here? You didn’t tell me you’d be in Paris!” Clutching your waist, you gazed at him with doe-like eyes, instilling confusion.

“J’ai voulu te surprendre, my chérie.” (I wanted to surprise you, my darling.)

He chuckled, pushing some straying strands of your hair behind your ear. His eyes evoked so much endearment towards this elegant look you prepared, making his heart race as if he were in the gardens of his manor again.

Hearing his petname for you again attacked your heart every time no matter how much time passed, he lifted your chin high. Jaehyun urged himself to kiss you senseless right there, leaning lower. And yes, you anticipated it by how your eyes instantly closed.

Only if it weren’t for Krystal to clear her throat, obviously ruining the mood. Flinching away from your sensual lover, you rubbed the nape of your neck. Towards an heiress like her, it must’ve been unprofessional.

“Couldn’t you at least wait until I left, younger brother?” Her fingers flicked Jaehyun’s forehead, a teasing trick they used to do as kids. Even if she was a lot shorter now, it didn’t mean the impact was weak. He cursed under his breath, covering his forehead.

Stifling your laughter was a failure, crinkling your eyes to unleash your emotions. So this is what their sibling dynamic was like?

“Now excuse me, older sister. You didn’t tell me you were visiting the exhibit after my birthday dinner with our parents?” He crossed his arms, exchanging a judgmental look. For his sake, he wanted to maintain his pride. “All you said after dinner was that you were going straight home with your fiancé after all the alcohol mother gave you because it made you lightheaded.”

“Well, you know Key and his persuasiveness. He insisted I attend this event last minute because all the collections were amazing.” She explained, shedding a subtle glance at you. “Plus, it’s an excuse to finally meet this lovely girl you raved so much through your letters.”

Jaehyun kept his family life private, so this piece of information was new to you. The unpredicted way the fluttering feeling drew in your stomach, all you could do was smile from the flattery.

“He spoke about me to you?”

“More than speak, my dear. He practically professed his love for you, asking me advice on how to court a girl, make them smile, etcetera. You’re the first girl he’s been this affectionate with, and I completely understand now.” She patted your shoulder, hopeful. She had such a strong older sister vibe, reminding you of your older siblings back home. “You’re a clever, talented woman. I look forward to seeing you more often.”

As you nodded in approval, she turned towards her brother with her recurring teasing look. “Yah, Jaehyun. You better take care of her. If she ever sheds a tear because of you, I’m hunting you down in the gardens.”

“Harsh of you, Krystal.” He planted his hand on his chest, feigning pain. “But no worries. Having you and mother around me kept me well-mannered towards women growing up.”

Playfulness aside, Krystal felt honored towards her younger brother. Men these days maintained their sexist beliefs and rudeness, especially those who doubted her high position in the family business once her father stepped down. Nowadays, it’s men like Jaehyun who could really challenge the patriarchy and make women pursue a lot more than being limited as a housewife.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Now please excuse me, I’ll be on my way.”

Krystal waltzed her way out without tripping from her slight intoxication, which Jaehyun worried about earlier. But anyway, that left him alone with you. Filled with so many questions, you didn’t know where to start.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to Paris? Why didn’t you acknowledge my birthday wishes to you? Why aren’t you answering my calls and letters?” You blurted without wasting a breath, weren’t trying to come off as needy, but it became peculiar when he was contacting you like usual.

You pushed off thinking of the worst scenarios, not wanting it to ruin your drive and your emotions either. Yet you trusted Jaehyun enough to know he wasn’t the type of person either.

“Okay slow down, ma chérie.” His hands maneuvered for you to stop for a bit. “Ask me one by one and I’ll give you a solid answer for each while we roam around.”

He arrived in Paris last week, which was initially for work. Then his birthday clashing was a coincidence. It would be too lonely to go home and celebrate his special day alone, so he extended. But again, it’s his work that caused his abrupt contact.

When you were too busy delving into the success of recovering your inspiration, he also found his spur to write again too. Day and night, his mind kept him tedious with an endless trail of thoughts and words. Overall, he finalized it then brought the end product to the same publishing house where his books in the past went through.

In fact, he decided to publish them specifically today on his birthday. The only day in his itinerary he planned, where after publishing, he’d hang out with his friends, have dinner with his family then run off to reunite with you.

“I didn’t intend to make you feel like a second choice, so please forgive me for that, ma chérie.”

“All is forgiven, Jaehyun.” You held both his hands, kissing them tenderly out of habit. “I’m overjoyed that you rekindled your creative side again.”

You were so understanding and empathetic, and Jaehyun aimed to act that way too. He learned so much from you as his friend before being his lover. Quickly enough, you’re both back to his portrait in the center. Like a critic, he narrowed his eyes and scrunched his nose. Tapping his chin with his finger,

“This man in Poetic Rose, he’s quite dashing.” He commented with conceit, walking closer to it to view it better. “His freckles are on point, his dimples and dazzling eyes too. Why exactly is he described as a Poetic Rose?”

“Well sir,” You stood beside him, imitating his actions. “This man here always spoke so eloquently, like he had a very poetic approach on life. He reminded me also of a rose by his rosy tinted cheeks and his beauty. He was alluring inside and out.”

“Is he your favorite muse?”

“I never quoted him as a muse because he’s more than that. Muses can be replaced once they no longer serve purpose towards the artist. Though with him, he’s the never-ending flame that I want to keep for the rest of time."

You held on to his hand, interlocking your fingers with his. The apparent reddening of his ears proved that he was flustered, yet you spoke no lies.

“Joyeux anniversaire, ma flamme.” (Happy birthday, my flame.)

“Merci beaucoup, ma chérie.” (Thank you, my darling.)

Something about his new release piqued your attention so you brought it up again.

“So tell me about your new book.”

“Let me show you instead.” Inside the blazer, there was an inner pocket that sealed a small hardbound book. Taking it out, he handed it over to you. “This is your copy.”

The cover of the book had an illustration of two young adults running down the fields under the bright sun, with the title written in cursive and placed in the center.

“L’Été de 1957.” (The Summer of 1957.)

Like a child who received a new gift in the mail, you flipped the book open. Seeing the table of contents and credits to other important people involved in the process, there was a detailed dedication right before the starting chapter. It’s an unexpected page, noticing that he never put anything like this in his last works.

“Pour ma chérie, qui a peint les couleurs manquantes de ma vie.” (For my darling, who painted the missing colors of my life.)

Although Jaehyun planned to write about the couples he met in the countryside, he chose to change his perspective. Instead, he based this new book on your summer romance, installing more original characters who made your romance blossom more.

“I was once so engaged in listening to people’s love stories, hung up on what they felt.” He expounded, pacing around the floor whilst you skimmed through the pages. There were black and white photos from your adventures too to wrap the reader further in the story.

“While I was struggling to find the next story, I realized late that my story with you was a perfect choice. When I fell in love with you, it’s like I didn’t have to fret anymore about anything. Everything slowly yet surely aligned into place for me. Like how we found inspiration in each other.”

A poetic speaker meant having a poetic, wise mind. You kept an open mind whenever Jaehyun shared his thoughts on life with you, an intimate time that didn’t require using your bodies. Whether you were stargazing or drinking wine by his patio, his soulful personality never changed.

“So I recapped every single memory we had and compiled them,” He resumed, taking a closer step towards yours. His warm hands grasped your waist again, catching a glimpse of your astonished face. Mostly, towards your lips that he missed feeling against his.

“This book expressed my own take on love this time, the one I want to grow in.”

You’d care less if you dropped the book and your coat right there, your major desire to kiss him again was driving your senses to the edge of a cliff. Nothing could’ve braced yourself the second you fervently collided your lips with his. It didn’t feel like you were in this exhibit, but somewhere back in his mansion engulfed in each other’s presence.

Your legs almost melted by your daring move, if it weren’t for Jaehyun’s arm moving upwards to your back to stabilize you more. Your body tingled with goosebumps due to his relaxing fingers all over your body. His tongue caved in your lips, and you couldn’t ban its access.

Such an explicit sight, it felt forbidden as you were inches away from the public crowd. Yet it was the least of your worries if they made a big fuss over it. Jaehyun was here again with you, and that was more valuable to you. He savored every trace of your touches, taking his delicate time with you. No past birthday could defeat this, especially when it’s the first one to celebrate with you. The first of many.

As much you wanted to keep this up for hours, your lungs started feeling constricted of air so your lips timidly let go. Though your hands couldn’t, your overwhelmed eyes couldn’t shift away from the heart-stopping view of your lover. Wherein even after such a fearless session, his eyes fused with love and need with his plumper lips.

“Everything about Provence, especially you, that’s the life I want.” You confessed this concealed secret that’s revolved your head for a while now. Yet its certainty was true.

“Are you sure, ma chérie? What about work?” As an artist, he believed you should stay where everything is accessible. Yet as his woman, he wanted you to follow your heart. Jaehyun didn’t want you to choose or struggle.

“I’ve grown out from the idea that the city life was the only life meant of an artist like me.” You replied, confident enough to discuss it after deep thought. “Cities like Paris hold exciting, vigorous flames that will have you clinging on to them. But then, they’ll eventually die the longer you stay. You get burned in the process too. However, I stand by what I said earlier. I found an endless flame when I met and began loving you, Jaehyun. It doesn’t sting at all; it illuminates strongly every living day.”

Urging him to lower his stance with your fingers, you stated one last phrase. “Wherever you are, that’s where I want to be.”

“If that’s the case,” Jaehyun acknowledged, sticking his arm out for you. “Let’s get out of here.”

Astounded expressions crowded the socialites in the event as they watched the both of you exit together. If the news of Krystal and Donghyun weren’t crazy enough, some journalists figured the mysterious man behind The Poetic Rose and spread it like wildfire.

How was the youngest son of the Jeong family turned renowned romance novel author connected to the impressive, up-and-coming painter from London?

What really went down in Provence?

“How can you miss out on the signs? Did you not see them share a kiss earlier?” Key protested to those who weren’t approving whatever relationship you guys had. He loved his tea but hated those who simply were money hungry. Wanting a chance to be a part of the rich family, only to fish them out of their riches sooner or later.

Meanwhile, the winter season didn’t stop any of you from roaming the streets of Paris. Moments like these were a preview of the future you’ve envisioned with Jaehyun. Youthful, free, and fiery, a love between two artists created more magic not just in their crafts but to those around them.

Promenading a street overlooking the Seine River, Jaehyun took out a smaller instant camera from his pocket and took a candid shot of you. Stunned, you slapped his chest with your bag.

“Hey! Just how many more things are hidden in your blazer?”

“Just my wallet and a few condoms. Why’d you ask?” He raised a suggestive brow, feigning good intentions.

You hummed, faking your deep thought mindset. “At this rate, I don’t think we’ll make it back to my apartment alive.”

Jaehyun tugged you by your coat, his lips hovering your ear to whisper. “If we call a cab right now, I can finger you in the backseat.”

You chuckled at his vulgar idea, but it seemed ideal. You loved the thrill of getting caught or having someone overhearing you two, just like him. Besides, his fingers don’t match up to yours when you touch yourself alone in your apartment. You bat your eyelashes, giving in.

“Deal.”

6 ans plus tard (1964)

Summer returned, the sun strongly smiling down to the plentiful flowers at your family garden. By the patio of your home, your canvas was already laid by the easel stand. Shades of yellow were applied first to symbolize the brightness of the day, following the outline of your desired scenery for this piece.

Dipping the brush in water to change colors, you took another glance at the breezy sky. Light blue with clouds resembling soft pillows, you inhaled gently as your brush faintly stroked the canvas again.

Your hair was tied in a bun, meaning that you’re in for a busy session. But a more soothing one as the jazz music flowed from the vinyl player inside. Stress was the last thing you needed right now.

“What’s madame artiste up to right now?” Your husband piped in from behind, placing down a tray of tea and crackers. With some top buttons of his white top left unattended, you glimpsed on his toned chest when he leaned down. But you mustn’t pry whilst working, even when temptation was calling your name repeatedly.

“The summer sunshine healed me of my discomfort, so I think it’s about time I painted again.” You chewed on the snack, looking back and forth to the view. As enchanting as all the flowers you and him planted over the years grew, you’re more amused by a little boy strolling around it with his magnifying glass and tiny wooden basket with his furry puppy by his side.

His tiny legs often troubled the two of you because he enjoyed spending time with nature. Only God knows what he found in the garden this time.

“Adrien est explorer encore. Devrais-je lui dire qu’il change de place, ma chérie?” (Adrien is exploring again. Should I tell him to change places, my darling?) Jaehyun cautiously asked, not wanting his 3 year old son to impair your perspective.

“Non,” (No,) You held on to his hand, kissing it sweetly. Although you peeved any unnecessary details found in your scenery in the past, Adrien was an exception. As his mother, it’s hard to say no to him unless necessary.

“Il est un garçon curieux, alors il devrait explorer et flâner où il veut.” (He’s a curious boy, so he should explore and wander wherever he wants.)

Life ever since you returned to the countryside shifted into something more precious than you imagined. From moving places constantly, you found a home to settle in for good. A home with overflowing love and inspiration. A home within Jeong Jaehyun.

Recently, you halted your work-related activities in Paris and came home because you were heavily homesick. It even affected your health as a whole. So you made adjustments with your schedules, postponing appearances to events to next year.

On the plus side, you could be more active as a mother to Adrien. It felt like you burdened Jaehyun to take care of Adrien most of the time because he mainly worked from home, wherein important people who wanted to meet him would have to fly out to the countryside.

Back and forth to Paris, your presence towards Adrien often lacked. Here came your biggest fear, which was Adrien forgetting you. But Jaehyun told you over and over again that it wasn’t the case. As he listened to every wrenching thought you had, but he’d combat it with heartfelt words of reassurance so you wouldn’t overanalyze things.

He vowed to love and take care of you when times get hard, and he will continue doing so.

Remember when you said how his mansion felt too big?

It no longer did after getting married.

It gave more room to grow and breathe more life into it. When Adrien was born, he was the prime reflection of your and Jaehyun’s love. He mirrored his father’s physical traits but with a daring personality like yours. A perfect mixture, the world worked amazingly to bring a boy like him into your life.

“Maman! Papa!” Adrien bolted to where you and Jaehyun stood. From the clothes he wore, it’s very much clear that his father was in charge of it whilst you slept in the entire morning. Suspenders, capri shorts, a white shirt, and a red beret, he deserved his title as Jaehyun’s mini-me.

Jaehyun swelled with pride and love for his only son, peeking over what he brought to show and tell you both. “Oh Adrien, what do you have for us today?”

In his basket, there were 3 sunflowers stuck out from the edge. It’s been a while since you’ve seen some in full bloom, lowering your stance to get a more vivid view. He took them out to hand them to you and your husband.

One flower for Jaehyun and two for you. You let out a gasp, scrunching your brows to the center. He always gave one of each item to you and Jaehyun, never more or less.

“Ooh, deux fleurs pour Maman. Pourquoi, Rien?” (Ooh, two flowers for Mama. Why, Rien?) Jaehyun let his nickname out for his lips while you grasped his small hand.

“Well, I heard from Olivier next door that on his birthday, he gave extra flowers to his mother so he could have another sibling. And it worked!” He spoke so innocently, yet it hitched a choke from Jaehyun’s chest. Your eyes widened from disbelief. The information he collected due to his curiosity, no boundaries truly.

“Le mois prochain, c’est mon anniversaire. Je me demandais si je peux avoir un frère ou sœur comme Olivier? Tu es toujours occupée, comme Papa. Je ne veux plus être seul, alors je veux une amie aussi.” (It’s my birthday next month, and I was wondering if I can have a sibling like Olivier? You are always busy, like Papa. I don’t want to be alone anymore, so I want a friend too.)

You exchanged looks with Jaehyun, not knowing how exactly to respond. Although you and Jaehyun did agree that you wanted more than one child when you were younger, neither of you brought it up again since your careers were always loaded with plans.

Adrien was a surprise child actually, conceived on the night where you and Jaehyun celebrated after L’Été de 1957 was announced to be the best-selling romance novel of the decade in the country.

In Paris at his family home, where his parents brought out all their prized liquor, the two of you drank the entire night away to the point Krystal and Donghyun had to push you away from each other from your public affections because their children were present.

But it didn’t stop you two once you reached his bedroom, far away from everything and everyone. And you’ll never change it.

“Oh, Rien,” You eased in, consoling him. “Je suis désolé. Mais c’est franchement une grande demande, n'est-ce pas?” (I am sorry. But that’s quite a big request, right?)

“Mom and I will think about it first, okay? Another kid is a big responsibility, and you’ll be their older brother. That’s another important job, can you do it well?”

“Yes, I can, Papa!” He beamed with glee, his covered head patted by his father after. As you placed the sunflowers beside your palette, Adrien then proceeded to ask you if he could paint with you like old times.

Never you refuse especially with his sparkling round eyes and chubby face that makes you want to squish every time.

As you lifted his light body to sit on your lap, you placed your brush between his stubby fingers and carefully aimed in whatever angle seemed fit so the painting process would run smoothly and perfectly. He let out sounds of amazement when the strokes get bigger, jumping slightly too because the picture became more vivid. You’d smile and coo at him, commending whenever he followed instructions well. As his mother, you only encouraged your child in whatever they want to excel in.

Adrien was the child of two artists, so it was only natural that he had an artistic side in his veins.

Too caught up in your fun, hearing the automatic shutter of the camera from your side was delayed. The source was none other than Jaehyun hiding behind his camera. Jaehyun’s heart soared at the heavenly view of the most important people in his life, wanting to treasure the moment as a lovely memory.

“Hey!” You shouted, placing down the messy brush by the palette. “Je suis très laid!” (I am very ugly!)

“Shh! Tu est rayonnant, ma chérie. Papa est juste, Rien?” (Shh! You are glowing, my darling. Papa is right, Rien?)

Jaehyun politely quizzed the peppy boy, nodding excitedly. His dimples deeply showed up, the main trait he claimed from his father.

“Oui, papa! Maman est toujours belle!” (Yes, papa! Mama is always beautiful!)

He exclaimed, pecking your cheek numerously. You squealed, attacking him with tickles and kisses back. His shouts of delight, then he was suddenly carried by your tall husband in the air like he was flying in the sky. Adrien enjoyed that motion highly, ending up on Jaehyun’s shoulders shortly after to play by the garden again.

“Go paint. I’ll take care of him now.” Jaehyun persuaded, roaming through the long rows of flowers in full bloom. Though seconds after adding some strokes to your piece, you let down your hair, put a hat and sandals on, and ran to the cute duo to join them.

And that’s how your family spent the entire afternoon. By the garden, running around and taking photos and short videos from Jaehyun’s camera. Freezing these valuable memories, this was truly the life you loved so much.

After your break, you could convince the company you worked at that you’d prefer fewer trips to Paris and stay in the countryside longer. How badly you’ve wanted to hold your exhibits here instead. Plus like Jaehyun, let influential people visit you. You’ve already made a big name for yourself now, so that should be valid enough.

Dinner time passed by quickly too, eventually putting Adrien to a smooth slumber as you massaged the roots of his soft hair while Jaehyun sang him a lullaby. This was your joint parenting technique with him since he was a newborn, and it worked quickly as lightning.

You redressed into your silk nightgown after bringing your canvas to the master bedroom, opening the balcony doors to invite the cool breeze in. You tweaked some bits of your painting, including a silhouette of your small family. Regarding where to place it, probably by the living room as it matched the theme.

“What a spectacular day, don’t you think, ma chérie?” Jaehyun conversed, admiring the calm movements of your brush. He noticed a quirky smile grace your lips.

“It’s been a long time since we had quality time like that with Rien. He’s a feisty ball of energy these days.” You replied with a nostalgic daze. “It’s so crazy how one day, he was still crawling to us. Now, he could outrun the both of us.”

“Comme le temps passe vite, hmm?” (How time flies fast, hmm?) Nodding, nothing braced for what your husband had in mind. You almost dropped your brush mid-way. Jaehyun’s lips impatiently devoured your neck, his huge hands fondling your breasts. Violently throwing your head back against his chest, a needy moan parted your lips.

“Jae-” His touches reaching south to where you desired him highly, dampening hastily as your legs naturally spread apart. Rushed exhales, “À quoi tu penses maintenant?” (What are you thinking about right now?)

“Rien se sent seul,” (Rien feels alone,) His hot breath whispered against your ear, his fingers dangerously trailing your thin panties up and down. With your hands tightly clutching on his bicep,

“Alors, donnons-lui une amie.” (We should give him a friend.)

Ever since Adrien mentioned such a daring topic, it hasn’t left Jaehyun’s mind the whole day. After seeing you in utter bliss with your son earlier, he found you so majestic and radiant. It’s a different kind of happiness, especially for parents.

Now you went on hiatus, he thought that it was the right time to have another. He enjoyed his younger years with Krystal, and he wanted Adrien to experience it too. 3 years was quite a wait, and it seemed ideal to try again.

From his nude chest, you flipped around to intensely clash his lips with yours. Draping your arms behind his neck, Jaehyun lifted your entire figure from the chair. His hands gripping on your butt, he delicately lowered you down your bed.

Drowning into his sensual kisses with his hands all over you, this could prolong for hours. Reddening love marks started to resurface whilst your fingers tugged on the drawstring of his pajama pants. Jaehyun’s fingers dove under the fabric of your panties, his index finger rubbing figure 8s the sensitive bundle of nerves.

You struggled to swallow your moans, not wanting Rien to hear it. You wouldn’t want to repeat history, covering it as Jaehyun massaging you after a hard day.

“I know you want one too, ma chérie.” His fingers began to drape down the straps of your gown, presenting your breasts in its full, perky view. But before his lips could suck on your erect nipples, you parted momentarily from him and got up on your feet. Pulling up your straps again, Jaehyun simply laid down but he wasn’t pleased from how you left him hanging.

“Où vas-tu, ma chérie?” (Where are you going, sweetheart?)

He was growing impatient. You were never to interrupt such a sexy atmosphere ever.

From one of your drawers in your vanity table, an important, half-opened envelope was hidden. You were supposed to give it tomorrow but now seemed like a perfect time. Reading it as soon one of the maids handed it to you gave you the jitters, but in a positive way. Sitting back down on the edge of your bed, you exhilaratingly passed it to your husband.

“Qu’est-ce que c’est?” (What is this?)

“Ouvre-le.” (Open it.)

Jaehyun slowly opened the edges and once he took out the contents. Reading it thoroughly, he couldn’t believe it as his jaw dropped, pacing from the letter and you back and forth.

“Vraiment, ma chérie?” (Really, my darling?)

It was from a doctor you visited in Paris a few days before you left, who confirmed just exactly what caused your health to go feeble suddenly. You already had one certain suspicion, which you addressed in your leave of absence letter. Amelié, who finally got the position as the head, couldn’t believe her ears and insisted you take all the time off you needed.

“On dirait que Adrien a reçu son cadeau d'anniversaire en avance.” (It looks like Adrien received his birthday gift early.)

Overall, it turned out the headaches and repeated vomiting you mistook as motion sickness from traveling was a surprise hello to your second child.

A girl specifically, thanks to the blood test she recommended.

“Je t’aime, (Y/N).”

“Montre moi combien tu m’aimes, Jaehyun.” (Show me how much you love me, Jaehyun.)

The whole night through, the two of you vigorously celebrated with the moonlight from the windows and a few scented candles set in the room. Wet kisses left on your collarbone, words of devotion exchanged, holding his hand as he groaned from heartily thrusting in you, the number of moans from your lips overlapped with the vinyl playing in the room. The intimacy between you two increased, almost as if you made love for the first time again all those years ago.

Excluding being drenched from the rain.

Once the two of you grew tired, Jaehyun lied down beside you. Wrapping one arm around, one hand trailed down your naked skin again. His wedding band flashed your eyes, reminding you of the commitment you promised each other. For better, and for worse.

Jaehyun promised to love you endlessly as a woman and his wife, and it didn’t cease when you became the mother of his children. He respected how strong you are, physically and mentally. He helped you in any way he could as you endured the struggling process.

At the end of the day, his family was his biggest priority. More than ever now, you needed him as you go through the pregnancy phases again. Specifically, his index finger lingered on your stomach. There was no bump or other signs of showing, except for that glow he complimented you earlier on.

“We met and fell in love over the summer, got married in summer, had Adrien mid-summer, and now found out about our daughter at the start of summer.” He smiled, blessed at all the good he’s received during this time.

“The summer gods must adore us.” Your vacant hand with your wedding band topped his. To love and to cherish. “Ils m'ont amené à toi.” (They brought me to you.)

His power on you was simply addicting, as if your early twenties revisited you. You straddled himself once again, your fingers caressing his face sweetly. When it reached his lips, he placed longing kisses there and pulled you closer again for another kiss on your lips. In between, you mumbled in a silvery tone,

“Then they led us to say I do. Pour toujours et à jamais.”

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syms-things-5 · 2 years

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Case Histories - Chapter Eight

An AU Andy Barber fic (based on BBC’s ‘The Split’)

Previous Chapter Here / Masterlist Here

Series Synopsis: A talented small-town family lawyer, Grace Atherton, gets the opportunity of a lifetime when she is offered a job at prestigious Boston law firm, Rothman and Hale. She decides to give up the relative comfort and ease of her current working situation in favour of following a dream she’s had since she was a young law grad, to the detriment of her family life and marriage. She soon comes into contact with old mentor and one-time flame, Andy Barber. As gifted as he is handsome, it becomes clear he’s been keeping an eye on her burgeoning career from afar. Just how much will this decision cost her?

Chapter Warnings: 18+ language, angst, emotional stress

CHAPTER EIGHT

Andy looked to be in his element.

The three men, all smartly-dressed and wearing confidence as easy as if it was a watch, were currently stood in a circle, laughing at something hilarious he had just said. Judging by some of the hand signals, it was football related. No surprise, really. She had been made aware curtesy of Sam this morning that the Patriots were officially heading to the Super Bowl for the third year in a row. Both he and Dan had even started making plans for the food fest they were going to enjoy whilst watching it.

Another loud laugh bellowed from one of the men, an older gentleman who evidently liked his suits to come equipped with pocket watches clashing patterns, and Andy looked to make his excuses to let the group move on. They briefly disappear into an office behind where they were stood before Andy reappears and starts striding with purpose towards her office.

She quickly ducks behind a bookshelf just in time to see him materialise in the doorway. He looks around for a second to locate her before seeing her awkwardly crouched down beside her desk.

“You OK down there?” He looks at her with faint amusement.

“Yeh, course. Just looking for…this.” She grabs any white file and stands up, flashing it to him as though that would act as proof she was being genuine.

“Tax law?” He asks, quickly spying the title before she puts the file face-down on her desk.

“Yeh. For the Matherson thing.” She straightens up and tucks the loose hair behind her ear. “So, what’s up?”

He narrows his eyes before thinking better of mocking her.

“There’s a couple of guys I thought you would like to meet. They’re from Yale. Max Ellison is running a mentor scheme next semester and has asked me to recommend a couple of the best, annnnd…”

He holds his hands out in front of him to indicate that he was most obviously talking about her. Which he didn’t think he would have to do but she looked much like a rabbit caught in the headlights almost as soon as he had entered her office.

“Me?” She points to herself.

“No, Cindy Crawford. Of course, you!”

“But why? Max is a bit of legend, isn’t he? You should be choosing the very best to make yourself look good.”

He opens his mouth to speak. He’s not sure if she’s being serious right now or if this is one of those moments where she has a crisis of conscience and he should offer some soothing words of wisdom. Like he even had any. He never did understand women.

“Exactly. I’m obviously suggesting you because even though you’re still new here, you’ve been making a name for yourself and I think that type of story will resonate more with the students.” He says, his voice now lower and as he moves towards her. “And I kind of figured I made it clear the other night that you are the best.”

The heat radiating from him as he stands just inches from her momentarily clouds her brain, so much so that she swallows thickly and tries to regain her composure. It was really not OK that they were both tempting fate like this.

The morning after.

He watches her silently as she moves around the room. She is being extra careful to gather her things together without trying to wake him, he figures. She doesn’t know he’s awake yet or that he has been awake for the past twenty or so minutes after he heard her start the shower. He doesn’t make any move to let her know he’s awake either; he honestly doesn’t know when or even if he’ll get to do this again. Just watching her with ease, making him feel peaceful.

She tucks her laptop back into its case and zips the side shut. She ponders something for a second, placing a hand on her hip while she glances back towards the television cabinet, and he sees her reach for her phone charger.

She unlocks the phone screen and he can tell there’s messages waiting for her. Likely Dan, he suspects, and he can’t help but feel his heart sink a little at the intrusive thought. Back to reality.

“Hey,” he speaks with a slightly groggier tone than is entirely accurate of how he is feeling.

She turns to look at him, lying on his front, both arms hugging the pillow beneath his head. He looks as adorable as he did back then, the years in-between making no difference to his boyish handsomeness.

“Hi.” She says quietly. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

“S’Ok. I was just dozing.” He manoeuvres his body slightly so he can lie on his side. “You getting ready to go?”

“Um, yeh.” She looks a little bashful. “But I wasn’t gonna go without saying goodbye or anything.”

“I wouldn’t blame you. Not like I haven’t done it before.”

There was a lot of unanswered questions hanging between them and a lot they would likely have to talk about. When exactly, she couldn’t say, and she was hoping he wouldn’t ask just yet.

At some point in the middle of the night, they had laid in bed facing one another, both wrapped up in the sheets. He was running his hand gently up and down her arm, her skin so smooth under his fingertips. No tension, no goosebumps, just comfort and warmth and a sense of calm that they were both locked away from the outside world, if only for a few hours, before daylight arrived and brought them both crashing back down to Earth. But not before he coaxed another orgasm from her tired body.

He moved to lie on top of her, threading his arm underneath her head and kissing her passionately as though it might be the last time he would get to do so. It was soft and warm and all the ways she liked being kissed. There was the all-too-familiar strength that had never failed to keep her safe and secure when she held on to him as he moved inside her. He pushed her to the edge time and time again, not quite letting her go until he decided he wanted to. He kept a firm grasp on her as he held her down and took her breath away, pulling at her hair wrapped loosely between his fingers before finally cumming with a slow, satisfied gasp.

She remembered a lot about how he used to make her feel back then. It was like they were the only two people for miles around. They could stay like that, in their self-made cocoon, for as long as she wanted. He was never impatient with her, even when she was certain he had other, better, things to do with his time. He had never made her feel like she wasn’t wanted or that she was getting in his way, which she occasionally thought she might have been such was her lack of self-esteem back then.

She figured other girls were made to feel the same way. No one ever had a bad word to say about him, even back then when he had more of a cockiness about him, a certain swagger that you could enjoy but from a safe distance. She wasn’t naïve.

His body looked and felt much the same way, too. Hard and soft in all the right places, still keenly working out and taking good care of himself but not obsessively so. She once told him that the luck of the Irish had given him an impressive physique without much effort but he would coolly shrug it off. One thing that was new was the tattoo on his chest, a quote she couldn’t quite make out in the dark but she saw the outline of it closely enough when she ran her fingers across it as she looked down at him and felt him shiver under her touch.

It was all so familiar, more familiar than she had ever thought it would be. She didn’t know she had held on to so many of the memories until now, as she looked across at him and ran her fingers soothingly down his cheek. He smiled softly at her, tiredness gradually appearing in his eyes.

He didn’t want to fall asleep, not yet. He wanted to stay awake so she might come to him and let him take her all over again.

Present Day…

He feels a little bad. He’s obviously taken it a step too far. He tilts his head and smiles at her before taking a step back and beckons towards the door.

“…You wanna?”

She thinks for a second. She does wanna, but she’s not prepared. Not even close for someone like Max Ellison.

“Don’t worry.” He reassures her when he spies the panic creeping onto her face. “I’ve buttered them up with the prospect of Superbowl tickets so you could tell them you think Morrison’s report is a vital addition to Wilson Huhn’s framework and they would love you regardless.”

“They’d have to be drunk to believe that, surely?”

He chuckles as he follows her out of her office. She was right; Morrison was an idiot and no lawyer worth their salt would use his ideas in an argument.

As it turned out, she didn’t need to be there at all. Andy had them both eating out of the palm of his hand with tales of Jack’s past shenanigans (it turned out Ellison had gone to college with him back in Ohio) and some inside joke about a man named Doug and his pet chihuahua who regularly accompanied him to Court. Apparently, he would bark at the guilty parties but stay silent if he thought they were innocent. Grace had vaguely heard of such a person but she had always assumed it was a myth or a joke that had gotten out of hand in certain circles.

She headed back to her office afterwards. Andy appeared moments later after he had shown the gentlemen out.

“So?” He posed, taking a seat in the chair opposite her. He looked far too confident.

No matter how cool or slick Andy pretended he was these days, he couldn’t completely hide the childlike glee of being able to do something so utterly ridiculous for a living. And being a Lawyer, deciding the fates of complete strangers, was that ridiculous.

“I don’t know….”

He frowned at her before leaning forward in his chair so he could place his elbows on her desk. That was a move usually reserved for convincing people they were being unrealistic in their expectations of a settlement, or that they were not going to get the very thing they so desperately wanted. She didn’t much care for it in this scenario, though; she likely knew she wasn’t going to win.

“At least let us put forward a session plan. This could be a good move for you, for the company, and Jack is behind it 100%. Plus…” He trailed off as he contemplated his next words. “It might give us the opportunity to spend a bit of time together, work together again like the old days.”

He tries to hide the potential disappointment lingering beneath his carefully poised façade, ready to surface if her response wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

They hadn’t ended things in a bad way when they left the hotel. In fact, if anything, it left him with a sense of hope. Not hope that this was going to become something per se, but it was enough for him that Grace had at least acknowledged his sentiment that it had been an amazing night. She shouldn’t be so surprised that he wanted to maintain some form of personal company with her in light of everything they had shared.

“Look, I’m not going to make any demands of you if that’s what you’re worried about. If this was a mistake then I’d rather you just said so.” He said. “You don’t need to protect my feelings. I’m a big boy, I can handle it.”

Was that what she was doing? Protecting his feelings? Or was she protecting her own?

She hadn’t particularly had much time to consider the implications of what had gone on between them. In the morning after, Andy had walked her to her car parked in the underground garage and kissed her softly on her cheek before they parted ways. As soon as she left the hotel, almost within the very same hour, she was back home and in the arms of her familial comforts. Andy had only asked if she could message him that weekend, just to let him know she was OK, and she had done that very thing. But…that had been all. By the time Monday had arrived and he had smiled warmly at her across the table in the boardroom during one of Jack’s impromptu catch-ups, she felt like she had let him down in some way. He didn’t deserve it when it was her own issues that had put them in this position.

He had been honest; he wasn’t going to make any demands of her. He had never done such a thing before and he certainly wasn’t going to start now. He trusted her enough to allow her to figure it out in her own mind and when she did, he trusted she would tell him what was going on. For now, he just wanted to be around her in any way he could. Even if that was restricted to just these four walls of the office.

“I am sorry, Andy. I don’t really know what I’m thinking to be honest.” She says, quietly.

“And that’s OK. I don’t want to put pressure on you, I just didn’t want to leave you with any doubt over what I was thinking.” He attempts to comfort her. “And I think about you a lot.”

He would have reached out to touch her if they had a bit more privacy but he’s acutely aware she wouldn’t be able rest if he did so, not with people milling around outside and the annoyance of having so many damn glass walls placed around the building. He shouldn’t complain about them, he had a fair few himself at home, but they had never gotten in his way before.

“Could I maybe think about it for a day or two?” she finally asks.

“Of course!”

She wasn’t expecting him to agree to that, much less with such enthusiasm. Then again, she was also not expecting to decide within the hour that she was definitely going to do this with him. It would be a great opportunity and another string to her bow, plus a good way of getting familiar with some of Yale’s professors in case her children had those kinds of ambitions later in life. There was a lot of reasons to say ‘yes’.

Later that evening, Grace is multi-tasking, chopping vegetables and keeping one eye on the Television while Sam lies on the sofa. He’s comfortable and likely won’t move for some time now, not unless food is being offered, and she thinks that’s adorable. He’s definitely her son.

She never understood the need for a separate living space since the family spent most of their time in the kitchen and dining area. Dan had joked about bomb-proofing it since it pretty much held everything they could ever need if the worst was to happen.

“Do you want the spiral pasta or the bow-tie one?” Grace asks.

“Bow-tie.” Sam answered, not moving an inch as far as she could tell.

Always straight and to the point. She smiles to herself and continues to chop the vegetables for a salad she knows the kids likely won’t eat but nevertheless, she keeps the hope alive.

The front door goes moments later. Dan walks over to the sofa and kisses Sam on the head before thinking about doing the same to Grace. She can tell he thinks better of it. Instead, he moves to the fridge behind her and grabs a beer.

“Smells nice.”

“Just the asparagus and chicken that was left over. Nothing fancy.” Grace says. “Was Liv OK?”

“Yeh, yeh. She’s just getting changed. She scored a couple this time so she’s in a good mood.” Dan says as he leans his forearms on the side of the kitchen island. “Do you need a hand?”

“No, it’s OK, you can go and relax.”

She smiles at him and he nods to her, gratefully. She was tired as well but she definitely had some making-up to do, even if he didn’t know it.

Andy 06.45pm: What’s your stance on dick pics??

Her phone buzzes just as she places the pasta in the pan to cook. Wiping her hands on the tea towel nearby, she reaches for it and doesn’t recognise the reaction she’s now feeling.

Grace 06.48pm: Ummm…I can’t say I’ve ever received one myself. Why?

Andy 06.49pm: CEO of Veterol has been sending them to his Secretary. Not yet public knowledge so keep that to yourself.

Grace 06.51pm: Shit

Grace 06.52pm: I can’t believe that asshole…..

She googles for a photo of said asshole to make sure it was definitely the same man she was picturing. It was. He looked the type as well. Not that there was a ‘type’ specifically, but he looked smarmy and arrogant enough to think he could get away with it.

Andy 07.01pm: So youve never had one?

Was he being serious?

Grace 07.03pm: That would be a big no thankfully

Andy 07.04pm: You’re missing out

Another few seconds and an emoji comes through, the one with a winking face and a tongue sticking out. Oh God, he was a nuisance sometimes. She really didn’t want to spend any longer thinking about the implications of what he was trying to joke about or get into his own personal experiences as the water continued to boil.

Grace 07.10pm: Goodnight Andrew Barber.

Emphasis on the full stop at the end.

Andy 07.14pm: I do love it when you use my full name

She doesn’t reply again.

Sometimes, she felt like an old lady (or so Liv would tell her) as she hated the concept of texting and hated even more that things could be so easily misconstrued. And she really didn’t want to get this misconstrued, not when she didn’t know what she was thinking or doing from one moment to the next.

“Can you grab me another one?”

She looks up from Andy’s message to where the question had come from. Without looking back to where she was stood, Dan holds the empty beer bottle up in his hand. He’s focused on the cartoon that he and Sam had been watching, and he doesn’t say another thing.

“Dinner’s ready so you can grab it on the way to the table.” She turns around to grab the salad tongs. She can hear Dan’s eye roll from here. “Sam? Can you get your sister?”

He doesn’t move at first, just waiting for the credits to finish in case there’s something on afterwards, so she asks him once more, sterner this time, and he finally moves.

“You OK?” Dan asks, putting a couple of the pasta bowls on the table for the kids before turning back to collect the others.

“Yeh, course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

He shrugs but doesn’t give her a verbal answer. She doesn’t say anything either but smiles brightly when she sees her daughter for the first time that day. Liv has changed into her unicorn onesie and has her headphones wrapped around her neck. Grace doesn’t mind so much, even if it has become code for planning to leave the table as soon as she’s finished.

“Looks yummy, Mom.” Liv says enthusiastically. Clearly, scoring a couple of goals at hockey had changed her personality.

“Thanks darling.” She smiles back at her and decides to chance it and add some salad to their plates.

These days, it may only be for twenty minutes that Grace can bask in the quiet, pleasantness of family time but it’s worth it and it can make even the most stressful of days inestimably brighter. Sam was happily chewing away on his food and Liv hummed a tune to herself between bites. Grace couldn’t imagine how her life would be without them both. She didn’t much want to imagine, either.

It had been Dan who had given her this. Right when she needed saving from herself, he had been there. It had only been him. He had provided her with safety and love even if that love was expressed in his own way. It might not be a love that was romantic in the same way anymore, but people change. People grow up and the love changes with them but it doesn’t make it any less valuable or protective or vital for the survival of a marriage and a family.

No matter what was going on in her head and no matter how often she found herself thinking about Andy, nothing could compare to this. Nothing would even come close.

#chris evans #andy barber #au fic #fanfiction #fan fic #case histories #andy barber x oc #chris evans fic #evans fic #andy barber fic

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fluffywolverine · 3 years

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so season 6 of lucifer came out.

there were some things that i liked, but generally i hated it. i believe that was SUCH. BAD. WRITING and it left me frustrated. so i decided to write down all things that pissed me off and sometimes i try to fix this by giving other ideas that – in my opinion – would have made the story better. Check my points out and feel free to add your points of view. without further ado: let’s talk.

- imma start with the big one – fucking time travel. ok I generally hate this trope in the media, because it’s complicated and often leads to some logical mistakes – and they happened here. so rory time travels because of her anger which was caused… by her anger?? i think this was unnecessary. it also brings trouble with this whole free will vs. fate discourse. lucifer says, that he chooses free will… but at the same time he goes the path of his fate. he disappears from rory’s life, because he HAS TO in order of the events of the season to happen. just because he chose to do it, doesn’t mean it’s free will.

- lucifer becomes the very thing he desperately didn’t want to become. “bUt It WaS fOr ThE gReAtEr GoOd” screw this bullshit, if writers wanted to make it better, they could have easily do so. they could have altered the rules of time travel so that his choice of staying could have resulted in rory disappearing. yes, that would have been heart-breaking, but it would have been a great lesson for lucifer, that he can’t make the same mistakes his father did.

- chloe and Lucifer get a child without even talking about it. “bUt MaYbE tHeY tAlKeD aBoUt It We JuSt DiDn’T sEe It” you may say. but the point of writing anything - whether it’s a book or a script – is to show any thing that matters. and talking about having kids is one of the most things any couple should do. also not every couple needs to have kids and forcing deckerstar to have it feels so far-fetched. this thread was very unnecessary.

- rory herself is a big problem. to begin with – she wanted to KILL her FATHER. i get her frustration, but commiting a murder?? just because he wasn’t there for her?? I would have thought that chloe taught her better, taught her that, like, killing people is bad. turns out she did not. secondly… she just isn’t necessary here. i elaborate later so in conclusion – her thread could be altered with michael’s and it would have made much more sense. i also don’t like the actress (why was she blinking so much??) so i certainly didn’t help.

- of course ella has to end up with a boyfriend. because earlier she always ended up with “bad boys” and now, without any help, she is just able to have a healthy relationship! yay! for me this creates a toxic view, that in order to be happy one HAS TO be in a relationship, because being alone is aLwAyS bAd. well, it’s not.

- i also have troubles with lucifer starting up a foundation for her. firstly, he didn’t ask her. secondly it – AGAIN – shows, that anything good ella got, was because of another man. firstly because of her relationship with carol, secondly because of lucifer’s idea. it could have been so easily altered! there could have been a scene of a conversation e.g. with amenadiel where she expressed a will to do better and be better for someone (given that she sees a lot of dark in herself). amenadiel could have then told her, that she is an inspiration and that it is her biggest strength. that could have been where ella came up with an idea to start a foundation blah blah – it’s just a rough idea but I believe that written well, it could have been so much better;

- and the last thing about ella – of course she had to find out about celestial stuff because sHe WaS tHe OnLy OnE rEmAiNiNg. umm what about trixie? i'll come back to her later. ella was portrayed as the only one believing in god and having her seeing that he really exists ruins the concept of faith. it’s not about knowing something exists, it’s about believing in it.

- WHERE THE FUCK IS MICHAEL. i must admit that i loved this character AND I CAN’T STAND HOW AWFULLY HE WAS TREATED HERE. so at the end of season 5 lucifer says “everyone deserves a second chance, even you michael". and what does he do then? COMMANDS HIS TWIN TO CLEAR THE FLOOR IN HELL. yes, i agree that michael should have been punished for his rebellion plan, but… he already has his wing cut off. now he’s stuck in hell, with no way out and is he supposed to learn his lesson? this is cruel. instead of this the entire season could have been centred on him – his journey to self-acceptance, learning how manipulating someone is toxic and starting to realise how to be a better person. at the end he could have become god (because amenadiel is such an obvious choice), which would create a beautiful connection – michael in heaven and his twin in hell.

- lucifer doesn’t feel like being god and that’s cool. damn. people died for him to win this place and he’s like “actually you know guys i’m not the right person bye”. while i believe that anyone should step out if they have a reason, but at the same time lucifer should have faced any consequences of his decisions. falling frog and kool aid in the river are not enough.

- adam’s plot feels just quickly sketched, not actually written. i really appreciate this take on toxic masculinity but it all felt too fast-paced. it’s good that they show this idea of “strong and not-showing-any-feelings man” kind of attitude, but it is impossible for ANYONE (especially The ManTM) to change their mind in a matter of a few days. it takes weeks, months, years even, especially given that adam is like a gazillion years old, he should have especially taken a long time to process this.

- carol is just too pure to exist. he’s also one of the most boring, plain and one-dimensional character i’ve ever seen. i feel like they gave him a problem with alcohol because the writers were like “hmmmmm he has to have some weakness. LET’S MAKE HIM AN ALCOHOLIC”. we don’t see any signs of his everyday struggle, why did he fell into this problem, how did struggle. it just feels like a dull plot device to show that he has flaws. oh and also he’s so pure that he doesn’t mind ella BREAKING INTO HIS HOUSE. acceptance should have boundaries and violating someone’s personal space isn’t right.

- why did they forget about trixie again? yes, i know that scarlett estevez had another project but this does not justify the bad writing. the girl lost her father and we only see her crying once because of that. no signs of this affecting her everyday life, not showing any consequences of her relationships with other people, not glimpse of any change in her behaviour. oh and also she loses lucifer too because time travel! great idea, writers! losing another close to her person would have been soooooo good for her psychic for sure.

- i also hate the idea that suddenly rory becomes the only child they care for. where is trixie when they spend their day on the beach? where is she when her mother dies? did writers forget about her as well as they did about michael?

- amenadiel being a police officer is… problematic. i was looking forward to this thread, i was kinda scared too and it turned out… meh. i’m white and not American, so this of course does not involve me at all, but i felt like this was not enough. harris basically said that there is nothing they can do to make it better for black folks. even though chloe and amenadiel want to make everything more just, we don’t actually see any change. the only thing is that harris becomes a detective (right? i’m not sure if i understood it correctly, so correct me if i’m wrong, please) which is a total contradiction of what she said before. suddenly she does not have to protect people anymore?

- in season 5 they stated that heaven and hell need to be fixed, as the system is unfair and unjust. at the end we don’t see any change, the only thing that is different is lucifer helping damned souls. it doesn’t help at all! these people still go to hell, they still suffer and there’s nothing that changed here! plus there is also this thing, that a sociopath who murdered people in cold blood goes to heaven (because he does not feel any guilt) and a person abused by her parents/partner/whoever goes to hell (because have been manipulated to feel guilt).

- dan making amends with trixie while… there wasn’t really anything to make amends about. like, most of the parents make mistakes while upbringing their children, but does this make them unworthy of heaven? i would have preferred dan to slowly regain his self-consciousness, how he positively affected the lives of people around him and by doing so – through conversations or maybe reliving some of the memories, he could have proved to himself that he is worthy of love and redemption.

phew, what a ride. i really liked dan being reunited with charlotte (it went just as i imagined) and mazeve dynamics. i even felt like they are finally a real life relationship – with people hurting each other by not understanding each other, but then talking and seeing other’s perspective. generally though, i’m very disappointed.

sorry for any mistakes, lacking commas etc. writing a text this long in not my native language was not easy.

#lucifer #lucifer netflix #lucifer spoilers #lucifer season 6

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