#and someone I don’t know goes -I’m surprised you didn’t make a dead mom joke earlier-
You know how people form parasocial relationships to you online and think they know you and are best friends with you when you have no fucking idea who they are and they use this perceived friendship to make jokes about shit they have no business making jokes about? Yeah that shit makes me want to delete Instagram
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hi!! i just wanna say i love your writings sm!! and umm,, is it okay if i request a scenario/headcanon of oikawa's reaction about finding out his gf who is sugawara's younger sister and sugawara's reaction finding out that his sister and oikawa is in a relationship? oh, sugawara found out when karasuno was first meeting seijoh for the practice match! if you dont mind doing this and i hope its not too confusing and too much;; ps. i really really really LOVE your writings! keep up the good work!!
Your Boyfriend’s Who? (Oikawa x reader)
the one in which Sugawara finds out his little sister is dating the star setter of Aoba Joshai~
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“Suga! What did you do to make Y/N cry again?”
“What are you-?” The gray-haired setter narrows his eyes at your sniffling figure behind the back of his team captain, hanging his head before releasing a deep sigh when you grin, signaling they had been crocodile tears all along. Daichi continues to stare at him scarily with crossed arms as you tug on the captain’s sleeve “sadly”.
“I told her she had to sit in the stands and not bother those three on the lineup!” Suga juts his chin in the direction of said three as Ennoshita boos along with Narita and Kinoshita.
“Booooo, we already told you she wouldn’t bother us.”
“Y/N could always sit with me.” Kiyoko pipes up and your eyes glimmer with hope as Suga groans dramatically with a hand on his forehead as the team finishes unloading their stuff from the bus.
“Kiyoko please not you too-”
“The council has spoken!” Tanaka booms as he lift you up onto his shoulders, your fellow first years holding in their laughs at the look of dismay on Tsukishima’s face as passerbys ogle the team oddly.
“What are you even doing here?” Suga questions with an eyebrow arched, and you grin a little sheepishly as you rest your chin on Tanaka’s shaved head. Daichi palms his face, wondering why your brother wouldn’t ask that question as soon as he saw you on the bus.
“Um, when you asked mom to sign that paper excusing you from classes she signed one for me too-”
“Mom what-”
“She’s smart. Let her have this.” Tanaka sticks his tongue out as you mirror that action, and Suga groans as Daichi sends you a look saying don’t do it again.
“Sorry Suga-nii.” You mock pout at your brother’s defeat as Suga clicks his tongue, but says nothing as you all file into the practice court, your face blanching when you realize just what school you had snuck your way into.
“On second thought, I want to go sit in the stands with the rest of the audience-”
“What? No, stay- you gave everyone the trouble.” Suga scolds as he sits you down on the bench next to Kiyoko like a child. “Now don’t make even more.”
At your pout, Suga hesitates before kissing the top of your head and jogging off to the court. “Be good. Watch her like a hawk, Kiyoko.”
“Stop acting like I’m some sort of criminal!”
“You are a criminal.” Suga calls back as you deflate, Kiyoko giggling by your side as she tilts her head in question.
“Why would you want to go sit in the stands, Y/N-chan? Didn’t you want to watch up close?”
“That was before I realized what school Karasuno had a practice match with.” You look around nervously, deeming it fine as long as that certain someone took a hint and didn’t approach you during the match.
“What’s wrong with Seijoh?” Kiyoko questions further as you lean into her shoulder as the team begins warming up, and you let out a nervous chuckle before leaning in to whisper in her ear, cupping your mouth.
“My boyfriend goes here, and he may or may not be on Aoba Joshai’s volleyball team-”
“You have a boy-?!”
“Sh!” You put a finger to your lips, glancing around worriedly before nodding your head yes. “But I don’t think he’s dumb enough to come up to me-”
“Think? Suga and Daichi would rip him to shreds!”
“True, but I’d like to give him a smidge of credit.” You shrug, frowning in worry as Seijoh comes out onto the court, the bestfriend of your boyfriend raising his eyebrows in surprise as Iwaizumi stalls for a second.
You panic when Hanamaki and Matsukawa raise a hand to you in greeting, grins faltering when you make a cutting motion with your hand across your neck, waving it back and forth while mouthing you don’t know me.
Looks of realization pass the third-years faces as Matsukawa and Hanamaki laugh, Iwaizumi sighing and hanging his head while massaging his temple. You grin nervously as Iwaizumi sends you a message, tapping away on his phone.
Your team doesn’t know?
-Worse, my team and my brother don’t know.
You’re so dead.
-Where even is he?
Coming l8r.
-That’s good then, right?
Iwaizumi pockets his phone into his gym bag after scoffing at your message, shooting you a warning look like this won’t end well as you wave it off, the match finally starting after Karasuno finishes warming up.
You keep worriedly glancing at the entrances to the school as Hinata and Kageyama help pull a good lead over the opposing team, Kiyoko not being able to hide her hum of amusement.
“Scared?”
“Very.” You bite your thumb, noticing that the game was near it’s end before relaxing a little. “Maybe he won’t even play-?”
“Coach! I’m here!”
“Ooooor maybe not.” You sink in your seat, spinning around in the other direction to face away from Oikawa Tooru as Kiyoko lets loose a few more giggles.
“That’s him?”
“...yeah.” You cover your face in embarrassment as you wonder if this was the day your brother finally disowned you.
“He’s...a crazy good player.” You hear Takeda-sensei mumble, and you can’t help but glance behind you to see your boyfriend in action. To your absolute dismay, chocolate eyes met yours as you spin back around quickly, heart hammering in your chest after seeing that Oikawa had smiled immediately at the sight of you.
“...he saw you, didn’t he?” Kiyoko whispers as you nod, saying your prayers as the game finally ends. You flinch when Suga’s voice sounds behind you, the players all gathering around for towels and water as you sheepishly turn back around for the umpteenth time.
“What’s with you, oh wonderful sibling of mine?” Suga quips, handing you one of the few juices in the cooler as you laugh, a bit too loudly before poking the hole with the straw.
“Nothing. Good job win-huh?” Your eyes widen when you see that the score gap had been lessened drastically, Karasuno just barely pulling ahead by a few points as pride flutters in your stomach at your boyfriend’s doing.
“Ugh, I’m tired.” Suga collapses next to you, leaning his head on your shoulder as you go to shove him off.
“You didn’t even play-”
“Just shut up and let me sleep.”
“Y/N, what do you wanna eat-?” Daichi begins to question, before a voice so familiar sounds that almost has you running out of your seat, not prepared at all.
“You came with the team to see me, Y/N-chan?” Oikawa’s head pops up between Kageyama and Tsukishima, easy grin faltering at the sight of your brother’s head on your shoulder.
Oh this would not end well at all.
“Y/N...chan...?” Suga lifts his head, eyes questioning as he turns to you. “You know him?”
“I’d appreciate it if you weren’t so buddy-buddy with my girlfriend, you a classmate of hers?” Oikawa tilts his head, grinning with no kindness behind it as you put your face in your hands.
You can feel Suga’s burning stare as you escape to hide behind a sighing Kiyoko, the entire Karasuno team on edge as Sugawara rises to his feet, holding a hand out to your boyfriend with a matching grin.
“Try her brother.”
Oikawa’s face falls, and in any other situation, you would have laughed.
“You...have a brother?”
“You’re dating the setter of Seijoh?!”
“Ladies please, not all at once.” You attempt to joke, Tanaka the only one to throw his head back in laughter as Kiyoko stifles a laugh into her palm.
“Okay, yes to both of you.” You go to stand next to Oikawa with a sigh, looping your arm with his before offering a sheepish smile. The cat was out of the bag, anyways. “Everyone, meet Oikawa Tooru, my acquaintance-”
“Her boyfriend. Pleasure to meet everyone!” Oikawa corrects as you nudge him, the setter moving to interlace your fingers with his before pulling you to his side, eyes narrowing at the sight of Kageyama.
“Nice to see you again, Kageyama-Kun.”
You sigh at the fact that there was more tension between him and his junior than there was with your brother before swatting Oikawa in the side, him whining before pouting at you.
“Do you even love me?!”
“Of course I do...don’t. Of course I don’t.” You falter at the hardened gazes of both Daichi and Suga as Tsukishima whistles lowly, enjoying the drama as Yamaguchi nudges him in disapproval.
The silence that settles isn’t a pretty one as Oikawa chuckles a tad nervously, kissing your cheek before spinning on his heel.
“I’ll take you out after this-?”
“She’ll be eating with us, thanks though.” Daichi cuts him off as you groan, mouthing a yes behind his back before Oikawa’s lips stretch into a half-smile before nodding once to your brother. He waves backwards as he walks off to his team.
You smile in thanks to both Hanamaki and Matsukawa who were both sending sorry stares to you while Iwaizumi rightfully hit Oikawa upside the head for his stupidity, scolding him about telling him not to as Oikawa whines.
“So,”
You hide even further behind Kiyoko with a I can explain kind of smile fills your features as Suga crosses his arms, the entire Karasuno team looking at you in accusation. Your brother’s lips stretch into a kind smile as he tilts his head, Daichi and Kageyama crossing their arms beside him.
“You have a lot of explaining to do.”
“Before or after my date with my hot setter boyfriend-”
Needless to say, the surprise meeting between your brother and boyfriend from rival teams did not go over the team of Karasuno too well.
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General works: @takemetovalhalla @savemesteeb @dreebbles @kasandrafaye @yams046
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The Hybrid (I)
Pairing: JJ x Reader
Summary: The Pogues rekindle their friendship with their old childhood best friend and JJ’s first crush, Y/N. Old feelings resurface for JJ and Y/N, possibly leading to a summer neither one of them could ever forget. Due to past trauma, Y/N is reluctant to let anyone into her heart, but JJ never backs down from a challenge, even if he knows it will come back to haunt him in the end.
Note: Thank you for being patient with me as I slowly write this series. I had this idea a long time ago and I’m not finding motivation to write it but the inspiration comes and go. I smile with every comment that is left on my fics and I’m so grateful for this community. Thank you for letting me pursue my creative writing without judgement. Love you guys! (Also, yes. If you didn’t see my last note, I based YN’s family off of the Gilmore Girls characters. That’s who I picture as them.)
Word Count: 8k
Masterlist Prologue
You wake up to someone falling on your bed next to you with a dramatic sigh. Knowing exactly who it is, you choose to ignore her and try getting back to the dreamless sleep you were peacefully having before you woke up.
That is, until she sighs again.
You flip onto your back and stare up at your ceiling fan that’s quickly spinning above you. “What, Rory?”
“How did it go with Andre and that boy?”
You look at her with one brow raised. “You woke me up to hear about Andre’s love life? That hardly sounds like you. You don’t care about high school drama or hookups.”
“You’re right,” Rory says. “But I thought I would ease you into what I actually need to tell you.”
You turn on right side and look at your sister confused. “What?”
She sighs. “The cafe’s basement flooded last night. Mom needs us there to help her clean up and take inventory on what’s salvageable.”
You turn back on you backside and close your eyes, exhaling a deep sigh. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Unfortunately not,” Rory says and pats you twice on your covered thigh as she sits up. “Come on. I made you pre-cafe coffee. It’s sitting in the kitchen.”
You throw your sheets off of you and trudge to the bathroom to brush your teeth and clean your face. It’s about 8 a.m. At least you were able to get about six hours of sleep.
Last night, it was hard to let your brain rest to fall asleep. You kept tossing and turning, thinking about the blonde Pogue who walked you home. You missed how easy it was to talk to someone who you felt truly knew you. Your banter rolled off your tongue easily and you never had to worry about offending him because you knew him like the back of your hand. You knew what he could take and what he couldn't.
Talking to him brought back childhood memories you had hidden deep in your mind. How JJ would constantly poke you until you ripped into a smile on days that were grey. How you used to steal John B’s bandanas until he was chasing you around his house to get them back. How you would draw a mustache and a unibrow on Pope’s face when he fell asleep by the water.
Those days felt like they were decades ago. So far away, you didn’t know if you’d be able to reach for them again. If it was even possible to get back.
You thought about texting him. Thanks for walking me back. We should all get together soon! You had written out. But then you deleted the whole message, telling yourself it was because you didn’t know if he even had the same number. But deep down, you were just afraid of the rejection.
Its been about three years since the four of you had been together in one place. You don’t know what they’ve been through or if they’ve changed. They for sure as hell don’t know what you’ve been through. You don’t know if they're dynamic has changed. Clearly you and JJ can still joke with each other but what about John B and Pope? You heard about John B’s father disappearing at sea, most people believing he’s dead, but John B holding onto hope that’s he’s alive. You always thought about calling him to reach out and offer your condolences. But for the same reason you didn’t text JJ, you never called. It didn’t feel like your place. They had Kie for that now. A little part of you felt jealous of her, like she had replaced you and any memory of you. She seemed nice, but she wasn’t you.
“Ready?” Rory pops her head in to your room as you slip on a cropped plain white zip up jacket over your cropped black tank.
“As I’ll ever be,” You say and snag the car keys out of her hands. “Don’t even think about it. I’m driving.”
Rory rolls her eyes. “I want to get there safely.”
“And I want to get there quickly.”
“Fine. But we’re taking my car. It actually has doors.”
For your sixteenth birthday, your grandparents gifted both you and Rory your own individual cars and even let you pick them out. Rory chose a black 2020 Honda Civic for it’s safety features and reputation for longevity as if she was planning on handing it down to her future kids. And you picked out a white 2020 Jeep Wrangler with a hard top that pops off along with the doors for a very open and thrilling ride. Everyone but you called it a death trap, but you found it to be the perfect summer car.
You park Rory’s boring Honda Civic in the back of the cafe in a lot used specifically for employees. The cafe is already booming with teens and families, waiting for their morning coffees and fresh pastries. Kids your age are running around behind the counter with sweat dripping down their brow bone to get everyone’s orders out in a timely manner.
In the back of the store, your mom walks up the steps from the basement with two large trash bags and immediately notices the two of you. “Oh good. You’re here. Rory, help the girls behind the counter. The dishwasher’s broken and poor Hailey is hand washing everything. Y/N, come with me downstairs.”
“Why does Rory get the fun job?” You grumble and follow your mom back downstairs after she tosses the two trash bags.
“Because she’s actually nice to the customers.”
“Treat others how you would like to be treated. Isn’t that what everyone always says?” You smirk. You never agreed with the phrase ‘the customer is always right.’ It’s complete bullshit and being the employee shouldn’t mean letting yourself getting verbally abused by a ‘Karen’ on the other side of the counter.
The basement is used for the cafe’s storage, lined with wooden shelves Steve put together that hold to go cups, back up espresso machines, boxes of coffee and food and ingredients, etc. Now all the boxes are dark and sopping, creating puddles on the concrete floor.
“Oh my god. Mom. How did this happen?”
“Jenky water pipe busted in the middle of the night,” Steve walks down the stairs and passes your mom a knowing look. It didn’t surprise you that he was here. He’s the jack of all trades. Owns his own automotive shop, builds a lot of his own furniture, actually cooks a decent meal, and has the same outlook on customer service as you do. He was probably your mom’s first call. “Talked to the plumber. They can’t get here until at least noon.”
“Noon? We’ll be underwater by noon. I might as well turn all my employees into a swim team,” Your mom says.
Steve shakes his head. “I was able to hold the leak until he gets here. You should be fine.”
Steve was the first person that actually helped your mother out when's she moved to the Cut. Six months pregnant, she pushed her car into his automotive shop after it broke down on the side of the road. Their banter was similar to the one you and JJ have. He helped save your mom money by building yours and Rory’s cribs, changing table, and dressers. And ever since, the two of them had been connected by the hip, although they both refuse to admit it. You think the pair are just trying to deny the love they clearly share for each other. And you think the main reason for that is because of the incident four years ago with your mom’s ex boyfriend. No thanks to you.
“Look at you constantly building your resume,” You smirk at him.
Steve scoffs. “It’s more than what you’re doing.”
You roll your eyes. Steve is the closest thing you have to a father. He practically helped raise you with your mom. He’s the one you turn to whenever a fight with your mom goes too far, which isn't too often but it happens. He usually lets you stay at his house for the night to let you cool off. But he’ll never sugar coat his advice when it comes time for him to give it. Even if you don’t ask for it. He knows growing up with Rory has been challenging. She was clearly your mom’s favorite, or at least that’s what you thought. She has a 4.0 GPA with a realistic dream to get into Brown University and study journalism. She played by every rule, never got into trouble, and spent most of her free nights getting ahead of her school work or staying late at the cafe with an open book from the library across the street. She was an absolute angel to everyone else, making you look like her evil twin.
You glare at him before turning to your mom with crossed arms. “What do you want me to do, Mom?”
“Actually honey. Can you go to Heywards and grab more coffee filters and napkins. The water soaked right through the plastic wrapping on our last box.”
You nod, leaving your mom and Steve to clean up the basement themselves. Before heading out, you sneak behind the counter and make yourself a quick coffee to go.
“Where you going?” Rory asks as she reaches behind you to grab a banana for her customer at the register.
“Heywards to grab a couple things for Mom.”
“Oh. Make sure to grab toilet paper while you’re out. I think we’re almost out of it.”
“Got it.”
Heywards is only a short drive from your mom’s cafe. It’s the closest convenient store that isn’t crazy pricey. It’s where your mom gets all her supplies whenever she runs out of things before shipment gets there.
You use to always come here when you were younger with the boys, each of you, even Pope, stealing a small bag of chips or a candy bar here and there. Little did any of you know, Mr. Heyward caught your thieving hands every time but never said anything.
The bell above the door chimes when you walk into the store. You know this place as well as you know the cafe, finding the toilet paper and coffee filter immediately.
When Mr. Heyward looks up from the counter, his smile grows. He can pick you out of a crowd anywhere, but he hasn’t seen you in a long time. Last time he saw you, you had braces and overgrown bushy brows. Now you had bushed hair and shaved legs.
“Hi. Mr. Heyward,” You grin shyly at him. You don’t know how he’s going to react to see you, unsure of what Pope might have told him about you.
“Little Miss Y/L/N? Is that you?” Heyward smiles widely, pulling your own lips into a wider smile. “I haven’t seen you for a long time.”
“Yeah, I’ve been busy with school and my mom’s cafe...” Both of those things were a lie. You just avoid the Cut to avoid the Pogues.
“How’s the fam?”
“They’re good,” You say as Heyward hands you your bags. “Mom says hello by the way. I’m actually taking these to her store now.”
“Well, don’t be a stranger. We miss your smiling face around her. Anette, too.” Heyward says, mentioning his wife.
“Tell her I said hi.”
“Of course, darling.”
Heyward and Anette always had a special place in their heart for you and Rory. They’re not one for gossip, but they knew a little bit about what your mom’s been through and have heard plenty of stories about your grandparents. They always thought, despite your mom’s background, that you and your sister were raised impressively. Anette always hoped that one day Pope and Rory would get together. Everyone always wanted their child to be with Rory.
As your about to leave the store, the bell chimes again with another customer. Only it’s not another customer. It’s Pope and John B. They don’t see you at first, and you wonder if maybe you can sneak out without them seeing you. But something about that felt wrong. Especially because Heyward would more than likely mention to them that you were here.
Pope sees you first and stops in his tracks. “Y/N?”
“Hey, guys. Long time no see,” You smile at both of them. You bite down on your lip awkwardly when you meet John B’s stare. You don’t know if you should mention anything about his dad’s disappearance. But what would you say? Sorry? What good would that do?
“How’ve you been?” Pope gives you a small side hug, then John B.
You shrug. “You know, living the dream.”
“How’s life as a Hybrid?” John B smirks.
You roll your eyes playfully and groan. “Oh god. Never call me that again.”
You may be considered a Hybrid by everyone else, but you would never put yourself into that category. You grew up a Pogue, the same way everyone else did around you. The only thing tying you to the Kooks are your grandparents.
“Why?” John B smirks. “I wish I was a Hybrid.”
You smirk back. “Maybe you will be one day. I hear you have a Kook of your own for arm candy.”
You saw a faint hint of blush on John B’s cheek at the mention of his girlfriend but you don’t mention it. “Sarah, yeah. She’s not like the other Kooks.”
“I would hope not. Her brother’s a dick.”
“Yeah,” They laugh.
“We miss you, you know.” John B says. Pope looks at you, trying to read your expression. John B’s not wrong. They do all miss you, especially Pope. He felt like you were the only one who really understood him. Of course his other friends are great, but you actually took the time to try and understand his passions. Like forensic science.
“I miss you guys too. It’s been a while.”
“Well, hey. We’re actually all getting together tonight at my place. Nothing big. Just a bonfire and a couple beers. You should stop by,” John B says.
“Yeah,” Pope says, immediately getting hopeful that you’ll show up.
Your smile falters. The invite makes your heart swell and your lungs contract. It’s an invite you’ve been wanting for three years. And now that you have it, you don’t know what to say. It’d be different if it was just the four of you like old times. But now there’s Kie and Sarah and although you have nothing against them, you’re afraid they won’t accept you. The thought of your boys picking them over you terrifies you.
“Okay. Yeah, sure. I’ll try to swing by later.”
Pope smiles wide and looks at his friend to see his reaction. John B grins and nods, almost impressed that you had agreed. But he saw the twitch in your lips when the question was asked.
“Great. I guess we’ll see you later then.”
You nod. “Okay. Bye guys.”
You suck in a deep breath when the fresh air outside of Heyward’s store brushes over you. Your heart thumps wildly with both excitement and nerves when you’re finally able to collect your thoughts. You don’t know what you’ll do tonight, but the possibilities can change your entire summer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
You spent the rest of the day mopping up the cafe’s basement and rearranging the shelves. You smelled of sweat and coffee grounds by the time you were done and dreamt of the shower you would be taking when you got home.
Rory drove you home after the two of you closed up the cafe for the day. Neither of you said much. Rory was exhausted from running around behind the counter and you were too busy thinking about whether you’d go back to the place you used to call your second home.
You took a longer shower than usual, still pondering what your night would be like. Your head was telling you to stay home but your heart pulled you in the direction of the Cut. You yearned to hear about what the future held for Pope, and listen to John B retell stories of when you were kids, and be able to stare into JJ’s bright blue eyes without him noticing.
You changed into a pair of jean shorts and a plain red cropped tank. Rory walks into your room as your brushing out your hair and looks at you as if you lost your mind.
“Are you out of your mind? You can’t wear that,” She says.
You brows scrunch together in confusion. “What are you talking about? I wear shit like this all the time.”
“Not to the Country Club, you don’t.” That’s when it hits you. Today’s been so hectic, you forgot what day it was. “It’s Sunday.”
Sunday dinner at the Country Club is now a weekly commitment forced upon you by your grandparents. Each week, your mom, sister, and you are forced to spend one dinner with your grandma and grandpa. This is basically your mom’s payment back for sending you and Rory to Kook Academy. Only they actually pay for the dinner. It’s usually the longest two hours of your entire week. It’s hard to listen to your grandfather rant about Real Estate and your grandma slyly critique your mother in almost every aspect of her life.
“Shit. I completely forgot,” You say.
“Well, you better change. We’re leaving in about five minutes,” Rory says then plucks a gold necklace from your dresser. “Oh and can I wear this tonight?”
You sigh. “Sure.”
You change into a baby blue wrap around dress and pin your wet hair into a half up half down due. It’s gonna have to work for the limited time you have to get ready. After applying a thin layer of makeup to look the least bit presentable, you meet your mom and sister by the front door.
“Finally,” Your mom says when she sees you.
“Sorry. I didn’t realize it was Sunday.”
“It’s okay, honey. I just don’t think I can handle another late remark from Mom today.” She looks you up and down and grins. “You look great.”
Despite the many fiery fights you and your mom can have, she is also your best friend. It’s kind of like a love hate relationship. Steve says it’s because you’re exactly like your mom - almost like a sixteen year old version of her.
You really hope that isn’t true. You’re not ready to have a kid in two years.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Your grandparents are already sitting at a round table in the corner of the country club by the two tall windows that reach up to the ceiling with a view looking out into the golf course. The best seat in the house for the richest a holes on the island.
“Lorelai,” Your grandmother grins, but you can instantly tell it’s sarcastic. “Did you have to walk here?”
You speak up before your mom could. “Sorry Grandma. It’s my fault we’re late.”
Your grandparents are hard on your mom but easier on you and Rory, especially Rory.
“Well, you’re here now,” Your grandpa says. He’s usually the mediator between your mom and grandma. Although he’s usually sucks at it. “Sit. Sit.”
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, JJ shuffles through his many coworkers with his apron in one hand and a piece of fried calamari from Miss Carol’s appetizer in the other.
“JJ -” She scolds and slaps his hand away from going in for a second piece.
“Good evening Miss Carol,” JJ smirks and makes his way to the area between the kitchen and dining room where most of the servers and bust boys hang out. Some of the boys slap him on the back or shove him by the shoulder, chuckling to themselves. “What’s going on boys? Busy crowd?”
“What are you doing here? You never work Sundays,” His friend, Mitch, says.
Luke Maybank was behind on several bills - worse than it’s ever been. They already shut off their electricity and JJ wanted to make sure the water wouldn’t be next.
But JJ shrugs nonchalantly. “Little extra dough can't hurt.”
“Well, you picked a good day,” Raymond walks up to the blonde, rolling his sleeves. “You got Kook Royalty and their Hybrid offsprings in your section.”
“What?” JJ looks through the small square Plexiglas on the swinging door. He knows exactly where to look and immediately sees you sitting with King and Queen Kook, looking absolutely miserable, pushing around your food with your fork.
“Damn, Maybank. Almost broke your neck - you turned so fast.”
“Shut up, Easterling. I was just seeing how crowded we were,” JJ lied. He really just wanted to see if you were here. And now that he sees you are, he’s a little nervous to do his own damn job.
Raymond Easterling chuckles. “Yeah, I know what you were looking at. But don’t get your hopes up. There’s a reason Kooks call that girl the Heart Sucker. Not even the high and powerful JJ Maybank could get a piece of that.”
The guys around JJ and Raymond chuckle and nod in agreement, hearing the stories of how you’d reject every single guy that’s ever asked you out. Sometimes you’d go on a few dates, trying to push yourself out of your comfort zone, but then things would quickly become too much, and you’d get overwhelmed.
JJ didn’t like the way Raymond talked about you or how the others laughed at your expense. His hands clenched into fists, tempted to throw a punch in Ray’s cocky face. The guy’s just being a jerk because he’s one of the guys that got rejected by you, he thought.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” JJ shakes his head and ties his apron around his waist to distract his hands.
“No?” Raymond challenges him. “You think I’m wrong? You think you could pull the infamous Hybrid over there?”
JJ glances back through the window. You’re looking at your grandma with a clearly forced grin. You’re twirling your hair between your fingers, a habit you picked up when you were little to do when you’re bored. JJ would find you doing that in school all the time.
You’re gorgeous, he thought. It’s no wonder that almost every guy on this island has tried to make a pass on you, including JJ himself, but his remarks always come off as playful, afraid of actually telling you how he feels about you. His fantasies about you went further than just getting you between the sheets. He could picture getting married, having children, and growing old together. Years ago, the two of you would talk about your future. Neither one of you cared about money or fancy jobs. All you wanted was to be free - of this island, of each other’s families, of responsibilities placed on you from birth. You hold the same values as JJ, and he’s never met another person like you.
But JJ has a hard exterior. No one other than his best friends know his true heart, and he wasn’t going to let someone like Raymond Easterling find out about his soft spot for you. He would never hear the end of it.
JJ looks at you one last time. You’re talking to Rory, your face in his direction. This time you’re smiling, probably discussing something other than your grandparent’s expectations of you. He’d kill to see that smile every single day.
What’s the worst that could happen? You reject him? Yeah, that might kill JJ inside, but maybe you’d still be his friend, or continue to be acquaintances like you are now. As long as he gets to see you, he’d be okay. There was always the future. But who knows? Maybe you’d say yes? He’ll never know unless he tries. Right?
JJ fakes the same cocky grin that Raymond wears. “I haven’t failed yet.”
The guys around him whistle and shake their heads with smiles.
“All right, Maybank. Let’s make a bet. I’ll give you one hundred dollars to get Y/N Y/L/N in the sack by the fourth of July.”
JJ scoffs. “You like giving away free money?” He ignored his racing heart at the thought of being that intimate with you.
Raymond nods. “Okay. Let’s put your money where your mouth is. Get her to say ‘I love you’ by the end of the season and I’ll raise you an extra hundred and cover all your dishwasher shifts in September.”
JJ raises his brows with surprise. No one offers to take the dishwashing shift. Sometimes the boys are pulled back there when the kitchen is short staffed and it’s easily one of the worst jobs at the Club.
This bet was almost too good of an opportunity to pass up. “Deal.” JJ says.
The boys shake hands on it and the other guys whisper to each other about how intrigued they are to see this play out.
JJ wipes his sweaty palms against his apron and pushes the door open to approach your table, hoping he can hear you over his thudding heart.
“Good evening folks. May I take those empty plates out of your way?”
You look up at the voice you know so well and a smile raises on your lips. JJ meets your eyes and he winks at you, splattering your heart in flutters.
“Please.” Your grandmother pushes her plate away from her, stuffed with filet and red wine.
“JJ,” Your mom grins up at him. Growing up, your mom always had a soft spot for the blonde Pogue. She’s heard the stories about his father, mostly from Steve, who actually grew up with Luke Maybank, his cousin. As a child, he was sent to live with Luke Maybank and his single father. Lets just say, he’s not surprised by the way Luke turned out. “Look at you. You’re all grown up now. Last time I saw you, Y/N was still pushing your head in the sand for stealing her popsicle.”
“Yeah. I quickly learned no one should mess with Y/N and her food,” JJ says.
“Never stopped you though,” You smirk at him.
“Lorelai. Who is this?” Your grandma asks, disregarding the boy himself.
“Mom,” Lorelai gives her mom a warning look. “This is JJ Maybank. He went to school with Y/N and Rory.” Lorelai knew to play it safe with her wording. She didn’t know where you and JJ stood. It’s been so long since you’ve seen him and she knew better than to ask.
“Nice to meet you,” JJ says politely. “I’d shake your hand but mine are kinda full.” He motions to the plates in his hand.
“That’s quite all right.” Your grandma’s smile is so forced, it makes you uncomfortable.
“I won’t hold you up. Has your server been around with the dessert menu?” JJ looks at you. “We have chocolate cake tonight.”
Heat rushes up your neck. Not because of the cake itself but because JJ remembered your favorite dessert. Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles. It was safe to save you were a choco-holic. The boys use to make it for you every year for your birthday. It usually came out burnt, none of them ever remembering how to properly make it. But it was all you needed to feel like a very special girl.
“Your favorite,” Rory elbows you.
Your grandma cringes. “Sounds like diabetes on a plate.”
“Mom,” Lorelai scolds.
“What?” She asks, not understanding the concept of a filter.
Now heat rushes to your cheeks for an entire different reason. “He did. We’re not doing dessert tonight. Thank you, though.”
JJ nods but feels disappointed by the way your face flinched at your grandmother’s comment.
“My pleasure,” He says like he was taught to do and excuses himself to drop the plates off in the back before he can say anything else that would probably get him fired.
Your mom looks at your with raised brows. “He’s cute, honey.”
“Lorelai, please. He’s the busboy,” Your grandma says.
“He’s a good kid, Mom.”
“If you’ll excuse me,” You stand up. “I have to use the restroom.”
Rory gives you a knowing grin as you walk away from the table. When you walk into the hallway between the dining area and the front lobby, you immediately feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. Sometimes just the presence of your grandparents and their pompous judgements can be suffocating. You do your best to bite your tongue around them, excusing yourself when you feel yourself getting heated.
JJ catches a glimpse of your light blue dress out of the corner of his eye when he rounds the corner to collect the plates off a different table. He looks over his shoulder at Raymond, who’s staring at the blonde watching you, and winks.
“Hey, Y/N,” JJ says, walking up to you.
You look up from your phone and immediately smile. “Hey. I was actually hoping I’d catch you out here.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” You nervously tuck a piece of hair behind your ear. “I’m sorry about my grandmother. She can be...”
JJ shakes his head. “Hey. It’s okay. I work for Kooks almost every single day. I’m use to it.”
You sigh. “That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“Don’t apologize for something you can’t control,” JJ says. “Besides, that’s probably the nicest she’s ever been to me.”
You hide your face in your hands. “Stop. You’re making it worse.”
JJ laughs and takes your wrists in his hands, slowly pulling them away from your face. Your eyes shoot up to his, immediately feeling a tingling feeling run through your skin, straight to your heart.
“It’s okay. I promise,” He says softly. His voice is so sincere that you have no other option but to believe him. It almost makes your feel guiltier, wondering how much bullshit he’s been through with ungrateful Kooks that it’s so easy for him to forgive and forget.
“Okay,” Your voice is a whisper, taken off guard by how close he is to you and how he still hasn't let go of your hands.
In that same moment, JJ realizes he’s still holding you and gently removes his hands. He coughs awkwardly and scratches the back of his neck, where sweat begins to bubble. Why is he so nervous?
“So um...” You say, suddenly feeling nervous too. “You going to John B’s tonight?”
JJ’s eyes shoot up in surprise. How did you know that? “Yeah. I’m heading over there after work.”
“I saw him and Pope at Heywards earlier today and they invited me over. I wasn’t sure if I should come or not.”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
Because it’s different now, you wanted to say. But you didn’t because you feel like the elephant in the room would only grow. And you didn’t want to admit you were nervous to meet Kie and Sarah outside of school.
You shrug. “I don’t know.”
“You should definitely come. The boys miss you.”
You pretend like a little piece of your heart didn’t just break when JJ didn’t say ‘we.’
“What time do you get off of work?”
“Around 9ish.”
You nod. “I can pick you up if you’d like and we could go together?”
Your heart races after you suggest it. What if he says no? Why were you feeling this way? This is the same kid you use to make fun of for pouring milk into his bowl before his cereal.
“Yeah. That’d be perfect.”
“Great!” Your phone pings with a text from Rory, telling you that your grandparents are wondering where you are. “Shit. I have to get back. I’ll see you at nine?”
“See you then,” JJ nods and turns back to the kitchen. When his eyes meet Raymond’s, he’s reminded of what he agreed to. Almost surprised how quickly he forgot about it. You were able to take his mind off of anything without even trying. He clears his throat to get rid of the giddy grin he was wearing after talking to you, wanting to look tough and casual in front of his coworker. “Easy.” He says to him. But that felt anything but easy. He could vomit with nerves.
“There’s still plenty of time for you to screw up, Maybank.”
JJ huffs. He’s not wrong.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
You drive up to the front of the country club and park in front of the main entrance. It’s 8:57. You’re early and will look eager. So you wait until 9:06 to text him that you’re here.
You changed into a pair of dark washed denim shorts, a yellow cropped tube top, a grey flannel, and navy converse. You changed your outfit about four times before deciding on your first one, not wanting to look too casual or too dressed up.
For the last three years, you wondered when the four of you would get back together as a group. You wondered if it would ever happen. And now that two Kooks are involved, you feel more nervous than excited.
You jump when the passenger seat door opens, lost in the depth of your own head. JJ smiles, not seeing your reaction.”Cool ride,” he says and looks around the interior.
“Thanks,” you say, pulling out into the road.
“I got you something,” JJ says.
You glance at him with furrowed brows. What could he have possibly gotten you since you saw him last? A book mark from the Country Club’s gift shop?
JJ reaches into his backpack and pulls out a plate with clear wrap around it. Your mouth drops when you see the chocolate cake on a plate in his hands, the smell immediately hitting your nose with pure delight.
“You saved me a piece?” You jump in your seat excitedly.
“Had to hide it good too or else Miss Carol would have had my ass handed to me,” JJ jokes and even pulls out two forks. He undoes the wrapping and cuts off a piece. He waits until you hit a stop sign and says, “Open up.”
You look at him and immediately open your mouth. He gently places the fork between your lips and you take the piece of cake off with your teeth. Like a baby.
Your eyes close with pure pleasure. “Oh my god. That’s amazing.”
“Miss Carol does know how to bake a mean cake,” JJ says and takes a bite of his own.
“Another one,” You say, glancing at the cake again. Like you said, choco-holic. “Please.” You say when JJ teases you by holding the fork away from you.
JJ laughs. “I like hearing you beg.”
You slap him in the arm with the back of your hand. “In your dreams, Maybank.”
“You got that right, Y/L/N.”
The two of you finish the cake with only a few bites each. Small but rich in chocolate that leaves you craving more. You were gonna have to meet this Miss Carol woman.
After he puts the plate back in his bag, JJ reaches for the aux cord, but you quickly slap his hand away. “Hey. What do you think you’re doing?”
“You’re seriously gonna make me listen to this the entire way to John B’s?”
You scoff. “I’ll have you know Blink-182 is one of my favorite bands.”
“It’s also soccer moms’ favorite band,” JJ laughs at you.
You turn up the volume, blasting ‘All the Small Things’ and point to your ear. “Sorry. Can’t hear you!”
JJ rolls his eyes but laughs along with you, even bopping his head to the beat. You drive with the windows down, dancing and singing along to a bunch of throwback songs with JJ as if the two of you have been doing this forever.
You pull up to John B’s and park behind his dad’s old van, better known as The Twinkie. When you turn down the music, JJ looks at you with a shake in his head. “Next time, I’m driving.”
“What was wrong with my driving?”
“We’re in the Outer Banks, Sparky, not NASCAR.”
You scoff and follow behind JJ who’s leading the way up John B’s driveway. As you get closer, you smell the smoky scent of a bonfire nearby and eventually hear John B’s laugh mixed in with a female’s. Your smile falters as nerves gather in the pit of your stomach.
“What’s wrong?” JJ asks.
“Nothing,” You say, but JJ easily catches your lie and gives you a knowing look. “What if they don’t like me?”
“Who? Pope and John B? I’m pretty sure they like you more than me even after three years -”
“Not them, you idiot,” You shove him playfully by the shoulder as you two let yourselves inside. “Sarah and Kie.”
“Don’t you go to school with them?”
“Yeah, but we don’t talk,” You say quietly, not wanting them to hear you.
“Hm.”
“What?”
JJ shrugs. “Nothing. I just didn’t think you cared about what other people thought.”
“I don’t,” You say quickly. “But they're your best friends. It’s different.”
“You don’t need their approval. You technically were here first.”
“Yeah, but I’ve been replaced,” You try to say it as a joke and even throw a smirk in there.
But JJ stops in his track and looks at you seriously. “No one can replace you. Not even if they tried.”
You open your mouth to respond, but you’re at a loss for words. It’s not a common occurrence that JJ gets all serious on you. Warmth covers you like a blanket and the longer he holds your stare, the weaker your knees become.
“JJ! Is that you?” John B calls out from the backyard.
“Yeah,” JJ yells back. He opens the fridge in John B’s kitchen. “Want a beer?” He offers to you.
You shake your head. “No thanks.”
For the first time, you take in John B’s home. It looks the same as it did three years ago, only a lot messier. The pull out couch looks like its been used recently with blankets and sheets tossed about on it. Empty beer cans and cigarette butts are thrown messily on the coffee tables and the air smells faintly of old marijuana.
JJ leads you out to the back where four people are gathered around a fire. Three out of the four immediately smile when the two of you approach them, but Kie’s eyes narrow and her head tilts with confusion.
Shit, you think.
“You came!” Pope laughs and hops up from his beach chair and embraces you in a hug.
You laugh, not expecting the embrace, but welcoming it all the same. John B’s next, giving you a quick hug and shaking his head.
“I gotta say, I didn’t think you were going to come,” John B says.
“You can thank me for that later,” JJ says jokingly.
“Actually when I heard JJ was coming, I almost changed my mind and stayed home,” You joke and smirk JJ’s way.
“Just like old times,” Pope says, looking between you and the blonde. The banter felt like the yall never separated in the first place.
“Hey, you know Sarah and Kie, right?” John B points to the girls. Sarah stands up to say hi, and eventually Kie follows her, not wanting to look rude, but stays off to the side, keeping her distance.
“Yeah,” You wave awkwardly.
“Hey!” Sarah says sweetly. “I didn’t realize you guys use to all hang out.”
“Y/N grew up down the street,” JJ explains and sips at his beer.
“You want a drink or something?” Pope asks you, not knowing JJ already did.
“No thank you,” You say again.
“You don’t drink?” Kie asks. It was the first thing she’s said to you.
“Not usually,” You say and hold her stare. You try to get a read on her, but she’s had to get a tell on. You can’t tell if she just doesn’t like you or just doesn’t know you. Either way, it makes you uneasy.
“Here, I’ll go grab you a chair,” Pope says and walks to the side of the house to grab another beat up beach chair.
As the night goes on, you feel the tension in your shoulders loosen and your body feel lighter. Most of the night was spent retelling childhood stories the four of you shared. Sarah would laugh at most of them, occasionally rolling her eyes at her boyfriend from the stupid shit he would do, although it sounds like he’s no different to you now.
You talked about the time you and JJ stole a golf cart for a joy ride on Figure Eight, or when you and John B pranked Pope by putting a dead fish in his locker, or how you and John B learned how to play guitar from youtube tutorials.
Midnight came around quickly and exhaustion was slowly taking over your body. It’s been a long day between the cafe flooding, dinner with your grandparents, and now this.
JJ was the first to notice you slowly fading.
“You okay?” He asks you quietly as everyone else is caught up in conversation.
“Yeah,” You say, lazily grinning at him.
“We can leave if you want,” He says.
“You’re not staying?” You ask. It sounded like everyone was planning to spend the night here. And as much as you wanted to, you just didn’t feel comfortable enough yet.
JJ shrugs. “My dad’s out of town tonight. It’ll be nice to have the house to myself.” Before you can say anything, he stands and brushes his hands against his pants. “All right, losers. We’re out of here.”
“Aw, you’re leaving?” Sarah pouts.
“Yeah, I’m beat and Y/N’s my ride home,” JJ says.
You were glad he didn’t call you out for being tired. You didn’t want to look lame in front of everybody, especially Kie.
“Thanks for having me,” You say to everyone. It might have been John B’s house, but it was everyone’s night you intruded on.
John B stands up to hug you. “Don’t be a stranger, okay?”
You nod. “I won’t. I promise.”
Pope hugs you next. “Text me when you get back safe.”
“I will.”
“Bye!” Sarah waves and Kie exhales a ring of smoke from her blunt.
You wave at them before following JJ back to your car.
“Nuh-uh-uh,” JJ says. You didn’t realize you both walked to the driver’s side.
“What? No.”
JJ nods and holds his hands out for your keys. “I’m not dying tonight.”
“You’ve been drinking and smoking all night,” You say. You didn’t think JJ was drunk or even that high, but you were not going to let a teenager with an ounce of alcohol in his system get behind the wheel. “Next time. For now, hold on to the cupholder.”
JJ sighs dramatically and goes to the other side of the car and hops in the passenger seat.
This time you keep the music quiet, listening to the hum of the radio instead of your phone.
“Take a left,” JJ says.
“JJ, I know where you live. And it’s not left.”
“Don’t you trust me?”
You snicker. “Not in the slightest.”
JJ rolls his eyes. “Just take the left.”
You hold your hands up in surrender and take the left turn. He directs you for a couple more miles until he has you park in front of a 24 hour diner.
“What are we doing here?” You ask.
“I’m in the mood for a milkshake.”
“We just had cake!” You say.
“Come on, Sparky. Show me what that mouth can do,” JJ smirks.
You go to hit him again but he takes off running to the front entrance and pulls the door open. You chase after him, almost running into his back at the front host stand where JJ safely smirks at you in triumph.
“Two please,” He says to the hostess.
The old cranky woman leads you to a booth off to the side next to a window without a word.
A couple minutes later, a waitress walks by and asks if you’re ready to order.
“Yes. One chocolate milkshake and one black and white milkshake,” JJ orders for both of you, already knowing what flavor you’d want.
“And fries, please.” You say. The waitress nods, takes your menus, and walks off. JJ raises his brow at the extra order. “What?” You shrug. “Just showing you what my mouth can do.”
JJ scoffs. “What a tease.”
You playfully kick his shin under the table.
“Did you have fun tonight?” JJ asks.
“Yeah,” You answer. “Felt like old times. The girls are nice too.”
You were about to only mention Sarah, but you didn’t want to cause any issues with Kie. Not yet at least. Maybe she just needed time to warm up to you.
“See? I told you they wouldn’t bite.”
A couple minutes later, the waitress comes back with your milkshakes and fries.
“How’s John B doing? You know, with the whole Big John thing?” You ask delicately, unsure of how JJ would react to you pestering about John B’s business. “I didn’t want to ask and bring the mood down,” You explain yourself although you don’t need to.
JJ shrugs. “He’s in denial I think. Won’t sign a death certificate until he sees a body. He could be worse, though.”
“Yeah,” You say softly. You don’t know what you would do if you were in that situation. In a way you felt lucky that you never knew your dad at all. It would be harder to lose him, knowing who he was.
You take a fry and dip it into your milkshake before taking a bite. This makes JJ freeze and look at you like you have two heads.
“What?” You say with your mouth full.
“I can’t believe you just did that.”
“Don’t knock it till you try it,” You say and give him a look to do it.
JJ reluctantly picks up the fry and dunks it into his milkshake. He looks at the fry questioningly before popping it into his mouth. Somehow the sweetness of the milkshake and the saltiness of the french fry complement each other beautifully and his widen in pleasant surprise.
“Oh wow,” JJ says.
“Told you,” You smirk.
You spend the next hour catching up, trying to fit the last three years into an hour. JJ does most of the talking because you want to know more about what John B, Pope, and JJ have been up to. Your life was so boring and depressing, you didn’t want to bore JJ with the details.
You drive JJ home and talk for a few minutes more when you park. He seems to be procrastinating getting out of the car, but you don’t mind. You could talk to him all night, suddenly not feeling tired anymore.
“All right. I’ll let you get home before the sun rises,” He says and opens the door. He pauses when his feet hit the ground and he looks back at you. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
“I have to work at the shop, why?”
“Well, there’s a storm coming in. John B and I might go out to surf the surge before it hits. You still surf?”
You scoff. “Do I still surf?”
JJ holds his hands up in surrender. “Just checking. You think you can handle the surge?”
“Let’s not forget who the better surfer is, JJ.”
“I didn’t. It’s still me.”
“You wish.”
“So I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Now you have a point to prove. You have to show JJ that you’re still the better surfer.
“I'll see you tomorrow,” You agree.
“Great, it’s a date.” He winks and shuts the door before you can tell him otherwise.
You giggle to yourself as JJ walks up the front yard and stay there until he you see he gets in safely.
You pull out of the driveway, wishing he had asked you out on a real date. One that didn’t involve John B.
Tag list: @super-funky-bisexual @sunsetswithjj @moniamaybank @throwawayfish @poguestyle17 @5am-cigarette @jjpouggues @fly-away-from-here @buckys2thicc
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Three Strikes (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister! Imagine
When you moved in with Jay and Will after your dad had died, they had devised a three-strike system for punishments. Seeing as you were only fifteen and had lost both parents, they knew that they'd be dealing with some teenage angst. So, they had decided on this...and it would help them not be super overprotective, while still allowing you to be a teenager. But, make no mistake, Jay could turn what you saw as one strike into three strikes with a snap of his fingers. Much like his day job as a cop, he could find another thing or two to charge you with that you hadn't thought of before. And, well, bad luck comes in threes. If you thought your first three strikes of this week were going to be bad, you were in for a ride when another two came along.
***
Strike One
"How's it going, kid?" Hermann asked as you walked through the back entrance of Molly's.
"Good, school's normal," you answered, setting your backpack down and then going over to the sink to wash your hands. You brought your backpack in case it was slow because then you could get some reading or studying in.
"How close are you to getting those tickets?" he asked, grabbing a crate of glasses.
"I've got $350 so far, so halfway there. Mind if I listen to music back here?"
"Knock yourself out. But, you know the rules, one headphone so if I need you out there--which I shouldn't and can't because you're too young, but you know what I mean-- if we're slow and I need you to clean tables, you'll be able to hear me."
"Copy that, boss," you joked.
Hermann left with his crate of glasses and went to the front of the house, while you put in a headphone and shuffled one of your favorite playlists to work to. Then, you turned your attention to the dirty glasses and snack plates on the counter that needed to be washed.
***
You were hurrying to put some glasses away on a shelf behind the bar when you heard a voice you knew all too well.
"One of your finest IPAs, Hermann."
Shit. If he was done for the day, then that meant...
"Sure thing, officer," Hermann joked as you quickly pushed through the door and into the back, nearly knocking into Stella.
"Whoa there, Y/N, slow down. What's got you all in a hurry?"
"I just remembered I have a geometry test tomorrow," you lied. "You mind if I slip out now so I have a bit more time to study?"
"Yeah, no problem. I'll let Hermann know. Good luck on the test and don't study too late!"
"I would never!"
Then, you quickly slipped on your jacket and hat, grabbed your backpack, and walked out the backdoor.
All you could think on your three-block walk home was that Jay better not be home, because if he was, you were so dead.
Jay typically got home around 11pm, and your shift at Molly's ended around 10:30...and your curfew was 10pm. And, because you were only fifteen and couldn't drive yet, it took you about fifteen minutes to walk home, so you'd get home around 10:45 and get all situated to make it looked like you had been studying for at least an hour before Jay got home.
You slowly turned the doorknob to go into the house, hoping that he'd be at the gym or out with Hailey. When you got inside and saw that all the lights were off, you breathed a sigh of relief and started up the stairs to your bedroom.
"I don't know where she is, Will! If I knew where she was I wouldn't be calling you now would I?" you heard Jay yell into his phone from his room.
Shit, shit, shit.
You were starting to walk back down the hallway and go back downstairs, maybe walk to the 24-hour coffee shop near your house and call him and tell him that you had lost track of time studying when you heard a door being forcefully flung open.
Run outside or freeze? Run outside or freeze? He'd see me either way and if I ran it would just make me look guilty, but maybe--
"Where have you been?" You were snapped out of your thoughts by Jay's loud voice booming down the hallway. He marched closer to you as you just stared at him with wide eyes. He crossed his arms across his chest. "Well?"
"I was at the library." But, it came out sounding more like a question.
"Wanna try again? Tell me the truth this time."
"I..." You sighed. Here goes your perfect plan of surprising your brothers with hockey tickets. "I was working at Molly's."
"If you're gonna lie, at least put some effort into it, for me," Jay groaned, throwing his head back.
"I'm telling the truth!"
Jay snorted. "Yeah right. Phone now."
"I'm telling you the truth, Jay! I was there because..."
"Because, why?"
"Uh, forget it." At least, this way you wouldn't have to ruin the surprise.
"Yeah, I knew you were out somewhere you shouldn't have been."
You held your phone in your hand. "I only have one strike. I get to keep it." You raised your eyebrow, daring your brother to challenge your logic.
Jay shook his head and looked down and laughed.
"What's so funny?" you demanded.
"That you think you're right." You opened your mouth to reply, but Jay stopped you. "Strike number one, breaking curfew. But, you knew that. Strike number two, lying to me about where you were because you told me two different places, so at least one, if not both places, were lies. And strike three--care to turn on your phone?"
"Why?"
"You hand me your phone and it turns off or is dead because you ran out of battery, you can keep it. If not, and you turned it off so I wouldn't know where you were, then I get to keep it for a while. Now, hand it over."
You sighed and handed it to Jay. He pressed the home button and when it didn't turn on, he looked at you. "Anything you wanna say?"
"No."
He held down on the power button and the screen became illuminated. When it turned on, he saw the battery percentage. "61%. Guess this is mine for the time being."
"Jay," you whined.
"Don't Jay me. You brought this on yourself. Now, you might wanna get to bed since you have school tomorrow."
"When will I get my phone back?"
"When I say you can have it back."
You groaned and turned around to go to your room and get ready for bed.
"Goodnight to you, too!" Jay yelled at your retreating back.
***
"Grounded, huh?" Will asked when you walked inside after school the next day.
"Jesus, Will!" You jumped. "You scared me." Will chuckled. "What are you doing here?"
"I am babysitting you."
"Jay put you up to this?"
"Yup."
"God, I'm 15," you whined. "He can't trust me for a few hours until he gets home?"
"He did trust you. But, then you snuck off and broke curfew and turned your phone off so he couldn't track you, so you needing a babysitter is warranted."
"Really? You're supposed to agree with me here!"
"No can do. I'm with Jay on this one. Where did you go anyway?"
"I was working under the table at Molly's."
Will scoffed. "Yeah right. If it's so bad that you have to pretend to be working, maybe I don't wanna know. But, Jay's a cop. He'll find out eventually."
"There's nothing to find out. I didn't do anything wrong!" You turned on your heel and started up the stairs. "I'm going to my room to do homework...since I obviously can't do anything else because I'm grounded."
An hour later, Will told you that he had gotten called in to work since there was a multi-vehicle crash and he was needed at Med ASAP. So, he left you home. And, since it was only 5:00, you figured you could get a few hours of work in at Molly's. After all, Hermann didn't know you were grounded.
***
Strike Two
You started your walk home around 10:30 as you normally did. You hadn't seen anyone from Intelligence (or Med) at Molly's when you left, so you hoped Jay wasn't home and that Will was so busy that he hadn't had time to come back and check on you. It's not like Will could call you because Jay had your phone. And, he had it at work with him. He wasn't that stupid that he'd leave it at home because he knew you'd tear the place apart in search of it.
Everything was going fine, except for the fact that you were checking over your shoulder every minute because it was dark and you didn't have your phone. Everything was fine...until you got halfway home.
You started to climb up a snowbank like you had when you were little when you, Jay, and Will would play king of the mountain and push each other off. (Well, they pushed each other off. If they so much as tried to push you, your mom would drag them in by their ear.) Everything was fine...until you got to the top of it.
Whoever had plowed the past few days had done a really shitty job of making sure all the snow was there because, before you knew it, your foot sunk into the top of the snowbank, which was two times your height, and then you fell. When you tried to use your hands to push yourself up, all the snow came falling down around you and you plummeted to the bottom of the snowbank, the sides of it wrapped around you.
You tried to grab on to mounds of snow and use them as leverage to pull yourself out, but it didn't work. The minute you thought you were getting somewhere, it would just fall down and you'd be back where you started. You tried to carve out spots to put your hands and feet, like a rock-climbing wall, but the minute you'd get your foot in, it'd break because of the weight and more snow would fall. You thought that if enough fell from the sides, that eventually it'd get shallower and you'd be able to get out, but then a plow came. It pushed more snow on the pile, making it so that you were standing up straight and barely had room to turn around now.
You took off one of your gloves and threw it out and onto the pile. Hopefully, someone would find you by seeing your glove and looking there. But, you knew it was a long shot as neither Will nor Jay knew you had been at Molly's. And, no one at Molly's knew the route you used to walk home.
"Help!" you yelled.
God, it was so cold.
***
Jay entered the house fully expecting you to run up to him and beg for your phone back...not that he'd give it to you anyway. But, when he got there, all the lights were off. He ventured upstairs and into your room, which was dark as well. It was 11:30, an hour and a half past curfew even if you weren't grounded.
Will had texted him earlier that evening to tell him that he had to go into work because there was a big car accident, and since Jay was suiting up to go into the field, it's not like he could just call someone else to watch you or go home himself. So, he decided to trust that you wouldn't leave the house. Apparently, he was wrong.
Jay pulled out his phone and quickly dialed Will's number. "Will!" he yelled into the phone. "Do you know where Y/N went? She's not here!"
"Shit," he muttered. "I have no idea. Track her-- oh yeah, you took her phone."
Jay rubbed a hand over his face. "Did she at least tell you where she went last night?"
"She told me that she was working under the table at Molly's. So, I assumed that she was doing something really bad if she had to lie that she was working. I shouldn't have come to Med. I'm sorry, man."
"No, it's your job. I should've found someone to stay with her that wasn't on call. I'm gonna go look for her."
"I'll keep my phone on me. Call if you have any updates."
Jay clipped his badge back onto his belt and reholstered his gun. Then, he walked out to his car and got in, intent on finding you.
As he was driving, he called another person who he knew would calm him down in times of stress: Hailey.
"Hey, Jay. What's up?" she asked as she answered the phone. After all, they hadn't been apart for half an hour at this point.
"Hails, can you call the team for me?"
"What? Why? What's going on, Jay?"
"Y/N. I told you that she was grounded and Will was watching her and then he got called into work. So, he left her at home and when I got home, she- she was gone."
"Okay, I'll call everyone. Did she give you any hint of where she went? Maybe mentioned it to you last night or Will today?"
"Yesterday she told me she was at the library and then she told me she was working at Molly's...which I'm pretty sure are both lies. But, then today she told Will she had been working under the table at Molly's. So, I honestly really don't know where to start."
"I know it's a long shot, but start at Molly's. If you don't get anything from there, we'll regroup at the district."
"Okay, thanks, Hails. If I get anything at Molly's, I'll call you or send a text to the group chat."
"No problem. We'll find her."
Ten minutes later, a very determined Jay Halstead walked into Molly's.
"Hey, Jay," Stella said. "What can I get for you? Adam just left if that's who you were looking for."
"No, I'm actually wondering if you've seen Y/N? She told me and Will this BS that she was working under the table here, so it's the first place I thought I'd check."
"She didn't tell you?" Stella asked, sliding a beer down the bar to Kelly.
"Tell me what?"
"She was working here, Jay. She'd work until about 10:30 and then she'd go home."
"What? You can't be serious."
"I've seen her around a few times," Kelly supplied. "Thought you guys knew about it. Good way for her to make some extra cash and since it's under the table, no taxes."
"So she did tell me the truth last night. God, I'm such a jerk."
"Why are you looking for her?" Kelly asked. "She not at home?"
"No, I got home and she wasn't there. And, I grounded her because she broke curfew and I thought she was lying about where she was last night, so I took her phone. Any chance either of you has seen her tonight?"
"She just left around an hour ago," Stella said.
"She did? You know where she went?"
"I think she just went home like she normally does. You need help looking? We can help. I can close since there's not many people here and we can help you."
"No, no, it's okay. My team's on it. Don't want Hermann to chew me out over lost business."
"I'll help," Kelly volunteered. "I'll also call Casey and Brett so if something happened and we need a medic, Brett's there."
God, Jay hadn't even thought about the fact that you might be hurt. He just assumed you had gone out partying.
"Okay, thanks. I'm gonna give Hailey a call and we'll go from there."
"Hailey," Jay started after walking to a secluded part of the bar. "Stella and Kelly both said that they had seen Y/N working at Molly's. And, that she got off work tonight at 10:30 and they assumed she just went home."
"Okay, the team's here. I'm putting you on speaker."
"Kelly said he'd call Brett and Casey to start looking for her, so I guess we just look for her. I don't know where she would've gone." He sighed. If he would've just believed you, this wouldn't have happened. If he would've just let you keep your phone this wouldn't have happened. It was all his fault that he couldn't find you.
"We can't put out a missing persons report yet since it's only been a little over an hour since someone last seen her. We'll meet you there. Start searching. One of us will find you and give you a vest. She couldn't have gotten far."
"Thanks, Sarge."
"Hey, Casey and Brett are on their way. They're stopping by the firehouse to grab jump bags just in case," Kelly said, finding Jay in a secluded corner.
Jay nodded.
"I've got some flashlights in my car," he supplied. "They should help us until your unit and Casey show up with more." He clapped Jay on the back. "We'll find her, man. If she was heading home, she couldn't have gotten far."
"Yeah, yeah, thanks, Kelly."
The two walked to his car and grabbed the flashlights. "We'll just start towards the right I guess. That's the quickest way to get home from here if she was walking."
***
"Jay!" Jay turned when he heard Hailey calling his name, running up to him with a vest in her hand.
"Hailey," Jay breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his girlfriend. At least she'd be here with him.
"Here." She handed him the vest. "You have your gun?"
"Yeah. And Severide gave me the flashlight."
"Brett! Casey!" Kelly yelled as he saw two more figures coming toward them, Brett carrying the two jump bags and Casey carrying more flashlights...which weren't needed now that Intelligence was here.
"How are we doing this?" Casey asked.
He looked to Jay, but this wasn't Jay's decision. It was Voight's. And Jay was glad his sergeant had recognized that because there was no way his head was clear enough to put together tactical plans.
"Hailey, Jay, and Severide take the way that you two were previously going. Take a jump bag. Adam, Kim, and Brett start going slightly to the right in a diagonal off of Jay and Hailey. Take a jump bag. Me, Kevin, and Casey will go to the left off of Jay and Hailey. Since there are only two jump bags, if we find her, we'll radio you for it."
"Copy."
The three groups started walking, all their attention on finding you. Jay put his hands in his vest, trying to keep them warm on this cold night. He didn't think he'd be out in the freezing cold searching for you, so he didn't have gloves or a hat with him.
"I, um, I should call Will," Jay said, breaking the silence. "Just to let him know that we're looking for her and that she wasn't lying to us."
"Hey, any sign of her?" Will asked as he picked up his phone on the second ring.
"No. Um, she wasn't lying to us. She was working at Molly's and she went there tonight when you left to go to work."
"And?"
"Stella said that she usually just goes straight home. So, we're looking with some help from Severide, Casey, and Brett."
"We?"
"Intelligence."
"Need me to come help? I'm sure they can find somebody to cover for me."
"No, no. I think we've got it under control. But, if we need more bodies to find her, I'll call you."
"Okay. Find her, Jay. You have to find her."
Jay hung up his phone with those words echoing in his mind. You have to find her. You have to find her.
"What's that?" Hailey asked as they approached a snowbank five minutes later.
"Looks like a glove," Kelly said as he walked closer.
He and Hailey started to slowly climb the snowbank, being careful not to fall through while Jay just stood there. He knew that glove. You had one just like it. But, it had to be a coincidence, right?
"Oh my God," Kelly said as he looked into the small hole in the snowbank, seeing you squished up against the edges, the hand that didn't have a glove blue. Your eyes were closed and your lips were a shade of blue.
"What?" Jay yelled, rushing up the snowbank.
Hailey was quick to stop him. "Jay, I need you to take a step back, okay? We have to get her out of here and we need to be rational about this."
"Get her out of this? Out of the snowbank?" She nodded. "You're telling me she fell into a fucking snowbank and she's stuck, half-frozen to death?"
Hailey nodded. Jay just stood there, staring at the hole you must've been in. Severide laid on his belly and started to reach in when Hailey stopped him.
"No sudden movements. We've gotta get her out slow with minimal movement."
"I know, I'm on squad. But, can you radio Brett for me? We might need her here so that she can take a look at her."
Severide reached in and slowly placed his hands under your armpits. Then, with slow movements, he pulled you out, careful not to jostle your body and pull you straight up and out.
"Jay, can you come and grab her legs? Help me lay her down?"
"Uh, yeah," he replied, snapping out of his trance.
He crouched down and grabbed your legs just as Brett, Adam, and Kim came running over.
"Keep her steady," Brett ordered. "No sudden movements." The two boys started to lower you to the ground when Sylvie stopped them. "She can't be in direct contact with the ground. I need something warm on the ground first. A jacket or something."
As soon as Sylvie said that, Adam ripped off his vest and took off his coat. "Will this work?"
"Yeah, that should work. Just set it down and then they can carefully lower her."
They did as the PIC told them.
"I've got a pulse. It's slow but it's there," Sylvie said after she had pressed her fingers to your neck.
Jay crouched down and put his hands over his mouth to stop a sob from tearing through his body.
Somehow though, he found enough of his voice to speak into his radio, "This is 50-21 George. I need you to roll an ambo to my current location. We have a fifteen-year-old female hypothermia victim."
"Okay, whoever can brave the cold and take off your jacket, I need you to do it now. We need to keep her covered until an ambo gets here. Kelly, pass me the warm, dry compress from the jump bag."
While Jay shed his coat and Hailey radioed the rest of the team to let them know that you had been found, Kelly helped Sylvie with the compress. "I'm going to lift her head and then I need you to put the compress under her neck," Sylvie instructed.
"Okay," Kelly said. Sylvie gently lifted your head and Kelly slid the warm compress underneath. Then, he laid your head back down.
She turned to see Jay rummaging through his jump bag, activating two more compresses.
"What are you doing?" she asked him, stepping away from you and to your very worried brother.
"Putting more on her. What does it look like I'm doing?"
She was taken aback by his tone, but didn't take it personally because she'd probably do the same thing if it was her sibling in this situation...and he also wasn't a trained paramedic.
"If you're gonna put one on her, just place it on her chest."
"What about the rest of her body? Her arms? Legs?"
"Jay, I know you're worried about her. But if you put them on her arms or legs, the cold blood will go back towards her heart and lungs, lowering her core temperature even more. We need to try and increase her core temperature, not decrease it."
"Here." He handed her a compress. "For her chest."
"Thank you."
Then, they heard sirens in the distance. Jay just hoped this was enough for now.
***
"Incoming!" Maggie yelled to the already overrun ED. "Fifteen-year-old female, hypothermia. Fell into a snowbank. Used dry, warm compresses in the field, and paramedics put warming blankets on her in the ambo, but they said they need something more than that with how low her core temperature was."
Will ran towards the doors as they opened and revealed the paramedics, followed by none other than his little brother. And, on the gurney, there you were, eyes closed, breathing slowly, a nasal cannula underneath your nose.
"Get her into treatment two," Will said.
"Will, you can't treat her," Maggie said.
"You see another doctor that's free, Maggie?" She raised her eyebrows at him. "I didn't think so. It's not like I'm performing surgery. Hopefully, this will be standard rewarming and shouldn't take that long."
"Fine."
Will entered treatment two just as they moved you from the gurney to the bed. He listened to your heart and determined that that was fine, as were your lung sounds. Then, he moved on to taking your temperature.
"Ninety-three degrees Fahrenheit," Will declared. "Monique, start an IV of one unit of warm saline and we'll get more re-warming blankets."
"Yes, Dr. Halstead."
"Jay," Will said and motioned for him to follow him out of the treatment room. "What happened?" he asked once the two were out of the room.
"We found her in a snowbank. She must've climbed it on the way home and fell in. She couldn't get out. Kelly pulled her out and then Brett came and-- Oh God. If she wasn't there, I could've killed her, Will. I could've killed our little sister."
"Jay, take a breath. She's okay now. She's in good hands. What do you mean you could've killed her?"
"Brett started to get those compress things out and I thought I was helping, so I started getting more. And- and, I almost put them on her legs and arms. If Brett wasn't there to stop me, I could've stopped her heart. God, I could've killed her, Will. It would've been all my fault."
"Jay, listen to me. You didn't do that. So, stop thinking about it. She's fine." He looked up and saw all of Intelligence coming into the ED waiting room along with Brett, Casey, and Severide. "Now, I think you should go tell them that she's gonna be okay. Tell Brett good job for me, too."
Jay nodded and walked away from his older brother, trying to will the tears in his eyes to go away.
"How is she?" Kelly asked when Jay entered the waiting room.
"Her temp is 93, so she's still got a ways to go. But, Will just mentioned standard rewarming, so hopefully, that's a good sign. Brett, he said to tell you good job."
Sylvie nodded and Jay took a seat next to Kelly. He put his head in his hands.
Kelly placed a hand on Jay's shoulder. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. Sounds like it's not anything too serious."
"Yeah, but if I wouldn't have taken her phone or I would've just believed her, we wouldn't be in this mess."
"It's not your fault. She was trying to keep it a secret from you anyway. Wanted to surprise you."
This piqued Jay's interest. "Surprise me? What do you mean?"
"She was saving up money to buy you guys opening night tickets to the Blackhawks next season, that's why she didn't want to tell you because she wanted to surprise you and Will with them."
"God, she was trying to do something nice and I grounded her for it."
"Jay," Hailey started, walking up to him with two cups of coffee, "you did what you were supposed to do with the information you had at the time. This isn't your fault. It was a freak accident. It could've happened to anyone who climbed that snowbank. Hell, it could've happened to us when we climbed it tonight."
"I guess you're right. Thanks for the coffee, babe."
"Wait. Are you two...?" Kelly trailed off.
"Yes, it's no big deal. We signed the HR forms and everything," Hailey answered as Jay sipped his coffee and tried to stop blaming himself for what happened.
***
You slowly opened your eyes and your first thought was I'm cold. Why am I so cold? You pulled the blankets closer to you, but then you realized that they weren't the blankets from your bed, but thick, heated blankets.
"W-What?" You started to talk, but your teeth chattered while doing so.
"You gave us quite the scare earlier," Will said as he walked over with a thermometer. "Now open."
"Why am-am I--"
"Jay can explain all that while this thermometer takes your temperature. Now open and lift up your tongue."
You did as your doctor brother told you and opened your mouth and he placed the thermometer in. You looked at Jay expectantly.
"God, you scared me so much. When I found you in that snowbank..."
"I'm s-sorry," you said with the thermometer still in your mouth. Will gave you a pointed look and you clamped your mouth shut until it beeped.
"Ninety-five. That's the cut-off for me letting you go against medical advice...but lucky for me, you're minor, so me and Jay get to decide when you can go home," Will started after he removed the thermometer. "And, I think we're keeping you here until you reach at least 97."
"Will," you whined.
"Sorry, Y/N. Will's the doctor here, so what he says goes," Jay said.
"Please remember that next time you inevitably end up in here," Will retorted.
"Not a chance." Then, Jay turned back to you. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I know you were just trying to surprise us."
"I was scared," you said. "I thought I was gonna die there."
"I wasn't gonna let that happen. You want me to get you something warm to drink while you tell Will why you were working at Molly's?" You nodded. "Decaf caramel macchiato? No way are you getting caffeine."
"Yes please."
Jay left and Will turned to you. "What were you trying to surprise us with, Short Stack?" he asked, using your nickname.
"I was trying to save up money to get us tickets to the Blackhawks home opener in October." You shivered. "Can I have another blanket. I'm still c-cold." Your teeth chattered once more.
"Of course." He retrieved another heated blanket and wrapped it around you. "Why didn't you tell us you were working at Molly's under the table?"
"I thought you g-guys would be m-mad because it would get in the way of school. So, I d-didn't tell you. I didn't want t-to wreck the surprise. I was-wasn't lying to you when you asked me where I was."
"I know that now. I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier. You just have to see it from my and Jay's perspective though. You working was the last thing on our minds, so we just assumed the worst."
Jay came back with your large decaf caramel macchiato. "I got it extra hot."
He went to hand it to you, but you yawned. "I'm t-tired."
"I know you are. It's past one in the morning," Will replied, looking at his watch. "But, I want you to drink at least half of this before you go back to sleep, help you get your core temperature back up."
"Okay." You took the coffee from Jay and set it on the tray in front of you.
"Thank you. I'm sorry for everyth-thing."
"I know. It's okay. I'm just glad you're safe." He pulled your phone from his pocket. "I believe this belongs to you."
You took it from his outstretched hand. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. It'll give you something to pass the time while drinking half of that."
***
"You called in reinforcements?" you hissed at Jay when you, him, and Will walked into the house around 8 am the next morning...well, the same morning, but you considered 1 am to be nighttime.
"Hey!" Jay protested. "They just wanted to see how you were doing. Kelly was the one who actually got you out of the snowbank and Stella was about ready to shut down Molly's to help us look for you."
"I bet Hermann would've been thrilled about that," you said sarcastically.
"That's what I said! And, Hailey's just here because, well, she's Hailey."
"And they love each other," Will chirped, earning himself a smack on the back of the head from Jay and a glare from Hailey. "You guys are no fun!"
"My house, my rules," Jay remarked.
"I thought that only applied to Y/N."
"Nope, applies to you, too. Speaking of Y/N..." Jay trailed off and turned to you. "Go park it on the couch."
"Fine. Just let me go get changed first."
You walked into your room and changed into your favorite pair of joggers and a hoodie along with some kitty cat slippers. You then grabbed your favorite blanket and wrapped it around you and grabbed your phone charger, too. Your temperature was still about one degree below average, but Will and Jay had agreed to let you come home on the condition that you'd just stay on the couch and drink warm beverages and relax.
"Do they meow, too?" Severide asked as you sat on the couch.
"Do what meow?"
"Your slippers. Do they meow?"
"No, no they do not, Kelly. They're just comfy."
"And for a four-year-old," Will chirped.
"Honestly, at this point, I wish you guys would've just left me in that snowbank. Then I wouldn't have to deal with your annoying asses."
"Jay!" Will yelled.
"What?" he hollered back from the kitchen where he and Hailey were busy concocting your mom's famous chicken soup recipe.
"Y/N swore! She needs to put money in the swear jar!"
"The swear jar?" Kelly laughed. "Jay actually does one of those? Because if you could've heard him last night, he'd be putting at least twenty bucks in there."
You smiled at Kelly and made your way into the kitchen, the aroma of chicken soup hitting you immediately.
"Smells good in here," you remarked, causing Jay to turn around from where he was stirring the soup at the stove. Then he moved a few feet and reached up on top of the fridge where the swear jar was located and held it out to you. You shook your head. "No."
"Did you or did you not swear?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. Hailey just stood next to him with a small smile on her face and it was clear that she was trying to stop herself from laughing.
"I did, but--"
"No buts. You either did or you didn't."
"Jay, be nice," Hailey scolded. "She just got hypothermia from falling in a snowbank. The least you could do is let her off the hook for swearing."
"Yeah, listen to Hailey. And, Kelly said you swore a lot last night when you were trying to find me, so if I have to put a dollar in there, he said that you should have to put twenty dollars in there."
"That's not how this works. The rule is if you swear around us or we swear around you. And, if I recall correctly, you weren't there because we were freezing our as- our butts off looking for you."
"Ooooh, good catch, Halstead," Hailey laughed. "You almost had to put even more money in the swear jar."
"Even more money? What are you talking about?"
"I'm with Y/N on this one. If you make her put money in, you have to put at least a twenty in for all the swearing you did last night."
"Fine," Jay whined. "You don't have to put any money in, but just this once. Now, would you please let me finish making the soup? And, you need to go lay on the couch."
"I love how Will didn't yell at me for getting up, but you, the non-doctor of the family, are."
"Technically, I didn't yell. Yelling was what I did when I took your phone away."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm going, going." You waved him off and headed back to the couch.
"You really suck, Will. Do you know that? At least Kelly and Hailey have my back because if Hailey wasn't in there, he would've made me put money in there."
"Hey, don't blame me. You were the one who said it. I just ratted you out."
"Snitches get stitches."
"I'm the one who actually knows how to perform stitches, you, on the other hand, do not."
"My God," Stella laughed. "It's like watching a reality show seeing you three all in the same room."
"Child," Jay said as he handed you a bowl of chicken soup along with a spoon.
"Good Lord, Jay. I'm fifteen."
"I know. You're still a child though since you're a minor."
"You're a minor," you mocked. "And you both are annoying, so I say we play a game."
"See? Like I said, reality show," Stella reiterated. "What game?"
"Never have I ever." Everyone groaned when you said that. "Hey, I'm the one who was stuck in the hospital, so I think you can all put up with this game."
"Fine," Kelly agreed, and then the others did, too.
"We'll go youngest to oldest," Will stated. "So, you start, Y/N."
You smirked. "Never have I ever gotten married in Vegas."
"Low blow, Y/N!" Jay yelled as both he and Kelly put a finger down and Kelly threw his head back and laughed.
***
Strike Three
That night, you quickly fell asleep. It felt like you had been asleep for hours when in reality it had only been two. You hugged your blankets tighter around your body as you started to shiver. You laid there and tried to fall asleep for who knows how long as a cold sweat started to break out on your forehead, back, and chest. God, you didn't want to get up, but you felt like something was wrong, so you slowly got up--still wrapped in a blanket--and made your way over to the guest bedroom where you knew Will would be sleeping.
"Will," you whispered as you walked into the guest room. He didn't stir. "Will." You tried again, this time louder, and you stepped closer and shook his shoulder.
"Hmmm," he groaned as he rolled over and fluttered his eyelids open. But, the minute he saw it was you, he knew he needed to be awake. "Short Stack?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"Are you okay? You don't usually wake me up at night." He sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. Then, he saw your sweaty face. "Are you feeling sick?"
You nodded. "I feel really cold, but I'm sweating."
Will reached over and put the back of his hand to your forehead. "You feel a little warm. C'mon, let's go take your temperature. Your legs hurt?"
That was one of the tell-tale signs of you having a fever, your legs hurting.
"Not yet," you answered.
Then, you went to the kitchen--as Will had left the thermometer and his medical bag at the kitchen table--and sat down. You took the thermometer from Will and put it under your tongue.
When it beeped, you took it out and handed it to him. "100.5," he read.
You groaned. "What is going on? First, my temperature was too low and then it stabilized and now it's too high. I just wanna sleep, Will. I'm so tired."
Will shushed you. "The lovebirds are sleeping."
"You know, if Jay heard you say that, he'd hit you, right?"
"Well, good thing he's sleeping. Now, go back to bed and I'll check on you in a few hours. Come get me if your legs start hurting, though."
You nodded and went back to bed. You tossed and turned and tried to get comfortable. You stuck one leg out from under the covers, but then you were too cold, despite half your body still being covered, so you settled on just letting your foot stick out. But, after forty-five minutes of that, you got super cold again and got up to retrieve the extra blanket you had set of the chair of your desk.
The first thing that you noticed when you stood up was how much your legs ached.
"Shit," you muttered.
You grabbed a blanket from your bed and wrapped it around you and grabbed the one from your desk chair and did the same thing. Then, you walked down the hall and to the guest bedroom.
"Will," you whispered as you poked your head in the room.
"Yeah?" he asked as he rolled over and turned on the lamp. He must not've fallen back to sleep after you had woken him up the first time.
"My legs hurt."
"Okay, let's go back to the kitchen and re-take your temperature, see if it went up."
You nodded tiredly as he got out of bed.
"You gonna fall over? Need me to help you get to the kitchen?" he asked as he approached you still standing in the doorway.
"No, I think I can walk," you answered.
You made it to the kitchen without falling over and then took a seat at the spot you had been just an hour ago. You stuck the thermometer in your mouth once more and waited for it to beep.
Will was rummaging around through the cupboard--and making a lot of noise, so he'd probably be the one who ended up waking the lovebirds up as he liked to call them--so you read the reading on the thermometer to him. "101.1 Went up point six degrees."
"Ah, found it." He grabbed the bottle of Tylenol and filled a glass of water and handed the two things to you. "Here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna take this, drink the entire glass of water and I mean the entire glass, and then you're gonna take a lukewarm bath. Hopefully, that'll lower your temperature."
You nodded, your eyelids heavy. You did as you were told and then handed him the pill bottle. When he closed the cupboard, his hand slipped, resulting in the door of it slamming shut and it echoing throughout the house.
"Fuck," he muttered.
"Swear jar," you whispered.
"Yeah, yeah," Will replied with a way of his hand. "I don't keep money in my pajamas, so I'll put a dollar in, in the morning."
"The hell was that?" Jay asked loudly, rushing into the kitchen with his gun raised.
Will threw his hands up in a sign of surrender. "Whoa, man! Don't point that thing at me! What do you think I'm trying to do? Rob you?"
Jay set his gun on the counter. "Sorry about that. What are you two doing up? It's--" He checked the time on the microwave. "--2:11 in the morning." Will motioned towards you. "Did her temperature drop or something?"
"It didn't drop, it increased."
"Well, that's good, right?"
"It was good when she hit the average temperature, but now she's got a fever of 101.1."
"Shit."
"Swear jar...for both of you."
Jay groaned and Hailey entered the kitchen. After explaining to her what was going on, she offered to help you into the bath because your legs were so achy.
But, you knew that Will would want to periodically check on you even if Hailey was in there, so you changed into a pair of spandex, a sports bra, and a crappy tank top while Will started the bath.
"Have her stay in here for about twenty minutes and then I'll be back in to check her temperature," Will told Hailey and then he retreated back to the kitchen to talk to his brother.
Hailey knocked on your bedroom door and you said she could come in. "How do you want to do this?" she asked. "Want me to keep you steady on the way to the bathroom, or do you just need help getting the tub?"
"Just need help getting in," you told her. But, as you walked out of your room, down the hall, and into the bathroom, she stayed right next to you in case she needed to catch or steady you.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Jay was feeling like an idiot with all the medical talk Will was doing.
"So, how'd she get a fever if she was just in the hospital with hypothermia less than 24 hours ago?" Jay asked.
"It's the rebound effect. It's rare, but it's a pathophysiological thing where some people get pyrexia after hypothermia especially if ischemia occurs."
Jay blinked rapidly. "English please?"
Will sighed, he sometimes forgot that people around him didn't know all the medical terminology like the back of their hand like he did. "It's a rebound effect, which is rare. And, it's when there's a disordered process in the body after a disease or injury. In Y/N's case, it's a disordered process that's happening in her body after her temperature had regulated after the hypothermia. So, some people get a fever--which in the medical world is called pyrexia--when ischemia happens, which is a fancy for an organ not getting enough blood supply. Didn't you say that Y/N had a faint pulse when you found her?"
"Yeah," Jay answered. "Brett took her pulse once we pulled her out and she said it was slow."
"Okay, so because the heart was pumping slower, it meant that less blood was circulating, which could mean there was less blood to her other organs, so we could be looking at ischemia."
"Could?"
"That, or she could have a mild case of pneumonia. That happens more with patients who are treated for hypothermia. Ischemia happens more in patients whose hypothermia went untreated for a longer amount of time."
"But, I didn't hear her cough at all."
"You can have pneumonia without a cough. It's not common, but it can still happen. We just have to wait and see if she starts hacking up a lung or if her fever gets up to 103, then we'll bring her in."
"Hey guys," Hailey said as she walked into the kitchen. "We have a problem."
Jay's eyes widened and he sprinted to the bathroom, ever the overprotective brother. Will retrieved his medical bag and followed him.
"You have got to be kidding me," Jay whispered. "It takes her like half an hour on average to fall asleep each night, but she falls asleep in ten minutes here? In the bathtub of all places? What do we do?"
"We have no choice but to wake her up," Will said.
"But she's been saying she's so tired."
"I know, but we can't let her sleep in the bathtub."
"You said what, twenty minutes before you have to take her temperature again?" Hailey asked and Will nodded. She checked the timer on her phone. "She's got a bit more than seven minutes left. How about we just let her sleep until the timer goes off and then we wake her up, take her temperature, and get her back to bed?"
"That is actually a good plan. And, not getting her out of the tub until the timer goes off could help her fever go down a bit more."
"I'm full of good ideas," Hailey joked.
Seven minutes later, you squeezed your eyes tightly shut and then opened them when you heard the sound of an alarm go off. "Hmmm. What happened?" you mumbled, rubbing your eyes with your wet hands.
"You fell asleep is what happened," Will answered. "Now open."
"But I'm in the bathtub. How did I..." you trailed off. "Oh."
"And I thought Jay was terrible at remembering things," Will chirped.
"Shut up. My body's fighting something. My energy isn't going to my memory or common sense at the moment."
You put the thermometer in your mouth and waited until it beeped for the third time tonight. Then, you handed it to Will.
"101.1 still," he read. "No change. Are you feeling any better worse? Legs hurt more or less?"
"I feel the same. I don't know about my legs because I'm sitting down."
"Here," Hailey said holding an arm out. "Grab on to me and I'll help you. Can one of you grab a towel?"
Jay went to the closet to grab a towel and you grabbed on to Hailey's arm. As you stood up, your legs ached a bit, but not more or less than before. But, you were only standing up. You hadn't taken a step yet.
You placed a foot on the ground and walked a few steps to where Jay was standing, holding a towel out to you. As you took those steps, you felt the familiar ache in your calves. It was stronger than it had been when you had gotten in bath.
God, it was like someone was rolling a rolling pin up and down your calves and pressing it into your muscles.
"Will," you whined once you had successfully wrapped the towel around your wet body. "It hurts. My legs hurt so bad."
Will all but shoved Jay out of the way and crouched down a bit. "Tilt your head back for me." You did as he said and Will moved his fingers to feel around your neck, specifically in the area of your lymph nodes. "Quite a bit more swollen than I would've liked to see them, but we'll check back in the morning. Any sore throat, coughing?"
"No, I just feel hot and cold and--" you stifled a yawn "--tired."
"Lean on me and then Hailey can help you get changed. If that's okay with you?" Will asked, turning his attention from you to Hailey.
"It's no problem."
"And then you can go right back to bed."
"Okay," you mumbled. And then, slowly but surely, you got down the hallway and into your bedroom.
Once you were changed, both of your brothers came in, Will bearing the disgusting "bubblegum" flavored liquid Benadryl and a small cup with blue liquid. Jay held a water bottle and a bowl.
"I know I gave you Tylenol about an hour and a half ago," Will started, "but, it was a low dose and since your fever didn't drop at all in the bath, I'm going to need you to take this."
He held the tube that contained the thick pink liquid out to you. "No," you whined. "Just give me more Tylenol."
"Y/N, this will make you tired so that you're able to sleep. And, Jay's out of Nyquil, so this was the only option I had. Please, just take it. You can chase it with this blue Gatorade I stole from Jay."
"You didn't steal it...this time. I let you have some," Jay clarified.
"Whatever. Point is, just please take the medicine."
"Fine," you mumbled and took the tube from him. You downed the medicine and made a face, immediately reaching for the Gatorade to wash the nasty taste out of your mouth. "That was gross."
"Sorry," Will apologized.
"Here's some water and a bowl in case you have to throw up," Jay told you as he set them on your bedside table.
"I don't feel nauseous."
"It's just a precaution. Now, we're gonna go back to bed. Need anything else?"
"No. Goodnight guys. 'Night Hailey. Thanks for helping me change. Probably would've fallen over if you weren't here to help."
***
"It's 10 am," Will said as he stood up from the couch the next morning. "I'm gonna go wake her up."
"Shouldn't we just let her sleep if she's sick?" Jay asked. "Thought you'd know that much since you're the doctor."
"Shut up. I have to take her temperature again. That Benadryl must've really knocked her out."
"It'll do that to you. Why do you think Mom would give it to us the night before school started? So we could sleep."
"Aww, did you guys get nervous?" Hailey joked.
"No. You know how most parents have their kids start to go to bed earlier about a week to two weeks before school starts back up?" Hailey nodded. "Yeah, our parents didn't do that. We just took some Benadryl and then we slept like babies and were well-rested for school," Jay explained.
"Well, I'm gonna go check on Y/N. Be back in a bit."
Will walked into your room to see you still fast asleep with your arm hanging off the bed. As he got closer, he noticed some discoloration on it...right where the IV had been.
"Shit," he muttered. He lightly touched your shoulder, causing you to stir a little. "Short Stack." You groaned. "Short Stack, you gotta wake up. It's past ten and I need to take your temperature."
You rubbed your eyes and sat up in bed. Then, you pulled your right arm close to you. Without looking at it, you started to scratch it.
"No!" Will grabbed your arm.
"Why? It's itchy." Then you looked down at it and saw that it was all red and had little bumps on it. It looked a little bit swollen, too. "Why's it look like that?" You shivered and pulled the blankets up around you.
"Still cold?" You nodded. "Legs still hurt?" You nodded once more. "But, to answer your question, it could be an infection from the IV. Or you could be having an allergic reaction to the meds...but we only gave you warm saline, so that wouldn't happen."
"Is that bad? And, can you take my temp--" Your teeth chattered from shivering. "--temperature so I can go back to sleep?"
"Yeah, don't know if you're gonna be able to go back to sleep." You reached for your arm to start itching the IV site, when Will clamped his hand around the spot. "No. You can't itch it. Because, if there's an infection in it, I don't want you tearing the skin and getting it even more infected."
"Then put some anti-itch cream on it from your medical bag. I'm sure you have some in there."
"I have some, but I don't know what you have, so I don't know how it will react. But, I can put some medical tape on it."
You rubbed your eyes and threw your blanket off of you. "Why am I so hot? I was just super cold two seconds ago."
"Because you have a fever. I know it sucks, but I need you to hold your arm out to me so I can tape it up."
You held your arm out and reluctantly allowed him to tape it.
"Are you hungry?" he asked. "I can make you something cold like a smoothie?" You shook your head. You didn't want anything cold. "Please? I'll make you a small one and I won't put any spinach in it. I know Jay puts spinach in them and it's huge and you have to drink the whole thing."
"Fine," you sighed. "Can you put mango chunks in it?"
"I can do that. No itching."
You sat on your bed and tried to go back to sleep, but you were stopped when Will came back in. He didn't lie. The smoothie was small and from the color you could tell he put mango chunks in it. He also held a thermometer.
"Before you drink this, I need to take your temperature."
You took the thermometer from him and waited for it to beep. And, you made the mistake of looking at the numbers when you took it out of your mouth. "Is this bad?" you asked as you held it to your oldest brother, your eyes going wide. "Am I gonna die?"
Will looked at the thermometer. "102.7 is high, but you aren't going to die. But, since your arm is itchy and it broke out in a rash at the IV site, I'm bringing you in. Drink your smoothie and then Hailey will be in to help you change." You opened your mouth to protest, but Will held up a hand to stop you. "And, yes, Hailey's going to help you because I don't want you falling over."
You nodded and picked up the smoothie. And, Will went back to tell your brother and Hailey what was going on.
"She getting better?" Jay asked as he poured himself another cup of coffee.
"Worse."
"Worse?" He set his coffee cup down and turned his full attention to Will. Hailey, who had been sitting at the table eating a banana, turned her attention to him as well.
"I think she has an infection at her IV site, which could be what is causing her fever. Her fever's 102.7 right now. I gave her a smoothie and I told her after she finishes that, that Hailey can help her change, and then she can get ready and we can go."
"Shouldn't we go now?" Jay asked.
"She's still fully conscious, not delirious, so I think that we can let her wash her face and brush her teeth before we leave. If she starts acting that way, we'll leave earlier. For now, I think it's okay as long as someone's with her when she's doing these things just because of how sore her legs are so she doesn't fall over."
"Alright. Second hospital visit in 36 hours? Med needs to give us Halsteads a frequent flyer card."
***
"Jay, do remember anyone else who gave Y/N an IV other than Monique? Monique's the short blond nurse, looks younger than she actually is." Will asked as he, Jay, and Hailey were sitting in the waiting area while you got your blood drawn.
Jay looked up at the ceiling and scrunched up his face. "Uh, I know there was someone else. I just don't remember the name or what they looked like." He closed his eyes and thought for a few more seconds, trying to conjure up an image. "Oh! It was a kid."
"A kid?" Will asked. "Man, I don't think you slept enough last night."
"Kid as in he was younger than us. He said he was a med student."
"Any more details? Know what he looked like?"
"Jeez, Jay. I think we might have another Halstead detective on our hands. He might even be better than you," Hailey joked.
"Babe, you're supposed to stroke my ego, not crush it," Jay replied with a fake pouty face. "But, to answer your question, second detective Halstead, the kid was white, kinda scrawny."
"Okay, I'm gonna go check with Earl, see if I can get him to pull up the security footage from two nights ago. You remember what time the med student came in?"
"Two, three in the morning maybe? I was in and out at that point."
"Okay, thanks. Be right back. And, Y/N should be coming out soon. I got Mags to draw her blood just to know it would be done right. And, according to Monique, she's got really small veins."
"And this matters because...?" Jay probed.
"She might have to draw her blood from the big vein in her forearm, not one in the crook of her arm. But, Mags is good at this, so hopefully, she won't have to. Be back soon. Text me if they put her in a room."
"Got it." Jay turned back to Hailey. "How was she this morning? You know, when you helped her change?"
"She said her legs were sore. I had to help her get into her jeans and even help her get out of her t-shirt and into the shirt she's wearing now because, when she put her arms up, she said that they hurt to stay up...especially the right one, which is the one Will taped because she kept trying to itch it."
"So, her entire body is sore basically?"
"Essentially."
***
"Hey, Earl," Will greeted as he walked into the security office.
"Doctor Halstead, what can I do for you? And, why are you in your street clothes? Heading out early?" Earl asked, spinning around in his chair to face Will.
"No, I actually had to bring my little sister in because I think she got an infection from her IV. I was wondering if you could pull up the security footage of the ED two nights ago around two, three in the morning? My little brother, Jay, said that a med student changed her IV around that time and I need to find out who it was."
"So you can fire him?"
Will chuckled. "I don't have the kind of authority, Earl, and you know this. Only Ms. Goodwin can fire someone. I just need to know who it was so I can tell her what happened."
"If you say so." Earl started pressing buttons on his computer until he got to the ED and the specific timeframe Will mentioned. "Any specific room?"
"She was in treatment two I think."
Earl nodded and continued pressing a few buttons. Then, he played it in fast forward and told Will to tell him when to stop.
"There." Will pointed at the screen when he saw a med student, whom he didn't even know the name of, changing your IV. "Can you back up a few minutes? Just so I can watch and see what actually happened?"
Earl did and Will started to watch the footage. "You've got to be kidding me," he mumbled as he pieced together what happened.
This med student had came from a room where he had given another IV and had missed the vein. He wiped some of the blood away with his gloved fingers and then patted the blood dry on the patient's IV site and then bandaged it. But, he walked into your treatment room without changing his gloves. Then, he went right on to changing your IV. And, since you had small veins, he missed the first time, causing a tiny bit of blood to come out of your vein. He wiped it away with the same finger he had wiped the previous patient's blood with, with the same glove which contained a smear of said previous patient's blood.
Whatever that patient had, Will was fairly certain that you now had it, too.
***
"What's the verdict?" Will asked when he got back into the waiting room and saw you, Maggie, Hailey, and Jay.
"She has Mono," Maggie said.
You yawned and turned to Will. "And can you please tell him--" you thumbed towards Jay "--that I haven't been--" You yawned again. "--making out with a bunch of boys because he keeps asking for names."
Will let out a small laugh. "Well, it is caused by swapping spit mostly, but Y/N got it because that dumbass med student didn't change his gloves when he came in to change her IV."
"Wow, she must really be tired," Jay remarked. "She didn't even mention the swear jar."
"Just get me a snack on the way out and we'll be even." You put your arm on the armrest of the chair and laid your head on your hand.
"I don't know if you'll be awake to get that snack, Short Stack."
"How long until I'm not tired?"
"Symptoms should clear up in two weeks at the earliest, a month at the latest," Maggie answered. She turned her attention to Jay. "I know Will will probably tell you this too, but I'll tell you now. Even though it came from an IV, it's still technically a viral infection, so there's no antibiotics for it. The best course of treatment is just rest and fluids. And, if she's achy or her throat gets sore or the rash persists, ibuprofen will do just fine."
"Can I put itch cream on this?" you mumbled, motioning to your bandage on your right arm. Maggie had to draw blood from your left arm since the right one was bandaged up. Hopefully, you wouldn't get a rash on this one, too. But, you trusted Maggie and knew that she was the best nurse in all of Chicago Med, probably all of Chicago even.
"Yes, you can do that."
"Thank God."
"You know this med student's name, Will?" Maggie asked.
"No, but I had Earl pull up the security footage so I could figure out what happened. I'm sure he could go back so you could take a look at him and tell him off. Or talk to Goodwin."
"You want him fired?"
"I wouldn't go that far. But, he needs to be held accountable. And, Mags, don't take this the wrong way, but you're scary when you're angry."
"So is Jay," you mumbled, cracking your eyes open for a few seconds.
"Okay, Short Stack the Secret Spiller," Jay joked, "let's get you home before you tell Maggie everybody's business in this family."
***
2 and a half weeks later:
"God, I forgot how nice it is to not have to take a nap," you said as you sat on the couch reading a book for your English class.
"I will say, it was nice to have some peace and quiet around here," Jay said as he handed you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
"Thank you. And, I'm am not that loud!"
He snorted. "Yeah right."
"At least I don't have PDA with my girlfriend when my little sister's in the room."
"In my defense, I thought you were taking a nap."
"So, you and Hailey decided to have a full-on makeout session--which probably would've progressed into something more had I not come out of my room to get a glass of water--on the couch instead of in your bedroom where you can lock the door. Sounds a little suspicious to me."
"We would've--you know what, never mind. You don't need to know."
You were about to try and get him to tell you when you figured it was probably about sex. "Yeah, I don't need to know. You two are nasty."
"Keep thinking that way until you're thirty." You rolled your eyes and took a bite of your sandwich. "How much more you have to read?"
"Five pages. Why?"
"We have to be at Molly's in an hour."
"Why?"
"We just have to be there, okay? And, wear your Hawks jersey."
Technically, it was Jay's old Brent Seabrook jersey, but he got a new one with Toews' name on the back, so he gave it to you. It was in good condition. The only caveat was that the jersey went down to your knees; you practically drowned in that thing. But, you didn't have to pay for it, so you'd take it.
"Why?"
"Just do it. And, no more questions. This is starting to sound like an interrogation."
***
"Why are you wearing your Hawks jersey?" you asked Jay as you walked into the living room forty-five minutes later.
"What did I just tell you? No more questions, kid. No more questions."
Then, there was a knock on the door and Will entered, sporting a Duncan Keith jersey. "Okay, so we're going to Molly's...in Hawks jerseys...but there's no game on tonight. I'm thoroughly confused."
"And that's how we want you," Will joked.
You rolled your eyes. "I just want to know what I'm walking into."
"And you will," Jay started, "...when we walk into Molly's. Now, c'mon, let's go."
When you got to Molly's it looked like any normal day from the outside. But, then you opened the door.
"Surprise!"
Inside the bar was all of firehouse 51, some people from Med, and all of Intelligence plus Trudy. But, the stars of the show were Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, stars of the Chicago Blackhawks, who stood in the middle of the bar.
"How did you-- What-- How?" you stammered, trying to piece together everything with a gigantic smile growing on your face.
"Kelly's pretty great," Jay supplied. "He knew that you were saving up for tickets. So, he called Clarke, who just so happens to be really good friends with these guys."
"And he explained everything," Seabrook walked up to you and volunteered. "I gotta say, going behind your cop brother's back to save up for tickets takes some guts."
"Yeah," you agreed. You were talking to a famous NHL player? What did you even say?
"You excited for the game tomorrow?" Duncan Keith asked.
"It's a rivalry game? Who wouldn't be excited?"
"Well, lucky for you, I just happen to have three center-ice lower bowl seats for tomorrow's game. And a season ticket holder package for you and your brothers to meet the team."
"For-For me? Are you being serious?"
"Hey, someone who falls into a snowbank and then gets sick just from trying to get tickets, well, that's the least you deserve."
"You know, if my cop brother would've just believed me when I told him I was here, I wouldn't have fallen in that snowbank."
"Hey, I would've been worried, too."
"See, Y/N? Even Duncan Keith agrees with me!"
You smiled and rolled your eyes at Jay. "You have a sharpie?" you asked him. "I need to get this jersey signed."
And, while Jay had a good reason for implementing the three strikes rule, after that whole fiasco he was reluctant to take your phone away. Because this could've all been avoided if Jay believed you and hadn't taken your phone away. But, you got Blackhawks tickets out of it...and you got to meet the whole team, so it wasn't all bad.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Sorry, I haven't updated in a while, school has been very hectic. But, the good news is I'm done in two weeks and then have a six-week break, so hopefully, I'll be able to crank out a bunch of Seasons of PD/Med then. Anyway, thanks for reading! I did a ton of medical research for this imagine, so if anything's inaccurate, I blame google or the research articles I read. Also, please like/reblog and comment! I love hearing what you guys think! As always, if you want to be added to my tag list, just tell me and I’d be happy to add you!
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+Homework+ Luke x Fem!Reader
(Not My Gif)
Description:When Y/N’s progress report comes out it seems as though their mom isn’t happy with the letters that follow each subject. So when they have to cancel on her friends band rehearsal to do their assignments it leads to an interesting encounter with the brunette guitarist of Julie and the Phantoms.
Warning: Stress, school, bad grades, mild angst, mostly fluff.
+Homework+
Luke is not someone to judge another for having bad grades, considering what his report cards looked like, and the fact he dropped out of high school at seventeen. But, Y/N has two more years left in school, despite her age, and frankly… She’s struggling. “What’s this?” her mother asks, showing her an email.
“Those are… My grades?” Y/N shrugs, avoiding the small letters that labeled her as dumb, and lazy.
“Y/N! You need to start getting serious about this. You’re going to flunk out!” Y/N internally winces at her mother shouting at her. “I’m very disappointed about this…”
“Well,” Y/N starts. “I’ll do it!” She bites her lip, sliding away from her desk. “Tomorrow,” she adds, looking at the time. “I promised Julie I’d watch band practice today.” Her mom gives her a blank stare.
“Y/N! We’ve been very laid back with you, you’ve never been grounded or anything, but right now I want you to stay at home, and get your missing work done.”
“But--”
“No!”
Her mom closes the door on the way out, leaving Y/N feeling the stress of school. She grabs her phone, clicking Julie’s contact. “Hey! Are you almost here?” Julie asks.
“I can’t make it…” Y/N breathes out.
“What?!” Julie exclaims. “But, you promised to be here today, we’re performing tomorrow, you know?” The disappointment radiates through the phone.
“I know! And I will be there for that, because that’s really important, but I just can’t make it today.” Y/N is too embarrassed to say the reason why. Julie has amazing grades, and is insanely talented, and she might be a little jealous of that, mostly because she gets to spend extra time with Luke who Y/N has heart eyes for. But, his eyes are for someone else. Julie.
“No, she’s not coming,” she answers the muffled voice in the background. “I don’t know!” she groans. “The boys wanted me to ask you if you’re okay, which are you?”
“Yes! I’m fine, just go rehearse, even though you guys don’t really need it, I know you’ll rock tomorrow--” Y/N gets cut off by her door swinging open.
“Y/N! Homework! Now!” her mom orders.
“I’m just telling Julie I can’t make it,” Y/N argues. “I gotta go.”
“Oh, okay, well, we all miss you over here,” she affirms.
“Yeah, I miss you all too, but we did see each other today, so… I miss the boys.”
Julie laughs. “I’ll tell them that, especially you know who.” Y/N can sense Julie’s smirk when she speaks.
Y/N chokes on a bit of her saliva. “Julie! I-I have to go.” She hangs up. “Why me?” she asks whatever higher power could possibly be listening to the teenage girl.
She plops down on her desk chair.
“What to start with?” Her eyes scan her To-Do List she’s already made, it’s not as much as she thought, but it’s definitely time consuming and very boring. Some of her teachers have already reached out to her, but she chooses to ignore their offers of help. She’s scared she’ll say something they’ll find stupid, or won’t understand.
And so she has to skip her favorite part of the day, to do Algebra, and History and Biology, and…
“So, why couldn’t she come today?” Luke asks, tuning his guitar on the couch.
“Eh, I didn’t ask her,” Julie admits.
“Why not?” Luke gives her a pointed look, his movements faltering.
“She would’ve told me if it was that important,” she claims. She looks off, before seeing him go back to his previous state. “Luke, you've been tuning that guitar for half an hour, I think it’s good.”
He rolls his eyes.
“So, Y/N really can’t come today?” Reggie asks, saddened over the news. “But, she never misses a rehearsal unless it’s family, or school related.”
Luke finally stops, setting down his guitar. “Wait,” he starts. “Didn’t progress reports come out today?”
Everyone looks at him weirdly. “How do you know that?” Alex questions, spinning his drumstick.
“Oh--uh.” He scratches the back of his head. “When I visited Julie at school the other day, I heard something about it.”
Julie turns his head towards him. “Are you talking about when Y/N said something about it to Flynn? A couple feet away from us? Yeah I heard her too, because I was facing her.” She crosses her arms. “I think someone has a crush,” she teases, smiling widely.
“What?!” A subtle blush paints over his cheeks. “I don’t like Y/N like that, she’s--she’s just a good friend.”
“Oh come on!” Alex joins. “It’s so obvious, don’t think I don’t notice when you stare at her.” He sends a wink to Luke.
“Or when you talk about her,” Reggie adds. “Which is all the time.”
“Just tell her,” Julie advises.
“Tell her?” Luke repeats, giving her a look of disbelief. “I don’t think you’ve guys noticed, but I’m dead, and she’s very much alive.”
“So?! Everyone knows you two are completely in love with each other, so give it a shot,” Julie urges, also knowing her friend's infatuation with the guitarist.
Luke chuckles. “She doesn’t like me, she rarely talks to me, to be honest I think she hates me.”
“You rarely talk to her,” Julie points out. “And ‘to be honest’ I think she thinks you hate her.” Luke’s posture caves hearing Julie’s words. “Are we going to get started now?”
Everyone nods.
Throughout practice Luke found his mind wandering back to the previous conversations the band had. A warm feeling would build in his stomach for a movement when he would think about the fact that Y/N likes him, or at least his friends think so. “Luke!” Alex shouts, snapping Luke out of his thoughts. “Practice is over,” he informs.
"It is?!” His eyes widened when an idea popped into his mind. “Well, won’t you look at that, it is over, and I completely forgot I made plans, bye!” Luke poofs out, landing in a girly room, but has a certain vibe to it.
“Luke!” Y/N shrieks, putting a hand over her heart. “What are you doing here?” she whisper-yells.
“T-the--” he snaps his fingers. “The guys wanted someone to check in on you, and Alex is hanging out with Willie, and Reggie is Reggie so… I volunteered.” He sways back and forth against his ankles. “Sooo… How are you doing?” He strolls up to her smoothly, placing an arm on the back of her chair.
“Luke… You are a terrible liar,” she asserts. “But, if you really want to know. I’m not doing too well.”
He frowns. “Why?”
“School,” she sighs. “We got our progress reports, and I’m not doing too well.” She tries to hide the paper from Luke.
“Y/N, don’t be embarrassed, I’m sure it’s not that bad.” He plucks the paper from under her arm. His reassuring smile slowly faded. “There’s… Room for improvement?” He shrugs.
“Get out,” Y/N mutters.
Luke’s heart plummeted. “What?”
“I said get out,” she repeats, harshly. “I get it, I’m dumb, and I’m lazy, and I don’t do my work. I get it. So, just leave.” Tears threatened to fall from her eyes. “I’m serious Luke.” Her voice cracks a little.
Guilt washed over him when he saw the effect his words take on her. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. He reaches out to hug her, but he instead goes straight through her.
Y/N doesn’t notice his attempt of this action, instead boring her eyes at the paper in front of her. “Luke, I said just go.” She rubs her forehead.
He didn’t move though, he instead started looking over the paper she hadn't touched. “Twenty-three,” he answers.
“What?” she chokes out.
“The answer, it’s twenty-three.” He looks at her, a little self-conscious. “Look, just because I didn’t have the best grades, or didn’t do work, didn’t mean I was dumb, so stop telling yourself that. We’re not so different you know.”
She scrunches her face. “How’d you get that?” she asks. “The answer to the question.”
His eyes light up when she accepts his explanation, not asking him to leave again. “So… I just did…”
He talks through the problem, asking Y/N if she understands when her eyes widen. He noticed she does that when she’s getting confused, or is not fully processing the words. As they go through each subject, him helping her, or giving his opinion on things. She started to find herself smiling, and having fun? “Wow,” he whispers, reading a poem. “You just wrote this?”
She nods. “Yeah, I know, it’s not that great.”
“No! It’s really good for something you wrote in five minutes,” he compliments, rereading the poem in his head. “Who knew you were such a romantic?” he teases.
Y/N feels her cheeks warm up. “That’s actually the first time I’ve heard that.”
“So, who’d you write it about?” he asks. He partially dreaded asking the questions. He didn’t want to picture her ever describing someone that wasn’t him in such a beautiful context. “C’mon, you can tell me, what am I going to do? Tell my ghost friends.”
Y/N giggles. “I--uh… Someone?” It comes out more as a question.
“Name?”
“Why you want to know so bad, huh?” she blurts, with a smirk. “Why? You jealous?” She knew he wasn’t, but the thought made her whole body catch on fire.
Luke, surprised by her sudden cockiness, sends her a smirk right back. “Well, what if I am?”
She scoffs. “Yeah, right,” she murmurs.
He tilts his head. “What is that supposed to mean?”
She gives him a ‘really’ look. “Luke, c’mon…” She waits for him to say something like ‘you’re right, I’m joking’, or anything along those lines, but he just stares back with the same intensity she has.
“What do you want me to say?”
The question lingers in Y/N’s mind. I want you to say you like me. That’s what she wanted to tell him, that’s what she wanted to hear. “Nothing,” she mumbles. “Absolutely nothing.”
He cracks a smile. “Just tell me!” After that he keeps repeating it over and over again.
“I want you to say you like me!” she shouts.
His eyes widened, but he didn’t seem uncomfortable, he seemed in awe of the situation. “Why are you shouting?” Y/N’s mom asks, rushing in.
“Because I’ve gotten ten assignments turned in!” Y/N cheers trying to ignore Luke giving her a big smile, seriously, it’s scary how wide it is.
“I like you too,” he whispers, her heart dropping. It’s like he couldn’t contain his little secret for any longer, but now it leaves Y/N impatient as her mom stares down at her on the bed.
“That’s good! she assures. “Though it would’ve been better if you turned them in on time, but at least they’re in.” Y/N nods at her mom's backhanded compliment. “Anyways, dinners ready.”
“Ah, yes.” Y/N shuts her laptop. “I forgot humans have to eat.”
“Can I stay?” Luke asks.
“In my room,” she answers.
“You’re going to eat in your room?” her mom asks.
“Can you?” Luke perks up, hearing it. “Just say you want to finish your work, because you’re already in the groove, or something!” His eyes are pleading Y/N to stay with him, leaving her almost speechless.
“Y-yeah,” she stutters. “There’s a few more things I want to do before I call it a night, and I’m kind of in… ‘The Groove’,” she discreetly ridicules the boy next to her that’s invisible to her mom's eyes.
“Okay, just come down when you’re ready.”
Y/N sighs of relief when she hears the door shut quietly. “So, you like me?” She was slightly breathless from the beautiful boy so close to her.
“Yeah,” he responds. His eyes didn’t meet hers though.
“You don’t seem sure,” she judges.
His gaze locks with her. “I’m just nervous,” he reveals. “You make me really nervous. I thought you hated me just an hour ago, and now…”
She gapes at him. “I thought you hated me!”
“That’s what Julie said,” he adds, pointing towards her.
Y/N jolts her body away from him. “You spoke about me with Julie?” As if she summoned her, Julie’s contact lights up her phone. “Hello,” she answers.
“Is Luke over there?” she asks. “Sorry! Hi, it’s just the boys were worried.” Y/N sneaks a glimpse towards Luke who can’t seem to take his eyes off of her, it’s like he’s trying to memorize every single part of her body.
“He’s not, but I had a question for you.” Luke looks at Y/N confused as to why she lied. “Did you guys talk about anything earlier? He was acting weird, and you know with you being good friends with him, and us being the best of friends, I wanted to know.”
“Oh my God!” she exclaims. “He was out of it the entire rehearsal after we told him you weren’t going to be there, and he was all worried, and concerned, it was adorable. Dude is so in love with you it’s insane. I mean even Reggie and Alex were talking about how he talks about you, and how he stares at you, and how he’s so invested in you. I’d say he’s obsessed.”
Y/N lets out a victorious hum. “Good to know, well, I’ll let you know if I see him--oh wait, he’s right next to me, thanks for the info.” Y/N hangs up.
“She told you about rehearsal didn’t she?” He plays with the rings on his fingers, a nervous habit he picked up.
“Yep.” Y/N pops the ‘p’. “She said you’re obsessed with me.”
“Not true!” he argues. “Sort of…” He pouts. “Not in a creepy way though!” He tries to grab her hand, but it goes straight through. “This will be interesting.”
“Yeah,” Y/N agrees. “But, we’ll get through it…”
Luke then learned one thing about himself that night. He was touched-starved.
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Zimmerbro AU
Summary: Andrew Phillip Rowe could skate before he could walk, and it wasn’t until he was almost twenty and well on his way to becoming a Las Vegas Ace before he knew why.
a/n: that’s right we’ve got a secret zimmermann brother au based on the fact that Bob was an active pro athlete for almost 15 years before Jack was born and almost definitely had relationships before Alicia. This particular one resulted in a secret love child.
When the call finally went out that year — a request for players willing to billet the incoming draftees — Andrew had been the first in line.
His already sparsely decorated guest room had been primed for a new tenant since he’d learned Las Vegas’ abysmal season had earned them the first pick of the 2009 draft. In his mind, Andrew had envisioned a tearful confession. A family reunion nineteen years in the making where he’d finally get a chance to connect with a half-brother he’d grown up learning about through news articles and stats pages.
He wasn’t ready for Jack to pull out of the draft days before the ceremony; wasn’t ready for the claims of an overdose or speculation about suicide attempts. He certainly wasn’t expecting to have to open his home to a young man with limp blonde hair and deep circles under his eyes with the same enthusiasm he’d promised he’d offer to a son of Bob Zimmermann.
Andrew was hoping for a little brother.
He got Kent Parson instead.
______
“You remind me of my boyfriend.” Kent slurs one night, completely gone on Johnny Walker Blue borrowed from Andrew’s wet bar. “It’s your . . . face.”
“Shouldn’t talk about things like that,” Andrew cautions gently, covering his own surprise. “Never know who might be listening.”
“Who fucking cares? He won’t talk to me,” Kent continues, ignoring him and sniffing like he’s on the verge of sobbing or puking, both options equally unwanted. “They wouldn’t tell me if he was even alive.”
Another unwanted puzzle piece locks into place.
“Jack?” Andrew suggests softly, and Kent begins to cry.
“You won’t tell right?”
Andrew shakes his head no, long enough for Kent’s bleary eyes to focus on the gesture and take it seriously.
Things are different, after that conversation. Not worse, or better, just different.
________
“He’s my brother.”
Andrew admits this one night, for no reason other than that he can.
Kent is across the room, backlit by lights from the Strip, his legs dangling off the arm of his favorite couch as he scrolls through his phone looking for distractions. Parse hasn’t lived with Andrew for almost two seasons, but he still turns up like a bad penny whenever he needs to commiserate with someone who knows his more lascivious secrets. Truthfully, Andrew’s grateful for the company. He’s a pretty genial guy, but he’s always kept his distance, a personality trait he likes to think he shares with an unassuming sibling, but there’s no way to know for sure. The farther Andrew gets from the 2009 Draft, the less faith he has in a reunion that won’t just bring crippling sorrow to everyone involved.
A secret Zimmermann son who actually made it in the NHL. Who has his name on the Stanley Cup, not once, but twice, largely thanks to the spitfire forward lounging in Andrew’s living room.
“Who’s your brother?” Kent asks, not looking up from his phone.
“Jack Zimmermann.”
Kent barks a laugh and rolls his head lazily to smirk at Andrew.
“That’s funny. I guess you kinda have the same chin. Was Marky digging for chirps?”
Andrew has no idea what that means, but he sets down his tablet and says, “No, he’s actually my half-brother. My mom dated Bad Bob in ’84 and got pregnant.”
The lackadaisical smile on Kent’s face falters as his gaze sharpens, like he’s actually looking at Andrew for the first time. Andrew responds by gesturing at himself lamely.
“That’s not funny.”
“No.” Andrew agrees. “It isn’t.”
Kent swings his feet down off the couch and braces himself against the overstuffed leather. He doesn’t look mad, but there’s something too close to disbelief for Andrew to convince himself everything’s okay. It takes a moment, but Kent must find what he’s looking for on Andrew’s face.
“Does Bob know?” Kent asks with that familiar overfamiliarity, as if they both still have some personal relationship with the living legend.
“Yeah. When Mom got pregnant she told him she didn’t want the attention since it was only a fling — ”
“Who the fuck doesn’t lock down Bob Zimmermann?” Kent breathes. “Also, why the fuck did she tell you that?”
“No shit, right? She got him to sign away parental rights, set up a trust, never spoke to him again as far as I know. I didn’t find out until after I signed with the Aces. She didn’t want me to get blindsided if it all came out, but the story never broke.”
“I mean, does Bob know who you are?” Kent questions. “Does Jack?”
Andrew shakes his head no, because he doesn’t think so, and Kent flops back against the cushions, face slack with disbelief; it doesn’t take long for his features to shift to anger.
“You knew this whole time and you didn’t tell me? Even after I told you —“
“Okay, there’s a whole-ass difference between you fucking dudes and and me being ‘Bad Bob’s bastard’,” Andrew bites, curtailing Kent’s imminent hissy fit. Appropriately, Kent closes his mouth, almost pouting.
“Fine. But that’s fucked.” Kent says after a loaded moment of silence. “I’m sorry you’re . . . you.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry you’re you, too.”
“You know Jack’s signing with the Falconers, right?” Kent offers like the worst kind of olive branch, unintentionally telling Andrew exactly what he was up to during that stretch of time between New England games a few months prior. “It’s not public but it’s happening. Ink’s dry.”
“I know. That’s why I told you. It’s gonna be weird,” Andrew swallows, thinking about playing Providence in the coming months.
“Fucking right it’s weird.”
_________
For the most part, the Las Vegas Aces are decent, stand up guys. Even with the accusations of gambling debts and mob connections with the ownership group, Andrew’s never been asked to hit a certain player a little too hard, or to take a dive so the other team gets a shot at a power play. A lot of talk, a lot of conspiracies, ‘Typical Aces hockey’, but there’s no malice. Not really.
Andrew thinks it’s hilarious he plays the game a lot like his estranged father, but he’s not a legend in the making, hell, at this point he’s barely regarded as more than a mid-level, reliable center that can bring home 40 points a season.
Carly whips behind Zimmermann’s back to clip his skate with a stick, dropping a ill advised chirp that sets every player in earshot on edge. Parse is close enough to catch the quiet slur, stiffening like he’s been hit, and Andrew watches Zimmermann recover quickly, steely and resolute.
Jack has his mother’s eyes — not the warm brown Andrew catches every time he looks in the mirror.
“He’s a fucking goon,” Andrew breathes, gliding up to Jack’s shoulder in lieu of an apology. Zimmermann doesn’t miss a beat, his gaze flicking to Andrew with the quiet rage of ‘who gives a fuck’. Andrew admires his commitment to the game. Coming back after so much, after so long, to willingly subject himself to the same kind of treatment that Andrew knows likely led to his original fall from grace.
“Hey,” Kent ducks his head as he slides up a little while later, mouthguard clenched between his teeth, and asks, “You see his twink?”
At Andrew’s obvious confusion, Kent jerks his head toward the glass behind the Falconers’ bench, to a raucous group of fans all sporting fresh Zimmermann jerseys. Andrew’s gaze drifts along the row of faces, lingering longer on the familiar, handsome couple beside the blonde young man. He may be imagining things — the stadium lights catching a bad angle — but for the briefest moment, Andrew holds eye contact with his father.
“He’s cute, right?” Kent says bitterly, like he doesn’t have a partner of his own back home.
“Yeah, he is. You gonna do anything about the slurs, Captain?” Andrew counters, earning a stern look from Parson.
“I’ll deal with Carly.”
“Oh, you will? Because I’ve never seen you shut him down before.”
“I’ll handle it.”
Kent’s expression goes stormy, and he gives Andrew a hard shove before skating off to set up for the next shift. To his credit, he does grab Carly by the arm and tell him something that earns a look of displeasure from the larger man, but Andrew knows a verbal warning won’t curtail someone as dead-set in his conservatism as Carly.
The next play, Carly flashes Andrew a toothy smile over the lineman’s shoulder, as if they’re in on the same joke, and his vision goes red.
__________
__________
“Bad Bob’s outside,” Scraps rasps, like whatever brief interaction he’s just had has physically winded him. “He wants to talk to Flip.”
Andrew blinks up from the water bottle in his hands, previously concerned with the pink-stained gauze wrapped around his knuckles. A few of the guys start chirping, but most of them remain silent, still processing the fact that Andrew assaulted one of their own without clear motivation, in defense of an opponent.
“That’s what this was all about? You gunning for a trade?” Sorenson spits from his stall. “Needed to impress Bad Bob by beating the snot out of Carly?”
“Maybe I am,” Andrew sighs, pushing himself to his feet, wincing at the way his jaw aches from the few good hits Carly had managed to squeeze in before he went down. “What the fuck are you gonna do about it.”
_______
Andrew’s grateful he kept his skates on. He needs the boost of confidence that comes with the added height, especially when he finds Bob Zimmermann waiting patiently in the corridor like he’s just another staff member and not the second most recognizable figure in modern hockey.
“Hey kid,” Bob greets, casting an approving, overly-familiar eye over Andrew’s padded bulk and sweat-slick hair. “You can throw a hell of a punch. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy beat the piss out of a teammate before. Off ice, sure, but never during a game.”
His accent is just as thick in private as every interview Andrew’s ever caught live — but his tone is unexpectedly warm, even grateful — when Bob laughs at his own recounting of Andrew’s assault attempt, the sound is light and joyous like nothing in the world comes easier to this titan of a man.
Andrew wonders if Bob can recognize the chin they share beneath a his playoff beard; if there’s any resemblance left in a nose that’s been reset a half-dozen times.
Andrew grew up loved and never wanted for anything. His step-fathers, both of them, had been good men who never left him looking for a father figure. It wasn’t until his twenties that Andrew even realized there was hole where his bio-dad should have been, and not just a regular hole, a yawning sinkhole threatening to devour his entire sense of self, because his biological father turned out to be a man he grew up idolizing as a personal hero.
He’s not mad at his mother, but when Andrew struggles to find his voice — which is bullshit seeing as he’s almost thirty-five and a god-damned professional athlete — he can’t stop himself from feeling like a misplaced child.
“Do you,” Andrew swallows, looking over Bob’s shoulder to see if anyone’s watching them. Finding they’re alone, he rallies quietly, “Do you know who I am?”
Bob’s jovial expression softens into something remorseful, but unfathomably kind. “I do, buddy,” he acknowledges, somehow squeezing three decades of affection into one term of endearment. “I’ve known for some time, now. The whole time, actually.”
That hurts more than expected.
“Does your wife? Does Jack?”
Bob shakes his head, but it isn’t a hard no.
“Alicia knows, and Jack has some idea he’s got a half-brother, but it’s all in the abstract. No specifics. Definitely doesn’t know you play. I wanted to respect your privacy and your mother’s wishes. She let me know she’d told you the truth a few years back and I wanted to give you the space you needed if you decided to reach out. When you didn’t, well, a man makes assumptions.”
Andrew looks down at the concrete beneath his skates and sniffs hard, fighting nasal drip from the smelling salts he’d needed in the third period; or, at least, that’s what he tells himself. “I had a plan, back when — ” he stops himself, looking down at his skates. Bob’s eyebrows lift in curiosity, leaving room for Andrew to gather his thoughts, but he doesn’t take the bait, unable to bring up what could have been just yet. Bob seems to grasp the context after the moment.
“2009,” he acknowledges softly. “Hell of a year.”
“Yeah. It was. Is he okay?”
“What, Jack? He’s leagues ahead of where he was then —”
“No, I mean, tonight. Carly clipped him pretty hard before I got in there.”
“Oh, a little bruised up, but he’ll live. Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Okay.”
Andrew looks down at his bandaged fist and realizes he’s completely forgotten how gnarly his face must look.
“Trainer says I’m alright, but I’m gonna get leveled with a wicked fine, I know it.”
“Was it worth it?” There’s a look of guilty pride on Bob’s face, like the man’s enjoying himself a little too much when he leans in and whispers, “You just did something I’ve wanted to do since Jack was in mites. Fucking lay out one of those fuckers that’s got nothing better to do than bitch because they can’t play,” there’s a moment of hesitation, as if he’s worried about pushing a boundary, before he adds, “How’d it feel to look out for your little brother?”
Pride, it turns out, in contagious, and Andrew feels like he could go back on the ice and do it all over again. “Pretty fucking great,” Andrew can’t help a smile, wincing when the gesture pulls at his split lip.
Bob slaps a hand on Andrew’s shoulder pads, then gets a grip on the back of his head, heedless of his sweaty hair.
“Crisse, you’re a fuckin’ beaut, kid. I’ve wanted to tell you that for years.”
Andrew can’t blame the smelling salts anymore.
__________
Jack clearly doesn’t see his father standing there with red-rimmed eyes, or Andrew in an equally unkempt state, and has no reason to think anything untoward has happened when he offers a handshake and pulls Andrew into a hug, bouncing his free fist off the back of Andrew’s pads. “I owe you a drink,” Jack says decisively when he pulls back, shooting a grin between his father and Andrew. “Can’t believe you did that.”
“More than a drink, I think,” the blonde guy Andrew saw behind the bench pipes up. Jack’s ‘twink’. Boyfriend. Whatever. “Dinner at least.”
“A pie,” Bob suggests tightly, keeping his voice even as he turns to quickly scrub his fist over his eyes. Andrew recognizes the statuesque woman who strides up beside Bob, and one quick look tells him she definitely knows who he is.
“Hello, Andrew,” Alicia greets softly, genuinely. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” he says, the tightness in his throat coming out as gruffness rather than emotion. “This is great, but I should go shower and, uh, it was nice meeting you all.”
Bob’s hand whips out and fists the sleeve of Andrew’s sweater, keeping him in place.
“You have plans tonight?”
Andrew debates lying, because he doesn’t know how to move forward from this point, but they’re all looking at him. Waiting. Expectant. There’s too much at stake, and yet somehow — A sharp whistle drags Andrew’s attention back to the locker room. Kent is peeking his head out, and god knows how long he’s been eavesdropping.
“Yo, Zimmermanns. Bittle.”
“Parson.” The blonde says curtly, earning a wry smirk from Kent.
“Flip, we got a presser if you feel like putting a bow on the evening,” Kent’s gaze drifts to Bob’s flushed face, and he adds, “Or, you can shower and slip out the loading bay while I cover for your aggro ass because this is not going to be fun. Your call.”
Andrew looks at the small family surrounding him, his family, and says, “I don’t want to explain.” Kent shrugs and ducks back inside while Bob’s brow furrows in confusion. “I can do dinner, but I don’t want to,” Andrew holds his hands out in front of him, trying to gesture what he means, and Bob snaps his fingers in understanding.
“Ah, ha, I got you, kid.”
“Neat. I’m gonna go shower.”
“We will be here when you’re ready,” Alicia offers. “Take your time.”
“Oh, I will,” Andrew replies before he can stop himself, cringing the second his back is turned because what the fuck could he be any more awkward?
Time will tell.
_____________
.
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♡ starting prompt: “were you ever going to tell me?”
♡ pairing: dick grayson (S1 YJ Robin) x fem reader
♡ lyric inspiration: “take a ride up to Malibu, I just wanna sit and look at you, look at you. what would it matter if your friends knew? who cares what other people say anyway.”
♡ note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes
both you and Dick walked out of Gotham Academy, laughing at some stupid joke he made as the two of you walked to the nearest coffee shop. the two of you religiously bought coffee and hung out every Thursday after school until it was time to head home.
you and Dick, unknown to each other9, had commitments to the YJ team and usually had to meet the team later in the night and today happened to be one of those days.
you really weren’t in the mood to go out for a patrol tonight but on Saturday, you had accepted to be Dick’s date to the winter formal Gotham Academy was holding and you had to excuse yourself from patrolling duties for the night.
you knew Diana would have no issue in you missing for one night but the team on the other hand would probably throw a fit for it.
whenever there was time to lounge around, you usually hid behind a domino mask and a beanie to cover your hair. your uniform on the other hand was very much like Wally’s. it pulled over your head and covered some of your face and most of your hair so it went unnoticed by everyone.
you were very similar to Robin in that aspect. the two of you hid your identities extremely well and no one outside of your mentors knew who you truly were. Wonder Woman had especially emphasized that a kid still in school should not reveal their real identity and if you wanted to once you turned 18, you could, but until then, she made you swear to never reveal who you were.
“what has you in such deep thought?” Dick asked, giving you a smile. you shook your head, “nothing. just stuff with school,” you replied. Dick had saw the bruises and cuts on your legs that you tried to hide, “you have more bruises?” he asked.
“I told you my MMA training went hard last night,” you exclaimed, “I had a partner that was double my size and she nearly wanted to kill me,” you tried to joke.
you could tell that Dick wasn’t believing what you were saying, “but you shouldn’t be the one to talk! you have a gash running down your arm! don’t think I didn’t notice,” you retaliated. he immediately tried to explain himself, “acrobatics is an intense hobby!” he replied.
you gave him a look before shoving him playfully onto the grass. Dick pushed you back as the two of you finally arrived to the coffee shop. you put your bag down in the booth before meeting Dick at the line.
“just be careful! those cuts and bruises look intense,” he said a bit more seriously. you squeezed his arm in agreement, “of course but same goes for you. the gash on your arm looks pretty deep,” you stated, running your finger on the now healing gash.
he paid for both of your drinks and the two of you made your way to the booth and took out your books.
you had befriended Dick when he first arrived to Gotham Academy. since he was the adopted son to Bruce Wayne, everyone wanted to befriend the son of the man who ran Gotham with an iron fist. you on the other hand had to befriend him because you were the captain of the Mathlete’s team.
that was the club Dick first wanted to join and although he didn’t know exactly how to join, he saw that you were in his AP Calc BC class and saw the jacket you carried around with the medals you on won on it. he quietly followed you to the auditorium that day and scooped out the team before embarrassingly introducing him and explaining why he wanted to join.
you instantly clicked with him and tried him out for the team for a few days when you realized that he was probably the second smartest on the team. he won a plaque on his first round of tournaments and gained honoree status not long after.
“god, I feel like Brunner is killing us with the amount of work he’s giving us,” you growled into your textbook, “does he not realize that people have lives and jobs?” you continued to complain.
Dick shook his head, “not like he cares. he’s just a bitter old man who wants to make us suffer,” he admitted. you laughed, accidentally choking on your coffee by the comment, “it’s true! he knows everyone is excited about the formal so he probably piled on work to make us suffer,” Dick continued.
you threw him your paper as he quickly dodged it. the two of you worked through the worksheets until you felt your communicator go off. you discreetly looked down and saw that Kaldur was calling everyone to Mount Justice for a new mission.
“hey Dick, I have to go,” you admitted a bit sadly, “my mom wants me home to babysit my niece and she needs me home in a few minutes.” Dick nodded understandingly, “yeah, Bruce seems like he needs me home too. see you tomorrow?” he asked, “of course!”
the two of you practically darted in different directions as you ran to the nearest zeta tube location. it was inside of an old building as you quickly discarded your uniform, putting it inside of your bag as you pulled on your other uniform.
as soon as you arrived to Mount Justice, you saw everyone crowding around the table that Red Tornado was explaining the mission at. you stood next to Kaldur and Connor, flashing them an ‘i’m sorry for being really late’ smile. Kaldur patted your shoulder as the table shut off after the instructions were finished.
“so, the pairs are, Wally, Artemis and I, Connor and M’Gann, and ( your name ) with Robin,” Kaldur explained, “since both of you know Gotham Academy well, the two of you will be patrolling inside the school while Connor and M’gann gather the information we need from the teacher.”
you and Robin high-fived, quickly getting on the motorcycles and racing towards the school. you weren’t particularly close with Robin but when the two of you were a team, it was nearly impossible to stop the two of you. the chemistry when you both fought together didn’t go unnoticed by anyone and Kaldur tended to pair you up together when he knew Wally and Robin would goof off the whole time.
“so, you go to Gotham Academy?” Robin asked. you nodded, “I do! I had no idea you went there,” you replied, “I wonder if we’ve ever met each other,” Robin joked.
you gave him a look, “please, I doubt it. I get the sense that you’d probably be really popular and I am the farthest from that,” you admitted. Robin gave you a look, “trust me, I am not popular. are you in any clubs?” Robin asked.
a part of you screamed to tell him but another part of you told you no, “I am but for the sake of keeping my identity a secret, I would rather not say,” you said empathetically. Robin waved your off, “no, I completely understand. the Bat would kill me if he found out someone knew who I was,” you couldn’t help but laugh, “yeah, Wonder Woman would lasso me into another dimension if I did the same.”
once the two of you parked your motorcycles into the parking lot and sneaked your way inside. you both landed by the auditorium and started to walk around.
the patrolling went by with mild conversation. since you had to inform Kaldur about both of you coordinates every few minutes, that was probably the only time you spoke up. it wasn’t until you passed the glass shelves that held all of the Mathlete trophies that you made a sudden stop.
“do you know someone on the team?” Robin asked, gulping his nervousness down a bit. “yeah, I have two friends on the team. one of which I think I like,” you admitted sheepishly.
Robin gave you a smirk, “oh, tell me! tell me! I want to know!” he exclaimed excitedly. you shoved him against the wall, “no! because if you know him? then you’re going to tell him!” you whisper-yelled. Robin waved you off, basically begging you to tell him, “fine, if I tell you then you’re going to have to swear that you’ll never tell him,” you stated.
he nodded as you discreetly opened the glass door and took the photo out, “it’s Dick Grayson. he’s so....” you trailed off not knowing to what to say as you stared at the photo mesmerized. Robin remained silent, standing as stiff as a board, “really?” he whispered.
“yeah, is that an issue?” you asked, a bit surprised by his reaction, “no, not at all. plus, I can’t even lie, the person I’ve been dying to ask out is also on the team,” your eyebrows fluttered to confusion as stared at him, “I told you who my crush is so it’s only fair you tell me!” you said.
Robin shook his head no, “AH! nope! you’re telling me! I told you my crush on Dick and now you have to tell me! plus, I didn’t know you were gay,” you said off-handedly. Robin stared at you now in more confusion, “I’m not? not that there would be an issue with that if I was but regardless, where did you get that idea?” he asked.
you held back your laugh, “I mean, the team is mostly guys unless you have a crush on her,” you pointed to yourself jokingly. Robin didn’t say anything as the silence basically answered your question, “wait, do you have a crush on her?” you asked a bit more seriously now.
“yeah, it’s her. she’s in a few of my classes and my god, she’s gorgeous,” he said “everything I look in for a girl.” your heart stopped dead in it’s tracks as Robin’s communicator went off indicating that Connor and M’Gann got what they needed.
you hadn’t said much after Robin had confessed his crush to you. you had no idea that it was going to be you who he was and although now you were dying to know his true identity, you knew you shouldn’t even bother with it. plus, Robin probably felt the same way you did when you confessed your crush on Dick.
after all of you told Red Tornado the information, you quickly departed from the team, telling them you had to be up at 6:00 to get ready for school. Robin could tell that after he admitted his crush to you, you felt a certain way about it but if anything, he should be the one weirded out. you had a crush on him! but considering your identity was sealed shut, he would never know who it really was that liked him unless he figured out your true identity.
the next morning, you woke up and put on your uniform as you ran your fingers over the burgundy colored gown you were wearing tomorrow. you were beyond excited to be Dick’s date to the formal and you had to be at his place at five to catch dinner before the dance.
once you made it to school, you greeted Dick with a smile, “mornin’ Grayson!” you said happily. he responded by putting his arm around you with the same amount of excitement you had, “what has you so excited today?” he asked.
“nothing! just something you shouldn’t worry about! how was your night?” you asked. you felt Dick’s body go stiff as he tried to conjure up some lie, “fine! Bruce had me doing some work for Wayne Enterprises and it practically put me into the grave,” he joked.
the two of you walked to your math class, slumping immediately into your seats as the morning announcements went off. you were doodling in your notebook as Dick kept muttering to himself about something you couldn’t quiet understand.
throughout the entire day, you could sense that Dick’s attention was not exactly spot on. his mind seemed to be on cloud nine and once the end of the day came, he had a bunch of theories written inside of his notebook about ( your hero name ) and who could she possibly be.
“Dick, you’ve been off all day!” you said now a bit annoyed, “is something wrong?” you asked again. he shook his head no, “no, I’m more than okay! just excited about tomorrow is all,” he replied. you nodded, “me too! I’ll be at your house around five so we can eat dinner and head to the dance,” you mentioned as you saw your mom pull up.
“see ya tomorrow!” Dick exclaimed.
+
first thing Saturday morning, your mom shook you awake. she said that your stylist would be here any minute to get your hair/makeup done and you needed to shower before then.
you quickly hopped into the shower while you pulled on some pajamas for the time being. as soon as you got out, you brushed your hair and teeth before walking to the living room to see the stylist preparing her things on the kitchen table.
“ready love?” she asked sweetly. you nodded, “ready as ever!” you replied as you sat down.
the time she did your hair, you were making small talk until you heard a knock on the door. your mom mentioned she’d get it and went to the door. when she got back, she was holding a bag of food.
“I think Dick sent you food,” she joked as she read the note, “oh yeah, it was 100% him,” she said as she showed you the note.
“can’t wait for tonight! your favorite from Scouts is inside of the boxes.”
“aw, how sweet of him!” your stylist said, “yeah, he’s one of a kind,” you said not realizing what you were saying. your mom could see the love for him in your eyes and swooned silently.
after your hair was done, you had basically devoured the food before your stylist got to work on your makeup. this time, it didn’t take as much time. by the time she finished, you had about an hour to put on your dress and do the finishing touches to your look before you had to leave.
the dress was short from the front as it got longer from the back. it kind of dragged but that was what made you fall in love with it in the first place. you pulled the dress from your closet and had your mom help you zip it up as she put on the necklace she wore the day of her winter formal on you.
“you look amazing sweety! let me take a few photos before we head out!”
you rolled your eyes playfully as you posed a few times. after you and her got into the car, you made your way to the manor. you had been there countless times and knew the gate code by memory by this point. you had messaged Dick that you were outside and saw him in the suit he was wearing.
“wow, you look gorgeous,” Dick whispered, taking you in. you tried to shake off the compliment but you couldn’t as both Alfred and your mom told you to hold still as they took photos. it wasn’t long after that Bruce came out, introducing himself to your mom and instantly making her swoon, “I’ll see you tonight,” she told you as she gave Dick a look, “take care of my daughter,” she stated, now more seriously.
Dick nodded nervously as Alfred led you into the dining room where the dinner was plated and ready to eat. it didn’t feel like a date as eating with Dick was not uncommon. this time, you both were just dressed extremely fancy.
Alfred had made you steak and the two of you basically downed it like starving caveman. you and Dick made sure that you didn’t stain yourselves as Alfred informed that the car was warmed up and ready to take you to the dance. Dick had excused himself to the bathroom as Bruce stood in front of you.
you gulped nervously as he basically towered over you, “please continue making my son happy,” was all he said before leaving back upstairs. you didn’t even get a chance to respond as Dick walked in and basically pulled you towards the car.
the formal was already going when the two of you arrived. you could hear the music blaring from outside and in order to get in, you had to pass the ‘paparazzi’ Gotham Academy set up. you two annoyingly took the photos that were being taken by people from the yearbook team and entered the auditorium.
you smiled at Dick as you both found a few of your mutual friends and sat down with them. the night was one you knew you weren’t going to forget as Dick had his arm around you the entire time. you could feel him squeezing your shoulder every time he noticed someone checking you out.
“I love this song!” you exclaimed, hearing ‘New Light’ by John Mayer playing, “wanna dance?” he asked. you instantly nodded and walked onto the dance floor.
“Oh I want a take two. I wanna break through. I wanna know the real thing about you so I can see you in a new light.”
the two of you danced, a bit closer than you intended but not that you were complaining.
song after song came and it wasn’t until you heard a beep going off when you realized what was happening. it was the teams communicator indicating that Kaldur wanted everyone at Mount Justice again. you sighed knowing if you didn’t answer, you’d probably get berated for skipping out.
secondly, you had told Kaldur unless it was an emergency, not to contact you so it must’ve been urgent if he was. you stared at Dick who was standing by the table, staring at something when you realized you had to break the news to him.
“hey Dick, there was an emergency at home and I need to leave like right now.” you felt tears pricking your eyes as you just wanted to tell the team to fuck off for ruining your night with Dick, “it’s okay! Bruce called me just now and said something happened to Alfred and I should head home,” he said.
you sighed in relief as you told him you hoped everything with Alfred was okay and you’d see him on Monday. it now had dawned on you that your spare uniform was inside of Mount Justice and you would have no time to get the one from your house.
the only thing you had on you was your domino mask which you knew would make due until you changed into your uniform. you found the nearest zeta tube and teleported to Mount Justice.
your hero name rang off through the telecom, catching everyone’s attention. you had slipped on your domino mask but your worst fear thus far came true. everyone was surrounding the zeta tube which you came from and saw your hair.
“wow, you look great,” Connor and Wally murmured to themselves. Kaldur slapped them in the head as he stared at your apologetically, “I know tonight was your night off but Rob isn’t here either and we both need you for this mission. some of the league is on their way and we need their approval before we go save the kids who are being held hostage,” Kaldur explained.
you heard Robin’s name ring through the lair as he ran in with urgency. you looked from Kaldur and stopped dead in your tracks when you saw him. it took Robin a few seconds to look at you but when he did, it was like he saw a ghost in front of him.
behind his sunglass and your domino mask, it was like a stare off. you felt like the wind was knocked out of you and held onto the table to catch your balance as Robin just stood in place.
“uh is something wrong?” Wally asked seeing your reactions. both you and Robin were stunned into silence as you didn’t know what to say. Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman’s name now rang through the lair as they entered the main floor.
they couldn’t help but wonder what was going on as a thick silence was hanging in the air. both Batman and Wonder Woman immediately realized the situation and looked at each other as they put two and two together. the two of you, unintentionally revealed your identities to each other, and Batman more than Wonder Woman knew the two of you were going to be together tonight but what he didn’t expect was that the two of you were going to the lair dressed in the outfits you both wore to the dance.
“Superman will accompany you on the trip. ( your hero name ) and Robin will stay back,” everyone looked at Batman as Wonder Woman nodded and grabbed you by the shoulder, Batman doing the same with Robin, “why? what happened?” Wally exclaimed.
“nothing that concerns you Flash, now follow Superman’s orders,” was all Batman said before taking you two into an empty room with Diana following behind you.
as soon as the door shut, you stared at Dick, his mask now off as you did the same. you didn’t know how to feel. your crush, your best friend, someone you loved dearly this entire time was also on the team and you had no idea what to do.
“so, as you can see we have a situation. both of you know each others identities and it’s best we keep it between each other. she now knows my real identity and will remain the only one who does know.”
Diana nodded, “the two of you now hold each others biggest secret and I think it’s best we both leave so you can talk it out,” she mentioned as she escorted Batman out of the room to leave you guys alone.
Dick stared at you as he tried to read your expression, “all this time we left each other for stupid reasons, we were meeting each other again, just in our different identities?” was what he said. you nodded, “were you ever going to tell me?” you whispered.
Dick walked up to you and held you close, “truthfully, when the time was right and with the bat’s approval, I was. everything I’ve ever said, tonight, the night we patrolled school together, everything! I meant it. you’re my best friend. you’re also someone I want to keep by my side together,” he finally confessed.
you stared up at Dick before doing the one thing you always wanted to do. you leaned up and kissed him deeply. he was completely taken back but kissed you back. your arms wrapped his neck as he brought you in even closer.
“wow, this was not how I expected the night to go,” you murmured against his lips, “for sure but I mean, we have the lair tonight and it’s completely empty. I want to give you that final dance of the night,” he said as he grabbed your hand and led you to the main floor again.
you stared at Dick and took his hand as he swayed you to the song you first danced back at the formal.
“take a ride up to Malibu, I just wanna sit and look at you, look at you. what would it matter if your friends knew? who cares what other people say anyway.”
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pairing: doctor!wonwoo x lawyer!female oc
genre: modern royalty, arranged marriage, fluff and future angst
word count: 2.8k
WARNINGS: hospital, injury, child trafficking, child abuse, hostage taking, guns, police, violence
author’s note: we have reached part 4!!! i think our couple’s relationship development is quite slow. please bear with me/them, they’re getting there!!! :’((( also, i am still very much thankful and overjoyed for the kind feedback that you guys gave for the previous chapter. i hope you guys are looking forward for this one. enjoy!!! :)))
four: let’s get you home, princess | masterlist
Wonwoo is not addressed as Your Highness inside the hospital premises. It’s actually rare for him to hear Your Highness ever since the royal decrees have been relaxed. His close friends, family and even colleagues have been calling him by his name or profession for the longest time. However, the King and Queen still must be addressed with utmost respect, regardless of who the person may be to the Royal Family.
Things just got different when he started living and working at your kingdom. He had said that it’s okay for him to be called Wonwoo most especially by senior doctors who have been practicing even before he was born. But it was still awkward so they stuck with Dr. Jeon. These days, some young residents and interns still stutter and it just makes Wonwoo laugh.
From time to time, Wonwoo is withdrawn from the hospital because of his duties as the Prince. Duties such as to make an appearance, attend a meeting or speak at an event. Said duties usually eat up most of his days in a week. Days where he could and should have been at the hospital, doing what he pledged to do until he dies.
Wonwoo is loyal to the crown, but he is also committed to the people he promised to serve.
The wedding planning has started and he’s relieved that you and him both have reached an agreement to hire a full-time planner that will arrange whatever the desires of your hearts may be. He’s grateful that just like him, you are happily married to your job. It’s a lame joke, but Wonwoo can never be bothered to care. So far as the wedding planning goes, you have been looking at venues such as hotels, private gardens or beach resorts. Initially, his parents offered to hold the wedding at their kingdom but you humbly requested to have it at your homeland instead.
It was no issue to the King and Queen, definitely understanding where you were coming from.
Wonwoo admires that side of you. You seem to always know what you want and when you do, you speak up at the right time with elegance and confidence. He believes it’s the lawyer and princess in you altogether.
The thought of you puts a smile on his face. He hopes you wake up soon so he can see you.
“Wonwoo?”
His thoughts popped like a bubble when his name was suddenly called. He clears his throat and faces the owner of the voice. It was Soonyoung and by the looks of his grin, Wonwoo’s sure he witnessed him daydreaming.
Wonwoo rolls his eyes and goes back to the charts he’s been reading. “What do you want?”
“That’s not how you return the favor of your friend who brought you a fresh batch of clothing,” his friend chides, bumping his shoulder against his tall friend. “You seemed to have had a great night, our Prince.”
It’s trivial, really. But Wonwoo’s cheeks blushed at the reminder. He will never tell anyone but staying with you yesterday until the early hours of today made him feel something he doesn’t know. It’s absurd how he can’t pinpoint what that something is, but he won’t deny that there is.
“Shut up,” he grumbles like a child, ignoring the cheeky giggle Soonyoung emits.
Speaking of Soonyoung, he was born in your kingdom and moved to the neighboring one when he was only a baby. Both his parents are doctors also who have the heart and passion to offer their services voluntarily. They were only set for a medical mission before going back in a month, but the King and Queen (Wonwoo’s parents) recognized and applauded their kindness, offering them a place to stay and permanent positions at their Royal Hospital.
Being of the same age, Wonwoo and Soonyoung grew up together and became best of friends.
It’s no question that he’s attached to the Prince wherever he goes.
“Dr. Jeon,” another voice calls for him and this time, it sounded desperate.
Wonwoo looks up and finds a young resident, looking disheveled and stressed. “What is it?”
“I have a young boy, 10-11-years-old, crying in pain while clutching his left arm,” she explains the basics before continuing, “He was brought by someone who seemed like his brother not older than 14-years-old. They weren’t accompanied by anyone.”
“Ask for their names and address,” Soonyoung suggests while standing straight and crossing his arms. “I’m sure we can find some contact details from the statistics office.”
The young intern shakes her head. “They’re not talking. All the older boy is saying, begging rather, is for us to help them.”
“X-ray?” Wonwoo asks and pumps some sanitizer on his hands.
“The result is on the way.”
Wonwoo nods and starts walking to where the boys are. “Let’s see what we got then.”
The emergency department is always hectic and anyone that says otherwise is unbelievable. Regardless of what the case may be, Wonwoo stands that if they are brought here, it is an emergency. Usually, they range from new parents bringing their newborn baby who can’t stop crying in the middle of the night or some bringing their seven-year-old for a cast because they fell off the bike while playing with their friends. They all seem to be treatable and can be discharged in an hour or so. But sometimes, you can never be too sure.
Wonwoo knows because he has witnessed it already. That one baby that’s been crying was actually fighting a fever and that one kid who fell from the bike? It was having trouble with his balance and movement.
It’s not the first time that young children came to the hospital by themselves. They’re soon followed by their parents or guardian afterwards most of the time. Wonwoo supposes the kids this time around are in shock that they can’t form any clear thoughts at the moment.
But Wonwoo doesn’t think that’s the case at all once the curtains were pulled open.
“Oh my,” Soonyoung blurts out, surprised.
Wonwoo expected two boys looking dirty and blushing from playing under the sun all throughout the day. He expected them to be silently crying for their mom or dad. He expected them to be at least healthy and on their way for a speedy recovery once they got treatment. But no, Wonwoo was wrong.
The boys looked awfully hungry and dehydrated. Their clothes were smaller than what their body looks like and the older brother is missing one pair of his shoes. He noticed bruises on some parts of their body. There’s even a nasty cut on the older boy’s bottom lip.
Something’s wrong and Wonwoo is not a fool to not notice it.
Wonwoo releases the breath he’s been holding and smiles genuinely. “Hello, I’m Wonwoo.”
Silence.
He looked at Soonyoung before proceeding to meet the boy’s height who’s sitting on the chair beside his brother’s bed. “I’m going to take a look at your brother now, if you don’t mind.”
The older one finally looks at him, his eyes dead serious. “That’s what they have been saying ever since we got here. Why can’t you just treat him already?”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Wonwoo tries to calm him down, noticing his tear-stained face and shaking voice. “Your brother will probably need a cast. We’re just waiting for the x-ray results to come out to know for sure. I just need to ask some questions, alright?”
The boy’s bloodied lip trembles as he nods his head.
“I’ll go get the result,” Soonyoung says and leaves without forgetting to close the curtains.
“What’s your name?”
“They call me Jung,” the boy answers, weak and unsure. He then points at his sleeping brother, “He’s called Sam.”
Wonwoo’s brows furrow in both confusion and doubt. Why wouldn’t they have official names? Looking at the brothers’ state all over again, it didn’t take Wonwoo long to comprehend what’s really going on. He turns his head to the resident and locks eyes with her, who’s already grasping the situation at hand. He then gives her a nod, signalling her to immediately call children’s services.
Once she leaves, Soonyoung arrives with an envelope.
“It’s a fracture, but won’t need surgery,” He says happily and Jung sighs in relief.
“But, you’re staying here for a while,” Wonwoo takes hold of the envelope from his friend. “We just need to run some more tests.”
Soonyoung looks at his friend with wide eyes asking, what are you talking about? But Wonwoo ignores him and keeps his smile in the hopes that the boy doesn’t grow any more agitated.
“Your brother is okay,” he assures Jung and squeezes his shoulder. “We’ll put the cast on his arm and clean the cut on your lip shortly. Stay here, okay?”
He pushes his friend out after the boy gives them a nod. Soonyoung was still glaring at him at the nonsense he spewed out earlier. Wonwoo puts a finger on his lip, gesturing for him to not say a thing yet until they move to somewhere more quiet.
“What is going on?” Soonyoung whispered-shouts when they reached what seemed to be the fire exit. “What tests are we still running?”
“It’s a lie,” Wonwoo answers and smooths the lines on his forehead, thinking and thinking on what he should do. “We need to keep them here. I think… they’re victims of abuse and trafficking.”
Soonyoung’s jaw drops while his legs grow weak, making him stumble. This is nothing new to them. But even so, it still makes him sick to the stomach. He just nodded as he didn’t need to say anything else.
“I already asked for children’s services and they could arrive here anytime soon,” Wonwoo continues. “They looked like they escaped. I won’t be surprised if someone suddenly barges here, claiming they’re the parent or guardian.”
“What do we do when that happens?”
“We keep them safe,” he answers firmly. “No matter what.”
Every staff at the Emergency Room was alerted about the situation of the boys. Authorities were also called and they’ll be arriving soon. Wonwoo gave strict orders to not disclose any information about them to anyone who claims they are the parent or guardian. Any affiliation they assume is not acceptable unless they can prove it.
The boys were transferred to a ward once Sam’s treatment was done. Wonwoo brought them some food, water and spare gowns to rid them of the excuse of clothes they’ve been wearing for who knows how long. It’s unbearable to imagine what they have gone through but seeing them get comfortable is enough to bring some peace to Wonwoo’s mind.
He requested Soonyoung to stay with them or at least check on them from time to time and make sure no one goes inside their room other than the designated staff. He just needs the representative of the children’s services to arrive and they’ll start knowing what the next steps to take from there.
Now that’s settled, Wonwoo can now go back to his routine and job.
Or not.
“You’re Highness.”
His security detail stands before him, complete and blocking his way to the elevator that could bring him back to the Emergency Room. Wonwoo can notice the tense and nervous expressions on their faces like children about to admit the trouble they just caused. He had requested before that they be posted on the sides to not hinder him from working. They’re only to jump into action when it’s life threatening and by the looks of it they’re here in his face just to do that but he still asks.
“What are you doing here?”
The head of the group bows his head. “The Emergency Room is being held hostage by armed men. We need to leave as soon as possible.”
Wonwoo’s heart almost felt like it stopped beating. “No.”
He needs to move. He needs to go back there. He can’t just leave.
Wonwoo forces his body against the men standing firm on their positions, only to be held back. His head of security nods at his men to not let him go and carry him if they have to.
“No, no, no!”
Wonwoo thrashes from their hold as he screamed for them to let him go. He can hear his security speaking to his mic to prepare the vehicle that would transfer him to safety but in that second all men drop to the ground and shield him when an ear-splitting clap suddenly reverberates through the walls.
A gunshot was fired.
Meanwhile, you were brought to the top floor of the hospital at one of the private rooms reserved for the members of the Royal Family when you insisted on staying. Jeongyeon and the rest of your security detail were more than distressed at your stubbornness, fearing for the earful they’re going to get once this is all over. But they would rather have that than leave you and neglect their duty.
“Your Highness, we really have to go,” Jeongyeon reiterates, still trying to convince you while shaking your shoulders.
You shake your head and avoid her eyes. “No, we can’t just leave the people here. We can’t leave…” you pause then whisper softly, “Wonwoo.”
Jeongyeon nods. “I know, I know. But the Royal Police are on their way and the Prince’s security detail is already with him. The two of you cannot stay here any longer. It’s an order from His Majesty.”
You swallow the lump on your throat. You can’t think. You can’t process whatever the hell is ensuing downstairs. The lives of innocent people, your innocent people, are at stake.
You just can’t leave. You have to do something.
“We’re not leaving this hospital until those armed men are immobilized.”
Jeongyeon wishes to plead further but all you hear was ringing when the sound of what you’ve been fearing the most resonated inside the room.
Security scrambles and moves at a speed of light to protect you with their bodies. They were screaming among themselves but you fail to register what they’re saying. You fail to hear nor see your surroundings.
Everything became a blur.
Everything became nothing as your heart beated a thousand times faster than normal and the only person running through your mind is no one else but the Prince who was beside you just last night but is now in imminent danger.
Please, Wonwoo. Please.
“Their Majesties condemns the hostage taking that occurred at the Royal Hospital,” Prime Minister Lee starts, looking straight at the camera. “Their Majesties assures and promises the public that they will be held accountable for the crime they have committed but most importantly for the distress and trauma they have caused the patients. They commend the prompt action that the Hospital’s Security and Royal Police have taken resulting in no casualties.”
“Prime Minister Lee!” A reporter raises their hand. “Can you confirm that His and Her Highness Jeon Wonwoo and Y/N were at the hospital when the hostage took place?”
“Yes,” he answers, “Her Highness, Princess Y/N, was admitted to the hospital yesterday after fainting at her office…”
You switch the TV off with the remote before throwing it on the couch. You walk to the window with crossed arms and watch the Royal Police vehicles leave one by one after clearing the Emergency Room and declaring it safe. It’s now back to its normal operations.
Apparently, the gunshot was fired by the police, wounding one of the hostage takers. They took advantage of that distraction to finally hold them down and arrest them right away. There’s no official statement from the Royal Police yet as they are still investigating further. You make a commitment to get to the bottom of this.
They’re gone now.
But Wonwoo is still unheard of.
He’s safe, they told you. But that didn’t stop you from biting your nails, walking back and forth and pulling your hairs from the roots. You need to see him.
“Your Highness,” Jeongyeon calls for you and your head snaps up. She gives you a small smile before opening the door she’s holding wider.
Wonwoo enters with a tired smile and you almost burst into tears. You ran to him as fast as you could, but your legs were weakened by worry, you almost fell. It’s a good thing Wonwoo meets you halfway and catches you in his arms.
You take every tangible thing about him. You take and you take as you hold his waist tightly and bury your face to his chest. “You can’t do that to me.”
Wonwoo sighs in content upon breathing in your scent and hearing your voice. He wraps his one arm around your waist while the other holds your head gently. He stays silent and just holds you for as long as he desires. After the horror that transpired earlier, holding you like this is what he desperately needed.
“Let’s get you home, Princess.”
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What abkut mafia!jake au
Stop giving me awesome AU ideas that I cannot write the fic for! 😭
- due to some really, really bad choices after high school (did he ever make other ones? who knows), Jake Peralta has ended up as a grunt for the Ianucci family. He doesn’t really do much - he’s mostly someone who gathers information and new areas for them to work in, because he’s good at randomly befriending people and milking them for all it’s worth. He’s done a few ‘deliveries’, too, but has never had to really get physical.
- (he was at one family meeting that turned into the ‘farewell’ of a mistrusted member and he still has nightmares about it)
- he’s never been arrested for anything and thought the police didn’t even know his name, so imagine his surprise when he’s approached by one of their higher-ups (as if he knows the rankings, psh, pigs are all the same) and subtly but definitely asked if he would be willing to work with them
- his task seems simple: bring one of their cops into the family undercover, the same way he has ‘recruited’ several bodega owners and other ‘low-skill’ workers that turned out to be useful for the family. Maybe keep an eye on the cop as well and help her out if she’s struggling
- she? oh yeah, it’s a woman. A frankly gorgeous woman, he realises when they meet up with her and some FBI dude who obviously pretends he’s not FBI, to discuss it all further. Her name is ‘Dora’, and he knows that’s a lie from the second she’s introduced, but the less he knows, probably the better. The rules are set, he gets a special cellphone number of a ‘cousin’ to contact if something goes wrong, and two weeks later Dora Perez is steadily working her way up the ranks with the Ianuccis, who are very proud of Jake for bringing in this brilliant new talent.
- He might or might not be looking out for her a little bit too much. He might or might not get involved in far more shady dealings with the Iannuccis so he can work closer with her. He might or might not be in deep, deep shit.
- ‘Dora’ is grateful for it, though, he learns every time he drives her home after a more difficult job. She used to be withdrawn and quiet with him, which he tried to equalise by cracking more and more stupid jokes and doing random silly stuff during their drives, but then one time they drive in absolute silence while she cleans blood of her hands, and he says something, he doesn’t remember what, but it’s the right thing apparently, because she starts to talk. She talks to him during every ride after, telling him about the stress and the constant guard she has to keep up and how none of her research binders prepared her for this, and at some point she tells him about nightmares and seeing death around every corner and she can’t wait for this mission to be over.
- (for her sake, he can’t wait for that either. For his sake, he wishes it would go on forever.)
- They’re sent out for a big job together once, because Jake has already become ‘connected’ to Amy in the Ianuccis’ eyes, and they both end up with blood on their hands, and some of it is hers.
- he gets out of the car after that drive home, and gets up to her tiny, fake apartment, and helps her clean the wounds (nothing too big, just cuts, because thank god that guy only had a knife before he beat it out of his hands and then beat the living daylight out of him after he injured her) with the softest fingers she’s ever felt. Then the cleaning alcohol is swapped for drinkable stuff, and they talk, and they talk about everything and nothing, about how a dead-beat dad and an absent mother make a Mafia goon, and how family pressure and a sense of constant duty make a detective who so badly wanted to say no to this assignment but couldn’t.
- “For what it’s worth, Dora, I’m glad you said yes. I mean, not that- not that I want you to do this kind of work- and I want things to be over for you soon, because- but- I’m glad it’s you.”
“Amy.”
“Hm?”
“My name is Amy. Amy Santiago.”
- He wakes up in her bed the next morning, with her in his arms, and he kind of doesn’t regret a single thing, even as his smart-brain is screaming at him. He’s pretty sure he would’ve willingly died for her even before this night, but now, he realises... that he probably will.
- Amy (Amy, not Dora) does freak out a little more than he does when she wakes up. She can’t get involved, she says, this is a job, a dangerous one, and she has to focus on that job and getting the mafia gang and not-
okay, okay, let’s not overthink this then, Jake says only to calm her down, we don’t do anything ‘involved’, we’re just... having fun. Keeping things light and breezy. Helping deal with the stress.
- and so, despite how much it hurts and how much it makes him happy at the same time, Jakey the Jew becomes Jakey, Dora’s Loverboy. It helps, he supposes, because it means the Ianuccis won’t suspect them hanging out so much, and send him along to most of her jobs now so he can watch out for her, and he gets to be with her in a way, even as she constantly reiterates ‘light and breezy’ to keep him at a distance no matter how close they get.
- it doesn’t feel very ‘light and breezy’ when they spend time together in front of the TV, though, to get their minds to relax after doing whatever the Ianuccis needed them doing. It doesn’t feel ‘light and breezy’ when they joke around in the bodega getting ice cream on a particularly hot day out doing jobs, or when she shows him around the library after meeting her ‘cousin’ there for a chat. It doesn’t feel ‘light and breezy’ at all when she sighs into his arms when he’s holding her in bed, neither of them even wanting to take the night any further than soft hands under tshirts, because all they really need at some point is the comfort of each other.
- and then one day, after a few months of this ‘light and breezy’ and ‘Dora’s Loverboy’, Jake gets invited for a ‘Talk’ by the family. With a capital T. And he’s not been that high up in the ranks at any point, and he’s not really done much for the family, but he’s not an idiot. He knows what that means. So of course he doesn’t tell Amy, writes her a short but succinct note instead that maybe ends with the L-word somewhere in it, and goes to have a Talk.
- The Ianuccis know that there is a rat, but they don’t know who. And they know that if Jakey is good for one thing, it’s information. So The Talk doesn’t end as quickly as it usually does, and the way he’d expected. It hurts a lot more, for one thing.
Jake thinks of offering up some other goon or lower family member as the rat, if only to make the torture stop, but his brain is too broken in the moment to figure out a convincing story. And when the name ‘Perez’ suddenly drops into the conversation, there’s really only one other name he can still think of clearly to blame. Peralta.
- he doesn’t remember much after that - he’s pretty sure he heard gunshots, but none of them hit him, so what’s the deal with that? Everything else is pretty much a blur of pain and cold, and lots of shouting, and then warm soft hands on his face and a quiet voice saying his name amidst it all, and when he wakes up the next time he’s in a hospital bed.
- He’s in that hospital bed for two weeks to recover, and no one visits him. Not that it should be surprising - Nana is dead, his mom doesn’t know about anything he’s done since the age of 18 for a reason, and there’s no one else who in their right mind should care to visit him.
So imagine his surprise when a detective shows up, introduces herself as Rosa Diaz, and explains that she’s Amy’s partner at work, but she’s not here for official business.
- “She wanted to come see you. Hell, she fought tooth and nail for it. But she had to be debriefed, stupid FBI assholes, and then it turned out two of the Ianuccis got away, so we had to find them first to make sure they don’t go after her for revenge” (well that explains the constant patrols in the hospital for him, as well) “and we had to hide her for her safety, but, Jake, she wanted to come see you. I swear.”
“It’s okay.” Jake says, and it’s really not, but he’s been a brilliant liar for years now. “You can tell her... it’s okay. The job is done, and I’m, I’m glad she’s finally got it over and past her. Really. Tell her it’s okay.”
- He’s debriefed by the FBI after he gets discharged, as well. They tell him ‘good job’ and ‘thanks’ and pay him a surprisingly large amount of money and cover his hospital bills, so that’s good. They also advise that he move, not far, but far enough that any possible leftover scragglers of the family don’t remember his old place for a ‘visit’. So he moves, a few blocks only, enough to get a new favourite bodega and deli and discover that the library is actually nearby and that there’s this community college that Amy kept talking about for some reason, and if he takes a few classes to finally get a degree, it’s not about getting a proper job at some point, it’s more about not thinking about anything else. About maybe forgetting, even if it was her that basically got him where he is now.
- (it does not work)
- she knocks on his door a month later. She looks strange in her professional outfit instead of washed out jeans and a tanktop with a stupid slogan on it, but also so perfectly her. That’s Amy, he thinks, not Dora anymore. That’s Amy, and he still loves her just as much as he did when she was ‘Dora’ in his sweatpants and tshirt. Maybe more.
- “You’re a hard man to find, Peralta.” She says, and he knows that’s a lie, but she smiles with a scared look through it and he takes it for what it is - an attempt at saying anything, really, after 1 1/2 months of silence, when she’s probably got a speech all prepared in her head but needs to get there first.
“That’s such a bad, cheesy movie line.” He helps, and she laughs and yeah, that’s all he needs in life.
“Well we never watched any good movies, did we.”
“Hey, we watched Die Hard. That’s the best movie there is.”
She rolls her eyes but nods, and opens her mouth, and Jake thinks that the speech is coming now, but he has no idea what it might entail. Thank you and good bye, maybe. Good job, great work, can you sign this official statement for me so I can add it to my paperwork? possibly.
“Screw light and breezy.” She says instead, and then she’s in his new apartment, which is much nicer and cleaner than the old place was even after she worked her magic on it, and she’s kissing him, and he’s never, ever letting her out.
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Life Goes On
Dakota x MC
Word Count: ~2,300
Now with Follow-Up, The Moments in Between
She doesn’t want to say anything, but eventually she has to. After all, they’re Prom Royalty tonight. There’s no way their absence from the Edenbrook Prom hasn’t been noticed by now.
“Should we head back down there?” Sage asks quietly, breaking the comfortable silence between the pair.
Dakota’s index finger momentarily pauses in its absent-minded tracing of stars, hearts, and what Sage surmises must be ghosts, based on the wavy lines at the bottom, on her bare back. He restarts the invisible drawings on her hip before he finally replies. “Honestly, I just want to stay up here with my incredible girlfriend. Let’s never leave this bed.”
Sage smiles, lifting her head from where it was tucked under his chin. “That offer would be much more appealing if this was a Queen instead of a hospital bed.”
Dakota laughs, and Sage smiles at her unending ability to make him do that, further entwining her legs with his. She’s no longer worried about what the other prom attendees are thinking about their absence as the teens fall into another comfortable silence.
“That was amazing, Teach.” Dakota eventually says, his lips pressed gently against her forehead. “Thanks for taking that one off my bucket list.”
Sage looks up at him, placing a quick peck to his lips. “I was more than happy to help you get the full Senior Prom Night experience.” She admits when she pulls away.
Dakota smiles at her, but it doesn’t quite meet his eyes. Her brow furrows. “What?”
“….This is probably the worst time to bring this up…..” Dakota begins before trailing off as he looks at her uncertainly.
“What, Dakota? You know you can tell me anything, right?”
His eyes dart to their scattered clothes on the sterile hospital floor before he’s able to meet her sincere gaze. “Can we….talk about death for a second?” Dakota asks.
His penetrating brown eyes bore into her own, and she can only nod.
“Lately, I’ve been thinking about death, a lot.” He begins.
“Why? Are you not feeling well? Do you need to go back to the ICU? Dakota! Why did you go to prom and risk your immune system if you weren’t feeling well?!” Sage asks frantically. She reaches down to the ground for her discarded dress. “I’m gonna find the oncologist…” She mutters distractedly.
“Hey, hey!” He firmly grips her shoulder, his grip firmer than it has been for months now. That calms her a little, and she lets him roll her back over to face him. “Slow down a minute, Sage. I feel…fine. It’s just, …who knows how I’ll feel tomorrow? Or the next day. And we haven’t really talked much about this, so…I don’t know…no time like the present?”
The frantic beating of her heart calms further at his assurances that he doesn’t feel unwell. “Okay, let’s talk about it.” She says, even though that’s the last thing she wants to talk about as she lies naked in his arms.
“Okay. First off, I just want you to know I’m okay with dying. I had 19 good years, that’s more than a lot of people get. I have family and friends who love me.” He pauses here, leaning forward to place a lingering kiss to her lips. “I have you. That’s a pretty fulfilling life right there.”
“Dakota…” Sage whispers, voice already breaking.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m going to be okay. No matter what happens. But….I worry about what happens to everyone else after I’m gone.” Dakota admits.
“That’s so like you. Concerned about everyone else. You’re such a good person, Dakota.” The kind of person who should live to old age, the kind of person who makes the world a better place. Life can be so unfair, but Sage keeps that thought to herself.
“I can’t help but worry. A lot of marriages don’t survive the loss of a child, you know. My parents’ whole lives revolve around me. They upended everything to move to Boston to get me the best medical care. They left their friends, and family. I just…..don’t want them to stop living if I do. Does that make sense?”
Sage nods, intertwining her fingers with his under the thin hospital blanket.
“If I’m gone, will you check on them for me? Not, like, all the time or anything. But just….stop by to visit if you’re in town? I think it would help them, to see you achieve all the life landmarks I don’t get to. Graduating college, getting your first real job,…getting married….” Dakota trails off as tears well in her eyes. “Teach…..”
Sage shakes her head. “I’m okay.” Dakota looks unconvinced, so she forces a smile. “I promise I’m okay. And of course I’d visit, and call when I’m out of town.”
“Thank you.” He says with so much gratitude Sage almost bursts into tears immediately. “Alright, so the other people I worry about are Lennox and Mateo. We’ve been the three musketeers for so long, it wouldn’t be the same with just two. So, I’m gonna need you to keep the gang together.”
“Of course I’d still talk to your best friends Dakota. You don’t even have to ask that.” Sage admonishes.
“They’re your friends too now. Don’t forget that. And as their friend…..please don’t let them wallow in survivor’s guilt, okay? I don’t want them to feel guilty for getting to live in case I don’t. I’m honestly so happy that they’re better, that they’re healthy. Don’t let them forget that, alright?”
“Alright.” Sage parrots miserably. She didn’t know this conversation would be so hard. And if just talking about it is this hard, she can’t imagine actually living it. There’s no way she’s strong enough to do that.
“Okay, so that just leaves one more person I’m a little worried about.” Dakota continues. He brushes away a tear that’s sliding down her face toward his pillow. “You, Teach.”
“If you’re so worried, then don’t leave me.” Sage tries to joke, but now she’s full-on sobbing so it falls flat.
Dakota smiles softly anyway though, pressing another lingering kiss to her lips. She tries not to think about how many kisses, how much time, they have left. “I’m going to try my absolute hardest not to, beautiful…..but if I do….I want you to move on. I want you to get married, and have babies, and live your life to the absolute fullest. And I don’t want you to feel guilty about it for even a second, do you hear me?”
“How can you ask me to do that? Of course I would feel guilty. When I think about walking down the aisle, it’s you I’m picturing standing beside the priest. And when I think about starting a family, I picture a little girl with your eyes, or a baby boy with your smile. I can promise you I’ll settle for someone else if that’s what you want to hear, but I’m always going to love you. Present tense. Forever. And some guy would just have to settle for being second best. That wouldn’t be fair to him.”
Dakota smiles sadly. “You’re young. Right now, everything feels like it’s the end of the world. But ten years from now? You’ll barely remember me, Teach. Life goes on. You’ll love again. I know it. And I want you to.”
“You’re not forgettable Dakota. You’re extraordinary. You changed me, and even if you’re not here, even if life goes on, you’ll go on with me. I’ll think about you every day.” Sage swears.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Sage.” Dakota says, tone full of forced levity.
“I’m not.” Sage insists.
“That is something I worry about, you know. Something most people who are dying worry about. Being forgotten. Just…ceasing to exist, disappearing off the face of the Earth.” Dakota admits.
“That’s not going to happen to you. Me, your parents, Lennox, Mateo? We wouldn’t let you just…fade away. We love you. I love you. Present tense. Remember?”
Dakota smiles, and as usual, her heart flutters. “I love you too Sage. So much.”
“…can we talk about something happy now? I think I cried off all my makeup.” Sage rubs under her eyes, and that’s definitely smeared mascara coating her fingers.
“One more thing. I want to ask you for a favor.” Dakota adds.
“Name it.”
“Will you name your first born after me? A namesake, so I’m not forgotten?” Dakota asks. Sage can’t tell whether or not he’s joking.
“You don’t think my hypothetical baby daddy would have a problem with me naming our child after my late boyfriend? The love of my life who I still wouldn’t be over?” Sage counters.
Dakota shoots her an almost offended look. “Sage, you’re telling me a grown man, who is your husband, not baby daddy, in this scenario, is going to be threatened by your long dead high school boyfriend? You can do better.”
Sage laughs, and Dakota can’t help but join in.
Eventually their laughter dies down, and they just stare at each other lovingly in the dim light of the hospital room. “Alright, when you put it like that, I guess I can promise to name my firstborn after you.” Sage eventually promises.
Dakota lifts his pinky, and Sage rolls her eyes, but she pinky promises him anyway.
“Thank you. Now, we can get dressed and get back to prom before your mom comes looking for you.” Dakota concludes.
….
…
..
.
10 years later
Sage wakes to the shrill cry of her newborn through the baby monitor. She rubs at her eyes sleepily as she searches for her slippers in the dark bedroom. Her husband starts to stir. “I’ve got him.” Sage offers, and her husband dozes off again with a soft mutter of thanks.
Sage makes her way down the hall and reaches into her son’s crib. “What’s wrong Dakota? Hungry? Need a new diaper? Just want attention and hate when mommy gets a good night of sleep?” Sage asks, yawning as she comes to the end of her question.
She shrugs one arm out of her nightgown and raises her son to her breast. He happily latches on, sipping greedily. “Ah, hungry.” Sage quips, gently running her free hand over the newborn’s mostly bald head.
Once he’s fed, Sage gently deposits Dakota back in his crib. She’s just started to swaddle him in his blanket when she’s startled by a pair of warm arms wrapping around her from behind. As her surprise abates, she leans back into her husband’s embrace. “I told you I had him.”
“I know. But I got lonely without you.” He admits, pressing a kiss to her neck.
Sage tssks. “So needy. You’re so used to having all my attention, but now you have to share with little Dakota here.”
Her husband reaches one arm into the crib, and the infant happily grips his father’s index finger. “If I have to share you, I’m glad it’s with DJ here.”
Sage’s brow furrows. “DJ?”
“Dakota Junior, or DJ. It’s going to get confusing having two Dakotas around here, so he needs a nickname.”
“What’s wrong with Little Dakota?” Sage asks.
“Babe, I doubt he’s gonna like being called ‘Little’ once he’s past ten.” Dakota insists.
“Maybe you should have thought of that before you made me promise to name my first born after you.” Sage teases.
“Hey, we both know I wasn’t expecting to be around.” Dakota retorts playfully.
Sage turns away to face Dakota, smiling as she drapes her arms around his neck. “Well, you can’t predict a medical miracle. Cancer didn’t stand a chance against you.”
“Don’t jinx me.” Dakota complains, but he’s obviously not that upset because he plants a kiss to her forehead.
“Babe, you’re more likely to get struck by lightning then get cancer again after ten years of remission.” Sage insists.
“Still, better safe than sorry.” Dakota insists.
Sage rolls her eyes, but she obediently turns around and softly taps her fist against the wooden railing of their son’s crib, ‘knocking on wood’. Dakota can be so superstitious, but his many endearing qualities outweigh her annoyance with his superstitious ways.
The new parents both stare into the crib, watching the baby coo and gurgle. “He’s really something isn’t he?” Dakota breathes out softly.
“A miracle.” Sage adds.
“I could watch him all night.” Dakota insists.
“But you shouldn’t, because you have a big day tomorrow.” Sage reminds him.
“You mean we have a big day tomorrow.” Dakota corrects.
“It’s your movie. I’m just going to help with the casting.”
“It’s our movie. I’d never be able to tell our love story without my muse.”
Sage smiles, rising up on her tip toes to press a gentle kiss to her husband’s lips. “A romance for the ages.” She whispers against his lips when she pulls away, just barely.
Dakota nods, tangling his fingers through her’s. “You’re everything to me. When I was sick, when things got hard, you gave me something to fight for.” Dakota insists softly.
Sage smiles, she never gets tired of hearing that. “I love you.”
“Not as much as I love you.” Dakota insists. He tugs her towards the door. “Come on, let’s go back to bed.”
Sage hesitates, looking into the crib. “I know they say we shouldn’t start bed sharing until Little Dakota is older……but how can anyone expect me to be away from him all night?”
Dakota smiles fondly. “Well, they let us take him home from the hospital, so we’re in charge now.” He makes his way over to the crib, resuming the swaddling.
“That’s too loose Dakota. Here, let me show you.” Sage demonstrates her perfect swaddling technique for her husband.
Dakota scoops up his little namesake when she’s done. “Got it. Thanks, Teach.”
….
…
.
A/N: With Every Heartbeat made me sad, so I choose to live in this Alternate Universe where Dakota Winchester makes a full recovery and he and Sage get the happy ending they deserve.
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Okay I’m mentally prepared to ramble about the Hell Arc. No panels, just words.
The first blurb is definitely Ukitake speaking and I’d like to think it’s hiding some bitterness and regret, since he’s in hell, but you know I’m not gonna hold on to hope that it’s anything deep.
Orihime being resigned to laundry as well as just NOT knowing where her son is??? I’m sorry the same Orihime that can sense Ichigo like it’s her fucking job? But y’know uwu it’s okay to be a housewife and this is definitely Kubo showing off his depth of feminist theory and not shoving Orihime in the background bc wife clean and cook and nothing else ooga booga.
Kon as a babysitter is horrifying. The implication that they’ve kept him as a teddy bear for all these years is even more so. Like damn you can’t ask Urahara for ONE gigai after you saved the world, Ichigo? Hope youre paying him a living wage for helping you navigate the terrible twos. Tbh I think it would’ve been better to have a new sidekick and for Kon to be working for Urahara now.
Okay I do think the kid sending souls to Hell on accident is pretty funny. But also it’s definitely Kubo forgetting that Orihime is in the picture and Kazui is not Ichigo. He has more than Isshin; he has Orihime as his mom. He has someone who cares very much that he’s still in his bed and is someone he would talk to about uuuuh sending ppl through a portal. I know women are a different species and are incredibly hard to grasp because of that so it’s okay Kubo.
Ichika being taught by Ikkaku and to a lesser extent Yumichika is very good. Love that enough to gloss over my disappointment at Rukia not teaching her. I just know Byakuya is probably a lil bitter about it too. Rukongai rats 1 Noble clan 0
Booooo Kubo, get off the stage. Pointing out Orihime is at home doing laundry does not fix that she’s there. If she’s not gonna stop Kazui from doing whatever the fuck she might as well be eating bad ramen too.
MAYURI MY BELOVED. You’re so right, king, Urahara is a tasteless capitalist unlike you, who fully commits to the too-organic technological horrors the Seireitei deserves.
Did Kubo forget how to draw Rangiku? Why the fuck is her face so moe. Some of the women look pretty off in the face over all but with Rangiku it’s jarring. I know her face got more moe somewhere in tybw arc but jfc it’s worse here.
I find it hard to believe that Shunsui would stick to a tradition that demands all lieutenants be away and in the human world all at once but maybe he just doesn’t give a shit about anything nowadays. Depression is leading the Gotei 13 now.
It’s not a Bleach surprise attack unless a woman is grievously injured right off the bat.
That being said, I do enjoy the two new lieutenants. The hakama shorts are a Choice but they work somehow. Also a zanpakuto being on nails is fun.
Kira and Akon ❤️ I’m glad Kubo retconned the novels so Kira could make his entrance in a hoodie and black tabi. Hope he gets more depressing and bitter moments tho. Also Akon having so much panel space…..I’ll never recover.
Hell Szayel is so fucking horny which is astounding considering like everything he did was a sex joke in Hueco Mundo arc. His sex appeal has aged like fine wine. Also pure comedy that Ichigo can only ask who he is. If only Uryu were there 😔
So did they have ceremonies for Gin and Kaname because if not then???? Like I understand it’s impossible to make this gel 100% bc its not based on anything other than wanting characters to come back as cool demons and is actively working against previous canon but c’mon. They would’ve noticed before this when no ceremony for Gin and Kaname was held and their reishi haunted everyone via molasses rain drops.
That being said, I love love love the concept of characters coming up from Hell with not holes within them but outside them. They do not need to consume others to feel completion, they are consumed to the point of wanting to fill others. Don’t you recognize me? Don’t you see what you’ve done? Don’t you long to fill that hole inside of you, too? All it takes is dying to reach that nirvana of knowing who you are and what you feel in swirling completion. Even fallen, the fruit of knowledge is divine.
I want Ukitake to say he’s glad Shunsui lived to his face while looking so heartbroken that he didn’t get to live too. I want these two to cry across from one another with a flashback to their idyllic youth. I want it *grabby hands*
Sosuke Aizen has disappeared as in dead? Or are they counting ‘out of Seireitei’ as disappeared. Honestly 50/50 whether he’ll have a form of cameo. On one hand he’s incredibly popular, on the other hand Kubo was floundering with him during tybw so I can’t imagine he gives a shit to bring him back.
As far as new lore for hell butterflies goes, I guess we’ll see how interesting it gets but I highly doubt it’s going to get a lot of thought.
With the way Kazui is smiling, it makes me wonder if someone taught him about the shrine and sending souls to hell. Does he recognize the door? Is Kubo implying that Ukitake has had contact with Kazui? I mean, it would make a LOT of sense considering the fish he was riding, the ritual he knows. It would also make sense why the soul reaper badge was highlighted; Ukitake has been around in some capacity before officially being stomped to hell???
Definitely me thinking too much about it but also there’s no way Kazui just knows this shit without someone from Hell telling him about it even covertly.
This entire arc set up definitely seems like it’ll bring some worthwhile angst and maybe some moments for the more unexplored characters if characters like Akon getting screen time is any education.
Overall not hoping for anything other than good Hell designs and seeing characters do things.
If I don’t see Kenpachi with his beefy titties out I will be disappointed. That’s my bare minimum.
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Well, I read snk 139. And regret it.
1) Soooo right off the bat we have Armin and his condescending patronizing. Why am I not surprised. Sure, let's blame Eren for being fucking idiots and demand that he apologize to a girl who molested his corpse. Eren should've kicked Armin more.
2) FINALLY Armin gets it. FINALLY. Intelligent character you say? Judging by how long it took him to realize what Eren was doing - I think not.
3) God I don't like this narrative of keeping your humanity. I really don't. Season 1 conveyed a completely different idea.
4) ........ Well there goes any respect I had for Isayama. Ymir was in love with Karl Fritz?!? Stockholm syndrome much?!? That is not a pure emotion!! What the fuck?!? There are so many things wrong with this, I can't even—
5) Wait does this confirm that Eren didn't know about that disgusting kiss?!? Now I feel even more sick. And seriously, seeing Mikasa force herself on a disembodied head convinced Ymir to abandon Fritz and cured her of her Stockholm Syndrome??? How???
6) So Eren did send Dina after his mom to put himself on a certain path to save Paradis? Damn, that's brutal and heartbreaking at the same time. Imagine having to sacrifice your own mother in order to save your people. My heart...
7) Okay, I will seriously fight Armin now. MIKASA ISN'T OWED SHIT AND NEITHER ARE YOU AFTER THE WAY YOU'VE TREATED EREN FOR THE ENTIRETY OF THIS MANGA. And just because Mikasa risked her life to save Eren's (although he never asked her to) he is under no obligation to return her feelings so fuck off. I swear to God Armin has to be one of the most hypocritical and unlikeable characters in SNK by now.
8) ......... Please tell me I'm hallucinating. Isayama don't do this to me. Don't ruin Eren this way, I'm begging you. Making him a lovesick possessive idiot?! Are you serious?!
9) IT'S FUCKING GRISHA! I KNEW IT! But I also can't feel happy because I'm hating this conversation so much. So thanks.
10) Finally Eren gets some fucking gratitude. But Armin will let this conversation go to waste. That much has already been shown.
11) Well, 138 was fucking pointless. Thanks for nothing, Isayama.
12) This is so cheesy and stupid I just can't help but laugh, oh my god. Who wrote these dialogues?? Everybody fucking crying and praising Eren? "What a man you are" PFFFFFT. This is so stupid it has become comedic.
13) And the promotion of unhealthy relationships continues as Annie embraces the man who abused her her entire life.
14) And here we have the survivors talking to the dead in a happy ending. Can this get any more cliche? Someone please kill me now. End my suffering.
15) Fuck Karina. She doesn't get to apologize or demand Reiner to stay with her. I know several abusive mothers and they all deserved to have their asses abandoned by their children. All of them. I've supported several friends with mother issues, I know what I'm talking about.
16) Can Mikasa stop touching Eren's head? If anyone has to carry him, let it be Armin. Stalker kasa is giving me the heebie-jeebies. I feel like I need to wash my hands every time I see her, I feel so dirty and disgusted.
17) And Marley are pointing their guns again. Siiigh. Why did the Alliance save these guys again?
18) What does it fucking matter?!?! Wasn't the entire point of your speech before the Alliance arrived that you were all equal?!?! Why the hell are you asking whether they're humans or titans, thus showcasing your continued racism?!?!
19) Like hell you did Armin. Although I suppose it does make sense that he would protect his psychotic friend by claiming her 'achievement' of killing Eren as his own. God knows, her mental health is bad already. If she gets attention for killing Eren she just might go on a beheading spree, kissing everyone she kills on the way.
20) Okay, Historia and her child are so cute. Gaaaah. Even though I so far hate everything about this, I'm saving this panel of Historia holding her little girl. I'm not made of stone. But also thanks for officially making Historia irrelevant after setting up so much.
21) Great. The Rumbling is pointless. Eldia is forming a military now. The survivors of the world probably will too. Nobody learned their fucking lesson and this endless fighting will continue. Just peachy.
22) My god everyone is a parody of themselves now. Tell me this entire chapter is a late April Fools' joke. Reiner lusting after Historia... Sure, he did that in Season 1, but it wasn't funny then and it isn't funny now.
23) Historia putting people who betrayed her country under protection... Wow. That's definitely what a good leader does. I guess if my country ever gets betrayed during a war, it should definitely forgive and protect the traitors that could've brought about its destruction. Totally.
24) Can Mikasa please get some medication already? Her psychosis is getting worse.
25) Eren is now a bird? Or at least controlling it from 'beyond the grave'? Symbolism has always flown over my head, I'll admit. And yes, I realize that this is also a callback to his promise after Hannes' death. But I guess this is confirmation that Mikasa will now live with that scarf around her neck, dreaming about Eren to the end of her days and never truly moving on. What a great character arc that is.
Maybe I'll rant about this chapter more later on, but these are my thoughts so far. I didn't expect anything good, but I'm somehow disappointed anyway, so I guess Isayama can consider that an achievement on his part.
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8 Ways of Love;
— park seonghwa
according to the ancient greeks, there are eight different types of love. here is:
・*:༅。 the one known as pragma, the enduring love.
aka, the kind of love that matures and develops over a long period of time, and somewhat rare to find.
8 ways of love series; version i
A love story that shows the progression of yours and seongwha’s relationship from the moment you two become friends, to lovers, to exes, and everything else in between.
love catalyst: the subconscious.
At the age of six years old you declare Park Seonghwa to be your boyfriend, solidifying your “relationship” with a hug.
“Eww, y/n, you have cooties!” your best friend barks, pushing you off him.
“Wha- hey no I don’t!” you squeak.
“Yes you do because Mingi told all the boys not to touch the girls because they have a disease and it’s going to eat our bodies alive!” he practically screeches getting up from the sandbox about to walk away from you.
“Seonghwaaa he’s lying!” you whine out and he huffs turning around to face you.
“Well all the other boys are listening to him so he has to be right.”
“Well I touched you yesterday when we were playing tag and you’re fine!” you defend. “And if all girls have cooties then how come your mommy still hugs and kisses you goodbye in the morning? Wouldn’t you be dead now?”
Even at the age of 6 you were the biggest smartass Seonghwa knew.
After a moment of deliberation, he sighs. “Okay fine, you’re right.” your friend huffs.
“So are you gonna back so we can play again?” you ask, arms crossed over your little body.
Seonghwa nods before grabbing onto your hand to drag you back into the sandbox.
The two of you return to making your sandcastle and it’s only a mere two minutes later does your friend speak up.“Am I actually your boyfriend now?” he asks suddenly and you whip your head towards him.
“Well I hugged you so yeah.” you roll your eyes at him and his soft little laugh makes your tiny heart jump.
Within the next week you two forget you’re “boyfriend-and-girlfriend” and go back to being the best friends you’ve always been, playing in the sandbox after school, watching cartoons at your house, and never missing a single dinner together while your parents listen to the two of you talk your little heads off.
For the record, there wasn’t much of a difference in your so-called relationship and your friendship in the first place when you were just six years old.
At thirteen years old, your best friend confesses he likes you.
“Okay I know this is weird because, I should see you as like, a sister or something, I don’t know!” Seonghwa rants, pacing back and forth in your bedroom as you watch him frantically explain the way he feels about you.
“You know what I mean though? You’re like, practically family to me! Right? Right...” you figure he’s talking more to himself than to you as he asks himself questions that he’s quick to answer to. “Like you’re probably gonna think I’m weird or something, but you are my best friend and I don’t want it to be weird-”
“Seonghwa for the love of god can you just get to your point.” you interrupt impatiently.
“I like you okay?” he says quietly, avoiding all eye contact with you.
His heart is beating so fast he feels like it’s actually going to rip right through his chest. He’s never been nervous around you ever. You’re his best friend, and you have been since you were 5 years old, and he doesn’t know why he suddenly feels like you’re the only girl he wants in his life.
When he hears you laughing at him his heart drops to his stomach and he braces himself for the upcoming rejection.
“Can you come sit next to me.” you ask, gesturing to the empty spot on your bed.
Seonghwa complies, yet his anxiety is rising by the second. He has never been so nervous in all the thirteen years he’s been alive. He almost wants to vomit as his stomach churns at the thought of you telling him you didn’t feel the same way.
“You’re rejecting me aren’t you...” he sighs, plopping down onto the spot next to you.
You shake your head with a smile. “No idiot, I like you too. Obviously.” you roll your eyes at him.
“Wait, what? Seriously??” he almost goes into shock. “Are you joking?”
“I mean, I thought it was pretty obvious.” you shrug. “I was throwing subtle signs at you for the longest time.”
“Like what?!”
“Like the time I kept pestering you to take me to the Valentine’s Day dance, and when I made you hold my hand during that scary movie when you know I never get scared of horror films. Oh, and the time you kept badgering me about why I rejected Hongjoong for no good reason. I kept telling you that you were the only guy I needed in my life and you were too oblivious to realize I didn’t mean it in the friend way anymore.” you chuckle.
“Oh... Oh,” Seonghwa realizes. “I really am oblivious then.”
“It’s okay, I already knew you liked me back anyways.” you smirk at him, grabbing your remote off the bedside table.
You flip the TV on as you feel Seonghwa’s heavy gaze on you. “So does this mean you’re my girlfriend?” he asks you and you pause.
“I mean technically we never broke up when we were six so you’re basically just re-asking me out.” you tease, pulling the blankets on both your bodies as you settle on a show to watch.
“Oh god, you still remember that?”
Of course you do.
“Obviously, how could I forget you screaming to the entire park that I had cooties.”
He laughs at that and you can’t help but smile widely hearing him. You both lay comfortably next to one another, watching intently at the show in front of you, yet both your minds were racing at the fact that officially, you could say you were boyfriend and girlfriend.
“So when did you start liking me?” he asks you.
“Honestly, I think I always did.” you answer truthfully. “But, like actually realizing my feelings for you?” you pause for a moment to think. “I think it was when you got really sick that one time and your parents were away for a business trip, and my mom made me drop off soup to your house. And I was only supposed to drop off the soup but I took care of you because even when you were all snotty and gross and barely awake to hang out with me, I kinda just realized I’d rather spend my time with you doing that than anywhere else.”
His eyes soften at you. “Aww.”
“Buuut then before that, there was also that time that Ashley told you she liked you and I got super jealous and I was actually going to shove her into a brick wall, so ...I kinda just figured...” you add.
“Way to ruin a sappy moment, moron.” Seonghwa playfully shoves you and you laugh.
You cuddle up next to him returning your attention back to the show in front of you. Only a few minutes pass before Seonghwa speaks up again, and his question catches you off guard.
“What if we break up... like eventually?”
You think about it for a second. “Then we go back to being best friends.”
“That easy?”
“That easy.” you nod.
“For the record though, I don’t ever want there to be a time where I don’t like you. I hope there isn’t.” he says.
“I hope there isn’t either.” you assure, and just like that, you two go back to watching tv.
You’ve always had a soft spot for Seonghwa so it never came as a surprise to you, or anybody for that matter when you figured out you had a little crush on your best friend.
In a hypothetical situation, if somewhere along the way your feelings ever started to fade, you still couldn’t picture a life where he wasn’t right beside you no matter what. He was your person, and he has been since you two were five. There was nobody in this world that could replace the bond you had with him.
Even at the age of thirteen, you knew you wanted Seonghwa to be there for the rest of your life.
At the age of fourteen and a half, you and Seonghwa have your first ever fight where he conveniently declares that he loves you for the first time.
seonghwa <3; received 4:24 pm
y/n can u not be like this and talk to me :(
plsssssss
i’m sorry
can u let me come over and talk to u
Your phone continues to buzz as you stare at it beside you, rolling your eyes at his insistent messaging.
You try your best to ignore it but the continuous beeping irritates you to no end.
you; delivered 4:26 pm
no
i’m mad at u.
seonghwa <3; received 4:26 pm
:(
you; delivered 4:27 pm
can u like do smth with ur life instead of bothering me
seonghwa <3; received 4:27 pm
ouch.
Okay, you admit. That one was a low blow and for a second you almost feel bad until you’re reminded of the fact that you were still royally pissed at him.
you; delivered 4:28 pm
ur actually annoying
seonghwa <3; received 4:28 pm
ya ik i am
but yk what i’m not
someone who is going to do nothing about their gf being mad at them
so open ur window bc im climbing up so i can apologize
stop being a meanie and let me say sorry
Despite how mad you still are, your heart can’t help but skip a beat reading his messages. No matter how hard you wanted to stay angry at him and tell him to go away, you knew you wouldn’t be able to resist him even if you tried. Seonghwa was charming like that, always managing to sweet talk you in every way.
You crack open your window and see his tuft of black hair climbing up your ladder. As he hops into your bedroom you fold your arms across your chest, not daring to say a word to him until he speaks first.
“Look, I’m sorry for being an ass earlier.” Seonghwa apologizes, and all you do is look at him. He sighs before continuing. “I was just having a bad day and took it out on you and I shouldn’t have blown up on you during class. I get it. Dick move.”
“But then you had to go and talk to Ashley about it?” you added. “That was like the worst part of it! Do you trust her more than me or something?”
“What? No! Of course not!” he panics.
“You, and everyone else and their mother knows she’s like obsessed with you!” you shout in frustration. “She’s liked you for so long, do you know how stupid you made me look running off to her knowing how she feels about you?!”
“That wasn’t my intention-”
“Were you trying to make me mad?”
“No, y/n.”
“Did you do it to make me jealous?”
“No!”
“So why Seonghwa, did you have to go and vent to her after you yelled at me in front of everyone when all I did was try to help?”
“I don’t know, okay!”
“I just don’t understand why me of all people you had to take it out on. When all i’ve literally done for you for like the last ten freaking years of us being friends was listen to you when you had a bad day or try to cheer you up when you were down! Never once when I was feeling crappy did I take that out on you. Never.” you explain with a heavy sigh.
“I’m sorry.” he doesn’t know what else to say because he knows he’s in the wrong.
“Do you like her or something?” your voice is quiet and the hurt is evident. “Cause if you do just tell me.”
Seonghwa is quick to shut you down as he pulls you into his arms.
“No, no, no. Y/n, I don’t like her. I don’t. Please believe me.” he begs. “Look, I don’t know why I went to her when I should’ve gone to you. I couldn’t even begin to explain what was going through my head at that point because I don’t know. But I love you, okay? I would never, ever like Ashley.”
Your eyes widen and you pull away from him. “W-what did you just say?”
“I... um...” Seonghwa starts to fumble over his words because he didn’t exactly intend to tell you, but it sort of just came out and now he’s starting to panic.
“Do you mean it?” you ask.
He just nods, a little embarrassed at his sudden declaration.
“I love you too.” you say softly, and he relaxes.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
"I’m really sorry, y/n.” he pulls you close to him, burying his face into your hair as he hugs you tightly.
“I’m sorry too.” you murmur against him.
“I hate fighting with you.” he mumbles.
“Me too.”
“I promise I’ll never take my anger out on you again. And I’ll never talk to Ashley again. And I’ll literally do whatever you want me to if it means you won’t stay mad at me because I don’t like it when you’re mad at me, and I hate making you sad.” he rambles and you let out a small chuckle.
“Just come lay down and watch Friends with me.”
“Okay.”
And you ultimately forget that you’re mad at Seonghwa because you decide that you can’t really stay mad at him after he tells you that he loves you. And although all is forgiven, he still decides to grovel for the next week as a reassurance that he really meant his apology.
So at fourteen years old, you have your first, and last fight with him.
At the age of sixteen, you celebrate your three year anniversary with Seonghwa, and decide you were ready to lose your virginity to him.
“Okay I know you said that the expensive dinner date was enough of a present for you, but you know me and always overdoing it....” he says behind you as you hear the crinkling of a bag behind you.
“Seonghwa...”
“Trust me, babe. You’re gonna love it.” he assures as he walks over to you.
Your eyes instantly fall onto the small red velvet box in his hands and your mouth falls open.
“This was expensive wasn’t it?” you pry and he shrugs.
“Maybe, but I was saving up for it for a while now.” he responds, sitting next to you as he hands you the box.
“I always feel bad every time you spend money on me.” you sigh as your fingers smooth over the velvet.
“I know but it was worth it, trust me. Open it.” Seonghwa urges.
You pull apart the bow and lift up the lid, your eyes widening in awe at the shiny ring placed inside. You lift it out gently noticing the small engraving on the inner part of the band, with both your initials and a small ‘i love you 4ever’ written underneath.
“Oh my god,” you utter. “I love it.” you place the ring on your finger.
“Good because I have a matching one too.” your boyfriend grins at you as he pulls out another box lined with a silver band with that very same engraving.
You pull him in for a hug as he wraps his arms around you instinctively and all you can feel right now is an overload of gratitude for him.
“I actually love you so much.” you say, pulling his face towards you to press soft kisses all over his face.
“Yeah, I know I’m the best,” Seongwha chuckles. “But I love you too baby.”
Your lips mould together perfectly, the kiss slow and soft at first. His hands wrap around your waist and your mouth moves gently against his. But soon enough you’re clinging to him and his body is pressed against yours, the kiss growing more needy and intense.
You knew when things started to get heavy he would stop the both of you from going further, never wanting to push you to discomfort. The furthest you had gone with one another was only third base, but it never went further than that and Seonghwa always left that decision up to you if you wanted to take it there.
You figure if you don’t speak up now, he was going to cut this short, so it’s only then at this very moment do you decide you wanted him to be your first.
“Do you want to have sex?” you blurt out suddenly and you swear you’ve never seen your boyfriend’s eyes go so wide before.
He opens his mouth to speak but he can’t seem to find the right words to say. “I- um, wait, are you being for real?” he stutters. “I mean, I do want to, but, are you sure you want to?” he asks, still in disbelief from your question.
“Shit, sorry I know that was really sudden to ask, but I do want to.” you assure. “But only if you want to.”
“Of course I want to.” his eyes soften, and his hand finds yours in an instant delivering a comforting squeeze.
“Okay so come here and kiss me again please.” you say quietly.
And just like that, Seongwha’s soft lips land on yours once more. Without breaking apart he gently guides you to the head of his bed, laying you down underneath him as your bodies press up against each other.
You swear you can kiss Seongwha for hours and never grow tired of the feeling. You get drunk off his kisses, unable to think of anything else but him. It’s dizzying really, but you love it. You find that off all the things you love about him its his lips, and how impossibly soft they are and how familiar they feel against your own. How much comfort it would bring you, and how all you had to when you had a bad day was just kiss your boyfriend for however long he let you.
It felt like home.
His lips trailed lower to your neck, littering soft pecks across your skin. Quiet noises escape your lips and Seongwha can’t help but grind against your lower half. His hands travel across your body and the ache between your legs grows by the second, and the only thing you can think of is how much you love him, and need him.
Your mind kind of blurs because the next second you find yourself both naked and he’s fiddling in his drawer to find what you assumed to be a condom. He notices your curious stare as he opens his mouth to speak. “M-my dad told me to keep these in here,” Seongwha stutters. “He said to be prepared in case the time comes, and well, here’s the time I guess.” he laughs lightheartedly and the very sound makes your heart swell.
“Nice call on Papa Park I guess,” you joke and Seongwha chuckles.
He climbs over you and delivers another peck to your swollen lips. “Okay, no more mention of my dad please when I’m about to put my penis in you.”
“Sorry, sorry.” you chuckle nervously as your boyfriend pulls you in for another kiss.
"Okay, if it hurts tell me to stop and I will, alright?” his eyes stare deeply into your own.
You nod at him with a small smile, admiring what little of his face you could see in the darkness of his room. “I will, don’t worry.”
“Okay.” he sighs, positioning himself in front of you. “I love you.” he whispers against your lips.
“I love you more, baby.” you say to him before you feel him push himself inside you. You gasp at the feeling and he stills in his spot to let you adjust.
And once you signal that it’s okay for him to move, he does at a slow pace, and you gasp at the intense pleasure. Even though the pain has subsided his thrusts are still slow and controlled, and you don’t know if it’s because he’s afraid to hurt you, or if he just wants to revel in the feeling of you around him. Either way your heart fills with love for this one boy.
“I love you so much, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, you know that?” he whispers in your ear and your eyes shut at his words and the newfound feeling you would grow to love. “and thank you for trusting me right now...” his breathing grows heavy. “because I would do anything for you, and I just want you to know that, okay?”
You almost feel like you could cry because above all the pleasure that you’re experiencing right now, his words feel different, more intimate, and all the more meaningful to you.
And you believe every word he says because you know he truly means it.
“I would do anything for you too.” you repeat his words back to him and he buries his face into your neck as he continues to thrust into you.
So at sixteen years old, you have your first time with the love of your life. And you tell yourself that no matter what happens between the both of you, you were never going to regret giving that part of yourself to him.
At the age of eighteen years old, you do the unthinkable.
You decide after a long and heavy conversation, you two were going to break up. You were both set to leave town to pursue your studies at your dream schools, and you felt that parting ways at this point was the better option.
While you two could figure out a way to make things work while half way across the world from each other, you had to take into account all the factors that would drive you two apart. The time difference, the long distance, the fact that you were inevitably going to meet new people, and that you simply did not want to hold each other back from experiencing a life without one another.
Because all you’ve known almost your entire life was being with Seonghwa, and him with you. You knew it was only fair to give each other the chance to explore something new, and now was that time.
It wasn’t an easy decision by any means, and although it was an amicable split, you’ve never felt the pain of a broken heart before. It hurt really bad.
Your friends and family decide to throw you both one last goodbye party, wanting to celebrate this special milestone with you. And of course there was no way you and Seonghwa could pass up the last good night you two would have together as a couple.
The party was fun at first. The dancing, the singing, the laughing, and the endless exchange of pictures as you guys shared the last few memories you would have as high school graduates.
But as the night started to creep in, you both realized that in less than 24 hours, you two would no longer be attached to one another like you had been for the last thirteen years. And after five years as a couple, you still couldn’t believe that your relationship would come to an end, just like that.
You hear the faint music in the background of your house, as you and Seonghwa sit in your backyard, gazing up at the stars.
“This fucking sucks.” Seonghwa sighs, resting his head on your shoulder as you lean your head on top of his.
“I know.” your throat burns, suppressing the urge to cry.
“I just didn’t expect this day to come. I never thought we would actually break up with each other.” he admits, and you nod your head in agreement.
You grab onto his hand rubbing comforting circles onto his skin, and you feel Seonghwa’s body start to shake next to you. You don’t want to look at him because you know if you see him cry, you’ll cry too.
You close your eyes trying to control your heavy breathing and the quivering of your lips. Your eyes are watering but you refuse to let your tears slip, and your heart hurts like it’s never hurt before, and you don’t know if the pain will ever go away.
“Seonghwa I really love you.” your voice breaks and you finally let the tears fall.
“I know, baby.” the pet name has always affected you, but now more than ever it tugs at your heart strings in a bittersweet way. “I really, really love you too. Always.”
“You know you’re the love of my life right? You’re always going to be.” you state and he delivers a squeeze to your hand in acknowledgement.
“And you’ll always be mine.” he answers back. “You’re my best friend in the whole world and the last five years with you as my girlfriend will forever be the greatest five years of my life. I will always stand by the fact that you are the best thing to ever happen to me.”
As you stare at one another with teary eyes, he knows you’re saying the same exact words to him. He doesn’t need to hear you say it, nor does he expect you to. Your eyes say more than enough to him.
You look down at the rose gold band around your finger and you realize how long you’ve kept it on, never once taking it off since that day Seonghwa gave it to you. “Do you want your ring back?” you utter, your eyes watering once more.
Seonghwa shakes his head. “Please keep it. Because I still mean it. And I always will. I’m gonna love you forever, y/n. Even if you decide to take it off, if that’s the last reminder you have of how much I love you, then please keep it.”
Your heart is hurting, and the tears seem never ending as they continue to fall down your cheeks. “I don’t want to leave you Seonghwa.” a sob escapes from your lips, and Seonghwa squeezes your hand again.
“I know, baby but you have to. You’re going to the school you’ve dreamed of going to since you were in the fourth grade. You’re going to accomplish so much and a build a great life for yourself, y/n. And even though I won’t be physically with you, I’m always going to support you every step of the way.” he assures.
You knew in a perfect world you two didn’t have to break up. But long distance was a bitch, and you moving across the world was never going to be easy on him. You couldn’t force each other to wait for the other. Not when the both of you had to start a whole new life separately. You had to let each other go.
You turn to face him, your teary eyes staring into his own. “I’ll always support you too, okay? No matter what. I want you to make the most of your time in Seoul, study hard, surround yourself with good people and have the most fun you’ve ever had. You’re gonna make so many friends and pursue the career you’ve always wanted and experience new things that you’ve never done before. And most of all, you’re going to meet a girl and love her just as much as you loved me. And you’re gonna fall in love all over again, and just be happy. Just promise me that you will make the most of your time over there and live your life to the fullest. Don’t look back, don’t wait for me. Just live until I get to see you again.” your voice breaks. “And if somehow we find our way back to one another, then just know everything we did up to that point was worth it.”
Seonghwa lets out a sob and nods. “I promise.” his voice breaks and you pull him in for your last goodbye kiss.
At nineteen, you visit your hometown for Christmas, which was the first time you’d be back in a year and a half.
Having missed out on the chance to visit last year with your busy schedule, you made sure not to pass up the chance to see your family and friends. The more you grew accustomed to your new home you managed to find a good balance between school, work, and your personal life, so you found that this year was finally a good time to return back for a visit.
And there was no better time to come home than for Christmas day.
“Yeah, just landed at our layover and waiting for the next flight.” you say to your mother over Facetime.
“That’s great honey, I’m so excited to see you.” she smiles at you and you return the gesture.
“I missed you mom.” you say.
“And I missed you even more.”
You two continue conversing amongst one another, as she filled you in on all things you missed while you were gone before a voice interrupts your conversation.
“Hey babe, here.” Juyeon says, handing you a coffee as he presses a small kiss to your forehead.
“Oh thank you.” you murmur with a small smile as your boyfriend sits down next to you.
“Oh hey miss y/l/n!” Juyeon greets seeing your mom’s face plastered on your screen.
“Juyeon!” she squeals excitedly. “I can’t wait to finally meet you in person instead of over video chat. It was about damn time.” she states and you and your boyfriend chuckle. You hand him your phone allowing them to talk with one another and you smile fondly at the newfound bond between Juyeon and your mother.
“I know, I can’t wait to meet all of you guys too! I know y/n’s been really excited, it was all she could talk about for the last three weeks.” he teases. “And she says you make really good pie so i am definitely looking forward to that.”
“That is such an understatement, I make the best pie.” she scoffs. “And I made one specifically for you.” your mother beams.
After a few minutes of playful banter exchanged, Juyeon hands your phone back to you. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom before we board, I’ll be back.” he excuses himself and you nod in acknowledgement.
“Oh y/n, I just thought I should mention Seonghwa and his family are coming over for Christmas dinner as well.” your mom says and the sheer mention of his name as your heart beating in your chest.
“Oh he’s back in town too?” you ask casually and she nods.
“Yup, he’s also bringing his girlfriend.” she adds.
“That’s great, I’m really happy for him.” you say with a smile.
And you meant it, truly.
You knew of his girlfriend from the few photos he posted of her on instagram, and he seemed genuinely happy. Aside from his newfound love, he was clearly enjoying his time in Seoul like you had hoped, and it was everything you wished for him.
You two hadn’t really spoken over the last year, and it wasn’t really on purpose, you two just kind of drifted, as expected. You two were starting fresh in an unfamiliar place, and you both were finding your way around your new homes. You two were also preoccupied with school, and meeting new people so it was sort of inevitably really that you two grew apart. Of course there were the few times you two would chat, but it never lasted long due to time differences and busy schedules.
Although you missed him immensely, you were beyond happy for the life he started for himself, and you knew he was happy for you too. He did exactly what he promised you the last night you spent together, and that was enough to make you happy.
“Flight 219 now boarding.” the announcer calls and Juyeon meets you right on time.
“Okay mom, that’s us. I’ll see you in a few hours, bye, love you.” you bid your farewell before hanging up, and Juyeon grabs your hand leading you to the gate.
“Ready to go home?” he smiles at you, and you beam excitedly, nodding your head.
As the days pass leading up to Christmas, you spend all of your of time with your family and friends, using every second to catch up with your loved ones. You find that Juyeon is adapting well to your home life, bonding with your father and making your mother love him even more than she already did. You introduce him to your childhood friends and he instantly wins over Mingi, Hongjoong, Yunho and Jennie. You admire how much of an effort he put into forming a friendship with them because he knew how much it meant to you.
You were thankful really, to find a guy who was almost perfect for you.
But still, in the back of your mind, even though you loved Juyeon beyond belief, you knew Seonghwa would always have that special place in your heart.
On the day of Christmas, you and Juyeon set the table as you await the Park’s arrival. You were slightly nervous, obviously, given the fact that you had not seen Seonghwa in over a year and you would be meeting his girlfriend. Although you were happy for him, you still felt anxious to see him and her, and you could only hope that she was good for him, because he deserved that much.
Only a few moments later do you hear a knock at your door and your mother walks over to greet your longtime neighbours. Juyeon stands next to you as he wraps an arm around your waist comfortingly and you relax against him.
You see Mrs. Park first as she walks inside, giving your mother a friendly hug. Mr. Park follows suit as he greets your mother and your father with a wide smile on his face.
And then you see him.
His hair is slightly darker and he does look a little older. But other than that his face is so familiar to you and your heart beats wildly in your chest as the two of you make eye contact. His face softens when he sees you and you deliver a small wave to him as he smiles. His girlfriend trails behind him and you take notice of how beautiful she was. You smile at her too and she returns the gesture and your heart kind of warms seeing how shy she is because you always kind of knew Seonghwa would pick someone similar to him.
“Oh my y/n, how long has it been!” Mrs. Park calls towards you and you hug her tightly.
“I missed you!” you say to her and her arms wrap tighter around you.
“I missed you too, darling. And you look even more beautiful than the last time I saw you!” she compliments. “And who is this handsome man?”
“This is Juyeon, he’s my boyfriend.” you smile, and Juyeon shakes her hand.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Park. Y/n’s talked a lot about your family.” he says politely.
“Y/n’s picked a good one, I see.” she winks playfully as you notice Seonghwa and his girlfriend make their way towards you two.
“Hey y/n, long time no see.” Seonghwa says and you almost melt at the sound of his voice. He pulls you in for a hug and you notice how he still wears the same cologne that you had bought him all those years ago.
“Yeah, it’s good to see you again.” you smile at him, and although it had been well over a year since you two last saw each other, there was no hint of awkwardness, just nostalgia.
“Oh, this is Juyeon.” you introduce and Seonghwa delivers a warm smile to your boyfriend, shaking his hand respectfully.
“Nice to meet you.” Juyeon smiles.
“It’s nice to meet you too, I’m Seonghwa. Y/n’s... childhood friend.” he decides to say.
“I know she’s mentioned you a lot in her stories.” your boyfriend acknowledges. “From all the things she told me you were one of the people I was looking forward to meet the most. You seemed really great to her.”
“I could only hope so. She was my best friend after all.” Seonghwa glances at you, and you know there’s a deeper meaning behind his words. “And you seem like a really great guy, so I’m glad she has good people in her life.” Seonghwa returns and you find it heartwarming how well their exchange is going.
You look at the girl beside your ex and she’s staring at you with gentle, curious eyes. “Hi, I’m y/n.” you smile at her, extending your hand out for her to shake.
“Rosé,” she beams at you and you don’t even really know her but there was something about her that assured you she was good fit for Seonghwa. “I heard a lot about you as well, Hwa’s always talking about his life back home so I’m really glad I got to meet his best friend. You were really special to him.”
You smile softly. “I’m glad I got to meet you too.” you say.
“Okay, time for dinner everyone!” your father announces and you all take a seat at the table, passing over plates of food and catching up with one another.
“So Seonghwa, how’s Seoul treating you?” your mother asks as everyone turns their attention towards him.
“Uh really good actually,” he responds. “I joined a band actually! Uh, I became friends with these really nice guys. San and Yeosang. They basically recruited me after they found out I could sing and now we play at this local bar every week on Friday’s and Saturday’s. It was really good for me, I think. It helped with my stress and stuff. And that’s actually where I met Rosé.”
“That’s amazing.” your mother comments with a warm smile.
“Yeah he was really shy at first but San kind of forced him to talk to me which I was really thankful for because I was eyeing him for a while and was too shy myself to approach him.” Rosé says. “I still remember the night he asked for my number and he was stumbling over his words and I swear he looked like he was going to pass out.” she chuckles, and everyone at the table laughs along with her.
“Oh my god I know what you mean, he also cracks his fingers a lot and starts to turn really purple when he’s nervous.” you add and Rosé points at you nodding in agreement.
“Yes! I notice that all the time!” she laughs, and you can’t help but laugh with her.
“Trust me, I have the most embarrassing stories of him when we were kids.” you say.
“Oh god, you have to tell me all of them.” Rosé giggles.
“Obviously, we have the whole night for that.” you wink at her, and you realize how easy and natural it was to talk to her, and that confirmed that you indeed really liked her.
Seonghwa watches the exchange between you both, and as you two make eye contact with each other, a small smile appears on his face as you nod at him, silently approving of the girl he chose to bring home for this special day. His heart grows full seeing how well the two of you got along, and he’s forever grateful at how amazing of a person you were that you were so willingly to form a friendship with his new girlfriend.
Although he loved Rosé dearly, there was still a piece of his heart where he’d always love you. And that piece grows a little more when he realizes how you continue to support him, even through this unconventional situation.
Seonghwa decides he’s going to do the same for you, because just like you were happy for him, he was happy for you too.
Of course he was glad you found someone who could put a smile on your face like he once did, and he knows that for you to have willingly dated Juyeon, he had to have been just as great as you were. You always had the best judgement of people.
“So Juyeon, how’d you and y/n meet?” Seonghwa asks genuinely and he notices the way his face lights up at the mention of your name.
“We had a lot of mutual friends and they introduced us. It’s funny actually, I could tell y/n didn’t even really like me that much at first, she was always so disinterested when I would try and talk to her.” Juyeon laughs.
“Probably stressing too much about trivial things.” Seonghwa chuckles.
“Yeah she does that a lot, so overly anxious all the time” Juyeon notes, and Seonghwa agrees.
“Hey,” you interrupt and Juyeon apologizes.
“Sorry babe,” he chuckles. "but yeah, I finally sweet talked my way to get her to go out on a coffee date with me and then the next day she asked to go out for lunch after our lecture. We kind of just ended up hanging out more often and well, the rest is history I guess.”
“That’s great, I’m really glad she found someone that makes her happy.” Seonghwa smiles, and you feel a sense of gratitude towards him.
The rest of the night your families converse with one another and share a few drinks, as you and Seonghwa share old stories with Juyeon and Rosé. If you told yourself three years ago that you would be sitting by the fireplace on Christmas day with you and Seonghwa as exes exchanging stories with your new lovers, you would’ve never believed it.
But you don’t think it’s a bad thing at all. In fact you’re immensely grateful that despite not being as close to Seonghwa anymore, you were able to see each other grow and adapt with your new lives. A life where you made new friends and made new memories. Where you tried things you’ve never tried before, and explored new places. And where you could love other people and still be so insanely happy for one another.
This was a good thing.
At one point during the night the two of you find yourselves alone, a comfortable silence filling the room as you stared at the fire in front of you, basking in its warmth.
“I missed you.” Seonghwa is the first to break the silence.
“I missed you too.” you return. “And I’m really happy for you, you know?”
“I’m really happy for you too, y/n.” Seonghwa smiles at you. “And I really like Juyeon. He seems really great, and he makes you happy, I can see it. That’s all I ever wanted for you.”
You hum in acknowledgement. “And I think Rosé is amazing. She’s perfect for you. And I’m forever grateful that you two have each other. I know we’ve drifted over the last year, but you’re still my best friend in the whole world. And even though I don’t say it often, or even out loud, I’m supporting you through everything. As long as it makes you happy that’s all I care about.”
His heart warms at your statement and he locks eyes with you. “And you know I’m always supporting you too. Seeing you happy and thriving is the best thing that’s ever happened to you. It’s all I want for you.” he states.
Neither of you have to say it, but you know this is your unspoken way of saying that you both still loved each other greatly. You still stood by the fact that Seonghwa was, and always would be the most important person in your life, and you in his. Seeing one another content and happy despite not having each other around anymore, was the one thing that mattered to you both. The maturity and support you continued to show was only because of the immense love you have, and have always had for one another.
The kind of love that lets you give up the person you love the most so they can have a better life without you.
And the kind of love that’s okay with it.
At twenty-one years old, you and Seonghwa meet again.
It’s during one of your breaks where you find yourself extremely homesick. You don’t even give your family a heads up until you’re outside your childhood home knocking at your door.
It was an impulsive decision but it’s not like you were currently in school. You had the time and the money, and you missed your hometown so incredibly bad that it only took you one second to make that decision to come back.
“Coming, one second!” you hear a male voice call behind the door and your eyebrows furrow in confusion.
“Well, that’s is definitely not my mom, or dad.” you say to yourself. “Did they move out without telling me or something-” your internal conversation is cut short as the door swings open and you’re greeted by an unexpected figure.
“Y/n?” the boy says in surprise.
“Seonghwa??” you say even more confused.
“Who’s at the door Seonghwa?” now that’s your mother’s voice you hear and she gasps as she walks over to the door. “Y/n! Oh my god why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?!” she pulls you into her arms.
“Surprise.” you chuckle. “I kind of sort of felt really homesick and impulsively bought a plane ticket last night so I could fly back so... here I am.”
“Well come settle in! Seonghwa was just helping with some renovations in the house but I’ll let you two catch up.” your mother grabs your luggage, carrying it up to your bedroom. “Go grab a coffee or something!” she yells upstairs.
You look over to Seonghwa and he shrugs. “Let’s go then.” he smiles and your heart swells.
The two of you walk comfortably beside one another as you take in the scenery around you, missing the familiar place you once called home.
“I didn’t know you were back in town too.” you say after a few moments of silence.
“Yeah, it was pretty impulsive too actually.” he admits as he looks at you.
“What was your reason?” you ask curiously.
“Break up.” he states and your mouth falls open.
“Wait, you and Rosé...”
He nods. “Yeah, things just kinda, fizzled out. You know, we grew apart, wanted different things, came to a point where we were in different stages in our life.”
“Oh wow.” is all you say. “I’m sorry to hear, she was really sweet. I really liked her.”
“Yeah, she was,” Seonghwa sighs. “I mean, we ended on good terms. We’re still friends, actually. I don’t even think I’m necessarily sad about it to be honest, it’s just different, you know? Like I know we weren’t even dating for that long, like two and a half years at most. But I just got so used to being around her and spending so much time with her, and then things just weren’t really the same after a while. It just felt odd not having someone. And being alone made me miss everything I had here so I came back.”
You nod your head in understanding. “Yeah, I totally get what you mean.”
Seonghwa raises his eyebrow at you. “You mean... you and Juyeon too?”
“Mhm,” you hum. “I think for us we just realized we were better off as friends than as a couple, you know? Like after a while the attraction kind of went away and we were only really together because it was comfortable. And we didn’t want to stay together if we weren’t in love anymore, it wouldn’t have made sense. The break up was easy and it felt right when we ended things, I kind of wish it happened sooner but, I was still thankful for the time we spent together. He is still one of my best friends so I’m grateful for that at least.”
“That’s good.” he smiles softly.
“Hey at least we both can confidently say we have a track record of smooth break ups, right?” you joke lightheartedly.
“Thank god for that.” Seonghwa says with a laugh.
When you two enter the coffee shop you’re once again hit with a feeling of nostalgia as you think of all the times you, Seonghwa, and your friends would spend most days after school, drinking hot chocolate and eating pastries together as you all talked for hours and hours.
“I’ll get our usuals, you can wait by our spot.” Seonghwa offers, and you nod making your way towards your designated table.
The moment you sit down you’re hit with a wave of flashbacks you shared in this very space, and a small smile creeps onto your face as you look back on all the old memories.
After your brief moment of reminiscing, Seongwha sits across from you handing over your cup.
“Sometimes you don’t realize how much you miss home until you’re actually back in all the places you grew up in,” you note as you take notice of the small engraving in the corner of the table marked with yours and all your friends’ initials. Your fingers ghost over the mark and when you look up at Seongwha you see that he’s also eyeing the engraving.
“I remember when we put that there,” he recalls with a smile. “After five years of coming here and sitting at this same exact table with our friends we claimed our ownership by putting that stupid engraving that took us forever to do. As if that stopped people from sitting here anyways.” you both chuckled.
“Well at least Jennie and Hongjoong were brave enough to kick out the people who stole our spot.” you laugh.
“Yeah,” Seonghwa smiles fondly at the memory. “I still remember the days where Mingi and Yunho would bet the barista on how many butter croissants they could eat in one sitting so we could all get a supply of free hot chocolate for a year.”
“And it was only after Mingi threw up everywhere that it turned out all we had to do was ask her, and she would’ve done it anyways because we were regulars here.” you finish with a soft chuckle.
A comfortable silence fills the air as you two reminisce on the old memories of your teenage years.
“Can I ask you something?” Seonghwa says.
“Of course.”
“When you finish university,” he starts. “What are you gonna do afterwards? Like do you plan on living abroad permanently? Or are you gonna come back home?”
You pause for a second. “Honestly, after the first year there, I fell in love with the city. And I truly was planning on starting my life there and making that my permanent home, ‘cause I had Juyeon, and I had my new friends, I had jobs lined up for me after graduation, and just an overall great home.” you say. “But after splitting up with him, and sitting with the fact that I was constantly homesick, I kinda realized that this is my home, you know? Like, no matter how much I loved my new friends, and loved the city, it would never be as special to me as here. Nothing over there compared to everything I have here. And I knew you were gonna come back from Seoul after graduation, and Jennie and Yunho were gonna come back from New Zealand too. And Mingi and Hongjoong, and the rest of them were all still here... I didn’t want to be the only one gone. All my real friends are here, my family’s here... you’re here. I didn’t want to leave that all behind.” you exclaim and Seonghwa’s face softens.
“I’m really glad honestly.” he responds. “Because I missed you a lot. And it would’ve really sucked to know you weren’t gonna be here anymore when I moved back. I just really miss spending time with my best friend.”
Your heart skips a beat. “Well, you have the next two weeks to do that.” you smile up at him.
“I have an idea.” his eyes light up and you raise an eyebrow at him. “Do you wanna have a sleepover tonight? We can have a move night and order take out like the good old times.” he grins at you.
“You had me at sleepover.” you say with a smile and so he grabs your hand, pulling you towards the exit.
When Seonghwa lets you into his house you almost forget the fact that you haven’t been inside in almost three whole years. This was practically your second home and you found comfort in the fact that nothing really changed since you last saw it. Everything looked almost exactly how you remembered it, minus the new couch and dining table, and a few new paintings hung up on the walls.
“Your mom didn’t change much over the last few years.” you observe.
“Yeah, she was going to do a whole renovation like your mom, and she even planned a whole design out, but she opted out last minute. She said she wanted me to come back home to something I remembered.” Seonghwa answers. “I didn’t get why at first but it only started making sense to me the more I started visiting and realized this was like my safety net.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.” you say.
You and Seonghwa walk upstairs to his bedroom, and of course nothing changed inside either. It almost seemed like it had been untouched aside from the fresh bedsheets and clean floor. You notice the small picture frames neatly placed across his dresser table and you realize most of them are pictures with you. You pick one frame up as you remember the day so clearly. A faint smile forms on your face as your fingers ghost over the photo.
“I asked my mom to put those up again recently.” Seonghwa states from behind you. “I was gonna put more with our friends but I realized we didn’t take many with them. They were mostly just of us two. I hope you don’t think it’s weird.”
You shake your head. “No, of course not. I would never think it’s weird.” you say, placing the frame back onto his dresser.
Seonghwa tosses you one of his shirts and a pair of your old shorts that you always left at his house during your impromptu sleepovers. And suddenly you’re once again hit with a wave of nostalgia.
“What do you wanna do?” he asks and you flop onto his bed with a deep exhale.
“Let’s just lay here for a second.” you say pulling him down next to you. “I just wanna remember everything that I missed while I was gone.”
Seonghwa settles beside you and you can’t help your racing heart as he inches closer to you. As you lay next to one another looking up at the ceiling, your breathing relaxes and you revel in the feeling of just being so comfortable and at so at home.
“You don’t know how much I missed this,” Seonghwa whispers next to you. “even though we haven’t seen each other in years and we don’t talk as much anymore, when I’m with you it’s like we never even left each other. Like we just pick up right where we left off. You’re the one person who’s always brought me comfort and I never feel like we have to force things with each other, no matter how much we drifted.”
You feel heat rise to your cheeks and suddenly the room feels so much warmer. Your heart beats fast and you realize how much of an effect Seonghwa still has on you after all these years.
“I think about you everyday, you know that?” you confess, turning your head to look at him. “Every time I’m out somewhere there will always be little things that remind me of you. And I think about all the places in the city I would take you, and the places I know you would love. I think about all the things you would tell me when I was feeling down, and how you would react to certain situations as if you were right there beside me the whole time. I miss you all the time.”
You both stare at one another and your eyes flicker back and forth to his lips and when you look into his own eyes you notice him doing the same. After a moment of just staring into each other’s eyes, unsure of what to do next, Seonghwa pulls you towards his face and kisses you, and the feeling absolutely overwhelms you in all the good ways.
It’s far from soft and sweet, instead heavy and messy, and so intense that your chest burns with desire. You don’t dare pull away from him even when you needed to catch your breath, because the feeling of his lips on yours after all these years intoxicates you and has you yearning for more. He’s pulling you closer to him and you feel like your body is on fire.
Seonghwa rolls on top of you and your bodies mould perfectly with one another, as if you were both the two missing pieces of a puzzle. You can’t exactly describe the feeling but it’s overwhelming and very reminiscent and brings you back to all the times with Seonghwa that brought you so much happiness years ago. It’s a feeling you didn’t know if you would ever feel again and you missed it more than anything.
The ache between your legs becomes overwhelming and before you know it you’re begging him to touch you, and without any hesitation he does. Your bodies press tightly against each other and your desperate need for him only grows the moment he grinds down on you.
The next thing you know, you’re both unclothed and fully exposed to one another, and you see each other in your most vulnerable states for the first time in years. When he finally pushes himself inside you the pleasure is significantly magnified as the fire inside you only intensifies at the feeling of him.
It happens quick at first but Seonghwa decides he wants to take his time with you. Like you, he didn’t know if he would ever feel you in this way again and he was going to use every second with you that he could.
You don’t know how much time has passed but by the end, you both are exhausted and sore, and panting heavily next to each other. It’s dark outside and the room is warm and even though you’re both sweaty and gross, you haven’t felt this good in a long, long time.
“Was that okay?” Seonghwa asks, pulling your naked body into his arms.
“Yeah,” you say with a small smile. “It was perfect.”
So you lay in each other’s embrace for a while and your heart feels warm and fuzzy, bringing you an endless amount of comfort. You feel content at this very moment, and your worries are pushed to the back of your mind as you fall asleep soundly together.
It’s only at 2 o’clock in the morning do you wake up in a haze and through your fatigued confusion does your brain recall the events that took place a few hours ago. Unable to make out your surroundings in the darkness, your eyes widen not knowing if what happened earlier really happened. When you attempt to sit up you feel a pair of arms wrapped securely around your waist and your body relaxes. Soft snores escape Seonghwa’s lips and you snuggle closer to his body to feel his warmth.
It dawns on you that you still are very much in love with Seonghwa, and of course deep down you knew that you always would be. You also knew given the chance (like now) your feelings would resurface because well... they never really left in the first place.
The unknowingness of this outcome has you shifting in your spot and anxiety creeps in as you think of leaving him all over again. Because after tonight, you don’t know if you can bear the thought of parting ways with him and returning to your life abroad where you can’t tell him exactly how you feel.
You don’t realize right away that Seonghwa has woken up next to you and he only does so because of your constant shifting. It’s when he delivers a gentle squeeze to your waist do you finally take notice.
“Are you okay?” his voice his deep and tired and the sound is enough to make your heart beat fast.
“Yeah.” you reply unconvincingly, but Seonghwa has known you all his life and was also the one to date you for five whole years. He knew you better than you probably knew yourself so in an instant he could tell there was something bothering you.
“What’s on your mind?” he asks.
Your back is leaning against his chest, and you can feel his soft breathing on your neck, and instinctively he starts to rub small circles on your arm knowing that was the one thing that could calm you down.
“It’s stupid.” you say, your voice is quiet and laced with a hint of embarrassment.
“Do you regret what we did?” Seonghwa asks and you’re quick to shut down his claim.
“No! No, of course not.” you return. “It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
You exhale, letting out a heavy sigh. “Seonghwa I still love you.” it’s almost inaudible to him but he knows he heard you correctly.
He lets out a soft sigh and a smile smiles forms on his face.
“I still love you too, baby.” and when you hear him call you by the name you loved so much, you feel like you’re going to melt in his arms. “I always would remember?”
Your eyes start to water because it’s been so long since you’ve been able to say that to him, and to hear him say those same exact words back to you has a weight lifting right off your shoulders that you didn’t even know was there.
“Why’s that upsetting you?” he questions and you feel him press soft kisses to your shoulder.
“I don’t want to leave you all over again.” you admit.
He sighs next you and attempts to pull you even closer, if that were possible.
“Well we’ll spend the rest of the time we have together and enjoy every second of it. And after graduation we’ll come back home and we’ll pick up right where we left off like we always do.” Seonghwa tries to reassure you and you shake your head, sniffling.
“That’s not what I mean...” you say. “I mean that I don’t want to go back and not be with you. I don’t want to wait out till graduation and know that we aren’t together because I don’t think I can. Not after tonight.”
It clicks in Seonghwa’s brain and he knows exactly what you mean, and so he decides now’s the time to ask you what he’s been wishing to ask you for so many years. He knows he wasn’t supposed to wait for you, but he always knew he would.
“You don’t have to then.” he states.
“I don’t?”
“Do you want to get back together?” he asks and your heart almost stops. “I mean we only broke up ‘cause of the distance right? And we both fulfilled our promises to each other that we would experience a different life and learn what it was like to not be together. We’re in our last year of uni, we’d only have to be apart for a few more months and then we’ll both be back home in no time, permanently. We would never have to be apart again.” he reasons with you.
And it did make complete sense. He was right in every way, so in truth, there really wasn’t anything stopping you from being together again. You don’t have to think much about it because the decision was already made deep down. You knew you wouldn’t hesitate to be with Seonghwa again if you had the chance, and now was that chance.
You turn to face him and even though you two can’t see each other, there’s a small smile painted on both your faces and you lean in to press a kiss to his lips.
“Okay, let’s get back together.”
So at twenty-one years old, you and Seonghwa officially reconcile, and spend the next two weeks together like you planned, catching up on everything you did while you two were apart.
And just like he said, it was like you two never left each other.
And now, at twenty-two years old, Seonghwa pops the question.
And you finally marry him.
"Family, friends, and all loved ones. We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Y/n and Seonghwa. We stand here to support this couple and share the joys of their love and commitment as they solidify this partnership, choosing to spend the rest of their lives together.”
“Through this marriage you make a lifelong promise to one another to always love, respect, trust and honor each other through anything, and everything. You promise to stay committed, and loyal, and most importantly, share your dreams, your happiness, and your sorrows with each other.”
“From today, and this moment on, you will forever be united as one.”
You stare at Seonghwa and your heart beats hard against your chest as you stand in front of him watching his eyes light up and his smile grow by the second. You feel like you’re in a dream and everything around you feels so surreal.
Your eyes scan the alter and you see your mother beside Mrs. Park, both of them clinging onto each other as tears of happiness running down their cheeks. Their smile is wide and filled with so much love and you knew this day was something the two have been waiting for, for as long as they could remember.
You see Mingi, and Yunho, and Hongjoong, and Jennie, your best friends who witnessed every progression of your relationship with Seonghwa from the moment you two met. They’re all grinning from ear to ear and you can’t help but laugh as they silently cheer you on from the pews.
You see your dad, and Seonghwa’s dad, and both of your grandparents, and the entirety of yours and Seonghwa’s family joined together as they smile brightly at the two of you.
And then your eyes meet with Rosé and Juyeon as they mouth a “you got this!” to you and Seonghwa, delivering a thumbs up in your direction, and your heart kind of warms because even after splitting up, the friendship between you four remained and it was evident through their support on this special day.
When your eyes lock with your soon-to-be-husband his lips quirk up into a warm smile as you mouth out an “i love you.”
“Now Y/n, Seonghwa, please join hands” the officiant states.
"Do you, Park Seonghwa take Y/N Y/L/N to be your wife?”
“I do.” he states softly, eyes gazing into yours.
"And Y/N Y/L/N, do you take Park Seonghwa to be your husband?”
“I do.” you respond beaming.
"Seonghwa, please repeat after me.” the officiant says. “I, Park Seonghwa, take thee, Y/N Y/L/N, to be my lawfully wedded wife.”
“I Park Seonghwa, take thee, Y/n Y/l/n, to be my lawfully wife...” he repeats.
"...To have and to hold from this day forward...”
“...For better for worse...”
“For richer for poorer...”
“...In sickness and in health...”
“...To love and to cherish...”
“...And to honour you all the days of my life...”
“Till death do us apart.” Seonghwa finishes and your eyes start to water.
“Now, Y/n, please repeat after me.” the officiant calls on you. “I, Y/N Y/LN, take thee, Park Seonghwa, to be my lawfully wedded husband.”
You exhale before repeating his words. ““I, Y/N Y/LN, take thee, Park Seonghwa, to be my lawfully wedded husband.”
"...To have and to hold from this day forward...”
“...For better for worse...”
“For richer for poorer...”
“...In sickness and in health...”
“...To love and to cherish...”
“...And to honour you all the days of my life...”
“Till death do us apart.”
As Jennie walks over to hand over the rings she smiles brightly at you, as the crowd watches you and Seonghwa each place the new band on your fingers, signifying the start of your lifelong commitment to one another.
“Well! By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife!” the officiant shouts with a smile. “You may now kiss the bride!”
And without a second wasted Seonghwa pulls you in kissing you like he’s never kissed you before and the loud shouts and cheers in the background fills your ears as everyone hollers around you. And when you pull away you can’t seem to wipe the smile off your face as Seonghwa carries you out of the alter.
“Here’s to our new life together, Mrs. Park.” Seonghwa says with a grin as you kiss him once more.
“I love you so much.” you say.
“And I love you even more.” he returns.
So at twenty-two years old you know that you’re never going to stop loving Seonghwa, and that love was made permanent by the unity of your marriage. From the moment you declared him as your boyfriend at the age of six, to the years you spent learning everything together as a couple, growing apart and reuniting, you know that this was a rare kind of love to find, and one that had to mature and progress over a long period of time.
And so you remember the words you said to him all those years ago the night you parted ways, “if somehow we find our way back to one another, then just know everything we did up to that point was worth it.”
Which stayed true four and a half years later, and for the rest of your life thereafter.
LA FIN.
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April Fools.
Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader
Word count: 1515.
“Mom, I’m the most horrible person in the world.” You say as soon as Lena steps in the house.
“Your uncle Lex will be so sad to hear that he got dethroned.” She smiles, too proud of her own joke, and you smile back at her, getting distracted for a second. You remember what you were doing and stop smiling immediately.
Lena does her entire routine before going inside. She takes off her coat, hangs her purse on the hanger next to the door, before making her way to the kitchen.
“Mom, I’m serious.” You show her the broken glass on the kitchen floor and Lena furrows her brows. She has a moment of realization and she looks at you, mouth agape.
“No.” It’s the only thing she says.
“I’m sorry! I swear it was an accident.” You watch her coming closer and kneeling on the floor picking up a broken piece.
“Tell me this isn’t what I think it is!”
“Well-I-Yes?” You say, almost like an apology, and she looks up to you from the floor.
“What happened?” She’s getting angrier by the minute.
“I flew in and I didn’t-”
“YOU FLEW IN?” She stands up. She looks like she’s about to spit fire. “How many times did I tell you not to fly inside the house?”
“I know! It was an accident, I thought I had control!” You tell her trying to hold your laughter. You honestly don’t know how she’s falling for it. You flew in? Your powers are not even back yet. And you have a cast on your leg. It’s obviously not a good lie.
“You thought-My God! I swear I think you do this kind of stuff just to aggravate me.” Lena puts her hand on her forehead. “Clean it up.”
“Ok.” You drop your head low. “But can you hold this for me?” You ask, giving her the vase you presumably broke and she looks at you at loss. “April Fools.” You give her a smile and you hear her breathing deep before looking at you.
“I can’t believe you did this.” She looks annoyed, but you see she’s trying to hide a little smile on the corner of her lips.
“Mom. Mom.” You point at your leg. “I mean, it’s your fault you fell for it. I literally have a cast on my leg.”
“Yeah, yeah. I guess I walked right into that one.” She finally smiles a little. And you kiss her cheek. “You still have to clean it up, though.”
“Totally worth it.” You smile before cleaning the floor.
“The weirdest thing happened to me today.” Kara says landing inside of the living room, and you and Lena look up to her. “Every time I flew around in my Supergirl suit, people would just honk and wave.” She sits on the chair with a serious face trying to think what was going on. You press your lips together, trying really hard not to laugh.
“Is that a bad thing?” Lena asks, confused.
“No. I just… I don’t remember doing anything to make them celebrate my presence so much.” Kara says and you turn your head to the side, because it’s getting harder not to laugh.
Lena lifts her eyebrow at you, but says nothing.
“Well, honey, it’s probably just appreciation for your work.” Lena says and Kara stands up, agreeing. “Or…” She adds looking at Kara’s back. “Someone put a ‘honk and wave’ sign on your cape.
“WHAT?” Kara tries to look behind her cape, doing a little twist. She keeps turning around a few times and you can’t help but burst into laughter. “You didn’t!”
“I mean…” You point at her looking like a dog chasing its tail, and Lena helps her out of her cape.
“You! You! How did you do this?” Kara asks, looking at the printed words on her cape and you shrug. “Can I make it disappear?”
“You cannot.” You laugh your answer and Kara huffs sitting back down. She stares at her cape for two minutes.
“What am I going to do? Fly around with a ‘honk and wave’ cape?” She pouts and just imagining it, makes you laugh harder. “Stop laughing! It’s not funny! Why would you do this?”
“It’s April Fools.” You defend yourself and Lena agrees with her head.
“Believe me, I too was a part of this nonsense.” Lena takes Kara’s cape from her hands and looks at it, investigating it.
“I should ground you.” Kara says crossing her arms, and that, that is the funniest joke you’ve heard all day. You fall on the floor, laughing so hard your stomach hurts, and there are tears falling from your eyes. Kara’s eyebrows are pinched together. “I am not joking.”
“Sorry.” You wipe a tear and sit on the floor, looking back at her. “I thought you said you were going to ground me.”
You hear an annoyed hiss and you look at Lena who is looking at you like you’re in deep trouble. But you can’t be, it’s Kara. Kara doesn’t ground you, like ever. So, it’s cool.
“That’s exactly what I said.” She looks way too upset over a stupid joke. “And because you had this reaction, I think it’s the right thing to do.”
“What?” You sit up straight, looking shocked. “It was a joke! Just a prank. For April Fools.”
“You went too far. You ruined my cape. How do you want me to wear it now?”
“You could just stop wearing it all together. Capes are lame, anyway!”
“You’re lame.” Kara replies and your eyes widens. “And you’re grounded.”
“MOMMA!” You stand up in complete shock and disbelief. “You-But-You can’t.”
“I absolutely can! What? Do you think that only Lena has that type of authority?” Kara grabs her cape and gives it to you. “You’re grounded, and you’re going to fix this! Now-” She takes a deep breath. “Go to your room.”
“You can’t be serious!” You look at her face that looks extremely serious. “Are you? Are you serious?”
“Dead serious.” Kara takes another deep breath. “Go to your room, young lady.”
Even Lena reacts to that. She makes a loud surprised sound and you look at her, almost asking for help. Lena shrugs, and you can see her eyes tinkling like she thinks that’s the sexiest thing Kara has ever done.
“Wow. Just wow.” You pull the cape completely out of her hands. “When did you become so old?”
She doesn’t answer and you make your way to your room, complete upset by the awful turn this took. Kara has never once grounded you herself. It’s always with Lena’s push or consent. And calling you ‘young lady’? Wow, that was a low blow.
You look at the cape knowing exactly how to remove the stupid ‘honk and wave’ joke, but you’re so mad you don’t want to do it. Regardless of how annoyed you are, you still do your best to remove the print from the thick fabric, and you do a pretty good job, making it look almost new.
It’s Kara who comes to tell you it’s time for you to go to bed, like they do it every night. So, she opens the door from your room, and without saying a word you give her the cape back. She examines it, looking satisfied with the result.
“Very well.” She says throwing her cape over her shoulders. You’re rolling your eyes and biting the inside of your mouth, looking very angry. “What’s with the face?”
“Are you serious?” You throw yourself in bed. “You grounded me.”
“Yeah, so?” Kara looks at you like you’re giving her attitude for nothing. “Lena grounds you all the time.”
“Yes! Lena! Not you. And certainly not over a joke!” You grunt. Kara gives you a little smile and that just makes you frown harder.
“Oh, what? Did I forget to say?” Kara comes closer to you. “Happy April fools, loser!” She then starts laughing at you, making you furrow your eyebrows harder.
“WHAT?” You bark, dumbfounded.
“What? You think you’re the only one who can pull pranks?” She throws herself, still laughing, next to you and wraps her arms around you. “I got you big time.”
“You-Wait.” There’s a smile trying to come out from your lips, but you hold it. “I’m not grounded?”
“No!” She takes her phone out of her pocket and goes to the album. “Look at your reaction when I said you were grounded.”
“You filmed it?” You’re beyond shocked and Kara is so proud of her prank you can’t even be mad at her for it. You two watch the video together, that Lena was filming by the way, and you laugh at your reaction and the expression you make when she says ‘young lady’.
“See, I’m still young at heart.” She kisses your cheek, getting up from the bed, and you smile at her. “By the way, it’s on! I can’t wait for next year.”
“It’s so on.” You agree and you also can’t wait for the next April Fools. You know Kara really well, and this whole thing just escalated to a prank war. It’s going to get wild and awesome!
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Deja Vu
Bakugo x fem!Black!reader
Word count; 9.06k
Character count; 40.93k
Genre: Smut
Warnings; AGED UP AU! Everyone is in their 3rd . NSFW, oral (Bakugo receiving), choking, hair-pulling, fingering, vaginal sex, unprotected sex (Don't worry, you're on the pill), aftercare, swearing, light degradation.
A/n; Hello, welcome to my first FINISHED fanfiction. I have a LOT of WIPs saved but I actually finished this one a while ago. I have been really insecure about my writing but after sharing me of it with my sister and my friend, they convinced me to at least try and share it with the people of tumblr. Also, I deeply apologize for any mistakes because most of my fanfiction is written really late at night when i simply cant sleep or a good idea pops in my head so I can barely see my keyboard and my brain is fuzzy. Well, I hope you enjoy and I encourage you to request suggest anything such as headcanons, scenarios or just anything really. Again I hope you enjoy babes.
You. step inside your classroom, ready to start your journey of being a hero. Yet, you're imediantly struck by chaos. "That is extremely disrespectful Bakugo!" "Shut up, you damn extra! Not this again!" "Woah! I'm getting serious deja vu! It's like 1st year all over again!" You just stare in silence. No one pays attention to you until one person looks at you, then another. Soon, everyone is staring at you. "It's chaotic in here, huh?" You chuckle nervously. "Yeah, but it's mostly this guy's fault." A yellow-haired boy points to someone sitting weirdly. "Yeah right! Shut up!" The ash-blonde-haired boy yells. After, his crimson eyes stare at you, piercing your soul. "Well, lookin' forward to this year." You laugh. A cotton-candy girl comes up to you and wraps an arm around your shoulder. "Yep! A lot of stuff happens, but it's really fun nonetheless!" She exlaims enthusiastically. "So, you're the new kid?" She points for your answer. "I'm (Y/n)! I look forward to this year with you." You wave to everyone. Suddenly, your smile falls and your face goes dead-serious. Everyone's expression melts into concern and nervousness. "Now, everyone tell me your names from seating order, from the back left corner to the front right corner!" You command. Surprisingly, everyone obey's, telling you their name. Well, except for 1 person. "I don't have to tell you shit." The same ash-blonde boy states. "I'm surprised everyone else did tell me. Haha! I was totally playing!" You laugh. You walk over to the boy. "Hey, you got spunk. What is your name?" You ask. Crimson eyes soften a little at the surprise, but they quickly turn cold again. "What are you, deaf? I said, I'm not speaking, extra." He huffs. A spiky red-haired boy puts a hand on your back. "He's Bakugo Katsuki. Don't mind him, he's a little hot-headed." He chuckles nervously. "Don't speak for me!" Bakugo yells. "I gotta say, your mom must be psycic or something. Your name totally matches your personality." You scoff. "You just got here. Enlighten me, what do you think my personality is?" He grins smugly. You scoff again, matching his grin. "Well, when you act like that, it's easy to tell, so don't get cocky. You're obviously really strong, which is why you have the right to brag and show off and all of that." You explain. "Are you insulting him or praising him?" Denki says. "Why can't it be both? Praise and respect for being like this, but at the same time, damn bro." you sit down in the nearest chair, which conveniently is your assigned seat. He scoffs and looks away. "What do you know." He mumbles. You cup your face in your hand to look at him. "Aw, don't get grumpy. I'll feel bad." You fake-whine. "I'm not grumpy! And even if I was, if that were to be enough to make you feel bad, maybe you shouldn't be a hero!" He yells. "Hm. You do know that I was joking right? Well, for the most part anyways. I would feel bad, but if this was a real life situation, trust me. I wouldn't feel nearly bad enough to disobey something for you. So don't worry, ya got nothin' to worry about." You pull your bottom eyelid down teasingly. "Shut the hell up." He grumbles. You comply, as the homeroom teacher comes into the class. You cross your legs into the chair, and you see Iida eyeing you from across the room. His eyes shift to beside you, where you see Bakugo doing the exact same thing. His eyes dart to you, as you quickly undo your feet and rest your head on your chair and let out a heavy sigh. "You do that too?" You look at him. "Copycat." He mutters. "Am not. I always sit like this." You whisper-yell. "Yeah right. You tryna be some kinda wannabe rebel or something?" He chuckles. "Rebel? Now, you just pulled that out your ass, didn't ya?" You ask. "No. You're clearly tryna be disrespectful. It's not a good look for you." He smirks. "Doin' this is disrespectful? Since when? It's always been cute to me." You huff. "Are you forein or something, or are you just a dumbass?" He turns his head to you. "Not exactly foreign, but I spent a generous amount of my life in America. I did this all the time there,
it's not counted as disrespectful, in fact people find it rather cute, so what's your excuse?" You put your hand down. He looks away from you. "Thought so, wannabe rebel." You chuckle. The rest of class is normal, and soon enough, the school lunch bell rings. "Hey, mr teach?" You raise your hand while everyone leaves. Well, except for Bakugo, Mina, Kirishima, and Denki because they were being disrespectful and talking during the lesson. You were wondering why Bakugo was caught and not you. For punishment, the disrespectful students had to pack up chairs and sweep the classroom. "Yes, (L/n)?" The teacher responds. "In a normal highschool, we're allowed to leave campus during lunch. Does that apply here?" You ask, looking around. "Yes, you're allowed to leave at any time as long as you fill out a leave campus paper. They're in the teacher's lounge." He points to the door "Go left, at the first turn, turn left, and 3rd door on your right." he explains. "I don't know if i'm leaving, I was just askin'." You say. "Hm, I dunno. Hm." You put a finger to your chin in thoght. "Hey! I'm heling you guys now!" You point to Bakugo, Mina, Denki, and Kirishima. They all give you s confused look. "What? Why would you wanna do this?" Kirishima asks. "Maybe she's a bit weird in the head. Hehe, our first crazy person. Just the icing on the cake, huh?" Denki jokes. "I'm not crazy, just bored." You pick up a broom. "Yeah, I think she's a bit crazy." Mina whispers. "Heard that." You roll your eyes. "Why're you bein' so quiet, wannabe rebel?" You cock an eyebrow. "Don't call me that!" He yells while raising his fist. "You called me that first." you scoff. "Exactly my point. Who calls someone something they called them first?" He says. "Hm, maybe I can be a trendsetter." You give him a smug smile before sweeping some of the dirt on the floor. Suddenly, Bakugo starts yelling. "You idiots! You're doing this all wrong!" He screams. He points to Denki. "Where the hell are you sweeping, the wall!?" He points to Kirishima "Stop staring into space!" He points to Mina. "And you're not doing anything! When was this a time for music!?" Mina was drumming her hands on a desk while humming. He pointed to you. "And you're-" He stops midsentence. You lean on your broom. "Go on, what am I doing?" Your face looks serious, but he can tell you're fighting your smile. The corners of your mouth twitch as his cheeks turn a very subtle pink, but you picked it up. "Mhm. too bad for you, I don't get caught lacking." You say sing-songy. "Y'know, if you're so serious about cleaning this place, why don't you do it?" Denki suggests. "Well, you're all punished, so I don't think ya'll can just leave." You laugh. "Maybe we can if someone takes over our spots. Ah? Ah?" Denki nudges your shoulder. "Maybe you're right.." Denki's eyes light up, and everyone looks to you. "It would be faster if you were gone, pea-brain." You sneer. "I mean, I'm happy you'd let me leave, but c'mon! Pea-brain?" You laugh, along with Mina and Kirishima. "How mean!" Kirishima says through fighting snickers. "Haha! It's totally true though!" Mina, on the other hand is guffawing and holding her sides. "Your grades are jsut as bad!" Bakugo yells. "Dang, am I just surrounded by idiots? Studying isn't really that hard." You shrug. "Oh please! How good are your grade!?" She points and huffs. "Me? Eh, not half bad if I do say so myself. Usually above average, but math and history is always a struggle. But at least I can manage to have an A average." You shrug. "A...average!?" Mina dramatically throws herself back. "Yeah. If you guys put some sort of effort into your grades, you'd be the same way." You explain. "Shut up, we need to get this done and over with, you trying to keep us here all day and night!?" Bakugo yells. "My thoughts exactly. Great minds think alike I guess." you roll your eyes and begin sweeping again, glaring at Denki and taking his broom. "Hey!" He says, at your snatch. "Honestly, at this point you're just stalling." "Do something useful for once." Bakugo adds. "Jeez, when did you
become so mean?" He walks away. "I became mean when someone pissed me off." You reply. "What did I do?" He raises his voice a little. "Not much, I don't even really know why I'm kinda pissed at you. Maybe it's your piss hair." Mina points and laughs again. "Everyone here is mean to me." He whines. "Let's hurry up and get this oevr with, I'm getting bored again." you start sweeping a bit faster. "If you're bored, why dont you just leave? No one's stopping you." Bakugo says. "Eh, I dunno, just don't wanna leave I guess." You shrug. "You'd really just rather just stay here and clean? You're pretty weird.." Mina groans. "Hey, you're witnessing a rare sight. I don't really get bored often." You chuckle, and sweep the dust and dirt into Bakugo's pile. "You've been silent, wannabe rebel." You tilt your head in front of his face. "I said stop calling me that, dumbass. You must be deaf." He says. "You got all this talk but you're not doing anything. Try insuliting me when you prove you can do something better than me." You spin around and continue sweeping. Mina and Kirishima are silent for a few minutes. "Hey, me and Kirishima are done, we're gonna dip." Mina finally speaks. Kirishima nods. "Ugh, can I go? (Y/n)'s not letting me do anything!" Denki groans. "Because you do it wrong." You explain. "Yeah, we're gonna head to the cafeteria before they're out of Onigiri!" Mina exclaims. "Hope we're not too late." Kirishima rubs his stomache. "Haha! Good luck with being stukck with Bakugo (Y/n)!" Denki waves his hand and they all run out the room. "God, what did thet even do? Wiped an already clean table?" You scoff, sweeping some more while spinning a little. "Why are you here?" Bakugo questions. "And you're gonna call me deaf? I said because I was bored." You laugh, the noise echoing throughout the classroom. "Now, hurry up, I wanna get out of here." You continue sweeping again, but he stands still. "What now? You forget how to sweep? Here, like this." You slowly sweep, while laughing to yourself again. "Shut the hell up. If you wanna get out of here, why don't you? You like me or something?" He gives you the slyest grin as you growl. "No one else here likes you, why should I?" You copy his grin. "We've all been together since first year, you just got here. What do you know?" His grin fades as he sweeps. "Hey, what's your quirk?" You ask. "Huh? What the hell for?" He yells. "I wanna spar with you!" You beam. "Yeah, OkAy." He says sarcastically as he scoffs. "Tell me your quirk first." He says while sweeping. "Hm." You ponder. "Do you not know what your quirk's name is or something?" Bakugo looks at you, and stops sweeping. "No. My quirk is enhancement. I was just thinking if I should tell you or not." You respond, sweeping yourself. "Enhancement" Bakugo wonders." "Yeah, you know, I can make something or someone really strong, blah blah blah. What's yours?" You ask. "Explosion." He grumbles. "Explosion? Now we gotta spar! I know you're strong, so c'mon!" You say, putting the broom down. "..Fine, but pick your broom up! We're not sparring here, and in case you didn't know, I'm still punished." Bakugo grumbles. "Fine, let's hurry this up then. I don't know how much time of lunch is there." You look at the clock. "Usually, there's about a 50 minute lunch break, we've been out for about 20 or maybe 25. 30 at most." You do the math in your head. "You could have just took the time lunch ends and subtracted it by the amount of time you've been wasting here, extra." Bakugo grumbles. "Well, even if it was 30, we'd still have 20 minutes to spar! That's more than enough time for me to beat you!" You say. "I'll kill you." He grumbles, sweeping a bit faster. You join him, and the room is spotless in no time. "Hurry up!" Bakugo yells at you. "Don't yell at me!" You yell back, jogging after him. You end up at some clearing. Bakugo is stretching his arms and cracking his neck. "1, don't set any tree's on fire. 2.." He gives you a glare. "Hope you have another uniform packed." He smiles to wide his gums are showing. You are in shock a little, but
you smile too. "And same to you." You crack your knuckles. "Actually?" you stop. "What." bakugo stops himself as well. "This time, let's not use our quirks." you say. "Why? You scared that mine is better?" He laughs. "No no, nothing like that. It would be better to spar to better our physical skills first, then we can add quirks later." You say. "Alright, let's just get this over with." He rolls his neck. You both come at eachother at the same time, throwing punches, kicks, and blocking for what seems like forever. You see his hand start glowing, signaling he's about to make an explosion. Most likely to propel himelsef towards you, but still. You grab his wrist and hold it up. "Ah! I said no quirks and you agreed." you point to his hand, as the glow fades. Deku comes up to us, a bit shocked at the scene. "Uhm, lunch is over." He nervously says. Bakugo snatches his wrist back from you, and walks away, sucking his teeth. "This isn't over." He brushes past Deku, who immediantly turns back to you. "Hey, were you fighting?" The green-haired boy rushes over. "Yeah, we were." you shrug. "Are you hurt?" He asks. "Why aren't you asking Bakugo this stuff?" You ask. "He was bullying you, right? I can't believe you stepped up to him though-" Your erupting laughter interrupts him. "A-are you okay!?" He waves his hands. "Oh my god! You thought he was bullying me? I came up with the idea of sparring!" You gasp for air. "You were just sparring?" Deku asks for clarification. "Yeah, didn't you notice he wasn't using his quirk? Well, until the very end, but I stopped him." You catch your breath. "O-oh. i'm sorry I misunderstood." You slap him on the back. "It's all good, it's not your fault Bakugo just gives off that vibe! Welp! Time for class, right?" You begin marching towards the forest, Deku nodding and following suit. While you're walking to class, you replay the sparring match in your head. Your brain stops at one scene, when you grabbed his wrist. You didn't see it before, but now that it's replaying, you see his eyes in your small vision. They were softened, but hostile. You giggle at the thought, to which Deku notices. "What are you laughing about?" He asks. "Just how you thought Bakugo was bullying me." You run in front of him, hoping to catch up to Bakugo. "Hey, Bakugo!" You yell for him, he stops and turns around. "What?" He grumps. "When are we gonna spar next? You said it wasn't over." you explain. "After school, what'd you think I meant, dumbass." Bakugo says. "I thought you meant the same time tomarrow or something, don't get your panties in a bunch." You playfully push him. "Should we reschedule that sparring match to right now?" Bakugo growls. "I dunno, I feel up to another round. This time I'm gonna kick your ass." You smirk. "I'll win in a second. Because next time we spar, we're doing quirks and all." He scoffs. "Now now, didn't you hear the phrase the cockiness killed the cat?" You tease. "I'm not cocky, I just know I'm gonna win." He shrugs. "Mhm, I admire the confidence, but it's just gonna be hilarious when I beat you at this point." You snicker at the thought of his face. "Well, get that thought out of your head because it's not happening." Bakugo lightly smacks the back of your head. "Yes it is! But just because you think you're gonna win, don't try to go light on me!" You point at him. He swats your hand away. "Calm down, I wouldn't dream of it. What made you think I would?" He asks. "You seem like those type of people that would 'pkay with their food' when their prey is especially weak." You say. "Well, that's just inefficient. I'm pretty sure we're late, so hurry your ass up!" He yells as he walks faster. "I could use my quirk and we'd be there in a second." You suggest. "What's your stupid quirk gonna do?" He asks. "Enhancement. I could enhance our legs to make us walk or run faster. But, you'd probably crash into a wall at the sudden change of speed. But I could totally carry you!" You beam. "I'm not getting carried." He walks up the stairs. "Would you rather me drag you by the shirt?" You suggest
jokingly. "No, I'm walking myself. I don't need your help to walk to my damn classroom." He says. "Fine, then I will too. It'll look like i'm showing off if i use my quirk without you." You huff. "DO you see anyone here? No one gives a shit if your showing off." Bakugo says. "Well, I'm not budging, but let's hurry up." You say. "Don't tell me what to do!" He yells after you. When you enter class, surprisingly enough, the teacher's not there. "Lucky ducks! Where were you?" Mina says. "WEre you really sweeping all lunch?" Denki asks afterwards. "We w-" "Well anyways!" Mina interrupts. "I'm totally having a party at Yamomo's! I just need a theme or kind of party. Should it be a rave, or maybe a dance battle!" Mina beams. "How're you gonna throw a party if you don't know what it's gonna be?" You ask. "Well, I don't even know if I'm gonna have it at Yamomo's, but most likely, I will. Maybe I can find an abandoned warehouse instead!" She beams. "Maybe we could have some kind of boxing match like how (y/n) and Bakugo were sparring!" Ochako suggests. "No way, Bakugo would beat everyone in a heartbeat, so there'd be no surprise." Denki objects. "Why don't we have some sort of nightclub vibe?" You suggest. "That's perfect! A nightclub! Purple lights, a dj, it'll be PERFECT! You're a GENIUS (y/n)!" Mina swings her arms around you and squeals. "It just came to mind when I thought of a party." You explain. "Okay! I have everything under control! I'll text you the place and time! I'll set up everything!" Mina shreiks. "You sure you can set up a party by yourself?" Kirishima asks. "I got connections. Leave it to me!" She shows a thumbs up. "Hey (Y/n)! I never got your number. Wouldn't want you not coming." She gives you her phone and you type your number in. She texts you a thumbs up for comfirmation. "Okay class, settle down." The math teacher walks in. "Took him long enough" you mutter. The school day goes by easily, and before you know it, the end of the day bell is sounding. "Hey, Bakugo. Are we really gonna spar now? What if we get the text for Mina's party in the middle of it?" You ask. "Knowing her, it probably won't be till late, to 'set the mood'." He turns off his phone and shoves it in his pocket. "We got time." He walks in front of you down the stairs. "Well, okay. The dorms are this way, right?" You point to a nearvy building. "Yeah, but why're you going there?" Bakugo asks. "This is my chance to change into more comfortable clothes for better mobility. Also, my only spare uniform might not be able to fit me after the party." You joke. "You should take this oppertunity too." You suggest as you walk in. After you change, you walk back out, Bakugo's leaning on the side of the building. "Geez, what took you so long?" Bakugo groans. "You just change fast." You stick your tongue out. "And you did your hair?" He scoffs. "Yeah? You didn't?" You say sarcastically. "No winder you took so long, it's like you planned this outfit." He sucks his teeth. "Are you gonna stop staring at my clothes and fight me or what?" You crack your knuckles once more. "Quirks this time, remember?" Bakugo clarifies. "Hell yeah. Wanna time your loss?" You laugh. "Shut up." He grumbles. Suddenly, he's infront of you, his hand glowing. You block, and stumble back a little. "Geez, that was dirty!" You say. "All's fair in fighting and fighting." He chuckles. "Ugh." You groan, as you speed towards him, throwing an enhanced punch at his blocked face. The fight continues on forever, taking small water breaks and continuing. Bakugo is appalled at your raw strength, only helped with your enhancement quirk. You chug your water, noticing his mixed expression of shock, and exhaust. "What time is it?" You check your phone, the time being 10 o'clock. "Damn, we've been sparring for 5 hours? No wonder my muscles are so sore." You stretch your arms a little. Suddenly, yours and Bakugo's phones go off at the same time. "Seems like Mina's got the time and place. I didn't think she was gonna go through with it." You say. "Well, that's that extra for you." Bakugo shoves
his phone in his pocket. "The party is in 2 hours, and you take forever to change apparently so I suggest you get started now." He growls. "What about..? Fine." You give up. Mina and Momo arrive at your dorm. "OH. My. GOD!" Mina squeals. "What is it? And aren't you supposed to be at the party?" You ask. "I went shopping with Yamomo for...your dress~!" Mina says sing-songy. "She picked it out." Momo hands you the dress, covered in a bag. "Uh, you didn't have to do this." You scratch the back of your head. "You're the new kid, so we wanted to help you get ready!" Mina beams. "Go on, try it on! I think it'll look great on you now that I'm getting a good look of you." Momo says, a finger to her chin. "Fine. Come in, sorry it's a bit messy." You say, walking towards your bathroom. "Don't forget to take a shower, you smell sweaty!" Mina teases. "And how do you call this dirty? One outfit is on the floor?" Mina picks it up and puts it in the hamper. You feel like a completely new person in the shower, washing away your sweat, filth, and problems. You also wash your hair, remembering you forgot to do it last week. You get out and reveal the dress, your eyes widening at the red beauty. You try it on and look in the mirror. "Uhm," You call out to Mina and Momo. "Is this really what you're supposed to wear to a nightclub?" You ask, steppinf out of the bathroom. Mina and Momo gasp at your appearance in the dress. "Oh my god! Yes!" Mina rushes over, examinging you from every angle. "Is that the answer to my question? Aren't you supposed to dance at a nightclub?" You ask. "Yeah. You aren't just wearing the dress. Don't worry, you'll be able to dance the night away." Mina reassures you. "You sure? It's a bit tight." You tug at it around your thighs. "It's not tight, it's just...y'know, like a pencil skirt. it's just fitting." Mina explains. "I don't think pencil skirts are made for dancing." You laugh. "Well, I'm probably not gonna dance anyways. And if i did, I'm probably not gonna be breakdancing or anything, huh?" You chuckle. "That's the spirit." Mina gives you a thumbs up. "So, you said this wasn't the full outfit?" You sheepishly grin. "Yep! Don't worry, babe, just leave it to us." Mina smiles greatly and Momo gives a warm small smile. "Alright, but if you're gonna do my hair, be gentle." You tangle your fingers in your black sea of curls. "Don't worry, my head is sensitive too." She scratches her hair. Soon enough, you look like you had a full glow-up. Mina and Momo snapping pictures to put on their story, also taking photo's of eachother and themselves. "The party's at midnight, right?" You check your phone again. "Yeah, it's friday night so we don't have to worry about waking up early for school!" Mina says enthusiastically. "And since it's at one of my guest houses, we can even have a sleepover." Momo suggests. "C'mon, we wouldn't wanna be late." Mina says. "What are we even celebrating?" You ask. "Nothing. Sometimes, a party celebrating nothing is just what you need!" Mina says. "I...guess that makes sense..?" You laugh. You get in Momo's convertible, vibing as you pass the aux around. It feels like you've been in the car for such a short time, as you pull up to her guest house's driveway. You swear you can hear the music booming from where you were standing. You walk in, and are greeted with booming music, bright and dim lights, and decorations everywhere. "Tada!" Mina squeals. "How'd you do all this?" You gasp in awe. "I knew a guy." She says proudly. We hear another car pull up, and we greet the people coming one by one. "Wow, this party is amazing!" Kirishima looks around, getting lost in the crowd. At this point, people you didn't even know were arriving. You assumed Mina and Momo's friends, and people the other classmates invited. Bakugo comes in and eyes you up and down. "Hm, I thought you wouldn't be here for another hour, slowpoke." He smirks. "Maybe you should higher your expectations then." You flash him a fake-mean look as you both walk to a wall. "Ha, just 2 hours ago we were fighting behind the dorms, and
now we're at a party." You laugh at the randomness. "I am actually surprised you were here before me though." He says with a phony shocked expression. You shove him playfully. "Well, guess I have Mina and Momo to thank for beating you. Maybe I should dedicate my trophy to them." You teasingly ponder aloud. His expression changed to a mix of irritation and laughter. Mina suddenly drags you away, to dance with her in the middle of the floor. At first you were embarrassed, but once you were feeling the beat, you forgot all about the people eyeing you and cheering you on. You were having a total blast, singing and dancing to the busting music. She said she mixed hers and Jirous playlist together, and you compliment their taste in music, and you and Mina begin dancing together. You and Mina stop, panting and laughing as she compliments your dancing skills. "I'm gonna get a drink." You point to the food and bevarages table and she nods. You walk through the crowd, hearing some cheers and compliments towards you, even some whistles. You drink some water, and lean on the wall watching as Mina continues dancing with Ochaco. Suddenly, you feel a yank and you're dragged away, and into a room. You hear the door slam as you're met with your back on a wall. You grunt on impact. Everything happened in a blur, so when you can focus your eyes again, You look around for a split second, realizing you're in some kind of office. But, you're met with fires of red. "Why the hell are you wearing that?" A booming familiar voice rings through your eardrums. "Bakugo? What do you mean?" You say, stunned that the words actually came out of your mouth. "I'll repeat myself just this once; Why the hell are you wearing that?" He says. You're absolutely shocked. "Well, you didn't seem to have a problem with it when you first saw me with it!" You say. "Well, that was before you decided to give everyone here a fucking 'show'!" His grip gets a little tighter on your shoulders. What? What did he mean by show? You weren't even paying attention to yourself or anyone else while you were dancing, did you really..? "W-well, even if I did, what's that got to do with you?" You recollect yourself. His grip on your shoulders tighten even more, making you groan a little. "If you were gonna do that, why the hell would you wear this?" He looks you up and down again. "I don't even know what I did, and it's not like I plan my dance moves!" Your voice raises a little. "You don't even know what you just did in front of everyone?" He looks shocked, not even the sightest bit irritated anymore. His grip seems to loosen and tighten at the same time. You get a little anxious, as he comes a little closer. "What do you see in your head when I say the word 'show' in the same context I just did?" He says. You gulp as you imagine it. "Yep, you just did that, in front of the whole class, plus others. It's pretty rich that you didn't even realize it though." Bakugo chuckles a little, but it quickly fades. "T-that's impossible, my body..can't do that." You try to huff, but you're too nervous to do a solid one. "How humble." He loosens his grip and backs away, making you breath deeper. But suddenly, one of his hands grabs your right thigh as he brings it up to his waist, and snakes his other hand onto your back, right above your butt. You're now pinned on the wall. "But you and I both at least have some idea of what this body of yours is capable of." He growls, his face just whispers away from yours. You take another deep breath, but it's more of a gasp. You lean your head up onto the wall, taking a deep gulp. Bakugo watches as the little bubble trails down your throat. "Well, if you really don't know.." He licks his lips as he watches another bubble travel downwards. "Want to find out?" He catches the third bubble, licking it. You snap your head in surprise as he gives you a teasing smirk. His left arm snakes down further, grabbing your ass as his right moves your thigh higher. Your head is spiraling, and you open your mouth to speak, but you're interrupted by an intruder of the
mouth. You couldn't help the moan from escaping as he tastes you, licking his lips afterward. Your lidded eyes meet his, but they quickly move down to his mouth, and then to his eyes again. "I'm just glad you aren't wearing lip gloss or lipstick." He mumbles, before giving you another tongue kiss. You wrap your left leg around his waist, as his right knee bends to touch you. He can feel your folds clench at his touch, which forces the smallest gasp from you. "If you only did that show for me, I wouldn't be pissed at you." He furrows his brows at you. "Why?" You manage to say. "You're that dense, huh? Maybe words won't go through your brain." His right hand leaves your thigh, and grabs some of your hair behind your head. His eyes flicker from your eyes to your mouth, open from your decreshending breaths. "So maybe this will." He licks the opening of your mouth, his tongue sliding in before turning it into a kiss. His mouth leaves yours just barely, before both of your tongues stick out, crashing onto eachother like waves, as your lips connect once again. These kisses were different, more passionate, including the unique sound they made compared to the others. When your lips disconnect as a finale, he unwraps your leg from his waist and lets go of your butt. His lidded eyes give you a (Not a command, but not a wish either, I couldn't find a word for it lmao.) as he sits down in the nearest chair, his right hand now cupping his face as he waits for you. You get a little shaky, but you oblige, moving towards him. You lower to your knees as he watches your thighs get thicker from the press of your lower legs. You move towards him more, as your hands go onto his knees. You erotically slide your hands up his thighs, as if you really were giving him a show on his own. Two index fingers dance towards the center of his pants, where a mountain stands. Bakugo lightly groans as he feels his pants getting more confined. Your hands lightly struggle at the tight button, but you manage to quickly undo it. Bakugo's large dick springs up at attention, precum almost dripping. You lean over it, and a few hairs cloud your vision. You tuck them behind you ear as you notice Bakugo's facial expression, seemingly annoyed. You put him to your mouth as you rub his tip with your index finger. He nods with a small groan, and you give his dick a small lick. You lick all of the sides at least once before sliding his dick into your mouth. You flatten your tongue as you fit more of his cock into your mouth, spilling a louder groan from Bakugo. Alas, your curls kept moving. They didn't exactly pose a problem to you, but the thick fingers that carded through your hair said otherwise. You stop to look at him. "Just wanted a view." His smirk grows. You continued, but using your tongue as it swirls around his tip. Bakugo's large hand clenched a handful of your hair, forcing you to take his dick. You moan at the slight pain and force. You rise your head to his tip, before stopping. His facial expression changes to confusion, which you take as your cue. You swiftly take as much of his dick as you can, and hold your head there. The shock forces a loud erotic moan from Bakugo, followed by curses, and his thick cum flowing into your mouth and onto your face, satisfying you. Bakugo's covering his red face with his huge hand, panting along with you. "I...didn't expect that." Bakugo pants. "I...hah...said to...higher your expectations of me..didn't I?" You wipe your chin and lick your lips. "God, I should just face-fuck you right now." He exhales deeply, catching his breath. "Then why don't you?" You ask. "Because as much as I'd love to shove this cock down your little throat, I also want to make you feel good." He uses a finger to lift up your chin, and close your mouth. You both stand up, and Bakugo lightly pushes you onto a table and stands over you, both of his arms by your sides, pinning you there. "I bet while you were giving your show out there, all the guys- hell, maybe even some of the girls- wanted to rip this dress off of you." Bakugo chuckles to
himself. "You said that your body couldn't do a show like that. Remember what I said? If you didn't know, wanna find out?" He recaps, and you nod. "Well? What's your answer to that?" He asks genuinly. You chuckle. "You're really gonna wait until you got your dick wet to ask me that? Psh, and you called me dense." Your chuckle erupts to a laugh. Bakugo clenches your hair again. "Just answer the damn question." He growls. "Yeah, I wanna find out." You reply confidently. He gives you a slightly surprised and confused look, to which you answer by swiping 2 fingers along his member. He lightly grabs your neck, forcing your head down onto the desk. A noise you didn't know you had in you echoes throughout the room. Even Bakugo's shocked by it, and he's the one who forced it out. But he quickly catches on. "Ah, somebody's got a little kink, huh?" His hand grabs your hair again roughly, a similar moan coming out as he lifts your head up and moves his mouth towards your ear. "You like to be fucked niiice and rough, don't you?" The low rumble in his voice makes you shiver. "You like to be teased, even though you act like you don't, huh?" He sneaks a touch at your folds through your panties. You lightly moan at the sudden act as your head moves upwards and your thighs clench together, as Bakugo's hand barely escapes your thighs crashing together. "You like...the pain with the pleasure, don't you?" He bites your ear before licking and peppering kisses onto it. Your breaths grow heavier as your body heats up. He continues with the teasing, forcing your legs open, putting his knee between your legs and carressing your inner thigh, and pressing onto your clit as he nibbles on your ear some more. He slips off shoes, then your pantyhose, and then your panties as his teases get harsher. Suddenly, two thick fingers of his slip between your velvety folds. You moan as your walls try to fend off the intruder, as he steadily pumps his fingers into you with rhythm. "God, you're so tight." He groans, as his dick twitches. Your breaths are still heavy, but more apparent. "Oh, god, fuck." Your head is thrown back onto the desk. Bakugo's firey eyes burn into yours. "This feels nice, doesn't it?" He says. You let out a whiny "Mhm." To which Bakugo chuckles. "It feels nice, sure, but I want to make you feel good, no, amazing, the best you've ever felt." His slides turn into thrusts as his fingers quicken their pace. "F-fuck." You moan grows long. You couldn't help but roll your hips and grab one of your breasts, trying to rush your release. "Ke-hah-ep going." You're barely able to keep those words together. "Now, don't rush yourself. I was gonna be the one to make you feel good." He hits just below the spot you've been longing for, and you can feel yourself coming close, just a little bit more. If that wasn't enough, he curls the tips of his fingers to hit your sweet spot, right on the money, and he can tell too, noticing how your body quivers and your eyes closed tightly. Suddenly, his fingers exit your folds. You give him a confused look, panted breaths taking over your words. "Sorry princess, but when you cum, I'm gonna be inside you." You watch as Bakugo seperates his fingers, watching as your slick webs between them. "Didn't think you could be this wet." Bakugo chuckles. Suddenly, he puts the two fingers in his mouth, licking your slick off. When his fingers leave his mouth, a string of slick falls from his mouth as well. You swallow at the sight. He gets up and grasps your neck, forcing your head down again, making the same noise, but slightly more lewd from the teasing. "Haha, you slut." He chuckles while exhaling deeply. He runs his hands down your frame, admiring your curves. He pumps himself a few times, reminding himself of how you just treated his dick. He grabs your thigh, observing how your flesh molded into his hand. He's moves his hand, but you catch his wrist. "Wait." You say, sitting up. He backs away with a confused look, and you stand up from the table. You stretch your arms a bit, but you suddenly push him, your enhancing quirk
making it powerful enough to crash him onto a couch. "Wha-" He has no time to react as he watches you push him again to lay him parrallel to the couch. He wasn't expecting this, and he couldn't deny the facts, it made his dick that much harder. It twitched at your boldness. You straddle him, lining his cock to your throbbing and oversensitive pussy. "Being bold, huh (Y/n)?" His confused open mouth grew into a smirk. "Mhm. Watch just how bold I can be.." you moan as his tip enters you, taking a bit before you bottom yourself out, your pussy swallowing him whole. Long moans exit both of your mouths, as you put your arms behind your back to support yourself as you slowly roll your hips, giving Bakugo a good view of you gushing onto his dick. "Fuck, you're even wetter and tighter than before." Bakugo says through groans and gritted teeth. You laugh breathily as you roll your hips rhythymically, beign engulfed in ecstacy. Suddenly, Bakugo's hand grasps your neck as he forces you down onto the couch, him now towering over you, his cock twitching inside of you. "B-bakugo." You moan. "You really are bold. But you're doing the opposite of what I said you'd do. Remember?" His grip tightens onto your neck, as you nod profusely. "Also, drop the last name. It's Katsuki. Got that?" He chuckles. "Katsuki." You repeat, thinking it sounds familiar. He sucks his teeth. "You're begging with your eyes, you slut." He begins thrusting into you, lifting one of your thighs with his free hand to drill deeper. His thrusts grew quick and harder quickly as he pounds into you, a gasp or moan coming out of you with each individual thrust. His hand around your neck just added to the pain and pleasure you felt. "K-katsuki!" You have a shaky smile with tears in your eyes. "What's wrong-fuck- too rough?" He tries to hide his pleasure as well, but it's getting harder for him as his dick slides perfectly, your walls adjusted to him instantly, as if it was waiting for his cock only. "Damn, it's like you were -shit- made for me." Expletives interrupt his sentences as he stops trying to hide his pleasure as his hips meet yours. His smile is the widest you've ever seen, showing his gums. He moves your other thigh up, allowing him to go even deeper. "K-katsuki..fuck!" Your moans seem to get breathier and a bit more highpitched. "Don't worry, I know where to go." He assures you, as he flawlessly hits your sweet spot, just like with his magical fingers. "Yes! Right there, fuuuck~!" You put your hands on his arm as his grip gets even tighter onto your neck, and as he ruthelessly abuses that spot, rubbing on it fast. Your eyes begin to roll to the back of your head as his pace gets even quicker. "Keep going, Katsuki, so close, so fucking close just keep going!" Your fingers don't know what to do as you try to grip the couch, your hair, but they stay at his shoulders, your fingernails digging into his skin only makes him pound harder. "Go ahead, cum on this dick, (Y/n)." He grunts loudly, feeling himself become undone as well. "It's...too good." All you can see is white as you reach your high, your back arching, your eyes completely into the back of your head, and your insides being painted white. His long erotic moan matched yours, as you panted and came down from your peaks simultaniously. While you were seeing white, however, you were getting visions, memories of stuff you didn't remember. It was you and Katsuki, as children, playing together, him coming to your house with his mom when you were little, and you playing competitive sports outside as your moms talked. You remembered everything from when you were little, and started questioning how you could forget. You also saw something else, you going away, when you moved to America. When you said goodbye to Katsuki, and shared a hug, that no one else was gonna get. "K-katsuki.." you pant, giving him a nostalgic look. "So, you've remembered." He chuckles through panted breaths. "Took ya long enough." He says. "Huh?" You give a confused look. "I wouldn't have sex with someone I just met hours ago. And knowing
you, you wouldn't either." He moves from on top of you, sitting down next to you. It sparked a question in your mind. Why did you have sex with him, if you didn't remember him? Maybe it was your subconcious that knew him. You yawn, now completely down from your high. "I gotta say, it was fun getting to know you all over again and play along." Katsuki laughs. "And your quirk improved dramatically. Remember when we were little, when my explosions were really small, and you used to enhance my quirk to make explosions like I do now?" He recalls. "Yeah, I was probably the only one who you've ever complimented before." You lay your head on his lap. "Damn, you really spent me." You yawn as he takes his phone out, "Hell yeah I did." He sucks his teeth as he begins texting someone. "Who're you texting?" You say. "Just go to sleep, I'm texting Mina, the pink-haired chick you were twerking with in front of everyone." He says, his face going back to annoyed. "Geez man, I didn't know." You suck your teeth yourself. "Well, I got to fuck you, so I guess I can't stay mad." He shuts off his phone and pets your head. "We gotta get cleaned up, I'm not sleeping like this." He grumbles. "Sleep? Who said anything about that?" You tilt your head. "The way I did you tonight? Yeah, you're not gonna be able to go home." Bakugo laughs "What did you think I texted Mina about? I told her to send everyone home and that we're spending the night." He says. "Wouldn't you text Momo about-" You're interrupted by his phone chiming. He checks it and begins laughing. "Phaha! Guess what? We weren't the only ones fucking." He shows you his phone, and you see what he texted Mina first. "Why'd you just flat out tell her we had sex!?" You say, scrolling down to read he reply. "Psh, Todoroki and Momo? Even Deku and Ochaco?!" You laugh. "Yeah, I thought Deku would remain a virgin his whole life. Crazy, huh?" He chuckles. "Also, Mina been knew we woulda fucked. Look." He shows you another message. "Soooo tonights the night, huh😏? Use protection⛑️! Or don't, but no kids😤!" The message reads. You roll your eyes. "So everyone knew that we had history together but me, right?" You groan. "Pretty much." He laughs again. Suddenly, his phone chimes again. "OK, the guests r gone, all of the wasted temporary residents r all 🛀 ☝️ and 😴, ur turn. the 🛀 is nice and 🏃! i also brought a stretcher for (y/n) because i know she'll need it lmfaoo🚶" it reads. "Translation; the party people are gone, everyone else who fucked is washed up and asleep, so we can take our time." Bakugo sighs. "That extra does the damn most." He facepalms. "Wow, how reliable. But shouldn't we be asking Momo for permission to sleep here?" You ask, and your answer comes with another chime of his phone, the new message reading "i already asked and yamomo understood completely so the house is all urs 4 2nite. yw i know im the best😌" "Geez, she couldn't stand to use grammar every once in a while?" You laugh and roll your eyes. "C'mon." He stands up. You move to get up, but he ends up picking you up. "Wha-? Hey! Put me down!" You lightly hit his back. "Don't bother, you can't walk." He says. "Who says?" you grunt. "Fine, try." He puts you down on your feet gently, but you immediantly crash dwon onto your butt, which is also feeing sore from his tight ass-grabbing. He chuckles. "How come it took me to try standing up for my legs to start feeling sore?" You groan. "Told ya. It's not my fault you like it rough." He teases as he picks you up and slings you over his shoulder. This time you don't fight, just making a pouty face and groaning from embarrassment and your sore legs. You lock eye contact as Mina patrols the main area. She uses body language to tell you she heard almost everything, and you shoot her a dirty look as she laughs and continues patrolling. You're surprised with a bath that's ready for you, courtesy of Mina. Maybe you can't stay too mad. He takes off your clothes and sets you in the bath, as you relax and rest your head on the could outer ring. Bakugo's eyes dart to your neck, dark
markings telling exactly where his hends went. It was like your own litte version of a hickey, which put a smile on his face. "Who knew you had a choking kink? that was a real surprise to me." He smiles meanly as you hide your face in embarrassment. "I didn't know." You groan in sheer embarrassment. "Relax, I won't be choking you gain anytime soon." He gumbles in slight annoyance. "But what if a villain does?" You ask. "Shit, I forgot about that. Haha! Just imagine that villains stupid face when you let out a moan because of him choking you." He chuckles. "Wouldn't you get jealous? Another man, maybe a woman, choking me?" You turn to face him. "Well, it's my job to beat their ass regardless so they're gonna end up dead anyways. 1, for being a villain, and 2, for putting their hands on my girl." He explains. You didn't need his hand, you almost choked on the word girl. "Yeah, I said it." He pours some shampoo in his hand, lathering them together and scrubbing your hair. "You gonna deny it?" He grumbles. "No, just didn't think you'd say it first." You admit. "Well, surprise surprise, I'm not the same kid I was back then." He sucks his teeth. "You kinda are. You always sucked your teeth like that and you have the samer personality if we're speaking vaguely." You explain. "Well, I changed a lot, idiot. What do you know?" He massages your head with his yet again, magical fingers. "I know that the only reason you're not yelling is because you're thinking of everyone sleeping. Funny, you weren't when you got a taste of me." You say matter-of-factly. "You always were a smartass. I don't even know why I ever liked you." He grumbles. "Yeah, that's probably gonna stay a mystery. I don't know why I like you either, you were always an annoyingly smart guy for yourself." You grumble as he rinses your hair and you wash yourself. Bakugo briefly leaves and comes back with an oversized t-shirt and underwear. You change into them while sitting on the toilet seat, and Bakugo's eyes widen a little as he comes to a realization. "Hey, that's my shirt! The bitch stole my shirt! How the hell'd she even get into my dorm!?" Bakugo yells. "I have my ways!" You can hear Mina call out to him. "God, she's lucky I'm tired." He groans as he scratches the back of his head. "And she's lucky that you look good in it." He smirks as he looks you up and down seductively. "What, round 2?" You ask. "No, I put all my energy into round 1." He sighs. "Good, so did I." You let out a big exhale. "Now your turn." You signal him to get in. "I'll wash myself, you're obviously in no condition to." Bakugo says. "I can." You huff. "Please, you'd have to crawl to get over here." He rolls his eyes. Your eyes drift to the sink as you see your favorite scent of lotion. You look to your knees, they were beginning to get ashy, so you grabbed the bottle and began applying it to your skin. Bakugo's watches as you massage your legs, like they weren't on fire now. He observed as your hands moved up and down your legs almost as a signal, and he actually started considering a round 2. He shook the thoughts out of his head as he washed himself quickly, and got out himself and changed. After brushing your teeth with the spare toothbrushes-Geez, Mina and Momo really thought of EVERYTHING, huh?- Bakugo carried you to your-of course she would- shared room. It wasn't until he was laying next to you, settling into bed, when the smell of your lotion hit him. Like a million bricks. He recognized it quickly, his favorite smell in the whole world. "Mmm." He hums as he brings you closer to him. "Is this..?" He asks. "It was just there. I know you like it," you said, teasing his nose with the smell. "Apple Spice." You say in unison. He hugs you, putting his nose in your shoulder as he inhales the smell deeply. "God, I haven't smelt this in so long. you used to wear it all the time when we were little." He sighs. "When I moved, I never stopped." You hug him back, snuggling into his chest. His breathing slowed, and you could tell he was about to fall asleep."(Y/n)...?" He sleepily says. His words
are slurred, and his eyes are closed. "Mm?" You hum, getting sleepy yourself. "I love you." He says, pulling you closer to him. The softest 'I love you' you've ever heard in your damn life. "I love you too." you replied softly. You thought that'd be the end, but Bakugo kept repeating it. "I love you so much, so fucking much, I love you." His repeats grew softer, as you repeated him the same amount of time he repeats himself. "So fucking much." are his last words before his breathing slows and silence follows you sigh of relief. "Finally, thought he'd never shut up." you laugh in your head, as you follow suit, saying a final 'I love you' be before drifting off to sleep in his arms.
Fin
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If Only I Had Stayed In The Shadows - Chapter Ten
James Potter x OC
Words: 4,8k
Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine
The break passed and life in Hogwarts continued in blissful peace for the next few months. At least for us students. Outside of the walls and grounds of Hogwarts, the situation was getting darker and darker each day. People went missing or were declared as dead, causing chills down our spines whenever the list grew longer with each newspaper.
I sighed, folding a piece of parchment that contained a letter from my parents about their well being. They were alright but had to take a lot of extra hours, giving how more and more muggleborn or halfblood wizards and witches were registered every day and night with the worst injuries at their hospital. Some - if not many - did not make it by the end of the next dawn. A hand snatched the letter from my hand and I glanced over at the messy-haired boy next to me as he unfolded it again. "Ever heard of privacy?" I asked and his eyes widenend in mock-astonishment, "No, what's that?"
His good mood evaporated slightly though after he skimmed the letter and an usually solemn expression graced his features instead. "Things are really getting worse everyday, aren't they?" he asked quietly, catching Sirius' attention from his other side.
"What's getting worse everyday?" he questioned, joining our conversation. Remus, Peter, Lily and Marlene looked up from their sheets as well. We were gathered together in the Common Room, sitting at one table to 'study'. Some would think it odd since we never usually mingled together, especially with Lily's open hatred towards James and everything the Marauders stood for. But ever since he and I got together, everyone consequently spent more time together as a group, surprisingly getting along...most of the time.
"A lot of people are dying or getting injured," James replied, handing me back my letter.
"Mom says, the hospital is being run down. They won't be able to carry so many patients for long," I added, feeling uneasy, "Apparently the healthcare system is close to collapsing."
"That's bad," Marlene commented, worry creasing her forehead, "What's going to happen if this goes on?" Everyone shrugged, glancing at each other helplessly as no one had an answer.
"The Ministry will figure it out eventually," Remus tried to reassure us all, straightening up in optimism.
"Right, they always do," Lily agreed, causing Sirius to scoff quietly. She gave him a challenging look, raising her eyebrow. "You've got anything to say, Black?"
"There is a lot I could say that would certainly not please you, Evans," Sirius quipped.
"Anyways," James cut in before a bicker session could begin between them, "We shouldn't turn our hair grey because of this. We are young! And still have more than a year left in the safest place in the country."
I nodded in agreement, leaning into him as he threw his arm around me. Lily silently flickered her deep green eyes between us.
"But what happens after we graduate?" Peter spoke up with an almost quivering voice as he still looked worried.
"Let our future selfs worry about that," Sirius dismissed.
"We should still have a plan though," Lily pointed out and I allowed a frown on my face after she finally ripped her intense gaze off. She had been doing that a lot lately, staring at our interactions longer than deemed normal. What was her issue? "You know, the teachers are planning to start sessions for career advice with each of us. Having no plan probably won't look good."
"Oh, I already know what I'm going to do," Sirius shot back immediately, smirking confidently, "Auror sounds pretty enticing, especially during this time, doesn't it?"
"Same," James said and I resisted the urge to raise my eyebrows at his confidence, "That or Quidditch," he added as an afterthought.
"I don't know," Marlene mused, "Auror does have a nice ring to it but I always thought I would do something with Potions...," Stunned silence and a collective jaw drop followed. The brown-haired beauty burst out in laughter at our disbelieved looks, shaking her head, "Just joking. You should see your faces."
I rolled my eyes at her. "You really got us there for a second, Marls," Remus chuckled.
The evening passed and even though I would have liked to say we did a lot of studying...we didn't. "Well, Remus and I gotta go," Lily sighed, getting up, "We're patrolling tonight."
"Uh, sounds fun," Marlene commented sarcastically and the red head shot her a look.
"Right, on it!" Remus got up as well, readying himself, "Boys, don't pull any pranks tonight. It will make me look bad."
"But Moony, now is the best time! With you on patrol, we won't get any punishment!" Sirius stated indignantly.
"That's exactly what I mean with making me look bad," Remus remarked with a sigh, "I'm a prefect, mate. Help me out by not doing anything."
The black-haired boy seemed to contemplate his options before giving in with a pout, "Fine, but you owe me."
"Good boy," Remus said, patting his head like a dog, "I'll see you guys later...ladies, have a good night."
"Night, Remus!"
"So, if no pranks are allowed...how about we get a midnight snack from the kitchen and head to the Astronomy Tower?" James suggested and I gave him an offended look even though my heart fluttered at his romantic suggestion. "I am second to your pranks? Really?"
"Of course you are!" Sirius snickered.
"Of course you are not!" James contradicted and it was his best mate's turn to give him an affronted look. "Really, Prongs? You're giving me up for a lass so easily?"
"...Pretty much, yes," James shrugged, causing me to snort.
Sirius pouted. "Can I at least tag along?"
"Me too?" Peter added himself.
"Sorry mates, this time is only for me and my love," James declined, pulling me closer as we got up and kissing my temple. I blushed slightly at his open affection. Ever since New Year's Eve we had become closer and practically glued to each other. I couldn't believe my luck at this point, wondering how I had managed to capture the attention of this charismatic and sweet boy when I was a rather boring girl with a boring life. Yet, here we were, officially together for about four months in and going strong.
After grabbing a few snacks from the kitchen, we headed up to the highest tower in the school. I sat down at the ledge, leaning against the barrier with my arms and resting my chin on them as I breathed in the fresh night air. James settled down next to me, quietly handing me a sandwich I bit into immediately whilst we enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere and presence of the other. The view was magnificent, moonlight reflecting from the slight waves of the black sea and I imagined the Giant Squid breaking the surface with its tentacles from time to time.
"What are you thinking about?" James eventually asked softly and I glanced over. His cheek rested on his crossed arms, eyes locked on my face. I blushed slightly at his gaze, looking back out at the landscape. A tinge of happiness rose in me as I thought how life was for me at the moment. Despite my parents throwing fits because of my career choices, I had a great boyfriend, who supported me in everything. And as cliché as it sounded, he made me feel safe during the dangerous times of war raging just outside of the Hogwarts grounds. Is that what love makes you feel-? My thoughts came to a screeching halt at the l-word before it started racing uncontrollably fast. Love? Did I love him?
"Cec?" James poked my arm, breaking me out of my reverie and I twitched slightly in surprise, "Are you spacing out on me?"
"N-no, I was just...," my eyes flickered around for an escape, "..daydreaming," I ended lamely, pressing my mouth against my underarm.
"Okay?" James raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing me, "Are you cold? You are twitching like a weirdo."
"Jeez, thanks," I said sarcastically, though immediately blushed when he scooted closer, throwing an arm around me. "It's alright, weirdo," he said with a grin, "I'll be your knight in shining amor once again and keep you warm."
"And once again, I gotta remind you of a little magic trick called Heating Charm," I replied with the same grin, warmth spreading through me at his cute gesture. James was full of cute gestures, it was a miracle no one knew that. Maybe, because he had never been able to show this side of him before. I bit my lip, shyly acknowledging the increase of my heartbeat at his proximity, the realisation of my feelings suddenly becoming clear.
I had fallen for that idiot.
Days had passed and I was mulling over how to tell James about my feelings. Should I tell him at all? Should I wait for him to say it first? Did he feel the same anyway?
There was only one person to ask for love advice. Someone, who had helped me before.
"Marlene, should I tell him?" I asked.
"Absolutely not," the beautiful Gryffindor answered immediately with her eyes wide.
"Why not?"
"The boy has to say it first. That's the rule."
I made a face. "Is that really? Or are you just making it up?"
Marlene sighed, grabbing my shoulders. "Dearest Cec. We girls easily fall in love. And we figure it out quite easily, too. A boy usually needs a while longer and if the girl were to approach him with her feelings, he would immediately feel swamped and make a beeline for the next exit. Until he is not sure of his own feelings, I wouldn't tell him."
I frowned slightly, "That's a bit biased, don't you think? I'm sure not all boys would try to run away."
"Oh believe me, they will," Marlene stated almost darkly. Something told me, she was talking from experience but I was not enough of a Gryffindor to dig deeper. She noticed my gaze though and immediately let go of my shoulders, leaning back in nonchalance. "I mean, you can risk it and tell him or you can wait. Personally, I believe waiting is the best. It doesn't hurt now, does it?"
I pondered over her words whilst wandering the halls in search of the one boy, who kept running through my mind. Sure, it wouldn't hurt to wait for him to say it first, but the question was how long would he need to realise it? Could I perhaps quicken it up by just telling him first, making him notice his own feelings faster? Or would it just pressure him to say it, too even if he doesn't mean it? That thought filled me with horror and I swiftly decided to keep my mouth shut.
Though, when I rounded the corner to the courtyard and saw him standing in all his bespectacled, nut brown messy haired glory I couldn't help but suddenly hear my heartbeat loud and clearly, drumming in my ears in a pace it would usually go after a sprint or a run up of blasted staircases. I couldn't help but stop short in my movements to savour the sight of his smile for a second, the same smile he would direct at his mates and me, all the people he loved (perhaps he did actually love me, too), his teeth shining in the sunlight that would occasionally peak through between the many clouds and I decided to tell him my feelings then and there, head slightly dizzy from the once again quick change of mind. But before I took a step forward, my eyes flickered away from him at the reflection of the sun on shiny red hair, rippled in perfect waves and slightly blinding. And then they flickered towards a pair of glistening, emerald green eyes that were smiling at the exact same boy I wanted to talk and spill my feelings to.
I swiftly stepped back in the shadows, wincing at my own behaviour. Why was I spying on them? They were doing nothing but talking, laughing at each other...something I had never seen Lily do with James before. Ever. Wishing I could hear what they were saying I looked back at James, feeling my chest warm at the sight of his smile but almost burn at the realisation who it was directed to. All the people he loved...
'No,' I shook my head, 'We've talked about this before we got together. He made it clear that he lost interest in her...after pining after her for years.' She clearly never reciprocated his feelings, so their not-lovestory was over when he moved on. But what if she did reciprocate his feelings? I thought back on all the times I caught her staring at us. Could it be that she had been feeling something for him all along and was just hiding it? Or didn't realise it until now?
Marlene's lessons on keeping a boy interested crossed my mind. Would trying hard to get work on girls, too? After all, James had been chasing her for years and suddenly stopped paying attention to her. He was even in a relationship. But would that spark an interest in Lily? Certainly not. She wasn't the type to chase after someone, who was taken, not to mention one, who had been annoying her for years. No, she was just befriending him now that he wasn't pining after her, seeing as they were in the same friendship circles. We were all spending more time together, the girls and the Marauders. And as Marlene, Alice and I were starting to get along more with the boys, so was Lily. It was bound to happen that we all grew closer. If anything, it was a good thing.
I relaxed a bit at that conclusion, smiling slightly as they laughed quite loudly at something James said. Back then, when I was obsessing more over other people's relationships (since I had none of my own), I always thought they would get along really well if James hadn't been chasing her in his boisterous and overly-done way. Him, with his wild and goofy nature that would dare her to many adventures, and her, who would be able to tame him and not take it too far, keeping him on the ground.
+A perfect friendship.
A perfect relationship.
My smile faded and I turned around. Despite myself, I didn't dare to reveal my feelings to the boy on that day.
Neither did I on the following days that turned to weeks until we reached the end of the spring and the world slowly turned warmer in the first days of the summer with a turn from April to May. Everything was as normal as it could get when you were friends with the Marauders. Classes were the same, Quidditch practices were the same, we had won the last game against Ravenclaw and were now on first place to win the Cup as long as Slytherin lost against Hufflepuff (which was quite unlikely, but nobody tell James). The Marauders pulled their usual pranks, although they were more tamed than in their previous years and less directed at us girls. James and I were still going to strong...yet none of us had said the l-word even though we had been together for almost eight months by now. And although Marlene kept reassuring me that it was normal for boys to take longer in their admittance for love, all the romantic books that I'd read throughout my teenage years stated otherwise. We should have long since reached that stage to proclaim our love for each other, shouldn't we? Hell, James proclaimed his love for Lily everyday for years ever since he saw her and they weren't even together. It shouldn't be hard for him to realise whether he loved me or not.
This fueled my insecurities more each day that passed without a confession, which caused me to keep my mouth shut about my own feelings, too. Instead I found myself frequently catching James and Lily alone, deep in conversation, whenever I was looking for him after he went missing on all of us. Either at the library, where I had never seen him go as often as now and on his own will, too, or outside at the courtyard or on the Hogwarts grounds with her sitting in the shade of a tree and him dangling from a branch above her, grinning down at her as she laughed whenever his glasses slipped askew from his upside down position. It was practically a picture ripped from the pages of a romance novel. And the burning feeling in my chest would continue.
"Lily and James are getting along pretty well, aren't they?" I commented off-handedly one day. Marlene, Alice and I were sat in the library together, studying for the upcoming exams with Lily having gone to fetch more books. Alice tensed up slightly, her eyes flashing from me to her book whilst Marlene looked up, shrugging nonchalantly. "Guess so. Now that he is not annoying her anymore."
"Right. Good thing," I said, nodding along to her words. Needless to say it was relieving to see that she had the same thoughts as me about this. An expert like her would have caught on if there was something more to their sudden closeness, right? Nonetheless I looked over at Alice, who suddenly seemed very busy with scribbling something down on her parchment. Alice, who out of the three of us was the closest to Lily and who would likely know exactly what was going on. "What do you think, Alice?" I asked her bluntly as she didn't seem to want to join the conversation on her own.
Startled, she looked up and I gave her a tight-lipped smile as I awaited her answer. "Eh, yes. They seem to get along better than before. At least, Lily is not yelling her head off anymore every time she sees him," she replied, laughing albeit nervously. Just then, the aforementioned girl headed back towards our table with four books stacked in her arms. I gnawed on my lip, wondering how to ease the constriction in my chest that had been my constant companion for a while now with the ongoing uncertainty.
"Hey Lily, are you dating someone?" I asked her as she sat down. Her books promptly landed on the table with a bang as she had slackened her grip on them in surprise. I cringed slightly at the glare thrown at us from Madam Pince and Lily mouthed a silent 'sorry' at her.
"What? Why do you ask?" she coughed slightly, glancing at the other girls, who had looked up in interest now.
I shrugged. "Just wondering. You are pretty and someone ought to have to courage to ask you out, now that James is not holding anyone back from it," I laughed slightly at the end, hoping to dissolve the suddenly awkward atmosphere that appeared at my statement.
"She's right, Lils," Marlene thankfully butted in, blissfully unaware, "You are the only single among us and you've been for a while. It's time to get some!" Lily went beet red, reaching over to smack her on the arm as we all snickered slightly. "Jesus, Marlene. That's so inappropiate!"
"What? It's true! You are the only single among us. And someone is bound to have asked you out lately! Right?" the brown-haired beauty pressed on and I had never been more grateful for her noisiness than now.
Lily grumbled under her breath, hesitating slightly before she gave in, "Maybe. Some Ravenclaw perhaps." Our eyes widened and Marlene squealed as quietly as she could. "I'm not interested though!" she quickly added at our excited looks, deflating my relief, "Now drop it. We are here to study." And with that, she successfully ended the topic.
Later at night I met up with James at the Astronomy Tower, our usual spot when we wanted to hang out after curfew. "Hey, how was your day?" he greeted me warmly as I sat down next to him at the edge of the tower, resting my arms against the railing. A cool breezed rushed throughout the tower and James quickly scooted closer to wrap his arms around me before I even started to shiver and I smiled at his sweet gesture.
"Quite well. Studied a lot. And you?"
"Quite well. Pranked a lot," he mimicked, grinning when I laughed slightly. "Which poor soul did you harrass this time?" I asked, resting the side of my head against my arms as I listened attentively to him recounting each prank with great detail, his arm leaving me once in a while to emphasize something but never failing to come back around me. "Sounds like you had a lot of fun today...," I remarked when he ended and he nodded with a beaming grin, "...and when did you study?" His beam deflated into a pout, causing my shoulders to shake in silent laughter.
"I don't need to study," he grumbled nudging me. "Sure, you don't." I nudged him back, slipping to the side and almost under the railing when he nudged me slightly harder. He quickly grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back towards him. "Sorry about that," he apologised embarrassed and I giggled slightly, resting against him. "Don't worry, I don't mind this at all," I replied, snuggling my head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tightly towards him. "Mhmm, I'm sure you don't," he chuckled into my hair, his lips grazing slightly against my earlobe and causing me to shiver. I could feel his smile as he deliberatly brushed against my ear again and I squirmed slightly, burying my red face in his chest. "Why so shy all of a sudden?" he teased and I stifled a gasp as he playfully nibbed at my ear. "I'm not shy," I protested, voice muffled. "Is that so?" He tried to back away but I tightened my arms around his waist, firmly keeping my face planted against his chest. "Yes!"
He laughed lightly, promptly dropping on his back and pulling me on top of him. I adjusted my position, placing a leg on each side of his hips and resting my ear on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. "I could stay like this for a long while," James commented with a blissful sigh as he wrapped his robes around me for warmth. I raised my head to shoot him a smile and he grinned back at me softly. Craning my neck I placed a kiss against his jaw, unable to resist the urge. He quickly pulled me further up, rising up slightly to capture my mouth with his and my eyes fluttered shut as he held the back of my head, his fingers grasping my hair. I fisted his shirt, a swarm of butterflies causing a wreckage in my stomach as he molded his lips against mine, his tongue peeking out to run across my lower lip when a sudden noise erupted somewhere close.
I pulled away quickly. "Did you hear that?" I asked breathlessly as I looked up.
"Hear you moan for me?" James tugged me back down by the neck. "Not yet," he whispered huskily against my mouth. My eyes widened in surprise, heart pounding against my ribcage at his words. He nipped at my lip with his teeth playfully before fully placing his lips against mine again until I almost forgot what had interrupted us in the first place. But the fear of getting caught outside of curfew broke me out of my daze once more. "Seriously, James," I whispered breathlessly, looking up to squint at the doorway, "I think someone's down there. They might come up." James groaned, tugging at my shirt. "No ones down there."
"And what was that noise? What if we get caught?" I asked, sitting up.
"Probably gonna get detenti- uff," he hissed and I glanced down at him to see him holding his breath. "What's wrong...?" I questioned when I realised I had sat up directly on his groin.
Oh.
"Oh, Cec," he breathed out as his eyes darkened, "You really shouldn't have done that." He shot up, crashing his lips against mine before I could get another word out, his hand coming up to entangle in my hair as his other arm wound tightly around my waist, pulling me flush against him. A small moan escaped me when his sudden movement caused his hips to grind against mine as I sat securely between his torso and his slightly raised knees. "There is my moan," he smirked against my lips and I could have sworn my heart stopped at this devilish sight.
Breathing out shakily, I took his face between my hands, seeing his eyes soften slightly before I tilted my head to deepen the kiss, unable to restrain myself in any way. He reciprocated eagerly, his hand fisting in my hair as our tongues clashed together. I moved slightly against him, a flash of excitement coursing through me when I heard his breath hitch. "Fuck, Cec," he groaned in my mouth and my eyes almost rolled back in pleasure at the mere sound. He reached down to grasp my thigh tightly, pulling me closer and I gasped against his mouth. His thumb stroke softly over my skin, smiling at the goosebumps erupting everywhere. He let his hand travel up until he reached the end of my skirt. "Can I?" he asked without detaching his lips once and I nodded, resisting the urge to moan when he dug his fingers in the exposed flesh under my skirt. "James," I breathed out as I broke away for air, feeling him shiver. His mouth trailed down to my neck, nibbling on it as I tangled my hand in his hair, his own letting go of my waist and reaching up to undo the buttons of my shirt-
"James and Cec sitting in a tree," an all to familiar voice reached our ears and my eyes snapped open. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" James halted his movements, burying his face in my neck with a groan.
"First comes love!" Sirius sang joyfully as he appeared by the doorway, a piece of parchment in one hand and his wind lit up at the tip in the other. "Then comes marr-holy shit!" His eyes widened slightly at our disheveled figures but his smirk came back as soon as it had disappeared. "My my, first come the babies it seems with you two!"
"Fucking hell, Sirius!" James cursed, turning around to glare at his best mate.
"Hi Prongs!" Sirius greeted innocently, waving his parchment.
"Worst timing ever, mate!" I buried my face in my hand in embarrassment, wondering if our compromising position would go unnoticed if I pretended that it wasn't compromising.
"Sorry Prongsie, your babymaking has to wait. We've got a little something going on tonight," Sirius said, not sounding sorry at all as he nodded outside. I peeked a glance between my fingers to see James' eyes widen under his slightly askew glasses. Glancing over my shoulder I caught sight of the full moon, partially obscured by a few clouds.
"Right, give us a minute please," James requested and Sirius disappeared down the stairs again. His hazel eyes appeared startingly lighter under the shine of the full moon as he grasped my hips softly with both hands. "I've got to go," he said quietly and the atmosphere seemed suddenly serene in contrast to a minute ago.
"That's okay," I replied as quietly, adjusting his glasses once again and he smiled that sweet smile, that one damn sweet smile only reserved for his loved ones and my mouth opened before I could stop myself, "James, I l-"
"Prongs! Hurry up already!" Sirius cut me off from down the stairs. James huffed, rolling his eyes at his mate.
"I'm sorry. I really gotta go," he said and I nodded quickly, scrambling to get up and off him. He adjusted his clothes before stepping closer, giving me a sweet kiss. "Good night, love," he said softly as he fastened up the buttons he had undone on my shirt, "I will see you tomorrow?"
"Definitely. Good night."
Unbeknownst to him, to Sirius and to me, Sirius had just saved me from committing the biggest mistake tonight. Twice.
Chapter Eleven
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