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mingishoe · 4 years

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Secret Santa

Summary: Secret santa but yall got each other even though you two don’t like each other

Pairing: Reader x Yunho (ft. Seonghwa and San)

Word count- 11.8K unedited… oops

Smut with too much plot (Subs: reader and Yunho, Doms: Seonghwa, San, and reader to Yunho) *Yunho is a sub and no one can change my mind*

Smut Warning: exhibitionism, oral sex- M receiving, degration, dirty talk, car sex?, use of pet names, soft cute sex, sex that’ll make someone feel sore for days, unprotected sex (don’t be silly, wrap your willy) Marking, cream pie, and more that I can’t remember…

25 days of christmas: Day 6

12-27-19 pretend it didn’t take me 20 days to write this ah ha ha

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Christmas time in your office was probably the best time of the year. Everyone was in the Christmas mood and there were decorations hanging everywhere.

In your office floor, everyone was pretty much friends so you all had secret Santa and drew names out of a bowl.

Your friend Mingi called everyone around the desk that had all the names in it. Mingi lowkey had a secret plan for you to get a certain person.

It was known around the office that you and Yunho just didn’t get along for whatever reason. No one else besides you and Yunho knew why you didn’t like each other.

If you were being honest with yourself, it was silly. You knew it was silly and even Yunho probably knew it was silly.

Basically you and Yunho used to be really close friends a long long time ago in elementary through highschool until you got a boyfriend.

It was in your freshman year in Highschool and you got your first “real” boyfriend. During the time you and Yunho were best friends and sure, he was happy you had a boyfriend and you were happy. It was a good happy time for all three of yall.

After awhile you assume Yunho just got jealous and he brought up the “Your boyfriend is toxic and doesn’t love you” talk and at the time it was a H U G E deal to both of you.

So fast forward Yunho started to ghost you and you ended up breaking up with your boyfriend at the end of your sophmore year around your year and a half mark, and you and Yunho had started to fix your friendship but neither of you were able to stay 5 minutes without arguing.

Fast forward even more you and Yunho practically hated each other for the rest of highschool and once you got into college you had just started to think you got away from him.

But guess what? With your shit luck, once you got your office job the next day- Yunho was in the space next to you.

At that point you honestly thought the world was just against you.

Like sure you weren’t really mad at Yunho anymore, it was just kinda annoying.

That leads to where you’re at now, standing next to your friend Wooyoung as Mingi is making his way around the room letting people draw.

Mingi doesn’t have either your name or Yunhos name in the bag just so you two would get each other. You’re the last person to draw, besides Yunho since he’s in a meeting, and you grab one of the last papers already overcome with a sinking feeling in your stomach.

You have the paper in your hand eyeing Mingi suspiciously.

You slowly unfold the paper and as soon as you see the “Y” your heart drops, “Mingi- you son of a bitch! Wooyoung, wanna trade? please?” Wooyoung and Mingi exchanged a look before Wooyoung simply said no and walked away.

“Mingi, why are you such a pain in the ass,” you rested your head in your hands. “Look, maybe it’s just your shitty luck because I did nothing,” you’re about to say something but you get cut off as you see Yunho wrapped his arm around Mingi’s shoulder.

You looked away awkwardly as Mingi hands him the bag to pick the last name out of the bag. He snaps his head up looking at you and you stare at him with wide eyes, “W-What?” he turns his head to mingi while responding, “none of your business,” you scoff while rolling your eyes as you turn to go back to your work space.

You sat down with a huff, you were pretty sure he got you and that’s why he made such a big deal. It wasn’t that it was hard to get him something, yall are together everyday and even after work since you both have the same friends. It was just the whole secret Santa process. When you give your gift you have to spend the whole day doing stuff and at the end you give your gift and reveal you’re their secret Santa (it was honestly a long process that was kinda burdensome for anyone involved) and with Yunho it would be way too awkward.

It was after work and you usually walk back to your place with Seonghwa since you both lived on the same floor(Yunho and San both lived in the same building as well).

It was a bit awkward for you both when you found out. For the first month, you both thought that the other was following the other. And you both happened to confront each other at the same time and had a good awkward laugh after. After that you two waited for each other after work but never talked as you walked next to each other. It literally took months for you and Seonghwa to start a conversation, a simple “Hi, how are you?” Small talk, eventually you two became really close friends.

“Hwa, I’m being serious,” he was looking at you completely unamused, already tired of your whining. “I need you to trade with me,” “Look, Y/N, I know that whatever feud you have with Yunho is a big deal or whatever but either way unless he trades with someone, which no one is going to, you’re gonna he stuck with him all day anyways.” You know he’s right, but you’re really not having it. “Sweetheart, you’re just gonna have to be a big girl and suck it up,” Seonghwa wrapped his arm around you as he pulled you into him and kissed your cheek.

You and Seonghwa didn’t date, which surprised everyone who asked, you two were just overly flirty but had no real interest in each other.

You both walked hand in hand and side by side going into the building and of course(with your shit luck) Yunho was there with San talking near the entrance.

“Oh! Y/N! Seonghwa!” You sighed loudly and rolled your eyes which caused Seonghwa to squeeze your hand tighter warning you to stop. He steered you towards their direction, and by steered I mean dragged.

“Yunho. San.” Seonghwa addressed them awkwardly.

“San…” you smiled at him gently.

San looked between you and Seonghwa awkwardly as you two were still holding hands and you were practically leaning on him. You let go of Seonghwa’s hand but still kept your position next to him.

You glanced to Yunho and saw him looking away with his jaw clenched,

“How about we go get dinner together?”

“Ummm… you know… I’m not really hungry…” you were honestly really hungry but you didn’t want to go eat with Yunho. “No come on! I’ll buy?” He hit your weak spot and he knew it.

“Fine… but I want ice cream after.” San rolled his eyes but agreed and made everyone pile into his car.

You sat in the back with Seonghwa while you drove to San’s favourite restaurant that conveniently was on the other side of town during traffic hour. You were getting bored since your phone died at work earlier in the day.

After about 10 minutes of staring out the back window at the traffic Seonghwa gave you one of his earbuds so you could listen to music with him. You leaned against his shoulder and closed your eyes since it felt like you were gonna be stuck in traffic for forever.

Eventually you got to the restaurant since Seonghwa woke you up saying we have to hurry before San orders without us. San was long gone and it was only you, Seonghwa, and Yunho in the car. You blinked at him confused, “cute” he winked at you and pecked your lips. You jumped as you heard the car door slam shut as Yunho walked into the restaurant.

Seonghwa chuckled and opened the door to go in the restaurant. You sat there for a second completely confused, Seonghwa has never kissed you in front of other people before so that really messed your mind up.

No one other than you, san, and Seonghwa knew about you two. You were best friends but sometimes there would be a few hookups here and there. It wasn’t really that serious between you two, and there was no romantic feelings between you and Seonghwa. It’s just… sometimes when he spends the night… it’ll be a little more than sleeping… but that's no ones business… except San… because he’s joined before…

After you got over your little moment you got out the car yourself and caught up with Seonghwa.

You were honestly confused about what was happening and why everyone was acting funny but you decided to just push it to the back of your mind and just enjoy the dinner.

It was a cute diner that’s been here forever, and you and San usually come alone but since everyone is deciding to be an ass the whole world had to join as well. You got your usual, a waffle (even though it was dinner time) and Yunho got what he always used to get when you came in high school, a bacon cheeseburger with curly fries. San and Seonghwa both got a whole pizza.

Everyone was talking besides you, it honestly wasn’t because you were uncomfortable, it was it just because you missed being able to do this. You missed going out with your friends and not having to worry about Yunho picking on you every 5 seconds.

You found yourself staring at Yunho. This was the first time you both came back here after fighting and declaring you both hated each other.

Even though it was on the opposite side of town, Yunho had a license and always drove you two to get burgers and share a milkshake.

You’re probably being over emotional but you start to tear up and Yunho isn’t completely oblivious to you so he notices and stares at your teary eyes not knowing what to do.

You pull yourself together once you get your food, “Y/N- you’re such a loser, why do you always get breakfast?” San eyes your waffle suspiciously. “Is there Crack in it or something?” You fling some of your tea at him, “No you idiot, I just like waffles…” he rolls his eyes and shrugs as Seonghwa asks for you to feed him a bite of your waffle.

You stare down at your plate contemplating if you really want to share your waffle but in the end you agree and cut him a piece and feed him the waffle.

“Mhmm, it almost tastes as good as you…” you snap your eyes to Seonghwa as he winks at you. You hear someone suck in their breath and you’re literally so confused on what is wrong with everyone. You decide to ignore Seonghwas comment and go back to eating your waffle silently while Seonghwa and San talk with Yunho occasionally adding his input.

You were honestly eyeing Yunho’s curly fries the whole time since you literally haven’t eaten them since high school. You’re looking down at your waffle and you see Yunho grab a handful of his curly fries and place them onto your plate. You look up at him and you send him an appreciative smile and he could see back when y'all were 16.

If you were to ask Yunho what happened to your friendship, you’d get a completely different answer.

Back in 9th grade when you got a boyfriend, he was honestly truly happy for you. Sure he was jealous that he didn’t have you to himself but it was to be expected.

One night someone came to his house really late. It was Felix, your boyfriend. As soon as he opened the door, a fist came in contact with his nose. Long story short Felix told him to stay away from “his girlfriend” because you are “his” and he can’t afford losing you to “someone like him.”

After that he didn’t go to school for the next few days because of the bruising, avoided your calls and texts, then after awhile completely pretended you didn’t exist.

He knew how much it hurt you. 9 years of friendship, down the drain. Just because of some stupid boy who doesn’t even know how to treat you. Yunho loved you. He had been in love with you since he could remember. You obviously didn’t like him because you two were best friends, but to Yunho it was okay. He was okay with just being friends because he didn’t want to lose you.

After you broke up with Felix, you tried fixing the relationship between you and Yunho, but he had built his walls back up and started arguing with you as a defense mechanism. It wasn’t the healthiest of all things to do since it caused the both of you to completely stop talking until you both somehow got the same job.

It leads to now, where he’s giving you all his fries because he knows they’re your favourite. It doesn’t matter how much you two argue, he always gives you what you want, even though you don’t know it.

Everyone is done with their food and you excuse yourself to go outside. While you were coming in you saw this store that sold different paintings and posters. There is customised art you can make with an audio and they will paint the auto waves.

You sent the artist a voice message that you still have with Yunho. It was you apologising after one of the first fights you had. The whole voice memo was basically you telling Yunho how much you love him and you’ll be his friend forever while sobbing.

This was basically going to be your “Look I don’t know what happened, but let’s start over because I still love you so much” gift.

You quickly placed your order and went back to the restaurant and saw San paying. You wrap your arms around Sans shoulders, “Thank you San-a. You’re the best.” He turns around and brings you into a hug, “So… how about the icecream now?”

You quickly pull away, “Okay! Let’s now!” San and Seonghwa both laughed as Yunho rolled his eyes in the back while hiding a smile. Everyone knew ice cream was your favourite, chocolate chip cookie dough, that’s the one you always got.

The 4 of you walked to the ice cream parlour on the next block. San and Seonghwa were immersed in a conversation walking ahead of you and Yunho.

You and Yunho were walking side by side completely quiet, the tension was so thick you could physically feel it.

“So, who’d you get for secret Santa?” Yunho slowed down a little bit for the both of you to talk. “Oh, umm it’s called secret Santa for a reason, it's a secret” you look up at Yunho with a small smile. “Mhm… that’s fair I guess” he says with a small laugh.

“So… what about you? Who’d you get?” He laughs loudly at your question, “What?! I thought it was a secret? You’re not gonna tell me yours but you want me to tell you mine? What a cheat!” You elbow him in the side and roll your eyes.

“How about… we both give hints?” At this point you were both aware you got each other, and you were both just picking for fun.

He Yunho pretended to think for a few seconds, “okay, fine… so… the person I got… SHE is someone I care about. Like a lot. And I don’t think she knows it anymore but maybe after I get the gift she’ll remember all the good things that happened with us…” you both had stopped waking. You could feel your heart beating faster and you could feel yourself breathing harder.

You nodded, “y-yeah. Mine. Umm… is also to a person I care a lot about… and I hope after I give him the present it’ll clear things up… you know? And it might not be a lot, but it was really fucking expensive so he better appreciate it.” You told Yunho before winking at him.

You were walking off to catch up with Seonghwa and San who didn’t even notice you two were gone.

“Wait!” You turn around to see Yunho jogging after you. “What?” You stop and turn around. “You already got your present? We just got our people today,” you smiled at him, “No, I placed the order already. It should be ready to get picked up in a few days.” Yunho blinks at you confused but nods anyway.

You and Yunho are still walking side by side as you both enter the ice cream shop, “You want the usual?” You agree without even thinking about how Yunho knows what ice cream you get.

You go to sit with Seonghwa at the booth at the back of the parlour.

Seonghwa sits staring at you for a good 30 seconds before you break, “What are you doing? Why are you eye fucking me? You and San have both been acting weird all day.” Seonghwa looks behind you quickly before leaning in to the point where your noses were touching. You involuntarily look down to his lips and you can feel your cheeks start to get red, “I really don’t know what you mean Y/N. Can I not just appreciate my best friend?”

He licks his lips as he tilts his head. Your lips were brushing and you could feel his smirk against your lips, “I mean, when you’re practically making out with me… isn’t that a bit more than appreciating?”

“Here’s your ice cream Hwa,” San came rushing to the table practically throwing Seonghwa’s cup to him.

You pulled away from Seonghwa and turned your body the opposite direction to calm yourself down. You rested your cool hands on your burning cheeks as you saw Yunho wasn’t far behind San.

You’re not really sure what Seonghwa is doing but it’s most definitely supposed to make someone jealous, you’re not completely oblivious to what’s happening. You’re just not sure who… Either San or Yunho, and you don’t understand why he would ever try to make San jealous, so it had to be Yunho.

You were really confused but decided to play along with whatever game San and (mostly) Seonghwa were playing. All you had to do was flirt shamelessly, right? It couldn’t be that hard, you just had to pay attention to Yunho’s reactions at the same time.

Yunho handed you your waffle cone and you took it with a smile. You exchanged a look with San that told him you knew what they were doing. He looked at Seonghwa, who was looking at you, and elbowed him in the side. Seonghwa smirked at you and looked back down at his ice cream. You looked back at San and kicked him on his shin as a warning.

The whole time Yunho was looking between the three of you trying to figure out what was happening. Yunho decided to ignore whatever was happening but made a note to ask San about it later.

Yunho wasn’t particularly fond of Seonghwa. But Seonghwa was your best friend and he had no control over it. There wasn’t any need for him to be that flirty with you. I mean yeah, all best friends are like that but you don’t go kissing your best friend for no reason. Right? Yunho could tell you were kinda confused on what was happening as well but he also saw you went along with it. So it obviously wasn’t unwanted… Yunho was just really confused. He was jealous too. He knew he had no right to be jealous because he wasn’t dating you, you couldn’t even really call each other friends anymore.

You looked around a little to see if anyone was paying attention to you. San and Yunho were in a conversation about their upcoming project for work, and Seonghwa was sitting on his phone.

You move move your foot to start rubbing on Seonghwa’s lower leg. He looks up at you then to Yunho, who’s not paying attention, then back to his phone.

You continue to eat your ice cream pretending that you don’t know what your doing, you have to be really careful. San probably won’t notice, but Yunho is sitting right next to you and has a clear view of under the table.

You stop, but leave your foot where it is. You finish the rest of your ice cream, and decide to keep messing with Seonghwa.

Your legs are a lot shorter than you originally think, so you scoot forward causing Seonghwa to put his phone down and look at you. You look at him as innocently as possible as he shakes his head in a warning.

You slide your foot up to rest on his thigh. Seonghwa looks at you with a smile before bouncing his leg causing you to bang your knee on the underneath of the table, “ow fuck!” Yunho and Sans attention turns to you, and Yunho looks under the table to see your foot on Seonghwa’s thigh. He looks between you and Seonghwa, “you good?” He asks you awkwardly, “She’s fine.” Yunho looks to you and you nod in reassurance.

Yunho looks at you a little bit longer then turns to continue his conversation with San. Seonghwa is laughing to himself as you get a surge of confidence and place your foot on his crotch. He groans loudly with wide eyes and once again, all the attention is on you two.

You quickly move your foot back to his thigh, and you look at Seonghwa with wide eyes. San and Yunho both snap their heads to Seonghwa and you look around pretending you didn’t hear anything.

San looked at you with wide eyes. You shake your head knowing what he’s asking. He raises his eyebrows at you and you bite your lip while looking down. San snorts as he’s looking at Yunho’s confused expression, “So, Seonghwa… how's your project going?” San winks at you as you move your foot to go back to his crotch. Seonghwa looks between you and San and if looks could kill, you’d both be dead.

“Umm… you know, we’re almost done. And I-It’ll be d-done probably by F-Friday.” You’re putting more pressure on his length with your foot and you start to move it slowly.

You can see Seonghwa’s face start to get red. His fist is clenched on top of the table and you can see his knuckles turning white.

“Are you okay… Seonghwa?” Seonghwa lifts his face from his hands and shoots Yunho a look, “I’m fine.” Yunho nods and gets on his phone awkwardly.

Seonghwa nods his head towards the restroom with raised eyebrows. You shake your head not wanting San to know what’s going to happen and leave Yunho confused. You contemplate if you should actually get up or not, but in the end you decide to go to the restroom, “Hey, I’ll be right back, I’m going to the restroom.” Yunho nods while San is looking at you with a knowing look.

You get up and go to the single-stalled family restroom to wait for Seonghwa. You take a second to look at yourself in the mirror and you can see your flushed cheeks and your dark eyes looking back at you. You see the door open behind you and before you can even turn around the door is locked and there’s a hand around your throat.

“You’re such a fucking slut, you’re really trying to get me off when there are people next to us? Huh? What if Yunho saw? What if San tells him what a fucking whore you are?” Your breathing becomes heavier as Seonghwa speaks in your ear.

“See, look at yourself in the mirror. Don’t you look like a whore letting me touch you in the restroom?” Seonghwa’s hands are moving lower down to your chest. “Answer me, Kitten.” You whine softly as you feel his mouth on your neck.

“Y-Yes. Yes, I’m being a whore for letting you t-touch me in the restroom.” Seonghwa starts leaving small marks on your neck.

“Mhmm… right, my whore.” He turns your body to where you’re facing him.

“I’m gonna tell you what’s gonna happen okay?” you nod as you move to attach your lips to Seonghwa’s neck. “You’re gonna suck me off, then we’re gonna go back and pretend this didn’t happen, yeah? Then when we get back to the apartment, I’ll take care of you. Deal?” you start to argue but stop since you know it’s not gonna get you anything so you agree and continue to mark Seonghwa’s neck with your pretty pink marks.

Seonghwa runs his hands down your hair, he grabs a chunk of it and pulls you back, “You better hurry kitten before Yunho notices we’ve been gone for too long.

You sink down to your knees and unbutton Seonghwa’s pants. He’s already hard so you can see the strain left on both his jeans and boxers. You look up at him once more for conformation, and once he nods his head you reach to grab his length from in his boxers. You stare for a second before tightening your grip and moving your hand slowly.

You hear Seonghwa groan from above you and it only gives you the confidence to bring yourself closer and place the head on your tongue. You smile as you can feel the weight of him on your tongue and you look up at him with the most innocent look you can give.

You close your mouth around the tip and he moves to hold your face in one of his hands. “Fuck, you’re so pretty kitten.” You smile softly while taking more of his length in your mouth.

You feel him grab the back of your hair and take that as a cue to move your hands to his thighs. “Tap my thighs if you need me to stop, okay?” You close your eyes and he takes it as an okay to continue.

He strokes your hair softly for a few seconds before starting to slowly move his hips. He’s holding your head with both of his hands and started to go deeper and faster. You could feel your eyes start to water already and you quickly thank yourself for not wearing any makeup today.

Seonghwa was getting desperate. His precum coming out more frequently, he was snapping his hips harshly as wet, gagging sounds filled the air around you. He pushes your head all the way down his cock until your nose was touching his pubic bone. You gripped his thigh tighter as you focused on breathing through your nose.

You opened your eyes for a second, catching Seonghwa’s eyes as he was looking down at you. He throws his head back as he moans your name loudly. He was so close, you could feel him twitching in your mouth as he held your head still.

You tapped on his thigh a few times and he immediately pulls out of your mouth. You take in a big breath as you see a string of saliva connecting from the tip of his dick to your lips.

He was looking down at your fucked out face. Your checks were tinted a rose colour, your eyelashes were wet with tears, and your swollen lips wet with saliva.

He moves his hand from your head and holds your face gently in his hands, wiping your tears from your face.

You move to take his cock in your hand once again and this time your both a lot more gentle. He watches you softly as you slowly kiss down his length before carefully placing the head back in your mouth.

You suck softly on the head and you’re starting to find it hard not to touch yourself. You whine as your taking more of his length into your mouth, “I know kitten, we’ll go back soon. I’ll take good care of you kitten, just wait okay?” You nod softly as you grip the rest of his length.

“Gonna let me cum in your mouth? Gonna swallow it all like a good kitten?” You look up at Seonghwa and whine loudly. You pull off his cock with a popping sound as you look up and open your mouth for him.

He looks down at you with your eyes on his face and your mouth open ready to catch all his cum in your mouth like a good kitten.

He grips his cock and continued to get himself off in front of your face. “S-such a good kitten, good girl. Fuck, let-letting me cum on your face in the restroom. S-so good… sucking my cock like a little whore in the restroom, t-then going out and talking to o-our friends. I-It's okay right? B-because you’re my whore right?” You felt like you could cum untouched at this point.

You moaned loudly and that was all it took for him to cum. You were able to catch most of his cum in your mouth and some sprinkled your cheeks and chin.

You waited until he gave you the okay then you closed your mouth to swallow. You opened your mouth to show you swallowed and Seonghwa strokes your hair, whispering praises.

He tucks himself back in his pants and gives you a hand to help you up. He looks around for a second before getting a paper towel and wetting it so he can carefully wipe the cum off your face.

“Turn around kitten,” you turn around and you get a good look at yourself in the mirror. Your eyes widen as you see how you look. “S-Seonghwa… it looks like I just got fucked in the restroom,” he laughs as he’s trying his best to fix your hair. “You’re not wrong,” you turn around and snack his chest.

You look back in the mirror and you see the hickey’s covering your neck and jaw. You start whining about the marks but then see you see the marks you left on Seonghwa’s neck so you stop.

“I tried my best kitten, you go first,” he kisses you gently and he brings his hand down to cup your crotch, “I’ll take care of you in a minute, just be a good girl.” You let out a quiet moan and move so you can unlock the door and walk out.

Seonghwa looks at you with a smirk as you pause to look out the door to make sure no one is there. You look back at Seonghwa and he nods at you to go. You look at the clock on the wall 8:58, you’ve been in the restroom for around 25 minutes. You walk back to the table thinking of excuses to tell if they ask, even though San was well aware of what you were doing.

You sat back down next to Yunho awkwardly trying your best to cover the right side of your face with your hair.

“Why were you in the restroom so long?” You snapped your head up in San’s direction. “What?” He’s such a little shit, “you heard me,” you looked towards Yunho and he was scanning your face expectantly. “Umm… you know… girl problems…” he pretended to nod in understanding. Yunho looked back down at his phone with cheeks red with embarrassment.

After a couple more minutes Seonghwa comes back to the table, “So, are we ready to go?” You look down with a smile. “Where were you?” You roll your eyes and look up at San. You turn and see Yunho scanning Seonghwa, his eyes widen and he looks over at you with the same expression.

You’re completely aware they can both see all of Seonghwa’s hickeys and if you’re not careful, they’re both going to be able to see yours too.

Seonghwa completely ignores the question and gets up, “Alrighty, I don’t know about yall but I’m tired so we should get going.” You nod and get up to join Seonghwa. When you get up you shuffle uncomfortably, your underwear is sticking to your core and you can feel how uncomfortable it is.

San and Yunho are both blinking up at you two and Yunho shrugs and stands up as well. Seonghwa starts to walk out of the shop and he puts his hand out for you to take it. You grab his hand and walk quickly to catch up with him.

Neither of you are really paying attention to if Yunho and San are behind you. You’re both walking really fast towards the restaurant that’s down the street so you can go to sans car.

“Are they dating?” Sans head turns to Yunho. “Sorry, what?” San looks ahead to see you and Seonghwa walking hand in hand. “Umm… no… They’re just really close. Best friends.” If he was being honest, he has no idea if yall were dating. He thought it was just hookups occasionally, but sometimes you two look like a couple.

“Are you sure they’re not more than friends? Like… you know… you saw his neck.” San had no idea what to tell him. Yunho had told San about what had happened between the two of you, and he told San that he really likes you.

San sighed heavily, “Yunho, you shouldn’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to.” Yunho looked at San, “Really? Is that what they were doing in the restroom?” Fuck. “You know, Yunho, I’m not sure. Maybe. But look, they’re best friends. They’ve been best friends for over 5 years now. They’re closer than anyone else. Yunho they’re probably closer than you two were. But I can tell you right now, yeah they might hookup every once in a while, but there isn’t any romantic attraction.” Yunho is staring at the two of you like he just saw a ghost.

“How, how are you sure about that?” San rolls his eyes, “You really need to stop asking questions. This thing between them has been going on for maybe 3 out of the 5 years they’ve been friends. They’ve both dated since they’ve been friends, it stops. When y/n got a boyfriend last year, they stopped hooking up. If there were romantic feelings, they wouldn’t have dated or they would be dating each other.” Yunho nods but he really doesn’t look so sure. He feels a pang of jealousy as he sees Seonghwa lean down to whisper something in your ear.

“How do you know so much?” San ignored Yunho’s question and kept walking. “No san, I’m serious. Do you… do it too… with Seonghwa?” San still didn’t answer his question, “Yunho, what did I just tell you? I just told you to stop asking questions you don’t want the answer to,” Yunho sighed heavily, “Why?” San looked at him like he was crazy, “what do you mean why?” Yunho rolled his eyes, “you know exactly what I’m asking San. Is it the same as Seonghwa? Just to hookup?” San nodded, “look, I don’t like her as more than a friend. None of us do, just you. And if you choose to pursue your feelings, then go for it.”

“Seonghwa shut up they’re gonna hear you,” the whole time yall were walking Seonghwa was saying what he wants to do to you out loud. Seonghwa smirks as he sees the car in the parking lot. He turns around and sees Yunho and San are a significant distance behind you two. As you both approach the car he grabs your hips and pushes you against the car.

“Hwa, they're gonna see us…” you moan loudly as he sticks his knee between your legs. He presses his knee against your core as he leans forward brings you into a kiss. Seonghwa is softly rubbing at your side as he brushes his tongue against your bottom lip.

You always forget how good of a kisser Seonghwa is, his lips are soft and it always makes you feel like you’re in heaven.

You whine as he takes his knee from between your legs. “Hwa please, I cant… fuck,” you needed to be touched so bad. “Kitten, do you want San and Yunho to see? Maybe you do huh? Are me and San not enough? Do you want Yunho too? Do you want Yunho to see what a little whore you are? Want him to fuck you too?” You shake your head, “N-no I just, I just need you to touch me” he rolled his eyes looking down at you. “If you don’t stop being a brat I’m not-“ he got cut off as you heard the car door unlock.

Seonghwa cupped your core again, “you’re gonna sit with your legs open, okay kitten? So everyone will be able to smell how sweet you are.”

You opened the door and scooted to the end. Seonghwa came in after you and sat in the middle. He pulled your leg to go over his and he rested his hand on your inner thigh. You looked towards him as he laughed, “I can smell how wet you are,” you looked at Seonghwa before you stuck your hand in your pants. Seonghwa immediately grabbed your wrist and tried to take your hand out of your jeans, “what the fuck are you doing? You groaned, “touching myself since you’re not touching me.”

When you heard the door open you took your hand out of your pants, “oh my god, you’re such a fucking brat” Seonghwa said while Yunho was getting in the car. Seonghwa left his hand on your thigh, part of his hand resting on your core.

San got in the car shortly after Yunho, “What’re y'all in such a rush for?” San turns to see if any cars are coming and he sees Seonghwa’s hand practically on your crotch. He snickers and goes back to pulling out of the parking, “Umm… no reason in particular, we’re just tired.” San hums in understanding, “I’m pretty tired too, how about all four of us go take a nap together?” San winks at you in the rearview mirror. Seonghwa laughs next to you as your cheeks turn red.

“Answer him.” You turn to Seonghwa and you shake your head. San looks at you in the mirror again with that stupid smirk, “Umm… you can join if you want…” Yunho looks to San with a clenched jaw now that he knows what they’re talking about.

“I will if Yunho joins,” you whine softly as Seonghwa rubs up and down your clothed core. You reach a red light and San turns to watch what Seonghwa is doing.

You can sense that Yunho is probably uncomfortable so you try your best to ignore what’s happening. You close your eyes and bring your hands up to your face, “Y-Yunho probably doesn’t want to.” San bites his lip and turns to Yunho, “Do you want to?”

You’re fully expecting Yunho to say no since he probably already knows what’s happening. Seonghwa places pressure straight on your clit and starts to make small circles. You’re still parked at the light even though it’s now green. It’s past 9 and there are no cars out on a Wednesday night.

“Y-Yes I’ll Umm… I’ll join…” you whine loudly and close your legs as you were so close to cumming. “S-Seonghwa, I’m- I can’t, please,” he strokes your thigh softly, “I know kitten it’s okay, go ahead.” You see San look towards Yunho. Yunho is still looking forward, probably out of embarrassment. “Wait, Seonghwa, scoot over so Yunho can see Y/N,”

Seonghwa moves to the other seat so you can move and be in the middle. “Yunho, why don’t you look and see how pretty my kitten is?” Seonghwa tells Yunho to look in your direction. Seonghwa unbuttons your pants and sticks his hand into your underwear.

Seonghwa runs his fingers down your slit, collecting all of your juices on his fingers. He pulls his hand out of your pants to show his wet fingers.

Yunho looks back in time for Seonghwa to offer his wet fingers to San who’s now palming himself. You watch San suck on Seonghwa’s fingers with a whine. “You wanna touch her?” Seonghwa asks San as he pulls his fingers out of his mouth. “I can wait, wanna touch her properly,” Seonghwa looks to Yunho and as expected he shakes his head.

Seonghwa shrugs as he sticks his hands back in your pants, this time inserting a finger into you. You start to whine and moan loudly, “Fuck, Seonghwa please. I need to cum. I’ll be good now, I promise.” You can feel all 3 pairs of eyes on you. Seonghwa and San are both staring at you with zero hesitation and Yunho is taking glances at you every few seconds, “Kitten, your such a whore,” Yunho’s eyebrows shoot up as he hears Seonghwa calling you names. Seonghwa adds another finger and starts to move them as fast as he can with your pants constricting his hand. “Fuck, San, look at our whore, how she’s begging to cum like a little bitch. So desperate kitten. You like the attention don’t you? Me and San just weren’t enough to please you huh?” You’re moaning uncontrollably now as Seonghwa looks up to Yunho, “Now you need Yunho too huh? You need Yunho to help us fuck you right?”

Yunho is looking at you and Seonghwa with wide eyes then turns to look at San who has a smirk on his face. San looks down at Yunho’s bulge. San grabs one of Yunho’s fists that’s resting on his leg and moves it to press on his bulge.

The pressure that San adds to Yunho’s hand makes him whimper. San freezes and looks at Yunho with a shocked expression, “Did- did you…” Yunho flushes red as he continues to palm himself.

Your eyes shoot up to Yunho when you hear the noise he made, “fuck fuck fuck,” Seonghwa himself is shocked but he’s more focused on you right now, “You didn’t answer my question kitten, You weren’t satisfied with the two of us huh? You want yunho to join so he can help us fuck you. Since two cocks isn’t enough for you.” You nod vigorously, “Fuck, yes. I need Y-Yunho’s cock too. I need 3 cocks t-to make me S-satisfied cause I’m a wh-whore.”

Hearing you say that made Yunho start to moan loudly, “F-Fuck, Yunho” you’re staring at his face. He looks so pretty with his cheeks flushed and his mouth open to let out his pretty moans. “You S-sound, fuck, you sound so pretty,” he bites his lip to keep his smile from showing.

Yunho lets out more of his pretty moans and you can’t hold it anymore. Your legs start to shake as you cum, hard. You’re letting out pornagraphic moans and you can’t stop.

Seonghwa kisses your forehead and San strokes your calf. You eventually open your eyes and see Yunho biting his lip with a pained expression on his face, “Y-Yunho?” You started carefully “I wish you could see how pretty you look… You look so pretty right now, you’re doing so well.” Everyone’s eyes are on Yunho but he doesn’t even notice.

Seonghwa carefully buttons your pants back up and you sit up with a grimace. You scoot up the seat and you take Yunho’s face in your hand. Yunho starts to breathe louder and his whimpers become louder, filling the car. You look to both San and Seonghwa who are both looking at you and Yunho intently, you hesitate before you say “puppy… can you be good and cum for me?” You hear Seonghwa take in a breath behind you but you’re focused on how pretty Yunho is. Yunho lets out a choked moan as he cums in his pants. You whisper praises to him while playing with his hair.

He opens his eyes and you kiss him softly on his forehead, “you okay?” He gives you the softest smile and nods. You move back in your seat and you look at San, “did you…” he knows what you mean and chuckles, “yeah, like 5 minutes before you did,” you roll your eyes and laugh, “should’ve known, you’re always first.” Laughter fills the car clearing away any awkwardness left. You turn to Seonghwa and ask the same question, “nope, I’d rather cum in you” he tells you with a wink. You turn away without saying anything to look out the window with your flushed cheeks.

San finally continues driving after 30 minutes of sitting at the light, “So… Yunho…” he turns to give Yunho a knowing look. Seonghwa laughs next to you knowing what San is gonna say. “You’re a sub huh? And a bottom?” You bite your lip to contain your smile as you continue looking out the window.

Yunho clears his throat, “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about…” San and Seonghwa both snort loudly as you try your best to control your laughter. “Yeah, right… puppy…” he groans loudly and covers his face in his hands. You giggle softly, “Leave my puppy alone San, you’re just jealous I don’t call you anything cute.” Seonghwa rolls his eyes at the both of you, “y'all are idiots, stop the car, I'd rather walk back.” San jokingly pulls over and stops the car, “okay, bye.” You watch as Seonghwa stares at San with wide eyes. “W-wait… I was just kidding, I love you both” you start laughing and hitting Seonghwa.

Yall continue driving in a comfortable silence. Everyone’s heart is beating a little faster as you get closer to the apartment. The car is starting to fill with a sexual tension you could practically taste. You were all shifting uncomfortably since you all, besides Seonghwa, came in your underwear at some point.

San pulls into his parking spot faster than he’s ever had. All four of you practically jump out of the car and run to the elevator. The four of you all have rooms on different floors of the apartment. Yunho was about to ask who’s room but when Seonghwa immediately presses the floor to your place he looks at you confused, “I have the biggest bed, it usually fits us three but I’m sure it’ll be fine with you.” Yunho nods in understanding. “Yeah, she really splurged on her bed! It’ll fit all four of us just fine.” San has always loved your bed. He always came over for sleepovers and movie nights just so he can lay on your bed.

The elevator opens and you all just stand there waiting for the first person to walk out. You roll your eyes and walk out first taking the key from your bag and going to the end of the hall to go to your place.

Everyone follows behind you as you walk inside your apartment. San and Seonghwa practically live here with you, but Yunho has never been here before so you try and give him a quick tour. “Umm, so Yunho, let me just give you a quick tour. This is the kitchen here to the left. Then this is the living room.” You gestured to the area around you. You walked further into the room and lead Yunho into the hall where all the rooms are. “The first door to the left is the guest restroom. And the door at the end, on the left is the guest room and the one on the right is the master bedroom, my room, with the master bathroom.”

Yunho looks around trying to take in the information, “I don’t know about you two, but we’re gonna go fuck now.” Seonghwa takes your hand and leads you to your bedroom. He leaves the door open as he picks you up and places you in the middle of your bed.

You wrap your legs around his waist as he starts to kiss down your neck to your chest. “Seonghwa! Why are you so impatient? I haven’t touched her all day.” San came into the room complaining. You opened your eyes to look at San. You smile as you signal him to come towards you.

You look back once again and see Yunho standing by the door, not sure what to do. If you were being honest, you didn’t really know what to do either. It was always just Seonghwa and San, and now that Yunho’s here too you feel the need to pay extra attention to him.

Seonghwa is already lifting your shirt to kiss your stomach. “I- Yu- fuck… Seonghwa-” he lifted your shirt completely off and started to suck on your chest through your bra.

“W-wait Seonghwa…” he stops and looks up at you, “G-get off for a second…” he complains but gets off anyway. He moves to lay where San is sitting as you sit up.

You look up and see Yunho staring at your chest. You smile, “Yun- Puppy, come here please.” He looks between you and the two boys next to you. “It’s alright, they won’t say anything…” he nods and walks towards you and sits right in front of you. “Are you, Are you okay? You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.” He looks at you and nods while looking at your lips. “I need you to use your words puppy.” He whines quietly, “I-It’s okay. I want to stay.”

You nod and push him back softly so he’s laying down on his back, “Tell me if you want me to stop, okay puppy?” You hold his face gently in your hands. You’re straddling his waist and you take a minute to look at him. You missed Yunho so much. You were staring so intently and lovingly into his eyes, and you knew he knew what you were trying to tell him.

If you didn’t do something, anything, you were going to start crying and no one wants a shirtless crying girl to be sitting on them. You lean down to take him into a kiss.

Seonghwa and San are both giving each other a look knowing this could most likely be the last time this is going to happen, unless Yunho is into that…

You take Yunho's bottom lip into your mouth and you suck on it gently. Yunho starts to breathe heavier as he opens his mouth to allow access to your tongue. You and Yunho both know why you’re being so gentle, you’re trying your best to make up for everything that’s happened.

Yunho whimpers quietly as you pull away. He chases your lips and you peck his lips softly. He has his fists clenched beside him as his eyes move down to your chest and stomach. “You can touch me,” he slowly places his hands on your waist, “Y-You’re so pretty.” Your heart felt like it could burst. You were looking at Yunho with the biggest heart eyes, “Not prettier than you puppy,” his cheeks tinted with a pink as he looks away from you.

You look towards Seonghwa and San for the first time. They both pulled their length out of their pants and were watching You and Yunho while jerking themselves off.

You smile to yourself again while watching as Yunho’s breathing becomes more labored. You scoot yourself lower and feel Yunho’s bulge on your crotch.

You reach to pull Yunho’s shirt off and as your taking it off you can see all of his pretty flushed skin. He covers his face with his hands, “Don’t cover your face puppy, you’re so pretty. Look at how pretty you look right now, you look so fucked out and I haven’t even touched you properly.” You move to kiss down his neck and to his chest and stomach. As you make your way down to his stomach you leave marks all the way down to the top of his jeans.

“You okay puppy?” He moans loudly as you take your tongue and lick between his nipples. “Mhm, I’m okay.” You could feel his hips struggling not to move against your core. “Do you want me to touch you?” Yunho have you a small nod in response, “I need you to use your big boy voice puppy.” He looks at you with pleading eyes, “I- Uhh… I want you to t-touch me p-please.”

You look back over to where the two boys are, “you think I should touch him as he pleases?” San pretends to think, “you know… I wouldn’t… I’d make him wait…” Seonghwa shrugs, “I dunno, but I wanna touch you, so that’s what I’m gonna do.” You squeal as Seonghwa pulls you off of Yunho and pushes you down harshly on the bed.

You roll your eyes at Seonghwa, “You're so impatient, you can’t even wait 20 minutes.” You gasp as Seonghwa pulls down both your pants and your panties at the same time. “F-fuck. Come here Yunho,” San told Yunho to join the three of you. Seonghwa had completely pulled off the clothing on the bottom half of your body, and he was now holding your legs open. San moves to the top part of your body and reached down to undo your bra.

Seonghwa is holding your legs open so Yunho could see the juices soaking your core. “You can touch her, you know. I promise she’ll like it.” Yunho looks at me for conformation, “It’s okay. You can touch me puppy.”

San was looking at you with an amazed expression. He’s never seen this side of you, your Dom side. They never really gave you a chance but he’s never really seen you as someone who could Dom because you look so soft.

San never took Yunho as a Sub either. But when he was laying underneath you and even now when he’s asking you for permission, it fits him. Yunho usually has this strong boy persona when he’s with you and it’s his first time seeing him so… desperate.

Yunho carefully takes two of his fingers and runs then up your core. You moan loudly and try to close your legs but Seonghwa is holding them. San and Seonghwa are both staring at Yunho as he’s staring at your core like it’s not real.

Yunho slowly inserts two of his fingers into you and you arch your back softly starting to grip San’s thigh. “Is- is it okay?” Yunho whispers as he starts to move his fingers slowly. “S-So good puppy. You’re doing so good.” You’re moaning quietly as you’re looking down to his chest and stomach.

“puppy, can you take off your pants for me?” You look to Seonghwa and he has a smirk on his face, “it’s okay puppy, I just wanna see how pretty you are.” Yunho looks to San and he nods to give Yunho some reassurance.

“Kitten, I’m gonna tell you what you’re going to do okay?” Seonghwa speaks up as Yunho starts to take his pants off. “You’re going fuck Yunho, then you’re gonna let me and San fuck you like the whore you are. And you’re going to let all 3 of us cum inside you.” You nod mindlessly as you’re watching Yunho slide his pants off. “And you’re going to cum for each of us.” Your head turns to San, “w-what? No, I won’t be able to…” San grabs your face in his hand, “yes you can, and you will.”

You turn back to Yunho and you keep your eyes trained on his bulge. You look back at his face when you hear a whimper come from his pretty lips. You sit up and you run your hands down to the waist of his boxers. “Can I?” You ask Yunho. “P-please.”

You smile softly at him and bring down his boxers to expose his length the the three of you. Your mouth drops slightly and you lick your lips. “Puppy, you’re so big…” he covers his face again as you softly graze his length with a finger. “Don’t cover your face or else I’m not gonna touch you, okay puppy?” He whines but takes his hands off his face and looks back at you.

Yunho was bigger than both San and Seonghwa. You grab him carefully and your fingers don’t even touch. Your heart is beating hard against your ribs and look look over to San who’s looking between Yunho and his length.

“Y/n?” You looked up at him “yes puppy?” He hesitates for a second before he finally says, “C-Can- Can I please you?” You let a huge smile come over your face, “come here puppy” you lay down on your back and bring him to lay on top of you.

You try to mentally prepare yourself, but you find yourself unable to contain the loud moan you release when you feel the head of his cock prob at your clit.

Yunho looks at you with his length in his hand, “C-Can I?” You nod as he grabs one of your hands in his.

Yunho readjusts himself above you, he lines up his erection with your entrance and you hold your breath. You feel the stretch of your walls and it’s something you haven’t felt this strongly in years. You squeeze your eyes shut and you squeeze Yunho’s hand tighter.

Yunho whines loudly as he first enters you but stops as he feels you tense up. “A-are you okay?” You nod, “y-yeah, fuck. Y-you can k-keep going.” Yunho slowly pushes himself all the way in and stops so you and adjust to him.

Yunho is whimpering above you and your rubbing his side softly, “y-you can move p-puppy.”

Yunho is moving slowly trying to let you get used to the feeling, “d-does it h-hurt?” You shake your head to get him to continue.

Yunho finally finds a comfortable pace and he held your hand and was staring at your face with the most loving look. You’re looking up at Yunho and he looks like he’s biting his lip so hard it’s going to draw blood, “P-Puppy, don’t- don’t hold your pretty noises in. I wanna hear you.”

He finally starts to let his noises out. His soft whines and moans were making your core throb as he was moving at a faster pace.

The room was being filled with moans and whimpers coming from you and Yunho, and groans coming from San and Seonghwa who were watching the two of you from the other side of the bed.

His thrusts become quick and sloppy, and the sound of skin slapping can be heard throughout your whole place. Everyone can tell your close, Yunho can feel you clenching around him and your moans become louder and more frequent.

Yunho brings himself down so he can go to kissing and sucking on your neck, and that’s it for you. You see stars behind your closed eyes as you feel waves of euphoria come over your whole body. His name comes out of your mouth like it’s the only word you know.

You can hear Yunho moaning above you as he stilled inside you. “F-fuck, puppy, you’re doing so well for me.” He slowly starts to move again and you wrap your legs around his waist trying to ignore the overstimulation.

You can hear his quiet moans in your ear and it urges you to want to make him cum, “You’re such a good boy, you’re doing so good for me. You sound so pretty. I wish I could hear your pretty moans all day.” You clench around him, Urging him to cum. “C-Can I c-cum please?” You smile and rub his back in a comforting manner, “yes puppy, cum for me please.” As soon as you gave him permission you felt his seed release inside of you.

His strength gave out as he let all his body weight go on top of you. His heavy breathing was all that could be heard as he places his head in the crook of your neck.

You bring one hand to rub his back and another hand to play with his hair, “You’re okay puppy. You did so well for you. Did such a good job for me.” You tilted your head so you can place kisses on the top of his head and on his forehead.

He carefully takes his head out of your neck and looks at you for a minute. You smile at him and place a kiss on his nose then down to his lips.

He pulls out of you with a grimace and you subconsciously clench to keep his cum inside you. Yunho moves to the side and San quickly replaces Yunho’s spot.

San reaches down to collect the cum that was coming out of your entrance and shoves two fingers into your core to put it back, “Hope that was nice, now I’m gonna fuck you like the whore you are.” San immediately puts his whole length into your entrance and starts moving right away.

He pulls out to see a mix of yours and Yunho’s cum on his cock. San flips you over so your laying on your stomach “gonna fuck you so hard you’re not gonna be able to walk tomorrow.” Your clenching around him impossibly hard as you can already feel the coil start to build in your stomach.

San grabs a chunk of your hair and pulls you up so you’re now in doggy style. Your arms are barely able to keep you up, “you like it don’t you? You like us fucking you like the whore you are. You like for us to treat you like the whore you are. I can tell your close, you gonna cum for me?”

Your arms gave out and the only thing holding you up is sans grip on your hips, your letting out muffled moans into the pillow. “You’re gonna cum whenever I tell you to okay? I want you to wait until I cum.” You try your best to nod your head.

You’re so close to cumming. You start to bring your hips back to meet Sans thrusts, “San, please… can’t, I- I need… fuck” your blabbering incoherently as San moves his hand down to rub your clit. “F-Fuck okay baby, c-cum- cum for me” you let your orgasm take over your body. When San let’s go of your hips you immediately sink into the bed. You feel San kiss down your back telling you praises.

Seonghwa flips you over carefully, “can you cum one more time for me kitten?” Your eyes are starting to become heavy but you nod anyways. “Use your words Kitten.” You whine from overstimulation as Seonghwa is rubbing his cock up and down your slit watching it get covered in the mixture of cum. “Y-yes. I can take it.” Seonghwa nods as he slowly sinks his cock into you with a groan. “If you need me to stop kitten, what’s the safe word?” You grip Seonghwa’s shoulders, “p-purple” Seonghwa kisses you gently “Good kitten.”

Seonghwa was being gentle. If you noticed it so would San, and probably even Yunho if he was paying attention earlier. He started off with a slow pace making sure to kiss every part of your face. Your heart was beating so hard in your chest that Seonghwa could probably hear it.

Your core was throbbing as Seonghwa was reaching deeper inside of you causing your orgasm to build up again.

“Fuck kitten, I’ve been waiting all day for this. How are you still so tight after being fucked so much?” Seonghwa was struggling to keep his Dom persona up. Seonghwa was breathing hard and his thrusts were begging to get sloppy.

The room was filled with Seonghwa’s heavy breathing and your moans, along with the wet squelching noises coming from your bottom half.

“S-Seonghwa, I’m gonna-” he nodded and kissed you softly. “It’s okay kitten. So am I.” You pull him into a kiss. You clenched around him as you came for the 4th time that night. His lips were muffling the moans that were spilling from your lips. It wasn’t long after you that he came, his lips still on yours.

Seonghwa pulled out of you carefully as he grabbed a tissue that was on your bedside table to wipe the mess of of his length. You heard both San and Seonghwa get off the bed and Yunho sat beside you playing with your hair.

You heard the water running and some doors open and close as Seonghwa came back with a wet towel to clean you off. He brought the towel in between your legs to clean all the cum from off your thighs and your core.

San came back with some fresh sheets and Yunho picked you up bridal style so San and Seonghwa could take the soiled sheets off your bed and place them in your laundry. San and Seonghwa quickly replaced the sheets on your bed and Yunho placed you back in the middle, “Kitten you need to go use the restroom,” you shake your head, not wanting to get up and go to the restroom. “Kitten, you really have to go. You know that.” You complained but got up and walked the best you could to the restroom.

Seonghwa and San both put their boxers back on and laid down on the bed, “Are you gonna lay down too or are you just gonna stand there?” San asked Yunho while rolling over to cuddle Seonghwa. “Umm… yeah I guess…” yunho already had put his boxers on so he walked to the other side of the bed and laid down a significant distance away from both San and Seonghwa.

You walked out of the restroom and grabbed someone’s shirt from the floor and put it on. You crawled onto the bed and laid down in between Yunho and Seonghwa. Seonghwa grabbed his phone from the bedside table and started scrolling through his social media.

“Hwa what time is it?” You asked with a yawn. Yunho had rolled and rested his head on your chest. You started playing with his hair as you were falling asleep, “11:42” Seonghwa replied.

“Oh shit, I gotta go, I promised my roommate I’d be there my midnight to watch a movie with him.” Everyone nodded and he said he’d lock the door on his way out. It was just you, Seonghwa, and Yunho laying down on the bed. You and Yunho were both half asleep and Seonghwa was on his phone.

After about 5 minutes Seonghwa said he was gonna head out too. He kissed you on the forehead and said bye to Yunho.

“Should I Umm.. should I go too?” Yunho whispered to you when Seonghwa had finally walked out of your place. “No it’s okay. U-unless you want to leave…” you felt him shake his head, “No. I’ll stay.” Your heart was beating against your ribs and you were certain Yunho could hear it since he was laying on your chest.

Yunho started to hold you and you rubbed his back and played with his hair. “Y-Yunho?” you whispered quietly. “Hmm?” You weren’t sure if this was the best time to bring this up, when you were both half naked, “I… I missed you. Like a lot. And I just wanna say I’m sorry for anything I ever did… And I know it probably doesn’t mean much to you… but I still love you so much and I’m so sorry I let anything get in between us.” You were tearing up and yunho pulled away from you to take your face in his hands.

“No no no. It wasn’t your fault.” You sat up and you just let the tears fall from your eyes, “No, it is Yunho. If… If I didn’t like you the way I did, I wouldn’t have said yes to Felix when he asked me out.” You looked down and played with a loose thread on the shirt you were wearing.

“It- it still isn’t your fault y/n. Look at me please.” You looked up to see Yunho looking down at you. “The only reason I stopped talking to you… I just gave up… Felix… Felix knew I liked you as more than a friend.” You looked at Yunho confused. “One day, he came to my house and when I opened the door… he punched me. He punched me and told me to stay away from you because “someone like me” doesn’t deserve “Someone Like You”” you blinked up at Yunho. “And after that I just gave up… I knew you were never going to like me because Felix was popular and smart and funny… and I was just me, your best friend.”

You hold Yunho’s face in your hands, “Yunho I liked you so much… I loved you… and I was just too embarrassed to tell you because I didn’t think you liked me…” Yunho scanned your face for any sense of you lying to him, but when he saw your teary eyes he knew you were telling the truth.

“And… Yunho… oh my god I feel like I’m in middle school again… I still like you a lot and I just… I don’t know. Never mind I’m being stupid.” Yunho shook his head and he pulled you into a kiss. Your heart felt like it was going to explode.

“Look, we can talk about it tomorrow okay? When we’re both dressed.” He pulls you back down so you can lay down.

You both lay in a comfortable silence, “Yunho, on Friday night, do you wanna go get dinner?” You feel him smile against your collarbone, “are you asking me on a date?” He asks while poking your side. “Mhm… then since I’m your secret Santa… we can go get your gift.” He laughs softly, “I would love to go on a date with you… and get a gift the same day? That sounds like a perfect day to me.”

You smile against the top of his head. You’re happy everything is back to normal, even after 6 years of “hating” each other, everything finally feels back in place now that you have Yunho by your side again.

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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 5 years

Text

with you [3/6]

Summary: Clementine pops the question.

Preview:

Louis had read plenty of those magazines from the headmaster’s office, the ones about dating and relationships. He read an article when he and Clementine first got together, when they were preparing to infiltrate the delta. He’d read it out of curiosity, not knowing anything about how to be a boyfriend, and to take his mind off their imminent doom.

This article was bitter, written from a broken heart, and mean-spirited enough for him to skip at the time. But, now, thinking back…

It was about all relationships being a ticking time bomb, all because of one reason:

One person always loves a little bit more than the other.

One person always gives more than they should. One always cares too much. One is always at a greater risk of being hurt or left behind.

One is always weaker.

Warnings: There’s lots of smooching this time, but again, no sexual content. Violet’s still angsty. Tenn hates bottles. Aasim’s a bad liar but he’ll lie anyway because Ruby’s sweet. Louis gets a little angsty himself. Mitch’s secret stash of wine makes an appearance.

Author’s note: So, in case you didn’t see that little update I posted about this story, long story short: I’m the biggest goddamn liar and now there’s 4 parts 5 parts because I don’t know how to keep anything short and sweet.

I also just want to say thank you for all the nice comments. Like, I don't think there are enough words in the English language to describe how astonished I am to have received so many nice messages about this story. When I first started writing this, I didn't expect anything like that. I really started this because it was a request and I had a lot of feelings about ep3 [which, I still do hence why this turned out longer than I had planned]

Anyway, thank you so much for reading and for all the nice comments!

---

The window's open.

Louis slips in and out of darkness, stuck between a dreamless calm and a waking reality. Cool hair drifts in through the cracked window, brushing against the bare skin of his arm. But, it's not the morning chill or the golden glow flowing in through the parted curtains that wakes him up.

A gentle hand shakes his shoulder.

A familiar presence stands over him, he can feel it even in his drowsy state.

Nothing dangerous, of course. Otherwise, he'd be bolting out of bed and pulling Chairles from off the shelf, swinging with a blind fury.

He rolls over onto his side, eyes too heavy to open.

"Louis?"

The hand grasps his shoulder again, this time shaking a little harder. His grogginess worsens. It’s like someone poured wet cement into his bones. He stretches his arm out over the empty spot next to him in search of Clementine’s warmth, inhaling the morning air and letting it out with a groan.

The hand shakes him again, so he grabs and holds it.

"U-uh-"

Louis buries his face in his pillow. His voice comes out muffled, groggy, "Darling, come back to bed."

"Louis!"

The pillow's yanked out from under his head. His nose smashes against the mattress and his eyes snap open.

"Ow! Hey!"

He's ready to complain about such a rude awakening until he realizes whose hand he's still holding.

The room is awkwardly silent until Louis mumbles, "You're not Clementine."

"No," Aasim pulls his hand free and hits Louis with the pillow, "no, I'm not."

Louis snatches the pillow away, tucking it back under his head and sighing. "How long have you been watching me sleep?" He yawns. "I didn't take you for the creeper type."

"I wasn't watching you sleep," Aasim rolls his eyes. "I came to wake you up. We're going hunting."

"Hunting?"

It's the first he's heard of this. He and Aasim usually go hunting every few days, and they just went the day before. Louis props himself on his elbows to peer up at him with a dull expression. Another yawn builds in his throat.

"You must have your days mixed up," he says. "Mitch and Willy go today. We're not supposed to go ‘til tomorrow."

"No, it’s our turn," Aasim says quickly. "We gotta go now. James was out there earlier and he saw a deer."

A...

A what?

"A deer?" Louis perks a brow. "Sure it wasn't just a big possum? Or a walker on all fours? Maybe even a bunch of bunnies standing on each other's shoulders?"

"He's pretty damn sure it was a deer," Aasim insists. He turns to spread the window curtains farther apart. More light floods in, causing Louis to wince as his eyes adjust to the sudden brightness.

"He's already out there tracking it,” Aasim grabs Louis’ coat from off the desk chair and tosses it to him, “so we gotta move fast is we want any chance of hunting it. We also have to check the traps and make sure the fishing shack is still secure."

"A deer?" Louis presses again. "Like, a real deer? Like Bambi?”

“Bambi was a cartoon.”

“You know what I mean,” Louis grins. “We've never seen a deer out there, like, ever. Not even at the beginning."

Aasim scratches at his chin anxiously. "Well, James just saw one, so... Get up and get ready. We're leaving soon.”

Louis swings his legs over the side of the bed and stretches out his arms, groaning in satisfaction as the muscles loosen.

“How soon is ‘soon’?”

“As soon as you put your boots on.”

Louis sighs.

This definitely isn’t what he had planned for this morning.

He glances over at the old CD player and the tangle of dingy headphones on the desk. He’d have to remember to grab another pair from the music room. Those ones only have one working earbud. He only hopes that those songs were enough to lull Clementine’s distress, even if just for the night.

It’s been a long time since he’s seen her so physically upset.

He knows Clementine well enough by now. He knows that she still holds in most of those awful feelings. Whenever something upsets her, or even after she has a nightmare of her own, her face defaults to a stoic expression. Whether she does it out of habit, or because she doesn’t want him or anyone else to worry, or some concoction of both, he’s not sure.

She has enough room within her to bottle it up. She has the strength to hold it in.

Sometimes, he wishes he was like that.

Sometimes, he felt he was bursting at the seams.

And there she always was, trying to sew him back together.

Seeing her like that… shit, it’s one of the most hopeless feelings when all you can do is hold someone without the power to heal their pain.

Louis squeezes his eyes shut, biting the inside of his cheek.

“I talked to Violet…”

Violet.

Shit, what could’ve possibly brought that on?

He hadn’t asked, even though he wanted to. God, he really wanted to. He’s so desperate to know... why now? Did it just happen, or has it been weighing in her mind for a while? What was it about? Why didn’t she tell him?

He didn’t want to upset her any more than she already was, though, so he left it alone. She would tell him when she was ready.

And, Violet…

He can’t imagine how she must be feeling right now.

He watches Aasim as he paces over to AJ’s desk, stopping to look over the several drawings hanging on the wall.

Louis really doesn’t want to go hunting.

He already had his morning planned out.

First, he’d wake up and kiss Clementine before her watch. Or, if she already left, go find her and then kiss her.

It’s sort of a rule he has. While Louis was never one for strict rules or planning, he does have certain things that have to be done. Kissing Clementine every day is one of those rules.

Okay, maybe it’s not considered a rule, per se.

But, he made sure to kiss her every morning, and whenever one of them left to go hunting or scavenging or on watch without the other, and every night before bed. It didn’t have to be a crazy, passionate kiss. Sometimes, just a little peck on the cheek was enough.

It made him feel better, even if he knows it’s his subconscious telling him, “Kiss her! It might be your last chance! Death is always watching you, Louis!”

Anyway.

After he kissed her, he’d ask her if she was feeling any better, or if she wanted to talk about it. Whether she would or not, he didn’t know.

Next, he’d grab two plates of breakfast and head over to Violet’s room. If she answered, they’d eat together. If she didn’t answer or let him in, she’d at least have food waiting for her. Then, he’d find Tenn to watch over her, make sure she ate.

However, it seems that Aasim’s determined to foil those plans all in the name of some deer James supposedly saw.

Seriously, a deer?

Louis tries to rub the drowsiness from his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief. Aasim might as well of said, “Hey! Leprechauns are frolicking in the woods! Quick! Let’s go get their gold!”

Well, okay, maybe a deer is more plausible than a leprechaun.

But, still.

When Aasim notices Louis’ lack of movement and vacant stare, he crosses his arms and shoots him an exasperated look.

“Now, dude.”

Louis scratches the back of his neck as he hangs his head. “Do you really need me to go?” he asks. “I mean, it’s not like we need three people tracking a deer that may or may not be a figment of James’ imagination.”

“It’s not a figment of his imagination,” Aasim sighs. “Will you just put your boots on? We’re wasting daylight.”

“You’re awfully pushy this morning.”

“No, I just-” Aasim stops, looking away. "I want that deer, okay?"

Louis studies him for a moment as he pulls on his jacket, trying to understand the stress prominent in his features.

"Dude, if you're so worried about the deer, just go without me-"

"No! No, you- I-uh, " Aasim presses his mouth into a thin line. His eyes dart around the floor. He wears a taut expression that Louis recognizes. It's one that Aasim usually has when he's jotting down the day's events and he can't figure out how to word something.

Louis gets off the bed, hands on his hips and head cocked curiously. "You okay?"

"You have to come with me," Aasim says slowly. He scratches at his scruffy chin and looks towards to door, saying, “We need three people to carry it back when we get it.”

“I doubt it. Two people’s enough.”

“No, three people are needed to safely carry it.”

“James’ strong. Honestly, the dude could probably drag it back here himself. You don’t need me there.”

Then, Aasim blurts out, "I-I don't want to be alone with James.”

Louis almost laughs. "What?"

"Uh-” Aasim stutters, “Yeah, he makes me nervous, okay? You guys are friends. If you go, he'll have someone to talk to and I won't have to worry about him."

“Are you serious?” Louis asks. “I thought you two got along. I mean, you talk to him every time he’s here. Hell, don’t you always eat together, too?”

“That- that doesn’t mean anything. Will you just put your damn boots on, already?” Aasim finds his boots on the floor and kicks them towards him. “Why do you always have to be so damn difficult?”

Louis opens his mouth to speak, but then promptly shuts it.

Something’s weird.

Aasim’s being weird.

He never argues this much. Usually, by now he would’ve thrown his hands up, stomped out and left him behind, grumbling about what a pain in the ass he is.

But, there Aasim stood, moving about the room impatiently, still waiting for him.

Louis slips on his boots, keeping an eye on the other boy, and begins slowly lacing them up.

Aasim picks up the small venus fly trap on the desk and pokes it, causing it to steadily close its mouth. He’s so forcefully fixated on the plant that Louis is convinced something’s up.

Louis has known him for a long time, and he knows that Aasim avoids eye contacts and becomes defensive due to three things: when someone brings up the delta, when he’s lying about something, or when someone confronts him about his crush on-

Louis’ mouth falls agape.

Oh.

“He makes you nervous, huh?” Louis asks, hopping to his feet.

Aasim almost drops the plant, but luckily, he catches it. “Yeah, so what?”

“Why?”

“Uh?”

“Why does he make you nervous?” Louis repeats, drawing out each word. “I mean, aside from the whole wearing another dude’s face and hanging out with his walker friends.”

Aasim’s lips part as though he’s ready to speak, but it seems he’s stuck. He moves his hands about as if somehow that’ll help him articulate the words he’s looking for. In the end, he gives an agitated sigh and heads towards the exit, saying, “Just drop it and let’s go.”

However, Louis is quick to stride ahead and shut the door, pressing his back against it and raising his brow suggestively at him. “Not so fast!”

“Dude, really?”

Louis smirks. “I see you, Aasim.”

“What?” Aasim scowls. “Get out of the way. Clem’s gonna be pissed we haven’t left yet.”

Louis grins brightly. He ignores Aasim’s protests, reaching out to grasp his shoulder. “It’s finally happened. Our poor Aasim, the fool forever trapped within the realms of unrequited love-”

“Uh, what?”

“-has finally moved on from dear, sweet Ruby-”

“No-”

“-and onto the ever so mysterious-”

“No, no-”

“-handsome James!”

“Oh my god…” Aasim rubs his eyes, fingers curling over his face in irritation. “Oh my god, you’re so stupid.”

“Ah, James,” Louis disregards the insult, saying, “Gotta say, I did not see that one coming. Never thought I’d see the day you give up on Ruby.”

“I don’t have a crush on James, you idiot.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And I never had a crush on Ruby.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I don’t-didn’t!”

“Uh-huh.”

Aasim inhales sharply through his nose. “I swear, it’s like you want to piss me off!”

Louis holds his hands up defensively, saying, “No, I hear you, dude. I just don’t believe you. You can’t look me in the eye and say with a straight face that you never liked Ruby like that.”

Aasim rubs his palms over his jacket before crossing his arms, not saying a word.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Louis continues, “Ruby’s a sweet girl- well, sweet until pushed otherwise. And, James is really cool underneath that walker getup. In fact, I dare say you two would be pretty damn adorable,”

Aasim holds up his hand inches away from Louis’ face. “I’m gonna stop you right there before you say any more stupid shit,” he says sternly. “I don’t like James.”

“If that’s true, then why’re you being so weird?” asks Louis.

“Look,” Aasim sighs. “We could stand here all day arguing about this stupid shit, and the longer we do that, the farther that deer gets, and the longer James is stuck out there waiting for us by himself. Clementine is counting on both of us to go out there and track it, so can you please just take this seriously for once?”

“Who says I’m not being serious?”

Aasim shoots him a look.

“Okay, fine,” he sighs. He pushes away from the door. “You really believe he saw a deer out there?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“And so does Clem?”

“Why else would she send me to wake your ass up?” Aasim asks, glancing back down at the floor.

Well, so much for morning plans. He’d have to shorten his list and make it quick.

“Just answer me this last question,” Louis says with a wide smirk. “How long have you liked James?”

“I’m not playing this game with you.”

“What game? You wanted me to be serious, so here I am! Being serious! How long?”

“I don’t-” Aasim groans, rubbing his hands harshly over his face and through his hair.

Alright, that’s enough teasing, he thinks. Louis would ask him about it again later when Aasim isn’t so flustered or preoccupied with thoughts of a prancing deer.

“Okay, okay, let’s go get Bambi. But before that, can I at least do my morning business first?” he asks. “Or am I gonna have to hold it the whole time?”

“Fine,” Aasim sighs, relieved, “just hurry up. Meet you at the gates.”

And with that, he hurries out the door.

Louis shakes his head with a small smile. With Chairles in his possession and a set determination, Louis leaves the bedroom, ready to complete his morning plans in the short amount of time given.

---

From down the hall, Louis can hear the sound of glass shards scraping against the wooden floors. His gut tightens.

Violet’s door is wide open.

Uneasy, apprehensive to continue, he comes to a stop.

Violet never leaves her door open, not even a crack. Whether she’s alone or not, she always makes sure her door is shut and locked. There’s been plenty of times where he’d gone to see her and after she let him in, she’d almost push him out of the way to slam the lock shut.

He’d asked her about it the first time it happened. She hadn’t answered him. She was too ashamed to, so she pretended not to hear the question.

He didn’t say any more about it. If it made her feel better- safer, more secure- then he wouldn’t argue. He’s gotten in the habit of locking it himself every time he comes to visit just so she doesn’t panic.

Eventually, he does peek into the room.

But, he doesn’t find Violet.

No, he’s alarmed to find Mitch bent down on the floor with a dustpan and a small, broken broom, cautiously sweeping up shattered glass bits. There’s a small bag next to him with a wooden frame protruding from it. Clear concentration knits his brows and his lips move as if silently mumbling to himself.

Louis’ eyes narrow. He tries to wrap his head around just what he’s seeing.

When he moves closer, right into the door frame, Mitch doesn’t seem to notice, even when he clears his throat.

So, he speaks.

“Hey, Mitch,” he says, loud and flat.

Mitch jerks back, losing his balance, hissing out, “Jesus motherfucking-!” He drops the dustpan to help steady himself, letting glass slip out onto the floor again. He scrambles to his feet, cheeks flushing a furious red, but his glare dies when he sees it’s Louis standing there. He grows tense, unmoving, with eyes wide like a small child just caught sneaking around where they weren’t supposed to.

The two stare at each other for many seconds before Mitch points at him.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Funny,” Louis scoffs, pushing his jacket back to place his hands on his hips firmly, “I was about to say the same thing.”

“I, uh-” Mitch straightens out, looking down at the broom in his hand and the glass on the floor before peering back up at him. “Shouldn’t you be out hunting?”

“Don’t change the subject,” Louis frowns. He approaches the other boy, asking, “What are you doing here? Where’s Vi?”

“She’s with Tenn,” Mitch says. “Spent the night in his room after she, uh,” he motions down to the broken glass, “flipped out.”

Concern tightens in his throat. The panic must be clear on his face, because Mitch shakes his head and explains, “She did it after their talk.” He kneels back down and starts sweeping again. “Clem told’ja about that, I assume?”

“Yeah,” he says slowly. “And, how do you know about it, exactly?”

“I was keeping watch. Made sure Violet didn’t do anything.” Mitch dumps the glass bits into the small bag before motioning towards the desk. “She didn’t, at least not while Clem was here. She smashed this after we were leaving. I left the picture over there.”

Louis hesitates, but steps around Mitch, wary of the remaining glass bits. As he approaches the desk, he notices that her water bottle is tipped over onto its side, empty. What’s worse, is he can see it’s completely dry, like it hasn’t been used in a long time. He stands it up, moving it right next to her journal.

He remembers when Aasim gave that to her. It wasn’t bound like a real book, but Aasim had gathered some thicker paper from the basement and had Ruby sew it together into a makeshift book. It even had a cover, drawn by Tenn.

Aasim gave it to her after the delta, said that writing was easier than talking. He gave her a bunch of pencils and pens, too, but he can’t spot any lying around. Louis doesn’t know if she really writes in it, though he hopes she does. Anything to help, anything to release a little bit of that pain.

Louis considered it, once. But, trying to write down his feelings only frustrated him. Instead, he turned to Clementine and music for solace.

He glances away from the journal and to the photo laying at the bottom corner of the desk.

Violet, Minerva, and Sophie, all together, all smiling.

He can’t help but grin, even if there’s no joy in it.

The photo’s covered in scratches, from the glass, no doubt. But, the faces are still clear.

Minerva.

The real Minnie.

Not the husk that pointed her crossbow at him, who tried to kill Clementine and take them all away to that sick hellhole.

As he stares at her radiant face, her long hair and sincere eyes, he wishes that’s the only way he could remember her; happy, radiant, beautiful.

Fuck, he couldn’t even remember her laugh, or how charming her singing was.

She used to always laugh at his stupid jokes, at his silly voices and silly songs. Even when no one else would, she’d take pity on him and laugh.

They’d sing together in their downtime, too. They’d sing until Violet threw her head back, groaning out that he was ruining the song. So, he’d shut up and just play the piano, and Minerva would sing.

Louis thinks that’s when it happened.

When Violet first fell in love.

That’s why she always told him to shut up. Something in Minerva’s voice brought her comfort, gave her some sense of purpose.

He can remember Violet sitting there, watching both of them, and when Minerva sang to her, it was like he didn’t exist anymore. He was just there for background noise, a mere puppet to set the mood and a witness to what was blossoming.

It was beautiful.

Violet was beautiful.

He’d told her that shortly after she and Minerva became official, told her how happy he was for her. She punched him in the shoulder and called him stupid.

Minerva had agreed with him, though.

God, the way they looked at each other.

“I killed her.��

But, the memories of her glazed over expression, her washed out, gaunt face overshadow those fond times now.

Minerva...

“I killed her.”

Sophie.

“I killed her.”

Poor, poor Sophie.

He has to squeeze his eyes shut and bite his lip to stop his quivering chin. He’s not about to cry here, especially not in front of Mitch. He swallows the lump forming in his throat and breathes in, and out. He places the picture in the desk drawer.

“She wasn’t hurt, right?” Louis asks, attempting to hide the tremble in his voice. “By the glass?”

“Not that I could see. I didn’t see any blood anywhere.”

Well, at least she’s physically still intact. That doesn’t make him any less worried, though.

Mitch’s eyes dart all around the floor, looking for any shards he might’ve missed. He turns on his heels to grab his bag again.

“Clem told you?” Louis asks. “That she was gonna talk to her?”

“Yeah.”

Louis knows Clementine and Mitch had some sort of understanding with each other, but of all the people he thought she would’ve turned to when it came to talking to Violet, he didn’t put Mitch too high on the list.

“Why?”

“Uh,” Mitch stops sweeping. “Why what?”

“Why’d she tell you?” Louis asks. “She could’ve come to me.”

Mitch tenses. “I-I don’t fucking know, dude!” he exclaims far too loudly. As he continues, his speech becomes quicker, more defensive, “She just said it and I told her it was a shit idea but no, she just had to come and poke the bear right in the fucking eye and when you do that you get your hand bitten off and so I said I’d come with her and make sure her hand doesn’t get bitten off- shit I didn’t actually say it like that but I said, ‘don’t do it,’ and she was all, ‘I’m doing it,’ and-”

“Okay, okay,” Louis interrupts, startled by the outburst. “I get the idea. But why are you here now?”

Straightens himself out again, leaving the broom and dustpan on the floor to tie up the bag. “She wasn’t gonna clean it up,” he mumbles. “Hey, shouldn’t you be hunting? Aasim’s gonna kick your ass if you don’t get moving. We need that deer.”

Again, with the hunting thing.

“Yeah, yeah, the deer,” he sighs. “I’m going. I just wanted to check up on Vi first.”

“Doubt she wants to see anybody. Better off going straight to Aasim.”

“I will,” Louis crosses his arms, “as soon as I see you out.”

Mitch eyes him questioningly before it dawns on him. “Oh, right. Fair enough.” He leaves the broken broom and dustpan in the corner of the room and scopes out the floor one last time. “Tell her not to break any glass shit next time. It’s a pain in the ass to clean up.”

Louis doesn’t bother responding. Mitch is already out the door anyway, leaving him alone in the emptiness of Violet’s room.

---

It’s chillier this morning. While the sun is still bright it the sky, there are more clouds floating about, all various shades of gray. Maybe not dark enough to worry about rain at the moment, but they still pass over the sun and bring a coolness over the school.

Louis tugs on the collar of his jacket, covering up a bit. Upon looking around, he’s a little surprised to only see Tenn sitting at his usual table, holding a board with a piece of paper taped on it in his lap, and Aasim pacing in front of the gates. He can faintly see Clementine and AJ up on watch.

No Ruby, no Willy, no Omar.

Even Rosie isn’t outside.

Odd.

But, he shrugs it off. He didn’t think he’d been late enough to miss breakfast, but that does bring up another concern.

Ignoring Aasim for a moment, figuring he can wait just a little bit longer, Louis makes his way towards Tenn.

There’s a line up of old bottles, some broken, some filled with a gross looking grey liquid. The board rests comfortably in Tenn’s lap. He’s focused on his drawing, his eyes constantly darting up to stare at the bottles before going back to copy it onto paper.

“Hey, Tenn,” Louis greets.

The boy looks back at him, eyes wide and blinking rapidly. “Oh, h-hi, Louis,” he says.

“What’cha drawing today?” Louis asks enthusiastically, peering over his shoulder.

Tenn sheepishly sets the board on the table, careful not to knock anything over. Several drawings of bottles fill up the page, all a little wobbly or disproportionate.

“James said I need practice drawing from life more, but,” Tenn sighs, “bottles are hard.”

“Yeah, but it looks like you’re getting the hang of it.” Louis points to a sketch in the right corner. “I like this one. It looks real enough to drink out of!”

A small, timid smile spreads across the young boy’s face. “Really?”

“Totally,” Louis gives an encouraging grin. “Wait until James sees these. He’s gonna be floored at how good you’re getting. Oh!” Louis pats his shoulder. “By the way, that one you did of me looks amazing on our wall.”

“You-you hung it up?”

“Of course I did!”

Tenn looks away to hide his diffident smile. “Thanks, Louis…”

“Of course,” Louis grins. He moves around and takes a seat next to him with a sigh, his usual grin replaced with a more serious look. “Hey,” he lowers his voice, “how’s Vi doing?”

Tenn sets his pencil down, keeping his eyes locked on his hands. “She’s okay. She slept in my room last night.”

“I heard,” Louis scratches at his chin thoughtfully, “but, she’s okay? Well, as okay as she can be?”

“I think so,” Tenn says. “She-...she cried a lot, but she’s stopped, so...”

Shit.

“Did she get any sleep?”

“A little. She’s still in bed. She told me I didn’t have to wait for her.”

“Did she eat anything?”

“I brought her some breakfast,” he nods, “and she ate a little.”

Relief washes over him.

“Good,” he says. “That’s good. Keep an eye on her, okay? I was gonna go check on her myself but it seems I’m needed elsewhere.”

Tenn goes back to his drawing, pulling the board back into his lap, saying, “Uhm, aren’t you and Aasim-”

“Going hunting, yes, to capture that magical deer prancing in the woods.” Louis stands up again, giving Tenn one last pat on the back. “Her waterbottle’s in her room. When you take a break, would you fill it up and bring it to her?”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks, buddy,” Louis smiles warmly. “Keep up the good work.”

He waves good-bye to the young boy, but still strays away from the gates. He knows Aasim can see him, and it’s only a matter of time before he stomps over and drags him out by his ear.

There’s just one more thing he has to do.

Approaching the post where they take turns on watch, Louis calls up, “Clementine?”

At first, he doesn’t get a response. Then, AJ leans over and smiles down at him, excitedly waving. “Hi, Louis!”

“Hey, little man!” he laughs. “Clem up there?”

“Yeah!”

Clementine appears beside him, giving AJ a set of binoculars. Louis steps back, watching her climb down.

He’s pleased to see her smiling.

In fact, he dare say she’s glowing this morning.

She hurries over to him and slips into his open arms. Her cold nose brushes his skin when she leans up and pecks him on the lips.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning,” he grins. He opens his jacket up more, pulling her close and wrapping it around her as much as possible. “You’re freezing.”

“Been out here a few hours,” she sighs, melting into his touch, soaking up his warmth. “I expected to see you a lot sooner. Aasim’s been waiting.”

“Ah, yes, so we can hunt this infamous deer everyone’s so obsessed with,” he says, “He was ready to drag me out of bed by my feet this morning. I think I can actually feel him glaring at us right now.” He peeks over Clementine’s head nonchalantly, and sure enough, Aasim is staring at the couple, exasperated.

“Believe me, I heard all about it,” Clementine pulls back with a stern look. “You shouldn’t give him such a hard time.”

“Yeah, I know. He just makes it too easy sometimes. Anyway,” Louis leans forward to kiss her cheek. “Just wanted to make sure you were okay before I took off.”

She hums against his chest, mumbling, “I’m a lot better, actually. All things considered. It’s… a good day.”

“It’s a cold day.”

“It’s not that cold.”

“Your nose is about to fall off.”

“So dramatic.”

Louis chuckles, pulling back to rub warmth into her arms before stopping to hold her hands.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Later,” she says. “You have a deer to hunt.”

“Ugh.”

He’s getting pretty tired of hearing about this deer.

“Don’t pout. Think about how much a whole deer could feed us.”

“Not much, because I’m, like, eighty percent sure Bambi doesn’t really exist.”

“Louis.”

“Clementine.”

She shakes her head, trying to hide her smirk. She playfully smacks his chest. “Just go. You two have kept James waiting long enough. We’ll talk later, okay? I promise.”

Louis doesn’t let her hands go.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asks.

“Yes.”

He studies her face for any sign of unease but finds that she’s still smiling up at him.

When she notices his hesitation, she tugs on his hand.

“Are you okay?”

He murmurs, “I went to check on her. She wasn’t in her room.”

Clementine doesn’t say anything, but her grip on his hands tightens.

“But, I did find Mitch cleaning up glass, which was pretty surreal.”

Her eyes flutter shut as she lowers her head. “The picture…”

“Yeah,” he nods, “Tenn promised to keep an eye on her today. Try not to think about it too much. And if she does come out, well... ”

“I know.”

He doesn’t say any more about it. Her promise to talk about it when he gets back is enough assurance for him.

“Louis!” Aasim calls from the gates. “Let’s go!”

Louis shakes his head and forces a cheerful smile. “Best not keep poor Aasim waiting. He’s gonna need a shoulder to cry on when we don’t find that deer.”

Clementine rolls his eyes. “And here I thought you were the optimist.”

“Optimist, sure. Delusional? Not as much as you’d think.”

“Just don’t give Aasim such a hard time,” she says, quirking a knowing brow. “I hear he’s had a rough morning already.”

“I won’t,” he promises. “I have a feeling that he won’t hesitate to shoot at me today if I push the wrong button.”

Clementine’s fingers brush against his cheek before she pulls him down. Their lips press comfortably together as a pleased sigh escapes her. They savor the moment, reluctant to pull away. It takes him a second to recover, a second before he can open his eyes again.

God, she is glowing today.

And he’s just standing there, smiling and chuckling like a fool.

She turns away to hide the pretty blush blossoming on her cheeks, hitting his chest again. “Go.”

“Fine.”

Louis goes to the gates, turning to wave good-bye to her. He’s still grinning when he meets Aasim, who shakes his head and gives an exaggerated eye roll before pushing through the gates. Louis isn’t too far behind.

---

AJ watches through his binoculars as Louis and Aasim get farther and farther away. As soon as they’re out of sight, he rushes to the other side and gives Clementine a thumbs up.

She absently runs a finger over her bottom lip.

The giddiness is back.

She gives him a thumbs up back and rushes over to the basement, flinging the doors open and calling out, “They’re gone!”

“Oh, it’s ‘bout damn time!” she hears Ruby exclaim. “Thought they’d never get outta here! Alright, Clem, we got everythin’ we need!” She comes into sight carrying a box full of lanterns and different kinds of blankets. Behind her, Willy and Omar come up, each carrying a box of their own. Rosie rushes past them, eager to see Clementine.

She makes room for all of them to set the boxes down. Tenn wanders over, curiously looking over all the different materials.

“What took them so long?” complains Willy. “We’ve been down there forever!”

“Louis got sidetracked,” Clementine replies. “Just like I said he would.”

Omar scoffs. “‘Course he did. Did he buy the deer story?”

“I don’t think so,” Clementine laughs. “But, he believes that Aasim believes, and that’s all it took.”

“Told you Aasim would have his hands full.”

Oh, he did.

All morning, Clementine kept a close eye on the front doors, waiting for the two of them to appear. When only Aasim came out looking ready to rip his hair out, it worried her.

Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as she expected. Louis hadn’t really believed the deer thing but was willing to go along anyway after Aasim panicked and lied about why he needed him there. Now, Louis was under the impression that Aasim had a crush on James, which Clementine had to admit was kind of funny.

Aasim wasn’t as amused as her. When he was relaying the conversation and where they were at in the plan, he openly expressed his dislike of having to lie. Then, he went on a rant about lying never really being beneficial and how the whole deer story made absolutely no sense. He stopped when Clementine reminded him that the deer thing was Ruby’s idea, and if he had a problem with it to take it up with her.

James snuck back in with a rabbit over his shoulder a little bit after that, asking what the hold up was. Aasim couldn’t even look at him.

Eventually, she had to take the rabbit and shoo James away before he blew his cover, then she sent Aasim to the gates so she could hide the rabbit and get back to her post before Louis showed up.

All in all, it’s been quite a morning.

“Ya should see all what we found down there!” Ruby beams, clapping her hands happily. “Found all sorts’a blankets, ribbons, candles, and decorations. And look at this basket! Perfect fer a picnic! Here, Omar,” she hands him a large woven basket with a long handle, “fix that up real pretty, would’ja? And Tenn, here’s yer vase.”

Tenn accepts the pale green vase with great care, looking over and rubbing the dust off it. Ruby hands him some ribbon, too.

“Willy, you’re going to help us pick flowers, right?” Tenn asks.

Willy nods, though not enthusiastically. “After I bring Mitch his candles.”

“He should already be in the music room,” Ruby says, “at least, he best be.”

Clementine doesn’t doubt he is by now. After she asked him to clean up the glass in Violet’s room, he promised he’d head there straight away to make sure Louis didn’t try and hideout. That backfired a little.

That’s why she told him to hurry. She knew that Louis would try and check on Violet before leaving.

Tenn heads back to his table to set the vase and ribbon down and meet up with AJ.

“Omar, ya got everythin’ ya need?”

“Think so,” Omar nods.

“James caught a rabbit for you to cook,” Clementine tells him. “I left it over by your dutch oven. Will that work?”

“You can count on me, Clem,” Omar grins. “It’ll be the best damn rabbit you’ve ever eaten, guaranteed.” Then, he reaches around in his box and pulls out a half-empty bottle of red wine. “Mitch’s secret stash will do wonders for the flavor.”

Ruby shakes her head. “Secret, my ass,” she mumbles.

“Want me to save some for you?” Omar asks.

She hadn’t considered bringing something like wine. Hell, she didn’t even know if she liked wine. She knew she didn’t like whiskey, and rum was pretty gross.

“I don’t know,” Clementine takes the bottle from him, twisting the cap off and sniffing. It smells faintly fruity, a little sweet, but the alcohol’s still prominent. “Is it good?”

“It’s pretty good,” Willy smiles.

Ruby shoots him a stern look, causing Willy to look away.

“Uh, at least, that’s what Mitch says.”

“I’ll leave some for you, just in case,” Omar decides. “Who knows, you might want it for the wedding. Have to make a toast to the bride and groom.”

Clementine smiles. “Right.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Ruby points up at him, “don’t let me ferget ta pull out the headmaster’s nice drinkin’ glasses.”

“Drinking glasses, got it.” Omar turns back to Clementine, cheerfully saying, “I’ll get to skinning and marinating the rabbit before I fix the basket.” He’s clearly thrilled to be cooking something a little extra special.

“Will ya be okay by yerself?” Ruby asks.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Omar says. He reaches down to pat Rosie before pulling more things out of his box. “I got all the company I need. I’ll keep an eye on the boys, too. Make sure they don’t cause too much trouble.”

“Thanks, Omar,” Clementine grins. “Really, it means a lot.”

“Of course, Clem.”

Ruby hauls up her box. “Oh, let’s go! I’m itchin’ ta fix up the place!” She hurries towards the doors.

Clementine can’t help but giggle a little at her enthusiasm. She helps carry the other box in with Willy right behind her.

---

Mitch is already in the music room. He’s moving the couch up against one of the walls, and it looks like he’s already brought up the gramophone and box of records, too.

“Jesus,” he groans. “‘Bout time. He finally leave?”

“Yep!” Ruby sets down her box with a huff. “Aasim and James should keep him plenty busy fer a while.” She rubs her hands together before digging back into her box.

Clementine and Willy set their boxes down, too. Mitch approaches them, huffing.

“Y’know, this would be a lot easier if you just slapped the ring on him and said, ‘You’re my husband now.’”

Clementine chuckles, rolling her eyes. “Always the romantic, aren’t you, Mitch?”

“Is that how yer lookin’ ta propose in the future?” Ruby teases. “Guarantee that won’t get’cha far.”

“He has to find someone who’ll put up with his charm first,” Clementine smirks.

Mitch glares at both of them, snapping, “Shut up.” He shakes his head, grabbing a dirty looking rag from Willy’s box and moves towards the piano. He starts wiping it down, causing little bits of dust to fly up in the air.

Willy lingers a little bit, pulling candles of various sizes out of his box, as well as a box of matches.

Ruby flattens out a large, fluffy blanket out onto the floor. It’s blue, with gold and green patterns swirling across it.

“Didn’t find any extra pillows down there,” she says. “Need some ta make it extra cozy.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Clementine smirks. “We’ve got plenty. Louis is a pillow hog. You should see his collection.”

And a collection it is.

During a one-on-one card game, Louis told her that he’d gone around to all the vacant rooms and collected all the pillows, storing them in his room. He said they made him feel safe, in a weird way.

Also, he made a lot of pillow forts out of them.

When he moved in, she had to put a limit on how many he could bring with him.

She turns towards Willy. “Wanna grab them from his old bedroom?”

Willy nods eagerly, rushing out.

“Don’t ferget the flowers!” Ruby calls after him.

Soon, the music room is like an entirely different place.

Ruby brought up a small, modified table to sit in the middle of the blanket. She explained they found it in the basement last night and had Mitch cut the legs down to size so that she and Louis could sit on the floor and eat off it comfortably. She covered it with a thin blue sheet as a makeshift table cloth. Pillows lay all around the table, making the entire thing look cozy.

Mitch had dusted off the whole piano, as well as other parts of the room. He went into a hilarious sneezing fit, cursing after each one. Then, he and Clementine placed candles everywhere. She settled on using the clear glass holders so that the room would glow a golden color when lit.

AJ brought up the vase filled with different flowers, with Omar following behind carrying the picnic basket.

A white ribbon adorns the vase, tied into a neat bow. Little, crudely drawn hearts done in red marker decorate every inch of the smooth surface. Clementine sets it down atop the piano, careful not to place it too close to any of the candles.

The picnic basket has a matching ribbon tied around it. The bottle of wine sticks out, resting next to an open bag of chips and a bottle of water. Ruby takes it, marveling at how nice it looks, and places it in the center of the table.

Once they’re finished, they all stand back to admire the final look.

“Wow,” Clementine gasps out. “This is amazing.”

“This does look like something you would’ve seen in an old movie,” Omar says.

“Imagine how romantic it’ll be when it gets dark and all the candles are lit,” Ruby gushes. "Oh, I can jus' see it now!"

“Gross,” Mitch mumbles.

Ruby smacks his arm. “Oh, hush! Ya gotta admit it looks nice!”

He shrugs, but Clementine can see that small grin betraying his lips. He’s pleased with it too, even if he won’t admit it.

Clementine turns to them, saying, “I don’t think there’s any way I could thank you. All of you. I mean,” she motions around them, “I couldn’t have done this by myself.”

“Oh, hon,” Ruby pulls her into a tight hug, “don’t gotta thank us! ‘Course we’re willin’ to help! It’s you and Lou!”

“Yeah, don’t gotta make a big deal out of it,” Mitch mumbles. “You’re just proposing.”

"Just proposin’’?" Ruby objects. "It's their engagement! It's gotta be special! Oh, and jus' think of their wedding! I was thinkin' we do somethin' similar, with the candles and all, but we'll make one'a those round altar things and decorate it real nice fer them ta stand under and we'll need lots'a chairs over here-"

"Ruby, slow down!" Omar laughs. "We're not there yet."

Ruby's cheeks flush a pretty red and she looks away bashfully, saying, "Sorry! Gettin’ excited again."

Clementine giggles. "We'll talk about it afterward, okay?" She turns to AJ. “What do you think, AJ? Think he’ll like it?”

“He’s gonna love it!” AJ exclaims. “What else can I help with?”

“We need you to go back on watch,” Clementine tells him. “You and Willy need to watch for Louis and give us the signal so that Omar knows when to bring the food in. Then, keep him distracted with James until it gets a little darker, that way I can get the candles all lit and add any finishing touches.”

“Yeah, they’ve already been gone a few hours,” Mitch says, wandering over to the window. “Don’t imagine they’ll be gone too much longer.”

He’s right.

James and Aasim can only keep up the deer thing for so long before it becomes suspicious. They would still hunt for other animals, and she told them to try fishing out there after they check the shack, but she knows Louis hates fishing. That’ll only keep him occupied for so long, as well. Then, checking the traps wasn’t that hard or time-consuming.

It’s only a matter of time before they come walking through those gates.

“Okay,” AJ says, full of determination. “Keep watch and distract Louis until sundown. Got it.”

They give each other a firm nod before AJ hurries out.

“I gotta go check on the rabbit. It’s still cooking, but I can already tell it’s going to be delicious,” Omar says proudly. “I’ll bring it up when AJ gives the signal.”

“Can’t wait,” Clementine beams.

“I’ll go with ya,” Ruby tells Omar. She gives Clementine one more hug, whispering, "Good luck!"

With Ruby and Omar gone, only Mitch and Clementine remain. He’s quiet, still peering around the room with an unreadable expression. The silence is calming, she thinks. She moves over to the small table, admiring how nice it all looks.

It’s happening.

After almost two weeks of mulling over what she wanted and preparing for this moment, it’s finally here.

Soon, they’ll be sitting down, eating and talking like it’s any other night. Then, she’ll bring him over to the piano.

For the past several months, Louis has been giving her piano lessons. She thought it might be a nice idea to play a little song for him, all by herself. However, now that he’s not here and the piano’s left to just her, she’s not sure if she can do it.

She’s going to try, anyway. Regardless if she’s good or bad, she’ll play. And, afterward...

Her pulse quickens, becoming heavy in her ears.

She’s going to ask him to marry her.

She’s finally going to do it.

And, shit-

What if she can’t say the right things? She’s gone over it all in her head every day, every night since she made up her mind, gone over all the thing’s she wanted to tell him. What if she can’t make him understand how she feels? What if something goes wrong?

“Need anything else?” Mitch asks, breaking her of her thoughts. She almost forgot he was still here.

She shakes the thoughts away, motioning toward the piano and saying, “I was thinking of playing him a song.” She gives him a smirk. “You’re honest. Wanna tell me if I suck or not?”

Mitch scoffs. “You’re really going all out, huh?” he says. “He’s gonna say yes. You don’t have to woo him.”

“Is that a no?”

Mitch sighs, moving over to grab one of the chairs he pushed back towards the wall and takes a seat.

She places herself on the bench, shifting to get comfortable. It’s strange sitting there by herself. There’s a lack of warmth without Louis at her side. But, seeing their initials, the heart carved into the wood, brings her some confidence. She takes a deep breath and places her hands on the keys.

It’s a simple song he’s taught her over the past few weeks. Barely a minute long with simple strokes. She stumbles a few times, silently cursing herself as she does, but doesn’t let it stop her. She pours all her focus into the song, nearly forgetting that Mitch is still there, watching her.

When she finishes, she glances over at him. He’s wearing a thoughtful expression, his head tilted as if still listening.

Finally, he says, “You don’t suck too bad.”

That gets a laugh out of her.

“Think he’ll like it?”

“Definitely.”

She grins appreciatively as her gaze finds the carved heart again. Her finger runs over the rough edges of the wood, tracing the L. Then, with a heavy sigh, she stands from the bench. She paces over to the window, peering out at the cloudy sky.

She wishes she could untangle the nervous, twisted knots in her belly.

“Hey,” Mitch knocks her shoulder. “What’s up?”

“Just…” she frowns. “Thinking too much.”

“About?”

“Everything.”

“Like?”

Her hat taps the glass of the window as she leans against the wall, hesitating to reveal what she’s actually thinking. After all, it’s Mitch. He’s not always the most sensitive and she’s not in the mood to argue with him.

He nudges her again. “You better not be having second thoughts,” he says. “Because I’m not about to break that news to Ruby and cause that shitstorm.”

“No, it’s not that,” she sighs.”It’s just… things are really good right now.”

“And?”

“And… good things don’t always last.”

“Yeah. And?”

She frowns at him. “And, what if after this good thing, something bad happens?”

“It’s that how it usually works?”

She’s not surprised that he doesn’t get it.

Never did she think this would be happening. Years and years ago, something like this seemed impossible. It was just her and AJ, it’d always just be her and AJ, but now… Now she has more than she could’ve ever imagined.

Every single group she’s had, it’s gone to shit. Everyone she’s ever loved has left, either by choice or not. Some stuck around longer than others, most died too quickly to be fair. She always hoped the school would be different. They’ve lived and survived together for two years, longer than most of her previous groups. Fuck, she loved more people in this group than she ever did before. She had AJ, Louis, everyone. There wasn’t a single person under the roof of this school that she wouldn’t risk her life to protect.

They’ve fallen into a good routine of hunting, building, repairing, eating, laughing… while there have been incidents, some close calls, it’s been too good.

Things never stay too good.

“Alright, sit down.”

She quirks a brow at him, blinking away her thoughts.

He goes over and pulls the piano bench out a little farther, motioning to it. “Sit down,” he repeats. “I’m gonna get real with you.”

“Real with me?”

“Yeah, so sit.”

Clementine eyes him at first, but curiously places herself on the bench facing away from the piano. Mitch stands tall in front of her with his arms crossed and his stare serious. She shrugs, waiting for him.

“I’m not gonna pretend like I get this whole wedding thing,” he starts. “Because I still think it’s gross and unnecessary, but… I won’t deny that it’s kind of cool. I mean, not an explosive kind of cool, but cool in a, uh, nice change kind of way? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Ruby or Willy so pumped to be doing something. You shoulda seen Willy when I told him how we could make your rings.” He grins before shaking his head. “Anyway…”

Mitch shifts his weight onto one foot, looking past her and at the carving.

“You two have been through some shit,” he says slowly. “I mean, shit that would’ve killed anyone else, or at least had them booking it outta here. All that shit with the delta, with Vi, the constant shitfest of worrying about other pieces of shit finding us here, or just the everyday threat of death. Something could happen, and we could lose someone, more people. It’s shit that we think about every day, whether we want to or not. It’s all stuff we’ve had to deal with. But, through all of it, you two are still together. He’s still with you. I mean-” His eyes fall shut as he inhales deeply, “-for fuck's sake, AJ killed Marlon.”

Those words alone shoot a painful shock through her entire body.

“His best friend,” Mitch shakes his head, “and you know what? He forgave you. On top of it all, he still fell in love with you. I’m not stupid, and I’m not blind. He’s not faking anything when it comes to AJ. He fucking adores that kid. And the way he looks at you?” He rolls his eyes. “It’s gross.”

She can’t stop the laughter from bubbling over, short and breathy.

Mitch looks her in the eye now, holding the stare. “It’s not gonna always be this good, and I’m sure the future holds a lot more fucked up things for us, but after everything you and Louis have been through?” One of his smiles shines through now. “You two are gonna make it. No questions asked. So, whatever depressing shit you’re thinking about, stop.”

As the words soak in, she thinks she’s gone into shock. She must look like an idiot gawking up at him, but how can she not?

Then she’s off the bench and wrapping her arms around his torso, hugging him with all her might. He stiffens, grunting with surprise, but instead of shoving her away or cursing her, he cautiously returns the hug and awkwardly pats her back.

“I mean it,” he says softly. “It’ll… be good.”

It’s a rare moment of sincerity from him, one that he’s clearly uncomfortable with. She moves away, giving him back his space.

“Thank you, Mitch. Really.”

“Whatever.” He scratches the back of his head, clearing his throat. He nods towards the piano. “You gonna stay and practice?”

“Yeah,” she says, “Omar’ll tell me when he’s here and I’ll start lighting candles.”

“Don’t think so much, ‘kay?”

“No promises.”

He gives her one more smile before leaving her alone.

The stillness is a little relieving, calming. She reaches into her pants pocket and pulls out the little box, lifting the lid to admire the rings one last time before they find a permanent place on her and Louis’ fingers.

She doesn’t know how long she has, so she practices her song over and over again, still stumbling, still forgetting keys, adding new keys that aren’t supposed to be there.

It gets to the point where her mind wanders while her fingers move on their own.

She knows Mitch is right.

She and Louis are strong. They have been through a lot of shit, they've survived together. And she wanted to believe they would always be together, even if it's just wishful thinking.

She thinks about everything; the walkers in the train station, the rings, Louis and his nightmares, Louis and his smile, Violet and her fury, Louis and his tears, AJ’s excitement, their wedding with everyone there…

She thinks about Lee.

God, she wishes he was here. He should be here, not just to see her wedding, but to be with her and AJ, with the rest of the group. He deserved to survive, just like she has.

Then, her mind wanders to Kenny and Katjaa, and the day they lost Duck.

To the day AJ was born.

All the days she and AJ traveled together, alone, fighting for their lives every single night.

The first time she walked into the music room, hearing the soft, calming piano and seeing AJ again.

Hearing Louis’ voice for the first time, seeing his smile.

Their first kiss, right there at the piano.

Soon, her eyes flutter shut and her fingers pause.

The piano echoes.

It’s so close.

---

No deer.

No deer at all.

And the craziest thing? Aasim isn’t even upset. Nope, he shrugged it off like, “Oh well!” then proceeded to look for more rabbits.

It actually left Louis speechless.

Like, what the shit?

After spending an hour searching for James, only to find him hiding out in a tree- which was really weird, even for him- they spent another two hours hunting the damn thing with little to no direction.

Sure, they caught three rabbits during that time and let a bunch of baby ones go, but that still wasn't worth it.

Every time he got too loud while telling jokes, making cracks about the deer, or sharing stories with James, Aasim would shush him, claiming he could scare the deer away.

It wasn’t until James said the trail was cold that Aasim gave up.

And, through all this, it wasn’t like Louis could entertain himself by taking out any stray walkers; James is very adamant about keeping the walkers alive and it still boggles his mind.

So, he had to settle for trying to get Aasim to talk with James, which he refused. He just wandered up ahead, leaving Louis and James by themselves for most of the trip.

Then they went fishing. Fishing.

Because tracking an imaginary deer wasn’t bad enough.

They had better luck with the fish than they did with the rabbits, but Louis didn't have the patience for fishing. There's a reason he prefers hunting; he can move around, there's more to see, he can take out walkers. With fishing, you're stuck in the same place, looking at the same thing.

So, he volunteered to inspect the fishing shack. It’s still secure, and nothing was missing, so he hung out there a while to tidy up. It gave Aasim and James alone time, anyway.

Not that Aasim did anything. He never does anything when it comes to crushes.

Now, after what feels like years, the sun is beginning to set and the gates to the school are in sight.

Beside him, James carries a bag full of the fish they caught while Aasim has the rabbits. At least they’d eat good tonight.

Louis suppresses a yawn. The day’s left him drained, ready to sit down with the others and relax, eat a hot meal, and go lay in bed with Clementine.

But, once they enter the gates, AJ’s running up to him, tugging on his sleeve and practically dragging him over to a table where Tenn is.

“Woah, AJ-”

“Louis! You gotta come sit with us!” AJ exclaims. “We’re drawing! Tenn already drew you, but I never got the chance to.”

“Oh, uh-” Louis bite his lip. “Sure, buddy, but do you mind if I find Clem first?”

“She’s patrolling,” AJ says. “She won’t be back for a while!” Then, he waves James over. “Can I have my lesson now?”

James approaches, smiling. He turns to Louis. “You don’t mind?”

Well, if he were completely honest, he’d rather just sit on the couch and relax, but he couldn’t say no to AJ’s pleading eyes. Plus, Clementine was on patrol. Might as well stay busy until she came back.

“Nah, not at all. Besides,” he winks at AJ, “need yours to complete the wall, right?”

With that, he watches as they all gather on one side of the table, handing out papers and pencils. James helps AJ set up a drawing board, just like the one Tenn’s been using.

He sits in front, looking straight ahead and lets his mind wander.

Being gone most of the day had not only left him weary, but it also left him missing Clementine.

It’s dangerous to think that, he knows. Being attached like that, where even being away from her for practically a whole day left him anxious, isn’t how he wanted to feel.

Of course, he enjoyed his alone time, and the time he spent with the others, but it was seeing her every day that made getting out of bed worth it. Seeing her, talking with her, making music with her, kissing her, all of her… sometimes that’s what he has to think about those mornings after a night full of the dark horrors in his mind. He has to think of her, of AJ, of the piano making soft melodies, to get out of bed. Otherwise, he’d wish for his sheets to swallow him whole.

He didn’t want to need her so much, hated the thought of being clingy, suffocating her. He hated wasting her time, making her lose sleep over him, making her worry.

Shit, sometimes these thoughts got so bad, so out of hand that…

Clementine thought his nightmares were getting better. She said so herself.

“It’s been a long time since you’ve had one that bad.”

No, it hasn’t.

They were all different levels of bad, but the past month he’s been able to wake up and keep his crying quiet. He’d roll onto his back, hand pressed firmly over his mouth, and he’d silently sob with her right at his side. Sometimes, he’d sneak out of bed and sit in the hallway, or he’d go outside. Sometimes he found himself sitting at the piano, absently pressing the same key over and over again.

He couldn’t always do that, of course. Sometimes, the dreams are bad enough that he does need her to pull him out of it.

And he hates it.

This article was bitter, written from a broken heart, and mean-spirited enough for him to skip at the time. But, now, thinking back…

It was about all relationships being a ticking time bomb, all because of one reason:

One person always loves a little bit more than the other.

One person always gives more than they should. One always cares too much. One is always at a greater risk of being hurt or left behind.

One is always weaker.

Louis knows she loves him. He feels it every time she looks at him, kisses him. Every time he makes her laugh, or every time she cracks a joke of her own. He feels it in their more intimate moments when her lips trail down his neck and her hands cling to his shoulders.

She wouldn’t stay with him those nights if she didn’t love him, and she’d freak out if she knew that he’d been hiding away from her to cry by himself.

But, there was always that little question whispering in the back of his mind.

Did she truly love him, or did she just accept the love he was so willing to give her?

Because, the truth is, he’s the weaker one.

Hell, he’s known that from the beginning.

When Clementine confessed to him that night, carved the heart around their initials and kissed him, he couldn’t believe it. He’d been ecstatic, the kind of over-the-top ‘pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming’ happy that you’d only read about in those shitty poems they used to learn about in class. He’d even named his song after her.

She could’ve had anyone she wanted, someone better, someone stronger or smarter or braver, and she chose him.

Him.

Why?

He wouldn’t have chosen him.

She’d said it was because he made her feel alive. He showed her there’s more to life than just survival both her and AJ. He made her laugh, brought music to her life, made her feel safe. He’s important to her.

How-

“Louis, your ears are funny.”

That snaps him out of his depressing thoughts. “Excuse me?”

AJ cocks his head, leaning forward to point at Louis’ right ear. “It’s like… weird.”

“Your ears are weird!” Louis playfully shoots back, reaching across and lightly poking the boy’s ear.

“Nu-uh!”

“Ears always give me a hard time, too,” James grins. “Here, let me show you…”

“First my nose, now my ears,” Louis mumbles, shaking his head. The earns him a chuckle from James.

“I like doing ears,” Tenn says with a small smile. “They’re kinda fun.”

Louis catches a glance at Tenn’s paper. Even in such a short amount of time, his skill has improved so much.

He wants to ask Tenn about Violet but decides against it. Maybe he could check in with her tonight after he and Clementine had their talk.

Shit, he couldn’t talk to her with all those negative thoughts plaguing his brain.

So, he does what he always does.

He forces a smile and cracks another joke as they all continue to draw him.

---

Aasim sits down at the table closest to the school with a huff. His head pulses after a stressful day.

He hates lying. Lying does nothing but bring trouble. Once you lie, you have to lie more to cover up your other lies and it’s just a tangled mess.

When Ruby came to him and James to explain the plan Clementine wanted to execute, he almost refused to do it.

Of all people, it did make sense for him to be the one to keep Louis occupied away from the school. They hunted together more times than not these days, and he’d actually gotten more used to Louis’ idiotic jokes. The guy still pissed him off a lot of times, but not as much as before. He’s not nearly as laid back. He’s willing to take things more seriously now, which Aasim appreciates.

But, in the end, he couldn’t turn it down. Not after Ruby sounded so damn ecstatic about the plan, and it was Clementine’s plan, at that.

Shit, it’s Clementine and Louis’ engagement.

He thought that kind of stuff was long dead.

“Aasim!”

He’s startled when Ruby comes from behind and takes a seat right next to him. She gets close, comfortable. Her arm in touching his.

Shit.

Omar comes and sits on his other side, whispering, “How’d it go?”

It takes his brain a second to figure out what he’s referring to.

“Oh, uh, as well as expected?” Aasim scratches at his neck. “He probably thinks I’m a nutcase after the whole deer thing, though. Then there’s the misunderstanding with James...”

“What misunderstandin’?” asks Ruby.

“Nevermind,” he says quickly. “Not important.”

“He don’t suspect nothin’ though, right?”

Aasim glances over at Louis. He’s sitting up, laughing at something AJ said. He shakes his head, and murmurs, “He has no idea.”

Ruby gives a tiny squeal, almost bouncing with glee but still trying to be discreet. “Oh, this is wonderful!” she whispers.

“The rabbit turned out perfect,” says Omar, pleased with himself. “We set it all up. Should still be hot by the time Louis shows up.”

“Ya should see the music room, it’s gorgeous.” Ruby places a hand on Aasim’s arm, excitedly shaking it. “Clem’s up there now, jus’ waitin’ fer it ta get dark enough.”

Aasim, trying to ignore the warmth of her hand seeping through his sleeve, peers up at the sky. “We’re close, then.”

In less than an hour, the sun would fully set, leaving the sky Aasim’s favorite hue of purple. They just had to keep him occupied until then.

The table shakes. Mitch and Willy plop down on the opposite side, eyeing the place before leaning in.

“She’s lighting candles now,” Mitch whispers.

“It looks super cool!”

Ruby covers her mouth to keep her excitement quiet. “Oh, I bet it’s beautiful in there. We gotta have the weddin’ at this time, too, in the evenin’.”

“Not that late,” Mitch argues. “We’re already wasting candles on this. We’ll do it during the day.”

“Oh, they’re not havin’ a mornin’ weddin’. Mornin’s aren’t nearly as special.”

“I didn’t say morning, I said day.”

“What’s wrong with the morning?” asks Omar. “We could wake up extra early and have it during the sunrise. That could be nice.”

“I don’t wanna wake up that early,” objects Willy. “I’d rather just stay up late.”

“We gotta have it in the afternoon, in the least. We’ll just hafta find another way to light up the place.”

“Maybe we can build a fire pit?” Willy offers.

“Nah,” Mitch shakes his head, “Louis won’t let a whole fire pit near his piano. That thing catches on fire and he’ll probably croak on the spot, then we’ll have to deal with Clem.”

“‘Sides, we don’t wanna burn the buildin’ down.”

“Which is why we should do it during the day,” says Mitch. “That way we can use the sunlight.”

“But, evenin’ time’s more romantic!”

Aasim watches them quietly argue, amused.

“If I’m not mistaking,” he interrupts, “shouldn’t Clem and Louis have a say in their own wedding?”

“‘Course they’re gonna get a say,” says Ruby, “we’re jus’ throwin’ around ideas ‘til they’re ready to start plannin’. Oh,” she points at Aasim, “don’t lemme ferget ta pull out those boxes of spare clothes fer everyone ta look at.”

“Don’t forget about the headmaster’s drinking glasses.”

“Right! Drinkin’ glasses! And Mitch, ya need a haircut.”

“The fuck I do.”

“Ya gotta look nice-”

“Why? I’m not getting married.”

“Don’t matter, yer not gonna show up lookin’ like a caveman. You too, Willy.”

They continue to bicker while Aasim chooses to focus on the sky. He watches the fluffy clouds slowly float away, drifting over the setting sun.

It’s a breathtaking image, he thinks. The outside itself is breathtaking.

---

Louis’ neck starts to stiffen from the lack of movement.

He decides that being a model is far too much work, even if it’s just sitting there looking straight ahead. Not being able to move around much for the past hour is driving him insane.

Though he’d have to admit, it’s almost worth it. Tenn focusing all his skill and concentration on getting details right is quite a sight to see. He’s trying his best, trying to impress James and improve himself.

And James couldn’t be a better teacher. Not once has he made Tenn feel bad about getting a line wrong or for screwing up a detail. Instead, he points out the mistake and then shows him how to easily fix it, then he watches and praises Tenn as he repeats what he’s learned.

It’s been a long time since he’s seen Tenn so eager to learn, to flourish.

And then there’s AJ.

Bless the kid, he’s trying his best, too.

James is just as patient with him, explaining in detail while keeping it simple enough for the young boy to understand just what he’s doing wrong.

Once he’s done, AJ holds up his drawing, frowning. “This… is hard.”

Louis takes the paper. He chuckles, saying, “What are you talking about?” He holds the wonky portrait up beside his head. “Can barely tell a difference!”

AJ giggles. “Yes, you can.”

He spots Aasim approaching from the corner of his eye. With the picture still held up, he turns to him.

“Whattya think?” he asks. “Looks just like me, right?”

Aasim quirks a brow, studying the drawing, trying to understand just what he’s seeing.

“Uhm… yes?”

“See? Aasim said so, therefore, it must be true.”

AJ giggles again, snatching the paper away. He looks over it again, this time with a proud grin. “Yeah,” he nods, “it’s not as good as Tenn’s, but I’m gonna keep practicing. It’ll look like you one day.”

“I know it will, little man.”

Aasim nudges his shoulder lightly. “Clem’s back.”

“Huh?” Louis’ eyes widen as he looks around. She’s nowhere in sight.

“She didn’t want to disturb you,” Aasim says. “Think she said she was going to the music room.”

AJ quietly giggles, causing Tenn to elbow him. Louis doesn’t seem to notice as he looks to James with pleading eyes.

“Go ahead,” he says softly. “They need to practice their bottles, anyway.”

“Bottles?” AJ asks.

Tenn’s shoulders slouch unhappily. “Bottles…”

Louis hops off the table. “You got this, Tenn. You’ll show those bottles who’s boss.” He turns on his heel, leaving the boys with an encouraging smile and a wave.

The group, as inconspicuous as possible, all watch as Louis heads up the main stairs into the building.

---

The hallway’s layered with shadows. All the curtains are pulled closed, hiding away the orange and pink sky. They dance a bit as the breeze blows through.

Something savory, with a hint of sweetness, wafts through the air. Something delicious that he can’t quite name.

There’s music. It’s so faint at first, he’s almost sure he’s imagining it. Only when he gets closer to the music room does he realizes it’s the piano playing a song he immediately recognizes.

The acceleration of his pulse seems to beat in time with the music, a soft fluttering in his chest that vibrates through his body, making him anxious.

The door’s cracked open wide enough to see her sitting there. He pauses, squinting through to watch her fingers glide over the keys, slow and precise. She fumbles, just a bit, but keeps playing. His heart swells and a smile spreads along his face.

The room’s lit up with a golden glow despite the main window’s curtain being pulled over. He can see the candlelight reflecting off her concentrated brow, illuminating her entire presence.

He reaches out to carefully press the door and steps inside.

His breath catches in his throat.

There aren’t just candles lit on the piano. No, they’re everywhere, decorating the room and washing in a lovely, warm golden glow. His eyes dart down to the table placed on the floor. Two bowls full of meat garnished with a thin sauce rest on opposite sides. There’s a basket with what looks like a large bottle of wine sitting in the middle, surrounded by glass protected candles.

Taking in all that rests before him causes his lips to part in a silent gasp.

The piano stops.

He turns to look at Clementine’s grinning face as she stands up from the bench.

“You’re back.”

A breathless laugh escapes him. “I’m back.”

She’s slow to approach him, first stopping at the gramophone and cranking the handle. A soft, classical song flows through the room. He reaches for her hand, unsure if he can properly speak.

“Clem, this…”

She stands on her tiptoes to kiss gawking face. “It’s been a while since our last date night,” she says, “thought we were due for something special.”

He wraps his arms around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest. He rests his cheek on top of her head, the fabric of her hat pressing into his skin.

“All this trouble for little ol’ me? Looks like I need to step up my game,” he tries to joke in an attempt to suppress the emotion threatening to tremble his voice. “When did you even find the time to-”

And like that, it clicks.

He pulls back, narrowing his eyes playfully at her.

She laughs.“Well,” she drawls, “it wasn’t just me. I did have some help.” She smirks. “I meant to ask, did you get the deer?”

“Oh yeah,” he clears his throat, dramatically waving his arm through the air. “Deer as far as the eye could see! Just frolicking through the woods! Majestic as can be! Aasim plans to tame and ride them into our next battle.”

She quirks a knowing brow. “So, no deer.”

“No deer.”

“Oh well, maybe next time.”

“Next time?” He shakes his head, chuckling. “Y’know,” he says, “you didn’t have to put poor Aasim through all that. You could’ve just kicked me out and told me to wait an hour. I wouldn’t have been too butthurt.”

“No?”

“Okay, maybe I would’ve sulked a little bit.”

She rolls her eyes, grasping his hand again and leading him towards the table.

“While you were gone, Chef Omar was kind enough to whip up some very special rabbit for us, and Mitch was more than happy to give us some wine to try.”

“Wine?” His laughter comes out more nervous that he’d hoped. “Trying to get me tipsy, are you?”

“Guess we’ll find out,” she says. “Then, I was thinking after we ate we could tune the piano a bit. Or, rather…” she glances away, “I thought it might be nice if I played you a song for a change.”

His heart flutters, eyes lighting up. He squeezes her hand. “I’d like that.”

They place themselves down on the floor, getting comfortable with the pillows surrounding them. Clementine pulls the basket off the table and pulls out the wine and a bag of chips.

The rabbit tastes as delicious as it smells. It’s warm, mouth-watering. He has to pace himself. He doesn’t want to scarf it all down and look like an absolute pig.

“Chef Omar has outdone himself this time,” Louis compliments. “I dare say this is the finest rabbit in all the land.”

“He’s pretty proud of it himself,” she says, taking another bite. “It’s a nice break from stews.”

He takes another bite, savoring the sweetness of the sauce. They’re both quiet, enjoying the meal as the light music continues to play in the background. Words race through his mind, but it’s like he suddenly doesn’t know how to form sentences.

“Uhm, this-” he clears his throat, “-this is really nice. Like, ‘I don’t even know what to say’ nice, Clem.”

She bites her lip thoughtfully before shrugging a shoulder.

“Just trying to sweep you off your feet,” she says honestly.

Air escapes his lungs. The way the candlelight flickers over her skin and reflects in her eyes is breathtaking. “Consider me swept.” He reaches across the table, taking her hand and brushing his thumb over her knuckles. “Been swept a long time.”

He watches curiously as she reaches for the bottle of wine. She pops the cap off, leaning over to smell the rim on the bottle.

“Ladies first,” he smiles.

She takes a sip, her tongue darting out over her bottom lip as she mulls over the flavor. She scrunches her nose, shaking her head and handing him the bottle.

He can taste the alcohol, but it’s not too strong. There’s a tart sweetness to it that he enjoys, but he doesn’t know if he could down a whole bottle himself.

Soon, their bowls are empty. He hasn’t felt this satisfyingly full in a long time.

“Well, I’m ready for a nap,” he half-jokes.

“Not yet.”

Clementine takes their bowls and stacks them together before she stands, offering him her hand. He happily takes it, letting her help him up.

“And what shall the lady be playing tonight?” he asks as she leads him to the piano.

“Well, it’s a classic, you see,” she smirks, reaching over to quiet the gramophone. “One that a cute boy taught me.”

“Ah, ‘cute,’” Louis chuckles timidly, “heh, sounds like a charming guy.”

“For the most part,” she elbows him playfully.

Her fingers ready themselves on the keys. She glances at him briefly, waiting. He gives an encouraging nod.

Her playing is slow but powerful. Every key she hits, she hits with a purpose, even if it’s the wrong key. Her determination is what makes it feel right, feel intentional. Though it’s short, he still finds himself entranced by the way her slim fingers move and the way she bites her lip in concentration.

When she’s finished, her fingers remain pressed on the keys. The song echoes through the air, through him.

She finally turns to him, and it’s that stupid grin of his that makes her giggle.

“And so, the pupil becomes the star,” he kisses her cheek, “that was beautiful.”

“So, I played it right?”

“Well,” he drawls, “there is one part that needs work.”

He scoots closer until their legs pressed together and he can easily reach around her.

“Put your hands in position.”

She lays them on the correct keys. He rests his hand over hers, barely hovering. She relaxes under his touch, leaning closer to his body.

“You see,” he mumbles, “you’re pressing these keys,” he maneuvers her hands and presses her fingers against said keys, “when you should be pressing these ones.”

He guides her through the whole song like this and he can’t tell if that’s his heart racing, or hers.

Clementine takes a deep breath.

“Louis?”

Her voice is thick.

“Clementine?”

She hesitates, and it worries him. He pulls back, just a bit, enough to see her eyes are closed.

“Thank you,” she says slowly, “for last night. I-”

Louis waits, but she doesn’t continue. He brings their hands off the piano down to rest against their connected knees.

“Do you still want to talk about it?” he asks quietly.

She leans her head against his shoulder, breathing out a long sigh. “I just wanted to try and make things a little better,” she starts. “I thought, maybe if we just talk and get everything out in the open, then the healing can really begin. I just… wanted to understand, I guess.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks. “I could’ve come with you.”

“I know. I didn’t want that pressure, though. I wanted it to just be us. I mean, Mitch insisted on coming, but he waited outside. I know you, Louis. You would’ve wanted to be there in the room with us. Besides, what we talked about… it was pretty personal.”

“Yeah,” he sighs. “It’s okay. I get it.”

“It wasn’t all bad, though,” she says. “There was this little moment where it felt like we were just talking, no yelling or fighting or anything. Like we used to, but it didn’t last long. Now I know. She absolutely hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you-”

“Yes, she does,” Clementine’s grip on his hand tightens, “or, in the very least, will never trust me again, and I think I finally get why.”

“She’ll come around, Clem.”

“You’ve been saying that for two years.”

“And I’ll say it for another two. She’s still dealing with a lot of shit, just like we are, but I know one day she’ll be ready to try again. It happened when we first lost Minnie and Sophie. She did the same thing; she didn’t talk to anyone, she stayed in her room most days, barely ate. I know it’s different, worse even, but Clem, we can’t give up on her. She needs us, whether she admits it or not.”

“...I know.”

“I promise, things will get better. They have to, right?” His smile is sincere, heartwarming. “And you know I’ll always be here for you, too. Through thick and thin.”

She kisses him, a small chaste press that becomes long, passionate. They break apart when she moves closer to hold him, clinging to him tightly. They stay like that for a while, enjoying each other’s comfort. The day’s exhaustion washes over him.

“Close your eyes.”

Like a reflex, they do, even when he feels her pulling away. They flutter shut at the sensation of her lips on his jaw and her hands running down his arms. Her fingers caress the back of his hand, grasping it and turning his palm up.

Her lips brush against his ear as she whispers, “I’m going to spell something out on your hand, and when I’m done, you tell me what it says.”

He tries to question this until her lips press to his again, silencing him.

She traces the letters slow, precise. Each caress tingles his skin to the point where he has to suppress his giggle behind a smile. When she finishes, she rubs his palm to takes away the ticklish sensation.

Let’s see.

L-O-U-

“Louis,” he says, confidently.

She rewards him with a light kiss on the back on his hand and small, approving, “Hmm.”

The feeling doesn’t become any less ticklish, even with small words.

“Will?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Another kiss, another trace of her fingers.

“...You?”

She hesitates.

He can feel her move a little. She rubs his palm again, and this time she’s much slower, dragging out each and every letter. He concentrates, trying to visualize and put it together.

She doesn’t stop at one word. She takes a pause, then writes another.

He freezes.

His eyes shoot open. He blinks down at her, brows knitted together questionably. She spells it again without breaking eye contact. He doesn’t even notice the tingle now.

“What does it spell?” He almost doesn’t hear her she’s so quiet.

He searches her eyes, so clear and boring into him, trying to comprehend the letters.

What does it spell…?

It-

It spells-

Something cool touches his finger.

The candlelight reflects off the smooth, silver band as she slips it onto his finger.

“Louis?”

His gaze snaps up, meeting hers.

“Will you marry me?”

His lips part in a silent gasp and his eyes grow wide.

When he doesn’t speak, Clementine gently presses her palm again his cheek.

“I know it’s not something that many people do anymore,” she whispers. “But I don’t care. I love you, Louis, and there’s no one I’d rather have at my side in this world. Before we came here, all I had was AJ. I never once thought that I’d meet someone who knows just what to say to make me feel better or make me laugh. I never thought I could feel this way with someone like I do with you.”

Her voice becomes thick. She has to blink back the wetness threatening to spill over.

“I want to keep fighting, laughing and enjoying life with you and AJ and everyone else, not just as your girlfriend, but as your wife.”

Louis pulls always completely, turning to face the piano, looking straight ahead.

Then, he laughs.

He laughs because he doesn’t know what else to do. It’s a breathless laugh, one you do when in shock, one that rocks your core. His shoulders shake as he presses his hand firmly over his mouth, shaking his head in absolute disbelief. He can’t process anything. Somehow his thoughts are both jumbled and flatlining -how is that possible?- and he can’t do anything but laugh until his tears finally fall.

“Louis?”

He removes his hand, sucking in as much air as possible, coughing a little. He wipes at his eyes, still chuckling. He runs his thumb over the silver band when he notices something etched into it.

This time, he grasps the back of her head and kisses her. He moves his mouth with hers, attempting to pour all of his feelings into his movements. His efforts earn a pleased moan from her, deep in her throat.

He’s still giggling when their lips part.

“Yes,” he finally breathes out.

“Yes?”

“Yes,” he nods happily, sniffling. “Yes, Clementine, I will marry you.”

And, just like that, they’re kissing again. Quick presses of lips, more giggles from both of them now. Louis’ cheeks are actually hurting by the time they stop.

“I-” he shakes his head, “You’re serious, right?”

“Of course I’m serious,” she tells him.

“Holy shit, you’re serious!”

Clementine reaches into her pocket and pulls out another ring, placing it in his palm before offering him her hand. It’s just like his, smooth and silver with their initials scratched into the surface.

His heart is hard and quick, full of glee and laughter and everything else, as he slips the ring onto her finger.

“Clem, I- How did- where did you find these?”

“You’ll never believe it,” she says. “Mitch and Willy made them.”

“Um, what?”

“Out of quarters.”

“You’re right, I don’t believe that-”

There’s a sharp bang, though not very loud, it still catches their attention.

Another bang, this time followed by a strange hiss.

They both stare at the door quizzically.

“You heard that too, right?” asks Louis. “Or am I going crazy? Because that’s starting to feel like a real possibility.”

Another noise.

That-

That sounded like-

Another bang.

They shoot each other a look before getting up off the bench, hand in hand.

As they get closer to the door, it becomes clear what’s making the ruckus.

“Shh!” they hear.

“You shhh!”

Louis raises a brow at her smirking face. “Um?”

Clementine rolls her eyes, putting a finger to her lips and sneaking closer to the door. She waits a moment before grabbing the handle, listening. Then she throws all her weight into the door as she shoves it open.

It doesn’t get very far before there’s the sound of a rough collision followed by several thumps and a sharp, “What the fuck!”

Louis is dumbfounded to see Mitch, Willy, and AJ all on the floor, with Mitch rubbing his forehead and the other two holding their noses. Rosie comes over to lick AJ’s face, nuzzling him to make sure he’s okay. Around them stand Ruby, James, Tenn, Omar and Aasim, each frozen in place, gawking at the two of them.

“Um?” Louis’ eyes dart from face to face.

“That fucking hurt,” Mitch grumbles from the floor.

“Told’ja not ta get so close,” Ruby says, shooting him a glare. “Ya blew our cover.”

“Oh yeah, I blew our cover.”

“Uh, this isn’t-” Aasim scratches the back of his neck. “We were just-”

“Checking up on us?” Clementine finishes for him.

“More or less,” says James sheepishly. “Ruby couldn’t wait for you to come out.”

“Sorry,” Ruby’s face flushes, “I jus’ couldn’t sit still out there!”

“Or keep your mouth shut.”

“Can it, Mitch!”

“Wait a minute…” Louis turns back to her, hands on his hips. “Were they all in on this?”

“I did say that I had some help, didn’t I?”

“‘Course we helped!” Ruby clasps her hands together. “Had ta make it real special fer the both’a ya!”

“How was the rabbit?” Omar asks. “Best you ever had, huh?”

“I think my nose is broken,” Willy complains from the floor.

Mitch shakes his head. “S’not broken. You’d know if it was.”

“It feels broken.”

“It’s not.”

Louis can’t help but chuckle now. He pulls Clementine close, mumbling amongst the group’s chatter, “Suddenly, a lot of things make sense.”

“I bet,” she replies lightly.

AJ, still rubbing his newly sore nose, scrambles to his feet now. All the pain forgotten, he exclaims, “Well? Did you say yes!? Did you!?”

His grin says it all. With one arm around Clementine, Louis proudly holds up his hand to show off the ring to the group. “What do you think?”

Ruby’s squeal echoes through the halls as Aasim and Omar begin clapping, followed by the rest of the group. Louis bows, bringing Clementine down with him as they both laugh. AJ throws himself at the two, trying to wrap his arms around both of them. Then, here comes Ruby, hugging the both of them as well.

Soon, they’re surrounded, all a hum of laughter, gleeful words and happy smiles.

“We can finally start plannin’ the weddin’!” Ruby exclaims.

“Why don’t we let their engagement simmer for a bit, “says Omar. “Best not to overwhelm them.”

Clementine grasps her hand. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow, okay?”

Louis doesn’t know how long they stand there amongst their friends, each expressing their congrats in one way or another. Eventually, Clementine has to announce that they’re going to bed and they all part ways. The buzz of excitement is still there, filling his brain, and his heart.

AJ walks alongside them back to their room, asking plenty of questions about the wedding and how big of a party isn’t going to be. For once, Louis isn’t the one answering all of his questions. He’s in a daze, sure that if Clementine wasn’t holding his hand, we would’ve walked straight into a wall by now.

When they reach their room, Clementine shoos AJ inside and closes the door.

Louis leans back against the wall. God, his cheeks hurt with an aching strain, but he can’t force the grin off his face.

“Holy shit,” he says.

“Holy shit,” she echoes.

“You’re really serious, right?”

“I already said I was.”

“Just making sure,” Louis crosses his arms, resting his head against the wall to look up at the ceiling, “this just… I don’t know. I never thought this would be something you would want.”

“Well, I do,” she advances closer now. “I want this with you.”

“Are you sure?” he asks. “I mean, you want to willingly marry me?”

“I want to willingly marry you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Is this going to be a thing?” she teases. “Twenty years from now are you going to ask me, ‘Are you sure you’re sure?’”

“Twenty years,” he laughs. “Think we’ll live that long?”

“If we’re together, we have a pretty damn good chance.” She grabs his hand now, her thumb brushing over his ring. “Right?”

Louis smiles, though it's a little uneasy. “Right.”

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